THE PETREL. 
257 
showing only a single spot of white, its dusky form 
darts in every direction along the swelling waves. 
Never fatigued, the tiny Petrels seldom alight, though 
they seem now and then to walk upon the foaming 
crests of the water. When the gale approaches, and 
the little wanderers are unable to bear up against its 
Wilson’s Petrel. (Mother Carey’s Chicken.) 
fury, they retreat for shelter to the stern of the near- 
est vessel, where they remain until the blue sky over- 
head again tempts them to fly forth to pick up the 
floating fragments on the sea. There are three va- 
rieties of this interesting bird. We will notice but 
one, Wilson’s Petrel, which is sometimes confounded 
with a smaller kind, both being familiarly called 
Mother Carey’s Chickens. Of their migrations but 
little is known. The range is stated by Audubon not 
to extend eastward beyond the Azores, nor lower than 
22* r 
