286 Capt. F. W. Hutton on some of the 



African Zoology/ under the name of Puffinus cinereus. It is 

 very common at sea from May to August ; but retires to Ker- 

 guelen's Land and other places in September or October, to breed. 

 Each pair burrows horizontally into wet peaty earth, from two 

 to eighteen feet. At the end of the hole they form a lai'ge 

 chamber, and construct in the centre of it a nest similar, except 

 in size, to that of the Albatros (D. exulans), in the hollowed top 

 of which the female lays one white egg. They seldom leave their 

 burrows in the daytime, and when one happens to do so it is at 

 once hunted by a " Nelly," although no such jealousy exists at 

 sea. From this habit of flying only by night it is called " Night- 

 Hawk " by the sealers. 



Mr. Harris's party, when wrecked on Kerguelen^s Land, used 

 to dig these birds out of their burrows, and eat them ; and in 

 oi'der to save useless digging, for their spades were only made 

 from the staves of old casks, they would hold one to the mouth 

 of a hole, and make it cry out, when, if another was inside, it 

 would answer. Mr. Harris informs me that he never saw the 

 Night-Hawk on the Prince Edward Islands, but as his party 

 was not then in want, they were not hunted for, and they may 

 therefore breed there also ; for, as they conceal themselves by 

 day, they might easily have remained unobserved. This bird is 

 by far the best diver of all the sea-going Petrels. It seems even 

 fond of it, and often remains under water for several minutes, 

 when it comes up again shaking the water off its feathers like a 

 dog. Sometimes I have seen it, as it flies past, poise itself for 

 a moment in the air (and hence perhaps its name) at a height 

 of about twenty or twenty-five feet above the sea, and, shutting 

 its wings, take a header into the water. It dives with its wings 

 open, and uses them under water much in the same manner as 

 when flying. 



Procellaria macroptera, Smith. Pterodroma macroptera, 

 Bp. Consp. Av. ii. p. 191. Long-winged Petrel. 



This bird, when on the wing, looks very like a huge Swift. It 

 is not by any means common; and I have only seen it east of 

 the Cape of Good Hope. It is not found on the Prince Edward 

 Islands nor Kerguelen's Land. 



