WATER-SKIMMERS AND FLYERS. I /I 



floated on the water will so attract its attention that it 

 may forget to dive at the right moment, and then 

 falls a victim of the bullet. It has a long and power- 

 ful wing. 



The loon's legs are set further back than the duck's 

 legs. It is impossible for this bird to stand except in 

 a perpendicular attitude. The penguin of the Ant- 

 arctic seas is more closely confined to the water than 

 the loon. Its wings are without feathers and are used 

 in swimming. It can not fly, and is like the seal 

 among milk-giving animals. 



39. WATER-SKIMMERS AND FLYERS. 



AND a good south wind sprung up behind; 



The albatross did follow, 



And every day, for food or play, 



Came to the mariners' hollo! Coleridge. 



PASSING from the birds that swim, dive, and use the 

 water to live and move in more than the land or the 

 air, we come to those that are so constructed as to 

 hover over the water, or to wade in its shallow edges 

 in quest of fish-food. Those that pick their food from 

 the surface of large waters, are provided with long and 

 strong wings. Those that enter the edge of the water 

 for the same purpose, are fitted with long legs and long 

 necks. The bills of all fish-eating birds are strong 

 and have sharp, cutting edges. 



Among the sea-flyers the albatross is distinguished. 



