282 BIRDS 



sea, lometimes circling above it, sometimes just topping 

 th'^furious waves, and sometimes skimming the calm sea, 

 apparently ever on the wing. Some declare that it never 

 rests at all in these long flights, but its feet are webbed, 

 which is a pretty strong indication that it rests on the 

 water at some time. 



There is a small, web-footed, sea-loving bird that is known 

 to the sailors as " mother Gary's chicken." This is the Uttle 

 stormy petrel. It hterally Uves upon the sea, spending 

 nearly all of its time in flying and skimming over the water 

 just low enough to paddle the surface with the feet and 

 assist the wings. 



The gulls and terns. — The gulls are also strong and grace- 

 ful flyers, but unlike the albatross and petrel they frequent 

 inland bodies of fresh water, especially the Great Lakes 

 and larger rivers as well as all the salt water bays and inlets 

 of North America. The herring gull, which is our most 

 common gull, wings its way far out to sea and also ranges 

 far inland around the Great Lakes, the lakes and ponds of 

 Michigan, Miimesota, and Iowa and the large rivers of the 

 United States. 



The common tern, or " sea swallow," breeds in a few places 

 along the Atlantic coast between New Jersey and Nova 

 Scotia. It is much smaller than the herring gull and not 

 so graceful, especially when it is on the ground. 



The cormorant and pelican. — These are water birds, and 

 strong flyers like the petrels and gulls. The feet are webbed, 

 the web even including the hind toe which is free in other 

 birds. 



The cormorants are rapacious and grpedy. They live 

 and nest, in great flocks, mostly along the rocky shores 

 near the sea. Some of them, at least in former times, 



