130 
DUSKY PETREL. 
Puffinus obscurus, 
Gould. Temminck. 
Buonaparte. Degland. 
Temminck. 
Proccllaria obscura, 
Puffinus —. 
? 
Obscurus— Obscure. 
The present species is common on the western coast of 
Africa to the Cape of Good Hope, and occasionally occurs on 
the coasts of the Mediterranean. It belongs also to the Canary 
Islands and to Madeira. A breeding-place is on the Dezertas, 
a group of small islands near it, as stated by Edward Vernon 
Harcourt, Esq. A few have occurred in France and Italy. 
It was obtained by Captain Cook, at Christmas Island. In 
America it is given by Nuttall as belonging to Canada, and 
on by the States to the Gulf of Mexico, Florida, and Georgia, 
and other parts; also in Bermuda. 
A specimen of this Petrel flew on board a small sloop, 
near the Island of Valentia, off the south-west coast of Ireland, 
late in the evening of the 11th. of May, 1853. 
They are very tameable birds. 
They are able in flight, and skim low over the sea in search 
of food, and, says Audubon, on approaching a mass of weeds, 
raise their wings obliquely, drop their legs and feet, run as 
it were on the water, and at length alight on the sea, where 
they swim with much ease and dive freely, at times passing 
several feet under the surface. Whenever an individual settles 
in a spot, many fly up directly and join it. 
They appear to make use of the bill to assist them in 
climbing up rocky places. They roost in the daytime in 
crevices and under stones, namely, when on the land, reposing 
otherwise on the bosom of the deep, and coming forth 
towards evening to prowl and prey, the dim light of the 
