BIRDS UNDER WATER 145 



That was the end of the great auk, and it is a 

 warning not to " put all one's eggs in one 

 basket " ; if the bird had kept up the use of 

 its wings ages ago it would have still had the 

 air as well as the water to trust to, and would 

 still have been living, as its small relatives 

 are to-day. The true penguins, which must 

 have been flying birds ages ago, for their 

 wing is still formed on the same plan as other 

 birds' wings, as is shown by the skeleton, 

 have made the same mistake, but they live 

 more out of the way of men, in the south seas, 

 and so have not come into contact with sailors 

 so much. But still, if they are not preserved, 

 as the penguins at the Cape are now, there is 

 great danger that many of the kinds will be 

 killed off, as they collect in such numbers in 

 particular spots, just as the great auks did. 



The other wing-divers, if I may use the 

 expression, are very different birds from the 

 heavy penguins and auks of the sea-coasts. 

 These are the dippers or water-ouzels, which 

 are found living by mountain streams almost 

 all over the world ; one is quite a common 

 bird everywhere where there are swift clear 

 rocky streams in our country. Many of my 



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