NORTFI AMERICA. 



109 



Eider Duck. 



Pelican. 



they suffered 

 given to tliera. 



cited to labor ; for otherwise they would 

 continue always in fixed repose. When 

 they have raised themselves about thirty 

 or forty feet above the surface of the wa- 

 ter, they turn their head, with one eye 

 downw-ards, and continue to fly in that pos> 

 lure. As soon as they perceive a fish suf- 

 ficiently near the surface, they dart down 

 upon it with the swilUiess of an arrow, seize 

 it with unerring certainty, and store it up 

 in their pouch. They then rise again, 

 though not without great labor, and con- 

 tinue hovering and fishing, with their head 

 on one side, as before. 



Sometimes they are said to assemble in 

 large numbers, to act in concert, and ma- 

 noeuvre with great skill, for the purpose of 

 securing an abundant prey. This tliey ac- 

 complish by forming a circular line, gradu- 

 ally narrowing the included space, till th^ 

 fishes are driven within a small compass. 

 They then all plunge into the water al 

 once, on a given signal, fill their pouches 

 with the spoil, and then return to the land, 

 to enjoy themselves at leisure. 



Their life is spent between sleeping and 

 eating. The female makes no preparation 

 for her nest, nor seems to choose any place 

 in preference to lay in, but drops her eggs 

 on the bare ground, to the number of five 

 or six, and there continues to hatch them. 

 Her little progeny, however, seem to call 

 forth some maternal affections ; for the 

 young have been taken and tied by the leg 

 to a post, and the parent bird has been ob- 

 served for several days to come and feed 

 them, remaining witli them the gi'eatest part 

 of the day, and spending the night on the 

 branch of a tree that hung over them. By 

 these means they became so familiar that 

 and they very readily accepted whatever fish was 



themselves to be handled 

 These they always put first into their pouch, and then swallowed them at leisure. 

 It was once believed that the pelican fed her young with her own blood ; a fable for which 

 we are indebted to some of the early fathers of the church, and which has been perpetuated by 

 poets and heralds. The fact is, that the parent bird feeds the young by pressing its full pouch 

 against its breast, and thus expelling a portion of the contents. The appearance of the bird 

 when in this attitude, with the bloody spot on the end of its bill closely pressed against the deli- 

 cate plumage of its breast, may, it has been well observed, readily account for the preva.'tnce 

 of such an idea in the minds of superficial observers. 



The Black-bellied Darter^ or Snake Bird [Plotus melanogastcr) is common from the Caro- 

 linas to Guiana. The head, neck, and breast are light brown ; the belly and tail, deep black. 

 Tt sits on the shrubs that hang over the water, and often terrifies the passengers by darting out 

 its long and slender neck, which bears a strong resemblance to that of a serpent. 



The .Alligator [Crocodilus lucius) is common in the larger rivers of the south and south- 

 west, and abounds particularly in Louisiana. Mr. Audubon furnishes us with the following 

 account, which refers to that State : 



" All our lagoons, bayous, creelcs, ponds, lakes, and rivers, are well stocked with them ; they are 

 found wherever there is a sufficient quantity of water to liide them, or to furnish them with food ; 

 and they continue thus, in great numbers, as high as the mouth of the Arkansas River, extendintr 



