308 THE FORK-TAILED PETREL 
Mediterranean, and is not an uncommon visitor to our shores, 
especially during severe weather. 
Its note is only heard during the season of incubation, when its 
retreat is often betrayed by a low twittering. 
Storm-Petrels are gregarious birds; they breed in colonies, 
and skim the sea in small flocks. The French steamers which sail 
between Toulon and Algiers are said to be regularly accompanied 
by these birds. 
THE FORK-TAILED PETREL 
PROCELLARIA LEUCORRHOA 
General plumage like the last ; tail forked ; legs moderate ; membrane dusky 
Length seven and a quarter inches. Eggs white, marked with small 
rusty spots. 
Tue Fork-Tailed Petrel, a native of North America, does not 
differ materially in habits from the other species. It is met with 
almost annually on our east coast, and is common off Cornwall. 
In Ireland it is frequent. This species was first declared to be 
a British bird by Bullock, who found it at St. Kilda in 1818, 
Addition for page 302. 
THE BLACK-NECKED OR EARED GREBE 
PODICIPES NIGRICOLLIS 
In summer the head and neck of this species are black, with a triangular 
patch of long golden-reddish feathers on the ear-coverts. Breast and 
belly white—flanks a dull chestnut, bill black, upcurved slightly. In 
winter it resembles the last named Grebe in plumage, excepting that it 
is white on the primaries. Length twelve inches. 
Tuis is essentially a bird of the south, visiting us in spring and 
summer, but also now and again in autumn and winter, but this 
more rarely. It is said to have bred occasionally in the southern 
counties, and more often in Suffolk and Norfolk. To the north it 
becomes more scarce, although it has been observed up to the 
Orkneys. Just a few instances are recorded from Cumberland, but 
the bird is rare on our western side. Very few have been met with 
in Ireland. In Algeria it is said to nest in “societies more densely 
crowded than any rookery,”’ the nests being raised on islets with 
stout foundations constructed by the bird. In Denmark the nests 
observed were on tussocks at the edge of the lake, and they were 
made of moss, part of which the female used to cover her eggs with 
on leaving them. 
