THE LIVING WORLD. 
418 
furious tempest. It is no uncommon feat for the great ocean steamers to sail 
at the rate of four or five hundred miles a day, and yet the albatross , without 
apparent exertion, will 
not only keep them com¬ 
pany, but will at least 
double the distance by 
the many and eccentric 
circlings in which it 
indulges. Whether the 
albatross sleeps on the 
wing, or taking its rest 
in the surface of the 
water makes up for de¬ 
lay by a yet more rapid 
flight, is a question not 
yet determined. 
The Stormy Petrels 
are so frequently men¬ 
tioned in accounts of 
sea-going travellers as to 
call for at least brief men¬ 
tion. They breed in the 
crevices of the rocks 
but build no nests. The 
young when hatched are 
left in the nursery dur¬ 
ing the day, and fed 
only on the return of 
the parents at night. The stormy petrels belong to several species, and we 
select as their repre¬ 
sentative the Fulmar 
{Procellarius glacialis ). 
In the Island of Saint 
Kilda, where its nests 
are numerous, it is 
preyed upon by the na¬ 
tives, who are fond alike 
of the eggs and of the 
young birds. The stormy 
petrel follows whalers 
and devotes itself to the 
enjoyment of such parts 
of the whale as are re¬ 
fuse to the fishermen. 
This bird is fully de¬ 
scribed in preceding 
pages of this work under 
the head of “ Singular Nest-Building Birds,” where considerable space is devoted 
to the many curious habits of this little creature. 
