493 



says, occasionally seen off Bohuslan, in the Cattegat, and on the coast of Skane ; and it is said 

 to have been seen off Bornholm. In Finland it does not appear to have occurred, though 

 Dr. Palmen (Finl. Fogl. ii. p. 632) refers to a bird having been seen off the coast, which, from 

 the description given by the fishermen, was a Petrel of some sort, either the present species or 

 Leach's Petrel. According to Borggreve it is very rarely seen on the coasts of North Germany 

 as a straggler, only occurring inland when driven in by stress of weather. Kjserbolling says that 

 it has on several occasions been obtained in Denmark, and names six instances of its occurrences 

 besides having himself seen it on the Little Belt and Veilefjord. Professor Schlegel says that 

 it is occasionally blown on to the Dutch coast during severe storms; and Baron von Droste 

 Hiilshoff says that a specimen was thrown up by the waves at Borkum, half dead, in the 

 autumn of 1868. Baron de Selys Longchamps says that when the weather is very stormy it is 

 sometimes numerous on the Scheldt, and several specimens have been taken in the interior of 

 Belgium. Messrs. Degland and Gerbe record it as occurring on all the French coasts, and say 

 that it breeds abundantly on many of the islands off Brittany, as well as on those near Marseilles- 

 In Portugal, according to Professor Barboza du Bocage, it is not rare off the coast ; and the same 

 appears to be the case as regards Spain. It has been supposed by some naturalists that the 

 Storm-Petrel of the Mediterranean differs from the species found in the north of Europe and 

 America ; and Schembri described the Maltese bird as distinct. This view was also favoured by 

 my friend Mr. Howard Saunders, who writes (Ibis, 1869, p. 171) as follows: — "My friend 

 Dr. Angel Guirao also showed me his private collection, containing specimens, taken on the 

 eggs by himself, of a curious variety of Thalassidroma pelagica, of a uniform sooty black, without 

 white rump or white on the wings, which breeds plentifully on the Hormigas and other islands 

 just without the entrance to that great inland sea called the Mar Menor, which extends to 

 Carthagena." He further writes (Ibis, 1871, p. 401) that "Don Angel Guirao states that they 

 differ from the type, inasmuch as neither the young nor adults ever have the scapulars and 

 secondaries tipped with white. My own note, made after handling his specimens in 1867, 

 merely states no white bar on wings ; but my impression is, that the white on the rump is less 

 distinct than in more northern example ; still I was in such bad health at the time, that I did 

 not give them the attention I should otherwise have done." I have not been able to examine a 

 specimen from the coast of Spain ; but, thanks to Mr. C. A. Wright, of Malta, I have lately 

 received seven Storm-Petrels from Filfla, near Malta, which are undistinguishable from British- 

 killed examples ; and it is therefore scarcely possible that the Spanish bird can be any thing else 

 but the present species. Mr. A. von Homeyer writes (J. f. O. 1862, p. 433) that it appears to 

 avoid the Balearic Isles altogether, but that it is common on Cabrera and Conjira, where there 

 is open sea. It inhabits the small islands off Sardinia, where it breeds ; and, according to 

 Mr. Wright, it is sedentary on Malta, very common on the south side of the island, and breeds 

 at Filfla, where eggs and young may be found in June and July. Malherbe says that it is 

 sometimes seen at Syracuse, and is occasionally caught off Messina during dark nights in the 

 summer, being attracted by the fires lighted by the fishermen at the ends of their boats. Lord 

 Lilford writes (Ibis, 1860, p. 357) that he saw it once in the Ionian Sea, near Pagania, in 

 December 1857. Specimens have been driven far inland in Southern Germany. Von Pelzeln 

 says (Ver. k.-k. zool.-bot. Gesellsch. 1871, p. 727), " one was caught at Vienna on the 10th 



2p2 



