Birds. 5799 



woman, somewhat more imaginative than the rest, ventured to suggest 

 that it might probably be an eagle ! It will not be necessary for me 

 to do more than make a few passing remarks, this bird having been 

 so fully described by Wilson and others ; however, my specimen must 

 be a peculiarly small one, for the entire length of the bill, measured 

 from the gape, is only 3j inches, whereas Wilson tells us that the 

 bill of the American bittern is 4 inches in length. Unfortunately, I 

 did not, as usual before skinning it, take the dimensions. The entire 

 length, as given by Wilson, is 27 inches ; but the skin measures 23 

 inches only ; it may have, and probably has, shrunk ; still, the bill 

 being ^ an inch shorter proves, almost beyond a doubt, that the bird 

 must have been smaller; besides, the tarsus is only 3^ inches in 

 length, whereas another author says it is 3f inches. The upper man- 

 dible along the ridge measures, from plumes, but 2j inches. The 

 centre claw, which is serrated internally, measures 6-tenths of an inch. 

 Storm Petrel. Wilson states that the reason of its following ships 

 is to procure the seeds of the gulf-weed and barnacles. " Thus it 

 appears that these seeds, floating perhaps a little below the surface, 

 and the barnacles with which ships' bottoms usually abound, being 

 both occasionally thrown up to the surface by the action of the vessel 

 through the water in blowing weather, entice these birds to follow in 

 the ship's wake at such times, and not, as some have imagined, merely 

 to seek shelter from the storm." Having passed at least two years of 

 my life at sea, I may perhaps be excused if I venture to make a few 

 remarks, which cannot, I think, fail to convince those interested in 

 the subject that Wilson's idea of the storm petrel's generally following 

 vessels for the sake of the sea-weed and barnacles was an erroneous 

 one. I have doubled the Cape of Good Hope six times, in six difFe* 

 rent ships, one having been a short time previously entirely newly 

 coppered at Lisbon, in consequence of damage sustained in a storm 

 in the Bay of Biscay; and at least two more of the vessels referred to 

 must have been clean-bottomed. Although I write at a considerable 

 distance of time, I may safely say that I never rounded the Cape, or 

 made a long voyage, without seeing numerous storm petrels following 

 the vessels, more particularly in stormy weather. So much for their 

 feeding on barnacles. As to the gulf-weed, there could of course be 

 none of that in those latitudes. However, I am of Wilson's opinion 

 with respect to the absurd notion of the petrel's seeking shelter under 

 the sides or sterns of ships : there can, I think, be no doubt of their 

 being attracted by the refuse particles of food thrown over-board, on 

 which I have myself observed them to feed. If the storm petrel now 

 requires to shelter itself from the storm under the lee of ships, they 



