BRITISH BIRD.s. 223 



THE bill straight, except the end, which is 

 hooked and compressed: the nostrils, for the most 

 part, contained in one tube; but in some species 

 they are seen distinct and separate. Legs small, 

 naked above the knees; the tarsus compressed; 

 three toes placed forward, and fully webbed ; a spur 

 or pointed claw behind, instead of a back toe: 

 wings very long and strong. 



These birds are the constant, roving, adventurous 

 inhabitants of the ocean ; one species or another of 

 them is met with by navigators in every elm ate, 

 and at the greatest distances from land. They 

 seem to sport with the tempest, and run on foot, 

 swim, or fly at pleasure over the foaming billows, 

 with amazing velocity.* In flying they generally 

 keep so near to the undulating waters, that the tips 

 of their wings often beat upon the surface, and 

 thereby accelerate their progress. In calm weather 

 they float and repose, as it were, on the bosom of 

 the ocean. They are seldom seen on shore, and 

 when they are, it is only in the breeding season, 

 and then merely for the purposes of incubation. 

 The females deposit their eggs in holes in the 

 ground, or in the deep hidden caverns and recesses 

 of the rocks, where they and their mates, while 

 employed in rearing their young, are heard in 

 croaking, clucking converse, not unlike the un- 



* Some species of them are known to dive also. Cook's Voyages. 



