THEIR DISTRIBUTION AND FOOD. 97 



special notice here^ a small blue petrel^ closely 

 resembling- P. ccerulea, from which it may readily 

 be disting-uished by wanting- the white tips to the 

 central tail feathers. It turns out to be the P. 

 desolately known only by a drawing- in the British 

 Museum made more than half a century ag-o, from 

 which this species was characterised. When in 

 lat. 50" 46' S. and long-. 97'' 47' W. I saw P. 

 antarctica for the first time ; one or two individuals 

 were in daily attendance while rounding- Cape Horn 

 and followed the ship until we sig-hted the Falkland 

 Islands. I had long- been lookino- out for P. 

 glacialoides, which in due time made its appearance 

 — a beautiful lig-ht g'rey petrel, larg-er than a pig-eon ; 

 it continued with us between the latitudes of 40** 

 and 58° S. and occasion-ally pecked at a baited 

 hook towing- astern. 



One may naturally wonder what these petrels 

 can procure for food in the ocean to the southward 

 of 35" south latitude, where they are perhaps more 

 numerous than elsewhere, and where the voyag-er 

 never sees any surface-swimming- fishes which they 

 mig-ht pick up ? It is, of course, well known that 

 they eag-erly pounce upon any scraps of animal 

 matter in the wake of a vessel, hence it is reasonable 

 to suppose that they follow ships for the purpose of 

 picking- up the offal, but they may also be seen 

 similarly following- in the wake of whales and droves 

 of the larg-er porpoises. Almost invariably I have 

 found in the stomach of the many kinds of alba- 



VOL. II. II 



