254 Order XVII 



of the latter. In fact, modern ornithologists have 

 subdivided this genus to such an extent that to deter- 

 mine any form recourse must be had to a long series of 

 specimens. But we have one that breeds in Britain, 

 with which we are more particularly concerned. This 

 is the Manx Shearwater (P. puffinus), so called from 

 its occurrence in the Isle of Man. There it breeds on 

 the islet called the " Calf," while it is also found in the 

 isles of Scilly, in those off the Welsh coast, in Ireland, 

 and up the west of Scotland to Shetland, but not on our 

 eastern shores. Thence the range extends to Iceland and 

 the North Sea generally, the southern and Mediterranean 

 species being the nearly allied Levantine Shearwater. 

 The colour and habits resemble those of the Greater 

 Shearwater, but our bird sits on the water and dives, 

 perhaps to a greater extent than the larger form. The 

 nest of grass and a little other material is at the end of 

 a burrow, the site chosen, if not on small islands, being 

 usually on the abrupt crumbling earthy slopes just 

 above some high cliff, which often overhangs the sea. 

 The large white egg has not so strong a smell of musk 

 as that of the Fulmar or even the Storm-petrel, but 

 the bird ejects an exceptional amount of evil-smelling 

 oil when handled. 



Our main list of British birds comes to an end with 

 the Fulmar Petrel (Fulmarus glacialis), which until the 

 beginning of last century was considered mainly an 

 Arctic species, ranging from the north Atlantic eastwards 

 along the northern coasts of Europe and perhaps Asia. 

 The north Pacific species are different, though akin to 

 our bird, and at present it is impossible to say where the 

 forms meet or overlap in Asia. The Fulmar provides 

 one of the most interesting illustrations of extension of 



