FULMAR, ffirmar, a name applied to sev eral species of petrels, of which the most com mon is the Arctic petrel (Fulmarus glacialis). This bird breeds on rocky coasts of the north Atlantic in enormous colonies, and goes south ward in winter, some individuals as far south as New Jersey. It is about the size of a large duck. The head and neck are pure white; the back and long wings of a bluish or smoky gray; breast, belly and under surface white; bill large, strong and yellow or brownish; legs and toes brownish. The young are brownish gray. In the Hebrides, and especially in Saint Kilda, where these birds reside in incredible numbers, they are of great value to the people, not only for their eggs but also as a source of oil. The birds, when seized, vomit a quantity of clear amber-colored oil of a disagreeable odor which is one of the most valuable products of Saint Kilda. The old birds feed the very young with it. The fulmars breed on the faces of the high est precipices, on which every grassy shelf over a few inches in extent is covered with their nests, which are slightly excavated in the turf and lined with dry grass and withered tufts of sea pink. One egg is deposited at a time, which the cliffmen obtain by descending with ropes from the summit of the cliffs. The fulmar feeds on animal substances, preferably fat. It flies
buoyantly and swiftly, and withstands heavy gales, skimming the surface of the water. When a whale is caught, though few of the fulmars should be present, they assemble in thousands as soon as the cutting up is com menced; hence the whalers call them "whale birds)) or "mollymauks." They follow in the greasy track of a whaling ship, coming within a few yards of the men engaged in cutting, and devour the morsels of fat voraciously and in great quantity, becoming quite tame. Other petrels which are classed as fulmars are the Giant Fulmar (Ossifrago gigantea), or "Cape a bird 30 to 36 inches in length, and with a wing-spread of six to seven feet, common in the Indian and Antarctic oceans. This bird is exceedingly gluttonous, gorging itself until it can scarcely walk. Its favorite feast is car rion, and it has the filthy habit of vomiting its partly digested food when Rodgers' Fulmar (Fulmar inhabits Bering Sea and adjacent waters as far south as the Bay of Monterey, California. The Pacific Ful mar (F. g. glupssata), is found along the north Pacific Coast as far south as Mexico. It is fearless of man, often disputing the catch with fishermen, and is easily captured.