20 WATER-BIRDS IN THEIR HOMES. 



ribbon ; and on this we may at times see a flock of Bonaparte's 

 gulls sitting quietly on the water like white doves, or a troop 

 of phalaropes feeding with nervous, uncertain actions. These 

 tiny creatures, dainty in all their ways and colors, stretch up 

 their necks to an astonishing length, suspicious of our inten- 

 tions. We see now why the fishermen call them " sea-geese," 

 though they are no more geese than they are robins. 



Gulls and terns pass and repass continually, growing out of 

 the mist and melting into it ; and perhaps a shark's fin cuts 

 the water, or we hear the puff of a porpoise off under the fog ; 

 or, of a sudden, a roller larger than the rest, and rising from a 

 deeper trough, trips on a sunken ledge, and rears a straight 

 wall of water with a comb of foam, before it thrashes down 

 roaring. This is one of the dangers of a sealer's life ; and no 

 peril of storm or wreck is more dreaded by the fishermen than 

 these " blind breakers," unless it is the sudden looming of a 

 steamer's sides above them in the fog. 



While paddling in this way over a smooth, almost silent sea, 

 suddenly a little group of gulls dashes across the opening in "the 

 fog, screaming wildly and hurrying at top speed. Behind them, 

 silent but swifter of wing, darts a blackish bird of medium size. 

 We may see a glimpse of yellowish about the throat and catch 

 sight of its tail, carried fully spread, with the two middle tail 

 feathers sticking out beyond all the rest but held close to each 

 other. The Indians call it the " gull-hawk," because it chases 

 the gulls as hawks do smaller land-birds. Indeed, he resembles 

 a hawk not only in his habits, but in his bill, which is hooked 

 at the tip and provided with a cere, or waxy plate, at the base. 

 This bill serves at once to distinguish him from all the gulls 

 and terns with which he associates. The books call him the 

 jaegar (which means hunter), or the skua; the fishermen 

 name him the " marlingspike," from his long middle tail 



