russet, wherein are
contained little living creatures; which shells in time of maturity do
open, and out of them grow those little living things which, falling
into the water, do become fowls, whom we call barnacles, in the north of
England brant geese, and in Lancashire tree geese; but the others that
do fall upon the land perish, and do come to nothing. Thus much of the
writings of others, and also from the mouths of people of those parts,
which may very well accord with truth. But what our eyes have seen and
hands have touched, we shall declare. There is a small island in
Lancashire called the Pile of Foulders, wherein are found the broken
pieces of old ships, some whereof have been cast thither by shipwreck,
and also the trunks or bodies, with the branches, of old rotten trees,
cast up there likewise, whereon is found a certain spume or froth, that
in time breedeth into certain shells, in shape like those of the mussel,
but sharper pointed, and of a whitish color: wherein is contained a
thing in form like a lace of silk, one end whereof is fastened unto the
inside of the shell, even as the fish of oysters and mussels are. The
other end is made fast unto the belly of a rude mass or lump, which in
time cometh to the shape and form of a bird; when it is perfectly formed
the shell gapeth open, and the first thing that appeareth is the
foresaid lace or string; next come the legs of the bird hanging out, and
as it groweth greater it openeth the shell by degrees, till at length it
is all come forth and hangeth only by the bill. In short space after it
cometh to full maturity, and falleth into the sea, where it gathereth
feathers and groweth to a fowl, bigger than a mallard, and lesser than a
goose; having black legs and bill, or beak, and feathers black and
white, spotted in such a manner as is our magpie, which the people of
Lancashire call by no other name than a tree goose." An interesting cut
of these birds so growing is given by Mr. Halliwell-Phillipps from a
manuscript of the 14th century, who is of opinion that the barnacle
mentioned by Caliban was the tree-goose. It is not to be supposed,
however, that there were none who doubted this marvellous story, or who
took steps to refute it. Belon, so long ago as 1551, says Mr.
Harting,[155] and others after him, treated it with ridicule, and a
refutation may be found in Willughby's "Ornithology," which was edited
by Ray in 1678.[156] This vulgar error is mentioned by many