Martins[190] also visit Hudson's Bay in great numbers, but seldom so far North as Churchill River. They usually make their nests in holes formed in the steep banks of rivers; and, like the Swallow, lay four or five speckled eggs; and retire Southward in August. At the Northern settlements they are by no means so domestic as the Swallow.
Hooping Crane.
Hooping Crane.[191] This bird visits Hudson's Bay in the Spring, though not in great numbers. They are generally seen only in pairs, and that not very often. It is a bird of considerable size, often equal to that of a good turkey, and the great length of the bill, neck, and legs, makes it measure, from the bill to the toes, near six feet in common, and some much more. Its plumage is of a pure white, except the quill-feathers, which are black; the crown is covered with a red skin, {423} thinly beset with black bristles, and the legs are large and black. It usually frequents open swamps, the sides of rivers, and the margins of lakes and ponds, feeds on frogs and small fish, and esteemed good eating. The wing-bones of this bird are so long and large, that I have known them made into flutes with tolerable success. It seldom has more than two young, and retires Southward early in the fall.
Brown Crane.
The Brown Crane.[192] This species is far inferior in size to the former, being seldom three feet and a half in length, and on an average not weighing seven pounds. Their haunts and manner of life are nearly the same as that of the Hooping Crane, and they never have more than two young, and those seldom fly till September. They are found farther North than the former, for I have killed several of them on Marble Island, and have seen them on the Continent as high as the latitude 65°. They are generally esteemed good eating, and, from the form of the body when fit for the spit, they acquire the name of the North West Turkey. There is a circumstance respecting this bird that is very peculiar; which is, that the gizzard is larger than that of a swan, and remarkably so in the young birds. The Brown Cranes are frequently seen in hot calm days to soar to an amazing height, always flying in circles, till by degrees they are almost out of sight, yet their note is so loud, that the sportsman, before he sees their situation, often fancies they are very near him. They visit {424} Hudson's Bay in far greater numbers than the former, and are very good eating.
Bitterns.
Bitterns[193] are common at York Fort in Summer, but are seldom found so far North as Churchill River. I have seen two species of this bird; some having ash-coloured legs, others with beautiful grass-green legs, and very gay plumage. They always frequent marshes and swamps, also the banks of rivers that abound with reeds and long grass. They generally feed on insects that are bred in the water, and probably on small frogs; and though seldom fat, they are generally good eating. They are by no means numerous even at York Fort, nor in fact in the most Southern parts of the Bay that I have visited.
Curlew.