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in twelve hours, they must have travelled between 300 and 400 miles in six hours, making their speed at an average of about one mile in a minute; and this would enable one of these birds, if so inclined, to visit the European continent, as swallows undoubtedly are able to do in a couple of days.

Such are their numbers, that the air is described as literally filled with pigeons; the light of the noon-day becomes dim, as during an eclipse.'

It may not, perhaps, be out of place to attempt an estimate of the number of pigeons contained in one of those mighty flocks, and the quantity of food daily consumed by its members. The inquiry will show the astonishing bounty of the Creator in his works, and how universally this bounty has been granted to every living thing on the vast continent of America.

We shall take, for example, a column of one mile in breadth, which is far below the average size, and suppose it passing over us without interruption for three hours, at the rate mentioned above, of one mile per minute. This will give us a parallelogram of 180 miles by 1, covering 180 square miles; and allowing two pigeons to the square yard, we have 1,115,136,000 pigeons in one flock; and as every pigeon consumes fully half-a-pint of food per day, the quantity must be 8,712,000 bushels per day, which is required to feed such a flock. —Audubon.

THE WHIP-POOR-WILL.

Why is a certain American bird called the Whippoor-Will' ?

Because its notes seem pretty plainly to articulate the words whip-poor-will; the first and last syllables being uttered with great emphasis, and the whole in about a second to each repetition; but when two or more males meet, their whip-poor-will altercations become much more rapid and incessant, as if each was straining to overpower or silence the other.

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On or about the 25th of April, if the season be not uncommonly cold, the whip-poor-will is heard in Pennsylvania, in the evening, as the dusk of twilight commences; or in the morning, as soon as the dawn has broke. The notes of this solitary bird, from the ideas which are naturally associated with them, seem like the voice of an old friend, and are listened to by almost all with great interest. At first they issue from some retired part of the woods, the glen, or mountain; in a few evenings, perhaps, we hear them from the adjoining coppice, the garden fence, the road before the door, and even the roof of the dwelling-house, hours after the family have retired to rest. Some of the more ignorant and superstitious consider this near approach as foreboding no good to the family, nothing less than the sickness, misfortune, or death, of some of its members. Every morning and evening his shrill and rapid repetitions are heard from the adjoining woods; and when two or more are calling at the same time, as is often the case in the pairing season, and at no great distance from each other, the noise,mingling with the echoes from the mountains,is really surprising. Stran. gers, in parts of the country where these birds are numerous, find it almost impossible for some time to sleep; while,to those acquainted with them, the sound often serves as a lullaby, to assist their repose. Towards midnight they generally become silent, unless in clear moonlight, when they are heard with little interruption till morning. Rennie.

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This is one of the goat-suckers, which are chiefly American birds. The European species has been mentioned at p. 102. Besides the whip-poor-will, Waterton mentions four kinds that have each a peculiar set of notes. One utters, Who are you, who, who, who are are?' another, work away, work, work away; another, Willy come go; and another, a large bird, the size of the English wood-owl, 'Ha, ha,

person in deep distress,

ha, ha, ha, ha, ha;' which sounds are uttered like a the departed voice of a night-murdered victim. The plaintive cries of all these are uttered throughout the night.

NEGRO-FOWL.

Why is the negro-fonl so called?
Because it has a black skin.

It is principally from

St Jago, in the Cape de Verd Islands, where other species of birds are said to present the same peculiarity. Blumenbach.

CURASSOW.

Why is the curassow improperly so called?

Because it has been corrupted from Curaçoa, the name of an island where the bird is found in great abundance.

THE OSTRICH.

Why is the ostrich enabled to run with such celerity? Because his bones, like those of other birds, are hollow; he has also air vesicles similar to other birds, which, notwithstanding he cannot leave the earth, enable him, by the assistance of his muscular legs, to run with astonishing swiftness.

Why do the feathers of the ostrich differ from those of other birds?

Because they have their shaft exactly in the middle, whereas the feathers of other birds have the webs broader on one side than the other.

Why does the ostrich lay and hatch her eggs in the sand?

Because her form being ill-adapted to that process, she has a natural oven furnished by the sand, and the strong heat of the sun.

Why has the ostrich been so long known for its stupidity?

Because of its mention in the book of Job, xxix,

16, 17: She is hardened against the young ones, as though they were not hers: Because God hath deprived her of wisdom, neither hath he imparted to her understanding.'

Soine accounts exonerate the ostrich from being the most stupid bird in the creation. This has been proved by the experiment of taking an egg away, or by putting one in addition. In either case she destroys the whole by smashing them with her feet. Although she does not attend to secrecy in selecting a situation for her nest, she will forsake it if the eggs have been handled. It is also said that she rolls a few eggs thirty yards from the nest, and cracks the shells, which, by the time her young come forth, being filled with maggots, and covered with insects, form the first repast of her infant brood. The male bird is said to take upon himself the rearing of the young. If two cock birds meet, each with a family, they fight for the supremacy over both; for which reason an ostrich has sometimes under his tutelage, broods of different ages. General Miller.

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Each of the ostrich's eggs, of which it lays about thirty, contains as much as twenty-four hen's eggs. Why are young ostriches seldom domesticated,although they soon become attached to those who caress them?

Because they are troublesome inmates: for, stalking about the house, they will, when full grown, swallow coin, shirt-pins, and every small article of metal within their reach.

CASSOWARY.

Why is the New Holland cassowary hunted? Because it abounds with oil, which is used for leather, &c. Its flesh, when cooked, more resembles beef than fowl. It is hunted with dogs, the scull, or the jaw of which, according to Wentworth, it sometimes fractures by a single kick. A fine pair of these

birds may be seen in the gardens of the Zoological Society.

SPOONBILL.

Why is the spoonbill so called?

Because of its singular bill having the shape of a spoon. Its singularity does not, however, consist merely in its shape, but also in its structure: for it is not hard, like the beaks of other birds, but soft and flexible like leather. - Jennings.

HORNED SCREAMER.

Why has the horned screamer two spurs on each wing? Because it may defend itself against some noxious animals which infest the native regions of this bird

the fenny and marshy parts of South America. Notwithstanding this armour it is said that this bird is the most gentle of all animals; that the male and female are always found in pairs, and that, if one dies, the other does not long survive.

BITTERN.

Why does the great American bittern emit a strong light from its breast?

Because the light, which is equal to that of a common torch, may illuminate the water, so as to enable the bird to discover its prey. -American Naturalist.

IBIS.

Why was the ibis so famed among the ancient Egyptians?

Because it was the symbol of the overflowing of the Nile, from its arrival, breeding season, and departure, coinciding with the commencement, &c, of the fertilizing inundation of that river.

It has been frequently represented on their hieroglyphical monuments, and prepared, like the human bodies, in the form of mummies, great numbers being placed in certain vaults. At present it is rather uncommon, at least in Lower Egypt. Blumenbach.

PART IV.

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