Among the Water-Fowl 



a " square " tail and yellow webs. They are hard 

 to distinguish at any distance, and thus one might 

 overlook the rarer, though very similar, Stormy or 

 Least Petrel, which I have never certainly identified. 

 Leach's Petrel breeds from the coast of Maine 

 northward, while the other goes with the Shear- 

 waters to the mysterious far south. During sum- 

 mer, when our northern Petrel is breeding, it is 

 usually the southerner that we meet off our coasts. 

 All that I have identified off Cape Cod at that sea- 

 son were ot the latter kind. In the autumn we find 

 both kinds intern:iingled. As for winter, it has 

 never been my fortune to meet any Petrel at that 

 season, though they may occur further off shore. 



Out of the very many trips that I have made 

 into the haunts of the ocean wanderers, mostly off 

 Chatham, I will cull out some of the more note- 

 worthy incidents that will illustrate the habits of 

 these unique and interesting birds. One that stands 

 out in my memory was the second of August, away 

 back in 1883, when I met for my first and only 

 time a certain rare bird. As usual, I was with a 

 fisherman ofi^ Chatham, well out to sea. Among 

 the many Shearwaters — " Hags " or " Haglets," as 

 the fishermen call them — -I noticed an individual 

 resembling the Greater Shearwater, but lighter in 

 colour in the back, and with a large, conspicuous 

 yellow bill. I had not the least idea what it was, 

 and my naturalistic ardour rose to white heat. 

 Fortunately there was a gun in the cabin. I inade 

 ready, and when, at length, the strange bird again 

 flew past, I tumbled it into the water. Luffing the 

 boat up to it, I laid down the gun, and was about to 



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