presenting periods of rapid quivering, alternating with long 
sailing with fixed, widely spread, narrow pinions. At one 
moment one sees only the deep black of the back, the next 
the pure white of the under parts as the birds, turn now this 
way, now that, holding the outstretched wings at right angles 
to the surface during the turn, so that one wing barely misses 
the waves, while the other points skywards. 
Sometimes, too, one may see the little ‘‘ Mother Carey’s 
chicken.” A tiny sprite, sooty-black in colour, and with a 
white rump patch, it often flies so close to the water that it 
is able to patter along the surface with its feet as it flies. 
The fulmar petrel is indeed a child of the sea, for, except 
in the breeding season, it never comes to land. But at sea 
you may have the good fortune to see it off the east coast 
of Great Britain, and the north and west of Ireland—and in 
winter off the south and west coasts of England. Though in 
coloration resembling a common gull, it may always be dis- 
tinguished, when on the wing, by its narrow wings, curved 
like a bow—not sharply angled as those of a gull, and the 
primaries are not black-tipped. Its flight is strong and 
powerful: slow wing-beats alternating with long glides. 
On far St. Kilda, in the breeding season, you may find them 
in great hosts. For some unexplained reason they are 
increasing in numbers, and may now also be found breeding 
in the Shetlands, Hebrides, and Orkneys. 
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