LESSER FULMAR. 271 



a mode of defence. It attends the fishing vessels on the 

 banks of Newfoundland, feeding on the liver and offal of the 

 cod-fish which is thrown overboard, and is known to the sailors 

 by the quaint name of John Down. It is also taken by means 

 of a hook baited in this manner with the offal, and the inhab- 

 itants of Bafifin's and Hudson's Bay are said to salt them for 

 winter provision; though Pennant, in the "Arctic Zoology," 

 adds that their flesh is rank and fetid in consequence of their 

 unpleasant food, yet they are still considered as no indifferent 

 dish by the hungry Greenlanders, and they breed usually about 

 Disco. Like the birds of the preceding and nearly allied 

 genus, they nest in holes in the rocks in great companies 

 at St. Kilda about the middle of June, laying but one large, 

 white, and brittle egg. The Fulmar is now and then, though 

 very rarely, seen on the temperate coasts of Europe and the 

 United States. The feathers are very close and full, clothed 

 below with a thick and fine down. 



Fulmars are common from the Newfoundland banks northward, 

 and in winter a few stragglers are met with off the New England 

 coast. This form is not known to breed on the eastern side of the 

 Atlantic. 



LESSER FULMAR. 



WHITE HAGDON. NODDY. 

 FULMARUS GLACIALIS MINOR. 



Char. Similar in coloration to glacialis, but smaller. Length aver- 

 ages about 18 inches. 



Nest and Eggs. Similar to glacialis, the eggs averaging somewhat 

 smaller. 



Mr. Hagerup thinks it probable that this is the form that breeds 

 in numbers on the western coast of Greenland north of latitude 

 69°. In winter a few of these birds are met with off the New 

 England coast. 



The habits of this variety do not differ from those of the type, 

 and the two forms can be separated only by their size. 



