FULMAR. 135 



have been shot in Cornwall. In the county of Derby, one 

 was killed October 25th., 1847, in a field near a pool at 

 Melbourne; it had first alighted on an island in tho middle 

 of the water. In Oxfordshire, one was found alive in Westori 

 wood, in the parish of Weston-on-the-Green, on the 20th. of 

 February, 1829; another killed on Port-meadow, near Oxford, 

 in May, 1836. It has occurred occasionally also on the Welsh 

 coast. So also in Ireland, but considered extremely rare. 



In Orkney, it appears but rarely; a specimen was shot on 

 the loch of G-rameshall in Holm, in the month of September, 

 1846; one at Scalpa, near Kirk wall, in the year 1849. 



It is said to be a regular winter visitant in Zetland. 



The Fulmar migrates southwards in the autumn. 



They are sometimes eaten, but are only indifferent food. 

 They are pugnacious among themselves when assembled to- 

 gether in countless flocks, as they are seen sometimes to prey 

 on any common food, and also very fearless at such times, 

 as for instance, when a whale has been struck, mingling among 

 the men, so as even to require to be thrown out of the way. 

 They are partly nocturnal in their habits, like the others. 

 If in danger, they defend themselves with their powerful bill, 

 and also forcibly eject from it an oil which acts as some 

 protection. 



'They are strong and graceful on the wing, flying almost 

 in the teeth of the strongest gale, .without any seeming 

 movement of their beautifully-rounded pinions; now swooping 

 along in the troughs of the sea, now skimming on the snowy 

 crests. They are almost constantly on the wing night arid 

 day, never alighting on the water except during calm and 

 moderate weather, and then but rarely. They are very bold, 

 flying close to the side of the ship, almost within reach of the 

 hand.' They walk in an ungainly manner when on the 

 land or the floating masses of ice. 



They feed voraciously on anything in the shape of food 

 that floats on the water, and when satisfied, sleep on the 

 ice till again called by their appetite to seek for more. The 

 young are fed on an oil, into which these different substances 

 are converted. 



The noise that a large flock makes is described as almost 

 deafening, 'something between the cackle of a hen and the 

 quack of a duck.' 



The Fulmar builds on the small grassy shelves that occur 

 on the front of high and inaccessible precipices, the result of 



