4° Ikto^nglan&s Parities. 



The Troculus. 1 



The Troculus, a fmall Bird, black and white, no bigger 

 than a Swallow, the points of whofe Feathers are fharp, 

 which they ftick into the fides of the Chymney (to reft 

 themfelves, their Legs being exceeding fhort) where they 

 breed in Nefts made like a Swallows Neft, but of a glewy 

 fubftance, and which is not fattened to the Chymney as a 

 Swallows Neft, but hangs down the Chymney by a clew- 

 like firing a yard long. They commonly have four or five 

 young ones, and when they go away, which is much about 

 the time that Swallows ufe to depart, they never fail to 

 throw down one of their young Birds into the room by 

 way of Gratitude. I have more than once obferved, that 

 againft the ruin of the Family thefe Birds will fuddenly 

 forfake the houfe and come no more. 



[8] The Pilhannaw? 



The Pilhannaw or Mechquan, much like the defcrip- 

 tion of the Indian Ruck, a monftrous great Bird, a kind 



1 Chimney-swallow. 



- "The pilhannaw is the king of birds of prey in New England. Some take 

 him to be a kind of eagle; others for the Indian ruck, — the biggest bird that is, 

 except the ostrich. One Mr. Hilton, living at Pascataway, had the hap to kill 

 one of them. Being by the sea-side, he perceived a great shadow over his head, 

 the sun shining out clear. Casting up his eyes, he saw a monstrous bird soaring 

 aloft in the air; and, of a sudden, all the ducks and geese (there being then a 

 great many) dived under water, nothing of them appearing but their heads. Mr. 

 Hilton, having made readie his piece, shot and brought her down to the ground. 

 How he disposed of her, I know not ; but had he taken her alive, and sent her 

 over into England, neither Bartholomew nor Sturbridge Fair could have produced 

 such another sight." — Josselyn's Voyages, p. 95. These notices have been taken 



