142 LEACH'S PETEEL. 



and seldom follow ships in the same manner, sheering off after 

 they have approached them, and taking another and wider 

 range, rambling over the seas both in the dark and the light. 

 They, like the others, discharge oil from their tubular nostrils. 



They fly in a different manner from the allied species, 

 wheeling more widely, and with firmer beatings of the wings. 

 They also alight less frequently on the water, though they 

 often drop their legs over it, and patter with their feet. 

 They swim well, if necessary, but are not often seen 'naiant.' 



They feed on small fishes, Crustacea, and mollusca, and in 

 search of these immerse the head underneath the surface without 

 inconvenience a not inconsiderable time. 



The note, heard both by day and night, is a shrill and 

 querulous plaint, and is described by Audubon as resembling 

 the syllables 'pewr-wit, pewr-wit.' 



They breed in burrows, among stones, or the clefts of huge 

 wave-worn rocks, remaining within them at this season until 

 towards sunset, when they wander abroad in search of food, 

 returning to their mates or young, as the case may be, in 

 the morning, and feeding them then. 



The egg is white only one is laid. -It is of large pro- 

 portionate size. 



Male; length, seven inches and a quarter; head, crown, neck, 

 and nape, sooty black; chin, throat, and breast, sooty black, 

 the last-named tinted with brown, and having a white patch 

 behind each thigh, continued, as presently mentioned. Back, 

 dark sooty greyish black, white on the lowest part. 



The wings expand to the width of one foot seven inches, 

 and reach, when closed, a little beyond the end of the tail; 

 greater and lesser wing coverts, greyish brown^ some of them 

 tipped with grey, shewing a pale bar across; primaries, black; 

 secondaries, black, the tips greyish; tertiaries, sooty black, 

 tipped with white. The tail, of twelve feathers, is sooty black, 

 and forked, the side feathers being half an inch longer than 

 the middle ones; upper tail coverts, partly white; under tail 

 coverts, sooty black, with an elongated patch of white on each 

 side. Legs, toes, claws, and webs, black. 



The female is like the male. 



