To begin with, the stormy petrel is a bird, but a rather unusual bird. It gets its name (“petrel”) from St. Peter. St. Peter is said to have walked on the water, and these birds seem able to do the same thing!

All we know is that they are web-footed birds (In fact, the smallest of all web-footed birds) and that they manage in some way to stay above the water as if they are “wa1king” on it.

The petrel is an oceanic bird; it lives almost its entire life over the ocean and comes to land only during the breeding season. They can be seen by sea travelers circling about the ship or flying close to the crests of the waves. If a storm arises, they can’t “walk” on the water, so they are forced to remain in the air day and night!

Several kinds of petrels are called “stormy petrels” and also “Mother Carey’s chickens.” A petrel is about the size of a swallow. The petrel that appears off the eastern and southern coasts of the United States during the summer is called “Wilson’s petrel.” It is sooty-black with a white rump-patch. It is about 18 centimeters and has a short bill and long, stiltlike legs. It greets the traveler with a friendly chattering, but it cannot sing.

Another stormy petrel that is seen only in the northern seas, such as the Arctic Ocean and the Bering Sea, is called “Leach’s petrel.” It is brownish-black in color and builds its nest in holes or burrows in the ground, or in hidden spots among the rocks. When this bird is breeding, it manages to remain completely hidden. Hundreds of birds may be gathered near one spot without being seen!

There are other kinds of petrels, in fact about 80 other species, that range over all the oceans of the world, especially in the southern seas. The largest is the giant petrel, which is 88 centimeters. Another petrel, called the “diving petrel.” is from 18 to 25 centimeters long.

All petrels belong to the order Tubinares, because their nostrils are shaped like tubes.