190 THE NATURALIST IN NORWAY. 



complaints and other ills which flesh is heir to. The 

 Norwegian peasants consider its flesh to be tender and 

 well-flavoured. Its food consists of the dead whales 

 and seals which it finds floating on the sea, as well as 

 the marine insects adhering to their bodies. The nest 

 is made in a hole in the shingle on the beach, or in 

 the fissure of a rock, and contains a single white 



egg- 



The stormy petrel (Thalassidroma procellaria] is 

 pretty common off" the west coast of Norway. The 

 fishermen meet with it many miles from land. It 

 nests in the holes of a cliff", or under large stones, and 

 lays a single white egg, much smaller than that of the 

 Fulmar petrel. 



The great shearwater (Puffinus major) is a bird of 

 occasional occurrence on the north and north-west 

 coast of Norway ; it is called here the store-skrabe, or 

 great scraper. Large numbers of this species are 

 said to breed on the banks of Newfoundland, and a 

 few in Iceland. 



The Manx shearwater (P. Anglorum) is often seen 

 off the west coast of Norway. The fishermen say 

 they often fall in with it at a long distance from the 

 land ; it is called the skrabe, or the scraper, because it 

 is said to scrape a hole in the sand by the side of a 

 large stone, where it makes its nest, but does not in- 

 cubate after the fashion of other birds, for it some- 

 times lies with its belly on the eggs, at other times on 

 its back ! It is said to conceal itself by day, and to 

 venture forth in search of food when the sun has gone 

 down. The nest is made in a hole in the sand by a 

 large stone, or in the hole of a rock, and contains one 

 large white egg. 



