90 



SHEARWATERS AND PETRELS. 



I 

 i 

 } 



M^ 



I II 



Washington, A. V., severul records. Long Islantl, uncommon T. V., May 

 and Juno. Cuiiibridgc, A. V., one instunce, Oct. 



J\'tiity of 11 few bit« of MtickH and gruswes in a burrow in tlio jjround, or be- 

 neath a roclv. £(/(/, one, creamy white, Honietimes with a wreath of minute or 

 obscure markings at tlie larger end, 1-34 x 1-00. 



" This is a bird of the northern hemisphere, being as common on 

 the Pacific Ocean as on the Atlantic. Its cliief breeding station on our 

 shores is among the islands at the mouth of the Bay of Fundy ; but 

 the open ocean is the bird's true home. 



"Leach's Petrels are seldom seen abont their nesting site during 

 the day, though in the evening they assemble there ; and when llut- 

 tering through the twilight or under the moon's guidance they have 

 the appearance of a foraging squad of bats, though the birds' wild, 

 plaintive notes betray their race. The Petrels are not strictly noc- 

 turnal, however, for while one of a pair sits close on the nest all day — 

 and this one has been generally the male, in my experience — the mate 

 is out at sea. 



" When handled, these birds emit from mouth and nostrils a small 

 quantity of oil-like fluid of a reddish color and pungent, musklike 

 odor. The air at the nesting site is strongly impregnated with this 

 odor, and it guides a searcher to the nest " (Chamberlain). 



109* Oceanites oceanicus (/w/^/). Wilson^^ PKruEL. AJ.— Uit- 

 pcr parts, win;fs, and tail sooty black ; uiulcr parts somewhat lighter; under 

 tail-coveits mixed with whitish, longer uiii>cr tail-coverts Avliite, shorter ones 

 marked with sooty l)lack ; wing-coverts grayisli, margined witli wliitish ; bill 

 and feet black, the webs of the latter mostly yellow. L., 7'00 ; W., 590 ; T., 

 2-80 ; B., -.TO. 



^an,^*".— Atlantic Ocean ; breeds in southern seas (Kcrguelen Island) and 

 migrates northward, spending the summer off our coasts. 



Washington, A. V., one record. Long Island, connnon from May to Sept. 



Nest, in the crevices of rocks. E<jg, one, white. 



It is generally known that some birds which nest in the northern 

 parts of our continent, in the winter migrate as far south as Patago- 

 nia; but comparatively few are aware that during the summer wo 

 receive several visitors from the southern parts of the southern hemi- 

 sphera. They are all included in the family ProceUariidw, and Wil- 

 son's Petrel is doubtless the most common. It breeds in the islands 

 of the South Atlantic in February, and after the cares of the breeding 

 season are over 'migrates northward to pass its winter off our coasts. 

 At this season its home is the sea, and its occurrence on land is gener- 

 ally due to storms. For this reason, and because of its long migra- 

 tion, it is the Petrel most frequently observed in western Atlantic 

 waters during the summer. 



