H z — 2(_3\ClTH0L0g7, Book III. 



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The Bird defcribed was (hot on the River Tame in Warmckshire. I have feen four of 

 them, i. One ztVenice in Italy: 2. One in Yorkshire at Dr. Bewkys, (hot near Cat* 

 wood : 3 . A third in the Repofitory of the Royal Society : 4. A fourth in the houfe of 

 my honoured friend Mr. Richard Darky in London, taken in the Ifle of Jarfey. Thev 

 differ fomething one from another in colours. For fbme of them have a ring about 

 their necks, their Back, Neck and Head blacker, and painted with little white lines: 

 Others want the ring, and have the upper fide of their bodies more aft-coloured or 

 grey, varied with white {peeks, and not lines. Perchance thefe are the Hens, thole 

 the Cocks. 



That which Chjim defcribed was bigger than a tame Goofe , or at leaft equal to it. 

 For from the Neck, where it joyns to the Breaft, to the Rump it was two foot long. 

 The compafs of the body round was more than two foot. The Wings were fourteen 

 inches long : The Tail fcarce three : The Tongue almoft three: The Bill more than 

 four : The Neck near eight, and lbmewhat more in compafs : The Head fhort, three 

 inches broad: The Legs fomewhat longer than three inches : The Feet four inches 

 wide. So far Clufius, Of that which Mr. WiUughby defcribed at Venice the meafures 

 wereasfolloweth: The weight thirty fix ounces: The length from Bill to Claws 

 thirty one inches 5 from Bill to Tail twenty eight. The Bill from the tip to the an- 

 gles of the mouth was almoft three inches long : The Tail two : The fecond bone of 

 the Leg four and a quarter 5 the third two and an half; the outmoft fore-toe three 

 inches and an half. The Tongue long, (harp, having atranfverfe bed of afperities 

 not far from the bottom, beneath which it is toothed on each fide, as this figure re- 

 presents. t^fe^ 55 ** In the Palate, on each fide the filTure, are five rows of prickles 

 or afperities. The blind guts were three inches and an half long. Hence it ma nifeft- 

 ly appears, that the bird defcribed by Clufius was bigger than ours. But perchance 

 Clujjtts his was a Cock, ours a Hen. For "thofe I faw at Dr. Hewleys and Mr. Darleys 

 were nothing at all lefs than that of Clujiw, fent him by Hoierm. But what Hoier 

 writes of them, that they cannot fly at all, is a miftake 5 for though they never 

 breed in England, yet in hard Winters they come over hither. I fcarce believe 

 they fwim fo far. Whence it is manifeft, that they not only flie, but make great 

 flights. 



§. II. 



* Gefners greateji Doucker : Colymbus maximus Gefneri. 



IN the Lake of Conjiance I hear there is taken, though but feldom, a certain bird 

 congenerous to the aforefaid, but bigger thanaGw/e, called Finder, from its un- 

 couth fluttering motion on the furface of the water, for that it can neither fly wetf, 

 nor walk conveniently, unlefs it leans both upon Feet and Wings, as do alio the other 

 Douckers, by reafon of the pofition of the Legs fo turned backwards : That it hath a 

 long, (harp Bill : A loud, fhrill cry, of a fingular kind : That it dives exceeding 

 deep, fb that it is fometimes taken twenty yards deep under water, viz. with a Net,or 

 an Iron-hook baited with a fifti: that they are commonly fold for two drachms and an 

 half of filver a piece. 



Leonard Baltner, a Fifhermanof Strasburgh, defcribes this bird thus. In bignefs it 

 equals a Goofe : Its length from the point of the Bill to the end of the Toes is one 

 Strmbnrgh yard and an half. Its Bill from the point to the Eyes is five inches long: 

 The Legs from the Claws to the feathers (that is the barepartj ten inches : The fpace 

 of the Wings extended two y ards and a quarter. The Stomach fmall : It feeds upon 

 fifh : The Bill fharp : The Feet broad, the toes web'd together. The upper fide of 

 the body is cinereous and black, the under-fide white. The Tail three inches long. 

 It dives very far, a Piftol-ihot before it rifes again. Itsflefh is commended for- good 

 meat, and is of no unpleafant tafte. 



This Bird if it be different from the above defcribed, is I confefs hitherto to me 

 unknown. Mr. Johnfon, in his Papers fent us, writes, that he hath ihen a bird of this 

 kind without any fpotsin its Back or Wings,but yet thinks it not to differ fpecifically, 

 but accidentally. 



§. III. 



