LEACH’S PE;TREL. 
FORK-TAILED PETREL, 
OCEANODROMA LEUCORHOA. 
Char Upper parts dull black , upper tail coverts white ; tail forked ; 
under parts sooty black ; bill, legs, and feet black. Length about 8 
A^est- A thin cushion of grass or moss at the end of a burrow in the 
soil at the top of an ocean cliff. 
Eg^s^ I , white, marked chiefly around the larger end with fine spots 
of reddish brown and lilac ; average size about 1.30 X t oo. 
This is a bird of the northern hemisphere, being as common on 
the Pacific Ocean as on the Atlantic. Its chief breeding-station 
on our shores is among the islands at the mouth of the Bay of 
Fundy; but the open ocean is the bird’s true home. 
Leach’s Petrels are seldom seen about their nesting site during 
the day, though in the evening they assemble there; and when 
fluttering through the twilight or under the moon’s guidance, they 
have the appearance of a foraging squad of bats, though the bird’s 
wild, plaintive notes betray their race. The Petrels are not strictly 
nocturnal, however ; for while one of a pair sits close on the nest 
all day, — and this one has been generally the male, in my experi- 
ence, — the mate is out at sea. 
When handled, these birds emit from mouth and nostrils a small 
quantity of oil-like fluid of a reddish color and pungent, musk-like 
