PUFFINUS AUDUBONI. 



common in the Grenadines, and nests on most of the small islands about Carriacou, 

 especially on Bonaparte Rocks. 



Mr. A. Hyatt Verrill records the species as a rare resident in the island of Dominica, 

 breeding at Scott's Head and Bois d'Inde. It is not uncommon on the fishing- 

 grounds in the Martinique Channel, where the fishermen stated that the birds were 

 very bold, often attempting to rob the fish from their canoes. 



Audubon's Shearwater frequents the open sea during the daytime, and, according 

 to Mr. C. B. Cory, who met with the species in the Bahamas, it is difficult to procure. 

 The birds are very shy during the day, remaining far away from the land, and only 

 returning late in the evening when it is too dark to distinguish them. All night long 

 their mournful cries can be heard, but long before dawn they start again for the sea, 

 where they may be seen in large flocks, resting on the open water, but always wary, 

 if approached by any vessel. Dr. Bryant, in his notes on the birds of the 

 Bahamas, says that he saw, about half-way from Andros to the Bank, a flock of 

 Boobies, Sooty Terns, Noddies, Cabot's Tern, and Dusky Petrels, all fishing in company, 

 and covering an area of at least a square mile, and in immense numbers. He states 

 that the nest, consisting of a few dry twigs, was placed either in a hole or under a 

 projecting portion of a rock, seldom more than a foot from the surface, and always 

 within reach of the hand. On being caught, the birds made no noise, and offered no 

 resistance, unlike the Tropic Bird, which fought manfully, biting and screaming with 

 all its might. 



The single egg, according to the same observer, was very fragile and highly polished, 

 and varied considerably in size and shape, some being rounded, others elongate. 



Mr. Bonhote never saw the birds outside their holes, nor could he distinguish the cries 

 at night from those of the Sooty Terns. He found that incubation was carried on by 

 both sexes, and before the egg is laid both birds occupy the same hole. The parent 

 does not apparently brood the young, but merely sits beside it during the first day or 

 two of its existence, after which it is left alone during the daytime (Ibis, 1903, p. 315). 



The food of P. auduboni is said to consist of small fish, and the mandibles of squids 

 and small cuttle-fish. 



Mr. Hurdis, in an Appendix to Mr. Jones' " Naturalist in Bermuda " (1859, pp. 

 93-96), gives a note on the " Cahow," a bird mentioned by Governor John Smith, in his 

 " General History of Virginia," published in 1629, and again by Purchas in 173S ; 

 and Mr. Hurdis proves conclusively that this must have been the bird we now know 

 as P. auduboni. He found that it was still known to the natives under the name 

 of " Cahow " in 1847, and subsequent observations have proved that it was undoubtedly 

 Audubon's Shearwater. 



Mr. A. E. Verrill, in a resume of the history of the " Cahow," considers it to be 

 extinct, and says that it was certainly not a Shearwater (Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist. (7), 

 IX., pp. 26-31). To this statement Canon Tristram demurs (Ibis, 1902, p. 525), affirming 



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