THE STORMY PETREL. 
417 
liver, on which alone they feed, leaving the rest of the body 
untouched. 
At night, therefore, only, they venture forth, hut not with 
much safety, for then a new danger awaits them, in the 
shape of the seal-catchers, who attract them by torches, and 
kill them in multitudes, for the sake of their oil. They 
probably, however, prefer the darkness of night for other 
reasons ; for our common Stormy Petrels, whose hearts and 
livers are in no danger from enemies by day, are observed 
by the people employed in the cod- fisheries of the north, to 
come forth like the Bat at dusk, when they see them 
skimming over the water, catching a glimpse of them only 
by the white spots on their rumps, and the side feathers of 
their tails. But though apparently so wild and solitary, if 
caught and taken home, they will become so tame as to 
suffer themselves, without the least fear, to he touched and 
handled. One kept in a cage for some time was supported 
by means of smearing the feathers of the breast with train 
oil, which the bird afterwards sucked with its bill. When 
the oil was placed in a saucer in the cage, it would dip its 
feathers therein, and then suck the oil from them. 
Sailors have a superstitious dislike to the Stormy Petrels, 
or, as they are commonly called, Mother Carey’s Chickens, 
believing that their appearance forebodes storms, with which 
they are in some way or other connected. That storms do 
frequently occur when, or soon after, these birds are seen, is 
certainly true ; but the cause probably is, that, instinctively 
feeling the approach of a gale, they are disquieted, and are 
anxiously awaiting its arrival, and, therefore, hover round 
the ship, which they imagine may shelter them from its 
fury ; for, unlike the Albatross, or Gull, they seem to dislike 
the war of elements ; and to this dislike may probably be 
attributed the otherwise unaccountable circumstance of their 
being so often found even many miles inland. The fact 
might be doubted, but for numberless recorded instances; 
for there is scarcely a county in England in which they 
have not been seen. 
In 1832 upwards of twenty instances occurred, and many 
E E 
