3 CLINTON 7 'S 



to have an accurate account of this animal, which may still be found in 

 northern parts of the state ; and the idea was so forcibly impressed upon 

 the mind of a tea ned emigrant,* that in an address to an Agricultural 

 Society in Whitestown, in 1795, he proposed premiums for certain dis- 

 sertations; and among others, '* for the best anatomical and historical 

 account of the moose, fifty dollars ; or for bringing one in alive, sixty 

 dollars." The moose, as well as the elk, may be reclaimed from its wild 

 state. The latter is not so tall as the former and, perhaps, never exceeds 

 fifteen hands ; and he generally inhabits milder climates. The reindeer 

 has also in former times, in all probability, extended his travels to this 

 state from the regions of the north ; his favorite food, the lichen rangi- 

 ferinus, is to be found in our mountains. Our tiger, or panther, the felis 

 concoler of Schreber, and the couguar of Buffon, is the same animal 

 called the puma or lion of South America where he is extremely fero- 

 cious; the mildness of our climate having rendered him a less dangerous 

 animal. The beaver in his state of habitation, may still be found in the 

 remote parts of the state. The names of many creeks, rivers, and places 

 denote the former residence of animals which Jmve long since abandoned 

 thtm ; but it would engross too much time to pursue these hints. I 

 cannot, however, close them without remarking that this branch of 

 zoology affords abundant room for original inquiry and description. 



Many meritorious attempts have been made to illustrate the orni- 

 thology of America. Mr. Alexander Wilson, whose death is to be sin- 

 cerely lamented by every friend of science, had devoted himself for 

 years to this subject with an enthusiasm, industry, and ability never sur- 

 passed. The exactness of his likeness, the fidelity of his descriptions, 

 his interesting representations of the manners of birds, and the talents 

 for observation and delineation which are displayed in every part of his 

 elaborate work, justty place it in the first rank of writings on natural 

 history. Although he has done so much, yet the subject is by no means 

 exhausted. (18) There are doubts on many points, which one would 

 think ought Ions; since to have been settled. (19) But the most interest- 

 ing part of ornithology is the migration of birds. There are some that 

 stay with us the wtiole year ; there are others that visit us regularly ; and 

 there are several that visit us occasionally, or accidentally ; which are 

 driven by storms on our coast, by famine from their usual country, by ex- 

 cessive heat from the south, or excessive cold from the north ; or by some 

 cause unknown to us. All these birds ought to be carefully noted, and 

 accurately distinguished. Strange birds are frequently seen in the vicin- 

 ity of the ocean after a storm. Several years ago a large flock of paro- 

 quets was observed twenty-five miles to the northwest of Albany. I am 

 credibly informed that the last ravages of the canker worm on the west 

 side of Long Island were arrested by a strange bird (called by the farmers 

 the canker-worm-bird) never seen before nor since, and which devoured 

 that destructive vermin with great voracity. There arc birds that some- 



*F. Adrian Vanderkemp. 



