44 THE NATURAL HISTORY 
of Man of War Birds : one attempted to take a 
‘fith out of his hand; at the fame time, a great 
| number flew juit over the pot, in which the meat 
_ was boiling, to take it away, though many peppic 
ftood round it. 
Though the Man of War Bird’s body be but 
little larger than that of a Hen, his wings are 
from eight. to ten, or even fourteen feet acrofs. 
_ Thefe prodigious wings. enable him to take fuch : 
vatt flights ; for fometimes in the middle of the 
fea, the failor fees no other object than this bird. 
But their long wings make it very difficult for 
them to rife, when once they have fettled ; fo that 
they will fometimes fuffer themfelyes to ftruck 
- down, before they attempt.to fly. Indeed it is 
~ only from the point of a rock, or the top of a tree, 
that they can eafily rife. They build their nefts 
in trees, in lonely places, near the fea ; 5 and lay 
one or two eggs, Their heads are f{mall, and | 
_ rather flatted on the crown; their eyes are large, 
black, and fhining, and furrounded with a bluith © 
fkin, and their tails are forked like a Swallow’s. 
The fat of this bird is thought to be very ufeful | 
in curing the rheumati{m. | 4 
~The Cormorant is another bird of the Pelican ‘ 
kind, nearly as large asa Goofe. It fwims and 
. : dives 
