72 



Creatfurg of Datura! $?ts"t0rj) ; 



their hunt, and dried in their winter vil- 

 lages. Secondly, the skin is put to various 

 uses ; it forms the material of their lodges, 

 of their bales for packing the meat, of their 

 bed by night, and their clothing by day ; the 

 coarser parts they make into saddles, or cut 

 into laryettes, or halters ; and, more than 

 all, it is now their chief article of trade with 

 the whites, and thus is the source whence 

 they must derive blankets, knives, beads, 

 and every other produce of civilization. 

 Thirdly, they use the sinews as strings to 

 their bows, and the smaller fibres instead of 

 twine or thread ; the brains serve to soften 

 and dress the skins, while the hoof, at the 

 end of the shank bone, is made to answer 

 the purpose of a mallet. Fourthly, the bones 

 are not less useful : some of them being ser- 

 viceable as scrapers or close chisels : others 

 are pointed, and used with the finer fibres as 

 needle and thread ; and the ribs, strengthened 

 by some of the stronger fibres, are made to 

 furnish the bow with which other Buffaloes 

 are to be destroyed. This last is the triumph 

 of Indian ingenuity. The first bow that I 

 saw constructed in this manner caused so 

 much surprise and admiration, that I offered 

 nearly the value of a horse for it, but was 

 refused. When I add to the foregoing par- 

 ticulars, that on the barren prairies the 

 Indians frequently depend upon the Buffalo 

 (dung) for their fuel, and on its bladder for 

 the means of carrying water, it will not be 

 denied that the animal is essential to their 

 existence; and when the Buffalo is exter- 

 minated, the Indian of the Prairies must 

 perish." For further particulars we must 

 refer our readers to the delightful pages of 

 Sir John Richardson, M. D. {Fauna Boreali 

 A mericana), and of Mr. Catlin. 



BITTERN. (Botaurus.) The Bitterns 

 are a subgenus of the family of Herons, re- 

 siding in woody swamps and marshy places, 

 and feeding upon aquatic animals, frogs, 

 lizards, insects, &c. The COMMON BITTERN 

 {Botaurus stellaris) is about two feet six 

 inches in length, or nearly as large as the 

 common heron, but its legs are stronger ; 

 body more plump and fleshy ; and its neck 

 is more thickly clothed with feathers. The 

 beak is strong at the base, straight, sharp on 

 the edges, and gradually tapers to an acute 

 point ; the upper mandible is brown, the 

 under inclining to green ; mouth wide, the 

 gape extending beyond the eyes, with a 

 dusky patch at each angle : irides yellow. 

 The crown of the head is somewhat depressed, 

 and covered with long black feathers ; and 

 the neck feathers, which it can raise at plea- 

 sure, are long and loose. The general colour 

 of the plumage is dull pale yellow ; the back 

 and wings are marked with black zig-zag 

 lines, bars, and streaks, upon a ground shaded 

 with rufous and yellow ; and the greater 

 coverts and quills are regularly barred with 

 black. The tail is very short ; the legs are 

 pale green ; the toes and claws very long and 

 slender. The female is somewhat smaller 

 than the male, the plumage not quite so 

 bright, and the feathers on the neck shorter. 

 She makes an artless nest, composed chiefly 

 of the withered stalks and leaves of the high 



coarse herbage, in the midst of which it ia 

 placed, and lays from four to six eggs of a 

 greenish white. 



The Bittern is a shy solitary bird ; it is 

 never seen on the wing in the day-time ; but 

 sits generally with the head erect, hid among 

 the reeds and rushes of extensive marshes, 

 from whence it will not stir unless disturbed 

 by the sportsman. When it changes its 

 haunts, it removes in the dusk of the evening, 

 and then, rising in a spiral direction, soars 

 to a vast height. It flies in the same heavy 

 manner as the heron, and might be mistaken 

 for that bird, were it not for the singularly 

 resounding cry which it utters from time to 

 time, while on the wing ; but this cry is 

 feeble when compared with the hollow boom- 

 ing noise which it makes during the night, 

 in the breeding season, from its swampy re- 

 treats. From the loudness and solemnity of 

 its note, an erroneous notion prevails with the 

 vulgar that it either thrusts its bill into a 

 reed, which serves as a pipe for swelling its 

 note beyond its natural pitch, or that it 

 immerges its head in water, and then pro- 

 duces its boomings by blowing with all its 

 might. 



When attacked by the buzzard, or other 

 bird of prey, the Bittern defends itself with 

 great courage, and generally beats off such 

 assailants ; neither does it betray any symp- 

 toms of fear when wounded by the sports- 

 man, but eyes him with a keen undaunted 

 look, and, when driven to extremity, will 

 attack him with the utmost vigour, wound- 

 ing his legs, or aiming at his eyes with its 

 sharp and piercing bill. Bitterns reside 

 permanently in England, and in most of the 

 temperate parts of the continent ; but in 

 colder climates they are migratory. They 

 were formerly held in great esteem at the 

 tables of the wealthy. 



There are several other species of this 

 bird, some of them natives of hot and others 

 of cold climates ; but they all resemble the 

 above in its distinguishing characteristics, 

 frequenting the same situations, making 

 their nests on the ground, &c., but differing 

 materially in the colours of their plumage 

 as well as in size. 



BIVALVE. The name given to a class of 

 shells composed of two pieces or parts; which, 

 by means of a proper connection by hinges, 

 open and shut, and perform all other func- 

 tions necessary to the economy or modes of 

 life of the animals included in them. The 

 Mollusca inhabiting them are chiefly distin- 

 guished from the other classes by the absence 

 of a visible head or neck, and the consequent 

 deprivation of the organs of sight and hear- 

 ing : thev possess a mouth, but it is a mere 

 opening in the body, with jaws or teeth. 

 The branchiae are large, placed on each side, 

 between the body and the mantle. The 

 lobes of the mantle are fringed round the 

 edge with numerous filaments, which are very 

 sensitive, and in constant activity. None of 

 the genera are terrestrial, their construction 

 not affording them sufficient powers of loco- 

 motion for finding their food on land, and 

 confining them to the water, whether salt or 

 fresh, or to the sands on the coasts. As 



