BIRDS OP THE HUMBER DISTRICT. 213 



time been obtained in the autumn and winter along 

 our eastern seaboard, and particularly in the neigh- 

 bourhood of Flamborough, after long continuations 

 of severe and stormy weather. During the first 

 week in October 1867 there was a considerable flock 

 in Bridlington Bay ; eight or nine were then shot, 

 and another knocked down as it was flitting close to 

 the stern of a fishing-boat, by the short gaff the men 

 use for hauling in the cod. Storm-driven birds have 

 also occurred on several occasions far inland, both in 

 Yorkshire and Lincolnshire. 



By sailors, who are proverbially superstitious, the 

 little Petrel has ever been considered a bird of ill 

 omen, and the harbinger of foul weather. 



u The mariner curseth the warning bird 

 Which bringeth him news of the storm unheard." 



Birds of the ocean though they be, they are not 

 able to contend against unusually heavy and long- 

 continued gales, and naturally fly before the storm, 

 seeking the nearest shelter, thus congregating often 

 in large numbers round the stern and to leeward of 

 the lonely and labouring ship, the only break in the 

 storm -swept sea. 



