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. 



Sorhetimes, 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 guU, 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 how also be found breeding 

 in the Shetlands, Hebrides, and Orkneys. 



104 



