In the old continent, the pelican is said to rest on the ground in an excavation near to the water, laying two or three, and rarely four eggs, which are pure white, and of nearly equal thickness at both ends. Their nesting in deserts remote from water, and the story of the parents bringing water for their young in the pouch, in such quantities as to afford drink for camels and wild beasts, appears only one of those extravagant fictions, or tales of travelers, invented to gratify the love of the marvelous. Yet so general is the belief in the truth of this improbable relation, that the Egyptians style it the camel of the river, and the Persians _Tacab_, or the water-carrier. The pouch of the pelican is, however, very capacious, and besides drowning all attempts at distinct voice, it gives a most uncouth, unwieldy, and grotesque figure to the bird with which it is associated. The French very justly nick-name them _grand gosiers_, or great throats; and as this monstrous enlargement of the gullet is capable of holding a dozen quarts of water, an idea may be formed of the quantity of fish it can scoop, when let loose among a shoal of pilchards or other fish, which they can pursue in the course of their migrations. [Illustration: [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.