LETTER XI. 



93 



own accord the bereaved parents immediately took to the two 

 orphans, and brought them up. 



By the last post I forwarded a pair of young Petrels (Thalassi- 

 droma pelagica) ; they were taken from Soay on the 8 th, and were 

 then about a fortnight old, but very 



little advanced, being covered 

 with a profusion of down, and their legs and wings quite useless. 

 The old birds were all absent ; though we searched every hole, 

 and dug one hole out to ascertain that they were not skulking at 

 the extremity of their burrows, we did not succeed in finding one. 

 The two young captives were placed in a little box, and fed with 



