506 BIRDS OF THE WEST OF SCOTLAND. 



The following remarks from Mr Elwes' paper on the bird stations 

 of the Outer Hebrides (Ibis, 1869) gives the latest intelligence 

 regarding the St. Kilda breeding place of this bird : " Some of 

 the man-of-war's men had been collecting eggs on shore ; and this 

 excited the indignation of the older men, who considered it in the 

 light of stealing their property. After we had pacified them with 

 some small presents of tobacco and sugar, I showed them the 

 pictures in my ' Yarrell,' among others pointing out the Fork-tailed 

 Petrel. This, however, they did not seem to distinguish, by any 

 peculiar name, from the storm petrel which is common enough 

 and is here called 'Assilag.' The petrels are too small to be of 

 any use for food, and are probably not much seen by the natives, 

 especially as they only come out at night; but the pictures of all 

 the other birds, which are found here, were at once recognized, 

 and the Gaelic names given." Having landed on Dun, the same 

 writer proceeds: "I expected to find the petrels breeding near the 

 top of the cliff; but none were at present visible, and I think it 

 must have been too early in the year for eggs. There is no doubt, 

 however, that the Fork-tailed Petrel does breed here, as I have 

 seen eggs from St. Kilda, and Sir W. Milner procured the birds, 

 though John Macgillivray, like myself, was disappointed in 

 finding them." 



I have obtained specimens of the Fork-tailed Petrel from Ben- 

 becula, Barra, Skye, Rum, Eigg, and Canna; also from various 

 districts on the Firth of Clyde, and as far up as Dunoon and 

 Roseneath. Numerous specimens occurred on the west coast in 

 the winters of 1863, 64, 65, 67, and 68. They are met with, in 

 fact, almost every season, and chiefly in the months of November 

 and December. I only know of two specimens that have occurred 

 in the east of Scotland: one of these, obtained in Caithness-shire, 

 is now in the collection of the late Mr Sinclair of Wick; the other, 

 which is now before me, was found in an exhausted state on the 

 Loch of Forfar in the winter of 1868. 



Like the Shearwater and Storm Petrel, this bird is often dur- 

 ing storms found in an exhausted state both on the beach and at 

 considerable distances inland. On such occasions it seems unable 

 to withstand the force of the blasts which frequently occur in the 

 vicinity of our western mountain ranges. 



