I 



408 



TlIK TriiE-N'OSKD .SWIMMKUS — TriilN'AHKS. 



'yim 



II 



Sp. Cn.Mt. AiJiilt: Sooty iiIuhiIm'ous, tliu lioiul ami iifi'k ilcaifr iilmalieous, tlu' foiiiicr lij,'litti' 

 antoriorly ; lowur purls (U'cidi'illy liiligiiious ; nii(l<lli' ami i,'rfati'i' wiiij^'-i'ovcits li^'lit smoky ;,'iay ; 

 iviiiij,'i?s ami tail m'arly lilai'k ; u])iK'r tail-rovcrts wliiti', usually luoif or less clouilcd with sooty 

 gray. Hill tlci'i) lilack ; iris dark browu ; legs ami i'ci't iiitiri'ly dusky. Ihwiwj ijinimj: Covcicil 

 with 11 vi'iy lluH'y dowu ol'a uuii'oiui smoky f,'ray color, the aiitfiior liall' of tlio head almost naked. 



Win^;, (UKMi.ao imlics ; tail, U.aO-J.dO, the di'iitli of thu fork, .80-.SKI ; culmuii, .(Kl-.d,". ; 

 tttfsus, .!)()-.!).") ; luiddlf toe, .S0--.8r), 



Loach's Foi'k-tiiiUul IVtrd — tho couuuoii Afothcr Carey's Chickfii of tlio Noi'tlicni 

 and Kastcrn \(!\v Eiij^land coast — has a very i'xti'ii(lc<l (listriluition, luit few hiids 

 of this family haviiii,' a wider raiii^c than this. Diiriiif,' the months of May, .luno. 

 and Jwly, and a part of Angnst, it is found lircodin},' in iii^di northern lutitndes in 

 Europe, Kastern and Western North America, and probably in Kasterii Asia, in nil 

 instances on the sea-coast, and ncn'cr in the interior. During the remaimler of tlie 

 year it wanders over a larij;e portion of tlie watery surface of tlie globe. 



On tlie Atlantic coast of North .\nienca it breeds from the Casco I'ay and the 

 southern coast of iMaine to (Jreeidand. It breeds also in the Hebrides, und on other 

 islands north of ScotUmd, but is not mentioned as breeding in Iceland, on the I''aioe 

 'slands, or in any portion of Scandinavia ; and although Nilssoii includes it among the 

 birds of that region, it is only an accidental visitor there. It is mentioned by \'aireil 

 as occurring in Cireat I5ritaiu, but is not referred toby him as breeding in any portion 

 of tlie kingdom. The first specimen known to have been obtained was taken at St. 

 Kilda, in the sninuiei'of 181S, by ^Ir. Mullock, and this is now in the IJritish ^Slnscinii. 

 Other s|u>(!iniens were obtained in France, and preserved as great riirities. After 

 the violent storms which occurred in the autumns of ISL'.'J, ISL'o, and IS.'il, severiil 

 s])eciinens were procured. It has since been taken on several occasions in various 

 parts of Ireland, and in nearly every maritime county of I'aigland. Those caiituicd 

 are usually exhausted for want of food, and if secured alive die soon afterwiii'd. 

 This species is mentioned by rrofessor lUasius as one of the birds which visit the 

 shores of lleligolanil. 



]\[r. .\. 0. ISIore (•' Ibis," ISUr*) states that the only breediiig-])lacc of this sjiecies 

 known to exist witl'.in tli(> IJritish Islands is St. Kildii, (Un- of the Outer Hebrides. 

 .Mr. .1. H. Dunn mentions that it formerly nested within the Orkneys ; ami it is given 

 by Mr. Dunbar in his List of the ISirds of l\oss-shire. Captain Khves, who visited I lie 

 Hebrides at a later date, nu'iitions (" Ibis," lS(i<)) finding this I'ctrid, in company with 

 I'roi'i'llarid /ir/iii/tca, breeding on j\Iirigatay. a small islet near St. Kilda. He did not 

 jirocure any of the eggs, but he had no doubt whatever that the birds were either 

 actually breeding, or jjreiiaring so to do, in the dry peat on the tojis of the clitVs. 



According to Keinhardt, this I'etrel is a common resident species of (!i'eenl;iMd. 

 breeding in all favorable localities from that region southward to the coast of Muine, 

 The most southern and western jioint on which I have found it breeding is Danmris- 

 ootta Island, a few miles east of the Kennebec; but it has been taken breeding on 

 islands near Portland. Kxeept during the breeding-season it is rare on the Ni'w 

 Kngland coast, and is (mly known in Mas.saehusetts when driven inland by violent 

 e;usterly storms. (Jiraud states that this species is of very rare oceurrenci' on the 

 coast of Long Island. He (piotes a letter from Professor Haird in reference to tlie 

 appearance of a large number of tliese birds inland, after the violent gale of .\ugiist, 

 ISi'J. Six (rr nutre specimens were procured in the neighborhood of Washington. 

 Others were killed in the vicinity of Petersburg, Va., and at other jioints, hundreds 

 of miles friuu the open sea. < hie was picked up near S[iringiielil, Mass., nearly a 

 hundred miles from the Atlantic. 



