FULMAR PETREL,. I'rocelldna 



day or two old at the farthest, thickly covered with long white down. The young birds 

 were very clamorous on being handled, and vomited a quantity of clear oil, with which I 

 sometimes observed the parent birds feeding them by disgorging it. The old birds, on 

 being seized, instantly vomit a quantity of clear amber-coloured oil, which imparts to the 

 whole bird, its nest and young, and even to the rock which it frequents, a peculiar and 

 very disagreeable odour. Fulmar oil is among the most valuable productions of St. 

 Kilda. The best is obtained from the old bird. The Fulmar flies with great buoyancy 

 and considerable rapidity, and when at sea is generally seen skimming along the surface 

 of the waves at a slight elevation, though I never observed one to alight or pick up any- 

 thing from the water." 



In the Arctic regions the Fulmar Petrel accompanies the whaler, flocking round 

 the ship as soon as a whale is captured, and eagerly devouring all the stray bits of 

 blubber that are wasted during the process of flensing. It is an amusing sight to 

 watch these birds during the process, for they squabble and fight over their meal in 

 their anxiety to secure the best and largest morsels, and contrive to swallow pieces 

 of blubber that seem large enough to choke them. It is said that the birds will 

 sometimes assemble near a living whale, and so indicate to the practised eye the 

 whereabouts of the huge quarry. 



The colour of the Fulmar Petrel is white upon the head and neck, pearl-grey on the 

 upper surface, and pure white on all the lower surface. The length of the adult bird is 

 not quite twenty inches. 



THEKE are several other British examples of the Petrels, such as the CAPPED PETREL 

 (Procellaria hcesttata), notable for the patch of white on the top of the head ; the pretty 

 FORK-TAILED PETREL ( Thalassidroma Leachii) with its slender legs, black plumage, and 

 white patch on the upper tail-coverts ; WILSON'S PETREL ( Thalassidroma Wilsonii], much 

 resembling the last-mentioned species, but differing in its more forked tail ; BULWER'S 

 PETREL (Thalassidroma Bulweri), which is wholly of a sooty black hue ; and the SHEAR- 

 WATERS (Puffinius), of which genus three species are known in England, and are 

 remarkable for the proportionate length and slenderness of their bills. 



THE well-known WANDERING ALBATROS is an excellent example of the next sub- 

 family, being the largest and finest of all the species. 



This fine bird is possessed of wondrous powers of wing, sailing along for days together 

 without requiring rest, and hardly ever flapping its wings, merely swaying itself easily 



