444 BRITISH BIRDS. 



Like its allies, the Fork-tailed Petrel is a thoroughly oceanic species, 

 almost exclusively living out at sea, often met with even in mid- ocean fol- 

 lowing in the wake of a ship, fluttering along over the foam-crested 

 billows, even in the height of the storm. It often follows the curve 

 of the wave in its flight, fluttering down into the hollows, and skimming 

 over the crest to disappear again in the trough of the sea, ever and anon 

 pattering the water with its feet. It appears always to be more or less 

 nocturnal in its habits, and only to come out in the daytime during cloudy 

 weather. Like all the Petrels, it is most noisy at night. Its breeding- 

 places may be instantly detected during the darkness by its incessant 

 chirping notes ; but in the daytime it is one of the most silent of birds, and 

 the ground above a colony may be walked over repeatedly without their 

 ever betraying their presence. At the approach of dusk it becomes active, 

 and the apparently deserted islet is soon alive with noisy fluttering Petrels 

 coming from and returning to the sea. It appears to be very helpless on 

 the land, and is said only to rise with difficulty. It is often driven inland 

 by continued bad weather, and is not unfrequently caught in the flight-nets 

 on the Lincolnshire coast, especially in late autumn. It appears not to be 

 very gregarious except during the breeding-season, when numbers may be 

 found nesting close together, but several birds may often be noticed flying 

 over the sea only a short distance from each other. 



The food of the Fork-tailed Petrel is composed of small crustaceans and 

 various kinds of moUusks floating on the surface of the sea. It is very fond 

 of all kinds of fat or oily su])stances, which it picks up in the wake of 

 fishing- vessels or steamers ; this oily diet appears to be regulated by small 

 scraps of sorrel. 



Dixon, during his visit to St. Kilda in 1884, made the following notes 

 on this bird : — "^ On the 10th of June I embarked with my guide, Donald 

 McQueen, to explore the island of Doon, a precipitous narrow strip of land 

 forming the southern horn of Village Bay. Doon has undoubtedly been 

 joined to St. Kilda at no distant date, and at the present time may be 

 reached at dead low-water during very low tides. It is very steep, and 

 covered with rich grazing-grass over most of its surface. The cliffs on the 

 southern side facing the Atlantic are very grand and rugged, but not par- 

 ticularly steep, and as the extreme point of the island is reached it narrows 

 considerably, and there is little but bare and lofty rocks like ruined battle- 

 ments and towers. The whole island is undermined by Puffins, which breed 

 here in tens of thousands ; they were flying round us like swarms of bees 

 during the whole time of our stay. Kittiwakes and Great Black-backed 

 Gulls were very common, as were also Guillemots, Razorbills, and Fulmars. 

 On some of the grassy cliffs the ground is literally white with the latter 

 birds, all sitting quietly on their eggs. The chief object of ray visit to Doon 

 was to obtain the eggs of the Fork-tailed Petrel^ and I Mas successful 



