110 BRITISH . three varieties; shag, gannet, penguin; swan, two kinds ; dunter goose, or eider duck, very plentiful. The red-crested woodpecker is in shape and plu¬ mage perhaps the most beautiful bird in . Its body is shielded by close feathers of black jet, shaded with greenish gold, and its head proudly crested with brilliant scarlet. The yellow-speckled woodpecker, which is the same as the golden-winged bird of Mr Pennant , is also a beautiful bird. Of owls, the large speckled, the grey, and cat-faced, are best known ; their murmuring, screaming, screech¬ ing notes are peculiarly disagreeable, and forcibly impressive in the solitude of dark fir forests, which are their favourite abodes. Wild pigeons migrate north during summer, in flocks of incredible numbers. They have been known to darken the sky for miles ; we do not, however, meet with them in the maritime colonies in such vast multitudes, although very abundant in Canada ; and in parts of Lower Canada, they are astonishingly numerous, and very destructive to corn-fields. They have a beautiful blue plumage, tinged with shades of green, red, and gold, and a long tail. They are excellent eating, and their price in the Quebec and markets, in consequence of their plentiful numbers, is less than the same weight of any other animal food The birds called indiscriminately partridges, in , are different from the partridges of Eng¬ land.