LEACH PETREL 



106. Oceanodroma leucorhoa. 8 in. 



Tail forked; tail coverts white, not tipped with black; 

 legs much shorter than those of Wilson Petrel, which is 

 the only other common species on our eastern coasts. 

 Leach Petrel is a very abundant breeding bird on Maine 

 islands and northward. Some of the soft peaty banks 

 of islands are honeycombed with entrances to their bur- 

 rows, which extend back, near the surface of the ground, 

 for two or three feet, and terminate in an enlarged 

 chamber. Here one of the birds is always found during 

 the period of incubation, and sometimes both birds, but 

 one is usually at sea feeding during the daytime, re- 

 turning at night to relieve its mate. All petrels and 

 their eggs have a peculiar, characteristic and oppressive 

 odor. 



Notes. A weak clucking. 



Nest. Single egg at end of burrow; white with a 

 very faint ring of brown dots around the large end. 



Range. Breeds northward from Maine: winters to 

 Virginia. 



