The OWL. The only sort of owls that is found on the banks of the Mississippi is extremely beautiful in its plumage, being of a fine deep yellow or gold colour, pleasingly shaded and spotted.
The CRANE. There is a kind of crane in these parts, which is called by Father Hennepin a pelican, that is about the size of the European crane, of a greyish colour, and with long legs; but this species differs from all others in its bill, which is about twelve inches long, and one inch and half broad, of which breadth it continues to the end, where it is blunted, and round like a paddle; its tongue is of the same length.
DUCKS. Among a variety of wild ducks, the different species of which amount to upwards of twenty, I shall confine my description to one sort, that is, the wood duck, or, as the French term it, Canard branchus. This fowl receives its name from its frequenting the woods, and perching on the branches of trees, which no other kind of water fowl (a characteristic that this still preserves) is known to do. It is nearly of a size with other ducks; its plumage is beautifully variegated, and very brilliant. The flesh of it also, as it feeds but little on fish, is finely flavoured, and much superior to any other sort.
The TEAL. I have already remarked in my Journal, that the teal found on the Fox River, and the head branches of the Mississippi, are perhaps not to be equalled for the fatness and delicacy of their flesh by any other in the world. In colour, shape, and size they are very little different from those found in other countries.
The LOON is a water fowl, somewhat less than a teal, and is a species of the dobchick. Its wings are short, and its legs and feet large in proportion to the body; the colour of it is a dark brown, nearly approaching to black; and as it feeds only on fish, the flesh of it is very ill-flavoured. These birds are exceedingly nimble and expert at diving, so that it is almost impossible for one person to shoot them, as they will dextrously avoid the shot by diving before they reach them; so that it requires three persons to kill one of them, and this can only be done the moment it raises his head out of the water as it returns to the surface after diving. It however only repays the trouble taken to obtain it, by the excellent sport it affords.
The PARTRIDGE. There are three sorts of partridges here, the brown, the red, and the black, the first of which are most esteemed. They are all much larger than the European partridges, being nearly the size of a hen pheasant; their head and eyes are also like that bird, and they have all long tails, which they spread like a fan, but not erect; but contrary to the custom of those in other countries, they will perch on the branches of the poplar and black birch, on the buds of which they feed early in the morning and in the twilight of the evening during the winter months, when they are easily shot.
The WOOD PIGEON, is nearly the same as ours, and there is such prodigious quantities of them on the banks of the Mississippi, that they will sometimes darken the sun for several minutes.
The WOODPECKER. This is a very beautiful bird; there is one sort whose feathers are a mixture of various colours; and another that is brown all over the body, except the head and neck, which are of a fine red. As this bird is supposed to make a greater noise than ordinary at particular times, it is conjectured his cries then denote rain.
The BLUE JAY. This bird is shaped nearly like the European jay, only that its tail is longer. On the top of its head is a crest of blue feathers, which is raised or let down at pleasure. The lower part of the neck behind, and the back, are of a purplish colour, and the upper sides of the wings and tail, as well as the lower part of the back and rump, are of a fine blue; the extremities of the wings are blackish, faintly tinctured with dark blue on the edges, whilst the other parts of the wing are barred across with black in an elegant manner. Upon the whole this bird can scarcely be exceeded in beauty by any of the winged inhabitants of this or other climates. It has the same jetting motion that jays generally have, and its cry is far more pleasing.
The WAKON BIRD, as it is termed by the Indians, appears to be of the same species as the birds of paradise. The name they have given it is expressive of its superior excellence, and the veneration they have for it; the wakon bird being in their language the bird of the Great Spirit. It is nearly the size of a swallow, of a brown colour, shaded about the neck with a bright green; the wings are of a darker brown than the body; its tail is composed of four or five feathers, which are three times as long as its body, and which are beautifully shaded with green and purple. It carries this fine length of plumage in the same manner as a peacock does, but it is not known whether it ever raises it into the erect position that bird sometimes does. I never saw any of these birds in the colonies, but the Naudowessie Indians caught several of them when I was in their country, and seemed to treat them as if they were of a superior rank to any other of the feathered race.