232 A 7710 Jig the Bi7'ds i7i N'o7'thc7'7i Shi7'es. 



coal-fish are favourite fare — crustaceans, and molluscs, 

 chasing the former with great dexterity through the 

 water, searching for the latter in soundings amongst 

 the weed and rocks. We shall have more to say 

 about these Auks in the following chapter. They 

 are all resident in British seas, coming to the land 

 in summer to breed, and during the remainder of the 

 year wandering far and wide over the waste of waters, 

 and then visiting coasts and estuaries and harbours 

 where they are never seen during the season of 

 reproduction. Here and there in our northern 

 waters, but only off the western coast-line during 

 summer, we may frequently fall in with Petrels and 

 Shearwaters. These birds are the most pelagic of 

 all, and only visit the land to breed. The Fulmar 

 is the largest indigenous British species, and looks 

 very like a Gull as it flies about over the water. 

 The Manx Shearwater comes next in size, but it is a 

 dark-plumaged bird on the upper parts, only white 

 below. Its long wings are very noteworthy, as it 

 skims and dashes about round our boat. The Fork- 

 tailed Petrel comes next in point of size. This and 

 the following species are more nocturnal in their 

 habits, but equally as pelagic as the foregoing. Lastly 

 we have the Stormy Petrel — the smallest of web- 

 footed birds — perhaps the most widely and commonly 

 distributed of all, and often met with not only in our 

 northern seas durino- summer, but as far to the south 



