'i'ilE SXOKJll' I’ETltEL.- 
-illKUS.- 
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427 
Australia, and at the Cape of Good Hope. It is a 
rather large species, about eighteen inches in length, 
and of a sooty-black colour, with the throat white. 
THE STORMY PETREL {Prucellaria pclagica)—?ig. 
134 — is the smallest species of the present order, 
measuring less than si-xinches in length. It is of a sooty- 
black colour, with the outer margins of the tertiary quills, 
the upper tail-coverts, and the sides of the vent white. 
Tlie bill and feet are black. This bird is found in all 
parts of the European seas, and wanders about all over 
The Stormy Petrel (Procellaria pelagica). 
the Atlantic ocean, depending, however, upon its long, 
pointed, and powerful wings for its rapid movements 
from place to place. Even in stormy weather the 
Petrels, notwithstanding their small size, are very active, 
flying along over the surface of the waves, with their 
feet close to, or dipping in the water ; indeed, the 
sailors believe that it is principally at the approach of 
a storm that these birds make their appearance, and 
they are known amongst mariners by the names of 
Devil’s birds and Mother Carey’s chickens. The name 
of Petrel is supposed to be a diminutive of Peter, and 
to be given to the birds in allusion to their apparently 
walking on the surface of the water, as the 'apostle did 
on the lake of Gennesareth. The food of the Petrels 
consists of small fishes, Crustacea, raollusca, and other 
marine animals ; and they will also follow ships for con- 
siderable distances in order to pick up any fragments 
of food that may be thrown overboard. This bird 
breeds amongst the stones and debris of rocks on our 
coasts, generally on small islands, and the female lays 
only a single egg. Upon this she sits so closely, that 
she may readily be taken by hand ; when thus treated, 
she vomits a quantity of oil, which is collected for 
burning in many places. Many other species of these 
birds, all of small size, occur in various seas ; three of 
them are met round the British coasts. 
THE GIANT PETREL {Ossifragus giganteus), an 
inhabitant of the Great Southern ocean, is a truly 
gigantic species, when compared with the diminutive 
birds just mentioned, being about twenty-eight inches 
in length. Its plumage is blackish-gray above, and 
paler gray beneath, with the head and neck dirty white. 
THE CAPE PETREL {Daption capemis) measures 
thirteen inches in length, and has the upper surface 
speckled with black and white, and the lower parts 
white. From its spleckled plumage it is sometimes 
called the Pintado Petrel, and it is well known to 
sailors under the name of the Cape Pigeon. This bird 
is met with abundantly at the Cape of Good Hope and 
also in other parts of the Great Southern ocean. 
THE FULMAR {Fulmarus glaciulis), a British 
species, very nearly allied to the preceditig, is most 
abundant in the arctic seas of both hemi- 
spheres, where it satisfies its voracious 
appetite by devouring anything that comes 
in its way on the surface of the water. 
During the summer it is a constant com- 
panion of the whale-fishers, when they are 
engaged in cutting the blubber off their 
captures; any fragments which fall into the 
water during this operation, are immediately 
snapped up by the watchful birds. Their 
squabbling on these occasions is said to 
be very amusing. The Fulmar breeds on 
rocky coasts, selecting the ledges of lofty 
and inaccessible precipices for this purpose. 
It lays a single egg eithei' in a rude nest, 
or in a depression in the turf clothing the 
ledge, and so numerous are the birds in 
some localities, that the whole face of the 
cliffs seems to be covered with them. The 
eggs are taken in gi'eat numbers by the 
inhabitants of the vicinity, who esteem them 
highly as an article of food; and both the old and 
young birds when seized emit a quantity of clear amber- 
coloured oil, which is collected like that of the Petrel 
above mentioned. The young birds also are very fat, 
and are boiled down in great quantities for the sake of 
the oil they furnish. 
THE BROAD-BILLED PETREL (Prion vitlntus). 
■ — -This bird, with a few nearly-allied species, is an 
inhabitant of the Southern ocean, in many parts of 
which it is met with abundantly. It is distinguished 
Iq' the broad and depressed form of the bill, but in its 
habits appears to resemble the preceding species. 
THE WANDERING ALBATROSS (Dioinedea exu- 
lans). — The Albatrosses, of which several species are 
met with in the Pacific and Southern oceans, are dis- 
tinguished from the preceding birds of this family 
by the position of the nostrils, which form a pair of 
short tubes, projecting from the sides of the upper 
mandible near its base. They are all large birds, and 
strictly oceanic in their habits, scarcely ever approach- 
ing the shores, except in the breeding season. 
The present species is the largest, and is known to 
the sailors by the names of the Cape Sheep, and the 
Man-of-war bird. It is an inhabitant of the Southern 
ocean generally, and flies almost incessantly over the 
surface of that stormy sea, supported upon its ample 
and apparently untirable pinions, which in large speci- 
mens cover a space of fully fifteen feet. In this way 
the Albatross passes rapidly along just above the 
surface of the waves, and ready at any moment to 
plunge down upon the passing fishes, of which its 
voracious appetite leads it to consume immense qiian- 
Fig. 134 
