r 



STORMY PETREL. 267 



small mollusca. Their flesh is rank, oily, and unpleasant 

 to the taste. Their food is even converted into oil by the 

 digestive process, and they abound with it to such a degree 

 that, according to Brunnich, the inhabitants of the Faro Isles 

 make their carcases serve the purpose of a candle by draw- 

 ing a wick through the mouth and rump, which being lighted, 

 the flame is for a considerable time supported by the fat and 

 oil of the body. 



Audubon led Nuttall astray regarding the breeding of Wilson's 

 Petrel, confounding it with Leach's Petrel. The nesting-place of 

 the present species and the appearance of the egg were unknown 

 until a few years ago, when the members of the Transit of Venus 

 Expedition discovered a colony of the birds on Kerguelen Island, 

 m the Southern Ocean, and brought back some of the eggs, which 

 were taken during January and February. 



Wilson's Petrel, therefore, would have little reason upon which 

 to rest a claim to be ranked as an " American " bird, were it not 

 for the " three mile-limit " clause in international law. These 

 birds come towards the shore and into the harbors and creeks in 

 search of food. During the summer they are met with all along 

 our coast, from northern Labrador to the tropics. 



STORMY PETREL. 



MOTHER CAREY'S CHICKEN. 

 Procellaria PELAGICA. 



Char. General plumage sooty black or blackish brown; upper tail 

 feathers white, tipped with black; tail square or slightly rounded; bill, 

 legs, and feet black. Length about 5^^ inches. 



Nest Usually in a burrow, sometimes in a crevice of a rock or amid 

 loose stones ; generally a thin cushion of weed-stems or grass, but often 

 the egg is laid on the bare soil. 



Eggs. I ; white, faintly marked with fine spots of reddish brown; aver- 

 age size 1. 1 5 X 0.85. 



Of the three species of Swallow-like Petrels that are seen regu- 

 larly on the North Atlantic, the present is the rarest; and this is 

 seldom seen near the shore, and never south of New England. It 

 breeds abundantly on the British Islands and along the coast of 

 Norway, and is said to breed in the Mediterranean Sea, on the 



