421 



MERSATORES. PLUNGERS. 



Among the numerous birds that seek their subsistence in 

 or upon the waters, and are fitted for an aquatic life, by hav- 

 ing their toes connected by a thin and pliant induplicature of 

 the skin, converting their feet into paddles, are many, which 

 roaming abroad over the face of the ocean, or following the 

 sinuosities of its shores, pick up their food from its surface, 

 or by plunging or dipping into it, without pursuing their 

 prey into its depths. They are of lighter construction than 

 the other sea-birds, with more plumage in proportion to their 

 bulk, and furnished with wings of large size, generally elon- 

 gated and narrow, Avhich enable them to perform a more 

 varied and extended flight, and to accomplish with ease the 

 evolutions frequently necessary to them. Sitting lightly on 

 the water, chiefly for repose, they swim with ease, but not Avith 

 speed at all approaching to that of the diving birds, and none 

 of them are capable of sinking, or propelling themselves into 

 the water, from its surface. Their food consists of fishes, 

 Crustacea, mollusca, and other animals, the larger feeding also 

 in the manner of vultures on dead cetacea, land mammalia, 

 and birds. The order is of universal distribution on the 

 seas, many also frequenting fresh water, and even the species 

 extend to vast distances. Enlivening the monotony of the 

 vast expanse, they occasionally cheer the mariner, and aflbrd 

 the wearied passenger to distant lands a little of that amuse- 

 ment Avhich he longs for, but which the deep yields in pro- 

 fusion only to the naturalist, and not always even to him. 

 Without them the coasts Avould often seem lifeless ; and when 

 busy crowds of them arc in pursuit of shoals of fishes, or 

 searching the estuaries, they give an animation to the scene, 

 which contrasts with the efiect caused by their absence. 



