234 NATURALIST'S CABINET 



Ridiculous fables Small bernaclcs. 



lays the understanding asleep. Such are the 

 wild chimeras that have been detailed concern- 

 ing the origin of the bernaeles; which ridiculous 

 fables once enjoyed great celebrity, and were 

 admitted by many authors. Such is the folly of 

 mankind to give credence to every wonderful 

 tale such the dangerous contagion of error and 

 superstition ! 



The small bernacles frequent our coasts, as 

 well as those of Holland and Ireland, in winter ; 

 they are of a brown colour, with the head, neck, 

 and breast, black, and a white collar. They are 

 easily tamed, and when fatted, are thought to be 

 delicate food. In some seasons they have been 

 known to resort to the coasts of France in such 

 numbers as to become a pest; and in the winter 

 of 1740, they destroyed all the corn near the sea 

 coasts, by tearing it up by the roots: a general 

 war was declared against them, and though thou- 

 sands were knocked on the head, it availed but 

 little; nor were the inhabitants released from 

 this scourge till the north-wind, which brought 

 them, ceased to blow, when they took their 

 leave. 



THE C4NADJ GOOSE. 



^ 



THIS bird is somewhat bigger than the tam 

 goose. The bill, the head, and the neck, are 

 black; and under the throat there is a broad 





