35G 



THE TUBE-NOSED SWIMMERS — TUBINAUES. 



I 



siK'fimeii ol' D. nWatni^ ; but the young of the hitter species, though somewhat siiuihir 

 ill ithiniage, is very distinct in forui and dimensions. 



Mr. Dall sjM'aks of tliis bird as being very common in the North Paeitio, and as 

 aecomi)anying the ships for weeks. It is not found in Ik-hring's Sea j but as soon as tlie 

 party had i)assed the islands, coming soutli, their vessel was several times joined and 

 followed to San Francisco by a company of this species. They were generally dusky ; 

 but the old males had more or less white on the head. They are described as very 

 greedy, swallowing all sorts of scraps thrown overboard ; and fishing for them Mith 

 a hook and line baited with pork, is a favorite amusement for the passengers when 

 Ix'calmed. "With the exce])tion of the small Petrels, these were the only birds met 

 witli off soundings in the North Pacific. They will follow a ship for hundreds of 

 miles, and will feed upon all manner of refuse. They are indefatigable on the wing ; 

 Init are dirty, ugly, awkward, and cruel to wounded biids of their kind They have 

 an angry note, which is only uttered when sonu' more fortunate bird has secured the 

 coveted morsel ; and a croaking whine, in which they give vent to their ai)prehensions 

 just before a storm. This bird hardly ever flies at a greater height than fifty feet 

 above the water, and usually keei>s about thirty feet alM)ve it. It rises by unfolding 

 its wings and running a few steps in the water, and then a few strokes send it into 

 the air. On a rough day it rises quickly, but always in the same manner; while in 

 a dead calm it often has to run ten or twenty feet before getting out of the water j 

 and it ci'-nnot rise at all from the deck of a vessel. Its wings are long, and the 

 movement in unfolding them is similar to that made in opening a carpenter's rule. 

 In rising or falling, the wings are kept perfectly stiff ; and they are folded only when 

 the bird is setthnl in the water. Wiien half folt'ed they form a triangular arch over 

 the back, and present a very awkward appearance. 



This bird remains in the air sometimes for five minutes without moving its wings 

 in flight, although it does not always continue at the same height, but slides from 

 side to sidt, like a sheet of ])aper falling .slowly. It has two ways of alighting — one 

 is to fly against the wind, with the wings stiff ami extended, and the feet spread and 

 stuck out in front, and going into the wat»'r at an angh; very obtuse, the outspread 

 welvfeet soon checking its sperd. The other way is to stretch out the legs stiff and 

 at full length behind, and to tip over into the water backward on its jiosteriors — 

 exactly as if, while ])repariiig to sit down, some one had i)ulled the chair away. 

 This bird rests very calmly on the water when once settled, and swims slowly and 

 lalwricusly. Mr. Dall has never seen it nearer land than the Farallones, and sup- 

 poses that it breeds on the rocky islets off tin* northern coast. The entire absence of 

 birds of all kinds, except only Petrels, from the eastern portion of the North Pacific 

 Ocean, is a fact quite remarkable. 



Mr. Dall, in his paper on the East«'rn Aleutian Islands, remarks in regard to the 

 flight of this sjiecies, that its ordinary method ot support, when there was a breeze, 

 consisted in rising against the wind and falling with it; thi.s Ix'iiijr sometimes kept 

 up for hours with hardly a stroke of the wings. It rises on! against tli-^ wind, 

 except in rare cases, when its descending momentum is sutticient to raise it slightly 

 or a short distance, or v'en the reflex eddy from the high surge is strong enough to 

 give it a slight lift. It uses its strong weblH»d feet to sonu^ extent in balancing .osdl 

 when turiiing with the wind ; also, by extending tliem downward at a right angle 

 with the liody, to check its ccmi.ie, esjiecially when alighting on the water. (Jencr- 

 ally, when flying, the f;'et are stretched out behind, with the webs extcaded, and 

 iwsist the bird materially in g Iding itself, the tail 1 .ting shorter than the exleiidi'd 

 feet. It vises by running against the wind over the water, until .sufliciently raised 



