234 



THE OPAL SEA 



The won- 

 derful 

 Sillier. 



with no apparent wing motion; at other times 

 he drifts or circles like the condor but with in- 

 finitely lighter wing; and, still at other times, 

 when in pursuit of prey, he rises, falls, darts 

 or follows like an arrow shot from a cedar bow. 

 Xo matter where sits the wind or how strong 

 it blows the expanded wings seem to gather it 

 and convert it instantly into power. The wings 

 are the things. Tremendously long they are 

 (about six feet from tip to tip) for a bird no 

 larger than a crow. The tail — the long forked 

 tail that opens and shuts as the bird wills — 

 seems to be a necessary steering gear to such an 

 expanse of sail. And he is a veritable Captain 

 Kidd " as he sails, as he sails," a coast pirate 

 flying the black flag (for there is not a white 

 feather about him), and plundering whatever 

 crosses his track. He is no fisherman so far as 

 plunging or diving goes, he hates contact with 

 the water and is seldom seen in it; but he is a 

 keen watcher of the boobies, gulls, and terns, 

 and when they have made a capture he does 

 the best he can to take it away from them. 

 And he usually succeeds for he is feared by 

 all the coast tribe. It is said, too, that he 

 plunders the nests of other birds, devours the 

 young, and occasionally eats small turtles. 

 When driven out to sea by himger he does a 



A sea 



pirate. 



