PETREL. 177 



These birds fix their abodes on the extreme margins of 

 lofty rocks which overhang the sea, where they make a 

 very grotesque appearance, from the singular order of the 

 rows in which they sit one above another. The eggs are a 

 favourite food with the natives of those coasts where they 

 are found ; to secure which, they will frequently risk their 

 lives, in places of the most imminent danger. The auk, 

 indeed, lays but one egg ; but this is very large in pro- 

 portion to the bird ; and, if taken or destroyed, it produces 

 another, to supply its place, a second or a third time. It 

 builds no nest, but deposits its eggs with such nice equili- 

 brium on the edge of a rock as to prevent them from 

 falling off; though, if once displaced, it is extremely dif- 

 ficult, and sometimes impossible, for human art to give 

 them exactly the same position again. A very large 

 species of auk breeds in the isle of St. Kilda about the 

 beginning of May, and retires about the middle of June. 



THE PETREL. 



Of this marine bird there are several species ; the dis- 

 tinguishing characters of which are, that the bill is straight, 

 and hooked at the extremity ; that the nostrils are cylin- 

 drical and tubular ; that the legs are naked above the knees ; 

 and that a sharp spur, pointing downwards, supplies the 

 place of the hind-toe. 



The common petrel, called also the fulmar, is frequent 

 on the isle of St. Kilda, where it breeds, and continues 

 the greater part of the year. It lays one large egg, and 

 the young are hatched about the middle of June. This 

 bard feeds on the blubber, or fat, of whales, and similar 

 substances, which, being soon convertible into oil, supply 

 them at once with the means of defence, and with pro- 

 vision for their young. The whole genus of petrels 

 possess the peculiar faculty of spouting from their bill, to 

 a considerable distance, a large quantity of pure oil, and 

 this they never fail to do on the approach of an enemy ; 

 so that the natives, who esteem this substance peculiarly 

 i 5 



