III. THE DABCHICKS. I43 



curious than the rest, or for the sake of their 

 health, travel ?) 



, 2. Food. Small thin-skinned Crustacea, and 

 aquatic surface-insects. 



3. Form and flight. Stout, for a sea-bird ; 

 and they don't care to fly, preferring to swim 

 out of danger. Body 7 to 8 inches long ; 

 wings, from carpal joint to end, 4f, — say 5. 

 These quarters of inches, are absurd pretences 

 to generalize what varies in every bird. 8 

 inches long, by 10 across the wings open, is 

 near enough. In future, the brief notification 

 8x 10, 5 X 7, or the like, will enough express 

 a bird's inches, unless it possess decorative 

 appendage of tail, which must be noted 

 separately. 



4. Foot. Chesnut-leaved in front toes, the 

 lobes slightly serrated on the edges. Hind 

 toe without membrane. Colour of foot, alwa3's 

 black. 



5. Beak. Long, slender, straight. (How 

 long ? Drawn as about a fifth of the bird's 

 length — say an inch, or a little over.) Upper 

 mandible slightly curved down at the point. 

 In Titania arctica, the beak is longer and more 

 slender. 



