At Sea, North Atlantic
1909
Aug. 2 [August 2, 1909]
(No 2)
before. I wish I could identify them. At times I 
incline strongly to the opinion that they may be Puffini and
either P. borealis or P. kuhlii, neither of which I have seen living;
but they look to me decidedly smaller than P. major which
I do know well and major is smaller than borealis and (if
I remember rightly) of about the size of kuhlii. Their flight seems
to differ considerably and very constantly from that of major
the intervals of scaling on set wings being much shorter
and the use of the wings in flapping more frequent and
regular. Owing partly to this and partly also to the 
set of the wings and to the fact that these are (or seem)
much shorter the flight is heavier & more labored and hence
less impressive than that of P. major as I recall it.
  About 5 P.M. a solitary bird, not unlike those 
just mentioned in general color and markings but less
in size by at least one-third, was passed by our ship
on her port side at a distance of about 100 yards.
It was floating lightly on the water rising and falling
rythmically [rhythmically] on the short, low waves. I had a good view 
of it through my glass in strong sunlight and am very 
sure it was a Manx Shearwater, Puffinus anglorum.
This opinion I promptly discarded three days later on seeing Manx Shearwaters
in large numbers in the Irish Sea. They look much blacker above than the bird seen Aug 2
  No Mother Cary's Chickens were seen today. I am
not a little surprised at having noted so few on this
trip the total number thus far being only 10. Yet these
were distributed over more than 1500 miles of ocean.