256 SWIMMERS. 



pirate of the main, daring and strong, and wary as bold, has too 

 slight claim for recognition here to demand an extended notice. 



These birds live as solitary as Eagles, but defend their nests as 

 few Eagles dare, attacking fiercely man or dog venturing to ap- 

 proach, and displaying a front that few dogs care to close upon. 

 The nests are built chiefly within the Arctic Circle and in northern 

 Europe, and the birds visit our waters only in winter, and but rarely 

 then ; and the few examples that do wander this way are never seen 

 near the shore, but are met with by the fishermen, whose boats they 

 follow for the refuse. 



In the A. O. U. Check-List the statement is made that the bird 

 is " apparently rare on the coast of North America," and North 

 Carolina is given as the southern limit of its range. Mr. Chapman 

 reports that there is " one record " of the bird having been cap- 

 tured on the shore of Long Island. 



