386 



THE TUBE-NOSED SWIMMERS — TUBINARES. 



Captain Sperling also mentions finding these birds breeding on a small rocky 

 island near IMalta. Tlie fishermen take them in large nnmbers in nets, and make 

 nse of their Hesli as bait. 



Mr. A. G. IMore (" Ibis,'' ISCr)) states that this Shearwater breeds on the Scilly 

 Islands, and also on Lundy Isl.and, in the liristol Cliannel. It was formerly abun- 

 dant on the Calf of Man, but has become extinct there, its extermination being su[)- 

 ])osod to hnve been caused by rats. It is also said to breed on the Island of Stail'a, 

 the Outer Hebrides, in Orkney, and in Shetland. 



Captain Elnies found this species breeding on the Island of ISIingalay, one of the 

 Hebrides. He was told tliat it was once much more common than it is now, and that 

 the young bird* were formerly very highly regarded as an article of food. Of late 

 this Shearwater has been very nearly driven away by tlie intrusions of the Fra^ercnla 

 arctica. 



Mr. D. W. ^Mitchell furnished Yarrell with an interesting sketch of his visit to the 

 Scilly Islands. There, on a borrcn island called Annet, the northern shore of which 

 is abrupt and craggy, and gradually sloping toward the south, wliere it narrows into 

 a sandy peninsula, is the head(pmrters of this Shearwater. Yet a visitor to this spot 

 may wait an entire day in June without seeing one of these birds, either on land or 

 water. There are many of them near all the time, as is easily perceived by the odor 

 that comes from their burrows. As soon as the sun is down, the birds themselves 

 begin to issue in small jjarties. One evening he encountered a great gathering of not 

 less than three hundred of them in Smith's Sound, in the middle of the tideway, 

 washing, dipi)ing, preening their feathers, and stretching their wings, evidently having 

 just been roused from sleej). They are said to sit low on the water, and when 

 disturbed there to make no noise ; but in their holes they are noisy enough, the 

 fishermen's names of Crew and Covkothoilon being derived from the guttural sounds 

 the bird pours forth as the spade approaches its nest. 



The egg is frequently deposited on the fine sandy soil without any preparation, 

 although generally there is a slight accumulation of fern-leaves and old stems. The 

 bird lays but one e^g, which when fresh is of the most dazzling whiteness, and of 

 peculiarly beautiful texture. It is said to measure 2.42 inches in length by l.To in 

 breadth, and to be very large in comparison witli the size of the bird. 



This Shearwater when handled vomits a very offensive oil, which is api)arently of 

 a green color, although the stain which it leaves is yellow. Tlie quantity of this fluid 

 discharged is often enormous. The young bird when just hatched is covered with a 

 grayish black down, except a stripe along the centre of the breast and belly, wliich 

 is white. 



This species is also found on the coast of Norway, on the Faroe Islands, and about 

 Cape Farewell. It is rare on the east coast of England. Mi-. Strickland procured it 

 from Smyrna. 



Fuffinus AudubonL 



AUDUBON'S DUSKT SREABWATEB. 



Puffinm ohscuriis, Roxai'. Synoii. 1828, 371 ; t'onsp. II. 1856, 204 (noc rroefllaria ohscum, Omel. ). 

 NuTT. Man. II. 1834, 337. —Am. Oni. Hiofr. III. 183;"), C20 ; 15. Am. VII. 1844, 21(!, pi. -l.^S, 

 — Lawh. ill Ikiid's 15. N. Am. IS.IS, 835. — Raikd, Cat. N. Am. R. 1859, no. 650. — Cnn >, 

 Pr. Ac. Nat. Sci. riiilad. 1864, 137 ; Key, 1872, 331 ; Check List, 1873, no. 600; eJ. 2, ISSJ, 

 no. 835. 



? i'liffinus Lhcrminkri, Lk.ssov, Rev. Zool. 1839, 102 (Antilles). 



Pujinua Audulioni, FiNscii, P. Z. S. 1872, 111. — Ridgw. Norn. N. Am. B. 1881, no. 712. 



M^ 



