324 THE OCEAN. 



and fro, as on suspended wing it examines tlie ves- 

 sel below, it is not liable to be confounded with 

 any other ocean-bird. The seamen have given it 

 the name of "boatswain;" perhaps on account of its 

 shrill whistling note, like the official call of that 

 authoritative personage ; or, as I was told, because 

 it carries a marline- sj)ike. This was, doubtless, P. 

 sElherius ; which has the feathers of the tail white, 

 but the Pacific species (P. Phcenkurus) is much 

 more handsome, the tail being scarlet. They are 

 thoroughly ocean-birds, rarely approaching the land 

 except to lay and hatch their eggs. The Red-tailed 

 Phaeton excavates a hollow in the sand for this 

 purpose, beneath the shade of bushes, where she 

 lays one egg : the islanders frequently take the old 

 birds from the nest, for the tail-feathers, which are 

 highly esteemed. 



The Albatrosses are large birds, being but little 

 inferior to a swan in size. The floating carcass of a 

 whale affords a rich feast to many sea-birds, among 

 which these are pre-eminent, now swooping in the 

 air, now alighting on the body, now swimming and 

 feeding on the fragments of oily fat that escape ; 

 now screaming harshly as they quarrel for the offal. 

 They are powerfully endued for flight, and make 

 vast excursions from land, ranging through the whole 

 Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. 



I have already alluded to the singular manner in 

 which the body of a sea-bird is penetrated by air. 

 Mr. Bennett records a very curious circumstance 

 resulting from this structure, in the case of a bird 

 allied to the Albatross, taken in the Pacific Ocean. 



