684 THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 



diversity of flesh. The glaucous gulls are like cormorants, al- 

 ways watching for fish, but equally glad when they can seize a 

 young duck. During breeding time the mother gulls are very 

 destructive to the ducks, over whose peaceful shallows they sail 

 until opportunity invites, when down they swoop with a loud 

 rush of wing and carry off young eiders as their wants require. 

 A more domineering or insatiable rapacity is not exhibited by any 

 other bird or animul. The gull will gobble up and swallow a 

 fledgling duck in less time than it takes to describe the act. For 

 a moment the paddling feet of the poor little victim are seen pro- 

 truding from the mouth ; then comes a distension of the neck as 

 the duck descends into the stomach ; a few moments more and 

 the young gulls are feeding on the ejected morsel. 



The mother duck, nearly distracted by her loss, battles with all 

 her might, but she cannot always reassemble her scattered brood. 

 In trying to defend one she uncovers others, until frequently she 

 is left as destitute as Niobe ; but in this case she adopts a new 

 progeny. 



CHAPTER XXXVI. 



INHABITANTS OF THE ARCTIC DEEP. 



THE sparse life found on the ice and snowy wastes in the 

 northern zone is well compensated by the multitude of marine 

 animals which sport under and about the pole. There is a marked 

 difference of temperature in the air and water, for below the sur- 

 face there is a rapid increase of warmth, caused by under-cur- 

 rents and streams flowing from the tropics. This modification is 

 highly conducive to the propagation of many water animals, pe- 

 culiar to the Arctic regions, which could not survive in as low a 

 temperature as obtains on the laud. It is a fact that animal 

 life is greater in the Arctic than in the Tropical seas. There is a 

 portion of the Arctic ocean between 74 and 80 which wears a 

 color varying from purest ultra-marine to olive green, and from 



