WILSON'S PETREL. 2I 9 



in our own seas, it has occurred as a straggler in Cornwall, Devon, Wilts, 

 Hants, Sussex, Suffolk, Yorks, Lancashire, and Cumberlaud. In Scotland it 

 remained undetected until 1891, when a living bird was entangled in a net near 

 the sea at Inner Jura, on the ist of October. This specimen was found alive, 

 and was taken to Mr. Henry Evans, who at once recognized its identity. 

 Almost at the same moment two Wilson's Petrels were procured in Ireland. 

 Of these, one, a female, was caught in an exhausted state in a stubble-field in 

 Co. Down, on the and of October. The other was shot on Lough Erne on the 

 ist of October. Wilson's Petrel has been procured on the coasts of France and 

 Portugal. It enters the Mediterranean ; for it has been obtained near Malaga 

 and at Cagliari. It visits the Canary Isles, and is said to reside at the Azores 

 all through the year. It frequents the Australian seas, and was found by the 

 " Challenger expedition " along the Antarctic Ice-barrier. It was likewise one 

 of the few species of birds obtained on the voyage of the " Dundee Whalers " 

 to the Antarctic seas in 1892-3. 



Our knowledge of the breeding habits of Wilson's Petrel is due to the 

 researches of the Rev. A. E. Eaton, who found it nesting in Kerguelen Island. 

 It frequents the land in large numbers as early as November, but does not 

 appear to begin to lay until January'. The birds present great adaptability 

 in their choice of nesting quarters ; some individuals elect to rear their young a 

 few feet above high tide-mark, others withdraw to the shelter afforded by the 

 large boulders which are found on the sides of the hills in the interior. The 

 single egg is dull white, usually zoned at the larger end with minute purple-red 

 spots. It is laid in a cavity of the rocks or under a pile of stones, but always 

 on the bare ground, either in a natural depression or a slight hollow formed by 

 the birds. The birds can be located at night by their cries ; it was by searching 

 for them with a lantern that Mr. Eaton procured a series of eggs. The birds 

 cease to cry if disturbed by any noise, so that great care is required to find them 

 in the dark. Mr. Eaton sometimes marked the supposed breeding places at night 

 with piles of stones, and returned next day to complete the search. The birds 

 frequent their nesting places for some weeks before they begin to lay. After the 

 young are reared, the Wilson's Petrels return to a pelagic existence. 



Layard, who studied this Petrel on the African coast, states that it consorts 

 freely with its congener the White-bellied Petrel, " flitting over the waves and 

 picking up odd bits flung over the ship's sides. When taken in hand they 

 disgorge large quantities of an oily matter, which quickly congeals, and assumes 

 the appearance of dirty lard. Mr. Rickard records it from the neighbourhood 

 of East London, and Mr. Anderson gives the following note : ' This bird is not 



