24 KNOWING BIRDS THROUGH STORIES 



as any duck ; but their feeding habits are so different that 

 they do not swim nearly as much as do most of the swim- 

 ming birds. 



You will have no difficulty in recognizing sea gulls from 

 ducks and geese, but there are some other birds from 

 which it is not so easy to distinguish them. These are the 

 petrels and the albatrosses. The albatrosses are all larger 

 birds than the gulls. They are usually found along with 

 the gulls and feed in very much the same way, tho 

 they are much more expert in catching food in mid-air. 

 I have stood on deck and thrown food into the air in full 

 sight of an albatross that was at least one hundred-fifty 

 feet away and altho the food had to fall only ten or 

 fifteen feet to the water the albatross usually managed to 

 catch it in the air. The gull is rather more slender and 

 graceful than the albatross, and this coupled with the fact 

 that it is not so large makes it possible to distinguish it 

 while in flight. Most of the petrels on the other hand 

 are smaller than the gulls, have relatively longer and more 

 slender wings, and are more graceful and rapid in flight. 

 They do not come ashore as aften as do the gulls except 

 when nesting, and are usually seen at considerable dis- 

 tance out at sea. From the fact that they are distinctly 

 sea-faring birds they are often called Mother Carey's 

 Chickens. When the weather is so stormy that the gulls 

 are forced ashore, the petrels seem to be in their element. 

 They seem to delight to fly about in wind that is blowing a 

 hurricane and will even dash through the crest of the 

 white caps in search of a bit of food. If it is remembered 

 that they are smaller and that their flight is more rapid and 

 that they dart up and down more than the gulls, one will 

 soon learn to distinguish them from each other. 



