1 1 6 The Albatrosses and Petrels 



not uncommon in the South Atlantic and Antarctic seas. They fly in small 

 flocks, and Kidder notes that they use first one wing and then the other, pro- 

 ducing a peculiar irregularity of flight, that leads them to be often mistaken for 

 shore-birds. They afre rather wary, not feeding on the scraps from a ship, but 

 attending the whales to feed on what drops from their mouths, whence they are 

 often called Whale-birds by the sailors and others. They breed on Kerguelen 

 Island, making their burrows near the seashore, in lowland, under stones, or in 

 the stony ground, and are strictly nocturnal in their habits. 



Shearwaters. A large and somewhat varied group of birds known as 

 Shearwaters comprises principally the second subfamily (Puffinina), deriving 

 their popular name from their habit of gliding along very close to the surface 

 of the water, and their scientific designation from the mistaken notion that they 

 were Puffins. They are strong-flying Petrels, with long, slender bills in which 

 the nasal tubes are united externally, or nearly so, above the culmen, and with 

 long, pointed wings. They are found on practically all of the seas of the world, 

 though ordinarily at no great distance from land, to which, however, they rarely 

 resort except for nesting purposes. Some twenty-five species have been de- 

 scribed, of which number North America lays claim to ten or more ; but as the 

 differences between the species are not very strongly marked and the habits very 

 similar, it will only be necessary to select a few of the more important. One of 

 the largest species is the Great Shearwater or Hagdon (P. major) of the Atlantic 

 Ocean generally, a bird nineteen or twenty inches long, having the upper parts 

 fuscous, with the wings and tail slightly darker, while the under parts are white, 

 becoming ashy gray on the abdomen and under tail-coverts. It is exceedingly 

 abundant in many parts of the Atlantic, especially off the coast of Newfound- 

 land, where Palmer speaks of seeing them in thousands sitting on the water. 

 Brewster says of its flight : " It usually follows a direct course, and invariably skims 

 close over the waves. I know of no other sea-bird whose movements are so easy 

 and graceful. Indeed, at times, especially during a gale, its evolutions will com- 

 pare in grace and spirit with those of the Mississippi or Swallow-tailed Kites." 

 Its nest and eggs are unknown. Of the four species found in the British seas 

 the Manx Shearwater (P. puffinus) is the most abundant and best known. It 

 is much smaller than the last, being only about fifteen inches long, and is sooty 

 black above and white below, with the sides of the neck mottled with grayish 

 brown. It breeds at several stations in the Channel and along the west coast 

 of Great Britain, as well as a few islands of the Irish coast, but the principal 

 colony is on St. Kilda, often called the sea-birds' paradise. Its favorite breeding 

 places are the islands with a good ocean aspect, especially such as are broken in 

 grassy downs, and fall in crags and precipices more or less turf-grown. Their 

 burrows are made in the steep, grassy parts of the cliff or near their summit, and 

 many nests are made close together, sometimes one main entrance leading to 

 several burrows, each containing a nest. The birds are strictly nocturnal during 

 the nesting season, but in winter they are said to feed at all hours. Other species 

 of more or less common occurrence in the Atlantic are Audubon's Shearwater 

 (P. Iherminieri) and the Sooty Shearwater, or Black Hagdon (P. fuliginosus), 



