166 PROCELLARIA PELAGICA. 



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 contem- 

 plate the appearance of this unoffending little bird in 

 like manner, instead of eyeing it with hatred and exe- 

 cration ? 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 Bermuda Islands, and in some places on the 

 coast of East Florida and Cuba. They breed in com- 

 munities, 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 greater 

 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 Antonio, the western- 

 most extremity of Cuba. On entering the Gulf stream, 

 and passing along the coasts of Florida and the Caro- 

 linas, these birds made their appearance in great 



