which there are little holes, both for the decoy-man to see, and for the little dog to pass through. This attracts the eye of the wild fowl, who, prompted by curiosity, advance towards this little animal, while he all the time keeps playing among the reeds, nearer and nearer the funnel, till they follow him too far to recede. Sometimes the dog will not attract their attention till a red handkerchief, or something very singular, be put about him. The decoy ducks never enter the funnel net with the rest, being taught to dive under water as soon as the rest are driven in.

The general season for catching fowl in decoys is from the latter end of October till February. The taking them earlier is prohibited by an act of George the Second, which imposes a penalty of five shillings for every bird destroyed at any other season.

The Lincolnshire decoys are commonly let at a certain annual rent, from five pounds to twenty pounds a-year, and some even, amount to thirty. These principally contribute to supply the markets of London with wild fowl. The number of ducks, widgeon, and teal that are sent thither is amazing. Above thirty thousand have been sent up in one season from ten decoys in the neighbourhood of Wain fleet. This quantity makes them so cheap on the spot, that it is asserted the several decoy-men would be glad to contract for years to deliver their ducks at the next town for ten pence the couple.

To this inanner of taking the wild fowl in England, I will subjoin another still more extraordinary, frequently practised in China. Whenever the fowler sees a number of ducks settled in any particular plash of water, he sends off two or three gourds to float among them. These gourds resemble our pompions; but being made hollow, they swim on the surface of the water, and on one pool there may sometimes be seen twenty or thirty of these

VOL. IV.-H

gourds floating together. The fowl at first are a little shy of coming near them; but by degrees they come nearer; and as all birds at last grow familiar with a scare-crow, the ducks gather about these, and amuse themselves by whetting their bills against them. When the birds are as familiar with the gourds as the fowler could wish, he then prepares to deceive them in good earnest. He hollows out one of those gourds large enough to put his head in; and making holes to breathe and see through, he claps it on his head. Thus accoutred, he wades slowly into the water, keeping his body under, and nothing but his head in the gourd above the surface; and in that manner moves imperceptibly towards the fowls, who suspect no danger. At last, however, he fairly gets in among them; while they, having been long used to see gourds, take not the least fright while the enemy is in the very midst of them: and an insidious enemy he is; for ever as he approaches a fowl, he seizes it by the legs, and draws it in a jerk under water. There he fastens it under his girdle, and goes to the next, till he has thus loaded himself with as many as he can carry away. When he has got his quantity, without ever attempting to disturb the rest of the fowls on the pool, he slowly moves off again; and in this manner pays flock three or four visits in a day. Of all the various artifices for catching fowl, this seems likely to be attended with the greatest success, as it is the most practised in China.

the

[The Eider Duck is double the size of the common duck. It has a cylindrical bill, and the wax is divided behind, and wrinkled. The feathers, which are very soft and valuable, fall off during incubation. The male is white above, but black below and behind; the female is greenish. This species is found in the Western Isles of Scotland, particularly on

Oransa, Barra, Rona, and Heisker, and on the Farn Isles; but in greater numbers in Norway, Iceland, and Greenland, from whence a vast quantity of the down known by the name of eider or edder, which these birds furnish, is annually imported. Its remarkably light, elastic, and warm qualities, make it highly esteemed as a stuffing for coverlets, by such whom age or infirmities render unable to support the weight of common blankets. This down, as was noticed above, is produced from the breast of the birds in the breeding season..

These birds are not numerous on the isles; and it is observed that the drakes keep on those most remote from the sitting places. The ducks continue on their nest till you come almost close to them, and when they rise are very slow fliers. The number of eggs in each nest are from three to five, warmly bedded in the down, of a pale olive colour, and very large, glossy, and smooth. They now and then, however, lay so many as eight; for Van Troil informs us, that no less than sixteen have been found in one nest, with two females, who agree remarkably well together. In America this bird is found as far south as New York, and breeds on the desert isles of New England; but most common every where to the north. They are said to be constant to the same breeding places, and that a pair has been observed to occupy the same nest for twenty years together. They take their young on their backs instantly to sea; then dive, to shake them off and teach them to shift for themselves. It is said, that the males are five years old before they come to their full colour; that they live to a great age, and will at length grow quite gray. They are very numerous in the Esquimaux lands, where and in Greenland they are called mettek. The natives kill them on the water with darts, striking them the moment they appear af

ter diving; and know the place from their being preceded by the rising of bubbles. The flesh is much valued.]

CHAPTER XIII.

OF THE KING-FISHER.

I WILL Conclude this History of Birds with one that seems to unite in itself somewhat of every class preceding. It seems at once possessed of appetites for prey like the rapacious kinds, with an attachment to water like the birds of that element. It exhibits in its form the beautiful plumage of the peacock, the shadings of the humming bird, the bill of the crane, and the short legs of the swallow. The bird I mean is the King-Fisher of which many extraordinary falsehoods have been propagated, and yet of which many extraordinary things remain to be said that are actually true.

The king-fisher is not much larger than a swallow; its shape is clumsy; the legs disproportionably small, and the bill disproportionably long-it is two inches from the base to the tip, the upper chap black, and the lower yellow; but the colours of this bird atone for its inelegant form; the crown of the head, and the coverts of the wings, are of a deep blackishgray spotted with bright azure; the back and tail are of the most resplendent azure; the whole underside of the body is orange-coloured; a broad mark of the same passes from the bill beyond the eyes; beyond that is a large white spot; the tail is short and consists of twelve feathers of a rich deep blue; the feet are of a reddish-yellow, and the three joints of the outmost toe adhere to the middle toe, while the inner toe adheres only by one.

From the diminutive size, the slender short legs, and the beautiful colours of this bird, no person would be led to suppose it one of the most rapacious little animals that skims the deep. Yet it is for ever on the wing, and feeds on fish, which it takes in surprising quantities, when we consider its size and figure. It chiefly frequents the banks of rivers, and takes its prey after the manner of the osprey, balancing itself at a certain distance above the water for a considerable space, then darting into the deep, and siezing the fish with inevitable certainty. While it remains suspended in the air in a bright day, the plumage exhibits a beautiful variety of the most dazzling and brilliant colours. It might have been this extraordinary beauty that has given rise to fable; for wherever there is any thing uncommon, fancy is always willing to increase the wonder.

Of this bird it has been said that she built her nest on the water, and thus in a few days hatched and produced her young; but, not to be interrupted in this task, she was said to be possessed of a charm to allay the fury of the waves, and during this period the mariner might sail with the greatest security. The ancient poets are full of these fables; their historians are not exempt from them. Cicero has written a long poem in praise of the halcyon, of which there remains but two lines. Even the emperor Gordian has written a poem on this subject, of which we have nothing remaining. These fables have been adopted each by one of the earliest fathers of the church. "Behold," says St. Ambrose, "the little bird, which in the midst of the winter lays her eggs on the sand by the shore. From that moment the winds are hushed, the sea becomes smooth, and the calm continues for fourteen days. This is the time she requires; seven days to hatch, and seven days to foster her young. Their Creator has taught