Part 31

"This Martin among the Petrels," says Gould, "swims lightly; but it rarely exercises natatorial power except to procure food, in pursuit of which it occasionally dives for a moment or two. Nothing can be more graceful than its motions when on the wing, with the neck shortened and the legs entirely hidden among the feathers of the under tail-covers. Like the other Petrels it ejects when irritated an oily fluid from the mouth. Its feeble note of 'Cac, cac, cac, cac,' is frequently uttered; the third, according to Captain Hutton, being pronounced the quickest." We learn from Tschudi and Gould that this species breeds on rocky islands at no great distance from the shore; but with this exception we are without reliable particulars respecting its nidification.

THE BROAD-BILLED PRION, OR DUCK PETREL.

The BROAD-BILLED PRION, or DUCK PETREL (Prion vittatus), together with another species, which like itself is peculiar to the southern hemisphere, constitute a little family apart, to which the name of Duck Petrels would not be inapplicable. The most distinctive character met with in this bird is that the margin of the upper jaw is furnished with small, thin, tooth-like processes, arranged in the same manner as in some species of Ducks, and answering a similar purpose. The wings are long and strong, the first quill being somewhat shorter than the second. The tail, composed of twelve feathers, is broad and bluntly rounded, the two central feathers being perceptibly longer than the rest. The colour of the plumage is light greyish blue upon the back, and pearl-white on the under surface; the back and shoulder-feathers are darker than the rest of the body. The border of the wing and the points of the tail-feathers are black. The eye is brown, the beak dark grey, and the foot dark greyish blue. The length is ten inches and a quarter, breadth twenty-two inches, length of wing six inches and one-third, length of tail three inches and a half.

These birds are met with upon the coast of Brazil; their range extends from the tropic of Capricorn to the equator; the region that they frequent abounding in rugged rocks and small islands, upon which they probably find their breeding-places. They seem to be much more numerous in the Pacific Ocean than in the Atlantic. According to Tschudi's observations they are seldom seen swimming on the ocean, their flight being of a more sustained character than that of the Petrels generally. According to Gould, this species closely resembles the P. Banksii in its powers of flight and mode of life. Of this latter he says: "Sometimes it appeared in countless multitudes, but more often thinly dispersed over the surface of the ocean. During calms it flits over the glassy waters with a noiseless but easy flight, often performing small circles and fluttering butterfly-like over any oily substance thrown overboard, which it sips off the surface without settling; occasionally, however, it rests its buoyant and fairy little body on the waters, where it reposes at perfect ease, until hunger again impels it to take wing in search of food. A more vigorous and active action of the wing being necessary to sustain it during the raging of the gale, it then moves with zigzag turns of great swiftness, ascending the billows, topping their surgy summits, and descending into the gulf between, where a momentary shelter enables it to gain fresh vigour and seize from the slanting surface any molluscs that may present themselves, and which from the disturbed state of the sea are apparently then more abundant than at other times."

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The STORM PETRELS (Oceanides) constitute a well-defined group, distinguishable by the smallness of their dimensions, their slender body, short neck, and moderately large head, as also by the long Swallow-like formation of their wings, in which the second and third quills are longer than the rest; their tail is of moderate length, composed of twelve feathers, and either nearly straight or forked at its extremity; the beak is small, weak, and straight, except at the extremity, where both mandibles curve downwards, the end of the upper one being decidedly hooked; the tarsus is long, slender, and feeble, and the foot furnished with three strong toes, which are united by a broad and very complete web, while the hind toe is nothing more than a wart-like rudiment. The plumage is thick and fur-like, and the colour generally a dusky blackish brown, more or less enlivened with white.

The Storm Petrels are met with in all parts of the world, with the exception of very high southern or northern latitudes. Where one species becomes scarce, another supplies its place, and occasionally two or more species will be found inhabiting the same regions of the ocean. Thus four or five at least occupy the vicinity of the coasts of Europe, and at least double that number are to be met with near the shores of the American continent, whilst in the Pacific Ocean they seem to be particularly numerous. In their usual habitat, that is, in the wide sea, the Storm Petrels live in a constant state of activity, and may be seen flying about during the entire day, and heard throughout the night. Occasionally they may be seen disporting themselves singly, but more generally they make their appearance in small or more numerous companies, during fine as well as in stormy weather. All day long they are occupied in flying over the waves, the risings and fallings of which they exactly follow, or in mounting high in the air like Swallows, whence they descend again, as though about to plunge into the water, but rise again without touching it. Sometimes again they settle down upon the water, and remain motionless, as if unable to move from the same spot, though all around them is in constant agitation and turmoil. When flying they make but few strokes with their wings, but these are obviously very effective, and their action much diversified. Sometimes they may be seen with their wings widely expanded, and in this manner they sail along for minutes together, without the slightest effort, then, suddenly bestirring themselves, a few quick powerful strokes given after the manner of a Swift, raise them above the waves, where they astonish the observer by the masterly precision of their evolutions, as they shoot down obliquely over the billows, or mount up again high into the air. Should they espy anything in the shape of food, they at once hasten towards it, running upon the water, and, having seized it with their beak, immediately resume their aerial pastime. As to their powers of swimming, they seem so seldom to adopt that mode of locomotion, that many careful observers declare that they never swim at all, but that they only sit down, as it were, and float on the sea, without ever using their legs as instruments of propulsion. Their strength of wing is wonderful; they literally fly about all day long without resting at all. It is only after the long continuance of a storm that they seem to be wearied, and yet even this fatigue is not produced by their exertions in battling with the wind, but because, during the violence of the tempest, they are unable to obtain their usual supply of food, and consequently are exhausted for want of nourishment. Their voice is seldom heard in the daytime, which in truth appears to be to them the season of repose; it is in the evening, shortly after the sun has gone down, that they seem most active and alert; at that time, should the wind permit, their call-note may be frequently heard. In disposition they are particularly harmless, living in perfect good-fellowship with each other, and appearing to care little about other birds. Their food consists of all sorts of soft-bodied animals, picked up from the surface of the ocean; but we are unable to say more upon this subject. The stomachs of such as have been examined invariably contained nothing but a fluid resembling train-oil, but never the slightest trace of animal remains.

THE COMMON STORM PETREL.

The COMMON STORM PETREL (Thalassidroma pelagica) has the end of the tail very slightly rounded. The general colour of this species is a sooty brown; the upper part of the head is of a glossy black, becoming browner towards the forehead, and the mantle blackish brown. The wing-covers have white points, and the rump is likewise white. The eye is brown, beak black, and foot reddish brown. This species is five inches and a quarter long, and twelve inches and a half broad; the length of the wing is four inches and a half, and tail two inches. The Storm Petrel, though not generally distributed over the coast of Great Britain, is indigenous, breeding in Shetland, the Orkneys, and the islets on the Irish coast. During severe gales individuals have been shot as far inland as Berks, Warwickshire, and Derbyshire.

Mr. Hewitson gives the following account of the breeding of the Petrels in Shetland:--"On the 31st May these birds had not arrived on the breeding-ground; to use the the phrase of the fishermen, 'Had not yet come up from the sea.' Some eggs were deposited as late as the 30th June. In Foula they breed in the holes in the cliff at a great height above the sea; but here (in Oxna) under stones which form the beach, at a depth of three or four feet or more, according to that of the stones, as they go down to the earth beneath them, on which to lay their eggs. In walking over the surface I could hear them very distinctly singing in a sort of a warbling chitter, a good deal like Swallows, when fluttering above our chimneys, but harsher; and in this way, by listening attentively, was guided to their retreat; and, after throwing out stones as large as I could lift on all sides of me, seldom failed in capturing two or three seated on their nests, either under the lowest stone, or between two of them. The nests, though of much the same materials as the ground on which they were placed, seemed to have been made with ease. They were of small bits of stalks of plants and pieces of hard dry earth." Like the rest of the genus, the Storm Petrel lays invariably one egg only. During the daytime they remain within their holes, and though the fishermen are constantly passing over their heads, the beach under which they breed being appropriated for the drying of fish, they are then seldom heard, but towards night become extremely querulous, and when most other birds are gone to rest issue forth in great numbers, spreading themselves far over the surface of the sea. The fishermen then meet them numerously, and, though they have not previously seen one, upon throwing pieces of fish overboard are sure to be surrounded by them; the sharpness of their vision enabling them to see food from afar, which, from the activity of their movements, they are not long in appropriating.

LEACH'S STORM PETREL.

LEACH'S STORM PETREL (Oceanodromus Leachii) differs from the previous species in having its tail deeply forked; it is, moreover, of much larger size, its length being eight inches, and breadth nineteen inches; the wing measures six inches and three-quarters, and tail three inches and a half. The plumage is of a blackish brown on the head; the rump is white; and the ends of the wing-covers fawn-colour. This species also occupies the Atlantic Ocean, and precisely resembles the Common Petrel in its habits, manners, nidification, and food.

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The PUFFINS (Puffini) are recognisable by their slender bodies, proportionately short wings, and more or less rounded tail, composed of twelve feathers. The beak is short, or of moderate length, and the nostrils divided. The legs are large, broad-footed, and placed very far backwards. The plumage is smooth and oily. The Puffins are eminently aquatic birds, only visiting the land for the purpose of hatching and rearing their young; nevertheless they often approach the shore or visit harbours on the coast. They are generally met with in little flocks consisting of from eight to twenty individuals, and employed in fishing for food. During the breeding season, however, they assemble in such vast numbers as almost to cover the rocks on which they build. Their food consists principally of fishes and molluscous animals, which are invariably caught by diving. The Puffins are distinguishable from all their allies by the impetuosity of their flight. Sometimes they may be seen swimming quietly upon the water and diving into the advancing waves; generally, however, they are observed flying, and not only shooting over but dashing through them. With outstretched wings they plunge into the billows, urging their career with rapid strokes, twisting and turning in the water, not only sideways but completely round, so that sometimes the dark-coloured back, sometimes the shining white under surface becomes visible; now they seem to follow the outline of the wave, climbing upon one side of it and plunging down the other as they suddenly emerge from the water, and, after rising ten or twelve feet into the air, once more plunge obliquely into the sea, where they again dive, rowing themselves along with feet and wings till, after making their way to a considerable distance, they come up into the air, apparently simply to take breath, and forthwith disappear in the same manner. The interest attaching to this spectacle is considerably increased from the circumstance of so many of the birds joining in these active evolutions, just as one plunges beneath the surface another emerges, and as they are all busily employed, it is difficult for the eye to follow their rapid evolutions.

Although the Puffins do not congregate around their breeding-places in such vast multitudes as other water-fowl, they regularly visit St. Kilda and other places among the Hebrides and Faroe Islands in very considerable numbers, generally arriving in the night, during which they appear to be even more active than in the daytime.

Like many other Divers, they dig, by means of their beak and claws, holes in the greensward with which their breeding-place is generally covered to the depth of two feet or even more; their excavations having more the appearance of rabbit-holes than of nesting-places for a bird; at the bottom they are slightly wider than elsewhere, and here they lay their eggs, without making any nest. Occasionally, however, they collect a few stalks of grass together, upon which their eggs are deposited. Not unfrequently they merely take possession of the holes prepared in preceding years. Their nesting-place being completed, each female lays a solitary egg, which is of large size. Upon this egg the male and female sit by turns for a very long period; how long has not yet been ascertained, but it extends over several weeks; if disturbed during their confinement, the parents become much excited, and defend their nests vigorously, uttering cries which have been compared to the growling and yelping of young dogs, at the same time spreading out their tails and biting their opponent with their sharp bills. The young one when hatched is clothed in down, but although abundantly provided with food by both parents, its growth is anything but rapid; indeed, it is not until after the lapse of several months that it is able to leave its home and make its appearance on the surface of the sea. By this time it has been so well fed that its breast is covered with a layer of fat fully an inch thick; it is at this period that these birds are sought for and killed in great numbers, affording a most acceptable addition to the scanty fare of the inhabitants of the islands favoured by their presence.

THE MANX PUFFIN, OR SHEARWATER.

The MANX PUFFIN, or SHEARWATER (Puffinus Anglorum), is provided with a beak of moderate length, but narrow and weak, the upper mandible of which terminates in a sharp hook, which is received in a corresponding depression of the lower jaw which bends down at its extremity. The plumage of the adult bird is brownish black upon the upper parts of the body, and pure white upon the under side; the sides of the neck are marked with grey. The eye is brown, the beak grey, the foot greenish yellow. This species is fourteen inches long, and from thirty to thirty-two inches broad, the wing measures ten inches and the tail two inches and a half. At present it is uncertain how far the range of the Manx Puffin extends, for such is the similarity of colour in the different species, that they are doubtless frequently mistaken for each other by incompetent observers; we are, however, sure that it is met with as far south as the coasts of France and Spain, and has occasionally been seen on the shores of the Mediterranean. In Germany it is very common, and also makes its appearance in Heligoland every year with considerable regularity. It is also certain that this bird breeds in Iceland, the Hebrides, Shetland, Scilly, and Faroe Islands. A small island near the Calf of Man, although now deserted, was formerly inhabited by this bird in great numbers; it is also abundant on the coast of South Wales, in spring; occasionally it visits Iceland and the east coast of England. The Manx Puffin arrives in Great Britain about March, and departs in August, only resorting to the land during the breeding season, and selecting for the purpose of incubation small islands or rocky shores away from any haunts of man. At the commencement of this century the capture of the eggs and young afforded an important means of support to the poor and hardy inhabitants of the islands they principally frequent; and Mr. Low gives us the following account of the manner in which they were obtained:--"A man sitting on the brink of the rock with a coil of rope made of hair on his arm, will let his neighbour many fathoms over the steepest rocks, such as would make other people shudder to look at, and yet these men think no more of it than an airing; and though few years pass without some or other of them perishing, yet this never deters the survivors. It is really dreadful to see people let over a rock several hundred fathoms high, with the deep below them, supported only by the single arm of their comrades, who have nothing to rest themselves against. Sometimes, indeed, both slip together. In August the young are fit for taking, and are very much sought after as delicacies by those who love good cheer. They are indeed very fat, but are nauseously rank and fishy-tasted; however, they sell pretty high, and are lucrative to the captors. The country people salt them down for winter provision, and boil them with cabbage. They likewise take the old ones in March, but these are poor and not nearly so good as the young."

THE OAR-FOOTED SEA-FLIERS (Steganopodes).

THE members of this order present but a very distant resemblance to the swimming birds described in the preceding pages, from which they differ not only in the construction of their feet, but in their general appearance and peculiar habits.

The birds belonging to this division are characterised by having their body considerably elongated, their neck of moderate length, the head small, and the wings long and rounded or very long and pointed. The tail is variously constructed, but always peculiar and very pointed; and invariably there is between the branches of the under jaw a naked, more or less pouch-like, fold of skin. The tarsus is short and the toes long in correspondence with the great size of the web which connects all the toes with one another, a character whereby they are particularly distinguishable. The general plumage is thick; in some instances compact and stiff, but in others of silky softness. Its colour occasionally differs in the two sexes, and varies much at different ages.

The oar-footed races may all be called inhabitants of the sea, although but a single family is so decidedly oceanic that it never absents itself from the water. All the others willingly prolong their flight far inland, where many of them establish settlements; indeed, there are certain races that only exceptionally visit the sea at all; nevertheless, when they do find themselves in that element they are quite at home, and not only care little for the land, but are able to dispense with fresh water. Some of them at certain intervals come on shore to rest themselves or to sleep on rocky islands and coasts; others prefer a shelving shore; and others, whenever they get an opportunity, roost upon trees: certain species, indeed, might almost be considered true forest birds. In northern climates, as their breeding-time approaches, many of them migrate with great regularity; but in low latitudes they only remove hither and thither, northwards or southwards, following the windings of the sea-coast.

Their nests are generally built either upon trees or in fissures of rocks, sometimes upon ledges of cliffs or on the tops of mountains; less frequently on the little islands met with in marshes and swamps. Wherever their breeding-place may be, they are generally indebted to other birds for relieving them of a considerable share of the labour of nest-building, often contenting themselves with adding materials to their deserted domiciles. Some of them lay but a single egg, others two, others four; the eggs are small, of elongated shape, and generally covered with a calcareous deposit which obscures the markings on the shell. Both parents assist in the work of incubation, and some species would seem frequently to produce two broods in the course of the breeding season. Most of these birds feed exclusively upon fishes; some will occasionally devour small quadrupeds, molluscs, and worms, but fishes invariably constitute their ordinary diet. Some of them catch their food by sailing over the water at a little distance above the surface, whence they suddenly plunge into the water beneath; some swim upon the sea like Ducks, and seize their prey in shallow water by means of their long necks; whilst others again, after the manner of the real divers, pursue their prey to a considerable depth. They are terribly destructive to fishes, and are, consequently, everywhere regarded and treated as enemies by all fishermen.

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The TROPIC BIRDS (Phaëton), "Children of the Sun," as they were called by Linnæus, always warn the mariner by their presence that he has entered the precincts of the torrid zone, beyond which they seldom stray. The characteristic features of these beautiful creatures are the small size and compact build of their bodies. Their beak is about the same length as the head, and compressed laterally--its upper surface slightly curved, its apex acutely pointed, and its cutting edges finely denticulated. The legs are small in proportion to the size of the body, and the hind toe connected with the inner one by but a very narrow web. The wings are long, and the tail composed of twelve or fourteen quills; the central tail-feathers are remarkably prolonged, and present a structure that is quite peculiar, owing to the laxity and sparseness of their barbs. Their general plumage is thick and delicately tinted. "No one who sees the Tropic Birds for the first time," says Pöpping, "would regard them as inhabitants of the sea, but would rather imagine them to be land birds that had strayed by accident far into the illimitable desert of the ocean. In strength of wing they are unrivalled. Without moving their pinions in the slightest degree, or turning the body, they mount quickly to a great altitude, and there seem to repose upon the air, as if it were a solid support. Only when engaged in fishing, or when they perceive a ship, do they exchange this state of luxurious repose for active exertion. On such occasions down they come from the skies with astonishing speed, and never seem tired of circling round the vessel, as though narrowly watching all that may be passing on board. Frequently they soar so high as to be completely invisible except to a practised eye, but they are very rarely seen to swim."

THE WHITE-TAILED TROPIC BIRD.

The WHITE-TAILED TROPIC BIRD (Phaëton æthereus) is strikingly beautiful. Its head, neck, and under parts of the body are pure white, delicately tinged with red; the face is marked about the eyes with a broad stripe of black; the back and mantle are white, marked with a crooked dark line; the wings are black, bordered with white. The eye is brown, beak coral-red, foot dusky yellow. The length of this bird is two feet five inches, of this one foot five inches belongs to the centre tail-feathers; the breadth is three feet four inches. The White-tailed Tropic Birds are commonly met with upon the Atlantic Ocean, and, according to Latham, are found in abundance in the South Sea Islands, but are especially numerous in Palmerston Island, where the trees are frequently loaded with them. Ellis tells us that in the latter island they are so tame as to allow themselves to be taken from the branches with the hand. "These," says Bennett, "are amongst the most beautiful of all the oceanic birds, and excite admiration as the rays of a bright sun shine upon their chaste and delicate satin plumage; they are as gentle in manner as graceful in flight, and it is pleasing to watch their evolutions, for when soaring to a great elevation the action of their wings is slow, accompanied by a jerking motion, rising and falling in the air, at the same time uttering their peculiar, shrill notes. Sometimes they are resting on the surface of the water, and in calm weather occasionally seat themselves on the backs of turtles as they float along in lazy enjoyment."

Sailors formerly believed that the appearance of Tropic Birds indicated the contiguity of land; this idea, however, is erroneous, as they are frequently seen at a great distance from shore. According to Bennett this species has been seen 1,000 miles from the coast. The long tail-feathers of this beautiful bird are in great request.