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gold colour, fuperior to the ncheft gilding with that metal ; 

 the female white, with the tail and half the body emulating 

 the fineft filver. Du Halde obferves that the red and white 

 colours are not always the diftinguiihing marks of the male 

 and female ; but that the female is known by fevcral white 

 fpots which are feen round the orifices that ferve them as 

 organs of hearing, and the male by having thefe fpots much 

 brighter. GroCer, in hii defcription of China, fays, great 

 care is neceffary to preferve them ; for they are extremely 

 delicate, and fenfible of the leall injuries of the air ; a loud 

 noife, fuch as that of thunder or cannons ; a Urong fmell ; 

 a violent (haking of the veflel ; or even a fingle touch, will 

 oftentimes deftroy them. Thefe fifh live with httlc nou- 

 rilhment ; thofe fmall worms which are engendered in the 

 water, or the earthy particles that are mixed with it, are 

 fufficient for their food. The Chinefe, however, take great 

 care from time to time to throw into the bafons and refer- 

 voirs where they are kept, fmall balls of parte, which they 

 are vei-y fond of, when diflblved ; they give them alfo lean 

 pork dried in the fun, and reduced to a fine and delicate 

 powder, and fomeiimes fnails ; the (lime which thefe infects 

 leave at the bottom of the veflel is a great delicacy for 

 them, and they eagerly feed on it. In winter they are re- 

 moved from the grounds or open air to a warm chamber, 

 where they are kept generally in veflils of porcelain. Du- 

 ring this feafon, they receive no nourifhment ; but however 

 in the fpring, when they are canied back to their fonner ba- 

 fons or refcrvoirs, they fport and play with the fame ftrength 

 and livelinefs as they did in the preceding year. In warm 

 countries thefe fifh multiply faft, provided care be taken to 

 coUeft their fpawn, which floats on the water, and which 

 they almoft entirely devour. This fpawn is put into a par- 

 ticular kind of vefTel, expofcd to the fun, and preferved there 

 until vivified by the heat ; gold-fifh, however, feldom multi- 

 ply when they are kept in clofe vafes, becaufe they are then 

 too much confined. In order to render them fruitful, they 

 muft be put into refervoirs of confiderable depth, in fome 

 places at leaft, and which are conftantly fupplied with frefh 

 water. At certain times of the year a prodigious number 

 of barks may be feen in the great river Yangtfe-lviang, 

 which go thither to purchafe the fpawn of thefe fifh. To- 

 wards the month of May, the neighbouring inhabitants fliut 

 up the river in feveral places with mats and hurdles, which 

 occupy an extent of almoft nine, or ten leagues, and they 

 leave only a place in the middle fufEcient for the paflage of 

 barks. The fpawn of this fifh, which the Chinefe can dif- 

 tinguifli at firft fight, although a ftranger could perceive no 

 traces of it in the water, is ftopped by thefe hurdles. The 

 water mixed with fpawn is then drawn up, and after it 

 has been put into large veflels, it is fold to the merchants, 

 who tranfport it afterwards to every part of the empire. 

 This water is fold by meafure, and purcliafed by thofe who arc 

 defirous of ftocking their ponds and rivers with gold-fifh. 



Notwithftanding tlie tendernefs of this fifh in its native 

 climate, it is now naturalized in England, 1 i-ance, Holland, 

 feveral parts of Germany, and other countries of Kurope. 

 They are faid to have been firft introduced into Great Britain 

 about the year 1691, but were not generally known, accord- 

 ing to Pennant, till 1 728, when a great number were brought 

 over, and prefented firft to fir Matthew Dekker, and by him 

 circulated round the neighbourhood of London, from 

 whence they were diftributed to moft parts of the country. 

 *' Nothing," fays one writer, (Enc. Brit.) " can be more 

 amufing than a glafs bowl containing fuch fifhcs ; the double 

 refraiflions of the glafs and water repreknt them, when 

 moving, in a fliifting and changeable variety of dimenfions, 

 fhades, and colours ; whik the two mediums afilfted by the 



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concavo-convex fliape of the veflel, magnify and diftoit them 

 valtly ; not to mention that the introdudion of another 

 element and its inhabitants into our parlours engages 

 the fancy in an agreeable manner. Some people exhibit this 

 fort of fifli in a very fanciful way ; for they caufe a glafs 

 bowl to be blown with a large hollow fpacc within, that 

 does not ccmmunicate «-ith it. In this cavity, they put 

 a bird occafionally ; fo that you fee a gold finch or a linnet 

 hopping as it were in the midft of the water, and the fiflies 

 fwimming in a circle round it. The fimple exhibition of 

 the fiftes is agreeable and pleafant ; but in fo complicated 

 a way becomes whimCcal and unnatural, and liable to the 

 objeftion due to him, qui variare cupit rem proJ-galiler unam." 



One circumftance that has been remarked of the fifh, de- 

 ferves particular mention. It is faid, when young, to be 

 rot unfrequently of a deep black colour, and that after a 

 time little filvery fpecks begin to appear through the black ; 

 thefe incieafing in fize very gradually, till the black entirely 

 difappears, the vhole fifli becomes of a fine and refplendent 

 filver ; from which it at laft changes to a red. Sometimes, 

 however, it appears of a beautiful golden-red in the firft ia- 

 ftance. 



AuRATUs, in Ornithology, a fpecies of Cuculus, about 

 feven inches in length, that inhabits the cape of Good Hope. 

 Buffbn calls this bird coucou-j-vert dore et blanc ; Hift. Oif., and 

 in his PI. Enlum. coucou vert du cap de Bonne Efperance. The 

 tail is wedge-fhaped ; body above golden-green, beneath 

 white ; on the head five ftreaks ; wing-coverts, fecondary 

 quill-feathers, with thofe of the tail, white at the tips. By- 

 Latham, it is named in Englifh the gilded cucLo-jj. 



AuRATUs, a fpecies of Picus or wocd-pecker, called by 

 V>n^. picas Canadenjis Jlrijiui ; pic raye de Canada, et pic auK 

 diks dcrees by Buffbn ; picus major alls aureis by Kalm ; 

 cuculus auralus, Linn. Syft. Nat. X. ; and gold-winged wood- 

 pecker by Catcftiy and other EnglilTi writers. Forfter and 

 Gmelin dcfcribe it as being tranfverfely ftreaked with grey 

 and black ; chin and bread black ; nape red ; rump white. 



The length of this bird is eleven inches ; bill an mch 

 and a half long, black, and rather bent ; and contrary to 

 others of the fame genus, is rounded and ridged only on the 

 top, with the point fharp. The female ditfers from th« 

 male in having the crown and neck behind grey brov»-n ; 

 the red of the hind head Icfs vivid ; greater quill feathers 

 not fpotted on the edges, and being deftitutc of the black 

 ftripe on the throat. It inhabits Virginia, Canada, and 

 other parts of North America. About New Jerfey, and 

 New York, it is called by fome hittock or pint, and by others 

 high-htk ; the two former, from the four:d of its note, and 

 the latter from the fituation of its neft. It is almoft con- 

 tinually on the ground, and is not obferved to climb on the 

 trees hke other birds of the fame genus. 



The food of this bird is chiefly infedls, and berries of the 

 red cedar ; it is very fat, and in efteem for the table. Forfter, 

 in the Philofophical TranfaAions, informs us that it is a 

 bird of paflage in the northern parts of America, vifiting 

 the neighbourhood of Albany fort in April, and leaving it 

 in September ; that it lays four, five, or fix eggs in hollow 

 trees, and feeds on worms and infects. It is calicd by the 

 natives oulhee-quan-no'j). 



AuiiATUs, a fpecies of Turdus, the general colour of 

 which is violet; back and wings golden -green ; band on 

 the inner margin of the wings, tail, and upper tail-covcrts, 

 blue. Gmelin. This beautiful bird is rather larger than 

 turdus mcrula, or common black bird, and inhabits the king- 

 dom of Whidah, in Africa. Buflon calls it le merle violet 

 du rcyawne dejuida ; and Latham the gildid thrujh. 



Au.iATUs, a fpecies of Trochilus, calltd by Latham 

 Z z a the 



