STORMY PETREL. 



95 



low, and finely serrated along the edges ; eyes black. Male and 

 female diflFering nothing in color. 



On opening these I found the first stomach large, containing 

 numerous round semitransparent substances of an amber color, 

 which I at first suspected to be the spawn of some fish ; but on a 

 more close and careful inspection, they proved to be a vegetable 

 substance, evidently the seeds of some marine plant, and about as 

 large as mustard seed. The stomach of one contained a fish, half 

 digested, so large that I should have supposed it too bulky for the 

 bird to swallow; another was filled with the tallow which I had 

 thrown overboard; and all had quantities of the seeds already men- 

 tioned both in their stomachs and gizzards; in the latter were also 

 numerous minute pieces of barnacle shells. On a comparison of 

 the seeds above mentioned with those of the gulf-weed^ so common 

 and abundant in this part of the ocean, they were found to be the 

 same. 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, 

 the greatest violence of which they seem to disregard. There is 

 also the greasy dish washings, and other oily substances thrown 

 over by the cook, on which they feed with avidity; but with great 

 good nature, their manners being so gentle, that I never observed 

 the slightest appearance of quarrelling or dispute among them. 



One circumstance is worthy of being noticed, and shows the 

 vast range they take over the ocean. In firing at these birds a 

 quill feather was broken in each wing of an individual, and hung 

 fluttering in the wind, which rendered it so conspicuous among the 

 rest as to be known to all on board. This bird, notwithstanding its 

 inconvenience, continued with ua for nearly a week, during which 



