258 
STORMY PETREL. 
is not so ridiculously absurd as to suppose, that the storm which 
follows is produced by the agency of these feeble creatures, 
who are themselves equal sufferers by its effects with man. He 
looks on them rather as useful monitors, who from the delicacy 
of their organs, and a perception superior to his own, point out 
the change in the atmosphere before it has become sensible to 
his grosser feelings; and thus, in a certain degree, contribute to 
his security. And why should not those who navigate the ocean 
contemplate the appearance of this unoffending little bird in 
like manner, instead of eyeing it with hatred and execration? 
As well might they curse the midnight light-house, that, star- 
like, guides them on their watery way, or the buoy, that warns 
them of the sunken rocks below, as this harmless wanderer, 
whose manner informs them of the approach of the storm, and 
thereby enables them to prepare for it. 
The Stormy Petrels, or Mother Carey’s Chickens, breed in 
great numbers on the rocky shores of the Bahama and the Ber- 
muda islands, and in some places on the coast of East Florida 
and Cuba. They breed in communities like the Bank Swallows, 
making their nests in the holes and cavities of the rocks above 
the sea, returning to feed their young only during the night, 
with the superabundant oily food from their stomachs. At these 
times they may be heard making a continued cluttering sound 
like frogs during the whole night. In the day they are silent, 
and wander widely over the ocean. This easily accounts for 
the vast distance they are sometimes seen from land, even in 
the breeding season. The rapidity of their flight is at least equal 
to the fleetness of our Swallows. Calculating this at the rate of 
one mile per minute, twelve hours would be sufficient to waft 
them a distance of seven hundred and twenty miles; but it is 
probable that the far greater part confine themselves much 
nearer land during that interesting period. 
In the month of July, while on a voyage from New Orleans 
to New York, I saw few or none of these birds in the gulf of 
Mexico, although our ship was detained there by calms for 
twenty days, and carried by currents as far south as cape An- 
