CRYIXG iBlS. 9 
birds to join it with. It is about the size of a large 
domestic hen. All the body, above and beneath, is 
of a dark lead colour, every feather edged or tipped 
with white, which makes the bird appear speckled on 
a near view : the eye is large, and placed high on the 
head, which is very prominent : the beak is five or 
six inches in length, arched or bent gradually down- 
wards, in that respect to be compared to one half of 
a bent bow ; it is large and thick near the base, com- 
pressed on each side, and flatted at top and beneath, 
which makes it appear four-square for more than an 
inch where the nostrils are placed, from whence to 
their tips both mandibles are round, gradually lessen- 
ing or tapering to their extremities, which are thicker 
by about half an inch than immediately above, by 
which the mandibles never fit quite close their whole 
length : the upper mandible is a small matter larger 
than the other : the beak is of a dusky green colour, 
more bright and yellowish about the base and angles 
of the mouth. The tail is very short, and the mid- 
dle feathers the longest ; the others on each side 
shorten gradually, and are of the colour of the rest of 
the bird, only somevv^hat darker : the two shortest or 
outermost feathers are perfectly white, which the bird 
has the faculty of flirting out on either side as quick 
as a flash of lightning, especially when he hears or 
sees any thing that disturbs him, uttering at the same 
instant an extreme harsh and loud shriek. His neck 
is long and slender ; and his legs are also long, and 
bare of feathers above the knee, like those of the 
bittern, and are black, or of a dark lead colour." 
])r. Barton, in the twelfth volume of the Linnean 
