108 



NORTH AMERICA, 



than tliey begin calling aloud, until the flock approaches so near, that the gunners are enabled 

 make great havoc among them with their musket shot." 



The Swan [Cygnus ferus) is found 



to 



The Swan. 



Wood or Summer Duck. 



IS louna in 



various parts of North America. Here this 

 noble bird is seen floating near the shores, ia 

 flocks of sonie 2 or 300, white as the driven 

 snow, and, from time to time, emitting fine, 

 sonorous, and occasionally melodious songs, 

 so loud tliat tlicy may be heard on a still eve- 

 ning, two or three miles. There are two 

 kinds so called from their respective notes ; 

 the one the trumpeter, and the other the 

 hooper ; the former is the largest. These 

 birds are sagacious and wary, and depend 

 more on sight, than on the sense of smell. 



The Wood or Summer Duck {Anas spon- 

 sa) is the most beautiful bird of its kind in 

 the world. It was named sponsa., or the bride, 

 by Linna3us, from the crest which adorns its 

 head, resembling the wedding head-dress of 

 the Swedish peasants. Its plumage is most 

 brilliantly variegated. It passes the summer 

 in the woods, but its favorite spots are the 

 borders of ponds and lakes. It nestles in 

 hollow trees, and when taken tnay be easily 

 tamed. 



The Canvas-back Duck (FidiguJa valisne- 

 ria) is peculiar to America, and is more cele- 

 brated than any other, for the excellent flavor 

 of its flesh. They breed, as is supposed, on 

 the borders of the northern lakes, or of Hud- 

 son's Bay ; they frequent the waters of the 

 Chesapeake, and are abundant on the Missis- 

 sippi. It is well ascertained that they feed on 

 the bulbous root of a grass. 



which grows on 



the flats in the fresh water of these rivers, and 

 has very much the color and flavor of garden 

 celery ; it is to this food that has been at- 

 tributed, and we believe correctly, the pecu- 

 liarly delicious taste of their flesh. They 

 feed in from 6 to 10 feet water ; they are 

 expert divers, and with great strength and 

 agility, seize the grass near the bottom, bring- 

 ing it up root and branch to the surface, 

 where they bite oft' the root, leaving the long 

 herbaceous part to float on the water. 



The Eider Duck (F. mollissima) is l"ound 

 on the coast in the northern parts of North 

 America, as v.ell as in Euicpe. From 

 this bird is procured the soft down called 

 eider down, which is so well known as an article of commerce. In the breeding season, the 

 birds pluck it from their breasts to line their nests, and make a soft bed for the young ones ; this 

 the nativesjemove with the eggs, and the female plucks new down and lays afresh. If she has 

 not enough left, the male covers the eggs with his down. One female bird generally gives half 

 a pound of down. 



The Pelican (Pelecanus onocrotalus) is very abundant on the shores of the Southern 

 States. They are all torpid and inactive to the last degree, so that nothing can exceed 

 their indolence but tlieir gluttony. It is only from the stimulations of hunger that they are ex- 



Canvas-Lack Dad; 



