THALASSIDROMA FURCATA.—(Gmelin.)
The Gray Storm Petrel.
PLATE XLVI. Adults.
The little birds of the group to which that now before the reader belongs, are known to seamen, wherever the English language is spoken, as Storm Petrels, or “Mother Carey’s Chickens,” and have too, a reputation, not without a tinge of superstition, of being the harbingers of the storm and of maritime disaster.
Of the many birds adapted by their organization to a life of adventure on the ocean or its tributaries, and of which in fact during a large portion of their lives they are almost as much inhabitants as fishes, the Albatrosses and the Storm Petrels, or Mother Carey’s Chickens, venture the most boldly. The birds of both these genera, though one contains the largest and the other the smallest of marine birds, are alike in this particular character, and are also alike known as inhabitants of shores very remote from each other, and as wanderers over immense extents of the ocean.
Boldly directing their course far out on the sea, like their gigantic relatives the Albatrosses, our present little birds are frequently to be met with in nearly all latitudes usually traversed by navigators, and are generally tempted to remain for a time in the wakes of vessels, and about them, by the fragments of food to be gleaned from refuse thrown overboard. Flitting as it were before the gale, with it, the appearance of these birds may readily be coincident, or premonitory of its coming, thus acquiring, and perhaps in some degree justly, the attributed character of precursors.
Several species of these birds are found on the coasts of the United States. The most abundant and best known is Wilson’s Storm Petrel (Thalassidroma Wilsonii), a bird which is perhaps to be regarded as more nearly cosmopolite than any other, so extensive are its wanderings over the surface of the ocean. It is of common occurrence throughout the whole extent of the eastern shores of the continent of America, and it has been repeatedly noticed and captured at various points on the coasts of Europe and Africa, thus demonstrating a range over nearly the entire Atlantic Ocean. In the Pacific also it is well known, though it is not so abundant. Mr. Gould gives it as a bird of Australia; and the naturalists of the United States’ Exploring Expedition in the Vincennes and Peacock, record its appearance at various other points in the Pacific Ocean.
Plate 46
The Gray Petrel
Thalassidroma furcata (Gmelin)
The histories of this, and of other American species of Storm Petrels, are perhaps as well known as those of the sea-birds generally, and much that is interesting may be found in the articles on them in the works of our predecessors in American Ornithology; but we cannot allow the present occasion to pass without availing ourselves of the kindness of our friend, Charles Pickering, M. D., of Boston, one of the naturalists attached to the Exploring Expedition, and justly ranked with the most eminent of American Zoologists.
With his characteristic liberality, Dr. Pickering has placed at our disposal much valuable information relative to birds observed during the voyage of the Expedition, especially on the western coast of North America, and in other localities of interest, with reference to American species. From his manuscript we copy the following in relation to Wilson’s Petrel, which occurs under date of October 24th, 1838, and from the latitude and longitude given, the nearest land was the coast of Africa:
“A stormy Petrel taken, which proved to be Thalassidroma Wilsonii, and although this species and others of its genus have been constantly seen during the voyage of the Expedition, this is the first specimen that has been captured without having been injured, thus affording whatever facilities can be obtained on shipboard for observing its manners.