ing its young; and when the inhabitants of the Faro isles attack its nest, they hold a knife over their heads, on which the Skua will transfix itself in its fall on the invaders. On the rocky island of Foula, one of the Shetland isles, it is a privileged bird, as it is said to defend the flocks from the eagle, which it pursues and beats off with great fury whenever he presumes to visit the island.

The WAGEL GULL has its whole plumage composed of a mixed brown ash colour and white. It weighs about three pounds.

The HERRING GULL resembles the black-backed in every thing but size, and that the plumage on the back and wings is more inclined to ash colour than black; it weighs thirty ounces. The GLAUCOUS GULL, or BURGOMASTER, which inhabits Norway, &c. is rather larger than the Herring Gull, but resembles it in most other respects. The SILVERY GULL is the same size as the Herring Gull, and not much different in plumage and manners.

The TARRACK and the KITTIWAKE GULLS also so nearly resemble each other, that some authors affirm the latter to be only the Tarrack in a state of perfection. The head, neck, belly, and tail of the Kittiwake are of a snowy whiteness; the back and wings are gray; and both species have behind each ear a dark spot: both species are about the same size, viz. fourteen inches; and the Tarrack weighs seven ounces. Of the ARCTIC GULL the male has the top of the head black; the back, wings, and tail dusky; the rest of the body white: the female is entirely brown. It has been called the parasite, from its habits of pursuing the lesser Gulls till they drop their ordure through fear, which this filthy animal catches and devours before it drops into

the water.

The COMMON GULL is seventeen inches long, and weighs one pound. The bill is yellow; the back and wings a pale

gray; and the head and rest of the body white. The WINTER GULL is also very common in all these parts of Europe. The top of the head is white, marked with oblong dusky spots; the back and wings ash colour, marked with dusky brown.

The jelly-like substance known by the name of star-shot or star-jelly, owes its origin to some of these birds, being nothing but the half-digested remains of earthworms, on which they feed, and often discharge from their stomachs.

The PEWIT GULL, or BLACK-CAP, is so called from the head and throat being of a dark or black colour. The RED LEGGED GULL, the BROWN-HEADED GULL, the LAUGHING GULL,* which only differs from the others in having the legs black instead of red, are possibly only varieties of the same species. They are in length from fifteen to eighteen inches. The back and wings of these birds are in general ash colour, and the rest of the body white. The young birds of these species are thought by some to be good eating.

The GUAT GULL, which is found on the borders of the Caspian Sea, though distinguished by a black head, is quite a different species from the black-cap, as it equals in size the Barnacle goose, and weighs between two and three pounds: its voice too is as hoarse as that of a raven.

The Gull genus, like all other rapacious birds, lay but few eggs; and hence, in many places, their number is daily seen to diminish. Most of the kind are fishy tasted, with black stringy flesh; and of these, the poor inhabitants of the northern British islands make their wretched banquets. They have been long used to no other food; and even salted Gull can be relished by those who know no better.

* This bird, called the Black-headed Gull in America, appears in New Jersey in the latter part of April. They breed in marshes, and live on worms, insects and animal substances.-Wilson.

The Gull, the petrel, the tern, have all nearly the same habits, the same nature, and are caught in the same manner; that is, at the most imminent risk, and with the loss of many lives in the course of a season.

But of this dangerous sport a more particular description will perhaps be acceptable to the reader. Those who have been upon the British coasts know that there are two different kinds of shores; that which slopes towards the water with a gentle declivity, and that which rises with a precipitate boldness, and appears as a bulwark o repel the force of the invading deep. It is to such shores as these that the vast variety of seafowl resort, and in the cavities of these rocks they breed in safety. Of the tremendous sublimity of these elevations it is not easy to form an idea. The boasted works of art, the highest towers, the noblest

waves,

domes, are but ant-hills, when put in comparison; the single cavity of a rock often exhibits a coping higher than the ceiling of a Gothic cathedral. What should we think of a precipice three quarters of a mile in height? and yet the rocks of St. Kilda are still higher! What must be our awe to approach the edge of that impending height, and to look down on the unfathomable vacuity below! To ponder on the terrors of falling to the bottom, where the that swell like mountains, are scarcely seen to curl on the surface, and the roar of the ocean appears softer than the murmur of a brook! It is in these formidable mansions that myriads of seafowls are ever seen sporting. To the spectator from above, those birds, though some of them above the size of an eagle, seem scarcely as large as a swallow: and their loudest screaming is scarce perceptible. Yet even here these animals are not in perfect security from the arts and activity of man. Want, which is the great spring of human exertion, can force the cottager to tempt the most formidable dangers, and to put forth an en

deavour almost beyond the force of man. When the precipice is to be assailed from below, the fowlers furnish themselves with poles of five or six ells in length, with a hook at the end, and fixing one of these poles in the girdle of the person who is to ascend, his companions, in a boat, ́or on a projection of the cliff, assist his progress till he procures a firm footing. When this is accomplished, he draws the others up with a rope, and another man is forwarded again by means of the pole to a higher station. Frequently the person who is in the highest situation holds another man suspended by a rope, and directs his course to the place where the birds have placed their nests. It unfortunately too often happens that the man who holds the rope has not a footing sufficiently secure, and in that case both of them inevitably perish.

Some precipices are so abrupt, that they are not by any means to be ascended from below. In this case a rope is provided of eighty or a hundred fathoms long, which one of the fowlers fastens to his waist, and between his legs, in such a manner as to support him in a sitting posture. The rope is held by five or six persons on the top, and it slides upon a piece of wood, which is laid so as to project beyond the precipice. By means of this apparatus, the man is gradually let down, and he attacks the habitations of the feathered race with the most sanguinary success. This operation is, however, not without its dangers. By the descent and friction of the rope the loose stones are furiously hurled down on every side. To defend himself from their blows, the fowler covers his head with a kind of helmet, or with a seaman's shaggy cap. Many, however, lose their lives by this kind of accident. Those who are unskilful, frequently suffer by a giddiness with which they are seized, on beholding themselves suspended from this tremendous height: he, on the other hand, who is accus

THE GULL KIND....THE MERGANSER KIND.

23

tomed to the sport, swings himself about with amazing dexterity; he directs his attack to that part of the rock which promises the amplest success; with his fowling staff he strikes the game as it proceeds out of the holes; he occasionally disengages himself from the rope by which he was suspended; he roams through the cavities of the rock, and when he has provided himself with a sufficient booty, he gives the signal to his companions, and is again drawn up, when the festivity of the evening, among these poor and desperate adventurers, generally compensates for the fatigues and dangers of the day.

THE MERGANSER GENUS

INCLUDES only about six species, in all of which the bill is slender, and furnished at the end with a crooked nail, and grated or toothed both upper and under chap like a saw. The largest of the kind is the Gooseander, * which weighs about four pounds. The bill is red; the head very full of feathers on the top and back part. The plumage is various and beautiful. The head and upper parts are fine glossy black, the rump and tail ash colour, and the under parts of the neck and body a fine pale yellow. Its manners and appetites entirely resemble those of the diver. It feeds upon fish, for which it dives; it is said to build its nest upon trees, like the heron and the cor

vorant.

The DUN DIVER is less than the gooseander. The upper part of the head is reddish brown; the back and wings ash colour; and the lower parts of the body white. It is

* This bird is a winter inhabitant only, of the sea shores, fresh water lakes and rivers of the United Sates. It comes in November, and disappears in April. We have no account of their mauner of breeding.