This species is rare on the coasts of this country, but is common on the shores of the old world. It is the original “Mother Cary’s Chicken.” They nest abundantly on the shores of Europe and the British Isles.
Their single white eggs, deposited at the end of burrows, are dull white with a faint wreath of brown dots.
WILSON PETREL
109. Oceanites oceanicus. 7 in.
Tail square at end; coverts white, not tipped with black; legs long, with yellow webs. This species is very abundant on our Atlantic coast from July to Sept., spending the summer here after having nested in the Kerguelen Is. in February. Their upper parts are much more darker than those of [Leach Petrel].
Their note is a weak twittering “keet-keet.”
LEACH PETREL
106. Oceanodroma leucorhoa. 8 in.
Tail forked; tail coverts white, not tipped with black; legs much shorter than those of [Wilson Petrel], which is the only other common species on our eastern coasts. Leach Petrel is a very abundant breeding bird on Maine islands and northward. Some of the soft peaty banks of islands are honeycombed with entrances to their burrows, which extend back, near the surface of the ground, for two or three feet, and terminate in an enlarged chamber. Here one of the birds is always found during the period of incubation, and sometimes both birds, but one is usually at sea feeding during the daytime, returning at night to relieve its mate. All petrels and their eggs have a peculiar, characteristic and oppressive odor.