MANX SHEARWATER. 208 
Famiry PROCELLARIIDA. 
MANX SHEARWATER. 
Purrinus aNcLorum, Temm. 
Pl. XXXVI, fig. 1. 
Geogr. distr.—Throughout the N. Atlantic ocean, not extending 
into the Baltic, but into the Mediterranean as far as the Black Sea; 
on the American coast from Labrador to New Jersey; also in 
Bermuda: in Great Britain it is not uncommon, especially on the 
western coasts, breeding on the Scilly Islands, Lundy, Staffa, the 
Outer Hebrides, Orkney and Shetland Islands. 
Food.—Fish, Mollusca, Crustacea, and worms. 
Nest.—A few straws or dry plants at the extremity of a burrow, 
one, two, or more feet deep. ; 
Position of nest.—In the sandy soil of steep cliffs. 
Number of eggs, 1. 
Time of nidification.—V-VI. 
According to Dixon, in Mr. Seebohm’s ‘ History of British 
Birds,” the cry of this bird may be expressed on paper as 
‘¢ kitty-coo-roo, kitty-coo-roo.”’ He adds:—‘‘ This note is 
uttered both when the bird is on the wing and when sitting 
on its nest. Guided by the note, the islanders are able to 
find the nests with little difficulty, so that they always 
prefer to go in search of this species at night. Dogs are 
also trained for the purpose of finding the holes.” 
“The Shearwater burrows in the ground like a Puffin or 
a Petrel, and the holes are sometimes very long, and often 
under large masses of rock, where it is impossible to reach 
the nest.” —(Vol. iii., p. 422.) 
Mr. Gray observes that ‘there are numerous breeding 
haunts of this Shearwater throughout the West of Scotland, 
and the bird itself may be called abundant within the 
circle of the Inner Hebrides.’’ He says that westward of 
that group the only breeding localities known to him are 
Pabbay—one of the isles of Barra, and St. Kilda. To the 
above haunts he adds—the island of Higg and the Treshi- 
nish isles, Staffa, Iona, and various small rocky islets. 
The Shearwater appears in April and remains until 
October. —‘ Birds of the West of Scotland,’ pp. 503-4.) 
