150 STOEMY PETREL. 



bill into the water in search of, or to pick up food, hovering 

 for the moment with upraised wings. They are able to swim, 

 but seldom alight for the purpose. 



They feed on Crustacea and mollasca generally, small fishes, 

 and eatable things of any kind that come in their way. They 

 often keep company with ships lor many days, possibly for 

 the sake of some little shelter afforded, but more probably 

 to secure stray morsels, either thrown over as waste or 

 purposely cast to them by the sailors. 



When engaged with their nests they utter a very peculiar 

 purring or buzzing sound, broken every now and then by a 

 'click;' also towards evening a frequent shrill whistling noise. 

 Meyer likens the note to the word 'kekereck-ee.' The- voices 

 of these birds may be heard, especially towards evening, under 

 the stones, at a depth of three or four leet or more, where 

 they breed on the beach, 'distinctly singing a sort ot warbling 

 chatter.' 



The Stormy Petrel nestles in rabbit-burrows, the crevices 

 of rocks, holes in cliffs at a great height above the sea, and 

 among loose stones They also excavate small runs for them- 

 selves where the soil is soft, to a distance of three or four 

 feet. The season for laying is late towards the middle, and 

 sometimes not till quite the end of June, or the first week 

 in July. The young have been lound only recently hatched 

 on the 13th. of October. 



The egg is white, and somewhat of an oval shape. It is 

 very frequently surrounded abcul the base with a ring of faint 

 dull-coloured pink or fine rust-coloured spots. 



A few pieces of stalks of plants, dried grass, or sea-pinks, 

 with a stray feather or two, are all the nest. The bird sits 

 very close, and will allow herself to be taken off' the nest 

 sooner than forsake her charge. 



Male; length, not quite six inches; bill, black, the tip 

 much compressed; iris, dark brown; head, crown, neck, and 

 nape, glossy black; chin, throat, and breas f , sooty brownish 

 black, the last-named with a white patch on the sides towards 

 the tail; back, glossy black. 



The wings expand about one foot one inch. Greater wing 

 coverts, sooty black, the tips pale grey, forming a bar across; 

 lesser wing coverts, brownish black; tertiaries, sooty black, 

 their outer edges and tips greyish white. Tail, sooty black; 

 upper tail coverts, white at the base, forming a broad band 



