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([Treasury of Natural fgi 



exotic species (all distinguished by the splen- 

 did colours of their plumage), but only one 

 kind indigenous to this country. Their 

 principal characteristics are, a long, straight, 

 quadrangular bill, thick and pointed; tongue, 

 short, flat, and fleshy ; the nostrils at the 

 side of the base of the bill running obliquely ; 

 the tail and legs short. These birds for the 

 most part live on fish, which they transfix 

 with the bill as with a spear : they are 

 solitary in their habits, and build their nests 

 in holes on the banks of rivers. [See KING- 

 FISHER.] 



ALCIOPE. A genus of Dorsibranchiate 

 Annelides, distinguished by having two 

 foliated cirrhi, or gills, and a couple of 

 branchial tubercles. 



ALCYONE^, or ALCYONIAN POLY- 

 PES. Under the heads " CORALS," " POLY- 

 PES," and " SPONGES," will be found such 

 particulars as are deemed necessary to de- 

 scribe those singular marine productions. 

 It is, therefore, sufficient to observe in this 

 place, that the Alcyonece are somewhat 

 similar to the last mentioned. They vary 

 much in form, being either lobed, branched, 

 rounded, or existing in a shapeless mass or 

 crust ; while the interior substance is of a 

 spongy or cork-like nature, surrounded by 

 tubular rays inclosed in a sort of tough 

 fleshy membrane. The animals are lodged 

 in round cells, separated from each other 

 by thin partitions. They are to be found in 

 all seas, and at various depths, resorting, in 

 general, to sheltered places, or where the 

 water is deep and still. 



ALEA. A genus of minute land shells, 

 found in marshy ground, roots of trees, 

 moss, &c. 



ALECTOR. (Crax.-) A large Gallina- 

 ceous bird of America, somewhat like a 

 turkey. They have large rounded tails, 

 composed of stiff quills ; build their nests 

 in trees ; live on buds and fruits ; and may 

 be easily domesticated. [See CURASSOW.] 



ALECTURA. [See TALEGALLA.] 



ALEPOCEPHALUS. A fish belonging 

 to the Esocidte, or Pike family, found in the 

 depths of the Mediterranean. Head naked, 

 body with broad scales, mouth small, teeth 

 minute and crowded, eyes very large, and 

 eight gill-rays. 



ALLIGATOR. (Alligator Jwciws.) This 

 very formidable and ferocious Reptile is 

 found in tropical climates, and agrees in 

 every essential property with the Crocodile 

 once so terrible along the banks of the Nile. 

 There are apparently several species belong- 

 ing to the order Sauria, family Crocodilidce, 

 their general plan of structure being the 

 same as that of the lizards. They have a 

 long flat head, thick neck and body, protected 

 by regular transverse rows of square bony 

 plates, raised in the centre into keel-shaped 

 ridges. The mouth is extremely large, ex- 

 tending considerably behind the eyes, and 

 furnished in each jaw with a single row of 

 pointed teeth, all of different sizes, and 

 standing apart from one another. The 



tongue is short and fleshy, and firmly at 

 tached to the under jaw throughout, so as tc 

 be incapable of protrusion ; the eyes are 

 placed in the upper part of the skull, and 

 provided each with three distinct lids ; and 

 beneath the throat are two small glands 



which contain a musky substance. They 

 have five toes on the fore-feet and four 

 behind ; but only the three inner toes on 

 each foot are provided with claws. But the 

 most remarkable, and, at the same time, most 

 important organ they possess, is their long 

 taper tail, which is strongly compressed on 

 the sides, and surmounted with a double 

 series of strong plates, which, converging 

 towards the middle, there unite and form a 

 single row to the extremity Their feet are 

 webbed ; but it is to the tail they owe most 

 of their progressive power in the water ; 

 and although it impedes their motions on 

 dry land, even there it often becomes a 

 powerful weapon of defence. 



The Alligator is prodigiously strong ; and 

 its arms, both offensive and defensive, are 

 irresistible. Its ordinary length is from 

 fifteen to eighteen feet, though sometimes 

 considerably more. The shortness of its 

 legs, the vertebral conformation of the back- 

 bone, the muscles of the legs, and, in short, 

 its whole frame, are calculated for amazing 

 force. Its teeth are sharp, numerous, and 

 formidable ; its claws long and tenacious ; 

 but its principal instrument of obstruc- 

 tion is its tail, with a single blow of which 

 it is capable of overturning a canoe. 

 Its proper element is the water ; but it is 

 also very terrible by land : it seldom, how- 

 ever, unless when pressed by hunger, or with 

 a view of depositing its eggs, quits the water: 

 it usually lays between fifty and sixty of 

 these (.which are about the same size as those 

 of a goose, but oblong rather than oval), in 

 one place, and covers them up with sand, 

 leaving them to be hatched by the heat of 

 the sun : it generally happens, however, that 

 half of them are devoured by vultures, 

 or fall a prey to various descriptions of 

 ravenous fishes. Both the Alligator and 

 the Crocodile are supposed to be very long- 

 lived, and their growth is extremely slow. 



The most extraordinary accounts are re- 

 lated of the ferocity and strength of this 

 terrible destroyer. It usually floats along 

 the surface, and seizes fish, fowl, turtle, or 

 whatever other prey may fall within its 

 reach ; but, this method failing, it is then 

 compelled to venture near the shore, where 

 it conceals itself among the sedges in ex- 



