THE STORM PETRELS. 
279 
of Audubon and Nuttall, whicli is said to breed on the banks 
of 'Newfoundland. The second named of the above is a 
smaller bird, whose general length is about fifteen inches : 
the upper parts are deep greyish black, the lower white, the 
sides and neck being indistinctly barred with these coloiurs. 
Mr. Gould describes this bird as so exclusively aquatic, 
that the impulse of incubation alone induces it to visit 
land ; on which occasions it resorts to those portions only of 
the shore which are washed by the surge, generally select- 
ing such places as small islands, which, from the danger of 
approach, or from their rocky nature, are seldom made the 
residence of man. Both the eggs and young of the bird 
are eagerly sought after as an article of food, the latter 
especially being considered a great delicacy. On the eastern 
part of the southern hue of the English coast, the Shear- 
water is a rare bird ; it is more frequently seen at sea, oiF 
Dorset and Devon. Off the coast of Cornwall, to the 
westward of St. Agnes, in the Scilly group, lies a barren 
island, called Annet, which is a favourite resort and breed- 
ing place of these birds. Each female lays a single white 
egg, and deposits it in a rabbit burrow, or a crevice in the 
rock, sometimes in the sandy soil, without any preparation, 
but generally there is a slight accumulation of fern leaves 
and old stems. 
The Manx Shearwater is found on the coast of Norway, 
the Faroe Islands, and at Cape Farewell, where the sailors 
call them Cape Hens. Faber includes it among the birds 
of Iceland. In America it is rarely seen to the west of 
Newfoundland. 
Bulwer's Storm Petrel (Thalassidroma Bulweru). 
Leach's Storm Petrel (T. Leachii), Also known as the 
Fork-tailed Petrel. 
Wilson's Storm Petrel {T, Wilsonii), 
The Common Storm Petrel {T. Felagica), variously 
called Mother Cary's Chicken, Storm Finch, Little Petrel, 
Water Witch, Alamonti, Asilag, Mitty, Spency, Sea 
SwaUow. 
The scientific name, Thalassidroma^ given to the genus 
of birds here represented, signifies sea-runners, and is 
