568 ANNUAL REGISTER, 1816. 



principally on moss and vegetable 

 i)roductions of tlie water ; they 

 are not exclusively coniined to the 

 water at all seasons. Captain 

 Lewis has noticed them on many 

 parts of the rivers Ohio and Mis- 

 sissippi. 



6. The divers are the same with 

 those of the United States. The 

 smaller species have some white 

 feathers about the rump, with no 

 perceptible tail, and are veiy 

 acute and quick in their motion : 

 the body is of a reddish brown ; 

 the beak sharp, and somewhat 

 curved, like that of the pheasant : 

 the toes are not connected, but 

 webbed, like those of the black 

 duck. The larger species are 

 about the size of the teal, and can 

 fly a short distance, which the 

 smaller but seldom attempt : they 

 have a sliort tail ; their colour is 

 also a uniform brick reddish 

 brown : tlie beak is straight and 

 pointed : the feet are of the same 

 form Avith the other species : the 

 legs remarkably thin and flat, one 

 edge being in front. The food 

 of both species is fish and flesh : 

 their flesh is unfit for use. 



7. The blue-winged teal is an 

 cvcellent duck, and in all respects 

 the same as those of the United 

 States. One of our hunters killed 

 a duck which appeared to be a 

 male. It was of a size less than 

 the duckinmallard ; the head, the 

 neck as low as the crop, the back, 

 tail, and covert of the wings were 

 all of a deep fine black, with a 

 slight mixture of purple about the 

 head and neck : the belly and 

 breast are white : some long fea- 

 thers which lie underneath the 

 wings, and cover the thi^li'^, were 

 of a pale dove colour, with fine 

 black specks : the large feathers of 

 the wings are of a dove coloiir ; the 



legs are dark ; the feet are compos- 

 ed of four toes, of which three are 

 in front connected by a web : the 

 fourth is short and flat, and placed 

 high on the heel behind the leg : 

 the tail is composed of fourteen 

 short pointed feathers : the beak 

 of this duck is remarkably wide, 

 and two inches in length : the 

 upper chap exceeds the un- 

 der one, both in length and 

 width, insomuch, that when the 

 beak is closed, the under chap is 

 entirely concealed by the upper : 

 tongue indentures on the margin 

 of the chaps, are like those of the 

 mallard : the nostrils are large, 

 longitudinal, and connected : a 

 narrow stripe of white garnishes 

 the base of the upper chap : this 

 is succeeded by a sky-blue colour, 

 occupying about an inch ; which 

 again is succeeded by a tranverse 

 stripe of white, and the extremity 

 is a fine black : the eye is mode- 

 rately large, the pupil black, and 

 of a fine orange colour : the fea- 

 thers on the crown of the head are 

 longer than those on the upper 

 part of the neck and other parts 

 of the head, which give it the ap- 

 pearance of being crested. 



Fish. 



The fish, which we have had 

 an opportunity of seeing, are the 

 whale, porpoise, skait, flounder, 

 salmon, red char, two species 

 of salmon trout, mountain or 

 sjjeckletl trout, bottlenose, an- 

 chovy, and sturgeon. 



1. 'J'he whale is sometimes pur- 

 sued, harpooned, and taken by 

 the Indians, although it is much 

 more frequently kiUed by running 

 foul of tlie rocks in violent storms, 

 and thrown on shore by the action 

 of the Avind and tide. In either 

 case, the Indians preserve and 



eat 



