96 



STORMY PETREL 



we sailed a distance of more than four hundred miles to the north* 

 Flocks continued to follow us until near Sandy Hook. 



The length of time these birds remain on wing is no less sur- 

 prising. As soon as it was light enough in the morning to per- 

 ceive them, they were found roaming about as usual ; and I have 

 often sat in the evening, in the boat which was suspended by the 

 ship's stern, watching their movements, until it was so dark that 

 the eye could no longer follow them, tho I could still hear their 

 low note of weet weetj as they approached near to the vessel be- 

 low me. 



These birds are sometimes driven by violent storms to a con- 

 siderable distance inland. One was shot some years ago on the 

 river Schuylkill near Philadelphia; and Bewick mentions their 

 being found in various quarters of the interior of England. From 

 the nature of their food their flesh is rank and disagreeable; tho 

 they sometimes become so fat, that, as Mr. Pennant, on the au- 

 thority of Brunnich, asserts " the inhabitants of the Feroe isles 

 make them serve the purposes of a candle, by drawing a wick 

 through the mouth and rump, which being lighted, the flame is 

 fed by the fat and oil of the body."^ 



* Brit. Zool. vol. ii, p. 43*. 



