PUOCELLARIID.K — THE PETRELS — DAPTION. 



401 



uibev of 

 islands 

 ;akeu in 

 in deep 

 ,1 size at 

 ! 1.20 in 

 lies, and 



sN.). 



somewhat 

 :e occupied 

 he unguis, 

 I from the 

 with white 



ery distiuet 



185(3, 18S. — 

 U CouKs, Tr. 



lUGW. 



Noni. 



tail-cnvovts, 

 ntion of thi' 

 nim]), ui)per 

 Itoiil spots (if 

 crept iniililli' 

 leous ; willies 



coverts iiml 

 ami the cov- 

 y c'onceak'il ; 

 T ]ilnmbeous, 

 zone. l>ill 



in the (Iriiil 

 varied with 



the Pacific 



Lcific, South 



Mr. George 



X. Lawrence, in 1853, on the strength of a single specimen said to have been obtained 

 on the coast of California, and now in the cabinet of that gentleman. Numerous 

 siu'oimens were obtained by the naturalists connected with the Wilkes Exploring 

 l']xi)edition, and its presence, at various places visited by their vessels, is noted in the 

 Journal of Dr. Pickering. He first observed it on tlie 19th day of January, 18.39, in 

 latitiule 89° south, in the Atlantic Ocean. It is subsetpiently mentioned by him at 

 various points, and for the last time on the 14th of July, the same year, on the west- 

 ern coast of S(mth America, the day after sailing from the harbor of Callao, in about 

 \'2° south latitude. 



Mr. E. L. Layard, in his account of the sea-birds observed by him during a voyage 

 in the Antarctic Sea, makes repeated mention of this species, whicji he hrst observed 

 soon after leaving Capetown, August 15. He speaks i)articularly of its habit of 

 ;ilighting oil the water. Between latitudes 87° and 41° south he mentions it as being 

 very abundant, so that many were caught l)y letting a strong thread trail with a cork 

 lit the end of it. The birds fouled the line, which became entangled with their wings, 

 rendering them helpless. As soon as one was thus entangled it fell into the water, 

 iiud the rest immediately clustered around it. 



This bird dives readily, dropping suddenly into the water, and instantly disappear- 

 ing. It will also throw up its tail into the air in tlie manner of a Duck, and fish up 

 lilts of food from a sliglit depth. On "-lie IGtli of September, when running along the 

 soutliern coast of Tasmania, this species was seen in vast numbers, there being 

 frcciuently as many as two hundred of these birds around the vessel at one time. 

 ■I'his Petrel is also included ("Ibis," 1801') in Mr. G. 11. Gray's List of the P.irds 

 of New Zealand and of the Adjacent Islands. 



Captain Hutton (■' Ibis," 18G5) states that the " Cape Pigeon " — as it is also called 

 hy tlie sailors — when cauglit and hauled upon the deck of a vessel, throws up from 

 its mouth or ejects from its nostrils, like the rest of its family, a quantitj'of reddish, 

 strongly offensive oil. This it does not for purposes of defence, but apparently from 

 fright. It is never known, in moments of irritation, to eject an oily fluid from its 

 nostrils in the manner described by Mr. Gould. When placed on deck it is unable 

 to rise directly, but runs along with outstretclied wings. 



Its cry resembles the sound produced by drawing a piece of iron across a large 

 toothed comb, and may be represented nearly by the syllables cac-mc-cac-eap-rac. 



Tlie breeding-place of this species was not positively known until quite recently. 

 (Iduld states that it breeds in Tristan d'Acunha; but this is disputed by Captain 

 ilutton. Darwin was informed that it resorts to the islands of South Gem-gia. It 

 \v;is not found on tlie Prince Edward's Islands, nor on Kerguelen Island. Sir J. Koss 

 saw large floc^ks of young birds of this species in January, 1841, in lat. 71° 50' S., near 

 Sdutli Victoria. It seems, therefore, probable that this Petrel breeds in islands in 

 the Antarctic Ocean. According to Captain Hutton, its usual northern limit appears 

 to be lat. 27° S., although in one instance it was seen as far as 17° S. It was most 

 readily caught by a thread .attached to a bit of wood, with which the bird in flying 

 liccomes entangled. The power of flight of this species seems almost without any 

 limit. Lieutenant Weld, 11. N., informed Cajjtain Hutton that a Cape Pigeon, with 

 a pit'ce of red ribbon .around its neck, once followed the ship on board of whicli he 

 was for more than fifteen hundred miles. 



Captain Hutton mentions, in a subsequent voyage, his meeting with this bird, 

 A]iril 19, in southern latitude; but it did not become common until the 2()th. Prom 

 this he infers that it does not return from its breeding-grounds until the end of 

 Aiiril. He was informed by a sailor that on a voyage to Australia, where lie arrived 



vol.. II. — 51 



