172 . BTRD GALLERY, 



September, iiicutation usually commences about the middle of June, 

 and lasts for thirty-five days. 



Isle of SkyCj July. 



Presented by the Rev. H. A. Macpherson. 



No. 96. LEACH'S FORK-TAILED PETREL. 



(Oceanodvoma leucorrhoa.) 



This species, restricted to the Northern Hemisphere, is met with 

 off the coasts of Great Britain, occasionally in numbers, during the 

 autumn and winter months. It is known to breed on the St. Kilda 

 Group, on North Rona and other islands of the Outer Hebrides, as 

 well as on the Blaskets, off the south-west coast of Ireland. The food 

 consists of small molluscs, crustaceans, and greasy matter found floating 

 on the sea. The nest is made at the end of a burrow or in a hole of 

 some kind ; and a single white egg, zoned and freckled with minute 

 I'usty dots, is laid in June. Both birds take part in the incubation. 



N-orth Bona, Outer Hebrides, 1st July. 



Presented by Hugh G. Barclay, Esq. 



No. 97. PUFFIN. (Fratercula arctica.) 



Vast numbers of the " Sea-Parrot " or " Coulter-neb," as it is often 

 called, breed in the cliffs and grassy slopes on many parts of the coast- 

 line of the British Islands. In the end of August, when the young 

 are ready to follow their parents into the water, they leave the coast 

 for the open sea, where they pass the winter, returning to their 

 breeding-places in March or April. The single dull white egg, faintly 

 spotted with brown or lilac, is laid in a crevice of a rock or in a 

 burrow, either dug out by the bird or made by a rabbit. The young 

 are fed on small fish, which are carried transversely in the bill of the 

 parent, and as many as eight are sometimes brought at a time. 



Island of Grassholme, Pembrokeshire, July. 



Presented by Colonel P. TV. L'Estrange. 



No. 98. MANX SHEARWATER. (Puffinus anglorum.) 



This species is widely distributed over British waters throughout the 

 year, and- breeds on many of the unfrequented islands r6und our 

 coasts/with the exception- of those on the eastern shores of Great 



