128 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL, MUSEUM. 



and gullet are found to contain oily matter, which, on being seized, it vomits, 

 like the other species of this family. 



Godman (1907) has " seen them in great numbers feeding on the 

 carcass of a dead whale." 



Behavior. — Macgillivray (1852) gives the best account of the flight, 

 saying: 



In the open ocean they are met with by day as well as by night ; but 

 when breeding they are seen in the neighborhood of their haunts ; that is, to 

 the distance of twenty or more miles around, chiefly in the dusk and dawn, and 

 during the day remain concealed in their holes. Stormy weather does not 

 prevent their coming abroad, nor are they less active during calms. When 

 the waves are high and the wind fierce, it is pleasant, even amidst the noise 

 of the storm and the heavings of the vessel, to watch the little creatures as 

 they advance against the gale, at the height of scarcely a foot above the 

 surface of the water, which they follow in all its undulations, mounting to the 

 top of the wave, there quivering in the blast, and making good their way by 

 repeated strokes of their long, narrow wings; then sliding down the slope, 

 resting a moment in the shelter of the advancing mass of water, gliding up 

 its side, and again meeting on the summit the force of the rude wind that 

 curls the wave and scatters abroad its foam bells. I have seen them thus ad- 

 vancing, apparently with -little labor, and in such cases less effort, I think, must 

 be required than when they have to encounter a gale before it has blown long 

 enough to raise the waves, which afford it partial shelter. Their manner of 

 flying is similar to that of the smaller gulls ; that is, they glide lightly along 

 with expanded wings, sailing or gliding at intervals and then plying their 

 feathery oars. It is only when picking up their food that, with upraised 

 wings, they hover over the spot, and pat the water with their feet; although 

 many persons have described this as their ordinary mode of progression. In 

 calm weather, when the sea is smooth, they hover, skim, and wheel around much 

 in the manner of swallows, though with less velocity. They have, in fact, a 

 striking resehiblance to thes^ birds and certainly merit the name of sea 

 swallows, at least, as much as the terns. 



Morris (1903) describes their vocal performance as follows: 



When engaged with their nests they utter a very peculiar purring or buzzing 

 sound, broken every now and then by a "click"; also toward evening a fre- 

 quent shrill whistling noise. Meyer likens the note to the word " kekereck-ee.'-' 

 The voices of these birds may be heard, especially toward evening, under the 

 stones, at a depth of three or four feet or more, where they breed on the 

 beach, "distinctly singing a sort of warbling chatter." 



In thick and stormy weather these and other petrels are often 

 driven in near the coast or into harbors where they become ex- 

 hausted and are easily caught; many are sometimes killed in this 

 way by the fury of the elements ; during severe gales and hurricanes 

 large numbers are driven inland and picked up dead or in dying 

 condition. Morris (1903) says that "these birds are made use of by 

 the inhabitants of the Faroe and other islands to serve for lamps, a 

 wick of cotton or other material being drawn through the body, 

 and when lighted it continues to burn till the oil in it is consumed." 



