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SURF DUCK. 



-fFuLIGULA PERSPICILLATA, Linn. 

 PLATE CCCCII.— Male and Female. 



Although several years have elapsed since I visited the sterile country of 

 Labrador, I yet enjoy the remembrance of my rambles there; nay, reader, 

 many times have I wished that you and I were in it once more, especially 

 in the winter season. I calculate indeed how easily this wish might be 

 accomplished, were I ten years younger. Under the hospitable roof of Mr. 

 Jones, while the tempest might be hurling southward the drifting snows, I 

 could live in peaceful content, cheered by the matchless hand-organ of my 

 kind hostess. Then, how pleasant it would be in calm weather to traverse 

 the snowy wastes, to trap the cunning fox and the Jer Falcon, allured by 

 their favourite winter food, the Rock Grouse; with what delight should I 

 gaze on the dim red sun creeping along the southern horizon, or watch the 

 flittering beams of the northern aurora. Now, over the glittering snow, 

 Jones's Esquimaux curs might swiftly convey us to his friends, here cross- 

 ing the ice-bound gulf, there traversing fissures and crags impassable in 

 summer. Then what long tales for the long nights, and sports for the short 

 days. The broad-antlered Caribou might have scampered before me, but its 

 bounds would have been suddenly checked by the fleeter ball of my well- 

 directed rifle. The wolf might have prowled around us, until he had been 

 captured in the deeply dug and well-baited pit. Then Nature's pure mantle 

 would be seen slowly to disappear, the low grounds would be inundated 

 with the snow-waters, the warm breezes would dry the mountain ridges, and 

 with the first appearance of verdure joy would cause every heart to bound. 

 Thousands of seals would be seen to snuff the milder air, myriads of tiny 

 fishes would approach the shores, and millions of feathered wanderers would 

 pass over on whistling pinions. But alas! I shall never spend a winter in 

 Labrador. 



While proceeding towards that country in 1833, on board the Ripley, I 

 found the waters of the Gulf of St. Lawrence alive with Ducks of different 

 species. The nearer we approached the coast, the more numerous did they 

 become; and of the many kinds that presented themselves to our anxious 

 gaze, the Surf Duck was certainly not the least numerous. It is true that in 



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