WILSON'S PETEEL 545 



1838 (Proc. Zool. Soc., 1839) : Kodd, in his ' Birds of Corn- 

 wall, mentions the capture of another specimen in Novem- 

 ber, 1838, near Polperro, in Cornwall. 



Wilson's Petrel has also been recorded from the follow- 

 ing counties : 



Sussex ; one obtained (Bond, ' Zoologist,' 1843). 



Wiltshire ; one picked up, November 2nd, 1849 (Marsh, 

 'Zoologist,' 1859). 



Yorkshire ; one shot, November, 1874 (Eagle Clarke, 

 Handb. Yorks., Vert., p. 85). 



Cumberland ; three occurrences, the latest being in No- 

 vember, 1890 (Saunders, Man. Brit. Birds, 2nd Edit., p. 734). 



Two examples have been taken at Freshwater in the 

 Isle of Wight ; one in November, 1863 (Delme Badcliffe, 

 ' Field/ November 28th, 1863, and ' Zoologist,' 1864) ; the 

 other in the autumn of 1888 (Gurney, 'Zoologist,' 1889). 



In Scotland there appears to be but one record, namely, 

 that of a bird taken in a net after a gale on October 1st, 

 1891 (H. Evans, Ann. Scot. Nat. Hist., 1892). 



Coincidently, two specimens were secured in Ireland, 

 these being the first well-authenticated occurrences. One, 

 shot on Lough Erne, 1 co. Fermanagh, October 1st, 1891 

 (Williams, ' Zoologist,' 1891, p. 428) ; this specimen is 

 preserved in the National Museum, Dublin. The second, 

 an adult female, found alive in a field at Mossvale, co. Down, 

 in an emaciated condition ; it died next day (B. Patterson, 

 'Zoologist,' 1891, p. 427). 



Both these birds were blown inland by the great 

 westerly winds which were then raging. Another specimen, 

 the account of its capture resting on rather shaky evidence, 

 is cited by Thompson (Nat. Hist. Irel., vol. iii, p. 417). The 

 bird was supposed to have been taken in August, 1840, some- 

 where on the Irish coast, but the locality is not mentioned. 



In its flight, selection of food, and other general habits, 

 this bird resembles the Petrels already dealt with ; it is 

 mainly a bird of the Antarctic Oceans, visiting its nesting- 

 haunts towards the end of November, and laying its single 

 egg in January or February. It breeds in colonies, building 

 among large boulders or shattered rocks, in holes, and 

 crevices. The egg is white, finely speckled with small spots 



1 Large sheets of inland waters should be carefully examined during 

 and after heavy westerly gales, when ocean-birds are often driven out of 

 their usual haunts. 



35 



