this Fish, to be taken somewhere near Gravesend, in March last; when, it being the Opinion of some grave Gentlemen, that it was a Droit of Admiralty, a Writ was issued by that Court, for its Arrest and Detention;— arrested and detained, it accordingly was, until it became intolerably offensive. City of LONDON, taking the matter into its Consideration, disputed the Right of the Admiralty, and put in a Claim to the Whale, upon the Ground that it was taken within its District. The Rule was granted.

The

Shooting.

The Formation of Birds, which are the Animals, mostly sought after in this Diversion, has been described, we may add, that the Particulars most important, in the comparative Anatomy of Birds, are these. The Heart is furnished with two Cavities, and in the Language of Anatomists, is Bilocular, and the general Course of the Circulation, is carried on as in QUADRUPEDS. The Lungs are very large, affixed to the back part of the Cavity of the Breast, and have several external Orifices, by which the Air they contain, is at Pleasure, communicated to other parts of the Frame. The Throat, after passing down to a certain Distance, dilates into a large membranous Bag, answering to the Stomach, in Quadrupeds; it is called the Crop, and its great Use is, to soften the Food taken into it, in order to prepare it, for going into another larger Receptacle, termed the Gizzard: this, which may be considered, as a

more powerful Stomach than the former, consists of two very strong Muscles, lined and covered, with a strong tendinous Coat, and furrowed on the inside: in this Reservoir, the Aliment is completely ground, and reduced to a Pulp: in the predacious Birds, such as Eagles, Vultures, Hawks, Owls, and some others, the Gizzard is wanting; the Stomach, being more allied to that of QUADRUPEDS.

We shall now proceed to those Anecdotes, which naturally connect themselves, with the different Species of WATER, and LAND BIRDS, that are either protected by the GAME LAWS, or are not included within their Restriction.

Bustard.

What follows, manifests two Circumstances, the Boldness of the Puttock, in seizing so large a Bird, and that the BUSTARD, has thus been found to breed in a Situation, where, perhaps, it was not known before to have done so.

In July, 1806, two Gentlemen's Servants, observed, near Ringwood Forest, a large Puttock hawk, suddenly pitch from the Air, amongst some Furze, and not seeing him rise again, were led by Curiosity, to examine what kind of Prey he had caught; and which was a young BUSTARD, weighing nearly seven pounds.

Pheasant.

An uncommon sized PHEASANT, was shot in January, 1810, in the Plantations belonging to E. L. IRTON, Esq. near Whitehaven, which weighed fifty-six Ounces, and measured, from the Bill to the Extremity of the Tail, one Yard five inches* !

* A peculiar culinary Mode of perfuming their Birds, was observed at the Table of the KING of TUNIS, who landed at NAPLES, to have an Interview with CHARLES, the Emperor, they were stuffed with odoriferous Drugs, and Spices, to such an Expence, that the Cooking of one Peacock, and two Pheasants, dressed after this Fashion, amounted to a Hundred Ducats; and when they were carved, not only the Dining-room, but all the Apartments of his Palace, and even the adjoining Streets, were filled with the aromatic Vapour, and which was not presently dispersed.

66

In a Note, formerly speaking of this Bird, was described the Sow POINTER: we shall insert the Remark of an ITALIAN, who saw the learned PIG, and desired to know the Time of the Day; the PIG readily informed him; the Foreigner immediately exclaimed, that Creature in my Country, they would burn the PIG, and hang the Showman." Respecting this Animal, the following Conversation of the late Doctor JOHNSON, in 1784, Ætatis 75, is recorded.

was

"I told him (says Miss SEWARD) of a learned PIG, which I had seen at NOTTINGHAM, and which did all that we have observed exhibited, by Dogs and Horses. Then (replied the DOCTOR,) the PIGS are a Race unjustly calumniated, PIG has, it seems, not been wanting to MAN, but MAN, to PIG; we do not allow Time for his Education, we kill him at a Year old. Mr. WHITE remarked, that if this Instance had happened in, or before, POPE's time, he would not have been justified, in allotting to SWINE, the basest Degree of grovelling Instinct, and most probably great Torture must have been employed, ere the Indocility of the Animal, could have been subdued. Certainly (said