al 
CHAP IER’ Sart 
MOTHER AND CHILD 
HE young fulmar petrels here are still all in a 
state of fluff—not one true feather to be seen— 
just as I left them in the middle of July, on my last 
visit, though now it is the end of it. They are 
larger, however, which, with their softness, whiteness, 
and general appearance, as of a great powder-puff, 
makes them more marvellous-looking than ever. 
Their shape, as they lie on the rock, is that of a round 
flat disc—a muffin somewhat inflated, or an air-ball 
compressed. Only when they flutter their wings, or 
waggle out their legs, have they any more intricate 
shape than this, except that the funny little head, with 
the black eyes and black hooked beak, projects 
permanently out of their roundness. ‘The latter is 
frequently held open, with the mandibles widely dis- 
tended—sometimes fixed so, at others gently moving. 
The neck, on these occasions, is often stretched out 
and swayed from side to side, so that we have here, 
in embryo, those curious movements which, in the 
grown birds, are nuptial ones, and accompany the 
note then uttered. Although the chick, as would 
be naturally expected, often opens its bill in order to 
persuade the parent bird to feed it, yet after some 
hours’ watching I came to the conclusion that the 
action was too frequent and too habitual to be alto- 
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