The migration of birds is a mystery which none of our naturalists have yet successfully investigated. There are few birds whose plumage is apparently more delicate than the humming bird of America. Nevertheless, in winter it may be seen to the southward of the United States, and in summer it is found ranging as high as the fifty-seventh parallel, and perhaps even still farther north.

THE CILFF SWALLOW.

This species was discovered in 1820, by Major Long, near the Rocky Mountains, where it abounds. In the same year it was seen in great numbers by Sir John Franklin's party, on the journey from Cumberland House to Fort Enterprise, and on the banks of Point Lake, in latitude 65°, where its earliest arrival was noted, in the following year, to be the 12th of June. Its clustered nests are of frequent occurrence on the faces of the rocky cliffs of the Barren Grounds, and they are not uncommon throughout the whole course of the Slave and Mackenzie rivers. On the 25th of June, in the year 1825, a number of them made their first appearance at Fort Chepewyan, and built their nests under the eaves of the dwelling-house, which are about six feet above a balcony, that extends the whole length of the building, and is a frequented promenade. They had thus to graze the heads of the passengers on entering their nests, and were moreover exposed to the curiosity and depredations of the children, to whom they were novelties; yet they preferred the dwelling-house to the more lofty eaves of the storehouses, and in the following season returned with augmented numbers to the same spot. Fort Chepewyan has existed for many years, and trading-posts, though far distant from each other, have been established in the fur countries for a century and a half; yet this, as far as I could learn, is the first instance of this species of swallow placing itself under the protection of man within the widely extended lands north of the great lakes. What cause could have thus suddenly called into action that confidence in the human race with which the Framer of the universe has endowed this species, in common with others of the swallow tribe? It has been supposed that birds frequenting desert countries, and unaccustomed to annoyance from man, would approach him fearlessly, or at least be less shy than those inhabiting thickly peopled districts, where they are daily exposed to the attacks of the great destroyer of their tribes. But although this may be true of some families of birds, it is far from being generally the case. On the contrary, the small birds of the fur-countries, which are never objects of pursuit, and scarcely even of notice to the Indian hunter, are shy, retiring, and distrustful, their habits contrasting strongly with the boldness and familarity of the sparrows, that are persecuted to death by every idle boy in Europe. Nay, some species, which are bold enough during their winter residence in the United States, evince great timidity in the northern regions, where the raising their progeny occupies their whole time. In like manner, the redbreast of Europe, familiar as it is in winter, sequesters itself with the greatest care in the breeding season. The question, however, recurs,-what is the peculiarity of economy which leads one species of bird to conceal its nest with the most extraordinary care and address, and another to place its offspring in the most exposed situation it can select?

At Fort Chepewyan the young came abroad on the 14th of July, and

at the end of the month the whole took their departure. The nest is hemispherical, composed externally of small pellets of tempered mud, and lined with soft hay, and a few feathers. When attached to cliffs, the nests are clustered together, and each has an irregular tubular entrance at the top, an inch or two long, aptly compared, by Mr. James, to the broken neck of a retort. Under the eaves of a house, the nests are in a single line, not clustered; their form is adapted to the situation, and the tubular entrance is either entirely wanting or reduced to a mere ledge. The nests are easily destroyed by rain; and as they generally face the south-west, a gale from that quarter, which is of comparatively rare occurrence in the month of July in the fur-countries, destroys great numbers of them. The labour of building is performed chiefly in the morning, and three or four days suffice to complete the shell of the dwelling. The eggs, usually four, are oblong, of a white colour, with dusky spots. The note of this species is a gentle twittering, like that of the H. urbica of Europe, which it strongly resembles in its mode of building. When the bird is angry or alarmed, it utters a feeble, but harsh and acute scream. It preys on musquitoes and other small winged insects.'-pp. 331-333.

There are few birds which range higher in the arctic regions than the pisk; it utters a peculiar sound, which is heard chiefly in the evening, and seems to be quite close to the listener, whereas at the moment the bird is so high in the air as to be almost imperceptible. Plenty of grouse of various kinds were observed by Dr. Richardson. He is indebted to Mr. Douglas for the following description of the cock of the plains,' which, if we may judge from the plate, is a most magnificent creature.

6 COCK OF THE PLAINS.

This bird, which was first mentioned by Lewis and Clark, has since become well known to the fur traders that frequent the banks of the Columbia. Several specimens have been sent to England by the agents of the Hudson's Bay Company: a male and female are mounted in their museum ; -and others having come into Mr. Leadbeater's hands, one of them has been figured by the Prince of Musignano. Mr. David Douglas also brought home specimens, from one of which Mr. Wilson's figure was taken. It is to Mr. Douglas that we owe the following account of the manners of the species, the only one hitherto published:

"The flight of these birds is slow, unsteady, and affords but little amusement to the sportsman. From the disproportionately small, convex, thin-quilled wing, so thin, that a vacant space half as broad as a quill appears between each,-the flight may be said to be a sort of fluttering, more than anything else; the bird giving two or three claps of the wings in quick succession, at the same time hurriedly rising: then shooting or floating, swinging from side to side, gradually falling, and thus producing a clapping, whirring sound. When started the voice is cuck, cuck, cuck,' like the common pheasant. They pair in March and April. Small eminences on the banks of streams are the places usually selected for celebrating the weddings, the time generally about sunrise. The wings of the male are lowered, buzzing on the ground; the tail, spread like a fan, somewhat erect; the bare yellow œsophagus inflated to a prodigious size— fully half as large as his body, and, from its soft, membranous substance,

being well contrasted with the scale-like feathers below it on the breast, and the flexile, silky feathers on the neck, which on these occasions stand erect. In this grotesque form he displays, in the presence of his intended mate, a variety of attitudes. His love-song is a confused, grating, but not offensively disagreeable tone,-something that we can imitate, but have a difficulty in expressing,- Hurr-hurr-hurr-r-r-r-hoo,' ending in a deep, hollow tone, not unlike the sound produced by blowing into a large reed. Nest on the ground, under the shade of Purshia and Artemisia, or near streams, among Phalaris arundinacea, carefully constructed of dry grass and slender twigs. Eggs, from thirteen to seventeen, about the size of those of a common fowl, of a wood-brown colour, with irregular chocolate blotches on the thick end. Period of incubation twenty one to twenty-two days. The young leave the nest a few hours after they are hatched." "In the summer and autumn months these birds are seen in small troops, and in winter and spring in flocks of several hundreds. Plentiful throughout the barren, arid plains of the river Columbia; also in the interior of North California. They do not exist on the banks of the river Missouri; nor have they been seen in any place east of the Rocky Mountains." pp. 358, 359.

Among the other birds described by Dr. Richardson, are the sanderling, the ring-plover, the lapwing, the bittern, the curlew, the sandpiper, the coot, the gull, the kittiwake, and a variety of ducks and swans, which are all well known in Europe.

ART. VIII.-Narrative of a Visit to the Courts of Russia and Sweden, in the years 1830 and 1831. By Captain C. Colville Frankland, R. N. In 2 vols. London: Colburn and Co. 1832.

THE principal features of this book-the cholera in Russia, and the Polish war-are both in that condition to which men generally consign an object of curiosity, when some more attractive substitute offers itself to their attention. Besides, Dr. Granville has been recently at St. Petersburgh, and Captain Jones has likewise been over the same ground, so that the powers of originality in our author, happen to be severely taxed on this occasion.

Captain Frankland undertook this travelling expedition for no other reason, than to indulge the locomotive propensity so universal amongst his countrymen. At Hamburgh, one of the first of the northern "lions" which he speaks of, he seems mightily pleased with the fair sex, but was uncommonly struck with the deformity of the dwarfs, which are to be seen in such numbers in the streets of Hamburgh. He calls on the government to interfere and keep such monsters from the public view, lest they should act with fatal influence upon the conformation of generations yet unborn.'

Passing into Denmark, the Captain visited Copenhagen; thence, passing across the Sound, he entered the territory of the King of Sweden. The Swedes, he says, do not understand German or French, it is best to talk broken English to them. The houses of the peasantry are made of wood, painted red, and are very Turkish,

excepting that the windows are well glazed. The inhospitality of the Swedes quite astonished our traveller. They keep aloof, and are wrapped up in stupidity, pride, poverty, and indolence. Upon the whole he thinks Sweden is next after Turkey in being the most inconvenient country for travelling. The scenery, however, is calculated by its beauty to make one forget the moral imperfections that are chargeable on its population. At Stockholm, the Captain was as much enchanted with the elegance of the city, as he was disgusted with the ugliness of the inhabitants, particula ly the female part. The following memorandum is made under date of the 7th September.

We promenaded the city until dinner-time. I have refrained hitherto from endeavouring to pronounce or to write the name of the street in which we lodge; it is a perfect Brobdignag:-" Nya Kungsholmsbrogatan, Gotha Löen Quartier, No. 7;" which, being interpreted, signifies, "New Street, in the King's Island, at the sign of the Golden Lion." The weather is cold, but fine and frosty; the wind still east, which will not do for Abo at all. We dined at the Société with Mr. Stapleton; and, at seven o'clock, went in full uniform to be presented to his Majesty, who received us most graciously, and talked a great deal with me respecting the state of Sweden. His Majesty seems to be a very unaffected, modest man, speaking of himself with the greatest possible humility. He seemed to be much pleased with the observations which I made respecting the country through which I had passsd, and appeared to seize my idea of colonizing the waste lands from England and Ireland.

He told me that he had the greatest possible difficulty in preventing the farmers from setting fire to the forests, for the purpose of clearing the land. He observed, that the prejudices of the people with respect to agriculture were such, that he almost despaired of effecting much reform in this science among them.

He said that in many places, particularly in Scania, the soil was excellent, but that such was the imperfection of the agricultural implements, that the plough only turned up about four inches of soil, instead of four feet, to which depth a fine loam ran. That although nature locked up the resources of the earth during eight months, yet such was the vigour of the fertilizing principle, that no sooner had the snow disappeared, than the corn sprung up, and ripened in an inconceivably short space of time. He said, that in an estate of his in the Talberg country, such was the quantity of iron and the facility of getting at it, that without sinking any shafts beneath the level of the horizon, 600,000 quintals of excellent iron might be exported from thence every year for 1,600 years.

The King told me that the great canal was excavated under the inspection of English engineers, and that the first set of locks and flood-gates were made in England.

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He conversed very animatedly with Lord Bloomfield and ourselves for at least half-an-hour, when he retired to a sofa with his lordship, and begged us to be seated with the chamberlains. Charles John is sixty-eight years old, but he does not appear to be more than forty-five. He is very vigorous, and rides and walks more actively than most of the young men of the court. We saw his favourite, Count Brähe.

There was no party at court excepting the few who dined with the King. The Queen and the ladies did not appear.'-vol. i. pp. 70-73.

Captain Frankland appears to entertain a very favourable impression of Bernadotte, and says of him, that he has not yet been spoiled by good fortune. The author left Stockholm in a packet, on his voyage to St. Petersburgh. The vessel was obliged to beat about for some time, in consequence of foul weather. One night, during a tedious anchorage off a sort of custom-house, or island, the Captain adopted a curious method of beguiling the languid hours.

'Meanwhile for pastime, Oakes and myself after dinner instituted an order of Knighthood, that of the Corkscrew into which most_royal, loyal, and distinguished order we inducted Jonas Rosenberg, alias Leporello, who, kneeling gracefully on one knee, received a stroke across the shoulder from a Meerschaum pipe, had a red handkerchief thrown scarffashion over his right shoulder, and a sinall steel corkscrew suspended by a narrow blue riband to his button-hole. He was then sworn never to break a cork in drawing it, never to refuse to drink, love or fight, upon being lawfully commanded so to do; to defend all distressed damsels, &c. &c.; this done, he was desired to arise more noble by the style of Jonas Von Rosenberg Von Leporello, principal Commander of the noble order of the Corkscrew; and while in the act of rising, he was invested with the mantle of the order, being white, lined with blue, and having collar of Chinchilla fur. (This mantle is my old cloak, which has served for many a merry and agreeable purpose before now.) When Jonas's investiture was all over, the chapter was closed: but it was re-opened for the purpose of creating a Chanoinesse, (for what is a knight without his lady?) One of the ladies of the ship, (by the bye, a comely wench enough,) was invested with the decoration of the order, to be worn on the left breast; while Jonas, with corked moustache, imperial, and eyebrows, gallanted and saluted the fair Stifftsdammer, Chanoinesse, styling her the most noble and beautiful lady, Countess Julia Von Stockholm. During the ceremony, sundry glasses of claret, schnapps and punch were quaffed by the grand crosses, Commander, Stifftsdammer, and spectators, to the great edification of the latter and jollification of the former; after which we all repaired, as well as we could, to our balmy couches.'-vol. i. p. 83–85.

At length, arrived at St. Petersburgh, our author lost no time in gratifying his curiosity, by a walk over the city.

The ample and graphic descriptions which have been so frequently of late placed before the public, of the capital of Russia, prevent us from bestowing that attention to the account given of it by Captain Frankland, which it might otherwise deserve. Some of his general observations, however, are worthy of being quoted. The state of Russian society is thus noticed by him:

'I have often been struck by the want of sociability which exists between the youth of both sexes in the societies of Petersburgh. I have frequently asked the reason, both from ladies and gentlemen, of this éloignement. The ladies naturally reply, "We cannot make the advances to the gentlemen, and they will not make them to us. Were it not for