STORM-PETBEL 537 



situation though very different forms of cover are selected ; 

 some birds resort to rock-crevices, others to disused rabbit- 

 burrows, while numbers breed under masses of loose stones. 

 In many instances the nest is at no great height from the 

 sea-level, but in some localities it may be found several 

 hundred feet high. The building-materials are scanty, 

 consisting of bits of dry grass, sticks, and weeds ; in some 

 instances a naked hollow scraped in the soil at the end of 

 a burrow is utilised. The egg, one of which constitutes 

 the clutch, is white, in many cases exhibiting a zone 

 composed of fine red-brown specks near the larger end. 



Incubation commences about the middle of June and lasts 

 for thirty-five days : nestlings have been taken in September 

 and October. The breeding-haunts smell strongly, the 

 odour being derived chiefly from the oily gastric contents 

 which are ejected from the mouth when the bird is pulled 

 out of its hole. 



The Storm-Petrel has many breeding-sites off the British 

 coasts. 



In Ireland thousands congregate on some of the islands 

 off Western Kerry, including the Skelligs, Scariff, and the 

 Blaskets ; while the islands off the coasts of Gal way, Mayo, 

 Donegal, Antrim, and probably other localities, accommodate 

 colonies. 



In Scotland it breeds in the groups of the large Western 

 and Northern Isles, while recently it has been found nesting 

 on the Bass Rock on the east side of Scotland (Eagle 

 Clarke, Ann. Scot. Nat. Hist., 1905, pp. 55-56). 



In England a few pairs probably breed on an islet off 

 Luiidy Island, while there is a breeding-station also on the 

 Scilly Isles. 



In Wales there are several breeding-resorts, especially 

 on the small islands off the coasts of Pembrokeshire. 



Geographical distribution. Abroad, it may be traced 

 as a breeding-species from the Channel Isles southward 

 along the French coast to the Mediterranean, as far east as 

 Italy ; visiting the Canaries and migrating along the West 

 coast of Africa, as far as Cape Town in winter. North- 

 ward it breeds in the Faroes, and visits in summer, Norway, 

 Iceland, South Greenland, and the east coast of Canada. 



DESCRIPTIVE CHARACTERS. 



PLUMAGE. Adult male nuptial. General plumage sooty- 

 black ; forehead, breast, and abdomen, of a somewhat 



