Petrel

pet'rel, a family of birds akin to the gull, the tern, and the albatross. There are some seventy species distributed over the world. They rarely visit the shore save to nest. The female deposits a single white egg in a crevice in the rocks or in a hole dug in the sand. It is difficult to distinguish the larger petrels from the gulls. They have the same habit of following sea-going ships, watching with glittering eye for any bits of food that may fall or be thrown overboard. When crumbs are scattered the petrels fall behind until the last crumb is gathered. Then a few rapid, graceful strokes bring the flock up again to swoop tirelessly alongside, across the course of the ship, or in its wake. The flight of the petrels is certainly the poetry of motion. The best known of all the petrels is the stormy petrel or Mother Carey's chicken. It is a sooty black little fellow about five and one-half inches in length. A ring of white surrounds the rump. The entire bird is no larger and seemingly no stronger than a blackbird. The entire family is named from this bird. The word petrel means Little Peter. It has reference to the Apostle Peter, who tried to walk the waves of Galilee. The little petrel can rest on the waves, but it is neither a diving nor a swimming bird. It flies along in the trough of the sea, paddling the water with a pair of weak, webbed feet. It makes its living apparently by gathering small insects that float on the surface of the ocean. No matter how rough the sea it seems to enjoy itself.