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PETRELS.
311
a gale, coursing over the waves, down the declivities, up the ascents of the foaming surf that threatens to burst over their heads, sweeping along the hollow troughs of the sea, as in a sheltered
WILSON'S PETREL
valley, and again mounting with the rising billow, and just above its surface, occasionally dropping its feet, which striking the water throws it up again with additional force, sometimes leaping with both legs parallel, on the surface of the roughest waves for several yards at a time. Meanwhile, it continues coursing from side to side of the ship's wake, making excursions far and wide,
