110 
seem quickened by their numbers and their 
confused motions, and resound with their 
noisy cries. 
They occasionally take a wide range 
over the ocean, and are met with by navi- 
gators many leagues distant from land. 
They are alike voracious and clamorous, 
and might with propriety be styled the 
Vultures of the sea, as they devour carrion 
of every kind. Their ignoble port, their 
importunate cries, their edged and hooked 
beak, present the true picture of birds san- 
guinary and cruel. They fight rancour- 
ously together on the scene of carnage; 
and even when they are shut up, and their 
ferocious humour is soured by captivity, 
they wound each other without apparent 
motive, and the first from which blood is 
drawn falls a prey to the rest, for they no 
sooner taste the blood* than they tear in 
pieces the victim which they had wounded 
without cause. This excess of cruelty is 
mostly seen in the larger species, but all 
of them continually watch an opportunity 
to steal the food or prey of their com- 
