38 FULMARS AND SHEARWATERS 



107. Oceanodroma melania (Bonap.). BLACK PETREL. 



Upper parts sooty black with grayish brown on wing- coverts ; under 

 parts brownish black, without white or light colored patches. Wing : 6.80, 

 tail 3.90, forked for about 1.20, tarsus 1.20. 



Distribution. From the Pacific coast of Mexico north to southern 

 California. 



Mr. Grinnell thinks the black petrels are probably more or less 

 common residents off the southern California coast. Mr. Nelson 

 found them the most abundant of the petrels of the Tres Marias 

 Islands, Mexico. He saw little that was remarkable about their 

 habits, but says they circled about the vessel in all directions and 

 were quick to see fragments of food that were thrown overboard. 



108. Oceanodroma homochroa (Coues). ASHY PETREL. 



Plumage mainly smoky gray or plumbeous ; quills and tail dusky ; upper 

 wing- coverts brownish, under coverts with light patch. Wing: 5.30-5.40, 

 tail 3.3(>-3.50, forked for .70-.90, tarsus, .80-.90. 



Distribution. Coast of California. 



Egg. Dull creamy white, finely dotted with red around the larger 

 end ; placed in a natural cavity. 



Mr. Loomis, writing of his visit to South Farallone Island in July, 

 1896, gives some interesting notes on the habits of the ashy petrel. 

 "Although these petrels were breeding abundantly in all parts of 

 the island," he says, "every portion of it might have been passed 

 over in daylight without a single individual being discovered, for 

 apparently only brooding birds occurred, concealed in loose piles 

 of stone, in stone walls, and under driftwood. After nightfall the 

 petrels became active. They were especially conspicuous during 

 the early morning hours of the 14th, when the auklets held their 

 concert. As I stood in the dooryard of a keeper's house, every few 

 moments one or more would pass silently by, disappearing in the 

 darkness. Their flight recalled that of a goatsucker. 



"The strong musky odor of the petrels renders their discovery 

 in the rock piles easy. It is only necessary to insert the nose into 

 likely crevices to find them. With little practice one may become 

 very expert in this kind of hunting, readily determining whether it 

 is an auklet or a petrel that has its residence in any particular 

 cranny. ... It seemed strange to find these birds of the ocean rear- 

 ing their young near the dwellings and within several rods of the 

 siren. None of the feathered inhabitants of the island appeared to 

 be alarmed at the blast of this signal, repeated every forty-five 

 seconds when the fog settled down." 



108.1. Oceanodroma socorroensis Townsend. SOCORRO PETREL. 



Similar to homochroa but slightly larger and darker colored ; under wing 



