318 NATURALIST'S CABINET. 



Descriptions* 



THE FULMAR 



IS the largest of the petrel kind which w 

 known in these climates. It is superior to the 

 size of the common gull, being about fifteen 

 inches in length, and in weight seventeen ounces. 

 The bill is very strong, yellow, and hooked at the 

 end. The head, neck, and all the under parts of 

 the body, are white; the back and wings ash- 

 tolowred, the quills dusky, and the tail white. 

 Jt feeds on the blubber of whales, which supplies 

 the reservoir, whence it spouts with a constant 

 stock of ammunition. This oil is esteemed by 

 the inhabitants of the North as a sovereign re- 

 medy in many complaints both external and in~ 

 ternal. The flesh is also considered by them as 

 a delicacy, and the bird is therefore in great re- 

 quest at St. Kilda. It is said that when a whale 

 is taken, these birds will, in defiance of all en- 

 deavours, light upon it, and pick out large lumps 

 of fat even while it is alive. 



THE SHEARWATER. 



THIS is something smaller than the preced- 

 ing. The head, and all the upper parts of the 

 body, are of a sooty blackness ; and the unde,r 

 part and inner coverts of the wings white. These 

 birds are found in the Calf of Man, and the 



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