ckens is the
well-known appellation, in _tarrish_ tongue, of _Stormy Petrels_, not
superstitiously supposed to forebode tempests, since they seem their very
element; but it is probable that to Mother Carey herself (we crave her
pardon--_Mistress_) some astounding "yarn" is attached. The _Stork_, the
_Crane_, and the _Pelican_, are each the subject of idle stories; the
latter has been asserted to feed her young with her own bosom's blood, and
to fill her pouch with water in order to supply them in the desert. A
notion is entertained by the ignorant that the _Bittern_ thrusts its bill
into a reed, which serves as a pipe to increase the volume of its natural
note, and swell it above pitch; and in some places a tradition prevails
that it thrusts its head into water and then blows with all its might. It
is erroneous that the _Ostrich_ lays her eggs in the sand, depending
solely on the sun's rays to hatch them; the truth is that, as from the
heat of her native climate, it is not always necessary for her to sit upon
them, she simply does what numerous birds in colder latitudes are well
known to do; viz. cover them, that they may not, during her absence, lose
their heat.

The popular opinion that the _Turtle Dove_, of either sex, should it
happen to lose its mate, remains ever after in a state of disconsolate
celibacy, is, we believe, disproved by the fact, at least as respects
these birds in a wild state; but we may remark, that the loss of a
companion to more than one kind of _domesticated_ bird, if it has been
brought up with one, even though not in the same cage, is sometimes so
severely deplored by the survivor, as to occasion its death, if the loss
be not speedily supplied. The old story of _Swallows_ passing the winter
in a state of torpidity at the bottom of rivers, lakes, and ponds, has
been frequently agitated, asserted to be a fact by one party, and totally
disproved by the other. The reader may be amused to learn, that very
recently we were assured by one, who _knew it for an absolute fact_, that
ducks and even chickens (!!!) had been found in a certain farmer's pond,
laid up in winter quarters, which were revived by the warmth of the sun
and upper air, upon being fished out of it!! "Regarding _Birds' Eggs_,"
says the Naturalist in his interesting Journal, "we have a very foolish
superstition here (Gloucestershire:) the boys may take them unrestrained,
but their mothers so dislike their being kept in the house, that