H 



HORTULANUS CAROLIN lEN SIS. 



The Rice -Bird. 



J ■ 



Ortolan de la Caroline, ou Oifeau a Ris. 



■' 



N the hz<^\m\v[\^oi Septemher^ while 



milky. 



the grain of Rice is yet foft and 



innumerable flights of thefe 

 Birds arrive from fome remote parts, 

 to the great detriment of the in- 

 habitants. In 1724 an inhabitant 



^^^ Li vient de quelques pays eloigiies des 



volees innombrables de ces Otfeaux^ au 

 commencement de Septembre^ dans h 



terns 



que 



le 



rts 



encore tendre ^ 



plein de lait \ M ces Oifeaux caufent 

 un grand dommage aux habit ans. Efi 



near j^^pley river had forty acres of Rice fo de- Fan 1724 Us ravagerent quarante arpe?ts de ?^is 

 voured by them, that he was in doubt, whether quun des habitans avoit proche la riviere d* Afljley^ &^ 



what they had left was worth the expence of ga- 7es ravagerent Ji fort ^ que le proprietaire ne fqavoity 

 thering in. 



Ji ce qui en rejloit fuffifoit pour le dedommager des 

 frais quil falloit faire pour le recueillir. 



lis parent dans la Caroline pour les plus delicieux 

 cacy of all other Birds. When they firft arrive, they de tous les oifeaux. lis font maigres en arriva?tt 3 mais 

 are lean, but in kw days become fo exccilive fat, Us deviennent Ji gras en peu de jours^ quils volent 



that they fly fluggiflily and with difficulty; and lentenmit M avec peine \ ^ quand on les tire^ Us fe 



They are efteemed in Carolina the greatefl: deli- 



when fhot, frequently break with the fall : they rompent meme fouvent en tombant : Us s^arritent pen- 

 continue about three weeks, and retire by that time dant environ trots femaines \ ^ puis fe retirent dans 

 the Rice begins to harden. 



There is fomewhat fo Angular and extraordinary 



le terns que le ris commence a durcir. 



C^eji une chofe fnguliere &^ extraordinairey que la 

 in this Bird, that I cannot pafs it over without notice. multitude infinie de ces Oifeaux qui arrivent au mots 

 In September y when they arrive in infinite fwarms de Sept embre defoit compofee que de femelles. y^enai 

 to devour the Rice, they are all Hens, not being fait T experience fur plufeurs vingtaines^ quefaiou- 

 accompanied with anyCock. Obferving them to be all vertes pour cet effet^ ; parcequayant remarque quils 

 feather'd alike, I imagined they were young of both 

 fexesj not perfected in their colours ; but by opening cetoit des jeunes de Fun &^ de V autre fexe^ do?it la 



etoient tous d^un plumage femblabky je croyots que 

 cetoit des jeunes de Fun 



fome fcores prepared for the fpit, I found them to be couleur netoit point encore dans fa perfeSlion ; mais 

 all Females. And that I might leave no room for afn de ne laiffer ducun lieu de douter^ je fis fouvent 

 doubt, repeated the fearch often on many of them, but la mime experience fur plufeurs ; ^ je 72 y pus jamais 



could never find a Cock at that time of the year. 

 Early in the ipring, both Cocks and Hens make 



trouver aucun fndle dans cette faifon de Fani^ee. 



Au commencefnent du print ems les males &^ les fe- 



a tranfient vifit together, at which time I made the melles viennent enfemble^ mais ne font que puffer : je fis 



like fearch as before, and both fexes were plainly alors la mime recherche qu auparavant ; ^ ou pouvoit 



difliinguifliable. The Hen, which is properly the facilement dijiinguer les deux fexes. La femelle^ qui ejl 



Rice-Bird, is about the bignefs of a Lark, and co- proprement FOtfeau a ris^ eft a peu pres de la grojfeur 



loured not unlike it on the back ; the breaft and belly d^une alouette: elk a le dos d'une femblable couleur^ 



are pale yellow, the bill is ftrong, fliarp-pointed, la poitrine &^ le ventre d'^un jaune pdle^ le bee fort ^ 



and fliaped like moft others of the graniverous kind. . pointu^ &^ de la mime forme que celui de la plufpart 



This feems to be the Bird defcribed 



the name 



des autres efpeces d^ Oifeaux qui vivent de grain. 



II 



of Mai A, TP^ilL App. p. 386. In September 1725, femble que cef F Oifeau quon a decrit fous le 7W7n da 



lying upon the deck of a floop in a bay at Andros Maia, Will. App. p. 386. Etant au 7?tois deSeptefn- 



Ifland, I and the Company with me, heard three bre 1725, couche fur le tillac d'une chaloupe dans une 



nights fucceflively, ■ flights of thefe Birds (their baye de F Ife d'' Andros^ 7tous e77te77di7nesy trois nuits de 



note being plainly diflinguifhable from others) fFtte^ des voices de ces Oifeaux (leur chant pouva72t fa- 



paffing over our heads northerly, which is their cilement fe difli7iguer de celui des autres) qui paffoientr 



diredl way from Cuba to Caroli72a ; from which, I pardeffus nos tites^ allant vers le Nordy ce qui eft leur 



conceive, after partaking of the earlier crop of Rice droit chemin deCuba d la Caroline^ d'ou je conqois qua- 



at Cuba^ they travel over fea to Caroli7ia for the pres avoir mange le ris qui ef premiere7ne7tt 7nur dCu- 



bay Us traverfent la mer^ &^ vont dans la Caroline pour 

 le mi7nefujety le risy etant alors tel qtiil le leur faut. 

 Les males ont le bee couleur de plo77iby le devant 



fame intent, the Rice there being at that time fit 

 for them. 



The Cock's bill is lead-colour, the fore-part of the 



head black, the hind-part and the neck of a reddifh de la tite^ ^ le cou d'un jaune rougeatre. Les 77tdles 



yellow, the upper-part of the wing white, the back ^ les femelles ont le haut de Faile blanCy la partie 

 next the head black, lower down grey, the rump fuperieure du dos noirCy Finferieure toute grifcy le 

 white, the greatefl part of the wing, and whole tail, croupion blanCy la plus grande partie de FaUcy 



black J the legs and feet brown in both fexes. 



toute la queue nolresy les jambes &^ les pies b7"u?is^ 



