LONG-WINGED SWIMMERS 49 



to arrange a little nest on the top of an old grebe's nest. 

 Often the water is several feet deep where the nests are 

 made, but the growing reeds and rushes allow the water to 

 remain more or less stagnant, so the eggs are seldom 

 disturbed by waves. 



WILSON'S PETREL 



The sailors have always harbored a friendly feeling for 

 these sea-loving birds. They tell you that ^Mrs. Carey lives 

 on the edges of the seas and the petrels are her chickens, 

 hence they are frequentl}' called Mother Carey's chickens. 



Two species of petrel are common to the North Amer- 

 ican coast. Probably at least a dozen other forms have been 

 recorded on our continent, as the petrels are great wan- 

 derers and frequenth^ stray out of their course. The feet 

 are webbed and the wings are long and powerful. The 

 flesh is so oily that the plucked body of a petrel, supplied 

 with a wick similar to that of a candle, will burn for over 

 an hour. 



Petrels feed from the surface of the water, picking up 

 food while swimming or while on the wing. They seem to 

 delight in following vessels at sea to pick up the refuse 

 matter thrown overboard as the}' fly close to the water. 

 They also follow the breakers, often seizing an unfortunate 

 crab or crawfish that is cast up by the waves. 



Wilson's petrel resorts to islands in the Southern Hemi- 

 sphere during the breeding season. The single white egg, 

 sometimes faintly wreathed with dull lavender, is incubated 

 at the end of a three-foot burrow. The tube-nosed swim- 



