LARIDJE. 627 



The Storm Petrel usualty places its eggs in a hole 

 in the crevice of a rock or in a rabbit-hole. Its nearest 

 breeding station to these parts seems to be at the 

 Scilly Islands : it also breeds in considerable num- 

 bers on a little rocky island in the Eace of Alderney. 

 Mr. Sanford gave me a curious description of a 

 Storm Petrel's breeding station, which he had 

 visited, on a small rocky island off the coast of 

 Galway, called Hii Island : on the top of this island 

 there is a small lake, on the banks of which is an 

 ancient building, like the domed hut of an Esqui- 

 maux : the walls of this hut are very thick, nearly 

 five feet, and in the holes in these walls the Storm 

 Petrels bred in considerable numbers, but on no 

 other part of the island, neither in the crevices in 

 the rocks nor in holes in the ground. 



The Storm Petrel has the same tubular nostrils 

 at the base of the upper mandible as I have before 

 mentioned. The bill is black ; irides dark brown ; 

 the head, neck, back, wings and tail are sooty black ; 

 the outer edges of the tertials white ; upper tail- 

 coverts white ; chin, throat, breast, belly and under 

 tail-coverts sooty black; sicles of the vent white; 

 legs, toes and webs black. This is a smaller bird 

 even than the Forktailed Petrel, the whole length 

 being not quite six inches. The young birds of the 

 year are not quite so dark in colour; the edges of 

 the wing-coverts are rusty ; there is no white on the 



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