On Crag and Sea-cliff. 255 



moss, and roots, upon which it lays a single egg, 

 white in colour, faintly marked with dust-like specks 

 of brown and gray. Sometimes a nest is dispensed 

 with altogether. We caught some of the Petrels 

 upon their nests, which, when released, flew about in 

 a dazed sort of way as if unaccustomed to the light. 



The Fork-tailed Petrel. 



These Petrels are chiefly crepuscular or nocturnal in 

 their habits, and during the daytime not a bird will 

 be seen. The St. Kildans pay little or no attention 

 to such small birds, and possibly the Fork-tailed 

 Petrels had remained here undisturbed for ages, for 

 we are not aware that Bullock obtained any eggs 

 from this colony when he discovered the species in 

 the British Islands upwards of eighty years ago. 

 Bullock, we might mention, came very near the 

 honour of discovering this bird absolutely, for he 

 was only anticipated by a year by Vieillot. 



St. Kilda is indeed the grand head-quarters of 



