OUR RARER BRITISH BREEDING BIRDS. 73 



PETREL, LEACH'S FORK-TAILED. 



WHILST staying at St. Kilda three years ago, I 

 had several opportunities of studying this interest- 

 ing little bird. The cragsmen were going to 

 Borera one day after sheep and sea-fowl, so my 

 brother and I arranged to accompany them. 

 Landing was rendered difficult on account of a 

 heavy ground swell rolling in from the Atlantic ; 

 however, after a failure or two, we eventually 

 succeeded in effecting our purpose, and, climbing 

 up the terribly steep side of the great crag, arrived 

 at the sloping field of turf tenanted by Puffins 

 and Fork - Tailed Petrels. The former were in 

 plenty of evidence, countless thousands flying 

 overhead and resting upon the ground on every 

 hand, but the latter gave not the slightest sign 

 of their presence. I failed even to detect a single 

 churring note coming forth from the much- 

 tunnelled earth, and yet they were there in fairly 

 plentiful numbers. The St. Kildans professed to 

 be able to tell their burrows from those of the 

 Puffins around them by their smaller size ; how- 

 ever, my discrimination was less keen, and I got 

 severely bitten by more than one Tarn O'Norrie 

 in my researches. 



Altogether I saw the cragsmen take six or 

 seven birds from their nests, and as soon as the 

 gentle little creatures came into the light of day 

 they ejected a quantity of amber - coloured oil. 

 Upon being released some of them flew away sea- 

 wards with a curious skimming, half-circling sort 

 of flight which it is difficult to describe or liken 

 to that of any particular bird, and others simply 

 scuttled back to the far end of their burrows. 



On the top of the Doon, figured on page 79, 



