Bennington semi-weekly banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 1894-1902, 1894-07-17
TIE pErREL AND ALRArRosa
Birds Representing the Smallest and lar.
gest Creatures That Skim the Waves.

Birds Representing the Smallest and lar.
gest Creatures That Skim the Waves.
The stormy petrol, or Mother Carey's
chicken, the tiniest of all webfooted birds,
Is the sailors special terror, as he con-
siders it to be not alone the precursor of a
storm, but also herald of disaster.
These little birds, so famous for theil
airy pace are not larger than lark. They
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wear the quietest Of colors. Upon the'head,
back and lower parts of their bodies the
plumaee is Of q brownish, sooty black bab
there are few conspicuous white fsaaners
lying about its Base. The wings-black,
too, with the merest suspicion Of white
are peculiarly long, slender and pointed,
reaching, when folded, considerably be-
yond the extremity of the tail. Stretched,
they: spread ID inches from tip to tip and
give their owners, when on the wing, much
the look of swift or swallow, which birds
they also resemble in their mode Of fight.
The petrels have a peculiar trick, which
they use at will, Of appearing to run over
the surface of the waves. To this they are
indebted not only for their old time name
OF petrel-a diminutive of Peter, bestowed
upon them in memory of the Apostle Pc
ter's power Of walking upon the water
but they have also acquired, through gift
OF the scientific world, long Greek name
slgn1fying sea runner. Their running is q
movement of wonderful speed and charm,
to which they are most prone during a
gale or when the sea is rough, and the
mollusks and other creatures upon which
they feed are thrown freely to the surface
of the water. Then, tripping with their
little feet upon the sea in most attractive
and fantastic fashion, they gayly fit here
and there, to the right and left, ahead,
speeding on without visible effort, or after
dropping far astern they recover the lost
distance in the twinkling of an eye
While the stormy petrol may be called
the sailors bird Of story, Coleridge has
surely made the albatross that of song.
For its sake his Ancient Mariner Is
doomed, being condemned as penalty for
the unprovoked killing of 1.-THE pious bird"
to ''woeful agony" 1t is the sailors
adage that the approach of this great bird
to his ship is good omen, but to show it
violence is to provoke the fates
AS Mother Carey's chicken is the small
est SO the albatross is the largest bird OF
the sea, it being ordinarily more than 30
pounds in weight. 1t measures feet in
length, and the spread Of wing is various
ly estimated at from 10 to Ia feet.
Like the petrol, the albatross approaches
and follows in the wake of vessels, accom-
panying them for days without once rest
ing upon the waves, when, with reason,
it becomes an object of great interest to
those on board. On wing it is attractive,
and not for its grace alone. Its soft,
abundant plumage CLEANS white with
dusky bands and black feathers inter
spersed on wing and tail, while it's bill and
feet are delicately pink tinted making al
together thing of beauty most grateful
to the eye, when wearied by the lonely
stretch of sky and sea-Popular Science
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