156 — 
i'eence of the monsfruous wave«, beating with overwhelming vio1«nce the crumbling 
precipäces beneaih out very feet, that we neve> shali forgei a sight, wh cii but few 
tuorials have had the opporlunity of safely enjoying. 
U has given me besides an opponunity of addressing you on a subjeci, which I 
am not aware, has been either kiown or broughl to notice by naturalists, and wtnch 
my previops very simple narration would not alo'nes have warrauted. 
Dürft g the selling in of the gal«, w“ remarked the busy and apparently restles» 
motions of the red tailed boatswäin ( hie ton phce icurnts.y C.mel. 
Myriads of these birds exisl on this Island and to out utter astonishroent, what, 
we had only prevously remarked to be a most becoming Ornament in the tail of 
these splendid sea birds, proved to be an essential portion of ihe beautiful mecanism 
which nalure has afforded ibem to aid in their swif 1 and varied motious, and that the 
two slender and delicate feathers of their tail serve them as a «luddei» or « ba< k 
«valer,.» vvft'Ch with theirfeet, they work with the g'eatest ease and rapidity on either 
side, to guide theno in their evolutions in steering thro’ the air. 
It was not one, but hund’eds that we saw appiying this tno t extraordinary pöwer, 
and it was beautifu to observe the suddenness and ene.gy with wh ch tbey used this 
pimple machine, when on pursuing their course ag-*insl the increa'ing gae, they 
discovered us bshind a julling ro<k, and seizing i heit tail and placing it alnaosl at 
right angles to their body. their head outstren hed in the opposite direction, they 
changed t hei • course in ihe circumference of a tew feet, I rnay a'most say a few inches, 
But for witnessing the fact, I could have hardly ciedited the appliance of so frail a 
material to such a purpose ; fortunately ihe coiroboiation of my friends will not place 
me in that category with regard to o hers. 
4s the histories I have rea i of this bird in the «Cyclopedia» and particularly that 
of Mr Lesson, de not give any notice of their peculiar habil ; altho’ otherwise most 
faithfully described 1 (ake the liberty to add what came under my owe nb-ervations, 
both as rttgards the red tailed boasen and the white one o> \Phcetun OEthereus* of 
jLiihhceus I belteve correctly termed «Boasei » not as in common «Boaiswam.» 
Both species have a long slender tail consistmg oftwo feathers in one white, in the 
other of a beautiful red, which has obtained for ihem the dislinct french names « Paille 
ei. Queue» and «Paille en Queue rouge » 
Their length of wing in proportion to their size is extraordinary and shows ibem 
peculiarly fitled forlor g fl ght . and their progiess is -trikmg'y calm, quiel and graceful, 
gliding ab g most frequeutly without any perceptible motion in the wings. On the 
eoijlrary, their little webbed feet appear so disproportioned and so consli ucted that 
they have not evert ihe powei of «wad Hing » They ate consequenily taken with the 
greatest ease. merely staring in the reost laughable manner on being surprtzed ; and 
the mode adopted for collecling ihe tail feathers, was, for a monaent, to place the butt 
of the gun on their net k and prevent their sna^ping, whdst the two feathers wer« 
plucked ; they on'y shonk their wings, äfterwards, apparently pleased to get off so 
cheaply, «üeringa stränge arid leng hened croak. 
They are, owing to this peculiarity, found immediately close to the shelving preci» 
pjces, from whence, with one or two clutnsy hops, they can launch themselves, and 
they generaily return every evening to the same spot. 
Their food consists entirely of lish, and they seldom search for prey in fiicks, 
like other sea birds, but go either alone or with one conipanion : their sight is most 
Steen ; they soar when on the look out, about 100 oi 200 feet fr >uo the surface of 
the sea, when on perceiving a shoal of fish, they close their wings and drop per- 
penditularly , with the velocny of a failing arrow their tail, mai> taining them in 
such a verlical position, that they are generaily cariied-to a consideiable deplb under 
water, frona whence they are seldom seen to nse without a fish, 
Weither of these birds build any nesd whatever but lay in the ledgea of the rocks, 
hatching but one egg, and tearing but one young one, the red tailed species of whicb 
is a beautiful black -peckied bird, appatenlly larger thau Ihe parenl, with a pluma|« 
of chatoyant salmon blush and stlver hue. 
