210 NATURAL HISTORY. 



but when the females begin to sit, their call is seldom heard, excepting at night, when the male in his 

 flight to and from the hole, and his mate on her nest, makes a considerable noise. There seems to- 

 be a difference of a semitone between the moans of the two sexes. The call resembles the syllable 

 oo, pronounced with the mouth closed, while a slurred chromatic scale is being made from E to c 

 in the tenor. This kind of Petrel has much difficulty in taking flight from ground which is 

 comparatively level ; it is only by running against the wind, or by starting from a lump of Azorella, 

 that the birds are able to rise upon the wing if they happen to alight upon a flat. During my walks 

 on calm nights I used frequently to hear them fluttering along the ground in the dark, and (if I had 

 a lantern) easily caught them by uncovering the light and turning it on them. They sometimes lay 

 still in my hand without attempting to escape ; but when they flew off from it, they did so in a. 

 manner which showed that they were not at all crippled. They flew to light on board H.M.S. 

 Supply on dark nights in October, when there was snow upon the deck." 



The True Petrels are by far the most numerous of the family. They are birds of strong flight,, 

 and have very long and pointed wings, which enable them to traverse the sea with a light and 

 fairy-like flight, many of them flying with their legs hanging downwards, and patting the waves over 

 which they skim. The well-known Cape Pigeons (Daption capemis), the Fulmar Petrels (Fulmarus), 

 and the Stormy Petrels (Oceanitis), are amongst the most familiar birds of this group ; and of 

 Wilson's Petrel (0. oceanica) Mr. Eaton gives an interesting notice in the " Repoi-t on the Transit of 

 Venus Expedition " already alluded to : 



"From the lOfch of October, when we passed Cape Sandwich, until the middle or third week 

 of November, we completely lost sight of the Storm Petrels. About the period last mentioned, 

 however, they began to frequent Observatory Bay in large numbers. Their first appearance in it 

 took place during a strong breeze which lasted several days. When this was succeeded by more 

 moderate weather we saw little of them in the day-time ; but towards evening they used to fly over 

 the water like Swallows, and some of them might ba observed flying near the ground far away into 

 the country, following the course of the valleys, or playing round the inland cliffs. We tracked them, 

 along the lower hill-sides and the margin of lakes over rocks and bogs ; but our efforts to learn what 

 became of them were unattended with success. Probably at that time they were not preparing 

 to breed, and the birds were merely going overland from the bay to other inlets of the sea. At 

 length, when we went to Thumb Peak, their mode of nesting was discovered. Carefully watching 

 with Lieut. Goodridge, R.N., the birds flying to and fro about the rocks, we observed that they 

 occasionally disappeared into crevices amongst piles of loose stones, and crept under loose masses of 

 rocks. Having meanwhile ascertained their call, we were able, by listening attentively, to detect the 

 exact position of several of these hidden birds. They were easily caught when the stones were 

 rolled aside ; but they were in couples, merely preparing for laying, and therefore we did not find any 

 eggs. On our way back to Observatory Bay after the Transit we called at the American station,, 

 and were informed by Dr. Kidder that he had observed this Petrel on the shore near Molloy Point. 

 The sea-shore in the neighbourhood of Observatory Bay is of a different character (for the most part) 

 from that which is adjacent to the American station, and being less favourable than it, was seldom 

 resorted to for nesting by the Petrels. But the country in general about our bay afforded them 

 unlimited accommodation. For, provided that they can find a slope of shattered rocks, with suitable 

 chinks and crevices, or dry spaces under stones, or large boulders, sheltered from draughts, whether 

 they be near the Sound or on the summits and sides of high hills, they readily appropriate them. 

 The egg is laid xipon the bare ground within the recess selected by the birds, either in a chance 

 depression formed by contiguous stones, or in a shallow circular hollow excavated in the earth by the 

 parent. Having found numbers of their nesting-places, I will describe my method of searching for 

 them. Whenever there was a calm night I used to walk with a darkened bull's eye lantern towards 

 some rocky hill-side, such as the Petrels would be likely to frequent. It was best to shut off the light 

 and keep it concealed, using it only in dangerous places, where falls would be attended with injury, 

 and progress in the dark was hardly possible, lest the birds seeing it should be silenced. On arriving 

 at the ground selected it was probable that the Storm Petrels would be heard in various directions, 

 some on the wing, others on their nests, sounding their call at intervals of from two to three minutes. 

 Those on nests could be distinguished from others flying by their cries proceeding from fixed positions. 



