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Bird - Lore 



Chicken again, that looked so like those left in the Gulf Stream that it was pro- 

 bably the same species — Wilson's Petrel — journeying south to its breeding grounds. 

 None could be secured, however, so the identification must stand as hypothetical. 

 Because we entered south latitude in September, which would correspond 

 to our northern March bad weather and the birds were found well to the north. 

 On September t8, about 20° south, there was a lone Cape Pigeon, not positively 

 identified. That evening a heavy wind squall with rain and a little lightning 

 bringing the wind about southwest, gave us our first taste of bad weather. Two 

 days later there were ' MoUyhawks, ' and the day after that Cape Pigeons. The 

 smaller southern Albatrosses, exclusive of the gray, wedge-tailed Phoshetria, the 

 weirdest looking bird of the sea, belong to one type. Although systematists make 



CAPE PIGEONS 



two divisions of them, one of which includes also the large Albatrosses, — they are 

 lumped by the sailor under the name ' MoUyhawk ' or ' Molly, ' and the name 

 'Albatross,' is reserved for the larger birds which differ also in color-pattern. 

 Sailors claim that the 'Albatross' has one more joint in its wing than any other 

 bird, and while doubting the anatomical truth of the statement, we still must 

 confess that the narrow wing and elongated upper joints do give somewhat that 

 impression. 



Petrels and Albatrosses are birds primarily of the sea. No less truly, however, 

 are they birds of the air and wind. The high winds of the region they inhabit, 

 instead of being an obstacle, are to them a source of power. The sailing flight 

 shared by many species (all the Albatrosses, the Giant Fulmar, the familiar little 

 spotted Cape Pigeon, etc.) is particularly adapted to wind, and perhaps this sail- 

 ing flight is the most interesting, and to a landsman the most striking thing about 

 these birds, not even excepting the great bulk and wing spread of the Albatross 



