THE STORMY PETREL. 211 



walking on the water by means of their wings, 

 from whence both their French name, petit 

 pierre, and their English name, Petrel, are de- 

 rived. These hardy little creatures live almost 

 entirely on the sea, rarely quitting it, except to 

 build their nests and rear their young, who are 

 soon led out on the waters by their parents, and 

 early established as tenants of the ocean: they 

 are literally 



" Nursed on the rock, and cradled in the storm." 



Petrels are met with by navigators in every 

 part of the ocean, diving, running, or skimming 

 over the waves of the most tempestuous sea, in 

 perfect ease and security. The tempest, indeed, 

 befriends them, by bringing to the surface of the 

 agitated waters the marine animals on which 

 they feed. At the approach of a storm, it is 

 true, they are seen to take refuge in the wake of 

 a ship, or in the rigging: this is simply because 

 the wind having great power over their wings, 

 which are of an unusual extent for the size of 

 the bird, they sometimes find themselves unable 

 to resist its violence. But so little do they need 

 the aid of any common place of refuge from the 

 tempest, that when a vessel is not at hand, they 

 are content to shelter themselves in the deep 

 hollows between two swelling waves, and will 



