Book contents
- Frontmatter
- INTRODUCTION
- PART THE FIRST VOYAGE INTO SPITZBERGEN AND GREENLAND
- PART THE SECOND CONTAINING THE DESCRIPTION OF SPITZBERGEN
- PART THE THIRD
- PART THE FOURTH OF THE ANIMALS OF SPITZBERGEN
- CHAP. I Of Birds with Toes or Divided Feet
- CHAP. II Of the Broad or Web-Footed Birds
- CHAP. III Of some other Birds that I did not Catch or Delineate
- CHAP. IV Of the Four-Footed Creatures
- CHAP. V Of the Crustaceous Fish that I Observed
- CHAPTER VI
- CHAPTER VII Of the Whale
- CHAP. VIII How they Catch the Whale
- CHAP. IX What they do with the Dead Whale
- CHAP. X Of the Trying out of the Train-Oyl from the Fat
- CHAPTER XI Of the Finn-Fish
- CHAP. XII Of Rotz-fishes and Sea-qualms
- LIST OF THE ANIMALS OF SPITZBERGEN
- DESCRIPTION OF GREENLAND
- INDEX
- Plate section
CHAP. III - Of some other Birds that I did not Catch or Delineate
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 June 2011
- Frontmatter
- INTRODUCTION
- PART THE FIRST VOYAGE INTO SPITZBERGEN AND GREENLAND
- PART THE SECOND CONTAINING THE DESCRIPTION OF SPITZBERGEN
- PART THE THIRD
- PART THE FOURTH OF THE ANIMALS OF SPITZBERGEN
- CHAP. I Of Birds with Toes or Divided Feet
- CHAP. II Of the Broad or Web-Footed Birds
- CHAP. III Of some other Birds that I did not Catch or Delineate
- CHAP. IV Of the Four-Footed Creatures
- CHAP. V Of the Crustaceous Fish that I Observed
- CHAPTER VI
- CHAPTER VII Of the Whale
- CHAP. VIII How they Catch the Whale
- CHAP. IX What they do with the Dead Whale
- CHAP. X Of the Trying out of the Train-Oyl from the Fat
- CHAPTER XI Of the Finn-Fish
- CHAP. XII Of Rotz-fishes and Sea-qualms
- LIST OF THE ANIMALS OF SPITZBERGEN
- DESCRIPTION OF GREENLAND
- INDEX
- Plate section
Summary
Amongst these are the red gees, which were shewn unto me as they were flying. They are geese with long legs, that fly in flocks; there is many of them in Russia, Norway, and Jutland.
Then I saw another bird flying singly with broad feet, a very handsom bird, called John of Ghent; it is as big as a stork and of the same shape, with white and black feathers; he hovers in the air, and moveth his wings but very little; when he cometh to the ice he turns back again. It is a kind of a hawk, and I have reason to believe that he hath a very sharp sight, for he shoots down from a great height into the water. They say that the brains of this bird are in great esteem, but for what I could never learn.
He is also seen in the Spanish Sea, and every where in the North Sea, but most commonly he is seen where they catch herrings.
I was also informed that a black crow was seen in Spitzbergen; other birds are not seen there, except it may be now and then a single one that strays and so cometh thither, as the crow did. All these birds come at certain times, and abide at this place as long as the sun shines; afterwards, when the cold begins to encrease, and the nights lengthen, every one of them returns to its own place again.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- A Collection of Documents on Spitzbergen and GreenlandComprising a Translation from F. Martens' Voyage to Spitzbergen, a Translation from Isaac de La Peyrère's Histoire du Groenland, and God's Power and Providence in the Preservation of Eight Men, pp. 78 - 79Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2010First published in: 1855