i36 A HISTORY OF 



" The boay is rather larger than that of the pelican ; and its wings, 

 when extended, ten feet from tip to tip. The bill, which is six inches 

 long, is yellowish, and terminates in a crooked point. The top of the 

 hea'd is of a bright brown ; the back is of a dirty deep spotted brown \ 

 and the belly and under the wing is white ; the toes which are web- 

 bed, are of a flesh colour." 



Such are the principal traits in this bird's figure : but these lead 

 us a very short way in its history ; and our naturalists have thought 

 fit to say nothing more. However, I am apt to believe this bird to be 

 the same with that described by Wicquefort, under the title of the 

 Alcatraz ; its size, its colours, and its prey incline me to think so. He 

 describes it as a kind of great gull, as large in the body as a goose, 

 of a brown colour, with a long bill, and living upon fish, of which 

 they kill great numbers. 



This biro is an inhabitant of the tropical climates, and also beyond 

 them as far as the Straits of Magellan in the South Seas. It is one 

 of the most fierce and formidable of the aquatic tribe, not only living 

 upon fish, but also such small water-fowl as it can take by surprise. 

 It preys, as all the gull kind do, upon the wing, and chiefly pursues 

 the flying fish, that are forced from the sea by the dolphins. The 

 ocean in that part of the world presents a very different appearance 

 from the seas with which we are surrounded. In our seas we see no- 

 thing but a dreary expanse, ruffled by winds, and seemingly forsaken 

 by every class of Animated Nature. But the tropical seas, and the 

 distant south latitudes beyond them, are all alive with birds and fishes, 

 pursuing and pursued. Every various species of the gull kind are 

 there seen hovering on the wing, at a thousand miles distance from 

 the shore. The flying-fish are every moment rising to escape from 

 their pursuers of the deep, only to encounter equal dangers in the 

 air. Just as they rise the dolphin is seen to dart after them, but ge- 

 nerally in vain ; the gull has more frequent success, and often takes 

 them at their rise, while the albatross pursues the gull, and obliges it 

 to relinquish its prey : so that the whole horizon presents but one liv- 

 ing picture of rapacity and evasion. 



So much is certain ; but how far we are to credit Wicquefort, in 

 what he adds concerning this bird, the reader is left to determine 

 " As these birds, except when they breed, live entirely remote fron 

 land, so they are often seen, as it should seem, sleeping in the air 

 At night, when they are pressed by slumber, they rise into the cloudi 

 as high as they can ; there, putting their head under one wing, the) 

 beat the air with the other, and seem to take their ease. After a 

 time, however, the weight of their bodies, only thus half supported, 

 brings them down ; and they are seen descending, with a rapid motion, 

 to the surface of the sea. Upon this they again put forth their efforts 

 to rise ; and thus alternately ascend and descend at their ease. But 

 it sometimes happens," says my author, " that, in these slumbering 

 flights, they are off their guard, and fall upon deck, where they are 

 taken." 



What truth there may he Jn this account, I will not take it upon 

 me to determine : but certain it is, that few birds float upon the air 

 with more ease than the albatross, or support themselves a longer 

 tne in that element. They seem never to feel the accesses oflfa 



