Page:Journal of a Voyage to Greenland, in the Year 1821.djvu/104

74 yellow, and much turned at the point, resembling that of a hawk; they vary much in their general plumage and in size somewhat exceed the common gull. I saw some, having their breast and neck perfectly white, while others were entirely brown: from the ferociousness of the former, their fighting with each other, and from their never attacking those of dark plumage, I judged them to be the males and the latter the females. Their flight resembles a running on the surface of the water, whence they are called by the Norwegians, Havhest, or Sea-horse; and, Storm-fugt, or Storm-fowl, as being supposed to presage tempests; the Dutch call them Mallmache, or the foolish-fly, from their number and their stupidity. They seldom come to the land, except when they lose their way in the mists, which are so frequent on the coast of Greenland; and they breed in the broken rocks about Disco, remote from the main land. In the afternoon, I shot one of those very shy birds, the Laurus Glaucus, called by the Dutch, Burgermeister, from its being the master of all other sea-fowls within the arctic regions, It is an elegant bird, builds its nest on high cliffs, and preys on cetaceous fishes and small birds; it seldom strays far from the land, but is almost continually on the wing, and generally without any associate. Its bill is yellow, with an orange-coloured spot near the end; head and lower part of the body white; back and wings of a fine hoary grey; primaries darkest, and tipped with white; legs of a pale cadaverous hue; length,