PROCELLARIID^ — THE PETRELS — FULMARUS. 371 



entered the pack off Cape Sabine. On the 20th of June, 1876, on the coast of Grin- 

 nell Land (kit. 82° 30' N.), a single Fulmar was seen ; and a few days later another 

 was picked up dead on the shore, some two miles farther north. This species was 

 not again observed until the return of the Expedition to Bi.ffin's Bay in September, 

 1876. 



Mr. George C. Taylor states that, in a voyage from Liverpool to New York, he 

 saw, on the 22d of May, large flocks of these birds near the coast of Newfoundland. 

 Mr. Boardman informs me that the fishermen represent this bird — known to them 

 as the White Hagdon — as being quite common off the coast of Labrador, where it 

 is said to breed. 



Neither Mr. Lawrence nor Mr. Giraud mentions this bird as being known in the 

 waters of Long Island or New York ; but Audubon cites that region as its southern 

 limit, and in August, on a voyage from England to New York, he procured several 

 examples of this species. They were quite fearless, and floated on the water very 

 buoyantly, some swimming about with great ease. He did not meet with any on the 

 coast of Labrador, though he was told that they are regularly observed in spring to 

 move northward in files opposite the entrance of the Straits of Belle Isle ; and 

 Captain Sabine states that while the ships were detained by the ice in Jacob's Bay, 

 latitude 71°, from the 24th of June to the 23d of July, Fulmars were passing in a 

 continual stream to the northward, in numbers inferior only to those seen in the 

 flights of the Passenger Pigeon. 



The Fulmar is extremely greedy of the fat of the whale. As soon as the flensing 

 process begins, these birds flock in from all quarters, and sometimes accumulate to 

 the number of several thousands, fearlessly advancing within a few yards of the men 

 employed in cutting up the carcass ; even approaching near enough to be knocked 

 down with the boat-hook, or taken alive, and frequently glutting themselves so 

 completely as to be unable to fly. 



Mr. Macgillivray describes the egg of the Fulmar as being pure white in color, 

 when clean, and varying in size from 2.63 inches to 3.12 in length by 2.00 inches in 

 its average breadth. On the 30th of June, having descended a nearly perpendicular 

 precipice six hundred feet in height, the whole face of which was covered with nests 

 of the Fulmar, he enjoyed an opportunity of watching its habits. The nests had all 

 been robbed about a month before by the natives, who esteem the eggs of this bird 

 above all others. Many of the nests contained each a young bird a day or two old at 

 farthest, thickly covered with long white down. The young ones were very clamor- 

 ous on being handled, and vomited a quantity of clear oil, with which he observed 

 the parent birds feeding them by disgoiging. The old birds, when taken hold of, 

 vomit a quantity of clear, amber-colored oil, which imparts to the whole bird, its nest, 

 and young, and even to the rock which it frequents, a peculiar and very disagreeable 

 odor. This oil is one of the most valuable productions of St. Kilda. 



This bird, called pacifica, was described by Mr. Audubon from a specimen obtained 

 by Mr. Townsend on the Pacific coast. It chiefly dilfered from the common Fulmar 

 in the shape and size of its bill. Dr. Cooper (" Am. Nat." Vol. IV.) met with birds of 

 this species in close proximity to the coast of Monterey, attracted thither by the 

 v/hale-fishery. They were called by the whalers "Tagers" and "Haglets," were 

 quite common off the shore, and were seen at times feeding on the flesh of the 

 whale, but were more frequently observed chasing the Gulls to make them disgorge. 

 This was in May. A specimen supposed to belong to this species — as Dr. Cooper 

 states — was found by Mr. Lorquin dead on the beach near San Francisco in winter, 

 and is now in the collection of the Academy. Dr. Cooper has since seen many 



