THE GOLDEN EYE is well known in Europe and in various parts of the United States. It may be easily known by the whistling of its wings as it passes through the

air.

THE BUFFEL-HEADED DUCK, called also the Butterbox or Butter-ball, is common on the sea shores, rivers and lakes of the United States.

THE LONG-TAILED DUCK is common to both continents. They are often called Old Wives in the United States; and on the Chesapeake they go by the name of South Southerly, from their cry.

THE PIED DUCK is a scarce species, and is found only in salt water. It appears to be peculiar to America.

THE HARLEQUIN DUCK is found in Europe as well as America. At Hudson's Bay, it is called the Painted Duck; in New England, the Lord.

THE PELICAN.

The GREAT WHITE PELICAN OF AFRICA is much larger than a swan. Its four toes are all webbed together; and its neck, in some measure, resembles that of a swan : but that singularity in which it differs from all other birds, is in the bill, and the great pouch underneath, which are wonderful, and demand a distinct description. This enormous bill is fifteen inches from the point to the opening of the mouth, which is a good way back behind the eyes. The base of the bill is somewhat greenish; but it varies towards the end, being of a reddish blue. To the lower edges of the under chap hangs a bag, reaching the whole length of the bill to the neck, which is said to be capable of containing fifteen quarts of water. This bag the bird has a power of wrinkling up into the hollow of the under chap; but, by opening the bill, and putting one's hand down into the bag, it may be distended at pleasure. It is not

covered with feathers, but a short downy substance, as smooth and soft as satin. Tertre affirms, that this pouch will hold as many fish as will serve sixty hungry men for a meal. Such is the formation of this extraordinary bird, which is a native of Africa and America. It was once also known in Europe, particularly in Russia; but it seems to have deserted those coasts.

The plumage of the Pelican which is now in the Tower

of London, is, all but the quill feathers of the wings, which are black, of an extremely light and delicate flesh colour, varied only by occasional darker tinges. Except on the temples, which are naked and flesh coloured, the head and upper part of the neck are clothed with a short down.

The upper mandible is of a dull yellow in the middle, with a reddish tinge towards the edges, and a blood red spot at its curved extremity; and the pouch is of a bright straw colour.

In the island of Manilla the Pelicans are of a rose colour, and in America they are brown. They are all torpid and inactive to the last degree, so that nothing can exceed their indolence but their gluttony. It is only from the stimulations of hunger that they are excited to labour; for otherwise they would continue always in fixed repose. When they have raised themselves about thirty or forty feet above the surface of the sea, they turn their head, with one eye downwards, and continue to fly in that posture. As soon as they perceive a fish sufficiently near the surface, they dart down upon it with the swiftness of an arrow, seize it with unerring certainty, and store it up in their pouch. They then rise again, though not without great labour, and continue hovering and fishing, with their head on one side, as before.

This work they continue, with great effort and industry, till their bag is full: and then they fly to land, to devour and digest, at leisure, the fruits of their industry. This, however, it would appear, they are not long performing; for, towards night, they have another hungry call; and they again, reluctantly, go to labour.

Sometimes, they are said to assemble in large numbers, to act in concert, and to manœuvre with great skill, for the purpose of securing an abundant prey. This they accomplish by forming a circular line, and gradually narrowing the included space, till the fishes are driven within a narrow compass. They then all plunge into the water at once, on a given signal, fill their pouches with the spoil, and then return to the land, to enjoy themselves at leisure.

Their life is spent between sleeping and eating. The

female makes no preparation for her nest, nor seems to choose any place in preference to lay in, but drops her eggs on the bare ground, to the number of five or six, and there continues to hatch them. Her little progeny, however, seem to call forth some maternal affections: for its young have been taken and tied by the leg to a post, and the parent bird has been observed for several days to come and feed them; remaining with them the greatest part of the day, and spending the night on the branch of a tree that hung over them. By these means they became so familiar that they suffered themselves to be handled; and they very readily accepted whatever fish was given to them. These they always put first into their pouch, and then swallowed them at leisure.

With all the seeming indolence of this bird, it is not entirely incapable of instruction in a domestic state. Father Raymond assures us, that he has seen one so tame and well educated among the native Americans, that it would go off in the morning, at the word of command, and return before night to its master, with its great paunch distended with plunder; a part of which the savages would make it disgorge, and a part they would permit it to reserve for itself.

"The Pelican," as Faber relates, "is not destitute of other qualifications. One which was brought alive to the Duke of Bavaria's court, where it lived forty years, seemed to be possessed of very uncommon sensations. It was much delighted in the company and conversation of men, and in music, both vocal and instrumental; for it would willingly stand," says he, "by those that sung or sounded the trumpet; and stretching out its head, and turning its ear to the music, listened very attentively to its harmony, though its own voice was little pleasanter than the braying of an ass."

Gesner tells us, that the Emperor Maximilian had a tame Pelican, which lived for above eighty years, and which always attended his army on their march.

It was once believed that the Pelican feeds her young with her own blood; a fable for which we are indebted to some of the early fathers of the church, and which has been perpetuated by poets and heralds. The fact is, that the parent bird feeds the young by pressing its full pouch against its breast, and thus expelling a portion of the conThe appearance of the bird when in this attitude, with the bloody spot on the end of its bill closely pressed against the delicate plumage of its breast, may, it has been well observed, readily account for the prevalence of such an idea in the minds of superficial observers.

tents.

THE FRIGATE PELICAN, OR MAN-OF-WAR BIRD

Is chiefly met with between the tropics. It is the size of a large fowl. The bill is slender, five inches long, from the base of which a dark reddish skin spreads on each side of the head, and a large bag hangs down the throat; the whole plumage is brownish black, the tail is long, and much forked. It is often found above a hundred, and sometimes two hundred leagues from land, and sometimes settles on the masts of ships. Its amazing length of wing, which is not less than fourteen feet, enables it to take immense flights; and, when it is not successful in fishing, it attacks the gulls and other water-fowl, and makes them disgorge the fish which they have taken.

ROUGH BILLED PELICAN.

To such of our readers as have visited the estuaries of the Florida Coast, the demure and awkward attitude of this bird is perfectly familiar. In that portion of our country, this species occurs in large flocks, and they are often to be