UNCLE IN ENGLAND. 159 



abandoned lead mine in Flintshire, clinging to 

 the timbers, and apparently asleep. They were 

 startled by a little sand being thrown on them, 

 but they did not attempt to fly or change their 

 place ; this happened about Christmas. 



For the watery system, Kalm, the traveller, is 

 a decided advocate : my uncle shewed me a part 

 of his travels in America, in which there is a 

 good deal on this subject ; but I must say it does 

 not clear up my doubts. From Spain, Italy, and 

 France, Kalm admits that they remove to warmer 

 climates ; but in England and Germany, he says 

 they retire into clefts and holes of rocks, and in 

 cold countries immerse themselves in the sea, or 

 in lakes. He gives several instances of their 

 having been found in this state in Prussia ; but 

 even by his own account it does not appear that 

 they could have been to any depth in the water 

 - for all those which he mentions were caught 

 with a net among the reeds and rushes growing 

 on the borders. 



" Besides," said my uncle, {( as they are 

 lighter than water, they could not sink even if 

 they tried to do so ; and as the lungs of birds 

 differ very little in their structure from those of 

 quadrupeds, it is quite incredible that they could 

 live for several months or for several minutes 

 under water. Even diving birds come up ex- 

 hausted, and would be drowned like any other 

 animal, if retained under water beyond a cer- 



P 2 



