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panions. Every thing is acceptable to their 
voracity : fish, whether fresh or putrid ; 
bloody flesh, recent or tainted ; shell-fish, 
and even bones. They are frequently taken 
by a hook baited and fixed to the beach, 
and have been known to dart with such 
violence, as to transfix themselves on a 
point where the fishermen place the her- 
ring or pilchard as a snare. 
The larger species are not so common in 
the warm as they are in the cold climates, 
where they remain to breed and rear their 
young, feeding chiefly upon the rotting car- 
cases of dead whales, seals, &c. which they 
find floating on the sea among the ice, or 
driven on shore by the winds and waves; 
and many are said to remain in the dreary 
regions of ice and snow during the winter, 
the extreme severity of which does not 
compel them to quit their native climes. 
In the temperate and cultivated countries 
they occasionally leave the shores, and 
make excursions inland in search of worms, 
slugs, &c. and of these they find an abun- 
dant supply on the downs and pastures 
