62 PROCELLARIIFORMES 



CHAP. 



surface, upon which they paddle to assist themselves. The 

 Diving Petrels and their allies to a limited extent plunge 

 through or beneath the billows, while all species may be noticed 

 at times resting or swimming upon the water. Equally at home 

 in storm or calm, they pass the greater part of their lives upon 

 the ocean, and it seems impossible to doubt the fact that they 

 sleep there also. Great difficulty is experienced in rising from 

 a level surface, whether it be the deck of a ship or a grassy flat ; 

 the birds scrambling along with flapping wings and occasional 

 aid from the bill, until some slight declivity or broken edge 

 enables them to obtain a start. When taken from a nest in a 

 burrow, they either drop to the ground like stones, or flutter off 

 in a dazed condition, which lasts for several seconds, and renders 

 them absolutely helpless. The cry is said in various cases to 

 resemble a bray, a croak, a harsh cackle, a diabolical scream, a 

 puppy's whine, or a soft whistle, while the twittering or " sing- 

 ing " of Procellaria, Oceanodroma, and Oceanites in their holes is 

 well known to those who have visited a Storm Petrel's colony. 

 The food consists of fish, crustaceans, cephalopods and other mol- 

 luscs, jellyfish, and the like, Albatroses and Fulmars being said 

 to force other species to part with their booty after the manner 

 of Skuas, or even to devour nestlings. Herbage is rarely found 

 in the stomach, but blubber of dead animals and scraps thrown 

 from shipboard are eagerly swallowed, so that many of the 

 largest forms are captured by concealing a hook in a piece of 

 pork and trailing it in the water on a cork, when the bait is 

 often greedily contested by every individual in the vicinity. 

 Albatroses and other members of the Family which will take 

 food from the surface of the sea descend upon it with elevated 

 wings, to rise again with the morsel obtained, or to float upon 

 the waves while enjoying it ; Shearwaters commonly dash down 

 with considerable impetus, and disappear after their prey for the 

 moment ; while the Diving Petrels procure their nourishment 

 at a much greater depth. When handled, and perhaps especi- 

 ally when taken from a nesting-hole, the birds bite severely, 

 and eject a quantity of amber-coloured or greenish oil from the 

 beak, followed as a rule by semi-digested food, the fluid possessing 

 a strong smell of musk, which is also perceptible in the feathers 

 and the eggs. The nest of the Albatros is usually a truncated 

 cone or cylinder of mud, grass, leaves, and moss, with a slight 



