18G9.] BOTANY AND ZOOLOGY. 243 



his ransom by surrenderiug a portion of his fishy cargo, which the 

 other swooping down, catches before it has time to reach the 

 earth. If there is but one frigate- bird, this may be a sufiicient 

 toll ; but if the unwieldly gannet is set upon by a number of 

 these pirates, he utters a cry of real terror and woe, and, rushing 

 through the air with a sound like a rocket, in his rapid descent, 

 he seeks to alight on the nearest point of land, well knowing that 

 when once he has a footing on lerra firma not even the man- 

 of-war bird dare come near him. The man-of-war bird is 

 provided about its neck and chest with a dilatable sack, of a 

 blood-red colour, which it seems to be able to inflate at pleasure. 

 On calm days, about noon, when the trade-wind lulls, giving 

 place to a sea breeze that gently fans the torrid island, these 

 light, feathery birds may sometimes be seen at an immense height 

 balancing themselves for whole hours without apparent motion on 

 their outstretched fans. Whether they are able to increase their 

 specific levity by inflating their pouches with a gas lightey 

 than the atmosphere, or whether they are sustained by the 

 uprising column of heated air that comes in on all sides from the 

 ocean, is a question 1 am unable to answer. While floating 

 thus, this bird has its pouch pufi"ed out about its neck, giving it 

 the same appearance as though it had its throat muffled in 

 flannel." 



A Chicken-Dance. — To see a chicken-dance requires a long 

 journey. The performers are the sharp-tailed grouse dwelling in 

 the north-western plains of America, and replacing on the west 

 of the Rocky Mountains the well-known prairie-hen of the 

 eastern districts. This beautiful bird is alike estimable for the 

 admirable sport which it affords, and for its delicacy as an article 

 of food; and it is very desirable that, if possible, it should 

 be acclimatized in this country. Mr. Lord, the naturalist to the 

 British North American Boundary Commission, is sanguine 

 on this point, and believes it to be most admirably fitted for our 

 hill and moorland districts. "It is very hardy," he observes, 

 *' capable of bearing a temperature of 30° below zero ; feeds 

 on seeds, berries, and vegetable matter, in every particular 

 analogous to what it could find in our own hill country ; a good 

 breeder, having usually from twelve to fourteen at a brood ; nests 

 early and would come to shoot [Query, to be shot ?] about 

 the same period as our own grouse." He adds, that the young 



