[Phaleris psittacula.]
THE PERROQUET AUK. (Phaleris Psittacula.)
One more specimen, and we have done with the whole family of the Alcasæ; nor will we detain the reader long with its description. It is the Perroquet Auk, of the sub-genus Phaleris, an inhabitant of the dreary region of Bhering’s Strait, where multitudes of them may be found. They are excellent divers and swimmers; but if we may believe the sailors’ stories, not remarkably intelligent as to “trap,” since, when the Indians place a dress with large sleeves near their burrows, they mistake the said sleeves for their own proper habitations, creep in and are taken. They resemble the other Auks in laying but one egg, which is about the size of a hen’s, with brown spots on a whitish or yellowish ground. The Perroquet Auk is eleven inches in length. It has a tuft of white feathers extending back from the eye. The head, neck, and upper plumage are black, shading into ash on the breast, under parts white, legs yellowish. In the old bird the bill is red, while the young one has it of a yellowish or dusky color.
LAMENT OF THE HUNGARIAN FATHER
OVER THE BODY OF HIS SON.
I may not weep for thee my boy, though thou art cold and still,
And never more thy gladdening tones this aged heart will fill;
For glorious was the fate of those who fell with thee that day,
When from thy bleeding country passed, all help, all hope away.