Wayne: Birds of South Carolina. 9 



in Charleston Harbor. A great many of these birds must 

 have perished during the cyclone of August 27-28, 1893. A single 

 individual was found dead on Long Island beach a few days after 

 the cyclone. 



I quote the following account of this species from the Proceed- 

 ings of the Elliott Society of Science and Art: 1 



Mr. E. A. Smyth remarked that on the 4th of August, he was collecting birds 

 on the various islands that surround Stono Inlet. While walking on the front 

 beach of the western end of Folly Island, he picked up a dead bird that was ev- 

 idently washed ashore. The skin and flesh had been eaten away from the head 

 and neck, but without destroying the beak or bones of the skull. The rest of 

 the bird was in fairly good condition, although not suggestive of "Araby the 

 blest." Mr. Smyth stated that he recognized the bird as the remains of a Dus- 

 ky or Audubon's Petrel. Knowing the rarity of the bird in this quarter, he de- 

 termined to attempt the preservation of the specimen and started back to his 

 boat for that purpose. Upon getting into his skiff to row to his yacht which 

 was anchored some distance off the beach, he observed what appeared to be a 

 wounded bird in mid-stream, coming in apparently with the wind and tide. 

 Having been shooting at Long-billed Curlews the greater part of the day, as 

 they flew to and from Bird Key, he naturally supposed this to be one of the 

 wounded that had fallen into the water. He rowed towards it with the inten- 

 tion of picking it up, but before getting within gunshot range, the bird rose and 

 flew seaward, with that peculiar curvature of wing distinctive of the Puffins and 

 Petrels. The squally appearance of the weather forbade a trip seaward in an 

 open boat, so restraining his desire to obtain the bird, he turned and rowed 

 back to the yacht. Scarcely five minutes had passed, when, happening to look 

 seaward, he saw the same bird drifting down upon the boat as before. The bird 

 continued to drift until almost on the boat when he shot it. Upon picking the 

 bird out of the water it was found to be, like the first, a Dusky Puffin (Pufiinus 

 Auduboni) , only in perfect condition. Mr. Smyth stated that it was the thinnest 

 specimen of a sea bird that he had ever handled, the skin being entirely free 

 from the masses of fat usually found in Ducks and Gulls. It is now in his col- 

 lection. 



This capture is worthy of record, being only the second authentic instance, in 

 his knowledge, of the capture of this bird around Charleston ; the other specimen 

 was taken on Sullivan's Island, and is now in the collection of Mr. Arthur T. 

 Wayne of Charleston. 



The specimen to which Mr. Smyth refers as being in my col- 

 lection is now in the collection of Mr. William Brewster. 

 Audubon's Shearwater breeds in the Bahamas. 



24. Puffinus griseus (Gmel.). Sooty Shearwater. 



The Sooty Shearwater is very abundant off the coast in the 

 summer months. During severe gales these birds are driven 

 landwards and seek protection on the coast islands, as well as in 

 the harbor of Charleston. 



Their breeding grounds are pelagic islands in the southern 

 hemisphere. 



iProc. Ell.Soc, II, Aug., 1888, 212. 



