THE GREBE. 255 



and remain under water for half an hour or more ; 

 and we have heard this power of immersion attri- 

 buted to it by others ; but we are inclined, never- 

 theless, to doubt even its power of diving at all; its 

 form, lightness, thick coating of feathers, all being 

 against its remaining under water for any length of 

 time; added to which, such a power would be unne- 

 cessary, its food being prepared for it on the surface 

 of the waters, and not below. 



TABLE XXX. (See vol. i., p. 24.) 



Order 6. PALMIPEDES. Tribe 4. BREVIPENNES (Short 

 winged.} 



THE characteristic feature of this, the last tribe of 

 the last order of birds, is the extreme shortness of 

 the wing, which, in many of them, prevents their 

 flying to any distance, and, in some, partakes more 

 of a fin than a feathered wing. Their legs are, 

 moreover, placed far behind ; their plumage is close 

 and glossy, so as to resist water; all which peculiar- 

 ities fit them for a more exclusively water life. It 

 is divided into four genera: 1. Grebes, or Divers; 

 2. Guillemots ; 3. Auks, or Puffins ; 4. Penguins. 



The Grebes, which take precedence in this list of 

 the short-winged tribe, are the only birds whose 

 habits lead them to pass comparatively peaceful 

 lives, on the less agitated surfaces of our inland 

 lakes and meres ; the others being all, more or less, 

 sea-birds, whose dwelling-place, when on land, is on 

 wild rocks, exposed to storm and tempest, of which 



