356 STORMY PETREL. 



wanders to and fro over the deep, where, from the 

 blackness of its plumage and its indifference to the 

 storms and tempests which it weathers, Mother 

 Carey's Chicken is looked upon as a bird of ill-omen 

 by the superstitious sailors, and a forerunner of ship- 

 wreck. 



The Stormy Petrel obtains its name from the habit 

 it has of running or walking over the surface of the 

 water. It picks up its food on the surface of the sea 

 anything oily is no doubt acceptable to it, and the 

 young ones seem to be fed entirely on oil. Their 

 bodies are consequently saturated with oil. " These 

 birds," says Morris, " are made use of by the inhabi- 

 tants of the Ferroe and other Islands, to serve for 

 lamps, a wick of cotton or other material being drawn 

 through the body, and when lighted it continues to 

 burn till the oil in the bird is consumed. The quantity 

 of oil yielded decreases as the summer advances, and 

 at last fails altogether, probably from their falling off 

 in condition, and the supply given to their young." 



The nests of the Stormy Petrel are placed in holes 

 in cliffs and rocks, or under large stones, sometimes in 

 holes beneath the beach, or in an old rabbit burrow. 

 The nests consist of a few scraps of dead grass, in 

 which one white egg is laid ; the shell has no gloss 

 and is very rough in texture. The egg is finely spotted 

 with tiny specks of reddish brown, often in a zone 

 round the larger end. Their rough unpolished shells 

 prevent them from being mistaken for the eggs of any 

 other bird. The eggs soon become discoloured from 

 the oily feathers of the bird. 



The general colour of the upper parts of the Stormy 

 Petrel is black and of the under parts dark brown ; the 

 upper part of the tail and rump are white. 



