LARID.E. 



The last family of the Natatores, typically repre* 

 sented by the extensive group of the Gulls, live in a 

 manner by plunder. Some of the forms not by the 

 exercise of their own exertions, but seize and carry 

 off what has been watched for and procured by 

 others; some, again, feed on the blubber of the 

 larger cetaceous animals, the carrion, as it were, of 

 the ocean ; and many of them, when slightly pressed 

 by hunger, will avail themselves of very indiscrimi- 

 nate food ; in most the bill is strong compared with 

 the size, the wings long and ample ; while those 

 that we shall describe first are the most exclusively 

 sea-birds ; and, although they do not enjoy the 

 property of diving, they seldom seek the land ex- 

 cept while breeding. 



The British Petrels are comprised in three genera, 

 two of which run very closely into each other. The 

 birds are entirely maritime in their habits, and seem 

 to run in zones of distribution ; the species are more 

 numerous than what they are yet supposed to be, 

 and present individuals very closely allied. 



GENUS PROCEL&ARIA, Linnceus. Generic charac- 

 ters. Bill strong, straight, thick; maxilla di- 



