426 



CHAPTER XIX. 



Longipennes; Long- winged. Skimmers Singular Bill. Terns, 

 or Sea-Swallows Anecdote of. Gulls Capacity for enduring 

 Cold Voracious Feeders Breeding Places. South Stack de- 

 scribed. Albatross Roaming Habits. Tristan D'Acunha 

 Resort for Breeding Voracity. Petrels Nests Feed at Night 

 Superstition of Sailors respecting. Brevipennes ; Short- 

 winged. Divers. Crested Grebe Great Destroyers of Fish. 

 Guillemots. Razor-Bills. Puffins and Auks. 



TABLE XXIX. (See p, 23). 



ORDER 6. PALMIPEDES. TRIBE 3. LONGIPENNES. 

 (Long- winged. ) 



THIS tribe comprises: 1. Rhynchops, or Skimmers; 

 2. Sterna, Terns ; 3. Larus, Gulls ; 4. Diomedea, Alba- 

 tross ; 5. Procellaria, Petrels. 



All these are long-winged birds, proper to the main 

 ocean, and, by means of their powers of flight, are spread 

 widely over the world. They may be known by either 

 having no back-toe at all, or by that toe being free, 

 that is, not united with the others by a membrane, form- 

 ing one large web, as in the preceding tribe; and by 

 their bill, without indentations, but bent at the end, as 

 in the Procellaria, or Petrels, the extremity of which 

 seems to consist of a piece fastened on, or pointed, as in 

 all the rest. 



The Skimmer {Rltyncltops} derives its name from the 

 way in which it feeds, flying generally so close to the 

 water, that the under mandible j*is skims below the sur- 

 face, while *ifoe upper is kept wide open, so tba* on its 

 meeting witla any floating substance, it closes imme- 

 diately upon it. It is a bird with little feet, long wings, 

 and a forked tail ; but its bill is so extraordinary, that 

 there is no mistaking it for the Sea-Swallow's, which in 



