370 
LARID.E. 
two out of tlie shell, and the old bird was so little alarmed that 
she let me carry both her and the young one down the rocks, 
to show to the ladies of the party, and on being replaced, at 
once began nestling the little creature under her wing, like a 
hen, making a quiet twitter of satisfaction. Of course we took 
no Petrels from that colony. 
I subsequently had five specimens brought me from another 
place, and kept them alive for some days. They would not 
eat if food was merely placed within their reach, even though 
it was chopped cod liver, but did very well if one caught the 
bird with one hand, and with the other hand presented to it a 
soft brush dipped in train-oil, — a mode of treatment which 
Mr Yarrell had suggested to me some time previously. They 
soon learned to seize it readily, drawing the bill down the 
brush. In confinement, however, neither these birds, nor the 
two Shearwaters, similarly kept, would take any pains with 
their plumage, getting very oily about the breast. The prison 
was a cask with a net at the mouth. I had the curiosity to 
weigh the Petrels ; the average of the five was something over 
two hundred grains, or, roughly speaking, nearly half an ounce 
avoirdupois. — Ed.] 
