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ORDER VII. NATATORES. SWIMMING BIRDS. 



The species of birds which are accounted British, number 

 about three hundred and fifty, and of these not fewer pro- 

 bably than one hundred belong to the present Order. This 

 large proportion is readily accounted for from our insular 

 position, and the lofty and precipitous character of many 

 portions of our coast. 



Of the many forms which are included in this Order, 

 some are of extreme beauty and gifted with amazing powers 

 of flight, while others, to whom this power has been de- 

 nied, possess a remarkable adaptation in their structure 

 for rapid progress in the water or for exploring its depths 

 in search of food. While reposing on the downs at the 

 Needles end of the Isle of Wight, we have watched with 

 mingled surprise and delight the Gulls as they have risen 

 to view from the lower precipices, and soared, upon almost 

 motionless wings, high into the deep blue heaven, and per- 

 formed, without a perceptible effort, the most graceful evo- 

 lutions, or swept with arrow-like rapidity away upon their tire- 

 less wings. Indeed the sea-fowl add an indescribable charm 

 to our coasts, where, at all seasons, millions of them enliven 



