MONOGRAPH OF THE PETRELS. 



is stated by Mr. Loomis to frequent the Californian Seas in summer, which is its 

 furthest recorded southern range. A specimen in the British Museum was 

 obtained in the Kurile Islands. 



Nelson relates that in September, 1881, in the harbour of Ounalaska, hundreds of 

 light-coloured birds of this species were seen in company with an equal number of 

 sooty-brown, or blackish-brown Petrels of the same size but of an allied species ; these 

 immense flocks covered acres of water, the calm sea rendering the birds apparently 

 helpless, and as the " Corwin " steamed along, they merely flapped clumsily along the 

 surface of the water in their futile attempts to rise. 



F. rodgersi repairs to the cliffs on the south and east shores of St. George's Island 

 for the purpose of breeding ; it arrives early in the season, and having selected a 

 suitable rocky ledge, without any attempt at a nest, lays a single large white egg, 

 and immediately commences the process of incubation. This Fulmar is one of the 

 most devoted of waterfowl, for it will sooner allow itself to be killed while sitting than 

 take flight at the approach of an intruder. The natives lower themselves over the 

 cliffs and gather large numbers of eggs, which are much prized as articles of food ; in 

 form they are said to be more elongate than those of F. glacialis, and the shell is covered 

 with minute points and raised fossae. 



The chick has been compared to a puffball of white down, gaining its first plumage 

 in six weeks, and at the end of the season resembling its parents, though much darker 

 on the back and scapulars. 



As an article of food the flesh is most unpalatable, and, like others of its race, 

 this species has the disgusting habit of vomiting the contents of the stomach at an 

 intruder. Several of the precipitous islands of Bering Sea are breeding places of 

 F. rodgersi, and the cliffs of Herald Island are eminently suitable nesting places, but 

 the hasty visit of the " Corwin " did not allow time for a careful search, though the 

 abundance of birds in the vicinity of the island renders it probable that they breed 

 there. 



Among the specimens in the British Museum is one from Bering Island obtained 

 by Major Barrett-Hamilton, which is interesting, as Dr. Stejneger only found 

 F. glupischa on the Commander Islands. The egg measures 2.9 inches in length and 

 1.9 in breadth. Messrs. Dall and Bannister give a very fair representation of the bird 

 in the " Transactions of the Chicago Academy of Sciences," showing very plainly the 

 white inner secondaries tipped with dusky-grey. 



Adult. Similar to F. glacialis, but slightly more leaden-grey on the back and 

 wings, the inner secondaries white, broadly edged and tipped with dusky-grey ; the 

 back slightly mottled with white, due to the white bases and shafts of the feathers ; 

 rump and upper tail-coverts for the most part white, with broad ends of 

 dusky-grey ; " bill entirely yellow, the base of both mandibles dusky ; legs 

 yellow, the tarsus tinged behind with dusky " (Dall and Bannister). Total length 



274 



