THE STORMY PETREL. 397 



severe storms, have been seen flying about the iron furnaces 

 at Low Moor, near Bradford, in the West Riding of Yorkshire, 

 -probably attracted by the blaze of their immense fires. 



They do not, however, always follow ships merely for 

 shelter ; we suspect that the scraps of food or grease, which 

 occasionally fall overboard, frequently attract them. We have 

 heard of one which accompanied a ship from the Channel to 

 the very shores of America, picking up or examining every- 

 thing that fell overboard. It was observed to be more 

 clamorous during the night than the day. It appeared, 

 moreover, to those who watched it, to dive, and remain under 

 water for half an hour or more ; and we have heard this power 

 of immersion attributed to it by others ; but we are inclined, 

 nevertheless, to doubt even its power of diving at all; its 

 form, lightness, thick coating of feathers, all being against its 

 remaining under water for any length of time; added to 

 which, such a power would be unnecessary, its food being 

 prepared for it on the surface of the waters, and not below. 



Table XXX. (See page 23.) 

 Order 6. Palmipedes. — Tribe 4. Brevipennes {Short-winged). 



The characteristic feature of this, the last tribe of the last 

 order of birds, is the extreme shortness of the wing, which, 

 ifi many of them, prevents their flying to any distance, and, 

 in some, partakes more of a fin than a feathered wing. Their 

 legs are, moreover, placed far behind ; their plumage is close 

 and glossy, so as to resist water; all which peculiarities fit 

 them for a more exclusively water life. It is divided into 

 four genera : — 1. Grebes or Divers; 2. Guillemots; 3. Auks, 

 or Puffins ; 4. Penguins. 



The Grebes, which take precedence in this list of the short- 

 winged tribe, are the only birds whose habits lead them to pass 

 comparatively peaceful lives, on the less agitated surfaces of 

 our inland lakes and meres ; the others being all, more or less, 

 sea-birds, whose dwelling-place, when on land, is on wild rocks 

 exposed to storm and tempest, of which they take no heed. 



