BIRDS OF THE OPEN SEA 



25 



common with other petrels these feed their newly hatched 

 young upon the dark oily fluid which they eject through 

 their bills into the throats of the fledgelings, and this is 

 undoubtedly the cause of the unpleasant smell that ever 

 clings to their plumage. The male petrel takes a full 

 share of the labors of incubation, and some authorities 

 aver that, like the phalaropc, he does it all. As soon 

 as he is able to fly, the young petrel takes to the sea, 



108. Asht Petrel. 

 tf The playmate 0/ the grim old sea. 



never to come ashore until, a year or two later, he wants 

 a wife and a burrow of his own. Think of it — day 

 after day, week after week, eating, sleeping, resting on 

 the boundless water! His only refuge from the storm 

 is to fly above or beyond it ; his only food is the drift he 

 may pick up. Dancing on the crest of the wave, dashing 

 through the salt spray, he is the ocean's own darling, the 

 playmate of the grim old sea. 



