192 A PICTURE OF LIFE. 



been seen before since entering Smith's Strait. It 

 is well known to the polar traveller as a migratory 

 bird of the American continent. Like the others 

 of the same family, it feeds upon vegetable matter, 

 generally on marine plants, with their adherent 

 molluscan life. It is rarely or never seen in the 

 interior ; and from its habits may be regarded as 

 singularly indicative of open water. The flocks of 

 this bird, easily distinguished by their wedge-shaped 

 line of flight, now crossed the water obliquely, and 

 disappeared over the land to the north-east. 



"The rocks on shore were crowded with sea- 

 swallows, birds whose habits require open water; 



and they were already breeding The gulls were 



represented by no less than four species. The 

 kitti wakes reminding Morton of 'old times in 

 Baffin's Bay ' were again stealing fish from the 

 water (probably the small whiting), and their 

 grim cousins, the burgomasters, enjoying the dinner 

 thus provided at so little cost to themselves. It 

 was a picture of life all round. 



" Here, for the first time, Morton noticed the 

 arctic petrel, a fact which shows the accuracy of 

 his observation, though he had not been aware of 

 its importance. This bird had not been met with 

 since we left the north water of the English 

 whalers, more than two hundred miles south of 

 the position on which he stood. Its food is 

 essentially marine ; and it is seldom seen in 

 numbers, except in the highways of open water- 



