536 PROCELLARIIDA 
the deep signifying an approaching storm, and indeed many 
a Jack-T'ar, brave and stout-hearted in other respects, has 
been known to lose courage on sighting this harmless and 
interesting little creature. During’ wild weather, especially 
after stormy nights, it may be seen flying quite near the 
coast-land. 
Voice.—In the breeding-season the Storm-Petrel utters 
a succession of twitters, especially if the nest be molested. 
The note of the hatching-bird sounds like tz-tee-tick, oft 
repeated (Harvie-Brown and Buckley). 
Fic. 66.—LEFT FOOT OF STORM-PETREL. Nat. size. 
Food.—Small fish, crabs, shrimps, shell-fish, cuttle-fish, 
and animal offal, especially fatty material, constitute the 
diet ; oily substances in a state of semi-digestion are 
frequently to be found in the stomach. Floating offal is 
rapidly snatched from the uh during flight, less usually 
the bird alights to feed. *. Ussher has observed numbers 
off the Kerry coast ae round the carcase of a large 
cetacean “in full daylight, as though they were desirous of 
picking up morsels of the carcase or oily matter” (‘Birds of 
Ireland,’ p. 385). Captive birds, though often very reluctant 
to feed, will, when pressed with hunger, eat morsels of fish 
from the hand. 
Nest.—In May, Storm-Petrels assemble in large numbers 
at their breeding-homes, on rocky islands, preferably those 
strewn with loose boulders and clad to some extent with 
peaty soil. The birds are noisy, but, considering the num- 
bers present, proportionately few are seen in the day-time as 
the majority are hidden in nooks and burrows where they 
are hatching. The nest is never placed in an exposed 
