BIRDS OF PENNSYLVANIA. 27 



GENUS PROCELLARIA LINN^US. 

 Procellaria pelagica LINN. 



Stormy Petrel ; "Mother Carey's Chicken.*' 



DESCRIPTION. 



Adult. Tail very slightly rounded ; legs short ; length about 5 inches ; bill and 

 feet black ; iris quite or nearly black ; upper tail coverts white, except towards the 

 ends, which are blackish ; upper parts brownish-black ; lower parts grayish-sooty 

 black. 



Habitat. Atlantic Ocean, south on the American side to the Newfoundland banks, 

 west coast of Africa and coast of Europe. 



Accidental visitor in Pennsylvania. According to Dr. Turnbull (Birds 

 of East Pennsylvania), one was captured under Market street bridge in 

 Philadelphia. Dr. W. L. Hartman, of Pittston, mentions the Stormy 

 Petrel as an accidental visitor in Luzerne county. 



GENUS OCEANODROMA REICHENBACH. 

 Oceanodroma leucorhoa (VIEILL.). 



Leach's Petrel. 



DESCRIPTION. 



Adult. Legs short; larger than the Stormy Petrel, which it resembles in colora- 

 tion, but is easily recognized by the forked tail. 



Habitat. North Atlantic and north Pacific Oceans; south on the coast of the 

 United States to Virginia and California ; breeds from Maine and the Hebrides north- 

 ward on the coasts of the Atlantic. 



Leach's Petrel is the common " Mother Carey's Chicken " to be seen 

 on the Atlantic from Chesapeake Bay northward. This species has been 

 observed only as a rare straggler in Pennsylvania, whither it has been 

 driven by fierce storms of wind and rain. Dr. W. P. Turnbull (Birds of 

 East Pennsylvania}, says: "During a gale in August, 1842, a number 

 were driven inland." In September, 1879, I had a specimen presented 

 to me by the late Dr. George Martin, of West Chester, who had picked 

 it up in his yard in an exhausted and dying condition. Captain A. A. 

 Clay, of Rasselas, Pa., informs me that a relative of his killed one about 

 four years ago on a small pond in Elk county. 



NOTE. The Wilson's Petrel (Oceanites oceanicus) has been captured, 

 it is said, in Pennsylvania, but as my informant is not quite clear on this 

 matter I do not deem it best to include the species in our fauna. The 

 plumage of Wilson's Petrel is very much the same in coloration as the 

 Stormy Petrel, but it differs from this latter bird in having very long 

 legs, and the interdigital webs spotted with yellow. 



