BIRDS. 



355 



ed by this bird, in order to decoy smaller birds ^Vhich 

 feed on insects, into a situation from whence he could 

 dart on and seize them. 



He is called nine killer from the supposition that 

 he sticks up nine grasshoppers in succession. 



That the insects are placed there as food to tempt 

 other birds, is said to appear from their being fre- 

 quently left for a considerable length of time. 



The roseate spoon bill, Platalea ajaja. 



The bill is six inches in length; flattish, long ^nd 

 thin ; the tip dilated, orbiculated and plain ; it is 

 marked all round with a furrow parallel to the edge, 

 and is of a greyish white, somewhat transparent, so 

 as to shew the ramification of the blood vessels be- 

 longing to it. The forehead, between the bill and 

 eyes, and throat, are bare and whitish; the'plumage 

 is a fine rose colour, deepest on the wings; the legs 

 are grey ; and the claws blackish ; the toes furnished 

 with membranes as in the white species. These 

 beautiful birds are seen in great plenty upon the 

 coast of Georgia, particularly in the islands at the 

 north mouth of the Ala t am aha. 



Canvass back duck. This species of duck is 

 more extolled for the delicious flavour of its flesh than 

 any other of the v/hole order of water fowl. 



There is a fine specimen of it in Mr. Peak's mu- 

 seum. It is a migratory fowl, and breeds in the re- 

 gions north or north-west of the United States. The 

 old ones return southward v/ith their young, so as to 

 arrive on the coast of the Atlantic towards the end 

 of autumn or the beginnin^^ of winter, where they 

 ?^emain until the approach cf warm weather, and 



