editor's introduction. 15 



are short and compressed, and the toes are united by a web. Their plumage is thick and shining, 

 impregnated with oil, and closely packed with soft down, so as to preserve them from all contact with 

 the water. They are the only birds the length of whose neck much surpasses that of their legs, thus 

 enabling them, while swimming at the surface, to obtain their food at the bottom. Such are the Ducks 

 and Swans, which are, moreover, further characterised by having their bill covered with a soft skin, 

 and furnished occasionally at the sides with ridges and tooth-like points. The Divers, trusting to 

 their superior powers of battling with the watery element, are met with further from the shore ; while, 

 at distances still more remote from land, daring the utmost fury of the tempestuous ocean, walking 

 upon the waters, or riding upon the seas — 



" Up and down, up and down, 

 From the base of the wave to the billow's crown, 

 In the midst of the flashing and feathery foam, 

 j The Stormy Petrel finds her home. " 



Lastly, in this our rapid survey of the distribution of the feathered tribes, we have to speak of those 

 whose element is the air. And here, perhaps, the reader may feel inclined to remark that, with the 

 exception of the cursorial birds, such as the Ostriches and the Apteryx, all the species we have had 

 occasion to mention are more or less capable of flight — that this is the special attribute of the whole 

 class. Nevertheless, upon a little consideration, he will find that amongst the many races that fly 

 well, there are some so pre-eminent in this respect that all others quail before them. It is one thing 

 to be able to fly, and another to be furnished with wings so powerful that they never seem to tire. 

 It is one thing to be the champion of the coppice, but another to be the tyrant of the sky ! 



The greatest powers of flight are of course conferred upon the rapacious birds, whose business is 

 is to overtake and destroy their swift-flying prey. To enable them to do this, their wings are 

 necessarily of the most perfect structure ; and they may also be recognised by their feet, which are 

 strong, and armed with formidable talons. Of the swiftness of the falcon we have spoken elsewhere ; 

 and any one who has witnessed the flight of the eagle is not likely to have forgotten so grand a 

 spectacle ; his movements are majestic, and as he sails above the clouds on outstretched wings he 

 seems to feel himself the monarch of the scene around. And yet even the falcon and the eagle 

 cannot, as regards their powers of flight, be looked upon as the most highly gifted of flying birds. 

 The spread of wing of the frigate-birds measures ten feet from tip to tip, and their flight is so powerful 

 that they are everywhere to be seen in tropical climates at immense distances from land ; while the 

 albatross has been known to fly around a ship for weeks together, exhibiting such indomitable 

 strength of wing that it has been supposed to be capable of circling round the world. 



It is by no means our intention to trouble the reader with unnecessary details concerning the 

 anatomy of the creatures upon the history of which he is about to enter ; nevertheless, it is 

 indispensably requisite that we should give at least an outline of their internal organisation. 



No one can have examined attentively the bony framework whereby the body of a bird is 

 sustained, without being forcibly impressed with the lightness as well as the compactness of its 

 construction. The most wonderful economy is exhibited in the arrangement of the weighty material 

 of which it consists. The bones present in their interior extensive cavities, whereby they are 

 considerably lightened, and their walls, although exceedingly dense and strong, are much thinner dian 

 in any other animals. The extremities of the cylindrical bones are occupied by a light open net-work 

 of slender filaments shooting across in every direction from wall to wall, and as these attenuated 

 buttresses are likewise hollow, it is easy to perceive how incomparably lightness and strength are here 

 conjoined. 



The extent to which the skeleton is thus filled with air varies in different birds in relation with 



