there some time. They were very tame, and would suffer themselves to be handled by the visitors; but most persons were alarmed, on approaching them, by the animals uttering their weak and plaintive cry. This noise they also frequently emitted during their play with each other. At times they were exceedingly gay and frolicsome, wrestling and playing with each other, as far as the limits of their small apartment would admit. They often sate upright to look about them, or to eat; and, if any thing moveable was given them to play with, they would drag it about, and seem highly pleased with it. They were in no instance observed to drag any thing about on their tails, or to make any attempts to do so. In all their manners these animals were extremely cleanly.

THE SKUNK.
(Bradbury's Travels.)

OF the animal called the skunk, Mr. Bradbury remarks, that in its defence it discharges a few drops of a liquid so fœtid, that the stench can scarcely be endured by any animal. Clothes on which the smallest particle has fallen, must be buried in the earth for at least a month before they can be worn. This liquor is highly inflammable, and is secreted in a gland beneath the tail, from which it is thrown with a force that will carry it to the distance of three or four yards. Only a very few of the American dogs can be induced to attack it, and those are so powerfully affected by the horrid stench, that they continue to howl for a considerable time afterwards, and instinctively relieve themselves by scratching holes in the earth, into which they put their noses. The skunk belongs to the weasel tribe, is of a blackish colour, with fine parallel white stripes. from the head along the back and sides to the tail.

THE BALD EAGLE.

(Dr. Dwight's Journal.)

THE Bald Eagle (falco leucocephalus) is a bird of very great strength, size, and fierceness. A remarkable one was killed by Henry Nevins, of Hanover, State

Y

of Vermont. It was upwards of three feet in height. Although it weighed but twelve pounds, it was judged sufficiently stout and bold enough to have attempted, and even destroyed, the lives of calves, sheep, and lambs. Its wings, extended, measured seven feet eight inches, and its claws were two and one fourth inches in length.

A few years since a bald eagle was killed at Brookfield, in the county of Fairfield, which measured between the extremities of the wings almost nine feet. He had killed a calf the same morning.

This formidable bird is so inclined to solitude as not often to be seen, except at a distance. He builds his nest on high mountains, or solitary islands, or in other lonely places, where there is little danger of being disturbed. He is much less than the condor, but, I think, more vigorous; and, when roused to violent exertion, more terrible.

Birds of prey in this country are of many kinds; yet, if we except the common or hen-hawk, they are few in number. It is a remarkable fact, that the

KING-BIRD, OR BEE EATER,

is an overmatch for any of them. This little animal, possessed of a sharp beak, unrivalled activity, and a spirit equally unrivalled, boldly attacks every other bird, and is always secure of victory. It is not a little amusing to see an enemy, so disproportioned in size and strength, vanquish the crow, the hawk, and the eagle. While on the wing he always rises above them; and, at short intervals, darting upon them with wonderful celerity, pierces them with his bill on the back and neck so painfully, that they make no efforts but to escape. Whenever they alight, he alights immediately over them, and quietly waits until they again take wing. Then he repeats the same severe discipline, until satisfied with victory and revenge he returns to his nest. This bird is an excellent defence of a garden against every enemy of the feather kind.

THE CROW

is easily taught to speak; as easily and as well, 1 believe, as the parrot, and, what is perhaps singular, to laugh. This is a very mischievous bird, whether

wild or tamed. When wild, it roots up the young maize, to come at the seed. When tame, it pilfers and flies away with almost every thing which it is able to carry."

THE SONGSTER OF THE WOODS.

(The Same.)

THE spring-bird, the meadow-lark, and particularly the robin red-breast, sing delightfully. There is, however, a bird incomparably superior to either, and to all other birds in this country, in the sweetness and richness of its notes. I am unable to describe it minutely, having never been sufficiently successful in my attempts to approach it, to become thoroughly acquainted with its form and colouring, although I have seen it often. It is a small brown bird, scarcely so large as the robin. Its notes are very numerous, and appear to be varied at pleasure. Its voice is finer than any instrument, except the Eolian harp. What is remarkable in this bird is, that it sings in a kind of concert, sometimes with one, and sometimes with two of its companions. When two of them unite, the voice of one is regularly elevated a third greater above that of the other. When there are three, the third raises his voice a fifth above the first, and of course a third less above the second. In this manner a given set of notes is repeated alternately by them all at equal intervals, and with inimitable sweetness of sound; forming, it is believed, the nearest approach to harmony found amongst the feathered creation. I have named this bird the songster of the woods.

THE HUMMING BIRD.

(Taylor's Naturales Curiosa.)

OF all animated beings, says Buffon, this bird is the most elegant in form, and superb in colours. The precious stones, polished by art, cannot be compared to this jewel of nature. Her miniature productions are ever the most wonderful; she has placed it in the order of birds, at the bottom of the scale of magnitude; but

all the talents that are only shared amongst the others, she has bestowed profusely on this little favourite. The emerald, the ruby, and the topaz, sparkle in its plumage, which is never soiled by the dust of the ground. It is inconceivable how much these brilliant birds add to the high finished beauty of the western landscape. No sooner is the sun risen, than numerous kinds are seen fluttering abroad; their wings are so rapid in motion, that it is impossible to discern their colour, except by their glittering; they are never still, but continually visiting flower after flower, and extracting the honey. For this purpose they are furnished with a forked tongue, which enters the cup of the flower, and enables them to sip the nectared tribute; upon this alone they subsist. In their flight they make a buzzing noise, not unlike a spinning wheel, from whence they have their

name.

The nests of these birds are not less curious than their form they are suspended in the air at the extremity of a branch of an orange, a pome-granate, or a citron tree, and sometimes even to a straw pendant from a hut, if they find one convenient for the purpose, The female is the architect, while the male goes in quest of materials, such as fine cotton, moss, and the fibres of vegetables. The nest is about the size of half a walnut. They lay two eggs at a time, and never more, in appearance like small peas, as white as snow, with here and there a yellow speck. The time of incubation continues twelve days, at the end of which the young ones appear, being then not larger than a blue-bottle fly. 66 I could never perceive" (says Father Duteste) "how the mother fed them, except that she presented the tongue covered entirely with honey extracted from flowers." Those who have tried to feed them with syrups, could not keep them alive more than a few weeks; these aliments, though of easy digestion, are very different from the delicate nectar collected from the fresh blossoms. It has been alleged by various naturalists, that during the winter season they remain torpid, suspended by the bill from the bark of a tree, and are awakened into life when the flowers begin to blow; but these fictions are rejected; for Catesby saw

them throughout the year at St. Domingo and Mexico, where nature never entirely loses her bloom. Sloane says the same of Jamaica, only that they are more numerous after the rainy season. Marcgrave mentions them as being frequent the whole year in the woods of Brazil.

The method of obtaining these minute birds is to shoot them with sand, or by means of the trunk-gun : they will allow one to approach within five or six paces of them. It is easy to lay hold of the little creature while it hums at the blossom. It dies soon after it is caught, and serves to decorate the Indian girls, who wear two of these charming birds as pendants from their ears. The Indians indeed, are so struck and dazzled with the brillancy of their various hues, that they have named them, the Beams, or Locks of the Sun. Such is the history of this little being, who flutters from flower to flower; breathes their freshness, wantons on the wings of the cooling zephyrs, sips the nectar of a thousand sweets, and resides in climes where reigns the beauty of eternal spring.

THE KAIMAN ALLIGATOR.

(Various Authorities)

THE Kaiman, a species of the alligator, or crocodile,

is found in the southern rivers of the United States of America. Some of the Kaimans are of so monstrous a size as to exceed five yards in length. They devour all living animals that they can catch. They are fond of the flesh of hogs and dogs. When basking on the shore they keep their huge mouths wide open till they are filled with musquitoes, flies, and other insects, when they suddenly shut their jaws, and swallow their prey. They are great destroyers of fish in the rivers and creeks, which they catch with the same address.

Eight or ten of these lie at the river or creek, whilst others go to a distance up the river, and chase the fish downward, by which means none of any bigness escape them. They are said, however, to remain torpid during the winter, in dens which they find in the banks of of the rivers, having previously swallowed a large quan