Fulmar

Fulmar, any bird of the cosmopolitan genus Fulmarus, with 40 species. The Fulmars are gull-like petrels, with the characters of the family (Procellariidae); the bill is strong and hooked, and bears the nostrils united in a single tube; the wings are long and well adapted for swift and sustained flight, for these birds rarely return to land except for nesting, or when driven there by gales; and the hind toe is replaced by a claw. The common Fulmar, or Fulmar Petrel (F. glacialis), has its home in the Arctic regions, sometimes straying to Britain, and it is said to nest in St. Kilda. The length of an adult male is about 16 inches, and the summer plumage of both sexes is white on the under surface and bluish-ash above. They feed on fish, molluscs, offal of any kind, and are said to pick the parasites from the skin of living whales. Fulmars are important to the natives of Northern and Arctic Europe for their feathers, down, flesh, and oil. This oil has a peculiarly strong odour, and the birds disgorge it as a means of defence.