Se-t HISTOKY OF 



internally, they are better defended against the changes or the 

 inclemencies of the weather, than any other class whatever. 



As, among land-birds, there are some found fitted entirely for 

 depredation, and others for a harmless method of subsisting 

 upon vegetables, so also, among these birds, there are tribes of 

 plunderers that prey, not only upon fish, but sometimes upon 

 water-fowl themselves. There are likewise more inoffensive 

 tribes, that live upon insects and vegetables only. Some water- 

 fowls subsist by making sudden stoops from above, to seize 

 whatever fish come near the surface ; others again, not furnished 

 with wings long enough to fit them for flight, take their prey by 

 diving after it to the bottom. 



From hence all water-fowl naturally fall into three distinc- 

 tions. Those of the Gull kind, that, with long legs and round 

 bills, fly along the surface to seize their prey : those of the Pen- 

 guin kind, that, with round bills, legs hid in the abdomen, and 

 short wings, dive after their prey : and, thirdly, those of the 

 Goose kind, with flat broad bills, that lead harmless lives, and 

 chiefly subsist upon insects and vegetables. 



These are not speculative distinctions, made up for the ar- 

 rangement of a system ; but they are strongly and evidently 

 marked by nature. The gull kind are active and rapacious; 

 constantly, except when they breed, keeping upon the wing; 

 fitted for a life of rapine, with sharp straight bills for piercing, 

 or hooked at the end for holding their fishy prey. In this class 

 we may rank the Albatross, the Cormorant, the Gannet or So- 

 land Goose, the Shag, the Frigate-bird, the Great Brown Gull, 

 and all the lesser tribe of gulls and sea-swallows. 



The Penguin kind, with appetites as voracious, bills as sharp, 

 and equally eager for prey, are yet unqualified to obtain it by 

 flight. Their wings are short, and their bodies large and heavy, 

 so that they can neither run nor fly. But they are formed foi 

 diving in a very peculiar manner. Their feet are placed so far 

 backward, and their legs so hid in the abdomen, that the slight- 

 est stroke sends them head foremost to the bottom of the water. 

 To this class we may refer the Penguin, the Auk, the Skout, 

 the Sea-turtle, the Bottlenose, and the Loon. 



The Goose kind are easily distinguishable, by their flat broad 

 bills covered with a skin, and their manner of feeding, which is 

 mostly upon vegetables. In this class we may place the Swan, 



