BIBSS. 



361 



coasts, and has occasionally Leen met with in summer. Like 

 the Gannet, it is sometimes entangled in the nets of the fisher- 

 man ; and Mr. W. Thompson has related to us one instance in 

 which a Diver, when thus taken, was found to have swallowed 

 a hook, having doubtless been attracted by the tempting ap- 

 pearance of the fish-bait. 



Alcidce. — The Guillemots resemble in many respects the 

 Divers. We pass them by to notice the Pufiin (^Alca arctica) , 

 a bird common round om* coasts during the summer months. 

 Its most striking peculiarity is 

 the biU, which has gained for 

 it the titles of " Sea-paiTot," 

 and "Coulter-neb." To this 

 familv belongs the Penguin 

 (^Fig. 283), whose singular 

 plumage has been already no- 

 ticed {ante, p. 287). The 

 wings, so powerless for flight, 

 are, however, most efficient as 

 fins. When at sea and fishing, 

 it comes to the surface, for the 

 purpose of breathing, with such 

 a spring, and dives again so 

 instantaneously, that no one 

 could at first sight be sure it 

 was not a fish leaping for sport.* The Penguin is not defi- 

 cient in courage. At one of the Falkland Islands, Mr. Darwin 

 placed himself between one of those birds {Aptinodytes de- 

 mersa) and the water. " It was," says he, " a brave bii-d ; 

 and till reaching the sea, it regularly fought and drove me 

 backwards."t Similar intrepidit}' was evinced by some Pen- 

 guins met \vith by Captain Ross in the late Antarctic expedi- 

 tion. The birds, from their great size, were named the " king " 

 and the " emperor," for there were two species. But both, 

 however, evinced equal hardihood, and showed their determi- 

 nation to do battle for their land of nativity, even when op- 

 posed to British seamen. 



Pelecanidce. — The name of this family implies that it may 

 be represented by the Pelican. We have but three native 

 species, of which the most common is the Solan Goose {ante, 

 p. 291). The other two belong to one genus, and are known 



Fig. 283.— Pesgcis. 



Darwin's Journal, p. 257. 



t Idem, p. 256. 



