THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 303 



until its adhesion is very strong, when, rather than 

 quit its prey, it permits itself to be dragged from 

 its retreat to the surface of the water, and cap- 

 tured.* 



There are certain species of oceanic birds which 

 it is difficult to identify with any particular region, 

 as they are true cosmopolites. The Tropic-birds, 

 Albatrosses, Terns, Petrels, and Boobies, are of this 

 extended character, following and attending the 

 voyager for many thousands of miles, and even from 

 one ocean into another. Yet there are certain, 

 though somewhat indefinite, limits to their range; 

 limits governed, however, by climate, rather than by 

 physical boundaries. Thus the Dusky Albatross 

 (Biomedea fuligivosa) was observed by Captain 

 Beechy to be numerous in the Atlantic from the 

 Bio de la Plata to the latitude of 51° south; when 

 it suddenly disappeared; but after rounding Cape 

 Horn, the species again occurred at the very same 

 latitude of 51°, and continued numerous all up the 

 coast of Chili. 



The Tropic-birds {Phaeton) in like manner, as 

 their name imports, chiefly frequent the Ocean 

 within the tropics ; and according to the statements of 

 all voyagers, are very rarely seen beyond the parallel 

 of 35°. In a voyage to Newfoundland, however, in 

 1827, I frequently saw the Tropic-bird, though our 

 latitude during the whole voyage was not so low 

 as 40°. Elevated in the air, far above the mast- 

 head, the long projecting tail-feathers, looking like 

 a single slender shaft, while it turns its head to 



* Ellis. 



