THE LAUGH WHITE GAULD1NG. 333 



Timidity Peculiar noise. 



and feet are brown, tinctured with a *lusky yel- 

 low, and greenish gloss. 



They generally feed on the salt marshes, not 

 far from the sea, and are so timorous that they 

 will very rarely admit a man to come near them, 

 usually seeking their food in the night as other 

 nocturnal birds do. They are said to make a 

 noise like the barking of a dog, from whence 

 they are supposed to take the name of barker; 

 though, according to Mr. Ray, this appears to be 

 the bird described by Bellonius by the name of 

 berge, and that which the French call petit 

 corlieu, which they esteem a very great delicacy. 



THE LARGE WHITE GAULDING 



MEASURES from the end of the bill to that 

 of the tail, about three feet and a half, and about 

 four feet from the extension of each wing ; the 

 bill is very long, angular, and of a yellow colour, 

 in which there are two Jong slits for nostrils. The 

 neck is very crooked, resembling in some degree 

 a Roman S, and is about eleven inches long. 

 The feathers that cover the whole body are of an 

 exceedingly beautiful milk-white colour. The 

 thighs, legs, and toes, are about ten inches long, 

 and are covered with large scales, of a bluish 

 black colour. It has four toes, one behind, and 

 three before, the middlemost of which is near 

 three inches long; the claws are blacky and 

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