2 Co Trottkr, A'<//r«\« Ornithological Ob^ervatiovs. I July 



Pennant, and Latham contain numerous illustrations of North 

 American birds. Peter Kalm's work, on the other hand, is merely 

 a desultory account of the different birds he observed during his 

 sojourn, principally in the country about Philadelphia, scattered 

 through the text of the volumes, coupled with observations 

 borrowed from the more intelligent Swedish and English resi- 

 dents. The greater number of species seems altogether to have 

 escaped his notice, probably because the plant rather than the bird 

 was in his mind's eye. Kalm's observations have little scientific 

 value, but they possess a certain freshness that commends them 

 to every lover of the wayside. It is restful in these days of accu- 

 rately annotated lists of many geographical forms to turn to the 

 simple statements of what this man saw and heard and thought. 

 The birds he tells us about are only the common birds known to 

 the country folk. His observations give us a glimpse of historical 

 background — a bit of real bird life in America more than half a 

 century before the father of American Ornithology began his work. 



Kalm mentions a number of birds observed during the voyage, 

 including the Petrel, Shearwater, Tropic Bird, Gull, and Tern. 

 "The Petrel {Frocellaria Pdagica, Linn.)," says Kalm, "was our 

 companion from the channel to the shores of America." 



It is probable that he had under observation not only the Stormy 

 Petrels {P, pelagicd) but the other two species of "little black 

 white-rumped 'Mother Carey's Chickens'" — Leach's Petrel 

 {Oceatiodroma Icucor/ioa) , and Wilson's Petrel {Ocean ites oceankus) 

 as well. 



The shearwater described under the name of ^'' Procellaria 

 Puffinus, Linn." is probably referable to three species — the Manx 

 Shearwater {Piiffinus puffinus), the Greater Shearwater {P. major), 

 and the Sooty Shearwater {P.fuligiiiosus) — for Kalm speaks of 

 having seen the bird from " the channel to the American coasts " ; 

 also that "it has a brown back, and commonly a white ring round 

 its neck." The first species is abundant on the eastern side, but 

 rare on the western side of the Atlantic, while the word "com- 

 monly " would seem to indicate that some individuals of the Sooty 

 Shearwater — a solid colored species — were also seen. A num- 

 ber of land birds took refuge on the ship from time to time, and 

 were noted by Kalm. 



