Chapter VI: Part 6

Being anxious, when on my last expedition, to procure several specimens of these birds for the purpose of presenting you with an account of their anatomical structure, I requested all on board our vessel to shoot them on all occasions; but no birds having been procured, I was obliged to set out with a “select party” for the purpose. Having heard some of the sailors say that large flocks of White Pelicans had been seen on the inner islets of Barataria Bay, within the island called Grande Terre, we had a boat manned, and my friend EDWARD HARRIS, my son, and myself, went off in search of them. After a while we saw large flocks of these birds on some grounded logs, but found that it was no easy matter to get near them, on account of the shallowness of the bay, the water being scarcely two feet in depth for upwards of half a mile about us. Quietly, and with all possible care, we neared a flock; and strange it was for me to be once more within shooting distance of White Pelicans. It would no doubt be a very interesting sight to you, were you to mark the gravity and sedateness of some hundreds of these Pelicans, closely huddled together on a heap of stranded logs, or a small bank of racoon oysters. They were lying on their breasts, but as we neared them they all arose deliberately to their full height. Some, gently sliding from the logs, swam off towards the nearest flock, as unapprehensive of danger as if they had been a mile distant. But now their bright eyes were distinctly visible to us, our guns, charged with buckshot, were in readiness, and my son was lying in the bow of the boat waiting for the signal. “Fire!”—The report is instantly heard, the affrighted birds spread their wings and hurry away, leaving behind three of their companions floating on the water. Another shot from a different gun brought down a fourth from on wing; and as a few were scampering off wounded, we gave chase, and soon placed all our prizes in the after sheets. About a quarter of a mile farther on, we killed two, and pursued several that were severely wounded in the wing, but they escaped, for they swam off so rapidly that we could not propel our boat with sufficient force amidst the tortuous shallows. The Pelicans appeared tame, if not almost stupid; and at one place, where there were about sixty on an immense log, could we have gone twenty yards nearer, we might have killed eight or ten at a single discharge. But we had already a full cargo, and therefore returned to the vessel, on the decks of which the wounded birds were allowed to roam at large. We found these Pelicans hard to kill, and some which were perforated with buckshot did not expire until eight or ten minutes after they were fired at. A wonderful instance of this tenacity of life was to be seen on board a schooner then at anchor in the harbour. A Pelican had been grazed on the hind part of the head with an ounce ball from a musket, and yet five days afterwards it was apparently convalescent, and had become quite gentle. When wounded, they swim rather sluggishly, and do not attempt to dive, or even to bite, like the Brown Pelicans, although they are twice as large, and proportionally stronger. After being shot at, they are perfectly silent, but when alighted they utter a hollow guttural sound somewhat resembling that produced by blowing through the bung-hole of a cask.

The White Pelicans appear almost inactive during the greater part of the day, fishing only soon after sunrise, and again about an hour before sunset; though at times the whole flock will mount high in the air, and perform extended gyrations in the manner of the Hooping Crane, Wood Ibis, and Vultures. These movements are probably performed for the purpose of assisting their digestion, and of airing themselves, in the higher and cooler regions of the atmosphere. Whilst on the ground, they at times spread their wings to the breeze, or to the rays of the sun; but this act is much more rarely performed by them than by the Brown Pelicans. When walking, they seem exceedingly awkward, and like many cowardly individuals of our own species, are apt to snap at objects which they appear to know perfectly to be so far superior to them as to disdain taking notice of them. Their usual manner of flight is precisely similar to that of our Brown species. It is said by authors that the White Pelican can alight on trees; but I have never seen a single instance of its doing so. I am of opinion that the ridge projecting from the upper mandible increases in size as the bird grows older, and that it uses that apparatus as a means of defence or of attack, when engaged with its rivals in the love-season.

The number of small fishes destroyed by a single bird of this species may appear to you, as it did to me, quite extraordinary. While I was at General HERNANDEZ’s plantation in East Florida, one of them chanced to pass close over the house of my generous host, and was brought dead to the ground. It was not a mature bird, but apparently about eighteen months old. On opening it, we found in its stomach several hundreds of fishes, of the size of what are usually called minnows. Among the many which I have at different times examined, I never found one containing fishes as large as those commonly swallowed by the Brown species, which, in my opinion, is more likely to secure a large fish by plunging upon it from on wing, than a bird which must swim after its prey.

This beautiful species,—for, Reader, it is truly beautiful, and you would say so were you to pick it up in all the natural cleanness of its plumage, from the surface of the water,—carries its crest broadly expanded, as if divided into two parts from the centre of the head. The brightness of its eyes seemed to me to rival that of the purest diamond; and in the love season, or the spring of the year, the orange-red colour of its legs and feet, as well as of the pouch and bill, is wonderfully enriched, being as represented in my plate, while during the autumnal months these parts are pale. Its flesh is rank, fishy, and nauseous, and therefore quite unfit for food, unless in cases of extreme necessity. The idea that these birds are easily caught when gorged with fish, is quite incorrect, for when approached, on such an occasion, they throw up their food, as Vultures are wont to do.

I regret exceedingly that I cannot say any thing respecting their nests, eggs, or young, as I have not been in the countries in which they are said to breed.

PELECANUS AMERICANUS.

Adult Male. Plate CCCXI.

Bill a little more than thrice the length of the head, rather slender, almost straight, depressed. Upper mandible linear, depressed, convex at the base, gradually flattened and a little enlarged to near the end, when it again narrows, and terminates in a hooked point. The ridge is broad and convex at the base, becomes gradually narrowed and flattened beyond the middle, is elevated into a thin crest about an inch high, of a fibrous structure, and about three inches in length (in some specimens as much as five inches) which is continued forwards of less elevation to the extent of an inch farther. The ridge of the mandible is then narrow and flat, and terminates in the unguis, which is oblong, slightly carinate above, curved, obtuse, concave beneath. The edges are very sharp and a little involute; the lower surface of the mandible has a median slender sharp ridge, on each side of which, at the distance of a quarter of an inch is a stronger ridge having a groove in its whole length; the sides then slope upwards to the incurved margin, and in this latter space is received the edge of the other mandible. Lower mandible having its crura separated, very slender, elastic, and meeting only at the very extremity, so that the angle or interspace may be described as extremely long, occupying in fact the whole length of the bill excepting four-twelfths of an inch at the end; for two-thirds of its length from the base, the lower mandible is broader than the upper, which is owing to the crura lying obliquely, but beyond the crest it is narrower; the extremely short dorsal line ascending, convex, the edges inflected, sharp, and longitudinally grooved. To the lower mandible, in place of the skin or membrane filling up the angle in most other birds, is appended a vast sac seven inches in depth opposite the base of the bill, and extending down the throat about eight inches, so that its length from the tip of the lower mandible is twenty-one and a half inches. It is formed of the skin, which is thin, transparent, elastic, rugous, highly vascular, and capable of being expanded like a net, supported by the elastic mandibles to the breadth of nine and a half inches.

Head small, oblong; neck long, stout; body full, rather flattened. Feet short and very stout; tibia bare at its lower part, covered all round with small scales; tarsus short, very stout, compressed, covered all round with hexagonal scales, of which the anterior are much larger; toes in the same plane, all connected by reticulated webs, the first shortest, the second an inch shorter than the fourth, which is considerably longer than the third, scaly at the base, scutellate over the rest of their extent. Claws short, strong, curved, rather blunt, that of the middle toe with a sharp pectinate inner edge.

Feathers of the head and neck exceedingly small, slender, and of a downy texture, those on the fore part of the head a little more compact; on the nape they are elongated, acuminate, and form a longitudinal narrow crest, which runs down the back of the neck. The feathers in general are lanceolate, acuminate, and of moderately dense texture; those at the junction of the neck and breast anteriorly are stiffer and more elongated. Wings very long, rather narrow, rounded; the humerus and cubitus very long in proportion; primaries much curved; secondaries rather narrow, also incurved toward the end, the inner extending when the wing is closed far beyond the tips of the primaries. Tail short, broad, rounded, of _twenty-four_ feathers, which are broad and abruptly acuminate.

Bill bare, space about the eye, and feet, rich bright yellow, becoming brighter before their departure for their breeding grounds; claws yellowish-brown; tip of the bill brighter than the rest. Iris white, in younger birds dusky. The general colour of the plumage is pure white; the crest, the elongated feathers on the fore part of the breast, and those near the edge of the cubitus, pale yellow. The alula, primary coverts, and primary quills, black, the shafts white, becoming brownish-black, toward the end. The inner ten secondaries are white, the rest black, more or less tipped with greyish-white, their bases white, that colour more extended on the inner than the outer, the shafts of all the quills white beneath, those of the secondaries tinged with grey.

Dimensions of an old male. Length to end of tail 61-3/4 inches, to end of wing 61-3/4, to end of claws 66-3/4, from the point of the bill to the carpal joint 40; extent of wings 103; wing from flexure 24-1/2; length of cubitus 15; tail 6-1/4; bill along the ridge 13-3/4, along the edge of lower mandible 15; breadth of lower mandible at the base 2; bare part of tibia 1; tarsus 4-8/12; middle toe 4-1/2, its claw 5/8; outer toe 4-1/2, its claw 6/12; inner toe 3, its claw 7/12; hind toe 1-3/4, its claw 8/12. Weight 17-1/2 lb.

The female is rather less, and in as far as I am warranted by the examination of several individuals in stating, is destitute of the horny crest of the upper mandible.

A male, shot near Grande Terre, in the Gulf of Mexico, examined. The skin is very thin, but the subcutaneous cellular tissue is extremely developed, forming a thick reticular layer over the whole body. The internal cells are also of vast size, the right hepatic being 4-1/2 inches long, the right abdominal 4-1/2 by 4; the left abdominal 5-1/2 by 4; the clavicular cell is not formed by a single cavity, but of numberless cellules, like those of the subcutaneous tissue. The heart _n_ is triangular, pointed, 3 inches long, 2 inches and 10 twelfths in breadth; the aorta branches at the base, as in other birds, sending off the two trunks which separate into the subclavian and carotid. The lobes of the liver are extremely unequal, the right, _o_, being 4 inches in length, and 2-1/4 in breadth, while the left, _p_, is only 2 inches long, and 1-1/4 inch broad.

The mandibles are entirely covered with skin, of which the subcutaneous tissue is wanting, the cutis condensed, and the cuticle in large irregular longitudinal plates, leaving the surface somewhat rough and scaly. The crest-like excrescence on the ridge of the upper mandible is not formed of bone, nor otherwise connected with the osseous surface, which is smooth and continuous beneath it, than by being placed upon it, like any other part of the skin, and when softened by immersion in a liquid may be bent a little to either side. It is composed internally of erect slender plates of a fibrous texture, externally of horny fibres, which are erect on the sides, and longitudinal on the broadened ridge; these fibres being continuous with the cutis and cuticle. The skin of the mandible is continuous with that of the pouch, of which the structure is as follows. Externally there is a layer of cuticle, beneath which is the cutis, extremely thin, and with the cuticle thrown into longitudinal rugæ when contracted. The internal surface is also of cuticle, and beneath it is a layer of cutis. Between these two very thin layers of skin, is interposed an equally thin layer, composed of two sets of very slender muscular fibres, separated from each other, and running in two opposite directions. The outer fibres run in fasciculi from the lower and inner edge of the mandible; those from its base pass downwards, those arising more anteriorly pass gradually more forwards, and spreading out, reach the middle line of the pouch. The inner fibres have the same origin, and pass in a contrary direction, backwards and inwards. From the hyoid bone to the junction of the two crura of the mandible, which takes place almost at the very tip, there extends a thin band of longitudinal muscular fibres, in the centre of which is a cord of elastic tissue. By means of this apparatus, the sac is contracted, so as to occupy little space. When the bill is opened, the crura of the lower mandible separate from each other to a considerable extent, by the action of the muscles inserted into their base, this depending upon their oblique position, and the sac is expanded. The upper mandible is capable of being moved to a considerable extent.

Below the anterior angle of the eye is a small sac about 5 twelfths of an inch in length, with an external aperture of 2 twelfths, and filled with a pulpy substance. The nostrils are linear, about 3 twelfths of an inch long, and quite concealed by the wrinkles of the skin. The aperture of the posterior nares 8 twelfths. The tongue is an extremely small, papilliform body, 3-1/2 twelfths of an inch long, and 1 twelfth in diameter. The aperture of the glottis is linear, 8 twelfths in length, destitute of papillæ behind.

The pharynx is about 2-1/2 inches in breadth. The œsophagus _a_, at the commencement, or opposite the tongue, has a diameter of about 6 inches, and contracts until the middle of the neck, where it is 3 inches in width; at its entrance into the thorax at _b_ it contracts to 1-1/2 inch, but is dilatable to 3 inches; at this part, its inner coat is thrown into very prominent longitudinal rugæ. The structure of the œsophagus is similar to that of the Loon already described, but its muscular coat is much thinner. On entering the thorax, it again expands to a diameter of 3 inches. Its length from the glottis, exclusive of the proventriculus, is 2 feet. The proventriculus, _cd_, when not extended, has a diameter of 2 inches, its length being 4 inches and 8 twelfths. It is marked internally with six longitudinal broad ridges, about half an inch in breadth, and separated by grooves; and its cuticular lining is 1-1/2 twelfths thick, of a compact but soft texture, elevated into tortuous reticulated ridges. The glandules, which are cylindrical, the largest 3 twelfths of an inch long, 1/2 twelfth in diameter, form a complete elongated belt. The muscular coat is also very thick, its inner layer composed of transverse, its outer of longitudinal fibres, and the greatest thickness of the walls of the proventriculus is about 4-1/2 twelfths of an inch. The stomach, _e_, properly so called, is extremely small, being of a roundish, compressed form, 1-1/4 inches in length, and of the same breadth; its muscular coat composed of slender fasciculi, and not presenting a distinction into lateral and inferior muscles, its inner coat smooth. Appended to it on the right side is a sac _f_, of a roundish form, 1-9/12 inch in length, and 1-1/2 in breadth, joining it by a contraction, of which the diameter is 1/2 inch, and opening directly into the proventriculus, as well as into the stomach; its walls thin, its inner surface smooth, with numerous mucous crypts irregularly disposed. The pylorus, _g_, is exceedingly small, 1-1/2 twelfths in diameter, with a thickened margin.

The duodenum _g_, _h_, _i_, passes backwards and upwards to the length of 6-1/2 inches, returns upon itself enclosing the pancreas, receives the biliary ducts at the distance of 14 inches from the pylorus. The gall-bladder is oblong, 2 inches long, and 10 twelfths broad. The intestine then forms numerous convolutions, _j_, _k_, _l_, occupying the whole abdomen, and lying in part over the stomach and proventriculus. Its entire length is 10 feet 10 inches. Its diameter varies little, it being at the upper part 5 twelfths of an inch, towards the rectum 3-1/2 twelfths. The rectum is 5-1/2 inches long, including the cloaca, _m_, which is globular, and about 2-1/2 inches in diameter. The cœca are 1 inch and 1 twelfth in length, 4 twelfths in diameter, cylindrical, rounded at the end. The muscular coat of the intestine is very strong, the inner villous.

One of the testes is 1 inch long, the other 1-1/2; their form oblong. In the proventriculus and stomach is a vast accumulation of small lumbrici, about 1-1/4 inch in length, and amounting to about 1000.

The trachea is 1 foot 10 inches long, a little flattened, 1/2 inch in diameter throughout, but a little narrower about the middle; the rings 160, not ossified, excepting the lower. The contractor muscles are very small; as are the sterno-tracheal; and the inferior larynx is destitute of muscles. The bronchi are large, 5 twelfths in diameter, of 25 half rings.

The upper mandible is hollow in its whole extent; but the lateral spaces intervening between the edges of the median bone or ridge and the margins, are filled with a beautiful net-work of bony spiculæ. The two superior maxillary branches of the fifth pair of nerves, which are very large, being about 1 twelfth of an inch in diameter at the base, run close together along the median line, sending off branches at intervals, and extending to the end of the mandible. The lower mandible is also hollow, and similarly reticulated. The inferior maxillary branch, having entered on the inner side at the base, runs in like manner along its whole length, and is of the same thickness; by an aperture on the outer side near the base, it sends off a branch almost as thick, which runs within the membrane of the gular sac, parallel to the mandible, and about half an inch distant from it, sending off branches at intervals. The sac is plentifully supplied with blood vessels.

The nasal cavity is of an oblong form, 1 inch and 5 twelfths in length, passing obliquely backwards and upwards from the aperture of the posterior nares, and opening externally by curving forwards; its greatest diameter 5 twelfths, in its lower third 3 twelfths, and so continuing until it expands into the inferior slit-like aperture, which is 8 twelfths long. The cavity of the nose is thus small, and the olfactory nerve, which passes out from the anterior part of the brain, is a slender filament, about 1/3 of a twelfth in diameter. It runs at first through a bony tube, then passes along the bony septum of the orbits, in contact for a short space with the superior maxillary nerve of the fifth pair, which at its commencement makes a great curve upwards, and crosses the orbit to enter the maxillary cavity, which has no communication with the olfactory. Fig. 2 represents the sternum viewed from before. It is remarkable chiefly for its great breadth and convexity. Its sides, _a_, _b_, _c_, _d_, are nearly parallel; its posterior margin broad, with two shallow notches, _e_, _f_, separated by a short conical obtuse median process. The crest or ridge, _h_, _i_, is carried forward in front, where it is only, however, of moderate height, and is not continued to the posterior extremity, but terminates at _i_, in the most convex part. The coracoid bones, _i_, _i_, are extremely large, very broad at their lower part, and having a deep groove and thin elongated process, _j_, at the upper for the tendon of the pectoralis medius, which raises the wing. The furcula, _k_, _k_, _l_, is anchylosed with the crest of the sternum, at _h_, has its crura moderately stout and much diverging, and its upper extremity very broad and recurvate. The scapula, of which only the anterior process _t_, _l_, is seen, is small. A sternal apparatus like this indicates a steady and powerful flight, the wings being supported upon a very firm basis, and well separated. The great mass of the pectoral muscle being thrown forward, it acts more directly than in such birds as the Gallinæ and Ducks, in which it is placed farther backwards, and although its bulk is not so great as in them, it is more advantageously situated. The sternal apparatus of this Pelican is thus extremely similar to that of the Cormorant, and the American Anhinga, and is also constructed on the same plan as that of the Gannets, although in the latter its body is more elongated.

LONG-TAILED DUCK.

_FULIGULA GLACIALIS_, BONAP.

PLATE CCCXII. MALE AND FEMALE IN SUMMER, MALE IN WINTER, AND UNFLEDGED YOUNG.

In the course of one of my rambles along the borders of a large fresh-water lake, near Bras-d’or in Labrador, on the 28th of July 1833, I was delighted by the sight of several young broods of this species of Duck, all carefully attended to by their anxious and watchful mothers. Not a male bird was on the lake, which was fully two miles distant from the sea, and I concluded that in this species, as in many others, the males abandon the females after incubation has commenced. I watched their motions a good while, searching at the same time for the nests, one of which I was not long in discovering. Although it was quite destitute of anything bearing the appearance of life, it still contained the down which the mother had plucked from herself for the purpose of keeping her eggs warm. It was placed under an alder bush, among rank weeds, not more than eight or nine feet from the edge of the water, and was formed of rather coarse grass, with an upper layer of finer weeds, which were neatly arranged, while the down filled the bottom of the cavity, now apparently flattened by the long sitting of the bird. The number of young broods in sight induced me to search for more nests, and in about an hour I discovered six more, in one of which I was delighted to find two rotten eggs. They measured 2 inches and 1/8 long, by 1-(4-1/2)/8 broad, were of a uniform pale yellowish-green, and quite smooth.

My young companions had, unfortunately for me, walked that morning to Blanc Sablon, about thirty miles distant, down the Straits of Belle Isle; and having no dog to assist me in procuring some of the young ducks, I was obliged to enact the part of one myself, although the thermometer that day was 45° 50´, and the atmosphere felt chilly. I gave chase to the younglings, which made for different parts of the shore, as I followed them up to my middle in the water, while they dived before me like so many Water-witches, the mothers keeping aloof, and sounding their notes of alarm and admonition. I was fortunate enough to procure several of the young birds, and afterwards shot one of the old, which having young much smaller than the rest, was more anxious for their safety, and kept with them within shot. She and the young were afterwards put in rum, to be subsequently examined. I counted eleven broods on the same pond, and Mr JONES assured me that these birds always breed in numbers together, but rarely on the same lake two successive years. Their plumage was ragged, in so far as I could judge, and the individual which I shot was similar. They never dived while in my sight, but seemed constantly to urge their young to do so, and the little things so profited by the advice of their parents, that had they remained in the water, instead of making, after a while, for the land, I believe I should not have succeeded, after all my exertions, in capturing a single one of them.

The gentleman above mentioned informed me that the old birds keep the young in the ponds until they are quite able to fly, or until the end of August, when the flocks remove on wing to the sea, and soon after leave the coast, seldom reappearing before the first days of May, or about two weeks before most other kinds of ducks. The little ones which I procured, were as you see them represented in my plate. Those that were larger were of the same colour, and none shewed any feathers on their bodies. Now and then, like all other young ducks, they would skim over the surface of the water with astonishing rapidity, emitting a sharp note somewhat resembling the syllables _pee_, _pee_, _pee_, and would then dive with the quickness of thought. When squatted among the moss, they allowed me to take them without making any attempt to escape. The young were put in a tub, and had some soaked biscuit placed near them; but they were all found dead the next morning.

The range of this noisy, lively, and beautiful duck, extends along our coast as far south as Texas, and it is also found at the mouth of the Columbia River; but the species is never found on any of our fresh-water courses, and I am quite confident that Mr SAY mistook for it the Pintail Duck, _Anas acuta_, when he says that he found it on the waters of the Missouri. During all my residence in the neighbourhood of the Mississippi, and in the course of all my journeys on and along its waters, I never saw one of these birds, or heard of any having occurred on that stream above its confluence with the Gulf of Mexico; whereas the Pintails are extremely abundant there, as well as on the Missouri, the Ohio, and all our western streams, in spring and autumn. Few Long-tailed Ducks are to be seen in the market of New Orleans, and in fact they are altogether what our gunners usually call “sea ducks.”

The period of the first appearance of this species in autumn depends much on the state of the weather. I have known a difference of a whole month in the Sound, and quite as much in Chesapeake Bay, in both of which it is most abundant in winter, rarely proceeding farther south until driven away by extreme cold. Their advance from Labrador and Newfoundland along the coast, until they reach Long Island, is more hurried than afterwards. They arrive in small flocks, which are soon joined by others, and as they are prone to congregate, vast numbers are seen together in winter, when their cacklings, though different from those of our frogs in spring, are almost as incessant from sunset until dawn. For my part, I have never perceived any resemblance which their notes bear to the words “south-southerly,” but think their noisy cries as duckish as those of the Mallard, although sharper and more musical. The best imitation is given by my friend NUTTALL, but if you attempt to reduce the syllables to sounds, there is some probability of your at least succeeding in exciting laughter in yourself or others. He says the notes are “ogh, ough, egh,” and again “ogh, ogh, ogh, ough, egh,” and adds that they are guttural, and have a ludicrous drawling tone. Dr RICHARDSON informs us that “the peculiar cry of this duck is celebrated in the songs of the Canadian voyagers.” This to my mind would imply that the Long-tailed Ducks are seen by these adventurous travellers on the waters of the inland streams, which would appear to be at variance with their usual habits, for unless during the breeding season, they give a decided preference to the sea; and indeed generally keep in deep water. Owing to their reiterated cries these birds are named “Noisy Ducks;” but they have various appellations, among others those of “old wives,” and “old squaws.”

Although, like all sea-ducks, the “Old Wife” swims deeply, it moves with a grace and celerity, which if not superior to those of any of its tribe, are at least equal; and when the weather is rough, and the waters agitated, it raises its tail in the same manner as the Ruddy Duck and Pintail. When advancing in smooth water, its speed is such as to cause a considerable swell before it, such as sea-faring persons usually call a “bone.” Like all others of its tribe, it also prefers swimming against both wind and tide, as then it can sooner take wing if necessary. In calm and pleasant weather, like its congeners, it is fond of throwing its body almost over, and of pluming itself in that position. When on wing, the long feathers of its tail do not seem to aid its progress, any more than in other species.

It seldom removes from the north on its way to our Middle Districts in large flocks; but at the approach of the breeding season, and after the birds appear to be all paired, they fly northward in long lines, or broad fronts, moving high or low according to the state of the weather, passing at times at a considerable distance from the shores, but flying close to the points of every cape, although they never pass over an isthmus however narrow. Their flight is swift, well sustained, and accompanied with a well-marked whistling of their wings. Being expert divers, it is difficult to kill them on the water; and if you happen to wound one but slightly, I would advise you, Reader, to give up the chase, unless you have hit it while on the ice, in which case you will find that it runs rather awkwardly. Their flesh is none of the best, being dark, generally tough, and to the taste fishy; for which reason they are now-a-days frequently brought to our markets plucked, with the head and feet cut off, and called by the venders by all names excepting old wives, squaws, noisy ducks, or south-southerlies. The food of this species consists chiefly of shell-fish; but in the stomachs of those killed on fresh water in Labrador, I found small fishes, and a quantity of grass and its roots.

From the great number of specimens which I have procured in our Middle Districts in winter, and those which I have seen killed during the love season in the north, I am induced to think that the elongated feathers of the tail of this species scarcely if at all, differ in length at these different periods, although some writers have said that in spring they are much longer than in winter, in which latter season, however, I think the old males differ only in the colour of their plumage from their state in spring. I have obtained male specimens at New York and at Baltimore early in March, when they were already much changed from their appearance in winter; but my friend BACHMAN informs me that he has never seen one with any appearance of the summer plumage at Charleston in South Carolina, where however, he adds, this species is not common.

I have represented two male birds, one in its full spring dress, the other in that of winter. You will also find in the same plate the first figure ever given of an adult female, accompanied with as many younglings as I could conveniently introduce. WILSON gave the figure of a young male in the first winter as that of a female.

ANAS GLACIALIS, _Linn._ Syst. Nat. vol. i. p. 203.—_Lath._
Ind. Ornith. vol. ii. p. 864.

FULIGULA GLACIALIS, _Ch. Bonaparte_, Synopsis, p. 395.

LONG-TAILED DUCK, ANAS GLACIALIS, _Wils._ Amer. Ornith. vol.
viii. p. 93. pl. 70. fig. 1. male, pl. 70. fig. 2. female.

LONG-TAILED DUCK, HARELDA GLACIALIS, _Richardson and
Swainson_, Fauna Bor. Amer. vol. ii. p. 460.

LONG-TAILED DUCK, _Nuttall_, Manual, vol. ii. p. 453.

Adult male in summer. Plate CCCXII. Fig. 1.

Bill shorter than the head, higher than broad at the base, gradually depressed toward the end, the sides nearly parallel, the tip rounded. Upper mandible with the basal angles inconspicuous, the dorsal line descending and straight to the unguis, then convex and decurved, the ridge broad and flattened at the base, convex toward the end, the sides sloping and convex, the unguis roundish, the edges membranous, very narrow at the base, enlarged towards the end, with about thirty lamellæ ending in a projecting point. Nostrils sub-basal, oblong, direct, large, pervious, near the ridge, in an oblong groove with a soft membrane. Lower mandible flat, a little curved upwards, the angle very long and narrow, the unguis broad and rounded, the erect edges with about forty direct lamellæ.

Head oblong, compressed, of moderate size. Eyes of moderate size. Neck rather short. Body compact, rather elongated, and somewhat depressed. Feet short, stout, placed rather far behind; tarsus very short, compressed, anteriorly with a series of small scutella, externally of which are five in a line with the outer toe, the rest reticulated with angular scales. Hind toe very small, with a free membrane beneath; outer toe, which is the longest, almost double the length of the tarsus, middle toe scarcely shorter than outer; anterior toes with numerous narrow scutella, webbed, the margin of the webs concave; inner toe with a two-lobed expanded margin. Claws small, slightly arched, blunt.

Plumage dense, blended, elastic, stiffish; but soft and glossy on the head; the feathers broad and slightly rounded at the end. Scapulars elongated, acuminate, the posterior decurved over the wing. Wings shortish, narrow, pointed; primary quills curved, strong, tapering, the second longest, exceeding the first by about one twelfth of an inch, the rest rapidly decreasing; secondaries broad and rounded, the inner elongated and pointed. Tail of fourteen pointed feathers, the outer very short, the middle extremely attenuated and slightly recurved, the intermediate proportional.

Bill black in its basal half, orange-yellow towards the end, the unguis bluish-grey. Iris bright carmine. Feet light bluish-grey, the webs dusky, claws black. A large oblong greyish white patch on each side of the head from the bill to behind the ear; the upper part of the head and nape black, that colour being narrowed in front by the encroachment of the white patches. The neck all round, and anterior half of the breast, of a rich dark chocolate-brown; the back and wing-coverts brownish-black; the scapulars broadly margined with light reddish-brown; the quills are of the same chocolate tint as the breast, the secondaries margined externally with lighter, the primaries internally. The middle four feathers of the tail brownish-black, the outer two of these slightly margined with white, all the rest white, but the inner with a longitudinal dusky patch on the outer web.

Length to end of tail 23 inches, to end of wings 15, to end of claws 17; extent of wings 29-1/2; wing from flexure 9-1/2; middle tail-feathers 10, lateral tail-feathers 2-1/2; bill along the ridge 1-2/12, along the edge of lower mandible 1-8/12; tarsus 1-2/12; outer toe and claw 2-3/12, middle toe and claw 1-2/12, hind toe and claw (7-1/2)/12.

Female in summer. Plate CCCXII. Fig. 3.

The female is somewhat less than the male, and differs not only in colour, but in the scapulars, which are not elongated, and in the tail, which is short and rounded. The bill and feet are dusky green, the iris yellow. The head is dark greyish-brown, with a patch of greyish-white surrounding the eye, but not extending to the bill; there is a larger patch of the same colour on the side of the neck, the hind part of which is similar to the head, the fore part greyish-brown, the feathers broadly margined with whitish. All the upper parts are of a dark greyish-brown, the two lateral tail-feathers edged with white; the lower parts white, the feathers under the wings slightly tinged with grey.

Length to end of tail 15-3/4 inches, to end of wings 14-1/2, to end of claws 16-5/8; extent of wings 26-1/2; wing from flexure 8; middle tail-feathers 2-9/12, lateral 2-1/4; bill along the ridge 1-2/12, along the edge of lower mandible 1-5/12.

Adult male in winter. Plate CCCXII. Fig. 2.

The outer half of the bill rich orange-yellow, that colour extending to the base along the ridge, the unguis and the basal half black, as well as the unguis and edges of the lower mandible. The head, neck, the fore part of back and scapulars, white; the space about the eye pale greyish-red, and a large oblong patch of chocolate brown on the side of the neck. The upper parts, including the four middle tail-feathers, are brownish-black, but the secondary quills tinged with reddish-brown, and having paler margins. The anterior half of the breast chocolate brown, the rest of the lower parts and the four lateral tail-feathers white.

Unfledged young. Plate CCCXII.

The young when newly excluded are covered with stiffish down. Bill and feet greenish-dusky; the upper parts chocolate-brown; a small spot of white under the eye; throat and lower parts whitish, as well as an oblong patch on the cheeks.

The young male in winter, that is, after its first moult, has the bill and legs dusky green. The head and half of the neck are whitish; the upper part of the former and a patch on the side of the latter mottled with brownish-black and chocolate. The upper parts brownish-black, variegated with brownish-red, the still unelongated scapulars chiefly of the latter colour. A broad undefined belt of reddish-brown over the lower fore part of the neck; the rest of the lower parts greyish-white.

Length to end of tail 22 inches; extent of wings 29.

The young female in winter is similar to the adult, but with the upper parts paler, the light-coloured patches on the head and neck more dusky, and the lower parts of a less pure white.

Adult males, assuming the summer plumage, about April, present a curious intermixture of the variously coloured feathers of the two seasons.

In a male bird, the tongue is 1 inch and 5 twelfths long, papillate at the base, fleshy, with two rows of bristles along the edges. There are 35 lamellæ on each side of the upper, and about 40 on the lower mandible. The œsophagus is 7-1/2 inches long, 7 twelfths in diameter at the upper part, towards the lower parts of the neck dilated to 1 inch, and continuing so to the end. The proventriculus is 1 inch 3 twelfths long, its glandules cylindrical and 2 twelfths long. The stomach is a very powerful gizzard, of a roundish form, 1-3/4 inch in length, 2 inches and 2 twelfths in breadth; its tendons large; the right muscle 10 twelfths, the left 11 twelfths in thickness. The cuticular lining is thick, and slightly rugous; the grinding plates thicker and denser. The contents of the stomach are small muscles and particles of quartz, some of which are 3 twelfths in diameter. The intestine is 5 feet 6 inches long, its diameter nearly uniform, about 4 twelfths; the rectum enlarged to 5 twelfths, its length 2-1/2 inches. Cœca 4-3/4 inches long, 3 twelfths in diameter, their extremity rounded; the cloaca globular, about 9 twelfths in diameter.

The trachea, moderately extended, measures 6 inches in length, its breadth at the top 5 twelfths, about the middle 3-3/4 twelfths. The number of ordinary rings is 72; at the lower part there are 6 expanded rings which are broad posteriorly and on the sides, but extremely narrow before; beyond this is a solid bony expansion of 7 united rings, forming anteriorly a transversely oblong case, having a membrane in front. The contractor muscles are very large, for two inches at the top expanded over the fore part, sending off two cleido-tracheals, then passing down along the edges of the six enlarged rings, and terminating on the drum, where the sterno-tracheals come off.

BLUE-WINGED TEAL.

_ANAS DISCORS_, LINN.

PLATE CCCXIII. MALE AND FEMALE.

Is it not strange, Reader, that birds which are known to be abundant on the Saskatchewan River during the breeding season, and which have been observed as far north as the 57th parallel, should also be found breeding at nearly the same period in Texas? Stranger still it is that species should proceed from certain points, or winter quarters, to both of the above-mentioned regions, without paying any regard to the intermediate districts, which yet seem to be as well adapted for breeding in, as they afford thousands of convenient and secluded localities for that purpose. Yet these facts, and many others connected with Nature’s wonderful arrangements, we may look upon as intended to increase the innate desire which every true lover of Nature has to study her beautiful and marvellous works.

Having for some years observed such habits exhibited by the Blue-winged Teal and other birds, I have been induced to believe in the existence of what I would term _a double sense of migration_ in many species, acted upon both in spring and in autumn, and giving to them at the latter period, the power as well as the desire of removing from the higher latitudes to opposite or meridional parts, thus to enter into the formation of the Fauna of different countries, from which again they are instigated to return to the place of their nativity, and thence diverge toward new sections of the globe equally adapted to their wants. If these observations should prove not unfounded, we need no longer be surprised to meet in different portions of the world with species which hitherto were supposed to be inhabitants only of far distant shores.

The mouths of the Mississippi, surrounded by extensive flat marshes, which are muddy, and in some degree periodically inundated by the overflowings of that great stream, or by the tides of the Mexican Gulf, and having in the winter months a mildness of temperature favourable to almost all our species of Waders and Swimmers, may be looked upon as the great rendezvous of the Blue-winged Teals, which are seen arriving there coastways, in autumn and the greater part of winter, to meet the multitudes that have travelled across the interior from the north and west. At New Orleans, and during spring, when this bird is in full plumage, it is called by the Creoles of Louisiana “Sarcelle Printanniere;” and in autumn, when scarcely an individual can be seen retaining the beauty of its spring plumage, it is known as the “Sarcelle Automniere;” in consequence of which double appellation, many persons imagine that there are two Blue-winged Teals.

They are the first ducks that arrive in that part of the country, frequently making their appearance in the beginning of September, in large flocks, when they are exceedingly fat. They depart, however, when the cold becomes so intense as to form ice; and in this respect they differ from the Green-winged Teals, which brave the coldest weather of that country. Toward the end of February, however, they are as abundant as ever, but they are then poor, although their plumage is perfected, and the males are very beautiful. During their stay, they are seen on bayous and ponds, along the banks of the Mississippi, and on the large and muddy sand-bars around, feeding on grasses and their seeds, particularly in autumn, when they are very fond of the wild pimento. Many remain as late as the 15th of May, in company with the Shoveller and Gadwall Ducks, with which they are usually fond of associating.

On my reaching the south-western pass of the Mississippi, on the 1st April 1837, I found these birds very abundant there, in full plumage, and in flocks of various sizes. On the 11th of the same month, when about an hundred miles to the westward, we saw large and dense flocks flying in the same direction. On the 15th, at Derniere Isle, the Blue-wings were very plentiful and gentle. Two days after, they were quite as numerous round Rabbit Island, in the Bay called Cote Blanche; and on the 26th they were found on all the ponds and salt bayous or inlets of Galveston Island in Texas, as well as on the water-courses of the interior, where I was assured that they bred in great numbers. Though on account of the nature of the localities in which these Teals breed, and which cannot be explored otherwise than in extremely light canoes, or by risking being engulphed in oozy morasses covered with tall grass, we were not so fortunate as to find any of their nests, we could easily judge by their manœuvres both while on wing and on the water, that we were not far from their well-concealed treasures and the females which we procured unequivocally exhibited the state of exhaustion common in the course of incubation.

During the months of September and October, this species is plentiful on the Ohio, and in the whole of the Western Country, through which they pass again in April, but without tarrying. On the other hand, they seem to prolong their stay at this season in our Eastern Districts more than in autumn; and this is also the case in South Carolina, as I learn from the observations of my friend JOHN BACHMAN, who has seen them mated there as early as February. I have found them in the Boston markets on the 8th of September, but it is very rare to see any of them there in full spring dress. I saw or heard of none when I was in Labrador and Newfoundland; from which it may be inferred that those found in the Fur Countries reach them through the interior. They also occur on the Columbia River. On the 21st of March 1821, I saw many Blue-winged Teals copulating on the Mississippi, a little below Natchez; yet none of these birds have been known to breed in that section of the country. They were at the time mentioned on a sand-bar in company with some American Widgeons, which also were similarly employed.

The flight of the Blue-winged Teal is extremely rapid and well sustained. Indeed, I have thought that, when travelling, it passes through the air with a speed equal to that of the Passenger Pigeon. When flying in flocks in clear sunny weather, the blue of their wings glistens like polished steel, so as to give them the most lively appearance; and while they are wheeling over the places in which they intend to alight, their wings being alternately thrown in the shade and exposed to the bright light, the glowing and varied lustre thus produced, at whatever distance they may be, draws your eyes involuntarily towards them. When advancing against a stiff breeze, they alternately shew their upper and lower surfaces, and you are struck by the vivid steel-blue of their mantle, which resembles the dancing light of a piece of glass suddenly reflected on a distant object. During their flight, they almost constantly emit their soft lisping note, which they also utter when alighted and under apprehension of danger. I have never observed them travelling in company with other ducks, but have seen them at times passing over the sea at a considerable distance from land. Before alighting, and almost under any circumstances, and in any locality, these Teals pass and repass several times over the place, as if to assure themselves of the absence of danger, or, should there be cause of apprehension, to watch until it is over. They swim buoyantly, and generally in a close body, at times nearly touching each other. Indeed, during their first appearance in autumn, when you are apt to meet with a flock entirely composed of young birds, you may, by using a little care, kill a considerable number at one shot. I was assured by a gunner residing at New Orleans, that as many as one hundred and twenty had been killed by himself at a single discharge; and I myself saw a friend of mine kill eighty-four by pulling together the triggers of his double-barrelled gun!

The Blue-winged Teal is easily kept in captivity, and soon becomes very docile. In this state it feeds freely on coarse corn meal, and I have no doubt that it could readily be domesticated, in which case, so tender and savoury is its flesh that it would quickly put the merits of the widely celebrated Canvass-backed Duck in the shade.

In the course of my stay in East Florida, at General HERNANDEZ’s, and Mr BULOW’s, I have observed this Teal in company with the Red-breasted Snipe, the Tell-tale Godwit, and the Yellow-shank Snipe. I observed the same circumstance in Texas.

During the time of their residence on the Delaware River, they feed principally on the seeds of the wild oats, which I also found them to do whilst at Green Bay. I have been assured by persons residing on the island of Cuba, that the Blue-winged Teal is abundant, and breeds there.

The old males lose the spring plumage of the head almost entirely during a great portion of the autumn and winter, but it is reassumed sometimes as early as the beginning of January. The young of both sexes in their first plumage resemble the females, but the males acquire their full beauty before they are a year old.

ANAS DISCORS, _Linn._ Syst. Nat. vol i. p. 205.—_Lath._ Ind.
Orn. vol. ii. p. 854.

BLUE-WINGED TEAL, ANAS DISCORS, _Wils._ Amer. Ornith. vol.
viii. p. 74. pl. 68. fig. 4.—_Nuttall_, Manual, vol. ii. p.
397.

ANAS DISCORS, _Ch. Bonap._ Synopsis of Birds of the United
States, p. 385.

ANAS DISCORS, BLUE-WINGED TEAL, _Richards. and Swains._ Fauna
Bor. Amer. vol. ii. p. 444.

Adult Male. Plate CCCXIII. Fig. 1.

Bill almost as long as the head, deeper than broad at the base, depressed towards the end, its breadth nearly equal in its whole length, being however a little enlarged towards the rounded tip. Upper mandible with the dorsal line at first sloping, then nearly straight, on the unguis decurved, the ridge broad and flat at the base, suddenly narrowed over the nostrils, broader and convex towards the end; the sides erect at the base, afterwards sloping and convex; the narrow membranous margins a little broader towards the end. Nostrils sub-basal, near the ridge, rather small, elliptical, pervious. Lower mandible flattened, straight, with the angle very long and rather narrow, the dorsal line very short, and slightly convex, the sides internally erect, with about a hundred and twenty lamellæ.

Head of moderate size, oblong, compressed. Neck of moderate length, rather slender. Body full, depressed. Feet short, placed rather far back; tarsus short, compressed, at its lower part anteriorly with two series of scutella, the rest covered with reticulated angular scales. Toes with numerous scutella above; first toe very small and with a narrow membrane beneath; third longest, fourth about a quarter of an inch shorter; the anterior toes united by reticulated webs, of which the outer is deeply sinuate; claws small, curved, compressed, acute, the hind one smaller and more curved, that of the third toe largest, and with the inner margin sharp.