169 



when the bird has young, its size is really astonish- 

 ing. Nature, ever attentive to adapt the mean to 

 the end, has furnished this bird with a large pair of 

 wings, which are nearly nine feet in breadth from 

 one extremity to the other; the quills are very long, 

 and are preferred for writing to those of the goose 

 or the swan ; its tail is short and round, and the feet 

 have four toes united by a strong membrane. It is 

 a solitary and indolent bird, almost constantly to be 

 seen upon the rocks, where it makes its nest, and it 

 has usually five young at a brood. The inhabitants, 

 after dressing them, make use of these sacks for 

 tobacco pouches ; they are also employed for Ian* 

 terns, and from their transparency answer the pur* 

 pose very well. 



The cage (anas hybrida) is a species of goose 

 which frequents the islands in the Archipelago of 

 Chiloe. It is remarkable for the difference of colour 

 between the male and the female ; the former being 

 entirely white, with a yellow bill and legs; whereas 

 the female is black, except a narrow white stripe 

 with which the edges of some of the feathers are 

 marked, and the bill and legs are red. In conse- 

 quence of this remarkable dissimilarity, I have given 

 to this bird the name of the hybrid, or mulatto. The 

 cage is of the size of a tame goose, but it has a 

 shorter neck, and a longer tail and wings; the feet 

 are shaped like those of the European goose The 

 male and female appear to be strongly attached to 

 each other ; they keep in pairs, and are never to be 

 met with, like other aquatic birds, in large flocks. 

 During the breeding season they retire to the sea 



Vol. I. 4 a 



