It

in Dalmatia and the southern provinces of Hungary. breeds in rice-grounds, or among the tall reeds and flags of morasses, constructing its nest of dried herbage; the eggs are three or four, of a white colour, and almost round. Its food consists of grain, aquatic plants, fruits, and fish. The cheeks, the throat, and front of the neck are of a fine turquoise blue; the back of the neck and under parts, deep dull indigo; the breast, the back, the wings, and tail, bright indigo; the under tail-coverts, white; the frontal plate and beak, lively red; legs, light reddish. Length eighteen inches.

The last genus of this family requiring notice is that of the Coots, (Fulica.)

The genus Fulica is distinguished by a short, strong, straight beak, with a large frontal plate; legs of moderate length, and the toes edged with a scalloped or festooned membrane; the middle toe having three, the inner two, and the outer four distinct membranes on each side: plumage thick and soft.

The Coots are united on the one hand by the Phalaropes to the Scolopacida, and form on the other the link which connects the Rallide to the swimming or Natatorial Order. Their manners, as indicated by their external conformation, are purely aquatic. They inhabit lakes, ponds, and even inland seas, and feed on worms, aquatic insects, and vegetables. The species are few, and their plumage is dark and unvariegated. They breed among tall herbage near the water's edge.

The COMMON COOT (Fulica atra) is widely spread over Europe, and is particularly abundant in Holland. Its manners closely resemble those of the common gallinule, or water-hen. In the northern parts of our island, and perhaps of the continent, it appears to be partially migratory, passing, on the approach of winter, to the southern districts, and visiting salt-water inlets, where food is still attainable. Hence in the Isle of Sheppy, the neighbourhood of Southampton, &c. great numbers are

killed during the winter for the markets, its flesh being esteemed, though of a peculiar flavour.

The Coot swims and dives with the utmost ease; nor is it inactive on land, where it often wanders in quest of worms, slugs, &c., which, with aquatic insects and the fry of fish, constitute its food. Its nest is a huge mass of plants, such as dead flags and rushes, situated sometimes among the reeds by the water's edge, at other times supported by reeds in a floating state, and occasionally, where the water is shallow, raised up layer by layer from the bottom till it rises from six to twelve inches above the surface. The author of "British Zoology," speaking of the nests of the Coot from repeated personal observation, observes, that they are large, and apparently clumsy at first sight, but amazingly strong and compact..... So firm are some of them, that whilst up to my knees in water they afforded me a seat sufficiently strong to support my weight. From the nature of the materials composing the nest conjoined to its situation, it not unfrequently happens that it is torn from its moorings by floods and carried down the stream; and instances have been known of such occurrences taking place, the female continuing to sit upon her eggs, which were uninjured.

The young are covered with harsh black down on their exclusion from the egg, and take to the water immediately, under the guidance and protection of their parents. The eggs are of a dirty greenish white, covered with specks and dashes of brown.

The general plumage of the Coot is black, excepting on the under surface, which is dusky ash-colour, and a line of white on the ridge of the wing. Bill, pale rose red; frontal plate, white; legs, dark olive green. Length eighteen inches.

Here we close this sketch of the order Grallatores, illustrated by the clearest and most remarkable examples. Its situation will be at once understood; intermediate between the Rasores and the swimming birds or Natatores, it is united at one point to the former, and at another insensibly merges into the latter, while the groups of which it is composed claim various degrees of affinity with each other. Into these minutiæ, however, we must not attempt to enter; suffice it if the outline is clear and comprehensive.

If the order we have just sketched possesses any interest, (and who can doubt it?) it necessarily leads us to that God of order, harmony, and perfection, who has made all beings and ordained the laws of nature. A christian cannot contemplate the God of nature without remembering that He is also the God of grace, and it is his privilege so to do. The Greek or Roman sage knew God as the Author of all things, but knew no more; but we, led up to God through nature, behold Him as a Father and Friend, who has revealed himself to us not only in His works, but more fully and more clearly in His word.

The last order of birds now presents itself.

489

ORDER VI.

NATATORES.

THE order Natatores contains the swimming birds, birds whose habits are decidedly aquatic, and whose conformation, as it respects the structure of their feet and other anatomical points, has obtained for them the popular but expressive term of Water-fowl. Awkward on the land, the liquid element is their congenial home. The position of the limbs, placed behind the centre of gravity of the body; the short compressed tarsi; the close, thick wadding of feathers which envelopes the body, and throws off the water as if their surface were oiled; the boat-like contour; the long neck; all declare the station this order occupies in nature. Yet, as in all other orders, differences and alliances may be traced by which groups are marked out and themselves subdivided.

The first family is that termed LARIDA, or the Gull tribes. Besides the Gulls, it comprehends the Terns, the Scissor-bills, the Petrels, the Albatrosses, &c.; all characterized by great powers of flight. The toes are three before, united by membrane or webs; and in many one behind, without membrane; in some, however, the hind toe is either totally wanting, or consists merely of a nail or short claw. The form of the bill is various; in some it is straight; in others hooked at the tip. Most subsist upon fish and marine productions, which they either obtain from the waves out at sea, or pick up on the shore. Many species repose upon the water, where they float at ease with much buoyancy; they do not, however, make any progress in swimming, and are incapable of diving. The Petrels, however, never actually settle on the water to float, but use their webbed feet to run as it were on the surface of the waves, in which action they are assisted by their wings.

The first genus claiming notice is that of the Terns, or Sea-Swallows, ( Sterna,) so called from their long wings and swallow-like mode of flight: hence their French name, "Hirondelle de Mer." The genus Sterna is thus briefly characterized: beak as long or longer than the head, straight, compressed, and pointed, the lower mandible having an angle near its middle part; nostrils basal, and oblong; wings long, and pointed; tail forked; tarsi short; toes before, three, united by webs; hind toe small.

The Terns may be said to represent the Fissirostral group, of the order Insessores, among the groups of the present order. Destined to pass the greatest portion of their time in the air, their long wings and forked tail endow them with ample powers both of rapidity and continuance. Bays and wide inlets of the ocean, inland seas, lakes, and the larger rivers, are their chosen haunts; where they may be seen in flocks wheeling in rapid flight, and pursuing their course in search of prey. The smaller kinds of fishes constitute the food of those which frequent the sea, while those that frequent lakes and rivers, in addition to fish, feed on insects, such as dragon-flies, &c. taken while on the wing. The manner in which they capture the finny tenants of the deep is by precipitating themselves on such as swim near the surface. In doing this they descend with astonishing force and rapidity, and are often buried beneath the waves for several seconds.

The species are very numerous, and very widely distributed, being found in all climates and quarters of the world. Their moult is double; but that of spring is partial, the change of feathers taking place only on the head, which from gray or white becomes more or less generally black, and remains so during summer, returning to gray or white when the autumn moult takes place, which affects the whole of the plumage. They breed in united bands of hundreds, occupying a common spot on the sands, shingle, or rocks; and often lay their eggs so closely together, that in sitting the birds actually touch each other. The number of eggs of each species is usually three. In habits and manners one species may be taken as a sample of the whole.