above a few inches in extent, is occupied with one or more
of its nests. The nest is formed of herbage, seldom bulky,
generally a mere shallow excavation in the turf, lined with
dried grass, and the withered tufts of the sea-pink, in which
the bird deposits a single egg, of a pure white colour when
clean, which is seldom the case, and varying in size from
two inches seven lines to three inches one line in length
by two inches in breadth.* On the 30tli of June, having
partially descended a nearly perpendicular precipice, six
hundred feet in height, the whole face of which was covered
with the nests of the Fulmar, I enjoyed an opportunity of
watching the habits of this bird, and describe from personal
observation. The nests had all been robbed about a month
before by the natives, who esteem the eggs of this species
above all others. Many of the nests contained each a young
bird a day or two old at farthest, thickly covered with long
white down. The young birds were very clamorous on being
handled, and vomited a quantity of clear oil, with which I
sometimes observed the parent birds feeding them by disgorging
it. The Fulmar is stated in most works on ornithology
to possess the power of ejecting oil with much force
through its tubular nostrils, using this as a mode of defence ;
but although I surprised several upon the nest, I never
observed them attempt this. On being seized they instantly
vomit a quantity of clear amber-coloured oil, which imparts
to the whole bird, its nest and young, and even to the rock
which it frequents, a peculiar and very disagreeable odour.
Fulmar oil is among the most valuable productions of St.
Kilda. The best is obtained from the old bird. The Fulmar
flies with great buoyancy and considerable rapidity, and when
at sea is generally seen skimming along the surface of the
waves at a slight elevation, though I never observed one to
alight, or pick up anything from the water. ”t
Before proceeding further, it will be convenient to state
* Average 2 ‘9 by 2 in. The shell, which is rough, and pervaded by a strong
musky odour, is sometimes minutely freckled with rusty red.
f A more recent account is given by Capt. H. J. Elwes in ‘ The Ibis,’ 1869,
pp. 32-35.
that in the Fulmar there appear to be two distinct phases of
plumage, analogous, perhaps, to the light and the dark forms
observed in some of the Skuas. The ordinary adult bird has
a slate-grey mantle with white head, neck, and underparts ;
but a considerable number of individuals are of an entirely
ash-grey tin t: the head, neck, and underparts being only a
shade lighter than the mantle. The latter plumage has
been generally assumed and even positively stated, to be that
of the immature bird, but such is not necessarily the case.
The Editor is indebted to Mr. E. Hargitt for two fledged
young birds taken on Myggemes in the Faeroes, in the month
of August, 1876, with patches of down still adhering, and
their underparts are quite as white as those of the adult:
in fact, but for the greater freshness of the unworn feathers
of the mantle, and the weaker bill, the young are like their
parents. Mr. L. Kumlien, naturalist to the American Polar
Expedition of 1877-78, states that in July he found a few of
these dark-coloured birds breeding on some small rocky
islands in Cumberland Sound. He adds that more dark birds
were seen in spring than in autumn, and that they predominate
along the western shores of Davis Strait and Baffin Bay;
but on Blue Mountain, Ovifak, Greenland, where the Fulmars
breed in myriads to the very summit, about 2,000 feet high,
he saw but few dark birds, the fledged nestlings being white
on the underparts. Major Feilden was told by Mr. Fencker,
of Godhavn, that the dark birds were called by the natives
‘ Igarsok,’ a word meaning £ cook,’ because that functionary
on board the Danish trading-vessels usually dresses in a blue
jersey (Zool. 1878, p. 376) ; he also observed that the lightbreasted
birds domineered over the dark ones; and so far as
the Editor can judge from the limited series available, the
dark birds are on the average somewhat smaller. There are,
however, gradations in colour connecting the two extremes.
In the Fseroe Islands the Fulmar made its first appearance
as a breeding species about the year 1839, and it has
since become common there. On the coast of Scandinavia it
is only observed between autumn and spring, except, perhaps,
to the north of the Arctic circle; and in the Baltic it is only