THE FULMAR PETREL. 445 



brown, grey or yellowish, tip yellow or horn, lower mandible olive, 

 sometimes with pinkish at base, tip yellower ; legs and feet pale 

 bluish-flesh, greenish-grey or yellowish-flesh ; iris dark brown. 



Characters and allied forms. — F. g. rodgersii (N. Pacific) has 

 yellow bill, in pale form white is purer and secondaries, wing-coverts 

 and rump are often white with grey tips to feathers, dark form is 

 darker than in F.g. glacialis. Fulmar is distinguished from other 

 British Petrels by size and gull-like coloration. 



Field -characters. — Rather larger than a Common Gull and not 

 unlike it in coloration ; but, in flight, thick neck and narrow wings, 

 curved like a boomerang instead of being sharply angled and 

 lacking black at tips, prevent confusion with any gull. Flight is 

 strong and powerful, performed by slow wing-flaps alternating with 

 long glides on rigid outstretched wings, body often tilted at a high 

 angle like a Shearwater's, with one wing just clear of waves. A 

 silent bird as a rule but utters hoarse coughs and grunts during 

 courtship. 



Breeding -habits. — Breeds in colonies, normally in ledges on face 

 of cliff, but in Spitsbergen also on top of stacks and high islands. 

 Nest. — Merely a scratching with bits of broken rock and stones 

 sometimes round egg. Egg. — One only, but 2 have been recorded, 

 pure white, variable in shape, said occasionally to show red spots. 

 Averageof 100 eggs, 73.6x50.2. Max.: 81.5x50.5 and 72.5x54.1. 

 Min. : 67.6x46.6 and 74.1x43.2 mm. Breeding -season. — From 

 mid-May onward in British Isles. Incubation. — By both sexes. 

 Period, long : variously estimated at from 6 to 8 weeks or even 60 

 days. Single brooded. 



Food. — Smaller Cephalopoda : also Crustacea, offal from ships, 

 and remains of fish. In northern waters blubber of whale, and leaves 

 of plants during breeding -season. Exceptionally drowned birds 

 (Redwing recorded in stomach). 



Distribution. — British Isles. — Resident. During last twenty 

 years has steadily increased and extended its breeding range, and 

 now nests in O. Hebrides, besides St. Kilda (where increased), 

 N. Rona, Flannans, Haskeier Rocks off N. Uist, Lewis, Barra, and 

 probably Shiant Isles ; Shetlands more than fifteen sites ; Fair 

 Isle ; Orkneys some eight sites ; Handa and Bulgach Isles (off 

 Sutherland), Clomore Cliffs (Sutherland) ; Dunnet Head and Berrie- 

 dale Head (Caithness) ; seen Fowlsheugh (Kincardine), 1914 and 

 proved breeding 1920 ; breeding Pennan (Aberdeen), 1916 ; breed- 

 ing St. Abb's Head (Berwick), 1920 ; breeding between Arbroath 

 and Red Head (Forfar), 1921 ; seen Bempton Cliffs (Yorks.), 1919 

 and 1921, and Scarborough Cliffs, 1921 ; seen Fame Isles, 1919-21. 

 Discovered breeding Ireland, 1910, Horn Head (Donegal), 1911, 

 Stags of Broadhaven and near Portacloy (Mayo), 1913, Great 

 Skellig (Kerry) and Tory Island (Donegal). Except in breeding- 

 season rarely comes to land, even after storms, but is met with most 



