220 BRITISH BIRDS. WITH THEIR NESTS AND EGGS. 



unfrequently met with off the south-west coast of Africa, as well as in many 

 of the bays and inlets. I have occasionally seen it very abundant about the 

 fisheries at Walwich Bay and Sandwich Harbour, where these birds would 

 approach within a few feet of the fishermen, eagerly picking up the smaller 

 particles of refuse thrown away by them whilst cleaning their fish on the shore ' 

 (" Birds of South Africa," p. 765). The late Mr. Seebohm considered that Wilson's 

 Petrel was to be met with commonly in the Atlantic, especially near the American 

 sea-board. " They fly very much like Swallows, and neither rain nor wind seems 

 to interfere with their movements. In stormy weather they took little or no 

 notice of the ship. We generally saw them in pairs ; now and then a solitary 

 bird was to be seen ; seldom more than three or four were together, but on a 

 few occasions we saw as many as twenty. In fine weather with a gentle breeze 

 they were much more abundant, and the greater number followed in the wake 

 of the ship. 



"It was astonishing how suddenly the scattered birds collected in a mass like 

 a swarm of bees when garbage was thrown out of the ship ; they were down 

 upon it in a moment from all points of the compass ; some alighted at once 

 upon the surface, others hovered over the tempting morsels with uplifted wings 

 and extended feet. They can fly with great rapidity, now skimming over the 

 waves with extended wings, now turning suddenly, or changing their course 

 capriciously, with uncertain bat-like or butterfly-like motion. We never saw 

 them dive, nor did we ever hear them utter a note." 



Wilson's Petrel has the upper and lower parts sooty black ; the upper tail- 

 coverts and the outside lower tail-coverts in the specimens before me are white ; 

 the wings and tail are dull black, but the greater wing-coverts are edged with 

 grey. It can be distinguished from any other British Petrel by the great length 

 of the legs, and by the yellow patches on the webs. It measures about seven 

 inches, but varies in size remarkably. A Wilson's Petrel which I obtained from 

 Walney Island in November, 1890, is very little bigger than a Storm Petrel, the 

 wing only measuring 4/9 inches. " Besides its small dimensions, the Walney 

 Island bird has a square tail, but this varies, some specimens having a slightly 

 forked tail, others nearly or quite even. The yellow mark on the webs of the 

 feet is not nearly so well marked as in the ordinary form. The amount of white 

 on the rectrices and on the xinder tail-coverts is about the same as in the rest 

 \ie. the Brit. Mus. series.] The plumage generally is dark, due to the recent 

 moult" (O. Salvin, in /it.). 



