66 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF CANADA. 
BREEDING Notes.—Breeds on the Magdalen islands in the Gulf 
of St. Lawrence and on many of the islands off the Labrador 
coast. It also breeds on the Alaskan coast. I have a series of 
eggs taken on Sannak island, Alaska, June 30th, 1894. (Fazne.) 
I never saw this bird until the summer of 1897, when I found a 
few pairs breeding on Bryon island, the northernmost of the 
Magdalen islands. Here I found three nests; no doubt there were 
many more, but as the bird is nocturnal in many of its habits the 
nest is noteasy to find. On the 24th June, a beautiful day, hear- 
ing that this bird was to be met with on the island, I walked 
toward the east point, and after looking about for some time at 
length found a burrow under a stunted spruce bush about fifty 
feet from the edge of the cliff. I detected the birds by the musky 
odour in the neighbourhood of the bush. This aburrow extended 
horizontally about two feet under the tree. Atter digging down 
I came to the nest—a mass of withered grass and bits of bark 
and wood--in which was one egg, incubation just commencing. 
The bird was on the nest, and when handled ejected an oily fluid, 
very rank smelling. After measuring and identifying the bird I 
let it go. The other two nests I found, were of the same charac- 
ter and under the same conditions, and some distance from the 
edge of the cliff. (Rev. C./. Young.) Found breeding abundantly 
on Seal island, Yarmouth co., N.S. The soft vegetable soil of the 
wooded portions of the island is completely honeycombed with the 
nesting burrows of the petrels. These burrows run in among the 
rootlets of the trees some two or three feet, the one egg being 
deposited in the bare mould at the end. Only the strong musky 
odour of the birds attests their presence during the day, as not 
one will be seen. But at night the sitting birds sally forth and 
their mates who have been foraging far out at sea during the day 
return. (H. F. 7ufts.) Breeding inimmense numbers on Lazaria 
island, Sitka, Alaska. (Gvrénnell.) 
XXXVII. OCEANITES Keyseriine & Brasius. 1840. 
109. Wilson Petrel. 
Oceanttes oceanicus (KusL) Licut. 1854. 
Traced as far north as Resolution island on our outward voy- 
age; on the homeward, first seen about one hundred miles south 
of Cape Farewell. (Kwmelin.) Common and said to breed on 
