allkn’s naturalist’s library. 
ISO 
Adult Female. — Similar to the male, but rather larger. Total 
length, 8 inches; wing, 5 8-6 6. 
Young Birds. — Covered with a sooty-black down. The 
first feathers resemble those of the adults, but the grey feathers 
of the mantle are fringed with white, and the greater-coverts 
and secondaries are edged with white at the tips, the grey of 
the upper and under tail-coverts being barred with white. 
These markings are retained by the young bird, after it has 
become full grown and has lost the down. 
Characters. — Apart from the generic characters recorded 
above, the present species can be easily recognised by its grey 
upper surface, blackish head, white under surface, and by the 
yellow webs. to the toes. 
Range in the British Islands. — This species has been known to 
occur on two occasions within our limits. One was picked up 
dead on Walney Island, Lancashire, in November, 1890; and 
a second specimen has recently been recorded from the island 
of Colonsay in the West of Scotland, by Mr. W. Eagle Clarke. 
This specimen was obtained on the rst of January, 1897, after 
a succession of south-westerly gales. 
Habits. — Mr. Ogilvie Grant, who met with this Petrel on the 
Salvage Islands, writes : — “ This was certainly one of the most 
interesting species met with during our stay on Great Salvage. 
We first observed and recognised with pleasure these beautiful 
Petrels as we neared the Salvages, when numbers were seen 
flitting along close to the surface of the sea, with their long 
legs dangling beneath them and just touching the water. Now 
they would be lost sight of in the hollows between the huge 
Atlantic rollers, now reappear, closely following the undulating 
waters with their graceful easy flight. On the afternoon of our 
arrival at Great Salvage we found an egg of this bird in what 
we mistook for a rabbit-burrow, but it was unfortunately broken 
by one of the men. This, however, opened our eyes, and we 
subsequently found that large colonies of the White-breasted 
Petrel were breeding on the flat top of the island, in burrows 
dug out in the sandy ground, and partly concealed by the 
