THE PETREL. 



257 



showing only a single spot of white, its dusky form 

 darts in every direction along the swelling waves. 

 Never fatigued, the tiny Petrels seldom alight, though 

 they seem now and then to walk upon the foaming 

 crests of the water. When the gale approaches, and 

 the little wanderers are unable to bear up against its 



Wilson's Petrt;!. (Mother Carey'.s Chicken.) 



fury, they retreat for shelter to the stern of the near- 

 est vessel, where they remain until the blue sky over- 

 head again tempts them to fly forth to pick up the 

 floating fragments on the sea. There are three va- 

 rieties of this interesting bird. We will notice but 

 one, Wilson's Petrel, which is sometimes confounded 

 with a smaller kind, both being familiarly called 

 Mother Carey's Chickens, Of their migrations but 

 little is known. The range is stated by Audubon not 

 to extend eastward beyond the Azores, nor lower than 

 22 * R 



