Stormy petrel

This small sea bird was originally called “pitteral’ and there is a theory that this was a form of the Latin diminutive of Peter (Petrus) an allusion to the fact that birds skim so close to the water that they seem to be walking on it, as St. Peter was believed to have done. Petrels are also called “Mother Carey’s Chickens” and this name is thought to be a corruption of the Latin phrase Mater Cara (beloved mother), in allusion to the Virgin Mary, protector of seafaring folk.