518 THE PETRELS. 



it. He would seem, however, not to be without certain mis- 

 givings as to its accuracy, for he says : " But I have this to 

 observe, on the occasion, that the thick and round head is 

 too much like an owl, and should, by a more exact 

 drawing, rather approach the likeness of a cuckoo's head, 

 but broader." 



He, moreover, tells us a strange story about it. "The 

 Hav-Hest is a sea-bird not larger than a moor-hen. It is 

 short and thick, with small wings, and feet like a goose, a 

 small bill, and high chest, of a grey colour. It snorts like a 

 horse when he fetches breath, from whence this bird has the 

 name ; as well as that its motion in the water resembles the 

 trotting of that animal, with heaving and violent pushing ; so 

 that when they appear in large flocks, they make the sea roar 

 even in still weather. On land nobody has ever seen them, 

 and they do not come nearer than half-a-score of miles 

 (seventy English) ; so that they are only seen by the fisher- 

 men that go out to fish for turbot on the main ; though in 

 shallow water these birds come about the boats in clusters, to 

 get the entrails that are thrown over. If they strike at them 

 with a stick or stone, that they fall or are stunned, then the 

 others gather about the bird that is hurt, and never leave 

 oif pecking him until he revives ; but that he should revive, 

 as pretended, though quite mangled, is a mere fisherman's 

 fable." 



Though not included in the Swedish fauna, the Fork- 

 tailed, or Leach's Petrel (P. Leachii, Temm.), has found a 

 place in that of Denmark ; one of those birds having been 

 shot on the 25th of November, 1848, in the vicinity of 

 Copenhagen. 



In closing this short account of the Scandinavian orni- 



