132 Durcuer, Bird Notes from Long Island, Wie. TH [April 
Fulmar, now known as the Black-capped Petrel, a straggler of this 
species having been taken at Quogue, L. I., in 1850.* That the Stormy 
Petrel (Procellaria pelagica) was included on insufficient grounds is in- 
dicated by our present knowledge of its distribution. The general re- 
semblance to each other of the three species of this family included by 
Mr. Giraud in his list is so great, and as they are not usually found near 
the shore, it is not strange that they have been confounded in the earlier 
records. My. Giraud considered Leach’s Petrel rare, as he records it in 
the following words: ‘‘Is of rare occurrence on the shores of Long 
Island.” + The only specimen of this species that I have been able to 
procure, thus far, is a male, which struck Fire Island Light on the night 
of May 4, 1888, between the hours of 10 P.M. and 2 A. m. The weather 
was thick, with a brisk southwest wind. 
2. Oceanites oceanicus. WILSON’s PETREL.—Of this species Mr. Giraud 
says: ‘‘Are not uncommon off Sandy Hook, within sight of land, and 
occasionally stragglers are seen coasting along the shores of Long 
Island.” { Petrels are not uncommon off the Long Island coast during the 
summer months, and that they are mostly of this species I am led to 
believe from the present evidence. Gunners and baymen on the south 
side tell me that they have seen Petrels off shore while bluefishing, but 
that they rarely see them near the surf line, or on the bays, except after 
very heavy blows. A letter written by Mr. W. L. Breese, § who owns and 
resides on an extensive estate called Timber Point, near Islip, L. L., 
proves that they are sometimes found in Great South Bay. In a com- 
munication to Dr. A. K. Fisher, June 25, 1888, he says: ‘‘I saw a flock of 
about twenty-five Petrels in the bay, this week, the only ones I have ever 
seen down here. Ido not know what they were doing here so late in the 
season and so far up the bay.”|| July 20, 1888, Mr. N. T. Lawrence, 
B. H. Dutcher, and the writer sailed through Rockaway Inlet in a bluefish 
smack, for the purpose of ascertaining what Petrels, if any, were to be 
found off Rockaway Beach and Coney Island. We went out on the last 
of a strong ebb tide and with a very light breeze, that hardly filled our 
gapping sail. When about a mile off shore we saw a single Petrel, which 
passed us out of gunshot, flying parallel with the shore. Ina short time 
this or another individual passed us going inan opposite direction. Until 
we were nearly two miles off shore we saw single individuals at short 
intervals, always just skimming the tops of the long ground-swells, appar- 
ently in search of food. When about two and one half miles off shore, 
we changed our course and sailed parallel with the beach; almost imper- 
ceptibly the Petrels became more numerous. We would see a pair flying 
in company, or a small flock of six or eight scattered in an irregular but 
* Ann. Lyc. Nat. Hist., Vol. V, p. 220. 
+ Birds of Long Island, p. 372. 
tIbid., p. 371. 
\Deceased since this was written. See Auk, Vol. VI, p.8z. 
|| About eight miles northeast from Fire Island Inlet and near the main land. 
