pressed, covered anteriorly with six scutella, posteriorly with a longplate,
forming an acute edge; toes scutellate above, the second and
fourth nearly equal, the hind toe almost equal to the middle one, the
third and fourth united as far as the second joint; claws rather long,
slender, acute, arched, much compressed.
Plumage soft, tufty, slightly glossed. No bristly feathers about the
bill. Wings short, broad, rounded: first quill half the length of the
second, which is very little shorter than the third and fourth. Tail of
ordinary length, much rounded, of twelve rounded feathers.
Bill dark brown above, yellow beneath. Iris hazel. Feet light brown.
The general colour of the upper parts is dark brown, the sides of the
head deeper, the fore part of the back brownish-black, longitudinally
streaked with white, the quills externally margined with lighter brown,
the tail barred with dark brown. A white line over the eye, extending
down the neck; the sides of the latter mottled with light brown and
grey ; the under parts of a silvery greyish-white; the abdominal feathers
and under tail-coverts tipped with brown.
Length 5 inches, extent of wings 6\ ; bill along the ridge nearly FA
along the gap f ; tarsus §, middle toe nearly £.
Adult Female. Plate C. Fig. 2, 3.
The female differs very little in external appearance from the male.
The black of the back is less deep, and the white lines are less conspicuous
; the under parts, also, are of a duller white.
C O L O N E L B O O N.
DANIEL BOON, or, as he was usually called in the Western Country,
COLONEL BOON, happened to spend a night with me under the same roof,
more than twenty years ago. We had returned from a shooting excursion,
in the course of which his extraordinary skill in the management of
the rifle had been fully displayed. On retiring to the room appropriated
to that remarkable individual and myself for the night, I felt anxious
to know more of his exploits and adventures than I did, and accordingly
took the liberty of proposing numerous questions to him. The stature
and general appearance of this wanderer of the western forests approached
the gigantic. His chest was broad and prominent; his muscular
powers displayed themselves in every limb; his countenance gave indication
of his great courage, enterprise, and perseverance ; and when he
spoke, the very motion of his hps brought the impression that whatever
he uttered could not be otherwise than strictly true. I undressed, whilst
lie merely took off his hunting shirt, and arranged a few folds of blankets
on the floor, choosing rather to lie there, as he observed, than on the softest
bed. When we had both disposed of ourselves, each after his own
fashion, he related to me the following account of his powers of memory,
which I lay before you, kind reader, in his own words, hoping that the
simplicity of his style may prove interesting to you.
" I was once," said he, " on a hunting expedition on the banks of the
Green River, when the lower parts of this State (Kentucky) were still in
the hands of nature, and none but the sons of the soil were looked upon
as its lawful proprietors. We Virginians had for some time been waging
a war of intrusion upon them, and I, amongst the rest, rambled through
the woods in pursuit of their race, as I now would follow the tracks of
any ravenous animal. The Indians outwitted me one dark night, and I
was as unexpectedly as suddenly made a prisoner by them. The trick
had been managed with great skill; for no sooner had I extinguished the
fire of my camp, and laid me down to rest, in full security, as I thought,
than 1 felt myself seized by an indistinguishable number of hands, and
was immediately pinioned, as if about to be led to the scaffold for execution.
To have attempted to be refractory, would have proved useless and
dangerous to my life; and I suffered myself to be removed from my camp