14 



PORPESSE. 



inland moors^ where they lay their eggs, and 

 hatch the young; returning with their offspring 

 towards the end of August. This bird is some- 

 times called the Purre. 



If we now leave the sands for a time, and 

 ascend the cliffs, we shall probably be indulged 

 with a transient glimpse of a very singular 

 animal. Some little distance from the shore a 

 number of black objects may be seen partly 

 emerging from the water, executing a summer- 

 sault, and disappearing below the surface. These 



PORPESSE. 



are Porpesse? {Phocoena communis), and very 

 curious creatures they are, belonging to the mam- 

 malia j forced, therefore, to breathe atmospheric 

 air, and yet permanently inhabiting the sea, 

 with something of the form and many of the 

 habits of the fish. It is a curious connexion of 

 the two most distant links of the chain of the 



