520 AN 
on the throat; the bread and fades are pale rufous ; the 
belly is obfcure; the back is pale • the lower part is un¬ 
dulated, hoary, and brown, not very diftindt; the rump 
and tail are greenilh black ; the legs long and black. This 
fpecies is found in all the fouthern parts of Rullia and 
Siberia, in plenty. In winter it migrates into India, and 
returns northward in the fpring. It makes the neft in the 
craggy banks of the Wolga, and other rivers, or in the 
hollows of the delerted hillocks or marmots; making it 
after the manner of the fheldrake, and is laid to form bur¬ 
rows for itfel'f in the manner of that bird. It has bqen 
known alfo to lay in a hollow tree, lining the nefl: with its 
own feathers. It is monogamous : the male arid female 
fit in turns. The eggs are like thofe of the common duck. 
When the young come forth, tlx: mother will often carry 
Them from the place of hatching to the water with her 
bill. They have been attempted to be domefticated, by 
rearing the young under tame duCks; but without fuc- 
cefs, as they are ever wild, eft'edting their efcape the firft 
opportunity; or, if the old ones are taken and confined, 
they lay their eggs in a difperfed manner, and never fit. 
The voice is not unlike the note of a clarinet, while Hy¬ 
ing ; at other times they cry like a peacock, efpecially 
when kept tame ; and now and then cluck like a hen. It 
is very choice, of .its mate ; for, if the male be killed, the 
female will not leave the gunner till lhe has been two or 
three times.foot at. The flefh is very good lopd. 
15. The bernicla, is of a brown colour, with the bead, 
neck, and bread, black, and a white collar. Thefe birds, 
like the bernacles, frequent our coafts in winter; and are 
■particularly plenty, at times, on thofe of Holland and Ire¬ 
land, where they are taken in nets placed acrofs the ri¬ 
vers. In fome leafons they have reforted to the coafts of 
Picardy, in France, in ftich prodigious flocks, as to prove 
n nefl to the inhabitants ; efpecially in the winter of the 
year 1740., when thefe birds deftroyed all the corn near 
the fea-coafts, by tearing it up by the roots. A general 
war was for this reafon declared againft them, and car¬ 
ried on in earned, by knocking them on the head with 
clubs-; but their numbers were f'o prodigious, that this 
availed but little : nor were the inhabitants relieved from 
this fcourge till the north wind, which had brought them, 
ceafed to blow, when they took leave. They eafily be¬ 
come tame; and, being fatted, are thought to be a deli¬ 
cate food. They breed pretty far north, returning fouth- 
ward in autumn. They fly in the fhape of a wedge, like 
the wild geefe, with great clamour. They are called in 
Shetland, Horra geefe., from being found in that found. 
They are common alfo in America ; breeding in the iflands, 
. and along the coaft, and feed about high-water mark. Their 
food confiltscf plants, fuch as the fmall biftort, and black- 
berried heath, lea-worms, berries, and the like. They are 
apt to have a fifhy tafte, but are in general thought good 
food. The lame fable lias heen told of this bird as of the 
•bernacle, in rcfpecf to its being bred from trees. It is 
.called at Hudfon’s Bay, Welha may pa wcw. 
16. The canadenlis is brown; its neck and head are 
black, and the throat is white. It meafures three feet and 
half in length. It is found during the fummer in Hudfon’s 
Bay, and parts beyond ; alfo in Greenland ; and, in the 
fummer months, in various,parts of North America, as 
far as Carolina. Numbers breed at Hudfon’s Bay, and 
lay fix or feven eggs; but the major part retire Hill far¬ 
ther north. Their firft appearance in the Bay is from a- 
-bout the middle of April to about the middle of May, 
when the inhabitants wait for them with impatience, being 
one of the chief articles for food, and many years kill as 
many as three or four thoufand, which are falted and bar¬ 
relled. Their arrival is the harbinger of fpring, and the 
month is named by the Indians th t goofc moon. The Bri- 
tilh lend out their fervants, as well as Indians, to fiioot 
thefe birds on their palfage. It is in vain to purliie them; 
they therefore form a row of huts made of boughs, at 
mufket-lhot difiance.from each other, and place them in 
Si fine acrols the vaft marfiies of the country. Each ho- 
A S. 
vel, or, as they are called, Jlann, is occupied by only b 
fingle perfon. Thefe attend the flight of the birds, and 
on their approach mimic their cackle fo well, that the 
geefe will ar.fwer, and wheel, and come nearer the .Hand. 
The fportfman keeps motionlefs, and on his knees, with 
his gun cocked, the whole time ; and never fires till he 
has leen the eyes of the geefe. He fires as they are going 
from him, then picks up another gun that lies by, and 
difcharges that. The geefe which he has killed heTets 
upon flicks, as if alive, to decoy others; he alfo makes 
.artificial birds for the fame purpofe. In a fuccefsful day 
a (ingle Indian will kill .200. Notwithftanding every fpe¬ 
cies of goofe has a different call, yet the Indians are ad¬ 
mirable in their imitation of every one. In this port, 
however, they mull’be very careful to fecrete themfelves; 
for the birds are very Ihy, and on the lead motion fly olf 
diredlly. On their return fouth, which is from the mid¬ 
dle of Auguft to the middle of October, much havoc is 
made among them ; but thefe are preferved frelli for win¬ 
ter fiore, by putting them, feathers and all, into a large 
’hole dug in the ground, and covering them with mould ; 
and thefe, during the whole time of the froft’s lading, 
are found perfetftiy fwcet andgood. The Indians at Hud¬ 
fon’s Bay call them apifi/kijk. This fpecies is now pretty 
common, in a tame date, both on the continent and in 
England ; on the great canal of Verfailles, hundreds are 
■feen mixing with the fwans with the greated cordiality; 
and the fame at Chantilly. In England, likewife, they 
are thought a great ornament to the pieces of water ira 
many gentlemen’s feats, where they are very familiar, and 
breed freely. The flefh pf the -young birds is accounted 
good ; and the feathers equal to thofe of other geefe, info* 
much as to prove an article of commerce much in favour 
of thofe places where they are in fufficient numbers. 
17. The molliflima, or eider-duck, is double the fize 
of the common duck, has a cylindrical bill, and the wax 
is divided behind, and wrinkled. The feathers, which 
are very foft and valuable, fall oft' during incubation. 
The male is white above, but black below and behind; 
the female is greenilh. This fpecies is found in the Weft- 
ern Hies of Scotland, particularly on Oranfa, Barra, Rona, 
and Heilker, and on the Earn Ifles; but in greater num¬ 
bers in Norway, Iceland, and Greenland; from whence a 
vaft quantity of the down, known by the name of eider, 
or edder, which thefe birds furnifh, is annually imported. 
Its remarkably light, elaftic, and warm, qualities, make it 
highly efteemed as a fluffing for coverlets. This down is 
produced from the breafi; of the birds in the breeding lea.- 
fon. It lays its eggs among the Hones or plants near the 
fiiore ; and prepares a foft bed for them, by plucking the 
down from its own breafi ; the natives watch the oppor¬ 
tunity, and tnke.away both eggs and neft ; the duck lays 
again, a: d repeats the plucking of its breafi : if Hie is 
robbed after that, me will ftilj lay ; but the drakes mull 
fupply the down, as her fiock is now exhaufted: but, if 
her eggs are taken a third time, (lie wholly deferts the 
place. Thefe birds are not numerous on the ifles; and 
it is obferved, that the drakes keep on thofe mod remote 
from the fitting-places. The ducks continue on their nefts 
till you come almoft clofe to them ; and, when they rife, 
are very (low fliers. The number of eggs in eacli neft: 
are from three to five, warmly bedded in the down; of a 
pale olive colour; and very large, g'lofly, and fmooth. 
They fometimes, however, lay as many as eight; for Van 
Troil informs us, that no lefs than fix teen have been found 
in one neft, with two females, who agree remarkably well 
together. In America, this bird is found as far fouth as 
New York, and breeds on the defert ifles of New Eng¬ 
land ; but moft common every whereto the north. They 
are faid to be conftant to the fame breeding-places, and 
that a pair has been obferved to occupy the fame neft fqr 
twenty years together. They take their young on their 
backs inftantly to fea; then dive, to fliake them oft', and 
teach them to Ihift for themfelves. It is faid, that the 
males are five years old before they come to their full 
z colour; 
