PROCELLARIID.E - THE PETRELS — l-'ULMARUS. 



371 



' Polaris " 



3iug q"><^^' 

 vnitil thoy 



ontered the pack off Capo Sabiuo. On the 2r)th of June, 1S7G, on the coast of CJrin- 

 ni'U Land (lat. .SL'° oO' N.), a single Fulmar was seen ; und a few days later another 

 was ])icked up dead on the shore, some two miles farther north. This species was 

 not again observed until the return of the Expedition to Baffin's Bay in September, 

 1S7(). 



Mr. George C. Taylor states that, in a voyage from Livcrfmol to New York, ho 

 saw, on the 2'2A of May, large flocks of these birds near the coast of Newfoundland. 

 Mr. lioardman informs lue that the fishermen represent this bird — known to them 

 as the White Hagdon — a3 being quite common off the coast of Labrador, where it 

 is said to breed. 



Neither Mr. Lawrence nor Mr. Giraud mentions this bird as being known in the 

 waters of Long Island or New York ; but Audubon cites that region as its southern 

 limit, and in August, on a voyage from England to New York, he ])rocured several 

 ('xami)les of this species. They were quite fearless, and floated on the water very 

 buoyantly, some swimming about with great ease. He did not meet with any on the 

 coast of Labrador, though he was told that they are regularly observed in spring to 

 move northward in files opposite the entrance of the Straits of Helle Isle ; and 

 Captain Sabine states that while the ships were detained by the ice in Jacob's Bay, 

 liititiide 71°, from the 24th of June to the 28d of July, Fulmars were passing in a 

 continual stream to the northward, in numbers inferior only to those seen in the 

 nights of the I'assenger Pigeon. 



The Fulmar is extremely greedy of the fat of the whale. As soon as the flensing 

 |iv()cess begins, these birds flock in from all quarters, and sonu>times fiecunuilate to 

 the number of several thousands, fearlessly advancing within a few yards of the men 

 employed in cutting up the carcass; even approaching near enough to be knocked 

 down with the boat-hook, or taken alive, and frequently glutting tliemselves so 

 conipletely as to be iniable to fly. 



Mr. ^La(•gillivray describes the egg of the Fulmar as being pure white in color, 

 wlu'ii clean, and varying in size from 2.G3 inches to 3.12 in length by 2.00 inches in 

 its average breadth. On the 30th of June, having descended a nearly perpendicular 

 jirccipice six hundred feet in height, the whole face of which was covered with nests 

 of the Fulmar, he enjoyed an opportunity of watching its liabits. The nests had all 

 hoeii robbed about a month before by the natives, who esteem the eggs of this bird 

 above all others. Many of the nests contained each a young bird a day or two old at 

 fartlu'st, thickly covered with long white down. The young ones were very clamor- 

 ous on being liandled, and vomited a quantity of clear oil, with which he observed 

 the parent birds feeding them by disgorging. The old birds, when taken hold of, 

 vomit a quantity of clear, amber-colored oil, which imparts to the whole bird, its nest, 

 and young, and even to the rock which it frequents, a peculiar and very disagreeable 

 odor. This oil is one of the nu)st valuable productions of St. Kilda. 



This bird, called jindfica, was described by Mr. Aiidubon from a specimen obtained 

 by Mr. Townseud on the Pacific coast. It chiefly differed from the common Fulmar 

 ill the shape and size of its bill. Dr. Cooper (" Am. Nat." Vol. IV.) met with birds of 

 tliis sj)ecies in close proximity to the coast of Monterey, attracted thither by the 

 wliale-iishery. T'hey were called by the whalers "Tagers" and " Haglets," were 

 ([iiite common off the shore, and were seen at times feeding on the flesh of the 

 whale, but were more frequently observed chasing the Gulls to make them disgorge. 

 'i'liis was in ^lay. A specimen supposed to behmg to this species — as Dr. Cooper 

 states — wius found by Mr. Lorquin dead on the beach near San Francisco in winter, 

 and is now in the collection of the Academy. Dr. Cooper has sinco seen many 



