THE O. & O. SEMI-ANNUAL. 37 
THE STORMY PETREL.  - 
Procellaria Pelagica. 
BY W. RAINE, TORONTO, CANADA. 
This interesting little bird, though rare in North America, is plen- 
tiful on the British side of the Atlantic Ocean. It is supposed to be 
the smallest web-footed bird known, and seldom comes to shore ex- 
cept during the breeding 
season, when they resort to 
such places as the Scilly 
Islands, in the English 
Channel, and the islands of 
the Irish Sea; but their 
chief nesting places are in 
the Orkney and Shetland 
Islands, and St. Kilda and 
the outer Hebrides. 
This bird is well known to sailors by the name of Mother Carey’s 
Chicken, and hated by them because it foretells an approaching 
storm. 
They are mostly seen in stormy weather, because the marine crea- 
tures, on which they feed, are tossed to the surface of the chopping 
waves, and can be easily picked up by the bird as it passes over the 
waves, pattering the water with its webbed feet, and flapping its wings 
so as to keep itself just above the surface. } 
The name Petrel is given to these birds on account of its powers of 
walking on the water, as is related of St. Peter. This bird seems very 
happy during rough weather, and many a ship-wrecked sailor, while 
clinging half locausted to some floating wreckage, has envied this 
little bird of its powers of flight, as it traverses the rolling, seething 
billows with wonderful ease. 
It feeds on the little fish, crustaceaus and molluses which are found 
in abundance on the surface of the sea. They always follow the 
boats crossing the Atlantic, and will keep pace with a ship for days, 
picking up the refuse food thrown overboard. 
In the Scilly Islands, the birds lay their eggs in burrows in the 
ground, in company with Manx Shearwaters, but in the Orkney and 
STORMY PETREL, 
