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REPTILES AND BIRDS.
AGES,
MIDDLE
TILE
IN
HAWKING
REPTILES AND BIRDS.
A POPULAR ACCOUNT OF THEIR VARIOUS
ORDERS,
WITH A DESCRIPTION OF
THE HABITS AND ECONOMY OF THE MOST INTERESTING.
Br, LOUIS FIGUIER,
AUTHOR OF “THE WORLD BEFORE THE DELUGE,” ‘‘THE VEGETABLE WORLD,”
“‘ THE INSECT WORLD,” ETC. ETC.
ILLUSTRATED WITH 307 WOODCUTS
bY MM. A. MESNEL, A. DE NEUVILLE. AND FE. RIOT
Edited and Adapted by
PARKER GILLMORE
(“UBIQUE”).
/ CORNELL’
UNIVERSITY;
\ LIBRARY
NEW YORK: DP. APPLETON AND CO
1870.
/ CORNELL
UNIVER RSITY
~ LIBRARY v4
LONDON:
PRINTED BY VIRTUE AND CO.,,
CITY ROAD.
PREFACE,
In presenting to the public this English version of Louis Ficuier’s
interesting work on Reptiles and Birds, I beg to state that where
alterations and additions have been made, my object has been
that the style and matter should be suited to the present state of
general knowledge, and that all classes should be able to obtain
useful information and amusement from the pages which I have
now the honour and pleasure of presenting to them.
On commencing my undertaking I was not aware of the
immensity of the labour to be done, and fear that I must have
relinquished my arduous task but for the kind encouragement of
Frank Bucxianp, Esq., Inspector of Salmon Fisheries, and Henry
Lex, Esq., F.L.8., F.G.8., &e., to both of whom I take this oppor-
tunity of returning my sincere thanks.
Ye 8
PARKER GILLMORE
(“ UBIQUE”’).
December, 1869.
Inrropuctory CHAPTER
CONTENTS.
REPTILES.
CHAPTER I.
AMPHIBIA, OR BATRACHIANS.
PAGE
Structural Distinctions 8
Intelligence . 13
Characteristics a)
Historical Antiquity 18
Distribution . 19
Frogs . . 19
Habits of Life ogee Se ee
Development of Young . . . . 22
Green nae oes 23
Common 23
Green Tree 24
Snakes .
Burrowing .
Ground .
Tree . r
Fresh-water
Sea
Innocuous .
its:
Shield-tail .
Black
Rat
Ringed .
Green and Yellow
Viperine
Desert
Whip .
Blunt- heads
Boas.
Diamond
Carpet .
CHAPTER II.
OPHIDIAN REPTILES,
38
42
43
43
43
43
46
46
47
49
49
49
62
52
53
54
56
56
59
59
PAGE
24 1
PAGE
Toads . 25
Natterjack . 26
Surinam . i 28
Land Salamanders : 31
Spotted . 382
Black Sao ‘ 33
Aquatic Salamanders . 33
Crested . 34
Gigantic 34
Transformations and Reproduction BY)
OR TRUE SNAKES.
Snakes—
Rock. « 61
Natal Rock 61
Guinea Rock . 61
Royal Rock 61
Aboma . 62
Anaconda . 65
Cobra 70
Asp . 75
Bungarus . 76
Pit Vipers . 78
Fer-de-lance . 79
Jararaca 80
Trimeresurus . 80
Rattle 82
Copperhead 82
Tic-polonga 88
Puff Adders F 89
Common Adder . 92
Vili
CHAPTER III.
THE ORDER OF LIZARDS—SAURIANS.
PAGE
Lizards, Distribution and Division . 99 Lizards—
Grey. , . 109 Gecko
Green . . 110 Chameleons
Ocellated . 110 Crocodiles .
Ameivas ae Jacares «
Iguanas. . 117 Alligators .
Basilisk . LF Caiman .
Anoles . ie Mag Ga aren L2G True.
Flying . ee haem ene ges Gavials .
CHAPTER IV.
CHELONIANS, OR SHIELDED REPTILES.
Formation . « « 15S
Distribution and ‘Classification . fe oe UOT, Mud.
Tortoises . ~ 158 Emydes.
Land .. . 158 Pleuroderes
Margined . . 159
Moorish . . 159 Trionyx
Greek + 160
Elephantine . 160 Green.
Genus Pyxis . » 161 Hawk’s-bill
Ditto Kinixys + AGL Loggerhead
Homopodes = LOL Leather-back .
Anatomy .
Plumage
Beaks :
Digestive Organs
Powers of Sight
Vocal Organs
Divers .
Great Northern :
Imbrine
Arctic . .
Black- throated
Red-throated .
CONTENTS.
Elodians, or Marsh Tortoises :
Potamians, or River Tortoises :
Thalassians, or Sea Tor Poise:
BIRDS.
INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER.
. 181
- 184
» 139
» » 191
« « 198
+ 195
Nests
Reproduction
Longevity
Utility ‘
Classification .
CHAPTER I.
THE NATATORES, OR SWIMMING BIRDS.
» 212
. 213
- 216
. 216
. 216
. 217
Penguins .
Manchots .
Grebes .
Castanean .
Crested .
Guillemots
PAGE
. 134
. 136
. 141
. 146
. 146
Fae 4
. 149
. 163
+ 197
. 201
. 203
. 205
. 207
Mallard ..
Golden-eyed Garnet
Poachard .
Shoveller .
Shieldrake
Eider Duck
Common Teal
Velvet Duck .
Scoter, Black.
Great-billed
Goosander
Smew .
Goose .
Wild.
Bean. .
Domestic
Bernicle
PEIN ss
Little . .
Noddy :
Silver-winged
Arctic .
Whiskered
Gull-billed
Roseate .
Sandwich
Caspian .
Scissors-bills .
Large White- winged ‘
Gre at Black- backed.
Herring
Sea Mews. .
White, or Senator
Brown- -masked
aughing .
Grey.
Palmidactyles :
Flamingo .
Avocet .
Stilt Bird
Macrodactyles :
Water Hens. .
Common
Rails
Purple, or Sultana F Fowl a.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER II.
DUCKS, GEESE, SWANS, AND PELICANS.
PAGE
. 232
. 242
Goose—
White-fronted Bernicle
Swan ‘
Whooping .
Black
Frigate Bird .
Tropic Bird .
Darter .
Gannet
Cormorant
Shag
Pelicans
White
Crested .
Brown
Spectacled .
CHAPTER III.
THE LARIDZ.
. 299
. 301
. 802
. 802
. 802
- 803
- 808
. 303
. 803
. 803
» 803
. 804
. 804
- 306
. 806
. 306
. 804
. 807
. 3807
. 807
. 308
Skua
Parasite :
Richardson’s .
Pomerine
Common
Petrels .
Giant
Chequered .
Fulmar .
Stormy .
Blue.
Pufiins .
Grey.
English .
Brown .
Albatross .
Common .
Black- browed.
Brown .
Yellow and Black- beaked ;
CHAPTER IV.
. 317
. 820
. 821
» 822
. 823
. 824
- 825
GRALLATORES, OR WADING BIRDS.
Coots
Bald. «
Crested .
Blue.
Glareola
Jacana .
Kamichi
Horned .
Faithful
ix
. 308
. 809
. 809
. 309
. 310
. 310
. 8ll
. 8ll
. sll
. sll
. 312
. 312
. 812
. 312
- 812
. 812
. 314
. 314
. 814
. 314
- 326
328
- 828
- 828
- 828
- 828
- 830
. 3832
+ 802
Longirostres :
Sandpipers
Brown
Greenshank
Redshank .
Pond
Wood
Green
Common
Turnstone.
Ruff
Knot
Sanderlings
Woodcock
Snipe
Common
Great
Jack .
Wilson’s
Godwit
Curlew
This .
Sacred
Green .
Scarlet .
Cultrivostres :
Spoonbills
White
Rose-coloured
Storks .
White
Black
Argala.
Jabiru. .
Ombrette .
Bec-ouvert
Drome .
Habits, origin, &e. .
TLetraonide :
Capercailzie .
Grouse, Black
Pinnated
Pouiied) << |:
Cock of the Plains.
Gelinotte
Ptarmigans
Common
Red Grouse
Perdicides :
Gangas
Pin- ‘tailed Ss: and | Grouse x
Heterochtes
Quails .
Partridges
Grey
CONTENTS.
eo eo G9 CO OY GO OO 02 GO GO CO
On Gr Gr Or Gr Or Or Gr Or Gr Or
oowuwonntwohd wb
Tantalus
Boatbill
Herons.
Common
Purple .
White
Bitterns
Crane ,
Ash- coloured .
Demoiselle
Crested .
Hooping
Caurale
Pressivostres +
Cariama ae
Oyster-catchers .
Runners
Lapwings .
Plovers .
Great La md
Doterel .
Ringed .
Kentish
Golden .
Pluvian
Bustard
Great
Brevipenne :
Ostrich
Rhea
Cassowary
Emu
Apteryx ‘
Ketinet Brevi. (penne :
Dodo F
Epiornis
Dinornis
CHAPTER V.
GALLINACEOUS BIRDS,
. 899
. 401
. 402
. 402
- 403
. 402
» 403
. 404
. 404
» £05
« 405
. 406
. £06
. 406
. 410
. 416
Partridges, Red-legged
Gambra
Colin, Virginian
Californian
Solitary
Francolins
Chinese
European . .
African and Indian .
Coturnix .
Turnix tachy drom: L.
Tinamides
Chionida .
Megapodide .
Phasianide :
Pheasants
Common
Golden .
Pheasants—
Silver -
Ring-necked .
Reeves’s
Lady Amherst’ s.
PAT BUS) esas cer oe
Gallus .
Common
Bankiva
Jungle-fowl
Bronzed.
Fork-tailed
Kulm
Negro
Tragopans
Pintados .
Turkeys
Wild
Domestic
Ocellated .
Peacocks .
Domestic
Wild
Polyplectrons
Parrots
Macaw .
Parrakeets
Tabuan. :
Parrot, Grey .
Green
Cockatoos .
Toucans
Proper .
Aracaris
Cuckoos
Syndactyles :
Hornbills .
Rhinoceros
Fly-catchers .
Kingfishers .
Ceyx Meninting
Bee-eaters
Common
Momots
Tenuirostres :
Hoopoes
Epimachus
Promerops
Colibri .
Proper .
Humming-birds ;
CONTENTS.
PAGE
- 425
. 427
- 427
. 427
« 427
. 427
- 427
- 429
- 429
. 429
« 429
- 429
Pe)
- 485
» 435
- 437
- 437
. 440
. 441
. 441
- 442
» 444
. 444
Impeyan Pheasants
Alectors
Hocco, or Curassow
Pauxis . as ae ke
Penelopes, or Guans
Hoazins .
Columbide :
Colombi-Gallines
Pigeons (Colombes)
Ring or Wood
Wild Rock
Common Domestic .
Pouter
Roman .
Swift
Carrier .
Tumbler
Wheeling .
Num... 4
Fan-tailed .
Turtle Dove .
Ring Dove
Passenger .
Columbars
CHAPTER VI.
SCANSORES, OR CLIMBERS.
. 457
- 464
» 465
. 465
. 466
. 466
. 466
. 467
. 468
. 469
. 469
Cuckoos—
Grey
Indicators
Anis.
Barbets
Trogons
Resplendent
Mexican
‘Woodpeckers
Wry-necks
Jacamars .
CHAPTER VII.
PASSERINES.
« 482
. 483
. 483
. 484
. 486
. 486
. 488
. 487
. 488
. 490
- 490
. 491
. 491
. 491
Creepers
Picumnus .
Furnarius.
Sucriers
Soui-mangas.
Nuthatches
Conirostres ¢
Birds of Paradise .
Great Emerald
King Bird
Superb .
Sifilets .
Crows .
Raven
Carrion .
Royston
x1
PAGE
. 444
- 444
. 444
. 446
. 446
- 446
. 447
. 448
. 450
. 450
. 450
. 451
. 451
. 459
. 452
. 452
. 452
. 452
. 452
. 453
. 458
. 453
. 456
Crows—
Rook
Jackdaw
Magpies
Common
Brazilian
Chinese
Jays ~ 5
Nut-cracker .
Rollers.
Starlings .
Common
Sardinian .
Baltimore Oriole
Beetf-eater
Crossbill
Grosbeak .
Bullfinch .
Siskin . ‘
House Sparrow .
Goldfinch .
Linnets
Chaffinch .
Canary.
Widow Bird .
Java Sparrow
Weaver Birds
Republican
Buntings .
Reed ,
Cirl .
Ortolan .
Snow
Tis. s
Great...
Long-tailed
Tarks . .
Crested Lark .
Fissivostres ¢
Swallow
Salangane .
Goatsuckers .
Night-jar
Guacharos
Nocturnal :
Horned Owls
Great
Virginian .
Short-eared
Ketupu .
Scops j
Hornless Owls
Sparrow :
Sinall Sparrow
CONTENTS.
Dentivostres :
Manakins. .
Cock of the Rock
Warblers .
Nightingale
Sedge Warbler
Night Warbler
La Fauvette Couturitre
Garden .
Robin
Wrens. .
Golden- crested
European
Wood
Stone Chat
Wagtails
Pied .
Quaketail .
Pipits
Lyretail
Orioles .
Golden
Mino
Honey- sucker
Ouzel, Rose-colour ed
Water ay
Solitary Thrush .
Blackbird, Common
Ringed .
Solitary . <
Thrush, Poly glot
Song .
Redwi ing
Tanagers
Drongos
Coting as
Caterpillar- cater «
Chatterers .
Fly-catchers
Tyrants
Ce phalopterus ornatt tus .
Shrikes .
Vangas . z
Cassicus . . -
CHAPTER VIII.
RAPTORES,
OR BIRDS OF PREY.
. 576
. 576
. 679
. 679
. 681
. 581
. 683
. 683
« 684
Hornless Owls—
Pampas Sparrow
Burrowing
Tawny .
Barn
Canada .
Hawk
White
Caparacoch
Harfang
GTrOr HO ANN NC
Or Gr Gr Sr Gr Ye C
Or Or Sr Or Gr Gr Sr Gr Gr
Dwr
ok mor)
PMRRANDNDD
SoC OOO AN
(Yo Ta)
Hornless Owls—
Lapland
Ural .
Diurnal:
Eagles .
Royal
Imperial
Bonelli’s
Tawny .
Booted . ,
Reinwardt’s
Vulturine .
Sea Eagles
European .
American .
Marine .
Piscivorous
Caftir ‘
Mace’s .
Pondicherry
Indian .
Osprey .
Huppart
Falco urubitinga
Harpy .
White- bellied “Eagle
Falcons
Gyrfalcons
White
Iceland .
Norway
Falcons
Lanier .
Sultan
Peregrine .
Hobby .
Merlin .
Kestrel .
Bengal .
Goshawk . ee
Sparrow-hawks. .
Common
Dwarf .
CONTENTS.
PAGE
. 591
. O91
- 592
« 602
. 602
- 602
. 602
- 602
- 602
. 602
- 602
- 603
. 604
- 604
- 604
« 604
- 604
- 604
+ 604
« 605
. 606
- 606
- 606
- 607
- 608
- 608
« 609
. 609
. 609
» 61
. 610
- 610
. 610
- 613
- 613
. 613
- 613
« 622
. 623
. 623
- 623
Sparrow-hawks—
Chanting Falcon
Kites eS
Common
Black
Parasite
American .
Buzzards .
Common
Honey . .
Rough- legged
Harriers i
Hen.
Moor
Frog-eating
Pale-chested .
Jardine’s . .
Ash-coloured .
Caracaras .
Brazilian
Chimango .
Long-winged .
Chimachima .
Funebris
Vultures
Griffons
Bearded .
Sarcoramphi .
Condor . :
King Vulture .
Cathartes .
Urubu ,
Turkey Buzzard .
Common Vulture
Percnopterus
Vulture, Pondicherry ;
Kolbe’ Ss
Yellow .
Sociable .
Chinese .
Oricou
Serpent-eaters
Secretary Bird
ERRATA.
Phasianus cristatus indicus, in page 448, should be attributed to Brisson,
not Latham.
The synonym for Ring Pigeon, in page 448, should be Columba palumbus.
Woodcut 182 represents the Stock Dove, erroneously named Wood
Pigeons in page 450.
REPTILES AND BIRDS.
INTRODUCTORY.
Ture is little apparent resemblance between the elegant feathered
warbler which makes the woods re-echo to its cheerful song, and
the crawling reptile which is apt to inspire feelings of disgust when
the more potent sensation of terror is absent—between the familiar
Swallow, which builds its house of clay under the eaves of your
roof, or the warbler whose nest, with its young progeny, care-
fully watched by the father of the brood in the silent watches of
the night, is now threatened by the Serpent which has glided so
silently into the bush, its huge mouth already open to swallow
the whole family, while the despairing and fascinated parents
have nothing but their slender bills to oppose to their formid-
able foe. ‘Placed side by side,’ says Professor Huxley, ‘a
Humming-bird and a Tortoise, or an Ostrich and a Crocodile,
offer the strongest contrast; and a Stork seems to have little
but its animality in common with the Snake which it swallows.”
Nevertheless, unlike as they are in outward appearance, there
is sufficient resemblance in their internal economy to bring them
together in most attempts at a classification of the Animal King-
dom. The air-bladder which exists between the digestive canal
and kidneys in some fishes, becomes vascular with the form
and cellular structure of lungs in reptiles; the heart has two
auricles, the ventricle in most is imperfectly divided, and more
or less of the venous blood is mixed with the arterial which
circulates over the body; but retaining their gills and being
therefore transitional in structure, they are also cold-blooded. In
B
2 INTRODUCTORY.
birds, the lungs are spongy, the cavity of the air-bags becoming
obliterated by the multiplication of vascular cellules; the heart
is four-chambered, transmitting venous blood to the lungs, and
pure arterial blood to the body; the temperature is raised and
maintained at 90° to 100° Fahr.
Thus Reptiles, like Birds, breathe the common air by means
of their lungs, but respiration is much less active. ‘ Although,”
remarks Professor Owen, “the heart of Birds resembles in some
particulars that of Reptiles, the four cavities are as distinct as
in the Mammalia, but they are relatively stronger, their valvular
mechanism is more perfect, and the contractions of this organ
are more forcible and frequent in birds, in accordance with
their more extended respiration and their more energetic mus-
cular action.” It is true, as Professor Huxley informs us, that the
pinion of a bird, which corresponds with the human hand or the
fore paw of a reptile, has three points representing three fingers :
no reptile has so few.* The breast-bone of a bird is converted
into membrane-bone: no such conversion takes place in reptiles.
The sacrum is formed by a number of caudal and dorsal vertebre.
In reptiles the organ is constituted by one or two sacral vertebree.
In other respects the two classes present many obvious dif-
ferences, but these are more superficial than would be suspected at
first glance. And Professor Huxley believes that, structurally,
“reptiles and birds do really agree much more closely than birds
with mammals, or reptiles with amphibians.”
While most existing birds differ thus widely from existing rep-
tiles, the cursorial or struthious genera, comprising the Ostrich,
Nandou, Emu, Cassowary, Apteryx, and the recently extinct
Dinornis of New Zealand, come nearer to the reptiles in structure
than any others. All of these birds are remarkable for the short-
ness of their wings, the absence of a crest or keel upon the breast-
bone, and some peculiarities of the skull, which render them more
peculiarly reptilian. But the gap between reptiles and birds is
only slightly narrowed by their existence, and is somewhat unsatis-
factory to those who advoeate the development theory, which
asserts that all animals have proceeded, by gradual modification,
from a common stock.
* Vide, however, p. 8.—Ep.
CONNECTING LINKS IN CLASSIFICATION, 3
Traces had been discovered in the Mesozoic formations of certain
Ornitholites, which were too imperfect to determine the affinities
of the bird. But the calcareous mud of the ancient sea-bottom,
which has hardened into the famous lithographic slate of Solen-
hofen, revealed to Hermann von Meyer, in 1861, first the impression
of a feather, and, in the same year, the independent discovery
of the skeleton of the bird itself, which Von Meyer had named
Archeopteryx lithographicus. This relic of a far-distant age now
adorns the British Museum.
The skull of the Archzeopteryx is almost lost, but the leg, the foot,
the pelvis, the shoulder-girdle, and the feathers, as far as their struc-
ture can be made out, are completely those of existing birds. On
the other hand, the tail is very long. Two digits of the manus
have curved claws, and, to all appearance, the metacarpal bones are
quite free and disunited, exhibiting, according to Professor Huxley,
closer approximation to the reptilian structure than any existing
bird. Mr. Evans has even detected that the mandibles were pro-
vided with a few slender teeth.
On the other hand, the same writer points out certain peculiari-
ties in the single reptile found also among the Solenhofen slates,
which has been described and named Compsognathus longipes by the
B2
4 INTRODUCTORY.
late Andreas Wagner. This reptile he declares “to be a still
nearer approximation to the missing link between reptiles and
birds,” thus narrowing the gap between the two classes.
While we think it proper to point to these structural resem-
blances of one class of the animal creation to others very different
in their external appearance, it is necessary to guard ourselves
and our readers from adopting the inferences sometimes deduced
from them; that “these infinitely diversified forms are merely
the final terms in an immense series of changes which have been
brought about in the course of immeasurable time, by the operation
of causes more or less similar to those which are at work at the
present day.” Domestication and other causes have no doubt
produced changes in the form of many animals; but none from
which this inference can be drawn, except in the imagination of
ingenious men who strain the facts to support a preconceived
hypothesis. In spite of the innumerable forms which the pigeon
assumes by cross-breeding and domestication, it still remains a
pigeon; the dog is still a dog, and so with other animals. Nor
does it seem to us to be necessary, or calculated to advance our
knowledge in natural history, to form theories which can only
disturb our existing systems without supplying a better. Systems
are necessary for the purpose of arrangement and identification ;
but it should never be forgotten that all classifications are artificial
—a framework or cabinet, into the partitions of which many facts
may be stowed away, carefully docketed for future use. “ Theories,”
says Le Vaillant, ‘‘are more easily made and more brilliant probably
than observations; but it is by observation alone that science can
be enriched.” A bountiful Creator appears to have adopted one
general plan in the organization of all the vertebrate creation :
and, in order to facilitate their study, naturalists have divided
them into classes, orders, and genera, formed on the differences
which exist in the structure of their vital functions. The advan-
tages of this are obvious, but it does not involve the necessity of
fathoming what is unfathomable, of explaining what is to —
inexphcable in the works of Gon.*
* This, however, is a subject upon which naturalists of the highest rank hold
different opinions, many of those most highly qualified to form a
t correct judgment
advocating the tenets propounded by Mr. Charles Darwin.—Ep. :
CONNECTING LINKS IN CLASSIFICATION. 5
In previous volumes of this series* we have endeavoured to give
the reader some general notions of the form, life, and manners
of the branches of the animal kingdom known as Zoophytes,
Mollusca, Articulata, and Pisces. We now continue the superior
sub-kingdom (to which the fishes also belong) of the Vertebrated
Animals, so called from the osseous skeleton which encircles their
bodies, in which the vertebral column, surmounted by the cranium,
its appendage, forms the principal part.
The presence of a solid frame in this series of animals admits of
their attaining a size which is denied to any of the others. The
skeleton being organized in such a manner as to give remarkable
vigour and precision to all their movements.
In the vertebrated animals the nervous system is also more
developed. There is, consequently, a more exquisite sensibility in
them than in the classes whose history we have hitherto discussed.
They possess five senses, more or less fully developed, a heart, a
circulation, and their blood is red.
We have now to deal with a class advanced above that of fishes,
that of Reptilia, which is divided as follows :—
AmpuiprAa—(Barracuia, Cuv.)
Animals having ribs or processes, or short, slight, and free ver-
tebrx, forming a series of separate centrums, deeply cupped at
both ends, one of which is converted by ossification in the mature
animal into a ball, which may be the front one, as in the Surinam
Toad, Pipa, or the hind ones in the Frogs and Toads, Rana. The
skin is nude, limbs digitate, gills embryonal,—permanent in some,
in most lost in metamorphosis, — to be succeeded by pulmonary
respiration,—or both; a heart with one ventricle and two auricles.
They consist of :—
I, OPHIOMORPHA.
Czeciliadze or Ophiosome.
Il. IcruyoMorPHa.
Proteidee or Sirens, Proteus, Newts, and Salamanders.
* “The Ocean World,” from the French of Louis Figuier. “The Insect World,”
from the I'rench of the same author.
6 INTRODUCTORY.
III. THERIOMORPHA.
Aglossa . . . Pipa or Surinam Toads.
Ranide . . . Frogs.
Hylide . . . Tree Frogs.
Bufonide . . Toads.
CHELONIA, OR TURTLES.
Distinguished by the double shield in which their bodies are
enclosed, whether they are terrestrial, fresh-water, or marine.
The Turtles, Chelonia, have the limbs natatory.
Mud Turtles, 7rionyx, limba amphibious.
Terrapens, Emys,
Tortoises, T'estudo, limbs terrestrial.
LAcERTILIA.
Having a single transverse process on each side, single-headed
ribs, two external nostrils, eyes with movable lids; body covered
with horny, sometimes bony, scales.
Lacerta—the Monitors, Crocodiles, Lizards; haying ambulatory limbs.
Anguis—Ophisaurus, Bimanus, Chalcides, Seps ; limbs abortive; no sacrum.
OPHIDIA.
Having numerous vertebree with single-headed hollow ribs, no
visible limbs, eyelids covered by an immovable transparent lid;
body covered by horny scales. It includes :—
Viperine—the Vipers and Crotalidee.
Colubring@—the Colubers, Hydride, and Boide.
CrocopILta.
Teeth in a single row, implanted in distinct sockets; body de-
pressed, elongated, protected on the back by solid shield; tail
longer than the trunk, compressed laterally, and furnished with
crests above. The several families are :—
Crocodilide—the Gavials, Mecistops, Crocodiles.
Alligatoride—Jacares, Alligators, Caiman.*
* By some naturalists the Amphibia are considered as a distinct class, by other
as a sub-class either of Reptilia or of Pisces. Of the reptiles proper (at present
existing), the arrangement into the orders Testudinata (or Tortoises), Sarria (or
Lizards), and Ophidia (or Snakes), is the one most generally adopted; but De Blain-
ville elevates the Loricata (or Crocodiles) to the rank of an order, and others have
adopted a division of corresponding rank, Sawrophidia, for the Anguis series above
referred to; but the latter are merely limbless Lizards (or with abortive limbs) akin
to the Scinques.—Ep.
CHAPTER I.
AMPHIBIA, OR BATRACHIANS.
THosE geographers who divide the world into land and sea over-
look in their nomenclature the extensive geographical areas
which belong permanently to neither section—namely, the vast
marshy regions on the margins of lakes, rivers, and ponds, which
are alternately deluged with the overflow of the adjacent waters,
and parched and withering under the exhalations of a summer
heat; regions which could only be inhabited by beings capable of
living on land or in water; beings having both gills through
which they may breathe in water, and lungs through which
they may respire the common air. The first order of reptiles
possesses this character, and. hence its name of Amphibia, from
appifios, having a double life.
The transition from fishes to reptiles is described by Professor
Owen, with that wonderful power of condensation which he possesses,
in the following terms :—“ All vertebrates during more or less of
their developmental life-period float in a liquid of similar specific
gravity to themselves. A large proportion, constituting the lowest
organised and first developed forms of this province, exist and
breathe in water, and are called fishes. Of these a few retain the
primitive vermiform condition, and develop no limbs; in the rest
they are ‘fins’ of simple form, moving by one joint upon the
body, rarely adapted for any other function than the impulse
or guidance of the body through the water. The shape of the
body is usually adapted for moving with least resistance through
the liquid medium. The surface of the body is either smooth
and lubricous or it is smoothly covered with overlapping scales ; it
is rarely defended by bony plates, or roughened by tubercles.
8 BATRACHIANS.
Still more rarely it is armed with spines.” Passing over the
general economy of fishes we come to the heart. “The heart,”
he tells us, “consists of one auricle receiving the venous blood,
and one ventricle propelling it to the gills or organs submitting
that blood in a state of minute subdivisions to the action of
aérated water. From the gills the aérated blood is carried over
the entire body by vessels, the circulation being aided by the
contraction of the surrounding muscles.”
The functions of gills are described by the Professor with great
minuteness. ‘The main purpose of the gills of fishes,” he says,
‘being to expose the venous blood in this state of minute sub-
division to streams of water, the branchial arteries rapidly divide
and sub-divide until they resolve themselves into microscopic
capillaries, constituting a network in one plane or layer, supported
by an elastic plate, covered by a tesselated and non-ciliated epithe-
lium. This covering and the tunics of the capillaries are so thin as
to allow chemical interchange and decomposition to take place
between the carbonated blood and the oxygenated water. The
requisite extent of the respiratory field of capillaries is gained by
various modes of multiplying the surface within a limited space.”
“Rach pair of processes,’’ he adds, “ has its flat side turned towards
contiguous pairs, and the two processes of each pair stand edgeway
to each other, being commonly united for a greater or less extent
from their base; hence Cuvier describes each pair as a single
bifurcated plate, or ‘feuillet.’ ”
The modification which takes place in the respiratory and
other organs in Reptilia, is described in a few words. ‘“ Many
fishes have a bladder of air between the digestive canal and the
kidneys, which in some communicate with an air-duct and the
gullet ; but its office is chiefly hydrostatic. When on the rise of
structure this air-bladder begins to assume the vascular and
pharyngeal relations with the form and cellular structure of
lungs, the limbs acquire the character of feet: at first thread-
like and many jointed, as in the Lepidosiren ; then bifureate, or
two-fingered, with the elbow and wrist joints of land animals,
as in Amphiuma ; next, three-fingered, as in Proteus, or four-
fingered, but reduced to the pectoral pair, as in Siren.’
In all reptiles the blood is conveyed from the ventricular part
STRUCTURAL DISTINCTIONS. 9
of the heart, really or apparently, by a single trunk. In Lepi-
dosiren the veins from the lung-like air-bladders traverse the
auricle which opens directly into the ventricle. In some the vein
dilates before communicating with the ventricle into a small
auricle, which is not outwardly distinct’ from the much larger
auricle receiving the veins of the body. In Proteus the auricular
system is incomplete. In Amphiuma the auricle is smaller and
less fringed than in the Sirens, the ventricle being connected to
the pericardium by the apex as well as the artery. This forms a
half spiral turn at its origin, and dilates into a broader and
shorter bulb than in the Sirens.
“The pulmonic auricle,” continues the learned Professor, “ thus
augments in size with the more exclusive share taken by the lungs
in respiration; but the auricular part of the heart shows hardly
any outward sign of its diversion in the Batrachians. It is small
and smooth, and situated on the left, and in advance of the ventricle
in Newts and Salamanders. In Frogs and Toads the auricle is
applied to the base of the ventricle, and to the back and side of
the aorta and its bulb.”
In the lower members of the order, the single artery from the
ventricle sends, as in fishes, the whole of the blood primarily to the
branchial organs, during life, and in all Batrachians at the earlier
aquatic periods of existence. In the Newt three pairs of external
gills are developed at first as simple filaments, each with its
capillary loop, but speedily expanding, lengthening, and branching
into lateral processes, with corresponding looplets; those blood-
channels intercommunicating by a capillary network. The gill is
covered by ciliated scales, which change into non-ciliated
cuticle shortly before the gills are absorbed. In the Proteus
anguinus, three parts only of branchial and vascular arches are
developed, corresponding with the number of external gills. In
Siren lacertina the gills are in three pairs of branchial arches,
the first and fourth fixed, the second and third free, increasing in
size according to their condition.
The Amputpra, then, have all, at some stage of their existence,
both gills and lungs co-existent: respiring by means of branchia
or gills while in the water, and by lungs on emerging into the
open air.
10 BATRACHIANS.
All these creatures seem to have been well known to the
ancients. The monuments of the Egyptians abound in represen-
tations of Frogs, Toads, Tortoises, and Serpents. Aristotle was
well acquainted with their form, structure, and habits, even to
their reproduction. Pliny’s description presents his usual amount
of error and exaggeration. Darkness envelops their history
during the middle ages, from which it gradually emerges in the
early part of the sixteenth century, when Belon and Rondi-
letius in France, Salviani in Italy, and Conrad Gesner in Switzer-
land, devoted themselves to the study of Natural History with
great success. In the latter part of the same century Aldrovandi
appeared. During fifty years he was engaged in collecting
objects and making drawings, which were published after his
death, in 1640, edited by Professor Ambrossini, of Bologna,
the Reptiles forming two volumes. In these volumes, twenty-two
chapters are occupied by the Serpents. But the first arrange-
ment which can be called systematic was that produced by John
tay. This system was based upon the mode of respiration, the
volume of the eggs, and their colour.
Numerous systems have since appeared in France, Germany,
and England; but we shall best consult our readers’ interest by
briefly describing the classification adopted by Professor Owen,
the learned Principal of the British Museum, in his great work
on the Vertebrata.
The two great classes Batrachians and Reptiles, include a
number of animals which are neither clothed with hair, like the
Mammalia, covered with feathers like the birds, nor furnished
with swimming fins like fishes. The essential character of rep-
tiles is, that they are either entirely or partially covered with
scales. Some of them—for instance, Serpents—move along the
ground with a gliding motion, produced by the simple contact
and adhesion of the ventral scales with the ground. Others, such
as the Tortoises, the Crocodiles, and the Lizards, move by means
of their feet; but these, again, are so short, that the ‘anemele
almost appear to crawl on the ground—however sw iftly, in some
instances. The locomotive organs in Serpents are the vertebral
column, with its muscles, ae the stiff epidermal scutes crossing
the under surface of the body. ‘A Serpent may, however, be
TADPOLE LIFE. 11
seen to progress,” says Professor Owen, “without any inflection,
gliding slowly and with a ghost-like movement in a straight line,
and if the observer have the nerve to lay his hand flat in the
reptile’s course, he will feel, as the body glides over the palm,
the surface pressed as it were by the edges of a close-set series of
paper knives, successively falling flat after each application.”
Others of the class, such as the Tortoises, Crocodiles, and Lizards,
move by the help of feet, which are generally small and feeble—
in a few species being limited to the pectoral region, while in
most both pairs are present. In some, as in various Lizards, the
limbs acquire considerable strength.
There is one genusof small Lizards, known as the Dragons, Dr aco,
whose movements present an exception to the general rule. Besides
their four feet, these animals are furnished with a delicate mem-
branous parachute, formed by a prolongation of the skin on the
flanks and sustained by the long slender ribs, which permits of
their dropping from a considerable height upon their prey.
Batrachians, again, differ from most other Reptilia by being
naked: moreover, most of them undergo certain metamorphoses ;
in the first stage of their existence they lead a purely aquatic
life, and breathe by means of gills, after the manner of fishes.
Young Frogs, Toads, and Salamanders, which are then called tad-
poles, have, in short, no resemblance whatever to their parents in
the first stage of their existence. They are little creatures with
slender, elongated bodies, destitute of feet and fins, but with large
heads, which may be seen swimming about in great numbers in
stagnant ponds, where they live and breathe after the manner
of fishes. By degrees, however, they are transformed: their
limbs and air-breathing lungs are gradually developed, then
they slowly disappear, and a day arrives when they find themselves
conveniently organized for another kind of existence; they burst
from their humid retreat, and betake themselves to dry land.
“The tadpole meanwhile being subject to a series of changes in
every system of organs concerned in the daily needs of the coming
aérial and terrestrial existence, still passes more or less time in
water, and supplements the early attempt at respiration by pullu-
lating loops and looplets of capillaries from the branchial vessels.”’
(Owen.)
12 BATRACHIANS.
Nevertheless, they do not altogether forget their native
element; thanks to their webbed feet, they can still traverse the
waters which sheltered their infancy; and when alarmed by any
unusual noise, they rush into the water as a place of safety, where
they swim about in apparent enjoyment. In some of them, as
Proteus and the amphibious Sirens, where the limbs are confined
to the pectoral region, swimming seems to be the state most natural
to them. They are truly amphibious, and they owe this double
existence to the persistence of their gills; for in these perenni-
branchiate Batrachians, arteries are developed from the last pair
of branchial arches which convey blood to the lungs: while,
in those having external deciduous gills, the office being dis-
charged, they lose their ciliate and vascular structure and disap-
pear altogether. The skull in Reptiles generally consists of the
same parts as in the Mammalia, though the proportions are dif-
ferent. The skull is flat, and the cerebral cavity, small as it is, is
not filled with brain. The vertebral column commences at the
posterior part of the head, two condyles occupying each side of the
vertebral hole (Fig. 2). The anterior limbs are mostly shorter than
the posterior, as might be expected of animals whose progression
is effected by leaps. Ribs there arenone. The sternum is highly
developed, and a large portion of it is cartilaginous ; it moves in
its mesial portions the two clavicles and two coracoid bones,
which fit on to the scapula, the whole making a sort of hand which
supports the anterior extremities, and an elongated disk which
supports the throat, and assists in deglutition and respiration. The
bone of the arm (Awmerus) is single, and long in proportion to the
fore arm. In the Frogs (Rana), the ilic bone is much elongated,
and is articulated in a movable manner on the sacrum, so that the
two heads of the thigh bones seem to be in contact. The femur,
or thigh, is much lengthened and slightly curved, and the bones
of the leg so soldered together as to form a single much elongated
bone.
The respiration of Reptiles and some of the Batrachians, like that
of Birds and Mammals, is aérial and pulmonary, but it is much
less active. Batrachians have, in addition, a very considerable
cutaneous respiration. Some of them, such as Toads, absorb more
oxygen through the skin than by the lungs. Their circulation is
INTELLIGENCE OF BATRACHIANS, 18
imperfect, the structure of the heart only presenting one ventricle ;
the blood, returning after a partial regeneration in the lungs,
mingles with that which is not yet revivified: this mixed fluid
is launched out
into the economic
system of the
animal. Thus
Reptiles and Ba-
trachians are said
to be cold-blooded
animals, more es-
pecially the for-
mer, in which the
respiratory organs,
which are a con-
stant source of in-
terior heat, are
only exercised
very feebly.
Owing to this low
temperature of their bodies, reptiles affect warm climates, where
the sun exercises its power with an intensity unknown in tem-
perate regions; hence it is that they abound in the warm lati-
tudes of Asia, Africa, and America, whilst comparatively few are
found in Europe. This is also the cause of their becoming torpid
during the winter of our latitudes: not having sufficient heat in
themselves to produce reaction against the external cold, they fall
asleep for many months, awakening only when the temperature
permits of their activity. Serpents, Lizards, Tortoises, Frogs, are
all subjected to this law of their being. Some hybernate upon the
earth, under heaps of stones, or in holes; others in mud at the
bottom of ponds. The senses are very slightly developed in these
animals ; those of touch, taste, and smell, are very imperfect ; that
of hearing, though less obtuse, leaves much to be desired; but
sight in them is very suitably exercised by the large eyes, with
contractile eyeballs, which enables certain reptiles—such, for
instance, as the Geckos, to distinguish objects in the dark. Most
Reptiles and Batrachians are almost devoid of voice: Serpents,
Fig. 2.—Skeleton of a Frog.
14 BATRACHIANS.
however, utter a sharp hissing noise, some species of Crocodiles
howl energetically, the Geckos are particularly noisy, and Frogs
have a well-known croak. In Reptiles and Batrachians the brain
is small, a peculiarity which explains their slight intelligence and
the almost entire impossibility of teaching them anything. They
can, it is true, be tamed; but although they seem to know indi-
viduals, they do not seem to be susceptible of affection : the shght
compass of their brain renders them very insensible, and this insen-
sibility to pain enables them to support mutilations which would
prove immediately fatal to most other animals. For instance, the
Common Lizard frequently breaks its tail in its abrupt movements.
Does this disturb him? Notat all! This curtailment of his being
does not seem to affect him; he awaits patiently for the return of
the organ, which complaisant nature renews as often as it becomes
necessary. In the Crocodiles and Monitor Lizards, however, a muti-
lated part is not renewed, and the renovated tails of other Lizards
do not develop bone. In some instances, the eyes may be put
out with impunity, or part of the head may be cut off; these
organs will be replaced or made whole in a certain time with-
out the animal having ceased to perform any of the functions
which are still permitted to him in his mutilated state. :
The animal fixes its eyes upon
SNAKE-CHARMING. 75
from a whistle or small flute. Itis said that these mysterious
jugglers are able, by some sympathetic action they possess,
to plunge these dangerous enemies into a sort of lethargy and
death-like rigidity, and to bring them at will out of this mo-
mentary torpor. It is certain, at any rate, that they handle
these animals, whose bite is extremely dangerous, with consider-
able impunity, and without having in any way neutralized or
intercepted the venom. It is supposed by some that these charmers
take the precaution of exhausting the venom of the Cobra every
day by forcing it to bite something several times betore exhibiting
it. It is also certain that they more frequently draw the poison
fangs—a wound from which can kill in the course of two or three
hours.
The Asp (Naja Aaje) hasa less dilatable neck ; it is of a greenish
colour, and marked with brownish spots. It is smaller than the
former; is found in the west and south of Atrica; and is espe-
cially common in Egypt. It was suid to have been this Reptile
which caused the death of Cleopatra.
[The genus Hamadryas of Cantor (Ophiophagus of Gimther)
differs very little from the true Cobras, but has a less developed
hood, and a single small tooth placed at some distance behind the
fang. The only species, //. e/aps, attains to thirteen feet in length,
and is proportionately formidable, being much less timid and
retiring in its habits than the Cobras of the genus Naja. it
preys habitually on other Snakes, and seems to be more plentiful
eastward of the Bay of bengal than it is in India. In Burmah it
is styled the Gnan, and Mr. Theobald tells us that its venom is
fatal in a few minutes. ‘ One of these Snakes,” he adds, “ was
brought in alive, and a snake-charmer came up to display his
command over the animal. At first (as I am told) the Snake
seemed cowed by the authoritative ‘Hah’ of the man; but sud-
denly, through some carelessness on his part, the Snake struck him
on the wrist. The poor fellow at once ran off home to get an
antidote, but fell down before reaching his own door, and died in
atew minutes. When at Tonghu,” continues Mr. Theobald, “ [
heard a case of an Klephant being killed by one of these Snakes,
which I have no reason for doubting. The Elephant was a fine
powerful male, and was pulling down with his trunk some creepers
76 OPHIDIAN REPTILES.
or boughs, when a large ‘ Gnan,’ which was disturbed in the tree,
struck the Elephant on the trunk between the eyes. The Elephant
at once retreated, became faint, and died in about three hours.”
This terrible Snake would appear to be not uncommon in the
Andaman Islands, and its range of distribution extends through
the Malay countries to the Philippines and to New Guinea.
The genus Bungarus is so called from the vernacular appellation
of Bungarum, which is applied to one of the species on the Coro-
mandel coast. Some of them are very like Cobras without the
hood, as the “ Kerait” (B. ce@ruleus), which is a much-dreaded
Snake in India, but the geographic range of which extends neither
to the countries eastward nor to Ceylon. The Snakes of this genus
have a row of broad hexagonal scales along the middle of the back.
The Kerait grows to four feet anda half in length, and has the
upper parts of a bluish or brownish black, either uniform or more
generally marked with numerous narrow white cross-lines, which
mostly radiate from a white vertebral spot. In its habits it
resembles the Cobra, preying on small Mammalia, Lizards, Toads,
and probably other Snakes occasionally. The ‘“ Raj-samp”’ (lite-
rally Lord Snake) is a larger and thicker species than the Kerait,
beautifully marked throughout with alternate broad rings of black
and golden-yellow. This one is found almost generally through-
out the Indian region, and would seem to prey entirely on other
Snakes, especially of the 7 ropidonotus genus. It is of very
sluggish habits, and frequents moist places and the vicinity of
water.
dangling on a rope, half trembling between fear and excitement.”
CHAPTER II.
DUCKS, GEESE, SWANS, AND PELICANS.
Witioucupy distributes the Palmipedes into such as have the
back toe, and those in which it is absent; the former, again, into
such as have the four toes webbed together, and such as have the
back toe separated from the others. These latter he again subdi-
vides into narrow-billed and broad-billed; the former having
their bills either hooked at the end or straight and sharp-pointed.
The hook-billed have them either even or toothed on the sides.
Those which have them straight or sharp-pointed are either short-
winged and divers—such as Doukers and Loons—or long-winged,
such as Gulls. The broad-billed are divided into Ducks and
Geese. The Ducks are either Sea or Pond Ducks. ‘The Ducks,”
he adds, “have shorter necks and larger feet, in proportion to
their bodies, than Geese. Howbeit, the biggest in this kind do
equal, if not exceed, the least in that. They have shorter legs
than Geese, and situated more backward, so that they go waddling ;
a broader and flatter back, and so a more compressed body; and,
lastly, a broader and flatter bill. Their tongue is pectinated, or
toothed, on each side, which is common with them and the
Geese.”
“The Ducks are of two sorts, either wild or tame. The wild,
again, are of two sorts :—1, Sea Ducks, which feed mostwhat in
salt waters, dive much in feeding, have a broader bill (especially
the upper one), and bending forward to work on the stem; a large
hind toe, and then, likely for a rudder, a long train, not sharp-
pointed. 2, Pond Ducks, which haunt plashes, have a straight
and narrower bill, a very little hind toe, a sharp-pointed train, a
230 DUCKS, GEESE, SWANS, AND PELICANS.
white belly, speckled feathers, black, with glittering green on the
middle wing, with a white transverse ring on either side.”
According to Mr. Yarrell, the first division of Ducks com-
prises the Wild Duck, Shieldrake, Muscovy Duck, Gadwall, Sho-
veller, Pintail, Widgeon, Bimaculated Duck, Garganey, and Teals,
all of which exhibit length of neck, wings reaching to the end
of the tail, tarsi somewhat round, hind toe free or without pendent
lobe. They generally frequent fresh water, but pass much of their
time on land, feeding on aquatic plants, insects, worms, and some-
times fish. The second division includes the Red Crested Duck,
Poachard, Ferruginous Duck, Scaup, Tufted Duck, Harlequin
Duck, Long-tailed Duck, and Golden Eye; while between the two
divisions he places, as possessing some of the characters of each,
the Hider Duck, King Duck, Velvet Duck, and Scoter.
McGillivray accepts this arrangement, with some slight varia-
tions, remarking that the differences as to habits, as well as struc-
ture, are quite obvious; and he gives us a graphic description of
the three types. ‘“ High in air,” he says, “advancing on gently-
arched and outspread wings, that winnow a passage for them over
the far-spreading sea, is seen advancing from the north a flock
of large birds, that are observed, as they draw nearer, to be arranged
in lines ever undulating and changing figure; while their clear
cries seem to express their joy at having escaped the dangers of
their long passage over the waste of waters. Now they descend,
mingle their ranks, wheel in dislocated bands, unite, sweep along,
and, clamorous in their joy, at length alight on the open pasture.
Having rested awhile and plumed themselves, they begin to move
about in search of food, walking sedately and with decurrent necks,
stretching their strong bills to the ground, from which they wrench
the roots of the grasses, and pluck the herbage. Prudent, how-
ever, as they well need be in an unexplored tract, and careful of
their safety, they neither scatter about at random nor leave them-
selves subject to surprise. Should a suspicious object present
itself, one of them presently erects himself and emits a warning
cry, on hearing which they all rise together, raise their necks to
their full stretch, and carefully inspect the ground. Should the
danger be imminent, they run a few paces forward, spread out
their large wings, ascend into the air, and betake themselves to
DUCKS. 231
some distant place.” These are of the first division, or Cribatores,
as Mr. McGillivray calls them—more useful to man than the other
aquatic birds, many of them not only affording him savoury food,
but feathers, quills, and down; while some have become domesti-
cated, and rival the Gallinaceous Fowls in utility: these are the
Ducks and Geese of the poultry-yards and commons.
These web-footed birds, the Lamellirostre of Cuvier, are distin-
guished from all others by their laminated bills, which are thick,
have a covering of soft skin, also small teeth placed along the edge.
The tongue is fleshy, broad, and dentated on the edge. They are
aquatic, and principally inhabit fresh-water lakes and rivers.
Their wings being short, and living chiefly on the water, they
are badly qualified for a sustained flight. Their food is mostly
vegetable.
Numerous flocks of Ducks, of various species, frequent the sea-
shores and the rivers of all parts of the world. No family of birds
seems more profusely distributed over the world of waters, and
some of them are remarkable for the brilliant colouring of their
plumage. On land, the waddling gait of Ducks is anything but
graceful, but in the water their appearance is alert and elegant.
Look at them as they glide lightly over the surface of the
stream, or mark them as they plunge into its bosom with a splash,
either to bathe themselves or seek their food! AII their move-
ments here are executed with graceful ease, and it is easy to see
that they are in their natural element. They love to paddle in
the mud, where they often find a sufficient supply of food to satisfy
their voracity. But no description of animal matter comes amiss to
them, whether water-insects, worms, slugs, snails, small frogs, bread,
fresh or tainted meat, fish, living or dead. They are such gluttons,
that we have seen two of them fighting and disputing for more than
an hour over the skin of an eel, or some other garbage, which one
of them had partly swallowed, whilst his antagonist was dragging
at the other end. To this division of the Anatide belongs the
Mallard, or Wild Duck, which may be considered typical of the
others, and which is generally supposed to be the ancestor of the
Domestic Duck.
232 DUCKS, GEESE, SWANS, AND PELICANS.
Tur Common Duck, or MALLARD.
Enoiisy Synonyms.—Mallard: McGillivray, Jenyns. Common Wild
Duck: Montagu, Selby.
Latin Synonym.—
~ too
THE SECRETARY BIRD. 645
in Africa, was several times a witness of its voracity. One
~ he had killed a couple of pues and, after having had
*m cut up, caused the quarters
meat to be hung to dry in the
a ; they were soon assailed by a
.ock of these Vultures, which
carried away the pieces of meat in
spite of the numerous gunshots
with which they were greeted. On
another occasion, having killed
three zebras at some distance from
jhis camp, he went to find a waggon
'to carry them away; on his return
jhe found nothing but the bones
remaining, round which hundreds
sate
Han my ‘
Walt ve CaN
hie.
ANG
otf Vultures were hovering.
The Oricou is of somewhat con-
- lerable size; it is about four feet
nd three-quarters in length, and
the spread of its wings measures
as much as three yards and a half. It builds its nest among
inaccessible steep rocks.
Lastly, the Chinese Vulture ( Vultur leuconotus), which is about
the size of a Turkey, is of a dirty brownish black on the body, and
white about the shoulders; it is very common in the southern
portions of the Celestial Empire.
Fig. 805—SociableV ulture (} witus auricucaris).
Tue SERPENT-EATERS (Giypogeranus, Lliger).
This family comprehends but one single species, the Secretary
Bird, which in its organisation seems allied to the Waders.
The Secretary Birp (Gypogeranus serpentarius), Fig. 306,
‘has a widely-opening bill, very crooked and very powerful; a pro-
jecting superciliary arch; feathered legs; tarsi very long, and
covered, as well as the toes, with largeand hard scales. The tail
is tapering, and the two middle feathers are longer than the others.
The wings, which are short and provided with bony protuberances,
torm most destructive weapons, which the bird uses with much
646 RAPTORES, OR BIRDS OF PREY.
skill to disable the serpents, of which its food principally consists
It has on its head a tuft of long feathers, which can be raisg
at will. This has been the origin of its name, in allusion to ‘5
custom that clerks had of placing their pen behind their ear in tuJ
days when goose-quills were used for writing. Its toes are short!
and its claws blunt and well adapted for walking. It con+
Fig. 806.—Secretary Bird (Gypogeranus serpenturius).
sequently runs very rapidly ; hence it sometimes obtains the name
of Messenger Bird.
A contest between a Secretary Bird and a Serpent is a most
curious sight. The reptile, when attacked suddenly, stops and
rears itself up, swelling its neck and showing anger by shrill
hissings.
“ At this instant,” says Levaillant, “the bird of prey, spreading
THE SECRETARY BIRD. 647
+
one of his wings, holds it in front of him, and covers both his legs
as well as the lower part of his body with it as if with a buckler.
The reptile makes a spring at his enemy; the bird makes a bound,
and spurning the Serpent with his wing, retreats again, jumping
about in every direction in a mode which to a spectator appears
highly grotesque. He soon returns to the combat, ever presenting
to the venomous tooth of his adversary nothing but the end of his
well-protected wing ; and whilst the latter is fruitlessly expending
its poison by biting the callous feathers, the bird is inflicting
vigorous blows with his other wing. At last the reptile, stunned
and wavering, rolls at full length in the dust; the bird then
cleverly catches hold of it and throws it several times up into the
air, until the victim becoming exhausted and powerless, the bird
crushes its skull with his sharp-pointed bill. The Serpent is then
swallowed whole by its conqueror, unless it is too big, in which
case it is first torn in pieces.”
The Secretary Bird does not feed exclusively on serpents; it
also consumes lizards, tortoises, and even insects; its voracity is
extreme, and it possesses a power of digestion which is really sur-
prising. Levaillant killed one the stomach of which contained
twenty-one small tortoises, still whole; eleven lizards, eight or
nine inches long; three serpents of a length varying from two to
two and a half feet; a perfect heap of grasshoppers and other
imsects; and, lastly, a great pellet of various remains, which it
“had not been able to assimilate, and which would have ultimately
~ been vomited up.
hése birds are natives of the arid plains of South Africa.
They pair about the month of July, the male birds having first
engaged in sanguinary conflicts for the choice of their mates.
Their-nest, which is flat, and lined on the inside with down and
feathers, is constructed in the thickest bushes, or on the loftiest
trees, in which two or three eggs, of a white hue spotted with
red, are laid. The young ones are very late in quitting the
parental home; for they do not leave it till they have acquired
full development. Nearly four months elapse before they are able
to stand firmly and run about with complete freedom.
The Secretary Bird is much appreciated at the Cape of Good
Hope, on account of the services it renders in destroying
648 RAPTORES, OR BIRDS OF PREY.
venomous reptiles. As it is easily tamed if captured when young,
the colonists have made a domestic bird of it, and use it to protect
their poultry against the incursions of serpents and rats. With
the inhabitants of the poultry-yard it is always on good terms,
even to quelling the quarrels which spring up among the Galli-
nace around it. But it must be related that it is necessary to
see that it is sufficiently fed, for otherwise it will not hesitate to
help itself occasionally to a chicken.
In 1832 the Secretary Bird was introduced into the French
West Indies, particularly Guadaloupe and Martinique, on purpose
to make war upon the Trigonocephalus, or Rattlesnake, a dan-
gerous reptile swarming in those countries, which we mentioned in a
previous portion of this work. The introduction of the Secretary
Bird into the Antilles proved to be a real benefit. In order to be
convinced of this it is only necessary to read the interesting work
published a few years ago on this question by M. Rufz de Lavison,
who was for a long time an inhabitant of the French West Indies
before he became director of the Jardin Zoologique d’ Acclimatation,
in Paris.
THE END.
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