252 BRITISH SEA BIRDS. 



centre of busy towns. At this season it is also 

 noticed a good deal about certain lighthouses at 

 night. After rough nights I have seen odd Stormy 

 Petrels flying over the fishermen's cottages like 

 swallows, and many of them are, or used to be, 

 caught in the flight-nets in the Wash. The actions 

 of this Petrel at sea are characteristic of its con- 

 geners. It flies about in the same fluttering 

 manner, following the curves of the waves, and 

 pattering along their sloping surfaces with its tiny- 

 webbed feet. It may be met with hundreds of 

 miles from land, following ships, or paying a vessel 

 a short visit, then disappearing again, lost in the 

 lonely wastes of water. It is able to weather many 

 a storm at sea, doubtless obtaining much shelter in 

 the deep hollows of the mighty waves. It may be 

 seen flitting about the storm-stirred sea quite at its 

 ease ; and from this fact, it is very popularly 

 believed to be a harbinger of bad weather, and dis- 

 liked accordingly by sailors. Except during the 

 breeding season, the Stormy Petrel rarely visits the 

 land ; it rests and sleeps upon the sea, swimming 

 just as buoyantly as a Duck. It is seldom seen to 

 alight, however, unless to pick up some morsel of 

 food, and rarely remains long upon the water. At 

 its breeding stations it is certainly very nocturnal in 

 its habits, but otherwise it may be seen at all hours 

 of the day fluttering above the sea. Its food 

 probably consists almost entirely of cuttlefish ; I 

 have dissected many specimens of this Petrel, and 



