TU BIN ARES. PROCELL A RII DÆ.
P eo c e l la r ia p e l a g ic a , L in n a e u s .*
THE STORM PETREL.
Thalassidroma pelagica,
P rocellaria, Linncevs+ .—Bill small, robust, much shorter than the head,
straight to the unguis, which is decurved ; nostrils dorsal. Wings long, narrow;
the second quill-feather the longest, slightly exceeding the third ; the first
quill shorter than the fourth. Tail of moderate length, slightly rounded. Legs
moderate, the tarsi anteriorly reticulate, and a little longer than the fe e t; inter-
digital membranes emarginate ; claws rather short.
T h e S torm P e t r e l , the smallest web-footed British bird
known, has so often been the subject of notice by naturalists
and writers generally, and even by poets, that little of
novelty, consistent with truth, remains to be told. A year
seldom passes without some of these birds being obtained
on our shores, and it has happened occasionally that they
appear in large flocks. Thus Messrs. C. and J. Paget, in
their ‘ Sketch of the Natural History of Yarmouth and its
Neighbourhood,’ mention, that in November, 1824, between
Syst. Nat. Ed.* 12, i. p. 212 (1766). t loc. cit.
two and three hundred were shot after severe gales. Some
years since, Mr. Gould exhibited twenty-four, in a large
dish, at one of the evening meetings of the Zoological
Society. In March, 1825, one bird of this species, while
flying about over the Thames between the bridges of Black-
friars and Westminster, was shot from a coal-barge. These
small birds are frequently driven by strong winds to great
distances inland. Mr. Bicheno has recorded one taken near
Newbury, in Berkshire; others have been taken in Oxfordshire
; three or four are noticed as having been caught in
the streets of the town of Coventry ; and three within a
few miles of Birmingham. This species appears to breed
freely at many different places around us, generally on small
islands ; but is never observed to frequent land except during
the breeding-season. Among some other notes recently
referred to, Mr. D. W. Mitchell says, “ The Stormy Petrel
also breeds at Scilly, and is, as far as I know, confined to
one locality, on the islet where the ‘ Thames ’ steamer ran
ashore, in the extreme S.W. of the group. It is the latest
layer among the sea-fowl; the first egg I took was newly
dropped in the second week of June.” Mr. Rodd says that,
on fine summer evenings, small flocks may be observed in
Mount’s Bay, flying and hawking about in pursuit of insects,
after the manner of Swallows, sometimes dipping, but
seldom alighting on the sea, skimming for a few seconds
with open wings, and mounting again in the air, regardless
of the presence of man. The Storm Petrel is believed to
breed on Lundy Island; and it certainly does so on several
of the Channel Islands ; also on some of the islets off the
coast of Wales; but on the east coast of England it is
not known to have any breeding-haunts. On that side its
appearances generally take place in the autumn migration,
at which period, as Mr. Cordeaux informs the Editor, individuals
are frequently taken fluttering against the lanterns
of light-houses and light-ships, although they very seldom
get killed by striking. Unusual numbers occurred between
October 27tli and November 4tli, 4883.
Among the islands of the west of Scotland, the Storm