264 
THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA 
PLATE XXXV 
BIRDS OF THE OCEAN AND SEASHORE 
1. Wilson’s Storm-petrel Oceanites oceanicus Kuhl 
O-ce-an-i-tes —Gk, oceanites, son of Ocean : o-ce-an-ic-us — L., oceanicus, 
of the ocean. 
Distribution. —Southern oceans, to Australia, Tasmania, New Zealand, 
and New Caledonia, ranging north to California, Labrador, the British 
Isles, *md India. 
Notes. —Also called Mother Carey’s Chicken, Yellow-webbed Storm- 
petrel, and Flat-clawed Storm-petrel. Usually in flocks, generally seen 
flying close to the surface of the water, and occasionally to and fro across 
the wake of a ship. Its flight is usually very erratic, somewhat like that of 
a butterfly, and it often aids its progress "by patting the water with its 
feet bounding along with a series of leaps.' Its food consists chiefly of 
small plankton organisms procured from the surface of the water the fat 
from dead whales or seals, and refuse from ships’ galleys. Breeds in 
Antarct > c *- on islets off Cape Horn, on the South Shetlands, 
South Orkneys, and South Georgia, and Kerguelen and Heard Islands. 
Nest- In a chamber at the end of a tunnel; lined with feathers. 
ocrasfrS^ D tW Wh,t< V sometimes sparingly dotted with reddish spots; 
to°Febmary. a ”* rOU " d ^ 
2. Grey-backed Storm-petrel Garrodia nereis Gould 
"'“EFiHHrFr Falk,and 
it is similar in habit, Sd ^n'^, ^% S , Ch . icken - Ustmlly in flocks; 
colonies on South Georgia the Folk? ’Ison s Storm-petrel. Breeds in 
inches in length, and rese^iblM arat-hote^" 061 ' ThC bUrr ° W is ab ° Ut 18 
dots af^hTwger'eSTSd ^ d «P .reddish-brown and lavender 
over the rest of the surface pjU W reddlsh ones sparingly distributed 
surtace. Breeding-season: November to January. 
