430 NATATORES. 



bers, in the Northern Seas of Europe and America. It is not 

 uncommon off the coast from New York to Nova Scotia. The 

 rocky St. Kilda, one of the western islands of Scotland, is the 

 only place of annual resort for this bird in the British dominions. 

 (Shelby.) It is from sixteen to eighteen inches in length ; breeds 

 in high latitudes, never coming to the coast except for the pur- 

 poses of nesting, or when driven thither by gales. The bill, iris 

 and feet are yellow ; the head, neck, and lower parts pure white ; 

 the back and wings, of a grayish blue. Scoresby says: " The 

 Fulmar is the constant companion of the whale-fisher. It joins 

 his ship immediately on passing the Shetland Islands, and accom- 

 panies it through the trackless ocean to the highest accessible 

 latitudes, ever keeping an eager watch for any thing thrown 

 overboard; the smallest particle of fatty substance can scarcely 

 escape it. It never dives but when incited to it by the appear- 

 ence of a morsel of fat under water." Though like Mother 

 Carey's Chicken, it follows in the wake of ships, its food is of a 

 somewhat higher grade, being restricted to the garbage of the 

 vessel, blubber, &c. This bird is the Mollemoke of Dr. Kane. 

 The SLENDER-BILLED FULMAR, P. tenuirostris, is a species 

 named by Audubon. Its length is eighteen inches and a half. 

 It is common near Columbia river ; is easily taken with a hook 

 baited with pork, and during a gale is so tame as almost to allow 

 itself to be taken with the hand. 



The Southern Seas are visited by several species of Petrels. 

 The largest, the NELLY or BREAK-BONES, P. gigantea, is a com- 

 mon bird, both in the inland channels and on the open sea. "In 

 its habit and manner of flight," says Darwin in his Voyage of 

 Adventure, "there is a very close resemblance to the Albatross, 

 and, as with the latter bird, a person may watch it for hours to- 

 gether without seeing on what it feeds, so it is with this Petrel. 

 The Break-Bone is, however, a rapacious bird, for it was ob- 

 served by some of the officers of fort San Antonio, chasing a 

 diver. The bird tried to escape both by diving and flying, but 

 it was continually struck down, and at last killed by a blow on 

 its head. At Port St. Julian, also, these Great Petrels were seen 

 killing and devouring young gulls." These large Petrels are 

 called by the sailors, Mother Carey's Geese. 



The SHEARWATER, Puffinus, differs from the true Petrels by 

 having a longer bill, and the tubular nostrils open, not by a com- 

 mon aperture, but by two distinct orifices. 



The WANDERING or LARGE SHEARWATER, P. cinereus, (ashy- 

 colored,) is twenty inches in length, and of a sooty brown color. 

 It is frequently seen off the shore from the Gulf of St. Lawrence 



