310 HIETOKY OF 



I i Hies seen, at the break of day, flying down in great numbers 

 ironi the mountains, and conducting each other with a trumpet 

 cry, that sounds like the word Tococo, from whence the savages 

 of Canada have given them the name. In their flight they aj)- 

 pear to great advantage ; for they then seem of as bright a red 

 <is a burning coal. When they dispose themselves to feed, theic 

 cry ceases ; and then they disperse over a whole marsh, in si- 

 lence and assiduity. Their manner of feeding is very singular : 

 the bird thrusts down its head, so that the upper convex side of 

 the bill shall only touch the ground ; and in this position the 

 animal appears, as it were, standing upon its head. In this 

 manner it paddles and moves the bill about, and seizes whatever 

 fish or insect happens to offer. For this purpose the upper 

 chap is notched at the edges, so as to hold its prey with the 

 greater security. Catesby, however, gives a different account of 

 their feeding. According to him, they thus place the upper 

 chap undermost, and so work about, in order to pick up a seed 

 from the bottom of the water, that resembles millet : but as in 

 picking up this they necessarily also suck in a great quantity of 

 mud, their bill is toothed at the edges in such a manner as to let 

 out the mud while they swallow the grain. 



Their time of breeding is according ^o the climate in which 

 they reside : in North America tney breed in our summer ; on 

 the other side of the line, they take the most favourable season 

 of the year. Thev ouild their nests in extensive marshes, and 

 .vh#re they are in no danger of a surprise. The nest is not less 

 curious than the animal that builds it : it is raised from the sur- 

 face of the pool about a foot and a half, formed of mud scraped 

 up together, and hardened by the sun, or the heat of the bird's 

 body ; it resembles a truncated cone, or one of the pots which 

 we see placed in chimneys ; on the top it is hollowed out to the 

 shape of the bird, and in that cavity the female lays her eggs, 

 without any lining but the well-cemented mud that forms the 

 sides of the building. She always lays two eggs, and no more ; 

 and, as her legs are immoderately long, she straddles on the nest, 

 while her legs hang down, one on each side, into the water. 



The young ones are a long while before they are able to fly > 

 but they run with amazing swiftness. They are sometimes 

 caught ; and, very different from the old ones, suffer themselves 

 to be carried home, and arc tamed very easily. In five or six 



