M'ANDERING NATURALISTS. 481 



were seen great numbers of Velvet Ducks, which, while fly- 

 ing, have a very singular appearance, owing to the great size 

 of their head and bill. The other species observed were those 

 already enumerated ; and as our journey is now ended, and 

 our third fit of practical ornithology brought to a close, let us 

 seriously consider how we may best narrate the history of that 

 very important tribe of birds, to which the name of Vagatores 

 or Wanderers may be applied. 



Joyous in action, pining in idleness, ever on the alert, even 

 in sleep pursuing, as the hound dreams of the chase, irregularly 

 migratory, and settling for a time only to narrate their adven- 

 tures, there is a tribe of naturalists very similar in character to 

 these sagacious and enterprising birds. A friend of mine, for 

 example, who writes to me from Charleston, that he is about 

 setting out to explore the shores of the ^lexican Gulf and the 

 south-western limits of the United States, and return to Edin- 

 burgh by the end of autumn, is t}^ical of this family. Hunt- 

 ing by sight, not by scent, now sweeping along the Alleghanies, 

 anon searching the mud-flats of the Mississipi, feasting to-day 

 on an old gobbler on the banks of the Red River, to-morrow 

 picking up a water-hen from among the reeds of the St. John's, 

 he represents, as Le Vaillant formerly represented, the dark- 

 winged Raven, Corvus Corax. The Carrion Crow, Cor\^is 

 Corone, has its analogue in some other wanderer, who is fond 

 of kicking alligators' ribs, and strangling rattle-snakes. The 

 Hooded Crow, Corvus Cornix, clamorous before rain, feeding 

 on small fry, keeping a good look-out when pilfering, but, being 

 pied, easily recognised, represents another ; while a fourth re- 

 sembles the industrious Rook, Corvus frugilegus, that gleans 

 in the fields, on the hills, and by the shores, finding in common 

 and neglected objects much that is not less nutritious than 

 savoury. The Jackdaw, pert, and fond of perching on pin- 

 nacles, has many representatives ; and the chattering, thievish, 

 and handsome Magpie, is not without admirers and imitators. 

 Indeed, it affords a striking proof of the perfect naturality of 

 the arrangement proposed by me at p. 17, that in the human 

 species individuals and families may be found that form a 

 complete counterpart in all essential respects to the species and 



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