418 



THE TUBE-NOSED SWIMMERS — TinJINAUES. 



N'l 



:f 



^ ■:».:! 



with outspread wings, or runs upon its surface with facility and ease. The light- 

 ness of its body is rendered even more buoyant by the action of its wings. Its note, 

 usually low and feebler, becomes louder and harsher during boisterous Aveather, and 

 at svu'h tinu's is more frequently repeated. 



Audubon was entirely mistaken in liis supposition that this species breeds in the 

 Mud Islands off the coast of Nova Scotia. 



I have had frequent op])ortunities of observing it in the outer harbor of Uoston, 

 where it is generally present in abundance from the last week in July to the first 

 week in September. 



In the latter part of August, 1871, in company with Professor Baird, on the snuiU 

 Governnu'ut steamer '' Moccasin," when off the southern shore of Martha's Vineyard, 

 we saw a large number of these birds. They v;ere readily attracted about our craft by 

 fragments of biscaiit, scrajis of meat, and almost any kind of food, and were evidently 

 possessed of very keen vision ; for while at fii'st only an occasional bird was in sight, 

 as soon as we began to throw out food they came flocking in from all directions, until 

 we could count seventy or more of them. They hovered about the water, prei)aratory 

 to seizing their scraps of food, in a manner that reminded us at once of the action of 

 butterflies. The uplifted wings, the feet thrown forward as if patting the water, and 

 then rising from it, the bill inclined forward and downward — all this recalled the 

 movements of the butterfly, and seemed more like those of an insect than of a bird. 

 It rarely, and only for a nu)ment, rested on the water. 



Dr. J. II. Kidder found this Petrel present about Kerguelen Island, and noted its 

 crepuscular habits when near the shore. This species became much more common 

 alter its first appearance, December 8. He had previously m(!t with it at sea east of 

 tlie Cape of Good Hope, and, December 14, saw it about by day feeding on the oily 

 matters floating away from the carcass of a sea-elephant. The birds frequent«!d the 

 rocky parts of the hillsides, flitting about like Swallows, ai)pa.rently in pursuit of 

 insects, though there seemed to be none flying on the island other than minute gnats. 

 Dr. Kidder did not succeed in finding any eggs, but was informed that Itev. Mr. Eaton, 

 of the English Expedition, found one on Tlunub Mountain, sonu! fifteen miles from 

 the American station ; there was only one on the nest, which had been made under 

 a large rock not far from the beacih. The egg, which was white, was found Decem- 

 ber 8; and Dr. bidder had no doubt that this bird nests habitually among and under 

 rocks, and at a considerable elevation above the sea. 



Genus CYMODROMA, Kidgway. 



Fregetta, Bonap. Cotisp. II. 1856, 197 (type, ProccUaria Iropicn, Gould; not Frcgata, Bniss. 1760). 



Char. Size small ; inner toe about eqiml to or slightly longer than the niiddlo, wIiIlIi is 

 (lecitledly shorter than the outer ; claws vury liroad and Hat, somewhat O shaped ; tai'sns iicarlv 

 twice as long as the middle too without the claw (about two and a half times as long as tlie cul- 

 men) ; tail more than half as long as the wing, even, the feathers extremely broad, and truncatid 

 at the tip ; plumage paity-colored. 



Only one species of this veiy peculiar genus belongs to the North American fauna, and this on 

 account of its accidental occurrence on the coast of Florida. 



Umim 



