and the under part white. These birds have been called sea swallows, as they appear to have all the same actions at sea that the swallow has at land, seizing every insect

which appears on the surface, and darting down upon the smaller fishes, which they seize with incredible rapidity. The LESSER TERN weighs only two ounces and five grains. The bill is yellow; and from the eyes to the bill is a black line. In other respects it almost exactly resembles the preceding.

The BLACK TERN is of a middle size between the two preceding species. It weighs two ounces and a half. It receives its name from being all black as far as the vent, except a spot of white under the throat. This bird is called, about Cambridge in England, the Car Swallow. It is a very noisy animal.

Among the foreign birds of the Tern genus, there are some found of a snowy white; but the most singular bird of this kind is the STRIATED TERN which is found at New Zealand. It is thirteen inches in length. The bill is black, and the body in general mottled, or rather striped, with black and white. The NODDY * is about fifteen inch

es long. The bill is black, and two inches long, and the whole plumage a sooty brown, except the top of the head, which is white. It is a very common bird in the tropical seas, where it is known frequently to fly on board ships, and is taken with the hand. But though it be thus stupid, it bites the fingers severely, so as to make it unsafe to hold it. It is said to breed in the Bahama Islands.

MARSH TERN.

THIS new species I met with on the shores of Cape May, particularly over the salt marshes, and darting down after a kind of large black spider, common in such places. This spider can travel under water as well as above, and during summer, at least, seems to constitute the food of this Tern.-Wilson.

SHORT TAILED TERN.

On the sixth of September, 1812, after a violent northeast storm which inundated the meadows of Schuylkill in many places, numerous flocks of this Tern all at once made their appearance, flying over the watery spaces, picking up grasshoppers, spiders, beetles, and other insects that were floating on the surface. The people on the sea coast say that this bird comes to them only in the fall, and is frequently seen about mill ponds and fresh water marshes. Wilson.

THE PETRELS.

THE whole genus of Petrels are known by having, instead of a back toe, only a sharp spur or nail; they have also a

sea usually indicates the vicinity of land. It is widely dispersed over the various shores of the ocean. I observed them on the coast of Florida and Georgia, where they were very numerous and noisy. They frequently settle on the rigging of ships at sea, and are called by the sailors, the Noddy.-Wilson.

faculty of spouting from their bills, to a considerable distance, a large quantity of pure oil, which they do, by way of defence, into the face of any person who attempts to take them.

Is the largest of the kind which is known in Europe. It is superior to the size of the common gull, being about fifteen inches in length, and in weight seventeen ounces. The bill is very strong, yellow, and 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. 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 SHEARWATER, or MANKS PUFFIN, as it is called by Willoughby, is something smaller than the preceding.

very different from the old ones, suffer themselves to be carried home, and are tamed very easily.*

THE AUK.

THE first European bird of the web-footed fowls with short legs, which naturalists introduce to our notice, is the Auk, of which there are about twelve species. The whole tribe is distinguished peculiarly by the form of the bill, which is strong, convex, compressed at the sides, in general crossed with several furrows, and in some degree resembling the coulter of a plough.

Is the size of a goose; its bill is black, about four inches and a quarter in length, and covered at the base with short velvet-like feathers. The upper parts of the plumage are black, and the lower parts white, with a spot of

*This singular species are seen on the southern frontiers of the U. States, and on the peninsula of East Florida. They are also common in the warmer parts of America, Peru, Chili, Cayenne, Brazil and the West Indies.-Wilson.

white between the bill and the eyes, and an oblong stripe of the same on the wings, which are too short for flight. The bird is also a very bad walker, but swims and dives well. It is, however, observed by seamen, that it is never seen out of soundings, so that its appearance serves as an infallible direction to land. It feeds on the lump fish and others of the same size; and is frequent on the coasts of Norway, Greenland, Newfoundland, &c. It lays its eggs close to the seamark.

THE RAZORBILL

Is not above half the size of the preceding, which it resembles both in form and plumage, except that it has the use of its wings, and lays its egg (for each of these species lays but one) on the bare top of a precipice, and fastens it by a cement, so as to prevent its rolling off. It is pretty common on the coasts of England during the summer season. The BLACKBILLED AUK is still smaller.

Is the size of the teal, weighs about twelve ounces, and is twelve inches in length. The bill is much compressed;