FORK-TAILED PETREL. 
193 
Petrel expresses itself in the words keckereck-ee, kec- 
kereck-ee 1 
This species passes most of its time at sea, flying in pursuit 
of its favourite food, namely, the insects that float on the 
surface of the waves; and occasionally steering its course 
in the wake of some vessel, in order to pick up any ac¬ 
ceptable refuse that may be thrown overboard, or to take 
advantage of such shelter as its hull may afford during a 
heavy gale. 
During the breeding-season, the Fork-tailed Petrels, like 
the former species, approach the rocky shores in flocks, and 
having made themselves acquainted with the locality, each 
pair chooses a desirable fissure in the rock, or a deep cavity 
among the loose stones that lie heaped about; sometimes 
the burrow of a rabbit is selected, according to circum¬ 
stances. 
After having made choice of their residence, they 
hide during the day time in these sheltered situations, 
and only leave them in the evening for the purpose of 
feeding, and do not always return until early in the 
morning. 
The female lays her single white egg in a cavity on 
the bare ground, without taking the trouble to make a 
nest. 
The Fork-tailed Petrel measures seven inches three lines 
in length ; the wing from the carpus to the tip six inches ; 
the tarsi one inch ; the beak rather more than six lines from 
the forehead to the tip.-^ 
The plumage of the head and back of this bird is a dull 
black ; the sides of the vent, and the upper tail-coverts are 
white, with the shafts of the feathers brown ; the wing-coverts 
are sooty black ; the quill-feathers and tail black ; the beak, 
legs, and feet black ; the tail is forked ; the eyes dark brown; 
