| OM BAW RI BEAT. ay 
feeming ftupidity, may be the difficulty they have 
_ of beginning to fly; their wings are fo long, that 
they cannot eafily rife from the ground. 
The Booby is frequently purfued by the Man 
of War Bird, for the fake of his prey. “The Booby 
lets the fith he has taken, fall from his beak, or 
_ throws it up from ‘his ftomach, the moment he _ 
‘is attacked, and the Man of War Bird catches it 
before it reaches the water. The poor Booby 
-goes to fifh again, and is perhaps again deprived 
of his prey: for though he can fly a jong time, 
and very fwiftly, the Man of War Bird can fly 
fill longer, and more {wiftly. “The Boobies fel- 
dom go very far from land; and failors, when 
they fee them, think that they are at no great 
- diftance from fome fhore. ‘The four toes of the — 
Booby are united by- one membrane, and the 
nail. of the longeft toe is toothed like a faw. 
_. They frequently alight upon fhips, whilft they 
are at fea, and fuffer themfelves to be taken. 
_ Boobies are found in almoft every climate. ‘Some 
: people have been fo filly as to imagine, that they 
hatch their ege by covering it with their foot. 
_ “Their fkin does not grow to their body, but is _ 
" faftened by little fibres placed here and there, fo 
that they fometimes puff it out like a bladder, © 
Po rarrin. = ©. reread 
