Food. 
534 NATATORES. THALASSIDROMA. Perret. 
Turse birds, well known to mariners by the name of 
‘«¢ Mother Carey’s Chickens *,” and dreaded by them as the 
forerunners of tempestuous weather, are indigenous in Bri- 
tain, being found upon the surrounding seas at all seasons of 
the year, and have been ascertained to breed, not only upon 
the Shetland and other northern islands of Scotland, but 
upon the rocky coast of the north-west of Cornwall, at the op- 
posite extremity of the kingdom. The geographical distri- 
bution of this species has been supposed to be very extensive; 
but the discovery of other species very closely allied to it 
both in size and colour (and only to be distinguished by nar- 
row inspection and comparison), in various parts of the At- 
lantic and Pacific Oceans, makes it more than probable that 
these latter have been mistaken for it, and that its distribu- 
tion is in fact much more limited, being in all likelihood con- 
fined to the European seas. That it should be oftener seen 
by sailors during tempests or in the lowermg weather imme- 
diately preceding a storm, is only what might be expected 
from the habits of the members of this genus, which, as I have 
previously remarked, display more activity during the night 
than the day. Its presence, then, is to be attributed to the 
gloomy state of the atmosphere that attends such convulsions, 
and it thus becomes generally what mariners consider it, the 
natural harbinger of the storm. At such times, also, it ap- 
proaches nearer to vessels, frequently flying round them like 
a Swallow, or following in their wake, to all appearance more 
for the purpose of picking up any food that may occasionally 
be thrown overboard, or from its natural food, the smaller 
marine insects, molluscee, &c. being brought within its reach 
by the action of the vessel, than for shelter and protection, 
as it is observed to brave the roughest seas, and even to 
amuse itself by skimming along the hollows of the waves, or 
dashing over their summits with amazing velocity. It breeds 
* This title is not, however, restricted to the present species, but is 
equally applied to Thalass. Bullockii, T. Wilsonii, T. oceanica, &c. which 
closely resemble each other in appearance, and whose habits are similar. 
