oS2 >lISTOUY OF 



ble the more powerful in their appetites tor prey, but have not 

 such certain methods of obtaining it. In general, therefore, the 

 industry of this tribe, and their audacity, increase in proportion 

 to their imbecility; the great gulls live at the most remote dis- 

 tance from man ; the smaller are obliged to reside wherever they 

 can take their prey ; and to come into the most populous places, 

 >vhen solitude can no longer grant them a supply. In this class 

 we may place the Gull, properly so called, of which there are 

 above twenty different kinds ; the Petrel, of which there are 

 three ; and the Sea-svvallovv, of which there are as many. The 

 gulls may be distinguished by an angular knob on the lower 

 chap ; the petrels by their wanting this knob ; and the sea-swal- 

 low by their bills, which are straight, slender, and sharp-pointed. 

 They all, however, agree in their appetites, and their places of 

 abode.* 



* The Petrels have received this denomination wliimsically enongh. Be- 

 sides tlie faculty of swimming, they possess that of supporting themselves 

 on tlie water, by striking very rapidly ivitli their feet, whicli lias caused 

 them to be compared to St Peter Avalking upon the water. The petrels are 

 to be seen in all seas of the globe from one pole to the other. They are the 

 inseparable companions of mariners, duiiug their long navigations. The 

 flight of these birds is almost always performed by hovering, and without 

 presenting apparent vibrations. They rise with facility, and can fly against 

 the strongest winds, which never slacken their movements. The tempest 

 not only does not affright tliem, but they are almost necessitated to seek 

 those seas where the agitation of the waves brings to the surface those marine 

 animals which constitute their food. In consequence of this, they are fre- 

 quently seen in all weathers, in the vortices which are formed by the track 

 of vessels. " It is indeed an interesting sight," says Wilson, " to observe 

 tliese little birds, in a gale, coursing over the waves, down tlie declivities, 

 and up the ascents of the foaming surf that threatens to burst over their 

 heads, sweeping along the hollow troughs of the sea as in a sheltered valley, 

 and again mounting with the rising billow, and just abo\e its surface, occa- 

 sionally dropping their feet, which, striking the water, throw them up 

 again Avith additional force, sometimes leaping, with both legs parallel, on 

 the surface of the roughest waves for several yards at a time. Meanwhile 

 they continue coursing from side to side of the ship's wake, making excur- 

 sions far and wide to the right and to the left, now a great way ahead, aiid 

 now shooting astern for several hundred yards, returning again to the ship 

 as if she were all the while stationary, though perliaps running at the rate 

 of ten knots an hour. But the most singular peculiarity of this bird is its 

 faculty of standing, and even running on the surface of the water, which it 

 jierforms with apparent facility. When any greasy matter is thrown over, 

 board, these birds instantly collect around it, facing to windward, with their 

 long wings expanded and their webbed feet patting the water. The liglit- 

 ness of their bodies, and the action of the wind on their wings, enable them 



