THE STORMY PETREL. 
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bosom. We Germans often call them “ Peter’s birds/’ 
for they walk the surface of the sea. Besides these, they 
are called by many other names, all more or less bearing 
an ominously dread interpretation, for they are not well 
favoured by legend or story. These tiny, graceful beings, 
whose flight and movements possess such irresistible 
attractions, are the forerunners of the storm, under which 
weak man, left to fate, must perish. They are supposed to 
be the witches and chicks of Mother Carey, or Clary, who, by 
the way, must also have been a great witch and enchantress 
in her time. They are said, too, to be sent from hell, and 
to appear as “ devil-birds,” gliding and hovering over the 
corpses of the lost ones. No one, says the seaman, can 
tell you where they come from, where they live, or where 
they breed, though our ancestors say that they hatch 
their eggs on the foaming billow under their wings, and 
bring their young ones with them. Yet none know the 
truth. Only one thing is certain,—they not only foretell, 
but bring the storm; they raise the hurricane. 
Silly tales ! “ Just as well,” says Wilson, “ might the 
sailor curse the friendly rays of the lighthouse, or the 
stars of the night which guide him on his voyage, the 
buoy or beacon which warns him of hidden rocks and 
shoals, as abuse the Stormy Petrel; for as these give 
notice of coming danger, so does the bird warn the 
mariner, and afford opportunity to make all snug against 
the evil comes.” But even this statement is not well 
founded; for these harmless, trustful little creatures also 
show themselves when the wind is fair and moderate. 
The members of the Stormy Petrel family consist of 
from ten to twelve species, closely resembling one another; 
there are also other Petrels, which are giants compared 
with their miniature brethren, T. pelagica. These are 
