CHAPTER VIII. 



WILD-FOWL AND SEA-FOWL. 



PO the general reader these terms may appear 

 synonymous, but to the sportsman and naturalist 

 they have a very different signification. Under the 

 head of " wild-fowl " may be placed the various species 

 of wild geese, swans, and ducks, which, though often 

 found at sea, evince a partiality for fresh water, rear 

 their young in the neighbourhood of fresh water, and, as 

 an article of food, are especially sought after by the 

 amateur for sport, and by the professional gunner for profit ; 

 while the group of " sea-fowl " may be said to include 

 the gulls, terns, guillemots, auks, cormorants, and various 

 other birds, which, making the sea their home, rear their 

 young upon its shelving beach or frowning cliffs, and, 

 except on an emergency, are seldom cooked and eaten. 



Shakespeare has given us a peep at both. At one time 

 we see— 



" Strange fowl light upon neighbouring ponds." 



Cymbeline, Act i. Sc. 4 ; 



