310 NATURALIST'S CABINET. 



Mother Carey's Goose Description. 



upper parts of its plumage are pale brown, mot- 

 tled with dusky white; the under parts are white. 

 Mr. Anderson, in Capt. Cook's last voyage, 

 mentions a petrel found at Kerguelan's Land, 

 which the seamen called Mother Carey's Goose; 

 it is by far the largest known; " they were," 

 says he, " so tame, that at first we could kill 

 them with a stick upon the beach. They are 

 not inferior in size to an albatross, and are 

 carnivorous, feeding on the carcasses of seals 

 or birds, that were thrown into the sea. Their 

 colour is a sooty brown, with a greenish bill and 

 feet." This Mr. Anderson considered to be the 

 same bird that is described by Pernetty, in his 

 voyage to the Falkland Islands, and which ie 

 called quebi antehuessos by the Spaniards. 



GREAT TERN, OR SEA SWALLOW, 



IS about fourteen inches long, and weighs 

 four ounces and a quarter. The bill and feet are 

 a fine crimson, the former is tipped with black, 

 and very slender. The back of the head is 

 black ; the upper part of the body is a pale grey, 

 and the under part white. The birds have been 

 called sea swallows, from .appearing to have all 

 the same actions at sea that the. swallow has at 

 land, seizing every insect which appears on the 

 surface, and darting down upon the smaller fishes A 

 which they sei'ze with incredible rapidity. 



