THE FULMAR — PETREL. 161 
guarters. The sea immediately about the ship’s stern, when 
the men are engaged in skinning their gigantic prey, is some- 
times so completely covered with them that a stone can scarcely 
be thrown overboard without striking one of them. When 
anything is thus cast among the crowd, those nearest take 
alarm, and so on, till a thousand are put in motion; but as 
in rising they strike the water with their feet, a loud and most 
irregular splashing is produced, It is amusing to observe with 
what jealousy they view, and with what boldness they attack, 
any of their species engaged in devouring the finest morsels, 
and to hear the curious chuckling noise they make in their 
anxiety for despatch, lest they should be disturbed. The vo- 
racious birds are frequently so glutted as to be unable to fly, in 
which case they rest upon the water until the advancement of 
digestion restores their wonted powers. They then return to 
the banquet with the same gusto as before, and although numbers 
of the species may have been killed with boat-hooks, and float 
among them, the others, nothing daunted, and unconscious of 
danger to themselves, continue their gormandising labours. 
When carrion is scarce, the fulmars follow the living whale, as 
if they had a presentiment of his future fate, and sometimes, 
by their peculiar motions while hovering on the surface of the 
water, point out to the fisherman the position of the animal. 
As their beak cannot make an impression on the dead whale 
until some more powerful creature tears away the skin, it may 
be imagined how delighted they are when man takes upon 
himself the trouble of peeling a whale for them. 
The Glacial Petrel (Procellaria gelida) does not seem ta 
approach the pole so near as the fulmar. He appears but seldom 
in Iceland, but breeds frequently in Newfoundland. The same 
is the case with the Shearwater (P. puffinus), which breeds in 
great numbers on the Feroé islands, and in Orcadia. The 
tropical petrels are the least known. They do not appear 
to gather troopwise, and but seldom follow ships. Towards 
45° S. lat. the first Pintados (P. capensis) make their ap- 
pearance, and are more rarely seen after having passed 60° S, 
lat. The Giant Petrel (P. gigantea), extends its flight as far as 
the ice-banks of the south, where the Antarctic and the Snowy 
(P. antarctica et nivea) Petrels first appear, birds which never 
leave those dreary seas, and are often seen in vast flocks floating 
