779 
ORNITHOLOGY. 
fie qualities: water-fowl alfo perform the fame office in 
their element which the rapacious birds do in the air ; 
they prevent the putrefafiion of ftagn.ated waters, and 
preferve their purity, by deftroying valt numbers of aqua¬ 
tic animals with which they teem, whofe bodies, by cor¬ 
ruption, would render it pernicious. Thus, throughout 
the whole empire of nature, every province is fubfervient 
to the general welfare: vegetables, infefts, and fillies, 
fupply many animals, while the former are more univer- 
fally difleminated by the latter 5 every order contributes 
to affift and nouriffi the adjoining one, or to check its 
exuberance. Thus a due balance and proportion is main¬ 
tained throughout the whole ; and no nation in the uni- 
verfal republic is allowed to pafs its boundaries, or over¬ 
power its neighbours. 
Befides the ufes to which the feathered tribes are fub¬ 
fervient in the general plan of nature, w'e may contem¬ 
plate their connection with man, and obferve how far they 
contribute to his pleafureor advantage. With regard to 
his fupport, their utility is momentous ; for it is re¬ 
markable, that, of the vaft number of birds who inhabit 
the globe, it has never yet been difcovered that a fingle 
one is of a poifonous nature. They differ, indeed, in 
being more or lefs falutary and palatable, as an article of 
diet; but none of them are pernicious: none of their 
eggs, in like manner, have been found of a noxious qua¬ 
lity ; acircumftance well known to ieafaring people, who 
eat freely every fpecies of egg, without finding any bad 
confequences enfue. Their eggs, however, as well as 
their flefh, vary confiderably in tafte ; fome are greatly 
preferable to others. The egg of thofe termed game, and 
of the different fpecies of gallinaceous birds, are generally 
reckoned agreeable: of the caper-caillie, it is faid, that 
its eggs are the moft delicate hitherto known ; thofe of 
the ptarmigan, lapwing, and buftard, are alfo coveted by 
many, who prefer them to the eggs of the domeftic 
poultry. 
As an article of diet, all the carnivorous birds are 
avoided ; though by no means poifonous, their flefli is 
hard, tough, and often of a fetid fmell. The pifcivorous 
too, and efpecially thofe with ffiarp bills, are generally 
difliked ; fome of the young, indeed, are eaten with avi¬ 
dity, fuch as the marrot, puffin, and gannet. All the 
warer-fowl, even thofe with flat bills, are generally rec¬ 
koned a heavy and rancid food : the goofe and duck are 
probably the bell; but thefe are much improved by being 
kept at a diftance from water, and reftrifted from filh.. 
The infeCtivorous birds, though not noxious, are gene¬ 
rally likewife avoided as an article of food, from their 
impure manner of feeding. On the contrary, all the 
tribes of finches, and other fmall birds who feed upon 
grain or feeds, are much efteemed. The w'oodcock, fnipe, 
and bittern, the whole tribe called mud-fuckers, are ac¬ 
counted a great delicacy among the connoiffeurs. It re¬ 
mains doubtful, however, whether the fleffi of any bird 
can juftly be preferred to the common poultry. 
The next article relating to the general hiftory of birds, 
is their domeftication. Although the flefli, eggs, and 
feathers, of birds, are valuable articles in the commerce 
of life, yet very few of this numerous clafs of animals 
have been made fubfervient to economical ufes by domefti¬ 
cation. Shy, timid, or fierce, in their nature, they appear 
but little fufceptible of attachment or obedience. Jealous 
as they are of liberty, and furniffied with eftedtual means 
of efcape, they fly the haunts of man, and by far the- 
greater part continue in the primitive wildnefs of nature. 
Few, even of thofe we term domeftic, difcover that fami¬ 
liarity or affe6tion that obtains among thofe quadrupeds 
who have given up independence for protedfion, and to 
whofe conftant miniftry we are fo much indebted. 
_ Of the firft order of birds, the rapacious, not one fpe¬ 
cies has ever been domefticated by man, except a few 
for the purpofes of falconry ; and thefe are always taken, 
when young, from the nefts of the wild ones ; a proof 
that they do not thrive and propagate in their captivity. 
1 
As their acquired habits are conferred upon them with 
great difficulty, fo they are flight, and eafily effaced : an 
hawk, when he gets at a certain diftance from his keepers, 
feldom willies to return. The numerous tribe of pies 
contains not one fpecies that hath ever been reduced to a 
domeftic ftate. Their food could not eafily be procured 
in captivity; their manner of life is unfavourable to it, 
and their flefli is deemed impure as an article of food. 
The gallinaceous order contains feveral fpecies which 
have with great advantage been made fubfervient to the 
purpofes of domeftic economy; viz. the peacock, the 
turkey, the barn-door fowl, and guinea-hen : the laft of 
thefe, however, has but lately been imported into Britain ; 
the common poultry are originally from Afia, but w’ere 
early introduced into Europe. , 
Of the columbine tribe, one fpecies only has been 
tamed, viz. the common pigeon, .which is well known, 
and in fome places a very lucrative objeft of commerce. 
None of the paflerine or ftruthious orders have yet been 
domefticated, though many of the former are reckoned 
delicate food. Four fpecies of the duck kind have been 
brought from their wild ftate to the fervice of man; the 
fwan, the goofe, the guinea-duck, and the wild-duck. 
The grallae, or waders, are deemed fuch excellent food, 
as to provoke the appetite of the pampered epicure; fuch 
as the woodcock, fnipe, curlew, ftork, crane, and fome 
others ; yet not one of all this numerous clafs has ever 
been brought into a domeftic fituation. This enumera¬ 
tion fuggefts a remarkable faff ; that, of nearly 3000 dif¬ 
ferent fpecies of birds which are already known and de~ 
fcribed, only nine have been rendered ferviceable to the 
human race. 
It is to be regretted that the acquaintance of man with 
the feathered race is fo limited, as many fpecies may no 
doubt be found, which, by domeftication, might add to- 
his flock of fubfiftence, increafe his induftry, and multi¬ 
ply his amufements. We have reafou to believe, that 
even the birds of the warmer climates might, if otherwife 
proper for the purpofe, be fuccefsfully domefticated, even 
in thefe northerly countries. Many of thofe which we 
already have, are natives of the intra-tropical parts of the 
earth. The common turkey and guinea-hen were origi¬ 
nally inhabitants of Africa, and probably of the burning 
regions under the line. The flieldrake, a bird rather 
larger in fize than our common duck, is one of thofe 
w'hich, it is prefumed, might be rendered ufeful by do¬ 
meftication. It is tamed with facility; and, though it 
lives on the fhore, it has been found by experience, that 
it will thrive and breed in ponds. It is more beautiful 
in plumage than the common duck, and is equally pro¬ 
per for the ufes of the table. The domeftication of 
the Canadian goofe has alfo been attempted with fuc- 
cefs at the feat of a nobleman in Scotland. The eider- 
duck, a bird rather fmaller than the goofe, might alfo be 
tamed, efpecially as its down is confidered as an article of 
value. 
From the weight and fize of the buftard, in which it is 
fuperior to the turkey, that bird feems highly ufeful for 
the ta'ole; and, from the nature of its food, which is 
grain, it feems perfedtly fitted for domeftication. Its 
eggs are faid to be preferable to thofe of all other birds; 
and its flefli is nutritive: from its weight, it is fcarcely 
capable of raifing itfelf from the ground ; a circumftance 
which renders it perhaps too eafy a prey to the fportfman, 
but which feems favourable to its domeftication. Similar 
to the buftard, in its manner of life, is the field-duck, a 
native of France, a bird which might be brought into 
this country, and tamed with great facility. The Ame¬ 
rican pigeon might with propriety be introduced into 
this country from Canada, where it abounds, and con- 
ftitutes a great part of the food of the inhabitants. 
Befides the birds fitted for domeftication, there are 
others which might be imported to this ifland from abroad, 
and might profper in a wild ftate. The hazel-hen, fo much 
efteemed in Germany both for fport and the table, the 
francolin 
