414 THE TUBE-NOSED SWIMMERS — TUBIN ARES. 



where it is said to have been taken at Sitka ; although nothing is added in regard to 

 its history. 



Dr. Pickering, in his Journal, first records its occurrence at sea, on the 20th of 

 April, 1840, the coast of Oregon being about two hundred miles distant. Three days 

 later, when in sight of that coast, great numbers of this species were noticed flitting 

 around in the track of the vessel, actively engaged in searching for particles of food 

 thrown overboard. Generally they reminded him of Wilson's Petrel, but their wings 

 seemed longer and their movements appeared to be more rapid ; in fact, they appeared 

 to resemble the larger Proeellarice. Occasionally this bird sailed in its flight; but 

 during the greater part of the time it moved by very rapidly flexing its wings in the 

 same manner as Wilson's Petrel. It proved to be not difficult to capture, and several 

 specimens were taken with hook and line. The birds would dive a foot or two after the 

 bait, and made use of their wings in and under the water, from which they evidently 

 had not the difficulty in rising which is observable in the Albatross. Their power of 

 swimming seemed rather feeble, yet they alighted in the water without any apparent 

 hesitation. The dead body of one of their companions having been thrown over- 

 board, the other birds clustered about it with as much avidity as around any other 

 food. This bird uttered a. faint cry when it was taken on board. 



In addition to these notes of Dr. Pickering, Mr. Peale farther states that this 

 species was observed in considerable numbers on the northwest coast of America, in 

 the most northerly regions visited by the Expedition, but not farther south than the 

 thirty-eighth degree of north latitude. 



Dr. Cooper states that although he has never met with it on the coast of Cali- 

 fornia, he has received a specimen obtained by Mr. E. Lorquin, of San Francisco, and 

 shot by the latter at San Pedro in August. 



Mr. Dall, in his Notes on the Avifauna of the Aleutian Islands, east of Una- 

 lashka, mentions that this bird, though not observed anywhere at sea, was found 

 on the Chica Pocks, in the Akutan Pass, near Unalashka, breeding, June 2, 1872. 

 The eye of this species is black. The nests were on the edge of a steep bank near 

 the shore, and ten or twelve feet above it ; and each structure was placed in a hole 

 extending obliquely downward and backward from the face of the bank, and about 

 a foot deep, at the bottom of which a little dry grass or fine roots were placed. In 

 two instances the parent-bird was caught on the nest alive. Each nest contained 

 only one small white egg, perfectly fresh — though others might have been laid 

 afterward, had the bird not been disturbed. 



Mr. Dall states, in his second paper on the Aleutian Islands, that the male of 

 this species appears to do a large part of the work of incubation. This species, as 

 well as Leach's Petrel, has the habit, when handled, of disgorging a reddish oily fluid 

 of a strong and disagreeable musky smell ; and one can tell by the odor of the burrow 

 alone whether it is tenanted by a Petrel or by one of the Alcides. It was found by 

 Mr. Dall breeding on all the less populated islands as far east as Unalashka. Unlike 

 the reported habits of the North Atlantic Petrels, this species is never seen in stormy 

 weather at sea, nor does it ever follow in a vessel's wake, so far as his observations 

 go. It is occasionally seen flying about in calm, fine weather, throughout the North 

 Pacific. 



Eggs of this species in the Smithsonian Collection, obtained by Mr. Dall and by 

 Mr. Bischoff at Sitka, Alaska (12854), are of a dirty chalky-white color, oval in 

 shape, with rounded ends; and four present the following measurements: 1.35 by 

 1.00 inches; 1.30 by 1.00; 1.40 by 1.00; 1.35 by 1.00. 



