AMONG THE WATER-FOWL 



much in-shore from " the Crab Ledge," a fishing 

 ground about eight miles from land. And then, 

 again, they are away off on " Rocky Ground," 

 twenty miles or more off shore. Still, it is won- 

 derful, when vision and other resources fail to place 

 them, to try the judicious use of cod-liver. Again 

 and again, when not a bird was in sight, and I was 

 satisfied that they had gone off shore, as the boat 

 sailed along I have tossed out now and then a piece 

 of liver, squeezed into fragments. In the course of 

 some ten minutes, a Petrel would be seen, hovering 

 far astern, feasting greedily. Soon the supply was 

 garnered, and the " Mother Carey's " followed up 

 the wake of the boat. No matter how fast we 

 sailed, the ever hungry bird soon caught up and 

 flitted close about, as though begging for more. 

 Not only one, but another and another, a Haglet, a 

 Skua, and before long we had the usual company. 

 I would not assert that by the chemical union of 

 cod-liver and oxygen Shearwaters are produced, and 

 from liver and hydrogen Petrels, though at times it 

 almost seems so. Try it and see ! Yet I should 

 advise one not to expect too much, unless there is a 

 likelihood that there is at least one Petrel within a 

 few miles. The solution is, I take it, the acuteness 

 of their vision that enables them to see others hover- 

 ing and feeding at a far greater distance than we 

 could descry them. 



These ocean birds seem to have some power of 

 observation as to the weather. Fishermen had told 

 me that Petrels flock before a storm, but it was long 

 before I observed it for myself. At length, one 

 afternoon in August, we were sailing in from the 



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