308 
LARID.'E. 
lluttered about with loose uncertain flight very near their nests, 
probably deceived l)y the diminution of the light. The fisher- 
men regard the “Spencies” with great superstition, and tell many 
strange stories about them. One thing is certain, that during 
the bright summer nights, when the boats are thirty or forty 
miles from land, and the cleaning of the fish begins, hundreds 
of these strange birds will suddenly appear upon the scene, 
though not one had been observed previously. It is probable, 
however, that the Petrels and other birds are attracted to the 
boats by the oil spread over the surface of the water during 
the cleaning process, for it becomes diffused with notable 
rapidity over a great area. They often follow the boats for 
many miles upon the homeward way. I have been assured 
by fishermen in many j)arts of Shetland, that sometimes in the 
uncertain light they have seen what appeared to be the buoy 
marking the situation of the lines, and on pulling up to it have 
found it to be a perfect mass of Petrels assembled round a piece 
of fish liver. Once, in crossing Blue Mull Sound, I saw a Petrel 
sitting upon the water — a very uncommon sight in-shore. All 
the men agreed that they had very rarely seen one at rest upon 
the water except at the haaf fishing. 
Many an ill-fated Petrel now meets its death by concussion 
against the lantern of the Fliigga lighthouse, sometimes not 
less than a score and upwards being picked up in one night by 
the light-keepers, who complain loudly of the trouble the birds 
give them by vomiting oil upon the glass as they strike. It 
is scarcely ever at any other season than spring and autumn 
that the Petrels thus come in collision with the light. 
Owing to the lateness of the Storm Petrel’s breeding habits, 
fresh eggs being sometimes found even in the middle of August, 
the young are not always completely feathered by the time the 
autumnal gales are upon them. I have known them caught in 
stubble fields a mile or so from the sea, driven inland by the 
storm, and in such cases have found a great deal of blackish 
grey fluffy down still remaining upon the under parts of the 
bird. 
