336 



BRITISH BIRDS 



is a much rarer species than the stormy petrel, and lias only two 

 known breeding-places in the United Kingdom, one at St. Kild.-i, 

 the other on the island of North Rona, off the west coast of Scotland. 

 On all other parts of the British coast it is known only as a storm- 

 driven straggler. The birds breed in June, in holes which they 

 make in the soft peaty soil to a depth of two or three feet, or deeper. 

 A slight nest of dry grass is made, and a single egg deposited, purr 

 white in colour, with a zone of small reddish spots at the large end. 

 During the daytime the birds remain silent in their holes ; in the 

 evening they become active and garrulous. 



\Vilson's petrel (OceanitcH orcuninits), a bird about the si/e of a 

 swift, with a black plumage and white rump, appears occasionally 

 as a straggler hi the British Islands. Its only known breeding- 

 grounds are in the southern hemisphere. 



Manx Shearwater. 

 Puffinus anglorum. 



FIG. 113. MANX SHEARWATER. 



natural size. 



Bill blackish ; legs and feet yellowish flesh-colour ; crown, 

 nape, and upper parts sooty black; under parts white; sides of 

 neck mottled with greyish brown. Length, fifteen inches. 



The Manx shearwater is the most abundant and best known of 

 the four petrels that frequent the British seas. It has several 



