212 
EXTRACTS FROM HIS WORKS [ch. til 
stations of England. High over the waters, here 
and there, a solitary gull slowly advances against 
the breeze, or shoots athwart, or with a beautiful 
gliding motion sweeps down the aerial current. 
At the entrance to Torquay are assembled many 
birds of the same kind which, by their hovering 
near the surface, their varied evolutions and 
mingling cries, indicate a shoal, probably of 
atherines or sprats. On that little pyramidal rock, 
projecting from the water, repose two dusky cormor¬ 
ants ; and, far away, in the direction of Portland 
Island, a gannet, well known by its peculiar flight, 
winnows its exploring way, and plunges headlong 
into the deep. But neither time nor place are 
favourable to the observation of the wading tribes, 
although the country around supplies the greater 
number of those found in Britain .—British Birds , 
vol. iv., p. viii. 
35. —“ Conclusion.” 
I have finished one of the many difficult and 
laborious tasks which I had imposed upon myself. 
Twelve years have elapsed since the first three 
volumes of this work were issued to the public, 
and I had scarcely hoped to see its completion, 
when I was most unexpectedly encouraged to 
revise the manuscript of the two remaining 
volumes, containing the wading and swimming 
birds, of which the history, in so far as I am 
