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.