as they are remarkably voracious, and have such a quick digestion, that their appetite appears completely insatiable. Their intestines being thronged with small worms may, perhaps, contribute to their insatiable craving for food.-They build their nests on the highest parts of the cliffs that overhang the sea; and the female usually lays three or four eggs, about the size of those of the goose, and of a pale green colour.

In China these birds are bred up tame, for the purposes of fishing, and one man can easily manage a hundred of them. When a fisherman intends to fish, he carries them out into the lake, perched on the gunnel of his boat, where they continue tranquil, and expect his orders with patience. When arrived at the proper place, each flies a different way, on a given signal, to fulfil the task assigned it: and it is very pleasant on this occasion to behold with what sagacity they portion out the lake or canal where they are upon duty. They hunt about, they plunge, they rise a hundred times to the surface, until they have at last found their prey. They then seize it with their beak by the middle, and carry it to their master. When weary they are suffered to rest for a while, but they are never fed till their work is over. In this manner they supply a very plentiful table: but still their natural voracity cannot be restrained even by education. While they fish, they have always a string fastened round their throats, to prevent them from devouring their prey; as otherwise they would soon satiate themselves, and then discontinue their pursuit. Such was formerly the practice in England; and as late as the reign of Charles I. there was an officer of the household who bore the title of Master of the Cormorants.

GULLS frequent principally the northern countries, and do not dive so much as the other water fowl; they chiefly subsisting on the gregarious fish which they catch near the surface of the water. When the sea is rough, they come into the harbours, and feed on worms. Occasionally they will even eat carrion. They fly with great rapidity; their body being light, and their wings long. It is not until the third year that the young birds acquire the same colour as the old.

The Black and White Gull is by far the largest of all the Gull kind, as it generally weighs upwards of four pounds, and is twenty-five or twenty-six inches, from the point of the bill to the end of the tail; and from the tip of each wing, when extended, five feet and several inches. The bill appears compressed sideways, being more than three inches long, and hooked towards the end, like the rest of this kind, of a sort of orange colour; the nostrils are of an oblong form; the mouth is wide, with a long tongue and very open

gullet. The irides of the eyes are of a very delightful red. The wings and the middle of the back are black, only the tips of the covert and quill feathers are white. The head, breast, tail, and other parts of the body are likewise white. The tail is near six inches long, the legs and feet are flesh-coloured, and the claws black. There are about twenty varieties of this tribe, which are all distinguished by an angular knob on the chap.

Gulls are found in great plenty in every place; but it is chiefly round our rockiest shores, that they are seen in the greatest abundance; it is there that the Gull breeds and brings up its young; it is there that millions of them are heard screaming with discordant notes for months together.

These birds, like all others of the rapacious kind, lay but few eggs; and hence in many places, their number is daily seen to diminish. The lessening of so many rapacious birds may, at first sight, appear a benefit to mankind; but when we consider how many of the natives of our islands are sustained by their flesh, either fresh or salted, we shall find no satisfaction in thinking that these poor people may in time lose their chief support. The Gull usually builds on the ledges of rocks, and lays from one egg to three, in a nest formed of long grass and sea weed. It defends its young with great intrepidity. When the natives of the Fero Islands attempt to plunder the nest, the parent birds attack them with such vehemence that, on the men holding a knife perpendicularly above their own heads, the Gulls will sometimes transfix themselves in pouncing on the invaders. Most of the kind are fishy tasted, with black stringy flesh; yet the young ones are better food; and of these, with several other birds of the penguin kind, the poor inhabitants of our northern islands make their wretched banquets. They have been long used to no other food; and even a salted Gull can be relished by those who know no better.

THE Petrel tribe have all the curious faculty of spouting from their bills a large quantity of pure oil, and to a considerable distance. This they do into the face of any one who attempts to annoy them. The Fulmar is the largest of the petrel kind, which is known in these climates. It is superior to the size of the common gull, being about fifteen inches in length, and seventeen ounces in weight. It has a very strong yellow bill, hooked at the end. The head, neck, and all the under parts of the body are white; the back and wings ash coloured, the quills dusky, and the tail white. It feeds on the blubber of whales, which supplies the reservoir, whence it spouts, with a constant stock of ammunition. This oil is esteemed by the inhabitants of the north as a sovereign remedy in many complaints, both external and internal. The flesh is also considered by them as a delicacy, and the bird is therefore in great request at St. Kilda. It is said that when a whale is taken, these birds will, in defiance of all endeavours, light upon it, and pick out large lumps of fat even while it is alive.

THE Stormy Petrel is not larger than a swallow; it has long and slender legs; and is entirely black; except the coverts of the tail, the tail itself, and the vent feathers, which are white.

It is found in almost every sea, frequently at a vast distance from the land, and braves the utmost fury of the storm, sometimes skimming with incredible velocity along the hollows of the waves, and sometimes over their summits. It is also an excellent diver, and often follows vessels to pick up any thing that is thrown overboard. By the sailors, who look upon the appearance of these birds as a sure presage of stormy weather in the course of a few hours, they are called Mother Carey's Chickens. The Petrel seems to

seek for protection from the fury of the wind, in the wake of the vessels: and for the same reason it very probably is, that it often flies along between two surges. The nests of these birds are found in the Orkney Islands, under loose stones, in the months of June and July. They live chiefly on small fish; and although mute by day, are very clamorous during the night.

There are about twenty species of foreign birds of this kind, among them is the NORFOLK ISLAND PETREL, which burrows in the sand like a rabbit.