FORK-TAILED PETREL 541 
an interesting account of eggs which were received from the 
Tearaght rock off the Kerry coast on July Ist, 1886, June 
2lst and 23rd, 1887, and July 6th, 1888. (Vide also Bar- 
rington, ‘ Migration of Birds,’ Rep. 1859, p. 115.) On May 
20th, 1889, another egg was taken on Inishnabro, a neigh- 
bouring island belonging to the Blasket group (wide ‘ Ibis,’ 
1880, pp. 11-12) ; while on August 13th, 1899, an egg much 
incubated was received by Mr. Barrington from an island 
off the Mayo coast. 
It is not unlikely that this bird breeds on other islands, 
but its secretive habits render it difficult of observation. 
Geographical distribution.—Abroad, this Petrel is widely 
distributed. To the coast of Norway it is a wanderer, 
but it has reached Iceland: storm-driven birds have been 
recorded from many countries of Central and Southern 
Europe, while southward some of the islands off the north- 
west coast of Africa are visited. Westward this bird is 
common off the eastern sea-board of Canada, migrating in 
winter over the North Atlantic to about lat. 35° N. It 
also occurs in Greenland. On the North Pacific coasts of 
the American Continent its breeding range extends from 
California northward to Alaska; from thence it can be fol- 
lowed to the Kurile and other islands! off the eastern side 
of the Asiatic Continent. Japan is also visited. It seems 
that this Petrel, during its winter peregrinations, does not 
cross the Equator; in fact its southern limit is probably 
about lat. 25° to 30° N. 
DESCRIPTIVE CHARACTERS. 
PLUMAGE. Adult male nuptial.—General plumage sooty- 
black ; head, throat, back, scapulars, and wings, with a slight 
plumbeous shade ; wing-coverts and edges of the secondaries 
shading from greyish-black to ashy-grey; longer upper 
tail-coverts, white; shorter ones, sooty-black margined with 
white ; tail, black and forked; under tail-coverts, whitish at 
the base. 
Adult female nuptial—sSimilar in plumage to the male. 
'A specimen from the Kurile Islands, belonging to the late Mr. 
Seebohm’s collection, and now in the British Museum, shows some 
white at the base of the outer tail-feathers, and along the outer web of 
the outermost feather ; but in other respects resembles specimens from 
the North Atlantic (vide Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., vol. xxv, pp. 349-350). 
