FOOT-PRINTS ON THE SHORE. 57 



a diving bird, it swims with great buoyancy, and, not- 

 withstanding the enormous length of its wings, it does 

 not appear to find much difficulty in mounting again 

 in the air, after it has alighted on the water. It is 

 quite true that when caught, and liberated on the deck 

 of a ship, it finds it impossible to take wing : and hence 

 it has been hastily inferred that, unless from some cliff 

 or projection of considerable elevation, the Albatross 

 cannot commence its flight ; and as the same birds are 

 often found following the ship for many weeks together, 

 it has been said that they continue all that time on the 

 wing. But no one can have watched the Albatross with 

 much attention, and not seen it alight frequently on 

 the water. It lives on animal matter, which it finds 

 floating on the sea ; and though it sometimes secures 

 its food while on the wing by skimming along the water, 

 it is just as common to see it close its wings and swim 

 like a Gull : and when it wishes again to rise, it may be 

 seen running and flapping along till it has acquired 

 sufficient impetus, and finds a wave of sufficient height 

 to start from. Then, with a not ungraceful motion, 

 it soon resumes that steady flight, which may continue 

 over a wide extent of sea. 



The foot-prints of sea-birds on the sands of the shore 

 are often unnoticed, and are swept away by the first 

 returning wave. So are the tracks of trailing shell-fish, 

 which may sometimes be seen in considerable numbers 

 furrowing the surface of fine hard sand. The Common 

 Yellow Nerite (Littorina litoralis) is a frequent maker of 

 these trails, as it moves its station from one small rock 

 to another, patiently cutting a road through the sands 



