240 
THE STORMY PETREL. 
people of St. Kilda, in a word, prize them so highly, 
that it is proverbial with them to say, “ Deprive us 
of the Petrel and Fulmar, and St. Kilda is no 
more.” 
They build, like most other sea-birds, in holes and 
chinks of rocks, or on the ledges of precipices; though 
upon Norfolk island, in Australia, a species has been 
discovered which burrows in sand like rabbits, lying 
hid in the holes by day, and sallying forth in the 
evening in quest of food. Their reason for concealing 
themselves appears to be well founded; for no doubt 
this is the same species met with in the other remote 
islands of the Southern Indian Seas, spoken of* as 
living in perpetual dread of another of its own genus, 
the great Black Petrel ( Procellaria equinoctialis) ; 
and well it may, for its sable enemies are incessantly 
looking out for its heart and liver, on which alone 
they feed, leaving the rest of the body untouched. 
At night therefore only, they venture forth, but 
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 com- 
mon 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 
* Macartney’s Voyage , vol. i. 
