536 NATATORES. THALASSIDROMA. PETREL. 



rally very fat and oily, and by the inhabitants of Ferroe and 

 other islands it frequents is sometimes converted into a lamp. 

 For this purpose a wick of cotton, or other material, is drawn 

 through the body, and which continues to burn till the oil 

 becomes exhausted. Instances frequently occur of its being 

 found rather far inland, either dead or in an exhausted and 

 dying stated, but the cause of such mortality has not hitherto 

 been satisfactorily accounted for ; it may, however, arise 

 from weakness, occasioned either by old age or accidental 

 illness, rendering it unable to contend with the autumnal 

 and wintry blasts, during which period such instances are 

 most frequent ; and this is rendered more probable by its 

 being commonly in an emaciated condition. The flight of 

 the Storm-Petrel is remarkably swift, and is equalled by few 

 of the feathered race. It is often seen darting from wave to 

 wave, at intervals dipping its bill into the water as if in 

 search of insects, or picking up food, during which it will 

 stand (as it were) upon the summit of the billow with wings 

 expanded and raised, but is very rarely seen to alight for 

 swimming, and is totally unable to dive, a faculty attributed 

 to it in an eminent degree by some of the earlier writers. 



PLATE 103. Fig. 2. Natural size. 



General Bill, from the forehead to the tip, three-eighths of an inch 

 descrip- long ; black, with the tip much compressed. Head, 



back, quills, and tail, glossy black. The lower range 

 of wing-coverts brownish-black. Under plumage pitch 

 or brownish-black. Patch behind the thighs, and bar 

 across the upper-tail coverts, white. Legs and feet 

 black, with the tarsus seven-eighths of an inch in length. 



