Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XII.djvu/758

 744 OUZEL undertook also to discount for the government the obligations of the receivers general and the subsidy due from the Spanish government, and thus obtained almost entire control of the finances of the country, in which it was aided by Barbe-Marbois, the minister of finance, to whom it had advanced large sums. Afterward, there having been a failure of crops in Spain, Ouvrard undertook to supply the deficiency, and received permission to export several car- goes of grain from France. He also contracted to supply the Spanish army and navy, and ad- vanced money for the necessities of the court. In return he obtained (1805) the grant of a monopoly of trade with the Spanish colonies, including the right to import all the treasure brought thence to Europe. Seizure by Brit- ish cruisers was avoided by connections which he formed with the house of Hope and other Dutch bankers established in England. The company had undertaken to discount the obli- gations of the receivers general at 6 per cent., while it was obliged to borrow at from 9 to 12 per cent. In October, 1805, the Spanish gov- ernment, being heavily in its debt, suspended specie payments, thus preventing the company from meeting its obligations at home. It was saved from immediate bankruptcy by accom- modations from Marbois and the bank of France. But in January, 1806, Napoleon compelled the company to give up all its assets, which fully liquidated its debts, amounting to about 140,- 000,000 francs, dismissed Marbois, and placed Ouvrard in custody at Vincennes. But Ouvrard subsequently gained influence with Fouche, who in 1810 permitted him to leave Vincennes to settle up his affairs, and upon his own au- thority sent him to Amsterdam, charged with the offer of very advantageous terms to Eng- land. Napoleon, discovering this scheme, dis- missed Fouche, and Ouvrard was rearrested, and imprisoned at Ste. Pelagie, where he re- mained till 1813. In 1814, on the occupation of the allies, he contracted for the provision- ing of their armies; and in 1817 the govern- ment adopted a financial system proposed by him, which proved successful. Having con- tracted for supplying the French army sent to Spain in 1823, proceedings were commenced against him by the government for fraudulent dealings, and he was again confined at Ste. Pelagie ; but by the intercession of Ferdinand VII. he was released at the end of five years without trial, and afterward lived in obscurity in London. He published several works on finance, and Memoires (3 vols., 1826). OUZEL, a genus of birds of the thrush family, Jiydrobata (Vieill.) or cinclus (Bechst.). The bill is without bristles at the base, moderate, slender, slightly bent upward, with culmen nearly straight, and curved and notched tip ; j the frontal plumes come as far as the opening of the nostrils ; wings moderate and rounded, i the first quill spurious and the second rather I shorter than the third and fourth, which are | longest ; tail very short and nearly even ; tarsi I as long as middle toe, covered in front with an entire scale ; feet robust, with toes moderate, the outer the longest, and united at base ; claws long, curved, and sharp. About half a dozen species are described in America, Europe, and Asia. The American water ouzel or dipper (H. Mexicana, Baird ; C. Americanus, Swains.) is about 7-J in. long, with an extent of wings of 10^; the color above is dark plumbeous, paler beneath ; head and neck with a sooty brown tinge ; a concealed white spot above the front of the eye, and sometimes below it ; in young birds the feathers beneath, the wing coverts, and lesser quills are edged with grayish white ; it inhabits the vicinity of clear rapid streams in the Rocky mountains from British America to Mexico. The European ouzel or dipper (If. cinclus, Vieill. ; C. aquaticus, Bechst.) is of about the same size, with the head and hind neck dark brown, the upper parts dark gray with broad black edgings, throat and fore neck white, and breast brownish red; the female with less deep tints ; the young grayish above, European Ouzel (Hydrobata cinclus). with black edgings. The form of the ouzels is compact, and the motions and attitudes are like those of the wrens. Their habits are very pecu- liar ; they are found singly or in pairs in moun- tainous districts on the borders of streams; they seek their food under water, not plunging superficially like the kingfisher or the fish hawk, nor going under from the surface like the ducks, but darting boldly into the water from the wing, diving to the bottom, and swim- ming and running about there with great ra- pidity, in search of aquatic insects, larvae, and mollusks, on which they feed. The ouzel is said also to devour the spawn and fry of fishes, and on this account, though probably without reason, is very generally persecuted by anglers and gamekeepers ; its progression under water is by the action of the wings, as in many web- footed birds ; it remains submerged for a min- ute or two, swimming well, rising buoyantly to the surface, and able to dive again without rising on the wing. The flight is direct and rapid ; it is in the habit of perching on stones in the middle of streams, constantly moving