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[Pg 214] 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."
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[Pg 215] 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[Pg 216] 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.
