THE PENGUIN. 



215 



ties them in a bundle, and fastens them to a 

 little rope, giving a sign, by pulling, that 

 they should draw them up. When he has 

 wrought thus the whole day, and desires to 

 get up again, he sitteth once more upon the 

 great rope, giving a new sign that they should 

 pull him up; or else he worketh himself up, 

 climbing along the rope, with his girdle full 

 of birds. It is also usual, where there are 

 not folks enough to hold the great rope, for 

 the fowler to drive a post sloping into the 

 earth, and to make a rope fast therefrom, by 

 which he lets himself down without any 

 body's help, to work in the manner aforesaid. 

 Some rocks are so formed that the person can 

 go into their cavities by land. 



" These manners are more terrible and 

 dangerous to see than to describe ; especially 

 if one considers the steepness and height of 

 the rocks, it seeming impossible for a man to 

 approach them, much less to climb or descend. 

 In some places, the fowlers are seen climbing 

 where they can only fasten the ends of their 

 toes and fingers; not shunning such places, 

 though there be a hundred fathom between 

 them and the sea. It is a dear meat for these 

 poor people, for which they must venture 

 their lives ; and many, after long venturing, 

 do at last perish therein. 



" When the fowl is brought home, a part 

 thereof is eaten fresh; another part, when 

 there is much taken, being hung up for 

 winter provision. The feathers are gathered 

 to make merchandise of, for other expenses. 

 The inhabitants get a great many of these 

 fowls, as God giveth his blessing and fit 

 weather. When it is dark and hazy, they 

 take most; for then the birds stay in the 

 rocks: but in clear weather, and hot sun- 

 shine, they seek the sea. When they pre- 

 pare to depart for the season, they keep them- 

 selves most there, sitting on the cliffs towards 

 the sea-side, where people get at them some- 

 times with boats, and take them with fowling, 

 staves." 



Such is the account of this historian; but 

 we are not to suppose that all the birds caught 

 in this manner are of the gull kind : on the 

 contrary, numbers of them are of the penguin 

 kind ; auks, puffins, and guillemots. These 

 all come, once a season, to breed in these 

 recesses ; and retire in winter to fish in more 

 southern climates. 1 



1 By many of the earlier systematists, the skuas were 

 included in the gulls, but as essential characteristics 

 (not possessed by the former), are developed in their 

 structure, particularly in the bill, feet, and tail, and as 

 a marked difference also exists in their habits, it has 

 been considered necessary to establish a distinct genus 

 for their reception. They are the determined enemies 

 of the gulls, whom they unceasingly persecute on the 

 wing, in order to make them disgorge their half digested 



CHAP. VII. 



OF THE PENGUIN KIND t AND FIRST, OF THE 

 GREAT MAGELLAN 1C PENGUIN. 



THE gulls are long-winged, swift flyers, 

 that hover over the most extensive seas, and 



or recently swallowed food, and which is then adroitly 

 caught by the former before it can reach the water. 

 They also feed upon the flesh of the whale and other 

 marine animal substances. An approach to the petrels 

 is seen in their general contour, and in the structure of 

 their feet, the hind toe in some species consisting of 

 little more than a nail. Their wings are long and 

 pointed, and their flight, which is strong, and at times 

 astonishingly rapid, is performed by successive jerks 

 (in each of which a considerable curve is described), 

 bearing but little resemblance to that of the true gulls. 

 They are natives of the arctic regions, and are found, 

 particularly during the season of reproduction, in very 

 high latitudes. The plumage of both sexes is alike, 

 but some species undergo great changes in their pro- 

 gress to maturity. 



Common Skua. Provincial. Sea-eagle, Bonxie, or 

 Skui. This bird, which appears to be the largest of its 

 genus, is of compact form, and bold disposition ; which 

 latter quality is more especially seen during the season 

 of reproduction, a period when the instinctive passions 

 of the feathered race are called into unwonted activity. 

 It will at that time attack even man without hesitation, 

 should he happen to approach the site of its nest; and 

 so impetuous is its attack, that the natives of the Shet- 

 land isles (its peculiar habitat in this kingdom) are 

 compelled on such occasions to defend themselves by 

 holding up a knife, or sharp stick; upon which the 

 assailant lias frequently been known to transfix and kill 

 itself, whilst making its pounces upon the head of the 

 intruder. Dogs, foxes, and other animals, are instantly 

 attacked, and so severely dealt with by the wings and 

 beak of the strong and pugnacious skua, as to be soon 

 driven to a hasty retreat, and no bird is permitted to 

 approach with impunity; the eagle itself being beaten 

 off with the utmost fury, should it happen to venture 

 within the limits of the breeding territory. As above ob- 

 served, it inhabits the Shetland isles, breeding in com- 

 munities upon Foulah, Unst, and Rona's hill in Mainland. 

 It selects the wild and unfrequented heaths for the site of 

 its nest, which is formed of afew dried weeds and grasses; 

 and its eggs, two in number, are of a dark oil-green 

 colour, blotched with irregular brown spots, with smaller 

 whitish ones intermixed. After performing the duties 

 of incubation, it retires to the adjacent seas, where it 

 leads a solitary life, rarely approaching the land till the 

 advance of spring again urges it to seek its summer 

 retreat. It is but seldom found in the southern parts 

 of Scotland, and the instances of its capture upon the 

 English coast are of still rarer occurrence, Montagu 

 only mentioning one, of a bird that was shot at Sand- 

 wich, in Kent. The food of the skua consists of fish, 

 the carcasses of cetacea, and other marine animal 

 matter; a great part of which is obtained from the 

 larger gulls, whom it attentively watches, and pursues 

 with unceasing hostility, till they are compelled to dis- 

 gorge the fish or other substance that they had previously 

 swallowed, and which, from its rapid evolutions on the 

 wing, it generally catches before reaching the surface 

 of the water. In this, as well as in the other species, 

 the claws are strong and much hooked, particularly that 

 of the inner toe ; and it is said to make use of them in 

 holding fast its prey, which is torn in pieces after the 

 manner of raptorial birds. The skua inhabits alsq 



