( J*8 ) 
ViBus- %itio, Nidificatio , Volatus , See. 
Gefner fays, circa lacus & paludes viclitat , and that ic 
feeds on Perwinkles and Fiih: And by Dumpier s Ac- 
count we learn, that they delight to keep together in 
Flocks, and feed in Mud and Ponds, or in fuch Places 
where there is not much Water ; that they are very lhy, 
and therefore it is hard to flioot them; that they build 
their Nells in (hallow Ponds, where there is much Mud, 
which they ferape together, making little Hillocks, like 
fmall Iflands, appearing out of the Water, a Foot and 
an half from the Bottom : They make the Foundation of 
thefe Hillocks broad, bringing them up tapering to the 
Top, where they leave a fmall hollow Pit to lay their 
Eggs in. And when they either lay their Eggs or hatch 
them, they hand all the while, not on the Hillock, but 
over it, with their Legs on the Ground in the Water, 
rehing themfelves againh the Hillock, and covering the 
hollow Neh upon it with their Wings.- For their Legs 
are very long, and building thus, as they do, upon the 
Ground, they could neither draw their Legs convenient- 
ly into their Nehs, nor fit down upon them otherwise 
than by rehing their whole Bodies there, to the Prejudice 
of their Eggs or Young, were it not for this admirable 
Contrivance, which they have by natural Inhind;. They 
never lay more than three Eggs, and feldom fewer. The 
young ones cannot fly till they are almoh full grown j 
but will run prodigioufly fah. Thus far Dampier. 
Du Tertre, in his Hihory of the Ifles, &c. gives thefe 
further Circumhances. Ces oyfeanx, dit il, ont k ton de 
la voix ft fort , quit ny aperfonne, en les entendant , qui nt 
crcuft que ce font des trompettes qui foment. Ils font ton * 
jours en bandes, & pendant quils ont U tefie cache?, barho - 
rant dans /’ eau comme les Cygnes-, pour trouver leur mange- 
aille, il y a toujour s un en fentinelle tout de bout , le col eten » 
dk 
