160 



THE INHABITANTS OF THE SEA. 



hesitating superiority it descends on its prey, though in the 

 possession of another. Although not numerous, yet it is the 

 general attendant on the whale-fisher whenever spoils are 

 to be obtained. Then it hovers over the scene of action, and 

 having marked out its morsel, descends upon it and carries 

 it off on the wing. On its descent, the most dainty pieces 

 must be relinquished, though in the grasp of fulmar, snow-bird, 

 or kittiwake. 



The larger parasitical or raptorial gulls (Lestris parasiticus j 

 catarrhactes), are incapable of diving or plunging, their feathers 

 being too large in proportion to their bulk. They are therefore 

 obliged to live by the exertions of the lesser species, making 

 them disgorge what they have eaten, and dexterously catching 

 the rejected fish before it reaches the water. Thus we see the 

 old feudal relations of baron and serf established as a natural 

 institution among the gull-tribe. 



Although the sea-swallows and sea-mews are endowed with 

 great power of wing, yet the petrels 

 and albatrosses alone deserve the 

 name of oceanic birds, as they are 

 almost always found on the high 

 seas, at every distance from land, 

 and only during breeding-time seek 

 the solitary coasts and islands. 

 Petrels are scattered over the whole 

 extent of the ocean, but the petrels 

 which inhabit the northern seas are different from those of the „ 

 antarctic ocean, and between both are other species, that never 



forsake the intertropical waters. 



The Fulmar (Procellaria glaci- 

 alis) is at home in the high north. 

 As soon as the whale-fisher has 

 passed the Shetland Islands, on his 

 way to the Arctic Seas, this bird is 

 sure to accompany his track, eagerly 

 watching, for anything thrown over- 

 board. Walking awkwardly on land, 

 the fulmar flies to windward in the 

 most terrific storms. Many thousands 

 frequently accumulate round a dead whale, rushing in from all 



Broad-billed Petrel. 



Fork-tailed Fetrel. 



