BIRDS OF PENNSYLVANIA 
27 
Genus PROCELLARIA Linnjsus. 
Procellaria pelagica Linn. 
Stormy Petrel; “Mother Carey’s Chicken.” 
Description. 
Adult .—Tail very slightly rounded; legs short; length about 5| inches ; bill and 
feet black ; iris quite or nearly black ; upper tail coverts white, except towards the 
ends, which are blackish ; upper parts brownish-black ; lower parts grayish-sooty 
black. 
Habitat .—Atlantic Ocean, south on the American side to the Newfoundland banks, 
west coast of Africa and coast of Europe. 
Accidental visitor in Pennsylvania. According- to Dr. Turnbull ( Birds 
t of East Pennsylvania), one was captured under Market street bridg-e in 
Philadelphia. Dr. W. L. Hartman, of Pittston, mentions the Stormy 
Petrel as an accidental visitor in Luzerne county. 
Genus OCEANODROMA Reichenbach. 
Oceanodroma leucorhoa (Vieill.). 
Leach’s Petrel. 
Description. 
Adult .—Legs short; larger than the Stormy Petrel, which it resembles in colora¬ 
tion, but is easily recognized by the forked tail. 
Habitat .—North Atlantic and north Pacific Oceans; south on the coast of the 
United States to Virginia and California; breeds from Maine and the Hebrides north¬ 
ward on the coasts of the Atlantic. 
Leach’s Petrel is the common “ Mother Carey’s Chicken ” to be seen 
on the Atlantic from Chesapeake Bay northward. This species has been 
observed only as a rare straggler in Pennsylvania, whither it has been 
driven by fierce storms of wind and rain. Dr. W. P. Turnbull {Birds of 
East Pennsylvania ), says: “During a gale in August, 1842, a number 
were driven inland.” In September, 1879, I had a specimen presented 
to me by the late Dr. George Martin, of West Chester, who had picked 
it up in his yard in an exhausted and dying condition. Captain A. A. 
Clay, of Rasselas, Pa., informs me that a relative of his killed one about 
four years ago on a small pond in Elk county. 
Note.— The Wilson’s Petrel ( Oceanites oceanicus) has been captured, 
it is said, in Pennsylvania, but as my informant is not quite clear on this 
matter I do not deem it best to include the species in our fauna. The 
plumage of Wilson’s Petrel is very much the same in coloration as the 
Stormy Petrel, but it differs from this latter bird in having very long 
legs, and the interdigital webs spotted with yellow. 
