ture of the sandy strata which they traverse. In the superior beds, which contain a little soil, the exterior of the tubes is frequently black; lower down the colour of the tube is of a yellowish grey; still lower, of a greyish white; and lastly, where the sand is pure and white, the tubes are almost perfectly colourless. That the cause of these tubes is correctly attributed to lightning is shown by some observations presented to the Royal Society, in 1790, by Dr. Withering. On opening the ground where a man had been killed by lightning, the soil appeared to be blackened to the depth of about ten inches; at this depth, a root of a tree presented itself, which was quite black; but this blackness was only superficial, and did not extend far along it. About two inches deeper, the melted quartzose matter began to appear, and continued in a sloping direction to the depth of eighteen inches; within the hollow part of one mass, the fusion was so perfect, that the melted quartz ran down the hollow, and assumed nearly a globular figure. Professor Hagen, of Königsberg, has made a similar observation. In the year 1823 the lightning struck a birch tree at the village of Rauschen; on cautiously removing the earth, Professor Hagen found, at the depth of a foot, the commencement of a vitrified tube, but it could not be extracted from the sand in pieces of more than two or three inches in length; the interior of these fragments was vitrified, as usual; several were flattened, and had zigzag projections. It is also to be observed, that Saussure found on the slaty hornblende of Mont Blanc small blackish beads, evidently vitreous, and of the size of a hemp-seed, which were clearly the effects of lightning. Mr. Ramond has also remarked on the Pic du Midi, in the Pyrenees, some rocks, the entire face of which is varnished with a coating of enamel, and covered with beads of the size of a pea; the interior of the rock is totally unchanged. FULHAM. [MIDDLESEX.] FU'LICA. [RALLIDE.] FULIGULINE, a subfamily of the Anutida. The prince of Musignano (C. L. Bonaparte) arranged, under the subgenus Fuligula, those species of ducks which other modern ornithologists have distinguished by the generic titles of Somateria, Oidemia, Fuligula, Clangula, and Harelda. The prince observes, that M. Temminck, who had been opposed to all dismemberment of the great genus Anas, had at fast been induced to assemble all the species of the prince's subgenus Fuligula under one genus; whence the prince argues the necessity of M. Temminck's admitting the swans and geese as distinct genera; and he observes that he cannot see any good reason why M. Temminck should have rejected the name of Fuligula, as well as Platypus, given anteriorly to the genus by Brehm, and should have imposed on it the name of Hydrobates, a term already applied by Vieillot to the genus Cinclus. (Specchio Comparativo.) Mr. Swainson (Fauna Boreali-Americana) adopts the term Fuliguline to distinguish this subfamily, under which he arranges the genera Somateria, Oidemia, Fuligula, Clangula, and Harelda. Habits, Food, &c.—The Fuligulinæ, or sea ducks, as they have been not inaptly named, frequent the sea principally; but many of them are to be found in the fresh-water lakes and rivers where the water is deep. The plumage is very close and thick in comparison with that of the true ducks (Anatine), and the covering of the female differs much in hue from that of the male, which when adult undergoes but little change in its dress from the difference of season. The young resemble the female in their feathered garb, and do not assume the adult plumage till the second or third year. Moulting takes place twice a-year without change of colour. In the male, the capsule of the trachea is large. The Sea Ducks are not good walkers, on account of the backward position of their feet, but they run, or rather shuffle along rapidly, though awkwardly. They swim remarkably well, though low in the water, and excel in diving, whether for amusement, safety, or food, which last consists of insects, mollusks, the fry of fish, and marine or other aquatic vegetables. They take wing unwillingly as a security from danger, relying more confidently on their powers of diving and swimming as the means of escape, than on those of flight. Though they are often strong, steady, rapid, and enduring in their passage through the air, they generally fly low, laboriously, and with a whistling sound. This subfamily may be considered to be monogamous, and the nest is frequently made near the fresh waters; the female alone incubating, though both parents, in several of the species at least, strip the down from their breasts as a covering for the eggs, which are numerous. Geographical Distribution.-The North may be considered the great hive of the Fuliguline; though some of the forms are spread over the greater part of the globe. Large flocks are seen to migrate periodically, keeping for the most part the line of the sea-coast, and flying and feeding generally by night, though often, especially in hazy or blowing weather, by day. SOMATERIA. (Leach.) Generic Character.-Bill small, with the base elevated and extending up the forehead, where a central pointed line of feathers divides it; the anterior extremity narrow but blunt; nostrils, mesial; neck, thick; wings, short; tertiaries long, and generally with an outward curve, so as to overlie the primaries. Tail moderate, consisting of 14 feathers. Bill of Eider Duck. This genus is peculiarly marine. Dr. Richardson, whose opportunities of observing the northern birds were so great, and so well used, says, that Somateriæ spectabilis and mollissima are never, as he believes, seen in fresh water; their food consisting mostly of the soft mollusca in the Arctic Sea. They are, he says, only partially migratory, the older, birds seldom moving farther southwards in winter than to permanent open water. He states that some eider ducks pass that season on the coast of New Jersey, but that the king ducks (S. spectabilis) have not been seen to the southward of the 59th parallel. Audubon however says, that in the depth of winter the latter have been observed off the coast of Halifax, in Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland, and that a few have been obtained off Boston, and at Eastport in Maine. The genus is remarkable for the high development of the exquisitely soft and elastic down so valuable in commerce, and so essential to the keeping up of the proper balance of animal heat in the icy regions inhabited by these birds. We select as our example: Somateria mollissima (Anas mollissima, Linn.), the Eider Duck. This is the Oie à duvet ou Eider of the French; Die Eidergans and Eiterente of the Germans; Oca Settentrionale of the Italians (Stor. degli ucc.); the Eider Goose, Eider Duck, St. Cuthbert's Duck, Cuthbert-Duck, or CutbertDuck, Great black and white Duck, and Colk Winter Duck, of the modern British; Hwyad fwythblu, of the ancient British; Dunter Duck, of the Hudson's Bay residents; and Mittek, of the Esquimaux. The following is Dr. Richardson's description of a male killed June, 14, 1822, at Winter Island, 66° 11 N. lat. Colour. Circumference of the frontal plates, forehead, crown, and under eye-lid, deep Scotch blue; hind head, nape and temples, siskin-green. Stripe on the top of the head, cheeks, chin, neck, breast, back, scapulars, lesser coverts, curved tertiaries, sides of the rump, and under wing-coverts, white; the tertiaries tinged with greenish yellow, and the breast with buff. Greater coverts, quills, rump, tail and its co Form. Bill prolonged on the lengthened, depressed forehead, into two narrow flat plates that are separated by an angular projection of the frontal plumage. Nostrils not pervious. Neck, short and thick. Wings nearly three inches shorter than the tail. Hind toe attenuated posteriorly into a broad lobe. The length of this bird was 25 inches 6 lines. Female. Pale rufous or yellowish brown with black bars; wing-coverts black, with ferruginous edges; greater coverts and secondaries with narrow white tips; head and upper part of the neck striped with dusky lines. Beneath, brown with obscure darker blotches. verts, and the under plumage, pitch black; the end of the | is considered to be very inferior in quality, is that taken quills and tail fading to brown. Bill, oil-green. Legs, from the dead bird. The down of superior quality, or live greenish yellow. down, is that which the duck strips from herself to cherish her eggs. Its lightness and elasticity are such, it is asserted, that two or three pounds of it squeezed into a ball which may be held in the hand will swell out to such an extent as to fill a case large enough for the foot covering of a bed. It is collected in the following manner: The female is suffered to lay her five or six eggs, which are about three inches in length and two in breadth. These, which are very palatable, are taken, and she strips herself a second time to supply the subsequent eggs. If this second batch be abstracted, the female being unable to supply any more down, the male plucks his breast, and his contribution is known by its pale colour. The last deposit, which rarely consists of more than two or three eggs, is always left; for if deprived of this their last hope, the bereaved birds forsake the inhospitable place; whereas, if suffered to rear their young, the parents return the following year with their progeny. The quantity of down afforded by one feCap-male during the whole period of laying is stated at half a pound neat, the quantity weighing nearly a pound before it is cleansed. Of this down Troil states that the Iceland company sold in one year (1750) as much as brought 8501. sterling, besides what was sent to Glückstadt. Young at the age of a week. Of a dark mouse colour, thickly covered with soft warm down. Young male. Like the female; and not appearing in the full adult male plumage till the fourth year. Geographical Distribution.-The icy seas of the North appear to be the principal localities of this species. tain, now Major Edward Sabine, enumerates it among the animals which were met with during the period in which the expedition under Captain Parry remained within the Arctic circle. He mentions it as abundant on the shores of Davis' Straits and Baffin's Bay; but adds, that deriving its food principally from the sea, it was not met with after the entrance of the ships into the Polar Ocean, where so little open water is found. The females were without the bands on the wings described by authors. (Appendix to Captain Sir W. E. Parry's First Voyage, 1819-20.) The late lamented Captain Lyon saw the Eider in Duke of York's Bay. (Journal.) Captain James Ross (Appendix to Cap-prietor has been known to remove the cattle and dogs to the tain Sir John Ross's Last Voyage), notices vast numbers of the king duck as resorting annually to the shores and islands of the Arctic regions in the breeding season, and as having on many occasions afforded a valuable and salutary supply of fresh provision to the crews of the vessels employed in those seas. Speaking of the eider duck he says, it is so similar in its habits to the king duck, that the same remarks apply equally to both. In Lapland, Norway, Iceland, Greenland, and at Spitzbergen, the eider duck is very abundant; and it abounds also at Bering's Island, the Kuriles, the Hebrides, and Orkneys. In Sweden and Denmark it is said to be more rare, and in Germany to be only observed as a passenger. Temminck states that the young only are seen on the coasts of the ocean, and that the old ones never show themselves. Captain James Ross, in the Appendix above alluded to, speaking of the eider down, says that the down of the king duck is equally excellent, and is collected in great quantities by the inhabitants of the Danish colonies in Greenland, forming a valuable source of revenue to Denmark. A vast quantity of this down, he adds, is also collected on the coast of Norway, and in some parts of Sweden. The eider duck is found throughout Arctic America, and is said to wander, in severe winters, as far south to sea as the capes of the Delaware. From November to the middle of February, small numbers of old birds are usually seen towards the extremities of Massachusetts Bay, and along the coast of Maine. A few pairs have been known to breed on some rocky islands beyond Portland, and M. Audubon found several nesting on the island of Grand Manan in the Bay of Fundy. The Prince of Musignano notes it as rare and adventitious in the winter at Philadelphia. The most southern breeding place in Europe is said to be the Fern or Farn Isles, on the coast of Northumberland. The haunts of birds capable of producing so valuable an article are not unlikely to be objects of peculiar care we accordingly find that in Iceland and Norway the districts resorted to by them are reckoned valuable property, and are strictly preserved. Every one is anxious to induce the Eiders to take up their position on his own estate; and when they show a disposition to settle on any islet, the promainland in order to make way for a more valuable stock, which might be otherwise disturbed. In some cases, artificial islets have been made by separating promontories from the continent; and these Eider tenements are handed down from father to son like any other inheritance. Not withstanding all this care to keep the birds undisturbed, they are not, as we shall presently see, scared by the vicinity of man, in some places at least. We proceed to give the personal observations of some of those who have visited Eider settlements: When I visited the Farn Isles,' writes Pennant (it was on the 15th July, 1769), ‘I found the ducks sitting, and took some of the nests, the base of which was formed of sea-plants, and covered with the down. After separating it carefully from the plants, it weighed only three-quarters of an ounce, yet was so elastic as to fill a larger space than the crown of the greatest hat. These irds are not numerous on the isles; and it was observed that the drakes kept on those most remote from the sitting-places. The ducks continue on their nests till you come almost close to them, and when they rise are very slow fliers. The number of eggs in each nest was from three to five, warmly bedded in the down, of a pale olive colour, and very large, glossy and smooth.' Horrebow declares that one may walk among these birds while they are sitting without scaring them; and Sir George Mackenzie, during his travels in Iceland, had an opportunity, on the 8th June at Vidoe, of observing the Eider ducks, at all other times of the year perfectly wild, assembled for the great work of incubation. The boat, in its approach to the shore, passed multitudes of these birds, which hardly moved out of the way; and, between the landing-place and the governor's house, it required some caution to avoid treading on the nests, while the drakes were walking about, even more familiar than common ducks, and uttering a sound which was like the cooing of doves. The ducks were sitting on their nests all round the house, on the garden wall, on the roofs, nay even in the inside of the houses and in the chapel. Those which had not been long on the nest generally left it when they were approached; but those that had more than one or two eggs sat perfectly quiet and suffered the party to touch them, though they sometimes gently repelled the intrusive hand with their bills. But, if a drake happen to be near his mate when thus visited, he becomes extremely agitated. He passes to and fro between her and the suspicious object, raising his head and cooing. Habits, Reproduction, &c.-Willughby, quoting Wormius, says that the Eider Ducks 'build themselves nests on the rocks, and lay good store of very savoury and welltasted eggs; for the getting of which the neighbouring people let themselves down by ropes dangerously enough, and with the same labour gather the feathers (Eider dun our people call them), which are very soft and fit to stuff beds and quilts; for in a small quantity they dilate themselves much (being very springy) and warm the body above any others. These birds are wont at set times to moult their feathers, enriching the fowlers with this desirable merchandize.' Willughby also remarks that when its young ones are hatched it takes them to the sea and never looks at land till next breeding time, nor is seen anywhere about our coasts.' This early account is in the main correct; but there are two kinds of Eider down: the live down, as it is termed, and the dead down; the latter, which time make such havoc among the birds, that at no very distant period the M. Audubon saw them in great numbers on the coast of Labrador-where, by the way, the down is neglected*— • Audubon says that the eggers of Labrador collect it; but, at the same traffic must cease, employed about their nests, which they begin to form about the end of May. They arrive there and on the coasts of Newfoundland about the first of that month. The eggs were of a dull greenish-white, and smooth, from six to ten in number. The nest was usually placed under the shelter of a low prostrate branched and dwarf fir*; and sometimes there were several under the same bush, within a foot or two of each other. The ground-work of the nests consisted of sea-weeds and moss, and the female did not add the down till the eggs were laid. The duck, having at this time acquired an attachment for her eggs, was easily approached, and her flight was even and rather slow. Audubon states that, as soon as incubation has commenced, the males leave the land and join together in large flocks out at sea: they begin to moult in July, and soon become so bare as to be scarcely able to rise from the water. By the 1st of August, according to the same author, scarcely an Eider Duck was to be seen on the coast of Labrador. The young, as soon as hatched, are led by the female to the water, where they remain, except at night and in stormy weather. Their greatest feathered enemy is the Saddlebacked Gull, or Black-backed Gull (Larus marinus), which devours the eggs and young, but whose pursuit the young, after they have left the nest, elude by diving, at which both old and young are very expert. lows, to beat up the small crustaceans and mollusks, and diving in deeper water for the larger marine animals, among which muscles and other conchifers, turbinated testaceans, and occasionally sea-eggs (Echini) are said to be taken. Utility to Man.-The down above described is the principal tribute paid by the Eider Duck to man: but the Indian and Greenlander eat the flesh, which is dark and fishy, and their skin is converted into a warm inner garment. According to Sir W. E. Parry, the Esquimaux Indians catch these birds with springes made of whalebone, and take the eggs wherever they can find them. The skin, prepared with the feathers on, forms an article of commerce, particularly with the Chinese. M. Audubon is of opinion that if this valuable bird were domesticated, it would prove a great acquisition, both on account of its down, and its flesh as an article of food; and he is persuaded that very little attention would effect this. Indeed, it appears that the experi ment was made at Eastport with success, but the greater number of the ducks were shot, being taken by gunners for wild birds. The same author says that, when in captivity, it feeds on different kinds of grain and moistened corn-meal, when its flesh becomes excellent. Mr. Selby succeeded twice in rearing Eiders from the egg, and kept them alive upwards of a year, when they were accidentally killed. Oidemia. (Fleming.) Generic Character.-Bill, broad with dilated margins, and coarse lamelliform teeth, gibbous above the Nostrils, which are nearly mesial, large and elevated. Tail, of fourteen feathers. The Oidemic seek their food at sea principally; and have obtained the name of Surf Ducks, from frequenting its edge. The prevailing colour of the tribe is black in the male, and brown in the female. The plumage is very thick and close; and, according to Audubon, the down in the Velvet Duck (Oidemia fusca) is similar to that of the Eider Duck, and apparently of equal quality. Their flesh is high-flavoured and oily, according to Dr. Richardson, who gives that character to the flesh of three species, viz. Oidemia perspicillata, fusca, and nigra. The two former, according to that enterprising zoologist, breed on the Arctic coasts, migrate southward in company with Clangula (Harelda ?) glacialis, halting both on the shores of Hudson's Bay and on the lakes of the interior, as long as they remain open, and then feed on tender shelly mollusca. Oidemia nigra, he adds, frequents the shores of Hudson's Bay, and breeds between the 50th and 60th parallels. It was not seen by Dr. Richardson and his companions in the interior. We select, as an example Oidemia perspicillata, Anas perspicillata of Linnæus, the Black or Surf Duck. This is the Macreuse à large bec ou Marchand and Canard Marchand of the French, the Black Duck of Pennant, and the Great Black Duck from Hudson's Bay of Edwards. Eider Duck, male and female. According to Brunnich and others, the male utters a hoarse and moaning cry at the pairing time, but the cry of the female is like that of the common duck. Both sexes assist in forming the nest, though the female only sits: but the male watches in the vicinity, and gives notice of the danger. This seems to be confirmed by the account given of the nesting-place at Vidöe. Sometimes two females deposit their eggs in the same nest, and sit amicably together. The Gulls are not their only enemies in addition to man, for the Ravens often suck their eggs and kill their young. At sea, several hatches congregate, led by the females, and there they may be seen splashing the water in the shalNuttall suggests that the fir was, probably, Pinus Banksiana. Bill of Oidemia perspicillata. flexion. Throat brownish. A broad white band between Description.-Male, velvet black, with a reddish re the eyes, and a triangular patch of the same on the nape. Bill reddish orange, the nail paler; a square black spot on the lateral protuberance. Legs orange; webs brown. Bill much like that of the Velvet Duck (Oidemia fusca), but the lateral protuberances are naked and horny, and the central one is feathered farther down. The lamina are distant, and the lower ones particularly prominent, with cutting edges. As in the other Oidemic, the bill and forehead are inflated, causing the head to appear lengthened and the crown depressed. The nostrils are rather large, and nearer to the point than to the rictus. Length 24 inches. (Dr. Richardson, from a bird killed at Fort Franklin.) Female and Young.-Black ashy brown wherever the male is deep black. Head and neck lighter; frontal band and great angular space upon the nape indicated by very bright ashy brown. Lateral protuberances of the bill but little developed, and the whole bill of an ashy yellowish colour. Feet and toes brown; webs black. (Temminck.) Dr. Richardson observes that the under plumage in particular is paler, that the back and wing coverts are narrowly edged with grey, that the breast, flanks, and ears have some whitish edgings, that the bill is black, its base not so much inflated, and that the nostrils are smaller than in the male. Geographical Distribution.-Rare and accidental in the Orcades, and in the higher latitudes towards the pole; very rare in the cold and temperate countries bathed by the ocean; very common and numerous in America, at Hudson's and Baffin's Bays. Such is Temminck's account. Nuttall says that this species of duck, with other dark kinds commonly called on the other side of the Atlantic 'coots,' may be properly considered as an American species; its visits in the Orkneys and European seas being merely accidental. They breed on the Arctic coasts, and extend their residence to the opposite side of the continent, having been seen at Nootka Sound by Captain Cook. The bird is not mentioned in the notice of the animals which were met with during the period in which the expedition remained within the Arctic Circle, appended to Captain Sir W. E. Parry's First Voyage, nor in Captain James Ross's Appendix to Captain Sir John Ross's Last Voyage. The Prince of Musignano notes it as very common, and most bundant in the sea in the neighbourhood of the shore at Philadelphia. Habits, Reproduction, &c.-In summer the Surf Duck feeds principally in the sea, and haunts shallow estuaries, bars and bays, where it may be seen constantly diving for its shelly food. The surf is a favourite station with it. Hudson's Bay and Labrador are among its breeding places, and the nest is formed of grass with a lining of down or feathers on the borders of fresh-water ponds. The eggs are white, and from four to six in number. The young are hatched in July, and detained on the borders of the ponds, where they were excluded from the egg, until they are able to fly. Their migrations extend to Florida, but they often remain throughout the winter along the shores and open bays of the United States. At the end of April or early in May they again proceed northward. Utility to Man. The flesh of the old birds is very dark, red, and fishy when dressed; the young are of better flavour. They are however often eaten by the inhabitants of the coasts frequented by them; and being difficult to approach, they are decoyed by means of a wooden figure of a duck of the same general appearance with themselves. Fuligula. (Ray.) Generic Character.-Bill flat, broad, long, with hardly any gibbosity at the base, and rather dilated at the extremity. Nostrils suboval, basal. Tail short, of 14 feathers, graduated laterally. First quill longest. The sea, and its bays and estuaries, are the principal haunts of this genus. Dr. Richardson states that Fuligula Valisneria, ferina, marila, and rufitorques, breed in ali parts of the fur countries, from the 50th parallel to their most northern limits, and associate much on the water with the Anatina. Fuligula rubida, he remarks, frequents the small lakes of the interior up to the 58th parallel, and he adds that it is very unwilling to take wing, and dives remarkably well. In swimming, according to the same observer, it carries its tail erect, and, from the shortness of its neck, nearly as high as its head, which, at a little distance, causes it to appear as if it had two heads. The Canvass-back Duck, Fuligula Valisneria*, Anas Valisneria of Wilson, may be selected as an illustration of the genus. Description. The following accurate description of a male, killed on the Saskatchewan on the 3rd of May, 1827, is given by Dr. Richardson in Fauna Boreali-Americana.' Colour.-Region of the bill, top of the head, chin, base of the neck, and adjoining parts of the breast and back, rump, upper and under tail-coverts, pitch-black; sides of the head and the neck reddish-orange; middle of the back, scapulars, wing-coverts, tips of the secondaries, tertiaries, flanks, posterior part of the belly and thighs, greyish-white, finely undulated with hair-brown; primaries and their coverts hair- brown, their tips darkest; secondaries ash-grey, tipped with white: the two adjoining tertiaries edged with black. Belly white, faintly undulated on the medial line. In some specimens the white parts are glossed with ferruginous. Bill and legs, blackish-brown. Form.-Bill lengthened, the depressed frontal angle longer, the nostrils farther from the front, and the unguis differently shaped and smaller than in Fuligula ferina (the Pochard); the upper lamina flat, cuneate, not prominent, and confined within the margin of tne mandible. The bill and head of the Canvass back approach somewhat to the form of the Pintail Duck, being much lengthened, and of equal breadth throughout. First quill the longest. . Length, 24 inches 6 lines. Female.-Ground colour of the upper plumage and flanks liver-brown: sides of the head, neck, and breast, ferruginous; shoulders, shorter scapulars, and under plumage, edged with the same. Middle of the back and wing-coverts clove-brown, finely undulated with greyish-white. There are no undulated markings on the tertiaries and secondaries, and only a few on the tips of the scapulars. Bill as in the male; the neck more slender. (Dr. Richardson.) lina, are visited by some of these flocks; and it is stated that they are abundant in the river Neuse, in the vicinity of Newbern, and probably in most of the other southern waters down to the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, being seen in winter in the mild climate of New Orleans, at which season a few pairs arrive in Massachusetts Bay, near Cohaset and St. Martha's Vineyard. But it is to Chesapeake Bay, its æstuaries and rivers, among which the Susquehanna, the Patapsco, James's River, and the Potomac, may be particularly mentioned, that the great multitude of Canvass-back Ducks resort.-(Wilson; Nuttall.) Habits, Food, &c. The canvass-backs associate with the pochards, and are waited upon by the bald-pates or wigeons (Mareca Americana), which rob them in the manner described in the article Ducks (vol. ix. p. 183). They are named in different parts of the Union white-backs and sheldrakes, as well as canvass-backs.. Zostera marina and Ruppia maritima form their food, as well as the freshwater Valisneria, which last is limited in its distribution. The sea-wracks or eel-grass, as the long marine vegetables above alluded to are called in America, are widely spread over the Atlantic, and over the mud-flats, bays, and inlets where salt or brackish water finds access. The canvass-backs dive for and generally pluck up the sea-wrack, and feed only on the most tender portion near the root. They are very shy birds, and most difficult to be approached. Various stratagems are resorted to for getting within gunshot of them; and in severe winters artificial openings are made in the ice, to which the ducks crowd and fall a sacrifice to their eagerness to obtain food. That they will eat seeds and grain as well as sea-wrack, &c., was proved by the loss of a vessel loaded with wheat near the entrance of Great Egg Harbour, New Jersey, to which great flocks of canvassbacks were attracted. Upon this occasion as many as 240 were killed in one day. (Wilson; Nuttall.) gas Utility to Man.-The canvass-back, which is lean on its first arrival in the United States, becomes, in November, about three pounds in weight, and in high order for the table: there are few birds which grace the board better. The Prince of Musignano is eloquent in its praise: Carne della massima squisitezza, grandemente ricercata dai tronomi. La migliore delle Ånitre. Forse il miglior uccello d'America.' Any attempt to introduce the bird into England would, it is feared, prove a failure; for even if the ordinary difficulties should be got over, the absence of the food to which it is supposed to owe its exquisite flavour would render the success of the experiment very doubtful.* Fuliguia Valisneria. Clangula (Boié). Bill narrow, elevated at the base, somewhat attenuated at the anterior extremity, and short. Nostrils inclining to oval, submesial, or rather anterior to the middle of the bill. Tuil rather long, of 16 feathers generally. Though many of this genus frequent the sea, the species are more generally met with in the fresh waters than the other Sea Ducks. Thus Dr. Richardson remarks that Clangula vulgaris (Common Golden Eye) and albeola (Spirit Duck) frequent the rivers and fresh-water lakes throughout the fur countries in great numbers. They are, The Western Duck (Fuligula Stelleri) has been elevated to a genus by Brehm under the name of Callicher. P. C., No. 659. as he states, by no means shy, allowing a near approach co the sportsman; but at the flash of a gun or even at the twang of a bow, they dive so suddenly that they are seldom killed. Hence the natives impute supernatural powers to them, as the appellations of Conjuring Ducks' and Spirit Ducks' sufficiently testify. Dr. Richardson says that the manners of Clangula Barrovii (Richardson and Swainson), described in Fauna Boreali-Americana,' and which has hitherto been found only in the valleys of the Rocky Mountains, do not differ from those of the Common Golden Eye. He speaks of Clangul histrionica as haunting eddies under cascades and rapid streams, as very vigilant, taking wing at once when disturbed, as rare, and as never associating, as far as he saw, with any other bird. The high northern latitudes may be considered generally as the localities of this genus, which we proceed to illustrate by Clangula albeola, Anas albeola of Linnæus, the Spirit Duck. Bill of Clangula albeola. This is the Buffel Duck of Pennant; the Buffel's Head Duck of Catesby; the Little black and white Duck of Edwards; the Buffel-headed Duck of Wilson; Wakaisheeweesheep, Waw haisheep, and Wappano-sheep of the Cree and Chippeway Indians. Dr. Richardson thus describes a male and female killed on the Saskatchewan in May, 1827. Male.-Colour. Forehead, region of the bill, nuchal crest, and upper sides of the neck rich duck green, blending with the resplendent auricula-purple of the top of the head and throat. Broad band from the eye to the tip of the occipital crest, lower half of the neck, the shoulders, exterior scapulars, intermediate and greater coverts, outer webs of five or six secondaries, flanks, and under plumage to the vent pure white. Back, long scapulars, and tertiaries velvet black; lesser coverts bordering the wing the same, edged with white; primaries and their coverts brownishblack. Tail-coverts blackish-grey; tail broccoli-brown. Vent and under tail-coverts greyish. Bill bluish-black. Legs yellowish. In many spring specimens the under plumage is ash grey. Form.-Bill smaller in proportion than that of the common Garrot, and the nostrils nearer the base; but otherwise similar. Head large, with the upper part of the neck clothed in velvety plumage, rising into a short thick crest. Wings two inches and a half shorter than the tail. Tail-lateral feathers graduated, three middle pairs even. Length sixteen inches; but individuals differ in size. Female.-Considerably smaller. Head and dorsal plumage dark blackish-brown; the forepart of the back, scapulars, and tertiaries, edged with yellowish brown. Fore part of the neck, sides of the breast, flanks, and ventfeathers, blackish-grey; breast and belly white, glossed much narrower than in the male. The white speculum is with brownish-orange. White band on the ears and occiput less perfect, and the whole of the lesser coverts and scapulars are unspotted blackish-brown. Bill and feet brownish. Total length fourteen inches and a half. Young males resemble the females. ('Fauna BorealiAmericana.') Linn.) is an inhabitant of the Arctic regions of the new and old worlds, and freThe Common Golden Eye, or Garrot (Clangula vulgaris, Anas Clangula, quently met with in this country, and in Europe generally. The species is dis tributed over the Swiss lakes. Mr. Gould figures Clangula Barrovii and Clangula histrionica among the Birds of Europe, the former having been shot in Iceland by T. C. Atkinson, Esq., and the latter having been frequently cap tured a the British Islands, Vol. XI-C |