OBSERVATIONS ON BIRDS. 319 



three drachms short of three pounds avoirdupois. It mea- 

 sured in length, from the bill to the tail (which was very 

 short) two feet, and to the extremities of the toes four inches 

 more : and the breadth of the wings expanded was 42 inches. 

 A person attempted to eat the body, but found it very strong 

 and rancid, as is the flesh of all birds living on fish. Divers, 

 or loons, though bred in the most northerly parts of Europe, 

 yet are seen with us in very severe winters ; and on the 

 Thames are called sprat-loons, because they prey much on 

 that sort of fish. 



The legs of the colymbi and mergi are placed so very back- 

 ward, and so out of all centre of gravity, that these birds 

 cannot walk at all. They are called by Linnaeus compedes, 

 because they move on the ground as if shackled or fettered. 



WHITE. 



These accurate and ingenious observations, tending to set 

 forth in a proper light the wonderful works of God in the 

 creation, and to point out his wisdom in adapting the singular 

 form and position of the limbs of this bird to the particular 

 mode in which it is destined to pass the greatest part of its 

 life, in an element much denser than the air, do Mr. "White 

 credit, not only as a naturalist, but as a man and as a philo- 

 sopher, in the truest sense of the word, in my opinion ; for, 

 were we enabled to trace the works of Nature minutely and 

 accurately, we should find, not only that every bird, but 

 every creature, is equally well adapted to the purpose for 

 which it was intended ; though this fitness and propriety of 

 form is more striking in such animals as are destined to any 

 uncommon mode of life. 



I have had in my possession two birds, which, though of 

 a different genus, bear a great resemblance to Mr. White's 

 colymbus in their manner of life, which is spent chiefly in the 

 water, where they swim, and dive with astonishing rapidity ; 

 for which purpose their fin-toed feet, placed far behind, and 

 very short wings, are particularly well adapted, and show the 

 wisdom of God in the creation as conspicuously as the bird 

 before mentioned. These birds were the greater and lesser 

 crested grebe (podiceps cristatus et auritus). What surprised 

 me most was, that the first of these birds was found alive on 

 dry ground, about seven miles from the sea, to which place 



