tion to the body, which also appears of a finer shape, and the wings longer. The crown of the head towards the base of the bill is of a pale pink color, inclining to a reddish white; the other parts of the head and neck are red; the sides of the body and the upper part of the breast are tinctured with a very fair, glossy, and beautiful claret color, with a few small transverse lines of black. The feathers on the back are brown, the edges more pale or ash colored; the scapular feathers, and those under the fore part of the wings, are finely variegated with small transverse black and white lines, beautifully dispersed like waves; the quill feathers are some of them brown, with white tips, others have their outward webs of a blackish purple; other parts, especially those beyond the covert feathers, of a lovely fine blue; some of the exterior feathers have their outward webs inclining to black, with a fine purple gloss upon the borders, on which there are a number of

small light colored spots; the rest of the wing feathers are of a beautiful party-colored brown and white. The upper part of the tail is ash colored; the under part, behind the vent, black. The legs and feet are of a dark lead color, and the claws black. The young of both sexes are gray, and this hue they retain till February, when the plumage of the male begins to assume its variegated tints. He is said to retain his bright colors till the end of July, and then to become dark and gray, so as scarcely to be distinguished from the female.

Widgeons are common in Cambridgeshire, England, the Isle of Ely, &c., where the male is called the Widgeon, and the female the Whewer. They feed upon wild periwinkles, grass, weeds, &c., which grow at the bottom of rivers and lakes. Their flesh has a fine taste.

THE. CANVASS-BACK DUCKL

Is a very celebrated species, unknown in Europe. They appear in United States about the middle of October, and great numbers of them are found on the rivers near Chesapeake Bay. The canvass-back, in the rich juicy tenderness of its flesh, and its delicacy and flavor, stands unrivalled by the whole of its tribe in, perhaps, any other part of the world. They sometimes sell from one to three dollars a pair. Its length is about two feet, and its weight two pounds.

The most obvious distinction between wild and tame ducks is in the color of their feet; those of the tame duck being black; those of the wild duck yellow. The difference between wild ducks among each other, arises as well from their size, as the nature of the place they feed in. Sea ducks, which feed in the salt water, and dive much, have a broad bill, bending upwards, a large hind toe, and a long blunt tail. Pond ducks, which feed in plashes, have a straight and narrow bill, a small hind toe, and a sharppointed train. The former are called in England, by the decoy-men, foreign ducks; the latter are supposed to be natives of England. In this tribe, we may rank, as natives of America, the velvet duck,2 not so large, and with a yellow bill; the scoter duck, or black diver," with a knob at the base of a yellow bill; the tufted duck,4 adorned with a thick crest; the scaup duck,5 less than the common duck, with the bill of a grayish blue color; the golden eye, with a large white spot at the corners of the mouth, resembling an eye; the sheldrake,7 with the bill of a bright red, and swelling into a knob; the mallard,8 ,8 which is the stock whence the tame breed has probably

1/nas valisneria, WILSON. 4 Anas fuligula, WILSON. 7 Anas tadorna, LIN.

2 Anas fusca, LIN.
5 Anas marila, LIN.
8 Anas boschas, LIN.

3 Anas nigra, LIN.
6 Anas clangula, LIN.

been produced; the shoveller,1 which has a bill three inches long, and remarkably broad at the end; the pintail,2 with the two middle feathers of the tail three inches longer than the rest; the long-tailed3 duck, the general color of whose plumage is deep chocolate, and the outer feathers of the tail, which are white, four inches longer than the rest.

THE GOOSANDER4

WEIGHS about four pounds. The bill is red; the head very full of feathers on the top and back part. The plumage is various and beautiful. The head and upper parts are fine glossy black, the rump and tail ash color, and the under parts of the neck and body a fine pale yellow. Its manners and appetites entirely resemble those of the diver. It feeds upon fish, for which it dives; it is said to build its nest upon trees, like the heron and the cor

vorant.

Is smaller, weighing only two pounds. The head and neck are black, glossed with green; the rest of the neck and the belly white; the upper part of the back is glossy black; the lower parts and the rump are striated with brown and pale gray; on the wings there are white bars tipped with black, and

1 Anas clypeata, LIN.

2 Anas Labradora, GMEL.

3 Anas glacialis.

Mergus merganser, LIN. The genus Mergus has the bill middle-sized or long, slender, in the form of an elongated cone, and almost cylindrical; base broad; tip of the upper mandible much hooked, and furnished with a nail; edges of both mandibles serrated in a backward direction; nostrils lateral towards the middle of the bill; legs short, placed backwards on the abdomen, the three fore toes completely webbed, the hind toe articulated on the tarsus.

5 Mergus serrator, LIN.

the breast is reddish, mixed with black and white. The plumage of the female is less splendid; and they differ in another respect, viz. that the male

has a very full and large crest, the female only the rudiment of one. It is common on the shores of the United States as well as in Europe.

MEASURES eighteen inches from the point of the bill to the extremity. It has a fine crest upon the head, which falls down towards the back part of it, under which, on each side of the head, is a black spot; the rest of the head and neck, and the under parts of the body, are white; the back and the wings are a pleasing mixture of black and white. The tail is about three

1 Mergus albellus, LIN.

inches long, of a kind of dusky ash color, the feathers on each side shortening gradually. The female has no crest; the sides of the head red; the wings of a dusky ash color; the throat is white. In other respects it agrees with the male.

THE HOODED MERGANSER1

Is a native of North America, and peculiar to that country. It is common on the coasts of New England, and breeds in the arctic regions. It is about the size of a widgeon. The head and neck are dark brown; the former surrounded with a large round crest, the middle of which is white. The back and quills are black, the tail dusky; and the breast and belly white, undulated with black. The female is fainter in the color of her plumage, and has a smaller crest.

THE PELICAN.2

THE great white pelican of Africa3 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

1 Mergus cucullatus, LIN.

2 The genus Pelicanus has the bill long, straight, broad, much depressed; upper mandible flattened, terminated by a nail, or very strong hook; the lower formed by two long branches, which are depressed, flexible, and united at the tip; from these branches is suspended a naked skin, in form of a pouch; face and throat naked; nostrils basal, in the form of a narrow longitudinal slit; legs short and stout; all the four toes connected by a web.

3 Pelicanus onocrotalus, LIN.