150 ALLEN'S NATURALISTS LIBRARY. 



Adult Female. Similar to the male, but rather larger. Total 

 length, 8 inches; wing, 5-8-6-6. 



Young Birds. Covered with a sooty-black down. The 

 first feathers resemble those of the adults, but the grey feathers 

 of the mantle are fringed with white, and the greater-coverts 

 and secondaries are edged with white at the tips, the grey of 

 the upper and under tail-coverts being barred with white. 

 These markings are retained by the young bird, after it has 

 become full grown and has lost the down. 



Characters. Apart from the generic characters recorded 

 above, the present species can be easily recognised by its grey 

 upper surface, blackish head, white under surface, and by the 

 yellow webs to the toes. 



Range in the British Islands. This species has been known to 

 occur on two occasions within our limits. One was picked up 

 dead on Walney Island, Lancashire, in November, 1890; and 

 a second specimen has recently been recorded from the island 

 of Colonsay in the West of Scotland, by Mr. W. Eagle Clarke. 

 This specimen was obtained on the ist of January, 1897, after 

 a succession of south-westerly gales. 



Habits. Mr. Ogilvie Grant, who met with this Petrel on the 

 Salvage Islands, writes : " This was certainly one of the most 

 interesting species met with during our stay on Great Salvage. 

 We first observed and recognised with pleasure these beautiful 

 Petrels as we neared the Salvages, when numbers were seen 

 flitting along close to the surface of the sea, with their long 

 legs dangling beneath them and just touching the water. Now 

 they would be lost sight of in the hollows between the huge 

 Atlantic rollers, now reappear, closely following the undulating 

 waters with their graceful easy flight. On the afternoon of our 

 arrival at Great Salvage we found an egg of this bird in what 

 we mistook for a rabbit-burrow, but it was unfortunately broken 

 by one of the men. This, however, opened our eyes, and we 

 subsequently found that large colonies of the White-breasted 

 Petrel were breeding on the flat top of the island, in burrows 

 dug out in the sandy ground, and partly concealed by the 



