426 
THE SOOTY PETREL. 
the extremities of which were invisible, that the infant birds 
were kept in the hack-ground ; and well they were so, for 
otherwise, in the constant disturbances and tumblings inces- 
santly taking place, the whole rising generation must 
inevitably have broken their necks in the confusion, by 
falling over before they were able to fly. But a greater 
surprise was excited by perceiving, in the midst of the 
hustle, a solitary egg here and there lying on the hare rock, 
within a few inches of the edge. By what care or instinct 
was it preserved from falling ? It has been said, that if 
they are removed by a human hand, it is impossible, or at 
least extremely difficult, to replace them in their former 
situation ; whence it has been inferred, that they are glued 
by some secret cement to the rock. Some of our ablest 
naturalists, however, doubt this; hut if it is not so, the 
mystery is rather increased than lessened — for they are in a 
most hazardous position ; hut they are preserved, though by 
what means we have yet to learn. 
The Bazor-bills were by no means so numerous as the 
Guillemots, and, generally speaking, did not mix with them ; 
seeming to hold themselves apart as the better bird of the 
two, peering at one another, and pluming their coats with a 
sort of dandy satisfaction at their superior brilliancy and 
glossiness. 
Besides these more common species, there are others rarely 
found in Britain, being chiefly confined to the colder and 
more inhospitable regions of the northern or southern divi- 
sions of the globe, where they exist in numbers almost 
surpassing our powers of computation. One species in 
particular, the little Auk, or Greenland Dove ( Alca alle), 
Sir Edward Parry met with by millions, when the ships got 
amongst the ice in particular spots, and they were killed for 
sea provisions. But in the southern hemispheres they 
appear to be even still more abundant. 
Adjacent to the islands of Australia, # the Sooty Petrels 
( IProcellaria joacijica), congregate in incredible masses, of 
* Flinders’ Australia. 
