PROCELLARIIDAE 



63 



depression on the top, colonies being formed on cliffs, rocky 

 slopes, or bare hill-tops above the limit of trees ; the Giant Petrel 

 makes a similar structure at no great elevation ; Shearwaters and 

 their nearest allies collect a mass of grass and rubbish in a burrow 

 scraped in a bank, among boulders, or in holes and crevices of rocks, 

 accommodating themselves to little stone huts, provided by the 

 fishermen, in the Canary and Sah-age Islands.'^ Fulmars scrape 

 a cup-shaped hollow on ledges of precipices, adding little or no 

 lining, while most of the remaining forms utilise small burrows, 

 or crannies among the scattered stones which collect upon the 

 shores or at the base of cliffs. A single lack-lustre white egg is 

 deposited, frequently marked with a ring of rusty spots towards 

 the larger end, especially in the case of the lesser species. Adult 

 and young Shearwaters are eaten by the natives of the Canaries, 

 the islands of Scotland, Ireland, and elsewhere, Puffinus hrevicaiida 

 being the " Mutton-bird " of Australia, and P. anglorum being 

 termed " Fachach " in the Hebrides and North Ireland. In the 

 case of Pelar/oclroma, we have positive evidence that both sexes 

 incubate ; " and before the eggs are laid the parents are not un- 

 commonly found together in the hole when such a site is chosen. 

 Incubation lasts from twenty-five to sixty days. 



Sub-fam. 1. Diomedeinae. — This contains two genera, Plioehetria 

 and Diomedea, of which the former has one member, P.fuliginosa, 

 of a sooty grey colour, distinguished from its allies by the sul- 

 cated mandible and cuneate tail. It frequents the South Seas, 

 while straying to Oregon, as does Diomedea culminata ; and 

 has similar manners to other Albatroses. Diomedea. exulans, the 

 " Wandering Alljatros," or " Cape Sheep," of the Southern Oceans 

 generally, is white with narrow dusky undulations above and 

 almost black wings ; and particulars of the habits having been 

 already given, it only remains to refer to the majestic flight, 

 described by Professor Hutton as follows : " With outstretched, 

 motionless wings he sails over the surface of the sea, now rising 

 high in the air, now with a bold sweep, and wings inclined at an 

 angle with the horizon, descending until the tip of the lower one 

 all but touches the crests of the waves as he skims over them. 

 Suddenly he sees something floating on the water and pre- 

 pares to alight ; but how changed he now is from the noble 

 bird but a moment before all grace and symmetry. He raises 



' Ogilvie Grant, Ibis, 1896, y. 52. ^ Id. Hid. 



