258 STORMY PETREL. 



is not so ridiculously absurd as to suppose, that the storm which 

 follows is produced by the agency of these feeble creatures, 

 who are themselves equal sufferers by its effects with man. He 

 looks on them rather as useful monitors, who from the delicacy 

 of their organs, and a perception superior to his own, point out 

 the change in the atmosphere before it has become sensible to 

 his grosser feelings; and thus, in a certain degree, contribute to 

 his security. And why should not those who navigate the ocean 

 contemplate the appearance of this unoffending little bird in 

 like manner, instead of eyeing it with hatred and execration? 

 As well might they curse the midnight light-house, that, star- 

 like, guides them on their watery way, or the buoy, that warns 

 them of the sunken rocks below, as this harmless wanderer, 

 whose manner informs them of the approach of the storm, and 

 thereby enables them to prepare for it. 



The Stormy Petrels, or Mother Carey's Chickens, breed in 

 great numbers on the rocky shores of the Bahama and the Ber- 

 muda islands, and in some places on the coast of East Florida 

 and Cuba. They breed in communities like the Bank Swallows, 

 making their nests in the holes and cavities of the rocks above 

 the sea, returning to feed their young only during the night, 

 with the superabundant oily food from their stomachs. At these 

 times they may be heard making a continued cluttering sound 

 like frogs during the whole night. In the day they are silent, 

 and wander widely over the ocean. This easily accounts for 

 the vast distance they are sometimes seen from land, even in 

 the breeding season. The rapidity of their flight is at least equal 

 to the fleetness of our Swallows. Calculating this at the rate of 

 one mile per minute, twelve hours would be sufficient to waft 

 them a distance of seven hundred and twenty miles; but it is 

 probable that the far gfeater part confine themselves much 

 nearer land during that interesting period. 



In the month of July, while on a voyage from New Orleans 

 to New York, I saw few or none of these birds in the gulf of 

 Mexico, although our ship was detained there by calms for 

 twenty days, and carried by currents as far south as cape An- 



