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•sent it as very good food. The skin is as thick as 

 that of a hog, and very easily separated from the 

 flesh. The female makes her nest in the sand, in 

 which she lays six or seven white eggs, spotted with 

 ^black. 



The quethu (diomedea Chilensis) is of the same 

 genus, size and form as the preceding, but is distin- 

 guished by its wings, which are wholly destitute of 

 .feathers, and by having four toes on each foot. The 

 ^body is covered with a very long thick ash coloured 

 plumage, a little curled, and so soft that the inhab- 

 itants of Chiloe, where these birds are very com- 

 mon, spin it, and make bed coveiings of it^ that are 

 highly prized in the country. 



The thage (pelicanus thagus) called by the Spa- 

 niards the alcatrace, is a species of pelican of a brown 

 colour, remarkable for the size of its sack. This 

 bird is as large as a turkey-cock, the neck is about 

 afoot, and the legs twenty-two inches long. Tías 

 head is large and well proportioned, and the bill, 

 which is a little bent at the point, is a foot in length, 

 and serrated at the edges, a characteristic mark that 

 distinguishes this pelican from that of Europe, whose 

 bill is entire and smooth. The lower mandible, at 

 a little distance from the point, is divided into two 

 parts, that are very elastic and extensible at the base, 

 where they open into the membraneous sack. This 

 is only an enlargement of the skin which covers the 

 lower jaw and the neck ; it is clothed with a very 

 short grey down, and is capable of great expansion.. 

 When this sack is empty it is scarcely perceptible, 

 but when filled with fish, particularly at the time 



