_m o^jACiTHOLogr. Book iii„ 



referve it 5 which gave occafion to that Fable, that the Puffins are (ingle-footed. They 

 * The t ^ m e f is ufually fell them for about nine pence the dozen, a very cheap rate. * They fay 

 the French tne ir fleih is permitted by the Romijh Church to be eaten in Lent, being for the 



Macreufe^tx- tafte fo like tO fiftl. 



femeWr 1 ? Gefner, and Aldrovand following him, from the relation of a certain Englifonnn, 

 with the write, that they want hard feathers, being covered only with foft feathers, or a 

 ?#*• . kind of down f Which is altogether falfe, they being furniihed with fufficiently long 



Wings and Tail, and flying very fwiftly. They fay it is a foolifh bird, and eafily 

 taken. We are told that they breed not only on the Calf of 'Man,- but alfo on the 

 6V#j4flands. Notwithstanding they are fold fo cheap, yet fome years there is thirty 

 pounds made of the young Puffins taken in iheCalfofMan: Whence may be gathered 

 what number of birds breed there. 



Chap. III. 

 * The 'Brajlllan Maiague of ^ifo. 



'Aiague, alfo received into the number of whole-footed, edible, but Sea wild- 

 fowl, is of thebignefs and fhape of a Geofe-^ not unlike to thofe great black 

 diving birds of our Country, having in like manner the end of their Bills 

 * The Cor. hooked and fitted for ravin : So that it feems to referable Gefners * Corvm aquaticus. 

 morant. j t h at h a thick, round Head 5 fhining Eyes 5 a long Neck, decently bowed like a 

 Swans. The whole Bird is of a dusky and blackiih colour, only the forepart of the 

 Neck adorned with yellow feathers. It lives in the Sea about the mouths of Rivers : 

 But builds its Neft and lays its Eggs on the more. It is a fwift bird, fwims and dives 

 well, and cunning in avoiding and efcaping the fnares of the-Fowlers. 



Its flefh is efculent,and good meat, efpecially if it be young, but becaufe it feeds 

 always upon fifhit is difapproved and reje&ed by fome. 



Whether this Bird hath all its four toes web'd together or not Pifo doth not tell us, there- 

 fore wehave fubjoyned it to thoje which have the back^toe loofe, although we Jitfteft that it 

 doth rather belong to the former genus. 



Chap. IV- 

 The Shear-water. 



OUr learned and worthy friend Sir Thomas Brown of Norwich among the defigns 

 and Pi&ures of many other birds, lent us alio that of this, with a fhorthifto- 

 ry of it as followeth. The Shear-water is a Sea-fowl, which fifhermen obferve 

 torefbrt to their Veflels in fome numbers, fwimming fwiftly to and fro, backward, 

 forward, and about them, and doth as it were, radere aquam, (hear the water, from 

 whence perhaps it had its name. It is a fierce and mapping fowl, and very untracea- 

 ble. I kept two of them five or fix weeks in my houfe, and they refuting to feed, 

 I caufed them to be crammed with fifh, till my Servant grew weary, and gave them 

 over : And they lived fifteen days without any food. So far Sir Thomas. This Bird, 

 according to the Pi&ure of it, hath a great head like a Gull: Its upper part [ Head and 

 Back 3 were of a dark brown or blackiih : Its Chin, Throat, and Bread: white : 

 Its Feet of a fleih-colour : Its Bill long, round, hooked at the end like a Cormo- 

 rants % and blackiih : Its Wings long, when gathered up reaching; to the end of the 

 Tail. 



SECTION IV. 



