duck of Carolina. It bears a strong resemblance in
plumage and habits to the celebrated mandarin duck of China. The birds
are found perching on the branches of trees overhanging ponds and
streams--a habit not usual in the duck tribe--where they may be seen,
generally a couple together, the male in his superb garments of green,
purple, chestnut, and white, contrasting with the homely plumage of his
mate.

THE PINNATED GROUSE, OR PRAIRIE HEN.

On the open "barrens," where a few tufts of stunted brushwood are alone
found, the remarkable pinnated grouse may be seen in great numbers
running over the ground. Their backs are mottled with black, white, and
chestnut-brown; and the male has two finely ornamented feathers on the
neck, streaked with black and brown. It has also a slight crest on the
head, of orange colour, hanging over each eye in a semicircular form;
and naked appendages, which hang down from each side of the neck, and
can be filled at the will of the bird by air, so that when puffed out
they are like two small yellow oranges. As the breeding season
approaches the males appear, uttering strange cries, puffing out these
wattles, ruffling their feathers, and erecting their neck-tufts, as if
wishing to appear to the greatest advantage before their mates. They
occasionally engage in combats with each other, but their encounters are
not often of a bloody description.

They form their nests rudely of grass and leaves, under the shelter of a
bush or thick tuft of long grass. The hen lays about fifteen eggs of a
brownish-white colour.

The most remarkable feature in the history of these birds is the way in
which they assemble, as winter approaches, in vast numbers, to obtain
protection from the biting force of the north-west winds which sweep
over the Missouri country, by huddling close together.

"As evening draws near," says Mr Webber, who has observed their habits,
"they approach the spot they have fixed on, in the usual manner, by
short flights, with none of that whirring of wings for which they are
noted when suddenly put up; but they make ample amends for their
previous silence when they arrive. From the pigeon-roost there is a
continuous roar, caused by the restless shifting of the birds, and
sounds of impatient struggling, which can be distinctly heard for
several miles. The numbers collected are incalculably immense, since
the space occupied extends sometimes for a mile in length, with a
breadth d