254 BRITISH SEA BIRDS. 



Island and the Scilly Islands as its only nesting 

 places in the vicinity ! I have seen this Petrel on 

 the whiting grounds outside Tor Bay, and Manx 

 Shearwaters, too, during summer ; but where they 

 breed is another matter, so skulking and secretive are 

 their movements near and on the land. So far as 

 is known, there is no breeding-place of the Stormy 

 Petrel on the entire eastern coast-line of England 

 and Scotland. The German Ocean is a land-locked 

 sea, and it is more than probable the Stormy Petrel 

 breeds nowhere on its coasts ; but that its nesting- 

 places extend far up the English Channel much 

 further east than Tor Bay there can be little 

 doubt. There are many known breeding-places of 

 this Petrel from the Scilly Islands northwards, 

 along the west coast of England, Wales, and 

 Scotland to the Shetlands, and many others round 

 the coasts of Ireland. The favourite breeding 

 haunts of the Stormy Petrel are rocky islands, 

 rising in uneven turf-clad downs, strewn with 

 masses of rock and stones. The bird probably 

 pairs for life, and is more or less gregarious at its 

 breeding-places. The slight nest of dry grass is 

 placed in an old rabbit earth or Puffin burrow, 

 under a rock or heap of loose stones, or in ruins, 

 and amongst masonry. In some cases no nest 

 whatever is made. The single egg is laid normally 

 in June. This is pure white in ground colour, with 

 a faint zone of minute dust-like red specks round 

 the larger end. Like all its kindred, the Stormy 



