82 RAPIDITY OF FLIGHT. 



most remarkable of these wild wanderers are the Alba- 

 tross (Diomedea exulans*), the Tropic-Bird (Phaeton Plios- 

 niourus), and the Frigate-Bird (Tachypetes aquila). The 

 first of these, the Albatross, the largest of the aquatic 

 tribe, with plumage of the most delicate white, except; 

 the back and tops of its wings, which are of a dark gray, 

 floats in the air, borne up by a vast expanse of wing, 

 measuring fourteen feet, or even more from tip to tip. 

 The air and the water, indeed, seem to be far more 

 natural to it than the land, where it is so helpless, owing 

 to its enormous length of wing, which prevents it from 

 rising, unless it can launch itself from a steep precipice 

 or projecting rock, that it is completely at the mercy of 

 those who approach, and one blow on the head generally 

 kills it instantly. 



The Tropic-Bird is the very reverse of the heavy 

 gigantic Albatross, and might fairly be called the fairy 

 of the ocean; seen as it is in the genial latitudes of 

 the warmest climates of the gobe, now a stationary 

 speck, elevated as far as the eye can reach, contrasted 

 with the dark blue of the sky, like a spangle in the 

 heavens; then suddenly descending like a falling star, 

 and as suddenly checking its course, to hover for a while 

 over the topmost point of a vessel's masts, and then 

 darting like a meteor, with its two long projecting tail- 

 feathers streaming in the air downwards, on a shoal of 

 flying-fish; and then rising gracefully with its prize, again 

 to soar aloft and take its rest above the clouds. 



But light and airy as is the Tropic-Bird, what shall 

 we say to the Frigate-Bird, which surpasses all others in 

 its power of flight, inasmuch as, excepting at the breed- 

 ing season, it seldom visits the land; and, still more 

 extraordinary, is never seen to swim or repose upon the 

 waters! Its very structure, indeed, renders its living on 

 either land or water a matter of difficulty; its wings are 

 so long, that, like the Albatross, unless perched upon 

 the pinnacle of a rock, or projecting point of a branch, 

 it cannot take flight. Neither is it adapted for a life 



