352 VERTEBRATA. 



tlio nii,'inL,' I'last, now stoopiiitj to tlio angry waves, and now shooting upward toward the clouds, 

 as if enjoying a frolic. At night, they usually repose hy sitting on the water. They breed on 

 the rockv coasts, especially oftiie islanil> <>f Europe ami America; the eggs are two, of a soiled 

 white. When engaged in incubation, tliey nmy be taken oiY tlieir nests with the hand. The 

 .•ippcaniMcc of these birds at sea Inis been supposed to portend stormy weather, and they are 

 tlicrcl'orc not welcome visitors to sailors, who call them DctnVti Birds, Witches, and Mother 

 Careys Chickens. The last title is said to have been originally bestowed upon them by Captain 

 Carteret's sailors, probably from some celebrated ideal hag of that name. I'heir habit of 

 paddling along the surface of the water obtained for tluin the name of Petrel, fiom the Apostle 

 IVter, who walked upon the water. 



(.>ther species arc the Fokk-tailed Petrel, T. Lcachii, found on our coast from Massachusetts 

 to Baffin's Bay : "Wilson's Stormy Petrel, T. Wilsonii, found along the Atlantic coast of North 

 America: Hornby's Petrel, T. Ho nib i/i, and the Black Stormy Petrel, T. melania, both found 

 on the northwest coast of North America. The Black-and-White Stormy Petrel, Fregetia 

 Latrreucii, is found on the coast of Florida. The habits of all are similar to those of the Stormy 

 Petrel we have described. It is probably to the birds of this species — the fearless riders of the 

 storm and the tempest — that the poet Brainard refers in the following powerful lines : 



the sea-bird's song. 



"On the deep is the mariner's danger, 

 On the deep is the mariner's death ; 

 Who, to fear of the tempest a stranger. 

 Sees the last bubble burst of his breath? 



'Tis the sea-bird, sea-bird, sea-bird, 



Lone looker on despair ; 

 The sea-bird, sea-bird, sea-bird. 

 The only witness there ! 



" Who watches their course, who so mildly 

 Careen to the kiss of the breeze ? 

 Who lists to their shrieks, who so wildly 

 Are clasped in the arms of the seas? 

 'Tis the sea-bird, &c. 



" Who hovers on high o'er the lover, 

 And her who has clung to his neck? 

 Whose wing is the wing that can cover 

 With its shadow the foundering wreck? 

 'Tis the sea-bird, <&c. 



" My eye in the light of the billow. 

 My wing in the wake of the wave ; 

 I shall take to my breast for a pillow 

 The shroud of the fair and the brave ! 

 I'm the sea-bird, kc. 



" My foot on the iceberg has lighted 



When hoarse the wild winds veer about ; 

 My eye, when the bark is benighted, 

 Sees the lamp of the light-house go out! 



I'm the sea-bird, sea-bird, sea-bird, 



Lone looker on despair; 

 The sea-bird, sea-bird, sea-bird, 

 The only witness there !" 



Fossil Birds. — In a former part of our work we have spoken of the remains of the gigantic 

 Moa or Diornis, found in New Zealand, which, with other facts, has led to the opinion that this 

 great island, together with Norfolk Island, Chatham Island, and others in that quarter, are but 

 the mountain tops of a continent, now sunk beneath the ocean, but formerly peopled with birds 

 of strange forms, of which we now only find the bones, or a few scattered and nearly extinct 

 species. Probably there were also other animals there as peculiar as these birds. We have 



