WATER FOWL. 365 



to be taken from under her. Now and then she 

 just ventures to peck, or to cry out when a person 

 offers to beat her oif. 



She feeds her young with fish macerated for some 

 time in her bag ; and when they cry, flies off for a 

 new supply. Labat tells us that he took two of 

 these when very young, and tied them by the leg 

 to a post stuck into the ground, where he had the 

 pleasure of seeing the old one for several days 

 come to feed them, remaining with them the 

 greatest part of the day, and spending the night 

 on the branch of a tree that hung over them. By 

 these means they were all three become so fami- 

 liar, that they suffered themselves to be handled ; 

 and the young ones very kindly accepted what- 

 ever fish he offered them. These they always 

 put first into their bag, and then swallowed at 

 their leisure. 



It seems, however, that they are but disagreeable 

 and useless domestics ; their gluttony can scarcely 

 be satisfied ; their flesh smells very rancid, and 

 tastes a thousand times worse than it smells. The 

 native Americans kill vast numbers, not to eat, 

 for they are not fit even for the banquet of a 

 savage, but to convert their large bags into purses 

 and tobacco pouches. They bestow no small 

 pains in dressing the skin with salt and ashes, 

 rubbing it well with oil, and then forming it to 

 their purpose. It thus becomes so soft and pliant 

 that the Spanish women sometimes adorn it with 

 gold and embroidery to make work-bags of. 



Yet, with all the seeming hebetude of this bird, 

 it is not entirely incapable of instruction in a 



