WATER FOWL. 391 



out making way; and though they have but a 

 small weight of body to sustain, yet they seldom 

 venture to quit the water where they are pro- 

 vided with food and protection. 



As the wings of the penguin tribe are unfitted 

 for flight, their legs are still more awkwardly adapt- 

 ed for walking. This whole tribe have all above 

 the knee hid within the belly ; and nothing ap- 

 pears but two short legs, or feet, as some would 

 call them, that seem stuck under the rump, and 

 upon which the animal is very awkwardly sup- 

 ported. They seem, when sitting or attempting 

 to walk, like a dog that has been taught to sit up, 

 or to move a minuet. Their short legs drive the 

 body in progression from side to side ; and were 

 they not assisted by their wings, they could scarce- 

 ly move faster than a tortoise. 



This awkward position of the legs, which so 

 unqualifies them for living upon land, adapts them 

 admirably for a residence in water. In that, the 

 legs placed behind the moving body, pushes it for- 

 ward with great velocity; and these birds, like 

 Indian canoes, are the swiftest in the water, by 

 having their paddles in the rear. Our sailors, for 

 this reason, give these birds the very homely, but 

 expressive name of arse-feet. 



Nor are they less qualified for diving than 

 swimming. By ever so little inclining their bodies 

 forward, they lose their centre of gravity ; and 

 every stroke from their feet only tends to sink 

 them the faster. In this manner they can either 

 dive at once to the bottom, or swim between two 

 waters ; where they continue fishing for some 



