Consisting of many volumes, or books (Milt.). 3. Copious; diffusive (Clarendon).

VOLUMINOUSLY. ad. (from voluminous.) In many volumes or books (Granville). A VOLUMNUS and VOLUMNA, two deities who presided over the will, chiefly invoked at marriages, to preserve concord between the husband and wife. They were particularly worshipped by the Etrur.ans. (Livy).

VOLUNTARILY. ad. (from voluntary.) Spontaneously : of one's own accord ; without compulsion (Hooker).

VOLUNTARY. a. (voluntaire, French; voluntarius, Latin.) 1. Acting without compulsion; acting by choice (Hooker). 2. Willing; acting with willingness (Pope). 3. Done by design; purposed (Perkins). 4. Done without compulsion (Seed). 5. Acting of his own accord, spontaneous (Milton).

Vo'LUNTARY. s. (from the adjective.) A volunteer; one who engages in any affair of his own accord (Davies).

VOLUNTARY, in music, a piece played by a musician extempore, according to his fancy. This is often used before he begins to set him self to play any particular composition, to try the instrument, and to lead him into the key of the piece he intends to perform.

VOLUNTEER, s. (volontaire, French.) A soldier who enters into the service of his own accord (Collier).

To VOLUNTEER. v. n. To go for a soldier (Dryden).

VOLVOX, in zoology, a genus of the class vermes, order infusoria. Worm invisible to the naked eye, simple, pellucid, spherical. Nine species, found in vegetable infusions, stagnant, and sometimes in purer waters, or waters kept for some time in a glass; often of a greenish, or greenish-yellow cast; sometimes resembling small soap-bubbles; some solitary, some gregarious. We shall notice two, the first for the singularity of its habitation.

1. V. dimidiatus. Globular when at rest, hemispherical when in motion. Found on the tails of tadpoles.

2. V. globator. Spherical, membranaceous, with various sized homogeneous molecules. Found in stagnant waters and vegetable infusions; body green or yellow, moving slowly round its axis in all directions, a pellucid membrane covered with smaller and larger molecules, and these provided with a still smaller molecular progeny, containing within itself a tribe of already impregnated descendants. See Nat. Hist. Pl. CLXXXV.

VOLUPTAS and VOLUPIA, the goddess of sensual pleasures, worshipped at Rome, where she had a temple. She was represented as a young and beautiful woman, well dressed, and elegantly adorned, having Virtue under her feet.

VOLUPTUARY. s. (voluptuaire, French; voluptuarius, Latin.) A man given up to plea sure and luxury (Atterbury).

VOLUPTUOUS. a. (voluptuosus, Latin.) Given to excess of pleasure; luxurious (Bentley).

VOLUPTUOUSLY. ad. Luxuriously; with indulgence of excessive pleasure (South). VOLUPTUOUSNESS. s. (from voluptuous.) Luxuriousness; addictedness to excess of pleasure (Donne).

VOLUTA. Volute. Mitre. In zoology, a genus of the class vermes, order testacea. Animai a limax ; shell one-celied, spiral; aperture without a beak, and somewhat effuse; pillar twisted or plaited; generally without lips or perforation. A hundred aud forty-four species, thus sub livided:

A. Aperture entire.

B. Subcylindrical, emarginate.
C. Oboval, efluse, emarginate.
D. Fusiform.

E. Ventricose; spire papillary at the tip. These are scattered over the coasts and marshes of the globe, several of them resembling the helix, and others the murex. We shall select an example or two.

1. V. auris Mide. Midas's ear. Shell contracted, oval-oblong, with a ruzged spire ; pillar two-toothed. Inhabits India, in marshy woods and swamps, and very much resembles a helix: about four inches long; shell brown, solid, wrinkled, or striate; spire large, with from six to nine whorls, each terminated by a granulate band, the outer ones cancellate; aperture long, wider beneath.

2. V. monilis. Necklace volute. Shell entire, white, with an obliterated white spire ; pillar obliquely striate. Inhabits China, where it is used to make heads and necklaces; one and a half inches long. Another variety in Africa, two and a half inches long.

3. V. episcopalis. Mitre volute. Shell emarginate, smooth; margins of the whorls entire ; lip denticulate; piliar with four plates. Inhabits India. the inhabitant or fish is said to be of a poisonous nature if eaten, and to wound those who touch it with a kind of poisoned trunk. The natives of the island Tanna fix the shells in handles, and use them as hatchets. Shell five inches long.

VOLUTATION. s. (volutatio, Latin.) Wallowing; rolling.

VOLUTE, in architecture, a kind of spiral scroll, and used in the Ionic and Composite capitals; of which it makes the principal characteristic and ornament.

VOLUTE, in helminthology. See VOLU

TA.

VOLUTELLA, in botany, a genus of the class cryptogamia, order fungi. Fungus salver-shaped, stipitate; upper surface of the cap dotted, umbilicate; the margin at first revolute; seeds similar; stem short, cetaceous. Two species ; exotics.

VOLVULUS. (from volvo, to roll up.) Sce ILIAC PASSION.

VOMER. (so called from its resemblance to a ploughshare.) A bone of the nose situ ated in the cavity of the nostrils, which it divides into two parts.

VOMICA. An abscess of the lungs.
VOMICA NUT. See NUX VOMICA.
VOMICA NUX. See Nux VOMICA.

To VOMIT. v. n. (vomo, Latin.) To cast up the contents of the stomach (More).

To VO'MIT. v. a. (vomir, French.) 1. To throw up from the stomach (Arbuthnot). 2. To throw up with violence from any hollow. VO'MIT. s. (from the verb.) 1. The matter thrown up from the stomach (Sandys). 2. Au emetic medicine; a medicine that causes romits (Arbuthnot).

VOMITING. A forcible ejection of food, or any other substance, from the stomach, through the esophagus and mouth. It is either idiopathic, when arising from a cause in the stomach itself; or symptomatic, when originating from diseases seated in any other part of the body. Its immediate cause is an antiperistaltic, spasmodical, convulsive constriction of the stomach, and pressure of the diaphragm and abdominal muscles. It is an effort of nature to expel whatever molests or is troublesome in the stomach.

VOMITING OF BLOOD. See HEMATE

MESIS.

VOMITION. s. (from vomo, Latin.) The act or power of vomiting (Grew). VOMITIVE. a. (vomitif, French.) Emetic; causing vomits (Brown). VO'MITORY. a. (vomitoire, Fr. vomitorius, Lat.) Procuring vomits; emetic. VOMITUS CRUENSIS. See HEMA

TEMESIS.

VOORN, a fort of Holland, in Gelderland, on a small island formed by the Waal and the Meuse, at the E. end of Bommelwert, seven miles E. by N. of Bommel.

VOORN, an island of S. Holland, between the mouths of the Meuse, twenty miles long and five broad. This island, with Goree and Overflackee, form the territory called Voornland, which anciently belonged to Zealand. Briel is the capital.

VORACIOUS. a. (vorace, Fr. vorax, Latin.) Greedy to eat; ravenous; edacious (Gov. of Tongue).

See BULIMIA.

VORACIOUS APPETITE. VORACIOUSLY. ad. (from voracious.) Greedily; ravenously.

VORACIOUSNESS. VORA'CITY. s. (voracité, Fr. voracitas, Latin.) Greediness; ravine: ravenousness (Sandys).

VORTEX. s. In the plural vortices. (Lat.) Any thing whirled round (Newton).

VORTEX, OF WHIRLWIND, in meteorology, a sudden, rapid, violent motion of the air, in circular whirling directions.

VOʻRTICAL. a. (from vortex.) Having a whirling motion.

VORTICELLA, in zoology, a genus of the class vermes, order infusoria. Body contractile, naked, and furnished with ciliate rotatory organs. Fifty-seven species; found in stagnant waters, in seas adhering to fuci, in rivers adhering to confervæ, sometimes in fresh waters, appearing like a point.

The species are thus subdivided:
A. Seated on a pedicel or stem.
B. Furnished with a tail.
C. Without tail or stem.

We shall offer an example or two.

1. V. racemosa. Compound, with a rigid stem, and very much branched, long pedicels. Inhabits stagnant water; pedicel very slender, and from it proceed a countless number of pellucid pearls.

2. V. polypina. Compound, bell-shaped, with retortile branched stem. Inhabits the European seas, adhering to fuci, and appears to the naked eye like a white point.

3. V. ampulla. Contained in a bottleshaped pellucid bag: head divided into two lobes. The bag of the shape of a common water-bottle, in which the animalcule is placed sometimes at the bottom, sometimes nearly filling it.

4. V. viridis. Cylindrical, uniform, green, opake. In fresh water, appearing to the naked eye a mere green point.

VORTIGERN, a British chief, who, on the departure of the Romans in 445, was elected king of South Britain. He was a careless and luxurious prince, and being threatened by the Scots and Picts, applied to the Saxons for assistance. The Saxons landed anno 450, under the conduct of two brothers, Hengist and Horsa, and succeeded in the overthrow of the confederate army. Disagreements soon happened between the Saxons and the Britons, and wars ensued, which ended in the ruin of the natives. Vortigern afterwards married Rowena, the daughter of Hengist, who, in consequence of the marriage, got possession of the whole provinces of Kent. Hengist took the king prisoner, and for his ransom obtained those provinces since called Essex, Sussex, and Middlesex. Thus the Saxons acquired power by degrees, and Vortigern retiring to a castle he had built in North Wales, was burnt there, A.D. 484

VOSSIUS (John Gerardus), a learned writer, was born near Heidelberg, in 1577. He began his studies at Dort, from whence he went to Leyden, and in 1598 was made master of arts, and doctor in philosophy. In 1614 be became director of the theological college, and afterwards professor of eloquence and chrono logy. Though he had made himself enemies abroad by some of his writings, particularly by his History of the Pelagian Controversy, print

ed in 1618; he gained both honour and profit by them in England, and archbishop Laud obtained for him a prebend in the church of Canterbury, while he resided at Leyden. He accordingly came over to be installed, took a doctor of laws degree at Oxford, and then returned. In 1633 he accepted the professorship of history at Amsterdam, where he died in 1640. His works amount to 6 vols. folio. Vossius (Isaac), a man of great parts and learning, the son of John Gerard Vossius, was bora at Leyden in 1618. He had no other tutor but his father, and employed his whole life in studying: his merit recommended him to a correspondence with queen Christina of Sweden; he made several journeys into Sweden by her order, and had the honour to teach her the Greek language. In 1670 he came over to England, where king Charles made him canon of Windsor; though he knew his character well enough to say, That there was nothing that Vossius refused to believe, except the Bible. He appears indeed by his publications, which are neither so useful nor so numerous as his father's, to have been a most credulous man, while he afforded many circumstances to bring his religious faith in question. He died at Windsor castle in 1688.

VOTARIST. s. (devotus, Latin.) One devoted to any person or thing; one given up by a vow to any service or worship (Milton). VOTARY. s. One devoted, as by a vow, to any particular service, worship, study, or state of life (Swift).

VOTARY. . Consequent to a vow (Bacon).

VOTARESS. s, (female of votary.) A woman devoted to any worship or state (Pope). VOTE. s. (votum, Latin.) Suffrage; voice given and numbered (Roscommon).

To VOTE. v. a. 1. To choose by suffrage; to determine by suffrage (Bacon). 2. To give by vote (Swift).

VOTER. s. (from vote.) One who has the right of giving his voice or suffrage (Swift). VOTIVE. a. (volivus, Latin.) Given by vow (Prior).

To VOUCH. v. a. (voucher, Norman Fr.) 1. To call to witness; to obtest (Dryden). 2. To attest; to warrant; to declare; to mainLain by repeated affirmations (Atterbury).

To VOUCH. v. n. To bear witness; to appear as a witness; to give testimony (Swift). VOUCH. s. (from the verb.) Warrant; attestation (Shakspeare).

VOUCHER. s. (from vouch.) 1. One who gives witness to any thing (Pope). Testimony (Locke).

2.

To VOUCHSAFE. v. a. (vouch and safe.) 1. To permit any thing to be done without danger. 2. To condescend; to grant (Shakspeare).

To VOUCHSA'FE. v. n. To deign; to condescend to yield (Dryden).

VOUCHSA FEMENT. s. (from vouchsafe.) Grant; condescension (Boyle). VOW. s. (veu, French; votum, Latin.) 1. Any promise made to a divine power; an act

of devotion (Hammond). 2. A solemn promise, commonly used for a promise of love or matrimony (Dryden).

To Vow. v. a. (vouer, French; voveo, Latin.) 1. To consecrate by a solemn dedication; to give to a divine power (Spelman). 2. To devote: a ceremonial phrase (Spenser). To Vow. v. n. To make vows or solemn promises (Suckling).

VOWEL, in grammar, a letter which affords a complete sound of itself, or a letter so simple as only to need a bare opening of the mouth to make it heard, and to form a distinct voice. The vowels are six in number, viz. a, e, i, o, u, y. See GRAMMAR.

VOWFE'LLOW. s. (vow and fellow.) One bound by the same vow (Shakspeare).

VOYAGE. s. (voyage, French.) 1. A travel by sea (Prior). 2. Course; attempt; undertaking (Shakspeare). 3. The practice of travelling (Bacon).

To Vo'YAGE. v. n. (voyager, French.) To travel by sea (Pope).

To VOYAGE. v. a. To travel; to pass over. VOYAGER. s. (from voyageur, French.) One who travels by sea (Pope).

UP. ad. (up, Saxon; op, Dutch and Dan.) 1. Aloft; on high; not down (Knolles). 2. Out of bed; in the state of being risen from rest (Wolton). 3. In the state of being risen from a seat (Addison). 4. From a state of decumbiture or concealment. 5. In a state of being built (Shakspeare). 6. Above the horizon (Judges). 7. To a state of proficiency; he is getting up in reputation (Atterbury.) 8. In a state of exaltation: the favourite is now up as high as he wishes (Spenser). 9. In a state of climbing: he is coming up. 10. In a state of insurrection: the people are up in Wales (Shakspeare). 11. In a state of being increased, or raised: the price is getting up (Dryden). 12. From a remoter place, coming to any person or place: our servant who fol lows us will soon be up with us (L'Estrange). 13. Into order: as, he drew up his regiment. 14. From younger to elder years (Psalms). 15. Ur and down. Dispersedly; here and there (Addison). 16. Up and down. Backward and forward. 17. Up to. To an equal height with (Addison). 18. UP with. Adequately to (Rogers). 19. Up with. A phrase that signifies the act of raising any thing to give a blow (Sidney).

*

UP. interjection. 1. A word exhorting to rise from bed (Pope). 2. A word of exhortation, exciting or rousing to action: up and try (Spenser).

UP. preposition. From a lower to a higher part; not down: go up the hill (Bacon). UPAS TREE. Boas upas. See ToxiCARIA MACASARIENSIS.

To UPBEAR. v. a. preterit uplore; participle passive upborn. (up and bear.) 1. To sustain aloft; to support in elevation (Milton). 2. To raise aloft (Pope). 3. To support from falling (Spenser).

To UPBRA'ID. v. a. (upzebredan, Sax.) 1. To charge contemptuously with any thing

disgraceful (Blackmore). 2. To object as matter of reproach (Sprat). 3. To urge with reproach (Decay of Piety). 4. To reproach on account of a benefit received from the reproacher (Shakspeare). 5. To bring reproach upon; to show faults by being in a state of comparison (Sidney). 6. To treat with contempt (Spenser).

UPBRA'IDER. s. (from upbraid.) One that reproaches.

UPBRAIDINGLY. ad. By way of reproach (Ben Jonson).

To UPBRAY. v. a. To shame (Spenser). UPBROUGHT. part. pass. of upbring. Educated; nurtured (Spenser).

U'PHAND. a. (up and hand.) Lifted by the hand (Moxon).

UPCAST. a. Thrown upward (Dryden). UPCAST. S. A term of bowling; a throw; a cast (Shakspeare).

To UPGATHER, v. n. (up and gather.) To contract (Spenser).

UPHELD. pret. and part. pass. of uphold. Maintained; sustained (Milton).

UPHILL a. (up and hill.) Difficult; like; the labour of climbing a hill (Clarissa).

To UPHOA'RD. v. a. (up and hourd.) To treasure; to store; to accumulate in private places (Spenser).

To UPHOLD. v. a. pret. upheld; part. pass. upheld or upholden. (up and hold.) 1. To lift on high (Dryden). 2. To support; to sustain; to keep from falling (Shakspeare). 3. To keep from declension (Bacon). 4. To support in any state of life (Raleigh). 5. To continue; to keep from defeat (Hooker). 6. To keep from being lost (Shakspeare). 7. To continue without failing (Holder). 8. To continue in being (Hakewill).

UPHOLDER. s. (from uphold.) 1. A supporter (Swift). 2. A sustainer in being (Hale). 3. An undertaker; one who provides for funerals (Gay).

UPHOLSTERER. s. (a corruption of upholder.) One who furnishes houses; one who fits up apartments with beds and furniture (Pope).

UPIS, in the entomology of Fabricius, a tribe of the coleopterous genus ATTELLABUS, which see.

UPLAND, a province of Sweden, in the division of Sweden Proper. It is a sort of peninsula, bounded on the W. by Westmania and Gestricia, on the N.E. by the Baltic, and on the S. by the sea of Sudermania. It is 70 miles long and 45 broad, chiefly covered with shapeless stones and impenetrable woods; but it is enriched with inexhaustible mines of copper, iron, and silver; and the peasants are chiefly employed in the manufacture of those metals. Stockholm is the capital.

UPLAND. s. (up and land.) Higher ground (Burne).

U'PLAND. a. Higher in situation (Carew). UPLA'NDISH, a. (from upland.) Mountainous; inhabiting mountains (Chapman). To UPLAY. v. a. (up and lay.) To hoard; to lay up (Donne).

To UPLIFT. v. a. (up and lift.) To raise aloft (Addison).

UPMINSTER, a village in Essex, seated on a lofty eminence, three iniles S.E. of Rum. ford. Dr. Denhamn, author of Astro-Theology and Physico-Theology, was rector of this place 54 years; and here is a spring, which he men tions in the latter work, as a proof that springs have their origin from the sea, and not from rains and vapours; for this spring, in the greatest droughts, was little, if at all, diminish. ed, after an observation of 20 years, although the ponds all over the country, and an adjoining brook, had been dry many months.

UPMOST. a. (an irregular superlative formed from up.) Highest; topmost (Dryden).

UPO'N. preposition. (up and on.) 1. Not under; noting being on the top (Shakspeare). 2. Not within; being on the outside (Bible). 3. Thrown over the body, as clothes (Shaks.). 4. By way of imprecation or infliction: mischief upon him (Shakspeare). 5. It expresses obtestation, or protestation: upon my honour (Shakspeare). 6. It is used to express any hardship or mischief: it brought evil upon them (Burnet). 7. In consequence of: he valued himself upon his birth (Clarendon). 8. In immediate consequence of: upon one kiad word he was reconciled (Tillotson). 9. In a state of view it appears upon history (Tem ple). 10. Supposing a thing granted: upon these terms it is admitted (Burnet). 11. Relating to a subject: Locke wrote upon govern ment (Temple). 12. With respect to: I was silent upon questions which I did not understand (Dryden). 13. In consideration of: he surrendered upon splendid promises (Pope). 14. In noting a particular day: Cesar died upon the ides of March (Addison). 15. Noting reliance or trust: I do it upon your word (Shakspeare). 16. Near to noting situation: Fontarabia is upon the edge of France (Clarendon). 17. On pain of: hence! upon your lives (Sidney). 18. On occasion of the king, upon this news, marched (Swift). 19. By interence from: upon your promises nothing will follow (Locke). 20. Noting attention: I was upon my work, when the fright happened (Locke). 21. Noting particular pace: ke came on upon a gallop (Dryden). 22. Exactly; according to they are near upon ten thousand (Shakspeare). 23. By: Louing the means of support: he lives upon his annuity (Wood.). 24. Upon is, in many of its significations, now contracted into on. See ON.

U'PPER. a. (a comparative from up.) 1. Superior in place; higher (Peacham). 2. Higher in power or dignity (Hooker).

U'PPERMOST. a. (superlative from upper.) 1. Highest in place (Dryden). 2. Highest in power or authority (Glanville). 3. Predominant; most powerful (Dryden).

UPPINGHAM, a town in Rutlandshire, with a market on Wednesday; seated on an eminence, six miles S. of Oakham, and 90 N. by W. of London. Lon. 0. 45 W. Lat, 52, 36 N.

U'PPISH. a. (from up.) Proud; arrogant. To UPRA'ISE. v. a. (up and raise.) To raise up; to exalt (Milton).

To UPRE AR. v. a. (up and rear.) To rear .on higi (Gay).

U'PRIGHT. a. (up and right.) 1. Straight up; perpendicularly erect (Bacon). 2. Erect ed; pricked up (Spenser). 3. Honest; not declining from the right (Milton).

U'PRIGHT. S. Elevation; orthography (Moron).

UPRIGHTLY. ad. (from upright.) 1. Perpendicularly to the horizon. 2. Honestly; without deviation from the right (Taylor).

UPRIGHTNESS. s. (from upright.) 1. Perpendicular erection (Waller). 2. Honesty; integrity (Atterbury).

To UPRISE. v. n. (up and rise.) 1. To rise from decumbiture (Psalms). 2. To rise from below the horizon (Cowley). 3. To rise with acclivity (Shakspeare).

UPRISE. s. Appearance above the horizon (Shakspeare).

U'PROAR. s. (oproer, Dutch.) Tumult; bustle; disturbance; confusion (Raleigh).

To U'PROAR. v. a. (from the noun.) To throw into confusion: not used (Shakspeare). To UPROOT. v. a. (up and root.) To tear up by the root (Dryden).

To UPROU'SE. v. a. (up and rouse.) To waken from sleep; to excite to action (Sh.). UPSAL, a town of Sweden, in Upland, with a famous university, and an archbishop's see. It contains, exclusive of the students, above 3000 inhabitants. It is divided into two almost equal parts by the river Sala; and the streets are drawn at right angles from a central kind of square. A few of the houses are built of brick; but the generality are constructed of wood, and painted red. The roofs are covered in with turf; and each house has its small courtyard or garden. Upsal was formerly the metropolis of Sweden, and the royal residence. The ancient palace was a magnificent building, until great part of it was consumed by fire, in 1702. The cathedral, a large Gothic structure of brick, has been several times greatly damaged by fire, and as often repaired it contains the monument of the famous Gustavus Vasa. The university is the most ancient in Sweden, and the first seminary in the North for academical education. The Royal Society here is likewise the oldest literary academy in the North. Here is a botanical garden, of which the celebrated Linnéus was superintendant. Upsal is seated in a vast open plain, fertile in corn, 35 miles N.N.W. of Stockholm. Lon. 17. 48 E. Lat. 59. 52 N.

UPSHOT. s. (up and shot.) Conclusion; end; last amount; final event (Pope).

U'PSIDE down. (an adverbial form of speech.) 1. With the lower part above the higher (Heylin). . In confiision; in complete disorder (Raleigh).

U'PSPRING. s. A man suddenly exalted; an upstart: not used (Shakspeare).

To UPSTAND. v. n. (up and stand.) To be erected (May).

To UPSTART. v. n. (up and start.) To spring up suddenly (Dryden).

UPSTART. S. One suddenly raised to wealth,. power, or honour; what suddenly rises and appears (Milton).

To UPSTAY. v. a. (up and stay.) To sustain; to support (Milton).

To UPSWARM. v. a. (up and swarm.) To raise in a swarm: out of use (Shakspeare). To UPTAKE. v. a. (up and take.) To take into the hands (Spenser).

UPTON, a town in Worcestershire, with a market on Thursday; seated on the Severn, 11 miles S. of Worcester, and 109 W.N.W. of London. Lon. 1, 55 W. Lat. 51. 59 N.

To UPTRAIN. v. a. (up and train.) To bring up; to educate: not used (Spenser). To UPTURN. v. a. (up and turn.) To throw up; to farrow (Milton).

UPUPA. Hoop, or hoopoe. In zoology, a genus of the class aves, order picæ. Bill arched, long, slender, convex, a little compressed, somewhat obtuse; nostrils small, at the base of the bill; tongue obtuse, entire, triangular, very short; feet formed for walking. Ten species, scattered over the warmer climates of the globe. The following are the chief.

1. U. epops. Common hoopoe. Variegated with blackish and rufous white, beneath reddish-white; crest yellow brown, or pale orange tipt with black; tail black, with a white bar.

This species, often seen in our own country, is easily distinguished by its enormous tuft of feathers, which rise perpendicularly from the crown of the head, and which it can erect or depress at pleasure. Of this crest, the longest feathers are in the middle; so that, when erected, it is of a semicircular form, two inches above the head. The crest feathers are all brown, tipt at the end with black. The back, scapulars, and wings, are crossed with broad bars of white and black. The neck a pale reddish brown. The breast and belly are white.

The hoopoes are spread over the whole of the ancient continent, from Sweden, where they inhabit the large forests; and even from Lapland and the Orcades; to the Canaries and the Cape of Good Hope. Throughout all Europe they are birds of passage, never remaining the whole year, even in the mild climates of Greece and Italy. They are seen among those vast crowds of migratory birds that, twice every year, pass the island of Malta.

The food of these birds, in a state of nature, is commonly insects, and especially such as are found upon the surface of the ground; for they seldom perch upon trees, or remain long upon the wing. In Egypt, they narrowly watch the retreat of the Nile, on account of its leaving a rich slime, which, being warmed by the sun, soon begins to teem with insects of every denomination. Their flesh smells so