species, premising that four species visit our shores, and those of the adjacent continent. One of these, however, the Hooded Merganser (Mergus cucullatus) is truly a native of the higher latitudes of North America, one or two instances only of its capture on our shore being upon record. The other three species are the Goosander, (Mergus Merganser,) the Red-breasted Merganser, (Mergus Serrator,) and the Smew, or White Nun, (Mergus albellus.)

The engraving which we present to our readers is that of the Smew, a species distinguished by the purity of its colouring, which consists of black, tastefully disposed on a

snowy white ground. It is by far the smallest of the European Mergansers. The largest is the Goosander, (Mergus Merganser.) This fine bird is a native of the arctic regions of the Old World, as well as of America, where it breeds among the loose stones which border the water, or among tufts of grass, or under the cover of bushes, or in the hollows of decayed trees. The nest is constructed of dried vegetables, such as grasses, roots,

&c. and lined with down. The eggs are twelve or fourteen in number, and of a cream-yellow colour. In Iceland and Greenland, Siberia and Kamschatka, and the fur countries of America, it is a summer guest, rearing its young in regions where it fears no molestation, and where thousands of other aquatic birds are all busy in the great task of bringing up their broods; their only enemies being the fox, the sable, or the ermine, or some wandering bird of prey. When winter sets in, the Goosander migrates southwards, but seldom makes its appearance in the southern parts of England, unless in winters of long and great severity; it spreads itself however far to the south, along the shores of the continent, visiting Holland, Germany, and France. In the Orkneys and other Scottish islands it is said to be a permanent resident, "finding subsistence throughout the year either in the fresh water lakes of the interior, or when these are frozen, in the deep indentations of the coast formed by the saline lochs so numerous in that part of the kingdom." Except when on the wing, the Goosander is seldom seen unless on the water, where it is all life and activity, diving and swimming with surprising ease and alertness. Its food consists of fish and aquatic reptiles, which it seizes and holds securely in its serrated bill; hence its flesh is rank and oily.

By earlier writers the young and females were looked upon as distinct species, and described under the title of Mergus Castor, a mistake now corrected.

The plumage of the adult male is as follows:-head and upper part of the neck black, with glossy green reflexions; lower part of the neck, breast, and under parts, together with the wing-coverts, white, with a delicate tinge of yellowish rose, or salmon colour, especially prevailing on the chest and under parts; top of the back, inner scapularies, primary quill-feathers, and narrow margins of the elongated greater wing-coverts, velvet black; lower part of back and tail deep brownish gray; the feathers of the crown and back of the head are elongated into a full silky crest; beak black above and below, and vermilion at the sides; legs and feet vermilion; length

twenty-eight inches. In the female the crest is long and slender, the head and upper part of the neck are reddish brown; the throat white; the lower part of the neck, the breast, the flanks, and thighs grayish white; under surface yellowish white; all the upper parts are deep bluish gray, tinged with brown, a white belt occupying the middle of the wing; beak black above and below, passing into dull red at the sides; the legs and feet orange; length twenty-five inches.

The trachea of the male is very long, and presents two dilatations in its course before its entrance into a large irregular labyrinth. See page 521.

Thus may be closed the present sketch of the Anatidæ ; an interesting and important group, whose forms, habits, and manners strongly display the overruling hand of God. He guides them in their migrations, and leads them from the pole to the south, and back again to their lonely haunts, where the voice of man never mingles with the tones and cries of myriads of busy creatures, all intent upon the rearing of their broods. He teaches them their course, and appoints the bounds of their habitation. But oh! if the fowls of the air are thus provided for, and carefully guided aright, may not we, with His express promises in our favour, trust ourselves and our cares to Him, whose mercy endureth for ever. The following exquisite lines by Mr. Bryant, an American poet, are so much to the purpose that they need no excuse for their insertion.

TO A WATERFOWL.

WHITHER 'midst falling dew,

While glow the heavens with the last steps of day,
Far through their rosy depths dost thou pursue

Thy solitary way?

Vainly the fowler's eye

Might mark thy distant flight to do thee wrong,

As darkly painted on the crimson sky

Thy figure floats along.

Seek'st thou thy plashy brink

Of weedy lake, or marge of river wide,
Or where the rocking billows rise and sink
On the chafed ocean-side?

There is a Power, whose care

Teaches thy way along that trackless coast-
The desert and illimitable air,

Lone wandering, but not lost.

All day thy wings have fanned

At that far height, the cold thin atmosphere,
Yet stoop not weary, to the welcome land,
Though the dark night is near.

And soon that toil shall end,

Soon shalt thou find a summer home, and rest,
And scream among thy fellows: reeds shall bend
Soon o'er thy sheltered nest.

Thou'rt gone! the abyss of heaven

Hath swallowed up thy form; yet on my heart
Deeply hath sunk the lesson thou hast given,

And shall not soon depart.

He, who from zone to zone,

Guides through the boundless sky thy certain flight,
In the long way that I must tread alone,

Will lead my steps aright.

The next family is that termed Colymbidæ, which inIcludes the Grebes and Divers.

The Colymbida display a fitness and adaptation to aquatic habits, even more strongly than the diving ducks, or the mergansers, having those characteristics, on which such habits depend, displayed in a still greater degree. The body is flat, and covered with close glossy plumage; the wings are small and concave; the tarsi are flat, so as to cut the water; and the toes, which are lobated in one genus, (that is, each furnished with a strong lateral expansion, so as to form an oar,) and webbed in another, are so arranged as to fold into a very small compass when drawn towards the body after making one stroke before the next is given, so as to offer the least possible resistance to the water.

In diving, the wings are used for the purpose of aiding progression. The bill is long and sharp, and the neck elongated. Necessarily embarrassed on land, the Colymbida are active and vigorous on their congenial element, which they seldom leave, except in order to change their abode; they rise on the wing with difficulty, till at length,

having attained to a certain elevation, their flight becomes strong and rapid. When pursued, they trust to their skill in diving for safety; and so rapidly do they dip beneath the water, that it is difficult to hit them with shot, unless when taken by surprise.

The first group of this family is that of the Grebes, (Podiceps.)

The Grebes swim with equal facility either on the surface or beneath the surface of the water; in the latter case they use their wings as if flying in the liquid element. Their food consists of fishes, insects, and aquatic reptiles; but the stomach, upon dissection, is usually found to contain a mass of feathers, which it would appear the bird had taken from its own plumage. Whether these feathers are swallowed accidentally while the bird is dressing its plumage, or purposely to aid the process of digestion, is not satisfactorily made out; many circumstances, however, tend to favour the latter opi

nion.

The Grebes are more habitually the inhabitants of fresh waters than of the sea; they make their nest amidst reeds and aquatic herbage, which abound in their favourite localities. Their plumage is silky, close, thick, and

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