264 
SWIMMERS. 
odor. The air at the nesting site is strongly impregnated with this 
odor, and it guides a searcher to the nest. 
Petrels appear very helpless on the land, walking or rising on 
the wing with difficulty ; but in the air they are as graceful as swal- 
lows, and fly with equal skill. A storm is their delight, and the 
trough between white-capped waves a favorite feeding place. The 
birds skim close to the water, and continually dip their feet into it 
as they fly. 
WILSON’S PETREL. 
OCEANITES OCEANICUS. 
f 
Char General plumage sooty black, darker on wings and tail ; tail- 
coverts white; tail square; bill and legs black, webs of the feet yellow 
at their bases. Length about yfi inches. 
In crevices of rocks or amid loose fragments 
I ; white, marked chiefly around the larger end with fine spots 
of purplish red; average size about 1.30 X 0.90. 
'Phis ominous harbinger of the deep is seen nearly through- 
out the whole expanse of the Atlantic, from Newfoundland to 
the tropical parts of America, whence it wanders even to 
Africa and the coasts of Spain. From the ignorance and 
superstition of mariners, an unfavorable prejudice has long 
been entertained against these adventurous and harmless wan- 
derers ; and as sinister messengers of the storm, in which they 
are often involved with the vessel they follow, they have been 
very unjustly stigmatized by the name of Stormy Petrels, 
Devil’s Birds, and Mother Carey’s Chickens. At nearly all’ 
seasons of the year these Swallow- Petrels in small flocks are 
seen wandering almost alone over the wide waste of the 
ocean. 
On the edge of soundings, as the vessel loses sight of the 
distant headland and launches into the depths of the un- 
bounded and fearful abyss of waters, flocks of these dark, swift- 
flying, and ominous birds begin to shoot around the vessel, and 
finally take their station in her foaming wake. In this situa- 
tion, as humble dependants, they follow for their pittance of 
fare, constantly and keenly watching the agitated surge for 
