PETRELS. 



309 



season. Some of them appear as if they were 

 almost constantly on the wing, for they follow the 

 course of ships for many days together, and are 

 never seen to alight on the water, either by day 



BEAK OF PETREL. 



or night. Their food consists of small mollusca 

 and Crustacea, and the oily particles which may be 

 found floating on the surface of the sea ; some of 

 the species inhabiting high latitudes are the con- 

 stant attendants on whalers, feasting on the fat of 

 slaughtered whales with extreme voracity. Their 

 flesh becomes, from the nature of their food, satu- 

 rated, as it were, with oil ; and when offended or 

 alarmed many of them eject from their nostrils a 

 quantity of fetid oil, as a defence. Foolish and 

 groundless superstition, in former times, connected 

 these birds with the production of tempests, and 

 many silly names were given them in conse- 

 quence. 



