THE NORTH RIDING PROJECT

Petrels are the sparrows of the sea, abundant little birds who roam far on tireless wings between horizons of uneasy, volatile waves.  The sea is one of the richest feeding-grounds on this planet, and they and numerous allied creatures have fitted themselves for a life that has no need of land, except as a place where they can perpetuate the species.  So they nest on the fringe of the ocean, often on remote and isolated islets.  There may be thousands nesting on Mykineshölmur but you would never know it unless you looked for them at night; for while the sun shines they must reap their harvest far from any land, and it is only when the night comes that they go in the stillness to the lonely shores where their nesting-tunnels are scored in the soil.

Williamson/Atlantic, 1948