320 LETTER U 



be determined by the course of the annual sheals of 

 herrings, rather than by any circumstances of climate. 

 It lays but one egg; and its young is reckoned a great 

 delicacy, aud sold at a high price. 



THE ALBATROSS 



is an inhabitant of the tropical climates, and also be- 

 yond as far as the Straits of Magellan, and even to 

 Cape Horn, where it abounds, as well as about the 

 Cape of Good Hope. Its body is larger than that of 

 the swan, and its wings have ten feet of expansion. 

 The bill, which is six inches long, is yellow, and ter- 

 minates in a crooked point: the top of the head is of 

 a bright brown, but the back is much darker; and 

 under the belly and wings it is perfectly white. 



This bird, which is reckoned the first and the prin- 

 cipal of the gull kind, not only eats fish, but also de- 

 vours such small water fowl as it can take by surprise. 

 Like all of the same kind, it preys on the wing, and 

 frequently pursues the flying fish which has been 

 forced out of the sea by the dolphin. If we except 

 the frigate pelican, there is perhaps no other bird that 

 is capable of supporting itself for such a length of 

 time on the wing as the albatross. Except during 

 the season of incubation, it seldom approaches the 

 land, but continues night and day hovering in the air 

 in search of its prey, stimulated by hunger, and ap- 

 parently insensible of fatigue. 



This feathered tyrant of the deep, which is not only 

 one of the largest of the African and American birds, 

 bat also one of the most formidable of all those that 

 prey upon the waters, seems to have a peculiar affec- 

 tion for the penguin, and a pleasure in its society. 

 They always chuse the same situation for their nests, 

 which is in some distant and uninhabited island. In 

 those places their nests are built in close vicinity, as 

 if it were for mutual assistance and protection; and 

 their friendship does not appear to be ever interrupt- 

 ed. The albatross admits of several varieties, all of 

 them of a less size than the species here described, 

 but they have in general the same propensities, and 

 inhabit the same climates, 



