LIBRARY OF

1885- 1056

CASSELL'S

NATURAL HISTORY

P. MARTIN DUNCAN, M.B. (LONDJ, F.R.S.. F.G.S.

PROFESSOR OT OEOLOGY IN AND HONORARY FELLOW OF KINO'S COLLEGE, LONDON ;
CORRESPONDENT OF THE ACADEMY OF NATURAL SCIENCF.B, PHILADELPHIA

Vol. III.

ILL UST BA TED

CASSELL AND COMPANY, Limited

LONDUN, PAULS ct MEhBOVBNE

1896

UNGULATA:—

RUMINANTIA.
A. H. GAREOD, M.A., F.R.f

RODENTIA.

W. S. DALLAS, F.L.S.

EDENTATA.

p. MARTIN DUNCAN, W.B. (Loxi..), F.R.S., F.G.S.

MAESUPIALIA.

P. MARTIN DUNCAN, M.B. (Loxd.), F.R.S,, F.G.S.

AVES.

E. BOWDLER SHARPE, F.L.S., F Z.S.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.
ARTIODACTYLA— KUMINANTIA:

KOVID.Ii — SHEEP, GOATS, AND GAZELLES. PAOI

Ruminaiitia— Chewing the Cud- Metaphorical Expression— The Complicated Stomach : Paunch, Honey-comb Bag, Many-
plies, Keed— Order of Events in Rumination— Feet and Dentition of Ruminants— Brain— Classification— Horned
Ruminants— Divided into two Grouijs- Difference between them— Bovid.e— Horns— Aberrant Members— Sheep
AND Goats— CJeneral Characteristics— Sheep of South- Western Asia— Merino Sheep— Breeds of Great Britain—
Dishley, or Improved Leicesters— Jtr. Bakewell's Description— Southdowns, Cheviots, Welsh, and other British
Breeds- Table of the Importation of Colonial and Foreign Wool into the United Kingdom— Marco Polo's
Sheep— Oobial—Shapoo—Moi'FLON—Ammon—Burhel— American Argali— Wild Sheep of Barbart— The
Goat— Compared with the Sheep— Descent— Cjishmere Goat— Ibexes- Paseng— Their remarkable Horns— Old
Theories as to the Use of the Horns— MABKHOOR-TAHR—GAZELt-ES— General Characteristics— Sir Victor Brooke's
ClassiScation- The Gazelle— Appearance — Hahits—AKABIAN Gazelle — Persian Gazelle — Soemmering 'a
(Jazelle— Grant's Gazelle— Springbok- Saioa-Chiru— The Pallah, or Impalla— The Indian Antelope,
or Black Bu^ 1

CHAPTER II.

AETIODACTYLA — EUMINANTIA:

BOVID.'E (confiniied) — ANTELOPES.

The Steinboks : Klipspringeb, Ourebi, Steinbok, Grysbok, Madoqua— The Bush-bucks— Appearance- Distinctive

Miirks— The Four-horned Antelopes— Peculiarity in the Chikarah— The Water Antelopes ; Nagor, Reitbok,

Leche, Aequitoon, Sing-sing, Water-buck, Poku, Reh-bok — The Eland— Beef— Apiiearance- Captain

CornwalUs Harris' Description — Hunting — Scarcity— The Koodoo— Appearance— King of Antelopes— Angas'

Harnessed Antelope— The Harnessed Antelopes : GuiB— Bush Buck, or Ukouka— Appearance— Pluck

—The Bovine Antelopes — The Bubaline — Hartebeest — Elesbok — Bontebok — Sassaby — The Gnu —

Grotesfpie Appearance— Habits— Brindled Gnu— The Caprine Antelopes— Serow— Ungainly Habits— Gobal

— Cambing-outan — Yakin — JIazama — The Chasiois — Distribution — Appearance — Voice — Hunted — The

Obvxes—Blaubok— Sable Antelope— Baker's Antelope— Oryx— Beisa— Beatrix— Gbmsbok— Addax . . 17

CHAPTER III.
AETIODACTYLA- EUMINANTIA:
botid.;e (concluded) — oxen, peonghorn antelope, mvsk [deer], and giraffe.
The Nyl-Ghau— Description— Habits— The Musk Ox— Difficulties in associating it— Distribution— Habits— The
Ox^Chillinghara Wild Cattle— Their Habits— Domestic Cattle— The CoUings, Booth, and Bates Strains-
American Breeding — Shorthorns, and other Breeds— Hungarian Oxen — Zebu— Gour— Gayal — Curious mode
of Capturing Gayals— Banting — THE BisoNS— Description — European Bison, or Aurochs— Almost extinct— Csesar's
Description of it— American Bison — Distribution — Mythical Notions regarding it— Their Ferocity and Stupidity
—"Buffalo" Flesh— The Yak— Habits— The Buffaloes— Varieties— Description— Fight between two BuUs-
The Ano.v— The Pronghorn Antelope— Peculiarity as to its Horns and Skull— Professor Baird's and Mr.
Eartletfs Independent Discovery of the Annual Shedding of the Horns— Habits— Peculiarity about its Feet—
Colour— Difficulties as to its Position— The Musk [Deer]— Its Perfume— Where is it to be placed ?— Description
-^Habits— Hunters for the Perfume— Their Sufferings- The Giraffe— PeciUiarities— Skull processes— Its Neck-
Habitat — Running power — Habits— Hunting 29

CHAPTER IV.

THE CERVIDiE, OE ANTLEKED RUMINANTS:

THE ELK, ELAPHINE, SUB-ELAPHINE, AND RVSINE DEEK.

The Deer Tribe— Distinguishmg Characters— Exceptions to the rule— The Musk (Deer) and Chinese Water Deer-
Other Characters of the Cervidas— Antlers, their Nature, Growth, and Shedding— The Knob—" Velvet "— Getting
lid of the " Velvet "—Full equipment — Contests— Interlocking Antlers— Distribution— Classification — Develop-
ment of Antlers in the Common Red Deer— Explanation of the various stages— Splendid " Heads "—Simide
and Complex Antlers— Tyi>es of Antlers— The Elk, or Moose Deer— Ajipearance- Antlers— Habits- Hunting—
The Elaphine Deer— The Red Deer— Distribution— Apiiearance— Hunting- The Wapiti— Acting of the
Fa^vns— The Persun Deer, or MarAl— The Cashmerian Deer, or Barasingha— Habits and General

NATURAL HISTOliY.

Appearance— Barbary Deer— Si;b-Elaphine Deer— The Japanese, Formosan, and Mantchurian Deer— The
Fallow Deer— Peculiarity of its Antlers— The Persian Fallow Deer— The Klsine Deer— The Sambur, or
GEROVV-Habits— Species of Java, Formosa, Sumatra, Borneo, Timor, Ternati, and the Philippines— The Hog
Deer— The Axis Deeb—Phince Alfred's Deer— The Swamp Deer— Schomblrgks Deer— Eld's Deer, or the
Thamyn— Description— Habits— Hunting— Shameful havoc

CHAPTER V.

THE MUNTJACS — THE ROEBUCK — CHINESE DEER — REINDEER — AMERICAN DEER — DEEBLETS — CAMEL TRIBE — LLAMAS.

The MiiNTJACs-Distribution— Characters— The Indian Muntjac, or Kidang -Hunting— The Chinese Mi'ntjac—
Habits— David's Mdntjac— "Shanyang"— The RoEBrcK— The Chinese 'Water Deer— Peculiarity— Chinese
Superstition regarding it— The Chinese Ei.APHritK -Peculiarity of its Antlers— The Reindeer— Distribution—
Ch.aracter- Colouration— Antlers - (Amadiau Breeds— Food— The American Deer— The Virginian Deer—
The Mule Deer— The Black-tailed Deer- The Guazi's- The Brockets- The Venada, or Pudu Deer—
The Chevrotains, or DEERLETs—Antlerless— Their Position— Bones of their Feet— General Form and
Proportions— Species— The Meminna, or Indian Deerlet— The Javan Deerlet— The Kanchil— The
Stanleyan Deerlet— The Water Deerlet— THE CAAIEL TRIBE— Their Feet-Stomach— Its Peculiarity-
The Water Cells— The (Tri'e) Camel— Description -The Pads of Hardened Skin-Its Endurance— Its Disposition
—Anecdote of its Revengeful Nature- The Bactkian Camel— The Llamas— Description -Hahits—Used as
Beasts of Burden— Wild and Domesticated Species -The Hianaco- The Llama-The Vicina— The Alpaca
—The Alpaca Industry— FOSSIL RCJIINANTIA- Strata in which tliey are founA-Champntamti^—HuoiMtamvi
-Dkhobune — Xiphodon — Cainotherium—Oreodon — SivatluTium — Fossil Deer, Oxen, Goats, Sheep, Camels,
Llamas, Antelopes, Giraffes— The Irish Elk— Its huge Antlers— Its Skeleton— Ally— Distribution ....

ORDER RODENTIA
CHAPTER I.

introduction — THE squirrel, marmot, ANOMALVBE, HAPLODONT, A»m BEAVER -FAMILIES.
Character of the Order— A well-defined Group -Teeth Evidence— Kinds and Number of Teeth— The Incisors : their
Growth, Renewal, and Composition— The Molars —The CJnawing Process— Skeleton — Brain— Senses— Body—
Insectivora and Rodentia— Food of Rodents— Classification— THE SIMPLE-TOOTHED RODENTS— Character-
istics—THE SQUIRREL-LIKE RODENTS— Scu'RID.e —Distinctive Features— The Common Squirrel— Form-
Distribution— Food— Bad Qualities— Habits— The Grey Squirrel— The Fox Squirrel— Flying Squu-rels-
Their Parachute Membrane— The Taguan— Appearance — Habits — Other Species — The Pol.vtouche — The
Assapan— The Genus A'crwii- The Ground Squirrels— The Common Chipmunk— The Marmots— Distinguishing
Features— The .Spebmophiles— The Gopher— The Sisel, or Suslik— The B.\rking Squirrels -The Prairie
Dog— Description— Species— Habits— Burrows— Fellow-inmates in their "Milages "—The Tiue MAR:>inTS— The
Bobac— The Alpine Marmot— The Woodchuck— The Hoary Marmi'T, or Whistleu- AXOMALURID^E—
Tail Peculiarity— Distinctive Features— HAPLODONTID^—Descriidioii-THE Sewellei. < 'AS'|'( HIID.E-The
Beaver— Skeletal Peculiarities— General Form— Appearance— Distribution—The Bea\ors of tlie Dlil and New
Worid— Habits— Wonderful Sagacity— The Building Instinct— Their Method of Working- -Tlie \arious Stages—
TheirLodges— Their Dams— Activity by Night— Flesh— Hunted— The Cdsto'CiOft

CHAPTER II.

THE DORMOUSE, LOPHIOMYS, RAT, AND MOUSE FAMILIES.

The Mouse-like Rodents — Myoxid.e— Characteristics — The Dormouse— Description— Habits— Activity— Food -
Winter Condition— The Loir— The Garden Dormouse— Lophiomyid.e— How the Family came to be Founded -
The Lophiomys— MUne-Edwards' Opinion— Skull— General Form -Habits-MuRID.E- Number of Species —
Characteristics- Variety of Forms— Distribution— The Murine Sub-Family— The Bkown RAT-History
Fecundity and Ferocity- Diet -At tlie Horse Slaughter-houses of Montfaucon— shii.wTcckL-d on Islauds-Story
of tli.ir Killing a :\Ian in a Coal-pit— In the Sewers of Paris and London— The Black Hat The Egyptian
Rat The Common Mouse— Habits -Destructiveness— Colours— The Long-tailed Field Mouse— Description
—Food— The Harvest Mouse -Description— Habits- In Winter— Agility— Their Nest— The Bandicoot Rat—
The Tree Rat— The Striped Mouse— Allied Genera— The White-footed H.\palote— The American Murines
—The AVhite-footed, or Deer Mouse— The Golden, or Red Mouse— The Rice-field JIouse- The .American
Harvest Mouse— The Florida R.vt- Description— Their Nest -Food- -Mother and Young Tm: I'.i-vHV tailed
Wood R.vt— The Cotton Rat— The Rabbit-like Reithrodon— The Hamsth;-- i li;iia. t. ii-fir- A|.pearance
— Distribution— Burrows— Disiiosition—Food—Habits— The Tree Mice -Thf IUa^k-iki \ki n Ti;i i JIiCE—
The CiERBiLLES-Cliaracteriscics-Habits— Other Genera— The W.vter IMice i 'liaraetcnvtios ^iiruies— The
Sminthus— The Voles— Characteristics— The Water Vole— Appearance— Distribution -Food-THE Field
Vole— The Bank Vole— The Southern Field Vole— The Snow Mouse— The Root Vole- The Meadow
Mouse— The Pine Mouse— The Musquash, Musk Rat, oh Ondatr.v— Distinguishing Features- Habits— Hir,
House — The Lemming— Description —Food — Habits —Disposition— Their Extraordinary Migrations— Othei
Lemmin s— The ZOKOR .,,.,...,., ..... 101

CHAPTER III.

MOLE KATS, rOVCHED RATS, POUCHED MICE, JERBOAS, AN'D OCTODONTID^E. PAGE

SrALACID.E, OR MOLE RATS— Cliaracteristics of the Family— Habits— Fowl— The Mole Rat— Distribution-
Description— The Chestnut Mole Rat— The Naked Mole Rat— The Strand Mole Rat— Description—
Habits— The J,vpe Mole Rat -GEOMYIDiE, OR POUCHED RATS— Characteristics of the Family— The
Cheek-pouches— The Common Rocket Gopher— Distribution — Description— Burrowing— Runs— Subterranean
Dwelling— The Northern Pocket Gopher— Heteromtin.e, or Pouched Mice— Difficulties as to Position—
Characteristics— Phillips' Pocket Mouse— Where Found— Description— The Yellow Pocket Mouse-The
Least Pocket Mouse— DIPODID^E, OR JERBOAS— Organisation for Jumping— Characteristics— Distribu-
tion—The American Jumpino MOUSE-Description— Characters peculiar to itself— Habits— The True Jerbo.vs
— Characters— The Jerboa— Distribution— Habits— Mode of Locomotion— The Alactaga— The Cape Jumping
Hark— THE PORCUPINE-LIKE RODENTS-OGTODONTID^— Characteristics-Sub-Faraily Ctenodacty-
lin.e-The Gundi— The Degu— Description— Habits -The Brown ScHizonoN— The Tukotuko— The Curiro
—The Rock Rat— Sub Family Echinomyin.e— The Coypu— One of the Largest Rodents— Description— Burrows

— Habits— Mother and Young— The HuTiA Conga— The HutiaCar.«ali- The Ground Rat . . . . 120

CHAPTER IV.

roKCUPIXES — CHINCH ILL.-V.S— AGOUTIS — C.WIE.S — HARES AND RAHBITS— PIKAS.

HYSTRICID.E, the Porcupines— Conversion of Hairs into Spines-SkuU— Dentition— Tail— Sub-families— The True
Porcupines— The Tree Po-cupines— The Commcn PoROUPlNE—Distribution— Description— The Crest of Bristles-
Nature of the Spines— Habits— Young— Flesh — On the Defensive— Other Species— Species of Ti-ee Porcupines —
The Couendou— The Couiy— Description— Habits— The Ursox, oh l'.wada Porcupine— Description— Habits
— Food-CHINCHILLID^, THE Chinchillas— Characteristics- The Viscacha— Description— Life on the
Pami)as— Their BuiTows— Habits— The Chinchillas of the Amle.s— The Chinchilla — The Short-tailed Chin-
chilla—Cuvier's Chinchilla— The Pale-footed Chinchilla— DASYPROCTID-E, the Agoutis— Characters
— The Agouti— Distribution— Appearance— Habits— Azara's Agouti— The Acouchy— The Paca— Appearance
—Distribution— Habits— DINOMYID^E— Founded for a Single Species— Description— Rarity— CAVIID.E, the
Cavies — Characteristics — THE Restless Cavy— Appearance — Habits -The Guinea-Pig Controversy- The
Bolivian Cavy— The Rock Cavy— The Southern Cavy— The Patagonian Cavy, or Mara— Peculiar Features

— Its Burrows— Mode of Running— The Capybara— Its Teeth— 'WTiere Found— Habits— THE DOUBLE-
TOOTHED RODENTS— Characteristics-LEPORID.E, the Hares and Rabbits -Structural Peculiarities-
Distribution- Disposition —The Common Hare -Hind Legs— Speed— Its "Doubles"— Other Artifices— Its
" Form "—Habits— Food — Pet Hares— The Rabbit— Distribution— Habits -Domesticated— The Mountain Hare

— LAGOJIYID^, THE PiKAS— Characteristics— Distribution— The Alpine Pika— The Rocky Mountain Pika 133

CHAPTER V.

fossil rodentia.
families of Rodents represented by Fossil Remains -State of the "Record of the Rocks" — THE SCIURID*- Sciurine
Genera now Extinct— No Fossil Anomalurid.e and Haplodontid.e— IscHYROMYiD,E— -Pw«rfu<oHi»s liiuiis—
Gtimnvpliirlius — CAfiTomDJE—Mv. Allen's Castoroidid.e--The Mvoxid.e — No Fossil Lophiomvid.e — The
Murid.e— The Spalacid.e- The Geomyid.e— The Dipodid.e— The Theridomyid.e— The Octodontid^ —
The Hystricid.e— The Chinchillid.e— The Dasyproctid.e— The Caviid/E— The Leporid^e- The LAGOMYiDiE
— Afcsotherium cristatinn— Difficulties concerning it— Mr. Alston's Suggestion — The Hebetidentata — Teeth —
Skull— Skeleton— Conclusions regarding it— Table of Rodent Families— Concluding Remarks: lijl

ORDER EDENTATA, OR BRUTA (ANIMALS WITHOUT FRONT TEETH).
CHAPTER I.

sloths.
The South American Forests— Discovery of the Sloth— How it derived its Name— Peculiarities of Dentition— Food-
Fore Limbs and Fingers— Hind Limbs and Heel— Other Modifications of Structure— Kinds of Sloth— 'Waterton'f,
Captive Sloth— Habits of the Animal-Burchell's Tame Sloths— Manner of Climbing Trees— Disposition— Activity
among TreesT- Naturalists' Debate about Anatomy— Probable Conclusion regarding it— Skeleton— Vertebra?—
the Rudimentary Tail— Blost Distinctive Skeletal Characters- Arm, Wrist, Hand, Fingers, Claws— Mode of
Walking— Great LHility of the Claws- Face of Sloth— Skull— Teeth-Clas.sification—r.4ii:.D/&'i?JX>.-l—BRADI-
PODID.E — Genus Bradypus- Characteristics— Genus ARCToPITHECUs-Characteristics- CHOLCEl'ODID.E-
The Collared Sloth— Description— Skull Bones— Habits— Circulation of the Blood— -»■<<■ Mirohile— The Ai—
The Unau— Appearance-Skull and Teeth -Skeleton -Interesting Anatomical Features— Stomach— Hoffmann's
Sloth— Description— Habits 1%

CHAPTER ri.

the ant-eaters.

The Cape Ant-e.wer— The Cage at "the Zoo. "—Appearance of the Animal— Its Prey-Tlie Ant-hills— How the

Orycteropus obtains its Food— Place in the Order— Teeth— Skull— Tongue— Interesting Questions concerning

the Ant-eatsr- The Pangolins, ob Scaly Ant-eaters— The African Scaly Ant-e.\.ter.s— Differences between

viij XATVRAL HISTORY.

the Pangolins and Cape Ant-eaters- Theii- Habitat— Description — Temminck's Pangolin — Habits— Food— How
it Feeds— Superstitious Regard for it shown by the Natives— Scai'city — Appearance— The Lono-tailed, oe Fouk-

FINGEBED PANGOLIN— THE GREAT MaNIS— THE ASTATIC SCALY ANT-EATERS— THE ShORT-TAILED, OR FlVE-

TiNGERED Pangolin— Tlie Species of ManiS—SlaiU-Stomach— Claws fitted for Digging- Other Skeletal
Peculiarities— The American Ant-eaters — General Appearance— Genera— The Great Ant-Bear- Habits— Diet
—How it Procures its Food— Distribution — Jlode and Rate of Locomotion— Stupidity — Mannt of Assault and
Defence — Stories of its Contests with other Animals— Appearance— The Tamandua— Description — AVTiere Found
—Habits— Odour— The Two-toed Ant-eater— Appearaace—Two-clawed Hand— Habits —Von Sach's Account of
his Specimen IGP

CHAPTER III.
the armadillo family.
Tlie Armour-plates — How the Shields are formed— Their connection with the Body — Description of the Animals —Mode
of Walking—Diet- Skeleton— Adaptation of their Limbs for Burrowing— Classification— The Great" Armadillo
—Appearance— Great Burrower— The Tatoi'ay- The Poyou, or Yellow-footed Armadillo -The Peludo, or
Hairy Armadillo— The Pichiy— ThePeba, or Black Tatou— The Mule Armadillo— The Ball Armadillo—
Dr. Murie's Account of its Habits— Description— The Aluscles by which it Rolls itself up and Unrolls itself— THE
I'lCHICIAGO— Concluding Remarks : Classification of tlie Order, Fossil Edentates, the Allied Species of Manis in
South Africa and Hindostan 181

ORDER MARSUPIALIA, MARSUPIAL OR POUCHED ANIMALS.

SUB-ORDER MARSUPIATA.

CH.\PTER I.

THE KANGAROO AND WOMBAT FAMILIES.

The Great Kangaroo— Captain Cook and the Great Kangaroo— Habitat— Appearance of the Animal— Marsupials
separated from the other Mammalian Orders, and why (Footnote)— Gestation and Bii-th of Young (Footnote)—
Mode of Running— The Short Fore Limbs— The Marsujnum, or Pouch— Head— Dentition— Peculiarities in the
Teeth — Hind Extremities— Foot— Great Claw— How the Erect Position is maintained — Whence their Jumping
Power is derived— Other Skeletal Peculiarities — Kangaroo Hunts — Becoming Rarer — Mode of Attack and
Defence— Hands— Bones of the Fore Limbs— Skull— Stomach— Circulation of Blood — Peculiarity in Young-
Nervous System not fully developed — Brain —The Baby Kangaroo in the Pouch — The Hare Kangaroo— The
Great Rock Kangaroo— The Red Kangaroo— The Brisk Kangaroo— The Brush-tailed Rock Kangaroo
— The Common Tree Kangaroo— The Kangaroo-R.ats— Characteristics— The Rat-tailed Hypsiprvmnus—
Description— THE WOMBAT FAMILY- The Wo.mbat— Peculiarities— Description— Habits— Teeth— Skeleton . 191

CHAPTER II.
THE phalanger, pouched radger, and dasyvre families.
THE PHALANGER FAIVULY— The Koala— Habits-Characteristics-THE discus— The Vulpine Phalanger—
The Dormouse Phalanger— Habits— Remarkable Characters — The Flying Phalangers — Its Flying Machine-
Habits— The Squirrel Flying Phalangers— Habits— The Parachute -like Membrane— Exciting Scene on board
a Vessel— Characteristics- The Opossum Mouse— The Noolbenger, or Tait — A Curiosity among Marsupials
—Distinctive Features— THE POUCHED BADGER FAMILY— Oharacteristics—THE Rabbit-eaked Perameles
—The Bandicoot— The Banded Perameles— The Pig-footed Perameles— Discussion regariUng it-
Characteristics- THE DASYURUS FAMILY— Characteristics— The Pouched Ant-eaters— The Banded
Myrmecobius— Description— Great number of Teeth— History— Food— Habits— Range— The Ursine Dasyure—
Appearance—" Native Devi] "—Ferocity— Havoc .among the Sheep of the Settlers— Trap to Catch them— Its
Teeth— A Time Marsupial, though strikingly like the Carnivora— Skeletal Characters peculiar to itself—
Mauge's Dasiture — The Dog-headed Thylacinus — Descriiition — Resemblance to the Dog — Habits —
Peculiarities— The Brush-tailed Phascogale— Description- Other Varieties. 20::

CHAPTER III.

THE OPOSSUMS.
Prehistoric Opossums— Description of the Animal— Their Teeth— Habits— The Common Opossum— Appearance— Use of
its TaU— Food— The Young— How they are Reared— D'Azara's Opossum— The CR/IB-e.\ting Opossum— The
Thick-tailed Opossum— Merian's Opossum— Pouchless Oiwssums— Their Young— The Murina Opossum— The
Elegant Opossum— The Yapock — Classification of Marsupial Animals —Geographical Distribution of the Sub-
Order— Ancestry of the Marsupials— Fossil Remains 219

SUB-ORDER— MONOTREMATA.

CHAPTER IV.

the porcvpine or long-spined echidna and duck-billed platypus.

Why the Monotremata are formed into a Sub-order— The lowest of the Mammalian Class— The Porcupine or Long-

Spined Echidna— An Ant-eater, but not an Edentate— Its Correct Name— Description of the Animal— Habits and

Disposition — Manner of Using the Tongue — Wliere it is Found — Anatomical Features : Skull, Brain, Marsupial

Bones— The Young— Species of Van Diemen's Land and New Guinea— The Water-Mole, or Duck-billed

Platypus— The most Bird-like Mammal— Various Names- Descriiition-Tlieir Appearance and Jlovaments in
■\\'ater— Their Biurows— Habits of an Individual kept in Confinement— Used by Natives as Food-How they
are Captured— The Young- -A Family in Captivity— The Snout — Jaws — Teeth— Tongue -Fore and Hind Feet-
Heel— Spur-— The Shoulder Girdle— Breastbone— Concluding Remarks on the Sub-orders— Postscript . . . 227

THE CLASS AVES.— THE BIRDS.
CHAPTER I.

ING STRVCTUKE AND FEATHERS — DISTRIBUTION.

Introduction — Distinctive Characters of the Class Aves— Power of Flight — The Wing— Its Structure— The Six Zoo-
geographical Regions of the Earth — Birds peculiar to tliese Regions ....... ... 23.5

CHAPTER II.

THE ANATOMY OF A BIRD.

The Three Divisions of the Class Aves— Anatomy of a Bird— The Skeleton— Distinctive Features— Peculiar Bone
Character— The Skull— Difference between the Skull of Birds and that of JIammals— The Jawbones— Vertebral
Column — Sternum— Forelimbs—Hind-limbs— Toes— The JIuscular System— How a Bird remains Fi.\ed when
Asleep— The OU-gland— The Nervous System— The Brain— The Eye— The Ear— The Digestive System— The
Dental papilla;- The Beak — Tongue— Gullet— Crop— Stomach— Uses of the Gizzard— Intestine— The Liver,
Pancreas, and Spleen— The Blood and Circulatory System— Temperature of Blood of a Bird — Blood Corpuscles —
The Heart— The Respiratory System— Lungs— Air-sacs— The Organs of Voice— The Egg— Classification of the
Class Aves .- 239

CHAPTER III.
DIVISION L — THE CARINATE BIRDS (CARINAT^l.

THE ACCIPITEINE ORDER— BIRDS OF PREY.

VULTURES AND CARACARAS.

The Birds of Prey— Distinctive Characters- The Cere— How the Birds of Prey are Divided— Difference between a Hawk,
an Owl, and an Osprey— The Three Sub-orders of the Accipitres — Sub-order Falcones— Difference between the
Vultures of the Old World and the Viiltures of the New "World- The Old AVorld Vultures — Controversy as to
how the Vultures reach their Prey— Waterton on the Faculty of Scent — Mr Anderssou's, Dr. Kirk's, and Canon
Tristram's Views in Favour of Sight — The Black Vulture— The Griffon Vulture— Its Capacity for Feeding
while on the "Wing— The Eared Vulture— One of the Largest of the Birds of Prey— "Whence it gets its Name—
The Egyptian Vulture— A Foul Feeder— THE NEW WORLD VULTURES— The Condor— Its Appearance
—Power of Flight— Habits— The King Vulture— The Turkey Vulture— THE CARACARAS- Distinctive
Characters— Habits— The Secretary Bird— How it Attacks Snakes— Habits— Appearance— The Cariama . . 254

CHAPTER IV.
the long-legged hawks and buzzards.
The Banded Gtmnogene— Habits— Its Movable Tarsi— The Harriers— Distinctive Features— The Marsh Hareiee—
Habits— Its Thievish Propensities— The HARRIER-HAWKS-Colonel Greyson's Account of their Habits— The
Chanting Goshawks— Why so Called— Habits— The True Goshawks— Distinctive Characters- The Goshawk
—Distribution— In Pursuit of its Prey— Appearance -The Sparkow^-Hawks— Distinctive Characters— The
C0.M5I0N Sparrow-Hawk— Habits— Appearance— The Buzzards— Their Tarsus— The Common Buzzard— Where
Found— How it might be tm-ned to Account— Food— Its Migr.ations— Habits— Appearance— The Hakpy . . 2G7

CHAPTER V.

eagles and falcons.

THE EAGLES— The Bearded Eagle, or Lammergeier— A Visit to their Nest— Habits— A Little Girl carried off

Alive— Habits in Greece-Appearance— Von Tschudi's and Captain Hutton's Descriptions of its Attacks—

The True Eagles— The Wedge-tailed Eagle— Eye— Crystalline Lens— How Eagles may be Divided— The

Imperial Eagle— The Golden Eagle— In Great Britain— Jlacgilliway's Description of its Habits— Appearance

—The Kite Eagle— Its Peculiar Feet— Its Bird's-nesting Habits— The Common Harrier Eagle— The Indian

■ Serpent Eagle— The Bateleur Eagle— The White-t.uled Eagle— A Sea Eagle— Story of Capture of some

"Young— The S\\allow-tailed Kite— On the Wing— The Common Kite- The European Honey Kite—

Habits-ANDERssoN's Pern— THE FALCONS-The BUI-The Cuckoo Falcons-The Falconets— The

Peregrine Falcon— Its Wonderful Distribution— Falconry— Names for Male, Female, and Young— Hawks and

Herons— The Greenland Jbe-falcon— The Kestrels— The Common Kestrel— Its Habits and Disposition . 277

CHAPTER VI.
the osprey s and owls.
The OsPHEY—Distribution— Food-How it Seizes its Prey— Nesting Communities-STEIGES, or OWLS-Distmctions
between Hawks and Owls— Owls in Bird -lore and Superstition— Families of the Sub-order— The Fish Owl—

X AATUJtAL UISTVKY.

Pel's Fish OwL--Tlie Eagle Owl— Er. Erelim's Dcscriiition of its Appearance and Habits— The Sxowy
Owl— Hawk Owls— Tigmy Owlets— The Short-eared Owl— The Long-Eaked Owl— The Earn Owl— The
Farmer's Friend— reciiliar Characters— Distribution 296

THE SECOND ORDER.-PICARIAN BIRDS.
CHAPTER VII.

THE PAEROTS.

Characteristics of the Order— The Sub-orders— ZYGODACTYL,5;-The PARROTS-Their Talking Powers— Sections of
the Family— The Great Palm Cockatoo— The Pygmy Parrots— The Amazon Parrots— The Amazon.^ —
The Grey Parrot — Court Favourites — Historical Specimens — In a State of Nature-Mi-. Keulemans' Ob-
servations—The Conures— The Rose-kinged Parbakeet— Known to tlie Ancients -Habitat- -Habits— The
Carolina Conure— Destructive Propensities— The Parrakeets— The Owl Parrot— Chiefly Nocturnal-
Incapable of Flight— How this Fact may be accounted for— Dr. Haiist's Account of its Habits— The Straight-
billed Parrots— The Brush-tongued Parrots -The Xestohs-The Kaka Parrot- Skull of a Parrot—
The Bill 308

THE SECOND ORDER.— PICARIAN BIRDS SUB-ORDER I.— ZYGODACTYLY.
CHAPTER VIII.

crcKoos — honey guides — plantain-eaters — WOODPECKERS — toucans — barrets.
THE CUCKOO.?— The Bush Cuckoos— The Lauk-heeled Cuckoos, or Coucals— The Common Cuckoo- Its
Cliaracteristics— Mrs. Blackburn's Account of a Young Cuckoo Ejecting a Tenant— Breeding Habits— The Eggs
— Tlie Call-notes of Male and Female— Food— Its Winter Home— Its Appearance and Plumage— THE HONEY
GUIDES — Kirk's Account of thsir Habits — Mrs. Barber's Refutation of a Calumny against the Bird— THE
PLANTAUSr-EATERS— The White-crested Plantain eater— The Grey I'lantain-eatkh— The Colies—
The AVhite-backed Ccjly- THE WOODPECKERS How tliey Climb and Descend Trees— Their Bill— Do they

Damage. Sound Trees?— The Wrynecks-The Yaffle -The Rei:-}ieadeii Wooi>i'kcker The Spotted

Woodpecker- I'HE TOUCANS— Jlr. Gould's Account of their Habits— Mr. Waterton's Account— The
Enormous Bill— Azara's Description of the Bird— Mr. Bates' History of a Tame Toucan -THE BARBETS—
Jfessrs. Marshall's Account of tlie Family— Jlr. Layard on their Habits '. : 32;^

THE SECOND ORDER.-PICARIAN BIRDS. SUB-ORDER II,- FISSIROSTRES.
CHAPTER IX.

the JACAMARS, puff birds, kingfishers, HOKNBILLS, AND HOOPOES.

THE JACAMARS— THE PUFF BIRDS -THE KINGFISHERS— Characters— The Common Kingfisher— Distribu-
tion—Its Cry— Habits— After its Prey— It's own Nest-builder— Mr. Rowley's Note on the Subject— Nest in the
British JIuseum— Superstitions concerning the Kingfisher— Colour— Various Species— Crested Kingfisher-
Pied Kingfisher -Dr. Von Heuglin's Account of its Habits— New AVorld Representatives— Omnivorous King-
fishers—The Australian Cinnamon-breasted Kingfisher- -Macgillivray's Account of its Habits— The Laugh-
ing Jackass of Australia— Its Discordant Laugh— Tlie " The Bushman's Clock "-Colour— Habits— THE HORN-
BILLS— Character— Their Heavy Flight— Noise produced when on the Wing — Food -Extraordinary Habit of
Imprisoning the Female Native Testimony -Exception— Fed by the Male Bird— Dr. Livingstone's Observations
on the point, and Mr. Bartlett's Remarks —Strange Gizzard Sacs— Dr Murie's Remarks— iVlr. AVallace's Descrip-
tion of the Habits of the Honibills- Capture of. a Young One in Sumatra— The Ground Hornbills -South
African Species— Kaffir Superstition regarding it— H.abits— Jlr. Ayres' Account of the Natal Species— How it Kills
Snakes— The Call —Habits— Jlr. Jlonteiro's Description of the Angola Form— Turkey-like Manner— AYariness -
Food— THE HOOPOES— Appearance— Distributioa— The C'ommon HooPoE-Habits— The Name— How does it
produceitsNote?— The Wood Hoopoes— Habits 343

CHAPTER X.

THE bee-eaters— MOTMOTS ROLLERS — TROGONS NIGHTJARS, OK GOATSUCKERS SWIFTS HUMMING-RIRDS.

THE BEE-EATERS -Their Brilliant Plumage— CoVnel Irby's Account of the Bird in Spain— Shot for Fashion's sake -
THE JIOTJIOTS -Appearance— Mr. Waterton on the H™;tnn Curious Habit of Trimming its Tail— Jlr. O.
Salvin'sObse.vations on this point— Mr. Bartlett's Kviiln,., TIIK ROLLERS- Why so called-Canon Tristram's
Account of their Habits -Colour— Other Species— Tl 1 V. I'K'i " :< iXs Where found— Peculiar Foot— Tender Skin-
Inability to cniiid. Their Food -The Long-taii En I' n. 'Hi i,>i fsal Jlr. Salvin's Account of its Habits— Its

Ma-iiitue.it r,,l,,ui H.iutl.ry ^iiv limited THK \ ICHT.I AKS, ( Hi GOATSUCKERS -Appearaiice-Distnbu-
tir.i" 'I'll.' I .11:1. liun. ,11 ( 111 l;iiil ■■ I'lou-iiii'iitlis"' Mr, I Guild's .\eeouiit of the Habits of the 'I'lnvny shouldered

reIllv'"r™ler'caW.''V^l'tsV:,',Ml sli.'ep Its'cv Thf Cumm-x 1 h.atsivkkh THE SWIFTS-Thk Common
.SwiFT-JIigration-Tlieii Hnin,. 1,1 til, Air When they I •.n,,! ,\, st Tiiij: .-<« 1 ; is -The Edible-Nest Swiftlets
—Mr. E. L. Layard s \isit t.. tlu Ciive of the Iii,li;iii Swiftl.'t THE lir.M\llX(i BIRDS- Number of Species
-Di.stribution-Professui N. «t,,u's Uescriptimi ,,f tie- I'.inl -Jlr. V,-i,lla,e ,,ii their Habits-Wilson on the North
American Species :«J

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

The Chiimois Frontispiece.

Tlio Water Deerlet, or Cliovrotain .... 1
Stomiich of a Ruminiiting- Animal : exterior and

interior 2

Brain of a Sheei) 3

Merino Sheep -i

The Ammon .8

The Ammon 9

Tlie Biirbary Wild Slic'i. 10

The Ihex U

The llarkhoor 12

The Durcas Gazelle 14

The Saiga lo

The Indian Antelope 16

Head of Female Biish-buek 18

The Water-buck 19

The Eland 20

The Koodoo 22

The Biihaline Antelove 24

The Gnu 2.5

The Goral 26

Head of the Chamois 27

The Oryx 28

TheNyl-ghau 30

The Sable Antelope . . . . .31

Chillingham Cattle 32

The Hungarian Bull 33

Bison 36

The American Bison . . . . .37

The Yak 38

The Anoa 39

Skull of the Pronghorn Antelope , . . .40

The Pronghorn Antelope 41

Skull of the Musk [Deer] 42

The Husk [Deer] 43

Skeleton of the Giraffe 44

Giraffe 4.5

Head of Red Deer, in which the growing Antlers

arc seen covered with " velvet " . . .46
Head of Red Deer, in which the Antler is fully

developed and the " velvet" has disappeared . 47

Various Types of .\ntlers 49

Elk Hunt 50

Young Elk 51

The Red Deer 53

Red Deer and Fallow Deer in Winter . . . 54

Red Deer Fi!>htiug 55

The Fallow Deer 56

The Sambur Deer 57

The Borneo Rusine Deer . . .58

The Axis Deer .... To face page 59

Schomburgk's Deer . . . . . " . 60

The Indian JIuntjac 62

The Roebuck : Male, Female, and Y'oung . . 63

The Chinese Water Deer 64

The Chinese Elaphure 65

Reindeer at a Lapp Encampment . . .66

The Reindeer 67

The Guazuti Deer 69

The Javan Deerlet 70

The Stanleyan Deerlet — Foot of Camel . . .71

Stomach of the Llama — Water Cells of the Camel . 72

Head of the (ti-ue) Camel 73

The (true) Camel 74

The Bactrian Camel 75

Huanaco attacked by a Puma . . .-76

Bactrian Camel .... To face page 77

The Llama ' . 77

.■Skeleton of the Irish Elk .... 79

The Irish Elk (Restored) 80

The Prairie Dog 81

Skull of the Taguan, a Flying Squirrel— Dentition

of the Hare . . " 82

Skeleton of the Rabbit ...... 83

Brain of Beaver, from above and in profile . . 84

Teeth of the Taguan 85

The Common Squirrel 86

The Black Fox Squirrel 88

The Tag\ian 89

The Polatouche 90

The Common Chipmunk 91

Molar Teeth of the Marmot— The Striped Spermo-

phile, or Gopher .92

Burrows of the Prairie Dog 93

The Alpine Marmot 95

The Fulgent Anomalure — Molar Teeth of the

Anomalure 96

Molar Teeth of the Beaver 97

The Beaver 98

Molar Teeth of the Dormouse — The Dormouse . 102

The Garden Dormouse 103

Skull of Lophiomys — The Lophiomys . . . 104
Molar Teeth of the Black Rat . . . .105

The Brown Rat 106

The Black Rat 107

Harvest Mice 109

Molar Teeth of the Hapalote HI

Head of the Rabbit-like Reithrodon . . .112

Hamster To face page 113

Molar Teeth of the Hamster 113

Molar Teeth of the Gerbille— Skull of the Water

Mouse— Teeth of Sminthus . . . .114
Molar Teeth of the AYater Rat . . . .115

The .Southern Field Vole 116

The Musquash 118

The Lemming 119

Skull of Mole-Rat— The Mole-Rat . . . .121
Molar Teeth of the Mexican Pouched Rat — Under

Surface of the Head of Heteromys . . . 122
Skull of the Mexican Pouched Rat . . .123

Skull of the Cape Jumping Hare . . . .124
The American Jumping Mouse — Molar Teeth of

the Jerboa 125

The Jerboa 126

The Alaetaga — Molar Teeth of the Jumping Hare . 127

The Cape Jumping Hare 128

The Degu 129

Dentition of the Rock Rat— Teeth of the Spiny

Rat 130

The Coypu -131

The Hutia Conga— Teeth of Plagiodon— IMolar

Teeth of Loncheres 132

Skull of Loncheres 133

Skull of the Porcupine — The Common Porcupine . 134

The Tree Porcupine 136

Mexican Tree Porcupines 137

Viscachas To face page 139

Molar Teeth of the Chinchilla— The Chinchilla . 139
Molar Teeth of the Agouti — Azara's Agouti . . 140
Skull of the Paca— The Paca . ... . .141

The Dinomys 142

The Patagonian Cavy 144

Molars of the Capybira 145

The Cap\-1iara 146

The Conimon Hare 148

The Alpine Pika 150

Side A'iew of Skull and Lower .Taw of Meso-

thevium Cristatum— Dentition of Jlesotherium

Cristatum 155

Group of Sloths .158

Skeleton of the Sloth . . . . .161

Bones of Hand of Three-toed Sloth . . .162

Skull of Sloth 163

The Collared Sloth ... ... 164

The Ai 165

Skull of Ai 166

NATVMAL BlSTOJtr.

To fa

piit/c

Stonvich of Sloth

Hoftmimi s Sloth

The C ipt Vn* Ldttr

Skull ot til ( ipt Vnt e itei

TemmiDtk 1 i ^ liii

Theioui liii i 1 1 n^jlin

The Fiv hn ill m^ hn

TheOicit Vnt B a

The Two toed Ant c iter

Bones of C law of &i eat Armadillo

Skeleton oi the AimidiUo — Skull o) the Armadillo

The Gie'^t Armadillo — Bi un of the Armadillo

ThePo\ou ....

The Bail Armadillo

The Pichiciago

Kangaroo ....

Skeleton of the Great Kangaroo

Teeth of the Great Kangaroo

Stomach ot the Great Kangaroo

Brain of the Givat Kaugai'oo .

The Bru.sh-laiird Knck Kangaroo

TheComiunii Tirc> Kaii^arno .

The Kangaroo Hat — Teeth of the Kangaroo

Eat

Fore and Hind Foot of Hypsiprymnus .
Skdeton of the Womhat
The Womhat— Lower Jaw of the Wombat
Teeth of the Wombat ....

The Koala

The Cuscua

The Vulpine Phalanger ....

The S,|uiiiel Flying Phalanger

Th( Hand, d r.raineles ....

The llasvuiv

Teeth uffhr Dasvin-e— Brain of the Dasyure

Upper and r,i,lri N'i.w ,,f Skull of Da.syure

The Dog-lirad-d ■|-Iivla.i,ms .

Skeleton of llie l),.--head.'d Thvlacinus .

The Brush-tailed I'liascogale— the Anteehinua

Opossum and Young . . . To face pay,

Teeth of the Opossum .

Skeleton of the Crab-eating Oposs

The Crab-eating Opossum

Merian's Opossum .

TheYapock ....

PeMc Arch of the Echidna

"Die Porcupine Echidna .

Mouth and Nose-snout of Echidna

Jaws of the Duck-billed Platypus

Fore and Hind Foot of the Duck-billed Platvpi

Shoiddri-girdle ami Sternum of the Echidi
ThoDuek-liilI,a I'latvpuM ....

Thelmp.iial Fa-.l. •

Bones of AX'iiiLj: ol
Parts of a Fuathe

Skeleton of Eagle

Skull of Young Ostrich from above and from bel
Stei'num of Fregilupus variua— Pelvis of an Adult

Fowl, side view ....
Section of the Eye of the Common Buzzard .
Digestive Organs of the Kingfisher
Front View and Section of Inferior Larynx of

Peregi-ine Falcon . . . . " .
Diagrammatic Section of a Fowl's Egg .

Head and Bill of Sea Eagle

Bill of Egyptian Vulture, to show form of Nostril -

Bill of Turkey Vulture, to show the perforated

Nostril

The Griffon Vulture ......!

The Egyptian Vultuie

The Condor

The Brazilian Caracara ......

The Secretary Bird

The Marsh Harrier .,,,..

The Goshawk

The Sparrow-Hawk ...

Feathers of Wing of Bird

Hind View of Tarsus of Buzzard, showing the
plated arrangement of Scales — Hind View of
Tarsus of Serpent Eagle, showing the reticu-
lated arrangement of Scales ....

Tile I (iDiiiMiii liuzzard

'ai;e. Zoological Gardens To fm
I'agle. or Lammergeier
si lowing Crystalline Lens

-tailed Eagle

' page

A Ilood.d Faleon-Faleun's

Hood . . ■

. 293

Tlie Common Kestrel .

. 295

The Osprey

. 296

Skull of Tengmalm's Owl

. 297

The Little Owl

. 298

Th.. Snnwv 0«1 . .

303

'I'll.' Sl,M,(-|';aird Owl .

. 304

Fare, if tin. Han, -Owl .

. SOS

lin a-ll,..,,.. -,f t|,e Barn Owl

• . 307

I'oekatoos

. . Tofac

page 309

The Am.azon I'arrot

. 311

The iMacaws' Walk, Zoological Gardens To face page 313

The Grey Parrot .

. 313

The Rose-ringed Parrakeet

. 314

The Kosella .

. 316

The Owl Parrot .

. 317

The Lorikeet .

. 319

Tongue of Nestor .

. 320

The Kaka Parrot .

. 321

Skull of the Grey Parrot

. 323

The Common Cuckoo

. 326

'i'lir (ireat Sp.itted Cuckoo

. 328

The IL.iMV (;,.;.!.■ .

. 329

T'lie Wlute-.'iested Plantain-eater .

. 331

"Hyoid'' Bone of Adult Fowl — Side View of Dis-
section of Head of Common Green Wood-
pecker , .

Upper View of Skull of Green Woodpecker —
Dissection of Head of Green Woodpecker,
viewed from below ... . .

The Wryneck . '

The Great Black Woodpecker and Great Spotted
Woodpecker . ... To face page

T'he Green Woodpecker .....

The Toucan

Bill of Toucan ......

The Pearl-spotted Barbet ....

The Common Kingfisher ....

The Pied Kingfisher

The Laughing Jackass

The Great Homhill

The Ground Hoi-nbills of Abyssinia

The Comiiion Hoopoe . . .

'Pie Aiistialiaii llee-eater— Bill of Jlotmot .

Jlotmot

The Long-tailed Trogon, or Quesal

Mouth of Goatsucker— The Oil-bird

The Common Goatsucker

The Whip-poor-will

The Lyre-tailed Nightjar

Foot of the Common Goatsucker

The Common Swift

To face I'ogc

Tla

'I'lh. Wliilr-tlnnalid Sjane-tailed Swift
Tie Sw.ad-l.ill llnmiiiiii- Bird
The WTiite-booted Racket Tail _ .
The Common Topaz Humming Bird
The Crested Humming Bird „

CASSELL'S NATURAL HISTORY.

jA*!' i/A<y/4/M/(r|lA"^y^ ,0

■WATER DEERLET, OR CHE\ EOTAIN

CHAPTER I.

ARTIODACTYLA— RUMINiVNTIA : BOVlD.E— sheep, goats, and gazelles.

Ruminantia— Chewing the Cud— Metaphorical Expression— The Complicated Stomach : Paunch, Honey-comb Bag, Manyi'lies,
Eeed— Order of Events in Rumination— Feet and Dentition of Ruminants— Brain— Classification— Horned Rumi-
nants—Divided into two Groups— Difference between them— B0VID.E— Horns— Aberrant Members— Sheep and
Goats— General Characteristics— Sheep of South- Western Asia— Merino Sheep— Breeds of Great Britain — Dishley,
or Improved Leicesters— Mr. Bakewell's Description— Southdo-wns, Cheviots, Welsh, and other British Breeds —
Table of the Importation of Colonial and Foreign Wool into the United Kingdom— Marco Polo's Sheep — Oorial —
Shapoo— MouFLON- Ammon— Bi'RHEL- American Argali— Wild Sheep of Barbary— The Goat— Compared with
the Sheep— Descent— Cashmere Goat— Ibexes- PA.sENa—Their remarkable Horns— Old Theories as to tlie Use of the
Horns— Markhoor — Tahr— Gazelles— General Cliaracteristics- Sir Victor Brooke's Classification— The Gazelle —
Appearance— Habits— Arabian Gazelle- -Persian Gazelle— Soemmering's Gazelle— Grant's Gazelle— Spring-
bok-Saiga—Chiru— The Pallah, OR IMPALLA— The Indian Antelope, or Black Buck.

THE Swiiie, together with those animals which most nearly approach them, namely, the Peccaiie.s
and Hippopotami, foi-m but a small division of the cloven-hoofed order of the Mammalian
animals ; by far the greater number of the species of the Artiodaotyla being included in a group
known familiarly as that of the Ruminantia, because, as part of the digestive process, they chew
the cud.

This chewing the cud is a phenomenon restricted to the group of animals now under consideration,
although it may be mentioned that some naturalists have thought that the Kangaroos among the
Marsupials do the same to a certain extent.
26c

NATURAL HISTORY.

As to tlie details of the process, the individual, a Cow, for instance, whilst gi-aziug, nips off' the
grass between the large cutting teeth in the front of the lower jaw, and the tough pad which replaces
in these creatures the similarly situated teeth of the upper jaw. After each mouthful it does not pro-
ceed to masticate the food, but swallows it forthwith, and continues thus to graze until it lias satisfied
its appetite. Seeking a quiet and shaded spot, it then seats itself that it may ruminate, or chew the
cud, at leisure. If watched it will be seen that it commences shortly to jierform a slight hiccough
action, in which some contraction of the flanks is to be noticed. Its moutli, which was previously
empty, is foimd to be full of what it is not difficult to recognise to be coai-sely-masticated gi-ass, which

has been forced up into it ; and
tliis it immediately proceeds to
chew between its back or grind-
iny teeth, in a slow and con-
tinuous manner, moving its
lowei jaw uniformly from one
side to the other — fi-om liglit to
left When this chewing pro-
cess has lasted for a time suf-
ticient to convert the food into
a pulpy state, it is again
i\\ allowed, after which another
ijolus IS brought up to undergo
e similar operation. And this
IS repeated at fi-equent intervals
until most of the food swal-
lowed has been masticated.

A complicated stomach is
necessaiy for the operation of
this elaborate chewing process,
the undisturbed duration of
which has led to the word by
which it is designated being
ipphed metaphorically to a
bioodmg condition of mind.
Thus the poet of the " Night
Thoughts " says :—
•Vs when the traveller, a long day
pist
In piinful search of what he cannot

find
At nia;ht s approach, content with

the next cot.
There ruminates awhile his labour
lost."

This complicated stomach is not identical in all the Euminantia. In the Camels and the Llamas
it presents many points of difference from that of all the other members of the group, and in the
Chevrotains it has slight peculiarities of its own.

This organ, as found in the Ox — and it is almost identically the same in the Giraffes, tlie Ante-
lopes, the Sheep, and Deer — is seen to be divided into four well-defined compartments, as represented
in the accompanying figures. These are known as —

KVMIXATIXG AXI.M.\L : (a) EXTERIOK, (b) INTERIOR.

1. The Rumen, or Paimch ib).

2. The Reticulum, or Honey-comb Bag (c).

3. The P.salterium, or Jlanyplies {d).

4. The Abomasum, or Reed (e).

The paunch (i) is a very capacious receptacle, shajied like a blunted cone bent partly upon
itself. Into its broader base opens the oesophagus, or gullet (a), at a spot not far removed from its

CUAKAVTEJilsTlV.'S UF TUE MUMISAXTIA.

•wide orilice of communication with the second stomach, or honey-comb bag (c). Its inner walls are
nearly uniformly covered with a pale skin (known as mucous membrane), which is beset with
innumerable close-set, short, and slender processes (known iis villi), resembling very much the " pile "
on velvet. It is this organ, together with its villi, which constitutes the well-known ai-ticle of food
termed " tripe."

The honey-comb bag (c) is very much smaller than the paunch. It is nearly gloljose in shape,
and receives its name on account of the peculiar arrangement of the ridges on the mucous membrane
whicli lines it, these being distributed so as to form shallow hexagonal cells all over its inner suiface,
as seen in the figure on the previous page.

It is situated to the right of the paunch, with which, as well as with the manyplies (</), it com-
municates. Running along its upper wall there is a deep groove coursing from the first to the thii-d
stomach. This groove plays an important part in the mechanism of rumination ; its nature must
therefore be fully understood.

Its walls are muscular, like those of the viscus with which it is associated, which allows its calibre
to be altered. Sometimes it completely closes round so as to become converted into a tube by the
apposition of its edges. At others it forms an open canal.

The manyplies (d) is a very peculiar organ. It is globular, but most of its interior is filled up
with folds, or laminae, running between its orifices of communication with the second and fourth
stomachs. These folds are arranged very much like the leaves of a book, and very close together. They
are, however, not of equal dejjth, but form series of greater or less breadth. Theii- surfoces are
roughened by the presence of small projections or papillae.

The reed (e) is the stomach proper, corresponding with the same organ in man. Its shape is
somewhat conical. The valve which partially obstructs its communication with the intestine is at the
left of the foregoing figure. Its walls are formed of a smooth
mucous membrane, which secretes gastric juice, and it is this
stomach that, in the manufacture of cheese, is employed to
curdle the milk.

Whilst grazing, the possessor of this complicated stomach
fills its paunch with the imperfectly masticated food, aiid it is
not until it commences to chew the cud that any of the other
parts are brought into play.

In the act of rumination, the following is the probable
order of events : — The paunch contracts, and in so doing forces
some of the food into the honey-comb bag, where it is formed
into a bolus by the movement of its walls, and then forced
into the gullet, from which, by a reverse action, it reaches the
mouth, where it is chewed and mixed with the saliva until it
becomes quite pulpy, whereupon it is again swallowed. But
now, because it is soft and semi-fluid, it does not divaricate
the walls of the gi-oove communicating with the manyplies,
and so, continuing on along its tubular interior, it finds its
way direct into the thii-d stomach, most of it filteiing between
the numerous laminse on its way to the fourth stomach, where
it becomes acted on by the gastric juice. After the re-
masticated food has reached the manyplies, the groove in the
reticulum is pushed ojien by a fresh bolus ; and so the

process is repeated until the food consumed has all passed on towards the abomasum, or tiiie digestive
stomach.

There are other features also which are characteristic of the ruminating animals. Their sym-
metrical four-toed feet (in which the thumb on the fore and the great toe on the hind are entirely
absent) have the toes so proportioned that the axis of the limb runs down between the two middle
toes at the same time that both the inside and outside toes are much reduced in size, and lost entii-ely
m the Camel tribe, the Giraffe, and the Cabrit.

4 KA TUBAL UIHTOEY.

Another peculiai'ity which exists in all ruminating animals is the absence of cuttLng-teeth in the
middle of the upper jaw ; and it is only in the Camels and their intimate allies, the Llamas, that there
are any upper cutting-teeth at all, they being replaced in all the othei-s by a calloas pad, on which the
lower cutting-teeth impinge in mastication.

The canine teeth, which correspond to the tusks of the Lion and Dog, also deserve attention.
Those of the lower jaw are always present, and are modified so as to appear like lateral cutting-
teeth. In the upper jaw they are most often absent, but are enormous, projectiiig far down outside
the lip, in the Musk, the Chinese "Water Deer, and the Muntjacs. In some other Deer they are
'present, but small, and generally they are wanting.

The grinders are six on each side of each jaw, and are so formed that their surfaces wear down
unevenly by the lateral movement to which they are subject during mastication. As in the Elephant,
this depends upon each tooth being made up of alternate layers of enamel, dentine, and cementum,
which, being of different degrees of hardness, are differently affected by the grinding action.

The ruminating animals exhibit a fair amount of intelligence, never, however, attaining that
power of perception and memory exhibited by the Carnivora and other higher forms. The
figure of the surface of the brain of the Sheep indicates that the convolutions of the brain are far
from inconsiderable in number, and its allies of the same size agree with it in this respect, whilst
larger species have more, and smaller less elaborate brain-markings, as is nearly always found to be the
case in every group.

The accompanying table gives an outline sketch of the classification of the ruminating animais
which has been adopted by zoologists : —

Sub-order.

Sectmn.

Division. Group.
( Ox-tribe
, {Bovidce).

Horned Rvminaxts.

True Rvminants.

1 Deer-tribe
|c„evrota:.s ok Deer- ^ '^''■'''^-

EUMINANTIA.

Camel Tribe.
\ [Tyhjmia).

LETS

\ [Trugulida:)

The large sub-order of the Ruminantia is seen to be primarily divided into two sections, namely,
the typical Ruminants and the aben-ant Ruminants (the Tylojmla). The typical Ruminants, in
which the stomach is formed upon the plan of that described above in the Oxen, fall into two
divisions, the smaller of which— that of the Chevi-otains or Deerlets — possesses no psalterium, or
thii-d stomach, except in a rudimentary condition. The Horned Ruminants, including the Deer,
Muntjacs, Elk, Oxen, and Antelopes, compose by far the largest number of the whole sub-order, and
wUl be first described.

HORNED RUMINANTS.

The Horned Ruminants — with which, anomalous as it may at first seem, have to be included
one or two hornless species, on account of their so closely resembling them in other respects —
have their cranial appeiidayes developed after one or other of two principles. In one group, which,
from the fact that the Oxen are included \\'ith them, are named the Bovidoi, the hoi-ns are hollow,
straight, or variously-twisted cones, supported upon bony prolongations from the forehead, resembling
them in shape upon a smaller scale. These horns are permanent, except in the American Antelope,
increasing in size each year, at the same time that they often exhibit transverse markings, which
indicate the annual increase. In the other group — the Cervidw, or Deer Ti-ibe — the horns or antlers
are deciduous, being cast off each year, to be shortly replaced by others, which share the fate of their
predecessors. These antlers are entirely made of bone, and when fully grown are not covered with
any less dense investment.

To commence, then, with the Bovidce, or Oxen, and their allies.

THE BOVID^, OR HOLLOW-HORXED RUMINANTS.
In these ruminating animals the permanent bone-cones on the forehead are covered with a
black horny coating, which is not shed during the whole life of their owners, and in which, as they
continue to grow until adult life at least, the tips are the oldest parts. The females in some species
have horns like theii- mates, but smaller, as in the Ox and Eland ; while in others — the Koodoo and
the Sing-Sing Antelope, for example — the males alone are horned. The most aberrant members
of this gi-oup are the Gii;affe, the Cabrit, and the Musk, which will be considered after the less

MERINO SHEEl".

[leculiar genei-a have been discussed. These include the Oxen, Bush-Bucks, Antelopes, Koodoos,
Goats, Sheep, ifec, which will be referred to more in detail.

THE SHEEP AND GOATS.*

Between the bearded Goat and the beardless Sheep there exist intermediate species, which so
completely fill up the gaps that it is almost impossible to separate the two into different genera.
With triangidar, curved, and transversely-ridged horns in both sexes, a chai-acteristic general appear-
ance, and feet fonned for mountain climbing, the species present differences which are recognised
with facility.

With reference to the domestic Skeep, it is the opinion of most naturalists that it has descended
from several distinct species. "Abel was a keeper of Sheep," is a Biblical .statement from which
the immense antiquity of a domestic breed may be infeiTed, whose origin cannot be better studied
than by a comparison of the different foi-ms foimd wild in Asia, the head-q\iarters of the genus.
That no Sheep existed in Australia when that continent was first discovered i,s a well-known fact.
* The menus Oris.

6 KATUKAL Ul^TiJliY.

" Endowed by natm-e," as Mr. Spooiier, in his waxk on the Slieep aptly puts it, " with a
peaceable and patient disposition, and a constitution capable of enduring the extremes of tempera-
ture, adapting itself readily to diffei'ent climates, thri\'ing on a variety of pastiu-es, economising
nutriment where pasturage is scai-ce, and ad\antageously availing itself of 0])portunities where
food is abundant," it is not to be wondered at that the animal has become the companion of man
from the earliest times.

The fleece of the wild species of Sheep is composed of haii- with wool at its roots, in the same
way that in the Duck there is a covering of feathers and down. In the domesticated .species the hail-,
by selection, has been I'eckiced to a minimum, so that the wool forms the only coat.

In .the southern pai-ts of Western Asia many of the Sheep have a curious tendency to the de-
position of fat on the tail rather than under the skin of the body generally, and this may occur to
such an extent that the thus loaded caudal appendage may contain a large part of the entire
weight of the body.

The Astracan breed, of small size, has a fine spiral black and white wool, sometimes entirely
black, which is obtained from the lamb when the finest furs are required.

Of all the breeds of Sheep the Merino of Spain is one of the most important, on account of
the excellence of its wool. In England the breed can hardly be said to exist, because the damp-
ness of the climate does not suit its constitution. It is extensively found in Germany, and is the
Sheep of Australia. The animal is small, flat-sided, and long-legged. The males have long horns,
these appendages being absent in the females. The face, ears, and legs are dark, and the forehead is
ivoollv, at the same time that the skin about the throat is lax. The body- wool is close-set, soft,
twisted in a .spiral, and short.

In Great Britain the breeds of Sheep are very numerous, some of the best being of quite recent
origin. First among the heavy breeds are the Dishley, or Improved Leicesters, which, from then-
early maturity, aptness to fatten, smallness of bone, and gentle disposition, well deserve the high
repute in which they stand. It is to the persevering energy and acuteness of Mr. Bakewell that we
are indebted for the present animal, which in origin is far from pure bred. His aim was entirely
in'the du-ection of the carcass, and in his object he and his followers have quite succeeded, notwith-
standing an inherent delicacy in constitution and an inferiority of the wool. " The head of this
breed," we are told, " should be hornless, long, small, tapering towards the muzzle, and projecting
horizontally forwards ; the eyes prominent, and with a quiet expression ; the ears thin, rather long,
and directed backwards ; the neck full and broad at its base, where it proceeds from the chest, but
gradually tapering towards the head, and being particulai-ly fine at the junction of the head and neck ;
the neck seeming to project straight from the chest, so that there is, with the slightest possible
deviation, one continuous horizontal line from the rump to the poll ; the breast broad and full ; the
shoulders also broad and round, and no uneven or angular formation where the shoulders join either
the neck or the back, particularly no rising of the withers or hollow behind the situation of these
bones ; the arm fleshy through its whole extent, and even down to the knee ; the bones of the leg
small, standing wide apart, no looseness of skin about them, and comparatively bare of wool ; the chest
and ban-el at once deep and round ; the ribs forming a considerable arch from the spine, so as in some
cases — and especially when the animal is in good condition — to make the apparent width of the chest
even gi-eater than the depth ; the barrel ribbed well home ; no in-egularity of line on the back or the
belly, but on the sides, the carcass very gradually diminishing in width towards the rump ; the
quarters long and full, and, as with the fore-legs, the muscles extending down to the hock ; the thighs
also wide and full ; the legs of a moderate length ; the pelt moderately thin, but soft and elastic,
and covered with a good quantity of white wool, not so long as in some breeds, but considerably
finer."

The large-sized Lincoln Sheep, with lengthy fleece, those of the Cotswold Hills, the Teeswater,
and Eomney Marsh, are also heavy breeds, not equal in the totality of their points to the Improved
Leicesters, although excelling them either in quantity of wool or hardiness of constitution.

The Short-woolled Southdowais, with close-set fleece of fine wool, face and legs dusky brown,,
curved neck, short limbs, and broad bodj', is one of the oldest and most valuable unmixed breeds
that we possess. Their mutton gi'eatly excels that of the Improved Leicesters, wliich, taken in

association with their otlier good qualities, has caused them to extend to nearly every county. In
parts of H:iin[)shire, Shropshii'e, and Doi'setshire there are local breeds of Short-woolled Sheep
wliich replact' the Southdowns.

Tlie C'he\iot and the Black-faced, or Heath breed of our northern counties are mountain Sheep,
of small size and hardy constitution, the former horned, the latter hornless and with a white face.

Welsh mutton is obtained from the small, soft-woolled Sheep with a white nose and face. The
raius alone have horns, wherein the breed diflers from that of the higher mountains, in which the
ewes also are horned, at the same time that a ridge of hail- is present along the top of the neck.

As wool forms so impoi'tant an element of the mercantile transactions of Great Britain, and as
Sheep-farming has so rapidly increased in Australia and New Zealand, a few words with reference
to the statistics of the subject will not be out of place.

In 1788, when Governor Phillip landed at Port Jackson, tliere was not a Sheep in all Australia,
and it was not until 1793 that about thirty of the Indian breed reached Sydney, their number being
.shortly augmented by the importation of breeding-stock from England and the Cape of Good Hope,
pi-incipally Merinos. The progeny soon sf)read towards the interior, where the growing of wool
became a lucrative pursuit. Sheep were first imported into New Zealand in 1840. It is estimated
there are now one hundred million sheep in Australia, and nearly thirty million in New Zealand.

The following table of the number of bales of wool imported into Great Britain at twenty-year
intervals, that is, in 1836, 1856, and 1876, gives a better idea than can be otherwise obtained as to
the changes in the sources of wool as well as to the richness of each colonial district : —

Importation of Colonial and Foreign Wool into the United Kinodom (in Bales).

1836.

New South Wales and Queensland

Victoria

Tasmania

South Australia
West Australia
New Zealand ....

Total Australasian .
Cape of Good Hope .

Total Colonial

German

Spanish and Portuguese ,
East Indian and Persian .

Russian

Eiver Plate ....
Peru, Lima, and ChiU
Alpaca .....
Mediterranean and Africa

Mohair

Sundry

Total Foreign

Total Importation

19,066
None
1.5,449

None
None

34,515

1856.

1876.

3,255

90,426
20,451
1,981
15,072

14,714

No returns

12,784

.59,342
64,843
17,951
16,618

166,861
50,607

2,272
3,106
3,236
1,181
5,151 ^

2,477 !

,515 I

,735 ;

208,336 392,806 1,216,064

169,874
306,803
20,480
102,067
7,510
102,154

29,580
7,906

So much for the domestic Sheep ; of other species of the genus Ovis we have Marco Polo's Sheep.*
This splendid Sheep, one of the finest species of the genus, has horns, describing a spiral of about
a circle and a quarter when viewed from the side, pointing directly outwards, and sometimes measui-ing
as many as sixty-three inches from base to tip along their curve, and as much as four and a half
feet from tip to tip. At the shoulder the animal measures just under four feet. It inhabits the high
lands in the neighbourhood of the lofty Thian Shan mountains, north of Kashgar and Yarkand, not
descending below an elevation of 9,000 feet above the sea level, often ascending much higher. It is

* Ovis Pali.

8 natuhal mistory.

on account of the rarefaction of the air in these regions that there is considerable difficulty in obtain-
ing specimens which have been wounded; because Horses at these heights are much distressed in their
breathing, whilst the Sheep are not so. Mx. N. A. Severtzofi', an eminent Russian naturalist, has
described three or four other species closely aUied to Marco Polo's Sheep, wliich are smaller* than
it, from Tuikestan and the district east of it. In this Sheep, during the winter, the sides of the body
are of a light gi-eyish-brown, changing to white below. There is a white mane all i-ound the neck and
a white disc roimd the tail. A dark line runs the whole length of the middle of the back. In
Slimmer the grey changes to dark brown.

The OoRiAL and the Shapoo are bearded Sheep, from Ladakh and the Suliman range of the

Punjab respectively, with large horns, which form not more than half a circle in the Shapoo and nearly
a complete one in the Oorial. The colour of the Oorial is a reddish-brown above, paler beneath, the
abdomen being white. A lengthy dark beard, reaching to the knees, fringes the whole length of the
neck from the chin to the chest. The points of the horns are directed inwards. It is found at
altitudes of 2,000 feet. The Shapoo is brownish-grey, white below, with a short brown beard. Its
horns turn outwards at the tips. It is never found at altitudes lower than 12,000 feet.

The MouFLON at one time abounded in Spain, but is now restricted to the islands of Corsica and
Sardinia. The species is a small one, of a brownish-grey colour, with a dark streak along the middle
of the back, at the same time that there is a varying amount of white about the face and legs. The
horns, present in the males only, are proportionately not large, curve backwards and then inwards at
the tips. The tail is very short, in which respect they differ strikingly from the domestic Sheep, to
which otherwise they are intimately related. The Mouflon frequents the summits of its native hills

THE irilD SHKEV UF BAkll.ik\

^■&3i2^

in small herds, headed by an old ram. Its skin is used by the mountaineers for making jackets. It
breeds freely with the domestic species.

The Ammon of Tibet has been known to mea.sure as much as four feet and an inch at the
shoulder, and has a most imposing apjjearance on account of the erect attitude in which it holds its
head. Its horns attain a gi-eat size, being sometimes as much as four feet long and twenty-two inches in
circumference at their bases, forming a single sweep of about four-fifths of a cu'cle, their points being
turned slightly outwards and ending bluntly. Its body colour is dark brown above, paler posteriorly
and below. A mane surrounds its neck, white in the male, dark brown in the female. The tail
measures only an inch in length. In the female the horns do not exceed twenty-two inches in lengtli,

The BuRHEL, or Himalayan " blue wild Sheep," .stands three feet at the shoulder, and has horns
which, commencing very close together on the forehead, de.scribe a half cii'cle of two feet or so, and are
dii-e.cted very much outwards and backwards. In the female the horns do not exceed eight inches in
length, and stand backward instead of diverging. The coarse fleece of winter is of an ashy-blue
colour, which, in summer, is replaced by one that is much darker. The abdomen is white, and a
black stripe runs along each side of the body, the front of the legs and the chest being also black. It
has no beard.

The American Argali, or Big-Horx, inhabits the range of the Rocky Mountains. Its height
is three and a half feet at the shoulder. The horns form a complete circle, aiid are nearly thi-ee feet
long in the male. They are said to come so far forward and downward that old rams find it impos-
sible to feed on level ground. Its flesh is peculiarly well flavoured.

The Wild Sheep of Barbary, known also as the Tragelaphus, is a large and handsome species,
with a comparatively lengthy tail, tufted at its end. The hair on the chin is short, whilst that along
the lower margin of the neck, as well as on the front of the knees, attains a great leng-th. The horns
are not massive, and hardly exceed two feet in length. They are black, and are directed outward as
well as backward.

NATURAL EI8TURT.

THE G0ATS.1

Modem naturalists, as intermediate forms become more numerous, find much difficulty in
separating ofl' the Goats (which constitute the genus Gapra of earlier authors) from the Sheep (Ovis).
In the Goats the horns are flattened from side to side, and rough in front and arched backwards,
whilst in the Sheep they are more uniformly cylindrical, turned laterally, curling downwards, and

cA*

BARBARY WILD SHEEP.

often cork-screwed. A beard is a common addition to the former animal, and a most unpleasant
odour is emitted by them.

The domestic Goat is almost certainly descended from the Paseng, or Ibex, of the mountains of
Asia, with little or no admi-xture of other blood. In it, however, the female is bearded as well as the
male, which is not the case with the Paseng. It has been subjugated from time immemorial, when
the flesh of the kid was considered a delicacy. Its sure-footedness and its boldness are pi-overbial, as
is its unpleasant odour. The power possessed by the species of ascending precipitate heights is mar-
vellous. On more than one occasion it has been recorded — contrary to tlie teaching of .^Esop — that
whilst two individuals have met on a path too narrow for both to pass, one has lain down in order that
the other might go over its back. With no great bulk of body ; coarse hair of diff'erent lengths and
tints, springing from out of a mass of much shorter wool ; horns of varying size, but always out-turned
fit the tips ; narrow ears, an almost entirely hair-covered nose ; sight, hearing, and smell all acute ;
powerful thick-set legs, and a short tail naked below, it stands its own in mountainous and less civilised

THE IBEX .lyi) F.USEXG. U

districts. V'arieties occur with large pendulous instead of upright ears ; others with exti-a horns,
occasionally spiral as in Nepaul, or none at all. In the Angora and Cashmere breeds the hair is white.

The Goat of Cashmere is famous on account of the long and very fine wool witb which it is
covered, which is employed in the manufacture of Cashmere shawls. It is said that the wool of ten
of these Goats is required for the material of a single shawl.

The Ibex is found in the Alpine heights of Europe and of Western Asia, including the
Himalayas. The large scythe-blade-shaped horns of the male curve boldly upwards and backwards,
iliverfino' all the way. Along the front of their convex surfaces there is a series of protuberances
or partial rings, which are only just indicaterl laterally. The largest specimens reach three feet

and a half in height at the shoulder, which is a little less than the length their hoi-ns sometimes attain.
The body colour is a yellowish-gi-ey, white below, with a dark brown line along the middle of the
back. The soft and close-set hair hides an under-fur still liner. The beard is black. European
specimens are smaller than those ft-om Asia, rarely exceeding two feet and a half in height, with
homs three feet in length. The species inhabits the most precipitous and dangerous parts of mountain
regions, and is wonderfully sure-footed.

The Paseng is the wild Goat of "Western Asia ; it is also found on the northern side of the
Caucasus and in some of the islands of the ^gean. In height the male measures two feet and
three-quai-ters at the withei-s, the female being nearly six inches less. In the male the homs may
measure as much as four feet in length. They are flattened, slender, curved backwards as part of a
large circle, ha\-ing their points turned sometimes inwards, so much so as now and again to cross, whilst
at others they are directed outwai-ds. Along their anterior edges ai-e protuberances, separated by a
gi-eater distance as they approach the tips, indicative of the age of the animal, as after the thiixl year a

KATUSAL BISTORT.

fresh knob is formed in each succeeding one. Mr. Danford, who has made a special study of the species,
remarks, with reference to the reputed use to which their owners turn theii- immense cranial append-
ages, that " regarding the use of the great horns carried by the Ibex family, the general idea among
the older authors was that they were employed to break the animal's fall in leaping from a height.
Pennant relates that Monardes was witness to the wild Goat saving itself in this way ; and Gesner
says : ' Cadens ab alto totum corpus inter coruua protegit a collisione et ictus lapidum magnorum
excipit cornibus !'* This view is confirmed by Mr. Hutton, whose tame Aegagrus [Paseng] repeatedly
used liis horns for this purpose. I made many inquiries among the native hunters, and they all agreed

\^

in saying that the horns were never so used, or for any purpose except fighting ; and the resxdt of my
own observations is, that during the leap the head is carried as far back as possible, though it may be
that the situations in which I observed the animals did not necessitate the employment of the horns
in the way referred to." The horns of the female are not more than a foot long, the knobs being
almost obsolete. Unlike its consort, also, it has no beard. The general colour of the species is grey,
shaded with reddish-brown. A blackish-brown line extends from the similarly coloured forehead
along the spine.

The Markhoor, or " Serpent Eater," of North-east India and Cashmere, is a fine Goat of
larger size than the Ibex, with much-flattened triangular horns, which, while running upwards from
the head, are spiral and attain an immense size, sometimes as much as five feet along theii- curve.
Tlie spii-al twist is much more open in some specimens than in others, depending on the locality in
which they are found. The body colour is a dii-ty light blue-grej', the lengthy beard being of a darker
colour. It inhabits very similar localities to the Ibexes and is very shy.

The Tahr of the Himalayas is a not common Goat, with small horns curved directly backwards.

* "Falling from a height, it protects its whole body, between its horns, from shock, and receives upon its horns the
concussion of the huge stones."

rl.mSltJVATKjy OF lUk iiAZhLLh^^. i:j

not iinich more than a foot in length, flattened from side to side, witli a n.tclKHl anterior margin. The
body colour is a fawn-brown ; the hair of the neck, chest, and shoulders being of great lengtli and
reaching to the knees. In tlie female the horns arc much smaller and of lighter colour. Accord-
ing to Captain Kinloch, " the Tahr is, like the MiVi-khoor, a foiest-loving animal, and altliough
it sometimes resorts to the rocky summits of the hills, it generally prefers the steep slopes
which are more or less clothed with trees. Female Tiilir may be frequently found on open ground,
b\it old males hide a great deal in the thickest jungle, lying during the heat of the day under the
sliade of trees or overhanging rocks. Nearly perpendicuhir liills, with dangerous pi-ecipices, where the
forest consists of oak and ringall cane, are the favourite haunts of the old Tahr, who climb with
ease over gi-ound where one would hardly imagine that any animal could iind a footing. Tahr ground,
indeed, is about the wor.st walking I know, almost rivalling Markhoor gi-ound ; the only advantage
being that, l)ad as it is, there are generally some bushes oi' grass to hold on to."

THE (;.\ZELLES.»

Under the title of Gazelles are included several strikingly elegant, small, slender, sandy -coloured
species of ruminating animals, in which the males always, tod the females in most cases, carry horns,
which are transversely ringed, and vary considerably in the direction which they take, many having
them curved in such a way that the two together form a lyre-shaped figure, at the same time that in
othera they are nearly straight, turned slightly backwards or forwards, and diverging oi' converging at
the tips. Where present, the horns of the females are moie slender than in the corresponding males.

The Gazelles inhabit Africa, Arabia, Pei-sia, India, and Central Asia only. They rarely exceed
thirty inches in height at the shoulder ; the largest, the Swift Antelope of Pennant {Gazella mohr),
r.'aching nearly three feet. In all the Gazelles the face is marked with a white band lunning from the
outer side of the base of each horn neai-ly down to the upper end of each nostril, cutting off a dark
triangular central patch, and bordei-ed externally by a diffused dark line. The under surface of the
abdomen i.s white, and there is a dark line traversing the flank which bounds this. The rump is also
white, which in many cases encroaches more or less upon the haunches.

Of the twenty species of Gazelles known to naturalists, only a few of the best known will be
specially mentioned here. By Sir Victov Bi-ooke they ha\e been thus arranged, in accordance with.
certain easily ascertained distinctive features in coloration and shape of horn : —

I.— BACK rXSTKirED.

.\. Th: H-hlte rolo'ir ■>/ thr nimp net cmrmuhhnj on the fawn colour </ tlu Iinnnehes.
II. Both .H.as bvar'uig horns.

1. illlKNS LVRATE OK .SEMI-LyRATE.

The Gazelle (Ai-abia and N.E. Africa). I Siuidevall's Gazelle (Sennaar).

Isabelline Gazelle (Kordofan). Black-tailed Gazelle (Bogcsland) .

Korin (Senegal).

Cuvier's Gazelle (llorocco).
Small-homed Gazelle (Senaar).
Speke"s Gazelle (Somali Country}
JIuscat Gazelle (Muscat).

OT LVHATE.

Aiabian Gazelle (S. .\rabia).
Bennett's GazcUo (India).
Uiieky-faced Gazelle (Persia).

b. FtMaku hor,.k>s.
Persian Gazelle. I Ladakh Gazelli\

Mongolian Gazelle. |

B. The u-hite colour of the naiip projiclsfoniarr/ in on amjle into the fawn colour of the hriiiiiehes.
Dama Antelope (S. Nubia). I Soemmerring's Antelope (E. Africa) .

Swift Antelope (Senegal). ] Grant's Gazelle (fgogo).

II.— BACK WITH A MEDIAN WHITE STRIPE.

Spring-bok S. Afrii:;i).

The Gazelle par excdleuc;, from Syria, Egypt, and Arabia, stands scarcely two feet liigh. The
elegance of its proportions are too well known to need descrijition. The beauty of its eyes is not to be
* The ^-ciuis- GuztUa. ,.

27

14 NATURAL SIS TOR r

coinpaiecl with that of some of the other rutniiiatiug animals, the whole face being far too sheep-like,
and til is remark equally applies to all its near allies. The Dorcas Gazelle is a name by which it is also
known. Like many other members of the genus, it has a tuft of hair upon each knee. The tail is
long and tapering ; the body hair rather coarse and of a pale fawn colour. The hips, as well as the
breast and the abdomen, are white. As to their habits, Mr. Blanford, in hLs work on Abyssinia, tells us
that, so far as his observation went, " neither the Dorcas nor Bennett's Gazelle is ever seen in large
flocks, like the animals of the Spring-bok group. Usually both are seen solitary, or from two to five
together, inhabiting thin bushes generally on broken ground. They feed much upon the leaves of
bushes. The male has a jieculiar habit, when siirprised, of standing still and uttering a short, sharp
cry. Like most Antelopes, they keejs much to the neighboiu-hood of some pai-ticular spot. After long
observation, I am convinced that Bennett's Gazelle never drinks ; and all that I could ascertain of the
Dorcas Gazelle leads to the same conclusion in its case."

Captain Baldwin says tluit, " like other Antelopes, the little Ravine Deer [Ijy which is meant

:^-

Bennett's Gazelle] has many enemies besides man. One day, when out witli my rifle, I noticed m, old
female Gazelle stamping her feet, and every now and then making that 'hiss' which is the alarm-note
of the animal. It was not I that was the cause of her terror, for I had passed close to her only a few
minutes before, and she seemed to understand by my manner that I meant no harm. No ; there was
something else. I turned back, and on looking down a ravine close by, saw a crafty Wolf attempting
a stalk on the mother and young one. Another day, at Agra, a pair of Jackals joined in the chase of
a wounded Buck.

" The Chikarah [again another name for Bennett's Gazelle] is as easily tamed as the common
Antelope ; they ai-e favourite pets, and become strongly attached to those who rear and feed them.
T have seen tame ones di'iven out with a herd of Goats to graze, and never attempt to make their
escape. It is not at all unusual to find the wild Gazelles feeding close to, sometimes almost mingling

with, herds of Goats, when the latter have been driven out to pasture Like nil

Antelopes, the eyesight of the Chikarah is very acute, and the animal is perpetually on the watcli
iigainst danger. It, however, appears to be gifted with only a moderate sense of hearing, and still less
so of smell."

The Arabian, or Arid Gazelle, is the same size as the preceding, differing, as may be gathered
from the table given on page 13, in the shape of its horns, which, from being directed upwai'ds and

THE SPRING-BCS:. 15

outwarils, turn at tlieir tips more outward and also forward. The si)eed of the Gazelle, like thai
of most of its allies, is very great ; its eyes ai-e large anil lustrous, and its general colour a rich
yellowish-brown.

The Persian G.\zelle stands twenty-six inches. Its body colour is gi-ey fawn colour, the
breast and abdomen being white. Of its habits, Major St. Jolm says that, " like the wild Ass, if
esjiecially aflects the neighbourhood of the salt deserts. It apiJears to retire generally to the valleys at
the base of hills to breed, and is most commonly seen in small parties of three to half a dozen. The
fleetest Greyhound cannot come up with the Gazelle when it gets a fair start ; but when suddenly
roused from a hollow, or when the gi-ound is heavy after rain, good Dogs will often pull down males.
The does are more difficult to catch."

Soemmerring's Gazelle stands two feet and a half high. The body colour is sandy fawn above ;
the horns are massive and lyrate, more slender in the female. It lives in pairs, and is a powerful
species.

The horns of Grant's Gazelle are larger than in any other of the species.

The Spring-bok derives its name from the habit it has of leaping straight up in the air for
several feet when alarmed or whilst ranning. Its height is two feet and a half. The horns are
lyrate, being very small in the females. Its colour is yellow dun, with the under parts, as usual,
white. A peculiar white line along the middle of the back can be varied in extent within certain
limits by the animal at pleasure. Major C. Hamilton Smith, when writing of this species, tells us
that it assembles in South Africa in vast herds, " migi'ating from north to south and back
with the monsoons. These migrations, which are said to take place in the most numerous form
DJily at the interval of several yeai-s, appear to come from the north-east, and m masses of many
thousands, devouring, like locusts, every green herb. The Lion has been seen to migrate and walk
in the midst of the compressed phalanx, with only as much room between him and his victims ;is

16

XATVKAL niSTiJI:Y.

the feai's of tliose iinmetliately arouml could j)ioc-ure liy pressing outwards. The foremost of tliese
vast eohmins are fat, and tlie I'ear exceedLngly lean while the direction continues one way ; but
with the change of the monsoon, when they return towards the north, tlie rear become the leaders,
fattening in their turn."

The Saiga* and Chiru t ditfer from the Gazelles but slightly, and approach the Sheep ; the
former belonging to Eastern Eui'ope and Western Asia, the latter to Tibet.

The Saiga is as large as a Fallow Deer, tawny yellow in summer, light grey in winter; being
specially peculiar about the no.se which is much lengthened, at the same time that the nostrils are
expanded to such a degree that in feeding they have to walk backwards. , The hoi'ns, found only

in the males, are not a foot long, slightly lyrate, and annulated. In its native haunt.s — which are
barren, sandy, and salt — it assembles frequently in vast herds. It runs rapidly when pui-sued, but
is soon exhausted.

The Chiru is slightly smaller, of a reddish fawn colour, with the face and front of the limb.';
l)lack. The slender jet-black horns, very small in the female, are ringed nearly to the tips, curved
forward, and about two feet long. Fiom Captain Kinloch's account we learn that " in the early part
of the summer the Antelope appeai-s to keep on the higher and more exposed plains and slopes wJiere
snow does not lie; as the season becomes warmer, the snow which has accumulated on the grassy
banks of the streams in the sheltered valleys begins to dissolve, and the Antelope then comes down to
feed on the grass which grows abundantly in such places, and then is the time that they may most
easily be stalked and shot. They usually feed only in the mornings and evenings, and in the day-time
seek more open and elevated situations, frequently excavating deep holes in the stony plains in which
they live, with only their lieads and horns visible above the surftice of the ground."

Su'kja Uu-tari

•j- Puuthalops Hoigsoni.

THE tALf.AH AMi JS/.ACK II UK. IT

THE I'ALLAH.*
The Pallaii, or Impalla, of .Soutli and South-east Africa, is ajiotlier closely-allicil fijnn of large
.size, being more than three feet high at the shoidder. Its colour is dark red above, yellow dun on the
sides, and white below. There are no false hoofs in the usual situation on the lengthy legs : a j>ecu-
liarity which it shares with the Cabrit and the Gii-affe. The ejxs are very large and liquid. The
horns, wanting in the female, are twenty inches long in the male, and lyrate ; they are ringed nearly
to their tips. They are abundant on or near to hills, and collect in herds of from twenty to thirty.
Mr. Drummond, vividly describing his South African experience, ou an occasion whilst hunting
Biift'alo, " saw something red moving among the trees, and stopped to watch it. It turned out to be a
troop of Impalla coming back from water and making for some of the grassy glades. There might
have been seventy or eighty of them, picking their way along in Indian file, nibbling here and there,
but always moving, and seeming like a troo[) of ghosts in the dim twiliglit and silence."

THE INDIAN AXTELUl'E.t

The Indian Antelope, or Black Buck. — ^This .species differs Init little fi-oni the Gazelles in
many respects, whilst its peculiarities are striking. Like the Nylghau, the male differs greatly from
the female in its colour. The female has no horns ; those in the male are black and of gi'eat size,
.spirally twLsted for three or four turns like a corkscrew, slightly divergent, and often reaching thirty
inches in length. It stands a little over two ffect and a half at the shoulder. The colour of the males
is deep brown-black above, with an abrupt line of separation from the pure white of the belly. This
<lai'k colour extends down the outer surface of each limb. The face is also black, with a white circle
round the eyes and nose. In the females and young of both sexes the black and brown are replaced
by a light fawn colour. The tail is very short and white below. At certain seasons of the year the
glands below the eyes are much enlarged and form a prominent feature in the face of the male.

The Black Buck is one of the swiftest of the Antelopes, no Greyhound having any chance
against it. Its flesh, being diy and unsavoury, is rarely eaten. The species falls a frequent prey to
the Tiger, and is generally found in herds, fifty does, or so, accompanied by a single buck. The
height to which they can bound is very great. Accoiding to Major C. Hamilton Smith, the native
Indians " have raised the common Antelope among the constellations, harnessed it to the chariot of the
moon, and represented it as the quarry of the gods. In the opinion of Hindoos the animal is sacred
to Chandra, female devotees and minstrels lead it, domesticated, by the harmony of their instruments,
or the power of their pi-ayers, and holy Brahmins are directed to feed upon theii' flesh, under certain
circumstances prescribed by the Institutes o/.Ven>'."

CHAPTER II.

PvT'lMTNANTIA : BOVIDJ^: (coH^'HKcrf)— antelopes

The Steixboks : Klipsphinger, Oi-rebi, Steinbok, Grysbok, Madoqi-a— The Bcsh-bi'CKS— Appeiirance-Distinctive
Marks— The Four-horned Antelopes— Peculiarity iu the Chikarah— The -Water Antelopes: N.\gor, Reitbok,
Leche, Aequitoon, Sing-sing, '^'ater-buck, Poku, Keh-bok— The Eland— Beef— Appearance— Captain Cornwallis
Harris' Description -Hunting- Scarcity— The Koodoo— Appearance— King of Antelopes— Angas' Harnessed
Antelope — The Harnessed Antelopes: Oi'ib-Bush Buck, or Ukouka— Appear.ince — Pluck— The Bovine
Antelopes— The Bub.vline- Hartebeest— Buesd. ik— Bi intebok— Sassabt — The Gnu — Grotesque Appearance —
Habits— Brindled Gnu— The Caprine Antelopes— SEKow-Ungainly Habits -GoBAi.—C'AMBiNG-ouT.-iN—YAKlN
— Mazama— The Chamois- Distributioii-,A.ppearAnce— 'N'oice- Hunted— The Oryxes— Blaubok— Sable Antelope
—Baker's Antelope— Oryx— Beisa— Beatrix— Gemsbok Addax.

THE STEIXBOKS.
The Klipspringer, the Ocrebi, the Si'einbok, and the Grvsbok form a small section of the African
Antelopes, elegant and small, with horus only in the males, these being straight, or nearly so. Their
body hair is harsh. The Klipspringer stands a little under two feet high ; it is the heaviest in build

* .Kptinrus mchimpns. + Axtilope ler.vartini.

NATURAL BISTORT.

of the foui- ; its horns are four inches long and curved a little forward. Its colour is olive. It lives
.singly or in pairs, in mountainous districts, and it was at one time so abundant in the neighbourhood
cf the Cape of Good Hope that its hair was employed to stufl' saddles with.

The Ourebi, in height and length of horn, resembles the last-mentioned -species. Its build is very

delicate, its general colour being a tawny
yellow, white below. Its speed is very
great. According to Mr. Drummond, " its
peculiar colour so much resembles the soil
on which it lies that, trusting to remain
unobserved, it often allows you to get
within fifteen or twenty yards of where it
is squatting. It is a handsome and pecu-
liarly graceful Antelope, extremely good
eating, and well worth the hunter's atten-
tion, - One thing he xhould bear in mind
is, that however slightly they may be
wounded, they will go and lie down within
a few hundred yards, if not chased by a
Dog, and will in such cases very generally
allow him to get within shot again." The
Steinbok is twenty inches high, witli
straight horns four inches long, large ears,
and a mere stump of a tail. Its colour is.
red-brown, white below.
H u I 1 L 1 1 J The Grysbok, with the same measure-

ment, is chocolate-red.
Tne M vdoqi i of Abyssmia is not bigger than a Hare, standmg fourteen inches high, the slender
legs being compai itively long 1 he hoi us, present only in the males, are not more than half the lengtlx
of the held, bemg neaily stiaight, md cuived a little forward. The tail is a mere stumi). The back is
itddish blown, the sides giey , the face, together with a jieculiar tuft between the horns, is red, as are
the legs. The under parts are white.

THl BUSn.BUCK8.»

The Bush-bucks form a clearly-defined group of small Antelopes peculiar to tropical and
Southern Africa. They are also known by sportsmen as Duykers, or Bush-goats. They ai-e
characterised by the possession of horns in the male sex, which are short, straight, and simple
cones, very much depressed, or slanting backwards, and rising some distance behind the eyes ; at
the same time that there is a tuft of lengthy hair, directed backwards, which is arranged in a kind of
hoi-seslioe .shape between the ears. The crunien or gland in front of each eye is also peculiar. Instead
of it being a sac with a circular opening, it is spread out in the form of a curved line, and not con-
tracted to form an orifice at all. This feature, which is not observed in any other animal, may be
seen in the drawing of the head of the female Bush-buck. The muffle, or extremity of the nose, is
much like that of the Ox, comi>aratively large and always moist. The tail is very short, whilst the
ears are of a ftiir size and oval in form. The legs are particularly slender and delicate, terminated by
minute hoofs. In mo.st the forehead is strongly convex. The coloration of the many species is not
striking, being a uniform red-brown, dark bluish-grey, or sooty-black. The smallest of the species, the
Pigmy Bush-buck, is not liigMi'i' t'l'^n ^i Rabbit, and might at first sight, especially the female, be mis-
taken for a Deerlet. Acconlini; tu IMr. Drummond, " it feeils jirincipally on certain berries and shrubs
found growing in the jungles, and seems to be on the move, more or less, the whole day, though, in
common with the rest of the animal creation, it is most often to be seen at early morning and evening."

Of the Bush-bucks, the Philantomba, of West Africa, is grey -brown ; the Blau-bok, of Southern
Africa, a bluish-grey; the Duyker-bok, of South Africa, a yellowish-brown; the Coquetoon, a deep'
* The genus Cepluilophus,

Tin: ]uui!-Ji(iii.\F.ii .i.\Ti:ijiri.:

dark bay, wliilst there are otlier species black,

reikiish-bay ; tlie B:;y Antelope, of West Afri
brown, <fec.

THE FOUR-HORNED ANTELOrES*

In India and Tibet there are two peculiar species of small Antelopes, tlie true Four-horned ai.J the
IJrown Indian Antelope. In the former of these, known also as the Chikai'ah, diflerent from what is
found as a natural conditio]! in any other living animal, there are two paii's of well-developed horns ;
the hinder, which are the larger, being five inches long, in the usual situation ; the smaller, an inch
and a half long, are close together not fivr behind the eyes. In the Brown Indian Antelope the anterior
pair of horns are rudimentary, and nothing more than knobs. All these horns are straight and conienl.
Neither species is common. Their size is about that of the Arabian Gazelle ; their colour a leddi:-!;*
brown, becoming lighter below ; the hair is coarse ; the female is hornless. Captain Kinloch snys of
them (hat "four-horned Antelopes are geneially found alone, or frequently in pairs; they conceal
themselves in long gi-ass or among low bushes, and somewhat resemble hares in their habits. They
are seldom to be seen out feeding, but usually jump up at the feet of the hunter and bound away
at a gi-eat pace."

THE WATER AKTELORES.t

The Nagor, the Reitbok, the LEcni, the Aequitoon, the Singsixg, and the Water-buck
are closely allied African Antelopes, with good-sized horns (only present in the males), which arc
transversely wrinkled, curved forwards, and a little inwards at the tips. 3Iost of them are water-loving
animals, and abound in marshy districts on the banks of rivers.

* Tlie genus Tdraccros.

+ The genus Eleotrugns and its oWies.

21 NATURAL MIVTORY.

Tlie Nagor is a little more than two feet and a half in height at the shoulder, the horns being six
inches long, and the tail ten inches. The colour of the long, loose hau- is fulvous-brown above, white
below. The Reitbok is of a grizzly ochreate colour. Its height is nearly thi-ee feet, the horns being
twelve inches long. According to Dr. Kirk, the species is " commonly found feeding in small herds ;
in the heat of the day it rests in long grass, and may be approached within tifty yards before starting.
It seldom runs far without stopping to look round. Before again making off it gives a shrUl whistle,
as it does often when first started. Should the female have yoimg unable to run far, and danger near,
she places her foot on the shoulder and presses it to the ground : after which it never moves

until almost trodilen upon, and is expected to remain in the same spot until the return of the
mother." The Leche is of a pale brown colour abo\-e and white below. Sir John Kirk says it " is
a water Antelope, fi-equenting damp, marshy places, and taking to impassable swamps, among reeds
and papyrus. It goes in considerable herds, accompanied by several males, mingling often with the
' Poku,' another Antelope peculiar to that region (the valley of the Zambesi). In the distance the
Leohfe may be known by the peculiar way in which it allows its horns to recline back, almost touching
the withers." The Pokc, Vardon's Antelope of Livingstone, is smaller than the Leche, and thicker in
the neck ; otherwise it closely resembles it.

The Sing-sing Antelope and Water-buck are much alike, the former wanting a white elliptical
patch, which is found near the base of the tail in the latter. The body colour is a greyish-brown.
Long hair on the neck produces a mane. At the shoulder they stand four feet six inches, and the pale
horns are two feet and a half long. " The Water Antelope," says Mi'. Drummond, " is an extremely
fine animal, and so plentiful that there are, perhaps, more of them shot than of any of the other large
Antelopes. The large ringed horns which, in the male, crown its brow, bear a strong resemblance to

THE EL A Ml. 21

those of the lleedbui^k [Heitbok], while the liabits and gcnenil ai>iieai'ance of botli species are ahiiost
identical. Both freqiieut thickets and reedy places near water, and are principally found in pairs or
small groups. The hair of the species [of Water-buck] inhabiting Eastern Africa is very long and
coarse, though that of the one found in t'entral Africa [the Sing-8ing] is remarkably soft, and is highly
pi'ized by the natives as being so."

The Reh-bok of South Africa, "though almost ajiproaching a Fallow Deer in size, more nearly,"
.says Mr. Drummond, " resembles a Chamois in other particulars ; indeed, it has been called the
African Chamois, and so far deserves the title, that it certainly possesses many of the chai-acteristics
-ind habits of the European species — decidedly more so thaii any other of the Ajitelope genus found
in South Africa, with the exception of the Klipspringer. Their colour is light grey, the hair being
somewhat long and coarse, and the horns are straight [bent forwards at the tips], and by no means
unusually large for the animal's .size. They are never found but on the bare hills, among rocks and
stones, and their jwwers of springing are wonderful. It seems extraordinary how their delicate limbs
escape injury, when they take bound after bound like an indiarubber ball, in places that a Cat would
shudder at." According to Major C. H. Smith, " it is an animal of gi-eat swiftness, moving with won-
<lerful rapidity by lengthened stretches, close to the ground, so as to seem to glide over the desert like
a mist driven by the wi'ids, and, favoured by the indistinct colours of the fur, is immediately out of
sight. The Bushmen and western tribes [of South Africa] make lance-heads, awls, and other tools of
the horns, and occasionally cloaks of their skin.s for the women."

THE ELAND.'

This fine species attains to the size of an 0.x, the bull standing si.x feet and a half at the wither.s.
Attempts have within the last few years lieeu made to lireed it in England for the sake of its flesh,
which is as good as the best beef. It is, howe\er. found to be impossible to get the price sufficiently
low for market jiurposes. ' Two varieties are known, one cif a pale fawn colour fVom Central Africa,
the other, from South Africa, of a bright yellow- tan edlour. niaik-ed trans\'er.'-
lines, .ibout fifteen in number, running from a black line -wiiieh ^oes along i
These marks are present in all young individuals, and disajiiMMr i.r fade eons
The full-grown bull has a broad tuft of lengthy slight brown liair ou tlie fun
front of the horns, which are situated some di.stance behind the eye,^, 1" iiii;
Jialf in length, and at their bases carrying a thick and cons)iieuous serew-lik
ill some cases nearly to their ends. In the females the horns are ni=\-er iiiii
males. A large dewlap hangs from the throats of the lnili>, wliii^t a dark, slior
the forehead backwards. The tail is about two feet ;iu(l a (juarter in length
brown hair at its end.

According to C!aptain W. Cornwallis Harris, ■■ in size ami i^hajie the body of the male Eland i
that of a well-conditioned Guzerat <-)x, not unfrecpiently attaining the height of nineteen hands, and
weighing two thousand pounds. The head is strictly that of an Antelope, light, graceful, and bony,
with a pair of magnificent .straight horns, about two feet in length, .spirally linged, and pointed back-
wards. A broad and deep dewlap fringed with brown hair reaches to the knee. The colour varies
considerably with the age, being dun in some, in others an ashy blue with a tinge of ochre ; and in
many also sandy-grey approaching to white. The flesh is esteemed by all classes in Africa above
that of any other animal ; in grain and coloiu' it resembles beef, but is better tasted and more
delicate, possessing a pure game flavour, and the quantity of fat with which it is interlarded is
.suqnising, gi-eatly e.xceeding that of any other game quadruped with which I am acquainted. The
female is smaller and of slighter form, with less ponderous hoi-ns."

When writing on the hunting of these creatures, known in South Africa as the Impoofo, the same
author remai-ks that, "notwithstanding the unwieldy shape of these animals, they had at first gi-eatly
exceeded the speed of our jaded liorses, but being pushed they soon separated ; their sleek coats
turned first blue and then white withfroth ; the foam fell from their mouths and no.stiils, and the
pei-spiration from their sides. Their pace gradually slackened, and with their full brilliant eyes
tui-ned imjiloring towards us, at the end of a mile, each was laid low by a single bullet."

* Onas canna.

27*

sely with

iiai

■row white

the back,
sideralily
■eli..ad, i.e

to
in t

twe

the belly.
lie adu!t.s.
en and in

strai-lit.

a t

oot and p.

ce ri,l-e V

diic

;h extends

ite s.. lai

..-,.

as in the

.'t mane c

inues from

li, with a

lar

ge tuft of

2i

XATVRAL HISTORY.

With reference to ihese animals, the ITon. \V. H. Drummond tells us tliat " more Eland are
killed from horseback than on foot ; for as it is utterly out of the question to make a practice of
i-unning them down, and as they generally inhabit the treeless flats, where they cannot, except by
chance, be stalked, while the uncertainty of their movements and their keeping out of cover render
it impossible to find them, like the large animals, by the aid of their spoor, some more certaia method
is needed than the chance meetings which occur to the hunter when in pursuit of other game,
moie especially as their hide is held in great repute by the Dutch colonists, who make trek-tows
for their wagons, and reins for their oxen from it, even preferring it to that of a Buffalo. The
demand thus induced has so diminished their numbers as to have restricted this noble Antelope to a few
favoured localities, even in which it is becoming more scarce every day, while not many years ago it
formed a component part of almost every landscape in the southern and eastern portions of Africa."

llus IS I

1

THE KOODOO.*
ne of the handsomest of all the Antelopes It is more slendei
h t 1 nllc. The hoi us 11

build and smillei than
aliout four feet long and foim most giaceful

open spirals like corkscrews, there being a ridge along tlieir whole length. The females are horn-
less. The ear is large and trumpet-shaped, moved at the slightest noise towards its source. The
eyes are large and liquid. The body colour is slaty-grey, with transverse white markings, like those
on the striped variety of the Eland. A small mane extends along the neck and withers, and another
from the chin to the throat and breast. The tail is of moderate length, and hairy. This species i.s
most abundant in Southern Africa, but it extends as high as Abyssinia. It is able to travel
with very great speed, and makes prodigious bounds. It stands about five feet in height at the
shoulders.

" Majestic in its carriage," writes Captain Harris, with all the enthusiasm of a true sportsman,
"and brilliant in its colour, this species may with propriety be styled the king of the tribe. Other
Antelopes are stately, eloiiaut, or curious, but the solitude-seeking Koodoo is absolutely regal ! The
ground colour is a lix.-ly French grey approaching to blue, with several transverse white bands passing
over the back and loins : a copious mane, and deeply fringed, tricoloured dewlap, setting off a pair of

* Strepsiceros kudu.

THE IlARXliSSED AXTELUPi:^. 2Z

ponderous yet symmetricul lionis, s])ii'!i)ly twisted, and exceeding three feet in lengt.li. These are
throwai along the back ivs the stately wearer dashes through the mazes of the forest or clambers the
moiintain-side. The old bulls are invariably found aj)art from the females, wliicli lierd together in
small troops, and are destitute of horns."

ANGAS' 'HARNESSED ANTELOPE.*

This elegant animal, much like the Koodoo in its jiroportions, stands three feet four inches high
at the shoulders. In the male, which alone bears liorns, these appendages are nearly two feet long,
twisted and s>ib-lyrate, liaving sharply-jwinted tips of a pale straw colour, their other parts being of a
brownish-black, deeply ridged for half their length from their bases. The colour of the body is greyish-
black, tinged with pui-plish-brown and ochre, white transverse stripes, like those of the Koodoo, being
present on the neck, flanks, and cheeks. A black mane courses down the neck, whilst from the
neck and belly depends long shaggy hair in abundance, reacliing to the knees. The ears are large,
and the face is of a bright sienna-brown. The tail is one foot eight inches long, black above,
with under side and tip white. The female is small, and of a bright nifous coloiu-, with trans-
verse stripes more numerous than in the male.

This species is found in troops of eight or ten together, feeding on the mimo.sa bushes in the
Zulu country. Closely allied to it i.s a second from Central Africa, which is of a dull bay, nearly
uniform, colour, the horns reaching thii-ty inches in length. It is known as Speke's Antelope.

THE HARNESSED ANTELOPES.f

The Harnessed Antelopes proper are all of small size, the elegant Grin not lieing larger than
a Goat, its proportions being itifinitely more delicate. It is of a ])ale bay colour, and the distinct
transverse white streaks, running down from the middle of its back with connecting bands, have
given the origin to its name.

The Bush Buck differs in wanting any body stripes. It is also African. Writing of it, Mr.
Drnmmond remarks that the Bush Buck, " the male of whom is known as the ' Ukouka,' and the
female as the ' Umbabala,' and which differ so greatly that experience is necessary to teach one that
they are of the same species, is undoubtedly the fine.st in every way of all the Antelopes, whether
found in the [Cajie] Colonies or interior, that are known to the hunter as ' small game.' In size it
resembles a full-grown Fallow Buck, weighing, according to age and condition, from nine to thii-teen
stone; its colour is a dark reddisli-brown, often verging into black, and with indistinct markings
on the sides, haunches, and legs ; it has a great deal of hair, and a considerable mane, while the
neck, which is thick out of all proportion, is nearly bare. The last mentioned peculiarity detracts
from the otherwise gi-aceful outlines of its body, the more so, perhaps, from the head being so finely
shaped and small. The horns are nearly straight, rough, and ringed for about three inclies from their
base, and then taper away, smooth and polished,' to an almost invisible point; they vary from nine
inches to a foot long, and from the way in which they are set on the .skull, the immense strength in
the neck and shoulders of the animal, and their extreme sharpness, form about as fomiidable weapons
as could well be imagined, especially as their owner is the most plucky Antelope, without exception
or consideration of size, with which I have become acquainted in Afiica. I <lo not think that in all
my experience . . . T remember a siugle instance in which a Ukouka lias not tried to charge
when wounded and brought to bay ; and no one, even after a very moderate experience, would ever
allow any Dog on which he placed any value to attack them."

THE BOVINE ANTELOPES,*
The BuBALiKE Antelope, together with the Hartebeest, has a peculiarly elongated and narrow
head, at the same time that the body is not elegant in its proportions, being triangular in form, heavy
in the shoulders, and falling away behind. The horns, which are smaller in the females, are turned
abruptly backwards at their tips after having been directed forwards and upwards in a lyrate manner.
The Bubaline of North Africa is of a uniform bay colour, and the much more recently discovered
* Euri/nros Angasii. t The genus Tmi/chipliiis. I T1-' Da imil klic.

2i yATVRAL niSTOin:

ToRA Antelope of Eastern Africa resembles it in this respect, whilst its horns tlififer sliglitly in their
direction and size, being more divergent and slender. The Hartebeest is gi-ey-brown, and black on
the outer sides of the limbs, with large, triangular white spots on the haunches ; a black 4ine also
runs down the middle of the face from between the hoi-ns.

INIr. Priugle, when writing on the Hartebeest, says of it that it '-is one of the largest and hand-
somest of the Antelope family. ... In the nooks of the narrow ravines, through which the game
are wont to descend from the steep and stony mountains, for change of pasturage, or to drink at
the fountains that ooze from their declivities, I have frequently found fresh skulls and horns of the
Hartebeest, those slight relics being all that remained to indicate that there the Lion had surpi-ised

and rent his prey, and that the ferocious Hyjena had followed and feasted on the fragments, devoiu-ing
even the Ijones, except the skull and a few other unmanageable portions."

The Blesbok, Bonte-bok, and Sassaby are about the size of a calf three months old. Their horns
are lyrate and ringed at their bases. The two former are of a purple-red colour, white faces and
white rumps. Of the Blesbok, Mr. C. J. Andersson remarks — " It is of a beautiful violet colour, and is
found in company with black wildebeests and Springboks in countless thousands, on the vast green
])lains of short, crisp, sour grass occupying a central position h\ South Africa. Cattle and Hor.ses
refuse to pasture on the grassy products of these plains, which afford sustenance to myriads of this
Antelope, whose skin emits a most delicious and powerful perfume of. flowers and sweet-smelling:
herbs."

The Sassabj', or Bastard Hartebeest of the Cape colonists, stands four feet and a hidf in height.
It has strong horns a foot in length, crescentic, with the points directed inwards. Its body colour is a
dark purple-brown above, which changes into dusky -yellow underneath, a slate-coloured patch extend-
ing from the shoulder and the hip down to the knee and hock, at the same time that the rump id
fawn-coloured. The tail is nearly two feet long. .-v.

SEUCJurnoy of tue aym. is

THE GNUS.*

Tlie Gnu and tlie Erindled G.Nf aro two of the most grote.siiue of creaturi's. Witli the head not

'■,!iliko that of a small Cape Eutialo, it has the limbs and hind-quarters not unlike those of a pony, in

; r.jportions as well as size. Tlie nose is broad and flattened, with a bristly muzzle. The horns are

road at the base, whei'e they nearly meet, and after turning downward as well as forward, they again

lun up abruptly in a hook-like manner. They are found abundantly in .Southern Africa, where, as

iicir flesh is worthless, they are not much hunted. They are extremely wild and fearless, and

• niarkably tenacious of life. Their speed is great, and they have a habit of prancing about and

icking out furiously when suspecting danger. Both species have a mane along the neck, and lengthy

:.air between the forel^s. In both the tail is long, covered with a mass of haii- not unlike that of

he Horse.

The Common Gnu is of a deep brown-black, the tail and mane being white, whilst the bushy
Ijeard, running back to the chest and between the forelegs, is black. Lengthy black hairs, diverging

;,nd ascending from a median line, cover the upper' part of the nose, at the same time that other
smaller tufts under the eyes help to give a most ferocious aspect to the face. From Captain Harris's
description of the animals of South Africa, an excellent idea of the peculiarities of the creature may be
gained. "Of all quadrupeds," he writes, "the Gnoo is probably the most awkward and grotesque.
Nature doubtless formed him in one of her freaks, and it is scarcely possible to contemplate his im-
giiiuly figure without laughter. Wheeling and prancing in every direction, his shaggy and bearded
head arched between his slender and muscular legs, and his long white tail streaming in the wind,
this ever-wary animal has at once a ferocious and ludicrous appearance. Suddenly .stopping, showing
an imposing front, and tossing his head in mock defiance, his wild red sinister eyes flash fire, and his
snort, resembling the roar of a Lion, is repeated with energy and eflfect. Then lashing his sidejs with
liis floating tail, he plunges, bounds, kicks \ip his heels with a fantastic flourish, and in a moment is
<'fi'at speed, making the dust fly behind him as he sweeps across the plain."

In the Brindled Gnu the front of the face lacks the lengthy hair of its ally ; the t,ail is also black
instead of white. Its body colour is a dirty dun, variegated with obscure pale streaks. This species,
as well as the Common Gnu, is the constant companion of the equally abr.ndant Quaggas of the same
region.

* The genns Catohhpas.

NATURAL HlSTORi.

THE CAPUINE ANTELOPES.

TLe Serow (sometimes written Surrow) of India, tlie Cambing-outan of Sumatra, with tlie Goral
of North India, form a small groiiji of strongly-built G-oat-like Antelopes, with short, conical, upright
horns, ringed at the base, and of nearly equal size in both sexes. The feet are large, and the tapering
tail short.

Captain Kinloch gives us the following account of the Serow. He says it " is an ungainly-looking
animal, combining the characteristics of the Cow, the Donkey, the Pig, and the Goat ! It is a large
and powerful beast. . . . The body is covei'ed with very coarse hair, which assumes the form of a
bristly mane on the neck and shoulders, and gives the beast a ferocious appearance, which does not
belie its disposition. The colour is a dull black on the back, bright red on the sides, and white under-
neath, the legs also being dirty white. The ears are very large ; the muzzle is coarse. . . . The

Serow has an awkward gait ; but in spite of this can go o\er the worst ground ; and it has, pftrliaps,
no superior in going down steep hills. It is a solitary animal, and is nowhere numerous; two or
three may be found on one hill, four or five on another, and so on. It delights in the steepest and
most rocky hillsides, and its favourite resting-places are in caves, mider the shelter of overhanging
rocks, or at the foot of shady trees."

Of the Goral, the same author remarks that it " is an active little beast, and much resembles a
small (iloat, but the back is moi-e arched. The prevailing colour is a brownish-grey, with a dark stripe
along tlie back, and dark markings on the legs. Underneath the throat is a large white spot, which
is -very eonsjiicuous when the animal is standing above one, and often betrays its presence when it
woidil oth(>r\vise have escaped observation. The hair is soft but rathei- coarse, and about two inches
ioni;." In the male the honis reach nine inches in length.

The Cambing-outan stands about two feet and a quarter at the shoulder. Its long, coarse hair is
brown-black in colour, the mane and throat alone being white. The horns are not more than six
inches in length, cylindrical, slightly annulated and curved backwards at their lips. Mountain forests
where it leads a jiarticularly active life, are its haunts.

THE CHAMUlV.

27

Di-. J. Aiulerson remaik.s of the Takin, or Budorcas, another allied species, ■'' Maj )r Stewart
iitbrms me that it is found in all the high ranges of the uovth-east of Debrooghur, and is far from
.lueommon. The Mishnees, with their very inferior appliances to shoot and catch them, are, never-
theless freiiuently dressed in their skins, or have a part of a skin with the hair ou as an onianieiit,
which wouhl seem to indicate that they are numerous. . . . They are seen in paii-.-;, ami some
iimes in lierds of twenty or moi'e. They are swift of foot and good climbers."

Ill Formosa and Japan there are also Goat-lilce Antelopes, that from the former locality being
named after Mr. Svvinlioe, who discovered it. Its horns are short and conical, its brown fur harsh
.(lid crisp. Both closely resemble the Cambing-ontan. There is still another with a long tail
inhabiting Northern China.

fori

and the Eocky Monntai

Hied species.

The Mazama, or Mountain Goat of CJ;
with short, thick, conical, recurved horns,
und long, straight, soft hair of a white colour,
ispecially abundant in the region of the throat,
shoulders, sides, and tail. Its size is that of
:\ large Sheep, which it much resembles in phy-
.-^iognomy. The flesh has an unpleasant musky
flavour, the skin is thick and spongy, at the sa-me
time that the hair is considered of but little
value.

THE CH.VMOIS.*

This well-known Goat-like Antelops in-
liabits the snow-clad mountains of Europe,
from the Pyrenees to the Caucasus, ascending
(hiring the summer, and in winter going below
the line of snow in seai'ch of food. Both sexes
jjossess horns — black, short, and cylindrical —
lising perpendicularly and parallel from the
forehead for some distance, then forming a
-small hook directed backwards to their jiointed
tip.s. These rarely exceeil seven inches in
length. Tlie female is slightly smaller than
the male, which stands a little over two feet at
the shoulder. In winter the colour of the
lengthy, hairy coat is dark brown, which be-
comes a brownish-yellow in the summer, a
<larker streak along the back alone renijiining.

The head is pale yellow, darker from the nose upwards to between the ears and around the e3'es.
Behind the horns and between the ears is 'a pair of jwculiar glands, opening externally, the function
of which is unknown. The voice of the species is a rough bleat under all ordinary circumstances:
but when the one which watches whilst the others feed — and there is always found to be one such in
every herd — finds cause to fear, it gives a shrill whistle as a danger signal to its companions.

The senses of sight, hearing, and smell of the Chamois are developed to a maximum, and this fact,
taken in association with the animal's great sure-footedness among the lofty, snow-covered Alps, in
which it has its home, makes hunting it a task of no mean difficulty and danger. Dogs are of no ser-
vice on the rocky eminences to which the Chamois will retreat -nlien it is pursued, and the sportsman
has til rely upon his own surefootedness and cour.ige in climbing the steep and slippery precipices,
whither he is tempted by the sight of game. If so hard pressed that it is driven to some height
bcyonil which it cannot go, it is said that it will jirccipitate itself upon its pursuer, sending him down
into thi' depths below. Besides man, the eagle i,^ an enemy whose constant endeavour is to obtain the
ki<ls from tlieii- watchful motliers. Its skin is niueli \alued for its toughness combined with its
pliability. Its ilesh is also greatly esteemed.

* Rupicapra traffus.

HEAD op THE ClUMOI.':

2S NATURAL IIlSTOJir.

THE ORYXES.*
Of the Antelopes thei'e is a faii'ly well-marked section, distinguished by the possession of horns in
both sexes, at the same time that the body is peculiarly deep at the shoulder, whilst the lengthy tail
is cylindrical and tufted at the extremity. Among these there is a mane along the neck in three
closely-allied species, the Blaubok, or Equine Antelope of South Africa, the Sable Antelope of the
Transvaal and the eastern coast of Afiica, and Baker's Antelope, or the Maarif of Upper Nubia, as
well as in the Oryx, which is found in many paits of Africa, the Beisa of Abyssinia, the Beatrix
Antelope of Arabia, and the Gemsbok of South Africa ; whilst in the not distant Addax Antelope
of North Africa there is no nape-mane, but a sliglit one on tlic tliroat.

In the Blaubok, which stands more than four feet and a half at the shoulder, with a glaucous,
gi-ey coat upon a black skin ; in the Sable Antelope, which stands four feet and a half, being black
except upon the abdomen, as well as in streaks upon the face, which are white ; and in Baker's Antelope,
which stands four feet eight inches, being of a pale fulvous liver coloiu-, the homs ai-e two feet and
more in length, and curved gently backwards, being ringed transversely except at the tips, where they
are smooth. In the Oryx, the Beisa, the Beatrix Antelope, and the Gemsbok, the lengthy conical
horns, although similarly ringed, are much more slender, starting backwards in a line with the face,
whilst in those previously mentioned they rise at an angle from it, being straight in the Gemsbok and
Beisa, very sliglitly c\irved backwards in the Beatrix, and more so in the Oryx. In the nearly allied
Addax the similarly-constructed horns are gently twisted in a corkscrew manner. All these last-
mentioned Antelopes are pale in colour, being almost white, with the throat protected by long
black hair.

Whilst speaking of the Beisa Antelope, Mr. Blanford remarks that '■ the appearance of a herd of
Oryx is very imposing. Tliey are some of the most elegant and symmetrical of animals, the motions
* The genus Ortjx.

THE sri-on-ir. on blce os. -yi

being those of ;i Wild. Horse rather than of an Autekipc. Their favourite pace ajipears to lie either a
steady quick walk or ati-ot ; they rarely break into a gallop unless greatly alarmed. W!;en frigliteneil
they dash off, sometimes snoi'tiug and putting their heads down, as if charging, i-aising their long tails,
and looking very formidable. They are wary animals, though far less so than some other Antelopes.
It is said that they frerpiently attack when wounded, and their lou^', straight horns are most deadly
weapons."

Of the Gem.sbok, Captain Harris tells us that it " is about the size of an Ass, and nearly of the
same ground colour, with a black list stripe down the back and on each flank, white legs variegated
with black bands, and a white fivce, marked with the figure of a black nose-band and head-stall, im-
parting altogether to the animal the appearance of being clad in half-mourning. Its copious black
tail literally sweeps the ground ; a mane reversed, tuid a tuft of flowing black hair on the breast, with
a pair of straight, slender horns (common to both sexes) thiee feet in length, and ringed at the base,
completing the portrait." The resemblance between the Gemsbok, when seen from the side view,
and the Unicorn of heraldry, is sufHcieutly striking to make it more than pi-obable that the con-
ception of the latter originated in the former.

The author just quoted says of the Blaubok, or Roan Antelope, by which name it is also known,
that it " is an inhabitant of the elevated downs and ridges about the source of the river Limpopo [four
degrees to the west of Delagoa Bay, and a little north of it], and being utterly destitute of speed, may
be ridden to a standstill without difficulty. ... It is heavily built, and has an upright mane,
long asinine ears, and robust scimitar-shaped horns."

CHAPTER III.

ARTIOD.VCTYLA: RUMIX.^NTIA— BUVID.E {Coiulmhd).—^^^^, ruoNGHORX .antelope,

Ml'SK [dEEu], .\XD GIRAFIE.

The XYL-fiH.if— Description— H.ibits— The Mlsk 0.\— Difficulties in associating it— Distribution— Habits— The Ox
— Cliilliiigham Wild Cattle— Their Habits— Domestic Cattle— The Collings, Booth, and Bates Strains— American
Breeding — Shorthorns, .\nd other Breeds — Hungarian Oxen— Zebu — Gour— Gayal — Curious mode of Capturing
G.ayals— Banting— The Bisilns— Description— European Bison, or Aurochs— Almost extinct— Citsar's description of
it— American Bison— Distribution— Mytliical Xotions regarding it— Their Ferocity and Stupidity— " Buffalo " Flesh
—The Y.\k— Habits— The IUkfaloes— Varieties -Description -Figlit between two Bulls— The Axua— The Prong-
HOKN Antelope— Pecuharity as to its Horns and 81vull— Professor Baiid's and Mr. Bartlett's Independent Discovery
of the Annual Shedding of the Horns— Habits — Pecuharity about its Feet— Colour — Difficulties as to its Position
—The Musk [Deer]— Its Perfume— Where is it to be placed?— Description— Habits— Hunters for the Perfume—
Their Sufferings— The GiR.vEFE—Peculiarities— Skull processes— Its Neck— H.abitat— Running power— Habits-
Hunting.

THE NYL-GHAU, OR BLUE OX."
This is the largest of the Antelopine animals found in India, tlie adult male standing o^■er four
feet in height at the shoulders, which are at a considerably higher level than the haunches. The
female is about one-third smaller than her consort, and without horns, which in the male are but short,
rarely exceeding nine inches in length, aird rising perpendicularly from the head. Each horn is black,
smooth, angular, and turned slightly forward, ending in a sharp point.

The body colour of the male is a slate blue, darker about the head and under parts of the
body, whilst the legs are black ; the female is tawny-red ; the aged bull is nearly black. A short
mane runs along the neck and over the highest part of the shoulder, in which latter situation it
is of greater length. There is a considerable tuft of dark hair hanging from the middle of the front
of the neck, over six inches in length, which is situated ju.st below a cons]>icuous white, anchor-shaped
throat-patch, the shank of which mns up between the two halves of the lower jaw almost to the
lip. On each cheek also there is a circular white spot below and behind the eye. A transverse

* P-ji-tax pIxUt.

NATURAL mSTURY.

white line above and below each fetlock stands out conspicuously also. The inner sides of the thighs
;ire white, this colour extending for some lUstance ujjwards and inwards. There is a white patch
;ilso in front of each i)astern joint. The taU is lengthy, and tufted at the end. The ears are
nearly of the same length as the horns. The limbs are elegantly shaped, though rather heavy, and
their jjroportions show a tendency towards those of the Giraffe, which animal it also resem)>les in
the employment of its tongue for seizing food, and not its lips.

The Nyl-Ghau is found only in continental India, where it abounds in parts, not being a favourite
with S])0i-tsmen, because its small horns are so insignificant a trophy, but more so with the larger
members of tlie Cat ti-ibe — the Tiger and the Leopard^as well as the wild Dog, with whom it is a
frequent uumI Its i.ini.cr i^ mi-iiinii, which fact, when taken in connection with its powerful

_ bviild, makes it a dangerous pet. It

'^~ ^ Ines well in confinement. When

atticking, it drops on its knees, and
thus advances until it feels itself
within a suflicient distance of its foe
to make a sudden leap upon it, which
it can do with great velocity and
fone. The leather manufactured
fi om its skin is valuable, but its flesh
IS never eaten by the Hindoos, on
iccount of their belief that it belongs
to the Ox tribe, wliich it is not law-
ful to slay. With a good Horse in
f pen country, the Blue bull may be
hunted successfully with spears. It
IS very tenacious of life. The first
specimens introduced into England
\\eie brought .|roni Bombay by Lord

Clive in 17C7

THE MUSK OX*

wLoiiii is in animal whose exact atiinities

It is not ea.sy to determine. By
some naturalists it has been thought to be intermediate between the Sheep and the Ox, whence
its scientific generic name, Ovibos. It is found only in Arctic America north of latitude 60°,
and exhales a strong musky odour at certain seasons of the year, an approach to which is recog-
nisable in several of the Bovidre. It is a heavy-built, but not large creature, with short legs,
and a very lengthy brown hairy coat, which almost reaches to tlio ground. Its horns are very
similar in form to those of the Cape Buffalo, and in the bulls they meet in tlie middle line of
the forehead. The tail is very short, being entirely hidden by the fur of the haunches. The nose
is not naked, as in the Oxen, but is almost entirely covered with hair, as in the Elk and Rein-
deer, both Arctic ruminants also. The spread of their feet is considerable, and they can cover
the ground at no little speed. Cajrtain Franklin describes their liabits as follows : — " The Musk
Oxen, like the Buffalo, herd together in bands, and generally frequent barren grounds during
the summer months, keeping near the rivers, but retire to the woods in winter. They seem to be
less watchful than most other wild animals, and when grazing are not diffiiult to approach,
provided the hunters go against the wind. When two or three men get so near a herd as to fire
at them from different points, these animals, instead of separating or running away, huddle closer
together, and several are generally killed ; Imt if the wound is not mortal they become enraged,
and dart in the most furious manner at the hunters, who must be very dexterous to evade them.
They can defend themselves with their powerful horns against Wolves and Bears, which, as the
Indians say, they not unfrequently kill. The Musk Oxen feed on the same substances as the
* Oribns iiioschatus.

SABLE ANTELOPE, o^. ,
iFrooi the Lii-uig Sppcimm in the Zoo'.ogiaU

32 NATURAL HISTORY.

Eeinileer ; and tlie prints of tlie feet of these two animals are so mncli alike, that it :-equires the
eye of an experienced luniter to distinguish them. The largest killed liy ns did not exceed in
weight three hundred pounds."

THE OX.*
It Iieing quite unnecessary to describe the general form and proportions of this animal, as seen
among us in a domesticated state — Shorthorns, Alderney, Highland, &c. — we will at once proceed
to notice the famous cattle of Chillingham Park, in Northumberland, which are known to have
been in existence in the thirteenth century. The wild cattle there are- all cream white, with a
brown muzzle, with the insides and tips of the eai-s reddisli-brown, at the same time that the horns
are white tiiiped with black, of which latter colour are the hoofs. Calves more or less coloured are

^-^■fl'ii

occasionally born, but these are promptly destroyed by the keepers. Some of the bulls have a thin,
short mane. Their habit, on strangers approaching them, is to "set off in a full gallop, and at
a distance of about two hundred yards make a wheel round and come boldly up again, tossing their
heads in a menacing manner. On a sudden they make a full stop at the distance of forty or fifty yards,
looking wildly at the object of their surprise ; but upon the least motion being made, they all again
turn round and fly off with equal speed, but not to the same distance, forming a shorter circle; and
at;rtin returning with a bdlder and more threatening aspect than before, they approach m\ich nearer,
liiol>al)ly witliin thirty yards, when they again make another stand, and then fly off. This they do
several times, sliortening their distance, and advancing nearer and nearer, till they come within such
a. short distance that most people think it proper to leave them, not choosing tojirovoke them further."
They differ from domestic cattle in that they feed at night, and generally sleep during the day. They
also hide their calves.

In all the so-called wild cattle of Great Britain the forehead is flat or slightly conca\e, tlie head
is small, the back is straight, and the legs ai-e shoi-t.

' Bvs taurus.

THE BOOTH AXD BATES STRAINS. 33

Ir Ls now almost universally agreed that domestic cattle are descended from two or three species
of the genus Bos, which existed in late geologic or prehistoric times, the remains lieing found in
.Switzerland, Ireland, and other parts of Europe. The Zebu, Yak, Gayal, and Arni, to be referred to
immediately, have also been domesticated.

Cattle have been so distributed and mixed in breeding that any precise arrangement of the breeds
according to their ancestral affinities can scarcely be tabulated. Most important of the heavy breeds
are the well-known Shorthorns of the north of England, so carefully and successfully developed by
Charles and Robert Colling between 1780 and IS 18, at Ketton and Barmptou, cIo.se to Darlington,
iu Duilnini, by a process of in-and-in breeding — " Hubback," ihc " Duche.ss," "Lady Maynard,"

"Young Strawberry," '• Foljambe," and "Comet," the last bull of which, at Charles Ceiling's sale in
1810, fetched a thousand guineas.

Following close upon the Colllngs came the Booths — Richard, Thomas, and J. Booth — between
18U and 1864, at Studley, Killerby, and Warlaby, where " Isabella," the twin sisters "Necklace" and
" Bracelet," were pai-euts of goodly herds, " Commander-in-Chief" being one of the latest gems. On
one occasion, it is stated, Mr." Richard Booth, of Warlaby, refused the unique offer of fifteen hundred
guineas for a cow named " Queen of the May."

In 1810 Thomas Bates, of Ridley Hall, and aftei-^vards of Kirkleavington, then a well-known
breeder of cattle, purchased at Charles Colling's sale " Young Duchess," daughter of " Comet," a
gi-anddanghter of " Duchess " by " Daisy" bull, and she became the founder of the famous " Duchess"
tribe. In 1831, with the accession of the bull " Belvi'dere," a descendant of Robert Colling's
" Princess " tribe, the " Duchess " breed produced " Short Tail " and the renowned " Duke of North-
nmberland." The " Matchem " cow, purchased at the same date, did mucli to improve the stock.
Mr. Bates died in 1849.

Several enterprising American breeders have,, since 1817, introduced Shorthorns into the Uiuted

31 XATURAL UllSTOliY.

States and Canada, Colonel Lewis Sanders, of Kentucky, being the fii-st who did so on anything like
thorough principles. Others followed his examjJe with success, especially about the year 1852, when
a fresh impulse was given to their production because of the rise of price in meat, as well as the foreign
demand for it. The Booth and Bates bloods predominate in these animals, and form the basis of
much of the beef now re-shipped to England.

The great advantage of the Shorthorn breed is that they, together with a good temper, combine
the advantages of great size and aptitude to fatten, rapidly reaching maturity. For dairy purposes
they are excelled by the Suffolk Duns and Ayrshire cattle, the latter, with their enormous udders,
broad hips, and deep flanks, being the best as milkers. Hereford, North Devon, and Scottish black
Shorthorns are infei'ior to those of the northern counties in theii' slowness of growth and power of
filling out. Those of North Devon are particularly symmetrical in form. The mountain cattle of
the western Highlands, otherwise known as the Kyloe breed, are best known from the hardiness
of their constitutions, protected as they are by their thick hides and shaggy coats. The Welsh and
Shetland cattle resemble them in many respects.

In Hungary, Turkey, and Western Asia there is a lireed of large cattle with peculiarly long and
slender outward-spreading horns, black-tipped, and greyish throughout the rest of their length.

In India, the Sacred Cattle, or Zebus, with convex forehead, short horns, large drooping ears,
and a short head, possess a high hump upon the withers, as well as an ample dewlap falling in undu-
latini; fiilcls along the whole length of the neck. Their disjiosition is mild, as is indicated by their
('X|.ic.ssi.iii, ;iii.l the liberty they are allowed in India i wonderful. They vary greatly in size, some
\y,''u\<^ iKit bi;igpr than an average month-old calf The breed has extended in times gone by through
Persia into Eastern Africa, where it is found with a narrower and flatter face, at the same time that
the hump is smaller.

The introduction of steam, as well as the extension in the employment of the Horse, has almost
entirely superseded the use of cattle as beasts of bm-ileu or draught in liiglily (_-i\'ilisfil nations.

The GouR, the Gayal, and the Banting are three species of wild cattle fo\nul in the Oriental
world from India fn .I.i\:i. prculiar in (losspssing a ridge running along the middle of the back, and
horns which, aftci- riniiiiiiL: .nitwanls tViaii the head, are directed \ipwards and not backwards. Of
these the Gour nf Ciaitral Imlia is tlic largvst, measuring six feet at the withers, having also a convex
jirofile, very high withers, and an arched back, which makes the line from the nose to the root of the
tail, along the spine, a fairly contmuous curve. Its colour is a deep brown glossy black, exceiiting a
ring of white encii'cling the base of each hor.f, and a white tuft on the forehead. There is not any
trace of a dewlap in either sex. The horns aie not moie than two feet in length, strong, and curved
boldly upwards at then- tips. The Gour is found abundantly in herds of twenty or so around the table-
lands, especially of South Bahar, feeding on the young leaves of the trees and shnibs. It appears
to have resisted all attempts at domestication. The Gayal is found in the hill-region east of the
Brahmaputra. It is much the .size of English cattle. The bull is bold, and the cow easily domesti-
cated. Its home is the deep jungle, where it can obtain the young leaves and shoots of the brushwood.
According to Mr. Macrae the following is the method employed by the Kookies of the Chittagong
hill-region to catch the animal : — " On discovering a lierd of wild Gayals in the jungle, they prepare
a number of balls, of the size of a man's head, composed of a particular kind of earth, salt, and cotton.
They then drive their tame Gayals towards the wild ones, when the two herds soon meet and assimilate
into one ; the males of the one attaching themselves to the females of the other, and vice versd. The
Kookies now scatter their balls over such parts of the jungle as they think the herd most likely to
pass, and watch its motions. The Gayals, on meeting these balls as they pass along, are attracted by
their appearance and smell, and begin to lick them with their tongues ; and relishing the ta.ste of the
salt, and the particular earth composing them, they never quit the place until all tlie balls are con-
sumed. The Kookies, having observed the Gayals to have once tasted their balls, prepare a siifflcient
supply of them to answer the intended purpose, and as the Gayals lick them up they throw down more; and
it is to prevent theii' being so readily destroyed that the cotton is mixed with the ea-rth and the salt. This
process generally goes on for three changes o7 the moon, or for a month and a half, during which time
the tame and the wild Gayals are always together, licking the decoy balls, and the Kookie, after the
first day or two of their being so, makes his appearance at sucli a distajice as not to alann the wild

THE ISISUXS. j5

ones. By degrees lie approaches nearer and nearer, until at length the sight of him has become so
familiar that he can advance to stroke his tame Gayals on the back and nock without frightening the
wild ones. He next extends his hand to them, and caresses them also, at the same time giving them
plenty of his decoy balls to lick. Thus, in the short space of time mentioned, he is able to drive them,
along with the tame ones, to his parrah, or village, without the least exertion of force ; and so attached
do the Gayals become to the parrah, that when the Kookies migrate from one place to another, they
always find it necessary to set fire to the huts they are about to abandon, lest the Gayals should return
to them from the new grounds."

The Gayal cairies its nose forwards, as a rule, like a Buffalo Its ears are longer than those of
the Ox. It possesses a dewlap smaller than in the Zebu. The tail is short, not descending below the
hock. Its general colour is a varying and generally dark brown, the abdomen and the legs bemg white
in parts. Its cry is a shrill, insignificant lowing. Its horns are conical, turned directly outwards, and
a little upwards at their tips, not exceeding one foot and a half in length.

The Banting extends from Cochin Chizia, through the Indo- Malay archipelago, to the islands of
Bali and Lombok. Its colour and proportions are almost exactly those of the Gour.

THE BISONS.*

Closely i-elated to the Oxen are the Bisons of Europe and of North America, together with the
Tibetan Yak. The two species of Bison agree closely with one another in general appearance, the
American form being shorter and weaker in the hind-quarters, and a little smaller altogether.

The hair of the head and neck is very abundant and long, forming a mane of very dark colour,
at the same time that it nearly conceals the eyes and ears as well as the base of the short conical horns,
which are directed outwai-ds and upwards. IJndei' the chin there is a lengthy beard. A line of
lengthy hair also extends along the back nearly to the tail, which is itself only covered with short soft
hair, except at the end where there is a lengthy tuft. There is a hump developed on the shoulders, at
which spot the adult male is nearly six feet in height, the female being smaller.

The European Bison, or Aurochs, is on the verge of extinction, surviving only in the forests of
Lithuania, Moldavia, Wallachia, and the Caucasus, on account of the severe laws against its destruc-
tion. The horns are longer and more curved than in the Amprican species. The females are less
hairy and smaller than their mates. Its strength is very gieat, and an old bull is said to be a-
match for at least fnnr Wolves. Its speed is considerable, and it raises its hoofs above the level
of its low, TCI 1 li,-;i,l whilst -iilloiung.

In his (lisrii|itiou (if tin.' Black Forest {Sijlva Hercyiiia) CiBsar describes the species (the Urus)
thus: — '-They are but little less than Elephants in size, and are of the appearance, colour, and
form of a Bull. Their strength as well as their speed is very gi-eat. They spare neither man
nor beast that they see. They cannot be brought to endure the sight of men, nor can they be
tamed, even when taken young. The people, who take them in pitfalls, assiduously destroy them ; and
young men harden themselves in this labour, and exercise themselves in this kind of chase ; and those
who have killed a gi-eat number, the horns being publicly exhibited in evidence of the fact,
obtain great honour. The horns, in magnitude, shape, and quality, differ much from tte horns
of our Oxen. They are much sought for, and after having been edged with silver at their open ends,,
are used for drinking vessels at great feasts."

Accoi-ding to some authorities, however, it is a mistake to identify the European Bison with the
Aurochs.

To all intents and purposes the American Bison is an extinct animal, killed off by the rifle and
the rail and the encroachment of man upon its haunts. A few specimens are pre.served with what
may be df.scribeil as laudably jealous care in the Yellowstone Park, and small herds may be found in
Montana, Texas, and t'anada.

Huge herds, numbering niillions of individuals, '-so numerous as to blacken the plains as far as
they can leach," were once a common sight on the prairies, and repeatedly stopped the Kansas Pacific
Railway when first formed. Hunters .spread false notions as to the organisation of these herd.s,
* Tlie genus Bison.

which was of a most .simi.U- character, txeellently exphiiiicd l)y Mr. Allen, who says that the timidity
ami watchfulness of the cows, accustomed as they were to tlie care of their offspring, led them to
take the initiative in the movements of the herd, and this kept them near the front, especially
wlien the herd was moving. Tlie popular belief that the bulls kept the cows and the young in
the middle of the herd, and formed themselves, as it were, into a protecting phalanx, had some
apparent basis; but the theory that the old bulls, the least watchful of^all the members of the
herd, were sentinels posted on the outskirts to give notice of an approaching enemy, was wholly a
iiivth IS was also the supposition that the herd consisted of small harems.

Ihtse ' Buffaloes i^ the\ weu geneialh calltd \\eie nuuh liki donit<itK cittk in then habits.

They were, however, fond of wallowing in the mud, and .so coating themselves with a protection
from their insect pests. Their ferocity of appearance was not evident in their true natures, for their
disposition was .sluggish and fearful. Colonel Dodge remarked of them that, " endowed %\ith the
smallest possible amount of instinct, the little lie has seems adapted rather for getting him into
difficulties than out of them. If not alarmed at sight or smell of a foe, he will stand stupidly gazing
at his companions in their deatli-throes, until the whole herd is shot down. He will walk uncon-
sciously into a quicksand or quagmire already choked with struggling dying victims. Having made
up his mind to go a certain way it is almost impossible to swer\e him from his purpose."

The flesh of the " Buffalo " was thought equal to the best beef if from the young animal, Ijut
dry and insipid when from the adult. The tongue and hump were esteemed great delicacies. Pemmi-
cau was made mostly from the dried flesh, pounded fine and mixed with an equal weight of tallow.

The Yak differs from the Bisons mostly in the distribution of its long hair, which, instead of
being situated on its hump and neck, forms a lengthy fringe along tlie shoulders, flanks, and
thighs, and completely invests the tail, which latter is much prized in India, where it is known as
" Chowry," and is employed as a fly-switch in great ceremonials.

:jS yATUMAL HISTORY.

The Yak is a native of tlio liigh ground of Tibet, where it is rigorously protected by the native
government against the foreign sportsman. Its colour is black, except some spots upon the face, which
are white or grey. Its tail is often white, as is frequently the long hair tuft on the top of the withers.
Its horns reach nearly a yard in length, and are directed outwards, forwards, and then upwards. Its
^•oioe is much like that of a Pig, whence the name Granting Ox, by which it sometimes goes.

As to the habits of the creature. Captain Kinloch tells us that " the Yak inhabits the wildest and
most desolate moimtains ; it delights in extreme cold ; and is found, as a nile, at a greater elevation
than any other animal. Although so large a beast, it thrivqp upon the coarsest pasturage, and its
usual food consists of a rough, wii-y grass, which grows in all the higher valleys of Tibet, up to an
elevation of nearly 20,000 feet. . . . Yak seem to wander about a good deal. In summer, the
cows are generally to be found in herds varying in number from ten to one hundred, while the old
bull-i are for the most part solitary or in small parties of three or four. They feed at night or earlj-

'%#;

ill the morning, and usually Itetake themselves to some steep and barren hillside during the day, lying
sometimes for hours in the same spot."

THE BUFFALOES.*
The BuFFALOE.s have the horns flattened and triangular in section, indined outwards and back-
wards, turning up at the tij)s. The Common Buffalo is found in Southern Europe, North Africa, and
the Indian region. The huge Indian variety, with most lengthy horns, is also known as the
Arni. Its horns are elongated and narrow, sometimes iieaching six feet and a half in length. It
stamh nearly or quite six feet al the .shoulder, its proportions are bulky, and its general colour dusky-
blaok. It lives in small herds numbering not more than twenty, and solitary bulls are often met
with which attack sportsmen in a most vicious manner without provocation. The Cape Buffalo has
shorter horns, expanded at their bases, so that they almost meet in the middle line of the forehead. It
is found all over Central and South Africa, and is a formidable animal when wounded, as, quite regard-
less of the cloud of smoke which follows the shot aimed at it, it charges right through it, ajid so does

* The genus Bubiihta.

THE CAPE BUFFALO. 39

frequent injury to tlir experienced hunter. Its general colour is blue-bliick, but in some cases it has a
reddish tinge. The Hon. W. H. Drunniioud gives the following account of a fight between two bulls
of which he was an eye-witness. After having had his attention attracted by a loud clattering
noise, he remarks that, " on looking through the edge of the last thicket which had concealed them,
I saw two Buffalo bulls standing facing each other with lowered heads, and, iis I sat down to watch,
they rushed together with all theii- force, producing the loud crash I had before heard. Once the horns
wei-e interlocked they kept them so, their straining quai-ters telling that each was doing his best to
force the other backwards. Several long white marks on their necks showed where they had received
.scratches, and blood dripping over the withers of the one next me proved that he had received a more
severe wound. It was a magniticent sight to see the enormous animals, every muscle at its fullest
tension, striving for the mastery. Soon one, a very large and old bull, began to yield a little, going
backwards step by step ; but at last, as if determined to conquer or die, it di-opped on to its knees.
The other, disengaging its horns for a second, so as to gi\e an impetus, again rushed at him, but,
whether purposely or not I could not tell, it did not strike him on the forehead, but on the neck, under
the hump, and I could see tliat with a twist of his horns he inflicted a severe wound. However, instead
of following up his seemiug advantage, he at ouce recoiled, and stood half facing his antagonist,
who, getting on his legs again, remained in the same position for several minutes, and then with a low
grunt of rage, rushed at him. This time he was not met, and his broad forehead stiiick full on his
rival's shoulder, almost knocking it over. The old bull then went a few yards off and stood watching
the other for fully a quarter of an hour, when he walked slowly away in the opposite direction."

The Cape Buffalo, which is found all over Africa south of the equator, is replaced in
the north-eastern portion of the continent by a smaller variety, of a browner colour, and with much
sliorter horns, which are not closely approximated at their bases, at the same time that they spread
out almost horizontally instead of curving downwards and backwards.

In western and the western-equatorial parts of Africa there is again another still smaller variety.

1

i

f I

■ """ ^ 1 ]

40

NATriiAL HISIOK

in which the hair is yellowi.sli-red instead of nearly black or lirown, the short horns being, as well,
directed considerahly upwards instead of directly outwards.

In the Island of Celebes the smallest species of Buffalo is found, which differs but little in appear-
ance from the young of the Cape species. It is knowai as the Anoa ; Ls black, with short, wavy hair,
and has short, jiarallel jirismatic horns directed upwards from the forehead.

THE I'KOXGHOEN ANTELOPE.*
This Antelope of North America, one of the few forms of the Hollow-horned Ruminants which
inhabit the New World, is different from all the other members of the group in two respects at least,
namely, that its horns are branched, as implied in the name, and that they are amiually shed.

The accompanying figure Ls a side view of the skull of the animal, whose size is nearly that of
a Fallow Deer, although its build is not so heavy. It is there seen that
each liorncore forms a blade-shaped projection six inches long, with the pointed
end behind, situated above the eyes perpendicular to the line of the face,
ded jjosteriorly and sharpened in front. Each horn itself is a foot or so in
its greatest length, i.s pointed and gently curved backwards, at the same
time that from the front of it, very slightly above the middle of its height, a
short Ijranch arises which is directed forwards, the whole there dividing
into two. Each horn is flattened from side to side, is not anuulated, and
in its structure scarcely differs from that of a 8heep or Goat.

For some years before it was certainly known to be the case, it had been
rmnonred by the hunters of Fort Union that the Pronghorn Antelope shed
its horns each year; and in the year 1838 Dr.
C. A. Caiitield, of Monterey, California, in writing
to Professor Baird, of the Smithsonian Insti-
tution, Washington, informed him that in speci-
mens in hLs jiossession " their horns drop ott
annually." This letter remained unprinted until
:u England Mr. A. D. Bai-tlett, Superinten-
nt of the Zoological Gardens in Regent's
Park, London, in 1865 drew attention to the
same fact, which was observed ))y him in a male
animal livini; in the Gardens at the time.

The horns — not antler-s, be it noticed- -
are, it is now ceitam, detached each \eii tioui their supporting cores, and subsequently dropped, to
be replaced by otheis vhich at the tune of shedding have already advanced some way in growth,
although at first they are very pale and soft. In this respect the Pronghorn is not resembled by
any other Antelope, and differs entirely from the Deer.

Of the species Dr. Canfield, in the letter above referred to, gives several interesting details as
to its habits, from which we may infer that they are not so cunning or so fleet as their allies in
Africa and India :— " From the 1st of September to the 1st of March they run in bands, the bucks,
<loes, and kids all together," shortly after which time the young are born, upon which the bucks
separate and wander about alone until the following sea.son. "A band of Pronghorn Antelopes, when
frightened, never run directly away from you, but cross over in front of you, running across your
path from one side to the other repeatedly, and keeping about a hundred yards ahead. On this
account it is sometimes easy, on a smart Horse, to run into a drove of them and catch one of them
with a noose. When one is alone, and is watched by a person or animal and becomes frightened, it
makes a sort o* shrill Ijlowing noise like a whistle, and then commences bounding off. On the neck
it has a heavv, thick, chestnut-coloured mane, five or six inches long, and on the rump a white patch
of coar^ hair ; and when the animal is frightened it always erects the mane and the hair and this
white spot, thus giving it a very singular and characteristic appearance as it runs bounding away

42 NATURAL HISTORY.

from you. Tlie Antelope has a very peculiar odour, strong aiifl, to some people, offensive. . . On
the whole, I consider the meat of the Pronghorn to be very excellent."

There is a peculiarity in the feet of the Pronghorn in which it resembles the Giraffe, a few
Antelojies, and the different members of the Camel tribe, namely, that the false hoofs, as well as theii-
supporting bones, are entirely absent, from which it may lie inferred, as is the case, that the number
■of digits in each foot is only two.

In the females of the species the horns are present, but they are much reduced in size, and
almost liidden in the hairy covering of the head. The end of the nose — in other words, the muffle —
is hairy, and not, therefore, damp at all times in any part, as Ls that of the Ox and most ruminants.
The tail is very short ; the fur is very short and cfose set, being stiff and wavy. Its colour is
a pale fawn above and on the limbs, whilst the breast as well as the abdomen are a yellowi.sh-white,
at the same time that the tail and round about it are pure white, as is the inside of the ear.

Although the Pronghorn is here described after all the more ordinary hollow-horned Ruminantia,
it is far from impossible that it is much more intimately related to some one of the above-mentioned
families than to the others. It must either have originated dii-ect from the earliest type of Bovine
Ruminant, and from that time continued isolated until the present day, or it may have been a
straggler from some already differentiated group, like the Gazelles, for instance, that, awiving in a land
so unlike the haunts of its progenitors, took on itself from altered circumstances peculiar modifications
in its horn-gi'owth and foot-form which ha\-e resulted in its present characteristics.

THE MUSK [DEER].*
This interesting animal, from the male of which is obtained a powder contained in a pouch about
the size of an orange, on the surface of the abdomen, and which is one of the most fragrant of
perfumes, is generally included among the C!ervidse. Nevertheless, there are many reasons in favour
of its being considered an Anteloi>ine animal. Apart from the fact that it has a gall-bladder, which is
not found in any Deer, but in almost all Antelopes, its pale grey hair is peculiarly coarse and
<j!oat-]ike, and the absence of antlers or horns in both sexes tells in neither direction, for, as in the
Brockets of South America and the Chinese Muntjac, the
antlers are rudimentary, so are the horns in the Bush-bucks
of Africa, and in some domestic Sheep as well as Oxen.

The presence of enormous canine tusks, three inches
long, would at first sight seem to be in favour of its rela-
tions with the Deer, because in the Muntjacs they are also
found. Nevertheless there is no « priori reason why these
formidable weapons should not be developed in a hollow-
horned ruminant : for, cropjjing up independently in genera
[.L 01- THE MisK [beeu]. ' ^<^' distant as tiie Deerlets, the Muntjacs, and the Water

Deer, why should they not do so in the Antelopes as well ?
The Musk is twenty inches in height, its ears large, and its tail rudimentary. Its hoofs are
small, b>it their spread is large, because of the yielding attachment of the false hoofs, as iir the
Reindeer. The coarse and brittle hair is grey and slightly brindled. Its habitat is Central Asia,
from the Himalaya Mountains to Pekin, at elevations above 8,000 feet.

" The Musk Deer," according to Captain Kinloch, " is a solitary and retiring animal ; it is
nearly nocturnal in its habits, remaining concealed in some thick bush during the daytime, and only
coming out to feed in the mornings and evenings. It frequents the highest parts of the forest, pre-
ferring the birch, i-hododendron, and juniper, and is almost always found alone, rarely in pairs, and
never in flocks. No animal seems more indifferent to cold, from which it is well protected by its thick
coat of hollow hair, which forms as it wei-e a sort of cushion, which acts as an insulatoi , and enables
the Deer to lie even on snow without much loss of animal heat. It is amazingly active and sure-
footed, bounding along without hesitation over the steepest and most dangerous ground. Its usual
food seems to be leaves and flowers, but the natives say that it will kill and eat Snakes."

* Mosclius 7nosrl,i/,.rus.

THE MUSK [DEEJi].

The value of the Musk perfume causes the animal to lie persecuted beyond measure. From
Cliardiii we leiirn that the hunters are obliged to cover tlie nose and mouth with liiien when removing
tlie scent-sac, to prevent pulmonary hemorrhage. "I ha\e," says he, "gained accurate information
respecting this circumstance, and as I have heard the same thing talked of by some Armenians
who had been to Boutan, I think that it is true. The odour is so powerful in the East Indies

i])port it, and when I trafficke
mv face, and at a distance fnn

tliat I could no

a handkerchief

by experienc? that this musk is very apt to s

quite recent. I adil that no drug is so easily ail

isk I always kept :
.Ikj handled the sac
s. and is altogethci
more a; it to be so."

THE GIK.VFFE.*

Apart from its unique proportions iind its size, the Giraffe presents ]io<uliaiitit>s in its
organisation which compel us to separate it from the Deer on the one hand, and tin- hollow-horned
ruminants on the other. In both these groups the appendages on the head, w liether de\elope:l as
antlers or as horns, are distinct prolongations from the forehead bones themselves. In the Giraffe, how-
ever, the three bony appendages, one msdian and two lateral, all covered with skin, instead of being
produced as outgi-owths from any portion of the skull, are separate and independent conical, bony
" processes " which stand upon the skull, capping roughened conical prominences destined to support
them. Neither are horns, like those of Sheep or Oxen, nor antlei-s like those of the Deer, ever found
upon these processes, a tuft of hair alone surmounting the lateral pair.

The neck of the Giraffe is longer than that of any other living animal, notwithstanding \\-hii-h it con-
forms to what, on account of its almost constant applicability, may be termed a law, namely, that theie
iire but seven vertebrre which go to form the neck of a mammalian animal. In tliis animal, such being
the case, each vertebra is very long, which makes the neck correspondingly .awkward and inflexible ;
-so that when the head is much earned to the side, the conformation and enumeration of the bones in
the cervical region is not a matter of any difficulty.

The Gu'affe is a native of Afri?a south of the Sahara. Most of the specimens which I'each Europe
in a living state are brought from Nubia and the north-east of the continent generally. The adult
male attains a height of sixteen feet, the female rarely exceeding fourteen feet. They live and have
bred well in captivity, although, as may bs readily imagined, they are most delicate, and require much
special care, particularly to prevent the .joints of their lengthy limbs from being injm-ed.

* CannhpardaHs <-iraffix.

y.iJUJLii. nuToE'i

M. Thibaut, wlio, in 1836, olitaiueil the first s
Gardens in Regent's Park, tells us that " the tirst
swiftest Horse, if unaccustomed to the desert,
could not come \ip with it unless with extreme
difficuit}'. The Arabs accustom tlieir coursers
to hunger and to fatigue ; milk generally serves
them for food, and gives them power to continue
theii' exertions during a very long run. If a
Giraffe reaches a mountain, it passes the height
with rapidity ; its feet, which are like [not
exactly in structure] those of the Goat, endow
it with the dexterity of that animal ; it bounds
over ravines with incredible power; Horses
cannot, in such situations, compete wilh it."

" The Giraffe eats with great delicacy, and
takes its food leaf by leaf, collecting them from
die trees by means of its long tongue. It rejects

ot the (tiiiIIl ili\, ^ !■ xho Zoohigical
tji" Gi- iHh 1^ \ceedii.gly rapid. Tlie

^^^^^l..

SKELETON

tae -anfortunate Girafle has no means of protecting itself
into a corner, it seldom resorts to tliis mode of defence."

thorns, and in this re.spect difi'ers from
the Camel. . . . It is extremely fond
of .societj', and. is veiy sensible. I have
observed one of them shed tears when it no
er saw its companions or the persons
were in the habit of attending it."
By Le A^aillant and other sportsmen
most gi-aphic accounts have been given of
tlie Ininting of the Girafte. Quoting from
( 'aptain Harris, we learn that " the
rapidity with which the awkwardly-formed
animals can move is beyond all things sur-
prising, our best Horses being unable to
close with them under two miles. Their
gallop is a succession of jumping strides,
the fore and hind leg on the same side
moving together instead of diagonally, as
in most otlier quadrupeds ; the former
being kept clo.se together, and the latter
so wide apart, that in liding by the ani-
mal's side the hoof may be seen striking

. on the outside of the Horse, threatening
momentarily to o^■erthl■ow him. . Their
motion, altogether, reminded me rather of
the pitching of a ship or rolling of a rock-
ing-horse, tlian of anything living ; and the
remai-kable gait is rendered still more
automaton-like by the switching, at regidai-
intei'\'als, of the long black tail, which is
invariably curled above the back, and by
the corresponding action of the neck,
swinging as it does like a pendulum, and
literally imparting to the animal the ap-
pearance of a piece of machinery in motion.
Naturally gentle, timid, and peaceable,

but with its heels ; but even when Ijemmed

CHAPTER IV.
THE CERVID^a:, OR ANTLEKED RU-MINANT.S: the elk, elaphi:

"B-ELAPHINE, AND KVSINE DEER.

The Deer Tribe— Distinguishing Characters— Exceptions to the rule— The Musk (Deer) and Chinese Water Deer— Other
Characters of the Cervidaj— Antlers, their Nature, Growth, and Shedding— The Knob—" Velvet "—Getting rid of the
"Velvet" — Full equipment — Contests— Interlocking Antlers— Distribution— Classification — Development of Antlers
in the Common Red Deer— Explanation of the various stages— Spleudid "Heads "—Simple and Complex Antlers—
Tyijes of Antlers— THE Elk, ok Moose Deer— Appearance— Antlers— Hdbits—Huntmg— The Elaphise Deek— The
Red Deer— Distribution— Appearance— Hunting- The Wapiti— Acting of the Fawns— The Persian Deer, ob
MaeAl— The Cashmerian Deer, or Bakasincha— Habits and General Appearance— Baebarv Deer— Scb-Elaphine
Deer— The Jap^u«e.se, Formosan, and Mantchurian Deer— The Fallow Deer— Peculiarity of its Antlers— The
Persi.vn Fallow Deer— The Rusine Deer— The Sambur, or Gekow— Habits— Species of Java, Formosa, Sumatra.
Borneo, Timor, Ternate, and the PhiUppines— The Hog Deer— The Axis Deer— Prince Alfred's Deer— The Swamp
Deer— Schoiibi'Rgk's Deer— Eld's Deer, or the Thamyn— Description— Habits— Hunting— Shameful havoc.

The Deer tribe, known scientifically as that of the Cervid.e, is more circumscribed, and therefore
better defined, than are the Bovid.e, or hollow-horned ruminants. Theii- best distinguishing
character is that Ln the males there is each year develojjed a pair of antlei-s which is shed at the end of
the season to be reproduced in the following spring. The females do not can-y antlers, except in the
case of the Reindeer, in which, although these elegant appendages are of the same form as in their
mates, they are constructed upon a much smaller scale. There are, however, one or two Deer in which
not even the males carry antlers, and these are the only members of the family with reference to
which there is any serious doubt on the subject of affinity. The Musk (Moschus moschi/erus) may
be taken as an example. In this pretty creature, which is more fully described on pages 42 — 3,
there are no antlers and no horns. Nevertheless, other peculiarities in its organisation have led
most naturalists to include it among the Cervida^, a position which is, however, so doubtful that it is
quite possible that it may be an aberrant member of the bovine section, as we have for several reasons
thought best to consider it.

A more certain Deer without antlers is the Water Deer cf China, the flesh of which has formed

an article of food among the natives of
Shanghai for yeai-s. This small Deer
has lengthy tusks, as has the Mu.sk
Deer, and nearly every member of the
family in which the antlers are diminu-
tive. Its very existence was not known
in Great Britain until the year 1 862,
when Mr. Swinhoe, then our consul at
Shanghai, described it, whicli shows
how ignorant we still may be of the
creatures which inhabit the mighty
Celestial Empire.

In most other respects the Deer
closely resemble the hollow-horned
luuiiiuiuts. Their complicated stomach
( Ices not differ from that of the Ox, and
their other organs are constructed upon
the same plan, except the liver, which,
like that of the Girafie, lacks a gall-
l>ladder, this reservoir being present in
nearly all the Bovidse. Theii- general
proportions are also much the same.
The Red Deer and the Fallow Deer are
those best known to most of us, as
both are to be found living in Great Britain, as is the Roebuck in the north of Scotland.

The nature, growth, and shedding of the antlers deserve special consideration. In the commence-
ment of the spring a pair of knobs is to be seen upon the forehe:\d of the adult male animal. This is

AXTIERS: TJIMIR NATUKE AXD GItOWTII.

47

covered witli a nearly smootli dark skin : and a scar can be detected in the middle of each, which in
that left b}- the antler of the year before, where it fell off".

As the weather becomes more propitious these knobs commence to grow, feel warm to the
touch, and are evidently filled with actively-circulating blood, supplied by special vessels which are
developed at the time. They do not increase regularly in all directions, for if they did the antler
would be a .sphere, but they sproxit out, as it may be termed, ax'ound the above-mentioned scar ; in
most cases there being one branch which takes a direction forward, whilst a second larger one makes
its way backward. These become, in the fully-formed antler, the brow antler and the main beam ;
and it is by other branches growing
upon the beam, according to definite
laws, different in different species, that
the elaborate complications of the fully-
developed structure are jiroduced.

As long as the antler, which is
composed of genuine bone of very dense
texture, is increasing in size, it will be
found to be covered with the same
warm black skin as is the knob from
which it sprang ; and as this skin is
covered with short, fine, close-set hair,
it has r'eceived the name of the "velvet."
It is this " velvet " which secretes the
bony texture of the antler from its
inner surface, just in the same way that
the outer covering (the periosteum) of
any long bone of the body is mainly
concerned in the formation of the bone
itself. As, also, in the same way, if
we seriously graze o\ir shins, and .scrape
off this covering, the bone exposed is
very apt to die, so in the Deer any mis
hap to the " velvet " injures the growtii
of the antler in the part affected. The
animals, therefore, during the time they
are " iii velvet " are more than usually
careful to protect their cranial appen-
dages, and are inoffensive even to
strangers.

When their antler-gro^^i,h has
ceased their natures change. The
" velvet " has performed its function

and dries into a parchment-looking membrane, to get rid of which the Deer adopt a very simple
method. They rub their antlers against any neighbouring trees, and force them into the soft
earth until there is none left, and the bare bone, with scarcely any trace of hollow in the middle
of it, is completely exposed. Now, in the glory of their full equipment, they go in search of others
of theii- kind, having iireviously maintained a comparative solitude. They try their strength by
butting at imaginary enemies, and choose their wives, unless prevented by others of their species
mightier than themselves, with whom, if faii-ly matched, they enter into the most fomiidable con-
tests, to win or to be driven from the herd with ignominy. During the.se contests the sound ot
then- battering antlers may be heard for considerable distances, whilst now and then, by accident,
they interlock themselves inextricably, and jierish both, as is attested by skulls so found, and to
be seen in more than one museum.

Looking upon the Deer generally, we find them inhabiting many parts of the world — Europe,

UISll ! E\KED

48 . KATUSAL HIHTORY.

Asia, and America. In Africa none occur souUi of tlie Saliara, they being there replaced by
members of the Bovine section of the order. None are found in Australia, and in Ame)-ica they
are far less common than in Great Britain. To understand the peculiar features and the distribu-
tion of the various species, it is necessary to classify them in groups of kindred genera, most falling
into sections which are distinguishable without difficulty.

In aiTanging the tUfTerent members of the Deer-tribe for description, there are peculiarities in
their outward conformation which agree with those internal differences upon which all correct notions
of relationship alone can be established. In classifying animals, naturalists must always be guided
bv the totality of the .structure of each member of each group ; but, as in describing them to those
who have not made the minute details of their organisation theii- special study it is impossible to
lay stress on all the various parts which have to be included by the student in an-iving at the desii-ed
result, those outward features only can be mentioned which are found to tally with their total
.structure, namely, their osteology, theii- visceral anatomy, and their nuiseular arrangement. As an
example of the relative importance of difierent external structures, we may mention that the late
T>r. J. E. Gray, in his Catalogue of the Ruminant Mammalia in the British Museum, gives the fol-
lowing arrangement of the genera, in which the length of the tail suggests one distribution of tlipui,
whilst the shape of the antlers is in favour of another, which is very different : —

Miintchurian Deer.

Antlers taproolinf

Red Deor and its near allies. Antlers elaplune i Jajjanese Deer.

I Fallow Deer.

Eld's Deer. )

Barasingha Deor. | \„tl ,• in in i Hog Deer.

Sehomburgk's Deer. .i.uieis ui=iue | Spotted A.xis.

Sambur and its near allies. J
Roebuck. )

Chinese Elaphure. J

This table is useful as a means of comparing the tails of the different genera ; but other points
of structure do not in the least support the classification suggested by that appendage, as a result
of which it has to be ignored in the consideration of distant affinities, although, where questions of
specific proximity are concerned, it is found to be of considerable value.

The antlers render much more tmstwoi-thy information in the determination and expression of
relationships ; and their cliuracterising features can be most readily grasped by having an ideal type
in the mind wherewith to comj)are all aberrant and comjilicated specimens. This ideal type may
be derived in one or other of two ways. The first of these is from the study of the antlers as they
are each year developed in any given kind of Deei-, commencing with its earliest age. For example,
in the Common Red Deer : in the spring of the year following its birth the antlers are nothing
more than straight, conical, and unbranched " beams," the animal being then known as a " Brocket."
In the following spring the antler has, besides the " beam," a small branch from its base, directed
foi-wards, known as the "brow antler;" it is then termed " Spayad." In the thii-d year an extra
front branch is formed, known as the " tres," and the whole antler is larger. This " tres " is
sometimes seen in the smaller antler of the Spayad. In the fourth year the brow-antler is doubled,
to form the " brow " and " bez-tyne," at the same time that the top of the main beam divides into
the " sur-royals " of the " Staggard," or four-year male. In the fifth year the sur-royals become more
numerous, the whole antler of the " Stag " being heavier than previously, only to be exceeded in
weight by those of the fully adult " Great Hart," with ten or more " points," each being larger and
longer than the year before. In Great Britain the conditions of life and the food are not of the
quality which develops first-rate antkre, fit the same time that it is — in Scotland, at least — the habit
to shoot those with the finest heads, and so leave the indifferent specimens to perpetuate their
species. In some of the ancient forests of G«nuany superb heads of the Red Deer are to be obtained,
whilst in several of the old castles of that country antler trophies are preserved as memorials of sport
in times gone by, with as many as six-and-sixty points. Lord Powerscourt has in his po.ssession a
pair wdth five-and-forty tynes.

The second way is from the study of the antlers of the species in which they are simple, m.

TyP£S OF ANTLERS.

49

compai-ison with those in wliich tlicy are partii-ularly complex, l)Oth methods as they ought to ilo,
leading to the same result. There are Deer — as, for example, the American Brockets, David's Dem-,
and Reeves' Muntjac — in which the antler is never more than a simple dag, like that of the "Brocket "
stage in the Red Deer. There are others witli never more than a single tyne besides the beam,
as instances of which may be mentioned the Indian Muntjac and the Huamel. Others, again — ami
these form an important section of the family — ai-e triply branched, as in the Spayad, the beam
bifurcating some distance above the brow-antler. As instaitces of these we find the Sambur Deer
of India, with its hn-ge and thu.s simple antlers ; the closely-allied Javan and Swinhoe's Deer ; the
Spotted Axis ; the Hog Deer, and the Roebuck.

We have now arrived at the stage in which the beam has bifurcated, and almost all the more
elaboi'ate forms resnlt from an excess in the development of both, or one or other, of the limbs of
this bifurcation. In the Deer known as Elaphine — because they more or less resemble the Red
Deer (Cervus elaphus) — the front of these two
branches (the " tres ") does not increase or be- ^
come complicated, whilst from the much-enlarged
hind one the numerous sur-royals spring in the
biggest species, such as the Wapiti, Cashmere,
Red, and Barbary Deer, as well as the Maral, of "
Per.sia. In the smaller species which follow this
type of structure the sur-royals are less developed,
at the same time that the brow-antler does not
-split in two to form a " bez " as well, examples of
which are to be seen in the Mantchurian, For-
mosan, and Japanese Deer, as well as in the
Fallow Deer and its newly-discovered ally from
Mesopotamia. These two last-named ditier also
in the " palmation " of their antlers — a peculiarity
referi-ed to further in the special description of the
species.

The accompanying outline diagram represents
the most important types of antlers, to one or
other of which those of almost every known Deer
tion, they may be named as follows : —

Fig. 1. — Kusine type. I

2. — Normal Rucervine tj-pe.

3. — Intermediate Rucervine type. |

(a) Brow-tyne. (k) Trcs-tync.

The Rusine tjqje (1), in which the brow-tyne (a) is simple, at the same time that the beam ends
in a simple bifurcation, is found in the Sambur Deer {Rusa Arisiotelis) of India. The Rucervine
tyiJe, in which the bifurcate beam is further subdivided, tends to be prolonged in the direction
of the tres-tyne (b), at the same time that there is a corresponding reduction of the royal (c).
In Schombiu-gk's Deer (Rucervus SehomhimjM) of Siam, both branches of the beam are equally
developed (2) ; in the Swamp Deer [Rucervus Duvcmcellt) of India (3), the tres (b) is larger
than the royal (c); whilst in Eld's Deer {Rucervus EM i) (4), of Burmah, there is but a small
snag (c) at the back of the enormous tres-tyne (b) to represent the royal. The Red Deer {Cervus
claphus) (6), besides having the brow-tyne (a) re-duplicated, has the i-oyal (c) developed at the
expense of the tres (b), and much divided up in well-grown animals. In the Japanese Deer {Cervus
siku) (5) and its allies the relative proportions of the tynes ai'e much the same, although the
brow-tyne (a) is .simple.

THE ELK, OR MOOSE DEER.*
The Elk, the largest of the family of the Cervida; in found in North America, Northern
Europe, and the coldest parts of Asia, thinly scattered in all but the first-named locality. At the

* Alces machlls.

Fig.

referred. To facilitate future descri

-Extreme Rucervine type.
-Sub-elaphine type.
-Elaphine type.
(c) Royal-tyno.

iiiiiiiiiNii n I III! ■■Ill or III niiiiiiiiiiMi iiiiiiiiiiiiiq|i

III II liiliiiiiiin ii|ii»»iiiffl »w/;/miiiriiii!i mi

THE YOUNG ELK.

slioulcler it may attain so great a height
la tlie male these appendages possess quite a

lis eight feet when adult. Tlie female
peculiar shape, the two together forming

is antler-
kind of 1>;

nn account of their being developed into huge palmated concave sheets of bony tissue, which diverge
latei-ally from the skull.

At nine months old the antlei-s first appear, not being more than straight and rounded dags in the
first year. They reach their full length in the fifth year, from which period for many more years
they incre;ise in breadth and weight, and add, it is said, a fresh point to their palmated margins
until the fourteenth, when the creature is considered quite adult.

52 NATVMAL SISTOST.

Tlie colour of the animal is a deep blackish-brown ; the neck is short and thick, with a peculiar
bob-shaped, jiendulous, and hair-covered lap of skin hanging down from its middle, just behind the
angles of the jaw. The limbs, especially the front ones, are long ; the tail is rudimentarj'. The
coat is formed of close-set harsh angular hair, which breaks when bent, produced into a mane upon
the neck and shoulders. Sir John Richardson gives the following account of the habits and food of the
Elk, with the mode of hunting it : — " In the more noithem parts the Moose Deer is quite a solitary
animal, more than one being very seldom seen at a time, unless during the rutting season or when
the female is accompanied by her fawns. It has the sense of healing in very gi-eat perfection, and
is the most shy and wary of all the Deer species, and on this account the art of Moose-hunting is
looked upon as the greatest of an Indian's acquirements, particulai-ly by the Crees, who take to them-
selves the credit of being able to instruct the himters of every other tribe. The skill of a Moose
hunter is most tried in the early part of the winter ; for during the summer the Moose, as well as
other animals, are so much tormented by Mosquitoes that they become regardless of the approach of
man. In the winter the hunter tracks the Moose by its footmarks in the snow, and it is necessary
that he should keep constantly to leeward of the chase, and make his advance with the utmost caution,
for the ru.stling of a withered leaf or the cracking ot a rotten twig is sufficient to alarm the watchful
beast. The difficulty of approach is increased by a habit which the Moose Deer has of making daily
a sharp turn in its route, and choosing a place of repose so near some part of its path that it can
hear the least noise made by one that attempts to track it. To avoid tliLs, the judicious hunter,
instead of walking in the animal's footsteps, forms his judgment from the appearance of the country
of the direction it is likely to have taken, and makes a circuit to leeward until he ng.iin finds the
track. This manoeuvre is repeated until he discovers by the softness of the snow, in the footmarks
and other signs, that he is very near the chase. He then disencumbers himself of everything that
might embarrass his motions, and makes his approach m the most cautious manner. If he gets close
to the animal's lair withoxit being seen, it is usual for him to bi-eak a small twig, which, alarming the
Moose, it instantly starts np, but not fully aware of the danger, squats on its hams and waits a minute
before setting oft'. In this posture it jiresents the faii-est mark, and the hunter's shot seldom fails
to take effect in a mortal jiart. In the rutting season the bucks lay aside their timidity, and attack
every animal that comes in then- way, and even conquer their fear of man himself. The hunter
then brings them within gunshot by scraping on the blade-bone of a Deer, and by whistling, which,
deceiving the male, he blindly hastens to the spot to assail his supposed rival. If the lumter faik
in giving it a mortal wound as it approaches, he shelters himself from its fury behind a tree, and
I have heard of several instances in which the enraged animal has completely stripped the bark from
the trunk of a large tree by striking with its fore-feet. In the spring time, when the snow is veiy
deep, the hunters frequently run down the Moose on snow-shoes, which give them immense advantage,
because the slender legs of the animal sink into the snow for theii- whole length each step they take,
■which makes their progress very slow."

The usual pace of the Moose is a high .shambling trot, and its strides are immense. On account
of then- necks being short at the same time that their legs are long, they browse upon the liushes
rather than on the ground, which they find difficulty in reaching with their mouths.

THE ELAPHINE DEER.*
This group is characterised by the presence of a bez-tyne in all its nien\bers — except that
under the influence of protracted bad nutrition individuals resident in liarren parts may lose
it — whilst the tres-tyne is small, and the third main branch of the antler splits up into several
snags, sometimes arranged in the form of a cup. The deep brown coat is varied by a conspicuous
light, almost white patch upon the rump, in which the uncovered rudiment of a tail is included.
All the species are large, the best knovvTi to us being

THE RED DEER, f
This species is a nntive of the British Isles and many parts of Europe. Northern specimens
* The restricted genus Cervua. + Certus daphne.

I

^*;, /:

RED DEER,

54 XATURAL HISTOItY.

are much the smaller, and carry far inferior antlers, those of South Germany and Hungary possessing
heads worthy of the species. In England they are still to be found wild in Exmoor Forest,
in Scotland north of the Forth and Clyde ; and in Ireland about Killarney, Comiemara, and Erris.

A well-grown Stag stands over four feet at the withers, with a thickly-coated neck of a
greyish tint, a rich red-brown body-colour, uniformly curved symmetrical antlers, and head held

EER IN WINTER.

high. The Stag in summer is a lordly creature. In winter its coat is longer and of a greyer
tint. As is the case in allied species, and all Ijut a few of the Rusine Deer, the new-born calves
are brilliantly .spotted with white.

The pairing season Occupies the early part of October. The calves are born at the end of May or
the beginning of June ; whilst the Stags drop their antlers between the end of February and the earlier
days of April, the youngest latest. Up till the age of twelve the animal continues to increase in bulk
and .strength, and it is highly probable that they do not ever much outlive twenty years, although
superstition credits them with very many more.

THE n-AriTi.

KEIl DEER FIGHTING

It is towanls the end of An^ii^t oi the be^iiimii,, ol Septembei tint the well-nourished Stags,
having already cleared then xntlei-i jfthiu \el\et lexve then letiienient, and with swollen necks
as well as restless mien, seek out the hinds Duunu; the lutting season, which lasts about three
weeks, they eat but little,
and lose weight rapidly,
to be regained in the
subsequent repose upon
the summer - developed
foliage. In the southern
counties of Great Britain
the hunting of the Stag
has degenerated into
the repeated chase of a
few individuals, de-
prived of their ant h is.
-and let out of Imxis
shortly before the spi.nts
men put in an appear-
ance; whilst long-ranged
rifles have reduced the
difficulties of what not
many years ago — more
especially in Scotland —
was a form of sport
which very severely taxed the physical capacities of the most determined and courageous.

The Wapiti, the Persian, the Cash.merian, and the Barbary Deer reseml)le the Red
Deer in almost every detail except size, the first and second being considerably larger. Their antlers
all branch in the same manner, except that the proportionate sizes of some of the snags are apt
to vary. Superb heads of Wapiti are numerous in Great Britain, with their brown beams and white
burnished tips.

The Wapiti is kept in confinement without difficulty, although m autumn the stags become
savage. Its home is the woodlands and the mountains of North America, where it is generally
incorrectly called the " Elk." Stalking the species is a common sport, but there is not so much
interest associated with it as with Moose-stalking, because it is a more stupid creature, and its
senses are less acutely developed. When started, a herd will make off" for a short distance, and
.stop to recognise the source of danger before continuing its flight. Its food is mostly leaves of
trees and shrubs, though it frequently eats grass and weeds. Dr. J. D. Caton, of Ottawa, Illinois,
who has had much experience in the preserving of American Deer, has published many interesting
details with regard to this species. Among others he mentions, with reference to the young, that
" the most prominent instinct of the young fawn is that of deception. I have several times come
across fawns evidently but a few hours old, left by the mother in supposed security. They affect
death to perfection, only they forget to shut their eyes. They lie without a motion, and if you pick
them up they are as limp as a wet rag, the head and limbs hanging down without the least muscular
action, the bright eye fairly sparkling all the time." The venison is excellent ; it Ls said to be more
nutritious than any other meat.

The Persian Deer, or Maral, differs from the Cashmerian Deer but little. Its head, however, is
longer and more pointed.

The Cashmerian Deer, or Barasingha, again, is hardly distinguishable from the Wapiti. Pro-
fessor Leith Adams remarks, with reference to it, that " the Cashmere forests seem the head-quarters
of this species on the western ranges, for it is seldom, if ever, met with between Mussouree and the
Vale of Cashmere. The dense forests and fertile valleys of the latter country are particularly inviting
to this species. In habits and general appearance the Cashmere Stag bears a striking resemblance
to the Bed Deer. Although it is seldom, nowadays, that individuals of the latter species escape

56 NATURAL HISTORY.

the hunter so long as to attain the size ami magnitude of the Barasiugha [twelve points], yet I tliinls;
it will be found that the Iiorns of those killed in the forests of Scotland in former years are e(jual in
size to any at present met with in Cashmere. It is in the dense pine forests on the Northern Pinjal,
and in the many beautiful valleys among these ranges, that we find the species most abundant.
There are very few on the southern ranges. In the secluded depths of these sohtudes they lie all
day, to issue forth at dusk and feed on the grassy hill-sides, or descend even into the Valley of
Cashmere when forced by the snows of winter. An adult Stag averages thirteen liands in height.

The colour of the coat varies but little in the sexes or the seasons of the year ; dark liver-colour, with
reddish patches on the inner sides of the hips ; belly and lower parts white, or a dii'ty white. The
male has the hair on the lower part of the neck long and shaggy (wanting in the female) ; the horns
large, and usually very massive, with from ten to fifteen or more points, according to age (the largest
pair of horns I have measured were four feet round the curves, with six and seven points). Tliey are
shed in March ; and the new horn is not completely formed until the end of October, when the
rutting season commences, and the loud bellowings of the Stags are heai'd all over the mountains.
Dtiiing vigorous winters they are frequently driven to seek for shelter and food around the villages in
the valleys, when many are destroyed by natives, who hunt them with Dogs. The Cheetahs, Wild
Dogs, and Boars are said to kill the young."

The very similar Barbary Deer is most interesting, in that it is the only member of the Cervina
gi'oup which is found in Africa.

TUE FALLOW DEER.

THE SUB-ELAPHINE DEER.*
The Japanese, Formosan, and Mantchurian Deek are all species allied to those just described,
but differing in being smaller in size, at the same time that the antlers conform to the sub-elaphiue
type, in which the bez-tyne is never present, and the sur-royals are but inconsiderably branched.
They are all strongly spotted in their summer dress, which, especially in the Mantchurian — the
largest of the species — is most brilliant. In the winter their coats are nearly uniform, and of a dark
brown colour. A fawn-red is the groundwork of the summer coat, the spots being yellowish-white,
whilst a black streak, in perfect contrast, runs the whole length of the middle of the back, continuing

down the tail and expanding slightly at its base. The throat is white. The sombre winter coat
is a nearly uniform dark red-bi-own.

The Fallow Deer (Bama vulgaris), so well known on account of its being preserved in a semi-
domesticated state in so many English parks, has antlers constructed upon the same plan as those of
the Mantchmian Deer (sub-elaphine). These, however, present special peculiarities found in none
of the allied species, for they are palmated in their upper parts, in the region of the sur-royals, the
digitations or terminal points being developed along the convex posterior margins of the palmated
surfece. The Ijuck is about three feet high at the shoulder. The head is short and. broad, the tail
between seven and eitjlit inches long. The colour of the wild animal, both buck and doe, is a rich
yellowish-brown in summer, spotted with white all over. In winter the tints are more sombre and
gTeyish. Domestic varieties vary immensely, both in the distinctness of the spotting and the genei-al
colouration. Until six years of age the buck receives a separate name each year from sportsmen
* Tlie genera Pneitdaxis aud Dama.

6« NATURAL EISTOSY.

■ — fawn, pricket, sorrel, soare, buck of the first lead, and buck complete, being the teniis employed—
the antlers not being developed at all in the fawn, being simple snags in the jiricket, with two front
brimches in the sorrel, with slight palmation of the extremity 'of the beam in the soare, and the
whole antler lai-ger and larger until the sixth year. The venison of the Fallow Deer is fatter than
that of the Red Deer, and is preferred by mcst.

Tlie species is not a native of Britain, having most certainly been introduced, although exactly

RVSINE DEER.

when is not known. The dark-coloured and more hardy breed was brought from Norway by James L
Its true wild habitat was probably the shores of the Mediterranean Sea, both north and south.

The Persian Fallow Deer,* so closely related to the species just referred to that they breed
together, was made known to us in 1875 by Sir Victor Brooke, who described it from speci-
mens sent to England by Mr. Robertson, the British Vice-Consul at Busrah. It resembles the
Common Fallow Deer ill almost every detail, except that it is slightly larger, and that the antlers
are not the same. As stated above, in the Common Fallow Deer the antlers, whilst developed on
the sub-elaphine type, are palmated in the region of the royals, with several snags projectuig from
the upper margin, at the same time that the lower portion of the beam, the tres, and the brow-
tynes are cylindrical, as usually is the case in other species.

Da»

mcsopotan

TEE AXIS SEES. 69

In the Persian Fallow the i>alination at tlie extremity of the antlers is much less conspicuous,
and scarcely exists, although many snags are present there, directed upwards. The palmation is at
the bases of the antlers instead, including the brow-tyne and the beam, so that the genei-al appearance
of the antlei-s is quite peculiar to the species.

THE RUSINE DEER.*

The Sambur, or Gerow {Rusa Aristotelis), of India, is found abundantly in all the hill-
districts of that country. It is nearly five feet high, of a deep brown colour, with the hair of the
neck developed almost into a mane. The tail is of fair length. Its build is massive, as are its antlere,
which present three powerful points, and reach over three feet in length. Above the considerable
brow-tyne the beam bifurcates high up into two fairly equal snags, and no more in well-grown antlers.
The hind is much less massive, and of a yellowLsh tint. Captain Kinloch says of the species that
" Sambur delight in stony hills, where there is plenty of cover, and where they can have easy
access to water. They browse more than graze, and are nearly nocturnal in their habits. During
the daytime they seek the most .shady retreats, and old Stags especially are most difficult to find,
frequently betaking themselves to almost inaccessible places, where the uninitiated would never
dream of looking for them. The experienced hunter, indeed, has frequently to depend moi-e upon
fortune than his own knowledge of woodcraft." In Java an almost identical species diffei-s mostly
in having the hinder of the two branches of the beam of the antler longer than the one in front.
Swinhoe's Deer from Formosa is also almost indistinguishable, at the same time that Sumatran and
Bornean specimens agree with it in being particularly dark in colour.

Three smaller species, with antlers branched in exactly the same manner, are found in the islands
of Borneo, Timoi-, Ternate, and the Philippines.

The Hog Deer of India and Ceylon is not bigger than the Roebuck although the legs are
shorter and the body heavier. Its antlers consist of a brow-tyne and bifurcate beam, of which
the posterior tyne is short, and turned inwards ; they rarely exceed a foot and a half in lengtTi.
It is of a uniform dark brown colour, rarely spotted indistinctly with white. Their- name is
derived from the pig-like way in which they run, with theii- heads low, when pursued.

The Spotted Hog Deer is a rare species, of a slightly lighter colour, and with pale yellow .spots.

The Axis Deer of India, sometimes called the Cheetal, resembles the Fallow Deer in size
and colouration most closely, although its antlers serve to show that its true relations are quite
different. These latter are not palmated at all, and are quite rusine in tyjie, presenting the three
points characteristic of them, the front tyne of the bifurcate beam being of great length. There is
a beauty in the intensity of the spotting of the coat of this species which is unequalled by any
other member of the Cervidse, and it is interesting to know that according to the universal testi-
mony of sportsmen, the effect of sunlight through foliage so much resembles it that it is almost
impossible to recognise the animal in the woods. They have a reputation for being indolent, as they
feed during the night, and sleep throughout the day, frequenting the heavy grass jimgles along the
banks of rivers. Their cry is a shi-ill bark at the approach of danger. The accompanying figure (see
Plate 26), drawn from a specimen in captivity, gives an excellent idea of the immense length attained
by the antlers, which in this particular case are blunt-tipped, because not quite fully grown. Tho
hinder tyne on the right side, it will be noticed, is almost entirely hidden in the hair of the flank.

Prince Alfred's DEER,t about the size of the Fallow .Deer, was first described by Dr. Sclater
from a specimen brought from the Philippine Islands by the Duke of Edinburgh in 1870. Its glossy
coat is of a rich chocolate colour, covered with pale yellow spots ; a broad line along the back, as in
all spotted Deer, being iminterrupted ; the under parts are of a jjale yellow. The antlers are only
nine inches in length, but comparatively thick, and simply branched upon the rusine type, with three
points. The legs are rather short, at the same time that the body is heavy.

The Swamp Deer. J The name Barasingha, signifying "twelve points," is applied to two
very different species of Indian Deer, the Cashmerian Deer, previously mentioned, and the Swamp
Deer.

The Swamp Deer of India and Assam is slightly smaller than the Sambur, not exceetling foui
* The genus iJ«sa and its allies. t Rusa Alfredi. J Rucervus DuvauceUi.

XATURAL HISTURY.

feet in lieiglit. Its colour is a ricli jiglit yellow. As its name signifies it delights in moist situations,
where it congregates in herds of great numbers. • Its antlers are large, and of the intermediate
rucervine type. The brow-tynes reach a foot in length, and ai'e directed forwards with an upward
tui-n at their tips. The beam is long, and branches into an anterior, massive, and branched continu-
ation of itself, as well as a posterior smaller bifurcate tyne.

In Siam this species is replaced by the closely-allied Schomburgk's Deer, a little-known species,
in which the antlers are extremely elegant, the long brow-tyne being followed by a shoit beam which
bifurcates into two equal branches, these again, each of them, bifurcating in a similar manner.

Eld's Deer, or the Thamyx.* This Deer, which differs from the Swamp Deer only in
its antlers, was discovered by Captain Eld, in 1838. It abounds in the swamp lands of Burmah,
and extends as far east as the Island of Hainan. Its form is slimmer than that of the Red Deer,
at the same time that it is somewhat smaller, attaining a height of over four feet. During the summer
months its body-colour is a light rufous brown, with a few faint indications of white spots. Its under
parts are nearly white, as are the insides of the hairy eai-s. Its tail is short, and black above. In
winter its lengthy hail- takes on a darker tint.

Lieutenant R. C. Beavan has given an excellent account of the habits of Eld's Deer, from which
we learn that their food must consist almost entirely of grass and paddy, which gi-ow both cultivated
and wild, in the swamps in which they dwell. " In habits they are very wary and difficult of
approach, especially the males. They are also very timid, and easily startled ; the males, however,
when wounded and brought to bay with Dogs, get very savage and charge vigorously. On being
disturbed they invariably make for the open, instead of resorting to the heavy jungle like Hog Deer
and Sambur. In fact the Thamyn is essentially a plain-loving species ; and, although it will fre-
quent tolerably open tree-jungle for the sake of its shade, it will never venture into dense or matted

* Ruccrvus Ehli.

THE MVNTJACS. 61

underwood. . . . When first started tlie pace of tlie Thamyn is gi-eat. It eomniences by giving
three or four large bounds like the Axis or Sjjotted Deer, and afterwards settles down into a long
trot, which it will keep up for six or seven miles on end when frequently disturbed." As to the
means employed to hunt them, the same author informs us that " a large number of men would
assemble from the neighbouring villages, and gradually encircle three or four moderate-sized herds
with long strings, upon which plantain-leaves were tied so iis to flutter in the wind. The circle,
originally formed at some distance, was gi-adually lessened as the Deer, afraid to pass the scarecrows,
got gradually driven together, until they were completely surrounded and at the mercy of the hunters.
The object was to get them into a corner near the heavy jmigle, into which, if they attempted to run,
they either became entangled, or allowed their pursuers to get up quite close. As many as a hundred
and fifty to two hundred, my informant tells me, he has himself seen killed in one battue in former
years. To such a length was this [shameful] system carried, and such enormous havoc was thereby
created, that the Burmese Government, fearing the species would be utterly exterminated, wisely put
a stop to the practice."

CHAPTER V.

THE MUNTJACS-THE ROEBUCK— CHINESE DEER— REINDEER— AMERICAN DEER—

DEEREETS— CAMEL TRIBE— LLAMAS.

The Muntjacs— Distribution— Characters— The Indian Muntjac, or Kidang- Hunting— The Chinese Mvntjac -
Habits— David's Muntjac— "Shanyang"— The Roebuck— The Chinese "Water Deer— Peculiarity— Chinese
Superstition regarding it— The Chinese Elaphure— Peculiarity of its Antlers— The Reindeer -Distribution—
Character— Colouration— Antlers— Canadian Breeds— Food— The American Deer— The Virginian Deer— The
Mi'LE Deer— The Black-tailed Deer— The Giazus— The Brockets— The Venada, or Pudu Deer— The
Chevrotains, or Deerlets — Antlerless — Their Position — Bones of their Feet— General Form and Proportions —
Species— The Meminna, or Indian Deerlet— The Javan Deerlet— The Kanchil— The Stanlevan Deerlet
—The Water Deerlet— THE CAMEL TRIBE-Their Feet-Stomach-Its Peculiarity-The Water Cells-THE
(Tbue) Camel— Description— The Pads of Hardened Skin— Its Endurance- Its Disposition— Anecdote of its Revenge-
ful Nature— The Bactrdin Camel— The LLiVMAS—Description— Habits— Used as Beasts of Burden— Wild and
Domesticated Species— The Huanaco— The Llama— The Vicuna- The Alpaca— The Alpaca Industry- FOSSIL
KUMINANTIA— Strata in which they are found— Chceropotamus—ffi/opotamus—DiclMbune—Xiphodon—Cainotfimum
—Oreodon—Sivatheriuin—'Fossil Deer, Oxen, Goats, Sheep, Camels, Llamas, Antelopes, Giraffes— The Irish Elk— Its
huge Antlers— Its Skeleton— Ally— Distribution.

THE MUNTJACS.*
The Mimtjacs form a group of small and elegant Deer found in India, Bnrmah, China, the
Malay Peninsula, and the large islands of the ludo-Malay Archipelago. They ditfer from all other
members of the family in that their diminutive antlers are supported on lengthy bony pedestals,
covered with a hairy skin much like the horn-processes of the Girafle. Most, also, have a pair- of
elongated longitudinal ridges between the eyes, within the folds of which small glands are situated,
at the same time that there is a dai-k crest of retroverted hair, tending to the shape of a hoi-seshoe,
upon the forehead. In the males the ujiper canine teeth develop into tusks, which project ex-
teraally some way below the lip, though not so far as in the Musk, forming efficient instruments
of attack.

The Indian Muntjac, or Kidang, is the best known species. Its antlers attain a larger size
than those of any of the others, although they are not more than four inches long, composed of an
undivided beam, at the base of which there is a diminutive brow-tyne. Its size is slightly less than
that of the Roebuck, its colour uniformly foxy red-brown, with the throat, hind part of abdomen, and
under surface of tail white. A black line runs up the inner side of each antler-pedestal of the male,
instead of formijig the frontal horseshoe of the female.

Dr. Horsfield tells us that in Java, where it is much hunted, " the Muntjac selects for its retreat

* The genus Ccrvulus.

62 NATURAL HISTORY.

certain districts, to wliich it forms a peculiar attachment, and which it never voluntarily deserts.
Many of these are known as the favourite resort of the animal for several generations. They consist
of moderately elevated grounds, diversified by ridges and valleys, tending towards the acclivities of

the more considerable mountains, or approaching the confines of extensive forests The

Muntjac has a strong scent, and is easily tracked by Dogs. When pursued it does not go ofi", like
the Stag, in any accidental direction ; its flight, indeed, is very swift at first, but it soon relaxes, and
taking a circular course, returns to the spot from which it was started. After several cii-cular returns,
if the pursuit be continued, the Kidang thrusts its head into a thicket, and in this situation remains
fiyed and motionless, as if in a place of security, and regardless of the approach of the sportsman."

In China the Mun^jacs are smaller than tho.se of India and Java ; their antlers are less

develoi^ed at the same time that the tint of their coats is less rufous, and the neck is not white.
They were first described by Mr. Ogilby under the name of Reeves' Muntjac, a larger form having
been more recently discovered by M. A. Milne-Edwards and Mr. Swinhoe. With reference to
its habits the last-named naturalist tells us tliat " this species affects the low ranges of hills
which are covered with long, coarse gi-ass and tangled thicket. It is there usually found in small
herds, basking in the sun, or lying in hidden lairs. They are very seldom approached near, except
by stealth. The least noise startles them, and they dash away with bounds through the yielding
grass, occasionally .showing their rounded backs above the hei-bage. They have, however, their
regular creeps and passes through the covert, near which the natives lie when stalking them, while
others drive them. The little startled creatures hurry from danger along these beaten tracks, and
are then picked off with the matchlock." In captivit}' they soon become very docile, even when taken
in the adult state. Tlie flesh of this animal is very tender and palatable.

The enterprising missionary Pere David, among his numerous discoveries in Chinese zoology,
sent from Moupin, in Western China, to Paris, skins of a peculiar Muntjac, which is of special
interest. Having canine tu.sks, a black frontal hairy hoi'seslioe, and the pi'oportions of a Muntjac
generally, its antlers are not more than an inch long, at the same time that their pedestals are

THE EOEBIVK 63

correspondingly reduced in length as well as tliickness. Its liody-colour is mouse-lirown, verging on
grer, whilst the hairy covering is coarse. It may be called David's Muntjac.

Very shortly after the above-mentioned skins arrived at Paris, Mr. Michie, of Shanghai, for-
warded to Mr. Swinhoe in England another specimen from Ningpo, which, although derived so far
esist of Moupin, is almost indistinguishable from that belonging to the latter district. The animal is
there known as the " Shanyang," or Wild Goat. It is an undoubted Muntjac, although peculiar in
not possessing the glands on tlie forehead found in the more common specie.s.

THE KOEBUCK.*
This olegjmt, small, and almost tailless Deer is, like the Eed Deer, a native of Great Britain,
as well as of all Northern Europe and Asia below the line of perpetual snow. In Asia the indi-
viduals attain a greater size than in Europe. The adult Roebuck stands a little over two feet hio-h

Ror.iacK : male, fimale, axd yui

at the shoulder. Its colour is a dark reddish-brown in summer, becoming yellowish-grey in the cold
weather. There is a large patch of white on the rump. Tlie antlers, which are peculiarly near
together at their bases, rarely exceed a foot in length, possessing three points, the rugose iinbranched
beam continuing from the considerable burr for half a foot unbranched ; then bifurcating fore and
aft, the posterior branch again bifurcating. The destruction of the forests throughout Britain has
driven the Roebuck farther north, till now it is most common in the north of Scotland, although it
still survives in the woods of Westmoreland and Cumberland. Its disposition is wild, shy, and
cautious. Its favourite resort is the thick imderwood of forests, living singly or in small companies
of a pair with their young, which latter — contrary to what we find in the case of most other Deer
— are two or three in number. Its venison makes very indifferent food.

THE CHINESE WATER DEER.+
This is an entirely isolated small species, not bigger than an Indian Muntjac, discovered by
Mr. Swinhoe, in which there are no antlers, the canine teeth of the upper jaw being developed into
immense tusks which project downwards, as in the Musk and Muntjacs. The legs are short, and

Cajireolus cnprc

t Hydropotes inermis.

to5 NATURAL HISTORY.

the body lengthy. The body-colour is a light red-brown all over. There is no tuft of hair on
the head as in the Muntjacs, to which by some it might be imagined to be allied. From Mr.
Swinhoe's account of the species we leam that " In the large riverine islands of the Yangtsze,
above Chiukiang, these animals occur in large numbers, living among the tall rushes that
ai-e there grown for thatching and other purposes. The rushes are cut down in the spring; and
the Deer then swim away to the main shore and retire to the cover of the hills. . . . For-
tunately for the Deer, the Chinese have an extraordinary dislike for their flesh. I could not ascer-
tain why ; but it must be from some strange superstition, as the Celestials are otherwise pretty
omnivorous. Tlie Deer are killed only for the European markets [of Shanghai], and sold at a low

|irice. Their venison is coarse, and without much taste The Chinese at Shanghai call

this animal the Ke, but at Cliinkiang they are named Chang — the classical term for the Muntjac."

CHINESE M \TER DEER

THE CHINESE ELAPHURE.*

ThLs most interesting Deer was discovered in 1865 by tlie indef;itigable French naturalist, M.
Armand David. In his account of the animal. Dr. Sclater f tells us that M. David first observed
it whilst looking over the wall of the Imperial Hunting-park at Pekin, to which no European is
allowed admission. There it is found in a semi-domesticated state, its native place probably being
Eastern Mantchuria. In 1869, Sir Eutherford Alcock succeeded in sending a living pair to
England, which were exhibited for some time in the London Zoological Gardens, and from which
much information has been obtained with reference to their habits. It resembles the Swamp Deer of
India (Rucervus Duvaucelli) in its proportions and size, standing nearly four feet at the shoulder.
The legs are somewhat heavy and the feet expanded, but it is in its antlers that tliB Elaphure is quite
different from any other Deer. They are represented in the accompanying engra\ang, from which
the abrupt ascent of the beam, with an enormous back-tyne arising from the lower end, and no
brow-tjaie, may be most clearly seen. The beam branches higher n\^, but its furcations follow none
of the ordinary rules of cervine antler-gi-owth.

Tlie body-colour of the animal is light and rufous, paler on the under parts. A black
line luns some way down the back, being most conspicuous at the shoulders. The tail is not
longer than in the Fallow Deer, and is haiiy at the tip. Mr. Swinhoe tells us that the Chinese
name is Sze-poo-seang, which signifies " like none of the four "- — to wit, the Horse, the Cow, the Deer,
or the Goat.

* Ehphurus Daridkinm. + TraMadims of the Zoological Society, Vol. VIL p. 333.

CHINESE ELAPHUEE.

NATURAL HISTORY.

THE EEINDEER.*
The Reindeer, which differs from all its allies in that the females carry antlers as well as the
males, fonns so important an element in the social economy of the Laplanders that more has been
-ivritteu on its habits than of any other species of the family. It is found distributed throughout
the Arctic regions of Eiu-ope, Asia, and America, extending farther south in the last-named of these
in the same way as the isothermal line of 32° Fahr., as might be expected from the relation
borne by its economy to its temperature. In Spitzbergen, Finland, and Lapland it attains the

LAri' ENC'AMrMEXT.

greatest size, being inferior in strength and stature in Norway and Sweden. In Iceland it has been
introduced and thrives. The Caribou is the name by which it goes in the New World, where it
extends throu,i(h Greenland, Canada, and NewfoiUKlland. The horns of the American vaiiety differ
from those of the Old World so much that it is not difficult to recognise tlieir origin ; nevertheless,
attempts which have been made to establish the sjiecific difference of the two forms \\axe not found
much favour with naturalists generally.

The animal, with a characteristic deer-like form, is ])owerfully built, with short limbs and heavy
neck. The feet have the false hoofs well developed, while the iissure between the median toes is
so much extended upwards, and the ligaments which bind them together are so loose, that their
hoofs spread out considerably when pressed upon the ground, and so increase the surface for
support upon the yielding snow — theii- most frequent foothold. Upon rai.smg the limbs in rapid
action these hoofs make a sharp snap at the moment when they close together.
* Rangifer tarandus.

GS XATURAL HISTORY.

Individuals vary much in tint as well as with the season. Some are entirely wliite, whilst in
winter the coat is always lighter than in summer. Deep bi-own is the prevailing tint, and there
is generally a band of white above each hoof. As in the- Elk — another Arctic ruminating animal —
the muffle of the nose is covered with hair, and is not moist. The fur is of two sorts — an outer
covering of longer, harsh, brittle hah-, and an undercoat of closely-matted and much finer, wool-like
texture, which serves as an excellent protection against the inclement temperature, and makes the
skins so valuable for articles of clotliing in the Arctic regions.

The antlers are strikingly large for the size of their owners. Although they vary considerably
in detail, the general plan of their construction is always the same, agreeing with that of the Vir-
ginian Deer and the Barasuigha. As in the Wapiti and Red Deer, the brow-antlers on each side are,
however, re-duplicated, so that a bez is present. This, as well as the brow-tyne, is biunched, or
palmated, wherein it is peculiar ; and further, in the Caribous one of the brow-tynes is generally
jiborted, in order to allow of the gi-eat development of its fellow of the opposite side into a palmated
triangle, flattened from side to side, dii-ected straight forward in the middle line of the head, and
jxttached by its apex to the beam. The function of this share-like expansion in the economy of the
jinimal can hardly be other than to remove the snow which covers its favourite food, each move-
ment of the lowered head from side to side effecting this result. The beam is lengthy, curved boldly
upwards and forwards, with a small snag at the back, about half-way from each end. Its
■extremity is branched and often palmated, much like the horns of the Fallow Deer. The beam may
reach a .length not more than three inches less than five feet. In the females the same 2)lan of
structiu-e of the antlers exists as in the males. They are considerably smaller in every respect, more
slender, and scarcely palmated, if at all so.

The Woodland Caribou and the BaiTrn-cniuud Carilwu are the names given to a larger and
A smaller breed in Canada. Both are Inintcd by tlie Indians for their flesh as well as for their
hides, the venison obtained from the latter Ijeiiii; lield in high estimation. The pounded meat, when
mixed with melted fat, is known as pemmican. The tongue is estrcined a great delicacy.

Tlie Reindeer, from the nature of the country it inhabits, is coiripclled to lead &, migratory life,
in which the natives of Lapland, who have to depend entirely I'oi- their sustenance on the animal, have
to participate. Troops of them during tlie winter months reside in the woods, feeding on the
lichens that depend from boughs of the trees, as well as on those that grow upon the ground
beneath. In the spring they repair to the mountains in order to escape the swarms of stinging
Gnats and Gad-flies which infest the air, and inflict wounds in the skin of most serious severity.

THE AMERICAN DEER.

In America there are several species of Deer which differ considerably from those of the Old
World. In our remarks on these animals we will not include among them the Wapiti and the Elk :
the Wapiti, because it is nothing but a large representative of the Red Deer of Great Bi-itain ;
the Elk, because it stands very much by itself, at the same time that it is found in the Arctic
Old World as well as in America^ We ourselves think that the Reindeer conforms to the American
type of structure, and have therefore described it in relation with the New World Deer, although most
authors class it not far from the Elk.

None of the typical Deer of America attain any considerable size, and their antlers are decidedly
small when contrasted with those of the Old World. The species which will be first described is
the Virginian Deer, which is the " Common " Deer of North America, and is slightly smaller than
the Fallow Deer. Its colour is imiform, being of a reddish-yellow in summer and light grey in
winter. The individual members of the species are small in Mexico, and get larger as they live more
north. The antlers belong to the extreme rucervine type, their beams turning outwards and forwards
in a very characteristic manner, with several points directed upwards from their convex border. The
bi-ow-tyne is short and pointed upwards instead of forwards. Tlie tail is nearly a foot and a half in
length. In disposition it is timid and wild, and is therefore domesticated with difficulty. Its flesh
was in times gone by one of the staple articles of food of the aborigines. Audubon and other
authors have described in detail the various modes employed in capturing these Deer, including the
" still himt," "jack hunt," " fire hunt," &c., according to the nature of the country.

THE AMEUICAN DEER. 69

Tlie Mule Deer and tlie Black-tailed Deer are not far distantly related North American
species. The former is slightly larger than the Vii-ginian and of a heavier build. Its tail is short,
tufted, and white ; its colour a dark gi-ey in winter, dull yellow in summer. Its name was suggested
from its lengthy ears. The latter is smaller, and has shorter legs. Its colour is tawny grey, the
short tail black above iind white below. Of both these species the antlers difter from the Virginian
Deer in detail, only the brow tyne of the Black-tailed species being rudimentary, at the same time
that the snags on the convex margin of the beam spring from a single stem instead of independently.
In the Mule Deer they are smaller and less branched. Lord Walsiiigham, in writing of them, remarks,
*' They api)ear to frequent the thick willow clumps and other brushwood bordering the streams and
swamps. They were extremely difficult to distinguish among the foliage, and remarkably quick when
alarmed. As they bound off over loga and fallen trees, or dash through the thicket, they have a habit
of swnging their Inroad white tails with a conspicuous flourish, which becomes annoying to a sports-
man, to whom they never afford anything but a snap shot, which is very apt to fail."

The GuAZUS are small South American Deer with large ears and short tails, in which the antlers
want the brow tyne, and have the beam branched in almost exactly the same way as Schomburgk's Deer
when not quite full grown. The Guazuti, one of them, is not more than two feet six inches in height.

The Brockets are equally small, with minute antlers of a most simple form — whence the name —
they being unbranched and shelving backwards. The colour of the fur in the Guava Viva and Brazi-
lian Brocket is pale brown, and shining red-brovro in the Bed Brocket and the Eyebrowed Brocket.

The Venada, or Pudu Deer, is not bigger than Reeves' Muntjac or a Hare. Its colour is
led-brown, and it has minute antlers, not far separated from one another. It inhabits the western
coast of South America.

THE CHEVROTAINS, OR DEERLETS.*
It is not until within the last few years that naturalists have separated off from the true
Deer a group of diminutive animals which look like them in miniature, but are entirely destitute
of antlers. These little creatures, known as Chevrotains, for which we take the liberty of coining
the name Deerlets, were placed together with the Musk into a single section, characterised by the
fact that the males possess large tusks situated in the upper jaw, which project downwards, and
are conspicuous even when the mouth is fully closed, gi-ooving the lower lip on each side. Now,

* TraquUda.

70 NATURAL BISTORT.

however, tliey are entirely separated off from the Deer and Ox tribes, to constitute an independent
family, because of the peculiarities of many of their parts. They have a complex stomach composed
of jjaunch, honeycomb-bag, and reed, the manyplies being so much reduced in size, that it may prac-
tically be said not to be present.

From the bones of their feet it is evident, too, that they cannot be correctly classed with the
more ordinai-y Euminants, and that they tend towards the other family of the Cloven-hoofed Ungu-
lata, namely, the Swine. Each foot of the common Pig possesses four toes, that corresponding to
our thumb in the fore-limb, and to our gi-eat toe in the hind being absent, as has been previously
explained. The bones of all these toes are quite separate from one another, as in those of man, at
the same time that those of the outer and inner digits in each limb are smaller than those which bear
the larger hoofs. In the true Ruminants and in the Camel tribe these larger toes are partly fused
together, the bones of digit three and digit four corresponding to those situated in the human palm
and sole, being joined from end to end to form the "cannon-bone;" whUst those of digit two and

digit five are reduced to mere impeifect splinters, or are sometimes altogether lost, as in the Girafi'e
and in the Camel. Now, in the Deerlets, these bones are not blended at all in the fore-limbs of the
Water Deerlet of We.st Africa, in which, as in all the other species, digit two and digit five are
perfect from end to end. They therefore stand, in this respect, as in others easily explained, inter-
mediate between the Swine and the true Ruminants.

All the Deerlets are particularly delicate, diminutive, and graceful animals, the slenderness and
clear-cut outline of their limbs being exceedingly striking. With bodies a.s big as that of a Hare or
Rabbit, theii- legs are not so thick as a cedar pen-holder or a clay pipe-stem. Their proportions
are very much those of the small Water Bucks of Africa, and of many of the kinds of Deer, espe-
cially the Hog Deer of India, in which the body, as in them, is not carried very high above the
ground. The want of antlers in both sexes makes them resemble Hinds rather than Stags at fir.st
Kight, whUst their elegantly-pointed noses, and large dark eyes, add to their general interesting
appearance.

Of the Deerlets there are five species — tlie Meminna, the Kanchil, the Javan, the Stanleyan^
and the Water Deerlets. The fir.st four are confined to India, Ceylon, Malacca, Java, and Sumatra,
the last being found in Sien-a Leone and the Gambia district. These difier slightly in theii- size and
markings, the Meminna, or Indian Deerlet, being nearly eighteen inches long, and about eight
inches high at the shoulder, the tail being very short. As in its allies, the white spotting of the
surface is disturbed by two or more streaks of- the same which run along the flanks.

The Javan Deerlet, known sometimes as the Napu, is smaller than the preceding. It is of

THE DEERLETS. 71

a rust-brown colour above and wliite beneatli, three white stripes radiating backwards, one along
tlie middle line, and the other two laterally from the front of the neck. The short tail is white-
tiiiped. The naked and moist muzzle is black. The Javan Deerlet is gentle in disposition, and some-
wliat uninteresting in captivity. Specimens are frequently brought to Great Britain, and live i£
carefully protected from the cold.

The Kanchil is still smaller in size, at the same time that it is darker in colour, especially
along the back. Its activity and cunning are remarkable, so much so that Sir- Stamford Raffles, in
his original description of the creature, tells us that it is a common Malay expi'ession, with reference
to a great rogue, that he is " as cunning as a Kanchil." Feigning to be dead when caught, its captor
iuc;uitiously releases his hold, when the animal is immediately up and away before any means ca.n

bTANLIs\AN

be employed for its recapturf. It is also said that when pursued liy Dogs it will jump up towards a
bough, and there hook itself by means of its lengthy tusks until its tormentors have passed under it.

The Stanleyan Deerlet was named after the grandfather of the present Earl of Derby, in
whose menagerie at Knowsley the species was first recognised.

The Water Deerlet of West Africa is slightly larger than the Meminna. Its deep glossy
brown coat is also streaked with white lines, and is irregularly spotted.

THE CAMEL TRIBE, OR TYLOPODA.

The name Tylopoda, by

FOOT OF CAMEL.

hich the Camels, together with the Llamas, are known to naturalists,
is derived from two Greek words {riKos. a knot or callus, and
TTous, a foot), signifying that the feet, instead of being protected
by hoofs, are covered with a hardened skin, enclosing tlie
cushion-like soles of the feet, which are so constructed that
they spread out laterally when brought in contact with the
ground, an arrangement of evident advantage to desert-ranging
animals. The tips of each of the two toes are protected by nails.
as can be seen in the accompanying dj-awing.

There are also other points in which these creatures differ
from the more ordinary Ruminantia. In the front of the upper
jaw there are two teeth — one on each side, placed laterally —
which correspond to the side cutting teeth in man, and to

KATVRAL SISTOST.

the similarly-situated " nippei^ " of the Horse. In the Deer, Ox, Sheep, and their allies there is not
a trace of these, as has been previously explamed (page 4). As to the limbs, it may also be men-
tioned that the true
knee-joints — which in
animals like the Horse
are almost entirely hid-
den within the general
skin-covering of the body
—are much more con-
spicuous and free.

The stomach is pecu-
liar; it wants the "many-
plies," or third compart-
ment, but possesses the
"paunch," "honeycomb-
bag," and "abomasum,"
the last-named of which
is of great length. In
the walls of the paunch
there are present two
extensive collections of
" water-cells," which serve their owners in good stead whilst traversing the desert or residing in
regions where fresh water is not to be procured except with difficulty.

Fig. A is a view of the stomach from below (or, in other words, from the side farthest from
the backbone), in which it is seen that the clusters of water-cells (a and b) are arranged, one (a)
the larger, along part of the riuht border of the viscus, wliilst the second (h) is transverse, the
remainder of the walls
being smooth. These
water-cells, seen from
within in Fig. B, are
formed by the develop-
ment of septa, both
transverse and longi-
tudinal, in the .sub-
stance of the paunch-
wall. They are deep
and narrow, much like
the cells of a honey-
comb, and have a
muscular membrane
covering their mouths,
in which there is an
oval orifice opposite
to each compartment
capable of being further
dilated or completely
closed, probably at the
will of the animal.
When fully distended,
these paunch-cells in
the Ai-abian Camel are

capable of storing a gallon and a half of water. The second stomach, or reticulum, is also modified
in the same direction, the usually extremely shallow cells being deep, at the same time that food is

-WATER c4lLS of the C.iMEL'.S STOMACH.

THE [TliVH) CAMEL. 73

never found in them after death. Of tlie hist couipaitment, or " abomasuni," it may be noted that
it is nearly cylindrical in shaj.e, its walls being very muscidar. It is in this stomach that tnie
digestion is carried on.

Of the Camels two species are known, diflering in the nuudier of the humps upon their backs.
Nothing is known of either \-ariety in the -wild state. We will commence with the descrip-
tion of

THE (TRUE) CAMEL.*
The One-humped Camel of Arabia is frequently termed the Dromedaiy, hut this latter name

HEAD OF THE pRlE) L IMEL

is correctly applicable only to the swift variety of the species which is employed for riding, the
heavier-built One-humped Pack-Camel not being included under the designation.

It is the Arabian Camel — the Ship of the Desert — which is much more serviceable to man than its
Bactrian ally. Its distribution has extended westwards along North Africa, from which attempts have
been made to introduce it into Spain. Eastwards it is found as far as India.

In the Camel the limbs and neck are lengthy. A single bulky hump is present on the middle
of the back, composed of fatty cells held together by strong bands of fibrous tissue which cross
La all directions. Like all similar accumulations, it varies much in size according to the condition
of the animal, dwindling almost to nothing after protracted hard work and bad feeding, being firm
and full in times of ease and plenty. When on the point of commencing a long journey, there
* Cjmelus (Iromcdarius.

KATUHAL BISTORT.

is nothing on wliich an Arab lays so nuicli stress as on the condition of his Camel's humii, which,
from what we liave just said, must be considered to be nothing more or less than a reserved store
of food.

Upon the chest, the elbows, the fore-knees (true wrists), knees, and hocks, callous pads of har-
dened skin are found, upon which the creature supports its weight whilst kneeling down, a position
in which it alwaj'S rests, and one which it assumes when being loaded. These pads are present
in the new-born Camel-calf, proving, contrary to the view maintained by some, that they are not
tlie direct result of pressure, but are special provisions in accordance with the requirements of the
species, arrived at by a process of natural selection, those individuals alone surviving in which
there is the power of resisting the injurious eflects of protracted strain upon a few spots of the
skin.

The coat is, in the summer, scanty ; in the winter, of considerable length, and matted into
lumps. The two-toed feet are very much expanded, and tipped with a pair of small hoofs. The
lips are covered with hair, the upper one being split up for some distance in the middle line. The
nostrils, when closed, are linear, and from their construction prevent sand from entering the air-
passages when the animal desires it. The tail is of fair length, reaching to the ankle-joint. There
is a fixity about its attitudes, and a formality about its paces, which is quite characteristic. Its
power of enduring fatigue upon its scanty fare, whilst carrying a weight as great as 600 lbs., together
with its endurance, makes it invaluable in its desert home.

A stolid obstinacy is its usual disposition. Mr. Palgrave, criticising the reputation that the
animal has for docility, remarks : — " If docile means stupid, well and good ; in such a case the Camel
is the very model of docility. But if the epithet is intended to designate an animal that takes an
interest in its rider so far as a beast can ; that in some way understands his intentions, or shares them
in a suljordiuate fashion ; that obeys from a sort of submissive or half fellow-feeling with his master,

THE (tIU'E) C-AMKL.

THE {TliUli) CAMEL.

BACTKIAX CAMEU

like the Horse or Elephant : then I say tliat the Camel is by no means docile— very much the contrary.
He takes no heed of his rider, pays no attention wliether he be on his back or not, walks straight on
when once set agoing, merely because he is too stupid to turn aside ; and then, should some tempting
thorn or green branch allure him out of the path, continues to walk on in the new direction simply
because he is too dull to turn back into the right road. In a word, he is from first to last an
undomesticated and savage animal rendered serviceable by stupidity alone, without much skill on his
master's part, and any co-operation on his own, save that of an extreme passiveness. Neither attach-
ment nor even habit impresses him ; never tame, though not wide awake enough to be exactly wild."

Nevertheless the animal gives indications of intelligence when badly ti-eated, if we may judge
from its revengeful nature, well illustrated in the following account : —

" A valuable Camel, working in an oil-mill, was severely beaten by its driver. Perceiving that
the Camel liad treasured up the injury, and was only waiting a favourable opportunity for revenge, he
kept a strict watch upon the animal. Time passed away ; the Camel, perceiving that it was watched,
was quiet and obedient, and the driver began to think that the beating was forgotten, when one night,
after the lapse of several months, the man was sleeping on a raised platform in the mill, whilst, as is
customary, the Camel was stabled in a corner. Happening to awake, the driver observed by the
bright moonlight that, when all was quiet, the animal looked cautiously around, rose softly, and
stealing towards a spot where a bundle of clothes and a bernous, thrown carelessly on the ground,
resembled a sleeping figure, cast itself with violence upon them, rolling with all its weight, and tearing
them most viciously with its teeth. Satisfied that its revenge was complete, the Camel was returning
to its corner, when the driver sat up and spoke. At the sound of his voice, and perceiving tlie mistake
29

NATURAL ins TORY.

it liad made, the animal wa
head against tlie wall and c

30 mortified at the
d on the spot."

discovery of its scheme, that it dashed its

THE BACTRIAN CAMEL.*
The Two-humped Camel is found in the regions to the east and north of the home of its One-
humped ally, extending as far as Pekin and Lake Baikal. It it a heavier, shorter-legged, and thicker-
coated species, at the same time that the feet are more adapted to a less yielding soil from theii- greater
callousness. The hau- is specially abundant upon the top of the head, the arm, wri.st, throat, and
humps. There is no variety of this species corresponding to the Dromedary One-liumped Camel.

THE LLAMAS.-t-
The Llamas, when the term is employed in its wider sense, include the American representatives
of the Camel tribe, none of which have any trace of the dorsal hump or humps found in their Old
World allies. They are mountain animals, found in the Cordilleras of Peru and Chili, in this
respect also differmg from the desert-loving Camels, with which they agree in all imjiOrtant structural
peculiarities, including the stomach, lips, nostrils, and coat. The feet ai'e somewhat modified in
accordance with the rocky nature of the mountain regions which they inhabit, the sole-pads being
less considerable, and almost comjiletely divided into two hard cushions, with a long and hooked nail
in the front of each.

were found domesticated when South America was first discovered by the Spaniards,
* Cameliis bactrianus, + Auchenia.

TEE LLAMAS. Jf

ami as there wei-e tlieu no Mules or Horses there, these creatures were em[)loyed exclusively as
beasts of burden, as well as foi- their flesh, their wool, and hides. Their disposition and their habits
also resemble those of the Camel. They have their own peculiar gait and speed, from which they
cannot well be made to vary. When irritated they foam at the mouth and spit, sulking and lying down
when ovei-loaded. As beasts of draught their mo.st important use is to convey the ores from the mines of
Potosi and elsewhere in the Andean range. From the account of Augustiii de Zerate, who was a Peru-
vian Spanish Government official in the middle of the si.xteenth century, we learn that " in places
where there is no snow the natives ^rant water, and to supply this deficiency they fill the skins of
Sheep [Llamas being meant] with water, and make other living Sheep carry them, for it must be
remarked that these Sheep of Peru are large enough to serve as beasts of burden. They can cany
about one hundred jjouuds or more, and the Spaniards used to ride them, and they would ,§'> four

or five leagues a day. When they are weary they lie down upon the ground, and as there is no
means of making them get up, either by beating or assailing them, the load must of necessity be taken
off". When tliei-e is a man on one of them, if the beast is tired he turns his head round and discharges
his saliva, which has an offensive odour, into the rider's face. These animals are of great use and
service to then- masters, for their wool is very good and fine, pai-ticulaiiy that of the breed called
Pacas, which have very long fleeces ; and the expense of their food is trifling, as a handful of maize
suffices them, and they can go four or five days without water. Their flesh is as good as that of
the fat Sheep of Castile."

It is somewhat difficult to decide exactly the relations of the wild to the domesticated species
of the Llamas. It seems most probable that there are two true species, known as the Huanaeos
[Lama huanaeos) and the Vicuna {Lama vicugna), of the foi'uier of which the true Llama is a
domesticated variety, as the Alpaca is of the latter.

The HuANACO — or Guanaco, as it is sometimes written — has a more elongated head and more
slender legs than the Vicuna, at the same time that there are elongated warty tubercles upon the
hinder limbs not found in the latter species. Its height at the shoulder is three feet and a half.
Tlie fur is uniformly brown, at the same time that it is rough and short. It can be domesticated
without difficulty. Its tail is short and hairy. Its native haunts are the highlands of Peru and
Chili, as well a-s farther south, where it li\es in herds, which descend to the valleys in the winter

7a NATURAL MISTOKY.

months. When hunted they have a habit of now and again facing their pursuers, after which they
gallop oti' afresli. When attacked at close quarters the}- defend themselves by striking with their
fore-feet. From Mr. Darwin's account of the animal in the " Voyage of the Becujle," we learn that
it " abounds over the whole of the temperate parts of South America, from the wooded islands of
Tierra del Fuego, the rwigh Patagonia, the hilly parts of the La Plata, Chili, even to the Cordillera
of Peru. Although preferring an elevated site, it yields in this respect to its near relative the
Vicuna ; on the plains of Southern Patagonia we saw them in greater numbers than in any other
part. Generally they go in small herds, from half a dozen to thirty together, but on the banks of
the St. Cruz we saw one herd which must have contained at least five hundred. On the northern
shores of the Strait of Magellan they are also very numerous. Generally the Guanacoes are wild
and extremely wary. The sportsman frequently receives the first intimation of their jjresence by
hearing from a distance the peculiar shrill neighing note of alarm. If he then looks attentively, he
wOl perhaps see the herd standing in a line on some distant hill. On approaching them, a few more
- squeals are given, and then off they set at an apparently slow — but really quick — canter along some
narrow beaten track to a neighbouring hill. If, however, by chance he should abruptly meet a single
animal, or several together, they will generally stand motionless, and intently gaze at him ; then,
perhaps, move on a few yards, turn round, and look again. What is the ca.use of this difference
in their shyness? Do they mistake a man in the distance for their chief enemy, the Puma, or
does curiosity overcome their timidity 1 That they are curious is certain ; for if a person lies on
the ground and plays strange antics, such as throwing up his feet in the air, they will almost
always approach by degrees to reconnoitre him. ... On the mountains of Tierra del Fuego,
and in other places, I have more than once seen a Gtianaco, on being approached, not only neigh and
squeal, but prance and leap aboiit in the most ridiculous manner, apparently in defiance as a chal-
lenge. . . . The Guanacoes readily take to the vrater ; several times at Port Valdez they wei-e
seen swimming from island to island. Byron, in his ' Voyage,' says he saw them drinking salt
water. Some of our ofiicers likewise saw a herd drinking the briny fluid from Salina, near Cape
Blanca. I imagine, in several parts of the country, if they do not drink salt water they diink. none
at all. In the middle of the day they frequently roll in the dust in saucer-shaped hollows. . . .
The Guanacoes appear to have favourite spots for dying in. On the banks of the St. Cruz the
ground was actually white with bones in certain cii'cumscribed places, which were generally bushy,
and all near the liver. On one such spot I counted between ten and twenty heads, some gnawed, as
if by beaists of prey."

The Domestic Llama resembles its wild ancestor in most respects. Its colour may, however, be
variegated, or even white. Its woolly coat is longer, but not so fine, and when it is removed by
.shearing the animal is conspicuously spotted.

The Vicuna is a smaller animal of a light lion-brown colour, with a short and hairy fiice ; its
neck is lengthy, as in its allies ; its height about two feet six inches. Its wool is particularly
fine, and has been much employed, iindyed, as a material for clothing. It is active and spiteful,
inhabiting a region higher and therefore colder than the Huanaco.

The Alpaca is its domestic foiTn, with thicker and much darker wool, as well as shorter limbs.
Its colour is often nearly black, or black varied with white or brown.

The manufacture of alpaca stuffs dates from the year 1836, when Mr. (afterwards Sir) Titus Salt
commenced weaving the unusually long-haired wool, which at the time found no sale in the mai-kets
on account of its not being suited to the existing combing apparatus. Since that period alpaca
has been much employed as a fabric, possibly to be again replaced in great measiire by the sheep wool
of the Australian and otlier British colonies.

FOSSIL KUMIXAXTIA.
The .study of fossil forms throws as much light upon the development of existing types of
Ruminantia as it does in the case of the Perissodactyla. Until the last of the three gi-eat geologic
epochs none have been found ; whilst in tlie Tertiary strata from Eocene, Miocene, and Pliocene
formations, numerous species are known, resembling existing types more closely as they are discovered
in the more recently deposited strata.

FOiSIL RVMINANTIA.

79

As might be anticijinted from wliat has Uvn siiid al)Ove, and as i.s indicatfd in tlie talih^ of
classiticatioii of the Artiodactjda on page 330, Vol. II., tlie oldest forms of cloven-hoofed Mammalia
must have been intermediate in structure between the Pigs and Ruminants. Such a creature existed
at the close of the Eocene period in Chmropotamns, discovered first by the illustrious Cuvier in the
palreontologically mo.st interesting gypsum beds at Montmartre. Another specimen has also been
found near Ryde, ui the Lsle of Wight. The creature was pig-like in size, and in the tuberculated
structure of its grinders, the parts, together with the lower jaw, alone discovered as yet.

lli/opotaiims, Dkhohitiic, Xiphodon, and Cainofheriuiii were four-toed Upper Eocene transitional

forms approaching the Ruminants, but all possessing upper cuttiug-teeth, the last-named differing but
little from the Deerlets. Oreodon is a genus of small pig-like animals, appearing first in the Miocene
of North America, and evidently closely related to the Ruminantia. Sivatheriutn was a gigantic
Ruminant with four horns in pairs, and evidently a trunk. Its remains are found in the Miocene
deposits of the Sewalik hills of India. Deer, Oxen, Goats, and Sheep first appeared in the Pliocene
period, as did Camels and Llamas. Antelopes and Giraffes existed earlier, namely, in the Late
Miocene. It is a fact of interest that Camels are abundant in the Miocene and Pliocene of North
America, whilst they are only very scantily distributed in the same strata of the Old World, Arabia
and Asia being their sole living habitat.

Among the most interesting of the Pleistocene species which has been discovered in Great
Britain is the gigantic Irish deer, a species originally included with the Elk, on account of the pal-
mation and outward inclination of its huge antlers, in some specimens, only a few inches less than

80 NA'ni-RAL HISTORY.

eleven feet in span, and eacL more than five feet long in a straight line from burr to tip. In general
form the antlers do not strikingly differ from those of the Common Fallow Deer. The brow-tyne is
quite simple at its base, and generally slightly bifid at its extremity, there being no time " bez." The
beam is cylindroid as far as the insignificant " trez," beyond which it is flattened out into a gigantic
triangidar expansion, or " palm," with the free base developed into snags, usually about seven in
number, and a fairly independent posterior tyne.

At the withers the skeleton, which is quite cervine in eveiy detail, measures as nnich as six feet;
its great peculiarity in the male being the large size of the cervical or neck vertebrae, necessarily' extra
strong that they may support the massive antlers, about seventy pounds in weight. In the females,
which had no cranial appendages, the vertebrse of the neck were one-third smaller.

The accompanying figure is an attenqst to represent the species under consideration, as it must
have appeared when living. It is worthy of note, howevei-, that as tlie coat of the Fallow Deer,
which may be its nearest ally, is brilliantly spotted, the great Irish Deer may have resembled it iu
that respect.

The first fairly complete skeleton of the species was found in the Isle of Man. Others have been
olitained from AVaterford and e.sewhere in Ireland.

A. H. Garrod.

^.^^^^^ ^. • '-- ^

ORDER RODENTIA.

CHAPTER I.

INTRODUCTION— THE SQUIEREL, SIARJIOT, ANOMALITRE, HAPLODONT, AND
BEAVER FAMILIES.

Character of the Order— A well-defined Group -Teeth Evidence— Kinds and Number of Teeth— The Incisors : their Growth,
Renewal, and Composition— The Molars— The Gnawing Process— Skeleton— Brain— Senses— Body— Insectivora
and Rodentia— Food of Rodents- Classification— THE SIMPLE-TOOTHED RODENTS— Characteristics— THE
SQUIRREL-LIKE RODENTS— Scil'eid.e— Distinctive Features— The Common Squirrel— Form— Distiibution—
Food— Bad Qualities— Habits— The Gret Squirrel— The Fox Squirrel— Flying Squirrels— Their Paraclmte
Membrane— The Taguax— Appearance — Habits-Other Species— The Polatouche— The Assaean— The Genus Xcrm
—The Ground Squirkels— The Common Chipmunk— The Marmots— Distinguishing Featia-es— The Spermophiles
—The Gopher— The Sisel, or Suslik— The Barking Squirrels- The Prairie Dog— Description— Species—
Habits— Burrows— Fellow-inmates in their " Villages "—The True Marmots— The Bobac— The Alpine Marmot
—The Woodchuck— The Hoart Marmot, or Whistler- ANOMALURIDjI;- Tail Peculiarity— Distinctive
Features— HAPLODONTID^— Description— The Sewellel— CASTORID^— The Beaver— Skeletal Peculiarities
General Form- Appeirance- Distribution— The Beavers of tlie Old and New World-Habits— Wonderful Sagacity
—The Building Instinct— Their Method of Working— The various Stages— Their Lodges— Their Dams— Activity by
Night- Flesh— Hunted— The Cmtormm.

While the last few chaptei-s have been devoted to ordere which contain the largest and most powerful
of terrestrial mammalia, we have now to treat of a gi'oup, all the members of which are of com-
paratively small size. "Mice, rats, and such small deer," to use Shakspere's phrase, make uji a
great proportion of the order Rodentia. The biggest of them is only about the size of a small
Pig; and perhaps the common House Rat, or, at any rate, the common Squirrel, may be taken
as showing the average dimensions of a Rodent. But, although from this jioint of view they
29*

NATVRAl Ul STORY.

LYING SQUIUKBL.

may be looked upon as " a feeble folk," their numerous species render them a most important
section of the mammalian fauna of nearly all countries, and tliis importance is greatly increased,
pi-actically, by the immense number of individuals by which each species is usuall}- represented.

The Rodentia, or gnawing mammals — Glires, as Linnaeus and some modern zoologists call
them — notwithstanding the great number of the species
and the immense variety of forms which they display, con-
stitute, perhaps, the most definitely cii'cumscribed order of .
the Mammalia. In most other groups of the same value,
we find that some types exhibit divergent characters,
which render it diflicult to frame a general description of
the order which shall include them ; or else some species
present a marked tendency towards some other order ;
but in the i:isc of the Rodents, we never have any
difficulty, a nnsDiy inspection of the dentition is always
.suflicieiit to decide whether a quadruped belongs to the
Rodentia or not; and in spite of an almost infinite variety
of form, the structure of the rest of the organism is most clearly in accordance with the evidence
derived from the teeth.

The teeth are only of two kinds — incisors and grinders (see the above figure of the skull of the
Taguan) — and the number of eflicient teeth of the former kind is never more than two in each
jaw. Almost throughout the order, indeed, there are actually, even from the first, only two incisors
present ; but in the Hares and Rabbits, and some allied forms, there are in the upper jaw, in
addition to the working teeth, a pair of rudimentary incisors,* placed immediately behind the
large one^, but quite incapable of t-aking any part in the business of gnawing, for which the
latter are so admirably fitted. Their presence is, however, of interest, as indicating the direction
in which an alliance with other forms of Mammalia more abundantly supplied with teeth is to be
sought.

The great incisors, which are characteristic of the Rodents, exhibit the following peculiarities : —
They possess no roots, but spring from a permanent pulp, so that they continue growing during
the whole life of the animal ; and their form, and
that of the cavity which constitutes their socket, is
always that of a segment of a circle,+ in consequence
of which, they always protrude from the front of the
jaws in the same direction, and meet at the same angle.
By this means, as the teeth are worn away at their
summits by use in gnawing, a fresh supply of tooth is
continually being pushed forward to take the place of
the j)ortion thus removed, and, in fact, so intimately
are the two functions of use and gi-owth correlated in
the teeth of these animals, that if by chance one of
the incisors should get broken, or the natural opposition
of these teeth should be disturbed in con.sequence of
injury to the jaw, the teeth, thus deprived of their
natm-al check, continue growing, and, following the
cui-ve of their sockets, gradually form circular tusks, which must always be greatly in the way of the
animal when feeding, and sometimes, by actually penetrating again into the mouth, cause its death by
absolute starvation. The teeth themselves are composed of dentine, coated along the front surface with
a layer of hard enamel, which sub.stance is wanting on the other surfaces of the teeth, except in the
Hares, Rabbits, and other forms with additional rudimentary incisors in the upper jaw, in which, as
further evidence of their relationship to the other Mammalia, the whole surface of the incisors is
encased in enamel, although this coat is excessively thin except on the front or outer face. The purpose

* In the young there .are four of tliese small additional teeth, hut the outer pair disappear after a short time,
t Tlie upper teeth always constitute a larger segment of a smaller circle than the lower ones.

DEXTITIOJf OF THE HARE.

IF THI-: UdDKS'l

of this structiii-e of thi< iiieisor.s is easily iiuderstooil. In tlie iK^tioii of gnawing, the dentine, which
forms tlie greater part of the tooth, is- more easily abradeil tlian the harrier enamel, which is thus left
as a sliai'p front edge, to which the mass of dentine behind it, being worn away into a bevelled snrface,
gives the necessaiy firmness and support, the whole forming a chisel-like instrument, constructed
])rocisely on the principle of those tools in which a thin plate of hard steel forms the cutting edge, and
is stifl'ened by a thicker bevelled plate of softer iron.

The canine teeth are entirely deficient, and behind the incisors we lind on each side a toothless gaj)
of considerable extent (see figures p. 82), beyond which come the grinding teeth. In these it is ditticult
to recognise any distinction of molars and pre-molars ; the whole series presents nearly the same structural
characters, and for all practical purposes we 'may speak of them as molars, although some zoologists
prefer to regard the three hindmost teeth on each side as true molars, and any others that may be
present as premolars. In one genus (Hydromys) the nimiber of gi-inding teeth is reduced to two on
each side in each jaw ; in a great proportion of the species the niuuber is three ; others have four or
five gi-inders on each side, either in one or both jaws (usually one more in the ujtpei' series) ; and the
largest number is possessed by the Hares and Rabbits, in which the upper jaw has six and the lower live
grindere.* The grinders are sometimes furnished with true roots, but are more commonly open belov,',
and jjrovided, like the incisors, with a permanent pulp. They are sometimes tubercular, at least in
youth, but generally show a Hat, worn surface with transverse bands, or re-entering folds, and sometimes
cylinders of enamel, which display a great variety of patterns. Sometimes the enamel is conlined to
the surface of the tooth ; in other cases each tooth is, as it wel'e, made up of two or more variously-
shaped tubular portions of enamel, filled up with dentine. Curiously enough, this structure of the
grinders, especially the arrangement of the transverse ridges and plates of enamel va. these little animals,
reminds >is strongly of the characters of the mohu's of the gigantic Proboscidea, in which, moreover,
the incisors also ai-e represented by the permanently-gi-owing tusks.

The articulation of the lower jaw with the skull is peculiar, and in special relation to the armature
of teeth which we have described. Instead of articulating freely, as in man and many herbivorous
mammals, by which provision is made for a sort of rotatory action of the molars, or by a regular trans-
verse liinge-joint, as in the Caruivora, the articulating surfaces are elongated in a dii-ection parallel to
the middle line of the skull, an ar-
rangement which, like that occurring in
Carnivora, has the efiect of preventing
much lateral movement of the jaw ;
but, at the same time, the pits with
which the jaw aiticulates are open in
front, so that the jaw is allowed a
certain amount of play, backwards and
forwards. This motion greatly increases
the gnawing power of the large incisor
teeth.

The head in the Rodents is gene-
rally of small or moderate size in pro-
portion to the body, and the skuil is
usually rather elongated, and flattens
on the upper sui-face. The tympanic
bnlliB are generally of considerable size ;
the zygomatic arch is in nearly all cases

well developed; but the orbits of the ^kllet n of the Kiuir

eyes are never closed behiud, and only

in certain families is there even a small ])rocess of the zygomatic arch behind the orbits, as an
indication of possible closure. Of the vertebral column we need only say that the lumbar vertebr:e
are remarkable for possessing large transverse processes directed forwards, and that the tail varies

* The genus Hdiophohius among the Jlole Eats is describefl as having six molars on each side in both jaws ; but
the number in this genus appears to be variable, the sixth molar being often undeveloped.

NATURAL HISTORY.

EAVEK (from

greatly m lengtli, being sometimes longer than the body, sometimes reduced to very small proportions,
whilst between these two extremes almost every grade of development may be met with.

The sternum, or breast-bone, is usually long and narrow. Collar-bones are nearly always present,
but in a few forms they become rudimentary, or even disappear altogether. Tlie pelvis is long and
naiTow. The limbs exhibit a very gi-eat variety in their development ; in many, the two pairs are
nearly equal in length, but in the majority the hind limbs are distinctly
longer and more powerful than their fellows, and in some groups they
attain a most disjM-oportionate length, and serve almost exclusively as the
oigans of locomotion. On the other hand, in the gi-eat majority of the
01 del, the fore limbs serve in a certain degree as hand.s, and are used for
holding the food to the mouth; and in these the radius and ulna, which are
dwajs distinct bones, retain the power of rotation. The corre.spondiiig
bones in the hind limbs (tibia and fibula) are, on the contrary, firmly
mchylosed together in two gi-eat groups of the order. The feet have
usually five toes, but .sometimes this number is reduced to four, or even
to three, in the hind feet. These toes are armed with claws, which,
however, in one family, acquii-e more or less of the appearance of hoofs.

In point of intelligence the Rodentia do not stand high. The brain
is comparatively small, and the cerebral hemispheres show no traces of
those convolutions of the surface which are characteristic of most Mammals
{see figures). The Capybara alone is known to have a few convolution.s.
The cerebellum is entirely uncovered by the hemispheres. The organs of
the senses are generally well developed, and the eyes and external ears, especially, are often of large
size. In the Mole Rats and some other burrowing forms, however, the external ears are entirely
wanting, and the eyes are very much reduced in size, and in some instances even concealed beneath the
skin. The intestinal canal is long, and in all but one family furnished with a distinct cajcum.

The body in the Rodents is generally plump and short, and the head is borne upon a short neck.
The limbs also are usually short, so that the belly is close to the ground ; but in some cases all four
legs are of moderate length, or, as already stated, the hind legs are enormou.sly developed, fomiing
powerful leaping organs. In general structure, as to a certain extent in habits, there is, in fact, a most
striking parallelism between the Rodentia and the Insectivora {see Vol. I., p. 343) ; in both we find
arboreal and terrestrial forms, and among the latter some specially organised for burrowing in the earth,
and others equally adapted for springing lightly over its surface ; a few, also, in both orders, are
aquatic. But here the parallel ceases. The dentition in
the two groups is widely divergent, and, as might be
anticipated from this circumstance, the food is very dif-
ferent ; for, although some Rodents, such as the common
Mouse and Rat, are omnivorous, there is no doubt that,
as a whole, the Rodents must be regarded as vegetariaiLs.
Grass and the leaves of plants and trees furnish .some of
them with nourishment ; whilst others feed upon fruits,
seeds, and nuts, in the consumption of which last the
powei-ful incLsor teeth come into play. Many species lay
up stores of food for the winter .season, of which they
pass more or less in a state of torpidity ; and some of these are provided with cheek-pouches, often
of considerable size, in which to convey their harvest into their store-houses.

As might be expected from the great number of species belonging to this order, and their general
uniformity of structure, their classification is a matter of some difficulty, and very diff'erent views as
to their relationships have prevailed at different times. Nowadays, however, zoologists have airived
at something like uniformity of opinion in this matter, and except in some minor points they may be
said to be pretty nearly agreed. In the following sketch of the natural history of the Rodents
we shall follow the classification proposed by the late Mr. E. R. Alston in the Proceedings of the
Zooloyicnl Society. ]Mr. Alston accepted the division of the order into two pi imary groups (sub-orders).

(P<«fi\c.)

THE .SIMfl.K-TOorUKD IKlliENTS. 85

projiosed fifty yi'ars ago by Professor Gervais, and chrtvacterised by tho iiumlier of incisor teeth.
Tlie tii-st of these sub-orders, vvhioli includes Vjy far the majority of the Rodents, is formed by thoso
Ki)ecies which never at any psriod of their lives possess more than two incisors in the upper jaw,
MuX have the enamel on those strictly confined to the trout surface of the teeth. Tiiese are
denominated Simphcidentata, or Simpj-e-toothed Rodents. In the second group, which includes
only the Hares, Rabbits, and Calling Hares, we have those species which in the adult state possess
four incisors in the upper jaw, namely, two large and efficient teeth, and behind these two small,
almost ruilimentary incisors {see figure of the dentition of the Hare on p. 82). These are called

Doum.K-TOOTlIED RoDENTS, Or DUPLIOIDENTATA.

Bes

SUB-ORDER I.— SIMPLE-TOOTHED RODENTS,
des the chai-acters derived from the number of incisor teeth above mentioned, several other

jm

peculiarities of structure seem to show the existence of a decided difference between the Simple-toothed
-an<l Double-toothed Rodents ; but most of these are of a rather abstruse nature, and need not be
noticed here, the most important additional distinctive characters of the former being that the
bony palate is well developed, and that the fibula does not articulate with the calcaneura, or heel-bone ;
whereas in the Double-toothed Rodents the palate is reduced to a mere bridge between the portions
of the upper jaw in which the teeth are inserted, and the fibula does articulate with the heel-bone.

The Simplicidentata include a great number of families, and various attempts have been made
to grou]3 these under larger heads ; but it nuist be coufe.ssed that, owing to the way in which the
families approach one another, it is difficult to bring them together in sections capable of being very
strictly defined. Certain broad principles of relationship are, however, generally recognised, and
Mr. Alston represented these by placing the Simple-toothed families under three great sections, the
first indicated by Mr. Waterhouse — the SquiiTel-like, Mouse-like, and Porcupine-like Rodents.

The Squin-el-like Rodents have four molars on each side in the lower jaw, and either four or five
in the upper. When the latter number is present, the foremost tooth is smaller than the rest. The
iibula remains as a distinct bone through life, and is usually quite free, although sometimes attached
to the tibia at the extremity. The upper lip is usually cleft, the mufHe is small and naked, and the
nostrils are comma-shaped, with the rounded part
above. The zygomatic arch is formed chiefly by the
process of the malar bone, which is not supported
below by a continuation of the zygomatic process of
the maxillary. The collar-bones are perfect. The
tail is usually cylindrical and hairy.

The Mouse-like Rodents agree with the pre-
ceding in the characters of the upper lip, mufiie, and
nostrils, but they have the tibia and fibula completely
united for at least the last third of their length. The
zygomatic arch is slender, and the malar process rarely
extends so far forward as in the preceding group,
and is generally supported below by a continuatio.
of the maxillaiy process. The collai--bones are pei
I'ect, except in one very small family; and the tai.
is cylindrical, and although sometimes hairy, more
commonly covered with scales arranged in rings.
The number of molar teeth in this section varies from
three to six * on each side in each jaw, but three is
the most usual number.

The Porcupine-like Rodents, with one exception,
have four molars on each side in both jaws ; tho fibula distinct throughout life ; the upper liii
rarely cleft ; tlie muffle clad with a velvety coat of fine hairs ; and the nostrils either S-shaped or
straight. The zygomatic arch is stout, and the malar procesf; does not ad\ance far forward, nor is it
supported below by the maxillary process.

* -See Note on i). 83.

8S NATURAL U IS TORY.

SECTION 1.—{SCIUR0M0RPIIA.) SQUIRREL-LIKE RODENTS.
FAMILY I.— SCIURID^. .

This first family, wliicli includes the true Squirrels and the Marmots, is distinguished from ths
rest of the section by the possession of five rooted molars on each side of the upper jaw (see figure of

sM^

the teeth on p. 85), the first Iieing very small and sometimes deciduous, and four molars on each side of
the lower jaw, and by the presence on the skull and zygomatic arch of .small processes, indicating
the posterior boundary of the orbits (see figure of the skull on p. 82). The molars are tubercular,
at least at fii-st ; but the summits of the tubercles are generally more or less worn down as the
animal increases in aije.

THE SQriURET.. S7

Tlie true Squirrels, whic-li iiiiiy be regarded as the types of this family, are distinguished )jy their
slender and graceful forms, and their long and generally bushy tails, the latter character having
originated their classical name of Sciurus, as a compound of two Greek words, indicating their
habit of carrying theii- tails thrown up, so <>s to shade the back. Our Comsion Squirrel {Sciurus
vulgaris) may serve as a good example of this division of the famUy. It is too well known as a
l)et to need any detailed description ; its elegant form and graceful movements, the rich brownish-
red colour of its upper surface, contrasting with the white of the belly, and the beautifull3'--peacilled
or tufted eai-s, which, combined with its bright black eye, give it such a lively appearance, must be
familiar to every one. When full-grown, the Squiirel measures from eight to ten inches in lengtk
of bodj% and has a tail seven or eight inches long. British specimens are generally smaller thaa
those from the Continent of Europe. It varies considerably in colour with the seasons, esjjecially
in northern regions ; but even in Central Europe and in Britain the fur of the sides and liack becomes
mixed with a certain quantity of greyish-white hairs in the winter, whilst in Lapland and Siberia the
whole upper surface acquires a grey tint at that season. In the summer also the ear-tufts diminish,
or altogether disappear. In the Alps and Pyrenees, thei-e is a vai-iety having the back of a dark
brown colour, speckled with yellowish-white. This has been described as a distinct species, under the
name of Sciurus alpinus.

The Common Squirrel is a widely-distributed species. It is abundant all over Europe, except,
according to Pallas, in the Crimea, and extends beyond the Ural Mountains through the whole length
of Southern Siberia to the Altai and the Amoor region. It occurs in the Caucasus, and probably ia
Persia. Everywhere it haunts the woods and forests, living chiefly upon the trees, amoiig the branches
of which it displays the niost astonislung agility. On the ground — to which, however, it does not
often descend — it is equally quick in its movements. If alarmed under these circumstances, it dash&s
ofl' to the nearest tree with lightning-like rapidity, and by the aid of its sharp claws rushes up the
trunk till it has reached what it considers a safe elevation, when the little sharp face and bright eyes
may be seen peeping at the intruder, apparently in triumph over his supposed disappointment.

The food of the Squiirel consists chiefly of nuts, beech-mast, acorns, and the young bark,
shoots, and buds of trees. In eating the former articles, they are held in the fore-paws, which thus
supply the place of hands, and the strong incisors soon make a way through the outer shells into
the contained kernels, which alone are eaten ; for in all cases in which the kernel is coated with a
coarse brown skin (as in the common hazel-nuts), the Squirrel car.'tul'.y removes every particle of this
from the portions on which he feeds. The bark, l>ull^. auA ynmiL; .-boots of trees seem generally to
be attacked by the Squirrel when he finds a tldicKiu y uf i.tlm ana more congenial nourishment;
but this is so regularly the case in the spring of the year, that these animals actually cause a great
amount of damage to the trees in forest regions. Hence, not unnaturally, the Squirrel is regarded
in forest countries as a most mischievous little animal, whose depredations are not to be condoned
on account of its elegant appearance and lively habits. As another unamiable quality, may be
mentioned its habit of plundering birds' nests and eating the eggs, which ajjpears to be established
vipon unquestionable evidence. In some northern regions the inhabitants turn their Squirrels to a
more profitable use than putting them, as we so often do, into a sort of treadmill. In Lapland and
some parts of Siberia, especially on the banks of the Lena, these animals are killed in great numbera
for the sake of their grey wmter-coats, which, however, are not equal in beauty to those of the
North American Grey Squiii-el.

The Squirrel passes the greater part of the winter in a torpid state, lying coiled up in some hole
of a tree, where its long bushy tail is of service in keeping it warm and comfortable. On fine and
warm days, however, it rouses itself from its slumbers ; and, as if foreseeing the occurrence of such
days, it lays up in the autumn stores of nuts, acorns, and beech-mast, upon which it can feed when
it wakes during the winter. This winter provision is not laid up all in one place, but stored away
in several different holes in trees surrounding the place of its own retreat.

Squirrels appeal- to be strictly monogamous, pairing for life, and constantly inhaliiting the same
dwelling. The young, three or four in number, are produced in June, and for their reception the
parents prepare a very beautifully constiiicted nest, formed of interlaced moss, leaves, and vegetable
^bres, which is placed either in the hole of a tree, or in the fork between two branches. The yc Jig

yATUHAL HISTORY.

>qiiirr

very cai-efully attended liy lioth parents, and the family remains united until tlr

following spi'Lng, when the young go out to lind partnei-s, and settle themselves in the world.

The Common Squirrel may sei-ve as an example of the whole genus Scim-us, which includes
the ordinary Tree Squirrels, the species of which are very numerous, proVjably more than one
hundre<l, and distributed over nearly all parts of the world. The species are most numerous iii the
warm Oriental regions, in India, and the countries and islands lying to the east of it, fi-om which
nearly fifty species have been recorded. The northern parts of the Old World only possess half a.
dozen species, but Noi-th America has about eighteen, many of which ai-e considerably larger than
the European Squirrel. The most striking of the North American species are the Grey Squirrel
(Sciurug carolinensis) and the Fox Squirrel (Sciurus niger), both of which are abundant in the
Atlantic States, and vary considerably in colour, presenting both grey and black individuals.

BLAfK FOX SUUniREL.

Besides the ordinary Squirrels, a considerable number of other species are arboreal in their habits,
and, indeed, even more strictly so than the true Squirrels. These are the Flying Squirrels, as they
are called, which may be at once distinguished from the others by the presence of a large fold of skin,
extending along the sides of the body, and including the limbs as far as the \\Tists and heels (see
figure on next page). In the case of the Common Squirrels, it is observed that in performing leaps
of any considerable extent the limbs are .stretched out, and the long, bushy tail extended, so as to
give the animal as large a surface as possible ; but in the Flying Squirrels, as in the Flying I,emur
(Vol. I., p. 344), when the limbs are extended laterally the folds of skin {patagia) become tightly
stretched, and form a regular parachute, which seems to give the animal essential support in its
most extensive leaps. The extent of this membrane is increased by means of a sort of bony sjiur,
which articulates with the wrist.

The Taguax {Pteromys petauristu) is a large species, indeed, the largest of the whole family
Sciuridse. It measures about two feet long, and has a bushy tail of nearly equal length. Its ears
are pointed, but not tufted, and its eyes are large and prominent. Its colour above is ^-eyish-black,
produced by a mixture of entii'ely black hairs with othei-s having the tips greyish-white ; beneath it is
greyish- white. About the head and on the limbs the fur is tinged with brown or chestnut blown,
and the lateral folds are sometimes of the latter colour, sometimes blackish-brown above and grey
beneath. The tail is rounded in its form

Tliis species inhabiis the peninsula of India and (Vvlon, Malacca and Siani, wlicic it is found
only in tlie forests, living in trees, either singly or in pairs. Its acti\ity is chiefly nocturnal, in which
resp(ict it diflcrs from the ordin:u-y Sfpiii-rels. During tile day it sleeps in the holes of trees, but at
night it comes forth, climhiug and lea{)ing with the greatest rapidity about the trees on which it
lives. While thus engaged the lateral membranes lue loosely folded at the sides of the body; but
from time to time the Squirrel wishes to pass from one tree to another at some distance, and then it
a.scends to a considerable elevation and sjiriugs off, at tlie same time extending all four limbs as much
as possible, when the tightly-stretched folds of skin lend the body a support, which enables it to glide
through the air to some distance, although it seems always to alight at a lower level than that from

>J?^>'i*^'v4." M^^

i-^K^O

which it stai-ted. During these aerial excur.sioiis the long bushy tail serves as a sort of rudder, and
enables the animal even to change its course during flight. Of the habits of the Taguan very little
is known. It appears to feed npon fruits, and is exceedingly shy and fearful. Of a nearly-allied
species which he observed in China, Mr. Swinhoe says that the nest, which was i>laced high uji in a
lai'ge tree, measured about three feet in diameter, and was composetl of interlaced twigs, and lined
with dry grass. It contained only a single young Squirrel ; but this might be exceptional.

Some nine or ten additional species of the genus Fteromi/s, wliich includes the Flying Squirrels
with cjdindrical tails, are found in the forest regions of India and of the countries to the east cf that
peninsula, including China, Formosa, and Japan. The same region also harbours three or four species
of another kind of Flying Squirrel, in which -the long hairs of the tail are arranged in two rows, and
the tail is flat instead of cylindrical. These animals, to which the name of Sciuropterus has been
given, are, however, more numerous in the north, where their distribution extends ft-om Laplanil and
Finland, through Siberia, to Northern China and Japan. Squirrels of this genus also occur over the
whole continent of North America and as far south as Guatemala. The best known of the Old
VTorld species is the PoL.\TOuenE (Scixroptertis volaus), which inhaliits the north-eastern parts of

30 NATURAL BISTURY.

Eur()[>e anil nearly the whole of Siheria. It is an elegant little creature, abont six inches in lengtli,
and with a broad, flat taU, rather shorter than the body : as, indeed, is the case in all the Sciurojiteri.
Its silky coat is in summer of a tawny brown on the upper surface, darker on the flying membrane and
the outsides of the limbs, beneath pure white; whilst the tail is greyish above and light rusty red beneath.
In winter the fur becomes longer and thicker, and appears of a silver grey colour on the upper surface.
The Polatouche lives in the birch woods, or in places where pines, firs, and birches grow intermingled ;
but the presence of the bii-ch seems to be a necessity of its existence. It is met with singly or in
pairs, but always on the trees, sleeping during the day in its nest or in the hole of a tree, and coming
forth at dusk to climb and leap about the branches with great agility. In going from tree to ti-ee
by the aid of its latei-al membranes, it is said to cover distances of twenty or thirty yards with ease,
always, however, taking its leap from the highest branches of the tree it starts from, and alighting at
a considerably lower level. Its food consists of nuts, seeds, berries, the buds, young shoots, and

catkins of the birch, and the young shoots of pines and firs. The nest is made in the hole of a tree,
carefully lined with soft moss and herbage. like the Common Squirrel, the Polatouche sleeps through
the cold weather, but wakes up from time to^time and goes out in search of food.

This group of Flying Squirrels is also represented on the North American continent. The
number of species seems rather uncertain, some authors making it two, others four; while Mr. J. A.
Allen regards all the North American Flying Squirrels as belonging to a single .sjjecies, which
varies greatly in size in diSerent localities. This species is the Assapan (Sciuropt^rus volucella),
one of the smallest of its family, the length of its head and body being only from four and three-
(juarters to seven and a half inches ; the smaller specimens (var. volucella) being found in the more
soxithem States, and even as fac south as Guatemala ; and the larger ones (var. Ivudsonius) in more
northern localities. In its habits this elegant little Squirrel resembles the Polatouche, but appears
to be more sociable. It thrives well in confinement.

Besides these Tree Squirrels, a few .species of the Sciurine sub-family live upon the ground. In
.Wjyssinia and in other par'ts of Africa some curious animals, forming the genus Xerus, are found,
listinguislied by their very small ears, lougish limbs, and the singular texture of their hair, which
scantily clothes the skin and generally takes the form of flattened spines. They have a slender body,
a pointed head, and a longish tail. These animals live in elevated forest regions, and even upon
comparatiN-ely barren steppes, where they burrow in the ground under rocks, or among the roots of

THE anol'Xlt SQVnUtELS

trees and bushes. They are diurnal, and feed chiefly upon buds and herbage, but also devo\ir small
birds, eggs, and insects. The best known species {Xerus rutilariji) is about twenty inches long, of
which tlie ta'il makes about nine inclies. Its colour is reddish-yellow above, becoming paler on the
sides, and whitish below.

The true Ground Squirrels (Tamian) are distinguished from the re.st of the Squirrels (Scinrimt),
and approach the Marmots, wliich form a second sub-family of Sciuridse. Like some of tlie latter, they
possess large cheek-pouclies opening into the mouth. The ears in this genus are short ; the fourth
toe of the fore feet is longer than the rest, as in all the Sciurinie ; the limbs are short, and
nearly equal in length ; and the tail is shorter than in the true Squirrels. In general form and
appearance, however, the Ground Squirrels greatly resemble the latter, except that they are
rather stouter in the body. Four species of this group inhabit the continent of North America,
where they are known as Chipmunks ; and one of these, iiccording to Mr. J. A. Allen, Is identical with

the only known Old World species (Tamias asiaticiis), which is found in North-eastern Europe and
across Northern Asia, as far as the mouth of the Anioor, North China, and Japan. This species,
which goes by different names in the different localities which it inhabits, and the Commok
Chipmunk {Tamias striatns) of the United States, agi-ee very closely in all respects, and are
exceedingly pretty little animals, with light-coloured fur adorned with darker stripes, varied
in the case of the Chipmunk with streaks of white. Tliey are from eight to ten inches long, in-
cluding the tail. These animals live in buiTOWs in the ground, and feed upon nuts, acorns, grain,
and other seeds of various kinds, of which they lay \\\> great stores in the autumn, oariying home
their provisions in theii' cheek-pouches, which they stuff as full as they can hold. In this way they
do no small damage to cultivated grounds near their haunts, plundering the com and maize fields
very freelj'; over eight pounds of corn in the ear are often found in the granaries of the Siberian form.
The burrow is made deep enough to protect the animals from frost in winter, and the sleejiing
chamber contains a large nest of leaves and grass, in which several individuals, probably the parents
with their gi-own-\ip family, sleep through the cold weather ; but it must be remarked that their
torpidity is very imperfect, and that they have frequent recourse to the supplies of food which they
have stored up during the summer and autumn in separate chambers at the ends of lateral pa'ssages.
These stores are so large that they generally greatly exceed the wants of the provident little animals.

XATVUAL HLSTDi;

^

ill the spring the residue is greedily de^•o^lrt■d by Wild I'igs aud Bears. Even the poorei- human

ibitants of the countries frequented by the Ground S<iuiiTeLs do not disdain to eke out their scanty

means of subsistence by plundering the hoards of these animals.

^ \ -i ;^% ilany of ihem perish in severe winters, great numbers are destroyed

^:^^v' ■ '"*^> ''J tl^6 smaller Caniivora, and by birds of prey, but, neverthe-

-^. they manage to hold theii' own, in consequence of the gi-eat fertility

. the females, which produce several young twice in the year, namely,

1 1 ^lay and August. At pairing time the males fight violently.

From the Ground Squii-rels we pass, by a perfectly natural transi-
tion, to the Marmots (Arclomi/uut), the second sub-family of Sciuridse.
The.se animals difl'er froiii the preceding forms by their broader
incisors, shoi'ter tail, and stouter form of body, and by having the
third finger longer than the rest. The first upper molar, also, is larger
and more persistent than in the Squirrels, and the other molars
The Marmots are all terrestrial animals, living and storing provision.s
the niuvuid, aud they are strictly confined to the northern parts of

<liner m structure (gee figur
in burrows, which they dii.
the two hemispheres.

The nearest approach to the S(ptirrels is made by the Spermophiles {Sperinophilus), several
species of which occur in North America fi-om Mexico to the Arctic regions, but never to the east of the
great central prairie i-egion ; whilst in the Old World their domain extends from SOesia, through
Russia, and across Asia, to the Amoor and Kamstchatka. The Spermophiles are Squirrel like in form
and have rather short tails, but in the American species this organ is generally longer than in those of
the Eastern continent. On the thumb the claw is either very small or altogether wanting ; the two
series of molars are nearly parallel, and the mouth is furnished with large cheek-pouches. The
ears are very small. These animals live in .society, and prefer a dry, sandy, or loamy soil, in
which they can easily make their buiTows, which terminate in a chamber lined with gi-ass and
herbage, and have, besides, side-chambers, in which jn'ovisions can be .stored for winter use. Like
the other species of the family, the Spermophiles pass the winter in a state of partial torpidity.
In the summer they are exceedingly lively and playful. Their food consists of roots, berries, and
seeds of various kinds, and their winter stores of these articles are carried into the burrows in

STKIPED SrEUMOPHILE, OK

TUB SrERMOPHllE.'i.

tlieir large cheek-pouches. The females are very jn-olific, protluciiii; from four to eight young fit
a bii-th, and in some cases even as many as ten have been found. The commonest and most
widely tlistributed of the Noi-th American species is the Striped Spermophile, or Gopher (Sjiermo-
philua tredecimlineatm), a pretty little creature of from six to eight inches long, usually of a

chestnut brown colour with seven yello^vish-white lines running along the back and between these
six rows of small squarish spots of the same colour. This species extends its range from the Red River
in Canada southwards as far as Texa.s, and is common on the prairies east of the Mississippi. This
and some other species of tlie genus are said to be very carnivorous in their habits, preying upon small
birds and mammals ; and the Gopher was even described as feeding upon the flesh of Bisons, which it
found lying dead on the prairies. The other American species are more local in their distribution ; four
of them occur in Mexico, and one of these is only known from that country. Of the Old World species
the best known is the Sisel, or Suslik (Sperm ophihts citiUus), w^hicli is abundant in Central and

94 NATUMAL EJHTUIIY.

Eastern Europe i\n<l in Siliciia. Several other species are known from Asia Minor Siberia, and
Central Asia.

Tlie Barking Squirrels, or Prairie Dogs, of which two species [Cyuomys ludovicianus, see figure
on p. 81, and C. columbianus) are found in the United States of America, are of a stouter form than the
Spermophiles, and have the ears and tail short. The claws are well developed on all the toes of the fore
feet, the cheek-pouches are shallow, and the two rows of grinding teeth converge towards the back of the
moutli. These animals are peculiar to Nortli America, where the former inhabits the prairies east of the
Rocky .Mimiitaius. and the latter is found on the plains of the Columbia river, and in other parts of the
westirii tin itoiics as far south as New Mexico. The best known of the two species is the Cynomys
/udorii-iiniiiii, to wliich the name of the Prairie Dog was first applied: this name being given to it
from a fancied resemblance of its voice to the barking of a small Dog. It measures about a foot in
length, and its tail is about four inches long. Its colour on the upper surface is reddish-brown,
variegated with grey, and with a few scattered black hairs ; the tail is flattened, and brownish-black
towards the end, and the lower sui-face is browni.sh or yello^vish-white. These animals live together
in great societies, especially upon those jjortions of the prairies where the so-called buflalo-gra.ss
(Sede.ria dactylokles) grows most luxuriantly, this gi'ass and succulent roots constituting their chief
food. They live in burrows, which they dig in the ground at a distance of twelve or fifteen feet apart ;
a hai'd-beaten path runs from burrow to burrow, and would seem to gi\e evidence of the sociable dis-
position of the animals ; and at the mouth of every burrow there is a little hillock, formed by the earth
thrown out of it, which serves the occupant as a watch-tower. These burrows are usually so numerous
upon favourable pieces of ground that the space occujued by them is quite populous, and presents a-
scene of considerable animation when the inhabitants are out in the pursuit of their business or their
pleasure, and hence they are in common parlance spoken of as " towns " or " villages." Their curious
api)earance is heightened by the almost constant presence in them of numerous small Owls, of
the species known as the Burrowing Owl {Athene mukidarin), a widely-spread species, which in some
places digs its own subterranean habitation, but on these prairies saves itself the trouble by taking
possession of the deserted abodes of the Prairie Dogs. These birds are diurnal in their habits, and are
to lie seen mixed up with the Prairie Dogs in their settlements. Another inhabitant of the bui-rows
is the Rattlesnake ; and .some of the earlier observers thought that the Praiiie Dogs, Owls, Rattle-
snakes, and some other animals, such as Horned Frogs and an occasional Tortoise, occupied the
same biirrow, and' lived there on the most amicable footing. Unfortunately, this paradisaic picture is
an imaginary one. It is true that the Rattlesnake does take uj> his abode in the Prairie Dog's burrows,
but he either selects a deserted one, or dispossesses, and perhaps devours, the rightful owner ; and his
object in his residence among the lively little Marmots is anything rather than peaceful, as they con-
stitute his ftivourite food. The little Burrowing Owl has also been said by some writers to feed on
the young Prairie Dogs ; but this is not proved, and the food of the Owls is known to consist chiefly
of Grasshoppers and Crayfish. According to the latitude in which they live, the Prairie Dogs seem to
be more or less subject to torpidity during the winter.

The true Marmots {Arctomys) are nearly related to the Prairie Dogs. They are stout in the
body, have a short tail, and a rudimentary thumb with a flat nail ; and are either entirely
destitute of cheek-pouches or have mere indications of those organs. The rows of molar teeth
are placed nearly parallel to each other in each jaw. The skull is broad and flat above, with a
depression between the orbits ; and the post-orbital processes are larger than in any other Sciuridse.
The Marmots are confined to the Northern hemisphere, but over it they ai-e widely distributed
in both continents. Of the Old World species, the best known are the Bobac (Arctomys Bobac)
and the Alpine Marmot {A. Marmota), of wliich the former extends from the south of
Poland and Galicia over the whole of Southern Russia and Siberia to the Amoor region and
Kamstchatka, whilst it is found in elevated situations as lar southward as Cashmere, Tibet, and
the Himalayas ; and the latter inhabits only the higher regions of the Alps, Pyrenees, and Car-
patliians. In North America the common species is the Woodchuck [Arctomys Monax), the
distribution of which is from the Carolinas nort.hward to Hudson's Bay, and westward from the
Atlantic coast to Mis.souri, Iowa, and Minnesota ; the Rocky Mountain region is inhabited by a
distinct species {A. flcwiventer) ; and a third very large species, the Hoary Marmot, or Whistler

TUM MAiaWD

ALPINE MAKMOT.

{A. priiuioj^is), whiclx measures from twenty-thi-ee to twenty -five inches in length of body, appeai-s
to be most abimdant in the north-western parts of the continent, and is said to range northward
as far as the Arctic Circle. The Marmots live usually in large societies in extensive burrows,
which they form imderground; and in some localities, as on the great plains of Russia and
Siberia, their dwelling-places are described as producing a remarkable effect, owing to the multitude
of little hillocks formed by the eai'th thrown out of their burrows. During the summer they are
in a state of constant activity, playing and running about in search of food in the neighbourhood
of their dwellings. The winter they pass in a state of torpidity, in a comfortable chamber lined
with soft herbage, and protected from the outside cold by the closure of the main passage leading
into their abode. For a time after their retirement for the winter they continue active in their
<loniicile, and feed upon the stores of food which they have laid up during the sununer ; and as a
preparation for their winter sleep, they become exceedingly fat during the autumn. The Marmots
are the largest members of their family, and, indeed, some of them may be reckoned among the
larger Rodents. The Alpine Marmot measures more than twenty inches in leugtli, and the Bobac
about fifteen inches, exclusive of tlie tail.

FAMILY II.— ANOMALITEID.T:.

Some curious African animals, closely resembling the Flying Squirrels, and at first regarded as
belonging to that group, were formed by Mr. Waterhouse into a distinct genus, which he called
Anomalurus, in allusion to the peculiar characters presented by their tail. This organ, which is long
and well clothed with hair, although not so bushy as in the true Squirrels, has on the lower surface
of its basal portion a double series of horny scales, which project from tiie skin, and probably serve to
assist the animal in climbing upon the branches of trees.

Besides this peculiarity, these animals exhibit certain other characters which have induced modern

NATURAL HISTORY

zoologists to sepai-ate them from the Squirrels as a distinct family
are wanting, or nearly so ; the infra-orbital openings are large ; the

Thus, the post-orljitai processes
ar teeth are four iu number on
each side, above and below,
nearly equal in size, and not
tubercular, but with a Hal
surface, crossed by trans-
vei-se lopps of enamel ; and
the palate is contracted in
irout and deeply notched
behind. In the skeleton
we tiud sixteen paii's of ribs,
whereas in the Squirrels
there are only twelve or
thirteen paii'S ; and the
uiternal anatomy, first de-
scribed by Mr. Alston, is
\ ery peculiai'. The fly-
nig- membrane is q\iite as
largely developed as in
the Flying Squirrels, and
IS in the same manner ex-
tended from the wrists to
the heels, and further sup-
ported by cartUaginons
spurs starting fi-om the
liom the wrist itself, in the
fuatLi extcusiiMi of the

fore limbs; but, whilst in the Fl>mg Squiriels this spui
Anomalures it projects from the ell)ow, and thus pioduces
brane. The ears are well developed, the eyes large,
and the general aspect both of head and body com
pletely squinel-lrke. Six species of this family have
been described, all from the West Coast of Afi-ica. One
of them occurs in the island of Fernando Po. The
species figured (Anomalnrus/idgens) is from the Gaboon
It is a handsome little creature, of a bright reddish coloni
paler below, and haAdng a small white spot between the
ear.s. Its length is fourteen inches, and its tail is seven
inches long. In some of the other species the tail is as
long as the body. Of the habits of these animals little
is ])ositively known, but they are said to feed upon fruits
They )irobably resemble the Flying Squirrels in then
general mode of life.

FA JULY III.— H.\rLOD0XTin.E. -^

This is another small family, smaller even than molm; tfeth of the anomah-ke

the preceding one, for it includes only a single known

species, limited in its range to the we.stern coast of North America. This is the Sewellel, a
little Eodent, first observed by the American travellers, Lewis and Clarke, in 1805 or 1806, described
in 1814 by Rafinesque under the name of Anismiyx ru/a, and afterwards, in 1829, by Sir John
Richardson, as the type of a new genus, as A-plodontia leporina. Tliis generic name has been coriected,
in accordance with its derivation, l.>y m.ore recent writers, to Ilaploihni, from which the name of the
family has been formed.

In this animal there are five molare in the n]iper and four in the lower jaw ; the first upper molar

rUE liEA]-ER.

is very small, and all these teeth are rootless, simple, and jmsmatic, the surface of each tooth being
surrounded by a mere boi-dei- of enamel. The skull is veiy flat, very wide behind, and furnished with
large zygomatic arches ; between the orbits and in front it is much contracted, and there are no

to foi-m a horizontal ridge.
; feet (which are live-toed,
" The whole organisation.

I u inch and a half ;

post-orbital processes. In the lowei' jaw the angular poi'tion is twisted so as
The body is stont and clumsy, the tail very short, and the claws of the foi(
as well as the hind ones) are very powerful ; in fact, as Dr. Coues says,
viewed externally, indicates terrestrial and highly fossorial habits."

The Sewellel {Uaplodon rufus) is about a foot long, with a tail of an :
its colour is brownish, with an intermixttire of black hairs, lighter and more greyish below. The whiskers^
flaws, and upper surface of the feet are whitish, and the incisor teeth yellow. It inhabits the Washing-
ton and Oregon territories, from the Rocky Mountains to the shores of the Pacific, and extends als»
into the southern portions of British Columbia and the upper parts of California.

The Sewellel is described as having veiy much the same habits as the Prairie Dog, living in
society, burrowing very readily in the ground, and feeding on roots and berries. Their companies,
however, seem to be much smaller than those of the Prauie Dog, and they are said chiefly to frequent
spring-heads in rich, moist jjlaces. They are described as having the curious habit of neatly cutting
ofl" some herb or plant, which, when packed in bundles, they lay out and expose to the sun to dry ;
this is probably for the purpose of storing for winter consumption. It seems to be uncertain whether
the Sewellel is torpid during the winter, but probably in this respect it varies according to local con-
ditions or the coldness of the seasons. Dr. Suchley believes that the Sewellel has several litters of
young during the season. The Indians trap them, and esteem them very highly as food. Cloaks or
blankets are made of theii' skins, which are sewn together with fibres derived from the sinews of the
Elk and Deer. A robe described Ijy Sir John Richardson was composed of twenty-seven skins.

FASULY IV.— CASTORID.^.

Unlike as the Beaver may be to a Squirrel, it yet presents mau^ thxi xcteis which pio^e that its
nearest aflinity is to the animals which compose the gi'ouj) Sciuiomoipha Thi^ lelition^lnp his indeed
been overlooked by many zoologists, but Mr. Alston and
Mr. Allen have clearly shown that Professor Gervais was
right in placing the Castoridse in close juxtaposition with
the Squirrels. The peculiarities which make the apparent
discrepancy so striking are mdeed chiefly those by which
the Beaver is adapted to an aquatic life.

The Beaver, which is the sole living representative of
this family, is a more powerful animal than any of the pre-
ceding, and his incisor teeth and the means of working them
are especially well developed. The head is large and the
skull massive, and furnished with a distinct median
(sagittal) crest for the insertion of the strong niusil. -
which move the lower jaw. There are no post-orbital pi.-
cesses. There are four molars on each side in each jaw,
and these are nearly similar in size and structure ; but,
contrary to what we have seen in the preceding groups, the first molar is the largest, and the others
diminish in size towards the hinder end of the row. The series of teeth in the two sides of the mouth ,
convei-ge toward the front ; and the teeth themselves, which are for a long time rootless, and only
close up to form a simple root when the animal grows old, show three folds or loops of enamel on
one side, and a single fold on the other: the three folds entering from the outer surface of the tooth
in the upper jaw, aijd from its inner surface in the lower.

The general form is stout and heavy, especially in the hinder parts ; the tail is of
moderate length, broad, flattened, and covered with a .scaly skin ; the feet are all five-toed, the fore
pail- considerably smaller than the hinder, but all well furnished with claws, and the hinder pair fully
webbed to the extremities of the toes. The wrist has a large ossicle, in addition to those usually

MOLAP. TEETH OF THE

'J8 NATUliAL BIVTOJH'.

composing that i)art of the body. The eves are small, liave the pupil vertical, and are furnished with
a nictitating membrane ; the ears are small and short, and their antitragus can be so applied to the
head as almost entirely to close the auditory aperture ; and the nostrils are also so arranged as to
be capable of closing.

The Beaver is usually about two feet and a half long, and is, therefore, one of the largest of the
Uodentia, except the Capybara. The tail, which is flattened above and below, and of an elongated oval
form, measures about ten inches. The muffle is naked ; the ears scaly ; the soles of all the feet are

^

,4#«

naked, and their upper surfaces clothed with hairs ; and the second toe of the hind feet is usually
furnished with a double claw, the additional one being placed beneath the other. The general colour
of the fur is reddish-brown on the upper surface, lighter and greyish below. The colour varies a little
in different individuals, and appears to become darker, or even blackish, in northern localities. White
or pied individuals are not uncommon. The Beaver appears to increase in size for some years after
it has attained maturity. Mr. Allen says that in America " two-year-old Beavers generally weigh
about thirty-five to forty pounds, while very old ones occasionally attain a weight of upwards of sixty."
The size of the skull seems to increase throughout life ; the thickness and density of the bones also
increase, and the ridges for the attachment of the muscles become stronger in old individuals.

The Beaver is, or has been, distributed generally over all the northern parts of the Northern
hemisphere, esi)ecially in the forest regions. Formerly it ranged over the whole of Europe, including

77/ A BEA\-EI{. yy

liie British islands, where there is historical evidence of its former existence, besides the skulls
and bones -which have been found in various places, but especially in the Fen lands. At present the
animal appears to be completely exterminated in the southern parts of Europe from France south-
wards, with the exception of a small colony on the Rhone, which we believe is still in existence ; and
only a very few individuals survive in Germany, where they are found on a tributary of the Elbe,
and in one or two other places. In some pai-ts of Poland, Russia, and Austria, and in the Scan-
dinavian peninsula, they still, to a greater or less extent, hold their ground ; and in Asia they abound
al)Out the rivers of Siberia, and in the streams which flow into the Caspian Sea. In North America
Beavers formerly abounded from Texas, and, according to manuscript evidence cited by Mr. Allen,
even from Mexico, northward to the extreme limit of forest growth, and from the Atlantic to the
Pacific coast. The constant pursuit to which the animals were subjected, in consequence of the
demand for theii' skins, greatly diminished their numbers, and in many localities altogether
exterminated them ; but they still occur over a very large extent of the North American continent,
especially in the western territories, where they are even abundant in some of the wilder parts.

In the preceding statements we have spoken of the Beaver as forming a single species ; but it
has long been a moot question with zoologists whether the Beavers of the Old and New Worlds were
or were not specifically identical. The external differences are very slight, and those observed in the
skull, upon which most stress has been laid, do not appear to be of sufficient importance for the
separation of the animals as distinct species. They consist chiefly in the greater breadth of the
anterior portion of the skull, including the inter-oi-bital space ; the extension farther back of the nasal
bones, the greater size and depth of the basilar cavity and the more anterior position of the auditory
l)ullce, in the European Beaver ; but the examination of large series of specimens has proved that
tlie skulls from both hemispheres present many exceptions, in which one or more of the peculiarities
which they ought to exhibit do not occiu- : a circumstance which of necessity greatly invalidates the
distinction founded upon sucli chai-acters. Dr. Ely sums up the results of an extended investigation
in the following words : — " The extremes of difference, in theii- aggregate, on the one side and on the
other, are sufliciently striking to justify us in regarding them as varieties of one and the same species;
while the want of constancy in these peculiarities suggests the inference that these variations are
due to long separation of the races, and to accidental causes, rather than to original diversity of the
stock." The Beaver may thus be regarded as a species with two geographical forms (varieties or sub-
species), viz., Castor fiber, var. europceus, and Castor filer, var. canadensis.

So much has been written upon the habits of the Beaver, that the following short statement
will suffice to give the leading facts in the natural history of the animal, the accounts of the marvel-
lous sagacity of which, given by the okler writers, have, perhaps, invested it with an exaggerated
interest.

In populous countries the Beaver is contented, like the Otter, with a long burrow for his
residence ; but in the wilder regions of Siberia and North America his dwelling-place is a much more
complicated affair. But even in these regions, according to some authorities, a certain number of
Beavers — always males — show a lazy unwillingness to take part in the common labours of the colony;
and tliese, as idlers, are expelled f)-om the community, often with rather severe treatment, and then
take up their abode by themselves in holes, which they dig out in the banks of rivers, whence they
are called " terriers." On the other hand, it would appear that the building instinct which is so
remarkably manifested by the Beaver is not always extinct even in those which inhabit populous
countries, for we have a most interesting accomit from ]M. Me3'erinck of the construction of a lodge,
and even of a dam, by the colony of Beavers on a tributiU y of the EHje.

In North America, from which we have the fullest accounts of the habits of the Beavers, these
animals select for their habitation some small stream running through a locality well covered with
trees, especially willows, birches, and poplars, iipon the bark of which they chiefly feed. These trees
they cut down with their powerful incisor teeth, usually selecting those from the thickness of a man's
arm to that of his thigh, but sometimes even felling trunks eighteen inches in diameter. The
operation, which at first sight would seem to be a rather difficult one for an animal like the Beaver
to jierform, is effected by gnawing all round the tiimk for a certain distance, and gradually working
deeper and deeper into its substance in the middle of the part attacked, until at length the tree stands

100 NATURAL RlSTUIiY.

upon quite a slender piece of wood, with the trunk both above and below this tapered ofl' into the
form of two cones, united by their apices. The work is done as sharply and neatly as if the wood had
been cut away by a chisel ; and the animals are said to have the sagacity to weaken the trunk more
on the side that looks towards the water than on the opposite side, by which means, when it falls, it
will generally do so in the direction of the water, which materially facilitates the further operations
of the Beavers. The quantity of trees cut down by them iu this way is very great, so that in the
neighbourhood of a Beaver encampment the gi-ound is everywhere full of the stumps which they
have left.

These tree tninks are then cut up into lengths of five or six feet, which, after their bark has
been stripped off and eaten, are employed in the formation of a lodge, to serve as a shelter for the
company of Beavers forming it. Access to the lodge is obtained by means of several subterranean
passages, which always open under water, and lead up into the chamber occupying the interior of the
lodge. The lodge is usually of an oven-like shape, and is built close to the edge of the water ; its walls
are very thick, and composed of the above-mentioned trunks of trees, plastered over with mud, clay,
&c., mixed with gi-asses and moss, imtil the whole fabric measures from twelve to twenty feet in
diameter, and forms a hill some six or eight feet high. The larger lodges are in the interior about
seven feet iu diameter, and between two and three feet liigh ; and the floor of this spacious chamber
is covered with fine chips of wood, gi'asses, and the soft bark of ti-ees, which serve to form the beds
of the occupants. Occasionally the lodges are said to contain store-rooms. In fi-ont of the lodge,
according to Audubon, the Beavers scratch away the mud of the bottom until they make the water
deep enough to enable them to float their pieces of timber to this point, even when the water is
frozen : and, communicating with this, a ditch sun-ounds the lodge, which is also made so deep that
it will not readily freeze to the bottom. Into this ditch, and the deep water in front of the lodge,
the passages by which access to the water is obtained always open, and thus the inhabitants can
at any time make their way out when their business requires them to do so. In the neighbourhood
of the lodge the timber cut into lengths, as above described, is piled up, so as to furnish a supply of
food as it is required ; and the jiieces of timber, after being stripped of their bark, are usually
employed by the Beavers either in repairing their lodges or in constructing or strengthening the
dams which they very frequently throw across the streams haunted by them. These dams, which
are destined to keep the water of vai-iable streams up to the necessary height for the convenience of
the Beaver, are wonderful pieces of work, and almost justify the marvellous stories told of its intelli-
gence and sagacity by the older writers. They are often of gi-eat length — sometimes 1.50 or 200
yards and more — and run across the course of the brook inhabited by the Beavers — sometimes
in a straight line, sometimes in a curved form, according to peculiarities in the ground or the stream,
and the exigencies of the engineers. They are composed, like the lodges, of lengths cut from the
trunks and branches of trees, filled in with smaller .sticks, roots, grasses, and moss, and all plastered
with mud and clay in a most workmanlike manner, until the whole structure becomes quite water-
tight. Their height is from six to ten feet, and their thickness at the bottom sometimes as much as
double this, but diminishing upwards by the slope of the sides until the top is only from three to five
feet wide. These dams convert even small rivulets into large pools of water, often many acres in
extent ; and in districts where Beavers abound these pools may occupy nearly the whole course of a
stream, one above the other, almost to its source. Their use to the Beavers, as constantly furnishing
them with a sufiiciency of water in which to carry on their- business, and especially to float to their
lodges the tree trunks necessary for their subsistence, is easily understood ; but it is a more remark-
able circumstance that by this means the Beavers exercise a considerable influence u])on the external
appearance of the locality inhabited by them, which may persist even long after they have themselves
disappeared. In and about the pools the constant attacks of the Beavers upon the trees produce
clearings in the forest, often many aci'es in extent ; at the margins of the pools the formation of peat
commences, and under favourable circumstances proceeds until the greater part of the cleared space
becomes converted into a peat-moss. These peaty clearings are known as Beaver-meadows, and they
have been detected in various countries where the Beaver is now extinct.

As in the case of the majority of Eodents, the chief activity of the Beaver is nocturnal ; and it is
only when driven from its lodge by a high flood, or in the wildest and most sequestered localities, that

lllE MUCS±.-LIKE ItUliL^' r.-i. 101

it goes about lUiring the day. It swims (luickly, Imt entirely by the agency of tlie hind feet, tlie fore
feet being used chiefly for carrying and building operations, and for couveyLug the food to the month.
Before diving, it is said to slap the surface of the water wth its tail, producing a sound that may be
lieard at a considerable distance. On land it sometimes travels a good way in the warm season, and
is then stated to indulge in a change of diet, feeding upon roots and fruits, and sometimes upon corn.
The roots of the water-lily (iVuphar) are also said to constitute part of its food. The Beaver is liunted
— but less now than in former years — for the sake of its skin, the soft under fur of which was much
used in the manufacture of hats. It is asserted that the flesh is very good, but according to some
authorities, only certain parts of it are palatable ; and Audubon declares that the tail, which is regarded
as a peculiarly choice morsel, closely i-3sembles man-ow, and is so rich that only those -whose stomachs
are incapable of being upset by greasy food can eat more than a very little of it.

The Beaver has been hunted not only for its fur, but also, and from time immemorial, for the
sake of a peculiar secretion produced by it, which, under the name of Castoremn, has been for many
centuries a highly-esteemed medicament. This substance is secreted in a pair of glandular pouches,
situated in the inguinal region of the male Beaver ; and it would seem that it was almost entirely in
order to procure tliese that the ancients hunted this animal Even in connection with this they had
wonderful tales to tell of its sagacity : as how that, when it was pursued and found itself unable to
escai)e, it would tlu-ow itself upon its back, as if to invite the hunter to take what he wanted
and spiU-e its life. Nay, some ancient writers seem to have believed that the Beaver would go the
length of biting off its own castoreum glands, and leaving them for the hunter to pick up ! Castoreum
contains some volatile oil and resin, and a peculiar crystallisable substance called castorine ; it is,
used in medicine as a stimulant, and seems to act especially on the nervous system, but is not much
employed nowadays. Its odom-, which appears to spread over a considerable space, is described as
being very attractive to other Beavers. Audubon states that it is used for this reason as a lui'e by the
Ameiican trappers.

CHAPTER II.

THE DORMOUSE, LOPHIOMYS, EAT, AND MOUSE FAMILIES.

The Mouse-like Rodext.s— MTOXID.E-Characteristics— The Doemouse— Description— Habits —Activity— Food— Winter
Condition— The Loir— The Garden Dormouse— Lophiomtid^-How the Family came to be Founded— The
LoPHIOMYS — Milne-Edwards' Opinion— Skull — General Form -Habits— Murid.e — Number of Species— Characteristics
—Variety of Foi-ms-Distribution— The Murine Sub-Family— The Brown Rat— History -Fecundity and Ferocity-
Diet — At the Horse Slaughter-houses of Montfaucon — Shipwrecked on Islands— Story of theii- Killing a Man in a
Coal-pit— In the Sewers of Paris and London — The Black Kat — The Egyptian Kat — The Common Mouse — Habits
—Destructiveness —Colours —The Long-tailed Field Mouse— Description— Food— The Harvest Mouse— Descrip-
tion—Habits— In Winter— Agility— Their Nest— The Bandicoot Rat— The Tree Rat— The Striped Mouse^
Allied Genera — The AVhite-footed Hapalote — The American Murines — The White-footed, or Deer Mouse— The
Golden, or Red Mouse— The Rice-field Mouse— The American Harvest Mouse— The Florida Rat— Description
—Their Nest— Food— Mother and Young— The Bushy-tailed Wood Rat— The Cotton Rat— The Rabbit-like
Reithrodon— The Hamsters— Characteristics— Appearance— Distribution -Burrows — Disposition— Food— Habits —
The Tree Mice — The Black-streaked Tree Mice— The Gerbilles— Characteristics— Habits— Other Genera—
The Water Mice— Characteristics— Species— The Sminthus— The Voles- -Characteristics— The Water Vole—
Appearance— Distribution— Food-THE Field Vole- The Bank Vole— The Southern Field Vole— The Snow
Mouse— The Root Vole — The Meadow Moi'se- The Pine Mouse — The Musquash, Musk Rat, or Ondatra —
Distinguishing Features— Habits — His House — The Lemming— Description — Food— Habits — Disposition — Their
Extraordinary Migrations — Other Lemmings— The Zokor.

SECTION II.— MOUSE-LIKE RODENTS (MYOMORPHA).
The Myomorphic, or Mouse-like gi'oup of Rodents, includes a much gi'eater variety of forms than
the preceding, and the number of species is also very gi-eat. We find in it arboreal, terrestrial,
and aquatic species ; and in the second of these categories some presenting almost every variety of
habit which the Rodent type is capable of assuming. ' Naturally the families and sub-families into
which it is divided are rather numerous. Mr. Alston distinguished seven family groups, the first
of which is the Myoxidse.

NATURAL HIS TORI

FAMILY v.— MYOXID.E.
Tlie Dormice, wliich constitiite this family, have generally been regarded as nearly related to the
inels ; and certainly, although they fall under the definition of the Myomorphic section, they have
a plain affinity to the Sciuridae. ' In form they are Sqnii-rel-like, and the
tail is long and hauy, although not so bushy as in the true Squirrels.
They have four molars on each side in each jaw {see figure), the front one
in each series being smaller than the rest. All these teeth are rooted,
and their crowns show transverse folds of enamel. The frontal bones are
much narrowed ; the fore limbs are small, with the thumbs rudimentary
and furnished with a small flat nail ; and the hind feet have five toes. The
Dormice difiisr from all other Rodents by having the intestine entii-ely
destitute of a csecum. They are confined to the Eastern hemisphere, and
chiefly to its temperate and colder regions ; although a species of Myoxvis,
and some forms on which a special genus {Graphiurus) has teen founded,
inhabit Africa. The number of known species is only about a dozen.

The common Dormouse {Myoxus aveUanarius) is an elegant little
creature, about three inches long, with a somewhat bushy, cylindrical
tail, two inches and a half in length. Its fur is of a light reddish-tawny colour above, becoming
paler and yellowish on the lower sm-face. On the throat there is a small whitish mark. It is

widely distributed in Europe, ranging from Britain and Sweden in the north to Tuscany and
Northern Turkey in the south. Generally it is more abundant in southern than in northern
countries, but in the south of France it is less common than either of the other two Eurojiean
species. Eastwards it does not extend beyond Galicia, Hungary, and Transylvania.

The Dormouse is nocturnal in its habits. During the day it sleeps in its nest or in some snug
retreat, and at night comes forth in search of its food, which consists of nuts, acorns, seeds, berries,
and the buds of trees and shrubs. It is particularly fond of the nuts of the common hazel, whence its
specific name, and the name of " Haselmaus," which it beai's in Germany ; these nuts it is said to
pierce and empty without plucking them or taking them out of their cups. The Dormouse lives in
small societies in thickets, and hedgei'ows, where it is as active in its way amongst the bushes and
undergi'owth as its cousin the Squirrel upon the larger trees. Among the small twigs and branches

TILE DORMOUSE. 10;.

of the shrubs an<l small trees the Dormice climb with woiulerful adroitness, often, indeed, hanging b)-
their hind feet from a twig in order to reach and operate on a fruit or a nut whicli is otherwise iuacoes-
siljle, and running along the lower surface of a branch with the activity and certainty of a Monkey.
Detached articles of food are held up to the mouth by the fore paws, after the fashion of a Squii-rel.
Towards the winter the Dormouse becomes exceedingly fat, and having collected a small store of food,
makes for itself a little globular nest, composed of small twigs, leaves, pine-needles, moss, and grass,
and within this, coiled up into a ball, passes into a torpid state.

Nevertheless, the winter sleep is not wholly uninterrupted ; on mild days the Dormouse wakes up
for a time and takes a little of its stored-up food. The female produces usually about four young, in
the spring according to Professor Bell, in August according to Brehm ; but the fonuer writer thinks
that in some cases two broods are produced rn the year, as he has received from the same locality in
September a Lalf-gi'owu Dormouse and three very young ones, evidently not more than a fortnight
or three weeks old.

Of the other common European species, the Loir {Mi/oxus glis) is found only in southern
regions, its range extending from Spain to Southern Russia, and j)assing into the neiglibouring parts
of Asia. It is considerably larger than the Dormouse, measuring rather more than six inches in

iGARDEN UOUMOUSE,

length, and has a bushy tail, in which the hairs are arranged in two I'ows, as in that of the Squirrel.
The habits of this species are like those of the Dormouse. Fruit constitutes a portion of its diet, and
it is said also to destroy and devour small birds and other animals. The Loir is a very voracious
feeder, and becomes exceedingly fat in the autumn. By the ancient Roman epicures it was regarded
as a dainty morsel, and they spared no pains to fatten it for the table. It sleeps during the day, and
hibernates in some hole in a tree or in the gi-ound, and the nest is formed in the fonner situation.
The female usually produces about six young.

The Garden Dormouse, or Lerot of the French {Myoxus nitela), is common all over the
southern and western parts of the Continent, extending northwards through Germany into
the Baltic provinces of Russia. It is a little smaller than the preceding species, which, however, it
resembles in its general habits; but it dwells commonly in gardens, and feeds on fruits, often
doing much damage to the choicer varieties. It is a lighter and more active animal than the Loii-,
and is said to be even more predaceous in its habits. The female produces from four to six young,
sometimes in a beautifully-made nest of her own, sometimes in the deserted or usur]ied nest of a Black-
bii-d or Thrush, or in that of a Squirrel.

F.\JIILY A'l.— LOPHIOMYIDiE.

Tlie importance of an animal in the zoological system by no means depends either upon its size
or on its abundance in the world ; its rank in the classification is decided solely hj peculiarities of

104

AT URAL Hl^TUlll

SKULL OF LOl'l

organisation which distinguish it more or less from its fellows ; and in many cases the creatures which
are regarded with the most interest by the naturalist are those which seem most to withdraw them-
selves from general observation. A single genus, perhaps containij^g only one or two species, may, by
a singular combination of characters, be so completely isolated from all the recognised allied groups
that it cannot be placed in any of them, and accordingly a distinct family, possibly even an order,
has to be established for its reception. Sometimes subsequent discoveries add to the number of species
forming the group thus set up, and in this way the prescience
of its founder is confirmed. Sometimes the group remains in
Its original condition, leaving us, according to circumstances,
to regard the anomalous creatures of which it is composed
either as a special development of their general type, or as the
residue of a group which may have presented a greater variety
of forms at some past period of the earth's history.

The latter is perhaps the case with the curious little
Rodent which alone forms the present family, of which its
original describer, M. Alphonse Milne - Edwards, writes as follows :—" Iii its general aspect it
somewhat resembles certain Opossums, and like these it is pedimanous ;* but these are the
only analogies it presents to the Marsupials, and in its dental system, as also in the rest of its
organisation, we easily see that it belongs to the order Rodentia. It differs, however, from all the
members of this group by characters of considerable importance ; I may even say that, by some
peculiarities of structure it departs from all other Mammals, and that we fhid in it anatomical aiTange-
ments of which we have hitherto had examples only in the class of Reptiles." After an exliaustive
discussion of the characters of this curious little animal, M. Mihie-Edwards comes to the conclusion
that it is most nearly related to the members of the following family, and especially to the Hamsters,
although he found it impossible to unite it with them. In this course he tas been followed by other
writers.

The general construction of the skull is the same as in the Muridse, but from the temporal ridges
thin plates are developed, which bend downwards, and articulate with similar plates springing from
the malar bones, and thus com-
l)letely arch over the temporal
fossae after a fashion only met
with in certain reptiles, and
especially in the Hawksbill
Turtle (Chelone caretta). The
whole upper riurface of the
skull is covered with minute
but perfectly definite granules,
arranged with much regularity,
and these, which occur in no
other Mammal, give the ski
a very peculiar aspect, such as
may be seen in some tisli( s
As in the Muridie, tliei( ii
three molars on each sidi in
each jaw, and these aie rooti d
and strongly tubercular , tlu
foremost in each series having
three and the others each two lophiomvs.

ridges. Without entering in

detail into the peculiarities described at great length by M. Milne-Edwards, we may say that in its
general structure, and especially in that of the skeleton, the animal is murine, but with a very impor-
tant distinction, namely, that the collar bones, which are well developed in the Eats and their allies,
* Ha-ving the liinil feet hand-like.

TUB MOUSE FAMILY.

are here reduced, as in the Hares and Rabbits, so as to form only two small bony styles freely
suspended among the muscles, and that the first toe in the hind feet, although not very long, is so
attached as to be opposite to the rest, thus converting the organ into a prehensile hand which the
animal uses freely in climbing. The caecum is small.

In its external characters this animal is as remarkable as in its anatomical structure. In
general appearance, as stated by its describer, it has much resemblance to a small Opossum, but the
bushy tail and the peculiar arrangement of the hair on the body are met with in no Marsupials. The
head is small ; the general form stout ; the limbs short, and the hind ones not much longer than tlieir
fellows ; and the ears are of moderate size and sparingly clothed with hair. The prevailing colour is
blackish-brown, but a triangular spot on the forehead, a streak under each eye, and the tip of the tail,
are white ; and the long hairs which clothe the body and tail are dark only in the middle, the base
and tip being white, as are also a great quantity of finer and shorter hairs which form a sort of under
fur. But the chief peculiarity of the coat is to be found in the arrangement of the hairs of the body.
The long hairs of the middle of the back and tail, some of which are nearly three inches in length, are
capable of being raised into a nearly upright position, forming a sort of crest which gives the animal a
very peculiar aspect, and this crest is separated from the pendulous hair of the flanks by a sort of
furrow clothed with very peculiar hair of a greyish-tawny colour. These hairs are unlike any others
known to occur among Mammals. The apical part is of the ordinaiy construction ; but the following
portion down to the base is " very rugose, and presents a spongy aspect, due to the interlacing, and,
.so to sjjeak, felting of a multitude of epidermic filaments emanating from radiate cells, which con-
.stitute a perfect network of irregular meshes. Within the sort of sheath thus formed longitudinal
filaments which break up into bundles of fibrils are to be .seen."

Very little is known as to the habitat of this animal, which M. Milne-Edwards has named
Lophiomys Imhausi, the former name referring to the crested character of the back, the second com-
memorating the person who first brought the creature to the notice of naturalists. M. Imhaus,
stopping for a few hours at Aden on his way home from Eeunion, saw a living specimen of this Rodent
in the possession of a negro from whom he bought it, but could learn nothing as to its origin. He
inferred, however, that it had not been brought very far, and that its native country was either
Southern Arabia, or some region in Abyssinia, or Nubia, on the other side of the Red Sea. This
specimen was brought to France, and lived for about a year and a half in the Garden of Acclimatiza-
tion in the Bois de Boulogne, where it fed upon maize, vegetables, and bread, slept during the day,
and climbed with ease upon chairs and other convenient objects by the aid of its hinder hands. It
never took its food in the fore-paws to carry it to the mouth as so many Rodents do. When irritated
it elevated the crest right down to the end of the tail, and defended itself by biting vigorously.

It is doubtful whether the Lophiomys inhabits Arabia, but it is found in the neighbouring parts
of Africa. Professor Peters described the skull of the
animal as representing a new generic type under the name
of Phractomys wihiops. His specimen was obtained by Dr.
Schweinfurth from the tombs of Maman, north of Kassala,
in Upper Nubia. A third specimen has been brought from
Keren in the Bogos country, and a fourth from the
Erkanid mountains between Suakim and Singat.

FAMILY Vir.— MURID^.
We come now to the largest and most typical family of

the Rodents : that, namely, which includes the Rats and Mice
and their numerous allies. Mr. Wallace estimates the
number of known species at 3.30, which is probably within
the mark. All these forms agree in the following charac-
ters : — The lower incisors are compressed ; the molars are

usually three in number on each side in each jaw, in one genus only two in the lower or in both
jaws, and in another four in both jaws. They are rooted or rootless, tubercular or flat, with folds of

MOLAR TEETH UF THE BLACK RAT.

NATURAL ElUTOIiY.

enamel; the malar bone is short and slender, generally reduced to a mere splint between the
maxillary and squamosal processes of the zygomatic arch; the thumb is rudimentary, but often
fm-nished with a small nail ; and the tail is generally scaly, with a few scattered haii-s, densely hairy
only in a few species.

As might be expected in so large an assemblage of species, the variety of forms is veiy great
among the Muridre, but broadly, the common Eats and Mice, which are only too well known to
most of us, may serve as characteristic types of the whole series. The family, however, includes
jumping forms, swimming forms, arboreal foi-ms, and bun-owing forms, in which the peculiarities
of the life-habits are very distinctly indicated by the external appearance of the creatures. lu
their distribution the Muridie are almost absolutely cosmopolitan, the family being represented in

every part of the world, with the sole exception of the islands of the Pacific Ocean. Australia,
possesses about thu-ty species of the family. New Zealand, at the time of its discovery, harboured a
Eat, known as the Forest Eat, or Maori Eat, which was a favourite article of food with the natives,
and is now almost extinct. It was proved by Capt. Hutton to be identical with the Black Eat {Mus
rattus), and was probably introduced by the ancestors of the Maoris. Certain species also, such as
the common Brown Eat and Mouse, are now perfectly cosmopolitan in their distribution, having
accompanied man in all his migrations on the surface of the globe.

The Eat and Mouse form the types of a great sub-family, ilrRix.E, which have the molars rooted
and tuberculate when young, the infra-orbital opening high anil perpendicular, widest above, and the lower
root of the zygomatic maxillary process flattened into a perpendicular plate. They possess no cheek-
pouches, have the fore and hind limbs approximately equal in length, the thumb rudimentary, and the
tail nearly naked, covered with scaly rmgs. The genus Mus, to which our household pests belong,
includes upwards of one hundred species, scattered over most parts of the Eastern Hemisphere, and
living sometimes chiefly in the neighbourhood of human habitations, gi-anaries, itc, where they often
feed indifi'erently upon animal and vegetable substances, sometimes in the open country, and feeding

THE iiiion.y it.rr. lov

almost exclusively upon tlio Iiittei-. Tlie common Brown Rat (Mus decinnmms), sometimes called
the Norway Rat, which is almost too well known to need description, is not a native of Great
Britain, but was certainly introduced there by commerce, probably from some southern or
eastern country — perhaps, as Pennant thinks, from the East Indies. Haunting ships in great numbers,
it has now been introduced into all parts of the world, and it is quite impossible to ascertain its
original habitat. It was known in Asia long before it made its appearance in Europe; and its passage
into Russia is fixed by Pallas in the year 1727, when, he says, after an earthquake it swam across
the Volga from the countries bordering the C;ispian. Its first appearance in France and England is
said to have occui-red about the middle of the last century.

From its gi-eat fecundity and determined ferocity of disposition, the Brown Rat has become a
great pest wherever it has taken up its abode. " It digs," says Professor Bell, " with great facility and

vigour, making its way with rapidity beneath the floors of our houses, between the stones and bricks
of walls, and often excavating the foundations of dwellings to a dangerous extent. There are many
instances of then- fatally undermining the most solid mason-work, or buiT0\ving through dams which
had for ages served to confine the waters of rivers and canals." It is almost impossible to keep them
out of our houses, and, once in, there is no end to the mischief they do. Their ferocity is very gi-eat ;
and although they -svill, if possible, retreat from a powerful enemy, they will fight in the most savage
fashion when they cannot escape.

Although not averse to a vegetable diet — as those who have to do with corn and seeds, whether
in the field or the store-house, know to their cost — the Brown Rat evinces a decided preference for
animal food, which he consumes of all kinds and in all states. The case of the horse slaughter-houses
of Montfaucon, near Paris, is well known ; here, the carcases of all the Horses killed during the day,
sometimes to the number of thirty-five, would be picked to the bone by the next morning ; and one
main argximent against the removal of the establishment to a gi-eater distance from the city was that
these swarms of ferocious vermin would be left without means of .support, and woiild become a complete
pest in the neighbourhood. Tliat such an ajiprehension was not unfounded is pi'oved by .several
instances recorded of the escape of Rats from wrecked ships \ipon small islands. In the course of

]0S NATURAL BISTOKY.

a few years they exterminated every other living thing. Professor Bell, on the authority of
the late Mr. Robert Stephenson, relates the following instance of the extreme ferocity of the
Rat when driven by hunger: — "In a coal-pit," he says, "in which many Hor.ses were employed,
the Rats, which fed upon the fodder provided for the Horses, had accumulated in great multitudes. It
was cu.stomary in holiday times to bring to the surface the Horses and the fodder, and to close the pit
for the time. On one occasion, when the holiday had extended to ten days or a fortnight, during which
the Rats had been deprived of food, on re-opening the pit, the first man who descended was attacked
by the starving multitude, and speedily killed and devoured." Stories are also told, with what truth
we do not know, of the occui-rence of similar catastrophes in the sewers of Paris and London, where,
as is well known, Rats abound.

The Brown Rat breeds several times during the year, and produces as many as ten, twelve, or
fourteen young ones in a litter. Its general length is about nine inches. It may be distinguished
from the old English Rat, which it has displaced in most localities, by its greyish-brown colour and
by the comparative shortness of its ears, which, when pressed down, do not reach the eye.

The Black Rat {Mus rattus), or old English Rat, as it is sometimes called, agrees closely
in its habits with the Brown Rat. It is smaller than the Bi-own Rat, measuring only about seven
inches in length, but has a comparatively much longer taU and larger ears, which, when pressed
forward, cover the eyes. Its colour above is gi-eyish or brownish-black, and the lower parts are
dark ash colour. Although the Black Rat has generally been compelled to give way before its lai-ger
and more vigorous competitor, it is still widely dispersed, but not in such numbers as formerly, in
Europe. Its native country was probably Southern Asia. Nearly allied to it, if indeed specifically
distinct, is the Egyptian Rat {Mus aleoauidrinus). Both these Rats are said to keep more to the
upper parts of houses than the Brown Rat.

Although the true Mice are very nearly allied to the Rats, of which they are copies on a small
scale (and .some of them, at any rate, are as destmctive in their way as their larger relatives), they do
not excite by any means the same sentiments of disgu.st with which Rats are generally regarded ;
ladies, indeed, will sometimes scream at the mere sight of a Mouse, but most of them will admit that,
apart from its pi-edatory habits, it is an elegant little creature. The Common Mouse (Mvs musculus)
seems to be as completely associated with man as the Rat, and has accompanied him in his wanderings
to all parts of the world. It is, however, said not to occur in the Sunda Islands. Of its general
appearance and habits we need say nothing ; they are too familiar to need description. But besides
haunting our houses, the Mouse takes up its abode in the rick-yard, and here its devastations are often
very serious. The Mice live in the ricks, through which they make passages in every direction, and
their fecundity is so great that several bushels of Mice are often destroyed during the removal of a
single rick. The Mouse breeds all the year round, and usually produces five or six young at a birth,
so that its I'apid increase under favourable circumstances is easily understood. Several varieties of
the species are well known, especially the Albino form, or White Mouse, which is such a favourite pet
with boys. The Common Mouse in England is sometimes patched with white, and we sometimes
see in the shops Pied Mice, which are said to be of Indian origin. A pale buff variety is also
sometimes met with ; and during the removal of a rick some years ago, it was found to be infested
by a breed of Mice with a naked wrinkled skin, to which the name of Rhinoceros Mice was given at
the time.

Besides these more or less domestic species, there are in Britain two other representatives of
the genus Mus, which do not generally frequent houses. One of these is the Long-tailed Field
Mouse (Mus sylvatieus), sometimes called the Wood Mouse, an exceedingly pretty little creature,
rather larger than the Common Mouse, and having a proportionally longer tail. It measures about
four inches in length, and the tail is about as long as the body ; its colour is yellowish or yellowish-
brown on the upper surface, whitish beneath ; and the tail is brown above and white beneath. This
species is found all over the temperate parts of Europe and Asia, living in the fields and gardens,
where it takes up its abode, either in some small cavity under the root of a tree, in the deserted runs
of the Mole, or less commonly in a little burrow excavated by its own labour. It feeds chiefly upon
gi'ain and seeds, of which it lays up a considerable store for winter use in its subteiTanean dwelling,
and Ln this way does considerable damage to the crops. The Field Mouse does not, however, strictly

HARVEST MICE,

ilO XATUSAL HISTOIiY.

confine itself to a vegetable diet, but under circumstances of privation will attack and devour smaller
and weaker animals, not even sparing its own species. It breeds more than once Lii the year, and
produces from seven to ten young in each litter. It is easily tamed, and soon becomes familiar.

The remaining British species, the Harvest Mouse {Mus minutus), is the smallest of the British
quadrupeds, with the exception of the Lesser Shi-ew {Sorex pyijmmus). The Harvest Mouse is to
be found in most parts of England. It also occurs in Scotland as far north as Aberdeenshire ; and in
Ireland, but very rarely. On the Continent its range extends over nearly the whole of Europe,
from Russia in the north to Italy in the .south. It is well known in Siberia, and occurs abundantly
in the steppes near the Caucasus.

The total length of this pretty little Mouse is about five inches, of which nearly one-half is made
up of the tail. In it the eyes are less prominent than in the common Field Mouse, and tlie ears
considei'al)ly .shorter in proportion. Its colour on the upper surface is bright reddish brown, and below
pure white, the two colours being sharply separated. During the summer, the Hai-vest Mouse
associates with the other Field Mice in corn-fields, and with them is very frequently carried in
the sheaves of corn to rick-yards and barns, where it then takes np its abode for the autumn
.(nd winter, and, like other Mice, multiplies very rapidly, and no doubt does a good deal of mischief.
The less fortunate individuals who are left behind in the fields i-etreat to little burrows for protection
from the inclemency of the winter, which they pass in a state of at least partial torpidity ; and to
provide against exigencies tliey lay up in their dwellings a small store of food, to which they can have
recourse when a fine day recalls them for a time to activity. Those which have been introduced into
ricks and barns are, of course, liberally provided for, and they show their gi-atitude by remaining
awake all the winter, as if on purpo.se to consume their abundant provender. In the open field their
food consists of corn and the .seeds of gi-asses and other plants, but also to a considerable extent of
small insects.

In its movements the Harvest Mouse is wonderfully agile. On the ground it runs very rapidly;
and it climbs upon shrubs and plants as cleverly as a Monkey, running out upon the thinnest twigs
with the greatest confidence, and climbing up stalks of gi-asses so thin that they bend nearly to the
ground with its weight. In these operatioixs the long slender tail comes into use, as its extremity is
preheiL'^Ue, and can be twisted neatly round the small stalks and branches over wliich the little climber
is mak^ig its way. From its lively habits, and the elegance of its form, the Harvest Mouse is a very
interesting pet.

The Harvest Mouse breeds several times during the year, producing from five to eight or nine
young at a birth, and provides for them one of the prettiest cradles formed by any Mammal. It is
placed, according to the locality, upon several grass-leaves split and interwoven with the other
materials, or suspended at a height of from eighteen inches to three feet above the gi-ound, upon
the twigs of some shrub or between several stalks of corn or strong grasses. It is egg-shaped,
or nearly round, about the size of the egg of a Goose, and is composed exteraally of slit leaves of
the reeds or grasses among which it is formed, each leaf being carefully divided longitudinally by
the sharp teeth of the little architect into six or eight thread-like portions, which are then all woven
together, so as to produce a firm structure. The interior is lined, or rather stuffed, with all sorts of
soft vegetable substances, so that it has been a question with many observers how the mother could
get at all the members of her fiimily to suckle them, and how the nest could contain them all as they
began to increase in bulk. The young usually remain in the nest until they can see ; but as soon as
they are able to provide for themselves, the mother takes them out, gives them some practical instruc-
tions in the art of living, and then leaves them to their own devices. According to Brehm, as these
Mice increase in age they improve in the art of nest-building.

Besides these few species, a multitude of Rats and Mice, belonging to the same genus, occur as
natives of nearly all parts of the world, but in their habits they agree in general with the British
species. India harbours a considerable numbei-, among which we may mention the Bandicoot Rat
{Mus bandicota), a large species, which inhabits the Indian and Malayan peninsulas, and is very
destructive in plantations ; and the Tkee Rat (J/ws arborens), a native of Bengal, seven or eight
inches in length, which lives partly on grain, of which it lays up stores in its nests, and jmrtly on
young cocoa-nuts, which constitute its favourite food, and in search of which it climbs the trees. This

THE AMERICAN MVlilXES.

Lll

Species builds a nest on cocoa-nut trees and bamboos, and occasionally makes predatory \isits to tiie

houses. The Striped Mouse (Mit^ barbarus) is remarkable for its coloration, its grovu

a bright yellowish-brown or reddish-yellow, adorned with

several longitudinal blackish-brown streaks. This elegant

Jlouse inhabits Northern Africa, especially in stony places.

It is very abundant in Algeria.

Nearly allied to the true Mice are numerous foim,
more restricted in their distribution, which have 1" u
formed into distmct genera. Thws Peloniys faUax, in wlii. ii "X^
the incisors are grooved, the tail short, and the first and
fifth toes of all the feet shorter than the three middle ones,
is peculiar to Mozambique ; Acanthonii/.f, in wliich the fur
is mbced with flattened spines, is an African genus ; whilst
Echinothrix, which has a somewhat similar coat, is Austra-
lian. Madagascar possesses two peculiar genera, yesomijs
iind Brachytarsomys, the former having some relation to the
American Murinse, the latter remarkable for the shortness
of the hind feet; and in Australia, besides the genus mului n fim m mi mi non

already mentioned, and one or two species of true Mus,

we find the genus Hapalotis represented by about thirteen exclusively Australian species. These
animals have the hind limbs rather long, the ears large, and the tail long and haiiy, terminating
in a tuft. The molar teeth also exhibit a peculiar iiattern. The best known species is the
■\Vhite-footed Hapalote {Hajialotln albipes), an animal about the size of the Brown Rat, of a
smoky brown colour, with the belly and the feet white. It inhalnts New South Wales, especially
in the mountainous parts. The animals of this genus were formerly regarded as allied to the South
American Chinchillas and Viscachas.

The American Murines all belong to a group to which the name of Sigmodontes has been given,
because their molar teeth, which in the young state have two tubercles in each transverse row (instead
of three, which is the usual number in the preceding forms), when ground down by use, show some
S-like patterns in the enamel folds in place of transverse ridges. The greater number of the species
belong to the genus Hesperomys (Western Mouse), which is represented in both divisions of the
American continent, and has been divided by authoi-s into several sub-genera. The White-footed, or
Deer Mouse (Hesperomys Icucopus) is perhaps the best known of all the species, and its varieties,
or rather local permanent races, are distributed all over the continent of North America. Tlie fur
shows various brownish or greyish tints above ; and the lower surface, with the feet up to the
wrist and ankle, is .snow-white. What Dr. Coues gives as the normal colour of typical specimens is
a rich favvn, with a darker streak along the back : but he says that this is shown by not more than
one example in six. The tail is generally white beneath. The length of the head and body is about
three inches ; the tail varies considerably in length. The White-footed Mouse is nocturnal in its
habits, and feeds to a great extent upon corn, of wliich, with acorns and other nuts, it lays up .stores
for winter use. It lives a good deal upon trees, taking up its abode in the deserted nest of a Squirrel
or of some small bird. When it constructs its own nest the little fabric is placed in a bush at
from five to fifteen feet from the ground, and is very neatly constructed, usually of fine moss and
strips of bark. In some localities it buri'ows in the ground. The Golden or Red Mouse {H.
mtreolus), which resembles the preceding species in form and size, has the fur of the upper sur-
face golden-cinnamon colour, and the lower parts yellowish-white. It inhabits the Central and
Southern States of the North American Union. The Rice-field Mouse {H. 2xdustr'is), which has
been placed in a distinct genus (Oryzmnys), is a larger species, sometimes attaining the size of a
small Rat. This is found in the Southei-n States, chiefly along the coast, and in rice-field.s,
where it is exceedingly abundant and does considerable damage. It is eminently aquatic in
its habits. The Americax Harv-est Mouse {Ochelodon hwmilis) closely resembles the preceding
species, but diftei-s fi-om them in a rather remarkable character. It has the upper incisor teeth
grooved, a pecrJiarity which occurs also in the South American Rats of the genus Reithrodon.

112 XATUEAL BISTORT.

The American Harvest Mouse inhabits the Southern States, and extends northwards as far as Iowa
and Nebraska.

The Flohida Rat, or Wood Rat {Neotoma flwidana), is a widely distributed species in tlie
United States, inhabiting especially the southern portion, but extending northwards as far as New
York and Massachusetts. It measures from six to nine inches in length, with a tad from four to
six inches long. In its coloration it presents a general resemblance to the common Brown Rat, but
is brighter, especially on the sides; the lower surface is white. According to Audubon and Bachmann,
the habits of this species vary considerably in different localities. These authors say that "in Florid;*
they burrow under stones and the ruins of dilapidated buildings. In Georgia and South Carolina
they prefer remaining in the woods. In some swampy situations, in the vicinity of sluggish streams,
amid tangled vines interspersed with leaves and long moss, they gather a heap of dry sticks, which
they pile up into a conical shape, and which, with grasses, mud, and dead leaves, mixed in by the
wind and rain, form, as they proceed, a structure impervious to rain, and inaccessible to the Wild
Cat, Raccoon, or Fox. At other times their nest, composed of somewhat lighter materials, is placed
in the fork of a tree." This species is very active and Squirrel-like in its habits. It feeds on grain,
seeds, and fruits, and sometimes makes a meal of a Crayfish or a Frog. There are from three to six
young in each litter, and two litters in the year. The young animals in very early days continue to
adhere to the teats of their mother, even when she is walking about outside the nest, and even at a
later period they will cling to her sides and back, after the manner of some Opossums. The female
seems but little inconvenienced by this burden, and shows great affection for her family, defending
them even at the risk of her own life. A nearly-allied, but smaller species, the Bushy-tailed Wood
Rat {^N. cuierea), inhabits the western and north-western parts of America, also extending eastward
to Hudson's Bay, and southward to New Mexico and California. The Cotton Rat (Siymodoit
hispidus), another inhabitant of the Southern States and Mexico, ranges southwards to Vera Cruz
and Guatemala.

Besides several species of Hegperomi/s, South America possesses various Murine animals, which
have been placed in special genera. Among the.se the most remarkable are those of which Mr.
Waterhouse formed his genus Eeitkrodon, as these, although true Murines, have a very Rabbit-like
character, and further present the peoiliarity of havuig the upper incisors grooved. They have
the profile much arched, the eyes large, the ears haiiy,
and the first and fifth toes of the hind feet very short.
The tail is well clothed with hair. The Rabbit-like
Reithrodon [R. cuniculoides) inhabits Patagonia, where it
was discovered by Mr. Darwin. It is of a yellowish-grey
(J/ colour, mixed with black, with the tliroat and belly pale
yellow, and the rump and feet white. The tail is about
half the length of the head and body, dusky above, white
beneath. The length of the head and body is six inches and
a half. Two other species are described: one {R. fi/picus)
HEAD OF THL RABBIT-LIKE KEiTHFODov f™m the La Plata; the other {R. chinchilloides) from the

Strait of Magellan.
Tlie Hamsters, forming the sub-family Cricetin.e, are very nearly related to the true Mice
and Rats, but differ from them at the first glance by their possession of large internal cheek-pouches>
those organs being entirely wanting or very smaU in the Murinse. Their molars, three in number
in each series, are also tuberculate when young and regularly rooted. As age advances they become
more and more worn away, so as to exliibit folds of enamel. They are stoutly-built rat-like animals,
generally with short tails, with the upper lip cleft, and with short limbs, of which the hinder have
five, and the anterior four, toes, the thumb being represented by a small wart. The Hamsters are
confined to the Old WorJd, and chiefly inliabit the temperate parts of Europe and Asia ; two or three
species occur in Afi-ica, They live generally in corn-fields, where they dig deep burrows with
numerous chambers, into which they can retreat to take their repose, and in which they pass th&
winter, previously, however, taking care to lay up a good store of provisions in some of the chambers
of their domicile.

cQ'

THE HAMSTERS AXD THE TREE MICE.

MOLAIt TEETH 01' THE HAMSTEK.

The best known species is the Hamster (Cricetus /rumentarius, see Plate 28), a rather pretty
little beast, of about ten inches long, with bright, prominent, black eyes, short, membranous ears,
and a tapering hairy tail, about two inches and a half in length.
The fur, which is thick and somewhat lustrous, is usually of a
light yellowish-brown colour above, with the snout, the neigh-
bourhood of the eyes, and a band on the neck reddish-brown,
and a yellow spot on each cheek ; the lower surface, the
greater part of the legs, and a band on the forehead are black,
and the feet white. Many varieties occur. This Hamster is
widely distributed, ranging from the Rhine, through Europe
and Siberia, to the Obi ; and in most localities where it occurs
it appeal's in great numbers, and causes great injury to the
crops. Its burrows are exceedingly spacious, and consist of
numerous passages and chambers. In its temper it i.s ex-
oeetlingly ii-ascible, and at the same time very courageous,
defending itself bravely against its enemies, and standing
boldly on the defensive the moment any danger appears to

threaten it. Its diet is by no means of a purely vegetable nature, but it will destroy and devour
all sorts of small animals that come in its way. Besides the corn, which forms its chief winter
provender, green herbage, peas and beans, and roots and fruits of various kinds, are welcome articles
of diet, and in confinement it will eat almost anything.

The Hamsters pass the winter in theii' burrows in a torpid state, but waken up very early in the
spring, generally in March, but frequently in February. At first they do not open the mouths of
their burrows, but remain for a time subsisting on the stores laid up during the preceding autumn.
The old males make theii' appearance fii-st, the females about a fortnight after them, the latter about
the beginning of April. They then set about making their summer burrows, which are not so deep
or so complicated as the winter dwellings ; and shortly afterwards the sexes pair. The young are
produced twice in the year, in May and July ; their number varies from six to eighteen. They have
teeth when fu-st boni, and their development as babies is very rapid. Their eyes open in little more
than a week after birth, and in another week they begin to burrow in the gi-ound, and then their
hard-hearted parent drives them off to take care of themselves.

The other species of this sub-family generally very closely resemble the Hamster, both in
appearance and manners. Most of them are found in Central Asia and Siberia, extending southwards
as far as Persia and South Tartary. Cricetus sonijarvs has been obtained at Kumaon. The recorded
African species belong to two peculiar genera : they are Saccosfomvs lapidarms and fusnis, and
Cricelomi/s gambianus.

Other African forms constitute the small sub-family of the Tree Mice {Dendromijhue), which
are entu-ely confined to the southern portion of the continent. They are characterised by having
the incisors rounded and grooved in front, the infra-orbital opening not narrow below, and the
coronoid process of the lower jaw very small. The ears are clothed with hairs; and the feet,
which are five-toed, are furnished with long claws, which ai-e serviceable to the little rat-like animals
in climbing up the trunks of trees. The Black-streaked Tree Mouse {Dendromys niesomela^)
is a rather pretty little species, of a greyish colour, with a black line down the middle of the -
back. It is slender in form, with a long, scaly tail, rounded ears, and the two outer toes in each
foot shorter than the rest. Steatomys jyratensis, from Mozambique, is stouter in form than the
preceding, and has a short, densely hairy tail ; and in Lophuromys ater, from the same locality,
the incisors are not grooved, and the fur is developed into fine flattened bristles.

The Gerbilles (Gerbillinw) are distinguished from all other Muridfe (although approached by
Ilnpcdotis) by the great length of the hind limbs, which are converted into powerful leaping organs,
somewhat as in the Jerboas and Kangaroos, although not quite to the same extent. Lilve all the pre-
ceding fonns, they have the molars furnished with roots, but not with tuberculate crowns, these being
divided into transverse plates formed by sepai-ate elliptical or rhoraboidal coats of enamel. The
incisor teeth are narrow, the infra-orbital o|)ening as m the Murinae, and the tail long and hairy.

KATl'ltAL HISTORT.

The Gerbilles are plump little
The feet are ti\e-toed, hut thi-

•-^iii

MOLAR TEETH

animals, with a short neck, a broad head, and a pointed muzzle.
thuiiili ou the fore feet is reduced to a mere wart-like jn-ocess with
a flat nail. They ai-e confined to the Eastern liemi-
sphere, and, indeed, to the Afx-ican continent, the south
of Asia, as far as India, and the south-east of Europe,
where they live both in cultivated districts and in the
di'iest deserts, and often occur in great numbers, when
they may cause considerable damage to the neighbouring
crops. They shelter themselves during the day in shal-
low burrows, and come forth in the evening in search
of then- food, which consists chiefly of gi-ain and roots.
They store up great quantities of the ears of corn in
their subterranean dwellings, and in many places the
poorer inhabitants search after these stores, and by
digging them out procure a good supply of grain. They
OEKiiiLLE. are very prolific, the females producing large families

several times in the year.
Several other forms of Muridse, with rooted molars, have been distinguished, and all are
inhabitants of the Eastern hemisphere. The genera Phkeomys and Nesokia, each including a single
species, form the group Phlj;o.myin^, characterised by having broad incisors and the molars divided
by transverse plates of enamel. The characters of the skull are as in the Murinse. Phlceomys
Cumingii is from the Philippine Islands ; Nesokia Grijithii inhabits Northern India. Platacanthoniys
lasiimcs, the only known species of the group Platacanthomyin.e, resembles a Dormouse in its form,
and is nearly allied to the preceding species, but has the fur of its back mixed with long, flattened,
bristle-like spines. It is a native of the Malabar coast.

The Water Mice [Hydromyince) are of particular interest, as being a small group, exclusively
confined to the Australian region, and presenting the
exceptional character among the Rodents of having only
two molars on each side in each jaw. These teeth, are
rooted, and divided into transverse lobes by ovate enamel
lobes ; the front tooth is much larger than its fellow. The
Hydromys are small rat-like animals of slender form, with
long tails, rather densely clothed with short hairs, and short
limbs. The hind feet have much stronger claws than the
fore feet, and their toes are partially webbed. Five species
of this group are known from Austrahaand Van Diemen's skill of the ■^VATEK-Mol^^E.

Land, where they inhabit the banks of the streams. The

best known are the Yellow-bellied and the White-bellied Water Mice {Hydromys chrysogasler and
leucogaster), both of which inhabit New South Wales, and the latter is also found in Van Diemen's
Land. The Sooty Water Mouse {H. fidiginosus) is an inhabitant of Western Australia.

In the Sminthin^ — a group which includes only the genus Sminthus, founded for the reception of
a rat-like Rodent {S. vagus) first discovered in the Crimea, but now known to range from Hungary,
Finland, and Sweden, through Russia to the banks of the Irtiscb
and Yenisei, and into Tartary (Bokhara) — we find another excep-
tional character of the molar teeth. There are four of these teeth on
each side both above and below, the fir.st and fourth of which are much
smaller than the intervening ones. In this animal the ears are rather
TEETH OF SMIXTUU.S. long and pointed, the legs are rather short, and the tail is about as

long as the body, and clothed with short hairs.
In the remainder of the Mimdse, the molars, which are again only three in number on each side,
are generally rootless, although occasionally the growth of the teeth stops and they close up below.
The molars are composed of triangular prisms placed alternately. Two gi-oups are thus characterised,
namely, the Voles and the Zokors.

TUB rUI.ES. 115

Tlie Voles {ArvicoUn(e), whicli, next to tlie true Rats and Mice, form tlie most important groiip
of Muricte, are represented in the nortliern parts of both liemispheres. The brain-case in these
nuiraals is rhomboidal wlien looked at from above, the frontal region of the skull is much contracted,
and the zj'gomatic arch stands out very far. The infra-orbital opening is as in the Murinse. The
molars are so constructed of alternating triangular prisms that the whole margin is enclosed by deep
angular folds of enamel. These are mouse- and rat-like Rodents of a rather stout build, with the
limljs and tail of moderate length, or short, and the latter more hairy than in the true Murines. The
oars are short, often nearly concealed beneath the fur.

The true Voles (genus Aroicola) number about fifty known species, whicli have been arranged by
various writers under a considerable number of sub-genera, generally corresponding to differences in
mode of life. Three species, representing three of these groups, are found in Britain, and may serve
to illustrate the natural history of the Voles. The largest of these is the well-known Water Vole, or
Water Rat, as it is more commonly called (Arvicola amphibius), an animal rather smaller than the
Common Rat, and having, like all the Voles, the muzzle considerably blunter, and the tail a good deal
.shorter and moi-e hairy. Although thoroughly aquatic in its habits, the feet of the Water Vole are
not webbed ; they have five toes, but the thumb in the fore feet is very short. The general colour of
the fur is reddish-brown, mixed with grey on the upper sm-face, and yellowish-grey beneath ; the ears
are nearly concealed in the fur ; and the incisor teeth are deep yellow in front, and very strong, pre-
.sentiug a considerable resemblance to those of the Beaver, to which great Rodent the Voles were
formerly considered to be related. It is very widely distributed, being found in all parts of Europe,
and .stretching right across Central and Noi-thern Asia, to China, the Amoor region, and the
Sea of Okhotsk. In Ireland, however, it is not found. Its habits vary a little in different
localities, but in general it haunts the banks of rivers, in whicli it burrows to a considerable dis-
tance. In the water it is very active, swimming and diving with the greatest facility, and it is
here that it seeks its food, which appears to consist exclusively of vegetable substances. Professor
Bell says: — "A decided preference is shown, during the summer months, for the inner or concealed part
of some species of sword-flags, which is very succulent and sweet-tasted. As this portion is usually
below water, the animal gnaws the plant in two near its root, when it rises to the surface, and
being conveyed to some sound footing, is consumed at leisure. In defiiult of its more favourite food, it
will make a satisfactory meal on the common duckweed. Only the green and fleshy leaf is eaten, the
roots and other fibrous parts being rejected. While feeding on this plant, the creature sits like a
Squirrel on its haunches near the water's edge, and taking up a lump of the soft and slimy-looking
mass in its fore paws, eats a small part only, and letting
the remainder fall, takes up some more in the same
manner." The accusation sometimes brought against tho
Water Vole of eating worms and insects, and even of
destroying fish - spawn, young fishes, and even young
ducks, seems to be entii-ely unfounded. In the winter
the Water Voles will feed on turnips, mangel-wurzel,

and other roots, and also upon the bark of osiers and .

\villows, to which they do considerable damage ; and in /'fl^^^ff^^'T^''^

-some localities they appear to frequent gardens at all l-.sV;A>*-^ii*tfA

.seasons of the year, burrowing in the gi-ound, and ^^

feeding luxuriously upon the produce of the gardener's sioi u nim „\ tiii wvter rat.

labour. Their greatest activity is in the twilight, but in

quiet situations they are to be seen abroad durmg the da}^ The female produces from two to six

young at a litter : twice in the year in Britain, according to Professor Bell ; three or four times in the

com-se of the summer, according to Brehm and other Continental naturalists.

A second British species is the Field Vole, or Short-tailed Field Mouse {Arvicola agrestix),
which is less than half the size of the Water Vole, and has the tail only about one-third the length of
the body, instead of half that length. In the general form of the head and body the two species are
a good deal alike, but the ears project farther beyond the fur in the Field Vole. The general
colour of this species is greyish-brown, becoming tinged with reddish or yellowish on the sides ; the

|]6

NATURAL MISTOSr.

lower surface is pale grey or dirty wliite, and the tail is brown above and greyish beneath. The
Field Vole is a very abundant species in the northern and central parts of Europe, but is wanting in
Ireland and south of tlie Alps and Pyrenees. It is usually found in damp places, especially in meadows
in the neighbourhood of woods and copses, where it forms burrows of considerable extent. Its food
consists almost exclusively of vegetable substances, such as roots and herbage, and in times of
.scarcity it will climb up trees and bushes to feed on the tender parts of the bark. In case of necessity,
however, it does not disdain animal food, but will eat insects and meat, and even sometimes kill and
devour smaller individuals of its own species. It breeds three or four times in the yeai-, producing
from four to six young at a birth, in a small round nest made of mo.ss and leaves, among the roots of
the herbage in some hollow of the ground. Theii- increase, which would otherwise be very formidable, is
checked by the smaller predaceous beasts and birds, such as the Weasel, the Kestrel, and the Owls,

.SOVTIIEKX FI

which destroy them in great numbers. The Bank Vole [Arvkola glareohis*), the thu-d British species,
which is chestnut-coloured, with white feet and with a longish tail, closely resembles the preceding
species in its habits, but feeds rather on fruits and roots than on herbage, and is far more addicted to a
diet of animal food, freely devouring insects, worms, snails, and even young birds and canion. It is
pretty generally distributed over Europe, but not so imiformly as the Field Vole, which it even
exceeds in fecundity, the females producing from four to eight young three or four times in the
year, in a ne.st constructed of gi-ass and moss placed in a hollow of the surface of the ground among
dense herbage.

The Continent of Europe is inhabited by several other species of Voles, among which we may
notice the little Southern Field Vole (Arvicola arvalis), which more or less completely takes
the place of our common Field Vole in Southern Europe, but also extends over the whole of
Centra> Europe, and into Western Asia. Several of these species, and others to which we cannot
specially refer, ascend to considerable elevations on the mountain-sides, but at least one species.

1 ArvicoJa rutilus, p. 117

THE MVSQl'ASU. 117

the Snow Mouse {Arvicola nlealis), lives on the Alps and Pyrenees, at elevations of 4,000 feet ami
upwards, being most abundant about the limit of perpetual snow, where it not only resides during
the short period of summer, when some portion of the surface is freed from its snowy covering,
but actually throughout the winter, buried under the snow, through which it makes its way in search
of the roots of plants. The Root Vole (Arvicola cecouomun) is a lai'ge and abundant Sibprian
species, the range of wliich extends from the Obi to KamsLchatka. This and some other nortlicru
species often migi-ate in great bodies, after the fasliioii to which we shall have to refer when speaking
of the Lemmings.

In North America, it would appear from Dr. Coues' monograph, there are about a dozen distinct
species of Voles. One of them, confined to the northern parts of the Continent, he identities with
the Arvicola nitilus of the Old World, which he regards as a circumpolar species. South of a line
running from sea to sea, a little north of the boundary of the United States, comes another
form, A. Gapperi, which is regarded as a sub-species of A. rutilas, to which A. glareolus
{see p. 116) is considered to stand in a similar relation. The most abundant North American
species is the Meadow Mouse {A. riparius), which is distributed, apparently, over the greater part of
the Continent, and takes the place of the Field Vole. On the prairies there is a peculiar species (.^1.
aiinterns), a sub-species of which {A. curtatus) is found in the Western territories as far as California ;
the Pine Mouse (A. pinetorum) inliabits the country east of the Mississippi ; and the genus is repre-
sented in Mexico by one species {A. quasiater). The Voles are most numerous and abundai.t in the
northern and north-western parts of North America.

Another Ameiican species is the Musquash, Musk-Eat, or Ondatra {Fiber ztbethicins),
which constitutes a gemis distinguished from the true Voles by having the tail compressed and nearly
naked, the hinder toes united by short webs, and fringed with long hairs, and the enamel folds of the
molars united by a line running down the middle of the tooth. The form of the animal is thickset,
and in this respect, as in its aquatic habits, it resembles the Beaver, to which it was formerly supposed
to be nearly allied. The head is short and broad, the ears project very little beyond the fur, the hind
limbs are longer than the fore legs, and terminate in five toes with strong claws, while the fore limbs
have only four toes and a wart-like thumb ; the fur Ls very thick and shiny, and the colour is usually
brown above and grey below, with the tail, which is nearly as long as the body, black. The fur is
well known in commerce. The length of the head and body of a full-gi-own male is aboiit twelve
inches. The name Musk-rat, often given to this species, refei-s to the musky odour difl'iised by the
secretion of a large gland situated in the inguinal region.

The Musquash, which may be described as a large Water Eat, inhabits all the suitable parts of
North America, from the thirteenth to the sixty-ninth degree of north latitude, and is most abundant
in the Canadian region, which oflers it peculiarly favourable conditions of life in the multitude of
rivers and lakes, upon the banks of which the Musquash always takes up its abode. It is a noctimial
animal, passing the day in concealment, and coming forth with the twilight to seek its noin-ishment,
and amuse itself with its fellows. In the water it displays wonderful activity, and, in many respects,
pre.sents much resemblance to the Beaver. Curiou.sly enough, the parallelism of habits holds good to a
certain extent, even in the construction of their dwellings. The Musquash generally lives in a burrow
dug out of the bank of the stream in which he disports himself, and consi-sting of a chamber with
numerous i)assages, all of which open under the surface of the water. But, under certain conditions,
especially in the north, he builds himself a house of a rounded or dome-like form, composed of sedges,
gi-asses, and similar materials, plastered together with mud, and supported upon a mound of mud
of sufficient height to raise it above the water. The house contains a single chamber from sixteen
inches to two feet in diameter, and is entered by a passage which opens at the bottom of the water.
Other passages are said to issue from this, and to lead down into the gi-ound under the bottom of the
water ; these are made by the animal in his search for the roots of water-lilies and other aquatic plants,
which constitiite a great part of his nourishment. The Musquash also seeks provisions on land, and
In this way often does much mischief in gardens. Fresh- water mussels also form a part of its diet. It
passes the winter in its house, which it then furnishes with a soft bed of leaves, gi-asses, and sedges,
and, according to Audubon, ventilates by covering the middle of the dome only with a layer of similar
materials, tlu'ough which the air can pass. Of the propagation of the Musquash very little seems to

y.irUVAL HISTORY.

be known -with certainty. Tlioy pair in April and ^lay, and tlie female produces from three to six
young at a Lirtli ; liut whether this takes place once or several times in the course of the summer is a
matter of douljt. They are caj>tured in fall-traps baited with apples, or by traps set at the mouth of
tlieir burrows. The Indians sometimes spear them in their houses.

The Le.m.ming (Mi/odes hmmus) is one of the most remarkable of the Muridse, on account
of the great migrations which it performs, apparently with no special object. In Norway, where
it is best known, they make their appearance in the cultivated districts in such enormous number.s,
and so suddenly, that the peasants have always believed them to fall from the clouds. The Lemming
is a Vole-like animal, about six inches long, of which the tail makes up about half an inch. It varies
consideraljl}- in colour, but is usually brownish-yellow, with dark spots above, and with a yellow streak
enclosing the eye on each side of the face ; the under surface is yellowish. The ears are very short,
scarcely projecting beyond the fur; the eyes are small, black, and bead-like; the soles of the feet are
hairy, and the claws of the fore feet much stronger than those on the hinder extremities. The
Norwegian Lemmings live and breed among the peat mosses of the mountains. They are lively
and active little creatures both by day and night, and feed upon the scanty vegetation of their
Alpine home — grasses, lichens, the catkins of the dwarf birch, and roots. They are active even
through the wdnter, Avhen they make passages for themselves under the thick covering of snow
which then veils the whole country, and thus are enabled to go in search of their ordinary food.
They also make their way up to the surface, upon which they may occasionally be seen running,
even in the depth of winter. They breed in their burrows and under stones, and must be very
prolific, seeing that every predaceous animal in the country destroys and devours them. The Lem-
ming is, in one sense, an exceedingly timid little creature, the slightest disturbance of its quietude, or
even the passing over-head of a cloud, being sufficient to alarm it ; but when attacked it displays the

THE LEMMING. VA

most dauntless courage, standing on tlie defensive against botli men and animals, and biting very
sharply at anything that comes within its reach. From time to time, from some unexplained
cause, the Lemmings start in vast swarms from their mountain fastnesses, and make their way
in a straight line in some definite direction. Nothing seems to turn tliem from their course;
they go straight on, over hill and dale, and, although said at other times to have an aversion to
water, they now swim across any lakes or rivers that come in their way. In this operation
many of them lose their lives, for they require smooth water for their navigation, and the least
breeze ruffling the surface sutiices to send hundreds of them to the bottom. In this way they
graduallj^ arrive at the cultivated regions, where they do so much damage to vegetation, that
in olden times a special form of prayer and exorcism was in use against them. Tlieir march is

Jim

mm

\\il r^'

accompanied by great numbers of carnivorous beasts and birds of all sorts. Wolves, Fo.xes, and Wild
Cats, and the smaller quadrupeds of the family Mustelidse, Eagles, Hawks, and Owls, all prey upon
them with avidity — even the Reindeer is said to stamp them to death ; and the story of his eating
them, long discredited, has been confirmed on good authority, while man, with his Dogs and Cats, is
not behindhand in the work of destruction. Nevertheless, a great multitude survives all these
dangers, and, strange to say, the termination of this painful migration is always the sea, into
wliicli the survivors of the march plunge, and, apparently, voluntarily commit suicide. Mr. Crotch,
who has published several papers on the Lemming and its migrations, says that in Norway
these animals always proceed from the central backbone of the country in an east or west direc-
tion, and that in either case the survivors of the march drown themselves, those that go westward
in the Atlantic, those that go eastward in the Gulf of Bothnia. His notion is that the migration
is in obedience to an inherited instinct acquired at a time when there was land where the sea now
rolls ; bnt there are many difficulties in the way of such a hypothesis.

Besides the Scandina\'ian Lemming above noticed, several other species occur in the northern
parts of the world. Three species (^Mi/odes lagurus, obcnsis, and torqitatus) inhabit Siberia; the latter

120 NATURAL HISTORY.

two are found in North America, the last also in Greenland. In this species, which has been
placed in a distinct genus under the name of Cunicidus torquatus, the third and fourth toes of the
fore feet are much larger than the second and fifth (the thumb being rudimentary), and their claws
become periodically enlarged to double their ordinary size by an enormous growth during winter
of horny matter on the lower surface.

The transition from this to the next family is effected by two genera, which to such an extent
combine the character of the two as to have led different zoologists to j.lace them sometimes in the
one, sometimes in the other. Externally they have all the charactei's of the Mole-rats of the
following family ; in the characters of the skull and teeth they more resemble the Voles. The Zokor
{Siphneus CMpalax), which may be taken as an example of these forms, is an inhabitant of the Altai
Mountains, has the eyes very small, the external ears reduced to mere rudiments, the body cylindrical,
as in the true Mole-rats, and the fore-feet armed with very long and strong claws, of which that on
the fifth toe is longer than the toe itself. This animal lives in subterranean runs something like
those of the Mole, but of much greater extent, and in burrowing in the earth makes use of its strong
incisors to cut through the roots it meets with, and when necessary to loosen the earth. The runs
pass very near the surface, and are no doubt made for the purpose of feeding on the tender roots of
grasses. A species of Siphneus is said to occur in North China. The other genus {Ellohius) includes
two species ; one {E. luteus) from the country about the Sea of Aral ; the other {E. talpinus) from
south-eastern Eussia and the west of Asia. The latter abounds in the Crimea. These animals form
the sub-family Sijjhneinfe.

CHAPTER III.
MOLE EATS, TOUCHED RAT8, POUCHED MICE, JERBOAS, ASD OCTODONTID.E.
bPALACID^, OR MOLE RATS-Characteristics of the Family-Habits— Food-THE Mole RAT-Distribution— Desciiii-
tion— The Chestnut Mole Rat— The Naked Mole Rat— The Strand Mole Rat— Description— Habits— The
Cape Mole Rat— GEOMYID.E, OR POUCHED RATS-Characteristics of the Family— The Cheek-pouches- The
Common Pocket tioPHER-Distribution-Description— Burrowing— Runs— Subterranean Dwelling- The Northern
Pocket G(jpher — Heteromyin.e, or Poucheii Mice — Difficulties as to Position — Characteristics — Phillips'
Pocket JI..USE- 'Waiere Found -Description— The Yellow Pocket Mouse— The Least Pocket Mouse-DIPO-
DIDiE, OR JERBOAS— Organisation for Jumping— Characteristics— Distribution— The American Jumping Mouse
Description— Characters peculiar to Itself— Habits— The True Jerboas— Characters— The Jerboa— Distribution—
Habits-Mode of Locomotion-THE Alactaga-The Cape Jumping Hare-THE PORCUPINE-LIKE RODENTS-
OCTODONTID^— Characteristics— Sub-Family, Ctenodactylin-e— The Gundi— The Degu— Description— Habits—
The Brown Schizodon— The Tukotuko— The Cuburo-The Rock Rat— Sub-Family, Echinomyin.e— The Coypu
_One of the Largest Rodents— Description— Burrows— Habits— Mother and Young— The Hutia Conga- The
Hutia C'ababali— The Ground Rat.

FAMILY VIII.— SPALACID.i; (MOLE RATS).
Although the Zokor and its allies in the preceding family have to a certain extent prepared us for
the pecidiar characters presented by the Mole-rats, these are exhibited by the latter in a much more
extreme form. They have a very large broad head, which is usually flattened above, and forms
an apjiropriate anterior termination to a clumsy, cylindrical body, supported upon short stout limbs ;
their incisor teeth are large and broad, and are most formidably exposed in front of the mouth ;
their eyes are exceedingly small, hidden in the fur, and sometimes quite rudimentary ; the external ear.s
are reduced to the smallest possible size, or altogether wanting ; and their tails are either so short as to
be concealed withiii the hair of the hinder part of the body, or altogether wanting externally, although
the skeleton still shows some caudal vertebrae. The molar teeth are rooted, and not tubercnlate ;
their surface shows re-entering folds of enamel. The feet have five toes, but the thumb is generally
very small, although furnished with a nail. The number of molars varies from three to six on each
side in each jaw.

In their mode of life, as in their form and the condition of the organs of sight and hearing,
these animals present a considerable resemblance to the Moles; but as theii- food is exclusively of a
vegetable nature, the object of their bun-owing is not exactly the same. They all inhabit the eastern
hemisphere, and are generally met with in dry sandy plains, the soil of which lends itself readily to

TEE MOLE RATS.

MOLE-RAT.

mining operations. They seldom quit their bun-ows, and usually work in these only at night, when

they make their way rapidly through the ground* and, like the Mole, can run either backwards or

forwards in their subten-anean galleries with equal facility. They feed chiefly on roots, and especially

on the bulbs and tubei-s which so many plants possess in the dry

districts which they frequent ; but some of them also eat nuts,

seeds, the young bark of trees, and herbage. None of them fall

into a state of torpidity during the winter — indeed, only two

species inhabit northern regions ; but these, although active in

the winter season, ai-e said not to take the precaution to lay

up a store of provisions. ,

Most zoologists distinguish two groups of Spalacidai. In the
Spalacin^, the representatives of which range from south-eastern
Europe to further India and the south of China, and also occur
in Africa in the counti-ies of Abyssinia and Shoa, the palate between the molar teeth is broader than
one of the sockets of the molars, and the angular portion of the lower jaw springs from the lower edge
of the bony case of the incisor. To this group belongs the Mole-rat (Sjialax typJdus), which
mhabits Hungai-y and Galicia, and the south-east of Europe generally, and ranges eastwards into
Asia as far as the Caucasus and Ekaterinoslav. It possesses only three molars on each side in each
jaw, and has the eyes rudimentary and covered by the skin, so that the animal is quite blind ; the
upper incisors are placed perpendicularly ; and the tail reduced to a sort of wart. The toes, especially
those of the fore-feet, are furnished with very powerful claws, which are vigorously employed by the
animal in the digging operations above described. The general covering of the body is a soft fur of a
yellowish-brown colour, tinged with ashy-gi-ey ; the head lighter, but becoming brownish behind ; and
the lower sui-face ashy-grey, with some white streaks and spots. The muzzle, chin, and feet are
whitish, and along each side of the face there runs a sort of ridge of stiff bristle-like hairs. This

species is particularly abun-
dant in the Ukraine and the
country about the Volga
and the Don.

The genus Ehizomys,
of which there are an East
Indian and two African
species known, has the eyes
uncovered, though very
small, short naked ears, and
a short partially hairy tail.
The upper incisors are
arched forward. The Chest-
nut Mole-rat {Ehizomys
hadius) lives in Northern
India, Siam, and Arracan ;
and, according to Mr.
Finlayson, the food of a
specimen in confinement
consisted of unhusked rice
and other grain, but he
showed himself fond of
yams and pumpkins. The
Naked Mole-rat {Helero-
cephalus ylaher), which has no external ears and a short tail, has the body almost entirely naked.
It is a native of Shoa.

The other section of the Mole rat family, the Bathyergin.«, is entirely confined to Africa, and,
indeed, almost exclusively to the southern extremity of that continent, only a single species being

MOLE-EAT.

NATURAL UlSTOSY.

foi-.nd elsewhere — at Mozambique. They sliow a i-esembhmce to the Hystricine Rodents in the
structure of the lower jaw, tlie angular portion of which springs from the side of the bony case of
the lower incisor ; and the palate between the molars is narrower than in the Spalacinaj. The best
known of the six species inhabiting the Cape of Good Hope is the Strand Mole-rat {Bathyergus
iimrltimus), which is nearly as large as a small Kabbit, its length being about ten inches, with a
tail two inches in length. In general form it resembles the species last described ; it has small but
uncovered eyes, a broad iiose, no external ears; very long, compressed, and powei-ful claws on all the
toes, except the thumb of the fore-feet, which has a crooked nail ; four molars on each side, and long
white incisors, of which the upper ones are strongly grooved in front. The colour of the fur is
gi'eyish-white, with a yellowish tint on the upper surface. The tail has a sort of radiating tuft of
hairs at the end. The Strand Mole-rat lives entirely in sandy localities near the sea-shore, and
especially in the sand-hills or dunes which fringe the coast of the Cape of Good Hope in some parts.
Here it burrows freely in all directions, its galleries generally radiating from several central points,
and joining in various jjlaces. It avoids the light as much as possible, and if by chance it is exposed
on the surface it is excciiliiitfly helpless. Very little is known of the habits of this species, which
probably feeds chiefly on roots like the other members of the family. It is regarded as mischievous,
as it undermines the ground so much as to make it unsafe to ride over. The colonists, tlierefore, often
destroy it by various means. The enamel folds of the teeth become effaced with use.

The Georychi, five species of which inhabit Cape Colony, resemble the preceding species, but
are smaller and weaker. The claws of tlie fore-feet are shorter and weaker, and the upper incisors,
which are long and arched forward, are not grooved. The best-known species is the so-called Cape
Mole-rat (Georychus capcTisis). In the Mozambique species (Heliop/iobius argenteo-cinereus) there
are six molars on each side above and below, and the second toe of the hind feet is the longest. In
most other characters it resembles Georychus.

FAMILY IX,— GEOMYID.E, OR POUCHED RATS.
The Pouched Eats, or Pocket Gophers, and the Pouched Mice of North America, constitute a
ftimily distinguished from all the preceding forms by the presence of a pair of gi'eat cheek-pouches,
oj)ening otitsuh and not mside the mouth (see hguie) These
cheek pouclus iie han> mside thioughout The angular
jioition of tin lo^^el jaw is
sti ii^h t\Mst(il till mohrs are
if''/?^! //I /fiTSfy^-^ ' '" "' nuiul (1 on (ach side in

vSl/iiiiwi\ '^ ""'' ' '^' '^'"^ *'^® squamosal bone

^C^^i^ofej^g^ J IS \ei^ luge In external cha-

f^ ^'^gsgj*. ~.si? iicteis the mnnals of this family
piesent consideiable di\ersity,
which has led to then being
di\ ided into two well marked
sub ftmilips, the distmcti\e pecu-
Innties of which aie of such
importance that Dr. Coues has
i-aised them to the rank of dis-
tinct families. The Geomyin^,
or Pouched Rats, are more or less
Rat-like animals, in which the feet are five-toed, and all the toes famished with claws, those of the
fore feet being very strongly developed ; and the tail is short. Certain other characters are presented
by the skull. The outline of this part, including the zygomatic arches, is almost quadrangular: the
infra-orbital opening is far in front of the jugal process; the malar bone extends forward to the
lachrymal.

Of the animals thus characterised, the Continent of North America possesses, according to Dr.
Coues, sevein species, and they are met with from Hudson's Bay and the Columbia River io the
north, as far south as Mexico. The best-known species, the Common Pocket Gopher {Geomys

THE ro veil ED RATS. 123

bursarius), inhabits tlie whole valley of the Mississijipi, ami extends northwarJ.s into Canada. It
reaches the foot of the Eocky Mountains in Colorado, but is not known to occur west of that
range. It is also found in Texas. This Pouched Rat, IJce the rest of its genus, has the incisors
broad and the upper ones deeply grooved; but in addition to the ordinary deep groove it has a
tine line close to the inner margin of each of these teeth. Its form is stout and clumsy, but its
coat is beautifully soft and velvety, like that of the Mole, but of a dull reddish-brown colour, with
the feet and tail white. The average length of an adult specimen is from seven to eight inches,
and the tail is two or three inches long. This organ is clothed with hair nearly to the tip.

Like the Mole, this animal lives in burrows, which it makes in all directions in the ground,
tlu'owing out as it pix)ceeds heaps of earth, which exactly resemble ordinary mole-hills. To enable
it to perform these labours the claws of the fore feet are exceedingly powerful , and to adajjt it the
better to its subterranean existence, the eyes are very small, and the evteinal ears are wanting Its
digging operations have generally the same object as
those of the Mole— namely, the search for food. The
tunnel is carried along not far from the surface of the
ground, and the roots of any plants that lie iii it',
course are bitten off and devoui-ed by the little mmci
Besides the runs, the Pouched Rat digs himself a con
vcnient dwelling in the shape of a chamber hollowed
out under the roots of a tree, access to which is
gained by a somewhat spiral descending passage
This chamber, which is u.sually at a depth of foui or
fi\e feet, is comfortably lined with soft gi'ass, and the
nest in which the female brings forth her young is a
cavity of the same kind, but surrounded by circular skill of the mc\ic in rovciiEn kat.

passages, from which, like that of the Mole, other pas-
sages branch off. One of these, according to Gesner, leads from the nest to a large store-chamber filled
with nuts, seeds, and roots, among which the potato was found to play an important part. These pro-
visions are carried to the store-house in the great cheek-pouches, which the animal is said to fill by the
aid of its tongue, and to empty with the fore i)aws. This Pouched Rat does much damage in
cultivated ground by attacking the roots of both plants and trees, sometimes destroying a great
number of the latter in a few days. The female produces from five to seven young at the end
of March or the beginning of April. The other species of Geomys closely resemble this in their
habits.

Of the second genus belonging to this sub-family (Thomomys) Dr. Coues admits only two
species, one of which, however, occurs under three named forms. They may be distinguished from
the species of Geomys by their having the upper incisors plain, without grooves.

The NoKTHERX Pocket Gopher (Thomomys ta/^Midex), with its sub-species, ranges over nearly the
whole of North America from the Hudson's Bay Territory to California and New Mexico. The three
forms are for the most part in accordance with geographical distribution. A small species (T/iomomys
chigius) has been obtained in the Rocky Mountains.

The Heteromyin.e (forming the family Saccomyidaj of Dr. Coues, although he does not accept
the genus Saccomys) are more slender and delicate in form than the Geomyinse, and have the hind
limbs and tail elongated, the former, indeed, being converted into leaping organs like those of
tlie Jerboas and Kangaroos. The eyes and ears are larger, and the animals are in every respect
adapted to life in the open, while the Geomyiiue, on the contrary, are subterranean in their
haljits. The hair in the present family is coarse and harsh, sometimes even spiny. In skeletal
characters we find a similar alteration. The incisors are narrow ; the skull is delicate, with its angles
rounded off, and the mastoid bones form a considerable part of the roof of the cranial cavity ; the
zygomatic arches are slender ; and, the lower root of the maxillary process being undeveloped, the
infra-orbital opening is not defined. As in the Jerboas, the cer\'ical vertebrae are sometimes anchylo.sed.
Like the Geomyinse, these animals are confined to. America, and chiefly limited to the Southern
United States and Central America, although some of the species occur as far north as the Columbia

121

NATURAL BISTORT.

River and Hudson's Bay, and one is found in Trinidad. By American writers they are called
" Pocket Mice."

Phillips's Pocket Mouse, also known as the Kangaroo Rat {Dipodomijs PhiUipdi), is one of the
be.st known species of this group. It is an elegantly formed little creature, about four inches long,
with a slender taU nearly six inches in length. Its colour above is mouse-brown, white beneath ; the
sides of the body have some white streaks, especially one from the ear towards the shoulder, and one
on the thigh running towards the root of the tail ; the tip of the tail is also white. This is a Cali-
foniiau species, but extends throughout the Pacific region of the United States. It is represented
in the Rocky Mountains by a rather larger and stouter form, with smaller eai-s and a shorter tail
{Dipodomys Ordii), which is generally regarded as distinct, but is placed by Dr. Cones as a sub-
species. The habits of the species are comparatively little known, but they appear to live in the
most desert places they can find, the barren spots on which the only plants that seem to flourish are
the great mis-shapen cactuses. They dwell in holes under rooks and stones, from which they emerge
at sunset, and hop about gaily after the fashion of little Kangaroos. The places in which tliese
Pocket Mice are found are so bare of vegetation and destitute of water, that it is diflicult to
imagine how they contrive to exist. In all probability they pick up a scanty living in tiie shape
of roots and grasses, especially seeds, carrying a supply for the day into their holes in their great
cheek-pouches.

The Yellow Pocket Mouse and the Least Pocket Mouse {Gficetodipus flavus and parvus) are
very minute creatures, only about two inches long in the head and body. The tail is longer than the
head and body in the latter, shorter in the former species, and the colour of the fur in both is a pale
buff. These species are found in the Rocky Mountains and the region west of that range to the
Pacific, the latter being inhabited by the second of the above species. Several species of the genu.s
Heterotnys inhabit Central America, and one is found in the island of Trinidad. Nothing apjjears
to be known of their habits.

From these we pass as by a natural transition to

FAMILY X.-DIPODID^ (THE JERBOAS).
The Jerboas are a more extensive and much more widely distributed family of hopping Rodents.
In these we find the organisation for jumping brought to greater perfection than in any other gi-oup.
The body is light and slender, the hind limbs much elongated, the fore limbs very small, and the tail long
and usually tufted at the end The number of toes on the hind feet varies from three to five, and the
metataisal bones aie ^elJ often unittd so as to form what is called a " cannon bone" in the Horise. The
incisor teeth ai e compi essed , the molai-s sometimes four, but usually three in each series, rooted or root-
less, not tubei'cidate ; the infra^orbital opening is rounded and
vei-y lai-ge, and the zygomatic arch slender. The great home
of these animals is the vast steppe region which stretches
from SoTxth-eastern Europe across the gi-eatcr part of Central
Asia, but they extend southwards roimd the eastern extremity
of the Mediterranean, through Syria and Arabia to Egypt
and Africa, over a great part of which they are found, and
eastward to India, Afghanistan, and Ceylon. A single species
occurs at the Cape of Good Hope ; and another is found in
North America. We may commence by noticing this last
species, as it not only makes the nearest approach to those
of preceding families, especially the Muridse, but differs from
the rest of the Jerboas in characters of such importance, that Dr. Cones maintains its right to fonn a
separate family (Zapodidcv).

The American Jumping Mouse (Zapi/.r' /nidsotims) has a wide range, extending across

, \rL jOiMriNG nAr.E.

* Dr. Coues has proposed tliis generic name for tlie American Jumping Mouse, as the
given to the genus by various authors, had been previously used for other gi-oups.

; Jacu!ui and Meriones,

THE POUCHED MICE.

125

the continent of North America from sea to sea, and from Labrador, Hudson's Bay, and tlie Great
Shivc Lake in the north, to Virginia and tlie elevated portions of Arizona and New Mexico in the
south. It is an elegant little mouse-like creature, rather more than three inches long, and furnished
with a cylindrical tail, which exceeds the head and body in length by about two inches. Its hind
limbs are not quite so disproportionately developed as in the other members of the family. Its fur in
summer is of a brown colour above, becoming yellowish on the sides and white below ; in the winter
tlie brown tint covers the whole sui-ftice. The ears, which are not very large, are black, with a light-
coloured rim ; the hind feet are greyish, and the fore feet whitish on the upper surfece ; and the tail,
which tapers to an exceedingly fine point, where there is a fine pencil of hairs, is ringed and nearly
naked.

The characters in which this animal difiers from its nearest relatives are as follows :— In the upper
jaw tliere are four rooted molars on each side, the firet being very small, the second the largest, and
the rest gradually diminishing in size ; the fore feet have the thumbs rudimentary, and the hind feet

AMERICAX JUMPING

have five toes, all of which touch the ground ; the metatarsal bones are separate ; and the soles of the
feet naked, with gi-anules and small horny shields.

The American Jumping Mouse is found in meadows in the neighbourhood of woods and copses.
It is nocturnal in its acti\'ity, sleeping dui-ing the day in its burrow, which is usually about two feet
deep, and coming forth at night. It is sociable in its habits, and excessively active, covering from
three to five feet of ground at each leap, so that it
is a matter of no little difficulty to capture a speci-
men in the open. In the woods it is worse, as the
little creature will bound over bushes, and get out of
sight in a moment. Its food consists of seeds of various
kinds, and it is exceedingly fond of beech-mast. For
protection from the cold of winter the Jumping Mouse
makes a little hollow clay ball, within which it coils
itself nj), and goes comfortably to sleep. The nest is
made about six inches under the surface of the ground,
and is composed of fine grass, sometimes mixed with
feathei-s, wool, and hair ; and in this the female produces

from two to four young, probably several times in the course of the summer,
young are to be found from May to August.

If we regard the American Jiunping Mouse as constituting a peculiar section of the family,
Zapodin.e, a. second group, Dipodin.e, is formed liy the True Jerboas, which make up the greater

MOLAR TEETH 01 THE

the nests and

126

NATURAL HIS TORT.

part of the family. Tiiese either possess only three molars, or a veiy small additional tooth exists in
front of each series in the upper jaw. The molars ai'e rooted, and diminish in size backwards m each
series. The cervical vertebrae are anchylosed ; the fore feet have the thumbs rudimentary, but
sometimes furnished with a small nail ; the hind feet have only three toes fully developed, and the
metatarsals are united into a single bone of great length ; the soles are furnished with elastic balls ; and
the tail is very long, well-clothed with hair, and tufted at the end.

Of these prett}' little creatures, which are in some respects singularly bii-dlike, about twenty
species have been recorded, and these occupy the whole of the Old World area of the family, except

;^m^y

South Africa. The Jerboa (Dipiis (pgi/ptius) may serve as an example of this section of the
family. This is a most lively and active little creature, which inhabits the deserts of north-eastern
Afiica as far south as Nubia, and extends its range into Arabia and south-western Asia. On these
arid plains, so scantily clothed with a few grasses and dry shrubs that it is difficult to conceive how
any animal can find a living on them, the Jerboa lives, often in numerous societies, and in company
with the few birds and lizards which enliven the wilderness. These animals dwell in subterranean
abodes consisting of many branched galleries, which they dig out in the hard soil not far fiom the
surface. The Arabs assert that these habitations are produced by the joint labour of the whole societj^
They retreat into their bun-ows at the least alarm. The females are said to produce from two to
four young at a birth in a nest made in the deeper part of the burrow, and lined with hair pidled from
the under surface of her own body. When going along quietly, the Jerboa walks and runs by alternate
steps of the hind feet, but when there is occasion for rapid motion it springs from both feet at the same
time, covering so much ground at each leap, and touching the ground so momentarily laetween them,

TSE ALACTAGA.

127

that its motion is more like that of a bird skimming close to the sni-face of the ground than that of a
four-footed beast.

The Jerboa is about six inches long, with a tail about eight inches in length exclusive of the tuft
with which its tip is adorned. Its upper surface is of a greyish sand-colour, like that of many other
desert animals ; the lower surface is white ; and the tail pale-yellowish above and white beneath, with
the tuft white, with an arrow-shaped black mark on its upper surface.

Several other species of Jerboas are known, some from the deserts of North Africa, others from
the steppes of Central Asia. The latter region harbours some forms, which differ from the preceding,
among other characters, by having five toes m the hind feet, whereas the true Jerboas have only thi-ee,
but of the five toes only three ai-e sufficiently developed to take part in the animal's progi'ession.
The best known of them is the Alactaga {Alackiga jaculus), a rather larger species than the Jerboa,

hion of till

and with a still longer tail, reddish-yellow with a greyish tinge above, white beneath and on the hind
legs. Its range extends from the Crimea and the steppes of the Don acios-, Ci utial A>i i to tht boidt ib
of China. It walks upon all-fours, and when advancing quickly spi
Jerboa. Its food consists of all sorts of vegetable substances,
but it is especially fond of the bulbs of plants, and does not
refuse occasionally to eat insects, or even the eggs and youn^^
of the birds which inhabit the steppes with it. The Alactaga-,
live in very complicated buiTOWs, with many passages and
branches, and they are said always to make one passage from
the central chamber of their residence, which terminates close
to the surface of the earth at some distance, but is only
opened in ease of danger, when the inhabitants escape through
it, the position of its intended aperture being previously un-
recognisable. In cold weather they sleep in their nests. The
female produces from five or six to eight young, in a nest lined
wth her own hair. Species of Alactaga occur not only in
Central Asia, but also in Arabia and North Africa.

South Africa produces one species, the Cape Jumping Hare (Pedetes calTer), which constitutes a
distinct sub-family, Pedetix^, having four rootless molars on each side in each jaw, the metatarsal bones

KATUBAL msTonr.

CAPE JVMPING HAUE.

separate, the tail bushy, and the hind feet furnished with four toes having broad, hoof like nails. This
is a much larger animal than any of the preceding, being about the size of the common Hare, which it
also resembles in its colours. Tlie Jumping Hare inhabits a considerable portion of South Africa,
extending on the west coast at least as far as Angola. It is abundant at the Cape of Good Hope,
both in the mountains and in the plains. Great numbers of the animals often live together, and
their burrows, which, like those of other Dipodidfe, are inhabited by numei'ous individuals as a
common residence, consist of many-branched galleries made at no great depth from the surface,
but leading into a more deeply-seated habitation. They generally go about slowly upon all-
fours, but can advance with extraorditiary rapidity by Kangaroo-like springs, in each of which, when
pressed, they will cover a space of- twenty or thirty feet. Tlieir food consists of roots, seeds, and
lierbage. The female produces three or four young at a birth.

SECTION III.— PORCUPINE-LIKE EODENTS {HYSTRICOMORPHA).
FAMILY XI.-OCTODONTID.E.
This first family of the Porcupine alliance consists of a number of rat-like animals, nearly
all of which are inhabitants of South America, three species only being peculiar to the large
West Indian Islands, whUst, singulai-ly enough, four more are known from difierent parts of the
African continent. Except in one of these last, all the members of the family have four molars
on each side in each jaw, and the crowns of these teeth show internal and external folds of
enamel. The malar jjortion of the zygomatic arch has an angular process at its lower margin.

lUE DEGU.

T!;e hind limbs are not disproportionately de\'eloped, and both they and the fore feet are nearly
always furnished with five toes, armed with curved claws; and the clavicles are perfect. The ears
are generally short and sparingly hairy, and the tail, which is of various lengths, is either clad
with short hairs, or naked and scaly.

We may begin with two African species of this generally American family, which have the
two inner claws of the liind feet furnished with comb-like fringes of liorny bristles, whence the
name of Ctenoclactylus has been applied to the best known species. These two species, which
exhibit strong affinities to the Jerboas, form the sub-family Ctenodactylin.e. The GtUNDI (Cteno-
iliii-tijlus M(wsoni) has only three molars on each side in each jaw, and only four toes upon each foot.
It is an animal about the size of tJie Water Rat, but with a mere stump of a tail, very small ears,
very long whiskers, and the hind limbs rather longer than their fellows. It lives in North Africa,
chiefly on the borders of the Sahara, where it takes up its abode in the rocky hills, and descends
therefrom to the cultivated grounds to feast upon the growing corn. It is diurnal in its habits, but
e.xceedingly shy and watchful, making off to its fastnesses at the least appearance of danger.
I'fctinator Spekei, a species named after its discoverer, the celebrated African traveller, is nearly
i-elated to the preceding, but has a small additional molar in each series. The tail is of moderate
length, and bushy, and the ears have a small antitragiis. It inhabits the Somali land in the interior
of North-eastern Africa.

The Degu {Octodoii Cumitigii), a very abundant species in C'liili, which also extends into
Perw, may be taken as a typical example of the whole family, and also of its typical sub-famUy
<)cTODONTiN.E, in wluch the molars ai-e simply indented on each side. The fur is soft, and the
tail is short. The Degu i.s a rat-like animal, rather smaller than the Water Vole, the head and
body measuring from seven and a half to eight inches in length, and the tail, exclusive of its
terminal tuft, i-ather more than half that length. The general colour of the animal is brownish-
yellow, pencilled with black on the back ; the lower surface is yellowish, the feet white, and the
tail dusky above, whitish beneath, with the tufted tip dusky or blackish. In the central parts of
Chili, according to various travellers, the Degu is exceedingly abundant, living in large
about hedges and thickets, and running about
boldly, even on the high roads. The animals
make theii- burrows in the hedge-banks and
fiimilar places, and when alarmed rush into
them with their tails elevated, very much
iifter the manner of Rabbits. As the bur-
rows communicate freely with each other, the
Degus can easily escape pursuit, going in at
one opening and coming out at another at
Kome considerable distance. They sometimes
climb up into the bushes among which they
live. Their ordinary food consists of the her-
bage which grows about their dwelling-places,
but they also invade gardens and fields, where
they may do considerable damage. In the
winter they will feed upon the tender bark of
certain trees, but they ai-e said by some authors
to lay up a store of food against this season.
They do not become torpid. The female is
believed to produce two broods in the year,
each consisting of from four to six young.

Two other species of Octodon are known from Chili and Bolivia, which region is also inhabited by
two species of Habrocoma, a genus distinguished by the large size of the ears, and the extreme
softness of the fur. In these animals the molar teeth differ in the two jaws, the upper ones being
as simple a.s in the precedmg species, while the lower ones show a complication of the enamel folds
like what we shall meet with in the thu-d sub-fixmily.

NATURAL lilSTUllY.

The Brown Schizodon (Schizodon/uscus), which inhabits certain elevated spots in the southern
part of the Andes (75° S. lat.), has the enamel folds of the molar teeth meeting in the middle. It
is about the size of the common Rat (seven and a half to nine inches long), and has a shortish tail
clothed throughout with short hairs. Its fur is dark brown above, dirty yellowish beneath. This
animal inhabits grassy places near mountain streams, where the ground is sometimes so undermined
by its burrows as to render travelling on horseback very uncomfortable. It is a nocturnal animal,
and passes most of its life underground. The valleys it inhabits ai-e covered with snow for at least
four months in the year.

In the TuKOTUKO {Ctenoniys hrasiliensis) and its congeners, about four of which are
known from different parts of South America, one of them extending as far south as the Strait of
Magellan, the eyes and ears are very small, and the animal seems to be still more specially adapted
to a subterranean mode of life. In these animals the claws are longer than the toes, and those of the
hind feet are fringed with a sort of comb formed of bristles. The incisor teeth are very broad. The
Tukotuko is about the size of a large Rat, namely, from eight and a half to nine and a half inches long,
with the tail from two and a half to three and a half inches. Its name is in imitation of the sound which
it constantly emits — a sound which rather surprises a stranger when he first hears it, seeing that the
animal uttering it is concealed underground. In many places, as in the Argentine Republic, this
animal is exceedingly numerous, living generally in sandy soil, but sometimes in damp situations. It
makes long burrows not far from the .surface, and thus in some places completely undermines the

ground. Tt

DENTITION OF THE ROCK liAT

galleries the Tukotuko is engaged in the search for its food, which consists
chiefly of the roots of plants. According to Azara, it
lays up stores of food in its buiTOws. Its activity is
nocturnal.

The CuBURO {Spalacopus Poppiyii) has the
ears quite rudimentary, and is also organised for a
subterranean existence. This and another .species in-
habit Chili, where they make extensive burrows in the
ground, and feed upon the bulbous and tuberous roots of
various plants, large stores of which they collect in their
subterranean abodes. These magazines are sought out by
the poorer people, and their contents used as food.

The Rock Rat [Petromys typicus), although most

nearly allied to the preceding species, lives on the opposite

side of the Atlantic in the rocky hills of South Africa,

especially towards the mouth of the Orange River. It

les another sub-

and

smal

differs from the i)receding forms in the harshness of its fur, in which it

family of Octodontidpe, in the shortness of its thumbs, which are furni.shed with

in its rather bushy tail. The molars are semi-rooted, with the

enamel folds nearly meeting in the middle. The whiskei-s

are of gi-eat length, and entirely black. The general colour is

reddish-brown, with the head and fore parts greyi.sh, the throat

whitish, and the belly pale yellow. The tail is of the colour

of the body at the root, with the remainder black. The length

of the animal is about seven and a half inches, of the tail

from five to five and a half inches. It feeds upon various

vegetable substances, and appears to be very fond of the

flowers of .syngenesious jdants, especially a species of groundsel,

■which it eagerly devours. It forms its retreat among loose

stones, or in crevices of the rocks.

While the OctodontiuK may be regarded as specially
characteristic of the region of the Andes, the other great
group of this family is almost exclusively confined to the country east of that great chain, and
to some of the West Indian islands. Curiously enough this sub-family also has a single

TCETU OF THE Sl'IN'-S

THE COYPV.

131

representative in Africa. Its members are distinguished at once by the comiilicated enamel fohls of
their molar teeth iu both jaws, by these teeth being generally rooted, and by the texture of the
fur, which is harsh and freq\iently mixed with fine spines. Hence the name of Ecldnomys (Spiny, or
rather Hedgehog, Eat), applied to the typical genus, from which the sub-family is named Echinomvin.e.
The tail in these animals is usually long.

The Rodents belonging to this sal>-f;iniily are generally of considerable size, as large as Rats, or
larger, stoutly built, with the hinder part of the body larger than the foi'e-quarters, with limbs of
moderate length, the hinder larger than the anterior, the former furnished with five toes, the latter
with four complete digits and a rudimentary thumb, and the toes armed with strong cm-ved claws.
The tail is scaly, with scattered hairs. In their habits these animals appear to be strictly vegetable-
feeders, but in other respects they present some variety. The majority live in and upon the ground ;
but one or two are arboreal, and one aquatic, in their mode of life.

The last species alluded to is the well - known Coypu (Mi/opotamns Coypus), one of the
largest of Rodents, which occurs in nearly all parts of South America and on both sides of the Andes,
from the tro])ic of Capricorn to about 15° N. hit. It is usually about twenty inches long, but often
attains still greater dimensions. The tail, which is about two-thirds the length of the head and body,
is scaly, with hairs about as thickly scattered as in the common Rat. The ears are of moderate size ;
the incisor teeth very large and powei-ful ; the molars, the hindmost of which are the largest, have
two internal and two external enamel-folds in the upper, and three internal folds and one external in
the lower, jaw ; the hind feet are webbed. The general colour of the upper surface is brown,
produced by dusky and brownish-yellow pencilling ; the sides and under pai-ts ai-e brownish-yellow,
and the front of the muzzle and the chin white.

The Coypus live upon the shores of the rivers and lakes of South America, generally, according
to Rengger, in pairs, each pair digging for themselves a burrow in the bank, which extends to a depth
of three or four feet, and widens out into a cavity eighteen inches or two feet in diameter. Here they
pass the night, and take refuge when necessary during the day. They select for their dwelling-places
the stiller parts of the water, where the aquatic plants on which they chiefly feed grow freely. They
are said to swim well, but not to be expert in diving. On land they are slow and awkward iu their
movements. They feed chiefly on the roots of plants, but in the Chonos Archipelago, whei-e the
Coypus frequent the sea and make their burrows at some little distance fi'om the beach, they are said

NATURAL mSTORT.

occasionally to eat shell-fish. The female produces fi'om four to five young once in the year. The
little animals very early accompany their mother into the water, when she swims with them on her
back, until they have acquired the art of swimming. Mr. Waterhouse thinks that this habit may
"explain the singular position of the nipples noticed in the female Coypu.- Of these four were found
by Mr. J^ereboullet on each side of the body, and situated rather above the mesial line of the flanks,
the foremost being placed behind the shoulder, and the hindermost in front of the thigh." Tlie
Coy)iu is hunted for the sake of its fle.sh, which is described as white and of good Hinour, and of its

MOLAR TEETH OF LOXCHERES.

skin, which is well known in the fur trade under the name of " Nutria," signifying Otter. Great
quantities of these .skins are annually exported from Buenos Ayres. It is said to be a courageous
animal, fighting bravely with the dogs engaged in chasing it.

The HuTi.\ Conga (Capromys pilorkles) is another large Eodent, measuring from twenty
to twenty-two inches in length, with a stout rat-like tail about half as long as the head and body.
It is an inhabitant of Cuba. The incisoi-s are considerably smaller and weaker than in the Coypu ;
the upper molars have one internal and two external folds; the lower ones are similar but reversed.
The fur, which is long, is very harsh, and consists of a mixtin-e of black and yellow hairs, becoming
rusty on the hinder part of the body. The belly is rusty yellow. This animal lives in the den.se

TUE rOKCUPINES. j33

forests of Cuba, where it resides either upon the trees or in the thick underwood. It is a nocturnid
or crepuscular animal, and is tolerably active when going about on the branches of trees, but is less
lit homo on the ground. Its food consists of fruits, leaves, and the bark of trees, but, according to
M. Ramon de la Sagra, it does not disdain animal food, and is especially fond of a species of Lizaid
belonging to the genus Anolw. On the other hand, the negroes are \ery paitial to the flesh of the
Hutia, and they capture the animal eithei- by snaring it on the branches of tiees, or by sending Uogs
■ifter it Like the Coypu, it is said to fight courageously aganist it-> piii-iiwi^ Another Cuban
species, the Hutia Carabali {C. prehensilis), has a slightly
longer tail, which is prehensile at the tip. It is described as
keeping ehictiy to the highest branches of the trees. In St.
Domingo there is an allied form, Plagiodon cedium, in which
the enamel folds of the molars are singularly complex {see
figure on p. 132). This animal frequents the neighbourhood
of human habitations, and approaches them at night in search
of its food, which consists of fruit and roots. In most of the
other members of this sub-family, which appear to be terrestrial

in then- habits, the intermixture of spines with the fur of the back is ,i striking charact(>i. In
the genus Echinomys itself, and in Loncheren, which together include about a dozen specus found
chiefly in Guiana and Brazil, the spines frequently form the principal outer covering of the back.
.Side by side with these hedgehog-like species, however, others occur in which the fur is soft.

The Ground Eat (Aulacoclns Swinderianus), of Western and Southern Africa, is remarkable as
being the sole representative of this group outside the South American provmce. It has very
broad incisors, and those of the upper jaw exliibit three deep grooves ; the molars show the same
arrangement of folds as in Capromys ; the fur is harsh and Ijiistly, and of a general brown tint; and
the tail is of moderate length, sparingly haired, dusky above, and whitish below. The fore feet have
the thumb rudimentary and the outer toe very short ; and the hind feet have only four toes, of which
the outer one is rudimentary. This curious animal, which is nearly two feet long, is known to
be an inhabitant of Sierra Leone and the Gambia, and also of South Africa (Port Natal) ; in all
|)i-obability it occurs at many intermediate localities. In Sierra Leone it is known as the Ground
Kat, or Ground Pig, and is said to feed upon ground nuts, and cassada and other roots in search
of which it digs into the ground, where it also forms large burrows for its residence.

CHAPTER IV.

PORCrPIXES-CHIXCHILLAS-AGOUTIS-CAVIES-HAEES AND RABBTTS-PIKAS.

IIY.STRIC'ID.J:, the porcupines— conversion of Hairs into Spines— Skull— Dentition— Tail— Sub-families— The True
Porcupines — The Tree Porcupines— The Common Pokcupine— Distribution— Description — Tlie Crest of Bristles —
Nature of the Spines— Habits— Yonng-Flesh-On the Defensive— Other Species— Species of Ti-ee Porcupines— The
CoL'ENDou— The Couir— Description— Habits— The Urson, or Canada Porcupine— Description— Habits— Food
— CHINCHILLIDjE, the Chinchillas— Characteristics— The Viscacha— Description— Life on the Pampas- Their
Burrows— Habits— The Chinchillas of the Amies— The Chinchilla— The Short-tailed Chinchilla— Cuvier's
Chinchilla— The Pale-footed Chinchilla— DASYPROCTIDjE, the Agoutis— Characters— The Agouti— Distri-
bution— Appearance — Habits— Azara's Agouti — The Acoucht— The Paca — Appearance— Distribution— Habits —
DINOMYID^— Founded for a Single Species— Description— Rarity— CAVHD^, the Cavies— Characteristics— The
Restless Cavy— Appearance— Habits -The Guinea-Pig Controversy— The Bolivian Cavy— The Rock Cavy- The
Southern Cavy— The Patagonian Cavy, or Mara— Peculiar Features— Its Burrows— Mode of Running— The
Capybara— Its Teeth— "WTiere Found— Habits— THE DOUBLE-TOOTHED RODENTS— Characteristics— LEPO-
RID^, THE Hares and Rabbits— Structural Peculiarities— Distribution— Disposition— The Ci^mmon Hare -Hind
Legs— Speed —Its " Doubles "—Other Artifices— Its ' ' Form "—Habits— Food— Pet Hares— The Rabbit— Distribution-
Habits— Domesticated— The Mountain Hare — LAGOiMYID^, the Pikas — Characteristics— Distributioii — The
Alpine Pika— The Rocky Mountain Pika.

FAMILY XII.-HYSTRICID.E (PORCUPINES).
This .second family of the section Hystricomorpha exhibits the conversion of the Lairs into
spines in perfection, the whole upper part of the body being in several instances completely.

katuhai HhsrosY.

covered witli Ions;, hollow, pointed quills, whilst in all cases great nmnbers of spines and stift
bristles an- niixrd with the hair. The form of the skull in these animals is distinctive.
It is ovate, the cranial portion being more or less inflated
by aii--cavities in the bones, and the facial portion short, but
the occipital or binder surface is usually nearly perpendicular ;
the malar portion of the zygoma has no angular process as in
the preceding family ; the molar teeth are four in mrmber on
each side in each jaw ; and the limbs are about equal in
development. The incisor teeth are large and ])Owerful. With
regard to the development of the tail there are considerable
differences, some species having that organ quite short, while
in others it is of moderate length, or long and sometimes pre-
hensile.

The Porcupijies fall readily into two distinct groups (sub-
families) characterised by structure, habits, and geographical
distribution. In the strictly terrestrial species, or True Por-
cupines (Hystricin.e), which inhabit the warmer parts of the eastern hemisphere, the skull is rather
more elongated than in the others ; the front margin of the orbit is, over the thii-d molar ; the molars ai-e

I'LL OF THE rOHCrPI>

rootless when young, but become closed aftei a tmie, and the cld% icles are imperfect. The upper lip
is furrowed ; the tail, which may be either long or short, is never prehensile ; the soles of the feet are
smooth ; and the female has six teats.

The arboreal species (Sphingurin.e), which are all American, have the skull peculiarly short, tlio
front margin of the orbit over the first molar, the molars always rooted, and the clavicles perfect. The
upper lip is not furrowed ; the tail is moderate or long, and generally prehensile ; the soles of the feet
are covered with wart-like tubercles ; and the female has only four teats.

The Common Porcupine (Hyslrix cristata) may serve as a characteristic and well-known
example of the first of these two groups. It is an inhabitant of the Mediterranean region, occurring
in most pai-ts of Noi-th Africa, and extending as far southwards as the Gambia and Soudan; in Southern
Europe it is abundant in Italy, Sicily, and Greece. It measures about twenty-seven or twenty-eight
inches in length to the root of the tail, which is about four inches long. The head, shoulders, limbs,
and under parts are clothed with short spines intermixed with hairs usually of a dusky or brownish-

riiE roKcvriyEs. 135

bliujk hue ; the neck is marked with a whitish colhir ; from the back of the Iiead and neck there rises a,
great crest of long bristles, many of them fifteen or sixteen inches in length, which can be elevated and
depressed at the pleasure of tlie animal, are gently carved backwards, and are either dusky with the
extremities white, or whitish throughout ; the hinder portion of the body is entirely covered by a great
number of long, sharp spines, ringed with black and white, but always having the extremities white.
These spines vary considerably in size, some of them being very long (fifteen or sixteen inches), com-
paratively slender and flexible ; others shorter (from six to twelve inches), but much stouter. They are
all hollow, or filled only with a sort of spongy tissue, but from their structure are exceedingly resistant,
and when the animal erects them, which he is able to do by contracting the muscles of the skin in
which their roots are imbedded, they constitute a most formidable armature. They appear to be but
loosely attached to the skin, and readily fall out, a circumstance which no doubt gave rise to the belief
prevalent among the ancients (and many moderns) that the Porcupine was able to shoot his spines at
an approaching enemy, or even to project them bshind him at a pursuer when he was rushing away in
search of a place of safety. The tail of the animal bears at its tip about twenty spines of very curious
construction ; they are about two inches long, hollow, open, and cut oft' square at the end, and about
a quarter of an inch in diameter for the greater part of their length, but they are inserted into the skin
by the extremity of a thin stalk half an inch long.

The Porcupine lives in holes among the rocks, or in a burrow, ^vhich he makes for himself in
ordinary ground. In this retreat he passes the day iu sleep, coming forth in the evening in search of
food, which consists of herbage of various kinds, fruits, roots, and the bark and leaves of trees and
bushes. He is slow in his movements, and does not even display much activity in burrowing. His
habits are solitary except during the pairing season ; and during the winter he passes most of his time
in his habitation, without, however, falling into a torpid state. The pairing takes place early in the
yew, but varies in this respect according to the climate of the locality ; and in the spring or eai-ly
summer the female produces from two to four young, in a nest carefully lined with leaves, grasses,
roots, and other vegetable substances. The young Porcupines are born with theii- eyes open, and their
liodies are covered with short, soft .spines, which are pressed closely to the body. Tliese speedily harden
and grow longer, and the young do not appear to remain very long with their mother. The flesh of
the Porcupine, like that of most purely vegetable-feeding Rodents, is very good, and is eaten in the
countries where the animal occurs. When pursued or iri-itated, he stands on the defensive, erects his
formidable quills and crest, stamps on the ground with his hind feet after the manner of a Hare, jerks
himself towards the object of his dread, as if to wound it with his spines, and at the same time pi-oduces
a curious noise by rattling the open quills of the tip of his tail. But all these manoeuvres are
generally in vain, and the Porcupine, in spite of his defensive armour, is pretty easily captured by
those who know how to sat about it. The Leopard is said to manage the business at once by a single
lilow of his paw on the head.

A very similar Porcupine (Hystrix Mrsxitirostris) takes the place of this species in Syria and
Asia Minor, and extends thence eastward to India; another {H. javanica) inliabits the Sunda
Islands ; and the district of Nepaul has a peculiar species of its own. In Siam and Malacca, and on the
west coast of Africa, we find two species of an allied genus, m which the spines of the body are com-
paratively short and depressed, and the tail is elongated, scaly, with a few scattered bi-istles in the
middle, and with a large tuft of long flat bristles at the tip. The Malayan species {Atherura fasciculata)
is about eighteen inches long, the African one {A. afrkana) about fourteen inches. Both are
somewhat rat like in their form.

The Tree Porcupines, forming the second sub-family, sevei-al species with prehensile tails, range
over the continent of South America, east of the Andes, and one of them, the Mexican Tree Porcupme
{SpJdmjurus mexicanus), is found as far north as Guatemala and Southern Mexico. The most
abundant and widely-distributed species in the Brazilian region are the Couendou {Sphingurm
prehensilia) and the CouiY {S. villosus), inhabiting Guiana, Brazil, and Bolivia, the latter being found
thro\ighout the forest region of Bi-azil and as far south as Paraguay.

These animals are of considerable size, usually measuring from sixteen to twenty inches in length
without the tail, which is about one-third the length of the head and body. By the aid of the pre-
hensile ti]5 of this organ they climb with great facility and security upjn the branches of the trees, but
31

NATUSAL HIS TOST.

TKEE POBCUnXE.

tlieir feet are also specially aclajitecl for this particular mode of activity, and they are said even to climb
the palm-trees in order to feed upon their fruit. They are nocturnal in their habits, passing the day
in sleep concealed in the fork of a branch, and going abroad at night in search of their food, which
consists of fruits of various kinds, and the buds, leaves, and even flowers, of the trees on which they
live. Roots also form a part of their nourishment, probably when they reside rather among thickets
than in the high forest. Tlieir spines, although short when compared with those of the Common
Porcupine, are formidable defensive weapons when the animal erects them ; in some species, as especi-
ally in the Couiy, they are concealed, when depressed, by the long hair, and, according to Hensel, this
serves as a protection to the animal from rapacious birds, for, when it sits in a heap, sleeping away
the daylight, these soft grey hairs give it a most deceptive resemblance to a mass of the beard-moss
which so commonly grows on the trees in the Brazilian forests.

The Urson, or Canada Porcupine {Erythizon dorsatus), the only North American species of the
family, according to Mr. Allen, although other writers distinguish two or three such forms, is about
two feet or more in length when full grown, and is covered with woolly hail-, and with long coarse
hair of a dark brown colour, with the ))oints white or yellowish, this diSerence in the colour of the
tips of the hairs being the chief distinction between the two varieties which Mr. Allen recognises.
The spines ixi both forms are white, with the points usually dusky or brown. The Canada
Porcupine is distributed through the whole of the Eastern United States, except on the sea-
board, from New York to Virginia, and north of the States through Canada, as far as the limit of
trees. The Western Porcupine, whica has the tips of the long hairs yellowish (whence it has received
the name E. ejnxanthus), occurs west of the Missouri river^ extending to the Pacific shores and going
southward along the mountains to Arizona and New Mexico, and northwards at least as far as Alaska
and Sitka.

Although a heavy and clumsy-looking beast, and destitute of the jirehensile tail of its South
American cousins, this Porcupine is a good climber, and passes nearly the whole of its life upon trees ;
nevertheless, according to Mr. Allen, it may be met with travelling upon the prairies, probably on its way
from one suitable residence to another. On the gi-ound it moves slowly, but its armature of spines is
a protection against most of its enemies, and it has the art of striking very forcible and judicious blows
with its spiny tail. Audubon and Bachmann mention many cases in which Dogs, Wolves, and even
a Puma were found dead or dying in consequence of the severe inflammation caused by the spines of
this animal sticking about their mouths ; and the former gives an interesting account of a lesson in

THE CAXADA PORCUPINE. lit

urbanity given by a captive Urson to a Mastift' that attacked Lim. The food of the Ursoii consists
of various vegetable substances, fruits, buds, and the youuo- shoots and leaves of trees. In the winter it

MEXICAN TKEE PORCUPINES.

subsists chiefly upon the bark, which it strips off the upper branches of the trees, and when it hi.s taken
up its abode upon a tree it stays there untU the suitable bark has been consumed. As it prefers young
trees this operation is generally effected pretty quickly, and in this way it is estimated that a single

138 NATURAL HISTORY.

Porcupine may destroy hundreds of trees in the course of a winter. The Urson resides in the holes
of trees, and in such situations, or in crevices among the rocks, the female prepares her nest, in which
she brings forth usually two, but occasionally three or four, young in April or May.

FAMILY Xlir.— CHINCHILLID.E (THE CHINX'HILLAS).

In the Chinchillas, which form a small family peculiar to South America, the incisor teeth are short ;
the molars are rootless, divided by continuous folds of enamel into transverse plates, and the two
series in each jaw converge towards the front ; the zygomatic arch has no angular process on the
lower margin ; the clavicles are slender but perfect ; the fore limbs are small, the hind limbs long ; the
tail of moderate length or long, and turned up at the end ; and the fur is very fine and soft. They are
Eodents of moderate size and more or less of Eabbit-like appearance, except that the tail is always
elongated and bushy. Of the five known species, four are inhabitants of the mountain regions, and
one lives in the plains of the region of La Plata.

The latter, the Viscacha (Lagostomus trichodaeti/his), is a stout-built and almost Marmot-like
creature, from eighteen inches to two feet long, exclusive of the tail, which measures from six to eight
inches. It has four toes on the fore limbs, and three on the hind feet, the latter furnished with long,
compressed, and pointed nails ; the mufile is broad and covered with a velvet-like coat of brown hair ;
the fur, which is soft and moderately long, is of a mottled gi-ey colour above, and white or yellowish-
white beneath ; on each cheek there is a dark band ; a white band crosses the muzzle and runs back on
each side almost as far as the eye ; the tail is dusky-bro^ni or black.

The Viscacha lives on the Pampas from Buenos Ayres to the borders of Patagonia, and where it
occurs is generally to be found in great numbers, residing in extensive burrows which it digs for itself
in the gi-ound, generally in the neighbourhood of copses, and, if possible, near cultivated fields. Each
burrow has a great number of passages leading down to several chambers, in which the Viscachas
live in family parties to the number of eight or ten. The Burrowing Owl already mentioned as an
associate of the Prairie Dogs of North America, is found about the settlements of the Viscachas,
living in their burrows, but it is said that the intrusion of these birds immediately drives out the real
owners of the dwelling, as the Owls will not observe those rules of cleanliness which are characteristic
of their unwilling hosts. Of course the expelled family has to make itself a new residence, and in
this way great stretches of country come to be so undermined that they are dangerous to ride over.
According to Mr. Darwin, the most favourite resoi-t of the Visciichas in the neighbourhood of Buenos
Ayres are those parts of the plain which, during half the year, are covered with great thistles.

They are nocturnal in theii- habits, passing the day sleeping in the recesses of their biu-rows,
and coming forth in the twilight one by one, until a large and lively company is to be seen
playing about the neighbourhood of their holes. When all is quiet they go in search of their
food, wliich consists of grasses and other herbage and roots, and sometimes of the bai'k of trees
and shrubs. In cultivated fields they may do considerable damage. While engaged iti feeding,
one or other of the party is perpetually on the watch, and the moment anything occurs to cause
alarm, the whole of them scamper away with their tails elevated, to take refuge in their holes.
In theii- movements they are very like Eabbits, but less active.

The Viscacha has the very singular habit of dragging all sorts of hard objects to tlie mouth
of its burrow, where bones, stones, thistle-stalks, hard lumps of earth, dry cow-dung, and other
chance articles may be found collected into a heap, frequently, according to Mr. Dai-win, amount-
ing to as much as a wheelbarrow would contain. Mr. Darwin says that he was informed that
" a gentleman riding on a dark night dropped his watch ; he returned in the morning, and by search-
ing in the neighboui'hood of every Viscacha hole on the line of road, as he expected, soon found it."
The purpose of this accumulation of apparently useless articles by the Viscacha has never been
ascertained. It has been compared to the habit of some of the Australian Bower-birds, which adorn
their playing-places with bright and glittering objects.

The Chinchillas of the Andes, or Alpine Chinchillas, are much lighter and more elegant animals
than their cousins of the plains ; in form they more resemble Squu-rels or large Dormice. Their fur
is excessively soft, perhaps the softest that clothes any animal, and in all the species it is of a grey

TUE ClllNClllLLA.

MOLAU TEETH OF THE

colour, mottled or clouded with darker and lighter tints. The ears ai-e of larsje size. Tliey arc
confined to the Andes of Chili, Bolivia, and Peru, where they live aiiioug the bare rocks at a consider-
able elevation, seeking refuge in natural clefts and
cavities, sleeping in their holes during the day, and
coming fortli at twilight in search of food. They
are exceedingly lively and active in their movements
and very shy.

The Common Chinchilla (C/«;jc/M7to lanigera), the
skins of which are well known as furs, is a squirrel-like
animal, nine or ten inches long, with a tail more than
half this length. It has large rounded ears ; its fore
feet have five, and its hind four, toes. Its fur on
the upper pai"t is grey, elegantly marbled with dusky
or black, on the lower surface yellowish-white ; the
tail is black above, and dirty white at the sides and
beneath. The incisors are of a bright orange colour in
front. The Short-tailed Chinchilla {C. bremcau- ^
(lata), a larger species, has the tail only three inches ■^-**is»:-
long. Its fur is of a general silvery-gi-ey hue, tinged
with black, especially along the back, and the tail has

two dark bands on its upper surface. Both these animals inhabit Peru, and the former is also found
in Bolivia and Chili. They are exceedingly abundant, notwithstanding the constant jjersecution to
which they ai-e subjected foi tlie sake of theii skins They come out of their holes even in the day-
time, but then always keep on the shidy side of the locks Then acti\ity is described as wonderful,
and they will run with greit lajjidity up ptipendiculai walls of lock which seem to offei- no hold for
their feet. On the groiuid they aie said touul^tl\ much aftei the fashion of our common Mice.

The Chinchilla seems to breed
nearly all the year round, and
the female is said to pi-oduce
fiom four to six young at a
biith

The other two species of

Aljune Chinchillas are placed in

1 sepaiate genus, characterised by

1 inoie hare-like form, longer ears,

nd the presence of only four

toes on both fore and hind feet.

( lmer's Chinchilla {Lagidmm

( mien) is about eighteen or

twenty inches long, of an ashy-

^1 1 y colour with a yellowish

tinge above, and pale yellow

beneath ; the tail, which, with

the hair, is nearly as long as the

body is clothed beneath with

short black haii-s, and above with

much longer bushy hairs, gi-adu-

all} increasing in length towards

cniN-cKiLLA. ^^^'^ %' '"'iiere they are black ; a

black line passes down the middle

of the tail, and its sides are dirty white. Tlie Pale-footed Chinchilla (Lagiclium paUipes), which

is abovit the same size as the jireeeding, but has a shorter tail, is ashy grey, \vith a brownish tinge,

be.oming yellowish fawn colour beneath. The range of these animals seems to be the same as that

NATURAL MIHTOKT.

of the true Clvincliilla, but the second of them passes northwaixls into the mountains of Ecuddoi. In
their habits tliey agree with the C'hincliillas.

FAMILY XIV.— DASYPKOCTID^ (AGOUTIS).

In the Agoutis we ha^'e tlie first of three more or less pig-lilie families, furnished with hoof-iike

i on the toes, all the members of which are inhabitants of South America. The Agoutis especially

maj be compared to small slender-limbed Pigs, but they beai

a still closer resemblance in external form to the little Musk

Deei The Dasyproctidse have the incisors long ; the molars,

which aie at first rootless, and afterwards close up, have enamel

t Ills fiom both surfaces; the clavicles are iiidimentary ; the

<^^|^-B_- '«!uJ::a,-^^*S^\ijf^/ ||| |,^j jip entire ; the ears shoi-t; the tail short and naked, or

^^ ijinte ludimentary; and the fore feet have five toes.

— ^^" -__ _rs Of these animals eight or nine species are known. They

inhabit South America, from Mexico southwards to Paraguay
and Bolivia, and some of them also occur in the larger West
Indian Islands. They frequent the forest region, and especially
haunt the banks of rivers.

The Agouti {Dasyprocta aguti), the most abundant and
best know n species, is found chiefly in Guiana, Brazil, and
eastern Peiu, where it is to befoimd plentifully in the primeval
forests. Like the other true Agoutis, it has only three toes
moderate size and rounded ; its form compact, and supported
coarse and harsh, and

rudimentary ; and the hair of its back

on t!ie hind foot ; ".ts ears a
upon slender limbs ; its tail
longer towards the liindei
parts, which thus obtiin a
somewhat truncated appear
ance. Its general coloui is
olive brown, produced by
a mixture of black and
yellow; but the long haiis
covering the hinder poition
of the back are usually of
an orange colour, and the
middle line of the abdomen
is whitish or yellow. This
animal is from eighteen t(
twenty inches long.

Although inhabiting tin
forests, the Agouti is nc t
iinfrequently seen on the
neighbouring gi'assy plams,
but its residence is among
the trees, in the hollows of
which, or in cavities at their
roots, it takes up its abode,
generally lying concealed in
its retreat during the day.
It is very quick in its

movements, runs well, and springs with almost the agility of an Antelojie. The food of the Agouti
consists of almost any vegetable substances that come in its way. It will eat gi-ass and herbage, the
roots of plants, their flowers and fruit, and when it lives in the neighbourhood of sugar plantations

AZAllA S AGd

the Procfciti .gs of the Zooloi/k

the place of this species is tak(

and gai-dens its inroads may give rise to considerable injury. The animal is, however, rather solitary
in its liabits, living by itself in its cell, in its departure from and return to which it api)ears
generally to follow exactly the same I'oads, by which means a narrow Init very distinct footpath
is in course of time produced. This naturally often leads to the discovery and capture of the little
recluse.

Tlie Agouti appears to breed all the year round, usually producing two young ones at a
birth. The female prepares her dwelling for the reception of her family by lining it comfortably
with leaves, fine roots, and hair.

In the southern parts of Brazil, in Paraguay and Bolivii
AzAK.\'s Agovti {Dasyprocta Azarce). A smaller species, the
AcoucHY {D. acouchy), is found not only in Guiana and the
north of Brazil, but also in several of the West India
Islands. The last-named species has a well-developed tail
about two inches long.

Besides the Agoutis, this family includes an allied
animal, the Paca {Conlogenys paca), wliich differs generically
from the Agoutis by having live toes on the hind feet. It
has a broader head and a blunter muzzle, and is altogether
iv rather stouter animal than the Agoutis ; but, like most of

them, it has a mere tubercle instead of a tail. One of the _

most remarkable chai-acters presented by this animal, how-

ovei-, is the enormous development of the zygomatic arches, which are enlarged and inflatpd in
the most extraordinary manner, the maxillary portion, which occupies the anterior two-thirds being
hollowed out beneath into a great chamber, lined with mucous membrane, and opening into the
mouth by a rather small aperture. The function of these remarkable cavities is at present quite un-
known. Food is not to be found in them, and, indeed, as they are enclosed by solid bone, it would
seem impossible that they could act as cheek-pouches.

The Paca, which inhabits Central and South America from Guatemala to Paraguay, is about
two feet long, and is clothed with short rather coarse hair of a brown or yellowish-brown colour
above, white beneath, with from three to five bands of white streaks and spots upon each side

142 yATUMAL IIISTOIlT.

of the body. In its liabits the Paca very much resembles the Agouti. It usually lives singly, or
sometimes in pairs, on the boi-ders of the forests, or near the banks of rivers, taking up its abode
during the day either in a liole at the root of some tree, or in a burrow excavated by its own
labour, which is generally carried to a depth of four or five feet. Its food consists of the
leaves, fruits, and flowers of various plants, and, like the Agouti, it occasionally does mischief in
the corn-fields and gardens. The female produces only one, or at most two, young at a birth.
The Paca swims well, and can cross even a broad river in this way. Its flesh, like that of the
Agouti, is very well flavoured, and is consumed both by natives and Europeans.

FAJIILY XV.— DINOIIYID.E.
This family has been founded for the reception of a single species, of which only a single
specimen has hitherto been obtained. It is described by Professor Peters under the name of Dinomyi
Jiranichii. In its external appearance it closely resembles the Paca {Cuiloyeiii/s paca), hu'^
may at once be distinguished from that animal by its possession of only four toes both before and
behind. The ears aie short and rounded ; the upper lip deeply cleft ; the incisors very broad ;
the molars four on each side, and divided into transverse plates by folds of enamel ; the clavicles are
imperfect ; and the tail of moderate length and well clothed with hail-. The animal, which inhabits
the high mountain regions of Peru, is of the size of the Paca, or about two feet long, exclusive
of the tail, which measures rather more than nine inches. Its general colour is grey, produced
by the sprinkling of white among nearly black haii-s ; and on each side of the body are numerous
large white spots, of which the uj)per ones nearly run together, so as to fonn two longitudinal bands.
The extremity of the tail is black.

The only known example of this Rodent was obtained by M. Constantin Jelski at the Colonie
Amable Maria, on the IMoutaua ilf> Vitoc, in Peru, having been found at daybreak walking about the

^^ , }Aid It showed no fear of man,

7" -V.I i'- , * ^ ^ _ and was easily killed by a sword

^* "~' Lut or two on the head. The

_ ^ _ Z- species would appear to be rare,

IS the inhabitants of the neigh-
jouihobd were not acquainted
\\ itli it. Of course nothing is
kno^\^l of its habits.

The chief interest at present
itt iching to this animal, there-
ioie, consists in its peculiar
combination of character.s. Ex-
tei nally, as already stated, it re-
sembles the Paca, wdth which it
ilso igi-ees in the S-like form of
th( nostrils, and in the structure
of the limbs (except the number
of toes). In the lamellar struc-
uiie of the molar teeth, in the
ti ucture of the skull, and of the
skeleton generally, and especially
111 the flattened form of the front
Jill i)iNOM-\ i-it I t ) of the sternum and the develop-

ment of clavicles, it difiers from
the Paca and all other Eodents with hoof-like nails. In some minor particulars it resembles
the Capybara. By the structure of the molar teeth and certain osteological characters, it is most
nearly allied to the Chinchillas ; while it aiiproaches the genus Capromys among the Octodontidw in

TUE MESTLESS CAVY. 143

the structure of the limbs and of some otiier parts of the skeleton. Professor Peters is evidently
inclined to regard it as most nearly related to the Chinchillidie. but as constituting a group establishing
a closer union than previously existed between the families Chinchillidse, Octodontidse, Dasyproctidse,
and Caviidse.

FAMILY XVr.-CAVIID.E (CAVIES).

This family, the hist of the simple-toothed Rodents, includes a small number of species, of
which the Common Guinea-pig may serve as a soi-t of type. The Guinea-pig is, however, one
of the smaller species of the family, and is shorter in the limbs than most of its relatives. They
have the incisor teeth .short, that is to say, not extending far back in the jaw; the molars are
rootless, variously divided by folds of enamel into lobes, the angles of which are acute ; the palate
is narrow in front, so that the upper series of molars approach each other rather closely in front;
the clavicles are radimentary or wanting ; the fore limbs have four and the hind feet only three
toes, all armed with hoof-like nails ; the upper lip is not cleft ; and the tail is rudimentary or
wanting. They are stout, more or less rabbit-like animals, with a soft coat, and the ears variable
in length; and they are confined to the continent of South America, where they chiefly inhabit
the plains.

The Restless Cavy {Gavia ape.rea), which is commonly regarded as the wild original of the so-
called Guinea-pig (Cavia cobaya of some authors), is abundant on the banks of the Rio de la Plata,
and extends thence northwards through Paraguay into Bolivia and Brazil. It is usually about nine
inches long, ^vith the fur of the upper part and sides of the body composed of a mixture of black and
dingy yellow haii's, the chest greyish-brown, and the throat and belly pale dingy-yellow or brownish-
gi-ey. The incisor teeth are white. The genus to which this animal belongs may be at once dis-
tinguished from the other two genera constituting the family by the shortness of the limbs ; the ears
also are short ; the feet are naked beneath ; the hind toes are not webbed ; and the molar teeth arc
nearly equal in size, and each composed of two angidar lobes.

The specific name of the Restless Cavy seems to be derived from its popular name in tlie country
where it occurs. According to Mr. Darwin, it is very common about the banks of the La Plata, some-
times frequenting sandy hillocks, and the hedge-i-ows formed of the agave and the prickly pear, but
apparently preferring marshy places covered with aquatic plants. In dry places it makes a burrow ;
but when it frequents wet localities contents itself with the concealment afforded to it by the herbage.
Reugger describes it also as generally haunting moist situations in Paraguay, and he adds that it keeps
near the borders of forests, but is never found either in the forests or in the open fields. It lives in
small societies of from six to fifteen individuals, in the impenetralile thickets of Bromelias, where its
presence is revealed by the numerous beaten paths which it produces by going to and fro. In Bolivia,
according to Mr. Bridges, it is peculiar to the low lands, and there takes shelter among the loose stones
of the walls enclosing the fields. It is active in search of food early in the morning and in the
evening, but will also come forth on gloomy days. Rengger and Azara both agree in the state-
ment that the female produces only one or two young at a time ; but the former says that this takes
place only once in the year, whilst the latter describes the animal as breeding all the j'ear round, and,
indeed, in this way accounts for its abundance, notwithstanding its being preyed upon so extensively
by rapacious birds and quadrupeds.

The question whether our common Guinea-pig is really the domesticated descendant of the animal
just described can hardly bs regarded as finally settled, and, indeed, independently of colour, there are
sufficient dift'erences between them to justify some doubt on the subject. The name Guiaiea-pig may,
as Mr. Waterhouse suggests, be a mistake for Guiana-pig, and the first specimens may very probably
have come from that part of America. Its prevalent colours, as is well known, are combinations of
white, black, and yellow, and as these (colours are shown in the drawiuif^s of Aldrovandus, dating
back to within fifty years of the discovery of South America, there seems every reason to believe
that the animal must have been long domesticated in America prior to its introduction into Europe.
On the other hand, Dr. Rengger says that he saw fourteen Apereas representing the fifth or sixth
generation from a single couple domesticated about seven years before, and that those exhibited no

NATURAL HISTORY.

from the wild ai

Several allied species inhabit the great plains of South

difference of colouring
America.

The Bolivian Ca\-v {Cavia boUviensis), which is grey in colour, with a faint yellowish tinge,
with the throat and belly wliite, the feet whitish, and the incisor teeth orange yellow, inhabits the
elevated parts of Bolivia, generally at a height of 10,000 or 12,000 feet. The Rock Cavy (Cavia
rupestris) is found in rocky districts in Brazil, where it shelters itself in holes and crevices. It is
always found near the upper waters of rivers, and is a large species, measuring thirteen or fourteen
inches in length. The Soi'thern Cavy {Cavia australis), on the other hand, is a small species which
inhabits Patagonia, where it ranges from 39° S. lat. to the Strait of Magellan.

This part of the world is also the abode of another and much larger species of the family, the
_ Patagonian Cavy or Mara {DoUchotis

IxUachonica), an animal which .some-
what lesembles the Agouti in the
length and comparative slendemess of
its legs, and differs from all other
Ca^ les m having tolerably long, pointed
ens It also possesses a very short
t 111 The molar teeth are rather small,
and lesemble those of the Guinea-pig in
being foimed of two nearly equal angu-
lar lobes, but the last molar in the upper
jaw, and the first in the lower jaw, have
three such lobes. The animal is some-
what Hare-like in its appearance, and
has been mistaken for a Hare by super-
ficial observeiT?. It is, however, a
much larger animal, measuring from
tliirty to thirty-six inches in lengtli,
and weighing from twenty to tliirty-six
pounds.

The Patagonian Cavy is clothed
with a dense crisp fur of a grey colour
on the upper part of the head and body,
i'.\T\ooxiAN CAVY. rusty yellow on the flanks, and white on

the cliin, throat, and belly ; the rump is
black, with a broad white band crossing it immediately above the tail. It inhabits Patagonia about as
far south as 48", and extends northwards into the La Plata territory as far as Mendoza. It is found only
in the sterile desert part of the country, where the gravelly plains are thinly covered with a few
stunted thorny bushes and a scanty herbage. The northern limit of the species, according to Mr.
Darwin, ie at the point where the vegetation of the plains becomes rather more luxuriant. The
Patagonian Cavy usually burrows in the gi-ound, but where it lives in the same region as the Viscacha,
it will take advantage of the excavations made by that animal. It wandei-s to considerable distances
from its home, and on these excursions two or three are usually seen together. Mr. Darwin sa}-s : —
" It is a common feature in the landscape of Patagonia to see in the distance two or three of these
Cavies hopping one after the other over the gravelly plains." Their mode of running, on the same
authority, more nearly resembles that of the Rabbit than of the Hare ; though their limbs are long,
they do not run very fast. They rarely squat like a Hare, but are veiy shy and watchful, and feed by
day, in connection with which it is to be observed that the eyes are defended from the direct i-ays of
the sun by well-developed eyelashes, which do not occur in the other Cavies. The female produces
generally two young at a birth, which are brought forth and suckled in the burrow.

The Capybaua {Hydrochmrus capybara), the only other member of the present family, Ls
the largest of all existing Rodents, large specimens measuring over four i.'eet in length. It is a stout-
built and massive animal, with limbs of moderate length, a large head with a very blunt muzzle, small

THE CAPYBASA.

eyes and ears, no tail, and both the fore and liind feet webbed. Tlie upper incisor teeth have a
broad and shallow groove down the front, and the molars present very remarkable characters. In tiie
upper jaw the first three molars are each composed of two lobes united by cement, and on the outside
of each of these lobes there is a fold of enamel which passes deeply into the tooth. The last molar
consists of one lobe similar to those of the preceding teeth, but in place of the second there are ten or
a dozen transverse plates. The first
two molars of the lower jaw exhibit
complex lobes and folds of enamel ;
the third and fourth a combination
of folded lobes and transverse plates.

In its general form the Capy-
bara is more pig-like than any of
its relatives, and, indeed, its generic
name, Hydrochoerus, Water-pig, re-
calls this resemblance, and at the
same time intimates its aquatic
habits. Its coat is composed of long
and coarse hairs, often five or six
inches long on the hinder parts, of
a reddish-brown colour above, and
a dirty brownish - yellow beneath.
It is distributed over the whole
eastern i>art of South America,
from Guiana southwards to the
Rio de la Plata, and ranges west- ■"

wards into the lower parts of Peru ,( Lil^ cu the t^rvnAu \.

and Bolivia.

The Capybarai frequent the bordei-s of the lakes and rivers, with which all this part of the
South American continent abounds, and, according to Mr. Darwin, they used to frequent the islands
in the mouth of the La Plata, where the water is quite salt. In tliis part of America they are called
" Carpinchos." They never wander far from the water-side, and show a marked preference for the
larger rivei-s, among the reeds and other plants fringing which they take up their abode. In populous
districts they seem to pass the day in conceabnent, coming forth in search of food only at morning and
evening, but where they are less in danger of pursuit they come out freely in the day-time. Seen
from a little distance when walkmg they have much the appearance of Pigs, but they lose this when
they sit, like the other Cavies, on their haunches. "When danger threatens they emit a .short, sharp
bark, and immediately plunge into the water, where they swim about with little more than the nostrils
above the surface ; but under pressing circumstances they can dive and swim for a considerable distance
under watei-. When swimming, the female is said to take her young ones on her back. About
Maldonado Mr. Darwin observed that the Capybaras were usually to be seen only three or four
together, but they are more numerous and go in larger companies more in the interior of the country.
They constitute the ordinary food of the Jaguar, and are also eaten by the Indians, althougli their flesh
is said not to be very good. The female produces five or six young at a birth, but has only one litter
in the year. The young follow their mother about at a very early age.

SUB-ORDER II.— DOUBLE-TOOTHED RODENTS.
With the Cavies concludes the long series of simple-toothed Rodents, and some of them, as we
have seen, present no small resemblance to the Hares and Rabbits wliicli constitute the greater ])art
of the second great group into which we have divided the order. The chief peculiarity of this section,
as has been already stated, consists in the presence in the upper jaw of a pair of minute incisor
teeth, placed immediately behind the large effective incisors ; and in the newly-born animal the
number of these teeth is even greater, there being six incisors in the upper jaw, two of which fall

NATVR IL mSTOET

,f***«^-f( '

out at an early period. Though the number of species induded in this section is very considerable
(abotit fifty, according to Mr. Wallace's estimate), it includes only two families, and each of these
contaiiis only a single genus. We will commence with that which includes the best-known forms, the
Hares and Rabbits.

FAMILY XVII.— LEPORID^ (HARES AND RABBITS).
The genei-al appearance of these animals hardly needs to be described, and we may, therefore, indi-
cate merely the structural peculiarities wluch serve to define the family. These consist in the presence
of six rootless molars on each side in the upper, and five in the lower jaw {see iigure on p. 82), each
molar being divided into lobes by transverse folds of enamel; in tlie compressed form of the skull and
the presence of wing-like post-orbital processes of the frontal bones ; in the imperfect condition of the
clavicles ; the greater development of the hind limbs ; and the presence of a short, bushy, upturned
tail. The eai's are long ; the inner surface of the cheeks is more or less clothed with short hairs ; the
fore-limbs have five, and the huld-limbs only four toes ; and the soles of the feet are haiiy throughout.
In all these chai-acters, however they may difler in some respects, all the true Hares and Rabbits
agree. The representatives of this family occur in nearly all parts of the world, but chiefly in the
northern hemisphere, and the few species which pass down within the ti'opics are generally found
only in mountainous regions. In the north they reach the Arctic regions in both continents. In
the Old World a few species are .scattered over India and Further India, and four or five occur in
Africa, but chiefly in the southern part of the continent. In North America the species are
numerous, and some of them range southward into Central America ; but South America has only
a single species, which occurs in the mountains of Brazil and upon the Andes.

rUE UALi:. 147

As tlie wliole of the family consists of animals to which in common parlance the names of
Hares and Rabbits are given, we may take as examples of it the Hares and Rabbits which are so
abundant in Great Britain, the other species agreeing generally with one or other of them in
character and habits.

They maj^ all be characterised as animals destitute of any means of defence against their
enemies, except the rapidity of their movements, and as exceedingly shy and timid. Their general
colour is a mixture of grey and brown, sometimes quite tawny, sometimes almost pure gi-ey, and, as
Mr. Bell remarks, " The admirable wisdom which has assigned such colours to a group of defenceless
animals which conceal themselves amidst the brown sombre vegetation of woods and heaths, will
appear more striking when it is recollected that certain species inhabiting the snowy regions of the
north become wholly white in winter. All the members of the genus," he adds, "are remarkable
for their timidity, and theii- whole structure is such as at once to announce to them the pre.sence
of danger, and to enable them to escape from it. The eyes and eai-s are so foi-med and situate as to
become instantly cognisant of even distant warnings of peril, and the limbs are admirably adapted for
the mo.st rapid flight."

This last statement applies in a special manner to the Common Hare {Lepus eiiropceus),
which is singularly well adapted for getting over the ground rapidly by the great length and powerful
development of its hiiid legs. These organs are nearly twice as long as the fore limbs, and, as most
of us are well aware, the bones composing them are set in motion by an enormous mass of solid
muscle. Owing to their great preponderance the Hare, when moving slowly in search of food, goes
with a sort of lolloping gait ; but the moment thei-e is occasion for hira to move with rapidity, the
disproportionate hind limbs stand him in good stead, and he shoots along over the ground by a series
of long leaps, and with great swiftness. At the same time, it is observed that the length of its hind
legs causes the Hare to nin with much greater facility up hill than down, and, in fact, it is said that
in descending steep inclines the animal is obliged to run obliquely in order to escape over-balancing
itself. When pursued, the Hare has the art of making sudden turns in its course, known as
" doubles " or " wi-enohes," by which the Dogs in chase of it are thrown out, for although mo.st
Greyhounds are swifter of foot than a Hare, they are incaiiable of changing their course so sliarfJy,
and thus, wliile they are carried some distance onwards by their own impetus, their intended victim
is making off in a different direction. They adopt other cwmiug artifices in order to escape from
their pursuers, and some of these indicate a sonsiderable amount of intelligence. Under such
circumstances, and also in search of a more plentiful supply of food, the Hare will take to the water
readily, and swim across rivers. Mr. Yarrell observed a Hare even swimming across an arm of the
sea about a mile broad.

The Hare lives chiefly in cultivated fields, where it resides in a small depression of the sur-
face, which is called its "form." It shifts the situation of this simple residence according to the
season, selecting a shady spot in summer, and a sunny one in winter, and going into cover in wet
weather. It is rather a nocturnal or crepuscular than a day-feeding animal, although it may not
unfrequently be seen abroad in the day. In the evening and early in the morning it is most acti\'e,
passing the brighter hours at rest in its form. When out in the field in search of food it goes hopping
along among the herbage and cultivated plants, every now and then sitting upright on its haunches
and listening with erected ears for the slightest sound indicative of approaching danger. Its food
is exclusively of a vegetable nature, but it seems to embrace pretty nearly the whole round of
cultivated plants. Cruciferous plants appear to be amongst its favourite articles of diet, but it also
does much damage to fields of young wheat. In the winter, when the open fields are covered with
snow fi-ozen hard, and, indeed, sometimes in the summer, the Hare will make his way into gardens
in search of food, or, if this resource is not at hand, into plantations of young trees, where it will
gnaw off" and feed upon the bark, thus destroying great numbers of the trees. Mr. S. Mawson has
recorded finding the stomach of a Hare killed in winter filled with hawthorn berries. After its
•wanderings the Hare always returns to its own form.

Hares pair when they are about a year old, and from that time produce several broods every
year, each consisting of from two to five young, which ai-e born covered with hair and with their
eyes open. From Mr. Bell's statement, these animals would appear to breed almost all the year

148 NATURAL ElSTUJtr.

round : he says that in mild winters young Hares liave been found in January, and that he hiis
known breeding continue till the middle of November. When captured young, the Hare may be
easily tamed, and become an amusing jiet, as, indeed, will be familiar to almost every one, through
Cowper's account of his Hares. Formerly the Hare used to be trained by jugglers to perform various
tricks, one of wliich was the beating of a tambourine with its fore-feet, with which the animal will
of its own accord drum upon the back of an offending companion. A relic of this practice is to be
recognised in a common toy, which shows a small Hare sitting and beating a tambourine, its fore
limbs being set in motion by the turning of the wheels of its stand.

The Common Hare is found spread over the greater part of Europe, from the south of Sweden
and northern Russia to the Mediterranean and the Caucasus. It does not occur in Ireland. It
varies somewhat in colour in different localities, and although it does not become white in winter,
the northern forms show a tendency in that direction, and the others acquire a greyish tint at the
approach of the cold weather.

The Rabbit, or Cony {Lejms cuniculus), differs from the Hare in various characters ; its colour
is a tawny brownish-grey, the dispi'oportion between the fore and hind limbs is not so great, and the
ears are shorter, not exceeding the head in length. Although the Wild Rabbit is so plentiful in
England as to become a pest to the farmers in many places, it is supposed not to be a native of north-
western and central Europe, but to have been naturalised in Britain, its original home being in
the countries bordering the Mediterranean. It is, and always was, very abundant in Spain, the name
of which country (Hispania) has been supposed to mean the "country of Conies," from the Phoenician
and Hebrew woi-d Schaphan, the name of the Hyrax or Cony of the Bible. Even in the present

;-jMMOs HAur:.

THE riKAS. 149

diiy it is very local in its distribution north of the Alps, and is not found at all in eastern and
northern Europe. Tn Australia it has proved to be a veritable scourge.

In its Ijabits the Rabbit differs from the Hare more than in its form and structure. Instead of
contenting itself with a shallow depression as a resting-place on the surface of the ground, it digs deep
holes in the ground, into which it may retire to sleep or at the approach of danger. It prefers light
sandy soils for its residence, as these present great facilities for burrowing, and wherever particularly
favourable conditions exist the Rabbits are to be found living together in very lai-ge societies. Furzy
heaths ai-e favourite places with them, as the ground is easily worked, and the furze bushes not only
serve as a protection to the burrows, but furnish the Rabbit with an abundant supply of food, the
young shoots being eaten off as high as the animals can reach when standing on their hind feet. In
wet mooi-s the Rabbits avoid burrowing, and live in runs and galleries formed in the matted heather
and long herbage. Ml'. Bell says that in more tlwin one instance he has known a family to take
possession of a hollow tree, ascending its inclined and decayed trunk for some distance.

Like the Hare, the Rabbit is generally quiet during the day, although it will not unfrequently be
abroad at all houi-s. The evening, however, is its principal time for activity, and then the inhabitants
of the warren may be seen playing about near their abodes, or wandering to greater distances in search
of the green vegetables on which they feed. The moment there is the smallest suspicion of danger,
the whole company scamper off at once to seek safety in their burrows. As they go, their white tails
are the most conspicuous objects to be seen, and the spectacle of some hundreds of them rushing along
at full speed, vanishing one after the other down the burrows, is lively and amusing enough.

The Rabbit begins bi-eeding at six months old, and has several litters in each year. The young
are usually from five to eight in number, sometimes even more ; they are born blind and naked, and are
produced in a separate burrow which the female digs for their reception, and lines with fur pulled from
her own body. This brood-chamber has usually only a single entrance, and this the mother closes with
earth after visiting and suckling her young family, which she is said to do only at night.

When domesticated, the Rabbit, as is well known, differs materially from its wild state. It is
larger, and its coloui-s are usually white, black, brown, or fa\vn coloiu', sometimes alone, sometimes
mixed in patches. Albinoes are common, and form a permanent race. The Angora Rabbit, which is
usually albino, has the hairs very long ; and the so-called " fancy Rabbits " have the eare more or less
pendent at the sides of the head, and often so long as to touch the ground.

A third British species is the Mountain Hare {Lepus variahilw), or Northern Hare, an inhabi-
tant of all the northern pai-ts of both hemispheres, which occurs in most parts of Scotland, and in
Ireland, where, indeed, it takes the place of the common Hai-e. In its summer coat it is of a light
fulvous grey colour, and is furtl\pr distinguished from the common Hai-e by the shortness of the ears
and tail, the former being shorter than the head, and the latter little more than half its length. In
cold climates this animal becomes pure white in the winter. This Hare is absent from Central
Europe, but reappears on the chain of the Alps.

It will be unnecessary to enter into details with regard to the other species of this family,
all of which more or less resemble those just described, both in appearance and habits. They
are distributed over nearly the whole world except the Australian region, but they are most
numerous in North America, where a great many species have been described, which are reduced
by Mr. Allen to twelve. Four of these, howevei-, present well-marked local races, which double
the number of recognised permanent forms.

FAMILY XVIir.— LAGOMYID.E (PIKAS).
In many respects the Pikas closely resemble the Hares, but they are distinguished by having
only five molars on each side in each jaw, a depressed skull, with contracted frontal bones desti-
tute of the wing-like process seen in the Hares, complete clavicles, short ears, limbs nearly
equal in length, and no tail visible externally. They are much smaller than any of the Leporids-,
the largest being no larger than a Guinea-pig, to which the animals have some resemblance;
while in their habits they somewhat resemble the Marmots. When feeding they often produce a
chirping or whistling noise, whence the name of Piping Hares, or Calling Hares, has been applied
to them. Ten or a dozen supposed species of these animals have been described, most of them

NATURAL MWWlii

inhabiting the northern and mountainous parts of Asia, and one of these is also found in Europe,
about the southern part of the Volga. In Asia species have been found as far south as the
Himalayas and Nepaul. In North America a single species (Lagomys frinceps) inhabits the
Eocky Mountains, where it was first discovered by Sir John Richardson.

The Alpine Pika (Lagomys aljnnus), .which inhabits Siberia from the Irtish eastwards
into Kamtchatka, is a little animal from nine to nine and a half inches long, of a greyish-
brown colour above, yellowish-
grey beneath ; the feet are pale,
and the eai-s dirty yellowish-
white within, becoming dusky to-
wiids the margin, which is white.
This animal occurs in considerable
numbers in the Alpine and sub-
Al] me parts of Siberia, where it
either burrows in the ground, or
shelters itself in crevices of rocks
01 imong loose stones. The Pikas
generally come out only at night,
xlthougli they sometimes- venture
foith on a cloudy day. Their food
consists of the scanty herbage to
be found in their elevated abode,
and as this would be impossible
to J rocure during the winter when
the j^ound is thickly covered with
snow, the Pikas take care in the
autumn to collect a large supply
of dried gi-asses and other herbage,
\\hich they pile up near their habi-
titions like little haystacks. They
aie, however, sometimes deprived
of the fruits of their labour by the
Sable-hunters, who plunder the Fikas' stacks to feed their Horses. The female produces about six
naked young early in the summer.

The Eocky Mountain Pika {Lagomys princeps) is a small species from six inches to seven
and a half inches long, of a greyish-brown colour above, yellowish-brown on the sides, and greyish
below. It received its specific name from its discoverer. Sir J. Richardson, in allusion to the name
of " Little Chief Hare " given to it by the Indians. It inhabits the summits of the Rocky
Mountains from Colorado northwards far within British America, and also occurs in the moun-
tains of Utah, California, and Oregon. Mr. Allen describes its habits as follows: — "The animals
are everywhere found in communities, living among the loose rocks from a little below timber-
line nearly up to the snow-line. They appear to rarely wander many yards from their homes;
ai-e timid, yet easily become familiar. Though retreating to their homes when first alarmed, they
soon come cautiously out one after another, till one may hear their sharp little cries in every
direction. Their colour so nearly resembles that of the rocks they live among, that they are not
easily seen, and their cry is of such a character as easily to mislead one in respect to the point
from which it proceeds, seeming to be far away when only a few feet distant. They sit erect,
like little Marmots. . . . They carry into fissures of the rocks large quantities of gi-ass, which
they lay up for winter consumjjtiou."

FUSSIL HUBEXrS.

CHAPTER V.

FOSSIL RODENTIA.

Families of Rodent, represented by Fossil Remains —State of the " Record of the Rocks "—The Sciurid* — Sciurine Genera
now Extinct--No Fossil ANOMALURiniE and HjVPLODONTid^e— Ischyromyid.e— PstHtiofojdiis hiam—Gymnoptychus—
Castohid.e— Mr. Allen's Oastokoimd.e- -The Myoxiu/E— No Fossil Lophiomyid^— The Murid^g— The Spalacid.e
—The Geomyid-e— The Dipodid*- The THERiDOMViDiE- The Octodontid;e— The Hystricid/E— The Ckin-
CHiLLiD^E— The DasyproctiD;E— The Caviid^e-The Leporid^— The LAGOMYrD^E — Mesotherium cristatum—
Difficulties concerning it— Mr. Alston's Suggestion — The Hebetidentata — Teeth— Skull — Skeleton — Conclusions
regarding it— Table of Rodent Families— Concluding Remarks.

The majority of the jweceding families are more or less cleai-ly represented by fossU remains,
either in the younger strata of tlie earth's cnist, or in those cave-deposits of comparatively recent date
which have fiu-nished so many interesting relics of the Mammals of former days. It must be
remarked, however, that while a considerable number of fossil Rodents have been named and
described by paleontologists, the materials upon which many of them have been establislied are very
imperfect ; in a great number of cases isolated molar or even incisor teeth furnisli the sole evidence
of the existence of ci-eatures which were manifestly Rodents, but of which the other characters are
rather difficult to divine from such scanty material. Still, imperfect as may be " the record of the
rocks " in this as in other instances, it is in some parts sufficiently complete to enable us to trace
back the existence of many forms of gnawing Mammals through a long period of geological time.

Of the SciURlD^ a considerable number of fossil specie.s have been recorded. Species of the genera
Scmrits, Arctomys, and Spermophilus, some of them identical with those still existing, have left their
remains in Post-Tertiary deposits and in bone-caves in various parts of Europe ; while species be-
longing to the first two genera, and to the American genus Tamias, have been detected in similar
situations in North America. A few forms referred to the .same genera go down still lower in the
series of geological formations. True Squin-els are recorded from Miocene and Upper Eocene deposits
in France, and a single species fi'om the Tertiaries (probably Miocene) of Colorado ; Marmots from
Pliocene and Miocene beds in the South of France, and from a Pliocene deposit in Nebraska ; and
a Spermophile from the Miocene of Weisenau in Germany.

Besides these examples of known types, several fossils have been obtained both in Europe and
America, which are regarded as indicating genera distinct from any now living. Phsiarctomys Gervaisii
is foimded on a fragment of jaw -svith four molars, obtained from Upper Eocene beds near Apt,
Vaucluse. In its characters it appears to be intermediate between Squirrels and Marmots. Pseudo-
sciurus suevicus, from the Upper Eocene (Bohnerz) of Wiirteniberg, seems to differ from all other
Sciuridse in the form of the molar teeth of the lower jaw, which are somewhat elongated, and
have four tubercles arranged in two paii-s, each pair being connected by a ridge. From the Tertiary
deposits of the western territories of the United States, Professors Cope, Marsh, and Leidy have
described several Sciurine Rodents as belonging to genera now extinct : thus Faramys has five
species; Sciuravits (perhaps identical with the preceding), three; Heliscomys, Mysoi^s, Colonymys
Taxymys, and Tillomys, one or two species each.

Of the Anomalurid.e and Haplodontid.b no fossil remains are known. On the other hand,
a North American fossil Rodent, described by Dr. Leidy under the name of Ischyromys typus,
is regarded by Mr. Alston as the type of a distinct family, the Ischyromyid^, nearly allied
to the Sciuridse, but also showing an affinity to the Beaver in some of its characters. The
specimen described and figured by Dr. Leidy was obtained by Dr. Hayden from Miocene deposits
in the " Bad Lands " of Wyoming. It was originally referred to the Sciuridse, with wluch it agrees
in its dentition, but is distinguished by its large infra-orbital opening, the presence of a sagittal crest,
and the absence of post-orbital processes. The parietal region of the skull is much narrowed, and
in this, as in the large size of the infra-orbital opening, Ischyromys resembles the Musk Rat.

Two other forms must be referred to here. Under the name of Psetidototnus Mans, Professor Cope
has desci'ibed the remains of an animal which he believed to have been about the size of an Agouti,
and originally thought to belong to the order Edentata. Subsequently he referred it to the Sciuridse ;
but both Mr. Alston and Mr. Allen think that it may belong to the family Ischyromyidaj. In some

152 NATURAL SISTOIiY.

respects the r-skull resembles that of Arctomys, but it has the same contraction between the orbits
as Ischyromjjs and Fiber. The incisor teeth are separated, and Professor Cope believes that the animal
had only three molars on each side in each jaw. A still more doubtful member of the family is
Professor Cojie's geims Gyninoptychus, which includes four species, all said to be from the " Tertiary
of the Plains." In this genus there are five molars above and four below on each side, as in Ischyromys
and the Sciuridas ; but these teeth show two crescents on the inner side in the upper, on the outer
side in the lower jaw, and each crescent gives origin to a cross-ridge rumiing to the opposite margin of
the tooth.

The Castorid^, including at present only a single species common to the northern parts of both
hemispheres, are represented by several peculiar fossil forms. Remains of the Common Beaver
(Castor fber) are not uncommon in peat bogs and other late superficial deposits both in Europe and
America ; and, according to Sir E. Owen, in association with those of the Rhinoceros, Mammoth,
and Mastodon, even in the Fluvio-marine Crag (Newer Pliocene) of Norfolk. In Belgium its bones
have been found in caves. Among the Mammals from the Upper Tertiaries of the Sivalik Hills,
Messrs. Falconer and Cautley record a Beaver distinct from the existing species, although nearly allied
to it. The skull of a great Beaver, one-fifth lai'ger than that of the living species, was obtained many
years ago by M. Fischer from sandy deposits on the shores of the Sea of Azov, and, as it tliifered in
some peculiarities of the teeth from Castor fiber, was described by him as constituting a distinct genus
under the name of Trogontherium Cuvieri. It is now regarded as a true Beaver, and named Castor
Trogontheriutn. The British species, described and figured by Sir R. Owen from the Norfolk
forest bed under the name of Trogontherium Cutderi, is, however, quite distinct, and belongs to the
genus Diohroticus, characterised by having the third upper and first lower molar teeth with four
enamel folds, and the rest only with two, most of the folds soon becoming isolated as the teeth
wear down. This animal mvist have been nearly twice the size of the European Beavei'.

At a still earlier period — namely, in the Miocene — the family Castoridse was represented, both
in Europe and America, by some small species, nearly agreeing with the Beavers in dentition, but
differing in the characters of certain bones of the skull. These form the genus Steneofiber. The
largest (jS". viciacensis), from the Miocene of the Allier, was about half the size of the Beaver ; another
(S. sansaniensis), from the fresh-water limestone of Sansau, was about as large as a Rat ; an
American species [S. nebrascensls), from the " Bad Lands " of Dakota, was rather smaller than a
Mai-mot, and presented some resemblance to the Agoutis in the characters of the teeth ; and a fourth
species (-S'. jxmsus) occurs in the Santa Fe marls. Eumstor tortus, a species rather .smaller than a
Marmot, is described by Dr. Leidy as very nearly related to the Beaver. Its remains were found in
loose sands of the Niobrara River, Wyoming. Chalicomys and Pakvomys are genera doubtfully placed
here. Their- species occur in the Jliuet-ne and Pliocene of Europe.

Some bones of a gigantic Rodent, indicating an animal as large as a full-grown Black Bear,
obtained from Quaternary and Alluvial deposits of various parts of the United States, have been
described under the name of ('astoroklis o/iiopiisis, Mr. J. W. Foster, its first descriljer, having an
idea that it was a great Beaver. It has generally been known as the " Fossil Beaver " of North
America, but several authors have entertained doulits of the correctness of this designation, and Mr. Allen
has lately made it the ty|ie of a special family, Castoroidid.e, which he regards as most neai-ly related
to the Chinchillidaj. In the general aspect of the skull it resembles the Beaver, but in several
details of structure approaches the Viscacha ; while the structure of the molar teeth, which consist
of a series of plates of dentine, completely enclosed by enamel, and held together by a thin coating of
cement, occurs elsewhere only in the Chinchillidse, and in the last molar of the Capybara.

Dormice as well as Squirrels disported themselves in the Tertiary woods and thickets of Europe,
and remains of several species of Myoxib^ occur in various deposits in France, Switzerland, and
elsewhere, from the Upper Eocene onwards. Myoxus glis, the Garden Dormouse, has been identified
with some douljt from the caves of Lunel Viel ; and this is also probably the species occurring in the
Belgian bone-caves, and described as Myoxus priscus by Dr. Schmerling. A species a little larger
than the Doi-mouse occurs in Russian caves, and has received the name of Myoxus fossilk from
M. Fischer ; and the mo.st striking species of all is also a Post-Pliocene form, namely, the gigantic
Dormouse of Malta (J/. me/lte?isis). This animal, which seems to have been about the size of a

FOSSIL RODENTS. 1.53

Guinea-pig, must have been excessively abundant in Malta, for its describer, Professor Leith Adams,
says that " its remains are met with in abundance throughout the cavern and fissure deposits, u|i
even to the superficial alluvium now in course of formation." From older times we have evidence of
the existence of a Dormouse, about the size of the common species, at the time of the deposition of
the gypsum of Montmartre (Upper Eocene), in which a well-preserved skeleton of the animal has
been fomid. The same deposit has furnished traces of a second rather larger species. The Miocene of
•Switzerland and of Sansan has also yielded species of Myoxus; and Professor Hermann von Meyer
has recorded a Dormouse from the Miocene of Weisenau, under the imme of Brachymys ornalus.

No fossil LoPHiOMYlD.B have yet been detected, but the great family Murid.e has left abundant
evidence of its former existence. Species of the genera Mus, Arvicola, Myodes, and Cricetus, identical
in many cases with those now livmg, have been obtained frequently in Post-Pliocene deposits and in bone,
caves in Europe. Lemmings [MyoJes lemmus and torquatus) are recorded from English caves. The
genus Mas is also represented by several species in the Miocene deposits of France, and in the Sivalik
beds investigated by Falconer and Cautley. The Miocene of Sansan has furnished a form which
has been doubtfully regarded as a Gerbille, and named Merioms LcnmUwrdi In the same and other
deposits of the same age in South-eastern France several species of an extinct genus (Cricetodon) have
been obtained. Their dentition resembles that of the Hamster, but the first molars in both jaws have a
tubercle less ; the largest species (C. sausamensis) rather exceeded the Hamster in size, while the
smallest was less than a Mouse. Associated with some of these are two doubtful forms, Dedicus and
Elotnys, the latter considered by M. Aymai-d, its describer, to be allied to Hydromys. The American
fossil MuridcB are for the most part either species of the genus Hesperomys, or nearly related to it.
Twelve species of that genus were obtained by Dr. Lund from the Brazilian bone-caves, but of these
eight were identified by him with species still existing. In North America two species of a nearly-
allied genus (Euniys) have been obtained from Miocene deposits; and the bone-caves of Pennsylvaniii.
furnish the remains of a species of Neotonut {N. nrngisler), hardly distinguishable from the Florida Rat.

A Bhizomys from the Sjivalik deposits of North-western India is the only recorded fossil represen-
tative of the Spalacid.e; and of the Geomyidje the only known species are a Geomys from the
Pliocene of Nebraska, nearly allied to, if not identical with, the living G. hursarius ; and one from the
" Tertiaries of the Plains," described by Professor Cope as Colotaxis cristaius, which, however, has
only three molars in the lower jaw.

The DiPODiD.« are still more scantily represented. A Jerboa described by M. Fischer from
Post-Pliocene deposits, probably of Tartary, is very nearly allied to the living Dipus ^jlaturus, but has
shorter toes and broader cannon-bones. The genus Dipdides, from the " Bohnerz" of Wiirtemberg,
is founded on a single tooth, and its position in this family is very doubtful.

On the other hand, some fossil allies of the Dipodidfe and Geomyidas constitute a distinct family,
for which Mr. Alston proposed the name of Theeidomyid^, from that of one of its genera, Theridomys.
In this genus, of which six species are recorded from the Eocene and Miocene deposits of France,
there are four rooted molars in each series, and each of these has several enamel folds, some of which
are converted into isolated loops as the crown is worn away. The best known species is Thetidomys
p/aticeps, from the Miocene of Caylus. In Archceomys cMnchilloides there are still four molars, but
these present a very different structure ; they are rootless, and have the enamel folds extending dia-
gonally across the crown, so that they are composed of a series of plates, thus presenting a certain
amount of resemblance to the Chinchillas, which American fitmily Archceomys was at one time
supposed to represent in Europe. In fact, in the structiue of their molar teeth, both the above
genera approach American types ; but in other characters, especially the form of the lower jaw,
they appear to have been decidedly Mouse-like, and Mr. Alston regards them as most nearly
related to the Dipodida?, with which they are joined by a third form referred to the family Issio-
doromys, a genus sometimes placed with the Jerboas. The teeth in this genus are of the same
number as in the preceding, but the molars are much simpler, each of them exhibiting one large
re-enteiing fold of enamel, which causes the surface of the tooth to present two heart-shaped lobes.
This structure is not dissimilar to that prevailing in some Dipodidse, and especially in Pedetes, but
it was formerly thought to indicate a relationship to the Cavies, and accordingly the best-known
.species has received the name of Issiodoromys pseifdmuemu (Ancema being a sub-genus of Cavies).

loi NATUMAZ HISTORY.

This species ocelli's abundantly in the Miocene lacustrine limestone near Issoire. A second species
(/. minor) has been detected in the Upper Eocene of Lamandine-haute.

Of the OcTODONTlD^. an essentially American family at the present day, nearly all the recorded
fossU forms are also American. Species of Echinomys, Loriclieres, and Phyllomys were obtained by Dr.
Lund from the Brazilian bone-caves, which also furnished him with the remams of a Coypu (Myopotamus
antiquus), and of an allied form, Carterodon sulcidens, distinguished by its having broad incisors with
longitudinal furrows and raised ridges. The latter has since been found living in South America.
Another species, allied to Echinomys, is named by Lund Lonchophorus fossilis. The superficial deposits
of South America have yielded the remains of two species of Ctemmys, one of which is believed to be
identical with a recent species. As several species of this family now live in Africa, the occun-ence
in the eastern hemisphere of fossil forms belonging to it would not be surprising, but the few that have
been referred to it are of very doubtful nature. M. Lartet obtained some isolated teeth from the
Miocene of Sansan, which he described under the name of Myopotamus sansaniensis ; and one or two
other types {Aulaeodon, Adelomys), from Upper Eocene and Miocene beds, are of very uncertain position.

Of the Hystricid^, or Porcupines, remains have been obtained in both hemispheres. In the
Old World traces of true Porcupines {Hystrix) are recorded from the Valley of the Arno, from the
Sivaliks, the Pliocene deposits of the Auvergne, from Pikermi, and, on very doubtful evidence, fi-om
the Upper Eocene of Lmuandine-basse ; whilst Dr. Leidy has described two teeth from the Pliocene
deposits of Dakota, fis belonging to a species [Hystriic venustus) allied to the European Porcupine.
This determination, if confirmed, wo\ild be of great interest, as no true Porcupine now occurs in
America. Of the American type, two species of Sphingurus have been obtained from the Brazilian
bone-caves ; and Professor Cope records a species of the North American genus Erythizon from a
similar cave in Pemisylvania.

The Chinchillid^ have left but scanty traces of theii- former existence. Lagostomiis brasiliensis
is from the Brazilian bone-caves ; and Megamys j)atagoniensis from the Eocene sandstone of Patagonia.
The latter species is founded upon a tibia and rotula, which on comparison seemed to approach most
nearly to those of the Rodents of this family, and if the determination be correct it was probably
one of the largest .specL-3 of the order, as the tibia measures about a foot long. Amhlyrhiza and
Loxomylws, are two geii'^i'a described by Professor Cope from bone■ca^'es in Angnilla Island, West
Indies.

The Dasyproctid.i; have but few fossil representatives, and the imdoubted ones are all from the
bone-caves of Brazil, wliich furnished Dr. Lund with two Agoutis and two Pacas. Of the former,
one Ls described as Dasyprocta cfipreoliis ; the second is allied to the living D. caudata. The two
species of Cwlogenys are extinct. Some teeth, found in Tertiary deposits of the Puy-de-D6me, have
been refeii'ed to Dasyprocta, but this determination is excessively doubtful. IJiohroticus schmerlimji
from Belgian caves has been placed with the Castoridse.

Of the Caviid.e, Dr. Lund obtained three species of the genus Cavici, and two of Hydroclimrus,
from Brazilian bone-caves. Of the latter, one was allied to the existing Capybara ; the other was a
gigantic species, measuring about five feet in length. Dr. Leidy has described a species (Hydrochaerus
msopi) from teeth found in Post-Pliocene deposits in South Carolina ; and the Pampean deposits of the
same age furnished M. D'Orbigny with the remains of a Cavy (Cavia antiqua) which, however, is
doubtfully distinct from the Patagonian species.

The remains of species of the family Leporid^ are very abundant in some Post-Pliocene cave
deposits on both sides of the Atlantic, and in several cases the species are evidently identical with
those now living. Besides these, species of the genus Lejnis have been found in Pliocene and Miocene
lieds in France. In North America three extinct Leporine genera have been recognised, differing from
Lepus in certain peculiarities of the molar teeth : — PalcRolagus, with three species, from the Miocene of
Dakota and Colorado ; Panolax, from the Pliocene marls of Santa Fe ; and Praotherium, from a bone-
cave in Pennsylvania. The last-named genus has the crowns of the molars transversely oval, and
■without the enamel-band or crest which is seen on the surface of the teeth of other Hares.

The Lagomyid^ are known in a fossil state chiefly from Post-Plioceue deposits, and the bone
breccias of caves in various parts of Europe. In Post-Pliocene times the genus Lagomys seems to have
been very generally distributed over the South of Europe ; and the earliest appearance of the genus

FOSSIL RODENTS.

lEW OF SKVLL AND LOWER JAW OF MESOTHEllIl'M CRISTATVIC

is III the Pliocene, three species liaving been <lescribed from deposits of that age at QCningen and

Montpellier. The f\imily is, however, carried fiuther back in time by tlie genus Titanomys, in whicli

the mohirs differ but slightly in structure from those of Lagomys, but there are only four of them in

each series, both above and below.

Two species of this geuus have been

recorded from Miocene deposits in

France and Germany.

We have thus passed very briefly

in review the fossil Rodents belonging

to the two great sections of the order

to which all its living .species are to

be referred ; and it will be seen that

while a knowledge of their existence

is necessary to complete the history of

the order, they present none of those

peculiar characters which lend such

interest to the fossil members of

many other orders. There is, however,

one fossil South American tyjie to

which we have yet to refer, as, by the

curious combination of characters which

it presents, it has long been somewluit

of a puzzle to palasontologists, and

although generally placed among the

Rodents, its peculiarities are such

that Mr. Alston found himself com-
pelled to establish a third primary section of the order for its reception. According to M. Bra vara,

the fii-st discoverer of this peculiar type, the Pliocene deposits of the Pampas of La Plata contain

the remains of three species belonging to it ; but the bones which have been sent to Europe, and
which represent most pai-ts of the skeleton, seem all to
belong to a single species, which has been very fully
described by M. Serres under the name of Mesotheriwrn
cri^tatum.* What distingiiishes it at once from all
other known Rodents is the presence in the lower jato ox
four incisor teeth, the second pair being very small and
jilaced immediately behind the outer edge of the broad
middle pair. The latter are peculiarly widened and com-
pressed from front to back in both jaws, and their
summits, instead of being worn to a shai-p chisel-like
edge as in oi'dinary Rodents, show an elongated ring of
enamel surrounding a slightly depressed surface. Hence
Mr. Alston denominated this section Hebetidentata,
or Blunt-toothed Rodents. The enamel in all the
incisors is continuous round the tooth. The molar teeth
are rootless and curved, the convex side being directed
outwards, contrary to what occurs in other Rodents.
They are surrounded by enamel, and show re-entering
folds which difler in the two jaws. Their number on
each side is five in the upper and four in the lower
jaw. The skull is massive, with enormously-developed

sagittal and occipital crests, the latter of which run forward so far as to join the zygomatic arclies; and

these crests rise so high that the upper surface of the actual brain-case is entirely concealed by them
* Described ahuost at the same time by M. Bravard under the name of Ti/fiotherium. We here employ M. Serres' name.

DENTITION OF MESOTHERIUM CRISTATUIV
(a) Upiier Jaw ; (b) Lower Jaw ; (c) Inciso

1.56 NATURAL HISTORY.

when the skull is looked at from the side. The lower jaw in its characters presents some resemblance
to the same part in the Leporidse ; but it has the condyle for its articulation with the skull trans-
verse, and fitting into a cavity of corresponding direction, a character which occurs in no other
Rodent. Of the remainder of the skeleton we need only state that the animal possessed perfect
clavicles ; that the shoulder-blade and humerus somewhat resemble those of the Beaver ; that the
fibula articulated with the heel-bone ; and that both front and hind limbs possessed five toes, some of
which, judging from the form of the terminal joint, were probably furnished with hoof-like claws.

Thus, as regards its affinities in the order Rodentia, Mesotheriiun presents resemblances in its
lower jaw (as also in some peculiarities of the skull), and in the articulation of the heel with the
shank, to the Hares ; wliile in the shortness of the incisors and some other cranial peculiarities, the
form of the shoulder-blades, and the probably hoof-like character of the claws, we may notice an
approach to the Cavies, which are also South American forms, and especially to the Capybara, which
it probably resembled in its habits, although, if the evidence of the Beaver-like shoulder-blade and
humerus be taken into accoimt, it would appear to have been still more aquatic.

On the other hand, the resemblance to certain other Mammalia, and especially to some aberrant
Ungulates, is unmistakable. The number of incisor teeth is the same as in Hijrax, and in these
teeth there is also a certain amount of resemblance to the curious genus Toxodon, in which the
incisors are four in the upper and six in the lower jaw, and worn away in somewhat the same fashion.
In Toxodon also, the convexity of the curve of the molars is turned outwards. Certain other
characters of Mesothcr'mm — such as the mode of articulation of the lower jaw, and the peculiar
connection of .some of the caudal vertebrae with the ischiatic bones^present resemblances to the
Edentata. As Mr. Alston says, " It appears to have been a survivor, to Pliocene times, of a much
earlier type, which represented an era at which the Rodents were not yet clearly marked off from
their allies. In fact, Mesotherium seems to continiie into the order Glii-es that line of affinity which
Professor Flower has pointed out as extending from the typical Ungulates through Hyracodon,
Ilomalodontotherium, Nesodon, and Toxodon."

The general relationships of Mesotlierium to the other Rodents, and of these among themselves,
are represented by Mr. Alston in a diagi-ammatic form, from which the following scheme, which will
serve also as a table of the families, is derived : —

1

4. Hnplodontida:.

1. .SCIUKOMORPHA

5. Castorida:

3. Ischi/ronu/ldir.
' \

1. Anomalurida.
•2. Sciund,e.

li

o

14.

6. M,,oxid<e.

S. Mm;
10. GeoMi/idte.

2. MvoMournA.
9. Spa!acida:__ 12.

ffi/strieida: 13. Octodoiilida:

7. Zop/iiomi/idri:
idee.

11. Tluridonujida.

DipodUhe.

f

20. if;;6Wrf^
19 Lagomy'uhe.

16,

18. Vm

3. Hystricomokpha.
. Dasyproctida. l.j. Chinchillida!

17. DimimjUhc.

\

Iir.-RODENTIA HEBETIDENTATA.

21. Mcmtherudai.

It seems quite clear, e^'en from the above brief sketch of the history of the Rodentia in time,
that, except in the case of Mesotherium, the fossil remains of animals belonging to this order
furnish us with no important infonnation bearing upon their alliances and possible origin. They
make their eai-liest appeai-ances, so far as we know, in deposits of Eocene age ; and the earliest
forms the remains of which are sufficient to give us a clear insight into their nature, are manifestly
members of famUies, and often nearly allied to species stUl extant in the regions where then- traces
are now found. Thus in Eocene and Miocene deposits, we have representatives of the families
Sciuridfe, Caslorido', Myoxidce, Muridce, Geomi/idc, Chinchillidcr, and Leporidce, already difl'eren-

rOSSIL r.ODENTS. )5:

tinted as at the present day, so far as the evidence goes ; and it is clear tliat we must go nuu-h
further back in time to seek tlie earliest appearance of the Rodent type, whether it branched olt
ilirectly from the Marsupial series, or passed, as would seem to be indicated by Mesotherium,
through a sequence of forms more or less related to the Ungulates.

Nor does the geographical distribution of the animals lead to any more definite conclusions.
Certain families and even sub-families are of very wide range, the Muridaj and SciuridiB especially
being represented nearly all over the world, while the Hystricidce and Leporida^ are also spread over
very large areas, occurring in both hemispheres. Certain groups, such as the Sciurida^ of both
sub-fivmilies, the Castoridre, the Murine, and Arvicoline sub-families of Muridaj, the Leporidse, and tlio
Lagomyidse, may be said to have a circumpolar distribution in the northern hemisphere, nearly allied
and sometimes identical species being found in the more northern parts of both the Old and the New
World, but mixed with other forms peculiar to the regions, especially as we advance southwards. On
the other hand, the Myoxidae are peculiar to the eastern hemisphere, as are also the Spalacidie and the
Dipodidse (with the exception of Zapns, which is considered by Dr. Coues to form a distinct family),
and all the sub-families of Murida-, except those above mentioned as having a circumpolar range. The
Myomorpha may in fact be looked upon as an Old World gi'oiip, the Geomyidse being the only
exclusively American family ; while the Hystricomorpha as a whole may be regarded as American,
certain aberrant forms of the Octodontitiaj inhabiting various parts of Africa and the Old World
Porcupines being the sole representatives of that great section outside the western continent. Con-
.sidering these facts, we may regard the Sciuromorpha and the Duplicidentata as originally polar
types, or at all events as having an equal claim to an origin in the northern regions of either continent ;
while the Myomorjiha, with their multitudinous forms spreading over all parts of the Old World, and
having a much scantier representation in America, probably originated in the eastern hemisphere, and
spread by a northern passage into the New World ; and the Hystricomorpha would seem to have
OT-iginated in South America, where they display the greatest variety of forms.

. W. S, Dallas.

OEDER EDENTATA, OR BRUTA (ANIMALS WITHOUT FRONT TEETH).

CHAPTER I.I

TARDIGRADA, OR SLOTHS.
The South American Forests— Discovery of the .Sloth— How it derived its Name— Peculiarities of Dentition— Food— Fore
Limbs and Fingers— Hind Limbs and Heel— Other Modifications of Structure— Kinds of Sloth— Waterton's Captive
.Sloth — Habits of the Animal— Burchell's Tame Sloths— Manner of Climbing Trees— Disposition— Activity among Ti-ees
— Naturalists' Debate about Anatomy— Probable Conclusion regarding it— Skeleton — Vertebra?— the Ruilimentary
Tail -Most Distinctive Skeletal Characters- Arm, Wrist, Hand, Fingers, Claws- -Mode of Walking— Great Utility of
the Claws— Face of Sloth— SkuU— Teeth— Classification— 2',472Z)/&'iJylZ)^—BRADIPODro.E— Genus BnADTPUS—
Characteristics— Genus Arctopithecus — Characteristics— CHOLCEPODID^— The Collared Sloth— Description—
SkuU Bones— Habits-Circulation of the Blood— ifefc' Mirabile— The Ai— The Unau— Appearance— Skull and
Teeth —Skeleton— Interesting Anatomical Features — Stomach — Hoffmank'S Sloth — Description — Habits.

When the den.se forests of the northern parts of South America were first explored by Europeans,
it was observed that active Sjjider Monkeys, Howlers, and their Quadrumanous allies, were not tlio
only climbing animals which frequented the trees. For every now and then, hunters came in sight of
creatures about the size of a large Monkey, but whose sluggi.sh movements, long hail-, short heads,
small ears and tail, and very long claws, enabled them to be distinguLshed at once from their very
lively companions. It was noticed that these new creatures, instead of climbing quickly and swing-
ing from branch to branch and rumiing along the boughs, moved very slowly, by hanging head and
body downwards and grasping the branches with their long claws. During the daytime, these quiet
animals were constantly found asleep, huddled up in the fork of a branch, and looking like great
balls of tow, or else hanging by two legs, the rest of the body being curled up. Now and then,
one was seen at the foot of a tree, and it appeared to run along the ground with gi-eat difficulty ;
for the arms were so long that it walked on the elbows, and the hind feet were turned in, so

DESCRIPTION OF SZOTHS. 150

that it supported itself on the sides of its gi'e;xt liind claws. Naturally, the animal took its time
in moving, and as it was never seen to be lively, it received the name of Sloth. Interesting
fi'om beintr so difi'erent in its habits from otlicr arboreal animals, it became much more so, to
naturalists, when its remarkable construction was ascertained ; but still the hairy creature wth a
short face, small head, long neck, hardly any tail, and very long front limbs, retained its poj)idar
name.

A very slight examination of one of the Sloths showed that it had no front teeth, that is to say,
neither incisors nor true canine teeth, and that the hinder teeth — the false and true molars — were not
like those of any other mammal. The back teeth, few in number, have since been ascertauied to be
exceptionally simple in their structure, and evidently the masticating process is very simple.
But Avlieu it was noticed that the Sloth fed upon leaves and young twigs, the absence of the
necessity for more elaborate teeth was acknowledged. Then it was observed that they had very
long arms, or rather fore limbs, for the fore-arm bones and the humerus are all unusually long, and
also that they had gi-eat power of movement. Moreover, it was seen that the fingers were reduced
io three iii number in some kinds, and to two in others, and that they were furnished with long
and strong claws, which did not interfere with a great amount of mobility in the wrist. The
length of limb, the mobility of the wrist, and the great claws, enable the Sloth to bring the
leaves to its month, to hang on, and to walk, as it were, beneath the branches. An examination of
the hind limbs showed that they were shorter than the others, and always furnished, in all kinds of
Sloths, with three great claws. But the ankle seemed to be turned in, as if there was a state of
"club-foot." This condition would enable the toes to clasp a bough ' without effort, but it would
prevent the sole from being placed flat on the ground. As the knowledge of the anatomy of these
constant tree-livers progressed, other modifications of structure, equally important in relation to the
peculiar arboreal life and food, were gi-adually discovered. For instance, a remarkable flexibility of
the neck, produced by the peculiar arrangement of the vei-tebrse ; a rete mirabik, to a certain extent,
in the limbs, resembling somewhat that in the Lemurs (Vol. I, pages 213, 245), and a complicated
stomach suited for the digestion of leaves, and foreshadowing that of the Euminants.

Two different kinds of Sloths were described in the tii-st instance, and subsequently, several
others. The first kinds known were the Ai, a Sloth \vith three claws on the fore limb, and the Two-toed
Sloth, with two claws on the fore limb. The Ai was called Bradypus tridacti/lus, and the other the
Unau, or Bradypus didactylus, names which have been changed somewhat, as will be seen further on.

Sloths are caught without much difiiculty, and their habits, in eaptivit}-, lia\e Iioen observed
in South America, and also after their removal to Europe. Waterton writes " du tlic subject : —

" Some years ago I kept a Sloth for several months. I often took him out of the house and placed
him on the ground, in order to have an opportunity of observing his motions. If the ground were rough
he would pull himself forward by means of his fore-legs, at a pr-etty good pace, and he invariably
shaped his course towards the nearest tree : but if I put him upon a smooth and well-trodden part of the
road, he appeared to be in trouble and distress. His favoni-ite abode was the back of a chair, and often
getting all his legs in a line upon the topmost part of it, he would hang there for hours together. The
Sloth, in its wild state, spends its whole life upon trees, not upon the branches, but mider them ; he
moves suspended from the branch, he rests suspended from it, and he sleeps suspended from it ; hence
his seemingly bungled conformation is at once accounted for. One day, crossing the Essequibo,
I saw a large Two-toed Sloth on the ground upon the bank, and although the trees were not twenty
yards from him, he could not make his way through the sand in time enough to make his escape
"before we landed. He threw himself on his back and defended himself with his fore-legs. I took
a long stick and held it for him to hook on, and then conveyed him to a high and stately IMora.
He ascended with wonderful rapidity, and in about a minute he was almost at the top of the tree. He
now went off in a side direction, and caught hold of the branch of a neighbouring tree, and then proceeded
towards the heart of the forest."

At Santos, in Brazil, in 1826, Mr. Burchell kept a tame Sloth, a Bradypus tridactylus, which at tho
end of two months pined and died. It fed exclusively on the buds and leaves of a species of Cecropia,
a tree having a slender stem of thii-ty or forty feet long, with horizontal branches, hollow internally;
* Waterton's "Wanderings," pp. 161, 28i.

ItjO NATURAL BISTORY.

and naked, except at the extremities. It ate only the young shoots and terminal buds of the un-
expanded leaves, rejecting the old leaves on the boughs, which were brought to it dailj^ It was always
jierfectly silent, and its countenance and manners were most expressive of melancholy. It fed by day,
and slept much ; being kept in a room, it sat upright upon its short tail, embracing the legs of a chair
with its arms and legs.

When resident at Para, near the mouth of the Amazons, Mr. Burchell also kept two full-grown
Sloths, and a young one of a three-toed species (not Bradypus trldactylus, but of nearly similar form
and habits), in a garden enclosed with strong stockades. They were kept tied up to the pillars of a
verandah, to prevent their escape. Against these pillars they always placed themselves in an erect
position, embracing the pillar with all four legs ; when not tied to the verandah, they got up into trees
in the garden. They slept both by day and night, always fixing their arms round sometliing or other.
Their food, consisting of branches, was brought to them in the verandah. They appeared extremely
stupid, and would never come to the food. They would eat no leaves but those of the Gecropia.

They did not mount very large trees, and they ascended with their breasts pressing the trunk of
the tree, advancing the hind-leg beyond the fore-leg. On the ground, they could neither stand
nor walk; but lay sprawling on their belly, and dragged, or rather warped, themselves along,
laying hold of a bunch of gi-ass or stone with their three claws, which operated like grappling-
irons, or, rather, pincers. All these died in a month or two. In their wild state they are seldom
seen, from their colour mingling with the gi'ey foliage of the trees, and from their being so extremely
quiet and slow. The tame Sloths never willingly remained on the ground, except to pass from one
tree to another. All the movements of the animal are slow. It moves its claws slowly. In
eating it chews slowly ; it also climbs slowly. The moisture of the leaves it eats suffices it for drink,
without descending to obtain water. None of those kejit by Mr. Burchell were ever seen to drink.
The full-grown animals were never heard to utter any sound, but the young one occasionally, though
rarely, gave a short cry or whistling squeak, of a single note.

They showed no indication of fear, and seemed to give attention only with their eye.s. They took
no notice of the boy who often carried them across the garden to their place in the verandah, with
their long anns sprawling; the only objects of their regard were trees. They fight on their backs, and
grapple their enemy to strangulation. The use of the long wool that covers the body, and even the
face, seems to be to guard them from the annoyance of insects. Possibly it may preserve them from
the attacks of Snakes, which are, doubtless, their greatest enemies.

The Sloth spends nearly the whole of its life in the trees, and travels along the branches
body downwards. It rarely comes to the ground, on which it walks with difficulty, and it occa-
sionally takes to the water and swims. It looks slothful enough when asleep, for it then resembles a
bunch of rough hair, and a jumble of limbs clo.se together, hanging to a bi-anch ; but when awakie,
it is industrious in its search for nice twigs and leaves, and moves along the under side of the
branches of the trees with some activity. It seizes the ends of adjoining branches, clinging to
the leafy mass, and moves from tree to tree quickly enough, when it is requisite, and it has a
very singular power of moving the head and neck backwards in seeking food. When the atmo-
sphere is still, the Sloth keeps to its tree, feeding on the leaves and twigs, but when there is
wind, and the branches of neighbouring trees come in contact, the opjjortunity is seized, and the
animal moves along the forest, under the shady cover of the boughs. The Indians have a saying
that " when the wind blows the Sloths begin to crawl," and the reason is thus evident
enough — the animal cannot jump, but it can hang, swing, and crawl suspended. Mr. Waterton
states, however, that " the Sloth travels at a good round pace, and were you to see him passing
from tree to tree you would never think of calling him a Sloth. Being born up in a tree, living
amongst the branches, feeding on leaves, and finally dying amidst the foliage, and enjoying life as
much as any other animal, its structure and conformation are, of course, admirably suited for this
arboreal existence. Its power of grasp is great, and is assisted by the great bent claws as it hangs
by its feet when asleep, and also often when it is dead. One which was much frightened by being
taken from the forest had a pole placed near it at a little distance from i,he ground, on two
supports. It clung directly to the pole and hung on. A Dog was then made to attack the Sloth,
wliich seized it in its long claws, and did not let go untU the enemy died."

Jiy ATOMY OF THE SLOTHS. 161

Leading thus a very unusual kind of life, up amongst the dense foliage, and liaving some veiy
unusual peculiarities of construction, much debate occurred many years since regarding the general
conformation as well as the special anatomy of the Sloths. One s-^hool of anatomists considered the
Sloths incomplete and abnormal animals, moving with " pain " on the ground, and another reganled
their unvisual and peculiar anatomy as singularly benelicent.

But wliilst it is perfectly evident that the long limbs and their joints, and the peculiar turning in
of the ankles, and the structure of the clawed hands and feet, are all admirably adapted for the
peculiar life which the animal leads, it appears to be consistent with anatomical reasoning to believe
that the Sloth is an instance of retrograde development ; that, in fact, the peculiar formation of the
skull, neck, wrists, and ankles, is the result of the laws of disuse and adaptation operating on ancestral
animals, which once had their anatomy more consistent with a perfect mammalian type.

When the Sloths were first carefully watched and .studied, theii- length of neck and their ability
to turn the head, so as to look at a person standing directly behind or beneath them, without swerving
the body, struck Mr. Burchell especially. This curious peculiarity led to a careful e.\amination of the
skeleton of the dift'erent kinds, and much discussion followed, for it was found that in the Sloth

SKELETON OV THE SLOTH.

examined (the Three-clawed Ai) there were more neck bones (vertebrae of the cervical region) than in
other Mammalia. Instead of the common number of seven neck bones, there were nine. This elonga-
tion of the neck of course permitted a greater amount of twisting than could occur in an animal with
fewer neck bones. But there are other reasons why the head can be so much twisted round, for the
spines on the neck bones are small, and the joint between the skull and the first vertebra is so fashioneii
that this remarkable motion is possible. There was a great deal of discussion about the extra neck
bones, and as the last two had rib-like projections from their sides, some anatomists considered them
to belong to the true rib-bearing vertebrse, or those of the back (the dorsal). But when the other
Sloths were examined it was found that the number of the bones of the neck in all the two-fingered
kinds was not as great as in other animals. There ai-e only six neck vertebra; in one well-known
species (C/ioloepiis Hofmanni, for instance), whilst there are seven in another two-toed Sloth.

Eating largely and of bulky substances, the Sloths require a large digestive cavity, and the ribs
are numerous, and the body is long and broad. There is much variation, however, in the number of
the back hones in the dorsal and lumbar regions. Thus in the Ai there are sixteen dorsal and three
lumbar vertebrw, whilst in the Two-fingered Sloth there may be twenty-three or twenty -four dorsal bones,
and two, three, or four lumbar vertebrae. The ribs are close together and are broad. As the hind limbs
require strong muscles, for the animal hangs on by them whilst it is feeding itself with the fore hands,
the pelvis is large and is strengthened by having the hip and haunch bones (ilia and ischia) united to
the conjoined sacral vertebrse, which may be six, seven, or eight in number. Moreover, all the strength
of the pelvis is behind, the fore part or pubic bones being slender and united in front

162

NATURAL BISTORT.

Some small tail bones exist, for that organ is rudimentary in all the Sloths, there being a stump
iri the Ai, and eleven very small bones ; but in the Two-fingered Sloths the tail is not visible, vnd there
are four little ossicles. There are no long and very prominent spines to any of the back bones, and the
whole bony column of the spine is readily curved and bent. The animals so constantly bring the
liands and feet clo.se together, when hanging, that a ready bending of the spine is absolutely necessary.

Moreover, in sleeping they often rest in the fork of a tree, or on i
between the hind legs, rolling the body up as it were in a ball, and th
construction of the long chain of back bones with small spines.

The most distinctive character of the skeleton of the Sloth is tl:
limb over the hind one. An examination of the slender bones of the ;
solid than those of most Mammals. The arm bone (humerus) has a
expanded part, just above the elbow (inner condyle), in the Ai ; but this

branch, and place the head
is facilitated by the peculiar

excess of length of the fore

•m shows that they are more

hole through it in the inner

not found in the two-toed

kinds. The wrist and hand are long and narrow, and this is produced by the union of some bones
which are separate in other Mammalia, and the slight development of others. Thus there are six
bones in the wrist instead of eight (the scaphoid and trapezium, and
the OS magnum and trapezoid have coalesced). In the Ai there are
tliiee clawed fingers, and the bones of the thumb and of the little
hngei are absent, and their corresponding hand bones (metacarpals)
aie ^ery small, and are joined on to the next, that is, to the metacarpal
of the index and third finger.

The three fingers are, moreover, strengthened for their peculiar
uses, the first two joints being united, and the tip or last joint being
\eiy long, and supiioi-ting the claw. Moreover, as the long claws are
constantly half closed in the hand, and they are never required to be
v.-idely open, the tip of the finger is so made that flexion is possible,
but not iniclaspiug widely. The skin comes up to the base of the claws,
and encloses the fingers, and the base of each claw is protected by a
bony sheath. They form capital hooks ; they grasp, and although there
is no opposable thumb, they hold the food ; and a tame Sloth may be
seen holding a carrot very firmly between them and the wrist. In the
case of the Unau Sloth, the outer claw is the longer.
The Sloths walk on the outside of the extremities of the fore and hind limbs, and their claw.s
are always curved in, and, as it were, retracted. Consequently, the animal cannot place the soles flat
on the ground, and it cannot open its foot-claws to a great extent. This fixing of the claws assists
in the clasping and hanging, which ai-e the usual and commonest attitudes. The claws surpass the
foot in length, and ai-e so sharp and crooked that they readily seize uj)on the smallest inequalities in
the bark of the trees and branches upon which the animals habitually reside. They and those of the
fore limb are no mean weapons of offence and defence, for, situated at the end of long and muscular
arras, they can drag, cling, and hold with great tenacity. The thigh bone (femur) of the Sloth is
straight, and is thicker and shorter than the arm bone (humerus) ; it has no ligament to unite it to
the joint (no ligamentum teres). On examining the lower bones of the leg (the tibia and fibula), they
will be found to be bent, so as to leave a space between them, and they are shorter than the
bones of the fore arm. The bones of the ankle joint, are united together immovably — that is to say,
Ihe usual bones seen in other Mammalia are there, but are united by bone. Moreover, this union
includes the complete and ill-developed feet bones (metatarsals), and the first bones of the second,
third, and fourth fingers. One bone is not included in this strange union. It is the astragalus, or
the bone immediately jointed with the ends of the bones of the legs. The outer or small bone of the
leg (fibula) fits into a pit in the outer part of the upper surface of this bone, and thus prevents any
movement of the foot like a twisting outwards, and favours, but does not produce, the usual position
of twisting inwards. Moreover, there are two powerful muscles Ln the front of the leg wluch are not
opposed by others as strong, and they, by their contraction, keep the foot twisted inwards, as in club-
foot (the anterior tibial and the long extensor of the great toe).

In the Unau, or Two-fingered Sloth, there is the same general arrangement of the bones and

AN'ATOMY OF THE SLOTHS.

163

muscles, witli some imiiortant differences, wliich result in there being a gi-eater amount of 'lemling
aiitl exteniling of the foot, although the foot rests on its outer edge.

A Sloth's face is short, and there is a broad snub nose, with I'ound nostrils, which ai'e widely
open. The cheeks become wide suddenly, and the forehead slopes rapidly backwards, the eyes being
wide apart and small, but looking forwards. The head is small and round, and as it is covered
with hair behind, it cannot be distinguished well from the upper part of the back of the neck. The
expi-ession of the face is always the same, antl the method of masticating and eating is disagreeable
"o observe. The animal having no front teeth, and moving its jaws usually only upwards and down-
wards, and not from side to side, places the morsel, such as lettuce leaf or carrot, well into its
mouth, and chews at it, dragging out the food every now and then, when it is covered with moisture.
On examining the skidl, the short cut ofl' or truncated appearance of the face is very evident, and it will
be observed that the teeth are wanting in the front bones of the face (the pre-maxillaries), and that only
the palatal part of these bones exists. The lower jaw is strongly jointed to the upper, and the back part
is large : there are teeth at the sides, but there are none in the front part of it. A very singular-looking
cheek bone (zygoma) exists on either side. It is not attached behind to the ear bone, so as to cover
the jaw muscles, but it has two processes behind

— an upper and a lower — which differ in shape
and size according to the species. The central
bone of the nose does not reach to the nasal out-
let, and there is a .system of au--cavities which is
continued from the nose into the forehead bone.
In some kinds, the lower jaw ends abruptly in
front, as in the Ai ; but in the Uuau Sloths it
is slightly angular, and projects.

The back teeth of the Sloths are very simple,
and consist of three structures, called vaso-dentine,
hard dentine, and cement, there being no proper
enamel. The vaso-dentine is a kind of bony sub-
stance in the centre of the tooth, in which there
are the passages and tubes of blood-vessels. The
dentine is outside this, and consists of more earthy
particles than the vaso-dentine, and of fewer
tubes; it is all the denser and more resLstant.
Wearing away more slowly than the vaso-dentine,
it forms a ridge which grinds easily. The cement
tooth. The ceeth of the Sloth continue to grow from below as they are worn above, and there is no
entire mUk set which are replaced by those of a permanent kind.

The term Sloth is commonly applied to all the kinds of animals whose general shape and hal)its
have just been noticed. It is evident, however, that this union of several species under one term is
not correct in zoology, and it is necessary .to distinguish them by peculiarities which are permanent.
A very ready method of distinction is to separate the Sloths into two families, one containing
those which have three claws on the fore limbs and the same number on the hind limbs, and the
second including those which have only two claws on the fore feet and three on the hinder.

The first family is called the BRADyPODlD.«, from ^pM^ (slow), and -itois (foot), and the second
Cholcepodid^, from x<^^oi (halting, lame), and irout (foot), and both are included in the gi-oup
TARDIGRADA, or slow-moving Edentata.

Tlie Bradypodid.e include two genera, but many naturalists only acknowledge one. The first
is Bradypus. This includes the Sloths with three-clawed fingers on the fore limbs, whose males anil
females are alike in their fur, and which have the cheek bone (malar bone) with two processes.
The upper one is long and dilated at the end, and the lower is long and triangular, and neither of the
processes reaches the ear bone. There are in these Sloths, when full grown, five molar teeth on each
side in both jaws, and the first is very short. There are two mammse on the chest.
* Jn-topilheeus castaniceps.

a kind of bony structure on the outside of the

164 XATUHAL HIHTOUY.

Tlie second genus is Arctopithecus (Gray), and it contains species which have the males and females
dissimilar in their colour and ornamentation, and the malar bone has a thin and narrow upper process.

The second family of the Sloths (the Cholcepodid.e) contains but one genus, Chohepus (the
Unau), whoh-e species have two claws on the fore limbs and three on the hind ones. The front
of the lower jaw is stuck out, and not cut short, and the first molar teeth are long.

The genus Bradypus probably contains several species, but it is only necessary to mention one,
■which is called

THE COLLARED SLOTH, OR THE HAIRY SLOTH.*
This Sloth lives in the densest forests of Brazil, Peru, and Para, and is found not far from
Itio Janeiro.

It is a kind of the Three-clawed Sloths, in which there is little or no difference between the fur of
the males and females. The neck is surrounded by a large collar of long black hair, and underneath
this is a fur of a dark-brown colour. The face is naked, and is of a black colour, and the hair of the

body is not very flattened, but is
withered-looking to a certain extent.
Tlie forehead, temples, chin, throat,
and breast are covered with reddish
01 lust-coloured hair, slightly griz-
zled On the crown of the head it
IS long and yellow, and pale orange
on the rest of the body. This Sloth
pioduces one at a bii-th.

The lower jaw has a kind of
blunted lobe in front, and the angle
of this jaw is broad, triangular, with
a lounded lower edge, and it projects
backwards beyond the joint which
connects the bone with the skull.
The cheek bone has those peculiari-
ties which have already been men-
tioned. The teeth are peculiar, for
the first or foremost grinders are
smaller than the others, and the
second upper gi-inder is the largest
of all The first grinder on the
lowei jaw is broader than the rest,
and the hinder are the largest, being
also cylindrical.

It has tJie general method of
li\ uig of the Sloths, being perhaps
not quite so lively or active as the
ITnau, and feeds mainly on Cecro-
pta leaves, finishing those of one tree
as fai as it can before commencing
those of another. Like all the Sloths,
it has the power of long and sus-
tained muscular action, and can cling
on, 01 grasp, for a very long time
without perceptible fatigue, and this gift is associated with a structure of the blood-vessels which supply
the muscles, resembling, as we have said, that noticed in some of the Lemurs. The main artery
which supplies each of the fore limbs is the axillary, so called from its being found in the armpit at

• Bradypus torquatus, or Bradt/pus criicitus.

tOLL 4KED SLOTH (From Prince Ka\imilian of Neuwieil s Animals ofBn

THE AI.

lea

axilla. In quickly -moving amra.iK this vessel i caches into the upper aim, ,ind tliviilts into a few
rather large ones lower ilowii, and these give oti otheis, so that a ceitain ([uantity of blood is supplied
and removed quickly. But in the Sloths the axillaiy aiteiy dividts at onte into i number of
cylindrical vessels nearly
as large as it is, and they
are united here and there.
These unusual arteries are
found in contact with the
surface of the muscles,
and their branches go in
and amongst the muscular
bundles. As many as
forty-two of these large
vessels were counted by
Sir A. Carlisle, on the
surface of the muscles on
the front of the arm, and
probably about twenty
were inside. These arte-
ries thus carry an im-
mense supply of blood
to tlie muscles, but blood
which, although it is
finally removed by the
veins, does not movi-
very rapidly. In fact,
the muscles are turgid
with blood. The same
arterial structure is seen
in the hinder limbs, and
the arteries of the thigli
form as numerous a set
as those of the arm.

It seems to be in
accordance with careful
investigation, to state
that the species of Sloth

called Brmhjjjm tridacti/lm (the Three-toed Sloth, or Ai) has too large a meaning, and that it really
refers to the Collared Sloth, as well as to others which have been placed in the next genus. It is as
well to remark here, that although there are three clawed fingers to the fore limb, there are vestiges
of two other ones by their side in the form of two i-udimentary metacarpal bones.

GENUS ARCTOPITHECUS.— THE AT.*
Several kinds of three-clawed Sloths have been called Ai ; for instance, the Yellow-throated Ai,
and De Blainville's Ai, and all have been named Bradypiis tridactyhis. Dr. Gray, however, satisfied
himself that the kind which was first described by Cuvier as the Ai, and which is figured in
Prince Maximilian of Neuwied's " Animals of Brazil," is the same as one which has since been called
Arctopithecus Ai, or Arctopithecus Jlaccidus. The word Ai is taken from the noise made by the animal,
and the term Jlaccidus relates to its long hair. The true Ai inhabits Venezuela and Peru, and has
very long flaccid grey hair mottled with white. There is an abundant under-fur of a blackish brown
colour, which has white and black in spots and blotches.

ArctopUhecm fiacciilus. — Arc!opithecus Ai.

32

106

y.l TUliAL Ill^TOE Y.

Tliere is a small snot between the shoulders on tlie back, where the fur is soft and woolly, and a
broad, short, blackish streak there, with a white or orange ring around it. The claws are coloured
brown. The head has a curiously-cut short and turned-up nose appearance, and is furnished with
coarse shaggy hair, disposed on the crown in a diverging manner. The short hair of the face contrasts
with the long, shaggy, shrivelled, dry, hay-looking hair of the body. This hair is coarse and flattened

at the ends, but it is exceptionally fine at the roots>
and it greatly resembles in colour and texture some
of the vegetation of the trees on which it lives. The
eyes are bright, and are surrounded by a dark ring.
Several species of the genus Arctopithecus have been
described which live in Guiana, Bolivia, Brazil, Peru,
and Venezuela.

The next genus of the Sloths is represented by

THE TWO-FINGERED SLOTH (THE UNAU).*

There are several kinds of Sloths with two

" toes," or rather with two fingers ending in claws

SKULL OF Ai. on the fore limb, but the difl'erences between the

species are not very readily appreciated. They are

differences which can be recognised, but it is doubtful whether the possession of dark brown or jiale

brown hair is sufficient to decide that there are more than one .species.

The common Unau Sloth is usually of a darker tint than the others, but there is no doulit that
the specimens in museums of all these Sloths vary much in the colour and length of the hair. Thus
the hair may be generally dark, and the haii-s of the crest on the back of the head may be white, and
more or less tinted with bright green ; or the liair may be short, of a dark brown colour, paler on the
rump, much paler on the head, cheeks, and chin ; a band may be across the nose, and the orbits dark
brown. Others of the same species have very long hair, of an uniform dark tint, paler on the head
and redder beneath, whilst one from Juan de Fuca has short hair, without any indication of a crest.
From Brazil there are specimens with long paler hail' and a ci-est. All these specimens, however,
have pale whitish claws.

A Unau from Columbia is of a pale and whitey-brown paper colour, darker at the root of the
hairs, and it has pale fawn-coloured claws.

In all these animals with different kinds of furs, the two-clawed condition is peculiar to the fore
limbs only, for on the hinder there are three claw.s, and it is to be remarked that the hair and .skin unite
the fingers and toes close up to the base of the claws. The skull of the Unau is rather projecting in front,
and not, as it were, quite cut oflT close ; and there is a gi-eat gap in the upper and lower gums in front,
the incisor teeth being absent, of course. But at the side of the mouth there is a longish tooth above
and below, looking like a canine, but really it is the front molar, which in both jaws and on both sides
is longer and larger than the othei-s. The under teeth belonging to the lower molar set are placed
behind the corresponding upper ones when the mouth is shut.

The cheek or malar bone is seen, on looking at the skull, to be separated from the ear bone, and
to have a forked end posteriorly, the lower part of the fork extending downwards and backwards.

The lower jaw is very straight : it projects a little, in front and behind, where it is jointed with
the upper jaw, there is no upright portion or branch, or ascending ramus. The last back tooth is just
in front of a curved piece of bone called the coronoid process, the base of which is on a level with the
line of the teeth.

This Sloth has seven neck bones (cervical vertebrse), and the last one has a very small and
rudimentai-y rib attached to it on either side. There are no less than twenty-three dorsal vertebra
found to be with ribs. The Unau has a clavicle which is much smaller in the other group. It has no
tail. The structure of the ankle joint enables it to turn in, even more than that of the Three-clawed
Sloth. As the liabits of the Unau Sloth are the same as those with three claws, and all live in the same

Chulixinis didactt/hi

TUE rx.iu.

great district, these anatomical distinctions are very interesting, and relate to their remote ancestors,-
being hereditai-y legacies, which are. of little or no importance in assisting the creatnre merely to
live. One of the difierences between the Sloths is sing\ilar. The Unaus have a very remarkably
formed stomach, wliich may be said to be double. The first stomach is large and rounded, but it is
contracted behind, and then formed into a kind of conical appendix. This appendix is doubled
from left to right, and its cavity has a fold at its opening into the stomach. It forms a
.siiecial part of the first stomach. Then it is to be noticed, that where the food enteis the
.stomach, or at the opening, which is called the cardia, there
is a pouch, looking like a bag at the end of the tube which
runs down from the gullet to the stomach. This is the
.second part of the first stomach : and the third is a tube-
like space which connects the cardia with the stomach far
away to the left. These three cavities form the first
Ntomach. The second stomach is of a slender form,
•and is very much smaller than the other. Its walls are
thin for the first half of its length, but towards the spot
where the gut commences (the pylorus) they are thick and
muscular. A small fold occurs midway. There is a fold -.tom^ch (ir suixit

in the body of the smaller or second stomach, and there '

is a little hollow there with glands in it, and it is called the appendix to the second stomach.

The stomach is thus rather complicated, and its internal mucous membrane is so thrown into
folds, and made into hollow spaces, that it occupies much more space than if it were a simple bag.
This plan is also well seen in those ruminating animals which, like the Ox, live entirely upon vege-
table substances ; and it is e\ident that the diet of the Sloth bears some relation to the complicated
.stomach.

In the Ai. the appendix to the second stonmcli is larger than that of the Unau Sloth, and is
more complicated.

HOFFMANN'S SLOTH.*

This is a Sloth with two clawed fingers on the fore, and with three claws on the hinder
extremities. Living specimens are occasionallj' brought to Europe, especially from Porto Rico,
so that its general appearance may now and then be studied at the Zoological Gardens, in the Regent's
Park. If it be looked at there in the day-time, it certainly merits the name of Sloth, for it resembles
a bundle of long, light, brown hair, fixed on the top of a bar of wood close to an upright branch,
or huddled up in a corner on the gi-ound ; but in the moniing, and also late in the evening, the
creature begins to move slowly, and to look out for the food put for its use on the floor of the den.
All the Hofiniann's Sloths have pale brown hair, whiter at the tips, and a white face, showing a
broNvn band across the nose, extending to a ring round each eye. They have also a long and full
crest of hair on the neck, and the hair on tlie. limbs is darker than that of the rest of the animal.
Dr. Peters, who discovered this Sloth, examined the skeleton, and found only six vertebra; in the
neck, and in this it difiers from the Cholajms just noticed.

Wlien its food, consisting of carrots and lettuce, and bread-and-milk, is put down in the
morning it is soon in movement, and enjoys its meal hanging down from a bar with its hind legs,
and resting its back on the floor of the cage. It seizes the food between the claws and the long
straight palm of the fore-foot, and passes it into its mouth, chewing actively with the molar teeth,
especially with the first, which are sharp. It cares little for the spectators, and when it has finished,
slowly mounts up into a corner of its little den and settles down to sleep. In the evening it becomes
lively, for it is, and, indeed, all Sloths are, nocturnal in habit. The hairless snout, of a light red
tint, the absence of " .smellers," the little eyes with a few hairs around them, and the broad forehead,
give the animal a curious appearance. The hair is brushed back on the forehead, and comes
around the very small ears on to the cheeks, and is whitey-brown, and this same tint is seen over the
whole of the back in long slender hairs. But the under hair is light red or red-brown. The long and

♦ Clwlu'pus Hnffmanni

168 NATURAL BUSTOJil'.

slender hand, with its two claws, contrasts with the rather bulky upper part of the limbs, and the
flesh-coloured palms ai-e very remarkable.

The whole of the Sloths lead very monotonous lives ; their food is ever within their reach, and it
is abundant, and they do not appear to have to compete much or at all in the struggle for existence

HOFrMANN S SLOTH.

with other animals. Their enemies are Snakes and the Carnivora, but it is evident that they are much
ijiore readily preserved by their habits from the latter than from the former. Leading such an
uneventful existence, there is no great call upon their nervous energies or intelligence, and these are
at a low pitch. The brain consequently is very simple in regard to convolutions, which are few in
number and shallow.

THE AXT-EATEIiS.

CHAPTER IT.

THE ANT-KATERS.

Tiir^ I'APE Ant-eater— The Cage at "the Zoo. "'—Appearance of the Animal— Its F'rey- The Anthills— How the Oiyctero-
pws obtains its Food— Place in the Order— Teeth— SkuU— Tongue— Interesting Questions concerning the Ant-e.ater
— The Pangolins, or Scaly Ant-eaters- The African Scaly Ant-eaters— Differences between the Pangolins
and Cape Ant-eaters- Their Habitat— Description— Temminck's Pangolin— Habits— Food— How it Feeds -Super-
stitious Keg.'vrd for it shown by the Natives— Scarcity--Appearance— The Long-tailed, or Four-fingered Pango-
lin—The Great Manis— The Asiatic Scaly Ant-eaters— The Short-tailed, or Five-Fingered Pangolin— Tlie
Species of Jl/ffK/s-Skull-Stomach— Claws fitted for Dig'ing- Other Skeletal Peculiarities— The American Ant-
eaters— General Appearance— Genera— The Great ANT-BEAR-Habits— Diet -How it Procures its Food -Distribu-
tion-Mode and Rate of Locomotion— Stupidity— Manner of Assault and Defence— Stories of its Contests with other
Animals -Appearance— The Tamandua— Description— Where Found— Habits— Odour— The Two- toed Ant-eater -
Appearance Two-clawed Hand— Habits -Von Sach's Account of his Specimen.

THE CAPE ANT-EATER.«-THE AAED-VAEK.
Is one of the cages in the house, close to whei-e the Kangaroos are kept, in the Zoological Gardens
of London, there is usually a heap of straw to be seen and an empty dish. Outside the cage is placed
the name of an animal, "The Cape Ant-eater." People look and wait, and as neither the animal nor
tliB Ants it eats are to be seen, they go away, supposing that the absence of tlie last-named insects has
caused the destruction of the animal, whose straw alone remains.

But in the evening, and s'ometimes in the morning, when the food is placed in the cage — not Ants,
however — a long pair of stuck-up ears, looking like those of a gigantic Hare with a white skin and
little fur, may be seen poked up above the straw ; and, soon after, a long white muzzle, with small
.sharp eyes between it and the long ears, comes into view.

Then a very fat and rather short-bodied animal with a long head and short neck, low fore and
large hind quarters, with a bowed back, comes forth, and finally a moderately long fleshy tail is seen.
It is verv pig-like in the look of its skin, which is light-coloured and has a few hairs on it. Moreover,
the snout is somewhat like that of a Pig, but the mouth has a small opening only, and to make the
difference between the animals decided, out comes a worm-shaped long tongue covered with mncus.
The animal has to content itself with other fare than Ants in England, but it seems to thrive, and
as it walks .slowly on the flat of its feet and hands to its food, they are seen to lie armed with very
powerful claws.

In Southern Africa, whence this animal came, it is as rarely seen by ordinary observers as in
England, for there it burrows into the earth with its claws, and makes an undergronnd place to live
in, and is nocturnal in its habits, sleeping by day.

The Orycteropus, which means digging-up foot, from hpiatrti (to dig up), and wois (foot), is the deadly
foe of the Ants of all kinds, and especially of those which, like the Wliite Ants, live in large colonies
imd build nests.

These ne.st-biiilding Ants abound in certain districts, but not in the region of the downs or karoos,
nor where it is very dry and woody. They choose the country which is covered with a poor and so-
called " sour" grass, and there they dig galleries in the gi-ound, fetch earth from far and wide, and erect
large roimded mounds of an elliptical figure, and often from three to seven feet in height. Apparently
fond of company, the Ants congregate, and these gigantic hills of theirs are often crowded together and
occupy the plains, as far as the eye can reach. The nests, or hills, are solidly built, and contain innu-
merable ants. This is the favourite resort of the Orycteropus, and the insects are his sole food then.
Wherever ant-hills are found, there is a good chance of finding one of these Aard-varks, or Innagus, or
Ant-Bears, as the Dutch and natives call them, leading a sort of mole-like life. But he Ls not easy to
catch if the stories told be true. It is stated that the long strong flattened claws and short
extremities, worked by their .strong muscles, enable the animal to burrow in the soft soil as quickly as
the hunters can dig, and that in a few minutes it will get out of the way ; moreover, its strength is
sufiicient to resist the efforts of two or three men to drag it out of the hole. But when fairly
caught, the Ant-eater does not resist much ; it has no front teeth or eye teeth to do any harm with, and
' Orycteropus capensis (Geoffroy).

170 NATURAL HISTORY.

it can be killed easily by a blow on the head. The Ant-eater runs slowly, and never moves far from
the entrance of its burrow, being seen to do so only at night-time. The burrows are often two feet in
diameter and three or four feet deep before they branch off. Night is the time for Ant-eating, for the
active and industrious insects are then all at home and within their solid nests. Then the Orycteropus
sallies forth, finds a fre.sh nest, sprawls over it, and scratches a hole in its side, using his strong claws,
and then introduces his long snout. Having satisfied himself that there is no danger at hand, the animal
protrudes its long slimy tongue into the galleries and body of the nest, and it is at once covered with
enraged Ants, which stick to it, and are finally returned with it into the mouth. This goes on over
and over again, until the ajiiietitu is satisfied ; and apparently the diet is excellent, for the Ant-eater is

generally fat, and indeed his hams are apjireciated as a delicacy for their peculiar flavour, into which
that of formic acid is said to enter.

Although without an armour to its body, and provided with only a thick skin and bristles, the
Oiycteropus has a great resemblance in many points of its anatomy to the Armadillos of Amei-ica. It
is more closely allied to them than to the other Edentata. It is one of the order of Edentata, for there
are no front teeth in the jaws, the incisors and canines being absent. Tlie teeth are found in the
back part of the mouth, and there are five on each side and in the upper and lower jaws, or twenty in
all ; there are also some small teeth which fall out during the growth of the animal. As might be
expected from the very simple nature of the diet, the teeth are not at all complicated in their structure.
They increase in size from before backwards, the la.st tooth but one being the largest, and all are
peculiar in their minute construction. The first permanent tooth, which may be called a molar, is
cylindrical in shape, and consists of a centre of very remarkable substance, for the body of the tooth
is composed of a gi-eat number of vertical canals placed side by side, and running up the tooth. It
was this interesting structure, so different to that of other animals, which led Cuvier to compare the
teeth to pieces of cane. Outside this part of the tooth is a hai-d and more solid substance. Whei^

THE CirE ANT-EATER. 171

the teetli are unworn, tliis outer covering covers tlicir top, l)ut as it wears off the tubular appearance
is seen, anil the ends of the tubes become exposed. Tlie teeth have no fangs like those of such
orders of Mammalia as the Carnivora and Insectivora, and they increase in length by growth from
below, so that the wear above is continually compensated for. The second tooth resembles the first
in its minute construction, but appears like two cylinders fixed together, a longitudinal groove indi-
cating the jiniction, and this is the appearance presented by most of the others. 'J'he hindermost
teeth resemble the first molars. The dental
number varies according to age, and the pre-
sence or absence of the teeth which are not
permanent. The jaws, iu which, the teeth are
fixed, are long, and the lower one is low, bnt
there is an ascending back part, or ramus ;
consequently, the face is long and low. The
eye is placed far from the ear, and is small.
Its bony case, or orbit, and its surrounding
bones, are somewhat remarkable for an Eden-
tate, for there is a lachrymal bone, and the tear canal is open on the bony face. Moreover,
the malar bone is united to the ear bone by a complete arch, the zygoma, and the deficiency so
remarkable in some other Edentates is thus not observed. The pre-maxillary bones are also to be
seen, in front of the face. In this completeness of the bones of the face this animal is a true
mammal, but \x\ the nature and extent of the ear bones, the Orycteropus has some resemblance to
reptiles and birds.

The tongue is long, narrow, and flat, and can lie protruded considerably beyond the i.noiith, but
not so far as those of the other inseot-eating Edentata ; and in order to keep up a supply of thick mucus,
the glands under and at its side, or the sub-maxillary, are very large and active in their functions.
The stomach is moderately bulky and not simple, for the portion towards the riglit lias very thick
muscular walls, and the rest is thin. The intestine has a blind gut, or Ciecum.* In fm!, tlic stnmach
and blind gut might belong to an animal which eats something more bulky and less imtn'tidiis than
Ants, and would be of use to the creature, did it eat vegetable matters. All these structures, the
simple teeth, the tear bones, the size of the ear bones, the Sloth-like teeth, with tubes, however, and
the peculiarities about the intestinal canal are, it must be remembered, associated with the life of
a purely insectivorous animal. Why has it not the kind of teeth of the Insectivora and iheir stomach?
and why should it combine high and low characters in its skull \ These are questions which, when
attempted to be answered, show that iii the great philosophy of nature causes and effects are not
everything, and that the same definite methods of life may be followed liy animals \ (^ry difl'erently
constituted.

The claws of the Orycteropus and the limbs are admirably suited for its kind of life. ' There are
five claws on the hind limbs and four on the front, and they are long, slightly curved, flat, and
scooped out below. Tlie burrowing is facilitated by the arrangement of the claws as regards length,
and they diminish in size from within outwards. There is a collar bone. The foot re.sts evenly
on the ground and not on its outside, and the body is supported either by the v.diole foot or by
the palm surface of the claws. The fore arm can be rotated more or less, and the pronator quadratus t
muscle enables this necessary action to be carried out. The Orycteropits cnpensis lives over a wide
extent of country in South Africa, in Caffraria, and in the western districts. A closely-allied .species
lives in Senegal {Orycteropus senegalensis, Less.) ; and a third is found in Southern Nubia, near the
White Nile (Orycteropus mthiopicus, Sund.).

* The uteras is double, and the placenta is disc-shaped, and is cast off (deciduate). There are chest and ingnina'
teats. Tlie vertebrse are— seven cervical, thirteen dorsal, eight lumbar, six sacral, twenty-five caudal.

t The muscle called pron.ator quadratus is a fleshy band, four-sided in shape more or less. One side is attached to one
of the bones of the fore-arm, the ulna in front above the wrist ; and the other and opposite side .adheres to the radius. The
ulna being motionless, the muscle contracts and prdls the radius over, so as to turn the back of the wrist forwards, or
upwards. The prone position is thus produced, and hence the name of the muscle. The other muscle wliich produces this
movement is fixed to the fore-arm in front, near the inner elbow, and it is long, having a tendon which is implanted on the
radius. As this muscle contracts, it pulls the radius over the ulna, and makes the wrist take up a prone position. It is called
the pronator teres.

iV"^ TUliAL MIS TOR i".

THE PANGOLINS, OR SCALY ANT-EATERS.*

THE AFRICAN SCALY ANT-EATERS.

An animal living in the fame country, on the same kind of food, and having many of the habits
of the Cape Ant-eater, especially as it belongs to the same order of the animal kingdom, might be
expected to resemble it in shape and in most of the important parts of its construction. But the
comparison between the Ant-eater, just described, and the Scaly Ant-eater, .shows that these animals
have some very remarkable diflerences. The Scaly Ant-eater is toothless, and covered with scales.

Formerly, the Scaly Ant-eaters roamed far south in Africa, but now they are rare animals in
South Africa, in the west of the continent, and across to Sennaar. They are found in Zanzibar,
and as far south as the latitude of Mozambique. They are small animals, of from two to nearly
five feet in length, with long tails ; and their body, limbs and tail are covered with numerous large,
somewhat nngulai and shaip edged scales as with aimoui The scales oveilap each other like

tiles, and the free part pointing backwards is bluntly angular or rounded at the tij). "When the
animal is on its feet walking, they form a very close and impenetrable covering, being doubtless
of great use to the creature, for it must trust entirely to its defences, having no weapon of offence.
But when the Scaly Ant-eater is alarmed or threatened with danger, or positively attacked, it
rolls itself up like a ball, places the snout between the legs, and the tail underneath, and then
sticks up its scales, offering their sharp edges to the enemy. There are several kinds of them, and
one in particular was noticed by Dr. Smith, the African traveller, and was named after the zoologist
Temmmck, Manis Temminckii. He observed that it was rarely seen, but that when it was discovered,
instead of bin-rowing, it did not attempt to escape, but rolled itself up instantly in the shape of a
ball, taking especial care of its head, which is the only part unarmoured and likely to be injured.
He states that Ants form its chief and favourite food, and that it secures them by extending its
projectable tongue into holes which may exist in the habitations of those insects, or which it may
itself form. The tongue having made an entry, it is soon covered with a multitude of insects, and as
it is^ell lubi-icated with saliva, they are held fast, and when a full load is ready, the retracting muscles
act on the tongue and the whole is carried back into the mouth, after which the Ants are swallowed.
The same traveller accounts for the scarcity of the Scaly Ant-eaters, partly from the disinclination of
the natives to discover them for strangers, and partly because they are environed with supernatural

* Geuus Manis.

riTE r.ixnoLTxs. 173

^ifts in their eyes. Tiicy are cai-efully soiiglit for. liy tlie natives, for their own use and supposed
ailvantage, for they believe the animal to have some influence on cattle, and that certain treatment
to whicli they are exposed produces this. Whenever a specimen is secured by the natives, it is sul)-
mitted to fire in some cattle-pen, apparently as a burnt ofl'ering for the increase of the liealth and
ffrtility of all cattle which may henceforward enter the fold. "Here," writes Dr. Smith, "we have
.iiidthrr cause for the obliteration of a .species. Intolerance of their aggression lias wrought up the
slK-pliiid or agriculturist to the destruction of some; but in this case, a species is probably dying out
under the influence of a superstition."

rOUK-FINGEBED PANGOLIN.

They burrow even in rather hard ground, and feed at night time. It has been noticed that the
mother sits upright when enticing the young to suckle.

This Manis has rather a short head, and a wide body, and the tail is as long as the trunk : it
is rather less in width near the body, and does not diminish much near the end. In a specimen
which is twenty-five inches and a half long, the back of the animal is eight inches across, and tlie
tail at its root is five inches bi-oad. The scales are large, and are in about eleven rows. The Itody is
of a pale yellowish-brown colour, the scales being lightest in tint near their points, and they are often
streaked with yellow. Where the scales are wanting the skin is dusky brown. The eyes are
reddish-brown, and the muzzle is black. The nails of the fore feet are bent under, so that the animal
walks on their upper part. The scales are composed of hairs placed side by side and agglutinates
together, and when first formed, and for some little time after, they are soft. They cover the upper
part of the fore and hind extremities besides the body, and are striated. This kind lives in Eastern
Africa, Sennaar, Caffraria, Kordofan, and Latakoo.
32*

XATURAL HISTOIiY.

THE LONG-TAILED, OR FOUR-FIXGEEED PANGOLIN.*
This Ant-eatei' is from two to three feet in length, and the tail is twice as long as the body. It

inhabits the Guinea Coast and the Gaboon, and probably Senegal. It is a dark brown animal, with

the hair of the face and under sides black in tint. There are eleven series of scales, with the end

rounded, and a central prominence.

Buffou described a pale brown or horn-coloured, very scaly, long-tailed Ant-eater as a Phatagin,

but it is coiTectly called Manis tricusjns, from the scales having three projections on them. It lives.

in Western Africa, Fernando Po, Guinea, and SieiTa Leone.

THE GREAT JIANIS.t
This scaled Ant-eater is thirty inches long in the body, and its tail measures twenty-five inches
in length. The great tail lessens to the end, and the scales are striated at the ba.se, the whole colour
being pale brown. It is an interesting animal from its likeness to one of the Asiatic species, the
Memis pentadacti/hi (Linn.) ; but the difierence in the length of tail is remarkable. It has been
found in West Africa, Guinea, and in the Cape Coast Castle district.

THE ASIATIC SCALY ANT-EATERS.
There is one point of great niterest about the genus Manis, and it is that it is not restricted to
Africa, for some species are found over a wide e.xtent of country in India. They live there in a region
from the Himalayan Mountains to Ceylon, and eastward to Sumatra and Java, and in Southern China
as far as Amoy, Hainan, and Formosa. They afford an instance of closely-allied animals now living
in large districts which are separated by seas, deserts, mountains, and rivers, and other impassable
barriers. The Javanese are said to have called the animal, from the fact of its rolling itself up.
Pangolin, and the Bengalese termed it the Reptile of Stone. The first to be noticed is —

THE SHORT-TAILED, OR FIVE-FINGERED PANGOLIN.:

Tliis is supposed to be the Phattage of .^Elian, and much lesembles Temminck's Manis from
South Africa. It has a small head, which is pointed and long at the muzzle ; the body is rather
stout, and the tail is short, broad at the root. The back scales are in longitudinal rows, eleven in
number, and they are smaller than those of the African kind. It has the under part of the body,
head, and feet naked, and more or less hairy, and some long, fair-coloured hairs spring from between
the scales. The middle claw of the fore-foot exceeds the others in size. They feed on white Ants
especially. They are found in Bengal, Madras, and Assam.

A Manis with a tail as long as the body, and with the scales of the hind feet acutely pointed,
and the front and hind claws nearly equal ir size, is found in Sumatra and in Java. Finally, the
other Asiatic kind, Manis Dalniannii, is found in the Himalayas, China, and possibly in Java.

All the species of the genus Manis, whether from Africa or Asia, are absolutely toothless, and
the Edentate peculiarity is perfect, for there are no back teeth. The tongue is worm-like, round, very
long, and can be stuck out far from the mouth, and it supplies the want of the teeth, but from having
this long organ and no back teeth, the palate and the skull are very long and conical. Being with-
out masticating teeth, the lower jaw is veiy flat and simple, and there is no ascending ramus. The
mu.scles of the lower jaw being of secondary importance, the arch (zygoma) of bone between the face
and the ear is incomplete, and the outside ear is very small. But the organ of hearing is somewhat
complicated, and there is a large space in the temporal bone which communicates with the internal
ear, so that one tympanum is in communication with the other.

Much saliva is required to moisten the tongue, and the sub-maxillary glands are therefore very
large, and reach down under the skin of the neck on to the chest. The stomach is usuall)", if not
always, found to contain stones which the creature has swallowed. Of course it can hardly tell what
may be on its tongue in the dark Ants' nest, and earth and stones ai-e likely to rest on it and be
swallowed, but the constant presence of these hard things may have something to do with the absence

* Manis ktradact;ila (Linn.l. t Manis ijigantea (lUiger).

J Manis bmcliijuya. — Manis pentadactyla (Linn.).

■ othc)-. The walls of the
or the right side end, the

TEE PAXGOLINS.

of the teeth, and the necessity of liaving a crushing material somewhen
stomach are thin near the entry of the gullet tube, but towards the pylo
muscles are well developed, and the mucous membrane is very dense.

These animals use their claws for the purpose of digging holes in the ground, or in the Ants' nests,
for the sake of food, and the position in walking is with the frflnt claws l>ent under, so that the whole
weight of the front of the body is felt on the back (or upper part) of the claws. The hind feet are
placed flat, and the sole and under part of the claws sustain the hinder quarters. The joints of the
five fingers of the fore feet are so arranged that they can bend downwards only, and indeed they are
more or less permanently bent, being kept in that position by strong ligaments. This assists the
digging powers of the claws, which are, moreover, forked at their points in some species, and the wrist
is rendered very strong by having the joints between two of its bones abolished, and they are united
by bone, as in tlie carnivorous animals. The bones thus united are the scaphoid and semi-lunar bones.
Every structure in the creature's fore limbs tends to the promotion of easy and powerful digging,

and as the motion of scratching the ground is directly downwards and backwards, the power of moving
the wrist half round, and presenting tlie palm more or less upwards, as in the Sloths and in man, does
not exist. In order to prevent this pronation and supination, the pjirt of the fore -arm bone, the
radius, next to the elbow, is not rounded, but forms part of a hinge joint. Finally, it is necessary
to observe, that the middle claw is the longest of the five on all the extremities, and that as the
animal does not require to reach over its head, there is no collar bone.

Tlie long tail of the Pangolins, stumpy at the end in some kinds, has a considerable number of
bones, usually twenty-six ; and tlie firet of them joins on to the la.st of the back bones of the pelvis.
This last, or sacral vertebra, unites on each side with the haunch bones (ischium), and there is no
notch in the bone for the passages of the great nerves of the back of the leg, but a hole.

The thigh bone is flattened from before backwards, and the bones of the leg are wide apart, and
all this gives extra powers to the muscles which have to direct the scraping and digging by the hind
feet. The feet are .solid and strong, and have not any of the inside turning and cinb-foot appearance
of the Sloths, and the heel bone projects backwards.

There is an interesting peculiarity about the chest of the Pangolins, for the breast bone is very
long, and the cartilage at its end is large, and has two long projections resembling those of the Lizards.
The neck consists of seven vertebroe, and the back of thirteen, and there are three or four in the sacrum.

170 yATVixAL ni^Tiinr.

THE AMEKICAJf AXT-EATERS.

The adjective ' loug " may be applied to nearly all tlie structures of these animals. Tiie tail,
Lody, neck, head, snout, and tongue, and the hair are all very long, and the only things which are
short are the ears. The observer is immediately struck with the curiously-shaped head, so narrow,
low, and ending in a flexible and very slender snout, especially if the round tongue happens to be
jirojecting out of the mouth, for it i.s longer even than the head, and is like a gigantic worm. The
snout appears bent, and is made to look all the longer, by the eye being placed not far from the
small ear. Then the liuge bushy tail, flattened from side to side, as long as the body, has a fringe of
very long and strong hail'. The body itself moves on four powerful limbs, well clawed, and looks
bulky from the quantity of hair on it, but usually it is thm. The animal, when it stands still, is liigher
at the shoulders than behind, and it rests on the sides of the fore-feet, where there is a callous pad,
the claws being bent inwards and luider, and not touching the ground with then- tips. The under
jiart of the hind feet bears the weight of the hind limbs. It is about four feet and a half in length
from the snout to the tail, the tail being rather more than three feet in length, and the height is
about three feet and a half. So long is the head, that it measures thirteen inches and a half from the
ear to thesnout, and the tongue can be projected for sixteen or eighteen inches, and is, when brought
liaek into the mouth, bent so that its tip looks backwards towards the throat.

The animal belongs to a group of the Edentata (for it is toothless) which has the following
genera : — One genus, which is now being considered, is Myrmecoplutgn — mwi* (an Ant), and i/ioyeii/ (to
eiit^ — a second is Tamandua, and the third is Gyclothurus, from KvK\aT6s (romided). The animals of
ihis group represent in South America the Pangolins and Cape Ant-eaters of the Old World.

The species of the genus Myrmecopluiya, which ha.s been thus slightly alluded to, is calletl
the Maned Aut-cater.

THE GREAT ANT-BEAU.*
The habits of this animal, which has been named Great Ant-Bear by the English and Spaniards,
have been described as follows : — " The habits of the Great Ant-Bear are slothful and solitary ; the
greater part of his life is consumed in sleeping, notwithstanding which he is never fat, and
rarely even in good condition. When about to sleep he lies on one side, conceals his long
snout in the fur of the breast, locks the hind and fore claws into one another, so as to cover
the head and belly, and turns his long, bushy tail over the whole body in such a manner as to
protect it from the too poweiful rays of the sun. The female bears but a single young one at a
birth, which attaches itself to her back, and is carried about with her wherever she goes, rarely
quitting her, even for a year after it has acquired sufficient strength to walk and provide foi
itself. This unprolific constitution, and the tardy gi-owth of the young, account for the com-
parative rarity of these animals, which are said to be seldom seen, even in their native regions.
The female has only two mammw, situated on the breast, like those of Monkeys, Ajies, and Bats.
In his natural state the An^Bear lives exclusively upon Ants, to procure which he opens their hills
with his powei'ful crooked claws, and at the moment that the insects, according to their nature, flock
from all quarters to defend their dwellings, draws over them his long, flexible tongue covered with
glutinous saliva, to which they consequently adhere ; and so quickly does he repeat this operation,
that we are assured he will thus exsert his tongue and draw it in again covered with insects twice in a
second. He never actually introduces it into the holes or breaches which he makes in the hills them-
sel ves, but only draws it lightly over the swarms of insects which will issue forth, alarmed by his
attack. ' It seems almost incredible,' .says D'Azara, ' that so robust and powerful an animal can pro-
caie suflicient sustenance from Ants alone ; but this circumstance has nothing strange in it to those
\\ ho are acquainted with the tropical parts of America, and who have seen the enormous multitudes of
these insects, which swarm in all parts of the country to that degree that their hills often almost touch
one another for miles together.' The same author informs ns that domestic Ant-Bears were
occasionally kei)t by different persons in Paraguay, and that they had even been sent alive to Spain,
being fed upon bread-and-milk mixed with morssels of flesh minced very small. Like all animals which

* Myrmecophivj'i jiihut't.

THE GREAT ANT-BEAR.

GltL.Vr AM-HEAU.

live upon insects, they are capable of sustaining a total deprivation of nonrishment for an alm.jst
incredible time."

The Great Aiit-Bear is found in all the warm and tropical parts of South America, from Colomljia
to Paraguay, and from the shores of the Atlantic to the foot of the Andes. His favourite resorts
are the low, swampy savannahs, along the banks of rivers and stagnant ponds. He is found also
frequenting the humid forests, bxit never climbing trees, as falsely reported by Buffon, on the
authority of La Borde. His pace is slow, heavy, and hesitating ; his head is carried low, as if
he smelled the ground at every step, whilst his long, shaggy tail, drooping behind him, sweeps the
ground on each side, and readily indicates his path to the hunter ; though, when hard pressed, he
increases his pace to a slow gallop, yet his greatest velocity never half equals the oi'dinary run-
ning of a man. So gi-eat is his stupidity, that those who encounter him in the woods or plains
may drive him before them by mei-ely pushing him with a stick, so long, at least, as he is not
compelled to proceed beyond a moderate gallop ; but if pressed too hard, or urged to .extremity, he
turns obstinate, sits up on his hind quarters like a Bear, and defends himself with his powerful claws.
Like that animal, his usual, and indeed only, mode of assault is by seizing his adversary with his fore
paws, wrapping his arms round him, and endeavouring by this means to squeeze him to death. His
great strength and powerful muscles would easily enable him to accomplish his purpose in this respect,
even against the largest animals of his native forests, were it but guided by ordinary intelligence,
or accompanied with a common degree of activity. But in these qualities there are few animals,
indeed, which do not .gi-eatly surpass the Ant-Bear, so that the diflerent stories. handed down by
writers on natural history from one to another, and copied, without question, into the histories and
descriptions of this animal, may be regarded as pure fiction. For this statement we have the express
authority of Don Felix d'Azara, an excellent observer and credible writer, from whose "Natural

178 NATURAL HISTORY.

History of the Quadrupeds of Paraguay " we have derived the greater portion of the preceding account
of the habits and economy of tliis extraordinai-y animal. " It is supj)0sed," says Don Felix, " that th?
Jaguar himself dares not attack the Ant-Bear. and that if, pressed by hunger, or nnder some other
excitement, he does so, the Ant-Bear hugs him and embraces him so tightly, as very soon to deprive
him of life, not even relaxing his hold for hours after life has been extinguished by his assailant. It
is very certain that such is the manner in which the Ant-eater defends himself ; but it is not to be
believed that his utmost efforts could prevail against the Jaguar, which, by a single bite or blow of
his paw, could kill the Ant-eater before he was prepared for resistance ; for even in so extreme a case,
his motions are so slow and so heavy, that he takes some time to get himself ready, and besides being
unable to leap, or to turn with even ordiiiary rapidity, he is necessarily forced to act solely on the
defensive." The flesh of the Ant-eater is esteemed a delicacy by the Indians and negro slaves, and,
though black, and of a strong musky flavour, is sometimes even met with at the tables of Europeans.

This large Ant-eater, grey in colour, with a black-coloured throat and a triangular spot, black in
tint, ascending obliquely over each shoulder, has four claws on the fore limb and five on the hinder
extremity. The claws are grooved underneath, and are not split or forked as in the Manis, and they,
and especially the great middle claw, are protected by an expansion of bone from the last joint of the
digits, or toes. This envelopes the base of the claw, except quite underneath, leaving the ti[) free
to perform its office without endangering the tender base. The tij)s are protected, moreover, in the
fore limbs by the position assumed during standing and walking, for they are then turned in and
do not touch the ground ; but this is not the case in the feet, for the Great Ant-Bears rest on their soles.
Without teeth, and having an incomplete arch of bone between the cheek and ear bones, they possess
a long palate, so long, indeed, that when the long nose cavity opens into the throat in the skeleton
certain bones called pterygoid, or wing-shaped, form part of its boundary. This is unusual amongst the
Mammalia, and Huxley obsei-ves that it is only found in some of the Whale tribe (Cetacea). Moreover,
it is not noticed in any other vertebrate animals except the Crocodiles. The skull is vei-y low and
long, and the framework of the tongue is as important as that of the jaws. This kind of Ant-eater
has imperfect collar bones. As in the other Ant-eaters there is in this one a very muscular condition
of the right side of the stomach.*

THE TAMANDUA.t

The Tamandua is much smaller than the Great Ant-eater, and is, were it not for its long snout
and tail, somewhat like a Sloth. It is nearly as large as one of these animals, and has a long head, small
rounded ears, and small moutk The body, some two feet in length, is rather short, and is covered
with .short, silky, or woolly shining hair, of almost uniform length. The fore limbs are very stout,
especially above the elbow, and the hind ones rest on the rather long sole. The tail is about
a foot and a half in length ; it is stout at its root, and round and tapering to the blunt end, is
minutely .scaled, and covered in some places with short haii'S. The fore claws are bent on the hand,
and the animal walks on their outer and upper surface, using them also to cla.sp and to hang on in
climbing. The tail is more or less prehensile. The colour of the hair and the markings varies much
in the species, and in captivity the rusty straw-colour of the body becomes whiter ; but there is a
line of black on the upper part of the chest reaching over the shoulders and between them and the neck
on to the back, and also several black patches over the tail and on the flanks.

The Tamandua is an inhabitant of the thick primeval forests of tropical America, and lives in
Brazil and Paraguay. It ls rarely found on the ground, but resides almost exclusively on trees, where
it lives ujion termites, honey, and even, according to the report of D'Azara, bees, which in those
countries form their hives among the loftiest branches of the forest, and, having no sting, are more
readily despoiled of their honey than their congenera of Great Britain. When about to sleej), it
hides its muzzle in the fur of its breast, falls on its belly, letting its fore feet hang down on each side,
and wrapping the whole tightly round with its tail. The female, as in the case of the Great Ant-eater,
has but two pectoral mammje, and jiroduces but a single cub at a birth, which she carries about with
* It is certainly remarkable that tlie brain of this animal should present numerous convolutions, wMlst the braiu of tlie
Sloth has barely any. The commissures of the brain are large, especially that of the centre, or corpus callosum, and also
the anterior. The uterus is simple, the os is double, and the placenta is said to be discoidal.
t Taiiwinttia tetradaetiila.

TnE TirO-TOED AXT-JiATER. 179

!ier on her shoulders for the first three or four months. The young are at first exceedingly deformed
and ngly, and of an uniform straw-colour.

The animal is called C'agoiiare by the Guaranis, on account of the noxious and infected vapours
of the forests in which alone it is found, the word literally signifying, in the language of those Indians,
" the inhabitants of a stinking wood or marsh." Such at least is D'AzAi-a's interpretation of the term,
ihongh it appears more probable that it may refer to the strong disagreeable odour of the animal itself,
which, this very author informs ns, is so powerful that it may be perceived at a very great distance,
particularly v.hen the animal is irritated. Tamandua is the name by which it is known to the
Portuguese of Brazil ; the French and the English call it Fourniilier and Little Ant-Bear.

THE TWOTOED AXT-EATEli.*

These little animals appear, at first sight, to resemble Sloths with tails ; and their round
iieads, furry bodies, and two claws on the fore limb, add to the resemblance. They are essentially
sirboreal animals also, but they have long and useful tails, and live on insects. They hunt their insect
prey in the forests of Costa Rica, Honduras, and Brazil. Their two-clawed hands are remarkable, for
the rudiments of the thumb and little finger are hidden beneath the skin, and the claws are placed
on the first and second digits. The third digit has no claw. There are four claws on the feet, so that
in this arrangement the animal is jieculiar amongst the Ant-eaters. It is not larger than a common
Squirrel, and the general shape of the body is like that of a Tamandua on a small scale. Its whole
length, from the snout to the origin of the tail, is but six inches, and of the tail, .seven inches and a
quarter. This is consequently rather longer than the body; it is thick at the root, and covered
with short fur, but tapers suddenly towards the point, where it is naked and strongly prehensile.
The muzzle is not so long, in proportion, as in the other two species ; the tongue also is shorter, and
has a flatter form ; the mouth opens further back in the jaws, and has a much larger gape, the eye
being situated close to its posterior angle ; the ears are short, rather drooping, and concealed among
the long fur which covers the head and cheeks ; the legs are short and stout ; and the hair, very soft
and tine to the touch, is three-quai-ters of an inch in length on the bod}', but much shorter on the head,
legs, and tail. The general colour is that of straw, more or less tinged with maroon on the shoulders,
suid particularly along the median line of the back, whicli usually exhibits a deep line of this shade.
The feet and tail are grey.

Tills species is said to have four mamma-, two pectoi-al, as in those already described, and two
others on the abdomen. It is reported, nevertheless, to have but a single cub at birth, which it
conceals in the hollow of some decaj'ed tree. The habits and manners of this little animal, hithei to
very imperfectly known to naturalists, are well described by Von Sach, in his " Narrative of a
Voyage to Surinam."

"I have had two little Ant-eaters, or Fourmiliei-s, which were not larger than a Squirrel.
One was of a bright-yellow colour, with a brown stripe on the back, the other was a silvery-
grey, and darker on the back. Tlie hair of each was very soft and silky, a little crisped ; tlie
head was small and round, the nose long, gradually bending downwards to a point ; it had no
teeth, but a very long round tongue; the eyes were very small, round, and black; the legs i-ather
short ; the fore-feet had only two claws on each, the exterior being much larger and stronger
than the interior, which exactly filled the cui-\'e or hollow of the large one ; the hind feet had
four claws of a moderate size ; the tail was prehensile, longer than the body, thick at the base
iind tapering to the end, which, for some inches on the imder side, was bare. This little animal
is called in Surinam ' Kissing-hand,' as the inhabitants pretend that it will never eat, at least when
caught, but that it only licks its paws, in the same manner as the Bear ; that all trials to make
it eat have proved in vain, and that it soon dies in confinement. When I got the first, I sent to
the forest for a nest of Ants, and during the interim I jnit into its cage some eggs, honey, milk, and
meat ; but it refused to touch any of them. At length the Ants' nest arrived, but the animal did not
pay the slighest attention to it either. By the shape of its fore-paws, which resemble nippers, and
differ very much from those of all the other different .species of Ant-eaters, I thought that this little
creature might pei'haps live on the nympha? of Wasps, ikc. I therefore brought it a Wasps' nest, and
* Cudothurus didactiilus.

NATURAL HISTOJiX.

then it pulled out, with its nippers, the nyinphae from the nest, and began to eat them with the ,
eagerness, sitting in the posture of a Squirrel. I showed this phenomenon to many of the inhabitants.
who all assured me that it was the first time they had ever known that species of animal take any
nourishment. The Ants which I tried it with were the large white termites upon which fowls are fed
here. As the natural history of this pretty little animal is not much known, I thought of trying
if they would breed in a cage ; but when I returned from my excursion into the country I fomid
them both dead, perhaps occasioned by the trouble given to procure the Wasps' nest for them, though
they are here very plentiful; wherefore I can give no further description of them, than that they slept

TOEU .VNT-E,\TEU.

all the day long, curled together, and fastened by their prehensile tails to one of the perches of the
cage. When touched they erected themselves on their hind legs, and struck with the fore-paws at the
olyect which disturbed them, like the hammer of a clock striking the bell, with both paws at the same
time, and with a great deal of strength. They never attempted to run away, but were always ready
for defence when attacked. As soon as evening came, they awoke, and with the greatest activity
walked on the wire of the cage, though they never jumped, nor did I ever hear their voice."

All these Ant-eaters have great glands (sub-maxillary) for the purpose of secreting the sticky
saliva, and the tongue is most movable, and wriggles like an eel in feeding on milk. The Little
Ant-eater has a rete mirabile of blood-vessels.

Another Cyclothurus lives in Costa Rica, which is golden-yellow in colour, and silky in its hau-.
It has a 1)road black stripe on the back.

TME AKMAUILLOS.

CHAPTER III.
THE AKMAUILLO FAMILY.
Tiie Armour-iilates— How the Shields are formed— Their connection with the Body —Description of the Animals —Mode of
Walking— Diet— Skeleton— Adaptation of their Limbs for Bun'owing— Classification— The Great Armadillo-
Appearance— Great Burrower — The Tatouay— The Poyou, or Yellow-kooted Armadillo— The Peu'do fin
Hairy Armadillo— The Pichiy— The Peba, or Black Tatou— The Mule Armadillo- The Ball Ahmadillo-
Dr. Murie's Account of its Habits— Description -The Muscles by wliich it Kolls itself up and Unrolls itself— The
I'lCHiCLVGO— Concluding Kemarks : Classification of the Order, Fossil Edentates, the Allied .Species of Munis in Soutli
Africa and Hindostan.

These South American animals are more or less covered witli a liard bony crust, separated into
shields and bands, wiiich are more or less movable, owing to the presence of special skin-inusclcs.
In the most perfectly armoured there are four distinct shields and a .set of bands, a certain
amount of motion being possible between .their edges. Of the shields, cue covers the head, another
the back of the neck, a thii-d protects the shoulders like a great cape, and the fovu-th arches
o\er the rump like a half dome, and is, in some, attached by its deep structure to the bones of
the hip and haunch. The movable bands cover the back and loins, and are between the third
and fourth shields. The tail may further be invested by incomplete bony rings, and scattered
scales, and others are distributed over the limbs. This covering is, according to Professor Huxley,
strictly comparable to part of the armour of the Crocodile ; and the Armadillos are the only
Mammals possessing such structure. The shields and bands are formed of many scales, or scutes,
which are ossifications of the skin, and they may be of many kinds of shape — four, or many-sided^
being united by sutures, and they are incapable of separate motion. The shields and bands, however,
vary much in their number, size, and perfectness in the different animals, which, beuig armoured, the
Spaniards called Armadillos ; and, indeed, the number of bands in the back and loin division varies in
individuals of the same species. These bands cover the flanks, and, with the shields fore and aft,
protect the limbs, which are often more or less hidden by a gi-owth of hair. The bands, moreovei, by
being movable one on the other, enable the rest of the armour to accommodate itself to the motions
of the body, so that some roll themselves up, as in a ball shape. There may be few or manj'^ bands
px-esent, and the extreme numbers are three and thirteen. The Armadillos are of different sizes, and
whilst the smallest may be only ten inches in length without the tail, the largest are more than three feet
long. The head is long, and broad at the neck, the ears are usually long, the neck is short, the body is
long, round, and low, and the length of tail varies much in difierent kinds. Where the head shield
joins that of the shoulders, there is a space for the movement of the short neck ; but this is protected
by a backward j>rojection from the head shield. The throat, under parts, and thighs are not pro-
tected by ai-mour, except here and there by small plates in the skin, or by a granulated state of it ; and
they are naked or hairy. Even between the bands on the back there are often long haiis, and the
tail fits into a kind of notch in the last shield of the body, and its plates are close in almost all Arma-
dillos, but not united. So that much more motion is given to it and to the body than might be
expected by the muscles dui-ing then- action beneath the more or less soldered bony skin. The flat top
to the head, and the long muzzle, are useful to the Armadillos in their burrowing, and this is assisted
by short and strong limbs armed with powerful claws. Some of the Armadillos are even capable o{
running with some speed ; and the little Six-banded Armadillo, or

Poyou, and the Matico, are very restless and active in captivity. ^--r;:_i^^^^-L;=--;:p'YT^
With one exception, these animals move with the flat of their feet
and hands on the ground ; all have five hind claws, but there is
.some vai-iation in the number of the fore claws, which may be
four or five. They have simple cylindrical molar teeth, which,
according to the species, are from seven or eight to twenty-five

,.,»",. ,^, ^iT, boxes 01- CL.\W OF GRE.VT

on eacfi side ot each jaw, and they are separate, standing apart
from one another. Moreover, they are so arranged that when the mouth is closed, the upper
teeth fit into the spaces between the under ones, and the under teeth into those of the upper, so that
their grinding surfaces wear down into ridges. In one kind, there are some teeth in the pre-maxillary

r;2 NATUllAL HISTORY.

bones : but all the others have only molav teeth, which do not, however, go very far back, tor there are
510116 on the ascending mmus of the lower jaw. They are not, therefore, animals which prey upon
their fellow.s, but are vegetable, insect, and probably carrion eaters. Tliey dig and burrow, and their
sense of smell is acute. This is assisted by the position of the nostrils in the long muzzle, for they
iive not at its tip, but rather underneath, so that they open downwards. In fact, the ends of the
bones of the nose project in front of the pre-maxillary bones. The armour is doubtless useful against
the attacks of their many carnivorous and reptile enemies ; it assists them in burrowing, keeps off
pressure, and may protect those which live in forests against a falling bough. They are passive
creatures, mostly nocturnal in their habits, and their skeleton is strengthened in some parts in relation
to its armour and its office.

Thus the spine of the second vertebra is tall and compressed, and reaches backwards over those of

SKELETON OV THE AKMADILLO.

the third and fourth vertebrse, and it coalesces with them. The bodies of these vevtebr» also join more
or less solidly, and there are no (or very minute) spines on the la-st three cervical vertebrae. This gives
a strange appearance to the skeleton, which is increased by the length of the spine of the first vertebra
of the back (dorsal). In order to support the back shield, the projections from the back bones are
greatly developed, and two side processes stand out on either side of the spinous one. Moreover, there
is much fixity between the last dorsal and lumbar vertebrae, and the strong and long sacrum beneath
the last shield is formed by the junction of the back bones of the root of the tail with the true sacral
vertebrae. Finally, the transverse processes of some of the upper tail vertebrae are united to the pelvic
bones. Tliere is a corresponding strengthening of the chest, and a broad flat first rib accompanies an
expanded condition of the upper part of the breast bone ; and this bone is jointed with bony sternal
ribs, which unite on the side of the chest with the ordinary ribs of the spine.

As the}- are rapid buiTOwei'S, the limbs are fashioned with a view of favommg this kind of
life, the general skeletal peculiarities of the Edentata being more or less preserved at the same time.
They have a collar bone, and the blade bone is long, rather narrow, and has a tall, long spine, and a
kind of offshoot from the back edge. The humerus of the arm is short and robust, strongly marked
by ridges and depressions for the great muscles of the shoulder and chest, and the fore-arm is charac-
terised by the disproportionate size of its two bones. The ulna has a very long and stout elbow
process (olecranon) for the attachment of the muscles, which can force the hand strongly on to and into
the earth, and drag it out, and its length makes the whole bone twice as long as the radius. The
thigh bone has a strong crest, arising from the great trochanter,
and extending downwards nearly the whole length of the bone ;
moreover, the great trochanter has a large process on the
middle of its outer edge. The bones of the leg are broad,
arched, and united at both ends, and the heel bone i-eaches
far back, in order to give strength to the squatting position
SKI LL OF THE AKMADILLO. taken up wlicu thc animal is burrowing. The eye is placed

rather high in the head, is protected above by the outer edge of
the head armour, and by some small surrounding scales. It looks as a rule outwards. The lower jaw is
long, and has a back angle, sometimes of some size ; the cheek bone unites to the temporal bone, and

THE GREAT ASMADILLO.

the aroli is connjlete. In the face the intermaxillary bone is well developed, and there is often c,
crest of bone passing over the top of the skull from side to side over the occiput, which is in relation
to the head armour. The brain is small ; the back or little brain is not covered by the brain proper,
whose convolutions and processes are few and simple. The olfactory lobes project.

These arraoui'ed, round-bodied, short-legged, gi-eat-clawed animals are
numerous, and there are several species, which need not, however, be collected
into more than two genera. But it is by no means easy to arrange those of
the first genus — the True Armadillos, genus Dasypus — in any other than an
arbitrary and very artificial classification. Usually they are grouped and scpi
rated by the relative number of digits or claws on the fore and hmder extremi
ties ; by the presence or absence of teeth in the intermaxillary bones ; by then-
ability to roll up ; and by the excessive or the small number of their teeth. The
method of walking, whether on the sole or on the tips of the claws, and the
number of tne bands, have been partly employed in classification, but their
number is often variable in individuals of the same species.

The Priodontes have but one species, which is readily distinguished by its
.superior size, besides by its great number of teeth, of which there are from
twenty-two to twenty-four small ones on each jaw on each side, making from "'ijwxmi.i^ix'^

eighty eight to ninety-six in all.

THE GREAT ARMADILLO.*

This is an inhabitant of Brazil, and of the northern parts of Paraguay and of Surinam, and is

a dweller in the forest, being never found far out on the plains. The head is seven inches and a half

long, and the ears, usually pointed and laid backwards, are not quite two inches in length. The head

and body, without the tail, measure three feet and some inches, whilst the thickly-rooted but rapidly-

* Dasypus gigas (Cuvier).

184 NATURAL HISTORY.

taperijig tail is about a foot and a half in length. Hence the head is small for the body in this
Armadillo, and the forehead is protuberant, and the face is very tubular and cylindrical-looking. The
shoulder and croup shields are not expanded and solid, but consist of nine and eighteen rows of
plates respectively, and the intermediate part of the body has twelve or thirteen movable bands, each
of which is made up of rectangular scales, or scutes, about half an inch square. The circumference of
the root of the tail is upwards of ten inches, and the organ is covered with plates, disposed in rings at
the root, and not farther down, but forming spiral or cresceut-shaped lines throughout the rest of its
length.

The Gi'eat Armadillo is a persevering and most rapid burrower, and the fore limb and
hand are singularly modified for the purpose of enabling rapid digging and removal of the soil.
The olecranon process of the ulna is enormous, and the muscle of the deep flexor or tendon of
the claws is ossified and turned into a hand bone. The metacarpal bones of the thumb and first
finger are small, and so are the slender digits, but that of the middle finger is irregularly rect-
angular, and is broader than long, and the digit which it supports is extraordinarily short, stout,
strong, and broad. Its corresponding bones of the fourth finger are similarly formed, but are
somewhat smaller, and the fifth fintjer is \v\-y small. The nail phalanx of the middle finger is
large and strong, being curved uutinnrds, and liaving a large horny hood, or core, at its base, for
the lodgment of the claw. There are five claws on the hands and feet, and the Armadillo
moves on the flat of its feet, being plantigrade. There is no doubt that, aided by these digging
weapons, and being of considerable stoutness, the animal makes long and deep burrows. It feeds
on roots, fallen fruit, and insects, and there is a story that it seeks carrion, and it used to be said
that the collectors of Cinchona bark in the dense forests, when they lost a companion by death, were
obliged to bury the body in a gi-ave surrounded with a double row of stout planks, to prevent its being
scratched up and devoured by the Great Armadillo. Planks must be scarce, however, in those
localities, and difficult to carry ; and probably there are other inhabitants of the woods besides the
Armadillos wliich would discover and drag out a corpse. To assist the scratching and digging, tli(^
soles of the feet are partly covered with flat scales.

The Kabassous have the fore and hind extremities fm-nished with an equal number of (five) fingers
and toes respectively, but the number of teeth is, altogethei-, from thirty to forty.

THE TATOUAY.*

This Kabassou has the five fingers disposed obliquely ; and the great middle and fourth claws
resemble those of the gigantic Armadillo. It is named in allusion to its tail, which is moi-e or less
naked, and nearly uncovered with rings or plates, so that it has not the usual tube-like protection, or
beautifully ornamented crust seen in some Armadillos. The tail is about seven inches and a half long,
and is round and pointed, having only a few hard crusts beneath, near the outer third, where it often
trails on the ground. The rest of its root is covered with soft brown fur, interspersed with a few stiff'
short hairs on the upper surface. Tlie ears are large, being nearly two inches in length, and they form
a segment of a circle in figure. The body is round, aiid the shields of the shoulder and croup have
seven and ten rows of scales respectively, each scale forming an oblong rectangle, those near the root
of the tail being the largest. The movable bands are thirteen in number, and are composed of much
smaller scales than those of the shields, and they have a nearly square outline. The head is long and
larger in pro[)ortion than that of the Great Armadillo, and it has not the very cylindrical appearance
noticed in that and some other species. The arrangement of the claws resembles that of the Great
Armadillo, whose they almost equal in size. The female has two pectoral manimie.

It inhabits Guiana, Brazil, Peru, Paraguay, and Surinam, and but little is known of the habits of
these Armadillos. They burrow easily and rapidly, and their great claws enable them to grasp the
earth, "and fix themselves so thoroughly that a great amount of exertion is required to jiull them out
of a burrow. They live on insects and on vegetable matters.

The Encouberts of Cuvier have five toes on the fore and hinder extremities, and nine or ten teeth
» Daxi/ims Tutiiiuiiii (Desmarest).

THE YICLIOVT-FOOTED ARMADILLO.

133

on each side of the jaws, and there are two teeth in the iiitenuaxiil ry Lones of the iipjier iaw,
representing the incisor teeth of ordinary Mammals, and thus forming an exception, not only to the
other Armadillos, but even to the order of Edentata, as represented in tlie recent period.

THE POYOU, OR YELLOW-FOOTED ARMADILLO.*
This little Armadillo, which in captivity and in the natural state is remarkable for its boldness
and restlessness, Ls a native of Brazil and especially of Paraguay, where it is common. It has a large,
flat, nearly triangular top to its head, the face is short, the muzzle obtuse, and the ears erect and oi
moderate size. It has sharp little eyes. It measures about sixteen inches from the nose to the tail,
and this is about seven or eight inches long. The number of movable bands is often .six, but this is
not the invariable mimber, for there may be seven or eight. The tail is surrounded, at its base, with
three or four bony rings, and throughout the rest of its length is nearly covered with regular tuberculous

scales, the separations between the bands showing some long bristly grey haii's. The body is flat and
1 iroad, and has short legs, and the creature runs with a very active and determined gait. It is a strong
little thing, and it is said that when it is chased, it will often get away from a man by sheer speed and
activity. Wlien any noise is made at the entrance of its burrow, or if it is teased by spectatoi-s around
its cage, it comes forth and gnmts like a Pig, and looks at the disturber with a bold inquii'ing look.
AVhen it is attacked it is powerle.ss, and seems incapable of making any defence, but it retreats to its
buri-ow, and getting to the bottom of it, digs deeper still. Its power of burrowing does not seem to
be nuich diminished by the limited rotation of the fore-arm, to which there is no jironator quadratus,
but a well-developed pronator teres.

The Poyou feeds much on carrion, and for this reason its flesh, though fat, is never eaten by the
iuhaljitants of European origin, though the Indians make no distinction in this respect between it and
i.ther Armadillo.s. When it stops or rests, it has a custom of squatting close to the ground like a Hare
(111 her form, and in this position the great breadth of the body becomes apparent.

The hinder shield has two hairs on the hinder side of each of its dorsal scales, and the under part
of the body has scattered bristles on it. The female has two jjectoral mamma;:
* Dasypus sexciiitus (Linn.),

186 NATURAL HISTORY.

The next two Armadillos to be noticed were formerly included in the same group as the Poyou,
liut as they have not the incisor teeth on the intermaxillary bones, they are placed in the sub-division
Eujihractes.

THE TELUDO, OE HAIRY ARMADILLO.*

The long, silky, half bristly, abundant black hairs of this little Armadillo ai-e the principal
characteristics, which separate it, so far as its external construction is concernetl, from the Poyou juft
noticed. It is smaller, however, the head measuring nearly four inches in length, and the whole
body about two inches less than Dasypus sexcintus. The ears are long, large, and elliptical, and are
pointed outwards, and the muzzle is broad. The forehead is broad and covered with rugged
scales. The bands ai-e six or seven in number, and the border of the shield, as well as that of the
movable bands below, is indented in a remarkable manner, and forms sharp, regular points. There
are eight teeth on each side, above and below, and the body, hairy as it is, is much scaled in-
terioi-ly and on the limbs. The tail is long and slender, and only hairy at the root. This species
does not inhabit Paraguay, nor probably is it found in the Brazils, but it exists in multitudes in the
Pampas north of the Rio Plata, and Mr. Darwin noticed it in Chili. Its habits, according to that
most accurate observer, are nocturnal, but D'Azara, to whom natural history owes very careful descrip-
tions, states that " in an expedition which I made into the interior, between the parallels of 35" and
36" south latitude, I met with vast multitudes of this species of Armadillo, so that there was scarcely
an individual of the party who did not daily cajiture one or two at least ; foi-, unlike the Poyou, which
moves abroad only at night, this animal is to be found at all times, and if alarmed, promptly con-
ceals himself, if not intercepted. In March and April, when I saw them, they were so extremely fat
that their flesh surfeited and palled the appetite ; notwithstanding which, the pioneers and soldiers ate
them roasted, and preferred them to beef and veal. This Hairy Armadillo, like others of the gen\>s,
has \nidoubtedly a very acute sense of smell, since it scents the carcases of dead Horses from
a great distance, and runs to devour them ; but as it is unable to penetrate the hide, it burrows
under the body until it finds a place which the moisture of the soil has already begun to render
soft and putrid. Here it makes an entrance with its claws, and eats its way into the interior,
where it continues feasting on the putrid flesh, till nothing remains but the hide and bones, and
so perfectly do these preserve their position, that it is impossible, from a mere external view, to
anticipate the operations which the Armadillos have been carrying on within." The same author
states that this species never constructs bui-rows to reside in, that it avoids low, damp situations, and
is found only on the dry u])land plains. Probably there is more than one Hairy Armadillo.

THE PICHIY.t

This little Armadillo is only fourteen inches long, tail included ; its scaling is very handsome, and
there are six or seven bands according to the individual and age. The head is covered with close scales,
which are elliptical behind, and concealed under the others in front, and the whole top has a triangular
outline, hiding the eye much. The scales on the front shield are large, and are hexagonal or pentagonal,
and the croup shield has the angular endings noticed in the last species. The scales of the bands and
of the shields generally are beautifully ornamented with lines, depressions, and little tubercles, which
ai-e more or less concentric. Thei-e is some hair on the long neck, and on the legs and tail. The five
digits and claws on the fore limbs are moderately developed, for the thumb is very small, and the fourth
finger only a little longer. But the index is long, with a short claw, and the second has a stouter and
longer claw, and the thii-d is shorter. It has a slender snout and small ears.

Mr. Darwin writes that it "prefers a very dry soil and the sandy dunes of the coast of Chili, where
for many months it can never taste water. In soft soil, the animal burrows so quickly that its hind
nuarters would almost disappear before one could alight from one's horse." It also inhabits the Pampas
to the south of Buenos Ayres, and extends from 36" lat. southward to the confines of Patagonia. It
inhabits burrows, to which, however, it does not confine itself during the day. Its flesh is said to be
remarkably tender and well tasting. It is a hardy species, and can live in the dreary solitudes of Port
DesLi'e on the east coast.

* Dasypm villosua (Desmarest). f Dasypus minutus (Desmarest).

THE BALL ARM.IUILLO. 187

The Ciicliicames, iinother grouii of Avniinlillos, were so culletl after the Indian name for a black
kind, •ttliich has a very long tail, and which is the type of it.

The two kinds included in the group have four lingers, and five toes, which are separate, and the
backs of the feet are round and covered with scales. The claws are conical, and the animal walks, as
it were, on the toes more than on the sole, being thus digitigrade. The teeth numljer about eight ou
each side above and below.

THE PEBA, OR BLACK TATOU.*

This Armadillo has a veiy wide geographical range, extending from Texas, through Central
America to Guiana, Brazil, and Pai-aguay, and a variety called Dasypus Kappkri inhabits Surinam.
It has great eai-s, which are long and placed very close together, and the muzzle at the end of the long,
tapering face is not unlike that of the snout of a Hog in shape. The head is small, long, and straight,
but the mouth is large. There are eiglit teeth on both sides of both jaws. The body is hairy below
the shields and bands, which are largely developed. Then the neck and shoulder shield extends far
back and comes as low as the elbow, and is composed of numerous scales disposed in many concen-
tric rings, having the concavity in front, the first embracing the neck in its curve. The croup shield
extends from the back to the origin of the tail, and reaches as low as the knees, and the concavity of
its rings is turned towards the rear, the last embracing the tail. These scales are hexagons. Between
the shields the bands are marked with zigzag lines forming very acute angles, and in .some degiee
gliding over one another according to the movements of the animal. Out of fourteen specimens,
two had six, one Iiad seven, seven liad eight, and there were four with nine bands; the full-
grown ones have the greatest number. The head shield descends from the ears to the muzzle, and
covers the cheeks as far down as the eyes, and there are small, interspei-sed, detached scales over
the throat, the under jaw, the legs, and feet. The body is sixteen inches long, and the tail is
nearly as long — fourteen inches — and is stout at the root. One variety of the species has some of the
rings of the tail soldered into a case, which is used as a horn by the Indians. It is a timid,
nocturnal animal, tolerably swift-footed and very expert in bun-owing. It is never found in the
woods, but delights in the open plains and cultivated fields, and is much hunted on account of
the delicacy of the flesh, which, when roasted in the shell, is fat, and something better than
Sucking-pig in taste. These long-tailed Armadillos bury gai-bage and flesh in their burrows, and
eat it at their leisure.

Another species of this group is the Mule Armadillo (Dasypits hijhridus, Desmarest), which has
long, straight ears and a short tail. It roams farther north than the other kind, and is common
on the Pampas, and is not nocturnal, nor does it burrow very easily. The female has from eight
to twelve young at a birth, and the individuals of a litter are often of one sex.

The Armadillos of all kinds, it is said, only have one litter a year, and then the young are
numerous, but the mother has never more than four teats, and many have only two.

The last gi-oup of the Armadillos, the Tolypeutes, contains some remarkable species, which have
the power of rolling themselves up as in a ball-shape, and they walk in a most extraordinary manner
on the tip of long and powerful front claws, and also on the flat and tip of the hind ones.

THE BALL ARMADILLO.f

This is a small and very beautifully ornamented Armadillo, which has three free centiaS
bands and a short tail, with large fore and aft shields. It rolls itself up on the slightest alarm,
so that the great shoulder and croup shields meet, the head and tail fitting in exactly, in front, so as
to close up the body very safely. The little animal, which is rarely more than fifteen inches long,
and lias a tail of a couple of inches in length, is found in Brazil, Paraguay, and Buenos Ayres,
and its w-alking on the long, stout claws of the fore legs gi\'es it a very curious and unsteady
appearance.

It is an active, sprightly, light-footed little thing, according to Dr. Murie, and is constantly on
the move, going here and there with much vivacity. Poising itself on tiptoe, it trots backwards and
forwards as if on some urgent errand. In captivity the food was raw meat, boiled egg.s, and bread-
* Dasypus Pcha (Desmarest). t Daaijpas (Tol ypeidcs) apar (GeofFroy).

KATUHAL SI STORY.

anil-milk. In the forest land, wliere it dwells along with its fellow armoured creatures, it has the
advantage of being able to curl itself up, and to present no tangible part of its body to the host of
mischievous Monkeys of its locality. Tlie other Armaildlos, when retiring to their holes, are often set
upon by their lively quadrumanous neighboui's, and are dragged out by the tail with great gusto ; but
the little Tolypeutes curls himself up and laughs at the disappointed IMonkeys, who can find nothing
to pull at about him.

The shoulder shield comes down like a flap, far in front, and the croup extends behind in the
same way, and they and the bands have large scales, which are very pretty in .shape and ornament.
The shields are veiy stout, and so is the .skeleton within. The fore foot has three large clawed
toes, on the tips of which the animal walks. The thumb of the fore extremity is to be seen in the
skeleton, but is not always visible in the skin, and it is very small and liigh up ; the index Ls long,
and the claw also, and it is slightly bent, but sharp at the tip. The next claw is the largest and
longest, and has a cutting edge at the back and outer part, and the point is sharp. The next digit is
smaller. In the hind foot there are five toes, one being high up and rudimentary, and the second and
third having broad, flat, curved, short nails, the third being the greatest. Tlie fourth nail is smaller,
and they are all placed more or less flatly on the ground.

The shell of this Armadillo is blackish-brown, and the skin between the central bands is bald and
smooth. There are nine back teeth on each side in both jaws, and there are none in front. The
muscles which enable this Ai-madillo to bring its tail and nose together and to foi-m a ball shape, are
not simply expansions of the common muscular tissue, which "exists dee])ly in the skin in so many
animals, but are special structures. The most important are in relation to the position of the head, neck
limbs, tail, and the shields and bands, when the body is about to be and while it is bemg rolled up : and
these roller-up muscles are so ai-ranged as to jiermit of the large liver and other internal organs not
suSering pi-essure during their natural or temporary displacement. On the other hand, the unrollers
act when the body and bones are in the rolled-up condition. The muscles of the back ai-e very
tendinous, and to a degree they unroll the animal, but this is also performed by muscles which are
attached underneath the first movable band of armour, and to the front part of the spine of the blade

TB.E PICEICIAGO. 189

bone ; this will tend, when it contracts, to pull out the legs and protrude the fore part of the body, the
centre being still rigid. Another drawer-back of the bladebone assists in this action, and it is inserted
into the front or chest shield. The rolling up is done by the action of mu.scles which draw the nose
down, so as to make the long head at right angles to the neck; tluu the forelegs and bladebones
are drawn in and up. At the same time, the muscles which pull down Uh- tail a. t on the hind .shiehl,
and draw it down and forwards. The legs are pulled up, and then a great muscle, which is largely
attached to the front and hind shields, and has a tendon-like expansion in the middle of its coui-s-x-
beneath the movable bauds, contracts and pulls front and stern together. The muscles of the loins,
which in jumping animals bring the spine to a curve, do not act, and indeed are excessively small.
The chief bend in the back is between the second and third lumbar vertebrae. (Murie.)

GENUS CHLAMYDOPHORUS.-THE PICHICIAGO.*
This is an Edentate animal, resembling the Armadillos more than any others, and is about six
inches in length. It has a conical-shaped head, a large full chest, short clumsy powerful fore limbs,

with four great nails rising gradually one above the other, the external shortest, and broadest ; and
the whole so aiTanged as to form a sharp-cutting instrument, rather scooi)ed, and very convenient for
progi'essiou under ground. The back and croup are broad and high, and the tail is small. The hind legs
are weak and short, the feet being long and narrow, and there is a well-defined heel. The foot is
arched, the toes are .separate, and the nails are strong. The whole surface of the body is covered with
fine silk-like hair, which covers over the limbs on to the palms. But the most striking peculiarity is the
long-banded shell, which is loose as it were throughout, being attached to the back immediately above
the spine by cellular tissue. It rests on two knobs on the frontal bones, and these are the great attach-
ments of this important covering. There are twenty-four bands and no separate shields, and their
consistence is somewhat more dense than leather of the same thickness. They are composed of
scales or plates of geometrical form, and the bands are separated by skin. There is a notch in the
last band for the tail, and the free inferior edges of the bands are everywhere fringed with silky hair.
This elongated band structure is moved, to a certain extent, by two broad thin muscles, which are
beneath it, on the biick, and each of which divides, on approaching the .shoulder, into two portions, one
being attached to the bladebone, and the other to the occiput.

The ear is hidden by hair, and is small ; so also is the eye, which is black. The nostrils open

downwai-ds, at the inferior border of a large cartilage. The mouth is small, and there are eight teeth

on both sides in both jaws. They are simple molare, and are separate and cylindrical. The head

is large behind, and the jaws come almost to a point, and the lower has a long ascending ramus. A

* CMamijilnphonis triincalKS (Harlan).

190 NATURAL UISTOEY.

great passage for the spinal cord, and the two processes on the frontal bone, add to the curious
ai)pearance of this " bumi^y " skull. The pelvis is remarkable in its structure, and is open in front.

Some of these animals have the bands of the armour not attached, as has been mentioned,
to the muscles of the back and to the liead, but have them adherent to the skin of the back to the
edge ; and the sides and under part of the body are then covered with woolly hair. These are the
largest animals of the two, and are found in Bolivia. The others are from Mendoza and Chili
These curious animals live, partly, mole-like lives.

From what may be gleaned by reading the previous pages about the Edentates, it will appear that
the order is a very remarkable one, and that it is interesting on account of the different external
appearance of the species, their di\erse modes of life, and singularly restricted localities. Evidently,
there has been much degeneration in some of the anatomical characters of many of the species, and
especially in those whose foot bones and neck vertebrae have joined more or less. The singular
resemblance which some species present, in various points of their anatomy, to the lower animals, Ls
very interesting, as is also their wonderful relation, in points of structure, with a number of extinct
Edentata, most of which were gigantic.

The Edentata, called also Bruta by LLnnfeus, form an order, the characters of which are, that there
are teeth of one or two kinds all very similar, and often wanting. The incisors are not developed
except in one group, and the rest have either molars which are separate, and numerous and simple,
or there are none. The extremities are clawed, and the tongue is more or less elongated. The great
groups of this order are the Tardigrada, or slow movers, which have a short face, long limbs, and
small tail; and the body is covered with crisp hair ; and the Effodkiilta, or diggers, which have long
faces and worm-like tongues, with short limbs.

The Sloths form the only family of the Tardigrada, and the Efibdientia are divided into the
genera Manis, the scaly Ant-eaters ; Dasypus, the Armadillos ; Chhunydophorus, the Pichiciagos ; Oryc-
teropus, the Ant-Bettrs ; and Myrrmcophaya, the American Ant-eaters. The Sloths form three genera
— Chol<epus, Bradypus, and ArctopUhecus. Amongst the Ant-eaters, the genus Manis may stand alone.
The genus Dasypus may be divided, for the sake of convenience, into the subdivisions Priodontes,
Kabassous, Euphractes, Cachicames, and Tolypeutes. The other genera need no subdivision.

The fossil Edentata are mostly gigantic, and formerly lived in Europe and in the Americas.
The European kinds would, were they now living, belong probably to the group of Pangolins, and
they are placed in the extinct genera Pervatlierium, Macrot/iefiuin, and Ancytotherium. In the
Pliocene deposits of North America, there are large Edentates belonging to the genus Mm-otJierium,
and the previous Miocene deposits contain Moropus. The later, or Post-Pliocene strata cf North and
South America, contain species of Mylodon and Megalonyx, Megatherium, Scelidotheriam, Calodon,
and Sphencdon; they constitute a group of Terrestrial Sloths — the Gravigrada. Tn Cuba, the fossil
Luge Gravigrade Sloths are of the genera Megcdocnvs and Myomorphiis. The Armadillo group are
found fossil in South America, and the genera are CJdamydotheriuin, Euryodon, Heterodon, Pachy-
tkerium, and Schistopleuron. The modern genei-a are found with these, and the gigantic Armadillo-
like animal, the Glyjjtodon, lived contemporaneously with the others, and possessed many strange
peculiai-ities in its skeleton. The Ant-eaters are represented by a fossil form called Glossotherium.
The oldest Edentates of the American Continent are found in North America, unless there is a
Miocene group of them in South America, which is by no means an improbable supposition. The
European Ant-eaters now found fossil lived m the Eocene, Miocene, and Pliocene ages.

With regard to the discovery of I'ecent and closely -allied species of Manis, in South Africa and Hin ■
dostan, it may be said that they are relics of the old forms of the intermediate and now sunken land,
between Eastern Africa and India, which existed befoi'e the last upheaval of the Himalayas. The evident
structural affinity between the EfTodient Edentata of South America and Africa, although the genera
are different, adds to the interest of the corresponding, and in some instances greater, resemblance of
many African and South American fresh-water fish and plants. The geologist looks back in the
remote ages of the globe, when the great land surfaces and seas of the world were rather aci-oss the
earth than in their pi-esent longitudinal position, in order to e.xplain this remarkable similarity.

P. Martin Duncan.

THE KAXGAROOS.

ORDER MARSUPIALIA, MARSUPIAL OR POUCHED ANIMALS.

CHAPTER I.

SUB-ORDER MARSUPIATA.— THE KANGAROO AND WOMBAT FAMILIES.

The Gre.vT K.\XG,VK00 — Captain Cook and the Gie;it Kangai-oo— Habitat— Appearance of the Animal— Marsupials separated
from the other Mammalian Orders, and why (Footnote) — Gestation and Biith of Young (Footnote)— Mode of Running
—The Short Fore Limbs— The Mitrsupiiim, or Pouch— Head— Dentition— Peculiarities in the Teeth— Hind Extremi-
ties— Foot — Great Claw— How the Erect Position is maintained — Whence then- Jumping Power is deiived — Other
Skeletal Peculiarities— Kangaroo Hunts— Becoming Riirer — Mode of Attack and Defence- Hands— Bones of tlie
Fore Limbs— Skull — Stomach —Circulation of Blood — Peculiarity in Young— Nervous System not fully developed—
Brain— The Baby Kangaroo in the Pouch -The Hare K.vng.vhoo— The Great Rock Kangaroo— The Red
Kangaroo— The Brush Kangaroo— The Brush-tailed Rock Kangaroo— The Comjion Tree Kangaroo— The
Kangaroo-Rats— Characteristics— The R.it-tailed Hypsiprymnus— Description— THE WOMBAT FAMILY- The
■WoMBAT-Peculiarities- Description— Habits— Teeth— Skeleton.

I. THE KANGAROO FAMILY.*— THE GREAT KANGAROO.f
In the year a.d. 1770, the gi-eat circumnavigator, Captain Cook, was on the coast of New South Wales
i-epairing his ship, and a party of sailors were sent on land, to procure food for the sick. They saw an
animal whose descrijjtion tempted Cook himself, and also Mr. Banks (afterwards Sir Jcseph Banks),
to land and go in jmrsuit of it the next day. The animal was seen in com))any with others of its
kind, and its .short front limbs, great hind legs, and huge tail, and the tremendous hops it made in its
very fleet course, quite bore out the statements of the astonished crew. They had seen, for the first
time, the Great Kangaroo in its wild condition and on its own ground. Soon afterwards a specimen
was shot, and notes were made about the creature, and some skins were brought over to Europe.

The animal has now become familiar to the civilised world. It is, liowever, gradually receding
before the Australian colonLst and squatter ; but formerly it roamed all over the plains of New South
Wales, Southern and Western Australia, Queensland, and Van Diemen's Land, with only the abori-
gines for its enemies. It is called Bundaary and BuUucur by the natives of the Liverpool range and
Murray, and the name Kangaroo is a mistaken native one.

On looking at one of the Great Kangaroos in some menagerie or zoological garden, tlie first
peculiarities that strike the eye are its small fore limbs, its very large and long hind ones,
and the great and thick tail. The smallness of the head, which has rather long ears, and a long
dusky brown muzzle, the length of the body, and the comfortable grey-brown, thick, shortish fur, are
then noticed. But the princiijal fact which impres.ses all these things upon the visitor, is that the
female may have a little Kangaroo with its head poked out of a kind of pouch in the under part of
the body. Sometimes the little one jumps out and gets in again if it is frightened, and tlie old one
moves, hoiis, aud jumps about, with its jiortable nursery, with the greatest ease. \

Sometimes the Kangaroos may be seen feeding, and then the awkwardness of their gait becomes

* The Macropodida. f Macropus gigaiiteus (Shaw).

X The presence of the pouch, or marsupium, containing the teats, involves many structural and physiological pecu-
liarities which separate the Marsupialia, in a classificatory sense, from the rest of the Mammalia. The Great Kangaroo,
which may be considered a fair example of the M.arsupials, has in the female a set of skin muscles, around the pouch, beneatli
the skin, which close it. The milk, or mammary gland, has four long, slender teats in the pouch, aud beneath the skin
of it is a muscle called the cremaster, which is largely developed. It spreads over the surface of the gland, and its action is
to squeeze it and to force out the milk through the teat. There is thus protection for the young, and milk is given forth,
without the effort of the young in sucking. The reason for this is obvious. The Great Kangaroo, which is often as tall as a
man, is pregnant for about thirty-nine days only, and then a little one, not bigger than a thumb, is born ; it is not completely
formed, and is blind and cannot move itself. The mother places it in her pouch, and it fixes on to a teat, where it hangs for
about eight months, and then it begins to look out of the pouch. The duration of the life of the young in the womb is thus
very small, and it has no placenta there, which in the other and non-marsupial M.-immalia forms the life-union between the
mother and the offspring before its birth. Thus, the Marsupials form one gi-eat group of Mammalia which are " implacen ■
talia," withoiit placentas or " after-births," .and all the other Mammalia are "placentalia," aud have this link between
mother and young. In all the Mammalia hitherto described the young come into the world by a single passage. In tliose
now under consideration (the Marsupialia) there is a double passage, and the womb is separated into two portions, being
double ; so they are termed Didelphia. The marsupiimi has two remai-kable bones more or less in relation to it, and all animals
thus furnished are termed Marsupialia, and they form two sections or sub orders— (1) The Marsupiata proper, mth marsupial
bones, mostly with pouches, and with inflected lower jaws. (2) The Monotrem.ata, which have marsupial bones, dejiressions
in the skin, when suckling, like ill-developed pouches, and beak-like jaws in front, which are not inflected.

192 NATURAL HISTORY.

evident ; for the small fore legs and curious paws are on or very close to the gi-ound, wliilst the hack
pai-t of tlie body is raised up by t)ie long hind legs, aiid, as it were, balanced by the great tail.
These hind legs seem to do nearly all the running, or rather jumping, both being used togethei-;
and the taU is of use in supporting the long body when the animal suddenly raises itself up straight,
and squats on its hind quarters. The small front legs then appear quite stunted, and the ears stick
up, and the small head is held straight. But in slow walking, the fore feet are placed on the ground,
and the animal rests on them whilst it brings the long hind
quarters forward and outside theiu. Evidently the senses of
liearing and sight are very acute ; but they are used to warn the
animal of danger, rather than to urge it to attack, for it is a
feeder on herbs, leaves, and grass, and often may be seen reclining
and moving its jaws, as if it were chewing the cud after a fashion.

When moving with gi-eat velocity, the Kangaroo depentls
upon the hmd limbs alone, bounding along with
great ease, over ten, fifteen, or more feet at a jump.
Its body is then carried almost horizontally, and
the tail is stuck out as if to balance it.

If the short fore limbs are examined, they will
be noticed to be able to do a great deal in the way
of holding, clasping, and turning things about, and
they are used in patting the little ones, and in
embracing and cleaning them. The five digits, or
fingers, have a very free movement, and the fore
arm can twist and turn like that of the higher
animals ; that is to say, it is capable of pronation
and supination. The first digit, or thumb, has two
joints (phalanges), and the other four have three ;
and the five curved claws (the third and fourth
being large) are useful weapons of offence. But
they and the fingei-s are often used for very different
purposes, and they have, in the female, to open the
curious pouch for the young ones, and to place
them there. There is an evident relation between
the aiTangement of the bones of the wrist and this
neces sary
office or func-
tion. Tlie
marsujy'mm,

or pouch, is skeleton of the gkeat kangaroo.

a kind of

inbending of the .skin of the lower part of the belly, and is moist and naked inside. In it, in the
females, are the nipples of the mammary glands, and to these the very young Kangaroos* hang on
for a long time, before they see the outer world. They are put in there by the mother, when they are
just born, and when very small and not perfectly formed. They grow there, and after a while, leave
the nipple when they think fit. As this pouch, witli its contents, would drag upon the mother, it is
kept from doing so, more or less, by two bones which are found amongst the muscles of the lower
part of the body, and which are attached to the front or pubic bones of the pelvis. The}' are called
marsupial bones. They exist also in the males, but they have no open pouch, for it is, as it were,
turned outwards, and contains part of the reproductive organs.

The head is long, and is remarkable for the long nose, and large full eyes, with eyelashes, for the
Kangaroo is not nocturnal in its habits, like most of the Marsupials. The upper lip is .split, the end
of the nose or muffle is naked or hairy according to the kind, and the brain-case is small. The nostrils
* >See Footnote (J) on previous page.

•XATO.VV OF TUE KAXGARi

;ii-e at the sule of the end of the muzzle, iui.l are slit like and olili.iiu', and there are bristly " smellers"
to the fieshy lips and chin. A slender tongue is sometimes seen for an instant whilst the Kangaroo
is feeding, and if the bones of the jaws be examined, the angle, or lower part of the back of the lower
jaw, will be found to be turned inwards.

The long jaws have not very many teeth, and there are two large lower front ones, or lower
incisors, which project in a line with the lower jaw; they are horizontal and more or less pointed, Init
have an outer and inner cutting edge. The upper incisors, six in number,

tht

each side of

Th,

y are
I, and
tooth
ir pre-
1 both
= 28.

the middle line, are placed on the pre-maxillary bone, and they work up and down

liroad and have the cutting edge below, and the outer one, on each side, is broad, groov

complicated by one or two folds of its enamel, which are continued from the outer side of tl

obliquely forward and inward. There is a space or diastema behind the incisors. There are fi

niolars, one on each side of both jaws, and then follow four molar teeth above and below and

sides of the mouth. The dental formula is thus — Incisors, [Ei' ; premolars, ,E, ; molars, ^_

Tliere ai-e no canine teeth in the

adults, but their germs may be

found in the very young Kangaroos.

As the Kangaroo is a vegetable

feeder, and delights in grass, leaves,

and heibs, its teeth are eminently

of a non-carnivorous kind. It may

be remarked that when the month

is closed, the cutting edges of the

upper incisors come against the

outer cutting edge of the long front

teeth of the lower jaw. The true

molars increase in size from front

backwards ; and the crown of each

molar is squarish, but is longer than broad, and it has two principal cross ridges, which, when not

worn, are tall, and have shai-p edges. Besides these, there are two other transverse ridges which are

smaller and not so tall. One of these is on the front part of the tooth, and the other on the hinder (in

the upper molars only). Then there is a long ridge which connects the cross ones. They are all

covered with enamel. When the tooth is worn, we find it presenting, according to Mr. Waterhouse,*

two powerful loops or folds. On comparing these teeth with those of the herbivorous mammalia

already noticed, a remarkable dift'erence will be seen.

The hinder extremities consist of a nearly straight, long, cylindrical bone, the femur, which
has a hemispherical joint head, and a large trochanter, which reaches above the joint ; of two
leg bones — the tibia, which is prismatic above and cylindrical below, but with only a slight
inner ankle projection, and the fibula, which is distinct but thinned and concave in its lower half,
where it is close and attached to the other bone, and forms the outer ankle projection. To these are
added the bones of the ankle-joint and the clawed toes. The Kangaroo being a gi-eat jumper, and
having a great tendon, the analogue of the tendo achillis of man, has a powerful projecting process of the
hinder ankle bone for its attachment. But the great length of the foot is produced by the size of the
fourth and fifth or two outer toes, and especially of the fourth, which often reaches a foot in length,
including the metatai-sal bone behind, and the pointed claw in front. The great claw looks like a long
hoof, is three-sided and sharp-pointed like a bayonet, and with it the animal stabs and rips open the
liody of its opponent.t The outer claw is very small, and there is no great toe (or fii-st), but the second
nnd third are long and slender, and are united in a common skin, so as to look like a single toe with
a double nail, the hair coming to the roots of it. The long narrow foot is nearly as long as
the leg bones, and is admiiably adapted for jumping forwards, as well as sideways, and for su])-
porting, when the legs are widely separated, the weight of the erect body. The body in that

M.-in

* AVaterhouse's " Natural Histo
order has been taken.

t R. Owen, " Marsupialia ;" " TotUl's fydoiKedia of Anatomy and riiysiology.

Marsupiata, fiom wliicli much of this description of the

194 XATVRAL HISTOIiY.

position has the leg bones straight, the thigh hones oblique, and tlie pelvis and spine erect, the gi'eat
tail being a prop beliind. Owen remarks that in man it is the massive and expanded muscles o£
the back of the pelvis and uj)per pai-t of the thigh, or the gluteal muscles,* which are the chief struc-
tures in maintaining the erect posture. But in the Kangaroo, the narrow bones of the haunch could
not afibrd attachment to great gluteal muscles ; so a muscle which is but slightly formed in man, and is
called the little psoas, is greatly developed in the Kangaroo, and has evidently the power of main-
taijiing the erect posture, although it is situate within the body and in front of the spine. The gi-eat
jumping power is due to the leverage of the ankle and long toes, and the muscles which supply the
tendon already mentioned, and others which have the same office. These are of great strength and size,
and there are some accessory muscles to the thigh and leg. The long spine of the back lias powerful
processes, and the jar of the gi-eat jumps is received by two vertebrje which, anchylosed or united
together, form the sacrum. The tail is made up of many vertebra?, and covered with muscles. The
great blood-vessels running underneath it have many chevron, or V-shaped, bones, to protect
them from pressure. The marsupial bones, one on each side, are long, and broad below ; they are
movable on the pubis, and afford attachment to muscular fibres, act as a pulley for others, and
strengthen the walls of the abdomen. Formed within muscles and tendons, they are rather bony
growths than parts of the tnie skeleton, and hence they may be absent in some of the order, although
they are always present in the Kangaroos.

Although well provided with strong limbs and muscles, and acute senses, the Kangaroos
living the life of the deer and cattle of other regions than Australia, are subject to the attacks of
beasts of prey and hunters. In Australia the great Carnivoi-a do not exist, but there is a native dog,
the Dingo, aborigines, and trained dogs and colonists, who enjoy a Kangaroo hunt. The native
dogs stalk and run them down, the natives spear them after sometimes forming a great circle and
closing in and yelling and shouting. But the rifle and trained hounds have dislodged many more than
the natives, and the animals are becoming scarcer near the settlements than in former years. Dogs
which mn by sight afford many an exciting hunt, and the Kangaroo starts off, bounding at a great
rate, and clearing all sorts of impediments with ease. It is hard riding to keep up with the chase,
■rind e.specially in hot weather, when the Kangaroo often escapes, thanks to its greater powers of
endurance. Sometimes the Kangaroo will stand at bay, and will rip up a .solitary Dog with its
claws, or will kill with a single blow of the leg and tail. Three or more Dogs are usually laid on, one
more fleet than the others, to "pull" the Kangaroo, while the others rush in and kill it. Mr. Gouldf
says that it sometimes adopts a singular mode of defending itself, by claspmg its short, powerful
fore limbs round its antagonist, leaping away with it to the nearest water hole, and then keeping
it beneath the water until drowned.

Mr. E. Foulerton, who has paid some attention to the habits of the Marsupials, writes that the
Great Kangaroo, although its numbers have been greatly diminished in some pastoral districts, still
is numerous enough to render some runs almost worthless for pa.storal purposes. They may be seen
there in thousands, eating off all the best gi-ass, and in the bad seasons reducing the cattle to starving
point. They have few enemies but man, as even the native Dog will never attack them, unless they
are very young. An " old man " Kangaroo is a fomiidable opix)nent ; he will severely wound and
even kill a man, unless approached cautiously. Their mode of attack is to " hug " him bear fashion-,
and then rip him with the hind foot. When pursued, they generally take to the water, and there
stand at bay, and the luckless man or dog who gets within then- grasp is forced under the water, and
held there until drowned. The middle-aged Kangaroos, or Flyers, easily outstriji the hunting Dogs
at the stait, but they are gradually gained upon. When caught, the Kangaroo lights to the la.st.

The diminutive fore limbs are sepai-ated by narrow shoulders, and although the upper arm is short
and well furnished with muscles, the fore arm is long, slendei', but very movable. The hand is short
and broad, and there are four curved, sharp claws, the first one, or thumb, being the smallest, and
the third and fourth the largest. The hair covers over the fingers to the claws, which can
separate widely, grasp and hold, and be bent on the palm. The movements of the wrists and fore
arms are considerable, and a large and long upward-turning muscle is in the space between the ulna

* See also Vol. I., p.age 58, Note. t ih: Gould'.? works on Australian animals, occasionally quoted by me.

^.XATOMV OF THE KAXOAliOOS. 195

and radius (the bones of tlie arm). Moreover, tlie ulna joints witli a cavity in the cuneiform hone
of the wrist ; and the first row of ^yrist bones has three in it, and tlie second has four. The first
l)halange.s, or those of the thumb, are not placed as a thumb in relation to the wrist bones, and
it is the outer fingei-s that gi-asp with their claws. As the Kangaroo has to lift np its ai-ni,
there is a collar-bone, and the arm bone (humerus) is perforated on the inner side of the end above the
tlbow ; and the olecranon is long.

The bladebone has a curved ridge, and the muscles of the upper part are less than those
xvhich are attached to the part below it. There are thirteen pairs of ribs to the chest.

The skull is long and comparatively smooth, and even the ridges for the temporal muscles are
■only slightly raised ; and in old Kangaroos the bones do not unite or anchylose as tliey do in the
other Mammalia hitherto noticed. The teeth are not used as weapons of offence, but simply to gi-aze
with, and the lower jaw is not quite solid at the chin, but only so below, so that the lower incisor.s
■can be slightly separated. The ear-bone is remarkable for being separated into three parts, namelj%
the temporal or squamous, the petrosal, and the tympanic ; and this is rather a reptilian character.
Moreovei', the air-chambers of the side of the under jiart of the skull are in the form of I'ounded
prominences, or "bullce." They are situated in the lower part of the ear-bone, called squamosal.
The zygoma, or process between the cheek (malar) bone and the ear, is hollow, complete, and arched,
its front part being, moreover, extended downwards in a projection which reaches below the gi-inding
teeth, and resembles that of the Sloths somewhat. The lower jaw has its back part, or angle, bent
inwards (or inflected) strongly, and this is, except in one set, a characteristic of the Marsupiata.

Tiie Kangaroo, being a vegetable feeder, lias a stomach suited for the diet, which also permits
•of a certain amount of regurgitation of food up again into the mouth, when a kind of chewing of the
cud occasionally is indulged in. The stomach is large and long, resembling the colon or large intestine
of the highest Mammalia in its general shape. It measured, in one instance, according to Owen, no
less than three feet six inches, the measurement following its bends or curvatures. Tt consists of a
left, middle, and right or pyloric division. The left ends in two round sacs, and these are really con-
tinuations of the stomach separated to a certain extent by a peculiar arrangement of the three bands
•<)f muscular fibres which pass separately along the organ. Numerous clusters of secreting glands are
found in the mucous membrane of the stomach in its middle part, and they disappear near the pylorus
where the tissues are thick and corrugated. The animal has a small intestine, a csecum, and a large
gut, but this last is not much larger than the first part of the stomach. The organs of the
circulation of the blood resemble those of the other Mammalia, but there is a distinction which relates
to the short period during which the young Kangaroo is a portion of the maternal being. So soon is
it born, and so soon therefore mii.st it breathe, that before
the heart has gi-owii much, it has the blood from the lungs
and the rest of the body rumiing through it. The young
Kangaroo breathes when its' heart is not fully developed,
yet it has the perfect double circulation set up. The
auricles of the heart communicate as in other Mamnnls
until birth, but the duration of this communication is veiv
short in the Marsupial, and its traces so evident in the
other Mammals are wanting in it. The arteries of the
body are simpler than in those Mammals which have x
more complicated intestinal arrangement, and Owen, in his
gi'eat work on the Marsupials, has pointed out that the
liind limbs and tail are supplied with arterial blood l)>
vessels which have an aiTangement not without its simi
larity to that of birds. Leading a very simple life, and
one of great sameness, moving in a manner which does
not require much complexity of muscular action, the nervous system of the Kangaroo could not
be expected to be highly organised or fully developed. The brain is small for tlie body of the animal
It is simple in fonn, and does not cover the cerebellum, which is visible behind, and has a little lobe
on each side. The surface of the brain proper has a few convolutions on it, and more j)erha2)s than
33

lOG

NATURAL HI!STOR\

the Rodent Mammalia have. The commissures of the biain, wliicli relate to the complexity of the
method of life, are unequally developed. The central one, or the corpus callosum, is small, and the
front one is veiy large. Finally, the part of the brain which refers to the sense of smell is large,
but hidden by the brain proper, and its nerves supply a large
sui face in the nose, at its upper part at the base of its skull.

The young. Kangaioo, when very small, and almost trans-
]iaient, comes down from the womb into a canal, and gets into
the uro-genital sac, as it is termed. Thence it is tttken by the
mother, and put into the marsupium, or pouch, where it fixes
on to a nipple, and holds on. As the little one is ever " at
the breast," it might have any quantity of milk go the wrong
way, but tliis is provided for by the upper part of the organ
of voice (the larynx) being jjrolonged at the back of the nose,
d)ove the level of the long nipple. Breathing goes on through
the nose, and swallowing safely through the gullet.

THE HARE KANGAROO.*— THE TURATT.
There are many kinds of Kangaroos, and one of them,
w hich is solitary and nocturnal in its habits, is called the Hare
Kangaroo, of which Mr. Gould writes : — " The name of Hare
Kxngaroo has been given to this species as much from its
similarity of form and size to the common Hare as from its
similarity of habits. I usually found it solitary, and sitting
alone on a well-formed seat under the stalk of a tuft of grass
on the open plam.s. Foi a .shoit distance, its fleetness is beyond that of all others of its group
that I have had an opportunity of coursing. Its powei-s of leajnng are also equally extraordinary.
While out on the plains in South Austi-alia, I started a Hare Kangaroo before two fleet Dogs.
After running to the distance of a quarter of a mile, it suddenly doubled and came back to me,
the Dogs following close to its heels. I stood perfectly still, and the animal had arrived within
twenty feet before it observed me, when, to my astonishment, instead of branching off to the right or
to the left, it bounded clear over my head, and, on descending to the ground, I was able to make a
successful shot, by which it was jirocuved. It has the end of the nose covered with a fine set of hairs.
The fur is long and soft and very liare-like, and it lias small limbs and sharjily-pointed nails."

THE GREAT U0(. K KAX(iAKOO.

This is very different from its timid congener just desci-ibed. It inhabits the sterile and
rocky mountains in the south-eastern pai-t of Australia. It scampers about the rocks, and readily
escapes Dogs, and it is a dangerous and formidable animal to approach, for it will, if closely pressed,
turn on its enemy, and force him over the rocks. It bites, and uses its strong fore-arms very effi-
ciently. It is called Mncropns robustus, and is often found in companies of four or six ; and it has
more powerful fore-limbs than the Great Kangaroo, which is even sometimes the smaller of the two.
It has the part of the nose called the muffle without hail-.

The Eed KANGAEOOt is so called from the red tint of the male, which is sometimes marked under
the neck and elsewhere. It was found in the plains near the Darling and Murrumbidgee rivers, and
is celebrated for its great fleetness ; and the female is often called the " Flying Doe." It is as fast
as the Agile Kangaroo,:^ which is long-haired, and is found in Northern and Eastern Australia.

Van Diemen's Land has a Kangaroo with a long, deep-grey fur, with red on the back of the ears,
neck, and shoulders ; and it is called the Brush Kangaroo by the settlers. It is eaten and highly
esteemed, and its skin is exported for leather. Liking the dense and damp forests of the island,
it finds a safe retreat therein, and probably this is what keeps them from extinction, for they have
been killed by the thousand, in order to supply contracts for boot-leather. The young of this Kangaroo,

* Macropns Icporoifks (GouUl).

f JIaa'opHS rtifiis (Desm.).

X Macropus ar/ilis (Gould, sp,).

TUE BRVSU-TAILED HOCK KAXGAROO. I07

wliicli is also called after Bennett the naturalist (Afacropus Bcnnelti), does not leave the poucli of its
mother permanently, until it is as large as a Rabbit.

In the north of Australia, in the region of King George's Sound, there is a small Kangaroo which
is not larger than a common Rabbit, and it is a very interesting example of how species may differ
from the type of a genus. It has a slender and rather short tail, which is rather scaly, and has but a
few hairs on it, but it is not very short. The ears are short and round, and the hind feet are short.
The departure from the contiguration of the Great and Brush Kangaroo shape is therefore great. It
ii called the Short-tailed Kangaroo. The hi-st four kinds mentioned are grouped together with others
under a sub-genus, IlaliiuUurus (fiA.ua, a leap, and oipa, a tail).

THE BRUSH-TAILED ROCK KANGAROO.

Almost as strange as the slender-tailed Kangaroo are those which are called the " brush-tailed,"
an<l which inhabit rocky situations {Macropm peniciUatus). Mr. Waterhouse thus notices them : —

" Whilst the Kangaroos of the plain" have the fore part of the body slender and light, great
.strength in the hinder parts, combined with a long leg and foot, adapting them to fleetness, the tail
powerful, and assisting in the support of the long body, we perceive certain modifications in the form
and structure of these parts in the Rock Kangaroos which adapt them to their particular habitats.
The body, more compact in form, requires but little as.sistance from the tail for its support, the leverage
being less ; and the feet are, though powerful, eompai'atively short, and remarkably rough beneath,
being thickly covered over this part with hard tubercles, which no doubt prevent the foot from
slipping. The nails of the two larger toes are shorter than usual, and, indeed, in some of the
.species, scarcely project beyond the fleshy pads with which the toes are terminated, and on the
upper surface of which the nails are placed. A long and slender foot, with long nails, as in the
typical Kiingaroos, it is obvious, wo\ild be ill-adapted to an animal which has to leap to and balance
itself upon the small ledges of the rocks. The tail is large, but not thickened at the root, as in the
plain Kangaroos ; and, unlike the tail in those animals, it is clothed with long hairs, which, giadually
increasing in length from the base of the tail, become very long and bushy at the opposite extremity.
It serves to steady the animal in its lea)is, and to balance the body when perched in situations which

HIS SATUIIAL JHHTUJn'.

require it, but is of little assistance in supporting the weight of the trunk. Its muffle, that is to say,
the end of the nose, is naked, as in the scrub-inhabiting Kangaroos just noticed, and it forms the type
of the sub-genus Ileterojms " (eVepos, altered, irous, foot).

One of these was hunted and shot amongst the woods of Liverpool plains, New South Wales, by
Bir Edward Parry, wlio wrote that they appear to be gregarious, and seem to prefer the neighbourhood
of rocky ground, in which they had holes, and to which, when hunted, they retreated. They swarm
along in gi-oups one after the other, and jump from side to side, alighting on ledges so slightly prominent
that their resting thereon appears to be an impossibility. They go into caves and holes in the rocks
during the day, and they enjoy the night, and gambol and feed by moonlight.

A Rock Kangaroo, with white and black bands on it, inhabits Western Australia, and a .short-
eared kind enjoys the hot sands and high rocks of Hanover Bay. There is a Kangaroo in the island
of New Guinea {Macropus Brunii), and it was the first seen by Europeans.

THE COJIMOX TREE KANGAROO.*
This is an inhabitant of New Guinea, and instead of frequenting the brush and scrub, whicli are
not physical features found in the island, or the rocks, it lives in the forests, and is no mean but rather
a good climber of trees. There is a Kangaroo look about the animal, even when it is seated on a thick
branch, but the fur is very diffei-ent to that of its fellows of Australia. The fur looks coarse and
harsh, and is not very unlike that of a Bear. There is no soft under fur, but all the hairs are long and
resemble the long ones of the Kangaroos, and the ears iuv i|nitp clothed with it. Theri, as the animal

glides down the stem of a
tree, the shortness of the
hind legs becomes apparent;
moreover, the claws on the
foot do not resemble those of
the Kangaroo. The feet ai-e
stout but rather short, and
the toes are more equal in
size than in the other
Kangaroo'-. The claw of
the outer toe is often on a
line with the middle of the
longest one (the loui-th),
whilst the nails of the
double inner toe extend
filightly beyond its base.
The nail of this large fourth
toe is about an inch in
length. Then the fore limbs
are nearly as large as the
hind ones, and are very
strongly made, and so are
the hands, the claw of the
middle finger being three-
quartej-s of an inch in
length. It has a clumsy-
i MM \ 11 Lt his VI u looking head, with a high

muzzle and small lower
jaw. The upper lip is straight. It has a large face and small ears, and the colour of the fur is
brown-black and yellow-brown. The tail is very long, tapers slightly, and is considerably of use in
steadying the climber, and it is carried very much after the fashion of the other Kangaroos when

* DendroJagus ursinus (}ii\x\\.).

THE KA XGA ROO- R. I T.

the animal lias come clown from its tree and hops oft to its retreat. A specimen in tlie Zoological
Gardens of London had grizzled-grey fur, whiter underneath the jaws and on the neck and limbs, and
the ears were wide apart, and the powerful fore limbs ended in five claws. The tail tapered but
very little. This was pro-
bably a second species called
the Brown Tree Kangaroo
( Deiulrolagus iuustus).

These Tree Kangaroos
have a small superior canine
tooth on each side, and
the hinder incisor is not
grooved. Hence they form
a snb-genus, which is called
Dendrolngus (S4vSpov, a tree,
Kayis, a hare), Tree Hare.

THE KANGAROO-RATS.*
These are also called

Potoroos, and are of small

size, being about that of a

Hare or Rabbit. They

have a compact body, the

neck being short, and the

eai-s are rather rounded, so

that their shape is unlike

that of the Great Kangaroo,

but it resembles that of the

smaller kinds somewhat.

They have a rat -like shape,

both hind feet like the

Kangaroos, a long tail, and

peculiar teeth. The head

is very like that of a Rodent, and the incisor teeth in the upper Jaw have the front ones the longest. The

canine teeth exist in the upper jaw, and the premolar is large, and has numerous distinct vertical

gi-ooves on the outer and inner sides ; and the front molars are the largest, the smallest being in the

rear. The toes of the fore foot are unevenly developed ; the three central ones are large, and those

at the side are small. The nails are solid, broadest above, and much compressed. The foot is
long, and the fourth toe and nail are gi'eatly developed.
The tifth toe is next in size, and the small second and third
are coupled together by skin, and form a projection, with
two small nails, which are useful in combing and scratching
the fur. The first toe is absent. The Rufous Kanga-roo-
Rat inhabits New South Wales, and is very common, t Its
nest is made up of grasses, and is frequently placed under
the shelter of a fallen tree, or at the foot of some low shrub.
Din-ing the day the little animal lies curled up in its nest,
but it occasionally reposes in a " seat " like the Hare Kan-
garoo ; but it never sits in the open plains. On being
pursued it jumps like a Jerboa, with great swiftness for a

short distance, and seeks shelter in hollow logs and holes. Its food consists of roots and grasses.

Another is a native of Van Diemen's Land, and keeps to the open, sandy, or stony forest land,

rather than to the thick and humid bushes. It is called Uypsiprymnus cuniculus.
* Sub-genus Hi/psipri/mnus. + Bypsiprymnus rufescens.

20.1 NATVliAL UlUTuIiY.

None of the animals hitherto described as Kangaroos have any prehensile power in the tail ; but
in one group of the Kangaroo-Rats, the tip of the tail has a brush of long liairs above, and is clothed
beneath with short hairs, which are closely applied to the skin. This structure, and the motion
of the muscles beneath, give the Tufted-tailed Kangaroo-Rat* of New South Wales a power of
encircling and holdmg objects, especially for seizing grasses with which to make its nest. This is
placed in a hollow in the ground, excavated for its recej)tion, and its opening being on a level
with the surrounding herbage, the practised eye of the native is required to discern it. After the little
thmgs creep in, they drag some grass after them, and close up the place. In the evening, they sally
forth and scratch and dig up roots with their strong fore-claws.

THE KAT-TAILED HYP,SIPKYMNUS.+
The Rat-t:iiled Kangaroo-Rat is about fifteen inches and a half long, and the tail measures, in
addition, more than nine inches. It has a long head and rather short hind feet, and the rat-like tail
has short stiff hairs on it which do not quite hide the scaly skin beneath.
The body fur is long and loose, and dusky brown, more or less tinted
with black and pale yellowish-brown. The end of the nose or muzzle
is spotted, and the ears are short and lounded. This little animal lives
in New South Wales, and was that which was first described by Hunter
under the name of Potoroo, or Poto Roo, being the "Bettong" of the
natives of.ifew South Wales. The stomach of the Kangaroo-Rats is
less .sacculated than that of the Kangaroos, but its left-hand portion
is enormously developed in proportion to the rest, and may be compared
with that of the Ruminantia in point of relative size. It may be noticed
that the lower jaws of the Potoroos, which ai-e largely inflected at the
angle, articulate with the skull rather difterently to those of the
Kangaroos. In the.se la.st, the cavity at the base of the zygomatic
process which receives the lower jaw is broad and slightly convex,
permitting considerable side-to-side movement which is useful in the
occasional "cud chewing." But in the others the cavity barely deserves
the name, it being a nearly flat surface, and, therefore, not much
motion, except that of an up-and-down kind, is possible to the jaw.
The organ of hearing has been slightly noticed in the Great Kangaroo
in a former page, and it is necessaiy to obsei-ve that the tympanic bone
does not form a perfect tube in the Potoroos as in the Kangaroos, and
that the surface of the auditory cavity is also increased by a " bulla,"
or bony cavity, bulging out at the under part of the skull. Corre-
sponding " bullse " were noticed in the Rodentia, but in their case the
swelling is in the temporal bone, whilst in the Marsupials, with the
exception of the Wombat, they are formed out of the sphenoid bone (the
great ala). Moreover, the Potoroos, like the Kangaroos, and some of
the other Marsupials (the Phalangers and Koalas), have the ear
chamber prolonged, by a number of cells, into the zygomatic process of
the temporal bone. The Kangaroo-Rats are numerous, and there are
many sjiecies. They are distributed in New South Wales, Western Australia, Van Diemen's Land,
and South Australia, and to the north-east.

Sir R. Owen investigated the anatomy of a small Kangaroc-Rat which had been described by
Mr. Ramsay in Australia, and which was remarkable for its musky smell. It is a long and slender-
bodied little animal, measuring about one foot three inches and a half from the snout to the end of the
tail, which is five inches and nine lines in the female, and rather less in the male. Its hinder legs are
shorter, and the head is more slender and pointed than in the Kangaroo-Rats just described. The
fur is of moderate length, pretty closely applied, and has numerous rather long hairs scattered here
* JTi/psipriimnus penkUlatus. + Hiipsipvi/muus murinus.

TUK II u.UU.l J. 201

and there, the visible jiortions being bhvck or bhickish, oi- jiointed. These are relieved by the dark
and liglit-barred colour of the visible part of the shorter hairs, all tlie hairs being of a leaden-gi-eyish
tint at the skin. The upper surface of the body has a close and stiff fur of rich golden colour, mixed
with black ; the head, face, and lower parts of the legs are dark brownish-grey ; and there are a few
patches of white along the centre of the throat and chest. The fur covers the tail for half an inch or
more, and then the rest is naked, and covered with a network of scales about three to a line in length.
The scales are black above, and a few minute and very short hairs project from the intei-stices of the
scales. The animal has a naked muffle and rounded ears. The hind foot is remarkable, for whilst
the skull and dentition of the creature would associate it more with the Kangaroo-Rats, the position
of the first toe (wanting in the Kangaroo-Rats) resembles somewhat that of the Phalangista .group, or
the Phalangers, which will be noticed further on. The sole of the foot is long, and there is a nailless
Iirojecting first toe, like a thumb ; next come the second and third toes — small, united by skin, and
leaving the two combing-nails visible ; and then the largest, or fourth toe, is followed by a smaller
fifth. Sir R. On-en judged that this animal was an occasional climber of trees, but that its usual
locality was on the ground. Mr. Ramsay states that it li^es in the Rockingham Bay district, and that
it frequents the dense and damp positions of the scrubs which fringe the rivers and clothe the sides
of the coast range. Its habits are diurnal, and its movements are graceful. It procures its food by
turning over the rubbish in search of insects, worms, and tuberous roots, frequently eating the
palm-berries, which it holds with its fore paws, after the manner of the Phalangers, sitting up on its
haunches, or sometimes digging. They have a pouch, and two young ones have been found in
it. Considering the importance of the great toe to the animal, and its linking together the climbing
and jumping Marsupials, Sir R. Owen acknowledged the necessity of recognising Mr. Ramsay's
name of H ijpsiprymnodon moschatus, and of thus bringing in a new genus into a new family in the
Kangaroo series with two large front teeth in the lower jaw.*

II. -THE WOMBAT FAMILY.— THE PHASCOLOMYID.E.

THE WOMBAT, t

On looking at a picture of a Wombat, the outside distinctions between it and all the Kangaroo

family may be seen at a glance, and aii examination of its anatomy affords still greater evidence of

differences which, to a certain extent, relate to the fact that the animal now under consideration is a

burrower and gnawer. About two to three feet in length, the Wombat has only a small stump of a

tail, a low body, small feet, and strong limbs, ending in broad exti-emities, well provided with claws.
It has moderately long and coarse fur of a gi-ey-brown colour, and there is some white about the short
ears, and the feet are black. It is usually a ])lnmp animal, with a bare black muzzle, and feet naked
beneath, and covered with little tubercles of fiesh. The claws are large, and those of the fore feet (five

* Description by E. P. Ramsay, F.L..S., and communication from Sir R. Owen to Linnean Society, Lonilon.

t Phascolomys Wumbat (Perou and L333ja). <JidT«io,\o!, a pouch, and m^s, a mouse.

202 NATURAL UISTOJiY.

in number) are solid and bvit little curved, whilst the four on the hind feet are curved and concave
beneath. It has long moustache hau-s, and plenty of them. Sir Everard Home had one, and he found
that its principal desii-e was to get into the ground, and to do this it worked with great skill and
rapidity, covering itself with eai-th with surprising quickness. It was very quiet during the day, but was
in constant motion during the night; was very sensible of cold ; ate all vegetables, and was particularly
fond of new hay, which it ate stalk by stalk, taking it into its mouth like a Bear, in small bits at a tima
It was not wanting in intelligence, and appeared attached to those to whom it was accustomed, and

who were kind to It. When it saw them, it would put up its fore-paws on their knees, and when taken
up would sleep on the lap. It allowed children to pull and carry it about, and when it bit them it
did not appear to do so in anger or with violence. When wild, the Wombat hides up during the day,
and quits its retreat at night, to dig and get grass and roots. It is by no means an active animal, and
shuffles along like a Bear. The Wombat has a slit-like, imperfect
marsupium, and the special peculiarities of its order, such as mar-
supial bones, the inflected lower jaw, and double uterus. On the hind
foot the innermost or first toe is very small, nailless, and placed at
right angles to the foot, and the second, third, and fourth toes are-
joined by skin, and have larger claws than the small fifth toe. The-
stomach is simple, and has a peculiar glandular apparatus, and the
ciecum is short, and has an appendage as in man and some monkeys.
The teeth are remarkable for then- number in relation to those of the
, and for having no rootlets. The incisor teeth greatly resemble those of a Rodent, like
They are two in number in each jaw, and are widely separated from the other teeth. The
molai-s are long, curved, and, like the incisors, have no true fangs^ut persistent pulps. They are
divided into two nearly equal parts by a fold of the enamel entering deeply into the body of the
tooth on one side, and a slight indentation on the opposite side.

The number of the persistent teeth is as follows : — Incisors, f ; true molars, {~^. It is the only

Kangarc
the Rat.

THE rUALAXGER FAMILY.

Marsupial wliicli lias an equal number of incisors in both jaws. There are no canines. As the
Wombat uses much force in gnawing, the muscles of the jaws and their bony attachments are large;
consequently the temporal ridges are strongly
marked. There is a deep and strong zygomatic
arch, and in the lower jaw the turned-in angle is
of great size. The chin is also large, and the joint
of the jaw also. The sutures of the bones of the
skull are scarcely ever obliteiated, and the auditory
" bulla; " are formed in the temporal bone. With
regard to the marsupial bones, they are long, flat,
curved, and, moreover, less expanded near their
attachment to the pubis. The ribs are fifteen in
number on each side, and the collar-bones are
large and stout. There is a curious power of move-
ment of the ankle, so that the foot can imitate the
turning movements of the wrist and fore-ami of
man. This pronation and supination is because
the small bone of the leg, the fibula, is free and
not attached to the other bone (tibia), and because
there is a muscle whose action is to move the
fibula after the fashion of the corresponding
muscle in the fore limb. The stomach is smaller teeth of the wombat.

.,..TT>- 11 1 11 ^. l'l>pcr Jaw; B, Lower Jaw; c. Molar.

than m the Kangaroos, and has a large gland.

The Wombat has been found in South Australia, Van Diemen's Land, Bass Strait, and in New
South Wales.

CHAPTER II.
THE PHALANGER, POUCHED BADGER, AND DASYURE FAMILIES.

THE PHALANGER FAMILY— The Koala— Habits— Characteristics— The Ouscus— The Vulpine Phalanger— The
Dormouse Phalanger— Habits -Remarkable Characters— The Flying Phalangers— Its Flying Machine— Habits—
The Squirrel Flying Phalangers— Habits— The Parachute-like Membrane— Exciting Scene on board a Vessel-
Characteristics — The Opossum Mouse— The Noolrengek, or Tait — A Curiosity among Marsupials— Distinctive
Features— THE POUCHED BADGER FAMILY— Characteristics— The Rabbit-eared Perameles— The Bandicoot
—The Banded Perameles —The Pig-footed Perameles —Discussion regarding it — Characteristics— THE
DASYURUS FAMILY— Characteristics— The Pouched Ant-eaters— The Banded Mybmecobius— Description-
Great number of Teeth— History— Food— Habits— Range— The Ursine Dasyube— Appearance— " Native Devil "—
Ferocity— Havoc among the Sheep of the Settlers— Trap to Catch them— Its Teeth— A True Marsupial, though
strikingly like the Carnivora— Skeletal Characters peculiar to itself— Mauge's Dasyube— The Dog-headed
Thylacinus- Description-Resemblance to the Dog— Habits— Peculiarities— The Brush-tailed Phascog^vle—
Description— Other Varieties.

III.— THE PHALANGER FAMILY.— THE PHALANGISTID.?:.
The loftiest of the gum-trees of the country from Moreton Bay to Port Phillip, and even more
widely than this, were often the familiar haunt of a small Marsupial animal, not unlike a little Bear,
about two feet in length, and without a tail. It is a famous tree-climber, and its stout body, small
head, short limbs, and well-developed feet, are all cased in an ash-gi-ey fur. It has moderate-sized
ears, which are hidden by the long hair of the head, and it has a short and nearly naked black muzzle.
The eye is large and without eyelashes. The natives climb up the trees after it, according to
Mr. Gould, with as much ease and expertness as an European would get up a long ladder, and
having reached the Ir.mch, perhai^s forty or fifty feet from the ground, they follow the animal to the
extremity of a bough, and either kill it or take it alive. This animal is called the Ko.\L.\, and it feeds
33*

201 NATURAL BISTORT.

on the tender shoots of tlie bhie gum in preference to tliose of any others, and it rests and feeds in the
boughs. At night it descends and prowls about, scratching up the gi-ound in search of some peculiar
roots, and it seems to ci»ep rather than to walk. When angry it utters a long, shrill yell, and assumes
a tierce and menacing look. They are found ia pairs, and the young soon learn to perch on the mother's
shoulders. Mr. Gould says that, unlike most quadrupeds, the Koala does not flee upon the approach
of man, and that it is very tenacious of life. Even when severely wounded it will not quit its hold
of the branch upon which it may be. The animal has a nice thick fur, which nearly hides the ears, and
the pouch is larg"fe. A careful examination of the animal shows that it differs from the Kangaroos and
Wombats ; it is more like the latter than the former, but it is sufficiently distinct to be placed in
another family, the Phalangers, in which the incisors are six above and two below, and there
are two canines in the upper jaw, and in some, two in the lower jaw, but not in all. There are
two premolars above and lielow, and either six or eight molars in the upper and lower jaws.

The head is rather small, and the face is short, the upper lip being cleft. The limbs are equal ; the
fore feet have five well-made toes with compressed and curved claws ; the hind feet have five toes,
of which the fir.st or inner one is large, nailless, and at right angles to the rest, and opposable to
them. The second and third toes are shorter than the othei-s, and are united in a common skin, and
they have nails. The fourth and fifth toes are curved and have compressed claws. The name
Phalangista is derived from this union by skin of the phalanges of the foot. The tail may be absent,
or long, and more or less prehensile, but sometimes not.

There is a well-developed pouch, and the stomach is simple, and the caecum is usually very long
and large. One young one is produced at a birth.

The Koala, or Native Bear,* may be taken as the type of the tailless group, and it belongs
to the genus rhascolarctun.

The Cuscus, or Ursine Phalanger,t belongs to a second division, for it has a prehensile tail. They
are common animals in the dense woods of the Island of Celebes. They squat on the branches half asleep
by day, but are lively enough at night, and it is said that they have a fancy for flesh as well as fruit.
A pretty spotted Cuscus inhabits the islands of Amboyna, Waigeoe, Banda, and New Guinea, as well
as Cape York. % They are dull in captivity, but when placed together they fight with fury, groxrling

* Phascolarctus (poucheil-beav) cinereus. f Pha^anrjista vrsiiia. J Phalangista {Cuscus) maculatus.

TUE VULPINE FHALAXGEli. 205

like Cats, and bitiug. Tkey have small rod eyes with a vertical i)Hpil, short ears, and a very stupid
look. They are all nocturnal in their habits, and feed on fruit, butls, leaves, meat, and eggs.

One of the Phalangers, called Cuscm albus, is abundant in New Ireland, Amboyna, Banda, and
Timor, and is remarkable for its peculiar odoin-. The male is white, and the female reddish-brown in
colour, both being about the size of a common Rabbit. It is slow in its movements, lives in trees, and
takes good care to conceal itself, but its scent discovers it. The naturalists Lesson and Garnet stated
that when they traversed the forests of the island the odour of the Cuscus was distinctly perceptible.
It is stated that if these animals see any one, they suspend themselves at once by the tail, and if they
are looked at steadfastly, they will drop by-and-by from fatigue, and are then easily caught ; in fact,
iliey pretend to be dead.

THE VULPIlSrE PHALANGEE.*— THE BRUSH-TAILED " OPOSSUM."

Waterhouse describes this Marsupial to be about the size of a Cat, but in shape it is somewhat
between a SquuTel and a Marten. It has long and somewhat pointed ears ; and the tail, clothed
with bushy, harsh, black fur, except beneath, near the end, where it is naked, is about as long as the
body. The limbs are rather short, the muzzle is moderately long and foxy-looking, and the wholo
body and head, except the naked muzzle, are covered with a grey and black fur. The moustaches ara
long, numeroiis, and black, and the feet are yellowish-white, and the naked soles are flesh-coloured,
the naUs beiiig dusky. The pupil of the eye is round and inten.sely dark in colour. They
sleep during the day, and become active during the evening, and on the alert for their food,
which consists, in the Zoological Gardens, of bread and milk, fruit and vegetables. They hold
up the solid food between the hands as a Squirrel holds a nut, and nibble very much in the same
manner. Their native haunts are New South Wales, Western Australia, and North Australia.
They inhabit the large trees, usually the Eucalypti, selecting such as have the heart of the branches
or trunk decayed, and they take refuge there during the daylight. At night they leave their nests
and climb the branches of the trees which yield them buds and fruit. They descend to the ground
for food, and doubtless now and then eat snails and small birds. When climbing they use the tail to
hold by, and carefully grasp every support with it before they let go with their feet or hands. A
brown-black species, closely allied, lives in Van Diemen's Land, f

* Phalangista vulpin

j: Phalanghta fujiginosa.

XATURAL HI STOUT.

-LPINE PHALA^

THE DOKMOUSE PHALANGEE.*

This is a very small Marsupial animal, about six inches in length, including the tail, which
measures nearly, if not quite, one-half. It is like a little Dormouse, with its soft fur, ashy-gi-ey in
colour, large ears, and thick tail. They are broader, not so long in the leg, and usually larger than,
the Dormouse, and the eyes are larger, and the upper jaw overhangs the lower. But they look just as
fat and sleepy in the daytime. The habits of these animals, moreover, are much the same, for the
Phalangista living in Van Diemen's Land feeds on nuts and other similar food, which they hold in their
fore paws, using them as hands. They are nocturnal, remaining asleep during the whole day, or, if dis-
turbed, are not easily roused into a state of activity. They come forth in the evening, and are then more
easy and rapid in their movements. Some of these were kept in the Zoological Gardens of London, and
it was noticed that they made great use of their tail, which is prehensile, and thus not like that of the
Doi-mouse. They ran about a small tree, using their paws and tail to hang on by, and using the tail
as a suspender when they descended. Sometimes the tail is thrown in a reverse direction, and is
turned over the back, and at other times, when the weather is cold, it is rolled closely up towards the
under part, and coUed up almost between the thiglis. They are like little balls of fur, and are very
gentle and harmless.

Mr. Gould states that another kind of these Dormouse-looking creatures is veiy abundant in the
northern portion of Van Diemen's Land, and that of all trees it appears to prefer the Banksia, whose
numerous blossoms supply it with a never-ceasing store of food, both of insects and sweets. It under-
goes a kind of hibernation somewhat similar to but not to the extent of that of the Dormouse.

Tliese pretty little mai-supials are remarkable by having only three true molar teeth in each
jaw on both sides ; but they have the usual two narrow, long, and pointed incisors in the lower jaw.
The auditory bullae on the base of the skull are large, and the hard palate has four openings in it.
The lower jaw is slender behind, and the angular process is inflected, the process of bone being,
however, slender and pointed. Their mouse-like shape is evident, but they have a large eye, and
the ears are often more or less crumpled and pendent, but they start up and are erect at the least
noise. There are three species of these Phalangistidie, and they are included in a sub-genus,
Dromicia. They live in Van Diemen's Land, "Western Australia, and South Australia. Some which
were found in King George's Sound district live in retreats under the dead bark of trees, and
in holes in trees which have been bui'nt out.

Pladar.'jista Nana.

THE .SQUIliUEL Fl.YiyO VllALAMj KR. 207

THE FLYING PHALANGERS.

The nest genus of the family Phalangistidaj contains the Flying Phalangers, which foiin the genus
Petaui-us. They have all the peculiarities of the Phalangers, and also a skin on the flank of the body,
■which is extended between the fore and hind legs, which serves to sustain the animal in the air,
-when descending from a height. They have a long hairy tail. The Yellow-bellied Flying Phalanger
{I'etaurus australls, Shaw) may be taken as the type of the genus, and is fourteen inches long
in the body, and nineteen in the tail. The peculiar fold of fur, which is its flying machine,
is attached to the fore leg as far as the elbow, and all down tlie legs to the great toe. It
is common in all the brushes of New South Wales, particularly those along the coast from Port
Phillip to Moreton Bay. Mr. Gould states, in addition to this, " In these vast forests, trees of one
iind or other are perpetually flowering, and thus oSer a never-failing supply of blossoms, upon which
the animal feeds. The flowers of the gum-trees, some of which are of great magnitude, are the
principal favourites, and, like the rest of the genus, it is nocturnal in its habits, dwelling in holes
of trees and in the hollows of branches during the daj', and displaying the greatest activity at night,
•while running over the small leafy branches, sometimes even to their very extremities, in search of
insects and the honey of the newly-opened blossoms. Its structure being ill-adapted for terrestrial
habits, it seldom descends to the ground, except for the purpose of passing to a tree too distant to be
attained by springing from the one it wishes to leave. The tops of the trees are traversed at a pace
and with us much ease as if it were on the ground. If chased, it ascends to the highest branches, and
performs enormous leaps, sweeping from tree to tree with wonderful address."

A slight elevation gives its body an imjietus, which, with the expansion of its membrane, enables
it to pass to a considerable distance, always ascending a little at the extremity of the leap. By thLs
ascent the animal is prevented from receiving the shock which it would otherwise sustain.

THE SQUIRREL FLYING PHALANGER.*

This little creature, called the Sugar Squirrel by the colonists, is very generally dispersed over
the \vhole of New South Wales, where, in common with other Phalangers, it inhabits the magnificent
gum-trees. Mr. Gould states that it is noctnrnal in its habits, and that it conceals itself during the
day in the hollows of trees, where it early falls a prey to the natives, who capture it both for the sake
of its flesh and skin, which latter, in some parts of the colony, they dispose of to the colonists, who
occasionally apply it to the same purposes as those to which the fur of the Chinchilla and other
animals is applied in Europe. At night it becomes extremely active in its motions. It prefers those
forests which adorn the more open and grassy portions of the country rather than the thick brush
near the coast. By expanding the membrane attached to the sides of its body it has the power of
performing enormous leaps. They have the power of changing their coui-se to a certain extent when
descending, parachute-like, from a height. It is stated that a ship sailing off the coast had a Squirrel
Petaurus on bo.ard which was permitted to roam at large. On one occasion it reached the mast-head,
and as the sailor who was sent to bring it down approached, it made a spring from aloft to avoid
liim. At this moment the ship gave a lurch, which, if the original direction of the little creature's
■coui-se had been continued, must have plunged it in the sea. All who witnessed the scene were in
pain for its safety ; but it suddenly appeared to check itself, and so to modify its career that it
alighted safely on deck. This kind is not more than eight or nine inches in length, and its bushy
tail is as long as the bod}^ The soft fur of the tail, like that of the body, is a delicate ashy-
gfey. There is a long stripe of black fur from the naked tip of the nose to the root of the tail,
and the cheeks are white with a black patch ; the flank membrane is edged with white, and this is the
colour of the underneath part of the body ; the ears are long, and of a brownish flesh colour.

Another kind, with a yellow flank membrane, is short-headed, and it inhabits Port Essington,
N'orth Australia,! whilst the true Short-headed Flying Phalanger is found in New South Wales.J Pro-
bably it is the fii-st of these which is found in New Guinea, and which has been called the Squirrel
Flying Phalanger by mistake. These Flying Phalangers all have long and nearly naked ears,
* Petaurus scivreus (Sh.aw). t Petaurus arid. t Petaurus Irevieeps.

NATURAL HISTORY.

SQIIRREL FLYIXO I'HAf.

and the side membrane extends to the outer finger. They have the outer two fingers of the hand
long and equal to each other, or very neai-ly so ; the second and third fingers are distiiictly shorter
than these ; and the inner finger is very short. Their dentition is — Incisors, " ; canines, tJ ; pre-
molai-s, ^ ; true molars, 1^ = 40. The incisors of the lower jaw are, as usual, long and pointed, and
almost horizontal, whilst the upper incisors are large and dilated, so far as the anterior ones are
concerned, and the next is smaller than the hindmost. The canine is large, and separated from the
first premolar, which is large and compressed, and all the molars have rounded tubercles on them.

The Opossum Mouse * of the colonists of New South Wales used to be common in the neighbour-
hood of Port Jackson. It is about the size of a common Mouse, and of an ashy brown and grey colour
on the upper parts and on the flank membrane ; the rest is white. It belongs to the Flying Phalangers,
but its side membrane scarcely extends to the wrist, and the thumb of the hind foot is large. It has
only three true molars m each jaw on both sides, and the canine is close to the incisors. It forms
part of the sub-genus Acrobata, whilst those already mentioned constitute the sub-genus Belideus
{fiiKos, a dart). Finally, the short-eared, white-bellied Taguan Phalanger of the scrub of New South
Wales is the type of the sub-genus Petaurus.

GENUS TARSIPES.— THE NOOLBENGER, OR TAIT.t
Tliis is an Australian curiosity amongst the Marsupials, and is a small, mouse-like thing, with
a long muzzle, small ears, long tongue, and very few teeth. Its dental formula is — Incisors,
"~^ ; canines, J^^ ; molars, |=^. The fore and hind extremities have toes something like those of the
Lemur, called Tarsius (Vol. I., page 248). The fore feet have five smallish toes, each thickened at
the end, and a minute scale-like nail, which reaches neither the end nor sides of the toe. The hind
feet have five toes on each, and the innermost has the formation of a thumb, and is slender and
nailless. The second and third toes are vei-y short, and are joined to the end and furnished with
small pointed nails, which are directed upwards almost at right angles to the plane of the toe ; and
the fourth toe is twice as long as the second and third. The fifth is shorter than the fourth, and '

Pctaurus pminicsu.

+ Tarsipcs rostratus.

THE POUCHED BADGERS. 209

lias a scale-like nail on tlie ui)])er surface. 1'his is the case with the fourth also. There is a long,
slender tail. The small bones of this little honey -sucker are very thin, and the lower jaw has two
slender and almost straight sides, and the inflection is wanting.

This little animal is I'are, but it is to be found in We.st Australia, from Swan River to
King George's Sound. It is nocturnal in its habits, and catches flies in captivity with gi-eat ease.
But its food is honey, which it gets like a moth, with its tongue. The tail is prehensile, and the little
pouch contains four mammie in the female.

The little Tarsipes, with its honey and insect diet, has a very long intestine and no caecum,
whilst the Koala has a Cijecum more than three times tlie length of its body. The pigmy Acrobata has
this organ disposed in a spiral curve in the left lumbar region. The marsupial bones are large in the
Koala, and are long, broad, and flat, almost equalling the iliac bone in size. Finally, with regard to
the parachute-fold of skin on the flanks of the Petaurists, it is a simple fold with very elastic tissues
within, which draw it up to the body, more or less, when the animal is walking or standing. When,
however, the limbs ai-e extended after a jump, the membrane becomes very tense, and acts by
increasing the surface of the body so as to oppose gravitation by the supjiorting power of the aii'.

IV.— FAMILY PEKAMELID.E.— rOUCHED BADGERS.
This group of Marsupials embraces two genera, Perameles and Chceropus, the fir.st having several
species and the la,st but one. They have all long, slender heads ; large, long ears, with fleshy lobes ;
longer hind than fore limbs ; the tail short in some, long in others, and haiiy ; and the pouch is
dii-ected backwards. They have a considerable number of teeth, there being ten incisoi-s in the upper
jaw and sLx in the lower ; there are two canines in each jaw, three premolars in each jaw on either
side, and four true molars behind them, making forty -eight teeth in all. The teeth ha^'e fangs, the
premolars ai-e compressed and jjoiuted, and the molars have tubercles on them. The stomach is
simple.

GENUS PERAMELES (BANDICOOTS).— THE EABBIT-EARED PERAMELES.''
The so-called native Rabbit of the Swan Rivgr district of Western Australia is abundant
in the grassy country in the interior; and it frequents, in pairs, places where the soil will permit
of burrowing. It is about the size of a common Rabbit, and has a long and pointed muzzle, which is
naked at the tip. It ha-s long, oval eai's, which are tubular at the base. The eye is small, and
the tail is a little shorter than the body. The legs are longish, and the fur is well gi-own.

This sharp-looking animal lives upon insects, and its favourite food is a large grub, probably the
larvae of a species of Buprestis beetle which infest the roots of the acacia trees. In order to
obtain this peculiar food, it has to compete with the natives, who like it also, and often enough it has
to rush to its long and deep burrows for safety. Its flesh is sweet, and is much sought after by the
aborigines. One which was kept at the Zoological Gardens was very active in the evening, but
usually slept during the day-time, when, sitting upon its haunches, with its head thrust between its
hind legs, it appeared like a ball of fur. It was a very savage animal, and bit severely, holding on,
moreover, if it could, with its teeth. It waddled on its hind legs alone, which were straddled, and the
tail assisted in supporting the body. They have five toes to the fore-foot, of which the two outermost
are rudimentary and nailless, the remaining three are well developed, and are furnished with strong
solid nails, which cover the last phalanges which are cleft above in the longitudinal direction almost
to the root. The hind feet have a rudimentary inner toe, the second and third are joined and
ai-e slender, and have two hollow nails, and the fourth is large and, like the flfth, which is well
developed, has a solid nail sheathed on the end bone.

GUNN'S PERAMELES.- THE BANDICOOT.t
This is the animal which has given the native name to the genus, and Mr. Gunn, who discovered
the species, informed Mr. Waterhouse that it is common in many parts of Van Diemen's Land, going
by the name of Bantlicoot. It is a buiTower, and lives principally upon roots, and it Ukes the bulbs

* Perameles la</otit, t Perameles Guiinii.

210

NATURAL MIS TOST.

wliich are introduced from the Cape and elsewhere into gardens. It is about sixteen inches long, and
has a slender muzzle, moderate-sized ears, and the under parts of the body are white, the rest being
grey and pencilled with black and yellow, except behind, where it is blacker. There are four broadish
white bands on this part.

THE BANDED PEEAIIELES.*
This is a pretty little Perameles with a body about a foot in length, and a tail of about four
inches long. It has rather a sharp and long snout, rather large ears, which are broad at the base, and
long and pointed at the tip. The fur is longish and harsh, and is pencilled with black and yellow in about
equal proportions on the upper part of the body, there being a black ground colour on the hinder part
of the back. There, however, there are three broad yellow- white bands, the foremost of which crosses
the back. The feet and under pai-ts are white, and the tail is of the same coloiu- underneath, but

^- /'/^l fl"/ '^^^^

HANDED PERAMELES.

black on the top. The feet are slender, and the hind ones have a rudimentary inner toe, naked
beneath, in front, and at the heel. In the skeleton this inner toe has one or two phalanges, and a
small tubercle without a nail is visible before the flesh is removed. It inhabits Southern Australia
from east to west. This kind resembles the Bandicoot of Van Diemen's Land on the other side of
Bass Strait, and may be considered its representative. It is smaller than the Van Diemen's Land
species, but its tail is longer ; moreover, the ear exceeds those of the insular forms in size. Like
the other Perameles, the pouch for the yoimg opens backwards. " Though provided with strong claws
it rarely burrows," says Mr. KrefFt , " and it is a gi-eat enemy to little Rodents. It tumbles the Mice
about with its fore paws, breaks their hind legs, and eats the head."

New Guinea contains a short-legged Perameles, t which appears to be deficient in the usual
number of upper incisor teeth ; and another | resembling the common Bandicoot.

-THE PIG-FOOTED PERAMELES §

animal was found by Sir Thomas Mitchell on the
banks of the River Murray, and its appearance was so remarkable that much attention was paid to its

GENUS CHCEROPUS
A veiy rare little, large-eared, small-

* Perameles fasciata.

t Pei-ameles doreyaiius. t Perameles mm-esbyensis ^Rixms.).

. § Cliceropus castaiwtis —xolptK, a hog ; and TroJt, a foot.

TRS rOVClIED AyT-EATERS. 211

anatomy, whilst unfoi-tunately nothing pai-ticiilar was learned regarding its natural history and habits.
Subsequently the little creature, whose body is about nine inches and a half long, the tail measm-ing
in addition about four inches, was found in the interior of the country near the Swan River. It is an
active little animal, and a hunter of insects, but it will feed upon vegetable substances also. Mr.
Oould states that, like the Perameles, to which it is allied in many parts of its construction,
it forms a nest composed of leaves and other substances. The pouch is deep and runs iipwards.
and not like that of the Kangaroo, and there are eight teats. At first there was nnich dis-
cussion whether the animal had a tail, but there is no doubt about its possessing one when in
the perfect condition. The slender fore limbs, no thicker than goose-quills, end in two very small
digits, and they are provided with small, compressed, and but little curved nails. They have a small
fleshy pad on their under surface, behind which is a smaller one. The hind legs are longer than the
front ones, and are almost as slender. The foot is long, and at first sight appears to have only one
large toe, for the others are very small and far removed from the end of the foot. The outer little toe
has a small nail, and the iimer toes, joined, are almost as small, but they have hollow nails. The
gi-eatly-developed toe has a conical and compressed nail, but beneath there is a large fleshy pad ; the
rest of the foot is liaiiy. Hence it appears that the heel is not put to the gi-ound. The colour of the
long, loose, soft fur is brown-grey above, and yellowish-white beneath, the limbs and the fore feet
have a whitish tint, and the large toe is of a dirty white colour. So far as the skull and teeth are
concerned, the little Choiropus gi-eatly resembles the other kinds of Marsupials which are classified
under the genus Perameles. Sir Thomas Mitchell noticed the broad head and vei-y slender snout,
which, he stated, resembled the narrow neck of a wide bottle, in the specimen which the natives took
from a hollow tree after chasmg it on the ground. In the construction of the skull and in the number
of the teeth, this long-eared creature resembles the rest of the genus Perameles. In the upper jaw
there are five incisor teeth on each side, and they are close, and the canine is small, and resembles a
pi-emolai-, and is slightly distant from the incisors. The first premolar is separated from the canine by
a space of one line and a half, and slightly from the second premolar ; and the second and third pre-
molars and the four molars form a continuous line.

V.-TIffi DASYUUrS FAMILY.— DASYTJRID^.

These animals are all carnivorous, and prey upon small quadrupeds and the young of large ones,
as well as upon birds and insects. They are of diflerent shapes and sizes, according to the genera to
which they may belong ; and whilst some resemble the Shrew Mice somewhat in outward appearance,
others are like the Marten, and one important group may be compared with Shoi-t-legged Wolves, or
Jackals. Varying in size from that of a TNIouse to a small Wolf, the members of the diflerent
genera of this family are equally variable in the number of the teeth, of the claws, and in the develop-
ment of the marsupial pouch and its bones. They all have rather long muzzles and fui-ry tail-s,
which, however, ai-e not prehensile. The second and third toes of the hind feet are disunited and well
developed, and the thumb-toe is small or absent. There are eight incisors in the upper jaw, and six
in the lower.

GEXUS MYRJIECOBIUS.— THE POUCHED ANT-EATERS.*

The Banded Myrmecobius may be taken as an example of this genus. It is about the size of a
Hat, but it is more Squirrel-like in shape, and has a long and pointed muzzle. The tail is long and f uriy,
with long hairs also ; and the prevailing colour of the body is reddish, but posteriorly it becomes dark
or black. There are nine bands of light or white colour on the sides of the body, from the back over
the flanks, and the crupper is also marked with a band. The head is long, the ears are moderately
long, narrow, and pointed, the gape is considerable, and the small pointed snout has some rather long
smellers ; there are also some long hairs under the eye. A black mark runs on the cheek to the ear,
and has white hairs above and below it. The fur is somewhat remarkable. The under hair is scanty
and whitish-grey, and the upper hail- is rather coarse, short, and depressed on the fore parts of the
body. It is long on the hind and under parts, and the hairs on the fore pai-t of the back are black near
the skin and reddish at the tip. The fur of the head is short and brownish above, being composed of

* * Myrmecolhis fusciatus -/ivf^nf, ant ; ^ioi, life.

212 NATURAL BISTORY.

a mLxture of black, fulvous, and a few white hairs. The fore legs are father stout and strongly made,
and the five curved and compressed claws are admirably adapted for its method of life, which consists
of insect-hunting by digging. The hind limbs are suited to support the weight of the animal, as it
scratches with the fore feet, but they are deficient in the fii-st toes. The whole animal is about
seventeen inches long, seven inches being included in the tail This animal has a gi-eater number of
teeth than any other Marsupial, and, mdeed, they are only surpassed by some Cetacea and Edentate
Ant-eaters amongst the other Mammalia. There are fifty-two teeth in the mouth — namely, eight
upper and six lower incisors, four canines, six compressed false molars behind the canines above and
below, and ten small true molars above, and twelve below. The canmes of the lower jaw are incurved,
and the last lower molars are worn in ridges internally. The number of teeth appears, however, to be
vai-iable, and some have fifty-four and others less than fifty.

The Myrmecobius, although it has the inflected condition of the lower jawbone and small
marsupial bones, not more than half an inch in length, has no pouch. The young adhere to the
mother's nipples, and are protected by the comfortable fur and long hair of her body.

The Banded Myi-mecobius was first discovered by Lieutenant Dale, who procured a specimen
whilst on an exploring expedition into the interior of the Swan River Settlement, about ninety miles
to the south-east of the mouth of the river. Two specimens of this veiy elegant little animal were
seen by Lieutenant Dale, both of which fled to hollow trees for shelter upon being pursued. The
dis-trict in which they were found abounded in decayed trees and ant-hills ; and, from some peculiari-
ties in the dentition of the animal, combined with its extremely long and slender tongue, it became
evident that its food was insects, and the softer and smaller species, for procuring which, by scratcliing
up the earth, the strong foi-e feet and claws appeared to be adapted. Indeed, the peculiarities of
structure, combined with the fact that the animal was found in the vicinity of ant-hills, suggested
that its food, in all probability, consisted chiefly of Ants : and hence the generic name. As yet, how-
ever, we have no direct evidence that Ants form the chief food of the Myrmecobius, though it is stated,
in Mr. Gould's " Mammals of Australia," that wherever this animal takes up its abode, there Ants are
found to be very abundant. In the same work the following particulars of the habits of the animal
are given from the pen of Mr. Gilbert : —

" I have seen a good deal of this little animal. It appears very much like a Squirrel when
running on the ground, wliich it does in successive leaps, with its tail a little elevated, every now and
then raising its body and resting on its hind feet. When alarmed, it generally takes to a dead tree
lying on the ground, and before entering the hollow, invariably raises itself on its hind feet to
ascertain the reality of approaching danger. In this kind of retreat it is easily captured ; and when
caught, is so harmless and tame as scarcely to make any resistance, and never attempts to bite. When
it has no chance of escaping from its place of refuge, ic utters a sort of half-smothered grunt,
apparently produced by a succession of hard breathings.

" The female is said to bring forth her young in a hole in the ground or in a fallen tree, and to
produce from five to nine in a litter. I have not myself observed more than seven young attached to
the nipjjles." It is not nocturnal in its habits.

With regard to the range of the genus Myrmecobius, Mr. Gould states that it is very generally
dispersed over the interior of the Swan River Settlement, from King George's Sound on the south to
the neighbourhood of Moor's River on the north, and as far westward as civilised man has yet been
able to penetrate. Its species are also foimd near the Murray and Darling.

This many-toothed Ant-eating Marsupial has always been interesting to geologists, for in the
Stonesfield slates of the Oolitic formation of England, which lie low down in the Great Oolite, the
lower jaws of an animal have been found greatly resembling those of Myrmecobius. The fossil
Amphitherium has the jaws but slightly inflected, and is not without resemblance to insectivorous
creatures ; but, nevertheless, its similarity to Myrmecobius struck Owen and Lyell many years since.

GENUS DASYTJRUS.— THE URSINE DASYUEE.*
Being a great enemy of the poultry and tender rearlings of the colonists of Van Diemen's Land,
this small creature has earned the name of the " Native Devil." It may be compared to a Bear, with

* Dasyurus ursinus, '

THE D^iSlUHE. 213

a body about two feet in length, and the resemblance is tolerably correct in the fur, general propor-
tions of th& body and limbs, and also in its gait and its actions. The Dasyure, however, has a longer
tail than the Bear, and never grows larger than a Badger. It is a short animal, with a roiuid broad
head and rather a long snout, and the coarse black fur (l)rown-black on the head, tail, and beneath)
is marked by one broad white band across the chest and by another over the back, close to the Jail.
The tail 'is about half the length of the head and trunk. Harris notices that these animals wei-e very
connuon on the British first settling at Hobart Town, and were particularly destructive to poultry,
and Mr. Gunn states that they commit great havoc among Sheep, and that notwithstanding their
comparatively small size, they are so fierce that they are a match for any ordinary Dog.

As the settlements increased in Tasmania, and the gi'ound became cleared, the animals were
driven from their haunts near the town to the deeper recesses of the forests yet unexplored. They
were easily procured by setting a trap in the most unfrequented parts of the woods, baited with raw

flesh, all kinds of which they will eat indiscriminately and voraciously. They also, it is
prey on dead fish and blubber, as their tracks are frequently found on the sands of the sea-shore. In a
state of confinement they appear to be untamably savage, biting severely, and uttering at the same
time a low yelling growl. A male and female which Mr. Harris kept for a couple of months, chained
together in an empty cask, were continually fighting. Their qiiarrels began as soon as it was dark,
as they slept all day, and continued throughout the night almost without intermission, accom-
panied by a kind of hollow barking, not unlike that of a Dog, and sometimes a sudden kind of
.snorting, as if the breath were restrained a considerable time and then suddenly expelled. They
frequently sat on their hind parts, and used theii- fore paws to convey food to their mouths. The
muscles of the jaws were strong, and they crushed the largest bones asunder with ease.

This Da.syure, like the others of the genus, has the incisor teeth equal, and there are eight of them
in the upper jaw and six in the lower. The four canines are large, and there are two powerful
premolars in each jaw and on each side. These are succeeded by four molars above and below, and
on both sides of the mouth.

The incisor teeth, equal in size, are arranged in a semicircle in the ujjper jaw, and those of the
lower jaw have a corresponding direction, but they are rather the stouter. The canines are well
developed, and those of the lower jaw bite in front of those of the upper. They look eminently

NATURAL HISTORY.

TEETH OF THE PASYURE.

adapted for stopjnng and seizing prey, and their carnivorous character is surpassed by that of the
premolars and true molars. These last have a triangular grinding surface : the fii-st has four sharp
cus})s, the second and third have live, and the last, which is the smallest in the upper jaw, has only
tliree. In the lower jaw the last molar is of the same size as the last but one, and has four cusps ;
and tlie other molars have much resemblance to those in the upper jaw.

The hind feet have the toes separate and not united by a fold of skin, and there is a rudimentary
gi-eat toe in this species. The condyle of the humerus is not perforated — as in tlie Kangaroos, for
instance — for the passage of the blood vessels, but is
whole, and the outside of the bone is marked by a
groove, along which they pass.

Although this Dasyure has the lower jaw inflected,
and is a true Marsupial, the resemblance in shape, and
in dental and other characters, as well as in its habits,
to the Carnivora is striking. Its fierce character and
the nocturnal habits add to the similarity ; but there
are some very peculiar anatomical distinctions. The
wi'ist bones, called scaphoid and lunar, those which are
nearest the I'adius along the first row of carpal bones,
are separate in the Dasyure, but in the Carnivora they are united to form one bone. And in the
foot there is a peculiarity ; for whilst in the Carnivora there is a groove between the heel bone and
the astragalus, this is absent in the Marsupial Carnivore, and the articular surface of the bones is
continuous.

The Dasyures have a small crest of bone on the top of the skull, which is also seen on a grander
scale in the Carnivora. They have, moreover, the zygoma well developed and strong ; it bulges
ontwai-ds and curves upwards, but not to the amount seen in the true Carnivora. The occipital bone
is developed as in the non-Marsupial mammals, but its parts, instead of joining together and forming
one with age, often remain separate ; but this does not appear to occur in all the species of the genus,
for Owen, in his wonderful article on the Marsupials in the "Cyclopaedia of
Anatomy and Physiology," notices that in the little Dasyurus Maitgei the
occipital bone presents the usual state of bony confluence. He notices that the
Dasyure, in common with some other Marsupials, has the temporal bone per-
manently divided into its several parts, there being separate squamous, petrous,
and tympanic bones ; but the petrous and mastoid parts are usually united.
This is a reptilian peculiarity, but the tympanic bone of the Dasyure is not
without its resemblances to those of birds. The surface on which the lower
jaw moves or is hinged, is not composed entii-ely by the tem))oral bone, but the
malar bone is slightly included, and even the sphenoid comes into the joint.

Another marked character of the Dasyures is, thai their hard palates are
not whole, but have spaces and perforations, and this denotes a low organisa-
tion. This absence of a perfect hard palate is seen in other Marsujjials, and
especially in the Bandicoots (Perameles).

The angular process of the lower jaw, where inflected or bent in, is
triangular and directed upwards, with a blunt point ; and the condyle of the
jaw is low, being on a level with the molar teeth.

It is remarkable that the Dasyures should have the bones of the leg, the tibia and fibula, so
connected together as to allow of a certain degree of rotation on each other, after the fashion of the
fore-arm bones. The muscles of the leg are modified for the purpose. This interesting anatomical
point recalls one of the gi'eat distinctions between the fixed leg bones of man and those of the
hand-footed Ape. It is not found, however, in the non-INIarsupial mammals, whose habits of life are
simulated by the Dasyure ; but it is found in the Wombat, a burrower, and in the Koala, Phalangers,
and Opossums, which ai-e climbers. In examining the stomachs of the Marsupials, Owen noticed
that differences in food and habit are not met by alteration in the shape of the organ, as they are in
the higher Mammalia. Thus, the common Dasyure, the insectivorous Bandicoot, and the leaf-eating

BRAIN' or THE DASYURE.

THE LOG-EEADEI) rHYLACINUS.

Plialangei-s, have a full rouiul, oval, or sub-triangular-shaped stomach, with the right extremity

projecting beyond and below the pylorus. The length of the stomach seldom exceeds the height by

more than one-tliird. No ciccum is found in the carnivorous Marsupial, and the intestine is short

and wide, being continued, like the intestine of

a reptile, along the margin of a single and

simple mesentery, from the pylorus to the

rectum (Owen). The liver has a gall-bladder iii

the Dasyure, and there is a pancreas as well as

a spleen. The heart is contained in a slight

pericardium, as ia the other Mammalia. Tlio

Ursine Dasyure is found in Van Diemen's Land

only.

There are several kinds of Dasyure, wliicli
have been carefully noticed and described. One
is called the Long-tailed or Spotted Dasyure,*
and is about the size of a Cat. The fur is
reddish-brown, pencilled with yellow, and is
spotted with white both on the body and on the
tail. It has a tail as long as the head and body
togethei-, and the under parts of the body and
the fore-legs and feet are of a dirty yellow

tinge. It lives in Van Diemen's Land, and was, from its shape, at first called a Marten. The
teats are six in number, three on each side, and seated within a slight fold only of the skin, so that
there is no true pouch.

vrrER (a) and uxdek (m) view of skill

MAUGE'S DASYURE.+

This is a small animal, not larger than a half-grown Cat. It has a longish bushy tail, a broad
head, and is somewhat of greyish-yellow colour. There are white spots on the sides of the body and
tail. In confinement this little creature is torpid by day, but lively as evening comes on, and it
rushes about, with its tail extended, with great rapidity. It is very injurious to the poultry when in
a wild state, and is called the Wild Cat in Van, Diemen's Land. A variety of it is the Viverrine
Dasyure, which has the head and body spotted with white, the general colour being brown, black, or
grey, tinted with yellow, the under parts being white. It has long hairs to its tail ; rather large ears,
the flesh of which is of a pale pink, as is that of the naked lips, the tip of the nose, and the soles
of the feet, the latter being hairless, but covered with small fleshy tubercles. There is no trace of
an inner toe to the hind foot, unless it be a slight swelling of the flesh, marking the situation of
the rudimentai-y bone beneath. Both of these animals are to be found in New South Wales and
Van Diemen's Land.

The rest of the Dasyiu-es are widely spread over the continent. The smallest kind is the North
Australian Dasyure. Geofi"roy's Dasyure, which has a thin tail and an inner toe to the hind foot, in-
habits Western and Southern Australia and New South Wales, is a great killer of the Yellow-crested
Cockatoo, and they hunt and kill Mice or Rats as well as any Cat. They have not a pouch.

GENUS THYLACINUS.J— THE DOG-HEADED THYLACINU.S.§
This is a Dog-like, slim, narrow-muzzled animal, with clean and rather short limbs, a foxy head,
and a tail about half as long as the body, which in males is forty-five inches in length. It is about
the size of a Jackal, and the fur is short, but rather woolly and greyish-brown, faintly suffused with
yellow in colour. The fur on the back is deep brown near the skin, and yellowish-bi'own towards the
tip. It has from twelve to fourteen black bands on the body, and the tail has long hairs at the tip
only. The eyes are keen, lai'ge, and full, and they are black and have a nictitating membrane.

* Dasynrus macrtirus, or mnrnlcitus. t Dasiiurus Mtiur/ci (Geoffroy).

I ev.VuMJs, a pouch. § Tlii/kicinus ajnocepludus.

NATUSAL HISTORY.

The animal walks lialf on its toes and lialf on its soles or palms, and thus is a semi-plantigrade, the
body being bi'ought nearer the ground than that of the Wolf in running. There is a marsupial
pouch, but the bones are mei'e cartilages. The Dog-headed Thylacinus, or the Zebra^Wolf of the
colonist? of Van Diemen's Land, thus described, has often been taken for one of the Cai-niyora, and
certainly there are gi-eat i-esemblances between it and the Dogs. The canine teeth ai-e of large size,
but they are recurved at the top, and in the upper jaw are separated from the incisors by a space,
into which the point of the lower canine fits when the jaws are closed. This is different in the Dogs,

DOG-HEADED THYLACINUS.

whose lower canine passes on the outer side of the upper one when the mouth ^s closed. The pre-
molar of the Thylacinus has a small cusp behind, but in the lower jaw the premolar.^ are i.solated,
and do not form a continuous cutting and masticating ridge. It is also to be remembered that this
animal has a peculiar lower jaw, as it is one of the Marsupials, and the angle is inflected. It Ls a
Marsupial, with some stnictures which foreshadow those of the more highly-developed Dog.

Mr. Han-is, who was the first to make this animal known, states that it lives among caverns
and rocks, in the deep and almost impenetrable glens, in the neighbourhood of the highest mountains
of Van Diemen's Land. The specimen from which his description was taken was caught in a trap
baited with Kangaroo's flesh ; it remained alive but a few liour.s, having received some internal hurt
whilst being secured. From time to time it uttered a short guttural cry, and it appeared exceedingly
inactive and stupid, and, like the Owl, had an almost continual motion of the nictitant membrane
of fne eye. Remains of an Echidna were found in the stomach of the animal. Waterhouse states.

TBE rOUCIIEB WEASELS. 217

on the authority of Mr. Gunn, that these animals are common only in the remoter parts of the colony,
and used to be frequently caught at Woolnooth and the Hampshire Hills. They attack the Sheep
at night, but are occasionally seen during the daytime, upon which occasions, perhaps from imperfect
vision, their pace is very slow. Mr. Gunn also observes that the Thylacinus sometimes attains so
large and formidable a size, that a number of Dogs will not face it. That gentleman denies that the

SKELETON OF THE DOG-HEADED THYLACINl'S,

tail of the animal is compressed, as has been stated by some authors, and his observations do not
confirm the aquatic habits which have been attributed to it. There are cartilages in the place of the
marsupial bones ; but the pouch is well developed in the female Thylacine, and there are four well
developed teats, each four inches long, indicating that it may contain four young ones at a time.
The marsupium, or pouch, opens backwards, not, as in the Kangaroos and most others, forwards.

GENUS PHASCOGALE (POUCHED ^\T:ASELS).— THE BRUSH-TAILED PHASCOCiALE.*
This genus includes many species of small Weasel- or Rat-like Marsupials. They are small,
insectivorous, and climb shrubs and trees in pureuit of their prey. The largest known is about
the size of a common Rat. The bru.sh-tailed kind inhabits New South Wales, South Australia,
and Western Australia, and is a pretty little animal, having a long and soft fur, of a grey colour
above and white or yellow- white under the body. The eyes are encircled with black, and there is
a pale spot above and below the eye, and the hairs are blackest along the middle of the head. The
ear is rather large and not furiy ; the tail is about equal to the body in length, or seven inches to nine
inches, and there is a portion near its end of about two inches in length, which is clothed with short,
stiff haii-JS, and the rest has long and glossy hairs, sometimes an inch or two long. An insectivorous
little creature, its teeth are modified to meet its diet, and they are less carnivorous than the other
Dasyurids. They have the two foremost incisors of the upper and lower jaw larger than the others.
There are three premolars in each jaw on each side, and eight molars above and below, which are
studded with prickly tubercles, those of the upper jaw having triangidar crowns. There are five toes to
the fore and hinder extremities, and the inner toe of the latter is in the form of a small nailless pre-
hensile thumb. The brain-case is large and the skull comparatively smooth. The species just noticed
is said to enter the stores of the settlers, and it makes a nest in the hollows of the trunks of trees or in
the branches. Tlie female has no jiouch, but ten teats covered with hair. It is the Tapoa Tafa of
White, according to Krefft.

Another species, about six inches long, not including a tail of three inche.s — the Freckled Pliasco-

gale — lives in the Swan River district and at King George's Sound, being generally distributed over

Western Australia. It has the fur freckled with black and white on the head and fore parts of the

body. Mr. Gilbert found insect remains in its stomach, and he obtained a female specimen having

* Phasc^gah fif^n'ciUata,.

NATVirii iiisroR

BRUSH-TAILED THASCOGALE.

seven young attached. They were little more than half an inch in length, and quite blind and naked.
Above the teats of the mother is a very small fold of skin, from which the long hairs of the under sur-
face spread downwai-ds, and effectually cover and protect the young. This fold is the only approxima-
tion to a pouch which has been found in any species of this genus. The young are very tenacious of
life, and those just mentioned lived nearly two days attached to the mammas of the dead mother.

The Yellow-footed Phascogale is a kind which inliabits New South Wales and South Australia,
and the White-footed Phascogale and a closely-allied kind live in South Australia and Van Diemen's
Land. In New Guinea, which constitutes a part of the Australian natural history province, there is
a black, short-eared, and short>furred kind, about the size of a Rat, called Phascogale nielas.

ANTECIIINIS.

OPOSSUM AND YOUNG.

THE OPOSSUMS. 219

There is a little kind, measuring only three inches in length, with white fur everywhere, except on
the upper parts, which are ashy grey ; and in Western and Southern Australia there is one wliich has
great ears, very slender limbs, and a short and thick fat tail. It looks like a large-eared, fat-tailed
Mouse, and is under four inches in length. All these kiiid.s of Phascogale, except the brush-tailed one,
belong to a group with very short hairs on the tail, and are sometimes classified under the name
Antechinus, the thick-tailed one being termed Podabrus ; and they all have shallow pouches.

CHAPTER III. -

THE OPOSSUMS.

PrcUistoric Opossums— Description of the Animal— Their Teeth— Habits— The Common Opossum— D'Azara's Opossum—
The Crab-eating Opossum— The Thick-Tailed Opossum— Meeian's Opossum— Pouchless Opossums— Their Young
^The Murixa Opossum— The EleGju;t Opossum — The Yapock— Classification of Marsupial Animals— Geographical
Distribution of the Sub-Order- Ancestry of the Marsupials — Fossil Remains.

VI.— THE OPOSSUM FAMILY.— DIDELPHID^.

The Marsupial animals included in this famOy are not found in Australia or in Van Diemen's
Land, or in any part of the natural history province to wliich those countries belong. They are
numerovis, however, and are now living on the American continent ; but formerly some inhabited
Eui-ope during that geological period whicli is called the Eocene. The Opossums are very rat-like in
form, the largest species being about the size of a large Cat, but they have the snout more elongated ;
and in some species in which the individuals are large tlie body is proportionately stout, and on mast
there is a comfortable fur, with short and long hair. The tail is almost always very long, nearly
destitute of hair, excepting at the root, and is covered with a scaly skin, there being a few scattered
hairs. It is a useful organ, for the Opossums hang by it, and it assists them in climbing and descending
trees, and in holding on, when they are young, to their parent. The ears are rather large and round,
the eyes are placed rather high up in the face, and the long muzzle ends in a naked snout. The
legs look short for the body. The feet are naked
beneath ; there are five toes, and the great toe is
more or less opposable to the foot, and acts like a
grasping thumb. Each toe is furnished with
moderate-sized claws, excepting the inner toe of
the hind foot, which is clawless. The Opossums
are remarkable for the great number of their
incisor teeth, there being ten in the upper and
eight in the lower jaw, and they are arranged in
a semicircular manner. The upper and two fore-
most incisors ai-e rather longer than the rest, and are generally separated from them liy a narrow
space. They are nearly cylindrical and expanded at the tip. The canines are well develojjed, the
upper ones being the largest. There are three premolars on each side of both jaws, and they have
two roots, and are compressed and pointed. There is a posterior talon to them. The molars, eight
in each jaw, have three roots, and those of the upper jaw have the crown of a triangular form and
tubercular, whilst those of the lower jaw are longer than broad, and each has the appeai-ance of five
prickly cusps on its upper sui-face.

Some of the Didelphidte have no marsupium, or pouch, or it is very slightly developed, and in
these particular kinds the young, after having left the nipples, are carried on the back of the mother,
retaining their position by twining theii" tails around hers. The mammje are numerous : there may
be as many as thirteen, an odd one being found in the centre of the ring of the other nipples.

The Opossums are active, sly, and very intelligent in certain things, and their food consists of
insects, small reptiles, birds, and eggs. Living for the most part in trees, they secrete themselves in

■i-'o NATUHAL sjarojtr.

the hollows of the branches and trunks during the daytime and sally forth in the night. Tliey have a
^aoderate-sized caecum. It must be noticed that the great toe of the hind foot is well developed, has
no nail, and enables the creature to grasp, and is thus very useful ; and that they walk plantigrade.
The ankle and leg have the same movements as in the Wombats, and the same general anatomy. If the
members of the family are compared with those of the families which live in the Australian province,
it will be found that they most resemble the Perameles and Dasyures. The Opossums may be
divided into three gi'oups : those whose pouch is well developed, those in which it is a mere fold, and
those which have webbed feet and live in the water, like Otters.

SKliLETOX OF THE CRAll-EATING OPOSSUM.

THE COMMON OPOSSUM.*

Tl'.is is a large kind, and is about the size of a common Cat, and its long, large, pointed head, ending
in a naked snout, and having eyes encircled in d>tsky brown fur amongst the white hair and fur
of the head, gives it a very cunning and thoughtful appearance. The ears are black. The tail is long
and [)rehensile, the end being white and the rest black, and the legs and feet are brownish. It is a
great climber, and uses its tail almost as much as some of its Monkey companions. Running along the
branches, it will often suspend itself by its tail, and give a swing and let go, thus launching its body
to a distance, and then it catches at the boughs with its feet and unclawed but prehensile hind toe-
thumb. In coming down trees it uses the tail to steady itself, and to jirevent too rapid a fall ; and in
climbing, the ever-ready tail prevents mishaps, should the clawed toes not grasp sufficiently. The
natural food of this Opossum is probably vegetarian, but it is a gi-eat birds'-nester ; it will eat roots
and fruits, but the early settlers found it very destructive to their poultry, for it catches the bii-ds
and sucks their blood, not eating the flesh : consequently, it has been much hunted, and as the fur
and skin are sometimes used, the destruction of the Opossum has been great. It is a curious creature,
and seems to have gained experience in its struggle with man, and as many stories are told of its
cleverness as there are about Eeynard the Fox and the Indian Jackal. It will sham death in a most
persevering mamier, and is at the same time very tenacious of life.

The skull has strong temporal ridges, which form a sagittal crest, and the arch of the zygoma is
well grown. The animal has a longer facial part of the skull and a smaller brain-case than the other
Dasyures, and the brain has large olfactory or front lobes. The cerebral hemispheres are small, and
there ai-e no convolutions. This is essentially a North American animal, and is found from Mexico
to the Southern States inclusive.

The female brings forth from twelve to sixteen young at a time, and her nest, which is formed of
dry grass, is usually at the root of a tree or bush. When first born, the young are said not to be

* DklHplnjs viiyiiiianiim.

THE OrORSUM. 221

jiioi-e tlian a gi-ain in weight, and blinil, naked, and shapeless. They find tlie teats in tlie niotlier's
pouch, unless she places them on to them with her mouth, and they cling on so as not to bo
sepai-ated except by violence. In about five days, so rapid is their gi-owth, they have reached the size,
of a Mouse, and all their parts are developed. They then leave the pouch, and return to suckle and
when danger appears. During this time the female shows great attachment to her young ; and Mr.
Watei-house, from whose work these descriptions are taken, states that she will suffer any torture
rather than permit the pouch to be opened.

CRAH-EATIXG

AZARA'S OPOSSUM.*
This is a smaller animal than the common or Virginian Opossum, but its tail is long in jiroportion
to its body. It is the South American representative of its larger fellow species, and is found over
a very wide extent of country. It was noticed by the celebrated naturalist D'Azara in Paraguay ;
Ml-. Darwin found it at Maldonado, La Plata ; and specimens have been obtained from the Brazils,
Santa Fe de Bogota, and Bolivia. This is because it is not entirely a forest animal, but is
found occasionally in the open country. It may be distinguished from the common Opossum by three
distinct black marks on its head, by its large tail, one-thu-d of which is covered with fur like that ou
the body. Tlie rest of this important member is scaly, with small hairs springing from between, the

• Diderpli!js D'Azarce. . —

222 yATVUAL HISTORY.

scales being black in the second third, and white at the tip in colour. The habits of this Opossum are
nocturnal, and it lies concealed by day in burrows in the ground or in thickets. At night it climbs
trees to feed upon fruits and birds' eggs. It will chase and catch sleeping birds, and suck their blood
like a Weasel.

THE CRAB-EATING OPOSSUM.*

A small Opossum, with a long black tail tipped with white, and a dull-coloured fur to its body,
lives in Brazil and Guiana, and has a very omnivorous disposition. Preferring swampy situations,
it lives mostly on the trees, hunts small birds and insects, and even catches a reptile now and then,
buil its fondness for the Crustacea of the swamps is proverbial, and hence its name of Crab-eater.

Another species is interesting from being found in the part of California which adjoins Mexico.
The Short-headed Opossum also belongs to this group, and is from the same locality. Besides these,
there are several smaller pouch-bearing Opossums, without the long hair of those just mentioned, and
they are from Brazil, Guiana, and Surinam — for instance, the Quica, the Naked-tailed, and the Four
Spotted kinds. The Philander Opossum is a bird-hunter, and lives in Surinam.

The next group of Opossums have no pouch, but there may be folds of the skin protecting the
raammse.

THE THICK-TAILED OPOSSUM, t

As its name implies, this pouchless Opossum has a very thick tail. Moreover, it has smaller
ears than the other Opossums, and has a short head and short legs. The fur is made up of harsh
hairs, which are close to the body, and there is but little under fui-. Its colour is yejlow-brown, but
the eye and muzzle are brownish, and the tail, witli the terminal two-thirds, is black, with the
exception of a small white spot at the end. It inlialjits Brazil and Paraguay, and extends south-
wards to the River Plate. One of the Opossums was kept by D'Azara, who found it quiet, tame,
and stupid ; but having been fed on raw meat, and a parrot happening to come too close, it killed
the bird in a moment. There are folds of skin in the lower part of the abdomen, but no pouch, and
there are six mammje.

Another of the Opossums is called Jlerian's Opossum, or Didelplujs dorsiyera, and it inhabits
Surinam. It was described by Madame ilerian in 1717, who represented it in her great book on

insects with its young clustered on its back and hani
over its back, with their little tails.

* Jjidffphys cancrivom-

on to the mother's tail, which was curved

t ISiMphys

rilE YArOCK.

223

It is very curious that the young of these pouchless Opossums should resemble those of the whole
order in being comparatively little advanced in their development at the time of their birth. The
young are at first strongly attached to the teats of the mother, and when they are sufficiently strong
and grown to leave them, occasionally she takes them off from the nipples and places them on her
back." Here they cling on with their tails to hers. Hence the name of back-bearing, or Dorsigera,
which is given to this kind.

It was at first supposed that this method of carrying the young was restricted to this species, but
subsequent experience has shown that several kmds do the same thing.

Two or three other species of Opossum are interesting from their small size and habits. Thus the
Mm-ina Opossum [Duklphys murina), with a very long tail, inhabits Guiana, Brazil, Peru, and Mexico.
The body is about five inches in length, and the tail is either slightly longer or about the same. Yet this
little thing attacks birds and insects ; it burrows h\ the gi-ound, and climbs trees to get its insect food.

The Elegant Opossum {Didelphys elegans), of Chili, is still smaller than the last, and frequents
the thickets growing on the rocky hills near Valparaiso. They are numerous, or were so when
Mr. Darwin observed them, and are easily caught in traps baited with cheese or meat. The tail
appeared to be i-ai-ely, if at all, used as a prehensile organ'; yet they could run up trees with some
degi-ee of facility. It is an interesting fact that some of the smallest Opossums prey upon Lizards and
Snakes as large, and even heavier, than themselves.

The last section of the Opossums contains the Water Opossum,

THE YAPOCK.*
This animal has a perfect pouch, and has large hind feet, the toes of which are united by a web.
The fore feet are moderate-sized, and the pisiform bone is unusually long. Its habits are aquatic.
* Chironcdcs variegatus.

2i4 NATURAL HISTORY.

The Yapock has hvrge naked ears, and a long, abnost naked, tail, and is altogether rather larger than
the common Eat. Its method of life is very much the same as that of the Otter. It is a good diver,
and feeds npon crustaceons and other aquatic animals. It is a native of Guiana and Brazil.

The Marsupial animals assume the general shape and habits of many orders of Mammalia which
have no marsupium, and which live in the other great natural history provinces. Thus there are
Marsupial animals like Dogs, Rats, Squin-els, Flying Squirrels, Deer, &c. They have, therefore,
many methods of life as a group, and, as might be expected, the brain and nervous .system present
many differences in them. In all, the front lobes of the brain which deal with the sense of smell are
very large, and in some, .such as in the Carnivorous Marsupials, they are exposed, and not covered by
the main mass of the brain. In the Kangai-oos, however, these olfactory lobes are hidden more or less.
These last also have well-marked convolutions on the brain which are nearly wanting in those first
mentioned.

The Marsu])ial animals just considered have been classified to a certain extent during their
descriptions, but it is necessary to recapitulate. They are arranged in gi'oups of genera or species, or
into families. They are as follows : —

ORDEK MARSUPIALIA.— SUB-ORDER MARSUPIATA.

Family MACRoroDiD.i:

„ rHASCOLOMVin.E

J, Phalangistid.e

„ PEKAMEI.rD.« .

„ DASVUKln.'E .

Di

Genus Macropus .
,, Dendrolagus
„ Hj-psiprymnus .
„ Ilypsiprymnodon
„ Phascolomys
,, Phascolarctus

„ Phalangista

„ Petaunis .
„ Tarsipes
„ Perameles .

Chfpropus .
,, MjTmecobiiis
„ Phascogale .
,, Dasyurus .
„ Thylaciuus .
„ Didelphys .

Chironectes

Ka

Tree Kangaroos.

Potoroos.

The Hypsiprynmodon.

The AVombat.

The Koala.

The Cuscus.

Doi-mouse Phalanger.

Phalangers.

Flj-ing Phalangers.

Tarsipes.

Bandicoots.

Choeropus.

Ant-eaters.

Phascogale.

Dasyures.

Dog-headed Thylacinus.

Opossum.

Yapock.

The Macropodidie, Phalangistid», Peramelidte, and Dasyuridie are found living somewhere or
other in the Australian distributional province, which includes the mainland, Tasmania to the
south, and the Molucca and Arru Islands to the north, bounded by the Straits of Lombok, and
Celebes, New Guinea, New Ireland, Timor, Amboyna, Banda, and Waigeoe. Each family is not
represented fully, however, in all the remarkably separated divisions of the province. Thus the
genera Macrojms and Dendrolagus of the first family, Petaurus and Phalangista of the third, Pera-
meles of the fourth, and Phascogale of the Da.syuridse have been found in New Guinea ; but in other
islands, such as Celebes, and in those from Lombok to Timor, the genus Cuscus alone is represented.
In the Moluccas, Cu.sciis and the genus Petaurus are found. In Van Diemen's Land about one-half of
the species are peculiar to the island, and the remainder are found also on the eastern districts of the
mainland. It has Kangaroos, Potoroos, Wombats, Phalangers, Bandicoots, and three out of the four
genera of Dasyurida?. We.stern Australia, which is such a remarkable botanical province, and is so
separated by desert and sand from the east, has numerous Kangaroos, Potoroos, Phalangers, Bandicoots,

* The sub-genera Halmaturus .ind Heteropus, Osphranter, Lagorchestes, and Petrogale, are included in Macropus,
and many other sub-genera relating to the other families merely complicate the classification. BettongJa, Potoroiis, are
-sub-genera or artificial groups of the genus Hyi>sipr3'mHus ; Cuscus, Trichosurus, Pseudochirus, and Dromicia. are groups
of Phalangistidie ; Petaurista, Belideug, and Acrobata are divisions of the genus Petaurus ; Macrotis is a sub-genus of Pera-
meles ; Antechinus is a division of the genus Phascogale ; Sarcophilus is a svib-geims of Dasyurus. These are unneeessai-y
sub-divisions.

FOSS//. MARSUriALS. 22a

Phascogales, Dasyures ; and, in coiiiinoii witli South Australia, a Cha-ropus, whilst the genus Tarsipes
is peculiar to it. The Wombat is foun<l in Van Diemen's Land and some of the islands in Bass
Strait. It is found in the south and eaai of the mainland of Austialia, but not to tlie west and north.
Mr. Waterhoiise notices that the Marsupials of tlie eastern districts arc for the most part distinct from
those of the opposite side of the continent, there being, when his great work, which has been so
constantly refeired to in this de.sciiption, was written, but eight species out of upwards of sixty
inhabiting the two provinces. Soutli Australia is the habitat of more common species than else-
where. The northern jiart of Australia has more species peculiar to it than tlie other divisions,
and some of its Dasyuridie especially, and species of Cuscus also, are found in the Arru and other
islands to the north. The metropolis of the sub-genus Cuscus is in the Moluccas, where two species arc
widely distributed, or one is restricted to certain islands.

The other divisions of the genus are represented by the Vulpine Phalanger, an animal with long loose
fur, which' inhabits New South Wales, Western Au.stralia, and Noi-tli Australia ; by Cook's Phalanger, of
New South Wales and Van Diemen's Land. The genus Perameles, the Bandicoots, has species in
Van Diemen's Land, Australia, New Guinea, and in the Arru Islands, and the genus Petaurus has a
coi-respouding distribution. .Tlic Didelphida; are found in the United States, California, Mexico, Peru,
Guiana, Brazil, Paraguay, Banda Oriental, and Chili ; and Brazil is the country where they abound
the most in species and individuals, the number diminishing to the north and south.

The Marsupials have a gi-eat luicestry, and some of them lived when the continents and oceans
of the earth were in very different relative positions to those they now occupy. Indeed, it is most
probable that the fossil remains of the most ancient mammal belong to this order. There is a small
double-fanged molar tooth of a mammal which was found by Plieninger, in 1847, contained in a jumble of
shells and of the remains of reptiles and fishes in strata beneath the Lias formation of Diegerloch, near
Stuttgai-t. It and another which was discovered close by, by the same professor, belonged to animals
which were dead when this topmost stratum of the Trias, immediately beneath the Lias, was being formed.
They are Triassic in age, therefore, and they somewhat resemble the back teeth of a fossil which was
found subsequently in the Purbeck strata of England, and which e\-idently belonged to a Marsupial more
or less resembling the existing Kangaroo-Rats or Potoroos, of the genus Hypsiprymnus. Later
on, Professor W. Boyd Dawkins, F.R.S., discovered a small tooth belonging to the same extinct genus
as that which included Plieninger's fossil, namely, Microlestes ; and its i-esemblance to one of Hypsi-
prymnus is even greater. Its position was high up in the Trias of Watchet in Somersetshire. Mr. Charles
Moore, of Bath, had previously found many specimens of teeth of the same family in a fissure, down
which thej' had been washed by the Triassic sea.

A lower, jaw of a small Mammal was found in the Trias of North America by Emmons ; and it
has on one side three incisors, one long canine, then a diastema, three premolars, and seven molai-s
with three points. It is therefore one of the Myrmecobius group.

After the age of the Trias, when there was much continuous land surface, Europe was broken up
into a coral island tract, during the age of the collection of the Jurassic deposits. The islands were
tenanted by many small Marsupials, four species of which have been discovered in the deposits of
Stonesfield slate at the bottom of the Great Oolite. They belong to the extinct genera Amphithe-
rium, Phascolotheriura, and Stereognathus, and the fii-st somewhat resembled the Myrmecobius of
recent times; but all that can be said is that they belonged to Marsupial animals. Piled on the Stones-
field slates are many hundred feet of .strata, and high up amongst them, in the Swanage and Purbeck
districts, are deposits in which Messrs. Brodie and Beckles have found portions of the skeletons of
numerous insectivorous Marsupials, of which the genera Spalacotherium, Plagiaulax, Triconodon, and
Galestes are the most important. They were small, as a rule, and there has been much debate regard-
ing their affinities with modern insectivorous forms, and they are still surrounded with doubt.

The appearance of the Mammalia without pouches took place in the Eocene age, and in the Old
and New World, and contemporaneously with them lived in France a kind of Opossum, some of whose
bones were found in the strata of Montmartre, near Paris ; and in later Tertiary strata other relics
have been found. These ai-e the only instances of a fossil Didelphid occuning out of the New World ;
and there, where the Opossums are now characteristic animals, they were present in the last geological
age, for in the Brazilian latest deposits remains of several species of Didelphys have been found.
34

22(> XATURAL IIISTOLY.

Reniams of these fossil Opossums Iiave been found in the North American Pliocene deposits. The
more ancient deposits of Australia liave not yielded tlie remains of any of the animals which are
now so peculiar to the province, but in the bone caves of the Wellington Valley, some two hundred
and ten miles west of Sydney, Sir Thomas Mitchell disco\-ered a mass of l)ones, forming a breccia
with limestone, which contained numerous and most interesting Marsupial remains. In deposits
of the same late age, and in bogs and gravels in Queensland, other remains were found. They
wore described by Sir R. Owen in one of liis greatest works, and they belong to the Australian
families of Marsupials, and not to the American Didelphidas. As was usual elsewhere before the
appearance of man on the earth, and contemporaneously with him for awhile, many of the kinds
which resemble more or less those now living, or would be classified in the same family, and perhaps in
the same genus, are gigantic. Owen distinguished among the bones those of large fossil Marsupials
which belong to the Macropodidas, and which may be arranged as subdivisions of the genus Macropus
or Kangaroos, and of a powerful creature called Tliylacoleo, or Pouched Lion, which must be admitted
as a new section of the Macropodidie, and whose habits were probably carnivorous, although there is
much diversity of opinion on the subject, some of the most distinguished anatomists believing the
creature to have been of an innocent disposition, although appearances are much against it. It is
more closely allied to Plagiaulax, of the English Purbeck beds, than to any other form, and they well
tit in b. 'tween the genera Macropus and Hypsiprymnus.

A huge Marsupial, with a skull three feet in length, with teeth, in front especially, on tlie
Kangaroo plan, and with longer fore limbs and shorter hind ones than the last-named animal, was
described liy Owen. The pelvis, however, has but two sacral vertebrse, and its ilio-pubic process
would ally it with the Macropodidie. This Diprotodon was an herbivorous animal, and was of the
size of a Rhinoceros. This great Marsupial had fore limbs which possessed the power of rotation, and
it was not without some characters which are seen amongst the Wombats. It appears to have
had a great range, for its remains have been found in the caverns in the Wellington Valley, at
Welcome Springs, South Australia, Hergolt's Springs, 500 miles north of Adelaide, near Melbourne,
in the valley of the Condamine River, and widely over Queensland. A slightly smaller animal, called
the Nototherium, also existed with the larger one.

The species of this genus have no lower incisive tusks, and a very short chin ; the angle of the
jaw is curved inwards, and there were only four molar teeth on each side in both jaws, and they
were with two strong roots or fangs. It was probably one of the Macropodidse. Others of this
family are allied to Dendrolagus, and form the genera Protemnodon and Sthennrus. The Wombat
was represented in the age of the great Marsupials; and both large and small species, one being of
the size of the Tapir, have been described from bones and teeth which were found in the cave deposits
of Australia. Remains of a Marsupial animal, probably of the Vnl[)ine Phalanger, were found in
the same caves, as were also some referable to the genus Peraraeles, or Bandicoots, and to the
Potoroos. Several fossil species of the family I)as\ uii(hi' Iium- been found in the Australian caves,
and one of them is referable to a section of the genus l)asyiuiis, which at present is restricted to Van
Diemen's Land, it being somewhat like Dasyurus in-si}i}i$/ moreover, probably, there was a species of
Thylacinus present also. So far as is known from the researches of Owen amongst this wonder-
ful cave fauna, no members of the family Didelphidse occur there. They were Ameiican then, as
they are now.

CHAPTER IV
SUB-ORDER— MONOTEEMATA*

THE PORCUPINE OR LONG-SPINED ECHIDNA AND DUCK-BILLED PLATYPUS.t

Why the Monotremata are formed into a Sub-order— The lowest of the Mammalian Class— The Porcdpine or Long-Spineb
Echidna —An Ant-eater, but not an Edentate— Its Correct Name— Description of the Animal— Habits and Disposition
—Manner of Using the Tongue— Where it is Found —Anatomical Features: Skull, Brain, Marsupial Bones— The
Young— Species of Van Diemeu's Land and New Guinea— THE Water Mole, or Duck-billed Platypus- The most
Bird-like Mammal —Various Names— Description— Their Appearance and Movements m Water — Their Burrows-
Habits of an Individual kept in Confinement— Used by Natives as Food— How they are Captured— The Young— A
Family in Captivity— the Snout— Jaws— Teeth— Tongue -Fore and Hind Feet— Heel — Spur— The Shoulder Girdle—
Breastbone— Concluding Remarks on the Sub-orders — Postscript on the Monotremes.

THE PORCUPINE OR LONG-SPINED ECHIDNA.
Thi3 animal is the first example of some Marsupial beasts which are separated into a sub-order,
because, in addition to tlie marsupial bones, there are some internal points of construction which are
more bird- and lizard-like than those of the Kangaroo tribes. It contains animals which are the
lowest of the Mammalian class, and are found only in the Australian natural history province. The
Porcupine Ant-eater, as its name implies, has somewhat the shape of a Hedgehog or Porcupine, and it
is fond of burrowing with its peculiar limbs, as well as of eating Ants with the assistance of its long
tongue. But its internal anatomy and the construction of the skeleton differ from those of the true
Ant-eaters, which belong to the order Edentata. It was called Ant-eater by its first describer (Shaw)
m 1792, but a few years afterwards it was decided to belong to the same gioup as an animal about to
he described — the Duck-billed Platypus, or Water Mole — and Cuvier, whilst believing that they both
belonged to a peculiar order, separated this false Ant-eater from the Water Mole as a species and
genus. He called this Hedgehog-like creature Echidna, from the presence of a spur on the heel,
which is perforated, and which was erroneously supposed to be poisonous, like the fang- of a Viper
('Exl5^o). The correct name is the Long-spined Echidna, or the Poi-cupine Echidna (Echidna hyslrix).
The creature greatly resembles a Hedgehog with a very long snout, at first sight, but a slight
examination will show that it differs much from the insect eating and spiny little Hystrix. The
Echidna is about a foot in length, and the upper part of its short body is covered with strong spines,
and the rest is hairy, the front of the head, and the long, slender, and
va-pering snout being naked. The legs are short and strong, and the five
toes of the fore leg have large and strong claws. This is in order to permit
the creature to bury itself iii sand and soft earth quickly, and this operation
is assisted by r, broad and rounded nail on the inner toe of the hind foot and
by large claws on tlis other toes, and especially by a long nail to the second
toe. A very long and flexible tongue enables the creature to catch prey.
There are no teeth. The skull, when the skin and flesh have been removed,
has a very pear-like appearance. It is a gi-eat burrower, and manages to
get out of the way of observers as soon as is possible, for working actively
with its strong limbs and claws, it pokes its snout into the earth and soon
gets out of view. Ants are its favourite food, and they are captured in tlie pelvk- auoh op the
same way as by the Great Ant-eaters belonging to the Edentata : for in both ^^^ ^^ ML"'i"i?.i^Boncs.

there is a long slimy tongue, which can be poked far out of the mouth into

Ants' nests. The saliva required to make the tongue sticky comes from large glands under the lower
jaw from the ear on to the fore part of the chest. When the Ants have collected on the sticky
tongue it is taken into the mouth, and they are swallowed. The absence of teeth is made up by the
presence of horny spines on the palate and tongue, which look backwards, and these crush and direct

* liovtK, one ; Tpma, opening.

+ Efhidna hystrix (Cuvier). Much confusion has been produced by Illiger, who changed the generic title to Tachyglossus,
Toxw, quick, and.7Aii<7-»a, tongue ; but the name given by Cuvier must stand, except in the minds of those zoologists who
delight in novelties, and believe that the use of long words carries wisdom. Lately more confusion has been produced by
the introduction of the generic term Acaiit/ior/hssus, which we do not admit or use.

228 NATURAL MJSTOJiT.

the food to the throat. It is an apathetic and stupid animal, and iisxially tries to get out of the ^ight,
and it will lie and roll itself up, but not so successfully as a Hedgehog. One of the lii'st which was
seen was attacked by the Dogs of two of the travellers, Bass and Flinders, whose names are so fauiiliar
from places liaving been named after them in Australia. The Dogs did not come off victorious, for
the new animal burrowed in the loose sand, but not head foremost ; it sank itself directly downwards,
and left its prickly back just on a level with the surface.

An Echidna was watched, so that the manner in which it could use its tongue was observed.
Ants could not be had, but a diet of chopped-up eggs, liver, and meat was readily received, and it was
noticed that the tongue was usel in the same manner as that of the Chameleon, by simple protrusion

.:rfms.m^;^t^J^fif^i //^ , ^^;.^^j^

*»•

POECVPINE ECHIDNA

and bringing in, and also as a mower moves his scythe, it being curved sideways, and the food swept
into the mouth. The Echidna is fond of water and milk, which are licked up by a rapid putting out
and drawing in of the long tongue.

Gerard Krefl't says that they are usually found in mountain i'anges, and among rocks in the Lower
Murray district. He failed to feed them on Ants and their eggs. On hen's eggs they fed for a time,
and liked bread-and-milk. He has reason to believe that they live on grass also, as those whose
stomachs and intestines he examined had fed on herbs and gi'asses. The spur on the heel is not used
as a weapon of offence.

It inhabits Australia, and has been found as far north as the Bellenden Plains, Queensland,
about 18" south latitude. A specimen has also been captured at Cape York, and others at Plain
Creek, Queensland. It is not found in Van Diemen's Land.

With regard to the anatomy of the Echidna, it may be said that the long muzzle and the
very slender lower jaw give the skull a bird-like look which is increased by the swollen and
ball shape of the brain-case. The bones of the skull remain imperfectly iinited for some time, and

THE LVUniXA.

MOITH (a) and NOSE-
SNOl'T (k) or ECHIDNA,

then they are united by plain lines of junction, and not by jagged sutures. The shoulder and the
bones of the upper part of the chest resemble those of the Water Mole, and will be noticed in its
description. The brain of the Echidna weighs about one-fiftieth of the whole body, and the hemi-
spheres do not conceal the cerebellum. There are three convolutions behind, and in front of them is a
large one bent on itself, and on its outside are some'oblique folds. The sense of .smell, evidently acute
in the Echidna, is assisted by a large development of the olfactory lobes of the brain and their nerves.

The Eclii(hias have large marsupial bones. They have not a true pouch, but only a rudimentary
one, or rather an infolding of the skin, during the breeding season, in the female. The orifices of the
teats are situated beneath the level of the skin, and inverted ; and as the surrounding parts swell under
the influence of suckling, there is a little cavity made, at the bottom of which
are the so-called nipples. They are really little depressions with hair around
them. The young Echidnas are placed in thi.s temporary cavity by the mother,
and help themselves by placing their snouts in the small depressions leading
to the milk gland. Captain Armit says that some force is required to get the
young out of the pouch, and that there is probably a muscular ring to it.
They ai-e at first very small. When about a month or so old, the hinder
parts of the young may be seen sticking out of the region of the fold, and at
three months the body may be observed, the animal still adliering by its
snout. When the prickles of the yoiuig begin to harden, the old one turns
them out into the world. (But see Postscript, p. 234.)

A short-spined Echidna {Echidna setosa) inliabits Van Diemen's Land,
whose hail' is sufliciently long to hide most of the spines, but little is known
regarding its habits. Quoy and Gaimard, two French naturalists, kept one
for a month, and it took no food, but after that time it began to lap and to
eat a mixtiu-e of flour, sugar, and water. It burrowed very rapidly, and got
to the bottom of a large can full of earth and plants in the course of a few minutes, and it wa.s assisted
in this by its snout.

A species of Echidna has been found in the north of the Island of New Guinea, at the Mont
ties Karous and Mount Arfak, at an altitude in the first place of 1,150 yards. It likes the rocky
Iiroken ground, and is unknown on the sea coast. The natives call it " Nokdiak," and hunt it for the
flesh. As the animal bui-rows well, the natives dig down about a yard in different places, and gene-
rally cut across one of the underground runs. It has been described, and has been named after the
explorer, M. Brujn. It is more robust and larger than the species from Australia and Van Diemen's
Land, has a very long snout — three times the length of the head — a short tail, and is black in colour
with white points. The fur is plentiful, and like velvet, whilst the spines are scanty, and about mid-
way in strength between those of the two Australian kinds. The number of nails on the fore and
hind feet is singular in this New Guinea Echidna, for there are three on each instead of five. The
tongue of the species is longer and more spiny ; moreover, the number of vertebrte differs in this new
kind. There are seventeen dorsal instead of fifteen, and there is one caudal more than in the others.
The spiny pimples on the tongue and palate, so well developed in this Echidna, have tempted Professor
Gei-vais to include it in a new genus, Acanthoglossus ; but it is as well to retain the old name, so that
the creature is called Echidna Brujnii. Another species has been found in the south of New Guinea,
at Port Moresby, which is distinguished chiefly by the long, thin, cylindrical form of the quills, and
the stiff, fiat, hair-like bristles on the face. The tint of the flattish bristles covering all the body and
limbs, except the back, is brown ; on the back are long cylindrical spines, some white and others black.
There are five claws to each foot, and the second hind toe is said to be the largest. The fore limbs are
short, stout, and sti'ong. It has been named Echidna Lawesii( Ramsay), after its discoverer. All these
animals can roll themselves up.

TliS WATKR MULE, OK DUCK-BILLED PLATYPUS.*
Like most of the other objects of natural history found in Australia and the neighbouring islands,
the Water Mole is very singula)- in its construction, nature, and habits. It is of all animals that
* Ornitkorhynehus anatiiius.

230 ^'ATURAl RlHTOKr.

suckle their young the most like a bird, and it I'etdly deserves the title, from its external a]ipearanci'
of half beast, half bird. As its shape and method of life are peculiar, it has received several names,
such as the Water Mole, the Flat-footed, Duck-billed Platypus, the Bii-d-beaked quadniped, and
the Paradoxical Bird-beaked animal. It is very fond of the water and also of burrowing in the
ground, and, of course, is admirably adapted for these pursuits : hence its construction relates to
them to a certain extent, and also to that of the animals of which it was. as it were, a continuation in
the scheme of nature.

The Ornithorhynchus anatinus has a rather flat body of about eighteen inches in length, and the
head and snout greatly resemble those of a Duck, whilst the tail is short, broad, and flat, and resembles
that of a small Beaver, but is shorter. The feet are webbed and flat, and the greater part of the
creature is covered with a .short dense fur of a d\isky brown colour, darker on the upper and paler
on the under parts of the body. A slight examination of the habits of the animal will explain the
necessity for observing it a little more closely. Mr. Bennett describes his first interview with
one shortly after his arrival in Australia. He writes : " We soon came to a tranquil part of
the river, such as the colonists call a ' pond,' on the surface of which numerous aquatic plants
gi'ew. It is in places of this description that the Water Moles are most commonly seen, seeking
their food among the aquatic plants, whilst the steep and shaded banks afford them excellent
situations for excavating their burrows. We remained stationary on the banks, waiting their
appearance with some degree of impatience, and it was not long before my companion quietly directed
my attention to one of these animals, paddling on the surface of the water, not far distant
from the bank on which we wei'e then standing. In such circumstances they may be readily recog-
nised by their dark bodies, just seen level with tlie surface, above which the head is slightly raised,
and by the circles made in the water round them by their paddling action. On seeing them, tho
spectator must remain perfectly stationary, as the slightest noise or movement of his body would
cause their instant disappearance, so acute are they in sight or hearing, or perhaps both ; and
they seldom api>ear when they have been frightened." On ordinary occasions they do not remain
more than a minute or two at a time on the surface of the water.

A burrow of an Ornithorhynchus, which Mr. Bennett opened, had its entrance on a steep part cf
a bank, situated about one foot from the water's edge, and concealed among the long grass and othei-
plants. " This burrow ran up the bank in a serpentine cour.se, approaching nearer to the surface
of the earth towards its termination, at which part the nest is situated. No nest had yet been made
in the termination of the burrow, for that appears to be formed about the time of biinging fortli
the young, and consists merely of dried grass, weeds, ifec, strewed over the floor of this part of the
habitation." "^riie expanded termmation measured one foot in length and six inches in breadth,
and the whdir liiiyth nf the burrow was twenty feet. Besides the entrance before alluded to, it
appears there is iisimlly a si^cond opening into the burrows below the surface of the water, communi-
citinc; w itli th<- iiitciior. just within the lapper aperture. A Imrrow subsequently examined by Mr,
lieiinctt tcTiiiiiiatfd :it a distance of thirty-five feet from the entrance; and that gentleman stated
that tlicy lia\e been found fifty feet in length.

From tlie liuri'ow first opened by Mr. Bennett a living female was taken, and placed in a cask,
with grass, nnid, water, <tc., and in this situation it soon became tranquil, and apparently reconciled
to its confinement. On his return home to Sydney, Mr. Bemiett determined to indulge it with a
bathe ; and with this view, when he amved in the vicinity of some ponds, he tied a long cord to
its leg. " When placed on the bank, it soon found its way into the water, and travelled up the stream,
apparently delighting in those places which most abounded in aquatic weeds. When iliviiig in deep
and clear water, its motions were distinctly seen : it sank speedily to the bottom, swam there for
a short distance, and then rose again to the surface. It appeared, howe\er, to prefer keeping close to
the bank, occasionally thrusting its beak into the mud, from whence it evidently jwocured food, as, on
raising the head, after withdrawing the beak, the mandibles were seen in lateral motion, as is
usual when the animal ma.sticates. The motions of the mandibles were similar to those of a Duck
under the same cii-cumstances. After feeding, it would lie sometimes on the grassy bank, and at
others partly in and partly out of the water, cornlnng and cleaning its coat with the claws of the hind
feet. This pi'ocess occupied a considerable time, and greatly improved its sleek and glossy appearance."

HIE liVCK-Jlll.LEli rLATYl'l'S.

The Water Moles are saiil to liave a i)eeuliarly lisliy smell, more especially when wet, which pro-
bably proceeds from an oily secretion. They are used by the aborigines for food ; " but it is no
particular recommendation of them," Mr. Bennett remarks, " to say they are eaten by the native
Australian, as nothing in the shape of provender comes amiss to him, whether it be Snakes, Rats,
Frogs, Grubs, or the more delicate Opossum, Bandicoot, and Flying Squirrel."

The Ornithorhynchus is captui'ed by the natives when in its burrow. They first examine the
neighbourhood of the burrow, to ascertain, by the presence of recent footmarks on the soil, whether it
is inhabited, and if the examination proves satisfactory, they proceed to dig holes with pieces of
sticks from tlie surface of the gi-ound into the burrow, at distances from each other, until they dis-
cover its termination, when the Australians consider themselves exceedingly fortunate should they find
the young, since they are regarded as a great delicacy.

The young have been found in their nests by Mr. Bennett about one inch and seven-eighths in
length, in the early part of December, and near the end of the same month he found young Water
Moles of ten inches in length. These latter were kept alive for nearly five weeks, and their habits
whilst in captivity are described in detail in his paper, which is illustrated by some admirable figures,
showing their various attitudes, &c. The young were allowed to run about the room ; but an old Orni-
thorhynchus in the possession of our author was so restless, and damaged the walls of the room so
much by her attempts at burrowing, that it was found necessary to confine her to the box. " During
t!«3 day she would remain quiet, huddled up with her young ones ; but at night she became very
restless, and eager to escape. The little ones were as frolicsome as puppies, and apparently as fond
of play ; and many of their actions were not a little ludicrous. During the day they seemed to prefer
a dark corner for repose, and generally resorted to the spot to which they had been accustomed, although
they would change it on a sudden, aj)parently from mere caprice. They did not appear to like deep
water, but enjoyed exceedingly a bathe in shallow water, witli a turf of gi-ass placed in one corner of
the pan ; they seldom remained longer than ten or fifteen minutes in the water at one time. Though
apparently nocturnal, or at least preferring the cool and dusky evening to the glare and heat of noon,
their movements in this respect were so irregular as to furnish no grounds for a definite conclusioii.
They slept much ; and it frequently happened that one slept whilst the other was running about ;
and this occurred at almost all periods of the day. They climbed with great readiness to the summit
of a book-case, and thus, by means of their strong cutaneous muscles and of their claws, mounting
with much expedition to the top. Their food consisted of bread soaked in water, chopped eggs, and
meat minced very small, and they did not seem to prefer milk to water."

Mr. Foulerton states that the natives ai-e seldom successful in catching the Water Moles alive,
although in some places in the rivers and creeks of New England they are so numerous that from
fifteen to eighteen have been shot in an afternoon. In the dark, rocky, shady rivers they may be
seen at any time of the day, but in more open places seldom before sunset. He failed to see any young
ones, and believes that they keep them concealed until near their maturity. They are very active in
the water, and are more frequently under than al)ove the surfao?. He never saw one leave the water,
and states that they made very poor progress on land. As
a i-ule they are to be found in good fellowship with the
Australian Water Eat (Hydromys chrysocjrmter).

The young Water Moles are naked, and have a short

. beak with fleshy and smooth edges, and this conformation

enables them to seize the space on the mother whence

the milk comes, for there are no nipples. Their tongue

is large and assists in the sucking also.

The most curious feature in the Ornithorhynchus is
the snout in the form of a beak. This is flat and broadest
in front where it is rounded. It is hard, and is covered
with a skin full of pores, and on each side this skin
overlaps the sides to form a kind of fringe or flexible

cheek, and this free membrane is carried round the front. Where this .skin comes to the head, it
forms a wide fold, which flaps over the front of the head and throat, and is a capital protection

OF THE DL'OK-BILLED PLATYPUS.

{After WatcYlioxm.)

r Teeth ; (p) Narrow An

JSATURAL RISTOMY.

v hen tlK cic ituic is f,i
pyes fiom in|ui\ Tin

tlie ^^ et banks or burrowing, and evidently protects the face and the
lie close to the extremity of the snout. In the lower jaw, or part
of the beak-like snout, there are some ridges, which mark it cross-
\\ise fiom the mouth to the outside, and correspondmg structures
may be noticed in a Duck, their use being to provide grooves or
spaces through which water may pour out of the mouth when the
cieatuie is feeding on soft mud and wet substances. Inside the
mouth there is a pouch in the cheek, one on each side, and this is
to letim food. It has four teeth iir the upper and four in the
1 wei ] iw. liut they are horny and made up of tubes; the front
11 s lie long and narrow, and the others are oblong and oval in
toim, \\ith a hollow crown. Moreover, the tongue, as in some
leptiles, has horny teeth on it. The eyes of the creature are small
and blown, and are situated close to the beak, and they look
u] w lids. The ear is hidden by the fur, but it is none the less
sli 11 p of hearing. As may be gleaned from the notice of its habits,
til iiumal has great power of swimming but not much of running,
iltliim^h the limbs are short. The fore-feet have five toes, nearly
((|ud 111 length, the fir.st being rather the shortest, and all have
sdhd md rounded claws. The toes are webbed, and the fold of
skin e\ en extends in front of the claws when swimming is going
on Ijut is folded back in digging. In the hind-feet the web does
not extend farther than the base of the claws, and there Ls a spur
on the heel, which is movable and sharp. It is found on the adult
m lies 111 peifectiou, and it may be usetul as well as ornamental.
On carefully examining the undei' and lower part of the body, the
milk or mammary glands are to be seen, and there is no proper
nipple ; but when suckling, the swelling of the gland produces an
by the wide, open.

tOHE (a) and hind (n) FOOT OF THE
DUCK-BILLED PLATYPUS.

(Ajier TfaJcrhouae.)
Co) Spur on Heel of Hiud Foot.

eminence, which can be graspe
and soft beak of the young.

It was thought that this bird-like creature Laid
eggs, but the point was not easy to determine. (See
Postscript, page 2.34.) It has a double uterus, leading
to the common canal, called urogenital, and this
ends in the common outlet. The Ornithorhynchus
and Echidna have an arrangement of the bones of
the .shoulder and chest, which resembles to a certain
extent that of the Lizards and of the Ichthyosaurus,
the annexed engraving will explain the posi-

and

tion of the bones. Indeed, the most important pecu-
liarity in the skeleton of the Mouotremes i.s that of
the shoulder-girdle and upper part of the chest ; for a
bone, the merest vestiges of which are noticed in some
of the Mammalia, occurs, that is of some importance
in the great groups of birds and reptiles, which are
lower in the animal scale than the Vertebrata already
described. In all the animals deseriVied hitheito, and
including the Marsupiata, the large una l.ioiie (humerus)
is jointed at the shoulder with the lilade bone, or
scapula. The socket in this bone, which receives the
somewhat ball-shaped top of the humerus, in order to
permit of very general motion, is a part of the scapula, and is called the glenoid cavity ; but
in the Monotremes a bone called the coracoid joins with the scapula, and forms part of the socket ;

) T-Bliaped interclaviric
sternum : (d) Cartil.it,'i'i
Kpi coracoid.

JXATOMY OF TEE MUyuTUEM E.S. 23:5

moreover, tliis coracoid is long enough to reach the breast bone, or stei'nuni. The breast bone in the
Mammalia hitherto notieeil consists of an expanded part at its fore end (in the usual position of
quadrupeds), or at its top in man, called the manubrium, and of some smaller pieces, which form the
front bone of the chest and reach to the belly, having ribs attached to them on eaoli side. This is
the state of things in the Monotremes ; and the coracoids are attached to the manubrium, one on each

-KILLEll

side. In other Mammalia it is the collar bone wliicli is jointed there. In addition to these breast
bones in the Monoti-emes, there are other bones in front, or between the neck and the top of the
manubrium. Firstly, there is a bone in the shape of a T : the lower point is on the breast bone, and
the cross-bar supports a collar bone on each side, which reaches outwards to the blade bone.
Secondly, there is a bone on each side in front of the coracoid, reaching forwards towards the neck.
This is called the epicoracoid. Some of these bones, now noticed for the first time, are more or less
common to birds, reptiles, and amphibians.

There are some other anatomical points which ally the Monotremes to the reptiles. For instance,
the peg on the second, or axis vertebra of the neck, is not fixed to the bone by true bony matter, and
some of the ribs which exist in the neck in the Monotremes are separate from the vertebra> until late
34*

231 NATURAL HISTORY.

in life, or altogether. And the cavity for jointing of the thigh bone wirh the pelvis (the acetabulum)
is not perfect, there being a part of it not filled with bony matter.

The ear is singularly simple in its conijtruction in this sub-order, and the cochlea is not coiled into
a spiral ; moreover, there is no external ear.

The hemispheres of the brain, which are convoluted in the Echidnas, are smooth in the Orni-
thorhyuchus, and in both the central commissure, or corpus callosum, just exists, whilst the anterior
one is large. The Ornithorhynchus inhabits Van Diemen's Land and Australia, as far north as
Queensland inclusive.

The Echidna and the Ornithorhynchus belong to a sub-order of the Marsupialia which, whilst it
has some structures resembling those of the sub-order of Marsupiata, possesses others which link it
with the birds and reptiles. This sub-order is the lowest amongst the Mammalia, and the animals
which are included in it have the following peculiarities :^The marsupial bones are present, the
uterus is double, and the young are not nourished when within the parent by a placenta ; there
is no inflection of the lower jaw ; the shoulder-girdle has additional bones ; there are no true
nipples ; the teeth are either absent or hoi-ny ; the external ear is not present, and there is not a true
pouch. The excretion of the kidneys and the contents of the bowels fall into one receptacle, through
which the young also pass. It is called a cloaca, and receives the outlets of the rectum and
urogenital canal. TJie jircseiiee of the spur on the heel is also a peculiarity.

A fossil Echiiliui has been discovered in depasits on the Darling Downs.

The Echidnas form one genu.s and the Ornithorhynchus another, and the classification of the
whole is as follows : — •

OUDEK MAItSCrlALI.\.

SvB-OrDEK . . . MoNOTllEM.iTA.

t Genus .... Echidna.

'^ Genus .... Ornithorliynchus.

In concluding this Natural History of the Marsupiata and Monotremata, it is necessary to direct '
attention to the fact that they are less well defined than the ol^jer gi-eat gi-oups of the Mammalia. As
sub-orders, they are very artificial, for some of tlieir most important structural peculiarities are deficient
in some of the genera. The inflected lower jaw is not invariably found, the marsupium does not
always exist, and the inarstipi^d bones differ in shape and size, and are occasionally absent. With
regard to these bones av (vn-tilage.s, they are not connected with the pouch, but with the muscular
.system of the belly, 'i'li^ y liaw been shown by Huxley to be present in Crocodiles, and in the
amphibian called the Saluinundci-. Hence these structures are relics of a remote ancestry, and have
but slight functional importance. The authorities whence I have derived most of this Natural History
are Waterhouse, Owen, Huxley, Bennett, Gould, and Kreeft, to whom I am under great obligations.

P. Maktin Duncan.

Postscript. — Mr. W. H. Caldwell has discovered that the Monotremes lay eggs as has been sus-
pected, and he has traced the development of the animal during the hatching. The eggs resemble
those of a Reptile more than a Mammal, and the yolk is in such excess that it is not all sub-
divided during the early stages of the embryo of the Monotreme, but some remains over and above,
upon which it is nourished in the early stages within the egg. The heart of Ornithorhynchus
paradoxus is interesting Ijecause Meckel, and, subsequently. Prof. E. Eay Lankester, F.R.S., have
shown that it differs from that of the higher Mammalia, and is not without considerable resemblance
in some of the valvular structures to the hearts of Birds and Crocodiles. The last-named natui'alist
states that the reflux of blood into the right auricle on contraction of the ventricle, is not pre-
vented by the presence of the special structure seen in Mammals, but by an arrangement which is
observed in Reptiles and Birds. The mitral valve is with three divisions instead of two, as in the
higher Mammalia, but the tendinous structures seen in this last group, to terminate the muscular
structures, do not exist in the Monotreme. This increase of the muscular structure is not so palpable
in Echidna. It is interesting to know that the special structures of the right side of the heart in the
adult Ornithorhynchus are seen in the embryonic condition of the higher INIammalia.

IMPERIAL EAGLE.

THE CLASS AVES.— THE BIRDS.
CHAPTER I.

INTRODUCTION — WING-STRUCTURE AND FEATHERS — DISTRIBUTION.

tntroduetion— Distinctive Characters of the Class Aves— Power of Flight— The Wing— Its Structure— The Six Zoo-geosiM-
phical Regions of the Earth-^Birds peculiar to these Regions.

The study of birds is almost an instinct in an Englishman : from peasant to noble, an innate
affection for the feathered songsters seems to prevail; so that whether it be in a stately aviary or in r,
little cage outside a cottage door, birds are found to be the constant companions of man throughout
the length and breadth of the land. And it is possible that no other country in the world possesses
such a number of birds, in proportion to its size, as does Great Britain. Any one travelling on the
continent of Europe cannot fail to notice how few birds meet his eye ; and although they
may be there, and may be found by a little searching for, they do not form such a prominent
feature of a walk as tiiey do in England or Scotland. Even the toiler in large towns has but
to get a little way into the nearest fields to hear the cheering song of the Skylark or tlie Tlirush,
or to be amused with the bustling and active habits of the Starling, or those of the more sedate
and cautious Rook. Tt is certain that a study of the habits of birds will always repny the
student, who may see in the feathered favourites which are around him many a little bright example

236 XATURAL UIHTOliY.

to be followed, if he read tlie lesson aright. Birds teach us many things— perseverance, fidelity,
parental affection, thrift, cleanliness, and many other domestic virtues, which are to be seen carried out
in their life in the greatest perfection. In the following pages the birds will be passed in review, and
the habits of some of the most striking and important forms will be detailed. But, although every
species and genus cannot be noticed here, it is necessary to assure the stu.dent that in every
country — even in England, where so much has been done for Ornithology — he will find an ample
reward in the- study of all birds ; and that even the commonest species cannot be neglected,
for there is always something new to learn and to record in their life-history. To quote
Dr. A. E. Brehm, one of the most accomplished observers of nature, who, carefully trained by his
father, a true naturalist also, has studied the feathered tribes in many climes : —

" He who is only half at home with nature on this earth of ours will be able to apino.vi-
mately to appreciate the feelings with which the naturalist wanders and travels from place to
place : wherever he may be he finds friendly forms. For years he has silently watched the interior
economy and household arrangements of animated nature, and yet he has not seen all ; and on this
account he is never in want of employment. Every bird is a personal friend : the old ones he knows
almost as well as he knows himself, and the new ones must be studied. How much more is there yet
to observe ! Rich as he may be in experiences, every fresh ramble brings him fresh mental treasure.
The relations existing between him and the bird become each day more and more intimate ; he knows
che lives and habits of each : when each arrives, or takes its departure : where is its abode : how it is
made : when it is occupied by a happy troop of nestlings : when deserted. The naturalist knows his
friends by then- notes, flight, and bearing. In his eye the bird never ceases to exist : alive or dead it
is always interesting in his eyes, for in either case the bird is associated with a poesy of feeling in
creative nature which he would put into words. Every new bird raises his spirits a step higher ; every
fresh discovery is a step onward in the knowledge of the ways and means of all things. He is indebted
to his friends for many a happy hour; their lives are a pattern worthy of imitation."*

Here, then, we may ask — What is a bird ? How can a bird be told from all other Vertebrate
animals ? The chief character which distinguishes the class of birds is imdovibtedly tlie clothing of tlie
hodij loith feaUiers. Other characters they also possess, but not exclusively. For instance, tliey have the
power of flight developed in the greatest degree : but there are some bii'ds, such as the Apteryx, the
Ostrich, and the Cassowary, which cannot fly at all ; while, on the other hand, there are flying mammals,
such as Bats, Flymg SquiiTels, and there are flying rejitiles, which can progress thi-ough the air by
means of flight. Again, birds lay the eggs froui which they produce their young ; but so do many
reptiles and fish : so that this cannot be considered a jirerogative of the class of bu'ds. Their bill is
hard and sheathed in horn ; but so is that of the Duck-billed Platypus (page 231), an animal belonging
to the Monotreme Mammals ; and Turtles also have beaks. Most, but not all, birds build nests ;
and in this they stand almost alone among the higher animals; but nest^building propensities ai-e
developed in many of the Mammalia — in the Lemurs and Mice, for instance — while it cannot be
assigned as a habit peculiar to birds, as the wonderful nests made by some fish conclusively prove.

All birds, whether they fly or not, are clothed with feathers, and this distinguishes the class A ves
in the existing state of nature. The majority are specially adapted for flight : and as this is
undoubtedly the most vigorous form of locomotion, the greatest muscular efibrts beuig requii'ed to
raise and sustain a body above the ground and to propel it rapidly through the air, a large
development of muscular energy is necessary. The great strain on the circulation of the blood
is met by a heart not only as complete as in the Mammalia, but with stronger and a peculiar
valvular mechanism for propelling that fluid vigorously through the body. Moreover, in addition
to their lungs, birds possess a singular provision of air-receptacles withui the body, and these
are connected with a series of cavities, also filled with au', which occupy the interior of most of the
bones. These cavities serve not only to give lightness to the bird's body, but they also assist the lungs
in aerating the blood, so that birds may be said to enjoy a double respiration. As birds exceed mam-
mals in the activity of their breathing and circulatory system, so also they possess a higher degi-ee of
animal heatj theii- temperature ranging from 106" to 112° Fahr. This high temperatyre, which exceeds

" Dr. Brehm : " Bird-life," pp. .")03, .■)04.

STRUCTURE OF THE JI'IXG OF A BUill.

?,37

tliat of the Mamiii;iliiv by from 8' to l-t°, is maintained \>j its admirablt- featlier-clothing, wliicli, being
r. non-conductor, etieotually selves to guard against any sudden variations of temperature in the air
to which its body is exposed, during its rapid and extensive flights, as well as tempering the usual
radiation from the body.

As one might expect in the fore-limb of a creature specially organised for suspension in, and pro-

joints, of the bird's

BON-ES OF

gression through, the air, it is found that the muscles, as well as the bones

wing become much modified as compared with the corresponding parts of

other animals. With all our scientific knowledge and mechanical conti'i-

vances, no one has yet succeeded in constructing a flying machine. It

is a significant fact that Nature has not only long ago solved this problem,

but that she has done, so in several ways. The flight of an insect, of a

bird, of a bat, is equally perfect in its way : but in each case the result

is attained by very diflerent modifications in the skeletal and muscular

apparatus. The j)rincipal resistance that a flying animal has to work

against is its weight : that is, the force of gravity which, proportionately

to its mass, tends to draw it down vertically towards the earth ; hence the

muscles which are largest and strongest in a bird are those which pull

itown the wing against the air, thereby*raising the body and overcoming its '")rtfl!'"'ii'.','-" ",' '','"" ■ ! i,',,'",";

weight. 'i;y^'"' ; ,' '^'''''^^

The chief muscle thus employed is the " great pectoral," attached to '»".(""
the large keel (or ridge) on the breast-bone, and inserted into the "humerus," or "arm-bone." Tliis
" great pectoral " is geuQi-all y the largest muscle in the bii-d's body, and in fact often equals in bidk
all the other muscles put together.

The wing is opened, out by straightening the elbow and the wrist-joints. The former process
is efiected by the contraction of the triceps ; the latter chiefly by the action of the so-called " radial
extensors," and by the elasticity of the long " tensor," or ligament, which comes from the shoulder

muscles along the front boi-der of the anterior
wing-membrane, and is attached to the base of the
thumb, at the front side of the wrist.

The wing is folded by the bending of the elbow
and the adduction of the wrLst-joints. The elbow
is bent principally by the contraction of the "biceps"
and the "internal brachial," the wrist-joint chiefly
by the contraction of tlie "hand-adductor," and of
the " ulnar v.-rist-flexor."

As already stated, the possession of feathers is
one of the most characteristic features in a bird.
These beautiful structures are modifications of the
skin, just as are the scales of the feet and the claws
of the toes. Feathers and hairs, scales and claws,
are all produced out of, and are modifications of, the cells of the upper skin, or epidermis, and of the
under, or true skin, or cutis. The feathers differ much in their minute construction in some birds ;
and all those of a bird are of course not of the same size and shape, but they have the following
parts in common.

A feather consists of a quill, a shaft, barbs, and barbules : moreover, there may be a kind of
accessory part, often in the shape of a downy tuft, close to the junction of the shaft and the quill-
The shaft (scapiis) or axis of every perfect feather {penna) is divided into the quill (calamus), the
Iiollow cylinder (d), which is partly embedded in a sac of the skin, and the true shaft (rachis, a),
which bears on each side the lateral processes called barbs (rami or radii). The i-achis and the barbs
together are known as the vane (vexiUum), and, in fact, form what is commonly known as the
"feather" in contradistinction to the "quill." The barbs (c, c, c, c) ai'e narrow plates, or laminas,
" tapermg to points at their free ends, and attached by their bases on each side of the rachis. The edges
of these barbs are directed upwards and downwards, when the vexiUu.m of the feather is horizontal

FEATHERS OF
A) Feathers of tlie manm. m- iiiimar>

secondary-coverts ; IF) Median cov'ci
Featbers of the tbiimti. or baetard \\m\

F BIRD. (Afler Sinid«Mll.l

of the

SATURAL HISTORY.

The interstices between the barbs are filled up by the harbules, pointed processes, ^v-hicll stand in the
same relation to the barbs as the barbs do to the i-achis. The barbules themselves may be laterally
serrated and terminated by little hooks, which interlock with the hooks of the opposed barbules. In
very many birds each quill bears two vexilla ; the second, called the after shaft (b) (Jii/porachis), being
attached on the iinder side of the first," * close to the junction of the shaft with the quills.

In all the feathers of the Ratitse, and in the case of all but the contour feathers in other birds,
there are no barbules to the barbs. The pennse are oi'dinarily arranged in definite patches, or areas on
the bird, and the .shape and size of these, and their relation to one another, difler in many birds.

The (ftershaft (b) is ordinarily a smaller vexillum, which is attached to the under side of the larger
one at about the point where the rounded quill passes into the stem.

It is not necessary to notice these important characteristic structures more fully now, as they
will have to be considered in explaining the distinctions between the gi'eat groups of birds, and we pass
on to notice that the same kinds of birds are not found everywiiere, but that they have, as groups, a
remarkable geographical distribution.

In the following pages the distribution of birds is often alluded to, although it will natui-ally be
impossible to discuss, within these limits, all the various phases of the study which the geographical
distribution of the feathered tribes opens up to us. At the
same time sufficient»evidence will be given to show that
bii'ds are not .scattered without order over the earth, but are
more or less restricted to certain spots.

The six natural hi.story or distributional provinces into

which the world is ordinarily divided by modern naturalists

were deteimined, first of all, from the study of the birds ;

and in fixing the boundaries of each division the wading

birds and many swimming birds must be left out of the

question, as they are creatures of such very extensive flight,

and wander almost from pole to pole. A natural region,

therefore, can be marked only by its resident forms of bird

life, or at the most by the birds which breed within its

limits; and the six regions alluded to provide us with many

excellent reasons for believing that they possess well-defined

l^hysical boundai-ies. No Capercailzie, for instance, was ever

found out of the Paltearcticf region, which comprise.^

Europe and the gi-eater part of Asia above the line of the

Himalayas aiid the Yangtze-kiang River in China. This

region is also characterised by a large number of Bunting.?,

Warblers, Grovise, «fec. In the Nearctic % region there is

a certain similarity to the European and Siberian Avifauna,

PAKTs 01 -. iL.iuLu. i.i/(cr MbscJi.) Grouse, Ptarmigan, Waxwings, Magjiies, Ravens, &c.,

being commonly found throughout the two regions. North

America possesses, however, several forms peculiar to itself, though it is by no means so rich in

.species as is the Neotro2ncal% region, which commences sovith of a line drawn through Northern

Mexico, ajid includes the whole of Central and Soutliern America. Within this large area are contained

whole families of birds, such as Toucans, Mot-mots, the vast majority of the Humming-birds, Trogons^

besides innumerable genera of Tanagers and other forms, so that this region is by far the richest in the

world as regards bird life. The Ethiopian region embraces all Africa below the Sahara Desert and

Madagascar : Plaintain-eaters, &c., are characteristic of this region. The Indian region skirts the

Palsearctic, and includes the remainder of Asia below the Himalayas and the Yangtze-kiang ; the

Malayan Peninsula, the Simda Islands, and the Philippines, belong to this region, which contains all the

* Huxley, "Anatomy of Vertebrates," p 274.

t iroAacos, old ; ipKTos, north : i.e., the northern division of the Old World.
X "eo!, new ; apuros, north : i.e., the northern division of the New 'VVorld.
§ i-Eo;, new ; rpoiriicd!, tropical : i.e., the tropical division of the New World.

BIVISilONS OF TUB CLASS AVES. 239

finest Pheasants in the woild, the Impeyan Pheasant from th(> Himalayas, tlie Tragopans, and tlie
Lobed Pheasant of Borneo being most beautiful creatures. Lastly, between the islands of Bali and
Lombok passes a deep sea boundary called " Wallace's line," which divides the Australian region from
the Indian, and although tiiese islands lie so close together, the great depth of the channel between
them seems to mark them out as frontier lines of two ancient continents. Certain it is that the birds
and animals on each side of Wallace's line differ remarkably; and the Australian region, which
includes all the Moluccas, New Guinea, and Oceania, in addition to the Australian continent
and New Zealand, presents us with forms not found elsewhere, such as Birds of Paradise, Casso-
waries, Lyre-birds, and a large variety of peculiar types. Many smaller divisions of the globe ara
now recognised, but the above are the main ones, which may occasionally be i-eferred to in these
pages.*

Many bii-ds migrate, and the student of migration alone would find sufficient material there for
the work of a lifetime ; and it .seems almost impossible to account for the instinct or other causes
which bring birds regularly year by year to breed in the same haunts, and which drive them
away at the same change of season. Why is it, for instance, that species of similar habits and
form, and both visiting Euroj)e in equal abundance, should occupy such different winter quarters ?
Yet the common Red-backed Shrike, or Butcher-bird (Lanim collyrio), when he is said to
leave Europe, passes by the Nile Valley along the east coast of Africa down to the Cape, where he
brings up a second brood of nestlings ; while the Wood-Chat Shrike (Lanius auriculatiis), a bird of
about the same size and of precisely similar habits, proceeds down the Nile Valley and invades Abys-
sinia in the winter, and also occupies Senegambia, where a Eed-backed Shrike has never been found
yet by a naturalist. Nothing whatever is known by which route the bird gets to the Gambia:
whether he follows the same one as his red-backed relation as far as Abyssinia, and then skirts the
southern edge of the Sahara, or whether he reaches north-western Africa by a direct flight across the
Great Desert. Many other such problems in the economy of our most familiar species are still
awaiting further scientific research.

CHAPTER II.

THE ANATOMY OF A BIED.f

The Three Divisions of the Class Aves— Anatomy of a Bird— The Skeleton— Distinctive Features - Peculiar Bone Character
— Tlie Skull - Difference between the Skull of Binls and that of M.\mmals— The Jawbones— Vertebral Column —
Sternum— Fore limbs— Hinil limbs— Toes— The Muscular System— How a Bird remains Fixed when Asleep- The Oil-
gland— The Nervous System— The Brain— The Eye— The Ear— The Digestive System— The Dental papilla;— The
Beak— Tongue - Gullet— Crop— Stomach— Uses of the Gizzard— Intestine— The Liver, Pancreas, and Spleen— The Blood
and Cu-culatoi7 System— Temperature of Blood of a Bird— Blood Corijuscles- The Heart— The Respiratory System-
Lungs— Air-sacs— The Organs of Voice— The Egg— Classification of the Class Aves.

Birds may be separated into three great divisions : the Carinatce, or birds with a keeled sternum, the
Ratitcf, or birds having a raft-like sternum, and the Saurwce, or lizard-like birds. The last of
these orders links the birds with the reptiles, and does not concern us here, as it contains only one
genus, and that a fossil one, the Arclufopteryx lithographica, respecting which a few words will be
found at the end of this articla (Vol. IV., pp. 236-8). Tiie other two divisions are of great
impoi-tance, and are easily recognisable, although the characters which separate them are chiefiy
anatomical. The principal point of difference lies in the sternum, or breast-bone, and the name
Carinatce is given to all those which have a keel (carina) or sternal ridge largely developed, as in the
common fowl ; and this is jiresent in the great majority of birds. The Ratiln have not got this keel,
and in this division are found the Struthious birds — Ostriches, Cassowaries, itc. They are all species
which cannot fly ; and although the number at present existing is small, the fact of then- being found

* Dr. Sclater, F.R S., originateil, in 1858, this scheme of the six zoogeographical divisions of the globe,
t In the preparation of this chapter, the author begs to acknowledge the assistance he has received from his friend
Professor F. Jeffrey Bell, B.A.

210 XATl'EAL HISTORY.

at wicle]\' distant parts of the earth — in South America, in Africa, ami again in Australia — would seem
to indicate that they were once more plentifully distributed, and that they are remains of what was
formerly a large and important group. To these Ratite birds belonged also the extinct gigantic Moas
of New Zealand, and the Jipyornis of Madagascar.

Before proceeding further, it will be necessary to give a brief outline of the principal anatomical
features of a bird's body. On examining either the general features of tlie skeleton, or the minute
characters of many of the bones of which it is made up, in such a bird as a Hawk, for example, we
are arrested by those remarkable arrangements by which this part of the body is adapted to the mode
of life of its possessor. Here, however, as in so many instaiices, we have to distinguish between what
is charactei'istic of the bird as a flying animal, and what is more or less common to it and other
vertebrate animals, and does not especially relate to peculiar lialiits. We may well be struck by
the marvellous power which birds have, and which man has not, and it is curious to notice how
man's aspirations have ever been associated with it. Without pausing to observe that painters always
endow spirits with wings, or that the imaginative genius of the French has emboldened them to
form a " Societe d'Encouragement pour la Locomotion Aerienne," we may find in the words of Faust
definite expression of what man feels with regard to the law by which lie is held down to earth : —

" Ich eile fort, ihr ew'ges LiLht zn tiinkni,
Vor mir den Tag und hintrr inir dir N.ulit,
Ben Himmel fiber mir, iind untcv mil- dir \\'ellen.
Ein scliuner Traum, indessen sie entweicht.
Ach ! zu des Geistos Fliigelii wird so leicht
Kein kijrperlicher Fliigel sich gesellen.
Boch ist es jedem eingeboren,
Bass sein Gefiihl hinauf und vorwarts dringt,
Wenn fiber uns, im blauen Raum verloren,
Ihr schmettemd Lied die Lerehe singt,
Wenn fiber schroffen Fichtenhiihen
Bur Adler ausgebreitet schwebt,
Und fiber Flachen, fiber Seen
Ber Kranich nach der Heimat strobt."*

Inspired by feelings such as those so powerfully expressed in Goethe's lines, numerous naturalists
Lave treated of the bird as though the powers of flight were confined to it, and were not shared by
Bees and Bats in the present, and by Pterodactyles in the past. With this word of comment, which
it is even still necessary to insist upon, attention should be given to the following avian characters : —
The anterior limbs do not touch the ground, and the bones which compose them are adapted for
carrying the feathers of the wing; the breast-bone is not only elongated, but has its central portion
developed (except in the Ratit*) into a .strong keel, the better to permit insertion of the muscles by
which the fore-limb is moved ; the small bones (vertebrae) in the region of the back are fixed firmly
together, and are not, as in man or in the Ostrich, movable on one another ; while those which succeed
them are often welded into one mass with the greatly-developed upi)er bones (ilia) of the pelvic girdle >
and the hinder vertebrce develop an upstanding plate (]iloughshare bone) which gives support to the
rectrices, or so-called steering feathers of the tail. It will have been seen that the ordinaiy seizing
organ of man (the hand) has in birds been modified to serve another purpose ; but this is made up
for, not only by the character of the beak, but by the long and flexible neck, and in some by the
grasping toe.s.

Before describing in detail the characters of the different parts of the skeleton, it is to be noted
that many of the bones are not, as in the Mammalia, filled with marrow, but with air ; a large cavity
may, for example, be seen in the upper bone (humerus) of the wing of the common fowl. It is obvious
that the specific gravity, or weight of the bird, is thus largelj' reduced, while the connection between

* These lines are tlnis translated by Mr. Hayward : — " I hurry on to drink his everlasting light— the day before me
and the night behind— the heavens above, and under me the waves. A glorious dream ! as it is passing, he is gone. Alas!
no bodily wing will so easily keep pace with the wings of the miod ! Yet it is the inborn tendency of our being for feeling to
strive upwards and onwards ; when, over us, lost in the blue expanse the lark sings its thrilling lay ; when, over rugged pine-
covered heights, the out-spread eagle soars ; and, over marsh and sea, the crane struggles onward to her home."

these air-spaces ami those which are derived from tlie liinjfs enal)les the contained air to undergo the
necessary exchanges with the surrounding medium.

It was long ago observed l>y tlie famous German anatomist, Johannes Miiller, that " it has often
been a subject for complaint that the anatomical characters of birds are so constant that they are of but
slight assistance in the labours of the
y.oologist." The truth of this will very
forcibly strike any one who conies to the
study of the skulls of birds, after having
examined a series of skulls in mammals,
so that the seemingly trivial variations
to which anatomists have directed at-
tention are in truth those which are, in
birds, often of the most importance.

The skull, then, is, as compared
with the rest of the body, small ; but
that portion which contains the brain is
relatively larger to the face than it is in
!vny living mammal. The orbits, or
cavities in which lie the eyes, are very
<leep, in consequence of the small ex-
tent to which the walls of the brain-
case extend forwards. The cavities of
t-ach side are separated by a partition
(hUer-wbltal septum), which is more or
less bony ; the nasal bones are short, so
that the nasal orifices (anterior nares)
are jjlaced near to where the beak joins
the face. Of the four bones which
bound the givat opening at the back
of the skull for the passage of the
spinal cord, three take pai-t in the
formation of the single ball-like pro-
jection, or condyle, by which the skull
is hinged on the vertebral column. In
this point, the skull of birds offers a
sti-iking point of dissimilarity to that
of mammals, in which there are two
condyles, one on each side of the gi-eat
opening (of). Another point in which
birds do not resemble mammals is in the
mode by which the lower jaw is hinged
on the skull. This is in the case of birds
effected by a bone, which, being more
or less square in shape, has gained the
name of the quadrate (q). In mammals
the skull proper and the lower jaw are
directly connected. This quadrate bone is connected by a long narrow bar {qitadrato-jugal) with the
bones which go to form the '' beak," and also, by a narrow bone directed inwards, with the bones which
lie in the middle line of the base of the skull, and form the hard palate. The connections between
these bones are often of such a kind as to allow of the upper jaw, or upper half of the beak, being
movable on the rest of the skull, the upper bones of which are so completely united together as to
form a very firm point of support. In the Parrots this arrangement is carried to an extreme, for
the slender bones (nasals and processes of the pre-maxillaries) which connect the upper jaw with the

Milne Ediuards )
,_ . ._ ribs (wpl Uncinate

; phalanx of chief digit of the wing \a i -^Ltuim
— ■ ■ lower dlclt id I Polle\ (rol

Postorbltal process ((hi) Tirso
Lower law \me] Metacarpus {«) Scapula (pa) Pha

242

y.i TURAL HIHTOR ^

bones of the brain-case form with them a distinct joint, and so allow of that large amount of vertical
movement which will have been observed in these birds. The pre-maxillar}' bones {pm), which are
so small in mammals, are very largely developed in birds, giving off, as they do, three processes : one
to the frontal hone (or fore-bone of the brain-case), one along the hard palate, and another externally
to fonn the margin of the beak. The parts that vary most in this bone-groiip are the bones which
make up the hard palate. Of these, the chief are the so-called palatinen (p) and the maicillarieB ; the
former are united by an articular surface with the bone which forms the anterior part of the base of
the brain-case, while there is in the middle a nan-ow bone, which, from its shape in man, has received

the name of the vomer (plough-
share, v). The maxillary bones de-
velop horizontal plates, which have
the palate Ijelow and the nasal
chamber above them.*

The lower jaw (ma) is com-
posed of six pieces of bone on each
side — the dentaiy, angular, sur-
angular, coronoid, splenial, and
articidar. The upper part of the
joint is concave.

The tongue is in relation, as
regards its support and movements,
to the hyoi'l bones, which will be
especially noticed in describing the
Woodpecker.

Turning to the vertebral column,
we find a. number of small bones,
complicated in form, and more or
less movable on one another. For
convenience of description they may
be divided into those which belong
to the neck (cervical vertebra), to
the trunk (dorsal vertebrce), to the
mcmm (so-called because it was
offered in sacrifices !), or to the taD
(caudal vertebrce). As has been
observed already, the first of these,
or the region of the neck, is very
long, and is always long enough for the beak to be able to reach to the base of the tail. In birds,
unlike mammals, the number of these cervical vertebriB may be as low as nine, or as high as
twenty-four. The first of them, which is known as the atlas, has on its front face a rounded
cavity into which fits the single projecting condyle, which was spoken of as being found at the back
of the skull ; and this condyle, being well rounded, is easily able to turn in the cavity which it fits,
and the head is thereby capable of a large amount of movement. In the succeeding vertebrae it is
])0ssible to make out a body, an upper ai'ch, through which passes the spinal cord, which meets above
in the middle line, and is produced iiito a more or less long spinous process set liorizontally to the

SKULL OF YOUNG OSTEICH FHOM ABOVE (a) AND FROM KELOW (li).

{After Owen.)
(of) Occipital foramen; (so) Supraoccipital; (col E.xoccipital ; <g) Quaaratc: (pa) Paiictd
Ipp) Pterygoid process; (/) Frontal: (c) Ethmoid; (n) Nasal; (pnt) Piemaxillai-j : (m) Matai
(p) Palatine: WVomer; (tHj) Intermaxillary; {() Lachrymal tones.

* These plates may become united witli one another in the middle line, and the birds that possess this arrangement have
been called Desmor/natho; (6taix6<;, "a bond ;" itiBa';, "jaw") ; or they may be separated by a more or less narrow cleft, in
which case the birds in which this is found are called Schizognathai (o-x^T", "I cleave"). As a matter of fact, the term
Schizognathous is confined to those birds in which the above-mentioned vomer is pointed in front, while where it is truncated
the birds are called ^Eijithognalhce (al^t»o•;, " a sparrow," as the character is seen in these birds). In these groups, however,
the Ostriches, or running birds, which are distinguished by having no keel to their sternum, are not included ; nor in them is
the vomer narrow behind. This broad character of the hinder end of the vomer is seen also in one group of birds with a keeled
sternum— th» Tinamous- which are consequently distinguished from other " Carinate " birds by the term Droinreognatha:
(Drommis, the Emu).

A y ATOMY OF A BIRD.

I Kcc'lof Stii

"boflv," and others directed forwards and backwards, so as to connect each vertebra with its neigh-
bours ; and lastly, a lower arch, the two halves of which are not connected below, but are converted
into the more or less long ribs. As these vertebrne are so small it is clear that if their spines were
long the free movement of the neck would be greatly impeded, and they are therefore in many cases
little more than projecting processes. This free movement is further greatly aided by the characters
of the two faces of the body (or centrum) of each vertebra ; the face of each is
saddle-shaped, that is to say, the anterior face is concave from side to side,
and convex from above downwards, while the reverse of this is seen on the
posterior face ; in addition to this the vertebrse are sejjarated by a disc of
cartilage from one another. The region of the neck is, broadly speaking,
distinguished from that which succeeds it by the fact that the ribs connected
with its vertebrse do not reach to the sternum, or breast-bone. In all birds
which are capable of flight this dorsal region has its parts firmly united
togetl'.er, and the same holds for the parts which follow, till we reach the region
of the tail, where the more anterior vertebra? are movable on one another,
so as, perhaps, to serve in aid of the steering organ formed by the rectrices, or
feathers (co). In all living birds the caudal vertebrse are a good deal shorter
than the body, but Ln the fossil Archwopteri/x they are longer.

The only important point to note with regard to the ribs, is the presence
on some of them of backwardly directed hooked processes (up, fig. on p. 241),
which aid in giving firmness to the thoracic region. The number of ribs is
variable, but there is never a large number connected with the dorsal vertebrje,
a.s thei-e ai-e in some Carnivora, in Hyrax, and in the Horse.

The fore and hind limbs are connected to the body by a series of bones,
which form the breast and hip girdles respectively ; with the former series is also connected that large,
long bone with its sharply-projecting ridge (/«), which is known as the breast-bone, or sternum, and in
the depressions on which so much muscle is collected. Tliis sharply-projecting ridge to the sternum,
which is Icnown as the carina, or " keel " (cs), is found only in the flying birds, though here and there, as
in the Parrot of New Zealand (Strigops), it is very rudimentary. The lower edge of the bone is often
imperfect, so that, as in the fowl, there are two deep clefts on each side, or there may be but a single
cleft, an 1 this again maybe converted into a rounded space; in all cases these clefts or holes are

covered, or filled by membrane, during the
life of the animal. Projecting in front of
the sternum, and often intimately connected
with it, are the two clavicles (cl), which unite
in the middle line to form the bone of child-
hood's delight — the furcula, or "merry-
thought." Above, this bone is connected
with two bones, one of which, called the
coracoid (c), descends on each side to fit
into a depression on the upper edge of the
stermim, while the other, known as the sca-
pula, or shoulder-blade (>■(•), is set at an
angle to the coracoid. The scapula has a,
backward and downward direction ; while it
may be noted that among mammals the coracoid is well developed only in Echidna and Ornitho-
rhynchus. These two last bones form, at their point of junction, a cavity into which is fitted the
head of the long bone of the arm (wing). In the Ratitse, it must be observed, these two bones are
not set at an angle to one another, and they become more firmly united together.

As in all the vertebrate animals except fishes, the fore-limb may be divided into three parts
(fig. on p. 237)— upper arm, in which there is one bone, the humerus (a); fore arm, in which there are
two, radius (d) and ulna (c) ; and hand (e), which can again be divided into three parts, which in man
would be called wrist, palm, and fingers. Now, in some animals the wrist-bones may be ten in

,V13 OF AN ADULT FOWL, SIDE VIEW

(After W. K. Parker.)
[(S) Ischium ; (pb) Pubes; (d() Dorso-Iiimbar ^^
vertebra?; (am) Acetabulum.

244 XATUr.AL ILlSTUIty.

nuinoer, and the ]ialiii-bono.s five, wliile the miniljer of small bones in tlie fingers varies a good deal, but.
the number of fingers is jice. In most birds all these numbers ai-e reduced. Just be\'ond the fore
arm, the larger bone of which has often small projections indicating the points at which the secondary
feathers have been attached, there are two small bones (/), then comes a longer bone ((/ h i), as it
seems, in which there is an elongated space. Now, this bone consists of three metacarpals and one
wrist-bone ; the two outer metacarpals are absent, the two innermost ones have completely united
with one another, and with the (true) middle metacarpal bone at their upper end ; while the second
and third metacarpals are also united at the other — or finger — end. The inner digit (k), or that which
corresponds to man's thumb, has two joints {phala.nges), and may be clawed ; the next has three joints,
and may also be clawed ; while the third finger, which has never more vhan two joints, Is never
known to carry a claw. In the Arc/iceopteryx the metacarpal bones are well developed, and are
not, as in recent birds, united together. No idea of a bird's flying powers can be fairly gathered
from the length of the hand, for it is long in Swifts and short in Albatrosses, for example ; although
it is to be noted that in the former the single bone {humerus) of the arm is short, aiid in the latter
long.

As in the breast-girdle, the bones of the hinder or hip-girdle, by which the hind-limbs are con-
nected with the body, are three in number ; of these the upper one is greatly flattened out and projects
very far foi'wards, thus aiding in the formation of the firm back of flying birds ; the other two bones
are much more slender, and are directed backwards and downwards. It is a curious circumstance that
it is in one bird only, in either case, that these bones are directly connected at their lower ends with
their fellow on the ojiposite side ; those which are known as the pubes (pb) are so in the African Ostrich,
and those which are known as the ischia (is) in the Rhea of South America. These two l)ones, with
the large, flat ilia (//), take part in forming the cavity m which the head of the thigh-bone plays ; the
outer of the two l)oncs ( //) which are found in the leg is rarely as long as, and is always much more
slender than the other (ti), which has a strong ridge on its front face. There is yet another very remark-
able point of resemblance between birds and reptiles, in that the " ankle-joint " is in both cases
situated betw-een the two rows of bones which make up the " ankle " (tarsus). In birds this arrange-
ment is carried to a still further extent, for the single bone of the upper row is early united with the
shin-bone, as may be seen under those unfoi-tunate circumstances in which the poulterer has provided
an aged fowl (aged, that is, for eating) ; in more fortunate cases it will be found possible to separate a
small bone from the lower end of the shin-bone of the leg.

In no case does any bird, even Archceopteryx, possess a fifth toe. Unlike mammals, the nimiber of
joints in the toes varies greatly in birds. In those which possess four toes we find the following
number of joints : in the first, two; in the second, three; in the third, four; and in the fourth, five.
This rule holds for nearly all birds, but the Swifts have never more than three joints, and in the
Ooat-sucker and the Sand (Jrouse tliere are two less than ordinary on the fourth toe. In a number
of birds the inner toe (big toe of man) disappears, and in the Ostrich proper the next division of the
" typically " five-toed foot, or second toe, has no toe-joints.

In dealing with the muscular system of birds, we need here concern ourselves with only those
special muscles which are modified in accordance with the necessities of the bird's habits, and
those other muscles which have been brought into special notice by valuable investigations.

That great fleshy mass which is found on the breast of a bird, and which is not unknown
to those who are fond of a good " dish," consists of three separate muscles, two of which depress,
while the other elevates the wing. The presence of the elevator muscle on the lower side of the
sternum is a curious arrannvuicnt Viy which the centre of gravity of the animal is lowered -a
mo.st necessary condition in flight : the tendon from this muscle passes through a pulley-like canal
to be inserted into the upper side of the head of the bone, which, as has already been explained,
is known as the humerus, so that when it contracts it draws this bone up. The ability of the
wings to resist the pressure of the air is clearly dependent on the power possessed by these muscles.
Borelli has calculated that the " pectoral muscles " of tlie bird exceed in weight all the other muscles
taken together, whilst in man the pectoral muscles are but a seventieth part of the mass of the
muscles.

The large and important muscles, which in the Mammalia constitute the diaphrwjni, or

A^ATilMY OF A BIRD. 2i.5

midriff, are ordiuaril}' said to lie absent in birds, and, indeed, in most cases are but feebly represented.
In tlie Ratitie, and especially in the New Zealand form {Aptenjx) of this gi'oup, the diaiihragm
may attain to a very fair degree of completeness, though even here the apex of the heart is
allowed to pass into the abdominal cavity. The muscles of the back are feebly developed, as might
be imagined from the tii-m character of the spinal column ; and as the fore limb exhibits but slight
power of vanjimj its movements, its muscles are not well developed. Those muscles which are found in
the skin are, on the contrary, expanded into broad pieces ; and special bundles are sent to the larger
feathers of the wings and of the tail, and to those folds of skin which connect the upper arm with the
trunk, and with the fore arm, respectively. Boi-elli thus explains the arrangement by which a
perching bird remains fixed when asleep : A mu.scle which arises from the pubes bone of the hi]>
girdle passes over the knee, and then takes a backward direction so as to pass behind the ankle ; it
thus becomes one of the flexor muscles, by the contraction of which the toes are flexed, or bent.
When the perching bird, which, as we know, has one of its toes directed backwards, is seated on a
bough, the thigh has its upper end directed backwards, while the upper joint of the leg is tiu-ned for-
wards, or in other words, the two paits of the leg have opposite directions. This arrangement acts
as a contracting influence on this muscle and its tendons, while the weight of the bird is sufficient to
preserve this condition and the consequent flexion of the toes.

To turn to those muscles the arrangement of which has been made the basis of a suggested classi-
fication. In the leg of the bird there are, among other.s, four muscles, the names of which are/emoro-
enudal, accessory femoro-caudcd, seiiii-tendinosii-s, and accessory semi-tendinosus, any of which may be
absent, but in those cases where a single muscle only is found the first is always present ; again, there
is a muscle which, from its course, is known as the ambiens, and this, too, may be present or may
be absent. As the presence or absence of any of these muscles is a very constant phenomenon
in any given section of birds, it has been proposed to divide the class into those which do, and
those which do not, possess the above-named ambiens muscle. In the latter group the second of the
four above-named muscles — the accessory femoro-caudal — is never present. *

Of all the muscles, those which act in aid of the vocal organs are of the greatest interest,
but they will be considered a little later on.

A valuable suggestion has been made, which, if followed out, may lead us to understand
how it is that the brain of the bird, which is so simple as compared with that of man, is
nevertheless capable of so much intelligent activity. Beai'ing in mind the axiom that it is quality
not quantity that tells, and looking at the fact that the brain of the most highly intelligent
man is, after death, supposed to be similar to that of the foolish and of the unwise of our
race, it is obvious that the essential difference must lie elsewhere than in the coarser, or more
evident, characters of that organ which is known as the brain. The suggestion, then, that was made,
was to the effect, that the possessoi-s of aviaries, in which it was possible to study the characters of
birds, should submit the brains of their deceased favourites to that more thorough investigation which
the microscope allows of. The brains of birds vary but little in their anatomy. The optic lobes are
rounded, paired, and tubercular in the bird, and are not divided into four, as in mammals; they
are found at the lower part and sides, and not in the tapper part of the brain. The cerebellum is not
continued at the sides into distinct lobes ; nor are the two lobes of the brain (or cerebral hemisplteres)

* The presence or absence of it, or of the other muscles, is used as a means for aiTanging the smaller divisions of the
larger groups into which the two first-named sub-classes are, by the aid of other anatomical facts, divided. One striking
advantage of this system, as suggested by the late Prof. A. H. Garrod, is that the characters of the ambiens have been
observed to go hand in hand with certain other characters. Thus, the cseca found at the end of the small intestine ai-e
always present in the Homalogonatas, or birds having the normal arrangement of knee-muscles ; but in this connection there is
another structure to be mentioned, namely, the so-called oil-gland, or gland by the secretion of which the bird " preens " its
feathers, and which is always set in the skin in the region of the tail. Now this " uropygial," or oil-gland, may or may not be
provided with a tuft of feathers, and as there may or may not be cajca to the intestine, it follows that-(l) the gland may be
tufted and there may be cajca, or (2) the gland may have no feathers and crt-ca may be present, or (3) there may be no cajca
and a tufted gland, or (4) there may be no cjeca and no tufts (the possible arrangement of neither being present is found in a
few Pigeons). But this is not the place to follow out the details of this classification.

AVith regard to the proposition made by a French observer, M. Alix, that birds should be divided into the Homceo-
myarii, Entomyarii, and Ectomyarii, acconling to the character of certain of the flexor muscles at the back of the leg, it
seems only necessary to remark that so far anatomical investigations have not .supported his views, while his system would
separate birds which seem to be closely allied.

•Uf. NATVIiAL MISrORY.

provided with tliose convolutions wliicli, in mammals, seem to increase in complexity of character as
the animal rises in the scale of intelligence. The cerebrum does not cover the cerebellum. Small ar;
is the brain of birds, it is found that, in many, its weight is, as compared with that of the body,
much greater than it is in man.

With reference to the spinal cord, or the continuation of the central jiart of the nervous system
tlirough the vertebral column, it is only necessary to remark that it is much increased in width at the
two regions, in which the nerves for the fore and hind limbs are respectively given off ; that there is a
narrow canal runmng along its centre, and that at the lower end there is a large space. In regard
to the cerebral nerves, those for the eyes are of great size.

Coming now to consider the organs of the senses, and beginning with the eye, it is interesting to
note that there are no blind birds, and, indeed, the eyes are of a large size as compared with the
brain. The}- are generally placed at the sides, though the nocturnal birds of prey (in which they are
dii-ected forwards) are an exception to this rule. It is in very rare cases that eyelashes are present,
and although they seem to exist in the group just mentioned, it is probably more correct to look upon
them as slightly modified feathers.

If the eye be regarded as having or: its front face, a part which would, if completed, form part of
a smaller circle than the I'est of the eye, it is clear that this cornea, or front part, would be more
convex than the rest, and that it would consequently be a " more powerful glass," inasmuch as it
would exert a greater bending (refracting) influence on the rays of light which pass through it, while,
further, it is clear tliat the more convex it is the better "glass" would it be. Now this is just what
happens in birds : the cornea is very convex ; in addition to this, the long axis of the eye, on the length
of which it seems that, in many cases, the condition known as that of being " shortsighted " depends,
is very long in some bii'ds, and notably in the Owls.

The eye is covered in by a firm and strong membrane, which is known as the " sclerotic;" this,
in its front part, develops a number of bony plates ; of these there may be as many as twenty, and
they are capable of a certain amount of free movement on one another. What is known as the power
of accommodation depends upon the extent to which the front face of the somewhat lens-shaped
body which helj>s to separate the eye into two chambers is capable of being rendered more or less
flat ; this front face is covered by a membrane which is found to be more or less taut, according to the
state of contraction of the muscles (ciliary muscles) connected with it. A very little reflection is suflicient
to show that a swiftly moving animal has the focus of its eye, or the point at which clear vision is alone
possible, changed much more rapidly than an animal wliicli moves more slowly. So much on the one
side. On the other, it is to be observed that muscles -vary in structure ; they are either " smooth " or
'• sti-iated," and it is the latter that contract the more rapidly. Putting
these two series of observations together, it is ea.sy to arrive at the result
that a bird should have striated muscular fibre in its ciliai-y muscles, and a
more slowly moving animal like man, smooth muscular fibres ; and this we
find to be the case ! The iris is an arrangement by which the quantity of
ight admitted into the eye is enabled to be varied, and the small hole in
the centre, through which the rays of light pass, is known as the jmpil ;
this is always rounded in birds, and is never elongated as it is in some
mammals — the Cats, for example**

But the most peculiar arrangement in the bird's eye is the presence, pro-

or rar i (imm(in i // \i i. jecting into the hinder chamber, of a membrane in which run blood-vessels ;

(I 'liis, which is known as the pfcfen (comb), or marsxpium (pouch), enters the

'"p,^'; . itr.'ous humour, which fills up this hinder chamber by the same cleft as

inilnNii ' !. tlir optic nerve. It is folded, and is generally of a quadrangular shape;

it is not found in the eye of the Wingless Bird of New Zealand (Apteri/x).

A third eyelid is well developed in this class ; it is an elastic membrane {menibrana nictitans,

or winking membrane), which has not, like the other two, a vertical movement, but is drawn

obliquely over the eye from the inner to the outer side. This movement is effected by two special

muscles, one of which arises on the inside, and below the eyeball, and has therefore to pass over to the

* Compare A'ol. I., ]i. 213.

ANATOMY OF A BIRD. 247

outer side. In coutiaetiug, it would press ou the optic nerve, were it not for the other one, which,
however, is so disposed that by its contraction it draws away the tendon of the pyrcmikkdis muscle
from pressing on the nerve. As in ourselves, there are six special muscles for moving the orbit or
ball of the eye, but the one which in man is well enough known as the trochlear, has no pulley-
sirrangements in birds. Lachrymal glands are present.

With regard to the organ of hearing, one particular part, which in man is in the form of a snail's
shell, and is known as the cochlea, is not coiled into this shape in birds, being \'ery slightly bent, though
holding in other respects the same general relations. Nor is there any external ear, as in mammals,
for collecting the waves of sound ; there is, however, in the nocturnal birds of prey a crescent-shaped
valve on which are set tufts of short feathers, and it is possible that this may aid in hearing. Nor,
again, are there in the interior of the ear those three small bones, which are known generally as the
auditory ossicles ; of the two that are absent, one is thought by many anatomists to be represented by the
quadrate bone, whieh, as has already been mentioned, connects the lower jaw of the bird with the
skull. The single bone wliieli is present, and which is, perhaps, most generally known as the
" columella," is connected by two or three- cartilaginous j>rocesses with the drum of the ear, and by the
other end — at which it has a small ovat plate^with the more internal parts of the organ of hearing.
In man there is a curious arrangement; of rods, which vary in so remarkable a way as to have led to
the supposition that each was adapted to a ^stinct note ; these rods, which constitute the organ of Corti,
ai-e not present in birds, aftbrding thereby a striking example of the law that physiological inferences
are often well examined by the aid of comparative anatomy, no physiologist being hardy enough to
deny to birds the power of appreciating those delicate modulations of sound which go to make up the
chief charm of music. With regard to the organ of smell, it is only necessary to note the absence of
those muscles by which, in man and other mammals, the nostrils are contracted or dilated.

The first point which attracts us on examining the digestive tract of birds is the absence
of lips and of teeth ; but with regard to these latter we must note that it is a character which
has only become distinct since the time when birds were first developed. This statement is borne
out by two series of facts, each taken from one of the two great aids to a correct apprehen.sion of
the real importance of structural characters — that is, from embryology, or the study of the developing
individual; and from palaeontology, or the natural. history of the past. The young of certain Parrot.s
have been observed to possess, at an early stage of theii- develojiment, those uprisings on the mucous
membrane of the jaw which go by the name of "dental papillae," and these papillse have been
seen to be covered with a cap of dentine. On the other hand, the researches of Owen and of some
American paleontologists have brought to light bird-like forms which were provided with teeth
(Odontornithes : Ichlhyorius, Ifesperornis).

The beak, or horny covering of the jaws, varies very greatly in form, and in the degree of its
sensibility. This tactile sense is dependent on the extent to which the beak is supplied by nerves
(from the fifth cerebral nerve). In the Woodpecker, for example, there is a large branch ex-
tending along the inside of the lower jaw, which, as it approaches the extremity, breaks up into
finer nerves that perforate the bone by a number of small canals and so give to the beak a power of
discovering what lies hid in the crevices of the wood and under the bark. Being an external structure,
the beak is naturally adapted to the habits of its possessors, so that it may be hooked, as in many
flesh-eating forms, or trenchant, and fit to cut and break, or provided with transversely-set fine plates
by. which the water taken in wth the food can be filtered oS", or provided with bristles, the better
to hold a living prey. Finally, in many cases the hardness of the bill is made up for by a patch of
naked skin at the base of the upper mandibles, which is known by the name of the " cere " and seems
to have a tactile function.

In many birds, tlie tongue is either feebly developed, or is encased in horn, so that it can hardly
be as useful an organ of taste as is our tongue : in the Pelicans it is obsolete. In some, however, as
in the Woodpecker, the tongue is a very powerful seizing organ, as it is protruded with great rapidity
by means of a special mu.scle, and is well provided vidth a sticky secretion, which is given off from a
large gland (the sub-lingual), which, lying below the muscle above referred to, is compressed when
this muscle contracts ; so that in the Woodpecker, just as in the mammal called the Great Ant-eater
Qlyrmecophaga), the insect prey is easily captured.

KATirRAL HISTORY.

Tlie region of the mouth is not separated from that which follows it (the pharvnx) by an
epiglottis, which in ourselves protects the entrance into the air-passages, nor is there any uvula
to guard the posterior orifice of the nose Ly which the aii- reaches the throat. The succeeding por-
tion of the gullet (the cesophagus) is veiy long, as might be supposed from the length of the neck io
most birds, and it is very frequently either dilated at one side, or produced into a csecal iwuch (crop,
ingluvies), which may, or may not, be separated by a naiTow connection, from the rest of the gullet,
and which may be divided into two compartments. Tliis crop serves for the detention of the food,
which cannot have undergone any complete process of mastication, and it is here treated to a process
of maceration by the fluid secreted from the walls of this organ. Passing from this receptacle,
the food becomes subject to the action of the stomach jtroper, which diflers, however, irom our
ordinary conception of a stomach, as seen in man, by being divided into two distinct jwrtions. The
anterior one is known as the jyi-oventriculus, and it is in this that the gastric juice is brought to bear
upon the food, and its walls are consequently thickened by a glandular layer ; the hinder division,
which is known as the gizzard, forms an elongated sac, with two orifices — one from the proventriculus,
the other leading to the small intestine — in its upper portion. The characters of its walls are vei-y
different in those birds which live on animal, as compared with those that live on \pgetable (grains)
food ; in the former they are membranous and thin, but in the latter they are enormously thick and
very muscular. On examination, it is seen that the dark colour of the muscles is on each side of the
gizzard relieved by a shining spot of tendinous material, and the walls of the gizzard have conse-
quently been compai-ed to a double-bellied (digastric) muscle. The internal cavity of the gizzard is
lined with a dense and rough coat, and is ordinarily found to contain small stones, and occasionally
other hard materials. These obviously take the place of the absent teeth, when the muscles of the
gizzard set up that (grinding or compressing) action by which the ingested seeds are broken down. The
wall of the gizzard may itself also act as a rasping organ, being, as it often is, provided with a firm
glandular layer, the secretion of which is converted into a hard lining, the structure of which has been
observed in some cases to be due to interlaced filaments secreted from and continuous
with the glands in the wall of the gizzard.

Notwithstanding the diffei-ences in the character of the gizzard in carnivorous
and gi-aminivorous birds, it has been shown by the ever-famous John Hunter that
carnivorous bmls can be brought to live on grains, and grain-eating birds
on meat.

It is interesting, further, to note, with regard to the opening into the small
intestine, that in a number of grain- or fruit-eating birds there is no valvulai-
arrangement to detain the food in the gizzard till it is completely triturated, for it
is thus that many plants have then- area of distribution increased, the escaped
seeds passing uninjured from the intestine to find, perhaps, a suitable soil in a new
disti ict. In those that swallow large stones a valve is often to be observed. Tlie
difference which we have already had so frequently to notice, as obtaining between
the carnivorous and '• vegetarian " birds, is seen to be continued into their small
Hitestine ; just as in mammals, this portion of the tract is longer in the latter than
in the foi-mer birds. The anterior, or duodenal portion, is always characterised by
foiming a loop, within which lies the gland known as the jiaiia-eas, and the succeeding
poition is, as compared with most mammals, short. A slight elevation, hardly ever
of any great size, may at times be observed on the course of the short intestine.
This represents all that remains of the duct by which the hatching bii'd was con-
nected with the yolk. The short and straight large intestine is ordinarily separated
from the preceding by a caecum ; this is generally paired (in the Herons and some
others it is single), and varies in length ; in many cases these csecal tubes are hardly
more than papillse. In the Parrot, as in the Woodpecker and some others, the.se
are absent. In the desert-dwelling Ostrich (Strutkio) they are said to be as
intestine; (J, tjLioaca. ^^j^jj ^^ ^^^^j fgg^. j^j^g . ^^^^ j^^ ^^^ Emu they do not exceed six inches in length.
The intestine ends in a cavity, which is common to it, and to the other organs that open to the
exterior in this region. This cloaca (sewer) is found in reptiles also, and in one division of the

ORtt.lXS
OF THE KING-
FISHER.

{After MacgilUvray.)
t/T.l T.mBiie ; (ft.c. rf) (Eso-

AX ATOMY OF A Bir.D. 249

Mammalia, the Monotremata, In birds it is provided with a special glandular appendage on its
iqiper (or dorsal) aspect, which goes by the name of the Bursa Fabricii Neither the history nor the
functions of this peculiar organ can be said to be thoroughly understood.

Of the organs which are appended to the intestine, the lungs will be described elsewhere ; of
the rest we have to consider the liver, the pancreas, and the spleen. The tirst-naiued organ is large,
and covers over the pancreas, the proventriculus, the spleen, part of the gizzard, and part of the small
intestine. It is ordinarily divided into two " lobes," between which, on the upper edge, is placed the
tip of the heart. In the common fowl the left lobe is often divided into two ; but this organ is never
broken up into so large a number of parts as it is in many mammals, from which animals birds also
differ in always having more than one duct to carry off the secretion of the liver (bile) to the small
intestine, except in the Ostrich ; in this, as in some other bii'ds, there is no gall-bladder in which the
bile may be collected, so that in such tliis secretion passes directly into the intestine.

As has been already pointed out, the commencement of the small intestine forms a loop, in
which is set the organ known as pancreas, which may for simplicity be described as the salivary
gland of this region, although in truth the fluid secreted from it is a much more powerful aid to the
digestion of food than that of any known salivary gland. It has always two, and in a number of cases
three ducts, which do not unite with the bile ducts, but open separately from, though near them, into
the end of the " duodenal loop." The spleen, which is a small oval body, and is placed to the
right of the proventriculus, has no ducts ; in birds of prey it is more cylindrical iii .shape.

The temperature of the blood of the bird is, in requirement with the conditions of
its existence, hot — that is to say, it is ordinai-ily hotter than the temperature of the surrounding
air, and is found to register between 100° (Gull) and 112° (Swallow) on Fahrenheit's scale,
or from two to fourteen degrees more than does that of man. Birds and mammals, are,
speaking broadly, the only hot-blooded animals now existing, and it has consequently beeii
suggested that they should be grouped together as such, in opposition to the rest of the Ver-
tebrata. But it is obvious that this character of the temperature is merely dependent on
physiological conditions ; and were this a treatise on the anatomy of birds rather than one on their
natural history, the statement of this fact would not receive the prominence here given to it. The
high temperature of any body may be preserved from cooling influences by two methods : thus, tea
in a well-polished silver teapot keeps hot becaiise the rays of heat ai-e but slightly i-adiated from its
surface ; or a less costly teapot may be kept hot by covering it with a loosely-fitting " cosy," which,
being made of badly-conducting materials, " keeps the heat in." It is, then, clear that the heat of
a body is best preserved when it is covered by a bad radiator and a bad conductor of heat ; and this
is just the case with birds : the polished feathers are bad radiators, and the air entangled among them
forms a bad conductor.

Tlie blood corpuscles are, broadly speaking, about twice as large as in man ; those which are
coloured red are oval in shape, as they are in nearly all of the lower Vertebrates and in the Camels
among mammals. Like the white ones, they are "nucleated." The heart is, as in mammals,
divided into four chambers. It is a condition of the circulation in hot-blooded and rapidly-breathing
animals that the current of arterial blood from the heart, and the current of venous blood to it,
should be kept as much as possible separate ; no reflection is needed to show that the blood freshly
purified by contact with the air in the lungs must be kept as distinct as can be from the blood which
has lost its purity in passing through the body ; in other words, it is required that there should be a
similar result in. birds and in mammals.

Bii-ds, like all warm-blooded creatures, have the heart divided into four cavities — two ventricles
and two auricles — those of the right side being completely separated from those of the left. The
whole is enclosed in a pericardium, a thin, but strong, membi'ane. The right ventricle has thin
muscular walls, and almost completely enveloj)e3 the left. The right auricle has a remarkable valve
in the shape of a fleshy leaflet, which appears almost to be a portion of the inside of the ventricle
that has become detached from the partition between the two ventricles. The blood, under certain
circumstances, passes between this septum, or partition, and the leaflet, into the auricle ; but when
the beat of the heart takes place (the systole), the septum, being convex, is forced against the leaflet
on the other side of the auricoloventricular opening, and the passage of the blood, through this, is

2.50 SAT URAL UI STORY.

prevented. The valve between the stout-chambered left ventricle and auricle doe.s not present this
structure, but is divided into two or three lobes attached to tendinous processes. At the origin of the
great vessels — the pulmonary artery and the aorta — there are three valves, semi-lunar in shape and
liy name. And this last vessel, often having given off the coronary artery to tiie heart itself, is
curved to the right, and then passes backwards to go down the body. The blood from the body is
collected into three large veins — two anterior vence cavce and one posterior.

The lymphatic system is well developed, and of the so-called " lymphatic hearts," which are well
known in the Frog, the posterior ones have been observed in some, and especially in the Ratite birds.

The lungs, or organs in which the blood effects an exchange of its gases with the outer air,
are paired, and set on either side of the heart. As is elsewhere mentioned, the nostrils are not
provided with muscles, and there is no epiglottis sufficiently well developed to cover the entrance
into the long tube, or tracliea, which runs down the neck. This tube, which does not alway.?
take a straight course, is essentially made up of a number of rings of cartilage, which ai-e for the
greater pai-t perfect, and not, as in man, imperfect rings. The bronchi which are given off from this
tube, to the right and left, have their rings imperfect, and they do not show that two-forked mode of
division which is so characteristic of mammals. The lungs are of a rosy colour, and of a compara-
tively small volume ; they are marked externally by depressions corresponding to the chai-acters of the
vertebrae and ribs, to which latter they are firmly attached, and they are not divided into lohes ; in theii-
texture they are spongy ; the air-tubes are given off from them at right angles to the main air-passage ;
these run nearly parallel to one another, and contain in their walls the true tissue of the respiratory
organ. The air-tubes are also connected with the air-cells, which are arranged in so remarkable
a manner as to deserve a full account.

They are found in all birds with the exception of the Aptery.r, according to Professor
Owen. Our knowledge of their existence is primarily due to the illustrious William Harvey,
while it is to the distinguished anatomist, John Hunter, that we owe our knowledge of
the very curious fact that these aii'-passages and sacs communicate also with the cavities or
some of the bones of the skeleton. Though these sacs are not by any means highly vascular,
or stipplied with vessels to the same rich extent as are the lungs, they are nevertheless of
enormous importance to the bird ; thus, they diminish the specific gi-avity ef the animal. For
example, taking a bird which weighs 1,600 grammes, and has a volume of 1,230 cubic centimetres
— or a specific gravity of 130 (j-^) it has been calculated (Bert) that 200 cubic centimetres of air can
be introduced ; now these centimetres would weigh '22 of a gramme, so that the specific gravity of the
animal would be reduced to 1-05 (J?^?±5^) or ('-^^Sr)- •^S^"''' the air which is taken into the lungs is, in
high-flying birds, often of an extremely low temperature ; but this air is not only brought into contact witb
that of the lungs, but also with that which has been warmed in the abdominal cavity. And again, the
air is often very dry — as it is for the Ostrich on the desert plains of Africa — but the air from the aii'-
sacs contains a large amount of moisture. Of the proper air-sacs there are nine ; of these, four — the
two anterior and the two posterior thoracic — lie in the thorax (breast) in-oper ; three — the right and
left cervical, and the sac between the clavicles — lie in fi'ont of the thorax ; while the last two are found
behind it and in the abdomen. From all of these, with the exception of those within the thorax, com-
munications are, or may be, given off to the bones of the vertebral column, to the humerus, to the
bones of the thigh, and to the sternum and the ribs ; but there is no communication between these
sacs and the air-spaces which are so constantly found in the bones of the skull, and which are in con-
nection with the air-cavities of the ear and of the nose. The inter-clavicular sac has been observed to
be covered with a thick layer of muscle in those birds, at any rate, which perform somersaults, and
it has been suggested that this layer of muscle is capable of driving the air in the sac backwards. It
is obvious that such an operation would send the centre of gi-avity of the animal nearer the head, and
would, so far, be of assistance in the execution of the curious movement alluded to.

It has been suggested that the air-sacs ai-e of assistance in increasing the resonance of the bird'.s
voice. Be this as it may, attention must now be turned to the organ of voice. This organ may
take one of three forms, or, if absence is to be counted, four. There is no organ of voice in
the Ratitfe, or in the American Vultures (CathartiJa-). It is, when present, remarkable for being
developed at the lower, and not at the upper, end of the trachea ; while the true vocal co?-ds, whicli.

AXATOMY OF A lUnV. 251

by tlieir vibration produce the notes of the human voice, are altogether and always absent from the
larynx ; in other words, the vocal organ is not the larynx, but an organ seated at a lower level, and
known as the syrinx. This instrument may, further, be formed in the trachea alone (as m some
American Passerines), or in the bronchi alone (as in Steatornis), or at the point at which the tracheal
and bronchial tubes pass into one another (as in the majority of singing birds).

The last-mentioned, or bronchio-tracheal syrinx, consists of the following parts; (i.) a lyiiqianic
chamber formed by the union of some of the lower lings of the trachea ; (ii.) a membranous sr-jjlHiit
separating from one another the tracheal orifices of the two bronchi ; (iii.) on either side a tyinpani/urin
immhrane, formed on the inner side of the uppermost broncliial rings ; in consequence of this these
lironchial rings are not complete circles ; their mucous membrane is developed into a fold which bounds
one side of a cleft which is formed by the presence on the other side of the above-mentioned tympani-
form membrane. The au- which passes through these bronchial clefts sets in vibration the membranes
which bound them, while the character of the note is affected by the position of the bronchial half-rings,
and the length -of the column of air in the trachea. These i-ings have their positions changed by five
lateral muscles, which act on their ends, and so rotata, them. The principle variations in the characters
of the .muscular sujjply of the organ of the voice were long ago worked out by Johannes Miiller, the
famous German anatomist and physiologist.

It is also to this observer that we owe our first information with regard to the bronchial syrinx
of Steatornis ; the anatomy of this animal was also investigated by the late Prof. Garrod, who gave
the following account of its vocal appai-atus:-- ■" Each semi-syrinx, as it
may be termed, is formed on the same principle as that of the combined
organ in most of the non-singing birds. Taking for description that of
the left side, it is found that the thirteenth bronchial ring is complete,
though considerably flattened from side to side ; the fourteenth is not
complete in the middle of its upper surface ; it is a little longer from
before backwards than the one above, and not so long as the one
following it. The fifteenth is only a half ring, its inner portion being
deficient ; it is slightly convex upwards, and articulates, both at its
anterior and posterior ends, with the fourteenth incomplete ring and the
sixteenth half-ring. The sixteenth half-ring is concave upwards, and so
forms an oval figure in combination with the one above, which is filled
with a thin membrane to form part of the outer wall of the bronch-u.s. ikont my-v, {>,) ami section
There is a membrane also between the ends of these and the .succeeding (") "^ infekior lak\\\ or

. " PEREfrBTME TALC OV

half-rings, which completes the tube of the bronchus internally. (jrt^, Mncgiifmai) )

The ducts from the urinary organs open to the exterior through the
cloaca, into which, as already mentioned, the digestive tube also opens. The chief point with I'egard
to the urinary secretion of birds is the fact that it is semi-solid, and that it contains a quantity of the
substance known as uric acid. The kidneys are placed some way back and near the cloaca ;. they
are set on either side of the spinal column, between the transverse processes of the sacral vertebrae,
and are generally divided into three portions of gi'eatly varying size. On their, inner edge are given
off the ureters, which pass on each side to enter separately into the before-mentioned cloaca.

The right ovary of birds is always atrophied, and it is in rare cases only that rudiments of it are
found (namely, in the diurnal Eaptores). The oviduct is a coiled canal, the lower portion of which
has strong, muscular walls, while internally the characters of its surface vary according to the
substance which the glands of different regions add to the descending egg. The right oviduct is not so
completely atrophied as is the ovary of the same side. This duct opens into the cloaca through
which the egg passes to reach the outer woi-ld ; as further development is so largely independent of
the mother, the female organs offer no peculiarities of arrangement, or complexities of structure.

All bii-ds lay eggs, or, in other words, the born young are not carried about by the mother
till the time of birth. Ihe advantage of this to a flying animal is so obvious that we may pass
at once to describe the egg of a common fowl. The shell, which consists of organic matter and lime-
salts, is found to be formed of two layers; it is in the outer one only that pigment is found.
Beth layers are traversed by canals, through which air can pass oidy when the shell is dry;

IsATl'SAL HISTORY.

DIAGRAMMATIC SECTION

tliat is to s-Aj, the outer pores of the shell are closed under the influence of moisture. This may be seen
by removing the outer layers, when air or water will pass in quite easily. These canals are said to be
branched in the Ratite birds, and to be simple in the CarinatiB. The shell is lined by the shell-mem-
brane, wMch, again, is made up of two layer.s.
At the broad end of the egg these two layers
are separated from one another, and so give rise
to that aii'-chamber which is found in stale eggs,
and increases in size as the egg grows older and
the yolk evaporates.

The shell-membrane is in direct contact with
the lohlte of the egg (albumen). This, in its fresh
state, consists of fluid albumen, arranged in
layers, which are separated from one another by
networks of fibres, in the me.shes of which,
however, fluid albumen is also to be found.
There are, further, two special sets of fibrous
cords ill the white of the egg ; these extend

^^0 Blastodenii : (wi/l White Volk ; ug) Tellow Yolk ; (rt) vitelline Membrane: somewhat along the long axis of the egg, though
ui'i Albumen; (cM ChaliiziE: focM Air-chamber; lism) Internal La.ver of " => »»' >^

Shell Membrane; (m) ExtefnaTLayer of ditto; t») Shell. they do not reach to the shell-membrane. From

their bead-like character they are known as
c/in/azte (hailstones), but their more common English name is that of the " tread."

The " white " is separated from the yolk by the so-called vitelline (or yolk) membrane ; the gi-eater
part of this yolk is known as the yeUow yolk, and is made up of minute albuminous granules, but its
outermost part is formed of a thin layer of a somewhat different substance, which goes by the name of
the ivhitJi yolk. The spheres of this latter are still smaller than those of the yellow yolk, and they
are also found to form layei-s at various levels in it. At one point the white yolk becomes
a good deal thicker, and forms, as it were, a pad for a small white disc, which, in ordinary circum-
stances, is always found uppermost when an egg is opened. This disc is formed of an encircling
white rim, and within it there is a rounded transparent region, the centre of which is more opaque.

This region is known as the blastoderm, and is that part of the egg from which the chick, with its
organs and complicated vessels, muscles and bones is soon to be developed. In the laid egg, tliis
blastoderm consists of two layers of cells, as do at a certain stage the eggs of all but the very simplest
of animals. The dissection of a laying fowl will probably reveal the presence of eggs at an earlier
stage, and from their study the following history has been made out : the ellipse-shaped egg^
when about to leave the ovary, is a yellow body enclosed in a tine membrane, and possessing at one
pole a small (germinal) disc ; this disc contains a smaller germinal vesicle, and a still smaller germinal
spot ; when this body is ripe, it escapes from its enclosmg capsule, and the germinal vesicle disappears.
As the egg passes down the oviduct the albumen becomes deposited around it, and part of it is con-
verted into the shell-membrane. The egg now becomes subjected to a thick, white fluid, which is
gradually converted into the shell.

While these additions to the substance of the egg are going on, the germinal disc undergoes
the remarkable process known as segmentation, in which it becomes divided into two, four, eight,
.sixteen, thirty-two (and so on) masses, which arrange themselves in two distinct layers, the presence
of which has been already noted in the laid egg.

This is not the place in which it is possible to follow out the various future changes undergone,
l)ut the condition of the young birds on escaping from the egg is widely different in some of the
larger gi-oups of birds. Some young birds, on their exclusion from the egg, are able to shift for tliem-
';elves, and are covered with down ; while others are born naked and helpless, and require food
from theii- parents for some time after they are hatched. Of the first section, an ordinary chicken
i.s a familiar example, while a young Thrush or a Sparrow illustrates the second. There are, however,
manifest exceptions to this rule, as in the Herons, for instance, where the young are densely clothed
v.'ith feathery down, but are helpless for a long time after they are hatched.

Finidly, it must be stated that all birds possess an oil-gland (known as the uropygial), situated

CLASSIFICATION OF THE CLASS AYES

near the tail, with wliich they ckum and (h-ess their feathers. Attention has alreaily been caHeil t
this ghmd in the foot-note on ji. 245.

Before commencing the special part of the present article, it may be useful to give a slight sketc
of the cIa.ssification which it is proposed to follow throughout its course.

CLASS
DIVISION I.— CARINAT.
ORDER I.-ACCIPITRES : BIRDS OF PREY. |

Sub-Oruer I.— FalcoiJks : Falcons.

Family I. — Vulturidie Vultures.

„ II. — Falconklse Hawks.

Sub-Family I.— Polyborinse - - Caracaras.

„ II. — Accii>itrinte - - Long legijed Hawks.
,, III. — Buteouinse - - Buzzards.
,, IV.— Aquilinse - - - Eagles.
„ v.— Falconinse - - - Falcons.
Sub-Order II. — Pasdioses : Osprets.
Sub-Ohder III. -Striges : Owls.
Family I. — Eubonidse ----- Owls proper.

„ II.- Strigid.-e Bam Owls.

ORDER II. -PICARIiE : PICAEIAN BIRDS.
Sub-Obuer I.— Zvuodactvlj; : Climbing Birds.

Family I.— Psittaci Pai-rots.

a. — PsiMaci proprii.
Sub-Family I.-Camptolophinae - Cockatoos.

„ II.— Androglossinae - Fleshy-tongued Parrots.
,, HI.— Conurin.-e - - - Conures.
,, IV. — Platycercinai - - Parrakeets.
,, v.— Strigopinse - - Owl PaiTots.
h - Psittaci orthognathi.

Brush - tongiied Par-

-Trichoglo

rots.

Family II. — Cuculida; Cuckoos.

,, III. — Indicatoridit - - - Honey-guides.

,, IV. — Musophagidai - - - Touracoes.

v.— Picida;- ----- Wooflpeckers.

„ VI.— Rhamphastidse - - - Toucans.

„ VII.— Capitonida; - - . - Barbets.
Sib-Order II.— Fissieostres : Wide-gaping Birds.
Family I. — Galbulida? - - - - .Tacamars.

„ 11.— Bucconida; - . - - Puff Biids.

„ HI.- Alcedinidte . - - . ' Kingfishers.

,, IV. — Bucerotidce - - - . Hornbills.

„ v.— Upupidas - - . - Hoopoes.

„ VI.— Meropidse - . . . Bee-eaters.

„ VII. — Momotidfe - - - . Motmots.

„ VIII.— Coraciadie - - - - Rollers.

„ IX. — Trogonidffi .... Trogons.

,, X.— Caprimulgidre - - - Goatsuckers.

„ XI.— Cypselidai . - . - Swifts.

„ XII.— Trochilidie - . . - Humming-birds.

ORDER III.-PASSERIFORMES : PERCHING BIRDS.

Section A.— Acromyodi : Singing Birds.

Si'b-Order I.— Turdiformes ; Thrdsh-like Birds.
Group I. — CoLioMonpH.E : Crow-like Passeres.
Family I.— Corvidae Crows.

Sub-Family I.— Corvinte - - - Crows proper.

„ II.— Fregilina; - - - Choughs.

Family n. — Paradisiidse - - - - Birds of Paradise.

„ III.— Orioliidse - - - - Orioles.

„ IV.— Dicruridse - - - - Drongos.

„ v.— Prionopidie - - - - 'Wood-shrikes.

AVES.

M: CAIUNATE BIRDS.
Group II.— Cichlomorph
Family VI .— Carapophagidse
,, VII. — Muscicapidse
„ VIII.- Turdida; - -
Sub-Family I.— Turdinte
H.-Sylviinaj
Family IX.— Timeliidas -
Sub-Family I.— Troglodytii
„ II. — Brachypod
III.— Timeliina;
,, IV.— CisticoliniB
,, V. — Miminse
Family X.— Laniidse - -
,, XI. — Vireonidas ■
„ Xll.-Parid* - -

Group HI.— Certhiimok
Group IV.— Cinnyrimokph.i

lUSH-LiKE Passeres.
Cuckoo-shrikes .
Flycatchers.
True Thrushes.
Thrushes.
Warblers.
Babbling Thruhhes.
Wrens.
Bulbuk.
Babblers.
Grass-warblers.
American Babblers.
Butcher-birds.
Greenlets.
Titmice.

.e : Creepers.
Honey Suckers.

Sub-Order II.— Fringillifobmes : Finch-like Birds.

Family I. — Motacillidie
,, II.— Mniotiltida;
„ HI.— Cajrebidie-
,, IV. — Diceidie -
,, V. — Ampelidaj
,, VI. — Hinindinidse
,, VU. — Tanagrida;
„ VIII.— Fringillidse
,, IX.— Icterida; -
Sub-Order III.— Stdrni
Family I. — Ploceidas -
,, II.— Stumidze -
„ HI.— Artamidce -
„ IV.— Alaudida; -

Wagtails.

American AVarblers.
American Creepers.
Flower-peckers.
Chatterers.
Swallows.
Tanagers.
Finches.
Hang-nests .
Starling-likic Birds

Starling.^ .
Wood -swallows .
Larks.
Section B.— Mesomyodi : Songless Birds.

Family I.— Memirida; Lyrebirds.

„ II. — Pteroptochidse - - - Bushwiens.
„ HI.— Dendrocolaptidse - - Spine-tails.

rv . — Forraicariidse
v.— Pittidas - -

„ VI.— TyrannidoB -
„ Vll.-Cotingidie -
„ VIII.— Pipridas - -
„ IX.— Eurylasmiidse
„ X.— Phytotoniida;

ORDER IV.— COLUMB.E : PIGEONS.
ORDER V.-GALLIN.E: GAME-BIRDS

t thruslies.

\ Old-AVorld Ant-

( thrushes.

Tyrant-bu-ds.

American Chatterers.

Manakins.

Broadbills.

Plant-cutters .

Family I.-Cracidfe - - -

- Curassows.

„ • II.— Opisthocomidse -

- Hoatzins.

„ III.— Phasianidie - -

- Pheasants.

„ IV.-Meleagrid« - -

- Tm-keys.

„ v.— Tetraonidse - -

- Grouse.

„ Vl.-Pteroclidie - -

- Sand-grouse

„ Vn.-TumicidcB - -

- Hemipode?.

„ VIII.-Megapodida; - -

- Megapodes.

NATURAL UlSTOliY.

OBDEK VI.-GRALL^: WADING BIRDS.

Tamily I.— Eallidie - ■
„ II.— SoolopaoidiB •
„ m.-CharaJriidw -
„ IV.— Otididaj - -
„ V.-Gruid.-B - -
„ VI.— Psophiidfe

Rails.

Snipes.

Plovers.

Bustards.

Cranes.

Trumpetei

ORDER VII.— HERODIONE.S: HERONS.

ily I.-Ardcidie - - -
II.-tHconiidre- - -
III.— Plataleida; - •
I V .— PbsBnicopterida;

Herons proper.
Storks.
Spoonbills.
Flamingoes.

ORDER VIII.-ANSERE3: GEESE.
Family I.— Palamedeida; - - - - Screamers.
,, II.-Anatidaj ----- Ducks.
ORDER IX.-STEGANOPODES : PELICANS.

Family I.— Fregatida; Frigate-birds.

„ II.-PhKthontidaj- - - - Tropic-birds.

„ Ill.-Pelecanida; - - - - Pelicans.

ORDER X.— GAVI^: SEA-BIRDS.
Family I.— Larida; ------ Gulls.

„ II.— ProceUariid* - . - - Petrels.

ORDER XI.-PYGOPODES : GREBES.
ORDER XII.— IMPENNES : PENGUINS.
ORDER Xm.— CRYPTURI.: TINAMOUS.

DIVISION II.— HATIT.^; STRUTHIOUS BIRDS.
DIVISIOX III.— SAURUR.E : LIZARD-TAILED BIRDS.

It has been already .stated that birds are divisible into three great sections, and attention i.s
now directed to tho.se which have a keel to the sternum, and which are good flyers — the Carinate Birds

(GaEINATvE).

CHAPTER III.

DIVISION I— THE CAEINATE BIRDS (CARINATE).

THE ACCIPITRINE ORDER— BIRDS OF PREY.

VULTURES AND CARACARAS.

The Birds of Prey— Distinctive Characters— The Cere— How the Birds of Prey are Divided— Difference between a Hawk,
an Owl, and an Osprey— The three Sub-orders of the Accipitres— Sub-order Falcones— Difference between the Vultures
of the Old World and the Vultures of the New World— THE OLD WORLD VULTURES— Controversy as to how
the Vultures reach theu- Prey— Waterton on the FaciUty of Scent— Mr. Andersson's, Dr. Kirk's, and Canon Tristram's
Views in Favour of Sight— The Black Vixture— The Gku'fon Vi'lture— Its Capacity for Feeding while on the Wing
—The Eared Vultl:re— One of the Largest of the Birds of Prey— Whence it gets its Name— The Egyptian Vultl're
—A Foul Feeder— THE NEW WORLD VULTUKES-The Condor— Its Appearance-Power of Flight-Habits—
The King Vulti'RE— The Turkey Vulture— THE CjVRACARAS— Distinctive Characters— Habits— The Secretary
Bird- How it attacks Snakes— Habits— Appearance— The Cariama.

The first order of birds to be con.sidered is the birds of prey {Accipitres). They are all icmark-
uble for strong and sharply-hooked bills, and most of them have sharp and powerful talons. In
the Eagles and Falcons these characters are developed in the highest degree, although many modifica-
tions of their structure take place in the order — the Vultures, for instance, and other carrion-feeding
birds, not having such a hooked bill as the true Falcons and Eagles, while their feet are lai-ger and
more adapted for holding their prey than for sti-iking it down in full careei-, as the Falcons do. In
most of the birds of prey the female is larger tlian the male, and is much the more powerful bird. This
fact is always recognised in falconry-, esiiecially in the short-winged Hawks, such as Sparrow-Hawks
or Goshawks, whose females are always preferred, as possessing the greater power for holding ground
game, such as Rabbits, Hares, <tc. The difference in size is not very noticeable in the Vultures,
but is unmistakable in the long-legged Sparrow-Hawks, Eagles, and Falcons. The form of the
in-east-bone, which i)lays .such an important part in the classification of other birds, is a character of
less value in the birds of prey, as it varies to a great extent even in those species which, by their
habits and general structure, ai'e most closely allied. Another character possessed by these birds is the
distinct cfre, which is present in all, thougli much hidden by bristles in the Owls : it is a waxy
covering to the base of the liill, often Imnl, l>ut generally fleshy in substance.

Birds of prey are of thrci- kinds : Hawks, Ospreys, and Owls. Under the first name is in-
cluded every rapacious biril which is not an Osprey or an Owl, and, therefore, the first thing to find

JJIE BIRDS OF rjiEY. 2.J.5

out is — liow to tell an Owl from a Hawk. At one time it was supposed that all Owls came out by
night and all Hawks by day, and so they were sei)arated into two gi-eat divisions, which were called
tliurnal birds of prey* and nocturnal birds of prey.f Now, a

however, that the habits of birds are getting better ob-
served, these divisions have to be abandoned as not being
entirely true, for there are Owls which are quite at home
in the daylight, when they hunt for their food like any
other bird of prey, and at least one kind of Hawk is
known, whose habit it is to feed on Bats in the evening.
This is Andei-sson's Pern, j: a kind of Kite, allied to
the Honev-kite of England. It is found only in the
Damara Country, in South-western Africa, and in "''"''" '''",°,'„,,,o\'buJ "",,,)/?'" '"'"'''''''"■'
Madagascar. A far better way to distinguish Hawks

from Owls is seen in the foot, as the latter have the outer toe reversible — that is to say, they
can turn their outer toe backwards or forwards as they please. This is easily observed in the living
birds; and any one examining a caged Owl in the Zoological Gardens will see that it sits with its toes
in pairs — two in front and two behind. A Hawk cannot do this, all his toes being arranged as in a
little perching bird, such as a Sparrow or a Canary, three in front and one behind. Then, again, Owls
Jiave no " after-shaft " to the feathers, a structure which most Hawks possess. The " after-shaft "' is
the small accessory plume, which springs from the under-side of the main feather. In some birds it
is very large, in others small. It occurs on the body feathere only, and is never found in the
quills or tail feathers (see p. 238). La.stly, in addition to the reversible outer toe, and the
;ibsence of an accessory plume or after-shaft, Owls may be dLstinguished from all other birds of i)rey,
-save one, by the proportions of their leg-bones. In the skeleton tigured on p. 241 the three principal
leg-bones are pointed out ; and it is the length which the tai-sus bears in proportion to the tibia
that is here insisted on. In the Owls the tarsus is only about half the length of the tibia ; this
is never the case in a Hawk, in which these two bones bear different proportions the one to the
other, according to the sub-family. Thus in SpaiTow-Hawks and Harriers § the tibia and the tarsus
are equal in length. In Eagles and Buzzaids, Kites and true Falcons, the tibia is always nuich
longer than the tarsus, but is never double its length, as it is in the Owls. The term " Hawk," which
has been employed throughout the foregoing sentences, is intended to api>ly to every bird of prey
excepting the Owls, with the sole exception of the Osprey. The habits of the Osprey are noticed
later on, but they may be briefly stated to be similar to those of a Sea-Eagle, its prey consisting
entirely of fish, while its plumage and general appearance are also those of an Eagle, so that in many
places it is popularly known as the " Fish Hawk," or " Fishing Eagle ;" but here the i-esemblanco of
the Osprey to the Eagle ends, and in its other characters it is very like an Owl. The tibia is more
than double the length of the tarsus, as in the Owls ; the feathei-s of the body have no after-shaft, as
in the Owls, and the outer toe is reversible, as in the Owls. Possessing, therefore, as it does, some of
the most prominent features of the Eagles, as well as some of the most striking peculiarities of the
Owls, the Osprey holds an intermediate position between.these two sub-orders of birds.
The birds of prey, then, may be separated into three sub-ordei-s : —

(o). Outer toe not reversible: tibia vuiying in length in proportion to the tarsus, sometimes equal to it, hut never
douhle the length of the latter ; hody feathers with an after-shaft or accessory plume. (American A'ultures
excepted.)

I. Hawks {Fn/ cones). \\

(A). Outer toe reversible ; tibia double the length of tarsus; body feathers wit/ioi(t an after-shaft or accessory illume;
plumage compact, as in an Eagle ; no facial disk.

II. Ospreys {Pandiones).^

(c). Outer toe reversible ; tibia double the length of tarsus ; body feathers icithout an after-shaft ; plumage toft anj
fluffy ; a facial disk.

III. Striges;** Owls.

* Accipiires diinmi of authors. t Accijiitres nocivrni of authors. t Machwrhamphiis Anderssoni. § Accipitrime

II Fako, a Falcon. H nai6<ioi-, a Greek mythological nama. ** o-Tpiyf, an Owl.

-'36 NATVUAL UlSlUIil'.

The Falcones, or Hawks, iiichule in their number moie kinds of rapacious birds tlian the other
two sub-ordei's. All the Vultures, the Caracaras, the Harriers, the SpaiTow-Hawks, the Buzzards,
Eagles, Kites, and Falcons, together numbering some four hundi-ed different species, are classified as
Falcones. Only one species of Osprey is known, which is found nearly all over the woi-ld ; and about
two hundred different kinds of Owls remain to represent the Striges.

ORDER ACCIPITRES.— SUB-ORDER FALCONES.

The first sub-order is divided into two families, the first to be noticed being the Vultures
(Vulhiridce), which is again sub-divided into two sections, the Vultures of the Old World (VuUuriim-)
and the Vidtures of the New World {Sarcorhamphhice).

THE FIRST SUB-FAMILY OF THE VULTURID^.— THE OLD WORLD VT'LTURES (ViiUm-ina:).
These Vultures are neither to be recommended for their habits nor for their personal appearance.
In fact, in both these respects they are rather repulsive bii-ds, but useful withal in hot climates,
where they act as scavengers, and clear away much putrid matter and decaying s\ibstances, which but
for their intervention would prove most offensive. They are all
inhabitants of tropical, or at least of warm, countries ; and it is
only on rare occasions that they wander into the North of
Europe or occur in the British Islands. Both the Old and the
New Worlds have their Vultures, but the naturalist has no
difficulty in telling at a glance to which hemisphere the bird he
is looking at belongs, for all the Vultures of the New World
have a hole through their nose — or, in other words, want the
wall of bone which divides one nostril from the other ; in the

Vultures of the Old World this bony wall is present so that the nostrils resemble those of other
ordinary birds.

Besides their jjerforated nostril, the American Vultures differ from the Old World species in
having no after-shaft to the feathers, therein resembling the Owls. This character has led some
naturalists to consider the New World Vultures as constituting a separate family, which bears the
name of Cathartida;; but although the absence of an after-shaft is
a striking feature, yet the habits of the birds so closely resemble
those of their Old World cousins, that it seems unnatural to
separate them widely in any scheme of classification. The head
of a Vulture, whatever locality he may be from, proclaims the
nature of the bird at once, as it is always bare of feathers, ov
nearly so : sometimes a few scattered tufts of down are seen on
the head and neck, but never any tnie feathers, as iia the case of
the other birds of prey. The Vultures feed on the gi'ound, where
they walk with comparative ease, their large feet being fitted for
]irogression on the earth, and their toes not being prehensile or capable of bending to the same extent
as in the other Hawks. This formation of the foot prevents them from striking down or snatching
their prey, as an Eagle or a Hawk would do ; and they do not carry food to their young, but devour
the carcase or carrion where it falls, and then feed the nestlings by throwing up food from their cro]i.
They are all birds of powerful flight, and are capable of sustaining a prolonged soar in the air
without any apparent motion of the wings.

As to the way in which Vultures discover their prey, the opinion of naturalists has for a long
time been divided, and controversy has waxed hot upon the subject, the question being whether the
Vulture possesses a more than usually keen sense of sight, or whether his sense of smell is so
powerful as to enable him to scent a decaying carcase at a greater distance than other birds can do.
The experiments of various travellers seem to prove that both the senses of sight and smell are
possessed by the Vulture in no ordinary degi'ee ; but the balance of evidence seems to prove that it

EOjr no VULTVRES SIS.COVES THEIR PSEY? 2<.V

is l)y their keen sight that they generally find their food. Sniiposing that an animal is wounded,
and escai>es from the hunter, Ids course is marked hy a Vultui-e soaring high in the air ; another
circling far away on the horizon sees the first bird fly down, and follows in his track; and so on,
until a large company is feeding on the carcase. This action of the Vultures is well described by
Longfellow : —

Sees the downward jjlunge, and follows ;
And a third pursues the second,
Coming fi-om the invisible ether,
First a speek, and then a Vulture,
Till the air is dark with pinions."*

' Never stoops the soaring Vulture
On his quarry in the desert,
On the sick or wounded Bison,
But another Vulture, watching
From his high aerial look-out.

The jiower of the Vulture's sight was long disputed by the fonner generation of naturali.sts,
and the celebrated Waterton wrote an article on the " Faculty of Scent in the Vulture,"! to prove
that it was more by this means than by sight that the bird was able to discover a carcase. Waterton
was well acquainted with Vultures in Demarara and in Southern Spain, and he sums up his argument
as follows ; — " After the repeated observations I have made in the country where it abounds, I am
(juite satisfied that it is dii'ected to its food by means of its olfactory nerves coming in contact with
jjutrid effluvium, which rises from corrupted substances through the heavier air. Those are deceived
who imagine that this effluvium would always be driven to one quarter in the tropics, where the trade-
winds prevail. Often, at the very time that the clouds are driving from the north-east up above,
there is a lower current of air coming from the quarter du-ectly opposite. This takes place most
frequently during the night-time, in or near the woods ; and it often occurs early in the morning,
from sunrise till near ten o'clock, when the regidar trade- wind begins to blow. Sometimes it is
noticed in the evening, after sunset ; and now and then during the best part of the day in the rainy
season. . . . Vultures, as far as I have been able to observe, do not keep together in a lai-ge flock
when they are soaring up and down in quest of a tainted current. Now, suppose a Mule has jvist
expii-ed behind a high wall, under the dense foliage of evergreen tropical trees ; fifty Vultures, we will
say, roost in a tree a mile from this dead Mule. When morning comes, ofi" they go in quest of food.
Ten fly, by mere chance, to the wood where the Mule lies, and manage to spy it through the trees ;
the rest go quite in a difterent dii-ection. How are the last-mentioned birds to find the Mule 1 Every
minute can-ies them farther from it. Now reverse the statement ; and instead of a Mule nearly dead,
let us suppose a Mule in an oflfensive state of decomposition. I would stake my life upon it that not
only the fifty Vultures would be at the carcase next morning, but also that every Vulture in the
adjacent forest would manage to get there in time to partake of the repast." It will be seen from the
above that Mr. Waterton allowed the keen sight of the Vultures to play, on some occasions, a, part in
their discovering food. Another observation on this subject is contained in the late Mr. C. J. Andersson's
work on the ornithology of South-western Africa. Writing on the Sociable Vulture {Otoyyps aurkularis),
he says :—" I believe naturalists are not quite agreed as to whether Vultures hunt by sight, by scent,
or by both faculties combined. I have myself no doubt tliat tliey employ the one sense as well as the
other in finding their prey, though I feel inclined to give sight tlie preference ; and I once had a very
striking proof of how they employ their vision in guiding them to carrion — in this instance, however,
not so much by the actual sight of the carrion (though the first discovery probably originated in that
way) as by another singular contrivance. Early one morning, as I was toiling up the ascent of a
somewhat elevated ridge of hills, with the view of obtaining bearings for my travelling map, and
before arriving at the summit, I observed several Vultures descending near me : but thinking I had
merely disturbed them from their lofty perch, I did not take any particular notice of their appearance,
as the event was one of usual occurrence ; but on gaining my destination, I found that the birds were
not coming merely from the hill summit, but from an indefinite distance on the other side. Tliis
circumstance, coupled with the fact that I had wounded a Zebra on the preceding day in the direction
towards which the Vultures were winging their way, caused me to pay more attention. The flight of
the Vultures was low — at least five hvmdred to a thousand feet below the summit of the mountain ;
and on arriving near the base, they would abruptly rise without deviating from their direct course ;

* "Song of Hiawatha," Book XIX. t "Essays on Natural History," 18C6. p. 17.

35

55s NATURAL HISTORY.

and no sooner was tlie obstacle in theii- way tliiis surmounted than they again depressed their flight.
TJiOse Vultures which I saw could not have themselves seen the carrion, but simply hunted in dii-ect
sight of one another. There was a numerous ai-rival ; and although I could not alwa3'S detect the next
bii-d as soon as I had lost sight of the previous one, yet, when at length it did come into view, it never
seemed uncertain about its course. Having finished my observations, I descended, and proceeded in
the direction which the Vultures had pursued ; and after about lialf an hour's rapid walking, I found,
IS I anticipated, the carcase of a Zebra, with a numerous company of Vultures busOy discussing it."*

Dr. Kirk, the companion of Living.stone, in his paper on the " Birds of the Zambesi Region of
Eastern Tropical Africa," t says that to the inexperienced hunter the Griffon is "a great annoyance.
If game be left for an hour in the open plain while the men come to carry it off, the birds "will descend,
iUid in a very short time completely devour it. This is not so if it be covered over with a little
gi-ass or \vith bi-anches, clearly proving that sight alone is the sense by which the bird.s discover their
prey. If pai-t of tlie animal be exposed it matters not — probably owing to its being mistaken for
one asleep ; nor does the presence of blood seem to guide the birds if the carcase be concealed
from view."

Lastly, to quote from Canon Tristram's interesting essay on the " Ornithology of the Sahara : "%
" As, happily for the traveller. Camels do not die every day under the weight of their water-skins, the
Griffon does not habitually visit the desert. Still, he occasionally gives it a passing call, though, if
his meal be deposited near aii oasis, he is usually forestalled by the Hysena (' Dubba,' Arab.), who
hirks in the ' weds.' On one occasion a Camel in our caravan having become footsore had to be
.slaughtered on the spot. Our attendants selected the tenderest morsels for ' kouskous,' the Arab
broth ; and it was not until the next- morning that a Vulture scented, or rather de.scried, his prey.
That the Vulture uses the organ of sight rather than that of smell, seems to be certain from the
immense height at which he soars and gyrates in the air. In this instance one solitary bird
descended, and half an hour afterwards was joined by a second. A short time elapsed, and the
Nubian Vulture {Otogyps nuhieus) appeared, self-mvited, at the feast ; and before the bones were
left to the Hyaena no less than nine Griffons and two Nubians had broken their fast. I should
hesitate to assei't that they had satisfied their appetites. I have observed the same regular succession
of diners out on other occasions. May we not conjecture that the process is as follows 1 The Griffon
who first descries liis quarry descends from his elevation at once ; anothei", sweejung the horizon
at a still greatei' distance, observes his neighbour's movements and follows his course ; a third, still
farther removed, follows the flight of the second ; he is traced by another ; and so a perpetual
succession is ke])t up as long as a morsel of flesh remains over which to consort. I can conceive no
other way of accounting for the numbers of Vultures which in the course of a few hours will gather
over a carcase, when jireviously the horizon might have been scanned in vain for more than one, or at the
most two, in sight. Does not this explain the immense number of Vultures who were congregated
in the Crimea diu-iug the siege of Sebastopol, where the bird was compai-atively scarce before 1 May
not this habit of watching the movements of their neighbours have collected the whole race from the
Caucasus and Asia Minor to enjoy so unwonted an abundance 1 The Arabs believe that the Vultures
from all North Africa were gathered to feed on Russian Horses in the Crimea, and declare that
during the war very few ' Nissr ' were to be seen in then- accustomed haunts."

The above extracts from authentic works have been made at some length, as exhibiting the
general habits of the Vultures. It remains now to notice some of the most striking forms of these
birds.

THE BL.\CK VULTITRE §
This is an inhabitant of Southern Europe, whence it extends on both sides of the Mediterranean
to North-western India, where it is a cold weather -visitant, and even to China. In its habits this bird
is rather unsociable, and keeps more to the wooded districts, seldom venturing into the open country,
except when attracted by the presence of some carcase, on which it feasts in company with the
Griffon Vultxire. It breeds on trees, constructing a lai-ge bulky nest, and only selects a rock for its

* "Notes on the Birds of Damara Land and the adjacent countries of Southwest Africa," 1872, \>. 3.
+ 1864, p. 307. X 1859, p. 277. § VuUm- mmmrhus.

THE OJ!lFniX VULTCliE.

259

lireeiling home when there are no trees to be foiuiil in the neighbourhood. It lays one egg, of a
rielily mottled red colour, two eggs being an extremely rare occurrence. In appearance they are veiy
like those of the Golden Eagle. A stoi-y is told of the rescue by a pair of old birds of their young
ones, which were in danger from the felling of the tree on which the nest was situated. It is thus
related by Count von Tslmsi Schniidthofen : — "The royal forester, A. Fikker, found in 1860, on the
top of a giant beech in the valley of Dobrabach, in the Sinnaer district, the nest of this Vulture.
When the young birds were large enough to be aUe to save themselves as the tree fell, orders were
given to cut the beech down. The wood-cutters had worked at the tree some time, when the old
bii-ds appeared, uttering loud cries, and suddenly pounced on the nest, caught hold of the young ones

in their claws and disappeared like lightning, carrying oft' the young (who loudly complained of the
unusual mode of locomotion) before the gaze of tlie astonished spectatoi's."

The Black Vulture mesisures three feet and a half in length, and is entirely black, the bare
places on the head and neck being of a livid flesh colour when the bird is alive.

THE GRIFFOX VULTURE.*

The Griffon, or Fulvous Vulture (so called from its coloiu-), is found all over Southern Europe,
and occurs occasionally at different points in Central Em-ope, having once been taken in the British
islands off Cork Hai-bour ; it therefore figures in the list of British birds. It ranges all over North-
eastern Africa, and extends eastwards into Turkestan, Central Asia, and North-western India. As
it goes eastwards the Griffon becomes a more rufous bird, and is by some naturalists considered to be
a diffei-ent species. In the British Museum is a veiy interesting sjiecimen of this Vulture, collected
by Major Denhara in Bornou during his travels across Africa, being one of the comparatively few birds
that have been brought from Central Africa, about the ornithology of which we do not even yet know

* Gtjps fidvus.

2tin yATUMAL UlSTORY.

much. Like other Vultures, the Griftbu feeds on carrion, but is also stated to frequent the sea-shore
in search of Crustacea and dead fish; while the South African Griffon is said to feed on Locusts and
small Toitoises, the latter of which it swallows whole.*

This bird's capacity for feeding is illustrated iii a most amusing anecdote of Canon
Tristram's : — " For some months we possessed two Grifibns taken from the nest, who at length
airived safely in England. They never attempted to leave us, diiieriiag in this respect from our
LammergeierSj but remained contentedly about the tents or perched on the backs of the baggage-
camels en route. They took a peculiar interest in taxidermy, scrutinising, head on one side, the
whole operation of bird-skinning, and perfectly aware of the moment wlien a morsel would be ready,
e.xhibilijng a more than ordinary excitement when they saw the skin drawn back over tte head,
and knew that the whole carcase would soon be cut off for them. One of these birds was of a
desponding, querulous disposition, the other of a very different natural temperament, always contented
and cheerful, a universal favourite in the camp, while his fellow received, I fear, many a sly kick
for his complaints. They were able to fast for days ; but, whenever such an opportunity as a Camel's
carcase presented itself, would be revenged on their Lent. I have seen our pet, ' Musha Pasha,'
attack the entrails of a Camel, and, as his crop Ijecame distended, sink upon his breast, unable to stand,
till at length, even this position being too, much for him, he lay on his side, still eating, until, over-
powered and helpless, he fell asleep. This enormous capacity for food, combined with the power of
long abstinence, is a wonderful provision of creative wisdom for carrion-feeders, whose supply is
so uncertain, while the necessity for the immediate removal of offensive matter is so urgent. The
strength of the Vulture's stomach is equal to its capacity, for on one occasion one of our Griffons
devoured a half pound pot of arsenical soap, with no further inconvenience than a violent fit of
vomiting."

The Griffon nests on rocks, sometimes several building in company in the same neighbourhood.
Its flight is majestic, and Mr. Salvin says that it is a tine sight to watch the ease with which the
Griffon sails through the air ; the apparently effortless extension of the wing seems amply sufficient to
sustain its huge body ; no flapping motion is necessary to enable it to mount to a great height. It is
only on leaving a rock that a few strokes are requisite to attain the necessary impulse, after which, with
primaries bent upwards by the force of the air, it performs its stately evolutions by soaring only.
In alighting, the bird drops its legs some distance from the rock, and, sailing to -svithin a few yards, it
checks its velocity by two or three heavy strokes of the wing.

Among the ancient Egyptians the (^friffon appears to have been a sacred bird, and its remains
have been found embalmed. 'It is also figured on their monuments, sometimes in its natural form,
sometimes with the head of a Snake. In size the European Griffon stands about three feet and a
half high, and is of a general ashy fulvous colour, with black quills and tail ; the under surface is creamy-
brown, with a darker brown mark on the crop ; the head and neck are bare, or with loosely scattered
tufts of white down ; and round the neck there is a white ruff.

Besides the Griffon Vulture of Europe there are four others, which seem to be distinct species, the
Himalayan Griffon, the South African Griffon, Riippell's Griffon from Abyssinia, and the Long-billed
Griffon from India. In addition to these there are the two White-backed Griffon Vultures, which
have only fourteen tail-feathers, and belong to the genus Pse.udo<jyps.

THE EARED VULTURE (Otoriyps f am-iciUinsl).
This is one of the largest species of the birds of prey found in the Old World, being exceeded
in size only by the G-reat Condor of the Andes. It is an inhabitant of Africa, being plentifully
spread over the southern portion of the Continent, and also occurring in North-Eastern Africa, whence
it ranges in small numbers to Lower Nubia and the Sahara, and has even been said to occur
accidentally in Europe. It has received the name of Eared Vulture on account of the folds of skin
on the sides of the neck, which are found only in one other species, the Indian Vulture (0. calvus).
These two kinds of Eared Vultures appear to play the i)art of the King Vulture of South America,

* J. H. Gurney : " Descriptive Catalogue of the Raptorial Birds in the Norfolk and Norwich Museum."
f ovs, liros, an ear ; -yvi^i, a vulture. % Auricularis, having ears.

THE EuyVTIAN VULTURE. 261

the snialler Vultures, such as the Xi:ophroiis, always giving place to them, and allowing them to finish
theiv feast before venturing to approach.

The Egyptian VultuVe {Neophron* percnopterusf) is also familiarly known as Pharaoh's Chicken.
It is a small bird about two feet and a half in length, white in plumage, with black wings. A great part
of the face is bai-e and of a yellow colour. The young birds are ))rown. In Europe the Egyptian
Vulture is a migratory bird, but it breeds in many localities in the Mediterranean region, and has
even occiu-red once or twice on the shores of the British islands. In winter it takes itself to the Cape

EGVniAX VVLTCK

oi Good Hope. It is much valued in certain places as a scavenger, as it devours excrementary
matter, but Mr. Gurney states that its food also consists of carrion of various descriptions, and in
default of such food it occasionally preys upon rats, field mice, small lizards, snakes, insects, ami ex en
eai-thworms." Colonel Irby observes that it is probably the foulest-feeding bird that lives, anil tlmt it l^
very omnivorous, devouring any animal substance, even all' sorts of excrement ; nothing comes amiss
to it, and he has sometimes seen them feeding on the sea-shore on dead fish thrown up by the tide.
The same gentleman! says that on theii- migrations they pass Gibraltar, which is one of their lines of
passage, about the end of Febniary, and they breed in the neighbourhood of that place, beginning to
lay about the 1st of April. The nest is composed of a few dead sticks, always lined with wool, rags,

A mythological name.

t ntfKfo^, dark coloured; vrrepoi', a wing ; i
" Ornitliology of tlie Strait of Gibraltar," i

I called from the colour of its wmgs.
HI.

2U2 JS'.IU'RAL Ul6iOliY.

or rubbish _: iuid djlonel Irby states tliat he found aljout a pound of tow in one nest, and the sleeve of
an old coat ; while another observer says that ou a foundation of branches Pharaoh's Hen heaps rags,
patches, old slippers, and whole basketfuLs of camels' hair and wool for the comfort of its oti'spring.
The Egyptians tiequently lepresented this species on theii monuments, but do not appear to have
attached anv iwiticular sismticancp to it

In India the place of the present species is taken by the Iii<liau Scavenger Vulture (JVeopliron
ghiginiwiMs), and in Africa the Pileated Vulture {N. pUmtm), an entirely brown bird, occurs nearly
all over the continent.

THE (SECOND SUB-FAMILY OF THE VULTURIDvE.— THE AMERICAN VULTrRES [S,n-coyl,awphi„<i-).

THE CONDOR {Sarcorhamphus* gvi/phunf).

As before mentioned, all the American Vultures can be readily distinguished by the perforation of

their nostrils. The Condor is a very unmistakable species, being the largest of all the Vultures, and

the male has a large comb on the head which is not developed in the female. The hind toe also is

* cT-ipf. flesU
f Grtiphus, ;

mythological i

i called on accoimt of tUe fleshy wattles (

the base of the bill.

extremely smull, scarcely touching the earth, aud ou thi.s account the foot is less prehensiie
than in any other Vulture. The homo of this magniiicent bird is the chain of the Andes in South
America, and the ueighbouriiig countries to the west, and it is found inhabiting these mountains
ft'om Eciuiilor aud Colombia, down to the Strait of Magellan, and again extending on the e;ist coast
as far as the month of the Kio Negro in Patagonia. It bears conlinemeut well, examples being
generally to be seeu living in the Zoological Gardens ; and some idea of the extent of wing in the
Condor cau occasionally be obtained when the birds are sunning themselves on theii- perch. The
expanse in large individuals is said to reach as much as eight or nine feet. All observers agree that
when seen in a wild state the flight of the Condor is ti-uly majestic, and it is capable of ascending
to an immense height, at which a man could not breathe on account of the rarefaction of the air, a
state of things which does not seem to atiect the Condor, who is often lost to sight amidst the
clouds. The most exaggerated stories of the strength and prowess of this Vulture were circulated
Ijy the old authors, and it was even said to attack full-grown oxen. The careful observations,
however, of recent travellers, have dispelled many of the fabulous stories respecting it, and it is now a
well ascertained fiict that the Condor does not attack full-gro^vn animals of any size, but will
devour newly-born and helpless offspring, and several of them will unite to kill the mother should she
appear in a weak and sickly condition. The sup])osed habit, attributed to these birds, of cai-rying off
prey in their feet, is di-sproved by the weakness of the last-named organs, and their utter incapacity
for grasping anj'thing : in fact the feet play a very iniiignificant part in the bird's ' economy, the
powerful bill being the chief factor in tearing a carcase to jjieces. "The Condor measures about
three feet and a half in length, the closed wing being about twenty-nine inches. The general colour
of the bird is black, tlie secondary quills and most of the wing coverts being externally grey.
Round the neck is a ruff of soft white down. The bare parts of the head and neck are not
remarkable for any bright colour, but are blackish with traces of li-\id flesh colour here and there.
That the Condor lays sometimes in confinement is shown by a specimen in the British Museum, which
was hatched by a common hen, who sat on the egg for six weeks and two days. The nestlings are
usually covered with white down.

THE KYSG VULTUEE [Cathartes* papaf).
This is by fiir the handsomest of the whole family, its head and neck being covered with caruncles,
which in life are orange, purple, and crimson in colour ; the general plumage of the bird, too, is a
delicate fawn or cream colour. Tt is an inhabitant of Central and Southern America, from
Mexico southwards to Brazil, where it is found a little below the twentieth degree of south latitude.
It appears to be rather a cleaner feeder than the Condor or other American Vultures, and fre-
quents wooded countries instead of those rocky places in which the Condor delights. It is rarer
than the last-named bird, and from its forest-loving habits is less easily observed, and it is alto-
gether a more active and lively species. It is shy and suspicious, and is most difficult to obtain, from
its habit of sitting on the tops of trees, whence it scans with ease the country around. On this
account it is seldom shot, and D'Orbigny, from whose works much of the above information is
derived, says that it is only captured by attracting it to a carcase, and then shooting it from an
ambush. Another mode of capture, which he says is followed by the natives of Santa Cruz de la
Sieri-a,J is by finding out the tree on which the King Vulture roosts, and to which it returns night
after night, and then to climb up and capture the bird with gloved hands. The same observer
says that it is not from any innate respect, Init from fear of its powerful bill, that the Turkey
Vultures pay such deference to this present bird, not venturing to commence theii- repast until he is.
satisfied, whereby he is popularly known as the " King" of the Vultures.

THE TURKEY \trLTURE (Rhinogrijphus ij aura).
This is an inhabitant of North America, whence it ranges throughout Central America and the
West Indian Islands down the Andean chain to the Strait of Magellan. Their habits vary somewhat

• raSopnis, a scavenger. t Papa, a. pope. t D'Orbigny, " Voyage clans I'Amerique Meridionale," p. 30.

^ piV (pis), pinis, a nose ; griiphus, as before, a Griffon, or Vulture ; so calleil ou account of its peculiar perforated nose.

264 XAIUKAL HISTORY.

with locality, for whereas in the Southern United States they act as scavengers in the towns, in
Guatemala and other places in Central America they are not seen in flocks, but occur in pairs only in
the forests. As in the case of the other Viiltures, their food consists of carrion, and they are found
in large numbers in deserts, where they obtain an ample supply of food in the animals which perish.
The Turkey Vulture is about two feet and a half in length. The plvimage is black with a purplish
gloss, and in life the bai-e head and neck are of a bright red colour, which soon fades after death.

FAMILY FALCONID^.— THE FALCON-LIKE HAWKS.

THE FIRST SUB-FAMILY.— THE CAEACARAS {Folyborina).

All the members of this sub-family are more or less Vulturine in their habits and appearance,
and many of them are carrion feeders. The name "Caracara" with which these birds aie here
designated is of Brazilian origin, and all the species included under the present heading are
inhabitants of Central and Southei-n America, with the exception of the Secretary Bird of Africa.
They all seem to be at home on the gi'ound, and they differ from all other birds of prey
in having a membrane which joins the base of the two outer toes to the middle one, a featui'e
which is doubtless useful to the birds when wallowing in the marshy ground, which many
of them frequent in quest of frogs, &c. The Southern Caracaras [Ibycter ausiralis) are said
to run with extreme quickness, putting out one leg before the other, and stretching forward their
bodies very much like Pheasants. Mr. Darwin, who became acquainted with these biids during
liis voyage in the Beagle, says that their flesh is good to eat, and he gives a very interesting

account of tlie lialiits of the Southern Cariicara in tlio Falkland Islands, wlieve tliey were extra-
ordinarily tame and ^■ory mischievous, frequenting the neighbourhood of the houses to pick up all
kinds of oflal. If a liCJist were killed they congregated from all quarters like so many Vultures, and
they did not hesitate to attack and capture wounded birds, on one occasion j)ouncing on a Dog wliich
was lying asleep. They would also carry off miscellaneous articles which were lying on the ground.
" A large black glazed hat was carried nearly a mile, as were a pair of heavy balls, used in catching
wild cattle. Mi-. Usbonie experienced during the survey a severe loss in a small Kater's compass,
in a red morocco case, which "was never recovered." According also to Mr. Darwin, these birds
were quarrelsome and extremely passionate, and it was curious to behold them, when impatient, tear-
ing up the gi-ass with their bills, from rage. It may be owing to their strong feelings, as described
by the last-named naturalist, that the colour of the face changes in the Brazilian C!aiacara, concern-
ing which a somewhat amusing incident may be related. Thei-e arrived from Patagonia at the
Zoological Gardens two Caracaras, which were white instead of brown, like the Bi'azilian species
(I'olyborm tfuirus), and the question which troubled naturalists was, whether these Patagonian birds
were a distinct species, or whether they were simply a white variety of the ordinary Brazilian
bird. The latter had the bare skin of the face lemon -yellow, whereas the white birds had this part
piu-ple, and this was looked upon as one sign of theii- belonging to a distinct species. But one
memorable day an ornithologist went xip to describe the new arrivals, and to bestow on them a
name, which should mark the character of the ])urple face. No doubt existed in his mind, for the
white birds had now lived for a whole year in the Gardens, and were still white and had a purple
visage, but, happening to turn his head away for one moment, he was not a little surprised, on
looking back at his supposed new species, to find tliat the facial character had disappeared, and that
the bird's visage was now yellow. At the same moment the face of one of the Brazilian birds in the
adjoining den had turned red, and hence it became clear that the Caracaras can change the colour of
the bare face at will, and that the lighter-coloured specimen was only an albino after all ! Besides
the Caracaras, at least one other species of bird of prey changes colour in a somewhat simihir
way — the Bateleur Eagle,* which, if in-itated, flushes up to the roots of its feathers, and its bare fiice,
which is usually scarlet, becomes a deep blood-red or crimson. In tlie case of the latter bird the
change of colour is visible not only in the visage but in the feet also, which likewise acquire a
darker red than before.

THE SECRETARY BIRD {Serpentarimf s<-cn-tani,si).
This is the only African representative of the Caracaras, or web-footed birds of i>rey, and from its
general look and from its habits, no less than from some peculiar anatomical characters, it is by many
good authorities considered to be a game bird, and not a Hawk at all. No one, however, who
has .seen a Secretary kill a Rat, and the prodigious force with whicll, by repeated blows of his
powerful legs, sometimes springing into the air and bringing both feet down at the same moment
\ipon his victim, he quickly reduces it to a shapeless ])ulp, would consider him anything but a bird
of prey. Standing before a Cobra which rises to attack him, the Secretary spreads his wings
out in front as a shield to guard Ms body, and then from behind this protection he strikes liis
enemy down. On account of their prowess in destroying venomous Seri)ents, they are protected
with care by both the European and Native Governments in South Africa, and in the Cape Colony a
penalty is inflicted upon any one who ventures to kill one of these useful birds. Sometimes the
Secretary does not win in the fight with the Snake, for a good observer has stated that on one
occasion he saw a bii-d suddenly leave off fighting and run to a pool of water, where he fell down
dead. If the Snake bites a feather, the bird' immediately pulls it out, but in the above instance the
reptile had drawn blood from the point of the pinion. It is somewhat remarkalale that the Secretary
should have such striking power in his legs, as they are long and slender for the size of the bird, and
are so brittle that it is said that, if suddenly started into a quick run, theii- legs will snap.<- The
Secretary Bird is a most voracious feeder, devouring Rats, Lizards, Locusts, Snakes, Tortoises, etc., and
Levaillant states that he took from the stomach of one of these birds three Serpents as long as his arm

* Belotdi-sits irtiiidiilus. f StfpeiUarius, a devourer of Sei-pents. X Sccyetm-ius, a secretary.

35*

266 NATURAL lllSTOKY.

and an incli in thickness, eleven Lizards of seven or eight inches in length, and twenty-one sniall
Tortoises of about two inches in diameter, besides a large quantity of Grasshoppers or Locusts, and
other insects.

A spirited and truthful account of the habits of the Secretary was published in 1856 by the late
M. Jules Verreaux, who spent upwards of fifteen years in South Africa engaged in a study of the
natural histoiy of that part of the world, and a few extracts from this paper camiot be insisted.*

SECRETARY

" As Nature exhibits foresight in all that she does, she has given to each animal its means of preserva-
tion. Thus the Secretary Bird has beeij. modelled on a plan approj)riate to its mode of life ; and it is
therefore for this pui-pose that, owing to the length of its legs and tarsi, its piercing eye is alile
to discover at a long distance the prey which, in anticipation of its appeai'ance, is stretched on the
sand or amongst the thick grass. The elegant and majestic form of the bird becomes now even more
graceful ; it now brings into action all its cunning in order to surprise the Snake which it is going to
attack ; therefore it approaches with the greatest caution. The elevation of the feathers of the neck and
back of the head shows when the moment for attack has arrived. It throws itself with such force on
the reptile that very often the latter does not survive the first blow. But if the bird does not succeed,

* Proceedings of the ZoologicaJ Society, 185G, p. 348.

TH£ LOSG-LEGGEB H.UrKS. 2(57

Mild tlie enraged Snake draws itself up and expands, at the same time, the skin of its neck, as is the way
with the more dangerous Serpents, the bird is forced to retreat, and takes a spring backwards, waiting
to seize a favourable moment for recommencing the attack. Raising itself, the furious reptile moves its
tongue with the quickness of lightning, and gives forth the most vehement hisses, which keep back the
enemy and seem to force some respect from it ; but the bii-d, whose courage redoubles in the same
ratio that the difficulties increase^ opens out its wings, and, returning to the charge, assails the reptile
iifresh with blows froni its terrible feet, such as no one would believe, and wiiich are not long in
putting the Snake hors ele combat. We have, however, sometimes seen the Snakes launch themselves
on the Secretary, but, either by opening its wings, whose long primaries serve it as a kind of shield,
or by jumping backwards or on one side, the bii'd is certain to parry the attack of its antagonist, who
at last, overcome by ftxtigue, falls at full length on the ground. The moment is seized by the Secretary
to redouble its massive blows, which, by dislocating the vertebral column, soon cause the reptile to
give up the ghost. It is then that the victorious Hawk darts like an arrow, and placing its foot on
the Serpent's neck, just at the back of the head, commences to swallow it, which it does by beginning
at the tail first. Nor is this a long operation, even with reptiles five or six feet hi length and more than
four inches in diameter ; and as soon as it arrives at the head it completely smashes the skull by several
blows of its bill before swallowing it."

"Both sexes work at the construction of the nest, which is always placed on the summit of a high
dense bush, more often a mimosa. It is added to each year, and it is easy to see the age of a nest by
the number of fresh layers which have been added year by year. The young birds remain for six
months before leaving the nest, their legs not being strong enough to support the weight of the body.
During the whole of this time they are fed with great assiduity by both parents."

The Secretary Bird stands more than four feet high, when fully grown. The general colour of the
plumage is gi'ey, with black quills ; the lower back and rump are black, the upper tail-coverts white ;
the tail is grey, tipped with wliite, and crossed with two black bands ; below, the colour is ashy-white,
the thighs and abdomen black. From the hinder part of the crown and occiput springs an elegant
crest of plumes, which the bird can raise or depress at will ; they are either entirely black, or grey
with a black tip. It is from these long plumes that the bird has got the name of the Secretary, from
some fancied resemblance in the bird's head to the quills which a secretary places behind his ear.

In America, the Secretary is represented by the (^ariama (Qariama cristata), a bird which
looks so like a game bird that, as we have said, many ornithologists place both it and the
Secretary among the Gallinaceous birds, and not among the Hawks. From a consideration
of its anatomy, however, both Professor Parker and Professor Sundevall determined that the
(^"ariama is an accipitrine bird, though of a very aberrant form. Those who differ from them admit
that where the Secretary is placed in the natural system the (Qariama must also be located, and no one
who has studied the habits of the former, either in a wild state or in captivity, can doubt for a
moment that it is a veritable bird of prey, and so it follows that the Bustard like (Qariama must
:ilso be included in the same order.

CHAPTER IV.

THE LONG-LEGGED HAWKS AND BUZZARDS.

The Banded Gymnogene— Habit.s -Its Movable Tarsi— The Harriers— Distinctive Features— The Marsh Harrier—
Habits— Its Tiiievish Propensities— The HARRIER-HAWKS-Colonel Greyson's Account of their Habits— The Cha>jtiX'„
Goshawks— Why so Called— Habits— The True Goshawks— Distinctive Characters- The Goshawk— Distribution—
In Pursuit of its Prey— Appearance— The Sparrow-Hawks— Distinctive Characters— The Common Sparrow-Hawk—
Habits— Appearance— The Buzz ards— Their Tarsus— The Common Buzzard— Where Fouml- Howit might be turned
to Account— Food— Its Migrations— Habits— Appearance— The Harpy.

THE SECOND SUB-FAMILY OF THE FALCONID.E.-THE LONG-LEGGED HAWKS {Accipitrwa-).
All the Hawks included under this heading are remarkable for their long legs, in which the tibial
bone and the tai-sus are about equal in length. In all the other Hawks, Eagles, Kites, Buzzards, and
Falcons, the tibia is always longer than the tarsus.

2(i8 NATUKAL III^TOUY.

Till) Long- legged Hawks are not siicli iiowcrful birds of prey as tlie Eagles or Falcons, ami do not
possess, HH a rule, the same dash and courage in jnirsuing their quarry, many of tliem feeding on
a low kind of diet, and being robbers of eggs and destroyers of young birds. The birds of prey
belonging to tliis sub-family ai'o—1. The Gymnogenes ; 2. The Harriers ; 3. The (ioshawks ; 4. The
Sp;irrc>w-I[awks.

THE BANDED (iY.MNUCiENE* {Po/i/Zm-oidcuf typicus).

Kidiii its gciiiMal aiipearance, especially in its naked yellow face, this remarkable Hawk is con-
siiji'icd to be a close ally of the Secretary Bird; but the proportions of its legs and its habits jiroclaim
it to \h', nearly related to the Harriers. Two kinds of Gymnogenes are known, one inhabiting
Africa, and the other being found in Madagascar. The food of tlie present si)ecies appears to consist
of Frogs and Lizards, and at times it walks over the ground which has been recently burnt, in i>ursuit
of insects and small re]>tiles ; at other times it will sit for a long time on stumps by jiools of water,
WMtching for Frogs, which in such situations form its favovirite food. The Gymnogenes are remarkable
in the class of birds for being able to put their leg " out of joint " at; will (that is to say, they can
bend the tarsus backwards just as they please) ; and this is a fact which may be accepted as a
certainty, since its truth has been tested by many trusty and independent observers. One of these,
the late M.' Jules Verreaux, states that the tarsi are movable at the "knee "-joint toward tlie ficmt
from behind, a pi'o>'ision which, from the facility it affords the bird for drawing up Frogs out of the
marsh-holes by means of its talons, is of no little service to it The exceedingly compi-essed toes of
this sj)ecies also enable it to introduce its long tarsi into the nan-ow crevices of therocks. He saw it
twist and turn its legs in all directions in capturing its prey in marshy places. Mr. Thomas Ayi'es
also .says that " the legs of this bird bend backward at the knee in an extraordinary manno-, \cvy
much as if they were out of joint."

The Banded Gymnogene is nearly twenty-four inches in length, and is of a light grey colour,
with black wings, th'e secondaries being grey like the back, with a black band before the t\\< ; the
lower back is white bai-red with black ; the tail black with a white tip and a white bar across
tho middle ; the throat and chest are grey like tlie Vjack, and the rest of th^ under surface is white
barred with black. The cere and bare space round the eye are yellow when the liird is alive.

TFIK IIAKKIEKS (r;,-™).

All tii(^ IFiirriers lia-ve a facial disc as in the Owls, though not so distinct as in the latter grou])
of birds. In both, however, the disc is foi-nied by a rutf of soft, close-set plumes, which encircle the
face ; and hence in most classifications the Harriers have been considered as being closely allied to the
Owls, on account of their having this "facial disc." Their structure and habits, however, entirely do
away with the idea of there being any real affinity between these two groups of accii)itrine birds.

Before the draining of the fens in England, Harriers were by no means uncommon in certain
localities ; b\it they are becoming rarer year by year, as each favourite haunt passes fi'om them nuder
the dominion of the agriculturist. Three kinds were found in England, of which the Hen Harrier
{t.'ircHu cyaneus) was the rarest ; Montagu's Harrier (C. pygaryus) was the most plentiful and the
most widely distributed ; and the Marsh Harrier, or Moor Buzzard (C. arx.yinosm), the most
powerful. This is the species which ha.s held its own best, as it is still found breeding in some few
jilaces ill the United Kingdom. The habits of all the Harriers are very similar, and the genus Circus
is prdli.ibly -with the exception of the Peregrine Falcons — the most universally distributed of any
l{,ipt(iiial biids, for there is scarcely any part of the world where a Harrier is not fminil.

'I'lIK MA1;S1I IIAKKIEIi ((••;,■,■«.« ,(.,-w/;/;M«.y).

This is an inhabitant of the Old World, where it enjoys a wide range. It is one of the greatest
robbers of eggs and young birds, being, in countries where it is still jjlentiful, a great nuisance to the
sportsman, as, says Colonel Irhy, "slowly hunting along in front, it puts uj) every Snipe and Duck

* Uyn.iio-eiic: from two (ircfk words (t'iu.os, biiri-, naked ; lim. a clieek). t Pohiburokhs : like .-i V,.l'jhurus or Caraciua.

THE MAIiSU UAIUUilK.

^1)9

tliiit lies in itscourse, making tlicm unsettled anil wild."* Tin- sunic authority hiinishes tliti following
interesting particulars about the habits of the present species : — "In Andalusia, as well as in Moi'occo,
over all low wet ground, the Marsh Harrier is to be seen in vast numbers, particularly in winter.
Great quantities remain to breed, sometimes as many as twenty nests being within three Iiundred
yards of one another. The latter, loosely constructed with dead sedges, vary very mucli in size and
depth, and are ns\ially placed amidst rushes in swamps, b^t sometimes on the ground among brambles
and low brxishwood, always near water, thoagh occasionally far from nuirslres. Thej'- begin to lay about
the end of March, and at that time fly up a great heiglit, playing about, and continually uttering their
wailing cry. The eggs aie bluish-white, and usually four or five in number ; they certainly vary in
size and shape, and are dften nuich stained. Like the eggs of all the Harriers that I am acquainted
with, and many others of the Accipitres, when blown and held up to the "light they show a bluish

F\^\

MAHSH HARKIEK.

tinge. I once found a nest containing only one egg nearly ready to hatch, and saw another with
six eggs (three quite fresh, and the other three hard sat on). I believe that if the fii-st set of eggs
be taken they lay again in a fresh nest, as I found sets of fresh eggs as late as the 2nd of May.

" Cowardly and ignoble, they are the terror of all the jtoultry which are in their districts, con-
tinually carrying off chickens,- and, like other Harriers, are most terribly destructive to the eggs and
young of all birds. On account of these propensities, I never let off a Mar.sh Harrier unless it sjioiled
sport to fire at one. Sometimes, when at Casa Vieja, and the Snipe were scarce, we used to lie up in the
line of the Harriers' flight to their roosting-places ; for they always take the same course, and come
evening after evening within five minutes of the same time. Upon one occasion a friend and myself
killed eleven, and during the visit accounted for over twenty. I also upon every possible opportunity
destroyed the nest and shot the old ones ; but it w;is the labour of Sisyphus, for others immediately
appeared. However, there was a visible diminution of their numbers at Casa Vieja. I never saw
rats in tlifeir nests or crops, and believe they have not the courage to kill them ; small snakes, frogs,
wounded birds, eggs, and nestlings unable to fly, form the main part of their prey. I have seen the

* Col. Irby, " Ornitliology of the .Strait of Gila altar," p. 34.

270 NATURAL HISTORY.

Marsh Harrier hawking over the sea about two himdred yai'ds from the shore, where there was
shallow water, but could not see wliat they were taking."

THE HARRIER-HAWKS {MierasUir*).

These constitute a little genus of Hawks peculiar to the New World, where they form a perfect
link between the Harriers and tlie Goshawks. In form they ire stoutly-built birds like the latter, while
tliey retain the facial ruff of the Harriers, and hence the name of Harrier-Hawk adopted for them
liere. Their habits are well described by a good observer, the late Colonel Greyson, of the U.S. Army,
who writes of the largest species of the genus, the Harrier-Hawk [Micrant'ir aemitorquatus) : —
" Among the great variety of Hawks to be met with in a single day's excursion in the locality of
Mazatlan, none are so easily recognised as this peculiar and interesting sjjecies. I have found it only
in the heavy forests, or the immediate vicinity of a thickly-wooded country, where its slender form
and lengthened tail attract our attention as it swiftly glides through the tangled woods with that
remarkable ease which we have often noticed in the fc^harp-shinned Hawk (A./uscus). It appears
to be strictly arboreal in its habits, and possessed of wonderful activity, either in springing from
branch to branch without opening its wings, or rapidly darting through the intricacies of the bush
with apparently but little difficulty. I have seldom seen one of these Hawks in an open country, and
have never seen one flying higher than the tree tops, where they are met with. Its wings are rather
short, and its flight is performed by rapidly repeated strokes, only for a short distance at a time. It
preys upon various species of wood birds, which it captures by darting iipon them on the ground or
in the bushes ; but the Chachalaca is its favourite game. This is a gallinaceous bird, or wild chicken,
about the ni'/e of, or lighter than, the common hen, and is entirely arboreal, seldom running upon the
ground, but is able by its peculiarly-formed feet to cling to, or spring rapidly through, the thickest
branches with great agility ; but this Hawk follows it with equal facility, until an oj^ijortunity offers
to strike its prey, then both come to the ground together, the Hawk being the lighter bird. I
witnessed a scene of this kind that took place when I was endeavourmg to get a shot at a Chachalaca,
as it was jumping about the very thick branches of an acacia overgrown with lianas ; it appeared to
be in great distress, uttering its harsh notes of akirm, and spreading its fan-shaped tail. Suddenly I
saw one of these Hawks pounce upon it ; when with har.sh screams of ten-or and pain the Chachalaca
dragged its captor to the ground, where they struggled for a few moments, but the unfortunate bird
was soon overcome. The struggling and screams of the Chachalaca created a gi-eat commotion among
the denizens of the woods ; far and near were heard the harsh cries of other members of its family,
and the Urraca Magpie, with streaming tail and ludicrous gesticulations, as well as the Blue-back
Jay, and other birds in the neighboui-hood, gathered around to witness the scene of rapine. Suddenly
appeared in the midst of this clamour a larger Hawk {Buteo Ilarrisi, Aud.), which rushed at once upon
the captor of the Chachalaca. Unable to withstand so heavy a charge, he was compelled to give up
his honestly captured prey to a superior force, thus proving the old adage that ' might is right.' The
slender but compact figure of our present subject was now seen perched upon a neighbouring bough,
scrutinising, with a vicious eye, the more powerful but less active bird of prey, as he vainly attempted
to bear off the lifeless fonn of the Chachalaca ; but there was one yet mightier than he. I observed
it for a few moments, then shot it, as also the Long-tailed Hawk, thus securing all three.

" They build their nest of dry twigs and moss, which is placed in a very tall tree, but below the
higher branches. The only nest I have seen was inaccessible, therefore I regret that I am unable to
describe the eggs."

THE CHANTING GOSHAWKS {Melieraxf).
These birds are met with in Africa only, and they have received the name of " Chanting " Gos-
hawks from their song, which has been stated by the French traveller, LevaUlant, to be of considerable
power, for he says he has heard the male of the Cape species (Melierax canorus) sing for hours together
in the twilight of morning and evening, and sometimes through the night. This, however, has Ijcen

* M<«po5, small ; astiir, n Goshawk. See "Lawrence's Bii-tls of Western and North-Westem Me.xico." "Memoirs of
the Boston Soc. of Nat. Hist ,'" VoL ii., p. 299. + Mf^', honey ; Uc^l, a Hawk.

THE OUSIIAIIK. 271

questioned by Mr. Layard, who is well known as au authority on Afiican birds, and wlio observed
the species in some abundance in certain pai'ts of South Africa. According to this observer, the bird
will perch on the top of a high tree, utter its " mellow piping whistle," and Hy oft' again. He has also
heard it call when flying. Now, altliougli tlii^ Chanting Goshawks may not have such powers of song
as have been credited to them, it is fi'it;iiii that they really have a more varied note than is the case
with other Goshawks, and the iu'il-i-icrd ( loshawk {Melkrax ijobar) is said to whistle very much, and
better than M. canorus. About five dili'erunt s]>ecies of Chanting Goshawks arc known, all being
from Africa : Jience the genus Melierax is one of those forms characteristic of the Ethiopian region,
which embraces Africa below the Sahara de.sert. One species only, the Many-banded Goshawk
(Melierax poli/zonict), a frequent bird in Abyssinia and Senegambia, is known to wander beyond the
limits of the above-named region, as it occurs in Mogador, whence living specimens have been more
than once sent to the Zoological Gardens.

The habits of the Chanting Goshawks are veiy similar to those of the ordinary Goshawks of more
northern climates, the larger species feeding on Quails, Francoliiis, and other small game, reptiles, and
locusts, while the less powerful kinds devour small birds and reptiles. The colour of the plumage is a
pearly-grey in the South African Chanting Goshawk (M. canorus), the belly being white with greyish
cross-lines ; the rump is white ; the jnimary quills black; tail dusky, tipped with white and crossed by
broad white bars; the cere and legs are red; the ii-is dark brown. It measures about tlncc f('<-t in
length. This style of colouring is found in all the species, excepting one small one, m liicli is entirely
black all over, save some white spots on the tail, and is known as the Black Goshawk {Mrlicrax niger).

THE TRUE GOSHAWKS [Astur).

These are represented nearly all over the world, every country having one or more species of the
genus Astur, excepting the continent of Sovith America, which possesses only two kinds, both of them
rare and of limited range. More than thii-ty different species of the genus have been described, and
they present great diflerences in size and style of coloration, their habits varying equally, according to
the strength and power of the birds ; but they are all remarkable for a very sturdy bill, and thick-set
legs ;md shai-p talons. A Goshawk may always be told by the latter characters, and by its short
toes, which are perhaps .smaller in proportion to the size of the bud than in any other group of the
birds of prey.

These birds, and the Sparrow-Hawks, have veiy short wings, and have not the same jiower of
flight as in the true Falcons, which are long-winged birds ; and hence, in the old days of falconry,
they were never considered of such value as the Peregrine hi the chase. They were also called Haw ks
of the " fist," as they were flown at game from the hand, instead of soaring down on the quarry from
aloft.

THE G0SH.4WK {Astm- pabnnbarins).

This is the largest and most powerful of all the genus, as it is also the best known, being found
all over the northern parts of Europe and Asia. It used to be of more frequent occurrence in Britain
formerly than it is now ; and although it can only nest in this country on the rarest occasions in the
present day, the author was introduced to an old gamekeeper on the ^Marquis of Huntly's estate at
Aboyne, who pei-fectly remembered the Goshawk breeding regularly at Glentanner. A young bird is
still captured now and then in autumn, one of the last instances being that of a j'oung male, who was
captured in an area at Hampstead, on the 3rd of August, 1872, and is now in the British Museum.

It will feed on nearly every kind of bird and animal that it is al)le to catch, and in falconry it is
principally employed to take Hares and Eabbits ; it will also take Pheasants and Pai-tridges, a gi-eat
number of these latter birds being killed by the Goshawk in its wild state. It is able to pursue its
quan-y with great dexterity tlirough a wooded country, and it possesses great powers of abstinence,
so that, if its prey escapes into cover for the time, the Hawk will often wait for its re-a])pearance,
and will genei-ally exhaust the patience of the quarry, and succeed in capturing it. During the day-
time it remains solitary in dark fir-forests, and comes out to feed in the morning and evening. The
nest is often a huge structure, being added to year by year; and an immense nest is figured in

\A TURA L MISTOlt Y.

Professor Newton's " Ootlieea WoUeyana." Some klua of tlie size may be gained from the story told
by Mr. WoUey, who climbed up to one that was placed a good height u]) in a large Scottish lir, and when

he stood ou the same branch with
the nest, the latter still reached
stMid inches above his head, so
th It tlic building of this nest had
j)iobdl\ bun the work of several

Iht old birds are alike in
plumige l)ut the female, as is the
cise vith all Goshawks, is lal-ger
th m th( m de, ■Pleasuring about
twc fiet m length, while the male
itocs not exceed twenty inches ; the
wing iKo which is about twelve
inthts in the male, exceeds four-
teen ill the female. The colour is
giev the head black, the sides of
the fice white, streaked with IJack
lines btlow, the under surface of
the bodv IS white, baiTcd across
with bl ick cross-bars of ashy-
biowu the under tail-coverts are
white quills and tail ashy-brown,
1h( txilt( ithers til)ped with white ;
1 N 11 bill bluish; iris orang.-.

\ 1 _ 1 nils ditier considerably
tioni tin id Lilts, being rufous Ije-
low with longitudinal streaks of
daik blown; the upper surface
is brown, all the feathers being
margined with reddish-white.

Tn North America, a bird

very similar to the Goshawk takes

lie group is found in Madagascar only. It is, however,

it the greatest number of species occur, nearly every island

d a third sjjecies of the
tlie Jlalayan Archipelago
ioshawk peculiar to itself.

THE SPARROW-HAWKS {Adijnter).
These may almost be called miniature Goshawks, as they are not only sliort-winged birds like the
latter, but they even have the same style of plumage, consisting generally of a dark -grey back, a barred
under surface, and a jriercing yellow eye. They^uay, however, be distinguished from the Goshawks
by their small, weak bill, and long, slender, middle toe. With the exception of some of the Oceanic
Islands, Spafrow-Hawks are found all over the world, being plentiful e\en in South America, where
the rarity of the Goshawks has already been alluded to.

THE COMMON SPARROW-HAWK {Accipito- iilms).
This is an active and plucky little bird, which still holds its own in England, notwithstanding the
raids made upon its nest, and the destruction of old birds by keepers. Nor can it be denied that the
vSparrow-Hawk, hatching its young about the time when the young chickens and Pheasants are also
being reared, will occasionally make a swoop on the ]iheasantry, and carry off the chicks to feed its
own offspring. The principal food of this Hawk is small bii'ds, in the pursuit of which it is so eager

THE BC/./.Aliim.

that it lias several times been known to dash through a glass window, and be caught in the ihdhi ;
while Messrs. Salvin and Brodrick, in their work on British Falconry, state that they have •• kiiowii
a trained Sparrow-Hawk force itself to such an extent into a blackthorn bush, where it had kdlcd ..
bird, as to require to be cut out." Like the Goshawk, it is often trained for hawking, Ijut is a much
more delicate bird to rear, and requires careful management when young. Nevertheless, a well-trained
Sparrow-Hawk will account for a considerable number of birds ; and in the wbrk of the above-mentioned
authors is given an instance of one Hawk having killed 327 head in less than two months, consisting
of Sparrows, Blackbii'ds, Thrushes, a few Par-
tridges, and Linnets, more than two-tliirds of
the number bemg Sparrows.

In size the female Sparrow-Hawk is con-
siderably larger tlian the male, measuring
nearly sixteen inches in length, and nine inches
and a half in the wing. She is generally paler
grey, never so blue as in the male, nor is she
so red iniderneath. A sign of age, by which a
mature hen Sparrow-Hawk may be known, is
the presence of a tuft of rufous plumes on the
flanks, which is feebly developed in the young
bird, but is a consjiiouous feature in the adult.

The male is bluish slate-colour above, the
quills browner and barred across with daikei
brown, these bars' being ^■ery distinct below , the
tail is barred with blackish-brown, and tipjied
with white ; cheeks and ear-covei-ts are lufous ,
under surface of body whitish, with narrow bais
of bright rufous, the under tail-coverts white, as
are also the under wing-coverts and a.Nallaiies,
these two latter parts being spotted with blown
Young birds are brown with rufous edges to
the feathers; underneath they are nxfous, baned
with brown on the flanks and breast, the thioat
and fore-neck streaked with the same coloui.

, ., n ■ ^ ■ ■'I'AKUUH HlMJl. I.J1JIH nt lit i u » ;

The bars on the tail are five in number m a

young male, but as the bird increases in age the numbei of bais decieases, and is generalh mdv
four in a very old bird : the same takes place in the female The lange of the Common Spauow
Hawk is very similar to that of the Goshawk, being evtended all ovei Euiope and Noithein Asia, and
into Northern China and North-western India. Neithei of the buds go to South Afuca, and lange
into the north-eastern portion of that continent only in winter.

THE Tini

Tliese Hawks eonstituti- a

legged Hawks of the pre\ii)us si

the most powerful bird of jirey

SUB-FAMILY.— THE P,rZZ.\RDS {Bnteuniiue).
imerous asseml^lage <if tlie liinls of prey, and lead on from the long-
family to the Eagles, emliui,' with the Great Harpy, which is, perhaps,
the world. All the Buzzards have the tibia much longer than the
tarsus, but they may be distinguished from all the Eagles, Kites, and Falcons by having the back of
the tarsus " plated," and not " reticulated." In the accompanying woodcuts' is shown the hinder aspect
of a Buzzard's tarsus (figure on p. 274), by which it will be seen that the scales are arranged in
plates, very differently from that which takes place in the tarsus of an Eagle (figure on p. 27i),
where the scales are reticulated.*

The Buzzards are more numerous in the northern parts of the world than in the tropics, and a
large decrease in the number of species takes place in Central and Southern America, whilst in
Oceania and Australia they are altogetlier absent. As a rule, they are birds of plain plumage and
* Rite, Lat., a net, so called on account of the network pattern.

NATDRAl lUSTOHY

r^

HIND VIEW OF TARSVS OF BUZZARD, SHO\YI.VG
THE PLATED AUUANGEMENT OF SCALES (a).

sluggLsli habits, ])osses.sing neither the courage of the Eagles, nor the clash and adroitness of the
Falcons, in capturing their prey. Africa produces some species wluch, as regai-ds plumage, are an
exception to the general rule, tlie Augur and Jackal Buzzards
{Buteo aucjur and Huteo jackal) being rather handsome birds,
their plumage being a mixtm-e of black and chestnut.

THE COMMON BUZZARD (£,afO* mdgaris).
This is a strictly Euroiiean bird, although it has been
st.ited to occur in Central A.sia, and to sometimes wander into
Nuitli-eastern Africa. Like all other birds of prey, it is
rather rare in Great Britain, but it still breeds in cei'tain
localities, although the great majority of specimens which are
illcd in Britain are found in the fall of the year. The
power of the Common Buzzards to attack large game is
very limited, and Mr. Robei-t Grayt observes : — " To many
persons it will seem unwise, I dare say, to call this Buzzard
a useful bird in game preserves, yet I cannot but think that
if the experiment were made of allowing it to fulfil the ends
for which Nature designed it, our native game birds would
benefit by the trial. So far as my own observations have
extended, the Common Buzzard is just the kind of instiii-
ment wanted to clear off sickly young, birds, which, on

arriving at maturity, yield an offspi-ing of a degenerate breed. Of somewhat sluggish habits, it does

not care to interfere with strong-winged birds, being content with those that, through woimds or a

naturally feeble constitution, are unable to save themselves. In

this way only strong birds are left, and a healthy breed ensues.

Let any of our proprietors of moors, who are jealous of the

daring prowess of Eagles and lordly Peregrines, act upon this

hint, and I will venture to say we should have fewer instances ■

of disease among.st game birds to chronicle."

Although the Buzzard does not quarter the ground like

a Harrier, and search for its prey on the wing, it may not

unfrequently be seen circling in the air at a considerable height,

generally over the place wliich contains its nest, but as a rule

it perches on some stone or similar resting-place, whence ic

watches for its prey. When flying it utters a clear loud cry,

which has been de.scribed as " mewing." Its principal food consists

of Field Mice, but it also devours Moles, young birds, the

caterpillars of Hawk Moths {Sphingidcv), Grasshoppers, and it

will also occasionally feed on can-ion, or on dead fish cast up

on the sea-shore. When migrating in the autumn, which it

does in considerable numbei-s togetjier, a good many are caught

for the purposes of food, and the manner of catching them is

thus described by Nilsson in his work on the birds of Sweden : —

" In October, when they pass through Skiuie on theii- passage to

the south, they remain for some time on the outermost point of

land to await a suitable westerly wind to cross. Large numbers ^^'^.^ '^"'^^ "^

collect and roost at night in the trees (especially in the willows)

which grow there. When the darkness sets in, two men go in

company to catch them, one with a sack, and the other with a stout cudgel. The latter climbs quietly

up into the tree, where he can just distinguish the bird, whilst the other remains below ; and so soon
* Bateo, Lat., .a Buzz.ird. f "Birds of the West of ScotkEd," p. 46.

jr^_

OF SERPENT EAGLE,
SHOWING THE RETICVLATED ARRANGE-
MENT OF SCALES.

THE COMMON BCZZAliD.

2Td

as the climber Las got up to wliere he can reach a bii-d, he catches it by the legs with the left hand,
and either twists its neck with liis right hand, or stuns it with a blow of the cudgel, and throws it
down to his companion on the ground, who crams it into the sack. In this manner two men can catch
tlm-ty or forty in the evening, or, according to Burgomaster C, as many even as seventy or eighty ; and
Captain E. relates that twenty were obtained one evening from the same tree. They are easiest to
catch when it is dark and blowing hard, so that the bird cannot easily hear the noise. In all, many
hundreds ai'e caught amiually, some of which ai'e cooked fresh or made into soup, but most are salted
down and kept for use during the winter."

The nest of the Buzzard is generally placed on some non-evergreen tree at various heights from
the ground, but in Scotland it builds on rocks. The usual number of eggs is three or four, and these

COMMON BUZZARD.

are a bluish-white, with reddish blotches. Tliey vary a good deal in colour, some being rather richly
marked, while others are almost colourless. The time of breeding is generally the month of April, or,
in severe seasons, early in May. A Crow's nest is occasionally taken possession of. When the bird
!nakes its own nest, this is formed of large branches with a lining of grass, occasionallj^ of a few
feathers.' No bird varies more than the Buzzard in plumage, and many beautiful variations in its
dress take place before the adult plumage is gained. The old bird is almost entirely brown above and
1 lelow, the breast and abdomen generally having a more or less barred appearance ; the quills are brown,
banded with darker brown, and shaded with gi-ey on their outer aspect ; the tail is ashy-bi'own, more or
less iirclining to rufous, and having twelve or thirteen bars of darker brown. Yoxmg birds have a great
deal of white about their plumage, some of them being nearly cream-coloured. The size of the adidts is
about twenty-two inches, and the sexes vary a little in dimensions, the wing of the female being perhaps
one inch longer than that of the male.

The gi-eat utility of the Buzzard in destroying Mice ought to render it an object of protection and
encouragement, for the number of small Mammals destroyed by these birds is immense. Brehm

NATURAL HISTORY.

calculates that when they have young they will destroy at least one hundred Mice a day, and mentions
that thirty Field Mice have been taken from the crop of a single bird.

Although from its
from Its structure that it is a B

THE HARPY [Thrascetus* harpyia-\).
d courage this bird is generally called the Ilarpn Eagle, it

, as it possesses the " j)lated " tarsi of the latter group of bii-ds

It is an inhabitant of the New World, from Mexico through Central America to Brazil and Bolivia.
It is a \-ery destructive bird, causing great damage to the flocks, and e^-en destroying calves, whence
it is an object of detestation to the stock-keepers in Mexico. It also feeds on deer and on the large
Macaws which are found in the forest it frequents. , It stands more than thi-ee feet and a half high, and
has a large crest, which, together with its powerful talons and glittering eye, gives the bird an imposing
aspect even in captivity. In the adult bird the coloration is ashy-grey, inclining in \ery old exam]iles
to silvery grey relieved l)y the dark ash-coloured wings and tail.

Eagl(

bird of

CHAPTER V.

EAGLES AND FALCONS.

THE EAGLES— The Bearded Eagle, or LXhmerueiek— A Visit to their Nest— Habits— A Little Girl carried off alive—
— Habits ill Greece — Appearance— Von Tschiuli's and Captain Mutton's Descriptions of its Attacks — The True
Eagles— The Wedge-tailed Eagle — Eye — Ciystalline Lens— How Eagles may be Divided— The Imperial Eagle—
The Golden Eagle— In Great Britain — ^MacgiUivray's DescMption of its Habits — Appearance -The Kite Eagle —
Its Peculiar Feet- Its Bird's-nesting Habits— The Common Harrier Eagle— The Indian Serpent Eagle— The
Bateleur Eagle— The AVhite-tailed Eagle— A Sea Eagle— Story of Capture of some Young— The Swallow-
tailed Kite— On the AVing— The Common Kite — The European Honev Kite — Habits— Andersson's Pern—
THE FALCONS— The Bill— The Cuckoo Falcons- The FiU-coNETs- The Peregrine Falcon— Its Wonderful
Distribution— Faloomy— Names for Male, Female, and Young— Hawks and Herons— The Greenland Jbr-falcon
The Kestrels— The Common Kestrel— Its Habits and Disposition.

THE THIRD SUB-FAMILY OF THE FALCONID.E.— THE EAGLES {Aquilimt).
As already explniiieil, the Eagles may be ilistiuguished from the Buzzards by tlieir reticulated
tarsus ; otherwisf the proportions of the leg-bones are similar, the tibia being considerably longer than
the tarsus.

THE BEARDED EAGLE, OR LAJISIERGEIER (Gypaetua barbatm).

The generic name of this Eagle is derived from two Greek words {yi^^, a Vulture, oerot, an Eagle),
and no- name could have been better chosen, for with the structure of an Eagle it combines many of
the habits of a Vulture, and has many ways in common with the Egyptian Vxiltui-e {Neophrori
jjerctwpterus). In Europe it is found only in the mountainous parts of those countries bordering the
Mediterranean basin, and is no-w nearly extinct in Switzerland. In the mountains of Spain, how-
ever, it is still to be met -with in some quantities, and Mr. Howai-d Saunders states that one or two
pairs may be found in every range of mountains. In Sardinia it is said by Mr. Basil Brooke to
be decidedly common, and during one of his visits to that island he obtained a very cm-ious nestling
bird covered with down. " A pair of these bii-ds," says Mr. Brooke, " are in possession of eveiy
separate range of hills, wluch they appear to regard as theii" own territory, and from which they are
seldom to be found far distant. They are generally to be seen singly or in pairs ; but now and
then I have observed three, and on one occasion four together. As a rule they are most decidedly
mountain bii'ds, but occasionally a single bird may be seen hunting over the plains and cultivated
lauds, not flying more than one hundred yards high. The nest of one found on the 18th of April
was built on a broad ledge of a precipitous clifT, about three hundred feet high, within twenty feet
of the top, and was completely sheltered from the severity of the weather by a large overhanging
piece of rock. After some trouble I discovered a way by which, with a little care, I managed to
get on the ledge, much to the discomfort of the solitary inmate — a young nestling, covered as yet
with a pale yellowish-brown down. The nest itself was an accumulation of dried sticks, with a cup-
shaped hollow in the middle, and had evidently been used for years. In it, and on the surrounding
ledge, wei-e great quantities of the leg-bones and feet of goats, (frc, and a part of a fox's lower jaw ;
these being in all stages of putrefaction, the smell was abominable. The old female on my first i-isit
to the nest sat extremely close, and although I was standing over her \vithin seven or eight yards,
would not leave her young untO I fired a shot, upon which she dashed off, dropping almost perpen-
dicularly, and was out of range before I could fire. She flew over the valley and lit upon a high-
jn-ojecting, rocky pinnacle, upon which I could see her through the telescope, sitting quietly watch-
ing all my proceedings. She returned to the nest shortly afterwards, on my having retired to a
little distance."

In Algeria the Lammergeier is said to feed largely on Land Tortoises, which it carries to a
gi-eat height in the air, and drops upon a convenient rock, so as to break the shell. So much
has been written upon the habits of this bird that it would be impossible to give here one tithe
of the interesting notes which have been published in various works and pei-iodicals ; but no
history of the species, however brief, would be complete without a passing mention of the little
gii-1 who was said to have been carried ofi" in childhood by one of these birds. The history,

_'7« .\.ilCJt-IJ. UL-ilitMl'.

Vielievecl by biiii to be well autlienticated, is i-elated by Naumann as follows. — "Anna Zurbuchen,
of Htitchern, in Bern Oberland, born in 1760, was taken out by her parents, when she was nearly
three years old, when they went to collect herbs. She fell asleep, and the father put Ms
straw hat over her face and went to his work. Shortly after, when he returned with a bundle
of hay, the child was gone ; and the parents and peasants sought her in vain. During this time
Heinrich Michel, of Unterseen, was going on a wild path to Wiippesbach, and suddenly heard a child
cry. He ran towards the sound, and a Bearded Vulture I'ose, scared by him, from a mound, and
soai-ed away over the precipice. On the extreme edge of the latter, below which a stream roared,
and over whose edge any moment would have precipitated it, Michel found the child, which was
uninjured, except on the left arm and hand, where the bird had probably clutched it ; its shoesi
stockings, and cap were gone. This occurred on the 12th of July, 1763. The place where the child
was found was about 1,400 paces distant from the tarn where it had been left asleep. The child
was afterwards called Ldiiimeryeler-Ainii, and married Peter Frutiger, a tailor in Gewaldswyl, where
she was still living in 1814."

The circumstantial way in which the above narrative runs appears to leave little doubt of
its reality, but it is difficult to give it credence, as the Liimmergeier has but little power in its feet,
which resemble those of the Vultures ; and most of the stories of its jirowess have been discredited
by the researches of modern naturalists. Di'. Brehm observes : — " To mj^ intense astonishment,
the Spanish hunters did not regard this bird in the .slightest degree as a bold, merciless robber : all
asserted that it fed on cariion, especially bones, only attacking living animals when driven by
necessity. They called it ' Quebranta-Huesos,' or the ' Bone-smasher,' and assured me that this
fivvourite food was broken in a singular maimer. My later observations proved nothing which
would justify my treating their statements as otherwise than correct, so I was forced to come to the
conclusion that the Liimmergeier had been much maligned. Since my first account of this bird,
I have read a number of communications from other observers, and gather from the whole that the
Bearded Vulture is nought else than a weak, cowardly bird of prey, gifted neither in niLnd nor body
to any great extent, and one that but rarely carries away small mammals. Its food usually consists of
bones and other carrion."

Mr. Hudleston met with the Litiiimerseifr in Greece, where, however, it was not common,
and he wi-ites of its habits as observed hy him : — •' He is not a demonstrative bird like the Griffon,
who may be seen sailing about at a great height in the air, sometimes alone, but more often in troojis
of from lialf a dozen to fifty, revolving in endless circles round each other, that no corner may remain
unseen. The Lammergeier, on the contrary, may be observed floating slowly, at a uniform level,
close to the cliffs of some deep nivine. where his shadow is jierliaps projected on the wall-like rocks.
If the ravine has salient and i^ i nt. i ln^ angles, he does not cut across from point to point, but
preserves the same distance frnm ihr (lilf; and when he disappears in ^ny natural fissure, you feel
sure of the very spot where he will emerge on turning the corner of the j)recipice. Marrowbones
are the dainties he loves the best; and when the other Vultures have picked the flesh off any
animal, he comes in at the end of the feast and swallows the bones, or breaks them and swallows
the pieces, if he cannot get the marrow out otherwise. The bones he cracks by taking them to
a great height and letting them fall on a stone. This is probably the bird that dropped a Tortoise
on the bald head of poor old ^^schylus. Not, however, that he restricts himself, or the huge \)lack
iuftmt that he and his mate are bringing up, in one of the many holes with which the limestone
precipice abounds, to marrow, turtle, bones, and similar delicacies : neither lamb, hare, nor kid
comes amiss to him — though, his power of claw and beak lieing feeble for so large a bird, he cannot
tear his meat like other Vultures and Eagles. I once saw a mature bird of this species which had
evidently swallowed a bone, or something uncommonly indigestible, close to the abattoir at Athens,
He was in a very uncomfortable attitude, and appeared to be leaning on his long tail for support.
After riding round in gradually decreasing circles till within ten yards, I dropped off horseback and
made a rush at him, but he just managed to escape, and then rising slowly till about tlie height of
the Acropolis, made off towards the gorge of Phylse, where tluic is an cyiy.

"The Lammergeier has an extremely ugly countenance : this bcdiiics perfectly diabolical when-
he is ii-ritated, and shows the briglit red ro\ind his eyes. Altogether, what with his black beard, rufous

THE I.AMMKUCEIKU.

breast, and long, dark tail, lio is an ii\vful-loo.kini,' beast, and has the reputation of committing divers
evil deeds — such, for instance, as i>ushing lambs and kids, and even men, off the rocks, when they aie
in ticklish situations. Nevertheless, he is a somewhat cowardly bird, has a feeble, querulous cry, and
will submit to insults from a Falcon not a fourth his size or weight."

Von Tschudi says that in Switzerland it will capture Hares, Martens, Squirrels, Crow.s, and
Woodcocks, and he states that a stomach was found to contain five pieces of Bullock's ribs two inches
thick and from six to nine inches long, a lump of hair, and the leg of a young Goat from the knca to

BEARDEU E.^GLE, OH LAMMERGEIEE.

the foot. The bones were perfoi-ated by the gastric juice, and partly reduced to powder. The stomach
of another Liinimergeier, examined by Mr. Schinz, contained the large hip-bone of a Cow, the skin and
fore-quarters of a Chamois, many smaller bones, some hair, and a Heath-cock's claws. Should a
Lammergeier see an old Chamois or a Sheep or Goat grazing near a precipice, it will whirl round
and round, trying to torment and frighten the creature till it runs to the edge of the cliff, and then,
foiling down upon it, the bird not unfrequently succeeds in pu.shing it into the abyss below with one
stroke of its wings. Diving down after its mangled victim, it will begin by picking out its eyes, and
then proceed to tear open and devour the body. It is only the smaller class of booty, such as Foxes,
Lambs, or Marmots, which can be carried off by the Lammergeiei-, as its feet and claws, as we have
already remarked, are comparatively weak.*

In the Himalayas, where the species is also tolerably plentiful, its habits vary somewhat, and it

* " Sketclies of Nature in the Alps."

2S0 NATURAL HISTORY.

not unfrequeiitly comes close to habitations for ofl'al or Lones, aiul Ijebaves in a very Yiiltiuine manner.
Captain Hutton writes : — " Marvellous, indeed, are the stories told, both by natives and Europeans,
of the destructive habits of this bird, and both accounts, I fuUy believe, have scarcely a grain of
trutli in them : all I can positively say on the point, however, is that I have known the bird
well in its native haimts for tliirty years and more, and never once, in all tliat time, have I seen
it stoop to anything but a dead carcase. As to ciU-rying off hens, dogs, lambs, or children, I say
the feat would be utterly impossible, for the creature does not possess the stiongly-curved, sharp-
pointed claws 'of the Eagle, but the far straighter and perfectly blunt talons of the Vulture. Day
after day I have seen them sweeping by along the face of the hill, like the wandering Albatross at
sea, and, like it, ever in search of otlal, which, when found, is not swept off the gi-ound after the
manner of the Kite, but the bird alights upon it, as it would upon a Bullock, and then, if the
morsel is worth having, devours it on the spot, and again launches itself uiwn its wide-spread wings
and sails away as before. There is no sudden stooping upon a Uving prey, as with the Falcon
tribe, but its habits and manners in this respect are, as far as I have seen, entirely VultiU'ine."

The Lammergeier measures about three feet and a half in length, and its outspread wings often
extend to as much as nine feet in expanse. A second species is found in Africa, the Southern
Liiromergeier {Gypaetits ossifragus), which differs from the European one, in having the tarsus bare,
instead of being feathered to the to€s.

THE TEUE EAGLES (Apilla).
In Australia no true Eagle is found, but a very powerful bird called the Wedge-tailed Eagle
(Uroaetus* anrht.rj) inhabits that country, differing from all its more northern relations in its
very long and wedge-shaped tail, Avhich is like that of tlie
Lammergeier.

The true Eagles have a veiy powerful bill, with a festoon

ilistinctly marked m the edge of the upper mandible, which is,

however, different from the toothed bill of the Falcons, to Ijc

considered presently. They nearly all possess a large bony

EYE OF E.4GLE, SHOWING cRvsTALLixE slielf over the e3'e, which may serve to protect that organ from

LEX:*. {Ajter Yamu.) j.jjg gimlight during some of the aerial excursions the bird

makes.

The orb of the eye in the Eagles is supported by a ring of bony plates, numbering fifteen in

the Golden Eagle. These bony plates are capable of slight motion upon each other. The figure

represents the crystalline lens of the same bird, the lens being siibject to great variety of form

in different birds. In the Eagle the proportion of the axis to the diameter of the lens is as 3y"g

to 5Jj ; in the Eagle Owl, which seeks its prey at twilight, the relative proportions of the lens

are as 6^^ to l^g ; and in the Swan, which has to select its food under water, the projjortions of

the lens are as 3 to 3 J^. Birds have also the power of altering the degi-ee of the convexity of the

cornea. With numei-ous modifications of form, aided by delicate muscular arrangement, birds appear

to have the ])ower of obtaining such variable degrees of extent or intensity of ^dsion as are most in

accordance with theii" peculiar habits and necessities. |

In these birds is found a return of that difference in the size of the sexes which was so noticeable
in the Sparrow-Hawks, for in the Eagles the female is decidedly larger than the male. There are two
convenient gi-oups into wliich the Eagles may be divided, according :».s they have feathered or un-
feathered legs. All the true Eagles belong to the fu-st section, all the less noble and Serpent-eating
kinds to the latter section. Although they are birds of grand ))hysique, it is a question whether Eagles
deserve the position they enjoy for nobility of dis])08ition ; they are ra]iacious it is true, but not always
brave, for one Golden Eagle will give way to a. Peregrine Falcon, while the grand-looking Imperial
Eagle {Aquila heliacd, see figure on p. 235) is said by a good observer inLidia, Mr. A. O. Hume, G.B.,
to be no better than a great hulking Kite. He adds : — "Much has been written about the daring and
fierceness of this Eagle. I can only say that in India (where possibly the climate is subversive of

* ovpi, a tail ; utTdj, an Eagle. f Audax, bold. J Newton Ed., Yarrell's " British Birds," i., p. 19.

courage), I have never seen tlie slightest itulioatioiis of tliese (jiuilities. I have driven the female off
hard-set eggs, ami plundered the nest before the eyes of the pair, without either of them Happing a
l>inion even to defend what a little Shrike will swoop at once to sa%e ; and I have seen a couple of Crows
thrash one of them soundly. As a rule, this species %vith us Ls an ignoble feeder. I have generally
found them gorged with carrion, and after a good meal they will sit stupidly on a tree, or any little
mud pillar, and permit you to walk within thirty yards of them ; but before feeding they are some-
what wary, iuid ciui by no means always be secured, even when seen sitting. On more tlian one
occasion I have seen Desert Rats {Gerbillus erythrurus) in their crops, and I once shot one of a
pair which wei-e busy, on the line of rail at Etawah, devouring a Bandicoot Rat {Mus bamUcota),
which some passing train had cut in two. Occasiomilly, but rarely, I found that they had eaten
Quails and other birds. Once I shot a male which was dancing about on the ground in such an
astounding fashion that I killed it to see what the matter was. The bird jjroved to have been
choking. It had swallowed a whole dry shin-bone and foot of an Antelope. The bone apparently
could not begot down altogether, and in trying to void it, the sharp points of the hoof had stuck into
the back of the roof of the mouth."*

THE GOLDEN E.\GLE {Aquila c/ni/smfHsf).

The Golden Eagle is so called from the tawny or golden-brown colour which pervades the feathers
of the neck in the old bird. Excepting in certain places in " Caledonia stern and wild," where it is
protected, it is a species which is becoming very rare in Great Britain, and but for the intervention
of a few large-minded proprietors in Scotland would doubtle.ss ere this have been extinguished. It is
a much rarer bird now than the White-tailed Eagle, and the last-named species is often mistaken for
it ; but a little attention to one point will obviiite all fear of a mistake in this respect, the Golden
Eagle having at all ages the tarsus feathered to the toes, whereas the Sea Eagle belongs to the bare-
legged section of these birds.

A better description of the habits of the Golden Eagle probably does not exist than that given by
the late Professor Macgillivray : —

" See how the sunshine biightens the yellow tint of his head and neck, until it shines almost like
gold ! There he stands, nearly erect, with his tail depressed, his large wings half raised by his side,
his neck stretched out and his eye glistening as he glances around. Like other robbers of the
desert, he has a noble aspect, an imperative mien, a look of proud defiance ; but his nobility has a
dash of clownishness, and his falconship a vulturine tinge. Still, he is a noble bird, powerful,
independent, proud, and ferocious, regardless of the weal or woe of others, and intent solely on the
gratification of his own appetites ; without generosity, without honour, bold against the defence-
less, but ever ready to sneak from danger. Such is his nobility, about which men have so
raved. Suddenly he raises his wings, for he has heard the whistle of the shepherd in the corry, and
bending forward, he springs into the air. Oh, that tliis pencil of mine were a musket charged
with buck-shot ! Hardly do those vigorous flaps serve at first to prevent his descent ; but now,
curving upwards, he glides majestically along. As he ])asses the corner of that buttressed and battle-
mented crag, forth rush two ravens from their nest, croaking fiercely. While one flies above
liim, the other steals beneath, and they essay to strike him, but dare not, for they have an instinctive
knowledge of the power of his gi'asp, and after following him a little way they return to their
home, vainly exulting in the thought of having driven him from their neighbourhood. Bent on a
fiir journey, he advances in a direct course, flapping his great wings at regular intervals, then shooting
along without seeming to move them. In ten minutes he has progressed three miles, although he
is in no haste, and now disappears behind the shoulder of the hill. But we may follow him in
imagination, for his habits being well known to us, we may be allowed the ornithological licence
of tracing them in continuance. Homeward liound, his own wants satisfied, he knows that his
young must be supplied with food.

" Over the moors he sweeps, at the height of two or three hundred feet, bending his course
to either side, his wings wide spread, his neck reti'acted, now beating the air, and again sailing

* "Kough Notes ou Indian Ornithology," p. 145. t xpv(r6':, gold; ieroi, an Eagle.

2S2 NATUH.IL HhsTOKX.

smootlily along. Suddenly he stops, poises liiinself for a moment, stoops, but recovers himself
without touching the gi-ouud. The object of his regards, a Golden Plover, which he had spied
on her nest, has eluded him ; and he cares not to pursue it. Now he ascends a little, wheels in
short curves, presently rushes down headlong, assumes the horizontal position when close to the
ground, prevents his being dashed against it by expanding his wings and tail, thrusts forth his talons,
and grasping a poor terrified Ptarmigan that sat cowering among the grey lichens, squeezes it to death,
raises his head exultingly, emits a clear, shrill cry, and springing from the ground pursues his journey.

r \ ^^

GOLDEN EAGLB.

" In passing a tall cliff that overhangs a small lake, he is assailed by a fierce Peregrine Falcon,
which dai-ts and plunges at him as if determined to deprive him of his booty, or drive him headlong
to the ground. This proves a more dangerous foe than the Raven, and the Eagle screams, yelps,
and throws himself into postures of defence ; but at length the Hawk, seeing the tyrant is not bent
on plundering his nest, leaves him to pursue his course unmolested. Over woods, and green fields, and
scattered hamlets speeds the Eagle, and now he enters the long valley of the Dee, near the upper end
of which is dimly seen through the grey mist the rock of his nest. About a mile from it he
meets his mate, who has been abroad on a similar eirand, and is returning with a white H:iie in
her talons. They congratulate each other with loud yelpijig cries, which rouse the drowsy shepherd
on the strath below, who, mindful of the lambs earned off in spring-time, sends after .them his male-
diction. Now they reach their nest and are greeted by their young with loud clamour.

" Let us mark the spot, It is a shelf of a rock, concealed by a jirojecting angle, so that it cannot

THE KITE EAGLE. 283

be iiijurecl from above, and is too distant fiom the base to be reached l)y a shot. In the crevices are
luxuriant tufts of Rhodiola rusea, and scatte)-ed around are many alpine plants, which it woidd delight
the botanist to enumerate. The mineralogist would not be less pleased could he with chisel and hammer
reach that knob which glitters with crystals of quartz and felspar. The nest is a bulky fabric, five feet
at least in diameter, rudely constructed of dead sticks, twigs, and heath ; flat, unless in the centre,
where it is a little hollowed and Covered with vvool and feathers. Slovenly creatures you would think
these two young birds, clothed with white down, amid which the larger feathers are seen projecting,
for their fluid dung is scattered all over the sticks, and you see that, had the nest been formed
more compactly of softer materials, it would have been less comfortable. Strewn ai-ound, too, are
fragments of Lambs, Hai'es, Grouse and other birds in various stages of decay^ Alighting on the edges
of the nest, the Eagles deposit their prey, partially pluck oft' the hair and feathers, and rudely
tearing up the flesh, lay it before their ever-hungry young."

The Jength of a male Golden Eagle is a little more than two feet and a half, while the female
attains at least three feet in dimensions, with a wing three inches longer than that of her mate.
The colour of the plumage is dark brown, with a rich tawny hue on the back of the neck and nape,
the feathei-s of these parts being streaked with darker brown ; the tail is more or less mottled with
grey at the base, and is whiter in younger birds. The latter are often popularly distinguished as
the Ring-tailed Eagles. By some authors the Eagle which frequents the mountains is considered to be
a diflerent species from that which inhabits the plains, but as far as present experience goes it is the
younger birds wliich are more often met with in the latter localities, being probably driven from
their mountain homes by the older birds. The Golden Eagle varies his choice of an eyry in difierent
localities, building in the British Islands generally on a rock, but in many otlier countries nesting on
a tree. It is found all over Europe and Northern Asia, in mountainous districts, extending into
China and even into the Himalayas, whence the finest specimens are obtained. In North America
also the examples of the Golden Eagle seem to be very large, but are not to be otherwise distinguished
from European specimens.

THE KITE EAGLE {Keoiytis* mahiyensis).
This extraordinary bird bears the above name from its resemblance generally to a Kite, and also
from its plumage, which in the young bird is wondei'fully Kite-like, so that a dead specimen carelessly
examined might be taken easily for one of the latter birds. One moment's search, however, would disjjose
of the illusion, for no one who has once heard of the foot of this Eagle could ever forget it or mistake it
for that of any other raptorial bird, the talons being longer and more slender in proportion to the size
of the foot than in any known Eagle ; they are also nearly straight. The inner claws are the longest,
and that excellent observer. Captain Vincent Legge, points out that they seem " especially adapted
for the work of carrying oif loose and fragile masses, such as the nests of small birds, as they wotild
naturally form its chief means of gi-asp when such an object was being held by both feet during (he
process of flight." This last sentence gives an insight into the habits of the bird, which aje on a par
with its remarkable structure. It might well be called the " Bird's-nesting Eagle," for it seems to be
the only bird of prey which systematically lives by the robbery of smaller birds' nests ; only on very
rare occasions, and when pressed by hunger, has it been known to attack larger game or worry the
poultry- yard. It is almost always on the wing, and the Lepcha-hunters near Darjeeling speak of it as
the bird " that never sits down." It is found in the Himalayas and in other wooded districts of India,
and occurs but more sparingly in the Malayan peninsula and islands, ranging to some of the
Moluccas, but probably -visiting the latter only on migration. But it is in Ceylon that it is, peiiuips,
more plentiful than in any other locality, and the best account of its habits is that given by Captain
Legge, whose words are subjoined. " This fine, long-winged Eagle is, on account of the singular
structure of its feet and its curious habits, one of the most interesting, but, at the same time, perha])s
the most destructive of raptors to bird-life in Ceylon. It subsists, as far as can be obsei-ved, entii-ely
by birds'-nesting, and is not content witli the eggs and young birds which its keen sight esi)ies among
tte branches of the forest-trees, but seizes the nest in its talons, decamps with it, and often examines

* i-em, new ; uuu!, a foot : meaning that there was somethiug novel and extraordinary aVoiit its foot.

284 XA TUBAL MlSTOJCi.

tlie contents as it sails lazily along. Furthennore, Mr. S. Bligli infoi-ms me that he once found the
best pai-t of a bird's nest in the stomach of one of these Eagles which he shot in the Central Province.
Its flight is most easy and gi-aceful. In the early morning it passes much of its time soaring round the
high peaks or cliffs on which it has passed the night, and about nine or ten o'clock starts off on its
daily foraging expedition. It launches itself with motionless wings from some dizzy precipice, and
proceeding in a straight line, till over some inviting-looking patna-woods it quickly descends with one
or two rather sharp gyrations, through, perhaps, a thousand feet, and is in another moment gliding
stealthily along just above the tops of the trees. In and out among these, along the side of the wood,
backwards and forwards over the top of the narrow striji, it quarters, its long wings outstretched and
the tips of its pinions wide apart, with ai)parently no exertion ; and luckless indeed is the Bulbul,
Oriole, or Mountain Finch whose carefully-built nest is discovered by the soaring robber." *

The size of the Kite Eagle is about thirty inches in length, and the colour is entirely black, witli
some indistinct bars of ashy-grey on the tail. Besides the Eagles that have been alluded to already,
there are the Hawk-Eagles [N'isaetiis), remarkable for their long legs, and the Crested Eagles
(Spizaefus), which have a beautiful long crest hanging fi-om the hinder part of the head.

THE COMJION HARRIER EAGLE (CircaHusi iiallicus).

This, which is also called the "Jean-le-Blanc," is one of the best-known of all the bare-legged
section of the Eagles. The genus Cireaetiis, to which it belongs, contains five species, of which four
ai-e peculiar to Africa, the C. fjallicios being fovmd all over Southern and Central Europe, and
extending into India, where it is not at all unplentiful. In its natui-e this bird is rather slugfjish,
though in confinement it is very untamable, and wears a thoroughly fierce a.spect, as could be seen by
any one who examined the specimen in the Zoological Gardens. Its ferocious appearance was
heightened by its peculiar eye, which is very large, of a bright yellow, mth a very small black pupil,
whereas the i)upil in most birds of prey is rather large. J

THE IXDIAN SERPENT EAGLE {Spilomis cheela).
This is a beautiful bird, having the under surface mottled with white spots or " ocelli." All the
Serpent Eagles, of which there are several species, are charactei'ised by a similar style of plumage, and
by a full, thick crest of feathers springing from the occiput and liind part of the head. They are found
all over India and Ceylon, Southern China, and the Burmese countries, the Malayan Peninsula, Suudat
Islands, Borneo, and Celebes. The Ceylonese species, which is a small race of the Indian bird, is
stated by Layard to feed on Snakes, Lizards, and other reptUes and insects, and to be particularly
pai-tial to the large trees on the banks of tanks, from them swooping down on the frogs which
came up to sun themselves on the floating logs or reeds. The Indian species of Serpent Eagle is a
powerful bird, and is said to capture Pheasants during the breeding season and bring them to the
nest. Mr. Hume has generally found small Snakes in then- stomachs ; once as many as fifty together
were found, all scarcely bigger than large "Worms ; and an instance was brought to his knowledge of a
Cobra some two feet and a half long having been found dead, but uninjured, in one of the^e birds'
stomachs. Mr. Thompson, a frequent contributor to Mr. Hume's " Rough Notes," tells of one which
he had alive, and which was kept along with two little Indian Owls (Carine hrama), a Carrion Crow,
and three large green Woodpeckers, and who killed and ate up every one of the latter, though well
supplied with other fresh meat.

THE BATELEUR EAGLE {HeMarsus% ecaudatxis\\) .
This is a very remarkable bird, which might also with propriety be called the Short-tailed Eagle,
as it is the only species known in which the wings exceed the tail in length. It is found in Africa
only, where it is by no means rare in the southern and noi'th-eastern quarters of the continent.

* " Birds of Ceylon," p. 49. f «'>««, a Harrier ; ieru,, an Eagle.

§ ;au) (oipeuj), to lift; Topo-ds, a tarsus. || Ecaudatus, Latin, meaning "mthout tail,"

TJiE inii lE-rAii.Kii i:.ioLE. ^t>.3

In Damai-a Laud, according to Mr. Audei-ssoii, it Ijuilds its iicist ou trees, selecting generally one of
such a tei-ribly thorny nature that the nest is always difficult of access. Occasionally, liowever, a
rock is selected for the breeding-iilace. Wlieu in captivity, this bird changes the colour of the face,
exactly as the Brazilian Caracara already alluded to ; the bare skin round the nostrils and eyes, which
is generally brilliant coral-red, fading to pale orange-yellow.

4 A

lUTI-LElK t\GlE

The Bateleur Eagle is abont two feet in length, and has an enormous crest of plumes. The colour
is black, with a large maroon-coloured patch on the shoulders and on the back, the tail being also of
this colour. Sometimes individuals -with pale, cream-coloured backs are found ; but at present it is
not known whether these are a different species, or whether they constitute only a pale variety of the
ordinary Bateleur.

THE AVHITE-TAILED EAGLE [HalimtHS alhlcill,, *).

Sea Eagles are absent from South America, but probably from no other countiy of the globe. Both
Europe and North America are inhabited by large and powerful species ; and throughout Africa and
^Madagascar the hand.somely-marked species //. vocifer occurs. One of the most widespread is the
White-bellied Sea Eagle ; it is found round the coasts of Australia and all the Molucca Islands, ranging
as far as India and Ceylon, and as high as Cochin China.

The White-tailed Eagle, which, from its being an irJiabitant of the British Islands, is the species
most familiarly known of all the Sea Eagles, is still met with in some of the northern parts of
* aAiocTO!, a Sea Eagle.

•2SG NATUliAL HISTORY.

Scotland, and in the Hebrides ; but as it is a bird which creates a good deal of havoc among lambs
at certain periods of the year, the war of extermination which has been waged against it has now
contributed considerably to the increasing rarity of the species on these coasts. The breeding of this
Sea Eagle has been well described by Mr. Woolley.* He says: — "On the coasts, the Sea Eagle
chooses a roomy and generally sheltered ledge of rock. The egg which Mr. Hewitson figures (Eggs, Br. B. ,
eJ. 3, pi. iv., fig. 2) is one of two which I took on the 2.3rd April, 1849, on one of the most northern
points of our island. The nest was very slightly made of a little grass and fresh heather loosely put
together, without any sticks; but two or tlu-ee 'kek' stalks were strewn about outside. There was a
good thickness of guano-like soiLupon the rock, which made much uest unnecessary. Two or three
Guillemot's beaks, the only unmanageable part of that bird, were not far off. The eggs were laid two
days before when I went to reconnoitre ; and I never shall forget the forbearance which a friend
who was with me showed, at my request, as he lay, gun in hand, with the hen Eagle in full view upon
her nest not forty yards below him. Her head was towards the cliff, and concealed from our sight ;
whilst her broad back and white tail, as she stood bending over her nest on the gi-assy ledge, with the
beautiful sandstone rock and sea beyond, completed a picture rarely to be forgotten. But our ears,
and the air we breathe, give a finisli to Nature's pictures which no art can imitate ; and here were the
effects of the sea, and the heather, and the rocks, the fresh warmth of the northern sun, and the
excitement of exercise, while the musical yelping of the male Eagle came from some stand out of
sight. Add to all this the innate feeling of delight connected with the pursuit of wild animals, which
no philosopher has yet been able to explain further than as a special gift of oiu- Great Maker, and then
say whether it is not almost blasphemy to call such a scene a ' picture ! ' Upon this occasion, T made
some remark to my friend, when the hen Eagle showed her clear eye and big, yellow beak, her head
full of the expression of wild nature and freedom. She gave us a steady glance, then sprang from the
rock, and with ' slow winnowing wing ' — the flight-feathers turning upwards at every stroke — was
soon out at sea. Joined by her mate, she began to sail with him in circles farther and farther away,
till quite out of sight, yeljjing as long as we could hear them. Gulls mobbing them all the time.
To enjoy the beauties of a wild coast to perfection, let me recommend any man to seat himself in
an Eagle's nest. The year before this I took the young ones out of the same eyry late in July.
It was my first attempt at an Eagle's stronghold, and I shall never forget the interest of the whole
aflair; a thunderstorm coming on just before, making it nece.ssary to cut drains in the peat with
our knives, to divert the torrents of water ; our councils about the best mode of attaching the ropes ;
the impertinence of a young lad who, stationed to watch for my signals, was rendered quite useless by
his keen sense of the ridiculous on seeing me, in my inexperience, twisting round and round at the end
of the rope ; the extraordinary grandeur everything assumed, from the nest itself ; the luxurious feeling
of exultation ; the interest of every plant about it — I know them all now ; the heaps of young Hen-ing-
GulLs' remains, and the large fish-bone ; but, above all, the Eaglets fully able to fly, and yet crouching
side by side, with their necks stretched out and chins on the ground, like young Fawns, their frightened
eyes showing that they had no intention of showing fight.

" Very gently, as a man ' tickles ' trout, I passed my hand under them, and tied their legs
together, and tlien tried to confine their wuags. They actually allowed me to fasten a handkerchief
round them, which, however, was soon shaken off when they began to be pulled up. When the men
had raised me, the string attached to my waist lifted one Eaglet, and presently the second came to the
length of his tether. Great was the flapping of wings, and clutching at rocks and grass. I had many
fears that the string or the birds' legs must give way ; but, after much hard pulling, I got them safely
to the top, and they are now (18.53) alive at Matlock amongst rocks, where I hope they may breed ;
but, though five years old this season, they have not yet quite completed the adult plumage. Their
dutiful parents never came near them in their difliculties ; but I am happy to say that in 1850 (the
year after I took their eggs), they carried off their young, through the interest I was able to exert in
their favour. They had shifted then- position; and they changed again in 1851 to a rock with an
aspect quite different, and more than a mile away. In 1847, to please the shepherds, the young were
shot in the nest, which was built in the spot where I visited it the two following years. There was
no sea-weed about this nest either time that I saw it ; but a friend writes me word, that two which

* " Ootlieca Woolley.'ina," p. 47.

THE ^U'ALlJin-TAILEl) KITE.

nr of tlH
iich was

led last year on the sea-clitis of this island, aud wlucli he carefully described to me, were
■ made of that material, as Mr. Hewitson also had found them in the Shetland Islands. On
sp two occasions, the old Eagle made a dash near uiy informant, with a ' fearful scream,' and
he tremendous character of the rocks, that his ' hair gets strong ' when he thinks of them.

These two nests, both occupied, were not more than a mile and a half apart."

WHITE-TAILED EAOLE.

THE SWALLOW-TAILED KITE [Elnnoides farcatiis).
The forked tail which is characteristic of the Kites reaches in the present species its greatest
development, so that the name of Swallow-tailed Kite is by no means inappropriate. On five occasions
the bird has been captured in England, and it is doubtless during its migration that the bird is
driven to Britain by some adverse wind. Its range is extensive, as it is numerous during the
sammer in some of the southern States of North America, and it migrates to South America, whence
it frequently appears in collections from Brazil and Columbia. Mr. Audubon gives the following
account of the Swallow-tailed Kite : — " The flight of this elegant species of Hawk is singularly
beautiful and protracted. It moves through the air with, such ease and grace, that it is impossible for
36

2SS NATURAL HISTORY.

any iiidividMal, who takes tlie least pleasure in observing the manners of l)ir(ls, not to be (lelighted
by the sight of it whiLst on the wing. Gliding along in easy flappings, it rises in wide circles to
an immense height, inclining in various ways its deeplj'-forked tail, to assist the dii-ection of its
course ; dives with the rapidity of lightning, and, suddenly checking itself, re-ascends, soars away, and
is soon out of sight. At other times, a flock of these birds, amounting to fifteen or twenty individuals,
is seen hovering around the trees. They dive in rapid succession amongst the branches, glancing
along the trunks, and seizing in theii- course the insects and small lizards of which they are in quest.
Their motions are astonishingly rai>id, and the deep cui-ves which they describe, their sudden doublings
and crossings, and the extreme ease with which they seem to cleave the air, excite the admiration of
him who views them while thus employed in searching for food.

" In the States of Louisiana and Mississippi, where these bii'ds are aljundant, they arrive in
large companies in the beginning of April, and are heard uttering a sharp plaintive note. At thi.s
period I generally remarked that they came from the westward, and have counted upwards of a
hundred in the space of an hour, passing over me in a direct easterly course. At that season, and in
the beginning of September when they all retire from the United States, they are easily approached
when they have alighted, being then apparently fatigued, and busily engaged in preparing themselves
for continuing their journey, by dressing and oiling their feathers. At all other times, however, it is
extremely difficult to get near thom, as they are generally on wing through the day, and at night
rest on the highest pines and cypresses, bordering the rivei'-bluffs, the lakes, or the swamps of that
district of country.

" They always feed on the wing. In calm and warm weather they soar to an immense height,
pui-suing the large insects called Musquito Hawks, and performing the most singular evolutions that
can be conceived, using theii- tail with an elegance of motion peculiar to themselves. Their principal
food, however, is large Grasshoppers, Grass Caterpillars, small Snakes, Lizards, and Frogs. They
sweep close over the fields, sometimes seeming to alight for a moment to secure a Snake, and holding
it fast by the neck, cany it ofl', and devour it in the air. When searching for Grasshoppers and
Caterpillars, it is not difficult to approach them under cover of a fence or tree. When one is then
killed, and falls to the ground, the whole flock comes over the dead bird, as if iiitent upon carrying
it oflT. An excellent opportunity is thus affiarded of shooting as many as may be wanted ; and I
have killed several of these Hawks in this manner, firing as fast as I could load my gun.

" The Fork-tailed Hawks are also very fond of frequenting the creeks, which, in that country,
are much encumbered with di-ifted logs and accumulations of sand, in order to pick up some of
the numerous Water-snakes which lie basking m the sun. At other times they dash along the trunks
of trees, and snap ofi" the pupa; of the Locust, or that insect itself. Although when on the wing they
move with a grace and ease which it is impossible to describe, yet on the ground they are scarcely
able to walk.

" I kept for several days one which had been slightly wounded in the wing. It refused to eat,
kept the feathers of the head and rump constantly erect, and vomited several times part of the.
contents of its stomach. It never threw itself on its back, nor attempted to strike with its talons,
unless when taken up by the tip of the wing. It died from inanition, as it constantly refused the
food placed before it in profusion, and instantly vomited what had been placed down its throat."

THE COMMON KITE {Milvm ictinus*).

Times have changed in England since the number of Kites to be seen flying about London Bridge

could form a subject of astonishment to a foreign traveller visiting that comitry ; but less than three

hundred years ago this was the case, though now the species has been all but banished from the land.

It may still occasionally nest in some parts of Wales and of Scotland ; but in the latter country places

where formerly the sjDecies bred plentifully now know it no more. The Kite buUds its nest of sticks

on a large tree, but occasionally also on rocks, and it is generally composed of a mixture of materials,

such as bones, ifec, and the lining usually contains a good many rags; so that Shakspere, with the

knowledge of natural history which always distinguished him, was quite right when he said —

" When the Kite builds, look to lesser linen."

* iKTr.os, a Kite.

THE EURO]'Ea.\ IKiyEV-KlTE.

2»a

Tlic ])resencp of the Kite in Loiifloii was useful in the old il:iy.s, as its food consists by preference
iif ott'al, though it also devours Moles, Frogs, and uufledge<l nestlings, Rabbits, Snakes, and tish.
The forketl tail of this species^which serves as a rudder to the bird when flying, as it often does,
in circles aloft — easily disting^iishes it from all other British birds of prey. The length of the
bird is about two feet, and the general colour of the upper plumage is rufous, most of the feathers
being edged with that colour. Below, it is rufous-brown, with a narrow streak of blackish down the
feathers ; the quills are black ; the
tail rufous-brown, deejily forked,
and crossed with seven or eight bars
of black. The species is found all
over Europe, but l>ecomes gradually
rarer in the eastern parts.

THE EUROPEAN HOXEY-KITE
{Pcr,.h npirorus).

This l)ird is generally known as
the Honey-Buzzard, though from
the reticulations on the hinder
aspect of the tarsus it has evidently
nothing to do with those bii'ds, even
if its soft and kite-like plumage did
not show its aflBnities to the Kites.
!^ts nostril is also peculiar, and is
closed in by a membrane, which
doubtless forms a protection from
the stings of insects when the bird
is attacking a Bee's or Wasp's nest.
Its habits have been well described
V)y Brehui.* This bird is, perhaps,
the most timid of all European
birds of prey, but is remarkable for
its good temper. Its movements
are in the highest degree clumsy ;
its flight is bad, heavy, and slow,
and is generally a short one, and
the bird shows a great disinclination
to rise to any considerable height in the air; in short, its whole bearing evinces the mast lazy
disposition. It will sit for hours on a stone boundary wall, on a solitary tree oi sign-post, or on some
other elevated spot, quite contented, watching its prey, v/hich consists of the following : — Insects of all
de.scriptions, Beetles, Caterpillars, Dragon-flies, Gadflies, Worms, Frogs, Snakes, Lizards, and destructive
Rodents, which form its principal food ; besides which it is very fond of hunting for the nests of the
Humble-bee and Wasp, and of feeding on their larvse. Tliis bird also, luifortunately, destroys the
young, and especially the eggs, of such of the smaller bii-ds as it comes across while hunting for
insects ; this causes it to be looked upon as a disagi-eeable and hateful enemy by all birds. Crows
and Books mob the Honey-Buzzai-d with almost the same eagerness as they chase the Eagle-Owl,
and all svnall birds make a gi'eat noise at its appearance. In the summer it also feeds on buds,
blossoms, bilberries, other wood-berries, and even leaves. Tliis habit distinguishes it from all other
German birds of prey.

"The Honey -Buzzai-d reaches us somewhat late in the year, and commences to Iniild its

ne.st when the other Raptore have -hatched their broods. The nest is very flat, and is placed on

the highest of our forest trees ; it is principally constructed of green twigs, mixed with dead

sticks, and is lined with moss, hair, and feathers. It genei'ally contains three eggs, of a rusty

* " Bird-Ufe," p. 543.

JIL.

2yu yA'rvRAL iiistury.

yellow ground, very thickly Vjlotclied and spotted with dark reddish-brown. They are somewhat
small and rather long in shape. Of these rarely more tlian two are hatched. The young ones are
at first fed with Caterpillars, Flies, Beetles, Worms, <fec., which the old birds collect in their crops,
and then tlirow up ; later they ai-e treated to pieces of Wasps' nests filled with larvae, Frogs, Mice,
young birds, &c. The parent birds still continue to feed then- young long after the latter have left the
nest. Both young and old birds remam in company almost till the moulting season comes round, when
they migrate more to the southward."

The Honey- Kite inhabits, during the summer, the gi-eater part of Europe, and flies away to Africa
to pass the winter. In India it is represented by a species which goes through similar changes of
plumage, but may always be recognised by its long ci-est. The phases through which the Honey-Kite
passes are most remarkable, the bird being sometimes neai-ly all white, at other times all black ; and
this plumage seems to occur at any age, sometimes in youth, sometimes in old age ; and hence this is
called a melanism (//f'Aas, black). Many birds of prey are subject to this melanism, but none
more so tlian the Honey-Buzzards, and their representatives in America, the Tooth-billed Kites
{Leptodou).

ANDER.SSOK'S TEKN {Maduerhmnphus * Anderssoni).

This remarkable bird bears tjie name of one of the most intrepid, as well as one of the most
unassuming, of African travellers, the late Charles John Andersson, who discovered it during liis
residence in Damara Land in South-western Africa. So rare is it, and so difficult to obtain, that he
only managed to procure two sjaecimens in the space of ten years, though con.stautly on the look-out
for the bird. He writes concerning it: — "On the 10th of March, 1865, I obtained one specimen, a
female, of this singular bird at Objimbinque, Damara Land. It was shot by my servant, who
observed another, probably the male. I imagine that I have myself observed it once or twice in the
neighbourhood of Objimbinque just before dusk. When brought to me I instinctively suspected the
bird to be a feeder at dusk or at night, and called out, ' Why, that fellow is likely to feed on Bats ! '
And truly enough so it turned out ; for on dissection an undigested Bat was found in the stomach ;
and in another specimen, sub.seqnently killed by Axel, there were several Bats in the stomach. "+ It is
probably owuig to this habit of feeding in the evening that the bird is so difficult to procure, as is the
case with many of the Goat-suckers, which are also night-feeding birds. Since Mr. Andersson's death,
two or three specimens of his Pern have been sent from Madagascai-, but in the intervening portions
of the African continent it is as yet unknown.

The colouring of this .species is plain, being of a chocolate-brown colour, with a long crest springing
from the back of the head ; above the eye is a white spot, and another below the eye ; the throat and chest
are white, with a streak of dark brown down the centre of the throat ; the quills and tail are banded
the bars showing paler below. The length of the bird is about seventeen inches.

Only one other species of the genus Machierhamphus is known, and tliis is Westermann's Pern
{M. akinus), which is an inhabitant of Malacca, where it is almost as rare as Andersson's Pern is in
Africa. It has lately been sent from South-eastern New Guinea, and may ultimately be found to
inhabit some of the Moluccas.

THE FIFTH SUB-FAMILY.— THE FALCONS {Falcmiino!).
In all the true Falcons and in the allied genera the bill, which was simply festooned in the Eagles,
Kites, and Buzzards, becomes very distinctly toothed, and in some genera even two teeth are present.
In these birds, too, the cere is strongly shown, and is generally of a blight yellow colour.

THE CUCKOO-FALCOXS (Baza).

These birds have the soft plumage of a Honey-Kite, and jet possess the toothed bill of a Falcon, so

that they are placed among the Falconinse ; but, because of theii- Kite-like plumage, they follow close

to the Perns and Honey-Kites. They not only possess the usual tooth of the Falcon's bill, but a

second is actually present, so that there is no difficulty in recognising a member of the genus Baza.

* (i.lxo'pt-. ii sharp knife ; ^in<i>iK, a bill.

+ Anilfr.s.son's " Birds of Damara Land." Edited by J. H. Gurney, 1872, p. 22.

rUE I'EREUia.XE FALCOX. 291

Tlie American Cuckoo-Falcons {IJcirpar/iin) are the only other birds of prey wliich have a douUe-
toothed bill.

The name of " Cuckoo "-Falcon has been rriven to these birds on account of tlieir actual resemblance
to a Cuckoo, iu the grey colour of the back with llic nddish bars on the under surface. They have also
a very lai_L;e yellow eye. The distribution of di.' i^vnns /,',/;<( is singular, and it is one of those forms
which does nut occur in Europe, but e.vliil'its the allinity which is often .seen between certain African
and Indian birds. About nine different kiiuLs are known, each hiving its own limited range. Thus
Swainson's Cuckoo-Falcon {B. cncidoides *) is found in the forest country from Seuegambia to Gaboon
in West Africa, and is replaced by Baza Verreanxi in the forests of Natal. In Madagascar a third
species {B. madagascariensis) occurs, and on crossing the Indian Ocean a fourth kind {B. cei/lmiensis) is
found inhabiting Ceylon. Malacca and the Sunda Islands have their o\vii Baza sumatreiisis, the
Fhili])liiues B. iiKii/uirodrin, the island of Celebes B. erythrothorax, the Moluccas and New G-uinea B.
A'iliiir,iri/ti. and Xuithern Australia, B. subcristata. None of these birds appear to be migratory, and
their geographical distribution is interesting when traced out on a map of the woi'ld.

From their shy and retiring habits, but little lias been recorded of their life. Verreaux's Cuckoo-
Falcon is said to frequent the dense bush in Natal, and Captain Harford shot one in that country
while engaged upon an ant-hill, and their food appears to consist of Grasshoppers and Mantidw, while
another observer took from the stomach of one of tllfese birds remains of a green Mantis, of Locusts, and
of a Chameleon. This species is one of the largest of the Cuckoo- Falcons, measuring seventeen inches
in length, and the colour is dark ashy-grey ; deeper ash-colour on the head and crest ; the sides of
the face, throat, and chest, are clear ashy ; the breast white, banded across with pale rufous brown ; the
under tail-coverts being pure white ; both the wings and tail are bari'ed wtli dark brown. The sexes
of these biixls differ very little in size.

THE FALCONETS [Microhia-axf).

This name is applied to a genus of tiny Falcons, which are peculiar to the Indian region. One of
them, the Indian Falconet {Microhierax cKi-ukscens), is found in the Himalayas and the Burmese
countries. A second one is peculiar to Assam, a third to the Philippine Islands, and a fourth to the
interior of China, while the fifth and remaining species is found in the Malayan Peninsula and the
Sunda Islands.

Not one of these little Hawks is seven inches in length, and even to this day there are many
authors who think that they are Butcher-birds or Shrikes, and not Hawks at all. They are, however,
trae Falcons, though of very small size, and ai-e said to be used by native chiefs for hawking insects and
Button-quails, being thrown from the hand like a ball ; but this stoiy has been discredited of late, the
Besra, a small Sparrow-Hawk, being probably the bird alluded to. The Falconets are known to sit
solitary on high trees, and according to native accounts they feed on small birds and insects.

THE rEIlEGRINE F.VLC'ON" (f«A« pn-ff,r'ni'i.-<X).

This noble bird justifies his name of jjeregrimts, by his distribution over the earth's surface.
Tbe ordinary Peregrine, which is still found in suitable places breeding on British coasts, is
met with all over Europe and Northern Asia, ranging into South Africa and India in winter,
extending throughout China to the Sunda Islands, and the Philippine Arcliiijelago. In North
America he is also widely distributed, and is as plentiful as in Europe. In the southern hemisphere the
Peregx-ines, though strictly of the same type as the European bird, are always darker in colour, and
have blacker flices and heads. The Australian Peregi-ine is called Falco melanogenys,% and extends
its range from the Australian continent to New Caledonia and the New Hebrides, and as far north as
Java. In South Africa the resident Peregrine is a very small, dark-coloured bird, and is called Fako
minor. This species is also met with in North-eastern Africa, and even ranges into the Mediterranean,
as it has been shot in Ehodes, Sai-dinia, and Morocco. Again, in Chili, another dark-faced form occurs,
the Falco mgriceps,\\ not unlike its Australian relative.

To write a history of the Peregrine Falcon would be almost to write a history of falconry, and

» Lit., like a Cuckoo. + M'tpo?. small, tiny ; le'pof, a Hawk. I A wamlorer.

^^ fxi^a?, black ; vtrus. a cheek. |[ JVig}'ircji^, black lieaile'l

^ATVIiAL m.-iTOUY.

althoni;h it would Iw beyond the limits of the present work to enter deeply into the subject, a
few words must be said about it here. The art of falconry probably came from the East, where
it is still practised, and an ancient bas-relief was found by Sir Austen Layard, among the ruins
of Khorsabad, depicting a falconer with a Hawk on his wrist, thus proving the antiquity of
t.)o pursuit In Gieit Biitaui it was foiraeily much in vogue, and in Salvin and Brodrick's
N'Oik on idconiy ni the Biitish Islands there \m11 be found an interesting resume of the
T-t, IS performed in Gieat Biitain, fioui uicient times down to the present. It is lamentable to

think of the way in which these noble

— =^^^^ - — - birds, once the pride and favourite of

-^^^^ monarchs, are now shot down and classed

as vermin. The strict way of preserving
game which has been common of late years,
iLud the general use of firearms, have, no
iloubt, been the chief causes of the destruc-
tion of the larger Falcons, and it will take
Millie time to disabuse the vulgar prejudices
(if ganiekeepei-s, and of some propiiotois,
as to the mistake that is made in killing
off every kind of raptorial bird indis-
criminately. A protest which was penned
by Mr. Gr. E. Freeman, in his " Falconry,"
is worthy of reproduction here : — " All
Hawks, when they have a choice, invari-
ably choose the easiest flight. This fact
is of the last importance in the matter
before us. I confess that I at once give ft
the chief place in this argument. Who
has not heard of the Grouse disease? It
has been attributed, sometimes respec-
tively, and sometimes collectively, to
burnt heather; to heather poisoned from
the dressings put on Sheep ; to the Sheep
themselves cropping the tender shoots and
leaves of the plant, and thus desti-oying
iTi iciixF liL.LV the Grouse's food; to the tape-worm; to

.shot which has wounded but not killed ;
and perhaps to other things besides. It may be, 1 doubt not, correctly referred to any or to all of
these. Of this, however, there appeare no question that from whatever cause it springs it is
propayated. A diseasetl parent produces a diseased child. Now, I say that when every Hawk is
kOled upon a lai:ge manor, the balance of Nature is forgotten, or ignored; and that Nature will
not overlook an insult. .She would have kept her wilds healthy ; destroy her appointed instru-
ments, and bewai'e of her revenge ! "

The Peregiiue Falcon has always been celebrated with falconers for its superior dash and courage.
The female is much the larger and more powerful bird, and is called the " Falcon," the male being
known as the "Tiercel" The young biia:ls reared from the nest are called "Eyes," and the immature
specimens, from their more rufous colour, are distinguished as the "Red Falcon" and the "Red
Tiercel." When a bird has been caught wild in the full plumage it is called "Haggard." The
principal flight of the " Falcon " wa.s at the Heron, and many anecdotes are told of the encounters
between these two antagonists in mid-air. The evidence of Falconers, however, goes to show that the
impalement of the Hawk by the Heron's bill is a rare occurrence, and it is only when the birds come
to the ground that the presence of the man is required to rescue the Falcons from their dangerous foe.
The Heron, on being pursued, endeavours to avoid his pursuer by mounting high into the air, the
Falcon meanwhile doing his best to rise above him and strike the quarry to the gi-ound. Generally,

TBH l'£SEORJ.\L' FALCON.

two Falcons were employed in the clmse, and while the Heron avoided the stoop of one by changing

his position suddenly, the other was ready to stoop ft-ora above, until, by a successful swoop, the Heron.

would be mastered and borne to the gi-ound with the two Falcons in close embrace. Then was the

time for the good falconer to be at hand to save his Hawks from the

Heron. In a wild state the Peregrine feeds on Grouse of all kinds.

Pheasants, Partridges, Ducks, Pigeons, Plovers, &c., but it does not so

often visit the poultry-yard as the other Hawks, preferring the open

country or the .sea-coast. In this latter locality, the Falcon feeds on

the various sea-birds, such as the Puffins, Auks, Guillemots, aud as it

riies back to its nest with food for its young, it will sometimes in very

wantonness rip up a Gull or other sea-bird if it happens to get in the

way as it ruslies by. The nest is generally large, and composed of

sticks and herbaceous plants, excepting in localities were none of the

latter exist, when it is made of grass. The site chosen is .some sea-cliff

or high precipice inland, where there is sure to be some difficulty iu

i-eaching the nest, which is generally hamed by means of a rope. They

build in the same localities for years together, and Professor Newton

gives an interesting record of such an occurrence,* when he mention

a hill in Lapland, where a pair of Falcons had a nest when it was visii

by the French a.stronomical expedition in 1736, a nest being re-di.scovrri

in the same place in 1799 by Captain Skjoldebrand, and again by il

late Mr. WooUey, in 1853. Near the site of its nest the Peregm

brooks no intrudei-, and will even attack an Eagle, an instance ha\iug

been recorded of one of the latter birds being stunned and brought

tn the ground by a Peregrine, who broke its own wing in the attempt,
nd was liberated by the shepherds to mend its wing as best it could,
I L gratitude for having delivered- their aquiline enemy into their hands.
In Holland, where until recent years hawking was hirgely carried

on under the auspices of the king, there is a well-known place, called

Valkenswaai-d, where a good many Hawks are trapped every autumn

during migration, and it is from the. neighbourhood of this village that many of the mo.st

celebrated falconers have come. At the same time England has also produced many celebrated
adepts at the art, which is generally carried on from father to son ;
and one of the Barr family, with a high reputation as a falconer, a
few years ago exhibited his ti-ained birds in the neighbourhood of
London. The writer has also seen some fine sport in Huntingdonshire,
with Lord Lilford's Hawks, in a large extent of open country near
Great Gidding.

The male Peregiine is of a bluish-grey colour, narrowly barred with

black, the wings darker ; the cheeks, ear-coverts, and moustache, black,

the entire sides of the head being sometimes of this dark aspect;

underneath, the body is white, with more or less of a reddish tinge, and

crossed with black bars ; tail gi-ey, broadly ban-ed with black and tipped

with white. The length is about fifteen inches, that of the female

about seventeen ; and the wing is fourteen inches and a half in length

instead of about twelve, as in the male. In plumage the hen bird is

very simihir, but is generally of a richer rufou.s hue below.

Besides the Peregrine Falcons there are a host of smaller species of the genus Fako, varying

.nuch from the above birds in size and style of colour, but of exactly the same foi-m, and having

much the .same habits. The Hobby {Falco mbbuieo) aud the Merlin {F. cesalon) represent

these .smaller Falcons in the British Islands.

HOODED r.iLCO

"Oothec.a Wuolleyana," p. OS.

A\-iTn!AL UISTOliY.

THE OKEEXLAXD JER-FALCOlSf {Hierofateo camiicws).*
Besides the Peregrine, there were used in falconry, in Enghxnd, the Noble, or Jer-Falcons, liiuls
which were much prized, although thej' did not possess the same fire and dash in pursuit «f tlieir
quarry exhibited by the former l)ird. There are five distinct kinds of these northern Jer-Falcons,
without mentioning the Saker Falcon of South-eastern Europe, which also belongs to the genus
Uierofalco. The best known is the Greenland Jer-Falcon, which, as its name implies, is an inhabitunt
of Greenland and North America, young birds only occuri-ing in the British Islands during migration.
This species is nearly pure white in colour when fully adult, the back and wings retaining small spots
of black, the entire head and breast, and especially the tail, becoming pure white as the bird gets older
and loses the spots and bars which characterise its immature dress. An unfailing mark by which ;i
Greenland Jer Falcon can be told at any age is the light yellowish bill and cere, and the absence of
arrow-shaped bars on, the flanks, which in young bh-ds are longitudinally streaked with brown, but are
never barred. All the other Jer-Falcons have distinct bars across the flanks, as well as bluish bills
and regularly barred tails. They ave four in number, che Norway Jer-Falcon {H. gyrfalco), the
Iceland Jer-Falcon {H. islandkus), Holbiill's Jer-Falcon {H. holbolli), and the Labrador Jer-Falcon
(//. lahradoi-us). They are nearly all peculiar to the countries whose names they bear, the Norway bird
not occurring anywhere out of Europe and Northern Asia, one specimen having been known to occur
in Enghmd ; it seems also to emigrate to Central Asia, as a single bird was procured during the last
Yarkand Mission. All the Jer-Falcons have shorter toes than the Peregi-ines, in which the outer toe
is very long, while in the other birds the outer and inner toes are about equal in length.

When in a wild state the Greenland Falcon feeds upon Ptarmigan, Geese, and on the sea-birds
which frequent the cliffs where it takes up its abode. It evinces gi-eat courage in defending its
ne.st.

THE KESTRELS {CcrclmeU).
These form a group of short-toed Hawks, like the foregoing, but are much more numerous in
species, and aie found distributed all over the world, with the exception of some of the Oceanic
Islands. More than twenty different kinds of Kestrel are recognised by naturalists, and they are
more insect-feeding birds than the bolder and nobler Falcons which have just been spoken of. The
commonest and best known of all is

THE COMMON KESTREL, OR AVIND-HOVER {Cerclnwis f i, i „ia,c„ />,.•<). f
This species gains its name of Wind-hover from a very pretty and graceful action with which it
hangs suspended in the air, as if by a thread, keeping itself balanced by a constant winnowing
of the air by its wings, and from this position it scans the ground below for a stray Mouse which
may venture out of its hole, for mice and small birds constitute its principal food. It is frequently
to be seen in the autumn hovering about a field of sheaved corn in the twilight, selecting a
position about forty feet in the air, and occasionally stooping down on some pi'ey in the
stubb'e below. Should it not succeed in its pounce, it flies a little way in a few easy circles,
and again commences to hover over a new part of the field. Insects also form a sta]>le
article of food to the Kestrel, who devours them while in full flight, passing its leg up to its
bill, and the author has met with an instance of a Kestrel hawking for insects over a stream in
the late evening. This Hawk is, unfortunately, often confounded through the ignorance of game-
keepers with the Sparrow-Hawk, and suffers consequently for the misdeeds of the latter, a fact much to
be regretted, for it is a very useful bird, owuig to the number of mice it destroys ; indeed, a
writer in Macgillivray's "British Birds" computes that a single Kestn-1 would ilcstroy iqiwanls often
thousand mice during its stay in Britain. It will also catch bii-.ls. I.iit in limitnl liuiuhiTs. and
then generally only during the breeding season, when its young require C'lii.stant foml. Altli(iuL:h of a
less ferocious nature and aspect than the Falcons, the Kestrel, nevertheless, often shows forth his
iccipitrine temperament in a way that would scarcely be expected from his mild-looking dark eye.

* iepd^, sacred ; fulcu, a Falcon ; candlcuiis, while. t «i.pxi'.).?, or «fpxi'>J> '*''■! ^ Kestrel ; tinnuwulm Lat., a, Hawk.

■MM ox KESTREL.

'k)-^^

A-lii>:li h;is nothing of the ferocity of tlio yellow irisof theSparrow-H.iwk. Some young Uinlw lieloiiLiing
. the writer, cousistijig of tliree females and a male, being left without fooil for a few hours l>y the
son in whose charge they were placed, forgot their fraternal affection, anil the larger lien birds set
..[.on the male, who was not so large or strong as they were, and devoured him comi>letely. When
shooting in a sandy island near Heligoland also, the writer woimded a Dunlin, which floated on the
water a considerable distance out at sea, and whilst waiting for the waves to bring the bird in to land
a Kestrel hove in sight sav\ made a _

swoop at the Dunlin, which the latter
•ivoided by a rapid dive. Twenty-tlu'ee
times the Hawk repeated the manwuvre
without success, until the poor little
wader became exhausted, and was borne
in the talons of his relentless foe to-
wards the rock of Heligoland, about a
mile ofl'. This action had been wit-
nessed also by Messrs Seebohm and
Nicholson, from other parts of the same
sandy island, and the latter kept pace
with the Kestrel as it skirted the beach,
in the hopes that it might cross the
island; when a shot would perhaps
have caused the bii-d to drop his ex-
liausted quarry. The Hawk, however,
kept well out at sea, and regained his
rocky home, though he was sevei-al
times seen to pause in his flight and
take a tighter grasp of his victim.

The nest of the Kestrel is often
placed in towers and old buildings, and
the bird is sometimes to be seen round

the Nelson monument in Trafalgar Square, but a tree is more frequently the site selected, when
an old Crow's or Raven's nest is often chosen. The hen bird, as is the case with most Hawks,
sits very close, and will often require a stick or stone to be thrown close to the nest before it
will move off, and the sudden drop which it gives is often the means of saving its life, as the chance of
a successful shot is difficult. The eggs are from foiir to six in number, and are rather handsomely
coloured, being blotched with rufous on a white ground, and are not unfrequently entirely rufous.

In most of the Kestrels the sexes differ conspicuously in colour, the females being barred. Tliis
is the case in the comuion species, where the male has a blue head and tail. In the size of the sexes
there is little or no difference, each measuring about twelve inches and a half In winter, when there
are fewer mice and beetles about, the Kestrel shifts his quarters, and becomes to a certain extent
migratory : at this season of the year it visits India and Africa, not extending, however, so far down
the latter contment as some of the European bii-ds go. It is abundant at certti i seasons in north-
eastern Africa and Senegambia, but seldom goes as far as the Cape. The most easterly occurrence
tliat is known of the Common Kestrel is the island of Borneo, tliough it is a common bird in China.
It should be mentioned, however, that the Kestrel is always darker in colour from Japan and Chiua,
so much so that many naturalists consider it to be a distinct species from the British bird.

36^

THE SECOND SITB-ORDEE.— PANDIONES.

CHAPTER VI.

THE OSPEEYS AND OWLS.

The Osprey— Distribution — Food— How it Seizes its Prey— Nesting Communities— STKIGES, or OWLS— Distinctions
between Hawks .and Owls- Owls in Bird-lore and Superstition— Families of the Sub-order— The Fish Owl- Pel's
Fish Owl— The Eagle Owl— Dr. Brehm's Description of its Appearance and Habits— The Snowy Owl— Hawk
Owls— Pigmy Owlets— The Short-eased Owl— The Long-eahed Owl— The Barn Owl— The Farmer's Friend-
Peculiar Char.icters— Distribution.

THE OSPREY, OR FISHIXG EAGLE [PamUon haliattm).
The Osprey is one of the most cosmopolitan of the birds of prey, being found all over the world,
with the exception of the continent of South America and some of the Pacific Islands. Specimens
from Australia and the Moluccas are generally smaller than those from Europe or America ; but as
the size of the species appears to vary in different localities, the Australian form cannot be considered
other than a permanently smaller race. Everywhere the habits of the Osprey seem to be very similar,
Ahe bird never being found away from the vicinity of water, unless it be sometimes during the breedmg

DlSTiycTIVE FE.lTCJiJ:s OF OU'IS. 2'M

season, when it makes its nest at some distance from its feeding haunts. Its food consists entirely of
iish, and it is capable of cari'ying off one of considerable size ; in the capture of its prey it is greatly
jvided by its reversible toes, and by the roughness of tlie sole of the foot, which is covered witli
minute spikes, and these are, of course, of great assistance to the bird m holding such a strong
and slippery prey as a large fish often proves to 6e. Professor Newton writes of one living
in the Zoological Gardens, that "when a fish was given to it, it was obsei-ved to seize it
across the body, placing the inner and outer toes at right angles with the middle and hind
toes, and, digging in the claws, it held the fish most tii-mly by four opjiosite points, not I'elaxiiig
its hold or altering the position of the toes, but picking out the portions of flesh from between them
with great dexterity." Occasionally, the Osprey attacks a fish beyond its strength, and it is then
drawn under the water, and drowned. Mi-. Dresser saw this happen in the Bay of Fundy, when a
Fish Hawk was unable to release itself from a heavy fish, and, after being dragged under the water
time after time, wa"^ \iltimately carried out to sea, and disappeared. Mr. Collett, of Christiania, tells us
that in one of the Norwegian lakes a huge Pike was caught, with the remains of an Osprey's skeleton still
attached to its back. Sometimes, on landing its prey, the bird is unable to extricate its talons, and is
captui-ed alive. The nest of the Osprey is a large structure, and is variously situated, according to the
nature of the locality. It is generally j)laced on a tree ; but in situations where there are no trees
the position chosen is on a large rock or stone, very often on the islands in the middle of the lakes
wliich it frequents. The eggs lu-e generally three 'u\ number, sometimes four, and are very beautiful,
vai-ying from a rich red to a bufly-white colour, with large reddish and brown markings. In Europe
it is found nesting invariably in pairs, but in North Amei-ica large communities are found ; and Dr.
Brewer relates tliat sometimes as many as " three hundred pairs have been observed nesting on one
small island ; and when a new neat is to be constructed, the whole community h.as been kno\\^l to take
part in its completion. They are remarkably tolerant towards smaller birds, and permit the Piuple
Grakle {Qmsadus purpufuxs) to cohsti'uct its nests in the interstices of tlieii- own."

THE THIRD SUB-OEDEE.— STRIGES, THE OWLS.

The principal distinctions between Hawks and Owls {Strirjes) have been already pointed out
(p. 255) ; but there are still some other smaller characters to which a passing allusion must be made.
It would be difficult, for instance, for the merest novice in the study of ornithology to mistake an Owl,
when seen alive in a cage, or even in a case of stuffed birds, its enormous head and short neck being
unlike those of any of the other bii-ds of prey. The neck of some
(^wls is, indeed, so short and contracted, that it is with difficulty
that any intervening curve between the nape and the back, which
would mark a perceptible neck as in most Hawks, can be detected
Again, the Owls have their eyes directed forwards, so tliat they con
front the spectator ; while most of the other birds of prey turn then
head more or less on one side when their attention is diverted, and
do not look one straight in the face as an Owl does. The cere is
almost always hidden by bristles in the Striges, and the latter have a
very distinct facial disc, suiTounded by a curious ruff, somewhat similar
to that of the Harriers {Circus, p. 268), and Hai-rier-Hawks {Micraskir, ""^^i-^ "^ tengmalm s owl.
p. 270). The external ear-opening is a complicated organ in the Owls,

and differs considerably, the orifices often being of different fomi on either side of the head ; and
in one species, Tengmalm's Owl (Nyctala Ungmalmi), the ear-openings are of difierent shape in the
ikull itself.

To those interested in bird-lore, a most entertaining study might be afforded by tracing the
su]3erstitions with which Owls have been regarded in all countries, and in the earliest times. Such
a study was begun by the late Mr. Brodeiip, in his " Zoological Recreations,"* where he cpiotes from
the ancient writers many passages, which show that Owls were as much regarded as bii-ds of ill-omen
hy the inliabitants of Greece and Italy in olden times as they have been in England up to the present

2:3 XArCR.lL JUSTORY.

(lay. Nor is tlio infatuation confined to Europe, as later on ;ire quoted instances of superstitioiu-
dread of the Owls in Morocco and. West Africa; while they are eqnally held in fear in many Eastern
countries.

The Athenians alone seem to have had a regard for these binls, and an Owl is found on the
reverse side of many of their coins, the -bird being sacred to their guardian deity, Athene. The species
figured is i^robably'the Little Owl {Carlne noctua), a bird which is common in Greece. It is difficult
;o guess why the Owl came to be regarded as the embodiment of wisdom, unless it was from its
having been sacred to Minerva, the Goddess of Wisdom, who is sometimes represented as the Owl-,
headed goddess.

"The Owlet's wing," writes Mr. Harting,* "was an ingredient in the cauldron wherein the
witches prepared their ' charm of powerful trouble' (Macbeth, Act iv., sc. 1) ; and with the character
assigned to it by the ancients, Shakspere, no doubt, felt that the introduction of an Owl in a dreadful
scene of a tragedy would help to make the subject come home more forcibly to the people, who had.

li

JlrH^/"'^^

rom early times, associated its presence with melancholy, misfortune, and death. Accordingly, we find
the unfortunate Owl stigmatised as the 'obscure,' 'ominous,' 'fearful,' and 'fatal' 'bird of night.'

Its doleful cry pierces the ear of Lady Macbeth while the murder i.s being done : —

'Hark! Peace'.
It was the Owl that shriek'd, the fatal bellman,
Which gives the stern'st good-night.'

Macbeth, Act ii., Sc. 2.

And when the murderer rushes in immediately afterwards, exclaiming — ' I have done the deed.
Didst thou not hear a noise P She replies — 'I heard the Owl scream.' And later on — 'The
ohs'cure bird clamour'd the live-long night.' " (Macbeth, Act. ii., Sc. 3.)

The awe, no doubt, with which this bii-d is regarded by the superstitious, may be attributed in
some measure to the fact of its flying by night.

" Deep night, dark night, the silent of the night.

The time when Screech-Owls cry and Ban-Dogs howl."

Henrt/ VI. , Part ii.. Act i., Sc. 4.

Ornithology of Shakspere.

THE OII'L FAMILIES. ;- i

A-ud yot, sti'.iige to s;iy, tin.- aiiiH'arauco of iUi Owl by day is hy soiur ciuisidLTcd uijuidly omuikius : —

"The Owl by day,
If he arise, is inofkoil and wondered at.''

Henru VI., Part iii., Aet v., Se. 4.
"For Night-Owls sliriek, wlun.' laouuting Larks should sing."

Iikh„.;llL, Aot iii., Se. 3.

ciioiild an Owl appear at a birtli, it i.s said t(.i I'or.nodp ill-Iuek to the infant. King Henry VL
addressing Gloster. .savs : —

"The Owl shrieked at thy hirth, an evil sii;n."

'Hcnrii VI., Part iii., Act v., .Se. 6.

While upon any other occasicu, its pre.senue was .supposed t.) ;irediot a death, or at least some dii'e
uiishap ; —

"The Screech Owl, screeching loud,
I'uts the wretch that lies in woo
In reinembranec of a shroud."

Muhnmiiicr Night's Dnam, Act v., ISc. 2.

When Richard III. is ii-ritated by the ill-news show(?red thick upon liiui, lie interrupts the third
messenger with

" ( Hit on ye, Owls ! Nothing but songs of death ? "

J:,r/,Hn/ III., Act iv., Sc. 4.

The same authca', from whom the above Shaksperian illustrations are cpioted, alludes further to
the superstition* dread of the Owl, which exists likewise amongst the Dyaks of Borneo, and in Ceylon
a Wood-Owl, belonging to the same geinis Si/niiicm, to which tlie English Wood-Owl belongs, is
known' as the " Devil-bird," and is held in great fear. Colonel Irby, ^vriting of the Barn-Owl,* tells
tlie following .story -from tlie MS. of the late Mr. Pavier, of Tangier: — "The inhabitants of Tangier
consider this bird the clairvoyant friend of the Devil. The Jews believe that their cry causes the
death of young children ; so in order to prevent this, they jjour a vessel of- water out into the
courtyard every time that they hear the cry of one of these Owls passing over their house. The
Arabs believe even more tha.n the Jews, for th^ey think that they can cause all kinds of evil to old as
well as young; but their mode of action is even more .simple than that of their anlagmiists the Jews,
as they rest contented with cursing them whenever they hear their cry. Eii(le;i\(iuriiig to find out
from the ^Mahometans what foundation there is f.ir the evil reputation of this species, I was told this :
'When these birds ciy they are only cursiiii;' in their own language; but their maledirtiou is
harmle.ss unless they know the name of the i]idi\i(hial to whom they wish e\il, cir unless they ha\e the
malignity to point out that person when passing him : as the Devil slei'jis Imt little, when there is evil
work to be done he would ijifallibly execute the comuiund of his favourite if one did not, liy cursing
the Owl by name, thus guard against the power of that enemy, who is sworn to do evil to all living-
beings.' Having learned the belief of the Mahometans relative to this Owd, it was more difficult to
find out exactly that of the Jews, who, when questioned by me, knew not how to answer, except that
the act of poui-ing water in the middle of the courtyard is a custom of long standing, in order to avert
the evil which the Owl is capable of doing ; that is to say, the water is poured out with the view of
atti-acting the evil spirit's attention to an object which distracts him, and so hides from him the infant
which the Owl inits wickedness wishes to sliow liim."

The late Mr. Waterton, in an entertaiuin;; essay on the habits of the Barn-Owl, says : — " Among
ilie numberless verses which might be quoted against the family of the Owl, I think I ouly know of
one little ode which expresses any pity for it : —

' Once I was a Monarch's daughter,
And sat on a lady's knee ;
But am now a nightly rover,
Banish'd to the ivy tree.
♦ " Ornitlu)Iu-y uf the Strait of Gibraltar," i:c., ii. otj.

300 KATURAL HISTORY.

Crying, hoo, hoo, lioo, hoo, hoo, hoo.

Hoo, hoo, hoo, my feet are cold ;
Pity mc, for here you see me,
Persecuted, poor, and old.' " *

The 0\ds are di^aded mto two families, the first of which is called Bubonidce, and the second
Strigidre. In the latter family are represented only two genera, SUix-wiA tleliodihis, which contain
six si)eeie,s, all the remaining Owls, about one hundred and ninety in -number, belonging to the
Bubonklw. The breast-bone in the latter family always shows two or more clefts or indentations, and
there are no " serrations "■ on the middle claw, whereas the Barn-Owls always have the inner edge of
the middle claw serrated, that is, with a small, toothed margin, like the teeth of a saw (serra, Lat., v.
saw ; serratus, jiotched like a saw), and the breast-bone has no clefts in its hinder edge. The
Biihonidce embrace two sub-families, the Bubonina; which have no opercuhim, or fold of skin, closing
in the ear, and the Syrniinc, which have a very large opemduni. It seems natural to commence the
classification of the Nocturnal Accipitres with the Bare-legged or Fishing Owls, as the structure of
this part very uiflch resenilJes that of the Osprey, which was the concluding representative of the
Diurnal Accii»itres. The thigh feathers are thick, and fit close to the leg ; the tarsus and toes are bare ;
the outer toe is reversible ; and the soles of the feet are covered with tiny spicules, which serve to hold
liVni their tinny prey in the same manner as do those of the Osprey.

THE FISH OWL.
The following account of the Indian Fish Ow] (Ketitpa \ ceylonensis) is taken from the work by^
Captain Vmcent Legge, R.A., on the birds of Ceylon :^"This large Owl loves the vicinity of water,
hauutmg the banks of rivers, tanks, inland salt lagoons, the borders of sea-bogs, and woods surround-
ing rice-fields. All who have visited the tanks in the north and east of Ceylon must be familiar with
the fine bu-d, which so often is surprised napping in the lofty trees gi-owing on the embankments, oi
so-called 'bunds.' Its powers of vision in the day are not a_uick, but they are tolerably clear. On
healing the footsteps of man, it raises its large ear-tufts, and bending down its head, stai-es steadily
down from its lofty perch among the green boughs, and as soon as it becomes aware of the nature of
the intruder on its retreat, launches itself out of the tree, and is not easily ajiproached a second time.
It is much more common in wild forest country, combined with water, than in cultivated districts. It
sallies out in the evening with great regularity. As soon as the sun begins to sink behind the sur-
rounding forest, it may be noticed flapping noiselessly round some secluded cheena, or leisurely crossing
tJie lonely tank, resounduig at the hour of sunset with the buzzing of innumerable frogs, to the nearest
conspicuous tree, and there gives out its sepulchral groan. This gloomy salutation is usually resppndei)
to by its mate, who perches close at hand, and answers by a double note, the two loiiesome sounds
resembling the words gloom — oh, gloom. At night I have often heard these notes repe;ited 1)y a paii-
without intermission for many minutes. Layard remarks that, when ahu-med during the day, thf y
utter a loud hiss, subsiding into a growl. They appear to have an accustomed place of roosting, for Mr
Houldsworth notices that they ' perched day after day on the same branch ! ' TliLs is very often in
an exposed situation, and it frequently falls to their lot to be mobbed by a flock of garrulous Bulbuls,
King-Crows, and other Owl-hating small birds. Fish is the favourite food, and, In fact, the usual diet
of this species ; but when this is not procra-able, small mammals, reptiles, and even insects are devoured
by them. In the stomach of one, for example, I found a Snake (Hoplocercus ceylmiennis), and some
large Beetles. As a proof of theii- miscellaneous diet, and also of theii' voracity, I may mention tliMt
a pair of FLsh Owls, which were kept by Sir Charles Layard in the same aviary with a Brahmin Kile,
fell one night upon then- luckless companion, and, after slaughtering him, forthwith proceeded to devour
huu completely. Further, Mr. Hume records, in 'Nests and Eggs,' finding the^remains of Quails,
Doves, and Mynahs in the nest of a jjair on the Jumna. It has also been stated that they feed on
the carcases of the 6a\'ial and Crocodile."

♦ " Essays on Natural History," p. 8. t Julupa, a " l)arl)arous " name, with no meaning.

THE EAGI.K OWL, SOI

PEL'S FISH-OWL {SeotopdM peh)."

Tlu> African Fisli-Ovls are exactly like the Indian as regards their liare h>gs, Init they lia\e
no tufts on their heads. Three different kinds are known, and they are all rare birds, frequenting the
rivers and inland lakes of the African continent. Pel's Fish-Owl was discovered on the fjrol<l Coast by
Mr. Pel, the Dutch commandant at Elmina, nearly forty years ago. Tlie specimen procured by that
gentleman tlew across the river Boutiy, and settled among some shady boughs on the other bank,
when it was knocked down with the blow of a gun. The following account of one of these rare birds,
from the Barra country, Senegambia, is given by Mr. John Henry Gumey, who had the specimen
alive in his possession for a long time : it was presented to him by Colonel O'Connor, C.B., who is the
author of the accompanying "Sketch of Nero, the Ow], a Fetish Bird." The colonel writes t:-
" During seven years' exploration of Western Afi-ica, I only met one of the species of the Owl 'Nero.'
He was bi-ought 'a chicken,' full of pen-feathers, or rather down, of a delicate straw-colour, and very
thick, from a lagoon in the Bari-a countrj^ No native would admit ' Nero ' as a visitor ; and when the
liird was installed in Government House, the servants and head people came in a body to remonstrate,
asserting 'he was a Gumbi Owl, a Fetish ! ! and would destroy and kill whatever object he looked on.'
The chief groom (an old soldier, who had charge of the poultry) insisted that ' eveiy cock and hen
would go dead.' Strangely enough, an epidemic broke out, and carried off from fifty to sixty head of
fowls ; and each day the groom placed the defunct birds on the steps of Government House, to meet
the eye of Mi's. O'Connor, seeming to exult in the mortality amongst the feathered tiibe. ' You see
wid your own eye. Missus, dat debil Jumbi bird, he go kill all de fowls. Governor tink he hab long
head, but he no sabey Owl. Suppose you'put him in de stable, he see Nelly (Mrs. O'Connor's favourite
mare), de hoi-se he go tumble down dead.' Death at last ceased to reign amongst the poultry popula-
tion, and Nero became my principal pet ; he ranged over the piazza, perching on the branch of a tree ;
he was fed regularly by the orderly on roasted fish, but he often came to the dinner-table, and flew
down for sci-aps of nieat, bread and butter, which he took gently from myself or from Mrs. O'Connoi-,
jiermitting us to rub his head, crest, neck, and back, seemingly enjoying the caressing. But he would
snatch meat or bones fi-om tlie Cat or Dog ; and when the Eagle was introduced into his company,
he beat him in a most unmerciful manner away from his peculiar and original position of the piazza,
the Eagle being one of the fiercest and most pugnacious of African birds, brought from the upper part
of the Gambia river near ' Wallie,' and, when in vigour, able to carry away a kid or small Iamb.
Nero luxuriated in a tub of water., frequently washing himself, and pei'ching on the rim until dry.
He was wont to go out to the garden or fields, where instantly an immense commotion arose among
all the bii-ds. The larger ones flew round the Owl, keeping a very civil distance, the smaller birds
flew away ; but Nero treated both alike with sovereign contempt. He would return of his own
accord to the roosting-place in the piazza, and when put out and confined for some days, rejected
all food, and pined until restored to his perch. With me he was as tame as any Canary, and, after
an absence of two months, recognised my voice when I went to liis cage at Oatlands (Devon), appearing
much pleased by my taking him out for a walk on the grass. Many natives from the interior told me
' they had never seen such a bird before ; but they considered him unlucky.^ I I'eally think Nero is
nearly smis any relations, and certainly devoid of all friends in Western Africa."

Pel's Owl measures nearly two feet in length, and has the wing sixteen inches and a half.
Its colour is a deep rufous bay, with black transverse bars ; below it is light bay, with heart-shaped
bars of black ; the iris is dark-bro^vn, whereas in the Indian Fishing Owls it is always yellow.

THE EAGLE OWL (Bubo ioiinvKs)*

This and its relative, the Virginian Eared Owl of America, are the largest of all the family. It

is found all over Europe and Siberia, extending even to China and the Himalayas, but the few

instances of its capture in Great Britam have been probably those of birds escaped from confinement,

as it is by no means an uncommon species in aviaries in England. As it is not, strictly speaking,

* o-Kdr.)?, ilarknes.s ; irtAtm, a Dove, with a covert allusion to the name of the discoverer (Selater). t Ibis. 1**'"'3- I'-.' 17'
X Btiho, a Horned Owl (Vergil) ; iriiuinis, dastardly— an inappropriate title for so fine a bird-

■:;(i2 XATCRAL UlsriiltY.

a British bird, recourse must be had to tlse writings of Continental naturalists for an account of its
habits, and the^following extract is made from Dr. Brelim's " Bird Life " (p. 567) : — " Tlie Eagle Owl
is somewhat fantastic in appearance^usually sitting with its feathers so unich ruffled as to make it
seem much larger than it really is. ' In that large, shapeless mass of feathers,' says Naumann, ' one
can scarcely distinguish the limbs; the half-closed eyes hide their glorious rays ; suddenly it opens them
wide, bends the head and upper part of the body forwards, swaying froui side in side, and raising first
one foot and then the other, begins to tremble, winks slowly with the eyelids, spits like a cat, and
snaps its bill. When angry its eyes flash fire, it bends forward with hanging wings, ruffles its plumage
as much as possible, and snapping and hissing, dashes furiously at the enemy.'

"This bird. seems less courageous than surly and quarrelsome, and yet it is asserted that it will
fight to the death with the Golden Eagle, when attacked by the latter. The Eagle Owl is a powerful
bird, and as there are no bounds to its fury, it is but rarely that anything escapes from its grasp.
Though strictly nocturnal in its habits, it always keeps a good look out for its own safety in the
daytime, and is ever shy and cautious. Keen of sight and hearing, it takes wing while the danger is
still far off. Like other Owls, this bird is fond of pressing itself against the stem of a tree, with
unruffled feathers, so as to closely imitate the stump of a tree, and thus escape detection. Liasmuch
as deep clefts in the rocks, or the thickest of trees, are its u.sual retreats, the Owl is often passed o\-er,
which fact is undoubtedly an advantage, for tlje day lards ni.ib it wliciicvcr tliey see it. Tliey may
jiossibly have made it the savage, siat.-ful bird it is, iiiasima'li as their system ..f eoiistaiit in itation
w.ml.l U- sullieient to try theteuiiier uf the mildest iiali valiial. Thus nothing r.'uiains h.i- tiie Owl
but tn cMel' its di.turi.ers, and hide its.-lf as Im,- ms |H,ssil.le; Imt woe betide it if discovered, for then
tlie fVi,-uds ..fdnylmiit tivat it te a 'eliMrix-an ' -.vitlHait e,|ual,

•■The tii'st to arrive on the scene is tlie ubii|uiic)us ('row, conilueted thither by some inquisitive
warl)ler who has discovered the enemy's retreat. The (.'row tliorougldy understands what the little
fellow means, and hastens to convince itself of tlie truth of the information. Having satisfied itself,
it retires noiselessly, but only to carry the news to its relatives. Now the}' flock in from all sides
to take part in the fight, with an eagerness worthy of the boldest man ; greeting one anoth&r with
hoarse and scornful croaks, the sooty tribe hasten as fast as they can to the scene of action. The
mockers surround the poor old ' (Iraiid Hiike.' at first at a respectful distance, though they are fully
determined effectively to di.stnrVi its siesta. 'i'laav sits the Owl, rolling its eyes, spitting, snapping its
beak, and I'uffling its feathers, now hoppiiii; ir.uu ene log to another, now raising and lowering its
feathered horns by turns; mad with ra^e, lieiiKjaiiiii^- its fate, and at loiigerheads with the whole
world, it awaits the turn that matters m.ay take , at the same time. Ije it remembered, every Crow
takes good eare not to lay hold of the initated gentleman ; nothing less than a Raven dares to rely on
its own streiigtii. ( ini' of these, however, will run a tilt at the dark knight, using its sharp beak as a
• lanee : l.iut before tlie latter has time to rai.se the terrible claw, the Raven makes good its retreat,
prepares for another rush, and dai'ts like an arrow, so as to use its weapon effectively. The Owl now
loses the last remnant of patience, and seeks safety in fiight. Oh, unlucky wight ! this is all the black
swarm have been waiting for, the Crows being far its superiors on the wing. Gi^'ing vent to exulting
cries, they dart down from above with such unerring aim and force as to scatter the poor brute's
feathers in clouds to the wind : they rise again with a mighty noise that heeds no secrecy, as though
they sought to proclaim to the world at large all the fell deeds committed by this Prince of Darkness,
while other knights advance to battle. All Hawks and Falcons, ay, the proud Eagle even, answer
to the call, and hasten to take |)art in the fray. Now the Owl must, perforce, either beat a hasty
retreat or remain on tla' tiehl. In any case, however, the Owl is thoroughly woirieil. and sometimes
really damaged, brtoie ii tinds refuge in some thick tree or rocky cleft, wla-iv it liides itself as
closely and as silently .as in lage will )ierniit, until quit of the Crows.

"The detestation in u l.aii tli,- l'a-1.' i )wl is held by all, dininal birds is not ill-founded, for
this bird preys on every Ining eiiMtuiv it eaii overcome, assassinating tliem in the most abominable
manner while they are asleep. Its quarry is as follows : — Fawns of the Roe Deer, Hares, Rabbits,
Ham.sters, Rats, Moles, ]\Iice, Capercailzie, Black-game, Hazel-hens, Pheasants, Partridges, Rooks,
Jays, Magpies, Snakes. Lizards, and Frogs : Rooks seem, to be its favourite morsel. No wonder,
then, that they pay their enemy out if they can only see an opjiortunity. It as.sassinates them ; they

■jui. i:.ii,: i: (jirz. 3oa

iittack it in open day. The Eagle Owl gcnei-ally lnvaks the spine of the smaller animals close to the
head, and, cracking the remaining bones, devours its prey, skin and all ; the heads of the larger birds
it pnlls ill large pieces which it swallows. It, however, always devours a portion of the hair, feathers,
or scales as well, and wastes away if fed on flesh alone. The indigestible portions of the meal are
thrown up in large round pellets or 'casts.' With larger animals, it lays open the skin of the belly,
' and eats out the flesh from inside. If it fluds that there is too much for one meal, it carefully replaces
the skin, and hides the remainder in some dark cranny or corner until reciuircd again. This Owl

^' '^^s.

fSXOWY OWL.

drinks rarely, slaking its thirst generally with the blood of its victims. If food is plentiful, it gorges
itself; but in times of dearth it can go without food for weeks together.

" By the last fortnight in March the Eagle Owls commence jn-eparations for breeding. At this
season may be heard their hollow, mufllled ciy of ' poohoo, poohoo,' which is distinguishable at a great
distance through the woods, and it is not to be wondered that the timid are frightened at it. In the
silent, dark recesses of the mountain forest a variety of noises, well calculated to make one's flesh
creep, f^ill upon th& ear : the shrill, mocking laugh, a sound as of snarling hounds ; the whoop of the
hunter, the snorting of Horses ; these are all calculated to impress the uneducated and superstitious
with the truth of the legend of the wild huntsman. Even to the ear of the better-informed, these
hideous cries, the loud screech of the female, or the ' poohoo ' of the male, intermingled with the
snapping of the beak and curious miaulings, sound somewhat weird ; and the boldest of mortals can

NJTURAL IIISTOIiY.

scarcely repress a cold shudder when a company of these forest spirits favour him with one of their
demoniacal nocturnal concerts. Doubtless these sounds represent the battle-cries of the males when
fighting for the females, and take the place of the song of the Nightingale when telling its tale of love.

" After the Owls have paii-ed these cries are lieard less frequently, both birds being now fully
occupied with their nursery
oj^erations. The large nest is
composed outwardly of branches
and sticks, and is lined with
dry lea\es and small twigs. It
Ls built, and generally placed in
either the cleft of a rock or in
a hole in some ruined tower
the nest is never built in a trci
but from necessity. The two oi
three eggs are also often fouml
lying on the bare surface of tht-
rock, without any nest whatevei
They are round, cross-grained,
and wliite. and somewhat larger
than a hen's egg. The young
are hatched in about three
weeks. They are usually two in
number, rarely three i they look
on their first appearance, like
balls of cotton-wool, and keep
up a constant hissing or shrill
whistle. They remain a long
time in the ue.st, and are so
abundantly provided with food
by the ])arent birds, that one is
sure to find a large heap ot
l>rovisions at the nest. TIk
Owlets often betray their . pre
sence to their innumerable ene
mies by their cries, and sutfei
much perseciition inconseqiienci
When about eight weeks ol
they are able to fly, though tlie\
still remain for some timt- lon^ei
under the care of the old liirds
These latter rarely wander fai
from a particular m-iLjhbuui
hood, and u.sually build in thr
very same place the following
year."

Besides the Eagle Owls, the sub f xmdj Biiboniini' continis the Sno^^^ ()\\\ (Xi/,f<a* sccniJiaca-^-).
all the Hawk Owls (SurniaX Sow/i^), and the Pigm-i Owlets (GlauailinMW) Many of the bird.s
belonging to this latter genus ai'e not much biggei than a Spaiiow They aie found neaily all over the
world, with the exception of Au.stralia and Oceania, and one species, the European Pigmy Owlet

' .™t,o;. nightly, i.(
t Scandiaca, Scam

a biril of night— .a most inaiiiiropri.<ite title for the Snowy Owl, ■
avian. J A proiier name. 5 A " bavbaious " nan

II From yAovKos, blue or giey.

'hich is f
e, of r.o

(lay-flier.

tuj: J!Aii.\

{(1. ■passerinum*), is by no means uncommon in many pai-ts of tlio Continent, tliougli it has not yi-t
tifen met with for certain in the British Islands.

The sub-family Si/riiiiiue contains only three genera, the Horned Owls (Asivf), tlie Wood Owls
(Si/rninm^), and the Tengninlni's Owl (X'j/ctala^ tftiffinalmi), the latter having been already noticed
(p. 297) as possessing the curious diffei-ence in the ear-opening on each side of the skull. Of the
Hornetl Owls two species are found in the British Islands, viz., the Short-earp<l Owl (Aifio
ficnjiitrlnxsW), and the Long-eared Owl (A. otus^). The former of these l)ii'ds is often seen in the
flaytinie, and is said to hunt for its prey on dull days, when it will fly at small birds as well as mice ;
and Mr. Low, writing on the birds of the Orkneys, where the Short-eared Owl breeds, says that he
has found in the nest the remains of a Moor-fowl (Red Grouse), two Plovers, be.sides the feet of
^>ivei-al others ; and the same writer states that during the breeding season it becomes very impudent,
and will even seize aud catch up chickens from the doors, and also chase pigeons in open daylight.
Although resident in the British Islands, a large migration of the species takes place in autumn, and
it Is not unfrequently shot by sportsmen in the turnip-fields ; while Bewick mentions the recurrence of
twenty-eight individuals being flushed in a turnip-field in November, being pi-obably attracted to the
locality by an abundance of food. It may also be occasional Ir
found in marshes near the sea-shore", as occurred once to the
writer, who started a Short-eared Owl from the sedgy bank
on the west side of Pagham Harbour, in the early part ot
September. AVhen winged, it boldly faced its pursuer, erecting
tiie little tufts on its head and fiercely snapping its bill, as
is the manner vi-ith all Owls in defending themselves.

Its relation, the Long-eared Owl, is a bird of different
habits, and, instead of breeding on the ground as the foregoing
species does, it selects a dark wood or clump of fii's, appro
priating a deserted Squirrel's "dray," or adapting the nest of
another bii-d to its own requirements. Macgillivray gives the
following account of a young specimen which he had in confine-
ment:— "An individual of this species, which was sent tome in ^^'^ *" ^"^ "^"^ "'^^
winter by the Rev. Mr. Adam, having been left at night perched

on the back of a chair in my drawing-room, tore to tatters six valuable skins of birds from the Rocky
Mountains, and an equal number of nearly equally rare specimens from India. A young biid which
I kept for some time, on perching, stood at first with the body inclined, afterwards nearly ei-ect, and
slejjt in the latter posture, with its neck rather e.\tended, its feathers drawn close, and its tufts
recumbent. When initated, it raised its plumage, threw its body forward, and uttered a sharp cry.
It seized its food \\-ith its bill ; if large, transferred it to one of its feet, but if otherwise, retained it
in its bill. In flying, it carried a small object in its bill, but a larger in its foot. It could close
one eye while the other remained open, and when placed in a strong light, frequently drew the
membrane over the lighted eye, while the other remained unsheathed, though for the most \>avt
it winked with both simultaneously. The irides contracted unequally, according to the degree of
light. When perched at night, it sometimes emitted a clicking noise, like that of a sjiring, with its
bill ; but when provoked, it neither hissed nor snapped, but utteretl a shrill, tremulous, plainti\e cry,
or succession of short notes, erecting its tttfts at the same time."

THE BARN' OWL {S/rir ** Jhm,ner,ff).

This is essentially the fiiend of man, frequenting villages and homesteads where he is protected,

:ind extending his range where civilisation precedes him, being attracted doubtless by the Mice and

Itats, which are also the accompaniments of civilisation. The number of small mammals which one of

these birds will devour ought to be his passport to the protecting care of the farmer and agriculturist,

'., of the size of a Sparrow. f A proper name.

II Like a Hawk. H iros, long-eared Owl

t+ Fierj' ; flarae-coloureil.

J Supnor, a proper i

** (TTp.vf, an Owl

3jj XATUUAL Ul.STUliY.

bvit it is seldom tliat an Owl of anj' kind meets with appi-oval on taking up his residence on an estate.
Facts, however, are stubborn things, and in the hope that a more generous reception may be afibrdetl
to tliese useful birds, the following quotation is made fi-om Professor Newton; — "Owls, like other
birds of prey, as already mentioned, return by the mouth the indigestible parts of the food swallowed
in the form of elongated pellets. These are found in considerable numbers about the usual haimts of
the birds, and examination of them reveals the nature of the food, antl shows in nearly every case the
great services they render to man. Ijy the destruction of Rats and Mice."* The infallibility of the
evidence thus afforded as to the food of the Owls is as complete as the way of obtaining it, by those
who have the opportunity, is simple. Several German naturalists have made some very precise
researches on this subject. The followiftg results, with regard to the three commonest species of Owls,
are those afforded by the investigations of Dr. Altam, as communicated by him to the German
Ornithologists' Society during its meeting in 1862 : —

Tawny Owl . .
Loiijf-eared Owl .
Barn Owl .

Eem.uns Fovnd.

m

210
25
706.

1
16

1

6
3

42 ' 296 33

6 35 : —

237 693 1,590

i

III

18 ! 48

Colon3l Irby, in the work which has already been alluded to, says of the Barn Owl :_HAlmost
exclusively feeding on Rats and Mice, they <leserve every encouragement and support that cV ^^
aftbrded them ; but from being in all countries regarded with superstitious awe and dislike, th^
are more or le.ss ))ersecuted on that account ; and in England, through the ignorance and stupidityV
of gamekeepers, who fancy that they kill game {i.e., feathered game), they suffer most severely. \
This excuse is ridiculous, for old birds they have not the power to kill, and young Pheasants
and Partridges, at the time the Owls are on the feed, are safely being brooded, by the parent bird."
Those who wish to encourage and increase Owls, and have not hollow trees or buildings where
they nest, may always gratify their wishes by fixing an empty barrel (about an 18-gallon size) hoi-i-
zontally in the fork of any large tree, cutting a hole in one end lai-ge enough for the birds to enter ;
but the hoops of the cask should be screwed on, or it will soon fall to pieces. Not only the Barn
Owl, but the Tawny Owl {Syrnium aluco) also will use barrels, or " Owl-tubs." The difficulty, how-
ever, is to keep out the Jackdaws, but when once the Owls have established themselves, there is no
fear of that intrusion. The late Mr. Waterton was a well-known admirei- of the present species,
and he devotes one of his " Essays on Natural History " to the Barn Owl. from which a few jiassages
are extracted : — " Up to the year 1813 the Barn Owl had a sad time of it at Walton Hall. Its
supposed mournful notes alarmed the aged housekeeper. She knew full well what sorrow it had
brought into other houses when she was a young woman, and there was enough of mischief in the
midnight wintiy blast, without having it increased by the dismal screams of something which people
knew very little about, and which everybody said was far too busy in the churchyard at night-
time. Nay, it was a well-known fact, that if any person were sick in the neighbourhood it would be -
for ever looking in at the window, and holding a conversation outside with somebody, they did not
know whom. The gamekeeper agreed with her in everj-thing she said on this important subject,
and he always stood better in her books when he had managed to shoot a bii-d of this bad and
mischievous family. However, in 1813, on my return fVom the wilds of Guiana, having suffered
myself, and learned mercy, I broke in pieces the code of penal laws which the knavery of the game-
keeper and the lamentable ignorance of the other .servants had hitherto put in force, far too suc-
cessfully, to thin the numbers of this poor, harmless, unsuspecting tribe. On the ruin of the old
gateway, against which tradition says the waves of the lake have dashed for the greater part of a
* Newton's eiUtiou of Yanell's '• British Binls,'" Vol I., i). 147.

77/ A' Jl.lli.

I in..

tliousiiiicl years, I uiade a place with stone and iiK)i-lai', about four feet sijuare, and fixed a tliick oal<eu
stick firmly into, it. Huge masses of ivy now (|uite cover it. In alioiit a month or so after it wa.s
finished a pair of* Barn Owls came and took up their a))ode in it. 1 threatened to strangle tlie
keeper if ever, after this, he molested either tlu; old birds or tlieii- young ones ; and I assured the
housekeeper that I would take upon myself the whole responsibility of all the sickue.ss, woe, and
sonow that the new tenants might bring to the Hall. She made a low courtesy, as much as to
say, ' Si)-, I fall into your will and pleasure,' but T saw in her eye that she had made up her mind
to have to do with tilings of fearful and portentous shape, and to hear many a midniglit wailing in
the neighbouring woods. 1 do not think that up to the day of this old lady's death, which took
place in her eighty-fourth year, she ever looked with pleas\ire or contentment on the Barn Owl, as
it flew round the large sycamore trees which grow near the ruined gateway.

" When I found that this first settlement on the gateway had succeeded so well, I set about
forming other establishments. This year I have had four bi-oods, and I trust that next season I can
calculate on having nine. This will be a pretty increase, and it will help to supply the place of
those which in this neighbourhood are still unfortunately doomed to death by the hand of cruelty or
superstition. We can now always have a peep at the Owls in their habitation
on the old ruined gateway whenever we choose. Confident of protection,
these pretty birds betray no fear when the stranger mounts up to their place
of abode. I would here venture a surmise that the Barn Owl sleeps stand-
ing. Whenever we go to look at it we invariably see it upon the perch, bolt
upright, and often with its eyes closed, apparently fast asleep. Buffon and
Bewick err, no doubt luiintentionally, when they say that the Bam Owl
snores during its repose. What they took for snoring was the cry of the
young birds for food. I had fully satisfied myself on this score some years
ago. However, in December, 1823, I was much astonished to hear this
same snoring kind of noise, which had been so common in the month of
July. On asceniling the ruin, I found a brood of young Owls in the
apartment.

" Upon this ruin is placed a perch, about a foot from the hole at which
the Owls enter. Sometimes, at mid-day, when the weather is gloomy, you
may see an Owl upon it, apparently enjoying the refreshing diurnal breeze.

This year (1831) a pair of Barn Owls hatched their young, on the 7tli of September, in a sycamore
tree, near the old ruined gateway.

" Tf this useful bird caught its food by daj', instead of hunting for it hy night, mankind would
have ocular demonstration of its utility in thinning the country of Mice ; and it would be protected
and encouraged everywhere. It would be with us what the Ibis was to the Egyptians. When it has
young, it will bring a Mouse to the nest about every twelve or fifteen minutes. But in order to have a
proper idea of the enormous quantity of Mice which this bird destroys, we must examine the pellets
which it ejects from its stomach in the place of its retreat. Every pellet contains from four to seven
skeletons of Mice. In sixteen months from the time that the apartment of the Owl on the old gateway
was cleaned out, there has been a deposit of above a bushel of pellets. The Barn Owl sometimes
carries ofi' Rats. One evening I was sitting under a shed, and killed a very large Rat as it was
coming out of a hole about ten yards from where I was watching it. I did not go to take it up,
ho]}ing to get another shot. As it lay there, a Barn Owl pounced upon it, and flew away with it.
This bird has been known to catch fish. Some years ago, on a fine evening in the month of July, long
before it was dark, as I was standing on the middle of the liridge, and minuting the Owl by my watch
as she brought Mice into her nest, all on a sudden she dropped perpendicularly into the water. Think-
ing she had fallen down in epilepsy, my fii'st thoughts were to go and fetch the boat ; but before I had
well got to the end of the bridge, I saw the Owl rise out of the water with a fish in her claws, and
take it to the nest. When fanners complain that the Barn Owl destroys the eggs of their Pigeons,
they lay the saddle on the wrong horse ; they ought to put it on the Rat. Formerly, I could get
very few young Pigeons, till the Rats were excluded elTectuall}' from the dovecot. Since that took
place it has produced a great abundance every year, though the Barn Owls frequent it, and are-

:iiiN SAiiUAL ni.siuuy.

encouraged ;ill arouiiil it. Tlie Barn Owl merely resorts to it for the purpose of concealment. It" it
were really an enemy to the dovecot, we should .see the Pigeons in commotion as .soon as it begins
its evening flight ; but the Pigeons heed it not. Whereas, if the Sparrow-Hawk' or Hobby should
make its appearance, the whole commiuiity would be up at once ; proof sufficient that the Barn Owl is
not looked upon as a bad, or even a suspicioiis character, by the inliabitants of the dovecot."

The colour of the Bam Owl, which is a bright orange buff, mottled with ashy-grey on the upper
surface, and white below, distinguishes it from any other Owl. The oval form of the disc is also to a
great extent peculiar, as is also the serrated edge to the middle claw, which has been referred to before
(p. 300). The breast bone is likewise remarkable, as it has no clefts in the hinder margin.

The range of the present species is very considerable, as it is found all over the New World, from
the northern and middle United States down to Patagonia and the Falkland Islaaids. In the Old
World it occurs in equal plenty, but does not extend very high north, being a rare visitant to Denmark
and Sweden. Although common in Poland, it is only sparingly distributed throughout Russia, and
even appears to be entirely absent in many Central and Southern jiarts. The same may be said
of Turkey. It is not known at present from Siberia or China, but is found throughout Africa, ludiii,
Australia, and the majority of the Oceanic Islands. Nearly all Owls have two distinct phases of
plumage — a grey one, and a red one. This is especially the case in the little Scops Owls, which have
tiifts of feathers on the head like the Eagle Owls, of which they may be said to be representations in
mmiature. The Barn Owls are no exception to this general rule of the family ; but owing to the
light colouring of the bii-d, it is not so perceptible as in some of the other species of Owls. Even in
England, however, a short study of the species will show the student that some individuals are much
redder underneath, instead of being white, and are profusely freckled with grey above ; and this dark
coloration does not dej^end upon the age of the bird, nor is it a difference of sex. In some islands,
such as the Cape Verde group, San Domingo in the West Indies, the Falkland Islands, and the
Galapagos, the Barn Owls are almost always dark-coloured, and light ones are very seldom found. On
the other hand, in Australia and Oceania the species becomes peculiarly light in plumage, and dark
individuals are the exception.

THE SECOND ORDER.— PICARIAN BIRDS {Picarw).*
CHATTER VII.
THE PARROTS.
Characteristics of the Order— Tlie Sub-orders— ZYGODACTYLY- -The Paeeots— Their Talking Powers— Sections of the
Family— The C^peat Pai.m Oockatoo— The PYGjrr Parrots -The Amazon Parrots— The Amazons— The Grey
Parrot — Couii Favourites — Historical Specimens- In a State of Nature— Mr. Keulemans' Observations — The
CoNUKES— The RosE-RiNGBn Paerakeet— Known to the Ancients— Habitat— Habits— The Carolina Conueb-
Destructive Propensities— The Pareakeets — The Owl Paeeot— Chiefly Nocturnal— Incapable of Flight— How this
Fact may be accounted for — Dr. Haast's Account of its Habits~THE Straight-billed Paeeots— The Bedsh-
TONGUED Parrots— The Nestors— The Kara P,uirot— Skull of a Pan-ot- The BilL

The birds wliich are contained in this order are of very different forms, but they possess one character
which, although an osteological one, is found throughout nearly the whole group, and that is, the
double notch in the hinder margin of the sternum or breast bone. In all the true Passeres, or perching
birds, only a single notch is observed. The hind toe, which in the true jierching birds is an essential
character, and is separately movable, possessing its own distinct flexor muscle, is in the Picarians not
of so much account, its flexor muscle being joined to the common flexor of all the toes ; it is sometimes
absent altogether. If the Parrots have certain chai-acters in common with the Accijntres, the Cuckoos
and the Plantain-eaters undoubtedly show afiinity to the Game-birds, while most of the other families
have peculiar structures which render them quite distinct from the ordinary mass of true perching
birds or Passeres. It may be remarked that the eggs of most of the Picarice, so far as we ai-e
acquainted with them, are glossy white, and that the majority of them breed in the holes of trees or of

* From Picits, a Woodpecker.

t-,.. ^\.'< . \M^^^<^''^^

L,X\3';-"^^^^'

COCKATOOS.,

THE PARROTS. ;joy

rocks, and that tliey arc as a rule had ni'st-huildcrs. The greatest exception to tlie above description
of the nesting of these birds is met with in the family of (loatsiickers (Cn/irinnifi/ii/n'), some of whom
lay their eggs on the ground, the eggs being beautifully marbled with strtak^ ami spots.

Within this great Picariaix order there are two large sub-ordei-s, called irspc.-tively the Scansorial
and the Fissirostral * Flcaria. The Scansorial birds arc also sometimes known as the ZygodactyL'e,t
or yoke-footed birds, because they have their toes arranged in pairs, two in front and two behind, an<l
their name of Scaiisores is given to them because most of them are climbing birds, and run u]) trees and
rocks with great facility, though in diflerent ways. Parrots, for instance, use their bills in climbing
from brancli to bi-ancli, while Woodpeckers Lave very powerful feet and stiffened tail-feathers, wliich
sujiport them as they cling to the bark of the trees, the bill being chiefly employed to prise off the
bark in order to get at the insects underneath. Cuckoos do not climb trees in the same manner as the
Woodpeckers, though they have true zygoJactyle feet : the present writer lias, howevei-, seen a
common Cuckoo (Cubulus canorm) cling with both feet to the trunk of a huge elm while it picked off
insects from the bark. It must not be supposed, liowever, that the above are the only birds which
climb trees, for among the true Passeres, or perching birds, there occur such birds as the Deudroco-
laptkhe in South America, who have stiffeneTl tails exactly as the Woodpeckers, while the Tree-
creepers are just as expert as the last-named birds, and yet cannot be placed in the same order as the
Scansoi-ial [Ficar'ui'), for they possess a simple passerine foot, with three toes in front and one behind.

The Fissirostres, or wide-gaping birds, are also called Gressorial Picarise, as their toes are more or
less connected together, which gives them a very flat sole to the foot. They generally hunt for their
food from some selected spot, ordinarily a post or a dead bough, whence they take flights after
their prey, usually returning to the same spot to devour it. Their flight is active and swift, their gape
extremely large, and the head correspondingly big, and in many instances clumsy and ungainly. The
feet are generally small and weak.

SUB-ORDER I.— ZYGODACTYLY.
FAMILY I.— THE PARROTS {Psittaci).

Just as the Monkeys have been placed at the liead of the Mammalia on account of theii
high development, so the Parrots, from their general cleverness, and especially on account
of the facility with which they can talk, have been considered the highest order of birds,
and placed at the beginning of the class. It is impossible for some people to avoid
the conclusion that these birds think and reason, and the h propos or sometimes mal a
jyi'opos way in which they introduce speeches, coupled with the look of wisdom which they
assume while being spoken to, seems to show that the brain is b.iiiL: cuiiiloyed in thinking. A friend
in Manchester told the writer of a parrot-show in the N(jrtli of iMiuhiml, wliere the talking powers ot
each bird were made the subject of a prize competition. Se\eial of the birds had exhibited theit
prowess, and at last the cover was removed from the cage of a Grey Parrot, who at once exclaimed, on
seeing the company to which he was suddenly introduced, " By Jove ! what a lot of Parrots !" an
observation, which gained him the prjze at once. Instances of famous talking birds might be
multiplied by the hundred, and it is wonderful to read some of the stories which have been related of
Parrots, whose fame has been recorded in many popular works, leaving no doubt that these
birds often possess the power of reason of a very high order ; at the same time, it must be con-
fessed that many of theXJprvine birds, such as Ravens, Jackdaws, and Magpies, do not fall far short of
their Scansorial friend.s."

The Parrots are divided into two large sections, fii'stly the Parrots proper {Psittaci jyroprii), and
secondly the straight^billed Parrots {Psittaci orthorjnathi\). These two sections together contain six
families, of which five belong to the first and one to the second. The true Parrots have a powerful
and swollen bill, especially as regards the lower mandible, which is much inflated, curved, and flattened
in front, the cutting edges {/oiiiium) indented just behind their tip. The sub-family which has to
be noticed first are the Compfolophincv.^ or Cockatoos, which are birds entirely of the Australian

* Fissus, cleft ; rostrum, a beak. t fi'io"'. a yoke ; a ;«Ti.\ot, a toe. i 6fi96s, straight ; -jvaSos, a jaw.

§ KaMTTTtti, to bend ; A6jjut, a crest.

SIC SATVIt^L HI^TUKT.

legion, being confined to Anstralia and tlie Molucca Islands. The bill is higher tlian it is broad. M-ith
a very distinct indentation of each side of the cutting edge of the mandible, the tiji of the bill .short,
rather strong and jierpendicular, the head crested in all except the Pygmy PaiTots (Nmiterna). This
family contains at once the largest and the smallest of the Parrots.

THE GREAT TALII COCKATOO {Micro/Msm* aterrimiisf).
This is one of the most jjowerful of all the Parrot tribe, measuring about twenty-four inches in
length, and having a bill of unusual thickness and power. Its black plumage also reudei's it a con-
spicuous species, the only relief to this sombre eolouriirg being the gi'ej'Lsh crest and the dull crimson
cheeks. Its home is New Guinea, but it is also found in the Cape York Peninsula in Australia,
where it was discovered by .John MacgiUivray during the voyage of the Rattlesnake. He writes
as follows respecting it : — " This very fine bird, which is not uncommon in the vicinity of Cape York,
was usually found in the densest .scrub among the tops of the tallest trees, but was occasionally seen in
the open forest land perched on the largest of the Eucalypti, apparently resting on its passage from one
belt of trees or patch of scrub to another. Like the Black Cockatoos, or CahjptQrhyncJd, it flies slowly
and usually but a short distance. In November, 1849, the j)eriod of our last visit to Cape York, it was
always found in pairs, very shy, and diflicult of apjjroach. Its cry is merely a low short whistle of a
single note, which may be represented by the letters ' Uweet-Hweet.' The stomach of the first one killed
contained a few small pieces of quartz and triturated fragments of palm-cabbage, with which the crop
of another specimen was comi)letely filled ; and the idea immediately suggests itself, that the powerful
bill of this bird Ls a most fitting instrument for stripping off the leaves near the summits of the
Seaforthia elegans and other palms to enable it to arrive at the central tender shoot."

THE PYGJIY PAHKOTS [Xasitenue).
These Parrots are represented by seven little manikins which are found in New Guinea and the
adjacent islands, each particular island possessing its own peculiar species. Not one of the.se little birds
exceeds a Sparrow in size, the largest being a little over three inches and a half in length. Owing to
their small size and the resemblance of the green colouring to the forests they inhabit, they are not
easily seen, and until recent yeais were very hard to procure. In the island of Mafoor in the Bay of
Geelvink, N.W., New Guinea, Baron von Rosenberg says that he found it common near Roemsaro,
and several specimens, both alive and dead, were brought to him by the natives. They bi-ed tliere
in January and February, nesting in hollow trees and laying two eggs, the size of those of the
English Bottle Titmouse. Their food consists of fruit.

THE AilAZOX PARROTS {Amh-o(jlossiii(e).X
This, the second sub-family, consists of the true Parrots, of which the ordinary Grey PaiTot {Psittaois
ei-ythacus) is the type. It also includes all the Green Parrots of America, which are called Amazons,
as well as the Lories {Eclectus) and Love-bii-ds (Ayapornis). The head is moderately smooth, without
any highly-developed crest, as in the Cockatoos, and the tail is short, or of only moderate length. The
tail-feathers are generally broad and obtuse, in a few widening at the tip, or sharp at the end.
In the genus Prioultnrus, which, inhabits the Philippine Islatids, and some of the Moluccas,
the two centre feathei-s have the shafts produced, and ending in a small spatule, or racket.

THE AMAZONS {Chnjsoth).^
These Parrots are entirely American, and are the only birds of the New World which can compete in
talking powers with the African Grey Parrots, who, however, far surpass their American relatives.
About thirty species of Amazon are known, all of them confined -ivithin the limits of the Neotropical
region, which comjirises the whole of Central and Southern America, south of an imaginary line drawn
■through Northern Mexico. The West India islands are also included in this area, and most of them

* /■"«po!, small ; YXSffon., .-i toiiijue. t "^'ery Mack. J i.>ip, a man ; yAioo-», a tongue. § vpu^dr, goUl ; oS?, an ear.

TUi.

M.izo:

UtUill .

^'ir

Vmt with caution.

-M

uv inhabited by a species of Amazon. Th.' habits of all these Parrots seem to he very similar, anil a
good account of tlie Active Amazon of Jamaica (C/ii-i/sotin a<jilis) is given by Mr. Gosso* : — " All the
Parrots ai-e gregarious, cunning, watchful, noisy, mischievous ; and thus are like the Monkeys. Tliis
and the Yellow-billed Parrot [Mr. Gosse's name for C. wj'dis is the Black-billed Parrot] are so much
iilike in manners and general appearance, that a description of one applies nearly to the other. Flocks
varying from half a dozen to twenty or thirty tly hither and thither over the forest, screeching as they
go, and idl alight together on some tree covered with berries. Here th.
<Ju a slight alarm one
screams, and the whole
tlock is on the wing,
vociferous if not musical,
and brilliant if not beau-
tiful, paiticularly when
the sun shines on their
green backs and crim-
soned wings. They gene-
rally prefer lofty trees.
except when, in June,
the ripe yellow plantain
tempts them to descend,
or when tlie blackberry
shines upon the pimento.
Of the latter the flocks
devour an immense
(juantity, and the former
they destroy by cutting
it to pieces with theiir
powerful beaks, to get
at the small seeds. One
<Uvy in January, when
the pimento on the brow
■ of Bluefields Mountain
was about ready for
picking, being full-sized,
but yet green and hard,
I observed large flocks
of Black-bills, and a few
Pan-akeets, flying to and
fro with voluble chatter,
now alighting to feed on
the hot, aromatic berry, amazon parrot.

now flying ofi", and

wheeling round to the same neighbourhood again. They were not at all .shy, but, with unusual care-
lessness of one's proximity, scarcely moved at the report of the gun which brought their companions
to the gi-ound. Of two which I shot on this occasion, I found the craws stuffed with the cotyledons
of the seed alone, the mo.st pungeutly aromatic part of the berry; the fleshy part having been, as I
). resume, shorn off by the beak and rejected. When alighted, as is often the case, on a dry branch,
their emerald hue is conspicuous, and aff'ords a fair mark for the gunner ; but in a tree of full foliage,
their colour proves an excellent concealment. They seem aware of this, and their sagacity jjrompts
them to rely on it for security. (Iften we hear their voices proceeding from a certain tree, or else
have marked the descent of a flock upon it, but on proceeding to the spot, though the eye has not
wandered from it, and we are therefore sure that they are there, we cannot discover an individual.

* '• Birds of .Jiiuiiiica," p. 2CG.

312 NATURAL UIHTURy.

We go close to the tree, but all is silent, and still as death ; we institute a careful survey of every
part with the eye, to detect the slightest motion, or the form of a bird among the leaves, but in vain ;
we begin to think that they have stolen off unperceived, but on throwing a stone into the tree, a dozen
throats burst forth into cry, and as many green birds rush forth upon the wing. The screaming of
this and the following species differs from that of .the Parrakeet, so far as to be easily distinguished.
That of the latter consists of a series of harsh screeches, of comparative length ; that of the Pai'rots is
less shrill, more broken into short and rapid ai-ticulations, forming a series of varying length, separated
by momentary pauses. It is, in fact, much more like a hui-ried chattering."

THE GKEY PARROT (rMm-us n-nthimis).

This familiar cage-bird is a native of Africa, and it would appear to liave been a favourite in
England for a longer period than can be traced. They were held in great estimation at the court
of the " Merry Monarch " Charles II., for his Queen Catharine of Bragauza had a parrot-keeper, at a
salary of £36 per annum, while the maids of honour received only .£10 a year each, and the " mother
of the maids " £20 per annum. Therefore, the custodian of the Parrots was better paid by £16 than
the lady who held the very responsible post of care-taker of the maids of honour.* A Grey Parrot
which lived for forty years with the Duchess of Richmond and Lennox, who died in 1702, and who
was a celebrated beauty at the court of Charles IL, is preserved in Westminster Abbey along with
the effigy of that lady, having survived its mistress only a few days.

It is strange that for a bird which has so long been one of the chief pets in Europe, so little i.s
known of its habits in a wild state, and at the present time not a single authentic egg of this species,
taken in its native haunts, is known to exist. Occasionally it lays in confinement a white egg, like
other Picarian birds, but it is probably from the care with which the species selects its breeding-place
that it has been so difficult to find theii- nest and eggs. The only naturalist who appears to have
discovered the latter appears to be the celebrated natural history aitist, Mr. Keulemans, who spent
nearly two years in West Africa, and has written the best account of the Grey PaiTot in a state of
nature,t as observed by him on Ilha do Principe, or Prince's Island, in the Bight of Biafra. Here it
is very common, and breeds in the month of December in the veiy thickest forests. Only one pair
breed in each tree, laying five eggs in a hole thereof, but a large number nest in close proximity to each
other, many hundreds breeding in the same area, according to the above-named author. Both parents
take a share in the rearing of the young birds, sitting by turns, the one who is thus relieved bringing
food to its mate and feeding it out of its crop, which method is also adopted in the care of the young
birds. The food of the Grey Parrot is stated to consist of palm-nuts, the arocat (Laurus i^ersea), the
banana {Miisa paradisea), goyare, mango, and many other fruits of a smaller size; but it always
gives the preference to palm-nuts. On Prince's Island, writes Mr. Keulemans, there is " a very lofty
mountain, reaching some 1,200 feet above the level of the sea, and called by the natives ' Pico de
Papagaio,' or Peak of the Parrots. On the slope of this mountain, and extending far up its side, is a
magnificent forest. The tree.s are of great size and height, and their trunks and branches give support
to the lianas and other climbing plants, which hang about them, in luxurious folds. The density of
the forest is so gi-eat that it is only with the greatest difficulty and toil that the explorer can force his
way through it ; while to the Parrots who come up there every night it presents no obstacle, but
gives them, under the shelter of its thick foliage, a secure and pleasant resting-place."

Another observer in West Africa, Dr. Reichenow, found the Grey Parrot breeding in West Africa
in the low-lands along the .streams and groves of mangrove, and the great difficulty of traversing these
swamps is, according to him, the reason why their breeding habits are not better known. They are
very destructive to the crops of Indian corn, which they visit in large flocks, wasting as much as they
consume. They proceed to roost in flocks, selecting the same route each night ; and Governor Ussher
says that, whilst up the river Addo, near Lagos, he has seen them crossing at sunset from their
feeding-grounds to their roosting-places, when they presented the appearance of one continuous flock
passing at'a great distance overhead, their screams and chattering being heard long after darkness has.

* G. D. Rowley, " Ornithological Miscell.my," Vol. I , p. 17o. t "N.itural History cf C:ige-binls," Part I.

THK J!U^^h.J!JM,KJi

IkliAKLEi.

Otll(

to be only good

set in. They are said by some travellers to be very good ea
for soup.

The Gi-ey Parrot iii his native haunts is an unsociable l)ird, and a curious story is told by
Dr. Dohrn, and confirmed by Mi-. Keulemans, respecting the species in Prince's Island. As has
already been stated, the Parrots are extremely common there, but not a single Kite is met with on the
i.sland. On the neighbouring island of St. Thomas there is an almndance of Black Kites but not a
single Parrot, between

whom and the Kites a v^' ' -j^

constant warfare is — "^^si ^ ^"'

waged, so that, should
one of the latter get
(.Iriven over to Princes
Island he is almost im-
mediately sot upon by
the Parrots and slaugh-
tered ; and the com-
pliment is returned i;'
a Parrot is so unfor-
tunate as to land un-
invited on St. Thomas'.s.
On the coast the chief
enemy of the Parrots is
the Vulturine Sea-E;xgb
{Gypohierax angoknsis).

The colouring ot
the Grey Parrot is
simple, being of a clear
bluish-grey, with a r^d
tiiil. About the fiice
the skin is white, and
covered with a soft,
velvety feathering,
among.st which there is
a plentiful supj^ly of
white powder, as any
one knows who scratches
the head of "Polly."
This powder is present in
most of the family, but

not to the same degi-ee '-''^^ i-ahuut.

as in the grey species.

The young bird in the nest is stated to have the tail dark-grey instead of red, and it is more of a
brownish-grey colour, not so clear as in the old bird, while tlie iris is gi'ey instead of yellow.

The CoNURES {Cmvurina} ai-e the thii-d sub-family of PaiTots, and are represented largely in
America, only one genus, Palmornis, being found in India and Africa. They have the head devoid
of a crest, with a veiy long gi-aduated tail, and shoi-t and weak tarsi. Amongst the best-known
species of this sub-family may be mentioned the Great Macaw.

THE ROSE-EINGED PAREAKEET [P,i!a-or»\s torquntns).

This PaiTot is probably the species of which we have the earliest known record, as Onesioritus,

who was admiral of the fleet of Alexander the Great, is said to have brought from Ceylon a specimen

of a green PaiTot with a red neck. Many authors have supposed that the lai'ge Alexandrine Parrakeet

(Pala;omis eupatriw, or Alexatidri) was the species referred to, but the habitat of this bird is now

NATURAL m.srosr.

known to lie the island of .Jiiv;i, and the Rose-ringed Parrakeet is more probahly the bird intended
Professor Snndevall, tlie great authority on Aristotle, believes that the present bird was the only
Parrot known to the ancients, being brought into Eurojje probably from Nubia. Other species were
not seen in Europe before the end of the Middle Ages, and the West African species, such as the
Senegal Parrot (F. senegalus), in 1455, and the Grey Parrot even later; the latter not being described
before Aldrovandus, about the year 1600. American species were brought already in 1493 by
Christopher Columbus, and many Indian species after the circumnavigation of Africa about the
year l.jOO. The present bird is common in Inc

Ceylon, and is, moreover, one of the few
species of birds which are
common to the Indian
/ Peninsula and the con-

-' tinent of Africa, as it is

a well-known bii-d in
Nubia and Abyssinia,
and (111 one occasion a
II nek I Ills lii'Pii seen in the
iicinlib.imliuod of Port
-; ' - Elizabeth in the extreme
^ ^ south of the continent.
According to Dr. Jerdon,
it is one of the most
common and familiar
birds in India, frequent-
ing cultivated ground and
gardens, even in the
barest and least wooded
jiarts of the country, and
it is liabitually found
al)Out towns and villages,
constantly perching on
the house-top. It is very
destructive to most kinds
of grain, as well as to
fiuit-gardens. Burgess
says that they carry off
the ears of corn to trees
to devour at leisure, and
Jei-don has observed the
same sometimes. When
the gi-ains are cut and
housed it feeds on the
ground in the stubble
corniields, also in meallows, picking up what seeds it can ; and now and then takes long flights,
hunting for any tree that may bet in fruit, skimming close and examining every tree ; and when it has
made a tliscovery of one in fruit, circling round, and sailing with outspread and down-pointing wings
till it alights on the tree. It associates in flocks of various size, sometimes in vast numbers, and
generally many hundx-eds roost together in some garden or grove. At Saugor all the Parrakeets.
Mynahs, Crows, Bee-eaters, &c., of the neighbourhood, for some miles ai-ound, roost in company in »
large grove of bamboos ; and the deafening noise heard there from before sunset till dark, and from
the fii-st dawn of day till long after suniise, gives to the listener the idea of numberless noisy steam
machines at work. Many of the flocks of Parrots are very late in returning, and fly along quite low,
skimming the gi-ouud, and just rising over a tree, house, or any obstacle in the way, and, for several
nights in succession, several Parrakeets flew against the wall of a house, on the top of a hill in

TEE PARRAKEETS. 315

Saugov, and were killed. The Eose-ringed Parrakeet breeds both iii holes in trees, aiid very com-
monly in the sonth of India about houses, in holes in old buildings, pagodas, tonil)s, ifcc. It lays
four white eggs. Its breeding season is from Jan-uaiy to March. Adams states that he has seen
this Parrakeet pillage the nests of the Sand Martin; but with what intent he does not guess at.
Its ordinary flight is rapid, with repeated strokes of the wings, somewhat wavy laterally, or
arrowj'. It has a harsh cry, which it always repeats when in flight, as well as at other times,
Mr. Philipps remarks that the Kite will sometimes swoop down on them when perched on a
tree, and carry one off in its talons ; also that Owls attack these birds by night.*

The length of this species is abdtit sixteen inches and a half. It Ls green -vntXi a black band
extending from under the chin backwards nearly to the nape, and having a rose-coloured collar
round the liind neck. The bill is cherry-red, the feet gfeyish, and the iris pale yellow. The
female does not possess the rose-coloured collar, but has instead a narrower one of emerald
green.

THE CAROLINA CONURE {Cmmriis carolinensis).
The Conures are inhabitants of the New World, and are very abundant in South America, but
one species, the Carolina Conure, jienetrating into the Nearctic region above the line of North Mexico.
It is a very handsome bii'd, but is rapidly decreasing in numbers, and becoming restricted in its
range, so much so, that in places where it was once plentiful it is now no longer to be found at all.
Even in 1842, when Audubon wrote, they were then fast diminishing, and are now confined to the
Southern and South-western States, as far west as the Missouri river. The food of the Carolina
Conure is stated to consist chiefly of the seeds of the Cockle-burr (Xanthinmi strumariuin), but it is.
also very partial to fruit of all kinds, and it is owing to the way in which it has been shot down that
it is now so rare, for Mr. Audubon describes the immense damage done by a flock of Conures to stacks
of grain, which they covered in such numbers that they pre.sented to the eye the same eflect as if a
brilliant-coloured carpet had been thrown over them. The farmers resented the attacks on their pro-
perty to such an extent that the same naturalist states that he has seen hundreds killed in the course of
a few houi-s, the siu-N-ivors, after each shot, flying round for a few minutes, and then settling again in
a place of most imminent danger. Even in confinement the birds seem to develop their destructive
propensities, destroying wood, books, and, in short, everything that comes in their way, while from
their incapability of talk, and their harsh, disagreeable voices, they are not much esteemed as pets.
As Audubon observes, the woods are the habitation best fitted for them, and there the richness of
their phunage, theii' beautiful mode of flight, and even their screams, afford welcome intimation that
the darkest forests and mo.st sequestered swamps are not destitute of charms. According to the same
observer, they deposit their eggs, without making a nest, in the bottoms of such cavities in trees as
those to which they usually retire at night. Many females deposit their eggs together, and he
believed that the number laid by each hen bird was two ; the eggs were greenish-white, and nearly
round, and the young are at first covei'ed with soft down, such as is seen in nestling Owls. The colour of
tliis PaiTot is green, the head and neck bright-yellow, and the forehead and region of the eye scarlet ;
the bill is white, the feet pale flesh-colour, and the iris hazel ; the length of the bird being about
fourteen inches. The female is like the male, but the yoimg bird has the head green instead of
yellow.

THE PARRAKEETS (Platycercbm).
These form the fourth sub-family, and are remarkable for their slender, smooth tarsus, which is
formed as in most bii-ds ; and the voice is more agi-eeable than in the other genera, the members of
which, almost without exception, have a harsh and unpleasant cry. They are mostly inhabitants of
Australia, whence come several of them well known as cage-birds, such as the King Parrakeet
(Platycercus sceqndaHis), the Eosella, or Rose Parrakeet (P. eximius), and in America they are repre-
sented by the single genus Bolborhyiichus.

37 ~ * Jerdon, " Birils of ludia,' I., p. 2-58.

^.iri'Jc.tJ. nhsTditv.

■^\>r

THE OWL PARROT [Stririops.* habroptilm^).

The genus Strigops is the sole representative of the fifth sub-family, the Strigopince. It is one of
the most remarkable of all the Parrots, and is met with only in New Zealand. The face shows a disc
exactly as in the Owls, whence the name, and the wing is very short, convex, and rounded. In its
habits this bird is chiefly nocturnal, but not entirely so ; the most remarkable fact connected with it
being, jierhaps, its unwillingness to fly. Thus Dr. Buller, F.R.S., in his excellent work on the " Birds of
New Zealand," writes : — " All who have studied the bird in its natural state agree on this point, that
the wings, although sufficiently large and strong, are perfectly useless for purposes of flight, and that
the bird merely spreads them to bi-eak the force of its fall in descending from a higher point to a lower,
when sviddenly surprised ; in some instances even this use of them is neglected, the bird falling
to the ground like a stone. We are naturally led to ask how it is that a bird possessing
large and well formed wings should be found utterly incapable of flight. On removing the skin
from the body it is seen that the muscles by means of which the movements of these
anterior limbs are regulated are very well developed, but are largely overlaid with fat. The
bird is known to be a ground-feeder, with a voracious appetite, and to subsi.st chiefly on vegetable
mosses, which, possessing but little nutriment, require to be eaten in large quantities ; and Dr. Hawst
informs us that he has sometimes seen them with their crops so distended and heavy, ihat the birds
were .scarcely able to move. These mosses cover the ground and the roots or trunks of prostrate trees,
requiring to be sought for on foot ; and the bird's habit of feeding at night, in a country where there
are no indigenous predatory quadrupeds, would render flight a superfluous exertion, and a faculty of
no especial advantage in the struggle for existence. Thus it may be reasonably inferred that disuse,
under tlie usual operations of the laws of nature, has occasioned this disability of wing ; for there is
no physiological reason why the Kakapo should not be as good a flier as any other Parrot."

The Kakapo, as it is called in New Zealand, meaning a " Night Parrot," is becoming rarer every
year, as the places which it aff"eots become more and more accessible to the colonists. From the long
accounts of its habits given in Dr. Buller's work, the following note of Dr. Haast is selected, as it

* <"-pivf, an Owl ; i,>ii, a face, i.e., having the appearance of an Owl. t i^p«, soft ; mihov, feather.

THE OlI'L rAItliUT.

gives a good idea of the liabits of this singuhir species : — " So little is known of this solitaiy inhabitant
of our primaeval forests, that the following sliort narrative of observations, whicli I was foi-tunate
enough to make during ray recent West Coast journey, may interest you. Although I was travelling
almost continuously for several yeai-s in the interior of these islands, it was only during my last
journey that I was enabled to study its natural history. I was well acquainted with its call, and had
often observed its tracks in the sands of the river-beds and in the fresh-fallen snow, but I had not
actually seen it. The principal reason for this was, that formerly I had no dog with me ; and
consequently it would only be by the greatest accident that this bird, not at all rare in those
untrodden regions, could be obtained. The ti'ue habitat of the Kakapo is the mossy Fagus forest,
near mountain streams, with occasional grassy plots ; but it also lives both on the hill-sides, amongst
enormous blocks of rock, mostly overgrown with roots of trees and a deep covering of moss, and on
wooded Hats along the banks of the larger rivers, liable to be inundated by heavy rainfalls or by the

Kudden melting of the snow It is a striking fact, that— with the exception only of

the valley of the river Makarora, forming Lake Wanaka — I never found the Kakapo on the eastern
side of the Alps, although extensive /

J

It

Fugus forests exist there also.

appears to have crossed the main

chain at the low wooded pass which

leads from the source of the Haast

to that of the Makarora, and reached

the mouth of this river at Lake

Wanaka, where ])robably the absence

of forest jmt a stop to its farther

advance. It is very abundant in

the valley of the last-mentioned

river, and is found even in the

Makarora bush, notwithstanding

that numerous sawyers are at work

there. When camped on the borders

of that forest we continually heard its

call near our tents ; but none of the

sawyers had any idea of the existence

of such a large bird in their neigh- ^^^.^ takrot. iAft,-,- Kcuicaans)

bourhood, although the irregular

shrill call had sometimes attracted their attention. It also occurs in the valley of the Wilkin, but is less

numerous there, which may be accounted for by the existence of wild dogs in this locality. We may

therefore safely assume that from the junction of this river with the Makarora the Kakapo ascended

toward the sources of the former. In the valley of the Hunter, only divided by a mountain-range of

great altitude but with some low saddles, no sign of it was to be observed, although large Fagns

forests would appear to offer a propitious abode. Tliis bu'd has hitherto been pronounced to be of

true nocturnal habits ; bxit I think, from observations I was able to make, that this opinion ought to

be somewhat modified. It is true that generally an hour after sunset, the dense foliage of the forest

giving additional darkness to the country, its call began to be heai-d all around us. It then

commenced to rove about, and, attracted by the glare of our camp-fire, frequently came close to our

tent, when the heedless bird was immediately caught by our dog. But as we met with it on two

occasions in the daytime, occupied in feeding, and as I observed that it knew and understood perfectly

well the danger which apjjroached, we may assume that it has, at least in this respect, some relation

to diurnal birds. In order to show why I come to this conclusion, I will particidarise the two

occurrences I have mentioned, as they appear to bear directly upon some other im]>ortant points in

the structure of this bird. When returning from the West Coast, we observed in the afternoon (the

sky being clouded) a Kakapo sitting on the prostrate trunk of a tree in the open forest. When about

ten yards from it, the bird observed us, and disappeared instantly in its hole, whence, with the aid of

the dog, we afterwards took it. It is clear that in this case the bird was not overtaken by the

31S NATUIIAL JUSTOliY.

coming day when far from its abode, but that it left it.s retreat vohmtarilj' during dayliglit. Tlie
second instance I shall mention is more sti-iking, and shows that the Kakajw feeds also during the
day. It was towards evening, but still broad daylight, when we passed along the hill-side near a dee]i
rocky gorge, and saw a large Kakapo sitting on a low fuchsia-tree, about ten feet from the ground,
feeding on the benies. When close to it, the bird saw us, and instantly dropped down as if shot, and
disappeared amongst the huge fragments of rocks strewed along the hill-side. But the most
remarkable circumstance was, that the frightened bird did not open its wings to bi'eak its fall,
but dropped as if it did not possess any wings at all. In Older to see whether they would ily, or even
flutter, when pureued by an enemy, I placed on the ground a full-grown specimen, which had been
caught by the dog without being hurt. It was on a large shingle-bed, so that the biid had ample
room for running or rising on the wing, if for this purpose it wanted space. I was not a little
astonished to observe that it only started running towards the nearest point of the forest, where a
dark shadow was apparent, and it went quicker than I had anticipated, considering the position of its
toes and its clumsy figure, its gait resembling closely that of a Gallinaceous bird in its movements. As
I was standing sideways to it, I thought that it kejit its wings closed upon its body, so little were they
opened ; but my companion, who was equally anxious to see how our prisoner would try to escape,
and who stood a little behind it, observed that it opened its wuigs slightly, but without flapping them
in any degree, using them ajiparently more for keeping its balance than for accelerating its move-
ments. This would almost lead to the conclusion that the Kakapo does not travel far, especially as I
have already shown that its whole structure is ill adapted for running. But having myself frequently
followed its tracks, and found them to extend a great distalice over the sandy reaches along the ri\er,
such a conclusion as that sugge.sted above would be erroneous. It must be exceedingly fond of water,
because in many localities its tracks were observed for half a mile over shingle and sand to the banks
of the river ; and I am unable to explain the curious fact, luiless the object be to mix river water
with the enormous mass of pulpy vegetable matter which is to be found in its crop. With the
exception of two specimens, the crops of which were filled with the large berries of a small-leaved
Coriaria, by which their flesh was flavoured, all the birds examined by mc had their crops widely
distended by a mass of finely-comminuted vegetable mosses, weighing many ounces.

" I carefully examined the subterranean abode of this bird. From the account given by the natives,
I thought that it would be found living in well-excavated holes, resembling in their coiistruction those
of the Fox or Badger ; that the entrance would be so small as to enable only the inhabitants to enter,
and thus to exclude larger animals from persecuting it. This, however, is not the case ; because, with
one exception, all the specimens obtained were either in fissures amongst rocks, or in cavities formed
by huge blocks tumbled one over another, and overgrown with moss, or in holes formed by the roots
of decayed trees. The cavities in the rocks were generally sufliciently large to allow of my dog, a good-
sized Retriever, freely entering them. The openings to the other holes were smaller, and it was some-
times necessary to cut away a few roots at the entrance. Liside, the cavity was invariably of very large
size, because we could plainly hear the dog advancing several yards before commencing his scuflle with
the occupant ; and on i-eturning with the bird in his mouth, he always emerged head foremost, thus
proving that the chamber was large enough to enable him to turn himself round. Before he had
become accustom,ed to the work, the dog was often punished severely by the bird's powerful beak and
claws ; but he ultimately became quite an exjsert, always seizing his prey by the head and crushing
the skull.

" The holes or abodes of the Kakapo were not only on the mountain sides, but also on the flats
near the river banks which are liable to be overflowed. There can be no doubt that when a sudden
inundation takes jolace the bird can save itself upon a bush or neighbouring tree. I do not think,
however, that it can climb the boles of standing trees, because it never resorted to them during the
night or when persecuted by the dog — except in one single case, when the bird ascended a leaning
tree close to our camp, and remained till the dog had given up the attempt to obtain it. But, not-
withstanding that almost all the abodes that came under examination were natural cavities, I met with
one hole that seemed to have been regularly mined. On the northern bank of the river Haast, just
below the junction of the river Clarke, a lai'ge flat occurs, formed by dejiosits of sand, over which a
thin layer of vegetable mould is sjjread, and on which a luxuriant vegetation has sprung up. Tlie

THE STliAJUlIT-BILLED PARROTS. Sly

river, in wasliing against these deposits, has in some cases formed nearly jieiiiendieuhir bunks, about
six to eiglit feet high. At one spot, about two feet below the sui-face, several rounded holes were
■ il .served, and the dog tried in vain to enter them. After carefully scenting the ground, he began to
scratch the surface with his paws, and soon succeeded in widening the entrance sufficiently to admit
liis body, and he immediately afterwards emerged with the bii-d in his month. There is no doubt in
my own mind that tliis hole at least had been excavated ; and the burrowing fitculty of the bird may
be considered so far established. On a flat in the valley of the Makarora, the dog brought one fi'om
the interior of a hollow drift-tree, which was lying amongst sedges and gi-asses in an old river channel.
There never was nioi-e than one individual in the hole, although very often, within twenty or tliirty
\ iirds of it, another .specimen would be scented out by the dog, the two being generally of opposite
sexes. At night-time, in visiting our camp fire, they generally came in pairs, the two being succe.s-
sively caught by my dog, a single or sometimes a repeated angry growl from the bii-d informing us
that he had hold of it. These circumstances lead me to conclude that during the day each inhabits
sepai-ately its own hole, and that only after dark do they meet for feeding and for social intercourse."

In size, the Owl Parrot is about twenty-six inches in length, and is of a dark sap-green colour,
varied and mottled with dark brown and yellow ; the face is lighter, being dai-ker brown, the ear-
coverts mixeil with yellow ; the belly and \nuler tail-coverts, as well as the wing-lining, are rather
lirighter yellow than the rest of the under surface. The tint of green varies a good deal : from light
yellowish to dark sap-green.

THE STRAIGHT-BILLED P\RROTS {PsMiici ortlwffiml'ii) *

In this second section of the Paiiots only one family is kno^vTI, all the membeis of which are
oasil} lecognisable bv then stiaightened bills, the lowei mandible being gently conijnessed, and not

bulged out, with a nearly stiaight tip, the cutting edges wjth scarcely any indentation. With the
exception of the Lorikeets (Loi iculus), membeis of which aie found in India and the Indo-Malayan
region, the whole family is Australian, being confined to that continent and the adjacent Molucca
Islands, New Zealand, and the Lslands of Polynesia.

* op^ds, struiglit ; yvaGos, jaw.

JSATURAL JlL-iToHr.

THE BEUSH-TONGUED PARROTS.*
The Bnish-tongued Lorikeets are all birds of very beautiful colouring, and are mostly found
in Australia, the Moluccas, some few species extending through the Oceanic Islands. All seem
to be very similar in their hal)its, an account of which is given by Mr. Gould. He says:— "This
arboreal group of honey-eating Lorikeets, if not so numerous in species as the seed-feeding Parrakeets,
is individually as abundant, and more universally dispersed, being found in every part of Austi-alia
yet visited. In their structure, habits, food, and mode of nidification, no two groups of the same
family can be more widely diSerent than these forms : the pencilled tongue, the diminutive stomach,
thick skin, tough flesh, and foetid odour of the Tric/wt/lossi j)resenting a decided contrast to the simple
tongue, caj)acions crop and stomach, thin skin, delicate flesh, and freedom from odour of the Plati/cerci :
besides which, the Trlchorjlossi possess a strong on furcatormm, whicli_bone is wanting in the F/afijcerci.
Hence, while the TrichoyJossl are powerful, swift, and arrow-like in their flight, the Plati/cerci arc
feeble, pass through the air in a succession of undulations near the ground, and never fly to any great
distance. The mode in which the two groups approach, alight upon, and quit the trees is also remark-
ably different — the Trichoglossi dashing among and alighting upon the branches simultaneously and
with the utmost rapidity, and quitting them in like manner, leaving the deafening sound of their
thousand voices echoing through the woods ; while the PlaPgcerci rise to the branch after their
imdulating flight, and leave them again in a quiet manner, no sound being heard but their inward
pilling note. The eggs of the Trichoglossi are from two to four in number ; those of the others are
more numerous."

THE NE8T0ES (Kcstoi-).
These Parrots, which are only found in New Zealand, are generally placed with the other Brush-
tongued Parrots. '• In all Parrots the fleshy tongue ends anteriorly in a dilated portion, sujiported by a
narrower neck. This tip is much like the end of a human finger, as mentioned by most observers ; and
its function is similar also, for it is employed by the bird as a thii-d prehensile organ \\\ connection with
the upper and lower beak, any solid substance being held by the tongue and upper beak, while the
mandible is freed to give another bite. Continuing the simile of the finger, the tip is
dnected foiwaids with the nail-like portion downwards, the part corresponding to the
flee edf^e of the nail appearing along the lower margin of the anterior rounded surface.t
111 tli( /// / //.'.«/. tliis 'nail,' or horny plate, is stated to be present; but on the
su|i 11(11 SI itu .if \\\i- tongue, between the lateral edges of the unguis, or nail, there is
in 111 111^ iiiLiU of ntroveited papillte, forming a s])inous covering, and their mechanism
IS suoh that ^\hen the tongue is ]irotruded beyond the mouth to grasp any oljject, the
pilla stand u]iright, or are e\"en directed somewhat forward. In Nestor," continues
Piofessoi Gaiiod, "there are no papill* of this description; but the tongiie is here, as
Di Bullei says, ' soft, rounded on the edges, with a broad central gi-oove," and it is as
smooth as ni other Parrots. Therefore, the Kaka Parrot cannot in this point be said to
appioach the Tric/wr/lossini (badly so called). The peculiarity of the tongue of Xestor
consists m the fact that the interior edge of the unguis, or nail, always free (tliough for
a very short distance) and jagged in the other birds of the class, is here prolonged
forwards beyond the tips of the tongue for about one-tenth of an inch, as a delicate fringe of hairs
with a crescentic contour. In the living bird the mouth is moist, as in the Lories, and not, as in the
Cockatoos and others, dry and scaly."

The members of the genus JS'estor are entirely confined to New Zealand, the species of Philip
Island. (A^'e.sf or productus) being now extinct. Their habits, like those of all New Zealand birds,
are siiffieiently curious, one of tliem, kn-.wii as the " Kea " (.A', notuhilis), actually feeding on raw flesh,
as is noticed by Dr. Buller : — " Those that fi-./qucut the sheep stations appear to live almost exclusively
on fiesli. They claim the sheep's heads that are thrown out from the slaughter-shed, and pick theiu
perfectly clean, leaving nothing but the bones." An eye-witness described this operation to Dr.
Hector as follows :— " Perching itself on the slieep's head or other offal, the bird proceeds to tear ofT
* Trichoglossi. t Professor Garroil in Proceedings of the Zoological Society for 1S72, p. 7S7.

THE KARA I'ARROT.

the skin and flesli, devoaring it pieceiiieal, after the manner of a Hawk; or at otlicr times iiolding
the object down with one foot, and with the other grasping the portion it was eating, after the ordinary
fasiiion of I'arrots." Dr. Buller also mentions instances of tame Parrots devouring their comrades ia
captivity; but the Kea is the only Parrot known to eat Hesh when flying wild.

THE KAKA TAKROT {Ncdoi- nurUltumdis).
This Parrot is best described by the above-named ornithologist in the work on the Birds of New
Zealand, to which frequent reference has been made in these |)ages : — " Sprightly in its actions,
eminently social, and more
noisy than any other in-
habitant of the woods, the
Kaka holds a prominent
place among our native
birds. Being semi-noc-
turnal in its habits, it
generally remains quiet
and concealed during the
heat of the daj^. If, how-
ever, the sportsman should
happen to tind a stray one,
and to wound instead of
killing it, its cries of dis-
tress will immediately
rouse the whole fraternity
from their slumbers, and
all the Kakas within
hearing will come to the
rescue, and make the
forest echo with their dis
cordant screams. Unless,
however, disturbed by
some exciting cause of
this sort, they remain in
close cover till the ap-
)iroach of the cooler hours.
Then they come forth with
noisy clamour, and may be
seen, far above the tree-
tops, winging their way
to some favourite feeding-
place; or they may be
observed climbing up the kaka paurot..

rough vine-clad boles of

the ti'ees, freely using their powerful mandibles, and assinning every variety of attitude, or diligently
tearing open the dead roots of the close epiphytic vegetation in their eager search for insects and
their larvje. In the spring and summer, when the woods are full of wild blossom and berry, these
bii-ds have a prodigality of food, and may be seen alternately filling their crojjs with a variety of juicy
berries, or sucking nectar from the crimson flowers of the rata (Metrosideros robusta) hy means of their
brush-fringed tongues. "With the earliest streaks of dawn, and while the underwoods are still wrapped
in darkness, the wild ciy of this bird breaks upon the ear with a strange eflf'ect. It is the sound that
wakes the weary traveller encamped in the bush ; and the announcement of his ever active Maori
attendant — ' Kua tangi te Kaka' — is an intimation that it is time to be active. But although
habitually recluse during the day, it is not always so.

322 NATUMAL MIHTOJii:

" During gloomy weather it is often very active ; and sometimes even in the bright sunshine a
score of them may be seen together, flying and circling about high above the ti-ee-tops, uttering their
loud screams, and apparently bent on convivial amusement. When the shades of evening bring a
deeper gloom into the depths of the forest, and all sounds are hushed, save the low hoot of the waking
Morepork, or the occasional cheep-cheep of the startled Robin, the Kaka becomes more animated. It
may then be heard calling to its fellows in a harsh rasping note, something like the syllables ' t-chrut,
t-chrut,' or indulging in a clear musical whistle with a sliort refrain. It is strictly arboreal in its habits,
and sxibsists to a large extent on insects and their larvse, so that it is probably one of our most useful
species. Where they exist in large numbers they must act very beneficially on the timber forests ; for
in the domain of Nature important results are often pi'oduced by apparently trivial agencies. Like all
the honey-eaters, while supplying their own wants, they do good service with their brush tongues liy
fertilising the blossoms of various ti-ees, and thus assisting in their propagation ; while, on the other
hand, the diligent .search they prosecute for insects and grubs, and the countless numbers daily
consumed by each individual, must materially affect the economy of the native woods. On this
latter point Mr. Potts has furnished the following valuable note : — ' Although so often accused of
injuring trees by stripping down the bark, from careful observation we do not believe a flourishing
tree is ever damaged by its beak. It is the apparently vigorous, but really unsound, tree that is
attacked, already doomed by the presence of countless multitudes of insects of many varieties, of
which it is at once the food and refuge, either in their perfect or lai-val state. In the persevering
and laborious pursuit of this favourite food, the Kaka doubtless lends his assistance in hastening
the f^lll of decaying ti-ees ; the loo.sened strips of bark dissevered admit to the exposed wood rain
and moisture collected from dews and mists, to be dried by evaporation by the heat of the sun,
by the desiccating winds, only to become saturated again. Under this alternation the insidious
fungi take root, decay rapidly sets in, the close-grained timber gives place to a soft spongy texture,
branches drop oB', and gi'adually the once noble-looking tree succumbs to its fate ; but its gi'adual
decay and fall, the work of years, has proved beneficial to the surrounding plants : the dropping,
of the branches admits light and ail- to the aspiring saplings, assists in checking the undue spread
of lichens and ei)iphytes ; and when the old stem falls, tottering down from its very rottenness,
its place is sup))lied by vigorous successors.'

" In estimating the value of the labours of the Kaka as an insect-eater, it should not be for-
gotten that the family of Woodpeckers is entirely absent from our bird-fauna, and that upon this
indefatigable climber devolves some .share of the duty of representing that peculiar group of
forest bii'ds. How diligently the insects are sought for by the Kaka may be judged from the
heaps of bark chips that lie beneath the decaying trees. Often it may be noticed on the ground
tearing away the mossy clothing of the huge gnarled roots that spread around ; even the soft
rotten boughs are gnawed to obtain the larvte of some of the larger bush insects."

The Nestors vary immensely in colour, so that many of the plumages now known to be only
occasional varieties have been supposed to be specifically distinct. They are birds of large size, and
have the cere, or fleshy portion at the base of the bill, rather strongly developed, the bill being large
and powerful. The colour is of an olivaceous brown, with a dash of dark red, the crown grey, and the
ear-coverts shaded with orange, the cheeks with dark led, as also are the lower back, rump, and
upper tail-covei-ts and abdomen.

The structure of the bill of the Parrots is so remarkable as to be worthy of a more extended
descrij)tion than could be given to it when it was incidentally referred to in our account of the
osteology of bii-ds in general. The way, however, in which the upper and lower jaws are con-
nected with tlie skull was there explained, and a reference to the description on pp. 241-2 will
save the necessity of much repetition now. That account embraced all members of the class of
bii-ds ; here we are dealing only with certain peculiar modifications.

If the skull of an adult bird of any familiar type, such as a Crow, be examined, it will be seen
that the bones of the upj>er jaw are apparently continuous, and form one piece, with those of
the forehead and sides of the liead. There is nothing that looks like a joint, or "articulation,"
between the bill where it is attached to the forehead above, or to the long jugal arch ( " quadrato-
jugal "J that runs each side to reach the quadrate bone, or to the flattened bones that help to

THE VlCKOOS. 32,'i

form the palate below. But if the skull of this same bird liad been carefully examined in an earlier
stage of its existence, it would have been found that tlie bones were at first distinctly separate at
the three points here indicated, and were merely connected by a soft membranous substance. In many
birds thi.s " inter-osseous " membrane connecting the bones of the upper mandible with the skull
proper never becomes true bone at all, but remains throughout life more or less soft and flexible.
And by this means a sort of elastic joint is established, conferring upon the beak a certain range
of up and down motion.

Now in Parrots, more conspicuously than in any other birds, each of these joints, not alone that
of the beak with the forehead, is converted into a true hinge-like articulation, so that the upper
jaw can be raised to a very consiclerable extent ; and to efl'ect
this motion the muscles of. the palate are developed into a some-
what complex apparatus.

If the figure be examined, the actual relations of tlie bones
can be readily made out. At a is seen the line where tlie bill
is ai-ticulated to tlie fi'ontal bones. At b is tlie joint wliieh the
bill makes with the long jugal bone (j). And at c is its articula-
tion with the palatine bone {pi).

But it is not this mobility of the upper mandible alone that
uives the characteristic aspect to the Parrot's face. There are

f . . , SKILL OF THE GUEV PAKHOT.

sf\eral other points ui which Parrots agree, with a wonderful

uniformity, among themselves, and differ from most other birds. Besides the absence of certain impor-
tant proces.ses, called " basi-pterygoid," the ploughshare-like bone, or " vomer," is altogether wanting.
Tlie maxillo-palatines are very largely developed and spongy ; they unite with one another in the
middle line, and with the thick wall of bone into which the sej>tu7H >Msi is in Parrots strongly
ossified, and thus fill up almost the wliole base of the beak. The long palatine bones proper are
remarkably flattened from side to side for most of their length ; their hinder edges are more or
less notched, and quite free from any bony attachment ; and they are united at about the hinder
third of their length by a plate-like exten.sion from each. The scoop-like lowei- mandible, with
its tip that seems to have been cut ofl" " square," to be out of the way of the sti-ongl3'-hooked upper
jaw, is too familiar to call for any particular description.

THE SECOND ORDER.— PICARIAN BIRDS. SUB-ORDER I.— ZYGODACTYLY.
CHAPTER VIII.

CUCKOOS HONEY GUIDES PLAINTAIN-EATERS WOODPECKERS TOUCANS BARBETS.

THE CUCKOOS— The Bdsh Cuckoos— The Lark-heeled Cuckoos, ok Codcals— The Common Cuckoo- Its Cha-
racteristics—Mrs. Blackburn's Account of a Young Cuckoo Ejecting a Tenant— Breeding Habits— The Eggs— The
Call-notes of Male and Female -Food— Its Winter Home— Its Appearance and riumage— THE HONEY GUIDES—
Kirk's Account of their Habits— Mrs. Barber's Refutation of a Calumny against the Bird- THE PLANTAIN-
EATERS -The WHiTE-CKE.STEn Plaintain-eateb— The Grev Pl.^ntain-eater— The Colies— The ■White-backed
CoLV— TEE WOODPECKERS-How they Climb and Descend Trees— Their Bill- Do they Damage Sound Trees?—

The Wrynecks— The Yaffle— The Red-heahed Woodpecker The Spotted Woodpecker— THE TOUCANS

—Mr. Gould's Account of their Habits— Mr. Waterton's Account— The Enormous Bill— Azara's Description of the
Bij-d- Mr. Bates' History of a Tame Toucan-THE BARBETS— Messrs. Marshall's Account of the Family— Mr.
Layard on their Habits.

THE SECOND ORDER OF ZYGODAOTYLE PICARIAN BIRDS.-THE CUCKOOS (C««(/,Vte).

Within the limits of this fiimily are comprised birds of very diflerent habits and of verv different

.structure, some being inhabitants of the ground and of the thick bush, whilst others are lovers of

the open, and are birds of vei'v strong flight. Without being able to climb up the trunks of trees,

37*

524 NATURAL HUSTO&Y.

like our Woodpeckers, the Cuckoos possess the zygodactyle foot of the climbing bird in a very pei-fect
degree. They differ from others of the Scaiisorial group by the position of the nostrils, which are
placed rather low in the upper mandible, not far from the cutting edge of it. There are three sub-
families of Cuckoos, distinguished by the form of the wing : the first of these has the wings short,
rounded, and with from two to six, or even seven, of the primaries slightly indented in the middle.
They have the feathers of the thigh close-set, and not over-hanging like those of a Hawk, as is the case
with the true Cuckoos.

THE BUSH CUCKOOS (Plueiiicophaina).
These birds have representatives in India, Australia, and Africa, and even South America. Some
of them are of very varied and beautiful plumages, and many of them reacU the size of a moderate
game-bird. The first genus of these Bush Cuckoos conUins

THE LARK-HEELED CUCKOOS, OK COUCALS [Ceiitropus).
These are remarkable for the form of the hind toe, which is furnished with a straight nail or claw,
very sti-ong, always equalling and often surpassing the length of the hind toe itself. These Lark-
heeled Cuckoos do not occur in Europe, but are found all over Africa, India, and Burmah, to Chhia,
and throughout the Malayan Archipelago to Australia. They frequent the thick bush, and have a
very similar call-note, which has been rendered by some observers as resembling the syllables " Imj)
hop," while ou the West Coast of Africa, from their cry " hoot, hoot," they have been nicknamed by
the colonists the "Scotchman." Writing of the Eyebrowed Lark-heel, Mr. Thomas Ayres says :—
'•This bird frequents the dense bush, and principally \i\es amongst impenetrable creepers, where
it hunts about in search of the insects which it feeds upon ; if disturbed, it flies but a short distance.
The note is a loud, melancholy, cooing noise ; they call most in wet weather. They are fond of
getting up into trees that are covered with creeping plants, and sunning themselves ; they generally
fly on to the lower part, and then gradually hop upwards till they gain the top, but they can fly a
very shoi-t distance at a time, and are easily caught if chased out into the open grass, though
they lie very close, and it requires a good dog to find them. If disturbed, they immediately fly to
the thickest cover near at hand, and commence running, like the Rails." Mr. Ayres says that they
feed on Grasshoppers, Caterpillars, and other insects; but Mr. Rickard, another excellent field naturalist,
in South Africa lias found a small Snake and Locusts in their stomachs, one having a small bird —
a White- eye (Zosterops) — inside him. The Lark-heeled Cuckoos are not jiarasitic, like the true Cuckoos
and many others: that is to say, they build their own nests, and do not employ the nests of other birds
to place their eggs in. When hatched, the young birds are very cui-ious, being covered with long hairs
and bristles. In colour the Lark-heels are foi- the most part rufous, with black heads, but some of
them are almost entirely rufous, the shafts of all the feathers much stiffened, so that the phimage lies
very close, which must be of advantage to birds who have to climb a great deal amongst the lianas
and creepers of tropical forests.

Of the Indian C'oucal (Centroptts bengaleiisis) an interesting account is given by Mr. Gammie,
which affords a very good idea of the habits of these Bush Cuckoos. He says : — " This species has
increased largely of late. Among grassy scrub, up to 3, .500 feet, it is now abundant, where, only a few
years ago, it was rarely to be found. In the earlier part of the rainy season its odd, monotonous
notes are to be heard in every direction. I am not sure that the male calls, but have shot the
female — as I found by dissection — when calling. It has a call of a double series of notes :
' ivhoot, whoot, whoot, whoot ;' then, after a pause of four or five seconds, ' karook, kurook, kurook,
kurook.' The 'whoot' is quite ventriloquistic, sounding as if it came from a distance of six or
seven yards from the bird. Before calling, it seats itself about five feet from the ground ; then
you see it draw its neck and body together, slightly puffing out its body-featlu rs, iMisini; ils hack,
and depressing its tail, and for every 'whoot' there is a violent throb of the b(.(l\. a:, if tin' liird
was ill great pain; at the same time the motion of the throat is scarcely perceptil)le, and its bill
is closed. Then, as if greatly relieved, it stretches itself out, the feathers fall smooth, and with open
moutli and tlu'obljing throat comes the 'kurook,' without the slightest attempt at ventriloquism.
When searching for the caller, one must take no notice of the ' whoot,' but wait for the ' kurook.'

THE COM.UOX CrcKiilJ. 325

It feeds almost entirely on Grasshoi>i>ei'S, and freqiients the open, scrubby tracts only. I have never
once seen it in larger forests. "*

The Malkohas are another remarkable group of the Bush Cuckoos, and are found throughout
India, Ceylon, the Indo-Malayan region and islands, as far as tlie Celebes. The genera differ princi-
pally in the shape of the nostril ; and although difl'erences of structure are usually considered
sufficient characters on which to found distinctions of genus, some ornithologists are of opinion
that the variation in the form of the nostril only separates them as species. One of the most
remarkable of these Bush Cuckoos is the Carpococcyx radiatus of Borneo, which, when alive, is
stated by Mr. Wallace to resemble a Pheasant in appearance and gait. It lives much on the ground,
and is often caught by the Malays in the snares which they set for Argus Pheasants and other game-
birds. In Madagascar they are represented by the Couas (Sericosomus), of which there are no less
than ten species found in that island. They are the inhabitants of the Palestrina forests, where their
monotonous notes are often heard. The cry of the Blue Cuckoo is said by Messrs. Pollen and Van Dam
to resemble the syllables cir-cir-eir, while that of the Crested Coua (S. crisiatus) is ioc-toc-toc. When
calling, the latter bird raises its crest and flaps its tail and wings. Its flight is difficult and generally
descending, and the bird never flaps its wings when it flies. It is ordinarily seen on the lower
branches of the trees, and loves to repose during the great heat of the day in the sheltered parts of
the trees, resting on the branches and puffing out its feathei's.

In America there are several allied forms of Bush Cuckoos, many of which frequent the ground,
one of the most interesting being the Geococcyx California nus, which is called the "Road-runner,"
and is a bird of such ^mwei-s of running that it is sometimes hunted on horseback and pursued with
hounds, a test of fleetness in which it is said often to make a longer race than its pursuers
anticipated.

THE COJIMON CUCKOO {Ciiadus mmms).

The true Cuckoos, of whicl/ the English bird is the type, differ from the Bush Cuckoos in
being more Accipitrine, or Hawk-like, ill their appearance, and having long thigh-feathers, like the
majority of the birds of prey. The nostril is swollen and rounded. It would be easy to write a
complete book on this mysterious bird, whose habits and cry have rendered it an object of interest
in all countries and from very early times. The popular superstition concerning the nestling —
that the young Cuckoo, when sufficiently grown, and having no further use for the little foster-
parent to whose care it owed its life and well-V)eing, used to devour the latter: — has often been
held up as an " awful example " to ungrateful children who become a burden and a shame to their
parents when they are unable to provide for them any longer. The idea of the young Cuckoo
devouring its protector is no doubt erroneous, and, as Brehm puts it, has arisen from the oft-
reciiiTing spectacle of a little Wren or a diminutive Gold-crest placing food in the wide-gaping
mouth of the young Cuckoo, which, indeed, without much stretch of the imagination, might swallow
it. In Mr. Gould's " Birds of Great Britain " there is a picture showing the denouement of the
young Cuckoo's story, when, still callow and blind, it is represented as disposing of some unfortunate
little Tree Pipits which were hatched along with it in the same nest. This incident was
sketched by Mrs. Hugh Blackburn, who thus describes the occurrence : — " The nest (which we
watched last June, after finding the Cuckoo's egg in it) was that of the common Meadow Pipit
(Titlark, Mosscheeper), and had two Pipit's eggs besides that of tlic- Cuckoo. It was below a
heather bush on the declivity of a low abrupt bank or highland liill-sidi-, in IMoidart. At one
visit the Pipits were found to be hatched, but not the Cuckoo. At the next visit, which was after
an interval of forty-eight hours, we found the young Cuckoo alone in the nest, and both the
young Pipits lying down the bank, about ten inches from the margin of the nest, but quite
lively after being warmed in the hand. They were replaced in the nest beside the Cuckoo,
which struggled about till it got its back under one of them, when it climbed backwai-ds directly
up the open side of the nest, and hitched the Pipit from its back on to the edge. It then stood
quite upright on its legs, which were straddled wide apart, with the claws firmly fixed half-way
down the inside of the nest among the interlacing fibres of which the nest was woven, and

♦ * " Stray Feathers," 1877, p. 383

"iO XAIUMAL MISTOIil'.

stretchLng its wings apart and backwards, it elbowed the Pipit fairly over the margin so far tliat its
struggles took it down the bank instead of back into the nest. After this the Cuckoo stood a minute
or two, feeling back with its wings, as if to make sure that the Pipit was fairly overboard, and
then subsided into the bottom of the nest. As it was getting late, and the Cuckoo did not imme-
diately set to work on the other nestling, I replaced the ejected one and went home. On returning
(lext day, both nestlings were found dead and cold out of the nest. I replaced one of them, but
the Cuckoo made no eftbrt to get under it and eject it, but seated itself contentedly on the top of it.
All this I find accords accurately with Jenner's description of what he saw. But what struck me
most was this : the Cuckoo was perfectly naked, without the vestige of a feather, or even a
hint of future feathers ; its eyes were not yet o])3ned, and its neck seemed too weak to support

■^ '^

the weight of its head. The Pipits had well-developed quills on the wings and back, and had bright
eyes, partially open ; yet they seemed quite helpless under the manipulations of the Cuckoo, which
looked a much less developed creature. The Cuckoo's legs, however, seemed very muscular, and it
appeared to feel about with its v^angs, which were absolutely featherless, as with hands ; the spurious
wing (unusually large in proportion) looked like a spread-out thumb. The most singular thing of all
was the direct pui-jjose with which the blind little monster made for the open side of the nest, the only
part where it could throw its bui-den down the bank. I think all the spectators felt the sort of horror
and awe at the appai-ent inadequacy of the creature's intelligence to its acts that one might have felt
at seeuig a toothless hag raise a ghost by an incantation. It was horribly ' uncanny ' and
' gruesome ! ' "

The above account of Mrs. Blackburn's .graphically describes the ejection of its foster-brothers
and sisters by the nestling Cuckoo ; and this brings us to the next part of the subject, viz., the breeding
habits of this curious bird. As is well known of the hen bird, it never makes its own nest, but it is
believed that during its stay in Europe it lays altogether about eight eggs, all of which are deposited

riiE roj/Jioy crcKoo. 327

in tlie nest of some otlier bird. The variation in the coh)ur of the Cufkoo's eggs is very great,
from a wliite speckled egg, like that of the Water Wagtail, or the dark brown mottled egg of a
Lark or Pipit, to the l)lue egg of the Hedge Sparrow ; while Mr. Dresser states that he has seen
even green eggs, and is of opinion that the same female will lay similarly coloured eggs. The re-
searches of ornithologists during recent years sufficiently prove that the female Cuckoo lays her egg
upon the ground, and then deposits it in the nest of a bird whose egg resembles the one she has just
laid ; hence it is pi-obable that a hen Cuckoo killed with a broken egg in its mouth is the rightful
owner of the Latter, and has not been sucking the eggs of some other bird, as the species is often
supposed to do. The writer has on many occasions found Cuckoos' eggs in the nest of the Water
Wagtail in Berkshire, the latter bird being frequently selected by the Cuckoo as her victim ; and he
can affirm that the eggs were in all cases similar to those of the Wagtail, but were a little larger in
size. In due time the young Cuckoo is hatched, the rightful owners of the nest ejected, and for week.s
the powers of the unhappy foster-parents are exercised to the utmost in feeding the gaping and
constantly-complaining occui)ant of their domain. Even when the young Cuckoo has outgrown the
nest, and is strong enough to fly about, he is still attended by his foster-pSirents. So great is the
instinct of the young Cuckoo to receive food from other birds, that a specimen in the Zoological
Gardens which managed to live through the winter and put on his full plumage in the following
spring, on the appearance of a Hedge Sparrow in the same aviary, fluttered down, and with drooping
wings and open bill solicited food from his small companion.

The reason for the parasitic habits of the Cuckoo is hard to discover, but it appears pi'obable that
tlie number of males greatly exceeds that of the females, and one observer has calculated that the
preponderance of the former sex over the latter is as much as twenty-tive to one. This would seem to
lie too large an estimate, but the jiroportion is probably about five males to one female. The latter
inay not only be distinguished by its somewhat darker plumage, and a certain red colour on the chest
(which is more apparent when the bird is alive), but has a somewhat different note from that of her
mate, and calls cuckoo in a much sharper and less emphasised way than the male bird. Thus, if
the call of the female be represented by the syllables cuck-00, the responsive utterance of the male
would be coo-coo. The female has also anotlier call-note, which may be described as " whittling," and
is well exjiressed by Brehm as kwikimkwik, the sound of which is quite sufficient to set all the male
Cuckoos within hearing cuckooing with might and main. Thus it hajipened to the writer, on a still,
iiuiet evening in spring a few years ago, to be fishing beneath a large elm-tree on the river Thames,
v\hen a female Cuckoo flew into the topmost boughs and uttered her peculiar note. From four
(iiti'erent points of the compass she was answered by male birds, who one and all directed their flight
toward the tree where she was perched. A tremendous scrimmage ensued, and ajiparently a fight took
jilace, but, being suddenly alarmed, they all took flight in difterent directions. It is certain that during
the breeding season the Cuckoo is a very passionate bird, and loves to call until, from sheer hoarseness,
he is obliged to .stop ; sometimes his cry conies from the middle of a thickly-wooded tveej at other times
he will sit on a bai-e dead branch, or swing in the breeze from the top of a fir-tree. The female bird
is more retiring and keeps nearer the ground, so that it is possible to shoot her by hiding behind a
tree as she hunts after insects near one of their favourite haunts. The same jjlurality of males ha.s
been obsei-ved by the author during the spring at Avington Park, in Hampshire ; and on one occasion,
when the female was shot, the note of the males was scarcely heard again, as if they had disappeared
from the vicinity.

Brehm remarks :* "The note itself, and the manner in which it is emitted, are typical of the bird's
habits and character. The same abruptness, insatiability, eagerness, the same rage, are noticeable in
its whole conduct. The Cuckoo is a greedy feeder, and a discontented, ill-conditioned, passionate
fellow : in shoi-t, a decidedly unamiable bird. Its food consists entirely of insects and their lar\a; ;
young Cuckoos, alone, will sometimes eat berries ; Cockchafei-s, Fern-beetles, Moths, and Dragon-flies
are fav9urite morsels, and Caterpillars (especially the hairy species, which no other birds ever
devour) being preferred. The hairs of these creatures cling so clo.se to the inner membranes of the
stomach that the use of the magnifying glass is necessary to convince one that tliey do not form part
and parcel of that organ. Its keen sight enables the Cuckoo to see Caterpillars from a great distance,

* "BUa-life,")). 595.

328 NATl'ItAL HISTORY.

when it flies (jiiickly to tlie spot, seizes them, and retiirns to its perch, without spending much time
over the operation or climbing about after tliem. The bird is so constantly on tlie move that it
always manages to obtain sufficient food — which is saying a great deal, for its stomach is large and its
powers of digestion almost unlimited.' Thus it would be a most useful bird, did it not cause so nmch
damage while breeding."

The Cuckoo resembles a Hawk so much in flight that even a practised eye sometimes fails to
distinguish it from a Kestiel at first sight. There is, however, a certain jjointed look about the body

GREAT SPOTTED CUCKOO.

of the bird which distinguishes it from a Hawk; if near enough, the flat, obtuse head of the latter
making the bird appear as if it had no head at all.

Lastly, one word as to the winter home of the Cuckoo. It is always known in England as the
" harbinger of .spring," and with the exception of the Swift, who veiy rarely makes a mistake in the
period of his advent, there is no bii-d whose ai-rival may be considered so certain a sign of that genial
season of the year. Just as the Swifts, however, sometimes come in for some cold weather, which
proves fatal to many of them, so the Cuckoos have been known to have been detained by cold
winds in the south of England, where they have remained in flocks until the weather was more
seasonable and they could distribute themselves over the country. They are seldom heard of in the
height of summer; and, as the old rhyme says, " in June he changes his tune, in August go he must."
And it seems certain that this bird leaves England early in that month, but not entirely, as young
birds— perhaps the later offspring— are seen as late as September. The old ones arrive in Egypt on
their way south before the young birds, which are somewhat later ; and in Berkshire the writer shot
three young Cuckoos during the first week in August, a few years ago, out of a flock of birds on
migration, which, like himself, had apparently taken shelter under a wood from an approaching
thunderstorm. These specimens are now in the Bi-itish Museum, and are of slightly different ages.

Tlie Cuckoo iis a well-known bird at the Cape of (Jootl Hope durin;;- the English winter, and specimens
are in the national collection. It is much rarer on the west coast of Africa, but was shot by Covernor
Ussher near Cape Coast Castle, evidently on migration. Tiie main route of the birds visiting the
Cape in winter is, however, evidently down tlie Nile Valley and along the east coast to the Cape
Colony and South Africa generally. A second line of migration extends to India, and it probably
goes further, and has been found in tlie island of Celebes. In Asia, however, and Australia, there are
several .species of Cuckoo, very like the English bird, but smaller and differing in voice, which have
not been sufficiently studied to enable one to say whether they are actually distinct or not.

The Cuckoo when adult is ashy-grey, with a white breast, barred across with narrow lines of
greyish-black ; the tail is long, barred with white on the outer feathers, and spotted with white on the
centre ones ; the bill is black, with a little yellow at the gape and at the base of the lower mandible ;
the feet and the eye are yellow ; the length of the bird is about thiiteen inches. The female is a
trifle smaller, and has the chest slightly tinged with rufous. The young bird is quite different, being
blackish, mottled with yellow and grey, and having a good deal of white ahout the hind neck. Rarely
in England, but more often on the Continent, the Cuckoo is rod instead of grey, and this is called
the "hepatic" phimage. It is found ahso in Owls, Goatsucker.s, and a few other birds, and exists
in almost all the true Cuckoos.

THE THIKD FAMILY OF THE ZYGODACTYLE PICARIAN BIRDS.
THE HONEY GUIDES [Indicatoruht).

These constitute a small family of Scansorial birds allied to the Cuckoos, and, like the latter, they
are parasitic, and lay their eggs in other birds' nests. Eleven species are known, of which eight are
peculiar to Africa, one is found in the Himalaya Mountains, one in the Malayan Peninsula, and one
in Borneo. The Asiatic members ,-=r».

of the group are extremely rare, and ,.

our knowledge of the habits of these , ^.^^ v^^^M ^''\^^^^

birds is derived from a study of the . ' ^ ^~\ ' B^^^^~ ^

African sjiecies : so that it is not J^^g/B^ i^ fffl*^%A-r^\>

yet known whether the Asiatic
Honey Guides deserve the name of
Indicator, which is applied to the
birds on account of their being
" indicators," or " pointers out," of
Bees' nests containing honey. Dr.
Kirk thus described their habits in
the Zambesi district : — " The Honey
Guide is found in forests, and often
far from water, even during the
dry season. On observing a man,
it comes fluttering from branch to
branch in the neighbouring trees,
calling attention. If this be re-
sponded to — as the natives do by
whistling and starting to their feet
— the bird will go in a certain
direction, and remain at a little
distance, hopping from one tree to
another. On being followed, it

goes farther; and so it will guide the way to a nest of Bees. Whei
about, but no longer guides ; and then some knowledge is re(iuire(l t(
when pointed out to within a few trees. I have known this liinl, if tht
direction for a little, then turns away, come back and ofler to jioint out n
part. But if it does not know of two nests, it will remain behind. Tli

HONEl 01

this is reached, it flies
discover the nest, even
man, after taking up the
1 other nest in a different
difticultv is that it will

330 NATURAL MlSTORi:

point to tame Bees in a bark liive as readily as to tliose in the forest. This is natural, as the Bee
is the same ; the bark hive — ' Musinga,' as it is named — being simply fastened np in a tree, and left for
the Bees to come to. The object the bird has in view is clearly the young Bees. It will guide to nests
having no honey, and seems equally delighted if the comb containing the grubs be torn out, when it is
seen pecking at it." Many of the natives of Soutli Africa believe tliat the bird will occasionally guide
the traveller, through sheer malice, to a Leopard or an Elephant ; but on this point there seems some
little doubt, to judge from a letter of Mrs. Barber, an accomplished lady and good observer in South
Africa : — " What I wrote to you in a former letter is the opinion of many old bee-hunters in this pait
of the country, who have no faith in the popular belief that leading to the Leopard is done on ])urpose.
My nine brothers, who were all brought up in this country, were all of them great hunters, as well as
sportsmen ; and during all the years of their experience, while they were living at Tharfield, where
Bfes' nests were exceedingly plentiful, and where they were constantly in the habit of following these
lairds, ni\ ir onci' did the Honey Guide ever lead them purposely to any noxious animal. Many times,
in following tin- liinl through dense woods, have they started various kinds of creatures; but if they
did not ni'glect tlir bird for the purpose of hunting, she would continiie her flight towards the Bees'
nest, regardless of the startled animals. One of my brothers once, while following a Honey Guide
through a dense forest near the Kowie, passed directly through a drove of wild Pigs. They were,
of course, more fi'ightened than he was, and rushed about in every direction ; but my brother knowing
the popular belief, and wishing to test it, took not the slightest notice of the wild Pigs, but passed on,
keej)ing his eye on the bird, who went steadily on her way, until she arri\'ed at the nest she intended
to show, regardless of the Pigs. I have other reasons for not believing the story. Why should the
Honey Guide waste her time in leading people to Leopards, Jackals, Wolves, and so forth 1 These
creatures are not her natural enemies ; she would gain nothing by doing it — no advantage whatever ;
and I have ever found that in nature there is nothing done in vain, or in an empty, purposeless
manner. There is always a reason for the peculiar habits and actions of birds, and animals of all
kinds ; and thei'efore, why should a bird which does not even rear her own young, and has not the
care of a nest, fear or care abont these animals'? Why should. the Honey Guide, unlike all animals,
do this thing without any reason for doing it? And again, when the bird has arrived at the nest she
intends to show, there is an alteration in the notes of her voice. An old bee-hunter knows this in an
instant, and knows when he ought to commence searching for the nest. Now, this altei-ation never
takes place when animals of various kinds are startled in ))assing through the forest while following
the bird. Hence I conclude that she does not intend to show where these creatures are, or the
alteration in her voice would take place." Some of the Indicators are not of the same use in giuiling
to Bees' nests, and are consequently held in less repute. They are all birds of similar coloration, being
generally of a dull grey, tinged with yellow or olive, and they vary considerably in size, the larger
species, such as /. major and /. sparrmanni, measuring about eight inches in length ; while the smallest
species, /. exilis, from the Gaboon, does not exceed four inches. Although coming very close to the
Cuckoos in the natural classification, the small bill, the T,hick-set, stout plumage, and the nine primaries in
the wing, in addition to their peculiar habits, easily distinguish the Honey Guides as a separate family.

THE FOT'RTH FAJIILY OF THE ZYGODACTYLE PICAIUAN BIRDS.
THE PLANTAIN-EATERS I ifnsop/mffuf^).
These may be called a strictly Ethiopian family of birds, every .single member being fonnd in
Africa, and nowhere else. They have very much the apjiearance of game-birds, and are all remarkable
for their beautiful crests, which they are able to elevate or de]iress at will. Although belonging to
the Scansorial, or climbing birds, they do not always kee]) their toes in ))airs, but being of a lively
disi)osition they hop continually from bough to bough, and the outer toe is seen as often placed in front
with the others as it is directed backwai-ds along with the hind toe. With the exception of the Grey
Plantain-eaters, all the other species have beautiful red primaries ; and the writer was informed l)y
the late African traveller, Jules Verreaux, that the bird often gets caught in violent showers during
the rainy season, when the whole of this brilliant red colour in the wing-feathers gets washed out, and
the quills become pinky-white, and after two or three days the colour is renewed, and the wing
resumes its former beauty.

nil-: Wll IT y.-V RESTED VLAXTAIS-EA teu.

THE FIRST SUB-FAMILY

OF THE MU.SOI'HAGID.E.-
PLAXT.UX-EATEKS.

rUE MUSCtl'IIAGIN^E, OR TRUE

THE WHITE-CRESTED PLANTAIN-EATER [Cornth
This is perhaps the best known of the wliole family of these curi

UiphlKJtl).

birds, being the commonest

.s])oeies in South Africa, wliere it is plentiful in the foi-est districts of the Knysna, and the south coast
as far as Natal, and the wooded districts of the Eastern Transvaal. It is known by the name of the
Louri, or Lory, and the following brief account of its habits is given by Mr. Layard : * — " The
Plantain-eater feeds on fruits, and frequents the highest trees, rarely, if ever, descending to the ground,
over which it can, however, travel with great rapidity if brought down by a shot. The motions of

-W<k^j "M

IHITECKESIED PLAXTATX-EATEH.

tliis species are very gi-aceful and light, and performed with an ease and rapidity that delight the eye
of the beholder. Strange to say, though we inquired carefully, we never could obtain any
information respecting the nidification of this beautiful and common bird. Mr. Atniore, however,
states that the eggs are white ; but this must be from hearsay, as he writes : ' How difficult it is to
find these forest birds' nests ! The Lories are breeding now, but for the life of me I cannot find a
nest. The young ones go in troops, and are delicious eating ; the old ones in j)airs. We never shoot
specimens out of a troop except for the ])ot.' An old forester told him that the eggs were white, both
the latter and the nests being like those of Pigeons. Mr. Rickard says : ' I once found an egg in a
bird I shot at East London (January 27th) ; it was jntre white, and the size of a tame Pigeon's.'
Mr. Bowker writes : 'I once found a Louri's ne.st. It was just like a Dove's, built of sticks laid
liorizontally, and about the size of a large dinner-plate, placed about ten feet from tlie ground in the
centre of a round bush. The old bird flew out as I walked up. I found five young birds in the nest ;
they were almost full-grown, but their tails rather .short and stumpy, ci-e.st just showing, but I cannol
remember whether the red on the wing was showing or not. On my getting up to the nest tliey ali

* Sliaqie's edition of Layaril's "Birds of Sovitli .A.frica,'" p. 141.

S32 A^lTUJiAL MlVlUlti.

flew out, and were killed by my Dogs before I could come to the rescue. The bush was twenty or
thirty yards from tlie edge 'of a large forest, and I was rather surprised at this in'^t, ;is 1 had been told
they built in hollow trees.' " In size this species is about nineteen inches luii:^ ; thr i^ni.ial colour is
green, with a broad white tip to the feathers of the cre-st, the abdomen and vent arc lila'ki>li, the ijuills
biilliant carmine.

The false Touracoes, as Di-. Sclater calls them, do not possess the red colouring of the wings, but
ire for the most part of a uniform grey colour. The best known species is

THE GREY PLANTAIN-EATER {Schizorim concohr).
This is also found in South Africa, but in different districts to the White-crested Plantain-eatei-.
Where the range of the latter ceases that of the present bii-d begins, and it is found throughout the
Matabele country and the Transvaal as far as the Zambesi, and westwards through Damara Land to
Angola. Mr. Andersson writes : — " It is partial to localities abounding in large trees ; and when
prominently perched, with crest erect, it is not unlike a gigantic Coly. It also climbs and flies like
the Colies, which it strongly resembles in its general habits. It is usually found in small flocks, and
feeds on berries and seeds, es])ecially those of mistletoe and of other pai'asitical plants, and ahso on
fruits, young shoots, and insects. The Damaras call this species ' Ongoro-oroq\iena,' from the extra-
ordinary and almost human cry with which it frequently startles the traveller who is passing near its
I erch. It is sometimes very easy to ap))roach these birds, whilst at other times they are so shy that
they will defy the utmost exertions which may be made to obtain them. On January 5th, 1 867, I
obtained thi-ee eggs of this species, of a dull bluish-white coloui', at Omapja, from a boy, who told me
that the ne.st which contained them was composed of sticks roughly put together, and situated in a
tree at some distance from the gi-ound ; and on March 1st I met with a nest in Ondonga placed in a
Ci-ee, but at no great elevation, which also contained three eggs, much incubated." Dr. Exton, also,
who has been through the Matabele country, writes as follows : — " In travelling through the Bechuana
cuuntry one often comes upon a party of five or six of these birds, hiding from the mid-day heats
under the sheltered portions of dense foliage near the centre of a large tree. Whilst yet undisturbed,
the crest lies flat on the head, and can only be seen as a tuft projecting from the occiput. But their
first act on becoming aware of an intruder is to run along the branches, either to the summit of the
tree or to the extremity of a branch commanding a good look-out, where, with crest fully erected and
well thrown forward, they keep up a constant reiteration of their note. If but little alarmed they
move rapidly from branch to liranch, frequently jerking up the crest, and assuming an attitude of
attention. Again, after flight from one tree to another, on alighting, they first rest on a branch, with
the body somewhat horizontal and the tail drawn nearly to the perpendicular, as if assuring them-
elves of their equilibrium, and then raising the body, elongating their neck, and at the same time
elevating the crest, they seem to take an observation as to the security of their new position. So
much is this a habit of the bird, that during the conversational difiiculties of my earlier intercourse
with the Bechuanas, when inquiring for the nest of Schizorhis (the native name of which is
'Ma-quaai'), as soon as it dawned upon the mind of a native what bird I meant he has imitated
its note, accompanied by a siulden jerking up of the hand, with his fingers extended to the utmost,
as if at the same time to mimic the elevation of the crest. Dr. Sclater mentions that ''Mr. J. J.
Monteiro, speaking of the Grey False Touraco {S. concolor), as observed in Benguella, exj>ressly
states that the crest-feathers are always carried erect.' In my own experience, the observation of
Schizorhis was an every-day occun-ence ; and, as I have stated, when undisturbed (also when in
flight) very little of the crest is to be seen, but is invariably carried erect on the least alarm. I may
here mention a peculiar scream of S. concohr. I was one day walking along a low ridge of rocks,
from which I flushed an Owl — the common Bubo maculosus —that flew to some distance to a clump of
trees. Presently I heard an agonised scream, such as is made by a J'oung Anteloi)e when seized by a
Dog ; and so exact a repetition of the sound was it that even my Dogs wei-e deceived by it, and
rushed off in the direction whence it came. I also sent a Kaffir boy, and i)resently followed my.self,
when I discovered it was thn frightful scream of Schizorhis, of which a party were collected round
tlie Owl I had previously dist\iilied, and whose presence appeared to be the exciting cause. At a
later period I had a second opjiortunity of verifying this observation."

THE WUrm-IIACKED CULY.

THE SECOND SUB-FAMILY OF THE MUSOPHAGIDiE.— THE COLIIN^, OR COLIES.
Like the foregoing subfamily, the Colies ai-e confined to Africa. They have decided affinities with
the true Plantain-eaters, but are distinguished at a glance by their long tails, the feathers of which
are much pointed, and become smaller and narrower towards the outside of the tail. They are most
dexterous climbers, a.s wa.s well seen in the captive specimens of the Chestnut-backed Coly, which
were brought by Cameron from Angola, and lived for some time in the London Zoological Gardens.

THE WHITE-BACKED COLY {CoUus cnpensU).

The Colies are known in the Cape Colony by the name of Muisvogel, or Mouse-bird, and they
are not uncommon, ranging about in small families of from six to eight individuals. Mr.
Layard says that they fly with a rapid, though laboured flight, generally at a lower level
than the object at which they aim, and on nearing the latter they rise upwards with a sudden,
abrupt curve. They creep among the branches like Parrots, and hang suspended head downwards,
Avithout inconvenience ; and it is said that they invariably sleep in this position, many of them con-
gregated ill a ball. The nest was found by Mr. Andersson in Damara Land, between September and
December. It was placed in a small bush, and was composed externally of grass and twigs, lined
internally with softer grass, and the eggs were dull white, and, according to his observations, always
three in number. Mr. Andersson states that the bird " is gregarious in its habits, being found in
flocks by day, and also when roosting at night. Its flight is short and feeble, seldom extending
beyond the nearest bush or tree, on reaching which it usually perches on one of the lower branches,
and then gradually glides and creeps iipwards through the foliage, using both bill and feet for that
purpose. It is essentially a fruit-eating bird, but I believe when hard pressed for its regular food
it does not despise insects and the young shoots of plants. Its flesh is palatable." The Colies as a
rule are dull-coloured brown birds, but they have a long crest. The present species is perhaps the
handsomest, being ash-coloured, and having the lower back and ruin]i purple glossed with red, while a
white line, bordered on each side by a broad black one, extends from beneath the shoulders to the rump.
The 1)111 is bluish-white, and the feet bright red. The length of the bin! is thirteen or fourteen iuf^hes

XATVItAL UISTURY.

THE FIFTH FAillLY OF THE ZYGODACTYLE PICARIAN BIRDS.— THE WOODPECKERS (Picida).

These are perhaps the most typical of all the yoke-footed or climVjiiig birds, as they are most
expert climbers, being aided in the latter operation not only by theii- long toes, which are arranged
as usual in tliis order in pairs, but by their stiffened tail, which enables tliem to climb with great
rapidity up the perpendicular trunks of trees. If they wish to descend a little
way they do not turn and come down head-foremost, as a Nuthatch would do,
but they let themselves down by a few jerks, still keeping an oblique position,
with the tail downwards. The bill in almost fevery member of the family is
wedge-shaped, and veiy powerful, and with this organ a Woodpecker taps yigorously
at the bark, wliich he sometimes also prises off to get at the grubs or insects under-
neath. These latter, as they endeavour to escape, have little chance against the
intruder, who, in addition to the stout bill which discloses their place of conceal-
ment, possesses a peculiar tongue, which is capable of being protruded to a long
distance, is furnished with minute barbs at the end, and is covered with a glutinous
fluid from wliich the insects are unable to free themselves. Tlie Woodpeckers
nearly all procm-e then- food in the above manner, but occasionally frequent the
ground, and the Green Woodpecker (Gecinus * viridis) commits great ravages
among ant-hills. The resting-place is generally a hole excavated by the bird itself
in a hollow tree, and the eggs are white. Among the most aben-ant of the
Woodpecker famUy are the Wrynecks (li/nxf), of which one species is well kno^v^l
in England under the name of the "Cuckoo's mate." The Wrynecks are all birds of
beautiful mottled plumage, and do not have a stiffened tail like a true Woodpecker.
They are found in Europe,
in India,

North-Eastern and
1 Africa. Wood-
peckers, on the other hand,

Fig. 1. — "hyoid'

BONE OP ADVLT Southoi

FOWL.
(After W. K. Parfrer.) i i.-i- i • ii

irti comtc-hyais; iM) are extremely plentiful m the
S.6r™B«"i'hran?hVi?u''or Ncw World, aiid are distri-
ge^iierfmm'tlie TiiyrS buted all over Africa, Europe,
and Asia, but are not found in
the Australian region, no Woodpecker occurring
beyond the Island of Celebes in the Moluccas.

One great peculiarity in the anatomy of
the Woodpeckers is the structure of the tongue,
and its relation to the hyoid bone and its horns,
or cornua. (For a description of this part in
the Mammalia, see Vol. I., p. 168.) In Birds
the hyoid bone is a much more complex structure
than in the Mammalia. Besides foi-ming the
basis of the otherwise mainly muscular substance
of the tongue, it is continued backwards in most
birds as a double chain of bones, each pair of
which bears a separate name significant of its '"' poile nj i
importance ; and the whole is apparently quite ^""-''^
distinct from the skull above and from the

larynx below. Its composition in the common fowl is best rendered intelligible by reference to
tlie accompanying woodcut (Fig. 1). It represents the entire hyoid apparatus divested of all muscular
and other surroimding tissues. The upper part of the figure is that nearest to the tip of the tongue,
and the references to the lettering become clear in the course of the subsequent description.

Another woodcut (Fig. 2) shows a side view of a dissection of the head of the common Green Wood-

Fig-. 2. — SIDE VIEW OF DISSECTION OF
HEAD OF COMMON GKEEN WOODPECKER.

{Ha\f natural she. After Macailld-rai/.)
1 Lower M!iinin>les : (fl Barlii'd Tip of Tongue ;

Musele i
; (s.g.) Right Salivary lilaod ; (:
) Trachea; (r.)«.l Reti'actor Musclei

KigliC Oriti

f Tongue -v

lies of Neck

>l (Esnnbagu

* yfi, earth, anil ku'sm, I shake ;
t The classical Greek name, tto

iiling like the e.xclamation le, hence the verb liiia, I cry out.

^yAToMV ur THE nuunrKcKEn.

]ieckei- {Gecinm viridis), and a reference to the e.xpliuiation of the lettering ou it will give a general
iilea of the whole.

The tip of the tongne («) is a slender, flattened, horny point, bearing on its sides and upper sui-facc
a number of very delicate bristles, or prickles, dii'ected backwards, an arrangement eminently useful
to the bird for enabling it to extract its insect food from the recesses to which its beak, by reason of
its size and hardness, could not readily, nor with sufficient quickness, gain access. This tip is further
rendered a more efficient instrument for this purpose by its being constantly moistened by a very viscid
saliva secreted by two particularly large salivary glands (Figs. 2, 3, and i, s.y.) ; and it was long ago
remarked by Sir Clm-les Bell, in his essay on "The Hand" (Bridgewater Treatise, 1837), that the same
muscles that eflected the protrusion of the tongue exerted a simidtaneous pressure upon these glands,
.so that the first result of the muscular contraction is to lubricate the tongue, while the rest of its force
is spent in shooting it out with marvellous rapidity.

Behind this barbed and horny tip, the tongue is a slender worm-like body,
of which the core is the anterior prolongation of the hyoid bone. The fore-part of
this core, more like a bristle than a bone, is known to anatomists as the "glosso-
liyal," and it is immediately succeeded posteriorly 1)y the "cerato-hyal."*
Behind this is the "basi-hyal" (Fig. 1, b.h.), the last bone to enter into the
formation of the tongue proper. From this basi-hj'al springs the pair of bones
— the '' thyro-hyals" — which attain the remarkable degree of development for
which the birds now under consideration are distinguished. From each side
of the hinder portion, then, of this basi-hyal bone diverge these important
" thyro-hyals " (Fig. 1, c.br., e.hr.). They, in the Woodpeckers
(compare Fig. 3, th.h.\ extend outwards and backwards to pass
one on each side of the neck iintil they curl upwards and for-
wards, converging to meet one another on the upper part of
the back of the head ; thence they run along together, ploughing
themselves a fuiTOw in the skull-top till they reach almost to the
right nostril. Each of these curved and highly elastic bones
is surrounded by a delicate sheath, whose inner surface is kept
constantly moist and lubricated by its own secretion ; and this
sheath is attached to the bone of the skull at its junction with
the uj)per mandilile, as is shown in the accouij)anviug woodcut Fig. 4. — dissection op

,-p- 3 .. -HEAD or GREEK

V »■ ' '■ WOODPECKER VIEWED

Enclosed in the sheath here spoken of, and along the con- from below.
cavity of each bOne, is a muscle which has a fixed attachment to (After MacguliiT-ii/.)
the crura of the lower mandible on each side (Fig. 4, e.m., e.m.). '(',//;,;;y,V.^?''!";'i!'\'i,'),'!Tir,w
The contraction of this muscle shoots the tongue out in two J/l:',',';:\ v "''';'',t

difierent way.s. In the Green Woodpecker the extremities of ;/, ii, 'r!-!!-

Uacgittitraij., the thyro-liyal bones are themselves attached to the mandible, j'"i ' ^ i niui-

'Bomsl'm'romt'ui while the curvature of the bones makes a loop tliat hangs ;;;;'"; , ' ^:.v;>

^.i'.!saiiiar.v'(.iikndi' low down On each side of the neck (see Fig. 2, th.h.). As the t'i',''.i.

muscle is shortened tliis loop is raised up, and the free tip of the
tongue is consequently projected ; and since the muscle is on the inner, or concave, side of the cur^-e,
a very small shortening on its part makes a great addition to the apparent length of the tongue. Sir
Charles Bell elucidates this action by comparing the great effect on the curve of a fishing-rod's
flexible top that a small tightening of the line has. But while this is the case in many species,
there are others in which the sheath alone is attached to the bones of the iorehead, and the bones
themselves slide along inside together with the contracting fibres of the muscle, thus producing
the same result as was obtained in the other case by the loops hanging low down in the
neck.

* Compare Fig. 1, ch. ; this bone usually e.xists in .a pairetl comlition, but in WoaJpeckers .mil some other binls it
appears single by the confluence of its members In many birds the " basi-hyal '" is succeeded by the "uro-hyal" (Fig. 1,
b. bt:), a bone altogether absent whenever the tongue is capable of extraordinary [irotrusion.

S38 NATURAL HISTORY.

The tongue, whose lengtli is thus so extraordinarily increased, is drawn back to its original
position within the bill by another pair of muscles, one on each side, which are attached to the basi-
hyal. These take their oi'igin from the trachea, around which (as shown in Figs. 2 and 4, r.m.),
in many species,'they are curiously wound in their course. And, since the bones are at the point
of their greatest curvature when at rest, it is obvious that this action of withdrawal is materially
assisted by the elasticity of the prolongations of the hyoid bones themselves ; for it is a well-known
law that Nature never lets power run to waste, but always utilises forces of mere elasticity or rigidity
when by theii- means the expenditure of nervous energy and muscular contractility can be saved.

It may be observed that this curious development of the bones of the tongue is not confined
to the Woodpeckers ; in the Sun Birds [Nectar itiiidce) of the Old World, and the Humming-Birds

(Trochilidw) of the New, this same adaptation of means to ends obtains. Even in the Picidse them-
selves many variations have been noticed, in addition to those above alluded to; for instance, in
the Yellow-billed Woodpecker {Sphyrapiam* varius) of North America the horns of the hyoid do
not reach so far as the eye, so that the tongue, with its bushy tip in this case, is only extensible in
a very slight degree; while in the Hairy Woodpecker {Pieus viUosvs) the thyro-hyals curve
spirally over the right orbit so as to reach entirely around the eye, to be inserted at its lower
posterior margin.

Considerable difference of opinion exists as to the damage done by Woodpeckers in tapjjing
sound trees, and many a poor bird pays the penalty of his life for his supposed destructive pro-
pensities. Mr. Waterton argues strongly on the side of the bird, and alleges that only rotten and
unsound trees are attacked for the sake of a nesting habitation, or for the purpose of getting insects ;
but that this is not always the case was proved by the writer himself in the spring of 1878, when
a boy was sent up to a hole in a beech-tree in Avington Park, in Hampshire. The tree was stiJl

* <rc/)Opo, a hammer ; picus, a wooilpecker.

GREAT BLACK WOODPECKER AND CHEAT .SrOTIED \\OODPECKER.

TUE WOom'ErKEU.

peifectly sountl, so souin], indeeci, 'that tlie bird had evidently given \ip the idea of inhabiting it
for tliat year, antl had betaken liiniself elsewhere, after having excavated a round hole to the depth
of two or three inches. In the same tree, a little lower down, was a similar hole, evidently made
the previous year, when the biid had '• tapped " the tree, and it was clear that he had returned
again in the succeeding season, and had tried a little higher up in the trunk, to see if there were any
chance of procuring a domicile. Thie proceeding nurst have injured the tree, and was the work
of a Green Woodpecker, or Yaffle, whose laughing note was heard from another quarter of the park,
f\en as the above examination was being conducted. In this part of Hampshire, though the bii-d is
not pei-secuted by the owier of Avington, Mr. Edward Shelley, or by his keepers, the Green Wood-
pecker is rare ; but in certain parts of Huntingdonshire the writer can remember to have found it

very plentiful in liis school-days, and it was a never-failing object in a country walk, flitting from tree
to tree in front of the observer, and always keeping a sharp look-out from the opposite side of the
trunk on which he settled. This species appears in old pieces of poetry under the various names of Yaffle,
Woodwele, or Woodwale, Whetile, and it is in some phxces called "Hewhole," Woodhaeker, ikc.*: —

" The Skylark in ecstasy sang from a cloud,
And Chanticleer crowed, and the YaflSl laughed loud."

The Peacock at Some.
' ' The AVoodwele s.ang, and would not cease,
Sitting upon the spray ;
So loud he wakened Robin Hood
In the greenwood where he lay."

Ritson's Editi.

of Robin Hood, vol. i., p. U.3.

Yarrell, "British Birds," vol. ii., p. 137.

338 NATURAL HISTORW

" There the Jay and the Throstell
The Mavis meuyd in her song,
The Woodwale fard or beryd as a bell
That wode about me rung."

True Thomats.

Some Woodpeckevs seem to make storehouses against the winter, by pecking holes in a tree, and
fin interesting example of a piece of bark, in which a Red-headed Woodpecker {2lelanerpi:s formi-
cicorus)* had placed a store of acorns, is to be seen in tlie British Museum.

Another British species, tlie Lesser Spotted Woodpecker (Pic«*f minor), is a bii-d of diflerent
habits, frequenting fruit-gardens in the autumn, and doing very little damage to trees in the nesting
season. It generally selects the rotten branch of an old poplar-tree, and hollows out a hole in so
perilous a situation that it is difficult to climb to, and, indeed, the whole bough is often brought down
by the first gale in the ensuing winter. Here its small wedge-shaped bill speedily makes an excavation,
and at some little distance down in the hollow interior it lays its glossy white eggs on the touchwood
and decaying wood. Both sexes assist in the preparation of the nest ; and in mild winters they some-
times begin with the commencement of the year to look out for their future home. The selection of
this appears to be a matter of no small anxiety, for several trees are examined in turn, and
often at long distances apart. The bii-ds at the time of incubation keep up a continual signalling
one to the other, which is produced by a rapid whirring noise caused- by tapping on the thinner
branches of the dead trees. This call-note, if it may be called such, is generally heard in the early
morning, and ceases as soon as the nesting operations have finally commenced. Besides this note,
they have also one like the " laugh " of the Gi-een Woodpecker, but, of course, much reduced in
accordance with the difference in the size of the two birds. The little Spotted Woodpecker may often
be seen hanging on to, and climbing round, the slender twigs of the outer branches of a tree, and looks
much like a Creeper or a Nuthatch, which it does not gr-eatly exceed in dimensions.

THE SIXTH FAillLY OF THE ZYGODACTYLE PICARIAN BIRDS.
THE TOUCANS {Ithamjyhastidtc).^
The Toucans, with their clumsy bills, have much the aspect of Hornbills, which they may be said
to represent in South America, to which continent they are entirely confined, but by this time the
student knows that they have really little to do with each other, beyond a certain outward similarity,
as the Toucans belong to the Scansorial, the Hornljills to the Fissirostral, section of the Picaruc. It is
not possible to give a long account of the habits of individual species of Toucans, and a general sketch of
their manners and customs is extracted from the monograph of the Toucans written by Mr. John Gould. §
To him the late Prince Maximilian, of Neuwied, an excellent observer, during his travels in South
America writes : — " The Ehumphastklce ai-e very common in all jiarts of the extensive forests of the
Brazils, and are killed in great numbers at the cooler portion of the year, for the purposes of the table.
To the stranger they are of even greater interest than to the natives, from their remarkable form, and
from the rich and strongly-contrasted style of their colouring, their black or green bodies being
adorned with markings of the most brilliant hues — red, orange, blue and white — the naked parts of
the body dyed with brilliant colours, the legs lilue or green, the irides blue, yellow, kc, and the large
bill of a different colour in every species, and in many instances very gaily marked. The colouring of
the soft parts is, however, so evanescent, that, to determine the species with accuracy, they miist be
dej)icted during life or immediately after the birds are killed. Common as these birds are in their
native wilds, it is exceedingly difficult to detect their bi'eeding-places ; it is certain that they deposit
their eggs in the hollow linibs and holes of the colossal trees so abundant in the tropical forests, but
I never was so fortunate as to discover them. The stomachs of the specimens I examined contained
nothing but the remains of fruits, principally of the softer kinds, for which, indeed, they ha-\'e such
a liking that they resort in great numbers to the plantations in the vicinity of their native haunts, and
commit sad havoc among their favourite delicacies. I was informed that they frequently steal and
eat young birds, but no instance of their doing so came under my own observation, and I never

* tiiKa'ii black ; ipntu, I creep ; formicivorns, ant-eating. t Linn?eus. A proper name. + From pafitfio^, a bilL
§ "Monograph of the Jllinmij/instida-, or Family of Toucans," by Jolni Gould, F.R,^«. Introduction.

TH£ Tout AS. SH'J

detected tlie remains of aniuial food in tlieir stouiaelis. Mr. Waterton'.s opinion agrees with mine, tluit
they feed solely upon fruits ; but Azara, among others, states that they also feed upon animal sub-
stances. The specimens we saw in a state of domestication were very voracious and perfectly
omnivorous, but they seem to be pm-ely frugivorous in a state of nature, a fact whicli was, indeed,
contirmed by the Brazilian natives whom we questioned on the subject. In their manners the
Rhttinphasiiikv offer some resemblance to tlie Crows, and especially to the Magpies ; like them they are
very troublesome to the birds of prey, particularly to the Owls, whom they surround and annoy by
making a gi-eat noise, all the while jerking their tails upwards and downwards. The flight of these
birds is easy and graceful, and they sweep with facility over the loftiest trees of their native forests,
their strangely-developed bills, contrary to expectation, being no encumbrance to them. The voice
of the Toucans is sliprt and unmelodious, and is somewhat different in every species. The feathers
are used by the Indians for personal decoration, especially the yellow breasts of the birds, which they
afiix to their heads on each side near the temple, and also to the ends of their bows."

Mr. Waterton, in one of his Essays, has the following remarks : — " There are three species of
Toucan iii Demerara, and three diminutives, which may be called Toucanets. The largest of the former
frequents the mangrove-trees on the sea-coast. It is never seen in the interior until you reach Macous-
hia, where it is found in the neighboiu-hood of the river Tacatou ; the other two species are very common.
They feed entii-ely on the fruits of the forest, and, though of the Pie kind, never kill the young of
other birds or eat carrion. The larger is called Bwi/rcuU by the Indians (which means nose), the other
Scirou. They seem partial to each other's company, and often resort to the same feeding tree, and
retire to the same shady noon-day retreat. They are very noisy in rainy weather at all hours of the
day, and in fail- weather at morn and eve. The sound the Bouradi makes is like the clear yelping of
a puppy-dog, and you fancy he says ' Pia-2>o-o-co,' and thus the South American Spaniards call him
Piapoco. All the Toucanets feed on the same trees on which the Toucan feeds, and every species of
this family of enormous bill lays its eggs in the hollow trees. They are social, but not gregarious.
You way sometimes see eight or ten in company, and from this you may suppose they are gi-egarious,
but upon a closer examination you find it is only a dinner party, wliich breaks up and disperses
towards roosting-time. You will be at a loss to conjecture for what end Nature has overloaded the
head of this bird with such an enormous bill. It cannot be for the offensive, as it has no need to wage
war with any of the tribes of animated nature, for its food is fruits and seetl, and those are in super-
abumlance throughout the whole year in the regions where the Toucan is found. It camiot be for the
defensive, as the Toucan is preyed upon by no bird in South America, and, were it obliged to be at
war, the texture of the bill is ill-adapted to give or receive blows, as you will see by dissecting it. The
flight of the Toucan is by jerks. In the action of flying it seems incommoded by this huge, dispropor-
tionate feature, and the head seems as if bowed down to the earth by it against its will. If the
extraordinary size and form of the bill expose the Toucan to ridicule, its colours make it amends.
Were a specimen of each species of Toucan presented to you, you would pronounce the bill of the
Bourmli the most rich and beautiful one. It is worthy of remark that all these brilliant colours of
the bill are to be found in the plumage of the body and the bare skin around the eye." Space will not
permit of a long extract from the works of d'Azara (the only field naturalist of any fame that Portugal
has yet produced), but a few notes of this traveller, made in Paraguay, differ from the foregoing
accounts, and show that in the southern portion of their range the habits of some of the Toucans vary
to a great extent. So voracious does d'Azara consider them, that on this account he places them among
the birds of prey, and writes :— " The Toucans, contraiy to all appearances, destroy a great number of
bii-ds, and, on accoimt of tlieir long and strong beak, are respected and feared by all species. They
attack and drive them from their nests, and in theii- very presence eat their eggs and young ; these
they di-aw from the holes with the long beak, or throw down nest and all together. It is crediljly
reported that the Toucans do not even respect the eggs or young of the 'Aras' (Macaws) and
Caracaras, and if the fledglings are too large or too strong to he lifted from the nest, they
dash them to the gi-oimd, as if it were their nature not only to devour, but to uselessly destroy. The
bird, in flying, presents the point of his bill against the wind, so that it does not offer more resistance
than that of other birds in which the head and superficies are equal in extent ; besides which, the
conformation and specific lightness of this long beak cannot impede flight, because the highest points

NATUItAL JIISTOJii:

of the bird being the bill itself and tlie anterior portion of the body, they form no obstacle, the wind
first taking effect upon the point of the bUl. When in a state of repose, the Toucan carries its bill
rather more elevated than a horizontal line that would pass tlirough the eyes, and when closely looked
at, it looks like a false bill, because its base exceeds the breadth of the head, which presents the appear-
ance of being enclosed in a case. In addition to these singularities, the nostrils are placed behind

the aforesaid base. The
tongue is very narrow and
of an equal thieknes.s
throughout. It is entirely
osseous, and resembles
somewhat a feather two
lines in width, furnished
with an osseous fringe,
which is directed from
liehind forwai'ds, so that
the tongue, stiff and un-
yielding, takes no part in
the direction of the food
nor in the formation of
the note, which, in the
first two Paraguayan
species, is confined to the
single syllable ' rae.' The
mandibles are very dis-
tinctly dentated at their
edges, these dentations
not corresponding at all
above and below, nor are
they even relatively sym-
metrical. The beak itself
is a thin osseous sheath,
tilled with a number of
empty cellules. The eye
is lai-ge, and surrounded
by a triangular naked
space, pufied up, and very
pretty. Tlie foot is very
short and stout, and
TOUCAN. cover-ed nearly to the heel

with long scales, harsh to
the touch. The outer toe, as well before as beliind, is the longest. The claws are much flattened
and curved, as in the Woodpeckers. The tail is composed of ten feathers. The Toucan flies at
a moderate height, and in a straight horizontal line, flapjang its wings occasionally with some
noise. The flight is quicker than the smallness of the wings would lead one to believe. It perches
towards the top of the liighest trees, and though unable to climb after the manner of Woodpeckers,
it still progresses with speed, hoppmg from bi-anch to branch. It pays great attention to all
that takes ])lace in its vicinity, advancing with fear and diffidence, like the ' Uruca ' and the
' Acahes.' There is no perceptible diflference between the two sexes, nor do I believe that the
species exists towards the south beyond 28"^, nor that it drmks. It rarely settles on the ground. The
Toucan hops obliquely and very awkwardly, with the legs separated about a hand's breadth. W^hen it
takes young birds from the nest, pieces of meat or fruit, it throws them in the air, as a juggler his
balls, and by a quick movement of the beak repeats this action until the food is in a favourable
position for being swallowed, and then by another movement gulps it down its large throat. If the

THE liAUhKD

abanilons it without seekiiii' to

• Amazon," inxkes some further allusions to the
\N0ith the leading Ht also gives the following

BILL OF TOUCAN.

mouthful be larger than the oritice of the gu^
divide it."

Mr. Bate.s, in his "Naturalist on the Ri\
Toucans and tlieir l>ill, which will be found wel
history of a tame bird (Vol. ii., p. 341) : —
" One day, whilst walking along the prin-
cipal pathway in the woods near Ega, I
saw one of these Toucans seated gravely on
a low branch close to the road, and had no
difficulty in seizing it with my hand. It
turned out to be a runaway pet bird ; no one,
however, came to own it, although I kept it
in my house for several months. The bird
was in a lialf-starved and sickly condition,
but after a few days of good living it re-
covered health and spirits, and became one
of the most amusing ]>ets imaginable. Many
e.Kcellent accounts of the habits of tame
Toucans have been i>ublislied, and therefore I need not describe them in detail ; but I do not recollect
to have seen any notice of their intelligence and confiding disposition under domestication, in whicb
qualities my i)et seemed to be almost equal to Parrots. I allowed Tocano to go free about the house,
contrary to my usual practice with pet animals. He never, however, mounted my working-table
after a smart correction, which he received the first time he did so. He used to sleep on the top of
a box in a corner of the room, in the usual position of these birds — namely, with the long tail laid
right ovei' on the biick and the beak thrust underneath the wing. He ate of everything that we eat
(beef, turtle, ti.sh, farina, fruit), and was a constant attendant at our table — a cloth spread on a mat.
His apjietite was most i-avenous, and his powers of digestion quite wonderful^ He got to know the
meal-hours to a nicety, and we found it very difficult, after the first week or two, to keep him away
from the dining room, where he had become very impudent, and troublesome. We tried to shut him
out by enclosing him in the back yard, which was separated by a high fence from the street on which
our fro:it door opened : but he used to climb the fence and hop round by a long circuit to the dining-
room, making his appearance with the gi-eatest punctuality as the meal was placed on the table. He
acquired the habit afterwards of rambling about the street near our house, and one day he was
stolen, so we gave him up for lost. But two days afterwards he stepped through the open doorway
at dinner-hour, with his old gait, and sly, magpie-like expression, having escaped from the house
where he had been guarded by the person who had stolen him, which was situated at the farther end
of the village."

THE SEVENTH FAMILY OF THE ZYCiODACTYLE PICAKIAN BIRDS.
THE BARBETS {Capitoiiir/a-).*
These are climbing birds of somewhat brOliant coloration, distributed over the tropical portions
of both hemispheres, but absent in Europe, Northern Asia, Australia, and the Moluccas south wai-ds
from the Sunda Islands. " Tliough strictly arboreal in their habits," write Messi-s. Marshall, rn their
exhaustive work on the family,t " and living only in forest districts or open countries inters])ersed
with groves of trees, they are neither shy nor difficvdt to approach. When the districts in which
they are found happen to be at all thickly populated, the Barbets show no disposition to retreat to
more secluded quarters, but take up their abode in gardens, and frequently breed in trees close to the
houses. They usually keep to the tops of the trees, but may occasionally be seen creepmg among the
branches of small bushes and undei-wood. Theii- food is fruit, .seeds, buds, and occasionally insects ;
these latter are very seldom resorted to in Asia, more frequently in Afiica, and with some American
species they form the staple food. They are not gregarious, though a gi-eat number may sometimes

* From Cn2iito, the principal genus : a proper name.

t "A Monograph of the Capitonid*, or Scansorial Barbets," by C. H. T. Marshall and G. F. L. Marshall (1871).

NATUSAL HISTORY.

be seen together in a fig-tvee at the fruit season. They live in pairs during the breeding season, which
is in the spring, and commence moulting in September. They i-arely, if ever, descend to the ground,
and appear to move from tree to tree only when compelled to do so in search of food, or when
disturbed liy an intruder. Their flight is powerful, but heavy and undulating, like that of a Wood-
])eoker. A curious instance of their disinclination to travel is seen in the fact of the Himalayan
Lineated Barbet [Meyahema hodijsoni) and the Hoary Jungle Barbet [M. caniceps) never crossing
the narrow valley of the Deyra Doon, though both are abundant in their respective boundaries;
also that the Blue-faced Barbet (M. asiatica) is confined to the valley of the Jumna, in the district

between Mussooree and Simla,
though there are many other val-
leys apparently equally suitable.
When not in pursuit of food, the
Barbets sit motionless among the
foliage near the tops of the trees,
and exhibit none of that vivacity
which is so maiked a charac-
teristic of the Passerine birds,
amongst which they ha^■e been
sometimes erroneously classed.
Their voice is loud and ringing,
consisting almost always of one,
two, or th)-ee syllables, given out
with extraordinai-y power, and
may be heard at midday or on a
moonlight night when all other
sounds are hushed. Some of the
American species have, in com-
mon with the Toucans, the habit
of jerking their tail up over their
back when they utter theii- call.
The male and female sometimes
keep up what appears to be a
'calling-match' for about ten
minutes, and then suddenly cease.
As far as is known, they all build
in holes of trees, which they make
for themselves in soft or decayed
branches. No lining is needed
for the nest, a few of the broken
chips being left at the bottom
of a hole. The entrance is circular and neatly bevelled, resembling that of a Woodpecker. The
hole is generally about eight or ten inches deep, vai-ying, of course, with the size of the bird.
They lay three or foxu- shining white eggs, with rather thin shells, and rather elongated, blunt,
oval in shape, both ends being nearly similar. They are laid in the latter end of April and
beginning of May in Northern India. Barbets are occasionally caged, but they are very seldom
brought to England, and do not bear confinement very well ; consequently, little is known
of them in this country, except to ornithologists. An interesting account of one of them
{Megalaima teylanica) in captivity, by Mr. Layard, will be found quoted below. Their plumage,
though very brilliant, is tasteless and too gaudy, and their shape is heavy and xigly, which will
account for their skins not yet having been jiromoted to the positions with which pretty birds'
feathers are generally associated in the minds of the non-ornithological public." Mr. Layard's account
is as follows : — " The Brown-headed Barbet is common in Ceylon, and universally distiibuted. It
feeds on fruits and berries of all kinds, which it swallows entire. It does not, that I know of, devour

PEAKL-SPOTTED KAKBET.

THE JAC.iMAJi.S. 3-13

small birds when in a state of nature, but one koj)t in a large aviai-y at Colombo destroyed all the
little Amadince placed with it. Not content with snapjiiiig them up when within his reach, he woukl
lie in wait for them behind a thick bush or the feeding-trough, pounce ujjon them unawares, and,
after beating them a little on the ground or perch, swallow them whole. When this cannibal cauie
into my possession he was confined in a smaller cage than that in which lie liad at first been secured.
This seemed to displease him, ;uid lie went to work to find some means of escape. He narrowly
examined every side and corner to discover a weak spot, and having detected one, applied himself
vigorously to bore a hole through it, as a Woodpecker would have done. Grasping the bars with his
feet, he swung himself round, bringing his ^^^^ole weight to bear upon his bill, which he used as a
pickaxe, till the house resounded with his rapid and well-aimed blows. On being checked from
exercising his ingenuity in this manner, he became sulky, and refused to eat or offer his call of
recognition when I approached him. In a day or two, however, he apparently thought better of the
matter, resumed his labours ujiou another spot, and fed as voraciously as ever, devouring huge slices
of bananas, jungle fruits^ tlie bodies of any small birds I skinned, &c."

THE SECOND ORDER.— PICAEIAN BIRDS. SUB-ORDER II.— FISSIROSTRES.
CHAPTER IX.

THE JACAMARS, PUFF BIRDS, KINGFISHERS, HOENBILLS, AND HOOPOES.

THE ..TACAMAES -THE PUFF BIRDS— THE KINGFISHERS— Characters— The Common Kingfisher— Distribution-
Its Cry — Habits — After its Prey— Its own Nest-buililei— Mr. Rowley's Note on the Subject— Nest in the British
Museum— Superstitions concerning the Kingfisher— Colour— Various Species— CRE.STED KlNGFLSHER- PiED King-
fisher—Dr. Von Heuglin's Account of its Habits— New World Representatives— Omnivorous Kingfishers— The
Australian Cinnamon-breasted Kingfishek— Macgillivray's Account of its Habits— The Laughing Jackass of
Australia— Its Discordant Laugh— The " Bushman's Clock "—Colour-Habits— THE HORNBILLS— Character— Their
Heavy Flight— Noise produced when on the Wing— Food— Extraordinai-y Habit of Imprisoning the Female— Native
Testimony— E.\ception—Fed by the Male Bird— Dr. Livingstone's Observations on the point, and Mr. Bartlett's
Remarks— Strange Gizzard Sacs— Dr. Murie's Remarks— Mr. Wallace's Description of tlie Habits of the Hornbills-
Capture of a Young One in Sumatra— The Ground Hornbills— South African Species— Kaffir Superstition regarding
it— Habits— Mr. Ayres' Account of the Natal Species— How it Kills Snakes— Tlie C^all- Habits— Mr. Monteiro's
Description of the Angola Form— Turkey-like Manner— Wariness— Food— THE HOOPOES— Appearance— Distribu-
tion—The Common Hoopoe— Habits— The Name-How does it Produce its Note ?— The Wood Hoopoes- Habits.

THE FIRST FAMILY OF THE FISSIROSTKAL PICARIAN BIRDS.
THE JACAMARS (GalbuUdie).*
These birds are usually of metallic green plumage, with long beaks and wedge-shaped tails, and are
found only in Central and Southern America, where they seem to represent the Bee-eaters of the Old
World. Not many notices have appeared of their habits, the best being that given by Mr. Waterton,
in his "Wanderings" in Demerara:— "A bird called Jacamar is often taken for a Kingfisher, but it
has no relationship to that ti'ibe : it frequently sits in the trees over the water, and as its beak bears some
resemblance to that of the Kingfisher, this may probably account for its being taken for one. It feeds
entirely upon insects. It sits on a branch in motionless expectation, and as soon as a Fly, Butterfly,
or Moth passes by, it darts at it, and returns to the branch it had just left. It seems an indolent,
sedentary bu-d, shunning the society of all others in the forest. It never visits the plantations, but is
found at all times of the year in the woods. There are four species of Jacamar in Demerara ; they
are all beautiful, the krgest rich and superb in the extreme. Its plumage is of so fine a changing blue
and golden green, that it may be ranked with the choicest of the Humming Birds. Nature has denied
it a song, but given a costly garment in lieu of it. The smallest species of Jacamar is vei-y common
in the dry savannas. Tlie second size, all golden green in the back, must be looked for in the Wallaba
Forest ; the third is found throughout the whole extent of these wilds ; and the fourth, ivhich is the
largest, frequents the interior, where you begin to perceive stones in the ground."
* OaWula, a proper name.

344 KATURAL SISTOSY.

THE SECOND F.-OIILY OF THE FISSIROSTRAL PICARIAK BIRDS.
THE PUFF BIRDS [liwcouUta).
In general form tlie Puff Birds are not unlike Kingfishers, some of v.-l:ich tliey resemble in tlieii-
habits, feeding chiefly on insects, whicli they catcli in the air. In many respects also they resemble
the Bee-eaters {Mei-ojmhe), and may be considered as representmg the last-named family in South
and Central America, to which countries tliey are entirely confined. Of the Long-winged Puff Birds
{Chelidoptera tenebrosa) the late Prince ^Maximilian of Neuwied gives the following account : — " It is
not rare in most provinces of South Brazil, and very common in many of them. It is found in
certain spots sitting still and immovable upon the liigh isolated branches of the forest trees. From
time to time it flies after an insect in the air, and falls back again to its jilace like a true Fly-catcher.
It is a stupid, still, melancholy bird, but likes to sit high, and not low and near the ground, like other
Pufi" Birds. As in form and colour it rather resembles a Swallow, the Brazilians call it AndurinJui do
mato (Wood Swallow). The resemblance is gi-eatest when the bird sits upon the giwuid, for its feet
are little ada])ted for walking, and it consequently shuffles along as a Swallow does. Its flight is
light and undulating. Sitting njDon a high point, whence it can overlook the neighbourhood, it often
emits a short call-note. It is anything but timid, and very easy to shoot. It is usually found where
the woods are varied with open country, on the edges of the woods, but likewise in the interior of
them. Tlie food of these birds consists of insects, of which I have found the remains in their
stomachs. On the Eio Grande del Belmonte I obseiwed how these birds nest. In the month of
August I saw them enter a round hole in a perpendicular sand-bank on the river, like a Kingfisher'.?.
After digging about two feet in a horizontal direction, \\e found two milk-white eggs upon a bad
lining of a few feathers." *

THE THIRD FAMILY OF THE FISSIROSTRAL PICARIAX BIRDS.
THE KINGFISHERS l^Aicedinidm).
Tlie Kingfi-sliers are a very varied family, including within their limits birds of very different
form and habits. The bill is always long and poweiful for the size of the bird, producing, in some of
the smaller species, a top-heavy and ungainly aspect; but this organ is modified according to the habits
of the bii-ds, and is strictly in accordance with the functions which it has to perform. The foot is
similar in all Kingfishers, the sole being very flat, and the toes joined together for the greater part
of their length, so tliat the bii-ds always have a very firm support to their bodies. The legs are very
short and weak, the wings powerful, and the gape very wide. The Kingfishers may be divided into
two sub-families, distingiiished by the form of the bill, which is long and compressed in the fish-eating
Kingfishers {Alcedininw), of which the European bird is a type, with a distinct ridge or keel along
the upper mandible ; while in the Dacelonhue, which have a .stouter and flatter bill, with a smooth
and rounded culmen, the food is varied, consisting more of insects than of fish.

THE COMMON KINGFLSHER Uhedoi- isjnda).
This is, perhaps, the most briUiantly-coloured bird there is in England, but by reason of its shy
habits and wonderfully quick flight it is not often observed, excepting as a flash of bright blue on the ri-ver
side, appearing for an instant and gone the next. It is, however, by no means uncommon in many of the
rivers in the south of England, particularly during the month of October, when a partial migration of
the species evidently takes place. At this season of the year, the writer once observed a Kingfisher
on the ornamental water in St. James's Park, Beyond the British Islands it is found in most parts
of the European continent, being replaced in the East by the Uttle Indian Kingfisher (A. henyalensis),
a miniature of the English bird, but with a much longer bill. The following account of tlie
habits of tliis bird, the re.sult of several years' close acquaintance with the species on the river Thames,
is taken from the author's work on this sub)ect:{: : — "When in a wild state, flying along the banks of
a stream, or sitting patiently at watch for its fiiuiy prey, the Kingfisher is a beautiful sight. Often
has it been our good fortune to witness the bird at close quarters, but this is by no mean-s easy to

* Solater, " Synopis of the Fissirostral Family Bucconklfe,'' 8vo, 1854. t -Hcedo, a Kingfisher.

J Sharjje's " Monograph of tlie Alcedinidre, or Kingfishers."

nil-: A/:

accomplish, owing to the extreme wariness of the hird tVom r('i>fated persecution. The presence of the
Kingfisher in one's neiglibourhood can be detected from some distance by the faint cry which falls upon
the ear from afar. Thi.s note, which is a shrill, but not unmusical, .scream, generally consists of two
syllables, but is very difficult to i-ender in language. Naumann gives it as ti-li; which is by no means
a bad repre.sentation of the cry; and these syllables are quickly repeated as the bird leaves its perch
and skims over the .stream. The flight is rapid and very direct, the bird speeding like a Inillet a little
height above the surface of the water. When suddenly disturbed, it utters its cry shortly after leaving
its perch, and then flies for some distance in silence ; but when passing unmolested from one resting-
j)lace to another, its shrill note may be heard at frequent intervals. Just before perching, the cry is
uttered three or four times suc-
cessively— li-ti-ti. When resting,
it sits uprightly, witli the glance
directed downwai-ds, motionlessly
scanning the stream beneath, in-
tent on the capture of any fish
or water insect which may come
within its reach. Its unening
dive seldom proves fi-uitless ; and
when secured, a few smai't raps
on its perch, to which the bird
always returns, dejjrive the victim
of life, after which it is imme-
diately swallowed. Except in the
early morning, it seldom chooses
a very open position for its rest-
ing-place ; but in the autumn,
when the migration is in progress,
at break of day it is not-unusual
to see two, or even three, birds
in company on a rail or on the
side of a punt ; in the day-time,
however, it loves solitude, and
seldom more than one can be seen
at once, and then it affects more
.shady and secluded haunts. In ^

general it is a lonely bird, jealous

of intrusion, especially from in- ^^:^^

dividuals of its own species. Each

pair appears to choose and main- v i ;- : !:

tain a particular hunting-gi-ound,

and should one Kingfisher enter upon the domain of another, it is sjieedily and effectually ousted liy
the I'ightful owner with cries of rage. So fierce is the animosity displayed by these birds, that when
excited in combat they fly heedless of obstacles, and thus occasionally meet their death in their
lieadlong career." An instance is on record of two Kingfishers flying with such violence against a
window that both pursuer and pm'sued met their death on the spot. Tlie present, species does not
always pounce on its prey fi-om a perch, but will occasionally fly out over the mid-stream, and hovei-
in the air like a Kestrel Hawk; and after making an unsuccessful, plunge, will repeat its hovering
))osition over the same spot, until its eflTorts are rewarded with success. It has been seen also to
d;ish into the water several times in succession, which movement has been supposed to be foi- the
purpose of attracting fish to the spot by disturbing the water ; it is, however, more probable that in
this exei-cise the bu-d is taking a bath. The young have exactly the same cry as their parents, but
the note is less shrill. On leaving the nest, they often congregate in some well-shaded locality by the
.side of the stream, where food is brought to tliem by their jtarents, and the presence of the nestlings
38

34(j NAT URAL HISTOItr.

is often betiuyed by their shrill pipings. The bill in the young liirds is very short, and has a little
white tip to it ; in the adult male it is entirely black ; but the female may always be distinguished
by the base of the lower mandible being red.

That the Kingfisher makes its own hole is now an ascertained fact, and the following note on
the subject was published in 186G by Mr. G. Dawson Rowley: — "Though the subject of the King-
fisher (Alcedo ispida) is somewhat stale, yet, in consequence of the remarks which I have just read
in the October Quarter/// on ' Homes without Hands,' I send you the following notes, made tliis
spring, in order to set at rest, if possible, a mistake" regarding the breeding of this bird. Modern
writers on the Kingfisher are hardly more free from error than even Ovid or Pliny. The bird is a true
miner, and makes a nest of fish-bones ; but, as no rule is without an exception, when it cannot find
a suitable bank to bore in, it has been known to nidificate in abnormal situations ; and when abun-
dance of proper fish are not to be caught it is obliged to do without bones.

" From many years' constant watching, I can exactly tell the probable position of the hole, and
the day it will be begun. Accordingly, on Thursday, March 29, I sent two witnesses to a particular
spot on the River Ouse, St. Neots, Huntingdonshire. They observed that there was on that day
positively no hole of any kind, no vestige of hole, in that bank. On Easter Monday, April 2, I sent
a keeper to the itlace. He reported the hole as begun. On the same day I went in a boat, and,
putting a reed up, found it by actual measurement about fifteen inches deep, the mo\ilds being quite
fresh outside. Droppings of the bird (which was seen constantly leaving the hole) were visible in
two places. There was also a shallow hole a little to the left of the above-mentioned one. This was
a failure — either from caprice or some other cause abandoned. We observe the same in Woodpeckers,
which will sometimes bore in three or four places before they get one to their liking, a circumstance
I particularly remarked in a pair of the Greater Spotted Woodpeckers (P. major) last spring. Between
March 29 and April 2 the Kingfisher had made two holes. I thought it best now to leave the jJace,
only receiving from the keeper each morning a report, as he went by in his boat, how the bird was
going on.

" Saturday, Ajjril 7, I made a memorandum : ' I again observe fresh moulds, but not, as we
consider, to-day's, but yesterday's : hence I suppose the hole to be nearly finished, if not quite.' Here,
I should say, after taking these nests constantly for nearly thirty years, I find twenty-one days is the
correct time, from the commencement of the excavation to the end of laying seven eggs. I never had
the luck to find eight ; Mr. Gould, however, informs me he once did. ' Satiu-day, Ajnil 21. Opened
the hole situated in the periiendicular bank to keep off Water-i-ats. Found by measurement the
entrance was twelve inches from the surface of the ground, and about five feet from the water. The
length of the ascending gallery was eight inches and a half, and the o\-al chamber six inches in
diameter more. The top of the chamber was nine inches from the surface of the ground. It contained
the usual nest of fishbones, which was one inch and a half deep ; and the same, with the seven fresh
eggs, are now before me, with two other nests from the .same locality. The bird flew off after the first
dig, which I commonly made so as to cover up the hole again without disturbance if the full number
of eggs had not been laid There was no excrement in the chamber, but much just outside in the gallery.'
The size of the chamber is just sufficient for the owners to turn round jdeasantly. When the young
birds, which I have seen in every stage, have been some time in the nest, of course the hole gets veiy
foul. Here, then, is a case, capable of being attested by two or three witnesses steji by step — and con-
cerning which there can be no doubt — where the Kingfisher is proved to have made its own hole.
I have known it when driven from one bank by floods to revert to an old hole of its own making
in the previous year ; but never has there been an instance of its taking up with the abode
of its most deadly enemy, the Water-rat. It is hard to prove a negative, but it is certainly a most
unlikely thing for a Kingfisher to enter a rat-hole. No one who has seen the eggs of this species in
situ as often as I have can deny that the fish-ljones are placed with the design of making
a nest."

In the British Museum may be seen a nest of the Kingfisher, which was taken by Mr. Gould
under the followng circumstances: — "On the 18th of April, 1859, during one of my fishing
excursions on the Thames, I saw a hole in a precipitous bank, which I felt assured was the nesting-
place of a Kingfisher ; and on i)assing a spare to|) of my fly rod to the extremity, a distance of nearly

THE KIXGFISHER. 347

three feet, I brought out some freshly-cast bones of fish, convincing me that I was right in my
surmise. The day following I again visited the spot with a spade, and, after removing nearly two
feet square of the turf, dug down to the nest without disturbing the passage which led to it. Here I
found four eggs placed on the usual layer of tish-bones. These I removed with care, and then
replaced the earth, beating it down as hard as the bank itself, and restored the turfy sod. A fort-
night after the bird was seen to leave the hole again, and my suspicions were aroused that she had
taken to her old breeding quarters a second time. I again visited the place on the twenty-fir.st day
from the date of my former exploration, and upon passing the top of my fly rod u]) the hole, found,
not only that it was of the former length, but that the female was within. I then took a large
mass of cotton-wool from my collecting-box, and stufled it to the extremity, in order to preserve the
eggs from damage during my again laying it open from above. On removing the sod and digging
down as before, I came to the cotton-wool, and beneath it was formed a nest of fish-bones the size
of a small saucer, the walls of which were fully half an inch thick, together with eight trans-
lucent pinky- white eggs, and the old female herself. This nest I removed with the greatest
care ; and it is now deposited in the proper place for so interesting an object — the British Museum.
This mass of bones, then weighing 700 grains, had been cast up and deposited by the bird and its
mate in the short space of twenty-one days. Ornithologists ai-e divided in opinion as to whether the
fish-bones are to be considered in the light of a nest. Some are disposed to believe them to be the
castings and f<eces of the young brood of the year, and that the same hole being frequented for a
succession of yeare, a great mass is at length formed ; while others suppose that they are deposited
l>y the parents as a platform for the eggs, constituting, in fact, a nest; and I think, from what I
have adduced, we may fairly conclude this is the case : in fact, nothing could be better adapted to
defend the eggs from the damp earth." In ancient times there was a legend that when the King-
fishers made their nests — which were supposed to float upon the top of the sea — fine weather was
always allowed to prevail.* A custom used formerly to be in vogue in England of turning a
Kingfisher into a weathercock ; and, according to the late M. Jules Verreaux, this practice is pursued
in France even in the present day, where the bird is mummified and suspended by a thread with
extended wings in order to show the direction of the wind. jNIr. Harting alludes to these superstitions
in his " Ornithology of Shakespeare " (p. 275). It was formerly believed that during the time the
Halcyon, or Kingfisher, was engaged in hatching her eggs, the water, in kindness to her, remained so
smooth and calm that the mariner might venture on the sea with the happy certainty of not being
exposed to storms or tempests ; this period was therefore called, by Pliny and Aristotle, " the
halcyon days."

"Expect Saint Martin's summer, halci/on days.''

Henry VI., Part i., Act i., sc. 2.

It was also supposed that the dead bird, carefully balanced and suspended by a single thread,
would always turn its beak towards that point of the compass from which the wind blew. Kent, in
J{ing Lear (Act ii. sc. 2), speaks of rogties who —

" Turn their halcyon beaks
With every gale and vary of their masters."

And, after Shakspere, Marlowe, in his Jew of Malta, says : —

" But how now stands the wind ?
Into what comer peers my halcyon's bill ? "

The Common Kingfisher measures about seven inches from the tip of his bill to the end of his
tail. The colour of the upper parts is blue, greener on the mantle and scapulars, and beautiful rich
cobalt on the back, rump, and upper tail-coverts ; the head is blue, barred with black, the wings blue,
with spots of brighter cobalt on the coverts ; in front of the eye is a spot of rufous, this being also the
colour of the eye-coverts and under ])arts ; the throat is white, and there is a patch of white on
each side of the neck ; the cheeks and sides of the breast are blue, the bill is black, the feet

* " Perque (lies placidos hiberno tempore septem

Incubat alcyone pendentibus Eequore nidis."— Ovid, Met. xi. 745.

PIED KINGFISHER.

THE KIXGFISEER FAMILY. 349

red. The female is coloured like the male, but can alwaj-s be told by the red colour at the liase
of the under mandible. This i.s also jjresent in young birds of both sexes, but the latter can
readily be distinguished by their shorter bills.

Species of the genus Alcedo are distributed over the greater i>art of the Old World, extend-
ing even into the Molucca Islands, but in Australia and the Papuan grout) they are represented by
the genus Alcijone, comprising Kingfishers of similar form to the Eufjlisli bird, but distinguished by
the absence of the inner toe. In Africa and Madagascar some beautiful little crested King-
fishers (Corythomis) are met with, the largest of wliich scarcely exceeds five inches in length.
A very familiar species on the banks of the Nile is the Pied Kingfisher {Ceryle * rwlis), one of tlw
commonest birds in Africa and India, and of this species Dr. von' Heuglin writes f : — " It lives
in paira, is sociable, and, except during the breeding season, more friendly with members of its
own species than other Kingfishei's, and often several pairs dwell iai the same neighbourhood. It
sits and watches along the shore on overhanging branches, on roofs, walls, brickets, rocks, and even
on the ground, but seldom pounces from the latter on its prey. From time to time it takes a flight
over shallow clear water, also right across the river or from one island to another, sometimes very
low, 'generally, however, several fathoms above the surface. Its flight is not very swift, but straight,
and steadied by quick, fluttering motions of the wing — not rushing, like that of Alcedo ispida — and
it I'ises and falls according to will and with great agility. One often sees it, after taking a start
bj' several quick fla2)s of the wing, and gliding on for a distance, suddenly, with one quick
movement, alter the direction of the flight and suddenly stop and hover. When hovering, the bill
is held sti'aight down, and the hind part of the body and tail also rather lowered. Directly it
catches sight of its scaly prey it turns up, lays its feather's close to the body, and drops like a stone
into the water, remaining often over ten seconds below the surface. It seldom misses its mark, and
devours the fish it has captured either on the wing or at one of its resting-places. The voice is a
shrill whistle, at the same time chirpy, or at times snickery. During the pairing tinie the males
often fight on the wing, and roll together, calling loudly, nearly to the surface of the water. In
Egypt the breeding season is our spring ; according to Adams, as early as December. The nest, con-
sisting of a small heap of clean diy grass, is placed in a horizontal hole about arm's depth in a steep
bank, and contains foiir to six pure white roundish eggs, the shell of which is rather rough compared
with that of Alcedo ispida. Often several nest-holes are close together. The plumage of the young
much resembles that of the adult. There is scarcely any bird on the Nile tamer than the Black and
^^^^ite Kingfisher." The genus Ceryle, to which the foregoing species belongs, is largely represented in
the New World, one of the best known being the Belted Kingfisher of North America, and an unusual
circumstance in fish-eating Kingfishers is characteristic of the genus, viz., a difierence in the colouring
of the sexes. The Stork-billed Kingfishers {Pelargopsis%) are the mo.st powerful members of the
sub-family, some of them measuring nearly a foot and a half in length.

More difference in form and size is perceptible in the omnivorous Kingfishers {DacelonincB),
where some of the little three-toed species of Ceyx do not exceed five inches in length, whereas the
Great Laughing Jackasses of Australia (Bacelo) attain the dimensions of more than a foot and a half.
The smaller birds of this section feed almost entirely on insects, and the Rose-cheeked Kingfisher of
Africa {Ispidina^ jiicta) feeds principally on Grasshoppers and small Locusts, while its representative
in Natal (/. naUdensis) is said to feed entirely on Butterflies and insects caught on the wing. They
are often found along the banks of rivers, but never catch fish. The large genus Halcyon is dis-
tributed all over Africa, and ranges throughout Southern Asia, through China, to Japan, inhabiting
also the islands of the Malay Archipelago and the entire Continent of Australia. These birds prefer
a mixed diet, and, in addition to an occasional fish, they will also eat Crustacea, small reptiles, and
insects. Perhaps the most beautiful of all the Kingfisher family are the I'anysipterce, \\ which are
found only in New Guinea, the adjacent Moluccas, and the north-east peninsula of Australia.
These birds have only ten tail-feathers, the middle pair being very much longer than the rest, and
ending in a spatule or racket. They live entirely in the forests, feeding on insects, and they are said
to roost in the holes of rocks by the side of small streams. The best known species of Tanysiptera

* Knp.:^os, a sea-bird of the halcyon kind. t " Ornithologie Nord Ost Afrikas," p. 185.

t n-eXjoTo?, a stork ; i.!/, a face. § Diminutive of Ispida, a Kingfisher. 1| ran™, to stretch ; n-reiidi-, a wing.

NATURAL BJSTORY.

is tlie Australian Cimiamou-breasteJ Kingtisber {T. si/lvia), which was discovered by the late Mr.
Jolm Maegillivray, who gives the following account of its habits : — " This pretty Tanydptera is rather
l>lentiful in the neighbourhood of Cape York, where it frequents the dense bushes, and is especially
fond of resorting to the sunny openings in the woods, attracted, probably, by the greater abundance of
insect food found in such places than elsewhere. I never saw it on the ground, and usually was

lii-st made av/are of its jiresence by the glancing of its bright colours as it darted past with a rapid
arrow-like flight, and disappeared in an instant amongst the dense foliage. Its cry, which may be

^^2m^/:=Zir^

JGHING J.1CKASS.

represented by whee-whe-whee and wheet-iDhcet-wheet, is usually uttered when the bird is perched on
a bare, transverse bi-anch, or woody, rope-like climber, which it uses as a look-out station, and
whence it makes short dashes at any passing insect or small Lizard, generally returning to the
same spot. It is a shy, suspicious bird, and one well calculated to try the patience of the shooter,
who may follow it for an hour without getting a shot, unless he has as keen an eye as a native,
to whom I was indebted for first pointing it out to me. According to the natives, who know it
by the name of Quatawur, it lays three white eggs in a hole dug by itself in one of the large
ant-hills of red clay which form so remarkable a feature in the neighbourhood, some of them
being as much as ten feet in height, with numei-ous buttresses and pinnacles. I believe that the
bird also inhabits New Guinea ; for at Redscar Bay, on the south-east of that gi-eat island, in
long. 146° 15' E., a head strung upon a necklace was procured from the natives."

The largest of all the Kingfishei-s are the Laughing Jackas.ses of Australia, this curious name
being given to the bii-d from its strange note and peculiar look, both of which can be appreciated

THE IIOKMULI.S. 351

by any visitor to the London Zoological Gardens, where there is generally one, if not two, out of the
seven species known. Of the bird in its native haunts a very good idea is given us by the " Old
Bushman," the late Mr. Henry Wheelwright, which is here taken from a little work called the " Bush
Wanderings of a Naturalist." " About an hour before sunrise the l)ushman is awakened by the most
<liscordant sounds, as if a troop of tiends were shouting, whooping, and laughing around him in one
wild chorus : this is the morning song of the ' Laughing Jackass,' warning his feathered mates that
daybreak is at hand. At noon the same wild laugh is heard, and as the sun .sinks into the west it
again rings through the forest. I shall never forget the first night I slept in the open bush in this
countiy. It was in the Black Forest. I woke about daybreak, after a confused sleep, and for some
minutes I could not remember where I was, such were the extraordinary sounds that greeted my ears ;
the fiendish laugh of the Jackass, the clear, flute-like note of the Magpie, the lioarse cackle of the
Wattle-birds, the jargon of flocks of Leatherheads, and the screaming of thousands of Parrots as they
dashed through the forest, all joining chorus, formed one of the most extraordiuar}' concerts I have ever
heanl, and seemed at the moment to have been got up for the purpose of welcoming the stranger to
this land of wonders on that eventful morning. I have heard it hundreds of times since, but never
with the same feelings that I listened to it then. The Laughing Jackass is the bushman's clock, and
being by no means shy, of a companionable nature, a constant attendant about the bush-tent, and a
destroyer of Snakes, is regarded, like the Eobin at home, as a sacred bird in the Australian forests. It
is an uncouth-looking bii-d, a huge species of land Kingfisher, nearly the size of a Crow, of a rich
chestnut brown and dirty white colour ; the wings slightly chequered with light blue, after the manner
of the British Jay ; the tail-feathers long, rather pointed, and barred with brown. It has the foot of a
Kingfishei- ; a very formidable, long, pointed beak, and a large mouth ; it has also a kind of crest, which
it erects when angry or frightened, and this gives it a very ferocious appearance. It is a common bird
in all the forest throughout the year ; breeds in a hole of a tree, and the eggs are white ; generally seen
in pairs, and by no means shy. Their principal food appears to be small reptiles, grubs, and caterpillars.
As I said before, it destroys Snakes. I never but once saw them at tliis game : a paii- of Jackasses had
disabled a Carpet-Snake under an old gum-tree, and they sat on a dead branch above it, every now and
then darting down and pecking it, and by theii- antics and chattering seemed to consider it a capital
joke. I can't say whether they ate the Snake — I fancy not ; at least the only reptiles I have ever found
in their stomachs have been small Lizards. The fir.st sight that struck me on landing in London was a
)>oor old Laughing Jackass moped up in a cage in Ratclifie Highway. I never saw a more miserable,
woebegone object. I quite pitied my poor old friend, as he sat dejected on his perch ; and the thought
struck me at the time that we were probably neither of us benefited in changing the quiet freedom of
the bush for the noise and bustle of the modern Babylon." The Common Laughing Jackass has the
.sexes alike, but in all the other species the male lias a blue tail and the female a red one.

THE FOURTH FAMILY OF THE FISSIROSTEAL PICAEIAN BIRDS.
THE HORNBILLS {Bucerotid<€).
These bii'ds are found in Africa, India, and throughout the Malayan region and Molucca Islands, as
far as New Guinea. They are birds of rather ungainly appearance, nearly every species having a casque,
or helmet, which is developeil in every variety of shape, and in some of them reaches an extraordinary
size. The flat soles which were alluded to in the Kingfishers are here developed in a greater degi'ee,
and the toes are united together in exactly the same way. The flight, however, of the Hornbills is very
different from that of the Kingfishers, being heavy and performed with an abundance of noise : so
much so that some exploi-ers in South-eastern New Guinea have been led to speak of a bird
whose wings, when flying, produced a noise " re.sembling a locomotive," but which was doubt-
less made by the large Hornbill {Buceros * riijicollis), which frequents that jjart of the world.
They are generally found on very lofty trees and at a great height, which makes them diflicult to
.shoot ; and Governor Ussher says that in ascending the lonely forestclad rivers of North-western Boiuieo
the only sign of life is often a solitary Hprnbill flying across at a great height in the au\ Wallace
states that the Khinoceros Hornbill {Buceros rhinoceros), a native of the Malayan Peninsula and Borneo,
* paiKcpoK, having the horn {Kipox) of a cow (^oOs).

AIL HAL MlSTuKY

finds the exertion of flying so great that it is compellett to rest at intervals of about a mile ; and the
same author says that he heard the Great Hornhill (Dic/ioceros bicornif:) more than a mile off, so that
the amazement caused by one of these large birds to the travellers in New Guinea, as mentioned above,
does not seem so very inexplicable. The voice of the last-named species is said to be very harsh and
grating, aud the noise it makes is compared by Wallace to something between the bray of a Jackass
and the shriek of a locomotive, and is not to be surpassed, probably, in power by any sound that an
animal is capable of making. Tickell says that its roar re-echoes through the hills to such a degree

lEAT HOKMilLL.

that it is difficult to assign the noise to a bird ; and Wallace observes that this is kept up so continuously
as to be absolutely unbearable. The flight is heavy, and performed by repeated flappings of its huge
wings. It usually flies in a straight line, and sails only when about to alight upon some tree.*

The food of the Hornbills consists principally of fruits, but under certain circumstances they
become to a great extent omnivoi'ous, and will devour anything, some of the species searching the
ground for Lizards, which they devour readily, both when wild and in confinement ; and the Pied
Hornbill {Ayithracoreros malabaricus) is stated by Mr. Inglis to be very fond of live fish, which it
catches in sliallow pools. The way he discovered this predilection for an abnormal diet was as follows :
he possessed a tame Otter and three tame Hornbills ; at feeding time the Otter was placed in a tub
* Elliot : " Monograph of the Bucerotiilse, or family of the Hornbills," Part IV.

THE HOnNBILLS. 3o3

containing live fish, anJ these, wlien closely pressed, would jump out to escape from tlieir pursuer, ami
were immediately swallowed by the Hornbills. Mr. luglis has also found bones of lish in the stomachs
of birds which he liad shot ; and the natives of the Naga Hills affirm that when these Hornbills are
intent on fishing they can be approached sufficiently close to be killed by a stick.

By far the most curiotis habit belonging to these birds is that which takes place during the
breeding season, when the male bird plasters the female into a hollow tree, there to hatch her oggs,
nor does he release her until the young ones are nearly full gi'own. It is scarcely possible to conceive
a practice more detrimental to the well-being of any bird than this. The exertion of feeding
himself as well as his wife and nestlings must entail a serious strain upon the male, while the
ilestruction of the latter must inevitably ensure the starvation of the female and of the young birds.
This curious habit hiis been well attested by observers in Asia as well as in Africa ; and the wi-iter
once received from an old negro collector on the West Coast of Africa, who rejoiced in the name of
St. Thomas David Aubinn, and styled himself " Royal Hunter to the King of Denkera," an a<lult
female of the Black Hornbill (Sphagolohvs oira<«.v), together with a nearly full-grown young one,
wliich, he said, had been taken by liim together out of the hole of a tree ; and the habits of the Horn-
bill in this x-espect were given by him in the following words : " When the female go to sit, the male
he her shut in tree. If he no bring food, then she angry. If he no then bring food, then she more
angry — swear. If he no then bring food, then she curse him for die. Man — beef — beefy — beef ! "

If the last sentence is intended to represent the enraged Hombill, it is evident that the noises
produced by the bird are not of that startling character ascribed to the Eastern species by Wallace, as
mentioned above. All accounts seem to agree that tlie female is shut in the hollow of a tree ; but Dr.
Kirk noted an exception, on native authority, and therefore one which must be confirmed by future
research. This is the Crested Hornbill {Bi/canistes cristaiiis), which is a common bird on the river
Shire, where it goes in large flocks, and roosts regularly in the same places. " The natives say that the
female hatches her eggs in a hole underground, in which she is fastened by the male." Our astonish-
ment at the imprisonment of the female Hornbill is not lessened when it is found that the male bird
keeps her supplied with food by a most curious process, which accounts for the statement of Dr.
Li%'ingstone * : — " The first time I saw this bird was at Kolobeng, where I had gone to the forest
for some timber. Standing by a tree, a native looked behind me and exclaimed, ' There is the nest of
a Korwe.' I saw a slit only, about half an inch wide and three or four inches long, in a slight hollow
of a tree. Thinking the word Korwe denoted some small animal, I waited with interest to see what
he would extract. He broke the clay which surrounded the slit, put his arm into the hole, and brought
out a Tockus, or Red-beaked Hornbill, which he killed. He informed me that when the female enters
lier nest she submits to a real confinement. The male plasters uj) the entrance, leaving only a naiTow
slit l)y which to feed liis mate, and which exactly suits the form of his beak. The female makes a nest
of her own feathers, lays her eggs, hatches them, and remains with the young till they are fully fledged.
During all this time, which is stated to be two or three months, the male continues to feed her and
the young family. The prisoner generally becomes quite fat, and is esteemed a very dainty morsel by
the natives ; while the poor slave of a husband gets so lean that on the sudden lowering of the tem-
jierature, which sometimes happens after a fall of rain, he is benumbed, falls down, and dies." At a
meeting of the Zoological Society on the 25th February, 1869, Mr. A. D. Bartlett produced a curious
envelope, which had been thro^mi by a Wrinkled Hornbill (Anorrhiims corrugatus) in the Zoological
Gardens of London, which was found to contain plums or grapes well packed together ; and Mr.
Bartlett came to the conclusion that it was by means of fruit packed together in such a wrapper that the
male fed the female during her confinement in the hollow tree. In 1874, Dr. Mnrie exhibited to the
same society some similar envelopes, or, as he more properly called them, gizzard sacs, which had been
thrown up by a specimen of Sclater's Hornbill {Bycanistes subci/lindricus) in the same way as by the
previous bird. On examination, these gizzard sacs proved to be the interior lining of the bird's
stomach ; and it was evident, from the short time that elapsed between the throwing up of the
envelopes, that, as Dr. Murie observed, the bird in the interval had made a new one, and got rid of it
also, without apparently being any the worse. One can readily imagine, however, that this process,
.being continued during the long period that the female is shut up in the hole of the tree, must tend
* "Missionary Travels in South Africa."

354 NATURAL SISTOSY.

greatly to weaken the bird. The liabit of feeding his mate seems to be inherent in every Hornbill,
even in captivity, for Mr. Bartlett observes : — " The tame male Hornbill is particularly distinguished
at all seasons by this habit of throwing up his food, which he not only offers to the female, but to the
keepei-s and others who are known to him. The male Concave Hornbill {Buceros cavatus) now in the
Gardens will frequently thi-ow up grapes, and, holding them in the point of the bill, thrust them into
the mouth of the keeper, if he is not on the alert to prevent or avoid this distinguished mai-k of his
kindness."

Mr. "Wallace thus describes the habits of the Hornbills, as observed by him during his travels
in the East, and he points out certain peculiarities, proving that the old systematic position of these
bii-ds near the Toucans of America is erroneous : — " From an examination of the structure of the
feet and toes, and from a consideration of their habits, we are led to conclude that the Hornbills
are Fissirostral birds, though of a very abnormal form. Then- very short legs and united toes, with
a broad flat sole, are exactly similar to those of the Kingfishers. They have powerful -wings, but
their heavy bodies oblige them to use much exertion in flight, which is not therefore very rapid,
though often extended to considerable distances. They are (in the Indian Ai-chipelago, at least)
entirely frugivorous, and it is curious to observe how their structure modifies their mode of feeding.
They are far too heavy to dart after the fruit in the manner of the Trogons ; they cannot even fly
quickly from branch to branch, picking up a fruit here and a fruit there ; neither have they strength
or agility enough to venture on the more slender branches with the Pigeons and Barbets ; but they
alight heavily on a branch of considerable thickness, and then, looking cautiously round them, pick
off any fitiits that may be witliiu reach, and jerk them down their throats by a motion similar to
that used by the Toucans, which has been erroneously described as throwing the fruit up in the
air before swallowing it. When they have gathered all within their reach they move sideways along
the branch by short jumps, or, rather, a kind of shuffle, and the smaller species even hop across to
other branches, when they again gather what is within then- reach. When in this way they have
progi'essed as far as the bough will safely carry them, they take a flight to another part of the tree,
where they pursue the same course. It thus happens that they soon exhaust all the fruit witlun
then- reach ; and long after they have left a tree the Barbets and Eurylaimi find abundance of food
on the slender branches and extreme twigs. We see, therefore, that their very short legs and syn-
dactyle feet remove them completely from the vicinity of the Toucans, in which the legs are actively
employed in moving about after their food. Their wings, too, are as powerful as those of the Toucans
are weak ; and it is only the great weight of their bodies that prevents them from being capable
of rapid and extensive flight. As it is, their strength of wing is shown by the great force with
which they beat the aii", producing a sound, in the larger species, which can be distinctly heard a
mile off, and is even louder than that made by the flight of the great Muscovy Duck." Mr.
Wallace * also describes the capture of a young Hornbill in Sumatra : — " I returned to Palenibang by
water, and while staying a day at a village while a boat was being made water-tight, I had the good
fortune to obtain a male, female, and young bird of one of the large Hornbills. I had sent my
hunters to shoot, and while I was at breakfast they returned, bringing me a fine large male of the
Buceros bicornis, which one of them assured me he had shot while feeding the female, which was
shut up in a hole in a ti'ee. I had often read of this curious habit, and immediately returned to
the place, accompanied by several of the natives. After crossing a stream and a bog, we found a
large tree leaning over some water, and on its lower side, at a height of about twenty feet, ap-
peared a small hole, and what looked like a quantity of mud, which I was a.ssured had been used
in stopping up the large hole. After a while we heard the harsh cry of a bird inside, and could
see the white exti-emity of its beak put out. I offered a rupee to any one who would go up and
get out the bii-d, with the egg or young one, but they all declared it was too difficult, and they were
afraid to try. I therefore very reluctantly came away. In about an hour afterwards, much to my
surprise, a tremendous loud, hoarse screaming was heard, and the bird was brought me, together with
a young one, which had been found in the hole. This was a most curious object, as large as
a pigeon, but without a particle of plumage on any part of it. It was exceedingly plump and soft,

* " Malay Archipelago," Vol. I., p. 212.

THE GROUND HURNBILLS. 355

and with a semi-ti-anspareut skin, so that it looked more like a bag of jelly, with head and feet
stuck ou. than like a real bird."

One genus of these Hoi-nbills is so remarkable as to demand a sjiecial notice.

THE GROUND HORNBILLS {Bmorux).
These are an African form, of which there are two or three kinds, distinguished by the casque,
which is open in the birds from Abyssinia, compressed and shut in the South African species {B. eafer).

GKOUKD HOKXBILLS OF ABYSSI.M.\.

Of the habits of the latter bird several accounts have been written, from which a few extracts are made ;
and the first Ls from a letter sent by Mr. Henry Bowker to Mr. Layard, after the publication of the latter's
"Birds of South Africa"* : — "There are many superstitions connected with the ' Bi-omvogel' The
bird is held sacred by the Kaffirs, and is killed only in times of severe drought, when one is killed
by order of the ' rain-doctor,' and its body thrown into a pool in a river. The idea is that the bird
liivs so offensive a smell that it will ' make the water sick,' and that the only way of getting rid of
this is to wash it away to the sea, which can only be done by heavy rains and flooding of the river.
The gi'oimd where they feed is considered good for cattle, and in settling in a new country, spots
frequented by these birds are chosen by the wealthy people. . Should the birds, however, by some
chance, fly over a cattle kraal, the kraal is moved to some other place. They are mostly found in
* See Sharpe's Edition of LayaiJ's " Birds of South Africa," p. 122.

:!5G NATURAL MISTOIiY.

groups of from three to six or seven, and build tlieir nests in hollow trees, or in the hollow formed
by three or four branches striking ofi' from the same spot. They roost in tall yellow-wood trees,
and commence calling about daylight. I never saw one eating carrion, as stated in your book,
though I have frequently seen them near the bones of dead cattle, picking up beetles and worms.
They will eat meat, mice, and small birds, and swallow them by throwing them suddenly in the air,
and letting them drop down the throat in falling. I once had a tame one, and noticed this par-
ticularly. It is very weak on the wing, and when required by the ' doctor,' the bird is caught by the
men of a number of kraals turning out at the same time, and a particular bird is followed from one
hill to another by those on the look-out. After three or four flights it can be run down and caught
by a good runner."

Mr. Ayres' account of the species in Natal, though often refeiTed to by other writers, is
so excellent that no work ti'eating of South African birds can omit it, and is therefore reproduced
here in its entirety : — " In the stomach of the male were snakes, beetles, and otlier insects. These
birds ai-e gregarious, and to be found here all the yeai- round, but are not very plentiful, generally
thi-ee or four, sometimes more, being found together. They are very fond of h\mting for tlieir food
on ground from which the gi-ass has been bm-nt ; with their strong bills they peck up the hard ground
and turn over lumps in search of insects, making the dust fly again. Having found an insect or
other food they take it up, and giving their head a toss, the bill pointing upward, appear to let
the food roll down their throat. They also kill large snakes in the following manner, viz.: — On
discovering a snake, three or four of the birds advance sideways towards it with their wings stretched
out, and with their quills flap at and irritate the snake till he seizes them by the wing-feathers, when
they immediately all close round and give him violent pecks with their long and sharp bills, quickly
withdrawing again when the snake leaves his hold. Tliis they repeat till the snake is dead. If the
reptile advances on them they place both wings in front of them, completely covering the heads and
most vulnerable parts. Their call, wliich consists of but one note repeated — a deep and sonorous
coo-coo — may be heard at a great distance. I have myself heard it, under favourable circumstances,
at a distance of nearly two mUes. The call of the female is exactly the same coo-coo, only pitched
one note higher than the male. The latter invariably calls first, the female immediately answering,
and they continue this perhaps for five or ten minutes, every now and then, as they are feeding.
Their flight is heavy, and when distiu-bed, although very shy, they seldom fly more than half a mile
before they alight again. At a distance they would easily be mistaken for Turkeys, their body being
deep and rather compressed, similarly to those birds, with the wings carried well on the back. The
little pouch on the throat they are able to fill with air at pleasure, the male bird sent to me
to London doing this before he died. I think their principal range of country is on the coast and
from twenty to thirty miles inland. Tliey roost on trees at night, but always feed on the ground."

In Angola, where the bii-d is called by the natives Enffunyoashito, Mr. Monteiro had great
difliculty in procuring specimens, on account of the superstitiou.s dread in which they are held by the
natives. He says : — " They are found spaiingly nearly everywhere in Angola, becoming abimdant,
however, only towards the intei'ior. In the mountain range in which Pungo Andongo is situated,
and running nearly north and south, they are common, and it was near the base of these
mountains that I shot these two .specimens. They are seen in flocks of six or eight (the natives say
always in equal numbers of males and females). Farther in the interior I was credibly informed
that they are found in flocks of from one to two hundred individuals. The males raise up and open and
close their tails exactly in the manner of a Turkey, and filling out their bright cockscomb-red, bladder-
like wattle on their necks, and with wings dropping on the ground, make quite a grand appearance.
They do not present a less extraox-dinai-y appearance as they walk slowly with an awkward gait, and
peer from side to side with their gi-eat eyes in quest of food in the short gi-ass, poking their large bills
at any frog, snake, <fec., that may come in their way. Their flight is feeble and not long sustained.
When alarmed, they generally fly up to the nearest large tree, preferring such as have thick branches
with but little foliage, as the Adansonia, ' Muenzo ' (a wild fig). Here they squat close on the
branches, and, if further alarmed, raise themselves quite upright on their legs in an attitude of
listening, with wide open bills. The first to notice a person at once utters the customary ciy, and all
fly oft' to the next tree. They are very wary, and the grass near the mountains being con)i)aratively

THE HOOFOES. 357

short, witli but little scrub or bircii, it is \n-y difficult to ai)pro;icli without being observed by them
from the high trees. I followed a flock of six for upwards of two hours, crawling flat on my stomach,
negro fashion, before I obtained a chance of a shot, when I was so fortunate as to break the wing of a
male without otherwise injuring it. It was quickly captured by the blacks. They are omnivorous in
their food ; reptiles, birds, eggs, beetles, and all other insects, mandioca roots, ginguba or ground-nuta,
constitvite their food in the wild state. In confinement I have fed this bird upon the same food, also
upon fresh fish, which it showed itself very fond of, as well as on entrails of fowls, ifec. On letting it
loose in Loanda in a yard where there were several fowls with chickens, it immediately gulped down
its throat six of the latter, and finished its breakfast with several eggs ! The note or cry of the male
is like the hoarse blast of a horn, repeated short three times, and answei'ed by the female in a lower
note. It is very loud, and can be heard at a considerable distance, particularly at night. They are
said to build theij' nests on the very highest Adansonms, in the hollow or cavity formed at the base
or junction of the branches with the trunk."

The present species is of a verj' large size, measuring about forty inclies in length, and about
nineteen inches in the wing. It is entirely black, with the exception of the primary quills, which are
white ; the bill and legs are black, but the bare skin on the neck and round the eye is bright red in
the male, but blue in the female.

THE FIFTH FAMILY OF THE FISSIROSTEAL PIC'ARIAN BIEDS.
THE HOOPOES {VpupUhe).

DifTerent as these birds are in appearance and habits, ornithologists now agree that from their
structure they must be placed in close alliance with the Hornbills, with which they are more
particularly connected by the Wood Hoopoes. Instead of the ungainly figures and top-heavy-
looking casques of the Hornbills, the Hoopoes are remarkable for their graceful carriage and elegant
figure, in which the beautiful crest plays an important part. They are particularly at home in the
desert counti-ies, where their sandy-coloured plumage is no doubt a gi-eat protection to them ; and a
story is told that the Hoopoe, if it sees a Hawk appioaching, will throw itself fiat on the ground,
and by twisting its wings round in front and remaining motionless, with its bill pointing ujjwards,
it will look like a piece of old rag, and thus escape detection.

Not more than five species of Hoopoe are knov/n, all inhabitants of the Old World, and the most
widely distributed is the Common Hoopoe (Upupa epops) of Europe, which visits England during the
spring and autumn migration, and at least one instance of its breeding in that country is known.
Mr. Howard Saunders states * : — " In the year 1847 a pair of Hoopoes nested in a hole of an old
yew-ti-ee in a shrubbery of an old-fashioned garden at Leatherhead, Surrey. The proprietor was very
anxious that the birds should not be disturbed, and a strict veto was placed upon any bird's-nesting in
the shrubbery — a .severe trial to our boyish propensities ; but we were afterwards rewarded by seeing
the parent birds with their young strutting about upon the lawn. As well as I remember, there were
five young ones besides the two old birds." The species is found all over central and southern Europe
in summer, being in some places very plentiful ; but it is a rare visitor to the northern parts, and has
disappeared from some countries, like Denmark, for iiistance, where the fellmg of the old and
hollow forest trees has deprived it of its accustomed breeding-places. In some places the bird is
disliked, and in Scandinavia, where it occurs only in the southern and central portions, it bears a
bad name among the peasantry, who suppose it to be a foreboder of war and hard times, and from
this circumstance its name of Harfugel or " army bii-d," is deiived. The Chinese also have an
objection to them, branding them by the name of " Coffin-bird," as they often breed in the holes of
exposed Chinese coffins. On the other hand, according to Canon Tristram, in the Sahara the Arabs
have a sui)erstitious veneration for the Hoopoe, and its magical properties enter largely into the arcana
of the Arab "hakeem." He says that great numbers of Hoopoes i-esort to the M'zab cities and
freqvient oases in winter, where they strut about the courtyards and round the tents with the_^
familiarity of barn-door fowls. Mons. Favier says, that in Tangier the superstitious Jews and
Mahomedans both believe that the heart and feathers of the Hoopoe are charms against the
machinations of evil spirits.

* Sharpe and Dresser, "Birds of Euroiie," Part VII., 1871.

NATUliAL EI^TURY.

The ordinary name of Hoopoe is deiived from the note of the bird, and in most European
languages the latter suggests the vernacuh\r names. Thus, in Bulgaria it is called Poo-poo, in Valentia
Put-Put, Bubbula, kc, in Italy, Poupa in Portugal, and so on. Mr. Swinhoe writes of the bird aiid
its note as follows : — " I have already described the peculiar way in wliicli the Hoopoe produces its
notes — by puffing out the sides of its neck, and hammering on the ground at the production of each

^) W^'

COMMOX HOOPOE.

note, thereby exhausting the air at the end of tlie series of three, which makes up its song. Before it
repeats its call, it repeats the puffing of the neck with a slight gurgling noise. When it is able to
strike its bill, the sound is the correct hoo-hoo-hoo ; but when perched on a rope, and only jerking out
the song with nods of the head, the notes more resemltle the syllables Ao/t-AoA-AoA. Mr. Darwin makes
use of this last fact to show that some bird.s lune instnmiental means to produce their music. It is
not to this ])oint, however, that I wisli to call attention, but to the fact of the bird's puffing out the
sides of its neck. It is generally sujiposed that the song of a bird is jiroduced by actions of the lower
larynx on air passing up the bronchial tubes onwards and outwards through the main tube, or trachea.
The trachea of the Hoopoe is not dilatable, but its oesophagus is ; and the puffing of the neck is
caused by the bulging of the cesophagus with swallowed air. There is no connection between the

TUE WOOD UUOrOES. 359

oesophagus and the trachea, ami a|)parently no organ at the entrance to tlie former that couhl modify
sound. What action, tlien, can tliis swallowed aij- be made to take in tlie jiroduction of the bird's
notes ] Pigeons have strikingly large air-crops, which they emjjty with each coo, and refill before they
coo again. Many birds swell out the throat when calling or singing, and others move it up and down.
These actions must also be caused by the swallowed air in the oesophagus, and must modify the sounds
in some way, as variously used, adding power and richness in some cases, or giving ventriloquistic
efleet in others. This question seems never to have been enquii-ed into before, and I throw out the
hint in hopes that others may help to elucidate the matter with their investigations."

The length of the Common Hoopoe is about one foot ; the upper surface is greyish-brown, the
wings and shoulders black barred with white, the rump being pure white ; on the head, which is tawny-
coloured, is an enormous crest, the feathers of which have a black tip, before which is a narrow white
bar ; the tail is black, with a white band at about a third of its length from the end ; underneath the
body is pale cinnamon, white on the abdomen and under tail coverts, the Hanks striped with brown.
The sexes are alike in colour, excepting that the female is a little paler.

THE WOOD HOOPOE!? {In-hor).

All the birds belonging to this section of the Hoopoes are remarkable for theii- very long and
strongly graduated tails, for their brilliant metallic plumage, which is always dark, and inclining more
or less to black — instead of a sandy colour, as in the true Hoopoes — and most of them for their very
curved, scimitar-like bills. They ai-e all natives of Africa, and have a remarkably loud, chattering
note ; and from its harsh and resounding voice the Red-billed Wood Hoopoe (/. erythrorhynchus) is
known among the Dutch at the Cape as " Cackala," or the " Chatterer." The late M. Jules Verreaux
told the writer that the noise made by these birds is tremendous, and that on one occasion he was
attracted by an uproar, which seemed to indicate that something unusual was the matter. On pro-
ceeding to the place whence the noise came, he was astonished to find on the low branch of a tree three
of these bii-ds, perched one on the back of the other, betokening by their drooping wings and repeated
chatterings the utmost consternation and fright. The cause of this was not fai* to seek, for just below
the birds was a cobra, balancing himself in an erect attitude, and perfectly motionless, the only in-
dication of life being the incessant flicking of the animal's tongue. The cacklings of the birds became
feebler and feebler, until at last the bottom one fell off the perch and dropjjed into the extended jaws
of the snake, which were ready to receive it; while the other two birds, apparently freed from the
spell of the reptile's eye, took to instant flight. Having his gun in his haml, M. Verreaux shot the
snake immediately ; but on going to rescue the bird, found that the latter was quite dead. Mr. Thomas
Ayres, who has studied the species in Natal, says : — " The food of these birds consists almost entirely
of a species of cockroach, which they take from the crevices of rough-barked trees, and in search of
which they creep about the trunk and branches somewhat similarly to the Woodpeckers. In this
manner their tail-feathers frequently become much worn. From four to eight of these birds are
generally together, and frequent bushy country. They liave a loud chattering note, and are extremely
restless in theii' habits. Tliey have a peculiarly jwwevful and disagreeable smell." Mr. Andersson's
account of the species is as follows : — " It lives in small flocks — probably consisting of entire families — •
which frequent trees, chiefly of the larger kinds, and examine them most assiduously in search of
insects and their larvse, which they extract from crevices in the wood and from beneath the bark.
These birds climb like Woodpeckers ; and their long tails come into constant contact with the rough
surface of the trees, by which the tail-feathers are much injured. When they have finished their
examination of one tree they move to the next convenient one. lint not all together, as a short interval
generally elapses after the departure of each individual. The moment flight is decided on, they utter
harsh discordant cries or chatterings, which are continued until they are all safely lodged in their new
quarters. These harsh notes are also heard when they conceive themselves in danger from either man,
beast, or bird ; and they thus often betray their presence."

The present species measures about seventeen inches, the tail being about ten o>it of that
number, and being thus tliree inches longer than the body of the bird. The colour is Maek, glossed
with green on the head, back, and under surface, with blue on the throat, purple on the wings and tail.

Sao XATU£AL UISTORY.

•and lia\-ing a bronzy gloss on the shonlilfi-s. All tlie tail feathers, except the two centre ones^
have a white spot near the tip and across the wings a white bar. The bill and legs are
bright coral red.

CHAPTER X.

THE BEE-EATERS— MOTMOTS— ROLLERS— TROGONS— NIGHTJARS, OR GOATSUCKERS-
SWIFTS— HUMMING BIRDS.

THE BEE-EATERS— Their Brilliant Plumage— Colonel Irby's Account of the Bird in Spain— Shot for Fashion's sake—
THE MOTJIOTS— Appearance— Mr. Waterton on the Houtou— Curious Habit of Trimming its Tail— Mr. O. Salvin's
Observations oji this point— Mr. Bartlett's Evidence— THE ROLLERS— Why so called— Canon Tristram's Account of
tlieir Habits— Colour- Other Species— THE TROGONS -Where found— Peculiar Foot— Tender Skin— Inability to
Climb— Their Food— The Long-taileo Tkogon, or Quesal— Mr. Salvin's Account of its Habits— Its Magnificent
Colour — How they are Hunted — THE NIGHTJARS, OR GOATSUCKERS — Appearance — Distribution — The
Guacharo, or Oil-bird — " Frog-mouths " — Mr. Gould's Account of the Habits of the Tawny-shouMt-red I'odargu.s— How
it Builds its Nest— Mr. Waterton 's Vindication of tlie Goatsucker — What Services the Bird does ie;dly ifniliT Cattle,
Goats, and Sheep— Its Cry— The Common Goatsucker— THE SWIFTS— The Common Swin— Miyiiiti.jn- TlicirHome
in the Air— ^^^^ere they Breed— Nest— Tree-Swifts— The Edible-Nest Swiftlets -Mr. E. L. Layaid's Msit tu the
Cave of the Indian Swiftlet— THE HUMMING BIRDS— Number of Species— Distribution— Professor Newton's
Description of the Bird — Mr. Wallace on their Habits — Wilson pn the North American Species.

THE SIXTH FAMILY OF THE FISSIROSTRAL PICARIAN BIRDS.
THE BEE-EATERS (Meropidie).
The Bee-eaters are among the most brightly phuuaged of the Picarian birds, and ai-e distributed over
the whole of Africa, India, the Moluccas, and Australia. One species {Merops apiaster) visits Euroi)e
in the summer, being, however, nowhere so common as in the countries of the Mediterranean basin,
though they occasionally wander to England. Colonel Irby* gives the following account of the
Bee-eater in Southern Spain : — " The bird did not appear to me to be quite so common in Morocco
at the end of April as on the Spanish side of the Strait, where, during April, May, June, and July, it is
one of the most conspicuous birds in the country ; at that season, Andalusia without Bee-eaters would
be like London without SpaiTows. Everywhere they are to be .seen ; and their single note, feerp,
heard continually repeated, magnifies their numbers in imagination. Occasionally, they venture into
the centre of towns when on passage, hovering round the oraiiL;c tnis and tliiwers in some patio or
garden. Crossing the Strait for the most part in the early ]i:nt of the day. flight follows flight for
hours in succession. When passing at Gibraltar, they sometimes skim low down to settle for a
moment on a bush or a tree, but generally go straight on, often almost out of sight ; Init their cry always-
betrays their presence in the air. In some places they nest in large colonies ; in others there are,,
perhaps, only two or three holes. When there are no river-banks or barrancos in which to bore holes,
they tunnel down into the ground, where the soil is suitable, in a vertical direction, generally on some
slight elevated mound. The shafts to these nests are not usually so long as those in banks of rivers,
which sometimes reach to a distance of eight or nine feet in all ; the end is enlarged into a round sort
of chamber, on the bare soil of which the usual four or five shining white eggs are placed. After a
little they become discoloured from the castings of the old birds, the nest being, as it were, lined with
the wings and undigested pai-ts of Bees and Wasps. Vast numbei-s of eggs and young must be
annually destroyed by Snakes and Lizards. The latter are often seen sunning themselves at the
entrance of a hole among a colony of Bee-eaters ; and frequently have I avenged the birds by treating
the yellow reptile to a charge of shot. The bills of Bee-eaters, after boring out their habitations, are
sometimes worn away to less than half their usual length ; but as newly-ariived birds never have these
stumpy bills, it is evident that they grow again to their ordinary length. It has often been a source
of wonder to me how they have the exertion to make these long tunnels : the amount of exertion must
be enormous i btit when one considers the holes of the Sand-Martin, it is perhaps not so sui-prising after
all. During my stay at Gibraltar, Beefeaters decreased very much in the neighbourhood, being con-
tinually shot on account of their blight plumage, to put in ladies' hats. Owing to this sad fashion,,

* " Or:iithology of the Strait of Gibraltar," p. (iO.

TKE MOT HUTS.

I saw no less than seven luiniU'e(l skins, all shot at Tangier in the siiring of l!^7-l-, which were consigned
by Olcese to some dealer in London. Howe\'pr, the euormons injury these birds do to the jieasants who
keep Bees fully merits any amount of punishment, but, at the same time, they destroy quantities of
Wiisps. After being fired at once or twice, they become very wary and shy at the breeding-places ;
and the best way to shoot them is to ^^

hide near the colmenares, or groups ^^^

of corchos, or cork bee-hives, which
in Spain are placed in i-ows, some-
times to the number of seventy or
eighty together ; and it is no un-
usual thing to see as many Bee-
eaters whirling round and swoop-
ing down, even seizing the bees at
the very entrance of their hives.
The reason of their early departure
in August is to be accounted foi bj
the simple fact that bees ceise to
work when there are no floweis,
and by that time all vegetation is
scorched up." The Bee-eatei suffeis
probably less from the fashion ible
rage after its plumes than do some
of the bright-coloured buds, is it
goes in winter to South Afiin,
where it rears anothei biood of
young ones.

THE SEVENTH FAMILY OF THE
FISSIROSTRAL PICARIAN BIRDS.
THE MOTMOTS [Momotid<€).
These birds are peculiar to
the New "World, being found from
Mexico southwards through the
whole of Central America and the South American continent. Their general plumage is green, and
the majoi'ity of the species have a large racket at the end of the centre tail-feathers, formed by the bird
itself, as detailed below. Mr. Waterton gives an account of the Motmots in Demerara, and he was
tlie first to point out that the racket in the tail was jwoduced by the bird's own action. He writes : —
" The Koutou ranks high in beauty amongst the birds of Demerara. His body is green, with a bluish
cast in the wings and tail ; his crown, which he erects at pleasure, consists of black in the centi-e,
surrounded with lovely blue of two different shades ; he has a triangular black spot, edged with blue,
behind the eye, extending to the ear ; and on his breast a sable tuft, consisting of nine feathers, edged
also with blue. This bird seems to suppose that its beauty can
be increased by trimming the tail, which undergoes the same
operation as one's hair in a barber's shop, only with this differ-
ence, that it uses its own beak, which is .serrated, in lieu of a pair
of scissors. As soon as his tail is full-grown, he begins about
an inch from the extremity of the two longest feathers in it, and
BILL OF MOTMOT. cuts awav the welj on both sides of the .shaft, making a gup

about an inch long. Both male and female adunise tlifir tails in
this manner, which gi^.-es them a remai'kable appearance amongst all other birds. While wf ounsider
the tail of the Houtou blemished and defective, were he to come amongst us, he would prolMMy con-
sider our heads, cropped and bald, in no better light. He who wLshes to obser\e this handsome bird

AVSTKAHAN BEE-EATEB.

NATURAL fflSTORT.

in his native haunts must be in the forest at the morning's dawn. The Houtou shvms the society of
man ; the plantations and cultivated parts are too much disturbed to engage it to settle there. The

thick and gloomy forests are the places pre-
ferred by the solitary Houtou. In those
far-extending wilds, about day-break, you
hear him articulate, in a distinct and mourn-
ful tone, ' Houtou, houtou.' Move cautiously
on to where the sound proceeds from, and
you will see him sitting in the underwood,
about a couple of yards from the gi'ound, his
tail moving up and down every time he
articulates ' houtou.' He lives on insects and
the berries among the underwood ; and very
rarely is seen in the lofty trees, except the
bastard Siloabali-tree, the fruit of which is
grateful to him. He makes no nest, but rears
his young in a hole in tlie sand, generally on
the .side of a hill."

In confirmation of Mr. Waterton's
remarks, a paper was published by Mr. Osbert
Salvin in the " Proceedings of the Zoological
Society " for 1873 (p. 429) : — " Some years
ago (18C0) this Society jjossessed a specimen
of Moniotus subru/escens, which lived in one
of the large cages of the paiTot-house all by
itself. I have a very distinct recollection of
the bird ; for I used every time I saw it to
cheer it up a bit by whistling such of its notes
as I had picked up in the forests of America. '
The bird always seemed to appreciate this
attention ; for though it never replied, it
became at once animated, hopped about the
cage, and swung its tail from side to side like
the pendulum of a clock. For a long time
its taU had perfect spatules ; but towards the
end of its life I noticed that the median
feathers were no longer trimmed with such
precision ; and on looking at its beak I noticed
that from some cause or other it did not close
jiroperhj, but gaped slightly at the tip, and
had thus become unfitted for removing the
vanes of the feathers. Since the subject has
been revived by Dr. Mnrie, it occurred to me
that Mr. Bartlett cwild hardly have failed
to watch this bird during its moults, and
whilst the tail-feathers were growing. I ac-
cordingly wrote to him, and received the
following reply : —

' Dear Sir, — During the several years
the Motmot lived here I had many oppor-
tunities of watching its habits ; and / have
seen the bird in the act of picling off' the icebs of the central feathers of its tail, and have taken
from the bottom of the cage the fragments of web that fell from the bird's .bill. As the bird

-K>

i'i/i' li'lLLKUS.

lived here for some years, its bill got rather out of order, that is, it did not close properly at the
point ; and consequently the picking off the web at last was imperfectly performed, and the two sides
of the tail-feather presented an unequal and unfinished appearance. 1 noticed also that the Motmot
frequently threw up castings, after the manner of tlie Kingfishers and other birds that swallow
indigestible substances. — Yours faithfully, A. D. Bartlett.'

" The point is further elucidated, by the examination of skins in our collection. We have a
number of specimens of various species in which the central tail-feathers were growing when the birds
were shot. The drawings now exhibited show some of them. Figure A represents the tail of a young
Momotus lessoni in its first plumage. The central tail-feathers are here untouched ; they merely show
the reduction in the breadth of the web in the part which is subsequently denuded. Of this more
jinon. Figure B shows the growing feathers of the tail of a specimen of Momotus mexicanus ; in this
a few vanes have been removed from the left-hand feather. Figure c shows the process of denudation

TAIL-FEATHERS OF MOTMOT.
(A)Tsilof Jf. ;ese<m«: two Central Rectrices sbaded; (bi™i
M, lesamii, v' ' ._-..--

3 Of Central Rectrices partially denudoil

Still further advanced. In all these three birds it will be noticed that the feathers in question have
gi'own .svTnmetrically, both being of nearly equal length. Figure d represents the tail of a Prioni-
rhynchus platyrhynchus, where these feathers have not grown symmetrically, but the left-hand one has
been developed sooner than the right-hand one. Wliat has happened ^ The bird expecting to find
two feathers upon which to operate has commenced to nibble not only the left central rectrix, but also
the next rectrix on the right-hand side ! But it seems to have not felt very certain about the state of
its tail, for it has wandei'ed off to one of the others, and commenced nibbling it also. When, how-
ever, the proper i-ight-hand feather appeared, these mistakes have been discovered, and the work re-
commenced in the usual way. I can interpret in no other way the state in which the feathers on the
right-hand side of the tail of this bird appear."

THE EIGHTH FAMILY OF THE FLSSIROSTRAL PICARIAN BIRDS.

THE ROLLERS (Coraciadfe).

These birds constitute a family of birds which are strictly denizens of the Old World, and are

remarkable for their bright plumage. The vernacular name of Roller is given to them from their habit

of mounting or " rolling " in the air. Canon Tristram, in describing the habits of the European species

(C'oracias (jarrula) in Palestine, writes as follows: — "On the 12th of April I reached Ain Sultan

iU4 NATURAL RISTOEY.

(Jericho) alone, and remained tiiere in solitude for several daj'S, during which I had many opportunities
of observing the gi-otesque habits of the Roller. For several successive evenings, great flocks of
Rollers mustered shortly before sunset on some dom trees near the fountain, with all the noise but
without the decorum of the Rooks. After a volley of discordant screams, from the sound of which it
derives its Arabic trivial name of ' Schurki-ak,' a few birds would start from their perch, and
commence a series of somer.saults overhead, somewhat after the fashion of Tumbler Pigeons. In
a moment or two they would be followed by the whole flock, and these gambols would be repeated
for a dozen times or more. Every ivhere it takes its perch on some conspicuous branch or on the top
of a rock, where it can see and be seen. The bare tops of the fig-trees, before they put forth their
leaves, are, in the cultivated terraces, a particularly favourite resort. In the barren Ghor I have
often watched it perched unconcernedly on a knot of gravel or marl in the plain, watching apparently
for the emergence of beetles from the sand. Elsewhere I have not seen it settle on the ground-
Like Europeans in the East, it can make itself happy without chairs and tables in the desert, but
prefers a comfortable easy-chair when it is to be found. Its nest I have seen in ruins, in holes
in rocks, in burrows, in steep sand-clifts, but far more generally in hollow trees. Tlie colony in the
Wady Kelt used burrows excavated by themselves ; and many a hole did they relinquish, owing to
the difficulty of working it. But so cunningly were the nests placed iinder a cnimbling treacherous
ledge, overhanging a chasm of perhaps one or two hundred feet, that we were completely foiled in ouv
siege. We obtained a nest of six eggs, quite fresh, in a hollow tree in Bashan, near Gadara, on the
6tli of May. It is noticed by Russell among the birds of Aleppo." The colour of the Common Roller
is very beautiful, and we can well understand the significance of the Turkish name " Alia Carga," or
Beautiful Crow. The back is pale cinnamon-brown ; tlie wing-coverts pale blue, excepting those on
the edge of the wing, which are rich ultramarine ; the quills brownish-black, deep ultramarine
underneath ; the secondaries with more blue on the outer web ; the forehead wliite ; the crown of
the head and back of the neck pale blue ; the lower back and rump viltramaiine ; the up]ier tail-
coverts greenish-blue ; the tail blackish-brown, the feathers blue at the base, the two centre feathers
dull green ; cheeks and throat pale blue, streaked with silvery blue ; the under surface of the body
pale greenish-blue. The total length is twelve inches. One curious feature about the European
bird is that the outer tail-feather tends towards a point at the tip, as if there was an inclination to
become elongated ; and in Africa there is a species which actually differs from the European Roller
only in having the outer tail-feathers elongated to an extent of several inches.

In Madagascar, that wonderful island which produces so many peculiar forms of bird life, there
are found the Ground Rollers {Atelornis), extraordinary birds which live entirely on the ground, and
only come out at dusk. Their flight is said by M. Grandidier to b«j very weak, so that the birds
are never found above the lowest branches. They are rather local in their habitat, but where they do
occur seem not to be uncommon. The Cyrombo Roller {Leptosoma discolor) is also a native of
Madagascar, and has at first sight much the appearance of a Cuckoo, of which family of bird.s
it was for many years considered to be a member. The head is extremely large in this bird, and the
region of the nostrils densely plumed ; but the latter, instead of being placed near the base of tlu^
bill, as in most Rollers, are situated nearly in the middle of the upper mandible. Messrs. Pollen and
Van Dam give an intei-esting account of this bird in their notes on the " Birds of Madagascar " : — " The
natives of the north-west of Madagascar give this bird tlu- name of Cyrombo. It has the curious
habit of hovering in the air, and uttering a very loii4 n^t' , striking its wings against its body as it
calls. This cry, resembling the syllables tu-hou, tu-Jwn, fii-Zion, noes on increasing in force. Nowhere
have we found this bird in greater numbers than in the forests in the neighbourhood of the bays of
Boeny and Jongony, in the south-western portion of the island of Mayotte. The racket that they
make during the whole journey is ti'uly wearisome. Although very active as criers, these bii-ds are
lazy and stupid. As soon as they are perched on the branch of a tree, they remain, so to speak,
immovable, and in perpendicular j)osition, so that it is easy to see them and knock them over. When
seen in this position, they look like birds impaled. We suppose that they live in polyandry, because
one always sees three times as many males as females ; often we have seen three males in company
with one single female, and all allowed themselves to be killed one after the other. In fact, when one
is killed, the others do not fly away, but content themselves with merely moving from one branch to

TEE TliOGOXS. •>"«

another. These birds live principally on Grasshoppers, but they devour also Cliameleons and Lizards,
which gives to their flesh a disagi-eeable odour, like that we observe in the Common Cuckoo. In
preparing these birds we often found them with a species of large parasite of the family of tlie
Ornithomyia;, of a dirty green colour. We were never able to study the proi)agation of this bird ;
but while iii Mayotte we saw an individual make a nest of rushes in the hole of a great ' Badamier '
{Terminalia Catappa). These birds when they cry puff out the throat, so that this portion of the body
has the appearance of a pendent bag. When wounded, they erect the feathers of the forehead and
ears as well as those of the throat, all the while distributing well-aimed blows with the beak. The
Cyronibo plays a great part in the chants and religious recitations of the Malagasy natives. The

BLVE ROLLER.

French colonists of Mayotte call this bird the ' Parrot.' It is common at Madagascar and Mayotte,
and has, according to Mr. Sclater, been found in the island of Anjounan."

THE NINTH FA3IILY OF THE FISSIEOSTRAL PIOARIAN BIHD.S.— THE TROGONS {Trogonidce).
These beautiful birds are found both in the Old World and the New, but are inhabitants of
the tropical latitudes only. In Africa two species only are known, nor does another species occur
until the coast of India is reached, and then in the fore.sts of the peninsula and of the Himalayas
there are some beautiful red-breasted repre.sentatives of the family, whence throughout the Malayan
peninsula and the Sunda Islands some of the handsomest Trogons occur. But it is in America,
fi'om Mexico southwai-ds, that the larger number of species is met with, no less than thirty-three
out of a total of forty-six Trogons being peculiar to the New World. Their habits vary somewhat,
as all the Old World members are insectivorous, while the American species principally feed on
fruit, and. only devour insects in a secondary manner. The Trogons may be distinguished not only
by their broadened bill, but by the foot, where the first and second toes are turned permanently,
two in front and two behind. This is a different arrangement to that of the Cuckoos and other

86« NATURAL HlVTUUr.

climbing Pivai-iti', wliere the fourth toe is permanently or temporarily turned backwards as well a»
the fii-st. The skin of these birds is remarkably thiii and tender, so that their preparation is by no
means an easy matter, and theii' appearance is also detracted from by a scantiness of plumage on
the nape, where a gi'eat want of feathers takes place. Mr. Wallace, writing of the bii-ds of this
present family, remarks : — " As an in.stance how totally unable the Trogons are to use their feet
for anything like climbing, we may mention that the Trogons of South America feed principally
on fruit, which one would think they would get by climbing or walking after, if they could. But
no ; they take their station on a bare branch about the middle of the tree, and having fixed their
attention on some particularly tempting fruit, they dart at it, seize it dexterously on the wing,
and return to their oi-iginal seat. Often, while waiting under a fruit-tree for Chatterers or Pigeons,
have we received the first intimation of the presence of a Trogon by the whir-r-r of its wings as it
darted after a fruit. It is curious that this habit seems confined to the Trogons of America. In
the East I have never yet observed it, and in the numerous specimens I have opened, nothing has
been found but insects. The African Trogons also appear to be wholly insectivorous."

Again, in his "Naturalist in Nicaragua" (p. 122) Mr. Belt writes : — "The Trogons are general
feeders. I have taken from their crops the remains of fruits, grasshoppers, beetles, termites, and
even .small crabs and land shells. The largest species, the Massena Trogon {Trogon nuissena), is one
foot in length, dai-k bronze-green above, with the smaller wing-feathers speckled white and black, and
the belly of a beautiful carmine. Sometimes it sits on a branch above where the army of ants are
foraging below, and when a grasshopper or other large insect flies up and alights on a leaf it darts
after it, picks it uj), and returns to its perch. I sometimes found them breakiiig into the nests of
the termites with their strong bills, and eating the large soft-bodied workers, and it was from
the crop of this species that I took the remains of a small crab and land shell {Helicina). They
take short, quick, jerking flights, and are often met with along with flocks of other birds — Fly-
catchers, Tanagers, Creepers, Woodpeckers, &c., that hunt together, traversing the forests in flocks
of hundreds, belonging to more than a score of difi'erent species, .so that while they are passing over
the trees seem alive with them. Mr. Bates has mentioned similar' gregarious flocks met with by
him in Brazil ; and I never went any distance into the woods around St. Domingo without seeing
them. The reason of their association together may be partly for protection, as no rapacious bird
or mammal could approach the flock without being discovered by one or other of them ; but the prin-
ci])al reason ap])ears to be that they play into each other's hands in their search for food. Creepers
ami Wn..il|„vl<i'i-s ,iiiil (ithers drive the insects out of their hiding-places under bark, amongst moss
and willit iv,l I.'mncs. The Flycatchers sit on branches and fly after the larger insects, the Flycatchers
taking tlieui ou tlie wing, tlie Ti'ogons from the leaves on which they have settled."

THE LONG-TAILED TROGON", OR QUES-IL {Pharomacnis* mocinno).
This beautiful species is mentioned in Willughby's Ornithology, which was published some
two hundred years ago, in which book an appendix is devoted to such birds as the' author suspected
to be " fabulous ;" and the Quetzaltototl of Hernandez was jilaced in this category, nor was it till the
French traveller Delattre visited Guatemala, and published his account of the habits of the bird in
1843, that it was restored to its proper position as one of the most beautiful of the feathered ti-ibe :
it is now by no means rare in collections. The best account of the habits of this species— and, indeed,
of any Trogon — is that given by Mr. Osbei-t Sah-in, in his paper entitled " Quesal-shooting in Vera
Paz,"t in Guatemala. He writes from his diaiy : — •" Off to the mountains at last, with a fine day and
a fair prospect of success. The road, after crossing the river, strikes off to the northward — a mountain
track winding among the hills. Soon after entering the forest, a river crosses the path — a foaming
torrent — a fall into which gives no hope of escape. A felled tree, one of the largest of the forest,
forms the bridge, over which, slippery with moss and foam, we have to pass. For ourselves it is
nothing; but I must say I tremble for the Indians, each of Avhom carries his 751b.s. of cargo. In the
worst and most slippery part, the foothold is somewhat improved by the tree being notched with a
' machete ; ' but still it is as dangerous a pass as I ever crossed. After half-an-hour's delay, we reach
the other bank. One ' mozo ' only turned faint-hearted, and another carried his pack across. From
* itipiK, a mautle ; uaitpd!, large. + Ibis, 18G1, p. 138.

LOXG-TAILED TROGON, OR QUESAL.

TUE LONG-TAILED TR(KIOK. 367

the river the path becomes very iirecipitons, aiul we continue to clinilj till we reach the foot of a rock,
where we find a deserted rancho, and take possession. A fire having been made to heat the pixtones,
we dine, and afterwards start for the forest close by to look for Quesals. On entering, the path takes
the unpleasant form of a succession of felled trees, which are slippeiy from recent rains, and render
progi-ess slow. My companions are ahead, and I am just balanchig myself along the last tnink, when
Filipe comes back to say that they have heard a Quesal. Of course, being especially anxious to watch
as well as to shoot one of these birds myself, I immediately hurry to the spot. I sit down upon my
wide-awake in most approved style close to Cipriano, who is callmg the bird, and wait, all eyes and
eai-s, for the result. I have not to wait long. A. distant clattering note indicates that the bird is
on the wing. He settles — a splendid male — on a bough of a tree, not seventy yards from where
we are hidden. Cipi-iauo wants to creep up to within shot, but I keep him back, wishing to risk
the chance of losing a specimen rather than miss such an opportunity of seeing the bird in its li\'ing
state, and of watching its movements. It sits almost motionless on its perch, the body remaining in
the same position, the head only moving slowly from side to side. The tail does not hang quite
lierpendicularly, the angle between the true tail and the vertical being perhaps as much as fifteen
or twenty degrees. The tail is occasionally jerked open and closed again, and now and then slightly
raised, causing the long tail-coverts to \-ibrate gracefully. T have not seen all. A ripe fmit catches
the Quesal's eye, and he darts fi-om his perch, hovers for a moment, plucks the berry, and returns to
his former position. This is done with a degree of elegance that defies description. The remark has
often been made by persons looking at stuffed Humming-birds, ' What lovely little things these must
look in life, when they are flying about ! ' But they do not. Place a Humming-bird twenty yards
from you, and what do you see of its colours, except in the most favourable position and light % Tliis
is not the case with the Quesal. The rich metallic green of the head, back, and tail-coverts reflects its
colour in every position, whilst the deep scarlet of the breast and the white of the tail show vividly at
a distance, and contrast with the principal colour of the body. The living Quesal strikes the eye by
its colour at once. It stands unequalled for splendour among birds of the New World, and is hardly
surpassed among those of the Old. Such are my reflections, when a low whistle from Cipriano calls
the bird nearer, and a moment afterwards it is in my hand — the first Quesal I have seen and shot.

" The cries of the Quesal are various. They consist princijially of a low double note, ' whe-oo,
ii'he-oo,' which the bird repeats, whistling it softly at first, and then gi-adually swelling it into a loiul
l)ut not unmelodious cry. This is often succeeded by a long note, which begins low, and after swelling,
dies away ;is it began. Both these notes can be easily imitated by the human voice. The bird's other
cries are harsh and discordant. They ai-e best imitated by doubling a pliant leaf over the first fingers,
which must be held about two inches apart. The two edges of the leaf being then placed in the mouth,
and the breath drawn in, the required sound is produced. Cipriano was an adept at imitating these
cries, but I failed in producing them for want of practice. When searching for Quesals, the hunter
whistles a.s he walks along, here and there sitting down and repeating the other notes. As soon as
he hears a bird answering at a distance he stops, and imitates the bird's cries until it has approached
near enough to enable him either to shoot it from where he stands, or to creep up to within shot. The
female generally flies up first, and perches on a tree near the hunter, who takes no notice of her, but
continues calling till the male, who u.sually quickly follows the female, appears. . Should tlie male not
show himself, the hunter will sometimes shoot the female. Thus it is that so large a proportion of
males are shot. The flight of the Quesal is rapid and straight ; the long tail-feathers, which never
seem to be in his way, stream after him. The bird Ls never found except in forests composed of the
highest trees, the lower branches of which {i.e., those at about two-thirds of the height of the tree from
the ground) seem to be its fiivourite resort. Its food consists principally of fruit, but occasionally a
caterpillar may be found in its stomach."

The distinguishing character of this fine Trogon is the long tail of the male bird, which measures
about three feet in length. The colour of the upper parts is golden green, as well as the throat and
fore neck ; the breast is bright scai-let, and is overshadowed by some beautiful drooping plumes, which
spring from the shoulders, and hang ,gi-acefully over the wings ; the outer tail-feathers are white, with
black bases, and the bill is yellow. Tlie female has a black bill, and is much smaller, and she does not
possess the long tail and decorative plumes of the male.

368 NATURAL MlHTOliY.

THE TENTH FAMILY OF THE FISSIROSTKAL PICARIAN BIRDS.— THE NIGHTJARS,

OR GOATSUCKERS {Caprimulgida-).
Fioin tht at1]oiinm; ^voodcut it will be seen that a Nightjar is indeed a Fissirostral, or wide-
gapini; Imc! md tins 1 iit'e mouth is tharacteristic of the whole family. Their soft mottled j)lumage,
their large eyes, and their habit of flying by niglit, have induced
many naturalists to place them in close proximity to the OwLs, with
which family of bii-ds, however, they have nothing further in
common. Members of the family of Goatsuckers are distributed
nearly all over the world, with the exception of the islartds of
Oceania, and a great difference is observable in their size and
form, and to some extent in their habits. Thus the Guacharo, or
Oil-bird {S'teatornis* caripensis), is met with only in the island
of Trinidad, where it is also called Biahlotin, and where it inhabits
the inmost recesses of caverns, either by the sea or inland. The
birds spend the entire day in these dark recesses, and come out
only at night to procure their food, which consists of the fruits of
different palms, the seeds of which are rejected, and form, with the droppings of the birds, a thick
flooring of guano in some of the caves. Sometimes the bird forms a huge cradle of this deposit,
apparently for the greater security of its young ones ; and one of these singular nests, if such they may

JF GOATSUCKER.

be called, is exhibited in the British Museum. The nestlings become very fat, and are sometin.es
eaten, but according to M. Leotand, in his work on the Birds of Trinidad, there is a certain odoui-
about them which makes them unpalatable to the appetite of most people.

In India and in the Malayan Archipelago is found a gi-oup of Nightjars belonging to the genus
* cTTc'ap, oTMJTus, fat ; opvti, ahlrtl.

THE GOATSUCKERS. 369

Batrachostomus* popularly known as " Frog-mouths ; " tlieir place is taken in Australia and New
Guinea by tlie giantsof the family — the /^or/'ov/j, examples of which are generally to be seen in the London
Zoological Gardens. Of the Tawny-shouldered Podargus {P. strii/oidesf) Mr. Gould gives the following
account : — " Like the rest of this genus, this species is strictly nocturnal, sleeping throughout the day
on tlie dead branch of a tiee, in an upright |)o.sition across, and never parallel to, tlie branch
which it so nearly resembles as scarcely to be distinguished from it. I have occasionally seen it
ben<>ath the thick foliage of the Caswvrhua, and I liave been informed that it sometimes shelters itself
in the hollow trunks of the Eucalypti, but I could never detect one in such a situation ; I mostly found
them in pair.s, perched near each other on the branches of the gums, in situations not at all sheltered
from the beams of the midday sun. So lethargic are its slumbers, that it is almost impossible to arouse
it, and I have frequently shot one without di.sturbing its mate, sitting close by ; it may also be knocked
ofl' with sticks or stones, and .sometimes it is even taken with the hand. Wlien aroused, it flies lazily

COM.MON GOATSUC

off, with heavy flapping wings, to a neighbouring tree, and again resumes its slumbers until the approach
of evening, when it becomes as animated and active as it had been previously dull and stupid. The
stomach of one I dissected induced me to believe that it does not usually capture its prey while on the
wing, or subsist on nocturnal insects alone, but that it is in the habit of creeping among the branches in
search of such as are in a state of repose. The power it possesses of shifting the position of the outer
toe backwards, as circumstances may require, is a very singular feature, and may also tend to assist
them in their progi-ess among the branches. A bird I shot at YaiTundi, in the middle of tlie night,
had the stomach filled with fresh-captured Mantis and Locusts (Phasmidce and Cicadce), which seldom
move at night, and the latter of which are generally resting against the upright boles of the trees. In
other specimens I found the remains of small Coleoptera, intermingled with the fibres of the roots of
what appeared to be a parasitic plant, such as would be found in decayed and hollow trees. The whole
contour of the bird shows that it is not fonned for extensive flight or for performing those rapid evolu-
tions that are necessary for the capture of its prey in the air : the wing being short and concave in
comparison \vith those of the ti-ue aerial Nightjars, and particularly with the Australian form, to which I
have given the name of Eurostopodus.

* jlirpaxos, a frog ; a-iotia, a mouth

t Owl-like.

.'i7(i NATVKAL HISTORY.

" Of its mode of nidification I can speak with confidence, having seen many pairs breeding
duving my rambles in the woods. It makes a slightly-constructed flat nest of sticks, carelessly inter-
woven together, and placed at the foi-k of a horizontal branch of suificient size to ensure its safety ;
the trees most frequently chosen are the Eucalypti, but I have occasionally seen the nest on an apple-
tree (Angophm-a) or a swamp-oak (Casuarina). In every instance one of the birds was sitting on the
eggs, and the other perched on a neighbouring bough, both invariably asleep. That the male par-
ticipates in the duty of incubation I ascertained by having shot a bird on the nest, which, on

tion, proved to be a male. The eggs are generally two in number, of a beautiful immaculate

white, and of a long oval form, one inch and ten lines in length by one inch and three lines in
diameter.

" Like the other species of the genus, it is subject to considerable variation in its colouiing,
the young, which assume the adult livery at an early age, being somewhat darker in all theii-
markings. In some a rich tawny colour predominates, while others are more gi'ey. The night
call of this species is a hoarse noise, consisting of two distinct sounds, which cannot con-ectly be
described. The stomach is thick and muscular, and is lined with a hair-like substance, like that
of the common Cuckoo."

Mr. Waterton gives the following notes on Goatsuckers in his "Wanderings" (p. 139) : — " When
the sun has sunk in the western woods, no longer agitated by the breeze, when you can only see
a straggler or two of the feathered tribe hastening to join its mate, already at its roosting-place,
then it is that the Goatsucker comes out of the forest, where it has sat all day long iii slumbering
ease, unmindful of the gay and busy scenes around it. Its eyes are too delicately formed to bear
the light, and thus.it is forced to shun the flaming face of day, and wait in patience till night
invites liim to partake of the pleasures her dusky presence brings. The harmless, unoflfending Goat-
sucker, from the time of Aristotle down to the present day, has been in di.sgrace with man.
Father has handed it down to son, and author to author, that this nocturnal thief subsists by

rUE GOATSCCKEES.

milking the flocks. Poor injiived little liird of night, how
a stain has inattention to facts put
iil)on thy chaiiicter ! Thou hast never
robbed man of any part of his property,
nor deprived the kid of a drop of milk.

" When the moon shines bright
you may have a fair opportunity of
examining the Goatsucker. You will
.see it close by the Cows, Goats, and
Sheep, jumping up every now and then
under theii- bellies. Approach a little
nearer — he is not shy : ' he fears no
danger, for he knows no sin.' See
how the nocturnal flies are tormenting
the herd, and with what dexterity he
springs up and catches them as fast as
tliey alight on the bellies, legs, and
udders of the animals. Observe how
quiet they stand, and how sensible they
seem of his good offices, for they neither
strike at him nor liit him with their
tails, nor tread on him, nor try to drive
him away as an uncivil intruder. Were
you to dissect him and inspect his
stomach, you would find no milk there.
It is full of the flies which have been
annoying the herd.

" The pretty mottled plumage of
the Goatsucker, like that of the Owl,
wants the lustre which is observed in
the feathers of the birds of day. This
at once marks him as a lover of the
pale moon's nightly beams. There are
nine species here (Demerara) ; the
largest appears nearly the size of the
English Wood Owl. Its cry is so
remarkable that, having once heard it.
you will never forget it. When night
reigns over these immeasurable wiliK
whilst lying in your hammock, you will
hear this Goatsucker lamenting liki
one in deep disti'ess. A stranger wouM
never conceive it to be the cry of .1
bird ; he would say it was the departing
voice of a midnight murdered victim,
or the last wailing of Niobe for her
poor children before she was turned
into stone. Suppose yourself in hope-
less soiTow, begin with a high loud
note, and pronounce * Ha, ha, ha, ha,
la, ha, ha ! ' each note lower and lower,
till the last is scarcely heard, pausing
a moment or two betwixt every note,

idly hast thou suffered

-TAILED NIGHTJ.IR.

372 NATURAL HlSTOltY.

and you will have some idea of tlie moaning of the hii'gest Goatsucker in Demerara. Four
other species of the Goatsucker ai'ticulate some words so distinctly that they have received their
names from the sentences they utter, and absolutely bewilder the stranger on his aiTival in these
parts. The most common one sits down close by your door, and flies, and alights three or four
yards before you as you walk along the road, crying ' Who are you, who-who-who-are-you.' Another
bids you ' Work away, work- work-work-away.' A third cries mournfully, ' Willy-come-go, willy-
willy-willy-corae-go.' And high up in the country a fourth tells you to ' Whip-poor-will, whip-
whip-whip-poor-will.' You will never persuade the negro to destroy these birds, or get the Indian
to let fly his arrows at them. They are bii-ds of omen and reverential dread. Jumbo, the demon
of Africa, has them under his command, and they equally obey the Yabahou, or Demeraran Indian
Devil. They are receptacles for departed souls who come back again to earth, unable to re.st for crimes
done in their days of nature ; or they are expressly sent by Jumbo or Yabahou to haunt cruel
or hard-hearted monsters, and retaliate injuries received from them. If the largest Goatsucker
chance to cry near the white man's door, soitow and grief will soon be inside ; and they expect to
see the master waste away with a slow consuming sickness. If it be heard close to the negro's or
Indian's hut, from that night misfortune sits brooding over it, and they await the event in terrible
.siispense."

The common Goatsucker, which is also popularly known as the " Fern Owl," or " Nightjar,"
visits England only in the spring, when it arrives from Southern Africa, and distributes itselt over
the country. It is by no means an uncommon bird, but is rarely seen, owing to its habit of coming
out only at night, or at least in the twilight. They may then often be disturbed from the ground in
a country road, when they take to flight in a heavy manner, often making a flapping noise, which
appears to be caused by bringing the wings sharply together above the body of the bii-d. The call-
note may be described as " chuning," and is disagi-eeable in sound ; it is
generally uttered by the Goatsucker when sitting on a low branch of a tree
or on a railing. It should be mentioned that the Caprimulgidse do not, as
a rule, sit crosswise on a branch, but always along the latter ; their favourite
haunt, however, is generally the gromid, and it is supposed by some naturalists
that the curious pectinated claw is used by the Goatsucker for scratching
the groimd. Dr. Giinther, F.RS., who kept one of these bii-ds alive, says
that it frequently used its comb-like claw for this purpose. Other people
have thought that its claw was intended for clearmg away the debris of
moths and other insects, which would clog the bristles on the bill. The
true use of this comb-like appendage on the foot has not yet, however, been thoroughly determined.

THE ELEVENTH FAMILY OF THE FISSIROSTRAL PICARIAN BIRDS.

THE SWIFTS {CypwUdie).

These birds, with the Humming-birds, are separated from the other Fissirostral Ficarice by many

anatomical characters, the chief being the arrangement of the feather-tracts on the body, which are

quite peculiar ; the muscles are also unlike those of the other families, and hence these two gi-oups

are often divided ofi"by modern naturalists under the name of Macrochires*

THE COilMOX SWIFT {Ci/pse/iis apns).f
In the beginning of May the Common Swift comes to Great Britain and the rest of Europe,
after passing his winter sojourn in South Africa. He is one of the latest arrivals, as he comes only
when summer has fairly begun and fine weather is pretty well assured ; again, in autumn, he is
almost the first of the summer migrants to take his departure, and the absence of the Swifts from
their accustomed haunts is a sure sign of the approach of the fall of the year. So incunilient
does this early migration seem to be upon the species, that the Swifts have been known to lea\-e
their young to perish of starvation rather than delay their departure if cold weather suddenly

* fiaKpos, long ; xeip, a hand, in the sense of a wing of a bird. + Cyi)selus, a swift ; a, not ; ttois, a foot.

approaches. All birds appear to have at times a f:iilure of instinct, and the Swift is no exception to

the rule for sometimes they are caught in some cold weather on their arrival, and it is not uncommon

to find them benumbed with cold, and fluttering helplessly or even lying dead on the ground. In

this latter position they are peculiarly helpless, their little legs being unable to raise them so as

to give them the proper momentum to rise into the air again, while their long wings are much

in the way, and only assist in their entire discomfiture. The home of the Swift, then, is in tlie air,

and here his evolutions are most ^ v-^^f?^ \

rapid, and performed with ex- * ~" ^%*r.'^^

treme quickness and yet with

consummate ease. For his

breeding home he often selects

water-spouts on lofty buildings,

such as the English cathedrals,

(ir else places his nest under the

roofs of houses, to the edge of

wliich he is able to shuffle, and

then to launch himself suddenlj

down, after which his course is

easy. In the evening theie is

generally a little gathering of

Swifts together, when the\ fl\

screaming round and round the

buildings in which their nests

have been placed, sepaiatmg

again for a few^ moments to

rejoin in an excited flock, ■which

passes with incredible swiftness

and much noise round the edges

of the towers or homesteads

When about to migrate, how

ever, they are silent, and the

flocks which may be seen couis

iiig along the sides of the dow ns

in the southern counties of

England in August utter no

sound, as if impressed with the

gravity of the long journey they

are about to undertake.

Macgillivray describes the
nest of the Common Swift as fol-
lows : — " It is very rudely con-
structed, flattened, about six
inches in diameter and half an

inch thick ; composed of particles of Aira ciespitosa, straws of oats, wheat, and grasses, intermixei'
with fibrous roots, moss, wool, cotton, hair, and feathers of the domestic fowl, partridge, and rook
These materials are confusedly felted and agglutinated, the glueing matter being of a gelatinous, not
of a resinous, nature, and in extremely tliin shreds, which crackle, but do not readily burn, when flame
is applied to them. There is, however, a small quantity of the membranous scales of the Scotch fir,
together with some resinous matter, in one of these nests." The eggs are generally two in number, of
a long oval shape, and entirely white.

Swifts appear to be found all over the world, the most graceful being perhaps the Tree Swifts
(Denclroc/ielidon), which inhabit India and the Malayan region. In this same part of the world are
also found the Edible-nest Swiftlets {ColhcaUa), which breed in caves, their nests being eaten by the

COMMON SWIFT.

NATUUAL HISTORY.

Cliinese and other Asiatic people. Dr. Jerdon .say.s :— " The nest, when pure and of the first make,
is composed entirely of inspissated mucus from the large salivary glands of the bird. It is very small,
bluntly triangular in form, and slightly concave within ; of a semi-transparent, fibrous sort of texture,
bluish-white in colour, and with the fibres, as it were, crossed and interlaced. When the nests of the
first make are taken away, the second nests are mixed with feathers, and occasionally other foreign
siibstances. The eggs are two in number, and pure white." Mr. E. L. Layard gives the following
account of a visit '..o a cave inliabited by the Indian Swiftlet in Ceylou :— " I have at last visited the

TREE SWIFT.

cave in which Collocalia nklifica* builds, and will now, with the aid of my journal, give all the
information I can, sending you birds skinned and in spirit, and a young nestling taken ft-om the nest
with my own hand. The cave is situated at a place called Havissay, about thirty-five miles from the
.sea and twenty from the river, and about 500 feet u]> a fine wood-clad hill, called Diagallagoolawa, or
Hoonoomooloocota. Its dimensions are as follows : — Length between fifty and sixty feet, about twenty-
six broad, and twenty high. It is a mass of limestone rock, which has cracked off the hill-side, and slipped
down on to some boulders below its original position, forming a hollow triangle. There are three
entrances to the cave ; one at each end, and one veiy small one in the centre. The floor consists of
large boulders, covered to the depth of two or three inches with the droppings of the birds, old and
young, and the bits of grass they bring in to fabricate their nests. The only light which penetrates
the cavern from the entrances above mentioned is very dim. When my eyes, however, got accustomed
* Nest-building.

39a

376 NATURAL BISroRY.

to the light, I could see many hundreds of nests glued to the side of the fallen rock, hut none to the
other side, or hill itself. This I attribute to the fact of the face of the main rock being evidently-
subject to the influence of the weather, and perhaps to the heavy dews off the trees ; but for this, the
side in question would have been far more convenient for the birds to have built on, as it sloped
gently outwai-d, whereas the other was much overhung, and caused the birds to build their nests
of an awkward shape, besides taking up more substance. I was at the spot a few days before

Christmas, and fancy that must be about
the time to see the nests in perfection.
This is corroborated by the fact of my find-
ing young birds in all the nests taken by
me, and by what the old Chinaman said,
that the ' take ' came on in October. I
find that they have three diflerent quali-
ties of nests, and send two for your in-
.spection. The best is very clean, white as
snow, and thin, and is also very expen-
sive. The most inferior are composed
of diy grasses, hair, >fec., but I could not
detect anything like the bloody secretion,
as described (' though only under peculiar
circumstances of exhaustion ') by i\Ir.
Barbe, even in a fresh nest. I was in the
ca\e late (after 5 p.m.) in the evening of
a day which threatened rain, but the old
buds were still flying round the summit
i)f the mountain at a vast altitude, occa-
siiiii illy dashing down into the cave with
tood for their nestlings. By daylight
next morning 1 was on foot, but the birds
weie before me, hawking on the plain
iielow and all about the hills. I have
tound the bu'ds here, in Colombo, in
Kandy, and all along the road we went.
I could learn nothing of the number of
eggs laid, nor of theu' colour. I founil
one bird in each nest. Tlie Chinese who
live on the spot pretend not to understand
anything asked them, and the apathetic

;-TAILED SWIFT. JO > 1

Cingalese have never taken the trouble
to see for themselves, so they could "give me no information. The aspect of the country,
broken and rugged, coupled with the numerous flocks of birds I saw flying round the various hills,
leads me to think there must be many breeding-places yet undiscovered. One, however, was pointed
out, but we had not time to visit it. " I could not hear of any other kind of Swift breeding there,
but have just received such information as leads me to suppose that C.fuciphaga builds near Jafl"na
on some rocks overhanging the sea. I may further add that there were no Bats in the cave with
C. nidifica, nor did I .see any bird of prey, .save a fine Hwinatornis, which I shot. The Cingalese name
/or C. nidifica is WaJtkenn."

THE TW'^ELFTH FAMILY OF THE FISSIROSTEAL PICAEIAN BIRDS.-THE
HUMMING BIRDS [TrochUidce) .
These exquisite little creatures are jierhaps the large.st family of birds known, numbering, at the
present day, nearly five hundred species. It is simply impossible in a work like the present to do

THE Bl'MM/Xa BIRDS. 377

more than alluile to a family, the full tlescription of wliick by ^Ir. Gould has occupied five large folio
volumes. An immense variety of form and colour is presented to us. All the birds are of small size,
some of tliem being no larger than Hawk-moths, to which in their manner of flight they bear con-
siderable resemblance.

In some countries Humming-birds are tolerably commoii, but some species are of extreme rarity,
such, for instance, as the Loddigeda mirab'dis, which was discovered forty years ago, and still i-emuius

SWORD-BILL HUMMING BIRD.

represented by a single specimen in the collection of the late Mr. George Loddiges, and of which a
reward of fifty pounds, offered by Mr. Gould, has not succeeded in obtaining a second example. As a
rule, Humming-bii-ds are a Neotropical family, that is to say, the vast majority of the species occur in
South America, and do not wander above tlie line of Northern Mexico ; but a few species are found in
the Southern United States, while one occurs in summer even in North America, ranging as far as,
and even breedmg in, Canada. Professor Newton writes : — " Wilson, Audubon, Mr. Gosse, and
several others gifted with ' the pen of a ready wi-iter,' have so fully de.scribed, as far as words will
admit, the habits of different members of the family Trockilidre, that it is unnecessary to say much on
this score. Their appearance is so entirely unlike that of any other birds that it is hopeless to attempt

378

IS. iT URAL Ul^lORi

ill any way to Vn-iug a just conception of it to the ideas of tliose who have not crossed tlic:
Athintic ; and even the comparison so often made between tliem and the Sphingidai, though
doubtless in the main true, is much to the advantage of the latter. One is admiring tlie clu.stei-ing
stars of a scarlet Conlia, the snowy cornucopias of a Porllandia, or some other brilliant and beautiful
flower, when between the blossoms and one's eye suddenly appears a small dark object, suspended
as it weie between foui shoit black threadb meeting each othei in a cross For an instant it shows in
fiont of the flowei , an instant iikup it steulies itself, and one perceives the space between each
]nn of thie.iils OLCupied li\ i lil \ again anothei mstaiit, and, emitting a momentary

flash of emerald and sapphire light, it
IS ^.inishing, lessening in the distance
as it shoots away, to a speck that the
eje cannot take note of — and all this.
so lapidly that the word on one's lips
IS still unspoken, scarcely the thought
in one's mind changed. It was a bold
mm oi- an ignorant one who first ven-
tuied to depict Humming birds flying ;
but it cannot be denied that repre-
s( ut itioiis of them are often of special
nsi to the ornithologist. The peculiar
attion of one, and probably of many or
dl othei species of the family, is such,
tint at times in flying it makes the
w inijs almost meet, both in front
and behind, at each vibration. Thus,
\\iiMi a liird chances to enter a roouv
It will .,tnerally go buzzing along the
(.oiniti Standing beneath where it is,
one will find that the axis of the
b(Kl\ IS vertical, and each wing is de-
sciibmg a nearly perfect semicircle.
As might be expected, the pectoral
muscles are very large ; indeed, the
steinum of this bird is a good deal
1 i-,%ei than that of the common
( liinmey Swallow (Hiruiido rustica).
I>ut the extraordinary rapidity with
A\ inch the vibrations are efi'ected seems
t(i lie chiefly caused by these powerful
muscles acting on the very short wing-
bones, which ai-e not half the length
of the same parts in the Swallow ; and
accordingly, great as this alar action is, and in spite of the contrary opinion entertained by Mr.
Gosse, it is yet sometimes wanting in power, owing, doubtless, to the disadvantageous leverage
thus obtained ; and the old authors must be credited who speak of cobwebs catching Humming
birds. On the 3rd of May, 1857, a bii-d of this species flew into the room where I was sitting,
and after fluttering for some minutes against the ceiling, came in contact with a deserted spider's
web, in which it got entangled, and remained suspended and perfectly helpless for more than a
minute, when by a violent eifort it freed itself. I soon after caught it, still having fragments of
the web on its head, neck, and wings ; and I feel pretty sure, that had this web been inhabited
and in good repair, instead of being deserted and dilapidated, the bird would never have escaped."

Mr. A. R. Wallace has written the following account of the habits of Hummingbirds on tha
River Amazon ; — " The greater number of species that frequent flowers do so, I am convinced, for

WHITE-BIUltD RicKET TATI

TJI !■: /ir.t/.U/Mi J-.IUD^. '■:•■-

the sniiill insects fouiul there, and not ibr the nectar In dozens, and j^erhaps luindred.s, of
common flower-fiequeuting species wliich I have examined, tlie croi), stomach, and intestines have
been filled with minute beetles, ants, and spiders, which abound in most flowers in South America.
Very rarely indeed have I found a trace of honey or of any liquid in the crop or stomach. The
(lowers they most frequent are the various species of Iiiga and the papilionaceous flowers of many
large forest trees. I have never seen them at the bignonias, or any flowers but those which grow
in large masses, covering a whole tree or shrub, as they visit perhaps a hundred flowers in a
minute and never stop at a single one. The little Emerald Hummer I have seen in gardens
and at the connnon orange (Asdepian), which often covers large spaces of waste ground in the
tropics. But there are many, such as Phuethornig eremita and some larger allied species, whicii i

COMMON TOPAZ HVMMIX

have never seen at flowers. These inhabit the gloomy forest-shades, where they dart about
among the foliage; and I have distinctly observed them visit in rapid succession every leaf
on a branch, balancing themselves vertically in the air, passing their beak closely over the under
surface of each leaf, and thus capturing, no doubt, any small insects that may be upon them.
While doing this, the two long feathei-s of the tail have a vibrating motion, apparently serving as
a rudder to assist them in perfoi-ming the delicate operation. I have seen othei-s searching up
and down stems and dead sticks in the same manner, every now and then picking off something,
exactly as a Bush Shrike or Tree Creeper does, with this exception, that the Humming-bird
is continually on the wing. They also cajjture insects in the true Fissirostral fashion. How often
may they be seen perched on the dead twig of a lofty tree — the station that is chosen by
the tyrant Flycatcher.^ and the Jacamai-s — from which, like those birds, they dart off a short
distance, and after a few whirls and balancings return to the identical twig they had left. In the
evening, too, just after sunset, when the Goatsuckers are beginning their search after insects over the

380 NATURAL HISTORY.

rivers, I have seen Humming bii-ds come oiat of the forest and remain a long time on the wing — now
stationary, now darting about with the gi-eatest rapidity, imitating in a limited space the evolutions
of their companions the Goatsuckers, and evidently for the same end and purpose."

Wilson, the poet-naturalist, observes of the North American species as follows : — " Nature in
every department of her works seems to delight in variety, and the present subject is almost as
singular for its minuteness, beauty, want of song, and manner of feeding, as the Mocking Bird is for
unrivalled excellence of note and jJainness of plumage. This is one of the few birds that are
universally beloved, and amidst the sweet dewy serenity of a summer's morning his appearance
amongst the arbours of honeysuckles and beds of llowers is truly interesting.

'When morning dawns, and the West sun again

Lifts his red glories from the Eastern main,

Then through our woodbines, wet with glittering dews,

The flower-fed Humming bird his round pursues ;

Sips with inserted tube the honied blooms,

And chirps his gratitude as round he roams ;

While richest roses, though in crimson di-est,
Shrink from the splendour of his gorgeous breast.
What heavenly tints in mingling radiance fiy !
Each rapid movement gives a different dye :
Like scales of burnished gold they dazzling show,
Now sink to shade, now to a furnace glow.' ''

-Til 111 MMI^r. HIRD

Printed by Cassell & CoMrANV, Limited, La Belle Sacvage, Londdn', E.G.

BIRDS OF PARADISE.

CASSELL'S

NATURAL HISTORY

EDITED BY

P. MARTIN DUI^CAN, M.B. (LOND.), F.R.S., RG.S.

PROFESSOR

IN AND HONORARY FELLOW OF KINO's COLLEGE, LONDON

CORRESPONDENT OP THE ACADEMY OF NATURAL SCIENCES, PHILADELPHIA

Vol. IV.

ILL USTRA TED

CASSELL AND COMPANY, Limited

LONDON, PARIS & MELBOURNE

1896

ALL KIGHtS RESERVED

AYES.
3WDLEE SHARPE, LL.D., F.L.S., F.;

EEPTILIA.

PROFESSOR P. MARTIN DUNCAN. M.B. (Lond.), F.R.S., F.G.S., etc

AMPHIBIA.

PROFESSOR P. MARTIN DUNCAN, M.B. (Lond.), F.R.S., F.G.S., etc.

C O ^ T E I^ T S,

ORDER III.-PASSERIFORMES— THE PERCHING BIRDS.
CHAPTER I.

CHOWS. PAGE

Order of Perching Birds largest of all Orders— Chief Distinguishing Features— Two Great Sections of Passerine
Birds-Distribution-S£Cr/OiV ^ fiJOM FOX)/- Classification by Wing-Sub-order TURDIFORMES— THE
CROWS— Distribution— The Common Kook— Appearance -Young Rook— Bare Face— Distribution— Breeding
Habits— Attacliment to Nesting-places, or " Rookeries "—Is it a Useful Bird ?— Its Vigorous Appetite—
The Tble Ravens— Distribution— The Common Raven— Ravens of the Old and New WorW— Distribution—
Habits— His After-Dinner Talk— The Common Jackdaw— Social Cbaracter—Cleverness—Appearance— Habitat—
Cuiious instance of Daubing its Eggs — The Hooded Crow — Distribution — A Migi-atiun— Heligoland and its
Inhabitants — The Carrion Crow— Distribution — Inter-breeding with the Hooded Crow— Mr. Lumsden's Note
on the Subject- Mr. Seebohm's Note on the Birds in Eastern Siberia— Habits— The Indian Ukev-necked Crow—
Captain Vincent Legge's Account of its Habits— The Common Magpie— Mischievous Habits— Familiarity-
Instances of Nesting in Gooseberry Bushes— Appearance— The Tree Pies— The Indian Tree Pie— The
Common Jay— Its Bad Character— As a Pet— Appearance— The Blue Jays— The Common Blue Jays— The
Long-tailed Blue Jays— The Bare-necked Crow— The Huia, or New Zealand "Wood Crow— Curious
Form— Dr. Buller's Account— Its Habitat— Rarity— Disposition— How Specimena were Caught— Diet— How they
Searched for Food — Second Subfamily of the Crows— Choughs 1

CHAPTER II.

BIRDS OF PAR.tDISE — ORIOLES — DRONGOS — WOOD SHRIKES — CUCKOO SHRIKES — FLYCATCHERS.

THE BIRDS OF PARADISE— Variety of Plumage— Gaudily dressed Crows— Points in which they Differ from the
Crows— Two Sub-families— Mr. Wallace's Account of their Habits— Tlieir History- The Great Bii'd of Paradise—
The Smaller Bird of Paradise— Dr. Beccari on the Birds of Paradise of the Arfaks— THE ORIOLES— The
Golden Oriole— Mr. Dresser's Description of its Habits— Size and Colour-THE DRONGOS— Distinctive
Features— The Marquis of Tweeddale's Definition of the Family— THE WOOD SHRIKES- Mr. Gould's Account
of the Pied Grallina— The Common Wood Shrike-THE CUCKOO SHRIKES— Habitat— Appearance— Mr.
Gould on the Black-faced Cuckoo Shrike— Dr. Jerdon on the Common Indian Species— THE FLYCATCHERS
—Characters— The Common Flycatcher— Habits— The Fantails— Mr. Gould's Account of the White-shafted
Fantail and the Black Fantad— The Paradise Flycatchers— The Restless Flycatcher 21

CHAPTER III.
the true thrushes — the warblers — THE babbling thrushes — the wrens — the bulbuls- the babblers — the

grass warblers— the AMERICAN WARBLERS— THE BUTCHER BIRDS — THE GREENLETS— THE TITMICE.

THE THRUSHES— Arrangement— First Sub-family -The Thrushes Proper— Plumage of Young— Moulting of
Adults -The True Thrushes— Distribution— The Song Thrush— Migration— How the Heligolanders Catch
them— Plans of Capture in Italy- Macgillivray's Description of the Bird in the Hebrides— Its Wonderful Song— Its
Distribution— Flight— Food— Pairing— Nest— Plumage— The Blackbird— Macgillivray's Account of its Habits,
Food, Flight, Pairing, and Song— Mr. Weir's Conjecture as to the Language of Birds' Song— Plumage -THE
Warblers— Plumage of Young and Adult— The Common Nightingale— Mr. Dresser's Account of the Species—
Disposition— Song— Food-Habits— THE BABBLING THRUSHES— Characters— The Weens— The Common
"Wren- Professor Newton's Description of the Hunting of the Wren— The Wren's Nest, as Described by Mr.
Macgillivi-ay- Colour and Size of Bird— The Bulbuls— Characters- Where Found— Dr. Jerdon on the Madras
Bulbul— Captain Legge's Account of the Habits of the Species ^The True Babblers— The Bush B.vbblers—
Canon Tristram's Description of their Habits— The Bower Birds— The Regent Bird— Mr. Gould on its Habits
—Its "Bower" described— The Grass Warblers— The Common Fantail Warbler— Its Nest— How it is Con-
structed—Captain Legge's and Mr. Hume's Notes on the Subject -Habits of the African Species — Colour and Size
of the Bird -The Tailor BiRD-Distribution— Call- Nest— The American Babblers— The Thrashers—
Characters— The Brown Thrasher— Habits— Song — Disposition — Nest — The Mocking Birds— Audubon's
Account of the Bird— His Love-Song— His Devotion to his Mate— The Young Birds— Nest— Eggs— Their Chief
Enemies-Flight— Call— THE SHRIKES, OR BUTCHER BIRDS— Distinctive Features— The Great Grey
Shrike— "Shrike's Larder"— Pertinacity in the Chase— Harsh Note— Colour and Size-THE GREENLETS-
Mr. Gosse on the Jamaican Species— Their Peculiar Call— THE TITMICE— Characters— Sub-families— The
Great Titmouse, or Ox-eye— Its Note— Its Nest— Colour and Size— Tlie Long-tailed Titmouse— Their
Beautiful Nest— Colour and Size-THE Nuthatches— Peculiar Nest— Habits— Size and Coloui- . . . ,35

CHAPTER IV.

creepers — honey-eaters PIPITS and wagtails — the AMERICAN CREEPERS — THE AMERICAN WARBLERS.

THE CREEPERS— Small Order— Cliaracteristics— The Common Creeper- Its Call note— Macgillivray's Account of
its Habits— Nest and Eggs— THE HONEY-EATERS— Distinctive Features— The True Honey-eaters— The
Warty-faced Honey-eater— Mr. Gould's Description of the Species— The Sun-birds— Distribution— Mr.
Keulemans' Account of their Habits-Canon Tristram on the Jericho Stin-bird-THE SECOND SUB-
ORDER OF THE PASSERIFORMES — THE FRINGILLIFORMES, OR FINCH-LIKE BIRDS
—Distinctive Features— WAGTAILS AND PIPITS - Characteristics— The Pied Wagtail— Essentially English
Bird- -■\'ictimised by Cuckoos— Macgillivray's Account of the Wagtail's Habits— Story of a Season Ticket— THE
AMERICAN CREEPERS— Difference between the Creepers of the Old and of the New World— The Banana
Quit— Thb American Warblers— Compared with their Old World Cousins— The Summer Yellow Bird— Dr.
Brewer's Account of its Habits ............... . . SI

iv NATURAL HISTORY.

CHAPTER V.

THE FLOWER-PECKEUS — THE CHATTERERS — THE SWALLOWS — THE TAXAGEKS — THE TRUE FINCHES — THE HANG-NESTS.

THE FLOW'BK-rECKEKS— The Bornean Species -The AUSTRALIAN Flower-pecker— THE CHATTERERS—
C'hanictei's— The BOHEMIAN Waxwing, ok Waxen Chatterer— Superstitions regarding it- Professor Newton's
Account of Mr. Wolley's Discovery of its Nest and Eggs— Description of the Bird— THE SWALLOWS—
Proffssor (Jarrod's Explanation of tlie rirr.nnds for Placing Swallows and Swifts in Sepai-ate Orders— The
Ki>r.;H-\viM.i:ii iSwALLows -The fSMcnin « ini;H' S\\ aij.iWs— The Three English Species— The Common
SwAi,Low-H.al.iiiacr of .Siiiiimer -];utl,.ir,s Anrr.l.it.. .M]-rMi.t-UsetiUness — Nest — THE TANAGERS —
Insect E.itcrs Piilliant Plumage — Siiclks -Till. Slaki.kt Ta.xauer— Dr. Brewer's Account of its Habits—
TUK TUTE FIN(.'HES— The Two «ectious— I'alatc (.'iKaactcrs-Nest of Chaffinch— Nesting of Bullfinch-
Palate and Bill (.'haracters in Buntings- The Cro.s.sbills— Habits— Curiously-formed Bills— Longfellow's
"Legend of the Crossbill"— The Hang-nests— The Three Sub-Families — Habits of the Cow-bird — The
Baltimore Oriole- Dr. Brewer's Description of its Habits— The Boat-tail 84

CHAPTER VI.

STARLING-LIKE BIRDS AND SONGLESS BIRDS.

THE STURNIFORMES, OR 8TARLING-LIKE BIRDS-Characters- THE WEAVER BIRDS-Their E.Ntra-
ordinary Nests— Dr. .Jenlou's Account of their Habits— Construction of the Nest -Performances of Trained
Bayas— THE STAKLINGS—Characters— The Common Starling — Gregarious Habits— The African Beef-e.ater
—Their Services to Cattle -THE WOOD SWALLOWS— Jlr. Gould's Account of their Habits— THE LAKKS
—Distinctive Features— Thcii- Habits— Song— THE MESOMYODI, OR SONGLESS BIRDS-Mostly of the
New World— THE LYRE BIRDS-THE BUSH-WRENS-THE SPINE-TAILS— The Oven Bird— THE
AMERICAN ANT-THRUSHES -THE OLD WORLD ANT-THRUSHES -THE TYRANT BIRDS— The
Kingbird— Dr. Brewer's Account of its Habits— THE AMERICAN CHATTERERS— The Cock of the Rock—
The Bell Bird-The Umbrella Bird— THE MANAKINS— THE BROADBILLS-THE PLANT-CUTTERS
—ORDER OF PIGEONS -Difference between Pigeons and Game-birds— Features— THE DODOS— Now
E.Ntinct- History— The Solitaire— Also Extinct— The Tooth-billed Pigeon— THE COLUMBID^, OR TRUE
PKiEONS- Four Divisions— The Fruit Pigeons— The True Doves— The Passenger Pigeon— Its Long-
continued Flights— The Bronze- Wings— The Crowned Pigeons 101

CHAPTER VII.

THE GAME-BIRDS.

GALLING, GAME-BIRDS— Characteristics-THE CURASSOWS— The Sub-families— Distinctive Features-
Prof. Sumichrast on the Hocco and Penelopes-THE HOATZINS-THE PHEASANTS— The PEACocKS-Their
Gorgeous Plumage — The so-called Tail— Is the I'eacock vain '; -Dr. Jerdon's Account of the Habits of the Peafowl
—The Peacock Pheasants— The Argus Pheasants— The True Pheasants — Description of the Habits of the Monaul,
or Impeyan Pheasant— Coloration of Bird— Habits of the English Species of True Pheasant— Reeves's Pheasant
—The Guinea Fowls- Distinctive Features— THE TURKEYS-Characters— Species— Dr. Brewer's Account of
the Habist of tlie Wild Turkey— Migration of Turkeys— THE GROUSE AND PARTRIDGES— The Grouse
—The Capercailzie— The Black Cock- The Hazel Grouse— The Ptarmigan— Its Summer, Autumn, and Winter
Plumage — The WiUow Grouse — The Partridges — Distribution —The Francolins— The American Partridges —
The Californian Quail— The Common Partridge— The Snow Partridges— The Quail— THE SAND-GROUSE—
THE HEMIPODES— THE MEGAPODES— Their Large Feet— Distribution— Members of the Family— Brush-
Turkey — Mr. Wallace's Account of the Maleo — Cuming's Megapode — Mr. Motley's History of the Species —
Goidd's Description of the Habits of the Mound-raising Megapode of Australia — Moseley's Note on the
Incubation of the Megapodidse . 128

CHAPTER VIII.

the WADING BIRDS.

Chief Characters of a Wading Bird— General Habits— THE RAILS— Distinctive Features— The Jacanas— Foot—
Distribution— Tlie Pheasant-tailed Jacana— The True Rails and Crakes— Characteristics—The Water Rail—
The Corn-crake, or Land Rail— The Water Hens— The Blue Water Hens— The Common Water Hen, or Moor
Hen— Its Habits— Its Nest— Its Young— Its Bad Character— The Coots— Foot Chiiracters— Appearance— Nest
and Eggs— The Finfoots— THE SNIPES— Distinctive Features— The Curlew.s— Their Curved BUI— The
Red-billed Curlew— The Painted Snipes— Anomaly about the Females— The Curlews- The Sandpipers -The
Collector's Quest— Summer Snipes— Terns- Godwits— Plover Acting as Sentinel— The Dunlin— The Curlew
Sandpiper— The Knot— The Ruff— The Phalaropes— The Stilts, or Stilt Plovers— The Avocet— The
Stilts— THE PLOVERS— The Turnstones— The True PLOVEBS—The Lapwing, or "Pee wit"— Mr. Seebohm's
Account of the Habits of the Grey Plover— Golden Plovers— Sand Plovers— The Ovster-c\tchers— THE
BUSTARDS— Characters— The Thick-knee, or Stone Curlew— The Coursers— Dr. Brehm's Account of the
Habits of the Great Bustard— THE CRANES— The Kagu— The Sun Bittern— The Common Crane— Stories of
Von Seyffertitz's Tame Crane— THE TRUMPETERS 156

CHAPTER IX.

the herons — the geese and wild fowl — THE pelicans— the sea-birds.

THE HERONS— Characters— The True Herons— The Common Heron— Mr. Harting's Account of its Habits—
Heronries— Egrets— Hungarian Breeding-places— Feeding the Young— The Storks— The Umbre, or Brown
Stork— The Shoe-billed Stork— The Characteristic Bird of Central Africa— The White Stork— Protection
afforde<l them in Various Countries— The Adjutant- The Marabou— The Spoonbills and Ibises— The
Spoonbills — Their Peculiar Bill— Habits — The Ibise.s— Species — Dr. Brehm's Remarks on the Sacred Ibis —
The Flamingoes— the GEESE AND WILD FOWL— The Screamers— Wild Fowl— Characters— The
Geese — Dwarf Geese— C'ereopsis Goose— Spur-winged Geese — Grey or Wild Goose — Sea Geese — Brent Goose
—The Swans— The Wild Swan— The Black Swan— The Ducks— The Wild Duck— The Mallard— Scoters-
Eiders— Mergansers— The Stiff-tailed Ducks— The Diving Ducks— THE PELICANS— The Frigate
Birds— Habits— Visit to a Breeding-place— Domesticated— The Tropic Birds— The Pelicans— The Common

COyTEXTS. V

Gannct— Visit to a Colony of Boobies— The Darter, or Snake-neck— The Cormorants— A Colony of Cormorants
—The Pelicans— Characters-Habits— Perching on Trees— Fishing-THE SEA-BIRDS— Characters— The
ScissoR-BiLLS, OR SKIMMERS— THE Terns, OR Sea-Swallows— " "Wiile-awalce Fairs"- White Noildies— The True
Gulls— Characters— The 15hu;k-backeil Gulls— Herring Gulls— Skuas— The 1'etrels— Distribution— The Diving
Petrel — The True Petrels— The Albatrosses — Capt. Hutton's Remarks on their Unrivalled Powers of Flight . . 178

CHAPTER X.

BIVEKS PEXGVINS^-TISAMOrs — STKITHIOVS IIIUDS— LIZAUII-TAILED HIKllS.

THE Dm;RS— Characters— The Alks— The Great Auk— Probably extinct— The Razorbill- The Guillemot— Mr.
Seebolmi's Notes of Visits to their Breeding-places— The Experiences of a " dimmer " -The Rotche —The
Puffins— The True Divers— The Eui-opean Species— The Grebes— Tlie Little Grebe, or Dabchick— The Dabchick's
Powers of Diving— THE PENGUINS— Distinctive Features— A Penguin Rookery— Life in a '-Johnnie"
Colony — Their Nests— Their Habits— THE TINAJIOUS— Their Place in the Class Aves— Their Appearance
—Habits — THE STEUTHIOUS BIRDS— Their Characters— Entirely Terrestrial-Odd Use of the Wing
in Running— Feathering— Distribution- THE OSTRICHES— Characters— The Ostrich— Mention in History
— Scripturixl References — Distribution— How the Bushman Hunts the Ostrich — Method adopted in Morocco-
Other Modes of Hunting- An Omnivorous Bird— Its Stride— Its Cry— Habits— Its Resemblance to a Camel— The
Feathers— Exportation of Feathers from Africa— A Visit to an Ostricli Farm— Use of "Incubators "—Hnhits of
the Birds in the Enclosures— The Ostrich Dance— The Rlieas, „v Anniiian Ostriches—THE Cassowakiks —
Characters of the Cassowary — The Mooruk— Its Extraordiiiai v I'.jnrrot Leaping- Dr. Bennett's Account i.>f its
Habits-The Emus— Characters— Habits— Emu Beef— Threatuiir.! E\tciiniiiation— Its -Booming" Note -THE
KIWIS— Characters— Species— Dr. Buller's Account of its Habits -.Mr. Lartlett'o Note on its Attempts at
Nesting— THE LIZARD-TAILED BIRDS— The Arch.-Bopteiyx Lithographica— Description— Fossil Forms
— Evidence from Foot-prints — Prof. JIarsh's Researches in America — Birds with Teeth— Other Forms— Concluding

......... 214

CLASS REPTILIA.— THE REPTILES.
CHAPTER I.

the cheloniaxs.

vided into Rep
Tlie" Buckler of the Chelouians— The Carapace— The Plastron— Different Kinds
of Shells— "Tortoiseshell "-Pi-otecting Bucklers — Feet -Shoulder-blade and Arm- joint — The Humerus (foot
note)— Appeai-ance of Tortoise's Head— The Process of Eating- Skull- Mouth and Jaw— Eye— Ear— Tongue-
How Chelouians Breatlie— Their Lungs and Heart— Digestive Organs— The Eggs— Extraordinary Vitality
of Chelouians- Brain— THE TORTOISES, THE LAND CHELONIANS— Characters— The Great Land
Tortoises— Mr. Darwin's Visit to the Galapagos Islands- Enormous Size and Weight of the Tortoises— Probable
Extinction — Distinctive Features— Habits— Great Tortoises at the Water-springs— Tortoises of the Mascarene and
Aldabra Islands— Indian Tortoises— The Common or Greek Tortoise — African and American Species— THE
EMYDE3, THE RIVER, OR MARSH TORTOISES -Characters— The Terrapins- The American Box
Tortoise— Habits— The Genus Emys -£»ii/s ewopiea—The Painted Emys— C7c»i,/(i« iim-iilpta— The Caspian
Terrapin— The Snapping Turtle— The Chelodines-The Matamata— The Snake-necked Tortoi.ies— The " Aiyussa "
Tortoise -THE TRIONYCIDES, THE MUD, OR SOFT TORTOISES-Cliaracters-Hal.its— The Soft-shelled
Tortoise— The Cryptopus—TBe Egyptian Trionyx— The Gangetic Trionyx— THE L'HELONIADES, THE MARINE
CHELONLANS, the TURTLES -The Green Turtle— Habits-Size— Food— Egg-Laying-How they are Caught
—Characters- Tlie Hawk's-bill Turtle— Why so Named— How the Tortoiseshell is Obtained The Logger-headed
Turtles— The Leather-b.ack Turtles— The Sphargis— Extinct Crelonians— Classification of the Order . 24]

CHAPTER II.

order CROCOMLIA — THE CROCODILES, GAVIALS, AND ALLIGATORS.

THE CROCODILE FAMILY— Worshipped by Ancient Egyptians— The Crocodile of the Nile— Appearance-
Peculiar Nature of the Tooth-growth -Arrangement for Sinking with its Prey without allowin,' Water
to Pass into the Throat— How it Obtains Fresh Supplies of Air— How it Disposes of its Food— Remarkable
Eye— "Crocodiles' Tears"— Distribution— Other African Forms— The Eggs of the Crocodile— Tlie Kabv Reptiles
-The Intli.an Species— The Salt-water Crocodile— Description— How it Procures its Food— The Marsli'c'rocodile
— Appearance — Worshipped by Fakirs— Ferocity of the Indian Crocoililes after their Torpidity— Tlie Victim's
only way of Safety— Crocodile of North-east Australia— The American Kinds —Crocodilus x\cutus--The Cuba
CrocodUe-i;HK GA^^AL FAMILY-The Gavial-Distinctive Features-Habits-Second Forms of the
Family— THE ALLIGATOR FAMILY— Difference between Crocodiles and Alligators— Characters of the
Alhgator-The Mississippi, or Pike-headed AlUgator— Habitat— Origin of its Name- Appearance— The Caimans
V^ ™°'^'"* "^■^''■'™^~ ^^'"^^^ Account of the Alligators of the Amazons— Other Kinds of Jacare-
FOSSIL CROCODILIA - Number in Secondary and Tertiary Ages— Antiquity of the Group— Marine Group
not handed down— Characters— Terrestrial Forms of the Trias— The Theriodontia— Hyjjosaurus and Bottosauius—
Classification of the Order 262

CHAPTER III.

OKDER SArRIA, OR LACERTILIA — THE LIZARDS.

THE LIZARDS— Characters of the Reptiles of the Order— THE FISSILINGUES-The Sand Lizard- Prof.
Bell's Description— The Common Liz.ABD—H.abits— Young Produced Alive— Characters of the Lizard— Distinctions
between Crocodile, Lizard, and Snake, illustrated by Comparison of the SktUl (foot-note)— Other Species of
Lacerta— Peculiarity of the Tail of many Lizards— Teeth of Saurians— A " Pleurodont " Jaw— An "Acrodont"
Jaw— The Ameiviiik- Characteis-TuE t'.nntox Teguexin— Habits— The Common Ametv.a— The Water
Lizards— Description Wl,y callr.l ^r..i,itor-i -The Nile Monitor— The S.ind Monitor, or Varanus— Other
Sj?il*' °f "^'='™i'"'-Tli,- ( ..,„„„„i In.liaii Water Lizard -The Ocellated Water Lizard - The Heloderma-
THE CRASSILIXurES-(liaraeters-THE Igiaxas— The Green Iguana— Description-Habits-Character of
the Vertebra;— Dentition Pleurodont-THE Basili.sk— Appearance— The Amblvrhynchus Cristatus— Daripii's

vi NATURAL KISTORY.

PAOB

Account of this Sea Lizard— The Terrestrial Species of this Genus— Flying Lizards —Characters— Their
Apparatus for Locoiiioti(ui -Iliibits— licauty of their Colouring— The Frilled Lizard— Description— The Frill—
Thk Tekhestkial a.; \mm I > i i in ()i,i. AVmiuj) and Australia— The Genus ITruinastix— Tlie Dabb, or Dhobb-
Thf Tliorn Jevil, (,] 11 , ' ' \l ' ' I'l mis Stellio— The Toad Lizards -The (Jecko Family— Appearance-
Habits— Tlieir Tu.. , : 1 !--(;olouring— Eyes— Tongue— Ori-iii of tlieir Name— Pleurodont

Tei-tli-The Various ,-,».„. I .„ Ilum ( .icko— RHYNCHOCEPHALA, THE BEAKED LIZARDS— The
Tl-atera, oh Hattlkia. wk iHt .-^tHh.Noij.j.N LiZARD- Gunther's Description of its Anatomy — THE VER-
MILINGUES, THE CHAILELEONS —Appearance— Ciu-ious Tongue— Remarkable Lungs— Distribution—
Colouring— The Genus Rhampholeon — The South African Kind — Changing of the Colour of the Cliamasleon's
Skin- THE AMPHISBiENOIDA— The White Amphisbsna— THE BREVILINGUES— Characters— SciNfuiD.E
— The Common Skink — Habits— The Stump-tailed Lizard — The Blind-worm, or Slow-worm —Description —
The Javelin Snake — The Zonurid.e — Character— The Gigantic Cordylus— The European Pseudopus— American
Glass Snake — Classiiication of the Order Sauna 272

CHAPTER IV.

OKDEU OPHIDIA THE SNAKES.

THE SNAKES— The Poisonous and the Non-Poisonous— Characteristics of a Snake -Seqjent Worship and Superstition
—About Fascination— Skeleton of a Snake— Scales and Plates on Head and Body— IVIoulting- THE POISONOUS
COLUBKINE SNAKES— The Poisonous Terrestrial Colubrine Snakes— The Cobras— The Cobra-di-Capello
—The Egyijtian Cobra, or Naja-THE RiNO Hals Slang— The Hamadryad Snake— The Bungakums and
Kraits— The Poisonous Elapidie of Australia and the New AVorid— The Poisonous Sea Snakes— The Viperine
Snakes — Characters — The Adder, ob Common Viper— The only Poisonous Reptile in Britain— Habits— Its
usual Prey — Its Young — The Horned and other Kinds of African Vipers — The Daboia — The Echis — The
Rattlesnakes, or Pit Vipers— The Common Rattlesnake— Its Habits— The " Rattle "—The Water-rattle—
Various Kinds of Rattlesnake— Coues on thfe Use of tlie Rattle— The Bushmaster— Darwin on the Genus Tri-
goiiuceplialus— The Water Viper— The Copper-head Snake— The Yellow Viper, or Fer-de-Lance— The East Indian
(ii-uerit of Pit Vipers— How Venomous Snakes Dispose of their Victims— Peculiar Construction of tlieir Skull
for Swallowing purposes — The Fangs and Poison-glands of the Rattlesnake— Symptoms of Poisoning— How does
tlif Poison Kill '/-Treatment of Bites-Snake Charmers-THE INNOCUOUS COLUBRIFOBJI SNAKES—
Clianictfis— The Wart Snakes— The Whip Snakes— Why so Called— The Langaha— The Blunt-Headed Snakes—
The TitEE Snakes- The Desert Snakes— The Rachiodont Family— An Egg-Swallowing Snake— Fresh-Water
Snakes— The Coi ibrihes- Natricin.e— The Common Snake— Found in England — Habits— How it disposes of its
Food— Coli;brin.e-Coronellin;e—Calamarid.e— The Rock Snakes — Distribution— Huge Proportions— How
they T,ackle their Prey— The Indian Species— The West African Forms— Pythons Hatching their Eggs— The
Diamond and Carpet Snakes— The Boas— The Boa Constrictor— Construction of a Python's Skull— The Anaconda
— The Sand Snakes — The Short-Tailed Snakes— The Blind Snakes— Chnracters — Peculiarities of Structure in
Serpents— The Remarkable Eyelid— Fossil Snakes— Classification of the Ophidia— THE EXTINCT REPTILES—
The Dinosacria— The Ornithcsauria— The Iohthyopterygia— The Plbsiosaubia— THE EXTINCT SAURIA,
OR LACERTILIA 30(>

CLASS AMPHIBIA.
CHAPTER I.

FROGS AND TOADS.

The Skeleton— Heart

^ , -- - as System — Brain of l..^, ^ ^ _-

THE ANOURA, OR THE FROGS AND TOADS— Distinctive Features— Hibernation— Lungs— Throat
Teeth — Food — Slieleton— Muscles of Thigh and Leg— Batrachian Locomotion — Their Swimming Powers— The
Tongue — The Croakings— Metamoriihosis of the Frog— Structure of the TadiJole— Circulation of Blood in the Gills
— Last Stages of the Tadpole Condition— The Batrachians WITHOUT Tongues— The Surinam Toad— Birth of
the Young Pipas— The Batrachians with Tongues— The Oxydactyla— The Ranid^, True Frogs— The
Common Frog — Habits — Its Relations with Humanity — Development of the Embi*yo — The Frog's Skull — The
Edible Frog— The American Bull Frog -African and other Frogs— The Horned Ceratophrys— THE PELOBATID.fi
— Tlie Obstetric Frog— The Bombinator Igneus— The Brown Mud Frog— The Globose Cacopus Frog— The Bufonid^;
— The Common Toad- Habits — The Metamorphosis— The Toad has not Escaped Calumny — The so-called Venom —
The Natter-Jack, or Rush Toad— The Variable, or Green Toad— The Indian and African Toads— Mr. Darwin on a
South American Toad— The North American Toads - The Breviceps— The Discodactyles— The Thee Frogs—
The Hylorana3-The Hylidse-Tlieir Digits— The Common Hyla— The Goose-footed Hyla— The Elegant Hyla—
The Common Golden Tree Frog— The Pouched Frog— The Common Indian Tree Frog— The Spurred Tree Frog
—Tree Frogs of Ceylon — The Aoris gryllus— The Genus Rhacophorus— The Hylodes ocularis— The Martinique
Frog— The Phyllomedusidae— The Great Green Tree Frog— The Dendrobatidie— The Genus Plectropus . . .342

CHAPTER II.

t.\iled and vermiform amphibian."!.
THE TAILED AMPHIBIA— Characteristics of those with Persistent Branchiaj and of those that Lose the Branchiae
Early in Life— Skeletal Peculiarities— The Salamanders— Distinctive Features —The Spotted Ellipsoglossa— Why
so Called— The Tritons— The Great Water Newt— Its Ferocity— Habits— Appearance— Busconi's Observation
of tlie Egg-laying Process of the Triton— Growth of the Embryo— The Mature Tadpole— The Power of Repair
—The Straight-lipped Water Newt— The Common Smooth Newt, or Eft— Tlie Palmated Smooth Newt— Dis-
tribution—The Salamanders— The Spotted Salamander -Description —Where Found— Hibernation— The Black
Salamander— Mdlle. Marie de Chauvin's Observations of the Changes of the Tadpole Salamander- The
Genus Pleurodeles— The Genus Pseudotriton— Is the Bite of the Salamander Poisonous ?— The Absurd Notion of
their being Incombustible— The Genus Salamandiina— The Plethodontid.e- The Genus Desmognathus— The
Amblystomid.e— The Axolotl— Their Life History— The Amblystoma, or Adult Form— The Ichthyoidea—
Characters— The Perennibranchiata -The Sirens — Appearance — Habits— The Proteid.e— The Proteus— The
Genus Menobranchus— The Derotrem.\TA— The Amphiuma Means— The Amphiuma Tridactyla— The Hellbender
—The Sieboldia Japonica— THE APODA— Characters— Classification of the Amphibia— THE Extinct Amphibia . 369

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

of Paradise
Magpie

. Crow .

Frontisp
Tl

Head of Kook
The Common Rook
The Common Raven
The Common Jackdaw .
The Hooded Crow .
The Nutcracker
The Common Jay .
The Bare-necked Crow .
The Huia, or New Zealand W

The Chough

The Twelve-wii-ed Bird of Paradise

Gorgetcd Bird of Paradise

The Golden Oriole

The Pied Grallina

The Helmet Shrike

Paradise Flycatchers

The Song Thrush

The Redwing

The Blackbird

The Common Nightingale

The Common Wren

The Regent Bird

The Satin Bower Bird

The Tailor Bird

The Mocking Bird

The Great Grey Shrike . . . To face page

European Titmice, with Nuthatch and Goldcrests .

The Common Nuthatch

The Common Creeper

The Wattled Honey-eater

The Jericho Sun-bird

Wing of Pipit, showing the Long Secondaries

The White WagtaU

The Australian Flower-pecker, or Swallow Dicseum

The Bohemian Waxwing

Sternum of Swallow and of Swift ....

The Martin

The Common Swallow

Bill of Finch and of Bunting

The Chaffinch

Siskin, Bullfinch, and Goldfinch ....

The White-winged Crossbill

The Cow-bird

The Baltimore Oriole . . . To face page

The Baya Weaver Bird^ . To face page

Section of Nest of Wea^r Bird ....

The Common Starling

The African Beef-eater

The Skylark

The Lyre Bird

The Bush Wren

The Oven Bird

The Kingbird

The Cock of the Rock

The Umbrella Bird

PAGE

The Broadhill 119

The Plant-cutter 120

The Dodo 122

The Solitaire 123

The Ring Dove, or Wood Pigeon . . . .124

The Passenger Pigeon 12-5

The Bronze- wing 126

The Victoria Crowned Pigeon . . . .127

The Crested Curassow 129

The Argus Pheasant 132

The Common Pheasant . . . To face page 133

The Peacock Pheasant 133

The Monaul, or Impeyan Pheasant . . .136

The Guinea Fowl 137

The Ocellated Turkey- 138

The Capercailzie .110

The Ptarmigan in Summer Plumage' . . . H2
The Ptarmigan in Winter Plumage . . .143

The Calif omian Quail 145

The Common Partridge 146

The Partridge and the Common Quail . . .148
TheMaleo: Australian Megapode ; Brush Turkey 151

Brush Turkeys at Work 153

The Jacana 157

The Com-Crake, or Land Rail .... 158

Foot of Coot 160

The Coot 161

Wing of Snipe 162

The Common Snipe 163

The Curlew 164

Rufis Fighting 165

TheAvocet 167

The Lapwing . . . 169

The Thick-knee, or Stone Curlew .... 172

The Great Bustard 173

Demoiselle, Crowned, and Common Cranes . .177

The Great White Heron 179

The Purple Heron . 180

The Night Heron 181

The Lesser Egret 183

The Shoe-billed Stork 185

Flamingoes To face page 187

The White Stork 187

TheSpoonbiU 188

The Sacred Ibis ....... 189

The Flamingo 191

The Black Swan 192

The Summer or Wood Duck 193

The Frigate Bird 196

The Tropic Bird ....... 197

The Darter, or Snake-neck 199

The Cormorant ....... 200

Pelicans 202

The Skua 208

The Stormy Petrel . ... . . . .209

The Albatross ....... 213

The Ringed Guillemot . . . . • .216

NATURAL HISTORY.

The Arctic Puffin 2! 7

The Crested Grehe 220

The Giant Penguin 221

The Ostrich 229

The American Ostrich, or Khea . To face page tZI

The Cassowary 233

The Emu " 234

The Kiwi To face page 236

Bones of Tail of Bengal Vulture and of Archseop-

teryx 237

Archisopteryx lithographica 237

The Soft-shelled Trionyx 2il

Skeleton of Tortoise, from below, showing Inside

View of Carapace and Plastron . . .243
Skeleton and Carapace of the Logger-headed

Turtle, from below 244

Skeleton of Tortoise, from one side . . . 245

Scapular Apparatus of Tortoise .... 246

Head of Turtle 246

Skull of Tortoise 247

Section of Lungs of Tortoise, showing Cellular

Arrangement .' 248

Great Land Tortoises . . To face page 1^^

Brain of a Chelonian 249

The Common or Green Tortoise . . . .251

Clemmys insculpta 254

Catching Green Turtles 257

The Hawk'9-bill Turtle 260

Growth of Tooth of Crocodile 263

Crocodilus acutus . ' 2G5

The Ganges Gavial 267

The Jlississippi or Pike-headed Alligator . . 268
Chinese Alligator .... To face page 269

The Sand Lizard 273

Skeleton of the Common Lizard . . . .274

Skull of Lizard 274

Pleurodont Jaw (Iguana), from within . . . 275

Skull of Crocodile 275

Skull of Rattlesnake . . . ... .275

The Common Teguexin 276

The Common Ameiva 277

The Nile Monitor 278

The Iguana 279

The Basilisk 281

Amblyrhynchus oristatus 282

Flying Lizard 283

The FriUed Lizard 285

The Dahb, or Dhobb 286

The Moloch 287

Toes of Gecko 287

The Turkish Hemidactyle 288

The Flying Gecko 289

Skull of Sphenodon, or Hatteria, showing Acrodont

Jaw 290

Head of Chamgeleon, showing the Tongue . . 291

The Chamoeleon 292

Sleeping Chamaileon under Lamp-light, with Dorsal

Part protected by a Screen . . . . 293
Chamseleon under Sun-light, passing through Red and

Blue Glass, Light passing through Red Glass

falling on Fore Part of Body, and that passing

through the Blue on the Hind Part . . . 293
Amphisbfena alba ..... . . 294

Tlie Common Skink . . . . . .295

The Stump-tailed I^izard . . . .296

The Blind Worm 297

The Scheltopusik ...... 299

Skeleton of Snake 303

Scales on Head of Snake 303

Cobra-di-Capello 30.5

The Hamadryad Snake 308

Bungarus fasciatus ...... 309

The Coral Flaps 310

Vipers 312

The Adder, or Common Viper . . . .313

The Cerastes Viper 314

The Puff Adder 315

The Common Rattlesnake 317

The Horrid Rattlesnake 318

The Copper-head Snake 320

The Yellow Viper, or Fer-de-Lance . . .321
Head of Rattlesnake, showing Fangs and Muscles of

Poison Glands 322

Oxybelis fulgidus 325

Dipsas dendrophila 326

The Common or Ringed Snake .... 328
Top of Head, Under Part of Body and Sub-Caudals,

of Common Snake 329

CoroneUa Ifevis 33#

The Indian Adjigar 332

The Boa Constrictor . . . To face page ZH

The Diamond Snake 333

Tortrix scytale 335

Side View of Head of Blind Snake . . .336

The Viscera of a Serpent . ... . . 337

Skeleton of Ichthyosaurus 339

Skeleton of Plesiosaurus 340

Heart of Frog 343

Brain of Frog 344

Skeleton of a Frog 346

Head of Frog, showing Tongue Fixed in Front but

Free Behind 347

Structure of the Tadpole 348

Metamorphoses of Frog 349

The Surinam Toad 350

The Common Frog 352

The Edible Frog 354

Cystignathus ornatus 355

The Horned Ceratophrys 356

The Male Obstetric Frog 357

The Fire-bellied Frog 358

The Brown Mud-Frog 359

Common Toad; Variable Toad: Natter- Jack

Toad 361

The Elegant Hyla 363

The Pouched Frog 364

The Goose-footed Hyla 305

Rhacophorus Rheinhardti 367

Phyllomedusa bicolor 368

Great Water Newts . . . Tofacepage HO

The Spotted Salamander 372

Pleurodeles Waltlii 372

The A.xolotl in the Earlier and in the Later Stages

of its Existence 374

Menobranchus lateralis 377

Siphonops annulata 378

CASSELL'S NATURAL HISTORY.

,*;

,^ '#^^'^'^:\//^/);;;-^

'^i

ORDER III.— PASSERIFORMES— THE PERCHING BIRDS.
CHAPTER I.

CROWS.

Order of Perching Birds largest of all Orders— Chief Distinguishing Features— Two Great Sections of Passerine Birds-
Distribution- .S'^CT/OiVr .4fieOjUl'OZ)7-C'iassification by Wing -Sub-order TURDIFOKMES-THE CROWS
— Di.stribution— The Comjion Rook— Appearance -Young Rook— Bare Face— Distribution— Breeding Habits
—Attachment to Xesting-places. or " Rookeries "—Is it a Useful Bird?— Its Vigorous Appetite— The Tkie
Ravens— Distribution— The Common Raven — Ravens of the Old and New World — Distribution— Habits— His After-
Dinner Talk— The Common Jackdaw— Social Chaa-acter— Cleverness— Appearance— Habitat— Curious instance of
Daubing its Eggs— The Hooded Crow— Distribution— A Migration— Heligoland and its Inhabitants— The Carrion
Ckcw— Distribution— Inter-breeding with the Hooded Crow— Mr. Lumsden's Note on the Subject— Mr. Seebohm's
Note on the Birds in Eastern Siberia— Habits— The Indian Grev-necked Crow— Captain Vincent Legge's Account
of its H.ibits— The Common Magpie— Mischievous Habits— Familiarity— Instances of Nesting in Gooseberry Bushes—
Appearance— The Tree Pies— The Indian Tree Pie- The Common Jay— Its Bad Character- As a Pet— Appearance
—The Blue Jays— The Common Blue J.vys— The Lonc-tailed Blue Jays— The Bake-necked Crow— The Huia,
or New Zealand Wood Crow— Curious Form— Dr. BuUer's Account— Its Habitat— Rarity— Disposition— How
Specimens were Caught— Diet— How they Searched for Food— Second Sub-family of the Crows— CHOUGHS.

The order of Perching Birds, known to our readers by the names of Passerine birds, or Insessores, is the
largest of all the orders, and contains more than half of the whole niniiber of birds now known. One of
the chief distinguishing features of a Passerine bird is its foot, which is simple and ordinary in construc-
tion, with well developed toes and claws, the claw of the hind toe being larger than that of any of the
other toes. The breast-bone, or sternum, is simple, having only one notch in the hinder margin : and in
this respect it differs at once from that of all the Picarian birds which have been treated of in the preceding

2 NATURAL HIHTORT.

chapters. The eagerness mth which, iip to the present time, the feet of bii-ds have been seized upon as
of primary importance in their classiiication can hardly be wondered at, when the remarkable diversity
in regard to these organs exhibited by the different orders of birds is taken into consideration. In the
case of an Eagle, for instance, what can be more admii-able than the proportions of the feet and
talons for the capture of its quarry ! And the same holds good with all the Accijntres, or birds of
prey, not to mention the Zygodactyle Woodpeckers, which have been already di.scussed, while the
long toes of the Eails, the webbed feet of the Ducks and Gullsj are all indications of a perfect adapta-
l)ility of these organs to the habits of the birds. The Passerine birds are -divided into two great
sections, which are called Fnsseres acromyodi and Passeres mesomyodi, from peculiarities in their
voice organs, the first section containing the songsters of the world, the second containing the
songless birds.

SECTION A. -ACROMYODI, SINGING BIRDS. SUB-ORDER I.— TURDIFORMES,
THRUSH-LIKE BIRDS.

Geographical distrilnition also helps to distinguish these two leading groups of the Perching birds ;
for the Acroiiiyodiait 7^(is.si'res are chiefly inhabitants of the Old World, as the Mesomyodian Passeres

are of the New. The principal character by which the
leading groups are distinguished is the wing, and the classi-
fication ba.sed on this feature, which is easy to understand,
will be the one adopted in the present work. Tlie first
group bears the name of Turdiformes, or Thrash-like
Passeres, and in all these birds the wing has ten primai-j
feathers, the first being always markedly reduced in
size. The leading group of these birds is known as
the CoUomorphce, or Crow-like birds, and contains five
families : Crows {G&rvida), Birds of Paradise [Para-
disiidw), Orioles (Oi-ioliidce), Drongos {Dicrurida), and
Wood-Shrikes {Primiojndm). All the members of these
five families have the chin-angle {anguhis nienti) produced
very far forwards (b), so as to extend beyond a line drawn
HEAD OF ROOK. perpendicularly down the front edge of the nostril (a).

What is meant is sliown in the accompanying illustra-
tion. It is true that in some of the Jays this prominence of the chin-angle is not so marked, biit still
sufticiently so to determine that they ai-e Crows ; while some Creepers (Certhudce) have the same
character of bill, but then then- long curved beaks and spiny tails prevent their being mistaken
for any of the Crow family or its allies.

THE FIRST FAMILY OF THEUSH-LIKE PERCHING BIRDS.— THE CROWS [Corvidm).

These are found nearly all over the globe in some form or 6ther ; that is to say, either as Crows
or as Jays, the latter predominating chiefly in South America, where no true Crow is met with ; and
in most of the Pacific Islands no member of the family at all is found. Even the deserts of Central
Asia have their own representatives in the form of Desert Choughs, belonging to the genus Podoces,
while nowhere is the family more strongly developed than in the islands of the Malay Archipelago.

The habits of many of the Ci-ows change with the localities they inhabit, and a species will
be wild and un.sociable in one place, while in another the same bird will be tame and confiding ; and
although in England the Crows, with the exception of the Rook and Jackdaw, live only in country
districts, species precisely similar in habits and appearance are found in other parts of the world, in-
habiting towns and doing the duty of scavengers.

The Choughs are peculiar Crows, distinguished by the position of the nostril, which is placed low in
the upper mandible of the beak and generally hidden by a tuft of liri.stly feathers. They are to lie
considered as belonging to a separate sub-family i^FreyUiiue). The rest of the Crows are placed iu
the sub-family Corvinw

THE CUMMUN ROOK.

e Crows, all th(^
ii-d and Wattl..

.SUB-FAMILY C'OKVl.NMi.

In this sub-family is found a great diversity uf form, as it contains, liesidus the t
Jays, Magpies, Hill Urows, and even such ai^jiarently dillereut Ijirds as the Huia
Starling of New Zealand.

THE C(»MM(.)N KOOK {Tri/iianuvorii.-o fnii/ilcgns).

To any one \\ho Las not handled a Rook it would perhaps be a matter of surprise, on his first
acciuaiutanoe witli it in person, to tind it such a handsomely burnished bird, for in the distance its
appearance is dull black. Both male and female, however, have a most beautiful gloss of purjjle and
green on the plumage, but this they share with many others of the Crow family ; one peculiarity tliey
Iiave for their own, and that one is their bare face. How the bird gets its visage denuded of jjlumes
is a problem sti}l unsolved, for the young liave the head fully feathered, and only obtain the bare face
during their first winter. Up to this time a young Eook might easily be mistaken by an
inexperienced eye for a Carrion Crow, but the Rook can be recognised at any age by its
lia\'ing the base of the feathers ijreij^ and not white, as in the latter species. An idea

./lik m ^

{ m If

prevalent amongst naturalists for many years was that the Rook's face became denuded, of
feathers through the bird's habit of thrusting its bill deep into the ground in search of food,
but that this cannot be the case is imived bv the fact that no such result is found to occur in

certain that at
■Ki' liare places
This liare face,
though not to

\\y occasionally

allied species of similar habits, such as tlio Carrion Crow, for instance ; while it :
tim?s, when the hardness of the ground iTe\(.nted the Rooks digging- for food,
would be replenished by a new stock of feathers : and this we know jiot to be the case
then, must be considered to be an individual peculiarity in the Rooks, and it is fou:
the same extent, in the Chinese Rook (Tri/jxtuoccn-ax pfcstinafor).

The Rook is found all over Europe, but does not extend into the high north, and
str.-iggles beyond the line of the Tropic of Cancer. It breeds throughout Central Europe between GO" and
40" N. lat., and above the former line it rests only in certain portions of Norway and Sweden and near
Archangel, To Southern Europe it is only a winter visitant, and it is found in North-western India
in the winter also. In some parts of North-western Turkestan it breeds, but is found in Yarkand
only in the winter-. To the eastward of this last locality we have no trace nf it, and it is not until
we come to Eastern Siberia and Northern China that we meet with its c.nsin. the Chinese Rook.

It differs from its Ein-opean congeners in being gregarious and always 1 needing in colonies. It
evinces great attachment to its nesting-jtlace, and the same nests are used by the birds year after year,
Leing repaired each season. It is an early breeder, beginning to make ready the nest in Feliruary or
March, and it has been known to commence the repairs as early as the 16th of the former month. It

4 NATURAL HISTORY.

is essential!}- a civilised bird, and rookeries are generally found in close proximity to houses, and often
in tlie midst of villages or even towns. This is the case in London itself, where a time-honoured spot
may here and there be found to which the Rooks resort year after year.

Opinions are di\'ided as to the utility of the Rook ; in some places the bird being regarded as a
benefactor, in others as a depredator, only fit to be shot and trapped along with other vermin. The
truth probably lies between these two opinions, for although it eats an immense number of noxious
insects and grubs, it will devour eggs and young birds, while there is no question as to its creating
considei-able havoc among the trees in the spring-time, when it breaks off large numbers of young
boughs wherewith to build its nest ; in the south of England, too, in the autumn, it often commits
great depredations among the walnuts. As an example of the omnivorous qualities of the Rook
we quote the following note, contributed by Mr. Cecil Smith to Mr. Dresser's " Birds of Europe :" — ■
" Its appetite and digestion are perfectly astonishing ; nothing seems to come amiss to it. Besides its
lawful and \iseful food of grubs, worms, &c., I have .seen it kill and eat a young Rabbit, and young
Ducks or Ducks' eggs have no chance ; it will devour flesh, either fresh or stale, raw or cooked, and
walnuts in any quantity. Near the sea I have seen Rooks picking up and eating Sand-Eels and other
small fish after the seine has been drawn, and squabbling with the Gulls for Mussels on the Mussel-
beds ; these it breaks in the same way as the Gulls, taking them up to a height and dropping them on
a hard, stony place. I have seen it treat an obstinate walnut in the same way. Rooks seem
occasionally to cast up pellets of the indigestible portion of what they have eaten, after the manner
of Hawks ; so I suppose their digestion is not quite equal to everything. One of these pellets which I
saw a Rook cast up, and which I examined, consisted of stones, hard parts of beetles, and husks of
corn. So necessary are stones to help digestion that old Rooks give them to their young before they
leave the nest, and I have frequently found them in the stomachs of young Rooks shot in the Rook
shooting time, and before they had left their native tree."

THE TRUE RAVENS {Corvm).

The most fauiiliar species of Raven is the Common Raven, and it is also the most widely di;
tributed. Some six other species are known : one of them, the Brown-necked Raven (C. umhrinus),
being an inhabitant of the Mediterranean sub-region. This division of the earth comprises all the
countries lying on both sides of the Mediterranean Sea, and includes Palestine and Syria, Persia and
Beloochistan, as far as the confines of North-Western India. Although belonging to the Palsearctic
region, the above-named sub-region forms a very natural division, and is principally characterised by tlie
presence of many Chats and Sand-Grouse, which do not occur in the more northern parts of the Old World.
The islands of Madeira and the Canaries are considered, zoologically, to foim an outlying part of the
Mediterranean region, and they show a partial connection with the rest of Europe ia the possession of
a typical Bullfinch (Fyrrhula nmi-ina), while their zoological atfinity to Algeria and Northern Africa
is demonstrated by their having the same Blue Titmouse {Parus teneriffw) and the same Raven [Corvvs
leptouyx).

In India a small form of Raven (Corvus cuhuinaUts) occurs, and another in Australia.

THE COMMON RAVEN (Corvus corax).

There are certain birds, which are found in the northern regions of the Old and New Worlds,
showing tlie strong nnder-cun-ent of affinity which exists between the Avifauna of these two parts of
the globe. Some ornithologists have attempted to prove that the Amei-ican Raven is specifically
distinct from the European one, and the Mexican bird has even been separated further from that of
North America. But it seems to be an undoubted fact that the Raven is extremely variable in size,
and as this is the only character which has been brought forward for its specific separation, no certain
distinctions can be drawn ; and in this work all the various kinds of Raven, with the exception
of those above noted, are treated as belonging to one species only {Corviis corax).

The Raven enjoys the credit of being the most northerly Passerine bird known, with the exception
of the SnowBunting {Plectrophnms nivaHs);{ov Captain Fielden observed it, in Sir George Nares' Arctic-
Expedition, as fiu- north as Cape Lupton, lat. 81° 44' N., when a pair of them were breeding during the;
month of July. All over Europe and Siberia, as well as Central Asia, the Raven is found in smallci'
or larger numljers, and in the cold weather it is found in North-Western India, being absent in China

niK

ami Japan. It is also spread all over North America as far as the talile-lamls of Mexico, occurring
even in the extreme north of tlie continent. In England the Raven is in most parts scarce, and is
everj-where sliy and cautious, on account of the persecution to which it is subjected and the way in
which nests are robbed of the young for sale, partly from its predatory habits, which render it olijoLtion-
able to gamekeepers.

In some piiks inheic piottctiou is ittoided to the old biuK i tun h noun 1 \ ui tt En ns still
surxne, uid ^lon^ the clifts of the southern toists of Lnglan I i^ ol m in> still li(( 1 Vltliouji

MMO.V KAVEN.

such a shy bird in many pai-ts of its range, it exhibits in some places quite an opposite nature ; and
Dr. Henderson, the naturalist of the first Yarkand expedition, says that Ravens followed the camp
during the whole journey, and were so familiar and bold as to render it impossible to leave anything
eatable about which they did not attempt to .steal. He writes :— " Even milk-pots it would deliberately
upset to obtain a sup of the contents. At the greatest altitudes and through the most absolute deserts
at least half-a-dozen accompanied the camp, some, doubtless, of the very same birds thus travelling the
whole way from Le to the vicinity of the city of Yarkand ; when the camp divided, about half the
Ravens went with each party. On first starting in the morning they always accompanied the party
to a short distance, and then they returned to the old camping-ground, apparently to make sure that
nothing eatable had been left behind, and there they might be seen prowling about -wasely for an hour
or so, again joining the pai-ty in the afternoon at the new camp." Very much the same account is
given of the Raven's habits in America, where ir some parts of the country it is suspicious and wary.

,j NATURAL KISTOBY.

in other parts tame and familiar. Tlie only note which the liird utters, as a rule, is a hoarse ci-oak ,:
and the idea of its having a song woidd seem to be imjtossible, but the testimony of many observer:,
agrees in this respect. Dr. Elliott Coues says that it hi not, on the whole, so noisy a bird as the Crow,
though he croaks vigorously on occasions, and his caw may claim to be impressive, if not agi-eeable. But
the queer sounds that the bird can utter, if he be so minded, are indescribable ; even his ordinary cawing
is susceptible of considerable modulation. A favourite amusement of his when, his himger appeased
for the time, he feels particularly comfortable, is to settle at ease on the top of a pine-tree and talk to
himself The performance generallj' begins with a loud caw, self-asserting, and ends with a complacent
chuckle ; and then comes a series of comical syllables, so low as to be scarcely audible from the gi'ound
below, as if he were musing aloud and tickled with his own fancies. Then he will raise his voice again, and
file awaj' at some old saw for a while, finishing with the inimitable " cork-drawing " for which his tiube
is famous. <- The Raven generally breeds in trees or rocks, but he modifies the position of the nesting-
place ; and a good observer in California — the late Dr. Heerman — states that while he always found the
nests of the Raven jtlaced high on bold precipitous cliffs, secure against danger, in the vast desert plains
of New Mexico he saw these birds building on low trefes, and even on cactus plants less than three feet
from the ground, showing how much cii-cumstances and localities aflfect the habits of birds regarding
incubation.

THE COMMON JACKDAW (Colmus moxedula).

Although the smallest of the British Corvida;, the Jackdaw may be considered the most sociable
of all ; for while the Rook takes up its abode during the breeding season in colonies in the midst of
villages and parks, the Jackdaw, when unmolested, may be found in the very centre of towns at all
seasons of the year. His cleverness and precocity render him a very favourite pet, and he may often
be seen hanging in a cage outside some village cottage, or imprisoned in the dark precincts of a
London costermonger's abode. For ourselves, we never could find it in our heart to cage our tame
Jackdaws, and all our numerous pets were brought up from the nest, and, as soon as they were able
to feed themselves, were allowed their liberty. Acting on this plan, we have sometimes had a dozen
tame Jackdaws about the house, all of whom would come for food when called, betaking themselves
for the greater part of the day to the fields and woods. A Jackdaw, when feeding at his ease, presents
a very stately apppearance, walking about with a dignified air, with the feathers of the head and neck
ruflSied up ; on being alarmed or startled, he immediately becomes preternatui-ally sleek, every feather
falling close to the body of the bird, and giving him quite a changed asjtect. It is in this attitude
that lie is mostly represented in museums; and it was only recently that we discovered that the
ruffled appearance of the Jackdaw's head in life is produced by folds of skin upon the crown,
which, unless carefully preserved in the mounted specimen, is sure to convey an unnatural imjn-ession
of the bird.

The Jackdaw is found nearly all o\e\- Europe, and in most parts of the British Islands appears to
be a thoroughly resident bird. In many ])arts of the Continent, however, he is migratory ; and we
well remember seeing a large flock of over a hundred individuals pass over the island of Heligoland,
where, however, it was not nearly so common as the Hooded Crow. In old cathedral towns, both in
England and on the Continent, the Jackdaw is a familiar object, as it i)articularly affects towere and
old Ijuildings foi- the purpose of breeding. On the sea-shore it breeds in the cliffs in large numbers.
Throughout England, however, it as frequently nests in the holes of old trees, which it occupies
year after year. In Mr. E. Shelley's park at Avington, in Hampshire, the Jackdaws occupy a-
gi-oup of elm-trees covered with ivy, where as many as a dozen pairs breed in company with Star-
lings and Stock Doves. In this same locality we once saw a huge nest exposed to the air, and built
on the ledge of an unused window of a .shed. The eggs vary from four to seven in number, and are
somewhat more bluish in general character than those of the other Bi'itish Crows. They are covered
with small brown blotches and dots, which are sometimes found collected at one end of the egg, some-
times distributed almost equally over its entire surface.

The following curious circumstance is related by Mr. C. B. Wharton in Mr. Dresser's " Birds of
Europe": — "On the 30th of April, 1872, I took from a hole in an old elm-ti-ee in Cassiobuiy Pai-k,
Herts., four eggs of this bird, which were so evenly daubed all over with clay that the shell was-
almost comi)letely invisible, and the .shape and weight alone told them to be eggs. The one I washed

THE HOODED CKOW

tuniei! out to be ratlier a highly-coloureil egg, Init of the onliiiiuy tyj)e. I may mention tliat in tlie
nest 1 also found a piece of lianl clay (about the size of the smallest of the four eggs), with distinct
niai-ks of a bird's beak upon it. The only reason I can tliink of to account for this strange conduct on
the part of the Jackdaw is that it may have been done to make the eggs less conspicuous to any
wandering Jay, the nest being placed not far from the mouth of the hole, and the eggs, conseriuentlyj
more or less in sight of a passing
bird. I showed the eggs and
clay to Professor Newton and
others, after one of the 'Zoo'
meeting-s, and, if I rememlier
rightly, you also saw them your-
self ; if no,'- then, you have seen
them in my cabinet, and will
remember them. On the 26th
of April, .1874, I took four
eggs out of the very nest above
mentioned, but they had nothing
extraordinary about them."

Mr. Dresser adds : " I have
seen the eggs above described by
]\Ir. Wharton, and can confirm
what he says respecting their being
evenly and carefully daubed ; and
I should say that there is no
doubt it was done by the bird
Itself, but for what reason it is
impossible to say with certainty.
It appears probable that it was
done for the purpose of conceal-
ment."

The Jackdaw measures about
thirteen inches in length, and is
of a black colour, with purplish
wings and tail, the back having
somewhat of a gi-eyish shads on
''the margins of the feathers. The
crown of the head is glossy blue-
black, forming a cap, whUe the c >mmo
neck is hoary grey, inclining to

silvery grey near the cap, becoming somewhat whiter on the lowi
black; eye bluish- white. The sexes are alike in size and jilumage

sides of the neck. Bill and feet

THE HOODED CROW (Coronc comix).
The distribution of the present species over Europe is somewhat singular, as. although it occurs in
nearly every country, it cannot be said to be universally spread over the Continent, but rather ai)})ear.s
to be distributed in colonies. Thus it is spread over the northern parts of Great Britain and Ireland,
but diminishes in numbers as one approaches southward, where the common Carrion Crow (6'.
ItiemaUs) is the ordinai-y species. Indeed, throughout Europe these two species of Crow appear to be
somewhat representative, the one replacing the other in di.flferent localities. In Northern Germany,
for in.stance, the river Elbe appears to constitute a dividing line, for on the east side the Hooded
Crow, and on the west side the common Carrion Crow, respectively breed. In the south of Europe
the Hooded Crow is rarer, and occurs chiefly as a migi-ant, but the place par excellence where the
migi-ation of the present species can be most successfully studied is the little rocky island of

tj XATURAL EISTORY.

Heligoland. Here it was our good fortune to be a witness of the autumn passage of the Hooded
Crow, ^vhich took place not — as one would have expected — in the direction of north to south, but from
east to west. We had previously been acquainted with the species only in the British Islands, and,
beyond an ooca.sional autumn bird killed on the south coast, we had not had much opportunity for
personally observing its habits. On arriving in HeligoK-,-.id, therefore, we were not a little pleased on
hearing that in a few days the Nehd-krahe might be expected, and we were informed that, if necessary,
a cart-load of specimens would be easily obtainable. We had previously offered to buy specimens
from the inhabitants at sixpence a head ; and the supply, when once the migration had set in, fully
justified our friend Mr. Gatke's expe;-ience that even a cart-load of Crows could be obtained, and our
series of specimens was soon considered sufficient.

Early one morning we were taking our usual stroll along the island wlien we came upon a finf

s^-*^

-JtAtt^\ui,

Hooded Crow lying^dead upon the jacket of a peasant, whose gun, placed at the side, showed the way
in which the bird had been brought down. Heligoland consists, as most of our readers will know, of
a sandstone rock standing alone in the middle of the sea. The town nestles under the shelter of the
eastern part of the rock ; but tlie governor's house, and a considerable number of streets and
buildings, including the church, are perched upon the eastern end of the rock itself; this being its
widest part.

The rest of the island, on which there is very little depth of soil, consists of potato fields, from
which, during the latter part of our stay, the Heligolanders were busily eugaoed in digging up their
store for the coming winter. Nearly every man as he worked in liis liftk- jiatch of potato ground had
his gan lying on the gi-ound beside him ready for immediate use: ami woe to tlie unfortunate Golden
Plover who ventures by his whistle to betray his presence in the vicinity of the island ! Most of the
Heligolanders are good shots, and nearly all of them capital imitators of the notes of birds, so that we
have often seen a flock of Golden Plover decoyed over the island again and again, until, perhaps, not
more than one or two out of a dozen would finally escape with their lives.

The fact of it is that, with the exception of sheep which are kept for the purpose of supjjlying the
islanders with mUk, Heligoland has no animals at all upon it ; lience all the meat that is consumed.

THE VARRIOX CUUir. 9

there has to lie lirought direct from Hamburg, and lience the inhaljitants are dependent to a great
extent on theii guns for fresh meat. Hooded Crows, tlierefore, are looked upon as a very useful
article of food. We should be sorry to have to account for the number tliat were killed during the
time the migration lasted,- as for neai'ly five days a continual passage of these bix-ds went on in a
westerly direction. Scarcely had one flock disappeared in the distance than another was seen slowly
heaving in sight from the eastward. Sometimes they would fly straight over the island, flapping
lazily over the surface of the sea as they approached, and gradually rising to the cliffs as they neared
them. The flock out of which we obtained our first specimen passed over at a height of about twenty-
tive feet above our heads. Very often, however, the sound of the fusillade which was' continually
being carried on would warn the approaching Crows, so that they would skirt the island at a safe
distance, settling onl\- for a few moments' rest on the clifls at the westei-n end. In such cases they were
always more shy and diflicult of approach.

The Hooded Crow is easily recognisable by its colours, which consist of a grey mantle and under-
surface, the wings and tail, head and throat, being black. In Eastern Sibeiia, in Persia, and Palestine,
the. individuals of this species are very much paler in colour, and seem to constitute a distinct race,
while on the shores of the Persian Gulf a xeij handsome form of Hooded Crow, named the Chaplain
Crow {C. capellana); is met with.

Concerning the inter-breeding of C. comix with C. corone, we have made some remarks in
our notes on

THE CAKRION CROW {Coram Ikmali.s).

We have already had occasion to allude slightly to the distribution of this bii'd and that of the
Hooded Crow, which it represents in many of the countries of Europe : as, for instance, in Scandinavia,
where the latter species is particularly abundant and the Carrion Crow entirely absent. In the
southern parts of the British Islands the Hooded Crow as a breeding species seems to be extinct,
according to the notes which have been contributed to Mr. Dresser's " Birds of Europe," biit in many
parts of Scotland the two species occur together and inter-breed. This curious fact — one of the most
remarkable in the whole range of ornithology — is attested beyond all question by many excellent
observers in Britain and on the Continent ; and, as far as observations in the former have hitherto
gone, the male bird generally turns out to be a Carrion Crow and the female a Hooded Crow. Such
is, howe\er, not always the case, as is evidenced by Count von Tschusi Schmidhofen in Southern
Austi'ia, who mentions an instance of a male Hooded Crow inter-breeding with a female Carrion Crow.
The following note is contributed to Mr. Dresser's " Birds of Europe " by Mr. J. Lumsden, Junr. : — " On
the 18tli of April this year (1874) our gamekeeper told me that he had on the previous da}' found a
Ci-ow's nest in a .high Scotch fir on the edge of a moor, and had seen both old birds flying about, one
being, he was quite sure, a grey Crow, and the other a black one. Having got this information, I
started ofl' with him at once to see the nest. As we got within two gunshots of the tree the old
female (Hooded Crow) flew off^ and x-ose, croaking, above our heads. She was at once joined by the
male (Carrion Crow) ; and as the two birds flew round us I could distinctly see that the keeper was
right — that the one bird was grey and the other black. After this I visited the nest eveiy few days,
and had frequent opportunities of identifying the birds. At first the female was very wild, and left
the nest long before we were within shot of her, but always soared above us in circles, getting higlier
and higher each time, her cries bringing the male, who invariably came in the same direction, over the
shoulder of the hill at the foot of which the tree with the nest stood. After she had been sitting for
some time, however, the hen became much tamer, and would not leave the nest till the tree was struck
with a stick. At this time also we noticed that the male bird was shyer, and could only see him in
the distance. When the young came out, she laid down eggs and rabbits' entrails near the nest ; and
when watching at some distance we observed that both the old birds fed the young." Mr. Dresser,
having examined the specimens,, adds the following note : — " The male bird is an ordinary Canion
Crow, and the female, which at the first glance appeared to be a Hooded Crow, is, I find, on closer
examination, a hybrid, though approaching nearer to the Hooded than to the Carrion Crow in
coloration of plumage. Two of the young birds closely resemhle the mother, whereas the other two
ai-e to all appeanince ordinary Can-ion Crows, exhibiting none of the characters of both species which
[ find in other hybrids."

in NATURAL MJSTUIiY.

The author is indebted to his friend Mr. Henry Seebohm for the following account of the
two birds in Eastern Liberia, tlie MS. notes having been kindly placed in the author's hands for tlie
jn-esent work : —

" During the whole of our long sledge journey from Nislini Novgorod as far as Tomsk the
Hooded Crow abounded on the roadsides, and in returning during the autumn I found it
equally common on the banks of various rivers which the steamer navigates between Tomsk and
Tobolsk and the latter town and Tyn-main. Indeed, as far as my observation goes, the whole of
Russia 'and Western Siberia may be described as a, vast colony of Hooded Crows. East Siberia,
on the othel- hand, is an equally vast colony of Carrion Crows. From Kras-no-yarsk to Yen-e-saisk
I saw nothing but the Carrion Crow. Middendorf records the same on the Tay-na and eastwards to
the Sea of Okhotsk ; and southwards Pjeratsky (pronounced Psheratsky) found it common in
Mongolia. The distance between Tomsk and Kras-no-yarsk is about 550 versts. As you travel east-
wards from Tomsk, for the first 200 ver.sts the Hoo led Crow only is to he seen. .During the last
"200 \ersts before reaching Kras-no-yarsk the Carrion Crow alone is found. In the intermediate
150 versts about one-fourth of the Crows are thorough-bred Hooded, one-fourth are pure Carrion,
and the remaining half are hybrids of every stage — mulattoes, quadroons, octoroons, and so on ad
infinitum. The line of demai-cation between the two species may be roughly taken at the meridian
of Calcutta, extending north of Yen-e-saisk along the valley of the Yen-e-say, and south of that
town along the watershed of the Obb and the Yen-e-say. That this state of things is not of recent
origin is proved by the fact that it is recorded by Middendorf, who remarked the presence of
hybrid Crows at Yen-e-saisk as long ago as 1844. Hybrids between C. corone and C. comix occui
occasionally in Scotland, on the Elbe, in Tvu-kestan, and probably wherever both species occur.
The fact that these hybrids present a series of every intermediate form between the two species is
pri/nr( facie evidence of tlieir fci-tility. I .succeeded, however, in getting positive evidence of this fact.
On the 11th of May, whilst tin- j^round was still covered with six feet of snow, I found a pair of
hybrid Crows in jxisscssion of a nest near the top of a pine-tree. The nest contained one egg. On the
21st I climbed uj) to the nest again, and found it to contain five eggs. Two of these I took. On the
31st one egg was hatched and the other two were chipi)ed ready for hatching. On the 26th of June I
again climbed up to the nest, and found that one of the young birds had either died or flown. I took
the other two and shot the female. She proved to be at least three-parts Carrion Crow. The feathers
on the sides of the neck and on the lower part of the breast and belly are grey, with dark centres. I
was unable to shoot the male, but I had on several occasions examined him through my binocular. He
had more Hooded blood in him than the female, having a very gi-ey ring round the neck, and showing a
good deal of gi-ey on the breast an<l under the wings.

"My total bag of ('iri\\s ;it the Ku-iay-i-ka was three thorough-bred Hooded, two males and a
female ; ten thorough! nvd ( m i ions, nine males and one female ; and fifteen hybrids, seven males and
eight females. These tigiues. ;is far :is they go. lead me to the conclusion that the female Carrion Crows
were all breeding away in the woo.ls. so that I rarely got a shot at one; whereas the female hybrids
were Tnost of them barren, so that I was able to shoot as many of one sex as of the other."

In the central and southern counties of England, where the author himself observed the Can-ion
Crow, he has always found it breeding j)erfectly true, and in some jiarts of Huntingdonshire it was
by no means rare. The nest was generally placed on a high tree in the middle of a field, and was in
most cases difficult of access. In Scotland it is often seen in large flocks : and Mr. Robert Gray
records having seen at Findlater Castle a flock which numbered 100 each of this species and of
the Hooded Crow. In Southern Europe it is gregariou.s, as both Von der Miihle and Lindermayer
speak of it as a permanent resident in Greece, large numbers retiring to roo.st on the rocky islands,
and returning to the mainland at break of day.

The habits of the Carrion Crow are so voracious, and the bird is altogether so cunning and un-
.scrupulous, that he is looked on by the gamekeeper as a natural enemy. Nor can we wonder at this,
when we read of the ha^oc which a pair of these birds will work if unmolested. We well remember
visiting a little group of tribes, on the estate of the Marquis of Huntley at Aboyne, from which the
Crows had long .since takon tliiir depai-ture, but beneath their nests there still remained, after a lapse
ot several months, the disbriti uf iiuiumerable eggs of Grouse ; in fact, nothing comes amiss to its maw.

THE INDIAN GREY-KECKED CROIT. 11

and it ofteii kills young birds, hares, and rabbits. Macgillivray adds as its food Crustacea, moliusca,
grubs, and worms, mentioning that the stomach of one trapped in Linlithgowshire Ln November, ISS-t.
was tilled with oat seeds. Its principal food, however, is carrion, and it not unfrequently attacks sickly
lambs and sheep. Mr. Hogg contributes to Macgillivray's work a detailed account of the way in
which a Carrion Crow sets to work to kill the htmbs and ewes, first digging out the eyes, and, as the
animals open their mouth in pain, attacking and tearing out their tongue, until at la.st the poor
creatures die fi-om exhaustion, furnishing a good meal for the Crows and their young. The Carrion
( row will sometimes attack even living birds, as Mr. Hogg witnessed the pureuit of one after
I Grouse : and Montagu states that he has seen one pursue a pigeon and strike it dead.

The present species cannot be mistaken for an adidt Rook, which is easily distinguished by its bare
face, but with the young of the latter bird there might be some confusion, as it has its face feathered
like the Carrion Crow. It is therefore as well to state that the two birds may be distinguished by
e.vamining the base of the feathers, which are grey in a Rook and white in a Carrion Crow.

The total length of the Carrion Crow is about nineteen inches, and it is all over of a glossy steel
black, with a shade of purple, the feathers of the throat being lanceolate in shape.

THE INDIAN GKKV-NECKED CROW (Coram- splendem).

This species is about the size of a Jackdaw, but is closely allied to the Hooded Crow of Europe,
which it resembles in its mixture of grey on the hind neck. The following account of the bird's
habits is extracted from the work of Captain Vincent Legge on the " Birds of Ceylon " (p. 3.50) : —
" He is gifted with as much as, if not more intelligence, than any member of his sagacious family ;
and annoying as he is, on account of his large share of brains, he is nevertheless a most useful adjunct
to the sanitary regulations of Indian towns. He thrives to a marvellous degi-ee in all these, his
prosperous condition depending mainly on his utter audacity, his entire disregard of man, his thieving
propensities, and his accurate powers of observation. He devotes himself to the timely occupation of
the back yard, the bungalow verandah, the barrack square, the abattoir, and the commissariat meat-
store, or he resorts to the scene of the fisherman's occupations on the .sea-beach, or the door of the native
cottage at the morning hour of cooking, in all cases exactly at the opportmie moment, and he is sure
not to come away without his wants being satisfied. "While living at Trincomali I always found him
winging his way at early morn, while it was yet dusk, in long lines to the sea-beach and to the troops'
meat-store, to lie in time for the dragging of the seine-net or the cutting up of the oxen ; and
gatJiei-ing on the sands in noisy knots, or lining the branches in ' cawing ' rows, these skilful robbers
would ne\er miss a chance of snatching up an unguarded morsel. But it was at meal-time in the
barrack squares of Colombo that he was more particularly in his element ; crowding in scores round
the verandahs at the bugle-call of ' dinners up,' the audacious thieves waited until the tables were
spread, and eagerly watched for the opportunity of acquiring a midday repast. Luckless was the
soldier who turned his back for an instant ! From the adjacent branches to the table and back wa.s
the work of a second, and in this space of time the savoury meat had disappeared from the gunner's
plate and was being discussed by half-a-dozen sable beaks. In the bungalow verandah the Crow proves
himself a terrible nuisance ; seated on the tops of the gi-een ' tats,' or slyly perched on the ^^^ndow-sill
with his head awry, he does not scruple to pounce down, and in the momentary absence of the ayah
snatch the bread from the children's hands, or dart into the nui-sery and upset the milk-jug on the
table ; or he will glide noiselessly through the breakfast-room window, and in an instant pounce upon
the sideboard or table, and having from afar selected the most tempting-looking cutlet or the best
viands, is ofi" again before the appu, who is laying ' msister's ' breakfast, can, with a well-armed blow,
etfectually stop the thief. The only satisfaction that ' master ' gets is the appu's tale, ' Sar ! I go to
kitchen for a minute, and that Crow take away master's breakfast.' I have witnessed one of these
birds come into the mess-room at Colombo, pull off the napkin that had been placed over a cold joint
on the sideboard, and begin pecking away most vigorously at the meat.

" Concerning the Crow's exploits in Ceylon, Layard wi-ites as follows : — ' He levies contxibutious
on all alike : leave but your breakfast-table for a moment, and as you return, the rustling of hurrying
wings, the marks of many feet on the white table-cloth, the gashes in the pat of butter, and the
disappearance of plantains and small -vnands, pi-oclaim who have been the robbers. The old " hopper

TH^TVRAh BISTQRY.

woman " sits frying her cakes under the lonely " jiandal " of her cadjan hut, and over her, with head
inclined, taking a bird's-eye view of her cookery, sits the " caca ;'' and now the "appah" (Anglice,
" hopper ") is done, lifted from the pan, and laid on the little circular basket ready for a customer.
With a grunt of satisfaction the aged crone surveys her handiwork, and drops her spoon to feel for her
beloved betel-pouch. A tiresome little bit of areca nut has got into a corner, and the old dame bends
over it, unmindful of her charge. A dark figure drops from the roof, and though she is instantly on
the alert, and aims an ineffectual blow at the thief, the nice white " appah " is borne off. Sometimes,
however, the robber has but a poor hold on it, and drops it on the red cabook road. Down pounce a
host of Crows that have been looking on from many a tree, and a scuffle ensues ; but anxious at least

to cheat them of their booty, if
not to retain the damaged article
for her own eating, the old woman
liun-ies to the rescue. But this
makes matters worse ; the castle is
defenceless, and unseen foes drop
down from beam and rafter or fly
in through open doors. The rice-
basket is invaded, the chilli-box
overturned, the dried fish stolen,
and lucky is the dame if the crash
of most of her little store oi
crockery and glass, swept to the
ground and scattered in shining
fragments, does not hastily recall
her to her hut.'

" This account is by no means
overdi-awn, for to the natives of
tiie bazaars the Crow is an utter
pest. I question, however, whether
his absence from the towns would
not in the end lead to much harm,
for he is a most useful scavenger,
and clears the streets and back
premises of eveiything thrown out
from the houses, which would
otherwise speedily decomi^ose in
the rays of the tropical sun. Not-
withstanding its utter disregard
for the native (which is so gi-eat
that I have seen one pounce on
to a basket carried on a boy's
head and seize from it a cake or a fruit), it entertains a marked respect for the white man, and
stands in a wholesome dread of the gun, flying oflF the moment a stick even is pointed at it ; and
so quick-sighted is it that it espies any one trying to stalk it, and decamps at once, though it
has not seen the gun in the enemy's hand !

" At certain hours in the day these Crows assemble in large flocks, and hold a noisy parlance whioli
lasts for some time. At Colombo it was usually on the beach at the ' Galle Buck,' over an evening
meal on sandflies, which they are very fond of, or engaged in pranks with the hermit-crabs, that the
affairs of the day seemed to be discussed. Often at midday a noi.sy meeting would take place on thf
banks of the lake, and while several dozen birds held an angry debate on some fellow Crow who was
posted in the middle of the circle, others would bathe up to the thighs in the water, ducking them-
selves and splashing in all directions. A striking instance of the Crow's love of mischief and his
innate impudence was exemjilified at Colombo in his habit of annoying the unoffending littie Grebes

NVTCRACKF.R.

Till. COMMOS M.WI'IE. lU

which frequented the lake. Aj-paveutly for the sake of seeing tliem disappear under the water he
would dart down on them over and over again. ~

" In the towns the Grey Crow invariably roosts on the fronds of cocoa-nut trees, sitting close
together in rows, but not settling down for the night until a considerable time had been spent in
noisy discus.sion. It appeal's to feel the tropical heat at midday, taking shelter luider the shadiest
branches, and often panting with its bill wide open."

THE COMMON MAGPIE {Pica rKstka).

So mischievous a bird is the Magpie (see figure on p. 1) to the farmer anil poultry-keei)er, that
it is .subjected to a great amount of persecution in return for the havoc it undouljtedly commits iii
the poultry-yard ; and it requires all its natural sagacity to defend itself and its nest and young
fi'om destruction. It is probably omng to the way in which it is shot that it has become rare in cer-
tain pai-ts of England, especially in the well-preserved game districts. At the same time, it cannot be
said to be decreasing greatly in numbers throughout the country ; and we can remember to have found
as many as sixteen Magpies' nests during a day's bii-ds'-nesting in Huntingdonshire. In the parts of
Berkshire, on the other hand, around Cookham and its neighbourhood, where many of our field observa-
tions have been carried on, it is decidedly a scarce species. The Magj)ie is generally seen in ])airs, but
sometimes large flocks occur. A friend, Mr. James Mallam, of Iffley, informed the author that he once
saw upwards of forty ]\Iagpies together in a wood in Hampshire. In other countries of Europe, such
as Norway and Sweden, where the bii'd is looked upon with fiivouv, it becomes very familiar, and may
be fomid nesting close to the houses in the gooseberry- bushes. A similar instance of familiarity was
communicated to Bishop Stanley by a friend, and is recorded in the " History of Birds " as follows : —
''Observing, in a remote and barren part of the north ©f Scotland, the Magpies hopping round a
gooseberry -bush, and flying in and out of it in an extraordinary manner, he noticed the circumstance
to the owners of the house in which he was, who informed him that as there were no trees in the
neighbourhood they had for several years built their nest and brought up their .young in that bush ;.
and that Foxes, Cats, Hawks, ifec, might not interrupt them, they had bari-icaded not only the nest,
but the bush itself, all round with briers and thoi'ns in a formidable manner. The materials in the
inside of the nest were soft, warm, and comfortable to the touch ; but all round, on the outside,
so rough, strong, and firmly entwined with the bush, that without a hedge-knife, or something of the
kind, even a man could not, without much pain and trouble, get at their young, the barrier from the
outer to the inner edge being above a, foot in breadth. Frogs, Mice, or anything living were
plentifully brought to their young. One day, one of the parent birds attacked a Rat, but not being
able to kill it, one of the young ones came out of the nest and assisted in its destruction, which was
not finally accomplished till the other old one, arriving with a dead Mouse, also lent its aid. The
female was observed to be most active and thievish, and withal ver/ ungrateful ; for although the
children about the hou.se had often frightened Cats and Hawks from the spot, yet she one day seized a
chicken, and carried it to the top of the house to eat it, where the hen immediately followed, and
having rescued the chicken, brought it safely down in her beak ; and it was remarked that the poor
little bird, though it made a gi-eat noise while the Magpie was carrying it up, was quite quiet and
seemed to feel no pain while its mother was carrying it down. These Magpies were siipposed to have
been the very same pair which liad built there for sevei-al years, never suflfering either the young wheii
gi-own irp or anything else to take possession of their bush. The nest they carefully fortified afresh
every spmig with rough, sti'ong, prickly sticks, which they sometimes drew in with their united
forces, if unable to effect the object alone."

The protection which the Magpie places round its nest, so as to render it a perfect clwvaux de
fi-ke, is a necessary one, not only to guard against the depredations of the prowling birds'-nester, but
also to resist the charge of small shot which the farmer or keeper relentlessly fires at any nest
supiiosed to contain young birds. The eggs vary in number from six to eight, and are generally pale
liluish- white, spotted with brown or greenish-brown. The markings vary considerably ; and we
remember taking a single egg from a nest in Huntingdonshire which had the larger end entirely
clouded with small spots, while the following moi-ning we found another egg on which the spots were
entirely confined to the small end. The Mairpie evinces considerable aflection for a certain locality
40

U NATURAL EISTORY.

during the breeding season, and several instances have been recorded of birds maimed by sliot in one
season returning to nest in the same place the following year.

The Magpie is about sixteen inches in length, of a glossy black plumage, slightly greenish on the
crown and back, with a slightly coppery tinge on the head ; across the rump a more or less distinctly
marked white band ; scapulas, or shoulder-feathers, white ; wings blue ; the primary coverts and outer
web of i)rimaries green ; the inner secondaries bright blue, shading into green ; all the primaries white
for nearly their entire length, the tip only black ; tail lustrous dark green, dusky black at the tip,
before which the feathers are shaded with copper, purplish-red, or puiiilish-blue ; throat and chest
glossy black, with grey streaks on the latter ; rest of under surface white ; the abdomen, thighs, and
under wing and tail-coverts black.

THE TREE-PIES [De„drociUa).

These birds might almost be called Indian Magpies, as they form one of the genera characteristic
of the Indian region. They are plentiful all over India, the Burmese countries, Southern China, and
the islands of Hainan and Formosa, and extend as high as Ningpo on the Chinese coast. The presence
of a Tree-pie in the last-named locality shows how the Indian Avifauna pushes its way up within the
limits of the eastern Pala;arctic region, which is supposed to include all China north of the river
Yangtze, and many instances can be brought forward of the occurrence of truly Indian genera in
Northern China and Japan. The island of Sumatra contains a \ ery fine species of Tree-pie peculiar
to itself, viz., D. occipitalis; and the Andaman Islands also contain a single representative, D.bayleyi.

In general form the Tree-pies are very like true Magpies (Pica), but they have the middle tail-
feathers widened out at the tips in a very remarkable degree. They are noisy birds, and have a variety
of notes. They build large nests of sticks, lined with leaves, fine straw, tendrils, roots, &e.

THE INDIAIf TREE-PIE [Dendrocitta rttfa).
This is the commonest and best known species, Ijeing found all over India. According to >Ir.
Hume, it breeds throughout the continent of India, alike in the plains and the hills, vip to an elevation
of 6,000 or 7,000 feet. Jerdon* states that in the plains it is most common in well-wooded districts :
and in the Carnatic and bare table-land it is found only occasionally about the larger towns and in
hilly jungles ; but as you go farther north, it is to be seen in every grove and garden and about every
village. It sometimes occurs singly, very frequently in pairs, and now and then in small parties. It
flies from tree to tree with a slow, undulating flight. At times it feeds almost exclusively upon fruit, but
at other times on insects, grasshoppers, locusts, umitid.'s, and caterpillars. The natives always assert
that it destroys young birds and eggs, and rc.nsi.lci ii i)f the Shrike genus. Mr. Smith says he "has
known this bird enter a covered verandah of a house, and nip oft' half a dozen yoimg geraniums, visit a
cage cif sniull birds, begin by stealing the grain, and end by killing and eating the birds, and repeating
these vLsits daily till destroyed." Mr. Buckland stated that he had known it to enter a verandah
and catch bats. It has a variety of notes : the usual harsh cry of a Magpie ; a clear, whistling,
somewhat metallic call, which Sundevall .syllabises into Kohke-oh-koor, or Kohhe-oh, the Bengalese
into Kotree ; and it has also a feeble, indistinct note at the pairing season, which the male
utters, and the female responds to in a sort of chuckle. When several pairs are together they
have a curious guttural call, which the Rev. Mi-. Phillips, as quoted by Horsfield, says " sounds
like kakak, or keke-kak, repeated several times." It builds a large nest of sticks, generally on lofty
trees, and lays three or four eggs of a light greenish fawn-colour, sometimes with a few indistinct pale
brown blotclies. Buchanan Hamilton says : — " The Bengalese women imagine, whenever they hear
this bird calling, that it forebodes the approach of religious mendicants, who, by partaking of the
fare prepared for the family, will clean the pots used in cooking ; from which circumstance its native
name is derived" (Pan scraper) ; hence he calls it Corvus mendicantium, or the Beggars' Crow.

THE COMMON JAY {Garrulus glandarius).

The present species is by no means rare throiighout Europe, and is the only Jay found

until, in the neighbourhood of Constantinople and Southern Russia, it occurs along with the

Black-headed Jay. which replaces it to the eastward. Like all tlie members of the genus Garrultis,

' " Birds of Iiulia," Vol, I,, p, 314.

'MM()\ J.ll

it exhiliits those beautiful blue ami black banded feathers in the wing which have caused it
to be considered one of the handsomest of British birds. It is indeed a great pity that such a
beautiful species should bear such a bad chai-acter, and, what is worse, should so well deserve
it. On account of its propensity for taking the eggs of game-birds, the keeper's hand is turned
ruthlessly against it, and the gibbet in the preserves often shows the mouldering remains of a
bright-pluuiaged Jay, who has atoned for his offences along with the Weasels and Stoats. Ac-
cording to Macgillivray, it feeds on fruit, and is particularly fond of beans and peas, but it also
feeds on worms, larva}, aiid snails, plunders the nests of small birds, and pounces on mice and
sometimes small birds. We can ourselves vouch for its partiality to peas, for some of the earliest
specimens of our acijuaintance were shot in the grey dawn of the morning from a kitchen garden

which was regularly visited by Jays for the purpose of attacking the rows of peas. This they did
with great avidity, the crops of those examined being perfectly distended with the peas they had
eaten.

The Jay is a favourite cage-bird, and becomes a very amusing pet ; it is an excellent mimic,
nnil has been said to imitate such sounds as the neighing of a horse, the sound of a saw, the calling
of fowls, the barking of dogs, and other noises, with the greatest exactness. It is about thirteen
inches in length, of a vinons red colour, becoming pale grey on the back ; the rump and upper tail-
coverts pure white ; the tail black, washed with grey near the base, and having slight indications of
Muish-grey bars; the wing-coverts are light gn/y, incliiiiiiL' fo chestnut on the median series; the
bastard wing and primary coverts barred with \>\:trk ■.iml luii^lit cobalt blue, as also are the outer
;_'reater coverts, the inner ones of the last series being black ; ouills black, the primaries washed with
ashy gi-ey, the secondaries shaded with cobalt near the .shaft, and white for more than half of the outer
web; the inner secondaries black, the innermost deep chestnut, ti])ped with black; the head is crested,
the forehead being white, streaked with black ; on tlie cheeks a broad band of black ; the under

10 SATUKAL ni.-sTuKY.

surface of tlie body pale \-inous ; tlie tliiglis whitish ; and the vent and under tail-coverts pure
white.

THE BLUE JAYS (CijamcMu).

As we have before mentioned, the true Jays ai-e strictly confined to the Old World, and theii-
place is taken in America by a group of Corvine birds which are called Blue Jays. Of these, the
most familiar is

THE COMMON BLUE JAY [Ctjunocitta cristata).

Altliougli in plumage he differs from the ordinary type of Garrulus, yet in his habits the Blue Jay
seems to be in many respects similar. He is found over the greater part of North America, and where
he is j'ersecuted he becomes exceeding shy and suspicious ; but in some parts of the United States,
where protection is afforded him, he becomes quite tame and familiar, breeding close to houses and
sometimes even in the streets of large towns. Thus Dr. Brewer states that in 1843 he saw a nest of
this Jay filled with young in a tree standing near the house of Mr. Audubon in the city of New York.
The same gentleman does justice to the utility of the Jay in the following paragraph : — " Dr. Kirtland
has informed me of the almost invaluable services rendered to the farmers in his neighbourhood by the
Blue Jays in the destruction of Caterpillars. When he first settled on his fann he found every apple
and wild chei-ry-tree in the vicinity extensively disfigured and denuded of its leaves by the larva; of
the C'lisiocampa americana, or the Tent Caterpillai-. The evil was so extensive that even the best
farmers despaired of counteracting it. Not long after the Jays colonised upon his place he found
they were feeding their young quite extensively with these larvas, and so thoroughly that, two or three
years afterwards, not a worm was to be .seen in that neighbourhood ; and more lecently he has
searched for it in vain, in order to rear cabinet specimens of the Moth." *

In size the Blue Jay measures about eleven inches and a half, and is of a gi-eyish-purple colour
above, the crest being also of this colour ; round the hind neck is a collar of black extending down to
the fore neck, and across the foi-ehead is another narrow line of black ; under surface of body pale
lilac brown, inclining to white on the lower abdomen and under tail-coverts ; the cheeks are whitish,
and the tail-feathers are broadly tipped with white, as also tlie greater wing-coverts and secondaries.
These last few characters distinguish the Conmion Blue Jay from a group of allied species with black
cheeks, blue on the abdomen, and no white tips to the .secondary quills or tail-feathers. These are
Steller's Blue Jay (C stelleri), the Long-crested Blue Jay (C. macrolopha), and the two Mexican Blue
Jays {C. coronata and C. iji,hl,„,i(t(i), the latter being scarcely separable as a species. The ordinary
Blue Jay is .spread over ('aiimla and tlic northern and ea.stern United States. C. stelleri takes its
place on the Pacific side of Xnrth America," from Columbia to Sitka, which in the Sierra Nevada is
represented by an allied race, called by Mr. Ridgway C. frontalis. C. macrolopha is the species of the
Rocky Mountains, and C. diaJemata of the highlands of Mexico.

THE LONG-TAILED BLUE JAYS {Xmithura).
These are also inhabitants of Central and South America, and are little known. They are all
birds of variegated plumage and of handsome appearance. The tail is rather lengthened, exceeding
the wing in length. It is unfortunate that the name Xanthura (yellow-tailed) has to be adopted for
them, as some of them have the tail blue. Indeed, only four out of fourteen species cmii he said to
po.ssess the yellow tail; and one of these, known as tlir (iivcn .T:iy ( Xnnllnini In.nins.i), penetrates
into Texas, and can therefore be considered as a Nortli Aimiicaii liiiil. I'^mui the wi.rk >A Me-ssrs.
Baird, Brewer, and Ridgway we cull a short note on the last-mentioned species : — " (Jolouel George A.
McCall, Inspector-General of the United States Army, was the first person to collect these birds
within our liuiits. He obtained them in the forests which border the Rio Grande, on the south-
eastern frontier of Texas. There he found them all mated in the month of May, and he felt no
doubt that they had their nests in the extensive and almost impenetrable thickets of mimosa,
commonly called chaparral. From the jealousy and pugnacity which these birds manifested on the
approach, or appearance even, of the large boat-tailed Blackbirds of that country (Quiscaltis macrurti^),
which were nesting in great numbers in the vicinity. Colonel McCall was satisfied that the Jays were
* " History of North American Birils," A^ol. II., p. 27G.

Till-: liAUE-yEiKKli Lionv.

at that time also engaged in the ihitics of incuhatioa and rearing their young. In character and
temperament these birds appeared to be very active and lively, though less noisy than some other
species of the family. Their gay plumage was exhibited to great ad\antage as they flitted from tree
to tree, or dashed boldly in pureuit of .such of their more plainly-attired neighbours as ventured to
intrude upon their domain."

THE BAKE-NECKED CKOW {rkathaiics gi,,>ime,'pkalu,).
To appreciate the peculiar appearance of this Crow, it should be seen either in a living state or
preserved in spirits, because the bare skin of the head loses its colour in the dried specimens. The
whole head and nape are bare,
but, as will be seen by the wood-
cut, there is a fleshy skin, of a
bright yellowcolourinlife, which
occupies the whole of it, except-
ing the sides of the hinder part
of the skull and the ear-hole.
This yellow skin passes over
the occiput and joins the hinder
neck, which is covered with a
few bristly feathers. The upper
.surface is dark grey ; the throat,
sides of neck, and under surface
white. The home of the Bare-
necked Crow is the interior of
the Gold Coast, where it is
found only in the forests, and
being considered fetish by the
natives, is with gi-eat difficulty
procured. The examples in the
British Museum were obtained
by the exertions of Governor
Ussher, who, during his resi-
dence on the Gold Coast, em-
ployed a most intelligent native
collector to penetrate into tlie
interior for the purpose of col-
lecting natural history speci-
mens. This man affirmed that the birds were found in rocky forest grounds, generally in the
neighbourhood of streams, building among rocks, and feeding on fresli-water shell-fisli, snails, and
reptiles. The native in question also procured the nestling and the egg. The latter is like that
of many other Crows, and the nestling is coloured like the adult, having the bare head, and being
dark grey above, white below, with remains of nestling down.

THE HUIA, OR NEW ZEALAND WOOD-CROW {Hcteralocha aeutirosiris).
This very curious and abeiTant Crow is a native of New Zealand, and is not found anywhere
else. Even in that country it is very rare, and is becoming fast exterminated, like so many other
New Zealand birds. The remarkable difference in the shape of the bill in the two sexes of the Huia
led to the belief, for a long time, that these were two species ; but it has since been proved that not
only does the male have a very differently shaped bill from that of the female, but that this structural
peculiarity senses a good purpose in the economy of the species. The best account of the Huia
has been written by Dr. Bidler, to whose pen we are indebted for the following extracts
from his " Birds of New Zealand " : — " Ere long it will exist only in our museums and other
collections ; and, for the sake of science, it is important that everything connected with its natural
history should be fjiithfully recorded and preserved. In the absence of any iniblished account of its

BARE-NECKED CROW

NATURAL HISTORY.

habits, beyond mere fragmentary notices, I have thought the subject of suiScient interest to justify
my placing before the Society the following complete account of all that I have been able to ascertain
respecting it. The peculiar habits of feeding, which 1 have described from actual observation, furnish
to my own mind a sufficient ' reason ' for the diflerent development of the mandibles in the two
sexes, and may, I think, be accepted as a solution of the problem.

" Before proceeding to speak of the Ijird itself, 1 would remark on the very restricted character of
its habitat. It is confined within narrow geographical boundaries, being met with only in the
Ruahine, Tararua, and Rimutaka mountain-ranges, with their divergent spurs, and in the intervening
wooded valleys. It is occasionally found in the Fuyus forests of the Wairarapa Valley, and in the

rugged country stretching to
the westward of the Ruahine
range, but it seldom wanders
far from its mountain haunts.
I ha\e been assured of its
occuuence in the wooded
(iuiiti\ near Massacre Bay
(Pi .MiicL of Nelson), but 1
licu L not been able to obtain
any satisfactory evidence on
this pomt It is worthy of
lemaik that the natives, who
piize the bud very highly for
its tail featherr (which are
used as \ badge of mourning),
st ite that, unlike other species
^vhlch ha^e of late years
diminished and become more
confined to their range, the
Huia ^^as from time imme-
moual limited in its distribu-
tion to the district I have
indicated

"My hr.st .specimen of
this singular bird (an adult
female) was obtained in 1855
from the Wainuiomata Hills,
a continuation of the Rimutaka range, bounding the Wellington harbour on the northern side
— the same locality from which Dr. Dieffenbach, nearly twenty years before, received the examples
figured by Mr. Gould in his magnificent work, ' The Birds of Australia.' I have since obtained
many fine specimens, and in the summer of 1864 I succeeded in getting a i)air of live ones.
They were caught by a native in the ranges and brought down to Manawatu, a distance of more than
fifty miles, on horseback. The owner refused to take money for them ; but I negotiated an exchange
for a valuable greenstone. I kept these birds for more than a year, waiting a favourable opportunity
of forwarding them to the Zoological Society of London. Through the carelessness, however, of a
servant, the male l)ird was accidentally killed ; and the other, manifesting the utmost distress, pined
for her mate, and died ten days afterwards.

" The readiness with which these birds adapted themselves to a condition of captivity was very
remarkable. Within a few days after their capture they Lad become perfectly i ame, and did not
appear to feel in any degree the restraint of confinement ; for, although the window of the ajmrtment
in which they were ke])t was thrown open and rejilaced by thin wire netting, I never saw them make
any attempt to rcoaiu their liberty. It is well known, however, that birds of different species differ
widely in natural .lisi,ositi...n ami teu'.per. The captive Eagle frets in his sulky pride ; the Bittern
refuses food, and ilies untamable ; the fluttering little Humming-bird beats itself to death against the

Hin, on

{After KevXetnans.)

THE liriA, Uli SMU- y.EALAXl) WOOD-CRUir. 19

tiny bai-s of its prison iu its futile efforts to escape ; and many species tliat appear to sul^mit readily to
their changed condition of life ultimately pine, sicken, and die. There are otlier species, again, which
cheerfully adapt themselves to their- new life, although caged at maturity, and seem to thrive fully as
well under confinement as in a state of nature. Parrots, for examjile, are easily tamed ; and I have
met with numerous instances of their voluntary return after ha\ing regained their liberty. This
character of tamability was exemplified to perfection in the Huias.

"They were fully adult birds, and were caught in the following simple manner ; — Attracting the
birds, by an imitation of their cry, to the place where he lay concealed, the native, with the aid of a
long rod, slipped a running knot over the head of the female and secured her. The male, emboldened
by the loss of his mate, suffered himself to be easily caught in the same manner. On receiving these
birds, I set them free in a well-lined and properly ventilated room, measui-ing about six feet by eight
feet. They appeai-ed to be stiff after theii' severe jolt on horseback, and after feeding freely on the
huhu gnib, a pot of which the native had brought with them, they retired to one of the perches I had
set up for them, and cuddled together for the night.

" In the morning I found them somewhat recruited, feeding with avidity, sipping water from a
dish, and flitting about in a very active manner. It was amusing to note their treatment of the huhu.
This gi-ub, the larva of a large nocturnal Beetle (Frionoplus reticularis), which constitutes their
principal food, infests all decayed timber, attaining at maturity the size of man's little finger. Like
all grubs of its kind, it is furnished with a hard head and horny mandibles. On ofJering one of these
to tiie Huia, he would seize it in the middle, and at once tran.sferring it to his perch, and placing one
foot firmly upon it, he would tear off the hard parts, and then, throwing the grub upwards to secure
it lengthwise iu his bill, would swallow it whole. For the first few days these birds were compara-
tively qiuet, remaining stationary on their perch as soon as their hunger was appeased. But they
afterwards became more lively and active, indulging in j)lay with each other, and seldom remaining
more than a few moments in one position. I sent to the woods for a small branched tree, and placed
it in the centre of the room, the floor of which was spread with sand and gravel. It was most
interesting to watch these graceful birds hopping from branch to branch, occasionally spreading the
tail into a broad fan, displaying themselves in a variety of natural attitudes, and then meeting to
caress each other with their ivory bills, uttering, at the .same time, a low aflectionate twitter. They
generally moved along the branches by a succession of light hops, after the manner of the Kokako
( Glaucopis cimrea), and they often descended to the floor, where their mode of progression was the
same. They seemed never to tire of probing and chiselling with their beaks. Having discovered that
the canvas lining of the room was pervious, they were incessantly piercing it and tearing off large
strips of paper, till, in the course of a few days, the walls were completely defaced.

" But what interested me most of all was the manner in which the birds assisted each other in
their search for food, because it appeared to explain the use, in the economy of nature, of the difierently
formed bills in the two sexes. To divert the birds, I introduced a log of decayed wood infested with
the huhu gi'ub. They at once attacked it, carefully probing the softer parts with their bills, and then
vigorously assailing them, scooping out the decayed wood till the larva or pupa was visible, when it
was carefully drawn from its cell, treated in the way described above, and then swallowed. The very
different development of the mandibles in the two sexes enabled them to perform separate offices.
The male always attacked the more decayed ]3ortions of the wood, chiselling out his prey after the
manner of some Woodpeckers, wliile the female probed \vith her long pliant bill the other cells, where
the hardness of the surrounding parts resisted the chisel of her mate. Sometimes I observed the male
remove the decayed portions without being able to reach the grub, when the female would at once
come to his aid, and accom))lish with her long slender bill what he had failed to do. I noticed, how-
ever, that the female always appropriated to her own \ise the morsels thus obtained.

" For some days they refused to eat anything but huhu ; but by degrees they yielded to a change
of food, and at length would eat cooked potato, boiled rice, and i-aw meat minced up in small pieces.
They were kept supplied with a dish of fresh water, but seldom washed themselves, although often
rei)airing to the vessel to drink. Their ordinary call was a soft and clear whistle, at first prolonged,
then short and quickly repeated, both birds joining in it. When excited or hungry, they raised
their whistling note to a high pitch ; at other times it was softly modulated, with variations, or

NATURAL SIS WHY.

changed into a low chuckling note,
exactly as almost to defy detection.'

Sometimes their cry resembled the whining of young puppies so

SECOND SUB-FAMILY OF THE CROAVS.— THE CHOUGHS {Frefjilvue).
In this sub-family, which contains only a few si^ecies, the bill is long and gently curved, and the
nostrils are placed low down in the upper mandible. They are hidden by a dense tuft of bristles. In

i k

Cornish " Chough, the same speci

the sub-family is represented by the Red-billed
which is alluded to in the old English glee —

"The Chough and Crow to roost are gone."

In Cornwall and the south-west of England the bird is no longer very plentiful, but is found on the
rocky coasts of parts of Wales, the Hebrides, <fec. In the mountains of Switzerland and Southern
Europe the Alpine Chough {Pyrrhocorax alpinus) occurs, ranging as far as the Himalayas, and in
Australia the sub-famUy is represented by the White-winged Chough (Corcorax inelanorhamphus).
A word, too, must be said about the curious Desert Choughs (Podoces), which inhabit Central Asia,
where they are found only in the dreaiy sandy wastes and deserts which stretch from Bokliara to
Eastern Tibet.

X ORDER PASSERIFORMES : PERCHING BIRDS.

CHAPTER II.

BIRDS OP PARADISE — ORIOLES DRONGOS — WOOD SHRIKES — CUCKOO SHRIKES — FLYCATCHERS.

THE BIRDS OF PARADISE -Variety of Plum.ige— Gaudily dressed Crows— Points in wliioli they differ from the Crows-
Two Sub-families-Mr. Wallace's Account of their Habits— Their History- The Great Bird of Paradise— The SnuiUer
Bu-d of Paradise— Dr. Beccari on the Birds of Paradise of the Arfaks— THE ORIOLES- -The Golden Okioi.e—
Mr. Dresser's Description of its Habits— Size and Colour -THE DRONGOS— Distinctive Features— The Marquis of
Tweeddale's Definition of the Family— THE WOOD SHRIKES- Mr. Gould's Account of the Pied Grallina— The
Common Wood Shrike— THE CUCKOO SHRIKES— Habitat— Appearance— Mr. Gould on the Black-faced Cuckoo
Shrike— Dr. Jerdon on the Common Indian Species— THE FLYCATCHERS- Ch.aracters— The Common Fly-
catcher—Habits— The Fantails— Mr. Gould's Account of the White-shafted Fantail and the Black Fantail— The
Paradise Flvcatcrers— The Restless Flycatcher.

THE SECOND FAMILY OF THRIT8H-LIKE PERCHING BIRDS.
THE BIRDS OF PARADISE {Pnr,„lisiiii<c).
With the exception of the Humming-birds, there is no family which embraces so many peculiar
and fantastically decorated forms a-s that of the Birds of Paradise. Every variety of plumage is met
with in them, some having extraordinary plii.mes on the head, others being adorned with breast-
shields, while many have the liank feathers produced to an inoi-dinate length, so as even to
hide the tail-feathers in some of the species. Strip them of their gorgeous plumage, and their tiiie
affinities become at once apparent, and they .stand confessed as being nothing more than gaudily dressed
Crows. Some of the Bu'ds of Paradise — such as the Manucodes {Manucodia), or the Brown Birds of
Paradise {Lycocorax) — exhibit even a Corvine appearance in their plumage, the latter birds being of a
plain brown and black colour; but the whole family differ from the true Crows in the proportions of
their feet, the outer toe being a little shorter than the middle one and longer than the inner toe, the
hind toe, at the same time, being very large, and equalling the middle one in length. The family
may be divided into two sub-families, the first of which may be called the Sickle-billed Birds of
Paradise (Epimachince). All of these have a long curved bill, and include the Rifle Birds (I'tilorkis),
the Twelve-wired Bird of Paradise (Seleucides), and the Sickle-bills {Drepanornis and Epinuichus).
The second sub-family is that of the true Paradise Birds (Faradisiime). About thirty-four difierent
kinds are known up to the present time, and the range of the family is included in a very small
nrea : for, with the exception of the Rifle Birds and Manucodes, which are found in Australia as
well as New Guinea, all the other members of the family are inhabitants of the latter island
and the adjacent Moluccas, extending as far as the Batchian and Gilolo group. Science is indebted
to Mr. A. R. Wallace for authentic information respecting the habits of the Paradise Birds,
and the following extracts ars taken from his well-known work on the Malay Archipelago.
Writing in 1869, Mr. Wallace observes: — "As many of my journeys were made with the
express object of obtaining specimens of the Birds of Paradise, and learning' something of their
habits and distribution, and being (as far as I am aware) the only Englishman who has seen
these wonderful birds in their native forests, and obtained specimens of many of them, I propose
to give here, in a connected form, the result of my observations and inquiries. When the earliest
European voyagers reached the Moluccas in seai-ch of cloves and nutmegs, which were then rare and
precious spices, they were presented with the dried skins of birds so strange and beautiful as to excite
the admiration even of these wealth-seeking rovers. The Malay traders gave them the name of
Mnnuk deioata, or God's Birds ; and the Portuguese, finding that they had no feet or wings, and not
being able to leam anything authentic about them, called them Passaros de Sol, or Birds of the Sun ;
while the learned Dutchmen, who wrote in Latin, called them Avis paradiseus, or Paradise Birds.
John van Linschoten gives these names in 1-598, and tells us that no one has seen these birds alive,
for they live in the air, always tui-ning towards the sun, and never lighting on the earth till they die ;
for they have neither feet nor wings : as, he adds, may be seen by the birds carried to India, and
sometimes to Holland ; but being very costly, they were then rarely seen in Europe. More than a
hundred years later, Mr. William Funnel, who accompanied Darapier, and wrote an accoinit of the
voyage, saw specimens at Amboyna, and was told that they came to Banda to eat nutmegs, which
40*

22 NATUSAL HISTORY.

intoxicated them and made them fall down senseless, when they were killed by Ants. Down to 1760,
when LinniBus named the largest species Faradisea apoda (the Footless Paradise Bird), no perfect
specimen had been seen in Europe, and absolutely nothing was known about them. And even now,
a hundred years later, most books state that they migrate annually to Ternate, Banda, and Amboyna ;
whereas the ftict is that they are as completely unknown in those islands in a wild state as they are

TWELVE-WniEI) IlIRU OF PAK.\DISE.

in England. Linnseus was also acquainted with a small species, which he named Paradisea rc.(jia
(the King Bird of Paradise), and since then nine or ten others have been named, all of which were
first described from skins preserved by the savages of New Guinea, and generally more or less im-
perfect. These ai-e now all known in the Malay Archipelago as Buronr/ tnati, or dead birds, indicating
that the Malay traders never saw them alive."

"The Great Bird of Paradise (Paradisea apoda* of Linnanis) is the largest species known, being
generally seventeen or eighteen inches from the beak. to the tip of the tail. The body, wings, and tail
are of a rich coflee bi'own, which deej>ens on the breast to a blackish-violet or purple brown. The

* Apoda, without feet.

THE minis or paradise. 23

whole top of till' liead ami neck is of :in pxceetliugly delicate straw yellow, the feathers being short and
close set, so as to resemble plush or velvet ; the lower part of the throat up to tlie eye is clothed with
scaly feathers of an emerald green colour, and with a rich metallic gloss, and velvety plumes of a still
deeper green extend in a band across the forehead and chin as far as the eye, whicli is bright yellow.
The beak is pale lead blue ; and the feet, which are ratlier large and very strong and well formed, are
of a pale ashy pink. The two middle feathers of the tail have no webs, except a very small one at the
base and at the extreme tip, forming wire-like cirrhi, which spread out in an elegant double curve, and
vary from twenty-four to thirty-four inches long. From each side of the body, beneath the wings,
si)rings a dense tuft of long and delicate plumes, sometimes two feet in length, of the most intense
golden orange coloui', and very glossy, but changing towards the tips into a pale brown. This tuft of
plunuige can be elevated and spread out at pleasure, so as almost to conceal the body of the bird. These
splendid ornaments are entirely confined to the male sex, while the female is really a very plain and
ordinary-looking bird of an uniform coftee bro\vn colour, which never changes ; neither does she possess
the long tail wires, nor a single yellow or green feather about the head. The young males of the first
year exactly resemble the females, so that they can only be distinguished by dissection. The first change
is the acquisition of the yellow and green colour on the head and throat, and at the same time the two
middle tail-feathers grow a few inches longer than the rest, but remain webbed on both sides. At a
later period these feathers are replaced by the long bare shafts of the full length, as in the adult bird ;
but there is still no sign of the magnificent oiunge side plumes which, later still, complete tlie attire
of the perfect male. To effect these changes there must be at least three succcssiv e moultings ; and as
the birds were found by me in all the stages about the same time, it is proljable tliat they moult only
once a year, and that the full plumage is not acquired till the bird is four years old. It was long
thought that the fine train of feathers was assumed for a short time only at the breeding season, but
my own experience, as well as the observation of birds of an allied species which I brought home with
me to England, and which lived for two years, show that the complete plumage is retained duriut; the
whole year, except during a short period of moulting, as with most other birds. The Great Bird of
Paradise is very active and vigorous, and seems to be in constant motion all day long. It is very
abundant, small flocks of females and young males being constantly met with ; and though the full-
plumaged birds are less plentiful, their loud cries, which aie heard daily, show that they also are \ery
numerous. Their note is, ' Waii/c-waidc-wauk-ivdk-touk-in'i/,.' and is so loud and shrill as to be heard
at a great distance, and to form a most prominent and eliaract.i istic unimal sound in the Aru Islands.
The mode of nidification is unknown ; but the natives told me that tlie nest was formed of leaves
placed on an ant's nest, or on some iirdjccting limlj of a M-ry lofty tni-, and tlicy believe that it contains
onlv one young bird. The egg is iniitc iiuknown, and tln' iiati\-rs ilcilaivd they had never seen it ;
and a very high reward offered for one l.iy a ihitdi otiieial did not meet with success. They moult about
January or February, and in May, when tlicy arc in full plumaye, the males assembling early in the
morning to exhibit themselves in the sini;ulai- inannor already deserilifd. This habit enables the natives
to obtain specimens witli eoniparativc case. As sucjii as they tiiid that tln' birds have fixed upon a tree
on which to assemble, they Imild a little slirltcr of jiubn leaves in a ccmvenient place among the
branches, and the hunter ensconces himself in it liefore daylight, armed with his bow and a number of
arrows terminating in a round knot. A boy waits at the foot of the tree, and when the birds come at
sunrise, and a suflicient number have assembled and have begun to dance, the hunter shoots with Ids
blunt arrow so strongly as to stun the bird, which drops down, and is secured and killed by the boy
without its plumage being injured by a drop of blood. The rest take no notice, and fall one after
another till some of them take the alarm."

Speaking of the smaller Bird of Paradise (Paradisea paptiami), Mr. Wallace says : — " The true
Paradise Birds are omnivorous, feeding on fruits and insects — of the former preferring the small figs ;
of the latter, grasshoppers, locusts, and phasnias, as well as cockroaches and caterpillars. When I
returned home, in Isc.l'. I was so loitimate as to find two adult males of this species in Singapore;
and as they seemed liealtliy, ami led \(uaciously on rice, bananas, and cockroaches, I determined on
giving the very high price asked for them — £100 — and to bring tliem to England by the overland
route under my own care. On my way home I stayed a week at Bombay, to break che journey and
to lay in a fresh stock of bananas for my birds. 1 had great difficulty, however, in supplying them with

NATURAL EISTOMT.

insect food, for in Peninsu-
lar and Oriental steamers

cockroaches were scarce,

and it was only by setting

traps in the store-rooms, and

by hunting an hour every

night in the forecastle, that

I could secure a few dozens

of these creatures, scarcely

enough for a single meal.

At Malta, where I stayed a

fortnight, I got plenty of

cockroaches from a bake-
house, and when I left took

with me several biscuit-tins

full as provision for the
voyage home. We came
through the Mediterranean
in March, with a very cold
wind ; and the only place

on board the mail-steamer where their large cage
could be accommodated was exposed to a strong
current of air down a hatchway, which stood open
day and night : yet the birds never seemed to feel
the cold. During the night journey from Marseilles
to Paris it was a sharp frost ; yet they ai-rived in
London in perfect health, and lived in the Zoological
Gardens for one and two years, often displaying
their beautiful plumes to the admiration of the
spectators. It is evident, therefore, that
Paradise Birds are very hardy, and require air and
exercise rather than heat : and I feel sure that if a
good-sized conservatory could be devoted to them, or
if they could be turned loose in the Tropical Depart-
ment of the Crystal Palace or the Great Palm House
at Kew, they would live in this country for many
years."

After Mr. Wallace's return to Europe, the
Dutch Government, stimulated by the successful
result of his travels made in their East Indian pos-
sessions, despatched thither several excellent collec-
tors, whose names are now household words to the
ornithologist : such as Bernstein, Von Rosenberg,
and Van Muschenbroek ; whilst within the last few
years the expeditions of Dr. A. B. Meyer, and of the
Italian traveller's D'Albertis and Beccari, have sue-
ceedetl in making us acquainted with many species
which Mr. Wallace was unable to procure, as well
as in obtaining some new species of these wonderful
birds. Dr. Beccari spent some time on the Arfak
Mountains in North-western New Guinea, and he
has written a long account of the ornithology of thait
wonderful region. From this essay

few sentences

OORGETED BIRD OP PAHAUISE.

TEE GOLDEN ORIOLE. 25

are quoted, as they convpy a very good idea of tlie charms which the traveller in New Guinea
exijeriences on meeting the Birds of Paiudise in a state of nature. " The Arfaks call the Grorgeted Bird
of Paradise (Astrapia gukvris) ' Haroma,' and the adult of the Great Bird of Paradise ' Kambiloja,'
while the young ones and females are called ' Lessoa.' D'Albertis' Paradise Bird (JJrepmwmis* rdbertisi),
named after the discoverer, is well known to the Arfaks \inder the name of ' Sagroja.' It Is not very
rare, but difficult to find, because, as the hunters assure me, it has no peculiar cry, so that it is only
met with by chance. Its incon.spicuous colour also makes it difficult to see. It is partial to places
near recent clearings, from 3,000 to 5,000 feet, as it has the habit of flying to dead trees and fallen
trunks, about which it finds the insects which form its food. In the stomachs of the two specimens I
dissected I found only insects of vai-ious orders, ants predominating, and the larvae of a lepidopterous
insect. As to the Wattled Bird of Paradise {Paradiijalla carunculata), I shot one from my hut while
it was eating the small fleshy fruits of an Vrtica. It likes to sit on the tops of dead and leafless trees,
like Dumont's Grakle {Miuo duvionti). The finest ornament of this bird are its wattles, which in the
dried skin lose all their beauty. The upper ones, which are attached one on each side of the forehead,
are of a yellowish-green colour ; those at the base of the lower mandible are blue, and have a small
])atch of orange beneath. The Arfaks call the Paradigalla ' Hajipoa.' Of the Six-plumed Bird of
Paradise (Faroimf sexpenma) I got one adult male alive, but it lived only three days. Its eye, with the
iris azure, surrounded by a yellow ring, is extremely beautiful. The six feathers which ornament
the head are not raised up vertically, but moved backwai-ds and forwai-ds in a horizontal and oblique
direction, and are moved forwai'd parallel to the sides of the beak. It is the commonest Paradise Bird
on Mount Aifak ; but, as usual, the adult males are much scarcer than the females and young males."
" The superb Bird of Paradise is rather rarer tlian the Parotia ; but I must tell you that the abun-
dance of fruit-eating birds in a given locality dei>ends principally on the season at which certain kinds
of fruit are ripe ; therefore, a species may be common in a place one month, and become rare or
completely disappear in the next, when the season of the fruit on which it lives has passed. The
magnificent Bird of Paradise {DiphyllodesX speciosa) is also pretty common, and easy to kill when
one has learnt to know its song, •which resembles a kind of feia-teia-teia , repeated several times with
diminishing force. The sound produced by kissing the palm of the hand is a very good imitation.
When once you ha^■e heai-d the song, if you approach carefully, especially early in the morn-
ing, you will find some small spaces, about a yard and a half in diameter, clear of sticks and leaves,
where one or two males are paying court to a female. The males then erect all their feathers ; the
skin of the neck swells up like a bladder ; the head seems like the centre of an aureola, which is formed
beneath by the expanded feathers of the bi-east, and above by those of the yellow mantle, which are
carried in a perfectly vertical position and spread like a fan. I kept a bird of this species alive for
some days. It is found sometimes at a little distance from the sea on the plains, but perhaps more often
on the hills, at 1,000 to 2,000 feet of elevation, prefen-ing open spaces and the vicinity of streams."

THE THIRD FAMILY OF THRTJSH-LIKE PERCHING BIRDS.
THE ORIOLES [Orioliidm).

Tlie Orioles are generally of a bright yellow colour, with black wings, which contrast with and
contrive to show oft' the golden tints of the plumage to the best advantage. They ai-e all inhabitants
of the Old World, and must not be mistaken for the Hang-nests of America {Icteridm), which often go
by the popular name of Orioles also. The best known species of the family is

THE GOLDEN ORIOLE {Oriolus galbnla).^

This species is a rare visitor to England, but many instances of its occurrence have been
recorded, and on one or two occasions it has been said to breed in Britain. It is found throughout
Central and Southern Europe in summer, but does not extend very far north, and departs in winter
to South Afiica, where it is found in the Cape Colony, and occurs also in certain ])laces on the east
coast also. It is very common in Persia during the .summer, and ranges eastwards to Central Asia.

* apeirinj, a sickle ; upx.t, a bird. f iropMn't, a curl by the ear. J 6.*vAAo!, two-leaved. § galbus, yellow.

XATCRAL llIsTdnV.

Oue of the best accounts of the Golden Oriole is that given by Mr. Dresser in the " Birds of
Europe," as it is a bird with which he was personally well acquainted. He observes, " The Golden
Oriole is a shy and unobtrusive bird ; and, in spite of its gaudy coloration, it is by no means a
conspicuous or easily observed species. It ati'ects ever!j;reen groves and woods, whei-e it keej>s to the
dense foliage, and appears to be a restless, iiinasy Imd, continually nioviiig fioiii j)lace to i)lace.
When ill Finland, now nearly twenty years a-c, 1 had very ample oppoi-tuuitifs of observing this
species, for a pair bred in a garden, and were generally to be found in the high trees of a tine old
avenue in front of the windows of the house in which I was living, and the clear bold whistle of the
male and his mewing call could generally be heard. In spite of their being unmolested, they were
shy, and used to hide amongst the dense foliage of the tree-to)5.s, seldom descending into the bushes,

'i

,.'1

EN ORIOLE,

and were usually observed flying from one grove to another. I noticed that the flight was rolling and
heavy, but swift ; and they appeared to avoid taking long flights. I have since then seen the Golden
Oiiole in many countries, and have always found it a shy bird, diflicult to observe or to approach.
During the pairing season they may be observed chasing each other from grove to grove ; and at that
season especially it is a quarrelsome bird, not only as regards its own species, but it will chase away
other birds that api)roach its chosen haunts. For any one who can closely imitate its note, it is no
difficult matter to approach within a short distance of it, or rather, to entice it within range. Amongst
the German foresters I have found many who can immediately entice an Oriole ; but the bird has so
good an ear that, although it will at tirst answer the call, it soon discox'ers the trifk ]ilayed on it,
should a single note be false, and it is then hopeless to try and a]i])roach it. I can call this species
tolerably well ; but an old Oriole will generally tind me out before he gets within range. Mr. Carl
Sachse, however, is an adept at calling an Oriole ; and I have been with him when he has enticed one
within a few yards of the place where we were concealed. On one occasion he got three Orioles within
range at the same time, which, considering the general wariness of tliis biid. is a tolerably good proof
of his powers of mimicry. The note of the Oriole is a clear loud \\ liistlc, \aried somewhat so as to
resemble tiie syllables huldleo, /lui/idleo, /luldleo, so clearly is the tone given. From its note many

THE KIXU VUinrS. Ti

of its local naiues, such. as Voijel BCdoic, Schu'i ccm Bdloiv in Germany, and KnhankelUaja, as it is
usually called by the Finnish pejisants, are derived. Besides its clear whistle, it lias a peculiar harsh
raewing call-note ; and its note of alarm is a harsh chin: During the pairing season it utters what is
apparently a note of affection, resembling the syllable hio, by mimicking which, together with its
whistle, it can generally be enticed within range. Mr. Carl Sachse sends me the following note on its
habits, as observed by him in Rhenish Prussia, viz: — 'With us it inhabits the groves where
there are small ravines through which water Hows, especially beech and oak groves, and where the
undergrowth is dense. It ari-ives at rather irregular times, according to the season. It arrived earliest
in 18G3 and 186-5, in both of which years it was seen as early as the 18th of A[)ril ; whereas
in 1 875 the first was seen on the 5th of May. About the middle of August, or from then to the
early part of September, it leaves us again; and, as may be almost taken for granted, it raises
only one brood in the season. It is a wild, restless, quarrelsome bird ; iu the pairing season bitter
encounters take place, and I have seen four or five together fighting in the air. Long before sun-
rise its clear flute-like note may be heard ; but during the daytime it whistles less frequently.
It ranges over a considerable tract ; and hence its nest is hard to find, except when it breeds in
the gardens. It may be enticed, by imitating its note, to within a few yards' distance, but is hard
to shoot, for it hops from twig to twig in the dense foliage, uttering its song in a low tone.
Usually a male and a female arrive together ; sometimes, however, three or four individuals ; and
then they immediately commence quarrelling.' The food of the present species is varied according
to the season of the year, but it is chiefly insectivorous when insect food is to be had, and more
e.specially so in the spring, before any fruit is rijie. It devours all sorts of insects that inhabit the
woodlands, but is especially fond of the large green caterpillars which are found on the leaves of the
trees. It also feeds lai-gely on berries and fruit when in season, but is not more destructive in a
garden than many other birds, and amply repays any mischief it may do by the number of noxious
insects it kills. It is most partial to cheiries of all garden fruits, but will also feed on currants,
and especially on mulberries. Mr. Sachse informs me that it often does much damage amongst
the cheiries ; and when it has once or twice visited a cherry-tree, and finds the fruit to its liking,
it may be shot, whilst feeding there, without much difficulty."

The Golden Oriole is about nine inches in length, and is of a rich golden yellow colour, with
black wings and tail ; the primary coverts and the secondaries tipped with yellow, while all the
tail-feathei's have a broad yellow ending, which increases in extent on the outer feathers ; between
the nostril and the eye is a black sjwt , the bill is dull reddish, the feet leaden grey, and the
iiis blood red. The female when quite adult is like the male, but not quite so brilliantly yellow,
the black being slightly shaded with greenish ; the young birds are whitish beneath, with dusky
streaks.

THE FOURTH FAMILY OF THRUSH-LIKE PERCHING BIRDS.
THE DROXGOS [TJicruridce).*
Although showing in some of their charactei-s a certain affinity with the Orioles, the King Crows,
or Drongos, as they are also calleil, are not far nino\-eil from the Flycatchers {Muscicapida), which
they resemble, especially in having the nostiils entirely liidden by bristles. They differ, however,
from all the Shrikes and Flycatchers in having only ten tail-feathers; and perhaps no better definition of
the family could be found than that given by the Marquis of Tweeddale.f "The Dicrurid*,"
he says, " constitute a natural, self-contained, sharply-defined family, which has its members ranging
throughout the Ethiopian and Indian regions and the Austro-Papuan, including the :Moluccas. One,
and only one, appears to be migratoiy, Buchanrja Uucogewjs, which reaches Japan in the summer
months. As indicated by the form of the beak, the presence of strong rictal bristles, the short tarsus,
short toes, and anchylosed first phalanges of the outer and middle toes, the Dicruri are Muscicaiiine in
their affinities ; and this relationship is unmistakably exhibited in their habits. All the species of
which the ways have been recorded have the habit of descending from their perches to catch insects
on the wing, and then immediately returning to the same or some adjoining i)lace of rest. Some
species — such as members of the genera Bhringa, Ckaptia, Dissenmrus, and several of the genus

* iU,,^a,. forked ; ^.'.pd, a tail. t I^is, 1S78, p. G9.

2S NATURAL HISTORY.

Buchmu/a — never descend to the ground, but capture their pre}' entii-ely on the wing. Edolius
forficatus, according to. Pollen (' Faune de Madagascar '), has similar habits. Those species that
do descend to tlie ground, such as Buchanga atra, do so to seize their food, and remain only for a
short time. This last-named species has the useful habit, where there are extensive plains of long
diy grasses without suitable ti-ees or bushes, of sitting on the backs of antelopes, sheep, cattle, &c.,
using them as beatei-s, and catching on the wing the insects disturbed by the feet of the grazing
animals. The feet in all the Dicruri are essentially constructed for grasping, by which, together with
the lengthened tail, walking is rendered difficult, if not altogether impossible. During a seven years'
residence in India, I never once observed the common King Crow (Buchanga atra) move along the
gi-ound ; and it is the most widely-spread and least specialised of all the Asiatic species. The flight
of all is short, but rapid while it lasts."

r^

fmf^

PIKl) CiUALLI.N

THE FIFTH FAMILY OF THRUSH-LIKE rEKCIlIXC HIKDS.
THE WOOD SHRIKES {Prioiiopidir).
Tliese form a small group of birds whose affinities are not very easy to determine. In many cases
the appearance and habits of the species are very nuvoh like those of tlie Flycatchers, but they
all possess the chin-angle, reaching in front of the nostrils, to which allusion has already been
made.* Tlie members of this family are of somewhat varied form, and are found in Africa,
India, Indo-Malayan regions, and Australia. One of the most remarkable of the Wood Shrikes is
the Pied Grallina {GraUina picata) of Austi-alia, which Mr. Gould places between the Crow Shrikes
{Gractmis)\ and the Cuckoo Shi-ikes (Graumlns) : it is known by the names of Magpie Lark and
Little Magpie to the Australian colonists, and is described by Mr. Gould in the following manner : —
"Few of the Australian birds are more attractive or more elegant and graceful in their actions,
and these, comlnned with its tame and familiar disposition, must ever obtain for it the friendship
and piotection of the settlers, whose verandahs and housetops it constantly visits, running
along the latter like the Pied Wagtail of our own England. Gilbert states that in Western
Australia he observed it congi-egated in large families on the banks and muddy flats of the
lakes around Perth, while in the interior he met with it only in pairs, or at most in small
gi-oups of not more than four or five together. He further observes that at Port Essington,
on the north coast, it would seem to be only an occasional visitant, for on his arrival there in

TUE tVMMuy U'UUll SUlilKE. 29-

July it was tolerably abundant round the lakes and swain]Ks, but from the setting in of the
rainy season in November to his leaving tliat part of the country in the following March, not
an inilividual was to be seen ; it is evident, therefore, that the bird i-emoves from one locality to
another accordmg to the season and the more or less abundance of its peculiar food. I believe
it feeds solely upon insects and their larvss, particularly Grasshoppers and Coleoptera. The flight
of the Pied Orallina is very i)eculiar, unlike that of any other Australian bird that came under
my notice, and is jierformed in a straiglit line, with a heavy flapping motion of the wings. Its
natural note is a peculiarly shrill whining whistle, often repe^ited. It breeds iu October and No-
vember. The nest is from five to six inches in breadth and three in depth, and is formed of soft
mud, which, soon becoming hard and solid upon exposure to tii« atmosjAere, has pi-ecisely the
appearance of a massive clay-coloured earthenware vessel ; and, as if to attract notice, this singular
structure is generally placed on some bare horizontal branch, often on the one most exjwsed to view,
sometimes overhanging water and at others in the open forest. The colour of the nest varies with
that of the material of which it is formed. Sometimes the clay or mud is sufficiently tenacious
to be used without any other material. In those situations where no mud or clay is to be obtained
it is constructed of black or browni mould ; but the bird, appearing to be aware that this substance
will not hold together for want of the adhesive quality of the clay, mixes with jt a great quantity of
dried gi-ass, stalks, <fec., and thus forms a firm and hard exterior, the in.side of which is slightly Imed
with dried grass and a few feathers. The eggs ditier considerably in colour and shape, some being
extremely lengthened, while othei-s bear a relative proportion. The ground colour of some is a
beautiful pearl white, of others a very pale bufi"; their markiugs also difler considerably in form and
disposition, being in some instances wholly confined to the larger enil, in others distributed over the
whole of the surface, but always inclined to form a zone at the larger end. In some these markings
are of a deep chestnut red, in others light red, intermingled with large clouded spots of gi'ey, appearing
, as if beneath the surface of the shell. Tlie eggs are generally four, but sometimes only two in number;
their average length is one inch and three lines, and their breadth nine lines."

One of the best known forms belonging to this family is the genus Tephrodomis.* which contains
some half-a-dozen species, inhabitants of India and the Indo-Chinese countries, ranging down the
Malayan Peninsula to the Sunda Islands. According to Dr. Jerdon, they go about in small flocks,
wliich frequent thin jungle-groves, gardens, and even hedgerows, generally ranging from tree to tree,
and most carefully hunting the branches for insects, chiefly Coleoptera and Orthoptera. The
Common Wood Shrike {T. pomlicerianus) has a mellow whistling note, and is said to be occasionally
caged for its song. In Australia the Wood Shrikes are strongly represented by the genus
CollyrincincJu, of which Mr. Gould writes that " they are neither Shrikes nor Thrushes, but most
nearly allied to the former, feeding on insects to a very great extent, but occasionally jtartaking
of molluscs and berries. Some of them defend themselves vigorously when attacked. Tlie nest is
rather sliglitly built, cup-shaped in form, and is mostly placed in the hollow spout of a tree ; the
eggs are four in number." In Africa there are also several kinds of Wood Shrikes, the most
peculiar being the Helmeted Wood Shrikes {Prio>iops).f Of P. talaeoma, which is known as
Smith's Helmet Shrike, Mr. C. J. Andersson gives the following note, in his "Bii-ds of Damara
Land": — "It is always seen in flocks of from half-a-dozen to a dozen individuals, which frequent
secluded spots, where they restlessly hop from branch to branch on the bushes and the lower boughs of
the trees, never remaining long on the same tree, but hunting most systematically for insects, which, with
the occasional addition of young shoots and leaves, form their food. Whilst .some individuals of the
flock are examinmg a tree in search of insects, others keep moving slowly on, but rarely going fartheY
than the next tree. Wlien the locality is open, those which first, reach a tree fix their gaze intently
on the ground, and if any prey be in sight, pounce upon it with great celerity, their companions,
whilst the successful preyers are devouring their booty, continuing to move on slowly as before." Of
Retzius' Helmet Shrike, which is also found in Damara Land, the same obsen-er remarks : — " When
encamjjed in the desert, a few days' journey south of the Okavango, I for the fii'st and only time
observed this fine Shrike. Tl»e flock consisted of six individuals — an adult male and female, and four
young birds of both sexes — all of which I secured after much ranning and dodging, as they were-
* Te<f.pw6T)?, ash-coloured ; opj't?, a bird. f irpitavy a saw ; (ii/«, a face.

NATURAL IIISTURY.

exceedingly -.vary iuid watchful, always perching on tlie loftiest and most exposed trees : in which
resj)ect they differed from the preceding species, thongh they resembled it in the manner in winch
they were feeding when I first saw them."

GROUP II.— CICHLOMOEPH.E, THRUSH-LIKE PASSERES.

THE SIXTH FAMILY OF THRUSH-LIKE PERCHING BIRDS.

THE CUCKOO SHRIKES (Campophagidit-).*

These birds are also known by the name of Caterpillar-catchers and Minivets, and are entirely
peculiar to tlie Old World, bnt do not occur in the Palsearctic region : that is to say, they are absent
from Europe and Northern Asia ; one species only, the Grey Minivet (Pericrocotug + cinereus), extend-
ing its range into the country of the Amoor in the eastern part of this region. In appearance these
birds have much in common with the Shrikes, or rather, with th« Wood Shrikes of the preceding pages ;
the bill, however, is always rather depressed or flattened, showing an approach to the true Flycatchers,
but they are easily recognisable by the stiffened sliafts of the rump-feathers, which gives this part a prickly
feeling when the thumb is gently pressed directly on to the feathers of the lower back and rump. Very
little has been recorded of the habits of the African or Indian species ; but ]Mr. Gould has given a very
interesting account of the Australian Cuckoo Slu-ikes. This continent, and the neighbouiing islands of
the Malay Archipelago, possess a large number of species ; and of one of the largest, the Black-faced
Cuckoo Shrike (Grcmcahis melanops), Mr. Gould wi-ites as follows : — " It is a very common bird
in New South Wales, but is far less numerous in winter than in summer, when it is so generally
dispersed over the colony that to particularise situations in which it may be found is quite nn-
necessa-^y : liills of moderate elevation, flats, and plains thinly covered with large trees, being alike
resorted to ; but I do not recollect meeting with it in the midst of the thick bushes — situations
which, probably, are uncongenial to its habits and mode of life. It is very aliundantly dispersed
over the plains of the interior, such as the Liverpool and tho.se which sti.t. li ;i\vay to the muth-
ward and eastward of New South Wales. Its flight is undulating aivl powiiful, but is seldom
exerted for any other puiiiose than that of conveying it from one part of the forest to another,
or to sally forth in pursuit of an insect which may pass within range of its vision while perched
upon some dead branch of a high tree, a habit common to this bird and other members of the
genus. On such an elevated perch it sometimes remains for hours together, but during the heat
of the day .-seeks shelter from the rays of the sun by shi'ouding its?lf amidst the dense foliage of

* Kafxjrq, a Caterpillar ; fftayfli', to eat. t irept, round about ; kpokwto?, satfron-coloured.

THE ro.V.yi/y FLVrATCIIER. 31

tlie ti-pes. Its fooil consists of insects :ind their \avvx and benies, but the foi-mer appear to i>e
preferred, all kinds being acceptable, I'roiu the large Mantis to others of a minute size. It breeds
HI October and the three following months. The nest is often of a triangular form, in consequence
of its being made to fit the angle of the foi-k of the horizontal branch in which it is placed. It
is entirely composed of small dead twigs, fii-mly matted together with a very tine, white, downy
substance, like cobwebs, and a species of lichen, giving the nest the same appearance as the branch
upon which it is placed, and rendering it most difficult of detection. In some instances I have
found the nest ornamented with the broad, white, mouse-eared lichen. It is exti-emely shallow in form,
its depth and breadth depending entirely upon that of the fork in which it is built ; the largest I have
seen did not exceed six inches in diameter. Its note, which is seldom uttered, is a peculiar single
j)urring or jarring sound, repeated several times in succession."

In Africa the Grey Cuckoo Shrikes, such as that wliich has been described by Mr. Gould above,
are only rej)resented by two species, but the last-named continent possesses some peculiar metallic-
plumaged birds, known as the Metallic Cuckoo Shrikes (Campojyhaga). These are rej)laced in the
Himalayas and throughout the Tndo-Malayan region by some duller-coloured species, whose prevailing
tints are iron-grey. Of the common Indian species (C. luyxbris) Dr. Jerdon writes : — " It is seen
solitaiy or in small parties, frecpienting high trees, the foliage of which it diligently searches for various
insects. I have found catei-pillars chiefly, also other soft insects, as well as bugs and beetles, but
never berries, wliich Hodgson says it frequently eats. He also asserts that it freely descends to the
ground to eat, which I certainly have never witnessed It is a silent bird in general, but Hutton says
it has a plaintive note, which it repeatedly utters while searching through a tree for insects. The
same naturalist found its nest in the fork of a tree high up ; it was small, shallow, made of grey
lichens, roots, &c., and plastered over with cobwebs. The eggs were two, dull grey-green, with close
streaks of a du.sky brown." The Minivets belonging to the genus Pericrocotus are, with the exception
of the Grey Minivet alluded to above, distributed over India, the Indo-Chinese countries, and the
Malayan region. They are very different in appearance from the sober-plumaged Cuckoo Shrikes,
the prevailing colours being black and scarlet, the latter being of such a dazzling hue as to render it
painful to the eyes to examine them for long. The habits of these birds resemble those of the Campo-

Kjce.

THE SEVENTH FA3IILY OF THEUSH-LIKE PERCHIXG BIRDS.
THE FLYCATCHERS (Muscicapid<f) .
Anv student following the descriptions of the last few families of birds with specimens in his
hand would not have failed to notice that the bills were becoming more and more flattened, and that
bristles were becoming a more marked feature of the basal portion of the bill. This latter character
is the one by which a Flycatcher is generally recognised. The Scansorial Barbets, or Gapitonidm, were
\ery remarkable in this respect, but can be distinguished from Flycatchers in an instant by their
zygodactyle foot. The Flycatchers are a very numerous family, comprising nearly three hundred
species, all of very varied aspect but of very similar habits. Some of them resemble Shrikes ; others,
again, might be mistaken for Warljlers ; but a genuine Flycatcher is always to be told by the character
of his bill mentioned above.

THE COMMON FLYC.\TCHER {}riiseieapa grisola).*
About the time when the Cuckoo visits England a little brown bird also makes his appearance,
coming, like the Cuckoo, from Africa, and departing again in the autumn, after having reared his
young ones. This is the Common Flycatcher, who must be a familiar object to every dweller in the
country, as he sits on the bare branch of a tree or on the rail of an iron fence, uttering his monotonous
chirp, and flying without cessation after the passing insects, which he captures with unerring dexterity.
and then again resumes his post of observation. As the Flycatcher feeds solely upon insect i)rey, it
is a very useful little bird, and escapes the censure which is hurled at some of its less inoffensive
relations ; it is stated occasionally to feed on berries. It would appear to eject pellets formed of the
hard portions of the insects it devours; and Mr. Bartlett, the Superintendent of the Zoological
* Musca, a fly ; capio, I catch ; (jriseus, grey.

32 NATURAL HISTOIiT.

Gardens in the Regent's Park, wliere the Common Flycatcher sometimes takes up its abode in
summer, informed the writer that on one occasion he found tlie ground strewn with httle blue pellets,
which, on being examined, turned out to be the hard shells of the bodies of bluebottle flies, which had
formed a large portion of the food of these birds. The nest is generally placed against a wall, or the
trellis-work on a verandah, or on the side of a house, the last being a very favourite situation. The
birds are very tame in their nature, and the female will often sit close while the nest is being
inspected. When the young have flown, both parents labour to supply them with food ; and the
nestlings may often be seen perched in a row, and taking ' food in turn from the old ones. As they
get older they will follow their parents about the trees ; and it is at this time of year particulai-ly that
the Flycatchers somewhat abandon their habit of catching insects on the wing, and search for their
food under the leaves of the trees. The Common Flycatcher is about five inclies and a half in length ;
the wing three inches and a quarter ; the general colour is dark brown, with lighter brown marks in
the middle of each feather ; the forehead hoaiy ; the wings and tail darker brown, with pale margins
to the secondaries and wing-coverts ; the under surface of the body is white, with streaks of brown on
the throat, breast, and flanks ; the upper brea.st being washed with light brown, the flanks tinged with
yellowish-brown, and the under wing-coverts and axillaries pale fawn colour.

Other species of true Flycatcher, veiy similar to the English bird, are found in Africa and in
Eastern Asia ; and like M. grisola, the Chinese Flycatcher is migratory, proceeding in winter to the
Philippine Islands, and even to some of the Moluccas.

THE FANTAILS [Rhipidura)."
All the Fantails are remarkable for a very broad and wide-spreading tail, which spreads out like
a fan when the bird is in motion. Commencing in India, the range of the genus extends through the
Indo-Chinese countries, all over the Malayan Peninsula and the Malayan Archipelago, to Australia,
and even to Oceania. The number of species is very large, and it is especiallj' represented in the
Malay Archipelago, where every little island or grou]) of islands po.ssesses a peculiar species. Mr.
Gould gives an accountt of the White-shafted Fantail {Rhipidura albiscapa) in Australia: — "In
Tasmania I have seen the White-shafted Fantail, in the depth of winter, in the gullies on the sunny
sides of Mount Wellington ; and it is my opinion that it only retires at this season to such localities as
are sheltered from the bleak south-westerly winds which then so generally prevail, and where insects
are still to be found. The bird is also subject to the same law on the continent of Australia ; but as
the temperature of that country is more equable its effects are not so decided. And in support of this
opinion, I may adduce the remark of Caley, who says : ' This species is very common aliout Paramatta,
and I do not recollect having missed it at any period of the year.' It is generally found in pairs, but
I have occasionally seen as many as four or five together. It inhabits alike the topmost Iwanches of
the highest trees, those of a more moderate growth, and the shrouded and gloomy foliaged dells in the
neighbourhood of rivulets. From those retreats it darts out a short distance to capture insects, and in
most instances returns to the same branch it had left. While in xhe ah- it often assumes a number of
lively and beautiful positions, at one moment mounting almost perpendicularly, constantly spreading
o\it its tail to the full extent, and frequently tumbling completely over in the descent ; at another it
may be seen flitting through the branches, and seeking for insects among the flowers and leaves,
repeatedly uttering a sweet twittering song. This Fantail is rather a late breeder, scarcely ever com-
mencing before October, during which and the three following months it rears two and often three
broods. Its elegant little nest, closely resembling a wineglass in .shape, is woven together with ex-
quisite skill, and is generally composed of the inner bark of a species of £i(ral;/j>l)itt, ne;itly lined with
the down of the tree-fern intermingled with flowering stalks of moss, and outwanlly matted together
with the webs of spiders, which not only serve to envelop the nest, but are also employed to
strengthen its attachment to the branch on which it is constructed. The situation of the nest is much
varied. I have observed it in the midst of dense brushes, in the more open forest, and placed on a
branch overhanging a mountain ri\-ulet, but at all times within a few feet of the ground. In its dis-
position this little bird is one of the tamest imaginable, allowing of a near appi-oach without evincing
the slightest timidity, and will even enter the houses of persons resident in the bush in pursuit of
* piiris, a fan; oipi, a tail. t "Handbook to the Birds of Australia,'' Vol. I., p 238.

PARADlSi: FI.VC ATIHKKS.

34 NATURAL SJSTOJtT.

gnats and other insects. During the Ijreeding season, however, it exhibits extreme anxiety at the
sight of an intruder in the vicinity of its nest." Of the Black Fantail, or Wagtail Flycatcher of the
colonists, the same author writes : — " With the exception of Tasmania, this bird has been found in
every part of South Australia yet visited by Europeans. At the same time that it is one of the most
widely diffused, it Ls also one of the most* tame and familiar of the Australian birds, and consequently
a general favourite. It is constantly about the houses, gardens, and stock-yaixls of the settlers, often
running along the banks and clo.se to the noses of the cattle, in order to seciu-e the insects which are
roused and attracted by the heat from their nostrils, along the roofs of the buildings, the tops of
palings, gates, &c., constructing its pretty nest beneath the verandah, and even entering the rooms to
capture its insect prey. It passes much of its time on the ground, over which it runs and darts with
the utmost celerity ; and when skirting the stream, with tail erect and .shaking from side to side, it
presents an appeai-ance very similar to that of the Pied Wagtails. The movements of the tails of the
two birds, however, are very different, that of the European being perpendicular, while that of the
Australian is a kind of lateral swing. Its song, which consists of a few loud and shrill notes, is con-
tinually poured forth thioughout the entire night, especially if it be moonlight. Its flight is at times
gi-acefully undulating, at others it consists of a series of sudden zigzag starts, but is always of very
short duration. It never poises itself in the air, like the Sisura inquieta, and never mounts higher
than the tops of the trees."

THE PARADISE FLYCATCHERS {Terjtsiphone).

Like the Fantails, these Flycatchers have a very flat bill, which is bowed outwards, and
then curves in towards the tip ; and in these two genera and a few allied ones are witnessed the
most exaggerated forms of a Flycatcher's bOl. The Paradise Flycatchers have beautiful long tails,
and the plumage in the adult males is generally pure white, while that of the females is chestnut.
It takes some considerable time before the full white j^lumage is attained, and thus specimens in
half plumage are extremely common in collections, as the males commence their life with a red
plumage, like the female, and only gradually gain the wliite ])lumage of the adult. Dr. Jerdon
describes the habits of the Indian Paradise Flycatcher {Terpslphone* paracHsi) as follows: — "In
its habits it is restless and wanderLag, flitting continually from branch to branch and from tree
to tree. It feeds chiefly on small flies and Cicadelke, almost always capturing them on the wing,
sometimes pickirg one ofl' a leaf or bough. I never saw it descend to the ground, as mentioned by
Sykes. It is usually single or in pairs. Its flight is somewhat undulating, and it has a curious
appearance on the wing, its long tail moving in jerks. I have heawl no note, except a rather
loud, harsh, grating cry of alarm. I have never seen its nest. Layard says that it makes a neat
nest of moss and lichens, lined with hair and wool. The Cej'lon names of the bird are Fire-thief
and Cotton-thief respectively for the red and white birds. I have kept this Flycatcher alive for a
few days in a closed room, and it used to be flatting about, catching flies and mosquitoes, the whole
day. One flew on board a ship in which I was a passenger in the Bay of Bengal, between Madras
and Vizagapatam, in October, 1836, and remained three or four days in the rigging. Blyth tells
me that he has kept it for m.any months in a large aviary, where it subsisted on the flies which were
attracted by the odour of the shrimps with which various small waders and others were dailj'
supplied."

THE RESTLESS FLYCATCHER {.Slsm-of inqmeta).

It is a curious fiict that, although the Flycatchers are such a large family, the accounts of their
habits are singularly monotonous, and present very little difference in this respect. The only person
who has minutely noted the various characteristics of the different forms is Mr. Gould, and it
is perhaps on account of the greater diversity of form which is met with in Australia. This fact
must be the apology for the frequent quotations which are made in the course of this work from
his '-Handbook to the Birds of Australia." Before quitting the family it seems well to give the
habits of the Restless Flycatcher, a veiy peculiar little bird, as detailed by the celebrated naturalist
mentioned above. He writes : — " This species ranges over the whole of the southern portions of the
Austi-alian continent, and appears to be as numerous at Swan River as it is in New South Wales,
where it may be said to be universally distributed, for I observed it in every part I visited, both
* Tfpi)(is, joy; ifiuivfi, song. t o-eicu, I shake; oipa, a tail.

■IHE rUIidSUEti. 35

among tlie brushes as well as in the more open portions of the country, in all of which it is apparently
a stationary species. It is a bird possessing many peculiar and singular habits. It not only captures
its prey after the usual manner of the other Flycatchers, but it frequently sallies forth into the
open glades of the forest and the cleai'cd lands, and i)rocures it by poising itself in the air with
a remarkably quick motion of the wings, precisely after the manner of the English Kestrel
(Tinnunctdus alaudarius), every now ami then making sudden perpendicular descents to the ground
to capture any ijisect tliat may attract its notice. It is while performing these singular movements
that it produces the remarkable sound which has procured for it from the colonists of New South
Wales the appellation of ' The Grinder.' The singular habits of this species appear to have attracted
the notice of all who have paid any attention to the natural history of New South Wales. Mr.
Caley observes : — 'It is very curious in its actions. In alighting on the stump of a tree it makes
several semicircular motions, spreading out its tail at the time, and making a loud noise, something
like that caused by a razor grinder at work. I have seen it frequently alight on the ridge of my
liouse, and perform the same evolutions.' To this I may add the following account of the actions
and manners of this species, as observed by Gilbert in Western Australia : — ' This bird is found in
paii's in every variety of situation. Its general note is a loud, hai-sh cry, several times repeated
It also uttei-s a loud clear whistle ; but its most singular note is that from which it has obtained
its colonial name, and which is only emitted while the bird is in a hovering position at a few feet
from the ground. This noise so exactly resembles a grinder at work, that a person unaware of its
being produced by a bird might easily be misled. Its mode of flight is one of the most graceful and
easy imaginable. It rai-ely mounts high in flying from tree to tree, but moves horizontally, with its
tail but little spi'ead, and with a very sliglit motion of the wings. It is during this kind of flight
that it litters the harsh note above mentioned, the grinding note being only emitted during the
graceful hovering motion, the object of which appears to be to attract the notice of the insects
beneath, for it invariably terminates in the bird descending to the ground, picking up something,
flying into a tree close by, and uttering its shrill and distinct whistle.' "

CHAPTER III.

THE TRUE THRUSHES THE WARBLERS — THE B,\BBLIXG THRUSHES — THE WRENS — THE BULBULS — THE

BABBLERS — THE GRASS WARBLERS — THE AMERICAN BABBLERS — THE BUTCHER BIRDS— THE
GREEXLETS — THE TITMICE.

THE THRU.SHES— Arrangement— First Sub-family -The Thrushes Proper— Plumage of Young— Moulting of Ailults—
The True Thru-shes— Distribution— The Song Thrush— Migration— How tiie Heligolanders Catch them— Plans of
Capture in Italy- Macgillivray's Description of the Bird in the Hebrides -Its Wonderful Song -Its Distribution— Flight
—Food— Pau-ing— Nest— Plunwge -The I![.ACKi!il!I>—Macgillivray's Account of its Habits, Food. Fliylit. rairius, ami
Song— Jlr. Weir's Conjecture as to the Language uf lUnls' Song— Plumage-TH F. Wahbi.kks -I'luiiiagr of Yuuni; and
Adult— The Common NiGHTiNG.\LE-JIr. Dresser's Account of the Species— Dispusitioi.-.Sniig-l-'.i.id-Haliits THE
BABDLIXG THRUSHES-Characters— The Wrexs-The Common WREN-l'n:.fissor XewtonV Description of the
Hunting of the Wren— The Wren's Nest, as Described by Mr. :\Iaogilli\ray-(:'oluur an.l Size of Bird— The Bulbuls
—Characters— Where Found— Dr. Jerdon on the Madras Bulbid-( 'aptain Legges .Vccount of the Habits of the Species
—The True B.\bblers-The Bush B.ibblers- Canon Tristram's DeMriptioi, of then- Habits— The Bower EiRiis-
The Regent ];nu,-Mr. Ciould un its Habits-Its ••B..«-,.r" d,-smlivd -The (.i:as, WAnni.iii^ Tin, Tummun Fantail

WAHia.Elt-ItsXost-Howit is (•.,nstrnrt,.d-C:,|,tain I,eu,.'s :.lld Mr. Hiii,m\ X..r,-,Mi tl,.M.I.l-r - ll,:lit- "t the
AfricanSpecies— (\,l,,„rand;-;ize..f thrninl-Tlll:TAIl.ni;l;ii;ii-l)istiii,uti-i, < ' Jl Xr,t -Till AMllih \x llMia.ERS
— The THR.v.sHER.-i- Cliaractcrs-The Brown Tlirashcr -Habits- Suii^ Ln.pMsitiou - Xrst Tiir .Mo,;kix,; lliui.s —
Audubon's Account of the Bird— His Love-Song- His Devotion to Ids JIatc Tbt Yuun^ lUids -Xcst-Eggs— Their
Chief Enemies-Flight-Call-THE SHRIKES, OR BUTCHER BIRDS -Distinctive Features -The Great Grey
Shrike— " Shrike's Larder "—Pertin.acity in the Chivse— Harsh Note -Colour and Size-THE GREEXLET.S-Mr.
Gosse on the Jamaican Species— Their Peculiar Call— THE TITJIICE-Cliaracters— Sub-families— The Great TlT-
jrou.SE, OB O.x-EYE— Its Note— Its Nest— Coloiu- and Size— The Long-t.ailed Titmouse- Their Beautiful Nest-
Colour and Size— The Nuth.vtcHES— Peculiar Nest— Habits— Size and Colour.

THE EIGHTH FAMILY OF THRUSH-LIKE PERCHING- BIRDS.— THE THRUSHES [Turclldic).
AccoRDra-G to the most recent arrangements, the Thr\ishes may be divided into two large sections,
which in the present work are treated as sub-families, although Mr. Henry Seebohm, who has devoted

36 NATURAL HISTORY.

ii great deal of study to them, believes that two gre-At families ought to Vje recognised, the Thrushes
and the Wai-blers.

THE FIEST SUB-FAMILY OF THE TUEDID^.— THE THRUSHES PROPER (rm<lu„().

The youug in the first plumage are spotted on the upper parts as well as on the under parts.
Tliis plumage is completely moulted in the lii'st autumn before migration ; so that young in first winter
plumage differ very slightly from adults. Adult birds have only one complete moult in the year, in
autumn, before migration. The spring plumage is obtained by casting the ends of the feathers. There
is no complete moult in the spring, only such feathers being renewed as have been accidentally injured.
•So far as we have been able to ascertain, these peculiarities are always in this group coiTelated with a
plain tarsus.*

THE THRUSHES (Turdus).

Under the genus Tardus are comprised not only the Thrushes but the Blackbirds, as no
difierence can be discovered by which the latter can be separated under the genu^ Merula, though this
has been done by many writers. As a rule Thrushes are sj)otted, and Blackbirds are luiiform in
coloration, but sti-ucturally they exhibit precLsely the same form. In Eiu-ope, without counting a few
A.siatic species wliich straggle within its eastern confines, we find the same species that are found in
England distributed over the greater part of the continent, such as the Song Thrush, the Missel Thi'ush,
the Fieldfare, the Redwing, the Blackbii'd, and the Ring Ouzel.

THE SONG THRUSH {Turdits musiem).
This familiar bird is fovind in England all the year round, but it is very doubtful if the individuals
which inhabit England in the summer remain there during the winter months. It is- now some
yeai-s ago since Professor Newton drew attention to the fact that a migi-ation of the Song Thrushes
is a common occurrence during the latter season of the yeai', and .subsequent observations have
only tended to confirm the truth of the statement. During the author's stay in Heligoland in
the autumn, numbers of Thrushes jjassed over the island, and were caught in large numbers in the
bushes which are erected by the inhabitants for this purpose in theii- gardens. A large row of sticks
«and bu.sh is placed hy them generally at the end of the little plots of ground, which are either rented
from the Crown, or are the ])roperty of the Heligolanders themselves. Most of the ground is taken up
by potato patches, that vegetable forming the staple food of the islanders during the winter ; but a piece
of grass is left for the support of the family sheep, whose milk is consumed in the place of cows'
milk, there being no cows upon the island. The lai-ger number of the Thrush bushes are found
jit the eastern end of the rock, close to the town and in the vicinity of the lighthouse, and are
generally placed from east to west, as it is in this direction that most of the migrants arrive on
the island. A large net is diawn along the back of the bushes, and in the early morning, before
it is quite light, the owner visits his bush, and by suddenly clapping his hands startles the tired
and sleeping birds, who fly to the opposite side of the bushes and are immediately entangled in
the net. Owing to the scarcity of meat, which arrives in Heligoland from Hamburg only, and
the supply of which is less ceitain during winter, the catching of Thrushes is a serious matter
for the supply of the islanders' table. In Belgium and other parts of Europe whei-e a large migration
of Thrushes takes place, vast quantities are caught during this period. In Italy, according to Count
Salvadori, they are much esteemed for the table, and there are mai\y modes of capturing them. In .some
places there are tracts of wooded ground which every year are arranged with birdlime and nets ;
and during the season on some mornings hundreds are caught. In the Mat^mma Toscana, men
gain their livelihood by catching Thrushes and Blackbirds in snares, and each man looks after
about three thousand snares. In Sai-dinia also large numbers are caught, boiled, and put into sacks
with myrtle leaves, and are sold at high prices in the markets. " The Song Thrush," writes Mac-
gillivray, " is associated in my memory with the Hebiides, where it is perhaps more abundant than in
most parts of Britain. There in the calm summer evening, such as for placid beauty far exceeds any
that I have elsewhere seen, when the glorious sun is drawing towards the horizon, and shedding a
broad glare of ruddy light over the smooth surface of the ocean; when the scattered sheep, accoai'
* Seebohm, " Ibis.," 1879, p. 309.

panieil by their frolicsome lambkins, are quietly browsing on the hill ; when the broad-winged Eagle
is seen skiiumLng along the mountain-i-itige, as lie wends his way towards his eyry on the far
pi-omontory ; when no sound comes on the ear save, at intervals, the faiiit murmur of the waves
rushing into the caverns and rising against the faces of the cliffs ; when the westtern breeze stealing
over the flowery pastures carries with it the jjerfume of the wild thyme and white clover, the song
of the Thrush is poured forth from the summit of some granite block, shaggy with grey lichens, and
returns in softer and sweeter modulations from the sides of the heathy mountains. There may be
wilder, louder, and more marvellous songs, and the Mocking-bird may be singing the requiem of the
Ived Indian of the Ohio, or cheering the heart of his ruthless oppressor, the white man of many
inventions ; but to me it is all-sufficient, for it enters into the soul, melts the heart into tenderness,
diffuses a holy calm, and connects the peace of earth with the transcendent happiness of heaven. In
other places the song of the Thrush may be lively and cheering ; here, in the ocean-girt solitude, it is
gentle and soothing. By its magic influence it smoothes the rufiled sm-face of the sea of human feelings,
as it floats over it at intervals with its varied swells and cadences, like the perfumed wavelets of the
summer wind. Here on the hill-side lay thee down on this grassy bank, beside the block of gneiss
that in some convulsion of primeval times has been hurled unbroken from the fissured crag above. On
the slope beneath are small winding plots of com, with intervals of pasture, and tufts of the yellow
iris. The coast is here formed of shelving crags and jutting promontories, there stretches along in a
winding beach of white sand, on which the wavelets rush with gentle murmur. Flocks of Mergansers
and dusky Cormorants are fishing in the hay ; the white Gannets are flying in strings towards the
oceiui ; the Rock Doves glide past on whistling pinions, and the joyous Starlings bound towards their
rocky homes. Hark to the cry of the Corncrake, softened by distance, now seeming to come from
:\far, now louder, as if borne toward you by the breeze. It has ceased, but the Cuckoo calls to his
mate from the caim on the Kill. Again all is silent. The streaks in the channel show that the tide is
ibbing; a thin white vapour is spread over the distant islands; and beyond them the spirit wings its
flight over the broad surface of the ocean, to where the air and the waters blend on the western
horizon. But it is recalled by the clear, loud notes of that speckled warbler, that in the softened sun-
shine pours forth his wild melodies on the gladdened ear. Listen, and think how should you describe
the strain so as to impress its characters on the mind of one who never heard it. Perhaps you might
say that it consists of a succession of notes, greatly diversified, re]ieated at short intervals with varia-
tions, and protracted for a long time ; that it is loud, clear, and mellow, generally sprightly, but at
times tender and melting. You might add that two birds at a distance from each other often respond,
the one commencing its song when the other has ceased ; and that sometimes several may be heard at
once, filling a whole glen with their warblings. Listen again, and say what does it resemble'?

With glee, with glee, with glee,

Cheer up, cheer up, cheer up ; here
Nothing to harm us ; then sing merrily.

Sing to the loved one whose nest is near,
Qui, qui, qui, kween, quip,
Tiurru, tiurru, chipiwi,
Too-tee, too-tee, chiu choo,
Chirri, ehirri, chooee,
Quiu, qui, qui.

" Dear, dear, dear.

In the rocky glen ;
Far away, far away, far away

The haunts of men.
There shall we dwell in love
With the lark and the dove.
Cuckoo and corn rail ;
Feast on the handed snail.

Worm and gilded fly ;
Drink of the crystal rill,
Winding adown the hiU,

Never to dry.

" No more, pray : the Thrush's song is inimitable and indescribable. It is heard at all
fine weather, but especially in spring and summer, particularly in the early morning and about sunset.
But it is not in sunshine only that this gentle songster warbles its wild notes ; for often in the midst
of the thick rain it takes its stand in some sheltered spot, under the cover of a i>rojpeting crag or
stone, and for hours perhaps amuses itself with repeating its never-tiring modulation.s. The Song
Tlirush, which is a resident species, is distributed over all parts of Scotland and England. In summer
it prefers the woods and hill-sides, the bu.shy banks of streams, and sheltered places at some distance
from human habitations, although in cultivated districts it often nestles in the orchards, gardens, and

3N NATURAL HISTORY .

hedges. In winter the individuals which had made the woods and glens their summer residence
approach the houses and feed in the gardens and fields, or betake themselves to the rocky shores,
where they find subsistence by breaking the whelks and other shell-fish. Although in the cultivated
districts it is seldom seen unless among the bushes or hedges, it is capable of flying to a gi-eat distance,
which it does in gentle curves, with quick flaps, intermitted at intervals, sometimes at a considerable
height, but more frequently only so high as to clear the trees. Its flight is always rapid, and it selects
its place with quickness, settling instantaneously. When on the ground, and in tlie attitude of observa-
tion, it dx-ops its wings a little, keeps its tail nearly horizontal, and raises its head obliquely. On*
observing a worm or other object, it leaps briskly towards it, picks it up, or, if it has withdrawn,,
pecks at the earth until it has seized it. Its general mode of progression on the ground is by leaping.

SONG THRUSH.

When in a listless mood, it droops the tail and wings, draws in its neck, and ruflles its feathei-s. lie
this attitude it may often be seen perched on a tree, bush, or stone. Its food is chiefly found on the
ground, and consists of snails, earth-worms, larvse, coleoptera, hips, hemes, and seeds of various kinds.
Helix aspersa, horteiisis, and iiemoralis supply gi'eat part of its food in winter. It breaks the shells
by raising them in its bill, and knocking them repeatedly against a stone. Large heaps of the shells
tlius broken may be seen by garden walls, and in pastures on the edges of thickets. In the Hebrides,
where it frequents the shores in winter, it treats the Turbo Uttoreus and Trochtis conuloides in the
same manner ; and of these shells the fragments may often be found under shelter of some stone or
slab, to which the bird flies with its prey. Many years ago, having in the course of my littoral rambles
in Harris, frequently heard a sharp sound like that of a small stone struck upon another, I endeavoured
to discover its cause, but for a long time in vain, until at length, being one day in search of birds,
when the tide was out, I heard the well-known chink, and standing still discovered at a distance, in a
recess formed by two flat stones at the upper part of the shore, a bird moving its head and body
alternately upwards and downwards, each downward motion being followed by the noise which had
hitherto been so mysterious. Running up to the place I found a Thrush, which, flying off", left a whelk
newly broken, but with the animal in it, lying amidst a heajj of fragments round a smooth stone.

THE fiuycj TURCSU. 39

Having some years after mentioned the cirounistiince to a scientific frientl in Edinburgh, I was
favoured with an assurance of the utter imi)ractieability of the feat, which indeed is at first mention not
very credible, although one may easily satisfy himself that a whelk, thick as it is, is very easily broken
l)y knocking it smartly against a hard body.

" The full song of this species is heard in April, May, and June, although, as I have already said,
it may be occasionally heard at any season. In March it pairs, and by the end of that month, or in
the beginning of the next, begins to construct its nest, which is placed in a thick bush of any kind, or
in a hedge at a small height, or on a rough bank among shrubs or moss. In the miwooded parts of
the country it is found under shelter of a projecting stone or crag, in the crevice of a rock, or at the
root of a tuft of heath, or among the stunted willows on the rocky bank of a stream. It is composed
externally of slender twigs, roots, grass, and moss, and is lined with a thin layer of mud, cow-dung, or
rotten wood, neatly laid on, and between which and the eggs no other substance is interposed. The
diameter of the cavity is usually about four inches, its depth from two and a half to four. As a good
ileal of wi-angling has taken place on the subject of Thrushes' nests, I may be allowed to be somewhat
particular in this matter. Although the structure of the nest does not vary much, the materials are
\ ery diversified. In a nest before me, which is very bulky, the exterior is formed of the long tough
roots of various plants, a twig of liuniex crisjms or lati/olius, another of the rasp, a clipping of box-
wood, a piece of pack-thread, numerous tufts of Poa annua, and Stellaria media, two or three mosses,
and some other substances. Within this is a more elaborate structure of fibrous roots, tufts of grasses,
straws, and some beech leaves, interwoven, and compacted with some tenacious substance. This inner
cup is lined or plastered with a vei-y tliin but firm coating of what seems to be horse-dung, on the
surface of wliich are sjiread numerous chips of straw and slender grasses, but certainly no decayed
wood, as some allege to be usually the case. This nest is in diameter three inches and a half, in dei)th
two and a half, its greatest diameter seven inches, and its greatest depth four and a half. This is the
nest of a civilised Thrush, it having been found in a hedge in the immediate vicinity of Modem
Athens.

"On the 5tli of May, 1836, I found in a honeysuckle bush in a wood between Haddington ami
Gilford the nest of a Thrush, in which the bird was working at the time, completing its inteiior, in
which was a piece of wet rotten wood, quite soft and friable, which it was applying to the walls.
Another nest found near Gifford was plastered with hoi-se-dung. One brought to me from Melville
Woods, on the Srd of May, 1837, by my son, who found in it five eggs, is composed externally of
twigs, straws, and stems of herbaceous plants ; its inner cup of a few slender twigs of trees, stems, and
leaves of grasses, oak leaves, and a large proportion of mosses, interwoven and agglutinated, but with-
out mud. The lining, which is not thicker than two-twelfths of an inch at most, is certainly composed
entirely of fragments of rotten wood and other vegetable substances, without any mud, clay, or dung.
Its internal diameter at the mouth is three inches and a half, but below the mouth four inches, the
depth two and a half. In all the specimens which I have examined, the mouth of the inner cup is
contracted and firmly woven. The eggs are generally five, but vary from four to six, of a regular or
broad oval form, bright bluish-green, with scattered spots of brownish-black, of a roundish form, and
more numerous at the larger end. They vary considerably in size, the largest in my collection
measuring thirteen-twelfths by nine-and-a-half, the smallest, eleven-and-a-half by eight-and-a-half
twelfths. They are deposited in the end of AprU, sometimes so early as the beginning of that month,
and sometimes not until May. The young I have found abroad fi-om the 20th of April to the
middle of June. Another brood is generally reared in the season."

The Thrush is so well-known a bird that it hardly merits a separate description. The general
colour above is olive-brown, the wing-coverts more or less distinctly tipped with spots of ochre ; the
wings and tail are like the back ; the under surface is whitish with a fulvous tinge on the breast and
sides ; the ear-coverts, cheeks, fore-neck, chest, and flanks are all spotted with black ; bill blackish-
brown, yellowish at the base of the lower mandible ; legs pale flesh colour, iris bi-own. The female is
like the male, but young birds are mottled all over with ochi'aceous bufl' streaks on the feathers of the
upper surface.

The under wing-coverts in the Common Thrush are of a rich golden colour, and are suflicient to
distinguish the species at a glance from the nearly allied Eedwing [Turdus iliacns), which is a

4U yAl'iHAL JJJsJuJiV.

winter visitant to Britain. Besides these two birds there are the Missel Thrusl, a fine large species,
which has of late years extended its range considerably in England, and the Fieldfare (Turdiis
pilaris), which arrives in that country with the Redwing in the winter, and leaves again before the
summer begins. These four species constitute the regular British Thrushes, but one or two European
and American species also have occurred within the limits of the Britisli Islands.

THE BLACKBIRD {Tiirdusmerula).
Although it is impossible to find any structural difference between a Thrush and a Blackbird, yet
the sombre hue of the latter, which prevails both in the British species and in its allies throughout
the world, seems to divide the Blackbirds off as a distinct group of the genus Turdus. Besides the
species of true Thru.shes mentioned above, England is inhabited by the common Blackbird and the
Ring Ouzel, the former nsilent, and the latter entirely migratory. To quote once more from the

delightful work of Macgillivray : " The Blackbird, which is one of the most admired of our nativ^e
songsters, is a permanent resident, and occurs in almost all parts of England and Scotland, although
it prefers the more cultivated districts, and is rarely met with in the centre and more elevated tracts.
Being, properly speaking, an inhabitant of bushy places and woods, it does not breed in the northern
and more remote Hebrides, nor in districts of the mainland destitute of sylvan vegetation. In winter
it frequents the neighbourhood of houses and towns, resorting to woods, hedges, and gardens, and
generally keeping in the shelter of trees or bushes. At this season its food consists principally of
snails, especially Hdix aspersa and H. ixemoralia, the shells of which it breaks by raising them in its
bill, and dashing them against a stone or other hard surface. It also occasionally breaks them open
by pecking against the spire, in which the shell is much thinner. Like many other birds, however,
it has a large range of food. Thus, having opened five individuals, I found in the stomach of one a
great quantity of seeds and husks of gramina, including wheat and oats; in that of another,
coleopterous insects ; in that of a third, coleoptera, and seeds of various kinds ; in that of the
fourth, mollusca and fragments of shells; in that of a fifth, seeds, mollusca, and a few grains
of gravel, earthworms, larvte, berries, and seeds of various kinds. It is amusing to observe a
Blackbird searching for food on the smooth green of a garden, which one may easily do from the
window without being noticed. In December, 1832, I watched one in order to note its motions.
After looking quietly at a particular spot for some time, it hopped up, began to peck the ground with

THE BLArKlillil). 41

gi-eat energj', and after some exertion succeeded in dragging out a worm of moderate size, which it
immediately threw on tlie ground. It tlien pecked at the worm for nearly a minute, and, beginning
at one end, separated by a sudden stroke a small portion, which it swallowed. In this manner it
proceeded until it bad devoured the whole, not swallowing at any time more than a small fragment.
It then hopped about, looking now and then attentively at a certain spot, and at length began to dig
vehemently for another worm, which it soon procured. This was the first time that I had closely
watched a Blackbird while searching for worms ; but I have since had repeated opportunities of
convincing myself that it always proceeds in the same manner, never swallowing an entire worm
unless it happens to be extremely small, and cutting the very large ones into a great number of pieces

The sides of walls and hedges are favourite places of resort, for there it readily procures worms and
snails. In hard weather it often eats the berries of the hawthorn, which it swallows whole, and
betakes itself to the corn- yards, where it picks up seed chiefly on the ground. When searching for
food, it hops or leaps with great alacrity, keeping its tail a little raised and its wings loose ; and when
perched on a tree, twig, or wall, it generally elevates its tail, unless disposed to doze, in which case it
draws in its neck, ruifles its plumage, tucks up its wings, and allows the tail to droop. When
disturbed, it flies off uttering a loud chuckling noise, which, although clear and shrill, reminds you of
the chatter of the Magpie ; and you may pursue it from one part of a hedge to another, until you
obtain it, for it seldom shifts to a great distance. Although thus easily procured, it is yet decidedly
shy, and in this respect differs greatly from the Song Thrush, which imagines itself secure at a very
short distance. The flight of the Blackbird over an open space is steady, without undulations ; but
along the hedges is wavering and fitful, and the bird suddenly darts into the place which it selects,
and instantly settles. During the breeding season its flight is peculiar, for then the female especially
moves through the air as if by starts, performing a single flap, followed by a considerable interval, and

•U KATUIiAL MISTUKY.

tjien continuing its course. Tlie Missel Tlirusli, the Fieklfure, and the Redwing frequently take
long flights, and are often seen advancing at the height of several hundred yai-ds ; but the Blackbird
rarely ventures on a long excursion, but prefers skulking, as it were, among the Ledges and trees.
Compared with the Song Thrush, it is a veiy lively bird, and it is amusing to observe one that lias
just alighted on a twig; and see how gracefully it bends forward, throws up its tail, jerking it at
intervals, depresses and at intervals flaj)S its wings, and then perhaps flits to another branch, where
it performs the same motions, or alights on the wall, hops along, suddenly stops, jerks its tail, flaps its
wings, and then commences singing.

" Even in severe weather in winter Blackbirds are not gregarious ; and on no occasion have I
seen more than three or four together, and that only for a few minutes. Although a male and a
female may sometimes associate during that season, it is much more common to find them solitary.
Nor does this species cherish the society of any other, though it may be seen in the vicinity of a Song
Thrush, a Hedge Chanter, or other small bird. While the Fieldfares and Redwings cover a field in
search of food, the Blackbirds very seldom venture amongst them, but prefer the shelter of the fences.
The female is less clamorous than the male, who, on being alarmed or irritated, especially in the
breeding season, emits a loud clear chuckling cry, in some degree approaching to the chatter of the
Magpie, fluttering or flapping its wings, and bending its body forward at the same time. This
i-emarkable cry, variously modulated by different individuals, sometimes exhibits a slight resemblance
to the cackle of a domestic hen after laying ; but whether it be the same as that alluded to by a
correspondent in the 'Naturalist,' as similar to the crowing of a cock, and by the editor of that journal
as resembling tlie notes of several varieties of that species, I am unable to determine, not having
listened to the individuals mentioned by them. This much, however, I have observed, not as a
singular circumstance, nor even as one common to a few individuals, but as exhibited at all seasons,
at the period of breeding, and in tin- uiid.llc <if winter, and l>y very many bii-ds of the species, tliat
the male, on perching, whether on a tree or uii the gr(jun(l, but especially on the former, raises Ijjs
tail, flutters, it might almost be .saiil, flaps liis wings, emits his chuckling cry, and continues balancing
himself, (jr hups .along, repeating the notes, which, should ho be alarmed, or in any way excited, are
sometinies laised and prolonged, so that a person fond of tracing affinities and analogies might
naturally eiiciugU liken it to the crowing of a cock.

"It is not in the wild valley, flanked with birchen slopes, and stretching far away among the
oragfjy hills, that the music of the Blackbird floats upon the evening breeze. There you may li.sten
delii;lite(l to tlie gentle son;;' of tlie Mavis ; but here, in the plain, covered with cornfields, and skirted
with Lianleiis. sit tliec i\,,\yn on the green turf by the gliding brook, and mark the little black speck
.stuck, as it were, upuu the top twig of that tall poplar. It is a Blackbird, for now the sweet strain,
loud, but mellowed by distance, comes upon the ear, iuspiriii;;- plea.sant thoughts, and banishing care
and sorrow. The bird has evidently learnt liis |.irt by long pi-aetioe, for he sings sedately and in the
full consciousness of superiority. Ceasing at intervals, he renews the strain, varying it so that although
you can trace an occasional rejjetition of notes, the staves are never j)recisely the same. You may sit
an liour, or longer, and yet the song will be continued ; and in the neighliouring gardens many rival
songsters will sometimes raise their voices at once, or delight you with alternate strains. And now,
what is the purpose of all this melody 1 We can only conjecture that it is the expression of the perfect
happiness which the creatui-e is enjoying, when, uncarked by care, conscious of security, and aware of
the presence of his mate, he instinctively pours forth his soul in joy and gratitude and love. He does
not sing to amuse his mate, as many have supposed, for he often sings in winter when he has not yet
mated ; nor does he sing to beguile his solitude, for now he is not solitary ; but he sings because all his
wants are satisfied, his whole frame glowing with health, and because his Maker has gifted him with
the power of vittering sweet sounds."

"That some of the notes of birds," writes Mr. Weir, "are a language which conveys a direct
meaning, may, I presume, be infen-ed from the following interesting occurrence, which took place at
half-past three o'clock, an occurrence which I witnessed with the most anxious curiosity, and which I
could scarcely have l.elie\ed had I not seen it. The female having brought a large worm, I am sure
more than four iiielies in lengtli, put it into the mouth of one of the young, and then flew away. Upon
her return, having jKu-ceiN-ed that it was sticking in its throat, she set up a moan of distress. To her

THE COMMOy XIGUTINGALE. 4:!

assistance her cry iminediatel)- brought her partner, who likewise seemed to be aware of the conse-
quences. To force it down they made several efforts, but in this they were unsuccessful. Strange to
tell, the male at length discovered the cause of the catastrophe. The part of the worm which by being
entangled among the feathers of the breast had been prevented from going down, he carefully disen-
gaged, and held it uj) with his bill, until, after the most unusual efforts, the young bird at length
swallowed it. But so much exhausted was it that it remained for nearly three hours without moving,
and with its eyes shut. The male, having alighted upon a tree a few yards from his nest, jjoured forth
some of his most enchanting notes, a song of rejoicing, no doubt, for the narrow escape from death
which one of his family had just made."

The Blackbird, as its name implies, is entirely black, with an orange bill, and a ring of orange
round the eye. Tlie female is brown, with a dark-brown bill ; more or less rufous on the throat and
breast, which have black stripes. Varieties are often met with, especially some with white feathers
distributed among the black plumage, but these are not to be confounded with the Ring Ouzel {Turdun
torqiuUus), which is a summer visitant to England, and is distinguished by the broad white collar on
the breast. The latter bird has also a very distinct winter plumage, when the black feathers are
broadly edged with gi-eyish- white. It should be added that very old Blackbirds have the feathers of
(he hind neck tipped with tine hairs.

Besides the true Thrushes, the sub-family Turdina? includes the Chats, represented in England by
the Wheatear, and the Eedstarts.

THE SECOND SUB-FAMILY OF THE TURDID.E, OR THRUSHES.
THE WARBLERS {S,jlvim<e).
The young in first plumage are unspotted on the upper parts (except in those cases where the
adult birds are so also), and only in rare instances are traces of spots to be found on the breast. The
adult birds moult twice in the year, in spring and autumn, both moults being complete. Birds in first
plumage, having an opportunity of moulting in spring, do not require to moult in the first autumn,
and only renew a few feathers then. Consequently, there is frequently a difierence, principally in the
colour of the under parts, between the young and the adult in winter plumage. So far as can be ascer-
tained the characters assigned to the Warblei's are always associated with a scutellated tarsus.*

THE COMMON NIGHTINGALE [Daulias luscima).

This, the most favourite Warbler of ancient and modern times, is a sumuier \ isit.>r to England,
retuing in winter to northern Africa, and even penetrating as far as the Gold Ccmst. iu \\csti'ni Africa.
Mr. Dresser gives the following account of the species in his work on the " Birds uf Elu(i|ic ": —

" This, the best known and most highly esteemed of our songsters, is essentially a liird of the
woodlands, and is always found in the groves or woods on the plains, never in the nicintains, or in
conifer woods, but in tolerably low, non-evergreen growth, where there is a fairly abantlant under-
growth, and where the soil is rather damp, or where damp ditches or water is not far distant. It is a
very unobtrusive bird ; and although the song of the male, may be heard daily, it is astonishing how
seldom a casual observer obtains a glimpse of the bird itself. The males arrive first in the spring, and
appear to be weary and travel- worn when they first appear ; but they soon recuperate, and when, after
the lapse of a few days, the females commence to appear, they have recovered their usual sprightliuess
and soon break out into their matchless song, which may be heard until the young are hatched. The
song of this bird is, with justice, considered to be the richest and most melodious of all our songsters ;
and it is impossible to reproduce its notes in words so as to gi\p any iih'a of it. No liird has so
varied and sweet a song, and it is .so rich and full that one is astunislicil that it can lie produced by so
small a bird. There is, however, much individual difference in the quality of the song of birds from
different localities, as is well known by all the bird ftmciers, especially by the Germans; and Naumann
remarks that those from Pomerania are the worst songsters, whereas those from Wcirlitz in Anhalt
Dessau are the best he ever heard. As a rule, the Nightingale is not a shy bird ; and far from
shunning the presence of man, it appears in preference to take up its abode somewhere in the vicinity
of inhabited places. Nor is it a quarrelsome bird towards othei-s of its own species, except dining the

* Seebohm.

i4 NATURAL HUSTUMT.

paii-ing seasoi, when frequent disputes occur amongst the males. It usually frequents the lower
branches of the trees, or the bushes, where it does not move about much, but sits with the wings
rather drooped ; and when it moves it usually flirts its tail, which when the bird is sitting is held in
an almost horizontal position. When on the ground it carries the body erect, and looks very long-
legged. It progresses by means of long jumps, and after taking ten or a dozen it usually stands still,
pauses for a moment, as if thinking of what is next to be done, and then, with a flirt of the tail, hops
on again. Its food, which is chiefly picked up from the ground, consists of worms, insects, and especially
of insect larvas ; and it frequently searches for insects in old rotten timber and moss. It is also said
to be very fond not only of the larvae of ants (or so-called ants' eggs) but also of the ants them.selves.
Naumann says that it is partial to currants, both red and black, when ripe, and is very fond of eldei--
berries. Insects, however, are its staple food, and its partiality for a meal-worm rendere it an easy
victim to the bird-eatchei-s. Large numbers are trapped every season, but few survive ; for it is
certainly one of the most difiicult species to keep in confinement. Most of the birds are caught soon
after they arrive, and but comparatively few of these are females. According to Harting, in the year
1867 three London bird-catchers, between April 13th and May 2nd, took two hundred and twenty-five
Nightingales, all, except some half-a-dozen, cock birds. The previous year, the same men supplied the
dealer who employed them with two hundred and eighty Nightingales, of which not more than sixty
were hens. When both males and females have arrived from tlie south they soon commence nidifica-
tion, and appear to resort to their old breeding localities. At first, not a few conflicts for the possession
of their coveted locality take place, but when they have all selected their mates, each pair seems to
settle down quietly in a suitable place ; and then they live in amity together, though each pair asserts
the right of possession in their own small domain. The site for the nest is selected in a garden where
the hedges are thick, or in a well-shaded lane, or else in a wood where the underwood is not too dense,
and where the grass and low growth are thick in places. Tlie nest is placed either on or close to the
gi-ound, in the latter case usually not more than a foot or so high, in a bunch of tmgs, in an old tree-
trunk, or in a dense hedge or bundle of faggots. The structure is composed, outside, of dry leaves,
usually of the oak, inside which are a few dry bents, and sometimes rushes, or even fine flags; and the
cup is carefully lined with fine roots and bents, and occasionally a little horsehair is added. The
eggs, from four to six in number, are deposited in May, only one brood being raised in the season.
They are uniform deep olive-brown in colour, sometimes with a greenish tinge, and occasionallj'^ tinged
with reddish-brown, on a greenish-blue, or an olive-green surface, which is sometimes entirely, and
sometimes only partially, exposed ; and not unfreqnently the brown is collected at one end of the egg.
In size they vary from about |f by fi by fj inch. When the young are hatched the male ceases its
song, and appears to devote its time to procure food for its offspring. Should danger threaten, a
single loud croak is uttered as an alarm note, occasionally accompanied by a snapping of the bill. Its
usuiil call-note is a clear, somewhat prolonged wid or meed; and pleasure is expressed by a deep note
like tack. Its flight is swift and light, but it usually flies only short distances from bush to bush, and
during the day-time at least it never seems to fly across any large open space ; yet its power of
flight must be by no means inconsiderable, as it traverses considerable distances on passage."

Besides the Nightingale, which has been selected as a typical Warbler, all the Whitethroats, and
vSedge and Eeed Warblers, are included in the sub-family Sylviince, besides a great number which are
not found in the British Isles.

THE NINTH FAMILY OF THRUSH-LIKE PERCHING BIRDS.
THE BABBLING THRUSHES (TmeUinm).

These birds constitute a large family, the exact limits of which it is by no means easy to define,
but they possess one character which distinguishes them, and that is their rounded and concave wing,
which is so formed as to fit close to the body. On being opened, or rather, parted from the side of the
body, the arc described by the wing goes far towards the formation of a letter S ; and in order fully to
appreciate this characteristic, the wing of a ti-ue Thrush requires to be compared with that of a
thoroughly typical Babbler. Thus, for instance, the wing of the Common Thrush is long and almost
flat, its concavity being scarcely perceptible. A further mark of a true Thrush — with which are to be
associated the Warblers and Chats — is the posisession of a small bastard primary, the second quill being
immensely long in comparison, and approaching the longer ones in dimensions. All these birds which

COMMON NIGHTINGALE.

40 NATUHAL MISTUEY.

possess this wing are powerful migrants. The Timdiidce, on the other hand, with their feeljle
rounded wings, in which thfl bastard jmniary of the true Thrush is replaced by a broad first quill, are
very poor fliers, and consequently, for the most part, stay-at-home or non-migratory birds. In this
laige family will be found several diverging elements : thus in some of the true Babbling Thrushes an
approach is seen to the Muscicapidfe, or Flycatchers, while the Wrens (Troylodytiiiw) and the Grass
Warblers {Cisticolinfn) lead the student to the Titmice on the one hand and to the true Warblers on
the other. The true Thrushes are approached by the Babljling Thrushes and the Bulbuls.

THE FIRST SUB-FaMILY OF THE TIMELIID.E.— THE WRENS {Troghdytime).
These are nearly all birds of small size, inhabiting the northern and temperate parts of both the
Old and New Worlds. They differ from the rest of the Babblers in having scarcely any perceptible
notch in the bill, which is rather long and curved ; the taU is in general short in proportion to the
body. The type of the family is

THE COMMON WEEN {Troglodytes parvulus).
With the exception of the Gold-crest, this is the smallest English bird : it is generally dis-
tributed throughout the whole of Europe, and ranges as far as Cential Asia. In England it
is a general favourite, and, like the Robin, is accorded a certain amount of protection ; and to
many readers the old couplet about the " Robin and the Wren being God's cock and hen " will occui-.
It is difficult, therefore, to account for the persecution to which the species was formerly subjected in
certain parts of Great Britain and even in France. Professor Newton* writes: — "The curious
custom of ' hunting the Wren ' has been mentioned by many writers ; but little can be added
to the accounts of it given by the late Sir Henry Ellis, in his notes to Brand's ' Popular
Antiquities,' and by Thompson, though, from its jwactice obtaining in countries far apart, it
is most likely of much greater antiquity than has been often supposed. It seems to have
been first noticed by Charles Smith, in his ' State of the County of Cork,' published in 1 750, as
followed in the South of Ireland, and subsequently by Valiancy (' Collectanea de Rebus Hibernicis ').
On Christmas Day boys and men, each using two sticks — one to beat the bushes, the other to fling at
the bird — went out in a body to hunt and kill the Wren, which, from its habit of making but
short flights, was no doubt .soon done to death. On the following day, the feast of St. Stephen, the
dead bird, hung by the leg between two hoops, crossed at right angles and decked with ribbons, was
carried about by the ' Wren-boys,' who sang a song beginning, ' Droelin, Droelin, ri an t-eum '
(that is, ' Wren, Wren, kmg of birds '), and begged money ' to bury the Wren.' Tliis ceremony,
which, however it may have arisen, had become quite senseless, was, when Thompson wrote,
falling into disuse, and in 1845 the then Mayor of Cork, by proclamation, forbade its continuance.
Mr. Halliwell (' Nursery Rhymes ') notices the same practice in the Isle of Man, and gives the words
there sung; while on Februiry 4th, 1846 (as appears by the Literary Gazette, p. 131, of the
7th of that month), Mr. Crofton Croker drew attention to the subject at a meeting of the BritisJi
Ai'chfeological Association, and it was stated that a similar custom existed in Pembrokeshire, where
on Twelfth Day a Wren was carried from house to house in a box with glass windows surmounted
by a wheel, to which ribbons were hung. Sonnini (' Voyage dans la haute et la bas.se Egypte')
mentions a like ceremony practised a century ago, towards the end of December, at La Civtat,
near Marseilles, but there the Wren's murderers were armed with swords and pistols, and their
victim was slung to a pole borne, as if it were a heavy load, on the shoulders of two men, who
paraded the village, and then, after gravely weighing it in a pair of great scales, all gave themselves
u]) to festivity. It is for antiquaries to throw light on the origin of this widely-spread custor:, of
which many unsatisfactory explanations have been attempted. It has been ascribed to a Wren
which, alighting on a drumhead, roused and saved from defeat some Protestant troops in the Irisli
civil wars of the seventeenth century. Others refer it to a similar incident some centuries earliei-, in
the wars of the Danish occupation of Ireland. Others say that the Wren was an o)>ject of so
great veneration to the ' Druids,' that the early Christian missionaries enjoined its persecution upon

* Eilition of Yarrell's " British Biids." p. 460.

■JUL r(iMMii.\ II lij:.\. i1

all ailherents to the new faith. Any sijpculatioiis would iiere be futile, though one cannot Imt he
struck with sunic niimiilruees. The Wren, in the tirst line of the Irisli song, is called the 'king of
birds.' The rniiln nk. ,hiiv ceremony was or is performed on Twelfth Day — the feast of the three
kings — and tiif liinl was also spoken of -ah the king. The common name of the bird, shared to some
extent witji the Golden-crested Wren, in mo.st European languages — Basilinkos, Reijulm, Reyezuels,
lieatiotus, RoUelet, Zaunkbuig, Kuiujs/oijel, EHekonye, Winterkoninkje, and so forth — all assign to it
the kingly dignity. These names probably are connected with the old and well-known fable of birds
choosing for their king that one of them which should mount highest in the air. This the Eagle seemed
to do, and all were ready to do him homage, when a loud burst of song was heard, and perched upon the
Eagle's head was the exultant Wren, which, unseen and unfelt, had been borne aloft by the giant. In
England this story does not seem to have had hold, and so far from ascribing royal qualities to oui'
little favourite, it is nearly everywhere known to us by the humbler name of ' Kitty ' or ' Jenny '
Wren."

Considering the size of the Wren, its song is remarkably loud, sweet, and sustained, and it is also
favourably regarded by every birds'-nester for its beautiful nest. The latter is jjlaced in various
situations, being sometimes built into the thatch of a summer-house, or cax-efully inserted in some
trellis-work overhung by mosses, portions of which are grouped round the opening of the nest, in order
the more effectually to conceal it from view. It is also frequently built against the side of a tree,
especially if the ivy has been cut through and killed, when the bird will place its nest amidst a mass
of brown and decaying leaves, some of wliich are also employed to conceal the position of its home.
The following is a description* of a Wren's nest, as given by Macgillivray : — " One brought me by my
son, which lie found while gathering plants in a wood near Melville Castle, is of astonishing size
compared with that of its architect, its greatest diameter being seven inches, and its height five. It
presents the appearance of a rude mass of decayed vegetables, of an irregularly rounded form. Having
been placed on a flat surface under a bank, its base is of a corresponding form, and is composed of
layei's of decayed ferns and other plants, mixed with twigs of herbaceous and woody vegetables.
Similar materials have been employed in raising the outer wall of the nest itself, of which the interior
is spherical and three inches in diameter. The wall is composed of mosses of several species, quite
fresh and green, and it is arched over with fern leaves and straws. The mosses are cui-iously inter-
woven with fibrous roots and hair of various animals, and the inner surface is even and compact, like
coarse felt. To the height of two inches there is a copious lining of large soft feathers, chiefly of the
Wood Pigeon, but also of the Pheasant and Domestic Duck, with a few of the Blackbird. The
aperture, which is in front and in the form of a low arch, two inches in breadth at the base, and an
inch and a half in height, has its lower edge formed of slender twigs, strong herbaceous stalks, and
stems of grasses, the rest being felted in the usual manner. This nest is a magazine of botany, there
entering into its composition leaves of Fagus sylvatka, fronds of Aspidlum dilatatuni and A. filix
mas, blades of Phalaris arundhmcea, stems of several grasses and other herbaceous plants, some twigs
of the larch and other trees, and four or five species of Ilypunm. It contained five eggs, of an
elongated oval form, averaging eight lines in length and six lines in breadth, pure white, with some
scattered dots of light red at the larger end, one of them with scarcely any, and another with a great
number. Of three nests presented to me by Mr. Weir, one is extremely beautiful, being composed
entirely of fi-esh gi-eeu hypna, without any internal layer, although, no eggs having been found in it,
it possibly had not been completed. It is of an oblong form, seven inches in length, and four in its
transverse diameter. The mouth measures an inch and eight-twelfths across, one inch and a twelfth
in height. Its lower j)art is formed of small twigs of larch laid across and interwoven, so as to
l)rpsent a firm pediment. The longitudinal diameter of the interior is three inches and a half.
Another, formed on a decayed tuft of A ira ccfspitosa, is globular, six inches in diameter, and composed
of moss, with a lining of hair and feathers, chiefly of the domestic fowl. The third is globular, and
externally fonned almost entirely of ferms like that described above. In all the nests of this species
which I have seen the lower jjart of the mouth was composed of twigs of trees or stems of herbaceous
plants, laid across, and kept together with moss and hair. The nests are found in a great variety of
situations : very often in a recess overhung by a bank, sometimes in a crevice among stones, in the
* "British Birds," Vol. III., p. 21.

4:. KATUIiAl UlSTUIiY.

liolc of a wall or of a tree, among che thatch of a cottage or outhouse, on tlie loft of a shed or barn,
the branch of a tree, whether growing along a wall or standing free, among ivy, honeysuckle, clematis,
or other climbing plants. When the nest is on the ground its base is generally formed of leaves,
twigs, and straws, and its interior is often similar ; but when othei'wise, the outer surface is generally
smooth, and chiefly composed of moss. Several authors have .spoken of the nests frequently constructed
by this bird in spring and afterwards abandoned, and have indulged in various conjectures respecting
them. I should suppose that a nest may occasionally be partially or entirely built, axid then deserted,
because its owners find it unsafe or have been frightened from it. The Magpie often commences a
nest and leaves it unfinished, ])robably for the same reason ; and the same remark may be made as to
the Blackbird and Thrush. But Mr. Wood relates a very curious fact respecting the Wren, which is
that it ' often builds itself a dwelling in autumn, and lodges in it on cold nights. These nests,' he
continues, ' are mostly constructed in the usual localities, though I once found one situated in an old

Garden Thrush's nest in a Portugal laurel. Frequently, also, the nests in which one or two broods
had been reared in summer are tenanted every night throughout the winter.' On this
subject Mr. Weir has sent me the following remarks : — ' During the period of incubation,
the male (says an anonymous writer in Mr. Loudon's Magazine), ajipai-ently from a desire
to be doing something, constructs as many as half-a-dozen nests in the vicinity of the first, none of
which are lined with feathers ; and whilst the first nest is so artfully concealed as to be seldom found,
the latter are very freqiiently seen. With respect to the use of these structures, or cock-nests, as they
are called in England, if we believe that birds, like some insects, have foresight, a more ingenious
theory might be advanced. During the severity of wdnter they may be intended as houses of refuge
for them and their families.* Whether this be always the case or not it will be difficult to ascertain.
That they are, however, sometimes employed for this purpose I can affirm, as the whole of those in my
neighbourhood during the late sevei-e frosty weather (of 1837-8) were occupied by them. I have
one of these nests in my possession in which they lodged, and in which there was a qxiantity of their
droppings.' The Wren being a very diminutive bird, might be supposed to require this kind of .shelter

* TheiTi-iten
Wrens roosting in

1 assurer! by & lad living at Colgate,

re winter of 1878-9 he frequently found

the same nest.

THE lULliVl.S. 49

in winter, were it not that tlie Kinglets and Tits, equally small, are not known to lodge in tlieir
nests. Our little friend is a Troglodyte, a frequenter of holes and caverns, and as it always reposes at
night in some sheltered retreat, it may occasionally or often betake itself to its old nest as well as to
any other place, as that nest is well Htted for its pur]iose ; but there seems no reason for supjjosing
that this is habitual with all Wrens, many of which, in the wilder parts of the country and in the
Hebrides, desei-t their summer habitations, and in winter reside about the farmyards."

The length of the Common Wren is only three inches and a half, the wing two inches. The colour
of the u]iper parts is rufous-brown, more decidedly rufous on the tail and wings, the upper surface
barred across witli blackish-brown, the outside wing feathers being barred with dark brown and didl
•white ; over the eye a wliite line ; below the body is dull whiti.sh, slightlj' washed with nifous on the
breast : the abdomen, vent, and under tail-coverts washed with rufous-brown, barred with blackish; bill
brown, as well as the eye ; legs light brown.

THE SECOND ST'B-FAJIILY OF THE TniELIID-E.— THE BVLBULS {Brachiipodin<c).

These are a small group of birds which are intermediate l^etween true Babblers and the Thrushes.
They are remarkable for their very short leg.s, which are accompsmied by short and very rounded wings.
They are entirely inhabitants of the Old World, some genera, such as the Bristle-necked Bulbuls
{Criniger), bemg widely distributed in Western Africa, and recurring again in India and the Indo-
Malayan countries and islands. The Red- whiskered Bulbul (Otocompsa jucosa), an inhabitant of India
and the Burmese coxintries, is said by Di-. Jerdon to be a most lively and active bird, always on the
move, warbling its pleasant chirruping notes, which are moi'e agreeable than those of the Common
Bengal Bulbul. Its flight is steady but not very rapid, and its crest is always raised the moment it
alights. The nest is neatly made, deep, cup-shaped, of moss, lichens, and small roots, lined with hair
and down ; the eggs are reddish-white with spots of lake, or purplish all over, larger at the thick end.
It lives chiefly on fruits and seed.s, robbing the gai-dens of peas, strawberries, <&c. Now and then it
takes insects, and Dr. Jerdon has seen it come to the ground after them. Writing of the Common
Madras Bidbul (Pt/cnonotiis lutworrhuus). Dr. Jerdon observes that it " frequents gardens and cul-
tivated ground, and low bushy jungle, but is never found in forests, and it ascends the Neilgherries to
about 6,000 feet only. It is usually seen in ]>airs, or in small families, flying briskly about, restless
and inquisitive, feeding chiefly on fruits, but occasionally descending to the gi-ound, and even hopping
a step or two and picking up insects. It destroys various buds and blossoms also, and is very destruc-
tive to peas, sti-awberries, brazil cherries {PhynaUs pei-uviania), and other soft fruit. Its note, which
it is frequently uttering, is an unmusical, rather harsh chirrup. It has at times, however, a sweeter
note, and it is said to be able to imitate the notes of other birds when caged. Its flight is dii-ect,
]>erformed by a continued quick flapping of the wings. It breeds from June to September, according
to the locality. The nest is rather neat, cui)-shai)ed, made of roots and grass, lined with hair, fibres,
and spiders' webs, placed at no great height in a shrub or hedge. The eggs are pale-pinkish, with
.spots of dai-ker hike-red, most crowded at the thick end. Burger describes them as rich madder colour,
spotted and blotched with grey and madder-brown ; Layard, as pale cream, with darker markings. The
Bulbul is very commonly caged in various parts of the country, and in the Caniatic it is kept for
fighting, being held on the finger with a cord attached. They fight sometimes with great spirit, often,"
I am assured, seizing their antagonist by the red feathers, and endeavouring to jjull them out. When
e.xcited they often spread out these feathers laterally, so as to be seen even from above."

The account of the habits of the Bulbuls is so meagi-e that scarcely anything can be said about
them. Perhaps the best notice that has ever appeared is that given by Captain Legge in his work on
the " Birds of Ceylon " : —

" The Madras Bulbul is a very common bird, and is found in Ceylon abundantly throughout the
whole of the island to a general altitude of about 3,500 feet, and in Uva ranges to about .5,900 feet,
its highest point being the neighbourhood of Hakgala, to which it extends fi'om the Fort ]MacDonald
jiatnas, a portion of the Kandyan Province where many low-country bii-ds aie located. It is most
numerous in open and cultivated districts, particularly in the west and south of the island, and in tlie
maritime portions of the eastern and northern divisions. In the extensive forests of the east and

5;) y.lTURAL HISTORY.

noith-ceutral portions it iiiliabits chiefly those localities which have been cleared and are now open or
covered with low jungle ; but iu the depths of the woods it is less frequent'than the Wliite-eyebrowed
Bulbul. In Dumbara and other wide valleys of tire Central Province it is almost as common as in
the low country, but it does not range so high on the Rambodde side as in Uva. Neither Kelaart
nor Mr. Holdsworth records it from Nuwara Eliya, nor have I myself observed it there. That it
should not occur even as a straggler or occasional visitant in the gardens of the residents, while it is
not unfrequent just lower down the valley at Hakgala, is perhaps a [n-oof that it is not able to with-
stand tlie frost and cold at nights on the plain.

■' Of this Bulbul Jerdon says that it is one of the most conmion and generally-spread birds in the
south of India, extending throughout the southern part of the peninsula to the Nerbudda river, and
beyond it apparently to the nortli-west. It ascends the Neilgherries to about 6,000 feet, and it is, says
Dr. Fairbank, found at the top of the Palanis, though it is more abundant at the bottom and on the
adjacent plains ; in the Khandala district it is an inhabitant of the slopes of the hills, as well as the
neighbouring portioji of the Deccan. To the north-west it extends a ; far as Sindh, to the avifauna of
which province Mr. Blauford has recently added it, stating that it is found in the deserts of Umarkot.
Captain Butler remarks that it is found all over the hills and plains of Northern Guzerat, to which
Mr. Hume adds, ' Common at Sambhnr and in the eastern portions of Jodhpoor, also in Cutch and
Kattiawar. In Western Jodhpoor it occurs for the most part only in the rains.' In Bengal it is
replaced by the large and allied species P. pyymus, which extends eastwards into Burmali.

" The Madras Bulbul affects gardens, compounds, cinnamon plantations, the vicinity of roads, low
jungle, open scrubby land, and the edges of forest. It is a fearless and very sprightly bird, most
active and animated in its manners, erecting its conspicuous crest to full height as it sits on the top of
a bush chirping to its companions. It locates itself in close proximity to houses, and not unfrequently
builds its nest in verandahs, and is consequently a universal favourite witli Europeans, who rate its
attempts at singing so highly that it is styled by many the ' Ceylon Nightingale !' As a matter of
fact, however, its notes have but little music in them ; but it is constantly uttering its quick
chirruping warble, which, in the breeding-season, is to a certain extent more melodious than at other
times. Its food consists of insects, as w^ll as fruit and seeds of all kinds, the berry of the Lantana
plant being a favourite diet, a fact which conduces to the propagation and spreading of this
horticultural pest. In the evening little parties of this Bidbul assemble, and after a gi-eat deal
of excitement and chattering they choose a roosting-place in some thick bush or umbrageous
shrub.

" .Jerdon remarks, in his ' Birds of India,' that in the Caniatio it is kept for fighting, and that it
seizes its antagonist by the red feathers, attempting to pull them out. It is said to imitate the notes
of other birds when caged. I am not aware that this habit has been much noticed in Ceylon ; but it
is a great favourite as a caged bird with the natives, becoming excessively tame, and allowing itself to
be carried about by hand

" In the western and southern portions of the island this bird breeds, as a rule, between January
and May, and on the eastern side during the north-east rains at the end of the year. It appears,
however, to have more than one brood in the yea-r, the second being reared as late as August or
September. Its nest is a loosely-made cup-shaped structure of fine twigs, grass, and bents, with a
scanty lining of grass or vegetable fibre, fixed in the fork of a branch in low bushes a few feet from
the ground. It frequently chooses a small lime-tree close to a dwelling, and will sometimes, as above-
mentioned, build in the verandahs of houses. In a rest-house on the Trincomalee and Batticola road,
I once found a nest placed between the tiles and a rafter over the entrance to the apartment, the pretty
little owner taking no notice whatever of the passers-by, and, as we stood admiring her, scanned us from
her little habitation with an amount of fearless curiosity that was charming to behold. The eggs are
three or four in number, and vary somewhat in shape, the usual form being a pointed oval. The
ground is reddish-white, blotched and speckled all over, but most thickly at the large end, where thei-e
is often a cap or zone of colour, with reddish-bro^NTi of two shades over a few bluish-gi-ey spots, some
eggs ha\-ing much more of the latter tint than others. They measure from 0-84 to 0-87 inch in length
by 0-64 to 0-66 in breadth.

" In India the breeding-season lasts in the plains from April until August, but in the Neilgherries

THE BUSH JiAJillLBIiH. 51

it breetls as early as April. Its nest is much the same as in Ceylon ; but the late Mr. A. Anderson
si)eaks of one which was ' entirely composed of green twigs of the Neern-tree on which it was built,
and the inider surface was felted with fresh blossoms belonging to the same tree.' Mr. Hume gives
the average of sixty eggs as 0-89 inch in length by 0-65 inch in breadtli."

THE TIIIKD .SrB-FAMILY OF THE TIJIELIID.E.-THE TRUE li.VBBr,EHS [TimrnnM).

In this group of birds the short rounded wing, remarkable for its concavitj', which makes this
organ tit close to the body, and so becoming admirably adapted to the busli-creeping habits of the
bird, reaches its fullest development in tlie family of Babbling Thrushes. Tlie largest number of Babblers
is met with in the Malayan Peninsula and the neighbouring islands, whence they extend in gradually
decreasing numbers towards the Moluccas and New Guinea in the south, and northwards throughout
the Burmese countries to Southern China and Formosa, and eastwards through the Indian Peninsida
to Ceylon. The distribution of these birds is indeed interesting in the highest degree, for there
can be little doubt that the genus Tatate, which occurs in the islands of the Pacific Ocean, is
properly a member of this sub-family, and it is not until the genus Bernierm is met with in
Madagascar that any closely -allied generic form is known. Again, the genera Drymocatwplim and
Trichostovia, which are considered to be two of the most characteristic forms of the Malayan Penin-
sula and islands, re-appear once more in the forests of West Africa, evincing another proof of the
athnity wliich exists between the fore.st belt which clothes the shores of this part of Africa and the
Indo- Malayan region.

The habits of the Timeliime are for the most part similar, the birds inhabiting the bush and
thick underwood, feeding on insects, and living in small flocks, which are constantly on the move,
and uttering daring their flight a continued chattering or pii)ing note.

THE BUSH BABBLERS.

These ai-e inhabitants of the Old World, and form a very conspicuous gi'oup of Thrush like birds,
widely distributed over Africa, and extending over India and the Burmese countries into China.
Some of them are of moderately large size, exceeding the dimensions of the Common Thrush, and they
are very similar in habits, living in the bushes, and hopping vigorously from bough to bough, a mode
of life for which they are well fitted by their strong stout legs.

The habits of the Palestine Bush Babbler are thus described l)y Canon Tristram : — " It is strictly
confined to the larger oases round the Dead Sea, and is well known to European residents as the
' Hopping Thrush ' of Jericho, and is evidently the 'Mocking-bird' of Lynch's 'Narrative.' It is
abundant in the rich oases of Ain Sultan and Ain Duk, at the north-west of the Dead Sea, in the
sultry comer at the north-east, under the hills of Moab (the ancient j)lain of Shittim), and at the
south-east end, in the luxuriant tangles of the Safich. A few inhabit the shrubs of Engedi, and we
found it once or twice at the Wady Zuweirah, at the south-west of the Dead Sef^. Nowhere else
did it come under our observation, and thus we find a distinct and most characteristic species limited
to an area of forty miles by twelve, and not occupying more than ten square miles in the whole of
that area, so far as our present knowledge extends. They are most sociable and noisy birds, always
in small bands, though not in large flocks, hopping along the ground in a long line, with jerking tail,
and then, one after another, running up a bush, where they maintain a noisy conversation till the
stranger's approach, when they drop down in single file and run along the ground, to repeat the
same proceedings in the next tree. The nest is a large, clumsy structure, placed always in the
centre of a thorn-tree, and requiring some little labour with the hatchet to clear a way to it. It
is composed entirely of sti'ips of bark loosely woven together, and without any other lining. One in
my collection looks much like a very large nest of Savi's Warbler, from this peculiarity of the enq)loy-
ment of but a single matei-ial. The eggs are four to six in number, dark rich green, smaller than
those of the Common Thrush, and a little larger than the eggs of Crateropus fulvus. The parent
birds continue their attention to the young for some time after they leave the nest ; and I have been
amused in watching the manner in which the old bird will i-emain at the top of a bush, scolding and
screaming at the intruder till all her brood have dropped down one after another, and are running

52

NATUJi.lL HISTORY.

to the next tree, when slie suddenly runs down and follows them in silence, to repeat the same
manueuv')-e so lon.i; as she is followed. Their food consists priucijially, if not entirely, of the berries
of the zizj'plius, or jujube, which are to be found at all seasons of the j'ear."

THE BOWEE BIRDS.
Considerable difficulty has been experienced in placing these birds in the natural system ; the
curious habit possessed by the larger number of this sub-family, of building a bower instead of making
a nest, marks them as one of the most singular of all the forms of bird life in existence. The richly-
coloured Regent Bird, both from its black and yellow plumage, md from the velvety nature of the

feathers on the head, shows a certain approach towards the Birds of Paradise, while on the other hand,
the Cat birds and true Bower birds are somewhat Thrush-like in appearance. They appear to the
writer to be well placed among the Thrush-like birdH, albeit very aberrant ones.

THE REGENT BIRD (Serkulus melinus).
Concerning the habits of this species, Mr. Gould * writes : — " This beautiful species, one of the
finest birds of the Australian fauna, is, I believe, exclusively confined to the eastern portion of
the country. It is occasionally seen in the neighbourhood of Sydney, which appears to be the
extent of its range to the southward and westward. I met with it in the bushes at Maitland
in company, and feeding on the same trees with the Satin and Cat birds and the Mimeta viridis.
It is still more abundant on the Manning at Port Macquarie, and at Moreton Bay. I sought
for and made every inquiry respecting it at lUawari'a, Init did not meet with it, and was
informed that it is never seen there, yet the district is precisely similar in character to those in
v.diich it is abundant, about two degrees to the eastward. While encamped on Mosquito Island,
* " Handbook to the Birds of Australia."

TKE REdUST BIRD. o3

near the moutli of tlie River Hunter, I sliot several, ami observed it to be numerous on tlie
ueighbounng islandw, [uirticularly Baker's Island, where there is a fine garden, and where it
i'omniits serious injuiy to the fruit crops. Although I Lave spokeu of this bird as abundant in the
various localities referietl to, 1 must mention that at least fifty out of colour may be observed to one
fidly plumaged male, wliicii, when adorned in its gorgeous livery of golden-yellow and deep velvety-
black, exhibits an extreme shyness of disposition, as if conscious that its beauty, rendering it a con-
sjiicuous olyect, might lead to its destruction. It is usually therefore very quiet in its actions, ami
mostly re.soj-ts to the topmost branches of the trees ; but when two gay-coloured males meet, conflicts
frequently take place. To obtain specimens in theii- full di-ess considerable caution is necessary; on tJie

SATIN liOWEU lilli

other hand, females and immature males are very tame, and, when feeding among the foliage, appear to
be so intent upon their occupation as not to heed the approach of an intruder ; and I have occasionally
stood beneath a low tree, not more than fifteen feet lugh, with at least ten feeding voraciously above
me. I did not succeed in discovering the nest ; but the late F. Strange, writing from Moreton Bay,
informed me that it is rudely constructed of sticks, no other material being employed, not even a few
roots as a lining. On the 4th of November I observed one building, and as I was leaving for
Richmond the next day, I gave instructions that it should be taken fifteen days after ; when the time
arrived, however, no native could be got to secure it, and it remained till my return on the 4th of
December. I then sent a native up, and he brought me the nest, with two young ones covered with
down, except the wing.s, which were feathered. As the two birds quite filled the nest, and I have
heard of other nests being taken with the same number of birds in them, I am inclined to believe that
two is the noniwl number of eggs laid. After taking the young. I wounded and succeeded in capturing
the old bird, which, after being two days in confinement, became reconcDed to captivity, attended to
41*

NATURAL BIS TORY.

her progeny, fed tliem, and removed tlie dirt that accumulated in the nest. The eggs are still a
desideratum, and theii- acquisition would be a source of much gratification to nie. The following
extract from a paper on the habits of this fine bird, by C. Cox en, Esq., of Brisbane, read at a meeting
of the Queensland Philosophical Society on the SSrd of May, 1864, I consider to be of high interest,
as aftbrding a clue to the position the bird should occupy in our system : — ' Although the Regent-bird
has been known to ornithologists for many years, very little of its habits has become known, and it has
been left for me to bring under notice the very peculiar and curious habit it enjoys in common with the
Satin-bird (Ptilon,orhynchii,s^ holosericeus) and the spotted Bower-bird (Chlamydoderaf maculata). My
attention was called to this peculiarity in August last, by Mr. Waller, taxidermist, of Edward Sti'eet,
in this city, to whose untiring energy and ability as a collector I must always bear testimony. Mr.
Waller informed me that while shooting in a scrub on the banks of the Brisbane River, he saw a male
Regent-bird playing on the ground, jumping up and down, puffing out its feathers, and rolling about in
a very odd manner, which occasioned much surprise, never having .seen the bird on the ground before.
The .spot where it was playing was thickly covered with small shrubs. Not wishing to lose the oppor-
tunity of procuring a specimen, he fired, but only succeeded in wounding it; and on searching the spot
he found a bower formed between, and supported by two small brush plants, and surrounded by small
shrubs — so much so, that he had to creep on his hands and knees to get to it. While doing so, the
female bird came do^vn from a lofty tree, uttered her peculiar note, and lit on a branch immediately
over the bower, apparently with the intention of alighting in front of it, but was scared away on seeing
Mr. Waller so close to her. She continued flitting over the place, and calling for her mate so long as
he was in the neighbourhood. Mr. Waller believes that the male bird, after being wounded, fluttered to
some distance from the bower, and died, as a male Regent-bu'd was found dead two days afterwards in
a more open part of the brush. On visiting the scrub on the following and several successive days, the
female bird was seen in the locality of the bower, and by her constant calling was apparently lamenting
the loss — or what might seem to her the inconstancy — of her mate. The ground around the bower
was clear of leaves for some twelve or eighteen inches, and had the appearance of having been
swept, the only objects in its immediate vicinity being a small specimen of Helix. The structure
was alike at both ends, but the part designated as the front was more easy of approach, and had
the principal decoi-ations ; the aj^proach to the back being more closed by scrub. Mr. Waller
being desirous that this curious habit of the Regent-bird should be verified, determined to leave
the bower untouched until he had acquainted me with his discovery. Circumstances occuried to
prevent me from accompanying him to its whereabouts until the following Noveml)er, when we
found the bower in good preservation. Previous to my seeing and examining the structure, I must
confess to having had considerable doubts as to whether it would not prove to be a bower of tlie
Satin-bird, but these doubts were dissipated at the first glance, the formation of the structure
difi'ering considerably, and the decoration more so. With Mr. Waller's assistance I removed the
building without injuring or in any way defacing its architectural style. It may not be inoppor-
tune for me to state that I was the first to discover the bower and habits of the Satin-bird, and
also among the first discoverers of the bower of the spotted Bower-bird, that I liave had frequent
opportunities of seeing them in the New South Wales brushes and the myall scrubs to the westward,
and am consequently conversant with their peculiaiities. The bower of the Regent-bird diflTers from
the Satin-bird's in being less dome-shaped, straighter in the sides, ])latfonn much less, being only
ten inches by ten, but thicker in piM|i,,i ti.in ti> its area, twigs smaller and not so arched, and the
in.side of the bower smaller; inihcil, 1 InlirNc, too small to admit an adult Satin-bird without
iiijiuy to its architecture. The decorations of the bower are uniform, consisting only of a small
species of Helix, herein forming a marked contrast from the Satin-bird. Mr. Gould has shown
liis usual power of observation and knowledge of generic distinctions in having placed the Regent-
bird next in order to the Satin Bower-bii-d, without having any knowledge of its peculiar building
instincts. The Regent-bird frequents our river scrubs during the winter month.s, from the begin-
ning of May to the end of Sejitember, coming from the .south, whither he repairs during the
summer. Its food consists of berries, wild fruits, and insects. In confinement it greedily disposes
of house-flies, cockroaches, and small insects, showing great activity in their capture ; but its
• Trn'Aoi', a feather ; pvy^o^. a bill, f p^Aajnu?, a in.iutlc ; Stpij, a neck.

THE VilMMUX 1AM AIL jrAItHLEJi. ii

principal food is the banana, of wliicli it eats largely. It is very bold and pugnacious, the young
males particularly so. In confinement several cases have occurred of one having killed the other.
The young males clasely resemble the females in plumage dui-ing their first year, in the second
they pai-tially assume the gay plumage of theii' sire, and in their third year they put on the full
livery of the adult male.' "

The male has the head and biick of the neck, running in a rounded point towards the breast, rich
briglit ganibos^e-yellow, tinged with orange, particularly on the centre of the forehead ; the remainder
of the plumage, with the exception of the secondaries and inner webs of all but the first primary, deep
velvety-bliick ; the secondaries bright gamboge-yellow, with a narrow edging of black along the inner
webs ; the first primary is entirely black, the next have the tips and outer webs black ; the half of the
inner web and that part of the shaft not running through the black tip are yellow ; as the pi-imaries
a|)proach the secondaries, the yellow of the inner web extends across the shaft, leaving only a black
edge on the outer web, which gradually narrows until the tips only of Ijoth webs remain black ; liill
yellow ; irides pale-yellow ; legs and feet black.

The female has the head and throat dull brownish- white, with a large patch of deep black on the
crown ; all the upper surface, wings, and tail, pale olive-brown, the feathers of the back with a
triangular-shaped mark of brownish-white near the tip ; the under surface is similar, but here, except
on the breast, the white markmgs increase so much in size as to become the predominant h\ie ; eyes
brown ; bill and feet black.

THE FOURTH SUB-FAMILY OF THE TIMELIID.E.— THE GRASS-WARBLERS {CUticoHiig-).

In this sub-family must be placed the large group of Grass Warblers, or Fantails, which are
largely developed in the African continent, and range throughout Southern Europe and the whole ol
tiie Indian region, extending even into Australia. One of the best known species is

THE COMJIC>X FANTAIL WARBLER [Cisticoh, ciirsitatu).
This bird is spread o\er tlie whole of Southern Europe, over the whole of Africa, India, and
China, and is remarkable for the beautiful nest which it makes, and for the great variety in the colour-
ing of its eggs. Captain Vincent Legge writes to Mr. Hume from Ceylon : — " It breeds in the western
province from May until September, and constructs its nest either in paddy-fields or in 6-'«(Wffl-grass
plots attached to bungalows. The nest is so beautiful and so neatly conistructed that perhaps a short
description of it will not be out of place. A framework of cotton or other fibrous material is formed
round two or three upright stalks, about two feet from the ground, the material being sown into the
grass, a,nd passed from one stalk to another until a complete nest is made. This takes the bird from
one to two days to construct. Sevei-al blades, belonging to the stalks round which the cotton is passed,
are then bent down and interlaced across to form a bottom, on which, and inside the cotton network,
a neat little nest of fine strips of grass torn off from the blade is built. This is most beautifully lined
with cotton or other downy substance, which ap])ears to be plastered with the saliva of the bird, until
it takes the appearance and textm-e of .soft felt. The avei-age dimensions of the interior, or cup, are
two inches in depth by one and a quarter in breadth. The whole structure is generally completed in
about five days, and the first egg laid on the fifth or sixtli day from the commencement. The number
of eggs varies from two to four, most nests containing three. The time of incubation is, as a rule,
from nine to eleven days. I have found but little variation in the eggs of this species either as
regards size or colour. They are white or pale greenish-white, spotted and blotched in a zone round
the larger end with red and reddish-grey, a few spots extending towards the point ; axis, 0-63 incli ;
diameter, 051 inch. From close observation I can certify that this and many other small birds do
not here sit during the day-time. I scarcely ever found a Cisticola on the nest between sunrise and
sunset." Mr. Hume himself also observes: — "I have my.self taken several, and have had a great
many nests sent to me. With i-are exceptions, all belonged to one type. The bird selects a patcli of
dense fine-stemmed grass, from eighteen inches to two feet in height, and, as a rule, standing in a
moist place; in this, at tlie height of from six to eight inches from the ground, the nest is constructed.

56 NATURAL HISTORY.

The sides are formeil l)y the blades and stems of tlie grass, in situ, closely tacked and caught together
with cobwebs and veiy tine, silky vegetable fibre. This is done for a length of from two to nearly
three inches, and, as it were, a narrow tube, from one to one-fifth in diameter, formed in the gi-ass.
To this a bottom, from four to six inches above the surface of the ground, is added, a few of the blades
of the grass beiiig bent across, tacked and woven together with cobwebs and fine vegetable fibre. The
whole interior is then closely felted with .silky down — in Upper Ladia usually that of the Afudar
{Calotropiti Uatiultoui). The nest thus constructed forms a deep and narrow purse, about three inches
in depth, an inch in diameter at top, and one-fifth at the broadest part below. The tacking together
of the stems of the grass is commonly continued a good deal higher up on one side than on the other,
and it is tlirough or between the untacked steins opposite to this that the tiny entrance exists. Of
course, above the nest the stems and blades of the grass meeting together completely hide it. The
dimensions above given ai-e those of the interior of the nest ; its exterior dimensions cannot be given.
The bird tacks together not merely the few stems absolutely necessary to form a side to the nest, but
most of the stems all around, decreasing the extent of attachment as they recede from the nest cavity.
It does this, too, very irregularly ; on one side of the nest perhaps no stem more tha.i an inch distant
from the interior surface of the nest will be found in any way bound up in the fabric, while on the
opposite pei-haps stems fully three inches distant, together with all the intermediate ones, will be found
more or less webbed together. Occasionally, but rarely, I have found a nest of a differeut type. Of
these, one was built among tiie stems of a common prickly labiate marsh-plant, which has mauve and
Arllite flo.vers. There was a straggling framework of fine grass, firmly netted together with cobwebs,
and a very .spaoty lining of down. The nest was egg-shaped, and the aperture on one side, near the top.
Mr. Brooks, I believe, once obtained a similar one ; but the vast majority of the others that any of us
have e^'er got have been of the type first described, which corresponds closely with Piissier's accounts.
Five is the usual complement of eggs ; at any rate, I have notes of more than a dozen nests that con-
tained this number, and in more than half the cases the eggs were partly incubated. I have no record
of more than five ; and though I have any number of notes of nests containing one, two, three, and
four eggs, yet these latter in almost all these cases were fresh."

Respecting the species in Africa some interesting notes are given in Layard's work on the birds
inhabiting the southern part of that continent. Mr. Ayres says that in Natal they are common in the
open cjuntry, frequenting much shoi-ter giass than that visited by Drymoica curvirostris. Their
nest is very beautifully constructed amongst the fine stalks of grass, which are drawn together towards
the top, a sort of pur.se, or bag, being made of the finest and whitest down and spiders' webs, and
attached at the sides to the grass which surrounds it, the opening being on the top. On any intruder
approaching the nest the bu-ds generally mount overhead with a flitting, eccentric flight, watching
with anxiety the fate of their domicile. Their flight is tolerably strong ; and when they have been
disturbed once or twice it is sometimes a difficult matter to get within shot of them. Major Bulger
writes from Windovgelberg : — " There is a very tiny bird abundant on the flats all around us here,
which w i call tlie ' little grass bird.' It is Cisticola cursitans — the smallest feathered creatin-e I have
seen in the couiitry, and something like a diminutive Lark in apjjearance. When started it always
lises with a whirr, and flies away, emitting a snapping noise, and occasionally an alarm note ; and wliilst
on the ground amongst the grass, where it is commonly met with, I fancy it not unfrequently makes
the same sua[)ping noise, for often, whilst I have been walking on the flats, I have heard this sound,
and presently have flushed this ' little grass bii-d.' It has seemed to me tliat this Cisticola jiossesses
the power of ventriloquism, for I have remarked on many occasions that although we have heard the
peculiar sound produced by this bird around us in every direction, we have never succeeded in finding
moi-e than one or two at the most of these little creatures." In his work on the " Birds of Damara
Land " the late Mr. Andersson writes as follows : — ■" Tliis species came under my notice in Great
Namaqua Land in about 24° or 2.5° S. lat. I have also met with it abiuidantly in Southern Damai'a
Land, and have obtained it in Ondonga. Specimens from Damara Land are of a lighter tint than
those from Ondonga, but I have no doubt they are identical. It is common at some large waters on
the Omaruru River, but is most diflScult to .shoot ; it can generally only be shot on the wing as it rises,
and when shot it invariably falls in the reeds, where its diminutive size easily eludes the eye. It is,
however, found in many other situations besides reedy localities, but chiefly among tall, coarse grasses

THE TAILOR BIRD. 57

gi-owing about small periodical water-courses. When disturbed, it rises ahiiost perpendicularly,
descending nearly as abruptly, and either burying itself at once in the rank vegetation, or tirat perch-
ing on a grass stalk, and gr.idually creeping out of view, and also out of reach, for it is difficult
to flush it again. The food of this little bird consists of small insects." The Fantail Warbler measures
four inches in length. The top of the head and interscapulars are umber-brown, variegated with yel-
lowish-brown; back of neck, back, and shoulders, clear yellowLsh-bi-own, with umber-brown streaks;

TAILOR BIKD.

rump, umber-brown ; chin and throat, whitish ; breast, belly, and vent, sienna-yellow ; tail, moderately
long, and slightly gi-aduated ; two middle feathers, broccoli-brown, margined and tipped with wood-
brown ; the other featliei-s brownish-red, broadly tipped with white, with a large umber-brown blotch
just before the white, seen, as in all species, most plainly on the inner side ; eyes light Ijrown.

THE TAILOR BIRD (Orthotomus* sutorUis).
This is a well-known Asiatic liird, occurring throughout the whole of the Indian Peninsula, the
Burmese countries, and Cluna.t It is most common in well- wooded districts, frequenting gardens, hedge-
rows, orchards, low jungle, and even now and then the more open parts of high-tree jungles. It is
usually found in pairs, at times in small flocks, incessantly hopping about the branches of trees, shrubs.

• up«o's, straight ; 70^6; (Te>i™), cuttiog. t Jerdon, " Birds of ludia," Vol. II., ]}. lOG.

5S NATVHAL UlSTURY.

pea-rows, and the like, with a loud reiterated call ; and picking various insects, chiefly ants, cioadellsB,
and various small larvse, off the bark and leaves, and not unfrequently seeking them on the ground.
It has the habit of raising its tail whilst feeding and hopping about, and at times, especially when
calling, it raises jthe feathers and displays the concealed black stripe on its neck. The ordinary note
of the Tailor is to-wee-to-wee-to-wee ; or as .syllabised by Layard pretty-pretty-pretty ; when alarmed or
angry, it has a different call. It is a familiar bird, venturing close to houses, but when aware that it
is being watclied it becomes waiy and shy. Mr. Hume gives a very full account of the nests, from
which the Tailor-bii-d derives its well-known name. " In India the breeding season lasts from May
to August, both months included ; but in the plains more nests are to be found in July, and in the
hills more, I think, in June, than during the other months. The nest has been often described and
figured, and, as is well known, is a deep soft cup enclosed in leaves, which the bird sews together to
form a receptacle for it. It is placed at all elevations, and I have as often found it high upon a Mango
tree as low down amongst the leaves of the edible egg plant (Solaruin esculeutum). The nests vary
much in appearance, according to the number and description of leaves which the bird employs, and
the manner in which it employs them ; but the nest itself is usually chiefly composed of fine cotton
wool, with a few horsehairs, and, at times, a few very fine grass stems as a lining, apparently to keep
the wool in its place, and enable the cavity to retain permanently its shape. I have found the nests
with three leaves fastened, at equal distances from each other, into the sides of the nest, and not
joined to each other at all. I have found them between two leaves, the one forming a high back,
and turned up at the end to support the bottom of the nest, the other hiding the nest in front and
hanging down well below it, the tip only of the first lea/ being sewn to the middle of the second. I
have found them with four leaves sewn together to form a canopy and sides, from which the bottom
of the nest depended bare ; and I have foun.d them between two long leaves, whose sides, from the
very tips to near the peduncles, were closely and neatly sewn together. For sewing they generally
use cobwebs, but silk from cocoons, thread, wool, and vegetable fibres are also used. The eggs vary
from three to four in number ; but I find that out of twenty-seven nests containing more or less
incubated eggs, of which I have notes, that exactly two-thirds contained only three, and one-third
four eggs. About the colour of the eggs there has been some dispute, but this is owing to the birds
laying two distinct types of eggs, which will be described below. Hutton's and Jerdon's descriptions
of the eggs, white spotted, with rufous or reddish-brown, are quite correct ; but so are those of other
writers, who call them hluish-green, similarly marked. Tickell, who gives them as ' pale greenish-
bhie, with irregular patches, especially towards the larger end, resembling dried stains of blood, and
irregular and broken lines scratched round, forming a zone near the larger end,' had of course got hold
of the eggs of a Drymoijnm. I have taken hundreds of both types, and I note that, as in the case of
Bticlumga albiriettis, eggs of the two types are never found in the same nest. All the eggs in each
nest always belong to one or the other type. The parent birds that lay these very different-looking
eggs certainly do not differ ; that I have positively satisfied myself. I quote an exact description of
a nest which I took at Bareilly, and which was recorded on the spot. Three of the long ovato-
lanceolate leaves of the mango, whose peduncles sprang from the same point, had been neatly drawn
together with gossamer threads run through the sides of the leaves, and knotted outside, so .-is to form
a cavity like the end of a netted purse, with a wide slit on the side nearest the trunk, beginning near
the bottom, and widening upwards. Inside this, the real nest, nearly three inches deeji, and about
two inches in diameter, was neatly constructed of wool and fine vegetable fibres, the bottom being
thinly lined with horsehair. In this lay three tiny delicate bluish-white eggs, with a few pale
reddi.sh-brown blotches at the large ends, and just a very few spots and specks of the same colour
elsewhere." The male Tailor-bird measures six and a half inches in length, and has the two centre
tail feathers lengthened, and measuring tlu'ee and a half inches, whereas in the female these long
feathers are not found, and the tail measurfes only two inches. The general colour is olive-greenLsh,
the wings being blown edged with green ; the crown of the head is lufous, inclining to grey on the
nape ; the tail is narrow, light brown, with a green tinge, the oiiter feathers narrowly tipped with
white ; under surface of body white, with a concealed black spot on each .side of the throat formed by
the l)ases of some of the feathers, and seen only at times ; bill horny, the lower mandible pale fleshy ;
the legs flesh colour ; eyes reddish-yellow.

THE MUVKiyO-BinUS. 59

THE FIFTH srU-FAMILY OF THE TlMELllD.E.-THE AMEUICAN BABBLERS {Mimbur).*

THE THRASHEKS.
Tlicse arc a group of American Babbling Thrushes, representing the thick-lootoil Babblers of the
Olil World [Cratnropi), anil are not unlike some of the latter in appearance. They have the bill
slender, like that of a Thrush, or else long and arched ; the feet are strong,, and in most of them
rather long ; the tail is rounded and slightly graduated, and is of a moderate length. As an example
of this sub-family may be taken the Brown Thrasher of North America, t This Thrush is a common
sjtecies throughout a widely -extended area, from the Rocky Mountains to the Atlantic, and from the
Red River country in British America to the Rio Grande; and nearly throughout the entire territory
it also resides and breeds, from Texas to the fifty-fourth parallel of latitude. It reaches New England
early in May, and leaves it in the latter part of September or the first week of October, its stay
varying with the sea.son and the supply of its food. It is somewhat irregularly distributed — common
in some parts of this section, and rare, or even unknown, in others. It is not found near the
sea-coast beyond Massachusetts. It passes the winter in the Southern States, even as far to the
north as Vii-ginia, and is in full song in the neighbourhood of Savannah as early as the 1st of
March. The song of this Thrush is one of great beauty, and is much admired by all who appreciate
woodland melody of the sweetest and liveliest type. It is loud, clear, emphatic, full of variety and
charm. Its notes are never imitative, and cannot be mistaken by any one who is familiar with them
for those of any other bird, unless it ma^ be some one of its western congeners. It is a very steady
pei-fornier, singing for hours at a time. Its notes are given in a loud tone, and its song may often
be heard to quite a distajice. In obtaining it's food the Brown Thrush is at times almost rasorial
in its habits. In the early spring it scratches among the leaves of the forest for worms, coleopterous
grubs, and other forms of insect food. By some it is charged with scratching up the hills of early
corn, but this is not a well-founded accusation. Berries of various kinds also form a large part of
its food, and among these the small fruit of the gardens must be included. " This Thrush," says
Dr. Brewer, " is a very aifectionate and devoted bird, especially to its young. It is also prompt in
going to the assistance of others of its species when in trouble. Whenever intruders approach their
nests, especially if their young are far advanced, they manifest the deepest anxiety, sometimes even
making a vigorous defence. The writer has a very distnict recollection of having encountered,
together with a younger brother, an ignominious defeat when making his first attempt to inspect the
nest of one of these birds. The Brown Thrush is jealous of the intrusion of other birds of its own
species to a too close proximity to its nesting-place, and will assert its love of seclusion by stout
battles. In Louisiana the construction of the nest is commenced quite early in March, in Penn-
sylvania not until May, and in the New England States in the latter part of that month. The nest
is usually not more than two or three feet from the ground. It is built in a low bush, on a cluster
of briars, or among vines. I have known it to be placed in the interior of a heap of brushwood
loosely thrown together. I have never met with the nest built upon the ground, but in Springfield
and in other dry and sandy localities this is by no means an uncommon occurrence. These nests are
frequently placed in close proximity to houses, and sometimes in the very midst of villages. The
nest of the Thrasher is large, and roughly but strongly built. The base is usually made of coarse
twigs, sticks, and ends of branches, firmly interwoven. Within this is constrncted an inner nest,
composed of dried leaves, strii)s of bark, and strong, black fibrous roots. These are lined with finer
roots, horsehair, an occasional feather, tfcc. The eggs are usually four, sometimes five, and rarely
six in number. They vary both in the tints of the ground colour and those of their markings, and
slightly in their shape. Their length varies from -99 to 1-12 inch, with a mean of 1-05; their
breadth ranges from -76 to -87 of an inch, mean breadth -81. The ground colour is sometimes
white, marked with fine reddish-brown dots, confluent at the larger end or forming a broad ring
around the crown. In others the markings have a yellowish-brown tint. Sometimes the ground
colour is a light green."

THE MOCKING-BIRDS.
These are also exclusively American, and are distributed over the whole continent, from the tar
north down to the most southern part of South America. They are well known for their adnnrable
• mIhos, a mimic. t Brewer, in " The History of North Americau Birds," Vol. I., p. 3S.

fiu NATURAL MrHTURT.

powers of song, which place them on an equal rank with the Thrushes and Nightingale ot the Old
World, although their concave wings show theiv affinities to the Babbling Thrushes. For an account
of their habits one must turn to the pages of Audubon,* from which the following remarks are
copied verbatim : —

" It is where the great magnolia shoots up its majestic trunk, crowned with evergi-een leaves, and
decorated with a thousand beautiful flowers that perfume the air around ; where the forests and fields
are adorned with blossoms of eveiy hue ; where the golden orange ornaments the gardens and
groves ; where bignonias of various kinds interlace their climbing stems around the white-flowered
stuartia, and mounting still higher, cover the summits of the lofty trees ai-ound, accompanied with
innumerable vines that here and there festoon the dense foliage of the magnificent woods, lending to
the vernal breezes a slight portion of the perfume of their clustered flowers ; wliere a genial warmth
seklom foreakes the atmosphere ; where berries and fruits of all descriptions are met with at eveiy step :
in a word, kind reader, it is where Nature seems to have paused as she passed over the earth, and,
opening her stores, to have strewn with unsparing hand tlie divei-sified seeds from v,rhich have sprung
all the beautiful and splendid forms which I should in vain attempt to describe, that the Mocking-bird
should have fixed its abode, there only that its wondrous song should be heard. But where is that
favoured land"? It is in this great c-ontinent. It is, reader, in Louisiana that these bounties of
Nature are in the greatest perfection. It is thei* that you should listen to the love-song of the Mocking-
bird, as I at this moment do. 8ee how he flies round Ivis mate, with motions as light as those of a
butterfly ! His tail is widely expanded, he mounts in the air to a small distance, describes a circle,
and, again alighting, a})proaclies his beloved one, his eyes gleaming with delight, for she has already
promised to be his and his only. His beautiful wings are gently raised, he bows to his love, and
again towering upwards, opens his bill and pours forth his melody, full of exultation at the conquest
which he has made. They are not the soft sounds of the flute or of the hautboy that I hear, but the
sweeter notes of Nature's own music. The mellowness of the song, the varied undulations and gi-adua-
tions, the extent of its conqjass, the great brilliancy of execution, are unrivalled. There is piobably
no bird in the world that possesses all the musical qualifications of this king of song, who has derived
all from Nature's self. Yes, reader, all ! No sooner has he again alighted, and the conjugal contract
has been sealed, than, as if his bi-east was about to be rent with delight, he again pours forth his
notes with more softness and richness than before. He now soars higher, glancing around with a
vigilant eye, to assure himself that none has witnessed his bliss. When these love scenes, visible only
to the ardent lover of Nature, are over, he dances through the air, full of animation and delight, and as
if to convince his lovely mate that to enrich her hopes he has much more love in store, he that
moment begins anew, and imitates all the notes which Nature has imparted to the other songsters
of the grove. For a while each long day and pleasant night are thus spent ; but at a peculiar note of
the female he ceases his song and attends to her wishes. A ne.st is to be prejrared, and the choice of a
place in which to lay it is to become a matter of mutual consideration. The oi-ange, the fig, the pear
tree of the gardens are inspected ; the thick briar patches are also visited. Tliey appear all so well
suited for the puqiose in view, and so well does the bird know that man is not his most dangerous
enemy that, instead of retiring from him, they at length fi.x their abode in his vicinity, perhaps in the
nearest tree to his window. Dried twigs, leaves, grasses, cotton, flax, and other substances are picked
np, can-ied to a forked branch, and there arranged. Five eggs are deposited iii due time, when the
male, having little more to do than to sing his mate to repose, attunes his pipe anew. Every now and
then he spies an insect on the ground, the taste of which he is sure will please his beloved one. He
drops upon it, takes it in his bill, Ijeats it against the earth, and flies to the nest to feed and receive
the wami thanks of his devoted female. When a fortnight has elapsed the young brood demand all
their care and attention. No cat, no vile snake, no dreaded hawk, is likely to xisAt their habitation.
Indeed, the imnates of the next house have by this time become quite attached to the lovely pair of
Mocking-birds, and take pleasure in contributing to their safety. The dew-berries from the
fields, and many kinds of fruit from the gardens, mixed with insects, supply the young as well
as the parents with food. The brood is soon seen emerging from the nest, and in another fort-
night, being now able to fly witli vigour, and to provide for themselves, they leave the parent
* "Eiifls of North America," Vol. II., p. 187.

Tllli MOCKIXU BIRD. 61

birds, as many other species do. The above account does not contain all that I wish you to
know of the habits of this remarkable songster, go I shall shift tlie scene to the woods and
wilds, where we shall examine it more particularly. The Mocking-bird remains in Louisiana the
whole year. I have observed with astonishment that towards the end of October, when those
which had gone to the Eastern States— some as far as Boston — have returned, they are instantly
known to the ' Southrons,' who attack them on all occasions. I have ascertained this by obsen'ing
tlie gi-eater shyness exhibited by the strangers for weeks after their arrival. This shyness,
however, is shortly over, as well as the animosity displayed by the resident birds, and during the
winter thei-e exists a gi-eat appearance of sociality among the united tribes. In the beginning of
April, sometimes •* fortnight earlier, the Mocking-birds pair and construct their nests. In some-

MOCKING BIRD.

they are so careless as to place the nest betwee.n the rails of a fence dii-ectly by the
i-oad. I have frequently found it in such places, or in the fields, as well as in briars, but
always so easily discoverable that any person desirous of procuring one might do so in a very
snort time. It is coar.sely constructed on the outside, being thei-e composed of dried sticks of
briar, withered leaves of trees, and grasses, mixed with wool. Liternally it is finished with
fibrous roots, disposed in a circular form, but carelessly ari-anged. The female lays from four to
six eggs the first time, four or five the next, and when there is a third brood, which is some-
times the case, seldom more than three, of which I have rarely found more than two hatched.
The eggs are of a short oval form, light green, blotched and spotted with amber. The young of
the last brood, not being able to support themselves until late in the season, when many of the
berries and insects have become scarce, are stunted in growth, a circumstance which has induced
some pei-sons to ima.gine the existence in the United States of two species of Common Mocking-
bird, a larger and a smaller. This, however, as far as my observation goes, is not con-ect. The
first brood is frequently brought to the bird-mai-ket in New Orleans as early as the middle of
April. A little farther np the country they are oiit by the 1.5th of May. The second brood is
Latched in July, and the third in the lafter part of September. The nearer you approach to the-

62 XATVIUL MLSTUllY.

sea .'iliores, the more plentiful do you timl these birds. They are naturally fond of loose sands,
and of districts scantily furnislnd with small ti'ees or patches of briars and low bushes. During
incubation the female pays sueli precise attention to the position in wMch she leaves her eggs
when she goes to a short distance for exercise and refreshment, to pick up gravel, or i-oU herself
in the dust, that, on her return, should she find that any of them have been displaced or touched
by the hand of man, she utters a low, mournful note, at the sound of which the male imme-
diately joins her, and they are both seen to condole together. Some people imagine that on
such occasions the female abandons the nest; but this idea is incorrect. On the contrary, she
redoubles her assiduity and care, and scai-cely leaves the nest for a moment; nor is it until she
has been repeatedly forced from the dear spot, and has been muf-h alariued by frequent intru-
sions, tWt she finally and reluctantly leaves it. Nay, if the eggs are on the eve of being
hatched she will almost suffer a person to lay hold of her.

" Different .species of snakes ascend to their nests, and generally suck the eggs or swallow the
young ; but on all such occasions, not only the pair to which the nest belongs, but many other
Mocking-birds from the vicinity, fly to the spot, attack the reptiles, and in some cases are so fortunate
as either to force them to retreat or deprive them of life. Cats that have abandoned the houses to
prowl about the fields in a half wild state are also dangerous enemies, as they frequently ai)proach
the nest unnoticed, and at a pounce secui'e the mother, or at least destroy the eggs or young, and over-
turn the nest. Children seldom destroy the nests of these birds, and the planters generally ))rotect
them. So much does this feeling prevail throughout Louisiana, that they will not willingly permit a
Mocking-bird to be shot at any time. In wiiiter, nearly all the Mocking-birds approach the farm-
houses and plantations, living about the gardens or outhouses. They are then frequently seen on the
roofs and perched on the chimney-pots ; yet they always appear full of animation. Whilst searching
for food on the gi-ound their motions are light and elegant, and they frequently open their wings as
butterflies do when basking in the sim, moving a step or two, and again tin-owing out theii- wings.
When the weather is mild the old males are heard singing with as much spirit as during the spring
or Slimmer, while the younger birds are busily engaged in practising, prepai-atory to the love season.
They seldom resort to the interior of the forest, either during the day or by night, but usually roost
among the foliage of evergreens in the immediate vicinity of houses in Louisiana, although in the
Eastern States they prefer low fir-trees.

" The flight of the Mocking-bird is performed by short jerks of the body and wings, at every one
of which a strong twitching motion of the tail is perceived. This motion is still more aj)j)arent whOe
the bird is walking, when it opens its tail like a fan and instantly closes it again. The common
<;ry or call of this bird is a very mournful note, resembling that uttered on similar occasions by its
first cousin, the Orphe,us rufus, or, as it is commonly called, the French Mocking-hird. When
travelling, this flight is only a little prolonged, as the bird goes from tree to tree, or at most across a
field, scarcely, if ever, rising higher than the top of the forest. During this migration it generally
resorts to the highest parts of the woods near water-courses, uttei-s its usual mournful note, and roosts
in these places. It travels mostly by day. Few Hawks attack the Mocking-birds, as on their
ajiproach, however sudden it may be, they are always ready not only to defend themselves vigorously
and with undaunted courage, but to meet the aggressor half-way, and force him to abandon his inten-
tion. The only Hawk that occasionally surprises it is the Astiir cooperii, which flies low wth great
swiftness, and carries the bird off without any apparent stoppage. Should it happen that the ruffian
misses his prey, the Mocking bird in turn becomes the assailant, and pursues the Hawk with great
courage, calling, in the meantime, all the liirds of its species to its assistance ; and altlinnich it cannot
overtake the marauder, the alarm creat.-.l by tlu-ir cries, which are propagated in succession among all
the birds in the vicinity, like the watchwords of sentinels on duty, prevents him from succeeding in
his attempts.

"The musical i)0wers of this bird have often been taken notice of l>y European naturalists and
pei-sons who find pleasure in listening to the song of different birds whilst in confinement or at large.
Some of these persons have described the notes of the Nightingale as occasionally fully equal to those
of our bird, but to compare her essays to the finished talent of the Mocking-bird is, in my o[)inion^
quite absurd. The Mocking-bird is easily reared by hand from the nest, from which it ought to be

THE (jR£AT GREY SHRIKE. Go

removed when eight or ten (lays old. It becomes so very familiar and affectionate that it will often
follow its owner about the house. I have known one raised from the nest kept by a gentleman at
Natchez that frequently flew out of the houses, poured forth its melodies, and returned at sight of its
keeper. But notwithstanding all the care and management bestowed upon the improvement of the
vocal powers of this bird in confinement, I ngver heard one in that state produce •anjthing at all
api)roaching in melody to its own natural song. The male bird is easily distinguished in the nest as
soon as the brood is a little fledged, it being larger than the female and showing more pnre white. It
does not shrink so deep in the nest as the female does at the sight of the hand wliich i.s about to lift
it. Good singing birds of this species often bring a high price. They are long-lived and very agi-ee-
able companions. Their imitative powers are amazing, and they mimic with ease all their brethren of
the forests or of the waters, as well as miuiy quadrupeds. I have heard it asserted that they possess
the power of imitating the human voice, but have never met with an instance of the display of this
alleged faculty."

THE TENTH FAMILY OF THRUSH-LIKE PERCHING-BIRDS.— THE SHRIKES {Laniiihe).

The Shrikes, or Butcher Birds, from their savage habits as well as from their strong hooked bills,
were placed by Linnwus and the old authors in close proximity to the bii-ds of prey. They have all
very strong and powerful feet, and many of them capture living prey, such as small birds, mice, &c.,
but as a rule they are insect-feeders. Representatives of the Shrikes are found in every quarter of the
globe, excepting South America. The first group of the Shrikes to be noticed are the Australian
Tliickheads {Pachycephala), which are distributed all over that continent. New Guinea, and the
Moluccas, and throughout Oceania. Mr. Gould states that " their habits differ from those of most
other insectivorous birds, particularly in their quiet mode of hopping about and traversing the
branches of trees in search of msects and their larvse. Caterpillars constitute a great portion of their
food, but Coleoptera and other insects are not rejected. The more gaily attired species re.sort to the
flowering Acacice, Eucali/pti, and other stately trees, while the more dull-coloured frequent the ground.
They all build a neat, round, cup-shaped nest, and the eggs are generally four in number. Their
powers of flight are not great ; some enjoy a wide range of habitat, while others are extremely local.
The song of some is loud and rather pleasing, while others merely emit a whistling note, slowly but
frequently repeated." " The Grey-tailed Thickhead." according to the same author, " frequents the
vast forests of Emnlijpti that cover the greater part of Tasmania, and, although it is rather thinly
dispersed, is to be met with in every variety of situation, the ci-owns of the hills and the deep and
most secluded gullies being alike visited by it. It frequently descends to the ground in search of
insects, but the leafy branches of the trees, particularly those of a low growth, are the situations to
which it gives the preference. The adult male, like most other birds of attractive plumage, is of a
shy disposition ; hence there is much more difficulty in obtaining a glimpse of that sex in the woods
than of the sombre-coloured and comparatively tame female, or even of the young males of the year,
which during this period wear a similar kind of livery to that of the latter. The actions of this species
are somewhat peculiar, and unlike those of most other insectivorous birds ; it pries about the leafy
branches of the trees, and leaps from twig to twig in the most agile manner possible, making all
the while a most scrutinising search for insects, especially Coleoptera. When the male exposes
liimself, as he occasionally does, on some bare twig, the rich yellow of his j)lumage, offering a strong
contrast to the gi-een of the surrounding foliage, ren.leis him a conspicuous and doubtless highly
attractive object to his sombre-coloured mate, who gen. rail v .ircnipanies him. It sometimes resorts
to the gardens and shrubberies of the settlers, but much less fi-...iu.iitly than might be supposed, when
we consider that the neighbouring forests are its natviral place of abode. The Grey- tailed Thickhead
utters a loud whistling call of a single note, several times repeated, by which its presence is often de-
tected. I was inisuccessful in my search for its nest, and the eggs are still desiderata to my collection."

The Great Grey Shrike (Lanius excubitor) is an occasional visitant to England, but has not
yet been known to breed in that country. The occurrences reported of its capture point to it as a
winter migrant only, and at this season of the year it was observed by the writer on more than one
occasion in Heligoland. It is one of the largest of the whole family of Shrikes, and is altogether a

P4 NATURAL HISTORY.

powei-ful liird. The name of Biitclier Bird is given to this and otlier species of Shiikes on account of
the habit whicli tli&se birds have of spitting theii- prej' upon tliorns, and often quite a collection of
victims may be seen impaled upon a hedge, so as to foi-m wliat is popularly called a " Shrike's
Larder." The food of the present species consists of field mice, beetles, gi'asshoppers, frogs, lizards,
and blind woiins, b\it it will also devour small bii-ds, and even rob nests. As an instance of its
pertinacity in capturing its food may be quoted the following note by a German naturalLst,* Mr. Carl
Miiller : — ■" During this winter I had the opportunity of often observing a Great Grey Shrike. He
lorded it over a considerable tract, and. Shrike-like, preferred tlie hedges and young lime-trees
skirting an avenue, where, emboldened by hunger and the severe weather, he watched for liis ])i-ey,
undisturbed by the i)assers-by. I often saw him fly a considerable distance, then suddenly rise in his
flight and hover over one sj)ot. Once when flj'ing along he obser\ed a mouse ; he turned sliarply
round, and, hovering, commenced a careful examination of the ground ; and his watclifulness and
perseverance astonished me. Now he would hover from thirty to forty feet above the ground, now
onl}' ten to fifteen feet ; then flying down to a small mound, he would sit with outstretched neck and
eager glance, carefully sun^eying every spot near him, and after watching for a time would again take
to wing. For more than ten minutes he waited and seai'ched for the mouse, and then flew off to a
thorn-bush about one hundred yards distant. But he had not given up the chase, for after a short
rest he again returned to where he had first observed the animal, and repeated the search. He
persevered even longer than before, and at last secured liis prey by a quick smprise and several hard
blows with the bill, delivered as he was hopping and fluttering over it. This Shrike once attacked a.
Blackbird I used to feed, which had become quite tame. He came behiiid it as it was feeding, threw
it on its back, and, holding it fast with his claws, gave it repeated blows on the head with his beak,
and, had I not hastened to the rescue, would soon have killed it. It may not be generally known
that the Shrike is attracted to its prey not only by sight, but also by the sense of hearing. I have seen
him hunt by ear after a young Lark, neglected by its parents, crouched in the grass calling for food,
or a young Goldfinch sitting chirping on the ground ; and he is well acquainted with the difference in
the call-note of young and old birds. The note of the Great Grey Shrike is harsh. Naumann very
con-ectly descrit^es it as follows : — ' Its cry is scftdch, schdch, and the call-note truU. On bright winter
days, and jiarticularly in spring, it may be heard uttering a sort of song composed of low notes mixed
with its call-note ; and it often also mixes with its song the notes of small birds. Both male and female
sing, and they often call like the Skylark. Its nest is generally placetl at some height on a tree or
large thorn-bush, and is somewhat bulky and loose-looking, though the inside is carefully finished.
The foundation and outside are composed of dry sticks and twig.s, straws and mess ; and it is lined
with wool and hair.' " The Great Grey Shrike is about nine and a half inches iu length, and is of a
light blue-grey colour, with the lower region of the eye and ear-coverts black, separated from the
grey of the head by a thin white eyebrow and frontal baud ; the cheeks and under suiface of the
body are white ; the wings are black, with white tips to the quills, and a broad double band of white
formed by the bases of the primaries and outer secondaries ; the scapulars are tipped with white ;
tail black, \vith white tips increasing in extent towards the outermost feathei-s, which are almost
entirely white. Bill black ; legs slender, dark brownish -black.

THE ELEVENTH FAMILY OF THRrSH-LIKE PERCHING BIRDS.— THE GREEXLETS !,Vireo»\d<e).
These constitute a small American family, which have apparently much in common with the Shrikes.
The bill is notched in both mandibles, the tail consists of ten feather.s, and the tarsi are scaled in
front. The name Greenlet well illustrates the prevailing coloin- of their jjlumage. In Jamaica
one of the Gi-eenlets was described by Brown many years ago under the name of " Whip-Tom-Kelly ;"
and Mr. Gosse t writes of the same species {Vireosylvia calidris) as follows : — " Much oftener heard
than seen, though not unfamiliar to either sense, this sober- coloured bird is one of those whose
notes have such a similarity to articulations as to procure them a common appellation. The Fly-
catchers, in general, are not very vociferous, but this is pertinacious in its tritonous call, repeating
it with energy every two or three .seconds. It does not ordinarily sit on a prominent twig or
* " Joui-juil fur Oiuitliologie," 18G8, p. 159. t " Birds of Jamaica," p. 194.

JREAT GREV SHRIKE.

TJIJ! TITMICE. 65

dart out after insects, thoufjh I have seeu one iu eagei- but unsuccessful pursuit of a Butterfly
(Terins) ; but it seems to love the centre of thick trees, where it sits announcing its presence, or flits
from bough to bough as you approach, so that it is not easy to get a sight of.it. This bird does not
winter with us, but leaves, with the Grey Petebaiy {Tyrannns dominicensis), at the beginning
of October. It returns early, and, like the bird just named, evidently makes an eastward progress,
arriving at the south-west end of the island first. On the 26th of March, on my i-eturn to Bluefields,
after a visit to Spanish Town, I heard its well-known voice, but my lad had noticed it a week
before. From this time every grove — I might almost say eveiy tree — had its bird, uttering with
incessant iteration and untiring energy, from its umbrageous concealment, Sweet-John! Joliu-to-ivhit !
Sweet-John-to-whit ! John-iwhit — sweet-John-to-ichit ! I can scarcely understand how the call can
be written Whip-Tom-Kelly, as the accent, if I may so say, is most energetically on tlie last
syllable. Nor have I ever lieard this appellation given to it in Jamaica. After July we rarely
hear ,/ohn-to-tohit, but to-ichit — to-ivhoo, and sometimes a soft simple chirp, or sip sip, whispered so
gently as scarcely to be audible. This, however, I have reason to believe, is the note of the young,
for I have heard young ones repeatedly utter it when sitting on a twig, receiving from tune to time,
with gaping beak and quivering wing, the food contributed by the dam." Mr. Gosse says that the
bird feeds on seeds, berries, and insects, building in June and July, and lays three eggs, white, with
a few small red-browni spots thinly scattered over the surface, sometimes very minute and few.

THE TWELFTH FAMILY OF THRUSH-LIKE PERCHING BIRDS.— THE TITMICE (P.iridie).

In this family the bill is short and conical, but without any notch at the tip of the upper
mandible ; the nostrils are generally concealed by bristles ; the tarsi are very distinctly scaled,
especially in the freshly-killed birds ; the primary quills are ten in numlier. Titmice are found all
over the northern parts of the Old and New World, but disappear in South America ; nor are
they represented in Australia or Oceania. Only a limited niunber of species are met with in
Afiica.

The Titmice may be divided into two sub-families : the true Titmice (Pariiue), and the Nuthatches
(Siftinai). The Titmice proper are lively and cheerful little birds, and even the murky air of London
does not seem to be able to damp the spirits of such an incorrigible little chatterer as the Bluo
Titmouse, whose cheery note may often be heard even in the squares of the great city, while ii
has more tlian once occurred to the author to welcome him in the immediate vicinity of the British
Musetim, as he threads his way through the smoke-blackened trees in the adjacent gardens. It
would not be fair to take one of these dusky London birds and to compare its colours with those
of a country cousin, as the differences between them could be accounted for by the nature of the
localities which they respectively inhabit ; but this subject recalls a very interesting problem in
connection with the avi-fauna of the British Islands. It is a notorious fact that the animals and
birds which are found in an island long separated from its adjacent continent are generally different
in a greater or less degree from their continental relatives.

This circumstance, howevei-, appears to have been strangely overlooked in the case of the British
Islands by most ornithologists ; and the fact that the British Long-tailed Titmouse was a different
species from the Long-tailed Titmouse of the Continent — an assertion which the author published
in 1868 — was received with incredulity by authorities who would not hesitate tn ndniit similar
instances of specific difference if the case occurred in some other jwrtion of the glubc tlian Euroiie.
As a matter of fact, there is scarcely a resident species belonging to the Britisii Islands wliich
does not differ more or less from its Continental rejiresentative. Such remai-ks do not of course lefer
to migi-atory bii-ds, which visit all parts of Europe alike, but the generality of the British birds
which remain all the year, and do not leave the country, are always duller in colour than
specimens of the same species on tlie Continent. Striking instances of this are seen in the
Bullfinch, the Chatfinch, the Yellow-hammer, and many other birds, but the Titmice offer the
strongest evidence. The Blue Titmouse, although a suHici.ntly plciisiiiiv Imtl in its coloration,
cannot compare for brilliancy of tint with a specimen slml in Fiiinrc. The Coal Titmouse of
England appears to be specifically distinct from the Coal Titmouse of the Continent, which has a blue

«6 NATVRAL HISTORY.

back, whereas tlie Biitisli bird {Parus hritannieus) lias the back olive-coloureJ. The Long-tailed
Titmouse of Sweden and Germany {Acredala caudata of Linnjeus) always luis a jmre white liead,
while in the familiar species of Great Britain {Acredida varans) only the top of the head is white,
bordered with a broad black stripe on each side.

THE GKEAT TITMOUSE, OR OX-EYE (Parus mnjoi-).

This is the largest species of the family found in the British Islands, and is by no means such a
sociable bird as the Blue Tit, V>eing generally seen in pairs, and seldom consorting, as does the last-
Jiamed species, with Creepers, Nuthatches, and other Titmice, which form little i)arties in the winter
and go through the woods in company. It is a very active bird, and its loud notes, which are
syllabled by Macgillivray as a harsh chatter, " Chir^-r-r-r-ik," are sure to command attention from
any one walking in the woods.* " In spring and the early part of summer its notes bear some resem-
blance to the sounds produced by a file in sharpening the teeth of a saw, and may be syllabled into
iee-ta, tee-ta, tee-ta, tee-ta. They are very loud for a bird of so small a size, and may be heard
distinctly in calm weather at the distance of eight hundred paces. Its spring notes, Mr. Hepburn
writes to me, are first heard about the Ijeginning of Mai'ch, and continued till the middle of May.
In April, 18.39, I j)ursued one of these birds through a narrow plantation. The first note I heard
was that of chicr-r-r, then chir-r-r ; it then imitated very exactly the twink of the Chaffinch, the
alarm notes of the Robin and Wren, and the doleful ditty of the Yellow Bunting ; ne.xt it produced
A note of its own, which it repeated incessantly as it spoi-ted amongst the boughs of an old ash ; then
it seemed to forget this note, and emitted another, which also was soon forgotten ; and again, as if
tired of its own compositions, it essayed those of its more musical brethren. This Titmouse was
a great nuisance to me when I began to study ornithology, often leading me astray by its silly
productions, which I thought were the notes of some bird new to me." Like all the species
of the genus Parus, the Great Titmouse nests in the hole of a tree or of a wall, excavating in the
former case the cavity itself. The eggs are sometimes dejiosited on rotten wood, but the nest is
generally composed of grass or moss, above which is a soft bed of hair, wool, or feathers ; but
occasionally it becomes a very massive structure, as may be gathered from the foUowiug account given
by Mr. Stevenson in his " Birds of Norfolk " : — " The most extraordinaiy nest of this species that I
ever saw or read of was discovered in a plantation at Earlham in the sununer of 18.59. This natural
curiosity, which is carefully preserved in the collection of Mr. John Gurney, of Earlham Hall, was
discovered in a rough corner cupboard, fixed at one end of an old shepherd's house erected in a
plantation for the use of the gamekeeper. In the centre of the cupboard was a single shelf; and the
door being kept shut, the piir of Titmice could only obtain access through a small hole in the wood-
work above. Through this opening, however, the enormous amount of materials found must have
been introduced bit by bit, until the centre space between the shelf and the tojj of the cupboard,
leaving only just room enough for the hen bird to sit, was filled with a compact mass of twigs, moss,
bents, feathers, rabbits' down, horsehair, wood, and even flowering grasses. Moss formed, of course,
the chief substance employed ; yet so wonderfully had the whole fabric been woven together that,
when taken from the shelf upon which it was erected, it retained the exact shape of the three-
cornered cupboard, the sides being as firm and neat as a well-kept grass edging levelled with a roller.
The folio wini,' (liiiicusioiis of this remarkable structure will best give an idea of the skill and labour
thus strangely ilr\(,l.d tu it by its untiring architects. Length in front 1.5 inches, height 9 inches,
depth from fniiit to lia<-k-, measured to the angle of the cupboard, 10 inches. In the centre of the
u)iper part was a depression, in whicTi the eggs were laid ; and here, in spite of frequent intrusions
from curious visitors, the hen bird being even handled on her nest, these little creatures reared
five young ones and carried them oft" in safety. A similar nest, commenced in the previous spring,
was unfortunately destroyed ; but since the succe.ssful completion of the one above mentioned no
further attempt has been made to repeat so formidable a task."

The Great Titmouse is about five inches and a lialf in length. The head, throat, and centre of tlie
i)ody arc black, with a large white patch occupying the ear-coverts and the region below the eye ; the
* Macgillivray ; "British Birds," p. 428.

THE LOXG-TAILED TITMOUSE. 67

rest of tlio under surfate is yellow, the uiulei- tail-coverts wliite with dusky centres ; the back is gieon,
the wing-coverts blue grey with a white band across, formed by the tips of the greater coverts ; the
i|uills are blackish, edged with slaty-grey, becoming white towards the tips ; the secondaries are mar-
^'iued with yellow, shading into white towards the ends, the lower back, rump, and upper tail-coverts
slaty-grey ; the tail blue-grey, the outer feather edged with wliite; bill black, feet leaden-grey, eye black.
The female is like the male, but has the black on the head and throat more dingy, and has the black
stripe down the breast less distinctly marked. Young birds may always be told by a tinge of yellow
on the cheeks. The range of this species ajipears to extend throughout the whole of Europe and
Northern Asia

The Long-tailed Titmouse {Acrediila vayaim) belongs to a small genus of birds, distinguished from
the true Titmice by their long graduated tails, which consist only of ten feathers. They are found
throughout the Pahearctic region, Europe, and Northern Asia. They differ greatly in their mode
of nesting, not building, like the Pari, in holes of trees or trees, but constructing a most beautiful
domed nest, iroxa which circumstance their pojiular English names of Bumbarrel and Bottle-Tit are
derived. " Wonderful, indeed," writes Mr. Gould, " is the architectural skill displayed by the Long-
tailed Tit in the construction of its closely-felted nest, so warmly lined with feathers and externally
bespangled with lichens. Who can behold it without feeling the highest admii-ation of the bird's skill
and i)erseverance 1 If closely ins[)ected, it will be found that the glaucous sides of the lichens are
always placed to the light, whereby the exterior is rendered still more beautiful. Li the description of
the ne.st given below, it wUl be found that 2,000 feathers were taken from a single lining. With
what care, then, and diligence must the bird search for so many feathers on the surface of the
ground ! But this is as nothing compared with the amoiuit of invisible cobwebs collected wherewith
to attach the decorative bits of litchen to the outside .... When these birds [the young]
are about ready to fly, they are very different in colour from the adults, and are altogether very sin-
gular little creatures — their comparatively short tails, broad bills, tliick, fleshy, yellow gape, red-ringed
eyes, and white crowns strongly contrasting with the hues of the old birds. When these nestlings
leave their cradle for the trees, they sit on the sunny side of the branches, and are there fed by their
parents. They soon gain strength, and Hit about for their own living ; and when night comes on
crowd together on a low branch in a huddled heap, resembling a ball of feathers, their united bodies
giving out more heat in a mass than if perched singly. In the early morn, when the sun first sends
forth his genial rays, these little Tits may often be seen sittmg in a row, all facing that luminary, and
at other times perched alternately head and tail so regularly as to astonish those who for the first time
witness it. A nest taken in the gaixlen of Formosa, near Cliefden, on the 2nd of May, 1861, was of
large size and of an oval form, with an entrance in the side near the top. It was composed of moss
;ind cow-hair, outwardly adorned all over with small pieces of lichen affixed by means of go.ssamer-like
fibres and the empty cocoons of spiders' eggs, and so plentifully lined with feathers of various kinds,
that on being counted they proved to be about two thousand in nvunber ; among them were observed
those of the Peacock, Tiirkey, Partridge, Barn-door Fowl, Greenfinch, Wood Pigeon, Duck, Turtle-
dove, Thrush, Blackbird, «tc. It contained ten eggs, the total weight of which was 142 grains, their
colour white, thinly speckled with pale red."

In Ills beautiful work Mr. Gould has figured a gi-oup of young Long-tailed Titmice, and has
given an illustration of a mass of these little birds closely packed together on the branch of a
tree. That the species does collect in large numbers, after the fashion of the African Colies and
other birds, is proved by the fact, vouched for by Mr. J. H. Gumey, that Mr. Noble, of Dai lington,
once fired at an object on a tree which he took for a Pheasant, but which jjroved to be a great ball of
Long-tailed Tits. Whether the ordinary Long-tailed Titmouse of Fi-ance is the same as the British
s])ecies has not yet been determined ; but the bird of Northern Euro])e and Asia is the White-headed
Titmouse {Acredtdacaudata), which, is again re|)laceil in Japan by another species {Acreduhitriviryata).
not unlike the British bird. In Spain and Italy the Long-tailed Titmouse (Acredula irhii) is
distinguished by its grey back ; and a specimen of this bird was shot by the autlioi- about thirty
miles from Paris, who can testify to its having a different note to that of the English species.

The present species is about six inches in length, and has the back and tail blaclc, the
outermost white with a black base, the latter increasing on each feather towards the centre of the

NATURAL HINTOHr.

GOLIICRESTS.

tail ; scapulars vinaceous red ; crown of head white, with a broad black streak on each side,
running from beneath the eye and joining the black on the hind neck ; sides of face, throat, and
breast white ; the ear-coverts streaked with dusky ; the rest of the under surface vinaceous ; wings
black ; the inner greater coverts tipped with white, and the secondaries externally edged with
whitish, the inner ones more broadly so ; eyelid orange ; bill and feet black ; eye dark brown.

THE NUTHATCUJiH. 69

The female does not differ from the male, but the young Ijirtls are much more dusky in cohjur tlian
tlie adults, and have longer tails. This eurious fact is witnessed also in the case of some of the
Humming birds.

THE NUTHATCHES (Sittuuc).
These birds have longer bills than the Titmice, and their plumage is more compact, that of the
last-named birds being rather fluffy. They are all inhabitants of the northern parts of the Old and
the New World, being well represented in North America. True Nuthatclies also occur in the
Himalayas and in the hills of Burmah ; in India and the Malayan Islands, the Blue Nuthatches
(Dendrophila), an outlying representative of which is seen in the Coral-billed Nuthatch (Ili/p/ierpen
coralUrost) n) of Madag.iscai , in Austiaha and New Guinea the Nuthatches belong to a closely-allied

COMMON NUTHATCH.

but distinct genus (Sitella). Like the Titmice, these birds build generally in the hole of a tree ;
but a striking exception to the general rule is exliibited in the British Museum, where there is
a nest of the Nuthatch, presented by Mr. Bond, composed entirely of mud, and built into the
side of a haystack. Mr. Bond writes ; — " I have received this summer from the neighbourhood of
East Grinstead a nest built by a pair of Nuthatches, which is so remarkable in its construction, and
in the site selected for it, that I think a notice of it is worth recording. It is well known that
the Nuthatch almost invariably makes use of a hole, either in a tree or wall, in which to deposit
its eggs, and is not, in the strict sense of the word, a nest-builder. In this instance a haystack was
selected, and the birds, by pulling out a quantity of the hay, and plastering up the hollow with
mud brought from a considerable distance, formed a nest of similar construction to that of a Swallow,
but very much larger, with an entrance-hole near the top, and the ends of the hay stems neatly
embeddeil in the mud. The particulars which were sent to me with the nest are shown in the
following letter of my correspondent : — •

" ' East Grinstead, September 8th, 1871.
" ' Sir, — The height of the nest from the ground was between five and six feet. The lining
was com]iosed of decayed leaves only (enclosed are a few which fell from the nest during the packing).

70 AAICIIAL JJi.sroJil'.

The birds were observed pulling the liay from the stack, till they liad formed a large opening, before
they commenced building with mud, which they had to carry about one hundred and fifty yards, that
being the nearest point where they could obtain it. My informants (two men working on the farm)
say that they saw the birds were building for a very long time, quite six weeks or two months, and
they could not understand what the birds were plastering a lot of mud on the stack for.

- ' W. May.'

" To this I may add that the nest cut out of the stack weighed as nearly as possible eleven pounds,
and measured thirteen inches in length, by eight inches in its greatest breadth, and four inches in
thickness. The lining, which my correspondent mistook for dead leaves, was in reality composed of
the scaly inner bark of the fir. There were five eggs, one of which was unfortunately broken.

" Wlien we consider the comparatively small piece of mud which can be carried in the bill of a
Nuthatch, and the great distance from which it had to be brought in this case, the .size and weight of
the nest are extraordinary."

In their habits the Nuthatches bear considerable resemblance to the Creepers, although they do
not possess the spiny tail of the latter. The bill, too, instead of being thin and curved, is short
and wedge-shaped, and is a formidable little organ when used by the bird for the purpose of prising
oS' the bark in order to get at the insects underneath. Often has it occurred to the writer to-
stand beneath a tree on which a Nuthatch is engaged at work ; the first indication of its presence
being a loud musical note, t'vnt, t'wit, (wit, or the loud and decisive hammering with which the bii-d
prepares to scare the insects which are immediately to become its food. The Tree Creeper flies from
tree to tree, invariably commencing at the bottom and working its way towards the top ; not so
the Nuthatch, which from the high branches of an adjoining elm will visit a row of trees in succession,
beginning at the middle or higher branches, along which it runs with great facility, occasionally
descending the trunk head downwards, which is a position never adopted by the Tree Creeper. In
the winter it consorts with Titmice of various kinds, and joins them in their excursions through
the woods. It is, as a rule, not particularly shy, and will often allow of a close approach when busily
engaged in detaching a piece of bark, of which material the bird is able to dislodge with its wedge-
shaped bill a portion so large as would scarcely be believed by any one not acquainted with the habits
of the Nuthatch. The distribution of the English bird is interesting, as it is not the samp as the white-
breasted species of Northern Europe. It inhabits the British Islands and Central and Southern
Europe, extending as far eastward as Persia, and even ranging into South-eastern Siberia. In
Europe it occurs in the peninsula of Jutland, but is replaced in the other Danish islands by the
white-breasted form, which spreads throughout the whole of Northern Europe and Northern Asia to
Jaj)an.

The Common Nuthatch measui-es about five inches and a half in length. The general colour of the
upper parts is slaty-blue, including the wings and the two centre tail-feathers ; the remainder of the
feathers black, grey at the tips, with a sub-terminal spot of white ; a broad black bivnd from the base of
the bill rmining thi-ough the eye as far as the nape ; under surface of body pale cinnamon, deeper on
the flanks ; the cheeks and throat white : the under tail-coverts chestnut with white centres ;
under wing-coverts blackish ; bill brownish horn colour, with a yellow spot at the base ; legs dull
brown, u-is brown.

CHAPTER IV.

CREEPERS— HONEY-EATERS— PIPITS AXD WACrTAILS- THE AMERICAN CREEPERS—
THE AJIERICAN WARBLERS.

THE CREEPKRS— Small Oiilei— Characteristics— The Common Cheeper— Its Call note— Macsillivray's Account of its
Halnts— Nest and Eggs-THE HONEY- EATERS— Distinctive Featmes-THB Tkue Hoxev-eatehs-The Warty-
KACEi) HoNEY-EATEH— Mr. Goulil'-s Descrijition of the Species- The Sun-uirds— Distribution— Mr. Keulenuins'
Account of theii- Habits— Canon IVistram on the Jericho Sun-bird-THE SECOND SUB-ORDER (IF THE
PASSERIFORMES — THE FRINGILLIFORJIES, OR FINCH-LIKE BIRDS -Di.sti,„tiv,, F.,.tuie.s-
WAGTAILS AND ITPITS - Characteristics— The Pied Wagtail— Essentially English Bird-Mttn.n... I l.y < nrkoos
— Macgilli^ay's Account of the Wagtail's Habits— Story of a Season Ticket— THE AMEKK AN i l:i:i:ii:us—
Difference between the Creepers of the Old and of the New World— The Banana Quit— The Amekh an \\aki;i,eiw —
Compared with their Old World Cousins— The Summer Yellow Bird— Dr. Bi-ewer's Account of its Habits.

THE THIRD GROUP OF THE TURDIFORMES— THE CERTHIIMORFH.^—
CREEPERS.
This is an order of very small dimensions, the number of specie.s contained within its limits not
exceeding tifty. They ai-e all climbing birds, running about the trunks of trees vei-y much after the
manner of Woodpeckers : they also resemble the latter in their stiffened tails. The resemblance to
a Woodpeck^^r is of coui-se only in the similarity of the creeping habits of the two birds, for there can
be no difficulty in i-ecogiiising a Creeper from its foot, v.'hich has not the zygodactyle arrangement of a
Woodpecker, but has the toes placed three in front and one beliind.

In the Certhiimorphse the hind toe is very large, the other toes being very slender, long, strongly
compressed at the base, and joined to one another as far as the fii-st joint, the claws extremely sharp,
sti'ongly compressed, and the middle one not oblique. The bOl is very slender and long, being curved
in the True Creepers, while it is stout and wedge-shaped in the Nuthatches, so much so that in the
last-named bii-ds it becomes a powerful weapon for tapping at the trunks and branches of trees, and for
prising off the bark to get at the insects underneath.

THE COMMON CREEPER [CertJiia famlliaris).
The range of this little species is very considerable, as it is found not only over the whole of
Europe and Northern Asia, extending as far east as Japan, and southward to tlie Himalayas, but it
also Lnhaliits the whole of North America as far as Mexico. In England it is tolerably plentiful
everywhere, and is often to be seen in whiter traversing the woods in company with Nuthatches, and
the different kinds of Titmice ; in the spring and summer it is usually seen in pairs, which keep up a
constant call-note, consisting of a single syllable, and generally rather ventrUoquial in its nature, so
that it often seems to be littered quite close to the observer when in reality the bird is at some little
distance. Once on a cold winter's morning in March, as the writer was engaged in collecting birds in a
park at Mongeron, in France, he was considerably startled by 4iearing close to him a loud and not
unmusical song, like that of a Titmouse, not a single bird of the latter family being apparently within
sight. After scanning the trees in all dii-ections in search of the songster, who still continued to
pour forth his notes at short intervals, the musician was discovered to be none other than a
Creeper, who was clinging to the trunk of a tree about ten yards off, and contiiuiing his song at
intervals after a short divei-sion in pui-suit of insects. This struck the writer as curious, as he had
never heard a Creeper sing in England, nor has he found any one else who has ever done so ; but
Professor Newton states that during the breeding-season the male utters a song wliich is loud and
pleasing, though not often lieard, and pitched in a high, shrill key. The Creeper from Southern
Europe has been supposed to be a distinct species from the true C. familiuris of Northern Europe, l)ut
a comparison of specimens does not bear out tliis view, though the songless characteristic of the
British bird, as compared with the loud song which is possessed by the Continental Creeper,
would seem to favour the idea of theii- being different. In the Riviera, M. Basil Brooke states that
the males also sing lustily.

72 NATUIiAL BISTORT.

The following is Professor Macgilli\'ray"s acooimt of the habits of the Creeper :* — '• In winter,
should yoii fall in with a flock of Reguli and Pari scouring a wood, you may be pretty well assured
that a few Tree Creepers will be found at no great distance. There, clinging to the rough bark at
the base of that old elm, you see one advancing upwards by short jerks. At each movement it emits
a .shrill but feeble cry. See how it climbs, .searching every crevice, now proceeding directly upwards,
now windmg round the trunk, presently passing behind it, and in a short time appearing on the other
side. Observe it well, and you will see that it crouches close to the sui-face, presses its tail against
it, now and then picks something from a cleft, jerks itself forward, never rests for a moment,
but it seems in utmost haste, and expresses its anxiety by continually emitting its lisping cry.
Yet its efforts are not labgrious ; it seems to hold on with perfect ease and unconcern, and
although it is now half-way up, it exhibits no sign of fatigue. There it passes ofl from the

■^^^-%$

COMMON' CREEPER.

trunk, creeps along a nearly horizontal branch, winding round it, adhering even to its lower
surface with its back toward the ground. Having gone as far as it finds convenient, it flies
back to the trunk, which it ascends untU you lose sight of it among the twigs at the top.
What next? Will it creep down again? No. There it comes with headlong flight, glancing
like an arrow curves as it comes near the ground, alights at the very root of the next tree, and
commences its ascent. You may watch it for an hour, and you will find it as fresh, as lively,
and as keen as ever. Shoidd it happen to observe you, and suspect that you mean it no good, it
will run up the back of the tree, appearing now and then at the sides, until it is perhaps half
way up, when it will seai-ch all parts alike, being free of the apprehension of injury. But now,
hearing its friends the Tits and Reguli at a distance, it looks abroad for a moment from the top of the
tree, and uttering a few ciies, sweeps away in a curving, somewhat undulating course.

" Such, in fact, is the ordinary course of action of the Creeper, which is thus of veiy peculiar and
remarkable habits. It alights at the bottom of a tree, clinging to the bark with its claws, and without a
moment's delay begins to ascend, which it does by short starts, leaping forward, as it were, and support-
ing itself by pressing the tail against the bark. In this manner it proceeds, dOigehtly searching for

• "History of British Bii-ds," Vol. III., p. 3G.

THi: WARTY-FACEU IIoyEY-EAl ER. ;:!

insects, wliich it picks out with tlie greatest dexterity. SliouUl a persou curious to observe its motions
go veiy near, it winds round so as to keep on the further side of the tree, but seklom flies off. Should
it meet witli a horizontal branch, it can easily proceed along its lower surface, although in that case it
usuallj' prefers the sides or upper part. When it has .searched the branch it flies ofl' to another, or
continues to ascend the stem ; and when it has attained the higher branches, it flies ofi' to the base of
a neighbouring tree, and thus proceeds unceasingly. Indefd, I have seldom observed one a single
moment at re.st. Yet, like otlier birds, it has its period of cessation from labour, and in the breeding-
season it is amusing to observe the gambols of a pair, which may be seen chasing each otlier along
the trunk of a tree, perching for a moment on the branches, and then scudding along, all the while
emitting their shrill and feeble cries. These bii-ds are easily shot, for, like the Gold-crested Kinglet
and Coal Tit, they seem to pay little attention to a person approaching them, insomuch that I have
been within six feet of one, which yet did not fly oft", but merely crept round to the other side of the
tree. While thus employed it uttei-s every now and then a very low chirp, and when flying from
one tree to another, repeats this cry more frequently and somewhat more loudly. I suppose that it is
destitute of song, never having heard it emit modulated sounds. Its flight is generally short and
rapid, from the top of one tree to the base of another ; but it may sometimes be seen traversing a
space of several himdred yards, which it does with a quick and undulatory motion at a considerable
elevation."

It is a permanent resident, occurs in all the wooded parts of the country, but is nowhere luime-
rous, and never appears in flocks. In winter it shifts about from place to place, generally accom-
panying a flock of Tits or Kinglets, but sometimes seeking for its food solitarily, seldom entering
small gardens, but often appearing in woods near houses, hedgerows, or even on large single trees. It
])airs in Ajaril, and about the beginning of May begins to construct its nest, which it places in some
hole in a tree, or rock, or among the roots in a mossy bank. It is composed of withered stocks and
blades of grasses, moss, fibrous roots, and other materials, and is lined with feathers. The eggs, from
five to seven or eight in number, are .seven-and-a-half twelfths of an inch in length, five-twelfths in
breadth, of a regular oval form, glossy white, sprinkled with dots and small patches of brownish-red,
often disposed in a broad belt near the larger end, and leaving the narrower half unspotted. Montague
.states that " during the time of incubation the female is fed by the other sex, whenever she quits the
nest in search of food." The young are abroad by the middle of June, and there is reason to beUeve
that a second brood is frequently reared.

THE FOURTH GROUP OF THE TURDIFORMES— THE CINNYRIMORPH.E—
HONEY-EATERS.

The Honey-eaters are distinguished by their long extensile tongue, which in some of the species
is continued backwards under the skin over the head even as far as the eye, in the way which has
already been referred to in the Woodi)eckers (Vol. III., pp. 334, 33.5). The bill is in most of the
sjiecies slender, rather long and curved, and verj' sharp at the tip, and is more hollowed than is usual
in the majority of birds. They have no rictal bristles. The greatest number of the Honey-eater.s
come from Australia and Oceania, and in Afi-ica and India they are replaced by the Sun-birds. The
above groups, in foct, form the only two families into which the Honey-eaters are divisible.

The first femily is—

THE JIELIPHAUID.E, OR TRUE HONEY-E.VTEE.S.

In tliis family the tongue is doubly cleft and pencDled at the tip ; the nostrils aro long, and shut
in with a large horny membrane on the upper edge. The bill is shoi-ter than in the Sun-birds. As
mentioned above, the Melipliagidce are entirely confined to Australia and Oceania. Speaking of them
in his great work on the " Birds of Australia," Mr. Gould remarks : — " The Honey-eatei-s, or that
group of birds forming the family Meliplmgidie, are unquestionably the peculiar and most striking
feature in Australian ornithology. They are, in fact, to the fauna what the Eucaly-pti, Banksice, and
Me/aleiccce are to the flora of Australia. The economy of these birds is so strictly adapted to those
trees that the one appears essential to the other ; for what can be more plain than that the brush-like
tongue is especially foi'med for gathering the honey from the flower-cups of the Eucalijpti, or that their

NATURAL UISTORY.

kind of food, and the peculiar insects wi

diminutive stomaclis are especially formed for tli:
stitute a portion of it \ "

THE WARTY-FACED HOXEY-EATER LVelipImya phrygia).
Mr. Gould gives the following account of this species : — '' This is not only one of the handsomest
of the Honey-eaters, but is also one of the most beautiful birds inhabiting Australia, the strongly-con-
trasted tints of the black and yellow plumage rendering it a most consj)icuoxis and pleasing object,
particularly during flight. It is a stationary species, and enjoys a range extending from South Australia
to New South Wales; I also met with it in the interior nearly as far north as the latitude of Moreton Bay.
Although it is very generally distributed, its presence appeai-s to be dependent upon the state of the
Eucalypti, upon whose blossoms it mainly depends for subsistence ; it is consequently only to be found

in any particular locality during the
season that these trees are in bios
som. It generally resorts to the
loftiest and most fully-flowered tree,
where it frequently reigns supreme,
buffeting and driving every other
bird away from its immediate neigh-
bourhood. It is, in fact, the most
pugnacious bird I ever saw, evincing
particular hostility to the smaller
Meliphagicke, and even to others of
its own species that may venture to
approach the trees upon which two
or tlu'ee have taken their station.
While at Adelaide, in South
Australia, I observed two pairs that
had possessed themselves of one of
the high trees that had been left
standing in the middle of the city,
which tree, dui-ing the whole period
of my stay, they kept sole possession
of, sallying forth and beating off
every bird that came near. I met
with it in great abundance among
the bnishes of New South Wales,
and also found it breeding among the low apple-tree flats of the Upper Hunter. I have occasionally
seen flocks of from fifty to a hundred in number, passing from tree to tree, as if engaged in a partial
migration from one part of the country to another, or in search of a more abundant supply of food.

" The nest, which is usually constructed on the overhanging branch of an Eucali/]jtus, is round,
cup-shaped, about five inches in diameter, composed of fine grass, and lined with a little wool and hair.
The eggs are two in nutnber, of a deep yellowish-buff, marked all over with indistinct spots and
irregular blotches of chestnut-red and dull purplish-grey, particularly at the larger end, where they
frequently form a zone : they are eleven lines long by eight lines and a half broad. The stomachs of
the specimens I killed and dissected on the Hunter were entirely filled with liquid honey ; insects,
however, doubtless form a considerable portion of then- diet."

The sexes are nearly alike in colouring, but the female is much smaller than the male, and the
young are destitute of the warty excrescences on the face, that part being partially clothed with
feathers. Head, neck, and upper part of the back, chin, and chest black ; scapularies black, broadly
margined with yellowish-white ; upper tail-coverts like the scapularies ; wings black, the coverts
margined with yellow ; spurious wing yellow ; primaries black, with an oblong stripe of yellow occupy-
ing the margin of the outer and a portion of the imier web next the quill, which is black ; secondaries
black, broadly margined on the outer web with yellow ; under surface black, with an arrow-shaped

After Gould.)

THE JESICUU SUX-BIKD. 75

mark of yellowish-white near the extremity of each feather ; two centre tail-feathers black, slightly
tipped with yellow ; the remaiiuler black at the base, and yellow for the remainder of their length, the
black decreasing and the yellow increasing as the feathers recede from the two central ones ; irides
reddish-brown ; bill black ; feet blackish-brown ; warty excrescences, covering the face, dirty ycllowish-

TIIE SECOND FAMILY OF THE HONEY-EATERS- THE SUN-BIRDS [Nectariiiiida:).
These birds inhabit the whole of Africa, ranging through Palestine to India, and thence through
the whole of the Indian and Malayan Islands to Northern Australia, where a smgle sjwcies inhabits
the Cape York Peninsula and Northern Queensland. The Sun-birds are divided by Captain G. E.
Shelley, our first authority on this family, into two sul>families, which he calls respectively Neciari-
nihuK and J'rom^rojnme. In the former of these is placed the great bulk of the Sun-bii'ds, while two
species only represent the long-tailed Sun-birds (Promerops coffer and P. gurneyi). All the Sun-birds
with scarcely an exception are birds of brilliant plumage, glittering with metallic lustre, so that they
represent in this respect the resplendent Humming-birds of the New World ; nor are they unlike the
latter i:i their habits, hovering before the open flowers and extracting the honey and the small insects
which frequent them. Of the habits of Sun-birds one may say, with the familiar maxim, ex uno disce
oinnes ; for when once these have been described in the case of a single species, the remarks may be taken
as characteristic of the whole family. Mr. J. G. Keulemans, who passed a considerable time in West
Afiica on Prince's Island (Ilha do Principe) in the Bight of Benin, writes as follows of Hartlaub's
Sun-bii-d {Cinnyris Itartlauhi) : — " It is tolei'ably abundant throughout the island, with the exception
of the dense woods, where it is replaced by C. obscurus. It is most common on the plains where
bushes and bananii.s occin- ; but as Prince's Island is thickly covered with verdure, it would be difficult
to say where this Sun-bii-d is most abundant. It is very plentiful near plantations, usually in small
groups of from four to six individuals, in which the males are by far the most numerous. They have
no special breeding season, for I have found yoimg birds in every month of the year ; but I find in my
journal, under date of August 30th, that during that month I procured nineteen males, but not a single
female ; so I suppose that at that season all the hens were breeding. I collected three nests, all of
which wei'e very similar. They are of an oval form, and are suspended from one or niniv i w iu>. ;it an
elevation of from four to twelve feet from the groiuid, and generally well concealed amon^si tlir foliage.
They were constructed of the haiiy appendages that are found on the bark of palm-trees, rather
loosely woven together and lined with the soft filaments of flowers, cotton, and other fine vegetable
materials, with the opening on the side most exposed to the light. It appears to me that there is only
one young bird in each brood, for I never saw the parents feed more than a single young one.
It takes a long time before the latter becomes independent ; for I have seen the old birds feeding their
ofisjn-ing after it has been perfectly able to fly, and when it was already beginning to assume its adult
male plumage. The song of the male resembles that of our Hedge Sparrow, added to which are some
notes similar to those of the Wren ; it is, in fact, somewhat between the songs of these two birds, a
little fuller and in a lower key, while the call-note is like that of the Redstart. By imitating this note
they can be brought very close, and can be ea.sily captured, as they are naturally very tame. They
feed chiefly on insects, but will also eat small berries and fruit, and are very partial to sipping the
juice emitted by the banana-flower before the fruit has set. I kept many alive, and fed them uj)on
pajxi.ya, hanana, and bread soaked in sugar and water, with occasionally Ants' eggs. Two males
which I tried to bring to Europe died from cold, after having lived in confinement more than three
months. The natives call them ' Siwie-barbeiro,' or ' Siwie boca-longe,' and the Portuguese ' Besha-
flore' (flower-kissers)." t

It has been already mentioned that a Sun-bird occurs in Palestine, where there seems to be a
certam intrusion, as it were, of the Indian Avifauna into that of the Palwarctic region, for the Indian
Fish-Owl {^Ketupa ceylonensis) was also met with by Canon Tristram during his explorations in that
country. Concerning the .solitary species of Cinnyrw known as the Jericho Sun-bird (('. osea), the
latter gentleman writes an account as follows : — " Most residents in Palestine will tell you of the
-Jericho Humming-bii'd ' — a true Humming-bu-d — and will not allow you to doubt the fact of its
* Gould: " Hp.mlbook to the Birds of Australia," I., p. 528. + Shelley; " Monograph of the 8un-binls,' Part X.

42

KATUItAL HIS Ton.

existence, as it has been seen by them, and was shot by the son of their friend or neigiibour. 'Pxey
are not, however, so far astray as Mr. Goidd's Devonshii-e friend, who lield the honour of hLs country
at stake in the maintenance of his assertion that Humming-biids were common there. Then these
legends have the highest literary warrant : they are embodied in the journals of Lynch and M. de
Saulcy. The gallant commodore (certainly a most truthful narrator, and most trustworthy whenever
on subjects within the range of his naval training and experience) saw the beautiful spangled
' Humming-bird,' between the Dead Sea and Kerak. M. de Saulcy, yet moi-e fortunate, not only saw
in the Ghor es Satieh, at the south end of the Dead Sea, ' Humming-birds with ruby and emerald frills,'
but afterwards obtained one of these wonders of the tropics, which, however, was never preserved, as
an indiscriminating Gat carried it off from the dissecting table, where it had been left.

" Our acquaintance with the Sun-bird commenced on the last day of the year at Jericho, when six
specimens were obtained, close to our camp at Ain Sultan, the day after our aiTival. The oases of the

plains of Jericho appear to be its
metropolis, and we never met with
it excepting in the immediate neigh-
bourhood of water. But wherevei
a few tamarisks, zizyphus-bushes, or
graceful ' retem ' shade a fountain
or straggling pool in some deep glen
opening on the Dead Sea, there a
few occur. The larger oases, how-
ever, of Jericho at the north-west,
and Safieh at the south-east end of
the Dead Sea, are the lesorts o!
great numbers, which, though here
to be found in almost every tree,
are nowhere gregarious, but are
noisy and pugnacious, the males
chasing each other with loud cries,
and as tenacious of tlieir respective
freeholds as Eobins at home. The
note is clear and monotonous, very
much like the call of the Willow
Wren, but sharper, and often re-
minding one of the Blue Tit, yet
with a more hissing sound. Thii>
is incessantly repeated from sunrise
the wliereabouts of the male bird can at once be detected; but to see him is not .so
easy, as he cea.selessly hops in the centre of the very thickest and most impenetrable scrub, and darts very
quickly and suddenly aci-oss the open from tree to tree. The male is extremely restless, and as it twist.s
and clings to one twig after another, in seai-ch of insects, reminds one of the Titmouse much more than
of the Creeper in its actions. It has a curious jerking flap of the wings, opening and .shuttmg them like
the Wall Creeper ( Tichodroma tnuraria). Occasionally I have seen two rivals for the favours of a female
singing on the top of a tree, and puffing out the bi-illiant orange and red axillary tufts, which only at such
times are at all conspicuous. The female during the winter continually repeats the same monotonous
note, but almost always remains stationary, or creeping slowly about in the very centre of a bush.
One female had her quarters in a dense zizyphus-tree fifty yards from our tent, and was used as a
decoy-bird by one of our party, who used to go and sit under the tree every morning for a fortniglit,
and would bring back two or three males, allured to their destruction by this fatal siren, who never
left her retreat at the report of the piece. Alas for humanity ! on the morning of our departure her
good service to this treacherous collector was rewarded by her own death, to be embalmed alongside of

her many deceived admirers A few days after our visit to Carmel we again met with

the Sun-bird in a deep gorge, the Wady Hamam, opening on to the plain of Gennesaretli. Mr,

to ev(

Cochrane ami I [)m-Kueil it in vain ; but while searching among the cliffs for Vultures' nests, Mi-.
i'oclirane pulled down from the extremity of the twig of a hyssop plant what he imagined to he an old
nest of a Gi'ass Warbler {Dryinoica yracUis). It had the external appearance of a loose ball of
rubbish, such as might have been floated down by a sudden flood and caught in the branch of a tree.
After tossing it about for some time he threw it towards me, and on examining it I was dismayed
to find it a fresh nest, very firm and compact inside, with a small hole in the side, and containing two
broken fresh eggs, elongated, of a greenish-white, ^vith a zone of darker green-grey spots near the
larger end. We searched in vain for another, and mourning our ill-luck, left the neighbourhood the
next day. On the 23rd of May I returned to the same place, antl while climbing up to a cave, tho
resort of the Rufous Swallow (Hirunclo rufula), I struck with my head a little ball of straw and
leaves attached to the extremity of a castor-oil plant, not two yards from the «pot where Mr.
Cochrane had found his nest. It contained three eggs, quite fresh, and was beautifully shaded both
from the sun and from observation. I was fortunate enough to secure the male bird in full plumage.
Close by was another nest, from which one young bird had been reared ; and we watched the female
feeding her young family of three in the liyssop overhead. I am inclined to believe that they had
lired twice, for we coidd not make out a third pair. Meanwhile, I had returned in April to our old
quarters at Ain Sultan, near Jericho, accompanied oidy by a single muleteer and one guard. On the
afternoon of my arrival, on the 13th of April, I discovered by myself no less than seven nests— one
with three eggs, one with two hard set, one building, and four with young. All were in precisely
similar situations, suspended from the extremity of a small twig hanging down in the centre of a
' nubk ' tree, whose thorny branches spread iii a cii-cle so close to the ground that I had in eveiy
instance to creep on all-fours till I coukl get under the trees. The nests in these places were perfectly
inaccessible to the attacks of the serpents and lizards which abound there. The nests are at first
very neat and compact, long straws and fibres being attached to the extremity of the drooping bough,
and on these the bag is woven. When finished, a few loose leaves and straggling straws are loosely
fastened all round, to elude observation and remove the appearance of art. I kept three youni;; Ijirds
for ten days in a box, and fed them with bunches of the blossom of a jasmine and convolvulus. The
hen bird lingered always in the neighbourhood of the tent, doubt-
less attracted by their cries ; and when we were about to leave I
turned out the two surviving captives, and was glad to see the parent
take to them at once, and attend to them in an adjoining tree."*

THE SECOND SITB-ORDER OF THE PASSERIFORMES.
THE FRINGILLIFORMES, FINCH-LIKE BIRDS.

All the members of the Fringilliform group of perching birds
have only nine primary quills, the firet being very long, -as may be
seen in the subjoined sketch of a Pipit's wing. The families which
make up this sub-order are seven in numbei', and it is difficult to
arrange them in any successive order, for they are all more or less
closely related to other forms which are placed in one or other of the
remaining orders of the Passei-iformes. Thus the Wagtails and
Pipits (Motacillidce) are nearly allied to the Larks {Alaud'tda), the
American Warblers {Mniotiltidce) to the true Warblers (Sylvudcti). the
American Creepei-s {C(erehida') to the true Creepers, or Certhiimorphce,
the Flower-peckers {Dicnkhe) to the Sun-birds (C'inmjrimorphce), the Swallows {Hirundinidaj to
the Flj'catchers (Muscicajndw), the Finches {Fringillidw) to the Weaver-birds (Ploceidai), and
the Hang-nests {Icteridm) to the Starlings (Sturnidce). As it is obvious that all these relation-
whips cannot be shown in a linear arrangement, each family will have to be considered separately, and
its relations explained as the work progresses. In fact, it is impossible in any way to arrange the
families of bii-ds in a straight line, any more than one can range the countries of Europe in direct
succession, a fresh start having to be made every now and then..

♦ "Il.is."l,S6.5, p. 72.

78 NATURAL UIVTORV.

THE FIRST FAMILY OF THE FINCH-LIKE BIRDS.— THE MOTACILLID.E.
WAGTAILS AND PIPITS.

Tliese birds can always be recognised by a striking peculiarity of the wing, which, in addition to
their habits and general economy, proclaims at a glance their Lai-k-like affinity. In the Wagtails and
Pij)its the innermost secondaries are of extreme length, nearly equalling the long primaries. This
is a feature which is very pronounced in all Larks, like which birds, also, the Wagtails and Pi[)its
seek their food on the ground, have large feet in proportion to their size, and progress by walking
instead of by hops. Some of the Pipits, too, have the habit of mounting into the air and uttering
their song, much the same as a Woodlark v/ould do, though not to the same extent as a Skylark.
The eggs of the Pipits likewise resemble to a great extent those of a Lark.

The Wagtails may be recognised from the Pipits by their longer tail, which exceeds the wing in
length, whereas in the last-named group of birds the wing is either equal to the tail or exceeds it in
dimensions. They may be divided naturally into two groups, called the Pied or Water Wagtails
(Moiacilla), and the Field Wagtails {Budytes). As a rule, the prevailing colours in the latter gi-oup
are grey and yellow, and they have rather shorter tails, but it is doubtful whether more than one
genus of Wagtails can properly be recognised, for there is an intermediate form, the Grey Wagtail
(Motacilla melanope), which combines the habits and form of an ordinary Water Wagtail with the
grey and yellow coloration of a Field Wagtail.

THE PIED WAGTAIL {Motacilla lugubris).
This is f)ne of the peculiarly English birds, being one of the few Earopean species which are
common in the British Islands and rare in other parts of the Continent ; this, at least, is true as
regards the breeding season. In the soivth of England it is a resident bird, though the numbers
decrease in very severe weather, when the bird probably migrates, for in Western Scotland it may be
looked u[)ou as a regular migratory species, as it has been stated to disappear entirely from its
summer haunts in the outer Hebrides, where it retvirns again in spring. It was at one time supposed
to be only a native of Great Britain, and is even to this day best known by the name of Motacilla
yarrelli, having been thus called by Mr. Gould, after the celebrated English naturalist Yarrell. In
the part of Berkshire near Cookham, where many of the writer's personal experiences of birds have
been gathered, the Wagtail is the especial victim of the Cuckoo, many of whose eggs he has found in
the nest of the Pied " Dishwasher," as he is familiarly called in that and in most parts of the country.
On one occasion the nest was built in the mould of a flower-basket on the lawn at Formosa, near
Cookham, and at some distance from the edge of the wood-work. There the nest was found by
Mr. Brig^s, the head-gardener on the estate, one of the best field-naturalists known to the writer, as
indeed is testified by the frequent references to his observations in Mr. Gould's " Birds of Great
Bi-itain," and to this day his untimely death is deplored by all who knew him. The CUickoo's egg
was duly pointed out by Mr. Briggs, but so exactly alike in colour was it to the other eggs of the
foster-parent, th it the vn'iter expressed the strongest doubts as to its being really anything but a
rather large Wagtail's egg. Time, however, proved the contrary, and it was not long before the
nest, which was rather a rudely constructed affair, placed in a hollow depression in the mould of
the flower-basket, was completely filled by a hungry, yellow, gaping, young Cuckoo, who, on being
hatched, disposed in the usual cuouline way of his foster-brothers and sisters. These were found,
curiously enough, lyiji;? dead on the grass at some little distance from the flower-basket, and the
ipiestion which was asked was, whether the old Cuckoo really is the unregenerate deserter of its
ofl'spring tliat it is generally made out to be, or whether it still takes a parental interest in the young
birds, which it nevertheless leaves to the care of foster-paz'ents to bring up. Mr. Briggs always held
the idea that the Cuckoo was not devoid of this natural instinct, and he imagined that the removal
of the young Wagtails w;!S the work of one of the parents of the young Cuckoo. It is, however,
))robable that the old Wagtails, finding the dead bodies of the nestlings left on the mould, themselves
acted a-s undertakers, and carried them to some little distance. All the time that the nest was under
examination the Wagtails were in close attendance, with their mouths full of caterpillars and insects,
evincing the utmost distress, and runninif about on the edge of the flower-basket. Mr. Gould even

TUE FIED WAGTAIL. 79

suys that they will fly in the fuce of any one attempting to remove their unwiekly foster-child, and that
when the latter is restored to the nest tliey " will evince their joy by fondling and dancing around it,
leaping over its back, and exhibiting many other demonstrations of delight."

Tlie following excellent description of the Wagtail's habits is given by Macgillivray : —

" The places usually frequented by this beautiful bird are the margins of streams, ditches, pools,
and lakes. Towards the end of July, when the cares of rearing their young are over, they betake
themselves in great numbers to the mouths of rivers, especially such as have marshy meadows along
their siiles, or muddy expanses to which the tides have access. Often one may see them wading in
shallow places in quest of insects and worms, carefully holding uj) their tail to prevent its being
draggled. If yon watch the motions of an individual just coming up to join the party, you see it alight
abruptly, twittering its shrill notes, and perching on a small stone, incessantly vibrate its body and
jerk out its tail. It now perhaps walks out into the water and searches for food, or, finding none, flies
to the shore, and runs along with gi-eat rapidity, stopping and stooping now and then to pick up a
tiny wormlet, and momentarily spreading out its ever- vibrating tail. Its light footsteps leave no
impression on the soft sand, and if it walks out upon the mud you wonder that its little toes do not get
clogged ; yet so i-apid are its motions that it never sinks in the mire, and when the latter becomes too
soft it aids itself with its wings or flies to a place where it may find more secure footing. Now it runs
into the meadow, in pursuit of a fly, which it has no sooner caught than it spies anothei-. The lazy
geese that have nibbled the grass bare allow it to pass in the midst of them without molestation, or if
some malicious gander or foolish gosling attempts to seize it, they find that they have given themselves
too much credit for dexterity. There the cows are grazing in the midst of a swarm of gnats and other
insects, and the Wagtail has arrived in their vicinity. Running forward, it catches a small fly, bends
to one side to seize another, darts to the right after a third, and springs some feet into the air befoi-e
it secures a fourth. Now see it picking among the old dung, where there are doubtless many larva;
concealed, again running off in pursuit of a fly, passing close to the cow's nose or among her feet.
There, while in pursuit, it encounters another of its own species; but they quarrel not, no doubt aware
that there is room enough for both of them in the world, or even in the meadow, which you now see to
be covered with Wagtails, all busily occupied, some walking, others running, a few flying oft" and many
arriving. You may walk in among them : they are not very shy, for they will allow you to come
within fifteen yards, or sometimes less ; and you may shoot as many as you please, for although some
will fly off, others will remain, and of the former a few will settle in the neighbourhood. Day after day
you will find them here when the tide is out. At other times you may search for them by the edges
of the river, along the mill-dam, in the meadows, or even in the dry pastures. Occasionally you may
see them perched on a roof, a wall, or a large stone, but very rarely on a tree or bush. Towards the
middle of October many of them take their departure from the middle and southern parts of Scotland,
and the rest wander over the country, frequenting watery places, and in hard weather approaching
houses, searching the sides of the roads, the dunghills, and even the cottage doors. In most pai-ts of
the south of Scotland they are not at all uncommon in winter, but in England they aie much more
abundant. ^

"About the beginning of March the migratory movement commences. Many remain in the south,
but many also move northward, and some arrive in the northernmost parts of Scotland and in the
outer Hebrides by the middle of March. It is a pleasant sight to see a small group of these birds
walking and running with light and graceful steps along the newly-turned furrows on a cold, dry
morning in spring, when the east wind nips your fingers and calls the blood into your cheeks. Rooks
a'-e scattered over the field ; a few Hooded Crows are searching the distant end of the ridge, but they
have little dread of the ploughman, follow close upon his heels, or mei-ely rise before the horses, to re-
sume their Station when they have passed. At this season they obtain an abundant supply of food,
and as the labouring lasts until the warm weather sets in, they need never suffer for lack of larvse or
insects. But at all seasons they are fond of rambling along the shores of the sea, and especially of
estuaries, lakes, and rivers.

" About the middle of April, when they have paired and scattered over the country, they begin
their preparations for the more important business of the season. Then- nests are placed by the side
of a river or stream, on a rocky bank, or among the grass, or on a heap of stones, or in a hole in a

so NATURAL HISTUKY.

wall, and are composed of stems and leaves of withered grasses, mixed with some moss and leaves, and
thickly lined with wool and hair, sometimes aJso with feathers. One now before me is of a somewhat
flattened form, rather bulky and rudely constructed, its external diameter five inches, the internal
three and a half. The outer layer is composed of fibrous roots, stems and blades of gi-asses, intermixed
with hair. The inner is a rude mass of hair of various kinds in tufts : human hair, black, brown, red,
and sand-coloured ; hair of dogs, cats, cows, and horses ; hog's bristles, and some cotton, thread, and
feathers. The eggs, five or six in number, are greyish-white, spotted all over with grey and brown,
their average length nine-twelfths of an inch, their greatest breadth seven and a quarter twelfths.

" The ordinary note of this species is a sharp chirp. When alaiTued or otherwise agitated, it flies

VHITE WAGTAIL.

about in a wavering manner, uttering a repetition of this note, and alarming the small bii-ds in thf
neighbourhood. In snnny weather, especially in the mornings, it may be heard singing a pleasant,
mellow, and modulated little song. The flight is light, buoyant, and undulated ; it propels itself by a
repetition of smart flaps, ascends in a curved line, then ceases for a moment, descends in a curve, re-
peats the motion of its wings, and thus proceeds, as if by stai-ts, and wdth great velocity. Like many
other birds, it is not fond of flying down the wind, but prefers an oblique course. In its habits it is
quite terrestrial ; at least, I have never seen it seaix-h for food on trees, bushes, or even herbaceous
plants, although it not unfrequently perches on a hedge or bush during the breeding season. It is
curious to observe this sjiecies pursuing its prey in difierent localities. Thus, if you watch it for some
time when it has taken its station among stones or fragments of rock, you cannot fail to be pleased with
the activity and dexterity which it displays. There it stands on the top of a stone, gently vibrating its
tail, as if poising itself. An insect flies near, when it starts off, flutters a moment in the air, seizes its
prey, and settles on another stone, spreading and vibrating its tail. Presently it makes another sally,
flutters about for awhile, seizes two or tliree insects, glides over the ground, curving to either side, and

THE B.tXAXA QVIT. 8]

-main takes its siaini on a pinnacle. Again, you pereeix'e several Wagtails flying in a wa\'ering ami
buoyant manner over the rushes that skirt a large ])ool. It is a calm bi'ight evening, the tloots are
.swimming about among the reeds antl hor.setails, uttering now and then their short, loud, trum pet-like
cry, and tlie White- rumped Swallows are glancing along, now dipping lightly into the water to seize a
tiy, tlien darting here and there amongst the tiny insects that sport over the rank weeds. A Wagtail
tries an excursion over the water, and although its flight does not ecpial that of the Swallow in elegance
and velocity, it ^et performs its task with considerable grace, flutters here awliile, seizing a few
insects, sweeps away in a curve, as if to acijuire suflicient speed to keep it up without fluttering, turns
suddenly, then shoots forth in a straight line, and thus continues for several minutes, until at length,
fatigued, it betakes itself to the top of the stone wall, where it rests a little, and then commences a new
excursion. Not unfrequently it may be seen running along the roof of a house in .search of insects,
which it seizes in the manner of the Flycatcher or Redstart. Often also it is to be found among rocks,
and it is not uncommon in the streets of country villages, where it searches for insects, chiefly along
the gutters."

Under the heading of a " Season Ticket," the following story went the round of the papers in
the summer of 1878 : — " It may be interesting to some of your readers to be informed that on a
small piece of framework underneath ai third-class smoking carriage on the London and South Western
Railway, a Water Wagtail has built her nest and reared a young and thriving family of four. Tlie
train runs regularly from Cosham to Havant five times a day, in all about forty miles ; and the
.station-master informs me that during the absence of the train the male bird keeps close to the
spot, waiting with manifest intere.st and anxiety the return of his family from their periodical
tours."

THE SECOND FAMILY OF THE FINCH-LIKE BIRDS.— THE C.EREBID.E.
AMERICAN CREEPERS.
There is a gi-eat difterence in the outward aspect of the American C'reei)crs and the true
Creepers of the Old World, which ha^e spiny tails ; the former rather approach the Nuthatches, like
which birds, most of them have soft-feathei-ed, squared tais. In fact, in Southern and Central
America thei-e is a genus Dir/losm, which is wonderfully like Sitta in appearance, but with a hooked
and rather upturned bill. To the present family belong also the pretty little Blue Creepers,
which are so often mounted in glass shades, and seen, alas ! on hundreds of ladies' bonnets, and which
are remarkable for their vivid blue colour and yellow-spotted wings. Another interesting group is
seen in the genus Certhiola, the members of which are principally Central American, though some
species extend southwards as far as Brazil.

THE BANANA QUIT [Certhiola /areola).
For the habits of this interesting little bird, a reference must be made to the well-known
woik of Mr. Gosse on the " Birds of Jamaica."* " Scarcely larger than the average size of the
Humming-birds, this little Creeper is often seen in company with them, probing the same
flowers and for the same purpose, but in a very ditt'erent manner. Instead of hovering in
front of each blossom, a titsk to which his short wings would be utterly incompetent, the Quit
alights on the tree, and proceeds in the most business-like manner to peep into the flowers,
)ioi)ping actively from twig to twig, and throwing the body into all positions, often clinging by the
feet, with the back downwards, the better to reach the interior of a blossom with his curved beak
and pencilled tongue. The minute insects which are always found in the interior of flowers are
the objects of his search and the rewai-d of his persevft-ance. Unsuspectingly familiar, these
birds often resort to the blossoming shrubs of gardens and yards. A large moringa tree, that is
all through the year profu.sely set with fi-agrant spikes of bloom, is a favourite resort both of these
and the Humming-birds. One within a few feet of my window is, while I write this note, being
carefully scrutinised by two active little creatures that pursue their examination with a zeal
perfectly undisturbed by my looking on, while the same blossoms are rifled on one side by a
* " Birds uf Jamaica," i>. 84.

82 NATURAL HISTORY.

minute Humming-bird, and on the other by that gorgeous Butterfly, Urania aloaneus — an in-
teresting association. The Quit often utters a soft, sibilant note as it peeps about.

" Tlie nest of this bird i.s very frequently, perhaps usually, built in those low trees and
buslie.s from whose twigs depend the paper nests of the brown wasps, and in close contiguity
with them. The Grass Quits are said to manifest the same predilection ; it is a singular exercise
of instinct, almost of reason, for the object is doubtless the defence afforded by the ]iresence of
the formidable insects, but upon what terms the league of amity is contracted between the neigli-
bours I am ignorant.

•'It is in the months of May, June, and July that the Creeper performs the busine.ss of incubation.
On the 4th of May I observed a Banana Quit with a bit of silk cotton in her beak, and on searching,
found a nest just commenced in a sage-bush (Lantana cainara). The structure, though but a
skeleton, was evidently about to be a dome, and so far was constructed of silk cotton. Since then
I have .seen several completed nests. One now before me is in the form of a globe, with a small
opening below the side. The walls are very thick, composed of dry gi-ass, intermixed Ln-egularly
with the down of a.sclepias. It appeared to have been forsaken, from my having paid it too much
attention. It was fixed between the twigs of a branch of a bauhinia, that projected over the high
road near Content, in St. Elizabeth's. Another, which I found at the end of June in a sage
bush, was of the same .structure ; in this were two eggs, greenish-white, thickly but indefinitely
dashed with reddish at the larger end."

THE THIRD FAMILY OF THE FINCH-LIKE BIRDS.— THE MNIOTILTID^.
AMERICAN WARBLERS.

The American Warblers are similar in form and also in habits to the Warblers of the Old World,
but, as already stated, they have no "first" or "bastard" primary, as it is called, so that they must be
placed in quite a separate sub-order of the Perching Birds. They are of a more vivid coloration than
their more sober-plumaged Old World cousins, many of them having a beautiful admixture of yellow,
black, chestnut, and white in their plumage. Many of them are closely allied to some of the American
Creepers (Ccerebidce), but are distinguished by a shallow notch at the end of the tongue, instead of the
deeply -fissured tip which is the characteristic of members of the last-mentioned family.* Some of the
American Warblers ai'e extremely rare, and appear to be local in their distribution ; they seem, how-
ever, to be nearly all migratory, many of them spreading over a wide extent of North America during
the summer, and taking up winter quarters in Central America, some even extending to South
America.

THE SUMMER YELLOW BIRD {Deiii/ioica lestira).

Dr. Brewer writes :• — "The Summer Yellow Bird arrives in New England with great uniformity from
the 1st to the middle of May. Its coming is usually the harbinger of the opening summer and expand-
ing lea\ IS. Unlikf most of its family, it is confiding and familiar, easily encouraged, by attention to its
wants, to ( ulti\ .itc the society of man. It confidingly builds its nest in gardens, often in close vicinity
to dwelliu>,'s, and in the midst of large villages and cities, among the shrubbery of frequented pai-ks. This
Warbler, soon after its arrival, begins the construction of its nest. It is iLSUally placed in low bushes,
three or four feet from the ground. Occasionally very diflJerent positions are chosen. Hedges of
buckthorn and hawthorn, barbeiTy-bushes, and other low shrubs are the favourite places of resort. On
one occasion the nest was placed some forty feet from the ground in the top of a horse-chestnut tree
overhanging the main street of a village. Such high positions are, however, not very common. The
nest is invariably fastened to several twigs with gi-eat firmness, and with remarkable neatness and skill.
A great variety of matei-ials is employed in the construction of their nests, though not often in the same
nest, which is usually quite homogeneous. The moi-e common materials are the hempen fibres of
plants, fibrous strips of bark, slender .stems of plants and leaves, and down of asclepias. Interwoven
with these, forming the iiimi- matprials, are the down from willow catkin, the woolly furze from fern
.stalks and the Eriophnrniii rinjiiiirum, and similar substances. These are lijied with soft, fine grasses,
hair, feathers, and other warm materials. Cotton, when procurable, is a favourite material, so also is

* Baiid, Brewer, and Ridgway : "North American Birds," Yol. I., p. 177.

THE aVMMEK YELUn]' JlIUIi. S3

wool : wliere abundant, I have known instances wliei-e nests were built almost exclusively of one or the
other material. A pair of these birds, in 1836, built their nest under a parlour window in Roxbiiry,
wliere all their operations could be closely watched. When discovereil, only the framework, the
fastening; to the supporting twigs, had been erectetl. The work of completion was simple and ra|)id.
The female was the chief builder, taking her position in tlie centre of the nest and ai-ranging the
materials in their places as her mate brought them to her. Occasionally, with outstretched wings and
expanded tail, she would whirl herself round, giving to the soft and yielding materials their hemi-
spherical form. At intervals she arrested her revolutions to stop and regulate with her bill some un-
yielding portion. When her mate was dilatory, she made brief excursions and collected materials foi
herself, and when the materials brought her were deemed unsuitable they wei-e rejected in a most
summary and amiising manner. The important part of the tail-feathers in shaping the nest and
placing the materials in position was a striking feature in this interesting performance. The
greater portion of the nest was thus constructed in a single day. The wonderful sagacity dis-
played by this Warbler in avoiding the disagreeable alternative of either having to abandon its
own nest or of rearing the young of the intrusive Cow Blackbird, when one of these eggs is
dropped into her nest, was first noticed by Mr. Nuttall. The egg of the jiarasite, being too large for
ejectment, is ingeniously incarcerated in the bottom of the nest, and a new lining built over it. Occa-
sionally, either by accident or design, the intrusive egg has been fractured. Mr. Nuttall states that
when the parasitic egg is laid after her own, the Summer Yellow Bird utterly refuses to act the pai-t
of a foster-parent, and rather than do so sacrifices her own eggs. So far as I know, this Warbler
will never sit upon or hatch out the egg of the Cow-bird under any circumstances. Some powerful
instinct, bordering closely upon reason, seems to teach these intelligent Warblers the character of the
intruder, and they sacrifice their own eggs rather than rear the parasite. In this dilemma they will
always, so far as I know, incarcerate their own eggs with the Cow-bird's, and re-construct the nest
above them. In one instance, the same pair of Yellow Birds, twice in the same nest, covered up
alien eggs in this manner, building, in fact, three nests one above the other, between the walls of
which had been successfully included two eggs of the Cow-bird. This three-storeyed nest measured seven
inches in length, and was built almost exclusively of raw cotton. The covering of the imprisoned eggs
wiis about two-thirds of an inch thick. In both instances the Cow-bird's eggs had been broken,
apparently by design. So far as I am aware, this Warbler raises biit one brood in Massachusetts in a
season. . In Pennsylvania it is said to raise two, and even three. The eggs are usually five and occa-
sionally six in number. This Warbler is conspicuous in its devotion to its young, evincing a strong
attachment and an anxiety even in regard to an occupied nest, and betraying the site by this
solicitude. They will also resort to various expedients to draw one away from their nest by
feigned lameness and other stratagems and manoeuvres.

" The song of the Sunmier Yellow Bird is simple but pleasing, and is easily recognised when once
known, though liable to be confounded with that of the Maryland Yellow Throat, and also said
to resemble the song of several other Warblers.

" In confinement they usually become very tame, confiding, and reconciled to their iminisonmeut,
and have been known to perch on an outstretched finger and to catch flies in a room. Their
eggs vary in length from -61 to -"0 of an inch, and in breadth from -4:9 to -52. They have a ground-
colour of a light green. Their dots and blotches vary greatly in number, size, and manner of distribu
tion. Their colours are liarht pur)ile, darker purplish-brown, and other shades of brown and lilac."

42*

CHAPTER V.

THE FLOWER.PECKERS-THE CHATTERERS-THE SWALLOWS-THE TANAGERS-

THE TRUE FIXCHES— THE HANG-NESTS.

THE FLOWER -PECKER^!— The r. ran Sl.t'^K■^ The Ai'stralian Flower-pecker— THE CHATTERERS— Chai-acters-

The Bohemian Waxwinc ih; W axl_\ in \itei:e1!— Superstitions regarding it— Professor Newton's Account of Mr
Wolley's Discovery of its NuM ;,n.l l•;g^^ I ksLiiption of the Bird— THE SWALLOWS— Professor Garrod's Explana-
tion of the grounds for placiiig SwalluNii aiul Swifts in Separate Orders-THE Rough-winged Swallows -The
Smooth-winged Swallows— The Three English .Species- The Common Swallow— Hai-binger of Summer— Buffon's
Anecdote— Migrant— Usefulness — Nest — THE TANAGERS — Insect Eaters — Brilliant Plumage — Species — The
Scarlet Tanager— Dr. Brewer's Account of its Habits— The TRUE FINCHES-The Two Sections— Palate
Characters— Nest of Chaffinch— Nesting of Bullfinch— Palate and Bill Characters in Buntings— The Crossbills-
Habits— Curiously-formed Bills -Longfellow's "Legend of the CrossbiR "— THE HANG-NESTS-The Three Sub-
Families — Habits of the Cow-bird — The Baltimore Oriole — Dr. Brewer's Description of its Habits — The
Boat-tail.
THE FOURTH FAMILY OF FINCH-LIKE BIRDS.— THE DIC.EID.E-FLOWER-PECKERS.
These beautiful little birds, of which a large number are known, are almost exclusively Indian
and Australian, only two species being found in Africa, where they are confined to the forest
region of the west coast; these are Pholidoriiis rushice and P. ruhrifroiu. Their habits are
described as being very similar to those of the English Titmice and Gold-crests. They build very
beautiful nests, like a purse. Mr. Motley thus descril)es the Bornean species, the Black-chinned
Flower-pecker {D. niynineatum)*: —

" These little birds are not uncommon in Labuan, and have something of the habits of
the English Regulus; they haunt low brushwood, and continually utter a low, shrill chirp. They
are very fearless, allowing themselves to be almost touched before they take to flight. The Malay
name, which signifies Spark Bird, is very appropriate, as, when darting about among the bushe.s,
the cock bird really looks as bright as a flash of fii'e. The nest of this si)ecies is about the shape
and size of a goose's egg, and is suspended by the small end from some slender twig of a tall
tree. It is built of fine green moss and a sort of brown byssus, and lined with some white fibre
and a few small feathers. One of these nests was found on a tree which was felled in the jungle,
and all the young birds, however, except one, had been killed by the fall. The survivor was bi-ought
to Mrs. Motley, who .succeeded by great care in bringing it up, feeding it at first upon rice and
banana pulp. As soon as it was strong enough it was placed in a small cage. Though very
restless, never being for one moment still, it was perfectly tame and fearless, and would sit upon
the finger without attempting to fly away ; and though its whole body, feathers and all, might
have been shut up in a walnut, it would peck at a finger held towards it with great fierceness.
For a long time it would only take food from the hand, but afterwards, when food was given it, it
dropped, and shook its wings rapidly, as we see a hen Parti-idge occasionally do. At first its
beak was short, straight, and sharp, but as it grew its form gradually changed to that of the adult
Dicseums ; it also changed its diet altogether, refusing rice, and only occasionally taking plantain.
For some weeks it fed exclusively upon sugar and water, which it sucked up like a Humming-
bird. It was very fond of bathing in a large shell full of water placed in its cage."

THE AUSTRALIAN FLOWER-PECKER (1). Innmdinaeeum).
Mr. Gould wi-ites t: — " By far the greater number of the Aiistralians are, I believe, unacquainted
with this beautiful little bird, yet there is scarcely an estate in either of the colonies in which it
may not be found, either as a pei-manent resident or an occasional visitor. Its natural disposition,
leading it to confine itself almost exclusively to the topmost branches of the loftiest trees, is
doubtless the cause of its not being more generally known than it is, its rich scarlet breast not
even attracting notice at the distance from the ground at which it generally keeps ; and in
obtaining specimens I was more frequently made aware of its presence by its pretty warbling song
than by its movements among the branches : so small an object, in fact, is most difficult of
detection among the thick foliage of the lofty Casuarime, to which trees it is extremely partial,

* Motley and Dillwyn : "Nat. Hist. Labuan," p. 18. t " Handbook to the Birds of Australia," Vol. I., p. .581.

THE ylUSTRALIA.\ FLOWER-mcKER. So

particularly to tliose growing on the bunks of creeks ami rivers. It is also frequently to be seen
among the clusters of the beautiful parasitic C'oranthus, which is very common on the Casvari/ui'
in the neiglibourhood of the Upper Hunter. Whether the bird is attracted to this mistletoe-like
jilant for the jjurpose of feeding upon its sweet and juicy Vjerries I could not ascei'tain ; its chief

E SWALLOW PIC.TiV;

food is insects, but in all probability it may occasionally vary its food. The Swallow Dieseum has
neither the actions of the Pardalotes nor of the Honey-eaters ; it differs from the former in its
quick, daring flight, and from the latter in its less prying, clinging, and creeping actions among
the leaves, <fec. When perched on a branch it sits more upright, and is more Swallow-like in its
contour than either of the forms alluded to ; the structure of its nest and the mode of its niditication
are also very dissimilar.

" Its song is a very animated and long-continued strain, but is uttei-ed so inwardly that it
is almost necessary to stand beneath the tree upon which the bird is perched before its notes can
be heard.

86 NATURAL MISTOIil.

" It would appear tliat 'the range of this species extends to all parts of the Australian continent,
since I have received specimens from every locality yet explored. I found it breeding in tlie
Lower Namoi, which proves that the interior of the country is inliabited by it as well as those
portions between the ranges and the coast."

Mr. White, of the Reed Beds, near Adelaide, says : — " This little bird is sometimes rather
numerous here. It appears to be wholly frngivorous, for all of those I have dissected had fruit
in them. It has no regular stomach, not even an enlargement of the intestine, which averages about
five inches and a half in length, and through wliich the food passes whole. It an-ives at Adelaide
about February, and stays but a short time. I have met with it very far north."

Its beautiful purse-like nest is composed of the white cotton-like substance found in the seed-
vessels of many plants, and among other trees is sometimes suspended on a small branch of Casua-
rina or an Acacia pendula. The ground-colour of the eggs is dull white, with very minute spots
of brown scattered over the surface ; thej' are nine lines long by five lines and a half broad.

The male has the head, all the "upper surface, wings, and tail black, glossed with steel-blue ;
in-imaries black ; throat, breast, and under tail-coverts scarlet ; flanks dusky ; abdomen white, with
a broad patch of black down the centre ; irides dark brown ; bill blackish-brown ; feet dark
brown. The female is dull black above, glossed with steel-blue on the wings and tail ; throat and
centre of the abdomen butt' ; flanks light brown ; under tail-coverts pale scarlet.

THE FIFTH FAMILY OF THE FINCH-LIKE PERCHING BIRDS.— THE AMPELID-E.
CHATTERERS.

The true Chatterers are a small group of birds, of which the Bohemian Waxwing and the Cedar
Bird of America ai-e the familiar examples. Some naturalists place along with these birds, the sole
representatives of the genus Ampelis, a few Central American genera, which probably belong to the
family, but are not IFftx-wings. The characters which dLstinguish the AinpeUdce are a short and
rather stout bill, a little widened, with a nearly obsolete hook, and faint indications of an incision near
the tip of the bill ; the plumage is very soft and silky ; the wing is long, but the tarsus is very short.
Even admitting the five supposed Central American species of Central American Chatterers, the whole
family contains only eight species, of which two are confined to the Palis.arctic region, the best known
being —

THE BOHEJIIAN WAXWING, OR WAXEN CHATTERER (Ampelis gmrulus).

This bird gains its naiiie of Waxwing from the beautiful 'oi-namentation which appears on the
seeonilaiy (juills, ami thci-r takes the foiin of an elongated drip of sealing-wax, which is also- occasion-
ally, but mure rarely, developed on the tail-feathers. The home of the Waxwing extends throughout
the northern parts of Europe, Asia, and North America, and a considei'able migration takes place in
winter, sometimes in such numbers that the bird is supposed in some of the countries of Central
Europe to be the precursor of famine or pestilence, and this circumstance has gained for it in Holland
the name of Pestvogel. It is difiicult, at a distance of many years, to imagine the excitement which
existed in former days amongst zoologists concerning the nest of the Waxwing, and the first authentic
record that was published of the breeding of this bird was an account of the researches of the late
Mr. John Wolley, to whose indefatigable zeal the world is indebted for positive information of
the nidification of a great number of the rarer European birds. Professor Newton* has told the
story of Ml-. Wolley's success in finding the Waxwing's nest. " It is unnecessary to repeat here
the fabulous accounts given by former writers respecting the nidification of this bird. The very
plain statement communicated by Mr. Wolley to the Zoological Society on the evening of the 24th of
March, 1857, is sufficient to set them at rest for ever. But still I may remark that from the days of
Linn«us (who said of it, 'Nidus in rupium aniris') downwards, nearly all the conjectures published
seem to ha^e been wide of the mark. In years gone by, one of the hardiest of our Arctic explorers,
Sir John Richardson, had failed to ascertain anything connected with its breeding m the far countries
of the north-west ; and, more recently, the intrepid Siberian traveller. Dr. A. Von Middendorf, was
unsuccessful in the north-east. Yet it may be safely said that there was no bird whose egg was so
* "Ibis" for 1861, p. 93. '

'nn: bohemijx waxwing. 87

longed for by the ornitliologists of the \vliol(> woiM. Various were tlie phms they bethouglit them of
for attaining tliis desideratissiiauin. Many tricil to kci')! pairs of living birds, in the hope of inducing
them to breed in confinement. One entliusiastic (■i;i;-r(illector, Baron R. Von Kiinig-Warthausen, we
are told, even went to the trouble of caging a w lioic floik. It is true that here and there an oologist
might be found with whom the ' wish was father to the thought,' and who accordingly deluded
liimself into the belief that in some unusually large specimen of the egg of the allied species (Amjjelis
cedromm), or in some queerly-coloured monstrosity of a bird, perhaps not at all connected, he
recognised a genuine production oi Ampelis (/arrulu^ ; but such instances were certainly exceptional,
and there can be little doubt that prior to 1856 no one with any pretension to the title of naturalist
liad ever set eyes on a real egg or nest of the Waxwing, and that this privilege was reserved for one
who of all men eminently merited it. It is due, however, to Scandinavian naturalists to say that
several of them who had travelled in Lapland had expressed themselves confident that the bird did
.sometimes breed in that country ; and though the reports of its nesting which some of them brought
home have been shown by Mr. Wolley's discovery to be probably incorrect, yet it was, I think, reliance
on the general fidelity of those gentlemen in matters of this kind which kept alive my friend's hopes
of one day finding the long-sought treasure : but hopes they were of a kind so remote, that when they
were fulfilled he was justified in speaking of the discovery as ' unexpected.'

" The first intimation I received from Mr. Wolley that the discovery was accomplished was con-
tained in a letter written by him on his way up the Baltic, and dated 2nd September, 1856. He says : —
' Let me tell you now, whilst I think of it, that I have some reason for believing that the Waxwing
makes its nest in good-sized fir-trees in the month of June. I give you this hint in case I shovild
not live to give you more ceitain information ; but you remember tliat I am not to return home
without a Waxwing's nest in my hand.' He had, in fact, a few days before, when at Stockholm,
received from his faithful Ludwig a letter telling him of the discovery, in which Ludwig had
himself assisted, and respecting the truth of which he said, his ' master must be quite sure — without
donbt.' Mr. Wolley, however, forbore to allow his own or my expectations to be raised too highly,
and in spite of his receiving confirmatory evidence on his arrival at Haparanda and on his way
\ip the river, it was not until he had reached Miioniovara, and had .satisfied himself by rei)eated
investigation of the whole story, that he trusted himself to write to me positively. His letter,
dated ' Muoniovara, 1 4th September, 1856,' after describing his own doings and those of the friends
I had made the preceding year, telling me of the expected scarcity of food, and giving the
general results of the nesting season, goes on to say : —

" ' I have still to tell you of Ludwig's expedition with Piko Heiki to Sardio, on the Kittila
River. It was early in June, and he had to wade over Pallas-tunturi up to his middle in snow.
Arrived at Sardio, he found there all - at home, deep in dirt and laziness. He soon extracted
from them the information that a pair of birds had been about, which they took to be Tvka
rastas ; and Ludwig himself had seen such a bird, and this bird's egg was entered in my list.
. . . . Ludwig immediately started off into the forest, and sure enough he saw a bird
which he thought was Sidensvaiw ; but he was not quite sure, for the end of its tafl looked white
in the sun in.stead of yellow, as in your picture, but the next day, or in the evening, it was
cloudy, and Ludwig saw the yellow ; and now he had no longer any doubt. He said he would give
all the lads day-money, and they must all search, even if it were for a week, till they found the
nest. They sought all that night and the next day till about Inidday, when a lad called out that
he had found the nest ; and there it was, with two eggs, about nine feet high on the branch of a
spruce. . . . After five days Ludwig snared the old bird — a beautiful cock ; and you may fancy
with what pleasure I took it in my hand and saw that there were no doubts remaining. Indeed, I
had before been pretty confident about it : Ludwig had written that I might be quite satisfied that it
was the right bird. Martin Pekka had the picture with him at Sodankyla, and as soon as he came
back Ludwig compared the bird with it, and certainty was doubly sure. The other picture went to
Gellivara. . . . I do not expect Waxwings in that quarter. You can fancy how eagerly I waited
for Ludwig to produce the eggs. With k trembling hand he brought them out : but first the nest,
beautifully preserved. It is made principally of black ' tree-hair ' (lichen), with dried spruce twigs
outside, partially lined with a little sheep's-grass and one or two feathers — a large, deep nest. The

eggs — beautiful! magnificent!! — just the character of the Ameiican bird. An indescx-ibal>le glow of
colour about them. Ludwig had made for them such a box, that even if a horse trod upon it it
would not break. He tells me he hapjjened to say that they were most like " Sawirastas " (common
Thrush), and any one wishing to cheat should try that. The report seems to have spread, without the
name of its originator being given ; for in a week or two after the notorious Sallanhi Johan brought
a Korwa-raatas (Wax wing), " shot from the ne.st," with its eggs — the eggs being, as Ludwig at once
saw, common Thrush's. The next incident was the arrival of Johan's brother, the still more notorious
Niku, but this time with a couple of young birds scarcely able to fly, which he had caught, as he said,
out of a brood of five, by Pallas-tuuturi. One of these Ludwig has stuffed, and a rare little beauty it
is ; the other was much knocked about, and Ludwig made nothing of it. Then a little girl, just ten

days ago, brought three eggs from the other side of Nalima (about twenty -five miles from here), which
she said were taken on a certain day in July, and were " Kukhaisen." They were undoubtedly Wax-
wing, but are very badly blown by her as they were just hatching. At Midsummer, Sardio Michel
brought in a small batch of Sidensvans, with the birds (four in number) to each. So now I have a
series, though but a very sliort one, of this vara avis in ten-is — this forerunner of famine, and of
infinite value when one thinks of the uncertainty of getting it again. At the same time I should tel!
you the Sardio lads found a nest which they believe to have been a last year's Korum-rastas. On this
river no one has seen the bird of late years, and very few know it at all. One old fellow, Nalio Aaron,
says he saw one north of Nalima in 18.53, and another in 1854. Martin Pekka showed the picture to
mvuy people in the Sodankyla and Kittila districts, but he could not make out that the bird was at
all known, and ui all his journeys, when he kept a good look-out, he did not see one ; so that even this
year it seems to have come very sparingly and locally — just in the district north, east, and south of
Pallas-tunturi. In 18.i3 I told you of a boy, Sieppis Jolian, who described a nest of birds he bad
found some years ago, which, from my interpreter's version, I thought might be that of the Waxwing.
Tlie boy, on being shown a skin, said he bad never l:>efore seen the bird.

" ' It is a relief to think that I am not bound to go to Russia next spring unless I like it, as T

&JI-ALLUJfS AXn aVriFTS. Si)

before felt that I was. I almost tliiuk I nia^' leave the uubouiKled riclies of the Nova Zenibla coastf*
and of tlie north of Siberia — their Steller's Duck, Curlew, i5aiidpij>er, Little Stint, Knot, Sanderling,
Grey Plover, Grey Piiahirope — to younger adventurers. . . .

" ' Almost every day (and it is now the sixth since that of my arrival here) Ludwig haa told nie
the whole story of the Sidensvans' nest, and I am ne\'er tired of hearing it :— How the .season was
\ery backvvai-d ; how;, in their expedition, he and Piko Heiki were getting very mucii out of spirits
at the little success they met with. How lie saw tliis l)ird in the sunshine. How, when at last the
nest was found, he could scarcely believe his eyes ; how he went to it again and again, each time con-
vinced when at the spot, but believing it all a dream as soon as he was at a distance. The rising and
falling of the crest of the bird, its curious song or voice — all he is eager to tell over and over again ;
and I have the fullest version, with all the " I said," " he said," " Michel said," " Ole said," <Sjc. These
Sardio lads, as you have heard me say formerly, have a good knowledge of the small birds of their
neighbourhood, but they are none of them sure whether they have ever seen Sidensvans before. As I
have also told you, it seemed to be known to a very few woodsmen on that side of the country under the
name of " Korwa-rastas" or " Korwa-liiUti." (Ear-bird). It had occasionally attracted their attention as
having feathers on its head standing up like Squirrel's ears. It was not till the second year of my
stay here that I ascertained this with cei-tainty. The first summer I Ijelieved it to be " Harrhi," a bird
coming in bad seasons, and properly the common Jay ; but it .seems that this name is also really some-
times given to Si'kusvans, and therefore, as well as for other reasons, I am inclined to believe that the
bird is only here very occasionally.' "

The Waxwing is about eight inches in length, and is of an elegant form and coloration. The
plumage is light greyish brown, shading gradually ofl" into blue-grey on the rump and upper tail-coverts,
and the under surface is pale brownish-grey ; the head is ornamented with a low crest, which the bird
e;vcts or depresses at will, and is of a more reddish coloration than the rest of the back ; a broad,
black streak passes through the eye and round the back of the head ; the quills are blackish, with a
white spot on the tips of the primaries, which is yellow on the outer webs ; the secondaries dusky
grey tipped with white, eight or nine of the imiermost having wax-like appendages ; ])rimary coverts
tipped with white ; tail grey, with a broad band of yellow at the tip, before which is a blackish band ;
the tips of the feathers also with wax-like appendages ; throat black, edged with whitish at the base of
ilie lower mandible, and shaded with rufous below ; under tail-coverts chestnut. The female is like
the male, but has the wax-like appendages to the wing and tail smaller.

THE SIXTH FAMILY OF THE FINCH-LIKE PERCHING BIRD,S.-THE HIKUKDINID.^.
SWALLOWS.

The reseai-ches which osteologists have instituted during recent years into the skeletons of birds
have resulted, in some instances, in a change of classification, which must seem strange to those who
remember the time-honoured arrangements of Cuvier, and it seems at first sight an unacceptable
proposition to separate certain groups so far away from one another in the natural systems. Thus it
is doing violence to the old classifications to put the Sun-birds in a different order to the Humming-
birds, considering the great similarity in their outward form and habits, and the same may be said
of the Swallows and the Swifts. Of the grounds of their separation, however, the following explanation
1 ly Professor Garrod * is worthy of attentive study : —

" Tlie common Swift and the common Swallow are biids which intimately resemble one another
in many respects. The size and general coloration are much the same. In both the beak is very
broad and short, the first bone of the pointed wing, which corresponds to the human upper arm
b3ne,t being also particularly short ; whilst the bones of the wing which agi"ee with those of the
fore-arm — the radiust and the ulnat — are propoi-tionately very long. In both the feet are small, and
the power of progression on the ground feeble, each living almost entirely on the wing, making the
smaller insects its staple article of food, and each building its nest in walls or eaves of roofs, not
in the branches of trees.

"This collection of external resemblances would generally be accepted as sufficient evidence that
the Swallow and the Swift are closely allied birds . . . Further, the fact that the two birds arc
- See Zoolwjm. Vol. 35, 1877. pp. 217-220. t See figure of Skeleton of Eagle, Vol. III., p. 241.

x^ruEAL iiJsTunr.

described next to one another, or placed side by side in collections, by many of those who are in the
liabit of employing a systematic method of arranging the different genera, would show that such
ornithologists consider the relationship between the Swallow and the Swift to be more intimate than
that between either of these birds and the Sparrow, Crow, Starling, Lark, &c. Bat all these last-named
birds are what are known as Passerine ; in other words, they possess certain anatomical peculiarities
in their organisation, found in them all, and in no other group of birds. If, therefore, the Swift and
the Swallow are more nearly related to one another than either is to any other passerine bird, then, as
the Swallow is more certainly passerine, the Swift must be so also. But certain naturalists assert that
tlifi Swift is not a passerine bird at all, and, if they are coi'rect, it is evident that the Swallow and
it cannot have anything to do with one another. Upon this assumption, therefore, the passerine
Swallow is much more closely related to the Sparrow, the Crow, and the Lark, than it is to the
Swift.

" The question then presents itself — Is it really the case that the importance of the deep-seated
anatomical resemblances between the Swallow and the Span'ow, and of the differences between the
Swallow and the Swift, is sufficient to justify us, notwithstanding the external similarity between the
last-named birds, in belie\'ing that the first-mentioned are truly more intimately related the one to the
other 1

" It may be worth while taking a rapid glance at what some of these important anatomical
resemblances and differences happen to be — one of them is the manner in which the feathers are
ai-ranged on the skin. Most of us know that, unlike the hair upon a cat or other quadruped, the feathers
of a bird are not uniformly distributed over the surface of the body, but grow in linear clustei's called
tracts, with naked intervals, termed spaces, between them. This
may be readily verified by plucking, say, a Sparrow, and noticing
the thick and opaque light-coloured bands formed by the thicken-
ing of the skin surrounding the holes, out of which the feathers
have been extracted. Between these ti-acts the skin is seen to be
thin and translucent, forming naked spaces through which the
colour of the underlying muscles is apparent.

"The careful study, some five and forty yeai-s ago, by the
eminent German ornithologist, C. A. Nitsch, led him to the con-
clusion, among others, that these feather-tracts are arranged upon
a very different plan in the Swallows to what they are in
the Swifts, whilst in the Sparrows and their allies they very
closely resemble the Swallows. Further, he showed that in this
feature the Swifts and the Humming-birds ai-e almost identical.

Again, the breast-bone, or sternum, in birds is much expanded to give origin to the powerful
muscles of flight. In both the Swallow and the Sparrow, as in passerine birds generally, its
usually oblong figure is modified by the presence of two deep notches, one on each side of the
keel, in the posterior margin. But in the Swift there are no such notches to be found, the
po.sterior margin being entire, and in other respects it differs from the same bone in the Passeres,
whilst in all it resembles the Humming-bird. In the Sparrow and the Swallow, again, as
in the great majority of the passerine birds, there is, at the lower end of the trachea, or windpipe,
where the bronchi which place it in communication with the lungs arise, an elaborate special mechan-
ism, which is known as the muscular organ of voice or lower lai-ynx, by wliich they have the power —
although they do not at all employ it — of modulating their note, so as to produce a song : this is not
found in the Swifts. In man, the gi'eater part of the alimentary canal is composed of a tube of small
diameter — the small intestine — which is continued onwards as a more capacious one, the large intestine.
These two are not simple continuations one of the other, but the former enters the latter obliquely, the
nearer end of the large intestine remaining free as the ' blind gut,' or caecum. In the Swallow and
S]>an'ow, as in all the Passeres, instead of there being a single cjecum at the place of junction of the
two intestines, there are two. These are not found in the Swifts nor in the Humming-birds.

" In the Swallow, the SpaiTOw, and all their true allies, it is always the case that the tendons
which contract up the last joints of the toes, are so arranged that the birds have the power of folding

STERNUM OF

TUB CUMMOX SirALinir. 91

tlietoe wliich corresponds to our great toe (tlie one directed backwards), without moving any of the
others. In the Swift, however, wlienever the great toe (tlie lialhix)* is fully flexed, it is impossible
tliat the other toes should remain opened out, because the two muscles, which act on one and tlie
other, are bound together by a tendinous band.

" In the Swallow, the Sparrow, and most singing birds, the number of feathers in the tail is twehe.
In the Swifts and Humming-bii'ds the number is always ten — another important difference. In tlie
Swallow also, as in all the passerine birds, there is a .slender muscle running through the thin
triangular membrane of the wing, between the arm and the fore-arm, which is quite peculiar in the
manner of insertion or attachment, no other birds possessing the, same arrangement. In the Swift, this
muscle terminates in quite a different manner, here again resembling the Humming-birds exactly.

" Taking these several characters into consideration, and realising how little they are su.sceptible,
on account of their deep-seatedness, to the influence of slight external changes in the mode of life of
the species, we are inevitably driven to the conclusion that their weight is overwhelmingly greater
than that of the superficial similarity, which is so readily brought about by the .similarity of the
circumstances under which the two species are accustomed to live, and that the resemblances between
them are, so far a.s their con.stitutions are concerned, dependent only on the fact that they both have
— with different pedigrees — arrived at a superficial similai-ity in contour, because they subsist exclu-
sively on the same food."

The Swallows, then, may be subdivided into two sub-families, called respectively the Rough-winged
Swallows and the Smooth-winged Swallows, both of which sub-families are represented in the Old
and New Worlds.

THE FIRST SUB-FAJHLY OF THE HIKUNDINID.E.— THE ROUGH-WINGED
SWALLOWS (Paalidoprocm»(e).
These birds are called "rough "-winged on account of the serrated edge which is found attached to
the outer margin of the first primary. So strongly is this indicated that on pressing the thumb along
the edges of the feather a distinct feeling of a saw-like sensation is produced. Curiously enough, this
feature only obtains in the males, and as far as has been noted iit present, is found in two genera,
Fsalidoproctief in Africa, and Stelgidopterijx\ in the New World. Of the South African Rough-
winged Swallow Mr. Layard gives the following brief notice: — " This little Swallow first fell under my
notice on the ' Keurboom's River,' Kuy.sna district, where I saw it apparently bi-eeding in holes in
the banks, but was unable to investigate its doings more closely. I found it abundantly in the forest,
hawking after flies over pools, frequently dipping into the water, and perching on the overhanging
boughs in clusters of six or eight, to dry themselves. Their habit of perching is noted by Mr. Cairncross,
who writes, ' This bii-d flies about very much like a bat (this resemblance also occurred to me when I
saw it) amongst thick forests, and is generally more visible in rainy, heavy weather ; but I have
never seen or heai-d of their breeding here (Swellendam). They remain here after the winter has set in.
Sometimes I have seen them roost on trees at the bottom of my garden, where I shot the specimen
sent.'"

THE SECOND SUB-FAMILY OF THE HIRUXDINID.E.— SlIOOTH-WINGED SWALLOWS.

To this group of birds belong by far the larger number of the Swallows, including a:lso the Martins
and the Sand Martins. It may not be out of i>lace here to note the points by which the three English
species of Swallows may be distinguished by an ordinary observer. On the wing, the Swift is very
Swallow-like in appearance, but may be told by its large size, extremely rapid flight, long wings, and
entirely black plumage. The Sand Martin breeds in holes of banks, and is the smallest of the three
English Birundines, being pale brown above and white below. The common Martin builds a mud
nest under eaves of houses or barns, like the Swallow, but may easily be told on the wing by a con-
spicuous white band across the lower back. The forked tail is not perceptible in the Martin when in
flight, but is very easily seen in the common Swallow, especially in the male birds, in which the
elongated outer tail feathers are very conspicuous at all seasons of the year. When they first arrive,

♦ See figure of Skeleton of Eigle, Vol. III., p. 241.

t i^oAt?, a pail- of sheai's ; np6«i'i), a mythological chai-acter. '^ arttKyi^, a scraper; n-Tt-pdi', a wing.

'j-2 NATURAL HISTOItY.

also, tlie males of the common Swallow Lave a beautiful rufous blush on the under parts, which \s
veiy apparent and unmistakable as they turn and twist in the sunlight. In the young bu-ds, in their
first autumn plumage, the under parts are whiter and they appear smaller.

\\h.^ ^j^.VtiSi^{

\).

^%

THE COMMON SWALLOW (Einindo n<.sfie„).»
Like the Cuckoo, the arrival of the Swallow is anxiously looked for as a sign of approaching
summer, arriving as it does in England about the middle of April, by a gradual migration, which
appears to pass Spain early in February, Malta early in March, Palestine about the middle of that
month, and Italy about the 20th of March; it does not arrive in Scotland before the end of April. The
same quarters are occupied year after year probably by the identical birds, if theii' home of the previous
year has been undisturbed. Many experiments have been made with a view to ascertain the truth of
the latter assertion, and the following anecdote is mentioned by Buffonf : —

In the yeai- 1779, the winter passed without much snow, and the spring was very fine. The
Swallows, however, arrived in Bui-gundy only by the 9th of April, and on the Lake of Geneva by the
1-lth. It is said that a shoemaker of Basle, having attached to a Swallow's neck a collar on which he

wrote

Hirondelle, qui es si belle
Dis-moi, I'hiver oil vas-tu 'r

received the following spring by the same courier the answer —

Athenes, chez Antoine,

Pourquoi t'en informes-tu ?

As Buffon himself remai-ks, the truth of this little anecdote is somewhat dubious ; and an English
reviewer has also doubted the accuracy of this little story, as well he might, seeing that, as far as w6 know,
the Swallow spends the winter, in which it is absent from Europe, at the Cape of Good Hope, where

* HinuHio (Linn.), ii jiroper name ; rustica, an inhabitant of the country. t " Hist. Nat. Ois." vi., p. 619.

Jill-:

UWIl.l.i

it is a common bird, and where it is ]>robable it rears a second brootl of young ones, as Mr. C. J.
Andersson says that in "'uncivilised parts of Africa these Swallows affix their nests to .some projection
of a rock or trunk of a tree, or occupy cavities in rocks or banks."

Throughout Europe genei-ally the Swallow is merely a migrant, arriving as one of the first
harbingers of summer, and leaving before the cold weather sets in. It is now unnecessary to refute
the old fable so current among our forefathers that the Swallows hibernate during the winter season,
as it has long been satisfactorily pi-oved that such is not the case ; but even in the present century it
was found necessary to write long essays to prove that they migrate to more genial climes, instead of
passing the winter in a state of torpidity in the mud, or in old caves, or hollow trees. Mr. Benzon, of

Copenhagen, states that in old prescriptions one sometimes finds reference made to aqua HirmidinuvK
a sort of essence of water and Swallows, which in olden times appears to have been considered a
sovereign remedy for many of the ills that man is heir to. Being entirely insectivorous, the Swallow
is one of the most harmless and useful birds, and in most parts of Europe it is pi-otected by the
peasantry, who object to its being molested, and it would be well if this were everywhere the case.
Swift on the wing, and extremely agOe and gi-aceful, it glides with the gi-eatest ease through the
air, the tail being usually carried but little expanded, and only spread out to its full extent when
a sudden turn is made, generally to catch a passing insect.

During fine, clear weather, it is usually seen flying at a great altitude ; but in damp, didl
weather, it skims close to the ground, following every irregularity in it in search of its insect prey.
Their gi-eat power of flight enables them to persecute and put to flight most of the birds of prey which
may happen to intrude on their domain ; and on the appeaa-anoe of any such intruder, they all collect
and join in driving him away, in which they generally succeed. For the nest it usually selects
some convenient place under the eaves of a roof or on the beam of an outhouse, or in any shed where

04 y.irrjx.iL Misiuia.

ingress and egress are easy; or it will place its nest down the shaft of an old well, on the face of a
rock or quarry, or not unfrequently in a chimney, the last-named jJace being doubtless selected for the
sake of warmth.

Not unfrequently, when the Swallow ha-s carefully finished its nest, it is ousted by some strongei
bird, who takes possession, and forces the peaceful Swallow to construct a fresh one. Sparrows are
often the intruders ; but Mr. Benzon gives two instances which have come under his notice, wher
the Spotted Flycatcher {Musckapa grisola) has been the aggi-essor.*

THE SEVENTH FAMILY OF FINCH-LIKE PERCHING BIRDS.
THE TANAGRID^— TANAGERS.

The Tanagers are entirely American, and are described by Dr. Sclater, who has studied the family
in detail, as Dentirostral Finches, that is, birds which, having all the essential characters of the Finch,
are yet so far modified as regards certain pai-ts of their structure as to fit them for feeding, not on
grains and seeds, which are the usual food of the true Finches, but on soft fiiiits and insects, the
habitual food of the true Warblers. The Tanagers are mostly birds of very brilliant plumage, and
some of the larger kinds are not unlike the Grosbeaks of the Old World. More than three hundred
species are known, the greater part of them being non-tropical, though some few kinds inhabit
North America during the summer. Some of the most beautiful of the family are contained in the
genus Calliste, of which nearly sixty species are known to science, b\it very little has been recorded of
their habits. One of the best known, the Lesser Rufous-headed Tanager {Calliste cayanu), is said to
be veiy common in Bi-itish and French Guiana, li\-ing in the latter country in open spots and in the
vicinity of dwellings, and feeding on bananas and other fruits. It is also said to do much harm in
the rice-fields.

Of the Brazilian Turquoise Tanager {Calliste braziliemis) the late Prince Maximilian of
Neuwied states that he met with numbers in several provinces of Eastern Brazil, but less often
in the forests than the more open country, which was varied with wood, and particularly at the
edges of the plantations. Here it goes comnwnly in pairs, perching generally upon the top of shrubs,
and feeding on fruits. In the month of November the Prince found a nest of this Tanager placed in a
thick bush in a fork formed by tlie separation of four branches, and built after the fashion of that of the
Chaffinch {Frimjilla ccelebs). It was constructed very neatly of wool, nearly all white, only varied
with a few watlets and moss and bark interwoven, and lined within with broad threads of bark. The
two eggs which it contained were rather long in shape, tuarbled with pale reddish-violet upon a
white ground, and varied with a few irregular black specks and blotches, f One of the best known of
the family is

THE SCARLET TANAGER (Pyranga rubra).

An account of the habits of this bird is given in the " Histoiy of North American Birds " by
Dr. Brewer : — "Tiie Scarlet Tanager is one of the most conspicuous and brilliant of all om- summer
visitants. Elegant in its attire, retiring and modest in manners, sweet in song, and useful in its
destruction of hurtful insects, it well merits a cordial welcome. This Tanager is distributed over a
wide extent of territory, fi-om Texas to Maine, and frotn South Carolin-a to the northern shores of
Lake Huron, in all which localities it breeds. A few are found once in a while as far east as Calais
in the spring, and they are rather occasional than common in eastern Massachusetts, but are more
l)lentiful in the western part of the State, becoming quite common about Springfield, arriving
May 15th, and remaining about four months, breeding in high open woods and old orchards. In
South Carolina it is abundant as a migrant, though a few remain and breed in the higher lands. Mr.
Audubon states also that a few breed in the higher portions of Louisiana, and Dr. Heermann found
them breeding at El Paso in New Mexico. They are far more abundant, however, in the States
of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Virginia, and througliout the Mississippi valley, arriving early in
May and leaving in October. Though occasionally found in the more sparsely-settled portions of

• Dresser: "Birds of Europe." t Sclater : Mon. Genus Call Me, pp. 62.

THE TRUE FIXCHES. 95

the coimtiy, in orcliards. and retired g. rilens, tliey are, as a rule, inhabitants ol' the edges uf
forests.

" Their more common notes ai-e simple and brief, resembling, according to Wilson, the sounds
chip-char. Mr. Ridgway represents them by chip-a^-a'-ree. This song it repeats at brief intervals,
and in a jiensive tone, and with a singular facility of causing it to seem to come from a greater than
the real distance. Besides this it also has a more varied and musical chant, resembling the mellow notes
of the Baltimore Oriole. The female also utters similar notes when her nest is approached, and in
their mating season, as they move together through the branches, they both utter a low whispering
warble in a tone of great sweetness and tenderness. As a whole, this bird may be regarded as a
musical performer of very respectable merits.

" The food of this species is chiefly gleaned among the upper branches, and consists of various
coleopterous and other insects and their larvse. Later in the season they consume various kinds of
wild berries.

" When their nest is approached, the male bird usually keeps at a cautious distance, as if fearful
of being seen, but his much less gaudy mate hovers about the intruder in the greatest distress.
Wilson relates quite a touching instance of the devotion of the parent of this species to its young.
Having taken a young bird from the nest and carried it to his friend, Mr. Bai'tram, it was placed
in a cage, and suspended near a nest containing young Orioles, in hopes the parents of the latter
would feed it, which they did not do. Its cries, however, attracted its own parent, who assiduously
attended it, and supplied it with food for several days, became more and more solicitous for its
liberation, and constantly uttered cries of entreaty to its offspring to come out of its prison. At
last this was more than Mr. Bartram coidd endure, and he mounted to the cage, took out the
prisoner, and restored it to its parent, who accompanied it in its flight to the woods with notes of
great exultation.

" Early in August the male begins to moult, ai\d in the course of a few days, dres.sed in the
greenish livery of the female, he is not distinguishable from her or his young family. In this humble
garb they leave us, and do not i-esume their summer plumage until just as they are re-entering our
southern borders, where they may be seen in various stages of transformation."

THE EIGHTH FAMILY OF FINCH-LIKE PERCHIXG-BIEDS.
THE FRING1LLID.E— TRUE FINCHES.

The Finches have only nine primary quills, and are divisible into two sections, distinguished by the
form of the bill inside. The first section consists of the wide-palate Finches (AmpUpalatales). In
the first section the lower mandible has the cutting edges {tomium) of great power, and rising slightly
higher on the posterior margin, formed for crushing seeds : the palate is somewhat deeply and broadly
arched, wdth three ridges, rather far apart from one another. The species of this section are mostly
characteristic of the Old World, and include among their
number all the familiar European Finches and their allies,
such as the Bullfinches, Goldfinches, Canaries, Redpolls, Gi-os-
beaks, C'liaftinches, and Sparrows. Although a numerous family
of bii-ds, the Finches do not offer the great differences in their
habits, and a general account of the economy of one of the
English species would comprise many of the characteristics of
the family generally. It is in the construction of their nests
that the Finches greatly differ, this -being evidenced by that
of the Chaflinch as compared with that of a Bullfinch. The nest of the former is fully described
by Macgillivray : —

"The nest is of moderate size, very neatly constructed, having its exterior composed of moss,
lichens, grass, thread, and rags, its interior of wool, feathers, hair, and other suitable materials. Not
that all these articles enter into the composition of every nest, for there is great diversity in this
respect. When neatly crusted with grey lichens, it is very difficult to distinguish it in the cleft of a

•■xi XAIUMAL MI.STURY.

tree, which is the situation usually selected for it ; but it is found in a great variety of places, often
on tall trees, sometimes in the fork of a shrub, not unfrequently among ivy on a wall, and still more
commonly among the twigs of a hawthorn hedge. Gardens, orchards, hedges, groves, copses, and
woods are all inhabited by the Chaffinches at this season, but they are very rarely met with in
the depth of large woods, especially of those composed of tir. Wlien a person approaches the uest,
the birds manifest much anxiety, flying about, or hopping among the twigs, and rejieating theii

ordinary tweet in a hurried manner. The female sits very close, and from her colour and that of the
nest is seldom perceived, but when aware that she has been discovered, she slips off with alacrity, and
joins the male in evincing her anxiety as to the result of the intrusion."

The nesting of the Bullfinch is as follows : — About the beginning of May it begins to construct
its nest, which is rather loosely formed of small dry twigs, with a lining of fibrous I'oots, and is
jilaced in a bush, frequently of hawthorn, or on the horizontal branch of a spruce. The eggs, four
in number, are of a rather broad oval form, nine and a half twelfths long, seven and a half twelfths in
their greatest diameter, of a bluish or jnirplish white colour, spotted and streaked with purplish-grey
and reddish-brown.

The second section contains tJie Finches with narrow palates (J ;-c<yW««afc«), which have the
finch-like character of the lower mandible less strongly pronoimced, the palate being narrower.

StSKIK, BII-LFINCH. AND OOLBFINCH.

98 NATURAL HISTORX.

very little arched, and having two or three keels jilaced close together. In this section are
found the Crossbills and the Buntings, the latter forming a large gi-oup of birds which
are especially developed in the New World. The palate in most of the last-named birds is
remarkable for a long tubercle, which is very plainly seen iii an examination of an ordinary
Yellow-hammer or common Bunting. The difference in the form of bill between that of a Bunting
and true Finch is well represented in Professor Macgillivray's " British Birds." * To the present

section belong the Crossbills, perhaps the most interesting bird of the family as regards its structure.
The Crossbills, as a rule, are inhabitants of the northern parts of the Old and New Worlds, though the
Himalayas possess one species. The name Crossbill is attached to the bird from the peculiar way in
which the mandibles cross each other, giving the bill a very singular appearance. All the species are
inhabitants of northern climes, where they frequent conifer forests both in the Old and the New World,t
" extracting the seeds of pines and firs from the cones by means of their powerful and curiously-
constructed bill, the points of which appear to have recei\'ed their lateral curvature from the force
applied ill tliat clirection to separ.tte the scales. The hard, .spoon-shaped tongue seems to be the
instrument by whicli the seeds are then taken up. They are gregai-ious, and wander about in search
of their favourite food, appearing at intervals in places not usually frequented by them." With
regard to the well-known legend of the Crossbill, the verses of Longfellow on the next page
will recur to many readers.

*Plate VIII., Vol. I., Figs. 7, 8. t Macgilli\T.iy : "British Birds," I., p. 414.

THE BALTIMORE ORIOLE.

THE LEGEND OF THE CROSSBILL.
{From the German of Juliiis Mosen.)

' On the Cross the dying Saviour

Heavenward lifts His eyelids calm,

Feels, but scarcely feels, a trembling

In His pierced and bleeding palm.

" And by all the world forsaken,
Sees He how with zealous care

At the ruthless nail of iron
A little bird is striving there.

" Stained with blood and never tiring,
With its bciik it doth not cease,

From the Cross 'twould free the Savioui
Its Creator's Son release.

" And the Saviour speaks in mildness :
' Blest be thou of all the good I

Bear, as token of this moment,
Marks of blood and holy rood 1 '

" And that bird is called the Crossbill ;

Covered all with blood so clear.
In the groves of pine it singeth

Songs, like legends, strange to hear."

THE NINTH FAMILY OF FINCH-LIKE PERCHING BIRDS.
THE ICTERID^E— HANG-NESTS.

The Hang-nests are a strictly American family, showing affinities to the Starlings and Weaver-
birds of the Old World. Many of the species congregate in Hocks, and afl'ect the ground like tlie
true Starlings, while their long purse-like nests suggest their affinity with the Weaver-birds.
There are three sub-families of the Icteridie, viz., the Agcekeinct, or Cow-birds, the Icterincv, or
true Hang-nests, and the Quiscalinw, or Grakle.s. In the first of these sub-families are found the
Bobolink {Dolichonyx oryzivorus), or Rice-bird, and the Cow-birds ; the latter being very interesting
on account of their parasitic habits, which resemble tho.se of the common Cuckoo of Europe. Dr.
Brewer writes of the common Cow-ljird [ilolothrus pecoris) : — " This species is at all times gregarious
and polygamous, ne\er mating and never exhibiting any signs of either conjugal or parental aftections.
Like the Cuckoos of Europe, our Cow Blackbird never constructs a nest of her own, and never hatches
out or attempts to rear her own offspring, but imposes her eggs upon other birds ; and most of these,
either unconscious of the imposition or unable to rid themselves of the alien, sit upon and hatch the
stranger, and in so doi\ig virtually destroy their own offspring, for the eggs of the Cow bird are the
first hatched, usually two days before the others. The nursling is much larger in size, filling up a large
portion of the nest, and is insatiable in its appetite, always clamouring to be fed, and receiving by far
the larger share of the food brought to the nest. Its foster companions, either starved or stifled, soon
die, and their dead bodies are removed, it is supposed, by their parents. They are never found near
the nest, as they would be if the young Cow Blackbird expelled them as does the Cuckoo ; indeed,
]\Ir. Nuttall has seen parent birds removing the dead young to a distance from the nest, and there
dropping them."* A very instructive article on the "procreant instincts " of the three species of
Molothnis found in Buenos Ayres was contributed by that excellent observer, Mr. W. H. Hudson,
to the Proceedings of the Zoological Society for 1874.

The second sub-family of the Icteridce — viz., the /cfertrifi>'— consists principally of the brilliant
yellow and black Hang-nests of America, which are popularly called the Orioles of the New World.
One of the best known is the Baltimore Oriole (Icterns baltimora), a good account of whose habits
will be found in the before-mentioned work from the pen of Dr. Brewer. He observes: "The
Baltimore Oriole is one of the most common birds nearly throughout New England. Gay and brilliant
in plumage, interesting and lively in manners and habits, and a vocalist of rai-e power, with pathos,
beauty, and variety in his notes, this bird has been, and would still be, a great favourite but for his
transgressions.

" Among the pea-vines of our gardens he makes his appearance with exemplary punctuality,
seeming regardless of the prematureness or tardiness of the season. Rarely does the lOtli of May pass
without the sound of his welcome notes, and rarely, if ever, does he come sooner. When the luaU'
Baltimores first arrive, they come unaccompanied by their mates. At this time their notes are unusually
loud, and their voices seem shrill. Their song appears to partake somewhat of the nature of tender

* Baircl, Brewer, and Eidgway, "North American Bii-ds," p. 1.55. This work should be consulted for the history of the
true Hang-nests, an interesting account of which is given, but is too long to be reproduced in the present work.

yATUMAL MlHTUJi

lamentations and complaining. At this period they are very active and restless, moving rapidly
through tlie brandies of the trees, just ojiening into leaf and blossom, searching busily for the insects,
which then form tlieir principal food. When, a few days after their arrival, they are joined by the females,
the whole character of their song changes, which becomes a lower-toued, richer, and more pleasing
refrain. During their love season their resonant and peculiarly mellow whistle resounds in every
garden and orchard, along the highways of our villages, and in the parks and public squares of our
cities. Nuttall, generally very felicitous in expressing by verbal equivalents the notes of various
.species of our song bii'ds, describes the notes of its song as running thus : Tshippe-tsclmyior-too-too-
tshippe — tsldppe-too-too, with several other very similar motlitications and variations. But these

-T^^X

if

characters give a very inadequate idea of their song. It must be heard to be appreciated, and no
description can do justice to its beauties. The notes are of an almost endless variety, and each
individual has its own special variations. The female, too, has her own peculiar and very pretty
notes, which she incessantly warbles as she weaves her curiously elaborate nest. To agriculturi.sts this
Oriole renders immense service in the destruction of vast numbers of highly injurious insects ; among
the most noteworthy of these are the common canker-worm and the tent caterpillars, both great pests to
orchards. These benefits far more than compensate for its annoying attacks on the pods of esculent
peas, the only sin that can rightfully be brought against it, except, perhaps, the acts of theft committed
against other birds, in seizing upon and appropriating to it materials collected by smaller birds for
their nests. The Baltimore Orioles are devoted, faithful, and courageous parents, resolutely defending
their young when in danger, and exposing themselves fearlessly to danger and to death rather than
forsake them. If their young are taken and caged the parents follow them, and, if permitted, will
continue to feed them."

In the third family of the Hang-nests are the Boat-tails {Quiscalm).

CHAPTER \T.

STARLING-LIKE BIRDS AND SOXGLESS
THE STURNIFORMES, OR STARLING-LIKE BIRDS-Chaiacteis— THE WEAVER BIRDS— Their Extraordinary
Nests— Dr. Jerdoii's Account of their Habits -Construction of tlie Nest— Pciformances of Trained Bayas— THE
STARLINGS-Characters— Thk Common STARLING-Gregarious Habits— The African BEEf-KATKR— Their Services
to Cattle— THE WOOD SWALLOWS -Mr. Gould's Account of their Habits— THE LARKS— Distinctive Features
—Their Habits-Song— THE MESOMYODI, OR SONGLESS BIRDS-Mostly of the New World-THE LYRE
BIRDS— THE BUSH WRENS-THE SPINE-TAILS— The Oven Bird— THE AJIKRICAN ANT -THRUSHES—
THE OLD WORLD ANT-THRUSHES-THE TYRANT BIRDS— The KiN«BiRD-Dr. Brewer's Account of its
Habits— THE AMERICAN CHATTERERS— The Cock of the Rock-TheBell Bird-TheUmbrell.\ Bird— THE
MANAKINS— THE BROADBILLS— THE PLANT-CUTTERS— ORDER OF PIGEONS— Difference between
Pigeons and Game-birds-Features-THE DODOS-Now Extinct— History- The Solitaire— Also E.xtinct-THE
Tooth-billed Pigeon— THE COLUMBID.E, OR TRUE PIGEONS-Four Divisions— The Fruit Pigeons— The
True Doves -The Passenger Pigeon— Its Long-continued Flights— The BRorzE-WiXGS— The Crowned Pigeons.

THB THIRD GROUP OF THE PASSERIFORMES, OS PERCHING-BIRDS.

THE STUENIFORSIES, OK STARLING-LIKE BIRDS.
AiL tUa birds belonging to this series have ten primaries in their wings, tli3 first one being, however,
rudimentary, and in some of the Larks so small as to be nearly obbolete, and to require a
minute search to discover it at all. Only four families are included iu
this series, the Weaver Birds, the Wood Swallows, the Starlings, and the
Larks. The Weaver Birds and the Larks follow naturally upon th3
Kiiches and Biuitings, with which birds the previous family of perching
i:ii'ds ended ; while the Starlings are not distantly related on the one hand
uc the American Hang-nests, and on the other hand to the Ci'ows, whick
tiiey very mucli resemble in their habit of walking on the ground.

THE FIRST FAMILY OP THE STARLING-LIKE PERCHING-BI?.DS.
THE WEAVER BIRDS {Ploceidce).

As already noticed, the Weavei-s are not very unlike the FiiicIi3S.
Thsy form rather a numerous family distributed over Africa and India,
ranging into the Mala3'an Peninsula. The nests constructed by these
bii-tls — the extraordinary character of which structures has gained them
their name of Weaver — are among the most interesting productions of
bird architecture, as the specimens in the Natural History Museum at
Kensington will show. The following account of the common Weaver
Bird of India (Ploceus baya) is given by Dr. Jerdon * : — " The eommoa
Weaver Bird is found throughout the whole of India, from Cape Comorin
?nd Ceylon to the foot of the Himalayas, and extending into Assam,
Burmah, and Malayana. It is most abundant in the well-wooded parts
of the country, and in the bare table-land of the Deccan ycu may traval
for days without seeing one. It appears to wander about some localities,
for some observers have stated that it is migratory, but it is certainly ?,
permanent resident in most parts of the country ; and their roosting
places on certain trees are well known. Grain of all kinds, especially
lice, and various grass-seeds, form the chief food of the V/eaver Bird,
and I ne\3r observed it feeding on fruit, as Sykes asserts he has known
it do oa tlie tig of the banyan tree. Whilst feeding, particularly, as well ^
as at other times, the whole flock keeps up a perpetual chirniping. I
have seen it feeding in grain fields in company with flocks of Ember
Sykes relates that he has seen 'it associate with the common Sparrow.

" The Baya breeds during the rains, according to the locality, from April to September, but I am
* " Birds of India," Voh IL, p. 214.

nielanocephala ; and

102 NATURAL HISTORY.

not aware if they ever have more than one brooJ. Its long retort-shaped nest is familiar to all, and it
is indeed a marvel of skill, as elegant in its form as substantial in its structure, and weather-proof
against the downpour of a Malabar or Burmese monsoon.

" It is very often suspended from the fronds of some lofty palm-tree, either the palmyra, cocoa-nut,
or date, but by no means so universally so as Mr. Blyth would imply, for a babool {AcacUi, arabica,
or VdchMia farnesiaiia) or other tree will often be selected, in preference to a palm-tree growing close
by, as I have seen within a few miles from Calcutta on the banks of the canal. Very often a tree over-
hanging a river or tank, or even a large well, is chosen, especially, as Tickell says, if it have spreading
branches and scanty foliage. In India I have never seen the Baya suspend its nest except on trees,
but in some parts of Bnrmah, and more particularly in Rangoon, the Bayas usually select the thatch
of a bungalow to suspend their nests from, regardless of the inhabitants within. In the cantonment
of Rangoon very many bungalows may be seen with twenty, thirty, or more of these long nests
hanging from the end of the thatched roof, and in one house in which I was an inmate — that of Di'.
Pritchard, garrison surgeon there — a small colony commenced their labours towards the end of April,
and, in August, when I revisited that station, there were above one hundred nests attached all round
the house ! In India, in some localities, they appear to evince a partiality to build in the neighbour-
hood of villages or dwellings ; in other places they nidificate in most retired spots in the jungle, or in
a solitary tree in the midst of some large patch of rice cultivation.

" The nest is frequently made of grass of different kinds plucked when green, sometimes of strips of
plantain leaf ; and not unfrequently of strips from the leaves of the date j>alm, or cocoa-nut ; and I
have observed that nests made of this last material are smaller and less bulky than those made with
grass, as if the little ai-cliitects were quite aware that with such strong fibre less amount of material
was necessary. The nest varies much in the length both of the upper part or support, and the lower
tube or entrance, and the support is generally solid from the point whence it is hung for two or three
inches, but varies much both in length and strength. When the structure has advanced to the spot
where the birds have determined the egg compartment to be, a .strong transverse loop is formed, not in
the exact centre, but a little at one side. If then taken from the tree, and reversed, the nest has the
appearance of a basket with its handle, but less so in this than in other species, which have
seldom any length of support above. Various authors have described this loop or bar as peculiar to
the male-nest or sitting-nest, whereas it exists primarily in all, and is simply the point of separation
between the real nest and the tubular entrance, and, being used as a perch both by the old birds and
the young (when grown sufiiciently), requires to be very strong. Up to this time both sexes have
worked together indiscriminately, but when this loop is completed, the female takes up her seat upon
it, leaving the cock bird to fetch more fibre and work from the outside of the nest, whilst she works on
the inside, drawing in fibras pushed through by the Tnale, i-e-inserting them in their proper place, and
smoothing all carefully. Considerable time is spent in completing this part of the nest, the egg
chamber being formed on one side of the loop and the tubular entrance at the other ; after which there
appears to be an interval of rest. It is at this stage of the work, from the formation of the loop to the
time that the egg compartment is ready, that the lumps of clay are stuck on, about which there have
been so many conflicting theories. The original notion, derived entirely, I believe, from the natives,
was that the clay was used to stick fire flies on, to light up the apartment at night. Layard suggests
that the bird uses it to sharpen his bill on ; Burgess that it serves to strengthen the nest. I, of course,
quite disbelieve the fire-fly story, and doubt the other two suggestions. From an observation of sevei-al
nests, the times at which the clay was placed in the nests, and the position occupied, I am inclined to
think that it is used to bal mce the nest correctly, and to prevent its being blown about by the wind.
In one nest lately examined there were about three ounces of clay in six different patches. It is
generally believed that the unfinished nests are built by the male for his own sjiecial behoof, and that
the pieces of clay are more commonly found in it than in the coni])lete nest. I did not find this the
case at Rangoon, where my opportunities of observing the bird were good, and believe rather that the
unfinished nests are either rejected, if built early in the breeding season, or if late, that they are
siui])ly the efforts of that constnictive faculty which appears, at this season, to have such a j)owerful
effect on this little bird, and which causes some of them to go on building the long tubular entrance
long after the hen is seated on her eggs.

THE COMMOX STAIil.lXG. 103

"I have generally found that the Ba_ya hiys only two eggs, which arc long, cyliiidi'icai, and pure
white, but other observers record a larger nunibei'. Siindevall states that he I'uiiuJ three in one nest.
Layard says from two to four; Burgess six to eight ; Tickell six to ten. Blyth thinks that four or five
is tlie most usual number. From many observations, I consider two to be the usual numbei-, but liave
found tlu'ee occasionally. In those exceptional instances, where six or more eggs have been found,
I imagine they must have been the produce of more than one bird. The Baya is stated not to use the
same nest for two yeai-s consecutively, and this I can quite understand, without having actually
observed it."

The Baya is freipently taken when young, tamed, and taught to pick up rings, or such like
articles dropped down a well ; or to snatch the ticoa-work off the forehead of a person pointetl out.
It is also taught occasionally to carry a note to a particular place, on a given signal. Mr. Blyth, in
an unpublished paper, has the following interesting account of .some of this bird's performances: — "The
truth is, that the feats performed by trained Bayas are really very wonderful, and must be witnessed
to be fully credited. Exhibitors carry them about, we believe, to all parts of the country; and
the usual procedure is, when ladies are present, for the bii-d, on a sign from its master, to take a
sweetmeat in its bill, and deposit it between a lady's lips, and repeat this ofl'ering to every
lady present, the bird following the look and gesture of its master. A miniature cannon is then
l)rought, which the bird loads with coarse grains of powder one by one, or more conunonly with
small balls of powder made up for the purpose; it next seizes and skilfully uses a small ramrod,
and then takes a lighted match from its master, which it applies to the touchhole. All this we
ha\e personally witnessed, in common with most persons who have resided in or even visited
India ; and we have seen the little bird ajjply the match five or six times successively before the
powder ignited, which it finally did with a report loud enough to alarm all the Crows in the
neighbourhood, while the little Baya remained pei'ched on the gun, apparently quite elated with
its performance." Captain Tytler mentions also " the twirling of a stick with a ball of tire at each end.
This the bii-d turns in several ways round its head, making luminous circlets in imitation of a
native practice ; the stick being held by the beak in the middle !"

It is further asserted that " in an ordinary cage or aviary they will employ themselves constantly,
if allowed the chance, in intertwining thread or fibres with the wires of their prison, merely grati-
fying the constructive propensity, with apparently no further object, unless, indeed, the sexes are
matched, when the}- breed very readUy in capti\ity, of coiirse provided they are allowed suflioient
room, as in a spacious aviary."

THE SECOND FAMILY OE THE STAELING-LIKE TERCHING BIRDS.
THE STARLINGS [Stitniula).

Tlie Starlings are found only in the Old World, where they form a very large and natural group.
They are distinguished by ha-sdng moderate or long wings, with the first primary always short ; the
nostrils are oblong, covered with a small soft speculum on the upper edge, more or less feathered, but
having a naked edge of rather thicker texture ; the forehead is depressed and bi'oad, and there are no
rictal bristles. In many species the feathers which cover the nostrils fall ofl' when the bird becomes
old ; the feet are generally of large size, and robust, and their habits are generally gregarious, most of
them frequenting the ground, where they assemble in large flocks. There are two sub-families, the
■'^liirniim, or true Starlings, and the Buphagina;, or Beef-eaters.

THE FIRST SITB-FAMILY OF THE STURNID:<E.— THE TRUE STARLING {Sfi,n,ina-).
Of this sub-family there are three divisions, the first containing the Starlings ]>roper, of which
the British bird is the type; the second contains the Pastors and Old World Grakle.s, while in
tlie third division are comprised the Glossy Starlings.

THE COMMON STARLING \sturnm vulgaris).

This is one of the most beautiful of our British birds, and is likewise an inhabitant of the whole

of Europe. In Asia Minor and Persia its place is taken by the Pur[)le Starling {Siurnus purpurescens),

while in Siberia a third species takes its place, which extends to the Himalayas. The habits of the

English Starling have been so frequently described that a long account of them is not necessary.

43

1U4 XATURAL HISTORY.

Few people can liave visited country districts, or even walked in tlie parks or open spaces of London
itself, without having formed an acquaintance with this familiar bird, who builds his nest with impunity
in many of the private liouses in the suburbs, or in the public buildings of great cities. In the
country they breed in the towers of churches, old buildings, and homesteads, and as soon as the young
are reared they frequent the orchards, where they do considerable damage to cherries and other fruits.

This, however, is amply compensated for by the immense amount of good which the Starling does in
destroying the larvse of noxious insects, and large flocks are seen in the autumn and winter busily
engaged in this useful occupation, generally in company with their friends the Eooks. Bishop
Stanley furnishes the following interesting evidence respecting the gregarious habits of the present
species : — " Not far from the church we liave mentioned there is a considerable sheet of water,
occ\ipying nearly thirty acres, flanked and feathered on the eastern side by the old beech-wood, already
spoken of as the abiding place of the Jackdaws. Its western margin is bounded by an artificial dam,
which, as the water is upon a much higher level, commands an extensive view over a flat, rich country,
the horizon terminated by the faint outline of the first range of Welsh mountains. This dam, on the
finer- evenings of November, was once the favourite resort of many persons, who found an additional

THE AFlilCAX IIF.EF-EJTEi:. 100

attraction in watcliing the gradiml asspniblage of Starlings. Al)out an hour before sunset little flocks,
by twenties or fifties, kej)t gradually dropping in, their numbers increasing as daylight waned, till one
vast flight was formed, amounting to thousands, and at times, we miglit almost say, to millions
Nothing could be more interesting or beautiful than to witness their graceful evolutions. At first
they might be seen advancing high in the air, like a dark cloud, which iu an instant, as if by magic,
became almost invisible, the whole body, by some mysterious watchword or signal, changing their
course, and presenting their wings to view edgeways, instead of exposing, as before, their full expanded
spread. Again, in another moment, the cloud might be seen descending in a graceful sweep, so as
almost to brush the earth as they glanced along. Then once more they were seen spiring in wide
circles on high, till at length, with one simultaneous rush, down they glide with a roaring noise of

^

^\

wing till the vast mass buries itself unseen, but not unheard, amidst a bed of reeds projecting from
the bank, adjacent to the wood, for no sooner were they perched than every throat seemed to open
itself, forming one incessant confusion of tongues."

THE SECOND SUB-FAMILY OF THE STURNID.E.— THE BEEF-EATERS.

This sub-fomily of the Starlings is represented by only two species, both peculiar to Africa. They
are very unlike the true Starlings, having a very stout and hard bill, which is straight and swollen just
behind the tip ; the nostrils are bare ; the feet are very short and stout, and are furnished with curved
claws, wliicli are extremely sharp.

THE AFRICAN BEEF-EATER {Bnpkaga africaiin).

Although commonly known as the Beef-eater, it must not be supposed that the birds actually feed
on the flesh of the animals whose backs they frequent in order to gain a living. More than one
traveller, however, has com])lained of the wounds caused in the backs of the cattle by these birds in
their endeavours to extract the grubs from them. Mr. Andersson gives the following note on the habits

lOf, NATURAL HiHTI'Ri:

of the Soutl) African species : — " The arrival of these birds is announced by a sharp cry ; and tlie next
moment tliej' may be seen in a little flock descending fearlessly on and amongst the cattle, which are
at tirst much alarmed, and nm about in wild confusion, just as they do when troubled with gadflies ;
Init these apprehensions are soon dispelled, and exchanged for sensations of evident pleasure, as the
oxpeckers run over their backs, sides, and bellies, like Woodpeckers upon trees, except when an ox,
by an occasional jerk or sudden twist, ap[)ears to indicate that the claws of the bird have caused
something like pain by touching some spot where the skin of the animal happens to be tender." The
same author also alludes to the bird in his "Lake 'Ngami": — "It is also a frequent companion of
the Rhinoceros, to which, besides being of service in ridding him of many of the insects that
infest his hide, it performs the important part of sentinel. On many occasions has this watchful
bii-d prevented me from getting a shot at that beast. The moment it su.spects danger it flies almost
perpendicularly up into the air, uttering sharp shrill notes that never fail to attract the attention of
the Rhinoceros, who, without waiting to ascertain the cause, almost instantly seeks safety in a precipi-
tate flight."

THE THIRD FAMILY OF THE STARLING-LIKE PERCHING BIRDS.
THE WOOD SWALLOWS {Artamidm).
The exact relations of the present family have been very variously determined by naturalists,
some of whom have jjlaeed them near the Shrikes. Tn the wild state they resemble Swallows in their
actions and general mode of life, while in the shape of their bills they exhibit great affinities to some
of the Shrikes and Crow-shrikes. The food consists of insects, and the habitat of the Wood Swallow s is
the Aiistralian region, where they are distributed not only over Australia itself, but all over the Moluccas,
and one species is found in the Indian Peninsula and the Burmese countries. Mr. Gould writes of the
common Wood Swallow (Artamus sordidus): — "The Wood Swallow must, I think, ever be a general
favourite with the Australians, not only from its singular and pleasing actions, but from its often taking
u]) its abode and incubating near the houses, particularly such as are surrounded by paddocks and open
pasture-lands skirted by large trees. It was iu such situations in Tasmania that, at the commencement
of spring, I flrst had an opportunity of observing this sjjecies. It was then very numerous on all the
cleared estates on the north side of the Derwent, about eight or ten being seen on a single tiee, and
half as many crowding one against another on the same dead branch, but never in such numbers as to
deserve the apjiellation of flocks. Each bii-d apjKsared to act independently of the other ; each, as the
desire for food prompted it, sallying forth from the branch to capture a ])assing insect or to soar round
the tree and return again to the same spot. On alighting it repeatedly throws up one of its wings, and
obliquely spreads its tail. At other times a few were seen perched on the fence surrounding the pad-
docks, on which they frequently descended, like Starlings, in search of coleoptera and other insects. The
form of the wing of the Artamus sordidus at once indicates that the air is its peculiar province ; hence
it is, that when engaged in pursuit of the insects which the serenity and warmth of the weather have
enticed from their lurking-places among the foliage to sport in higher regions, this species display.s
itself to the gi-eatest advantage. But the gi-eatest peculiarity in the habits of this bii-d is its manner
of hanging together in clusters from the branch of a tree like a swarm of bee.s. The season of incubation
is from September to December. The situation of the nest is much varied. I have seen one placed in a
thickly-foliaged bough near the gi-ound, while otheis wei-e in a naked fork, on the siile of the bole of
a tree, in a niche fomied by a portion of the Isark having been separated from the trunk, &c. The nest
is rather siiallow, of a rounded form, about five inches in diameter, and composed of fine twigs neatly
lined with fibrous roots. I observed that the nests found in Tasmania were much larger, more com-
pact, and more neatly formed than tho.se on the continent of Au,stralia. The eggs are generally four
in number ; they differ much in the disposition of their markings ; their ground-colour is dull white,
spotted and dashed with dark umber brown ; in some a second series of greyish spots appear as if
beneath the surface of the shell. Their medium length is eleven lines, and breadth eight lines."

THE FOURTH FAMILY OF THE STARLING-LIKE FERCHING BIRDS.
THE LARKS [Alauilida:).
In the formation of the scales of the tarsus the Larks very much resemble some of the songless
perching liirds which will be presently described, but it need scarcely be said that this external

THE SKYLAliK. I(i7

resemblance in entirely countei-balaiiced by the possession of ;i musical appai'atiis, for the owiict-
sliip of which, as eveiy one knows, the Larks are so famous. They form, however, a natural con-
clusion to the section of singing Piusseres, leading on to the Ant-Thrushes, and the ground-loving,
sougless bin Is of the New World. In the formation of the wing the Larks show certain affinities to
the Wagtails and Pipits — that is to say, they have the inner secondaries elongated, so as to be about
e(iual to the ))rimaries in length — and they greatly resemble the latter birds in theii' habits. About
one hundred species of Larks are known, and with the exception of the Horned Larks, which are
found in America, the vast bulk of the species are inhabitants of the Old World, a great number of
them being found in Africa. The hind claw in the Larks, as was also the case in the Pipits, is of
varied form, being generally long and straight, as in. the case of the Skylarks, but in some of them
it is short and rounded.

The common Skylark (Aluada arveitsin) is an inhabitant of Europe, extending far eastward to
the Himalayas, and even to China, but as the bird proceeds to the eastward, certain modifications in
the colour of its plumage are noticed, which are considered sufficient by many naturalists to warrant
a belief in several species of Skylark.

"There is perhaps none of our native birds," says Macgillivray, " that has attracted so much
attention as the Skylark, nor any that has been so mvich celebrated by poets and sentimental writers.
It might be a pleasant task to cull from our choicest authors the flowers of poesy which derive their
beauty from the gentle influence of tliis sweet songster of the fields ; but I must leave it for those who
love to .study Nature from books, as I find it more profitable to listen to the cheering notes of the Lark
herself, to gaze upon her as t^he floats flutteringly high up in the blue sky, to watch her descent, and run
up to inspect her nest among the green grass, while her beloved young ones are rejoicing at her arrival.
Towards the end of autumn the Skylarks congregate in lai-ge straggling flocks, generally keeping
by themselves, although occasionally mingling with small birds of the Passerine and Bunting
families. In open weather they frequent the stubble and ploughed fields, where tliey pick up the
seeds of oats, wheat, barley, polygonum, and other plants. Like the Degluhitorea, and many of the
Cantatores, they use a large quantity of sand and gravel, consisting chiefly of grains of quartz, to
ftid the process of digestion. I believe their food during the winter consists almost entirely of seeds,
although remains of insects may now and then be found in theii' gizzards. At this season they
«mploy only their oi-dinary flight, which bears some resemblance to that of the Fieldfare, being
performed by slight undulations, and several consecutive flaps of the wings, with short alternate
cessations. They generally hover over a field, or fly about in curves, before they alight, which
they do in rather an abrupt manner, but not so rapidly as the Com and Yellow Buntings. On
alighting they disperse, and move about, not by leaps, like most small bii-ds, but by an alternate action
of the feet, in a half-gliding, half-startful manner, ke^'ping theii- legs bent and their bi-easts con-
sequently close to the ground. When in any degree alarmed, they crouch, draw in theii- neck,
and remain motionless until the object of their apprehension has disappeared. Should a person
walk up to a flock, he may get quite close to it before the birds think it necessary to rise; and
■on such occasions they do not all take flight at once, a few here and there rising in succession.
Indeed, unless the gi-ound be all gone over, many will remain and allow their companions to fly
•oS". Their movements while rising are rapid and wavering, so that until they are at some distance it
is difficult to shoot them. Owing to their habit of crouching, it is by no means ea.sy to perceive them
while on the ground, especially if they are among stubble ; and as their motions are quick, they
traverse a considerable distance in a short time. When there is snow on the ground, they betake
themselves to corn-yards, and searck the tops of the stacks for seeds ; but in frosty weather, when
the ground is clear, they prefer settling on the spaces between or around the stacks. If distm-bed
and forced to fly oflT, they do not, like the Buntings, Chafiinches, and Sparrows, with which they then
associate, perck on the neighbouring trees or walls, but remove to a distance. During this season,
they merely utter a short chirping note as they fly, although occasionally a bright day, even so early as
January, will elicit their song.

" In the beginning of March, or earlier if the weather is fine, they separate and pair. At this
jieriod the males often fight, chiefly in the air ; and now theii- song commences, to lie continued until
the middle of the autumn. I have heard Larks in full song on the 13th of February in Fifeshire.

riTRAL HISTORY

This species is perhaps tliat which, excepting the Wliitethroat and the Blackbird, begins to sing
earliest in the morning. On the 12th of March, 1835, while on an excursion along the coast, I was
greeted at half-past five, between Portobello and Musselburgh, with the full song of the Lark, followed
shortly after by those of the Robin and Blackbird, and the harsh cry of the Partridge. In the island
of Hairis, about the middle of June, in 1820, when on my way to the summit of a hill to see the sun
rise, I heard the Lark at half-past one, and soon aftei- the Snipe and Corn Crake. It ceases, however,

^^-

in the evening much earlier than several of our songsters, especially the Blackbii-d, Thrash, and Robin.
The song of the Skylark is familiar to most persons, even those who in cities have exchanged the love
of nature inherent in humanity for the love of gain, fashion, and vicious excitement ; but were it not,
it would be as difficult for me to describe it as it would be for a musician to imitate it. Sometimes
the Lark sings on the ground, perched on a clod, or even crouched among the grass, but generally in
commencing its song it starts off, rises perpendicularly or obliquely in the air, with a fluttering
motion, and continues it until it has attained its highest elevation, which not unfrequently is such as
to render the bird scarcely perceptible. Even then, if the weather be calm, you hear its warble
coming faintly on the ear at intervals. It has been alleged that the Lark a.scends in a spiral manner,
but my observation does not corroborate the statement. In rising, it often passes directly upward,
but with the body always horizontal, or nearly so, then moves in a cm-ve, and continues thus

altPrnately, Init without a coutiuueil spiral mntiiui. At first tlie motion of the wiiis^s is uniformly
riutti'riiig, lint afterwai'ds it shoots them out two or tliree times successiviily at intervals, and when at
its greatest heigiit exhibits this action more remarkably. When it descends, the song is not inter-
mitted, lint is eontiiuu'd until it approaches the ground, wlien it usually darts down headlong, and
alights abruptly. Frequently it resumes its song after alighting, and continues it for a short time,
but more commonly it stops when it has reached the ground. Often the Lark may be seen hovering
o^•er a field, in full song, for a considerable time at a small height. On the 4th of May, 1837, I
observed a Lark perched on a half-twist whin branch, where it remained singing a long time. I have
often seen it perch on a wall, and several times on a hawthorn bush in a hedge, but it never, I believe,
alights on tall trees.

" The song of the Lark is certainly not musical, for its notes are not finely modulated, nor its
tones mellow, but it is cheerful and cheei'ing in the highest degree, and protracted beyond all
comparison. In a sunny day in April or May, when the grass-fields have begun to resume their
verdure, it is pleasant to listen to the merry songster that makes the welkin ring with its sprightly
notes ; in the sultry month of July still more pleasant is it to hear its matin hymn while the dew is
yet on the corn ; and in winter, should you chance to hear the well-known voice on high, it reminds
you of the bright days that have gone, ajid fills you with anticipation of those that are to come. No
doubt much of the pleasure derived from the Lark's song depends upon association, and to him who
finds delight in wandering over the green fields, along the daisied margin of the clear stream that
winds in the bottom of the pastoral glen, or upon the ferny brae, where the ' long, yellow broom '
and ' blossomed furze unprofitably gay ' shoot up amidst the wild thyme, yarrow, and blue-bell, it is
pleasant to listen even to the ' skirl ' of the Corn Bunting, the see-saw song of the Tit, the creaking
cry of the Partridge, or the singular crake of the Land Rail ; but independently of circumstances and
associations, the song of the Lark imparts an elasticity to the mind, elevates the spirits, and suspends
for a time the gnawing of corroding care. The mellow song of the Merle or Mavis is apt to inspire
melancholy, especially if heard in a sequestered valley towards the close of the day, and the feelings
which it excites have perhaps ;'s much of a depressing as of a soothing tendency ; but the carol of the
Lark, like the lively fife, excites pure cheerfulness, and might with propriety be prescribed as an
antidote for didness. It is not merely music that we look for in the songs of birds, but variety, and
the expression of passions, feelings and wants. Were all our warblers to tune their throats according
to rule we should become sickly and sentimental, and fill the valleys with sighs and groans from the
mountain tops ; but the loud war-whoop of the Eagle, the harsh scream of the Heron, and the
croak of the Raven, are antidotes to the bewitching melody of the Blackcap and Nightingale. I
have endeavoured to trace a repetition at regular intervals in the strains of the Lark ; but its
modulations seem to have no rule. In confinement this bird .sings evei-y whit as well as when at
large ; and when rapidly perambulating the square bit of faded turf in its cage, it enacts its part with
apparently as much delight as when mounting towards ' heaven's gate.' " * These last words of
Macgillivray's will remind every reader that the Lark has always been one of the chiefest favourites
among poets. The Ettrick Shepherd's fine symjjathetic lines and Shelley's noble ode, Wordsworth's
address and Southey's somiet, are only a few witnesses to the fact.

The male Skylark is rather larger than the female, and this diflerence is apparent in winter, when
the ilocks are mixed together in the fields, the cock bird being consjjicuous to a practised observer by
liis gi'eater bulk when on tlie wing.

THE SECOND SECTION OF THE PASSERTFORxMES, OR PERCHING BIRDS.

THE MESOMYOBI, OR SONGLESS BIRDS.
The birds which compose the Mesomyodian section of the Perching Birds belong almost entirely
to the New World, with the exception of the PlUidce, or Old World Ant-Thrushes. They are
separated from the Acromyodian Perching Birds on account of modifications, which take place in
the syrinx, "an acromyodian bird being one in which the muscles of the syrinx are attached to the
extremities of the bronchial semi-rings, a mesomyodian bird being one in which the muscles of the
syrinx join the semi-rings in their middles. " t

• Macgillivray : " British Birtls." Vol. 11., i). ICA. t (unrod : PrnccaU.vjs of the ZiMlnjicol y,,-iefii, 1.S76, p. 507.

^ -^\

LYRE BIRD.

THE uriXE-TAILS. HI

THE FIRST FAJriLY OF THE WESOMYODI, mi SOXGLESS BIRDS.
THE LYRE BIRDS [Mamnd.c).
These cnirious ;irid interestiug birds are found only m Australia, of which they are one of tlie most
eliaracteristic birds. Of the liabits of the Prince Albert's Lyre-bird (Mvnara alberti) an excellent
account is given in Mr. Gould's " Handbook to the Birds of Australia," from the pen of Mr. A. A.
Leycester, portions of which are here transcribed : — " The habits of Mennra alberti are very similar to
M. su/>ei-ba. Having seen and watched both on their play-grounds, I find the J/, alberti is far
superior in its powers of mocking and imitating the cries and songs of otheis of the feathered race to
the J/, siipcrba ; its own peculiar song or cry Ls also different, being of a much louder and fuller tone.
I once listened to one of these bii-ds that had taken up its quarters within two hundred yards of a
sawyer's hut, and lie had made himself perfect in all the noises of the sawyer's homestead, the
crowing of the cocks, tlie cackling of the hens, and the barking and the howling of the dogs, and even
the j)ainful screeching or the sharpening and filing of the saws. I have never seen more than a pair
together. Each bird appears to have its own walk or boundary, and never to infringe on the others'
grounds ; for I have heard them day after day in the same place, and seldom nearer than a quarter of
a mile to each other. Whilst singing, they spread their tails over their heads like a Peacock, and
droop their wings to the ground, and at the same time scratch and peck up the earth. They sing
mornings and evenings, and more so in winter than at any other time. The young cocks do not sing
until they get their full tails, which I fancy is not until the fourth year, having shot them in four
different stages ; the two centre ciu-ved feathers ai-e the last to make their appearance. They live
entirely upon small insects, principally beetles. Their flesh is not eatable, being dark, dry, and tough,
and quite unlike that of other birds. They commence building their nests in May, lay in June, and
have young in July. They generally place their nests on the side of some steep rock, where there is
sufKcient room to form a lodgment, so that no animals or vermin can approach. The nest is
constructed of small sticks, interwoven with moss and fibres of roots, the inside being lined with the
skeleton leaf of the parasitical tree fern, resembling horsehair, and covered in, with the entrance on the
side. The single egg laid is of a very dark colour, appearing as if it had been blotched over with ink.
The young bird for the first month is co\-ered with down, and remains in the nest about six weeks
before it takes its departure."

THE SECOND F.UIILY OF THE MESOIIYODI, OR SOXGLESS BIRDS.
THE BUSH-WRENS {Pta-optochithe).
This is a small family of birds belonging to South America, and numlDering about eight genera
and aboiit seventeen species. They are remarkable for their enormous feet, with very distinctly
sr-aled tarsi. Mr. Darwin writes of Pteroptochus rubecula in the " Voyage of the Bmyle " : — " In
Chiloe, where it is common, it is called by the Indian inhabitants the ' Cheucau.' It frequents the
most gloomy and retired spots within the damp forests. Sometimes, although the cry of the Cheucau
is heard close by, a person may watch attentively- and yet in vain ; at other times, if he stands
motionless, the red-breasted little bird will ajiproach within a few feet in the most familiar manner.
It then busily hops about the entangled mass of rotting canes and branches, with its little tail cocked
upwards. I opened the gizzard of .several specimens ; it was very muscular, and contained hard
seeds, biids of plants, occa.sionally some insects and vegetable fibres mixed with small stones. The
Cheucau is held in superstitious fear by the Chilotans, on account of its strange and varied cries.
There are three very di.stinct kinds — one is called ' chiduco,' and is an omen of good ; another
' huitrew,' which is extremely unfavourable ; and a third which I have forgotten. These woi-ds are
given in imitation of its cries, and the natives are in some things absolutely governed by them. I
was informed by the inhabitants that the Cheucau builds its nests amongst sticks close to the ground."

THE THIRD FAMILY OF THE MESOMY^ODI, OR SONGLESS BIRDS.

THE SPINE-TAILS {Smdrocolaptida-).

These birds resemble very much in api)earance the Old "World Tree Creepers, the majority of

them having, as then- name implies, spiny tails like the birds alluded to. They also climb trees after

the manner of Creepers. The family is entirelv Neotropical, luid contains some two hundred and

43*

NATURAL HISTORY.

twenty species comprised in about forty genera. Considerable variation exists in the form of tliese
birds, some of wiijcli, as in the genus Xiphocolaptes, attain the dimensions of a good-sized Wood-
pecker, while some are very minute. The family is divided by Messrs. Sclater and Salviu into four
sub-families, viz., tlie Furnariinoi, or Oven Bii-ds, the Sclerurince, containing but one genus, Sckniras,
the Synallaxiiue, or Spine-tails, and the Dendrocolaptinw, or Woodhewers. Mr. Edward Bartlett,
who travelled for some time in the upper districts of the Amazon river, met with two species of
Furnarius, or Oven Bird. Of the Furnarius torridus, he says : — " This bird builds its nest in the
banks near the water, like the Swallow or Kingfisher ; it is composed of fine sticks and bents very
loosely put together. The eggs are four in number and of a creamy white colour, oblong in shape."
Of the smaller Oven Bird, the same author relates : — " This interesting little fellow, very diflferent in
habits from the preceding species, builds its nest of mud on the bough of a tree. The nest is round.

and consists of an inner chamber, the entrance to which is by a passage formed on one side. The
chamlier is lined with fine long grass fibres, hairs, (fee. Tlie eggs are white, and four in number."
Writing of the Rufous Oven Bird, Mr. Darwin observes : — "This bird is common in Banda Oriental, on
the banks of the Plata ; but I did not see it farther southward. It is called by the Spaniards Casaro,
or House-builder, from the very singular nest which it con.structs. Tlie most exposed situation, as on
the top of a post, the stem of an opuntia, or bare rock, is chosen. The nest consists of mud and bits of
straw ; it is very strong, and the sides are thick. In shape it resembles a depressed beehive or oven,
and hence the name of the genus. Directly in front of the mouth of the nest, which is large and arched,
there is a partition, which reaches neai-ly to the roof, thus forming a passage or ante-chamber to the
true nest. At Maldonado, in the end of May, the bii-d was busy in building. The Furnarius is
very common in Banda Oriental ; it often haunts the bu.shes in the neighbourhood of houses. It is an
active bird, and both walks and runs quickly, and generally by starts. It feeds chiefly on coleoptera.
It often utters a peculiar, loud, shrill, and quickly reiterated cry." *

Mr. Darwin, in the same woi-k, also describes the habits of another species, Fwniarv»s cuniai-

* Darwin : " ^■nyage of tlie Beagle" (Birds).

IME UVES lilkl). 113

larius, whose luiljits of nesting, however, aie very different. He says: — "It buikls its nest at tlie bottom
of a narrow cylindrical hole, ^^■llich is said to extend horizontally to nearly six feet under ground.
Several of tlie country people told me that when boys, they had attempted to dig out the nest, but had
scai-cely ever succeeded in getting to the end. The bird chooses any low bank of firm sandy soil by the
side of a road or stream. At the settlement of Bahia Blanca the walls are built of hardened mud ;
and I noticed one, enclosing a court-yard where I lodged, which was penetrated by round holes in a
score of places. On asking the owner the cause of this, he bitterly complained of the little Casarita,
several of which I afterwards observed at work." Mr. Bartlett found two species of Sderurus in the
ITpiHjr Amazon, and states that these birds are always found in dense forests on the gi-ound, hunting
for insects. The Spine-tails are described by M. D'Orbigny as being insect-eating birds of lively

OVEN BIUD.

habits, many of them being very tame, and he mentions how one species, the Synallaxis troglodytoides
(the Wren-like Spine-tail), visited maritime plants when he was in the neighbourhood of Bahia de San
Bias, in Patagonia. Each individual rested hardly two minutes in the same place, being always in
motion, running over each branch in turn, ascending and descending incessantly, showing no fear. The
whole troop flew off at once and settled again at a little distance off, but on a shot being fired, they all
disappeared. Tlie same wT-iter also states that some of the Spine-tails live more in the thickets, and
frequent the bushes and big plants, sometimes rather near the water, at others in more arid localities.
Many of them are found in the cold regions, as well as the temperate and hot portions of the American
continent. Of the Woodhewers, which are larger birds, but little has been recorded as regards their
habits. Mr. Salvin states that the Northern Woodhewer (Xiphocolaptes emigrans) was seen by him
in Guatemala. . On each occasion the bird was observed on the trunks of the larger trees, to which it
clings just like a Woodpecker, and ascends rapidly to the summit. When pursued, it takes short
flights, of about one hundred yards or so to another tree, alighting on it near its base, and again
ascending to the top of its stem, whence another flight is taken.

114 SATUItAL MISTORY.

THE FOURTH FAMILY OF THE MESOMYODI, OR SOXGLESS BIRDS.
THE AMERICAN ANT-THRUSHES (Formicariida:).
As in tli« case of so many otlier Mesomyoilian birds, tlie Fiynnicariidce are entirely inliabitaiits
of the New World. About two luuidred and twenty species are known to science, and these are
arranged in two snb-families, the first of which, the Thamnophillnw, contains the birds which are
po])ularly known as American Bush Shrikes. These have an aspect very similai- to the Bush-Shrikes
{Dryoscopm) of Africa, while in their habits they also re.semble the Butcher-birds of the Old World.
M. D'Orbigny writes: — " They are, in Amei'ica, the repre.sentatives of our Shrikes, with this important
difference in their habits, that instead of invariably perching on bushes, they are found always in the
interior, and rarely appear outside. They are bush-birds ^xtr excellence, all living to the east of the
Andes ; at least we do not know of any which has been brought from the west of that great chain.
They live in all the localities where dense thickets are to be found, either in the hedges near houses
or in the deserted clearings in the heart of the forest, or else in the stunted thickets, bristling with
thorns, which are called chaparrales by the Spaniards, and which are characteristic of cei-tain parts
of Central South America. They go as a rule either alone or in couples, and the most familiar of
them approach inhabited places, springing from branch to branch at the bottom of the bushes, which
they scour in search of insects and their larvae, and ants. They very rarely descend to the earth, and
then only for the purpose of seizing their prey, which they afterwards proceed to devour on the lowest
branches of the thicket. They appeared to us resident in the countries of which they were natives,
but always going from one place to another. What traveller iia the heart of these wild situations
so common in America has not been struck, especially in spring-time, by the vociferous songs of
the Bush Shrikes, and with the noisy gamut that the males give out, especially at • the season
of love'i Their whole frame trembles with happiness; their crest raises itself; they open their
wings, and show every sign of pleasure, whilst the female hastens to reply to their transports, but
in accents less pronounced. These conversations often strike the ear, but one may search in vain for
the performer, the birds being almost always hidden in thickets so dense that the rays of the sun
scarcelj' penetrate them. It is in such places as these that they even deposit their nest at some
feet above the ground. It is made of twigs outside, and sometimes lined with hair inside. Their eggs
very much resemble those of our Shrikes, in that they are often whitish, spotted with reddish-violet."

THE FIFTH FAMILY OF THE MESOMYODI, OR SONGLESS BIRDS.
THE OLD WORLD ANT-THRUSHES [Pittida).
The members of this family, wliich represent in the Old World the Ant-Thrushes mentioned ui
the preceding family, are, unlike the latter, birds of very striking and brilliant plumage. From
Australia, throughout the Molucca Islands, they range through the Malayan Peninsula and Burmese
countries mto China, several species inhabiting the Himalayan Mountains, whUe one is common to the
Indian peninsula and in Ceylon. The genus then disappears fl-om the intervening countries, but is
once more represented by the Angola Pitta {Pitta angolensis) in West Africa ; this species, however,
appears merely to inhabit the coast line. Most of the Pittas appear to be migratory. They
nest on the ground, or on low branches close to the gi-ound. Of the habits of the Bhie-winged
Pitta an excellent account has appeai-ed from the pen of Mr. W. Davidson :* — " Foi" many months
after my arrival in Burmah I lUd not meet with this species ; but while at Tavoy, towards the
latter end of April, after a few good showers of rain, they suddenly appeared in great numbers
in the gardens and jilantations in and about Tavoy. Before the rain, I can safely affirm that
there were none about the ]ilace, for day after day for the greater ]iai-t of the month had I been
working the countiy in which they subsequently became so numerous. From this time till I left
Burmah, in July, they were numerous everywhere. Subsequently I have, year by year, noticed the
annual emigration throughout the southern and central portions of the province. Very likely they
e.xtend to the north, but I have never been there at the right season. I su.spect, however, that they
are rather a coast-lovLiig species. Although the great mass of the birds come as described, a few, I
think, i-emain all the year round in the mangrove swamps of the southern extremity of the province ;
at any rate, I have found them there from January to July. This species is very fond of perching
• "Stray Feathers," 1878.

TBE KIXGJBIRU 115

on trees ; you may continually sec them high u[> upon trees calling vociferously. They are not at all
will! or shy birds ; they feed freely on ants and their larvie, all insects, grubs, and land shells. I never
noticed this or any of its congeners coming to the water to drink. This, and the closely-allied
J'. )mgarh!)mha, seem to frequent most commonly their tree jungle, where there is not much undei-wood,
and the mangrove swamps, but they aUo occur abundantly in gardens and plantations. They both
have a fine clear double note, which may constantly be heard in the morning and evening wherever
they occur. They are decidedly noisy, and often call all day, and, on moonlight nights, a gi-eat part
of the night also."

THE SIXTH FAMILY OF THE MESOMVODI, OR SONGLESS PERCHING-BIRDS.
THE TYRANT BIRDS {Tyrannida).
This family is one of the most characteristic of the many which are peculiar to the New World.
In the flattened bill, and the great development of the rictal bristles, they bear great resem-
blance to the Flycatchei-s of the Old World, but the structural peculiarities of their tarsus, which
has the scales arranged in a difierent manner, in addition to the different formation of the voice-
organ, su6Bciently serves for the separation of the families Tyrannida; and Mu^cicapida'. More
than three hundred species are now known to science, not thirty of which are found within the limits
of the United States, so that the vast bulk of the Tyrant birds are peculiar to >Southern and Central
America.

THE KINGBIRD {^Tyranmis carol ineiisU).

This is one of the North A merican species of Tyrants ranging over a wide expanse of country,
and visiting Central America in winter. The following account of the species is given in the " Histoiy
of North American Birds," by Dr. Brewer ; — " No one of our common birds possesses more strongly-
marked characteristics of mannei-s and habits than this species. Its pugnacious disposition during
the breeding season, the audacious boldness with which it will attack any birds larger than itself,
tho persistent tenacity with which it will continue these attacks, and the i-eckless courage with which
it will maintain its unequal warfare, are well-known peculiarities of this interesting and familiar
species. Its name, Kingbird, is given it on the supposition that it is sujjerior to all other birds in
tliese contests. My own ob.servations lead me to the conclusion that writers have somewhat exag-
gerated the quarrelsome disposition of this bird. I have never, or very rarely, known it to molest or
attack anjt other birds than those which its own instinct prompts it to drive away in self-defence,
such as Hawks, Owls, Eagles, Crows, Jays, Cuckoos, and Grakles. These it will always attack and
drive off (juite a distance from their nests. Nothing can be more striking than the intrepidity with
which one of these birds will pounce upon and harass birds vastly lai'ger and more powerful than
itself. The Kingbird is always pronfpt to perceive the approach of one of these enemies, and always
rushes out to meet it ; mounting in the air high above it, it pounces down upon its back, upon wliich it
will even rest, furiously pecking at the exposed flanks of its victim, and only leaving it to descend
again and again with the same unrelenting animosity. In these encounters it always comes off
conqueror. Wilson states that his jealous aflection for his mate, and for his nest and young, makes
him suspicious of every bird that happens to pass near his residence. But this is not the case in all
instances. A pair of these birds nested in the summer of 1871, and peacefully reared their young in
an apple-tree near my residence, within four feet of the nest of the Baltimore Oriole, and not more than
eight or ten feet from the nest of a Eobin, all in the same tree. The three pairs were on evident terms
of amity and mutual good-will. The male Kingbird kept a sharp look-out for danger from the
topmost bough, and seemed to have all under his special guardianship, b)it showed no disposition
to molest or annoy them.

" The Purple Martin is said to be the implacable enemy of the Kingbird, and one of the few birds
with which the latter maintains an unequal contest. Its superiority in flight gives the former great
advantages, while its equal courage and strength render it more than a match. Audubon relates an
instance in which the KLngbird was slain in one of these struggles, Wilson also relates an encounter,
of which he was an eye-witness, between one of this species and a Red-headed Woodpecker, in which
the latter, while clinging on the rail of a fence, seemed to amuse itself with the violence of the King-

KATURAL HISTGHY.

bird, ))lMying bo-peep with it rountl the rail, while the latter became greatly irritated, and made
repeated, but vain attempts, to strike at him. The Kingbird feeds almost exclusively upon winged
insects, and consumes a vast number. It is on this account one of our most useful birds, but unfortu-
nately for its popularity it is no respecter of kinds, and destroys large numljers of bees. In districts
where hives of honey-bees abound the Kingbird is not in good repute. Wilson suggests that
they only destroy the drones, and rarely if ever meddle with the working bees. But this
discrimination, if even real, is not appreciated by the raisers of bees, who regard this bird as their
enemy. The Kingbirds arrive in Pennsylvania the latter part of April, and in New England
early in May, and leave for the south in September. They nest in May, selecting an upper
branch, usually of an isolated tree, and often in an exposed situation. Theii- nests are large,
broad, and comparatively shallow, and coarsely, though strongly, made of rude materials, such as

twigs, withered plants, bits of rags, string, ifec. These are lined with fine rootlets, horsehair, and
fine gi-asses.

" The Kingbird has no song, but instead utters an incessant monotonous succession of twitterings,
which vary in sharpness and loudness with the emotions that prompt them. The flight of the
Kingbird, when on the hunt for insects, is very peculiar and chai-acteristic. It flies slowly over
the field with rapid vibrations of the wings in the manner of Hawks, and soars or seems to float
in the air in the manner of a Swallow. It also exhibits great power and rapidity of flight when
rushing forth to encounter a Hawk or an Eagle. As they are known occasionally to plunge into
the water, and, emerging thence to resume their seat on a high branch, to dry and dress their
plumage, it has been conjectured that they feed on small fish, but this is imsupported by any
})ositive evidence. Though the Kingbii-d usually builds in trees, it does not always select such
.situations. In the summer of 1851, passing over a bridge near the ■village of Aylesford, in Nova
Scotia, I observed a Kingbird fly from a nest built on the jirojecting end of one of the planks of
which the bri Ige was made. So remarkably exposed a po.sition, o])en to view and on a level with
and within a few feet of a highway, must be quite unusual. The eggs of this bird are five,
sometimes six, in number, and vary considerably in size. Their ground colour is white with a moi-e
nr less decided roseate tinge, beautifully spotted with blotclies and markings of purple, brown, and red-

brown. lu some tliese are clisposeil i
irregularly ilistrilmtcd over the entire
breadth from '72 to '70 of an inch."

THE r.ELL BIRD.

Mifluent crown arouml the
In leni'th they vary from

iri;vr enil : in others they are
•0.") to -yO of an inch, and in

THE .SEVENTH FAMILY OF THE MESOMYODI, OR SONGLESS BIRDS.
THE AJIEEICAX CHATTERERS {Cotbi!/i,/,().
To tliis family belong nearly a hundred specie.s of birds, mostly of gay plumage, which are found
in the New World. Some of the most interesting are the brilliantly coloured Cotingas, or Chatterers

^Av i

COCK OP THE KOCK.

of South America, in which the plumage is of a mingled blue and crimson ; but there are also in this
family equally familiar birds, such as the Cocks of the Rock, the Umbrella-birds, and the Bell-birds.
The habits of the common Bell-bird ai-e described by Mr. Waterton in his "Wanderings." Speaking
of the several Cotingas of the country under notice, he says : — " The fifth species is the celebrated
'Campanero' of the S)ianiards, called 'Dara' by the Indians, and 'Bell-bird' by the English.
He is about the size of the Jay. His plumage is white as snow. On his forehead rises a spiral
tube nearly three inches long. It is jet-black, dotted all over with small white feathers. It has a
communication with the palate, and when filled with air itloaks like a spire ; when empty it becomes
pendulous. His note is lend and clear, like the sottnd of a bell, and may be heard at the distance of
three miles. In the midst of these extensive wilds, generally on the dried top of an ancient wood,
almost out of your reach, yoti will see the Campanero. No sound or song from any of the winged
inhabitants of the forest, not even the clearly pronounced ' Wliip-]ioor-will ' from the Goatsucker,
causes such astonishment as the toll of the Campanero. With many of tlie feathered race he pays tlie
common tribute of a morning and evening song ; and even when the meridian sun has shut in silence

nisi 1)1! y.

the mouths of ahiiost the whole of animated nature, the C'anipanero still cheers the forest. You
may hear his toll and then pause for a minute, then another toll and then a pause again, and then a
toll and again a pavise ; then he is silent for six or eight minutes and then another toll, and so on.
Acteon would stop in mid-chase, JNIaria would defer her evening song, and Orpheus himself would
drop his lute to listen to him, .so sweet, so novel, and so romantic is the toll of the pretty snow-white
Cai^ipanero. He is never seen to feed with the other Cotingas, nor is it known in what part of Guiana
he makes his nest."

With regard to the spiral tube on the forehead, or caruncle, Mr. Salvin remarks * : — " From dried
specimens it is impossible to make any satisfactory dissection of the caruncles, to ascertain whether or
not any communication exists through means of which air could be passed so as to inflate them and

UMliKELLA KIKD.

cause them to become rigid. On opening the caruncle of an immature male, I found that fine fibrous
tissues adhered to the enclosing skin. This would show that in life the caruncle is not hollow, and
that, if the internal structure is cellular and capable of inflation by air, these tissues would prevent
the outer skin from swelling and taking a bladder-like form. If inflation actually is produced, as
analogy with the Cayenne-bird, as described by Mr. Waterton, would certainly suggest, it still remains
to be seen from what source the air pressure is derived. The question, too, arises. Is the inflating
apparatus, if I may so call it, the growth of the maturing male, as are the caruncles themselves ? My
own impression is that no inflation takes place, and that the bird possesses little or no voluntary
nuiscular control over the.se excrescences, but that contraction or elongation takes place, as in the
fleshy protuberance over the bill of the conmion Turkey. The same appears to be the case with the
several members of the genus Cephalopterus (Umbrella-birds), one species of which is said to gather
its throat-lappet under its throat in a bunch like a rose. A muscular contraction would cause one oi
these caruncles to become more rigid, as in the familiar case above cited."

* "Ibis," 18G5, p. 93.

THE nROAlJlill.l..

THE EIUHTH FAJIILY OF THE JIESOMVCJI)!, OR SONGLESS
THE JIAXAKINS (/Vrirte),
The Manakins are closely allied to the Tyrants, and form a small family of American birds,
consisting of about sixty si)ecies. All the Manakins are of small size, and iidiabit the wooded portions
of .South America, and they are somewhat shy in their habits. Of the latter, however, very little
has been recorded.

THE NINTH FAMILY OF THE MESOMYODI, OR SONGLESS BIEDS.
THE BROADBILLS (Euri/Uemiidce).
In appearance the Broadbills most resemble some of the broad-billed Rollers {Eurystomus)
with which they have been commonly classed by naturalists, but of late years more minute study of

their anatomy and general structure has resulted in placing them near the Chatterers oir
America of which they appear to be a representative form in the Far East. The species are only
about seven in number, all of them being confined to the Himalayan Mountains, the hills of
the Burmese countries, the Malayan peninsula, and the Indo-Malayau isljinds. Writing of these
birds in Tenasserim, Mr. Davidson says : — " The Broadbills, I think, might well be designated a stupid
set of birds, but the Lunated Broadbill {Serilop/ms hmatus) is the most stupid of the lot. They usually
move about in small parties, and when one meets with a party every bird of which it consists can
without difficulty be secured, as the birds take no notice of their companions being shot, and do not
appear to be at all alarmed at the report of the gun, seldom moving farther than the next branch,
sometimes not moving at all, when the gun is fired. Their note consists of a single chir-r-r-r. They
never walk or hop about the branches, though they will fly from branch to branch. They feed chiefly-
on insects, many of which they seize on the wing."* The same author writes of the Sumatran.
* "Stray Feathers," 1878, p. 89.

1^3 XArCIiAL HISTORY.

broadbOl (Corydni. snmatranus) : — " This species is spread tlirouglioiit Tenasseriin, but is nowhere
, abundant, being found in paii-s or small parties, usually in moderately thin forest, but it occurs
also in dense forest. During the day it is sluggish, and a party will, like S. lunatus, allow them-
selves to be shot one after the other without any attempt to escape.

" Tiiey have an oft-repeated, mellow, rather musical note, quite different from, and not at all of
the same class as that of the preceding species, and also a clear whistle, which they utter when
flying from tree to tree. It does not ascend the higher hills, nor indeed do any of the pi'e-
ceding species. Not only is their note entii-ely different, but they are far more sluggish than the
rest of tlie Broadbills, feeding almost exclusively morning and evening, and sitting for hours motionless
on a branch, sometimes high up and sometimes low down, in a slouching attitude, with their necks
drawn in and their bUls pointing upwards. They are not ;it all shy, and by no means curious about
what is passing around them ; but one day, when I was waiting by a clear pool, watching for A Icedo
nii/rieans, one came and sat on a branch about ten feet distant. He clearly thought me a veiy
strange animal, for though he did not attempt to go away, he kept craning out his neck, and peering
down at me in a stupid inquisitive fashion. Thus we remained for about two hours, when a KingBsher
not appearing, I shot my stupid neighbour."

THE TENTH FAMILY OF THE MESOMYODI, OR SONGLESS BIRDS.
THE PLANT-CUTTERS (Phytoiomida).
Only three .s])ecies of Plant-cutter are known, one inhabiting Chili, a second the Argentine
Republic, and a third Bolivia. In appearance they resemble a Finch or Tanager, and have been
placed by many authors in the vicinity of the last-named birds. D'Orbigny writes : — " This singular
genus, well characterised by the numerous teeth in the cutting edges of the mandibles and of the
interior of the upper mandible, has, moreover, like the Tanagers of the genus Saliator, a strong tooth
near the extremity of the bill ; the wings are short ; the tail rather long and equal." The same writer
thinks that the Plant-cutters should not be moved far from the 'fanagers in the natural system, as
they resemble the latter birds a good deal in the form of the bill. In habits the Plant-cutters are
still more like the latter birds, for they both live in the bushes and on the shrubs, where they feed
on fruits, berries, and buds, like the Saltato7-es, and they are constantly found in society with them.

PLANT-CVTTER.

Speaking of tlie Narmw-billi'd Pliint-oiitter {I'hijfoloiiKt ((ii;/nslirus(ris), the same author observes : —
" It was seen in several localities in the Andes of Bolivia, always in the temperate zone, in dry
and arid situations on the coteaii.c and the plains, without ever descending into the hot valleys, which
are wooded and moist. One might say that the temperature which it prefers is that where wheat cari
be grown, and it was never observed by us either above or below this limit. It is always met with in
the neighbourhood of habitations and cultivation, and is very common ; it is seen throughout the year
either singly, in pairs, or in small troops. When mingled with the Saltatores it traverses the bushes,
the gardens of the towns, devastating the plantations, where it cuts off the buds, and spoiling
the fruits, doing this without any danger, as up to the present time the people are content with
complaining of tiiis inconvenient parasite without seeking any means to stop its ravages. Its flight
is sliort and low, and never long sustained ; its habits resemble those of the Saltatores, but we have
nevertheless observed it on the ground. Its cry, which is often repeated, could not be much more
disagreeable, as it resembles the noise made by the grating of the teeth of one saw against those of
another. At certain seasons the Plant-cutter is very fond of the fruit of a species of Solcmum, which
imparts to the beak a violet colour."

THE FOURTH ORDER OF BIRDS.— THE DOVES (Columke).

In many respects the order Columhie resembles the Gallinaceous birds, or Gcdlince; but there is
a fundamental difference Vietween these two orders in the way in which the young are hatched,
the nestlings of the Game-birds being very active and able to sliift for themselves on their escape
from the egg, while tlie young of the Pigeons are tjorn naked and helpless. It is proliably owing
to a certain sviperficial resemblance in the form of the bill, and possibly to the resemblance be-
tween the Crowned Pigeons and some Game-birds, that these two orders have been so generally allied
togetlier in modern classifications. In the Pigeons the bill is formed not unlike that of the Plovers,
the basal part being bare and covered with a thick soft skin ; the apical part of the bill, however,
is horny and hard in texture, convex in shape, and higher than the soft part. The nostrils are
placed rather low in the soft part, near the base of the bill, and are longitudinal in shape.

The Colu.mbce may be divided into three families, as detailed Ijelow : —

THE FIRST FAMILY OF THE PIGEONS.— THE DODOS (Didiilm).

As everybody knows, the curious Pigeon called the Dodo is now extinct. As far as we are
aware its range was always very restricted, being confined to the southern portion of the island
of Mauritius. In size the Dodo was a little larger than a Turkey, and was incapable of flight,
although it is said to have progressed rapidly over the ground. Mr. Strickland * gives the following
account : — " In 1644 the Dutch first colonised the island of Mauritius, and it is probable that these
gigantic fowls, deprived of, flight, slow of foot, and useful for food, were speedily diminished in num-
ber, and finally exterminated, by the thoughtless rapacity of the early colonists. Their destruction
would be further hastened, or might be mainly caused, by the dogs, cats, and swine which accompany
man in his migrations., and are speedily naturalised in the forests. To such animals the eggs and
young of the Dodo and other birds would be a dainty treat ; and that this is no mere conjecture

is proved by Leguat, who tells \is : ' Here (in Mauritius) are hogs of the China kind These

beasts do a gi-eat deal of damage to the inhabitants by devouring all the young animals they can
catch.' That the destniction of the Dodos was completed by 1G9.3 may be inferred from the narrative
of Leguat, who in that year remained several inonths in Mauritius, and envimerates its animal pro-
ductions at some length, but makes no mention whatever of Dodos. He further says : ' L'isle 6tait
autrefois toute remplie d'Oyes et de Canards sauvages ; de Poules d'Eau, de Gelinottes, de Tortues de
mer et de terre ;.?ftttw tout eela est devenu fort rare.'' This passage proves that even in 1G93
civilisation had made great inroads on the fauna of Mauritius.

" In 171:i the Dutch evacuated Mauritius, and the French colonised the island under the new
name of Isle de France. This change in the population will account for the absence of any traditionary
knowledge of so remarkable a bird among the later inhabitants. All subsequent evidence is equally
♦ Strickland an.l ileh-ille : "The Dodo and its Kindred," p. 27.

122

NATURAL RISTOKY.

negative. Baron Grant resided m Mauritius from IT-tO to 1760; and his son, who compiled the
' History of Mauritius ' from his papers, states that no trace of such a bii-d was to be fouuil at that
time. M. Morel, a French oiEcial who resided there pi-eviously to, 1778, and whose attention seems
to have teen drawn to the subject by the judicious criticisms of Buffon, tells us that the oldest inhabi-
tants liad no recollection of these creatures. The late M. Bory de St. Vincent remained for some time
in Mauritius and Bourbon in 1801, and has left an excellent work on the phy.sical features of these-
islands. He assures us that lie made every possible inquiry respecting the Dodo and its allies,
without gaining the slightest information from the inhabitants on tlie siibject. At a public dinner at

tiie JIauritius in 1816, several persons from seventy to ninety years of age were present who
had no knowledge of such a bird from recollection or tradition. Mr. J. V. Thompson also resided
for some years in Mauritius and Madagascar previously to 1816, and he states that no more traces of
the existence of the Dodo could then be found than of the truth of the tale of ' Paul and Virginia,'
although a very general idea prevailed as to the reality. of both. This list of negative witnesses may
be closed with the late Mr. Telfair, a very active naturalist, whose researches were equally conclusive
a-s to the non-existence of Dodos in Mauritius in modern times."

Besides the Dodo of IMauritius, which island appeai-s to have contained other extinct wingless
birds, there existed in tlie neiglibouring island of Rodriguez another remarkable Pigeon, called the
Solitaire (Fezophaps solitai-i us), of which a number of relics were brought to England by the naturalist
attached to the Transit of Venus Expedition of 1874, so that neai-ly perfect skeletons of male and
female birds are now to be seen in the Natural Historv Museum at Kensington.

THE TRUE I'lGEOXs. ■ 12:i

In the Saiiioan Islands, far from the Mascarene group which contained the fliglitless pigeons, whose
ill developed wings afforded them no protection against the cats and ])igs of the colonists, there exists
at the present day a bird which is nearly related to the extinct Dodo. This is the Tooth-billed
Pigeon (Diduncvlus stri(/iros(ris\ a species wliich seemed a few years ago to b(! decreasing in numbers
owing to its living upon the ground, when the bird liecame liable to the fatal onslaughts of eats duiing

SOLITAIRE.

the night, while its eggs ran the risk of destruction by rats. Within the last ten years, however,
this pigeon has entirely changed its liabits, roosting and breeding on high trees. The Rev. S. J.
Whitmee, to whom we are indebted for our knowledge of the habits of this species, attributes to it
con.siderable intelligence. " This intelligence," he writes, " seems to have enabled the bird to change
its habits for self-preservation. It has probably been frightened when roosting, or during incubation,
by the attacks of cats, and has sought safety in the trees. Learning, from frequent repetition of tin
fright, that the gi-ound is a dangerous place, it has acquired the habit of building, roosting, and feeding
upon the high trees ; and this cliange of habit is now operating for the preservation of this interesting
bird, which was a few years ago almost extinct."

XATUliAL Ul^TURY.

-.•^

■*5^'

THE SECOND FAMILY OF THE PIGEONS.— THE COLUMBID^E, OR TRUE PIGEONS.
In this large family the bulk of the Pigeons, some four hundred in number, are located. All of
them have the nostrils narrow in shape and situated clofee to the cutting edge of the mandible, with
which they run parallel. On the upper part of the bill there is a convex soft skin, which forms a
tubercle. Sundevall divides the true Pigeons into four divisions; in the first are included all the
Fruit Pigeons, which are inliabitants of the tropical portion of the Old World, and whose prevailing
style of coloui is gieen They all have the taisus shortei than the middle toe. There are two sub-
divisions of the Fruit Pigeons;

^\-v §t ^^ *'*® ^'^^ *'''® ^'^' ^^ stouter
^"^Nl/ than the tarsus, and in tliis divi-
^ "^ sion are found all the Green Fruit

Pigeons, of which writes Dr.
Jerdon * : _" The Green Pigeons
ai-e a -well-mai'ked division, all
having a marked physiognomy,
by which they can be recognised
at a glance. They are of tolerably
stout and massive form, and of a
dull leaf-green colour, more or
less varied with ashy and marone
above, with yellow on the wings,
and with orange or buff beneath.
The eyes of most are very beau-
tiful, being blue with a red outer
circle. They are more or less
gregarious, according to the
species. When hunting for fruit
they are continually gliding about
the branches, like Squirrels ; and
from their strong feet they can
hang over to seize a friut, and
recover theii- position at once by
the strong muscles of their legs.
Wlien perfectly quiet they are
very difficult to observe, from the
similarity of their tints to that
of leaves. They nidificate on
trees, making a loose nest of
twigs, and laying two white eggs.
A few are found in Africa and Madagascar, but the majority are denizens of India and Malayana,
not extending as far as Australia ; but one species at least occurring as high north as Japan,
although they appear to be rare in China. They all afford excellent eating, but the skiu is very
tough and thick, and ought to be removed."

In the present section also occur the beautiful Piilopi, which are distributed in great numliers
over the islands of the Malay Archipelago, Australia, and Oceania, as well as the large Imperial
Pigeons called Carpophaga, which have a similar distribution to the Ptilopi, with the exception that
they extend into the Indian peninsula. " These Pigeons are of very large size, and adorned in many
cases with rich and metallic colours, with the lower parts usually pale and glossless. The tarsus is
very short and the feet broad, enabling them to grasp the branches well. The forehead is low in its
profile, and the feathers advance on the soft portion of the bill. Their gape is wide, and they are
enabled to swallow very large fruit ; and the feathered i)ortion of the chin advances far towards the

• "Biids of IiuUa,'- Vol. HI., p. 445.

KING DOV

THE PAHSEXGER PIG BOX.

;dtli of the gape. All tin

wh<

nidification is

tip of the lower maiiilil>Ie, thus increasing the
known lay but one egg."*

In the second division of the True Pigeons the tarsus is short, as in the previous division,
feathered in front but bare at the sides ; the front toes are more slender and rather smooth, the hind
toe is broad at the base, and the wing is long. In this division are found the True Doves, to which
belong the English Wood Pigeon, Stock Dove, and Rock Dove ; the latter being the wild stock from
which Domestic Pigeons have been derivei'. In the third division, wherein the tail is very Ions',
gratluated, and pointed, are found the Cuckoo Doves {.Uacro/ii/yia) and the Passenger Pigeon of
America. Tiii.s latter extraordi-
nary Ijird has occasionally been
met with in England ; it is to be
found all over the United States,
and Dr. Brewer writest : — " The
Wild Pigeon appeai-s to be al-
most entirely influenced in its
migration by the abundance of
its food, excepting in those parts
of the country in which it has
not been known to remain during
winter. Even in these move-
ments it is largely influenced by
instinctive considerations of food.
Evidently the temperature has
but little to do with their migra-
tions, as they not unfrequently
move northward in large columns
as early as the 7th of March,
with a thermometer twenty
degrees below the freezing point.
In the spring of 1872 a large
accumulation of these birds took
place early in March in tlie
eastern portion of New York.
They were present in the forests
about Albany, and were taken in
such immense numbers, that the
markets of New York and Bo.ston
were vei-y largely supplied with
them. They are capable of pro-
pelling themselves in long-con- passenger i'iueok.
tinued flights, and ai-e known to

move with an almost incredible rapidity, passing over a great extent of counti-y in a vei^
short time. It is quite a common and well-ascertained fact that pigeons are captured in the
State of New York with their crops still filled with the undigested grains of rice that must
have been taken in the distant fields of Georgia or South Carolina, apparently proving that
they must have passed over the intervening space within a very few hours. Audubon esti-
mates the rapidity of their flight as at least a mile a minute. They are said to move in
their flight by quickly repeated flaps of the wings, which are brought more or less near to the body,
according to the degree of velocity required. During the love-season they often fly in a circling
manner, supporting themselves with both whigs angulaxly elevated. Before alighting, they break the
force of their flight by repeated flappings. Their great powers of flight, and the ability thus given to
change at will their residence, and their means of renewing a supply of food, are also thought to be

* Jerdon : "Bii-ds of Imlia," Vol. III., p. 45."). t " History of North Americau Birds," Vjl. II., p. ■iJO.

A^ run A L BIS Ton Y.

secomled by a remarkable powei- of vision, enabling them to discover their food with great readinessi
Mr. Audubon states that he has observed flocks of these birds, in passing over a sterile part of the
country, flyvhigh in the air, with an extended front, enabling them to survey hundreds of acres at
once. When the land is richly covered with food, or the trees well supplied with mast, they fly low,
in order to discover the part most plentifully supplied. Several writers who have \vitnessed the
occasionally enormous flights of these Pigeons, have given very full and gi-aphic accounts of their
immense numbers, that seem hardly credible to those who have not seen them. Mr. Audubon relates
that in 1813, on his way from Henderson to Louisville, in crossing the barrens near Hardensbui-g, he
observed these birds flying to the south-west in greater numbers than he had ever known before. He
attempted to count the different flocks as they successively passed, but after counting one hundred and

BllOSZE-WIXG

sixty-three in twenty-one nimutes he gave it up as impracticable. As he journeyed on, their numbei-s
.seemed to increase. The air seemed filled with Pigeons, and the light of noonday to be obscm-ed as by
an eclipse. Not a single bird alighted, as the woods were destitute of mast, and all flew so high that
he failed to reach any with a rifle. He speaks of their aerial evolutions as beautiful in the extreme,
e.specially when a Hawk pressed upon the rear of a flock. All at once, like a torrent, and with a
noise like that of thunder, they rushed together into a compact mass, and darted forward in undulating
lines, descending and sweeping near the earth with marvellous velocity, then mounting almost perpen-
dicularly in a vast column, wheeling and twisting so that theii- continued lines seemed to resemble the
coils of a gigantic seiijent. During the whole of his journey from Hardensburg to Loui.sville, fifty-five
miles, they contiimed to pass in undiminished numbers, and also did so during the three following days.
At times they flew so low that nraltitudes were destroyed, and for many days the entire population
seemed to eat nothing but Pigeojis.

" When a flight of Pigeons discovers an abundance of food, sufficient to induce them to alight, they
are said to pass around in circles over the phxce, making various evolutions ; after a while passing lower
over the woods, and at length alighting ; then, as if suddenly alarmed, taking to flight, only to return
immediately. These manceuvres are repeated with various mdications of indecision in their- move-

TEE riCTdlUA CliUWNED PIGEON.

ments, or as if apprehensive of unseen dangers. During these manoeuvres the flapping of tlieir many
thousiind wiiigs causes a reverberation suggestive of distant thunder. When at hist settled upon the
ground, they industriously search among the fallen leaves for the acorns and the beech-mast, the rear
flocks continually rising, passing over the main body, and re-alighting. These cluuiges are so frequent
that at times the whole collection appears to be in motion. A large extent of ground is thus cleared
in a surprisingly short space of time, and cleared with a completeness tliat is described as incredible.
They are usuidly satiated by the middle of the day, and ascend to the trees to rest and digest their
food. On these occar
sions the Pigeons are
destroyed in immense
numbers, and theii'
abundance in lai'ge ex-
tents of the country has
been vefy sensibly re-
duced."

In the fourth divi-
sion of the Pigeons the
tarsus is about equal to
the middle toe, or longer,
and is bare at the base.
The tail is moderate,
often short or rather
long, hut not pointed ;
the toes are rather slen-
der. Many of these birds
fi-equent the gi'ound, and
the colours ai-e more
delicate than in the
Fruit Pigeons, or in the
True Pigeons, which
latter have generally an
iiidescent colour on the
sides of the neck. They
mostly feed on the
ground on grain, pulse,
and other small s§eds,
and are not in general
gregarious, though large
numbers may be seen
feeding together. They
chiefly fi-equent open
and cultivated coimtry,

a few preferring highly-wooded or forest districts, and many are very famOiar birds, feeding
close to houses and stables. They nest on low trees or shrubs, constracting the usual slight
(jlatform nest, and they breed at all seasons of the year.* Mi-. Gould says that the species of
Phnps, which are popiilarly known as Bronze-wings, are more widely dispersed in Australia than tiiose
of any other member of the family, bemg uriiversally distributed over the conntiy from north to south,
and from east to west ; even the parched deserts of the interior are visited by them if a supply of
water sufiicient for their existence be within reach of their evening flight, which is performed with the
most extraordinary rapidity and power. Writing of the common Bronze-wing (Phaps chalcoptera),
the same writer observes : — " It is a plump, heavy bird, weighing when in good condition fully a
pound ; and is constantly eaten by every class of persons resident in Australia. Its amazing powei-s

* Jerdon.

VICTOKIi CROWNED riGEON

128 NATURAL ULSKMty.

of flight enable it to pass in an incredibly short space of time over a great expanse of country, auJ.
jnst before sunset it niaj" be observed swiftly winging its way over the plains or down the gullies to its
drinkmg-place. During the long drought of 1839-40, when I was encamped at the northern extremity
of the Brezi lange, I had daily opportunities of observing the arrival of this bii'd to drink, the only
water for miles, as I was assured by the natives, being that in the immediate vicinity of my tent, and
tliat merely the scanty supply left in a few small natural basins in the rocks, which had been filled by
the rains of many months before. This peculiar situation afibrded me an excellent opportunity for
observing not only the Bronze- wingi but many other birds inhabiting the neighbourhood. Few, if any,
of the true insectivorous or fissu'ostral birds come to the water-holes ; but, on the other hand, those
species that live upon gi-ains and seeds, particularly the Parrakeets and Honey-Caters {Trichoglossi and
Meliphaga), were continually rushing down to the edges of the pools, utterly regardless of my presence,
their thirst quite overcoming their sense of danger. Seldom, if ever, however, did the Bronze-wing make
its appearance during the heat of the day, but at sundown it arrived with arrow-like swiftness, either
singly or in pairs. It did not descend at once to the edge of the pool, but dashed down to the ground
at about ten yards' distance, remtdned quiet for a short time, then walked leisurely to the water, and,,
after drinking, winged its way to its roosting-place. With a knowledge, therefore, of the habits of this
bird, the weary traveller may always know when he is in the vicinity of water ; and, however arid the
wppearance of the country may be, if he observes the Bronze-wing wending its way to a given point,
he may be certain to procure a supply of water. When rain has fallen in abundance, and the rivers
and lagoon.s are filled, the case is materially altered ; then the Bronze-wing and many other birds are
not so easily procured."

THE THIRD FAMILY OF THE PIGEON.S— THE CROWXED PIGEONS.
In this family are placed the large Crowned Pigeons (Goura), which inhabit the island of
New Guinea and the adja,cent islands in the Ba}' of Geelvink. They are ground-loving birds,
remarkable ibr their large size and the beautiful crest which ornaments the head, and which has
gained for them the apjn-opi-iate name of " Crowned " Pigeons. In then- native state they go about
the woods in small parties in search of fruit, much after the manner of Pheasants.

CHAPTER VII.

THE GAME-BIRDS.

GALLING. GAME-BIRDS— Chamcteristics— THE CURASSO\VS~The Sub-famiUes— Distinctive Features-Prof.
Sumichrast on the Hocco and Penelopes —THE HOATZINS-THE PHEA.SANTS— The Peacocks- Their Gorgeous
Plumage— The so-called Tail— Is the Peacock vain ? -Dr. Jerdon's Account of the Habits of the Peafowl— The Peacock
Pheasants— The Argus Pheasants— The True Pheasants— Description of the Habits of the Monaul, or Impeyan.
Pheasant — Coloration of Bird — Habits of the English Species of True Pheasant— Eeevess Pheasant — The Guinea
Fowls— Distinctive Features— THE TURKEYS— Characters— Species— Dr. Brewer's Account of the Habits of tlie
"Wild Turkey— Migration of Turkeys— THE GROUSE AND PARTPJDGES— The Grouse— The Capercailzie— The
Black Cock- The Hazel Grouse— The Ptarmigan— Its Summer, Autumn, and Winter Plumage— The Willow Grouse—
The Partridges— Distribution— The Francolins— The American I'artridges— The Californian Quail— The Common
Partridge-The Snow Partridges— The Quail— THE SAND-GROUSE— THE HEJIIPODES— THE MEGAPODES—
Their Large Feet — Distribution — Members of the Family — Brush-Turkey— Mr. Wallace's Account of the Maleo—
Cuming's Megapode— Mr. Motley's History of the Species— Gould's Description of the Habits of the Mound-raising.
Megapode of Australia — Moseley's Note on the Incubation of the Megapodid*.

FIFTH ORDER OF THE CLASS AVES— GALLIN.'E— GAME-BIRD.S.
No less than eight distinct families are comprised in this fifth order of birds. The head is small
in proportion to the size of the body ; the bill is short with a soft skin covering the nostrils ; the line
of the bill is arched, and the nostrils, generally of large size, are placed low down in the mandible.
The feet are always very distinctly scaled. Members of the order of Game-birds vary considerably
in size, large forms like the Turkey, and little creatures scarcely larger than a Sparrow, such as
Button-quails and Heniipodes, being equally included in the order. They are generally omnivorous,
scratching the ground in order to obtain the small worms, insects, and grain, on which thejr

THE CUIlASsojr:

; themselves in water, the game-birds generally dust themselves m
numerous, and are generally placed ou the ground without any attempt

subsist. Instead of washin;

mould or sand. The eggs are

at forming a nest, and as a rule the game-birds are polygamous. When the chickens are hatched they

are able to shift for themselves, and ai-e in most respects stronger than the young of other birds.

THE FIRST FA5IILY OF THE CJAJIE-BIKDS— THE CURAS80W8 {Crfici:,c).
These birds are found only in the Neotropical regions, being confined to Central and South
America. About fifty species are known, and they are divided into three sub-families, the Cracinm,

CRE.STED CURA.SSO-n-.

or true Ourassows; the Guans {Penelopvnm) ; and the Mountain Curassows (Oreophasince). INIany of
the Ourassows are very beautiful birds, having large curly crests and fleshy knobs on their bills, lu
colour they are sombre, being black and white, or dusky gi-ey, the only ones at all brightly coloured
being some of the females of the genus Grax. The following is a translation of Professor Sumichrast's
note on the habits of two Mexican species :—

" The Hocco {Crax alector) is called the Royal Pheasant by the Mexicans. It is very common in
the large forests of the eastern coa.sts, and in Yucatan, but it does not appear to live on the western
slope of the Cordilleras, or, at least, I have never seen it there, and the inhabitants could tell me
nothing positive on this subject. These birds are usually to be seen in couples or in little companies,
at least at one time of the year they are thus to be observed. They are less fierce than the Guans ;
and tliey are to be seen more often walking about on the ground, and during the dry season, that is to

J 30 NATVRAL BIHTORY .

S!iy, during the months of JMarch, April, and May. They are very fond of lolling themselves in the
dust, like game-birds in general. Their principal food consists of small worms, various seeds, and wUd
fruits. The males commence to seek the females fi-om the month of January, and the time of love
lasts until the end ofMai-ch. The males are heard calling out in the woods with a loud and strong
cry, and uttering a sound which can be best described as baoiim-haoaiii. At this season the pursuit
of the Hocco become.s very easy, the reason being that with them their amatory desires are much
greater than theii- in.stinct of preservation, so much so that they lose all foresight, allow themselves to
be approached closely, and do not trouble themselves much about what is passing around them.
Sometimes several males surround a female and do not desert her even though they perceive the
hunter. When we come across one of these little groups collected together in the cause of love, were
it possible to kill the female at the iii-st blow, it would be seen that the males rarely take flight ; on the
contrary, they remain in a state of stiipor at the side of the body of the female, and do not disper.se
till another discharge attacks them. The little fear that man inspires in these game-birds is, without
doubt, the reason they are so easily tamed. I can never understand why this bird is not an inhabi-
tant of the poultry -yard like the Turkey, for it is certainly suited for a domestic state, and the adults,
although taken wild, soon become tame ; the young ones carried away from the nest, or hatched by the
mother bii-d, become as familiar as chickens, and even more so, as they allow themselves to be caressed,
Jind even take their food from the hand of man. It must be that the nati^-es have found the Turkey,
which is a bigger bird, sufficient for their wants, or discovered that the Hocco does not muUii)ly easily
under the conditions of a domestic Ufe. This bird builds its nest on the trees, and is never very pro-
ductive. In March the coujile construct on a high tree a thick nest of twigs ; the female deposits
only two eggs, which she takes about a month to hatch. The little ones, once hatched, do not leave
their nest till they know how to fly, as likewise do the game-birds, who nest on the ground, but the
parents bring them woi-ms and insects. As soon as they begin to know how to use their wings, which
is about the end of A^jril, the whole family goes off to seek their fortune, and in quest of ripe fruits,
such as chicazapoles, and difierent kinds of oranges, &c. Wild oranges seem to have a special attraction
for them, and in the narianjules, or places in the forests where the tree grows which bears them, the
Hocco is generally to be found. In the same foi-ests in hot countries where the Hocco is met with live
also the Penelopes, who are even stiU more common : these are named Cojolites by the Indians. Their
inannei's much resemble those of the Hocco ; they make their nest and follow the incubation in the same
manner ; they, however, sometimes lay three eggs. They live also in large companies, are more mis-
trustful, perch more, and utter a great many cries. During the day these birds keep themselves in the
interior of the foi-ests looking for fruits ; morning and evening they approach the border of the woods,
-ci-ying out very loudly, and several at a time ; it is on this account the Spaniards call tliem Squalling
Pheasant. The flesh of the Penelopes is more tender, less diy than that of the Hocco, and, for this
reason, esteemed more choice. It is said that their bone.s, cooked or raw, ai'e a poison for dogs. I must,
however, say I have never been able to prove the truth of this surprising fact. To the species Penelopes
should be also added another called by the Indians ' Tchitchalaque,' which is found in still greater
abundance. This one also lives in families, leads the same kind of life, and is still less fierce. It is to be
feared that all kinds of these game-birds will end gradually by growing very scarce, for the excellence
of their flesh as food will make them a constant prey to the hunter ; and this will be more the case as
the Continent of America becomes populated. The facility with which they are shot, joined to
their slight increase, will form a rapid cause for their destruction in the future, happily still distant,
when the grand forests will disappear from Mexican soil."

The third sub-family of the Curassows contains only the single genus Oreophasis, represented in
its turn by only one species, the Mountain Curassow {Oreophasis derhianus), an iiihabitant of
Guatemala, in Central America. In the latter country it is very rare, and confined to narrow limits,
bemg found on the mountains between 7,000 and 11,000 feet above the sea-level. The first specimen
■was in the collection of the fourteenth Earl of Derby, after whom it was named.

THE SECOND FAJIILY OF THE GAllE- BIRDS— THE HOATZINS {OpisthoeomU/<e).
The position of the singular bird, which is tlie sole representative of this family, has been a source
<jf some s])eculation with systematic naturalists, but since its osteology and general anatomy have

rilE rE.irOfKs. 131

been stnclied more completely, it is now gcnenvlly admitteil timt the Hoatzin is a game-bird, and yet
exhibits certain affinities to the Touracoes {Mttsopluiffidfr). The scientific name of the Hoatziu is
Opisthocomus enstatus, and it is an inhabitant of Guiana and the Amazon region, where it assembles
in large flocks. It nests in the lower part of a tree, the eggs being three or four, white, spotted with
reddish tint.

THE THIKD FAMILY OF THE GAME-BIRDS-THE PHEASANTS {rha.,ia„kht).
Tiio present family include.s some game-birds differing in appearance, such, for instance,
as the Peacocks, the Jungle-fowl, and the Guinea-fowl : in fact, Mr. D. G. Elliot, the author of
a large %\ork on the subject, recognises no less than eight .sul)-families, including also the Turkeys
among the number. Three sub-families may easily lie recognised— the Peacocks {Pavonimt),
with their elongated tails, and general tendency to an " ocellated " plumage, exhibiting the large
rounded metallic sp<4B, or " ocelli," which are so marked a featui'e in the Peacocks and Argus
Pheasants ; secondly, the time Pheasants (PJiasiaabue) ; and thirdly, the Guinea-fowls {Numidi'ncB).

THE FIRST SrB-FAMILY OF THE PHASIANID.'E, Oil rHEASANTS.
THE PEACOCKS {Pavo»m<e).
The true Peacocks are Asiatic birds, and in some parts of India are very abundant, being, as a
rule, unmolested by the natives, who have a great dislike to their being killed. Large flocks may^
therefore, often be seen ; and the bii-ds are described by Indian naturali.sts as being even more
beautiful in a wild state thiui they are in a domesticated condition, though it is well known what an
ornament they are in gardens. Scarcely anything more gorgeous can be met with in the whole
i-ange of bird-life than a male Peacock in full plumage ; and the bird seems to be conscious of
the admiration he excites, when he displays his long plume.s, and gently rustles them, to give effect
to the beautiful " eyes," or " ocelli," which ornament his train. The long feathers which he expands
in the shape of a fan are not, as is so often stated, the Peacock's tail ; but are simply the upper tail-
coverts prolonged to a prodigious extent : the true tail-feathers being very much shorter, and serving,
when spread, as a support to the fan-like disc, which constitutes so splendid an attraction in these
birds. As a rule, however, the stigma which attaches to the Peacock of being a vain bird — a saying
qiiite proverbial — is scarcely deserved, as the bird is no more vain than any other game-bird at the
season of love. It is to his mate that the Peacock generally shows himself off to the best advantage ;
though at the sight of another male displaying his tail the bii-d will often commence to spread his
own plumes. That the object is to endear himself to the female is seen by the way in which he
walks slowly in fi-ont of her, turning when she turns, and gently quivering his fan as if to attract
her attention ; and it is not an unusual sight to see three or four birds in the Zoological Gardens of
London dis)3laying themselves at one and the same time.

"The Peafowl," writes Dr. Jerdon, "inhabits the whole of India projier, being replaced in
Assam, and in the countries to the east, by another species. It frequents forests, and jungly places,
more especially delighting in hilly and mountainous districts ; and in the more open and level country,
wooded ravines, and river banks are the never-failing re.sorts. It comes forth to the ojien glades
and fields to feed in the morning and evening, retiring to the jungles for shelter during the heat of
the day, and roo.sting at night on high trees. It ascends the Neilgherry and other mountain regions
in Southern India to 6,000 feet or so of elevation ; but it does not ascend the Himalayas, at all
e\ents in Sikkim, beyoad 2,000 feet. In many pai-ts of the country it is sxlmost domesticated, entering
villages, and roosting on the huts, and it is venerated by the natives in many districts. Many
Hindoo temples have large flocks of them ; indeed, shooting it is forbidden in some Hindoo states.
The Peafowl breeds according to the locality ; from April tUl October generally in Southern India ;
towai-ds the close of the rains laymg from four to eight or nine eggs in some sequestered .spot. The
Peacock, dming the coiu-ting season, raises his tail vertically, and with it, of cour.se, the lengthened
train, spreading it out and strutting about to captivate the hen birds ; and he has the power of
clattering the feathers in a most curious manner. It is a beautiful sight to come suddenly on twenty
or thirty Peafowls, the males displaying their gorgeous trains, and strutting about in all the pomp
of pride before the gi-atified females. The train, of course, increases in length for many years at each

ARGUS PHEASANT.

COMMON PHEASANT.

■J HE lEACoiK rilEASAXTS.

.successive moult ; Imt it ap^tears to l>e shed very irregularly. TJiougli it cannot lie said to l>e ».
favoiuite with sportsmen in India, few can resist a shot at ii tine Peacock whiiring past when
hunting for small game. Yet Peachicks are well worth a niornin.^^'s shikar for the table, and a
[ilump young Peahen, if kept for two or three days, is I'eally excellent. An old Peacock is only fit
for souj)."

A bird merely winged will often escape l>y the tieetness of its running. They generally roost oi>
particular trees, and by going early or late to this place they can readily be shot. Peafowl are easily

PE.ICOCK PHE.\S,

caught in snares or common hair nooses, and are generally brought in alive for sale in numbers in
those districts where they abound. In confinement they will destroy snakes and other reptiles, and
in their wild state feed much on various insects and grubs, also on flower buds and young shoots, as
well as on gi'ain.

In the same sub-family are to be found the Peacock Pheasants {Polyplectron), which inhabit the
eastern Himalayas and the mountains of the Indo-Malayan islands. In colour they are brown, as a
rule, but the tail has a number of green or purple spots, like the " ocelli " of a Peacock, and this
peculiarity has gained for them the popular title of " Peacock " Pheasants. Finally, with the Pea-
fowl must be placed the magnificent Ai-gus Pheasants, of which there are two species known, the
common Argus from Malacca, and the Gray's Argus from Borneo. In its wild state the Argus
Pheasant is seldom or never seen, but it is frequently trapped by the Malays, who set springs in the
woods where they see the truck of a Pheasant, and thus capture not only the Argus but all sorts of
44

134 NATURAL HISTORY.

birds, Fire-l>acked Pheasants, Ground Cuckoos, and even Pittas, or Ant-Tliruslies. Witliin recent
years the Argus lias been successfully brought over to Euroi)e, and has even bred in the Zoological
Gardens, though the eggs have to be hatched under a domestic fowl, as the female does not always
show a disposition to sit. The number of eggs in confinement appears to be two, and the young have
proved to be excessively difficult to rear. Two, however, lived for some time in the Zoological
Gardens in the Regent's Park, and the male chick could be recognised from the female at an eai-ly
stage by his larger size and brighter colour. They begin to tly very early, and when only four or five
days old could mount a high perch, and rest luider the wing of tlie old bird.

THE SEL'(JXD SUB-FAMILY OF THE PH.\SIANID.E, OR PHEASANTS.
THE TRUE PHEASANTS {Phauanina).

This is much the largest of the three sub-families, and contains all the Impeyan Pheasants, or
]\'Ionauls, the Firebacks, and the Pheasants proper, of which the Common Pheasant is a type, imd
indeed all the members of the family not included in the Peacocks or the Guinea-fowls. By far the
most splendid of this group of Pheasants are the Monauls {Lophophorus), whicli inhabit the hill-
ranges of the Himalayas and Assam, as far east as western China, but always high up in the
mountams. An excellent observer, under the signatui-e of " Ornithognomon," has given a very good
account of this Impeyan Pheasant, or Monaul of the Himalayas : —

" Tlie Monaul ranges high in the mountains, where it is found keeping near the line of snow,
and, although met with in the ridges next the plains, becomes much more numerous farther in the
mountains. It frequents the entire range of the Himalaya, from Afghanistan to Sikkim, but does not
extend along the great branch running south through Burmah and Malayana. Its range in elevation
varies according to season ; but in the severest winter it does not appear to descend below 6,090 feet
above sea level. I have seen numbers in Nepaul in winter, brought with other kinds of Pheasants by
the Botias for sale in the plains of India, where they soon perish when the hot weather begins. The
gradlial increase of our hill stations in the Himalaya, and the unwearying excursions of our sportsmen,
are driving these bii-ils from the vicinity of our settlements into the more inaccessible mountains of the
interior. Formerly, about Mussouri and Laudour, it was not thought a great feat to bag a few in a day's
work ; but now they have to be sought much farther. They are forest birds, and difficult to be found
in summer, when vegetation is profuse, unless by ascending to the highest limits of the forest, when
shots may be obtained in the open downs above, and amongst the rocks and thin herbage near the
snow. In autumn, as the underwood decays, they descend and scatter through the woods, sometime.s
in great numbers, and seek lower levels as the winter advances, and the soil becomes frozen. At such
times they draw near to the small villages, perched on the lower spurs and above the sheltered valleys,
and seek their food in the fields, where the mountaineers, with theii- large hoes, have dug up the soil.
In these seasonal migrations it has been remarked that the females and young birds descend lowest,
and approach nearest to human habitations. The old birds are shyer and wilder, and many remain
. high up, even where the ground is deeply covered with snow.

" They appear to be either capricious in their raiubles through the woods, or are actuated to
particular spots at particular times, for reasons not apparent. Sometimes the sportsman will put up
in one part of the forest fifteen or twenty in the space of four or five acres. In another portion he
may keep on flushing, for the rest of the day, single birds feeding in solitude far apart. At no time
are they gregarious ; and whenever alarmed, they rise and escape independently of each other. In
some parts only cock birds are found, in others only hens — and these last, as before remai-ked,
together with young birds, always nearest to habitations, and in opener slopes of the mountains, more
accessible to the sportsman. Severity of cold and scarceness of food have their taming effects on the
Monaul, as on other birds ; and the lower the snow the easier the task of making a bag. But, in
fact, the Monaul is not nearly so wild as the Tragopan, the Euplocamus, the Polyplectron, the
Macartneya, and other genera of Pea-fowl and hill Pheasants. Its habits are more open ; and instead
of skulking in such impermeable cover as is described in my remarks on Polyplectron tibetanus (or
Chinquis), it walks about pretty openly in forest glades clear of underwood. At the same time it must
be observed that the absence of cover enables it to espy the sportsman at a distance ; and it takes to
wing frequently out of shot, which I have never seen any other bird of this family do. When on the

TJlil Mii.y.U'L, (iJi IMVEYAy l-ni:.lSA.\T. 13.;

wiiiEf, it generally flies a long way, aiul, if nuu-li alarmed, crosses over to a parallel ridge. Occasionally,
liowever, it will settle on the low liuil) of a tree at no great distance ; and once there, it is, like many
other gallinaceous birds, easy of access. Sometimes, wlien approached in open spots, it walks off or
begins to move, stopi)ing often and eyeing the intruder, till suddenly, and without apparent immediate
cause, it will rise with a startling flapping or flutter of the wings, scattering the dead leaves in a
shower around, and fly lieadlong iiito the wood with a succession of short piercing shrieking whistles,
which appear to act as a warning to some distant companions ; for their calls are often heard in reply.
When feeding quietly anil in security the Monaul has a sweet mellow call, a long plaintive note which
it utters from time to time, especially of a morning and after sunset. It has the same melancholy
efl:ect on the ear as the creaking whistle of the Curlew, winging his way along the mud-tiats as evening
settles over the lonely .shore. The Monaul breeds towards the end of spring. The courtship is carried
on in the chestnut and large timber forests before the birds ascend (during the summer heats) towards
the regions of perpetual snow. It is generally near the upper limits of these forests, where the trees
are dwarfed and sparingly scattered, that the hen lays and incubates three to five eggs, in a depression
on the ground. Whether any nest is made, Dr. Jerdon did not know, but ' Mountaineer ' says the
female makes one ' under a small overhanging bush or tuft of grass.' The eggs are of a dull cream or
pale buff coloui-, sprinkled with reddish-brown. Like most gallinaceous birds, the Monaul may be said
to be omnivorous. 'Mountaineer' says it will not touch wheat and barley, but those kept in confine-
ment ate rice and grain readily, as well as insects, worms, maggots, flesh, lizards, fish, eggs, <fcc. It
is a diligent digger, and the slightly expanded tip of the mandible acts like a hoe or shovel. I had
several of these birds in an aviary at Mullye in Sirhoot. They were strong and vigorous as long as
the cold weather lasted, and soon became tame, unlike the red Pheasants (Ceriornis) purchased at the
same time from the Botias passing through the station, which never lost their original wildness,
and began to droop about April ; whereas the Monauls did not succumb to the atmosphere of the
plains till June, when the i-ains had set in. Unlike the smaller hill Pheasants, they were not
pugnacious.

" If shipped oflf early in the cold weather from Calcutta, these birds could easily enough be trans-
ported to England, where the temperature would suit them, if there were any means of giving them
shelter during the extreme severity of winter, or of procuring for them in that season a proper substi-
tute for the insect food which never fails them on the lower elevations of the Himalaya. If they could
become as thoroughly acclimatised as the common Pheasant, they would indeed be ar superb ornament to
our parks and plantations, though perhaps no great acquisition to the table. It is many years since I
tasted the Monaul, and speaking from memory, the flavour appeared to me much the same as that of
the Peafowl, the breast being tender and palatable in the young birds, but no part being tit for anything
but soup in old specimens. The Monaul has bred in England both in the Zoological Gardens of London
and in the possession of the Earl of Derby, where the female is said to have laid on one occasion
thirteen or fourteen eggs."

The Monaul is a splendidly-plumaged species, having on the head a crest of metallic-green plumes
like those forming the crown of a Peacock ; the neck is purjile, shot with green, and in some lights
with golden copper; middle of the back white; wings black, the coverts, like the back, glossed with
purple and green ; rump and upper tail-coverts rather more ])urple ; tail cinnamon ; underneath black,
the throat glossed with green and purple ; naked skin round the eye blue ; bill dark horn-colour ; legs
dull ashy green ; eye brown. The length of the bird is about two feet and a half, and as in most of
the Pheasants, the hen is much plainer in colour, being brown, varied with black spots and bars;
upper tail-coverts white at the end, as also the tip of the tail ; chin and throat white.

The true Pheasants (Phasianus), to which the English species belongs, are widely spread over
the Palrearctic region, and reach their highest development as regards number of species in
Central Asia and China, where numerous kinds of true Pheasant are found, all of them more or
less like the English bird in appearance. One of the most familiar is the Chinese Ring-necked
Pheasant, which is often crossed with the English bird : indeed, this cross-breeding has been carried
to such an extent in Great Britain that thoroughly pure-bred birds are becoming rarer and
rarer. The original home of the English Pheasant was the neighbourhood of the river Colchis,
and hence its specific name of Phasianus colchicus, and it is still abundant in its oi'iginal habitat.

133 NATURAL SISTOSY.

It is doubtful whether the Plieasiiut wouhl survive in Englaiul if left entirely to itself, as it
depends a good deal on the amount of artificial food which is supplied to it iu preser^•es, while
most of the rearing of the young is entrusted to the care of domestic fowls instead of being left
to the protection of the hen Pheasant. The latter has many enemies, and nesting as it does on
the ground, runs great risk of being carried off by a prowling fox or cat. The eggs are from ten to
fourteen in number, and are of an olive-brown colour ; they are placed on the ground, and there is
scarcely any attempt at a nest. The sitting-bird is said to be timid, and is frightened off the nest
even by such a small thing as a crawling snail, while at any real danger she sinks upon the

m

p^

MONAl-I., OR IMPEVAN PHEASANT.

nest half dead with fear. Timidity is a great characteristic of the common Pheasant, and even
when artificially reared in hen-coops, the young birds never become tame like chickens, but always
come for their food' in a timid and half frightened manner. As a rule, the Pheasant frequents the
thick woods for the purpose of roosting only, as in the daytime it seeks its food, which consists
of gi'ain, seeds, green shoots, and insects, among hedge-bottoms and thickets with long grass and
tolerably dense undergi-owth ; it also affects damp giound and osier beds. In the spring the cock
bird is often heard crowing, and at that season of the year he comes out from his woodland retreats
and is often seen in the open. The Pheasant is polygamous, and is very tenacious of his own
domain, driving every other male bird of his species away. At this season his plumage is very
beautiful, and the red comb at the sides of his head becomes more brilliant in colour.

The splendid Reeves's Pheasant {Phasianus reevesii) must also be mentioned. It is a native
of China, and is remarkable foi- its long lianded tail, which often exceeds fi\e feet in length.

THE THIRD St-p.-FAMII.Y OF THE PHASIAXID.E, OU TIU'E THEAiSANTS.
THE GUINEA-FOWLS {Xiimldiiite).
Tlio Guineii-l'owls arc all natives of Africa and Madagascar. They are very similar in plumage,
lieing of a dark-grey ooloui-, covered all over with round spots of white, generally larger on
the back and under-sui-face of the body. Tlie outer quills are white in most of the species,
and show conspicuously when the binls are flying. The head is ornamented with a helmet or liorny
crest in some of the species, whilst others have lappets, aud others naked red skin on the face, wliich
gives tliem a handsome appearance, tliis being often enhanced bj' a tuft or top-knot on the crown. In
theii- habits, in a wild state, the Guinea-fowls are not unlike Plieasauts, the female, on being disturbed,

IIIIIIMlll ' ' , / 4 \A I If ' ,' ' /

Hying otf and leaving her little ones, who immediately conceal tliemselves of their own accord. They
are found in many parts of Africa in rocky localities amongst ravines and stony places. The flesh is
much appreciated for food. The voice of the Guinea-fowl is liarsh, as any one must know who has
heard the peculiar call of the species. They are extremely .shy, and when feeding in the open
will speedily scent danger, one first uttering his loud cry Come back.' and then running a little
way, quickly followed by the whole flock, which, after doubling a short distance, will make for the
nearest place of safety.

THE FOURTH FA3IILY OF THE GALLIX.E. OR GAME BIRDS.

THE TURKEYS [Mekagritla:).

By some writers tlie Turkeys are considered to belong to the I*heasants, of wliich they form a

-sub-family, but it seems better to keep them as a distinct family, representing in America the

Phasianids cl the Old World. They are the largest of game-birds, and on that account have been

<lomesticated for a great length of time. Then- English name of Turkey is supi)0sed to have been

138 NATURAL HISTORY.

given tliem on a supposition of their commg from tliat country, ))ut they are really inhabitants of
America ; tliey were first introduced into England about tlie year 15 + 1.

All the Turkeys have the head naked, with wattles, or folds, of bright naked skin, which becomes
much more brilliant when the bird is excited or angry ; they have also a curious tuft of long hairs on
tiie breast. The plumage of the Turkeys is always more or less metallic, and the wild birds are much
finer than the domestic race, which does not seem to have improved under the hand of man. There
are only three species of Wild Turkey known, the Common Turkey {Meleayris gallopavo), the Mexican

OCELLATED TURKEY.

Turkey (J/, mpxtcmm), and the Ocellated Tin-key {M. ocdlata), the last being a very fine and
brilliantly coloured bird with metallic plumage. It is found in Honduras and Yucatan.

" The Wild Turkey," writes Dr. Brewer, " is found throughout Eastern North America from
South Carolina northward, and from the Atlantic to Texas and Arkansas. It has probably become
an extinct species in New England, though within a few years individuals have been shot in
Montague, Mass., and in other towns in Franklin county. The construction of railways, however,
and the settlement of the country, have probably led to their final extermination ; at least, I have
known of none being taken within the limits of Massachusetts for several years. In the unsettled
portions of the Western and Southern States, and in the country watered by the Mississippi and
the Missouri rivei-s and their affluents, these birds are comparatively plentiful, though the question
of their final extinction is probably only one of time, and that not very distant.''

Mr. Audubon, in his very full and minute account of their habits, speaks of them as irregularly

THE niLlJ ri'ltKEY. l:!9

inignitoiy and gregarious, their migrations having reference only to the aljundance of food, and their
meetin,,' togetlier in the same localities being, to a Uirge degree, caused by the same so\iroe of
attraction — the supply of mast in certain regions. In this way they desert sections where the
supply is exhausted, and advance towards those where it is more plentiful. Late in October these
birds assemble in flocks in the rich bottom lands of the Western rivers, the male birds associating in
parties of from ten to a hundred, and keeping apart from the females. The latter are simultaneously
moving into the same regions, but only in small family groups, each leading its own flock, then nearly
grown. These migrations are made on foot, except when they are compelled to cross a stream. On
their first coming to the banks of a river they are said to make a pause there of one or two days
before they attempt to cro.ss, the old males strutting about up and down the banks, making a loud
gobbling, and calling one another, as if to raise their courage to a befitting point. Even the females
and the young assume' something of the same pompous demeanour, spreading out their tails,
running round one another, and making a loud purring noise. At length, after this prolonged
preparation for their passage, they all mount to the top of a high tree, and at a signal given by their
leader, take flight for the opposite shore. Occasionally some fall in the water, when they bring the
wings close to the body, spread out the tail, and plying the legs with great vigour move rapidly
towards the shore, where, by a violent eflbrt, they extricate themselves from' the water. After thus
crossing a stream of any magnitude they are ofteil found in a bewildered state, and fall an easy prey
to the hunter. Where their food occurs abundantly they separate into smaller flocks, composed of
birds of all ages and sexes. At times they ai-e known to approach farm-houses, associate with the
domesticated fowl, and enter the corn-cribs in ipiest of food, passing the fall and the winter in
this manner.

Early in February the love-season is said to commence, the lirst demonstrations being made by
the males, but for some time persistently avoided by the females ; at this period the sexes roost apart.
When a female uttei-s a call-note the male birds within hearing return the C17, uttering notes similar
to those with which the domestic Turkey greets any very unusual sound. If the call-note has been
uttered by a female on the ground, the males fly to the place, spreading and erecting their tails, draw-
ing their heads back on their shoulders, depressing their ^vings with a quivering motion, and strutting
pompously about. At the same time they emit from the lungs a succession of very peculiar puffs. On
these occasions the males often encounter each other, and desperate contests ensue, which frequently
have a fatal termination, caused by furious blows inflicted on the head. When one cock Turkey has
thus de.sti'oyed its rival, it is said to caress the dead body Ln an apparently affectionate manner.

When the Turkeys have mated, the alliance is supposed to last for the season, though a male
Turkey is often known to have more than a single mate ; atid the hens are said also to keep apart
from the males while they are laying their eggs, for the cock would inevitably destroy them. At the
end of the love-season the males become emaciated, and cease to gobble. They then separate entirely
from the females, and keep apart by themselves until they recover, when they re-unite in small flocks.
The female begins to deposit her eggs about the middle of April, selecting for that purpose a place
as much concealed as possible from her many enemies. The nest, always on the ground, consists
of a few withered leaves in a hollow scratched out by the side of a fallen log, or the top of
a prostrate tree, or under a thicket, or within the edge of a cane-brake, but always in a dry
place. The eggs are from ten to fifteen in number, but are sometimes as man}' as twenty. On
quitting the nest the hen bird covers them with leaves. When the young are hatched the old
mother shows great solicitude, guarding them carefully from wet, which is injurious to the
chicks.

The food of the Turkey in a wild state is stated by the author above quoted to consist of grass,
various kinds of plants, corn and other grain, seeds, fruit, and also beetles, small lizards, tad-
poles, etc., with a preference for pecan-nuts and wild grapes to any other kind of food. The young
usually feed on small berries and insects.

In confinement the Turkey has kept wonderfulty close to the colour of the parent stock, but
some domestic races are known. In the Bi-itish Museum is a light-brown race with a large top-knot
like a Polish fowl. This same race was figured in a work on birds one hundred and twenty
years ago.

CAPERCAILZIE.

TUE I'TAHMIG.iy. MI

THE FIFTH FAMILY OF THE CiALLIK.E, OK GAME BIKDS.
THE GROUSE AND PARTRIDGES {Tetruoiiiilee).
Tlie Grouse ditibi- from the Partridges chiefly in tlieir featliered toes, and in liaving the nostrils
shut in by a soft feathered skin, whereas the Partridges have an open nostril and hare legs. None
of the members of the Grouse or Partridges have spurs.

THE FIRST SUB-FAMILY OF THE TETRAOXID.E— THE GROUSE { -In itioiiimr) .

These birds are entirely peculiar to the northern parts of the Old and New Worlds. In Euro|]c
the most familiar species are the Red Grouse, the Ptarmigan, the Hazel GroiLse, and, above all, the
Black Ciock and Capercailzie; whilst in North America, in addition to the White Grouse and
Ptarmigan, there are several fine kinds, such as the Pinnated Grouse, the Canada Grouse and others.
Tlie Capercailzie (Tefrao urpgallus) is the lai'gest sjjecies which we have in Europe, where it is found
most plentif ullj' in the forests of the north ; but it is also met with iu the pine-forests of Central and
^>outhern Euroi)e, and is kno\vn to inhabit the Pyrenees. In the extreme east of Siberia it is repre-
sented by a second species {Telmo nn>gnlJi>i<ks).

The Capercailzie was never a very common Ijird in England, and inlialnted only the northern
parts of Scotland, iu which it gradualh' became extinct. Aljout fifty years ago, an attempt to
re-introduce the bird was made by tlie Marquis of Breadalbane, with such success that in certain
districts of Scotland the Capercailzie is now quite pleirtiful. Numbers of them are exposed for sale
during the winter in the Loiidon shops, many of them, however, coming from Norway, where the
species is common, and a capital account of its habits will be found in Mr. Lloyd's " Game-birds and
Wild-fowl of Sweden and Norway." The nest of the Capercailzie is placed on the ground, and from
six to twelve eggs are laid by the hen Ijird, who looks after the rearing of the young, without
assistance from the cock. The young ones keep with their mother until the winter commences, the
cock birds separating from hei- before the liens. In spring-time the male Capercailzie begins his
phiy, as it is called, like many other Game-birds, for the purpose of attracting the hen birds. Seated on
a pine, he starts his love-song, which is kept up the entire day fi'om sunrise to sunset, and while
thus engaged he becomes so absorbed in his efforts, that he falls an easy prey to the gunner, who
is able to creep up within shooting distance. The same spot is used as a " playing-ground " by the
male Capercailzie for a considerable time, if the bird is undisturbed, and several birds may be heard
in the same locality at the same time. Fights often take place between the males, and the old birds
iie^er allow the young cocks of the preceding year to play on their domain. The cry of the male
resembles the words /)e??e}-, j^eJhr, peller, increasing in rapidity ; and this is replied to Ijy the
females within hearing by a sort of harsh croak resembling the words goet, go3t, goet. While
uttering his notes, the cock bird puffs out his plumage and puts himself in extraordinary
attitudes.

The len,crth of the Capercailzie is about twenty-eight or thirty inches, the plumage is black, the
nape and hind neck deep grey with blackish wavy lines. The under parts are spotted with white,
and there is a steel-green shade in the breast : tail black, with white spots. The female is smaller,
and is of a salidy-brown colour, barred and variegated with black.

The Black Cock {Tetrno, or Lyriirus tetrb) is also found only in the Paljearctic region. It is
widely .spread over Europe, but is replaced in the Caucasus by another species — the Georgian Black
Grouse. The beautiful cui-^-ed outer tail-feathers always serve to distinguish the Black game from
the Capercailzia The Hazel Grouse (Bonasia heUdma) is another European Grouse, which, howe\er,
does not come to England, but is found over Northern Europe and North Asia, and is a pretty bird
with a fine crest.

The Ptarmigan {Lagopus mutiis) is found on the high mountains of Scotland, and throughout
the mountainous parts of Europe, but does not occur in America. The present sjjecies, according to Dr.
Dresser, " inhabits the more elevated, rocky, and barren localities, where it replaces the Scottish Grouse
and the Willow Grouse, and it seldom or never descends to the lowlands, where these latter sjjecies
have their home, unless driven down by stress of weather in search after food. The tracts of ground
over which the Ptarmigan is distributed are much more extensive and more inaccessible than »!iose
44*

NATURAL BlSTORl

.•land ranges which the Eed Grouse and Willow Grouse frequent ; aud hence the present species
somewhat less numerous than the latter bird. Should an intruder make his appearance in
the home of the Ptarmigan, or should a )jird of prey appear, they squat and remain motionless,
trusting chiefly to the similarity of their plumage to the ground and the herbage to enable them
to escape unseen. Should one utter his croaking note, he is generally on a stone ready to take wing
at a moment's notice, and when he ri.ses and calls all the rest of the covey join him. So close do they
squat, aud so well does their plumage harmonise at all seasons of the year with the surroundings, that
one may walk through a covey without being awai-e of the close proximity of a single individual. In
the month of July, according to Macgillivray, and in October, according to Earth and other Scandi-
navian naturalists, the Ptarmigans begin to collect in jiacks, and are found in lower altitudes than in

PTAUMIGAN IN SUMMER PLI'MAGB.

the summer season. Barth says they do not unfrequently visit the sea-coast, and, being white, are
very conspicuous ; they appear quite bewildered, and easy to apjjroach within gunshot, whereas, when
the ground is covered with snow, they are sliy and take wing before one has arrived within anything
like gunshot range. They fly tolerably swiftly, in a loose irregular body, their mode of flight resem-
bling that of the Red Grouse, and when once on the wing, will generally fly some distance before
settling. Their call note is a harsh croak, not unlike the croak of a frog, and it is frequently uttered
as an alarm call. The food of the present species consists chiefly of the tender twigs and leaves of
Empetrum nigrum ; but Macgillivray mivs tliat tlic cioi.s ..f s|>ccimpns he examined contained a large
quantity of fresh green twigs of (_'iilhii,,i nthjurls. I'lirciniinii un/rtillus, 'Aiid Empetrum nigrum, the
largest fragments not pxcepding fivc-twrlfths of an iiicli in Irnnth. Leaves and twigs of Varciniiim

autunni, .ilso fonu jiart of tlicii- f<«>il, the same as tliat (if tlic Red CJruusi-. Tlie (Jrey Ptaniiigan, then,
is a birtl which, feeding on vegetaljle substances, containing comparatively little nourishment,
introduces a large quantity at a time, like a ruminating quadruped, and gradually digests it while
reposing."

In summer the Ptarmigan i:iuts ofl' bis white dress and becomes dark -coloured, not unlike a Willow

THi: TFJlLOir GJiOUSE. 143

Grouse, so that its plumage, assiiiiilating to tlie colour-tints of the country which it inhabits, proves
a protection to the bird. In autumn, however, when the abundance of mosses and lichens gives a grey
appearance to tlie country, the dark-plumaged Ptarmigan would be a conspicuous object ; but liere
again a protective resemblance occurs in the plumage, which in the autunui partakes of an ashy grey
.shade. In winter, also, wlien the snow covers the ground, even the Ptaimigan in his autuuni
livery would be easily seen, and therefore one can understand how great a protection the snow-
white plumage of the bird must be, enabling it to hide itself in the snow, and so escape the prying
eyes of Hawks, which would soon pounce down on it.

PTARMIGAN IN

PLTJMAGB.

Tlie Willow Grouse {Lngopns albus) is very similar in plumage to the Ptarmigan, and, like that
species, is white Lu winter, and darker-plumaged in summer. It inhabits Scandinavia, and stretches
not only throughout Northern Europe and Siberia, but even extends across the northern part of the
New World. In England it is represented by the Eed Grouse, which, however, does not put on a
white winter dress. The following particulars about the habits of the Willow Grouse are derived from
a paper by Mr. Barth on the subject : — The present species is found only where the ■ birch tree is
abundant ; and plains where only the dwarf birch and willow are found are not suitable to it, as it
cannot live in localities where the cover is poor, but requires birch thickets; thus it is rare or common
aecoi-ding as the bircli growth is distributed. Tracts where larger birch woods and birch thickets are
found alternately, with juniper scattered here and there, are its favourite haunts ; for there it finds good
cover during the seasons when it is changing its plumage. The female deposits from eight to eighteen
and even twenty eggs, early or late, according to the elevation inhabited by the bird. Mr. Barth
found^newly-hatelied young in July, and eggs as late as the middle of August. The young birds can

lU NATURAL lllSTljRY.

fly when eight days okl, at which age they are about as lai-ge as a Lai-k. The parent bird tends them
with the greatest care, and when sui-prised with them will not desert them, but may often be
approached near enough to be knocked down with a stick. "VVhen about four weeks old the young
are as large as a Plover, and are then cousidei-ed old enough to lie shot. They lie very close, and
scatter after being flushed, and are then easily procured with the aid of a good dog. In August they
grow very quickly, and by the end of the month they are full grown. It appears that when small they
not unfrequently lose their parents, but are then taken care of by others ; and often as many as
thirty individuals of various ages are found in one covey. Until late in September, the coveys remain
in the localities where they have bred, and can be approached ; but later than that, they pack and
resort to the mountains, and gradually get into regions where the true growth ceases. They are then
unapproachable, and a quick shot only can get an odd bird out of a pack of about five hundred. Mr.
Barth speaks of a pack of about three thousand individuals which he saw between the 3rd and 10th
of November. Curiously enough they are sometimes much less shy than at others ; and Mr. Barth
cannot account for this, except that the weather may to some extent be the cause. He remarks that
during the winter they not unfrequently feed at night, and from the middle of March to the middle
of AprU they are to be found in the moi'ning and afternoon in the tops of the hirches feeding on the
buds. About the middle of March they pair, and commence to dram when in packs of several hundred
individuals, but some scatter to their respective breeding haunts, where they live in pairs. The males,
liowever, are more numerous than the females, those which remain unmated ranging about in flocks^
and Mr. Barth met with one of about forty individuals on a small island, and shot fifteen out of them,
it being considered quite correct to shoot these even during the breeding season.

THE SECOND SUB-FAMILY OF THE TETRAON[D.E— THE PARTRIDGES {PcrdicUw).

All the Partridges have the legs bare and the uostiils niikcd, « ith a small operculum, or horny
skin, on the upper margin. They are found nearly all o\'er the w<]ild, the Pacific Islands alone not
possessing any member of the sub-family. In Africa and in India the Francolins constitute one
representative of the Partridges ; and one species, the common Black Francolin (Francolimis vulgaris),
is found in Asia Minor and other countries of the Mediterranean basin, extending across Persia to
India. The Francolin is a very handsome bird, and, although banished from Sicily, it is by no means
uncommon in Cyprus, and still more so in Palestine and Asia Minor.

In America, the P;ivtridges are called (>il()nto|ihnves, oi-, nvn-c familiarly, American Partridges,
anil they are .listill-lu^ll.Ml by tin- iiotelirs in tlir nianail.lr., nf tlir l.ill ; tl„. latter also is higher, and
more arched than in th.- (.>ld W.jrld si.ccics. The foll.iwiuy- ii.itc en ..lit- of the largest of the
Odontophores is given hy that excellent observer, Prince Maximilian of Neuwied : — " It is
called ' Capueira ' by the Brazilians. Its habits and mode of life are very similar to those of the
Hazel Grouse or Gelinotte of Europe {Bonasia hetuKria). . It never frequents the open country,
1)ut confines itself entirely to the thick wood.s. In the early part of the year the Capueira lives,
in i)airs, and after the breeding season the families remain in coveys of from ten to sixteen or more
in number. Thesse birds run very quickly, and i)rocure their food among the dry leaves on the ground
in the midst of extensive' w(xids. Tin' stomachs of such as I examined contained fruits, berries,
insects, small .stones, and a little sand. The part of the country in which I met with them is the
eastern portion of Southern Brazil, from Rio de Janeiro to 13° S. lat. ; by Spix they appear to have
been found still farther north. In the vast forests bordering the rivers Mucuri, Alcobaca, Belmonte,
and Ilheo, they were very common, and we frequently killed tliem for the .sake of the, flesh, which
was excellent. Their loud and remarkable voice is_ heard only in the forests, where it reverberates
to a great distance. Azara states that the ciy is uttered by both sexes, but I believe it is emitted
by the male only. Like the domestic cock in Europe, it frequently aroused us at the break
of day, bidding us, as it were, continue our researches among the gi'and, but almost impenetrable,
forests of that country. They commenced calling before daybreak, thus affording us ample time for
Ijreakfasting, and enabling us to start by the dawn of the young day."

Some of the American Partridges are familiar in parts of Britain, such as the Virginian
Quail {Ortyx virginianns) and the Californian Quail {Lophorty.c calif orniamis), attempts having
been made, on more than one occasion, to introduce these birds as game into England ; while

THE COMMoy rARTSimiE. 115

they are to be seen alive iu most of the Zoological Gardens of Europe. The C'aliforiiian Quail is
not only remarkable for the beautiful crest which adorns the head, but also for the rich admixture
of colour in its plumage. It is very plentiful in California, being found, according to Dr. Ganibel,
in swarms, which inhabit not only the woods, but also bushy plains and hill-sides, these flocks some-
times numbering a thousand individuals. As many as fifteen eggs are laid, and the same observer
once found twenty-four in a nest, which he supposed to have been the produce of two hen birds.
The nest is placed on the ground, usually beneath a bush or at the foot of a tree, the eggs being
placed in a hollow, and generally covered with a few leaves or a little ilrii'd grass.

The Common Partridge (Perdix cineivn) is widely spread over Europe, being replaced in Eastern
Siberia by the Bearded Partridge (Ferdix harhata). Unlike the Pheasants or^ the woodland- loving
Urouse, the Partridge prefers the open gi-ound, and runs, thereby, considerable risk in the rearing
of its brood, should the season be wet- and unfavourable to the little ones ; hence it arises that the
plenty or scarcity of this game-bird depends greatly upon the summer diu-ing which the nesting
lias been in progress. The eggs are often placed in a very exposed situation, and a considerable
number of young birds are never hatchetl, owing to the accidents which overtake the sitting bii-d
during the season of incubation at the jaws of a prowling fox or cat. Any apparent carelessness,
however, on the part of the bird as regards her eggs, is amply compensated by the care and courage
with which the old bird defends the brood if nxised successfully. A nestling Partridge is a beautiful
little creature, and has a knack of concealing its small body in the grass in such a successful manner,
that if once tlie observer takes his eye off the bird, he will have great difficulty in re-discovering
the object of liis search. If suddenly stai-tled off her nest, the old bird will feign lameness, or drop
as if wounded, while her warning croaks as she flies off ai-e probably a sigiral to the chicks to conceal
themselves. When once able to fly, the young keep witli the old birds in coveys, and evince great

146 NATURAL HISTORY.

iiftVctioii for particular spots of ground, so that in shooting Partridges it often happens that a covey,
when disturbed, will fly to an adjoining field, and being roused a second time from their retreat, v;ill
fly back again to theu' original starting-point ; and this manoeuvre the writer has seen repeated more
than once by the same covey, until the continued havoc caused by the guns would force the
survivors to fly farther a\vu\' tor suiVty's sake. So closely does the plumage of the Partridge
assimilate to the stubble on tlic -iniind, that it is an impossibility to see the birds as they sit; and
the first intimation of their pivscurc is generally the "whirr" of the rising bird, as he betakes
himself, with a croaking chuckle, to a safer retreat. The Partridge is a useful bird to the farmer,

feeding on slugs to a large extent, caterpillars, and gi-ubs, so as entirely to counterljalanoe any little
injury that it may do to the corn-fielils.

The finest reinvs.iitiii i\ ,s ,.f tlic Partridne are, undoubtedly, the Snow Cocks or Snow
Partridges, which arc Iniiinl in the nnniutaiiis of Asia Minor, the Caucasus, Altai Mountains, and

ccount of tlie habits of the Himalayan
icn of Mr, Wilson, better known as

the Himalayas, and high ranges of Tibet. Tiic foil
Snow Partridge {Tetraogallus himul(i[/eiish) is froi
" Mountaineer " : —

"It is confined e.xclusively to tlic snow rriiiu^
are elevated above the limits of foivst. i.m i-, .lii\i'i
in some places, two annual migratiuu.s tu tin' luiddl
the limits of vegetation. In Koonour (Kunawur) they are common at all seasons, from Chunee
upwards; but on the Gangetic Hills, from June till August, however much a person wanders about
on the highest accessible places, but few are met with, and I have no doubt whatever but thai

ir the large spurs jutting from them, which
V the snows of winter to perform one, and,
■gions. In summer they are only seen near

THE JER-MOOXAL, OR SXOTJ' PARTRIDGE. U7

nearly all which ;it otlier seasons frequent this part, retire across the snow into Chinese Tartary
to breed. About the beginning of September they are first seen near the tops of the higher
grassy ridges jutting from the snow and the green slopes above and about the limits of the forest.
After the first general and severe fall of snow they come down in numbers on to some of the bare
exposed hills in the forest regions, and remain there till the end of March. This partial migration
is probably made in the night after the fall of snow, as I have invariably found them in their
winter quarters early the next morning. It requii-es a deep fall to drive them down, and in some
mild winters, except a few odd birds, they do not come at all. The birds on each respective hill
seem to have a particular spot for their winter resort, to which they return every year the migra-
tion is made.

" The Snow Partridge is gregarious, congregating in packs, sometimes to the number of twenty
or thirty, but in general not more than five to ten, several packs inhabiting the same hill. In
summer the few which remain on our side are found in single pairs generally, but across the snow,
when the great body migrate, I almost always, even then, found several together. They seldom
leave the liill on which they are located, but fly backwards and forwards when disturbed.
The Ring-tailed Eagle is an inveterate annoyer of these bii-ds. Inhabiting such exposed situations,
where there is nothing to conceal so large a bird from his sight as he sails along the hill-side
above them, they at once arrest liis attention, and are driven backwai-ds and forwards by this unre-
lenting tormentor, all day long. On the appearance of one of these birds — which, fortunately for
them, are not very numerous— they seldom wait till he makes a swoop, but on his making a wheel
near the spot where they are, immediately fly off to another quarter on the hill. The Eagle never
flies after or attacks them- on the wing ; so that, though he allows them little quietude while near
their resort, he only occasionally succeeds in securing one.

" The Jer-Moonal never enters forest or jmi-lf, rin.l avoids spots where the grass is long, or
where there is underwood of any kind. It is n.rillcss to add that it never perches. During the
day, if the weather be fine and warm, they sit cm (Jir rocks or rugged parts of the hill, without
moving much about, except m the morning and evening. When cold and cloudy, and in rainy
weather, they are very brisk, and are moving about and feeding all day long. When feeding they
walk slowly up-hill, picking up the tender blades of grass and yoinig shoots of ])lants, occasionally
stopping to snatch up a certain bulbous root of which they seem very fond. If they reach the
summit of the hill, after remaining .stationary some time, they fly off to another quarter, a-Hghting
some distance down, and again picking their way upwards. When walking they erect theii- tails,
have a rather ungainly gait, and at a little distance have something the appearance of a large grey
goose. They are partial to feeding on spots where the sheep have been kept at nights when grazing
in the summer pastures. These places have been called ' tatters ' by the shepherds, and the grass on
them keeps green and fresh long after the rest of the hill is quite dry and brown. They roost ou
the rocks and shelves of precipices, and return to one spot many successive nights.

" The Jer-Moonal is not remarkably wild or shy. When approacheil from below, on a person
getting within eighty or a hundred yards, it moves slowly up-hill or slanting across, often turning
to look back, and does not go very far unless followed. If a])proached from above, it flies ofi' at
once, without walking many yards from the spot. It seldom in any situation walks far down hill,
and never runs, except for a few yards when about to take wing. Tlie whole flock get up together ;
the flight is rapid, downwards at first, and then cur\ing so as to ali,i,'lit nearly on tlie
Wliere the hill is open and of great extent, it is often for upwards ni a mile, at a
height in the air ; when more circumscribed, as is often the case ou the lulls they fie-
winter, it is of shorter duration — perhaps merely across av intu tlie nrxt riil^c

"They feed on the leaves of plants and grass, ami ciccasimi.dly on umss, roots,
— gi-ass forms by far the greater portion. They are very partial to the vhuiil;- blailes nf
barley when it is first springing up, and while it remains short; and shouM (liriv In-
patch on the hill wliere they are, visit it regularly night and morning. Tlu y DrNcr, Ikiwcmi, t-oiue
into what may be called the regular cultivation. They are generally exoriiitaiitly fat, but the
flesh is not particularly good, and it has often an unpleasant flavour when the bird is killed at a
high elevation, probably owing to some of the plants it there feeds upon. Though I have spent many

same le

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ible

jueut in

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and flowers

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ited

1-lS NATURAL BIHTORY.

summers on tlie snowy ranges, I never found the nest or eggs, but in Tibet I often met with broods
of young ones newly hatched. There were, however, several old birds, and probably more than one
brood of chicks, so I coidd form no correct idea of the number in one brood. They are hardy birds,
and easily kejit in confinement, Ijut though they will eat grain, I doubt if they would live lon»
without an occasional supply of their natural green food of grass and plants' They may be kept
with the least trouble in large cages, the bottoms of which, instead of being solid, are made of bars of
wood or iron wire, so that the cages being put out on the grass, the birds may feed through tlie
interstices.

"The eggs which have been found by travellers are about the size of these of the Turkev,
but, like those of the Grouse, are of a more lengthened form ; their ground-colour clear light olive,
sjjaringly dotted over with small light chestnut spots."

THE QUAIL.
The Quails are the smallest of the Partridge family, and are inhabitants of the Old Woild only;
theva.e, howe\ei, ■widely distubuted mall font legions The species best known is the Common
Qu-iil (Cotnnu. .l,.t,,h.onrn,.) ^^\u,^^ x ,Mts Euiope m the summ , ^^l,o„ j, ],,, us nninbe.s aie

THE SAXD GROUSE. H9

trni)ped and sold for purposes of food. Waterton mentions the fact of 17,000 specimens being brought
to Rome in one day. The}' are to be found in large quantities on the coast of the Mediterranean,
and so abundant are they in the beautiful island of Capri, that it is said from this soui-ce the bisliops,
in olden times, derived a large part of their wealth. The Quail is most rapid in its flight, and perfoiins
long and fatiguing journeys. Sunset is the time for active exertions ; during the day tliey remain
«iuite quiet, reserving their energies for the evening, when off they go in quest of food. Their favourite
nourishment is insects, but they feed at times on grain and seeds ; small stones are also swallowed to
facilitate digestion. The habits of the Quail ai'e most unamiable and unsocial, and generally when
they meet with one of then- own species they display a very pugnacious disposition. The female has
a much better nature ; she is a most e.vcellent mother, even protecting young bii-ds who have been
deprived of theii- parents' care. She builds her own nest of small portions of plants, and lays eight
to fourteen eggs ; these are pear-shaped in form, of a light brown colour marked with a darker shade.
The young are full-grown at six weeks old, and are ready to join their parents in their long autumn
journey, which extends as fiir as the Cape of Good Hope, where they arrive in very large numbers.

The Quail, unlike the Partridge, has several wives, and display's great spirit in keeping rivals at
n distance ; while the mother is attending to her young ones, the male amuses himself in the vicinity
with his companions. The flesh of this bird is esteemed a great delicacy, and the inhabitants of the
warm climates, which are periodically visited by the Quail, look forward to its arrival with anxiety.

The length of the Quail is about seven inches and a half, and the general colour is brown,
varied with bufl' streaks on the upjser surface. The throat is reddish, and above the eye a buffy-
white line passes aJong the sides of the crown and down the sides of the neck across the throat ;
the under surface is burt"y. lu the female the colours are not so bright, and the reddish colour
on the throat is absent.

THE SIXTH FAMILY 0-F THE GAJIE BIRDS.— THE SAND GROUSE {Ptoodul.e).
The Sand Grouse are a group of birds which bear considerable relations to the Pigeons, and in
India are often called "Rock Pigeons" by the English sportsman. They are inhabitants of
desert countries as a rule, being found over Africa, in Madagascar, the Mediterranean region,
Centi-al Asia, and in the Indian Peninsula. Their favourite haunts are desert, open plains, and bai-e
fields with no traces of cultivation; they live generally in large packs, and are i-ather shy, being
quickly on the alert, and evading capture in a most clever manner. They find a valuable aid in
their plumage, which is neariy the exact shade of the ground on which they rest, and which
renders them almost invisible to the hunter. They squat down at his approach, and when he
seems coming too close, fly oflT at an immense pace. Theii- flight is very rapid, and they make
a peculiar sound with their wings. Theii- habits seem very regular in the manner of feeding,
and morning, noon, and evening, large quantities assemble to di'ink at the rivers -or tanks of
water, and the sportsman can quite coimt on seeing thousands if he should come at one particular
time. Their food consists of hard seeds, as Avell as little insects, &c., which they procure in the
same way as the Pigeons or Partridges. Although the Sand Grouse live in such large companies,
they are not polygamists ; they, however, have frequent battles with their own species, particularly
at the breeding season. This season varies according to locality : in the Deccan and Southern
India it takes pLice from December to May ; in Central India, later still ; and in North Africa,
at the English spring. The female lays in a small hollow scraped in the sand, in which she
deposits three or foiu- eggs, which are of a greenish stone-colour, spotted closely with gi-ey and
browii. The male bird assists in attending to the wants of the little ones, and when arrived at
maturity, all fly off, together. It is qiiite possible to keep the Sand Grouse in captivity, and they
are a great ornament to the aviary. Their flesh is good eating, if kept long enough ; at first it
is rather hard and tough, but that of the young bii-ds is delicious, and is much prized. Their
habit of squatting in close proximity to one another leads to the sportsman frequently bagging
a number of specimens, should he be so fortunate as to creep up v/ithin shooting distance.

THE SE\^NTH FAMILY OF THE GAME BLRDS.— THE HEMIPODES (TamiciiUe).
These are some of the smallest Game-birds known, many of the species not being as much as
six inches long. They are found in Africa, India, the Malayan region, extending to China, and

l.-iO NATURAL BIHTORY.

Australia, wliile one of them, tlie Andalusiau Hemipode, which is an inhabitant of Southerly
Europe, has even occurred in Great Britain. They are easily distinguished, by the absence of a
hind toe, from the smaller Quails of the genera Cotiii-nix and Excalf actor ia. Writing of the
Black-breasted Bustard Quail {Turnix taiyoor), Dr. Jerdon observes that in India it "aflects grassy
patches in the forests and jungles, also low bushy jungle, and is frequently to be found in the fields
of chilli and dhal, and in various dense crops, especially if near patches of jungle ; for in open or barren
country, or very highly-cultivated country without jungle, it is comparatively rare. Occasionally
small bevies of five or six are flushed togetlier, but in general it is put vip singly, or two or
three birds together. It feeds on grain of various kinds, but also very much on small insects,
larvfe of grasshoppers, and the like. The female has a peculiar loud puriing noise. The hen
birds are most pugnacious, especially about the breeding season, and this propensity is made
use of, in the South of India, to effect their capture. For this purpose a small cage with a decoy-
bird is used, having a concealed spring compartment, made to fall by the snapping of a thread
placed between the bars of the cage. It is set on the grouikl in some thick cover, carefully
protected. The decoy-biixl begins her loud pun-ing call, wliich can be heard a long way ofl', and any
females within earehot run rapidly to the spot, and commence fighting with the caged bird, striking
at the bars. This soon breaks the thread, the spring-cover falls, ringing at the same time a small bell,
by which the owner, who remains concealed near at hand, is warned of a captm-e, and he runs up,
secures his prey, and sets the cage again in another locality. In this way I have known from twelve
to twenty birds occasionally captured in one day, in a patch of thick bushy jungle in the Carnatic,
where alone I have known this practice carried on. Tlie birds that are caught in this way are all
females, and in most cases are bii-ds laying eggs at the time, for I have frequently known instances of
some .eight or ten of those captured so far advanced in the process as to lay their eggs in the bag iu
which they are carried before the bird-catcher had reached my house. The eggs are said to be
usually deposited under a bush in a slight well-concealed hollow ; they are from five to eight in
number, and of a dull stone-grey, or green colour, tliickly spotted and freckled with dusky spots, very
large for the bird, and very blunt. In the Carnatic this bird breeds from July to September ; farther
south fiom June to August, and iu Ceylon, says Layard, from Febniary to August. The females are
said by the natives to desert their eggs, and to associate together in flocks, and the males are said to
be employ eil in hatching the eggs, but I can neither confirm nor reject this from my own observation." *

THE EIGHTH FAMILY OF THE GAME BIRDS.— THE MEGAPODES {Megapodid<e).

The name Megapode is derived from two Greek words, signifying that the birds have large
feet ; and in proportion to the size of the bird the foot is, indeed, very big and powerful, being
employed for scratching together the earth and rubbish, in heaps of which the eggs are dejjosited
by the Megapode. The members of the family are distributed over Australia, the Papuan
Islands, extending throughout the Moluccas and Celebes to Borneo and the Philippines, while an
outlying species is found to inhabit the Nicobars. The largest of them all are the Brush-Turkeys
{Talegallus) of Australia and New Guinea, the Australian species {T. lathami) having been acclima-
tised in Europe, so that in the Zoological Gardens the birds may not only be seen in a state of nature,
but there are generally one or two of their mounds to be seen also. The members of the genus
Talegallus have wattled skin on the head and neck, whence their sitjjposed resemblance to a Turkey
has gained for them the familiar name of 'Bvwah-Turhey from the Australian settlers. As a rule, the
colouring of the Megapodes is sombre, being generally brown or black, the only exception being the
Maleo bird of Celebes, which has a curious knob on the head, while the breast is light-pink in colour.
Of this bird Mr. Wallace gives the following interesting account : —

" In the months of August and September, when there is little or no rain, the Maleos come down
in pairs from the interior to one or two favourite spots, and scratch holes tlu-ee or four feet deep, just
above high-water mark, where the female deposits a single large egg, which she covers with about a foot
of sand, and then returns to the forest. At the end of ten or twelve days she comes again to the same
spot to lay another egg, and each female bii-d is supposed to lay six or eight eggs during the season. The

* "Birds of India," Vol. II., p. 59".

152 NATURAL HISTORY.

iiiiile assists the female in making the hole, coming clown ami returning with her. The appearance of these
liirds when walking on the beach is very handsome. The glossy black and rosy ^vhite of the plumage,
the helmeted head, and elevated tail, like that of the common fowl, give a striking character, which
their stately and somewhat sedate walk renders still more remarkable. There is hardly any difference
between the sexes, except that the casque or bonnet at the back of the head, and the tubercles at the
nostrils, are a little larger, while the beautiful rosy salmon-colour is perhaps deeper in the male bird ;
but the difference is so slight that it is not always possible to tell a male from a female without dissec-
tion. They run quickly, but when shot at or suddenly disturbed take wing with a heavy noisy flight
to some neighbouring tree, where they settle on a low branch ; they probably roost at night in a similar
situation. Many females lay in the same hole, for a dozen eggs are often found together, and these
are so large that it is not possible for the body of the bird to contain more than one fiilly-developed
egg at the same time. In all the female birds which I shot," continues this author, " none of the eggs
besides the one large one exceeded the size of pea's, and there were only eight or nine of these, which
is possibly the extreme number a bird can lay in the season.

" Arrived at our destination, we built a hut, and prepared for a stay of some days, I to shoot and
.skill Maleos. The place is situated in the large bay between the islands of Linibe and Banca, and
consists of a steep beach more than a mile in length, of deep, loose, and coarse black volcanic sand, or
rather gravel, very fatiguing to walk over. It is in this loose black sand that those singular birds,
the Maleos, deposit their egg.

" Every year the natives come for fifty miles round to obtain these egg.S; which are esteemed a
great delicacy, and when quite fresh are indeed delicious. They are richer than hens' eggs, and of
a fine flavour ; each one completely fills an ordinary tea-cup, and forms, with bread or rice, a very good
meal. The colour of the shell is a pale brick-red, or very rarely pure white. They are elongate, and
very slightly smaller at one end, from four to foiu- and a half inches long, by two and a quarter and
two and a half wide."

After the eggs are deposited in the sand they are no longer cared for by the mother. The j'oung
birds, on breaking the shell, work their way up through the sand, and nin off at once to the forest.
•' I was assured by Mr. Huivenboden, of Ternate," says Wallace, " that they can fly the very day they
are hatched. He had taken some eggs on board his schooner wliich were hatched during the night,
and in the morning the Little birds flew readily across the cabin. Considering the great distances the
hens come to deposit the eggs in a proper situation (often ten or fifteen miles), it seems extraordinary
that they should take no further care of them. It is, however, quite certain that they neither do nor
can watch them. The eggs being deposited by a number of hens in succession in the same hole would
render it impossible for each to distinguish its own, and the food necessary for such large bii-ds,
consisting entirely of fallen fruits, can only be obtained by roaming over an extensive district ; so that
if the numbers which come down to this single beach in the breeding season, amounting to many
hundreds, were obliged to remain in the vicinity ,-many would perish of hunger." Dr. Meyer says that
the native name of this bii'd in Celebes is not Maleo, but Moleo.

Of a true 2ff<i/apodiiis we have a good example in Cuming's Megapode {Megnpodius cnmhigi), from
North-western Borneo, and the following history of the species is given by Mr. Motley in his " Natural
History of Labuan." ' He writes : —

"In Labuan they are not uncommon, and are said to be principally confined to small islands, to
such, more especially, .is have sandy beaches. They are very rarely to be seen, bemg extremely shy,
and frequenting dense and flat parts of the jungle, where the ratans grow, and where the luxuriance
of the vegetation renders concealment easy. The Malays snare them by forming long, thick
fences in unfrequented parts of the jungle, in which, at certain intervals, they leave openings where
they place traps. The birds run through the jungle in search of food, and coming to this fence, run
along it till they find one of the openings, through which they push their way, and are caught in the
trap. In walking they lift up their feet very high, and set up their backs something like Guinea
Fowls ; they frequently make a loud noise like the screech of a chicken when caught ; they are very
pugnacious, and fight with great fury by jumping upon one another's backs, and scratching with their
long, strong claws. Their food principally consists of seeds and insects. The eggs are of a fine dark cream
■colour, and of a very large size, three of them weighing nearly as much as a full-grown bird. Accord-

151 NATURAL HISTORY.

ing to the account given by tlie Malays, eacli bird lays about eight or ten eggs at each time of breeding,
and their nests are merely large heaps of shells and rubbish deposited over the sandy soil in which the
eggs are buried to the depth of about eighteen inches. Since receiving this account, however, we have
had an opportunity of inspecting a very large and perfect nest, or breeding-hill, and found it to be
about twenty feet in diameter, and composed of sand, earth, and sticks ; it was close to the beach, just
within the jungle, and scarcely above high- water mark, and appeared to have been used for many
years. The bDatmen seemed to have no clue to what part of the hillock contained eggs, but said they
were never without some when frequented at all. They sought for nearly a half an hour in vain before
they found one, and then they got about a dozen together ; they were buried at a depth of from one to
three feet, in an upright position, and the ground about them was astonishingly haixl. The eggs thus
<leposited are left to be hatched by the heat of the sun, and this, the Malays assert, I'equires between
tlu-ee and four months to complete. Those obtained from thLs heap were brought home and buried in a
box of sand, and a month or two afterwards it was discovered that they had all hatched, but that from
neglecting to place them in a proper {i.e., probably an upright) position, the chicks could not get up
through the sand, and had all perished. When hatched, the chicks are almost entirely fledged ; even
the long quills being, as the Malay says, 'needled.' When first dug out, some of the eggs had lost
much of their outer colour, which appeared to have scaled off, leaving only a white chalky shell. On
a former occasion some eggs were brought by the natives, and were buried in a box of sand, and
exposed to the weather : at the end of about three weeks one of the chicks was hatched. A JIalay, who
.saw it emerge, said that it just shook off the sand and ran away so fast that it was with difficulty
■caught ; it then appeared to be nearly half -grown, and from the first fed itself without hesitation,
sci-atching and tiirning up the sand like an old liird. Two more afterwards emerged in the same state.
Their eggs are held in such high estimation as food, both by natives and Europeans, that one cannot but
fear that these interest iuu' birds, though now so abundant, will ere long become scarce."

The late Mr. Gilliert (Icjuld also describes the habits of the Mound-mising Megapode of Australia
in a minute and exhaustive manner. The particulars which he furnishes about the mounds are very
interesting : — •

" I revisited Knocker's Bay on the 10th of February, and having with some difficulty penetrated
into a dense thicket of cane-like creeping plants, I suddenly found myself beside a mound of gigantic
proportions. It was fifteen feet in height and sixty in circumference at the base, the upper part being
about a third less, and was entirely composed of the richest description of light vegetable mould ; on
the top were very recent marks of bii-ds' feet. The native and myself immediately set to work, and
after an hour's extreme labour, rendered the more fatiguing fi-om the excessive heat, and the torment-
ing attacks of myriads of mosquitoes and sand-flies, I succeeded in obtaining an egg from a depth of
about five feet. It was in a perpendicular position ^vith the earth surroirnding and very lightly touch-
ing it on all sides, and without any other material to impart warmth, which, in fact, did not appear
necessary, the mound being quite warm to the hands. The holes in this mound commenced at the
outer edge of the summit, and ran doT^-n obliquely towards the centre ; their direction was therefore
uniform. Like the majority of the mounds I have seen, this was so enveloped in thickly foliaged trees
as to preclude the possibility of the sun's rays reaching any part of it.

" The mounds differ very much in their composition, form, and situation ; most of those that are
placed near the water's edge were formed of sand and shells, without a ve,stige of any other material,
but in some of them I met with a portion of soil and decaying wood. When constructed of this loose
material they are very irregular in outline, and often resemble a bank tin-own up by a constant surf.
•One remarkable specimen of this description, situated on the southern bank of Knocker's Bay, has the
appearance of a bank from twenty-five to thirty feet in length, with an average height of five feet ;
another, even more singular, is situated at the head of the harbour, and is composed entirely of pebbly
iron-stone, resembling a confused heap of sifted gravel ; into this I dug to the depth of two or three feet
without finding any change of character. It may have been conical originally, but is now without any
regularity, and is very extensive, covering a space of at least a hundred and fifty feet in circumference.
These remarkable specimens would, however, seem to be exceptions, as by far the gi-eater number
are entirely formed of light, black, vegetable soil, are of a conical form, and are situated in the densest
thickets. Occasionally the mounds are met with in barren, rocky, and sandy situations, where not a

TUE MEGAFODE. \bi>

particle of soil similar to that of which they are composed occurs for miles round ; how the soil is pro-
duced ill such situations apficars miaccouutable. It has been said that the parent binls briny it
from a great distance ; but as, as we have seen, they readily adapt themselves to the difference of
situation, this is scarcely probable. I conceive that they collect the dead leaves, and otlier vegetable
matter that may be at hand, and which, decomposing, forms this particular description of soil.
The mounds are doubtless the work of many years, and of many birds in succession ; some of them are
evidently very ancient, trees being often seen growing from their sides. In one instance I found a tree
growing from the middle of a mound which wivs a foot in diameter. I endeavoured to glean from the
natives how the young effect theii- escajje ; but on this point they do not agree, some asserting that
they find theii- way unaided, others, on the contrary, affirmed that the old birds, knowing when the
young are ready to emerge from their confinement, scratch down and release them.

" The natives say that only a single pair- of birds are ever found at one mound at a time, and
such, judging from my own observation, I ))elieve to be the case. They also affirm that the eggs are
deposited at night, at intervals of several days, and this I also believe to be correct, as four eggs, taken
on the same day, and from the same mound, contained young in different stages of development ; and
the fact that they are always placed perpendicularly is established by the concurring testimony of all
the different tribes of natives I have (juestioned on the subject.

" The Megapode is confined almost exclusively to the dense thickets immediately adjacent to the
sea-beach ; it appears never to go far inland except along the banks of creeks. It is always met with
in pairs, or quite solitary, and feeds on the ground, its food consisting of roots, which its powerful
claws, enalile it to scratch up %vith the utmost facility, and also of seeds, berries, and insects, parti-
cularly the larger species of coleoptera. It is at all times a very difficult bird to procure ; for
although the rustling noise produced by its stiff pinions when flying may be frequently heard, the bird
itself is seldom to be seen. Its flight is heavy and unsu.stained in the extreme. When first disturbed,
it invariably flies to a tree, and on alighting stretches out its head and neck in a straight line with its
body, remaining in this position as stationary and motionless as the branch upon which it is perched ;
if, however, it becomes fairly alarmed, it takes a horizontal but laborious flight for about a hundred
yards, with its legs hanging down as if broken. I did not myself detect any note or cry, but from the
natives' description and imitation of it, it much resembles the clucking of the domestic fowl, ending
with a scream like a Peacock.

"I observed that the birds continued to lay from the latter part of August to March, when I left that
part of the country ; and, according to the testimony of the natives, there is only an interval of about
four or five months, the driest and hottest part of the year, between theii- seasons of incubation. The
composition of the mound appears to influence the colouring of a thin epidermis with which the eggs
are covered, and which readily chips off, showing the true shell to be white. Those deposited in the
black soil are always of a dark reddish-brown, while those from the sandy hillocks near the beach ara
of a dirty yellowish-white ; they differ a good deal in size, but in form they all assimilate, both ends
being equal. They are three inches and five lines long, by two inches and three lines broad." *

As to the very curious method of incubation adopted in the case of these Mound-birds, or
Megapodid*, the common supposition has been that these birds, with their large feet and long curved
claws, raked together earth, dead leaves, rotten sticks, stones, and so on, till perhaps they formed
a mound as much as six feet high and twelve feet long. Tliis they frequently did in company, and
the " incubator " thus formed was shared by a number, wlio laid their eggs in it, and left them to be
hatched by the heat evolved V)y the decaying substances. Compare, however, with the above account
the latest observations on the subject, namely, those of Mr. H. N. Moseley, F.R.S. He says, in liis
" Naturalist on the Challenger," that " the eggs [of Megapodius] were buried in the clean sand, at a
depth of three-and-a-half or four feet, and with no mound over them, or vegetable rubbish of any
kind. The eggs are thus hatched by the simple warmth of the sand received from the sun, and

retained during the night, just in the same manner as t\iitli's fi;r,'s are hatched I had

always supposed that these birds and their allies hatched their .-ggs by means of the heat derived
from decayed vegetable matter."

* Gould's " Handbook to the Birds of Australia," Vol. II., p. 171.

CHAPTER VIII.

THE WADING BIRDS.

Chief Characters of a AVadiiig Bird —General Habits— THE RAILS— Distinctive Features— The .J.\c.is.iS— Foot— Distribu-
tion—The Pheasant-t.nileil Jacana— The True E.vils and Cr.\.ke.s— Characteristics —The M'ater Rail— The Coru-cmke,
or Land Rail— Thi. W \ \ n: TI i , - The Blue Water Hens— The Common Water Hen, or Jloor Hen— Its Habits— Its
Nest— Its Young Ii I; < trr— The Coots— Foot Characters— Appearance— Xest and Eggs— The Pinfoots

-THE SNIPE.S-1' I r,i,es-THE CURLEWS— Their Curved BiU-The Red-biUed Curlew— The Painted

Snipes— Anomaly :il"i'it ii,< 1 . unles— The Ciu-lews-THE S.\ndpipers -The Collector's Quest— Summer Snipes—
Terns— Godwits— Plover Actiuj; as Sentinel — The Dunlin- The Curlew Sandpiper— The Knot— The Kuff— THE
Phalarupes-The Stilt.s, or Stilt Plovers— The Avocet— The Stilts— THE PLOVERS— The Turnstones—
The True Plovers— The Lapwing, or " Pee-mt "—Mr. Seebohm's Account of the Habits of the Grey Plover— Golden
Plovers— Sand Plovers— The Oyster-c.vtchers— THE BUSTARDS— Characters- Tlie Thick-knee, or Stone Curlew
—The Coursers— Dr. Brehm's Account of the Habits of the Great Bustard— THE CRANES— The Kagu— The Sun
Bittern- The Common Crane— Stories of Von Seyffertitz's Tame Crane— THE TRUMPETERS.

THE SIXTH ORDER OF BIRDS.— THE WADING BIRDS (GRALL.E).

The principal character of a Wading-bird is the long leg, with the bend of the tarsal joint
unfeathered, and the toes long and cleft nearly to the base. The head is small, and the bUl in most
of them long and narrow, the body compressed, the wing long, excepting in the case of the Rails.
They can nearly all swim well, but as a rule do not do so, searching for their food by the reedy
banks of rivers or on the sea-shore, and most of them are of shy or skulking habits. They are
principally migratory bii-ds, and include among their number some of the farthest ranging species in
the world. Most of the Waders breed in northern latitudes, man}' only within the Arctic Circle, and
at the end of the nesting season they migrate, either singly or in flocks, down to the extreme south,
in America, Africa, and even to Australia and New Zealand.

In the birds which are here enumerated as Grallce the nasal openings are large, placed low in tlu
upper mandible, and are either surrounded or shut in by a rather broad soft skin. The bill varies
greatly, but as a rule is nan-ow and comjwessed. None of the Grallce are of very large size ; and with
the exception of the Rails, which generally construct a nest, the eggs are mostly placed on the bare
ground. The young of all are able to shift for themselves almost the instant they are hatched.

THE FIRST FAMILY OF THE GRALL.E, OR WADING BIRDS.— THE RAILS [Rallida).

Amongst the many long-winged species which form the majority of Wading-bii'ds, the Rails
stand out very conspicuously for their short wings, which are concave as well, and fit the body closely,
Thi.s is a provision of nature wonderfully well adapted for the habits of the Rails, whose bodies are
e.xtremely thin and slender, enabling them to thread their way thi'ough the reeds in search of their
food with' the greatest ease. The skulking habits of most of them give an idea of their being bad
flyers, but this is by no means the case, for most of them are migrants, and some of them take long
voyages ; the Corn-crake, for instance, nesting in Europe, and betaking itself to South Africa during
the British winter ; the Moor-hen and many of tlie Europciiu Crakes {Ortygometra) making the same
long journey, though they are not so completely migratory from England as the Corn-crake.

A Rail has rather a long hind toe, the forehead much flattened, and the fore part of the crown
depressed, but it is principally by their compactly plumaged and thin body, and the long spider-like
toes, that they are generally recognised. They feed on small insects, worms, seeds, and fragments of
plants, while such larger sized birds as the INIoor-hen or Coot will eat eggs, and even kill chickens and
carry them ofl^

The Rallid» may be subdivided into five sections, which may he considered as sub- families.

THE FIRST SUE-FAMILY OF THE RALLID.E.— THE .lACVNAS {ParrUue).

The form of the foot separates the five sub-families of .the Rails, and the Jacanas are easily

recognisable by the extremely long and straight claws, which render them totally unlike any other

birds in this respect. They are inhabitants of warm climates only, being found in South America,

Africa, India, and Australia. Many of them hax^e a shield on the forehead, like the Coots and

3Ioor-liens, but they are more variegated in colour than either tliese bi
The young birds, liowever, are not so handsomely coloured as the adiilts.

or the rest of the Rails.

THE rilEASAXT-TAlLED .TACAXA {Hiidrophasimms chininiJix).
This is the largest of all the Jacanas, and is a native of India and Ceylon, where it inhabits
jheels, marshes, and i-eedy banks, but it is rather bolder in its habits than the other Indian species.
Dr. Jerdou says that the breeding plumage is assumed very early, as he has seen some specimens
with their summer dress and long tail in February, so that it is probable that some birds do not
always put on a winter dress ; as a rule, however, they do not change till May or June. According to
the same observer, it makes a large floating nest of dried pieces of grass and herbage, sometimes,
according to other accounts, of the stalks of growing rice, which it bends downwards and intertwines,
and it lays in July and August from four to seven eggs, occasionally more, of a tine bronze brown or
green. It has a loud call, likened by some to the mewing of a cat or a kitten in distress, by others to
the distant cry of a hound : an imitation of the soimd is attempted in the Hindustani names Piho and
Meewah. The Cingalese also, according to Layard, call it Cat-Teal. Like the other Indian species, it
feeds chiefly on vegetable matter, but also on shells and water insects. In Purneah the natives say
that before the iuiindation, i.e., before the breeding season, it calls Did), duh — "Go under water;"
and afterwards in the cold weather, Powar, which, in Purneah dialect, means "next year." In -winter
this species is gregarious. If only wounded it is difficult to find, as, like the English Moor-hen, it dives
at once and remains with its bill only out of the water. The flesh is said to be excellent. Blyth states

^ 'U i\){-f\ \,

158 NATURAL HJSTORy.

that lie lias kept both the Indian Jacanas in confinement, anil that they thrive well on shrimps, but
the present bird was in the a-siar}- rather quan-elsome with its kind.

THE SECOND 8UB-FAMILY OF THE RALLID.E. -THE TRUE RAILS AND CRAKES [liullina;).

In this sub-family the claws are short, there Ls no frontal shield on the head, and the toes, though
long, are simple and without any lobes. Many of them are of large size, such as the gi-eat Aramus
of South America, or the Wood-hens {Ocydromus) of New Zealand. The latter cannot fly, though
they are of the size of a barn-door fowl.

The most typical members of this sub-family are undoubtedly the Water Eails {Hallns) and the

CORN-CUAKE, OR LA.NU-RAIL.

Crakes (Orti/ffometra), both of which are represented in England, the former by one, the latter by
several species. The Water Rail (Ralbis aquatints) may be easily told by its brown coloration and
banded flanks, but particulai'ly by its long bill, which exceeds the bead in length, whereas in the
Crakes this is not the case. The upper mandible and the tips of the lower one are blackish-brown,
the rest of the latter reddish. In colour the bird is brown, streaked with black, less distinctly on the
head ; the quills and tail blackish-brown ; lores and eyebrow, sides of face, and under parts slaty-grey ;
the abdomen and under tail-coverts ochre-colour ; flanks black, banded aci'oss with white ; the iris is
red. The male measures about eleven inches in length ; the female is smaller. The attenuation of the
body may be gathered from the fact that, although nearly a foot Ln length, it is not three inches across
the back, and hence the facility with which it threads its way through the reeds, scarcely ever rising,
unless driven to do so by a dog ; so that, although resident in England all the year round, it is
seldom seen. It is by means of keeping close in the marshes and bogs, which it affects, that it gains
its best assurance of security, as it is by no means a good flyer, though it swims and dives witii agility.

TllJi MOOS-M£y. 159

Its iiest is placed on the ground, in close herbage or amongst reeds, and the niunber of eggs varies
from six. to ten. As with many of the Rallidie, the clucks are nothing more than little balls of fluffy
black down when first hatchetl, but on the least alarm they take t j the water, and conceal themselves
with much adroitness in tlie aijjoining rushes or grass.

The Corn-crake, or Land R.iil (Or/i/i/duie/ra crex), is a summer visitor to England, and speedily
makes known its arrival by its c;ill. \\ ln< li ni;iy be heard resounding throughout the night, and even
in the daytime. Its cry is very harsh, and may be imitated by rubbing a bit of wood shar])ly aloug the
teeth of a comb; it is uttered by the male bird only, and is heai'd more on its first arrival, ceasing almost
entirely when the young are hatched, as is the case with so many other birds. As a rule, the haunts of
this species are confined to fields of long grass or corn, and oftentimes the nest is mowed out when the
hay is cut, the scythe not unfrequently decapitating the faithful mother, who sits very close, and has been
known even to cairy away her nestlings out of reach of danger. It does not, like its cousin the Water
Rail, frequent marshes or wet ground, though it is often found in hay-fields close to rivers, and it can
swim with vigour when forced to do so A companion was walking one evening with the writer by
the banks of the Thames when the cry of a Land Rail was heard at a short distance ofi", and after some
trouble was driven to take wing, when a well-directed throw of a walking-stick brought it to the
ground, within a few feet of the river-bank. It lay apparently dead, but on being approached it
suddenly sprang up, and without any hesitation plunged over a steep bank into the river, and notwith-
standing a broken wing, it managed to cross at a place where the river was not less than seventy
yards broatl. The bill in the Land Rail is much stouter than in the Water Rail, not exceeding the
head in length, and the general colour is more of a reddish-brown. In the autumn the old birds
depart with their families, migrating in silence and concealment for their winter home, which is the
continent of Africa, where the s|jecies passes down the NUe Valley as far as the Cape Colony. In
September' the Land Rail is often met with in the clover and turnip-fields, and we have known as
many as eight to be killed in a single day when out Partridge-shooting. The flesh is vei-y good for the
table. The young are covei-ed with black down when first hatched, ami moult before migrating.

The other members of the sub-fimiily Rallinse are very numerous, and are distributed over the
entire globe.

THE THIRD SUB-FAMILY OF THE EALLID.E.— THE WATER-HENS {GalUmilina:).

In this sub-family occur the brightest plumaged of the Rails, viz., the Blue Water-hens (Porphyrio)r
the members of this genus being found everywhere, excepting the northern parts of the Old and New-
Worlds. They very much resemble the English Water-hen, or Moor-hen, in their habits, but are
much lai'ger and more stately-looking birds, while in flight their beautiful blue plumage shows to
advantage ; they also have a very large red frontal shield.

THE COMMON WATER-HEN, OR 5I00R-HEN {Gnllwula chloropus).
Passing a large pond or sheet of water in a railway-carriage, the observer may often see a small
black bird swimming near the edge of the reeds, or flying out of danger with a flapping of the wings
that leaves a long trail of disturbed water behind it to mark its flight. This will be either a Moor-hen
or a Coot; but even at some di.stance the two species can be easily recognised, the ivory white shield on
the forehead of the latter being always very conspicuous. The frontal shield of a Water-hen is red,
and from being much smaller is not so easily seen. With the exceptional case of Mr. Waterton, who
managed by protection to make wild birds tame, the Coot is much more shy in its nature than the
Moor-hen, and does not so often become fearless and confiding like the latter bird. When unmolested
the Moor-hen will often quit his native pond or lake and be allured to the lawn or neighbourhood of
the house, coming regularly for its food. The writer, indeed, remembers having visited a gardener's
cottage, in Leicestershire, where a jjair of Moor-hens came from a neighbouring pond at the call of
the old woman who lived in the little house, and not only fed themselves within a few yards of the
spectators, but even brought their young brood to share the repast aftbrded by their kind protector.
Skirting the lake in a boat, one is first made aware of the presence of a Moor-hen by the warning
croak which is heard from the reeds some distance ahead, for the bird is fvdly conscious of danger, and
long ere the boat approaches may be seen swimming rapidly to the shore from the middle of the lake

160 NATURAL HISTORY.

towards tlie frieiiillv reeds which skirt its edge. Here it will be ditficidt to flush the birds without
the aid of a dog, but earefiilly proceeding along the niai-gin of the rushes, tlie naturalist will probably
be gratified Vjy the " sough " of a body falling into the water, and will find, close by, the nest,
raised a little above the water, and concealed from the bank by a mass of intervening reeds. Many
yards off the bird will itself emerge and betake itself, with flapping wings, and legs hanging down,
to the opposite side of the lake, although we have known the hen bird, if the eggs are hai'd-set or the
young newly-hatched, to stay in the vicinity of the nest and croak as if in anger, or moi-e probably in
the latter case to encourage the young birds with her presence. The nest is large and rather flat,
composed of dead rushes, and perfectly warm and dry, the chicks when hatched being merely tiny balls
of black dowai with pretty little red heads. They utter a " cheeping" note, which may be often heard
inside the egg, before the little one has bi'oken through the shell. We have more than once watched
the process of-hatching, and seen the egg with a small hole chipped in it, through which the tiny bill,
with a little ivory white nail at the tip, is trying to force its way out. It is possible that at this .stage
the old bird assists the chick to break the shell and extricate itself, as on one occasion, when we broke
the egg very carefully, and deposited the young one in the ne.st, it died soon after. Should the old
mother be sitting on the nest with her young ones, she drops gently off, and all the little ones scramble
out helter-skelter, and so carefully do they conceal themselves, that it is almost hopeless to find them.
The nest is often situated in more exposed positions than the one above described, and may be
found placed on the water-line in the branches of some overhanging shi-ub or tree whose boughs
touch the water, but always at some distance from the bank, so that a boat is genei-ally necessary
to procure the eggs. The latter are from seven to ten or eleven in number, two bropds being
generally reared in a season, and the number of eggs is less in the second than in the first
brood. When swimming the Moor-hen jerks its head as if to kee}) time with the motion of
its legs, which are generally somewhat out of the water, so as to show the tarsal joints,
which are red and yellow, shading off into green; and these colours, and its red frontal shield,
are the only ornaments about the bird, if we except the two white patches on each side of
the tail. The latter is usually carried somewhat erect and with a jerking motion, the bird,
as it walks or swims, flicking the latter organ in unison with the movements of its head and legs.
When frightened, Moor-hens, especially youag birds, often take refuge in trees, and run with con-
siderable rapidity along the branches. The bird is, as a rule, tabooed by keejiers, who assert that they
are not above visiting pheasantries and carrying off young chickens, whom they despatch with a blow
of their powerful bill on the head of their victim ; nor can they refi-ain from stealing eggs when these
are left unprotected, sharing in this respect the odium which attaches to their relations, the Coots.

The Moor-hens are found nearly all over the world, and the British species is distributed over
Europe, Asia, and Africa, a smaller kind taking its place in the Malayan Islands and extending
to Australia. In America Moor-hens are found almost every-
where, while in the Samoan Islands • a curious species exists,
the Pareudiastes pacificus, which is said not to be able to fly.

THE FOITRTH SUB-FAMILY OF THE EALLTD.E.

THE COOTS ■ {Fidiniiff).
In appearance and habits much resembling Moor-hens,
the Coots are nevertheless a distinct .sub-family, distinguished
by their lobed toes, which are best understood from a glance at
the accompanying woodcut. They have also a larger frontal
shield, which in certain of the American species may be i-eally
called enormous. Coots are found eveiywhere, but the South
American region posses.ses the larger number of species, no less
than seven being met with in the Neotropical area. Like the
Moor-liens the Coots affect the water, biit seem to prefer more
exclusively large ponds and lakes, and are not to be found by the river side, where the Moor-hen
can always be seen. The Coot also assembles in greater numbers than the Moor-hen, large flocks
being often seen in the winter on some of the tidal harbours of the south coast of England.

The Coots are all birds of moderate size, some attaiuinir the dimensions of a small Goose, Imt the
English s[)ecies does not exceed those of a good-sized fowl. The ijkimage is extremely close, comijact,
and impervious to -et, -nd th- body -iTea-" '■•Hl^«" cl""^=y ^" +1"^ nKserve,- bnt in the water the binl's
movements are by no meuis ungi iccful is it swims ^vlth tlu sime diukinj; motion as the AIooi
hen already descrilKd fho iKst is 1 ink f 1 1 i i h t i i i( 1 \\ithth. st ilks aid

flowers of the marsh-marigold intertwined with tlie reeds. It is rather a large structure, and somewhat
flat, but, though floating on the water, it is always perfectly dry inside. It is built in rather more
exposed situations than the Moor-hen's among the branches of a dead bough jutting out of the water, or
even among the reeds on the shallow side of a lake. The eggs are about eight in number, as a rule,
and are of a light brown colour or yellowish-grey, covered with small dots of brownish-black. The
young, when fir-.st they emerge from the egg, are prettier than at any other time of their life, being,
covered with black flutfy down, but having the head red, with a shade of bluish-puqjle.

iUJ AATUKAL JilsTuMl.

THE FIFTH SUB-FAMILY OF THE RALLID.E.— THE FINFOOTS (HeUoniithlna-).
These curious birds have the feet lobed as in the Coots, but differ in having a long bill and
compressed head, not unlike that of a Heron, and also at the same time somewhat resembling that of
a Grebe. Two genera are contrtined in this sub-family, the &st (Heliornis), having bvit a single
species, generally known as tlic ^Vnuiican Finfoot (Heliornis fulica), from the tropical portions of
Central and South America. Prince 3Liximilian of Neuwied states that it is by no means rare on
the rivers of Eastern Brazil, Imt fidiii its habit of concealing itself in the herbage it is not often
observed. It may frequently be noticed .sitting on a thin branch, partially immersed in the water,
and occupied in bowing its head in a most curious manner. The plumage is peculiarly soft. The
bird is said to possess the powers of diving in an inferior degree to most of the Rails. In Africa
tlie Heliornis is replaced by the genus Podica, of wliich there are three species, two peculiar to the
Ethiopian region, while the third, the Masked Finfoot {Podica personata), is a native of the
Burmese countries and Malacca.

THE SECOND FAMILY OF THE GKALL.E, OR WADING BIRDS,— THE SNIPES (Scolopacidtc) .
No portion of the globe seems to be without some representative (rf this family, some of the
niembei-s of which are migi-atory and extend over a wide range, whilst others are comparatively local,

the Auckland Islands, for instance', possessing a
species of Snipe peculiar to themselves. In the
Scolopacida; the bill is long and very slender, as well
as weak, so that instead of being firm and horny,
as in most Wading-bird.s, it is flexible and bends
under pressui-e. The wings are long and pointed,
and the secondaries are extremel}^ long, nearly equal-
ling the primaries in length. They frequent bogs
and marshes or the banks of rivers and ditches,
where they are enabled to get their food, which
consists of worms, insects, and testaceous mollusca, these being obtained by probing the soft ground.
Tiiey are, as regards the English species at least, almost without exception migrants, visiting the
shores of Great Britain in April or May, and departing in August and September, when they assemble
in flocks on the sea-coasts, sometimes in considerable numbers. A few species, however, such as
the Woodcock and the Snipe, are more generally distributed in England in the winter.

THE FIRST SUB-FAMILY OF THE SNIPES.— THE CURLEWS {Numeuun<t).

These are the largest birds of the family, the Common Curlew, a well-known English bii-d, being
nearly of the same bulk as a chicken, though appearing much larger, from its long legs and enormous
ciu'ved bill. The bill is always arched, and the nasal gi-oove in which the nostrils are placed reaches
to its tip.

The first genus (Ibidorhynchus) contains but one species, the Red-billed Curlew {Ibidorhynchus
sfnithersi), which is found only in the Himalaya Mountains and the hills of Central Asia. It is said
to inhabit in the former range the large rivers which rise from the snow and have a bi-oad, sandy
channel. It is nowhere common, and is generally seen singly, though occasionally met with in small
parties of five or six. It has no hind toe, and the nasal groove is rather shorter than in the Painted
Snipes and Curlews. The second genus contains the Painted Snipes, as they are called {Rhynclum), a
genus which is somewhat remarkable from the great difference which is observable in the coloration of
the sexes. As a rule, the only distinction between the males and females in the Snipes is one of .size,
but in the Painted Snij^es the females are more richlj' coloured than the males, having the lores, sides
of face, and neck chestnut. This genus is quite an anomaly in the class Aves, where the females are
almost always duller-coloured than the males, or at least merely resemble them in plumage, though in
some of the Hemipodes (Tuniix) the colours of the hen bird are brighter than in the males, and in the
Hawks the female is generally the larger and more powerful bird. The Painted Snipes are found
in Africa, India, and Australia, while one species is met with in the southern countries of the South
American continent.

THE SAXDPirERS. 163

The t'urlews {Nuinemas) are found in every part of tlie world, arriving iu the northern regions
in summer, and passing south in considerable numbers in the autumn. The note of these birds has
something plaintive and wild in its composition, whether it be heard on the moorland, where the species
nests, or on the dreary mud-flats of a tidal river or harbour. In the autumn the latter places are
visited by numbers of Curlew on tlieii- way to their winter quarters, and in many parts they are called
by the gunners and fishermen tame Curlews, as they ai-e so much more easily obtained at this
season, the reason being that the flocks are then principally composed of young birds of the year
taking their first migratory journey .south. The old Curlew is a much more wary bird, especially on
the return journey in April and May, when he travels, either singly or in company with his mate, to

the upland moors in Scotland and the northern counties of England, where he is to rear his young.
In size the Curlew is about two feet and a quarter in length, and has a curved bill of from six to eight
inches, and even these latter dimensions are sometimes exceeded.

THE SECOND SCB-FAMILY OF THE SNIPES.— THE S.VN'DPIPERS [Tuf/nniM).
In these birds the bill is straight or slightly curved up, the toes at the base joined by a fold of
skin. All the Godwits and Sandpijiers make up this sub-family, many representatives of them being
met with at the autumn migration on the English coasts. Leaving the little inn, where the collector
on a shooting excursion has to put up, he will betake himself to his hunting-ground, which is probably
some tidal harbour or mouth of a tidal river. A boat with an apt oarsman, a gun with plenty of
cartridges, and a certain stock of food to last for himself and the fisherman during the day's outing,
constitute all the outfit which a keen collector will require for his expedition after the Sandpipers.
The tide will now be coming in, and the channel in the middle of the harbour, no longer sunk between
two deep banks of black mud, will be momentarily broadening under the influx of the approaching tide,
so that its course can now be distinctly traced to the mouth of the harbour two miles away. As the
sportsman seats himself in the narrow little boat or punt, and his bare-legged pilot pushes her oiF,
takes his seat in the stern, and works her head along by means of his single oar or paddle, the con-
tinued cries of the shore-birds resounding far away on every side will tell the listener that they, too,

164

NATURAL HISTURY.

await the advent of tlie sea, which will gvaduaUy spread itself over the waste of black mud which thev
have been probing for their food during the livelong night, and drive them foot by foot to the shelter
under the banks of the harbour or out on the sea-beacli. A small bird flies ofi' with a thin piping
whistle from the muddy bank of the main channel, and hugs the margin of the latter till it disappears
round the nearest bend. This is the Common Sandpiper, or Summer Snipe ( IVlngoides hyjwhucns),
returniiig from his breeding quarters farther north, and now on his way to his winter home in far

South Africa. It is not only on the sea-shore that we may meet with this elegant little species, for in
the spring it may be seen along the banks of our rivei-s and lakes in company with its mate ; while in
the autumn the old birds with their family are again observed on the river banks or on its sandy sides,
now returning to the sea-coast, where they no longer keep so well together, but are found in scattered
parties of two or three, generallj'- very shy and wary.

Those fairy-like birds on ahead, flitting at a little distance aljove the waves, and every now and
then dipping into the water with a splash, are little Terns (Sleriiu/a minuta), but the eye of the
ornithologist is more forcibly attracted by three or four dark objects which stand out against the
margin of the sand-bank some three hundred yai-ds ahead. Godwits they are ; and already the long,
straight beak can be distinguished as the birds sit with their head resting on their buff-coloured breasts.
They are evidently uneasy at the approach of the skiff', and evince their fear by taking short runs a
little in advance. At length they stop, glance for a moment, and take flight for the shingly beach in
the distance, lint too late to escape a well-directed double-barrel, which brings down three of their
number. Placing them under the side of the boat, the sportsman satisfies himself, by a glance at the
banded tail, that they are the Bar-tailed Godwit (Limosa lapponica), and not the rarer Black-tailed
Godwit (L. (eyocephalus), which also comes to England. The boat is now steered for a shingly
island which is evidently not about to be covered by high water, and here, ensconced behind a large heap
of seaweed which commands a spit of sand and shingle jutting out into the harbour, the two gunners

Till:

ii'.Mjy.

a\v;iit tlie arrival of the liigli tide whit-li will soon l)ring the last vestige of mad-flat uiuler watei-. They
have»ai'rived in the nick of time, for at first singly, and then in small flocks, the Waders make for the
sea-shore, iii nearly every case crossing the sandy spit on their way, allured in many instances by the
subtle imitation of their cries which the fisherman knows how to emit, and thus they leave a con-
siderable number of their comrades in the hands of the gunners. With a musical modulated note of
three" syllables a little bii'd comes skimmuig ilong f xr out o%ei the wxtei, lud ippearing all white as
he ajiproaches. He scents dangei, howe\ei, befoie he comes too close, and flies >\v xy without receiving
I shot. Tiiis is the Ringed Plo\ei ( A /i ilitu htatitula) ind so wulexwike i bud that there is small

chance of getting near a flock of Sandpipers if one of these little Plovers is acting sentinel. Perched on
the highest ridge of the shore, he runs provokingly along, keeping a safe distance ahead, and whistling
continually, till at last he takes wing, and the sportsman is just in time to see the hurried flight
of the flock of Dunlins and Sandpipers, over whom the bird has been keeping guard, far out at
sea, with the sentinel Plover in advance guiding them to a safer spot farther down the beach.
The Dunlin {Tringn cdpina) is not often found on the rivers inland, but is an extremely
common .shore-bird, being generally met with in large flocks, sometimes as many as two or three
hundred in number. They are usually very tame, and are easily attracted by whi.stling, so that
a flock, though fired into two or three times, will yet wheel round again and again on hearing
the deceptive whistling of the gunner. They go to the north, as a rule, to breed, but duiing
the nesting season flocks may be found on the southern shore of England, which, although in
full summer plumage, e-\'idently do not breed, but remain in flocks -throughout the whole season.
The summer dress of the Dunlin is easily recognisable by the large black horseshoe mark on the
45

ir,G NATURAL JIISTOltY.

breast. This is lost iu winter, when tlie plumage is ashy above and white below. At the time
of the migration of the other Wadei's the Dunlins are generally putting on their winter plumage,
and are met with in all stages of transition.

The Dunlins are not the only visitors to the sandy island where our two sportsmen are waiting for
the fall of the tide. A single bird settles and is secured, and proves to be a Curlew Sandpiper (Tringa
subarquata), a species not unlike a Dunlin in winter dress, but always to be distinguished by its longer
and more curved bill, which, from its supposed resemblance to that of the Curlew, has gained for the
bird its trivial name. In summer, however, it is very easily told by its deep red breast, for, like the
Knot or the Godwits, the whole under sui-face becomes deep chestnut during the breeding season.
Conjectures as to the breeding-home of this species, so widely spread and not uncommon during its two
migrations, cross the mind of the shooter who has procured a specimen, for as yet we are ignorant of
the place where the Curlew Sandpiper breeds. No longer can this be said of the Knot {Triiuja
canuf/us), whose nesting-place was unearthed by the last English expedition to the North Pole ; and in
the British Museum may be seen a pair with their nestlings, procui-ed by Captain Feilden, of the A lert ;
no authentic eggs, however, as yet exist in any collection. The Knot visits England in large numbers
in autumn, and wanders on its winter migration as far as the Cape, and even to Australia, returning to
breed far within the Arctic Circle. In summer the plumage is very rich, the breast being deep chest-
nut ; whereas in winter, like so many other Waders, the back becomes ashy -grey, and the breast white.

One of the most jemarkable of all the Sandpipers is the Ruff {Machetes jmynax). The
males, in the breeding-season, have a conspicuous tuft of feathers on each side of the head, and a large
breast-shield of plumes ; and the curious part of the bird's economy is that in no two specimens
are these absolutely alike. Sometimes the frill and breast-plumes are black, sometimes pure white ;
occasionally they are rufous baiTed with black, or grey with white bands ; in fact, the combina-
tions of colours are too numerous to be detailed. In winter the Rufi loses this frill and becomes
much plainer in colour, resembling the female in plumage, but always maintaining a larger size,
so that even in winter dress the sexes can be distinguished. The specific name of pugtiax is
bestowed upon this bird on account of its fighting propensities, the most furious battles taking
place between the males for the possession of the females, and in these combats the feathered frills
act as a shield for the protection of the combatants. Large numbers of Rufls are sent annually
to the markets of England, principally from Holland, where the species still breeds, as it does also
over the greater jmi't of Northern Europe. The drainage of the fens, however, has driven it fi'om
England, where it now only occurs in migration. Its winter home is Africa. The habits of a
few of the commoner English "Wadiug-liirds which have been treated of above may be taken as
examples of the group at the season of the year when tliey are most generally observed.

THE THIRD SUB-FAMILY OF THE SNIPES.— THE PHALAROPES (Phalaropinm).

The Phalaropes ai-e distinguished by their lobed toes, which look like those of a miniature Coot.
They combine the characters of several of the Wading-bii'ds, as they swim well by means of their lobes
on the toes, which are also united by a web at the base, while they can run on the shores like a Sand-
piper. The species are only three in number, and all are inhabitants of northern climates. Two are
found in Great Britain, and extend throughout Northern Europe and Northern Asia, while one species,
Wilson's Phalarope, inhabits North America.

The Red-necked Phalarope {Fhalaropus hyperhoreus) is a handsome little bird, having the upper
])arts blackish-grey, varied with reddish edgings to the feathers, the sides of the neck and fore-neck
being chestnut, the throat, breast, and abdomen white. Like the Sandpipers, which it much resembles
in its appearance, it has a winter plumage, which may be described as blackish-grey, with the forehead,
cheeks, and under parts white. The wings have a white band. The Red-necked Phalarope breeds iu the
Orkney and Shetland Isles, where it constructs its nest in the gi-ass near the edges of lakes, and lays
four eggs. Its food consi.sts of insects, worms, and mollusca. It swims with ease, and is often seen
far out at sea, migrating southward in winter, when both it and the Grey Phalarope (Phalaropns
fulicm-ius), which is the other English species, wander as far as the Indian Ocean, and even to the
Moluccas. Dr. Jerdon calls these birds " Coot-footed Stints," which gives a very good idea of the
natiare of a Phalaroi)e.

TUE AVilC£r A.VJ) STLLIW

THE FOURTH SITB-FAMILY OF THE SNIPES.-THE STILTS, OR
STILT PLOVERS (Himaiitopina!).

T]iese birds are remarkable for tlieir extreme length of leg, which exceeds the whole extent
of the body, and for their long slender bill. The Stilts and the Avocets {Recurvirostra) comprisp
the two genera which constitute the sub-family. In the last-named birds the bill is slender and
ui>-turned. Both genera ai-c world-wide in thvir distribution, occurring in all six regions of the

globe, though they do not
wander very far north. In
England the Avocet is a
very rare bird, though it is
still plentiful in some parts
of Holland, where it can find
suitable breeding-places. As
a rule, Avocets frequent the
pools in marshes or by the
margins of rivers, but some
species occur high up in the
mountains, as in the case of
the Avocet of the Andes.
The feet are webbed to such
an extent that early writers
])laced them among the swim-
ming birds, but as a matter
of fact they never swim,
unless forced to do so, though
the webbed feet are admir-
ably adapted for the pro-
7 Mm M E '■'^ gi-ession of the bird over the

- » « •€ ^ M{ -^ sUmy ooze and mud where

it seeks its food.

The Stilts have a
straight bill, but in other
respects they are not un-
like the Avocets, and, like
the latter, most of the
species have a black and
white plumage, though in
New Zealand a jet-black
" "^ Stilt occurs. They are more

AVOCET. sociable in their ways than

the Avocets, being sometimes
found in large flocks, which separate into pairs at the time of the breeding season. At the latter
season they frequent fresh or brackish water, but in the winter they are found in the \'icinity of
salt lakes. The Black-winged Stilt {Ilimantopus himantopus) has more than once occurred in
England. It is a very slender bird, measuring about fourteen inches in length, and the plumage
is black and white, the former changing in winter to an ashy blackish shade. The bill is black,
the legs pink or carmine-red, and the eye is beautiful carmine.

THE THIRD FAMILY OF THE WADING BIRDS, OR GRALL.E.
THE PLOVERS {C/wradyikhe).

These Wading-birds are similar in habits and ways to many of the Sandpipers, but are nuich
more stoutly built, and have, as a rule, not nearly such long bills. The latter rarely exceeds

iGs •:atvkal iiisroiiY.

the length of the head, and is stovit as well as hard in character, with a broad nasal groove. Tlit-
base of the bill is in many species soft, and forms a kind of cere, while the end of. the bill is
hard and swollen. The wings are pointed and the secondaries are long. The Plovers may be
snlxUvi"ded into three sub-families, the Turnstones, the Plovers, and the Oyster-catchers.

THE FIRST SUB-FAMILY uF THE rLOVER.S.— THE TUKXSTUXES [StriimUdbur).

The Turnstones are found everywhere, the common species {Strepsilas iaterpres) being met
with all over Europe, and visiting in winter Africa, and even Australia. In South America the
Black-headed Turnstone {S. nielanocephala) occurs, and the New World contains also two very curious
birds belonging to this sub-fiimily, each the sole representative of its genus Aphirza virgata and
I'hifianellus sociabilis. The former of these extends along the Pacific coast of South America,
down the continent of South America as far as the Strait of Magellan, while the Plnviandhis
is only known to inhabit the latter localit}'.

The Turnstone passes by Great Britain on its way to the north in the spring, but does not
breed there. In Norway it nests, however, as well as in high northern latitudes, and the eggs
were found near Discovery Bay, the wnter quai-ters of H.M.S. Discovenj during the recent Arctic
Expedition. In the autumn, on the return journey, they are much more plentiful, and may be
often seen in small bunches of four or live, sitting quietly on the muddy shore of a tidal river
or inland harbour. These companies are for the most part composed of yoimg birds, and aie not
very shy ; occasionally single specimens may be met with on some shingly shore, where their
colour serves to conceal them entirely, nor is it till the bii-d suddenly flies up that its presence
is detected.

THE SECOND SFB-FAMILY OF THE PLOVERS.— THE TRUE TLOVERS {Charadnma).

The Lapwings [VanaUw), the Sand Plovers {^i/ialitis), the Grey Plover (Squatarola), and
the Golden Plovers {Charadrius), are the best known members of the present sub-fiimily, which is
distinguished by not having a hind toe, or at most a very small one. The Lapwings have long
crests, which they elevate or depress at pleasure, and they are also remarkable for their enor-
mous rounded wings. These are the birds which lay the " Plovers' eggs,'"' so often used for the
table during the spring, and large numbers are still sent up to London, notwithstanding the
prohibition set upon this practice by Act of Parliament. The Lapwing, or " Pee- wit," as it is
generally called, is a familiar object in the early days of spring, when it may be seen flying roimd and
round over the fields or downs, uttering the musical cry so peculiar to the species, and tumbling over
and over in the aii- in the most CTiriotis fashion. The male bu-d is the most demonstrative, and while
the hen walks or stands upon the ground, the cock bird circles overhead, flapping his broad wings,
and suddenly dijijiing down in a headlong direction to where his mate is standing. The pair
will then take wing together, and perform extraordinary evolutions in the air, very often feigning
lameness, in order to draw away an intruder from the eggs. There is generally no nest, and
the eggs are not easily foiuid, being laid iipon the bare ground in the hollow of a cut or furrow.
If approached, the female will, on quitting the eggs, run along a furrow with her body close to the
ground for some distance before taking flight, so as to deceive the observer as to the real position of
the eggs. When the female is sitting, or the complement of the eggs is laid, she evinces great
afl'ection for them, and both parents wheel round and round uttering cries of distress. They are
also crepuscular in their habits, and may be seen still on the wing in the gloaming, while their
crv is often heard m the stillness of the summer night. In the autumn they frequent the
vicinity of the shore in large flocks, the majority of which are composed of young birds, and
they are also gregarious in the winter.

Perhaps one of the best accounts of the Plover's habits which can be found anywhere is that
published by Mr. Henry Seebohm, in Dr. Dresser's " Birds of Europe," after his return from the
expedition undertaken by himself and Mr. Harvie Brown, to the Great Petohora River in Northern
Russia. During this celebrated excursion the travellers discovered a number of eggs of the Grey
Plover (Squatarola helretica), a species by no means uncommon in England during the spring and
aiitiiiim migrations, but whose eggs were all but unknown. Altogether, the English travellers found

THE GREl r LI IV Eli. ID'J

eleven nests with eggs, iuwl also discovered the young in down. Tiie accompanying extracts from
Air. Seebohm's account will give a good notion of the Ijreeding habits of the Grey Plover :— " We
arrived at Alexievka," he writes, "on the evening of the 19th of June, and on the 22nd
crossed the river to the land of promise, the Aarka Ya of the Samoyedes, the Bolshia Semlia of
the Russians, the mysterious tundra (a sort of ornithological Cathay) of our little party. We
mustered seven idtogether, our two selves, our interpreter, Piottuch, and our crew of four, two
Russians, a Samoyede, and a half-breed. It was a Inight warm day ; the wind ha.l drojjped, and
it was too early in the season foi- mosquitoes to be troublesome, The tundra forms the east bank

of the Petchora ; and we had to climb up a steeji clitf (perhaps sixty feet high), a crumbling slope
of clay-earth, sand, gravel, turf, but no rock. We then looked over a gently-rolling prairie
country, stretching away to a flat plam, bej'ond which was a range of low, rounded hills, some
eight or ten miles oil". It was, in fact, a moor, with here and there a large flat bog, and every-
where abundance of lakes We had not walked more than a couple of miles inland

before we came upon a small party of Plovers. They were very wild, and we found it impossible
to get within shot : but a distant view through our binocular almost convinced us that we had
met with tlie Grey Plover at last. We had not walked very far before other Plovers rose ; and
we determined to commence a diligent search for the nest, and ofl'ere<l half a rouble to any of our men
who should find one. Our intei-jireter laughed at us, and marched away into the tundra with a ' C'est
impossible, monsieur ! ' We appealed to our Samoyede, who stroked his beardless chin, and
cautiously replied 'Mozhna,' The other men wandered aimlessly np and dowm, but the Samoyede
tramped the ground .systematically, and after more than an hour's search found a nest on one of the

170 SATVllAL lllSTORr.

dry tussocky ridges intei'secting the bog, coutaiuing four eggs about the size and shape of the Golden
Plover's, but more like those of the Lapwing in colour. The nest was a hollow, evidently scratched,
perfectly round, somewhat deep, and containing a handful of broken, slender twigs and reindeer-moss.
. . . Our seventh and eighth nests of the Grey Plover we took on the 9th of July. We set sail
at noon, with a north-east wind, to visit the tundra eight or ten versts higher up the great river.
For some distance before we landed the coast was veiy flat, with willows down to the water's edge.
Among these dwarf trees we repeatedly heard the Petchora Pipit {Anthus seebohmi), and the Siberian
C\\iSo\\AW {PhyUoscoims tristu). As soon as we got beyond the willows we landed on tlie tundra, and
started in pursuit of a large flock of Buflbn's Skuas, but were soon stopped by a pair of Grey
Plovers, which showed by their actions that we were near the nest. We lay down as before,
about forty or fifty yards apart, and watched the birds. They ran about, up and down, and all round
us ; and at the end of half an hour we were no wiser than at first. There was evidently something
wrong. Harvie Brown then shouted to me, ' Have you marked the nest 1 ' I replied by walking
up to him and comparing notes. We then watched for another half hour with exactly the same
result. I suggested that we must be so near the nest tliat the bird dare not come on, and advised that
we should retreat to the next ridge, which we accordingly did. We had not done so many minutes
before the female made her way on to the ridge where we had been lying. She then ran along the top
of the ridge, passed the place where we had been stationed, and came down the ridge on to the flat bog
towards where we then were. I whispered — ' She is actually crossing over to us ! ' Suddenly she
stopped, lifted her wings, and .settled down on the ground. . . . Harvie Brown lifted his gun to
his shoulder. She ran off the nest to the top of the ridge till he tumbled her over. We then walked
up to the nest, the first we had seen on the flat. The eggs were quite fresh, or nearly so ; and the
nest must have been made nearly a fortnight later than those we had previously taken. During that
time the bogs had become much dryer, so that we could cross them without much difliculty ; and this
would probably be the reason why this nest was placed lower down. The eggs had all the appear-
auce of a second laying, being less blotched than usual, one of them remarkably so. It is worth
noticing that whilst we were watching in our first position, very near the nest, the birds were nearly
(piite silent, and did not call to each other as they usually do.

" Our ninth nest of the Grey Plover we took on the 12th of July. A stiff warm gale from the
east, with occasional smart showers of rain, kept the air clear of mosquitoes in the morning. In the
afternoon the wind fell, and the mosquitoes were as bad as ever, but we were too busy to heed them
much. At eleven we crossed to the tundra. We soon came upon a pair of Grey Plovers, which rose
a couple of hundred yards ahead of us, theii' wings glittering in a gleam of sunshine after a smart
shower. These birds have frequently a very curious flight as they lise from the nest, tossing their
wings up in the air, reminding one somewhat of the actions of a Tumbler Pigeon. We lay^down, as
near the nest as we could tell, near the spot from which they rose, and were somewhat puzzled at
their behaviour. The male seemed as anxious as the female, if not more so, running about as much
as she did, continually crying, and often coming very near us, and trying to attract our attention
by pretending to be lame. The female rarely uttered a note. We suppose this must have been
because one of us was too near the nest. Harvie Brown moved his post of observation, after we had
spent some time without being able to discover anything ; and then the female behaved as usual, and
I soon marked the position of the nest. We walked straight up to it, and found the four eggs chipped
for hatching. We had no difficulty in shooting both birds, and afterwards hatched out two of the
eggs, obtaining a couple of good specimens of young in down. With a little practice this mode of
finding birds' nests becomes almost a certainty. One has first to be quite sure which is the male and
which the female. When the birds are near enough, and one can compare them together, the greater
blackness of the breast of the male is sufficient to distinguish him ; but we found that the females
vai-ied considerably in this respect, and that it was better to notice the habits of the birds. The
female usually comes first to the nest, but she comes less conspicuously. She generally makes her
appearance at a considiiaKlt- distance, on some ridge of mossy land. When she has looked round she
runs quickly to the inxt n.l-v, and looks round again, generally calling to the male with a single note.
The male seldom replies, l)\it when he does so it is generally with a double note. When the female
has stop(>ed and looked round nianv times, then the male thinks it worth while to move ; but more

Tin: (lYsrER-cATvin:!;, on sea riE. i7i

often tli;in not he joins the female by flying up to her. The female very seldom takes wing. She is
\ery cautious, and, if she is not satisfied that all is right, will pass and repass the nest several times
I'efore she finally settles upon it. She rarely remains upon the post of observation long, but the male
often remains for ten minutes or more upon one tussock of a ridge, watching the movements of the
female.

•• We walked some distance liefore we came n[>on a second pair ; but at length we heard the well-
known cry, and got into position. We spent nearly two hours over this nest, and were quite at sea
l)y the end of the time. We changed our position several times, but to no purpose. The female went
here, and there, and everywhere, as much as to say, 'I'm not going on to the nest as long as you are
near.' At last the mosquitoes fairly tiivd us out, and we gave up the watching game, and commenced
a search. We soon found out thf sec ivt of the bird's behaviour, when we picked up some broken egg-
.shells, and concluded at once that the binl luid young. We tried to find them, but in vain. These
two hours, however, Were not wasted. The birds came nearer to me than they had ever done before.
I often watched them at a distance of not more than ten yards, and was able to hear their notes more
distinctly. The note most frequently used is a single plaintive whistle, k'op, long drawn out, the o
pronounced as in German, and the consonants scarcely sounded. This, I am almost sure, is the alarm-
note. It is principally uttered by the female when she looks round and sees something that she dis-
approves of. If the male shows any anxiety about the nest, which he seems to do more and moie as
incubation progresses, he also utters the same note. The double note, kl-ee or kleep, the kl dwelt upon,
so as to give it the value of a separate syllable, is also uttered by both birds. It is evidently their
call-note. I have seen the female, when she has been running away from the male, turn sharp round
and look towards him when he has uttered this note, exactly as one might do who heard his
name called. WhUst we were watching this pair of birds a couple of other Grey Plovers came up,
and called as they flew past. The male answei'ed the call and flew towards them. On the wing this
whistle is lengthened out to three notes. I had some difficulty in catching this note exactly. It is not
so often littered as the two others I have mentioned, and is generally heard when you least expect it ;
but I am almost sure it is a combination of the alarm-note with the call-note kl-ee-k'6p. If I wanted to
make a free translation from Ploverski into English, I should say that kl-ee means ' Hallo ! old fellow ! '
and kOp means, ' Mind what you are about ! ' "

Mr. Seebohm's notes, of which the above are only a fraction, also give accounts of other Wading-
birds and Plovers which he met with during his adventurous joarne)', but they are too long to be
quoted here. The Asiatic Golden Plover {ClMradrim fulvm) is a bird which in appearance is a .slender
long-legged form of the common Golden Plover (C'haradriiis pluvialis). To the naturalist the Grey
and Golden Plovers are easily distinguishable, for on lifting the wing the black axUlary feathers of the
Grey Plover are very striking, these being white in the Golden Plover, and smoke-grey in the
Asiatic Golden Plover. The colour of the axillary feathers is a useful character in distinguishing
the young birds, as the Grey Plover in its first autumn plumage is spotted with golden, and might
easily be mistaken for a Golden Plover. The Sand Plovers {^Eyialitis), of which the common King
Dottrel {^^. hiaticula) of England is a type, have similar habits and food to tlie larger species spoken
of above, but they frequent more the beach and sandy shores of the sea, lakes, and rivers, laying four
eggs in a slight depression in the sand, and the young, when first hatched, run about, and on the
approach of danger squat down, when the assimilation of their colour to the surrounding shingle or
sand serves to conceal them admirably.

THE THIRD SUB-FAMILY OF THE PLOVERS.— THE OYSTER-CATCHERS (Hannntopodiua).
The Oyster-catcher, or Sea Pie, as it is often called, from its black and white coloration, is
often seen in England in considerable numbers on the shore, or in small parties of five or six together,
in the autumn. These latter generally consist of a family of birds, which have been hatched in the
more northern parts of England, and are now on their way southward. Single birds are by no means
difficult to obtain at that season of the year, as their whistle can be easily imitated, and thus the bird
can be attracted within range. In April the flocks disperse for the breeding-season, the Oyster-
catcher n&sting on the rocky shores near the sea, generally in unfrequented places. It is one of the
handsomest of the Waders, being of a black and white colour, with a red Ijill and purplish-red legs.

172 SATUKAL HISTORY.

0_yster-catcliers are foiuiil in nearly every i)art of the woilil,
South Aniericii, .South Africa, and Australia, there are thrt
colour.

1 in the southern parts, that is, in
species, which are totally black in

THE FOURTH FAMILY OF THE WADING BIRDS, OR ORALLY.

THE BUSTARDS (OlMitlm).

There is so much that is like a Gauie-bird in the Bustard, that it may well be considered to form

n link between the GaUiim and the Plovers. In the present family the general tone of the plumage is

sandy-coloured, vermiculated with blackish lines and cross-markings. The gape is very wide, the mouth

being cleft to beyond the region of the eye ; the toes short and thick. The bill is in every instance

,S^

'^•^

THICK-KNEE, Ull STONE C'JBLEW.

short, and the wing is short and convex, the central quills being shorter, and the secondaries
nearly equal in length to the primaries. The tail is always large, and there is no hind toe.
The most Plover-like of the family of Bustards are the Thick-knees, or Stone Curlews (CEddcnevms), and
the Coursers {Cursorius). The first of these genera occurs in nearly every pai-t of the globe, and the
members of it are remarkable for their more pointed and Plover-like wing, while they have the toes
united at the base with a web. The eye is also very large, and the tarsi are reticulated. They frequent
downs and large waste lands in England, indeed the English species {(Ediaiemtis crepitans) is often
called the Norfolk Plover, as it is in that county that it is still principally found. We have, however,
noticed a pair for several successive years on the Hampshire Downs. They inhabit desert places
generally, and are very shy, being strong of flight, whilst they also run with great speed. The Coursers
{Ciirsorms) differ fi-om the Thick-knees in ha\'ing the tar.si covered with transverse scales in front,
while they are altogether smaller bird.s. They frequent the deserts, and are not found in northern
parts of the globe, nor do they occur in the New World. From the similarity of colouring which
these birds exhibit to the sandy wastes they inhabit, they are with di6Bculty observed, and their shy
disposition makes them hard to obtain. This is more especially the case with the Cream-coloured

HMiikif'MlliMllifti\u\ii \'.i&^ <Qi^M,l Mmliil'ilh

<m i

J 74 yATUrxAL HISTORY.

Courser {Cursorius isabellimis), a species wliieh has occasionally wandered to England. Jerdon says
that the Indian species (C. cororiumdeliciis) is very abundant in the Deccan and Western Intlia. It
associates in small flocks, frequenting the barest plains and i)loughed lands, and is very abundant on
the parade ground at Jalna. It runs about rapidly, nodding its head occasionally when it stops, and
picks up various insects, chiefly Coleoptera and the larvfe of certain grasshoppers. Burgess states
correctly that it has the peculiar habit of running for a distance at speed, suddenly stopping, erecting
the body, and then starting up again. It breeds on a hollow in the ground, from March to May,
laying generally tlii'ee eggs of a pale greenish-yellow colour, much blotched and spotted with black, and
with a few dusky olive spots. It is rather a silent bird.*

The True Bustards are much larger birds than the Thick-knees, or Coursers, and liave no
basal web to the toes, the claws being stout, obtuse, an 1 very short. The males are larger than the
females. Tlie Great Bustard {Otis tarda) used to be found on the fen lands and plains in England,
but has been banished by the increase of drainage and the extension of civilisation. In many parts of
Europe, however, it is still plentiful. The following short sketch of this bird has been condensed from
Dr. Brehm's account of the species ; —

It is found in Germany, and also fi-equents the south and east of Europe. Africa, with its
flat deserts, gives it shelter, as well as Central Asia. The handsome, muscular form, and its many
characteristics, combine to make it a most interesting bird, and, perhaps, also tlie difiiculties
experienced in its capture make a knowledge of its economy still more desirable. On occasions when
it extends its finely-developed tail, and distends its neck, with its prominent moustache, it has a most
dignified appearance. The female is much smaller than the male, though specimens vary according to
age ; a full-grown male will measure 3ft. 6in. from the tip of the beak to the end of the tail, and 8ft.
from wing to wing. The pouch attached to the throat of the male is filled with air, allows the neck to
be distended, and is also asserted to be a medium of strength to his voice, when he puts special
pleading in his wooing. The jjlumage is varied ; yellowish on the upper parts, varied with wavy lines
of black, the under parts pale clay colour, the head and part of the breast ash-grey, the tips of the tail-
feathers and some of the wings white, and the pinion feathers lilack. The Bustard, to secure a resting-
place far from the haunts and attacks of men, disjilays immense intelligence; its caution and sagacity
are most extraordinary, and it is amusing to notice how it will take advantage, for future benefit,
of past exjieriences and escapes, and a lesson is never allowed to pass unheeded. Large, flat,
open plains are its favourite haunts, and in selecting such spots it shows its wisdom, as there the
approach of tlie hunter is easily detected, and even in Africa, where' they sometimes live among
high grass, they contrive to elude the enemy. One would sujipose that when the bird is asleep it
might be surprised ; not so, however, for two old wary sentinels keep guard, and are always on the
alert. The nestmg-places are also fixed in very remote spots. They have a powerful agent
in their splendid sight, and they are so clever that if they see anybody approach, who does not
seem to have any particular business, no matter how much disguised, they take fright, and ofi tliey
go. They may even have inhabited a chosen spot for some time, and yet, if they fancy tliat
there is a little change in the familiar look of the place, they shift their quarters at once. Their
sense of smell and hearing is less aciite, and thus they may be captured by some skilful tactics,
as, for instance, a covered pit, where the hunter is invisible, or a hut consti-ucted during the
last seed-time, into which the hunter introduces himself, and bags his prize as the Bustard walks
comfortably past. The movements of this species are very quick, and it walks immense distances.
Some assert that it experiences difficulty in preparing for flight, but this is not the case, for it
flies very rapidly in the air, and gets its impetus by a short run. One can easily imagine that
great finesse is required in their capture, firearms alone being of any use. We must now notice
the food, habits, and maternal instincts of this bird. The food consists of various insects, all
kinds of plants, seeds, fruits, <fec. Green food is a favourite diet in summer, and to some extent
in winter; but at this season it makes the rape-fields the scene of its operations, grazing in
them at intervals during the day, and flying off at evening time to roost quite two miles away.
It resembles the Goose in the manner of its grazing, and also in the way it cleans its feathers
with dust. It also improves digestion by means of small stones, kc, which it swallows in great
* " Birds of In<lia," Vol. II., p. 627.

TUB VOMMOX CltAXE. il^

nuniliei's. Its woouig gives it ivn opportunity to show fresh qualities. This important affaii' comes
otl' in tlie month of February, and at this time of year the Bustard feels very unsettled and
unsociable ; he quits liis companions, and puts on his best appearance for conquest. Not the least
part of the wooing is the combat that he often has with livals on the way, and the struggle between
these competitors for the fair one's regard is tierce and bitter. As they go struggling in the air they
look like some birds of prey. The victor, of course, is rewarded with his spouse, and off they go
together, to establish a home and found a family. The hen bird alone sees after all the business of
incubation, the male meanwhile guarding her, and remaining true to his love. In a small hollow
scraped in the ground two rather large eggs are deposited about the beginning of May; they are of a
j>ale greenish tint. If these eggs are touched by man they are quite forsaken, unless so nearly
hatched that the maternal instinct is aroused, and she completes the process. The chicks gather
strength after a few days, and at the third week change their down for feathers, and at the fourth are
ready to fly. Their food, supplied by the loving mother, consists of little insects, grasshoppers, &c.
Ants' eggs are esteemed a great delicacy. It is a pity that these little things are liable to the attacks of
Kites and Goshawks. The mother does her best to shield her precious ones, and often successfully, but,
alas ! when Eagles and Foxes catch sight of this tempting food, the mother's efforts ai-e too weak, and
many fall \'ictims. We have heard of a Bustard attaining the age of fifty yeai'S, and even more; so they
seem to know how to take cai'e of themselves. As to Bustards being tamed, it is possible. We read of
one being kept in a house at Khartoum, and enjoying the society of its owner. The adult Bustard,
when imprisoned, requires plenty of space to take his pleasure, and show himself off, but in the Zoo-
logical Gardens the male may occasionally be seen m. the spring time going through the most
extraordinary positions, unexcelled for a love-display by any of the game-birds. The pouch under
the tongue, which is supposed to add to the appearance of the bird by being inflated at will, is by no
means present in every specimen dissected, and its exact use and object do not yet seem to be clearly
defined.

THE FIFTH FAMILY OF THE GRALLiE, OR WADING BIRDf?.
.THE CRANES {Grmnce).

The Cnuies may be subdivided into three sub-families, the Kagus (Hhinochetince), the Sun Bitterns
(Eurypygimii), and the true Cranes {Gruinm). The Kagus are represented by the single species Rhino-
chetus jubattcs, of New Caledonia, the E^i,ri/jji/(/i)Ke also by a single species {Eurypyga helias) from South
America. Professor Sundevall places the singular Australian bird, Pedionomus torquatus, of Gould,
along with the Kagu in the first-named sub-family. Both the Kagu and the Sun Bittern may gene-
rally be seen living in the Zoological Gardens, and they go through, even in captivity, the extraoidinary
antics which seem to be characteristic of the Crane family throughout the globe. The true Cranes
{(rruiHa;) are found in almost every part of the woi-ld, with the exception of South America, and are
birds of stately form and gi-and demeanour, though their habits of bowing and dancing, which they
indulge in both in a state of nature and in captivity, tend to make them occasionally somewhat
ridiculou.s.

THE COMMON CRANE {Grus cinerca). ■
This is a rare visitor to England, though it has been stated to have bred in the fen-lands in
years gone by ; at the present day, however, it occurs only accidentally. In the continent of Europe
it is a regular summer visitor, breeding in marshy places in the more northern parts, and occurring
in the south on migration, when the flocks pass in the form of a triangle, or in a straight line.
In captivity the Crane not only becomes very tame, but displays great intelligence, as may be
imagined from the celebrated story related by Dr. Brehm in his " Bird Life," of a domesticated
Crane belonging to Von Seyffertitz, who gives a most interesting account of some young birds
which he had. A few extracts from this story are given to illustrate the sagacity which the
Crane disjilays : — " The extraordinary cleverness and trustful character of my young Cranes," writes
Von Seyftertitz, " have reached such a degree of cultivation, that they engage the attention and
awake the astonishment of all who see them. In a very short time tliey not only lost all fear
of man and domestic animals, but even sought the companionship of the former. They knew

176 NATURAL liJ.s/VJir.

exactly all the Louses iu the place where tlie iuhabitauts had once given them anything, and never
omitted to pjiy them a daily visit. Without the slightest timidity they entered the lower room*
of oxir house, often remaining there some time, and feeding out of the same dish with a very large
Pointer. I fed them three times a day, and they were thoroughly aware when this took place. They
arrived at tlie proper time, and announced themselves by screaming. If the time seemed too long
they marched into the kitchen and waited by the tire until theii- dinner was ready. They would
accompany me and others iu our walks, following us like dogs ; sometimes taking a flight they gam-
bolled about in the air, alighting occasionally, and then continued to accompany us. It was a pleasure
to have these charming creatures about us." One of them having perished by an accident, the sur-
vivor consoled himself by a greater activity of life. " As it was out of my power," continues the
narrator, " to replace the loss he had sustained by another of his own species, he helped himself He
chose a fresh companion, with whom he contracted a new friendship, which still exists. You will
hardly imagine the one he chose from among the many creatures surrounding him. It was none other
than a bull on oiu- estate. How, and from what reason, the friendship sprang up, I cannot exactly
make out, though it appeai-s to me that the bull's loud bass voice produced some especial effect. To be
brief, tlie two Ijecame fast friends ere spring time ; the Crane accompanies his horned favourite daily
to the pastures, and daily \isits him in the stable. He treats him always with the most marked
deference, and evidently considers him as his superior. In his stable he stands respectful and erect liy
his friend, as thougli obliged to await his orders, keeps the flies ofi' him, answers when he roars, and
takes every possible means to pacify his friend when em-aged. When the bull is among the cattle in
the yard he plays the part of adjutant, generally walking about two paces in his rear, often dancing
round him, bowing respectfully, and, in fact, behaving in so droll and comical a manner that no one
could look on without laughing. In the afternoon he follows the bull and the whole herd to the
meadows, a distance of more than two miles, and returns v/ith them in the evening. The bird gene-
rall}' follows some few paces in the rear of his friend, or else walks alongside of him, or suddenly pre-
cedes him an(.l runs on twenty yai'ds or more, and then, turning round, bows down before his august
companion until the latter has come up with him. These proceedings are carried on through the whole
village, to the intense amusement of the inhabitants, until the farmyard is reached, when, after
repeated bows and demon.strations of aflection, he takes leave of his respected companion." After
relating how the Crane i-eigned supreme in the poultry-yard, and even took the horses and foals in
hand and kept them in trim, the story continues : — " He keeps the cows and oxen in order, both in
the yard and in the fields, and assists to drive them backwards and forwards, and always separates
them if they take to butting one another. If they refuse to obey, he tries the efiect of his loud ringing
voice, which generally so alarms them that they speedily take to flight. In the fields he keeps the
herd together, and prevents their getting into mischief One evening he brought home, unaided, a
whole herd of heifers, and drove them into the stables. This bird has uiulertaken so many jobs that
he is employed the whole day long. Recently he returned to his other duties, after having assisted in
driving the village herd of cattle to the pasture. In passing through the hamlet he found some heifers
belonging to the herd which had remained behind, whereupon he in.stantly set about driving them down
to those in the meadows.. He drove them safely through the village, but frightened them so with his
screams and blows with the beak, that they ran away, and took the contrary direction to where the
rest of the herd had gone. He ran quickly after them to try and bring them back, but to no purpose.
The chase continued for over two miles, finishing in a field of corn belonging to the neighboxxring
village, where the cattle and their feathered herdsman were pounded : the latter, however, would not
allow himself to be caught, but retm-ned home, disconsolate at his want of success. ... To us he
behaves in a most polite and amiable mannei'. When hungry, he generally presents himself under my
mothei-'s window, as she is exceedingly fond of him, and feeds him several times during the day. Here
he calls ; if he is not heard he enters the house, calling louder and louder, till at last he takes refuge in
the kitchen, whei-e he seeks his friend and caterer, the cook, to whom he details his requirements. He
shows his pleasure at her appearance by utteruig the familiar cry, Coor, coor, coor, coot, and makes her
understand, by all manner of antics, how he wishes to be fed. If he wants bits of bread from the hand,
which is his principal food, he points to it with his beak ; should he, however, wish to be fed on the
floor, he lays a piece down there, and then she must throw all the rest there. This bird always shows

ITS KATUliAL HISTORY.

most obedience to my iiiothev and lier servant, uiul lie misses the latter immediately ske is absent, in
which case he seeks her with the greatest diligence, stealing into the house and under her window,
listening attentively for the sound of her voice or for her footstep, for he recognises the latter from
afar. While young, she was always obliged to carry him to his sleeping-place, owing to his great dis-
like to going there himself If the weatlier was bad he liked to be taken to bed early ; if, on the
contrary, it was fine, he would hide up in the evening at the approach of his keeper. Now he no longer
se«ks her assistance, but his friendship for her is still the same, and it is only when she allows
hiui to call in vain for his food, when hungry, that he shows his displeasure."

THE SIXTH FAMILY OP THE GKALL.E, OK WADIXG BIRDS.— THE TRU1IPETER8 {r^ophUdic).
This fj-mily of birds is entirely peculiar to South America ; and only six species are at present
known. They differ from the Cranes in having the bill much shorter than the head, the culmen
being arched, and curving downwards at the tip. The phimage is very thick and close, and the
wing is concave, fitting tight to the hody ; it is at the same time broad, the centre quills being
only a little shorter than the primaries and secondaries. The tarsus is scaled both in front and
behind. The Trumpeters inhabit the forests, frequenting the ground in search of grain and food.
Their presence is often betrayed by their loud call, which has gained them the name of
" Trumpeter."

CHAPTER IX.

THE HERONS-THE GEESE AND WILD FOWL-THE PELICANS— THE SEA-BIRDS.

THE Hi:i;iiXs rliaiaeter.s— The Trie Herons— The Common Herun— Mr. Haiting's Account of its Habits— Heronries
Iv'Ht- llmi-ariau Bretiling places— Feeding the Young -The SrnKKs— The Umbre, or Brown Stork— The Shoe-
l.ill.J Slink Tin- t'liaracteri.stic Bird of (_!entral Africa— The White Stork— Protection afforded them in Various
e'uuiitnes— the Adjutant -The Marabou— The Spookbills and Ibises— The Spoonbills— Their Peculiar Bill—
Habits— The Ibises -Species -Dr. Brehm's Remarks on the Sacred Ibis— The Flamingoes— THE GEESE AND
WILD FOWL- The Sckeamers— Wild Fowl- Characters— The Geese -Dwarf Geese— Cereopsis Goose— Spur-
winged Geese— Grey ur Wild Goose— Sea Gee.se -Brent Goose— The Swans -Tlie Wihl Swan— The Black Swan--
The Ducks- The Wild Duck— The Mallard— Scoters— Eiders— Mergan.sers— The Stifk-tailed Ducks— The
Diving Ducks— THE PELICANS— THE Frigate Birds- Habits— Visit to a Breeiling place— Domesticated— The
Tropic Birds- The Pelican.s— The Common Gannet— Visit to a Colony of Boobies— The Darter, or Snake-neck—
The Cormorants— A Colony of Cormorants— The Pelicans— Characters— Habits -Perching on Trees— Fishing— THE
SEA-BIRDS— Characters— The StissoiMULLs, or Skimmers— The Terns or Sea-Swallhw-s—" Wide-awake Faii-s''-
Wliite Nod.hes— The Tki e (Jills— Characters— The Black-backed Gulls— Herring (tuUs— Skuas— The Petrels—
Distribution— The Diving Petrel— The True Petrels— The Albatrosses- Capt. Hutton's Remarks on their Unrivalled
Powers of Flight.

THE SEVENTH ORDER OF BIRDS— THE HERONS (Herodiones).
In the order of Heron-like liirds the nostrils will be found to be small, placed rather high
in the mandible, the bill being at the same time very hard and hornj'. The bill is longer than
the head, and is united to the skull by firm, broad bones. The wings are always of large size.
As a rule, the Herons are big birds, and make their nests in trees, whither they bring food
to their young, who remain for some time in the nests, and are not able, like the majority of
Wading-birds, to provide for themselves when they are hatched. They are also co-sered with down
of a long, loose character, and they have large crests of down on the head when in the nest.

THE FIRST FAMILY' OF THE HERODIONES.— THE TRUE HERONS [Ardcida).
The true Herons may be distinguished by their large hind toe, which rests on the ground
like the others, and is furnished with a very big claw, or nail, which is equal in size to the claw
of the middle toe. The latter has a pectinated or comb-like edge on its inner margin. The wings
aj-e very large and the flight is slow. The lores and region of the eye are also bare.

THE COMMON HEROX {Ardca einerea).
Much might be written about the habits of this interesting bii-d, as many excellent accounts
of its Imljits have appeared in ornithological works, but nowhere, perhaps, has a better idea of

THE COMMOX HEROX. 179

tlie habits of the Heron been gwen than that by !Mr. Harting, iia his " Hints on Shore
Shooting."

" On most parts of the ooast the Heron may be seen at low water, fishing in the little pools
which have been left by the receding tide. Here he finds crabs, shrim])s, and other delicacies ;
but instead of being sociable, like the Gulls and Red.shanks, and inviting a friend to join him

V-

at dinner, he goes to his own particular pool, like an old gourmand to his club, and keeps the best
of evei-ytliing to himself

"We have watched him on the rocky weed-covered shore of Northumberland, on the shining sands
of Lancashii-e, and on the dreary mud-flats of the Sussex harbours, and have found him always
the same ; shy and suspiciou.s, even when seldom distui-bed he seems to have a wonderful eye to
danger, and we almost believe can distinguish a gun from a scick or an umbrella.

" Now and then, upon a rocky coast, we have stalked him inider cover of a friendly boulder, and
while oui- heart beat loud with rapid exertion and excitement, we have shot him just as he had
detected our head above the rock. And what a triumph we have felt in standing over his prostrate
form, and smoothing hLs expansive wings, feeling in that moment a sufficient reward for having

ISO .\AlVK.iL lilsIUliY.

ci-awled, on hands and knees, perhaps three hundred yards of treacherous gi-ound, slipping over sea-
weed, and through salt-water pools ! Bat it was never thus on the mud-flats ; there no friendly
barrier intervened to screen our approach, and we could advance only near enough to be just out of
shot, when the large wings were unfolded, and we were left to stand and gaze wistfully after the
coveted prize. Now and then, at early dawn, we have come suddenly upon a Heron while busily
employed under the steep bank of a brook, and have thus been enabled to knock him down with snipe-
shot before he could get out of range. It was hulicrous to observe the surprise of the bird when he
Srst became aware of our presence, and with a hoarse croak clumsily endeavoured to get away. On

one occasion iccompinied by \ led Settei we \\eip stdkuig i Heion when the dog, over anxious,
ran forwaid, and attiacted the attention of the bud, which immedntel} took wing. Instead of flying
away, howevei, he ho^eled o\ei the dog, looking down it him like a Hawk. We crouched down,
and gave a low whistle, and the dog, coming back, actually brought up tlie Heron within shot, when
we fired and killed him. The bird seemed to follow every movement of the dog, and was .so intently
eyeing liim, that he never saw us until the gun was raised. He then turned at once to make off, but
too late.

" On the coast the Heron feeds at low water during the day, and in unfrequented marshes he may
also be caught fishing in broad daylight ; but when compelled to get his living at reservoirs, ponds,
and rivers, which are oftener visited by his enemy, man, he prefers to come just before daybreak or
after dusk. In autumn, when the brooks run dry, we have frequently noticed the impressions of his
long toes, visible for miles on the soft mud, showing the great extent of gi-ound traverseil in liis patient
search for food. Fish, frogs, mussels, and even water-rats, are all included in the Heron's bill of fare.

ruh VO.V.VUX IInio^\ isi

He will take young water-fowl, too, from the nest, and after pinching them all over in his formichible
bill, and holding them under water till they have become well saturated, he throws up his head, opens
his mandibles, and the ' Poule d'eau souchee ' disappears.

" Some yeai-s ago we paid a \-isit, in the month of May, to a certain reservoir in Yurkshire, where
the Pochard (Aiuis /eruta) was knowni to have bred, our object being to ascertain whether this duck
was then nesting there, and to learn what other fowl were on the water. We might say a good deal
of that pleasant excursion, but must confine our attention for the present to the Heron. At one end
of the reservoir is, or was, a thick be 1 of willows, extending out .some dLstance from the .^hore. Th<-

^^>

NIGHT HERON.

water at this spot is shallow, with a muddy bottom. Coots and Moor-hens were numerous and noisy,
swimming about amongst the willows, and collecting materials for their nests. We lay upon the grass
at the edge of the water, peering quietly through the willows, and learnt a gi-eat deal of the private
life of these water-fowl. While we were gazing, a Heron, which must have flown unnoticed up the
water, dropped suddenly in the shallow, within twenty yards of our ambush. Here was an opportunity
for observation. Scarcely venturing to breathe, we watched with interest every motion of the great grey
bird. His long black crest and pendent breast-feathers showed liim to be fully a<li:lt, and we thought
at the time we had seldom seen a Heron in finer jjlumage. With head and neck erect, he took a cautious
glance all round, as if to satisfy himself that he was unobserved, and apparently assured, he then
looked down at the water. For some minutes he never altered his position, till at length, bending
slowly and gracefully forward, he suddenly struck the water with his bill, and recovered a small tish.
A pinch, a toss of the head, and it had disappeared down his throat. He then drew himself together
witli apparent satisfaction, wiped his bill upoii his long breast-plumes, and slightly altering his position,

182 NATUBAL HISTOJIY.

prepared, as an angler would say, to make another 'cast.' At this moment we incautiously moved a
little to one side to avoid a wOlow-bough, and obtain a better view, when his quick eye instantly
(ietected the movement, and in another second he was flying down the water in the dii-ection whence
he had come. There are few sights more gratifying to a naturalist than a heronry. We have had the
privilege of visiting three, one at Walton Hall, Yorkshire, the seat of the late Charles Waterton ; one
at Milton, near Peterborough, belonging to the Hon. George Fitzwilliam ; and one at Wanstead, the
property of Lord Cowley. Did space permit, we might give a detailed and interesting account of all
we saw on these occasions, but we can do no more than offer a few brief remarks on the general
appearance and situation of the heronry last named.

" The date of our visit was the 5th of April, aud the birds were then sitting on their eggs. The
Heron is one of the few Waders which resort to a tree for the purpose of niditication, and a stranger
sight than a number of these great birds can scarcely be imagined. Twenty years ago, the Hei'ons at
Waiistead Park tenanted some trees at a different spot to that which they now frequent. At present
they occupy some tall elms upon an island in the largest piece of water in the park. The keeper
informed us that there were about thirty paii-s. We proceeded to the boat-house, and after bailing
out the boat, which was nearly full of water, steered for the Heron's island. A good glass enabled us
to see the birds very clearly, and most of them were in splendid plumage. The nests were placed at
the very top of the trees, and many of them were occupied by a sitting bird.

" Here and there a Heron stood erect upon a bough, with head and neck drawn in, looking for all
the world like a cold sentinel, with his bayonet between his teeth, and his hands in his trousers
pockets. As we approached the island, several loud croaks were heard, and the sentinels took wing,
the sitting birds being the last to leave. Taking it for granted that the bird which sat the longest
was the most likely to have eggs, we selected a tree from which a Heron flew as we reached it. It
was a wych elm, about forty feet high, and the nest was placed amongst the topmost branches. After
a fatiguing climb, owing to the absence of boughs for a considerable distance, we reached the top, and
paused to rest before looking into the nest. And now was the anxious moment. Were our exertions
in vain ? Was the nest empty, or were we to be rewarded with the sight of eggs ■? The nest was
large enough to .sit in, composed externally of large twig.s, chiefly elm and willow, and lined with
smaller twigs, fibre, and dry gi-ass. It overhung our head to some extent, so that -.I'e were obliged to
pull away a portion of -the side befoi-e we could see into it, when, to our delight, foiu' beautiful eggs
were displayed, their bright bluish-green colour contrasting well with the dark fibre on which they
were laid.

" The wind blew in gusts, and it was no easy matter to^get them down safely ; but at length we
succeeded in getting them into our handkerchief, and holding the ends together in our mouth, brought
them down without a crack. They were considerably incubated, showing that they had jirobably been
laid about the end of the third week in March. The Heron, indeed, is one of the earliest birds to
breed. The young, when first hatched, present a very remarkable appearance, and are fed by their
parents for a long time before they can shift for themselves.

" A friend once kept a Heron on his lawn, and a very amusing bird he was. When first captured
he was very sulky and refused all food. Fearing he would starve, the owner forced some fish down
the bird's throat, but the next moment saw it returned upon the grass. The process was repeated, with
the same result, and a third time my friend endeavoured ineff'ectually to overcome the obstinacy of
his captive. At length, reflecting how the Chinese treat their tame Comorants, by fastening a strap
round the neck to prevent the fish from going down, he tied a piece of tape round the Heron's throat,
to prevent the fish, in this case, from coming up. The experiment was perfectly successful, and the
bird, finding it impossible to disgorge, at length abandoned the attempt, and subsequently fed himself.
Fish were placed for him in a fountain on the lawn, and he evinced great delight in taking them from
the water. One day a rat was observed helping himself to the Heron's food. The rightful owner
caught him in the act, and with one blow of his formidable bill felled him to the ground. Seizing him,
then, before he could recover, he earned him squeaking to the fountain, and ducked him. After shaking
him well under water, he held him up for examination. The rat spluttered and squeaked in abject
terror, and again was he submerged. The dose was repeated, until the unfortunate rat at length
succumbed, and being by this time nice and tender, the Heron pouched him, and his thin, elongated

THE milET. 183

form was seen distending the tliiu skin of the Ijird's neck in its passage downwards, until it tinally
tlisapi>eared for ever."

The writer remembers, as a boy, paying a visit to Lord Fitzwilliam's heroniy, at Milton, near
Peterborough, one of the breeding-places mentioned by, Mr. Harting in the foregoing account. On
many of tlie nests, which were placed at the top of some high trees, two birds were sitting side by side,
silent and unmoved as statues, save for the rocking which tlie gale of wind gave them. It was blowing
hard at the time, and many neaily full-grown young birds were on the ground walking about, whilst

not a few were entangled in their fall among the branches, and were liberated by us youngsters, not
without fear of an attack from the old birds, who ci-oaked most ominously above our heads.

The general colour of the Heron is grey above, white underneath, the breast black, with a white
patch in front. The throat and fore-neck are white streaked with black. On the head is a beautiful
pendent crest of black plumes. The forehead is white.

Among the other species of the genus A rdea are the Egrets, most of which have snow}--white
plumage, with beautiful long crests and feathery plumes on the back during the breeding-season.
More tiian one species ha.s occurred in England, but they are much more plentiful in certain parts of
the continent.

In Hungary large numbers of Herons and Egrets breed together in the marshes, Egrets and
Night Herons (Xi/cticorax griseus) herding together witli Common and Purple Herons. Landbeck

1S4 NATVUAL HIHTORY.

writes : — " The clamoui- in these breeding-phices is so. tremendous and singular in its character as
almost to defy description ; it must be heard before a person can form any idea of what it is like.
At a distance these liideous noises blend into a confused roar, so as in some way to resemble the
hubbub caused by a party of drunken Hungarian peasants ; and it is only on a nearer approach that
the separate notes of the two species, the Common and the Night Heron, can be easily distinguished,
namely, craik and qiutck, to which the notes of the young, zek-zek-zek. or gek-yek-yek, &c., hx diiferent
keys, serve as an accompaniment. When close to, the noise is tremendous, and the stench un-
bearable. This, together with the sight of dozens of young Herons in every stage of putrefaction
and teeming with maggots, is perfectly sickening, though the contemplation of life and movement
in this immense heronry is a matter of interest to the true ornithologist."

The tops of the highest trees are usually occupied by the nests of the Common Heron ; a little
lower down is the habitation of the shy and beautiful Great Egret {Egreita alba) ; whUe among the
forks of the lowest branphes the Night Heron takes up her abode. All these species build in one
and the same tree, the nests numbering not unfrequently as many as fifteen in a single tree, and j^et
peace invariably reigns between all these varieties. High over the trees appears the Common Heron,
laden with booty, announcing his arrival with a hoarse craaich, when, changing his note to a goose-
like da-da-da-da, he either jerks the provender down the throats of his ever-hungry youngsters,
or throws it up before them, when the iish are greedily swallowed amid a desperate accompaniment
of gohe-e-e-e, (johe-e-e-e, a sound nuicli reseinblini;- the frantic cry of a calf which is being lifted into
a farmer's market-cart. The conduct of the more cautious Egret is very diiferent. Circling far above
the nest, she first satisfies herself that no foe is hidden below before she alights amongst her family,
which are much quieter and less hasty than their cousins. The Night Herons, on the contrai-y,
approach their ne.sts from all sides, high and low, their crops filled with frogs, fish, and insects. A
deep qudk or gowek announces the arrival of the old bird already from some distance, to which the
young answer while feeding with a note resembling queht, queht, or quehaoAlieh, quehoehah. As soon
as the parents have taken their departure the youngsters recommence their concert, and from every
nest uninterrupted cries of tzik-tzik-tzik, tzek-tzek-txek, tzge-tzgi-tzgi, and gitUjett-giU, are the order
of the day. This amusement is varied by the nestlings climbing out among the branches till they
reach the top of the tree, whence they can have a good look-out, and can see the old bii-ds returning
home from a long distance, though they are in many cases often mistaken as to their identity.

THE SECOND FAMILY OF THE HERODIONES.— THE STORKS (Cicomiihe).

These bii-ds may be divided into two sub-families, the Umbres (Scopiiue) and the true Storks
(Ciconihue). The first of these sub-families contains only two genera peculiar to Africa, each
possessing a single species as its representative. The Umbre, or Brown Stork, is a bird of moderate
size, with a totally brown plumage and a well-developed crest. Mr. Layard writes of it : — " The
Hammer-kop (literally Hammer-head) is found throughout the Cape Colony, and all the way up
to the Zambesi, frequenting ponds, marshes, rivers, and lakes. It is a strange weird bird, flitting
about with great activity in the dusk of the evening, and preying upon frogs, small fish, &c. At
time.s, when two or three are feeding in the same small pool, they will execute a singular dance,
skipping round one another, opening and closing their wings, and performing strange antics. They
breed on trees and rocky ledges, forming a huge stiiicture of sticks, some of them of considerable
thickness. These nests are so" solid that they will bear the weight of a large, heavy man on the
domed roof without collapsing. The entrance is a small hole, generally placed in the most inaccessible
side." Ml-. Layard also states that the bird embellishes his singular nest with brass and bone
buttons, bits of crockery, bleached bones, or anything bright and glittering which it may pick up.
One nest which he saw was thi-ee yards long, and one yard and a half across.

The Balceniceps rex, or Shoe-billed Stork, is less widely distributed than the Brown Stork in
Africa, being only found in. the waters of the Ujaper Nile, where he is very seldom met with, however.
It is one of the largest birds known, and is unequalled among birds for its curious appearance. As
to the distmctive birds of Central Africa. Dr. Brehm writes : — " A creature which resembles a very
marvel of fairy-land — I mean Balceniceps rex, the Boot-bill, or Shoe-bill, as the Arab tribes of East
Soudan call it — holds the first place among the characteristic bu-ds of Africa ; there is, in fact, only

" m

SHOE-BILLKD STORK.

iM, y.mitAL jjj.sjujii:

one otlier species in Africa which is as remarkable as this — the Ostricli. It would indeed suffice if
we were to take these two birds as types of Africa. One of them, the ' new won<ler of the desert,
the camel of birds, a bird which flies on its legs and steers with its wings, a winged Girafi'e, which
aftbrds the Arabs matter for a thousand fables ; ' the other, ' the wondrous guardian of the holy
stream which shrouds its source in secrecy,' in its origin a mystery, in itself a riddle. The sacred
Ibis, no less a servant of the ancient god, added its long-established renown to the sacred .stream.
Legend has given the Boot-bill its celebrated name, a name as remarkable as the bird itself, while
it has eai-ned from the atmosphere of fable with which it is surrounded, owing to its fantastic form,
' the whale-head ' and ' king ! ' — and verily with him the innermost and obscurest realm of the
world is revealed." *

The true Storks have not the hooked bills which distinguish the foregoing birds; they
contain the Adjutants, the Open-bills (Anantomus), and the Wood Ibises {Tantalus). The White
Stork (Ciconia alba) is a summer visitor to Europe, and is seldom found in England. In many parts
of the continent, however, he is by no means uncommon, and wherever they occur they are protected
by the peasants on whose houses they build, and the nests are regarded in many places as a protection
from fire. The migration occurs during January and February, when the Stork arrives in his
winter quarters in South Afx-ica, passing by the Strait of Gibraltar in vast numbers, some of them,
according to Colonel Irby, remaining to breed in Morocco. These are the first to depart south.
During the autumn migration a great many stop to rest on their southward journey, and are seen
in considerable numbers, being very tame, and often following close behind the plough. M. Eavier
states that the Moors believe that it oifends God to kill these birds, in the same way as they believe
that it pleases or soothes the evil one to kill the Raven. The White Storks, in common with Swallows,
are supposed to be inspired by Allah to protect the harvest and the country from noxious insects
and reptiles, and the birds themselves (knowing the benefits they confer on man) ask in return
protection for their ofispring by building their nests on the walls of towns and houses. Another
Arab legend is that the Storks originate from a wicked Kadi and his family, who, as a punishment
for their great cruelty, were all changed into these birds, and that these iniserables humble themselves
to appease Allah, and in the hope of some day regaining their original human form, pray without
ceasing day and night, and, whenever they rest, prostrate themselves and clack their bills.

Colonel Irby says : — " On the African side of the Strait of Gibraltar, in many situations, the
Storks breed on trees, generally in colonies, as well as on houses, but usually near villages, and almost
every Moorish hovel has its Stork's nest on the top, a pile of sticks lined with grass and palmetto-
fibre. It usually contains four white eggs, which are very rarely marked with pink blotches ; these
are sometimes laid as early as the 25th of March, and are very good eating, either hot or cold. . .
I may here remark that Storks usually migrate in large flocks at a gi-eat height, with a gyrating
flight. The earliest date of their arrival that I noticed near Gibraltar was on the 11th of January ;
and they nearly all leave by the end of September. Feeding on insects of all kinds — mice, snakes, and
other reptiles — they are most useful birds, and certainly deserve the protection and encouragement
which they r-eceive in Morocco, where they are in consequence excessively tame. Then- grotesque
actions when resting, and their habit of continually clacking their bills together, making a noise like
a rattle, render them very amusing to watch. I was informed by a Frenchman who had passed two
years iai the city of Morocco, that there, as well as at Fez, and some other large towns in the Moorish
Empire, there is a regular Storks' hospital, and that should one be in any way injured, or fall from the
nest, it is sent to this institution, or rather, enclosure, which is kept up by subscrijition from wealthy
Moors, who consider the Stork a sacred bird."t

Of the Adjutant {Leptoplilus argala) an excellent account is given by Dr. Jerdon in his
" Birds of India": — "The pouch is sometimes sixteen inches and more in length. It has no connection
with the gullet, but is probably connected with the respiratory system of the bird ; and as Mr. Blyth
suggested, is probably analogous to the air-cell attached to one lung only of the Python or Boa, and,
as in that case, no doubt supplies oxygen to the lungs during protracted acts of deglutition. It appears
to increase in size with the age of the bird.

" The Adjutant is found throughout the greater part of India, is rare in the South, but extremely
* " Bird Life," p. 192. f " Birds of Gibraltar," p. 189.

nil: .iji.nr.

common in part of Northern Intlia, anil more espeeially in J!en,i;al ami North-eastern India. I never
saw it in tlie Carnatic, nor in ^Malabar ; it is occasionally met with in Mysore, and is uot rare in
Hyderabad, thence becoming more common and abundant northwards. It spreads tlirough Burmah.
to the Malayan peninsula. It is oiily a temporaiy resident in India, coming in towards the close of
the hot weather in April or May, and remaining till October. A \ery few barren or unpaired birds
remain occasionally in parts of the country. In Calcutta, and some other large towns, the Adjutant
is a familiar bird, unscared by the near approach of man or dog, ami protected in some cases by law.
It is an etKcient scavenger, attending the neighbourhood of slaughter-houses, and especially thu
l)urning grounds of the Hindoos, where the
often half-burnt carcases are thrown nito
the rivers. It also diligently looks over the
heaps of refuse and otfal thrown out in the
streets to await the arrival of the scavengers'
carts, where it may be seen in company ^v ith
dogs,Jiites, and crows. It likes to vaiy its
food, however, and may often be seen search-
ing ditches, pools of water, and taiiks for
frogs and fish. In the Deccan it soars to an
immense height in the air along with Vul-
tures, ready to descend on any carcass th.it
may be discovered. After it has satisfied the
cravings of its apj^tite, the Adjutant reposes
during the heat of the day, sometimes on the
tops of houses, and now and then on tree*.,
and frequently on the ground, resting often
on the whole leg (tarsus). The Adjutant
occasionally^ may seize a crow or a myna, oi
even, as related, a small cat; but these aie
rare bits for it, and indeed it has uot the
opportunity' in general of indulging its ta.ste
for living birds, notwithstanding Cu\ier's
statement, ' that its large beak enables it
to capture birds on the wing.' " Dr. Jerdon

then mentions a description published in 1861 of an Adjutant swallowing a crow, the author of
which account stated that he " saw it pass into the sienna-toned pouch of the gaunt avenger.
He who writes saw it done." Again, wrote this same observer, " The Adjutant's cry very much
resembles water flowing from a narrow-necked bottle, and he invariably utters it when about to
swallow a piece of oflal." " These utterly unfounded statements " called up Mr. Blyth in the " Ibis,"
Vol. iii., p. 268, who showed tliat both the passing of the crow into the pouch, and the call of the
Adjutant, were simply impossible, in consequence of structural peculiarities. The Adjutant breeds in
trees, on rocky cliffs, occasionally, it is said, in lofty trees away from hills. The neighbourhood of
Moiilmein is one of the best-known localities. The nests were found by Colonel Tickell on trees near
the summit of some of the remarkable limestone rocky hills near that place. Captain Sparks had pre-
viously found the nest in the same locality ; and Mr. Frith found them breeding in the south-east part
of the Sunderbunds. The Adjutant lays two white eggs, and the young are covered with white down.«

"The feathers, known as marabou, or C'omercolly feathers, and sold in Calcutta, are the under tail-
coverts of this and another species [the Marabou Stork]. There is a popular superstition that if you
split the head of this bird before death, you will extract from it the celebrated stone called Zahir
mora, or poison killer, of great virtue and repute as an antidote to all kinds of poison."

I'HITE STOKK

THE THIRD FAMILY OF THE HERODIONES.— THE SPOONBILLS AND IBISES {riatahid,e).
Although in outward appearance, at least, as fiir as their bills are concerned, the two groups of
the Spoonliills and Ibises appear so different, yet they are closely allied on anatomical gi-oinids, and

KATLliAL ni.^Ttili.

are to be considered as forming one family only. Tbey may, liowever, be divided into two sub-families,
as follows : —

THE FIRST 8UB-FAMILY OF THE PLATALEID.E.— THE SPOONBILLS {Flntahime).
The extraordinary bill separates these birds from all their near allies. It is long and flat,,
widening out at the tip in a spoon-shaped apex,

the birds derive their name. Only half;

SPOONBILL.

dozen species of Spoonbills are known to science, but the genus occurs in every quarter of the globe,
excepting in the northern parts. Thus, it is not found in the north of Europe, and only in the southern
states of North America. The Spoonliill comes to England now only as a straggling visitor, but was
formerly more plentiful. It li.is. .I.iul.tlcss, retired on the draining of the fens, which rendered it difl-'i-
ctiltto find sufficiently suitable l.ivr.lii.g places. In Holland it still nests, though even there it is
becoming rarer, as the lakes become drauied. In certain places it is known to breed in lofty trees,
but in Holland it nests on the ground among reed-beds, and an interesting account is given by Dr.
S;later'and Mr. Forbes of a visit paid by them to a large mere called the " Horster Meer," between
TJtrecht and Amsterdam. The lake is farmed out at a considerable rent for the sake of the fish, reeds,

iiiE ID IS. isa

Mini eggs oljtaiiied there, and the iiosts of the Cormnrants and Spnonhills are robbed systematically
twice a week during the months of May and June. After that time they are iei't to hatch out tlieir
eggs. Several thousand nests of the Spoonljill were said to be in difterent parts of the mere at the
time of the visit of the above-named gentlemen, and all those that they e.xamined were simply flattened
surfaces of broken reed, not elevateil more than two or three inches abo\'e the level of the swatui
I'iie eggs arc white with a few pink or browu sjjots.

THE SECOND SUB-FAMILY OF THE PLATALEID.E.— THE IBISES {Ibidinee).
As before mentioned the Ibises, thotigh closely related to the flat-beaked Spoonbills, differ greatly
from them in the form of the bill, which is curved like that of a Curlew. They are, moreover, more

M

numerous than the members of the preceding sub-family, about thirty species being known. These
are found everywhere, excepting in the extreme north, some kinds being i-esident, whilst others are
migratory. Some of the Ibises are very picturesque in colour, and the Scarlet Ibis (/6w rubra) of
South America is really a beautiful bird. The Glossy Ibis {FalcineUus igneus), which has occurred
on rare occasions in Afi'ica, is one of the most cosmopolitan of birds, being foixnd in the greater part of
the Old World and the New. The most interesting species, however, of this genus is, no doubt, the
Sacred Ibis {Ibis religiosa), which is so well known to us as the bird worshipped by the ancient
Egyptians, and so often figui-ed on their monuments. It was to them the harbinger of
the spring, and heralded the approach of the fruitful season. Brehin writes : — " Birds are
perfectly aware that they can implicitly trust the Arab. No young scamj) ever thinks of
robbing their nest ; no sportsman is lying in wait near their bower to kill the newly-fledged
youngsters. In the eyes of tlie Arab, the naturalist, even, who only destroys an occasional pair

J90 NATURAL BISTOEX.

of biixls, or takes an egg or two for the pui-poses of science, is not heJil to be excused. Thev
liave often called down the curse of heaven upon my head for so doing ; and, indeed, my brown
servants used to tremble for me,' as they said that the cui'se was bound to take etVect. I never
abused them in return, for I could not but admire the feelings which inspired them on those
occasions, sentiments so noble, and so deeply founde<l, that I have always dreaded the curse,
despite of myself

" In former days it may possibly have been thus in all countries. In those days all birds
were loved and cherished by man, some being, indeed, regarded by him as sacred. He saw con-
nected with their appearance and departure those various phenomena of nature which took place
the year round, and whose changes, ifec, they did not then understand : he regarded the arrival
of the migratory visitors with holy awe, as though the Deity Himself had appeared. In this
manner the Egyptians held the Ibis to be sacred. When the Nile, after being at its lowe.st ebb,
rose again, and the water assumed a red tinge, then the Iljis appeared in the land of the
Pharaohs as sure guarantee that the stream — the giver and preserver of life, which the people
in their profound reverence raised to the rank of a god — would once again empty the well-spring
of plenty over the thir.sty land. The servant and messenger of this all-bounteous Deity com-
manded of necessity a reverence of a poetic and distinguished character, by reason of its
importance : he, too, must also be a god ! How beautiful, intelligent, and simple was this messenger !
Tlie Ibis is one of the most amiable and winning birds I have ever met with. It associates of
its own accord so much with man that the trouble of taming the bird is but slight, and
takes ])lace almost witliout any advances on the part of the former. This the ancient Egyptians
were fully aware of, for we find that they read the great book of natm-e with intelligence
and care, and it is owing to this that they deified the liird. On this account its remains
were preserved by their priests from decay, and kept for thousands of years, until the .spirit,
suffered by permission of an All-wise God to wander in space, should return to its earthly tenement.
Like the human body, that of the bird was embalmed in the same spices in which the mortal
remains of kings had been preserved from the ravages of time ; and like them, over the sarcophagus
a heap of stones was raised as a monument to the bird. One of the pyramids at Sakkara is dedicated
to the Ibis.

'■ Now, the Ibis is no longer venerated ; the sacred bii-d has suitk to the rank of an ordinary
mortal. Isis and Osiris have been supplanted by the Crescent and the Cross ; and with the ancient
gods vanished Thot, theii- celestial messenger. He no longer appears in Egypt to a;inoiaice to the
people the rising of the sacred waters ; they believe no longer in his mission. He lives retired
far up the mighty stream, ' who hides his source,' as though he felt called upon to watch the veil
behind which the origin of the ancient god lies hidden to this day. He lives, however, a thousand
times over in the splendid remains of a mighty past. His form stands out clearly among the
hieroglyphics of the sacred writings, and thousands of years hence the poi-jihyi-y will bear his image,
so long confided to its care." What Dr. Brehm says about the Sacred Ibis not now occurring in
Egj-pt is quite trae, as it is only a rare and occasional straggler to that country, though it is
plentiful in other parts of Africa.

THE FOrETH FAMILY OF THE HEEODIOXE.S.-THE FLAMIXGOES {Fha-mcopfendie).

These curious birds are often placed with the Anatidce, or Ducks, with which their intei-nai
anatomy allies them, but in their osteology they are intermediate between the Ameres and the
Storks and Herons, to which they also show an approach in their extremely long legs. The neck
of the Flamingo is very long, and the bill is quite peculiar.

About eight species of Flamingo are known to science, ami they are found in most of the
temperate and tropical portions of both the Old and New Worlds, but do not occur in the Australian
region, nor in the northern parts of either hemisphere. One species {P. andinus) is only known
to inhabit the Chilian Andes, and appears to be a mountain species. Many of the others have
tolerably wide ranges, and all appear to frequent the same kind of haunts, affecting marshes
and shallow lakes. The European Flamingo {Phmmcoptenis antiquorum) is a migrant to Southern
Europe, arriving as early as February, thougli the principal flights take place in Ajiril, May, and

tHK l-LA.\nM,t). I'Jl

June, ami the teiuiiles come liefore the males. The return migi-atiou occurs iii the late iuitvuiiii,
As a rule they prefer brackish lagoons and salt-water lakes in the vicinity of the sea-coast, and
seldom frequent fresh-water lakes. In deej) water they swim, their toes being webbed like those of
a duck, but ordinarily they wade out in the water to a snitaljle depth, and then bend down their
long necks to rake the bottom for food. The upper mandible is plunged downwards into the mud,
and the tongue is busily oocupied during the progress of feeding rejecting what is not good for food,
the refuse being drained through the sieve-like apparatus on the bird's bill. The breeding habits
of the Flamingo are curious, and are described by Mr. Howard Saunders in his paper on the " Birds
of Southern Spain " as follows : — •' The Flamingo always makes its nest in the flattest part of the

FLAMINGO.

marsh, in places where there is from three to four inches of water. The nest, which rises to about
half a yard above the surface of the water, is made of mud, like that of a Swallow. Its shape is
almost cylincb-ical, but somewhat wider at the base. There is a slight concavity for the eggs, oval
in shape, like that of the iu.side of a hat. When the bird is sitting she has her legs stretched out
behind, hanging in the air (that is to say, unsupported) like the arms of a man when he puts them
behind his back and throws his shoulders forward. The complement of eggs is five, and the birds,
when once frightened from their nests, do not return. To raise itself, the bird ' scrambles ' with its
feet on the side of the nest till it lifts its body clear, and then takes wing."

THE EIGHTH ORDEE OF BIRDS.— THE GEESE AND WILD FOWL {Anseres).
The present order is a large one, and though nominally called the Geese, from the fact of the
genus A user giving its name to the order, it contains by far the larger number of web footed birds, all
the Ducks, Geese, and Swans being included within its limits. The order Ameres contains two
families, the Palamedeicki', or Screamers, and the Atifitiche, or Ducks.

192 h'AlURAL Ul^iUHY.

THE FIRST FAMILY OF THE ANSERES.— THE SCREAMERS {Palamedeidie).
These singular birds are natives of South America, and are only three in number, the Homed
Screamer {Palamedea cornuta), from Guiana ; the Crested Screamer (C'hauna chavaria), from Southern
Brazil and Paraguay ; and the Derbian Screamer {C'hauna derbiana), from Colombia. They have a
horn on the forehead, and very powerful spurs on the wmgs, and these are of great assistance to the
birds in defending themselves and their young from the attacks of birds of prey. As a rule, however,
theii- habits are gentle and shy, but they fly with great power, owing to their broad and powerful
wings. The Crested Screamer is said to be domesticated by the natives, and goes about with the
poultry, being, from its large bulk and foi-midable wings, a very able defender of the latter birds.

THE SECOND FAMILY OF THE ANSERES.— THE WILD FOWL {Anatida:).
In thLs group, containing the Ducks, Geese, and Swans, the feet are very short, and the tarsus is
always strongly reticulated in front ; the bill is almost straight or, at the most, gently curved, and the
tip is convex and rounded at the extremity, in many of the species forming a conspicuous knob, like a
finger-nail. The hind-toe, which is present in all, is small, and does not touch the ground. The sides
of the face also generally present an angular appearance, having a triangular patch of feathers placed
between two bare spaces. The family may be further divided into groups, the Geese, the Swans,
the true Ducks, the Scoters and Eider-Ducks, the Mergansers, and the Diving Ducks.

^'W-^-^

THE GEESE. 193

111 the first gi'oup, tiie Geese, the hiud-toe is simple, and tlie bill is deep, with a very conspicuous
" nail " at the end. Many of the Geese are very reuiarkahle in form, especially the Dwarf Geese
[N'ettapus), which do not exceed a foot in length, and are found in Africa, India, and Australia.
Another curious bird is the Cereopsis Goose {t'ereopsis iwvce hollanduc) of Australia, which used to
lie plentiful in the islands of Bass's Strait, but is fast becoming rarer, owing to its unwillingness to
tiy. The earlier voyagers recount their having killed numbers of these birds with sticks, and the
flight of the Cereopsis Goose is described as being remarkably heavy, and performed with difficulty.
Its nearest ally, the extinct Goose of New Zealand {Cnemioi~nis), appears to have been altogether
incapable of flight. In captivity the disposition of the male bird is most pugnacious, and it is

OB WOOD DVCK.

necessary to keep them apart from other buds, as they will attack and kill any bird within their reach,
even species as large as Cranes. In their fighting propensities they resemble the Spur- winged Geese
(Phctroptems) of Africa, which have a warty excrescence on the face when adult, and powerful spurs
on the wings. Tlie majority of the Geese, however, remain in the genera Anser and Brenthus. Of
the former genus several species visit England, passing to the extreme north to breed. From the
Grey or Wild Goose {Anser anser, Linnieus) the Domestic Goose is supposed to be descended. The
Sea Geese (Brenthus) are smaller birds and of more compact build, as well as rather more variegated
plumage, the Red-breasted Goose {B. rnficollis) being a really handsome bird. The Sea Geese resort to
the most northern regions to breed, and the Brent Goose {Brenthus bernicla) was found by Captain
Feilden nesting on the shores of the Polar basin. It is also the most common species in England in
winter, occurring in large numbers on some of the tidal harbours and estuai-ies. Several species of
Brent Geese occur in South America, and are very handsome liivils, the males and females differing
conspicuously in plumage.

lyi SATLJIAL HISluMl.

In the second grouj) ot the Wiklfowl are the Swans {Ci/</nag), remarkable for their extremely-
long necks, which exceed the length of the whole bofiy. Their short legs, which are placed rather far
backwards, render the Swan's movements on land awkward and ungainly, but in the water theii-
motions are graceful in the extreme. Their food consists of vegetable substances and weed; which
they search for under the water, their long necks enabling them to dip down below the surface and to
reach their food at considerable depths. In most of the Swans the windpipe enters the bony portion
of the sternum, and performs several evolutions before passing to the thorax. The Whooper, or Wild
Swan, visits England in the winter, when it is freipiently killed both on the sea-coast and inland.
On the tidal harbours of the south coast it consorts with Brent Geese and Ducks, and several are often
obtained by a successful sportsman with a punt gun. The Swans breed in high latitudes, but the tame
species which frequents the rivers and lakes breeds on the eyots and shores, and makes a very large nest
on the land, in which sometimes as many as six eggs are deposited. The latter are of large size and
of a greenish colour. When the young are hatched they are covered with a gi-eyish down, and both
parents display great aflfection for their offspring, the males being particularly pugnacious, and driving
oif any intruder who may approach their domain. They fight with their wings, with which they deal
tremendous blows, often breaking the wing of their adversary. In Australia a peculiar species occurs,
the Black Swan (Ci/ynm atraius), but jjerhaps the handsomest of the genus is the Black-necked Swan
{C'l/i/ims niyricoUis) of Antarctic America. Both these southern species show a marked contrast to
tlie northern Swans, which ai-e wliite when adult.

In the next group occur the true Ducks, of which the Common Wild Duck {Anas boscas) is the
type. This well-known species is one of the most widely distributed of this wide-ranging family, for
it occurs not only all over the northern portion of the Old World, extending to Chimx and Japan,
but it is also met with in North America, as far south as Mexico. The Wild Duck breeds in many
jjarts of the United Kingdom, and where not disturbed does not betray any gi-eat fear of man.
The nest is placed on the ground, often at some distance from the water, and in one instance the
writer remembers having come across a Duck sitting on nine eggs at least half a mile from the lake
where numbers of others were bi'eeding. It is strange that the sitting bird should expose her young
blood, even if they should be safely hatched, to the risk of capture by a fox or other wild animal
on their way to the water. The nest in question was placed in a small wooded dell, and was
overhung by a bush, which would have effectually concealed it had not the old bird betrayed its
pi-esence by flying off The Milliard is a much more handsome bird than the Duck, and both sexes
closely resemble the common Duck of the farmyard. In summer, however, the male bird loses its
rich plumage, and dons a dress like the female, only resuming its beautiful colours again in August.
A good decoy, where many Wild Ducks are to be seen, is often a pretty sight, the birds swimming
about in pairs, when the fine plumage of the male contrasts with the more sober colour of his mate.
At times they may be seen tail uppermost, searching below the surface for their food, which consists
of worms, grass-seeds and roots, mollusca, insects, small reptiles, and little fish. On being approached
they fly off with a sonorous quack, that of the female being the louder. During the breeding season
the males consort much together, and on taking flight mount high in the air and circle round some
distance before again settling down. The female evinces great attachment to the young, and may
often be seen attended by her little brood, who on the approach of danger manage to conceal them-
selves most adroitly, while the mother wOl feign lameness, or pretend to be wounded, in order to
draw away the intruder fi'om the whereabouts of her brood. In the same group as the Wild Duck
nre also contained the Sheldrakes, Shovellers, and the Teal, besides several other genera.

In the fom-th group of the Ducks ai-e the Scoters {(Edemia) and Eiders {Soinuteria), etc., which
have the hind toe lobed, and the same peculiarity of the hind toe exists also in the next group, the
Mergansers. In the latter birds the bill is vei-y long, and more slender than in the other groups.
They are mostly birds of northern regions, occurring in both the Old World and the New ; and two
species, the Goosander {Mergus castor) and the Red-breasted Merganser {Meryus serrator), breed in
the north of Scotland, though they occur more frequently in winter, at which season they are shot,
not only on the harbours of the coast, but also on inland lakes and rivers. Both species are migi-atory,
visiting India in the winter, but in the Southern Ocean tliere is one species (Afergas australis)
which has as yet only been met with in the Auckland Islands. The beautiful Smew {Jleryulus

THE FRIGATE BIliDS. 195

alhellus) is also one of the Merg:uiser group, ami has much the same habits and range as the before-
meutioued species, ranging, like tliem, into India iu ^v inter, and passing the supimer in the northern
parts of the Old and the New Worlds. The genus Meryanettn also belongs to the group, and
contains three species of beautiful coloration, confined to the Andes of Chili and Peru and the high
ranges of Ecuador.

The last group of the Wild-fowl contains the Stiff-Tailed Ducks, which are recognisal)le by their
extremely rigid tail-feathers, which are narrow and pointed, and are not covered at tlie base by
the upper tail-coverts. The tail-feathers in some species attain to the number of twenty-four. The
hind toe is lobed. As a rule these Ducks are not so much inhabitants of the northern portions
of the globe as were the preceding members of the sub-familj-, but are found in the more temperate
and warmer climates, especially in the southern regions of the world ; they are also more strictly
inhabitants of lakes. One species, the White-headed Duck (Erismatura leucocephala), occurs in
South-Eastern Europe and Northern Africa, and is stated to be an expert diver, seldom taking to
its wings, and when flying appearing more like a Diver than a Duck, the wings producing a very
audible whirring sound as they progi-ess through the aii-. Perhaps the most remarkable of all the
Diving Ducks is the great Bizinm lohata of Australia, the male of wliich has a large lobe of skin
hanging dowii under the chin, the female being of only half the bulk of the male.

THE NINTH ORDER OF BIRDS.- THE PELICANS (STEGANOPODES).
Under the heading of the Pelicans not only the latter birds are included, but also all the
Cormorants, Frigate Birds, and Tropic Bii'ds. They form three families, and are all of them
distinctly recognisable by the form of the feet, all the toes being united by a web, which joins the
hind toe as well as the three front ones. In this respect they differ from the Ducks, and Gulls,
and other swimmiiig birds.

THE FIRST FAMILY OF THE STEGANOPODES.— THE FRIGATE BIRDS {Fregatldm).

The Frigate Birds, or Mau-of-War Bii-ds, as they are also called, are inhabitants of the tropical
ocean, ranging fiir south, but not occurring in northern latitudes. The tail is very long and forked,
the bill powerful and hooked, so that by some ornithologists they have been considered to be not dis-
tantly related to the bii-ds of prey. Their flight is most airy and buoyant, and the rapidity with which
they fly is exti-aordinary. They are robbers in every sense of the word, following up the more pacific
Terns and Gannets, and foi'cing them to disgorge the fish they have captured with so much patience,
pursuing them in mid-air, and dexterously catching the fish as the frightened quarry lets it fall.
Audubon states that he believes tlie Frigate Bird to be possessed of the most powerful flight of any
known bii'd, and he relates having seen one of them pursue a Cayenne Tern and force the latter to let
go of a fish it had captured. The latter was about eight inches in length, and had been seized by the
robber in a manner inconvenient to swallow. It therefore mounted about a hundred yards, let the fish
fall and caught it again, but then not satisfactor-ily, and it again dropped it, reclaiming it, however,
before it had fallen many yards, when he at last managed to catch it conveniently, head foremost, and
gulped it down. The Frigate Birds apjiarently always build in rookeries on ti-ees, and Mr. G. Cavendish
Taylor has published an account of his Aasit to one of these breeding-places ofi" the coast of Honduras : —

"On the 1st of January, 1858, we went off in a boat, with four rowers, to visit an island some four
or five miles from Tigre Island, in the Bay of Fonseca, on the Pacific coast of Honduras. It is calletl
Bii-d Island, and is not more than an acre in extent, and of an oblong shape. At one end the beach is
sandy, and at low water one can walk across to another island close adjoining. At the other end the
shoi-e is rocky, and it is much the same at the sides, the beach being strewn with large volcanic stones.
The surface of the island is some thii-ty or forty feet above the sea level. It is covered with long
grass, and there are also a few trees and low .shrubs — mangroves {Rhizophora mangle, Linnaeus) — growing
in places, especially about high- water mark. At a distance the most conspicuous object was a numerous
flight of Frigate Birds soaring over the island. As we approached, large white patches, caused by the
droppings of the birds, became visible. We landed on the flat sandy beach, and in a few minirtes I
had shot a pair of Tiger-Bitterns (Tigrisoma tigriiium), v/hich allowed me to approach without any
difficulty. Besides these and the Frigate Birds we saw no birds on the island, except a few Pelicans,
46

196 XATURAL HISTORY.

some large Accipitres, and a .single Booby {Sula Jusca), wliich liad its nest on a low tree in company
with tlie Frigate Birds. The whole island was approjiriated by the latter. Nearly every tree and
bush, both high and low, was covered with birds and their nests. The latter were mostly composed of
a few sticks laid crossways, hardly as much in quantity as in the nest of the Ring Dove [Columba
palnmbus). Each nest contained a single egg, about the size of a hen's egg, and of a chalky whiteness.
We brought away nearly a hundred of them. Some were quite fresh, and others had been sat upon
some days. Although the nests were upon low bushes, still the}' were placed just too high for one to
reach the eggs without climbing. Many of the nests were on the mangrove bushes which were growing
just above high-water mark, so that we could .see into them when standing on the bank of the island,

FlUGATE BIRD.

which was at a higher level. Some of the birds were sitting on their nests, and others were perched
upon the branches. By firing into the mass I might have killed a dozen at a shot, but shooting would
have been an absurdity, for I could have obtained any number with a stick. The difficulty was to get
them off their nests. Shouting had little or no effect ; and even the report of a gun would only raise
a few, who would frequently settle again on the bushes. I threw some stones among them, without produc-
ing much i-esult, and even tried to poke them off their nests with my gun ; but they merely snapped their
beaks at me in retaliation. All this time there were thousands of other birds soaring in the air a little
way over our heads. I observed that the Frigate Birds were of three different plumages. As there
'vere birds of all three sorts sitting together, and with their nests in the same bushes, I concluded that
they were of one and the same species — males, females, and immature birds. Some have the head and
neck white, the beak white, the feet and legs bluish-white, the belly white, and the wing-coverts
greyish-brown. Others have the legs and feet black, and are black all over, with a greenish metallic
tinge on the black. These have a bright scarlet pouch, which they inflate to the size of an Ostrich's egg

TUE TliUriC IIIMBS.

197

wliile oil the wing. The boatuieu iiiforuiud me that these were tlie iiiakj birds. Others, proljably iiii-
inature birds, had the head black, the throat white, and the legs and feet pink. All had long black
forked tails. I obtained n specimen of each, but did not preserve them, as I had much to do ; and
besides, they are stinking birds to handle, as bad as, or worse than, the Turkey-Buzzard {Calhartes).
The Pelicans have also a breeding-place in Fonseca Bay, but it is in an islaiul at some distance from
the one in possession of the Frigate Birds."

In the Ellice Islands, the Kev. S. G. Whitmee states that the birds are domesticated by the
natives, and when he was in those islands in 1870 he saw scores of them about the villages, sitting on
long perches erected for them near the beach. The natives procure the young birds and tie them by
the leg and feed them till they are tame. Afterwards they let them loose, and they go out to sea to
get their food, and return to their perches in the villages. The same gentleman also informed the
writer that a post had been established between some of the islands by the missionaries, much after
the fashion of Carrier Pigeons in En;.;laiid, and ;\Ir. Whitmee had himself seen more than one letter
arrive in a quill attached to the liiicl.

THE SECOND FAMILY OF THE STEGANOPODES.— THE TROPIC BIRDS (riiatlhonliilm).
These birds, more familiarly known to mariners as " Bo'suns," are inhabitants of the centi-e of
the ocean between the tropics, and iu-e generally observed following in the wake of vessels. From
their white plumage they have much the aspect of Sea Swallows, which they also resemble in their
Might. They may, however, be distinguished by the two long central tail-feathers, which in one of
the three species known are red, in the other two whits. Mr. Hume describes the Tropic Birds
as not uncommon in the northern portion of the Indian Ocean. They flew about the ship much like

-^^^

TROriC llIRl)

)9.S NATUliAL MISrORY.

Terns, with their longisli bills pointed downwards after the manner of the Caspian Tern. They
seemed totally fearless, and wei-e in fact attracted to the vessel by guns which were fired at other
birds ; bnt they did not come very close, not neai-er than seventy or eighty-yards as a i-ule, but they
flew round and round at this distance for some time. They were in small jjarties of ten or twenty
in number. Mr. Penrose, writing on birds from the island of Ascension, states that all these species
of Tropic Birds, and some other sea-bii-ds, such as the smaller Skuas, are familiai-ly called Boatswain
Birds by the sailors, owing to the resemblance of the projecting tail-feathers to a marling-spike.
The Tropic Birds feed principally on crabs, and they breed on a little island lying ofl:' the eastern
coast of Ascension, named " Boatswain Bird Island," ne.sting in holes in its sides, and laying only one
egg. Curiously enough, the male and female are found sitting in their holes side by side, with their
heads inwards ; and as soon as one has been drawn out it begins to use its beak to considerable
puq^ose. Two species of Phnethon nest on this small island.

THE THIRD FAMILY OF THE STEGANOPODES.— THE FELICAXS [Pdemmd,!:) .

Besides the true Pelicans the present family contains the Gannets (Sida), the Darters (Plotits),
and the Cormorants {Phalacrocorax). The Common Gannet {Sula bassarM) gets its specific name from
its historical association with the Bass Rock, wlrich is one of its well-known breeding-places. The
number of birds which frequent that locality is pi-odigious, and Mr. Seebohm tells us that when
he visited the Rock he found every available ledge on the steep side occupied with a nest. In
fact, it overflows with them, and on the top a number of nests are placed for which there is literally
no room on the ledges of the cliffs. Among these nests a person may walk, and in many cases
push the bii-ds off them. The nest, according to Mr. Seebohm, is made of sea-weed, and is very
similar to that of the Cormorant. He never saw more than one egg, which resembled that of the
last-named bird, but was perhaps twice the bulk. Looking down the cliff" on to the myriads of birtb
flying in every direction reminds the observer at once of a snow-storm. The young are almo.st black
when first hatched, but are afterwards covered with a white down. For the first year they are of a
dark grey colour, aftei-wards mottled, but it is not until the fifth year that they attain their white
plumage and commence to breed. They come to the Bass Rock in the early part of March,
remaining till October, and sometimes till November. In the winter only stray birds are seen,
and these are very wild. When the Gannet leaves the shores of England in the winter it i.*
seen in large quantities in the Strait of Gibraltar. Colonel Irby states that he has seen them
close to the Rock of Gibraltar in large numbers, where, according to the wind, they might be
noticed fishing on the leeward side of the rock, particularly close to Gibraltar, and many a time
he has watched them darting down from a considerable height on their prey, often disappearing
quite under the water. On the wing, to an experienced observer, they look like a large Gull.
The earliest dates on which he observed this species near Gibraltar were on the 1 1th of November,
1870, and the l'2th of October, 1871, while in the spring he .saw them as late as the 2Sth of
March.

In the typical Gannets, such as the European bird jnst noticed, the throat is feathered, with
a naked line in the middle, but there are several small species frequenting the tropical and
southern oceans which have the throat bare, as well as the whole of the face, and belong to the
sub-genus Bosporus. They also frequent islands, and an interesting account is given by Mr. Osbert
Salvin in his paper on the Sea-birds of British Honduras, of a visit paid l)y him in 18(52 to the
cays off' the last-named coast : —

" The northern end of Half-moon Cay, which is long, and shaped as its name implies, is
occupied by the pilots, who have their houses scattered about under a gi-ove of cocoa-nuts. There
are but few mangroves, but the southern portion, as well as nearly the whole windward side, is
covered by low 'bush.' A large colony of Boobies (Sida piscatar) hold entire possession of this
portion of the island, evei-y tree having four or five nests in it. By the time we had made
acquaintance with some of the pilots, and had taken a ' long drink ' of cocoa-nut milk (a luxury after
the stale water we had had to put up with on board the schooner), it was mid-day, yet we made our
way through the trees to searah foi' Boobies' egg.s. The sky was clear and the heat intense, the
sea-breeze not yet blowing with any force, and the foliage not Ijeing thick enough to afford much

rUE BOUISY.

sliflter from the scorching rays of tlio sua. The Boobies, too, seemed affected by tlie heat, and sat
jianting with open beaks ; some, still more overcome, were resting against a branch, with their
iieads liauging down and eyes shut. At first I thought these were dead, but on stining them up, I
succeeded m m ikmg them open then eyes I could not, how e\ er, pie-v ail upon them to got up they
only sciewed then Leads about with a soit oi expiession tint seemed to ask me what I meant Ovei-
many of the nests one ot tlie old buds sit md in tht sime treas tht fulh fledged voung still i em lined.

The young were of every age, their plumage including every stage, from the white down of the newly-
hatched chick to the grey dress of the full-grown. In some few, still older, the white dress of the
adult was beginning to show itself The name Booby is most appropriate : I never saw a bii'd with
less idea of getting out of one's way, or caring less for what one did. Walking about under the trees
was nothing ; they hardly condescended to look down ; nor when we stirred them up while taking a
' siesta,' pulled their tails, poked them off their nests, and fought with them for their eggs, and bullied
them in every way, did we succeed in getting up any sort of excitement in the colony. I'hey took
everything with the greatest indifference, with a complaisant, grave expression that was laughable to
watch. And yet a Booby is no fool at fishing. Bare sport they must have of it, flying at the pace

2(1(1 A.iniiAL hltiTDKY.

they do, and taking such headers. It was too hot to climb to every nest within reach ; and after
trying a few, we found that tliere was always a chance of an egg in a nest upon which, and not near
which, an old bird sat. E\'en in this way, after a long search, we only secured four rotten eggs.
A few Man-of-War Birds breed in the same trees, nearly all of which had eggs. This Booby makes a
nest very like that of a ]Man-of-War Bird, i.e., of twigs rather untidily laid together in a convenient

fork in the top of a tree. I could not easily calculate the numljer of birds in this colony, but there
were certainly several thousands."

The Darters (Plotus) are only four in number, and are inhabitants of the trojjical and southern
portions of both hemisphei'es, never occurring in the northern parts. One species inhabits South
America, another Africa, a third India and the Malay countries, and a fourth Australia. They are
also called Snake-necks, from the habit they have of swimming with the body submerged and only the
neck exposed above the water, so that they really look not unlike a snake coming along. They are on
this account not very easy to shoot, as their long thin necks offer a very indifferent target. They
inhabit fresh water, and are not shy in districts where they have been inimolested.

The Cormorants (Phdlacrocorax) are a much larger group tlian the Snake-necks, and are
found all over the world, some of them being very large, while others are quite small and of
elegant form. Many of the Cormorants are ornamented with a somewhat metallic plumage,

THE CURMUHAXT. 201

wliil.st not a few in the breeding season liave some distinctive addition to tlieii' dress, either in
the sliape of a tine crest or wattles on the face. The British species, for instance (P. carbo),
lias, when in full plumage, not only a crest, but exhibits a white patch on the lower Hanks, and
some white filamentous plumes on the neck. Mr. Seebolim allows us to make the following
extract from his interesting journal of a visit to the Fern Islands, off Nortliundterland. He
writes : — " The next island which we visited was that in which the tformorants had established
their colony. It consisted of an irregular reef of rocks rising on one side of the island somewhat
abruptly out of the sea, to the height of ten or twenty feet, and sloping away into the sea on the
other side with a rooky, shingly shore. As we iieared the island we could see the weird-looking birds
.standing, some on the rock and some on the edge of their nests, stretching out their long snake-like
necks, and evidently becoming alarmed at the approach of our boat. Before we got near enough
to land they took wing, and retired to a distant part of the island, one old female, apparently the
grandmother of them all, being the last to leave. The whole of the surface of the rocks was covei-ed
with the dung of the birds, and the smell was, of course, very strong. We counted upwards of
seventy nests, large structures, being heaps of sea-weed from one to two feet high, and generally lined
with the fresh thick green leaves of the maritime plants growing on the islands — sea-parsley, &c. The
natural colour of the Cormorant's egg seems to be a bluish-green, like the usual variety of the common
domestic Duck, but over this is a thick white irregular coating of lime, which is freijuently in such
abundant quantity as to stand in lump.s on the surface, seldom allowing much of the original colour
to be visible. No doubt this superabundance of lime is produced by the bones of the fish of which this
bird is said to eat prodigious quantities, and perhaps also from shell-fish." In many of the islands
the coast of northern Europe, and on the Danubian islands, vast colonies of Cormorants breed
in company with Wading-bii'ds, Herons, &c., and the same occurs with' the American species. Mr.
Salvin gives a very similar description of the nesting of the Florida Shag {Pludaeroconty tl,,rlilinti'^) in
the cays of Honduras to tliat given by Mr. Seebohm above. Landbeck gives an a.cnuut uf the
Cormorants in one of the Danubian islands, when he describes tlie breeding of the Hirons aheady
quoted (p. 184) : — "After we had procured such specimens as we wanted of the three species of Herons
and had, on passing a swamp, watched the manoeuvi-es of one or two Purple Herons, we determined to
visit the Cormorants, which were breeding ' near by, in single pairs and also in large colonies, in com-
pany wdth Herons. The same sickening scene which we had observed at the first heronry was about
to be repeated here : dung, broken egg-shells, putrid fi.sh and birds, gave off the same noisome stench
as in the first place. The Cormorants, young and old, sitting complaisantly on their nests, bestowed
wondering glances on the uninvited guests from their beautiful sea-green eyes, while the parent birds
greeted us with a deep liass note, not unlike an outburst of laughter, which may in some way be
compared to the souml, C'o--./,,,-,/,,/ ,/,„/-,/<"/, and their ottkpring set u]i a curious whistling sound,
re.sembling HniJioliJi<ii.li.,l,, \M,irh snuud we thought rather pleasant than otherwise. As soon,
however, as we disturbed this peaceful scene by a shot, the Cormorants darted from their nests like
snakes, with the speed of an arrow from a bow, over the trees to the other side, but did not return as
soon as the Herons. After we had hidden ourselves amongst the bushes 'they came back, flying at a
great height round and round, examining to see if the coast was clear ; and at last, as soon as they
seemed .satisfied that all was safe, they darted on to their nests with the same celerity as they had left
them, squatting close, so as to keep themselves out of sight ; their caution, however, proved unavailing,
and several fell to our guns. The wounded showed a courage and determination which quite surprised
ns: the winged birds tiu-ned at bay with great ferocity, dealing our dog such a hail of blows with
their beaks as to drive him howling away. An old bird which I had mortally wounded gave me a
blow through my trousers which instantly drew blood, while my brother was struck by another on the
forehead, between the eyes, and narrowly escaped being blinded. The nests of these birds were larger
and better built than those of the Herons, offering no small resistance to our shot."

In the Pelicans {Pehcanus) the principal feature is the long farrowed bill and the enormous pouch
to the lower jaw-, which is drawn up when the bird is at rest, but is/ capable of extension to an
immoderate extent, and is used by the bird as a bag to hold the fish which he catches in large quanti-
ties. The number of known species of Pelican is imder a dozen, and they are not found in northern
climates at all. On the Nile the Common Pelican (Pehcmus onocrotalns) is very common, and is

THE .SCISSOR-BILL. 203

seen in vast flocks. Brehui gives an excellent account of their haldts from his own observations in
Egypt and the Nile Valley. He states that in no other part of Africa did he see such vast numbers
of Pelicans collected together as on the Lake of Meuzaleh, where the flocks of tlie.se birds co\ered the
water to the e.\tent of a square mile or more, looking, at a distance, like gigantic water-lilies. If any
one shoots at them they rise en masse, with a rushing sound, not unlike the rolling of drums, which
may be heard a mile ott'. The same observer relates that they lie on the water as if they were made
of cork, and it is only in sliallow water, to the bottom of which they can reach with their long neck
and hooked bill, that they usually fish tor food. They hunt in company, and on large lakes or on the
sea-shore tiiey form a semicircle, gradually paddling inwards and narrowing the diameter, so as to en-
close the tish, which fall victims to the i-apacity of these powerful birds. On narrow rivers or canals
they form two lines, which face each other and gradually meet, so as to drive the fish between them.
They will, however, swallow young birds and ducklings, though fish is their general food. The daily
life of a Pelican, wiites Dr. Brehm, " is conducted in a very regular manner : the early hours of
morning are employed in catching food, and they may then be seen hastening from all quarters to the
fishing-ground, in small or large parties, the former flying in single file, the latter in the well-known
V-shape adopted by many birds of passage. Some parties may soon be seen returning from the water,
satisfied with their meal, while others are making their way towai-ds the shallow bay from which
breakfast has to be procured. Towards 10 o'clock a.m. they begin to congregate upon their favourite
sand-bank, or an inland group of trees, and hei'e they repose after their toil, some lazily digesting their
food, and others more actively employed in oiling and preening their feathers, a proceeding in which
they are occupied for a considerable length of time, their long, unmanageable bill being but little
adapted to the work. When this is accomplished, they take a kind of siesta, some perched on trees,
others on the ground, the former generally sitting bolt upright upon the branches, with their necks
resting on their breasts, while the latter generally lie flat on their bellies, and doze away the noontide
hours. Between three and four o'clock the whole assembly begins to wake up and prepare for another
fishing excursion, in which they are engaged till sunset, after which they at once set off to their sleep-
ing places, situated on a lonely sand-bank, or some island covered with trees, upon the branches of
which they pass the night." Other naturalists have commented on the peculiarity of the Pelican
perching on trees, the most unlikely resting-place for a bird of such heavy bulk. " It was a bold
Pelican," observes Mr. Osbert Salvin, " that first perched upon a tree ; a bird less adapted to such a
resting-place could hardly be imagined. Yet there they sit on the mangrove boughs foi' hours, preen-
ing their feathers with their long, hooked bills, an amusement they seem to take special delight in, all
the time keeping their balance with ease, even when a strong wind tries the security of their
footing."

THE TENTH ORDER OF BIRDS.— THE SEA BIRDS (GAVI.^).
These elegant and beautifully-plumaged birds may be divided into two large families, the Gulls
and the Petrels, all of them being long-winged birds (Longipennes of Cu\ier), and consequently of very
powerful flight. In the Gulls the hind toe is small, elevated above the level of the ground, and not
united by a web to the other toes. The nostrils are placed laterally in the bill, and are rather low
.down in the upper mandible, as well as longitudinal. The general colour of the plumage is grey and
white, the latter predominating. There are three sub-families of the Gulls, the Scissor bills, the
Tenis, and the true Gulls.

THE FIRST SUB-FAMILY OF THE LAEID.E, OR GULLS.— THE SCISSOR-BILLS,
OR SKIMMERS [Rhi/tichopimc).
In these peculiar birds the bill is the characteristic feature, being long and thin, the mandibles
very narrow and compressed, the lower one longer than the upper one. In other respects they much
resemble Terns, the wing being very long and sharply pointed, the tail forked, and the feet small.
Only three species are known, one being found in America, another in India, and a third on the Nile
and the Red Sea. Dr. Jerdon gives the following account* of the Indian Scissor-bill (Hhynchops
.albicolUs) : —

" This remarkable bird is found througliout India, fiequenting rivers, especially the larger ones.
* " Birds of India," Vol. III., p. U47.

204 NATURAL MIS WRY.

It associates in flocks of from twenty to fifty or more, ami skims up and down the river with a peculiar
flight, keeping close to the water, and now and then dipping its bill into the stream. It is asserte.l
that it picks up small fish and cnistacea, and it is quite possible that it does so occasionally, but I have
examined several, and never found any remains of those animals in their stomachs. I have generally
discovered merely a little oily fluid, and I confess that I am ignorant of what it actually lives on. Some
travellers have asserted that the African species feed on the ground, .searching the soft mud with their
beaks, but I have never seen the Indian birds so engaged, and doubt their doing so. At one time
I was inclined to think that the.se birds psrhaps fed at night, and had such a rapid digestion that no
remains of their food were to be seen during the day, but on one occasion I shot several, in company
with Mr. W. T. Blanford, on the Irawaddy, rather early one morning, and we found nothing but the
usual oily fluid, and that in very small quantity. The Skimmer breeds in April and May on sandy
churrs, laying four, occasionally five, eggs of a pale stone-yellow colour with blotches of grey and brown,
quite Tern-like. The young when hatched ai-e stated by Burgess to be clad in a whity-brown down,
with dark spots. Mr. Brooks writes me that he found the young Skimmers hatched by the 15th of
April, at Mirzapore, and that ' it was amusing to see an army of some hundreds of these little fellows
(tortoiseshell- looking things) running steadily a couple of hundred yards before us. They run well,
and when we reached the end of the sand-bank they attempted to swim oft', while many squatted down.
They did not make much way swimming, and sank very deep in the water.' "

THE SECOND SUB-FAJIILY OF THE LARID.E— THE TERNS, OR SEA-SWALLOWS {Steniina).

These elegant birds have the plumage of miniature Gulls in a great degree, but are of a much
more slender build, with very long and pointed wings and tail, and very short legs. Their flight is
extremely graceful, and nothing can be more iiitere.sting than to watch a flock of Sea-Swallows engaged
iu hunting for their prey. Flitting along with a fairy-like flight, they may be seen dancing over the
water, every now and then dipping down on the surface with a gentle splash after something which
their sharp eyes have detected. They are not, as a rule, met with far from land, and sometimes large
flocks may be seen beating about ofi" the coast, and hunting in company. After severe weather they
may be found on inland lakes or rivers, and several instances of the Black Tern {Sterna fissipes)
occurring on the Thames at least sixty miles from the sea, have come under the writer's notice.

Several species occur on the coast of Great Britain, and Mr. Seebohm's journal of his trip to
the Fern Islands off the Northumberland coast contains many very valuable notes on the Sea-
Swallows : — " By far the most interesting and beautiful birds inhabiting these islands are the Terns,
of which there are three, and jjerhaps four, well-marked species breeding in the locality. The most
important of these is the Sandwich Tern. On the short grass between the masses of bladder campion
that grew in the wide Opens almost to the spring high-water tide-mark I found three and four eggs
of this bii-d. On one side of the wide Opens is a very much smaller island, almost bare of vegetation,
and connected with the larger island by a long shingly beach, which is entirely covered at high water.
It being about low water I trudged patiently and laboriously over the loose stones until I reached tlie
small island, which I found to be a perfect little El Dorado. On a gently sloping sandbank leading up
to the nucleus of the island, or the island proper, which wa-s merely a mass of shelving rocks perhaps
thirty feet across, there was a colony of Sandwich Terns' nests. These nests, if such they could be
called, were slight hollows in the base sand, about the size and depres-sion, say, of a cheese-plate. The
nests and their contents were so difficult to distinguish from the sandbank that my first discovery of
the colony was to find that I had ' put my foot in it,' and broken a Tern's egg. In the thick of them
there must have been an average of a nest for nearly every square yard. On this little island in less
than a quarter of an hour I found an Eider Duck's nest with eggs, several Lesser Black-backed Gulls'
nests with e.;gs, besides taking four Ringed Plover's eggs, spvcii ( )y,st(-i-catclii-i's eggs, about a dozen
eggs of the Common and Arctic Terns, and more than a liuinlicii cl^s <if tln' Sandwich Tern, and I
suppose I might have taken at least a hundred eggs of the l;ittrr bird if I had been so disposed. All
the eggs of the Sandwich Tern which I brought away were iu splendid condition, most of them
apparently being just fresh laid. Some of the nests, or hollows in the sand, for they could scarcely be
called nests, contained two eggs , a very few hnd three, but by far the largest number contained only

THE TEEXS. 205

one egg. They vai'ied consideralily m colour, and some of the darker varieties approached those of the
Oyster-catcher.

" On the same island, as well as on one or two of the others, was a colony of smaller Terns,
which were flying about and making a great noise, as long as we were near their eggs. They make
rather more of a nest than the Sandwich Tern, but it is nothing more than a slight dejiression in the
sand or shingle, with an apology for a lining composed of dry stalks of the bladder campion. In
some cases the eggs were laid on the groinid without the slightest appearance of any nest, the eggs
being generally two, rarely three.- We were told that these colonies of smaller Terns were of three
siiecies, the Arctic, the Common, and the Roseate Tern, but the latter we were unable to make out.
The majority were undoubtedly Arctic Terns, with the brilliant orange bill and light grey breast, but we
could easily distinguish a con.siderable percentage of the Common Tern, with black-pointed bill and
pure white breast. It was quite impossible to identify the eggs, as the nests were too near together,
and the bii-ds too shy. My drawer of these eggs contains eighty fine specimens, varying in colour
from that of a Snipe to that of a Jackdaw. I suspect that the large wide eggs, with the small end
painted, are those of the Common Tern, and the small oval eggs are tho.se of the Arctic Tern, but
there iire so many eggs intermediate in shape and size, that it is impossible to know where to draw the
line. The Terns are very elegant birds upon the wing, their swallow-like shaj)e, with theii' long
wngs and long forked tails, being extremely .graceful, while their brilliant orange legs and bills are in
exquisite harmony with the delicate dove-colour and white of the general plumage."

In some of the nesting-places in the Tropics, however, the Terns assemble in prodigious numbers,
and on Ascension Island there are three of these " Wide-awake Fairs," as they are called. The late
Commander Sperling has given an account of a visit to one of these fairs, the bird which is called on
Ascension " Wide-awake " being the Sooty Tem {Sterna fuliginosa). " On the 8th of June,
1867," writes Sperling, "I was literally cast ashore on that island, for the periodical rollers were
dashing against the coast, and my boat was upset in the surf ; so giving myself a good shake, as
the only available means of drying my clothes, I started for ' Wide-awake Fair,' the name which the
blue-jackets who have visited the place have considered an appropriate one to designate the sjwt where
the birds gather for nesting purposes. Leavmg Comfortless Cove about the middle of the day, I
walked over two dreary miles of cinders and ashes, uncheered by a symptom of vegetation, before I
noticed flocks of Terns converging from various parts of the ocean to a spot apparently about a mile
in front of me ; but as yet I observed nothing of the 'fair.' At length, on turning slightly to the
left, and surmounting a low ridge, the whole scene was disclosed. A gradual incline of a quarter of
a mile terminated in a plain of ten or fifteen acres in extent, which was literally covered with the
birds. The plain was suiTounded by low mountains, eftept on the side on which we stood, and being
entirely sheltered from the wind, its heat under the full blaze of a tropical sun was very oppi-essive. No
description can give an adequate idea of the eflect produced by the thousands upon thousands of these
wild sea-birds floating and screaming over this arid cinder bed, the eggs and young scattered so thickly
on the ground that in some instances it was impossible to avoid crushing them, and the bleached bones
of dead birds were distributed in all directions. During our short walk down the incline, laige flocks
of parent birds hovered over our heads, and assailed us with plaintive cries, regardless of our stick.s,
with which we might have killed any number of them ; but their beautifully pure dark and white
plumage and graceful motions caused it to appear almost a sin to knock any of them down. On
arriving within the precincts of the breeding-grounds their numbers increased ; large flocks were
arriving in endless succession from seaward ; clouds of bii-ds rose from the ground,' and, joining
those already attending us, their wheelings and gyrations almost made us giddy. I sat down on a
lump of cinder, and the society, being at length convinced that my ])olicy was not aggressive, went on
with the ordinary routine of incubation. Thei-e were young of all sizes, from the little callow ones
just hatched to the nearly fledged birds that fluttered and crawled like young pigeons. There were
also lots of eggs exposed on the bare ground ; but in most instances the old bird sat on its solitary
treasure, hissing defiance as I approached, and fighting manfully if I attempted to remove it. The
young are of a very light sooty colour both above and beneath, the ends of most of the feathers having
a wloite spot the size of a pea, which gives them a speckled appearance. The whole of the ' fair,' both
in smell and appearance, reminds one of the efl:ect produced by a sudden entry into a large pigeon-housa

206 NATURAL HISTORY.

" In the interstices of the scoriie and lava round this nursery lurk mmibers of wild cats (not
FkHs catus, but the domestic breed run wild), and the bones of both old and young bii'ds tell the
tale of the ravages they commit."

Some of the most curious of the Terns are the White Noddies {Gygis) whicli inhabit the
Southern Ocean, and lay but a single egg, which is placed, according to Mr. Howard Saunders, in the
cavity of the branch of a tree, or in a fork of two branches, and on the points of the coral reefs ;
anywhere, in fact, where it will lie.

THE THIKD SUB-FAMILY OF THE LARID.E, OR GULLS.
THE TRUE GULLS [Lariiue).
In the Gulls, whose style of plumage is very similar in character to that of the foregoing birds,
the wings are long and pointed, but not to so gi-eat an extent as in some of the Terns, and the bill is
stouter and mucli more curved, there being a very prominent angle on the lower mandible, accom-
panied by a .swelling on the upper mandible, which in most of the Gulls appears to divide the bill into
very distinct halves, the division being generally accompanied on the lower mandible by a patch of
brighter colour. The feet are also powerful, the tarsus longer, being equal to the middle toe and
claw. Many of the Gulls, and particularly the Skuas (Stercorarius), are voracious robbers, while
some of them, on the other hand, are pretty, graceful birds, of shy and timid dispositions. The
Greater Black-backed Gull {Larus marinus) is one of the largest species known, and is peculiar to
Europe and North-eastern America. It is a bird of predatory habits, doing great damage to the
peaceful Eider Ducks and other wild-fowl, whom it liarries relentlessly, and destroys numbers of their
eggs and young. Dr. Sund.strom states that on the Island of Aland, off the Swedish coast,
where this Gull is common, it is justly looked on as a pest, and is destroyed whenever it can be
approaclied, which is not often, as it is very waiy when it finds itself followed. It daily devours
large numbers of fish, and destroys the eggs of the Eider and other Wild Ducks. He has seen it
swallow small Eider Ducks, and kill and eat larger ones, and on Aland he saw one of these Gulls
pursue an almost full-grown young Eed-breasted Merganser [Mergus serrator), and force it to dive again
and again, until it was tired out, when it fell a prey to its pursuer. Any dead birds that are floating on
water or are on the ground are soon picked up by this Gull, and Dr. Sundstrom considers that
it should be kept down in numbers as much as possible, as it is a very destructive bird, especially
to useful birds like the Eider and other species of Water-fowl. The Lesser Black-backed Gull {Lams
fuscus) is a miniature of the Greaier species, and is distinguished by its smaller size and by its
different note, as well as by its more active and lighter build. It is not quite so voracious a devourer
of young birds as its larger ally, but destroys an immense number of eggs, and on the Fern Islands
Mr. Edward Hargitt tells ns that when the boat landed on the island where the Cormorants bred,
they had to scramble up the rocks with the utmost speed to reach the nests of the latter birds before
the Gulls swooped down upon the undefended eggs. On the Fern Islands, writes Mr. Seebohni, in
his journal, the Lesser Black-backed Gull "is by far the most numerous bird. It is scai-cely
correct to say that there are many colonies of them on the islands, as the whole group may lie
con.side ed to be ;; huge colony of these birds. It is a wondeiful sight on neaiing an island to see it
sprinkled all over with these lai'ge bii-ds, every one standing with his back to the wind, like an
innumerable army of white weather-cocks, and still more wonderful when you land, and see them
flying about in eveiy dii-ection, around and above you, like a living snow-storm, and a noisy one too.
A very small percentage of these birds are Herring Gulls (Larus argentalus), and the latter may be
readily distinguished by the decidedly lighter colour of the back and wings. The Lesser Black-
Jjacked Gull makes a nest, which is a large slatternly structure of dry grass and weeds, with, now and
then, a lot of sea-weed, just the .sort of nest that the agricultui-al native woidd be likely to make if he
had imj)orted a colony of cocks and hens from the mainland in the hope of breakfa-sting next morning
on fried eggs and bacon. Wherever there was a suitable niche amongst the rocks these nests were
placed wifhout the slightest attempt at concealment. The number of eggs laid by these Gulls and
sent annually to shore for culinaiy purposes must be prodigious. The Herring Gulls {L. argentatus)
nest indiscriminately amongst their more numerous relations, and, in the few cases whore we were
able to mark the bird, we could discover no difference in the eggs, except that those of the Herring

THE SKUAS. 207

Gull appeared to be on an average slightly larger. The last-named species is found all o\'er Europe
and in North-eastern America, and from its lighter colour is often called the Silvery Gull. Mac-
gillivray gives a good account of its habits, and writes as follows : — ' On extensive beaches, and
especially on such as run out into an angle or point, multitudes may be seen reposing, often inter-
mingled with Common Gulls (Larus caiiiis), and sometimes with individuals of the two Black-backed
species. Tlie flight of this Gull is strong and buoyant, direct and unwavering when the bird is
proceeding towards a distant place, and then usually elevated, but on ordinary occasions somewhat
devious, altliough from its size this species is not capable of turning and winding so dexterously as
the smaller kinds. When engaged with a shoal of fry the Herring Gulls hover over the water, now
ascending to the height of about twenty feet, then skimming close over the surface ; and on observing
an object, stretching upward and vibrating their wings, and letting down their feet so as to touch and
sometimes pat the water, they pick it up without alighting. Sometimes they plunge partly into the
water, and occasionally pick up their prey while swimming. All this while they emit now and then
a loud and rather shrill cry. TJieir food consists of fishes of small size, occasionally large dead fish,
crabs, echini, asterias, and molkisca. In winter and spring they often travel in bands over the fields,
searching the pastures, and especially ploughed lands, for worms, grubs, and insects.' "

Although, as a rule, Gulls have well-defined ranges for the separate species, the sub-family is
very widely distributed, as might be anticipated in the case of such sea-loving birds, and there is no
portion of the globe without its Gulls. The Skuas (Stercorarius) are also widely distributed, and
are amongst the most rapacious and predatory of the Gulls. In Eurojw there are several species, the
largest being the Great Skua (.S'. catarrhactes). In the Southern Ocean this species is replaced by a lai-ger
one, of a brown coloration, like its northern congener ; this is the Antarctic Skua (.S'. antarcticus),
and the Rev. A. E. Eaton, who went as naturalist to the last Transit of Venus Expedition, describes
its habits in Kerguelen Island as follows : — "Every marsh near Royal Sound had its pair of Skuas.
Many were destroyed within a radius of four miles from the ships, and before the expedition sailed
from the island it was impossible to walk far without coming across dead bodies of the poor creatures.
The cause of this useless slaughter was the menacing aspect of the birds, who swooped with fierce
impetuosity directly towards the face of any one approaching their domain, rising only just in time to
clear his head, and uttering short despairing cries. They did not feign to be crippled quite so much
as the Skuas in Spitzbergen, but preferred intimidation as a means of averting danger from their nest.
V/hen they thought they had succeeded in making the enemy retreat, they celebrated their
triumph standing face to face upon the ground, with their wings extended vertically so as almost to
meet above their back, whilst one or two loudly chanted a psean, consisting of a dozen notes ov so
delivered in the tones of a Carrion Crow. In October they also used to croak now and then during
their flight, and this croak, which was discontinued in the breeding season, was very like the lower
croak of a raven ; indeed, it was at fii-st difficult to re-assure oneself that they were not a species of
Crow as they circled in the air far off, and the blue-jackets used' to call them ' Black Crows ' for
some time, but before long the designation ' Molly-Hawks ' came to be applied to them. This
change of name took place at the commencement of the Petrel-digging. If Blue Petrels (Prion) were
turned loose in the day-time they were invariably chased by Skuas, and killed on the wing before they
had flown half a mile. Petrels of one sort or another seem to constitute the staple food of these
Skuas. They hunt for them in the evening when it is becoming dusk, flying rapidly along the
hill-sides, close to the gi'ound, like Hawks, ready to pounce \ipon any that they may see emerging from
the mouth of their burrows. Again, in the early morning they are upon the wing to waylay Petrels
returning from the sea. Nor are they idle during the i-est of the day ; and they are very fond of
birds' eggs, of which they devour a great many. The old Skuas were much puzzled when they saw
Rabbits come out of Petrels' holes. They hovered for a long time over their heads, and at length used
to stand besid.e the mouths of the burrows waiting for the young ones to creep forth, just as if they
were watching for Petrels. It is doubtful whether they will succeed in ridding the island of these
mischievous vermin, although the young birds reared by me readily fed upon rabbits proctued with
the sling."

Besides the Great Skuas of the genus CaUirrJiactes there are several smaller kinds belonging to
the genus Lestris, of more graceful build, and distinguished hj long pointed tails.

NATURAL EISTURY.

THE SECOND FAIHLY OF THE GAVIiE, OR SEA-BIRDS.— THE PETRELS (Procellarnda).
Professor Sundevall makes a group of the Petrels, which he calls Tubhidres, on account of the
tube like apei-tures to the nostrils, which are peculiar to these birds. They are true denizens of the
sea, being, as a rule, found far from land, and most of the specimens which find their way into our
collections are obtained by catching the birds with hook and line as they follow in the wake of a
ship in search of food, or by visiting the rocky islands or places where the Petrels resort for the
purposes of nidification, and diggmg them out of their holes. With the exception of the Fulmar and
a few small species, the Petrels are nearly all inhabitants of the Southern Ocean beyond the tropics,

^^^

where they may sometimes be seen in immense nuinliprs and at a great distance from any land.
They are supposed to be perfectly at home dui-ing the most violent storms, but it not unfrequently
happens that they are driven on land by .stress of weather, and are often picked up dead or dying not
only on the sea-shore, but even some distance inland. The Stormy Petrel {Oceanitis pelagica) breeds in
many places off the western coast of England, from the Scilly Islands up to the Hebrides, and it
also nests on rocky islands off the north-western coast of Ireland. Wilson's Petrel (0. oceanica) is
also found occasionally on British shores, but it is to the south that the naturalist must go to stud)'
the Petrels in their full pi'ofiision.

The famOy may be divided into three sections, the Diving Petrels (Pdecanoicks), which have
short wings and no hind toe; the True Petrels, with long wings and a hind toe always present, birds
of sustained flight who swim and dive very little ; and the Albatrosses (Diomedea), the largest of all
the family. The Rev. A. E. Eaton gives a good account of the habits of the Diving Petrel
(FeleccDioides urinairix), which he met with in Kerguelen Island : — " This bird, as Prof. Wyville

TUE rETRELS.

20y

Thomson well observes, has a close general likeness to tlie Little Auk, or Rotclie {MerguUis alb-), of
the northern seas. Both of them have a hurried flight ; both of them, while flying, dive uito the
sea without any interruption in the action of their wings, and also emerge from beneath the surface
flying, and they both of them swim with the tail rather deep in the water. But this resemblance
does not extend to other particulars of their habits. The Rotche, when breeding, usually flies and
fishes in small flocks of six or a dozen bird.s, and builds in connnunities of considerable size, which are

STORMY PETKEL.

excessively noisy. Diving Petrels, on the other hand, are more domestic in their mode of living,
fishing and flying for the most part in pairs or alone, and building sporadically. They had begun
to pair when we reached Kerguelen Island. The first egg was found on the 31st of October.
Their buiTows are about as small in diameter as the holes of Bank Martins (Cotyle riparia) or
Kingfishers (Alcedo hispida). They are made in dry banks and slopes where the ground is easily
penetrable, and terminate in an enlarged chamber, on whose floor the -egg is deposited. There is no
specially-constructed nest. Some of the burrows are branched, but the branches ai-e without terminal
enlargements, and do not appear to be put to any use by the birds. Before the egg is laid, both of
the parents may be found in the nest-chamber, and may often be heard moaning in the day-time ;

210 KATUliAL MlSTURl.

but wlien the females begin to sit, their call is seldom heai-d, excepting at night, when the male in his
flight to and from the hole, and his mate on her nest, makes a considerable noise. There seems to
be a difference of a semitone between the moans of the two sexes. The call resembles the syllable
00, pronounced with the mouth closed, while a slurred chromatic scale is being made from E to C
in the tenor. This kind of Petrel has much difficulty in taking flight from ground which is
corapaiutively level ; it is only by running against the wind, or by starting from a lump of AzoreUa,
that the birds are able to rise upon the whig if they happen to alight upon a flat. During my walks
on cahn nights I used frequently to hear them fluttering along the ground-in the dark, and (if I had
a liiutem) easily caught them by uncovering the light and tui'iiing it on them. They sometimes lay
.still in my hand without attempting to escape ; but when they flew off from it, they did so in a
manner which showed that they were not at all crippled. They flew to light on board H.M.S.
Supphj on dark nights in October, when there was snow upon the deck."

The True Petrels are by far the most numerous of the family. They are bii-ds of strong flight,
and have very long and pointed wings, which enable them to traverse the sea with a light and
fairy-like flight, many of them flying with their legs hanging downwards, and patting the waves over
which they skim. The well-known Cape Pigeons {Daptioii capemu), the Fulmar Petrels {Fulmarus),
and the Stormy Petrels (OceanUis), are amongst the most familiar birds of this group ; and of
Wilson's Petrel (0. oceanica) Mr. Eaton gives an interesting notice in the " Report on the Transit of
Venus Expedition " already alluded to : —

" From the lOth of October, when we passed Cape Sandwich, until the middle or third week
of November, we completely lost sight of the Storm Petrels. About the period last mentioned,
however, they began to frequent Observatory Bay in large numbers. Theii- first appearance in it
took place during a strong breeze which lasted .several days. When this was succeeded by more
moderate weather we saw little of them in the day-time ; but towards evening they used to fly over
the water like Swallows, an 1 some of them might be observed fly'ng near the ground far away into
the country, following the course of the valleys, or playing round the inland cliffs. We ti-acked them
along the lower hill-sides and the margin of lakes over rocks and bogs ; but our efforts to learn what
became of them were unattendeti with success. Probably at that time they were not preparing
to breed, and the birds were merely going overland from the bay to other inlets of the sea. At
length, when we went to Thumb Peak, their mode of nesting was discovered. Carefully watching
with Lieut. GooJridge, R.N., the birds flying to and fro alx)ut the rocks, we observed that they
occasionally disappeared into crevices amongst piles of loose stones, and crept under loose masses of
rocks. Having meanwhile ascertained their call, we were able, by listening attentively, to detect the
exact position of several of these hidden birds. They were easily caught when the stones wei-e
rolled aside ; but they were in couples, merely pi-eparing for laying, and therefore we did not find any
eggs.. On- our way back to Observatory Bay after the Transit we called at the American station,
and were informed by Dr. Kidder that he had observed this Petrel on the shore near Molloy Point.
The sea-shore in the neighbourhood of Observatory Bay is of a difierent character (for the most part)
from that which is adjacent to the American station, and being less favoui-able than it, was seldom
resorted to for nesting by the Petrels. But the country in general about our bay afforded them
unlimited accommodation. For, provided that they can find a slope of shattered i-ocks, with suitable
chinks and crevices, or dry spaces under stones, or large boulders, sheltered from draughts, whether
they be near the Sound or on the summits and sides of high hills, they readily appropriate them.
The egg is laid upon the bare ground within the recess selected by the birds, either in a chance
depression formed by contiguous stones, or in a shallow circular hollow excavated in the earth by the
parent. Having found numbers of theii- nesting-places, I will describe my method of seax-ching for
them. Whenever there was a calm night I used to walk with a darkened bull's eye lantern toward.s
some rocky hill-side, such as the Petrels would be likely to frequent. It wiis best to shut off the light
and keep it concealed, using it only in dangerous places, where falls would be attended with injury,
and progress in the dark was hardly possible, le.st the birds seeing it should be silenced. On arriraig
at the ground selected it was probable that the Storm Petrels would be heard in various directions,
some on the wing, others on their nests, sounding their call at intei'vals of from two to three minutes.
Those on nests could be distinguished from others flying Ijy their cries proceeding from tixeil positions.

ThE ALBATIWSHES. 2H

Hav-ing settled which of the birds should l>e searched after, a cautious advance had to. he made in
her direction, two or thi-ee steps at a time, when she was in full cry. As soon as she ceased an
abrupt halt was imperative, and a pause of some minutes might ensue before she recommenced lier
cry and peruiitted another slight advance to be effected. In the coiir.se of this gradual approach the
position of the bird might be ascertained approximately ; but it had to be determined precisely, and,
to learu exactly where she was, she had to be stalked in the dark noiseles.sly. No gleam could be
l>ermitted to escape from the lantern. Loose stones and falls over rocks; to avoid them it was
sometimes necessary to dispense with slippers and feel one's way in stockings only, for should the
Petrel be alarmed once with the noise or the light she would probably remain silent a considerable
time. Now and then it would happen that upon the boulder beneath which she was sitting being
almost attained the bird would cease calling. "When thi.s occurred, and many minutes elapsed
without her cry being i-esumed, it was advisable to make a detour, and approach the rock from the
o]>posite side, as her silence might be attributed to her seeing a person advaucii\g towai-ds lier, and
she would probably recommence her call as soon as he was out of sight. If she did not, a small
pebble thrown amongst some rocks would usually elicit some sounds from her, as she would most
likely conclude that the noise was being made by her mate returning to the nest. When the stone
beneath which the bird was domiciled was gained at last, redoubled care had to be exercised. By
stooping down and listening very attentively her position could be accurately ascertained. Then the
lantern was suddenly turned upon her before she had time to creep out of sight, and her egg could
be secured with the hand, or with a spoon tied on to a stick. Sometimes I worked without a lantei-n,
and marked the positions of the nests with piles of .stones, so that they might be revisited by day.
Several eggs were obtained in February from nests which had been thus marked eai'ly in the previous
month. The first egg taken by us was found by a Retriever on the 22nd of January on an island
in Swain's Bay. Captain Fairfax sent me a nestling a day or two before we sailed for the Cape.
Two of the eggs were hiid in unusual situations. One of them was found by a man under a pringlea
plant; but this may have been an egg of Procellaria nereis. The other was deposited just above
the tide-mark in a cavity of a rock rather open to the air and light. I had found the bird there one
night, had taken her up into my hand, and had gently replaced her in the hollow, nearly a month
before the egg was laid."

As already mentioned, the Albatrosses are the largest of the Petrels. The wings are extremely
large, the Wandering Albatross having forty secondary quills alone, and this, with the hollow bones,
renders these birds capable of sustained and buoyant flight equalled by no other living bird. Their
beak is very large, and about equal to the head in length. Captain F. W. Hutton, who has paid
great attention to the family of Petrels during his voyages in the Antarctic Ocean, has written a very
full account of the habits of these fine bii-ds, from which the following notes are extracted : —

" Tlie unrivalled flight of the Albatross has been the admiration of voyagers from the earliest
time. Day after day with unabated interest I have watched them, and I quite agree with Mr. Gould
that the Sooty Albatross [Diomedea fidiginosa) carries off' the palm from all competitors. Never
have I seen anything to equal his ease and grace as he sweeps past, often within a few yards, every
part of his body pex-fectly motionless except the head and eye, which turn slowly and seem to take
notice of everything. I have sometimes watched narrowly one of these bii-ds sailmg and wheeling
about in all directions for more than an hour, without seemg the slightest movement of the wings ;
this, however, is longer than usual. Wondei-ful as is this power of flight, it can all be explained by
the simple mechanical laws which govern the direction and magnitude of pressure. Dr. Bennett
states that he believes that the whole surface (of the body of the Albatross) is covered by numerous
air-cells, capable of voluntary inflation or diminution by means of a beautiful muscular app.u-atu.'i.
. . By this power the birds can raise or depress themselves at will. Now, I do not for a moment
doubt the existence of this apparatus, for it is well known that all birds have it to a greater or less
extent ; but I do doubt its capability of doing the duty assigned to it, viz., raising the bii-d in the air.
The tempemture of the Albatross, as taken by Sir G. Grey, by placing a thermometer under the tongue,
is 98° Fahr., and if we add 10'' Fahr. to this in order to allow for the difference between the head and the
body, we shall have the temperature of the air-cells at 108' Fahr. The temperature of the surrounding
ail' cannot be taken lower than 48" Fahr., as the mean winter temperatiire of Lat. 50 S. is about 50° Fahr.

212 NATURAL HlSTUliY.

Th3 bird, therefore, could not raise the temperature of tlie air taken into these cells more than 60° Fahr.
This would iilcrease its vohnne not quite oue-eighth ; and taking 100 cubic inches of air to weigh 31
gi-ains, and the average weight of an Albatross to be 17 lbs., as given by Go\ild, it would be necessary,
ui order that the specific gravity of the bird might be brought to that of the atmosphere, that these
cells should contain 1,820 cubic feet of air; or, in other words, they must be more than 1,200 times
the size of the body itself of the bird, which, to say the least, would give it when flying an aldermanic
appearance which I have never observed. In fact, it would require a sphere of more than fifteen feet
in diameter to contain the necessary quantity of air. Even if it could thus buoy itself up, it would entii-ely
defeat its own object ; for it would at once destroy the whole of its momentum, and unless propelled
forward by its wings, would drift helplessly to leeward. However, I do not wish it to be inferred that
I consider the air-cells of no u.se. The greater portion of them are situated round the neck, wings,
and fore part of the body of the bird, and I believe that by their means he is enabled to shift slightly
he position of his centre of gi-avity and thus, with very slight muscular exertion, to vary the inclina-
tion of his body to his honzon according to the rate at which he is moving through the air.

" Dr. Bennett, in his ' Gatheif-ings of a Naturalist ' (p. 78), gives a diagram explanatory of the
flight of the Albati'oss," continues Captain Hutton; "and if I understand him rightly, says that 'it
cannot sail directly against the wind, but only in the way which sailors call 'close hauled.' This
diagi-am represents a square rigged ship sailing six points from the wind, a cutter sailing four and a
half points, and an Albatross flying two points from the wind, from which I infer, although he does not
expressly say so, that he -considers .that the wund helps forward the Albatross in the same way it does
the ships. But that this is erroneous is ajiparent at a glance. A ship can sail at an acute angle with
the wind because the pressm-e of the wind again.st its sails being met by the resistance of the water, is
resolved into pressures having other directions. Advantage of this being taken by trimming the sails, it
ultimately results that the ship is moved in the direction of least resistance, viz., forwards. If, however,
the pressure of the wind had not been met by the resistance of the water, no resolution of it in other direc-
tions could have taken place. For this reason a balloon can only drift with the wind, and the same would
be the case with the Albatross. Moreover, the statement that he cannot sail against the wind is incorrect,
as Dr. Bennett himself said in his first book, 'Wanderings in New South Wales,' the truth bemg that
he is more often seen sailing in this direction than in any other, for the simple reason that as he moves
slower against the wind than with it, he is obliged to keep going for a longer time in the former direc-
tion than in the latter, in order to retain his position near the stern of the ship. However, when
sailing against the wind, the position of his wings, body, and tail, slanting a little downwards, is some-
what analogous to the sails of a ship close hauled, or, still better, to the position of a kite in the air.
the momentum of the bird taking the place of the resistance of the water, or the string of the kite.
This momentum is entirely owing to impulses previously given to the air by means of his wings, and
when, owing to the resistance of the aii', it has decreased so much that he is no longer able to move
with suflicient rapidity to prevent his falling, fresh impulses have to be given. For this reason
Albatrosses sail much longer in fine weather, rain especially soon destroying their momentum, and fre-
quently obliging them to use their wings for propulsion.

" It is by combining, according to the laws of mechanics, this pressure of the air against his
wings with the force of gravity, and by using his head and tail as bow and stern rudders, that the
Albatross is enaliled to sail in any direction he pleases so long as the momentum lasts. If, when sailing
against the wind the inclination of his body is such that the upwai-d pressure of the wind against his
(vings and body just balances the force of gravity, his momentum alone acts, and he sails straight in
the ' wind's eye.' If he wishes to ascend he inclines his body more to the horizon by means of his head
and tail. If he wishes to turn to the right he bends his head and tail slightly upwards, at the same
tiuie raising his left side and wing and lowering the right in proportion to the sharpness of the curve
he wishes to make, the wings being kept quite rigid the whole time. To such an extent does he do
this that, in sweeping round, his wings are often pointed in a dii-ection nearly perpendicular to the sea,
and this position of the wings, more or less inclined to the horizon, is seen always, and only when the
bird is turning. It will be observed that, on this principle, an Albatross .sailing down wind must
necessarily be descending, unless his pace is much greater than that of the air, and such I have found
to be invariably the case.

THE ALliAT2iO>iH. 2i:i

" It may be ohjeetetl that the resistance of the air must soon destroy his momentum ; Init the fact
is that it does not do so. A good ilhistratiou of this is seen in an experiment common in lecture
rooms a few years ago, by which the rotation of the earth was demonstrated by means of a pen-
dulum, composed of a metal ball, suspended by a long string from the ceiling of the lecture hall.
The impetus obtained by causing the metal ball to fall through the space of a few feet only was
sufficient to keep the pendulum swinging w^itli a velocity but little diminished for the greater part of
an hour, notwithstanding the resistance of the sand which the point of the pendulum had to cut through

ALBATKOSS.

twice during each vibration. The resistance of the air is well known to depend on the shape and
velocity of the moving body, and to increase in proportion much more rapidly than the velocity
increases. For this reason a properly shaped body and a low velocity are required to reduce it to a
minimum. A certain amount of weight is also necessary to give a bird momentum sufficient to
overcome resistance for a certain time, and wings are required of sufficient expanse to sup]5ort it as it
sails slowly through the air. These conditions are admirably carried out in the Albatross. Its expanse
of wing is perhaps greater than that of any other bird, and its weight, 15 lbs. and upwards, is
very large. Its shape also, when the neck is stretched out as in flying, approaches nearly to that of
Newton's solid of least resistance, while more than one voyager has i-emarked the slowness with which
it sails past. The Stormy Petrel never sails ; the Cape Pigeon only for a very short time, perhajis a
minute ; the Night Hawk much longer, often between five and ten minutes ; while the Albatross, as I
have before mentioned, sails sometimes for an hour."

CHAPTER X.

DIVERS— PENGUINS— TINAMOUS—STRUTHIOUS BIRDS— LIZARD-TAILED BIRDS.

THE DIYEES— Characters- The Auks— The Great Auk— Probably extinct— The K;izor-bill-The Guillemot— Mr. See-
bolim's Notes of Visits to their Breeding-places- The Experiences of a " dimmer " -The Eotclie— The Puffins—
The True Divers The European Si)ecies— The Grebes— Tlie Little Grebe, or Dabehick— The Dabchick's Powers of
Diving— THE PENGUINS— Distinctive Features— A Penguin Kookery— Life in a "Johnnie" Colony — Their
Nests— Theii- Habits— THE TINAMOUS— Theii- Place in the Class Aves— Their Appearance — Habits — THE
STRUTHI I * U S BI RDS- Tlieir Characters -Entirely Terrestrial— Odd Use of the Wing in Eumiing— Feathering
—Distribution- THE OSTRICHES— Characters — THE Ostrich — Mention in History— Scriptural References-
Distribution— How the Bushman Hunts the Ostrich— Jlethwi luloptrd in Morocco- Other Modes of Hunting —An
Omnivorous Bird— Iti Stride— Its Cry— Habits— Iti Re eiiilili.n, , t., :, ( niiel-The Feathers-Exi^ortation of Feathers
from Africa— A Visit to an Ostrich Farm — Use of "luculnit.ir.-. ' JLilnts of the Birds in the Enclosures— The Ostrich
Dance— The Rhea", or American Ostriches— The Ca.ss.iu aiui > - ( 'li:iiacters of the Cassowary— the Mooruk— It?
Extraordinai-y Power of Leaping— Dr. Bennett's Account of its Habits— The Emus— Characters- Habits — Emu Beef —
Threatened E.xtermination— Its " Booming " Note— THE KIWIS— Character»—Species— Dr. Buller's Account of its
Habits— Mr. Bartletfs Note on its -Utempts at Nesting-THE LIZARD-TAILED BIRDS -The Archseoptcryx
Lithographica—Descriptiou— Fossil Forms- -Evidence from Foot-prints— Prof. Marsh's Researches in America— Birds
with Teeth— Other Forms— Concluding Remarks.

THE ELEVENTH ORDER OF BIRDS.— THE DIVERS (PYGOPODES).
The order of the Divers comprises not only those birds, but the Auks and Grebes, forming
togetlier a very natural group, which may be divided into three families. In all of these birds the
wings are short and pointed, the quUls being complete in shape, and not imperfectly developed, as in the
Penguins, which in many respects the Auks and Grebes resemble. The feet are placed far back in
the body, so that when the birds stand they are ei-ect and have an awkward look. The tarsus is very
short, but the toes are long. The tail is always small. The Auks and Divers are birds of the
northern regions only, but the Grebes are more widely distributed, and are most of them more oi- less
migratorv.

THE FIRST FA5IILY OF THE PYGOPODES.— THE AUKS [Akkhe).
These birds have no hind toe, and are of a thick-set build, giving them somewhat of a clumsy
a|)pearance on land ; but this is amply atoned for by their wonderful activity in the water. There are
three sub-families of the Auks. The first contams the Razor-bills {Aha) and the Guillemots {Uria),
the second the Little Auks {Meryvlus), and the third the Puffins {Mormon, kc). The Guillemots
and Razor-bills have the region of the nostrils feathered and the bill rather longer. They are found
in many portions of the Old and New Worlds, but always in northern localities, and where they breed
both species often occur in very large colonies. The most interesting of all these birds is the Great
Auk {Alca impennis), a species whose extinction in modern times is of the greatest regret to the true
natviralist. Many people have fancied that the species will be re-discovered in the high noi-th by some
of the Arctic Expeditions, but this is extremely improbable, as the Great Auk never seems to have
been a very northern bird. From the Orkneys and the Hebrides the bird reached Iceland, and then
re-appeared on the coast of Newfoundland, whei'e, during recent years, numerous semi-fossil remains
have been unearthed. At one time the Great Auk appears to have been plentiful in certain of the
above-named localities, but has been exterminated during the last fifty years. It was the largest of
all the Anks, measuring quite two feet and a half The Razor-bill {Alca tordn), which is its nearest
representative, is only about a foot and a half in length, and is by no means uncommon in the
places in which it congi-egates during the breeding season. Writing of the breeding colonies of tlie
Razor-bills and Guillemots on the Flamborough cliffs, Mr. Seebohm observes : — " Tlie Razor-bill is by
no means so plentiful as the Guillemot ; nevertheless, in walking along the cliffs we may count them
by hundreds, if not by thousands ; and he is certamly a much handsomer bii-d. The contrast between
the brilliant black of the upper plumage and the dazzling white of the under surface, the white marks
on his black bill, and the general ' get up ' of his whole plumage, as if he had just come out of a
bandbox, or, to use a simile more appropriate for a naturalist, as if he had only just emerged from
his chrysalis, and had not ruffled a feather, makes him quite the dandy of the cliffs. Alighted on a
rock, which he is by no means particular should be horizontal, he is constantly looking about in every
direction, his head never being still for a moment. Poor, unfortunate fellow ! the sight of a ' cobble '

THE GUILLJiilOT. 215

putting off from the shore is a signal for him instantly to leave the clitf and get out to sea as fast as
his short legs will carry him ; for he knows by experience that these ' cobbles ' are generally full of
'sportsnien' (save the mai'k !), thirsting for his blood. The eggs of the Bazor-bill are by no means so
easy to obtain as those of the Guillemot. Instead of breeding on ledges easy of access, they prefer
some hole or cranny in the cliffs, where the egg has generally to be poked out with a stick, or only
admired at a safe distance. From the nature of the situation it is also obvious that the eggs are
scattered up and down the cliff, and are not to be got in batches, like those of the Guillemot, whose
eggs may often be collected by the dozen at a time on a single ledge. The Razor-bill's eggs, too, do not
vary in colour to the extent that the Guillemot's eggs do, or even as much as those of the Gulls.
They may, with very few exceptions, be roughly described as white with black spots ; the white has
.sometimes a faint tinge of bluish-green or brown, and the black is sometimes greenish, and more
frequently reddish. The Razor-bill, like the Guillemot, only lays one egg, and if that one is taken
away it lays a second. It also breeds regularly in the same cranny, and each individual seems to lay
the same variety of egg from year to year. I have two Razor-bill's eggs, taken at intervals from the
same hole, which are twice the size of the ordinary egg, and I have also one which is extraordinarily
small." We are also indebted to Mr. Seebohm for an account of the breeding habits of the Guillemot
I^Urki troih) in the Fern Islands and off the Flamborough cliffs. He observes: — "The first colony
which we visited at the Fern Islands was that of the Guillemot. Whilst our little craft was scudding
along before the wind, the mast bending to the sail, and sometimes too far removed from the perpen-
dicular to be altogether agreeable to our landsmen's nerves, especially when our leewaixl bulwark
dived just under water for a second or two, we could see some miles ahead a group of rocks, Cidled
' The Pinnacles,' standing out conspicuously like great whitewashed rocks in front of one of the Fern
Islands. To these rocks we now quietly rowed. They stood out some fifty feet from the clifls, and
were perhaps thirty or forty feet high, nearly perpendicular, and the summit of each a tolerably level
platform, about twelve or fifteen feet square. The top and more than half-way down the .sides was
completely whitewashed with the excrement of the birds, and on the leeward side the smell of guam
was strong, but not offeiisively so, as the lime almost overpowered the ammonia and entirely absorbed
the sulphuretted hydrogen. The top of these 'Pinnacles' was one dense mass of Guillemots, and, as
we approached, all became excitement. Streams of Guillemots poured off every corner in long strings,
like Wild Ducks, but for some time the dense mass seemed to get no less. In every direction shoals
of Guillemots were hurrying and skureying away over the sea, almost as far as the eye could reach.
Some desperate individuals took a header from the top of the rocks, and flinging out their legs so as
to make a threefold rudder with the tail, plunged at once into the sea and dived out of danger. All
this time the birds were protesting vociferously against our intrusion. By the time we had landed
an anchor the rocks were nearly cleared, and for a mile or more away the sea seemed covered with
them. The flight of the Guillemot is heavy and laborious, reminding one of that of a Kingfisher or a
Hawk-moth. We were able to climb some distance up the ' Pinnacles,' and a good long ladder we
brought \vith us from the next island landed us at the top. On the lime-washed top of each junnacle
were some thirty or forty eggs, looking exactly as if a smart breeze woidd sweep off the lot. Not the
remotest vestige of a nest of any kind was there. The rock having been recently cleared of eggs,
those we found were all nearly fresh laid, very clean, and looking most beautiful on the white rock ;
especially the dark green eggs. The Guillemot lays only one egg, and, indeed, it could not sit upon
two, the egg being enormously large for the size of the bird, who does not seen? to sit upon it on its
breast, like a duck, for instance, but rests upright on its tail, like a dog begging. As we were leaving
the rocks we saw an anxiously maternal Guillemot alight behind her egg, which, with a quiet poke of
her bill, she pushed between her legs.

" The variety in the colour of the eggs of the Guillemot is something wonderful. We found
the following varieties, and no doubt a greater opportunity of selection would double or treble the
number, to say nothing of the additional varieties. Thirty eggs in my collection from the Fern
Islands vary in the ground colouring from dark blue-gi'een and pale blue-gi'een to white cream colom\
The character of the spots may be described as irregularly blotched, fantastically sti-caked, spotless,
or nearly so." Mr. Seebohm has also kindly allowed us to make use of his account of his
visit to the Flamborough cliffs, where there is another noted breeding-place for the Guillemots : —

NATURAL niSTORl

" Tlie clifls at Benipton are very nmcli like those at Flamborougli : a nearly perpendicular wall of
chalk and flint, about three hunch-ed feet high. This great sea wall is fast crumbling away with
the action of wind and tide. It looks as if it had been built of flints, with chalk for mortar, and
sometimes there .seems to be as much mortar as stone, and often there is scarcely any, and, in fact,
it then looks like a diy wall. The outline of the coast is very irregular; some parts of the
cliff are harder than others, and stand out to sea as promontories, while others are soft, and have
ajiparently been washed away into caves and little fiords. Here and there the cliff's have cracked,
aii<l then you can look down, and in some places climb down, thiough the nft to the sea. The

RINGED GVILLEMOT.

top of the cliffs is covered with a thick laed of soil, which slopes steep down to the edge of the
rock, and is generally grown over with gi'ass cropped short by I'abbits. This steep slope to the
edge of the cliffy is rather dangerous, and it is very rare indeed that you can get a view of the face
of the rock except from the opposite promontory. On the ledge.s of these precipitous clifls the
Guillemots breed in great numbers. Sometimes one may see them in such quantities as to remind
one of a swarm of bees. They fly about in all directions, and numbers are constantly arriving and
others leaving the ledges, while far away in the sea, down at the bottom of the cliffs, hundreds of
birds are swimming about. The whole scene is full of life.

" A party of ' dimmers ' consists of three, two at the top and one suspended in inid-air. The
latter, in consequence of the greater risk he has to run, takes one-half of the eggs as his share.
This adventurous man must have a clear head, or he would become dizzy ; neither must he be too
heavy, or he would tire out the two men who have to lower and raise him some two hundred
feet or more, twenty times a day ; while, at the same time, he must have a good knowledge of the
various ledges and crannies wheue the biids breed.

Tim GVILLEMUT. 217

" He first puts on what he calls his ' breeches,' a belt of flat rope with a small loop at each end
to which tlie cord by which he is suspended is attached, and two large loops through which he
puts his legs. An iron bar is driven into the ground, to which a rope is attached to hang down
the cliff to assist him in raising himself, and with which to make signals to the men above when
he wants them to raise him or lower him down. An iron jnilley running on a swivel attached
to an iron spike is fastened on the edge of the precipice, so that the- rope may not chafe.

" The danger of ' dimming,' i.e., the danger of falling, is very slight indeed : the real danger
consists in pieces of rock becoming detached and falling on the unfortunate 'cliuuner.' L. told me

ARCTIC PIFFns

he had ' clum ' for six-and-thirty years, and had met with only one really serious accident. A piece
of rock, about half the size of his head, detached itself some thirty feet above him, and, though he
saw it coDiing, he could not get out of its way. If it had fallen on his head it must inevitably
have dashed his brains out, but he put up his arm to protect himself. His arm was not broken,
but the muscle was absolutely torn from the bone, and it was nearly two years before he could
raise it to his head again. He divides his ground into three days' work, so that he takes it all
twice a week, when weather permits ; in very wet or windy weather he does not ' dim.' Operations
commence about the 1-lth of May. For the first nine days he has a good run of eggs, as the
birds that breed on the ledges he visits have most of them laid ; for the next nine days eggs are
scarce. At the end of that time a second egg has been laid by the birds whose eggs he took
during the first nine days, and he has a second run of succes.sful collecting. He considers from
two to three hundred eggs a good take. He has then a second nine days slack, and after that
comes his Midsummer fling, or 'shut.' This is a very precarious one, and in some seasons is not

218 X^TUEAL HISTOST.

worth tlie getting, while in othei-s it is nearly equal to the tirst two takes. L. is of opinion that
uo Guillemot lays more than two eggs in a season; :uul it is much easier to obtain accurate information
resjMjcting the habits of bu-ds at a place like Flamborough, w^here the biixls are scattered over some
miles of clitTs, than at the Fern Islands, -H-here they ai-e ci-owdetl togetlier in a dense mass on
only four i-ocks. He also informetl me that each bird frequents the same ledge year after year,
and lays the s;ime-coloured egg eveiy yeai-, although the variety of colour in the eggs of different
biixls is wonderfully gi-eat. He tells me that he usetl to get a very rare and highly-prized variety
of the Guillemot's egg, of an almost uniform rich reddish-brown coloiu-, on a certain ledge twice
evei-y year, for fifteen yeai-s in succession, after which the poor bird died, or was shot, or became a
' shunted dowager.' The cliief thing that strikes an ornithologist who has been accustomed to estimate
the eggs of the Guillemot by the Fern Island standard, and afterwai-ds visits Fhuuborough, is the
extraordinary beauty and vai-iety of colouring in the eggs found at the latter station. Not only
are the coloui's more vaiied, but they are decidedly more brilli;int."

In the second group of the A.lcinje are found the Little Auks (.Uer^lus). The best known
sjx^cies is tlie Rotche (.Veryiiliis ((He), a bird scarcely larger than a Thrush, though possessing the
thick-set body and dense i>lumi\ge of the Auk family. It is seen iii large numbei-s in the northern
seas, where it may be observed, even in rough weather, far away from land, ci-esting the billows or diving
for fooil in every tlirection. It nests in communities on islands such as Spitzbei-gen and Novaia
Zemliii, and is a common bird in Gi-eenland. The third gi-oup of the Auks contains only the Puttiu'*.
some of which are rather handsome birds of theii- kind, a few of them having fine crests ; while in th-
Common Puflin (.yorinon fratririda) the bill is variegated with bright colours, the skin of which is
shed at a certiiin period of the year. These birds also appear to be more migratory than the other Auks.

The second family of the Diving Birds contains the true Divers (Cohpnbiuo), which posses-s a
Jiind toe and a very short rounded tail. The neck is long, ditfering much in this respect from the
preceding family of the Auks, but, on the other hand, showing a gi-eat affinity to tlie Grebes. The
Divei-s, liowever, are as much inhabitants of the ocean !is the Greljes are of fresh water : ajid instead
of being found iiU over the world, tliey are confined to northern latitudes, whence they migrate farther
south in tlie winter season, but never quit the confines of the Palwarctic i-egjpn in the eastern hemi-
sphere, and tlie Nesuxitic region in the western. The gi-eat Northern Diver {Coli/mbius </Iin:iitlis) is the
largest of the thi-ee Eui-opeau species, but the other two are pei-haps the best known — the Red-throated
Diver (C. septeiitrioiialU) and the Black-throated Diver (C. aixticns). lioth of which occur not only in
Eui-ojie, but also in North America. ^Mr. Dresser gives a good account of the habits of the Red-
throated Diver jh his '' Binls of Europe,"' where he writes : — " Water seems to be the element where
this species and its allies are most at home ; for on land it is extremely awkwaitl, and moves along
with difficulty and in the most clumsy manner ; and though its flight is swift, yet it is, comparatively
spejiking, less fi-equently seen on the wing, except when on jxissage or on its way from one sheet of
water to the other. But in the water its movements are graceful and easy, and whetlier swimming on
the sm-face or diving below, it propels itself vrith great rapidity and ease. It swims low down in
the water, and when uneiisy or alarmed will submerge its body below the surface, leaving only the
liead and neck in view. When it dives it vjinishes beneath the surface without noise or flutter, and
l>i-oj>els itself along with its wings as well iis its feet, frequently remaining for some time before it
emerges to view iigi\in. When it flies up frem tlie water it flaps for some short distance along tlie
surfiice, splashing the water as it progresses, and seems as if it had a difficulty in rising into the air :
but when once well under weigh it flies with grejit rajridity, its flight being direct, the neck stretched
out horizontiUly. When flying any distance and when on passage, it proceeds at a great altitude, and
may sometimes be lieai-d uttering its jieculiar loud cry, which, like that of its allies, is exceedingly
weii-d luid sti-ange, resembling most the agonising shrielc of distress uttered by a drow^ling pei-son ;
and even when one is accustometl to liear this wild cry, one cannot always divest oneself of the feeling
that something ' unc;uiny ' is near, when in the dusk of the evening the wild weird shriek is suddenly
uttei-eil in the immediate vicinity. In some parts its cry is supposed to foretell tlie near approach of
i-ain : but it ap]ieai-s chiefly to circle at a considerable altitude, uttering its cry, dui-ing rain. Though
shy and very wary when it has V>een subjected to )>ei-secution. it is, as a rule, far less so tluin its allies ;
«nd when unmolested it is tolerably fearless. When in Finland I used very frequently to see the

Till': (nuir.Ks. 210

present species in the large lakes in the interior, and I have often reclined on a rock watching sevisral
Divers which were swimming and diving (piite unconcernedly within a short pistol-range of nie.
During the spring I collected in northern Finland many eggs of this Diver, which breeds there
not unfreqiiently. Its nest consists merely of a little grass "or a few rushes collected in a
small depression in the gronnd close to the water, and is usually placed on a small island or on the
shores of an inland lake ; or else, at the Gulf of Bothnia, on the shores of the gulf itself. Whether
both sexes incubate I cannot with certainty say, because I never succeeded in surjirising one on its
nest; for its mate, which is seldom far ott", at once gives the alarm, and the sitting biril takes to the
water. If deprived of theu- eggs, the birds will remain about their despoiled home for some time,
uttering loud melancholy cries, as if bewailing their loss." The same author descriljes the habits of
the Black-throated Diver as being very similar to those of the red-throated species ; and Mr. Hubert
Gray, a well-known Scottish naturalist, says tliat the natives of Benbecula and North Uist compare
the cry of the latter bird to the words " Deoch ! deoch ! deoch ! tha'ii loch a traoyhadh .'" which
may be interpreted as " Drink ! drink ! drink 1 the lake is nearly dried up'!" Both the above-named
Divers are more beautifully marked in summer than in winter, and at the latter season of (lie year
the Ued-throated Diver is completely white underneath, without any appearinivo uf tlic red (liroat
from which the species takes its name.

The third family of the Diving Birds embraces the Grebes (Podici/iifiiut'), which represent
the before-mentioned Divers in fresh water. They are not unlike the Divers in shape, having a long
neck and pointed bill, the hind toe being present and lobed, as also are all the other toes. They can
scarcely be said to have a tail at all, only a little soft tuft of feathers representing this organ. The
bejiutiful glossy plumage of the Grebes is well known as an article of dress, and ladies' muBs and
jacket-trimmings ai-e made out of the bodies of these birds, causing considersible slaughter among them
for these articles of trade. Luckily, a Grebe is a bird which thoroughly imderstands how to take care
of himself, and to capture him two things are necessary — first, to get within raiage of the liird, and
secondly, to slioot him when once within distance, so that considerable patience is often required. The
best known species in England is the Little Grebe, or Dabchick (Podiceps minor), which frequents
most of the rivers, but more particularly affects fresh-water lakes. Here the bird is thoroughly at
home, and its nest may be found by a little careful search. It is one of the most disagreeable nests
to remove if required for a museum, and to all appearances most uncomfortable, if one did not
remember the thoroughly aquatic habits of its owner. It is built entirely of weeds, stalks of plants,
and reeds, and looks e.xactly like a lump of wet nibbish. Nor does a cursory examination dispel this
idea, for many times we have passed by the nest, and seeing no eggs, have at first imagined that it
was a disused one of last year, but on feeling under the layer of wet weed on the top of the nest the
eggs have been discovered, very carefully and artfully concealed. Tliis concealment is said to be the
work of the birils themselves on seeing the approach of an intruder ; it has, however, been asserted that
the female having laid the eggs, covers them up with wet rubbish, and leaves the action of the sun
to assist in hatching them. It seems to us difficult, in the case of the Little Grebe at least, to prove
the truth of these statements. We have studied the nidification of this species under jieculiarly
favourable circumstances, and have found more than one nest every season for the last seven or eight
years, and, notwithstanding our utmost caution in approaching the nest in the hopes of seeing the
bird leave it, we never yet succeeded in surin-ising the female, but on arriving at the nest we found
the eggs always perfectly hidden from sight by a mass of wet weed, which did not always show signs
of having been hastily piled on, but in some instances at least apjjcared to have been flattened down
on the top of the eggs. So quick to perceive danger, however, is the Dabchick, that the mere
launching of a boat half a mile off is cause for alarm, and the pair of birds would hnve. plenty of time
to conceal their eggs before any one could get up imperceived. The eggs, when fir.st laid, ai-e white,
but as incubation proceeds they get more and more lUjcoloured, until at last they become of a .dirty
yellowish-buff colour. In summer the Dabcliicks are much handsomer birds than in winter, for, like
all Grebes, they put on a summer plumage, when the neck becomes red and the under-parts black,
instead of sil\-ery white. At this time of year they are somewhat more easily obtained, as they trust
as much to concealment as to their power of diving ; and if there is a little weed growing above the
surface of the lake they often betake themselves to it for shelter, and as their bodies scarcely ap))ear above

NATUMAL HlSrOKY.

the water, their necks alone are left to attract attention, and these may often be detected even among
the weed-stalks. In winter they assemble in little comi)anies, probaljly consisting of the old birds and
their families of the previous summer, and on the ai)proach' of danger they dive under water and
disperse in different directions ; there is, however, generally some place of refuge for which they make,
perhaps a spot where the bushes overhang the water or a bed of rushes near the bank. They may,
perchance, be intercepted on their way thither, but so sharp are the Dabchick's eyes, and so great the

distance which he can s^vim under water, that out of twenty birds which may be seen swimming
together at first, probably not more than half-a-dozen come again under the observer's eye. The little
birds will, perhaps, appear on the surface as light as a cork floating, but only for an instant : the
slightest movement in the boat and they disappear like lightning, so that frequently the only intimation
one has of their presence is the splash and the ripple which indicate where the bird has gone down.
Where it will reappear is quite a matter of conjecture, for, once under the water, it may press
forward in any direction, and come up again fifty yards off in quite an unexpected quarter. We
remember once finding a Dabchick feeding in a narrow ditch ending in a .cul-de-sac, and po.sting oui--
selves at the end of the ditch, we waited patiently for the bird to appear, making sure that we should

Vt^:'

GIANT PENGUIN.

1-n NATURAL iustiij:y.

slioot it without fail ; Ijut the Grebe, nothing tlauutfil, (li\ed uiuler water, came straight down the
ditch, passed us at a point where it was not more than six yards broad and about two yards deep, and
reappeared in the river about twenty yards off, diving the instant we moved, and coming up again far
■out of shot. This is only one instance out of many we could relate which have occurred to ourselves
in our chase after Dabchicks, when the birds have saved themselves by their adroitness in swimming
tind diving. Besides the Little Grebe, there are found in England the Great Crested Grebe (Podiceps
cristatus), and in winter the Red-necked Grebe, the Eared Grebe, and the Sclavonian Grebe
sometimes occur. Most of the Grebes are migratory, and some are very widely distributed, occurring
over neai-ly the whole surface of the globe. One of the most remarkable Ls the South American
species [Centropelma microptervm), from Lake Titicaca, in the Bolivian Andes, a bu-d of large size, but
with such sinall wings that it cannot tl j.

THE TWELFTH ORDER OF BIRDS.— THE PENGUINS (IMPENNES).

The Penguins represent in the Southern Ocean the Auks and Divers of the Northern Seas. They
are called Impennes on account of then- wings, which are very small in comparison with the size of
their bodies, and quite hard in texture, veiy rigid, and movable only at the base, and coverel with
small stiff feathers of a bristly nature. The body is long and flat, of an oblong form, and the bird
swims with a wavy motion, using its feet and wings as auxiliaiy portions of the body. The Penguins
are found on some of the rocky islands in immense numbers, and Dr. Bemiett gives a good idea of a
Penguin rookery in MacqTiarie Island, where they occupied about thirty or foi'ty acres of ground : —
" The number of Penguins," he writes, " collected together in this .spot is immense, but it would be
impossible to guess at it with any near approach to truth, as during the whole day and night 30,000
or 40,000 of them are continually landing, and an equal number going to sea. They are arranged
when on shore in as compact a manner and in as regular ranks as a regiment of soldiers, and are
classed with the greate.st oi-der, the young birds being in one situation, the moulting bii-ds in another,
tli'! sitting hens in a third, the clean birds in a fourth, ifec. ; and so strictly do birds in a similar con-
dition congregate, that should a bird that is moulting intrude itself upon those that are clean, it is
■immediately ejected from among them." During the late expedition to Kerguelen Island numbers of
Penguins were found nesting on the "island, and the Rev. A. E. Eaton writes as follows concerning the
species known as Pygoscelis tceniata : —

" The Jolmnie (as the whalers call this bird) is common in Royal Sound. It builds in communities,
some of only a dozen, others from 70 to 150 families. A moi'e populous colony upon the mainland
was visited by six officers from the ships, who estimated the number of nests in it to amount to 2,000
or more. These larger communities are approached from the sea by regular paths, conspicuous at a
distance, like the well-worn sheep tracks, which lead straight up the hill from the water. Their
formation is due to the Penguins being very particular about where they land and enter the sea. A
small .party of the birds occupied a position upon the neck of a low promontoiy, witliin an hour's
walk of Observatory Bay. Their nests were neai'est to the farther side of the isthmus, but when
they were approached the male bii-ds used to run to the water, not by the shortest route, where it was
deep close to the rocks, but by the longest, to a place where the shore was shelving. It was amusing
to see them start off iii a troop as fast as their legs could CiU'ry them, holding out their wings, and
tumbling headlong over stones in their way, because as they ran they would keep looking back instead
of before them, and to hear their outcries. Panic and consternation seemed to possess them all, but
the females (possibly becau.se they could not keep up with their mates) seldom went far from their
nests ; and if the intruder stood still, soon returned and settled down again upon their eggs. Not
many weeks had jjassed before a change was effected in their conduct. The young were hatched, and
now the mothers anxiously endeavoured to persuade them to follow the example of their fiithers, and
run away to sea. But the nestlings preferred to stay in their nests ; they did not mind if the stranger
did stroke them, although their anxious mothers did run at him with open moiiths whenever he
dared to do so. Only a few of the older chicks could be prevailed upon to stir, and they, after
■waddling a few yards, became satisfied with their performance and turned to go. home again. The
mothers who had straggled to a greater distance began to return too. It was now that the more

THE PEXGCIXS. 223

tardy youngsfcei-s begaa to experience ' the ills of life. E\ery Penguin that had reached its placi'
liefore them aimed blows at thera as they passetl liy towards their own abodes. One of the little birds
eertainly did seem to deserve correction. It saw its neighbour's nest empty and sat down in it. The
old female Jolumie, the rightful occupier, presently returned, in compahy with her own cliick, to
whom, liaviug put lier head well into his mouth, she began to administer refreshment after his run.
.Seeing tliem so pleasantly engaged, the small vagrant thoughtlessly, presuming on her generosity, went
nearer and ])resented himself to be fed also, as if he had a right to her attention and care. She
looked at him whUe he stood gaping before her with drooping wings, unable for a moment to credit
what she saw. But suddenly the truth flashed upon her, and, provoked by his consummate aiulacity,
she gave vent to her indignation, peeked his tongue as hard as she could, chased liiin out of the nest,
darting blows at his back, and croaked omuiously after him as he fled precipitately beyond the range
of her bealc, leaving trophies of down upon the scene of his unfortunate adventure. The whole of
this community of Penguins was subsequently boiled down into ' hare soup ' for the oflicers of H.M.S.
Vuku/e, and very nice they found it.

" The nests were composed of cb-ied leaf stalks and seed stems of Pringlea, together with such
other suitable material as happened to be at hand. There were two eggs in every nest, and one of
them was invariably lai'ger than the other. Most likely the bii-cLs hatched from the larger eggs are of
the opposite sex to those which are produced from the smaller. Whether the big or the little egg is
the first to be laid was not ascertained.

" As is the case with many other kinds of birds. Johnnies are very regular in their habits. Every
afternoon at nearly the same time they repair to the shore when they have done fishing, landing in
small parties at their accustomed pUices at the heads of shallow inlets. On issuing from the water
they dispose themselves to rest, seldom proceeding beyond the verge of the shore. Those which are
inclined to sleep put theii- heads behind their fli]jpers ; the others stand amongst them with the neck
shortened so as to bring the head down close to the body, with the beak slanting upwards and for-
wards, somewhat in the manner of a very young Thrush during repose. Theii- eyes present a rather
te.ii-ful appearance, and resemble bits of dull black glass set in their heads — perhaps the nictitating
membrane may be kept drawn over them. At frequent intervals a kind of watery fluid is ejected
from their mouths by a shake of the head. I was led to suspect that these Penguins are liable to be
attacked by Seals, for 'n\ places not much frequentf)d by man, if they once ettect a landing they do not
readily return to the water on being alarmed, but run away from the sea uphill as fast as they can
go. After they have gone some distance, they turn round and look back while they take breath ; but
as soon as they are rested sufficiently they willingly resume the ascent. It is not until they have been
driven so far as to become thoroughly tired that they refuse to proceed farther, but when tliLs stage-
hiis been reached it is useless to urge them to advance without a pause. As they face about, the^
sight of the boot ready to push them over is greeted with deprecating sighs, and should this be dis-
regarded, and they be sent over upon their backs, as soon as they regain their feet they rush at their
driver, launch their bill at his knees, beat their wings furiously against liis calves and shins, and make
a dash on all-fours down the hill at full speed to regain the sea. When they became accustomed to
being chased by men, the Penguins acquired the habit of betaking themselves to the water at the first
alarm. A small party of these birds u.sed persistently to land in Observatoiy Bay every evening at
the very time when the men erecting our huts were returning to the ship after their work. Such of
the Johnnies as managed to escape being caught one day were sure to reappear the following evening
just at the critical time, dragging themselves out of the water to afford sport to the men. By the
time that the huts were completed, the survivors wei-e reduced in number to a couple of birds, and
there can be little doubt that these would have followed their late companions into the soup-kettle had
the putting up of the Obsei-vatory occupied one moi-e day. The cry of the Johnnie distantly resembles-
the short bark of the fox."

THE THIRTEENTH ORDER OF BIRDS.— THE TINAMOUS (CRYPTURI).

It seems at first sight strange that the Tinamoiis, so much resembling game-birds in their appear-
ance, should be placed almost at the end of the series of birds, and so far from what would be
considered their natural allies ; but in reality they form an extremely interesting group, inter-

224 NATURAL UltiTORY.

mediate in some respects between the Cariuate liirds and the Strutliious birds [Ratitcv). They may
briefly be described as game-like birds, having the bones of the skull like the Struthiones, but
liaving a keeled sternum, which places them in the Carinate series.

The Tinamous ai-e strictly neotropical in their habitat, and do not occur away from the South
American region. The body is thick and the head small, the bill is slender, a little shorter than the
head itself, gently curved and depressed, the tail small and often concealed by the coverts, the wings
short and rounded. About forty species of Tinamous are known to science at present, and these
are divided into nine genera. Many of the birds are found only in forests, while others, on the
contrary, frequent open grass-lands, and have the habits of the European Quails. The eggs are very
striking in their coloration, being sometimes of a very deej) purplish shade, whilst in some instances
they are bluish-green ; the texture is always smooth and very glossy, and when once seen a Tinamou's
egg can hardly be mistaken. On the ground these birds run with great rapidity, and seldom
endeavour to save themselves by flight, while their intelligence appears to be of a low order, and
when suddenly alarmed they seem to become stupefied with fear. On such occasions, as we are in-
formed by Mr. Darwin, a man on horseback, riding round and round them so as to narrow the circle
each time, may knock over as many as he pleases, but the usual way to capture them is by means of
a small lasso or running noose, made of an ostrich feather fastened to the end of a stick ; and a boy
thus armed and riding on a horse has been known to secure as many as forty in a day. The Tinamous
are much appreciated as articles of food, and they have on this account been much harried, so that
species which were once common in some countries have now to be sought for at long distances from
their former haunts. This has been the case with the Tataupa {Cri/pturus tataupa), in the neighbour-
hood of Buenos Ayres, and the late I\I)-. Durnford stated that it was not to be iikt with within a
hundred miles of that city. This species, according to the late Prince Maxiuiiliuu (if Neuwied,
prefers open quaiters tn fnivst Innd, and runs witli nivat sjieed over the ground. Towards evening it
utters a very ]iee\iliar civ. iinisistinL; nf two Inni: sustaineil notes, followed by six or eight of the same
tone, but short and ipiickiv repeated. The speries (if Xnlhiira are more Quail-like in their habits, and
have been designated by some authors the American Quails. Of the N. maculosa, near Buenos
Ayres, Mr. Durnford writes that it is resident and abundant wherever the rough paja-grass or thistles
afibrd any cover. It also frequents fields of maize or other cereals in con.siderable numbers. On a
Sunday or hdlid.iv it is a curious sight to watch the "sportsmen" of various nationalities flocking to
the dilfereiit railway stations to have a day's " perdiz " shooting. The dogs impressed into their
service are, like tlieir masters, of v.irious breeds — from a Bull-terrier to a T*oiuter — it being considered
of primary inqioitance to lie aeeonqianied by .some specimen of the canine r.M.c, When collecting in
the Chuiiut Valley in Patagonia, tlie same naturali.st fell in with the Elegant Tinamou {Calodromas
elegans), which he fotmd common in the valley and on the hills in -very diy spots. It nests under the
shelter of a small bush, and after scraping a slight hollow in tlie ground, lines it with a few fragments
of grass and feathers, laying sometimes as many as ten eggs. The remarkable character of these, of a
uniform pea-green colour, with a highly polished -appearance, is well known. About dusk these birds
come from the shelter of the long grass or bushes, where they have lain durirg the day to feed ; and
at that time they can be heard calling to each other in every direction. Their note is a loud and oft-
repeated whistle, uttered in a low key.

DIVISION 11.— THE STRUTHIOUS BIRDS (RATIT.^).
Tlie charactei-s which distinguish the Tiatitm from the Carinate birds, or Carincthe, were briefly
alluded to at the commencement of the jjresent article,* and consist chiefly in the absence of a
keel to the sternum, which is therefore raft-like. The Struthious birds are amongst the largest of
the class, and are entirely terrestrial in their habits, not one of them being able to fly, though
they make up for this deficiency by an extremely swift power of running, and in some of the
species the tiny wings are elevated so as to form a kind of sail, which helps the bird along, when
fleeing from danger. A good idea of the speed at which these birds can go is given in Mr. Smelt's
descri!)tion of the chase of a Rhea, or South American Ostrich [Hhea americana), on the pampas,
• Vol. III., p. 239.

THE STRVTBIOUS BlliJJfi. 225

in the district of Tapahnieen, on tlic south-western frontier of Eiicnos Ayres, where the species is
tolerably numerous, ;uul is hunted liy Europeans with dogs, and by the Indians with the well-
known "bolas," or balls: — "We soon found," he says, "that the report we had heard as to the
abundance of Ostriches here }iad not been exaggerated, and that in whatever direction we went
we were sure of findiaig thein. After riding for about a mile and a half, we viewed five birds
feeding in a hollow, at a distance of about seven or eight hundred yai'ds from us, and discovered
that by skirting some high grass to our left we should most probably be able to get close to them
without alarming them ; so we at once started in that direction, taking two of the dogs with us.
Before we had gone a couple of hundred yai'ds we came suddenly on an old male bird, a splendid
fellow, and we slipped the dogs within five-and-twenty yards of him. Then began one of the
most exciting runs it was ever my good fortune to witness. Away we went, through the thick
' pajas,' or tufts of high reedy grass, the hounds keeping well up, and apparently rather gaining
ground than otherwise. In this way we ran for two miles or more, when the Ostrich, emerging from
the high grass, steered away across some bare liills, where he got the full force of a very fresh breeze
that was blowing at the time, of which he at once took advantage, running down and across it in an
oblique direction, with his left wing raised, which he made use of as a sail. The pace hitherto had
been good— in fact, I may say, without fear of exaggeration, more than good— but now that he had got
the wind, it was simply racing, and, in spite of all our efforts, and those of the dogs, he seemed to
leave us literally as though we were standing still. We kept pounding away, however, in pursuit, as
well as we could, for some time, when a man who was driving cattle turned him to the right, and he
headed straight back towards us for a few seconds before he found out his mistake ; we were thus
enabled to get on good tei-ms with him again. After running for about fifteen minutes more, he
began to show unmistakable symptoms of distress, and one of the dogs, a large brindled one, ranged
fairly alongside, and was about to make a spring, when he doubled as short as if he had been fixed on
a movable pivot, and catching the slant of the wind, and setting his wing again, he was off like a flash
of lightning, and leading by nearly a ijuarter of a mile, the hounds having shot lengths ahead before
they could turn. It was evident, however, that he was tiring fast, and, although the pace was still
good, we got alongside again, but with no better resiilt than another double, and another good lead
for the bird; and these tactics he continued to repeat each time we neared liim, always gaining an
immense advantage thereby. It became plain, however, that he coulil ii'it last umeli longer, and
eventually the dogs pimied him, when we rode up and gave him his <•,-///- ,/- ,jrdi:r, cutting off his
wings as trophies." The accounts of hunting the Ostrich in Africa which are given by travellers are
very similar in character to the above account of the Rhea hunt, and the extract has been made prin-
cipally to illustrate the use of the wings as a help to the bird when it runs. The feathering of the
Struthious birds is most peculiar, and when viewed from a little distance the birds look as if they were
covered with hair instead of feathers. This appearance is enhanced by the loose character of the
plumage, the feathers being very long and lax, while they have none of the little barbules* which hook
the cross barbs together, and tend to make the feather of an ordinary bird firm and compact in itself.

The distribution of the Struthious bii-ds, to judge from the fossil remains which have been found,
was at one time much more extended than it is at the present day. They seem, however, to
have always been developed to a greater degi-ee in the southern portions of the globe, and never to
have penetrated very far north. This is amply demonstrated by the presence of a large number
of forms of Moa {Dinornis) in New Zealand, and the gigantic jEpyornis of Madagascar, which
were as much larger than the Ostriches of the present day as the latter birds are than the majority of
birds now living.

The Ratitat may be divided into two families, the Ostriches (Struthionidte), amongst which the
Cassowaries are classed, and the Apteryges (Ajjterj/gidce). These families have well-marked characters
for their distinction.

THE FIRST FAMILY OF THE STRUTHIOUS BIRDS.— THE OSTRICHES {fitn<t/rwm(fa).
In all these bii-ds the bill is .short, though powerful and robust ; it is rather flattened, and has a
large " nail " at the tip. The nostrils ai-e longitudinal, and are situated at the base of the bill. The

• See Vol. III., p. 238.

226 NATURAL BISTORT.

eyes are large, and are protected by well-developed and stiti' eyelashes. The legs are extreme/v stout,
and 110 hind toe is ever represented. Tlie Ostriches may be further divided into two sub-
families.

THE FIRST SUB-FAMILY OF THE STEUTHIONID.E.— THE OSTKICHES {Struthion-wa;).
The principal character which distinguishes the Ostriches from the Cassowaries is the absence of
a second feather or highly-enlarged after-shaft,* which in the latter birds is as long as the feather
itself, and forms a second plume. The wings, too, are feathered, the plumes being large and tolerably
long, while the tail feathers are small and not greatly developed. The two genera belonging to this
sub-family are Struthio and Rhea, the former containing the African Ostrich (Struthio camelus), the
latter the Rheas of South America, of which there are three species.

THfe OSTRICH [Struthio camelus).

Interesting as the natural history of the Ostrich has been from time immemoriaJ, regai-ded
as one of the birds mentioned by the most ancient writers, it is doubtful whether the latest phase
of the history of the Ostrich, viz., its domestication in "Ostrich Farms," will not prove of greater
importance to mankind than its existence in a state of nature. To Mr. Julius de Mosenthal's
book on "Ostrich Farming," and the monograph on the "Strutliious Birds" by Mr. J. E. Harting,
the author is indebted for the following statements condensed from these works : — The Ostrich,
although it seems in ancient times to have extended to India and Central Asia, is not known
to inhabit those countries in the present day, but within the Christian era eggs of this bird, and
even some living examples, were brought to China from Turkestan and Central A.sia, and the King of
Samarkand is mentioned as having paid a tribute of Ostriches' eggs to China in the year a.d. 605.
Remains of the species have been found in the Sewalik Hills, in North Western India, along with
those of the Camel and the Giraffe, but it is doubtful whether the Ostrich ever extended into India
witliin historic times, as no mention is made of it in Sanskrit literature, while the bird is not alluded
to during the celebrated march of Alexander the Great through Asia ; at the same time, Mr. Surtees,.
who resided for some years in Sindh, is stated l>y his friend, Canon Tristram, to have heard of many
traditions pointing to a former existence of the Ostrich in that country. In Syria, Arabia, and Meso-
potamia, it seems to have been known from time immemorial, and Sii- Henry Layard infornLS us that
Ostrich feathers appear as ornaments on the robes of the figures in the oldest sculptures of Nimrod,
together with the emblematic flower, and frequently occur on the Babylonian and Assyrian cylinders,
from which we may conclude that the Ostrich was a sacred bird. It is frequently mentioned in Scriji-
ture, where, however, according to Canon Tristram, the Hebrew word is often rendered as "Owl."'
Some of the references to the habits of the bird are true to nature, and others are based on popular
beliefs which hold even to this day among Orientals. " It is the hoarse complaining cry by night,"'
writes Canon TrLstram, " to which Job compares his own sorrowing lamentations under the visitation
of God. The same simile occurs in Micah i. 8 : 'I will wail and howl, I will go stripped and naked:
I will make a wading like the dragons, and mourning as the ostriches ' [owls, marg.]. In the reply
of the Lord to Job, the habits of the Ostrich are thus set forth : ' Gavest thou the goodly wings untO'
the Peacocks 1 or wings and feathers unto the Ostrich, which leaveth her eggs in the earth, and
warmeth them in dust, and forgetteth that the foot may crush them, or that the wild beast may break
them 1 She is hardened against her young ones, as though they were not hers : her labour is in vain
without fear ; because God hath deprived her of wisdom, neither hath he imparted to her understand-
ing. 'What time she lifteth up herself on high, she scorneth the horse and his rider.' — Job xxxix.
13 — 18. Here we find mention made of the beauty of its plumes, of its habit of leaving its eggs on
the surface, of hatching them in the heat of the sand, of its desertion of its young, of its reputed
stupidity, and of its extraordinary fleetness."

Xenophon, in his " Anabasis," mentions the occurrence of Ostriches in the plains of Artemisia,

on the left bank of the Euphrates, in the neighbourhood of Thapsacus, but according to Olivier, who

travelled there towards the close of the last century, they are no longer found there ; but the_y are

killed every year not far from Damascus, and they are still hunted in many parts of Arabia, though

* See Vol. m., p. 238.

THE OSTRICH. 227

everywhere in Western Asia the Ostrich seems to lie a rapidly-decreasing bird. Canon Tristram
states that even at the present day the bird occasionally wanders from Arabia towards the Belka, to
the south-east of Palestine, and he himself obtained a specimen there, shot by Sheikh Agyhle Agha.

In Egypt and Nubia the Ostricli is now sekiom found, and it scarcely ever occurs north of 17"
N. lat. In liSIG Bnrckhardt saw many wild Ostriches in the plains of El Mograh, between Cairo and
Suez ; but Von Heuglin searched for them in vain in Central Egyjjt and the Lybian Desert, though
he was informed by Prince Halim Pasha, a " trustworthy hunter," that he had found freshly-disturbed
Ostrich nests and breeding-places within a few days' journey from Cairo. The species is found
from Southern Algeria throughout Africa to the interior of Cape Colony, wherever an open country
suits its nature, and where increasing cultivation and persistent hunting have not driven it
away.* They are not found, for instance, on the West Coast of Africa, which is gii-t by a belt
of forest land, nor do they occur in many parts of the East Coast, like Zanzibar and Mozambique,
such skins and eggs as are sold in these places being brought from the interior. Some orni-
thologists consider that there are two species of Ostrich in Africa, and the late Mr. Andersson affirmed
from his own experience that two, if not actually three, kinds of Ostrich were to be met with in South
Africa alone. In one species he states that the male is black, while the female is grey, and in the
second species the male is like the same sex of the ordinaiy kind, but is rather larger, while the
female is jet-black like the cock bird. The existence of the third species depended very much on
native testimony, but Mr. Andersson was inclined to believe in it.

The mode of limiting the Ostrich is different in various parts of Africa. In ancient times Sti-abo
speaks of a tribe in Lybia, which he calls Struthiophagi, or Ostrich-eaters, who used to cover them-
selves with an Ostrich-skin, and thrusting the right ai-m into the skin of the neck, which they held
aloft, by this device easily approached their game and killed it. Similar to this in some respects is
the well-known method of the Bushman, who clothes himself in the skin of one of the birds, and
imitates their motions so exactly that it Ls almost impossible to detect the difierence at a little distance
off. The sham bu-d approaches from the leeward side of the flock, for if once a bird winds him off
it goes, and all the trouble is taken for nothiiig. " Now it turns its head as if keeping a shaT^i look-
out ; now it picks at the verdiu-e on the ground, or at any water-melon or shrub which may be in its
jiath ; now it shakes its feathers, sometimes trotting and sometimes walking, imtil at length the Avary
Bushman gets within bow-shot of some unlucky bird, and when, having discharged his arrow, one of
the flock runs off in any dii-ection, the sham bird iiins off" too. The rest of the flock are quite unable
to undei-stand why their comrade should suddenly x-un away and then lie down, and they allow their
enemy to follow them u]5 until they share the same fate. Several are often secured in this way before
the}' get scent of the impostor." In Morocco the only way to approach the Ostrich is on horseback,
as no artifices can be emjjloved, the birds being so wary and the plains so vast on which they are
found. The horses are stated by Canon Tristram to undergo a long and painful training — abstinence
from water as much as possible, and a diet of dry dates being considei'ed the best means of strength-
ening theu- wind. The hunters of the tribes to the east of the M'zab set forth with small skins of
water strapped under their horses' bellies, and a scanty allowance of food for four or five days judi-
ciously distributed about their saddles. As soon as the bii-ds are descried, two or three of the hunters
follow the herd at a gentle gallop, endeavouring only to keep the birds in sight, without alaraiing
them or driving them at full speed, when they would soon be lost to ^iew. The rest of the pursuers
leisurely proceed in a direction at right angles to the course the Ostriches have taken, knowing by
experience their habit of rumiing in a circle. Posted on the best look-out they can find, they await
for hours the anticipated route of the game, calculating upon intersecting then- jmth. If fortunate
enough to detect them, the relay sets upon the now fatigued flock, and frequently succeeds in running
down one or more, though some of their horses usually fall exhausted in the pursuit. The bird, when
overtaken, offers no resistance beyond kicking out sideways, t Ostriches are also captured by the
Bushmen by means of pit-falls or with the lasso, and the Somali tribes hunt in the same way. The
birds are often .shot at the pools to which they resort for drink, and they seem to be fond of standing
in the water in the heat of the day. Von Heuglin having stated that Osti-iches often resort to the

* Dr. Hartlaub, in the " Viigel Ost Afrika's," by himself and Dr. Finsoh, gives a very good monograph of the Ostrich.
■[ Harting, "Ostriches," &c., p. 46.

41

228 NATURAL EISTORY.

.shores of the Eed Sea for this purpose. A well-directed charge of swan-shot aimed at the necks of the
stooping birds will often lay several low at once. Another plan of capturing the Ostrich by the Bush-
man may be noted. On finding the nest, he removes the eggs and seats himself in it, when he is able to
shoot the bird on her return with his poisoned arrow before she can recover her surprise at the intru-
sion. In Sennaar Ostriches are occasionally brought down by a kind of boomerang. In Arabia the
bii'ds are killed on the nest, the hen sitting very close and cowering over the eggs, with neck out-
stretched, and its eye fixed motionless on the a])proaohing enemy. When killed, it is laiil upon the
eggs, and the hunter, having buried the blood of his first victim, lies in wait till .sunset for the return
of the male, when the latter is also slaughtered.

The Ostrich ajjpears to be a very omnivorous bird, and one which died in the Zoological Gardens
in all probability owed its fate to 9|d. worth of coj>per money which it had swallowed. In a wild
state it also swallows quantities of stones, sand, bones, and even pieces of metal, which are picked up
indiscriminately ; its natural food is also very varied, consisting of seeds, berries, fruit, grass, leaves,
beetles, locusts, small birds and animals, snakes and lizard.s. Dr. Livingstone estimates the rate at
which the Ostrich travels at about twenty-six miles an hour, reckoning each stride at twelve feet,
but Canon Tristram measured the bound when the bird is at full speed as from twenty-two to twenty-
eight feet. The cry is likened by Canon Tristram to the hoarse lowing of an ox in pain, and by
other observers to the roar of a lion ; in the Scriptures it is alluiled to as a " wailing."

The Ostrich is gregarious, ;ind appears to Ijc more so in South Africa than in North Africa,
where it is seen in little companies of from four to six indi\'iiluals, the scarcity of food having, perhap^s,
something to do with the difl'erent habits in the latter locality. It is also a polygamous bird, each
cock bird associating with three or four hens, all of which lay their eggs in one large nest scooped out
in the sand, and relieve each other by turns at incubation, the male taking his turn at sitting as well
as his wives. In the breeding season the males fight vigorously for the possession of the females.
Though each hen bird lays a large number of eggs in the nest many more are dro^sped in the neighbour-
hood, and Mr. Layard states that these are supposed to be broken by the parents as soon as the young
are hatched, and serve for their first meals. The little ones come into the world under a certain amount
of risk, for the cock bird often becomes impatient towards the end of the period of incubation, which
lasts about six weeks, and has been observed to lean with his chest upon an egg, crack it, then take it
up in his beak by the membrane inside the egg, and shake it violently until the J'oung bird drojiped
out, when he would swallow the membrane, and repeat the operation on another.

The O.strich was called the " Camel-bird " by the ancients, and its peculiar li-s and liead, with the
gi-eat eyelashes shading its large eyes, were doubtless the cause of its IjrinL; (Mii-,i.|,ivil by Aristotle
and Pliny to be partly bird and partly quadruped ; and it resembles the Canal, mil nuly in frequenting
the same localities, but in many other points. The hard pad-like covering to the breast-bone of the
Ostrich is analogous to the large callous pad on the Camel's chest, both the bird and the animal re-
posing on their chests when they lie down. The diaphragm is also largely developed ui the Ostrich.
Nor does the resemblance to the Camel end here, for even in life there is evidence from modern
European travellers of a likeness sufficient to account for the ancient name. Mr. Palgrave met with
Ostriches in North-west Arabia, and writes : — " When we saw them far ahead, running in a long line
one after the other, we almost took them for a string of scared Camels." Again, the Rev. A. C.
Smith, in his " Attractions of the Nile," observes as follows : — " When seen at a distance moving over
the desert, the camels struck me as resembling in a most remai-kaltle degree their desert companion
the Ostrich. It may seem strange to say that a bird and a quadruped have the same profile, yet such
is undoubtedly the fact with these two denizens of the same sandy wilds ; both hold their heads very
forwarcl, with necks much elevated and stretched out ; then the long legs of the Camel are all near
together, whereas those of the Ostrich are wide apart, and the result is that, seen at a distance, these
two very different creatures might be easily mistaken for each other."

In tlie same work on Ostriclies and Ostrich-farming, from which so much of the above information
has been derived, is a full account of the last-named pursuit, which has become a considerable branch
of industry. The value of the plumes is in these days principally appreciated by ladies, but in
old times it was the male sex that mostly used them as adornments. Not to mention the Prince of
Wales's feathers of England, a badge adopted by the Plantagenets, the feathers of the Ostrich are

OSTJilCS FEATHERS. 229

mentioned in far more remote ages, appearing on tlie Egyptian hieroglypliical monuments, wl.ere tliey
are spoken of as shoo, and they were used by the Egyptians as emblems of justice, from the webs bein-
equally balanced and of equal width on each side of the shaft. '• Warriors," says Mr. Halting, " wore
Ostrich plumes in their helmets from a very early date. In the comedy of ' Acliarnenses,' which was

represented in the Theatre of Bacchus at Athens (B.C. 425), Aristophanes depicted a general called
Lamachoo, who carried two beautiful white Ostrich feathers in his helmet ; while both the Greek
Theophrastes (Hist. Plant, iv., .5) and the Roman Pliny clearly indicate that Ostrich feathers were
thus used in their day." The noble Roman ladies are said to have kept domesticated birds for the
purpose of riding, and still earlier the Egyptian Queen Arsinoe, who lived some time before the cele-
brated Cleopatra, had her statue erected on Helicon, in which she was represented as ridiu^ en an

230 NATURAL EISTOJiT.

Ostrich, and the bird is said to be capable of beaiuig a full-grown man. The -m-iter has liimself seen
a light kind of carriage drawn by an Ostrich, in the Jardin des Plantes, at Paris. Although this
purpo.se is not likely to come into %'ogue in the present day, the demand for food may bring Ostrich
flesh into use, as it is said to be good eating, while the eggs are of the bulk of twenty-fom- common
hens' eggs, and an omelette is pronounced by travellers to be very palatable.

When, in 1876, Mr. de Mosenthal wrote his report, Ostrich feathers, to the value of more than
£600,000, were exported from Africa, and they were classified under thii-ty diffei-ent headings
according to their colour, size, and weight.* The largest exportation comes by way of Egypt, which
contributed nearly half of the above amount ; the Cape followed closely, Barbary came next with
one-sixth of the whole sum, Mogador with a value of £20,000, and lastly Senegal, with a value of
£3,000 only. The finest feathers are those received from Aleppo ; they come from the Syrian desert,
and are the most perfect in plumage, breadth, grace, and colour, but are very rare. The feathers from
the Cape are as white as the Aleppo ones, but are much inferior in quality, and are surpassed by those
of Barbarv, Senegal, Egypt, and Mogador, whilst the most inferior are the plumes from Yemen, in
Arabia, which are described as very thin and poor. The Cape seems to afford the best ax-tificial breed-
ing grounds, but in Algeria Ostrich-farming is being attended with success ; while, so far, the attempts
made in Australia have not turned out very productive. Mr. de Mosenthal's book contains an
interesting account giving by Mr. Hillier of a farm kept by Mr. Douglas, at Hilton, near Graham's
Town, South Africa, and from it we make the following extract : —

" After breakfast we began, on foot at first, to make our round of the various Ostrich
troops and flocks, scattered or located as they ai-e over a farm of some 3,000 morgen (6,000 acres) ;
and as we shall require the aid of the artificial memory afforded by the recollection of the way we
went, we will tell our story in that order, beginning where we began, with the first flock of the
year's chickens we came to. The first chickens of this year were hatched in the early part of
the month of August, and these, with others hatched during the following month or six weeks,
now run together, and form a flock of forty-four fine healthy gi'owing birds. Some of them are
very large for their age, and all are remarkably lively and in good condition. It was very
amusing to see how they gathered round the coloured boy who looked after them. They ran
away to him if startled m any way, and came eagerly at his call.

" It was evident that their instincts had accepted him in the place of their original parents. These
birds are now housed every night, and though this will no doubt be prudent for some time to come,
on account of storms, yet some of the oldest look quite able to take care of themselves. In fact, were
they with the parent birds, they could not be gathered, many of them, under theii- wings, or otherwise
much defended from the cold. This group of young birds are kept in the home field, and, we believe,
occasionally get a little lucerne. The condition and health of this flock of birds are most satisfactory.
It proves most triumphantly that Ostriches hatched by macliine, when the operation is properly
conducted, are equally healthy with those that come into the world by the old-established and
ordinary process ; and that the same set of conditions must have been complied with, and the various
necessary manipulations which instinct teaches the old birds to perform must have been successfully
imitated, in artificial incubation. We thiiik Mr. Douglas told us he had lost but one since they were
hatched, and this by accident. The next troop of this year's birds is a flock of sixteen. They looked
to us about a month old, but we were not told their age. These, too, looked exceedingly healthy. A
boy was in attendance, and will continue so a little longer, till they are strong enough to join their
little brothers and sisters. This little family is carefully housed every night in a warm covered stable.
We forgot to say that the older flock are put in a kind of kraal within the shed, into which they can
run when it rains. By this plan they get gradually accustomed to sleep out at night. The next flock
we saw was the baby flock of fourteen, some of which were only a day or two old, while some were a
week or ten days. These wei-e exceedingly pretty little things, like giant young partridges, but with
the special peculiarity of having little bristles all over them mixed with their down. They were
very lively, and gathered round their guardian, and were some of them fed with a little cut
lucerne. We were told that for the day or two after their birth they do not eat, but seem
* Since then the value has fluctuated to an extraordinary degree, according, presumably, to the dictates of fashion.

AN OSTRICH FARM. 231

to be looking about curiously upon the great world they have so sti-angely come into. Then,
after two clays, they begin to attend to the duties of life by setting up a mill. This is precisely the
fact. The little things, taught by instinct, eat no food till their gizzards are prepared, for which
jiurpose they go about picking up little hard stones, of no doubt the exact kind required. After this
preparatory process is completed they eat a little soft green food. This infant flock is gathered into a
warm room at night ; some of the youngest are put into the ' mother ' crib of the incubator, whilst
others are accommodated with a lodging between blankets, or otherwise comfortably provided for.
We find, by adding together the above flocks, that we have some seventy-four chickens, all hatched
since August by the incubator — all alive and well.

" We next mounted our horses, and j)roceeded to an enclosure separateil by the river from the
home ground. In this enclosure we found fifteen full-grown birds, or mostly full-grown, among which
were an old cock and two laying hens, and possibly a pullet, which Mr. Douglas told us he thought
wiUi just beginning to lay. The old cock was very savage and tightaVjle, and was given some mealies
(maize) to amuse him while we rode quietly by. The old fellow attacked his master while on horse-
back some little time ago. He succeeded in getting his breast up to the horse, and kicked most
furioxisly ; but, owing to the unusual position he had attained, his kicks went for nothing, except once,
when his toe ripped open the skin of the horse's flank, which set the horse going in turn. The fact
is, that if the old birds only knew how to use their beaks as well as their feet, they would be most
dangerous animals. As it is, though they peck off your hat, and pull your ears, their operations in
this way do not amount to much. These fifteen birds have a large enclosure all to themselves. And
here we may as well say that there are no slieep on the fiirm, and in the enclosures dedicated to the
Ostriches, except in the home field, no other kind of stock. We next, after a mile, more or less, came
to an enclosure in which were a very fine old cock and two laying hens. Here we were shown a
nest, after due precaution having been taken to decoy the old monarch into a pen with some mealies,
and safely shut him up ; but we must confess that we gave one or two rather anxious looks towards
the pen aforesaid, thinking it just possible that he might get out of it and come and look after us.
The two hens were both sitting dowm, which we were informed thev do ; also, that when one goes
to lay, the other goes to keep her company, though we did not inquire whether that was the etiquette
of Ostrich life, or the special habits of these two birds. We were informed that the hens lay
their eggs somewhere round about the nest — that is, within a few yards, and that the cock bird
trundles them along, and ])laces them in due order in the nest. In fact, the male Ostrich seems
the very antipodes of roosters and drakes, for he takes the chief solicitude about the future of the
eggs, placing them in the nest, and always sitting on them by night, with warding and divers other
little attentions and performances necessary to a successful issue of incubation, which our good friend
Mr. Douglas has carefully observed, after much patient watching, and has duly made a note of.
Here we saw a fine nest of eggs, and proceeded to count them, but were stopped with the information
that they would never hatch. No ! never. And why 1 Simply because they were artificial ; and so
good is the imitation, that they deceived not only novices like ourselves, but even the Ostriches, who
ought to have known better.

" Out of the enclosure, given up to the exclusive use of this polygamous family of three, we
entered through a locked gate into a large enclosure, or paddock, in which were fifty-eight one- and
two-year old birds. They all looked exceedingly well, and though they did not dance, they seemed
full of life. They do sometimes favour the spectators with a dance, and it is one of the funniest
of all the freaks or habits of animals that evidence a sense of the jokeful we ever beheld. We
once saw some twenty nearly full-grown birds waltzing togethei-. They began with a soit of
sidling slow revolution on their toes, moving their wings gently up and down, and presently they
seemed to get into the spirit of the thing without the aid of any fiddler that we saw, and s]ian
round at a rate that woidd have a.stonished any one but a dancing dervish. In dancing, they
swept round and round without ever coming into contact with each other. Our fifty-eight young
friends soon seemed anxious to make our acquaintance, or, pei'haps, to see if there were any
mealies, and they came up all round us, some two or three at a time, poking their little and
long necks right into one's face. Quite docile and quiet, yet they seenied very inquisitive, and
we should fully have expected, had we indulged in such vanities, to have seen our diamond breast-pin

232 NATURAL HISTORY.

disappear as a specially valuable stone to furnish grinding power for the l)ird. It is a queer feeling
to be in the middle and under the inspection of some fifty-eight pairs of eyes or niore, with a good
sharp bill between each pair that could easily appreciate — or say, borrow — any little thing they take
a fancy to. It was queer, but it was most satisfactory, for liere were birds two years old, machine-
hatched, and in size, health, and quality everything that could be desired. This completed our round
of observation, in which we saw a good many contrivances for feeding, plucking, and general manage-
ment, the result of much thought and patient investigation. Since the farm ha.s had no sheep upon
it the veldt has very much improved, and no doubt is still progi-essing in the same satisfactory
direction."

The Rheas, which are the remaining representatives of the sub-family StnUhionvruB, are dis-
tinguished by having three toes, while the head and the neck are fully feathered, and there is no tail
visible. They are confined to the Central and Southern portion of the Neotropical region, and the
three species of the genus I'hea ai-e the Common Ehea {R. americana), which ranges from Bolivia,
Paraguay, and South Brazil down to the Strait of Magellan, Darwin's Rhea {E. darwini), which
rei)laces the foregoing bird in Eastern Patagonia, and the Long-billed Rhea {R. macrorhyncha), the
exact habitat of which is as yet unknown. The habits of these South American Ostriches are not
unlike those of their African relative, but as the feathers are not of such beauty as in the latter
species, a lesser exportation of plumes takes place from South America. They appear, however, to
be as capable of domestication, and an excellent account of their lireeding in England is given by Mr.
Harting.

THK SECOI^D SUB-F.\MILY OF THE STRUTHIONIDiE.-THE CASSOWARIES {Casmrina).

The Cassowaries and the Emus, which compose the present sub-family, are distinguished by the
wings and the feathering of the body. The former are bare, and are represented only by some stiff"
horny shafts of large size, and the after-shaft, or second feather on the body-plumes, is very long, and
almost equal to the feather itself, so that it has the appearance of being a double feather.

The Cassowaries have three toes, with the claw of the inner one elongated and sharp, while on
the head there is a horny casque: otherwise the head is Ijare. Nine species of Cassowary ai'e now
known to science, and they are all peculiar to tlie Papuan sub-region, that is, to New Guinea and the
adjacent islands, Northern Australia having one species also. These birds inhabit the thick forests,
and are very shy in their native haunts, as well as being of a fierce disposition, using both beak and
legs dangerously in striking. They always kick in front, elou.i^'atiu^,' the body at the same time, while
the Emu kicks outward and backward. Their haliits are imr, very well Ivnown, the most familiar
species being the Mooruk, of New Britain (Custian'iis bi'imelti), wiiiali is captured by the natives
and reared by hand ; and the inhabitants of the Aru Islands also keep Cassowaries in confinement.
It is probably owing to this means, and to the u.selessness of the birds as articles of trade, that they
are preserved to the present day, as the limited range of each species would conduce to its speedy
extermination if hunted to death. Like the Ostrich and the other flightless birds of this order, the
Cassowaries are very timid and shy, and of the Mooruk Dr. Bennett writes : — " They are exceedingly
swift of foot, and possessed of great strength in their le^s. On the lenst alarm they elevate the head,
and on seeing danger, thread localities where no huuuui being can f.jllow theui, and disajjpear with
incredible rapidity. The Mooruk, with its powerful legs and muscular thighs, has an extraordinary
power of leaping, and it was from this circumstance that the first specimen brought from New Britain
was lost. One day, when allowed its liberty, it made a spring on the deck and went overboartl. As
it was blowint; a strong breeze at the time the bird ])erished. Their wino;s aid them in running, but
ave never u.s,-,) f,,r ,l,.trn,f. Thr Jlooruk is a robust bird, and ilitlVrs fiom tli,- i )stiirli in its internal
anatomy, ils ili-rstivc ,,r-vnis b.^iug adaptt-il only fur a soft and nutriti.ms .li.'t -fruits, vegetables,
in.sects, and eggs — grain or any similar hard substanci' not being digestible unless it had been previously
boiled. It also requires a quantity of small -ia\.'l or pcbV)les to aid in the trituration of its food, and
often picks up snails and small bits of iron for a similar purpose. I never heard them utter a sound
like Mdiiriik. I am inclined to consider that the name signifies in the native language 'swift,'
resembling closely the Malay term 'a muck,' or mad v.wwv ; .ind the extraordinary rapid movements
of these bii-ds rather confinn my idea on this siiliject. The chirping sounds of the Mooruk are very

.mA'i^mfc//^. . It

THE CASSOWARY. 233

peculiar, being modulated according to the urgency of theii- wants and desires. Sometimes these notes
are varied, as if speaking ; at one time they are mild, at another very vehement ; then rising to a
higher and more rapid chii-p, as if scolding ; afterwards becoming plaintive, as if beseeching for some-
thing ; again loud and rapid, as if impatient at delay. At a little distance this modulation of the
chirping notes seems as if the birds were holding a conversation, and lias a very singular eflect."

Both the male and female Cassowary sit on the eggs, which are of a beautiful green colour, the
texture being rough and covered with small round tubercles. The period of incubation in the Mooruk,

CASSOWARY.

according to observations at the Zoological Gardens, is about fifty-two days. For the Cer.am species
(C. galeatus), Mr. Wallace gives the period as " about a month." In addition to the shape of the helmet
or casque, the Cassowaries are classified according to the number of the pendent wattles on the neck,
which are two in number in four of the s]iecies, one only in the fifth, Casuarius uniappendimlatus, of
Salawati, and in the remaining four they are absent altogether. These wattles and the adjoining skin
of the neck are generally of a bright coloui- — blue and green and red.

The Emus (Dromceus) are the only remaining examples of the Cctsuarinre, but they may be
distinguished by their feathered head and neck, the absence of a casque or helmet, and by the
stout curved nails to the toes. Only two species are known, the Common Emu (D. nova
hoUandioe), and the Spotted Emu (Z>. irroratus), the former being widely distributed in the Aus-
tralian Continent, while the latter is found only in Western Australia. There are several points
47*

234 NATURAL HhriVRY.

in wliich the Emus differ from the Ostriches in habit : for instance, they pair, and the male
remains attached to a single female instead of being polygamous, and the female Emu is also the
larger bird of the two. Writing of the Common Emu, Mr. Gould says : — " Its flesh has been
compared to coarse beef, which it resembles, according to Mr. Cunningham, both in appearance
and taste, and is good and sweet eating ; nothing indeed can be more delicate than the flesh of
the young ones. There is little fit for culinary use upon any part of the Emu, except the hind

quarters, which are of such dimensions, that the shouldering of two hind legs homeward for a
mile distance once proved to me as tiresome a task as I ever recollect to have encountered in
the colony. I may remark that its flesh proved of the greatest service to Dr. Leichhardt and
his intrepid companions during their overland route from Moreton Bay to Port Essington, in the
course of which, but more particularly between the head of the Gulf of Carpentaria and Port
Essington, the sight and capture of the Emu was almost a daily occuiTence ; so abundant, in
fact, was it, that he states that he saw in the short space of eight miles at least a hundred, in
flocks of three, five, ten, and even more at a time. On the continent of Australia the Emu was
formei-ly abundant about Botany Bay and Port Jackson Harbour; but is now only to be seen

THE KUn. 235

in the plains of the interior, over whose solitudes it roams in great numbers, and where it
breeds, deiieuding on the strength and swiftness of its legs to avoid the pursuit of the stock-
men and their dogs. Farther and farther back, however, will it be driven, until it be extir-
pated, unless some law be instituted to check its wanton destruction.

"The note of the Emu is a low booming or pumping noise, which we know is produced by
the female by means of the expansion and contraction of a large membranous bag surrounding
an oblong opening through the rings of the 'trachea. The eggs, which are placed in a cavity
scooped in the earth, generally in a sandy soil, are six or seven in number, of a beautiful dark-
green, resembling shagreen in appearance, five inches and three-quarters in length by three inches
and three-quarters in breadth. They are held in much esteem by the natives, who feed upon
them whenever they can be proc\ired."

The Spotted Emu {D. irroratus) has often bred in captivity in England, and a very interest-
ing account of the acclimatisation of this species in Surrey has been written by Mr. William
Bennett, of Betchworth.

THE SECOXD FAMILY OF THE STRUTHIONES.-THE KIAVIS [Aptcnjx).

In these curious birds, whose native home is New Zealand, one meets with many character-
istics of the Ostriches, while at the same time there are many points in which they differ from
them. They are not so large as the smallest Cassowary, the biggest species of the genus, the
Large Gre}' Kiwi {Apteryx haasti), being only about two feet in height ;■ the neck and feet are also
proportionately shorter than in the Ostriches and Cassowaries. The bill is very long and smooth,
the nostrils being placed at the very tip, a peculiar provision in these birds, which, as will be
seen presently, plunge the whole of the bill into the ground in search of their food. The plumage
of the body much more resembles hair than feathers, both to the sight and touch, and the wings
are so completely hidden, that the bird appears to have absolutely none at all.* There is no after-
shaft to the feathers of the body, and the toes are four in number, the hind toe being elevated
above the level of the others, veiy short and thick, and having the nail a little smaller than
on the other toes.

Four species of Ajiteryx are known to Science, two of them being of a reddish-brown colour,
and two of a grey plumage. The North Island m. New Zealand possesses two of the species,
and the South Island two, as follows : — The North Island Kiwi {Apteri/x mantelli) is represented
in the South Island by the Apteryx australis, while Owen's Apteryx {A. oweni), or the Little
Grey Kiwi of the South Island, is replaced in the North Island by the Large Grey Kiwi, or
Haast's Apteryx (A. hcucsti). It is doubtful, however, whether the larger birds ought to be
considered anything more than bigger races of the smaller species. Dr. BuUer has given a good
account, as far as it goes, of the habits of Apteryx mantelli, but the great difficulty in observing
these birds in a state of nature renders our knowledge of their economy rather meagi-e. The
above-named gentleman wi-ites :— " The Kiwi is in some measure compensated for the absence of
wings by its swiftness of foot. When running it makes wide strides, and carries the body in an
oblique position, with the neck stretched to its full extent and inclined forwards. In the twilight
it moves about cautiously and as noiselessly as a rat, to which, indeed, at this time, it bears
some outward resemblance. In a quiescent posture the body generally assumes a perfectly rotimd
appearance ; and it sometimes, but only rarely, supports itself by resting the point of its bill on the
gi-ound. It often yawns when disturbed in the daytime, gaping its mandibles in a very grotesque
manner. When provoked, it erects the body, and raising the foot to the breast, strikes downwards
with considerable force and rapidity, thus using its sharp and powerful claws as weapons of defence.
The story of its striking the ground with its feet to bring the earth-worms to the surface, which
appeai-s to have gained currency among naturalists, is as fanciful as the statement of a well-known
author that it is capable of inflicting a dangerous blow, sometimes even killing a dog.

" While hunting for its food the bird makes a continual sniffing sound tlu-ough the nostrils, which
are placed at the extremity of the upper mandible. Whether it is guided as much by touch as by suieU
* Hence its name, Apteryx, from the Greek «, not, and irWpul, a wing.

236 NATURAL HISTORY.

I cannot safely say ; but it appears to me that both senses are called into action. That the sense of
touch is highly developed seems quite certain, because the bird, although it may not be actually
sniffing, will always just touch an object with the point of its bill, whether in the act of feeding or of
surveying the ground ; and when shut up in a cage or confined in a room, it may be heard all through the
night tapping softly at the walls. The sniffing sound to which I have referred is heard only when the
Kiwi is in the act of feeding or hunting for food ; but I have sometimes observed the bird touching
the ground close to, or immediately round, a worm which it had dropped, without being able to find it.
I have remarked, moreover, that the Kiwi will pick up a worm or piece of meat as readily from the
bottom of a vessel with water as from the ground, never seizing it, however, till it has just touched it
with its bill in the manner described. It is probable that in addition to a highly-developed olfactory
power, there is a delicate nervous sensitiveness in the terminal enlargement of the upper mandible. It
is interesting to watch the bird, in a state of freedom, foraging for worms, which constitute its prin-
cipal food : it moves about with a slow action of the body, and the long flexible bill is driven into the
soft ground, generally home to the very root, and is either immediately withdrawn with a worm held
at the extreme tip of the mandibles, or it is gently moved to and fro by an action of the head and
neck, tlie body of the bird being perfectly steady. It is amusing to observe the extreme care and
deliberation with which the bird draws the worm from its hiding-place, coaxing it out, as it were, by
degrees, instead of pulling roughly or breaking it. On getting the worm fairly out of the ground it
throws up its head with a jerk and swallows it whole. The stomach of a recently-killed wild bird
which I dissected contained a hinau-berry {Elceocarpus dentatus), and rounded fragments of white
quartz. Dr. Day writes me : — ' In its very muscular stomach I have usually found the remains of
beetles, pebbles, and many kernels of the hinau-berry.' "

The Apteryx has been known to lay in confinement, but \ip to the present time no young birds
have been hatched in a state of captivity. Mr. Bartlett contributed to the Zoological Society an
account of the Apteryx manteUl, and its attempts at nesting in the Zoological Gardens. " During last
year " (1867), writes Mr. Bartlett, " these birds showed .symptoms of a desire to pair. This was known
by the loud calling of the male, which was answered by the female in a much lower and slower note.
They were particularly noisy during the night, but altogether silent in the daytime. On the 2nd of
January the first egg was laid, and for a day or more the female remained on the egg, but as soon as
she quitted the nest the male bird took to it, and remained constantly sitting. On the 2nd of
February the second egg was laid, the female leaving the nest as soon as the egg was deposited. The
two birds now occupied the two opposite corners of the room in which they were kept, the male on
the two eggs in the nest under the .straw, the female concealed in her corner, also under a bundle of
straw placed against the wall. During the time of incubation they ceased to call at night, in fact,
were perfectly silent and kept apart.

" I found the eggs in a hollow formed on the ground in the earth and straw, and placed lengthwise,
side by side. The male bii-d lay across them, his narrow body appearing not sufficiently broad to
cover them in any other way. The ends of the eggs could be seen projecting from the side of the bird.
The male continued to sit in the most persevering manner until the 2.5th of April, at which time he
was much exhausted, and left the nest. On examining the eggs, I found no trace of young birds.
Notwithstanding the failure of reproducing the Apteryx, I think sufficient has been witnessed to
show that this bird's mode of reproduction does not differ essentially from those of the allied Struthious
birds, in all cases of which that have come under my notice, the male bird only sits. I have wit-
nessed the breeding of the Mooruk, the Cassowary, the Emu, and the Rhea, and the mode of
proceeding of the Apteryx fully justifies me in believing the habits of this bird to be in no way
materially difierent from those of its allies."

THE THIRD DIVISION OF BIRDS.— THE LIZARD-TAILED BIRDS (SAURUR^).
Only one representative of this division is known, and that a fossil one, the Archwopteryx
lithographica. The first evidence of the existence of a bird in strata of Oolitic age was furnished by
the discovery of the impression of a single feather in a slab of lithogi-aphic stone from Solenhofen in
Bavai-ia, described and figiu-ed by Hermann von Meyer in 1861, and named by him ArcJueopteryx.
Later on in that year, the greater portion of the skeleton of an animal was discovered in the same

TUB AECUJEOPTERYX.

OF (ll) ARCH.EOPTEKYX.

formation at Solenhofen, with impressions of feathers radiating fen-wise from each anterior limb, and
diverging obliquely in a single series of a long tail. The characters of this singular feathered fossU
seemed so uidike those of a bird, that Professors Andreas Wagner and Hermann von Meyer concluded
that the animal in question was most probably d, feathered reptile and not a bird af all.

Happily for British palaeontologists, this remai-kable fossil was secured for the National Museum in
18G2, and a memoir on it was contributed by Pro-
fessor Owen to the Transactions of the Zoolvyical
Society in the same year. The .specimen is preserved
in intaglio and relievo, on two slabs of Solenhofen
limestone, the lower one of which represents the
ancient surface of what was once tidal mud,
npon which the carcase of the bird was left after
its death, the upper being composed of the
layers of alluvium deposited by subsequent tides,
and to these we are indebted for the preservation
of the fossil. The impi-essions of the feather
are most beautifully preserved upon the lower
slab, exhibiting the tail and wings, and some
further portions of the skeleton itself Tlie
head, neck, and dorsal vertebrje alone are wanting. The right scajiula and humerus, and both
the fore-arms, are well preserved. Two of the fingers of the wing ajipear to have been free, and to

In modern birds the anterior of the three digits of the
pinion remains free, and in some species supports
a claw or spur — as, for instance, in many of the
Thrushes a tubercle, or small callosity, can be felt
with more or less distinctness. Several Plovers
and Jacanas have spurs, as also the Spur-winged
Geese (Plectropterus), while the Screamer {Fala-
medea cornuta) has two spurs, and the Megapodes
have a tubercular rudiment of a pinion-claw.

The lower light limb is well preserved, con-
sisting of femur, tibia, and tarso-metatarsal bones.
To the latter bone four toes are articulated, one
hind toe and three fore toes, the latter armed
with sharp recurved claws. The foot agrees with
that of a true perching bird, but from the
fan-wise and rounded arrangement of the wing-
feathers, it would appear to ha\e lioeii a bird of
feeble flight. The most singular cliaiartoistic of
this Oolitic bird is its tail, which is complete,
and consists of no fewer than twenty narrow elon-
gated vertebrse, the dimensions of which slowly
but constantly diminish, so that the last is the
smallest. The feathers of the tail -axe attached in
pairs to each vertebra throughout its entire length.
In most recent birds we find the tail very short
and powerful, composed of vertebrse varying from
five to nine in number, with well-developed spinous
processes on their upper and under side, the last vertebra being very peculiarly formed, and,
with few exceptions, it is always the largest. This last joint, called the as coccijfjis, or plough-
share bone, is composed of two or more coalesced vertebi'K, and gives attachment to the rectrices or
quill-feathers of the tail, besides supporting the oil-glands. The above woodcut exhibits the peculiar
ending to the tail of Archwopteryx, as compared with that of a recent bird.

ARCH^EOPTERTX LITHOGKAPHICA.

238 NATURAL HISTORY.

Before concluding this article, it remains to say a few words on the Fossil Forms,* which
are very few in number. With regard to Paleontology, the numerous papers published by Pro-
fessors Owen and Huxley in Great Britain, Professor Alphonse Milne-Edwards in France, and
the masterly researches carried on by Professor O .0. Mareh, of Yale College in America, have thrown
a flood of light upon the ancient forms of the class Aves, Ijefore almost wholly luiknown, and have
to a great extent removed those barriers which seemed before to separate bii-ds completely as a class
from the rest of the Vertebrata.

That the presumed existence of birds at the period of the Secondary rocks should have been fii-st
intimated by their footprints may seem strange, but as far back as 1835, a notice appeai"ed in "SOli-
man's Journal," stating that Dr. Deane had discovered impressions resembling tJie feet of birds upon
some slabs of red sandstone from Connecticut. Dr. Hitchcock was the first who submitted these
tracks to careful scientific investigation, and concluded that they had been produced " by the feet of
bii-ds." These gigantic three-toed footprints have been found in more than twenty places, scattered
through a tract of countiy nearly eighty miles in extent, and they are repeated through strata more
than one thousand feet in thickness. t Upwards of two thousand of these Ornithichnites had been
observed and examined by Professor Hitchcock several years ago ; but notwithstanding the most
diligent and careful search, not a vestige of organic remains of either bird or pterodactyl has as yet
been discovered in these beds. Numerous coprolites occur in the Connecticut rocks, and Dr. Dana has
very ingeniously argued, from the analysis of their bodies, that, like guano, they are the droppings of
birds rather than of reptiles.

The fossil footprints exhibit regularly, where the joints are seen, the same number as exists in the
feet of living three-toed birds, and in each continxious line of tracks the three-jointed and five-jointed toes
are placed alternately outwards, first on one side and then on the other. In some impressions, besides
the three toes in front, the rudiment of the fourth toe is seen behind. It is not often that the matrix
has been fine enough to retain impressions of the integument, or skin of the foot, but in one specimen
found by Dr. Deane at Turner's Falls, on the Connecticut River, these markings are well preserved,
and were recognised by Professor Owen us resembling the skin of the Ostrich and not that
of reptiles.

Later researches, however, tend to prove that these footprints are not, after all, those of birds;
for Professor Marsh, in his address to the American Association for the Advancement of Science,
in 1 877, remarks : — "A careful investigation of nearly all the ' specimens yet discovered, has con-
vinced me that there is not a particle of evidence that any of these fossU impressions were made by
birds. Most of these three-toed tracks were certainly not made by birds but by quadrapeds,
which usually walked upon their hind feet alone, and only occasionally put to the ground
tlieir smaller anterior extremities. I have myself detected the impressions of these anterior
limbs in connection with the posterior footprints of nearly all of the supposed ' bird-tracks ' described,
and have little doubt that they will eventually be found with all. These double impressions
are precisely the kind which Dinosaurian reptiles would make, and as the only characteristic bones
yet found in the same rocks belong to animals of this group, it is but fair to attribute all these foot-
prints to Dinosaurs, even where impressions of fore-feet have been detected, until some evidence
appears tliat they were made by birds. I have no doubt that birds existed at this time, although at
present the proof is wanting."

Of the ArclutopterijK from the Oolitic beds we have already spoken, and passing on from the
Oolitic to the Cretaceous formation, we still find remains of birds exceedingly rare. But, just as in
the prece ling series of beds, land-surfaces and fresh-water deposits are few in number, and terrestrial
organic remains are consequently uncommon. In 1840, under the name of Cimolioi-nis cHomedeus^
Professor Owen described a leg and a wing-bone of a longipennate natatorial bird, equalling the
Albatross in size ; but the subsequent discovery by Dr. Bowerbank of several additional bones and
a part of the head, led that careful observer to conclude that these remains belonged to a ptero-
dactyl, and not to a bird, as firet supposed by Owen. As long ago as 1 858, true bird-remains had
been discovered by Mr. Lucas Barrett in the Upper Greensand, near Cambridge, a formation

* For assistance in this portion of the article the author is indebted to his friend, Dr. Hem-y Woodward, r.R.S.
+ Lyell's " Manual of Geology," Sth Edition, \>. US.

FOSSIL BIRDS. 239'

extensively worked for phospliate of lime extracted from coprolite nodules. Portions of the metacarpus,
metatarsus, tibia, and femur have been detected and named by Professor Seeley Enaliornis (Pelaffornis)
harretti. Professor Newton believed tliera to be the remains of a true bird, having some resemblance
to a Penguin. Tliese are the only bird-bones of Cretaceous age met with in England.

Thanks, however, to the labours of Professor 0. C. Marsh, of Yale College, Newhaven, Conn.,
U.S.A., in the remarkable series of Cretaceous lacustrine deposits of the Atlantic coast and the region
of the Eocky Mountains, no fewer than thirteen species of bird-remains have been described by that
accomplished paleontologist. The most important of these remains are no doubt the Odonlornithes, or
birds with teeth, the first of which, the Ichthijornis dispuir, was described in 1872. This
i-emarkable bird was, though apparently aquatic in his habits, provided with well-developed wings,
constructed upon the usual typical plan of a bird. The jaws were furnished with compressed
pointed teeth, fixed in distinct sockets. The vertebrae were bi-concave — a character unknown in
the entire class Aves, but common to certain reptiles, amphibia, and fishes.

The other remarkable bii-d with teeth is the Hesperornis regalis, a gigantic diving bird,
wonderfully like an existing Diver, or Grebe, but standing between five and six feet high, also
from the Cretaceous formations of Kansas. The teeth of this great bird were not implanted in
sockets, but in a deep groove extending the whole length of the mandible. The teeth have
pointed crowns, covered with enamel, and suj)j)orted on stout fangs, like the teeth of Mosasauroid
reptiles. Externally, the jaw-bones appear to have been covered by a horny bill, as .in modern
bii'ds, and the extremity of the jaw was without teeth, and covered by a bill. The breast-bone
is destitute of a keel, and the wings are quite rudimentary. Its tail is not lizard-like, as in
Archaopteryx, but consists of about twelve vertebras, of which the last three or four are amalga-
mated together to form a flat terminal bone. The tail seems to have been capable of upand-
down movement in a vertical plane, thus probably fitting this organ to serve as a swimming-
paddle or rudder, and to aid it in diving. In one of his lectures Professor Huxley has spoken
of these large extinct species as follows : — " They difier from all existing birds, and so far
resemble reptiles in the one important character that they are provided with teeth; and it is in
conseqiience of this discovery that we are obliged to modify the definition of the classes of birds
and reptiles. . . . Before the production of such creatures as these it might have been said
that a bird had such and such characteristics, among which was an absence of teeth, Ijut the
discovery of a bii'd that had teeth shows at once that there were ancient birds which in that
particular respect approached reptiles more than any existing bird does."

Another remarkable " Oruitholite," as these bird-remains are called, has been discovered
recently in the London Clay in the Isle of Sheppey, a marine deposit rich in relics, brought
probably from the neighbouring Eocene continent by some great river, wJiose embouchure was
not far distant. This deposit has already yielded remains of Ualcyornk, a supposed fossil Kingfisher,
of Lithornis, a small Vulturine bird, of Dasornis, a Struthious bird of the size of the living Ostrich, of
a small wading-bird, and of a longipennate bird, with wings as large as those of an Albatross. The
fossil last found makes us acquainted with a strange saw-billed bird, probably a fish-eating one, like a
Merganser, but in which the bony serrations (for they are not true teeth) were of large size, and when
covei-ed with a horny sheath must have been formidable organs of prehension. Professor Owen
named this remarkable bird Odontopleryx toliapicus.

From the Eocene slate rocks of the Canton Glarus, the skeleton, almost entire, of a small Pas-
serine bird, of the size of a Lark, has been obtained, and from the gypsuni quarries (Eocene) of Mont-
martre and Meudon, near Paris, several genera of bii-ds have been described, such as the Cryptornis
and the Pahtoyit/iahts, whilst the Gypjsm-nis is described as the giant of the family of Rails, being as
large as a Stork. Parts of more than one large fossil bml have been obtained from the Miocene
deposits of the Sewalik Hills of India, whilst Madagascar has yielded three species of Jipyornis, a
wingless bird, whose affinities are clearly with the great wingless and extinct Moas (Dinornis) of the
distant islands of New Zealand, once so abundant even within the period of occupation of those islands
by primitive races of mankind. It is quite consistent, however, with what we already know of per-
sistent types, to assume that the wingless birds (of which the Diiwrnis, the Jipyonds, the Apteryx,
the Emu, the Cassowary, the Rhea, and the Ostrich are representatives), have lived on from tlie Trias-

'2i0 SAIL HAL UL-^iOKY.

to the present day, having spread over tlie whole southern workl, and in Eocene times passing north
even as far as Britain {Dasornis from the London Clay was as large as the Ostrich). The tish-eating
birds, of which the Hesperornis and Ichthyornis, as well as the later Odontopteryx, are the illustrations,
belong to a difiei-ent type from the existing species, and if Archcbopteryx is an ancient form of
Perching-bird, the same may be said of that too. Within the last few years, in the deposits of the
Paris basin, amongst remains of many genera which remain to the present day, have also been
discovered relics of Flamingo-like birds, and even of a Roller {Leptosomus), a peculiar bii-d now
restricted to Madagascar. Parrots were also rei)resented in the Miocene formations, and a Guinea-
fowl {Numida) has been discovered in the Post Pliocene deposits near Salzburg, as well as Necrornis,
a defunct kind of Touraco from the bone-beds of Samson in Gascony.

In the recent deposits of the Mascarene Islands, the remains of the extinct " Dodo," " Solitaire,"
(Aphanapteryx), the latter being a gigantic flightless Rail with a long bill. Parrots, &c.,'mark the
representations of the terrestrial fauna of a once extensive continent, now submerged, save the islands
of Maui-itius, Rodriguez, and Bourbon. In New Zealand, again, we have the Moas, the giant Gallinule
(N'otoniis inantelli), a species perhajjs not yet quite extinct, the extmct Flightless Goose (Cneiniornis),
and an fnoniidus bird of prey {Harpagornis), large enough to have preyed upon the Moas.

To cmirludc, let us ask this serious question: — Are the people of this and other countries
doing their duty as regards the birds that live side by side with them ? Within the last two
hundred years many of the species mentioned in the present chapter were yet alive — the Dodo, the
Solitaire, and no doubt the Moa — for in the British Museum are some feathers in a chief's weapon
brought from New Zealand by Captain Cook, which could scarcely have belonged to any other bird
but the Dinornis. It is by the hand of man, and principally of civilised man, that these interesting
birds have been exterminated. " These lost species," writes Professor Alfred Newton, " there is some
ground for believing were mainly, if not wholly, peculiar to the locality, and after having made good
their existence, maybe for ages, fell easy and helpless victims to the forces which European civilisation
brought into play. Chief among these forces was fire. In all countries and at all times it has been
the habit of colonists to burn the woods surrounding their settlements, partly to clear the ground for
future crops, and partly (in tropical climates especially) to promote the salubrity of their stations.
When fire was set to the forest and bush of a small island, the whole of which could be burnt at once,
the disastrous effect on its fauna can easily be conceived. Even the animals which happened to escape
the conflagration itself would speedily starve, owing to the at least temporary destruction of the native
flora whence, either directly or indirectly, they derived their wonted sustenance." And to these causes
of destruction man now adds arms of precision, so that large game of all kinds fall to his gun or his
rifle, or, retiring gradually before him, their original habitat knows them no more, and they ultimately
die out. Nor is the fair sex above censure. For whose adornment are the beautiful Humming-birds
of South America sacrificed in such countless thousands, so that their little bodies now form a staple
article of trade to Europe, along with the lovely Rollers, Glossy Starlings, and Bee-eaters of Africa,
and the brilliant Impeyan Pheasant of the Himalayas '\ Sure extinction awaits these birds, if not
in our generation, at least in the next, for if the species can save themselves to a small extent by
their wings, as the Dodo could not do, and the Apteryx cannot now, the firearms of the hunter more
than counterbalance the advantages possessed by the hapless birds he pursues. Stronger measures than
a " close time " for birds during breeding-season are needed, to contend against the persecution which
attends them for the rest of the year ; and nothing but the exercise of common sense and humanity on
the jjart of men and women in civilised Europe can save many a beautiful bird from extermination.
It is to be regretted that a fashion should prevail with even the most highly-educated of the fair sex,
which has long been banished amongst men, excepting those of the most savage tribe.s. That the
women of Gi'eat Britain may be the first to abandon the practice of decorating their wearing
apparel with feathers and wings of birds, a fashion which causes immense slaughter in many countries,
is the sincere wish of the writer.

R. BOWDLER SHARPE.

[Note.— Since this article was printed, a new specimen of Arckcwpteri/x lias been examined : its zoological position
amongst the Birds is open to doubt.— Editor.]

CLASS REPTILIA.— THE REPTILES.
CHAPTER I.

THE CHELONIANS.
General Characters of Reptiles popularly so-calleil - Divided into Reptilia and Amphibia— THE BUCKLERED REPTILES
— The Four Divisions — The Buckler of the Chelonians — The Carapace— The Plastron — Different kinds of Shells—
"TortoisesheU"— Protecting Bucklers— Feet -Shoulder-blade and Arm-joint— The Humerus (foot note)— Appearance
of Tortoise's Head— The Process of Eating— Skull- Mouth and Jaw— Eye— Ear— Tongue— How Chelonians Breathe—
Their Lungs and Heart— Digestive Organs— The Eggs— Extraordinary Vitality of Chelonians— Brain— THE
TORTOISES, THE LAND CHELONIANS— Characters— The Gkeat Land ToRToisES-Mr. Darwin's Visit to the
Galapagos Islands— Enormous Size and 'Weight of the Tortoises— Probable Extinction- Distinctive Features— Habits-
Great Tortoises at the IVater-springs— Tortoises of the Mascarene and Aldabra Islands— Indian Tortoises— The Common
oi- Cin-tk Turt,.ise-African and American Species-THE EMYDES, THE RIVER, OR MARSH TORTOISES-
{■liaractuis-Tli.' Tiiia).i)is— The American Box Tortoise— Habits— The Genus Emys— -E«i!/s cwroprea— The Painted
Emys (7, ,,,,,,,/s ,„.„ ,//j*,— The Caspian Terrapin— The Snapping Turtle— The Chelodines - The Matamata— The
Snake-neckL-d Tortoises -The " Aiyussa " Tortoise -THE TRIONYCIDES, THE MUD, OR SOFT TORTOISES-
Cliaracters— Habits— The Soft-shelled Tortoise— The Cryptopus— The Egyptian Trionyx— The Gangetic Trionyx— THE
CHELONIADES, THE MARINE CHELONIANS, THE TLTRTLES -The Green Turtle— Habits— .Size-Food—
Egg-laying— How they are Caught— Characters— The Hawk's-bill Turtle— Why so Named— How the TortoisesheU is
Obtained -The Logger-headed Turtles -The Leather-back Turtles — The Sphargis — Extinct Chelonians— Classifi-
cation of the Order.

When a Tortoise, a Lizard, a Snake, a CrocodUe, a Newt, and a Frog are seen together alive in a
zoological garden, or stuffed in a museum, there is not the least difficulty in deciding that they, one
and all, ought to belong to a particular gi-oup of the animal kingdom, and that they differ from all
the other animals called beasts, birds, and fish. Whether they be alive or dead, they convey a

242 NATURAL EltiTUKT.

repulsive feeling to the mind, which is not felt on examining any other animal. In confinement, the
general stillness of most, and the slow crawling motions of some of these creatures, stamp the whole
with the title of creeping things, or reptiles. And when they are in their natural homes, where some
display an activity of a singular and occasionally rapid kind, the word creeping is so very generally
true to nature that the term reptile really does convey the difference between them and the other
vertebrated animals. No one can confound any of these creatures with any of the Mammalia.
Most observers of bii'ds would object to their pets being compared with a reptile, and would say that,
although the claws and scaly legs of many a bird are not without resemblance to those of the
crawling things, there can be no satisfactory comj)arison between them and the feathered tribes.
There is no difficulty in distinguishing between mo.st fish and the reptiles.

Common experience, then, without troubling itself about the insides of the creatures, has
separated those whose names were mentioned at the commencement of this chapter from the other
animals with vertebrse or back-bones. Beasts, birds, fishes, and reptiles used to be the gi-eat
divisions of the Vertebrata.

A visit to a collection of living or dead reptiles impresses one with the great number of kinds
there are of them, and how very varied are their shapes and peculiar gifts. Some have limbs, others
have not ; some have a skin, most ai'e scaled, and a few have a i-egular ai-mour. They live on land
and in fresh and .salt water, and some indulge in a kind of flight. Some begin life in the water, and
end it on dry land. If they are really to be divided from the other Vei-tebrata, it must be acknow-
ledged that there are greater differences amongst them in shape and in method of life than there are
in any of the other classes already noticed.

Very early in the history of comparative anatomy it was shown that the reptOes, popularly
so-called, were cold-blooded, like fish, and that it was necessary, principally from the method of life
in their youth, or on account of the changes which occur in the anatomy and physiology of their
breathing apparatus during their growth, to separate them into two groups : the reptiles, to which
belong the Tortoises, Crocodiles, Lizards, and Serpents ; and the Amphibia, which in many instances
lead at some time of their existence an aquatic life, and which may have tails, like Newts {Tritons),
or which begin life with a tail, and lose it during growth, like the Erogs and Toads.

The Reptilia, or Reptiles, are cold-blooded animals, with back-bones, which have a scaly or
bony-plated skin, which breathe by lungs, and whose heart has the venti'icles not completely separated.
They have a single occipital condyle to the back of the head, and they may lay eggs or produce
living young. The existing reptiles are divided into several orders, some of which were represented
in the ages of the past. They are the Cheloiuans, or Tortoises ; C'rocodilia, or Crocodiles ; Sauriaus,
or Lizai-ds ; Ophidia, or Snakes.*

ORDER CHELONIA— THE BUCKLERED REPTILES.

Tortoises, Terrapins, and Turtles are familiar objects of natural history, and belong, to an order of
the reptiles called Chelonia.1- These Chelonians are cold-blooded, four-footed reptiles, protected by
a case, buckler, Or .shell, and without teeth in their jaws, and they are thus distinguished from all
other animals. They usually lead monotonous lives, are numerous in individuals, and there are many
genera and families of them. They are divided into four great divisions, and they frequent land,
fresh water, and the sea. They have a great and remarkable geogr.iphical distribution, which, in
some instances, is very suggestive to the geologist and physical geogi-apher, and one gi-oup (the
Turtles) is of commercial and gastronomic importance.

As there are Land Tortoises, Fresh- water Chelonians, mud-loving-ones, and Sea Tm-tles, the
* This multiplicity of great dirisions indicates that there is very great variety in the reptilian class of structure and
habits. It is also true that the kinds are very numerous, and that the genera are abundant. Many of the reptiles are never
observed by experienced naturalists, and it may be said with gi-eat truth that the knowledge of the liabits of the group is not
so advanced as the knowledge of their anatomy. The classification of some of the genera is in dire confusion, the localities
whence some important kinds come are not decided, and unfortunately it is too true that the life history of many is quite
unknown. In the necessarily restricted space allotted to the reptiles in a work on natural history, wliich docs not deal
with advanced anatomy or elaborate classification, it is only possible to describe and notice well-known or typical kinds ; an<l
in doing this the works of Cuvier, Owen, Giinther, Dr. Andrew Smith, Coues, Bell, Rymer Jones, Gray, and Hu.xley, have
been freely quoted, and often to the very letter. In making this acknowledgment, it is trusted that the accidental omission,
where such occurs, of the names of these distinguished naturalists ivill be forgiven. t Chelonia, Tortoise.

THE CARAPACE UF THE TORTOISE.

order may be divided into eoiTesponding families, under tlie separate titles of Testiidines, Eniydes,
Ti-ionycides, and Cheloniades. The difference of shape and construction of the members of these
" families " is clearly connected with then- diverse methods of living. The kinds of some families
swim freely ; those of others swim and walk, or walk without being able to swim. Moreover,
there is a connection between their habits and the food, some being carnivorous, others enjoying a
mixed diet, and the rest being vegetarians. All lay eggs, and leave them to Dame Nature's care, and
liibemation is common in all except the marme kinds.

The buckler of the Chelonians consists of a deej)ly-seated bony framework, the top of which,
situated on the back of the animal, is called the carajiMe, and the underneath, placed below the
body, is termed the plastron, or by some
the sternum. There is in many Che-
lonians a shell which covers these parts,
and is ornamented ; and in one species
this shell is the " toitoisesliell " of
commerce. In otliers, however, it is
not found, and its place is occupied by
skin. Curious as these protecting buck-
lei-s are, they are still formed by stiiic-
tures which can be traced in most
vertebrate animals, but which have been
modified to siut the requirements of the
Chelonians. The carapace on the top of
the Chelonian is a modification of the
bones of the vertebral column and ribs,
and also consists of bony plates which,
growing in the skin, unite all together.

The spinous processes of the dorsal
vertebra? and their ribs enter into the
composition of the framework of the
carapace, and a certain number of single
and of paired pieces of dermal bones
complete it. These dermal bones are
called complementary plates, and single ones may be in the neck, ia the middle line, or behind
in the sacral region, whilst there are twenty-two plates on the sides, eleven being on each side.
These accessory skin bones ai-e called respectively cervical, sacral, or pygal, and marginal plates.

A careful examination of the inside of a carapace shows that the spinous processes of the second
to the eighth dorsal vertebrje are flattened out, so as to form the middle of the buckler and compose
the median plates. Then it appears that the ribs of these same vertebra, and of the ninth also, are
enlarged above so as to form eight long flat plates {costal), which are united with those in front
and behind by toothed joints or interlocking sutures.

The expanded ribs also unite with the median plates, formed by the expanded spinous
processes ; and a portion of each rib may be seen underneath the plate-like part and projecting
beyond it at the side of the carapace, and its outer or free end is received into a pit in one of the
inarginal plates.

But as the expansion of the rib passes to the spinous process to form part of the carapace,
it is separated from the narrower part of the rib, which comes as usual from the side of the vertebrse.
A space thus exists between the ribs and theii- expansions, and it contains the muscles of the back.

The under view of the carapace shows the bones of the dorsal vertebrre, which enter into
its composition in the middle line ; and on each side are the ribs, with their expanded portions
filling up the spaces between them. A transverse section of the carapace shows that the breadth
is greater than the height, as a rule, and that an ujiper arch is formed* by the ribs aijjl their ex-
pansions, and the expanded spinous processes of the vertebra form the key-stone. The sides of the
plastron are seen as curved lines ; and at the sides is a marginal plate, connecting the plastron and rib.

241

NATURAL HISTORi:

A view of the carapace from aljo\e, wlien the ornamental part of the sliell is removed, shows
a row of expanded spinous processes in tlie middle line, flanked by the exjianded costal plates
which cover in the greater part of the carapace. At the edges of each of these is a projection
narrower than they are, and it is the outward continuation of the rib. The ends of the ribs are fixed
into a lim of mai'ginal plates. There is a broad plate in the middle line (the nuchal) in front,
connected on each side with the front marginal plate; and in some kinds, behind, there is a
pygal plate in the middle line, and, like the nuchal, it is attached to the series of expanded
spinous processes.

The under part of the buckler, or " the jdastron," is not an outside development of the breast-
bone or sternum, but is formed exclusively Ijy skin or dermal bones, and usually consists of nine

pieces or plates, more or less developed.
Of these, one jjiece is in front, and there
are four pieces on each side, between
which there may or may not be a
middle space, which is closed by skin oi-
by cartilage.

These different jslates have received
names which formerly were derived from
the belief that this bone expansion was
a breast-bone or sternum modified. Now
it being believed that these bony pieces
are all ossifications of the skin, or are
what is called membrane bones, the names
are dLSerent, and relate to the word
plastron and their relative position.

It has been noticed that the spaces
left between the plates of the pla.stron
are tilled np with cartilage in some
Chelonians, and with skin in others ; and
it is readily observed that in the cara-
pace of the Green Turtle, which has been
taken as the example of Chelonian
upper armour, the vacant spaces between
the ribs and the marginal plates are
also closed by cartilages.

Some of the Chelonians have enor-
mous shells, and in others they are small
.1 relation to the size of the body ; in some the texture of cai-apace and jJastron is all bony, and
n others it is gristly or cartilaginous, or bony, with a softer margin. The shells of some are flat, as
n the Turtles ; in others, as in the great Tortoises, the carapace is high and arched. Many
Chelonians cannot retire the head, tail, and limbs within the pi-otection of their shells, and others
can do this perfectly. Most have the upper and lower parts of their more or less protecting cases
soldered together at the edges, but in some there is only a cartilaginous or gristly union; and whilst
in the majority the carapace and plastron are immovable in themselves, in some there is an amount
of mobility in the plastron, by its having one or more unossified and cartilaginous parts stretching
across from one side to the other.

The carapace and plasti-on may be beautified Ijy an outside covering, the " tortoiseshell," which
differs greatly in its kind and ornamentation in the various groups into which the Chelonia are
divisible. In many the well-known " tortoiseshell " covei's over all the hind pai-ts, and in some only
a portion of the protecting case is thus ornamented. There are some Chelonians with a covering
resembling leathern skins, 'and others have the plastron covered with soft skin. The " tortoiseshell,"
which is the ornamental horny covering to the carapace and plastron, and out of which hair-combs,
knife-handles, and inlaid work are made, is to all intents and purposes an outside or scarf-skin

Ay.lluMl i/f TJIE riJlHul.'iE.

SKELETON OF TORTOISE, FKOM ON

structure belonging to the epidermis. It is in the tonn of thin plates, which are united together at
their edges, and which correspond, to a certain extent only, with the underlying bones of the shell.
The number, size, and position of these plates difier in all the great groups which possess them,
and even in the genera and species, and so do their colours and ornamentation. In most there
is a very geometrical configuration to the plates and to their grouping; and as large pieces of the
epidermoid covering, or " tortoiseshell," are the best, those of the Hawk's-bill Turtle are the most in
request. Usually, the position of the toi-toiseshell plates is impressed on the carapace and plastron
beneath them, the edges being recognised as indentations.

The breast-bone, or sternum, which is so well seen in Birds and Mammals, does not exist in the
Chelonia, neither are there any
sternal ribs ; moreover, the ver-
tebrre which enter into the com-
pasition of the carapace have no
transverse processes. Only the
ribs are present at the sides, and
they arise between the body of
the vertebrse and their neural
arch, which is capped by the
expanded spinous process.

Consolidated and compara-
tively motionless as are the bones and plates of the carapace and plastron, this is not the character
of the rest of the skeleton, for the neck, tail, and limbs can be active enough, and their anatomy is in
accordance with their mobility.

A remarkable little Tortoise* has a long plastron, which can be bent across just behind the first
quarter of its length, and it is broad and very close behind. There are openings for the head and
neck, and for the four limbs, so that the armour is very complete. When the animal is alarmed, and
withdraws its head and fore-limbs under the cai-apace, the movable front part of the plastron
closes over their openings and effectually covers them ; and when it desires to move again, the traj)-
door is opened by being lowered, and the head and fore-limbs can come forth. Another Tortoise, f
belonging to the same great group of Land Tortoises as that just mentioned, has the carapace
movable behind, but not the plastron in front, and the animal protects its tail and hind-limbs
effectually by bending it down. But this protection does not take place through the agency of
an elastic ligament, as in the Pyxis Tortoise, allowing the plastron to be bent. On the contrary, the
plastron does not move, but the vertebrse, ribs, and plates of the hinder part of the carapace
are not rigid, and can be bent down and curved by muscular action, so as to shut up the posterior
openings, by approaching the back surface of the plastron. This last is rounded behind, and in its
general construction it differs somewhat from that of these so-called Box Tortoises. One of the most
perfectly protected Chelonians, although it belongs to a soft-skinned group called Mud or Soft
Tortoises, hcxs three holes in the back ;)art of the united buckler. Amongst the Chelonians with
incompletely protecting bucklers are the Turtles, for vast as their shields may be, still their head and
limbs cannot be brought within them as in the Tortoises. Still gi-eater want of covering is noticed
in the Alligator Terrapin % of North America, and in the great-headed Platystei-non of China.§

The feeli'are not heeled in the Chelonia, so that they have a hand-like look, and the ankle-joint
beneath the tibia and fibula has only one bone, in contact with it in some kinds, and two in others.
Four other bones are present in the Tortoise, which has five small toes, the little toe projecting from
a metatarsal bone that sticks out from the foot. There is a good amount of fleshy padding under
the fingers and toes in some kinds, and a web exists between them in others. The swollen
appearance of the under part of the feet of the Tortoise is remarked by every young naturalist
who has kept them as pets, and the nails are attached to the very short digits which seem like
little excrescences. But other Chelonians, such as the marine and the fresh-water kinds, have
well-developed fingers and toes, with webs and nails. The Tui-tles especially move ^^ith great
gi-ace, the hands and feet taking on a " feathering " motion, like paddles.

* Pjuxis arachmidet. + Kinixi/s homenna. J Cheli/dra serpentina. § Plati/stermn mcgacephalum.

^46 NATURAL HISTORY.

One of the peculiarities of the C'heloniaiis is tliat instead of their slioulder-blaJe and joint
for the arms being outside and xi[)on the ribs, as they are in eveiy other gi-oup of things
possessing ribs and arms, tlxey are beneath {Jie ribs and inside the body.
They are under the carapace, which is made up of altered ribs. The
shoulder-girdle, of which the shoulder-blade forms, as in the Birds, a very
important part, has a coracoid bone of great relative size, and there
is a third large bone connected with the scapula, which is called the
acroiTiion process. - The girdle is a three-branched structure, and the cavity
(glenoid) for the joint of the upper arm -bone is composed of a part of
the scapula and part of the coracoid. There is no collar-bone, and as
there i& no breast-bone or sternum, the shoulder-girdle is hung, as it
were, underneath the bodies of the vertebrje. The scapula, which is a
cylindrical bone, is dii-ected upwards in the proper position of the animal,
and is hung to the body of the second vertebra of the carapace by a
.io-ament. The coracoid is flat and more or less triangular, and is directed

:'LAR APPARATUS OF = , jt mi ■ i • i-i i • • • ■

TOKToisE. backwards in the body.* There is nothing like this tripartite incomplete

s,scapuia^,^a^^A<jnm^m^ Process ;gij.(]ig j,^ ^^j Q^\^^y. ofder or class of the Vertebrata.

In the early stage of the existence of the Chelonia the girdle is not
within the ribs, but in front and outside of them, but during growth the permanent position
gi-adually prevails. This remark applies also to the pelvic bones and part of the thighs, for
they, instead of being behind the ribs, are beneath and inside them in adults.

Everybody who has kept Tortoises, or who has had the opportunity of watching them in a
zoological garden, must be struck with the shape of the head as it is slowly jiut forth from
beneath its protecting shell. Its expressionless face, with its large
nose-openings, meaningless eyes, and toothless, lipless jaws, is as
remarkable as the apparently lai-ge brain-ca.se, which is broad behind
and very solid-looking. There is no external ear, but there is a
tympanic membrane, which is visible in some kinds.

To see one of these sedate creatures eating does not give the
impression that it is an easy or enjoyable proceeding. The piece
of cabbage or other leaf is grasped in the wide gape of the jawn, head of tvetle.

which have a horny plate instead of teeth, and the motion of the

lower jaw is simply up and down. The head is projected at each bite, and gradually the
morsel is forced down the throat. It is evident, however, that although the creature is very
slow in its movements it has very good eyes, and that it can detect its favourite food at once.
Roaming about slowly, in search of food, the Tortoise turns its head but little to the right
or left; nevertheless, it has the back of the skull well suited for movement, for there is a
single condyle, as in the Birds, by which it articulates with the first bone of the vertebral
column.

On comparing the bones of this skull with those of the otlier clas.ses, it is found that there
are no nasal bones present, and that they are replaced by additions to the frontal bones, in the
form of two pre-frontals. The parietal bones are largely developed, and are prolonged downwards
as thin plates to the bone forming part of the front of the base of the skull or the basi-sphenoid.
This prolongation occupies the place of the wing of the sphenoid bone (ali-sphenoid) in Birds. The
pre-maxillfe are small and are usually united, and the vomer is single and forms a plate below on the

* Tlie bones of the fore-arm joint witli a humerus which is remarkable for its shape, wliich is adapted to support
the weight of the body whilst the fore-limb is in movement. When compared with the corresponding bone of a mammal it
appears to be out of its axis. The body of the bone is berrt, the head of it is very rounded, and there are two knobs or
tuberosities near it. One of these is located behind and above and the other is placed inwards and backwards. In the
higher animals their position is internal and external, so that the Tortoise's humerus has, as it were, a twist. The lower
part of the bone is wideand flat from before backwards, and there is a furrow along tlie outer border which is especially
developed in the marine Chelonians, but less so in the fresh-water kinds, and least in the Tortoises. The marine Chelonians
have not the bent condition of the humerus noticed in the land kinds, and the difference relates to their very different
mode of life .

Ay.rruMy uf the lorauitiE.

hanl palate, and joins tlie palatine bone on each side, to form a veiy solid piece, behind wliicli is
the ojiening of the inner nostril. There is a post-frontal bone, which, with the squamosal of the
ear-bone, occupies the upper part of the temporal region, and the last-named bone is placed at the
side of the ear-capsule and above the quadrate bone. The pterygoid bones of the base of the skidl
and hard palate are behind the nostril, and are united together, and with the quadrate bones also.
There is no transvei-se bone.

All these bones, most of which, but not all, are comparable with those of the Birds, are united
together immovably, and the solidity of the skull is great. In the Turtles, and in some of the
Terrapins, there is a false roof to the skull, produced by a flattening of the parietal ridge and its
union in front with the post-frontal bones and behind with the squamosal. It is this which gives
the large and solid appearance to the head. The skulls are nearly all fiice and outside, and the
brain-cavity is very small.

On examining tlie mouth of the Tortoise a sharp edge of liorn is felt; and it is noticed that
the mandible is very solid, and that it unites with the head-bones far back, and after the fashion
of the Bird rather than of the Mammal. There are traces of all the different bones which make up
the lower jaw, on each side, in the Bu-ds, to be found iu the Chelonia, but they all become solidly
united at an early age. In the Tortoises there is union
at the chin, and the dentary bone resembles that of the
Bird, but the Matamata of North Brazil is said to have
the front bones of tlie lower jaw separate.

The jaw-joint, which moves on the skull on each
side, is fitted into a wide and large quadrate bone, which
is fi.xed to the skull, the mammalian method of articula
tion not being seen, but that of the Bird being closely /'m^
followed. Teeth are absent in the group, but in some
kinds the horny substance of the jaws is irregular and
saw-like, and the front may be produced into a kind
of beak.

Siglit is evidently keen in most Chelonians, and
the eye is a very elaborate organ, provided with eye-
lids, a nictitating membrane, and well-developed tear
glands. There is much perfection of the movement of the

■eye-ball, and there are six powerful muscles, and four smaller ones, which embrace the oi>tic nerve and
are expanded over the ball behind. There is the same considerable convexity of the cornea, and
the smaller convexity of the rest of the front of the eye in the Chelonians which was noticed in the
Birds, and singularly enough the plates forming a bony ring of separate pieces seen in some of
these last ai-e pi-esent generally in some of the Chelonians. The iris is circular in the Order.

The internal ear has the same important parts as in the Birds, and there are a tympanic
cavity, a rudimentary cochlea, and three semicircular canals. The Eustachian tube of the higher
animals is represented, and particles of a calcareous nature, called otoliths, are found in the sac-
like cochlea. The vibrations of the tympanic membrane, which is visible at the side of the skull,
are transmitted to the internal ear by one little ossicle instead of by three, as in the Slammalia.
It is said that some of the gigantic Tortoises are deaf.

The sense of taste must be reduced to the utmost in the Chelonia, and the tongue is covered
with a thick rugged membrane, smooth in the Turtles, but beset with pointed papillse in the Great
Tortoises. A number of glands exist beneath the membrane, and supply the mouth with a moisten-
ing secretion, and the tongue is supported by a hyoid bone, which is cartilaginous, and sends a little
bone into the centre of its substance — the lingual bone.

The hyoid bone is of great importance in the Chelonians, for it not only has to do with the
tongue, but it also assists materially in the mechanism of breathing. Mammals and Birds breathe
by having air drawn into their lungs by means of the expansion of their ribs and the movement
of their chest by muscles, and by expelling it through the reverse movements, and liy the elasticity
of the lung itself. Now, Chelonians have no movable ribs, and the muscles are either wanting or are

SKILL 01 TUKTOISE

us

NATURAL msTUIi.

positively within the chest. Watch the himl or water Chelonians, and they seem never to
breathe ; it is only when these last have been under water for some time that bubbles come up
from their mouths. There is no vigorous chest movement resembling respiration. In fact, the
Chelonian lungs have air forced into them by a process not unlike that of swallowing. Keeji a
Tortoise's mouth open too long, and it will be suffocated for want of air, or close the nostrils, leaving
the mouth free, and the same result will follow. The Chelonians breathe by keeping the mouth firmlj'
closed, and by the action of certain muscles in the throat, some of which pull down the hyoid bone
and the bone of tlie toiigue, and others which restore it to the usual position. The hyoid bone being
dragged down, aii' rushes in at the nostril, gets into the mouth, and then the tongue closes the internal
nostril, whose position is at the back of the palate. Then, as the bone and tongue are moved upwards
again, the air is forced down into the lungs, and the air-cells are filled. The expiration of the air is
produced by the collapsing of the air-cells, and it passes slowly upwai-ds through the main air-tube to
the mouth. The breathing is very .slow. In the Chelonians, and all Reptilia, the midriff muscle is
absent, the chest and abdominal cavities being continuous, and all the viscera are covered with a
membrane, called pleuro-peritoneal.

The lungs of the Chelonia are large and occupy much space ; ui some, as in the Alligator Terrapin,
they are divided into several compartments, and the air-cells and the-
breathing-surface generally appear to be the most complicated near the
entrance of the main air-tube. Like those of all Reptiles, the lungs of
the Chelonians contain cold blood, and the chemical and physiological
changes in it are incomplete and slow. No brilliant red stream is
passed from the lungs to the heart in the Rejitiles, for the blood therein
flowing is dark — a mixture of oxygenised and imperfectly aerated
blood — and it is sent forth in that state by the ventricle of the heart all
over the body and into the lungs. The auricles of the heart, which
are very capacious in the Chelonia, are situated above and before
the ventricle, and are divided bj- a partition. The ventricle — for there
is only one — is muscular, and the blood rushes from the two auricles
into it and gradually distends it. In the Common Tortoise the ventricle
is little more than a simple cavity, l>ut in the Hawk's-bill Turtle the
cavity is divided into several communicating compartments by mus-
cular projections and fibres, which strengthen the whole. But in both
^> and all other instances the ventricle, by its contraction, expels the
blood, not into the auricles again, but through a sei-ies of blood-
vessels, namely, two distinct aor^se, a right and a left, and a main
vessel for the lungs or pulmonary artery. The blood of the great veins is thus mixed in the
ventricle with that from the lungs, and the mixture of oxygenated and non-aerated blood is sent forth,
some of it to the body, and some to the lungs. The two aortffi pass backwards and unite opposite
the fifth dorsal vertebra, and thence but one vessel is continued to supply the body.

Besides the system of veins and arteries, the Chelonians, as well as all Reptiles, possess large
sets of lymphatics, and they open into the great veins of the neck on each side.

The blood corpuscles of the Chelonia, and of all Reptiles, are elliptical in shape, and are
larger than those of the Birds and Mammalia ; probably those of the Tortoise are ^3-2 of a line long
and yj-j of a line broad. And experiment has shown that the temperature of the blood and of the
animal is very slightly above that of the air or water in which it may be placed for a while.

Although some Chelonians can last without food for many months, others feed constantly ; and
whilst some enjoy vegetable substances others are carnivoi-ous. Hence there is some diversity in the
structure of the dige.stive organs ; but it is only neces.sary to state that the flesh- and insect-eating kinds
have a shorter intestine than the others. In all there is a capacious gullet and oesophagus, but there
is no crop. The muscular coat of this passage is strong, and in the Turtles the inner surface is lined
with long, hard projections ])ointing towards the stomach, denying return to anything which has gone
down. The stomach is long, thick, cylindrical, and bent ; its walls are very muscular, and it is closely
comiected with the liver, that of an American fresh-water kind {Emys concinna) being imbedded in it.

11

THE GREAT TORTOISES. 249

Laying eggs, the C'lielouia luivo tlieiii of a calcareous nature outside in the Land Tortoiwes and
fresh-water kinds ; but the Turtle's eggs arc leathery, oi' like parchment to the touch. The construction
of the egg-producing organ greatly resembles that of Birds ; and it is only necessary to state that the
internal structure of the egg and the development of the young in its early stage differ in no very
essential circumstances from those of the Bird. The carapace and plastron apj)ear before the egg is
broken by the outcoming Chelonian.

There is a wonilerful amount of vitality in the Cheionians, and, indeed, in many other
Reptiles. Some can live for many months, and it is said years, without food, and it is well known that
movements and indications of life remain for a considerable time after the head has been removed from
the body or the brain from the head. Their lives are very much the same year after year and ge-
neration after generation ; their passions are cold-blooded, and there are no permanent displays of the
affections. Hence the brain and spinal nervous system are less developed than in Birds, and they are
small for the size of the head and body. The surface of the rather long brain is smootli, and there is
a projection in front— the olfactory lobe — which is hollow ; the optic tubercles are rounded, and are
separated by a deep fissure ; the cerebellum is nearly hemisphei-ical, and the fourth ventricle is well
developed. Finally, the sympathetic or organic system is feebly developed in the Chelonia.

FAMILY I.— THE TORTOISES. -THE LAND CHELONIANS.* ll

These hav€ the carapace and plastron bony, and covered with shelly plates, and \ I

the buckler as a whole is swollen above. They can retract the head, neck, and il|k^....oZ

extremities within its covering, and they live on land. h=-^^^\.

THE GREAT LAND TORTOISES. ?MP«^

When Mr. Darwin visited the Galapagos Islands, he saw the relics, as it were, of ^Oyp^"'''
a family of huge Tortoises, which lived there in abundance a few years befoi-e, and was L^^ff"'""^
able to verify many interesting facts which had been recorded by Porter, in his I W^f
" Journal of a Cruise Made to the Pacific Ocean in 1813." Porter noticed the deafness \ I /

of the huge creatures, and, like foniier voyagers, was impressed with their enormous 1 1 1 -«

size, with the long necks of some, and with their quick sight and ponderous move- ^y

ment. He stated that some of the Tortoises captured by him weighed from SOOlbs. brain of c.ie-
to 400 lbs., and that on -one island they were five feet and a half long, four feet lonian.
and a half wide, and three feet thick in the body. They walked with the body about "'c^cCTeSm
a foot from the ground, and the females seemed to ]n-eponderate. It is quite evident g™j;f'i™>^
from Porter's narrative that several kinds lived in the islands, those of one island
differing from those of another, but all being of the same group of Tortoises. He expatiates on
the luscious and delicate food that the long-necked and small-headed and other kinds sui)i)ly, and
notices their ability to last long without food. After Mr. Darwin's visit the progress of extirpation
went on, and in eleven years Mr. Seeman, naturalist on board H.M.S. Herald, found that on one
island there were no longer any Tortoises, and that everywhere they had diminished in number.
At the present time it is most probable that the gigantic Tortoises are very rare where they
were formerly so abundant. There were five species there a few- years since.

These Galapagos Tortoises were of several kinds, each inhabiting especial islands in the Archi-
pelago, arid they can be recognised in museums and in the few living specimens which have been
brought to Europe by the black colour of the shell, the thin condition of the bony carapace, the
general lightness of the huge buckler, and by the usual front plate being absent, so that their long neck
can be raised up, caiTying the head above the level of the body. The legs are long, and there is a
remarkable plate or scale on the inner side of the elbow.

They have flat-looking and small heads, and usually there is a very decided crest of bone at the
top and back of the skull. Dr. Gunther described four important species of this group, and states that
in James Island, Testudo elephantopm and Testudo nigrita were the only kinds, and perhaps only the
first-named; and he has evidence to prove that King Charles Island was inliabited by Testudo ephippium,

* Test ltd iiies.

250 NATURAL HISTORY.

nncl Hood's Island by Testudo microphjes. The first of tliese ToT-toises has been known to have a cara-
pace three feet in length and forty inches in breadth over the top. The limbs are large and long, and
the feet hnge ; moreover, the erect neck allows the head to be moved here and there, to use Dr.
GJinther's expression, in a manner not unlike that of the Cobra di capello. The bones of the wrist anu
me fingers are broad and .short, the scaphoid and intermedium being united, and the whole is elephan-
tine in its proportions. Testudo nii/rita had a nearly circular carapace as large as that of its fellow.

Moseley states that some of these Tortoises were on board the Cludhnge.r, and vere fed on pine-
apples, a number of which were hung in the paymaster's office. The animals used to prop themselves
up against a board put across the door to keep out dogs, and unable to surmount the obstacle, used to
glare and sniff longingly at the fruit. They, moreover, used to make their way along the deck to the
captain's own cabin, where there was a store of the same fruit.

The Great Tortoises are very fond of water, drinking large quantities, and wallowing in the mud.
The larger islands alone possess springs, .and these are always situated towards the central parts, antl
at a considerable elevation. Near the springs it was a curious spectacle to behold many of these great
mon,sters ; one set eagerly ti-a veiling onwards with outstretched necks, and another set returning, after
having drunk their fill. When the Tortoise arrives at the spring, quite regardless of any spectator, it
buries its head in the water above its eyes, and greedily swallows great mouthfuls, at the i-ate of about
ten in a minute. The inhabitants say that each animal stays three or four days in the neighbourhood
of the water, and then returns to the lower country ; but they differed in theii- accounts respecting the
frequency of these visits. The animal probably regulates them according to the nature of the food
wliich it has consumed. It is, however, certain that Tortoises can subsist even on those islands where
there is no other water than what falls during a few rainy days in the year. — [Charles Darwin).

One of these Great Toitoises* is that of Abingdon Island, in the Galapagos Archipelago, and there
is a fine specimen stufied in the British Museum. It has a very long neck, a small flat-topped head
with a short snout, and the front of the jaws is straight up and down. It had originally the weiglit
of 2011bs., and, like tlip others, is sought for on account of the oil it contains.

None of these huge Tortoises are known on the mainland of America, which is the nearest
continent, and it is a remarkable and most suggestive discovery that their nearest allies in size and
structure formerly lived thousands of miles away across the great Pacific Ocean, in the Mascarene Islands,
the Island of Rodriguez, and also in the Island of Aldabra, to the north-west of Madagascar.

The Great Tortoise from Aldabra, specimens of which have been taken to the Seychelles and
acclimatised, is ro\nid-lieaded, and has a convex skull, and the beak is, as it were, trenchant. The
tliir<l cervical vertebra is lii-convex. Now the Great Tortoises of the Mascarene Islands, but lately
extinct there, idtliough closer geographically to those of Aldabra Island than to those of the remote
Galapagos Archipelago, resemble these last more than the others. They have a very thin carapace and
a flat head ; moreover, their jllastron is short. So that although their anatomy closely resembles that
of the Galapagos Tortoises their configuration diffei-s.

There is a fine specimen of a huge Tortoise from Aldabra Island, which once weighed 8701bs..
in the British Museum, and it is called Testudo elepliantina. Befoie its death (January 29, 1877) it
had a home in the Zoological Gardens.

The Tortoises found in India are not of very large size, and number three species ; [the so-called
Indian Tortoise, which attains a length of four feet, does not come from the mainland, b>it from
Aldabra Island]. One of them is the Elegant, or Starred Tortoise, whose shell is of a black colour
with yellow areolae, with yellow streaks nidiating from them, those running towards the corners
of the plates becoming gradually wider.t The plates are often humped on the back, and deep
cavities exist at those places inside. It attains the length of twelve inches, and is found in many parts
of the peninsula of Southern India and Lower Bengal.

Captain T. Hutton states that in some places where these Tortoises are found in hilly tracts and in
the high grassy jungles adjoining them, they are not readily procured, because their colours and those of
the suiTOunding rocks ai-e blended. They remain in concealment beneath tufts of grass during the heat
of the day, but the Bheels, who are expert in tracing their footsteps, generally succeed in catching
them. These Tortoises came out, when in confinement, a little before sunset, to feed on grass, cabbage,
* Testudo alliu/doni. t Tcdado deijans (Scliopff).

TEE COMMON TORTOISE. 251

or lucerne, and they remained out and quiet during the night, as if enjoying tlie cool air. They
were fond of plunging into water, where they would remain for half an hour, and they drank
Jarge quantities by thrusting their heads in and swallowing it by d;-aughts. During the rainy
season they were much more lively, and wandered about, and when the laying season commenced,
in November, the female moistened some earth at the selected spot, made mud of it, and then
scraped it away until a pit was formed. In two hours one had made a hole six inches deep and
four inches in diameter, and in this she deposited her eggs, four in number. She filled \ip the hole,
and beat down the mud with the whole weight of her body. They did not Ijnrrow when they became
quiet in the cold season, but were listless, though not torpid.

The males butt against each other and make much noise, and strive against their adversaries in
trials of strength. Sometimes they tilted each other over, and there was great difficulty in gettino- on
the legs again. The next Tortoise is the Afghan Tortoise,* which has four claws in front ; and the
last, the Bui-mese Tprtoise,t with a long shell and five claws in front, is met with in Camboja,
Arakan, and Mergui.

A Tortoise, which is imported into England and sold in consideral.ile numliers, and which is made

FFK TORTOISE

a domestic pet, is found in most of the countries bordering on the central and eastern part of tlie
Mediterranean Sea, Greece, Turkey, Asia Minor, Palestine, and Dalmatia. This kind is also
found as far north as the Danube, Italy, and the i.slands of Sardinia and Corsica, and it is said
also to live in the Balearic Islands, the South of France, Switzerland, and even farther north.
But it is difficult to decide its correct natural limit, for this Testudo grceca, or Grecian 'Tortoise,
has long been an object of interest and commerce, and may have been introduced into countries
beyond its natural position.

Like all the members of the genus Testudo, which is the most important one of the family,
this familiar creature has a buckler on top and underneath, which are commonly called the .shell, and
they are united and solid, having openings in front and behind for the neck, arms, legs, and tail. It
is a slow-moving creature, and it withdraws its head and limbs within its buckler on any great alarm,
and remains passive and safe until the danger is past. It travels at night as well as by day, and
those people who keep one in their garden will generally find that their succulent and i.ic-est
vegetables are attractive to it. This Tortoise recognises its kind feeder ; but it certainly will try and
get out of the way of children, who place it often on its back, and enjoy its curious struggles to
return to the proper position. The pet Tortoise disappears in the late autumn, and reappears in the
spring, having buried or hidden itself under garden refuse, and having enjoyed a quiet winter's sleeji ;
and they live for many years. They dislike the wet, and evidently seek the shade when the sun is
very hot.

* Testudo horsliildii (Gray). t Testudo dowjata (Blyth).

252 NATURAL BISTORT.

The peculiarities of the Tortoise were well knowni to the ancients, and a militaiy machine used
in besiegrng towns was called after it, and the curious story about the death of the tragic poet
^schylus, already noticed in mentioning the habits of the great Liimmergeier, testifies to the
acquaintance of the ancients with the solidity of this bucklered reptile.

The Ethiopian region of natural history has the gi-eatest number of species of Tortoises, and
the Leopard Tortoise,* the Grooved Tortoise,+ and the little Geometric TortoiseJ are familiar
examples. The last Moseley noticed as loving the sandy and arid districts of the Cape of Good
Hope, and he states that they may be tracked by the marks they leave on the soil. They are caught,
and their little shells are made into paper weights, being first of all filled with lead. The Radiated
Tortoise § is from Madagascar. There are no true Tortoises in Australia. The American species,
including the Great Tortoises found on the Galapagos Islands, are the Gopher Tortoise from North
America and Mexico, and the Brazilian, Black, and Argentine Tortoises from South America, y There is
a Tortoise in Chili, Northern Patagonia, Mendoza, the Pampas, Monte Video, and Buenos A}Tes, which
resembles in its colour and general appearance one from the very distant regions of Abyssinia. But this
American Chilian Tortoise {Testudo chilenm.s) has a more depressed shell, and the marginal and chest
plates difier from those of the African kind.

The Go]iher has its most northern limit on the western border of South Carolina, and they
are found in Georgia, Alabama, and the Floridas. The adults are strong, and can move a weight of
some hundred pounds or more, and in the wild state they seek their food by night. They like dry
and sandy places, and are abundant iii poor and barren countries. They are fond of the sweet potato,
and go into theii' holes in the heat of the day. They dislike rain, and retreat on a shower com-
mencing. As the cold comes on they hibernate, but a few warm days wiO restore then- activity.

The remaining groups of the Tortoises have already been noticed in explaining the mobility of the
plastron and carapace in certain Chelonians. They constitute the genera Pyxis and Kinixys, and
may be called the Land Box Tortoises, in contradistinction to some others which lead a more or less
aquatic life, and which belong to other divisions of the order.

FAMILY II.— THE ESIYDES.— THE RI\T:R AJSTD MARSH TORTOISES.

These Chelonians lead, with one or two exceptions, a land and water life. Their limbs are
slenderer than in the Tortoises, and their digits are united by a web for swimming purposes. As a
rule, the carapace is flatter than in the land group, but it is bony, and there is a well-developed horny
covering.

The family may be subdivided into two groups. In one the head and fore limbs can be withdrawn
under the shell, and in the other the neck is so long and the buckler is so small that the usual shelter
is incomplete. Nevertheless, the members of this last gi-oup do manage to get their heads under cover
of, but not within, the carapace and plastron.

An example of the fii-st group — the TeiTapins — which are very common in the United States,
is the American Box Tortoise. It is familiarly known as the Carolina Box Tortoise (Cistudo
Carolina), and in other and different localities as the Virginian or Mexican, and from its orna-
mentation the Ornate, or Chequei'ed Tortoise. This animal has a very wide distribution in the
United States and in North America, from Maine to Florida, westward in Texas, Iowa, and Missouri,
and in Mexico, and can be i-ecognised among its fellow Emydes by its singularly terrestrial habits. It
rarely frequents marehes, and probably never the water, but it is found in dry, hot, pine forests and
on mountain ground, looking after beetles, grubs, and, it is said, snakes. The slightly-arched and keeled
carapace is about five inches long and four broad, and is broadest behind. It is of a rich brown
or brown-black tint, and has yellow spots or stripes. The plastron, movable before and behind, is
yellow or brown, and there is the usual hood to the neck, out of which the head peeps and returns,
more or less, as within a glove-finger. Many years since Mr. Ord described the habits of one from
Pennsylvania, which managed to get its living in rather a parasitical manner. It was found feeding

* Testudo pardalis. f Testudo sulcata. t Testudo gcometria.

§ Testudo radiata. |] Testudo pohiphemus, and Testudo tabulata.

THE EMVBEH. 2.53

on the leavings of the Night Heron, and enjoying the little hits of fish which had dropped from the
bird's beak, and which the Heron did not consider worth picking up. It prefers its food in a half
pntrid state, and searches also for insects and worms. Mushrooms, peaches, strawberries, and rasp-
ben-ies are not despised by this omnivorous creature, but this mixture of food renders this edible
Terrapin anything but a favourite feod, although its flesh is said to be excellent. Like most of its
family, this Cistudo hibernates. It seeks a warm loose soil with a southern aspect, often under a heap
of decayed brushwood, and digs down beneath the siu-face in the middle of October. There it lives —
unless the weather is very severe, when many die — until the middle or latter end of April, in a torjiid
condition. It comes forth very feeble, and soon begins to move if the sun is shining warmly. After
a while it seeks a soft place, digs down, makes a deepish little hole, and lays an egg, which it covers
with a little earth, using the hind feet. Then another is laid and covered up, and at last the laying
is finished, and the mother covers all, and treads the ground down so that the nest is found with
difliculty. The young when just hatched are soft and cartilaginous.

The genus Emys belongs to this group, and is very rich in species, which inhabit all the tem-
perate and tropical regions, except Australia. They cannot well exist without water, and they abound
in the still waters and tanks of the lower parts of India, often remaining motionless on the water,
the shell and the snout above it and the rest below, and they disappear at the approach of danger,
darting away with great rapidity. Their pointed claws enable them to crawl easily over slippery and
steep places, and dig little holes for a small number of long hard-shelled eggs, which in some species
are from eighteen to twenty months in hatching. They are chiefly carnivorous, and the flatter
the shell, the broader the foot-web, and the more jagged the jaws, the more "aquatic and destruc-
tive are the habits. They live on tender insects, frogs, small fishes, little birds, and small mammals,
and are in turn hunted and eaten by Crocodilia and large fish. They are easily kept in captivity,
provided that they ai'e placed in a tank, and fed with meat cut into small pieces or with frogs. The
head and feet can be retracted within the carapace.

Of these the Ocellated Pond Tortoise* approaches the Land Tortoises in its habits and in
several charactei's, and has a brownish shell, with " eye " spots of a chestnut-brown with a light
edge, and the lower parts are yellow. It comes from Mergui and the Tenasserim coast. China yields
the Speckled Emj's, about five inches and a half long.t The ThurgiJ is large, over twenty-two
inches in length, and the jaws are denticulate. It is highly carnivorous, and comes from the Ganges.
The Yellow-spotted Emysj| comes from the same river, and has been brought to Europe. Finally, the
Ceylonese Pond Tortoise.§ is common in Ceylon as well as in the peninsula of Hindostan, and the
shell is uniform brown and the plastron brown-black in colour. Tlie Pangshures are confined to the
Indian continent, and have the buckler solid and entirely bony. The feet are broadly webbed, and
the claws are of moderate size, five in front and four behind. The common one is found in the
Ganges and other Bengal rivers. It is known by its elevated back, and the yellow coloiu- and
black spots of the lower parts of the shell. The Batagui-s have the carapace depressed, and the
claws are feeble. One which reaches the length of twenty inches is thoroughly aquatic, and is
found in the Ganges and Irawaddy. It abounds in the Hooghly, and is sold for food. If

The genus Emys has species also in Japan and the Holy Land.

The Chicken Tortoise** of the United States probably belongs to this group, and is dark brown,
with a yellow vertebral line. All the plates are marked with yellow lines, and communicate to give a
reticulate appearance. The shell is nine inches and a half long. The creature inhabits ponds and stag-
nant waters, and swims slowly from place to place, the head and neck only being vLsible. They bask
on limbs of trees, and plunge in at the least noise. They inliabit North Carolina, Georgia, and Florida.

The Emys europwa; a great lover of fresh -water and marsh land, is to be found in South-eastern
Europe, and in Italy, S^\dtzerland, the South of France, Spain, and Algiers. It formerly was not
uncommon in the neighbourhood of the Oder, Elbe, and Danube, and it extends into Persia. A small,
flat, rather round-bucklered and long-tailed, bright-eyed, yellow-spotted, lively little thing, is this Emys,
and it is often sold in England as a pet. It is bro\v^l-black on its flat cai-apace, but the few small yellow
spots distinguish it at once. The toes, five in front and four behind, are webbed to a certain degree,

* Emiis ocellatiis. t Emus bealii (Gray). J Emi/s thuiyi. || Emys hamiltoni.

§ Emiis trijwja. t Emits tecti (Gray). ** Emus reticulatu.

48

254 NATURAL HISTORY.

and the claws are sharp. The carapace and plastron are solidly joined, and the first has twelve shell-
plates. There are two scales in the arm-pits and two in the region of the groin. Tliese little Emydes
are killers and eaters of small fish, beetles, and other insects and worms, but they will occasionally
eat bread and vegetables r and to their co.st, for when thus nourished they are occasionally made
articles of food for man. They like stagnant water, and do not go far from the banks ; they hibernate
in the winter, and dig down and bury themselves in the mud at that season. It is said tliat their
eggs require a whole year to mcubate and hatch. The buckler gets more oval with age, and may reach
eight inches in length and five in width.

The Painted Emys (Emys picta) is a well-known kind in the Eastern and Middle but not in the
Southern United States. It has a broad yellow band, limited by a black line, extending along the
front of the .scales, and the margin of the carapace lias blood-red blotches on it It has a large web to
the feet, and is very aquatic, dying if kept many days out of its favourite element.

Another and allied genus is Clemmys, of which Clenimys iiuculpta is found from Maine to
Pennsylvania. It is not always found in and near watei-, for it is a gi-eat wanderer, and makes its
way to the forest.

LEMMYS IXSCULPTA.

Another of this widely-spread genus, which is often made to replace that of Emys, is found
in Europe and Western Asia. It is the Caspian Terrapin,* with a pale olive back and indistinct
paler, yellowish, reticulated lines, edged with black. The plastron and under-side of the margin are
black, with irregular-sized yellow spots on the outer side of each sternal shield ; the head and neck
are olive, and the throat and sides of the neck have black-edged pale streaks. The upper beak like
jaw has a slight acute central notch and a tooth-shaped process on each side.

Another important genus of this group is Kinosternon, in which the fore and aft part of the
plastron are movable, after the fashion of Water Box Tortoises. They are popularly called Double-
flapped Box Tortoises. The Pennsylvanian Mud Terrapin is the example.f

The well-known Alligator TeiTapin,J or Snapping Turtle, belongs to the genus Chelydra of
this family. It has a comparatively small buckler, but it is provided with a plated head, armed
with a hooked beak. Tlie claws are, moreover, strong, and the tail has a crest on it. There are
two growths or barbules under the chin. This is an active swimmer, and is very destructive of fish
and even young birds. They grow to a considerable size, for some measure twenty-four inches, and the
longest attain four feet in length. The weight of 20 lbs. is not uncommon. Tliey ai-e found in stagnant
waters or shallow pools, but generally prefer deep water, and live at the bottom of rivers ; and when
they come to the sui-face, they elevate the tip of the pointed snout and float along with the cun-ent,
going to the bottom at once, if disturbed. They are very voracious, feeding on fish, reptiles, or any
animal substance that falls in their way. They take the hook when fished for, and require much
* Ckmmys caspU-u. + Kbiosttrnon. pennsylmiikiim. | Ct(?i/rfm serpentina.

THE SXAA'Ji-MiCA'Jil) T()liIUl,^EH. 255

management to get them to laml. Wlieu they leave the water they may be seen on tlie banks of
meadows, with the head, neck, and long tail extended, and after a short walk they fall on their
cliest, as Alligators do. They are ferocious during captivity, and bite at everything. They are
excellent food, and are very widely distributed in nearly all parts of the United States.

One of these aijuatic Emyde.s attains a considerable size, and has a long neck and tail and
flat body. The snout is long, and there is a sharp beak on both jaws. There are armour plates on
the head, and three strong ridges on the carapace. It is a very active swimmer, uiid preys upon
small fish, and is called Temminck's Snapper.*

The Large-headed Chinese River Tortoise,t with a long fiat buckler and a very lonj; tail, lives in,
the swamjxs, marshes, and streams, and is sometimes sold in Cautpn.

Its habits are probably those of the others of its group, aiiS its powerful ujiper and lower beak
woidd enable it to catch and liold fish. The head is plated, the eye is large, the limbs are scaled, and
there is a long tail, which, when the animal is at rest, is curled up under tlie right margin of the
cai-apace. Mr. Swinhoe kept one alive during the winter at Canton, but it did not eat any
food.

The next division of the family Emydes is cilleil the Chelodines, and contains kinds which cannot
withdraw the head ; the neck bends sideways, and is then stowed away under the overhanging carapace,
but not within the plastron. The carapace and piastrou are united to the pelvis. Two or three of
the species may be noticed. One has been alluded to in describing the general anatomy of the
Chelonia as presenting many anomalous characters ; it is the Matamata {Chelys fimhriata), which
grows to a considerable size in Guiana and North Bi-azil, living in the stagnant pools near the Orinoco
and Amazon, or in still water, or in the swamps. It lives on fish and small water-bii-ds, and
is a good and quick swimmer, and when it is cpiiet the peculiar barbules of its head attract fish, for
they are not indifferent imitations of worms when in slight movement. The head of this curious
animal is depressed, wide, and triangular in outline, and the nostrils are prolonged into a proboscis.
Its mouth opens wide, and the jaws are rounded. There are two barbules to the chin. The buckler
is very fiat and bumpy, and the whole animal looks ragged and very peculiar. .

The Snake-necked Tortoises of Monte Video, Buenos Ayres, and Southern Brazd have a flat but
large buckler, a long neck, and pointed long head. In them the side to side movement of the neck is
admirably seen, and they bring their neck under the front of the carapace by carrying it sideways.
Tliey belong to the genus Hydromedusa.

A common kind of this family, which cannot therefore retract its head under the carapace,
lives in the streams, rivers, and wet lands of the region of the Orinoco, Amazon, and other northern
rivers of South America. It attains sometimes the length of thii-ty-two inches, and is an excellent
swimmer and catcher of small fish. They are extremely numerous in some places, and assemble in
crowds to sun themselves iai the early part of the year, on the warm sand near the rivers. A little
later they sjiend the day on the liver banks, and in Mai'ch they take to the river, and swim to the
islets to lay their eggs. A few days before the laying commences, these Large Greaved Tortoises? line
the shallow water in great rows, their heads just appearing above tlw water. The eggs are large,
spherical, and white, and form an important part of the diet of the Indians. Large holes are made
bv the animals, and sets of eggs are laid by different individuals in them. Bates, when at Ega, on the
Amazon, had, like the natives, to live for a considerable part of the year on this great fresh-water
Turtle, as it is often called. It was the only animal food, except fish, which was to be had ; and
although all the arts of the native cuisine were employed, he got thoroughly tired of it. The Indians
make a little place close to their homes, where they keep a stock of these " Turtles." They are caught
with nets, and there is a great excitement during the hauling in ; moreover, they are often harpooned
in a clever manner. Bates describes the sand about a mile from the river as yielding up the newly-
hatched creatures, which, after boring their way out of the sand in which the eggs had been placed,
made their way in tliousands, in a direct line, to their favourite element. The natives dry the eggs
of this " Aiyussa" Tortoise by placing them on boards, in the smoke of a fire.

It is remarkable that this family should not only be represented in South America, but also in
Africa and Australia.

* Mua-ochmmm temmhickiL t PMifittrnon uwrjacepkaluni. t Poilocmmis expaasa.

256 NATURAL HISTORY.

One genus of it has its plastron movable in front and a flat plated head. Its species are African
and Madagascan. One of them (Sternotheriis sinuatus) was found by Dr. Andrew Smith in rivers
to the north of 25" south latitude, and where the water was very deep. They were usually observed
during the lieat of the day lying upon rocks which projected above the surface of the water, and
they were so vigilant that it was almost impossible to approach them within a moderate distance.
They are long, rather high-bucklered' creatures, the ovate shell being broadest behind. It is dark
greenish-brown above, and the upper part of the costal plates are livid grey, whilst the plastron is
pale orange, tinted with red. Its eyes are straw-yellow, and so is the head, but it Ls marbled with
greenish-yellow.

The long-necked Pelomedusa is not uncommon, according to W. T. Blanford, in the Auseba
river and its tributaries in Abyssinia. But as these rivers dry up in the hot season, the ci-eature
must bury itself It Ikis ;i most (■ftVnsive smell.

The Long-iicclvi(l < 'lirl.nliiic {('hdodina lo)igicollis), from the Murray i-egion of Australia, and the
Oblong Chelodiue (Clirli„rni,i i>/i/,,iiga), from West Australia, belong to this family, which is thus
represented in widely separated regions.

FAMILY III.— THE TRIOXYCIDES.— THE MUD OR SOFT TORTOLSES.

These have the carapace flat, oval, and incompletely ossified, and therefore more or less gi'istly and
soft at the margins. The plastron, moreover, has not its pieces joined together by bone, and the
covering is of skin, and not of tortoiseshell. They have a long neck, and the head is narrowed
in front into a kind of snout, in which are the nostrils. These Soft Tortoises are dwellers in the
rivers and stx-eams, and even the ai-ms of the sea, in the tropics of the Old and New World. They
swim on the surface and midway down, with equal rapidity, and pursue their prey in the water, where,
however, they are not without their enemies, llieir colour assimilates to a certain extent with the mud,
so far as the carapace is concerned, but they ai-e usually light-coloured beneath, so that they may be brown,
grey, or speckled above, and whitish, rosj', or bluish below. There is some ornamentation, in the form
of iiumerous yellow, brown, or black lines on each side of the carapace and on the limbs in some kinds.
The jaws have a skin like a lip, and the soft skin of the head has no tympanic membrane visible on
it. A corresponding skin without plates on it is on the limbs, which are somewhat flattened, and
more or less fin-like. Their extremities are webbed for swimming, and they have Ave digits on each,
but only three nails. It may be noticed that the costal plates of the carapace are short, and that the
marginal ossicles or plates are absent. They can draw in the neck, but not the head and limbs, within
the buckler. These Soft Tortoises are carnivorous and very agile, and they catch anything that is not
beyond a certain size which frri|ui'iii s their waters, young Crocodiles and fish especially ; and, moreover,
they devour the eggs of these givat i(|til(s. When they are about to seize their prey they dart out
their long head and neck with great rapidity, and bite and hold on fiercely, taking out a piece rather
than loosening theii- hold. The eggs are membranous, with some little shell on them, and are nume-
rous. The Soft Tortoises are found in the streams, great fresh-water lakes, and rivers of the hotter
parts of Africa, Asia, and America, but on this last continent some are found in higher latitudes in
the Wabash river. One common kind, the Siiiny Trionyx, or Gymnopus, used to be a common
species from New York to Pennsyl\-ania and the Rocky Mountains, and it has been found in the
Yellowstone River. It is often confounded with the Trionyx ferox, which appears to have a more
southern home. They have a large carapace, which floats behind and has a cartilaginous circumfei-ence,
and the plastron Ls too narrow to hide the limbs much, and there is a row of short spines along the
front edge of the carapace. They retreat out of the water among rocks and the stumps of trees,
plunging in again on the slightest alarm. They may be taken with a hook and line baited with a
litt)-^ fish, but they are apt to jerk out their heads suddenly and to seize their captor, biting him
severely. Like many of the Mud Tortoises, their flesh is very nice. The females, like all others of the
order, seek out spots and bury their eggs, which are numerous.

The other Soft-shelled Tortoise {Trionyx ferox, see p. 241) grows to a foot and more in length,
and is a voracious animal, feeding on fish and rejitiles, and taking the hook, but in confinement
it is difficult to feed. Thej' kill the young Alligators, and are eaten by the old ones, and reside
almost constantly in the water, and come out and bask in the sun. When provoked, they dart their

^Pft

W

}^

%

'¥ 'm^.

d^-r.

'K....ii)

CATCHING GREEN TURTLES,

258 NATURAL HISTORY.

long liead and neck forward with great velocity, and often spring upwards, making a loud hiss.
The females lay their eggs in dry sand. They inhabit the rivers flowing into the northern borders
of the Gulf of Mexico, the Mississippi and its tributaries, to the foot of the Rooky Mountains, the
northern lakes, and the Mohawk, but not any other Atlantic stream.

One genus of these Mud Tortoises (Cryptopus) has the plastron so arranged Itehind, as to close
tlie opening between it and the carapace completely, by means of a kind of gristly lid on each side,
the tail opening ha\ing a special one. There is a Southern Indian kind, and it is rather common
on the coast of Coromandel, living in fresh water. It forms an article of diet. There is another
species in the river Senegal in Africa.

The Egyptian Trionyx is probably the fVus of Pliny, and inhabits the Nile and some other
African rivers. It is sometimes three feet in length, and is a gi-eat enemy to the Crocodiles, devour-
ing their eggs and young.

The Gangetic Trionyx* lias the bony carapace rather longer than broad, with a slight swelling
in front on the ^erteljral line. Its surface is coarse and rugged without prominent tubercles.
The species is found in the Ganges and its tributaries upwai-ds to Nepal, and at Penang, and in
rivei's, and on the sea coast. It has a fierce disposition, and defends itself despei-ately by biting,
and it utters a low, hoarse, cackling noLse. The largest sliell is twenty-three inches in lengtli. Other
species are from China, Japan, Camboja, Borneo, and Singapore, and the Philippine Islands.

The genus Cjxloderma is one of this family, and a species is called the Senegal Mud Turtle.

FAMILY IV.— THE CHELOXIADES.— THE MARINE CHELONIANS.— THE TURTLES.
There are three genera in this family, two of which have much in common, but the third
differs from the others considerably. All have the extremities adapted for swimming, and the
carapace and plastron more or less incomplete in the bony parts. The first genus (Chelonia) contains
the Edible Turtles, of which there may be more than one specie*, but the type is the Green Turtle
of commerce and city feasts {Chelonia midas).f They are free swimmers in the great oceans
within the tropics, and sometimes they wander beyond this limit. Liking deep water — for much
of their prey is found in the wann surface water, not near shallows — Ihey beach themselves on
almost all the islands where there is a sandy shore in which they can dig a hole and deposit
their eggs. They are seen very generally about the warmer parts of the ocean within a few
miles of land, and also liundreds of miles and farther from it, swimming or floating on the
surfiice, and diving for a long time before reappearing. Although cumbersome on land, the
largest of them, which may be seven feet in length, and weighing 800 lbs. or 900 lbs., swim easily
and rapidly, and the smaller indi\-iduab5, which may be watched in an aquarium, ai-e most elegant
in their natation, feathering their flat and curved arms with great skill when desiring to change
the level of their swim. They live on the gelatinous swimming things of the ocean, the Cuttle-
fish tribes, the mollusca without much shell, and proliably on fish. When near land they devour
marine plants, such as the Zostera, and some are stated to wander on shore after gi-een food.
At certain times of the year shoals of them ai-rive at the laying stations, ;uid usually choosing the
night, crawl upon the beach, burrowing, as it were, in the sand with their flippers. The females lay
a number of spherical eggs, like tennis-balls in shape, which are slightly flexible and membranous
externally. Mr. Moseley, in noticing the Turtles of Ascension Island, writesj : — " At Ascension Island
Turtles are collected, and by the side of the ' pond ' in which they are kept there is an enclosed space
of .sand. The Turtles dig deep holes in it large enough to bury themselves in, and la}- their eggs at
the bottom. The eggs are always covered up by the Turtle, and evidently require moisture as well as
an equable temperature, of no very great amount, however, for the sand in which hatching takes
place does not feel warm to the hand, but i-ather cool. Evidently the former opinion that these eggs
were incubated by the direct heat of the sun is erroneous." The fresh egg is not quite full, so that
there is a depi-ession or crumple upon it, but shortly before hatching it becomes tense. When

* Ti-ioivix riant/Hiri'S {Cuvier).

t The Green or Eilible Turtle is said to be restricted to the Atlantic Oceiin, but this is not the case. It is found in the
Western Pacific, in the Tropics, and probably elsewhere in that gre.it ocean. Moseley found them at the Admiralty Islands.
Some naturalists make a new species {Chelonia virrjata) of the East Indian kinds.

X "Notes of a Naturalist on board the Challenger."

THE UAll'K ■^-JillL li'HlLE. iVj

liatcliP.1, tlie young Turtles are lively enough, and are great gormauclisers ; they use their fore limbs
not only in swiuiuiing, but also in tearing their footl, so as to assist the mouth.

Tlift young are hatched in from eighteen to thirty days, and make their way at once to the sea,
bein<^, however, in great danger from many enemies until they reach it, and even then they are preyed
upon by Turtle-loving marine creatures. The number which do escape and live must be very great,
for the extent of the shores of the Athuitic and of the islands of that ocean visited by laying Turtles
is enormou.s.

Audubon described the life of the Turtles during theii- egg-laying at the Tortugas, a group of
islands about eighty miles from the coast of Florida. After noticing their circumspect approach during
the moonlight nights to the shore, and theii' crawlmg motion up the beach, he says that the Turtles
raise the head to the full stretch of the neck, and after gazing around, form a hole in the sand with
the hind flippers, using them as ladles, and casting the earth forth for several feet. This may not go
on perhaps for more than nine minutes, and then the eggs are dropped in regular layers, to the number
of from 150 to 200. This takes about twenty minutes, and then the sand is scraped over the eggs
again, and the Turtles rush back to the water with all speed. It appears that these wanderers in the
great ocean return to the same laying-ground during the breeding season.

They are caught on shore by being upset and turned on their backs, and this is usually done with
stout poles, as well as with the help of the shoulder, and several men may have to join in doing this
to a large individual. They rarely are able to turn back again, and are secured by the legs in the mean-
while. Sometimes nets are used to catch the smaller ones, and harpooning is also resorted to.
But the prime object is to capture the Turtle alive for the markets of the great towns of the world.

These Edible Turtles have the carapace depressed, broad, and ornamented, with fifteen disc-
shaped horny scales, making up the outside shell. Their head is broad, but the muzzle is short and
lounded, and the upper jaw has a slight notch in front and small jagged points on the sides. The horny
case of the lower jaw (or beak) is formed of three pieces, and the sides are deeply indented. The
tympanum is hidden by Skin, and there is a nail on the first toe of each foot.

The tortoiseshell of commerce is the product of the Hawk'.s-bill Turtle,* and is derived from
thirteen overlapping long shields on the carapace. This Turtle does not grow to a great size, and
si)ecimens with shells more than two feet long are rare. It is known by the imbricating plates of the
carapace, and by the long, compressed, and curved upper jaw, which, with the corresponding front
[part of the mandible, gives a beak-like look to the front part of the head. It is found in the Indian
and Pacific Oceans, and it appears that they lay eggs earlier and are more prolific than the other
Turtles. But they are not of value for the table. The young ones have the shell with three keels
to it, and all have small horny scales imbedded in the skin of the neck. They are carnivorous, and
feed on fish, mollusca, and Crustacea, and Mr. Moseley states that the pretty green Velella? which float
on the surface are its prey in the wide ocean.

The thin imbricating plates constitute the tortoiseshell of commerce, and much of its value
depends upon the manner in which, and the time at which, it is removed from the animal. If taken
off when the animal is putrid the tortoiseshell becomes clouded and milky, and hence the cruel
expedient is resorted to of suspending the Turtle over fire till the heat makes the shield to start from
the bony part of the carapace, after which the creature is allowed to escape to the water.t In Celebes,
whence the finest shell is exported to China, the animals are killed by blows on the head, and the
carapace is immersed in IwUing water to detach the plates.

The Logger-headed Turtles^ are probably of more than one kind. One wliich frequents tlie
Atlantic and sometimes the Mediterranean Sea is of a brownish or reddish-brown colour, and the
middle scales of the carapace have raised crests. Their body is broad in front, and the marginal
rim is thin and broad behind. The scales are thin and flexible. There are fifteen vertebral and
costal shields, and they are thin, but do not overlap.

The fore part of the jaws is beaked, but not elongated, and the head is low, broad, and flat on the
top. Their fore feet are larger than those of the other Turtles. It would appeal- that their habits
resemble those of the others, but the powerful beak enables them to crush Mollusca and Crustacea
with thick shells.

* Ch^lonki (Caretta) squanmta. f Tennent : " Natural Historj', Ceylon. " p. 293. J Caoiiana = Thalassoe/teJus olivacea.

^'^'J NATURAL HISTORY.

The Atlantic species of the Loggerhead does not appear to extend into the Indian Ocean ; and
a single-clawed, long, fore-limbed kind exists there. It is tlie Indian Loggerhead. The shell is never
much over two feet in length, and the flesh is not eaten, except by the natives of the coasts of the Bay
of Bengal, of Malabar, and the Philippines.

The last genus to be noticed is that of the Leather-back Turtles, whose carapace is not covered
with scales of shell, but with a dense coi-iaceous skin. These Turtles make a roaring noise under
certain circumstances, and hence have been included in the genus Sphargis.* They have large fore limbs
and smaller hind ones, and there are no nails. The jaws are dentilated, and the skin of the back is in
longitudinal ridges. They grow to a great size, and inhabit the Atlantic and the Mediterranean, and

have been cast on Englisli coasts, having wandered to the north of their usual limits ; moreover, they
are found in the tempei-ate zones of all the great oceans. The Sphargis' shell has seven long projecting
ridges along it, separated by grooves, and the skin is smooth in adults, but tubercular in young ones.
The fore and hind extremities are well developed, and the digits are exceedingly long and form
admiral)le paddles.

The most important points in the anatomy of the Turtles have been noticed in describing that of
the Tortoise, and it is only necessary to remai-k on their great tenacity of life, the great independence
of their muscular .system, so far as the nervous centres are concerned, and the long-continued energy of
their heart after its removal from the body.

THE EXTINCT CHELONIANS.

Tlie Chelonians are a very ancient order, and their remains have been found fossilised, especially
the limb bones and the carapace and plastron, these being often marked with the impressions of the
tortoiseshell plates.

Tliere are some impressions of feet which have been attributed to the Chelonians in the Trias of
Scotland, but it is very doubtful whether they can be referred to them. The first definite evidence
of their former existence, is in tlie Ocilitie age. In Europe they have been discovered in the Stonesfield
slate, in the lithographic slate of C'iron, in tlie Portland stone, and in the Purbeck strata. The Marine
Turtles are represented in the Portland stone by Clielone planiceps, and two singularly-marked genera,
Tretosternon and Pleurosternon (Owen), were discovered in the Purbeck. Probably they are allied to
Trionyx. One of the Purbeck fossil Chelonians belonging to the genus Pleurosternon was believed by

* ^ipharyis coriacea, a-^apoyiiW, to roar loudly.

TI[K KXTIXCT CEELOXI.IXS.

Dr. Gray to belong to a group now represented in Yucatan — Dermatocleniys. In the Weaklen tliere
are the remains of a Marine Turtle ; and the true marine forms, Chekme eamperi, C. henstedi, and
C. pulcliriceps, and a Protemys are from the Cretaceous series. The number of Turtles in the London
Clay is great, and the skull of Chelone gigas measures a foot across. One resembles a Trionyx in the
shape of its snout, but its carapace and plastron are well ossified, and it is called CJielone lonyiceps. The
Eocene of Hordwell yielded a " Soft Turtle;" this Trionyx is accompanied by eight fossil Emydes. The
order is represented in tli.' Miocene :iiiil I'liocene of Europe, and in the Tei-tiaries of America, and the
gigantic sub-Himalay.nu < 'n/os.^,„-/,r/i/s nil, is is iiccompanied by the recent Emi/s t,ri,i (Gray). Finally,
the island of Malta has yielded gigantic Tortoise remains, which are allied to the recent and extinct series
of the Mascarenes and of the Galapagos Islands. Descriptions of the fossil Chelouians of the United
States are to be found in the magnificent work of Cope on the " Vertebrata of the Cretaceous Forma-
tions of the West," a book given to most European naturalists by the wise generosity of the Senate,
and Dr. Hayden, head of the Geological Survey. The Tertiary strata have yielded fossil Trionycides and
species of Emys allied to modern American kinds ; and Cope discovered in the chalk of Kansas a huge
Turtle with flippers considerably over fifteen feet in length, and this Protostega had the bony characters
of a youthful modern form. It is allied to S])hargis. Equally interesting is the genus Plastomenas
of Cope, which embraces the anatomical characters of Trion)x and Emys, and which is found at the
top of the Cretaceous and in the Eocene. Trionyx has been found in the Green Sand of New Jersey, and
Leidy has described one from the celebrated Bad Lands of Montana. A form with a long tail like
Ciielydra, and as long as Temminck's Snapper, has been described by Cope, and was found with his
great Turtle. As yet no Land Tortoises have been disco\-ered fossil in America.

The European Emys has been found in England in a sub-i'ossil condition.

Gunther states that the Mascarene great Tortoises Testmlo triserrata, T. inepta, and two others
are extinct, and that there is l\:stii.do vosimm extinct in the island of Rodriguez. Testudo ephippinm
of the Galapagos Archipalago is also one of these lately extinct forms.

CLASSIFICATION OF THE ORDEIl CHELONIA AXD OF THE PRINCIPAL GENERA.

Family I.— Testi-uixes
Family II. — Emvdes

Sub-Family E.myda

Sub-Family Chelodina . , , ^ . . \

Transition Sub-Family
Family III.— Tkioxycides

Fajillt IV. — Cheloniades

Genus Testudo.

„ Pyxis.

„ Kynixya

,, Cistudo.

„ Cyclemys.

„ Einys.

„ Kiiiostcrnon.

„ Chc-lydra.

riatystornon.

,, jMauroclemmys.

„ Chelodina.

„ Hydromcdusa.

„ Pelomodusa.

„ Stcrnotherus.

„ Podocncniis.

„ Chelys.

„ Cyclanosteus.

„ Trionyx.

„ Cyulodcrnia.

„ Chelonia = Caretta.

„ Caouana = Thulasaochelys

,, Sphargis.

48*

CLASS REPTILIA, THE REPTILES.

CHAPTER n.

ORDER CROCODILIA.— THE C:R()C01)ILE,S. UAVIALS, AND ALLIGATORS.

THE CROCOUII-E FAMILY.— Worshipped by Ancient Egyptians— Tlie Crocodile of tlie Nile— Appearance— Peculiar
Nature of the Tooth-growth— Arrangement for Sinking with its Prey without allowing Water to Pass into
the Tliroat-How it Obtains Fresh Supplies of Air How it Disposes of its Food— Remarkable Eye— " Crocodiles"

Tears" Distribution— Other African F • Tin I'jj: ..f the Crocodile — The Baby Reptiles -The Indian Species—

The Salt-water Crocodile— Description- M I; ^ its Food— The Marsh Crocodile--Appearanoe— Worshipped

by Fakirs -Ferocity of the Indian Cror.i.i, ,! , ,, Torpidity— Tlie Victim's only M'ay of Safety— Crocodile of
North-east Australia— The American Kii-I ( i .,. .,<hl.i. Acutus— The Cuba Crocodile— THE GAVIAL FAMILY—
Tlie Gavial— Distinctive Features -Habits -Second Forms of the Family— THE ALLKJATOR FAMILY—
Difference between Crocodiles and Alligators— Characters of the Alligator— The Mississijipi, or Pike-headed Alligator
—Habitat— Origin of its Name— Appearance— The Caimans— Characters—The Jacares— Bates's Account of the
Alligators of the Amazons— Other Kinds of Jacare- FOSSIL CROCODILIA- Number in Secondary and Tertiary
Ages — Antiiiuity of the Group— Marine Group not handed down— Characters— Terrestrial Forms of the Trias— The
Tlieriodoutia— HyiTOsaurus and Bottosam-us- Classification of the Order.

THE CROCODILE FAMILY.
Tins Crocodile is so associated with the Nile of Egypt at the pre.sent time, that it is not
surprising to find that it was well known to the ancient Egyptians, who worshij)ped, symbolised,
and mummified this monster of their great river. It wa.s one of ,tlie symbols of Typhon, the
brother of Osiris, who was considered by the Egyptians to Ije the cause of every evil. One of
their deities was a man with a Crocodile's head, called ^ouk. In some parts the Crocodile was
eaten, whilst in others it was fed up when young witli cakes and roast meat, and these, with wine,
were crammed down their throats, whether they liked it or not. The name is of Greek origin, and tlie
Egyptians gave it an appellation which sounded like x"'/'"/""- Cliampsa lasts still in modern Egyptian
as Temsa. The large adults were sometimes caught and sent to Rome, and Augustus introduced
thirty-six into an amphitheatre, where they were all killed by gladiators. Pets were made of the young
Crocodiles of the Nile in the olden time, and the Egyptian priests hung rings of gold and precious
stones in the protecting membrane of their ears, which they pierced for the purpose ; they put bracelets
on their fore-feet, and presented them, thus adorned, to the peo[)le, who looked at them with great
veneration.

The Crocodile of the Nile* may be considered as the type of the oi-der to which it belongs. The
body is depressed, long, and protected on th« back with solid keeled scales or scutes ; tlie tail is longer
than the body, and is compressed laterally and has crests above. The limbs are short and exceedingly
powerful, and the toes are united, more or less, by a web. Tiiere are five digits on the fore limbs
and four on the hmder, and nails are found on three digits fore and aft. The head is broad behind,
depressed, with a muzzle, the nostrils being near the front and capable of being closed. The gape of
the jaw reaches back beyond the skull, and the tongue is fleshy, not protractile, and is attached to the
sides of the lower jaw within the mouth. The tympanic membrane has a valve or ear-lid.

The body of the Crocodile is carried near the ground in walking, and the hinder part of the
belly drags usually, so that the limbs are .set so as to permit the long bones to spread out as it
were. The hind legs have a toothed crest behind, which is formed of about twelve scales. The limbs
are covered with squarish and simple small scutes, and the digits also. The fore limbs are the shortest,
and the two outer digits are without claws. The colour of the skin of the Nife Crocodile differs
with the varieties of the species. In one the back is olive-green speckled with black, and there
are two or three oblique bands of this colour on each flank. In another the upper part of the
body is oli\-e-green sprinkled with black on the head and neck, and marked with the same colour
on the back and tail ; two or three large oblicjue black bands show themselves on each flank,
and the under part of the body is of a greenish-yellow colour. The nails are brown. A third
has the upper part of the body sprinkled with black angular .stains.

The head of a Crocodile strikes the observer more than any other part, on account of its length
of jaw and the number of teeth exposed to view along the often festooned, rather than straight, jaws.
The canines of the lower jaw, having a gi-oove in the upper jaw-bone for their reception, are very

* Croi'odihis vithjaris (Geoif.Ji

A.\ ATOMY 111- THE vUt

OltlLE.

striking ; and it will Ijp found that tlio pits in tlio pre-nuixillaiy bones, for tliu reception of tli(! tops of tiie
lower incisors, are sometimes perforations. The teeth are all sharp, conical, and tapering where visible,
but they have a hollow cylindrical fang, which is set in a special hole or alveolus in the jaw. Crocodiles
.snap and tear, and thus wear or drag out their teeth, and they are constantly replaced by larger ones, for
the creature's first teeth bear but a small relation in size to those of old age. Each tooth is IioHowcmI
out at the fang, so as to serve for the case or sheath of tiio germ of the tootli destined to replace it,
which is to be larger. The sockets for the teeth are surrounded by the bone of the pre iniixillary .-uul
maxillary bones of the \ipper and deiitary bones of the lower jaw, and are fixed in
so as to be \ery strong, and a tlosliy cover extends around their startintt-point from
thr jaw. As tlie animal grows old, the .si/c of tlic teeth is not the same in ;ill ]iarts
of the jaws.

Seizing its prey, the Crocodile, if there is any struggle, drowns it, and can
manage to do so with its jaws stretclied out gi'asping its prey, for it has a speciii
structural arrangement by which the water is prevented from rushing down its own
thioat and producing suflibcation. Fii'st of all, before noticing this, it must be stated
that, unlike the Chelonian reptiles, the Crocodilia can breathe with the mouth open,
and that the air rushes into their lungs when their movable ribs expand; for although
the skin is tough and armour-plated, it is not supported by a bony expansion which
restricts the movements of the ribs. They have a more or less mdimentary, but still
very useful, diaphragm.

The nostrils of the Crocodilia, situated near the end of the snout, are capable of
being closed at the will of the animal, and they are connected in the snout with a
passage, wliieli is limited below, not as in the Mammalia, by jjalate-bones alone,
liut also liy |iU'i ygoids, and which opens far back in the throat. The roof of the mouth
has a uienibrane on it that ends l)ackwards in a fold which, taking away the uvula,
resembles that of man in position. This upper fold rests on the back of the tongue
when the mouth is closed, and the air jjasses above and behind it into the throat be-
fore reaching the huigs. The tongue is a large flabby structure, incapable of pro-
trusion, and has a hyoid bone at its broad hinder part in the throat, and on it and the
tongue is a lower flap of membrane reaching across the throat, and parallel at its
free edge with the upper fold. When the Crocodile drags a struggling animal i ' i . '
into the water in its jaw-grip, it shuts its nostrils, sinks down, and closes the back
of its throat by muscular action, which brings the upper and lower membrane folds together. No
water can then pass into the tliroat. After a while the Crocodile just raises the tip of its snout above
water, opens the valves of its nostiils and takes in air, which passes along the i)assage above the palate,
behind the folds of skin into the throat, and thence into the lungs. It tears its prey, if soft ; shoidd it
not be able to bolt it, it hides it away until decomposition softens the tissues and ])ermits them to be
swallowed. Tlie food jiasses along a narrow long gullet and oesophagus to a single globular stomach, the
mucous membrane of tlie passage l)eing folded and villous, but that of the stomach is very thin. Tli(i
opening in the stomach for the intestine is close to that for the oesophagus, and there is a small pyloric
cul-de-sac separated off from the main cavity, through which food must pass into the intestine. The
stomach has the mucous membrane thin, and it is folded and placed in serpentine ridges : the cellular
coat outside it is tliick, and the more external muscular tunic, made up of fibres radiating from the
centre to the circumference, issuing from a kind of disc of membrane, is very strong. This stomach is
not without its resemblance to the gizzard of a Heron. The food gets crushed and digested in part
there, and passes into a much-folded small intestine, with a peculiar glandular layer, and then into a
large gut with intei-nal projections on its membrane.

The organs of special sense are elaborate in the Crocodilia. Thus the eye may have a vertical
or a horizontal pu|)il, according to the nocturnal or crepu.scular habits of the species, and all have the
ciliary processes fully and beautifully developed. A peculiar vascular membrane, covered with pigment,
projects into the vitreous humour of the globe, and then is connected with the capsule of the lens.
The m)per and lower eyelids are well developed. There is a transparent nictitating mcmbiane

S[iecial

iparatus, and tin

(1 e.s])ecially destined to facilitate th(

2L.4 X^TURAL BlsTVliY.

meiits of tliis eye- protector, and its secretion escapes through a duct opening upon its inner surface.
" Crocodiles' tears " are household worlds, and the reptiles have a large lachrymal gland to each eye.
The ear has an outside lid or valve, which can be shut down when the Ci'ocodile dives, and it protects
the tympanic membrane, which is otherwise exposed.

The heart has two auricles, and the ventricle is more or less divided into two liy a septum, or
by a cellular arrangement which produces a certain amount of separation of the purified and impure
blood.*

The Nile Crocodile has a wide distribution in Africa, from Egypt to Senegal, and south to near
the Cape, and in Central Africa. Specimens are in the British Museum fifteen feet in length, and it
wUl be noticed that the feet are webbed, that the nasal bones form a projection which separates the
hinder edges of the nostril, and that the forehead is flat.

There are two other Crocodiles in Africa, and they are from the west coast. One is very singular-
looking, from its long thin snout,t which is truly Crocodilian, from the lower canines being seen to
bite in a groove in the upper jaw.

This long, slender-snouted Crocodile grows to a large size, and li\es in West and Central Africa,
the Gaboon, and the neighbourhood of Lagos. It lias phtin orbits, and the nasal bones do not reach
the nostril.

The Black African Crocodile X is from Western Africa, Senegal, Gaboon, and the Ogov^ River,
and is very unlike its fellow just mentioned, having a broad, short face (like an Alligator), with two
bony plates on the eyelids, a tiu^n-uj) nose; and the nostril is divided in half by the nasal bones, wliicli
form a small part of it. The line of the teeth of the upper jaw is very wavy, and they are rather blunt-
topped. Its habits are probably those of the Common Crocodile.

The Madagascar Crocodile has the snout longer, slenderer, and with straighter sides than the
Nilotic Crocodiles.

The eggs of the Crocodiles are small, not larger than those of a Goose, and the little ones come
forth very like the parents in shape, with large-looking eyes, a great gape, and a fine set of sharp teeth.
Herodotus noticed the wonderful difference in size between the egg and its little tenant at Viirth and
that of the full-grown reptile, and it is indeed very remarkable.

There are two well-known species of the gemis in India, one of which is the Salt-water Crocodile,||
which lives in the estuaries of the great rivers and makes its way to sea for a while, and the other is
the Eiver and Marsh Crocodile, which is found well in the interior, and even up in the outer
Himalayan valleys in not very warm water.

The first is a large reptile, with many of the characters of a Nilotic Ci'ocodile, but it differs in the
arrangement of the scales behind the head. It has no nuchal scales, and the dorsal ones are oval and
long, instead of being as broad as long. It grows to a length of fifteen feet commonly, and it is said to
reach double that size. One skull is thirty-one inches long, and, in common with all of its kind, has a
long I'idge on the fiice.

A considerable part of the food of this Crocodile is fish, which fall an easy prey, especially to
the smaller and youthful reptiles. The old ones, requiring nuich food, attack every large animal which
accidentally approaches tliem, and in overpowering it the whole of their powers are called into play.
Seizing the victim between their capacious jaws, and fastening their long-pomted conical teeth into
its flesh, they drag it below water and drowni it. As they cannot swallow their large ]irey they
mangle it, tearing ofl' pieces by sudden strong jerks. Tliis is performed by lateral motions of tlie
head and front part of the body.

When the animal, in one of its favourite po.sitions, floats with just the \\\>\>er part of the head and
back out of water, it can still breathe, hear, and see ; and when it dives, the nostrils are closed by valves,
a trans])arent membrana nictitans is drawn over the eye, and the ear, a horizontal slit, is shut up by a
movable projecting flap of the skin.

* The vertebrie have their bodies hollow in front, and are procwlous, and swollen behind, so as to admit of much
motion. There are so-called nncinutf prucessts t.. the ribs, and in the neck they form a remark.able lateral protection of a
strengthening kind.

t Crocodihts cataphraciiis (Cnvi. i i = .l/,. /.vY,.,.,. r.itnphracim (Gray).

X Croendilus yiir/er (Latr.)=<;'. i.,:li„l,rnx„s [Cn\ier)=Oaen!wmus tetfospes {Co-pe)=Crocodilus frontarosits (Murray).

II Croaxlilus pomsiis {Schu.)=Croi-odil us biporcatim (Cu^^er).

TEE CROCODILES. 265

The other Crocodile, which may attain tlie same size as the hist, but is usually fouml smaller,
is the Marsh Crocodile,* which has also been called Crocodiliis bomhi/rons. It is found in the
Ganges, and at Malabar, Madras, Ceylon, and in the Indus. Its snout is covered with numerous small
irregular prominences, and the space between the eyes is deeply concave.

" It is often called Alligator by European residents, but it is a true Crocodile. It is a ferocious
reptile, \nd lb woi shipped and kept by some religionists Thus, ibout eight miles noith ot Kaiachi,

in Sind, there are some hot springs which swarm with these " Muggars." They are tame, and know
their Fakir friends, who watch and feed them.

A species of the genus inhabits Siam and Camboja, and is called the Siamese Muggar,+ and has a
close resemblance to the Marsh Crocodile of India, the . face being much larger, however, and not so
bumpy, but there is a small knot in front of the orbit. Another is an inhabitant of the rivers and
estuaries of Southern India, and has been called the Pondicherry Crocodile.f

* Crocodilus jxilmtris (Less.). t Croeodihis siamensis (Schu.).

X Croeodihis pondieherrianus (Gray).

268 NATURAL HISTORY.

The Indian Crocodiles inhabit not only rivers and estuaries, but the sea-coasts, and they may be
seen floatiaig two or three miles from shore in calm weather. Those inhabiting small inland waters
which are dried up in the i-ainless season bury themselves and remain in a state of torpor until the
rains come, when they emerge and are dangerous and hungry. They then will attack man, who has
but one means of saving his life or limb, namely, to force his fingers into the eyes of the beast, which
immediately lets go its victim, a practice equally known to the Indian of South America, in lelation
to Alligators, to the negro of Africa, and to tlie Hindoo. It has been said that a single Crocodile will
often appropriate to himself a limited district, which, if it happens to be in the vicinity of a village,
will soon be perceived in the loss of the grazing cattle.

North-eastern Australia has yielded a Crocodile of very unusual shape of- head, and it was
discovered by Mr. Johnston, of Cardwell, Rockingham Bay, Queensland. Its head and snout
are very long, slender, and conical ; the forehead is flat between the eyes, and there is a slight
convex narrow ridge in front to the middle of the beak. It is called Crocodilus johnntoni
(Gray). _ ,

There are two kinds of Crocodile in America ; one is well known, from its very elongate
head * and the constriction of the muzzle just behind the large pre-maxillary bones, and from its
habits, which are notably interesting to geologists. It has a great range, being found in many of
the rivers of the north-east of South America, in Central America, and in some of the West Indian
Island.s. It has been found in Ecuador, New Granada, Venezuela, Yucatan, Guatemala, Southern
Mexico, Cuba, San Domingo, Jamaica, and West Coast of America. A free swimmer, it takes to the
sea, and in this, and to a certain extent in the shape of its snout, resembles some of the Teleosaurs of
old which geologists classify as Marine Crocodiles. It preys on large and small animals, and the Jaguar
and Tapir fall victims to it, as well as fish. The face is slender, and the forehead is swollen and convex ;
the na.sal bones recede and the muzzle is conical, oblong, and the nostril is not separated- liy a ridge.
There are two or four small nuchal plates. The legs are fringed and the toes are webbed. Mr. Gray
describes an Orinoco Crocodile, which is probably a variety of this one.

The other American kijid is the Cuba Crocodile, or the Aquez palin,t which inhabits Cuba,
Mexico, part of South America, and Yucatan. It has an oblong face, with a very convex forehead, a
ridge in front of each orbit converging in front and forming a lozenge-shaped Space. There are two or
four nuchal plates, and the cervical disc is rhombic and of six large plates. The toes are short in this
kind, and the web is very small.

THE GAVIAL FAMILY.

The Gavial,J or Nakoo, is a large reptile, with very much of the shape of the Crocodile, but with
an exceedingly long and slender face, and the snout with the end swollen, and a gi-eat set of teeth. The
teeth are tolerably equal, and the first tooth of the lower jaw, as well as the fourth, bites into grooves
in the upper ; the side teeth are oblique, and altogether there may be twenty-eight above and twenty-
six below. The nostrils are large, and the nasal bone does not form part of them. The orbits
look very prominent, because their- front margin is much raised, and the back of the head looks
massive, because the cervical and dorsal plates form a continuous .shield, and are not sepai'ated as in
the Nile Crocodile.

It is a lover of the lai-ge rivers, of the Ganges especially, and occurs in Nepal, and also in the
Malabar rivers, but it has not the range of the Crocodile, which can stand very chilly water. Tlie
Gavial is much more aquatic than the Crocodile, and is rarely seen at all, and very rarely indeed out
of water. It is a capital swimmer, and its long snout enables it to breathe without showing its body.
Fish are its principal prey, and it grows to the length of twenty feet.

The second genus of the Gavial family is an inhabitant of the Island of Borneo and of some of the
neighbouring islands, and differs from the Gavial in having a more conical beak, thick at the back ; and
the side teeth are erect and are received into pits between the upper ones. These are less numerous
than in the Gavial of the Ganges, and the nostrils are not exjjanded, neither is there a ridge to the
orbit. II

* Crocodilus aciUue {GeoS.)=Molinia americana (Gray)= Orinoco crocodile.
t Crocodilus rhombi/er (Cuvier) ; Palinia rhomhifer (Gray),
t Oavialis yanycticus. \\ Tomistoma schlegelii.

THE ALLIGATORS

THE ALLIGATOR FAMILY.

The distinctions between Crocodiles and Alligators only require a little more than ordinary
observation for their comprehension.

The head of the Alligator is short and broad ; that of the Crocodile is longer. The teeth are
very unequal in the Alligator, and the large lower canine, or the fourth from the front, enters
a hole in the upper jaw, and is more or less hidden when the mouth is closed. The teeth of the
Crocodile are less unequal, and the large canine is -visible -when the mouth is closed, as it fits iii a
groove on the side of the upper jaw. Tlie hind legs and feet of the Alligators are round, and neither
fringed nor ragged, and the toes are i\ot webbed further than the middle, these structures, as has
been shown already, being differently developed in the Crocodiles.

The scales of the neck and body are an-anged differently in the two reptiles, and in some
Alligators they form a continuous armour. With these exceptions the external aspect of the animals
is similar; and there is not much difference in their habits, the Alligators rarely, if ever, going
down to the sea, while the Crocodiles do so occasionally.

The Alligators form a family, and probably but one genus ; but Dr. Gray and others have formed
three genera — Alligator, Jacare, and Caiman — and thei-e are several species.

Of the genus Alligator there is the species called the Mississippi Alligator, or the Pike-i

■MH AATLUiAL MlNTOUy.

Alligator.* This formidable reptile formerlj' inlialjited the fresh waters of the Carolinas, tho
Mississippi, higher than the Red River, and the swamps of Florida, Creorgia, and Louisiana, but its
present roaming ground is more restricted. Growing to a length of fourteen or fifteen feet, the head is
one-seventh of the length, and half as broad at the articulation of the jaws as it is long. The snout is
flattened on the upper surface, and it is rounded broadly in front and straight at the sides. The shape
of the fore part of the head is so Pike-like that Cuvier gave the Alligator the name of lucius — a Pike.

HI*,.

MISSISSIPPI OR PIKE-HKADED ALLIGATOR.

The internal rim of the orbits is large and projects, and the nostrils are separated by a long knob.
The skull has two shallow obliqiie oval pits, with two small holes. The colour is a deep greenLsh-
brown above and a light yellow below, and the sides are moi-e or less striped. They have^ bright
observant eye, and hiss from the back of the throat, and snap their jaws together, when angry. It is
said that men and quadruj)eds of some size fall a prey to it whilst bathing, drinking, or crossing rivers,
but usually' they prey by night, and in companies. Fish are their pi-iiicipal food. It is said that the
female digs a hole in the sand, and deposits her eggs in layers separated from one another by layers of
leaves and dry grass, and that but one laying occurs in a year. The Alligators hibernate and buiy
themselves in the mud as soon as cool or cold weather sets in, and come out with the returning heat
The eyelids are smooth and fleshy in this Alligator.

* Alligator lucius.

N^J-.^

'%.

THE ALLIGATVliS. 269

Tlie Caimans are of two kinds : one is the Rougli-liaoked Caiman,* from Trojiical America, and
the other the Banded Caiman, from tlie same regiou.t They liave, unlike the ti-ue Alligators,
the bony ventral and dorsal scales articulated together. Their smooth eyelids have an internal
bony plate, and the cervical scales form an elongated shield. Their head is high, flat at the sides,
and angular above. On the side of the neck and body the scales are keeled, but those beneath
the body are smooth. In the first species the cervical scales are in five pairs, and tln! nuchal
scales are in a single cross series, whilst in the second the nuchal scales are in two cross scries, and
the cervical are in tln-ee pairs. There are no ridges between the orbits.

The other group, the Jacares, is numerous in species, and they ha^■e much in common with the
Ciiimaus as regards their armour and eyelid bone. They all have their orbits luiited Ijy a bony
cross ridge, and the eyelids are striated or rugose. They have the head moderately high, and the
cervical scales are in pairs forming a bony shield.

One kind, called the Black Jacare.J from its black back varied with yellow, attains the length of
thirteen feet and more, and inhabits the Amazons near Pera and also Guiana. It has a longhead, and
the nuchal scales are small and compressed.

Bates, that thoro\ighly trustworthy naturalist and geographer, who spent so niucli time in the in-
vestigation of the Natural History of the Amazons and its neighbourhood, gives some personal observa-
tions on the Alligators of the river. When at Ega, on the Upper Amazons, he wrote : — " Alligators
were rather troublesome in the dry season. During these months there was always one or two lying
in wait near the bathing-place for anything that might turn up at the edge of the water — dog, sheej),
pig, child, or drunken Indian. While this visitor was about, every one took extra care whilst bathing.
I used to imitate the natives in not advancing far from the bank, and in keeping my eye iixed on that
of the monster, which stares with a disgusting leer along the siu'face of the water, the body being sub-
merged to the level of the eyes, the top of the head, with part of the dorsal crest, being the only por-
tions visible. When a little motion was perceived in the water behind the reptile's tail, bathers were
obliged to beat a quick retreat. I was never threatened myself, but I often saw the crowds of women anti
children scared whilst bathing, by the beast making a movement towards them. A general scamper to
the shore and peals of laughter were always the result in these cases. The men can always destroy these
Alligators when they like to take the trouble to set out with montarias and harpoons for the purpose,
but they never do it unless one of the monsters, bolder than usual, puts some one's life in danger.
This arouses them, and they track the enemy with the greatest pertinacity. When half killed they drag it
ashore and despatch it amid loud execrations. Another, however, is sure to appear some days or weeks
afterwards and take the vacant place or the station." But under some circumstances the Jacare nigi-a,
the Jacare-usassu of the Amazonian Indians, is little feared. Thus, when. netting the "Turtles" (page 2-55),
which form the staple meat food of the inhabitants, an Alligator was found included, and although the
men had jumped into the water to drag and catch the Chelonians, they cared little for a good-sized
Alligator, whose jaws, more than a foot long, could have snapped one of their legs in twain. Bates
writes : — " No one was alarmed, the only fear e.xpressed being that the imprisoned beast would tear
the net. First one shouted, ' I have touched his head ! ' then another, ' He has scratched ray leg ! '
One of the men, a lanky Mii-anlia, was thrown off his balance, and then there was no end to the
laughter and shouting. At last a youth of about fourteen years of age, on my calling to him from the
bank to do so, seized the reptile by the tail and held him tightly until, a little resistance being over-
come, he was able to bring it ashore. The net was opened, and the boy slowly dragged the dangerous
but cowardly beast to land, through muddy water, a distance of about a hundred yards. Meantime I
had cut a strong pole fiom a tree, and as soon as the vUligator was drawn to solid ground, gave him a
smart rap with it on the crowi of his head, which killed him instantly." The same traveller at one
time, when out on an exjietlition and the heat was very great, found that no one could bathe without
being advanced upon by one or other of these liungry monsters. " Thej-e was much offal cast into the
rivei-, and this, of course, attracted them to the place. One day I amused myself by taking a basketful
of fragments of meat beyond the line of ranchos, and drawing the Alligators towards me by feeding
them. They behaved pretty much as dogs do when fed, catching the bones I threw them in their

» Alligator trigonatns=Caiman trirjonntus (Gray). t Caiman palpebrosm (Gray).

X Jacare niyra (Gray)— Alligator sderops (Cuvier).

27U NATUKAL UlUTOHy.

liuge jaws, and coming nearer and showing increased eagerness after eacli morsel. The enormous gape
of their mouths, with the l)lood-red lining and long fringes of teeth, and the uncouth shape of their
bodies, made a picture of unsurpassable ugliness. I once or twice fired a heavy charge of shot at them,
aiming at the vulnerable part of their bodies, which is a small space situated behind the eyes, but tliis
had no other effect than to make them give a hoarse grunt and shake themselves. They immediately
afterwards turned to I'eceive another bone which I threw them."

A small Alligator, not more than two feet in length, the Jacare curiia, is found in shallow creeks
on the Lower Amazons. The Indians said one that was brought to Bates " was a mai d'ovos," or
mother of eggs, as they had pillaged the nest which they had found near tlie edge of the water. The
eggs wei-e rather longer than a hen's and regularly oval in shape, presenting a rough, hard surface
of shell. This kind was cooked and eaten.

Other Jacares have the head sharp, and the back is olive colour banded with brown, and one of
the gi-oup, the Dog-headed Jacare,* has the face and snout marked with dark spots at the sides, and
the skull is broad and shallow. It inhabits the Brazils about Pernambuco, and also Surinam. The
second kind is the Brazilian Jacare. The Long-shielded Jacare of Tropical America has an olive colour,,
and the jaws are spotted.t It has a long head, no ridges in front of the orbit of any importance, and
the cervical disc is oblong, and it much resembles the Eyed Jacare | from the lake of Santa Cruz de
la Sierra. The Argentine Republic, Brazil, and Sui'inam, have a narrow-faced, high-nosed Jacare, whose
jaws are yellow in colour, or spotted, the back being yellow banded with brown. It is called the
Dotted-jawed Jacare.§ And, finally, there is a kind from Demerara called the Rough-necked Jacare,||
which has the scales on the side of the neck rough, spiny, and pale yellow, the back and tail being
brown and cross-barred. The cheeks and sides of the lower jaw ai'e yellow and not spotted.

It was formerly thought that Alligators were confined to the New World, and that all the
reptiles of this family living in the Old World were Crocodiles. It is, however, now known that a
true Alligator {Alliyator sinensis) is found in China, and in 1890 two specimens were exhibited in
the Zoological Gardens, Regent's Park.

FOSSIL CROCODILIA.

So numerous were the Crocodilia in the Secondary and Tertiary ages that a considerable
volume might be written upon their characteristics and localities ; therefore a short summary of
their peculiarities can only be given here. In the endeavour to comprehend the structures of the
Crocodiles of old, the nature of the vertelirse and of the roof of the mouth of the Nilotic Crocodile
should be considered. The modern Crocodilia have the body of the vertebra in front of
the sacrum concave or procoelous in front, and the hard palate is formed by the union of the
palate bones and of the pterygoid bones behind them, so that the internal air passage fi-om the
outer nostril is far back in the long mouth. This group of Crocodilia, embracing the three
modern families of Crocodile, Gavial, and Alligator, has a great antiquity, for Crocodilia with the
above anatomical characters, existed in the age of the Green Sand of America and of the Upper
Cretaceous of Europe. Thoracosaurus (Leidy), Holops (Cope), from America, and GaviuUs ma-
crorhynchus, of the European Chalk, are to be classified with this modern group termed by Owen
" Procoelia." The Crocodilia of the Tertiary age found in the London Clay, the Plastic Clay of
Meudon, and the Calcaire Grossier of Castelnaudary, and in the Eocene deposits of Bracklesham.
were large, and all the three families were represented in those times : that is to say, such forms as
Crocodihis toliapicus, Crocodilus hantoniensis, and Crocodilus dixoni, are indications that Crocodiles,
Alligators, and Gavials lived then in Western Europe. In the later Tertiary deposits the group is
represented, and in the Sewalik hills in the Himalayas there is a thick-toothed Crocodile of extinct
species, and one which resembles the Muggar.

The great series of strata belonging to the Secondary rocks, from the Lower Lias to the Upper
Chalk inclusive, contain evidences of the former existence of another gi-oup of Crocodilia. The genera
■which form it probably led marine and along-shore lives, and the more terrestrial kinds, such as wouhl
now be the true Crocodiles and some Alligatoi-s, have not been handed down by fossil remains. Gavial-

* Jacare latirostris {GTay)=Al!igator ct/nocephalus (Dum., et Bib.). t Jarare hnffiscutafa.

i Jacare occllata (Gray). ^ Jacare jmnctulata (Gva.y)= Jacare sclerops (Gray). || Jacare hirticoUis (Gray).

FOSSIL CROCOBILIA. 271

like kinds, whicli moved out to sea like the Crocodile of San Doiuingo, but wliicli came rarely to land,
existed as the genera Steneosaurus and Teleosaurus. In these Crocodilia, the bodies of the vertebrie were
concave before and behind, or araphiccelous, and the pterygoid bones did not come into the hard palate,
the posterior nostrils being behind the palatine bones only, and there were two longitudinal series of
dorsal scutes instead of more, as in the Proccelia. This group of Amphicrelia became extinct during
the early days of the Procoelia.

Mr. Hulke, F.ll.S., has shown that in the Wealden and Purbeck deijosits there is a fossil
Crocodile intermediate in its characters of skull between those of the Lias and Tertiary times.

The next group preceded these in time, and lived and died out in the days of the vast continental
surfaces of the Trias. Instead of being perfectly aquatic forms, these Crocodiles were very terrestrial,
and the conformation of their nostrils and hard palate leads to the belief that they had no necessity to
drown theii- prey, and that they had not the jjeculiar method of life of the more modern groups. The
bodies of the vertejjrse of these early (Secondary kinds were amphiccelous, but neither the palatine nor
the pterygoid bones were produced into plates, so as to form a hai-d palate and place the internal
nostrils far back in the mouth. Hence the outside nostrils communicated with the mouth in the front
part of the palate. They had two long series of keeled, joined, dorsal scutes, and in some there
was a ventral armour. The genus Stagonolepis is from Elgin, in Scotland ; and Parasuchus from
India, and Belodon from Germany and North America. They have been called by Huxley
" Parasuchia."

Owen, of whose classification of the fossil Crocodiles the above is a modification, has described
some little Crocodilia which he considers were sufficiently lai-ge to kill and devour the small Marsupial
Mammals of the age of the Purbeck deposits (Upper Oolite).

Associated with the fossil Crocodilia is an order in which large and small reptiles with bi-concave
vertebrfe have a dentition of teeth in sockets, which somewhat foreshadows the cai-nivorous Mammalia.
These Theriodontia of Professor Owen probably commenced in the Permian age, and lived in the
Oural region in Asia, and in Noiih America, South Africa, and England, during one or more of
the geological ages down to the end of the Oolite period.

Cope notices two species of Crocodilia from the Cretaceous formations west of the Mississippi ; one
eight or ten feet in length is Hyposauiiis, which had sub-biconcave vertebrae and a long sub-cylindrical
snout ; and the other was a short-headed species like the Alligator lucius. The New Jersey Cre-
taceous has also yielded Crocodilia of this genus — Bottosauvus as well as Hyposaurus, and there is a
long-nosed Ga\dal from the same strata named Holops by Cope, and a second which is a Proccelian
Crocodilian, small in size, but also a Gavial.

CLAS.SIFICATIOX OF THE ORDER CROCODILIA.

Family— Crocodilid.e Genus Crooodilus.

Gavialid.e . . I " fjavi'ilis.

[ „ 1 oniistoma.

!,, Alligator.

„ Caiman.

\ „ Jaoare.

CLASS EEPTILIA, THE REPTILES

CHAPTER in.

OKDER SAURIA, OR LACERTILIA.— THE LIZAKDS.

THE LIZARDS— Cliaracters of the Eeptiles of the Order-THE FISSILINGUES -The Sand LizARD-Prof. BeU's
Description — THE COMMON Lizakd— Habits— Yoiuig Produced Alive — Characters of the Lizard — Distinctions between
Crocoilile, Lizard, and Snake, illustrated by Comparison of the Skull (foot note)— Other Species of Lacerta—
Peculiarity of the Tail of many Lizards— Teeth of Saurians— A " Pleui-odont "' Jaw— An ''Acrodoct" Jaw— The
Ameivid.e- Characters -The Common Teguexin— Habits— The Common Asceiva- The Water Lizards— De-
scription— Why called Monitors— The Nile Monitor— Ths Sand Monitor, or \'arani;s— Other Kinds of Varanus—
The Common Indian ■\\'ater Lizard— The Ocellated Water Lizard — The Heloderma— THE CRASSILIXGUES—
Characters —The Iguanas — The Green Iguana -Description — Habits— Character of the Vertebra;— Dentition Pleui-o-
dont— The Basilisk — Appearance— The Amblyrhynchus CRISTATUS—Dar^vin's Account of this Sea Lizard— The Ter-
restrial Species of this Genus— Flying Lizards —Characters— Their Apparatus for Locomotion — Habits — Beauty of
their Colouring— The Frilled Lizard— Description— The FriU— The Terrestrial Agamid.e of the Old World and
Australia— The Genus Uromastix— The Dabb, or Dhobb— The Thorn-deWl, or Hunilil.- .M..l..ch— Tlie Genus Stcllio—
The Toad Lizards— THE Gecko Family— Appearance— Habits— Their Toes and I'iim, ■^^ ('Imiucters— Colouring— Eyes
—Tongue— Origin of their Name— Pleurodont Teeth — The Various Speciis Tl,. llying Gecko — EHYNCHO-
CEPHALA, THE BEAKED LIZARDS — ^The Tuatera, or Hatteria, oh the Si-ke.n.il.l.n Lizard- Gunther's
Description of its Anatomy — THE VERMILINGUES, THE CHAM.ELEONS — Appearance - Curious Tongue-
Remarkable Lungs — Distribution — Colouring — The Genus Rhampholeon — The South African Kind — Changing of the
Colour of the Chameleon's Skin— THE AJIPHISB.ENOIDA— The \Yhite Amphisbwna— THE BREVILINGUES-
Characters— Scincoid.e— The Common Skink— Habits— The Stump-tailed Lizard— The Blind-worm, or Slow-worm
—Description— The Javelin Snake— The Zonurid.e— Character— The Gigantic Cordylus- The European Pseudopus-
American Glass Snake — Classification of the Order Sam-ia.

The reptiles included in this order are very numerous, and present much diversity of shape and
habits. Some resemble the Crocodiles, but have neither their bony plate armour nor theii- socket-
implanted teeth. Others are after the type of the Common Lizard, and the rest are more or less
limbless, and in some the shape of the Serpent is recognised. But all have a more or less perfect
shoulder-girdle and sternum, and usually, but not invariably, four limbs are present. Their throat is
not extensible, and the jaws cannot separate as in the Serpents. Many have glands with pore-like
openings on the thighs.

There are many groups of these reptiles, which are subdivided into families. The long-bodied,
sliort-limbed, scaly, long tailed Lizards of England may be considered first of all, us their shape is
familiar to everybody. They belong to THE SUB-ORDER FISSILINGUES, THE SPLIT-
TONGUED LIZARDS, characterised by having a long, slender, protractile, forked tongue, the
teeth pleurodont * in arrangement, a free tympanic membrane, and procoelous vertebrae.

THE SAND LIZARD.t— GENUS LACERTA.

This English species of Lizard received especial attention from Professor Bell, who writes, in his
" History of British Reptiles " : — " This beautiful species is found in the neighbourhood of Poole, in
Dorsetsliire, in somewhat different situations. Its general abode is on sandy heaths, where it ia fre-
quently seen crossing the small by-paths with considerable swiftness, although it is certainly less
rapid in its movements than the next and more common species. But it is occasionally seen on the
sunny sides of green banks basking in the sun's rays, and retreating rapidly on the approach of any
intruder." It is occasionally seen near wet ground. It Ls a very timid and wild little thing, and
Bell states that it will bite if handled, and that it pines and dies in captivity. It is a northern kind,
rarely occurring .so far south as Italy, but it is common in the northern parts of France and the
central parts of Europe, extending as far north as Denmark and Sweden. In its form, this kind is
thick and rounded in the body, the limbs are strong and shoi-t, and the head Ls obtuse.

The third and fourth toes of the foot are of equal length. On the head, which is plated, the
eyelids have a series of very minute scales. The scales of the upper part of the body are round or
polygonal, and slightly keeled. The abdominal plates are in .six rows, the middle series being
narrower than the adjoining ones. The throat has a distinct collar of scales.

The femoral pores vary from eight to eighteen on each side. The tail is covered with numei'ous
distinct whorls of scales, fifty to eighty in number, and the total length of the Lizard is seven
inches two lines, that of the tail being four inches. It has teeth on the palate.
* See page 275. f Lacerta aijiUs (Linn.).

THE COJtMOX LIZARD. 273

It varies mucli in its colour and markings. The most common tint of the upper parts is a sandy-
brown, with obscure longitudinal bands of a darker brown, and a lateral set of black round spots, each
marked with a yellowish-white dot or line in the centre. There is often, according to Bell, more or less
of gi-een on the sides. Some are of a rich brown colour, others of a green hue of a duUisli tint, and it is
this wbich has led to the belief that a species called the Green Lizard occurs in England. The female
lays her eggs, to the number of twelve or fourteen, in hollows in the sand, which she excavates for the
purpose, and having covered them carefully with sand, she leaves them to bo batched by solar heat.

SAND LIZAUD.

SrB-GEXrS ZnOTOCA.— THE COiniOX OR VIVIPAKOUS LIZARD.*
This Lizard has the temples covered •with adpressed scales, and the scales of the back are
long and hexagonal, but there are no teeth on the palate. Hence it differs from the Sand Lizard,
and lias been placed in a sub-genus Zootooa, and as it brings foi'th its young alive and not within the
egg, it is termed the Viviparous Lizard. It is an agile and pretty Lizard, frequenting heaths and
banks in England and even in Scotland. It is one of the few reptiles found in Ii'eland. It is con-
fined tothe latitude of England on the .Continent. Bell says : — " It comes out of its hiding-place during
the warm part of the day, from the early spring till autumn has far advanced, basking in the sun,
and turning its head with a sudden motion the instant that an insect comes within its view, and
darting like lightning upon its prey, it seizes it with its little sharp teeth, and speedily swallows it.

* Laca-ta (Zootoca) rirqxira. See note oil next page.

NATURAL HISTORY.

Tims, it will often take a great number of the smaller insects, preferring tliose of the two-winged order,
though it will not refuse many of the beetles and Orthoptera, if they are not too large."

The female retains the eggs until the young are ready to leave them, and they are produced alive.
The covering of the egg is very thin and membranous. As the young are sometimes found with the
mother, it is possible that she has some maternal instincts. The young are fully formed when born,
and are capable of i-unning about and of taking care of themselves. This little Lizard is from five inches
and a half to six inches and a half in length, of wliich the head occupies half an inch, and its colour
and markings vary much. The general ground colour of the upper parts is a greenish-brown, with a

^^^-^

dark brown line down the middle of the back, which is often somewhat intemipted. A broad stripe or
belt extends parallel with this on each side, commencing behind the eyes, and extending to a greater
or less length dow^^ the tail ; between this and the former are often one or more rows of black dots,
and similar ones may occur on the lines. The under side of the body and base of the tail, in the male,
are bright orange, spotted with black ; in the female these parts, as well as the tail, are pale greyish-
green, without spots.

The other species of Lacerta, which may be seen frequently on the Continent of Europe, are the
Green* and the Ocellatef Lizards, and the lively little Wall Lizard. :{:

There are some species of Lacerta in Africa, and on that continent, in Lidia, and in Southern
Europe, the genns Acanthodactylus is represented. Its species have the toes keeled beneath or
fringed along their edges. Long-tailed, cylindrical-bodied Lizards are also found in the East Indies
and in Africa, and they belong to the genus Tachydromus. The genus Oi)hiops contains Lizards
without palatal teeth and eyelids, and the type is an inhabitant of Asia Minor.
* Lacerta viridis. t L. ocellata. t L. mitmlis.

Note. — If these common Lizards are taken as the types of the order Sauria, or Lacertilia, the distinctions between them and
the Crocodilia on the one hand, and the Serpents, or Oi^hidia, on the other, can be appreciated. The skull of the Lizard,
shortened as it is in relation to that of the Crocodile, possesses the following peculiarities : — The lower jaw is jointed
with a quadrate bone, on each side, which is not firmly united to the skull,
for the union admits of some movement there. In this respect the Lizards
differ from the Crocodiles, but this mobility is in excess in the Serjients. In
the Lacertilia the pterygoid bones reach from the iialatines and .sphenoid back-
wards and outwards to join, but not to unite firmly to, the quaib-ate bones ; but
this is not the case in the Crocodiles, and the joining is in the nature of a
very movable joint in the Serpents. In the Sphenodon, one of the Lacertilia,
this union is bony, and there is no mobility. On the palate of the Saurians,
the inner nostrils or posterior nares are well in front, and the vomers limit
them internally, and the palatine bones externally. The palatine bones do not
unite along the median line, as in the Crocodile, except in the Sphenodon, and
the vomers are distinct in the Lacertilia. There is a transverse bone uniting
the palatine and pterygoid with the maxilla in the Lacertilia and Snakes.
BKVLL OF LIZARD. The basi-sphenoid has a projection on each side which passes downwards and

TEETH OF LIZARDS.

Common observation instructs us that many Lizards leave theii- tails behind in the hand of their
incautious captor, without seeming any the worse for this singular loss of much of the organ. The
vertebrse of the tail are not solid and bony, for there is a space running right across each, in its middle,
formed of gristle, or even of cellular tissue, and this gives way nearest the point of greatest stress upon
the tail, which snaps off, but will be reproduced.

Certain skin glands exist, and are seen at the surface along the inner part of the thigh as pores
(femoral and inguinal pores), and others exist in front of the vent. They secrete a reddish fatty sub-
stance, which often hardens in the duct leading to the
pore, and forms a visible projection.

The teeth of the Saurians are on the pre-maxillse,
maxillw, and the dentary pieces of the lower jaw or
mandible, but they often occur also in the pterygoid and
palatine bones.

It was mentioned that the teeth of the English
Lizards are pleurodont. This is a term which implies

that the teeth are attached to a kind of parapet of bone which is placed on the jaws. The teeth are
inside this, or between it and the cavity of the mouth, and are attached to it, each tooth by one side,
and they are therefore not placed in .sockets.

This arrangement is common to several groups of the order, and others have what is called an
acrodont dentition. That is to say, the bases of the teeth are on and are attached to the top of the
parapet, and not to its side. The teeth are numerous and simple in structure, and their crowns
have very different forms, being sliarp, blade-like, or broad, rounded, and crushing, according to the

PLEURODONT JAW (iGUANA),

a .the Snake also, but not in the
Lizartls the space between the

SKULL OF

outwards to join the commencing backward prolongation of the pteiygoid. This is seen

Crocodile ; but the junction, perfect in the Lizard, is movable in the Serpents. In the

prootic bone and the pre-frontal, unlike the

bony condition of the CrocodUe, is filled

with cartilaginous membrane. There is an

imperfect bony division between the orbits,

and the parietal bones form the front part of

the roof of the brain-case, and the occipital

the back, hinder, and part of its lower por-
tions ; they are not united by sutures or fixed

in a perfectly motionless manner, but there

is a membranous interspace, wliich permits

of some movement of the face and fore part

of the skull on the occipital bone. This is

very different to the ligid condition of the

skull of the Crocodile and to the solid structures of that of the snake. On looking at the upper part of the Lizard's skuU a

number of distinct openings are seen. One, the snjn-a-temj}oral fossa, is bounded by the parietal, post-frontal, and the

squamosal bones ; and there is a, post- anil temporal fossa existing between the parietal, the occipital, and a process called the

parotic. This process is at the back and side of the skull, giving
~ ^ it an angidar appearance. It is present also in the Crocodiles, but it

is not found in the Snakes.

A small unossified space, the parietal foramen, usually exists
between the parietal bones and the frontals.

Thei-e is also a lateral temporal fossa. The Lizards have the
skin over the stipra-temporaJ fossa more or less bony, and it follows
that, as in the Crocodile and Chelonians, there is a kind of light
outer skull-case, the true brain-case being very small and opening
behind at the foramen magnum, where there is, on the basi-occi-
pital bone, at its junction with the latenal occipital bones, the solitary
condyle for the jointing with the atlas or first vertebra.

With regard to the lower jaw, the two sides of it are usually
united at the chin (or symphysis), and each is composed of six bony
pieces. This number is common to the Reptilia, but the junction in
front, seen also in the Crocodile, is not observed in the Snake, whose
lower jaw is singid.arly separable from its fellow on its opposite side.
Finally, in conchuUng this notice of the skull, it is necessary to

mention that the i)re-maxillse and maxillse are firmly united with each other and the skull, and that there are two vomers.
Most of the Lacertilia have two small rod-shaped bones, one on each side within the skull. Each extends from a parietal

bone to the pterygoid nearest to it, and is in close contact with the membranous or cartilaginous wall of the skull. It is

called the columella, and its presence is of classificatory value.

RATTLESNAKE.

NATURAL UISTORI

family or sub-orcier. New teeth are usually formed below the old ones. Some fossil kinds were
probably thecodont, or their teeth were in sockets.

The second family of the sub-order Fissilingues is formed by the Ameu'ID.e. Living in the New
Woild, these large reptiles have the head plated, rhombic scales on the back, and transverse rows oi
square ones on the belly. The tail is long and cylindrical in some and compressed in others. The limbs
are well developed ; the teeth are powerful and obliquely jjlaced ; there are two transverse folds in the
skin of the lower region of the neck, and usually there are femoral pores. The Co.mmon Teguexix,* or

COMMON TEGIE

South American Sauvegarde, may be taken as an example. It gi-ows to more than a yard in length,
and has been said to attain four feet six inches, and the colour is variable on the back, where it is
always black, so far as the ground tint is concerned, but the beautiful yellow spots may be scattered
and small, or large and dispersed in cross bands, with a, large spot on the flanks. Tlie sprinkling
is seen often on the head and tail, and this is ringed with yellow and black. All the lower parts
are yellow, and are marked across with black bands. They have a great range in South America, from
Guiana to Paraguay inclusive, and are abundant, being found in sugar plantations and woods, and in
the Brazils in sandy or clayey districts, amongst scrub and bush. Often liking the neighbourhood of
the rivers and water, and ruiming on the banks, they do not appear to go into the water readily, but
they can swim gracefully, using the taU as a propeller.

Usually they burrow under the roots of trees, and they keep very much to the same spots, living
often in the hollows of trees. Azara says that when pursued they take to the water, and do not climb,
but it is doubtful whether they ever swim. They are strong, and swift in movement, not over bold,

* Tejus tegiiexiii (Linn.)

max ITU US.

277

but when attacked by dogs will tight and make their tails felt. Running swiftly close to the ground,
they sit with the head rather erect. They keep their tongue in very constant movement, but it is-
very doubtful if they ever emit a warning sound, as some suppose they do, on the approach of wild
beasts. The nests of the White Ant, which have been built close to the fallen trees on the outskirts of
the forests, are cleared out by the Teguexin, and her eggs, some fifty or sixty in number, are laid
tiierein. Azara says that they feed on fruit, insects, snakes, frogs, young birds, and eggs_, and that
they are fond of honey ; and in captivity they devour )neat and mice, and are not amenable to kind-
ness. The genus Tejus may be distinguished by the large hexagonal scales which are between the neck
folds, and by the long and narrow ventral plates.

The members of the genus Ameiva have large ventral scales and tricuspid and compressed teeth
Ameiva vulgaris, or the Common Ameiva, is from the West Indies.

The largest known Lizards belong to the family of AVater Lizards, Monitorid.e, or Platynota.
They are long-headed things, with a vast number of small scales, united more or less at the sides and
not over- lapping, and are equal on the sides and back, and arranged in cross rings, whilst those ot
the belly and tail are square and in cross bands. The tail is long and generally compressed, and there
are five digits to the well-developed limbs armed with claws. The smallness of the shielding of the
liead is remarkable, but the scales everywhere are usually surrounded by a ring of very small tubercles
within their margin. The tongue is long, slender, and ends in a long fork, which retreats into a sheath
at the base. The teeth are acute and compressed, triangular or conical, and none are on the palate.
They difler from the other Lacertilia, except the American genus Heloderma, which is included in
the group, in that the nasal bones are represented by a single narrow ossification. Growing to a con-
siderable size, these largest of the scaly Lizards are found in the Old Woi-ld, including Africa, South
Asia, and in Australia, and there are several genera of them. Some keep entirely to the neigh-
bourhood of water ; but others select dry and sandy spots, not always near water. They prey on small
reptiles, small mammals, the eggs of reptiles, and will not refuse insects.

They are called Monitors, from it being supposed that they warn people of the neighbourhood
and approach of the Crocodile. The warning is said to be a strong hiss, or whistle. But the truth

278 XATUJIAL BISTORT.

apj-iears to be tliat they are often associated with tlie Crocodiles in tlie same waters, and give no warn-
ing whatever. The Nile Monitor, or VaranuSj* grows to a length of six feet, the tail forming one
half. The head is rather long, and the nostrils small and rounded ; the tail is keeled on the top, and
compressed from side to side, and the fourth toe is the longest, and contrasts with the small fifth one.
The reptile has no web to its feet, crawls about watery places, and suns itself on the sand. Known to
the ancients as a devourer of Crocodiles' eggs, the Monitor is not restricted to the Nile, although it
reaches into Nubia, for it, or a closely allied species, is found in the great rivers of the West, and is
known also in South Africa.

In this locality it is generally discovered on the banks of rivers or margins of lakes, and it plunges
in the instant it is disturbed; and if the water is deep the Monitor remains quiet there until the
danger is past.

THE SAXD MONITOR, OR VARAXUS.+

This is an Egyptian kind which, instead of frequenting the banks of the rivers and the water,
lives in dry places. It is less carnivorous than the Monitor of the Nile, and its food, although con-
sisting of eggs to a certain extent, is rnnre insectivorous.

Another terrestrial kind is from South Africa. Wlien it is surprised it seeks concealment in the
chinks and crevices of the ground, holding on to any projections with its toes, so as to require much
force in withdrawing it. A single man is not sufficient for the task, even with a rope attached to
the hind legs by way of assistance.

It appears to feed on frogs, Crustacea, small mammalia, and is often found near running streams.
It is called the White- throated Monitor. |

Amongst the Varaiii with nostrils, or an oblique .slit placed quite, or nearly, in the middle of
the face between the eye, and the end of the snout, are some from India.

The Common Indian Water Lizai-d § sometimes attains the length of four feet, the tail being
longer than the body, and it is of a brownish olive colour, with more or less numerous black dots,
each of which occupie.s a scale. It is found in Bengal, Nepal, Southern India, and in Ceylon, where
it is called the Goana. Kelaart says that "it is found in great abundance in all the maj'itime
provinces, biit rarely in the Kandian districts. The natives are partial to its fiesh, and we have once
tasted some excellent soup made from a Goana, which tasted like hare. They live in holes and come
out in mid-day after their food, which consists of smaller reptiles and insects. They attack ant-hills,
and at Trincomalee they iised to be hunted down by dogs and sold in the market."

The Ocellated, or the Two-banded Water Lizai'd,|| lives in China and Siam, and it is said to
occur in Ceylon. Cantor says it is very numerous in hilly and marshy localities in the IMalayan

* Monitor (Vamnm) nilolk-m. t Monitor, or Psammomiirns aramriciis. % Monitor {Vumnus) alboyularis.

§ Monitor {Vuranus) dracana. \\ Hi/drosaurus salvator^Varanus mli-ator=Monitor bivittatus.

THE WUANAfi.

Peninsula. It is commonly observed during the day in the branches of trees overhanging
rivers, preyiijg on 'oii-ds and their eggs, and on smaller Lizards, and when disturbed it throws
itself from a considerable height into the water, and it will defend itself courageously with
teeth, claws, and strokes of the tail. The lowest castes of Hindoos capture these Lizards by digging
them out of their burrows on the banks of rivers, for the sake of their flesh, which is greatly
relished by these people. Some individuals attain to nearly seven feet in length.

A Mo(iitor, with bright-yellow spots covering five or six scales, and dotted over the whole body,
is found in New Guinea and the Darnley Islands,* and a closely allied genus (Hydrosaurus), in which
the nostrils are placed at the extremity of the snout, is represented there also.

The Gigantic Lace-Lizard f and its varieties are common examples of Australian kinds.

The other section of this group of Monitors, with a single nasal bone, is represented by the very
ugly Lizard called Helodenna horridum, of Mexico. It has rather a flat head covered with numei'ous
great convex polygonal plates, which give it a very tubercular appearance.

The Heloderma, reaching to three feet and a few inches in length, is called Esoorpion by the
natives, and moves chiefly by night. Dissections have shown that Heloderma has poison glands and
teeth adapted to bite and introduce the poison. Like most of its order, it is very tenacious of life,
and the muscles move long after decapitation, and chloroform is long in killing it.

THE SUB-ORDER CRASSILINGUES.— THE SHORT-TONGUED LIZARDS.
These Lizards have a short, thick, and fleshy tongue, slightly notched in front and not protractile.
There are four limbs present, and their digits are placed in front of the ankle and wrist. Usually the
eye is protected by lids, and the tympanic membrane is free. They have, with the exception of
one family, the Geckos, procueloiis vertebrae and a columella, but the teeth may lie pleurodont, or
acrodont. The first family of this gi-eat sub-order is that which contains the Iguanas (the
Iguanidre).

* M nitoi chlm ostujma [Gi3,y) f Hydt osam us (iiqanteus

280 NATURAL HISTORY.

A large Lizard with a l)eaiitiful gi-een-coloured back, j'ellowisli-gTeen sides and belly, with
brown stripes or zigzags lined with yellow, and with its long tail ringed with green, yellow, and
brown, has a crest of tooth-like spines on the back and tail, a " bag " under the jaw, also crested,
long toes, and a rather compressed body. The head is moderately long, and has its top protected with
plates, and is raised between the eyes, and is more or less pyramidal in form. The neck is short,
and there is a fold of skin on it behind the " bag " which is reflected over the shoulders.

This description applies to the large Green Iguana,* wliich may be from three to five feet in
length. On looking at the mouth it is observed that the numerous teeth are fixed along the internal
face of the dentary bone, to which they adhere by one side of their bony root, and that they are
remarkable in shape. They are " pleurodont." They are rather long, compressed from side to side,
and are broad at the top, where they are angulai-ly arched, pointed at the tijj, and finely denticulate
on the slope on each side. The tympanic membrane is large and circular.

These Iguanas live an arboreal life in tropical America and the West Indies, and ai-e often
l)rought to Europe, and kept in zoological gardens and menageries. Climbing with ease and moving
with great rapidity amongst the foliage, they do not hesitate to take to water, the neighbourhood of
which they usually seek. They swim with ease, entering water voluntarily, and they do not then
use their fore limbs, but principally the tail. Brown, in his travels in Guiana, noticed the Iguana on
the trees overhanging the rivers, and that they were greatly alarmed at the noise of the boat's paddles.
They threw themselves from the branches into the water, many coming down broadside on the surface.
Harmless things, they still will show fight, and the lash of their tail gives pain. Their food is not
confined to vegetable diet, and as they have a row of teeth on the pterygoid bones, they can readily
capture and swallow small grubs and insects. Nevertheless, the insectivorous diet is the most usual,
although the blade-like serrate teeth are suited for biting leaves.

The body of each vertebra is procoelous, that is to say, hollow in front and convex behind, the
hollow of one vertebra fitting into the convexity or ball of the one in front of it. The arch of bone
of each vertebra through which the spinal cord passes is attached to that of the vertebrae in front and
behind, by the ordinary oblique articular processes, which permit of a certain amount of motion of the
individual bone between its neighbours, t and of a general amount between all the vertebrse. In order
to prevent dislocation during rapidly complicated or contorted movements an additional structure is
provided, whose use, however, is not so apparent in the Iguana as it is in the Serpents. There-
is a projection on the front of each arch which fits into a pit on the hind ftice of the preceding arch, J
a peg-and-socket joint being formed.

It is remarkable that in all the IguanidiO of the New World the teeth ai-e pleurodont. But there
are others in which the teeth are acrodont, and their possessors are inhabitants of the Old World, the
great Asiatic Islands, and Au.stralia. The habits of all are much alike.

A fine Cyclui-a § lives in Cuba, which has a back crest, an extensiljle throat, and a very long com-
pressed tail with rings of spiny scales, and the Crested Anolis || has the digits enlarged and united at
their base, and the throat sac is veiy extensible. It has none of the glandular structures in the fold
of the thigh which are seen in moirt of the gi-oups.

The most ciirious of all these American Iguanidse . is called the Basilisk,11 and might be taken
for an heraldic rather than a real and living active tree Lizard. If it were twelve feet in length
instead of as many inches it would not be unlike a mediaeval Dragon without wings, and even in its
small development it looks very uncanny. Its broad arid rather sharp-pointed scaly head has a
tall cap-like crest sticking up and back from the hinder part. A tall, thin, §n-like movable crest with
spines on it passes along the back, being highest over the loins, and there is a corresponding one
on the top of the long tail. The body is scaly and marked in zigzag. There is a vei-y marked fold of
the skin on the throat, and the hind digits are fi-inged at their sides. It inhabits Central America.

The genus Amblyrhynchus is represented in the Galapagos Islands, and the infoi-mation about its
species is due to Charles Darwin, who writes in his celebrated Journal: — "This Lizard** is
extiemely common on all the islands throughout the Archipelago. It lives exclusively on the

* Igtuma tubermlata. t These articukrjirocesses are called Zygopophyses.

X They are called Zyyosphene and Zyguntrum. § Cydura carinatn.

\\ AnoVis occijiitalis. ^ Basilltnw mitratus. ** AmblyrhytH'kvs cristfttu^.

THE AMBLYliUyyCHVS. 281

rocky sea-beaches, and is never found — at least, I never saw one — even ten yards in shore. It
is a hideous-looking creature, of a dirty black colour, stupid and sluggish in its movements." The
u.sual length of a full-gi-own one is from a yai-d to four feet, and they may weigh twentj^ pounds.
These Lizards were occasionally seen some hundi-ed yards from the sliore swimming about. And
when in the water the animal swims with perfect ease and quickness, by a serpentine movement of

its body and flattened tail, the legs, during this time, being motionless, and closely collaj)sed on
its sides.

Mr. Darwin writes also : — " Their limbs and strong claws are admirably adajrted for crawling
over the rugged and fissured masses of larva, which everywhere form the coast. In such situations a
gi'oup of six or seven of these hideous reptiles may oftentimes be seen on the black i-ocks, a few feet
above the surf, basking in the sun with outstretched legs. I opened the stomach of several, and in
each case found it largely distended with minced sea-weed, of that kind which gi-ows at the bottom
of the sea, at some little distance from the coast." It is vei-y remarkable that these Sea Lizards
should object to be driven into the water, but such is the case.

2S2 XATURAL HISTORY.

A species of the genus leads a terresti'ial life on the same islands, and is the yl»(i/yr/(//?ic/t«6
svbcristatus (Gray). This species, wi-ites Mr. Darwin, " dilierently from the last, is contined to
the central islands of the Archipelago, namely, to Albemarle, James, Bariington, and Indefatigable.
To the southward, iu Charles, Hood, and Chatham Islands, and to the northward, in Towers,
Bindloes, and Abingdon, I neither saw nor heard of any. It would appear as if this species had been
created in the centre of the Archipelago, and thence had been dispersed only to a certain distance.
In the central islands they inhabit both the higher and damp, as well as the lower and sterile parts ;
but in the latter they are much the most numerous. I cannot give a more forcible proof of their
numbers than by stating that when we were left at James Island we could not for some time find a
spot free from their burrows on which to pitch our tent. Tiiese Lizards, like their brothers, the sea
kind, are ugly animals, and are a little smaller."

The second division of the family of Iguanidse relates to those Is:uan;vlik(» cif^ituiv-s wiiich have

RHYNCHVS CRI.ST.A.TfS.

acrodont teeth, that is to say, the teeth are placed with their bases on the top of the jaw-bones
without sockets. They are neai'ly all- inhabitants of the Eastern hemisphere and of Australia.
One of the most interesting is a little i-epresentation of the Dragon of the mediaeval Eastern
imagination. There are many species of these " Dragons," * but they are restricted to the East
Indies, and they are more numerous in the Archipelago than in the Continent. They have not
yet been found in Ceylon. The character, according to Giinther, by which the Flying Lizards may
be at once recognised, is the peculiar additional apparatus for locomotion, formed by the prolonged
five or six hind ribs, which are connected by a fold of extensible skin, the whole forming a sub-
semicircular wing on each side of the body. They have a long, pouch-like, downward pi-ojection of
the skin from the thi-oat, and a small horizontal fold sticking out on each side.

They live in trees, jumping from branch to branch, and expanding their back-parachutes. They
move rapidly and safely over some distance. When running along a branch, or resting, the back
folds of skin are laid backwards along tlie flanks. They run but seldom, but jump and leap
vivaciously. The skinny appendages of the throat are merely appendages of the skin, and may be
compared with the wattles of birds : they are not hollow, but they are connected with the hinder
horns of the hyoid bone, and can be erected or spread out when the animal is excited by rage. The
* Draco rolans.

iPs."-^^ -\^-. 'S

FLVIXG LIZARDS.

234 NATUMAL HISTORY.

trunk is rather slender, and is covered above and below with -s-ery small keeled scales. Large spaces
on the jiarachutes are naked and separated by stripes of minute scales. The tail is long, slender,
tapering, and not breakable. The hands are slender, and each has five long, thin, cla^yed toes.
It is said that the transcendent beauty of their colours baffles description. As the Dragon lies in
shade along the trunk of a tree, its colours at a distance appear like a mixture of brown and gi-ey,
and render it scarcely distinguishable from the bark. Thus it remains with no signs of life, except
the restless eyes watching passing insects, which, suddenly expanding its wings, it seizes with a rapid
leap. The outer part of the upiser surfaces of the "wings " is ornamented with large irregular hlnck.
dots on an orange or rose-coloured ground, fringed with silver. Besides this, the structure of the
wing produces iridescent tints, and they flash as they move through the air from branch to branch.
The throat and sac are bright yellow, dotted with black, and the side folds are silvery, rose, or
yellow. Below the wing are light brown or black spots. This colouring applies to the description of
the common sjjecies of Java, Sumatra, Borneo, Penang, and Singapore. The spotted Draco, with the
lower part of the wing whitish, with sometimes an isolated black spot, is continental, having been
found in Siam ; and Draco dussumieri is the kind found in the forests of the west coast of
Hindostan.

ISIr. Moseley noticed the habits of this Flying Lizard in the Philippine Islands. Tliey frequent
the lower trees. They spring from tree to tree, and from branch to branch, but they pass through
the air so quickly, that the extension of their parachute is hardly noticed during the flight. He
states : — " We had several of them alive on board the ship for a day or two, where they flew from
one leg of the table to another."

The Frilled Lizard* is one of the remarkable Australian animals which, whilst possessing the
structures common to others found elsewhere, have a peculiar and almost anomalous conformation.
Mr. A. Cunningliani, in his Journal on "Australian Discovoiy uuili-r ('iipt. Parker King, F.II.S.,"
describes the ciqiture of the first specimen, which was t-.ikfu oil' .1 ln-aiicli of a tree, in Careening Bay,
Port Nelson : — '' I secured a Lizard of extraordinary appearance, wliich had perched itself upon the
stem of a small decayed tree. It had a curious crenated membrane, like a ruff' or tippet round its
neck, covering its shoulders, and when it was expanded, which it was enabled to do by means of
transverse slender cartilages, it spreads five inches in the form of an open umbrella. Its head was
rather large, and the eyes, whilst living, were rather prominent ; its tongue, altliough bifid, was short
and thick, and appeared to be tubular." Captain King stated that the colour of the tongue and inside
of the mouth was yellow. The frill arises from the hinder part of the head, and is attached to the
sides of the neck and extends down to the front of the chest. It is supported above by a lunate car-
tilage arising from the hinder part of the ear, and in the centre by a bone which extends about half
its length, and is a prolongation of the hyoid. There are four plaits jn the frill, and the front edge is
serrated ; the outer surface has keeled scales, and the inner is quite smooth. The colour of the long-
tailed creature is yellowish-brown variegated with black. It has long toes which are very unequal,
and the claws are hooked and horn-coloured.

The next family of the Crassilingues contains those thick-tongued Lizards which are terrestrial
and not arboreal in their habits, and which have the body broad and flat and the skin covered more
or less with spiny scales. They are principally dwellers in deserts and sandy places, but some are
found ill damp situations, and are called the Agamidse. One group is restricted to the Old World
and Australia, and another to the New World. They (liflfei" in the position of the teeth, those of the
Old World being acrodont, and those of the New World pleurodont, but it is very i-ema.rkable that
some of the genera of the one hemisphere should be represented in the other by forms which
resemble them in many points of structure and habits.

THE TERKESTRIAL AGAMIDiE OF THE OLD WORLD AND AUSTRALIA.
The Thorn-tailed Agamas form the genus Uromastix, and they have the body clothed with small
scales and a large flattish tail ornamented with rings of large spiny scales, which contrasts with the
rest of the rather smooth body. The Dabb, or Dhobb,t of the Arabs is one of them, and is at least

* Chlamiidosaurus (King). t Uromastix spinijpes.

a foot in lengtli, and it appears to liave a very wide distriljiition over the desert tracts of
Palestine, Nortli Africa, and the sides of the Red Sea.

Only one kind of this genus ITroraastix lives in India, inhabiting rocky plains, and reaci.es some
thirteen inches in length. It is found in Western India and not in Bengal.

2Sa A'ATVRAL HISTORY.

In Busliire, Major St. Jolm found these Lizards sitting outside their holes in the evening, and
a Britisli terrier with him killed two, one of which had attacked him. They are generally very gentle,
and are vegetable feeders, possessing a long intestine.

The extraordinary prickly-looking Lizard of Australia, which is called the Thorn-devil, or Horrible
Moloch,* belongs to this group, and is about six inches or less in length. Its little head is horned
with prickles of large size, and rows of them exist on the bulged-out body. They are on the tail in
crests, as it were, and on the limbs.

There is a North African genus of this group which extends into Western Asia. One of the
species is from Afghanistan,t but the commonest one found in Egypt is spineless, and the scales of

lAIUl, OK DUOBB.

it are small, there being no pores on the inside of the thighs. It is interesting from the habit whicli
it has of puffing out its body so as to enlarge its dimensions, and from the gift of being able
to change its colour even more promptly than the Chameleons. J

A fine Lizard, known to the ancients, belongs to the genus Stellio. In Egypt § it attains the
length of more than two feet, and it has a flat swollen body, and the tail is ringed with scales which
are spiny on the tip of it. A dweller in the desert and rocky districts, it is also an inhabitant of
Palestine, and is said even now to extend into Turkey and the Islands of the ^gean, and possibly
it is ftjund in Cyprus.

The next group of the terrestrial Agamids is essentially American. In their shape and habits these
large and squat-bodied Lizards re.5emble those just noticed from the Old World and Australia, and the
fir.st of them to be noticed — as the Toad Lizards — are closely allied in structure and method of life to
the Moloch of Australia. One of these, called the Tapayaxin,|| is very toad-like in the shape of its

* Moloch horridus. f Trapelus merialomjx. J Trapelus cegypliacus. § Stellio s

II Phrt/nosoma orbiculare.

TEE GECKOS.

287

body ; its head is very short, rounded in front, square, and about as broad as high : the neck is short
and the tail is short and jiointed. It is not as prickly as the Moloch, but there are eight sharp radi-
ating spines on the back of the head, and rows of scales keeled and spined on the flanks. The liead is
of a red-brown colour, yellowish beneath, spotted with brown, more or less, and the upper part of the

body hi of i

Til,

IS a lai-i-

■aeh side of the throat,

and the back is spotted with the same colour, and the spines are brownish. The length of this
very ugly reptile is under six inches. It appears to live on insects, and to inhabit the hill country
of Central Mexico. Another kind, of which a specimen was in the Zoological
Gardens, is the Horned Lizard,* which conies from Texas.

THE GECKO FAMILY.— THE ASCALABOTES, OR GECKOTID.E.

Curiously-shaped thick-bodied Lizards, with clawed, flattened-out toes,
running iip straight walls and hunting spiders inside houses, were common
objects of natural history to the Greeks, and Aristophanes, and Theophrastus
called them d<rKa\oj3tuT7)s, a name perjietuated by Aristotle. They are in-
teresting on account of their very world-wide distribution, for they are
found in the hottest parts of the Americas, of Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia,
and Oceania, and in several of the larger islands, and this diffusion, insular
and continental, together with the amphicoelian nature of the bodies cf
their vertebr»,t indicates the antiquity of the group.

Species of one genus of the family may be seen in the South of
Fiance, and in most Mediterranean countries, and a common kind, which
scampers up and down walls, runs along the ceiling, and holds on and
turns where the surface is often slippery and upright, belongs to the

* Phrynoso:i

PlatydactylL
t That is to say, they are hollowed out in front and behind.

2S8 NATVRAL SISTOJtT.

from four to six inches in length, with a long rounded tail, a flat, plump body, short neck, and
each of the rather frog-like limbs ends in five large splay digits, four of which have sharp claws. The
head is very broad behind the eyes, which are lar'ge, prominent, and have an iris with a vertical slit,
and the snout is short. When it runs, which it does with great rapidity, the body is kept low and
the limbs are stuck out, and when it moves over upright surfaces, or runs along back downwards, the
flat expansion of the toes and fingers, and the minute sharp claws, enable it to cling on where other
things, except insects, would fall. The digits are short, and their bones, very equal in length, are so
arranged that they fit into the wrist and ankle so as to radiate, as it were, from a common centre to
form nearly a complete circle. The great toe cannot sepai-ate itself from the othei-s to extend itself
backwards. The lower part of the digits is much dilated and widened, and so is the sole generally.

>i$'?

TURKISH HEMIDACTYLE.

This membranous expansion of the skin is furnished with small plates, like scales, following, or over-
lapping each other in a regular manner, and there is great variety in this arrangement in the different
genera and species. Sometimes the rows of plates are continued right across the under part of the
digit, one behind the other ; in others they are more or less curved, or there may be a longitudinal line
separating the continuity of the line, and producing festooning or angiilation. In the common Gecko
the markings are in simple cross lines. The nails, which pass over the top of the expansion before
they become free and terminal, are very movable and cat-like, and assist materially in holding on, by
getting into minute crevices and cracks, whilst the expansion itself acts more or less after the fashion
of a sucker of the feet of some Insecta. It is certain that the Gecko will remain fixed with some
amount of force in antagonism to that of the gravitation of its body.

They can cast loose in an instant, and when the hand is just upon them they vanish, as it were,
under the eye of their exjiectant captor. In some of the family there is considerable membranous
fringing of the body, tail, limbs, and digits, and in a Californian kind* these last are almost as much

* PhyllodactyJus tubcrcuiatus.

TSE GECKOS.

2S'J

webbed as tliose of a Tree Frog. Tlie Geckos and all tlio family iiave the skin loose, and it is not
covered witli trae scales, as in the Common Lizards and most other Rei)tiles. There are leathery
tubercles roiiuded and sometimes pi'ojecting on the skin, and many minute delicate rounded bodies
are found in its thickness. But it is usually soft, and its colours may be grey or yellowish, and
there are lovely tints of blue, green, and red in some. The males, as a rule, are more brightly
coloured than the females, but in both instances the sombre tints allow the prey to be caught
readily; for the Geckos will climb to some apparently inaccessible place, wall, tree, or rocks,

whose colour assimilates with theirs, and will remain perfectly stationary until the unwary insect
or spider comes within the range of their attack. Or they will creep out of their hiding-place
and pounce upon larvfe, and dig out pupse from crevices. They are fonder of twilight and noc-
turnal wandering than moving by day, and they usually feed at night. They have no scaly or
leathei-y eyelids, only a rim of soft lid, but there is a delicate tissue which can be passed over the
eyes like a nictitating membrane. The pupil is usually cat-like, and enables the Gecko to hunt liy
day and night, but in some genera it is round, and eminently adapted for purely nocturnal vision.
The tongue Ls, of course, a short thick one, very slightly forked in front ; and as it moves it can
drag up the glottis to the palate, so as to form a clicking or clucking sound, something like the
word gek, geko. Hence the name of the genus and family. The teeth are numerous and pleuro-

NATURAL SISTOJtr.

ilout, that is to say, they ore placed in a furrow on tlie internal edge of tlie jaws, tlae roots adhering
to the bone hy their outsides and below. No teeth are found on the palate, and the creatures catch
their prey with their jaws and teeth, and bolt it whole. All the family are harmless, active little
things, but popular ignorance and superstition have given them very bad characters, and they are said
to produce eruptions of the skin if tliey run over anybody with their soft, flabby, viscous little toes.

One of the French Geckos Ijelongs to the genus Platydactylus, which is also represented in Spain,*
and has the fourth and fifth digits only clawed, but the others of the genus in China, Egypt, and
some other places on the Continent have only one digit without a claw.

All the Geckos are fierce, and love fighting, and roll each other, if possible, of their prey. They
are carnivorous, and will kill and eat their smaller fellows, and even their own and others' tails fall
victims. They will come to be fed at appointed times if some care is taken.

A species which has claws projecting beyond all its thick expanded fingers is found in the hotter
districts near the Mediterranean Sea. The scales on the under part of the tail are not unlike
those of Serpents, and the underneath part of the disc-like digits has the little plates separated by a
middle line. The wart-like tubercles on its skm, and the nature of the clawed fingers, have given it
the name of the Hemidactylus vsrruculatus. It is also known as the Turkish Hemidactyle.

The Common East Indian Gecko is very widely distjibiited in British India, Siam, Cochin
China, and Southern China, and in the Archipelago. It is not found in Ceylon.f It has the
habits of the family, but it springs on to its prey like a little Carnivora;

The Flying Gecko | is a very handsome kind, of some seven inches long, and is found in Java
and in a few othn- islands of the Archipelago. The expansions of its skin have the same purpose as
the corresponding structures of the Dragons and Flying Scjuirrels. In leaping they are expanded by
the pressure of the air from below, and act as a parachute, and when the creature is at rest they are
kept in close contact with the body. Cantor says that these Geckos have some power of colour-
changing.

SUB-ORDER RHYNCHOCEPHALA.— THE BEAKED LIZARDS.

THE TUATfiRA, OR HATTERIA, OR THE SPHENODON LIZARD.
This remarkable reptile from New Zealand was first mentioned in a diary by Mr. Anderson,
the companion of Captain Cook, but DiefTenbach gave the first coherent narrative about it (1843) : —
" I had been apprised of the existence of a large Lizard which the natives called Tuatera, or Narara,
with a general name, and of which they were much afraid." He did not find it so common ; and from
all he could glean, it appears that it was common formerly in the islands, lived in holes, often in
sandhills near the sIkivo, and that the natives killed it for food. Owing to this latter cause, and no
doubt to the cultivation of pigs also, it is now very
scaice. The specimen he had was extremely sluggish,
ind could be handled without any attempt at remon-
strance or biting. This Lizard has a large head and a
giext eye, and a crest of separate, white, flat, sharp
spines.
AVe

re to Dr. Giinther a magnificent description of
the anatomy of the Sphenodon and its comparison with-
the extinct reptiles of the ages of the Trias, which are
called Rhynchosaurus and Hyperodapedon. It is an
aciodont, and the teeth are so united vsdth a sharp edge of
the maxillary and palatine bones as to appear mere projec-
tions of them. These edges are, as it were, hard and
polished, and are used as cutters when the teeth have
worn oS. The pie-maxillary bones ha^e a beak-like form, and their large teeth (notched at
the crown) become fused with their substance, and somewhat resemble those of a Rodent in
shape. There is a remarkable row of teeth on the palate-bone, and the teeth of the lower
* Plati/dactiflug fascicuiaris, known as the Gecko dcs muraiHes. + Geclo guttatus.

X Ptijchozoon homaloeephal um.

( Wn G„

THE CKAM.ElEOy. 291

jaw bite in between it and the row of the upper maxilhiry teeth, in a long groove. By friction
during some years of mastication these three sets of teetli become worn, so that those on the
lower jaw, or mandible, are ground to an edge, and the others on their inner and outer faces
respectively. There is great solidity of the large skull at the jaw-joint, and the quadrate bone is
fixed to the side of the head, whilst the squamosal, quadrato-jugal, and pterygoid bones are (unlike
in all other Lizards) united by bone. Moreover, they are strengthened by the ossification of a
membrane which, in Lizards, extends between the quadrate, the pterygoid, and the skull, and bounds
the front walls of the cavity of the ear. The bodies of the vertebrte are hollow in front and behind,
and there is a remarkable system of sternal and abdominal rib.s. These Lizards ajipear to eat large
insects and small ground birds.

THE SUB-ORDER VERMILINGUES.— THE CHAM.4:LE0NS.

The Lizards of this sub-order are most remarkable in their appearance, anatomy, physiology, and
habits, and the well-known ChaniEeleon, so grotesquely formed, and so changeable in its colours, is the
type of the only family of it — the Ghammleonidce.

The species are numerous, and are found in Southern Europe, Africa, Asia Minor, Hindostan,
and Ceylon. There are no less than twenty-one species in Madagascar. Lately it has been proposed
to form them into two genera, one of which is Chamaeleon and the other Ehampholeon.

The Chamteleon has been thus termed after its curious designation by the Greeks. They called
it x''A""^«'»'>'. or Small Lion, and yet a more significant name might have been given to it, for Aristotle
described the strange creature with his usual great accuracy. It is one of the most extraordinary look-
ing things in Nature, and its flattened body is surmounted
by a crest of toothed skiu on the thin back. The neck is
creased, and the head is triangular in outline, having a
pyramidal top. The eyes are large and glaring, and look in
different directions, being, moreover, covered with skin
except in their centre. The ears are not visible, and the
mouth is a slit. A long, compressed, pointed, prehensile tail
is usually twisted around some object by way of safety, and
the fore and hind feet have digits divided into fore and aft
sets, and they clasp their supporting bough very much after
the fashion of some birds. The skin is soft, knobbed, or head of chamjeleon, showing the tonove.
tubei'cular, lax on the ci-eature, and is like a minutely scaly

shagreen, and its colour changes in a very remarkable manner. Usually very still, slow, and quiet in
their movements, the Chamseleons can suddenly protrude an extremely long, fleshy, cylindrical, wonn-
shaped tongue, with a curious lobed cup-shaped end, and thus catch insects with singular rapidity and
certainty. Indeed, it is the most active part of the animal, which, usually hidden up under leaves, or on
boughs much resembling it in colour, does not chase its prey, but watches and waits until an insect
comes within the length of half of its body and tail, and then suddenly it protrudes its long tongue,
and the victim is stuck fast to it by a viscid secretion. When the tongue is withdrawn it brings the
insect into the mouth, and it is then packed away in a groove in the hard i^alate. The teeth are
acrodont in position. The position of the body is high on its legs.

The lungs are of gi-eat size, and the front costce unite with each other on the rudimentary sternum,
and the others, including those of the loins, complete their path around the abdomen. This permits of
the extraordinary size and expansion of the lungs at the will of the animal, by which, filling itself with
air, its outside tissues become, as it were, transparent. This enlargement of the cellular structure of
the lungs passes air into air-vessels distributed about the body, and increases the size and plumpness
of the creature, which can be diminished rapidly when the air is expelled.

The Common Chameleon is found in Southern Spain, and the north and south of Africa; also

in Asia Minor, many parts of Hindostan, and in the northern parts of Ceylon. Most of the Indian

specimens are of a green colour, uniform, or irregularly spotted and banded with dark green or brown,

whilst in African specimens the ground colour is greyish-olive, yellowish, or brownish. The "grains"

49*

XATURAL HISTORY.

CHAM.liLEON

of the skill are equal and close, and the crest on the upper jjart of the body is tootlied as far as the
middle of the back, and that on the lower part, as far as the vent. -

There are many species or varieties of Chamoeleons in Africa besides the common one.* The Island
of Madagascar has a vast number of them included in several species, and probably one-third of
those known are found there. One of them is called the Rhinoceros Chamseleon, from the male having a
horn-like tubercule at the end of the muzzle. Another, described thence by Gunther, has a tail v.'hich
is so short that it cannot be used as a prehensile organ,f but this is compensated for by the presence
of an additional projection at the inner base of each claw, and of a spine projecting from the side of
each finger and toe, structures which add to its powers of clasping and liolding on. The Three-horned
* Chamcdeon vulgaris. f Forming the genus Khampholeon (Bliamphokoii spectrum).

TUE CEAM-JiLEOX.

>J*JiiAi- ^A»4WM< —

SLEEPING CHAMELEON t'NDER LAMP- LIGHT, WITH DORSAL PAKT
PROTECTED IIY A SCREEN.

(iriijji-otccled 2)ortiOTi in this f.iyeriment is 0/ iarkiOiomn colour; pi'ofccfcd

I apjicars like

aUle.)

Cluimieleou* is from Fernando Po, and the male has a long horn over each eye, and another at the

end of the muzzle. Guuther's Chamcdeon montium has its male with two nearly straight horns pro-
jecting horizontally in front of the nostrils, and their sheath is finely annulated ; the horns are half as

long as the head. It has a high crest on the back and part of the tail. In the female the horns are

mere projections. The colour is a mi.xturo of yellow, green, and black. With regard to the. habits of

the small South African kind, and to its viviparous nature, Moseley writes in his "Notes on the C/uil-

lenger" : — " A small Chamajleon is abundant
everywhere on the hedges near Cape Town,
South Africa, We had one alive in the
ward-room ; it was quite tame, and rested
quietly on a bunch of twigs, hung up to the
lamp rail, and would whip flies out of one's
fingers, at a distance of at least four inches,
with its tongue. It gave birth to three
young ones one night. They twisted their
tails round the twigs on which the mother
was reposing, at once, and directly began
catching flies ; but our house-flies were too
big for their mouths to swallow, and they
had to chew away at them for a long time be-
fore they could get any juice out of them."
Most species lay eggs under leaves.
The changing of the colour of its skin by the Chamseleon has made the curiously-shaped reptile

most interesting. This power is not restricted to them, however, but the}- possess it above all other

reptiles and amphibians. The change of colour appears to be produced to a certain extent by

the will and passions of the Chamteleon, by an involuntary

habit which enables its tints to correspond with the natural

substances on which it is placed, and also to have some

relation in certaui cases to the sun's rays. The skin, so

readily stretched and inflated by the enlarging lungs, may

be rendered thin, transparent, and some of it more vas-
cular than the rest.

There are minute corpuscles of diflferent colours in the skin of the

Chamseleon, which are sometimes hidden in the depths of the dermis (true

skin), and sometimes spread out on its surface layers in a kind of interlacing

network. There is also a yellow colouring-matter, and a bluish layer in the

skin becoming yellow by transmitted light, and blue on an absorljenJ-.

gi'ound. Now, during sleep, or if the reptile is placed under the influence

of chloroform, the whole body becomes yellowish- white. If light be

allowed to fall on the reptUe thus situated, a dark tint co;nes over ths

skin. The light coming through dark blue glass does the same, but no'.

through red and yellow glasses. Sections of nerves and of the brain produce

remarkable changes in colour, and it appears to be the case that the various ciiam.eleo:

colours and tints assumed are due to the change of position of the coloured

corpuscles which, according as they bury themselves under the dermis, or

form an opaque ground beneath the coerulescent layer, or spread out a

superficial ramification, either leave the skin its yellow colour, or give it

green and black colours. The movements of the corpuscles are governed

by two kinds of nerves, some of which cause them to travel from its

depths towards the surface, while the others produce the opposite eflfect.

When greatly irritated these corpuscles conceal themselves beneath the

true skin. This is also the case in sleep and death and ansesthesia.
* Chamaleon oweni.

DER SUN-
LIGHT PASSING THROUGH
RED AND BLUE GLASS,
LIGHT PASSING THROUGH
RED GLASS FALLING ON
POKE PART OP BODY, AND
THAT PASSING THROUGH
THE BLUE ON THE HIND
PART.

{In ikii nx'peYim&nt the body seems
£0 be divided, into tico jiarts, the
anterior of a char green with no
spots, the posterior of a darkish
green.)

294

NATURAL HISTORY.

It is evident tliat the luminous rays belonging to the blue-violet region of the spectrum act
directly upon the contractile matter of the corpuscles, causing them to move and ajiproach the
.surface of the skin.*

SUB-ORDER AMPHISB.^NOIDA.

The White Amphisb!Bna,t which may be considered the type of this remarkable group, is a
snake-like animal, without arms or legs, and these the natives suppose it was born with and has
lost. The word is from the Greek aii<pl<rPaiva, which means an animal that can walk in both direc-
tions, and the reptiles can move forwards or backwards with their very worm-like bodies. They
are not Sn^es, however, but really belong to the Lacertilia.

The White Amphisbasna, or Ibijara, is a Brazilian kind, and has the cylindrical worm-like
body of the grouji, being about as thick as one's linger, the head and tail not lieing distinguished

readily by careless and frightened observers. It grows to the length of one foot six inches, or to
one foot nine inches, the tail, or that round part behind the vent, being from an inch and a half to
two inches only in length. On looking at the body, a great number of rings of hard, glassy-looking
skin, made to look scale-like by markings in regular longitudinal lines, are seen. The result of the
markings and disposition in rings is to produce a mosaic of quadrangular false scales, and they
are very equal in size ; and after skin-shedding has taken place are glossy and rich in tint. The
mouth is small, the muzzle is round, and the head is rather flat on the top, and there are two
large separated nasal plates and two pairs of frontal plates behind them. The eye is very small,
and covered with thin skin, and the limbs are deficient Burrowing easily in the ground and
in ants' nests, the Amphisbsena preys on small things, and has a short thick tongr.o without a
sheath. The genus Blanus has a more worm-like species than Amj)hisb»na.

One of this sub-order has a very small pair of arms with four digits, situated just behind the
head, but there are no legs. This is called Chirotes canaliculatus, and is about eight to ten inches
in length, and as thick as the little fingei'. It appears to burrow, and to live on insects in its worm-
like life. In these Amphisbfenoida the vertebi-je are procoelous, and there is no sacrum, and all the
vertebrse in front of the tail, except the one or two nearest the skull, have ribs. Theii- internal
anatomy is more like that of the Chamseleons than any other group.

SUB-ORDER BREVILINGUES.— THE SCINC0ID.5: AND ZONURID^.
Some of these might readily be taken for Lizai'ds, and others for Snakes, so variable

They are a harmless set of beii

having, however, undeservedly very bad reputatio

* It is a point of some importance to recognise tliat tlie hemispheres of the brain, by the intervention of the involuntary
(reflex) nerves, govern the colour-deciding nerve— those which move the corpuscles— and it would ajipear that this in-
voluntary action relates to what is seen by the eye of the opposite side of the body.

t Amphisbwna alba.

THE SKISKS. 295

They are not venomous, and some live above and other.-i muck under ground, preying on worms and
insects. Some of them are to be found in every part of the tropics, and in some parts of tlie temperate
zones, but certain genera are restricted to particular regions. They are called Scincoids. Those
Scincoids which resemble Lizards more than Snakes liave fore and hind limbs ending in hands and
feet furnished with five digits, which are clawed. The serpentiform kinds have no limbs visible ;
and between tliem and those just alluded to are kinds with only the rudiments of the hinder limbs.
Some of these have no toes, and others have two toes on the ill-developed feet ; and there are a
few with foi-e and hind limbs, but without their extremities. A smooth, scaly outside hides,
even in the kinds where no limbs exist, imperfect and rudimentary shoulder and pelvic girdles of
bone or cartilage. When limbs are present these bones are well developed, for instance, in the
Lizard-like kinds. Some have very sharp eyes, and one or more well-grown eyelids ; others have
the eyes very small and covered and hidden by skin ; and a few have very small or no eyelids. Those
with well-developed and movable eyelids have the opening of the tympanum visible, but in the
others it is covered up. Whether the body is furnished with limbs, or is worm- or snake like, there
are always large scales or plates on the fpre-part of the head, arranged symmetrically ; and the body
and limbs are covered with scales, which may overlap or not. They all have a short, thick, very
slightly extensible tongue, which is iiat, and more or less notched in front where it is thinnest. It is
often scaly, or covered with scale-like elevations, and has no sheath.

As a sub-order of the Lacertilia, these creatures may be divided into two families. One* contains
those whose general description has just been given ; and the other includes the kinds which have
an extensible fold of skin on each side of the body, furnished with small scales, and which reaches
from the ear to the vent, and divides the back from the abdomen. They have large jilates on the top
of the head, and there are large scales on the back arranged in whorls, and there are eyelids
and a visible tympanic membrane, as a rule. Lizard-like and serpentiform kinds are found in both
families.

The first division comprehends the Skinks, and this family contains the genus Scincus, and
many others. The species are very numerous, and inhabit almost every part of the tropical
regions, some extending into the tempei-ate zones. They are thoroughly land Lizards, preferi-ing
dry ground, and hiding themselves in the sand and under stones. None of them enter the water.
They do not attain to any considerable size, a few West Indian and Australian species growing
to the thickness of a man's wrist, and being a foot long. They deposit from eight to twelve
globular eggs.

THE COMMON SKlNK.f

This is a Lizarddike kind with short limbs and long body, and a conical and pointed short tail.

COMMON SKINE.

The head is small for the stout neck, and ic wedge-shaped ; the muzzle is flat, and the upper jaw is

long, and the eye has a lower lid which is not scaly. On looking at the extremities, the fom' feet

* Scincoida:. t ScUicus officiiuilis.

20G XATUMAL HISTOUY.

will be seen to be f uniislied with live clawed scaly einlings. They are flat and saw-like at the edges,
a large scale being over the base of the nail.

The Skink inhabits the western and northern parts of Africa, and they ai-e found also in Senegal,
in Abyssmia, on the other side of the Continent, and in Egypt, and Bruce met with it in Nubia. If
likes a warm place, and frequents the little hillocks of fine and light sand that the wind accumulates
ut the foot of hedges that border the cultivated lands, and of the tamarisks which try to vegetate
on the confines of the desert. There it may be seen comfortably basking in the rays of the burning
sun, and chasing, every now and then, the beetles which crawl within its range. It runs very quickly,
and, when menaced, buries itself in the sand with great rapidity, hollowing out for itself a burrow
many feet deep in a short time. When taken it endeavours to escape, but does not attempt to bite
or to defend itself with its claws. Probably they attain five inches in length.

This little creature was once of use to the physician, although of doubtful value to the patient.
It was dried and powdered and given as a remedy, or specific, against almost every malady, by the
Greeks and Romans. PlLny wrote that the scales of the nose and the feet, after being powdered and
boiled in white wine, were to be used as particular stimulants; and Apelles used parts of tlie
animal as antidotes against the wounds inflicted by poisoned arrows. Up to the sixteenth century
the reptile led an unhappy life, being chased, and taken, and swallowed; but gradually its medicinal
virtues were disproved, and it now lives in peace.

A Scincoid* which lives in the New World has its head of a bright-red colour, and the body and
tail are olive ; the thi'oat and abdomen being yellowish-white. It is about thirteen inches in length,
and is foimd from lat. 39" N. to the Gulf of Mexico, in the Atlantic States, as well as in Mississippi
and Louisiana. It frequently takes up its abode in an old nest of the Woodpecker, out of which
it thrusts its head in a threatening manner. Seldom coming to the ground, it is shy, but fierce
when taken, and bites severely.

Australia has some remarkable Scincoids, and one, which is called the Stump-tailed Lizard,!
is very curious from the extraoi-dinary resemblance which the tail beai-s to the head when the
eyes are closed with theii" scaly lids. Visitoi's to the Zoological Gardens frequently say that the

feTl Mr TAILED LI7 VRD

creature has two heads, when it is motionless, in its cage. It has a long stout body and blunt
head and tail, four small limbs and short digits. The body in its upper part, and the head and
tail, are encased in large, rough, broad scales. The lower eyelid is minutely scaly, and the eye
is bright, of a brown colour, with splashings of yellow occasionally. Underneath the body the
scales are smaller and lighter-coloured, and the ear is not visible.

** Plestinrlon criithrorephahi

t Ti-achi/iJosaurus rutjosus (Gray).

TIIE BLIXD-nORM.

297

It is very common in some parts of Austral!;), I'm- instance, in Western Australia, particularly
in the neighbourliooJ of King George Sound, but they do not inhabit the east coast ; at all e\-ents
they are not found near Sydney.

It is genet-ally known as the " Sleeping Lizard," and it frequents open, sandy plains, and
may be captui-ed in large numbers on a hot summer's day.

The number of young produced seldom exceeds four.

The large Austr.ilian Lizards, with broad crushing spheroidal crowns to their teeth instead of
sharp points, belonging to the genus Cyclodus, are allied to the last-mentioned kinds, and have
many curious structural arrangements in common. They are the Great Cyclodus fi-om Australia,
which breeds in the Zoological Gardens of London, and the Black-and-yellow Cyclodus, from Tas-
mania.*

GENUS ANGUIS.— THE BLIND-AVORM, OR SLOW-WORM.t

The late Mr. Thomas Bell, in his interesting book on the " British Eeptiles," states that tlie
Blind-worm, or Slow-worm, is found in almost every part of Europe, excepting the extreme north.

IlLIND-'n-OIiM.

and is capable of enduring a much colder climate than most other reptiles, even that of
Britain. It is found in Russia, Poland, Denmai-k, Sweden, and Scotland, as well as throughout
the more temperate parts of Europe as far as the South of France and Italy, but it has not been
seen in Africa. It is worm-like in shape, long, and almost of equal thickness throughout, but
it tapers slightly at the tail end. The teeth are very small, and are slightly hooked. The tail is
not more than half the length of the body in some individuals, but it is longer in others. It may
reach from ten to fourteen inches in length, and the head measures half an inch or more. The
general colour is brownish-grey with a silvery glance, and there is a dark line do^vn .the back. The
history of one is given in "White's " Selborne : " — " A Blind-worm that I kept alive for some weeks
would, when touched, turn and bite, although not sharpl}'. Its bite was not sufficient to draw blood,
but it always retained its hold until released. It drank sparingly of milk, raising the head when
drinking. It feeds upon the little white slug so common in fields and gardens, eating six or seven
of them one after the other, but it did not eat every day. It invariably took them in one position.
Elevating its head slowly above its ■victim, it would suddenly seize the slug by the middle, in
the same way that a ferret or dog will generally take a rat by the loins. It would then hold it thus
sometimes for more than a minute, when it would pass its prey through its jaws, and swallow the slug
head foremost. It refused the larger slugs, and would not touch young frogs or mice. The Blind- worm
-avoided the water, and was a remarkably fine one, measuring fifteen inches in length." They are very
timid when first caught, and they contract their muscles so forcibly that they become stiflf', and it is
when in this rigid condition that the body is easily broken in two by a blow, or by an attempt to
bend it. Hence the name fragile, or fragilis. The females are ovo-viviparous, there being some-
* Cyclodus gigas and Cijdodus nigro-Juteus. t Anguis frayllk.

298 NATUliAL MI.sTUItl'.

times from seven to twelve young. The young are very active, and are only from eighteen to
twenty lines in length at first, but they grow quickly, and soon learn to eat slugs and insects.

GENUS ACONTIAS.— THE ACOXTIAS.*-THE JAVELIN SNAKE.

This is a small snake-like member of the group of Scincoids, more so, indeed, than the Blind-
worm and Australian Pygopus, for it has no traces of rudimentary external limbs or of internal
shoulder and jielvic gii-dles. The head, however, is that of a Lizard, and there is only a lower eye-
lid. The body is cylindrical and serpent-like, but it is covered only with small scales ; and the
jaws are not capable of extension, and the teeth are small and conical. The tongue is scaly and
slightly notched at the point. These snake-like Lizards are harmless, and endeavour to escape on
the least alarm, by hiding under leaves, or even getting down into dry soil like the Blind-worm.
They have the appeai-ance of a Snake when still and on the ground, but their method of progression is
by carrying the head and front part of the body erect. They have the power of darting suddenly, and
in a horizontal dii'ection in striking, and this was magnified in a ludicrous manner by the ancients, who
confounded man}' real Snakes with them, and gave them a very bad character.

The lungs of this creature are not equally developed, one being, as in the Sei-pents, longer than
the other ; but the anatomy of the jaws distinguishes them from the Snakes.

Another snake-like creature, not without some resemblance to an Acontias, is from South Africa.
It has its eyes hidden beneath the skin, and has a cylindrical body, a short truncated tail, and is of a
yellowish tint, reticulated with violet. This Typldiiw, curler ii has no limbs.

The Pygopus,t a snake-like form, is occasionally met with in Australia, but on the whole it is
rare. Its flat tongue, the two flap-like rudimentary limbs near the vent, without toes to them, and
its ear-holes, easily distinguish it from a true Snake.

Very little, if anything, is known of its habits ; but it is one of the interesting Saurians which
has apparently degenerated towards the Serpents. It has rudimentary bones of the shoulder girdle
and sternum, and the ill-developed hind limbs project and are visible enough. The length of the
Pygopus is about two feet.

THE ZONURID^.

The second family of the Brevilmgues contains forms which have the shape of shoi-t-
linibed, long-bodied, and tailed Lizai-ds, and others which are serpentiform, having only rudi-
mentary hinder limbs. They have a marked peculiarity which relates to their method of life.
Their body is covered with scales, which are squarish on the back, and rounder on the belly,
but they do not ovei-lap, and are in cross-bands one behind the other, and closely applied. The
food consists of worms, insects, small mice, and little reptiles ; and certainly it could not be
swallowed or comfortably digested were all the cross-bands of the body continuous. The skin is
not extensible, as in the other Saui'ians, and there is a region at the side of the body, where there is a
long fold covered by small scales, and this part can be stretched, although the rest is rather rigid.
The Lizard-shaped kinds are numerous, and can be best illustrated by considering the genus Zonurus,
or Cordylus, which has large head scales, and four limbs with five digits.

The Cordyles of South Africa are very numerous as individuals, and there are many species,
some excessively repulsive in appearance, from their ragged, scaly covering, and others less so, on
account of their appendages being small and smooth about the body, although those of the tail are
mostly spined and keeled.

The Gigantic Cordylus I reaches fifteen inches in length, and is therefore large for the group, and
it is readily known also from its dark umber-brown sienna and straw-yellow-coloured scales,
which are mostly large, and covered with large or small spines, or keeled. The zones or bands of
scales on the body are more strongly spined on the flanks, and they are large, distinct, and
spiked on the tail. It inhabits the interior districts of Southern Africa, and is not unfrequently
seen on the rocky pinnacles of the Quothlamba mountains which separate the country of the south-
east coast from that of the interioi-.

The serpentiform kinds of this division are numerous, and some of them are called Glass
* Acontias meUagris (Cuvier), f Pi/ffopus lepidopodus, t Curdj/lus yinankus (Smith),

THE ULASS SX.IKES.

H^^M ■

' -^^-^^^^

SIK (fsciiiioims jialld

Snakes, partly from their very snaky appearance, partly because tliey are glassy in tint, ami
principally on account of their brittleness.

The European Pseudopus is a common example, and it is called the ScheltojiusLk {Pseudupus
pallasii, Cuvier). It has been found in Central Russia, in Europe, Hungary, and in Dalmatia,
and is a dark, chestnut-brown, glassy snake-looking creature, reaching the length of two feet.
It has the rudiments of the hind limbs, in which a small femur is hidden, and they have no digits.
Internally, there are traces of the shoulder and pelvic girdles, and one lung is a quarter less in
size than the other. This species lives on insects, small mice, worms, and frogs.

An American Glass Snake (Ophisaurus ventralis), very small, breakable, and limbless, belongs to
this gi'oup, and has no hind limbs. It reaches twenty-eight inches to three feet four inches in length.
It chooses dry places, passes much of its time in holes, and is often dug out of the earth with
the sweet potato at harvest time. It moves with considerable swiftness, and is found from Virginia,
to Cape Florida, and ranges to the Mississippi, and as far as Michigan.

CLASSIFICATtOX OF THE ORDER SATJRIA, OR LACERTILIA, OR LIZARDS.

Sub-Order 1. Fissilingui

2. Crassilixgues

3, EHYNCHOCErHAlA

4. Veioiilingves

.5. Anxelata . . .

Family 1. Lacertid.e
„ 2. Ameivick
„ 3. Pl.\tyxota

Family 1. Igiaxii).^.

(Acrodont) . .

2. Agamid.-e.
(Acrodont) . .
(Pleurodont)

3. Ascalarotes
Family 1. Sphenodoxt.'e .
Family 1. Cham.eleonid.e
Family 1. AMPHisn.'EXiDyT: .
Family 1. Scixcoin^ . .

„ 2. ZoNUEIDJi . .

E.xample .- Lacerta agilis (Sand Lizard).

„ Tejus tegue.\in (Teguexin Lizard).

( Monitor niloticu.s (Nile Monitor),
" ( Heloderma horridum.

„ Iguana tuterculata (Tuberculated

Iguana) .
„ Draco volans (Flying Dragon).

„ Moloch horridus (The Horrid Moloch).

,, Phrynosoma cornutus (Horned Toad).

Platydactylus fascicularis (Gecko).
,, Sphenodon (Tuatera). Hatteria.

Chamseleon vulgaris (Chamieleon).

Amphisba-na alha (the Amphisba;na).
,, Scincus officinalis (the Common Skink)

„ Pseudopus pallasii (Scheltopusik).

CLASS EEPTILIA, THE REPTILES.

CHAPTER IV.

ORDER OPHIDIA.— THE SNAKES.

THE SNAKES— The Poisonous anil the Non-Poisonous— Characteristics of a Snake —Serpent Worship and Superstition —
About Fascination— Skeleton of a Snake— Scales and Plates on Head and Body— Moulting— THE POISONOUS
COLUBRINE .SNAICES — The Poisonois Tebresthial Colubkine Snakes— The Cobras — The C'obi-a-diC'apello —
The Egyptian Cobra, or Naja- The Ring Hals Slano— The Hamadryad Snake— The Bungarums and Kraits
—The Poisonous Elapida; of Australia and the New World— The POISONOUS Sea Snakes— The Vii'ERINE Snakes—
Characters— The Adder, or Common Viper— Tlie only Poisonous Reptile in Britain— Hjbits — Its usual Prey— Its
Young— The Horned .and other kinds of African Vipers— Tlie Dabuia— The Echis— The Rattlesnakes, or Pit
Vipers— The Common Rattlesnake— Its Habits— The "Rattle"— The Water-rattle— Various Kinds of Rattlesnake
— Coues on tlie Use of the Rattle— The Bushmaster— Darwin on the Genus Trigonocephalus— The AVater Viper— Tlie
Copjjer-head Snake— Tiie Yellow Viper, or Fer-de-Lance- The East Indian Genera of Pit Vipers— How Venomous
Snakes Dispose of then- Victims — Peculiiir Construction of tliuir Skull for Swallowing puiposes — The Fangs and
Poison-glands of tlie Rattlesnake — Symptoms of Poisoning— How does the Poison kill? — Treatment of Bites— Snake-
Charmers— THE INNOCUOUS COLUBRIFORM SNAKES— Characters— The Wart Snakes-The Whip Snaije.s—
Wliy so called— TIk- Laugiilia -The Blunt-Headed Snakes— ThkTree Snakes— Tm: DesektSnakes— The Rachiodont
Family — An Eg^- swall.iwiij;,' 8iiMke— Fresh-water Snakes— The Colubrides — N.\tricin.e— The Common Snake-
Found in England il;il)it- Jluw it Disposes of its Food— Colubrin.e—Coronellin.e—Calamauid.e -The RocK
Snakes — Distribution -Huge I'roportions— How they Tackle their Prey— The Indian Species— The West African
Forms— Pythons Hatching their Eggs- The Diamond and Carpet Snakes— The Boas— The Boa Constrictor —
Construction of a Python's SkuU— The Anaconda— The Sand Snakes— The Short-tailed Snakes— The Blind
Snakes— Char.acters—Peculiarities of Structure in Serpents— The Remarkable Eyelid— Fossil S::akes— Classification
of the Ophidia— THE EXTINCT REPTILES— The Dinosauria— The Ornithosai;ria— The Ichthyoptei)Y(;ia— The
Plesiosairia-THE EXTINCT SAURIA, OR LACERTILIA.

A LITTLE Snake,* with rows of black spots on the back and sides, a yellow splash behind the head,
and pale lead or bluish underneath, may be seen, now and then in quiet, warm places in England
basking on banks in the sun or sliding in or out of a pond. It is often made a pet of, and is harm-
less to man, although a terror to frogs, but even to them it is not poisonous. It lays eggs. It is the
common Harmless Snake. Anotlier one,t found on di-y heaths and sandy banks, and amongst low
brushwood and thickets, has the neck rather smaller than the back of the head, which is enlarged
behind the eyes; and the long body swells to about its middle, and then scarcely diminishes in
thickness to near the end, where it becomes abruptly smaller. Its colour may be olive or rich deep
brown, 01' dirty brown-yellow, and there is a zigzag pattern down the sides, and spots of a darker
tint. Little ones may be found with it, and it produces the young in the living condition. This
is the Viper, or Adder, and it inflicts fatal wounds with its fangs upon small animals like mice,
and its poison will imperil the life of delicate and unhealthy men. Common ob.servation can
thus separate the Snakes of Great Britain, for there are only these, into two divisions — the
innocuous and the iioisonous — and this elassilication holds good for the Snakes of the whole
world ; and special anatomical characters are found in the last group, making the distinctions
all the more obvious and real. Thus in India there are many very pretty Snrdces which swallow
small living prey, without the teeth introducing a poison, and there are also the terrible Cobras,
and many others, which can destroy the life of man, or of large animals, in a few minutes, by
the agency of a drop of fluid which enters the wound with the teeth. The same observation is
true in Africa and America, and it is found that many of the innocuous Snakes crush their prey in the
folds of their long bodies, whilst the poisonous inflict a wound which they seem to know will be fatal,
and when the victim is dead, or in its last struggle, it is swallowed whole. Probably there are 1,300
kinds of Snakes in the world thus separable into the harmless and poisonous, or, more properly, into
the non-poisonous and the poisonous, for the great Pythons and Boas are dangerous to man by their
squeezing and clasping ; moreover, they bite fiercely, but do not inflict a jioisoned wound.

Many Snakes in tropical climates live a forest life, climbing on and moving amongst the trees,
and are usually beautifully coloured. They are long in the body, very active, and are veiy pro-
perly called Tree Snakes. Most of them are not provided with jjoison fangs, but some hnxp. them,
so that the great primary divisions of the Snakes are present. But it is found that somr of these
poisonous kinds are not viviparous like the Vipers or Adders, and they bring forth eggs like the

* Tropidon-otue, -.latrijc. t Pdias berus.

.LU.WTERS.

301

wYvM- ;uiatoniic:il a
divitluil into two

n-imgemeuts in tin
' groups-tl.e Vipt

Mil not
ii-ifoni

: noticccl
I Snake,

innocuous Snakes. IMoreover, there aiv some p(
in the Vipers. Henee, the poisonous Snakes ai
and the V«nomou.s Colnbrines— and the innocuous Snakes are the True Cohibriiies.

A great number of Snakes live on the ground, rai-ely, if ever, taking to trees. They have a
vgry flexible body, which is more or less cylindrical in shape, and amongst them are Vipers
i V^iperiform Snakes), venomous Cohibrine Snakes, and innocuous Snakes (Colubrine Snakes) —
in fact, ail the divisions. A few harmless Snakes (Colubrines) live a burrowing life under ground,
and have rather a rigid, round body and a small mouth. Finally, there are several kinds of
Water Snakes. Those which frequent fresh water are harmless Colubrines, but those which live in
the sea are all poisonous, and belong to the venomous Colubrines, and not to the Viperiform division.
All have a long, forked, protractile tongue.

On looking at a Snake carefully, taking the Common English Spotted Snake as an example, no
difficulty is found in distinguishing the head from the rest, and it is evident that there are no limbs,
but what is neck, body, and tail is not at first so readily determined. The neck is, of course, the part
behind the head, and it merges gradually into the body, there being no place of division ; but the tail,
although not very distinguishable on the top of the Snake, is so beneath, for it is placed behind the
part from which the evacuations come, and its scales are ai-ranged differently to those in front, they
being in double rows, whilst all those of the underneath part of the body are in a single row.

With very few exceptions, the Snakes of all the divisions are covered with scales, and there may
be plates on the head. The scales are not bony, but are true skm structures, and they are occasionally
shed, new ones appearing. The presence of plates on the head, the arrangement and character of the
scales on and under the body and tail, their colour and ornamentation, are all useful in the classifica-
tion of these reptiles, for they are very persistent characters,- if the coloration is excepted, for tins is
often very variable in the same species in the same country. The shape of the head, and the relation
of the size of the body and tail, ai-e also important distinctive characters, and the anatomy of the
skull, jaws, and teeth is of the greatest value in the primary separation into great groups.

But although there is no difficulty in distinguishing a Viper, a Boa Constrictor, or a Common
Snake from any other animal, it must be remembered that there are some Saurians which closely
resemble some of the Snakes. Amphisbjena (p. 294), and Anguis (the Blind-worm), and Acontias and
Pseudopus (pp. 298, 29U) are Snake-like and have no limbs. On the other hand, it has been found that
such gi'eat Snakes as the Boas, for instance, and, indeed, all the species of a Snake family (the
Pythonides), have minute vestiges of hind limbs, scale-like or spine-like, close to the vent ; and this
peculiarity recalls to the student the Lizards of the peculiar Australian kind (Pygopus), and the
Brazilian Ophiodes. Moreover, amongst the Amphibia, wliich have not as yet been considered in this
work, there is a Snake-like form called Csecilia. These resemblances are not entirely confined to the
outside, for some of the Sauria have one of the lungs, ill-developed, the other preponderating, and
this is found in all the Snakes. Moreover, although the great majority of the Serpents swallow their
food whole, by means of a special mechanism which permits distention of the jaws and throat, some
consume such small prey that there is not this gift. And in the absence of this very common charac-
teristic, many of the smaller Colubrine Snakes resemble some of the Snake-like Lizards. But on
examining the internal organs, and especially the bony framework of the Snake's body, the distinctness
of the order Ophidia from that of the Saurians becomes more and more evident. No Snake has
a shoulder girdle, and the eyelids, the covering of the tympanum, and the bladder are wanting.

In considering this inability to separate the great groups of Snakes and Lizards by outside
chai-acters in some instances, and by some internal ones also, it becomes evident that there
is no hard and fast line to be drawn between them. Moreovei-, study gradually develops the
thought that the Snakes, coming late into being in the world's history are, like the limb-
less Lizards, modifications, by a degenerative process, of reptiles which did not crawl on their
belly, but which had those organs in perfection which are rudimentary or absent in the Serpent.
Beautiful to look at, glistening often with an iridescence which adds to their mosaic of lovely colours,
moving with great grace, apparently with an incomprehensible and determinate will, seizir..g their
prey to crush it and swallow it, or to destroy it by poison in a few minutes, no wonder that eai-ly man
worshipped these emblems of destruction and death, and gave them credit for wisdom and power.

:V2 KATUMAL IILSTORY.

This belief increased in the clays when myths originated, and Serpent worship became as great an
institution as that of any other animal, and left its impress on the minds of many generations,
thanks to tradition, a peculiar symbolical architecture, and ignorance of natural history. The cura-
tive powers of powdered Snakes, of the concretions collecting sometimes in their insides, and of their
cast-off skins, were long believed in, and the Serpent became tlie medical coat-of-arms. Their rapid
movements and powers of attack were attributed to the gods, whose messengers of death they often
were, and it is therefore not to be wondered at, that during every age when superstition has dominated
the Snake was a power. The fascination said to be exercised by Snakes over their prey has formed
the subject of maiiy essays, and it is univei'sally credited that under the glance of the Serpent, birds,
animals, and even man, are motionless, unable to fly from the glistening evil, and, regardless of danger,
do not seek to escape, or fully aware of it, cannot. Snakes in a state of nature and in captivity are
different creatures, and the descendants of thousands of generations of animals, all of which have
suffered more or less from the Serpent's attack, may have hereditary fe<ir of it. But in the Snake-
room of the Zoological Gardens the captive Snakes, and the Eats, Mice, and Birds, unaccustomed to
Snakes, do not impress one with the truth of the popular belief. Terror, undoubtedly, may exercise a
paralysing influence on the creatures in the way of the Snake ; and the parental affection of birds
for their young, which causes them to flit about their nest, and to be destroyed with their little ones,
is usually but erroneously taken for fascination on the part of the Snake. In fact, an analysis of
any instance of fascination .shows it to be supposititious.

A Snake when on the ground moves often with considerable rapidity. The head is slightly raised,
and the body and tail progress by means of the peculiar grasping power of the skin and ribs of the
underneath parts, which enables consecutive contraction and elongation to occur. The movement is
more or less flat with the earth, and the Snake never coils upwards, as is often figured in old and some new
paintings and engravings. It can ei-ect its head and much of its neck and fore part of the body, and
this is also done when the creature is in horizontal coils, and quiescent. On moving up a stone or tree
the head, neck, and much of the body may be placed against the more or less vertical object, and a
small portion only of the body may be left on the ground, but in this position the Snake is liable to fall
sideways. On moving up a tree they do not coil themselves round and round it like a rope, but they may
do this when still. It is wonderful how Snakes move along and between boughs, and, taking a turn
round one with theii- tail end, swing and look for food, and also how they will make themselves up
into a bunch on a fork of a tree, and remain there without falling. They swim in an undulating
manner, but the body is wriggled on the same plane as the surface of the water, and not at right angles
to it, but in rushing at their- prey, both in the water and on land, there is more or less upward or
downward bending of part of the body, and a rapid thrust of the head forwards.

On looking at a skeleton of a Snake, the eye is impressed with the great number of vertebrae
and ribs. In some great Pytlions more than 4.00 vertebra; have been counted, and each one is movable
on its neighbours. There is little distinction to be made by their structui-es between the vertebr®
of the neck, body, and tail, and there is no sacrum. Tlie first vertebra, or atlas, and the second,
which has the odontoid process, resemble those of the Lizards, and the fii-st of these is the only
vertebra in front of the tail which has no rib. The body of a vertebra has the joint surfaces
before and behind nearly hemispherical, and there is a concavity in front to receive the corresponding
ball on the back of the vertebra. Above, the spinous processes under the skin of the back are
generally long and flat, and piTJect backwards somewhat, and at the base of each, on each side of
the canal for the spinal cord, is a process whicli fits into a cavity in the next vertebra, after the fashion
of the Iguana's vertebra (p. 280). Besides these, there are the ordinary articulating processes of the
sides. There are twelve jointing surfaces to each vertebra, and great movement is allowed by the
ball-and-socket joint, but dislocation is prevented by the " double tenon " and " double mortice," which
parts are called zygantrum and zygosphene, as in the Iguana. The transverse processes are very short,
and are recognised by a tubercle which offers two facets for articulation with the ribs. But in the tail
they are long and inclined downwards. The ribs are, of course, great in number, and each pair is jointed
on to the tubercle above mentioned by a ball-and-socket joint, so that an unusual amount of motion,
and especially of fore and aft motion, is allowed. There is no sternum, but each rib terminates by a
single tapering cartilage, which is attached by muscular connection with the broad scale on the Snake's

ANATOMY OF A SXAEE. 303

belly. It is by the action of the muscles on the ribs ami scales that the Snake may be said to walk
on the ends of its \ery movable riljs. There arc no traces of a shoulder girdle or of foi-e limbs ixi
Ojiliidia; but the Blind Snakes, Rock Snakes, Boas, and Rollers ha\'e rudiments of a pelvis, and the

last have crooked bones terminated liy claws externally. The nature of the skull will be considered
in treating of the great groups.

The beautiful scales on the body, and the regular plates and small scales on the heads of Serpents,
are various in shape, number, ornamentation, and colouring, and they may or may not be keeled, and
they overlap. All are thickened skin, and are covered with a delicate scarf skin. The plates on
a. T> t the head are on the same principle as those of Lizard.s,

but there are some others which are peculiar.

The number of rows of scales on the toji and sides
of the body and tail differs with the genus and species.
Usually there is a double row of scales on the under
surface of the tail, and the rest of the under surface
of the body has a continuous row of single broad scales,
which are very striking in appearance, in contradLstinctioa
to the othei's.

At the moulting period the Snake is dull, lethargic,
and careless, and the outer scarf skin comes away as a
perfect scarf of the body and eyes.

SCALES ON"

OF SXAKE (St-jas fcorriM).
(After GiiTvthcr.)

r Ocular or Orbital (Anteociilar c
rinrOrularor Orliita' (
I'Per Labials; (il Tcniimrals;

SUB - ORDER THANATOPHIDIA.* — THE
POISONOUS COLUBRINE SNAKES.

LuwVi-LCbiais'; Tlie venom of a Snake is secreted by a gland on each

side of the front part of the skull, wliich is close to the
maxillary l.uiics that support the long and more or less curved poison fangs. The duct of each gland
leads either to a groove in the front part of the fang, or to a canal in the tooth formed by the union of
the sides of a groove, and in both instances the liquid poison enters the victim with the tooth, and
some is left behind. Those Snakes which have the first fangs of the upper jaw grooved along their
front do not differ very nuich in their shape from the common innocuous Snakes, although some have
the power of expanding their neck into a kind of hood ; but those which have the hollow teeth are
usually distinguishable by their large triangular head, short body, and very short tail, and are
vipei-iform. Thus two great divisions of the poisonous Snakes exist ; the &-st with grooved teeth — the
* «<irnTos, death ; oc()i;, a serpent.

304 ^'ArUIiAL HISTORY.

Proteroylyphia, and the second with canaliculated teeth — the Sohnocjlyphia. The Snakes of the
first division or sub-order resemble the common Snakes in their general configuration, and are
termed the Poisonous Colubrine Snakes. The second sub^order is often called the Viperine.

The first sub-order is subdivided into two families ; in one the Snakes are terrestrial,
the Elapidce* and in the other they are aquatic, ihQ JlydrophidcB.

SUBORDER PROTRROGLYPHIA.— FAMILY ELAPIDJE.-THE roi.sONOUS
TERRESTRIAL COLUBRINE SNAKES.
Several genera of Snakes belong to this family, and all have more or less brilliant coloui's
ornamented with lighter colours or red bands, and they may be passed by as inuocuo\TS Snakes
if they happen to be at rest, and the nature of the jaws and head be not examined. The head
is covered with elegant plates, but the loreal is constantly absent, and the muzide is short, as
a rule.t There are large, immovable, gi-ooved teeth placed in front of the maxillary bones, and
usually some curved, ungrooved teeth follow ; the palate and pterygoid bones, and tlic mandible, have
also curved teeth. A poison gland is developed in relation with the gi-ooved tooth on each side.
They are found in all tlie hot parts of the world except Europe.

GENUS NAJA.— THE COBRAS.

These Elapidse have the power of sti'etching out some of the anterior ribs and the skin of the
neck so as to produce a long hood when irritated. The head is rather quadrangular, and there are
one or two small teeth behind the venomous ones. These Snakes can raise the head and much of
the body in the erect posture. Among the varieties of the Cobra are those with spectacles on the
hood, or " Gokurrahs,". and those with one ocellus or other mark on the hood, named " Keautiahs."

There is only one species, writes Fayrer, of this genus in India, which is called the Cobra-
di-Citiiello, or Naja, and more properly Naja tripudians. There is also one species in Westeni
Africa, which is closely allied to the Indian kind, and is called Naja Haje. There are several
varieties of the Indian species, each having a distinct name given to it by the natives. They are
all most deadly. They all have the hood, and they never attack without distending it. They raise
the anterior third of the body from the ground, slide slowly along on the posterior two-thirds, and
with the hood dilated remain on the alert, darting the head forward to the attack when anything
liostile approaches. This attitude is very striking, and few olijects are more calculated to inspire awe
than a large Cobra, when, with its hood erect, hissing loudly, and eyes glaring, he prepares to strike.
Nevertheless, they are not, writes Sir Joseph Fayrer, aggressive ; and unless interfered with or
irritated, they crawl along the ground with neck undilated, lookmg not unlike the innocent
Snakes, but the moment they are disturbed they assume the menacing attitude.

The JS^aja tripudimis, or Cobra, grows to the length of five feet and a half, or even more. One
which was given to Sir Joseph Fayrer by Dr. W. B. Beatson was of the variety called " Kurrees
Gokurrah," of a light chocolate colour, without any mark on the hood. It was five feet eight inches
long, including the tail, which measured eleven inches and a quai-ter. In girth it was six inches
and a quarter. This is the largest Cobra seen by Sir Joseph Fayrer, but he believes they attain
even a greater size than this. The Cobra is found all over Hindostan up to 8,000 feet high in the
Himalaya ; Ijut Mr. Hodgson says he has never seen it in the Nepal Valley. It is equally dreaded
and fatal everywhere. The varieties are numerous, and they ai-e distinguished by the markings on
the liood, and by various shades of colour, from the dai-kest olive or black with a purple iridescence,
to a pale chocolate, fawn, or yellow colour. The natives say that the Spectacled Cobra is a Snake
of the city or town, and that the Keautiah, or Nag Sarap, prefers the fields and jungle. But
both are common about Calcutta. The Cobra is a nocturnal Snake, that is, it is most active
in the night, but it is often seen moving about in the day. It is oviparous, and the eggs, from
eighteen to twenty-five in number, are oblate, and about the size of those of a pigeon ; the shell is
white, but tough and leathery. The Cobras feed on small animals, birds' eggs, frogs, fish, or insects.

"' Ehip.% a kind of Serpent.

t Tlie large scales or plates on the heads of most Snakes are beautifully arranged, and are used in the classification.
They are named rostral, anterior frontal, posterior frontal, vertical, superciliary, occipital, nasals, loreal, anterior ocular,
posterior ocular, upper labials, temporals, mental, lower labials, and chin shields (see diagram on previous page).

33(5 NATUItAL UIHTORY.

They rob hen-roosts and swallow the eggs whole. They prefer taking their food at dusk or in the
night. They are said to drink a great deal of water ; but it is certain they will live weeks, even
months, in captivity without touching food or watei-. They go into water readily, and swim well,
but are essentially terrestrial Snakes. They can climb and occasionally ascend trees in search of
food ; nevertheless, they have been to iiid swimming. Usually tliey are found in the roofs of huts,
holes in walls, fowl-houses, old ruins, under logs of wood, in cellars, old brick-kilns, and old masonry
oi' stone, brickwork, or mud. Such are the common dwelling-places of these reptiles, where they
are frequently disturbed by men, who, stepping on or inadvertently disturbing and touching them,
receive their death-wound. The Cobra is most deadly, and its poison, when thoroughly inoculated
Dy a fresh and vigorous Snake, is quickly fatal. Paralysis of the nerve centres takes place, and
death occiirs with great rapidity, sometimes in a few minutes, especially where the fangs, having
penetrated a vein, inoculate the jioison immediately into the venous circulation. The number of
deaths caused yearly in India by these Snakes is perfectly appalling. The cases in which recovery
occurs are very few. Treatment appears to be of little avail unless it is almost immediate ; and then
in the case of a genuine bite there is but little hope of .saving life.

With regard to the natives, the muntra, or spell, is far more potent in their ideas than any
drug, and to such they trust when generally bitten. How frequently these fail, the records of any
civil station in India will prove ; and it is to be feared that the more material remedies of the
physician are scarcely more potent for good.

The Cobras ai'e the favourites of the snake-catchers, and it is astonishing with what ease and
freedom they are seized and handled by these men even when in possession of their fangs. The snake-
catchers render them temporarily harmless by cuttmg out the poison fangs, but these are quickly re-
produced unless, as most generally happens, with the fang all the reserve fangs and germs are removed,
in which case the Snake is harmless for life. The Cobra has the jjower of raising its head, neck, and
mucli of its body for awhUe, so that it stands, as it were, on the tail. It moves to and fro from side to
side in a very graceful manner. Their elegant movements in the erect attitude which they assume
with the hood distended, as they follow the movements of the snake-charmer's hands, make them an
object of wonder as well as fear to all, and the superstitions of the natives about them are endless.

Fayrer remarks that the Cobra is an object of superstitious veneration and awe to the
Hindoos, in whose mythological histories it takes a prominent place. " In a religion that depre-
cates the wrath of a cruel and destructive power, by worshippijig and propitiating the Deity in whom
that |)Ower is vested, it is natural that the type of destruction and the incarnation of evil, as
represented in this reptile, should be regarded with peculiar deference."

Besides being found on the mainland the Cobra is an inhabitant of the Philippine Islands.

The Egyptian Cobra, or Naja,* is the Aspic of the ancients. Its figure is sculptured on the
portals cf many ancient temples, as an emblem of the protecting goddess of the world and faithful
guardian of their fields. It was, in the time of the great expedition to Egypt under Napoleon, very
common in ditches and fields.

Snake-charmers, the successors and perhaps descendents of the " psylles antiques," so celebrated
in the writings of Pliny, and rich in the tradition of an art already old before Africa became
Christian, say they can change a Naja into a stick, and make it counterfeit death. When they desire
to produce this result they spit down the Snake's throat, make it shut its mouth, lay it down on
the ground, and give it the order, placing the hand at the same time on the head. The Serpent
becomes stiff meanwhile, and falls into a kind of catalepsy. Tliey awaken them by rubbing the
tail 1 jet ween the hands.

The Cobras of South Africa belong to the species Naja Haje, and are the "Geel Copell " of
the Dutch colonists. They are from three to six feet in length, and are entirely yellow or
purplish-brown, both colours sometimes existing in some individuals.

THE RING HALS SLANG. t
This poisonous Snake is often seen in menageries and in zoological gardens, and is remark-
able for its glossy dark tints, fine dark brown eye, and for the dull blackish colour of the head
* Naja hajc. f Naja 'hamac)iatcs=Scpc(]on Jucmachates.

THE HAMADItYAD SXAKE. £97

and body before the skin-slieddiug takes i)l;ife. It lias rather a robust body, and the head is scarcely
broader than the neck. It is flat above, and the upper lips protrude beyond the edge of tlie uppei
surface of the head ; hence tlie eyes appear rather small, giving a malignant and savage expres-
sion (Smith). The neck has a quantity of loose skin which forms a fold on each side, and this is
extended Cobra-fashion when the creature is enraged, and it is a kind of hood. Probably the
extreme length of the Snake is nearly three feet. The range of the Ring Hals Slang is consider-
able, and specimens have been found everywhere in South Africa. It is very vigilant, and its resting-
place can very rarely be approached before it is all activity, either commencing to fly, preparing to
maintain its ground, or make an attack. Its holes are in and about mouse, rat, and mole burrows,
and although it retreats, it is a valiant and very poisonous Snake. The natives properly consider it
tlic most courageous of all their Snakes, and one of the most poisonous. Wlien in confinement and
iriituted it evinces great ferocity, ojicns its mouth so as to be in readiness to seize any ol)ject, and the
poisonous secretion comes out in drops from the fangs, which are raised and ready to strike.

GEXUS OPHIOPHAGUS.— THE HAMADRYAD 8NAKE.*

A snake-eating Snake, with a beautifully shielded head and a neck dilatable like a Cobra's is, of
course, interesting, and especially when it is known that it grows to the length of fourteen feet, and
is bold and disposed to attack, instead of retreating, like the Naja.

The body is largely scaled, and the head is short, depressed, and scarcely distinguishable from
the neck, which is dilatable. The body scales are smooth, minute, imbricate, and in transverse rov.'s. The
]i)lates on the head ai-e very distinct, and the occipitals are surrounded by three pairs of large shields,
the two anterior being temporals. The ventral scales are entire, and there are more than two
hundred of them, and the posterior sub-caudals are two-rowed. The tail is slender, and becomes very
small at the tip. The maxillary bone has a large fang in front, which is perforated at the end,
showing a longitudinal groove in front. A second small, simple tooth exists at some distance behind
the fang. It is called " Sunkerchor " by the natives, and has a general resemblance to the Naja in
shape. The colour varies acording to age and locality. The young Ophiophagus may be mistaken for
a Snake of another genus, such as Dipsas dendrophila, an innocent Snake.

The Ophiophagus is probably the largest and most deadly of the Indian Snakes ; and, fortunately,
though widely distributed, it is not very common. According to Gunther, it is found in almost ever}'
part of the Indian continent, and in the Andaman and PhUippine Islands, in Java, Sumatra, Borneo,
and, according to Dumeril, in New Guinea. It reaches from twelve to fourteen feet in extreme length,
and is common near Cuttack, and there is a dusky variety from Rangoon. It does not api)ear to be
much if at all known in the North-west or in Central India ; it is most common in the damp
climates of Assam, Bengal, Orissa, and Southern India. It has been caught in the Botanical Gardens,
near Calcutta, and it is said by the snake-catchers to be not uncommon in the Sunderbunds, and it
takes to water.

The dilatable neck is not altogether peculiar to the Snakes just mentioned, and Fayrer
observed that in Compsosoma radiatitm, an innocent Snake, the neck and much of the whole body
dilate vertically when it is excited and about to strike, presenting a very remarkable appearance ;
but the power of dilating the neck is better marked in the Najidce than in any other Snake. Another
equally innocuous Snake, called Tropidonotus macrpphtlmlmus, found in the Himalayas, has the power
of dilating the neck, and it greatly resembles the Cobra.

An Ophiophagus in the Zoological Gardens of London knew its keeper and feeding-time.
Vv'hen a Snake was put into its cage it was innnediately on the alert, and the victim tried to escape.
But the attack was begun at once, and the prey was seized behind the head and dragged on to
the floor, and gradually swallowed head first.

Besides the Ophiophagus, there is another snake-eattng venomous Serpent in India, which lives
principally on others belonging to the innocuous Calamaria family. This is a ground Snake,
slow in its movements, and it prefers hilly to level country. Singularly enough, it greatly resembles
its prey in outward appearance, and belongs to the genus Ccdlophis.

* Oph iophayus daps.

THE BUNG ARUM AXD KRAIT. 309

GENUS BUXUARUS.— THE BUNGAKUMS AXD KKAIT.S.
Two kinds of very venomous Snakes, which often leach four feet in length, and which liave not
the power of enUirging the' neck, are found nearly all over India. One can be recognised at once by
its ornamentation, which is that of a number of rings alternately steel-blue and bright gamboge-
yellow ; by its triangular outline, for there is a ridge on the top over the vertebrse, where there is a line
of hexagonal scales ; and by its hard, blunt, bony end to its tail. It is called the Bungaruni Pamah.*
It is connnon in Bengal and in Southern India as well as in Bunnali, and its bite is very dangei-ous.
It docs not erect its head, but lies coiled up in curves, and, when disturbed, jerks itself out like

BtNGARlS FA1CI\TI!:

a spring, but without extending its whole length of body. This Snake is not so common as the Cobra,
and is rarer than the other kind about to be noticed. No doubt a great fatality accompanies ths
bite of its small teeth, although the poison is somewhat long in acting.

The other kind is called the Krait, or Gedi Paragoodoo.t and it differs much in colour fi'om the
Bungarum. It has the lower part of the body of an uniform white colour, and the ujjper ])arts are
bluish or brownish-black, uniform or with more or less numerous very narrow white streaks, not
quite as broad as a scale, and generally radiating from a white vertebi-al spot. The tongue is white,
and the iris is black. It sometimes insinuates itself into houses, in the verandah, ball-rooms, or the
ledges of doors or jhilmils, into bookcases, cupboards, ifcc, and in such situations is not nnfrequently,
the cause of fatal accidents. Next to the Cobra it is most destructive to life.

Australia has several of these poisonous Elapichi'., and some are more venomous than others. Thus,
the Grey Diemenia J produces an irritation like that of the sting of a bee, after its bite, but the Brown
Snake § is veiy venomous. The Hed Capped Snake,|| a common little Snake, is venomous, but does

Sungarm fascial us. + Bun

§ Diemenia sitporil iosa.

unophis.

y.lTURAL HISTORY.

COKAL ELAPS (Elaps caralUnus).

not seem usTially inclined to bite, and is insectivorous, eating also frogs ; but the Black Snake, the
most common Australian venomous Snake,* a lover of water and marshy places, has many of the
actions of a Cobra. Equally fatal is the l>ite of the Brown-banded Snake,t which frequents the
plains. The Death Adder, J witli very variable colorisation, and loving warmth and sandy places, and
assuming the form of the letter S on being irritated, is a very fatal enemy. It has a large head, and
the tail ends in a short recurved spine.

The Ehipicke of the New World are usually beautiful Snakes. The Harlequin Snake {Elaps
puhii(s), a small burrowing kind, and the Coral Elajrs, from Rio and the Brazils and Central America,
are examples.

FAMILY HYDROPHID,!*:.— THE POISONOUS SEA SNAKES.

The members of this family, all of which lead an aquatic life, may be recognised at once by
their shape, and some peculiarities which relate to their method of life. The body is comparatively
flat at the sides, and the tail is decidedly so, and acts as a propeller and steerer, and the nostrils
open upwards and are closed with a valve, the tongue being short. They are all venomous, and
inhabit the sea, near land, salt-water estuaries, and tidal streams. They have a very wide range
of distribution, Ijeing found on the coasts of India, in the Indian and Pacific Oceans, from Madagascar
to the Isthnuis of Panama, in the Eastern Archipelago, and in the seas between Southern
China and North Australia. Some of them attain a considei-able size. Giinther speaks of some
species attaining to the length of twelve feet. The longest seen by Sir J. Fayrer was under five
feet, there is no reason to believe that they attain to so great a size as certain fabulous stories
would suggest.

They swim like fish, and live, with some exceptions, continually in the sea or tidal water,
When thrown on the land by the surf, as they constantly are at Pooree and other places along
* Pseudechis imrphi/riacia. f ffnplocephulus curtus. J Acanthophis antarcticus.

TUB ADliEli, UK ruMMOS fU'Eli. 3U

tlie coast, tliey are helpless and almost Ijliiitl. Their food consists of fish and other aquatic
animals, whicli they pursue and overtake in the salt water. There are certain parts of the Bay
of Bengal in which they are often seen in great numbers, and their movements in the clear blue
water are very agile, graceful, and beautiful.

The Ilydrophidm generally have no well-marked ventral plates, and the abdominal scales differ
little from those of the rest of the body, which ai'e generally hexagonal, laid side by side, occasionally
slightly imbricate, and in some tubercular, a small tubercle being found in the centre of each
scale. But one genus (Flaturas) has abdominal scales like the Land Snakes, and is sometimes found
in marsliy ground near the sea.

The nostrils and head shields of the Sea Snakes are peculiar. The eyes are small, with
circular pupils, which contract so much when the Snake is taken out of water that it is .said to
be almost blind.

They are very poisonous. The case related of a sailor of H.M:S. Alyenm, who was bitten by
one caught at Madras, proves them to be so. Fayrer instances a fisherman who was bitten by a Salt-
water Snake somewhere near the Salt Lakes, and who died in one hour and a quai'ter. The fishermen
on the coast know their dangerous properties, and carefully avoid them.

The genera Hydrophis, Pelamis, Plaiurus, and EnJii/drina belong to this familv.

SUB-ORDER SOLENOGLYPHIA— THE VIPERINE SNAKES.
These poisonous Snakes have the head triangular in shape and enlarged behind, whilst the
tail is short in relation to the body. They have a small upper maxillary bone on each side, which
ha.s one large, hollow, perforated, erectile fang, and often some others growing to replace it. There
are small curved teeth on the lower jaw and palate. Most of these Serpants are viviparous, and they
may be divided into two families. The Vipers (the Vijieridit) constitute one, and they have, a lai-ge,
broad head, a vertical and long pupil in the eye, and the top of the head is covered with very little
plates and scales. The tail is short, and usually there are two rows of plates beneath it. They have
the region between the eye and the nostril flat. They are viviparous, and inhabit the Old Workl
and Australia, Africa producing the greatest number of them. Their poison gland communicates
wi,th the canal in the tooth, and the venom is usually very destructive. This they appear to know,
for having bitten their prey, they leave it, knowing that it will die, and then they prepare to
swallow it.

C4EXrS PELIAS.*— THE ADDER, OR COJIilON VIPER.

This is the sole British representative of the family, and is the onlj' jioisonous reptile indi-
genous to the country. It is far more numerous in Scotland than the Common Snake, and it is
found now and then, and formerly in abundance, in all parts of England and Wales. Open woodlands,
brushwood, dry heaths, and sandy wastes, are its favourite places, and it does not seek, or necessarily
live near, water. Found solitary now and then, or with their young, they are discovered intertwined
with several of their own species, when hibernating in their i-etreats. They are not confined, however,
to England and Scotland, for they are fouml in France, Sp;iiu, and from Southern Italy to far north in
Russia. Ireland has not this poisonous Snake. They are ^ery variable in their colour; some are nearly
olive, and others are a rich deep brown or dirty brownish-yellow in their general ground colour.
There is a mark between the eyes, and a spot on each side of the hinder part of the head, and a zigzag
line running the whole length of the body and tail formed by a series of confluent rhombs, as well as
by a row of small triangular spots on each side, and all these are darker than the gi'ound tints. On
looking at the head, it is found to be covered with small scales and some plates more or less regularly
placed. The head is almost oval, depressed, and it widens behind the ears. The gape of the mouth is
great, and there are no teeth in the upper maxillary bones except the poison fangs. There is a row of
small teeth on the palatine bone on each side of the palate. The neck is smaller than the back of the
head, and the body increases to nearly the middle. It slightly diminishes to the vent, becoming
then abruptly smaller, and lessening to the extremity of the tail.

This Snake is probably the "Exis of Aristotle, and the Vipera of Virgil's Thii-d Georgic, and the
* Pclius Icrui.

^i-.-

-t

\^^^-.-^

edJn— M lu ot tlio \1i3lo '^xxout iml country people of some parts of Engi;UKl. It avokls
when M 11 bibkiii^ in the sun ^vill nio\c oil on being distui-bed: but when injured or brought
, imII 1 11 Its neck and hi ad \nd diaw back the last a little, and then project it quickly,

opening the mouth and snapping at the offender. Dogs get bitten by treading on Vi]iers, or dis-
turbing them, and there are occasional instances of men being bitten. The bites are rarely fatal, but
produc'e mnch constitutional and local disturbance in unhealthy people, especially in hot ^yeather. Some
naturalists suppo.se that the Viper does not kill its usual prey— mice, small rats, and bii-ds— with its

311 NATURAL HISTOIiT.

venom, and only entwines and swallows them, but if the Viper stops a mouse with its teeth, the venom
will enter the wound. Formerly Vipers were in demand, for Viper-broth was a remedy, or the Snake
might be boiled like a fish, or given as a powder to those patients who suffered from ulcers, or a corrupt
state of the system. They were caught in numbers with a cleft or forked stick which the Viper-
catchers drove down immediately behind the head. They then seized the creature by the tail, and
put it in a bag. Like many other Snakes, Vipers live long without food, and they do not feed well in
captivity. They are, of course, viviparous, and the young, sometimes ten or fifteen in number, may be seen
with the parent, looking like so many worms with lai-ge heads. The eggs are hatched within the Viper,

,.--s^^"

and hence it has happened that eggs have been laid and young Vipers hatched from them. Whether
the young take refuge in the mouth of the old one, and crawl into her throat in times of danger, or
whether they get under her body and glide away, are questions which have provoked much discussion.
The young Vipers certainly could got into their parent's mouth, but whether they could get out again
is another thing, and therefore it is best to disbelieve this remarkable parental trait in the Viper, of
protecting her young in her mouth.

The ancients had a notion that the young Vipers killed their mother in coming into the world,
and hence one or more of these parricidal reptiles were placed in a bag with a human iiarricide and
drowned as the punishment of this greatest of crimes.

Another example of the Viper gi-oup belongs to those which are more or less " horned." It live.s^
in Hungary, Dalmatia, and Egypt, and has a small, soft lioi-n covered with scales on the muzzle.*
The Horned Sand Snake of Egypt, or the Cerastes Viper, which is of a greyish tint, and hides
* Vipira ammoili/tcs.

noii.\ED virEns

o-is

itself in the saiul, has a horn above each eye. It is to be seen figured on ancient monuments there.*'
Dr. Andrew Smith states that there are si.x kinds of Vijiers in South Africa, and that tliey aie
mostly indolent, and are heedless of the approach of man. One of them, Vipera (cerastes) cavdalis,
has a slender, recurved head-spine of about a line or a line and a quarter in length, and the tail
appears dwindled, so short and tapering is it. It is especially dangerou.s, for it will not move off,
btit submits to be trodden on accidentally, and then bites. When once it seizes the obnoxious object,
it holds on with great tenacity, and does not rush off when removed. The Horned Viper.f the
Hornsnian of the Cape colonists, has the eyebrows armed with a clump of lengthened spinous scales

PVFF ADDER.

forming a short horn. It has large curved fangs, and swollen upper lips. The Berg Adder I of the ■
Dutch colonists and the Puff Adder § of the C^ape colonists are well-known African kinds, and are
generally found on the sides of hills or on dry sandy ground. The Ei\er Jack Viper (j of the west of
Africa is a formidable-looking Snake with a flat head, a longish horn on each side of the snout, a
small neck, short body, and thin tail. It puffs itself out when visitors look at it in captivity, and
sends forth the inevitable hiss.

The kinds of East Indian Vipers are arranged in two genera — one Ln which the Snakes have »
very large nostril (genus Daboia), and the other in which the nostrils are small (genus Echis). Sis
Joseph Fayrer states that " The Daboia, or Russell's Viper, is called by the natives about Calcutta
' XJloo Bora,' from the nloo grass in which it is often found. In Bengal it is called ' Jessur,' ' Siah'-
chunder Amaiter.' It is common in Bengal, and is frequently caught in the Botanic Gardens neaB
Calcutta, also in the South of India, Ceylon, and Burmah.

* Vipera cerastes. f Vijtera coniiUa, J Vipera atropos. ■ § Vipera arietans. || Vipera i

50

310 NATURAL HIHTOKT.

"The Daboia is nocturnal in its habits; in confinement it is sluggish, and does not readily strike
unless roused and irritated, when it bites with great force and determination. When disturbed it
hisses fiercely, and when it strikes, does so with great vigour. Its long, movable fangs are very pro-
minent objects, and with them it is capable of inflicting a very deep as well as poisoned wound. The
markings on its body are very beautiful. It lives on small animals, such as rats, mice, and frogs,
ily suake-man says it will go into water. It is however, terrestrial in its habits. Its loud hissing
when disturbed is calculated to warn those who come within its dangerous proximity. It is
apparently a hardy reptile, and I had one about forty-four inches in length, which lived a whole
year without food or water."

The genus Echis contains only one Indian species, Echis carinata. The native name is
" Afae " in Delhi. It is unknown to the natives in the neighbourhood of Calcutta.

The Echis is very fierce and aggressive, writes Fayrer ; it is always on the defensive and ready
to attack. It throws itself into a double coil, the folds of which are in perpetual motion, and as
they rub against each other they make a loud rustling sound very like hissing. This sound is
produced by the rubbing together of three or four outer rolls of cai'inated scales, which are very
prominent, and point downwards at a different angle to the rest. This little Vipev can dart a foot
or more at its prey, but it does not hiss at all. Its fangs are yery long and mobile, like those of
the Daboia, and its eye has a peculiarly vicious appearance. This active Viper is less than two feet
in length.

SUB-FAMILY CROTALID.E.-THE RATTLESNAKES, OR PIT VIPERS.

Tiie second group of the Vipers are called " Pit Viper.s," and the term is derived from the
presence of a little depression on both sides of the face between the eye and the nostril. This is a
peculiarity of several genera, some, but not all, of which have species furnished with complete or
incomplete "rattles." Most of the Pit Vipers have large heads, which may be completely or not at
all covered with large plates. They have the pupil of the eye vertical, and elliptical in shape.

Amongst these very venomous Snakes, all of which have a canal in the poison fangs, the
Rattlesnakes are the most interesting. They are readily known by the end of the tail being made up
of a number of horny, roinid, and flat pieces capable of making a sharp sound, not unlike that of a
large Grasshopper, by their friction during the vibration of the tail. The head, lai-ge behind, is
covered there with small ordinary scales, and plates are noticed only in front. They constitute the
genus Crotalus, and there are several species more or less remarkable for their geographical
distribution. The genus is essentially American.

The American herpetologist, Holbrook, thus notices the Common Rattlesnake (Crotalus durissus): —
The very large head is flattened above, triangular, rounded in front, covered with plates only in front,
and with scales on the vertex and back of the head. There is a deep pit between the no.stril and eye.
The body is long and robust, and is ash colour above, with irregular ci-ossljars confluent near the
tail. The vertebral line is yellow, and the flanks ai-e tinged with the same colour. The tail is
short and thick, and furnished with rattles. The no.strils are large and near the snout, but open
laterally. The eyes ai-e large and bi-illiant, and the pupil is dark, oval, and vertical, and the iris is
flame-coloured. The neck is much contracted, and its scales are keeled. An average specimen is four
feet long and six inches in gii'th, and the length of the nine rattles is about two inches.

It lives on rabbits, squirrels, rats, &c., and is usually a slow, sluggish, reptile, never wantonly
attacking or destroying animals except as food, or unless disturbed by them. A slight touch,
however, will effect this, or even the rustling of leaves in the neighbourhood. On these occasions,
it coils itself, shaking the rattles violently as a sign of rage, and strikes at whatever is placed within
reach. In its native woods one may pass within a few feet of it unmolested. Though aware of the
passenger's presence, it either lies quiet or glides away. It never follows, but will slowly retreat,
but it is prepared to strike if necessary. It is remarkable that the Rattlesnakes never strike
unless coiled, and that if once thrown from that position they can be approached without danger.
Years ago they were common enough, but the Hog — which is their great enemy — and man — with
his enclosing and tilling of land — have thinned their numbers considerably.

Formerly, and to a certain extent now, this Snake had the widest range of all the American

RATTLESXAl

317

Orotalidas, being found in nearly all parts of the Unitei States, from lat. 40 on the Mississippi to
the Gulf of Mexico. They are now more and more restricted to the south-east. The cuticle on the
ends of the tail is arranged in a series of rings, loosely connected together, so as to constitute tlic
rattle. There are manA' of these rings, according to the species and age of the Snake ; but Rattle-
snakes grow more than one ring in the year, and therefore the size of this appendage cannot be
used in estimating theii- age. They lose rings and others come, and the greatest known number is
in-obably twenty-one. They are very curious and similar, and the piece immediately connected
with the body seems to be moulded on the last vertebra of the tail, from which it is separated by
;i layer of the true skin by which it is secreted. Its surface pi-esents three circular elevations
corresponding to three protuberances. Of these, the first, or that nearest to the body of the reptile,
is the largest; and the other two rings are encased in the succeeding piece, which is connected in a

COMMON RATTLESNAKE.

similar manner to the next ring, and so on throughout the series. The ])osterior two-third.s of each
ring are thus embraced by the next, so that of the three prominent rinos that project from each piece
the anterior onl^y is visible, the two posterior being contained in the next ring, with the exception of
the ultimate one. Each piece is.Joose, and plays freely about that which it envelops. There is
no muscle, and the noise is produced by a shake of the tail.

Bates testifies to the slowness of the attack of other species of Rattlesnakes. When on the
Lower Amazons he saw a Rattlesnake for the first time. He heard a pattering noise close to him,
and thought some creepers on a tree were about to fall ; but when the wind lulled, it was evident that
the noise came from the ground. On turning his head to look, a sudden plunge startled him, and a
heavy gliding motion betrayed a large Serpent making off from beneath his feet. This was a Rattle-
snake. Again, his little dog Diamante rushed one day into a thicket and made a dead set at a large
Snake, whose bead he sav/ above the herbage. The foolish little brute approached quite close, and
then the Serpent reared its tail slightly in a horizontal position and shook the terrible rattles. It was
many minutes before Bates could get the dog away.

The Water-rattle* is seen in damp and shady places, and abounds in East Florida, the Gulf
States, and Mexico, and reaches eight feet in length, and its dusky colour, bloated body, and
grey and yellow iris, give it an expression of sullen ferocity. It is also called the Diamond
Rattlesnake.

Central America and Brazil have the " Horrid Rattlesnake," t which is a most widely
dispersed species of Eastern North America. It has a black band across tiio forehead, and another

* Crotalus adamunkus, or rhomUftr. t Crotalus horridus.

318 XATVBAL UIRTOIlY.

from the eye to the angle of the moutli. Tliere are two lars;e black bands which begin behind
the head and run along the neck and back for some distance. The nasal plates are very-
small, and tne space between the orbits is covered with plates or scales, larger than those in the
others.

The Missouri Rattlesnake* is slim, and is from two to thx-ee feet long. They inhabit the
country bordering on the Rocky Mountains, and from the Mexican to the British boundaries. It
is found from California to Utah, but the Yellowstone is its favourite locality. Crotalus lucifer
is found in Arizona and in the Pacific region.

The Prairie Rattlesnake, or Massasauga,t is distributed in the Praii-ie countries from Ohio and
Michigan westward, and it does not appear to go farther westward than the Yellowstone. They

prefer an unproductive soil, "where their sluggish gait may not meet tlie opposing obstacles ci
grass and mud ; and for their hiding-places they seek the holes of the Praii-ie J)og {CynomiU'
hidoviciana). It has some large plates on the head, and the rattle is much smaller than in the
other Rattlesnakes, and is included in the genus Crotalophorus (Gray). There is also a small .species
in the south, \ which hides in grass and feeds on field mice.

Coues, the American naturalist, thus writes about the rattle : — " The purpose subserved in the
economy of the animal by this singular organ has been the subject of much speculation and dis-
cussion. It is diflScult to perceive what use the rattle can be, either in procuring prey or
avoiding enemies. We do not know that it comes into play at all in the pursuit of prey, while
the actual result of its use as a menace in self-defence is the reverse of beneficial to the Sei-jjent,
since the sound serves to direct and provoke attack from all enemies which the animal has occasion
to feai-."

" Tlie principal enemies of the Rattlesnake besides man are hogs, peccaries, and deer. The former
* Crokilus cotiincntus (Say)=C. Uconki. f Crotalophorus terf/emiiius (Say). J Crotalophorus miliarius.

kill tlie Serpent when coiled, liy striking with the hoofs and teeth, and in some regions derive no
small part of their subsistence from this source. The popular belief that the venom of tlio Rattle-
snake is innocuous to lioga is merely a partial statement of the fact that the fluid usually fails
to enter the circulation through the layer of adipose tissue with whicli these animals are com
nionly covered. The venom is conceded to be innocuous when introduced to the stomach, and
the flesh of the Rattlesnake is as edible as that of other Sei-j^ents. The fatality of the Rattle-
snake's bite is by no means the constant element generally supposed, but the result may vary from
the slightest amount of poisoning to one rapidly fatal."

" There seems to be a special and peculiar enmity existing between the Rattlesnake and Moccasin
Snake, and the Black Snake (Bascanium constrictor) and the 'King Snake' (Ojthibolus getulus.
Say) ; these last two species waging a constant warfare against the former, and invariably
conquering, according to information received from reliable parties. After the conflict, the
vanquished is eaten by the victor. In one case reported, a large Black Snake had seized a
Rattlesnake and entwined two or moi-e folds behind his head, and several si.x or eight inches farther
back ; then by muscular eftbrt had tora the body. It is a well-lcnown fact that both Rattlesnakes
and Moccasins will endeavour to get away from the ' King Snake,' and in the South this beautiful
and harmless species is protected in view of this fact."

In Surinam, Guiana, and the Brazils there is a fine Snake called the Bushmaster,* which
grows to more than six feet in length, and it is' interesting from having many of the habits of the
true Rattlesnakes, and a rudiment of a rattle. The structures at the end of the tail consist of ten
or twelve rows of spiral scales which are slightly recurved or hooked at their sun\mits. It does
not climb trees, but frequents underwood near the rivers, and is well known for its venomous
powers. The natives call it "Surukuku."

Some of the Pit Vipers have a large plate on the top of the head instead of the small scales of
the genus Crotalus, and ai-e included in the genus Trigonocephalus, and Charles Darwin notices
one in his usual inimitable manner, at Bahia Blanca : —

" Of reptiles there are many kinds ; one Snake (a Trigonocephalus, or more properly a Cophias),
from the size of the poison channel in its fangs, must be very deadly. Cuvier, in opposition to
-some other naturalists, makes this a sab-genus of the RattlesJiake, and intermediate between it and
the Viper. In confirmation of this opinion, I observed a fact, which appears to me very curious and
instructive, as showing how every character, even though it may be in some degree independent of
-structure, has a tendency to vary by slow degrees. The extremity of the tail of this Snake is termi-
nated by a point, which is very slightly enlarged, and as the animal glided along it constantly vibrated
the last inch ; and this part striking against the dry grass and brushwood, produced a rattling noise
which could be distinctly heard at the distance of six feet. As often as the animal was irritated and
-surprised, its tail was shaken, and the vibrations were extremely rapid. Even as long as the body re-
tained its in-itability a tendency to this habitual movement was evident. This Trigonocephalus has,
therefore, in some res[iects the structure of Vipers, with the habits of a Crotalus ; the noise, however,
being produced by a simpler device. The expression of the Snake's face was hideous and fierce ; the
pupil consisted of a vertical slit in a mottled and coppery iris ; the jaws were broad at the Ijase, and
the nose terminated in a triangular projection. I do not think I ever saw anything more ugly, except-
ing, perhaps, in some of the Vampire Bats. I imagine this repulsive aspect originates from the features
being placed in position, with respect to each other, somewhat proportional to those of the human face,
and thus we obtain a scale of beauty."

North Carolina and to the south, and across to the Rocky Mountains, seems to be the countiy
where a fish-eating Snake.f with a large plate on its vertex, and a pointed rattle-less tail, is found. It
is usually called the Water Viper. The Coppei--head Snake,J often wrongly called the Moccasin
Snake, belongs to this group also, and preys upon frogs and birds, and probably fishes. It has a bad
character amongst the inhalaitants of the United States south of the forty-fifth parallel of latitude.

The la.st gi-oup of the American Pit Vipers is that of tiie Lance Snakes. One of these is
the Yellow Viper, of Martinique, § called Fer-de Lance there, and the Rat-tailed Serpent, at St

* Lachcsis mutus. + Cenchrig piscivorus.

i Trigomcpphahi-s (AncUtrodoii) contortrU. § Eothmps lanccohUiis.

320

NATURAL BISTUEY.

Lucia, in the West Indies. Other and very venomous Serjients of the group live on the mainland,,
and the principal are Jararaca* and Bothropg alrox.

Halys is the only East Indian genus of Pit Vipers or Crotalidse with a vestige of the rattle,
and it is reduced to a simple horny spine at the end of the tail. Many of these Indian
Crotalidw, such as the Trimeresurids, are arboreal Snakes, and in colour resemble the foliage oi-
branches of tlip trees in which they live. These Trimeresuri are said to be naturally sluggish.

<ind au apt to he quietly, hidden b> the lewes oi bunches they lesemble m coloui, until distuibed ,
tlien till V iif sonif times heito iiid i^rjK ssim bitt sa\ t_,'t h iiid make x hissing sound as they
(lepiK t. stiik which thf\ (1(. U hist h^«iiuluktlH Ik id uid intfiioi put of the Iwh , iiid
thendutuu It t,,i\Mid with 4U It 1 ipditN Di, n t ul is j,! hnisde

The \eiioiuous Snakes kill by nioculating tli ii \i tii with i liquid poison, which escapes b\ a

£,'ioo\e in fioiit of the fang, oi by j canal foimel 1 \ tl 1 i n of the edges of tlie gioo\e Aftei

dejiriving their prey of the power of escape and rcsistaiici'. tin y |)rocped to swallow it. On the other

hand, the non venomous Snakes stop, and wound, and often lull witli their well-developed solid teeth,

* Craspedocepkalui {Bothrops) hi-u-il,: .ixis.

VJ-yOMOUS SNAKES AND THEIR VICTIMS. 321

and then commence tlie cxtraonlinaiy swallowing, having often enveloped their prey in the folds of
their body, cnishing it more or less.

In the first group a special adaptation of the usual bones of tlie head enables the contents of the
poison-gland — probably an altered and adapted salivary gland — to be injected, and there are remark-
able movements permitted, which enable the Snake to bite and to protect its fangs from subsequent
injury. Then in the act of swallowing, a peculiar mobility and separability of the jaws and associated
bones come into play, and this is, of course, noticed also in the second group. In endeavourijig to explain

OR FER DE

these necessaiy actions and movements it must be noticed, first of all, that whilst the bones which
enclose the brain of the Snake are solidly united, those of the face, upper and lower jaws, and palate,
and those which joint the lower jaw with the skull — the lower jaw with the quadrate, and this with
the squamosal — are loose and more or less inter-connected by fibrous tissue, permitting of much sepaia-
tion and movement (see Note, p. 27-5). The movements and special adajitations are of two kinds,
those relating to the striking with the poi.son fang, and those which refer to the forcing back
the prey into the mouth and the expansion of the jaws sideways, in order that a huge morsel
should pass into a dilatable throat. The first will be now explained, and the last will be noticed
farther on.

The Eattlesnakes have been carefully studied, and they may be taken as the type of the veno-
mous Snakes, so far as the construction of tlie skull is concerned.

322 NATURAL HISTOItl'.

The jire-maxillary bones are very small aiid toothless. The maxillary bone has not the
elongate shape of that of the non-poisonous Snake, but it is short, somewhat bag-like, and hollow,
and a long curved fang is on that part of it which resembles the bottom of the bag, and which, in
the position of rest, looks backwards along the palate. Hence, when quiet, the fang is hidden in
folds of the soft tissues of the roof of the-mouth. The hollow of the bone is below the pit in fi-ont of
the eye. The upper and inner part of the maxilla is jointed with a pulley -like surface on the lachiy-
mal bone, so that the bag-like maxilla and its tooth can move forwards and backwards on the
Saclirymal bone, the end of the fang describing about a quarter of a circle, and being vertical when
at the fullest forward movement — in the striking position. The lachrymal bone has some movement
on the frontal bone. Now, the mechanism of the bones of the palate and of the side of the head has
to produce a forward and backward movement of the free end of the maxillary bone ; and it has
•especial comiection with the necessity of the fang being vertical and ready to strike when the mouth is
-.widely open, and of the curving back of the fang along the palate, out of harm's way, when the mouth
is .shut.

Tlie fang, and its supporting bone hinged on to the lachrymal bone, can be pushed forward as
the mouth opens in the following manner : — There are three bones on each side of the mouth whose
names are already very famUiar, and they are, a small
palate bone armed with curved teeth; a long, flat, bar-like,
transverse bone, and the pterygoid bone, which is long
and stotit, and as usual is united behind with the quadrate
I'onc close to the lower jaw. The tran.sverse bone is
attached in front by a hinge-like joint with the maxilla,
ajid behind it is connected with the pterygoid. The palate
bone is also attached to the pteiygoid by a joint, and is
connected by fibrous tissues with the skull. These bones
form a long line, and as a whole they are in contact \\dth
the quadrate bone behind, and with the upper edge of the
hinder part of the tooth-bearing maxilla in front. The
quadrate bone and the maxilla being movable on the skull,
the motion of the first is conveyed to the latter fang-
bearing bone by means of the intermediate rod. Now,
■when the mouth is shut, the quadrate bone is placed so that it reaches out from the squamosal
foone, on the side of the skull, downwards and backwards, and the pterygoid bone with its
prolongation, the transverse, is pulled backwards. So that the hinder part of the maxilla is pulled
backwards, and the fang rests on the mucous membrane of the palate. When the Snake opens
its mouth to sti-ike, the lower jaw separates from the upper, and the quadrate bone is pushed
forward at its end at the lower jaw. This movement acts on the line of bones ; the pterygoid is
pushed forwards, and the transverse also, so that a force acts on the maxilla tending to press it forward,
and to make its lower or toothed part move in a corresponding direction on the joint with the
lachrymal bone. This peculiar movement is the result of the combined movements of the transverse
.and palatine bones and their joint or union with the pterygoid.

The next proceeding is the snap or attempted closure of the jaws on the prey, and the same
muscle (or rather part of it) which closes the lower jaw on the upper compresses the poison
gland, which lies between it and the side of the skull above and behind the maxilla, and forces
-a drop of its secretion down its duct which leads into the canal of the tooth. As' soon as this is
<lone the mouth is closed, and the long bones pull on the maxilla and restore the fang to its place on
■ the palate.

In the Zoological Gardens in the Regent's Park, London, the Rattlesnakes may be seen exercising,
as it were, their jaws, before the Guinea-pig, a favourite prey, is given them. They open the mouth
widely, and immediately the long, slightly-curved, slender fangs project well in front, and are at right
•angles with the upper jaw. It appears as if each slipped out of an envelope of soft skin which never
quite leaves their base, or whei-e they are attached to the maxillary bones. Then the mouth is shut
juid the teeth are retracted during that operation.

SKAKE rOlSONING. 323

It is evident that by its will the Snake can move its maxillae and fangs, and that wlien it
Las killed and begins to swallow by opening its mouth, which is pressed on the victim, the poison teeth
are not struck forth. Hence, although opening the mouth is necessary to the protrusion of the fangs,
as noticed above, still there are muscular actions required within the sphere of the will. A muscle
called the spheno-pterygoid contracts when the rod of bones is desired to be pushed forwards, and
the folding back of the maxilla and tooth is produced by the contraction of the ectopterj'goid and
spheno-palatine m uscles.

The fangs are often cast or shed, and they are delicate, tubular, sometimes half an inch in length,
sharp at the free end, and on the whole rather scythe-shaped. The microscope shows that the canal
is not a simple passage through the midst of a solid tooth, but that the tooth may be considered fiat
;ind to consist of dentine within and enamel all round, and to have been bent so as to form a groove,
and finally, by union of its edges, a canal. The poison looks like limpid syrup.

The symptoms of poisoning point to exhaustion and pai-alysis of the nen'ous centres, and to a
i-apid failing of every function of the body. Local paralysis of the bitten part, blood spreading in the
.skin near the wound, faintuess, vomiting, bleeding, and mucous, bloody, involuntary motions precede
loss of consciousness, and convulsions close the sad scene. The examination after death reveals but
little, and Sir Joseph Fap-er states that in animals the blood nearly always coagulates firmly on
removal from the body, and there appears to be some doubt about the condition of that fluid in man,
which is said to become uncoagulable and altered in its microscopic characters. The poison acts with
most vigour on warm-blooded animals, and especially on birds, for a vigorous Snake bite will destroy
& fowl in a few moments. Cold-blooded animals succumb less i-apidly, and all die if bitten decidedly ;
but the poisonous Snakes are not affected by their own poison, or of that of their kind. How the
poison kills is a matter of doubt. Dr. Holford believes that the molecules of the poison speedily grow
into cells, and that these multiply rapidly, and extinguish, by their capacity for absorbing oxygen, the
animal heat and powers. But they have not been seen before death by himself or Sir J. Fayrer, and
•what was seen after death may have been the result of changes in the last hours, and subsequently.
In some cases there is not time for this change, and the poison is as rapid in its action as prussic acid,
and is. an equally incomprehensible agent of destruction. After a while, symptoms of blood poisoning
come on, and should the patient last, the death of portions of the body and of the blood is evident.
But the primary action is unknown. The poison being very readily and rapidly absorbed into the
circulation; the only chance of successfully treating a bite, by any of the venomous Snakes in hot
climates, is to stop its passage by the veins to the heart as quickly as possible. A ligature should be
applied immediately above the bite, that is, between it and the body, if on a limb. The natives of
India apply one or more, not only just above the bite, but up the limb in several places. A garter,
brace, piece of cloth, or anything that can be tied round quickly and strongly, will do. It must be
tightened to the utmost, and a stick should be put in the strap or string, and twisted. The part soon
becomes livid from the arrested blood. Then, if no surgeon is near, have a burning piece of wood
placed to the wound, or a live coal, or flash gunpowder on it. A red-hot iron, caustic, or carbolic acid
will be still better. Amputate if you are wise, and the patient will submit. Should the bite be where
a ligature cannot be applied, a knife must be got out, and the flesh mei-cilessly cut out at once.
Suction is dangerous; cupping glasses are rarely at hand. It is not right to pin one's faith on liquor
ammonife, for it is not an antidote. If the poison has been absorbed the pulse falls, and prostration
commences. Then stimulants are the only hope — ether, brandy, ammonia in water, mustard to the
pit of the stomach, and quietude. The patient is in danger of sinking from nervous exhaustion, and,
therefore, all the barbarous plans of walking about, flogging, ikc, are worse than useless. Every
country has its antidotes, and every practitioner believes in one or more, but scientific experiment
under Fayrer and Brunton has shown that there is no proper antidote. Certainly, in less
venomous Snake bites, such ?& those of the Australian Snakes, Dr. Holford has had success in
injecting ammonia into the veins.

The venomous Serpents being individually very numerous in India, and the population being
dense, it is reasonable to expect that great mortality would occur from Snake bites every year. In
1892, 1,455 deaths occurred from Snake bites, and this awful mortality was not compensated by
the death of 84,789 Snakes.
50*

324 SATURAL HISTORY.

The snake-charmers, Fayrer states, handle poisonous Snakes freely, and without fear, even when
in possession of their fangs. The Cobras are their favourites, and occasional]}' the Ophiophagus, as
these Snakes present a very striking appeai-ance when they erect their heads and dilate their hoods.
Those they exhibit generally have their fiings removed. Tliis is done by cutting out their teetli, and
with them the mucous capsule vvith the reserve fangs. They are exceedingly dexterous, and the sleiglit
of hand with which they appear to catch a Snake in any patch of grass, or even from the ground, is
such as to deceive the closest observer. The Snake is, of course, concealed about the pei'son, but is
with great i-apidity and dexterity placed in the secluded spot, and as quickly abstracted. They are
well aware of the danger, and know perfectly well that no antidote has any effect, though they
pretend to prevent or cure bites by roots and snake-stones. With venomous they exhibit innocent
Snake.s, and their exhibition is always accompanied by the music of a rude pipe made of a gourd.

SUB-ORDER COLUBRIFORMES.— THE INNOCUOUS COLUBRIFORM SNAKES.
This great sub-order includes the non-poisonous Snakes, whose jaws are armed with numerous solid,
curved teetli. Tlie body is clothed with rows of large scales, and the head has plates. Their negative
character is the absence of a decided venom gland. Nevertheless, it is found that in some the last
tooth of the upper maxilla is grooved, and may have a small special, but not necessarily venomous
gland. Or no gland may be present. In two families, the Rough Tails and the Rollers, the jaws
are not extensible, and the prey is small, but in the rest there is much movement possible amongst the
bones of the face and side of the head. There are many families of them.

FAMILY ACROCHORDIDyE.— THE AVART SNAKES.

These Snakes from Japan and British India are peculiar, for the body and head are covered with
small wart-like tubercular or .spiny scales, which do not overlap. Tlie tail is short and prehensile ;
the eye is small ; the nostrils are close together at the toj^ of the snout ; and the short teeth are strong
and unecpial in size on the jaws and palate. They are viviparous Snakes.

One of them,* found in Japan and in Singapore, is very rai-e. Its habits are terrestrial. C!arter
'Compares its head to that of a bull-dog, and a female in his possession brought forth twenty-seven
young ones, all alive and anxious to bite. Undigested fruit has been found in the stomach, but
the Snake looks as if it fed on prey.

Another species is aquatic, and has a broad compressed tail. It is not venomous, and lives in
the rivers and shallow seas of the Indian Ai-chipelago. t

FAMILY DEYIOPHID^.— THE WHIP SNAKES.

These can usually be readily distinguished by their excessively slender back and tail, the head
being naiTOw and long, ending in a protruding rostral shield, or sometimes in a flexible end to
the snout. The scales are narrow and overlap much, and the species have the hinder tooth grooved.
The body has been compared to the thong of a whip. They are usually of a green colour, and the
Asiatic kinds have a horizontal pupil, and prey by night. They move with great grace in the trees,
but awkwardly on the ground. Whilst on a branch they can retain their hold with a few coils of the
tail, and then their long bodies shoot forth to seize the birds and lizards which for the most part form
their food. Some attain a length of seven to ten feet. An Indian Snake (Passerita mycterizans)
feeds on birds and lizards, and has a long and more or less movable snout. Oxyhelis falijidus,
from South America, has also this appendage. An offshoot of this ftimily has species which are
also nocturnal, with a short broad head, short snout, and vertical pupil. Tliese are the Dipsa-
didse, and they are found in India, Africa, and Australia. They live on warm-blooded animals, some
attacking birds only, and others mammals. Their colours are more varied than the common Tree
Snakes. The Brown Tree Snake is a type, and is found in Eastern Australia, and it is nocturnal in
its habits, preying on birds and eggs. J The Ularburong of the Malays {Dipsas demlrophUa) Ls one
of them.

Some other Indian and African Snakes have a body of a moderate length, and a Hat
muzzle, the small eye having a vertical pupil. They§ are ground Snakes, and those of India live
'' Acrochonlus javankus. t Chcrsiidras fjmiiiilatiis. t Di2>sas fusca. § Family Lijmdontida:.

TJtEE ay-AKES. 325

on Skiuks exclusively, whilst the Afi-io;m kinds devour mice and some other small nocturnal
niaminais.

Some remarkable Snakes come from Madagascar, and have a long fleshy prolongation to the
muzzle at least one-third the length of the head. In one species this appendage is toothed, and in
the other it is plain. In the Langaha this growth has the shape of a blade, and is sharp at its end.
The colour of the Snake is bright brownish-retl ; and in the Cockscomb Langaha, tlie muzzle is
dentated, the Snake being brown and yellow. They belong to tlie genus Xiphorhynchus. The family
is represented in Au.stralia.

A curious Snake of a purplish colour, densely marbled and mottled with brown, with small rose-
coloured spots, the cheeks and lips being carnation, has a flat head resembling that of a mastiff' in
shajje. The lips are ai-ched and tumid. It climbs with ease, and frequents, by night, the roofs of the
liuts of the natives of Java and Borneo, in seai-cliing for food, which consists of insects. It attains the
length of three feet. This Snake has a slender body, and tail, which is prehensile, but the head is
thick and large, and hence it is the type of the Blunt-headed family. They have a very narrow
mouth, and the maxillary bone is very short, and is provided with a few small teeth, and the
palate and lower jaw have strong teeth in front, but none are grooved. *

* Family AnihlijccphaUdm (Elunt-beatl Snakes). The species is Ainbhicephaliis hod.

NATUMAL HISTORY.

FAMILY DENDROPHID^.— THE TREE SNAKES.
These Snakes are dinmal in their habits, living in trees, and are extremely active climbers and
movers amongst the boughs, and their colours, often vivid, assimilate with the surrounding foliage.
They are found in all the tropical regions, and feed principally on Tree Lizards. The body and tail
are much compressed, or are very slender and elongate, and the head is distinct from the neck, and
has a longish snout and wide gape.

FAJillLY PSAMMOPHID.E.— THE DESERT SNAKES.
These have a longish body and tail, sometimes stout and rounded, and the head, very distinct from
the neck, is narrow or thick, and the loreal region is veiy concave. The scales are smooth, the nostril

is lateral, and the eye is of moderate size. One of the four or five anterior maxillary teeth is longer
than the others, and the last is grooved. They are more common in tropical Africa than elsewhere,
and some are slender, others being stout. They frequent jJains, and live on the ground. There
is one Indian species,* and it reaches forty inches in length. Mr. Jerdon noticed one which had
killed and was swallowing a small Vipera Echis, and remarks that this is, perhaps, the only instance
ever heard of in which a non-venomous Snake overpowered a venomous .species. Another, belonging
** Psammophis condanarus.

lUE COMUOX EXai.lSlI SXAKE. 327

to a second genus,* is very i-ppulsive in its aspect ; and its swollen lips, covered liy larjro liidtlcn tiings,
give it the appearance of a venomous Snake. It has a wide geographical range in the Himalayas,
and the mainland to China, and in the great islands.

THE KACHIODONT FAMILY.

An egg-swallowing Snake is I'oiiud in 8outh Africa,t and there are several other species of its
genus which probably swallow eggs, and have a jieculiar structural arrangement in relation to this
food. Dr. Smith writes : — " The paucity and smallness of tlie teeth in the mouth are favoiu'able to
the passage of the egg, and permit it to progress without injury ; whereas, were they otherwise, many
eggs which lla^•e thin shells woukl be broken before they entered the gullet, and the animal, in
consequence, would be deprived of its natural food when within its reach. Having observed
that living .specimens which I kept in confinement always retained the egg stationary about two
inches behind the head, and while in that position made great efforts to crush it, I killed one, and
found the gular teeth about the place where the egg cea.ses to descend." Those teeth assist in fixing
the egg, and also in breaking the shell as the muscles contract around the throat. The instant the
egg is broken the shell is ejected from the moutli, and the fluid contents are carried down to the
stomach. The so-called (jular teeth are really the tijis of the long inferior spines of eight or nine of the
first vertebrfe. Their tips are covered with an enamel-like sub.stance which projects tlirough the
coats of the gullet, or oesophagus, into its cavity. This is one of the most striking instances of a
" final cause " in nature, and the case stands isolated.

There is a family of Fre.sli-water Snakes J whiel:, Giinther notices, may be recognised by the posi-
tion of the nostrils on the top of the snout, whicli enables them to breathe by raising but a very small part
of the head out of the water. It is the same arranijoment as that seen in the Sea Snakes. There are
several genera, and the species are usually small in size. They range widely in British India and the
islands of the mainland of Asia. The species Hijiistes hydrinus greatly resembles a true Hydrophis
(p. 310). It lives in the sea, but it is not a venomous kind. The Long-nosed Herpeton, a Fresh-
water Snake, is remarkable for having two flexible " feelers," which are as long as its snout. Thej-
are probably of use when the Snake is under water. It is found only in the southern parts of Siam.

FAMILY COLUBRIDvE.— THE COLUBRIDES.
Tliis is a very large family, and the following is a general description of the Snakes which form
its numerous sub-families and genera : — The head is distinct from the neck, not very large, and plated.
The teeth are niimerous, and those of the upper jaw diminish iii size from before backwards. The tail
has a double row of scales beneath, and there are no vestiges of limbs, nor is the body rigid as in the
next family. This important family is sulidivided, and contains several sub-families, of which the-
Smooth Snakes of Europe, the Common English Snake, and ^dEsculapius Snake, are types, and they
are the Coronellinie, Natricinfe, Colubrinse, and Dryadinse. The family is very widely diffused.

8UB.FAMILY NATEICIN.E.
There is a common Snake, § which frequents many parts of England, and especially places where
water is readily reached. By no means uncommon, they are nevertheless rarely seen except by those
people who look for them, and, indeed, many of the unobservant live in counties where the Snake
is excessively common, and yet never see a specimen. As this Snake is very fond of the water,
and swinLS with ease, and frequents ponds where there are frogs to be caught, it is often called
the Water-Snake. It is a slender reptile, with the back part of the head broader than the neck, and
the head is rather flattened and ovate in shape. The plates ai-e broad and flat, and there are seven
labials. The body is veiy long, and the middle line of the back is elevated ; the tail is tapering and
about one-fifth of the entire length. The scales of the back are oval, imbricated, and each has a keel ;
those of the sides are broader and less keeled. The abdominal plates are broad, and number
1 70, whilst the sub-caudals are in pairs from sixty to sixty-five in number. The upper parts of the
body and head are of a light brownish-grey with a green tinge, sometimes approaching to a dull pale
olive. Behind the head, on the upper part, is a broad collar, or two curved spots of a bright yellow
* Psammodi/nasles. t Dasi/pdtis scaler. t Homalopsidw.

§ Tropidonotus nutrU (Kuhl) ; or, Nutrix torquata (Ray).

326 . ^ATCltAL lllSTUHY.

colour, and iinniediMtely beliiud these are two broad cross spots of black, or tliey may be confluent.
Two rows of smuU Ijlack spots are arranged alternately down the back, and there are larger ones at the
sides, all of which vary in size and closeness. The under part is of a pale blue, dull in colour, or it
may be of a lead tint marked with black. It is therefore a pretty slim Snake, which may attain to
the length of three or four feet. It has a large mouth, and the gape is of the length of the head,
and slightly curved, rising behind. The tongue is long, very flexible, and forked to about one-third
of its length. The teeth are small, curved backwards, and arranged, as is usual in the group to which
this genus belong.s, in two series on each side of the jaw above and below.

COMMON- Clt niXGli

They like the warm, sunny banks and heaths where the gi-ass is high, near a pond, and bask by
the hour together. They slide down a crack, or move rapidly through the underwood, on an alarm.
In the water they are very active, and chase frogs and catch small fish ; out of that element they are
not very particular in their food, and they will strike and swallow young birds, bii-ds' eggs, mice,
lizards, and frogs. The female is larger than the male, and she is oviparous, laying eggs a cor-
siderable time before the young ones are hatched. They are deposited in a warm place, and are
from sixteen to twenty in number, being connected together by a glutinous substance. Towards
the end of autumn, or earlier, they resort to some sequestered and sheltered place, as in the
hollow roots of trees or under hedges and brushwood, coil up in company with others, and sleep
during the winter, hibernating thus until the warmth of spring is pronounced enough. Mr. Bell,
in his work on " British Reptiles," says that the Common Snake is easily tamed, and may be
made to distinguish the people who caress and feed it

rUF. BLACK SNAKE.

When hungry, this Snake moves with great rapidity after its favourite prey, and the frog
leaps away quickly enougli at tirst, Init soon gives up tlie struggle. It may seize the frog by the
hind leg or quarter, and Bell says that the victim stretches itself out convulsively before it is
slowly enclosed within the jaws and gradually swallowed. Sometimes the fi'og is taken by the
Snake so that it leaves three limbs out of the mouth, after the body has disappeared, but they
gradually move in and down, and the body of the Snake becomes so much the larger as the food
moves into the stomach. The author just quoted once saw a frog which had been .swallowed by an
unusually large Snake, leaj) out of the mouth of tlie latter which happened to gape, as they frequently
do immediately after taking food. And on another
occasion he heard a frog croaking several minutes
after it had been swallowed. In taking lizards and
birds the Suake swallows them head first. After
a meal the Snake remains inactive for many days, and
does not seek a fresh meal until the former one
has digested. This Snake is, of course, not venomous,
and its little bite does no harm to man or child.
They change their skins twice or more in the summer,
according to the temperature of the air, and the
r;q)idity of growth. This Snake is found in most
<if the countries of Europe, from Scotland aiid
tlie corresponding latitude of the Continent to Italy
and Sicily. Mr. Bell says that not only is the
(Jommon Snake not a native of Ireland, but at-
tempts to introduce it have failed, not 'from any
peculiarity of the climate, or any sacredness of the beautifid green island, but rather owing to the
prejudices of the inhabitants, which led to their destruction directly they were introduced artilicially.
The genus has an immense range, and the Moccasin Snake, Garter and Ribbon Snakes, are
well known in North America. The Hog-nosed Snakes of America (genus Heterodou) and of
JMadagascar belong to this sub-family.

OF HEAD (.k), UNDEU
fVIS-CAfDALS (ll), Ol- I

SUB-FAiriLY COLUBRIXiE.

The True Colubrides — sub-family Colubrin;e — aftbrd, according to Giinther, the most perfect
examples of the innocuous Snake, and they are not characterised Ijy the excessive development of
some particular oi-gan, but by the fairness of the proportions of all parts. They are Land Snakes, but
they swim well when driven into the water, and they climb in search of food. The genus Coluber is
almost world wide, being found in North America, Europe, Asia, and Africa. The Schlangenbad
Snakes belong to this genus, and the species was sacred to yEsculapius.

The Snakes of the genus Compsosoma, like those just mentioned, have the maxillary teeth equal
in length, and are Indian, the genus Spilotes being their American representative.

The Black Snake * is slender, with smooth lustrous scales. It is black above and
blackish-ashy below, with a white throat, and is common in North America. It grows to a con-
siderable size, and is a most active anil bold Snake, possessing, moreover, great powers of constriction.
Hunting after small birds, it climbs trees easily and i-obs their nests. In the West it is a persistent
■enemy of the Rattlesnakes. It hunts them, and boldly seizes them, envelojiing their bodies in its con-
stricting folds. It is sometimes included in the genus Cory|5hodon, which has species in America,
Africa, and the East Indies. The Pantherine Snake t of the Brazils is one of its species.

The Indian Bat Snake % belongs to the gi-oup, and is very common on the continent of India
and Ceylon. It is scarcer in the Archipelago and in the Himalayas, which it ascends to 5,240 feet
above the level of the sea. It is a powerful Snake, attaining to the length of seven feet, and its food
consists of mammals, birds, and frogs. It frequently enters dwellings in search of mice, rats, and
young fowls, and is of fierce habits, always ready to bite, and they are not to be tamed readily.

t Curi/iii

Z Ptyas mucosus.

XATUHAL UISTuni'.

SUB-FAHILY COROXELLIX.E.

The Ground Colubrides, or Coronellinse, are Snakes of small size, with smooth scales. They live
on the gi-ound, and are generally of rich, brilliant coloration, and only a few which frequent grassy
plains are of a bright gi-een colour. The genus Coronella has species in almost every part of the
temperate and tropical regions, and there is a doubtful one in India. The European Coronella Icevis
is the type, and is found fiom Norway to the south. It is possibly an English Snake.

Another genus (Cyclophis) is interesting because it is represented by different species in Nortli
America, China, Afghanistan, Mesopotamia, Hindostan, Ceylon, and Assam. They have all the

-V^

'?^

teeth of equal size, and none are grooved. They are small Snakes, and as they frequent grassy
places, their colours are principally green and olive. They belong to a sub-family, the Dryadinse,
or Bush Colubrides, some of which have the long body more or less compressed, as it were, but not so
excessively slender as the true Ti-ee Snakes. The tail is also long, and the head, distinct from the
neck, may have an elongate snoiit. The All-green Tree Snake of South America * and the Antillean
Snake,t with large eyes and elongated scales, have been brought to England. Nearly all the species are
ai'boreal.

* Philodryas ririUissimus. t Dromicus antilknsis.

FAMILY CALAMAraU.!:.

Tliis is a family of small Snakes with rather rigid, cylindrical, elongated bodies tei-minating in ft
short tail, and they are called Dwarf Snakes. The head is but slightly distinct from the neck, and
the small nostrils are lateral, and some of the head-shields are united, so that in some species
there are two pairs of frontal plates, and in others but one. The body and tail scales may be
smooth or keeled, and are in ft-om thirteen to seventeen longitudinal series.

The White-bellied Dwarf Snake* may be taken as the type of the genus Calamaiia. It has a
single pair of frontal plates and thirty rings of scales, those under the tail being double. This
little Snake is about eleven inches long. The head is brown, and the body, of the same colour, h
ornamented with four longitudinal marks on the side and beneath. There is much white colour
beneath. It is an East Indian form, and lives on small mammals and worms, and is, perhaps, the
most fragile of all Snakes, and it falls a victim to Bungari and other Snakes.

In the family Oligontidw there is a peculiarity about the dentition, one of the genera having
no palatine teeth,t and another having the last tooth of the upper jaw longer than the others, and
sometimes having a groove in it. J

FAMILY PY'THOXIDiE.— THE ROCK SXAKES.

These reptiles are occa.sionally found of great size, and are the largest of the Snakes. They are-
foi-tunately not common, and yet they have a very wide and .somewhat remarkable geographical distribu-
tion. They are found in the hottest parts of Africa, Asia, the Eastern Archipelago, and Australia,
according to Gunther, and thus link together those distant lands in a former continental space.
For the Pythons, although liking water and swimming, could not, and do not, pass from land to land
by sea ; and, therefore, the ancestors of those in the separated districts were once free to invade over the
ancient and now partly sunken intervening lands. Living to a great age, having few enemies, except
man, they reach the length of thirty feet, and have the circumference in their largest part of that of
the body of a man. But those having the length of from eighteen to twenty feet are rare, and the
commonest are found within that length, and their thickness is that of a man's thigh. Climbing as
well as swimming, and able to move rapidly over the groimd, the Rock Snakes, constituting the
genus Python, attack animals such as small deer and others of the same size, and birds. They seiz&
their prey after the fashion of other non-venomous Snakes, with their teeth, and then coil their
body round it in a few or several folds, cnishing and smothering it. They occasionally kill larger
animals than, they can swallow; but when one is within their coils which can be got down, the
head of the victim is taken in first, and then the rest follows slowly ; and the passage, often
difficult enough in consequence of the size, hairs, horns, or feathers, is assisted by the production of a
lubricating saliva. It i.s a curious sight to see a couple of ducks seized one after the other and
bolted by a captive Python, and it is evident that after the meal the creature becomes very
disinclined to move. In a state of nature, if a large animal has been swallowed, the Python
becomes torpid and may be easily killed. They have the character of being fierce, and of
.showing great determination when brought to bay. They grow slowly, and one which was brought
to London having a length of eleven feet, attained twenty-one in ten years ; but the growth is quicker
in the early periods of life, this eleven-foot specimen being about four years of age. The males are
smaller than the females.

There are two species of Python in India. One is common in the Archipelago, inhabiting
most of the islands, and feeding on quadrupeds and birds. It often takes up its abode in outhouses,
catching its prey at night, and is useful in destroying vermin, although it occasionally causes havoc
amongst poultry. Very fond of water, it usually reaches a length of si.xteen feet, but some of thirty feet
have been seen. It is the Ular sawa of the Malays. § Tlie other one is the Adjigar of the Hindoos. |[
This gi-eat Snake has been said to destroy a Bufialo, which it certainly could not swallow ; and there
is a well-known engi-aving representing a man seized by one of these monsters.

There are two Pythons from West Africa, and one of them ^ is to be seen in the Zoological
Gardens of London ; and when in full vigour, after having cast its skin, is iridescent with rainbow

* Cahimaria alhiventer. t Genus OUgodonSa-va, and Ceylon, India.

i Genus Homaloa'anwn—^ovih America and Venezuela. § Python retkulatm. \\ Python molurus. H Python sebce.

352 NATUUAL UlSTORY.

tints on its grey body. It closely resembles the Natal Python, which Dr. Andrew Smith describes
as occasionally reaching twenty-five feet in length. It may be the Indian species last alluded to.
Formerly an inhabitant of the Cape Colony, it is now not to be found for hundreds of miles from
its boundaries, and few specimens have been found nearer than Port Natal.

Dr. Sclater, F.B.S., has shown that the -African Python* and the Indian Adjigar f incubate
their eggs. These are of the size of those of a goose, and fifteen were laid on a 6th of May.

The Snake (the African one) collected them in a conical heap, coiled herself round and on
it, entirely covering the eggs, and her head rested on the top of the cone. The Snake remained
in that position until eight of the eggs were hatched on the 3rd of July. An increase in the tem-
perature of the Snake has been observed during the hatching. The Snakes of this family have the
relics of hind limbs in the shape of bony spurs, and the tail is prehensile ; it enables the Python
to cling on to the stump of a tree or a rock whilst arresting the escape of the prey. The head has
* Pi/thon seha. t Python molurus.

BOA CONSTRICTOR.

0(4 Living Specimen in (He Zoological Car(Un.% London.)

TEE BOA COXSTRICTOIt. 333

i-atUer a long snout, depressed and cut short, or rounded in front. The eye is of moderate size, and the
pupil is vertical. The scales are smooth, very numerous in series, and the sub-caudals are two-rowed.
None of the teeth are groored, and they are found in the intermaxillary, maxillary, palatine, pterygoid,
and mandiljle bones, and they are unequal in size.

Associated with the Pythons, which are the types of a sub-family, are some beautiful Australian
Snakes, which are usually said to belong to two species, the Diamond and Carpet Snakes, but which
in all probability are races, or local varieties of one.*

The next sub-family of the Pythonid* to be considered is that of the Boas, and they have the

general configuration of the Great Pythons, but some have the head scaly and without plates, -whilst
others have in-egular plates. In all the tail is prehensile, but the intermaxillaries have no teeth.
All are South American, except some belonging to a genus whose place in classification is uncei-tain,
and whose species live in Java.

The Boa Constrictor has a long scaly head, which is broad behind, and the tail has a single row
of sub-caudal scales. They are arboreal, and watch for their prey, swooping down on it head fiist,
seizing and coiling their long and stout body around it. They reach twelve feet in length as a rule,
and it is said that some are twice and more as long, but there ai-e grave doubts about the truth of the
statement. The ornamentation is rather peculiar, and there is a long series of markings extending the
whole length, composed alternately of great- blackish stains or spots irregularly hexagonal, and of
pale oval stains or spots notched or .jagged at either end, the whole forming a very elegant pattern.
It has the habits of the family, and is restricted to the tropical parts of South America. Probably

* Morelia arr/us and M. variegata.

SCi NATURAL HISTORY.

this was the Snake which was worsliippeil by the natives, and it has a strange literature attachecJ
to it, of stories of the most wonderful kind, and it has been confounded with the Anaconda, which
forms the next genus cf the sub-family.

Bates once, on an insect-hunting expedition, met a Boa Constrictor face to face. The huge-
Serpent was coming down a slope, and making the dry twigs crack and fly with its weight, as it
moved over them. He knew there was no danger and stood his ground, and the reptile suddenly
turned and glided at an accelerated pace down the path. The rapidly-moving and shining body
looked like a stream of brown liquid flowing over the thick bed of fallen leaves rather than a Serpent
with a skin of varied coloui-s. One morning, after a night of deluging rain at Para, the lamplighter,
on his rounds to extinguish the lamps, knocked Bates up to show him a Boa Constrictor he had just
killed in the street not far ofi". He had cut it nearly in two with his knife as it was making its way
down the sandy street.

The ability of Snakes to swallow prey, the size of which is greater than that of their heads and
necks, might be called in question were it not a very familiar spectacle. "Whether the victim has
been struck and poisoned, or bitten and enfolded in some twirls of the body, or simply caught
in the mouth, sooner or later it is forced within the jaws, and the skin of the head is greatly
distended. The crooked shape of the teeth prevents the return of the prey, which is forced
farther and farther back, by alternate forward movements of the movable and separable lower jaws,
by gapings and general forward movements of the jaws. As the prey gets beyond the middle
of the mouth the lower jaws are separated behind from the skull, as much as possible, by the
mobility of the quadrate and squamosal bones, and then the extensile gullet receives its morsel.
Once past the jaws, the muscular efibrts are restricted to the gullet and body.

A clean skull of a Python, with its bones in their proper place, shows how solid is the brain-
case, and how movable are the jaws and their attached bones. On looking at this Snake's skull
the pre-maxillary bones are seen in front, and there are teeth in them. This is (with the ex-
ception of the genus Tortrix) not the usual arrangement, for teeth are wanting there in other
Serpents.

Then the maxillary bones (on each side) are large, long, arched, and many-toothed, and very
difierent in shape to those of the venomous Snakes. Within the mouth, and on the palate, is the
palatine bone (of each side), also furnished with teeth, whose points look backwards, and the
bone is long and is united behind with the ptei-ygoid. Just where they unite a bone passes out
to join the maxilla, and this is the transverse bone. The hinder end of the pterygoid bone is in
contact with the quadrate and squamosal bones. This last bone (squamosal) is long, and only
adheres to the skull by one end, the opposite or outer end being in contact with the quadrate
bone. Hence the quadrate bones can be stuck out from the skull by their own and also the length
of the squamosal. On looking at the lower jaw the parts at the chin are noticed to be capable
of wide separation there; and behind, the mandibles jointed to the quadrate can be forced as
widely apart as that bone and the squamosal will let them. Hence the space through which the
prey can pass is wide. In the Tortrix (p. 335), which has the exceptional pre-maxillary teeth, the
quadrate bone is articulated directly with the skull, the squamosal being rudimentary. So it cannot
bolt gi-eat morsels.

The great water-loving Snake of Brazil, about which so many wonderful stories have been
told, is the Anaconda,* and it has often been confounded with the Boa Constrictor. Its head is
furnished with irregular plates, and that of the Boa is simply scaly. It grows to a great size,
however, and a lai'ge specimen is usually to be seen in the Zoological Gai-dens of London. Lj'ing
in gi-eat coUs, with the scales iridescent after it has cast its skin, this Snake may be seen with
its prey — a couple of ducks — in its lively moments. Often, however, it is wonderfully inert, and
the birds even rest on it and quack, quack, with full tones. Sooner or later, however, a long head,
rather wide behind and with a notable set of teeth, moves upwards out of the coil, and there is a rush
forward, and a duck is caught. Soon it disappears down the stretched-out mouth and throat, and the
other one follows after an interval. They last long, indeed many months, without food, and in their
native home live in and about rivers and swamps, jn-eying on birds and small mammals.

* F.mu,-tn niunni'S.

TUE SHOET-TAILED SSAKES. S35

The sub-family of the Boas also contains the Tree Boa of South America,* Mexico, and the West
Ijulies, anil two other genera of West Indian Snakes. These are represented by the Pale-headed
Tree Boa of Cubaf and the Yellow Snake of Jamaica. %

FAMILY ERYCIDiE—THE SAND SNAKES.
These resemble the Pythons and Boas in their internal and in most external characters, but
their tail is short and not flexible or prehensile, and the head is hardly distinct from the neck. They
are not arboreal, but frequent sandy or dry places and plains, burrowing easily beneath the surface,
and entering crannies and holes in search of their prey, which consists of mice, lizards, and other
burrowing snakes. They move with great rapidity. They are nocturnal, more or less, and are
found in Northern Africa, South Europe, and the islands of the Mediterranean, Asia Minor,
Hindostan, Sikkim, and part of Arabia.

THE FAMILY OF SHORT-TAILED SNAKES, OR ROLLERS.— THE TORTRICID^.

The Snakes of this family are cylindrical in shape, and rather rigid in their bodies. The}'
have a small, conical, stumpy tail, a short and indistinct head, and little teeth, some being on the
palatine bones, and the scales are smooth. They have a rudimentaiy pelvis with horny spines
jn-ojecting close to the vent, and there are relics of the hind limbs. One species has teeth
on the pre-maxillary bones, like a Python, as well as on the usual bones. This is Tortrix scytale,
which inhabits Guiana. It is a small, innocuous Snake, which lives above ground in boggy
places, preying on worms, insects, and small reptiles. Probably it cannot swallow anything large,
as the quadi-ate bone is articulated directly with the skull, the squamosal being rudimentary.

Another genus of the family is represented in Java by the Red Cylindrophis ; but this Snake has
no teeth on the pre-maxillaiies. It is made a pet of, and sometimes worn as an ornament. Finally,
in the genus Xenopeltis of India the squamosal bone does not form part of the wall of the skull.

The last family of the Colubriform Snakes is closely allied to the Rollers. Its members have a
cylindrical body, a short and pointed head, a non-extensile mouth, and a short truncated tail, with
a naked terminal plate, or it is replaced by keeled scales. There are teeth on both jaws, and there is
* Corallus horttdanus. t Epicratcs anyulifer. J Chilobothrus inornatus.

TOi-.TiaX SCVT.iLE.

333 NATUSAL HISTORY.

a fold in the throat which permits of the extension of the skin. The eyes are very small. These
Uroijeltidse, having such remarkable Saurian affinities, live in the East Indies and in Ceylon, and it
is necessary to dig to a depth of four feet to obtain them.

SUB-ORDER TYPHLOPID^.— THE BLIND SNAKES.
These are small Snakes, and are by no means readily distinguished by an ordinary observer from
the Sheltopusiks, Blind-worms, Amphisbajnse, and other Lacertilia with Snake-like bodies, and more or
less imperfect limbs. They lead a life like that of the burrowing Anguis (p. 297), their bodies arii
vermiform, cylindrical, and rigid, and there are the relics of hind limbs in the form of small i-od-
shaped bones. They are not blind, for the eyes are present, although small, but they are covered by tin;
ocular and pre-ocular shields, which are more or less transparent. The teeth are found in tin;
Mpper an(;l lower jaw according to the genera. These Snakes are allied to the Lizards in that they
have the long axes of the palatine bones transverse, and there is no
transverse bone as in the Snakes proper. Moreover, the pteiygoids
are not connected with the quadrate bone. They have not the power of
enlarging their narrow mouth, and they feed on small worms and insects.
They are divided into two families : in one, the Catodontes, there are teeth
only on the lower jaw, which Ls shorter than the upper ; * 'n\ the other,
the Epanodontes, the teeth are on the upper jaw, and the extremity of
the muzzle is truncate and covered with large scales, the nostrils being
situated laterally on the anterior margin. Typhlops lumhricalis, of the
Antilles, is the type. Some other small Blind Snakes, with the rudiments of hind extremities
hidden beneath the skin, and a small eye covei-ed by the ocular and pre-ocular shields, are in-
habitants of almost every part of the Tropics, and about eight species occur in British Indi:i,
and the most remarkable is Typhlops tenuis.

The Australian Blind Snake is Typhlops riipelli, and it lives in ants' -nests.
In concluding this natural history of the Sei-pents it is necessary to make a few remarks oi;
some of their more important peculiarities of structure. The tongue, that long, rapidly-moving
organ, which is evidently often used as a feeler, as well as a menacing agent, is slender, cylin-
drical, and forked. It is lodged in a membranous sheath, the opening of which is situated near the
antei-ior part of the mouth, and the reptile can protrude it from the mouth to nearly its whole
length. The oesophagus and stomach form a continuous tube of variable length, and it is difficult ta
determine where one ends and the other begins. But the stomach is strengthened by muscular layers,
and the folds in it are more numerous. It is short in relation to the length of the reptile, and any
large prey is retained partly in the oesophagus. There are two parts, one of which, in front, is the
•" sack," and the other the pyloric end, and this is more or less bent on the other. It has no folds, and
lias to deal with the more or less digested food. The intestine is much looped in the True Serpents,
And this seems to refer to the movement of the reptile on its belly, and the possibility of tliis acting
perniciously on a simple elongated gut. That of the Water Snakes is simiJler. They all have a lobed
liver, a spleen, and a pancreas.

Tliey have a complicated lymphatic system, and there are lymphatic hearts situated just above
the origin of the tail, and they are large in the Python. A diminished and atrophied condition of
one of the lungs has already been noticed in some Lizards, and it Ls found in the Serpents, and has
to do with the room which great prey requires when swallowed. It is not necessary to refer to
the circulation, except to notice that the ventricular septum is incomplete. The great nervous
centre has the two hemispheres broader than long, the olfactory bulb is frequently of large size, and
the corpus striatum is smaller than in the Lizards. The cerebellum is very small and flat, and
the so-called bigeminal tubercles are well developed.

In the ear there is no proper tympanic cavity, and the handle of the auditory ossicle is embedded
amongst the flesh, so that its extremity only touches the skin, close behind the aiticulation of
the jaw.

* Stmostoma myricana, an African species, is the example.

£YJS AM) EYELID OF SERPEXTS. 237

Tlie eye of Serpents is proteeted )>}' an eyelid of a \'eiy remarkable character ; for that it is an
evelid, and not, as is very generally supjtosed, the cornea, its anatomical relutions abundantly ])rove.
It consists of a transparent membranous expansion, which is immovably fixed in a kind of frame
formed for its reception by a cii'cle of scales, usually seven or eight in number, disposed around the
margin of the orbit. This eyelid is formed of three superposed layers. First, an epidermic layer
which is elastic and pretty thick where it covers the middle of the eye, but towards the circumference
of the eyelid it becomes thinner, and is nmnifestly continuous with the epidermis that invests the
scales in the vicinity of the orbit. This corneous lamella, by its solidity, Ls well adapted to defend the
eye, and it is this which becomes detached and cast off with the slough of the Snake when it moults
its skin. Secondly, beneath this epidermic layer is a second membrane, which is the middle tunic
of the eyelid. This is very delicate and soft, and perfectly transparent in the centre, but towards

(o)Muutli: iHGuUct; (rt TracUKn; (il) Lung; (el Liver; (/i Stomach and Intestine; WEgg; (MOvary; (i) Cloaea ; (/.| Vent.

its circumference it encloses some opaque whitish fibres, supposed by Cloquet to be muscular. This
layer, at the margin of the orbit, is manifestly continuous with the .skin ; internally it is lined by the
third layer, which is mucous, being, in fact, the membrana conjunctiva, which is reflected on to it
from the surface of the eyeball. All around the circumference of the eyelid there is a whitish,
gi'anular, transparent substance, the nature of which is apparently glandular.

The conjunctiva lines not only the internal surface of the eyelid, but also a large portion of the
cavity of the orbit, from which it is reflected on to the front of the eyeball, thus forming a complete
sac without any opening externally.

The skin comes off the eye during the periodical moult of the cuticle of the body, and for
some little time before it looks dull and discoloured ; and when it has been cast, the new covering is
]>erfect in its transparency.

During the moult the Snakes hide up or are quiescent, and the whole skin comes off in one oi-
more pieces.

In conclusion, it may be remarked that the Ophidia have not a great geological age, and the
fii-st lived in the early Tertiary age. The remains of a Snake belonging to the Python group,
twelve feet in length, were discovered at Sheppey ; others of a Boa, twenty feet in length, came to
light at Bracklesham. The vertebrse are perfect, and they belong to the fossil genus Palieophis.
Others were found at Hordwell in higher strata. In later Tertiary deposits the presence of a

338 NATURAL HISTORY.

venomous Snake has been noted, and a vertebra of a huge Coluber was found in the Miocene of the
South of France. In the fossiliferous deposit at CEningen three species of Coluber have been found.

Tlie fossil remains of Serpents in North America occur in lower Tertiary deposits. The genus
Dinophis was one of the Sea Snakes, and the species attained the length of thirty feet. Snake
remains ai-e abundant in the fresh-water Eocene deposits of the We.stern States, but they are of
moderate size. They are related to the Boa Constrictors and others. A few fragments have beeu
found in later deposits. There are a few remains of fossil Snakes in the Tertiaries of India.

CLASSIFICATION OF THE ORDER OPHIDIA.

Sub-Ordek. — Thanatophidia (Venomous Snakes).
Family Elapid^. — Venomous Terrestrial Colubrines . . Example — Genus Naja

„ Hyurophidje. — Venomous Water Colubrines . . „ „ Pelamis.

„ SoLENOGLYPHiA. — Viperine Snakes "1 Pelias.

Sub-Family Viperid.k. — Vipers J ' ' ' " "

Si'b-Family Crotalid^. — Pit Vipers ... „ „ Crotalus.

Si'b-Order Colubriformes. — Innocuous Culubriform Snakes.

Family Acrochordid-i;.— Wart Snakes Genus Acrochordus.

„ Dryiophid^e.— Whip Snakes ,, Passerita.

„ DiPSAniD-ii. — Nocturnal Tree Snakes „ Dipsas.

., Lvcodontid;e. — Ground Snakes „ Lj-codon.

„ Amblycephalid.u. — Blunt-heads „ Amblycephalua.

„ Dendrophid.u. — Tree Snakes ,, Bucei^halus.

„ Psammophib;e. — Desert Snakes ,, Psammophis.

„ Rachiodontidje. — Throat-toothed Snakes „ Dasypeltis.

„ IIomalopsid*. — Fresh-water Snake* „ Hipistes.

„ CoLi-RRiD^T-;. — The True Snakes „ Coronella.

Sub-Family NATRicisjE.^Ringed .Snakes .... „ Tropidonotus.

,, Dkyadin.'e.— Bush Snakes ,, Herpetodryas.

„ Calamarid.'e. — Dwarf Snakes .... ,, Calamaria.

Family Pythonid^. — Rock Snakes „ Python.

„ Erycid.'e. — Sand Snakes ,. Eryx.

„ ToRTRicro^E.— Rollers ,, Tortrix.

„ Uropeltid.e. — Rough Tails „ Uropeltis.

Sub-Order TYPHLopiD.iE. — Blind Snakes.

Family Catohoxtes „ Stenostoma.

„ Epanudo.vtes „ Typhlops.

THE EXTINCT REPTILES.
In describing the Chelonia, Crocodilia, and Ophidia, attention was paid to the kinds ^^•liicll lived
in ages gone by. It is now necessary to draw attention, very briefly, to the Fossil Reptiles, \\ liidi ("iiiiii.t
be exactly classified .in the same great groups as those now mentioned, and also to those \\lii(;li may,
with gi-eater or less propriety, be connected with the Sauria or Laoertilia. They have been found in the
Permian deposits, and in those of the consecutive ages to the Pliocene, but the Trias, Lias, and Oolitic
strata in the Old World, and the Cretaceous strata of the Old and New Worlds, contain the greatest
number, and the structural affinities of the extinct kinds with the recent, and with Fish and
Birds, are very remarkable.

THE DINOSAURIA.
These reptiles attained the greatest size of any animals living on land, but some of them
were mere pigmies. Thus, the Iguanodon of the English Wealden had a thigh-bone four feet in length,
a Cetiosaurus found in the Oolites must have been ten feet in height, and the American Titanosaurus
was no less than sixty feet in length and thirty feet in height. On the other hand, Nanosaurus, an
associate of the other and greater one, was no larger than a Cat. They began to live in the age of the
Trias, and died out in thfe Cretaceous age, and had a vast geographical range. Most of the kinds
walked mainly on their hind feet, like modern Ostriches, and many left the impression of their
bird-like feet on the rocks. They had small fore-limbs, and a large tail. They were herbivorous as
a rule, but there was a carnivorous group also. A genus was found preserved in the Solenhofen slate
called Compsognathus, and it has some of the parts of the skeleton transitional between the Wingless
Bii-ds, tUe Crocodilia, and the Sauria. Some had Crocodile-like heads, with beaks and teeth like a
Lizard (/guana), and others had recurved, serried, huge teeth and shortish heads. The Soleiihofen
specimen had a very bird-like head with teeth, a long neck, short fore and long hind limbs.

EXTINCT REPTILES. 339

The vertebi-iB difler mvicli in this group in size and mimber. As a rule the bodies were slightly
concave before and behind, or nearly flat ; but in some instances the cervical vertebrre were hollow
behind only, the dorsal were flat, and those of the tail amphiccelous. Chevron bones were attached
between the tail vertebra; ; and the sacrum appears not to have been formed by less than four
vertebrse. These reptiles had long narrow scapulae, no clavicles, and the coracoid was rounded. The
femur is bird-like at its farther end, and the inner and outer digits are either shorter than the rest or
quite rudimentary ; and the third digit is the longest, as in the birds in general (Huxley). Tlie bones
of the pelvis were much like those of birds.

THE OKNITHOSAURIA.
Flying reptiles, but not fashioned on the principle of the modern little Dragon, existed in the
Secondary age of the world, and must have been common in Europe and America. The largest had
a spread of wmg of from ten to twenty-five feet, and were found fossil in the remains of the inland
Cretaceous sea of North America. Smaller than these, but furnished with teeth (which the others
had not), were those of Europe, some of which were as large as the Albatross, and others no larger
than a Blackbird. The American kinds are called Pteranodontia, and the European Pterodactyles.
In some of the Em-opean kinds there were no teeth in the front of the jaw, and the others were implanted
in soekets, but there was a beak (Rampliorhynchus). This kind had a very long tail. In others
(Dimorphodon), the front teeth were large and pointed, and the others small. The true Pterodactyles
had short tails, teeth throughout the jaws, and the little finger with four long joints. A membrane
was attached to them, to the fore arm, to the flanks of the body down to the tail, and it stretched
thence to the ankle, and passed over to the end of the little finger. No other fingers were included
in the great skin wing. No feathers existed, but the limb-bones were hollow and light. The
brciist-bone had a keel like the flying birds, and there was a scapula, and also a coracoid very bird-
like. The head had great orbits, and was long and light, and a ring of sclerotic plates was on the
eye. The brain-case was like that of the bird. They lived in the age of the Lias to that of the
Cretaceous inclusive.

THE ICHTHYOPTERYGIA.
An order of extinct reptiles, the Ichthyopterygia,* contains gigantic massive forms which
combined a fish and lizard-like construction, and were highly predaceous. They had a long head, a
very indistmct neck or fish-like body, and a long tail. The body was covered with skin, and not with
scales or plates, and thei-e was probably an upright fin on the tail, which added to the compressed look
of tlie body. Huge eyes, whose sclerotic had many bony plates, were jjlaced at the side of the head ;
and the gape was wide, the teeth long and stout, and not planted iii surkcts, but in a common groove.
They breathed by means of lungs, and the ribs were numerous, false ones Ijcing developed on the under
part of the abdomen. The vertebrae were very numerous, and the bodies biconcave, and the neural
a»-ch was united to them by a distinct suture. There were neither sternum nor sternal ribs, and the
sacrum consisted of two vertebrae ; but scapulae, coracoids, -lavicles, and interclavicles existed. The
fore and hind limbs were in the form of paddles, the digits consisting of numerous groups of five,
with extra or marginal bones. The similarity of these in plan to those of the Cetacea or Whales is
very remarkable. These reptiles attained a vast size, and flourished especially in the Lias of
Europe, and lived to the close of the Secondary age. They coidd swim by the side lash of the
tail and the propelling action of the paddles ; and doubtless, from the size of the orbit, the large

SKELETON OF ICHTHVOSAU

Si:} NATURAL BISTORT.

eye could collect the feeblest rays of light when chasing prey under water. They appear to have
beached themselves occasionally on sliore, but they could not walk. Profe.ssor H. G. Seeley, F.B,.S.,
has shown, by good evidence, that they were viviparous. They do not appear to have bred in the
American seas of the age. There were many species of the genus Ichthyosaurus, and they have the
nostrils high up in the snout near the orbits, and their opening in the palate was behind the long
palate bones.

Professor O. C. Marsh has founded a new order of extinct reptiles, the Sauranodontia, from
specimens obtained in the Jurassic strata of the Piocky Mountains. They were apparently
Ichthyosaurs which had no teeth, the jaws being even destitute of a groove for holding them. All
the other peculiarities of the Ichthyosaurs (which have, as yet, not been found in America) are
present, and their length was from eight to nine feet.

OEDEE PLESIOSAUEIA.
A most exti-aordinary group of marine reptiles lived during the Secondary ages of the world, and
the first skeleton discovered, and which belonged to a kind which flourished in the days of the Lias,
excited much attention. It had a very small head like a Lizard, a neck extremely long and snake-

--IvELETON OF PLESIOSAUKUS.

like, a plump body, and a distinct and shortish tapei-ing tail. The limbs were shoi-t, the hinder pair
being the longer, and they were furnished with paddles, differing somewhat from those of
Ichthyosaui-us. Dr. Buckland compared it to a Turtle with a Snake drawn nearly through it. The
Plesiosaur, as it was called, swam probably on the sui-face, and fed like a Swan, but most likely on fish
and small reptiles. It had no scales, but probably a smooth skin. There were no fins ; and the teeth,
as seen in the pi-eserved fossil skulls, are sharp-pointed, curved backwards, and each is placed in a
distinct socket, but it does not unite to the jaw by a bony union. The snout tapers, and is flattish,
and the orbits are large, but the eye had no sclerotic plates. The outer nostrils open just before the
«yes, and the premaxillary bones, usually small in reptiles, are large, and form a large portion of the
snout. The inner nostrOs ajijiear to be in front of the palate bones, and are separated by the vomers.
The head, not much more than one-twelfth part of the length of the body, moved readily by a large
condyle on the very movable neck, which, has in some kinds more than forty vertebrse. These are
faintly biconcave, and the neural arch is not united by bony union. Some ribs, not unlike those of the
Orocodile, exist near the root of the neck, and in the body there are transverse processes with curved
ribs jointed to them. There are from twenty to twenty-five back vertebrae, and two sacral, whose ribs
are broad for the attachment of the ilium. Thirty or forty tail vertebrae succeed, and they have
chevron bones. There are thus ribs to the vertebrae, and there are none to the sternum, and this is
compensated by a system of ossifications in the walls of the abdomen, arranged in cross rows, each
consisting. of a middle bone slightly bent on itself, and of six others, three on each side, their pointed
ends overlapping. The arrangement of the bones of the shoulder and chest is very remarkable. The
.sternum is small and band-like, its place being occupied, as it were, by two great coracoids. The
blade-bones, small and long, differ from those of any other reptile, and there is an epicoracoid. No
clavicles exist, but in some kinds that lived during the Trias they are found. The fore limb ends
in five digits, composed of metacarpals and plialanges constricted in the middle, which are numerous
iii the middle digits. The pelvis is large, to tit the corresponding large limb, and all the bones
are present. The femur much resembles the humerus, and the toes those of the fore liinb.

EXTIXCT SAl'TvIA. 341

All the extremities were encased in flesh and skin, like the flippers of Wliales. These fast-swininiing
surface skimmers began in the Trias, and the early kinds, such as Notosaurus, diflered somewhat
from those which followed, or the genera Plesiosaunis and Pliosaurus. The first has been described, and
the kinds of the other differ, by having the vertebrae wide in proportion to their length, and deeply
excavated before and behind. The head is bigger, the neck shorter, and the paddles are larger.

The American forms belong to the last-named genus ; and the first was represented in the-
Southern hemisphere in Secondary strata in New Zealand.

THE EXTINCT SAURIA, OR LACERTILIA.

It was noticed, in describing the remarkable Lizard from New Zealand — ^the Tuatera, or Sphenodon
— that it was allied to Rhynchosaurus and Hyperodapedon, Triassic forms.

Other extinct Lizai-ds of small size, whose anatomical charactei-s resemble in many important
points those of the Lacertilia with amphicoelous vertebrse, like the Gecko, have been found in the
strata of the early Secondary ages. Telerpeton, from Elgin in the Trias, is one of these, and the
group are called the Homseosauria. The Eocene Lake basins of Western North America contain
numerous fossil remains of Lizards. Some have a bony coat of mail, others are scaly, and a fev.
somewhat resemble the Iguana. Others were found in the Miocene and Pliocene deposits.

The Protorosauria are the oldest of the Lizards, and the remains of one, six or seven feet in
length, witli a long neck and moderate-sized skull, a long and slender tail, and its limbs as well
developed as they are in existing Monitors, were found in the Permian deposits of Thuringia. It had
very few cervical vertebra, all of which are slightly amphiccelous. The teeth, sharp pointed, were
implanted in sockets, and its extremities had five digits, which were arranged like those of the
Geckos. Another, called Bathygnathus (deep jaw), is from the Trias of Prince Edward's Island.

Owen described a fossil Lizard from the Cretaceous with a long neck and body like an eel.
and with limbs. It is called Dolichosaurus longicollis.

He has also described, from South Africa and Hindostan, a form with two huge upper teeth liki
tusky canines not unlike those of the Morse (Vol. II. p. 212). The lower jaw was armed with ,i
cutting hom, and the reptile swam well. This Dicynodon is of the age of the Permo-Trias, and it
belongs to a family — the Dicynodontia. Closely allied are the Cryptodontia, whose teeth are eithei
inconspicuous or absent, such as the genus Oudenodon of South Africa. The Cynodontia, a South
African family, is of late Palaeozoic and early Secondary age, and there is a pair of teeth in each ja-\\-
like the canines of carnivorous animals, and they divide incisors from molars. Galajosaurus is the mo^t
remarkable.

Owen has also described a huge Lizard from the latest Australian deposits. Its skull has horns.,
and belonged to a form wliich was somewhat like Moloch horridus, and was as large as an ox.

The Mosasauria were Lizards ; they were great, long-bodied, and some, very Snake-like marine-
creatures. They are found in the Cretaceous deposits of Europe, and Maestricht yielded the first.
It had eighty-seven procoelous vertebrje, and the skull was not unlike that of an Old World Monitor ;
but the sharp recurved teeth were anchylosed to the pre-maxillary, maxillary, pterygoid, and
dentary bones, and the pterygoid bones are unlike those of any recent kinds. There were North
American kinds of this gi-oup of vast .size, which had four paddles, a vast number of vertebrse and
ribs, and teeth big enough to vanquish all enemies. They abounded in the Cretaceous seas of the
Far West, and some reached the length of sixty feet.

P. Martin Duncan.

Note.— The tooth and part of the skull of a Dicynodon have been found in Triassic strata near Elgin. The Beaked
Lizards of the Acrodont group have been found fossil in the Trias at Elgin and elsewhere (see p. 290).

CLASS AMPHIBIA.
CHAPTER I.

FROGS AND TOADS.
Characteristics of Amphibians— Remarkable Skin— The Skeleton— Heart of Frog— Cii'culation of the Blood— Method of
Eespiration— Gills, or Branchia;— The Nervous System— Brain of Frog— The Eyes and Ears— Alimentary Canal— THE
ANOUEA, OR THE FROGS AND TOADS-Distinctive Features -Hibernation— Lungs— Throat sacs— Teeth— Food
—Skeleton— Muscles of Thigh and Leg— Batrachian Locomotion— Their Swimming Powers— The Tongue— The Croak-
ings— Metamorphosis of the Frog— Structure of the Tadpole— Circulation of Blood in the Gills— Last Stages of the
Tadpole Condition— The Batrachians withoi't Tongues -The Surinam Toad— Birth of the Young Pipas— The
Batbachians with Tongues— The Oxydactyla — The Ranid^e, True Frogs- The Common Frog— Habits— Its Rela-
tions with Humanity— Development of the Embryo— The Frog's Skull— The Edible Frog— The American Bull Frog
—African and other Frogs— The Horned Ceratophrys— The Pelobatid^e— The Obstetric Frog— The Borabinator
Igneus— The Brown Mud F'rog- The Globose Cacopus Frog— The Bukonid.e— The Common Toad — Habits — The Meta-
morphosis—The Toad has not Escaped Calumny —Tlie so-called Venom— The Natter-Jack, or Rush Toad — The Variable,
or Green Toad— The Indian and African Toads— Mr. Darwin on a South American Toad— The North American
Toads— The Breviceps— The Discodactyles— The Tree Frogs— The Hyloranas— The Hylida; —Their Digits— The
Common Hyla— The Goose-footed Hyla— The Elegant Hyla— The Common Golden Tree Frog— The Pouched Frog
—The Common Indian Tree Frog— The Spurred Tree Frog— Tree Frogs of Ceylon— The Acris gryllus— The Genus
Rhacophorus— The Hylodes ocularis— The Martinique Frog— The Phyllomedusidse— The Great Green Tree Frog -
The Dendrobatidae — The Genus Plectropus.

The vertebrated animals called Amphibia were, as has been already noticed in the Introduction
to the Pteptilia, formerly included with the Reptiles in a great division of the animal kingdom ; now
they are placed in a class by themselves, and they have many structui-al resemblances to the Fish.
They are cold-blooded, and their skin is generally naked. They have limbs (with few exceptions), and
breathe by means of lungs, or they have more or less persistent gills. Their circulation is incom-
plete in comparison with that of the Vertebrata already noticed, and the skull joins with the first
vertebra by means of two occipital condyles. Finally, the Amphibia, with few exceptions, have
an immature or a larval and an adult condition, the first being passed in water, and certain
membranes are deficient in the embiyo, or unborn. The general shape of the Amphibia indicates
tliat they are fashioned to exist, at some time of their lives, in water and on land, and the
body is long and cylindrical, or short and compressed, and frequently there is a long, flat tail,
and a back crest of skin. Sometimes there are no limbs — for instance, in the worm- or snake-
like Csecilias ; in other instances, as in the Siren, there are only short fore limbs, or else the
rudiments of fore and hind limbs furnished with weak and limp digits. Even in those kinds which
have the limbs and digits well developed, they act principally in pushing the heavy, low body along
on the feet. The Batrachians — Frogs and Toads — which have .short trunks, tailless in adult age,
are the only Amphibia which have two pairs of long and useful active members, which enable their
possessors to run, jump, swim, and climb. The skin is of vast importance to the Amphibia as a secre-
ting and a respii-atory surftice, and it is usually smooth and clammy, or viscid ; but the Csecilias alone,
amongst existing Amphibians, have small scales or scutes imbedded in it, and they present the rayed
appearance of fish-scales. The skin includes, as a rule, many glands which are either simple and flask-
shaped ; and they assist, by their secretion, in the process of moulting, or they may be composed of a
number of sac-like bodies, and in this case the secretion is often acrid and foetid, and is fatal to small
creatures ; and, when not so, it is equally viscid, and lubricates the surface and makes it slimy. These
complicated glands ai-e collected at certain parts of the body, especially near the back of the jaw in
the parotid region, in Toads and Salamanders, and also on the sides of the body and on the hind limbs.
The colour of the skin and its shades are produced by colouring granules which are situated in the
epidermal cells, and also by the presence of very large branched pigment cells in the skin, which, as in
the Frogs, for instance, produce changes in colour by alterations in their shape and position. With
regard to the bones of the skull and skeleton, it is remarkable and significant, that in these low
Vertebrates they can be compared with and named from those of the higher animals. The bodies
of the vertebrije ai-e of bone, and there are intervertebral cartilages ; there are also relics of tlie noto-
chord, an embryonic condition of the vertebral column. The shape of the body of the vertebrse diffei-s
in the various groups. The sacrum rarely consists of more than one vertebra, but there are exceptions.
With regard to the skull, the base and part of the sides are difi'ei-ently arranged to the correspond-
ing legions in the Reptiles and higher Vertebrates, for the Amphibia have not complete basi-

ANATOMY OF TEE AMPHIBIA.

ivith raBiiflcations

occipital, basi-sphenoid, supra-occipital, ali-sj)lienoid bones, or pre-spheiioid cartilage bone ; and a great

niembrane bone, tlie pre-splienoid, covers tiie base of the skull instead, from the occipital to the

ethmoid region, as in some Fishes. There are two pre-maxillse, and the maxillae are usually present.

There are pterygoid bones, and, except in some Frogs, there are palate bones. With regard to

the hinging of the lower jaw to the skull, there is a membrane bone called temporo-mastoid, which

extends from the side walls of the skull to the articular head of

the lower jaw, wliich has a dentary, splenial, and usually an

angular bone entering into its composition. There are no sternal

ribs. The heart has but one ventricle, two auricles, and a long

swelling to the main artery, which has contractile muscular

fibres, aiid sometimes valves and longitudinal partitions in it

called the arterial bulb (bulbus arteriosus). But besides these

there is a space bounded by contractile walls, into which tli'

venous blood from the body pours, before it enters the rii;!

auricle. The left auricle is usually smaller than the right, an. I

a single pulmonary vein from the lungs enters into it. The

interior of the ventricle is more like a sponge (Huxley) than a

chamber with well-defined walls. The bulbus arteriosus springs

from it, and ends on each side in either three or four trunks,

which ascend upon the branchial arches. The variation in the

number of these main trunks, which resemble so many arches

in the different groups of Amphibia, is considerable. In the

adult and perfect Amphibia the circulation of the blood closely

resembles that observed in the lowest or simplest amongst the

Reptilia. In a general sense it may be stated that the little -

left auricle receives the blood from the lungs, where it has been aerated and made to resemble bright

arterial blood during the process of respiration, by means of the pulmonary veins. At the same time

the larger right auricle receives the dark impure blood from the great veins {vence cavce) of the bod)',

head, and internal organs. The auricles thus diversely filled contract, and the pure and impure blood

are forced into the single ventricle. The mixture is then partly expelled upwards into the muscular

main artery to supply the body, and pai-tly through a vessel into the lungs, to be re-aerated. Tlie blood

is cold, and the red blood-corpuscles are large.

The termination of the main artery into three or four arched trunks on either side relates to the
method of respiration of the Amphibia. In some there are lungs within the body, the Frog being the
common example ; and in others there are external gills, or branchise, which last during the whole life
of the animal, and the Siren is a well-known type. It is evident that a different distribution of the
blood-vessels must occur in them. Moreover, in the Frog and others, like the Tritons, the young
immature creature has gills and leads a fish-like life, but the adult has lungs only, so that a very
considerable change in the organs of the circulation must occur in them during early life. Again, the
gills are external in some, but in others they become internal, and the leaf-like gill seen outside is
replaced by internal ones, which are supported by arched bony or gristly processes connected with
the hyoid bone of the throat, and to which the water gains entry through clefts in the side of the
neck. Each external gill and each of the internal kind supported on an arch- of the hyoid bone,
requires a branch of the main artery. When the branchiae are in full action in the Tadpole, and the
lungs are still rudimentary, the tympanic bone is greatly enlarged, and it forms the base on which the
branchial apparatus is suspended by means of a thick angular portion. Between these angular
portions and the median bone is a single piece, and two rhomboidal masses, to which are suspended
the arches on which the branchiae are supported, are attached to it behind, one on each side.

During growth the mandible, or lower jaw, increases in size, the tympanic bone relatively dimi-
nishes, the angular portions elongate, and a process of each, cartilaginous in its texture, is attached to
the cranium. As the lung is developed and the brauchiaB are absorbed, the separate parts of the
apparatus behind the jaw are gradually fused in one, and the arches are lost.

In their nervous system the Amphibia are intermediate between the Reptiles and Fish ; and if

34t NATURAL BISTORT.

tlie brain and spinal cord of the Frog be taken as tlie type of the liigber group, it may be said that
tlie first is small. The front of the brain, or the region where the olfactory nerves ai-ise, is a rounded
swelling, and behind it are feebly-developed and rounded-off cerebral hemispheres, which contain
cavities or ventricles. Behind is a space, in which is the pineal gland and the region of the optic
thalami, and the optic lobes are distinct and in front of a band-like cerebellum. The medulla
oblongata has a ventricle in it.

The spinal cord is long in some of the Amphibia, but it is not so in the Frog. The cranial
nerves are small as a rule, as there is little expression in the Amphibia and the
nerves of special sense are not highly developed. The eyes always exist, although
they may be hidden beneath the skin, and they are veiy small in some kinds which
inhabit subterranean waters or burrow in the earth. In those Amphibia in which
the gills, or branchite, last through life or are perennial (Perennihrancldata), there
are no eyelids, but they are found in some of the others. Nictitating membranes exist
in .some, and the Frogs and Toads have a special muscle which drags the eye farther
within the orbit. All have simple organs of hearing, and in most there is a
laliyrinth and three semicii'cular canals, and there is a fenestra ovalis, and a
gristly or cartilaginous auditory ossicle • — the cohimella, or stapes, whoso
expanded end is fixed to the membrane of the feiiestra. The worm-like kinds, the
tailed Amphibia, and one group of the Batrachia (Pelohatidw), have no tympanic
BRAIN- OF FROG. cavity or membrane ; but in other Batrachia they exist, and the outer end of the
'oVfa?t"r\'^sw! mSt.- '."'1 litapes is connected with the tympanic membrane, there being cavities opening into
Vi'i'ifi'ti'- Tiilii'mii- '(' vi the throat also. The' sound vibrations of the air or water are therefore conducted
(iiaii'.i;' '('ii "rib'in "( from the outer tympanic membrane, through the single stapes (not through thrett
to'ifinn7™i>o9Uion'ot ^oncs, as in the higher animals) to the internal i

^ Ventricle;

Medulla Oblongata;

In the adults of the Amphibia, the whole alimentary canal in of a very simple
i.p,oiui.»n.uiu. character. Tlie cesophagus is wide and short; the stomach is single, and consists of a

simple sac, which is globular in the lan<l kinds, and is longer in the aquatic. The intestine is but slightly
convoluted, and the lai-ge and small parts do not differ much in size. The liver, gall-bladder, pancreas,
and spleen exist in all the Amphibia. A urinary bladder exists which opens into the vent, and the kid-
neys resemble those of fish more than those of higher Vertebrata, being persistent " WoliBan bodies ''
rather than true kidneys. These "bodies " are found with the kidneys in the young unborn Mammalia,
but they are of no use after Viirth, and the kidneys act alone. They persist in the Aniphiljia
and Fishes.

In the adult Frog, Toad, Salamander, and many others, the air is taken in by the lungs, not by
the expansion of the chest by ribs and the consequent inrush of air to fill the space, as in the higher
animals, but by a swallowing process resembling that of the Tortoise (p. 248). The inflation of the
internal bag of the lung is produced by the creature fkst of all depressing its tongue and the hyoid
bone, and thus enlarging the cavity of the mouth, so that air ruishes into it through the nostrils, the
mouth being shut. Then muscular contraction is exercised on the cavity and on the hyoid bone, so
that the air is forced through the air-tubes into the lungs. The escape of air back again, by the nostrils,
is prevented by their edges acting as a valve, and also by the tongue being pressed against them when
it exists ; and its entry by mistake into the oesophagus and stomach is prevented by closure of the
gullet spasmodically. Hence the way to suffocate a Frog is to place something in its mouth which
will keep the jaws apart, so that the air escapes and does not go into the lungs. The primary
necessity for this Tortoise-like breathing is from the- absence of perfect and sternal ribs.

In the case of the Ampliibia with branchiae, or gills, the water, in passing over them, carries air
with it, and the oxygen in it is devoted to purifying the blood. But although these two kinds of respi-
ration are explicable, there is a difficulty in explaining the use of the rudimentary lungs in those
Amphibia which never shed their branchiae, .such as the Siren and the Proteus. The construction of
their nostrils resembles those of fish, and the lungs are thin and extremely delicate ; moreover, they
are contracted near the gullet. Indeed, it does not appear that when the Siren is dying from having
impure water acting on its branchise, that the lungs assist in the least in i-espii-ation. Bell long since
considered the.se bag-like " lungs " to be similar org;tns to certain air-bags in fiish, which will be

FMOGS AND TOADS. 345

explained in treating of tliat group, and which have been consiilered to foreshadow the lungs of the
higher animals.

The existing Amphibia are classitied in three great groups or orders. In one there is no tail
present in the perfect animal, although it is present in the tadpole or immature state. These are
called the Anour.\, or Tailless Batrachia, and they are the Frogs and Toads.

The next group contains the Amphibia, which have tails throughout their whole life. These are
the Urodela, and they are subdivided into those which have either the branchise (or gills), or else
gill-clefts, external throughout life — the Ichthyoidea ; and into those which have neither branchiae
nor gill-clefts in adult age — the Salamandrina;. The thii'd order is that of the legless Amphibia, which
are called Apoda. The Salamandrinaj have the vertebrte concave behind, and eyelids, and the other
group of the Urodela has biconcave vertebrae and no eyelids.

THE ORDER ANOURA.— THE FROGS AND TOADS.— THE TAILLESS
BATRACHIANS.

The Tailless Batrachians, or the Batrachians proper, or the Frogs and Toads, have a broad head,
largest beliind, and a broad short body in the perfect state, and four legs, the hinder pair being the
stronger, and longer than the others, and specially suited for leaping, swimming, or burrowing. Some
climb, and then usually there is not a web between their fore toes, the extremities of which, and of the
hind ones also, are dilated into round discs. But the degree of the development of the web of the
fore and hind extremities refers to the power of swimjning. Hence, it is not always found, and its
size varies. Almost all undergo a visible metamorphosis, that is to say, they have a tadpole con-
dition in water, and change to an adult, terrestrial, and different form.

They are found in damp places, or in the neighbourhood of water, and those living in temperate
climates hibernate during the winter by getting down cracks into earth, or in the mud on the floor of
ponds ; whilst those living in the tropics, remote from water, bury themselves deep enough in the ground
to escape the hot dry atmosphere. In both cases a lethargic condition prevails, until a change of
season.

Their lungs consist of two large sacs, which may be expanded until the animal attains nearly twice
its usual size. When they dive, the lungs are emptied of air, and the respiration will cease for a couple
of hours, after which time a rise to the surface, to take in air, is requisite. But during the summer
and winter state of existence the respiration is suspended at the same time that all the other functions
— circulation and digestion, for instance — are very low, or cease.

Many males are provided with one or two membranous throat or mouth .sacs, and when there are
two, one is placed on each side of the mandible ; and if there is but one, it is found between its
branches. In either case the sac opens into the cavity of the mouth, by two slits, and is filled
with air from the lungs. These sacs enable, by their contraction, a more or less loud noise to
be produced. The males are often distinguished by a rough swelling on their thumbs, or by short
conical spurs there, and, as a rule, they are more slender than the females.

There is usually a mass of glands, called the parotids, above the tympanum on each side of the
neck. The skin of the body and limbs is not covered with scales or plates, and is naked and coloured.

The food consists of insects, slugs, and worms, and some very large kinds snap up small vertebrata.
They seize their prey with their tongue, and draw the victim into the mouth as this organ is
retracted.

Teeth are not found in the lower jaw, and only a few have a pair of tooth-like promi-
nences near the chin. On the other hand, the upper jaw and vomer are very frequently armed
with a series of simple teeth, which in the largest species assist in capturing food. There is no masti-
cation possible, and the prey is swallowed entire.

On leaving the egg, the larval or tadpole state commences, and the creature has external gills for
a short time; then the gills become internal, and this immature condition lasts about 100 days, and
during that time the internal anatomy and physiology greatly resemble those of fish.

They eat during the tadpole state, living on decaying water-plants and decomposing animal
matter, and as they breathe by gills, they have, when young, three, and usually four, gi-istly or more
or less bony gill supports, called branchial arches.
51

NATUBAL HJSTOJRT.

The bodies of the vertebras in most of the adults are concave in front and rounded behind (pro-
ccelous), with the exception of the eighth, or pre-sacval, which is amphiccelous, and the ninth, or sacral,
which has commonly one convexity in front and two behind. The vertebrae in front of the sacrum are
never more than nine, and the tail part is in the form of a bony style, with two rounded arches.

The vertebrae are opisthocoelous, or hollow behind, in the genera Pipa and Bombinator ; and in
these, as in all other Amphibia, the bodies and inter-vertebral substances contain more or less distinct

remains of the notochord. A sacral vertebra
always exists, and its transverse process, and
those of the vertebrae in front and behind,
with which it is anchylosed, are large and
usually expanded.

The shoulder-girdle consists of, in the
Frog, for instance, the shoulder-blade (in
two movable pieces), the collar-bone, and the
coi-acoid bone, and all these combine to form
the joint cavity for the humerus. The collar-
bone is connected with its fellow of the other
side at the median line of the body, and the
broader and larger coracoid meets its fellow
also. The sternum consists of several pieces
which extend from the front, anterior to
the collar bones, to well behind the cora-
coids, whei-e it ends in a broad cartilage.
The front part is formed by the episteruum.
There are no ribs.

As the fore limbs are not of the impor-
tance of the hinder, the humerus is small,
short, thick, and has almost a globular sur-
face for the articulation of the bones of the
fore arm. These are united in one. The
wrist bones are six in number, and support
four metacarpal bones, and the index and
middle fingers have two phalanges each,
and the others three. The thumb is small
and rudimentary.

The bones of the well-developed pelvis
present considerable diflerences in the various
genera. Thus, in the Frogs (Rana), and
the Tree Frogs (Hi/la), the iliac bones are veiy long, and are movable on the sacrum ; and
they are very close together below, towards the joints for the long thigh bones, so that the
two heads of these bones seem to be placed in contact. This peculiar arrangement influences the
action of the hind limbs upon the trunk in the exertion of swimming and leaping. In the
Pipa, or Surinam Toad, the iliac bones are very much widened at the point of junction with the
sacrum, to which they are fixed, and which is itself dilated. The bones of the leg {tibia and fibula)
are, in the Reptiles, generally distinct ; but in the Frogs and their allies they are so soldered together
as to form but a single articulation with the femur and tarsus, and to pi-esent the appearance of a
single, very much elongated, bone. The knee-joint and articulating bones are so disposed that the
feet have always a direction outwards.

The united leg bones ai-e longer than the femur, and are followed by very long astragalus and
calcaneum bones. Four small ankle bones exist, and the metatarsal bones and phalanges are very
long, as they have to support the web when it exists, and to assist in swimming and jumping.
The inner toe is well developed, and the fourth is the longest.

It is remarkable that the muscles of the abdomen should be more developed in these Anoura than

SKELETON OP A,:
(ft) sternum, «S:c

PHYSIOLOGY OF HATJIACHJANS. 347

in the Reptiles, and tliat tliey should i)reseut, iii tins particular, some analogy to the aLdomiual
structure of the Mammalia. But it is in the disposition of the muscles of the thigh and leg in the
Batrachia that the greatest singularity is manifested. These, whether taken conjointly or singly,
present the greatest analogy with the muscular arrangement of the same parts in man. There is
a rounded, elongated, conical thigh, the knee extending itself in the same du-ection with the thigh
bone, and a well-fashioned calf to the leg.

The locomotion of the Batrachians on the land consists in walking, running, and leaping, the
last being the most prevalent motion. The gi-eater jjart of them are excellent swimmers ; and
when they betake themselves to this exercise the body is extended horizontally, and the animal is
propelled by the mechanism of the lower extremities alone. It is impossible to watch the horizontal
motions of a Frog in the water, as it is impelled by these muscles and its webbed feet, without
being struck with the great resemblance, in this position, of its frame to human conformation, and the
almost perfect identity of the movements of its lower extremities with those of a man making the
same eftbrts in the same situation. By the aid of^these well-developed lower limbs, and the prodi-
gious power of their muscular and bony levers, some Frogs can raise themselves in the aii- to twenty
times tlieii- own height, and traverse, at a single bound, a space more than fifty times the length of
their own bodies.

The tongue performs a leading part in the capture and deglutition of the prey. It is
very soft and fleshy, and is not supported at its base by an os hyoides, as in the other Vertebi-ata,
but it is fixed in the concavity which is formed by the approach of the two branches of the
lower jaw towards the chin. In a state of rejiose, and when the
mouth is shut, this tongue, which has its root, so to speak, in front,
has its free extremity or tip in the back part of the mouth, and
before the aperture of the air-passages ; but when the animal puts
it out, the lower surface comes upwai'ds and the tip reaches far be-
yond the mouth. The tongue is armed with a tenacious, viscous
secretion, and when it touches the prey this adheres so firmly to it,
that it is carried back with the tongue into the mouth. All this is
(lone with a rapidity which the eye can hardly follow. The noises,
]iroduced by the expulsion of air, vary from the well-known
croaking of the Common Frog to the bellowing of the Bull Frog, "^^'; "/^J^^^^^ ^yj'^T"t7uoyT°^'T
and the shrill trebles of the males of the species of the Tree Frog. thee behind.
They, and the flute-like , and metallic sounds occasionally given

out, and the sort of seemingly ventriloquial gnimbling which some species of Toads exert, are
vocal sounds emitted above the larynx, from the mouth, or from some of the membranous sacs.

The croakings, produced by the throat bags, seem intended to make the one sex sensible of the
presence of the other. Thus the Green Frog has two cheek-pouches, which are inflated by the
animal in the breeding season by means of two apertures close to the end of the great air-tube of
the throat ; and the folds of the larynx, called chordae vocales, are very large and distinct in many
species. The glottis bears, apparently, considerable analogy to the upper larynx in birds.

The naked skin of the Frogs, and, indeed, of the Batrachians generally, has the power of acting
in such a way as to fulfil in a gi-eat degree the functions of the lungs, and aerated water may be
made subservient to this cutaneous respiration. This has been proved by experiments made on Frogs
which have been kept in vessels, and under water charged with aii-, renewed from time to time, and on
Toads which have been kept alive for months in nets sunk under running water, at a low temperatui'e,
without any du-ect access to atmospheric air.

The spa^vn seen in water in the spring time is a mass of semi-transparent, gelatinous, round
bodies, with little dark - coloured specks inside each. From these are developed the larvEe, or
Tadpoles.

Commencing like aquatic animals, the larva; of the Frog, and other Tadpoles, exist very much after
the fashion of fishes, moving and breathing like them, and resembling them in shape, on account of
the long flat tail. As time elapses, under the influence of warmth and food, the growth does not take
pluce in a manner which will simply enlarge the aniuial, but it produces alterations in the outside form,

NATURAL HISTORY.

in the method and structure of respiration and circulation, and also in tlie organs of motion, special
sense, and digestion. So that during the earlier lifetime, an incomplete and altogether differently-
shaped creature is being perfected into a permanent adult form. This process is called metamorphosis.
In the early days of Tadpole life much of the organisation (circulation and respiration) is very like that
of the fish, for the simple heart of these last is furnished to the little things. There are minute
thread-like gill-fringes, or braiachise, just behind the head, and they only require a heart which will
supply them — a single or branchial heart. But as growth proceeds, the branchiae become
hidden in a cavity, and then are absorbed, the lungs growing within, and a heart which has a
double nature, and which relates to the body and also to the lungs, being systemic and pulmonic,

is gradually developed. The limbs are
at first scarcely percejjtible, and become
gradually developed, passing through a
rudimentary stage beneath the skin, from
which they do not emerge until they
have attained considerable size and a
definite shape. The hind legs appear first,
and they are soon employed to assist in
a feeble manner the strong and active
tail in moving about. The tail is
developed to a great degi-ee, and it is
made up of muscles surrounding vertebrae,
which form a long column, but they are
not ossified (in those Amphibia in which
the tail persists the vertebrae are ossified
early). As weeks pass on the limbs
u'lJ^g grow, and the tail diminishes by absorp-
1.52. tion, and gets smaller and smaller, until
it disappears. It does not drop off, but
received grain by gi-ain into the adult animal. The skull, very cartilaginous at
first, becomes consolidated and bony to a consideriible extent, and thus is more reptUian than
fish-like.

The branchife at first appear in about fifty hours, when the temperature is warm, as small
projections, and shortly afterwards a " holder " appears on either side of the future mouth. Before
the fourth day in hot places, and in England not for a month, it emerges, jerks itself about, and
breaks out of the egg a free swimmer.

The brancliije consist of two pnncipal divisions, or branches, from each of which proceed four
or five leaf-like processes subdivided into numerous little filiform leaflets regular in shape, and forming
the ultimate divisions of the structure. On these ramify the minute capillary blood-vessels, and the
blood undergoes its change there, being oxygenated, and evolves carbonic acid gas. A minute branch
of an arteiy conveys the impure blood from the heart and enters each leaflet at its base, and passes
along its shorter or inner margin, giving off capillary branches in its course, which, after meandering
over the siuface of the leaflets, and communicating with each other in various directions, pass over to
the opposite side, and join and form a branchial vein. This miites with others at the base of the
leaflets, and thus a vessel is formed which takes the purified blood to the heart.

In this stage the circulation of the blood may be seen, under the microscope, to perfection in the
gills. The current of the blood passes up each stem of the branch, and a distinct stream is given off to
each leaf. It is propelled to the end, and returns down the opposite sides by the veins. Every
blood corpuscle — red and white- — is visible, and they move in the transparent vessels with singular
regularity. As growth proceeds the branchife become fully developed, and then they begin to diminish
in size, become obtuse, and are gi-adually so reduced as to be withdrawn within the branchial cavity,
and concealed by a little cover, or operculum, of the integument. It must be noticed that as soon as
the true Tadpole shape is assumed, and the branchife are within their cavity, and in communication
with the outside through certain slits in the neck, they are supplied with water, which enters the

STRUCTURE OP THE TADPOLE,

I Side view.BhowingGllls,(7
88, Suckers : o, Operculum :
growth of Oijerculum, bo as
mentof hind limbs; -8, Sucker; (n
external Gills I Ip, Upiier Llii; ci» to

, Clefts.

More advanced Tadpole, sUo
i at openiDK 6 on left side: hi,
■oung Tadpole (magnifled); j

raouth by the nostrils which are supplied with valves. When in the mouth, which is closed on
all sides, with the exception of the throat, where are the gill or branchial slits, the water, acted upon
by the muscles which cover them, traverses their spaces, and bathes the branchiae, before its exit
through the slits.

The eyes are perfectly formed at this time, and the mouth has changed its position from
below to the extremity of the head. It is very small, and there are no teeth, but minute
horny plates are on the jaws, sufficiently strong to tear the soft animal and vegetable sub-
stances which form the food. The
Tadpole has a digestive system,
the stomach being succeeded by
an intestine which is of nearly
equal size throughout its length,
which is great. It is at least
ten times as long as the inside
of the body, and is curled up in
a coil, and it occupies most of the
abdominal cavity. During the
growth of the Tadpole, and its
change into the perfect Frog or
Toad, it becomes shorter in pro-
portion to the length of the
animal, until at last it is not
one-quarter of its original length.

The tail soon becomes de-
veloped sufficiently to move, and
to move its possessor, and the
colour of tha body changes, be-
coming a soft olive-green instead
of black, the abdomen being
dotted with golden-yellow. The
external form thus altered re-
mains for some time, and the
rudiments of the hind limbs

appear, the toes budding at their extremities. Soon the fore limbs do the same. Then, as
the hinder limbs increase, the tail is removed by absorption, which begins at the tip. When the
branchisB have ceased their function, and lungs have developed, the creature is tail-less, and having
long hind legs, comes to land, for it has become cajiable of respiring air with its lungs, and of
hopping and jumping to search after small insects and worms. As growth proceeds, the webs to
the digits, barely visible at first, become important structures, and the colour, glands, and ornamenta-
tion of the skin are noticed. Such multitudes, writes Bell, have been found in damp weather as to
have given rise to many a story of its having rained Frogs. They now grow rapidly, until the
approach of winter causes them to seek a retreat for hibernation. Bell states that so numerous are
the enemies of the Tadpoles and young Frogs in the form of birds, fish, reptiles, and the smaller
camivora, that not one in a thousand survives. It is some time before the adult condition is
reached, for Batrachia gvow for several years, and then may be said to be perfect.

METAMOHrilOSES OF FROG.
) Eggr of Fi-ngr; (2) Egg FecunUatud. and eurrouuded iiy

(S) First state of Tadi)

THE AGLOSSA (THE BATEACHIAXS WITHOUT TONGUES).

The first sub-order of the Anoura contains those which have not a tongue. They are large, flat,
ugly creatures with the eyes placed far forwards and close to the sides of the mouth, and theii-
tympanum is concealed. All have the hind feet with a perfect web between the toes, and they live
in hot countries, ha^'ing a remarkable geogi'aphical distribution. There are three families of them.

The Surinam Toad, which was first noticed by Sibylla von Merian, in 1708, and which is
a flat toad-like creature with a short, broad, and pointed head, huge hind limbs with webbed

XATVRAL HISTORY.

feet, and small fore limbs with four slenJer webless fingers cmiously ending in four small projec-
tions, sometimes gi-ows to a length of nearly a foot. It has a blackish-brown body, and is a native of
Surinam and of the neighbouring parts of South America. Living a monotonous life, apparently on
land at the edges of the swamps and plantation ditches, and amongst buildings, this Pipa americana,

TEE COMMON FROG. 351

the repnisentative of the family of Pipidre, has neither tongue nor teeth on the jaws and palate.
Besides being huge and curiously made, it is very remarkable, for there is a portion of its life-histoiy
which is very extraordinary. The back of the female is covered with soft skin, which overlies a great
lymphatic space, and in the breeding-season it develops cavities and ridges, and each of these separate
compartments contains a young Pipa undergoing its metamorphosis. It is very evident that each of
these cavities, which give the back a honeycombed appearance, has contained an egg, and the question
is how did the egg get into this extraordinary position. Certainly it would not be deposited there
by the mother, and equally certainly there is no passage from the egg-producing structures in her body
to the cavities. It is said that as soon as the female lays her spawn the male places it in the cavities
in the back of the female, and the eggs form little pits by their pressure on the skin. Probably
this takes place in the water. Fii-min states that the female lays her eggs in sand, and that the male
clasps them between his hind feet, and then jumps on to the mother and disperses them over her back.
She then goes into the water, and the eggs are hatched there, and the tadjjole state is passed
through in the cavities, so that in eighty-two days sixty or seventy young ones poke o\it their heads
and limbs and jump off as perfect Pip.is, the mother having retui-ned to land. Then the female
retires to a stony or reedy retreat in water, and changes the skin of her back. How much of this
is true is not quite known.

The second family, the Dactylethridie, has a species in Africa, but it is more Frog- than Toad-like
in shape. The upper jaws and intermaxillaries have teeth, and the thi-ee inner toes of the long feet
have claws. The species is Dactylethra capejisis.

Australia contains the other family, the Myobatrachida;, and in the species Jfi/ubatrachics para-
doxics there are two large teeth in the intermaxillary bones, and the passages from the ear to
the throat, or the Eustachian tubes, enter the gullet separately, and do not form a common canal,
as in the other families. Very little is known about their habits.

THE BATRACHIANS WITH TONGUES.
The second division, or sub-order, the Phaneroglossa, are the Anoura with tongues, and there
are two groups of them— the Oxydactyla, which have pointed tips to their digits and toes, and the
DLscodactyla, which have discs to them ; and these are divided into fiimilies.

THE OXYDACTYLA.— FAMILY RANID^.
Tlie True Frogs, the Ranidm, form the first family, and they have a slender and longish
body, very long hind feet and limbs, with the long hinder toes united by a web. The upper jaw,
intermaxillaries, and vomer have small curved teeth, which are rarely seen on the mandible. The
skin is smooth and the tympanum is visible, and the pupil of the eye is round or transver.se.
The Common Frog,* the type of the family, is of a greenish-brown, yellowish, or reddish colour,
with an oblong bi'own spot behind the eyes, and the legs have brown cross-bars. It is, as is
well known, found in almost all parts of Great Britain, wherever there is a river or pond, or
even sufficient shade to maintain the degree of moisture necessary to preserve the skin in a con-
dition in which it may assist in the respiration of the animal They have been in Ireland since
the beginning of the eighteenth century, and probably they were artificially introduced, and
became acclimatised. The Frog feeds sometimes with eagerness, and captures with its rapid
tongue many kinds of insects, beetles, and slugs, and is an excellent friend to the gardener.
They assemble together in the spring, when they croak in chorus, and the sound has often
a very peculiar effect on a still evening; and as cold weather comes on they sink themselves
in the mud under the water, and Bell says .often in multitudes, which are found embracing each
other in a torpid state. In the spring they come forth, and the egg-laying soon begins, and
the Tadpole, whose life has already been noticed, turns in due time to a creature like its parent.
The deposit of eggs takes place at the bottom of the water, and the mother cares nothing about
them in future. She and the male are surrounded by a host of enemies, and snakes, birds,
small anim.als, and fish, are constantly looking out for them. The male is smaller than the
female, and the extreme length is about two inches and three lines from the snout to the hinder
* Bana temporaria.

NATURAL HISTORY.

extremity. On the whole, the Common Frog is not an extreme frequenter of water, except
during the egg-laying season.

Bell tells a story of a domesticated Frog, who came at meal-time, and .snugged up to the cat in
cold weather ; but it must have been an exceptional Fi-og. Usually they can be made not to fear
their kind feeder, but the rising generation tease them and enjoy their prodigious jumps. Fisher-
men use them as bait for pike, and physiologists show the circulation of the blood in the web of
tlie foot, and Matteuchi discovered a special galvanic energy in batteries made up of their thighs,
so that on the whole, the Common Frog has little to thank humanity for. Bell stated that a large
Rana had been found in Scotland, but was doubtful whether it was a variety of the Common
Frog or a new species. The web of the foot forms a beautiful microscopic object, and the circu-
lation of the large oval blood corpuscles, and the white or colourless corpuscles, can be seen in it
The species and its varieties have a great geographical distribution.

The development of the Tadpole into the Frog has been already described, and it is merely necessaiy
to observe that the masses of eggs, or spawn, when first expelled, consist of numerous small opaque,
globular bodies covered with a glairy substance. This absorbs a large quantity of water, and soon
increases in diameter; so that the black specks, the future Tadpoles, are .separated by the glairj
envelope one from another. The development of the young is more or less rapid, according to the
temperature. The embryo is at first a small spherical body, one side being dark brown and the
other paler. A furrow grows across the dark half, dividing it into two equal parts, and this is
soon afterwards crossed by another at right angles. A third and fourth furrow are produced
and so on, until the sphere is separated into as many granules. In the course of the

fOMJIOS FUUO.

TEE EDIBLE FROG. 353

second day the sphere begins to elongate, and a groove, which liad previously divided the upper part
into two, begins to close up, and the head becomes prominent, the taU begins to show itself, and
the little hooks, by which it subsequently lays hold of things, begin to appear. In somewhat more
than fifty hours the head becomes well marked, the membrane of the tail is seen, and the first
indications of branchijB occur on each side of the head. Moreover, the muscles of the spine may
be seen. The whole creature grows, and these parts become more distinct, and the branchise consist
of two tubercles on each side, and as yet are undivided. The young creature now will give some
signs of voluntary movement, and the nosti-ils are seen, but the mouth is scarcely observable.
The eyes are just visible. The next stage is a division of the branchiaj into lobes, and the blood
may be seen circulating in them. The embryo is stOl restricted to a curved position by the
substance round it, and it may be seen to jerk itself about until it escapes. Bell says that
although all this may be done in the warm waters of the South of Europe, or in artificial water
at a temperature of 73° "4 Falir. in four days, it takes at least a month ui a colder climate. The
rest of the metamorphosis has been described in explaining the general peculiarities of the Amphibia
(p. 348). When the metamorphosis is completed, and the little Frog has received its pei-manent shape,
the skin gradually becomes coloured, and, according to the light, the prevailing colours of the surround-
ing objects, the health of the creature, and possibly from nervous influences, the tints change, the mobility
of the colour corpuscles within the skin being the cause. It ap]iears that the skin of the Frog, when
kept damp, plays an important part in the elimination of carbonic acid gas, and also in the absorp-
tion of oxygen from water, and probably from air; for experiments have shown that the lungs
are not sufticient to carry out the respiratory process perfectly, so that the skin must be utilised.
Bell believes that diuing the damp condition of the skin water is absorbed ai\d stored in a sac
whicli acts as if it were a urinary bladder. , This store he considers is kept to moisten the skin
when it requires it for the purpose of respiration. It is re-absorbed and deposited in the skin.

In vertebrate animals the bones may be formed with a groundwork of cartilage, in which
osseous grains^re gradually deposited, and such are cartOage bones. Others have no cartilage, but the
bone is deposited in a membranous tissue, and such ai'e membrane bones, of which the parietal or
frontal bones of the mammalia are examples. Huxley states that in the higher vertebrates the
cartilage bones rarely remam as such, but the ossified cartilage becomes absorbed and is replaced by a
membrane bone derived from the investing tissue.

The Frog's skull is characterised by a cai'tilage bone called by Cuvier the os en ceinture, or
gii'dle-bone. " It is an ossification which invades the whole circumference of the cranium in the
pre-sphenoidal and ethmoidal regions, and eventually assumes somewhat the form of a dice-box,
with one-half of its cavity divided by a longitudinal partition. The septum and the front and
back halves of the bone correspond to the ethmoid pre-f rentals, and the orbito- sphenoids of the other
vertebrata. " (Huxley. )

The Edible Frog,* found and used as an article of food in many parts of the Continent, is
also an inhabitant of England. It can be readily distinguished by the absence of the large
distinct black mark on the side of the head to the shoulder, seen in the Common Frog, and by the
presence of a light-coloured line running down the back, and by its marking with round cii-cumscribed
spots. The thumb has two large tubercles on it in the male, whose vocal sacs are large and globular.
Mr. Bond found them in Foulmere Fen, Cambridgeshire, and observed that their croaking was dif-
ferent from that of the Common Frog, the sound being like a loud snore. It is a timid animal, disap-
pearing on the least alarm, seems to come rarely, if ever, to land, and is essentially a dweller in the
water. It inhabits running or still waters, rivers, streams, lakes, ponds, salt or fresh marshes, and
even ditches, and it may be seen sunning itself on a water-lily leaf, and rarely on the banks. The
slightest noise alarms them, and they rush to the water. Their remarkable croak has procured them the
title of Cambridge Nightingales. When this is going on the male blows out his sacs, which appear on
each side of the head. This description holds good for the Continental Esculent Frogs. The hind legs
are the parts which are to be cooked, and in spite of some folk's antipathy, there is no doubt that they
are very nice when well cooked and served, for they taste like the most delicate spring chicken.

The genus Rana is well developed in America, and the American Bull Frog is well known [Eana

* Sana csctilcnta.

51*

85t NATURAL HISTORY.

pipiens vel mmjiens). It has a large head, green above and yellowisli-white below. The body is
large, green in front, dusky-olive behind, and has irregular black blotches. The under parts are yellowish-
white, and the limbs are dusky, with black bars. The iris is of a beautiful golden colour with black
marks, and the tympanum is large and is bronzed. It reaches from thii-teen to twenty-one inches in

>ci\>\^^\iyV^^,\\(,^^,

length, limbs included. They are very active and leap to a great distance, and yet it ir a \evj aquatic
Frog, and they will live in the water for years. Sluggish rivers and stagnant ponds are their- delight,
and except in the breeding season, they are solitary. Then they collect in hundreds, and their croak
is very loud, and they may be heai-d half a mile off. "When taking the water they skim along the
surface at first. Insects, small Crustacea, and snails are their food, and they are found in every part
of the United States, and as far north as Quebec.

There are none of these True Frogs in Australia, or in the Islands of the Pacific.

JFHICAX FHOGS.

355

Amongst the not very numerous East Indian species of the genus Rana is Kuhl's Frog,* with a
largo web to its feet. It lives in Ceylon, Java, Celebes, and in China. The lower jaw has a pair of
fang-like prominences in front. The Indian Bull Frogf has the web broad, notched, and it does not
extend to the extremity of the fourth toe. It is common over the whole of Hindostan, and i.s found
also in Ceylon, Sikkim, the Malayan Peninsula, China, and the Islands of the Archipelago. Some
measure six or seven inches in length. The young are very small. They abound, and when they arc
frightened they jump over the surface of the water much in the same manner as they do on land.
Dr. Giinther has described the Edible Frog J from Ningpo, and thus its distribution is not only in every
part of Europe and in North Africa, but also in Central Asia to Cliina and Japan. A Frog closely

resembling the English Rana temporaria, but having larger limbs, is found in Japan and in the neigh-
bourhood of Ningpo; and it is even allied in shape to Rana silvatlca of Lecomte, from North America.

With regard to the African Frogs, there are two sharp-headed, slender-bodied, long-limbed,
beautifully-marked Frogs, which have been described from South Africa by Dr. A. Smith. One,
Delalande's Frog, is common everywhere, and especially near Cape Town. It is generally observed on
dry ground, but i-eadily takes to water when alarmed or pursued. The other inhabits Kaffir Land and
Port Natal, and is about four inches and three-quarters long, and is called Rana oxyrhynchus. A
.sprawling, long-legged, stupid Frog is Rana fasciata ; it has great toes and long legs, and is about one
inch and a half long. It i.s widely spread over South Africa, inhabits damp localities, leaps freely
and for considerable distances.

One Frog is fished for, with fish-hook.s baited with flesh, in Southern Africa, and it is common near
Cape Town. It is Rana fusciyula.

The Frogs of the genus Pyxicephalus ai-e found in South Africa and India. All have the fingers
quite free, the toes incompletely webbed, and the head thick, rounded, and .swollen behind. The
vomerine teeth are in two oblique series, and the tongue is large, free, and deeply notched behind. The
metatarsus has a flat, sharp-edged shovel-like prominence. One species is found in Hindostan and in
the Himalayas, and with the aid of its shovel-like metatai-sal it burrows in the ground to a depth of
one foot and a half

One of these is called the Bull Frog, in South Africa, from the strength and hoarseness of the
sounds it emits, particularly during the night. It lives generally in water, and is only seen in it
* Rana kuhlii. t Itaria tigrina. % RaiM esculcnia.

XA Tl'RA L HISTOR Y.

HORNED CERATOPHRYS.

or in its vicinity. Dr. Andrew Smith saw many in water, where at other seasons none existed, and
the probabilities are that they bury themselves during the dry season. They are beautiful Frogs,
five inches and a half in length, and their gi-een, brown, and red tints, and pretty eyes, make
them very picturesque.

Some species of the family of the True Frogs have no teeth on the vomer, and they belong to
the genus Oxyglossus. A species lives in Java, and some fossil kinds, which are found in the so-
called Frog-beds of Bombay, are of an early Tertiary age.

THE OBHTETIUC FIMU.

Tlie Jakie* is a greenisli Frog spotted with brown, and lias irregular linear markings of a brown
Uint along its thighs and legs. It is from Guiana, and is said to have the largest Tadpole of all the
Frogs. So large, relatively, is this larval form, that when the tail is absorbed no increase of
growth in the adult occurs.

A large Frog, with the upper eyelids ending in a kind of triangular horn, from each of which a
ridge runs down the sides and back to above the hinder extremity, is sometimes thirty-five lines
long. It belongs to the genus Ceratophrys.t It is a Brazilian kind, and little is known about its
life. Mimetic, as it were, of this curious Frog is a genus whose species have also the upper eyelids
prolonged, and which have a broad and short body. The skull is marked with long ridges ; there are
folds of skin on the neck, and the limbs are of moderate length, the toes being distinctly but shortly
webbed. The iris is a golden-brown, and the pupil is vertically rhomboidal. The body is much blotched
with white and black, and thei-e are two species. One has a prominence on the skull, :j: and lives in
Borneo, Malacca, and Sumatra, and the other, without the structure, § is restricted to Java and
Ceylon. They have the tympanum hidden, and really belong to a small sub-family, of which the
Painted Discoglossiis ot the countries bordering on the Mediterranean is the type. They have the
tongue almost circular in outline.

A beautiful little Frog with a body about one inch and a quarter long, having a small head and
a short and thick body, is of a dove-colour above, and is exquisitely marked with oblong spots and
bars of dark brown margined with yellow. It has a small mouth, and the palate is armed with two
gi-oups of exceedingly minute teeth between the posterior nostrils. It has pretty eyes, and the lower
surface is silvery white. It is a South Carolina Frog, and takes to the dry cornfields, and appears to

like land, and, indeed, Holbrook states that one thrown into the water did not know how to swim.

It has not the web on the hind feet, and in this it resembles some South American and West Indian

species, nor has it parotid glands. They all belong to the genus Cystignathus. It forms a sub-family.
The second family of the Oxydactyles is called the Pelobatid.e, and it contains some kinds whicli

are to a certain extent intermediate between the Frogs and Toads. They have the skin more or less

warty or glandular. The body is plump

and squat, but the upper jaw has teeth. -^v^ ^, -'i^. > -^- > -'^'^^'^ ;-

Usually the membrane of the tympa- ^ ^'"•"' '^ '^:"' " "" ' n - '?^N

num and its cavity is deficient, and

the pupil is often vertical. They lay

their eggs in strings like the Toads, and

most of them are terrestrial, and make

holes and burrows in the earth, only

seeking the water during the egg-laying

season.

The first example || is one which

has a distinct tympanum and a small

parotid gland, but it has no vocal sac.

It has short limbs and large glands

around the eai-s. The toes have half

■webs, and it is grey in coloiu- with

spots. It is remarkable for boring long

burrows, and for the curious practice

of the male, which has a very sonorous

voice, of assisting the female to get rid

of her eggs. These are large and in strings, and he attaches them to his thighs with a glutinous

secretion. He buries himself until the eyes of the little Tadpoles can be .seen beneath their envelope,

and shortly afterwards he seeks a stagnant pool and plunges in. The Tadpoles soon burst forth and

swim away. It is a small Frog, and is to be found in the environs of Paris.

Another kind has webs to its liind feet. The tympanum and its cavity are deficient, and the tongue

t\

MALE OKSTETRIC FHOG.

Pseudis paradoxa,

§ Mcrjakqihrtis mo

t Ceratophri/s cor.

t MeriaJophrys nasula,
Aliites obstetricam.

358 A'ATUMAL EISTUIiT.

is fixed. It jumps and swims nearly as well as the True Frogs, and lias a warty body witli a dirty
gi-een tint above, and the belly fiery red and spotted with blue. It is called the Fire-bellied Toad, and
has a fine sonorous voice, and the cry is oiwk, ouvk.* The larvae are large ; it is a dweller in
marshes, and is an European kind.

The genus Pelobates is the last of this family to be noticed, and it has species in France. They
are fine Frogs, having the tongue free behind, but scarcely notched. They have no tympanum, and the
arms have a special gland and the liind feet a sharp swelling. The web is complete in the feet.

FliiE-HELLIED FKOG.

One is grey-brown in colour,f smelLs like onions, and jumps like a Frog, and makes holes and
burrows in the mud v/ith its hind limbs. It has a loud cry of ouk, and the metamorphosis of
the very large Tadpoles lasts a long time.

The Globose Cacopus Frog is worthy of its name, and is found in the Madras Presidency. The
head is very short, and so are the limbs, and the mouth is small ; the body is bulged out in a globular
form, and the limbs and toes are short and slightly webbed. It has a small eye with a round pupil,
and the skin is smooth, brown, and black on the tail. They have a circular tongue. Dr. Giinther
states that he has seen two specimens of tliLs species, one thirteen lines long, and a larger thirty-four
lines long, which was a female. " The little one is distended with fluid in an extraordinary manner,
so that the body has the shape of a ball, from which the head and limbs project. The fluid is con-
tained in the abdominal cavity. The larger individual is distended in a similar way, but this is caused
by an extraordinary development of the ovaria (or egg-producing structures). These organs become so
large that, not having room in the cavity of the body, they extend right across the back, so that the
animal is completely surrounded by a mass of the ovaries."

The Common Toad | is, of course, the type of the third family, the Bufonid^. It has a swollen,
heavy-looking body, covered with a warty skin, and it has a large flat head with a rounded blunt
muzzle. There is a swelling above the eyes studded with pores, and the parotids are large, thick,
prominent, and secrete an acrid fluid. There are no teeth. It has four fingere and five toes, and

Bomhiruitor igneus.

t Pdohates fuscus.

ufo vxdgar

THE CO.U.VOX TOAD. 359

these last are very slightly webbed. The eye has a transverse pupil, and the colour of the body is a
brownish-grey, dirty, or lurid. The tubercles are more or less brown, and beneath the creature is
dirty yellowish-white, sometimes spotted with black.

The Toad sits up very much after the fashion of a Frcj. Imt is ((uite as fre.|UontIy seen with its

head nearer the ground. It does not take great leaps, for tliey are impossible to its short limbs and
extremities, so it walks in a crawling sort of manner, often keejiing its body supported on its limbs
during a pretty brisk movement. It has no internal vocal pouch, and the tympanum is more or less
distinct. It is a terre.strial creature, and hides up during the day in dark and damp situations, is
very tenacious of life, and when it is stopped and handled, swells out its body, and some secretion
comes from its glands, as well as water from the internal sac already noticed. By no means shy when
kindly treated and fed, the Toad will beconw familiar in time. It is very curious to see them feed

360 NATURAL RIST0S7.

when they are kept in hot-houses as destroyers of insects. Seeing a beetle or a grub, they remain
stationary, tlie red iris of their eye looking very bright, and as soon as the prey comes near enough
the mouth opens, and the tongue, which is free behind and attached within the lower jaw in front,
is turned out and the prey is turned in, or quickly glued to the sticky surface. The mouth remains
closed, and as the victim is swallowed whole, the eyes stare with satisfaction. • A good-sized bee is
taken, and sometimes a convulsive action denotes that either it has stung as it has gone down, or else
that it is especially nice. A worm may be swallowed and partly return, but the Toad uses its fore-
limbs to crowd it into the mouth again.

In the spring time they betake themselves to the watei", and the eggs are laid in strings of three
or four feet in length, each egg being covered with a glutinous coat, so that the long line is about one-
eighth or one-sixth of an inch in thickness. Usually the laying is later than that of the Frog, and
the Tadpole is smaller and darker, and it is not until autumn that they come to land as little Toad-s.
Every now and then the adult Toads cast their skin, and come out brighter in colour, and cleaner. They
swallow this delicate cuticle, a process which does not take place in the Frogs, who lose it piece
by piece. Toads have always been considered with aversion by the public, and their general
character has been most blackened by those whose imagination transcends their experience. They are
very useful animals, and they destroy a great number of injurious insects, and theii- good lives should
be considered in relation to the stories about their misdeeds, all of which are false, and the outcome of
prejudiced minds.

They endure for a long time without food, and they hibernate by getting into the mud, down
cracks, and into holes.

The stories about Toads being found in stones, in mines, and in trees, in positions where they
must have been kept from air and food for years or centuries, are not true. Dr. Buckland proved by
direct experiment that no Toad can live for two years without food and air.

The alleged venom of the Common Toad, so long a subject of popular l:ielief, has been rejected by
many modern naturalists, among whom Cuvier may be particularly mentioned. The noxious matter
is in follicles, chiefly in the true skin and about the head and shoulders, but they are also distributed
generally over the body, and on the extremities. The Toads possess, besides, two glandular masses
(parotids), which, when pressed, exude through small holes a yellowish thick humour of a musky
odour. Pressure causes this fluid to exude or even .spurt out to a considerable distance. Dr. '
Davy found it extremely acrid when applied to the tongue, resembling the extract of aconite in
this respect, and it even acts upon the hands. A chicken inoculated with it was not afl^ected. Dr.
Davy conjectures that this " venom " is a defence to the Toad from carnivorous animals, and we have
seen a dog, when urged to attack one, after some hesitation drop the animal from its mouth, in a
manner that left no doubt that he had felt the eflects of this excretion. In a Brazilian species
the secretion acts fatally on chickens when introduced into their veins.

The Natter-Jack, or Rusli Toad,* is not common. It is found in some places around London, or
rather was fifty years ago, and White state.s, in his "History of Selborne," that they were more often
seen in his garden than the ordinai-y Toad. This Toad is of a light yellowish-brown colour, clouded
with a dull olive, and there is a bright yellow line running down the back. It is a lively Toad, and
it runs with the body considerably raised, and it is hardy, being often found in dry situations.
Indeed, Bell notices their favourite resort at Selborne to be under a shallow layer of turf
covering the top of a wall of a hen-pen, which is exposed to the summer sun, and is the hottest
part of the garden. It is less timid than the Common Toad, and its eyes are more prominent, and
are elevated above the head. The warts of the skin are larger than those of the Toad, but the
glandular swellings are less on the head. Claus states that it has large glands on the legs, and
that it runs badly ; nevertheless, it often takes to the water at night, and especially to those lakes
and ponds where there are reeds and rushes. They emit a smell not unlike the smoke of gunpowder.
The male makes as much noise as a Frog, and cries Glouh, glouk. Eggs are laid in the water, and
the Tadpoles are amongst the smallest, their metamorphosis not lasting much more than six or seven
weeks. The Variable,t or Green Toad, found in France, has hind limbs and feet nearly as large as
those of the Frog. It has an imperfect vocal sac, and calls Me, me. It swims admirably.
* Siifo calamita. t Sufo variabilis.

THE INDIAN AND AFRICAN TOADS.

The Indian Toads are not very remarkable, but it is interesting to notice that varieties of the
Common European Toad are found in difterent parts of China and the islands of Chusan and of Japan.
The siiecies, Dr. Giinther states, extends from Western Europe through the temperate parts of Central

Asia to C'iii

The Natter-J.-u-k,

/?»/

iiiaiiv parts of

(1) COMMON TOAD

Europe, occurs in Tibet, and the Common Indian Toad {Bufo melonostictus) has an immense range. It Ls
one of the commonest Batrachians, and inhabits every part of the Continent of India from the Peninsula
of Southern India to Cliina and the Philippine Islands. In the Himalayas it extends to an altitude of
9,000 feet, and Cantor says it utters a chirping plaintive sound.

Amongst the African Toads, Bufo carens may be mentioned. It has a .short head and a truncate
nose, and a huge tympanum. The colours are red, green, and black. They are common in the interior
districts of South Africa, in situations abounding in brushwood under decayed leaves. Two Toads

362 NATUliAL IflSTOSV.

prettily marked and blotched with light red, grey, and dark-browu tints, are also common in South
Africa,* but nothing is known regarding their habits.

The Panther Toadt is an Afiican form, and specimens are readily found in South Africa after a
shower of rain. The Water-padda, a Cape of Good Hope Toad, is oftener found in water than on land.

The marshy and swampy districts of Central America near the sea have a large brown Toad
covered with low unequal tubercles, and having huge parotids. It is called the Agua.

• Mr. Darwin (when in South America) wrote : — " Amongst the Batrachian reptiles, I found only
one little Toad, which was most singular from its colour. If we imagine, first, that it had been
steeped in the blackest ink, and then, when dry, allowed to crawl over a boar,: shly painted with
the brightest vermilion, so as to colour the soles of its feet, and parts of its stor.- .;h, a good idea of
its aj)pearance will be gained. If it is an unnamed species, surely it ought to be called Diabolicus, for
it is a fit Toad to preach in the ear of Eve. Instead of being nocturnal in its habits, as other Toads
are, and living in damp, obscure recesses, it crawls during the heat of the day about the dry sand-
hillocks and arid plains, where not a single drop of water can be found. It must necessarily depend
on the dew for its moisture ; and this probably is absorbed by the skin, for it is known that these
reptiles possess great powers of cutaneous absorption. At Maldonado I found one in a situation
nearly as dry as at Bahia Blanca, and, thinking to give it a great treat, can-ied it to a pool of water.
Not only was tlie little animal unable to swim, but I think without help would soon have been
drowned."

Amongst the North American Toads there is the Carolina Toad, about two inches and a half
Ion", which is found in the Southern States. It has a large head and mouth, and gi-eatly elevated
ridces above the eyes, ending in a luiob. The lower jaw has a hook in front, and the parotid
reaches from the tympanum to the shoulder. It has an internal vocal sac, and the dusky-brown
yellowish body is warty. It is a timid, gentle animal, and ventures out in the dusk of the evening.
It feeds on various insects, which it seizes only when alive aird in position. Catesby says it feeds on
fire-flies, and will by mistake capture a piece of burning charcoal. They become tame, and one, which
had some water poured on its head, returned the next day for a similar kind treatment. Another is
brick-red above, and lives in the oak forests of South Carolina (Bufo erythronotus). The Oak Frog
{Bufo quercus), about three-quarters of an inch long, is a pretty little Toad with a flat head and
pointed snout. It is of a light colour, and has a yellowish line along the back. The belly is silvery-
grey, and the groins are yellow. It likes the sandy districts where small oaks replace the pine forests.
The American Toad {Bn/o americanus) is a very warty kind, and has a white line down the back, and
it is about two inches and a half long. It is a timid animal, and lives like the English Toad. Its
head is smaller in proportion to the Em-opean species, and there is a process on the root of the fore toe.
It is widely distributed in the Northern United States.

The next family, the Engystomatidse, is typified by Engystoma carolinense. It has a small, pointed
short head, and the skin is a delicate chestnut above, and mottled with black beneath. It is a South
United States form, hiding up by day and coming out in the evening after heavy rains. Others occur
in the Peninsula of India.

The Breviceps are Toads which have not visible parotid glands or tympanic membranes, and they
have an oval-shaped body, and the head and mouth are small, the feet being but slightly webbed. One
called the Rain Puddock in the Cape Colony lives in holes or burrows in the ground, from which it emerges
durint' rain, and on such occasions croaks loudly. It has a swollen-out body, and the head is scarcely
distinguishable from it, and the surface of the skin is warty. Above, it is a dirty reddish-brown colour
variegated with two or four rows of dull orange spots more or less distinct. Underneath, it is dirty
greenish-yellow. The pupil is transverse and the iris green. When irritated it inflates the lungs to
their utmost extent, and is then like a distended bladder, and discharges an acrid mucus profusely
from its poi-es.

The Rhinophrynidse family are Toads which have neither tympana nor parotid glands, and the
tongue is free in front, and the type is in Mexico.

The last family is that of the 'Rhinodermatida;, which have no parotids, but the transverse
processes of the sacrum are large.

• Bufo a nfjustkcps s.nd Bufu gariepcnsis. t Bufo pantherinus.

TREE FROGS. 363

The second group of the Batrachians with tongues consists of the Discodactyles, which have
the tips of their lai'ge digits furnished with adhesive discs. They are usually called Tree Frogs, and
the first family is the Hyloran.e.

The Hylorana3 are interesting Frogs because, whilst the form of the head and body and
the length of the limbs are very similar to those of the genus Rana, the more or less dilated extremi-
ties of the toes indicate a semi-arboreal life. These half True Frogs and half Tree Frogs are powerful
leapers, and they inhabit Ceylon, tlie Philippines, and Archipelago, Western Polynesia, Madagascar,
and West Africa. There is even a species from New Guinea.

The Hylid.e, the next family, liave the extremity of their digits enlarged, rounded, and
fashioned into a disc which is more or less sticky. They fix themselves to objects, and climb trees

ELEOANT HYLA.

with the aid of the discs. Living on trees during the summer, hunting insects amongst the leaves
and boughs, some seek the water to lay their eggs and hibernate in the mud during the winter, and
others lay in collections of water in the trunks of trees, and in the branches. The male has a vocal
pouch which he swells out when he croaks.

The Common Hyla* of Europe is green, with a yellow and black line along the body, and is paler
in tint beneath. It lays when it has attained the age of four years. The head has a soft skin, and it
has, in common with the family, maxillaiy teeth, but no pai'otids. It has a lai-ge vocal sac (the male),
and when in shrubs and green trees it can hardly be distinguished bj' its similaritj' of tinting. It has
an immense distribution in Europe, and Gunther states that in Southern' China and in Formosa there
is a Hyla which closely resembles the European form.

The genus is, with this exception, absent in India and Tropical Africa.

Central America has a lovely Tree Frog which is sky-blue on the back and rose-coloured beneath,
and the North American Goose-footed Hyla, a large kind, is cross-barred irregularly with red and
fawn tints.

The South American Tree Frogs are numerous, and some have fine noisy voices. One from
Guiana and Brazil has a red-brown upper surface, yellow-white sides, and there is a cui-iously- shaped
• Hiila arborea.

364

NATURAL HISTORY.

line of silvery tint beginning at t}ie eyes, and surroiuuling the top of the body. It Ls the Elegant
Hyla.* Another, with a broad head, large discs, and slight webs, is a large Frog measuring three
inches and a half in length, and it inhabits the same localities as the last species.t

The Common Golden Tree FrogJ is widely distributed over Australia, and is the most common of
all the Batrachians there. The natives, when jjinched for food, capture large numbers by the light
of a torch at night, and a supply of this Frog can always be secured in the neighbourhood of fresh
water.

In Tasmania there is a little Hyla {H. ewingii), which has no web on the extremities.

H)jJa versicolor has a moister and more viscid look than the other species, and more resembles a
Toad in form. It is a great croaker in damp weather, and it lives on trees in the Northern United
States. It is a beautiful creature, and the colour varies from the palest ash to dark brown, and it Ls
blotched with brown, green, white, and yellow.

There is a genus of this family of Hylidas which lives in Mexico, and is remarkable on account of
the existence of a pouch on the back of the female, just above the lower part of the spine. This
Nototrema § is a curious form even in the Tadpole state, for its branchise are terminated by a disc
■R-hich is bell-shaped. The eggs are placed by the hind feet of the male into the pouch of the adult

* Hi/la elepan

t Hi/la piihiiata.

§ Nototrema marsupialum.

TSE TREE FROGS. 365

female, and they undergo their transformation and live as Tadpoles there, hopping forth in due time
as perfect Frogs.

The Tree Frogs belonging to the genus Polypedates are arboreal in theii- habits, and have
the fingers and toes ending in discs. They are found veiy widely distributed in the East Indies
and in Madagascar, and they are very interesting from being able to change their colour. They have
a smooth skin and a short fold from behind the eye above the tympanum, which is more or less
distinct. The adults have vomerine teeth, and the tongue is long and deeply notched behind. The
fingers are slightly webbed, and the toes are broadly so. The discs are well developed. The Common
Indian Tree Frog * is one of them, and is found widely over Ceylon and the Indian Continent. It

POrCHED FROG.

ascends to an altitude of 2,780 feet in the Sikkim Himalayas, and at Penang, where it is not found in
the valleys, it lives at a height of 2,000 feet. They are slender Frogs with broad heads and short
snouts. They change their colours, for sometimes they are Imff above, sometimes ashy-gi-ey, or
chocolate-brown tinged with rose or lilac, black spots being more or less visible.

The Spurred Tree Frog t has a flat, depressed triangular head, a large eye, the tympanum being
half its size. Its fingers are not webbed, and the heel has a spur-like appendage. The male has vocal
sacs. The colour is gi-eyish or olive-yellow above, with an hour-glass black mark on the back. It is
yellowish beneath, and the hind limbs have dark cross-bands. It is not rare in Ceylon. Another
kind is from Afghanistan, and it is a brown Frog very finely speckled with grey.

The genus has a species in Natal, and Dr. Andrew Smith found it on the leaf of a thick i-eed
growing on the marshy banks of a small river a little to the westward of Port Natal. Others are
found in Madagascar and Japan.

There are some small Tree Frogs which inhabit Ceylon, Java, the Philippine Islands, and Borneo.
They have no vomerine teeth, and the skin is smooth or else tuberculate, and their tongue is long and
* Polypedates maculatus. t Polypedates eques.

366 NATURAL BISTORT.

deeply notched beliind. They have well-developed limbs, the fingers quite free, and the toes are
webbed, the discs of the toes and fingers being well developed. The Variable Ixalus* of Ceylon is
one of them, and is about one inch and a half long, the hind limb being two inches and one-third
long, and is very variable in its coloration. Probably one of this genus lays its spawn in a
remarkable manner. Thus, Mr. Holdsworth found in Ceylon, hanging from the side of a stone cistern,
a lump of spongy soft substance as large as a crow's egg. It was found about eight inches from the
usual surface of the water in the cistern. Dr. Giinther examined the mass, and found it indistinctly
greenish and cellular, and that it consisted of an interlaced tissue, enclosing large and small spaces,
which may have been filled with air or water. A few lines below the surface of it ova were found ;
some in the meshes of the tissue, and others accumulated towards the centre in a lump. They were
as large as a pin's head. It is remarkable that this peculiar mass of fibres of uncertain derivation
should be so excellent a protection to the ova, and, indeed, a better one than the usual glutinous stuff
which is secreted around the Common Fi'og's spawn. Whether the cells below the surface of the mass
contain air to keep it floating, or whether they once contained water to support the young, is uncer-
tain. It is known that some Tree Frogs deposit their spawn in the water which collects in the hollows
of trees and branches.

Dr. Giinther, during an examination of a number of small Tree Frogs from Ceylon, noticed one
which had the ova attached to the -under part of the body, or, rather, they were attached when the
creature was caught, but came off, adhering together like a flat disc in shape, but they left their marks
on the mother. They were of the size of a hemp-seed, and the Frog was scarcely two inches in length.
This method of carrymg the ova beneath the body is exceptional in Frogs.

The North American genus Acris has species in which the foot webs and discs are small, and it
really closely resembles a small Land Frog.f It ls fond of the water, and may be seen on leaves in
ponds, and the male, which has an internal vocal sac, is noisy. It has a large heart-shaped tongue.
Holbrook, the American herpetologist, described it as a men-y little Frog, which chirps like a Cricket,
and may be domesticated.

In Nepal and Sikkim, at an altitude of 5,200 feet, there is a slender, sm.ooth-skinned Tree Frog,
with a body three inches and two-thirds in length, the hind limb being six inches in length. It is one of
the largest of the Tree Frogs, and is green during life, and uniform dark violet above, after death, and
brownish below. The fingers and toes are entirely webbed, and the terminal dLscs are very large. The
vomerine teeth are in two series. It belongs to the genus Rhacophorus. All the species of this
remarkable genus have the digits very flat, the discs greatly dilated, and the web large. They inhabit
Java, Malabar, Madagascar, and a sub-genus is on the mainland of "West Africa.

The Hylodines are a sub-family of the Hylinte, and have no web on the toes. Some belonging
to the genus Hylodes have teeth on the vomer.

The little Hylodes ocularis, one of this group with free digits and vomerine teeth, is only
eleven lines in length, legs and all, and is very pretty, resembling the Acris gryllus in its
habits. It is found on myrtle leaves, and is diurnal in its habits, seeking its food by day. Like
the others of its genus it delights in the sunshine, but they retire to dark, damp places, and sit in the
water half covered. South Carolina and Georgia are their localities.

In one of the group called the Martinique Frog,J which is distributed in some of the other islands
of the Antilles, the eggs are laid, but do not bring forth Tadpoles. On the contrary, the metamorphosis
proceeds inside the egg in about seven days, and the Tadpole state is thus rapidly passed through
there. When the little Hylodes bursts forth, it is a tiny perfect Frog with a little tail, but this is
soon absorbed.

A family of the Tree Frogs, the Phyllomedusidse, with maxillary teeth and parotid glands, has
a very peculiar opposable condition of the digits, so that the hands and feet grasp the twigs and
branches like those of Apes. One of these is from Cayenne and the Brazils, and is blue above, and
the sides and legs are spotted with white. It is called Phyllomedusa hicolor.

The Great Green Tree Frog § is the largest of the Batrachians which is found in every part of
Australia, and in New Guinea. Specimens ai-e seen as large as a man's fist. This species feeds
upon almost every living object that can be swallowed — Lizard.s, Frogs, all kinds of insects, and
* Ijcalus variabilis. f Acris r/ri/Uus. J HyJoiles mardnicemis. § Pelodryas coiitdeus.

rilE TBEE FROGS

KHACOPHORL-S KllEINHAUDTI.

young birds, and the nestling of a small Honey-eater has been taken out of the stomach of one of
these insatiable creatures.

A species of Pelodryas, also a member of this family, is from New Zealand, and has very large
dLscs to the fingers, and the first finger is opposable to the other three, and is joined to the second by

t TUBAL MI STOUT.

a niJimentaiy membrane, and the others are partly webbed, the third and fourth having conspicuous
tubercles. The toes are nearly fuU-webbed, and the discs are smaller than those of the lingers.
This very pretty polychi-omatio Fiog is not unlike a Ehacophorus, but the incomplete webs on the
hands are di&tincti\e

The last tnniU t li noticed, the Dendrobatidaj, has genera whose species have no maxillary

,T- ^^-^'-^ _- ._ teeth and no parotids. The figure is

very Toad-like, and there are not webs
uniting either digits or toes, but they
- / have all these dilated at the tips. There

is no expansion of the processes of the
sacral vertebra. The species of the
genus Dendrobates live on trees and
bushes, and the best known is from
<\ Cayenne and Brazil. It* is said to

^ have a very remarkable power of tint-
I ing, and its blood, when applied to
^ the wounds of green Parrakeets from
which the feathers have been torn, is
said to produce a red or yellow colour
j in the new plumage ! The males have
! a throat sac. In all the tongue is rib-
bon-shaped, and much of it is free.
They are usually black, with a white
splash on the head, which is extended
in a radiating mamier over the eye ;
another is across the loins, and there
are ^^■hite branchings on the shoulder.

A little Frog two inches in length
inhabits the country to the east and
north-eixst of the Cape Colony, and Dr.
Andrew Smith states that specimens
.iiv' usually found in or about cavities
\\liirh exist in the trunks of trees.
When got out of the holes they appeared
inanimate, but the influence of a warm
, sun soon imparted a moderate degree of

'^^^v vigour to them, and in a few hours
^^S^ ■ after their liberation they were tolerably
active and able to move from place to
jilace. In one instance five specimens
were found by a workman (unfortunately not by Dr. A. Smith) in the middle of a tree
nineteen inches in diameter, and no hole led to the outside. It is called Brachymerus hifasciattis,
and its dark body has a pretty yellow line on each flank, with spots on the limbs. The jaws and
palate are without teeth. There are no parotids, and four of the digits and the five toes are free,
but the tips are dilated. It probably belongs to this fiimily.

The genus Plectropus probably belongs to this family, but the sacral transverse process is
enlarged, and there are no discs to the fingers or toes. Moreover, four fingers are free from web,
and the five toes are palmate. The Painted Plectropus,! of a brown ground tint, relieved with
a marbling of black spots, is from Manilla.

* Dendrolates titKtoria, f Flectroptis pietus=C'((Uula picta.

CLASS AMPHIBIA.

CHAPTER II.

TAILED AND VERJIIFORJI AJIPHIBIANS.

THE TAILED AMPHIBIA— Characteristics of those with Tersistent Branchiaj and of those that lose the Eranchiie Early
in Life— Skeletal Peculiarities— The Salamanders— Distinctive Features— The Spotted EUipsoglossa— Why so called
— The Tritons— The Great Water Newt— Its Ferocity— Habits — Apjiearance — Rusconi's Observation of the Egg-
laying Process of the Triton— Growth of the Embryo— The Mature Tadpole— The Power of Repair-The Straight-
lipped Water Newt— The Common Smooth Newt or Eft— The Palmated Smooth Newt— Distribution— The Sala-
manders—The Spotted Salamander— Description — Where Found— Hibernation— The Black Salamander— Mdlle.
Marie de Chauvin's Observations of the Changes of the Tadpole Salamander— The Genus Pleurodeles— The Genus
Pseudotriton — Is the Bite of the Salamander Poisonous ?— The Absurd Notion of their being Incombustible— The
Genus Salamandiina — The Plethodontid.e— The Genus Desmognathus— The AmblystomidlE— The Axolotl— Their
Life History— The Amblystoma, or Adult Form— The Ichthyoidea— Characters— The Perennibkanckiata— The
Sirens— Appearanoe—Habits— The Proteid.e— The Proteus— The Genus Menobranchus- The Derotremata— The
Amphiuma Means -The Amphiuma Tridactyla— The Hellbender— The Sieboldia Japonica-THE APODA— Charac-
ters—Classification of the Amphibia— The Extinct Amphibia.

ORDER URODELA.— THE TAILED AMPHIBIA.
The bodies of these Amphibia are long and rounded, tailed and webbed, and usually the fore limbs
are remote from the hinder. Their small limbs, the posterior being sometimes deficient, are useful
in enabling them to move on land, and, in some, in water. Their aquatic life might almost be
predicted from their shape, and especially in the case of those which have the branchise on the
side of the neck persistent. Some live more on land, and have no brauchisB during adult age, and are
aquatic. It appears that the branchiated kinds, and those with clefts, have biconcave vertebra, and
th^t the others, which lose their branchiie early in life, have an articular head in front of the
veitebi-se and a cavity behind. The first ally the others to the fish, and even a part of the notochord
is visible in them. The Urodela have rudimentary ribs, and in the tail there is an arch of bones
to protect its vessels. The skull, usually flat, is nevei' completely ossified, and in the branchiated
kinds the cartilaginous and membranous parts of the young skull persist. The eyes are sometimes
rudimentary, and are placed beneath a transparent skin, and there is no tympanum. The teeth are
usually small and curved ; they are in a single row on the lower jaw, and they exist both on the
upper jaw and on the palate. The tongue is fixed below, and is free at its edge. The heart in some
has the auricular septum more incomplete than in the Batrachia, and in the Proteus there are three
branchial arches, and the bulb of the aorta splits into two trunks ; and by subdivision three pairs
of aortic trunks are formed, and the bases of the branchial artery and vein anastomose in the
first two gills, but not in the third. In others, and in the Salamanders, there are four pairs of
aortic trunks.

The skin glands are found along the sides of some of the aquatic Amphibia, and also beneath the
jaws and on the top of the head.

The Urodela are divided into sub- orders, the Salamanders and the Ichthyoidea, and these into the
Perennibranchiate and Derotreme groups.

THE SUB-ORDER SALAMANDRIN.E.— THE SALAMANDERS.

These Lizard-shaped Amphibia are tailed, and breathe by internal lungs. They have eyelids
which are horizontal, and the vertebrse are convex in front and concave behind. They have no
biTinchise, or gill clefts, in their perfect or adult age, but some have them during their youth. More
or less Lizard-like in shape, the fore limbs are furnished with four and the hind limbs ^vith five
digits. Their skin is glandular, 'i'isoid, and often secretes a milky liquid which is acrid. In some the
glands aggi-egate near the ear, as in the Toads, and some have the gift of changing colour, through
possessing movable colour cells. The males and females differ, and the first have a fin-like crest
usually on the back and tail.

They are usually divided into four families, and the first is typified by a Japanese kind which
appears to link the land-living and the aquatic Salamanders together

370 NATURAL BISTORT.

It is long-bodied, and lias a short tail, which is more and more compressed towai-ds the tip. The
head is small, and the neck also, and it is rounded. Its eyes project, and the nostrils are well in front.
The skill is smooth, and as it were polLshed, and has folds and mucous pores, and is of an ashy-grey
or blue-grey colour marked with white on the flanks. It is a small animal with four digits, and is
called, from having an oval-shaped tongue, £llipsofflossa nctivia (the Spotted Ellipsoglossa). Another
kind is, on the contrary, fitted by its compressed body and tail for living in water, and' is the Clouded
Ellipsoglossa, and is also from Japan.

The next family, the Salamandridre, contains the Newts and Efts, and the Salamanders, and
although the well-known shape and the outside characters would enable its genera to be associated
more or less, it is advisable to state that the members of this family have the palatine teeth implanted
on the inner margin of the diverging and posterior prolongations of the palatine bones, and that they
are in two rows placed longitudinally and diverging posteriorly.

The Tritons (genus Triton) are numerous in species and individuals, and besides the structural
peculiarities of their family, they have the body covered with warty tubercles ; the four short limbs
have toes, four on the front, and five on the hinder, and are without nails. The male has well-marked
crests on the back and tail, which are not continuous, and there are no parotids, but there are glandu-
lar pores above and behind the eyes, and also a longitudinal series of similar pores on each side of
the body. They are very Lizard-like in shape, and the tongue is globular, free at the sides slightly,
and free behind, where it is pointed.

The Great Water Newt* (Plate 48) grows to the length of six inches, and is the largest of the
British kinds. Common in ponds and ditches, it preys upon the water insects, and during the spring
feasts on the Tadpoles of the Common Frog. They even devour the other and smaller species of Triton,
which they seize, according to Bell, with ferocity, and hold fast in spite of the eftbrts made by the victim
to escape. They will bolt specimens of the Small Eft, which wriggle and give much trouble in the act of
swallowing. It is a very aquatic species, and rarely leaves the water, and during the winter it remains
torpid at the bottom of ponds and ditches until the warmth of spring returns. It has a flat head, and
the upper lip overhangs the lower, and the trunk is nearly continuous with the head, the intervening
neck being marked with a fold of skin. The body is thick and round, and the upper parts are blackish-
brown with darker round spots, and the under are bright reddi.sh-orange, with round black spots. The
sides are dotted with white, and the sides of the tail in the male are a beautiful pearly white. The
male has a back crest during the breeding season which disappears in the winter. They swim princi-
pally with the tail, the legs being turned backwards ; but when they float on the surface of the water
they sprawl their limbs out and their toes also. At the bottom of ponds and on land they crawl with
the aid of their weak extremities.. They change their skin, and it comes away in shreds. The female
is like the male in the winter, but she has no trace of a tail crest. The Prince of Musignano states
that the Newt dies in convulsions if salt be sprinkled on it. The egg-laying is a curious proces.s.

Rusconi noticed, wliilst watching the egg-laying of the Triton, that the females from time to time
pressed back their hiiul limbs, and that in a few moments after this action they laid one or two eggs,
which remained attached to them, so that some of the animals might be seen moving to and fro in the
tub, with two or three eggs thus attached.

He made a small bunch of the plant Polijgonum persicaria, and put the stems of them nnder a
large stone to confine them at the bottom. In the evening he inspected the tub, and found all his
Tritons so comfortably accommodated by the help of the plants, that by keeping the head a little
elevated their nostrils were kept above the surface of the water, so that their respiration was
easy.

Whilst under the influence of surprise at this, he observed one of them approach one of the leaves
of the plant, as if to smell it. The animal then moved gently on the leaf in the direction of its breadth,
and, resting upon it, pushed back its hind limbs so as to fold back and enclose the leaf between its
feet. It stayed about a minute in this position, and then went away, leaving the leaf so that its apex
v/as turned back on the jietiole. After a lapse of three minutes, Eusconi saw the Triton approach
another leaf, apparently disposed to place itself thereon, when, casting his eyes accidentally on the
other branches, he discovered many other leaves doubled back. He immediately took the bunch

^^^y

GREAT WATER NEWTS.

THE GREAT WATER NEIl'T. 371

from the tub, and on examining the leaves which the Newt liad doubled and stuck with a stickj'
secretion, he found that each of them enclosed an egg.

On looking at one of these eggs, it will be observed that the future Newt, or embryo, is in the
centre. It is white, with a yellow tint, and is environed witli a glairy matter, to which it is so
attached that it can move freely in every direction. Its envelope is membranous, of glassy trans-
parence, and is covered with a very clear viscid matter.

The growth of the embryo is rapid under the influence of warm weather, and in five days, accord-
ing to Rusconi, it is bent in shape, and little knobs are near the larger end, and on the seventh they
are evidently the rudiments of gdls and legs. By the ninth day, the tail is oar-like in shape, the heart
may be seen to beat, and on the next day there are on each side of the head the nuliments of an
anterior limb, also clasi)ers besides the gills. In two or three days the eyes are seen, and the gills
have become leaflets, and the little one escapes into the water at about the fourteenth day. It moves
in a very mechanical way, and hangs on to the first object with its clasping hooks. In about twelve
days the fore feet have become lengthened, and there are rudiments of toes, and i-ed blood circulates in
the branchiie, or gill-like leaflets, and the claspers have disappeared ; moreover, thei-e is much volition,
and the little thing hides up and rushes after its prey. The hind feet appear on the tlm-ty- fifth day, and
attain a good development by the forty-seventh, and the longest gills have as many as twenty leaflets full
of vessels. The Tadpole matures on the eighty-third day, and then the gills become smaller, and are
soon obliterated, so that in five days, or shortly after, they and the clefts in the neck for the outward
passage of water taken in at the mouth begin to be absorbed and covered with skin. It soon respires
atmospheric air only, and having thus arrived at its perfect state, it makes eflbrts to escape from the
vessel in which it has been isolated. This species lives in and on the water, and is seldom to be found
on land.

Tliey have, in common with most other Salamandroids, the power of repaii-ing gi-eat injuries to
the body. Loss of the limbs, tail, and even head, has been followed by a process of repair.

Mr. Bell has described a straight-lipped Water Newt* which is a rare British species. It has a
rough and tubercular skin, more so than in the Great Newt, and its upper lip does not overhang, but is
straight. He also places the Common Smooth Newt, or Eft,t in a genus called Lissotriton, but it may
as well remain in the genus Triton, for tlie only essential difierences are that the skin is smooth, there
are no pores on the sides, and the crest of the back is continuous with that of the tail. It is very
common and likes clean water, and it feeds on worms, minute mollusca, and water insects and gnats, but
it is devoured by larger Newts and fish. They lay on the folded leaf like the Great Newt, but quite as
often in the axils of the leaves, and after the tadpole state many quit the water and remain on land.
Many of the adults may be found creeping about among the herbage in damp places, or even ventur-
ing into damp cellars. The crests are seen in the spring, and are lost in the autumn, when the colours
of both sexes become dull. The tips of the crest are red, and the belly is bright orange in tlie early part
of the year. They lose their skin in a whole piece sometimes, but usually in strips. Tlieir length is
about three inches seven lines in large specimens, the tail being one inch and three lines of the
whole.

The Palmated Smooth NewtJ has the hind feet webbed in the male, and the tail is truncate with
a slender end. The beak is flattened, with a raised liiae on each side. It has been found near Bridge-
water, the Isle of Wight, Beading, near Edinburgh, and as far north as Sutherland. It was supposea
to be a kmd which is found in Switzerland, France, Central Germany, and Belgium, but tlie English
species is smaller, its head is flatter and broader, and the low lateral ridges are characteristic. The
webbed state of the hind feet, although it diminishes in winter, and the straightness of the back crest,
are very peculiar. The filament wliich ends the tail is from two to four lines in length.

THE SALAMANDERS.
The Spotted Salamander§ is the type of this genus,|| and it has a thick, large head and clumsy body,
and a tail which is cylindrical at its outer end. The eyes are large, and the body is of a black colour,
with yellow spots, and there are numerous prominent warty growths on the sides. It has a large

* Triton bibronii. f Triton pu7ictat>xs. Tn'ton ri«ta<iw (Gray) is a variety. t Triton palmipei.

§ Salamandra maculosa. || Salainatuira.

S72

NATURAL HISTORY.

tongue. The teeth on the palate are in long series, and the mouth-gape is ample. The parotids are
very developed. The toes are free and smooth.

This is a dweller on land in the adult state, and is found in Central Europe, in the mountainous

SPOTTED SALAMANDER.

districts of Southern Europs and North Africa. They haunt cool and damp places, such as fallen
timber and old walls, and they feed on insects, worms, and slugs. They hibernate in the wiriter, coiled
lip in the crack of a wall, the hollow of a tree, or in the ground ; and during the spring and summer,
they shed their coat in shreds.

The Black Salamander* is found in tlic 1iii;li monnhiin^ of ('(.iitr;il fJprmaiiy. Frnnee, and Switzer-

land, and it has of late years been studied in regard to its extraordinary viviiiarity. The young
imdergo theii- metamoi'phoses in the body of the mother ; but only the lower eggs in the body are
hatched within, and the i-esulting Tadpoles appear to destroy the others. Mdlle. Marie de Chauvin, by
taking the young from the body before they wei'e fully developed, and placing them in water, tried to
watch the changes of the Tadpole Salamander, but only in one instance did she succeed. In four days
* SalanmniJnt utra.

TSE SALAMAyitERS. 373

the little Tadpole got i-id of its gills, which were replaced by others of an unusual form, and the new
ones adapted the creature to its novel existence. It lived for fifteen weeks at the bottom of the
water, and grew considerably. Then the gills atrophied, and the tail and skin altered, and finally,
after moulting its cuticle, the Salamander quitted the water, and then the gill-clefts closed, and it
became an adult Land Salamander. This observation is interesting in connection with the history
of the Axolotl, which has branchise in early life, and may lose them later on.

The next genus, Pleurodeles, has short ribs, which give the appearance as if they peneti-ated the
flanks, but their ends come against the tissue under the .skin, and produce horny projections thereon. The
tail is long and compressed, and the small tongue is adherent only in front, and there are two series of
palatine teeth in longitudinal series. The Spanish kind has an ashy-grey body,* very prettily marked
with long transverse stripes and dots. It is very like a heavy Lizard.

The genus Pseudotriton includes a red kind with numerous small black points, and the abdomen
is orange-red. It is a land animal, and is found under rocks and fallen and decaying trees. It will take
to the water, and this pretty little thing lives on insects, and is a North American kind.

There have been many stories about the Salamanders producing jioisonous results, and an able
writer in the " Penny Cyclopaedia " may be thus quoted regarding them : — •

" The body of the Salamander is largely covered with warty glands. These secrete a milky fluid
of a glutinous and acrid nature, which, if not capable of affecting the larger and more highly organised
animals, appears to be a destructive agent to some of those which are less highly organised. Thus
Laui-enti provoked two grey Lizards to bite a Salamandei-, which at first attempted to escape from them,
but being still persecuted, ejected some of this fluid into their mouths ; one of the Lizards died instantly,
and the other fell into convulsions for two minutes, and then expired. Some of this juice was intro-
duced into the mouth of another Lizard : it became convulsed, was pai-alytic on the whole of one side,
and soon died. According to Dr. Barton, this fluid — which the animal secretes in large quantities
when irritated, and is then capable of ejecting it to some distance — is not soluble in water, though it
dissolves readily in spirit of wine. He found the taste of the juice of Salmnandra subviolacea extremely
acrid, resemblmg corrosive sublim.ate, and very astringent.

"Such is the extent of the foundation for the long-cherished assertion that the Salamander was
one of the most venomous of animals. Nicander, in his ' Alexipharmaca,' gives an appalling picture
of the symptoms produced by its bite. The Romans looked on it with horror as most destructive, and
considered it as deadly a part of the poisoner's laboratory as aconite or hemlock. Hence came the
proverb that he who was bitten by a Salamander had need of as many physicians as the animal had
spots ; and another still more hopeless : — ' If a Salamander bites you, put on your shroud.'

" But the grand absurdity of all was the belief that the Salamander was incombustible ; that it
not only resisted the action of fire, but extinguished it, and when it saw the flame, charged it as an
enemy which it well knew how to vanquish."

The last genus of this group is Salamandrina, and a species is found in Italy and Dalmatia.
They are small Salamander-like creatures, and their head has a triangular reddish spot, and the
rest of the upper part is black. Beneath the body the colour is white, spotted with black, and the
under parts of the thighs are reddish. The tail, cylindrical in shape, has sharp ridges above and below,
and the hind feet have four free digits. The tongue is fixed in front, and the palatal teeth, parallel in
front, are divergent behind. They are barely two inches in length, t

The next f\imily are the Plethodontid.b, and a species {Plethodon glutinosa) has a cylindrical
body, with a lax skin, which is folded on the back. The tail is very long, the head large and flat,
and the palatine teeth are in two long converging lines. The colour is dark or blue-black, and there
are little white .spots on the sides of the skin and stomach. It is found from Massachusetts to Florida.

The genus Desmognathus is one of the family, and its species have the posterior half of the
tongue free, and it can be ejected beyond the mouth. Mr. Leiss, writing in the Scientific A merinan,
may be thus quoted about tlie brown species, which lives in the North-Eastern part of the United
States : — ■

" They inhabit the shallow and .stony spring brooks of hillsides and springs. I never nave found
them far away from sprmg water. They are rarely seen swimming, but must be looked for beneath th?
* Pleurodckss waltUi. t Sulanumdrina perspiciUata,

NATURA.L EISTOBT.

stones. When a sione, beneath which one is hiding, is first lifted up, the Desmognath is generally
surprised and dazed, and remains quiet for a few seconds. It must then be quickly seized, or it darts
off into the water and escapes.

" The metamorphoses of this species do not differ materially, so far as I have observed, from our
other Batrachia Urodela. The young are furnished with gill-tufts, and are entii-ely aquatic in habits.
When young they are lighter in colour than the adult, and often assume the colour of the mud or
sand of the stream they inhabit, and are thus not easily detected. The Brown Desmognath feeds
upon earthworms and insects. I found in the stomach of an individual three inches and a half in
length an earthworm over two inches long.

" The generic name, Desmognathus, means band, or ligature jaw, so called on account of the ten-
dinous ligament (one on each side) passing from the atlas over the parietal and pro-otic bones to the
jaw. This, like a ligamentum imchse, suj)ports, or rather, in this case, gives great power to the head,
which is necessary in pushing up stones when in search of the worms upon which it feeds.

" The stagnant water of the aquarium seems ill fitted for the life of this lover of spring brooks,
for we could never succeed in keeping them alive for more than a few weeks."

The history of the early life of these non-branchiate Amphibia with tails is interesting, and it
is very probable that some of the perennibranchiate Amphibia are really the larvae, or immature
forms, of others of this sub-order. This is evidently the case in the next family.

THE FAMILY AMBLYSTOMID^.
One of the most interesting of the Mexican Amphibians is the so-called Axolotl, or Sii-edoa,
which lives in the lake which surrounds the city of Mexico. They are like stout, short-legged Lizards
in shape, and are from eight to ten inches in length, and have short extremities, there being four
digits to the fore limbs and five to the hinder. The colour is dark grey, or almost black, with dark
spots, and there are three well-developed branchise on each side of the neck. There are teeth in

AXOLOTL IN THE EARLIER (a) AND I:

THE AXOLOTL. 376

the jaws, and two lines of tlieni on tlie vomer. Cuvier had doubts about placing the Axolotl
iunongst the Amphibia with persistent branchiie, l.mt he stated that so many witnesses gave evid.'nce
in favour of the branchiae not being lost during growth that he was obliged to do so. Time and
research have produced a curious history about these creatures, and have demonstrated their relation
to a perfect and non-branchiate form.

The Axolotles, furnished with gills, reproduce by laying eggs, and at first this was considered suffi-
cient to determine that they were perfect animals, and that no further growth or change was possible.
They were placed by zoologists in a genus of the perennibranchiate Amphibia. But in 1865 M. A,
Dumeril saw the Axolotles lose their brauchire, and become altered in shape. They resembled in this
tiie Tritons and Salamanders, or non-branchiate group, and they became Amblystomes, a kind of
Amphibian which had been known before. Some Axolotl eggs turned to creatures like the parent,
but after a while they lost their gills and became Amblystomes.

The Axolotles can thus become " by metamorphosis " Amblystomes,* or adult forms.

Subsequently Axolotles were watched, and the eggs they laid were placed, first, on diy ground,
secondly, in water, out of whicii the young could readily emerge. Out of those under the first condition
four tm-ned as usual to Axolotles, and two were born as perfect gill-less Amblystomes ; and under the
second four turned to Axolotles and one to an Amblystoma. Then an Amblystoma laid eggs, and
they were placed under the circumstances mentioned above, and many more Axolotles were pro-
duced than Amblystomes.

One of the Amblystomes thus obtained laid eggs on a certain 17th of April, and tadiwles were
soon produced, and they grew to four inches in length in tlu-ee months. They presented all the
characters of Axolotles, but the colour of the markings of the skin differed. It is evident that tlie
immature Amblystoma (the Axolotl) lays eggs, and that the perfect form (Amblystoma) is not sterile,
but can produce eggs, some of which develop into the usual larval or Axolotl forms, and others
into Amblystomes, and the surrounding conditions appear to have to do with the direction of this
evolution. The Amblystomes are numerous, and have the skin much folded on the body ; the tail is
thick and almost cylindrical at the base. They have palatine teeth, forming two transverse rows,
which are re-curved, and the tongue is large and fixed inferiorly.

The Mole Amblystomaf is a little short-tailed dweller in the light soils of the islands on the
coast of South Carolina, and its underground retreats can be discovered by the slight upheaval of the
earth which accompanies them.

The Tailed Amphibia are very sparingly disti-ibuted in India, and Dr. Gunther mentions one genus,
Cynops, which has species in China and Japan, and another, Plethodon, which is North American, and
has one species in Siam. Plethodon persimilis, from Siam, is so similar to Plethodon glutinosus, from
North America, that Dr. Gray stated that at a fir.st glance they might be considered to be identical.

Mr. Wood Mason has noticed a Newt from the Darjeeling Hills, and it is the first from British
India. It has horny matter accumulated at the jjoints where the ends of the ribs project against the
skin, as in the genus Pleurodeles.

SUB-ORDER ICHTHYOIDEA.

These are the lowest, so far as organisation is concerned, amongst the Tailed Ampliibia, and
present, as it were, the early life of the first sub-order, the Salamandrida;. The larval state of
these last is persistent in the adult lohthyoidea, wliich, more or less fish-like in construction,
have in the vertebral column remnants of the notochord, and the vertebral centra are concave in front
and behind. Even the teeth on the palate resemble those of fish. In one group of the sub-order
the branchi* are persistent, and there are always gill- clefts, and these are called the perenni-
branchiata, and in another the external branchiaj are not foimd in adult age, but there are gill-clefts.
These are the Derotremata.

The first group, the Perennibranchiata, have long bodies, short limbs, the hinder pair being
deficient in some, and the branchiae are persistent in all, and so, of course, are the gill-clefts.
Usually, there are no superior maxillary bones, and the palate is armed with rows of teeth, There
are three families, and the first is that of the Sirens {Sirenidce), of which the Siren is the type.
* Ambliistoma mexicanus. t Amblystoma talpoidea.

52a

£76 NATURAL HISTORY.

The stagnant waters and marshy ground of South Carolina, especially where rice is cultivated,
are frequented by a veiy eel-shaped creature of an olive or blackish colour.* It has the
anterior limbs, which are small, ill-developed, ajid bearing four digits each ; but there are no
hind limbs. The tail is flat from side to side, and there are on each side of the neck three
very visible gills, increasing in size from the first to the third, and bearing branchial branches.
Its eyes are small and covered with skin. The gape of the mouth is not great, and there is no
visible ear. Its lower jaw has a horny sheath and several rows of small teeth, and the upper
jaw is toothless, but there are teeth on the palate. It lives in the mud, and travels into the
water or on to the land occasionally, and it preys on earthworms and insects. In captivity it hides
in the mud and devours meal-worms. This lowly-organised Amphibian retains its branchia; and
gill-clefts, three in number, through life, and the blood corpu.scles are elliptical in outline, nucleated
and vast yi size, being ^jig of an inch in length. The lungs are bag-like and long. The Siren has
amphiccelous vertebree and small ill-developed ribs, and the wrist and the ankle are cartilaginous.

The usual length of the head is one inch, and of the body and tail eighteen inches, but they fre-
quently attain the length of three feet. This Siren is covered with a thick mucus, and has a disagree-
able smell. When it wishes to inspire it rises to the surface, about three times in twelve hours, and
it gets rid of some air under water about once in two hours. It is, however, only an occasional
inhabitant of water, and it prefers to live in moist clay or mud. They abound in the rice-fields,
being thrown out on the land at certain seasons, when the ditches are cleaned. Formerly they were
killed by the slaves, or mangled as being poisonous, and left to be devoured by birds and beasts of
prey. Sometimes they leave the soft mud in which they burrow, and take to the water, in which they
swim with great swiftness, and at others they go on dry land, but whether in search of food, or to rid
themselves of parasitic insects, cannot be determined. Their range is from 45° N.L. to East Florida.
They were first observed in South CaroUna, and Dr. Garden noticed to LinnKus that they lived in
dams and ponds.

FAMILY PROTEID.E.
The Eel-shaped Proteus is the type, and is found in Carniola and Dalmatia, living in the grea<
underground wet caves and subterranean lakes and streams of those remarkable districts. It
looks, when swimming, something like a Lizard, with small and very distinct hind and fore limbs,
but tfiere is a tuft of branchiae on each side of the neck. The creature is more than a foot in
length, and of the thickness of a finger, and the tail is compressed vertically. Tlie fore limbs have
three short digits, whilst tiie hind ones have two. Only two gill-clefts exist on each side, and there
are rudimentary lungs l>esides the branchise. They are flesh-coloured creatures, and the gills are coral
red, and the eyes are hidden in the skin, and are small, but useful. The blood corpuscles are
immense, and about fifteen times the size of those of man.t A rather long Ijut truncated snout is
seen, and the palatine teeth are m two long rows.

A thu-d family was formerly established to receive the remarkable North American genus
Menobranchus, but it is by no means certain that these creatures are not the larvse or the immature
condition of an Amblystome called Bati-achoceps. The Menobranchus lateralis is from the Mississippi,
and the Sjjotted Menobranchus % comes from Lake Champlain and elsewhere in the lake district
of North America. The first has a long body, a flat and broad head, a large compressed tail, curved
above. The eyes are small, the nostrils are in front, and the beautiful crimson-coloured branchise are
three in number on each side, and there are two clefts on each side of the neck. The tongue is
broad, entire, and free at the fore part, and there is a long, arched series of concentric teeth on the
palate, on the front of the vomerine bones. The lower jaw has a pointed set of teeth, and the lips
are fleshy. The extremities are four-cleft, and they are without claws. It is of a dusky ash-grey,
with dark spots, and there is a streak from the snout over the eyes. They were first caught in
baiting for Cat-fish, and were, of course, reputed poisonous, and much was made about them,
although they do not often measure a foot in length. They crawl on the floor of the water, or
swim with a serpentine movement, and feed on insects, worms, and shell-fish.

The second group of the Ichthyoidea, the Derotremata, is remarkable for not ha^-ing branchise

* Swen lacei'tina, t Proteus anguineus. % Menohramhus pumtatm.

THE AMPHIUMA.

MEXOliRANCHCS LATERALIS.

in adult age, and for liaving a gill-cleft on each side, and there are two fi\niilies of them. The first,
the Amphiumidse, is represented by the long eel-like Amphiuma, of which there are two species,
one with two and the other with three rudimentary digits. The first, Amphiuma meam, lives
in muddy waters, or in mud. Harlan says they have been found at Pensacola, tliree feet or more
deep in mud of the consistence of mortar, in which they burrowed like earthworms. They inhabit the
ditches of rice-fields, and feed on fish and the fresh-water Unio, on beetles, and other insects.
Sometimes they are found on dry land. North and South Carolina, Florida, Alabama, and Mississippi
are their commonest localities. The whole surface of the body is deep blue-black, tinged with
violet, and the lips and throat are light, and the belly is dark-coloured. The single branchial cleft
on each side is partly covered with a thin fold of skin. The body is eel-shaped, and the fore-limbs,
close to the gill-clefts, have two small fingers, and the hind ones have the same number of toes.
The tail is very long and compressed near the tip. The negroes call it the Congo Snake.

The other species, Amphiuma tridactyla, is so called from the number of its digits,,but it appears,
from the researches of Mr. Ryder, that the number of digits may vary in the same individual
Amphiuma ; there may be two or three. It is said that those with three digits invariably present
are restricted to the Southern United States, while the two-toed form is more widely distributed,
extending farther north, and also embracing the distribution of the former. Probably the distinction
attempted to be made between Amphiumse with two and three toes is of no great importance.

Another family, the Menopomidse, is represented by the Hellbender.* This ill-named Amphibian
has a large, flat, broad head, and the snout is fidl and rounded, and the body is short, thick, and
the tail is large, much compressed, and has a fin above. It is of a pale slate colour, mottled with
dusky tints. It is carnivorous and very voracious, feeding on fish, worms, and shell-fish. It is
found in the Alleghany river and its tributaries, and doubtless inhabits many of the branches of
the Ohio and Mississippi. The mouth is large and covered with fleshy lips. The tongue is thin,
broad, and flat, and is attached behind and below, and is free in front and at the sides. The
superior maxillary teeth are arranged in two concentric series. The nostrils are in front, and are
small, and the eyes are minute and black. The neck has a single gill-cleft at each side. The fore
* Miiiopoma aller/haniensis.

37S

NATURAL HISTORY.

limbs are .short, thick, and fringed, and there are four fingers and five webljed toes. The total
lengtli Ls eigliteeii inches to two feet.

There is usually a specimen of a gi-eat, flat, almost triangular-headed Amphibian, which belongs
to this fanii!}'-, with glistening white tips to its toes, in a glass case filled with water in the Zoological
(jiardens of London. It never seems to move, and a number of fish, supposed to be for its food,
swim about it with perfect unconcern. It is a large, flat. Lizard-like thing, with a great tail, flat
from side to side, and is nearly a yard in length. The eyes can scarcely be seen, and the dirty
brown-coloured skill is warty and leathery-looking. * No tranchial clefts can be seen, and there
are four toes in front and five behind. There is a kind of lobe behind the feet, and others on the
sides of the toes, and a curious leathery skin fold is on the flanks of the body. The tongue is not
distinct, and there are numerous palatine teeth.

It is a native of Japan, and is called after the naturalist Siebold Sieholdia (or Cryptohranchus)
japnnica, or is incluiled in a genus Cryptobranchus.

ORDER APODA.
Tlie last Amphibians to be noticed belong to this order, and have a serpentiform body, no limbs,
and there are little scale-like bodies covering them, which are embedded in the soft, true skin, forming
transverse rings. They have the shape and method of life of the Blind-worms, and of some of the
small Snakes which lead a subterranean life, burrowing in the ground and eating worms and
insects. But their internal anatomy distinguishes them readily. They have the eyes covered with
skin ; but all the anatomical parts of the eye are present, and vision takes place. Their mouth is

AN.NULATA.

EXTiyCT AMrHIBIA. 379

small, and situated on the lower surface of the head, and there are two rows of teeth on the uiandilile.
The two nostrils are well in front on the muzzle. One of them is found in the warmer |)arts of
North America, growing to the length of twenty-three inches,* and having the thickness of a good-
sized worm. It is agile under ground, moving in its own or other burrows ; but little is known
about its habits. It has some short conical teeth in the jaws and palatine bones, and has a little
pit on the head on each side beneath the nostril, which is i-ather projecting. Certainly, during
adult age, there are lungs, one, the right, being larger than the other, and there are no gill-clefts.
But J. Muller states that when young there are internal branchiae opening outwai-ds through a
cleft, in one kind, whilst it is certain that m other kinds the young are born breathing through
lungs. But Gervais and Peters state that large vesicles, branchial in character, are found on the
neck of the recently hatched individuals. The vertebrae are numerous and the centra are amphi-
cobIous, and they have minute ribs. As in the other Amphibians, there are two occipital condyles
to the skull and the hyoid bone, and the pei-sistence of its arches would indicate that there is
much to be learned regarding the early condition of these animals.

Mexico and the Brazils have another genus with a short muzzle and a l)road and annulated
body, and the ]nt is situated between the eye and the nostrils, t In Ceylon there is a flat-headed
species with a pit in front of each eye.t and in Cayenne one exists without this little place
at all.§

There are some peculiarities in the skulls of these burrowing worm-like Amphibia which
Huxley has pointed out were foreshadowed in the great extinct Labyrinthodontia of the early age
of Reptiles. The skull has a complete bony roof, and there is a quadrato-jugal bone besides the
membrane bone, or temporo-mastoid. There is also a bone which seems to be the side nose-cartilage
ossified, and another encircles the orbit, having no resemblance to any bone in the other living
Amphibia. Moreover, the palate bones sun-ound the back and outer edges of the inner nostrils.

CLASSIFICATION OF THE FAMILIES OF THE CLASS AMPHIBIA.

Order Anoura (Batrachia proper).

( Family Pipidse.
Sub-Order Aglossa ........ ] » Dactylethridaj.

( ,, JlyobatrachidaB.
Svb-Oeder Phaneroglossa. f Family Ranida?.

„ Pelo'oatidae.
j ,, BufonidiB.

Grovp Oxydactyla . \ „ Rhinophrynida),

„ Rhinodermatidaa.
I „ Engystomatidai.
( Family Hyfidie.
Group Discodactyla ...... | " Phyllomedusidaj.

( „ Dendiobatidaj.
Order Urodela,

( Family Molgida;.
^ ^ ^ 1 „ Salamandridae.

Sub-Order Salamandeika ...... < ^^ Plethodontidas.

( „ Amblystomidae.
Sub-Order Ichthyoidea. e Family Sirenids!.

Group Perennibranchiata . . . , . ^ " Proteidae.

(^ „ Menobranchidae,
( Family Amphiumidse,

Sub -Group Derotremata i „ Menopomidie.

Order Apoda Family Csecilidaj.

/ Group Ganocephal.i.
„ ,, ) 1, Labyrinthodontia.

Order Stegocephala . j ^ Braxchiosauria.

( „ Microsauria.

THE EXTINCT AMPHIBIA.

The most ancient Amphibia appear to have first lived during the Carboniferous age, and

all were tailed, had pleurodont teeth, simple in theii- construction, and apparently there were no

bony branchial arches present. The vertebral centra were ossified. Some were Lizard-like and

others were more vSerpentiform, and one genus probably had no limbs. They are the Microsauria

* Cacilia himWicoides. t Epicrium hypocyatiea. J Siphonops annulata. § Bhinatrema bivittata.

3S0 NATURAL BIS TOST.

(Dawson), and the genera Hylerpeton (Owen), Hylonomus (Dawson), Brachydices (Cope), and
Opliiderpeton (Huxley), are tyjjical. Associated with these, in the same formation, were the
Ganocephala of Owen. These were like Salamanders in shape, and they had branchial arches, and
the genera Archegosaurus and Dendrerpeton are tyj)ical genera. Numerous braiichiated flaUieaded
Branchiosauria (Fritsch) lived in the Carbo-Permian age, and they had simple teeth and the
usual accessory bones of the skull, relating' to the respiratory apparatus.

The Labyriuthodonts, with some alliances to the Apoda, had a very Crocodile-looking skull, but
covered over by ornamented plates. It was broad behind — in one instance two feet broad and three
feet long — had well-marked orbits, nostrils far in front, and long plates over the whole, very beauti-
fully ornamented with ridges and grooves. The gape was wide, and the upper and lower jaws
and palate bones wei-e provided with conical teeth, some much longer than others. The cement of
the tooth, instead of being folded around the tooth, is inflected or turned in, and not in a simple
straight direction, so as to present in a cross section the appearance of straight spokes to a wheel,
but in a curved and bent or serpentine direction. Moreover, the pulp cavity is subdivided into
many radiating and branching segments, so that the combination of the outer and inner markings
produces a most beautiful labyrinthic pattern. ■ This condition was foreshadowed in some of the
most ancient armour-plated fish, and is slightly noticed externally in some of the fossil marine
Reptilia. The limbs were feeble in relation to the body. The markings in the clay and sandstone
of Storton Hill, near Liverpool, as at Hessburg in Saxony, resemble " hands," and they are the
solid casts or impressions in relief of the five digits and claws of Labyi-inthodonts. The possessor
was called " Hand beast," or Chii-otherium. The limbs were Frog-lil:e to a certain extent, and
the chest and belly were protected with bony plates. The Labyrinthodonts were probably aii-
breathei-s in adult age only. Very Batrachian in their affinities, they were tailed, and there
were two occipital condyles, and ossified vertebrse. They lived in the Carboniferous, Permian,
and Triassic age,;.

The ornamentation of the bones of the face, jaws, and skull, was remarkable in some instances,
as was that of the bony skin i)lates; and the shape of the skull, elongate and Crocodilian in
some, was like that of a broad-headed Frog in others. Mastodonsaurus, Anthracosaurus, Pholi-
dogaster, Baphetes, Trematosaurus, Labyrinthodon, Brachyops, Bothriceps, and Odontosaunis are
well-known genera. The Microsauria, Ganocephala, Branchiosauria, and Labyrinthodontia, may
be united in the order Stegocephala (Cope).

The Tailed Amphibia have been found fossil in Tertiary strata, and one in particular, at
Qiningen, a great depository of fossils. It was so large and peculiarly formed that it was at
first considered to be a human skeleton, and its discoverer named it Homo dihwii testis. Cuvier,
however, showed that it had belonged to an Amphibian of a Salamander type. It is since called
after the discoverer Andrias scheucJizeri. It is a Sieboldia or Ciyptobranchus.

Tritons and small Salamanders have also been found fossil in Tertiary strata.

The genera Rana and Bombinator have been found represented by fossil species in early
Tertiary deposits, and the extinct genera Palseobatrachus, Palreophrynos, and Latonia, are of the
same and subsequent age.

P. Martin Duncan.

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