THE SEA AND THE DESERT 187 



Collecting of this kind seemed much like catch- 

 ing butterflies, and the little stormy petrels 

 hovering over the pieces of liver bore out the 

 illusion by their motions as they poised and 

 fluttered about the bait. At a single sweep of 

 the net the captain took in nine of these little 

 birds, which will give an idea of their abundance. 



The two larger petrels, and the greater and 

 sooty shearwaters, are birds that measure about 

 forty inches across the wings and are larger than 

 a common crow. Their flight is very swift and 

 their wings beat fast; but, nevertheless, as one 

 would pause in passing to attempt to grab the 

 lure, the captain would have him in his crab-net, 

 and then the bird would be on deck, fighting and 

 biting and trying to get away, but unable to take 

 wing from the flat surface. There were present 

 besides a number of parasitic gulls, which were 

 harassing the several kinds of petrels whenever 

 an opportunity occurred. 



There are some ten or more representatives 

 of the family of petrels common in the waters of 

 the North Atlantic ; and several of these breed 

 on islands such as Bird Rock of the Magdalen 

 group, as well as on St. Kilda, the Shetlands, and 

 other islands in that ocean. But it is not until 

 the equator is passed and one is well south that 

 the variety and abundance of petrels become a 

 feature of a sea journey. The most impressive 



