ORDER PALMIPEDES. 633 



making a loud clapping with their little wings. They place 

 their nest in the crevices of rocks of no great elevation, from 

 which the young ones may throw themselves into the water, 

 and thus avoid becoming the prey of foxes, which, according 

 to the account of Anderson, in his " History of Greenland," 

 are perpetually lying in wait for them. Spit/bergen, and 

 Greenland, are the usual nestling places of these birds ; but 

 some are found to breed on the coasts of Wales and Scotland, 

 and those of Gothland, in Sweden. The brood consists but 

 of two eggs, ash -coloured, and marked with black spots. 



This bird, according to Fabricius, is so distrustful, that it 

 cannot be taken or killed, except by means of snares, laid near 

 its nest. This trait agrees but little with the popular notion 

 concerning the stupidity of the genus. 



The habits of Cephus, a section formed by our author, 

 of a single species (Colymbus Minor), do not differ from 

 those of the guillemots. 



We now come to the Pinguins, which our author has 

 subdivided into two sections, the Macaeeux, and the Pin- 

 guins proper. 



The former occupy, habitually, the most northern points 

 and islands of Europe, of Asia, and of America : but they 

 cannot remain at sea, except when it is calm weather. When 

 the tempest surprises them far from shore, great numbers of 

 them perish. Though they usually only shave the surface 

 of the water, in flying, they yet can elevate themselves to a 

 certain height. By night they retire into the clefts of rocks 

 and caverns. On land, they cannot hold themselves upright, 

 but by fixing their tarsi, as well as feet, upon the ground ; 

 and in their tottering walk they seem to rock from one side 

 to the other. Their food consists in crustaceous animals, 

 and they also live on shell mollusca, and small fisli, which 

 they take in diving. They make their nests in holes on the 

 sea coast, which they enlarge with their bills and feet. Here, 



