166 
PROCKLLARIA PELAGICA. 
own, point out the change in the atmosphere before i* 
has become sensible to his grosser feelings ; and thu-*> 
in a certain degree, contribute to his security. 
why should not those who navigate the ocean conteB*' 
plate the appearance of this unoffending little bird 
like manner, instead of eyeing it with hatred and 
oration ? As well might they curse the midnight li?*'^’ 
house, that, star-like, guides them on their watery n'*y; 
or the buoy, that warns them of the sunken roc*'’ 
below, as this harmless wanderer, whose mano^^ 
informs them of the approach of the storm, and thereW 
enables them to prepare for it. , 
The stormy petrels, or Mother Carey’s chickens, brc^ 
in great numbers on the rocky shores of the Bahaij’’' 
and the Bermuda Islands, and in some places on 
coast of East Florida and Cuba. They breed in cOi®' 
munities, like the bank swallows, making their nes** 
in the holes and cavities of the rocks above the 
returning to feed their young only during the ni?^” 
with the superabundant oily food from their stomac^^ 
At these times they may be heard making a continu^" 
cluttering sound like frogs during the whole nio-ht. 
the day they are silent, and wander widely o'ver 
ocean. This easily accounts for the vast distance t1|*y 
are sometimes seen from land, even in the breedit'r 
season. The rapidity of their flight is at least equa^ 
the fleetness of our sw'allows. Calculating this at tj*, 
rate of one mile per minute, twelve hours would 
sufficient to waft them a distance of seven hundred a® 
twenty miles j but it is probable that the far great^j 
paid confine themselves much nearer land during tb* 
interesting period. 
In the month of July, while on a voyage from I'®' 
Orleans to New York, I saw few or none of tb®'. 
birds in the Gulf of Mexico, although our ship 
detained there by calms for twenty days, and 
by currents as far south as Cape Antonio, the 
most extremity of Cuba. On entering the Gulf strea ’ 
and passing along the coasts of Florida and the Cat 
linas, these birds made their appearance in gt®* 
