GENUS ANAS; comprising the Swan, Goose, Duck, Teal, &c.

The Swan. This beautiful and majestic bird is wild in high northern regions. In the summer it visits Lapland. The wild swan is of an The swan was in great

ash colour, and is far smaller than the tame. repute with the ancients, both for song and food; but of its song we know nothing; so suppose that there must be some mystical meaning intended; and for food it is rarely used. Its appearance is beautiful on streams of water, where it swims as if conscious that it was among the largest of birds. Its down and quills are very valuable. The longevity of the swan is great, reaching often to a hundred years.

The Goose. The bill of the birds of this family is distinct from that of all others of the feathered tribes; in other birds it is something like a wedge; in the goose it is flat and broad; but it is just adapted to skim the lakes and ponds, and to take from them the mantling weeds that grow thereon. We are so familiar with the sight of this family, that it need not be further described than to remark-its flesh. is good for food-its feathers for beds-and its wing-quills for writing.

The wild goose is an annual visitant to our island, coming to us in the winter, and going northward again in the spring.

The Duck. This bird is familiar to us in every part of England; there is a variety of species of it. The Wild Duck, the Tame, the Velvet, the Black, the Golden-eye, and many others, besides Teal and Wigeon. The characters of the family are-the beak is shorter

in proportion than that of the goose, and the legs also; but the feet are a trifle longer. The eggs of ducks are at times hatched under fowls, and the foster-mother trembles as she sees her little family spring by instinct to the pond.

The Wild Duck abounds in the fens of Lincolnshire, and many thousands are sent up annually to the London markets.

GENUS MERGUS; comprising the Goosander, Merganser, Diver, Smew, &c.

The Goosander. This bird approaches to the wild goose; and frequents, in very cold winters, our rivers and lakes. It feeds entirely on fish.

GENUS PROCELLARIA.-The Petrel. The bill of this bird is straight, and hooked at the extremity; the legs are naked up to the feathers of the belly. The Petrel feeds on blubber, fish, and sea-offal; and singular to say, it will reject what it has eaten when attacked at its enemy. The Stormy Petrel, as it is called, appears in general before high winds. Once, I remember, off St. Domingo, a hurricane passed within a few miles of us, and many of the sea-birds flew around our vessel, crying and wailing most piteously, and some dropped on the decks. The sky and sea were dreadful to look upon; but the hurricane passed us, and we only HEARD of its ravages. (Psalm cvii. 23, 31.)

GENUS DIOMEDEA.-The Albatross. This may be called the Eagle of the waters, for it has no equal among the aquatic or sea fowls. It abounds in the Southern Ocean, and about Cape Horn, and the Cape

of Good Hope. The body is large; and the expansion of the wing from six to eight, and at times even ten feet; the bill, which is yellow, is nearly six inches long, and terminates in a hooked point. The top of the head is brown; the belly white. It preys on the wing; and, unlike the eagle, it seizes on every thing, fish and fowl, alike. The Albatross lives, however, in friendly relations with the penguin; and they frequently build near each other in some remote and desolate spot.

GENUS PELICANUS.-The Pelican. There are a great many of this family. In shape the Pelican is like a swan, but larger. Its neck is long; and its toes all connected by webs. Its chief peculiarity is its enormous bill: and what may be called THE FISH WELL; this is a large pouch, which, when distended, will hold fifteen quarts of water. The bill is generally one foot and a quarter long, and the pouch extends its whole length. An ancient writer says this bag will hold enough fish to dine six hungry men. This singular bird, when he goes fishing, does not eat his prey, but fills its well first; and then, when he has enough, retires and gets his meal at leisure. Some naturalists say that the Pelican can be tamed to labour for man; and as the Falcon is used to catch game on the land, so the Pelican, the Falcon of the waters, will go out in the morning, and return in the evening with its pouch full of plunder, part of which it will deposit at its owner's feet, and part retain for itself.

The Cormorant. This bird is so voracious, that its name has become

a proverb for gluttony. The expansion of its wings is four feet. The plumage of this strange bird is beautiful:-the wings are of a deep green, edged with black, and glossed with blue. In China it is tamed, and used as a fisher; but a ring is fastened round its neck, for not be trusted not to swallow what it catches.

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The Gannet. This bird is rather less than our tame goose; but its wings are longer. The bill is six inches long, and jagged at its edges. It has a little well, like the pelican's. The colour is white. They are found principally in the north; but I have seen them off the coast of Spain. They dart from a great height on fish, with the velocity of a musket-ball. The herring is their chief prey.

The Auk or Penguin. This bird is more of a water-fowl than any other; and its wings are not adapted for flight: indeed, the water seems to be its element, and it dives and swims with great and admirable swiftness. These birds walk with their head erect; and their little wings, and white breasts, have led some to compare them to children with white aprons. They are gregarious; that is, they associate in numbers.

GENUS COLYMBUS.-The Diver. This bird, which takes its name from its perpetual habit of diving beneath the water, is well known along our coasts. The Northern Diver is the largest of this family. Its wings expand to four feet; the head and neck are of a deep black; the lower part of the neck a rich green, with a rich purple gloss. The tail is short.

GENUS LARUS:-comprising the Gull, &c.

The Gull. This is a very large and varied community. The bill is straight and long, and incurvated at the extremity; wings large; legs short. The British Islands abound with this family.

FOURTH ORDER.-GRALLE.

TWENTY GENERA.-MANY SPECIES.

Comprising principally the Flamingo, Crane, Stork, Spoon-bill, Snipe, and others. Linnæus was very happy in the naming of this order. The word Grallæ means stilts; and if all this family were placed before you in a drawing, you would see the aptitude of the name. The legs of this order are all very long; and so are their necks and bills also: but this exactly meets their wants; for their appointed food lying at the bottom of pools, if they had not this provision they could not reach. it. The bodies of this order are slender; their tails short. They live on animal food; and generally build their nests on the ground.

GENUS PHENICOPTERUS.-The Flamingo. This is a tall and most beautiful bird. In size it may be compared to the swan ; but its legs and neck are so long that, when upright, it is as tall as a Grenadier. The plumage of the Flamingo is a vivid red. It was once known in Europe, but man had so many inducements to pursue it, that it left that quarter altogether, and is now known only in some parts of Africa and America. It is said that numbers live together in great