86 The Bird Life of the Firth of Forth. By Kobt. Gray. 



moors. The main body, however, remained in the Firth eight 

 or ten days, during which time the birds frequented for the most 

 part the lee side of Inchkeith, quite near to the anchored ships 

 that had been forced there for shelter. On the 22nd October, 

 while crossing from Granton to Burnbisland in a stiff gale of 

 wind, I observed upwards of a dozen storm petrels following the 

 big waves, rising and falling in their flight with their customary 

 ease ; and two days afterwards, on the return journey, when the 

 ferry steamboat was, to the great discomfiture of the passengers 

 on board, obliged to run as far as Inchkeith in its passage across, 

 I had an excellent opportimity of seeing the birds in increased 

 numbers enjoying their shelter on the lee side of the island, 

 where, surrounded by large steamboats and other windbound 

 vessels, they crowded together, and fed upon the refuse thrown 

 overboard by the ships' cooks. It was an extremely interesting 

 sight, and I was informed that the birds had been there from the 

 date of the great storm. A lesson, indeed, might have been de- 

 rived from their presence by the captains of ocean-going steamers, 

 several of whom, impatient at the delay, had set sail, in some 

 cases oftener than once, only, however, to return partially 

 disabled to their former anchorage. The petrels, actuated no 

 doubt by an unerring instinct, wisely remained under shelter ; 

 and I would venture to say that in any future case, when these 

 birds are seen under such circumstances, much expense might be 

 saved by the masters of wind-bound vessels, if they quietly re- 

 mained at their anchorage until the petrels let them know when 

 it was time to leave. I commend this observation to the atten- 

 tion of my friend Mr Buchan, the excellent secretary of the 

 Scottish Meteorological Society,' as a means of increasing the 

 interest, if not the importance, of future weather forecasts. 



On the 2l8t November there occurred a tremendous storm of 

 wind and rain, which affected the whole of the western coasts of 

 Scotland, including the inner and outer Hebrides. This was 

 accompanied by very high tides, which flooded many of the 

 towns even in sheltered places, such as Fort WiUiam, Oban, and 

 Tobermory, where great damage was done to property. During 

 the continuance of the gale, several flocks of petrels were ob- 

 served, and many birds of the two commoner species — .the storm 

 petrel and the fork-tailed or Leach's petrel — were captured in 

 the town of Oban and elsewhere. There can be no doubt 

 that while the storm prevailed small flocks of both species 



