Wednesday
May 1st.. 1805.
Set out this morning at an early [hour], the wind being
favourable we used our sales which carried us on at a good pace
untill about 12 OCk. when the wind became so high that the
small canoes were unable to proceed one of them which
seperated
from us just befor the wind became so violent, is
now lying on the
opposite side of the river, being unable to
rejoin us in consequence of
the waves, which during those gusts
run several feet high. we came too on
the Lard. shore in a
handsome bottom well stocked with
cottonwood timber; here
the wind compelled us to spend the ballance of the
day. we
sent out some hunters who killed a buffaloe, an Elk, a goat
and two beaver. game is now abundant. the country appears
much more
pleasant and fertile than that we have passed for
several days; the hills
are lower, the bottoms wider, and better
stocked with timber, which
consists principally of cottonwood,
not however of large size; the
under-growth willow on the
verge of the river and sandbars, rose bushes,
red willow and
the broad leafed willow in the bottom lands; the high
country
on either side of the river is one vast plain, intirely destitute
of timber, but is apparently fertile, consisting of a dark rich
mellow looking lome. John Shields sick today with the rheumatism.
Shannon killed a bird of the plover
kind. weight
one pound. it measured from the tip of the toe, to the extremity
of the beak, 1. foot 10. Inches; from
tip to tip of
wings when extended 2 F. 5 I.; Beak 3 5/8 inches; tale 3 1/8
inches; leg and toe 10 Ins. the eye black, piercing,
prominent
and moderately large. the legs are flat thin, slightly
imbricated
and of a pale sky blue colour, being covered with feathers as
far as the mustle extends down it, which is about half of it's
length. it has four toes on each foot, three
of which, are
connected by a web, the fourth is small and placed at the
heel
about the 1/8 of an inch up the leg. the nails are black and
short, that of the middle toe is extreemly singular, consisting
of
two nails the one laping on or overlaying the other, the
upper one
somewhat the longest and sharpest. the tale contains
eleven feathers of equal length, & of a bluish white colour.
the
boddy and underside of the wings, except the large feathers
of the 1
st. & 2
nd. joints of the same, are
white, as are also the
feathers of the upper part of the 4
th. joint of the wing and part
of those of the 3
rd. adjacent thereto. the large feathers of the
1
st or pinion and the 2
nd. joint are black; a
part of the larger
feathers of the 3
rd. joint on the
upper side and all the small
feathers which cover the upper part of the
wings are black, as
are also the tuft of long feathers on each side of the
body
above the joining of the wing, leaving however a stripe of
white between them on the back. the head and neck are
shaped much
like the grey plover, and are of a light brickdust
brown; the beak is
black and flat, largest where it joins the
head, and from thence becoming
thiner and tapering to a very
sharp point, the upper chap being 1/8 of an
inch the longest
turns down at the point and forms a little hook. the
nostrils,
which commence near the head are long, narrow, connected
and paraellel with the beak; the beak is much curved, the
curvature
being upwards in stead of downwards as is common
with most birds; the
substance of the beak precisely resembles
whalebone at a little distance,
and is quite as flexable as that
substance. their note resembles that of
the grey plover, tho'
is reather louder and more varied, their habits
appear also to
be the same, with this difference; that it sometimes rests
on the
water and swims which I do not recollect having seen the
plover do. this bird which I shall henceforth stile the
Missouri
plover, generally feeds about the shallow bars
of the river, to
collect it's food which consists of [blank space in MS.],
it
immerces it's beak in the water and throws it's head and beak
from side to side at every step it takes.
[5]
.
Courses and
distances of this day
| N. 88. W. |
to the upper point of some high timber in a bend on
the Stard. side |
Miles 1 1/2 |
| South. |
to the upper point of a timbered bottom Lard.Sd. |
2 |
| S. 26°.
W. |
to a bluff on the Lard. side |
1 1/2 |
| S. 60°. W. |
to a single tree on a point Lard. side. |
1. |
| West. |
to a point of woodland Lard. side. |
2. |
| S. 60° W. |
to a point of woodland just beneath the upper point
of an
elivated plane on Stard. side. one mile short
of which
we encamped on the Lard. |
2 |
|
|
10. |
