Wanderings of a Naturalist 



short period in which to feed. Apparently those birds which 

 emerged fed over the land, for they could be seen flitting 

 around bat-like throughout the night. It would be interest- 

 ing to learn whether on their return they fed their mates, who 

 evidently remained behind to brood their eggs, for they could 

 be heard calling among the stones from dusk to daybreak. 

 In this connexion it may be stated that it has been established 

 that both cock and hen petrels take their share in incubating 

 the egg, and that the two sexes are indistinguishable in colour 

 and appearance. 



On this island the favourite nesting sites of the storm 

 petrels were among the large rounded stones which were 

 heaped up on the shore just above the level of the highest 

 spring tides, though the birds also nested in half-ruined walls 

 and under isolated rocks inland. But as the island is less than 

 half a mile in breadth, the petrels could from any point leave 

 their holes and be over the ocean in a few seconds' time. 

 During the hours of daylight the birds were never seen, al- 

 though in dull weather they could be heard purring beneath 

 the cairns of stones where they nested. As a rule, they 

 seemed to prefer to nest apart from other sea birds, but in one 

 instance a pair took up their quarters in an old wall in the 

 midst of a colony of puffins. 



A strong, though not unpleasant, musty smell pervaded 

 not only the nesting hollows of the petrel, but the rocks for 

 several feet on either side, and after a good deal of experience 

 we found the surest way of discovering the nest was by 

 following up the scent. 



We left the island on July 15 by which time almost all 

 the storm petrels had laid and were unable to revisit it 

 until August 23, a fine sunny day sandwiched in between 

 two spells of rough, unsettled weather. On landing we at 

 once visited the nesting site of the storm petrel which had 

 been found brooding on July 8, and were more than pleased 

 to find that the egg had hatched out safely, and that a young 

 bird, ten to twelve days old, nestled in the hollow. This 



72 



