CHAP. CV. CORYLA‘CER. QUERCUS. 1829 
states ‘that certain trees grow in Vomonia, near Scotland, towards the 
north, whose fruit, falling into the water, is turned into a bird.’ Guadaguigua, 
an Italian author, affirms the like of the leaves of another tree; and Ruillius, 
in the 38th chapter of the 12th book of his History of Plants, mentions trees 
that ‘ bear cockles of which birds are produced.’ This fable has been ya- 
riously reported; and, among the Philosophical Conferences of the Virtuosi of 
France, the subject is formally discussed, and many authorities cited, ‘ con- 
cerning those trees of the Hebrides ; the wood whereof, being rotted in the 
sea, is turned into birds like ducks.’ AEneas Sylvius, in his History of Eu- 
rope, says that he asked ‘ James VI. of Scotland touching those tree birds 
reported to be bred there; and learned from word of mouth of that learned 
king, that those trees grew not there, but in the Orcades; whereupon Eneas 
truly and handsomely replied, Miracula fugiunt.’. Our countryman, Gerard, 
however, gives an excellent version of this story; and his testimony shall be 
preferred, as being that of an eyewitness; for his statement, he expressly 
declares, was drawn up in chief part from actual observation.” (Amen. Quer., 
fol. 20.) The quotation from Gerard is as follows:—“ There are found in the 
north of Scotland, and islands adjacent called Orchades, certain trees whereon 
do grow certain shells tending to russet, wherein are contained little living 
creatures ; which shells, in time of maturitie, do open, and out of them do grow 
those little living things, which, falling into the water, do become fowles, 
which we call barnakles ; in the north of England, brant geese ; and in Lanca- 
shire, tree geese ; but the other that do come fall upon the land, perish, and 
come to nothing. Thus much from the writings of others, and also from the 
mouths of people of those parts, which may very well accord with truth.” 
He then subjoins the following account of what he solemnly affirms he had 
not only seen, but touched :—“ There is a small island in Lancashire, called 
the Pile of Foulders, wherein are found the broken pieces of old and bruised 
ships, some whereof have been cast there by shipwracke ; and also the trunks 
and bodies, with the branches, of old and rotten trees, cast up there likewise ; 
whereon is found a certain spawn, or froth, that in time breaketh into certain 
shells, in shape like those of the muskle, but sharper-pointed, and of a whitish 
colour, wherein is contained a thing in form like a lace of silke, finely woven 
as it were together, of a whitish colour, one end whereof is fastened unto the 
inside of the shell, even as the fish of oisters and muskles; the other end is made 
fast unto the belly of a rude mass, or lumpe, which in time cometh to the 
shape and form of a bird. When it is perfectly formed, the shell gapeth open, 
and the first thing that appeareth is the foresaid lace, or string; next come 
the legs of the bird hanging out ; and, as it groweth greater, it openeth the shell 
by degrees, till at length it is all come forth, and hangeth only by the bill: 
in short space after it cometh to full maturitie, and falleth into the sea, where 
it gathereth feathers, and groweth to a fowl bigger than a mallard, and lesser 
than a goose, having black legs, bill, or beake, and feathers black and white, 
spotted in such a manner as our magpie; called in some places a pie-annet ; 
which the people of Lancashire call by no other name than a tree goose ; which 
place aforesaid, and the parts adjoining, do much abound therewith, that one 
of the best is bought for three halfpence. For the truth hereof, if any doubt, 
let them repaire to me, and I shall satisfie them 
by the testimonie of good witnesses.” (Her- 
bail, p. 1588.) Gerard gives a curious cut of 
the barnacle, with the head of the goose peep- 
ing out. This extraordinary fable took its 
rise from a mollusc (Lépas anatifera, figs. 1653. 
and 1654.) being frequently found attached 
to pieces of oak wood that had fallen into 
the sea, and which animal had a kind of 
fibrous beard, something like the feathers of a 
bird. Fig. 1655., which represents a species of 
Lépas, supposed to be new, that was taken 
6c 4 
