WATER FOWL. 3Q3 



covered with stiff, black feathers ; while the tfelly 

 and breast, as is common with all of this kind, 

 are of a snowy whiteness, except a line of black 

 that is seen 'to cross the crop. The bill, which 

 from the base to about half way is covered with 

 wrinkles, is black, but marked crosswise with a 

 stripe of yellow. They walk erect with their 

 heads on high, their -fin-like wings hanging down 

 like arms ; so that to see them at a distance, they 

 look like so many children with white aprons. 

 From hence they are said to unite in themselves 

 the qualities of men, fowls, and fishes. Like men, 

 they are upright ; like fowls, they are feathered ; 

 and like fishes, they have fin-like instruments, 

 that beat the water before, and serve for all the 

 purposes of swimming rather than flying. 



They feed upon fish, and seldom come ashore 

 except in the breeding season. As the seas in 

 that part of the world abound with a variety, they 

 seldom want food ; and their extreme fatness 

 seems a proof of the plenty in which they live. 

 They dive with great rapidity, and are voracious 

 to a great degree. One of them, described by 

 Clusius, though but very young, would swallow 

 an entire herring at a mouthful, and often three 

 successively before it was appeased. In conse- 

 quence of this gluttonous appetite, their flesh is 

 rank and fishy ; though our sailors say, that it is 

 pretty good eating. In some the flesh is so tough, 

 and the feathers so thick, that they stand the 

 blow of a scimitar without injury. 



They are a bird of society ; and especially 

 when they come on shore, they are seen drawn 



