242 THE BIRDS OF OUR RAMBLES. 



(Procellaria pelagicd], remarkable for being the 

 smallest web-footed bird known to science. Its 

 breeding season is in June ; and like the pre- 

 ceding bird it makes a nest at the end of some 

 old Puffin's or rabbit's burrow, under stones or 

 amongst the crevices of ruins near the sea. The 

 nest is slight enough, only a scrap or two of dry 

 grass, upon which one egg is deposited, white, 

 and rough in texture, sprinkled with tiny red 

 specks, usually in the form of a zone round the 

 st. Kiida larger end. The much more local FORK- TAILED 

 Rona.we.st PETREL (P. leachi\ closely resembles the pre- 



of Scotland. ,. v /'..'.'* t . , r . 



ceding species, only it is nearly twice the size, 

 and has a deeply forked tail, that of the Stormy 

 Petrel being nearly square. Both these birds are 

 nearly uniform brownish black in colour, except the 

 upper tail coverts which are white. The most 

 important breeding-place of this bird is at St. 

 Kilda. Here it makes its nest at the end of a 

 disused Puffin's or Shearwater's burrow a simple 

 affair, composed of a few bits of dry grass, 

 moss, or even lichen from the surrounding rocks 

 and the single egg is precisely similar to that 

 of the Stormy Petrel, only proportionately larger 

 in size. All these Petrels are more or less 

 gregarious during the breeding season, and num- 

 bers of nests may be found within a very small 

 area. 



Undoubtedly the low-lying coasts the sandy 

 beaches and the muddy shores, become the most 

 interesting with the approach of autumn. These 

 places are the great highways of migration, the 

 grand winter resort of those birds that summer in 

 the Arctic regions. Here, between the months 



