Our skipper supplemented his "reckoning" with the lead and altho well clear of the Ocean Graveyard, Andrews sent me forward with line. I had hove the plummet clear when a gray form slid out of the fog, coming on motionless wings directly toward me. The bird held on until the soft eyes and dull yellow bill were clearly distinguishable — then within ten feet veered up and disappeared over the jumbo stay. It was the only FULMAR I have ever seen.
They are said to be common on the Grand Banks in Winter, but their real home is the European side of the North Atlantic. On St. Kilda and Faroe Islands they are found in thousands and altho many are killed for food and oil a sufficient number lay in inaccessible spots to help keep the birds up to quota.
Mute and ghostlike they range the oceans, subsisting on any refuse the waves offer and when a whale is cut up they gather like Vultures and with equal rapidity. Even in fog they sense the feast altho it takes them longer to reach the banquet than in fair weather.
North Atlantic, south in winter to Georges Bank off Massachusetts.