252 BRITISH BIRDS. 



bordered with black near their margins, and edged 

 with white : the quills black, edged a little way 

 from the tips with blue grey : the under parts and 

 tail coverts white : the thighs are marked with 

 dusky lines or spots, and are black near the 

 knees : the tail is black, and five inches and a 

 half long: the legs and feet dusky, very thick 

 and short, and have a stumpy appearance. 



In severe winters, these birds are not uncom- 

 mon in this kingdom, particularly on the northern 

 and western parts, where, however, they remain 

 only a short time, but depart early in the spring 

 to their northern wilds, to breed and spend the 

 summer. 



The history of the Bernacle has been rendered 

 remarkable by the marvellous accounts which were 

 in former times related concerning their propaga- 

 tion, or rather their growth. Almost all the old 

 naturalists, as well ornithologists as others, assert 

 that they were produced from shells which grow 

 out of rotten shipwrecked timber, and other kinds 

 of wood and trees which lay under water, in the 

 sea, and that these shells owed their origin to 

 " spume or froth," which, in a short time, assum- 

 ed a fungous appearance upon the wood : others 

 affirmed that they were produced from the palms 

 or fruits of a tree like the willow, which, when 

 ripe, dropped off into the water, and became 

 alive, &c. Treatises were written expressly on 

 these chimerical principles, giving a particular 

 description of their first appearance, progressive 

 growth, birth, (or final exclusion from the shell,) 

 and of their dropping into the sea, swimming 

 about, and becoming perfectly feathered birds, &c. 



