THE

FIELD NATURALIST.

••:,

•THE

FIELD NATURALI ST:

A REVIEW

ANIMALS, PLANTS, MINERALS, THE STRUCTURE OF THE EARTH,
AND APPEARANCES OF THE SKY.

BY JAMES RgWIE, M.A., A.L.S.

PROFESSOR OP ZOOLOGY, KING'S COLLEGE, LONDON, AND AUTHOR OF INSECT ARCHITECTURE,
ALPHABET OF BOTANY, &C. &C.

x

TWO VOLUMES IN ONE.

LONDON:
ORR AND SMITH, PATERNOSTER ROW.

MDCCCXXXV.

CONTENTS

VOL. I.

PAGE.

Eagle-shooting in the Alps. By the Editor . 1

Experiments on the Sleeping and Waking of
Plants. By M. Dutrochet, Member of the
Institute, Paris 3

On a new Rritish species of Cuckoo . . 6

Description of the Cuckoo, from the coloured
Drawing. By Edward Blyth ... 7

Natural History of the Alderman Butterfly
(AmmiraUs Atalanta, Rennie), from the
Egg to the Adult Insect. By Mynheer J.
C. Sepp, of Amsterdam . .' . . 8

On the Migration of Birds. By Professor
Temminck, of the University of Leyden . 11

On the Walk of Quadrupeds. By J. A. Bo-
relli, Professor of Mathematics, Naples . 14

On the Distinguishing Characteristics of Ani-
mals. By Aristotle 19

On the Colours of the Feathers of Birds. By
Edward Blyth 21

On the Colour of the Sea. By Colonel Bory
de St. Vincent 25

Anatomy of the Sugar-louse. (Lepisma sac-
chinnum, Linnreus). By Professor Trevi-
ranus, of Bremen 26

Sir William Jardine's Notes on Birds . . 31

Description of the European Plumed Gnats
(Corethra Panzer). By J. W. Meigen, of
Stolberg 34

On the Granite near Plymouth, and the Infer-
tility of Granite Soil. By John Prideaux,
Esq 37

On paring and burning Granite Soils, and
others, where Carbon is deficient. By
the Editor- 39

Natural History of the Birds of Africa.
Translated from the French of Le Vaillant 41

Chapter of Varieties

Mr. Blyth on Yellow Colours. Dr. Power
on Flies walking up Glass. Captain
Williams on Shallows at Sea. Mr.
D • Don on Spiral Vessels. M. Cor-
dier on the cause of Volcanoes. Mr.
Blyth on the boldness of the Mag-
pie 47, 48

The Chiff-chaff proved to be the Sylvia Rufa.
By the Editor 49

On the distinction between Instinct and In-
telligence. By J. J. Virey, M. D. Pro-
fessor of Natural History, Paris . . 54

On the Antennae and the Hearing of Insects.
By M. H. Straus-Diirckheim, Member of
the Institute, Paris 58

On the food of Plants, particularly Humine,
derived from Manures. By Professor De
Candolle, of Geneva 62

On Dissecting and Preparing Animals for
Collections. By Professor Carus, of
Dresden 64

Habits of the Bearded Tit (Pants Biarmicut,
LINNJEUS). By Edward Blyth . .66

M. de la Beche, on Geological Facts . . 70

Anatomy and Physiology of the Anthers in
the Tree Primrose (CEnothera b tennis,
LINNSUS). By E. G. Ballard, Esq. . . 73

On theRurapGlands in Birds. By M. Reaumur 75

Objections to the Received Theory of Rain.

By Mr. Edmund Hart, Nottingham . . 76
On the Predacious Habits of the Shrike (La-

nius Collurio). By Edward Blyth . . 77
Natural History of the Hamster (Cricetus vul-
garis, DUMERIL). By Christian Quix, of
Aix-la-Chapelle . . . . . -79
Natural History of the Birds of Africa. Trans-
lated from the French of Le Vaillant . 82
Chapter of Varieties

On the Mathematical Dance of Gnats.
Scale Insects on an Apple. Professor
Christison on Cinnamon Suet. Inci-
dent of a disabled Queen Bee. Bird
Riddles. Rooks. Rain predicted by
Monkeys. Flight of the Albatross.
Honey-dew and Aphides not found in
Britain. On Frost causing Plants to
Flower. The Hunted Hare. On the
Stomachs of Birds. The Cricket and
the Cockroach. On the Spawning of

Fish 85

The Hon. and Rev. W. Herbert's Notes on

British Birds ..,.'.. 89
On Cabinet Groups of stuffed Animals, pic-
turing the Effects of their Passions. By

M. Boitard 97

Natural History of the Condor. By Baron

Humboldt 100

Experiments on the absorption and circulating
Fluids of Plants. By F. Link, Professor

of Botany, Berlin 104

On Storms predicted from the Appearance of

the Aurora Borealis. By Captain Winn 108
On the Habits of the Ox-eye. By the Editor 110
On the Diversity of Disposition in Animals of

the same Species. By Edward Blyth . 112
On the Stomach and Swim Bladder of the
Fahaka of the Nile. By M. G. St. Hilaire,
Professor of Zoology, at the Jardins des

Plantes, Paris 114

Natural History of the Birds of Africa.

Translated from the French of Le Vaillant 118
Geology of Mountains. By M. Elie de Beau-
mont 121

Chapter of Varieties —

Cloud Echoes and the Rolling of Thunder.
Enemies of the Hive Bee. Blue Co-
lour of the Sky. The Proteus Anguis,
Siren Anguina, or Austrian Siren.
French Experiment on an English
Pointer. Effects of Light on the Co-
lour of Flowers. Grubs eaten in
Guiana. Squirrels. Moulting of the
Cockroach. The Chough. The Cross-
bill and the Parrot Cross-bill. Sir
William Jardine's Natural History of
Humming Birds. Experiment on an

Earwig 123

Account of the Capture of a Sea Devil. By

M. Le Vaillant 131

Remarks on the Classification of Birds, parti-
cularly the British Warblers. By Edward

Blyth 134

The Editor's Alphabet of Gardening . . 138

VI

CONTENTS.

PAGE.

Germination of the Cabbage Palm. By Dr.

0. F. Martius, of Munich . . . .145
Migration of the Cliff Swallow. By J. J. Au-

dubon, F. R. 8 151

On the Luminosity of the Sea. By Baron de

Humboldt 153

Dr. O. Johnston on the Natural System in Bo-
tany 155

On the Circulation of the Fluids of Plants. By

Professor de Candolle, of Geneva . . 158
Natural History of the Birds of Africa. Trans-
lated from the French of Le Vaillant . 160
On the Diffusion of the Seeds of Ivy. By Ru-
ricola 165

Sir William Jardine on Humming Birds . 166
Account of an Alpine Swift, shot in Norfolk.
By the Rev. Thomas Fulcher . . .172

The Alpine Swift 173

On preparing Spe.cimens for Museums . . 175
Chapter of Varieties —

On rearing Oak Plants in Hyacinth
Glasses. On the Hedgehog. Eggs of
a Spider attacked by a parasite. Ex-
periments on the Air Cavities and the
Colours of Leaves. Attack of Sparrows
on a Mouse. Sociality of a Rat with
a young Cat. The dancing Witches'
Rock, Jersey. Swallows. Theory of
Rain. On the objections of Mr. Hart,
page 76, respecting the Theory of
Rain. Anecdote of a Cat. Singular
layingof the Barn Owl. On the Haw-
finch and Brambleflnch. Curious
Instinct in a Ewe. Redbreast build-
ing with Leaves. Simulation of Death
by a Corn Crake. On the Bearded

fit 177

Natural History of the Birds of Africa. Trans-
lated from the French of Le Vaillant. . 193
On the Nightingale. By Edward Blyth . 196
Experiments on Plants turning towards Light.
By M. Dutrochet, Member of the Institute,

Paris 204

Storms predicted from the Aurora Borealis.
By Mr. William Gardiner, Junior, of Dun-
dee 206

On the Habits of tame Birds. By Matthseus

Sylvaticus 209

On the Cellular Tissue of Plants. By Profes-
sor Link, of Berlin 211

Mr. Fairholme on Scripture Geology . . 217
On the Organs of Sensation. By Professor

Ranzani, of Bologna 221

On Catching, Taming, and Keeping Nightin-
gales. By M. Wichterich, of Bonn . . 224
On the Discovery of the Circulation of the

Fluids in Insects. By the Editor . . 226
Chapter of Varieties-
Hermaphrodite Butterfly. Adoption of
Siung Larks by a Sparrow. Crows,
edgehog. Native Bird-Lime. Tree-
Creeper's Song. Method of making
a strange Cat remain in a House. M.
Lassaigne's Experiments on Buck-
Wheat. Appearance of Leaves in the
Microscope. On the different Dispo-
sitions of Birds, with Anecdotes of a
Goldfinch and a Canary. On the Nut-
hatch and other Birds. On the Co-
lours of Flowers. How to make a
Safety-Box for collecting Insects.
Partiality of the Blackbird to the
Neighbourhood of Man. On the Co-
lours of Flowers. Peculiarities of
Plants. The Globe Amaranthus. On
the Churchyard Beetle. On Flies
walking against Gravity. Honey in
Flowers. Instance of the Carrion Crow
pairing with the Hooded Crow . . 229
Natural History of the Birds of Africa. Trans-
lated from the French of Le Vaillant . 241
Experiments on the Resuscitation after Death

PAGE.

of the Wheel Animalcules. By M. Dutro-
chet, Member of the Institute, Paris . . 243
Remarks on the Resuscitation of the Wheel
Animalcules. By Colonel Bory de St.

Vincent 244

On the Black Pulp Leech. By J. G. Dalzell,
Esq., Advocate, F. 8. A., Advocate, Edin-
burgh 245

Prognostics of the Weather. By_Colonel Cap-
per 251

Mr. Smith on the Botany of Kent . . . 254
On the Direction of Plants. By Professor De

Candolle, of Geneva 256

Mr. Blackwall's Researches respecting Spiders 258
On the British Tits. By Edward Blyth . . 262
On the Irregularity in the Appearance of In-
sects, and on the Utility of Calendars . 270
Field Sketches. By Ruricola . . .272

To a Redbreast which built her Nest on the
Window Sill of a Parlour in the Author's

Residence 274

Recent Experimental Researches on the Pro-
cess of Rumination or Chewing the Cud 276
On the Hooded Crow. By Edward Blyth .279
Chapter of Varieties —

Summer Birds of Passage. Furze Branches
for Cage Birds. Torpidity of Snails.
The Wormegay Oak. Scarce Birds in
Scotland. Use of the Long Hind Claw
in Larks. On an unknown Bird, and a
Brambling's Nest. Age of Butterflies,
Moths, and Beetles . • » ... . 284
Natural History of the Birds of Africa. Trans-
lated from the French of Le Vaillant . 285
On the Philosophy of Final Causes. By M.
Geoffroy St. Hilaire, Professor of Natural

History, Paris 288

On the Genus Phoenicura and the Blue-Breast.

By Edward Blyth 290

On the Antennse of Insects as Organs of Hear-
ing. By Professor Bonsdorf, of Abo in

Finland. 292

On the Colours of the Feathers of Birds. By
L. P. Vieillot, Member of the Institute,

Paris 299

On the British Fruit-Eating Warblers. By

Edward Blyth 306

Sundries. By Ruricola 318

To a Swallow 321

Chapter of Varieties-
Cannibalism of Cats, and Non-Canni-
balism of Polecats. On the Grub of Chi-
ronomus Plumosus. On the Relative
Warmth of Colours. On the Redbreast
building with Oak-leaves. OnMicro-
gaster Alvearius. Nest of a Chaffinch
and of a Redbreast. On the Nest of
the Bottle Tit. Does the Whirlwig-
beetle (Gyrinus Natator) live through

the Winter ? 324

Natural History of the Birds of Africa. Trans-
lated from the French of Le Vaillant. . 333
Appearances and Influences of the Moon. By

M. Arago of the French Institute . . 336
On the Organs of the Voice in Birds and Mon-
keys. By Baron Humboldt . . .338
A Chapter from the Alphabet of Birds. On

the Legs and Feet 347

Retrospect. By Edward Blyth . . .350
Rural Gleanings. By Solitarius . . . 356
The Aurora Borealis, or Northern Lights, his-
torically described. By Ruricola . . 362
Chapter of Varieties —

Inland Gulls. Squirrels. Tree and Mea-
dow Pipits. Habits of the Lamprey.
On the May-fly. On the Pectinated
Claws of Herons and Night Jars. Sci-
entific Terms often objectionable-
Nesting of the Redbreast. Natural
Theology. Paley's Doctrine of Com-
pensation. Redstart not rare in Scot-
land. Steropus Medidus-

CONTENTS.

Vll

PAGE.

Natural History of the Birds of Africa. Trans-
lated from the French of Le Vaillaut
On Swimming. By Professor Borelli, of Naples 379
On the Effect of Coal Fires upon the Colour of

the Eyes. By the Rev. T. Price . . 388
Mr. Blackwall's Experiments on Flies • . 395

Notes. By Ruricola 398

To the Lily of the Valley . . . • . .401
Gleanings. By Solitarius .... 403
Mr- Main's Vegetable Physiology • • 407
Chapter of Varieties-
Anecdote of the Domestic Cat. The Fox.
The Nightingale. The Kingfisher and
the Sedge Bird- The London Natural
History Society. White Monkey. The
Cuckoo. Reason of Cats alighting
on their feet in falling.

Natural History of the Birds of Africa. Trans-
lated from the French of Le Vaillaut . 421
A General Arrangement of the British
Warblers, and Birds of the Robin kind,
with Various Remarks- By Edward

Blyth .423

Notes. By Ruricola 447

On Monkeys. By Sir William Jardine . 450
Field Scraps. By Solitarius . . . .455
On the Burrowing Owl- By H . R. L. . . 459
Chapter of Varieties—

Faults in Zoological Nomenclature. On
the May-Fly Larva being the Cadis-
worm. To what Modern Genus docs
the Brambling belong ? Redbreast's

Nest 461

Natural History of the Birds of Africa. Trans-
lated from the French of Le Vaillant . 465
New Facts on the Migration of various Birds

and Insects. By Edward Blyth. • . .466
The British Museum. By E. G. Ballard, Esq. 472
On the Increase of the Roots and the Stump
in the Silver Fir long after it has been
felled. By M. Dutrochet, Member of the

Institute, Paris 474

The Alligator of the Antilles- By R. H L. 476

Additional Notices of the Aurora Borealis- By

Ruricola 480

Notes from Lough Erne. By Ruricola . . 482
Natural History of the Reed Bird. By Robert

Sweet, Esq., F. L. S. . . . . 484

On the Fidelity and Attachment of Dogs to

their Masters. By Miss Hunter . . 485
On the Species of Insect popularly called
Mosquito. By the Editor . . .488

PAGE.

On the Geography of Plants. By Baron Ilum-

boldt 490

Miscellanies. By Solitarius .... 494

Notes. By Ruricola 499

A Meteorological Phenomenon. By Ruricola 502
Chapter of Varieties-
Mice. The Little Man of War. Vegetative
Peculiarities in durable and soft
wooded Trees in the Tropics. Indica-
tions of the Quality of Mahogany in
the Growing Tree. On the Hooded
Crow. On taming Wild Ducks. Sin-
gular Roosting-place for a Canary.
Natural History of the Birds of Africa.

Translated from the French of Le Vaillant 509
Angling, See. By L. W. Clarke . . .510
Remarkable instance of attachment in a Wil-
low Wren (Sylvia trochilus) to its Nest.

By a Lady . 512

Experiments on the Excrementitious Rejec-
tions of the Roots of Plants, with refer-
ence to the Rotation of Crops. By M.

Macaire, of Geneva 513

Remarks upon Zoological Nomenclature and

Systems of Classification. By Solitarius 521
Notes from Killeshandra. By Ruricola . . 528
An .October Day's Ramble. A sketch from

nature. By Ruricola 529

On the Black-headed Gull (Larus ridibundus}.

By Mr. C. Parsons . ': 533

Agenda for our Contributors, and for the

Zoological Society. By N. N. . . . 534
Mr. J. S. Menteath on the Geology of the

Snowdon Range of Mountains . . .536
Notes from the West Indies- By R. H— 1, esq. 539
Chapter of Varieties —

Notice of a Paper by Dr. Knox, on the
Natural History of the Salmon. The
Libellula, or Dragon-Fly. Baron
Cuvier's Animal Kingdom. Shrew
Mouse. Wild Haunt of the Window
Swallow. House Bug. Growth of
Stones. Truffles. Thaw. The Lamp-
lighter Insect. Chrysalis of the
Death's Head Hawk Moth. Lumi-
nosity of the Sea. Magpie Moth re-
fused by Birds. Night-shining Eyes
of the Dark Arches Moth. M. Perty's
Fundamental Principles of Natural
History. Spiders for Cabinets. On
the Colours exhibited by the Chame-
leon 541

VOL. II.

The Green Tody f Todus' viridisj, with a co-
loured Figure. By R. H. L., with addi-
tions by the Editor 1

On the Expansion and Contraction of Solids

by Heat. By R. T. C. . . . 3

Experiments on the Heat of Living Plants.

By Professor Goeppert, of Vienna . . 6
Advantages of Natural History ... 9

Notes. By Observator 11

On the Agenda of N. N. By T. C. . . 12
Mr. Birt's Arrangement of Clouds . . .14
Tabular View of the Nomenclature of Nepho-
logy 16

Notes from Yorkshire. By J. H. Anderson,

Esq 17

Bedell's Tree. By Ruricola .... 21
On the Organs of Hearing in Insects. By Pro-
fessor G. R. Treviranus, of Bremen . 23

Notes- By T. C 25

The Editor's Medical Botany. ... 27

The Field Diary of Solitarius . . 40

On procuring Specimens of the smaller Bri-
tish 'Land Birds for a Museum, with Ob-
servations on the Habits of various Spe-
cies. By Edward Blyth . . 44
Chapter of Varieties-
Anecdote of a Slow Worm. The Wood-
chat. Dragon Flies . . 54
The Zebra Spider (Epeira fasciata, Fabricius).
With a coloured figure of the female and
her nest of eggs, drawn from the Editor's
Specimen. By the Editor ... 57
Retrospective Remarks. By James Fennel! 61
N. N.'s Agenda. The Llama of Peru . 66
On the Advantages of the Study of Natural

History g^

On the Migration of Birds. By T. C. 70

On the Root of an Ash Tree. By R T. C 72

: Notes from the Isle of Wight. Bv. S. W ' 71
Notes on Birds. By T. C . .

vin

CONTENTS.

PAGE

On Tame Nightingales. By Oraithologus . 7"
Geological Positions, in direct proof of an im-
portant part of Scripture Chronology . 71
Vultures. From Le Variant's Birds . . 85
M. Biot on the Sap of Plants 8S

The Effects of Music, Electricity, Magnetism,
and Galvanism, upon Animals. By James

Fennell 91

On the Singing of the Swan. By Sir T.

Browne, M. D., Norwich. ... 98
On Instinct in Birds. By C. W- 8. . . . 100
Chapter of Varieties-
Effects of Inundations on the Haunts of
Small Birds. Black Rat. Sparrows
building in Winter. January Re-
marks. Rat's Nest. Razor Bill.
Hostility evinced by the Lapwing to
Crows- Transparency of the Sea.
Hawk Shooting. Establishment of a
Rookery. Sandpiper and Stint. Rook-
eries. Sagacity in a Horse. Singular
Habit in a Bachelor's Cat. Effects
of Mountain Heights on Plants- Mi-
gratory Birds in Cornwall. Floating
Islands. On the Animalcule found in
Water. Fanning of the wings of cer-
tain Insects. Animals swallowing

hard Substances 101

On procuring Specimens of British Land
Birds for a Museum, with incidental Ob-
servations on the Habits of various Spe-
cies. (Continued from page 54.) By E.

Blvth 113

Field Diary. By William Thorn, Esq. . 120
Vultures (from Le Vaillant's Birds) —

Cape Vulture ( Egyps fulvus, Savigny) . 122

A Bachelor's Gleanings 126

Sketches from Gravesend. By Ornitholo-

gicus 127

Some new Descriptions and Figures of the

Nests and Eggs of Spiders. By Solitarius 129
Mice imitating the Grasshopper's Chirp. . 121
The British Museum. By E. G. Ballard, Esq.

The Camelopard (Giraffe, Linn.) - 133

The Hippopotamus 135

Upon the Nature of the Par, as observed in

Scotland . • .136

FACE.

Rambling Notes. By J. H. Anderson, Esq. . 143
On the Production of Infusoria . . . 146
Chapter of Varieties-
Account of a Canary. Want of a system
of Ornithology. Method of forming
a rookery. Migration of the Tree
Sparrow (Passer arboreus). On the
Dunlin (Tringa variabilis). The Red-
breast. Spontaneous Generation.
Rats and Guinea Pigs. Aurora Bo-
realis. The Snipe (Scolopax gallinaeo,
Linn.) On the Notions of P. W.
Wintering of the House Fly. The Cat
and the Rabbit, &c. The Rev. A.
Wells on Instinct. On the colours of
Natural Bodies. On the gradual Ele-
vation of Land in high Northern Lati-
tudes 151

The Wood Chat (from Le Vaillant's Birds) . 165
On the Wood Chat. By H. M. D. . . 167
Retrospective Remarks. By Edward Blyth . 170
On Sagacity and Instinct. By T. C. . . 175
Notes from Gravesend. By Ornithologus . 179
On the total and partial Extermination of Ani-
mals. By James Fennell . . . 182
Hints for Collecting Water Birds. By C.

Parsons, Esq. 197

Amazon Ant (Formica rupescens, Latreille).

By the Editor 203

Notes upon Insects. By Sylvanus . . . 208
The^Editor's Alphabet of Insects . . . 210
Chapter of Varieties —

Of what use are the Aigrettes of certain
Owls? Habits of the Tawny Wood-
Owl, or Screech-Owl. Winter Birds.
Mode of catching small Birds. Habits
of Swallows previous to Migration.
Oaks growing in Hyacinth Glasses.
Dr. Knox on the Structure of the Foot
of the Horse. Daily Flight of Rooks.
fC. frugilegusj. Observations on the
Willow Wren (~S. trochilusj, and other
Birds. The Starling. On Cats. Lady
Birds 213—220

THE END.

THE

FIELD NATURALIST'S
MAGAZINE.

JANUARY.

EAGLE-SHOOTING IN THE ALPS,

liY THE tDITOU.

IT is matter of common observation that whenever a hawk makes
his appearance in a district, he is soon surrounded by a host of small
birds, particularly swallows, which dart at him and tease him, for'the
purpose, as may be supposed, of distracting his attention, on the pro-

VOL. i. — NO. i. 1833. p,

2 EAGLE-SHOOTING IN THE ALPS.

verbial principle that " wealth makes wit waver." But whether this
be the true cause or not, it is certain that the cuckoo, which, on the
wing, bears considerable resemblance to a hawk, is usually accom-
panied by a similar retinue of small birds wherever it flies. In the North
this is so commonly observed, that the cuckoo is popularly believed to
be always attended by the titling or pippet (Anthus pratensis, BECH-
STEIN), which, it is further imagined, has been its step-mother and
nurse from the egg : this, indeed, is the bird whose nest the cuckoo
most frequently selects to deposit the eggs which she so strangely and
unnaturally abandons ; though it is more probable that it is not on
this account, but because she appears to be a hawk, that the pippet
and other small birds persecute her.

I had once an opportunity of witnessing an instance of this hostility
towards the cuckoo, while observing the proceedings of some of the
bank swallows in their populous colony near Charlton in Kent. I
perceived a cuckoo flying quietly along, certainly meditating no harm
against the swallows, and not even poaching on their domain by
hawking for flies, inasmuch as he prefers a breakfast of caterpillars,
which the swallows never touch ; but the instant he appeared the
tocsin was sounded, and every swallow in the colony darted out of the
holes to pounce upon the intruder, whom they beat unmercifully,
with bill and wing, till they drove him from their boundaries.

A still more general and determined hostility is manifested towards
every species of owl, when any of these night marauders accidentally
make their appearance by day, or happen to place themselves so as to
be observed by the passing birds. In such cases, the first bird which
discovers an owl, begins by peeping about at him, as if he were one of
the seven wonders of the world, and ends in sounding the peculiar
note of alarm, that appears to be understood as a universal language,
by all species of birds, from the wren to the eagle. This alarm note
has the effect of a gathering cry upon every bird within hearing, which
immediately troops to the muster, and after peeping, as the first ob-
server had done, at the poor owl, hastens to insult him in every tone
of defiance, and even to pounce at him, with intent to follow up the
preliminary threats by actual attack and buffeting.

The peeping curiosity, staring wonder, or hostile antipathy, mani-
fested by all day-flying birds towards owls, is taken advantage of on
the Continent for several purposes, but for none more interesting than
that of eagle-shooting. When the goat-herds on the Alps, therefore,
find their flocks diminished, and the chamois-hunters find their sport
spoiled by the depredations of an eagle, or a lammer-geyer (Gypaetus
barbalus, STORK) haunting a particular district, they preparej;o lure

SLEEPING AND WAKING OF PLANTS. 8

him to his destruction by means of an owl. The largest species, such
as the eagle-owl (Bubo maximus, SIBBALD), is always chosen, when it
can be procured, for this purpose, the smaller species being less likely
to attract the attention of large birds. The owl is chained by the legs
to a post in some conspicuous place, so as to be seen at a distance,
and a hut of boughs is erected within gun-shot, to conceal the sports-
man while he lies in wait for the arrival of his game.

The thrushes, jays, and magpies, in such cases, are usually the first to
descry the owl, and give intimation of his presence to the ravens and
hawks ; the eagles, if there be any in the district, being in most in-
stances the last to arrive. But when they do come, they are no less
eager than the smaller birds, to swoop down from the air to gaze at
the strange bird, and to threaten him with voice and wing, for intruding
himself into daylight. Then is the moment for the sportsman, who is
keenly watching the whole proceedings from his concealment, to level
his piece, loaded of course with ball, and to bring down the bird of
Jove, from what Shakspeare so happily terms " his pride of place."

Were eagles more numerous in this country than they are ever
likely to be, this would form an interesting variety in sporting, for those
who delight in the exercise — a delight which originates first from the
necessary suspense of uncertainty, and is precisely similar to that
which induces a young lady to devour the pages of a romance ; and
secondly, from human sympathy with animal suffering, and is precisely
similar to that which makes boys torment flies, which makes people
flock to a bear-beating or an execution, which fills the theatres when a
tragedy is to be performed, and which, in a word, is the common and
immediate origin of much that is very good, and much that is very bad
in human nature.

Lee, Kent, 6th Dec. 1832.

EXPERIMENTS ON THE SLEEPING AND WAKING OF PLANTS.

BY M. DUTROCHET, MEMBER OF THE INSTITUTE, PARIS*

THE very remarkable influence produced upon the sleeping and
waking of plants, by the atmospheric air contained in their air-organs
(organes aeriferei), has been demonstrated to me by a great number

* Translated from the French, by Miss H. G. Lee, Kent.
B 2

4 SLEEPING AND WAKING OF PLANTS.

of experiments upon indigenous vegetables. I shall mention some of
these.

It is well known that the leaves of the kidney-bean have evident inter-
vals of sleeping and waking; they have besides a very remarkable nutation.
I was desirous of ascertaining by experiments, the effects produced on
these phenomena by withdrawing the interior air of the leaves. I took
three leaves of the kidney-bean, which I shall call A, B, C. The leaf A
was put into water, and kept during a quarter of an hour in vacuo : on
restoring it to the air, the air cavities were entirely filled with water. The
leaf B remained also a quarter of an hour in vacuo, but without hav-
ing been immersed. The leaf C remained in its natural state. I put
the stalks of these three leaves into vases filled with water, which I
exposed to a full strong light. In the evening, the leaf A first ex-
hibited the phenomenon of depressing its leafits, or of sleep ; the
leaf B presented this phenomenon later ; and the leaf C later still.
The next day, the leaf C first presented the phenomenon of straightening
its leafits, or of waking ; the leaf B next awoke ; and last of all the
leaf A. But the cessation of sleep in the two latter was incomplete;
their leafits remained during the whole day in a state of drowsiness,
and they made no movement of nutation towards the light. The leaf
C, on the contrary, not only straightened its leafits completely, which
constitutes the act of waking, but it inclined the upper side towards
the window that admitted the light, which constitutes the act of nuta-
tion. On the evening of the second day, the leaf A was again the
first to show the phenomenon of sleep ; it was followed by the leaf B,
and lastly by the leafC ; the latter ceased at the same time to keep the
upper side of its leaf- stalks inclined towards the window ; the nutation
ceased during the night, and the leafits resumed their natural position.
On the third day, the leaf A presented no symptoms of waking, and
began to wither; the leaf B revived in a trifling degree, but it con-
tinued drooping ; the leaf C, perfectly alive, performed its functions as
usual. On the fourth day, the leaf A was dead ; the leaf B began to
fade, and was dead the next day ; the leaf C continued to live some
time.

These experiments demonstrate to us, that the sleeping and waking
of plants, and their nutation, depend on the air which is contained in
their air-organs, and is in proportion even to the quantity of that air.
The leaf A, the air-organs of which had been deprived of air, and
nearly filled with water, slept earlier and awoke later than the leaf B,
which having its air-organs deprived of air, had in the meantime
remained inaccessible to its return. These two leaves gave no signs of

SLEEPING AND WAKING OF PLANTS. 5

nutation, like the leaf C, which had preserved all the air naturally con-
tained in the air cavities, and which, for this reason, was also later
asleep and earlier awake than the two leaves A and B. Thus the
sleep of vegetables is prolonged in proportion as there is less air in the
air-organs. This, very probably, is one of the causes which vary
the hours of sleeping and waking of plants. We remark also in these
experiments, that the waking is more impaired than the sleeping by
diminishing the interior air of the plants. When the diminution of the
interior air is considerable, the sleep* is equally profound as in the
natural state, but the waking is incomplete. I have again tried the
effect of a vacuum produced by the air-pump on the flowers of vege-
tables, which exhibit the phenomena of sleeping and waking. I have
constantly seen that when a flower, either asleep or awake, is placed in
a vacuum, it invariably preserves the state in which it is placed there.
It is in vain that a flower placed in such circumstances is exposed to
the light, or even to the rays of the sun ; it never alters : the darkness
of night comes in vain; it has no power to promote sleep in the plant
which has been placed in a vacuum during its waking state. It is
therefore well established by experience, that the vacuum of the air-
pump, by withdrawing the air contained in the air cavities of plants,
deprives them entirely of the faculty of moving the floral organs, in
order to assume alternately the positions which constitute sleeping and
waking. We have seen that this privation of air divests them of the
faculty of moving, even when under the influence of anything that
stimulates plants possessing this quality, such as the sensitive plant.
By taking away the atmospheric air of plants, we suppress their exci-
tability, or the faculty which they possess in various degrees of being
affected by outward exciting causes, and of moving in consequence of
this influence.

These experiments prove that the interior air is indispensably neces-
sary for exercising the alternate movements which constitute sleeping
and waking; and, in general, for the existence of the faculty, more or
less apparent in plants, of being affected by the influence of certain
exciting causes from without, and of executing the movements caused
by this influence. In this point of view, the action of oxygen on the
interior of plants appears to be very similar to the action of oxygen on
the interior of animals. Among plants, as well as animals, the priva-
tion of this interior oxygen destroys vitality, or, in other words, causes
asphyxia and death.

ON A NEW BRITISH SPECIES OF CUCKOO.

IN A LETTER TO THE EDITOR. BV ROBERT BALL, ESQ., DUBLIN.

SIR,

THE zeal manifested in your numerous publications on subjects of
Natural History, induces me to make the present communication, con-
ceiving that any addition to our British birds must prove acceptable to
you. In the autumn of 1825, the butler of a neighbouring gentleman
brought me to Youghal, in the county of Cork, a bird but a few
minutes shot, and still warm and bleeding ; not having, at that time,
paid much attention to ornithology, I placed it in my collection as a
" rara avis," though not then suspecting that it was unknown to
British naturalists. Some years after I came to reside in this city ;
having shown it to several of my ornithological friends, I was some-
what surprised at its being unknown to them. On the publication of
your edition of Montagu's Dictionary, I searched it in vain for more
than one species of cuckoo, to which genus my bird evidently belongs.
It thence struck me it was my duty to make it known, and I prepared
the accompanying drawing, faithfully though rudely executed*, from
the specimen as it now lies in my cabinet ; but purposing to make a
more finished one, I delayed sending it to you from day to day, until my
attention was recalled to it by Mr. Glenon, an intelligent professional
mounter of birds. He acquainted me that he had received a bird very
like mine, recently shot at Old Connaught, near Bray, a short distance
from this city. On comparison of our specimens, mine appears to be
the larger and more highly coloured, in which particular it also excels
a South American specimen, which Mr. Glenon is possessed of.
The tail feathers of the latter, however, have the white somewhat more
distinct at the points. The tail consists of ten feathers, the three
outermost at each side tipped with white. The drawing conveys more
distinctly than words can do the other peculiarities of colouring. The
part not displayed in it is of uniform colour with the back of the head,
except that the upper sides of the quill feathers have a warm reddish
cast. My bird is much smaller than the common cuckoo ; the bill
rather larger ; the feet smaller ; the shank longer : the drawing is of
the exact size of the original. The fact of a second instance of the
bird being killed in this country, will, I conceive, entitle it to a place in

* The drawing sent to rr.e is beaiitifully done. — EDITOR.

NEW BRITISH CUCKOO. 7

the catalogue of our natives. Should you wish for any further particu-
lars on the subject, or deem this notice worthy of acknowledgment, I
shall have much pleasure in hearing from you, and have the honour
to be,

Sir, your most obedient servant,

ROBERT BALC,.*
Dublin Castle, 20/A Oct. 1832.

Cuckoo, reduced by one third from the original drawing1.

DESCRIPTION OF THE CUCKOO, FROM THE COLOURED
DRAWING.

BY EDWARD BLYTH, ESQ.

TOTAL length, from the tip of the bill to the end of the tail, eleven
inches. Bill longer and rather more curved than in the common
cuckoo 5 the upper mandible of a dark horn colour, black at the tip,
and yellowish b'rown at the base ; the lower, yellowish brown, tipped
with black. The head, back of the neck, and all the upper parts, of a
uniform olive brown colour, inclining to red on the upper sides of the
quill feathers ; the whole under-parts of a pale ashy-brown, darker
about the breast, and inclining to buff on the thighs and under tail
coverts. Under surface of the wings, pale buff, making a consider-
able contrast with the colour of the quill feathers, which are underneath
of a brownish chesnut tint. The legs and feet of a dark ashy-brown ;
the shank rather longer in proportion than in the common cuckoo.
Tail, wedge-shaped, and about five inches in length ; the outer feather
but three inches ; the second, four inches and a quarter ; and the third,

* I shall feel myself obliged and honoured by any farther particulars respecting
these birds, or any other subject, from so valuable a correspondent. — EDIT.

8

THE ALDERMAN BUTTERFLY.

nearly five inches long ; of an ash colour, edged and tipped with yel-
lowish white underneath; the colour of the upper surface unknown.
Colour of the iris unknown ; and, as in the common species, the third
quill feather of the wing is the longest.

Tooting, Surrey, Nth Dec, 1832.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE ALDERMAN BUTTERFLY (Ammiralh
Atalanta, RENNIE), FROM THE EGG TO THE ADULT INSECT.

BY MYNHEER J. C. SEPP, OF AMSTERDAM.*

1. Egg natural size; 2. Egg magnified. 3. The young caterpillar concealed in a folded leaf;
4. Caterpillar in its second skin ; 5. Caterpillar in its third skin ; 6. Caterpillar in its last skin ;
7. Caterpillar about to change into a chrysalis ; 8. This change farther advanced; 9. The
chrysalis complete.

LIKE all other butterflies, this species originates from an egg, which,
however, is very rarely met with, because it is very small and green ;
almost indeed of the same colour as the stinging nettle (Urtica.

* Translated from the Dutch work, De Wondeten Gods, by C. Thonan, Esq. London.

THE ALDERMAN BUTTERFLY. 9

dioica), on which it is laid by the mother butterfly, and therefore
easily overlooked.

Although I had found, for many years successively, and in consider-
able numbers, the caterpillars and the butterflies of this species, I
was long unsuccessful in procuring any of the eggs ; but at last I
succeeded, having found one on the 6th of July, at the very moment
the mother butterfly had laid it, and it hatched as well as any other of
this class. I found others afterwards, which had perhaps been longer
deposited, and they likewise hatched, and I reared butterflies from
them ; so that now I know their whole manner of life, and their several
transformations, and am enabled to detail these to the reader from my
own observation.

As soon as the infant caterpillar is hatched, it begins to eat directly,
and to look out for a place to live in. Providence has given it the
faculty of spinning certain threads; and, after selecting a leaf, it draws it
together, by means of these, into a roundish hollow form, leaving for
the most part an opening into the interior before and behind. The
leaf, when thus drawn together, serves as a house or tent for the little
creature, and at the same time furnishes it with food ; and hence the
longer it lives in it the more perforated it becomes. When at length,
it has gnawed so much of the leaf as renders it so full of holes that it
becomes useless, the caterpillar quits it, and goes to another leaf, pro-
ceeding in the same way as it did with the first. Accordingly, when
we are desirous of finding these caterpillars, we must search for them
on those nettle leaves which are drawn together. I may mention, how-
ever, that not more than one caterpillar will be found on a single leaf.

The circumstance of hiding within a folded leaf, is not usual with
every spiny caterpillar ; and it appears to me, that this species does so,
more from a peculiar liking to live solitary than from any fear of dan-
ger, inasmuch as ihey are exposed to no more danger or hardship
than other spiny caterpillars, which roam about freely and openly on
the leaves. This species, besides, is quite as hardy as the others, with
respect to enduring cold and heat ; and they are as much persecuted by
parasite flies (Ichncurnonida), which lay eggs in their bodies, as are
other spiny caterpillars ; nor is their dwelling in the folded leaf so se-
curely constructed, as to prevent the intrusion of such unwelcome
visiters*, a circumstance always attended with a mortal result.

* I have elsewhere mentioned an instance which fell under my own observation, of
a pa'rasite fly thrusting its eggs through a folded leaf into the body of an insect within. —
Insect Architecture, p. 174. EDITOR.

10 THE ALDERMAN BUTTERFLY.

There must then, I think, be some other reason for these caterpillars
hiding themselves in this manner, and I am inclined to believe it can
be no other than their desire to be solitary. In accordance with this
view, we find the eggs always laid singly and apart ; and it is well
known to naturalists, that all caterpillars originating from eggs thus
deposited are solitary, as those originating from clustered eggs are
gregarious. The latter moreover remain in company so long as they
are in the caterpillar state, while the former always occur dispersed,
and lead a solitary life. In this manner, then, the caterpillars under
notice live from the time they are hatched, and even exhibit the same
disposition when they prepare for their change into the chrysalis state,
as we shall afterwards see.

As to their manner of growth, such caterpillars differ widely from
other animals which grow regularly in all their parts as they are sup-
plied with nourishment ; but our caterpillars, on the contrary, grow
only in their inward parts, whose increase puffs out the skin or outer
covering that does not grow, and hence becomes too small, so that
at length it must give way. In fact, it actually does so, and this hap-
pens more than once during its life; a circumstance which I term the
casting of the skin, and which is thus performed. A few days before
the skin is cast, the caterpillar remains nearly stationary in the same
place, and leaves off eating. About this period, the neck or hind part
of the head may be observed to swell, in consequence of which the
old skin becomes more stretched, the inner skin is separated from the
outer, and in some smooth caterpillars the head may be discerned
shining through. The old skin becomes gradually detached, and at
length bursts asunder; the head with its new skin appearing through
the opening, and successively the fore parts of the body, and the feet.
Afterwards by repeated movements, the caterpillar strips off the old
skin altogether, and appears in a new dress, which, as far as regards
the one under our notice, differs little from the old one in colour and
appearance. The head, however, is a little larger, as are the spines
and small hairs.

With respect to the latter, it is remarkable that the new spines and
hairs appear to have been inserted in the old ones as in sheaths, from
which they are drawn out when the skin is cast. I infer from this
circumstance, that these spines and hairs are hollow, though in conse-
quence of their minuteness, some of them being barely visible to the
naked eye, we cannot well demonstrate this otherwise. Who, I may
ask, does not perceive in this wonderful fact, the incomprehensible
operations of an all-powerful CREATOR! and where is the man who
could imitate these astonishing productions ?

ON THE MIGRATION OF BIRDS. 11

Our caterpillar,~after casting its skin and resting a little, begins again
to eat the leaves of the nettle. I may mention, that all caterpillars do
not cast their skins the same number of times ; but with respect to the
present ones, they cast their skins four times, and as they grow quickly,
the castings closely follow each other, at due intervals between. I
have traced this in two of these caterpillars, which were hatched from
eggs the 12th of July, in the following order. Their first casting of
the skins occurred on the 14th, the second on the 17th, the third on the
21st, and the fourth on the 26th. They then continued to eat and
grow till the 15th of August, when, having completed their growth,
and reached their full age as caterpillars, they left off eating, and pre-
pared for entering upon their second stage of life, namely, that of
chrysalis, which has no resemblance to the caterpillar. This change
took place on the 17th of August.

It hence appears, that the first stage of life, or the caterpillar state
of this insect, only lasts for five complete weeks ; but I must remark,
that in rearing the caterpillars for the purpose of observing their
changes, they must have fresh food every day, and in a warm day
twice, otherwise they will not thrive.

The cover of the box where they are kept, ought to have small
holes in it for the admission of fresh air ; or it may be covered with
crape or gauze. It ought not to be too shallow ; for if so, the wings
of the butterfly, when it comes forth, may be bent or injured.

We have thus seen our insect in its first stages of life ; but it is
destined to arrive at a higher stage of existence, and is born to be ad-
mired, though it does not reach this stage till it has undergone sickness
and suffering, with hardly any apparent sign of life. In a short time,
however, it awakes from its trance, and appears full of animation, and
is richly ornamented.*

ON THE MIGRATION OF BIRDS.

BY PROFESSOR TEMMINCK, OF THE UNIVERSITY OF LEYDEN.

I SHALL here give some observations on the periodical and frequently
long journeys performed by several species of erratic birds, and on the
points of reunion and departure which they appear to select. The
yearlings and the old ones rarely go together in these journeys,
which are more or less extended, as the necessity of seeking a fresh

* The History of the Butterfly itself will be given at a future opportunity.

12 ON THE MIGRATION OF BIRDS.

supply of food for other climates, obliges them to quit those places
which fail at certain seasons to furnish them with the means of subsist-
ence. I think I have traced the separation of families, and their re-
union in bands, of ages more or less equal, to a very natural cause,
produced by the difference in the time of moulting in the old and
young ; and this also appears to be the cause that the bands composed
of adults, migrate to a much greater distance, whether in autumn or
at their return in spring, than the bands composed of young ones,
which do not, in either season, extend their journey so far. The plu-
mage of these birds being still imperfect, and the colours not yet du-
rable, they are generally one or two years old before they are in a state
to breed ; they then choose those places where adults of their own
species do not build their nests, the latter always expelling them from
the districts which are to give birth to a new progeny. When the old
ones extend their journey to the arctic regions, those of one or two
years old are found in the middle countries of Europe ; and when the
old ones choose the temperate climates, the young ones remain at the
south, or at farthest do not pass the seas which separate Europe from
the northern parts of Africa ; countries in which the greater number of
the largest species of our erratic birds, that do not perfect their growth
within the first year, choose to reside in winter. It is from these coun-
tries, or the numerous islands of the Archipelago, and those of the
Mediterranean and the Gulf of Venice, that they set off on their return
in the spring; numerous flocks are then seen on all our southern
coasts, especially where the sea forms large gulf's, such as the Archi-
pelago, the Adriatic Gulf, and those of Genoa and Lyons. These
meetings continue eight, ten, or at most fifteen days ; in which time
the passage of those countries is completed.

The routes taken by water fowl and birds which frequent marshes,
depend very much on the course of rivers, and the beds of the great
lakes ; the waters furnishing to each species its proper food, they seem
to be impelled, by a wonderful instinct, to choose for a rallying point
and place of departure, those spots whence the passage from the
great sea to the lakes and rivers is shortest and least occupied by
land. Thus the bands that assemble in the environs of Genoa
and Lyons, repair forthwith to the banks of the Po ; following
afterwards the passes of the great valleys of the Alps, which de-
scend into Piedmont, they rise above the mountains, where different
species of the birds in question are annually killed. From these points
they appear to direct their flight towards the great lakes of Switzer-
land, particularly that of Geneva, which all the water and fen birds of

ON THE MIGRATION OF BIRDS. 13

Europe resort to for a short period, or pass more or less regularly ;
from this they seem to continue their journey by the lakes of Mo-
rat, Neufchatel, and Bienne, and repair to the Rhine, the course of
which they follow, and thus arrive at the Baltic, the great inland,
and North Seas. These companies, already less numerous when
they arrive in the north, disperse themselves soon afterwards." At this
period, the individuals pair and attend to the wants of their new pro-
geny. The route most frequented by all the water-birds, is along the
borders of the sea : those which come from the Gulf of Gascony, from
Spain, and the coasts of Barbary, appear to follow that only ; several
species of waders follow it uniformly ; and the same route is taken by
all those birds which are unprovided with powerful means of flight.
The divers, the grebes, and other fresh water fowl, which seldom fly
when occupied with the cares of pair-ing and breeding, are, however,
endowed with great powers for this action ; their flight is vigorous and
long sustained ; they rise even above the high mountains, for it is not
rare to find individuals of these species on the lakes of the Alps, where
the waders and web-footed species are often killed. It appears that
the great flocks which assemble in the Ionian Isles, and the vast
marshes between Venice and Trieste, follow in their travels the course
of the Tagliamento, to arrive at the lakes in the environs of Villach
and Klagenfurt ; they visit the immense marshes which form the
lakes Balaton and Neuzidel, where several species remain, while others
reascend the Danube, and continue their journey to the Baltic Sea. On
the lakes of Hungary, and upon the Danube, several species are found,
which also visit the shores of the ocean. It appears to me, that the
species most peculiar to the western countries assemble in the Archi-
pelago, and on the borders of the Black Sea ; they reascend the Da-
nube, and following the course of the river, arrive in Hungary and
Austria, countries that abound with various species of birds in great
numbers. I have not travelled over the whole extent of country
crossed by the birds in the latter migration, nor that which takes
place from the Gulf of Lyons by the mouths of the Rhone, along that
river, and by the Doubs, the way by which their companions reach the
Rhine. The banks of this river are peopled in spring and autumn by
a great number of birds : we find in the part which forms the boundary
of the western countries of Germany, all the species which go by the
shores of the ocean and the Baltic Sea.

It is, however, very rarely that we see companies composed of old
ones ; these seem to come more frequently by chance, and separately :
the yearlings of almost every species pass regularly by these parts of
the sea, and they are generally young individuals, or only one or two

14

ON THE WALK OF QUADRUPEDS.

years old, such as are killed on the great lakes of Switzerland and
Italy. It should be understood that the species which do not continue
their periodical journey so far as the North Sea and the Baltic are
exceptions ; the old ones among the latter never stray to the northern
climates, and it would be an extremely rare circumstance to find a
young one there.

ON THE WALK OF QUADRUPEDS.

BY J. A. BORELLI, PROFESSOR OF MATHEMATICS, NAPLES.*

DISTINGUISHED philosophers and anatomists, no less than the un-
learned, have fallen into gross mistakes upon this subject, in conse-
quence of trusting to theoretical opinion, rather than to the evidence
of observed facts.

PROPOSITION.

The step of quadrupeds is not performed by alternately lifting the
two feet diagonally opposite, [that is, right and left, or left and
right, EDIT.] while the other two remain at rest.

An opinion prevailed that the step of quadrupeds was performed by
the moving forwards of two feet together, alternately with the two that

* Translated from the Latin work, " De Motu Animalium," by John Sharp, Esq.

ON THE WALK OF QUADRUPEDS. 15

are at rest, as in the walk of a man (bipedis) by the movement of one
foot constantly succeeding that of the other. Under this erroneous
impression, the ancients observed that quadrupeds, while they stand
upon the four soles of their feet, form upon the ground a four-sided
figure, A B C D. It was thence remarked, that when they are at full
speed, the two fore feet, A B, are raised and moved forward together,
whilst both the hind feet, C D, are at rest. Immediately after
A B falls to the ground, the two hind feet, C D, are raised and moved
forwards near to A B; and in this manner quadrupeds, by successively
contracting and lengthening themselves, perform running, as is evident
in the case of horses and dogs at full speed.

But in going at an easy pace, it is evident that the two fore feet or
the two hind feet are not raised together, nor moved forwards at the
same time, but alternately; when A is moved, B is at rest; and, on the
contrary, when B moves, A is at rest. It is certain that this takes
place in the hind feet : but it cannot be so easily distinguished in what
order the fore feet move with the hind feet — I mean whether the two
left feet, A and D, are moved at the same time, or A with C, on
account of the quickness of the motion.

They were of opinion, however, that this could be ascertained
by a process of reasoning. If the two left feet, A D, were raised and
moved forwards at the same time, then the animal would fall upon the
left side. Therefore, the right fore foot, B, with the left hind foot, D,
ought rather to rise and move forward at the same time, so that the
feet diametrically opposite might move or rest together. Moreover
this erroneous opinion prevailed to so great a degree, that, in equestrian
statues of marble and of bronze, both ancient and more recent, the two
feet diametrically opposed are suspended from the ground.

16 ON THE WALK OF QUADRUPEDS.

I am truly surprised that the difficulty and absurdity of such a no-
tion was not perceived. They grant that an animal ought to be steady
in, motion, lest it might totter or fall, and hence they aver, that the
two left feet, A and D, could not be moved together; for then the
centre of gravity of the quadruped, and the line perpendicularly drawn
from it to the ground, would fall either upon the same right line, B C,
where the two right feet are at rest, or beyond it on the line A D, and
in that posture the animal would totter or fall.

But when the two feet, B D, diametrically opposite, are raised and
moved together, at the same time, the whole weight of the animal
ought to rest upon the two feet fixed upon the ground ; I mean the
line perpendicularly drawn will fall not upon the large space, but upon
the line A C. The animal would therefore equally totter ; and thence
it will have an insecure and unsteady posture at that time.

Secondly. We may consider the figure, which the four feet form
after the first motion — namely, when the foot B is transferred to K, and
D to S ; then the two left feet, A and S, become contiguous, and the
right feet, K C, in turn are most removed from each other, so that the
four feet form a triangular figure, the longest side of which is K C,
and the least altitude A B. This posture therefore is not secure
enough, and from it, after the motion of the feet, C and A, to I and
V, the animal is restored to the steady quadrangular position, I S
V K, like the former A B C D. The firm and tottering postures of
this kind regularly following each other, would have been unwisely
ordered by Nature, when these disadvantages could have been easily
avoided.

But why do we enquire for reasons, when experience contradicts the
facts inferred. Observe a horse moving at a slow pace, and you will
never see the two feet, A and C, diametrically opposite, to move at
the same time, but one foot is always raised from the ground while the
other three are at rest. By an attentive observation, you will after-
wards perceive that this process is followed in the quick motion of all
kinds of quadrupeds.

[In birds, as we shall see in a future page, there are two species of
this sort of movement; — one group, like the nightingales and sparrows,
carrying both legs forwards at the same time, or hopping ; another,
like the wagtails and the blue breast (Motacilla Sucica), putting one
foot before the other. — EDITOR.]

ON THE WALK OF QUADRUPEDS. 17

The manner in which the step of Quadrupeds is performed, explained.

The oblong figure of a horse, which may be considered as resting
upon its legs as upon pillars fixed upon the ground in A B C D, forms
a four-sided rectangle; the line drawn perpendicular from the centre
of gravity of the :horse would fall upon E near the centre of the
rectangle, and thus the posture of the animal would be most secure.
Afterwards the step is made by the foot behind, as the left, C, which,
by pressing the firm ground with a strong effort backwards, the centre
of gravity is moved forward from E to G, and this being performed
quickly, the foot B is raised and moved forwards to H, which motion
can be made with greater effect, because the centre of gravity falls at
first within the triangle A B D ; next, it falls within the four-sided
figure (trapezium) A B F D, — that is, it is supported upon three or four
columns. The next three feet, A D F, remain firm, and include the
centre of gravity G; the left foot B, being moved forward to H, and
by this impulse the centre of gravity is tranferred to I — that is, to the
centre of the four-sided figure (rhombus) A H F D ; the steps of the
two left feet being concluded, the motion of the right hind foot D
begins, and afterwards that of the fore foot A. ' The step of quadrupeds
is always performed in the order just explained.

Although attentive observation may be sufficient to prove these
facts, yet it is the duty of the philosopher to enquire into the advan-
tages and necessity of such a process,. It is an invariable law of
Nature, while she avoids, as much as possible, the disadvantages and

VOL. i — NO. i. c

13 ON THE WALK OF QUADRUPEDS.

complexities of any system, to perform her work by means sure and
certain, and at the same time the easiest and most simple.

The step of animals does not include the motion of the whole body
moved forward, with equal rapidity and in the same direction, as in
flying, leaping, or creeping, but it is rather the motion arising from the
transference of some parts of the body, which are supported by others
at rest, and in this manner an animal is moved forward in walking,
standing and moving by turns. For this reason, the standing and
moving which includes the step of animals, cannot be tottering and
unsteady, but firm and secure, and ought to be performed with the
least yet sufficient labour of the muscles. But as the attitude of a
quadruped in walking must be free from the risk of falling, it is neces-
sary that the body of the animal be supported upon more than two
columns — I mean upon three or four, within which the line perpendi-
cular to the centre of gravity may fall. It is very evident that the
step of quadrupeds is performed in the manner explained in this pro-
position.

It is moreover necessary that the support of the animal should be
accompanied with the least labour and pain to itself, and this is
accomplished by the legs serving as columns, which, on account of
their hardness and obtuseness of feeling, easily support the superin-
cumbent weight, without any remarkable uneasiness.

Besides, the motion of the animal body is easily performed, because
its whole mass is not raised from the ground at once, one foot only
being lifted and moved forward. This is performed by first pressing
upon the ground with one of the hind feet, and not by one of the fore
feet, for if the former was lengthened while the latter rested upon the
ground, the centre of gravity would fall behind ; but, on the contrary,
by one of the hind feet being lengthened, the fore foot is moved for-
wards like a gladiator's spear (ad instar contC); whence it happens that
the whole mass of the animal is moved forward by the bending of three
erect columns, not different from the manner in which running upon
wheels is performed. Next by raising from the ground the same hind
foot, the joints being bent by the muscles, afterwards by the motion of
the fore foot of the same side as has been mentioned, these advantages,
I say, show the necessity of such an operation.

19

ON THE DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTICS OF ANIMALS.*

BY ARISTOTLE, THE STAGYRITE, FOUNDER OF THE PERIPATETIC
SCHOOL OF PHILOSOPHY.

As to the parts of animals, some are kicomposite, namely, such as are
divided into similar parts, as flesh into flesh ; but others are composite,
being such as are divided into dissimilar parts ; as the hand is not
divided into hands, nor the face into faces. Some things, however, of
this kind, are not only called parts, but also members ; and these are
such parts, as being wholes, contain in themselves other peculiar
parts ; such as the head, leg and hand, the whole arm, and the chest,
{thorax). For these parts are themselves wholes, and there are also
other parts of them. But all dissimilar parts are composed from simi-
lar parts ; as, for instance, the hand from flesh, nerves, and bones.

Some animals, however, have all the parts the same with, and some
have them different from, each other. But some of the parts are the
same in species ; as the nose and eyes of one man are specifically the
same with the nose and eyes of another man ; and flesh with flesh, and
bone with bone. This is also the case with the parts of horses, and
other animals, which we assert to be specifically the same. For as
one whole is to another, so is each of the parts to each. But some
animals have parts of the same genus, yet different according to ex-
cess and defect; I speak of those whose genus is the same as birds
and fishes; for each of .these has a difference according to genus, and
with reference to genus; and there are many species of fishes and birds.

Nearly, all of the parts in them, however, differ in the contrarieties
of passive qualities, such as colour and figure ; because some of them
are more passive to these, but others less. Further still, they also
differ, considered as many and as few, as large and as small, and in short,
as to excess and defect. For some of them are crustaceous, and others
testaceous; some have a long beak, as cranes; and others a short
beak ; and some have many, and others a few, feathers. Neverthe-
less in these also, some of the parts are different from others ; for some
of them have spurs, and others not ; and some have, but others are
without a tuft of hair on the forehead. As I have said, however, most
parts, and from which the whole bulk is composed, are either the same
or differ in contrarieties, according to excess and defect. But some
animals neither have parts specifically the same, nor the same accord-
ing to excess and defect, but according to' analogy; just as bone is

* Translated from the Greek work, riepi Zwwj/ l^opias, by T. Taylor, Esq., and cor-
rected and amended by the Editor, from Schneider's edition of the original.

c 2

20 CHARACTERISTICS OF ANIMALS.

analogous to the spine, a nail to a hook, a hand to a dtaw, and the
scales of a fish to the feathers of a bird ; for what a feather is to a
bird, that a scale is to a fish. The parts, therefore, which animals se-
verally possess, are, after this manner, different and the same ; and the
like also takes place in the position of the parts : for many animals
have the same parts, but not similarly 'situated ; as for instance, some
have the udder on the breast, but others between the legs.*

As to the similar parts, again, some are soft and moist, but others
are dry and solid ; I mean they are either entirely moist, or are so as
long as they remain in their natural condition ; as blood, lymph, fat,
suet, marrow, the reproductive fluid, bile, milk (in those animals that
have it), flesh, and substances similar to these. Again, after another
manner, excrementitious matters (are soft parts), such as phlegm, the
sediments of the belly, and urine. But the solid and dry parts are such
as nerve, skin, vein, hair, bone, cartilage, nail, and horn. For horn is
homonymously predicated with respect to genus, when it is predicated
of figure and a whole : the parts also, analogous to the before-men-
tioned, are hard and dry.

But the differences of animals are according to lives and actions,
manners and parts, concerning which we shall, in the first place, speak
generally, and afterwards discuss the genus of each. The differences,
therefore, are according to lives, actions, and manners ; but the causes
of these differences are, that some animals live in water, and others on
land. But the aquatic are of two kinds ; for some of them live and
obtain their nutriment in moisture, which they alternately receive and
reject ; and they cannot live when they are deprived of this, which hap-
pens to be the case with many fishes. Others live in moisture, and
derive their nourishment from it, yet they do not take in water, but
> air, and generate externally.

But many animals of this kind also walk as well as swim, as the
otter, the animal called latax, and the crocodile. Some of which are
also winged, as the diver and the dabchick ; and some likewise are
without feet, as the water-snake. But some obtain their nutriment in
moisture, and are not able to live out of it, yet neither take in air nor
moisture, as the animals called sea-nettles, and oysters. Of aquatic
animals, however, some live in the sea, others in rivers, others in lakes,
and others in marshes, as the frog, and the cordylas. And of sea
animals, some pertain to the main ocean, others to shores, and others
to rocks.

* These profound and accurate remarks have been twisted by G. St. Hilaire, and
the German mystics, into a wildly absurd theory. See Montagu's Ornith. Diet. p. xlvi.
and " Standing Notice " on our cover. — EDIT.

COLOUKS OF THE FEATHERS OF BIRDS. 21

As to land animals, some take in and again eject air, which is called
inspiration andexpiration, asman,andall such land animals ashavelungs.

Others again do not take in the air, but live and have their food in
the earth, as wasps, bees', and insects. Now I denominate those ani-
mals insects, which have incisions in their body, either in the upper
parts, or in both these, and also in the under parts. Many land ani-
mals, as we have said, obtain their nutriment in moisture; but no water
animal which takes in the sea water, derives its aliment from the earth.

Some animals, however, first live in moisture, but afterwards change
into another form, and live out of moisture, as is the case with mag-
gots in rivers, from which a fly is produced.

Some animals again do not change, while others are changeable;
the former live in moisture ; but no land animal is of this kind, while
many that dwell in moisture live fixed to rocks, as many kinds of shell-
fish. The sponge also appears to have a certain sense ; an indication
of which is, that it is with greater difficulty torn off, as they say, unless
the motion by which it is wrenched away is performed when it is
unaware of danger. But some adhere to rocks, which they occasion-
ally leave, such as is a certain genus called the sea anemone. For
some of these feed by night away from the rock. Many also, when
they are liberated, are without motion, as oysters, and the spongy crea-
tures called holothuria. But some have a power of swimming, as
fishes, the mollusca, and those animals that are covered with a soft
shell, such, for instance, as locusts. Some likewise are able to walk,
as the genus of crabs; for this animal lives naturally in the water,
while it has also the power of walking.

ON THE COLOURS OF THE FEATHERS OF BIRDS.

•

BY EDWARD BLYTH,

EVERY bird, after the species has been produced, annually under-
goes in the autumn a complete change of plumage, which is com-
monly termed moulting. Some species undergo, or partially undergo,
this change twice in the year — in autumn and in the spring ; as is the
case with a variety of aquatic birds. Others again, as the ptarmigan
or white grouse, seem to be in a perpetual moult ; that is to say, new
feathers may always be observed amongst their plumage. It is probable
that, in this case, new feathers are thrown out in an unusually short
space of time ; thus enabling the bird to meet the sudden changes of
temperature, common in the elevated regions in which it is found, —
a beautiful provision for an Alpine climate.

22 COLOURS OF. THE FEATHERS OF BIRDS.

Many birds, also, are very different in their winter plumage from
what they appear in the summer, and this without any change of
feathers in the spring ; a circumstance which may be commonly
observed in many of our native finches — as the chaffinch, the linnet,
the brambling, and others.

This apparent change usually takes place in the following manner :
when the new feathers appear, at the annual autumnal moult, they
are edged with a kind of fringe of another colour, and usually of a
more sombre hue. This fringe is merely a continuation of the barbs of
the feather, and is, in many instances, of precisely the same texture,
although generally of a rather warmer and more downy nature : but
where the two colours meet, that is, at the actual place where this
fringe joins the end of the feather, the texture is much finer : so that,
if we were to pull one of the little plumelets, or barbs of the feather, it
would infallibly break at this place, Now, as the feathers of a bird
are arranged one over another, in such a manner as that their termi-
nations only are seen, it of course follows that the bird appears in a
very different dress in the winter season from that which it wears in
the summer, when all these edgings have fallen off. Accordingly, the
head and neck of a male stonechat now appear brown, but, if we were
to turn aside the feathers, we should perceive that the edges only are
of that colour ; in the summer they are of a jet black. I may remark
in passing, that the feathers on the back of this bird present the same
appearance as those of the head and neck, being black at the base, and
edged with brown ; but those of the back retain their brown edging
throughout the year. The feathers, also, on the neck of a cock chaf-
finch, at this period of the year, show considerable contrast of colour
between the back and its termination, or edging; the former being of
a bluish grey, while the latter is of a reddish brown. A beautiful
provision of nature is here evinced, by which the feathers of these
birds are longer, and, of course, form a warmer covering in winter
than in summer.

Fig. 2.

Feathers from the breast of the linnet, figured from specimens magnified. Fig. 1. New fea-
thers with their brown fringe. Fig. 2. The older feathers in spring, when the beards have
fallen off. <

COLOURS OF THE FEATHERS OF BIRDS. 23

But besides this, the whole plumage of many birds becomes of a
brighter hue at the approach of the breeding season ; a fact which is
exemplified in a remarkable degree in the forehead and breast of a
cock linnet, which, in the winter season, appear of a dingy dark red,
but, at the season for pairing, become of a fine bright scarlet. The
beautiful roseate tinge, also, which distinguishes the breast of a cock
whitethroat in the summer, is no longer observable after the bird has
moulted, but seems to be entirely acquired at the commencment of the
breeding season.

Hence, it is reasonable to infer with Mr. Selby, " that an invisible
circulating fluid pervades every feather, and consequently the plumage
may be considered so far an actual part of the living bird, as to be under
the influence of such constitutional change as the bird may at any time
experience.

" That such circulation takes place is moreover evident, from the
striking difference which he observed in the elasticity *, — between
the feather upon a bird whilst alive, and upon the same bird a short
time after death. In water-birds, this principle of life in the feather
(if I may be allowed the expression,) is singularly apparent ; as the
plumage that is impervious to water upon the living bird, is almost
immediately after death subject to its effect.

" There can be no reason, then, why the feather may not be influ-
enced by the constitutional state of the bird, and as that is in the
highest degree of vigour immediately previous to the season of propa-
gation, why may not such vigour be exhibited to the very extreme
points of the circulating medium, by a partial variation of colour, or
an increased lustre of tone in the former hue of the feathers ?

" It is not fanciful, for it has been established as a maxim in patho-
logy, that the state of health in man may be ascertained by the occa-
sional flaccidity or crispness of the hair ; and have we not repeatedly
met with well authenticated instances of great and sudden changes
having taken place in its colour, acting only, of course, through the
organic structure of the body.

" Changes of colour in the hair of many quadrupeds are seen, and
that also at particular seasons ; and (as Dr. Fleming asserts, in the
case of the stoat, and some others, that assume a winter's garb,) with-
out any actual shedding of their coat, either upon their first variation,
or in regaining their summer's hue."

* Mr. Selby also mentions " brilliancy of colour," fyc., but I have never observed this
in any remarkable degree.

24 COLOURS -OF THE FEATHERS OF BIRDS.

Thus far Mr. Selby ; but it does not appear to me that this excellent
naturalist has made sufficient allowance for the effects produced by
the action of the air, and by the nature and quality of the food. He
seems to think that the change which takes place at the pairing sea-
son, is of itself sufficient to produce, not only the high degree of spirit
and pugnacious disposition frequently evinced, and the superior song
generally called forth at this period of the year, but also to be the sole
cause of this superior brightness of plumage. From this, however, I
beg leave, with all deference, to dissent, as I can adduce in sup-
port of my opinion, a very familiar example. The common linnet,
already mentioned as a very striking instance of the great change
of colour, which the same individual feathers undergo at a particular
season of the year, is well known never to acquire in the cage that
bright scarlet plumage of the breast and forehead, which distinguishes
the bird in a state of nature. The male whitethroat also, that has
passed the winter in confinement, does not assume the fine rosy tint
on the breast, that adorns this species in its wild state! But that birds
in confinement feel the genial influence of spring, in common with
their brethren in the field, is evident, not only from their superior
song at this season, and their quarrelsome and jealous spirit, but from
their being frequently known to build a nest, and to produce and rear
their young in captivity.

It necessarily follows, therefore, that the action of the air, the influ-
ence of particular food, and perhaps also, of other unknown agents,
assist materially in producing this change of colour.

That certain food may have an influence is probable, from the
known effects of particular food upon the plumage of birds in confine-
ment ; thus a bull-finch, fed entirely on hemp-seed, will in the course
of time become black, not by moulting, but by an actual change of
colour in the same feathers ; and if this food only be given to it for a
month or six weeks, previous to its change of plumage in the Autumn,
the new feathers will appear of that colour. I have seen a goldfinch
also, that has been rendered black by the same food, though in this
instance, the yellow part of the wings remained unchanged.

Constant exposure to the fresh air, also, has an effect on the plumage
of birds; as the breast of a caged linnet that is kept much out of doors,
may be observed to be of a brighter red than that of a bird of the same
species, constantly confined in a close room.

From the above facts it would appear, that the great change of co-
lour, which some species undergo at particular seasons, is produced,
not so much by any single cause, as by a combination of various and

COLOURS OF THE SEA. 25

different circumstances, that altogether occasion a change which can-
not be produced without that general concurrence, which does not of
course exist to operate- upon the plumage of a cage bird ; nor at all
times upon a bird even in a state of liberty : and we can thus easily
account for the curious and often-noticed fact, of many wild linnets
passing the summer without ever acquiring the scarlet colour upon
the breast. A circumstance which has caused a great deal of specu-
lation and embarrassment among naturalists. It may be remarked, in
conclusion, that many birds actually change their plumage twice in the
year, of which the male Whidah bird of Africa is a familiar example-

Tooting, Surrey, Dec. 6th, 1832.

ON THE COLOUR OF THE SEA.

BY COLONEL BORY DE ST. VINCENT.*

THOSE who have been accustomed to a life confined in the interior of
countries, where only rivulets and shallow rivers flow, where clear
fountains rise, or muddy currents roll along, view with admiration the
first appearance of the sea, as from the shore they regard the pure and
sparkling green complexion of its waters, — a colour which indeed seems
peculiar to itself. The wonder is increased, when a portion of its water,
passed into a vessel, is observed to retain no trace of that very peculiar
colour, and to be perfectly clear. Its transparency is such, that in
places undefined by filth or dirt, the sand may be distinguished at the
bottom of its bed at a considerable depth, and stones and shells of the
smallest size, which lie there, appear then bright and resplendenf.
Marine plants, especially the corallines, beam in it with the greatest
splendour ; and all productions of this nature elegantly shaded, whilst
they are sunk beneath the surface of the water ; but as soon as they
are taken out, this beauty vanishes. Certain Cystoceira, called by us
Iridea, as well as many Alcyonia, which, in their fostering element
shine in the colours of the rainbow, or in the finest tints of purple
and orange, seem there tinged with black, yellow, or simply of a brown
or dark violet hue, when cast upon the bank of the shore, lose their
attractions by exposure to the atmospheric air. As the light pene-
trates the abyss of waters, and during a cloudless day, as we enjoy an
excursion on its surface, the waves appear coloured in such a manner

* Translated from the French, by the Editor.

26 ANATOMY OF THE SUGAR LOUSE.

around us, that we are sometimes inclined to believe, as we admire the
deepness of its green, that we are upon a liquid meadow, or upon a
billiard-table carpet, which could be translucent. In proportion as the
vessel becomes distant from the shore, and we reach the high latitudes,
where the depth increases more and more, the green tint changes into
a blue tint, and in the open sea, the water becomes, at fifty or sixty
fathoms, of the finest azure colour. The green shade generally an-
nounces danger, or an approach to low coasts ; for along those which
are intersected with peaks or mountains, and near which the sound
descends to a great extent, the blue azure is observed to appear, and
to become much more lively, as the depth becomes more considerable.
But this blue, which is ordinarily regarded as one of the characteristics
of the ocean, and which is commonly attributed to the manner in
which the rays of the sun become decomposed, as they penetrate into
the waters, is not, however, exclusively peculiar to it ; every large and
deep bed of water has a cast of a similar nature. Deep lakes, which
are not salt, especially those among high mountains, are equally affected
by the blue azure tint, and this beautiful shade is observed even in the
bed of torrents, at the bottom of which, if the water fills a cavity in a
rock, the serenity of the heaven produces, in a small degree, the most
brilliant effect of colouration.

ANATOMY OF THE SUGAR-LOUSE. (Lepisma saccharinum, LINNAEUS )

BY PROFESSOR TREVIRANUS, OF BREMEN.*

THE sugar-louse is ranked along with the wood-louse (Oniscus), and
water-louse (Asellus aquations), though it is in many particulars not
so like the whale-louse (Cyamus ceti, LATREILLE). These insects
are similarly filiform, having a structure of numerous small joints,
with antennse, tail bristles, and similar eyes placed together so as to
shine, which are composed of minute semicircles and faintly shagreened.
Like the Onisci, the body is arched above, and composed of numerous
small rings. They have only six feet, but in the structure thereof
there is not so much resemblance between them and the wood-louse.
It must be confessed, however, that the differences are upon the whole
no less obvious than these resemblances.

The body of the sugar-louse is longer and smaller than that of the
wood-louse, and is everywhere clothed with small scales.

* Translated from the German periodical, Vermischtf Schriften Anatomischen, by
Edward A. Rennie.

ANATOMY OF THE SUOAHR LOUSE.

27

n i

(Back and front views of the Sugar-louse magnified.)

The antennae (/, f,) are short, cylindrical, tapering from the base
to the tip, and beset with bristles at the joints.

The head is covered on the upper part with a round plate, and the
back with twelve plates of a square form. The under part of the body,
reckoning from the head, has only eleven such plates.

The feet are connected with the three anterior divisions of the body,
and consist of five joints, of which the two first are very broad in the
middle, and the last very thin and roundish.

On the hinder extremity of the body, are two short, thin, bristles
(palpen, q, o), beyond which upon each side are two very long
ones (r, r), and beyond these four others (m, ri) shorter, while the
last ring of the body ends in a single pointed bristle (schwanzspitze,
<), similar to the rest, all of them having precisely the same structure
as the antennse. The three longest bristles take their origin from the
last back-plate, under which is the vent ; but the short bristles ori-
ginate from the last belly- plate (bauchschuppe}, between the two
halves of which are the external organs of reproduction.

28

ANATOMY OF THE SUGAR LOUSE.

. l. Fig. 2.

Fig. 3.

The mouth consists of two upper and two under jaws; and of one
upper and one under lip. The upper jaws (kinnbacken) are roundish
and somewhat curved, conical at the base, and furnished at the tip
with five teeth (m, m, fig. 1). The under jaws (kinnladen) are bulged
behind (7, fig. 2), but taper off to a sharp point at the tip (A;), with a
moveable, pointed, and somewhat curved member (ry), arising at the
base of a long, thread- shaped five-jointed feeler.

The upper lip is triangular, and divided crosswise into four portions,
which are moveable on the under part (a, fig. 1). The under lip is
bluntly triangular, ends on the fore part in four small lobes (n, x, fig.
3), and is furnished with two four jointed feelers, the tip joint of which
is club-shaped and remarkably thick (ht fig. 1, and a, b, c, d, fig. 2).

Fig. 1.

The digestive canal runs in the form of a narrow tube (A, B^fig. 1)

ANATOMY OF THE SUGAR LOUSE.

29

from the mouth downwards, widening out as it descends to the breast into
a capacious reservoir, which is held to be the crop (B, C), succeeding
to which is a second cavity, smaller, and of a tapering form (C, D)«
The inner part of this is represented as laid open in figure 2. It is
furnished on the inside with six teeth, of which 2 and 6 have the same
interior structure as 3 and 5, differing in this from the upper ones I and
4. The two teeth 3 and 5 seem manifestly to seize, and the upper
teeth to bite and chew the food. It is not a little singular in an
animal which stands so low in the scale of organisation, to find such
an apparatus for manducation. There are similar stomach; teeth of
various structure, in the oriental cockroach (Blatta orientatis). This
gizzard or toothed stomach (zahnmagen) runs into a short, straight,
thin intestine (D, E, fig. 1), at the lower end of which four rather long
and very slender bile vessels (2) arise at a contraction of the tube.

Ramdohr, in his work on the Digestion of Insects (Abhandlung, s-
1 50) , reckons the reservoir which I have called the crop or first stomach
as a part of the gullet, and imagines the part called by me the small
intestine to be a second stomach, a matter however which must be
arbitrary. My own opinion rests on the analogy of the wood-louse
and the centipede (Scolopendra). In the small tapering stomach,
Ramdohr has overlooked the teeth, and has incorrectly termed it a
third stomach (faltenmageri). Ramdohr is also wrong in representing
the sugar-louse to have only two bile vessels.

The thick intestine is narrow at its origin, but becomes wider towards
its termination, enlarging very much under the middle long bristle of
the tail (E, G, fig. 1). Upon the back of the first and second stomach
there is an irregular mass of fat containing real oil.

Fig. 1 Fig. 2. Fig. 3.

30 ANATOMY OF THE SUGAR LOUSE.

The external reproductive organs in the female sugar-louse are placed
under the middle long bristle of the tail, in form of a plate, or rather
of a longish pipe (P, fig. 1), lying between two plates (Z) of a horny
structure, running to a point, and having on the sides six small jointed
bristles (q, m, ri). At first sight, this has so much resemblance to the
external reproductive organs in the male of the common wood-louse,
that we may readily mistake this female for a male, and thus find
another similarity between the two species for which there is no
grounds. On more close investigation, it is found that the organ in
question is cleft, and is in reality an ovipositor (leyestackel). This ter-
minates above in a short canal, at the upper end of which are two small
bladders (T, rf), and a knotted egg-organ (E, E, fig. 2). The bladders
I met with only in the full grown insects ; and in such individuals as I
found them, the egg-organs were absorbed (ausyeleert), and no longer
apparent. I was therefore obliged to represent these parts in two
separate figures. The bladders are oval, and separated by a contrac-
tion into two parts. From each of the two egg-organs there runs a
single tube (E, d, E) slightly curved, which is furnished on the outer
side with five short branches containing eggs (E). ,

The external reproductive organs in the male are precisely in the
same situation as the ovipositor in the female, exactly between the two
horn-like plates, which, however, are in the male smaller than in the
female, and somewhat different in form. The external part (ruthe) is
very short and cylindrical, with two lips wherein are two gut-like
organs, rather wide, and two longish tubes (a, b, c, fig. 3). These two
organs are curved and ringed. The two tubes are narrower than the
former. These become wider as they ascend, and stand farther apart,
afterwards curving downwards, in forrn of a slender film, which again
runs upwards and outwards, ending in several minute branching,
longish, bladders.

12 11 10 9 8

Fig. 1.

ftUWUUl g€ _ . ^ ^

Fig. 2.

I have been long in doubt respecting the organ of breathing in the
sugar-louse, and have not yet arrived at any certain conclusion. I
imagined, at first, that I could distinguish the air tubes (trachea:) ;

SIR w. JARDINE'S NOTES ON BIRDS. 31

but, on closer investigation, 1 found that I had mistaken for these cer-
tain muscular fibres, and some very slender vessels which have not the
usual structure of the windpipe. I could no where find either spiracles
or gills ; and I was thence led to believe that the sugar-louse breathes
through the whole surface of the body (ganzen oberftdche des korpers),
which is everywhere clothed with shining scales, and these, under a
higher magnifying power, appear to be placed on a foot stalk, and
marked with longish lines (figs. 1,2, 4). Now why should not these be
the valves of the spiracles? I cannot, however, prove the truth of this
conjecture, except from the apparent absence of any other apparatus
for breathing. Yet it is proved by the experiment of Sorg (Disquis.
Physiol. circa Respir. Insect, et Verm. p. 109), that, without some
organ of breathing, they could not consume so much oxygen, and appear
so sensibly distressed by the presence of hydrogen.

The nervous system of the sugar-louse consists of the brain* ( 1 , fig. 3),
and eleven nerve-knots (2-12), of which the three first (2-4)^and the
last (12), are precisely the size of the brain, while the others (5-11)
are very small. The brain differs from the nerve-knots in nothing
more than in giving origin to the nerves of the eyes (o, o), which I have
been able to see distinctly, With respect to the higher functions of
the brain all these animals must rank in a very low scale.

SIR W. JARDINE'S NOTES ON BIRDS.t

THERE can be no question that Sir W. Jardine stands in a high rank
among our living British Naturalists, a rank which the Notes before us,
as well as those he has given to " White's Selbome," would entitle us
to claim for him, independently of what he has done in his splendid
work on British Birds. With the exception of one thing also, which
we shtall not now stop to discuss, he can write with an elegance and
spirit, very superior to the meagre and uninteresting matter so frequently
met with in works on this subject. His Life of Wilson accordingly, is
admirable : and we regret much that our plan, and still more our
limits, forbid us to touch this portion of the work, even in a sketch.

* See Alphabet of Insects, pp. 75 — 81. — EDIT.

t American Ornithology ; or the Natural History of the Birds of the United States,
by Alexander Wilson; with a Continuation, by C. L. Buonaparte, Prince of Musig-
nano. The Illustrative Notes and Life of Wilson, by Sir W. Jardine, Bart, &c.
3 vols. 8vo.( Edinburgh and London, 1832.

32 NOTES ON BIRDS. .

We must confine ourselves to Sir William's Notes : and here we have
a rich fund of accurate remark and interesting detail, such as could
only have come from an original observer of nature. The first which
attracts our attention is a spirited and accurate sketch of the jays ;
different, very different indeed, from Wilson's text, but still very
excellent in its way. Sir William says : —

" The colours'of their plumage are brown, gray, blue, and black, and in some dis-
tributed with sober chastity, while in others the deep tint and decided markings rival
the lichest gems.

Proud of ccerulean stains,

From Heaven's unsullied arch purloined, the jay
Screams hoarse. GISBORNE'S Walks in a Forest.

" In geographical distribution, we find those of splendid plumage following the
warmer climates, and associating there with our ideas of Eastern magnificence ; while
the more sober dressed, and, in our opinion, not the least pleasing, range through
more temperate and northern regions, or those exalted tracts in tropical countries,
where all the productions, in some manner, receive the impress of an Alpine or
northern station. This is no where better exemplified than in specimens lately sent to
this country from the lofty and extensive plains of the Himmalaya, where we have
already met with prototypes of the European jay, black and green woodpeckers, greater
titmouse, and nutcracker. They inhabit woody districts, in their disposition they are
cunning, bold, noisy, active, and restless, but docile and easily tamed, when intro-
duced to the care of man, and are capable of being taught tricks and various sounds.
They feed indiscriminately, and according to circumstances, either on animal or vege-
table substances ; plundering nests of their eggs and young, and even, in the more
exposed farm-yards, disappointing the hopes of the mistress in the destruction of a
favourite brood. They are also robbers of orchards and gardens of their finest fruits ;
but, when without the reach of these luxuries, they will be content to satisfy their
hunger with nature's own productions, the wild berries, or fruits and seeds of the forest
and the field."— VoL I. p. 5, 6. Note.

This is generalising to some purpose ; and is precisely the sort of
Natural History with which every reader must be pleased. Sir Wil-
liam's brief sketch of the evening proceedings of the linnet, is also
much to our taste. He is speaking of the similarity of the American
goldfinch (Carduelis Americana, EDWARDS), to our linnets, in their
manners, their haunts, their breeding, and their feeding.

" Every one," he says, " who has lived much in the country, must often have
remarked the European grey linnets, in the manner above described of the American
goldfinch, congregating towards the close of a fine winter's evening, perched on the
summit of some bare tree, pluming themselves in the last rays of the sun, chirruping
the commencement of their evening song, and then bursting simultaneously into one
general chorus ; again resuming their single strains, and again joining, as if happy,
and rejoicing at the termination of the day's employment. Mr. Audubon has re-
marked the same trait in their manners, and confirms the resemblance of their notes :

NOTES ON BIRDS. 33

' So much does the song of our goldfinch resemble that of the European species, that,
whilst in France aud England, I have frequently thought, and with pleasure thought,
that they were the notes of one of our own birds which I heard.' " Vol. I. page 12. Note.

The following remarks on colour will be found to accord pretty
nearly with the excellent paper communicated to us by Mr. Blyth,
in a preceding page. In remarking on what Wilson tells us of the
American goldfinch, changing in autumn from a rich yellow to an
olive-green, the black spot of the head taking the same olive tint, Sir
William says,

" These changes take place in the common siskin of this country ; indeed changes,
and in many cases similar to those alluded to, are common, according to season,
among our Fringillidse. The common chaffinch loses the pale grey of his forehead,
which becomes a deep bluish purple ; the head and back of the brarnbling, or mountain
finch, become a deep glossy black : and the forehead and breasts of different linnets,
from a russet brown, assume a rich and beautiful crimson. They are chiefly produced
by the falling off of the ends of the plumelets of each feather, which before concealed
the richer tints of its lower parts ; at other times, by the entire change of colour. The
tint itself is always much increased in beauty and gloss as the season for its display
advances: at its termination the general moult commences, when the feathers are re-
placed with their new elongated tips of a more sombre hue, which no doubt adds to
the heat of the winter clothing, and remain until warmer weather and desires pro-
mote their dispersion." Vol.1, page 15. Note.

The next we shall give is a pretty bit, as a painter would call it, of
personal observation. Speaking of the nut-hatches of America and
Europe, he says,

" I had lately an opportunity of observing a nest of our own native species, which
had been taken young. They became remarkably tame ; and, when released from
their cage, would run all over their owner in all directions, up or down his body and
limbs, poking their bills into seams and holes, as if in search of food upon some old
and .rent tree, and uttering, during the time, a plaintive cry. When running up or
down, they rest upon the back part of the whole tarsus, and make great use, as a sup-
port, of what may be called the real heel, and never use the tail. Theii bills are com-
paratively strong, and the power they possess of using them great ; equal apparently
to that of a woodpecker of like size. They breed in hollow trees, and produce a rather
numerous brood. The male attends carefully during the time. When roosting they
sleep with the head and back downwards, in the manner of several titmice." Vol. I.
page 37. Note.

We really wonder that a naturalist of such general good taste as our
author, should continue to use the very inappropriate popular name
mouse and mice for those pretty little birds, the TITS. The objection-
able term again occurs in another note, recording an interesting habit
which must be familiar to every field-observer.

" It is curious,'' says Sir William, " to remark the similarity, as it were, in the
feeling and disposition of some species. In this country, during the winter, when the
VOL. 1. NO. I. 1833. D

«34 NOTES ON BIRDS.

different kinds have laid aside those ties which connected them by sexual intercourse,
nothing is more common than to see a whole troop of the blue, marsh, cole, and long-
tailed titmice, accompanied with a host of golden-crested wrens, and perhaps a
solitary creeper, proceed in the manner here mentioned, and regularly follow each
other, as if in a laid-out path. An alarm may cause a temporary digression of some
of the troop, but these are soon perceived making up their way to the main body. The
whole may be found out and traced by their various and constantly reiterated cries."
Vol. I. page 43. Note.

Sir William does not often venture upon anatomical physiology ; but
the following is an interesting scrap : —

" There is," says he, " a curious structure in the covering of the nostrils in most
birds ; where there is any addition to the horny substance, it is composed either of
fine bristles, or hairs, or of narrow feathers closely spread together. In the gold-crests
it consists of a single plumelet on each side, the webs diverging widely." Vol. I.
p. 128. Note.

Our Author is more at home in describing the habits and manners
of birds. Speaking of Wilson's admirable account of the blue bird
(Saxicola sialis, BUONAPARTE,) he says,

" The very habits of our European Saxicolte are here described ; they invariably seek
the summit of some elevation, a hillock, a stone, a bush, or some of the taller wild
plants, and if occasionally on a tree, the topmost branch is always preferred; there
they perch, uttering their monotonous call, which increases in anxiety and frequency
as we approach the nest, or the young before they are able to fly ; or they alight at
intervals, run for some distance, and again remount to a fresh station. When not
annoyed they retain the same elevated situations, looking out for food, taking the
insects seldom on the wing, but generally by a sudden spring ; or leaping down, return
immediately with the prey in their bill, where it is retained for a few minutes, while
they repeat their uniform note. The young, as soon as they are able to fly, have the
same manners with their parents ; and at the season when they are first on the wing,
some extensive commons have appeared almost entirely in motion with our common
species." Vol. I. p. 61. Note.

But though we have got over little more than a hundred pages, our
space forbids us to proceed further at present. We shall, however,
take an early opportunity of returning to Sir William's highly-inter-
esting notes.

DESCRIPTION OF THE EUROPEAN PLUMED GNATS

(Corethra, PANZER.)

BY J. W. MEIGEN, OF STOLBERG.*

GENERIC CHARACTERISTICS. — The antennae stretched forward,
thread-shaped, with fourteen joints ; in the male with plumed" whirls,

* Translated from the German work, Europaischen Zweiflugeligen Irtsekten, by
Jacob Dixon, Esq.

DESCRIPTION OF THE EUROPEAN PLUMED GNATS. 35

in the female hairy. The pal,>i standing out, bent inwards, four-
jointed, the first joint short. The wings incumbent, with the wing-
ribs hairy, and the hinder margin with a scaly fringe.

The head smaller than the corselet. The compound eyes crescent-
shaped: simple eyes, none. The antennae stretched forward, thread-
shaped, fourteen-jointed ; the joints longish, somewhat thick and
short at their origin, the two last, rather longer, particularly in the
male ; all the joints in the male, beset throughout with plumed whirls,
becoming gradually shorter upwards (fig. 2) ; in the female they are
hairy (fig. 1). The sucker is fleshy; the under lip (lippe) cylindri-
cal, with a short neck (s/zW), and having two round hairy knobs at
the^extremity (fig. 3, a, a); upper-lip (fefze) small, horny, pre-
senting three acute angles ; palpi (b, 6) standing out, bent inwards,
cylindrical, hairy, four-jointed ; the first very short, the others long.
The corselet egg-oblong ; the back scale (schildchen) small. The
abdomen slender, cylindrical, clothed with fine hairs, eight-ringed ; in
the male flattish at the extremity, with two hooks at the vent. The legs
slender, tolerably long; in pairs close behind each other, without any
interval between. The poisers naked. The wings small, the wing-ribs
hairy, with a scaly fringe on the outer border ; the scales lancet-
shaped, pointed (fig. 4); during repose the wings lie flat on the
body. The arrangement of the wing-ribs (nervenlaufes) closely resem-
bles that of the common gnat (Culex.)

The name of this species is derived from the word korethron
which means a " tuft of feathers."

SPKCIES.

1. THE FEATHER-HORN PLUMED GNAT (Corethra plumicornis,
FABRICIUS). The back corselet (riikkenschild) with white side-stripes.
Thorace vitta laterali. (fig. 5, the male.)

Fabr. Ent. Syst. iv. 246, 58 ; Tipula (plumicornis) fusca, thorace linea laterali pedi-
busque albidis immaculalis. — Syst. Antl. 42, 22 ; Chironomus plumicornis. — De deer,
Ins. vi. 149, 20; Tipula (cristallina) griseo-cinerea, antennis filiformibus niaris
plumosis, corpore vilioso; thoracis lateribus fascia pallido-grisea. — Gmel. Syst.
jNat. v. 2826, 108; Tipula Hafniensis. — Reaumur, Ins. v. tab. 6, fig. 4- — 15. —
Latreille, Gen. Cr. iv. 247, Corethra lateralis ; Panzer, Fauna Germ. cix. J6,
Corethra lateralis. — Klassif. d. Zweiji. i. Aufl. viii. ] , Corethra lateralis, 34 i. Tipula
plumicornis, 37 s. Tipula crisiallma.

Head, feelers, and antennae, brown; hairs of the antennee rather

yellowish brown. Corselet, dusky grey on the back, with three raised

stripes ; the inner one, which reaches from the base to the middle, is

'divided by a long deep line ; the two others Ije on the side, and go from

the middle to the small back scale. A white stripe immediately under

n2

36 DESCRI PTION OF THE EUROPEAN PLUMED GNATS.

a brown one, encloses the dusky back on both sides. The sides white
with a black triangular spot. The abdomen yellowish-brown, some-
times rather brownish-grey, behind the division paler. Legs, pale
yellow. Poisers white. Wings unspotted. Found in May on the
sea coast. Length, one fourth of an inch.

The maggot lives in water, and is as clear and transparent as crystal.
It is nearly cylindrical, though a little tapering from the head back-
wards, and having a double hook on the head. On the fore part,
where the body is rather thickest, two brown kidney-shaped bodies are
seen internally, and not far from the vent two similar smaller ones.*
The last ring has on the under side an egg-oblong, leaf-like h'n, and
at the vent two fleshy horns. In adolescence (nymphe) the insect has
two horns on the head, and at the vent two egg-oblong fins. After
ten or twelve days the full grown gnat comes forth. Reaumur found
the maggot in July and August ; De Geer also found it in the spring,
and the full grown gnat at large in May. (See Reaumur's work, as
above quoted.)

2. THE PALE PLUMED GNAT. (Corethra pallida, FABRICIUS.)
Whitish, legs spotted with black. Albida, pedibus nigro-punctatis.
(fig. 6, the female.)

Fabr. Ent. Syst. iv. 245,56, Tipula (pallida) pilosa pallida, pedibus nigro-punctatis. —
Syst. Antl. 42, 19, Chiron. pallidus.— GmeJ. Syst. Nat. v. 2826, 107, Tipula pallida.
— Panzer, Fauna Germ. cix. 17, Corethra pallida.

Whitish. Hairs of the antennae, brown. Eyes black. Back-plate
(riikkenschild) with three pale-brown stripes in the same place as in
the former species. The thigh and the shank white, with black spots ;
leg-rings, slightly brownish. Wings, water-coloured, with a slight
brownish shade across the middle. — From M. Baumhauer's collection.
Length of the male, two lines and a half; of the female, two lines.
3. THE BROWN-PLUMED GNAT (Corethra culiciformis, DE
GEER.)

Brown ; abdomen and legs, grey. Fusca, abdomine pedibusque
griseis.

De Geer, Ins. vi. 144, 16, Tipula (culwiformis) fusca, antennis filiformibus maris

plumosis ; abdomine pedibusque griseis ; costis alarum hirtis. Tab. 23, fig. 3 — 1 2

Latreille, Gen. Cr. iv. 247.

I cannot add anything to this description, as I have never seen a
specimen. De Geer found the maggots, which seem equally com-
mon with those of the common gnats, in May, in stagnant waters.

See Insect Transformations, p. 287, for figures of these. — EDITOR.

ON THE GRANITE NKAK PLYMOUTH.

37

They are of a light-brown colour, somewhat long. The corselet very
thick, having internally two small, longish, dusky-brown bodies; there
is an erect conical tube on the outer margin of the eighth ring, and a
rugged tuft of hair under the tail. The adolescent insect (nymphe)
is- brown, generally curved; large before, having two horns, with two
round leaf-like fins at the vent. After eight days' repose, the full-
grown gnat comes forth.— DE GEER'S WORK, as above quoted.

ON THE GRANITE NEAR PLYMOUTH, AND THE INFERTILITY
OF GRANITE SOIL.

BY JOHN PRIDEAUX, ESQ.*

THE granite of Dartmoor, from Mistor to Heytor, and south of that
line, has the following characters ; which probably belong to the
whole.

It is entirely mountainous, the highest hills being on the borders ;
where some of them attain an elevation of nearly two thousand feet.
The valleys run in various directions ; but have a tendency upon the
whole to the north and south line. The hills rise often steep, some-
times precipitous ; their sides scantily clothed with long grass, except
where rushes or moss indicate subjacent bog ; and often strewed with
loose blocks of granite, from fifty or more tons down to the size of a
flag-stone. A crag, called the tor, usually projects at the summit of
the hill, having a very striking appearance of stratification ; thejissures
being sometimes horizontal, more commonly a little inclined. This

* From the Transactions of the Plymouth Institution, kindly sent us by Dr. E.
Moore.

38 ON THE G'RANITE NEAR PLYMOUTH.

stratified character is not less general in the quarries, where, although
there are none of those marked divisions indicative of intermissions in
the general depositions of the rock, the stone always comes out in
beds. The dip is different in different hills, but seems to have a pre-
vailing tendency towards east and south. *

Not only the hills are higher on the borders, but in many places
the granite seems harder there, and of closer texture. Hey-tor, Sheep's-
tor, Collard-tor, and Pen-beacon, will illustrate this, as well as Bol-
stack, the granite of which belongs to a more westerly projection. We
must except, however, as will presently appear, the hill sides in im-
mediate contact with certain rocks adjoining the moor.

The hardness varies, from such as almost to defy the tool, to that
which falls to pieces by the blow of the hammer, or may be even cut
with a spade like gravel.

The colour is not much more uniform, being generally pale grey or
whitish in the mass, with a shade of red or yellow ; but it is found, from
almost black with schorl to pure shining white; and some occurs of
a rich red, superior in beauty to any Egyptian granite I have seen,
particularly where it contains tourmaline.

That it is metalliferous every body knows; tin being the most
common product. Copper sometimes occurs ; and, in a few instances,
manganese has been mentioned ; of which, as the miners have reasons
for concealing it, I do not know the geological relation to the rock —
whether it lies on the surface, or penetrates it in veins. Lead 1 have not
heard of in this formation.

This granite is rich in schorl, and poor in mica ; consequently less
impregnated with magnesia, and perhaps more subject to the operation
of the weather, than is common to that rock : circumstances which
may help to explain its comparative fertility in grass. In summer it
feeds great numbers of cattle ; and in extremely hot and dry weather,
when herbage elsewhere is burnt up, assumes the appearance of great
verdure; its humid soil and cold atmosphere, which at other times give
it a pale and hungry aspect, contributing then to its fertility.

The close crystalline texture of the rock, obliging the condensed fogs
and rain to run over its surface, is probably the cause that the valleys
are boggy ; extending in numerous cases up the hill sides and across
the summit. These bogs, dangerous to cattle, are not without their
value, being the great depositories of fuel ; an important article in
those bleak regions, where a fire- side is often agreeable in an evening
of July. The peat gradually accumulated there has attained a depth,
in many places exceeding twenty feet. The deeper the more it is

ON PARING AND BURNING GRANITE SOILS. 39

prized ; the lower portions, condensed by the superincumbent weight,
becoming a much more effective fuel.

Springs commonly break out from these bogs, as though superficial
to the stone ; but there are instances of a different kind : on the
eastern foot of Ugborough-beacon, is a fine spring pouring out of the
rock probably two hogsheads a minute. Such as these may perhaps
owe their origin to another condition of the granite, where the crystals
of quartz and felspar are incoherent, and the schorl has very much
disappeared, forming a sort of gravel many yards in depth. Such a
bed of great extent lies on one side of Hessary-tor, near the prison.

In wood this rock appears to be unproductive. A few young planta-
tions of fir do not yet appear to suffer more than might be expected
from the climate ; some fine trees are found about the borders of the
streams; and trunks of considerable dimensions have been dug up
from the bogs : but it is said by gentlemen possessing estates on the
granite, and my observation agrees with it, that trees, after reaching a
certain height, rise no farther ; spreading and twisting their branches
without proportionate increase of trunk. Wistman's wood, a plot of
oaks, supposed to be of a thousand years' standing, the largest less
than a man's waist, and within twenty feet high, is an extreme
instance.

The outline of the granite, from Tavistock to Hey-tor, southward,
may indeed be almost traced by the coppice, which, clothing the
declivities of the slates and other rocks that abut against it, disappears
suddenly on its gritty soil.

ON PARING AND BURNING GRANITE SOILS, AND OTHERS,
WHERE CARBON IS DEFICIENT.

BY THE EDITOR.

THE remarks in the foregoing paper, on the infertility of the soil in
granite districts, has suggested to me a probable remedy for this ; and
though our Magazine is not intended to embrace the practice of culti-
vation, it will always be open to papers tracing the causes of success,
or the contrary, in field and garden operations.

It is now pretty generally agreed upon, I believe, that carbonic acid
gas diffused through water is the principal, though not the only food
of plants; and, consequently, where this is deficient any soil will be bar-
ren, such as that where the base is the debris of granite, or other rocks
containing little or no carbon. This view is strongly corroborated by

40 ON PARING AND BURNING GRANITE SOILS.

what Mr. Prideaux elsewhere states, when he says, " greenstone ap-
pears to form the fertile hill of Rock and Estover estates, well
wooded." Again, the " killas is highly fertile, differing singularly
from the adjoining granite. In no place is this more remarkable than
at Buckland, on the Dart ; where the killas runs in a trough between
two granite mountains. The vivid green of the turf and the rich wood
running up into the acclivities, contrast strikingly with the pale herbage
and bald crowns of its overtopping neighbours. It appears amidst the
slate in Holne parish, and the different value of the land marks its
superior fertility. At Yolland estate, at the foot of Shipley-tor, some
fine trees appeared in the midst of the granite; on approaching them,
they were found to be growing on a patch of this killas, not a tree
spreading out on either side." *

On passing through the Black Forest in Germany, last Autumn, I
was particularly struck with the effect of paring and burning the soil
in somewhat similar circumstances of barrenness ; for though the soil
was not granitic in any of the spots which I examined, it was equally
deficient in carbonic matter, the underlying rock being a silicious or
argillaceous slate. The steep and almost perpendicular declivities were
in their apparently natural state, covered with stunted brush wood, chiefly
birch and ha/el, starved Scotch firs, and tufts of the coarser grasses ;
and no English farmer, I think, would have dreamed of trying to rear
a crop of corn on such a place, The industrious foresters, however,
undeterred by what might appear, under the most favourable circum-
stances, an indifferent prospect, — carefully grub up the brushwood,
pare off the scanty sward of grass, and, piling them up in small heaps,
burn the whole to ashes. These are scattered over the pared surface,
and dug, or rather scratched in, with a sort of pronged hoe, or a narrow
spade. In some instances a slight dressing of dung is added, though
this is not universal ; but after all these operations, the soil seems to
be little more than a mass of half-broken and half-powdered slates. I
was therefore not a little surprised to observe crops of oats growing
there — not very good certainly, but tolerable enough to repay the
farmer's trouble.

I am therefore, I think, fairly entitled to infer, that if our granitic
and other soils deficient in carbon were thus treated, their fertility
would be thereby improved.

Lee, Kent, Dec. 20M.

* Observations like these of Mr. Prideaux' are highly important, and we request our
correspondents to transmit us similar factg respecting soils.

41

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE BIRDS OF AFRICA.

TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH OF LF. VAILLANT.

EAGLES (Aeti, SAVIGNY.)

Nostrils large, and furnished at their orifice with a lobe, membranous, bulging, or plaited,
which arises from the upper and back part of the partition. Upper mandible very

, thin and not toothed. Palate soft, and either uniform or raised into a simple gristly
fold. Under mandible abruptly slanting and roundish at the extremity. Inner
toe with the first joint very short, and not sensibly moveable upon the second.

EAGLE (Aquila, BRISSON.)

PRINCIPAL CHARACTERISTICS. — Bill large, robust, almost straight at the base, flat on
the sides with an angular ridge, and the cere smooth or slightly hairy, and some-
what convex. Nostrils very large, elliptical, placed across, sloping upwards, the
upper edge of each bulged or marked with a plait. Upper mandible dilated on the
edges, curving only beyond the middle. Tongue oblong, thick, fleshy, simply
rounded underneath, its horns smooth above, and its point very blunt, thick, and
entire. Under mandible with the base united and smooth. Mouth wide, being
cleft almost to the eyes. Shanks short, or of moderate length, and entirely clothed
with feathers. Toes thick, the outer united at the root by a membrane, the middle
one somewhat the longest. The inner and the back claws much larger and more
curved than the middle one ; the outer claw small and short.

SECONDARY CHARACTERISTICS. — Wings long, extending as far as the tip of the tail.
Quill Feathers, six to seven, slanting, the outer one short and not longer than the
seventh, the others nearly equal, the third and fifth being almost equal to the fourth,
which is the longest. Tail roundish.

The species which compose this genus feed only on live animals, which they chase and
capture on the wing ; they will only feed upon carrion or offal when driven thereto by
extreme hunger. Their structure and their muscular power is so great that they
are able to struggle successfully against violent winds. They soar to a prodigious
height, and disappear from observation in the immensity of space. The organ of
smell is less developed in them than that of sight. Eagles, for the establishment
of their eyry, select the most desolate places, the loftiest trees, or the most rugged
rocks. Their moult is simple. — SAVIGNY.

Hujus character est digiti quatuor, membranis destituti ;.tres scilicet antici, posticus
unus ; omnes circiler usque ad exortum discreti : crura ad calcareum usque plu-
mosa. Rostrum breve, primum rectum, dein aduncum ; caput plumosum. —
BRISSON.

Les Aigles ont un bee tres fort, droit a sa base, et courbe" seulement vers sa pointe.
C'est parmi eux que se trouvent les plus grandes especes du genre, et les plus
puissant de tous les oiseaux de proie.* — BARON CUVIER.

* Eagles being thus, as Baron Cuvier says, " the most powerful of all the birds of
prey," nothing, it appears to me, can be more preposterous than to follow the old dis-
tinction of Noble and Ignoble birds, first, I believe, to be met with in the curious work
on Falconry, written in the twelfth century by the Emperor Frederick II., Schneider's
learned edition of which I have now before me. The falcons and hawks were thus
called noble because they were employed by noblemen in falconry, and the eagles igno-
ble because they could not be trained to this noble sport, the very reason obviously
why the terms should have been reversed, — J. H.

42

LE VAILLANT'S NATURAL HISTORY

Bee presque droit a la base, anguleux en dessus ; cire un peu poilue ; tarses emplumes
jusqu' aux doigts, qui sont r6ticules ; les doigts exterieurs reunis a la base par
une membrane; ongies aigus; queue egale (Aigles Euro/;gens), ou etag6e (Aigtes
Australiens*) ; ailes aussi longues que la queue ; les premiere, seconde, el troi-
sieme r6miges les plus courtes ; les quatrieme et cinquieme, les plus longues. —
LESSON.

THE GRIFFARD (Aquila armigera, RENNIE.)

Le Griffard, Le Vuillant, Ois. d'Afr. i. 1, pi. 1. — Falco bellicosus, Latham. Ind. i. 9.
— Martial Eagle, Gen. Syn. Sup. ii. 16; Gen. Hist. i. 142. — Daunin. ii. 3%. —
Falco armiger, Shaw, Zool. vii. 57. — Baron Cuvier, Regne Anim. i. 326. — Lesson,
Man. i. 83 — Griffith's Cuvier, «i. 35.

SPECIFIC CHARACTER.

Brown, feathers pale edged, beneath whitish ; quills black; tail even, one fourth longer
than the wings; legs pale, feathers to the toes. Size of an eagle.— GRIFFITH'S
CUVIER.

THE proportions of the several parts of the body furnish naturalists
with the best characters which they can employ to distinguish the dif-
ferent species of animals. Forms frequently determine qualities and
manners ; while colours very often present us merely with secondary
marks of distinction. The latter remark applies particularly to the very

OF THE BIRDS OF AFRICA. 43

numerous class 'of birds of prey, which exhibit a different, plumage at
different periods of age. External forms furnish physical distinctions
between the various* kinds of animals, and occasion innumerable differ-
ences, as well in moral as in physiological character j and hence it
becomes as highly important, in the study of nature, to observe these
differences, as those which occur in their internal structure.

The African eagle, which I have designated the Griffard, is distin-
guished, even in this genus of birds, for his strength, courage, and san-
guinary weapons. He is nearly equal, in size to the Great or Royal
Eagle (Aquilct aurect, BRISSON ;) but he has longer and more muscular
legs, and stronger talons. By these characters this bird may be recog-
nised in a collection where he may be placed with other eagles, or when
on the wing with his legs pendent, while in pursuit of the animals on
which he feeds.

Various species of small gazelles (Antelope) and hares form his
ordinary prey. Pouncing upon the former, he kills them with much
ease, and in a manner that shows the great strength with which nature
has endowed him. His courage is conspicuous in the hatred he shows
towards all other birds of prey, which he pursues the instant he per-
ceives them. If they offer any resistance he attacks them with ferocity,
and obliges them to retreat, never suffering one to remain in the district
he has chosen for his domain. It often happens that vultures and ravens?
in combined flocks, will lie in wait for some favourable opportunity to
carry off an animal which the Griffard may have just subdued ; but the
intrepid and fierce aspect which he Assumes, is sufficient to keep , at a
wary distance a whole legion of these ignoble prowlers.

The Griffard is usually accompanied by his female mate ; indeed they
seldom separate, and never fly beyond the boundaries of the domain which
they have selected for their abode. They construct their eyry, not
hollow, like that of other birds, but flat and platform-like, upon the top
of the highest trees, or among steep and inaccessible rocks. The Grif-
fard's eyry is so firm and solid, that a man may stand upon it without any
apprehension of its giving way ; and, in consequence of this solidity, it
serves the same pair for a number of years. The base consists of several
strong rafters of different lengths, according to the distance between the
forked branches on which they are to rest. These rafters are crossed,
and everywhere interlaced with flexible boughs which bind them firmly
together ; this forms the foundation for the edifice. Upon this is laid
a great quantity of brushwood, moss, dry leaves, ling, and also leaves of
liliaceous plants and flags, if such happen to grow in the neighbourhood.
This second layer is covered with another consisting of small bits of dry

44 LE VAILLANT'S NATURAL HISTORY

wood. The last layer, on which the female lays her eggs, consists en-
tirely of soft materials. The eyry, thus constructed, may be four or five
feet in diameter, and two feet in thickness, and is of an irregular form.
It lasts, as I have said, for many years, and, it may be, during- the whole
life of the same pair, if no danger has at any time presented itself to
induce them to change their place of habitation.

From the gradual decay of a great mass of bones belonging to different
quadrupeds, which I found at the foot of a very large tree on which one
of these eyries was built, and from different layers of animal remains on
the outer surface of the eyry being intermixed with the bones, it might
not have been impossible to have made out its age and to have ascertained
how often it had been repaired to meet the necessities of a young family.

When a district does not furnish a suitable tree to the Griffard for the
construction of his eyry, he builds it among rocks. As in this case a
foundation is not requisite, a bed of moss is placed immediately upon the
rock, in which circumstances the eggs are invariably deposited among
small wood, and never upon softer materials.

I have observed that this bird prefers an isolated tree for his abode,
probably in consequence of his being very suspicious, and of his being
desirous to observe what passes around him. On rocks, moreover, his
brood is more likely to become the prey of several species of small car-
nivorous quadrupeds, which, precisely because they are small, are the
more formidable to him. It is the same among men ; weak and pusilla-
nimous enemies being often the most dangerous.

The female Griffard lays two perfectly wrhite, nearly round eggs, about
three inches and a few lines in diameter. While she is sitting, the male
attends to all her wants, and provides also for the young when hatched,
till they can be left without danger; but afterwards, when they are
increased in growth, they require so much food, that the parent birds
are both obliged to hunt for them in order to satisfy their insatiable
appetites. Their voracity is so great, that some Hottentots told me
they had lived for nearly two months on what they took daily from two
Griffards, whose eyry was in their neighbourhood ; and I think this
credible enough, after what I witnessed myself of one of these birds,
which I kept for some time alive, and which I caught by my shot hav-
ing only broken the pinion of the wing. This bird refused to take
' any of the food which I offered it for three entire days, but I found it
impossible afterwards to satisfy its voracity. It became furious at the
sight of meat ; would swallow pieces entire, of nearly a pound weight ;
and would never refuse any although its craw was sometimes so full that
I was forced to make it disgorge a portion, though it was not long before

OF THE BIRDS OF AFRICA. 45

it would again devour what had thus been disgorged. All flesh was
alike to its taste, even that of other birds of prey ; and once it even
devoured with evident relish the remains of another Griffard which I
had dissected.

While these birds remain perched, they utter shrill and piercing
cries, which are heard afar off, mixed every now and then with hoarse,
mournful notes. They frequently also utter similar cries when on the
wing, and while they are at the same time at so prodigious a height as
to be undistinguishable by the eye.

The Griffard for size may be compared to the Great Eagle (Aquila
aurea, BRISSON ;) but it differs from it, as I have already remarked,
in the dimensions of the legs and claws, and by the greater roundness
of the head, while the beak is not so large, and is more slender at the
bend. It is characterised, first, by the feathers of the hind head (occi-
puf), which, being a little longer than the others, form behind a sort
of pendulous crest ; secondly, by the tail being square, that is, all the
feathers composing it being of the same length. We shall always make
use of this term hereafter, to express this form of tail. Thirdly, by
the legs and feet being covered with feathers from the root (naissance)
of the toes ; those of the legs* being short, and not constituting what
is commonly understood in falconry by the term culotte. Fourthly, the
wings being extended to the extremity of the tail, when the bird is in
a state of repose. The female is eight feet seven inches across the
wings from tip to tip, and the male only seven feet five inches. Fifthly,
the craw being prominent and covered with a fine, white, glossy down;
the beak, bluish at its origin, being black at the extremity ; the toes,
very scaly, being of a yellowish colour ; the nails approaching to black,
and being very much curved, forming nearly perfect semicircles ; of
these the hinder one is the largest, the middle one the next in size, then
the inner ones, the outer ones on each side being the two smallest. The
eye, which is very open, is deep sunk, and is covered by the upper part
of the orbit, which projects over it for about three lines. The iris is of
a fine and very lively hazel brown colour. I have not observed any

* The leg of a bird is that part which is generally called the thigh. The foot,
consequently, is that which is usually called the leg. I am sorry that I am obliged to
conform to the received usage of anatomists, although several naturalists, particularly,
Buffon, have applied indiscriminately the words thigh and leg to the very same part in
a bird. This is of itself of very little consequence, but it is of consequence that the
reader should understand what is meant. — LE VAILLANT.

Our author in this goes upon an analogical comparison of birds with quadrupeds. At
table, the word leg is, according to this view, correctly applied in popular conversation.
I think the term shank (tarsu,>) the best for what he calls the/cot.— J. R.

46 LE VAILLANT'S BIRDS or AFRICA.

other difference between the male and female, except that the latter is
nearly by one-fourth the larger of the two. The colours are the same,
except that those of the male are a slight shade deeper on the wings.

The Griffard is met with in the country of the Great Namaquas.
The first pair of these birds which I saw were upon the banks of the
Great River, in about the 28th degree of latitude. I was more than
three leagues from my tent when I shot them ; they were not far froin,
each other. I was exceedingly fatigued by bringing them home to my
camp, for they weighed together from twenty-five to thirty pounds.
Approaching the tropics I met with many of the same species, and as I
never saw them during my journeys in Catf'raria, I think their range
may extend from the twenty-eighth degree of south latitude to the
tropics. It may however reach as far as the equator, and may perhaps
extend throughout the torrid zone ; in a word-, over all that part of
Africa which is not inhabited by Europeans. It is indeed more than
probable, that the species was formerly to be met with at the Cape of
Good Hope ; but, in proportion as the colonists extended themselves,
and the land came to be cultivated, these eagles were obliged to recede
further and further. This has been the case with all the larger animals
of this country, which, in consequence of requiring a large extent of
land to furnish them with subsistence, have been compelled to retire
before a still greater devastator than themselves — social man.

A short description of the coloujs of the Griffard will now be sufficient
to prevent it from being confounded with, the great eagle, or with any
other hitherto described. All the under part of the body, from the
throat to the tail, including the legs and shanks, are of a beautiful
white. The feathers covering the top of the head, and the back and
sides of the neck, are white at the base, and of a greyish-brown towards
the point. The feathers about the cheeks and some parts of the neck,
are very agreeably speckled with brown and white. The back and tail
coverts brownish ; all the mantle (manteau) is of this last colour, but
each feather is bordered with a paler tint ; the large wing feathers are
black ; the middle ones are striped across with dull white and brownish-
black ; the last feathers have a white border at the point. The tail is
striped in the same manner as the middle wing feathers.*

* It is proposed to continue regularly the natural history of the other birds in Le
Vaillant's splendid and expensive works, the -translation of several volumes being
already completed, and part already printed for publication, as formerly announced.
I shall adato each bird, as in the above article on the Griffard, the characteristics and
synonymes, together with such notes as may appear requisite. — EDIT.

47

CHAPTER OF VARIETIES.

ON THE YELLOW COLOUR OF ANIMALS AND PLANTS. It is a CU-

rious fact, that animal and vegetable yellows should be so much more
premanent than all other colours. The yellow of the petals of flowers is
the only colour which is not discharged by the fumes of sulphureous
"acid. If a lighted match be held under a flower, heart'sease ( Viola
tricolor) for example, the purple tint will instantly disappear, but
the yellow will remain unchanged : the yellow of a wall-flower (Chei-
ranthus fruticulosus) will continue the same, though the brown streak
will be discharged. I have noticed this in a variety of other flowers.
Yellow dyes are also more permanent than most other dyes ; and in
the above cited instance of the goldfinch, (page 24,) the yellow on the
wings continued unchanged, while the rest of the plumage was turned
black. — EDWARD BLYTH.

Tooting, Surrey, Dec. 3d, 1832.

ON FLIES WALKING UP GLASS, AGAINST GiiAVITY. — Sometime

ago, Mr. Blackwall, one of our most ingenious and original observers,
read a paper to the Linnoean Society, adducing facts discordant with
Sir E. Home's opinion that flies walk up glass by means of a vacuum
produced in their foot, on the principle of the boys' leather-sucker.
I think it highly probable that Mr. Blackwall is not aware of
some of his views having been anticipated nearly two hundred years
ago. " The common fly," says Dr. Power, " hath six legs, but
goes only upon four ; the two foremost she makes use of instead of
hands, with which you may often see her wipe her mouth and nose,
and take up any thing to eat. The other four legs are cloven, and
armed with little claws or tallons (like a catamount), by which she
layes hold on the rugosities and asperities of all bodies she walks
over, even to the supportance of herself, though with her back down-
wards and perpendicularly inversed to the horizon. To which purpose,
also, the wisdom of nature hath endued her with another singular arti-
fice, and that is a fuzzy kinde of substance like little sponges, with
ivhich she hath lined the soles of her feet, which substance is also
repleated with a whitish viscous liquor, which she can at pleasure
squeeze out, and so soddcr and beglew herself to the plain she walks
on, which otherwise her gravity would hinder (were it not for this
contrivance), especially when she walks in those inverted positions." —
EXPERIMENTAL PHILOSOPHY, PAGE 5. 4TO. LONDON, 1664.

48 CHAPTER OF VARIETIES.

ON THE TEMPERATURE OF SHALLOWS AT SEA. The Waters which

cover shoals owe the diminution of their temperature, in a great measure,
to their mixture with the lower strata of waters which rise towards
the surface on the edge of the banks. The proximity of a sand-
bank at sea is indicated by the rapid descent of the surface tem-
perature of the water. — CAPTAIN WILLIAMS.

SPIRAL VESSELS OF PLANTS ANIMATED. — On detaching the spiral
vessels from vigorous young shoots of herbaceous plants, they frequently
become violently agitated : the motion continues for some seconds, and
may be similar to that of the heart iu animals under similar circum-
stances. These vessels abound in the stems of the Urtica nivea, of
Centaurea atro-purpurea, and of the Malvaceae. — DAVID DON.

CA USE OF VOLCANOES. — It is not long since it was thought that the
decomposition, and consequent ignition of pyrites, was sufficient to
account for volcanoes, &c., though they are rarely if ever found in lava
or other volcanic productions ; and they are still more rarely found at
all in masses of any extent. Besides, so long as they remain enveloped
in rocks, they are unalterable; and two or three species, even under
the most favourable circumstances, are decomposable with great dif-
ficulty ; and only one species — radiated pyrites, is capable of being
rapidly decomposed, but not unless it be broken or crumbled into
small portions, and not too much or too little moistened. — M. COR-
DIER.

ATTACK UPON A HARE BY A MAGPIE. — To record the petty conflicts
of the inferior animals, may seem trifling to thegeneral observer ; but to
the naturalist, who writes the history of a species, no anecdote, how-
ever trivial, that serves to illustrate peculiar traits of character, can
appear either uninteresting or superfluous. I was informed the other
day, by a friend, (a medical man, with whom I am on terms, and on
whose veracity I can rely), that he had just witnessed a curious con-
test between a magpie and a fine full-grown hare; the bird making
frequent and furious pounces at the hare, and pursuing it for a consi-
derable distance, when the animal escaped by making for a thick hedge,
at the other side of which it ran off to some distance from the place
where it had entered, and without being observed by the bird. I had
always considered the magpie to be 'a remarkably bold bird ; but
never conceived him capable of such an exploit as this. — EDWARD
BLYTH.

Tootiny, November ~22d, 1832.

49

THE CHIFF-CHAFF PROVED TO BE THE Sylvia Rufa,
HITHERTO CONFOUNDED WITH S. Hippolais OF THE CONTINENT.

BV THE EDITOR.

ARBOUR BIRDS (Philomela polyglotta, RENNIB), and nest drawn from specimens.

BRITISH writers, since the time of Pennant and White, have ren-
dered the history of several of our smaller birds a mass of confusion,
which even now it will be difficult to clear up, though I feel confident
I possess the means of loosening two at least of the knots of the con-
troverted points, as I shall presently show.

"When I was residing last summer (1832) at Bonn, on the Rhine, my
friend, M. Wichterich, brought me a pair of birds with their young,
which, at first sight, judging from colour and size, I took to be pale
canaries, till I looked at their bills. I perceived then that it was

VOL. r. — NO. ii. — (FEB. 1833.) E

50 THE CHIFF-CHAFF.

a species with which I was unacquainted, and certainly not known as
British. I was accordingly not a little surprised when he told me it
was the Sylvia Hippolais of Bechstein, and astonished when he said it
was one of the finest song birds in Europe, very superior to the black-
cap and fauvette, and in some respects even to the nightingale. I
thence concluded that it was the species whose splendid song had
charmed and puzzled me in an orchard at Scheidam, in Holland, and
again in the gardens of Prince Maximilian at Neuwied on the Rhine ;
the rich intonation and multitudinous variety of the notes fully bearing
out my friend's opinion. This circumstance alone would go far to
prove that the species is not British ; for it would be impossible so fine
a song bird could be concealed, particularly as it haunts gardens, and is
rarely found in woods ; the very contrary of the statement of Temminck,
whose authority, how high soever it may be in other matters, is, with
respect to habits, and field observation, not of the slightest weight :
he might have seen the bird, if he had ever looked beyond his cabinet,
in most of the gardens about Leyden, where he resides.

I kept the old birds with their young, which they fed in a cage for
some time ; but to my great regret they fell a sacrifice to the common
enemy of cage birds. About the same time T was delighted to find a nest
of the same species in a lilac-tree in my own garden, about half a dozen
yards from my parlour window. Three of the young, after leaving this
nest, were secured, and the mother was caught to feed them, which she
did successfully, and I brought them all and] three others home with
me to England. The nest was about seven feet high from the garden
level, and ten from the base of a law wall, over which the branch,
where it was built, leaned. The workmanship of the nest is very supe-
rior to that of the black-cap, coming nearer in character to that of the
finches. The frame- work is rather thick, made of dry grass stems, sew-
ing thread, fine wood shavings, birch-bark, and small pieces of linen
rag. The inside is very neatly lined with roots, hair, a few feathers,
and small locks of wool.

The confusion which has arisen about this bird, seems to have ori-
ginated in the imperfection incident to descriptive language, and the
careless enumeration of synonimes. Even Savi (Ornitologia Toscana)
has utterly mistaken the bird, though he had before him the work of
Ranzani, where the mistake of Latham is pointed out. The correct
synonimes and description will stand thus : —

THE AnBOuK BIRD (Philomela polyglotta, RENNIE.)

THE CHIFF-CHAFF. 51

Silvia Poliglotta, Rnnsanr, Elem. Zool. Hi. v. p. 97. Bujfbn.Pl. Enl. 581. fig. 2. ;
S. Hippolais, R'uppel, MS. Mus. Frankfort ; and Goldfuss, MS. Mus. Bonn.

Erroneims Synonimes. Motacilla Hippolais, GmeL i. 955. sp. 7. ; Sylvia Hippolais,
Latham, Ind. ii. 507 ; Lesser Petty Chaps, Lath. Syn. iv. 418.; Gen. Hist. vii. 12. ;
Shaw's Zool. x. 746 ; Penn. Brit. Zool. i. No. 249. and i. p. 508 ; and Griff. Cuv. vi.
472; Herbert, White's Selborne, 8vo. ed. 1852, p. 55, note; Chiff Chaff, Mont. Diet,
and Supp.and 2d edit. p. 83. ; Flem. Brit. Anim. p. 72. ; Selby, Illustr. p. 189. pi. 47,
fig. 1 ; and 1 believe all other British Naturalists. Temminck, Cuvier, and Savi, are
too vague to be quoted with certainty.

In the full-grown male, the bill is about half an inch long, straight,
somewhat blunt, broad and flat at the base. The upper mandible has
an exceedingly indistinct notch, and is greenish blue ; the under man-
dible yellowish, with a tinge, of red ; the angles yellowish ; and the
opening of the mouth lemon yellow. The tongue is yellow, abrupt at
the point, and furnished with three bristles. The iris is dusky brown.
The forehead is low, flat, angular, and pointed. The eye-brows and eye-
lids are yellow, and a yellow line runs from the nostrils to the eyes.
The crown of the head, neck, back, and wing coverts, are olive grey,
inclining more to green on the rump. The shoulder of the wing (camp-
terium, ILLIGER), is yellow; the primary quill-feathers are dusky
brown, with a slight fringe of olive grey ; the rest of the quill-feathers
have a broader fringe of greyish white, which, when the wing is closed,
forms a whitish patch. The tail is two inches long, the feathers being of
equal length, and very nearly the same colours and fringing as the
wing quills. All the under parts of the body are of a fine clear lemon
yellow. The legs are five-sixths of an inch high, and of a lead colour ;
the claws greyish brown. The whole length is five inches and a half ;
the extent of the wings nine inches. «

The female is sometimes, but not always, rather paler than the male.
The young have the yellow parts very pale.

The eggs are the size of a linnet's, from four to five in number, of a
bright but pale pink, with deep scarlet or crimson spots, rather large,
and irregularly scattered over them.

The birds are late in arriving in Germany, seldom before the begin-
ning of May, and depart early in August, almost as soon as the swift.
The young do not moult before their departure, and in confinement the
moult of both old and young takes place about Christmas. They feed
almost exclusively on insects, and will not touch fruit unless com-
pelled by hunger. The call-note is loud and strong, and not unlike
that of the green bird (Frinyilla chloris). Bechstein gives it "dak.
dak,ftdhoytfidhoy ! "

It will appear from this, I think, that we have no reason to suppose
this fine bird to be a native of Britain, as we certainly have the following.

E2

52

TH.E CHIFF-CHAFF.

Heads of Arbour Bird.

Heads of the Yellow Bird from Mr. Blyth's specimens.

THE CHIFF-CHAFF (Trochilus rufa, RENNIE).

Motacilla rufa, Gmel. i. 2. p. 955. No. 63 ; Curruca rufa, Briss. i. 418; Sylvia
rufa, Latham, Ind. ii. 519. sp. 27 ; Rufous Warbler, Lath. Syn. iv. 431. Gen. Hist,
vii. 40; Bee-fin veloce, Temminck, Man. i. 225; Weiden Zeisig, Bechst. Staub.
p. 617. Naturgesch. iii. 29; Wtiden Sanger, Naumann, Vbg. t. 35. fig. 75:
Sylvia collybita, Vieillot ; Silvia veloce, Ranzani, Elem. iii. v. p. 102; S. rufa,
Ruppel, MS. Mus. Frankfort ; Chiff Chaff, Bewick, i. 258 ; Least Willow Wren, 16.
i. 259. ; Sylvia loquax, Herbert, White's Selb. 8vo. p. 55, note.

This, and the gold-crested wren, are the smallest of our native birds,
and hence it is the more surprising that it came to be confounded with
the preceding.

The full grown male has the bill a third of an inch in length, very
narrow and pointed, of a blackish brown, except at the edges and
within, where it is yellow. The iris is dusky brown. From the base
of the bill, on each side, there runs a narrow yellowish white streak,
and there is another straight streak of a dusky yellow over the eye.
The sides of the head are of a very clear brown. The upper part of
the head, neck, and back, are greyish brown, with a slight tinge
of olive. The wings and tail are greyish brown, with the outer
edgings of the plumelets olive grey. The under coverts, and shoulders
of the wings, a clear yellow, which is not seen in the least when the
wing is closed. The throat is greyish white; the breast, light grey,
with a very pale tinge of red, or rather rust brown. The belly is
greyish white, with faint yellowish streaks; the under tail coverts
yellowish white. The feet are blackish brown, and two thirds of an
inch high. The whole length is about four inches and a third, or a
trifle more. The tail is one inch and three fourths.

The female and the young males, before the first moult, have the
upper parts of a clear olive green, and under parts reddish white.

THE CHIFF-CHAFF. 53

I have never met with the nest ; but it is said to be built on the
ground amongst fallen leaves, domed, with a side entrance, and lined
with feathers. The eggs are said to be four to seven, white, with
reddish black dots most crowded at the larger end.

Temminck must surely be in error, when he says it builds in the old
holes of the mole, as he undoubtedly is in saying it chiefly inhabits
pine forests. This it may certainly do, on account of the aphides
there, but it is also not uncommon in small copses, in Kent; and, last
summer, I knew one which haunted a hedge, at Lee, not very near
any wood. I have watched this bird by the hour, running up and
down the branches hunting for insects, and repeating its simple chip,
chop, or, as Bechstein gives it, zip, zap. I heard one in Prince Maxi-
milian's garden, at Neuwied, and a great many in the woods and copses
on the Rhine. Bechstein says, they come occasionally into gardens.

I had two of these birds brought to me alive, at Bonn, and carried
them with me to England, where they were the tamest birds of fifty
others in my aviary. Contrary to the statement of most books, my
birds \vere as fond of fruit as the black cap or white throat : elder-ber-
ries, grapes, ripe pears, and roasted apples were all welcome. But though
they are said to stand the cold well, my little favourites both died
through cold, in one night, in November, even when it did not freeze.

My friend, Mr. Blyth, has furnished me with stuffed specimens of
a young and an old bird, termed the chiff-chaff, by the London dealers,
which I do not know how to dispose of. It is very similar to the wood
wren (Sylvia sibilatrix, BECHSTEIN), but of a brighter yellow. Unless
this bird, however, is well ascertained to utter the same chip, chop, as
T. rufa, I must consider it to be either a variety of the wood wren, or
an undescribed species. I shall do my best to ascertain its history
the ensuing summer. The following figures, which have been care-
fully drawn from my specimens, of the natural size, will show the
differences of these several birds with respect to the bills.

Hay Bird. Chiff-chaff (T. Rufa.) Wood Wren.

54

ON THE DISTINCTION BETWEEN INSTINCT AND
INTELLIGENCE.

BY J. J. VIREY, M.D. PROFESSOR OF NATURAL HISTORY, PARIS*.

WITH respect to their faculties, animals ought to be arranged in
two grand divisions, namely,

I. Animals endowed with both intelligence and with instinct, all
of which have spinal joints (Vertebrata), and possess a spino-cerebral
nervous system, the seat of intelliyence, and a ganglionic or great
sympathetic nervous system, exclusively the seat of instinct.

II. Animals endowed with instinct only, which are all destitute of
spinal joints (Invertebrata) , and possess no other nervous system thau
the ganglionic or great sympathetic ; at least among those species in
which nerves can be traced.

The nervous system in a beetle, a, I, e, d, e,f, g, h, the several nerve-knots or ganglions.
a, the ganglion of the head not larger than the others.

Internal impulses of life constitute acts of instinct in plants the same
as in animals ; but these functions of the living machine, forming a par-
ticular class of phenomena, the especial object of physiology and ana-
tomy, we shall here occupy ourselves more particularly with instinct,
considered in its exterior actions, or with regard to life, as related to
surrounding objects. In this view it appears the most extraordinary,
because its operations are spontaneous. The animal determines at
once, without reflection and without study, as if by divine inspiration ;
hence its actions are always perfect 4 it often constructs objects with
astonishing industry, which man, with the help of all the sciences, even
with the most profound knowledge of geometry, would scarcely execute
so well by means of instruments.

We shall, therefore, distinguish two degrees of instinct, first, that
of the interior functions, or of the mechanism or organisation ; secondly,
that of the spontaneous outward impulses, which, like the first, mani-
fest themselves without the intervention of intelligence.

* Translated from the French by Miss H. G , Lee, Kent.

DR. V1UEY ON INSTINCT AND INTELLIGENCE. 55

Almost all the metaphysicians, indeed, who have treated on the
instinctive faculties, have erred on this point ; having chiefly studied
man, whose actions and passions are always in some degree under the
influence of reason, they have readily concluded that instinct is a
devious branch of intelligence, a species of human thought more or less
perfected in brutes. Cabanis often employs the singular term instinc-
tive habits. This error is derived from Condillac, and is very remark-
able as to this subject, " Instinct," says the latter, " is the com-
mencement of knowledge, or habit without reflection, or it is nothing."
— (Traite des Animaux, part ii. chap, v.) — Now, I would ask him,
what can be the beginning of knowledge? What will be the habit of
those solitary wasps, which, depositing their egg in a hole made by
themselves in wood, and putting therein provision for the future
maggot, close the hole and die *. The maggot produced in this cell,
alone, and excluded from the light, pierces the wall of the prison ;
emerges into day ; then, transformed into a wasp, it seeks a companion,
chooses the nectar of such flowers as are necessary for its food, then
pierces in its turn a hole in the wood, in which to deposit its egg, car-
ries thither the caterpillars which it only half kills, in order to leave the
food still fresh for the maggots hatched from its eggs : in fine, it acts
precisely as its parent had done, without having known her, without
having acquired any habit or science whatever.

There are besides, animals without heads, the polypus, the muscle,
plant du byssons, which are equally possessed of instinct ; the sea
urchin (Echinus, LINNJEUS) and others, have no brain, and scarcely
can the trace of nerves be observed in them ; they are at all times able
to walk, whether by the assistance of their spines, or by putting out
their membranous feet through the holes of their shell ; they seize their
prey with these, and are enabled to eat by means of the five teeth in
their mouth. At the same time they must know how to direct the water
which fills and swells their feet ; they should have instinct to attach
themselves to the rocks by forming an air- hole of each tentacuium or
hand, and the art of defending themselves by erecting their spines
against the .fish that would devour them.

The mover of instinct is only the love of self, or the preservation of
the individual and its kind, a sentiment implanted in all organised
beings, and, among animals, regulated by pleasure "and pain, which
inspires in them inclinations, aversions, and affections. Hence the

* See some curious details obseived at Lee, in " Insect Architecture," second edit.
p. 26. — EDITOR.

56 DR. VIREY ON INSTINCT AND INTELLIGENCE.

individual brings into action the admirable mechanism of the organs
with which it is endowed ; it associates these different acts ; led on
continually by the pleasure of following nature, it works spontaneously
and always well, without knowing it does well, and without trials or
repetition. We shall even see, that, by contradicting this instinctive
direction, the animal endeavours to attain its object by all the means
at its disposal, but without evincing that it acts from judgment.

The difference indeed between instinct and reason is very marked.
Pure instinct works always without deliberation, but maturely driven
on by want or desire, by sentiments, passions, and every species of
interior excitement, involuntarily. It pursues but one route; it aspires
at what is useful and profitable in life, which it always recognises by
secret affinity. Among insects there is no apprenticeship, no improve-
ments, no variation in the practice, no superadded invention ; but all
is wisely disposed beforehand for an act which is necessary, perfect,
and natural. A child, or a dull peasant, who instructs himself and
studies by the aid of experience, though acting ill at first, afterwards
improves. The insect needs none of these imperfect essays ; supreme
wisdom has rendered it unnecessary, even though it be produced in
solitude, often sequestered, or rather separated from its kindred. It
costs it neither meditation, nor reflection ; observe it at once on its
invariable course, conducted by an internal illumination superior to our
weak light of reason. If it never improves, never makes any new dis-
covery, like human reason, at least it knows no season of ignorance or
degeneration, like .our species ; and if there are no ages of glory and
literary splendour among bees and ants, neither are there ages of dark-
ness, or of barbarity and obscurity. In fine, if the instinctive animal
invents nothing, neither does it copy from others ; all its actions are
original ; in no instance are they imitations ; the swallow learns not of
the mason to build its nest ; and although wasps and humble bees form
regular cells, they require neither rule nor compass ; a more sublime
geometrician directs them ; a more learned architect raises the edifice of
the termites and the ants. On beholding the astonishing fact, that
the ant acts according to the rules of reason and industry, (without
possessing the one or the other,) we might say that it is aware of the
consequence of its actions.

" Haud ignare et non incauta futuri ;
Atque inopi metuens formica senectae *."

* " The ant, fearing an old age of want, is neither unaware nor improvident with
respect to the future."

DR. VIREY ON INSTINCT AND INTELLIGENCE. 57

Reason, on the contrary, receiving impressions and images from
without, or by the external senses, transforms them into ideas in the
brain, compares and coolly judges of them, arranges its actions by
them, determines voluntarily in consequence, by what appears true,
or just, or best, according to occurrences, climates, &c. This is the
peculiar faculty of reasoning man ; he acts by his free will in several
ways.

The ancients in the same way distinguished two faculties or powers
of the soul : first, the appetites, the affections, and all the passions
belonging to instinct in the unreasoning part of the soul ; that is, the
dominion of the heart, and all interior movements. But thought,
reason, speech, consideration, are the fruit of meditation in the mind
or brain. The brutes were not deemed to act by free will, but to be
impelled by spontaneous necessity, or the instigatipn of nature, as if
by divine inspiration. So said Cicero, and such was the universal
opinion of the ancient philosophers, Plato, Aristotle, and all those who
have treated of the soul and the moral faculties. (Scaliger, Exerc.
Subt. 307, No. 5 ; et Stahl, Differentia Rationis et Ratiocinii, etc.)

But instinct never acts more completely than among those animals
which are the least endowed with acquired knowledge. It is clear,
that these little creatures, such as insects, each of which scarcely lives
more than a few weeks in the world, could not have time, or means to
acquire, like a child, any information by education or habit, to accom-
plish the destinies which nature has designed them. We must there-
fore attribute to them a mind ready formed and enlightened, and even
incapable of acting otherwise.. But man, and the larger species of
animals who .exist longer, and who possess organs and senses more
evolved, a remarkable brain, and therefore functions less limited,
and which can vary their actions according to circumstances, must
participate more or less of liberty, of acquired knowledge, and of
understanding. Instinct becomes secondary with the latter in pro-
portion as the intellectual functions are greater and able to replace it.
Therefore man, when endowed with reason so highly cultivated as to
become sometimes sublime, is almost totally devoid of instinct, par-
ticularly in a state of civilisation ; his taste and his sense of smelling,
for example, being weaned from natural aliments, are no longer able
to discern, in the forests of America, a wholesome fruit from the
poisonous manchineel, which has a sweet smell ; he must take as a
guide the rustic savage, whose instinct is less depraved by the arts of
the kitchen, by which we disguise all nature. This savage would be
again surpassed by the instinct of the ape. •

Do we wish this directing and preserving power to become apparent?

58

ON THE ANTENNA AND HEARING OF INSECTS.

Weaken the understanding which restrains or opposes it, and it will
immediately revive to take the reins of the organic machine, and pre-
vent it from destroying itself. It also manifests itself particularly in
maternal cares. Even when in health, if we would discover the
original instinct of a man, it is sufficient to deprive him of the intel-
lectual faculties, or to weaken the latter for a moment, and the internal
impressions will predominate spontaneously, as in diseases.

From the same cause we often experience in sleep the announce-
ment or the indication of the state of the body, which is manifestly
the voice of instinct. It is certain that our internal impressions being
more easily perceived in silence, and in the obscurity of external
impressions, they present themselves in many dreams ; thus inflam-
mation declares itself by the image of a great fire ; the overflowing of
the sympathetic or serous fluid, by the idea of inundation or submer-
sion, &c. These observations, which may be traced back to the time
of Hippocrates and Aristotle, are again confirmed by a thousand daily
examples. (Aristotle, de Divinat. ex Somnio,et Hippocr. de Jnsomniis.
lib.)

ON THE ANTENNA AND THE HEARING OF INSECTS.

BY M. H. STRAUS- DURCKHE I M, MEMBER OF THE INSTITUTE, PARIS.*

Anatomy of the Antennae of the Cock-chafer magnified eight times.
* Translated by the Editor, from the French work " Animaux Articulh."

ON THE ANTENNJE AND HEARING OF INSECTS. 59

THE antennae of the cockchafer (Melolontha vulgaris) are inserted
before the eyes, and consist of ten joints : the three first (a-b) cylin-
drical, the seven at the tip short, and in form of leaves (b- c). They
are furnished with numerous muscles, flexors (c), pretractors (h) ,
elevators (i), abductors of the joints (k-K), and adductors of the
joints (/-/). They are supplied with large nerves (6-6), from the gang-
lionic brain (X). They are likewise supplied with considerable air
tubes (tracheae).

5

The air-tubes of the antennae ; a, a, the main branches ; b, b, the antenna! branches.

Though it is proved by numerous observations, that insects and
other articulated animals (Articulata) possess the sense of hearing ;
yet, except in some Crustacea, the organ by which this species of
sensation is perceived has not been discovered ; probably because it
has been fancied that it ought to possess some resemblance to the
human ear. But it may be asked, whether it would not be possible
for insects to have this sensation communicated to them by means of
an organ altogether different from ours ? The opinion which I pro-
pose to give on this subject may appear rash, but I put it forth only
as a simple hypothesis, yet at the same time an hypothesis upon the
whole extremely probable.

The antennae are generally considered to be the organs of touch,
properly so called ; but this conjecture is founded upon facts imper-
fectly investigated, if not altogether false. I have made numerous
researches on this subject, and I have never been able to satisfy myself
that insects examine objects by feeling them with their antennae. On
the contrary, I have rarely observed these animals touch any thing
with these organs, and when this did happen, it appeared to be only
by accident, and not at all from design* Many insects, besides, have
their antennae so short, that they would be obliged to stand erect flpon
their heads in order to come at the bodies which they might thus wish
to explore, and for this their feet are certainly much better adapted.

Since almost all articulated animals possessing a solid skin (jpeau)
have antennce, which are furnished with nerves of an extraordinary
thickness in proportion to their own size, there cannot remain a doubt
that they are organs of some sense, and that too a very acute one.

60 ON THE ANTENN.JE AND HEARING OF INSECTS.

I have said, that insects are proved by observation to be furnished
with an organ of hearing. It is, indeed, scarcely probable that
creatures such as the tree-hopper (Cicada), and the locust (Locusta),
to which nature has given the faculty of producing a peculiar sound
by means of an appropriate organ, should, at the same time, be
deprived of the means of hearing such sounds, inasmuch as these can
have reference only to their own kindred. It is still farther proved,
that these insects share the faculty of hearing, along with all other
living beings, by their ceasing to sing the instant they fear they have
been discovered.

When observing the various actions of insects, we see them sud-
denly stretch their antennae forwards in case of noise, danger, or, in
general, when any thing is done to attract their attention ; and they
keep them thus stretched forward as long as their attention continues,
a circumstance which proves that the antennse serve the purpose of
apprising them of what passes at a distance, and consequently must
either be organs of hearing or organs of smell. M. Reaumur, (Mem.
des Insectes, i. 643,) while he rejects the opinion that the antennse
serve to explore objects, thinks it possible they may be the organs
either of some unknown sense or of smell. The latter opinion, how-
ever, is supported by no fact either anatomical or physiological ; nor
is it at all even probable, inasmuch as the antennas are not soft and
lubricated, as observation proves to be necessary for this kind of sen-
sation : it appears to me more plausible to infer that the antennae
serve for the perception of sounds. This opinion is founded partly on
the analogy of what occurs in the larger animals, who prick up their
ears under similar circumstances in order to hear better ; and partly
because, on following the progress of degradation* in the organ of
hearing from the first of the vertebrate animals ( Vertebrata), we arrive
again in the last analysis at the antennae of articulated animals, by a
sort of transition occurring in the lobster and craw-fish (Astacus), a
genus in which this organ occurs in the simplest form, compared with
that of superior animals.

[The author here goes into several details illustrative of this last
statement, which we shall omit, as of less weight than what follows.]

The solidity of the envelope of antennas renders these organs well
adapted to undergo the same vibrations as the air, in the same manner

* I cannot but deeply regret to see a naturalist of M. Straus-Diirckheim's great
ability, thus vitiating his valuable work, as he does throughout, with the cant terms
of Lamarck's most absurd theory. — EDIT.

ON THE ANTENNAE AND HEARING OF INSECTS.

61

as the strings of an ./Eolian harp vibrate and emit various sounds
according as they are differently struck by the air. In this view,
however, we might infer that nature would have made antennae in the
form of rods, consisting of a single piece, in order that they might be
more susceptible of vibrations ; but it ought to be considered, that
these organs would, by such a conformation, have been much exposed
to breaking, while, in consequence of their jointed form, they have the
advantage of regulating the degree of vibration at pleasure, as may
indeed be observed when insects listen with attention ; I mean, that
the joints of the antennee perform the same functions as the chain of
small bones in the chamber of the human ear, inasmuch as they form
a similar chain, and transmit the vibrations of the air to the auditory
pulp.

The form of the antennae appears to be altogether independent of
their functions ; since their forms are so variously diversified, it would
be necessary to admit numerous differences of function according to
difference of conformation.

Varieties in the forms of Antennae.

The principal objection which can be made to my opinion * upon
the functions of the antennae, is that spiders (Arachnids) being without
these organs, ought in consequence to have no sense of hearing,
though very conclusive observations prove the contrary. To this I
reply, that the organ by which these animals perceive sounds is per-
haps different from that of insects, and altogether internal, as is fre-
quently the case in vertebrated animals. Besides, whatever the sense
may be that resides in the antennae, spiders ought to be without it,
unless another apparatus be substituted in its stead. Now, as antennae
are found in most articulated animals having a solid skin, and as their
nerve is one of the largest in the body, it is not a little evident that

* M. Straus-Diirckheim does not seem to be aware that this opinion was started by
Bonsdorf, and adopted by Gb'ze and Christ, as well as by some English writers. — ED.

62 ON THE FOOD OF PLANTS.

the sense with which they are endowed is cne of the most essential,
while it is'not very probable that a whole class (Arachnids:} otherwise
very well organised, would be deprived thereof.

[I may mention, that from experiments which I made near Havre
de Grace, in the summer of 1829, before the publication of M. Straus-
Diirckheim's work, I came to the same conclusion, and followed very
nearly the same train of reasoning with him, but with more numerous
illustrations, as may be seen in Insect Miscellanies, pp. 105 — 117,
all of which was written and printed, though not, I believe, published,
before his work. — EDITOR.]

ON THE FOOD OF PLANTS, PARTICULARLY HUMINE,
DERIVED FROM MANURES.

BY PROFESSOR DE CANDOLLE OF GENEVA.*

IN order to ascertain the general action of the multitude of manures
employed, it will be proper to analyse and compare them according to
the different ingredients of which they are composed. Carbon holds
the first rank ; though it is not only the absolute quantity, but the
state in which it is found, that determines its fitness to become the
food of plants. The substance most rich in carbon, such, for example,
as wood charcoal, is scarcely reckoned among manures, because in
this the carbon can only contribute very slowly to the formation of
carbonic acid, or humine (ulmine), by its combination with the air, and
cannot, therefore, form soluble materials to be taken up by the roots.
It is only after a very long interval that it undergoes these changes,
and then it acts really as a manure, as is proved by the fresher green
of the plants on old charcoal stations in the forests.

The refuse (marc) of sugar refineries, which contains a great quan-
tity of animal charcoal, mixed, or combined with portions of burnt
sugar, forms a manure much valued in the vicinity of these factories.f

All the substances, which contain different proportions of carbon,
furnish food for plants; first, because the oxygen of the air unites
by simple affinity with a portion of this carbon to form carbonic acid,
or because a certain quantity is disengaged by fermentation ; in both
of which cases, the carbonic acid is dissolved in the water of the soil,
and being taken up by the plant, it serves as food. Secondly, these
matters are more or less disposed to dissolve in the water itself of

* Translated by the Editor from the French work (t Physiologic Vegetable," a work
which every philosophical Botanist ought to possess,
f Payen, Annales Soc. d' Hort. de Paris, 1827, p. 171.

ON THE FOOD OF PLANTS. 63

vegetation. This effect is chiefly owing to the quantity of humine, or
humic (ulmique) acid which they contain.

Humine was first observed in a diseased exudation from the elm,
whence it received the name of ulmine. It is said to have been after-
wards found in the bark of the fir, peruvian bark, oak, hornbeam,
horse-chestnut, and simarouba, but it is doubtful whether it was found
in these in a state of health, or by the effect of the agents employed in
the decomposition. M. Braconnot, (Ann. Chim., xii. p. 191,) formed it
artificially by heating saw-dust in a crucible, with an equal weight of
caustic potass. He afterwards found it ready formed in soot, and
has formed it with sulphuric acid, saw-dust, and many other vegetable
substances, such as starch, sugar, &c.

M. Polydore Boullay, (Journ. Pharm., 1830,) has found humine
in the soil, heath-earth, umber, turf, dung, and in general in the most
part of woody or cortical substances in a state of decomposition, such
as half charred wood. He also thinks it. is formed during the distillation
of wood. It is, therefore, doubtful whether humine ought to be reck-
oned among the immediate constituents of living vegetables, or among
those of diseased, or accidental decomposition. M. Raspail, (Bull.
Sc. Chim. viii. ,p. 333,) thinks humine is formed by the carbonised
debris of vegetables, and supposes that it varies according to its mode
of production. M. Sprengel, who observed it in soils, gave it the
name of humic acid.*

Humine, when pure and dry, is a black substance, has little taste,
no smell, and is insoluble in water, a circumstance which has often
caused it to be taken for carbon, in the drainings, for example, of
dunghills, in which it is abundant. It is very soluble in spirits of
wine, concentrated sulphuric acid, potass, soda, ammonia, and by
heat in acetic acid. Water throws it down from its solutions. It
combines with all the salifiable bases, whence M. P. Boullay gives it
the name of the ulmic acid; but it has no acid'taste, does not redden
vegetable blues, and, like the gallic acid, contains only carbon and
water, without excess of oxygen.

A very small quantity of alkali is sufficient to saturate the humic
acid, and form a humate (ulmate). AH the alkaline humates are very
soluble in water. It is by its combination with potass, that the
humine becomes soluble in the canker of the elm, where it was first
discovered ; and it is with the union of lime, ammonia, or potass, that
the insoluble humine of soils, and of dung, becomes soluble, and

* I prefer Sprengel's name to ulmic acid, which is too contracted. See " ALPHABET
OF SCIENTIFIC GARDEMING." — EDITOR.

64 PROFESSOR CARUS ON DISSECTION.

contributes to the food of plants. It is rendered soluble by a very
minute portion of any alkali, such as the ammonia disengaged from
dung, or by the potass, or the lime, which is often added to turf, or
other substances little soluble, or, as the farmers say, cold. The
substances thus dissolved are taken up by the roots as food. The
remarkable analogy, as to composition, between humine, and other
nutritive substances, such as gum, fecula, &c., explains and confirms
its property of contributing to the food of plants.

[It must appear from the preceding details, that chemists and phy-
siologists need not now be at any loss to account for the existence of
the earths and the alkalies in the substance of plants. — EDITOR].

ON DISSECTING AND PREPARING ANIMALS FOR
COLLECTIONS.

BY PROFESSOR CARUS, OF DRESDEN *.

THOUGH the art of anatomising the bodies of animals is essentially
the same as that practised upon the body of man, and though want of
space precludes me from treating the subject minutely, I conceive that
a few remarks may not be altogether unacceptable to those who feel
desirous of pursuing such studies for themselves.

The first thing that I have to observe is, that all dissections of small
and soft objects, such as worms, zoophytes, insects, mollusca, and
embryos, where it is desirable to obtain even tolerably accurate results,
should be performed under water, by which the parts are kept floating
and separated from each other, and consequently present themselves
more distinctly.

A very simple contrivance for investigations of this kind may be
prepared in the following manner : — A mass of tough wax (not too soft)
is to be laid upon one, or more, porcelain saucers or capsules of diffe-
rent sizes, which are then to be put in a warm place until the wax
melts so as to cover the surface evenly to the depth of a half or a third
of an inch. If the object to be examined be laid upon this surface, it
may be fixed by needles in any position that is wished, and, when
covered with clear water, developed and dissected by means of suitable
instruments. Of them the best are very delicate forceps ; pointed, well-
made, sharp-cutting scissors ; and small knives like cataract-needles,
some round, others with cutting edges, and fixed in slender wooden
handles.* For separating parts I have also employed small horn probes

* Translated from the German by R. T. Gore, Esq. Surgeon, Bath.
. f These instruments may be had of Mr. Blackwell, Surgeons' Instrument Maker,
Bedford Court, Covent Garden.

PROFESSOR CARUS ON DISSECTION. 65

and fine brushes; whilst for examining them, a good magnifying glass
is frequently indispensable. If it is wished to preserve a preparation
thus made, wax, coloured at pleasure as for the purpose of injections,
is to be formed into little tablets about one-fourth of an inch thick : one
of these is then to be placed upon the saucer or capsule containing the
preparation ; the latter may then be transferred to it, arranged suitably
upon it, fixed there by means of short needles, and both together then
placed in alcohol. Nor must I forget to mention, that the examination
of very delicate organizations may frequently be conducted with greater
facility and accuracy, if the object be previously allowed to remain
some time in spirit, and thereby to become harder and contracied.
This applies particularly to the dissection of nervous organs, and to
the examination of very small embryos, of mollusca, and worms.

There are various modes of destroying worms, insects, mollusca, &c.,
for the purpose of dissecting, without injuring their organization : mol-
lusca, snails, for instance, as Swammerdam has remarked, are to be
allowed to die in water, because by that means their body swells, and all
the parts become more distinctly visible ; they may be afterwards kept in
spirit (though not too long) for dissection. Worms, the larger zoophy-
tes, (for the smaller must be examined while alive,) caterpillars, &c.,
and also the smaller amphibia, and fishes, are best destroyed by means
of spirit. Insects, on the contrary, by being dipped rapidly in boiling
water, or in oil of turpentine.

As regards the dissection of larger animals, we may here use with
advantage knives of a large size ; and, instead of forceps, suitable hooks
with handles.

In animals of considerable size we can generally make artificial ske-
letons only after the bones have been sufficiently cleaned oy boiling or
maceration. In smaller animals, on the contrary, such as birds, am-
phibia, and fishes, of which last it is very difficult to make good skele-
tons, the object will be best accomplished by at once making the bones
as clean as possible, without injuring the capsular ligaments, soaking the
preparation in water, that is incessantly changed ; and lastly, bleaching
it for some time in the sun. Lastly, we may mention injections as
affording a very essential assistance in zootomical investigations for
physiological purposes : in small animals, and in the more minute parts,
these must consist of compositions with wax, very fluid and coloured ;
best of all of mercury. The latter, however, is not suitable for very soft
bodies, such as medusse, &c., in which cases we may employ injections
of coloured milk, and similar substances.

VOL. i. — NO. n. — (FEB. 1833.) F

HABITS OF THE BEARDED TIT. (Pans Biarmicus,

BY EDWARD BLYTH.

The Male Bearded Tit.

IT is not a little curious, that this most elegant bird should still be
placed by most of our modern naturalists in the genus Parus; a cir-
cumstance which must have originated in a very shallow kind of
observation, as it certainly does not possess any of those peculiarities
which are characteristic of that genus. It is by no means easy to
ascertain the proper situation of any bird in a system, without actually
observing its manners when alive ; but the very great difference in the
form of the bill, in the colours and markings of its plumage, and in
the general appearance of the bird itself, would certainly seem to
intimate that this species could never rank among the tits. I am not
aware of any foreign species resembling our bird, but it certainly pos-
sesses peculiarities which warrant its being placed as a genus by itself.

I have now had this species in confinement a considerable length
of time. Great numbers are annually imported about the fall of the

HABITS 01- THE BEARDED TIT. 67

year, from Holland ; and they may be purchased in the London
markets for a trifle. They are hardy birds, and will thrive upon
almost any sort of food : many, however, are very subject to a kind of
epilepsy, and will fall from their perch three or four times a day ; such
as are subject to these fits generally die in the course of a few weeks,*
and those which do so perhaps average about half the number of the
birds imported. The remainder are usually stout and hardy birds, and
very ornamental in the aviary. It would not, however, be advisable to
procure more than one pair, as they are often very garrulous and noisy.

Few animals appear so isolated (if I might be allowed the expres-
sion) as this bird. It more nearly resembles the shrikes (Laniance)
than any other group of birds, but bears no similitude whatever to
the tits, with which it has been generally classed. The form of the
bill is precisely that of the shrike (Lanius) in miniature; in the
colours and disposition of its plumage, also, it greatly resembles this
genus; and there is the same diversity in the plumage of the sexes,
quite at variance with the tits, in which the male and female nearly
assimilate in outward appearance. The latter difference, however, I
am aware, does not in every instance indicate dissimilarity in the
nature of different species : the robin and the redstart, and also the
two British species of sparrow (birds possessing great general resem-
blance) differing remarkably in this respect: but it is nevertheless
worthy of notice, as an addition to other differences.

In its voice, also, the Bearded Tit somewhat resembles the flusher,
(L. Collurio ;) but its general call is monotonous, and not very unlike
the querulous piping of a young chick, that has strayed from the
hen ; or it may be written thus, ptear, ptear, pronounced with some
emphasis. When it is particularly pleased, it utters a note resembling
pitt, pitt ; and it emits almost continually a low kind of chirp, which
also bears some similitude to the faint cry of a newly-hatched chick.
The male has, however, a considerable variety of notes, many of
which, as before stated, resemble those of the flusher, (L. Collurio,)
but I have never yet heard any that could be construed into ping,
ping, which has been represented as the common call of the species.

I have never observed any bird so extremely, I might say, strangely
fond of society, as this species. A fine male in my possession, that
is confined in a large cage with a variety of other small birds, keeps
generally on the higher perches, where, if left alone by the others
even for a moment, he makes a most pitiful outcry, endeavouring to

* A cook which I possessed had two successive fits, and died in a few days. — pp.
i.**'- f 2

68 HABITS OF THE BEARDED TIT.

the utmost of his power to call them up ; and then sometimes, when
all his efforts are unavailing, and he can brook solitude no longer, he
decends, and struts amongst his companions chuckling with pleasure
at being again in their society. He is amazingly and almost un-
ceasingly active, insomuch that it is frequently difficult to obtain even
a momentary view of his lovely plumage. His movements also are
remarkably light and elegant, and bear a curious resemblance to those
of the monkeys in the large cage in the Zoological Gardens ; a resem-
blance not altogether fanciful, as it has been remarked by several
persons. Like the monkeys, he often hangs by one leg from the top
of the cage, and looks around him : but perhaps many of these traits
are chiefly owing to the large size and convenient form of the cage
he inhabits ; and it is as well always to have an eye to such circum-
stances when describing the manners of birds in captivity, their habits
being often affected by the peculiar form of the cage in which they
may chance to be confined. Thus, an ox-eye (Parus major, RAY,)
that is imprisoned in a small cage, will amuse by the curious manner
in which he turns himself around the perches; and the babillard,
(Curruca garrula, BiussoN,)or nettle-creeper, as it is commonly called
in this part of the country, has also a very remarkable manner of
throwing back the head when in a small cage ; but in neither instance
are these manoeuvres observable when the bird is allowed sufficient
room to fly about.

The Bearded Tits have 'a curious habit of scratching each other's
polls in the manner of parrots ; and the individual which I have been
describing, not having a companion of his own species, has actually
contrived to teach one of his fellow~prisoners, a siskin, to do so with him.

This species frequently places one foot upon its food, while it picks
it to pieces with its bill ; and this, to a casual observer, might probably
be considered as indicative of its resemblance to the tits ; but even in
this habit he assimilates more to the shrikes. I have seen the flusher
(L. Collurio) place its foot upon its food in precisely the same
manner while devouring it ; but the tits usually hold their food with
both feet in a peculiar way, and break it with reiterated knocks of the
bill ; and the large species (P. Major} has thus sufficient power even
to break a nut. The Bearded Tit, however, has not any notion of ham-
mering at a seed, nor could he succeed in this even were he to attempt
it, his beak not being formed for such labour ; but I have frequently
seen him sit in patient expectation by the side of a tit that was so
employed, and as soon as the seed was broken endeavour to make off
with the prize : this trick has so often been successfully practised by

HABITS OF THE BEARDED TIT. 69

the bird which I possess, that the different species of tits which are
confined with him have now become very shy of attempting to break
a seed when he happens to be near them.

The shrikes, besides what small animals they can seize, devour a
considerable number of the larger beetles and bees ; and I am inclined
to think that the Bearded Tit principally subsists in its wild state on
the various small beetles so abundant in the reedy tracts in which it
is found ; it will also eat small snails, and it is fond of flies, but is by
no means expert in catching them. It will feed also on a variety of
small seeds ; but Buffon, and after him Goldsmith an*d others, were
most egregiously wrong in calling it a bird of prey,* the weakness
of its structure alone being sufficient to convince any person of the
contrary.

1 would not, however, lay too much stress on the resemblance which
this bird bears to the shrikes, as it differs from them also in some
important particulars. The stomach of the Bearded Tit is extremely
strong and muscular, resembling that of a finch or bunting ; that of
the shrike is membranaceous, and formed like the stomach of a bird
of prey, to digest flesh. The stomach of the tits, also, might almost be
termed membranaceous, as they have comparatively but little muscular
power, their digestion being chiefly effected by the gastric juice. The
progressive motion of the shrikes, and of the tits also when on the
ground, is by successive hops ; that of the Bearded Tit is by a curious
and peculiar shuffling walk, somewhat like the strut of the chaffinch,
but with the head near the ground. The Bearded Tit is of a very
timorous nature, and it is generally a very long time before it becomes
sufficiently familiar to feed when a person is looking at it. Some
pains have been taken to tame the individual which I possess, and
he will now take bread and milk from the hand, but not without the
greatest circumspection, and the most extreme readiness to retreat at
the least move of the person who offers it. He is immoderately fond
of bread and milk, and will take no other food from the hand ; but I
have observed that it does not agree with him, as he is always ill after
having eaten it in any quantity. His extreme timidity is also shewn
when disturbed from his roost at night, being alarmed at the slightest
noise, and flying about with his long pheasant-like tail expanded wide,
which gives it a very beautiful appearance.

* Goldsmith, in describing the butcher-bird, says, that " a still smaller species is
found in the marshes near London : this also is a bird of prey, though no bigger than
a torn-tit." {Animated Nature, Vol. III.)

70 DE LA HECHE ON GEOLOGICAL FACTS.

Tcr judge from the strange situation hi which this beautiful specie*
has generally been placed in our systems, it would seem to be but very
imperfectly known to most of our naturalists, and I have therefore
dilated the more upon its manners and peculiarities, as they appear in
confinement. It may probably seem frivolous to some to enter into
such minute details, but the most trifling circumstance is often of
essential assistance in working out the best arrangement of the pro-
ductions of nalftre, and will frequently furnish a clue to the discovery
of more important particulars.

The Bearded Tit ought undoubtedly to stand as a genus by itself,
and to rank among the Laniance, or birds of the shrike kind ; which
group it seems more nearly to resemble, than it does the tits, or any
other.

I shall conclude by observing, that the bill of the living bird is of a
fine delicate yellow, and not of an orange colour, as it has generally
been described ; but that in the course of an hour or two after death
it changes to orange: and that the female 'has the same singular
longish feathers on the sides of the throat as the male bird ; but that
being of the same colour as the rest of the plumage, it can only be
noticed in certain lights.

Tooting, Surrey, Dec. 31, 1832.

[Temminck, Lesson, Selby, and others, say the female wants the
moustachios, and a female which I possess in fine feather most cer-
tainly wants them, as I have just caught her to ascertain. Mr. Blyth
proposes Laniellus as a generic name, which I think very appro-
priate. The species may accordingly be termed Laniellus Biarmicus. — •
EDITOR.]

M. DE LA BECHE, ON GEOLOGICAL FACTS.»

THEORIES and fanciful systems have been the bane of Geology ; and
though the investigation of facts has recently been enthusiastically
cultivated, this, as appears from some late publications, has tended but
little to cheek the mania for theorizing. The newly -broached theories,
however, differ from the older ones, in giving more attention to ascer-
tained facts, and often indeed lead to the discovery of facts which might
never have been attended to, if the necessities of the theorists to obtain
support for some favourite doctrine, had not excited them to the research.

* A Geological Manual. By H. T. De La Beche, F. R. S. F. G. S. Second
edition, corrected and enlarged, 12mo. Trcuttel and Wiiitz, London and_Paris.

DE LA lift CHE ON GEOLOGICAL FACTS. 71

Such being the existing state of Geology, the unpretending volume
of M. De La Beche, can scarcely be too highly valued, inasmuch as
he rarely indulges in fancy and theory, and keeps rigidly to facts. Ac-
cordingly, when he does mention theories, and it would not be easy
to write on Geology without this, he usually introduces a caution ; for
example, " the student should be careful not to consider such expla-
nations as well-ascertained truths, but merely as hypotheses, which fu-
ture and extensive observations may or may not, prove to be correct." —
p. 177. Again " we have so few data for estimating the value of
this theory (Lyell's) that it can only be considered as a possible expla-
nation."— p. 7. In his preface also the author well remarks, that " it
is impossible to avoid hazarding certain general conclusions, when the
various known facts pass in review before us;" but " essentially it is
of little importance, whose or what theory may in the end be found most
accurate ; so long as we approximate towards the truth, we accomplish
all that can be expected ; and it is clear that the greater the amount of
known facts, the greater the chance of accuracy, not only from the
larger mass of information presented to the mind, but also from the
frequent checks offered to hasty conclusions." — p. vii.

With so cautious and accurate a guide, then, as M. De La Beche,
the student need have no fear of being seduced from the path of truth
by brilliant but fallacious theories, so easy to frame but no less easy to
demolish by plain facts. It may be interesting to some of our readers
to have a specimen or two of our author's manner of treating his sub-
ject; and we may select almost at random, every part of the book being
carefully executed. We shall therefore take the first that offers, which
will prove that the author is an excellent field-observer as well as an
investigator of the labours of others.

" Erratic Slocks and Gravel*

" From my own observations, I can fully confirm the remarks of various authors
respecting the situation of the Alpine blocks, and their probable derivation from the
respective valleys which they, as it were, appear to face. But I have no where ob-
served such striking masses of erratic blocks as those which occur in the vicinity of the
lakes of Como and Lecco. They are particularly remarkable on the northern face of
the Monte San Primo, a lofty mountain ridge presenting one of its sides to the more
open and northern part of the lake of Como, where the latter stretches towards the high
Alps, thus presenting a bold front to any shock which should come from the north,
leaving open passages to the right and left of it, one down the southern part of the lake
of Como, the other down that of Lecco. Not only in front, facing the high Alps, but
also round the flanks and shoulders of this mountain, and even behind it, where the
eddy current would have transported them, blocks of granite, gneiss, mica slate, and
others from the central chain, of various sizes, and often accompanied by smaller frag-
ments and gravel, are seen in hundreds, -nay thousands, scattered over the dolomite,
limestone, and slate of the mountain, and nearly filling up a previously existing valley

72 I)E LA BECHE QN GEOLOGICAL FACTS.

which faced the north, the direction whence the rock-charged fluid descended ; pro-
ceeding down the side valleys, partly occupied by the lower lake of Cotno, and the lake
of Lecco, we find the evidences of such a current in the presence of blocks occurring,
as they should do, where direct obstacles were opposed to its course, or in situations
where eddies would be produced behind the shoulders of the mountains. One very re-
markable instance of such occurrences is behind or on the southern side of Monte San
Maurizio, above the town of Como ; where numerous blocks are accumulated on the
steep of the mountain, precisely where a body of water, rushing down the great valley,
would produce an eddy at its discharge into the open plains of Italy. The blocks,
though no doubt many have descended from their first positions in consequence of the
long-continued action of atmospheric agents, occupy an elevated line, as also on other
but lower heights in the vicinity, which opposed more direct obstacles to the debacle :
seeming to show that the blocks occurred near the surface of the fluid mass, and were
whirled by the eddy, at nearly the same level, against the steep sides of this calcareous
mountain, as well as thrown against the more direct obstacle of a range of conglome-
rate hills."— p. 176.

We were strongly tempted to give the author's account of the eleva-
tion of mountains, and the various instances of this which M. Elie de
Beaumont has arranged in a number of systematic groups ; but this we
must defer to some future opportunity ; and in the mean time give our
readers an opportunity of estimating M. De La Beche's powers of
description, in a short article on

" Granite.

" In the earlier days of Geology, granite was considered the fundamental rock on
which all others accumulated ; but this opinion, like many others, has now given way
before facts ; for, as will be seen in the sequel, we have examples of granite, resting
upon stratified and fossiliferous rocks of no very great comparative antiquity. It must,
however, be confessed, that granite appears sometimes to alternate in considerable thick-
ness with the inferior stratified rocks, and that the separation of it from gneiss, parti-
cularly thick bedded gneiss, is very ambiguous. Granite is a confused crystalline
compound of quarlz, felspar, mica, and hornblende. It is not essential that all these
four minerals should be present ; on the contrary, rocks have been termed granite when
only felspar and mica, felspar and quartz, felspar and hornblende, and quartz and horn-
blende, are the constituent minerals. Such an employment of the term granite mus.t
be used with much caution, as, for instance, in the case of the compound of felspar and
hornblende, which, in fact, is mineralogical greenstone, and should not be named gra-
nite unless it constitutes a very subordinate portion of a mass to which the term may
be more properly applied ; and results from the accidental absence of one or two of the
above-named minerals for a limited space. The most prevalent compound is one with
quartz, felspar, and mica ; when hornblende replaces the mica, it is sometimes called
sienite. Other minerals, such as chlorite, talc, steatite, &c., are sometimes arranged
with those above enumerated in various ways and proportions ; but such compounds
can only be considered as accidental varieties. When the quartz and felspar occur
alone, and the crystallization is such that the former appears disseminated in the
latter, it is teimed graphic granite, from the supposed resemblance it bears to antique
characters. Granite is occasionally porphyritic, as is the case in Cornwall and Devon-
shire, large crystals of felspar being disseminated through the mass, showing that

ANATOMY OF THE TREK PRIMROSE.

73

however confused the general crystallization may have been, circumstances were such
a* to permit the production of distinct crystals of felspar." — p 487.

We may add that M. De La Beche writes with elegance and great
perspicuity ; and we are not therefore surprised that his book has been
translated into French and German, and republished in America. It
well deserves, indeed, to become the manual of every Geologist.

ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY OF THE ANTHERS IN THE
TREE PRIMROSE ((Enothera biennis, LINN^US).

BY E. G. BALLARD, ESQ.

THE Tree Primrose, which is common in gardens, and from its
-blowing in the evening is also called the Evening Primrose, exhibits, in
the act of flowering, the following peculiarities: — If carefully watched
about seven o'clock in the evening, the advanced flower-buds will be
seen to expand gradually, while the calyx swells and at length bursts
on both sides, opening from the bottom; and, when fully open, the
petals unfold themselves with a sudden spring, which reverts the calyx,
and at the same moment the anthers burst lengthways, discharging
their pollen upon the stigma. In order, it would appear, to prevent the
dispersion and loss of the pollen, it is moistened with a gelatinous
fluid, and adheres between the anthers and stigma by means of
tenacious films of this fluid. In the course of _the night these films
dry, and recede in the direction of the stigma, while the pollen is
absorbed. In this plant, I may mention, the anthers are ready to
burst as soon as the blossom expands.

In consequence of having discovered this curious peculiarity, I pro-
ceeded to dissect an advanced flower-bud that would have opened in the
evening. I found the anthers already open and full of ripe pollen.
The structure of these, with their filaments, I carefully examined, and
made the accompanying figures of them while under the microscope.

A-

Fig. I.

\ Fi;

74 ANATOMY OF THE TREE PRIMROSE.

I found an anther to consist of two longitudinal cells, A A, Fig. 1,
filled with ripe pollen, held in suspension by an exceedingly small
quantity .of a highly tenacious fluid, strongly resembling that from
which the spider spins his web, and which, when the particles of pollen
were disturbed, and adhered to my instruments, became drawn out
with them into inconceivably fine films. These cells were separated
by a vascular and transparent partition B, terminating at each end in
the two glands C C, and prominent at the back of the anther, at E,
Fig. 2. The liquid they contained was conveyed up the filament D,
into the small gland F, and the principal part of it, after supplying the
partition, was secreted in the large glands, C C, Fig. 1. This liquid
has, however, the peculiar quality of drying as soon as exposed to the
air, or rather, perhaps, of evaporating ; for the perfectly ripe pollen is,
to all appearance, as dry as that of any other plant. It is therefore,
it would appear, intended for the purpose of keeping the particles to-
gether, but so slightly, that the elasticity and spring with which the
petals fly open is sufficient to disperse the pollen on the stigma, and
the superfluous particles adhere to the films produced by the fluid, in
all directions, between the stigma and the anthers. Whether the
anthers are originally continuous round vessels, which burst when the
pollen is ripe, either lengthwise or otherwise, or whether they are
merely open cells in which the pollen is lodged, I have not been able
to discover; but from the peculiar office of the tenacious fluid, and the
circumstance of their shrivelling up immediately after the pollen is
discharged, I am rather inclined to think the latter is the fact. In
dissecting one of the anthers, I separated a membranaceous thread or
nerveTrom its side, which I thought exhibited a kind of involuntary
oscillatory motion ; but this might only be the effect of the air. Should
it however prove otherwise, it is no doubt intended to assist the dis-
persion of the pollen. This circumstance of the peculiar structure of
the anthers, and also the tenacious fluid which holds the pollen, renders
it important that the flower should blow in the evening, as the heat of
the sun in the day would dry up the fluid, and thus prevent the proper
dispersion of the pollen.

It would be worth investigating, whether the same circumstances
attend the night-blowing cereus (Cactus grandiflora,

Liverpool Road, Islington, tlth Nov., 1832.

76
ON THE RUMP GLAND IN BIRDS.

BY M. REAUMUR.*

WERE I tempted to explain why the hinder part of the hens, without
tails, has not a secretion performed in it like that which is observed
in other hens, and in other kinds of birds, in many of which I have
found a rump notwithstanding their want of tail; were I tempted, I
say, to explain it, I should be aware of the danger I should be in of
committing mistakes by the very obligation I think myself under of
exposing, as an error, the notion which the naturalists and philosophers
have framed to themselves Concerning the utility of the unctuous
liquor that issues through the one, or the two excretory canals of the
rump of birds. All the works of nature being lavishly rilled with
wondrous characteristics, fit to raise in us a most just admiration,
those who, from the best intentions, expose them to our eyes in order
to force us to acknowledge the AUTHOR of them, are, on account of
the multitude of those wonders, liable to some reproach, when they
happen to mention among them some that are not of the utmost
certainty. They all have been of opinion, that the feathers of birds,
in order to be sheltered against rain, wanted to be done over with
a kind of oil, or grease, that might cause the water to run off
them without penetrating them, and that this unction wanted to be
repeated from time to time : we shall prove in a memoir, that shall
treat on nothing but feathers, that they have been wrong to entertain
that notion. In consequence of it, they have pretended to make us
admire a reservoir of unctuous matter placed on the hinder-part of
each bird, out of which he expresses, and takes it with the end of his
bill to convey and spread it all over the feathers that want it.

I shall not here undertake to show how little the quantity of liquor,
that may be daily supplied by this reservoir, is in proportion to the
extent of the surfaces resulting from the assemblage of the numberless
feathers with which a hen or a duck are covered ; nor how long a time
would be necessary to enable the reservoir to supply a quantity of the
said liquor^ sufficient to besmear the surface of only one of those
feathers. In order to explode a notion, that must needs have been

* This paper is introduced from the English translation of the celebrated Reaumur's
woik on domestic fowls, for the benefit of those who do not read French, and who
publish, as their own discoveries, the well known observations of others. We shall
give another similar paper shortly.

76 OBJECTIONS TO TIIE THEORY OF RAIN.

pleasing, since it was universally espoused, I need only say, that
the feathers of our tailless, or, as 1 call them, rumpless hens, are as
much proof against rain as those of the other hens, and of many other
birds that are provided with a rump, in which the secretion of an
unctuous liquor is made. It is, however, a real fact, that birds are at
times seen pecking their rump : this imposed upon the observers ;
they thence concluded that they squeezed from their rump an unctu-
ous liquor, which they took upon the end of their bill to stroke it
afterwards over their feathers ; they did not consider that the extre-
mity of the bill could never fetch out a quantity of that matter, suffi-
cient to make itself greasy. All that might have been concluded from
it, is, that some slight pain, or barely an itching, perhaps, caused the
bird to squeeze his rump, or the reservoir, or the extraordinary canal
of the unctuous matter, to force it out of the place where it caused
an obstruction being grown too thick. Our very school-boys know
that this obstruction may take place #nd occasion an illness in birds:
when their sparrows look poorly, and are in a drooping condition, they
examine the state of the rump ; arid when they think they perceive
any more swelled than they naturally are, they press, and even some-
times tap them, to force their contained fluid out of them. I do not
know whether the success of this last operation is very certain, but it
would be better, in my opinion, to endeavour to cure the obstruction
of the excretory canal, whose orifice is sometimes stopped by the
liquor inspissated ; and in order to do this, to moisten it, or to intro-
duce into it some small solid body. So long as we shall be ignorant
why a secretion is made in our ears of a certain matter, though in a
very small quantity, we shall not think ourselves obliged to give an
account, why a secretion of a certain matter is in a particular manner
effected in a very small quantity on the rump of birds.

OBJECTIONS TO THE RECEIVED THEORY OF RAIN.

BY MR. EDMUND HART, NOTTINGHAM.

IT is the received opinion, that rain is caused by the heat of the
sun's rays raising the water in a state of vapour, into the higher
regions of the atmosphere; and it being there condensed by the cold,
it descends again, and thus forms rain.

Objection. 1st. That water requires a heat equal to sixty degrees of
Fahrenheit's thermometer, to raise it into the least vapour, according

ON THE PREDACIOUS HABITS OF THE SHRIKE. 77

to the commonly received opinion, (although subsequently I shall
prove it gives out its vapour far below the freezing point, on some
occasions, and, on the other hand, not at the boiling point,) when expe-
rience proves, we have the most rain when it stands below temperate,
which is fifty-five degrees ; for instance, the snow in frost, and the
rain after.

Objection 2d. That when we have the greatest heat, with the
largest loss of water, we have the least rain, as witness every dry
summer. Query. What becomes of it ?

Objection 3d. When vapour is condensed into water, which it
must be, if exposed to an atmosphere colder than itself, it must imme-
diately descend; as witness the dews, (but more of this by and by);
it being then heavier in its specific gravity than the bulk of the
surrounding atmosphere. Therefore, were water raised into vapour, by
the heat of 300°, it must be immediately condensed by the sudden
change of temperature, and descend before it had risen to the height
of one hundred yards, much less rise into the highest regions of the
atmosphere, and remain there for a length of time, and then form
clouds, and so produce rain, as witness the steam arising from the
boiler of a steam-engine, or the refrigeratory of a common alembic.

Objection 4th. Experience has proved, that we have the most rain
in nights, and in winter, when, of course, it must be the coldest, as
then the sun has the least influence.

Objection 5th. There is no vapour arises from the water when the
sun has the most influence, (the reason for this will be given hereafter ;)
for, place a looking-glass over a river, when the sun shines with his
meridian force, and it will not so much as dim it ; but, when the sun
is gone down, the vapour rises so as to be visible. Qu£ry. Does the
water in the pot boil when the fire is out ?

Objection 6th. If the old theory were true, there-would always be
the most rain in the tropics, where the sun is vertical, which is not the
fact.

ON THE PREDACIOUS HABITS OF THE SHRIKE, OR FLUSH ER,

(Lanius Collurio.)

BY EDWARD BLYTH.

As there are yet many naturalists who doubt the predacious habits
of the shrike (Lanius Collurio,) the following facts, which have occurred

78 ON THE PREDACIOUS HABITS OF THE SHRIKE.

within the sphere of my own observation, may not, perhaps, be deemed
superfluous, or uninteresting.

Twice, during the last summer, birds of this species have been
brought to me that had been taken in the nets of bird-catchers, on
attempting to seize upon their brace birds ; the nets had been spread
under a hedge. An instance also occurred of one of these shrikes
being seen by a lad, (on whose veracity I can rely,) to carry off a
small bird ; which, on a stone being thrown at it, was dropped, and
proved to be a young whitethroat, (Curruca cinerea, BRISSON,) that
had but recently left the nest.

Wishing to ascertain the manner in which the shrike attacks its
prey, I opened the door of a cage containing one of these birds, and
was about to put a sparrow in it, when, before I could disengage it
from my hand, the shrike seized it most instantaneously in its claws,
striking out in the manner of a falcon. Its death was effected in an
instant. The shrike extended his wings and spread his tail over it, in
precisely the manner of a hawk, and killed it by picking a hole in the
skull. He then flew to a perch, carrying the sparrow in his claws,
and fixing one foot upon it, began to devour it; nor did he desist until"
he had nearly finished the whole bird, which he held in this manner
for upwards of two hours.

I did not observe that the shrike endeavoured to find a nail or stake
on which he might fasten his victim, as is the usual habit of birds of
this genus ; but I doubt not, that had there been any such conve-
nience, he would not have failed to avail himself of it. The feathers, and
other indigestible parts, were afterwards ejected in pallets by the mouth.
This shrike was quite a young bird, and had not fed himself above a
month.

Mr. Selby remarks, that various small birds have been observed to
build their nests and rear their young unmolested, within a very short
distance of the shrike's nest ; and I remember once noticing a white-
throat's nest within ten paces of that of a pair of these birds.' This is
certainly a very curious fact ; and Sir W. Jardine mentions an instance,
in which a wild duck was discovered sitting within ten yards of the
eyry of a peregrine falcon. It would, however, be absurd to infer from
the latter, that the peregrine is not a bird of prey ; and accordingly the
former cannot be adduced as an argument against the rapacious habits
of the shrike.

The flusher appears to subsist principally on the larger insects, (and
I have noticed, that, when it can procure this food in great abundance,
it eats only the abdomen) ; but if, at any time, it experiences a defici-

NATURAL HISTORY OF THK HAMSTER.

79

ency of insect food, it then probably preys chiefly upon field-mice, and
such small birds as it can contrive to seize ; and there is no doubt that
a very considerable number of young birds are thus destroyed. I once
observed six or seven large beetles and humble bees, transfixed by one
of these birds on the thorns of a sloebush, each of which had been
deprived of its abdomen.

Tooting, Surrey, Dec. 1832.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE HAMSTER. (Cricetus vulyans,

DUMERII..)
BY CHRISTIAN QUIX, OF AIX-LA-CHAPELLE *.

Hamsters fighting.

SYNONIMES. Cricetus, Gesn. Quadr. p. 738 ; Ray, Quadr. p. 281 ; Mus cricelus,
Linn. syst. Nat. by Gmel. i. 137 ; Pallas, Glir. p. 83 ; Schreb. 4, PI. 198 A.jGlis cri-
cetus, Erxleb. Mam. p. 363; Glis marmota Argontoratensis, Briss. Quadr. p. 166 ; Le
Hamster, Buff, par Sonn. xxxii. 168, PI. 13. ; Desmoulin$, Diet. Classiq. in verb.
Hamster; Sulzer, Naturg. Tab. 1,2, Hamster nigricans, .La Cep. Mammal; Hamster
Rat, Penn. Hist. Quad. ii. 206, PI. H4; Shaw's Gen. Zool. ii. 95. PI. 137.

* Translated from the German work, " Katiirbescln-eibung der Feldmause und de
Hamsters," by Christina Rentiie.

80 NATURAL HISTORY OF THE HAMSTF.R.

THE damage which is done by this corn-stealer is not so great in our
vicinity as in Thuringia, and some other places in Germany, where it
becomes of considerable consequence in household economy to guard
against its depredations.

The hamster is of a reddish brown colour, intermixed with a few
black, yellow, and white hairs. On the back it is hair-brown. The
mouth is margined with white. The throat, feet, and tip of the tail are
white, The breast, belly, and the inner part of the ham are glossy
black. The ears are close together, and the tail is short. On each
side of the back there are two bristly spots. The animal is about ten
inches long and one foot high. Its head is thick, short, and blunt,
the muzzle short, the upper lip is cleft, showing the four front teeth
(schneidezdhne). On each of the under jaws, in the interior of the
mouth, there is a large deep bag or sack, termed a cheek-pouch,
wherein the hamster collects provision to carry to its nest. Externally,
on both sides of the mouth, are black and white bristles, bristly mus-
tachios, and black bristles over each eye. The body is long and rather
thick ; the tail short, ringed, and sparingly covered with hair. The
legs are short and strong, the fore feet having four toes with a thumb,
and the hind feet five toes, furnished with curved claws. The female
is rather smaller, and of a paler colour than the male. There are some
varieties quite black, others quite white, and others black, with large
white spots.

Hamsters are irascible, malicious animals, and when put upon
their defence will boldly attack either man or beast, having been known
to fly at a horse. They are supposed to live about eight years. They
make a nest for their a!5ode two or three feet deep in the ground, and
in winter still deeper. It is furnished with at least two entrances, the
one for entering, and the other for going out, even in fruitful, clayey,
sandy places, in meadows, woods, fields, or fens. The passage out-
wards is a narrow gallery, running in an oblique direction ; but the
entrance is straight, cut perpendicularly through the first, by the ham-
ster scraping the earth with its claws, and carrying off the rubbish in
its cheek pouches. The entrance is commonly at the distance of about
a foot from the outgoing. Through this the hamster puts out his head
before he ventures out, in order to see whether there be any danger,
and if there is he quickly withdraws into his nest.

Between these two openings several chambers are constructed, one
for a storeroom, one for rubbish and offal, and another for sleeping. In
some cases, as many as five store-chambers are found. The sexes live
apart, the female having a separate chamber close by that of the male.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE HAMSTER. 8i

While she is with young she brings in no provision, and as soon as the
young are grown, they- separate, and then this chamber often remains
untenanred.

The first fall of snow renders the hamsters torpid in their nests,
whose entrances they take care to have previously closed, and on the
first warm day in March they revive from their hybernation.

They have frequently two broods in the year, and the young of the
first brood sometimes breed within the same year. After the pairing
season, the male and female separate, and whenever they again meet
by accident, they quarrel and show the most spiteful hatred. The
female goes with young about six weeks, and has, when young,
from three to five at a birth, but when older from six to sixteen. The
young are at first blind, and the mother does not seem to treat them
so kindly as other animals, for when three weeks old she drives them
from her.

No other animal is so destructive to corn-fields as the hamsters ;
but, besides grain, they eat young birds, meat, fruit, roots, grafts, seeds,
herbs, and sown seed-corn, and, in autumn, rye. They go out to
forage early in the morning and about dusk in the evening, carrying
home their plunder to their store-rooms. They stuff grain and other
provisions into their cheek pouches with their paws, and when they
wish to empty these they press gradually on the outside with their
fore-feet. They press their magazine close together, and are said to
gnaw off the ends of the grain to prevent its germinating. As a winter
treat, they consume a small portion, should they happen to be roused
from their hybernation, but this never continues long. Their store-
room, however, is of no little importance, and often contains as much
as a hundred weight of provisions, such as fruits, peas, beans, tares,
barley, oats, wheat, and rye, of which they always take care to choose
what is of the best quality. They also eat green seed.

Their teeth are said to be poisonous, and their bite heals with diffi-
culty. Their enemies are the weasel, the marten, pole-cats, foxes,
cats, owls, and hawks. They are destroyed in their holes by means of
the vapours of sulphur, and also caught in pit-falls constructed with
glazed earthenware, pots. But the most usual way of extirpating
them is by digging them out of their nests. They are thus dug out
from March till June, the furs being then in the best condition ; and
after the harvest they disappear, and are not so readily found. As
soon as the hamster-digger gets near the store-room, he closes up all
the outlets, and then is the time to strike the animal dead with the

VOL. i.— NO. IT, — (FEB. 1833.) G

82

LE VAII.LANT'S NATURAL HISTORY

spade. If the burrow is not opened with due caution, the hamster
will often escape, or fly at his pursuer ; and bite so hard, that he will
not quit his hold till he is killed. A hamster when pursued will often
dig from three to four ells (Flemish) in a few minutes, and stops up the
new run so well as to render it difficult to discover.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE BIRDS OF AFRICA

TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH OF LF. VAILLANT.

TUFTED COS EAGLE (Morphnus occipitalis, CUVIER.)

Le Huppard, Le Vaill. Ois d'Afrique, i. p. 8, pi. 2. Falco occipitalis, Lath. Ind.
Orn. Sup, p. iii. Daud. ii. p. 40. Falco Senegalensis, Daud. Shaw's Zool. vii.
p. 59. Nisser Tookoor, Black Eagle, Bruce, Travels, Ap. t, p. 159, pi. 32.
Occipital Eagle, Lath. Gen. Lyn. Sup. ii. p. 17. Ib. Gen. Hist. i. p. 139.
Aigle d'Abyssinie, Drapiez, Diet. Class. I. 161. L'Aigle-autour noir hupp£
d'Afrique, Cuvier, Regne Anim. I. 332. Le Huppart, Lesson, Manuel, 1.90.
Aquila occipitalis, Spix ; Spizaetus occipitalis, Vieillot. Black Tufted Eagle of
Africa, Griff,— Cuv. vi. 45.

THfc BIRDS OF AFRICA. 83

SPECIFIC CHARACTER.

Giand comme un corbeau, noir, une longue huppe pendant de 1'occiput ; les tarses,
le bord de 1'aile, et des bandes sous la queue blanchatres. — BARON CUVIER.

As big as a crow, black, with a long tuft hanging from the occiput ; the tarsi, the
edge of the wings, and the band under the tail, are whitish. — GRIFFITH'S CUVIER.

NOTWITHSTANDING the great difference in the size of this species,
compared with that of the preceding (Aquila armigera), yet it evi-
dently belongs to the same genus. Like the Griffard, the Tufted Gos
Eagle is courageous, and, like him, he lives principally by hunting,
only seeking offal, when, goaded by hunger, he can find nothing else
to feed on and appease his voracity. This is generally the case with
all birds of prey, to whatever genus they may belong. I have had so
many opportunities of verifying this remark, that, whatever our his-
torian-poets, and all those who have copied from them, may have said,
I must always maintain it to be false, that eagles, however they may
be pressed by hunger, never prey upon carrion.

Like the Griffard, this eagle is also characterised by a crest, but a
much longer one. His legs are likewise covered with fine down, which
extends to the root of the toes. His curved beak, and his strongly-
arched and sharp talons — although he is not much bigger than our
largest buzzards — proclaim him to be a bird of war and destruction.
Not being sufficiently strong to seize and strike down such animals as
the gazelle, the Tufted Gos Eagle satisfies himself with smaller game,
such as hares, ducks, and partridges, which he pursues with great
swiftness and dexterity, his long wings, the points of which extend
nearly to the extremity of the tail, enabling him to catch such birds,
which are very swift, with tolerable facility.

I have named this eagle from the sort of crest which so particularly
characterises him. This tuft of feathers takes its rise upon the hind
head (occiput), is prolonged five or six inches backwards, and descends
gracefully, and with a slight curve, towards the back. It is so flexible
and light, that the least wind or slightest motion of the body, makes it
play. The thousand different forms this tuft assumes, gives to the
bird a peculiar air of gracefulness. Our ladies know well how to appre-
ciate the value of such an ornament.

The general colour of the bird is dull brown, lighter upon the neck
and breast, and deeper upon the whole mantle and the abdomen. The
long feathers '(culottes) of the legs are mottled, and the down which
covers the shank in its entire length, to the origin of the toes, is still
more mottled with the same colour. The large quill feathers of

G2

84 LE VAILI.ANT'S BIRDS OF AFRICA.

the wings are of a brownish-black, with some white in part of the
middle of the external plumelets (barbes) ; all the other wing-feathers
are waved with greyish-brown and white, as well as all those of the
tail, the extremity of which is entirely blackish-brown. The tail is
slightly rounded. The toes are yellowish, and the claws of a shining
black ; the beak horn-coloured ; the iris yellow, more or less deep,
according to the age of the bird.

I have only met with this species in the Auteniqua country and in
Caffraria.

The Tufted Gos Eagle builds his eyry upon trees, and lines it with
feathers or wool. The female lays two eggs, nearly round, and spotted
with reddish-brown. She is larger than the male ; her colour is lighter,
and her crest is not so long ; she has also more white on the leg-
feathers, and also a number of small white spots about her eyes, and on
the top of her head.

The male and female are always sure to be found in the same dis-
trict, and always together.

The Tufted Gos Eagle has a plaintive cry, but it is very seldom
heard except when he is in pursuit of crows, on whom he has no mercy
when they approach too near his eyry. But he seems to be most
inveterate against the species which I have named Corbivan (the Ring-
necked Raven — Corvus torquatus, SPALOWSKY) ; for these, better
armed and more daring, frequently venture to attack the Gos Eagle,
and take his prey from him ; when strong in numbers they will even
endeavour to beat him from his eyry, that they may devour the eggs
or young birds. It sometimes happens that his brood thus becomes
the prey of these plunderers ; but it is never, till overpowered by num-
bers, and after a defence which has cost the life of more than one of
their enemies, that the unfortunate pair can be forced to abandon their
eaglets, frequently still too feeble to defend themselves except by the
cries of despair.

The young Tufted Gos Eagles are at first covered with a whitish-
grey down, which becomes gradually replaced by brownish feathers
bordered with red. I have examined three of the nests, in neither of
which did I find more than two young ones, one of which was always
a male and the other a female, a circumstance easily known, from the
difference of their size. On leaving the nest, the crest is apparent
in the male.

85

CHAPTER OF VARIETIES.

ON THE MATHEMATICAL DANCES OF GNATS. — As an illustration
of the beautiful theorem in geometry (Eucl. z. 32,) which bears that
the " three interior angles of any triangle, are when taken together
equal to two right angles," I have just met with the following, given
with so much spirit too by the ingenious author, that perhaps he may
include himself among the " many persons " who " have burst into an
involuntary flood of tears upon first reading this proposition."

" The maziest dance," says our author, " ever performed by three
gnats of a swarm in a summer's evening through the air, is yet subject
to this strict regulation : the flies can never separate from each other,
so that their angular distances, when added together, shall be less or
greater at one time than another, but will always be equal to the
stated quantity of two right angles, (unless when they happen to be
all in the same straight line, on which occasion their angular distances
from each other all vanish at once). But what shall we say to the
fact (which is, however, but a multiplication of this), that every trio of
gnats in the swarm, be it ever so large and so lively, every combina-
tion of three, in all the evolutions and involutions performed by the
whole crowd, keep "always at the same collective angular distances
from each other ; that is to say, the three angles formed by lines
joining every three flies in the swarm, when added, not only make up
the same quantity at all different times, but those formed by one trio
are exactly equal in a sum to those formed by any other ! The same
is true of all the bodies of the solar system ; planets, satellites, and
comets. Whatever changes or disturbances they may undergo, there
is one relation subsisting between them which no power can alter ;
every three must, in every position, have the sum of their angular
distances what it was in every other position, namely, two right
angles (unless when they happen to be in the same right line.") —
Darley's Geometrical Companion.

a"

86

CHAPTER OF VARIETIES.

Gnats, however intricate, involved, or mazy their movements be,
cannot (any three of them) place themselves so that lines joining their
points of position shall form either more or less than two right angles.

In the annexed figure suppose three gnats to be at the points
a b c; the lines joining these form a triangle whose three angles are
together equal to two right angles. Suppose they have moved to the
points a ' b ' c ' ; the dotted lines joining these form a triangle whose
three angles are together equal to two right angles ; and in the third
position, a" 6" c", the lines joining these form a triangle having the
same properties. In the same manner, were they to continue to move
for ever, at no time would they be found in positions which, if joined
by lines, would form lessor more than two right angles. — JOHN SHARP,
Drummond Crescent.

.

APPLE COCCUS.

A. Apple covered with the Insect. B. View of the back of the Insect : magnified.

C. View of the under part : showing the Eggs.

SCALE INSECTS (Cocci) ON AN APPLE. — I have been indebted
to the kind attention of Mr. Maund, the editor of the justly-appre-
ciated " Botanic Garden," for a specimen of an apple, figured above,

CHAPTER OF VARIETIES. 87

on the rind of which a great number of a species of scale insect,
(Coccus), are irregularly scattered. It bears a very close resemblance to
the scale insect of the elm, (C. conchy formis, GMELIN), as described
by Reaumur, and also to the one which I have mentioned (Insect
Trans, p. 92,) as common on the currant bushes at Lee. The one on
Mr. Maund's apple is, however, much less gregarious than the currant
species, which are always crowded closely together, but more so than
Reaumur's species. But as those on the apple are at present in a
state of hybernation, (if I may here use this term,) consisting of the
dried body of the mother covering and protecting the eggs, as is
shown in the figure, there are not sufficient circumstances to establish
the difference of the species. I am not, however, acquainted with
any species which is thus found on fruit, and I shall carefully watch
the hatching of the eggs. — EDITOR.

PKOFESSOR CHRISIISON, ON CINNAMON SUET. — We are indebted
to Henry Marshall, deputy inspector general of the army hospitals, and
author of a valuable work on the " Medical Topography of Ceylon,"
for a specimen of the singular substance termed cinnamon suet,
accompanied by a brief notice, by Professor Christison, of Edinburgh,
of his chemical investigation of its properties, which we shall here
subjoin.

" I have now finished the the examination of the cinnamon tree suet, and the fol-
lowing is the general result. It contains eight per cent, of a fluid oil, not unlike olive oil,
retaining its fluidity at 40 degrees F, and not very solid even at 32 degrees. The
remainder is a waxy principle, fusible at 110 degrees, and capable of being sublimed
between the temperature of boiling water, and a red heat, — extremely soluble in
ether, — moderately soluble in boiling, but nearly insoluble in cold, alcohol ; crystal-
lising from its etherial and alcoholic solutions in microscopic, pearly crystals, capable
of being saponified, and, in consequence of that process, converted into a fatty acid,
fusible at 98, which forms soluble salts with the alkalies, insoluble salts with the
earths, and insoluble salts (or plasters), with the metallic oxides.

This principle answers very exactly the description given by John, of one of the waxy
principles contained in the wax of the Myrica cordifolia, and which he names Cerin.
My observations on its sitponification are new, which proves its not having been
particularly studied at the time John published his analysis.

I have also made an examination of the oil of the Laurus nobilis, another species of
the same genus with the cinnamon ; and although its external properties are wholly
different from those of the cinnamon tree suet, I find it contains a considerable quan-
tity of cerine likewise, and of a waxy principle, identical with that of the cinnamon
tree." — R. CHHISTISON.

INCIDENT OF A DISABLED QUEEN BEE. — The people of my village,
many of whom are fond of keeping bees, make use of strange
expedients to induce bees to stay in the hives, into which they are first

88 CHAPTER OF VARIETIES.

shaken. One of my hives threw off a swarm, which settled upon the
branch of a plum tree ; it was hived in the usual way, but, in the
evening, went back to the parent hive-tree, when it was again hived ;
but, in the evening, it again went back. I applied to a woman, who
was remarkable for her skill in the management of bees, for advice how
to proceed. She told me that one certain method of success was, to rub
the inside of the hive with the saliva of a sow! I inquired how that was
to be done. She said I must put a few handfuls of oats in the hive and
let a sow eat out of it ; that, during the operation of munching the
grain, I might expect the sow to drop its saliva, which would operate
as a charm upon the bees, and cause them to remain in the hive. Not
much liking the expedient, I put on a veil, and as the swarm was issuing
for the third time, and settling on the same tree, I examined the
mouth of the parent hive, and then I beheld the queen with only one
wing, making vain attempts to accompany the swarm. I instantly
picked her up, put her into the hive, shook the swarm in upon her,
and all was well. After the bees remained, they immediately began to
work. I knew that the queen (leading off a second swarm, and conse-
quently being a young queen) would be barren, because impregnation
takes place in the air, and this queen could not fly. I therefore
united the next swarm I got to the colony over which she presided,
and was glad to find that, in the single combat which was sure to take
place between -the rival queens, she of the one wing lost her life, and
was thrown out. — R. D.*

' BIRD RIDDLES.* — The Author of this pretty book (pretty, were it no
more than for the fine frontispiece) has gften a number of very ingenious
riddles in rhyme, founded on the characteristics of birds, followed by
an excellent selection of illustrative anecdotes and details. We select
No. 1 1 as a specimen of the riddles, and the corresponding notes :

" Unceasingly busy, contentious and loud,
Every spring to our native trees we crowd ;
We sometimes re side in the midft of the town,
And strange though it may seem, we have built in a crown."

Page 10.

" ROOKS.' — Some years since, a small colony of rooks, probably a de-
tachment from that which had long occupied the trees in St. Dunstan's

* The other gleanings of this correspondent will be highly acceptable. Two others
will be inserted.

-f Sketches of Birds, in Enigmatical Verses, for the Amusement of Children. By
S. Roper. 12mo. Harvey and Darton, London. 1832.

CHAPTER OF VARIETIES. 89

church-yard, took possession of some lofty elm trees, on the parade in
the Tower, which they soon rilled with their nests ; and the shortness
of accommodation there, perhaps led some of them to occupy the
crowns, which are fixed on the top of the vanes at each turret of the
white tower. The remains of the nests may still be seen filling these
singular stations." — Page 48.

RAIN PREDICTED BY MONKEYS. — Some time before rain commences
in South America, there is heard through the woods the melancholy
howling of monkeys (Simia Beelzebub, S. Seniculus, #c.) The coming
noise of the storm is afterwards heard at a distance. The intensity of
the cries of the monkeys may be partly understood from the fact that a
single tree is sometimes the abode of sixty or eighty of them. — BARON
HUMBOLDT'S Darstellung.

FLIGHT OF T.HE ALBATROSS. — How powerful must be the wing mus-
cles of birds which sustain themselves in the sky for many hours together !
The great Albatross, with wings extending fourteen feet or more, is
seen in the stormy solitudes of the Southern ocean, accompanying ships
for whole days, without ever resting on the waves. — DR. ARNOTT.

HONEY-DEW AND APHIDES NOT FOUND IN BRITAIN. — Speakingof
Honey-dew beingejected by Aphides -a fact proved beyond all question,
and which may be seen in every wood and hedge in the empire — Mr.
Huish says, " I acknowledge that it not only exceeds my belief, but also
my comprehension. Its not having been observed in this country may
proceed from diversity of climate, which is not congenial to the growth
of the insect!!!" — HUISH ON BEES, p. 201.

ON FROST CAUSING PLANTS TO FLOWER. — Plants are often checked
in their growth from cold and frosty nights ; one striking effect of which
is, to force them prematurely into bloom. — PATRICK NEAL.

THE HUNTED HARE. — A hare closely pursued by the hounds was
suddenly lost sight of; she had plunged into a deep ditch overgrown
with briers ; and, after running some distance along its bottom, crept
slowly up the bank and stretched herself, breathless and almost dead
with terror and fatigue, beneath the legs of a group of school-boys, who
had there seated themselves, watching with deep anxiety and interest
the fortunes of the chace. As soon as the astonishment excited by
this unexpected appearance of poor puss had somewhat subsided, an
animated debate arose amongst the youngsters, respecting the disposal
of the exhausted creature. The majority, allured by the hope of reward,
voted for the prompt surrender of the unfortunate refugee to her mer-

90 CHAPTER OF VARIETIES.

ciless pursuers. One boy, however, actuated perhaps as much by a
spirit of opposition as benevolence, declaimed loudly against this medi-
tated act of perfidy, — the violation of sanctuary ; and avowed himself
resolutely bent, if need were, upon wager of battle in the cause of
humanity. The intrepid fellow was, at length, joined by one or two
of his more generous associates. After a brief but stormy altercation,
the voices of honour and of mercy prevailed : and, although many an
anxious and eventful year has since passed over us, we have not yet
forgotten the glow of exultation which lighted up the eyes, and expanded
the hearts, of the youthful defenders of the persecuted creature ; when
they heard the voices of dog and man, after a short pause, grow fainter -
upon the breeze j and saw the poor hare herself, recruited by a few
minutes' respite, limp off to rest in safety, or at least to die in peace,
beneath the sheltering underwood of an adjacent coppice. — DR.
SHIRLEY PALMER, Birmingham.

ON THE STOMACHS OF BIRDS. — I have had occasion to open two
or three bearded tits, and have observed that the stomach is exceed-
ingly strong and muscular ; the stomachs of the tits may almost be
called membranaceous ; that of the shrike is quite so. I have often
been astonished to perceive hard seeds, grains of corn, &c., in the
almost membranaceous stomach of the oxeye, which differs so much
from the muscular gizzards of the buntings and others which subsist on
such food. Amongst other things I have noticed small snails in the
stomach of the oxeye. Are you aware that many hard bill birds use
the throat or swallow as a pouch, or reservoir for food ? A sparrow
that I shot a few mornings since had its throat greatly distended with
grains of corn.

A kestrel that had long been tame in the garden of one of my neigh-
bours, was lately brought to me, dead ; and I was informed that it had
for several days refused all nourishment, and that it consequently died
from starvation. Poor thing, it died indeed from inanition, and was
literally reduced to nothing but skin and bones ; but the reason that it
refused its food, was that it had swallowed a large piece of knotted
rope, which filled and distended the stomach, so that nothing else could
possibly enter. The rope, however, was so softened, and its toughness
so subdued by the action of the gastric juice, that had the hawk lived
a day or two longer, it would probably have passed by the vent, or have
been ejected in balls by the mouth. — E. BLYTH, Tooting, Surrey.

THE CRICKET AND THE COCKROACH. — It is said by Linnaeus, and
copied by Donovan and others, that the house cricket (Acheta domes-

HERBERT ON BIRDS. 91

tica, FABRICIUS) deserts houses infested with the cockroach (Blatla
Germanica,* LINNJEUS.) Last year a gentleman of this town found
that his kitchen was tenanted by a numerous colony of the latter in
company with the former. In order to expel them he took down every
piece of board from the walls, and even the mantle piece, behind which
they had assembled in hoards, and, for any thing he could discover to
the contrary, living together in perfect friendship. — L. W. CLARKE,
Secretary to the Entomological Society of Birmingham.

ON THE SPAWNING or FISH. — A fish in the egg or spawn, gains
its oxygen from the air dissolved in water, and those fishes that spawn
in spring and summer in still water, such as the pike, carp, perch, and
bream, deposit their eggs upon subaquatic vegetables, the leaves of
which, in performing their healthy functions, supply oxygen to the
water. The fish that spawn in winter, such as the salmon and trout,
seek spots where there is a constant supply of fresh water as near the
sources of streams as possible, and in the most rapid currents, where
all stagnation is prevented, and where the water is saturated with air
for which it has been exposed during its deposition from clouds. It is
the instinct leading these fish to find a supply of air for their eggs,
which carries them from seas or lakes into the mountain country ;
which induces them to move against the stream, and to endeavour to
overleap weirs, mill-dams, and cataracts. — SIR HUMPHRY DAVY.

THE HON. AND REV. W. HERBERT'S NOTES ON BRITISH

BIRDS, f

AMONGST the numerous notes contributed to the octavo edition of
White's Selborne, the most remarkable for interest and originality are
by the Hon. and Rev. W. Herbert, the brother of the present Earl of
Carnarvon. These notes display great enthusiasm, patience in tracing
causes, shrewdness, ingenuity, and accuracy, and are at the same time
written with all the simplicity and elegance which mark refined taste
and superior scholarship. We have no hesitation in saying indeed,
that, if the author were so inclined, he might soon attain the highest

* B Orientalis does not appear to-be British, as stated by mistake in " Insect Mis-
cellany."— Editor.

t The Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne; by the late Rev. G. White
New edition with notes. 8vo. London. No date [1832.]

92 HERBERT ON BIRDS.

reputation as a naturalist This we might have inferred, independent
of the valuable notes before us, from his previous experiments on
flowers published in the Horticultural Transactions, particularly those
on hybrids and parasites. From the notes to White we shall now select
a few specimens to prove that we have not overrated Mr. Herbert's
talents'. The first we extract, we think very excellent ; but though it
proves the willow wrens do not eat cherries, it does not prove that they
do not eat other fruit, which they certainly do.

" Food of the Willow Wrens. — This sentence has probably been the cause of the
murder of numbers of these most innocent little birds, which are in truth peculiarly the
gardener's friends. JVIy garden men were in the habit of catching the hens on their
nests in the strawberry beds, and killing them, under the impression that they made
great ravage among the cherries ; yet I can assert that they never tasle the fruit, nor
can those which are reared from the nest in confinement, be induced to touch it. They
check the aphides which are injurious to the fruit trees, and being very pugnacious little
birds, I have sometimes seen them take post in a cherry tree and drive away every bird
that attempted to enter it, though of greater size and strength. The birds which are mista-
ken for them are the young of the garden-warbler ( Sylvia hortensis,) with which Mr.
White was not acquainted ; as it is not mentioned by him and does not appearin his list
of summer birds ; yet I am confident that they will be found plentifully at Selborne,
when the Kentish cherries are ripe. They attacked my cherries in great numbers when
1 lived in the south of Berkshire, not much more than twenty miles from Selborne.
These young birds have a strong tinge of yellow on the sides, which disappears after the
moult, and gives them very much the appearance of the yellow wren when seen upon
trees, though they are larger and stouter, and in habits very much resemble the black-
caps, with whom they are associated in the plunder of cherry-trees. I have never seen
the pettychaps in Yorkshire until the cherries are ripe, when they immediately make
their appearance and attack the Kentish cherry particularly, being so greedy that I
have often taken them with a fishing rod tipped with birdlime while they were pulling at
the fruit. The moment they have finished the last Kentish cherries they disappear for
the season. If they finish the cherries in the morning, they are gone before noon. I
am persuaded that they appear and disappear in the same manner at Selborne, and
are probably to be found there only while the cherries are ripe, which accounts for Mr.
White's having mistaken them for yellow wrens when he saw them in the fruit trees.
They breed in the market gardens about London, and I imagine that, as the cherries
ripen, they migrate from garden to garden in pursuit of them. I am told that near
London they remain late enough to attack the elder berries, of which the fruit eating
warblers are very fond, but in Yorkshire they do not even wait for the later cherries.
The number of these visitants depends upon the crop of early cherries. This year the
crop having nearly failed, I saw but two of them, which appeared on the 15th of July
and were not seen after the 17lh. The blackcap remains eating the currants and ho-
ney-suckle berries ; they are both in confinement very fond of ripe pears, and I believe
in the south of England they peck some of them before their departure. Mr. White
does not seem to have had any reason for putting1 the Latin name Motacilla trochilus to
these distinct birds. There is no cause for believing that Linnaeus confounded them,
though he only named one of them and overlooked the others. Indeed the wood wren
could not be confounded with the yellow wren by any person of the least discrimination.

HERBERT ON BIRDS.

93

I could not persuade my gardener that the yellow wrens did not eat the cherries, till
he had shot some of the petty chaps in the act of eating them, and compared them
with the wrens, when he became satisfied of the error. In order to ascertain beyond
doubt, whether the yellow wrens ever eat fruit, I left some which had been reared tame
from the nest, and, of course, were more likely to feed upon any new thing than the
wild birds, without victuals till they were very hungry, and I then offered them little
bits of ripe cherry. They seized them with avidity, but immediately threw them down
again, and it was evident they would rather have starved than eat the fruit. I had no
doubt of the fact, but I wished-to set the question completely at rest ; for I have seen
them pulling the leaves off the cherry trees so near the fruit, that any person might be
deceived, and think they were eating it ; and the young of the petty chaps look so
like them, that I am not in the least surprised at their having got into bad repute with
the gardeners. I had an opportunity of watching, lately, a little family of them,
which sat many days in a low standard cherry tree in my garden, not more than a few
feet above my head. The old ones took no notice of me at all, but were perpetually
feeding close to me. They flitted about the cherry tree, -picking the little aphides off
the leaves, and bringing them one by one to the young, and sometimes tugging very
hard at a leaf to get out a little caterpillar that was twisted up in it, the cherries being
ripe at the time. The young sat still for hours together, close to each other, occasion-
ally stretching their legs or wings, or hunching up their hind quarters. This very
singular movement is, I think, peculiar to, or at least it is more usual amongst soft-
billed birds. It is a sign of health, and is frequent with growing young birds. I do
not observe those which feed upon seed use it, though they frequently stretch their
leg or wing. The young sedge warblers hunch up their hind quarters to a degree that
is singularly ludicrous, and when they do so, they are always thriving. The yellow
wrens appear in confinement to have stronger powers of digestion than the wood wrens,
though, I believe, they feed naturally upon similar insects. The hens are singularly
tame. I had one taken when able to feed itself, what the bird-catchers caU abrancher,
which soon became so familiar that it would fly upon my finger to feed. The cocks
are larger, and rather more shy. Last year I had reared three cocks from the nest, and
in July I wished to set one of them at liberty. Having let it out of the cage that stood
near a window which was opened, it continued for a long time hopping and flying
about the top of the cage, and sitting upon the pots upon the ledge, and on a bar to
which the roses were tied across the window. At last it began to travel up the
creepers, against the house, and getting upon the roof, it flew over the buildings, and
I did not expect to see it again ; but, two hours after, it returned exceedingly hungry,
and lit upon the upper bar of the middle pane of the lower sash of the same window,
and pecked hard for admittance. It was let in and fed heartily from my hand, after
which it took its leave. I saw no more of it for two days, when it returned again for
a short visit, in very good case, and not appearing at all pressed for food. About
a week after, it returned to the very same pane of glass, pecking as before, but I was
occupied with a stranger on business, and could not attend to it, and it departed for
the season. On the 23rd of July, in the following summer, I was standing at the
window, when a fine stout cock of this species lit upon the bar of the same pane, close
to my face, and began to peck, as before, for admission. Neither alarmed by my
voice, nor by my little boy's jumping up from his seat to look at it, it flew
down upon some of the • cage pans, which happened to be on the ledge of the
window, and began pecking them as if to get food from them. It quickly departed
again ; but this is so contrary to the habits of the wild bird, that I consider it

94 HERBERT ON BIRDS.

quite certain that the bird was my own nursling, which had returned after its trip
to Africa, to look at the window where it had been reared in its nest. The visit
was a very pleasurable little incident. How many things which Europeans in vain
desire to see, had my little wanderer witnessed since last he pecked at my window.
Perhaps he had sung his plaintive notes near the grave of Clapperton, or peeped into
the seraglio of the king of Timbuctoo, since we had parted. These little birds are ex-
ceedingly gentle till they feed themselves perfectly ; after which they become exceed,
ingly quarrelsome. I had some in the same cage with young wood wrens, brown wrens,
and sedge warblers. One of them, more than a week before it could feed itself, took to
feeding two wood wrens which were ten days older than it, and able to feed themselves,
though still very willing to be fed by another. It showed exactly the same discrimina-
tion that an old bird does in leaning over the one it had last fed, notwithstanding its
clamorous entreaties in order to give the food to the other. No importunities of the
brown wrens could obtain a morsel from it. There was sagacity even in this, for the
brown wren is a much less nearly allied species, and is now referred to a separate ge-
nus. Its own fellow nestlings did not importune it for food. It was a cock bird, and
three weeks after it beat the cock wood wren so, that it was necessary to separate them.
The wood wrens and sedge warblers are not quarrelsome, but squall loud when at-
tacked or alarmed. The little brown wrens, as far as I have seen are not quarrelsome,
but perfectly fearless, and very much on the alert to snatch any thing they like out of
the mouth of a larger bird, and run under a pan with it to avoid being pursued.

It is remarkable that many birds, which are quite kindly disposed to other birds,
will not tolerate the presence of another of their own species. The redstart fights with
his brother neatling in the same cage, as soon as he is full grown ; he will not tolerate
the presence of a stonechat, or whinchat, whose habits are very similar to his own ;
but he does not attack a nightingale, and behaves decently in a cage full of seed birds.
I have seen two yellow wrens, not two mouths old, fight like bull-dogs, holding tight
and pulling the skin, but they rarely attack any but of their own kind. A nightingale
which had lived two years in a cage full of birds, in perfect amity with them, and even
suffered the brown wrens to jump and rub themselves on its back, instantly attacked,
in the most virulent manner, another nightingale which was put into the cage. Two
robins will never frequent a hot-house, or a conservatory, in peace, but fight till the
weakest is killed, or yields full possession to his antagonist, and they often break the
tender young plants in their conflicts. The little thornback fish endures well the heat
of a hot- house, which frequently kills a minnow. I have put them into vessels of
water, in which I kept aquatic plants, to eat the small insects which devour the roots
of nympheae, in which service they were very useful, but the strongest fish would not
endure companions, but persecuted them unto the death. They are very bold and
voracious, and when hungry would bite savagely at the point of a pencil, or the tip of
the finger, if immersed in the water." — p. 65, note.

The next has been the subject of discussion and controversy, from
the time of Aristotle till the present day. The observations of our
author, must, we imagine, set the matter at rest.

" Drumming of Snipes. — I have observed the drumming of snipes, in bright days,
at the beginning of April, and I could very easily discern the manner in which the
sound is produced. After rising high and crying peet, peet, peei, which is the snipe's
usual note, it lets itself drop obliquely through the air, keeping the wings motionless,

HERBERT ON BIRDS. 95

but turning, by some muscular contraction, each individual quill sideways, in the same
manner that the bars of a Venetian blind are turned to admit more light, and having
descended to the customary point, it re-adjusts its feathers and rises again obliquely
without sound. They will continue for hours together amusing themselves in this
manner upon a mild day, and when they are in this mood, the sportsman has very
little chance of getting near them. The cushat has a sportive movement a little
similar, in the summer time, in the narrow woodtd valleys amongst the hills : it is
less observed in flat countries. It descends obliquely without any motion of the
wings, and when it has dived to the usual point of descent, flaps its wings with
a loud noise, and towers again obliquely to the other side of the valley." — p. 120,
note.

The singular natural provision for the cleanliness of nestling birds
has been frequently remarked, but it was never before, so far as we
are aware, put in so striking a point of view as the following : —

" Affectionate Cleanliness. — It is a very curious provision made by nature, that the
dung of all nestlings is enclosed in a thin membrane, which enables the old birds to
carry it away in their bills, which they do regularly each time they bring food to the
nest. The young instinctively, even before they can see, protrude their hind quarters
to eject the dung from the nest ; but, if the parent did not carry it away, there would
be a congeries of dirt under the nest, which would not only be uncleanly, but would
attract attention and discover their retreat. As long as young birds are kept to their
nest in a basket, or box, the membranous covering continues ; if they are let out to
perch, it ceases ; if they are shut down again in the nest, or basket, it /e-appears.
The warmth and quiescence of the nest certainly occasion it, and principally the quies-
cence ; but how it should have that effect, I cannot pretend to understand. It is a
marvellous provision of ALMIGHTY wisdom,"* — page 191, note.

Mr. Herbert's remarks on the stone curlew and the dottrel, shew
the immense superiority which a field naturalist possesses over those
who merely study in cabinets filled with dried skins. With respect
to the stone curlew, ((Edicnemus crepitans, TEMMINCK,) he says : —

" My observation is, that it is found only on chalk. I used to find it and its two
eggs on the bare ground in September, at Highclere, in Hampshire ; but only where
there was a chalk subsoil. It never strayed to the sand or gravel, and consequently
was not upon the heaths ; but in the chalky turnip fields. Temminck says, it is found
on high sandy uncultivated tracts, and heaths far from water. I have found it
only on chalk and ploughed land. I have seen it on the chalk district in Kent.
I have never seen it in Yorkshire, nor in the vicinity of the moors, where they
should be found if Temminck's account were true. I do not believe that it ever lays an
egg upon sand, as he states. The dottrell (Charadrius morinellus,) also is peculiar to
dry chalk districts, aud feeds chiefly upon small, green beetles ; but Temminck most
erroneously states that it lives in desert miry places, (lieux deserts etfangeux). He should
have said dry sheep walks. It is probable that the insects to which these species are

* " See a paper on the cleanliness of animals, by J. Rennie, in the Poy. Inst. Journ.
Oct. 1830."

96 HERBERT ON BIRDS.

partial, reside only in the chalk districts ; but they may possibly thrive on a different
subsoil in the south of Europe, though I am very little disposed to believe it." —
p. 79, Note.

We shall conclude with an excellent example of observation, well
worthy of being placed as a companion to our first extract : —

" Gold-crested Wren. — The golden-crested wren, and the common brown wren, are
both very impatient of cold. In confinement, the least frost is immediately fatal to them.
In a wild state they keep themselves warm by constant active motion in the day, and
at night they secrete themselves in places where the frost cannot reach them ; but I
apprehend that numbers do perish in severe winters. I once caught half a dozen
golden wrens at the beginning of winter, and they lived extremely well upon egg and
meat, being exceedingly tame. At roosting-time, there was always a whimsical con-
flict amongst them for the inside places, as being the warmest, which ended of course
by the weakest going to the wall. The scene began with a low whistling call amongst
them to roost, and the two birds on the extreme right and left flew on the backs of
those in the centre, and squeezed themselves into^the middle. A fresh couple from the
flanks immediately renewed the attack upon tRe centre, and the conflict continued till
the light began to fail them. A severe frost in February killed all but one of them in
one night, though in a furnished drawing-room. The survivor was preserved in a
little cage, by burying it every night under the sofa cushions , but having been one
sharp morning taken from under them before the room was sufficiently warmed by the
fire, though perfectly well when removed, it was dead in ten minutes. The nightin-
gale is not much more tender of cold than a canary bird. The golden-crowned wren
very much frequents spruce fir-trees and cedars, and hangs its nest under their branches :
it is also fond of the neighbourhood of furze bushes, under which it probably finds
warm refuge from the cold. The brown wren is very apt, in frosty weather, to roost
in cow-houses, where the cattle keep it warm*." — p. 132, Note.

We have confined our review of Mr. Herbert's Notes to birds, as
these are the most copious portion of his contributions, and well enti-
tled to the attention of naturalists, from his having so minutely studied
the living birds instead of the usual practice of studying only museum
specimens, or, what is even worse, the prints taken from museum speci-
mens. Mr. Herbert, however, has not confined his observations of
nature exclusively to birds, and we could, if we had here room, give
equally interesting and original remarks from his notes on quadrupeds,
on plants, and on meteorology. Were he so inclined, we have no doubt
that he could furnish from his portfolio a whole volume of similar notes.

See a paper on the Contrivances of Animals to secure Warmth. By J. Rennie,
Roy. Inst. Journal, May, 1831."

97

ON CABINET GROUPS OF STUFFED ANIMALS, PICTURING
THE EFFECTS OF THEIR PASSIONS.

BY M. BOITARD.

' Specimen of a cabinet picture of a Lion and Tiger fighting.*

WE denominate groups, those kinds of pictures in a cabinet of
stuffed animals usually representing some action, but more frequently
possessing no interest besides the brilliant plumage of the animals of
which they are composed. A falcon tearing a turtle-dove or a squirrel
to pieces, or two doves billing on a rose-bush ; a partridge covering
her numerous brood with her wings to conceal them from the fangs of
a weasel, or the piercing eye of a bird of prey ; a nightingale opposing
her impotent anger to a serpent which slides its head into her nest to
seize and devour one of her young — such we call pictures representing
an action : and compositions of this kind are very interesting, when
they are arranged with taste, and the artist has the talent to give each
individual the attitude and expression most proper to describe the sup-
posed emotion, as anger, fright, ferocity, or love.

* Taken from a beautiful model in wax, by Mr. 1). Morrison.
VOL. I. NO. III. 1833. H

98 ON THE GROUPING OF ANIMALS

Animals have passions like man ; fewer, indeed, as to number, but
of much greater energy. In my work, entitled " Le Cabinet d'Histoire
Naturelle," I have given a sketch of the effect which fear or anger
imparts to the attitude of birds, and I shall quote from it, as examples,
three well-known species — the magpie, the blackbird, and the wren.
The few words I shall say of them will be sufficient to direct the cabi-
net naturalist in making his observations.

The magpie, when in a state of repose, has the feathers on the upper
part of the body lying almost flat on the skin, and those of the belly
slightly bristled, as if hanging down, the neck contracted, while the
tail is parallel to the body, sometimes slightly bent downwards, and the
wings are placed close to the sides. In this attitude it always perches.

The blackbird, when in repose and perched, has the feathers slightly
ruffled, the neck entirely buried in the breast, the tail slightly raised,
and the wings somewhat drooping. The wren has the feathers flat, the
tail parallel. It constantly perches.

The body of the magpie, when in action, is placed horizontally^
the neck is lengthened, the head turned aside, the feathers quite flat,
and the tail much raised ; the feet are placed under the middle of the
body, the wings are drooping, in which circumstances it may be
perched or not.

In action, also, the feathers of the blackbird are ruffled, the neck
somewhat lengthened, the head straight and also a little raised, the
beak directed forward, the tail much raised, the feet bent as if un-
able to support the weight of the body, and the wings are very much
depressed. It does not always perch in such circumstances.

The feathers of the wren, when in action, are flat, the tail raised
vertically, the neck moderately stretched, the head depressed, that is
to say, the back is directed downward ; while the wings are drooping,
the feet extended, and the body placed parallel to the horizon.

When birds experience the sentiment of fear, their neck is much
lengthened, their feathers extremely flat, the beak, the body, and the
tail in the same line, and rather advanced ; the upper part of the wings
much raised from the body, and the extremities approaching very
near to the tail. If from fear they pass to anger, the whole body in-
clines still more forward ; the beak opens, the pupils of the eyes
incline towards each other, which gives the animal the appearance of
squinting. The feathers of the neck are erect, those under the body
exactly corresponding; the tail is raised and arched, the legs bent,
and the wings averted from the body, or half opened by raising them

IN MUSEUMS. 99

over the back. If the cabinet naturalist cannot arrest all these shades
of distinction, and a thousand others, which are still more fugitive — if,
in order to stuff them, he is reduced to the necessity of copying en-
gravings which are often faulty, his birds will never have that air of
grace and animation, and that appearance of life, which at once sur-
prises and delights us.

Specimen of a cabinet picture of a kestril (Falco tinnntnculus) devouring a bird.

The taste of the artist can alone guide him in choosing subject*
•with which to compose a group ; but there are, nevertheless, certain
materials which are commonly used, and those I shall enumerate.
The branches on which the birds are generally placed may be sought
for by the skirts of woods, and are usually the branches of plum trees,
which have been cropped by cattle, and are covered with mosses and
white and yellow lichens, branches of old pear trees, and the like.

The branch being chosen, it is placed on the stand, the lower end
being inserted in a hole made to receive it, and secured with glue to
keep it in the proper position. Extremely fine steel wire is used to
tie on artificial leaves and flowers, which may be had of persons who
manufacture such articles.

At the turners may be procured those little shavings which they
detach from their horn ware ; these, when died green or yellow, may
be disposed with great advantage to resemble mosses or lichens, espe-
cially if bey are somewhat notched ; longer pieces of the same wiU

n 2

100

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE CONDOR.

represent slender grasses. To fix them on the branches and the stand
a coat of strong glue, gum, or paste is used, and the same sprinkled
over them. To imitate a stone or rock, we generally use grey paste-
board soaked in water with a little paste, and left to dry after giving
the picturesque form which taste dictates ; it is cemented with glue,
and sprinkled with very fine sand of an appropriate colour. In a word,
we employ sand and also dried coffee grounds in the same way to
imitate the ground.

Specimen of a cabinet picture of the common eagle (Haliatus albicilla, SAVIONY) having just
captured a hare.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE CONDOR.

BY BARON HUMBOLDT.*

AMONG birds of prey, as among insects, the female is generally
larger than the male. In the condor, however, this difference is not
very perceptible, though the size varies somewhat in individuals of

Translated from " Observations Zoologiques," by Jacob Dixon, Esq.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE CONDOR. 101

either sex. Living in solitary places, having no other enemy than man,
who busies himself very little in its destruction, it is probable that the
condor attains a very advanced age. The bird does not, however, ap-
pear to multiply much ; I have not, at any time, seen more than five or
six at once ; but it seems to be a more numerous species than the
king of the vultures (Vultur Papa), which, I think, is the least nume-
rous of all the American birds of prey.

I have been assured that the condor does not build a nest. It lays
its eggs upon the bare rock, without even surrounding them with straw,
nor with the hairy leaves of the Espeletia frailexon, the only plant
which grows near the perpetual snows, and which has a resemblance
to our shepherd's club ( Verbascum thapsus). I have been assured that
the eggs are quite white, and three or four inches long. It is also said
that the female remains with the young ones for the space of a whole
year. When the condor descends to the plains, he prefers to rest
upon the earth. He does not build upon the branches of trees, as the
zamura or gallinazo (Vultur aura) does. The condor, also, has very
straight claws. I make this observation, in corroboration of a passage
in Aristotle, in which that profound naturalist says that those birds of
prey which have curved claws, do not like to place themselves upon
rocks.*

The manners of the condors are the same as those of the lamnier-
geyer of the Alps. If he does not surpass the latter in size, he seems
at least to be superior in strength and boldness. A couple of condors
will attack not only the stag of the Andes, the puma, the vicuna, or
the guanaco, but even the cow : they pursue it so long, wounding it
with their talons or beaks, that the animal, breathless and exhausted,
bellowing, hangs out its tongue. The condor than seizes it by the
tongue, of which it is very fond, and tears out its eyes ; while stretched
upon the earth it slowly expires. In the province of Quito, the mis-
chief which the condors do to cattle, particularly to the flocks of sheep
and oxen, is very considerable. I have been told that in the savannas
of Antisani, 2101 toises above the level of the sea, bulls are frequently
found wounded in the back by condors who have not been able to bear
them off. This recals to my mind the missions of the Upper Oroonoko,
where the large bats do so much damage by wounding the oxen, that
it forms one of the principal objections to the establishment of farms
in that country.

* Aristotelis Historia Animalium, ix. 22. ed. Casaub. p. 575.

102 NATURAL HISTORY OF THE CONDOR.

The condor, when gorged, remains phlegmatically perched upon the
top of a rock. I have found him, in this situation, maintaining an air
of dull and sinister gravity. Like the carrion vulture ( Vultur aura),
one may drive him along without his giving himself the trouble to fly
off; but when tormented by hunger, he takes wing and rises to a pro.
digious height, floating in the sky and embracing at a glance the vast
expanse of country which is to furnish him with liis prey. It is parti-
cularly on days when the atmosphere has been very serene, that I have
observed the condor, and also the gallinazo ( Vultur aura) at extra-
ordinary heights. One might suppose that the great transparency of
the air invited them to review a great space of country, which in more
cloudy weather the piercing sight of these aerial hunters could not grasp.

In Peru, at Quito, and in the province of Popayan, the people have
a method of taking the condor alive with nooses. Other travellers, I
believe, have already described this extraordinary sport, which is en-
gaged in principally to amuse European strangers. An ox or a horse
is killed, and, in a short time, the stench of the dead animal attracts
the condors, whose sense of smelling is extremely acute. A great
number of them are seen to appear in places where one could have
scarcely thought that any could be. The bird eats with inconceivable
voracity. He always begins with the eyes and tongue, which seem to
be his favourite morsels ; he then proceeds to the vent in order to get
easily at the intestines. When the condors have gorged themselves,
they are too heavy to fly off; the Indians then pursue them with
nooses, and catch them with ease. We are told that the bird makes
great efforts to rise into the air : in this he succeeds, if, exhausted by
the pursuit, he happen to vomit abundantly. In these efforts, I have no
doubt, the condor alternately stretches and retracts his neck, and brings
his claws near his beak. This manoeuvre, certainly accidental, has led
the country-people to say, that the condor, in order to save itself by
provoking vomiting, puts one of its toes into its mouth. I do not
think the talon of the condor would tickle very gently the parts which
it touched. The Spaniards call this sport correr huitres, and, after
their bull-fights, it forms one of the chief amusements of the people.
One may imagine to what cruelty these unfortunate condors are con-
signed when thus taken alive by the Indians : an insect would not
suffer more in the hands of an entomologist.

I was told, at Riobamba, that, to make the catching of the condors
easier, poisonous plants were sometimes put into the belly of the
animal exposed to them. The condors then seem inebriated. This is

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE CONDOR. 103

in imitation of fishing with the Jacquinia armillaris or the piscidia.
The Spaniards call this method of fishing, embarbascar.

The condor, taken alive, is at first melancholy and timid ; but he
soons becomes very mischievous. I kept a female for eight days in
my house at Quito ; but it was dangerous to approach her, for fear
had rendered her quite savage.

The condor is more tenacious of life than any other bird of prey.
At Riobamba, while at the house of our friend Don Xavier Montufar,
corregidor of the province, we were present at the attempts made by
some Indians to kill a condor. They commenced by strangling him
with a noose ; they hung him on a tree ; they pulled him forcibly by
the legs for several minutes : the noose was scarcely taken off, when the
condor walked as if nothing had been done to him. Three pistol-balls
were then fired at him at less than four paces distance. By these he was
wounded in the neck, breast, and abdomen ; still he continued on his
feet. A fifth ball struck against the thigh bone (femur), and fell
again to the earth. The corregidor, Don Juan Bernardo Leon, to
whose kindness I own many interesting remarks on the animals of
Quito, was present on the occasion. The condor did not die till half
an hour after he had received so many wounds. M. Bonpland kept
the ball, thus repelled by the shock against the thigh-bone, for a long
time.

This observation, however extraordinary it may seem, has, however,
already been made before. The astronomer Ulloa relates that in the
cold region of Peru, the condor's skin is often so closely covered with
feathers, that eight or ten balls have been known to strike against the
body of the bird without one of them having been able to pierce it.*

The condor which we examined was covered with an immense
number of brown lice (pedicult), I am sorry I was so remiss as not to
have described them ; they are of another species than the vulture
louse (Pediculus vulturis,) described by Fabricius,f which, how-
ever, may also be found on the Indian vultures.

The condor prefers dead carcases to living animals, though he sub-
sists on both ; it also seems that he pursues small birds less than he
does quadrupeds.

* La pluina de condor forma un entretexido tan bien preparado, que no lo penetra
la bala del fusil ; ni el animal, se inmuta al recebir el golpe. En la parte alta del
Peru hasuccedido tirat le 8 & 10 tisos seguidos, ogendo dar las balas sobre el y caer
e&tas al suelo de rechazo sin haberle hecho dano alguno. — (ULLOA, Noticias Americana*,
p. 158, s. 18.)

t Fabricius, Mantissa Insectorum, ii. 369, No. 12.

104 LINK ON THE FLUIPS OF PLANTS.

EXPERIMENTS ON THE ABSORPTION AND CIRCULATING
FLUIDS OF PLANTS.

BY H. F. LINK, PROFESSOR OF BOTANY, BERLIN.

TREVIRANUS is of opinion, that the sap of plants flows between the
cells, meaning the interstices between these, an opinion adopted by
M. Kieser, and also as it would appear by M. De Candolle. It is
true, indeed, that the sap may be supposed in this manner to diffuse
itself freely in every part of the plant j but then the bark and pith,
from the looseness of their cellular texture, ought to afford more
facilities for the flow of the juices than the wood, and this does not
accord with the following observations.

It has been customary to tinge the water introduced into plants,
for the purpose of experiment, with ink, tincture of litmus, of Brazil
wood, and the like. The ink is well known to contain the gallate
and tannate of iron suspended in water by means of gum ; and it is
very possible that other vegetable colouring matters may be similarly
suspended in water without being dissolved. The outer rind
(epidermis) of plants, and vegetable membrane in general, is capable of
filtering coloured liquids, and preventing the colouring matters from
entering into the vessels. From this we may account for experi-
ments in which coloured fluids do not enter into the vessels, or at
least do not appear when these are cut. In order to avoid such in-
convenience, it is requisite to effect a precipitation in the vessels
themselves, and to produce a precipitate of a well marked colour,
such as may not be confounded with the colours naturally produced
in a plant.

I took therefore several healthy plants in pots, such as are com-
monly found in green houses, — a Rhagodia, a Bigonia, a Stilydium,
and a Hermannia. I put the pots containing these plants in vases
filled with a solution of the cyanuret of potass and iron, made with
one part of cyanuret and thirty-two parts of water, in which I
allowed them to remain for an entire week. The plants watered in
this way continued quite healthy. I then removed the vases, and
substituted others filled with a solution of sulphate of the oxyde of
iron in thirty-two parts of water, taking previous care to wipe the
pots dry. I left them in these vases for twenty-four hours, when I
cut the plants, and, on examining the interior parts with the micro-

* Translated from the French by the Editor.

LINK ON THE FLUIDS OF PLANTS.

105

scope, I perceived that their vessels (trach&s) alone were tinged
with blue, amongst the cells which were not coloured in the
slightest degree. It was the entire tube which was equally coloured,
though the spiral vessels were differently turned, and more or less
evolved.

In the tubercles of plants, there are vessels (trochees) which are
not united in packets : such vessels in Bigonia discolor, were equally
tinged blue with the others.

A, A, the portions of the vessels of Bigonia discolor uncoloured; B the vessel coloured by the

precipitate.

I have repeated these experiments with many plants and always
with the same results. There are, however, some very tender plants,
such as Impatiens balsamina, Pelargonium, &c. which readily flag
when watered with a solution of the cyanuret of potass and iron,
consequently, the experiment must not with these be continued too
long, for after they begin to flag they will not take up the solution

Spiral, ringed, and beaded vessels of Plants.

of the sulphate of iron, and the vessels will not be coloured. I have
very frequently observed that all the vessels are not tinged ; that in
the same packet there are blue ones, amongst others which have
remained white ; and that in general the narrow vessels became
more readily coloured than the others. The vessels which are

106 LINK ON THE FLUIDS OF PLANTS.

termed beaded (en chapelet) are also as readily coloured as the true
vessels.

It sometimes happens that the colour is not blue, but deep
green, although the solution of the sulphate of iron has been
exposed to the air for a sufficiently long time ; but this green colour
can be very well ascertained to be foreign to the vessels. I have
often seen the colour penetrate even the vessels of the leaves ; but
I have not hitherto seen it pass into the flowers. It often happens
also that the vessels of the stem have been tinged blue, while those
of the roots are not at all tinged, perhaps because the solution
of the cyanuret had all passed into the stem. M. De Candolle,
says, in his " Organagraphie," that there are no vessels (trache'es)
in the roots : I have found them in the roots of all vascular plants.
The preceding experiment furnishes an easy method of distinctly
indicating the vessels (vaisseaux) which conduct the sap in the
several parts of a plant.

Some years ago I made experiments upon the resorption of plants,
which I published in a German journal. I took plants in garden
pots, and bent down branches of them so as to terminate in a-
glass filled with solution of arsenious acid, without separation from
the stem, or wounding them in any manner. The plants were
Linaria alpina, Cliffortia obcordata, Hemimeris coccinea, Mezem-
brianthemum glomeratum, and Xenopoma obovatum. After some
time, they all flagged, first the branches soaked in the solution, and
then the rest of the plant. I remarked that the plants which were
watered, resisted the effects of the poison longer than those which
were not watered j and that succulent plants, nourished by the juice
of their own leaves, could vegetate a long time without absorbing
poison sufficient to kill them. Absorption then goes on through the
leaves and branches, if the roots fail in affording the necessary supply
of water. If some leaves, or the point of the branch to be soaked, be
cut, the poison immediately enters the absorbing vessels (vaisseaux)
and the plant soon dies.

I was anxious to ascertain whether this absorption is made by the
common vessels (Irache'es,) and not by other vessels (vaisseaux) ap-
propriated for this purpose. With this view, as in the preceding
experiments, I soaked brapches in a solution of the cyanuret of pot-
ass and iron; I then washed the branches with pure water, and
substituted for the cyanuret or solution of sulphate of iron.
These experiments were not uniformly successful, for it frequently
happened that the interior parts of the plants were not coloured;

LINK ON THE FLUIDS OF PLANTS.

1U7

but I found in some experiments, particularly in those made upon
Vinca herbacea, that it was the vessels (trochees) alone which
took a blue colour. The resorption then appears to be made by
the same vessels as the absorption of fluids.

It is the entire tube which conducts the sap and not the spiral
tube, as Hedwig alleges, (see B, in the figure above,) though his
opinion is partly true, for the spiral tube is in reality a vessel ;
as I have often seen it coloured interiorly. I have represented this

in a slice from the root of the date (Phoenix dactylifera,') cut length-
wise, and seen by an excellent microscope by Frauenhofer of Munich.
At b are seen the modified vessels (trochees) having the rest of the
spiral tube coloured as in the entire tube at «. At c there is a
straight vessel (vaisseau) coloured in the same manner. At d there
is not the least colour, which proves that the colour observed is
not an optical illusion.

There is then no real difference among the vessels of plants,
whether they be termed tracheae pseudo-tracheae, porous tubes, or
annular vessels. All these are organs which conduct the sap and
distribute it throughout the plant. They can be all coloured blue,
as I have above explained -} and the changes are wholly produced
by the changes of the spiral tube. The turns of this tube become
mutually detached, the rounds become more slender, and intervals
(lacuna) termed pseudo-trachea; are formed, which are never
seen in young plants. There are no porous tubes, such as are de-

108 WINN ON STORMS.

scribed by the authors, nor are there pores either in the vessels or
the cells. Frequently what are alleged to be pores are nothing
more than the remains of a spiral tube, or of small bulgings thereof
remaining permanent when the spiral character has disappeared.

a, a, a, Remains of the doublings of the spiral vessels in the Balsam plant, in form of pores.

The annular vessels again, first described by Bernhardi, and con-
founded by M. De Candolle with the pseudo-tracheae, are altogether
different j being produced by the rounds of a spiral tube becoming
at first detached and again united to form a ring, it being not unu-
'sual to find one part of a vessel or spiral tube changed into the
annular form, while another part remains unchanged. The beaded
vessels are only vessels turned, or folded with narrowings at the
foldings. Coloured fluids readily pass these narrowings.

ON STORMS PREDICTED FROM THE APPEARANCE OF THE
AURORA BOREALIS.

BY CAPTAIN WINN.

I HAVE often wished, that somebody would carefully collate a
sufficient number of meteorological journals, with intent to observe,
and class the several appearances in the atmosphere, before great
changes in the weather, particularly before great storms. I am per-
suaded, from my own observation, that in general sufficient indi-
cations of impending tempests precede them a considerable time,
did we but carefully note them. The phenomenon which I am going
to mention is one of those indications, which not only portend an
approaching tempest, but serves to ascertain from what quarter it
will come j a circumstance that may render it of essential service
to seamen. I believe the observation is new, that the Aurora Bore-

W1NN ON STORMS. 109

alls is constantly succeeded by hard southerly, or south-west winds,
attended with hazy weather and small rain. I think I am warranted
from experience to say constantly, for, in twenty-three instances
that have occurred since I first made the observation, it has inva-
riably obtained. I beg leave, however, to recommend it to notice,
as a matter, which when confirmed by further observations, and
generally known, may be of more consequence than at first appears.
To shew that it may, give me leave to recite the circumstance
which first occasioned my taking notice of it. Sailing down the
English channel a few days before the autumnal equinox, we had
a remarkably bright and vivid Aurora the whole night. In
shore, the wind was fluctuating, between N.N.W. and N.W., and
farther out W.N.W. Desirous of benefiting by the land wind, and
also of taking advantage of an earlier ebb tide, I dispensed with
the good old marine adage, never to approach too near a weather
shore, lest it should prove a lee shore ; and, by short tacks, clung
close along the English coast. Next day the wind veered to the
S.W., and soon after to the S. S.W., and sometimes to the S. We
were then in that dangerous bay between Portland and the Start
point, and carried a pressing sail, with hopes of reaching Torbay
before dark 3 but night fell upon us with thick haze and small rain,
insomuch, that we could not have seen the land the distance of a
ship's length. The gale was now increased to a storm ; in this di-
lemma nothing remained but to endeavour to keep off the shore till
the wind should change. Luckily the vessel was a stout one, and
well rigged.

Reflecting some time after on the circumstance of this storm,
and the phenomena that preceded it, I determined to pay parti-
cular attention to future Auroras, and the weather that should succeed
them ; and, as I have above observed, in twenty-three instances
have found them uniform, except in degree : the gale generally com-
mencing between twenty-four and thirty hours after the appearance
of the Aurora. More time and observation will probably discover,
whether the strength of the succeeding gale is proportionate to the
splendour and vivacity of the Aurora, and the distance of time be-
tween them. I suspect that the more brilliant and active the first
is, the sooner will the latter occur, and will be more violent, but of
shorter duration than when the light is languid and dull. Perhaps, too,
the colour of the Aurora may be some guide in forming a judgment of
the coming gale. That which preceded the storm I have mentioned
was exceedingly splendid. The tempest succeeded it in less than

110 ON THE HABITS OF THE OX-EYE.

twenty-four hours, was violent, but of short (about eight hours)
continuance. In June last, a little without soundings, we had, for
two nights following, faint, inactive Aurorae ; the consequent gale
was not hard, but lasted nearly three days : the first day attended with
haze and small rain ; the second with haze only ; and the last day
clear.

The benefit which this observation on the Aurora Borealis, when
further confirmed and known, may be of to seamen is obvious, in
navigating near coasts, which extend east and west, particularly in
the British Channel. They may, when warned by the Aurora Bore-
alis, get into port, and evade the impending storm j or, by stretching
over to the southward, facilitate their passage by that very storm,
which might have otherwise destroyed them ; for no winds are so
dangerous in the channel as southerly and south-west. In a word,
since I have made this observation I have got out of the channel,
when other men, as alert and in faster sailing ships, but unapprised
of this circumstance, have not only been driven back, but with
difficulty escaped shipwreck. Perhaps the observation, that south-
erly gales constantly succeed this phenomenon, may help to account
for the nature of the Aurora Borealis.

Spithead, August 12.

ON THE HABITS OF THE OX-EYE.

BY THE EDITOR.

MY friend, Mr. Blyth, who is a keen observer of Nature, and who
is not, as is so very usual with naturalists, inclined to adopt all that is
met with in books, sent me in the same cage a sky lark, a wood lark,
and a chaffinch, together with an ox-eye, (Parus major, RAY) which
had been confined about a week. In a note which accompanied the
birds, he says, " you need not be fearful of turning the ox-eye loose
into your aviary, notwithstanding the bad name which has been
given to the species. I have an ox-eye, which I last week turned
into a large cage containing six or seven small birds ; he did not
shew the least symptoms of animosity, but, on the contrary, suffered
himself to be severely buffeted by that quarrelsome little bird, the
babillard, (Curruca garrula, BRISSON), insomuch that I was at length
compelled to place the latter in another cage. The ox-eye continues
to live in terms of the greatest good fellowship with his companions,

ON THE HABITS OF THE OX-EYE. Ill

and I have never observed him to evince the least disposition to
annoy the rest."

Upon the faith of this, I turned my ox-eye loose at night into my
aviary, where there are more than thirty birds, chiefly summer
birds of passage ; but I had some doubts of his good behaviour,
when Colonel Montagu expressly says, " it will ^sometimes attack a
bird its inferior in size, or one in a sickly state, fracturing its skull
by repeated strokes of its pointed bill." * M. Bechstein also says,
" if they have not plenty of food which they like, they will attack
other birds, and pierce their skull to feast on the brain. When they
have once tasted this food, there is no security for the birds in an
aviary, whatever may be their size. I had myself an ox-eye which
attacked a quail, and killed it in this way."f

Notwithstanding these authorities, I trusted to the fear which all
strange birds usually have of the others when turned loose in the
aviary, for keeping the ox-eye quiet, and I resolved to watch his
motions next morning. I was, however, too late ; for in less than
an hour after day light, when my daughter went into the aviary to
give the birds water, she found a poor fauvette (Sylvia hortensis)
already killed, and the ox-eye standing by with his beak and breast
covered with blood. But it would appear that the fauvette had not
died without retaliating, for the ox-eye was himself in articulo mortis,
as a medical man would say, and died in a few minutes, though this
might be from exhaustion in making the attack. Perhaps some of
the other birds, particularly a very cross-grained pugnacious night-
ingale, which I purchased in Rotterdam in June last, might have
come to the assistance of the fauvette, and revenged its death on
the ox-eye.

My intelligent friend, however, has a precedent of high authority,
as I have just discovered, for the peaceable disposition of his bird
as I have for the ferocity of mine. " I have learned from expe-
rience," says M. Montbeillard, " that the ox-eye kept in the cage
sometimes cleaves the skull of the young birds that are presented
to it, and feeds greedily on the brain. M. Hebert ascertained nearly
the same fact by an experiment which he made : he put a redbreast
in the same cage with eight or ten ox-eyes, about nine in the morn-
ing ; and against mid-day the skull of the red-breast was bared,
and the brain entirely eaten. On the other hand, I have seen many

* Ornith. Diet. 2nd edit, p. 550.

t Naturgeschichte der Stubenthiere, 3rd edit. p. 553-4.

112 MR. BLYTH ON THE DISPOSITION OF ANIMALS.

ox-eyes, and other tits, which had been caught by means of the call,
that lived above a year in the same volery, without any act of hosti-
lity ; and at this very moment, there is an ox-eye which has lived
six months on good terms with goldfinches and siskins, though one
of the siskins was sick during that period, and, in its feeble state,
incapable of resistance, offered an easy prey to voracity." *

In the other authors whom I have consulted, namely, Gesner,
Turner, Aldrovand, Jonston, Klein, Linnseus, Brisson, Daudin,
Pennant, Bewick, Latham, Temminck, Cuvier, Lesson, Brapiez,
and Fleming, there is no allusion whatever to the circumstance :
Selby copies Montagu's statement.

The following paper will show that some ox-eyes are even cannibals,
attacking and devouring their own species ; as is extensively exem-
plified among fish, such as the pike, and among insects, such as the
grass-hoppers and earwigs, which make no ceremony of devouring
their own kindred. Spiders are said to be, if possible, still more bar-
barous.

Lee, Kent, Dec. 3, 1832.

ON THE DIVERSITY OF DISPOSITION IN ANIMALS OF
THE SAME SPECIES.

BY EDWARD BLTfTH.

THE very great difference of temper and disposition between dif-
ferent animals of the same species, seem never to have been suffici-
ently taken into consideration by naturalists, who have often described
the character of a whole species, judging from the peculiar disposition
of a single individual.

I have an oxeye, (Parus major,} that has now lived for several
months in the same cage with a number of other small birds, (finches,
tits, and warblers,) and that still continues to live with them in the
most perfect harmony ; never showing the least indication of hosti-
lity, nor of that carnivorous disposition which this species occasionally
evinces : this was an adult bird when caught. Another oxeye was
lately brought to me, which not wanting, I gave to a young gentle-
man in my neighbourhood who keeps a few birds in confinement : it
was put into a cage, and a day or two after another of the same
species was caught, and placed with it in the evening after the

* Hist. Nat. Des Oiscaux, Ant. La Grosse Mesange ou Charbouiere.

BLYTH ON THE DISPOSITION OF ANIMALS. 113

former had retired to roost. The next morning, what was the asto-
nishment of my friend, to find the bird, which I had given him,
regaling itself on the brains of its companion, which it had killed,
holding the head of the dead bird in its claws, and picking it in the
same manner that they usually pick a hempseed. It afterwards
stripped off the feathers in the usual manner of a bird of prey, and in
the course of the day devoured the whole, excepting, of course, the
bones, the bill, and the feet. A redpole (Linaria minor} was held to
it, and it she.ved the same eagerness to seize it, that a regular bird
of prey would have done. This oxeye died the following night, pro-
bably from the effects of the contest which it must have had with the
other : it appeared when first caught a remarkably savage bird, biting-
most desperately, and even hanging by its bill to the hand of the man
who brought it, when it was not held, but might have flown off
if it would.

I have now in confinement a babillard, (Curruca garrula,) of such
a pugnacious and fiery disposition, that I am compelled to keep it by
itself. It attacks indiscriminately every bird that is placed with it,
though double or treble its own size, plucking out their feathers,
and darting about with such agility, that no small bird seems a match
for it. This bird has many times attacked and pulled feathers from
the oxeye, (Parus major) above mentioned, who, though double its
size, flies from it as he would from a shrike : the babillard is gene-
rally, if not always, of a very domineering disposition ; but I have
frequently known them to live very peaceably along with other birds.
Instances of similar diversity of temper must indeed be familiar to
all who have paid any attention to animals.

It is therefore as impossible to judge of the character of a whole
species from the temper of a single individual, as it would be to judge
of a national character from the peculiar disposition of one man.

Tooting, Surrey, Feb. 1833.

VOL. I. — NO. in. 1833.

114 %G. ST. HILAIRE ON THE FAHAKA OF THE NILE.

ON THE STOMACH AND SWIM BLADDER OF THE FAHAKA
OF THE NILE. (Tetrodon Physa).

BY M.G. ST. HILAIRE, PROFESSOR OF ZOOLOGY, AT THE JARDINS DBS PLANTES,

PARIS.

Figure of the Fahaka.

I ONLY know two naturalists, the celebrated Bloch and Count
L/acepede, who have treated of the pouch in the fahaka. Bloch has
shown that it communicates with the cavity of the gills ; and my
illustrious colleague (Lacepede) has seen that it is formed by a
membrane situated between the intestines and the peritoneum.

The latter observation having been made from the inspection of a
dry and ill-preserved specimen, is of course very incomplete ; but
having had the opportunity of examining as many fahakas as I
pleased, I am able to complete the description.

I have opened a great number of these fishes, and have ascer-
tained that it is the stomach which, without losing its ordinary
functions, serves also the purpose of an air bag, (reservoir afrien).

This organ, generally occupying but a small space, escapes, if I
may use the term in this case, from the cavity in which it is con-
tained, and swells out to a size larger than that of the animal itself.
This is so singular that our first impression is, that it does not de-
serve belief. But if we consider that nature never operates by new
creations, but simply by modifications of things already existing ;
and that, of all the combinations to produce this pouch, the most

» Translated by Jacob Dixon, Esq. from " Description d Egypte, Partie Zoolo-
giqiie," published by the French Government.

G. ST. HILURE ON THE FAHAKA OF THE NILE. 115

simple was to employ a sac within reach of the cavities of the mouth
and of the gills, and of which there was only wanting an increase of
capacity, we shall be less astonished that this modification, however
wonderful it may seem, should have fallen upon the stomach, and
that this organ should acquire so prodigious a volume.

It is, moreover, a fact established by observation. If the interior
of the air pouch (poche a&ienne) of the fahaka be examined, two
openings will be found in it, one of which corresponds with the neck
of the gullet (oesophagus), and the other with the commencement of
the intestinal canal.

The thinness of this sac leads us, at first sight, to suppose that it
cannot be the stomach ; but this thinness is incidental to its dis-
tended condition, inasmuch as it is formed of as many coats as all
other stomachs, and is covered in the same manner with the
muscles and skin of the abdomen. It is known, and this is the
answer to this kind of objection, that when an organ is dispropor-
tional to the limits which are, as it were, marked out for it, it is
always at the expense of its mass : thus a glass-blower makes, with
a given quantity of matter, globes of greater or less capacity,
according as he is required to make the sides thicker or thinner.

This large stomach, situated more inferiorly, covers nearly all the
other abdominal organs. Taking its origin from the fauces (arrfere-
bouche), it covers the liver, the swim-bladder, the intestines, to which
it adheres by means of a very thin cellular tissue ; then, returning
upon itself, it covers all the abdominal muscles, which are enlarged
in the same proportion as itself, and then passes to the last portion
of the breast-bone (sternum,) where we saw its point of departure.
There all is adherent, the several coats of the stomach, the muscles
of the abdomen, and the skin ; so that, in order to study the struc-
ture of these parts, it is necessary to take the trouble to separate all
the layers of which this portion of the great sac is formed.

We easily comprehend then how the abdominal muscles, forming
an intermediate layer between the coats of the stomach and the
skin, expel the air which produces the enlargement of the fahaka.
This is effected by the contraction of thin muscular fibres, seconded
by the non-activity or the restitution of the muscles of the chest.

These muscular fibres, in contracting still more, force as well the
membranes of the skin without, as those of the stomach within, to
fold themselves : and the stomach, compressed, as it were, and re-
duced to dimensions which are more in harmony with the other
organs of the animal, returns to its ordinary functions.

116 G. ST. Ill LAIR E ON THE FAHAKA OF THE NILE.

The figures containing the anatomical details will render evident
all the facts which we have stated,

Fig. I

Fig. 1. shows the abdominal organs in their natural position : all
the surface A is the interior of the stotaach ; B is the continua-
tion of it, except that, instead of forming a large apron which would
cover all the intestines, it has been cut off, detached, and rejected,
in order that the abdominal organs may be seen.

Fig. 2. shows, on the right, a part A of the coats of the stomach,
and on the left, the inferior layer or the muscles of the abdomen.

This consists of two muscles L and M. The muscle M arises
from the great straight one, and has its attachments posteriorly,
some to the joints (osselets) of the spine, and the others in less num-
ber to those which sustain the vent fin : it becomes lost forward, on
a tendinous band ; two lines (aponeuroses) traverse it and divide it
into three nearly equal portions, while the fibres of which it is com-
posed become collected, lengthwise, into bundles, to the number of
from seven to ten.

The other muscle L takes its origin behind, at the last tendinous
band of the former, and is carried obliquely upon the gills ; its
fibres are closer together than in M.

A cellular tissue, rather abundant, covering these two muscles and

G. ST. H1LA1RE ON THE FAHAKA OF THE NILE. 117

separating them from a third,, more external and more slender,
numbered O, leads us to think that this last does not belong to the
abdominal muscles, but that it is analogous to the fleshy wattle
(panicule charnue) ; it extends considerably beyond the region of the
stomach, is continued to the head, and furnishes branches which
spread themselves over the muscles of the breast fins : the direction
of the fibres is across, and some are seen as well above as below.

It always concurs, with the two other muscles L and M, in the
expulsion of the air from the pouch, and of course in diminishing its
capacity : it folds the skin across L obliquely, and M lengthwise -,
forming three powers, the concurrence of which diminishes the sur-
face of it.

We now know then the nature of this great air pouch of the
fahaka : let us next show by what agents the air is kept in it while
distended.

The Swim Bladder.

The most remarkable of these agents is the swim-bladder, which
only acts by impulsion and in a passive manner. It will excite
surprise, I dare say, that it should figure here, when its functions
are transferred to the stomach. It is known that, in many fishes,
its use is to communicate with the fauces (arrilre-boucke), and to
receive air from it. This is not the case with that of the fahaka,
which does not communicate with the mouth by any air-tube or
opening j but is a sac closed in every part, of the form of a horse-
shoe, the circular margin of which is directed forward, and the ter-
minating branches backwards. Fig. 2 represents it of the natural
size.*

Its surface, visible in the design, is adherent, but by a very loose
cellular tissue to the part of the stomach which is above it ; the
other surface adheres in a similar manner to the spine, so that it is
there only suspended in a manner, and may be carried both forward
and backward.

The opening marked G, which is seen above the swim-bladder, is
the section of the gullet or intermediate canal, which is between the
fauces and the stomach.

* This is diminished two thirds in our copy of the figure. — EDITOR.

118

LE VAILLANTS NATURAL HISTORY

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE BIRDS OF AFRICA.

TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH OF LE VAILLANT.

THE WHITE COS EAGLE (Morphnus albcscens, CUVIER.)

Le Blanchard, Le Vaill. Ois d'Afrique, pi. 3.p. 12. Falco albescens, Lath. Ind. Orn.
Sup p iv. Daud. ii 45. Shaw's Zool. vii. 98. Noisy Eagle, Lath. Gen. Syn. Sup.
ii. p. 21. Id. Geu. Hist. i. p. 143. Cuvier, Regne Anim. I. 331, Note. Drapiez,
Diet. Classique, 1. 162.

IF intrepidity and courage are the moral characters which distin-
guish eagles from other birds of prey, this bird is as much an eagle
as that which I have above described under the name of the Griffard:
he is the tyrant of all the larger birds which inhabit the same district,
— a true despot, who, abusing his power, wages war against all who
surround him, and immolates all who approach him. Destined to
make birds his prey, nature has endowed him with great facility of
flight ; a very long tail serves admirably to direct his course with
quickness, and accommodate it to the frequent and sudden veerings
of the birds who seek to escape his talons : a rapid zigzag flight,
which, almost always, enables them to escape from every other
bird of prey, becomes useless when pursued by the White Gos Eagle.
It is while in pursuit of wood pigeons that I have had most oc-
casion to admire the address of this eagle ; he seems indeed to
prefer to hunt those birds whose flight is the most rapid and irregu-

OF THE BIRDS OF AFRICA. 1 19

lar 5 that species of pigeon which I have described under the name
of 'Ramron, and which is remarkable, in this respect, forming his
ordinary prey. I have seen falcons, gosshawks, sparrow-hawks, and
hobbies, all in chace of our pigeons in Europe, but they have seldom
succeeded even when they have precipitated themselves into the midst
of an entire flock of these. Their methods, however, are very differ-
ent from those which the White Gos Eagle so successfully employs.
Birds of prey generally seek to overtake their game by their very
rapid flight, and endeavour to attack them either from above, or on
one side. This eagle, on the contrary, controls himself, measures his
flight, and leaves nothing to fortune. The spotted wood pigeon, as
I have remarked in giving the description of it, rises above tall trees,
and seems to amuse himself with a singular mode of flight peculiar
to himself 5 while the pigeon is thus engaged, our eagle darts from
his ambuscade, and if he succeeds in getting beneath the pigeon before
he can manage to precipitate and conceal himself in the wood, it is all
over with him : all his turns and all his rapid doublings will avail
him nothing : his enemy meets him at every turn, and seems to wish
rather to tire his victim out, than actively to pursue him; always below
him, his only care seems to be to prevent him from gaining the trees :
the sooner the pigeon throws himself towards them, the sooner is he
taken ; for our eagle, traversing the shortest line in the same space of
time, is sure to meet him, and his prey thus falls into his power at
the very moment he thought to have escaped. It is only when the
pigeon is forced to betake himself to the open plain, that our eagle
flies straight at him, when he is able to seize him in an instant, in
consequence of his being exhausted ; but he very rarely dares to quit
the wood, knowing that his only resource is to get into the thickest
of the trees, where, in consequence of our eagle not having free
scope for action, he may hope to escape. The White Gos Eagle strips
the feathers from his prey before he tears it, devouring it while
perched upon the under branches of some large tree, upon the trunk
of a fallen one, or upon a rock, or other high spot, but never on the
ground.

The White Gos Eagle frequents forests only ; and seems to prefer
those places where the largest and fewest trees are found. In one of
these, concealed under a branch, he lies in wait for pigeons and wood-
partridges, among the latter of which he precipitates himself down-
wards with much noise. He also makes prey of a very small species
of gazelle, which is only found in forests, and of which I have spoken
in my travels under the Hottentot name of nometjes.

120 LE VAILLANT'S BIRDS OF AFRICA.

I had the satisfaction of observing for a considerable time a pair of
White Gos Eagles, who had established themselves near my camp
in the delightful Auteniqua country. I watched them for more than
three weeks before I shot them. I used to pass entire mornings, seated
at the foot of a tree, in observing their various movements and stra-
tagems. As they happened to be hatching at this time, I was always
sure of rinding them in the same places ; when one of them had
mastered any prey, all the crows of the vicinity would flock round in
vast numbers, screaming for a share of the booty, but the eagle would
appear to take but little notice of them, and they, not daring to ap-
proach too near, would satisfy themselves with the fragments which
fell from the tree. When any other bird of prey appeared in the
district, the male eagle would pursue it in the most determined man-
ner till out of his domain. The very small birds might approach his
eyry, and even alight upon it with impunity : the eagle would do
them no harm, they were there even in safety against the attack of
any inferior bird of prey.

The wings of the White Gos Eagle do not appear to extend so
widely as those of the other eagles ; for, not stretching farther than
to about the middle of the tail, they seem to be shorter in proportion
with that, which is very long ; but if we consider the size of the
body, the expansion of the wings will be found sufficiently great.

The White Gos Eagle has a smaller body than the European eagles,
and is longer and of a lighter figure. -He is admirably constructed
in every respect for bird-hunting, and bears to our European eagles
the same relation that harriers do to wolf-dogs.

The WThite Gos Eagle is characterized by a kind of crest, which
takes its origin behind the back part of the head, (occiput), but it is
much less apparent than in the preceding species. It is but slightly
perceptible in the female ; she is larger by one-third than the male ;
her colour is generally more tinged with fawn-brown over the man-
tle and wing-coverts ; both of them are booted, that is, feathered to
the toes. The tail is striped across with black and white. The
great external plumelets of the wing-feathers are brownish, and
striped in all that part which is covered when the wing is folded.
The iris and the toes are of a fine yellow colour ; the talons, which
are very strong, are lead coloured, as is also the beak.

All the feathers of the White Gos Eagle are white, dashed with
brownish black upon the mantle ; they are soft, and not rough to the
touch, as those of eagles are in general. Its cry is formed of several
shrill sounds, uttered hurriedly, and which may be expressed by cri-

M. DE BEAUMONT'S GEOLOGY OF MOUNTAINS. 121

qui-qui-qui-qul. When perched after feeding, it may be heard for
entire hours repeating these sounds, which seem rather feeble for a
bird whose size is equal, by nearly one-third, to that of the Griffard.
The White Gos Eagle builds upon the top of tall trees. The male
and female take it in turn to sit. I have never met with more than
two eggs in the same nest. They are white, and of the size of a
guinea-fowl's, but rounder. When I was obliged to quit my camp,
I decided upon killing the old birds ; I then found the young ones
were covered entirely with a whitish fawn-coloured down. I at-
tempted to rear them, but my dogs killed them before they were
covered with all their feathers. Judging by those they already had,
the first colours of the White Gos Eagle seem to be nearly the same
as those of the adult bird, excepting that the brown is fainter, and
that all the wing-coverts have reddish borders.

GEOLOGY OF MOUNTAINS.

BY M. ELIE DE BEAUMONT.*

THE independence of successive sedimentary formations is the
most important result of the superficial beds of our globe -} and one
of the principal objects of my researches has been to show, that this
great fact is the consequence and even a proof of the independence
of mountain-systems having different directions.

The fact of a general uniformity in the direction of all beds up-
heaved at the same epoch, and consequently in the crests formed
by these beds, is, perhaps, as important in the study of mountains,
as the independence of successive formations is in the study of su-
perimposed beds. The sudden change of direction in passing from
one group to another has permitted the division of European chains
into a certain number of distinct systems, which penetrate and
sometimes cross each other without becoming confounded. I have
recognised from various examples, of which the number now
amounts to twelve, that there is a coincidence between the sudden
changes established by the lines of demarcation observable in cerT
tain consecutive stages of the sedimentary rocks, and the elevation
of the beds of the same number of mountain-systems.

Pursuing the subject as far as my means of observation and in-
duction will permit, it has appeared to me that the different systems,

* From Mr. De La Bcchf.

122 M. DE BEAUMONT'S GEOLOGY OF MOUNTAINS.

at least those which are at the same time the most striking and re-
cent, are composed of a certain number of small chains, ranged
parallel to the semi-circumference of the earth's surface, and occu-
pying a zone of much greater length than breadth, and of which the
length embraces a considerable fraction of one of the great circles
of the terrestrial sphere. It may be observed respecting the hypo-
thesis of each of these mountain-systems being the product of a
single epoch of dislocation, that it is easier geometrically to con-
ceive the manner in which the solid crust of the globe may be ele-
vated into ridges along a considerable portion of one of its great
circles, than that a similar effect may have been produced in a more
restricted space.

However well established it may be by facts, the assemblage of
which constitutes positive geology, that the surface of the globe has
presented a long series of tranquil periods, each separated from
that which followed it by a sudden and violent convulsion, in which
a portion of the earth's crust was dislocated, — that, in a word, this
surface was ridged at intervals in different directions ; the mind
would not rest satisfied if it did not perceive among those causes
now in action, an element fitted from time to time to produce dis-
turbances from the ordinary march of the phenomena which we now
witness.

The idea of volcanic action naturally presents itself when we
search, in the existing state of things, for a term of comparison with
these great phenomena. They nevertheless do not appear suscep-
tible of being referred to volcanic action, unless we describe it, with
M. Humboldt, to be the influence exercised by the interior of a
planet on its exterior covering during its different stages of refri-
geration.

Volcanos are frequently arranged in lines following fractures
parallel to mountain chains, and which originate in the elevation
of such chains ; but it does not appear to me that we can thence
regard the elevation of the chains themselves as owing to the action
of volcanic foci, taking the words in their ordinary and restricted
sense. We can easily conceive how a volcanic focus may produce
accidents circularly and in the form of rays from a central point,
but we cannot conceive how even many united foci could produce
those ridges which follow a common direction through several de-
grees.

Volcanic action, such as it is commonly understood, could not,
therefore, be itself the first cause of these great phenomena, but vol-

CHAPTER OF VARIETIES. 123

canic action appears to be related (and this is a subject which has
long occupied M. Cordier, though he has considered it under ano-
ther point of view) to the high temperature now existing in the
interior of the globe.

Now the secular refrigeration, that is to say, the slow diffusion of
the primitive heat to which the planets owe their spheroidal forms,
and the generally regular disposition of these beds from the centre
to the circumference, in the order of specific gravity, — the secular
refrigeration, on the march of which M. Fourier has thrown so much
light, does offer an element to which these extraordinary effects may
be referred. This element is the relation which a refrigeration so
advanced as that of the planetary bodies establishes between the
capacity of their solid crusts and the volume of their internal
masses. In a given time, the temperature of the interior of the
planets is lowered by a much greater quantity than that on their
surfaces, of which the refrigeration is now nearly insensible. We
are, undoubtedly, ignorant of the physical properties of the matter
composing the interior of these bodies, but analogy leads us to con-
sider, that the inequality of cooling above noticed, would place their
crusts under the necessity of continually diminishing their capaci-
ties, notwithstanding they should not cease to embrace their inter-
nal masses exactly, the temperature of which diminishes sensibly.
They must, therefore, depart in a slight and progressive manner,
from the spheroidal figure proper to them, and corresponding to a
maximum of capacity ; and the gradually increased tendency to re-
vert to that figure, whether it acts alone, or whether it combines
with other internal causes of change which the planets may contain,
may, with great probability, completely account for the ridges and
protuberances which have been formed at intervals on the internal
crust of the earth, and probably also of all the other planets,

CHAPTER OF VARIETIES.

CLOUD ECHOES AND THE ROLLING OF THUNDER. — The rolling of
thunder has been attributed to the echoes among the clouds j and if
it is considered that a cloud is a collection of particles of water, how-
ever minute, yet in a liquid state, and therefore each individually
capable of reflecting sound, there is no reason why very loud sounds
should not be reverberated confusedly (like bright lights) from a

124 CHAPTER Or VARIETIES.

cloud. And that such is the case, has been ascertained by direct
observation on the sound of cannon. Messrs. Arago, Mathieu, and
Prony, in their experiments on the velocity of sound, observed that,
under a perfectly clear sky, the explosions of their guns were always
heard single and sharp, whereas when the sky was overcast, or
even when a cloud came in sight over any considerable part of the
horizon, they were frequently accompanied with a long continued
roll like thunder, and occasionally a double sound would arrive from
a single shot.

But there is, doubtless, also another cause for the rolling of
thunder, as well as for all its sudden and capricious bursts and vari-
ations of intensity, of which our knowledge of the velocity of sound
furnishes a perfect explanation. To understand this, we must pre-
mise, ceeteris paribus, the estimated intensity of a sound will be pro-
portional to the quantity of it, (if we may so express ourselves,) which
reaches the ear in a given time. Two blows equally loud, at
precisely the same distance from the ear, will sound as one of double
the intensity ; a hundred, struck in an instant of time, will sound as
one blow a hundred times more intense than if they followed in such
slow succession that the ear could appreciate them singly. Now let
us conceive two equal flashes of lightning, each four miles long, both
beginning at points equi-distant from the auditor, but the one running
out in a straight line directly away from him ; the other describing
an arc of a circle having him in its centre. Since the velocity of
electricity is incomparably greater than that of sound, the thunder
may be regarded as originating at one and the same instant in every
point of the course of either flash, but it will reach the ear under
very different circumstances in the two cases.

In that of the circular flash, the sound from every point will arrive
at the same instant, and affect the ear as a single explosion of stun-
ning loudness. In that of the rectilinear flash, on the other hand,
the sound from the nearest point will arrive sooner than from those
at a greater distance 3 and those from different points will arrive in
succession, occupying altogether a time equal to that required by
sound to run over four miles, or about twenty seconds. Thus the
same amount of sound is in the latter case distributed uniformly
over twenty seconds of time, which in the former arrives at a single
burst 5 of course, it will have the effect of a long roar, diminishing
hi intensity as it comes from a greater and greater distance. If the
flash be inclined in direction, the sound will reach the ear more
compactly, (i. e. in shorter time from its commencement,} and be

CHAPTER OF VARIETIES. 125

proportionally more intense. If (as is almost always the case) the
flash be zigzag, and composed of broken rectilinear and curvilinear
portions, some concave, some convex to the ear, and if, especially,
the principal trunk separates into many branches, each breaking its
own way through the air, and each becoming a separate source of
thunder, all the varieties of that awful sound are easily accounted
for. — SIR JOHN HERSCHELL,

ENEMIES OF THE HIVE BEE. — Being an enthusiastic lover of
Natural History, I gladly take up my pen to communicate a few of
the main/acte which have fallen under my observation. Living in a
retired village, and delighting in field amusements, I have had many
opportunities of studying the habits both of animals, birds, and in-
sects ; and as I am always intent on making discoveries, I have
managed to pick up a little useful, and I trust, correct informa-
tion. In my little garden I have a few hives, which are to me a
source of much pleasure. Often do I stand observing them, and I
know nothing so interesting as the habits of these extraordinary
insects, and the wonderful policy of their little kingdom. I was
always watchful lest any enemies should worry my little favourites,
and often, during the summer, I paid them a visit very late at night,
and examined the hives by candle light. When the evening had been
raining, I frequently found a huge, gray snail, at*the mouth of the
hive, busily employed in rasping off that varnished coating of farina,
or propolis, which the feet of the bees leave upon the board at the
entrance. I had often noticed that the board had the appearance of
having been rasped with a file, but I never knew the cause till I
caught the snail at work. The sentinel bees often came in contact
with the intruder, but they never expressed anger ; only shrinking
back in disgust the moment their antennae touched its cold slimy
skin. I confined one of the snails till morning, and then caused a bee
to sting it in order to observe its effects. The instant the sting
entered, there issued from the wounded part so great a quantity of
viscid humour as completely entangled the bee before it could
extract its sting ; I thought it therefore probable that the bees were
aware of this, and abstained from all needless hostility. Sparrows,
and the ox-eye, (Parus major J I frequently saw early in the
morning, but their visit to the hives was for the purpose of picking
up the maggots and dead bees which had been cast out. One day;
however, at the latter end of July, I observed an unusual number of
swallows in my garden, and watching narrowly, I saw them, as they

126 CHAPTER OF VARIETIES.

swept past the hives, seize upon the bees, and, as it seemed, with
difficulty devour them. I instantly recollected what Virgil has said
of the swallow, as well as other birds.

" Omnia nam late vastant, ipsasque volenles
Ore ferunt dulcem nidis immitibus escam."

I took my gun, and marking those swallows, which had evidently
seized something in passing the hives, I shot them ; I then opened
them carefully, and was grieved to find that, though they were
literally crammed with drones, there was not a vestige of a working
bee. Hence I concluded that swallows prey only on the drones, and
are consequently no enemies to bees. — R. D.

BLUE COLOUR OF THE SKY. — If I might hazard my opinion of the
cause of this appearance, it would be the following : — As the atmos-
phere extends upwards, its density becomes gradually less and less,
and of course, its power of reflecting the sun's rays in like proportion
diminishes, till at last, at the extreme verge, where it terminates,
there is no reflection at all, or total darkness. The extreme strata
then being most rarefied, have the least powers of reflecting the rays
of light, and the light thus reflected is of a bluish tint, or consists
principally of the blue rays.

In this manner, a dark-brown mountain, whose surface has small
reflective capabilities, when seen at a distance, has a deep-blue ap-
pearance, exactly similar to the atmosphere. It cannot be the
medium of the air, through which it is seen, that renders it of this
colour ; for if part of the mountain be covered with snow, which
has strong reflective powers, this snow is still seen of a pure white
colour.

It has been ascertained, too, that the atmosphere, when seen from
the top of a very high mountain, has a deep-blue tint, approaching
to black, and this tint becomes deeper the higher you ascend.

It may be observed, also, that the centre of the atmosphere,
looking perpendicularly upwards, always appears of a deep-blue
colour, which gradually passes to a whiter appearance towards the
extreme verge of the horizon, or in the lower strata next the earth.
Here most dense air is accumulated, and here the reflection is most
perfect, or nearly approaching to white light j whereas perpen-
dicularly overhead, the rays of light pass through less of this air, the
reflection is fainter, and hence the deeper blue colour. — WILLIAM
RHIND.

CHAPTER OF VARIETIES. 127
THE PROTEUS ANGUIS, SIREN ANGUINA, OR AUSTRIAN SIREN.

This rare little animal has as yet only been discovered in the subter-
raneous caverns of Carniola at Adelsberg, and Sittich, and very
lately in those of Heiligenstein, near Zirknitzj and is also mentioned
in a German journal as having been found in Sicily. In shape it
much resembles an eel, whence its specific name j but it has never
yet been found of more than fifteen or sixteen inches in length, and
about three-fourths of an inch in diameter. It is either of a pale
rose-colour or perfectly white, but after having been for some time
exposed to the light it becomes brown. Its skin is very smooth and
even, the head somewhat depressed, and with a lengthened obtuse
snout 5 the eyes are situated beneath the skin, and are exceedingly
small; on each side of the neck are three ramified bronchial gills,
of a bright blood-colour during the life of the animal. It is fur-
nished with four legs or rather appendages, for they appear to be of
no use to it, which are about three-fourths of an inch long, and the
feet of the fore legs have three toes, whilst the hind feet have only
two. Its motion when touched in the water is brisk and rapid, and
is entirely produced by the action of the tail unaided by the legs, as
I observed was the case with one which I procured from a professor
at Laibach. It has very fine and sharp teeth, which it seems scarcely
to need, having been kept for years together in fresh water, appa-
rently without any nourishment, but it has never been known to
bring forth young, nor is its origin or real abode at all known. From
the period of its discovery, its nature has been a subject of discus-
sion amongst naturalists, some imagining it to be the larva of a
larger animal, whilst others maintain that it forms a new genus •
nor is the question yet determined. — DR. J. TOBIN.

FRENCH EXPERIMENT ON AN ENGLISH POINTER. — It is well
known that spaniels, and even mongrels from them, have the faculty
of setting game, imparted at first to the animal by constraint and
chastisement, and afterwards apparently transmitted to their off-
spring. We may hence ask, whether the talent of carrying is in the
same manner transmissible, though this does not seem to have ever
been denied. The French setters having never been known to prove
this incontrovertibly, M. Magendie learned that in England there were
pointers which carried naturally : he procured a couple full grown.
A handsome bitch bred from these was kept constantly under his eye,
and, without receiving any sort of instruction, she pointed and
carried game the first day she was taken out, and showed as much

128 CHAPTER OF VARIETIES.

firmness and assurance, as dogs who had been carefully bred under
the influence of the whip and the collar. — M. DE LA MALLE.

EFFKCTS OF LIGHT ON THE COLOUR OF FLOWERS. — In the month
of June I had in a flower-pot a bunch of sweet-williams, of a dark
crimson, forming part of a nosegay. They stood in a flower-pot
on the mantlepiece. Some of the buds opened in this situation, and
displayed a white flower, slightly spotted with pale pink. There
was a window next the mantlepiece, and though there was consi-
derable light, it appears there was not sufficient to perfect the colour.
I can assign no other reason for this phenomenon, which seems to
prove the effect of the light on the colour of flowers, unless we can
suppose that the plant, when in the ground, imbibes from the earth
certain mineral or metallic particles in peculiar chemical combina-
tion, which may, by circulating through the fine tissues of the
corolla, serve to give colour by reflection of certain rays of light to
the eye of the observer, according to the theory of colours. — E. G.
BALLARD, Islington, Feb. 2, 1833.

GRUBS EATEN IN GUIANA. — The grubs of certain beetles are very
destructive to coco trees. They excavate a hole of about an inch
diameter in the terminal leaf-bud, and, when the leaves expand,
the leaflets appear full of holes, as if they had been perforated with
shot of different sizes. In consequence of the injury done to the
bud by these insects the trees are sometimes killed. The larva, or
grub of one of the species of beetles, which infest coco-nut trees, is
called ducuma, or grugan, in British Guiana. It is about two or
three inches long, and three-quarters of an inch in diameter, and the
head is black. They are reckoned a great delicacy by wood-cutters
and epicures of that country, and they are generally dressed by
frying them in a pan. By some they are preferred in a raw state ;
and after seizing them by the black head, they are dipped in lime
juice, and forthwith swallowed. — H. MARSHALL, Dep. Inspector of
Army Hospitals.

SQUIRRELS. — In the north of Hampshire a great portion of the
squirrels have white tails. None of this variety, as far as I can
learn, reach the London market. I was much surprised at hearing
from a man who kept a bird and cage shop in London, that not less
than 20,OOO squirrels are annually sold there for the menus plaisirs
of cockneys, part of which come from France, but the greater num-
ber are brought in by labourers to Newgate and Leadenhall markets,

CHAPTER OF VARIETIES. 129

where any morning during the season 400 or 500 might be bought.
He said that he himself sold annually about TOO : and he added,
that about once in seven years the breed of squirrels entirely fails,
but that in other seasons they are generally prolific. The subject
was introduced by his answering to a woman, who came in to buy a
squirrel, that he had not had one that season, but before that time
in the last season he had sold 500. It appears that the mere manu-
facture of squirrel cages for Londoners is no small concern.* — HON.
AND REV. W. HERBERT.

MOULTING OF THE COCKROACH. — Some years ago, when resident
in Westminster, I was called into the kitchen by the servant to look
at what she called a white black beetle, when I found the curiosity
to be a cockroach in the act of casting its skin. I secured him im-
mediately after he had effected his escape from his old coat, and
kept him for some days under a wine-glass, during which period he
gradually assumed his sable suit, although he contrived to get away
before he quite rivalled " Warren's Jet.M The object of my present
note is, however, to state the very extraordinary circumstance, that
my poor friend was assisted in disrobing himself by some of his
fellow cockroaches. The operation, which I watched until it was
completed, appears to be one of some difficulty, and took place un-
der a stone slab which was placed across the fire-place, under the
chimney-board, but within " ken." — W. J. T., 11, St. Mary Abbot's
Terrace, Kensington, llth Feb. 1833.

THE CHOUGH. — On the 13th of August last a red-legged crow or
chough, (Pyrrhocorax graculus, TEMMINCK), was killed on the Wilt-
shire downs, near the Bath road, between Marlborough and Calne,
by a man employed in keeping birds from corn. It was flying by
itself, and he took it for the common crow, till it came to hand.

This very local species has always been considered as confined
to the rocky coast of Devon, Cornwall, and Wales, a distance from
either in a straight line of not less than sixty miles (and inland too)
from where this was killed -} by what accident it should be driven
so far from its native rocks is difficult to be conjectured.

It was a female, in pretty good plumage, and weighed 12 oz. It
is now in the possession of Mr. Butler, of Kenneth. — MERLIN,
Marlborough, Feb. 13, 1833.

* From the Notes to White's Selborne. 8ro. London, 1832.
VOL. I — NO. III. 1833. K

130 CHAPTER OF VARIETIES.

THE CROSS-BILL AND THE PARROT CROSS-BILL. — Among other
valuable information on almost every branch of natural history,
which I have obtained from a man in my neighbourhood, was an in-
teresting description of four young cross-bills, (Lcma curvirostra),
which were reared to maturity by one of his relatives. The nest
was found in a bush, close by a small brook, in the vicinity of
Seven Oaks, Kent j and the parent hen was taken upon it, and con-
tinued to feed her offspring when in the cage. What at length be-
came of them he could not inform me ; but the account he gave of
their manners left no doubt as to their being actually of that species ;
indeed the peculiar and very singular form of the beak, in this
genus, precludes the possibility of a mistake. The young birds, he
informs me, were about half fledged when he first saw them, of a
uniform brown colour, and had the bill as much crossed as the
adults. There is, I believe, as yet, no instance on record of the
cross-bill having been known to breed in this country 3 but the
truth and consistency to nature, which I have ever observed in the
communications of my informant, fully entitle him to belief.

It has generally been said, that the grosbeak or hawfinch, (Cocco-
thraustes communis,) does not breed here ; three instances, however,
have come under my notice during the last two summers, all in the
vicinity of the metropolis.

I may avail myself also of this opportunity, to mention, that I
lately saw a fine specimen of the parrot cross-bill, (Loxia pytiopsitta-
cus,) in the possession of an artizan in Southwark, who has a small
collection of stuffed birds, &c. It was shot in the neighbourhood of
London. — E. BLYTH, Tooting, Surrey.

SIR WM. JARDINE'S NATURAL HISTORY OF HUMMING BIRDS.* —
We have seen a specimen copy of this work, which exceeds in cheap-
ness any thing which has hitherto appeared in this speculating age.
There are upwards of thirty beautiful engravings, remarkable for
scientific accuracy both in the outlines and the colouring, and all
for six shillings. To those who are acquainted with the previous
writings of Sir Wm. Jardine, we need not say that the descriptions
•which he has given of the subjects of Mr. Lizars's elegant plates,
fully bear out the opinion we have already expressed and exemplified
in our notice of Sir William's notes to the American Ornithology.
When the volume is regularly published, we shall take an early
opportunity of noticing its contents, and in the mean time we wish
all success to the praiseworthy undertaking.

• The Naturalist's Library, conducted by Sir Wm. Jardine, Bart. ; the plates by
W. H. Lizars, foolscap 8vo. Stirling and Kenny, Edinburgh.

ACCOUNT OF THE CAPTURE OF A SEA DEVIL.

131

EXPERIMENT ON AN EARWIG." — I have remarked that the earwig
is very unwilling to expand its beautiful and delicate wings, probably
from the fear of their being accidentally injured. I placed one,
some time since, upon a piece of cork floating in the centre of a
basin of water, but still it was not inclined to effect its escape by
flight, but preferred swimming to the sides of the basin, which it
tried ineffectually to climb. Having made several attempts at this,
and perhaps finding itself exhausted, and likely to be drowned, it
made all haste to regain its station upon the cork, where it remained
all night, though by spreading its wings it might have regained its
liberty. Yet that earwigs do fly, is an unquestionable fact, and they
do so particularly at night, as I have more than once had proof.
I have good reason to believe, too, that they fly in swarms, having
sometime since observed, upon the Woolwich road, in a small space
about one foot and a half square, no less than fifty or more of these
insects sticking to some palings, which I had seen on the previous
day a labourer coating all over with pitch. Some of them I ob-
served had still their wings expanded, being unable to fold them up
under their wing cases, owing to their adhering so strongly to that
substance. — J.*

ACCOUNT OF THE CAPTURE OF A SEA DEVIL. (Cephalopteru*).

BY M. LE VAILLANT.

Figure of a Sea Devil.

IN the latitude 10° 15' north, longitude 355% we met with a calm
that delayed us several days, and in the interval I witnessed a phe-

The Figures of another communication from J., are engraving for next Number.

132 ACCOUNT OF THE CAPTURE OF A SEA DEVIL.

nomenon, which, though known to our ship's crew, was to me per-
fectly novel.

An enormous flat fish, of the ray genus, came and swam round
our vessel. It differed from the common ray, however, in the shape
of its head, which, instead of being pointed, formed a crescent, and
from the extremities of the semicircle issued two arms, as it were,
which the sailors called horns. They were two feet wide at the
base, and only five inches at the extremity. This monster, they
told me, was called the sea devil.

A few hours after we saw two others with this, one of which was
so extremely large, that it was computed by the crew to be fifty or
sixty feet wide. Each swam separately, and was surrounded by
those small fish which usually precede the shark, and which are
therefore called by seamen pilot fish 5 lastly, all three carried on
each of their horns a white fish, about the size of a man's arm, and
half a yard long, which appeared to be stationed there on duty.

You would have said they were two sentinels placed to keep
watch for the safety of the animal, to inform him of any approach-
ing danger, and to guide his movements. If he approached too near
the vessel they quitted their posts, and swimming briskly before
led him away. If he rose too high above the water, they passed
backward and forward over his back, till he had descended deeper ;
if, on the contrary, he swam too low, they disappeared and we saw
no more of them, because, no doubt, they were passing underneath,
as in the preceding instance they had passed above him. Accord-
ingly we found him re-ascend towards the surface, and then the two
sentinels reassumed their posts, each on his horn.

During the three days that the calm continued, and we remained
motionless for want of wind, these manoeuvres were many times
repeated before our eyes as to each of the three monsters.

I was desirous of catching one of them, in order to examine it at
my leisure. But when I proposed it to the crew they treated it as
impossible. However, on my promising a dozen bottles of wine to
any one who should accomplish it, their ardour was roused ; and
the attempt, which was before deemed impracticable, was now only
difficult.

They all ran to their harpoons, and posted themselves here and
there by the ship's side in readiness to strike. A sailor standing
near the bowsprit, more fortunate than the rest, struck one of these
fish on the back, then, letting out his line that he might have room
to beat about and tire himself, he at last towed him gradually to the

ACCOUNT OF THE CAPTURE OF A SEA DEVIL. 133

surface of the water. The animal lay perfectly motionless, and we
made no doubt of easily drawing him on deck. One harpoon, how-
ever, being insufficient to support him, particularly as it had pene-
trated but a little way, twelve or fifteen more were struck into him
at once, so as to fix him completely ; several hawsers were passed
round his body, and he was thus hoisted on board.

This was the least of the three, being only eight-and-twenty feet
in its extreme breadth, and one-and-twenty in length from the ex-
tremity of its horns to that of the tail. The tail, which was thick
in proportion to the body, was 22 inches long.

The mouth, placed exactly like that of the ray, was wide enough
to swallow a man with ease. The skin was white under the belly,
and brown on the back, like that of the ray.

We reckoned the animal to weigh not less, certainly, than a ton.

About twenty small sucking fish were fastened to different parts
of his body so firmly, that they did not drop off when he was hoisted
on board, but were taken with him.

Some naturalists have said, that the head of the sucking fish is
viscous on the lower part, and furnished with rough points, similar
to the teeth of a file ; and, according to them, it is by means of
these two qualities, its roughness and viscosity, that it is enabled to
adhere to other fish.

" Figure to yourself," says one of them, " a row of nineteen sharp-
edged and dentated lamina?, placed cross-wise, and issuing immedi-
ately from the rim of the lower jaw, and you will have a just idea
of the part with which the remora makes itself fast."

This description is exact as far as relates to the figure and num-
ber of the dentated laminae ; but it places them on the lower part
of the head, whereas they are, in reality, on the upper. Accord-
ingly, when the remora fixes itself, it is obliged to turn upon its
back, with its belly upward.

I am ignorant whether the two white fish that post themselves
on the arms of the sea-devil, and appeared to serve him as pilots,
were also of the remora kind. But this at least I can assert, that
they appeared to stick firmly to the extremities of the arms I
have mentioned, notwithstanding the arms were in continual mo-
tion. I must observe, however, that if these white fish had a flat
surface, like that by which the remora adheres to other fish, it must
have been on the lower part of the body, and not on the upper, since
the animal continued in its natural position, and had no occasion to
turn over to fix itself at its post.

134 Mil. BLYTH ON THE BRITISH WARBLERS.

It would have been highly gratifying to me, if these fish hnd re-
mained at their stations, and allowed themselves to be taken with
the sea-devil, as I should then have had an opportunity of examining
them ; but the moment the first harpoon was thrown, they let go
their hold and disappeared.

I hoped, however, that we might perchance catch one of those
that served as sentinels to the other two monsters, which, by all the
noise we had made, had not been driven away. Different baits were
tried for them, but to no purpose j when the bait was thrown into
the water, they came and examined it, and immediately returned to
their posts.

I do not at present recollect that any naturalist has spoken of
these white remoras. Yet other travellers besides me have seen
them. I shall cite on this head Dubadier, known in natural his-
tory for his rare and ample collections of the Crustacea of the Car-
ribbee Islands. In his last voyage this naturalist saw, in latitude
45° north, longitude 333°, a similar ray, which he supposed to be
about twenty-five or thirty feet in breadth, accompanied by its two
white pilots. He made a drawing of it, as I did of the rays which I
saw, and on comparing these drawings, the fish evidently appear to
be of the same species.

REMARKS ON THE CLASSIFICATION OF BIRDS, PARTICULARLY
THE BRITISH WARBLERS, (Sylviana.)

BY EDWARD BLYTH.

NONE of our small British birds seem so little known to the gene-
rality of observers, as that numerous and interesting group usually
denominated " Warblers." Among no common birds has there ex-
isted such strange confusion in works on natural history ; a con-
fusion which may have originated partly in the resemblance which
some few of the species bear to each other, and partly perhaps in
the shy, inobtrusive, and retiring habits of the whole group j but
which must nevertheless be mainly attributed to that culpable de-
ficiency of personal observation, that ignorance of living nature too
often discernible in the compilations of some who would be thought
naturalists. The persevering researches, however, of White, of
Montagu, and of many living field observers, have done much
towards elucidating the species, and have enabled us to recognize

MR. BLYTH ON THE BRITISH WARBLERS. 135

with tolerable precision the majority in their native haunts ; though
yet, to judge from their usual arrangement in our systems, it would
still appear that the generic resemblances of some had been traced
in their stuffed skins, rather than from a careful observation of their
manners and habits when alive.

In attempting to arrange the dried skins of foreign birds, of the
habits and economy of which we are nearly, or perhaps wholly igno-
rant, there is, of course, no alternative but to class them according to
the forms and proportions of their several members ; and these
characters, to a practised naturalist, will generally afford tolerable
criteria ; still, the inferences thus drawn are often but vague and
uncertain, and it is from practical observation alone of their manners
and habits when living, that a correct system of classification can be
obtained.

The British Warblers are all, with one or two exceptions, very
common ; indeed, I have observed them all to be much more abun-
dant than what I have read of them would lead me to suppose ; they
inhabit every hedge, and abound in every garden ; they swarm in
every thicket, and enliven every bush with their melody : yet, how-
ever, to most persons risiding in the country, they are but little
known ; strange as it may sound, the very existence of some of
them is doubted by professed naturalists.

The various birds called " Warblers," together with a host of dis-
similar and widely differing groups, were all associated by Linnaeus
in one huge and comprehensive genus, Motatilla. Subsequent
writers have restricted that term to the group to which the common
field wagtail belongs, and the different warblers were arranged by
Latham in his extensive genus Sylvia ; that again is now divided
into several smaller groups, and the majority of our British warblers
are at present (by most writers) arranged in an undecided manner,
partly in the genus Curruca of Brisson, and partly in the Latham's
Sylvia, &c.

It might, perhaps, be unnecessary now to discuss the comparative
merits of large or of small genera -, nor need I here dilate on the
propriety of arranging those only together in one genus, which na-
turally assimilate, not only in some vague, trivial, and often fancied
resemblance in the form of the bill, but which possess also a gene-
ral similarity of structure, habits, and mode of life.

Every distinct and natural group, which the mind can clearly and
definitively recognise, in idea, should (I consider) be formed into a
genus, and distinguished by a generic appellation, alluding to some

136 MR. BLYTH ON THE BRITISH WARBLERS.

particular habit or peculiarity common to the whole group ; or
which would at any rate more especially apply to that particular
group, than to any other.

To a person conversant with natural history a generic name, to be
appropriate, ought to convey at once to the mind a distinct and
definite notion of the kind of animal to which it is affixed. Thus,
speaking of a bird, if we call it according to the old system of
nomenclature, a finch, ( Fringilla,) we convey at best but a very
vague and indefinite idea of it : it may be a siskin, or a sparrow, or
it may be of the chaffinch kind, or of some other of those distinct
and very natural groups into which the small granivorous birds,
called finches, are now usually divided ; groups distinguished even
in common language, but confused together by the old writers under
that one name, Fringilla. But if, however, according to more mo-
dern arrangement, we style the bird a Carduelis, (siskin and goldfinch
genus,) a Linaria (linnet,) or a Coccothraustes, (grosbeak or hawfinch
genus,) and call it also one of the Fringillina, not only do we convey
the idea that it is a finch, but we express also that particular family
of finches to which it belongs.

By this method of arrangement, we certainly avoid the incongruity
of classing animals of different natures and habits in one genus j
while, by uniting under one general appellation the various modifica-
tions of the different leading forms, — thus comprising, for example,
the several genera of finches under the term Fringillina, or the vari-
ous warblers under Sylviana, — we possess, also, in addition, every pos-
sible advantage that could be derived from the former system of
classification.

But while we thus confine a generic, appellation within smaller
and more natural limits, we must at the same time be cautious not
to run into the opposite extreme ; and we must also be continually
on our guard against that strange but decided tendency in the
human mind, to imagine a greater uniformity in nature than actually
exists : an illusion which in all ages has manifested itself more or
less in every branch of science, and which has given rise to more
theoretical absurdity than the aggregate of all the other sources of
error, so acutely descanted upon by Lord Bacon. There is, there-
fore, no necessity for stiffening our arrangements into exact quinary,
or trinary sections, with which it is now so much the fashion to
cramp our ideas of nature : all such frivolities having an obvious
and manifest tendency to contract our ideas, to shut from our per-
ception whatever militates against a favourite theory, to superinduce

MR. BLYTH ON THE BRITISH WARBLERS. 137

a partial view of things, and to close accordingly the grand avenue
to knowledge.

To some, perhaps, such a system of divisions and sub-divisions
may at first sight appear intricate, and needlessly complicated ; but
the difficulty soon vanishes as we acquire a little knowledge of birds.
The principle is simple, and the various groups may easily be recog-
nized by a genuine field observer. The chief perplexity is to affix to
each division a significant and appropriate name ; a name that
should apply to every member of the division, and, if possible, to
that particular division exclusively. Such a name, however, it is
often extremely difficult to find j the most dissimilar groups being
in every way so immediately and intimately interwoven by such
various connecting links, that it frequently defies our utmost in-
genuity to devise a name that should possess in a sufficient degree
the requisite and necessary qualifications.

There has been considerable diversity of opinion, as to the best
mariner of forming those orders, or grand divisions, which are to
contain the mass of small land birds. The Orders of M. Temminck
are, I consider, generally speaking, the most consistent with nature ;
but they certainly require a little occasional alteration, and I prefer
the union of his two orders, Granivores and Insectivores, under the old
name Passeres, as adopted by Mr. Selby in his valuable work on
British Birds. This order, or general division, Passeres, (a very in-
definite name certainly, but which, for want of a better, we are com-
pelled to use,) falls into several extremely natural sections ; as, for
example, the Laniada, or birds of the shrike kind ; the Fringillidce,
containing the several families of finches, bullfinches, buntings,
and other small granivorous birds ; the Sylviadee, &c.

Under each of these several sections, again, many minor groups
are comprised 5 all very natural, and by no means difficult to be dis-
tinguished. Thus, under the general head Sylviadce, may be arranged
the Sylviana, containing the different genera of warblers ; the Saxico-
lina, or birds of the robin and wheatear kind j the Muscicapina,* or
fly-catchers ; the Myotherina, comprising the different genera of ant-
eaters and wrens j the Merulina, or thrushes ; &c. comprising, in
short, the majority of those birds commonly denominated soft-billed ;
throughout which there is undoubtedly a strong general resemblance
which cannot but be at once perceived by all who have paid any at-

* Under the term Musciscapina I do not include the tyrant-flycatchers of America;
they, the Tyrannina, range more naturally under the general head Laniadx.

138 THE EDITOR'S ALPHABET OF GARDENING.

tendon to birds. In our present state of knowledge, this is the only
method of arranging birds that can well be resorted to ; the different
systems that have been advanced agreeing generally in the principle
of small divisions, but differing as to the terms by which such divi-
sions are to be distinguished. It may indeed be generally observed,
that the most strenuous supporters of the old system are usually
those persons whose acquaintance with the productions of nature
was derived more from dry museum specimens, than from the ob-
servation of living nature ; and it is also not unworthy of remark,
that several of our most eminent naturalists, who in their earlier pro-
ductions advocated the old system of classification, now perceive the
absolute necessity of dividing birds into smaller and more natural
genera.

Tooting, Surrey, February.

THE EDITOR ON SCIENTIFIC GARDENING.*
IT is the design of the little work, whose title is given in the note,
to explain what may be termed the philosophy of gardening, in the
plainest language that can be selected, while the technical terms are
thrown to the bottom of the page, so as not to impede the progress
of beginners, who are presumed to be ignorant thereof. An extract
from the work itself, however, will show the method pursued, better
than any detail we could introduce.

" SCIENTIFIC PRINCIPLES OF GRAFTING.

" WHEN the finger is cut with a knife, soon after the blood vessels contract
their cut extremities into an opening so narrow, that the thicker and red-
coloured part ^ of the blood cannot pass, and the bleeding therefore ceases.
But even then there oozes out the thinner watery partj of the blood, consisting
chiefly of matter the same or similar to the white of an egg, which being thus
separated from the rest of the blood, thickens by the heat of the body, as the
white of an egg does by boiling. If the lips of the finger-cut accordingly be
kept close together by sticking-plaster, they will become united by means of
this natural glue,§ as it may be termed, in little more than a day. Upon the
same principle, when I was a student of medicine, I once succeeded, as others
have done, in managing to unite the whole tip joint of a finger which a boy had
had chopped off by machinery ; and experiments have been successful in caus-
ing the spur of a cock to unite and grow upon his comb.

* " Alphabet of Scientific Gardening," by J. Rennie, A.M. 12mo. London,
1833. With numerous engravings on wood.

t " In Latin, Crassamentum." t " In Latin, Serum."

§ " Technically, By the First Intention."

EDITOR S ALPHABET OF GARDENING.

139

" It is upon similar principles that the science of grafting is founded ; for if a
young branch, like the boy's finger, be chopped off by a clean cut, and the cut
extremities immediately joined, the descending pulp will thicken like the watery
part of the blood, and while it remains soft, the sap from the cut ends of the
sap vessels will force its way through to their continuation above in the cut slip,
which, if the process be successfully managed, will grow as well, or nearly, as if
it had never been cut.

" If, again, instead of applying the same cut slip* to the part it was cut from,
a slip from another tree be applied, as if I had applied to the boy's finger the
tip of another boy's, chopped off by the same accident, there seems no good
reason to doubt that a similar healthy joining might by care be effected. In
the case of animals, indeed, such joinings are rare, because rarely tried ; but in
garden plants they are exceedingly common ; for the purpose of continuing
esteemed varieties of fruits and flowers, accidentally produced by cultivation,
as well as for forwarding the fruiting of young trees— since seedlings require
years to arrive at a bearing state.

" On examining the joining of a graft about a fortnight after it has been made,
I have found, as in a healing finger-cut, a number of small roundish grains, in
form of a thin layer, produced from the thickening of the pulp, and destined to
form the hard substance/f which in general projects a little externally, and the
scarj differs in appearance from the other parts of the bark. It is, however,
only in the space between the pulp-wood§ and the bark that the uniting sub-
stance is formed, and therefore it is evident the slip to be grafted must have

" a, a black-heart cherry tree, naturally of soft bark, and of large diameter, grafted on a bird-
cherry 6, naturally hard, and of small diameter, c, the scar, much bulged, from the pulp being
interrupted in its descent, d, a paper birch, with a smooth thin bark grafted on the white birch.
t, with rough thick bark. /, the scar, where there is no bulging, because the descent of the pulp is
not interrupted.

Technically, Scion."
In Latin, Cicatrix."

t " In Latin, Callus"
§ " In Latin, Alburnum."

140

THE EDITOR'S ALPHABET OF GARDENING.

this part applied to the same part of the stock, and, if these differ in thickness,
at least on one side. Nothing can be more erroneous than the doctrine that
the buds of the graft " send woody matter downwards, which passes through the
cellular substance into the stock, and covers the wood of the stock with new
wood ;" for every gardener knows that the graft never changes the wood of
the stock. This is beautifully shown in the preceding figures, after M. Turpin.

" One of the most obvious principles of this process is, that the sorts to be
grafted should be alike, or nearly alike, because, in that case, the arrangement
of the sap and pulp vessels being similar, their cut ends will more readily apply
mouth to mouth, and less obstruction or interruption of the circulating juices
will take place. The ash may, however, be grafted on the olive.

" To this principle there is an exception, arising from the peculiar design which
the graft is intended to fulfil. When the design is to increase fruit-bearing, the
stock may be of firmer texture than the cutting, as in the preceding figure of the
black heart and bird cherry, or when a peach cutting is grafted on a plum stock,
which, having narrow vessels, a part of the descending pulp is stopped short
and serves to strengthen the branch. If it be intended to increase the branches
and leaves on the other hand, a plum cutting grafted on a peach stock might
probably do so, by allowing the ascent of more sap.

" I refer, for illustration, to the following figures, from M. Turpin.
a f d

" a, the Pavia lutea, a shrub, which never attains the size of a tree, cleft-grafted on the horse-
chesnut 6, a tree of great size. It is remarkable that the Pavia is much enlarged near the junc-
tion c, like a tree near the ground, a circumstance which would not have occurred but for the
graft. The bark of each remains distinct, d, the white lime-tree grafted on the European lime
tree, e; each growing in diameter according to its particular nature, without any intermixture at
the line of graft, e,- a vertical section, /, g, of an almond tree /, cleft-grafted on a Prunus g,
showing that not one of the characteristics of the two individuals ever passes the line of junction,
c, c, no more than a spur grafted on the comb of the cock ever changes its hard horny nature for
the soft fleshy nature of the comb.

" Binding of the Graft.

" When the joining has been made by cutting and properly fitting the bark of
the slip to the bark of the stock, at least on one side thereof, it must be bound
so as to prevent this junction from being deranged. This is usually done with
a ball of three parts of clay free from stones, well worked with one part of fresh
horse-droppings and a little fiuely-chopped straw, the whole about an inch
thick, and two inches or more in length, being tied with a ribband of bass.

THE EDITOR'S ALPHABET OF GARDENING.

141

" The principle upon which this is done, is to prevent the oxygen of the at-
mosphere from getting to the fluid pulp at the joining, where it would unite
with the carbon and form carbonic acid gas, and thereby rob the pulp of its
solidity.* The exclusion of light is necessary on the same account, for a similar
reason, as in the case of a finger-cut, the oxygen would unite with the carbon
and prevent the thickening of the matter from the blood. On the same account,
moisture, by supplying oxygen, would be injurious; and dryness might act
both by exhausting the pulp and by causing the edges of the bark to shrivel
and gape, which would facilitate the entrance of the air with its oxygen.

" It must be obvious from this simple principle, (not that I am aware of ever
before stated it with reference to grafting), that no composition, whatever
may be said of its peculiar power of healing, can act in any other way than
this ; no more than the farrago of plasters and salves for healing flesh-wounds
and cuts, which are only good in so far as they keep the lips of the wound
together, and exclude oxygen and light.

" Grafting by Approach, or In-arching.

tf This is to grafting what layers are to striking, the graft-slip not being cut off,
but taken from a plant growing near the stock upon which it is suffered to
remain till the joining is completed. Mr. T. A. Knight employed this mode
not only for the purpose of filling up from itself the parts of a wall-tree defi-
cient in bearing wood (a), but also of improving the quality of fruits. It might
be advantageously used in a similar way to fill up the gaps in quick-set and
other hedges, where beauty of appearance is considered of consequence.

" Slip, or Scion Grafting.

" The slips taken off from one plant and joined to another, have the parts to
be joined cut in various manners, according to the sort of plant, the size of the
parts, and other circumstances. These will be better understood from the
figures below than from mere verbal description.

* This is explained in the first part of the work under " GARDEN CHEMISTRY."

142 THE EDITOR'S ALPHABET OF GARDENING.
a- h

« • a, whip grafting with a peg ; 6, side grafting ; c, whip grafting with a tongue, or tongue graft-
ing; d, side grafting.

" a, t, c, d, chink, or shoulder grafting ; e, root grafting ; /, g, h, French mode of whip graft-
ing; i, peg grafting.*

* " Particular details will be given in the ALPHABET OF FRUIT GARDENING."

THE EDITOR'S ALPHABET OF GARDENING.

143

" Professor Thouin has enumerated about fifty methods of grafting, but they
all depend upon the same principles as already explained.

" Bud Grafting, or Budding.

" Instead of a slip, or scion, the bud of one plant may be so inserted into the
bark of another as to grow, and produce branches, flowers, and fruit. It is
requisite for this purpose that a leaf-bud, known by its tapering sharp point,
be selected, and not a flower-bud, known by its bulging and rather blunt point.
It is necessary that the leaf connected with a bud be cut off, otherwise it would
soon exhaust the sap, and the bud would wither and die. It is also necessary
that the bark separate freely, which is the test for there being pulp enough to
form a joining. When the bud is inserted, it must be tied round with a rib-
band of bass, to exclude the air. Fine rose standards are thus formed.

" a, the bud, cut out with a shield of bark attached to it j 6, the stem, with a slit in the bark
to receive the shield attached to the bud ; c, the bud inserted, and the leaf cut away.

" Herb Grafting,

" Though grafting is usually confined to trees, De Candolle thinks all plants
may perhaps be capable of being so treated, and Baron deTschoudy has in this
way succeeded even with annual plants, as well as with the soft young shoots
of trees ; but it is necessary to success to have it performed near to or at the
inner base* of a living leaf, which serves to attract the sap.

" In the case of plants with succulent leaves, it has been asserted, on authority,
that " the union is imperfect," from the adhesion being " by the cellular sub-
stance only, " no woody matter" being transmitted to the stock. That this is
quite erroneous is shown by the following instance of a Cactus truncatus grafted
on a Cactus triangularis in the King's garden at Neuilly, as beautifully dissected
and drawn by M. Turpin. This also equally disproves the common opinion
that the graft in such cases is merely kept alive by the moisture supplied by the
stock, and would do as well if struck into a potato or a piece of moist spunge.
It certainly furnishes a strong disproof of the baseless theory that maintains
buds and grafts to send down woody matter to the stock as .roots descend into
the soil.

In Latin, Axilla, which means armpit."

144

THE EDITORS ALPHABET OF GARDENING.

" A, Cactus truncatus ; B, Cactus triangularis ; a, the line of junction of the two individuals ;
6, the cuticular membrane; c, the cellular tissue of the bark ; d, the fibrous and tubular tissue
of the wood ; e, the cellular tissue of the centre or pith."

A single well authenticated fact, like the preceding, is amply
sufficient to demolish the most ingenious and plausible theory. An-
other striking instance is recorded in this work respecting Sir
H. Davy's mistaken preference of unfermented dung.

In the introductory remarks, gardeners are urged, for their own
interest, to avoid technical language in conversing with their em-
ployers. The attempt to teach those, who have not a classical edu-
cation, the pronunciation of Latin words hy printing them with
accents, we deem to be a piece of useless and reprehensible pe-
dan^y.

145

GERMINATION OF THE CABBAGE PALM (Euterpe oleracea}.*

BY DK. 0. F. P. VON MARTIUS, OF MUNICH.

Euterpe Oleracea.

IN the northern parts of Brdzi), the palms were so frequently ob-
served by us in every stage of their growth, that we had an opportu-
nity of sketching their progress from their germination to their time of
flowering (ad anthesin), such as we shall here figure for the sake of
agreeable variety.

* Translated from the splendid Latin work, " Genera et Species Palmarum," by
the Editor.

VOL. i. — NO. iv. — (APRIL 1833.) L

146 GERMINATION OF THE CABBAGE PALM.

Fig. 1. Fig. 2.

Fig. 1. The ripe seed with its outer coat taken off. Fig. 2. The same cut across to show the"

albumen.

The mature seed of the Euterpe oleracea, after removing the fibrous
envelope with which it is originally wrapt, consists of a concrete shell,
a, having an outer skin which cannot be separated, smooth, shining,
and of a brown colour. Upon this a roundish eye (hylum) b, is appa-
rent, the opening with the germinating hole (micropyle), elliptical and
chink-like, the vascular cord (raphe umbilicale) c, depressed, rather
broad, and running from the eye half way down the seed to the
hole.

The mature seed, after removing the fibrous envelope, on being cut
across, is found to consist of a solid nut, with the teat-like albumen,
a, verging inwards from the shell in form of membranous rays. The
embryo b, itself is at the side tapering, blunt, looking from the tip
towards the central part of the albumen, which is distinguished by a
softer structure, and deliquescing upon germination, gives place to the
expanded embryo.

Fig. 3. The seed with the outer coat not broken off, and just beginning to germinate.
Fig. 4. The same seed with the germination farther advanced. Fig. 5. Another seed not so
far advanced as fig. 4.

The seed, after germination has begun, is still clothed with its fibrous
envelope, at the part where the micropyle and raphe are observed, the
outer portion of the embryo appears, which, looking toward the ground
ought to be termed the radical part of the cotyledorious body. We
have there observed two bodies, namely, the sheath of the first radicle
a, (coleorhiza, MIRBEL) and the radicle itself b, thence proceeding.

The same seed at a stage a little more advanced, shows the first
radicle 6, and the sheath including the gemlet (coleoptilis, MIRBEL).
The first radicle sends out several lateral shoots c, and the conical
sheath permits the escape of the gemlet through its open tip.

Another seed, whose greater first radicle is produced conspicuously

GERMINATION OF TI1R CABBAGE PALM.

147

enough, from the centre to the base; besides the vestiges of two lateral
shoots with minute tubercles (radiculoda, RICHARD). The sheath
of the gemlet d, is yet closed, tapering, crooked, and tends upwards.

Fig:. 6. Fig. 7- Fig. 8.

Fig. 6. The seed in fig. 5 more advanced. Fig. 7 and 8, the farther progress of the germination.

The same seed sending out at the side an embryo a little more
advanced, whose tapering and slightly arched gemlet, a, has escaped
from the sheath here covered with fibres : the first radicle appears
equalling the side shoots in magnitude.

The same seed in an advanced stage of vegetation, the sheath con-
cealed among the fibres, the gemlet stretching out an inch in length,
with the tip of the outer leaf slanting abruptly and pierced by the
summits of the inner leaf.

Fig. 9.

Fig. 10.

Fig. Q. Another seed with the outer coat removed, after it has begun to germinate.
Fig. I0f The same, more advanced.

Another nut with the fibrous covering removed so as to bring into
view the first radicle, a, and its sheath b, with the gemlet, c, and four
radical shoots, d.

L 2

148 GERMINATION OF THE CABBAGE PALM.

The same nut farther advanced in germination, showing the micro-
pyle e, swelling from the supply of juices derived from the soil, and
thence become dilated and soft. Its root-sheath sends out the first
radicle, now branching, «, and four side shoots more, d. The sheath,
f, with a cleft tip, sends out the gemlet from its bosom, whose outer
leaf g, opened with a slanting tip, is pierced by the inner leaf still
unopened.

Fig. 11. Fig. 12. Fig-. 13.

11. The embryo taken from the germinating nut, its central part
swelled into various twistings (gyros)a, which upon the pithy part of the
albumen being liquified, break out into white teat-like processes, with
depressions between, and closely applied, thence exhaust the nutritive
juice absorbed into the inner parts, by means of the neck of the em-
bryo, b, which is cylindrical, and placed within the shell of the seed.
The first radicle c, is bluntly tapering towards the base, and thence
sends off three branches, while the radiculoda swells up like a round-
ish scar. The sheath d, with the tip equally tapering, is pierced by
the tapering gemlet.

12. The same things shown in a plant a little more advanced, where a
part of the nut having been removed, the central part of the embryo
a, is sent off twisted, and remaining within the horny albumen of the
shell variegated with rays b. The last are explained by the letters of
the preceding figure.

13. The same plantlet deprived of its nut, and seen in a side view.

14. A view of the internal structure of the parts of the germinating
plantlet, cut through the middle. The central part of the embryo a,
now moving in two directions, shows traces of twisting ; since from
these, the crown (limites) of the plant tending upwards and downwards,
runs. This original division of the plant into a ground and a solarsean

GERMINATION OF THE CABBAGE PALM. 149

Fig. 14.

part is denoted by a slender line, as if it were the centre of vegetation ;
the salient point or primary nodule of the pith of the radicle b, whose
rudiments or plumelet of the caudex and frond c, d, may be perceived
budding from the centre and tending towards the ground. The side
part is seen remaining entire on the root-sheath e, like twin tubercles,
sending out two side rootlets, of which the upper,/, partly open length-
wise, brings the pith into view ; but the other part or gemlet of the
plumelet, is involved in the base of the coleoptilon g, and this itself
consists of four imbricated sheaths j the other part or the rudiments of
the stem (tigella:), the hinge of the future evolution, swells out above
the dividing line h, in the form of a minute papilla. These figures, from
one to fourteen, are all one third the size of nature.

Fig. 15.

150

GliRMINATlON OF THE CABBAGE PALM.

15. Here we have the plantlet of fig. 9, increased in all its parts, open
and bent down by a side cut through the evolved part of the embryo
and its neck (collum), as far as (perducta) the inner part of the central
portion. What is here indicated, will be evident enough without a
diffuse detail. The body of the seed-lobe (cotelydori), seen to the
sheath expanded downwards a, into the coleorhiza, upwards b, into the
coleoptilon, is surrounded with the radicles, plumelets, and stem
(blastemati) which the dividing line c, marks out, into radicle and
plumelet. The same seed-lobe is confluent with the blastemati in the
primary nodule, which we may, with Richard, term syngygia. The
first leaves of the gemlet d, e, resembling- hairs, are perforated at last
by the central part/.

Fig. 16.

The plant in ils second leaf.

MIGRATIONS OF THE CLIFF SWALLOW. 151

MIGRATIONS OF THE CLIFF SWALLOW (Hirundo fusca, VIEILLOT).

BY J. J. AUDUBON. K. R.S., &C.*

[The following is the most direct evidence of the actual migration of swallows, which
1 have ever met with, though numerous incidental circumstances lead to the same
conclusion. — EDITOR.]

ON the Ohio, a new port in Kentucky, by the 27th of July, the
young cliff swallows were able to follow their parents. They all exhi-
bited the white frontlet, and were scarcely distinguishable in any part
of their plumage from the old birds. On the 1st of August, they all
assembled near their nests, mounted about three hundred feet in the
air, and at ten in the morning took their departure, flying in a loose
body, in a direction due north. They returned the same evening about
dusk, and continued these excursions, no doubt to exercise their
powers, until the third, when, uttering a farewell cry, they shaped the
same course at the same hour, and finally disappeared. Shortly after
their departure, I was informed that several hundred of their nests
were attached to the court house, at the mouth of the Kentucky. They
had commenced building there in 1815. A person likewise informed
me, that along the cliffs of the Kentucky, he had seen many bunches,
as he termed them, of these nests attached to the naked shelving rocks
overhanging that river.

Being extremely desirous of settling the long-agitated question
respecting the migration, or supposed torpidity of swallows, I embraced
every opportunity of examining their habits, carefully noted their
arrival and disappearance, and recorded every fact connected with
their history. After some years of constant observation and reflection,
I remarked, that among all the species of migratory birds, those that
remove farthest from us, depart sooner than those which retire only
to the confines of the United States ; and, by a parity of reasoning,
those that remain later, return earlier in the spring. These remarks
were confirmed, as I advanced towards the south-west on the approach
of winter, for I found there numbers of warblers, thrushes, &c., in full
feather and song. It was also remarked, that the Hirundo viridis of
WILSON, (called by the French of Lower Louisiana, le petit martinet
d venire blanc,) remained about the city of New Orleans later than
any other swallow. As immense numbers of them were seen during

*From '^Ornithological Biography.'"

152 MIGRATIONS OF THE CLIFF SWALLOW.

the month of November, I kept a diary of the temperature from the
3d of November until the arrival of the Hirundo purpurea. The fol-
lowing notes are taken from my journal, and, as I had excellent oppor-
tunities, during a residence of many years in that country, of visiting
the lakes to which these swallows were said to resort, during the tran-
sient frosts, I present them with confidence : —

November 11. — Weather very sharp, with a heavy white frost.
Swallows in abundance during the whole day. On inquiring of the
inhabitants if this was a usual occurrence, I was answered in the
affirmative by all the French and Spaniards. From this date to the
22d, the thermometer averaged 65°, the weather generally a drizzly
fog. Swallows playing over the city in thousands.

November 25. Thermometer this morning at 30°. Ice in New
Orleans a quarter of an inch thick. The swallows resorted to the
Cypress Swamp, in the rear of the city. Thousands were flying in
different flocks. Fourteen were killed at a single shot, all in perfect
plumage, and very fat. The markets were abundantly supplied with
these tender, juicy, and delicious birds. Saw swallows every day ; but
remarked them more plentiful the "stronger the breeze blew from the
sea.

December 20. — The weather continues much the same. Foggy and
drizzly mist. The thermometer averaging 63°.

January 14. — The thermometer 42°. Weather continues the same.
My little favourites constantly in view.

January 28. — Thermometer at 40°. II iving seen the Hirundo viridis
continually, and the Hirundo purpurea, or purple martin, beginning to
appear, I discontinued my observations.

During the whole winter many of them retired to the holes about the
houses ; but the greater number resorted to the lakes, and spent the
night among the branches of Myrica cerifera, the drier, as it is termed
by the French settlers.

About sunset they began to flock together, calling to each other for
that purpose, and, in a short time, presented the appearance of clouds
moving towards the lakes, or the mouth of the Mississippi, as the
weather and wind suited. Their aerial evolutions, before they alight,
are truly beautiful. They appear at first as if reconnoitring the place,
when suddenly throwing themselves into a vortex of apparent confusion,
they descend spirally with astonishing quickness, and very much
resemble a trombe, or water-spout. When within a few feet of the
driers, they disperse in all directions, and settle in a few moments.

LUMINOSITY OF THE SEA. 153

Their twittering, and the motions of their wings, are, however, heard
during the whole night. As soon as the day begins to dawn, they rise,
flying low over the lakes, almost touching the water for some time,
and then rising gradually move off in search of food, separating in dif-
ferent directions. The hunters, who resort to these places, destroy
great numbers of them, by knocking them down with the light paddles
used in propelling their canoes.

ON THE LUMINOSITY OF THE SEA.

BY BARON DE HUMBOLDT.*

IN the immense waters of the deep, animal life is very profusely
distributed, and particularly gelatinous worms are so numerous, as to
bestar the surface of the ocean and transform it into a sea of flames, —
a spectacle which stamped upon my memory an ineffaceable impres-
sion, and always excited fresh astonishment, although it was renewed
every night for months together. It may be seen in every zone ; but
those who have not witnessed it within the tropics, and above all upon the
main ocean, can form but a very imperfect conception of the grandeur
of the phenomenon ; particularly if the spectator places himself in the
shrouds of a ship of the line, during a fresh breeze, when she ploughs
through the crests of the waves, and, at every roll her side is raised out
of the water, enveloped in ruddy flames, which stream like lightning from
the keel, and flash towards the surface of the sea. At other times, the
dolphins, while sporting in the waters, trace out sparkling furrows in
the midst of the waves.

Le Gentile and the elder Forster, explained the phenomena of these
flames, by the electric friction of the waves against the hull of the
ship, as it advances. But, according to our present knowledge
of physical causes, this explanation is inadmissible.

There are few points of natural history which {fave been so long and
so much disputed, as the illumination of the sea water. All that is
known with any certainty, may be reduced to the following facts :
there are several shining mollusca which, during their life, emit at
pleasure a phosphoric light, which is rather pale and generally of a
bluish colour ; this is observed in the Nereis noctiluca, the Medusa

* Translated from the German,

154 LUMINOSITY OF THIi SEA.

pelagica, var B., and the Monophora noctiluca, which M. Bory St. Vin-
cent has recently discovered during the expedition of Captain Baudin.
The microscopic animals which Forster saw swimming in innumerable
multitudes on the sea, near the Cape of Good Hope, are of this number,
and still undefined. The luminosity of the sea is, sometimes, occasioned
by these living lights ; I say sometimes, as more frequently, although the
animals increase in size, none can be perceived in the luminous water ;
yet whenever the waves strike against a hard substance and disperse in
foam, particularly where the sea is greatly agitated, we perceive a gleam
of light similar to lightning. The source of this phenomenon is probably
the decomposed fibres of the dead mollusca, which abound in the depths
of the sea ; when this luminous water is strained through cloth of a close
texture, these fibres are sometimes separated in the form of luminous
dots. When we bathed at night in the Gulf of Cariaco, near
Cumana, some parts of our bodies remained luminous after coming out
of the water, the luminous fibres attaching themselves to the skin.
From the immense quantity of mollusca dispersed in all the seas of the
torrid zone, it is not astonishing that the sea should emit light, although
we cannot extract from it organic matter. The infinite division of the
dead bodies of Dagysce and Medusa, may lead us to consider the
entire sea as a gelatinous fluid, which consequently is luminous, has a
nauseous taste, is unfit to be drunk by man, but is nourishing to
many fish.

If a board be rubbed with a part of the Medusa hysocella, the part
rubbed becomes again luminous whenever a dry finger is passed
over it. During my voyage from the south to America, I sometimes
placed a medusa on a pewter plate. If I struck the plate with
other metal, the least vibration of the pewter was sufficient to make
the animal shine. Now, I may ask, how did the shock and vibration
act in this case ? Did they immediately raise the temperature ?
Did they discover new surfaces? Or, did the shock elicit the
phosphoric hydrogen gas, which, coming in contact with the oxygen
of the atmosphere, or of the sea water, cause this appearance ?
The effect of a shock, which excites light, is most astonishing in
a troubled sea, when the waves dash against each other in all
directions. Between the Tropics, I have seen the sea luminous in all
temperatures ; but it was more so on the approach of a tempest, or,
when the sky was lowering, stormy, or obscured. Cold and heat
seem to have little influence on this phenomenon ; for on the sand-
banks of Newfoundland, the phosphorescence is often very strong

ON THE NATURAL SYSTEM IN BOTANY. 155

in the most rigorous period of winter. Sometimes, all circumstances
being apparently equal, the phosphorescence is considerable during
one night and scarcely visible the night following. Does the atmos-
phere favour the escape of light, or this combustion of phosphoric
hydrogen? or do these differences depend on chance, which conducts
the navigator into a sea more or less rilled with the gelatine of
mollusca ? Perhaps these shining animalcules come to the surface of
the sea only when the atmosphere is in a certain state. M. Bory
St. Vincent asks, with apparent reason, why our swampy fresh waters,
filled with polypi, are not luminous ? It would seem that a peculiar
mixture of organic particles is necessary to favour the production
of light ; the wood of the willow is more frequently phosphorescent
than that of the oak. In England, they have succeeded in rendering
salted water luminous, by throwing into it the brine of herrings.
On most other points, galvanic experiments prove, that the luminous
state of living animals depends on the irritation of the nerves. I
have seen a dying fire-fly (Elator noctilucus) emit a strong light when
I touched its anterior extremities with pewter or silver.

DR. G. JOHNSTON ON THE NATURAL SYSTEM IN BOTANY*.

ALL genuine field observers must be familiar with the name of Dr.
George Johnston ; for though we are not aware that he has published
any separate work, besides the one now before us, he has contributed
a considerable number of detached papers to various scientific perio-
dicals, all characterised by accurate and acute personal observation,
by a fine vein of excursive and tasteful literary illustration, and,
what is still better, by sterling common sense, founded on induction,
and uncontaminated by fashionable discipleship to schools and sys-
tems. In these respects, the Doctor seems to us to stand unique and
alone among our British naturalists, as well as in his peculiar attention
to neglected branches of his favourite science, — neglected, from the
subjects being usually unobtrusive ; and on this account it may not be
improbable that they attracted his notice, as being in unison to his
own retiring and unobtrusive character, which all who know him must

* Flora of Berwick-upon-Twoed, Vol. II. Cryptogamous Plants. By George
Johnston, M. DM &c. 12mo. Edinburgh.

156 ON THE NATURAL SYSTEM IN BOTANY.

admire and highly respect. Our readers will perceive from the follow-
ing extracts from his remarks on the cryptogamic class of Linnaeus,
that we have rather under-rated than over-rated tmr author's merits.

" The class has been said to be a truly natural one ; but the word natural must here
be used in a peculiar sense, for the materials of which it is composed are of the most
heterogeneous character. The mushroom has surely no relation with the fern, nor the
sea-weeds with the moss, yet they are all cryptogamous. Even of the orders into which
the class has been divided, it is, perhaps, too much to say that they are natural. The
dorsiferous ferns and the mosses are natural orders in the judgment of the vulgar as
well as of the botanists ; but if the latter will maintain that the fungi and algae are
natural groups, it is, I should think, at the expense of common sense, which revolts
from the decision. These orders have no one character common to all their consti-
tuents ; and plants which differ both in their structure, appearance, and mode of pro-
pagation, may be bound together by the fancy of botanists, and for their convenience,
but they are not the less unnatural on that account. We are apt to deceive ourselves
in this. Practice has made us familiar with a certain classification, and at last we find
so little difficulty in referring any plant to its order and place, that we persuade our-
selves we do so from some real resemblances between the plants, and consequently that
there must be something natural in our systems. But were our first attempts remem-
bered, how often they were abortive and erroneous, or grounded on guess rather than
on an induction, I am confident it would be admitted that our present facility is solely
the result of tutorage and practice, by which our associations have been made to run in
an artificial channel. The practised botanist at once refers the moulds and the parasitical
blights of corn to the mushroom tribe ; but do any others perceive any semblance
between mushroom and mould, or is there really anything in their structure to warrant
such a collocation 1 So far is this from being the case, that were the latter to grow
habitually under water, they would probably be considered as the members of another
order/viz. that of the algae ; yet all algae are not aquatic, nor, were it so, has the habitat
ever professedly been allowed to influence our decision relative to affinities. Nor will the
uninitiated believe that arrangement a natural one, which unites under one head the
sea-tangle with its woody stem and fibrous frond, and the green scum which floats, on
the surface of stagnant fresh water, rootless, stemless, leafless, and scarcely or-
ganised.

" I offer these remarks, not because I disapprove of our present systems — that
would be presumptuous in one who has none better to propose, — but because they are
invented and adopted by authors who avowedly disdain the aid of artificial methods,
and sneer contemptuously at their followers as the bigoted idolaters of Linnaeus, and
less wise. The local florist is too humble a character to be the object of these sneers ;
and regardless of a censure which there is no danger of encountering, I would gladly
avail myself of any method in arranging this work, had it the sole recommendation of
conducting the student easily to the names of the objects sought after, and that in
preference to any natural system, if the latter were the more difficult of the two. No
one will ever study with success or zeal the relations of objects until he knows some-
thing of their structure and qualities,- and that method which communicates most
easily the competent degree of knowledge for the purpose, is, in my opinion, the most
proper for the beginner." — page 3.

ON THE NATURAL SYSTEM IN BOTANY. 157

There are few of our readers, we imagine, who are not blinded by
theory, that will not agree with these well-put and judicious remarks,
applicable as strongly, or even more so, to other parts of ,»hat is so
preposterously termed the Natural System* of B^t.uiy. One of the
mischievous results of hunting after this chimsera of a natural system
is the endless change of names applied to the same plant, according as
botanists are pleased to suppose it belongs to this or that order or genus.
In many instances, we meet with about half a dozen or more names
given to the same species, an evil which Dr. Johnston has exemplified,
and smartly ridiculed, in his account, of what we may call in English,
Golden Crow silk (Amphiconium aureum, SPRENGEL; Byssus aura,
LIGHTFOOT; Conferva aurea, DILLWYN; Ceramium aureum, HOOK-
ER ; Ectocarpus aureus, GREVILLE, &c. &c.)

"A little history of this alga," says Dr. Johnson, " from one having authority in
these matters, might afford a useful lesson ; but our attempt will, probably, subject us
to the charge of ignorance, or of wilful blindness to the merits of our superiors. The
plant was placed by Linnaeus in his genus Byssus, which, we will admit, was made
up out of somewhat heterogeneous materials, and could not, of course, be per-
mitted to remain unaltered, when the fashion came to have all the members of
a genus as like to one another as was Sebastian to Viola. And firstly, then, the
subject of our story became a Conferva ; a change of nomenclature which, as the
consequence of some little additional acquaintance with its structure, was perhaps not
to be found fault with ; but scarcely was the name familiarised to us, until another
change was deemed necessary to fit it for ils proper place in the natural system.
Could any thing be more natural than to arrange a terrestrial, slightly organised,
filamentous production, among plants which are natives of the sea, live constantly
submerged, and possess a comparatively high and complex structure 1 Cerlainly not ;
and so our late Conferva was located amongst the Ceramia ! Botany, however,
has. been said to be a progressive science; hence, in another year or so, a Ceramium
this plant was not, and it figured next as an Ectocarpus. How many months
or days it retained this appellation I do not know ; it certainly, in no long space
of time, was degraded to a synonym, and the very euphonical Trontepohlia usurped
the higher station, too soon, alas ! to be displaced, or perhaps it ousted — for here my
learning fails me — the little-less-euphonical Amphiconium. If the reader should ask
a reason for my choice of this name, in preference to the others, I might be
puzzled for an answer, — " a sad choice led him perplexed ;" and if I have erred
it may plead some palliation of the error, to remember, that, if a new name
had been invented for the occasion, this little volume might have had a chance
of being quoted in future by great botanists and in great books ! But let not
the reader suppose, that Amphiconium is the latest alias for this plant ; the
name was used in a celebrated system of vegetables published in the year 1827, and

* See some remarkable instances of this iu " ALVHABET OF BOTANY." pages 115 —
118.

158 ON THE CIRCULATION OF

botany, in its nature a progressive science, has fully participated in that improvement
of all things, physical, political, and moral, which has distinguished the intermediate
years. And it is now discovered, what, indeed, was always too obvious, that
all the above-mentioned mutations in its nomenclature, have not only not added one
iota to our knowledge of the plant, either in structure or its relations to other plants,
but have led to error and confusion. For in the " natural system" most approved of
at present, this alga finds no place of rest among the Algae, and is said to be a sort of
mould, and figures away as an Azonium, a genus which stands next to, and
differs little from, the Linnaean genus Byssus ! — The preceding sketch may appear,
to the general reader, to be drawn up in the spirit of ridicule ; but I am sorry
to say that it is a true history, and only sins through defect, for at least one
other synonym (Dematium) might have been added to the useless catalogue. Herschel
has asserted, that, '' there is no science in which the evils resulting from a rage for
nomenclature have been felt to such an extent as in mineralogy," but he would have
divided the censure, had he bestowed a passing thought on the labours of cryptogamic
botanists." — Vol. 11. p. 245.

We conclude this brief notice, by putting- it to the good sense
of the author, whether the quaint and fanciful, though common, title of
" FLOKA" can possibly apply, in the most remote manner, to the half
of his very interesting work.

ON THE CIRCULATION OF THE FLUIDS OF PLANTS.

BY PROFESSOR DE CANDOLLE, OF GENEVA.

THE ascending sap rises towards the foliaceous parts, charged essen-
tially, setting aside the earthy matter, with carbonic acid, or with
bodies capable of being converted into carbonic acid ; it loses by exha-
lation a very considerable quantity of the water which it contained,
and in consequence of the decomposition of carbonic acid gas it gives
off a large quantity of oxygen, and is reduced to simple carbon.

This sap then exists in a proportion as to its elements very analogous

gum — that is to say, of water and carbon.

This gum, dissolved in the water of vegetation, must run by the
intercellular passages, both in the bark and wood, when the causes
which determine the rapid ascent of the sap during the day cease to
operate; this is what constitutes the descending sap. The sap which
runs down along the bark, not meeting with the ascending current,
passes without, obstruction to the root.

The sap which runs down through the woody substances meets the
ascending sap, which, during the day at least, is carried up with force;
these two mixing with the water, which is exuded from the wood by

THE FLUIDS OF PLANTS. 159

the rays and medullary sheath, serve to nourish and develope the cam-
bium into a ligneous and cortical zone.

This gum, dissolved in water in its descent by the bark, is able to
assist on one side the secretions which are forming there, and on the
other to supply nutriment to the cambium, or the partially- organised
juice which contains the rudiment of the new zones. The gummy
matter, which also descends through the alburnum, serves likewise to
nourish the cambium, or the new woody zone ; this is the gum which
as it descends by the bark is stopped in its course by an annular sec-
tion, whereby it is compelled to undergo the action of the cellules for
its conversion into ligneous matter for the purpose of nourishing the
bark and developing in it a protuberance formed on the trunks of
woody vegetables (bourrelet).

Throughout the whole of its course the gummy matter can be ab-
sorbed by the cellules which are not filled and which retain their vital
action ; thus all the cellules of the alburnum and of the liber — like so
many hygroscopic bladders — absorb the gummy water which surrounds
them ; each of them elaborates it by its own peculiar action, and can
thus, according to its nature, transform the gummy matter into fecula,
sugar, orlignine with so much the greater facility, as the whole four sub-
stances scarcely differ ; and we often in our laboratories have a proof
that they can be converted into one another. This is especially the
case in the experiments on the conversion of lignine and starch into
hydrated sugar by the action of sulphuric acid. The gum and the
sugar appears to be, in this series of decompositions, the two transitory
conditions, and their extreme solubility in water exposes them con-
stantly to be drawn away towards the most energetic organs.

The fecula and the lignine are of a more permanent nature ; the
fecula settles itself as though it were stored in the org-ans which must
ultimately be developed ; it retains the soluble matter, which is pro-
tected from the water by the insoluble covering that surrounds it.

In short, the lignine is deposited in those particular organs which
have reached the complete stage of their development, or in the tissues
themselves of the vegetable membranes, nor does it appear to be of a
nature fitted to be transferred again to the other parts.

[It would be presumptuous in me to assert that the above is erro-
neous; but I owe it to my readers to state, that however high De
Candolle ranks in genuine science, he has also, with a fatuity not un-
common in men of distinguished genius, strongly advocated all the
absurd fancies of vegetable metamorphoses, and even piques himself
upon being in a great measure the author of these fancies. — EDITOR.]

160 LE VAILLANT'S NATURAL HISTORY

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE BIRDS OF AFRICA.

TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH OF LE VAILLANT.

THE VOCIFEROUS EAGLE (Haliatus vocifer, SAVIGNY).

Le Vocifer, Levaill. Ois. de 1'Afrique, i. p. 17, pi. 4 ; Falcon Vocifer, Lath,, Ind.
Orn. Sup. p. vi. ; Daud. ii. p. 64 ; Shaw's Zool. vii. p. 94 ; Aigle nonette, Gaby, Voy.
en Nigritie : Piscivorous Eagle, Lath. Gen. Syn. Sup. ii. p. 33; LI. Gen. Hist. i.
p. 158 ; Haliaetus vocifer, Cuv. Regne Animal, i. 327, note ; Lesson, Manuel, i. 85 ;
Drapiez, Diet. Classique, i. 285.

THIS is beyond all question one of the most beautiful species of the
eagles, being remarkable for the fineness of its plumage, the elegance
of its form, and its large size, which is equal to that of the osprey.. It
is also remarkable for the whiteness of the fore part of the body and
of the tail, and also for the mixture of reddish brown and black, which
contrasts so well with the rest. The feathers of the head, the scapu-
laries, and the tail, are also white, with brown on the sides, while those
of the breast display scattered longitudinal spots of a blackish brown
colour : the rest of the plumage being of a nut-brown, dashed (Jlambe")
with black. The smaller wing-coverts are of a pale rust-colour ; the
scapularies near them are mixed with black, and show very prettily

LA VAILLANT'S BIRDS OF AFRICA. 161

under the white of the upper ones. The wing feathers are black, and
are here and there finely marbled with red and white on their exterior
plumelets. The lower part of the back, and the upper tail coverts, are
black, with a mixture of dull white. Between the beak and the eye
the skin is nearly naked, being only covered by a few hairs ; its colour
is yellowish, as also are the base of the bill, the shanks and feet. The
iris is reddish brown ; the feathers of the thigh descend half an inch
over the shank in front ; the claws and the beak are horn-blue ; the
craw, which is slightly perceptible, is covered by long curly down.
The tail is slightly rounded ; that is, the outer quills are the shortest,
while the others are successively longer as far as the two middle ones,
which are the longest of all, and of equal length.

The female has much less black in her plumage, the white less pure,
and the reddish colour less deep. She is larger than the male.

The wings, when folded, reach to the extremity of the tail, and when
extended, measure nearly eight feet across.

The vociferous eagle, in those parts which subsequently become
white, is, when young, of an ashy-grey colour. His tail is then entirely
of this colour, but becomes white with age. At the second moulting,
there is an equal portion of white and grey ; some of the tail feathers
are then absolutely white, others brownish-grey, and some partake of
both these colours. It is not till the third year, that the birds assume
their elegant plumage, such as may be observed in the coloured plate,
[of the original work"] which represents the female.

The vociferous eagle is found on the sea coasts, and, for the most
part, at the mouths of the large rivers, on the eastern and western
shores of Africa. Wherever I have been I never met with it in the
inland countries, except on the banks of the Orange, or Large River,
which is plentifully stocked with fish, this forming its principal food.
It chiefly frequents those places which are visited by the tide, and the
rivers of Africa being generally only torrents which descend from the
mountains, it is easy to conceive that fish must be as scarce in them as
it is abundant on the coast, and at the mouths of rivers.

The vociferous eagle, like the osprey or baldbuzzard, darts with great
velocity from a height in the air, upon the fish which it perceives. I
have often had an opportunity of seeing this eagle precipitate himself
with much noise on the surface of the water, immerge his whole body,
and rise up, holding a large fish in his talons. Perched on rocks, or
piles of uprooted trees, which have been washed down by the floods,
he devours his prey ; here he makes his regular and permanent esta-

VOL. i. — NO. iv. 1833. M

162 LA VAILLANTS NATURAL HISTORY.

blishment for fishing. That he habitually feeds upon his fish in the
same places, is not difficult to perceive, by the masses of fish heads and
bones which are there met with. Among these remains I have noticed
the bones of gazelles, which proves, that he makes them his prey like-
wise. He disdains, it would appear, to make war on birds ; for I never
found any remains of them in the heaps which I have just mentioned;
but I have often distinguished those of a species of lizard, which is very
common in several rivers of Africa.

I have taken the name of vociferous eagle from the habit which these
eagles have of uttering loud and frequent cries, in different tones, and
of answering each other from a very great distance, when perched upon
rocks which border on the sea, or upon the trunk of a tree, lying on
the sand-bank of a river. While carrying on this sort of conversation,
they make extraordinary motions with the neck and head, showing
that it costs them very great exertion. These cries always discover
them ; but it is, notwithstanding, very difficult to get near enough to
shoot them. In order to do this, I was obliged to have a hole dug,
and covered over with a mat, over which I directed some earth to be
strewed ; and in this ambuscade I passed three whole days, close to
the trunk of a tree, upon which a pair of these eagles used generally
to come to devour their prey. They deserted the spot as long as the
earth which was placed over me had a fresh appearance, and different
from that which is dried by the heat of the sun. At the expiration of
the third day, I shot the female, and as may be seen in the history of
my travels, it nearly cost me my life to go and seek her on the other side
of the Queur-Boom on which she had fallen. I resolved to pass the river
during the high tide water, and was not able to swim over it ; and but
for the stratagem which I adopted I should probably have quitted Africa
without enjoying the pleasure of possessing a bird of such rare beauty.
The male, in search of his female, was killed near the camp, as he was
devouring the remains of a buffalo, which I had directed to be thrown
there for the purpose of attracting carnivorous birds.

[The original narrative of this interesting exploit, runs thus.] " The
wish to procure a specimen of this eagle, more than once put my
patience to the proof, and had like to have cost me very dear. Every
day, I saw the bird hovering over my camp, but at such a distance,
that it could not be reached by a ball. I made a person always keep
watch, and never lose sight of it, and I constantly observed its motions.
Having one day crossed the Queur Boom, while walking along the
bank opposite to that on which my camp stood, I perceived a number

OF THE BIRDS OF AFRICA. 163

of fragments of large fishes, and the bones and remains of small ante-
lopes, strewed on the ground, near the rotten trunk of an old tree. I
immediately concluded that this must be the place where two of these
eagles had established their fishery, or at least their ordinary haunt,
and it was not long before I saw them soaring round in the air, at a
great height. Without loss of time I concealed myself in a thick
bush ; but this stratagem was not executed with sufficient alertness to
deceive the piercing eyes of the eagles. They doubtless observed me,
for they did not descend. Next day, and for several days successively,
I returned to my station ; at break of day, I posted myself in the
thicket, but all my vigilance was ineffectual. This business was very
laborious, because to go and return 1 was obliged to pass the river twice;
and at these times it was necessary to wait for the ebbing of the tide.

" Tired out at last, as I wasted my time without being able to succeed,
I took two Hottentots with me, and crossing the river in the middle
of the night, conducted them to a spot near the trunk of an old
tree, where I made them dig a hole three feet wide and four deep.
When it was made, I placed myself in it ; and having ordered them
to cover the hole over my head with a few sticks, a piece of a
mat, and some earth, I reserved only a small opening, sufficiently
large for me to put my fowling piece through it, and to see the old
trunk. I then desired my people to return to the camp. Day ap-
proached, but the cruel birds did not make their appearance. The
earth seeming to be newly thrown up, had no doubt rendered them
suspicious ; and this was a circumstance of which I had not before
thought. At the close of the night, I came forth from my hole, and
went to pass a few hours at my camp, after which I went and interred
myself as before. I continued this expedient for two days successively,
with much patience; and during that interval, the sun had dried the
earth, and made it all of one colour. About the middle of the third
day of my anxious watch, I observed the female soaring above the
tree, upon which she soon alighted, with a very large fish in her claws.
I instantly discharged my piece, and had the pleasure of seeing her
flap her wings and fall ; but before I could disengage myself from my
mat, and the earth which covered me, she so far recovered her strength
as to fly a little ; and, brushing the surface of the water, reached the
other side, where she expired.

" The joy that I felt on finding myself in possession of this bird was
so great, that, without observing that the tide was up, I threw myself
into the water with my fowling-piece on my shoulder, and I was not

M 2

164

LE VAILLANT S BIRDS OF AFRICA.

sensible of my imprudence till, in the middle of the river, I found
myself up to the chin. To add to my misfortune, I was alone, and
entirely unacquainted with the art of swimming. Had I attempted to
return, the rapidity of the current would have undoubtedly thrown me
down. Without knowing what was to become of me, I pursued my
wa-y, as it were, mechanically ; and I had the good fortune to reach
the opposite bank : an inch more would have infallibly drowned me.
I rushed upon the eagle ; and the pleasure of securing my prey, soon
effaced every remembrance of fear and danger. I was, however,
obliged to pull off all my clothes, and to spread them out to dry ; in
the mean time I amused myself in examining my prize ; and when
my clothes were perfectly dry, I returned without any danger to my
habitation. When I arrived, I was told that several of my people were
gone in pursuit of a buffalo, which they had met with ; and, towards
evening, I saw them return loaded with the limbs of the animal, which
they had cut up on the spot. Next morning very early, I did not neg-
lect to send in search of the fragments, which they had left to attract
birds of prey. This method procured me the male eagle ; which dif-
fered from the female in nothing but the general distinction of 'carni-
vorous birds, — that of being a third smaller."

The vociferous eagle is very suspicious, and difficult to be ap-
proached ; as the sportsman is in view it mounts on the wing and
removes to a considerable distance. It ascends to a prodigious height
in the air, ; its flight has a peculiar grace, during which the male fre-
quently utters sounds that may be rendered by

Ca-"hou— COU---COU

The syllables, pronounced with slowness, the second sung some
tones higher than the first, and the remaining two successively in a
lower tone, will imitate very perfectly this bird's call-note of pleasure.
It must be remarked, that the vociferous eagle never indulges in these
call-notes or song, but when he is sailing through the air ; and then
not when he is hovering, but when he accompanies his flight with a
singular movement of the wings, as if with a sort of complaisance,
turning them underneath his body, until they nearly touch. There
may be observed, in this movement, which accompanies his voice
during flight, an analogy with the preceding remarks on that which
accompanies his cry, when he is perched, and which, in my opinion,
shows the necessity of increased effort in this bird, whose voice is ex-
traordinary and exceedingly remarkable ; inasmuch as it is very sono-

ON THE DIFFUSION OF THE SEED-S OF IVY.

rous, and contains a certain harmony, which is pleasing, and flatters
the ear, without any mixture of that disagreeable, piercing, shrill, and
plaintive tone, which is peculiar to the generality of birds of prey.

The. male and female do not separate, and with the best under-
standing share whatever either takes in fishing or hunting. They
construct their eyry on the tops of trees or among rocks : it is made
precisely in the same manner as the griffard's, except that it is furnished
on the inside with soft materials, such as feathers, wool, and the like,
upon which two or three eggs, of a perfect whiteness, and of a form
resembling the turkey's, but larger, are deposited.

The colonists of the Cape of Good Hope, call this bird the great
fisher (yroote-vis-vanger}, or white fisher (ivitte-vis-vanyer).

I heard the vociferous eagle but once, in the vicinity of False Bay ;
so that this bird appears very seldom in the neighbourhood of the
Cape. About sixty or eighty leagues from this, I began to see it com-
monly, but the place in which it is in the greatest abundance, is Lagoa
Bay. It seems, also, that the vociferous eagle is found at Nigritia •
for we may say the same of it, as Gaby relates of an eagle, which
he mentions under the name of Nonette. " It has," he says, "the
colour of a Carmelite's habit, with his white scapulary." This short
description is certainly much more suitable to the vociferous eagle,
than to the baldbuzzard of Europe, to which Buffon has injudiciously
applied it.

ON THE DIFFUSION OF THE SEEDS OF IVY.

BY RURICOLA.

MY attention has been recently drawn to a large number of seeds,
of an oval shape, and exceeding the size of hemp-seed, scattered
under the bay trees in my garden. My first supposition was, that
they were the produce of the bay trees, the seeds of which, however,
are very different both in shape and size. On further observation,
I perceived the same seeds, but not so plentifully, under other trees,
and at last, on opening some of the ivy-berries, which abound in
the garden, but at some distance from the trees in question, I was
satisfied of the quarter whence they came j each berry containing
four seeds, such as I have described above. I may add, that some
small plants of ivy were found also to be growing here and there
among the seeds, two or three inches high. The garden is the
haunt of many of the smaller birds, especially house-sparrows,
hedge-chanters, red-breasts, chaffinches, blue tits, and occasionally

166 SIR WM. JARDINE ON HUMMING BIRDS.

one or two black-birds and song-thrushes. Some of these birds
must have gathered the ivy-berries, it would appear, from the gar-
den walls, and carried them to the bay and other trees at some dis-
tance, and in breaking open the berries for their food, have shed
some of their contents on the ground beneath, so as to produce the
appearance, which I do not remember to have seen remarked by
writers on such subjects. Ivy-berries, I believe, are a favourite
food with certain birds ; and it* is remarked by some naturalists, I
think the Rev. Gilbert White, in his delightful "Natural History of
Selborne," that they afford a proof of the bountiful care of Provi-
dence, inasmuch as they supply birds with food through the winter
and far into the spring, in consequence of their not being injured by
the frost.

It is our custom to throw a few crumbs out of window for the
birds every morning after breakfast ; and it is pleasing to observe,
not only the actions of the birds whilst they are picking up the
crumbs, but how they previously hover about the breakfast- room
window, and perch on the neighbouring boughs, evidently expecting
their morning meal.

I do not know how far the notice of such trifling incidents as the
preceding, may fall within the scope of your Magazine} but as you
appear to invite communications containing " the slightest hints"
derived from personal observation, on the productions of nature,
I venture to trouble you with these ; and I hope that your under-
taking will tend to the encouragement of a fondness for natural
history.

Bath, IQth Feb., 1833.*

SIR WILLIAM JARDINE, ON HUMMING BIRDS t-

THE Count de Buffon, whom it is the fashion among certain closet
classifiers to try to ridicule because his brilliant sun-light outshines
their farthing candles, has given an eloquent sketch of the character

* Any other communication from Ruricola will be highly acceptable. — EDITOR.

f The Naturalist's Library. Ornithology. Vol. I. Humming Birds. By Sir
William Jardine, Bart., F.R.S. & E. F.L.S., &c. 12mo, pp 147. 35 coloured plates,
and portrait. Lizars, and Stirling & Kenney, Edinburgh. 1833.

SIR WM. JAUDINE ON HUMMING BIRDS. 167

of the pretty little birds chosen by Sir William Jardine as the leading
subject of his NATURALIST'S LIBRARY. " Of all animated beings,"
says the Count, " this is the most elegant in form and most splendid
in colouring. Precious stones and metals artificially polished can
never be compared to this jewel of nature, who has placed it in the order
of birds at the bottom of the scale of magnitude — maxime miranda in
minimis — while all the gifts, which are only shared among others — nim-
bleness, rapidity, sprightliness, grace, and rich decoration — have been
profusely bestowed upon this little favourite. The emerald, the ruby,
and the topaz, sparkle in its plumage, which is never soiled by the dust
of the ground, for its whole life being aerial, it rarely alights on the
turf. It dwells in the air, and flitting from flower to flower it seems to
be itself a flower in freshness and splendour ; it feeds on their nectar
and resides in climates where they blow in perpetual succession ; for
the few which migrate out of the tropics during summer, make but a
transitory stay in the temperate zones. They follow the course of the
sun, advancing or retiring with him, and flying on the wings of the
zephyrs, wanton in eternal spring."

Such then are the birds which Mr. Lizars has, in the volume before
us, undertaken to exhibit, with his well-known skill, in their natural
colours ; and Sir William Jardine, to characterise, by descriptive dis-
tinctions. The engravings are the most extraordinary feature of the
book, when we consider the price ; for, besides a beautifully-finished
nest as a vignette to the title-page, there are thirty-four plates of
birds, as scientifically accurate in the details, as rich and exquisite in
colouring. Besides these there are a number of cuts, none of which,
however, are equal'in execution to the rest of the work ; and a por-
trait of Linnseus, so admirable in character and so delicately finished, as
to be well worth the whole price at which the volume is published. It
represents the extraordinary man who has done so much good and so
much injury to our science, at the age of twenty-five, in his Lapland
dress,with plant-boxes and other travelling apparatus hung at his girdle,
and holding in his hand a specimen of Linnaea borealis. The coun-
tenance exhibits little of the enthusiasm which must have inspired the
young botanist to wander over Lapland in search of plants, but is
sedate and contemplative, as if his thoughts were absorbed in some
engrossing idea — the idea, no doubt, of indexing the whole productions
of creation, taking for his starting point the pretty plant which he
holds in his hand.
The memoir of Linnseus, with whicjb Sir William Jardine has prefaced

168 SIR WM.JARDINE ON HUMMING BIRDS.

the work, is excellent in its way ; we mean it is well and elegantly
written, and exhibits in a striking manner the characteristic enthusiasm
of Linneeus, which is not apparent in the engraved portrait ; but it is
not so much to our taste as Sir William's Life of Wilson, probably
because Wilson is a greater favourite with us than Linr.eeus. We are
glad to perceive that the author has not followed certain pedantic
English writers, in changing Linnaeus into Linne ; but we do not
exactly see the propriety of the memoir being coupled with humming
birds, which Linnaeus did little to illustrate. M. Audebert ought m
justice to have had the preference. This consideration, however, is of
little weight, and we are exceedingly pleased both with the engraved
and with the written portrait of the dis inguished Swede, which are
well worth six shillings, independently of the thirty -five coloured
plates.

We shall now advert to the humming birds, and passing over two pa-
ragraphs about representation, as theoretical notions which we consider
fanciful, we come upon the following sketch, which we request the
reader to compare with what we have quoted above from Buffonr
expressly with this view, and we think he will agree with us in thinking
our author not inferior in eloquence, while he is certainly superior to
the Count in correct taste.

"The beautiful and delicate beings," says Sir William, " to which we must now
particularly direct the attention of our readers, appear to have excited the admiration
of their discoverers, and, indeed, of every one who has observed them, either revelling
in their native glades, or at rest in the mere artificial display of our museums, by the
spirited proportions of their form, and the dazzling splendour of their plumage,

' Delicate and beautiful,

'Thick without burden, close as fishes' scales.'

" The nation of the Aztecs call their capital Tzinzunzan, from the number of hum-
ming birds in its vicinity, with which the statues of their gods are adorned ; and the
Indians of Patzquara are still famous for this art. They compose figures of saints
with the feathers of the colibri, which are remarkable for the delicacy of the execution
and the brilliancy of the colours.

" The ancient Mexicans used their feathers for superb mantles in the time of Mon-
tezuma, and the pictures so much extolled by Cortes were embroidered with their skins-
the Indian could appreciate their loveliness, delighting to adorn his bride with gems
and jewellery plucked from the starry frontlets of these beauteous forms. Every
epithet which the ingenuity of language could invent has been employed to depict the
richness of their colouring ; the lustre of the topaz, of emeralds and rubies, have been
compared with them, and applied in their names. ' The hue of roses steeped in liquid
fire,' and even the ' cheveux de 1' astre du jour' of the imaginative Buffon, fall short
of their versatile tints. Let us inquire, however, whether an exterior of 'gorgeous

SIR WM. JARD1NC ON HUMMING BIRDS. 169

plumery ' is all which they possess, and if theie is no beautiful adaptation of structure
to supply the wants of so frail a tenement ?

" These birds are nearly confined to the tropical poitions of the New World, and,
according to our best information, that great archipelago of islands between Florida and
the mouths of the Orinoco, with the mainland of the southern continent, until it passes
the Tropic of Capricorn, literally swarms with them. In the wild and uncultivated
parts, they inhabit those forests of magnificent timber, overhung with lianas and the
superb tribe of bignonacere, the huge trunks clothed with a rich drapery of parasites,
whose blossoms only give way in beauty to the sparkling tints of their airy tenants;
but since the cultivation of various parts of the country they abound in the gardens,
and seem to delight in society, become familiar, and destitute of fear, hovering over
one side of a shrub, while the fruit or flowers is plucked from that opposite. There
appears to exist great familiarity in their manners. They are of a lively and active
disposition, almost constantly on the wing, and performing all their motions with
great rapidity : their flight is in darts, and it is at this time, in a brilliant sun, that
the variations of their plumage are displayed with the greatest advantage.

' Each rapid movement gives a different dye ;
Like scales of burnished gold they dazzling show,
Now sink to shade — now like a furnace glow.'

" But when performing a lengthened flight, as during migration, they pass through
the air in long undulations, raising themselves for some distance, and then falling in a
curve. When about to feed, or in search of a favourite flower, they hover stationary,
surveying all around, and suddenly dart off to the object. ' I have often stopped,' says
Wilson, ' with pleasure, to observe their manoeuvres among the blossoms of a trumpet
flower. When arrived before a thicket of these, that are in full bloom, he poises or
suspends himself on wing for the space of two or three seconds so steadily, that his
wings become invisible, or only like a mist." And Bullock says, ' they remain sus-
pended in the air in a space barely sufficient for them to move their wings ; and the
humming noise proceeds entirely from the surprising velocity with which they perform
that motion, by which they will keep their bodies in the air, apparently motionless, for
hours together." An older writer, Fermin, a Surinam physician, compares this action
to the balancing of the beautiful bee-like flies on foetid waters ; perhaps it may be
also likened to the motions of a large hawk-moth, before alighting on a flower.

" They seldom alight upon the ground, but perch easily on branches. The ruby-
throated humming-bird settles on twigs and branches, where they move sideways in
prettily measured steps, frequently opening- and closing their wings, pluming, stroking
and arranging the whole of their apparel with neatness and activity. They are par-
ticularly fond of spreading one wing at a time, and passing each of the quill-feathers
through their bill in its whole length, when, if the sun is shining, the wing thus
plumtd is rendered extremely transparent and light." (AUDUBON.) — page 55.

Every reader must agree with us that this is beautifully written, full
of correct information, such as none but a genuine naturalist could
have given, and such as none but a writer of fine literary taste could
have penned. The style, it may be remarked, has a character of its
own, quite different, though of the same delightful school as White,

170 SIR WM. JARDINE ON HUMMING BIRDS.

Knapp, and the Wilsons, in the same way as we would say that Claude
Lorraine, Vernet, and Cuyp, are of the same school in landscape paint-
ing ; though each of these distinguished painters is characterised by
personal peculiarities, as is uniformly the case with original genius in
every department of literature, art, or science. We are half tempted
to extract largely from the introductory remarks ; but, considering our
limits, we must for the present remain contented with another, which
we select on account of having remarked in a previous page, that Sir
William did not pay much attention to physiology. The following
quotation will show that he can, when he so chooses, give excellent
illustrations of this interesting branch of science : —

'' When we examine attentively," he says, " the structure of any bird, we soon
come to the conclusion that the most important parts of its outward form are those
organs which serve for the means of transporting it from place to place. On presenting
a humming-bird to the most common observer, the first exclamation generally is,
' What a beautiful little creature it is!' The second, ' What large wings it has !'
Such, indeed, is the case, and in most cases, the size of their wings and strength of
their quills, are entirely out of proportion to our ideas of symmetry in a creature clothed
with feathers ; but, upon comparing them with its necessities, and the other parts of its
frame, their utility and design become obvious. All their other parts, not called into
action during flight, are very slender, almost frail ; their tarsi short, and feet small, so
as not to incommode during flight, while they point out an inability for any long sup-
port or assistance in procuring sustenance, by climbing or hanging in various positions
as we see employed by the titmouse, and many of the slender-billed warblers. Their
food is derived from the sweet nectar of flowers, or from insects which must either be
taken in a rapid flight, or withdrawn from the deep tube, or cup-shaped recesses of
blossoms which grow and hang in every direction, and which it would be impossible to
reach, unless by suspension above or under. Another great necessity for possessing
organs of such power, is to enable them to pass in safety through the migrations, and
the long flights which are sometimes necessary for their preservation, and during which
they have often to withstand a passing gale, showers, or even the rigour of a snow
storm. The beautiful climes where we have seen they inhabit, are at seasons subject
to perpi tual rains, which drench and almost inundate their abodes, or to hurricanes
that in a few minutes leave a wreck of all that was before so magnificent and luxu-
riant ; and they pass by these means, before the dangerous season, to districts where
the reparation of a previous wreck is proceeding with all the magical rapidity of tro-
pical vegetation.

"The form of the wings is very nearly similar to those of the swift (Cypselus,
ILLIOEH) whose power of flight every one is acquainted with. They in general exceed
the tail in length, unless when that member is extraordinarily developed. The ex-
terior outline of the wing is much curved, and the first quill is always longest, the
others gradually shortening. The secondaries are very short, and the lesser wing-
coverts occupy very little room. The plumelets of the quills are quite narrow and
compact, firmly united together, forming a substance, and which, by presenting resist,
ance to the air when struck, and allowing no part to pass through the webs, as in

SIR WM. JARDINE ON HUMMING BIRDS. 171

nocturnal feeding-birds, produces that humming noise which is heard during their
suspension, and whence their common name has been applied. In all, the shafts of
the quills are remarkably strong and elastic, but in a few species, known under the
denomination of sickle or sabre-winged humming-birds, and forming the genus Cam-
pylopterus of Swainson, they are developed to an extraordinary degree at the base, and
nearly equal the breadth of the plume.

" The birds composing this division are large, but not the largest of the family ;
and our present information of their habits does not point out any peculiarity to which
this development is adapted. It besides, is wanting, or in a great measure reduced,
^ the females of some of them. Mr. Swainson has figured two birds, which seem
almost identical, except in the absence of the broad shaft in the one, and in specimens
of the sabre wing, which we have figured at Plate xxxiv, the shafts of the female bird
were in breadth only about one half.

" The organ of next importance, as directing the flight, is the tail. This is always
powerful, and presents every modification which we find in those birds endowed with
powerful or rapid flight, and will be of use to thesystematist in directing the forms which
present themselves in analogy with the other families of the feathered race. In one
species, (see Plate xxvn) it presents a very curious anomaly among birds, by being
composed of only six feathers. This species is rate, and I have had no opportunity
for an examination ; but the testimonies of Temminck and Lesson show that it is not
an accidental variation, but that it remains constant in all the birds which they have
examined." — page. 67.

These extracts, we think, will fully prove the opinion we have ex-
pressed of this beautiful and surprisingly cheap volume ; and we shall
only add, that there are but few allusions to the objectionable theories
of the Lamarckian school, which we regret to find so frequent in Sir
William's notes on Wilson.

The chief objection, indeed, which we have to this excellent' volume,
is the introduction, already mentioned, of the doctrine of Representa-
tion ; by which it is maintained, for example, that the fire-fly of the
West Indies is the real representative of our glow-worm. If this re-
presentation be, as it is alleged, so universal, we surely have a right to
ask what European representative we have of the humming-birds, the
subject of this volume ? No bird will answer to this ; and our humble
bees are represented in America, not by humming-birds, but other
species of bees. The whole doctrine, indeed, is as fanciful as that of
Buffon, which maintained the degeneracy of American animals, on
account of the climate.

172

ACCOUNT OF AN ALPINE SWIFT, SHOT IN NORFOLK.

BY THE HEV. THOMAS FULCHER.

This engraving was reduced from the exquisite drawing of the rev. author.

ON the 14th of October, 1831, a bird-stuffer, then living in the ad-
joining parish, showed me the skin of a species of swift which was shot
in this village in the previous month of September, and was warm and
bleeding when taken to him. I afterwards directed him to stuff it for
me; and the specimen is now in my possession, but not in a very good
state. In measuring it, some allowance must be made for the shrivelled
state of the skin. The length, from the tip of the bill to the end of
the tail, is rather more than eight inches; breadth across the wings
twenty inches ; it is much more bulky than the common swift (Cypselus
murarius TEMMINCK), and must have weighed, at least, as much
again. Bill nearly two-fifths of an inch long, measured from the base
of the upper mandible, curved and black ; the colour of the irides
unknown, but I believe it was dusky. The head, back of the neck,
back, wings, and tail grey brown, and the edges of the feathers of a
paler colour. Round the breast is a collar of grey brown. The throat,
lower part of the breast, and the body to the commencement of
the under tail-coverts white; the sides dusky, with a mixture of
dull white ; under surface of the wings and tail, and the under
tail-coverts dusky. The quill-feathers are darker than the back,
and remarkably strong and pointed ; the quills dusky white. The
back, wings, and tail have copper-coloured and green reflections when
viewed in particular lights. The tail is more than three inches long,
forked, and consists of exactly ten feathers. Legs short and strong,
flesh coloured, and feathered to the toes, which are all placed forward,
as in the common swift ; the claws strong and brownish black.

When I first looked at the bird I was puzzled to know what it was ;
but it soon struck me that it might be the bird referred to by White
(Letters 40 and (51) under the name of Hirundo melba, or great

THE ALPINE SWIFT. 173

white- bellied swift of Gibraltar; and on receiving from my friend —
before alluded to — the description given by Latham in his Synopsis of
that bird, I had no . further doubt on the subject. The Quarterly
Review, in an article on American Ornithology, mentions a specimen
having been shot off the coast of Ireland ; but I am not at present
aware that naturalists have noticed any other as having been seen
in the British Isles. I find no notice of it in your valuable edition of
Montagu. Latham gives the length eight inches and a half, and weight
two ounces five drachms. He says the species is not numerous ; that it
builds in the holes of the rocks in the mountainous parts of Spain, and
is found at Gibraltar, and in Savoy, &c.
Old Buclcenham,near Attleboro\ Norfolk.
19th Feb., 1833.

THE ALPINE SWIFT. (Cypselus Alpinus, TEMMINCK.)

Hirundo Melba, Linn. i. 345. Gmelin, i. 1023. Germ. iv. tab. 413. Faun.
Arag. 90. Latham, Ind. ii. 582. Gen. Syn. iv. 586. Gsn. Hist. vii. 323. Vieillot,
Gall. No. 121. Baron Cuvier, Regne Anim. i. 395. Hirundo Alpina, Scopoli, Ann.
i. 166. No. 252. Bechstein, Nat. Deutsch. iii. 935. Hirundo major Hispanica,
Brisson, ii. 594. Klein, 83, iv. 2. Micropus Alpinus, Meyer, Tasschenb. Deutsch.
i. 282. Cypselus Alpinus, Temminck, Manuel, ii. 423. Lesson, Manuel, i. 416.
Ranzani, iii. 4, 195. Le Grand Martinet a ventre blanc, Bnjf'on, vi. 660. Drapiez,
Diet. Class, x. 236. Cipselo Alpino, Eanz. I. c. Rondine maggiore, Storia Nat.
Uccelli, iv. tab. 413. Alpen Schwalbe, Meyer, Vog. Deutsch. i. 8. Greatest Martin
or Swift, Edwards, Glean, tab. 27. White-bellied Swift, Shaw, Zoo], x. 74.

ALL the upper parts of the body are of a uniform greyish brown,
having in some lights a metallic gloss or iridescence of greenish or
reddish, more particularly on the wings and tail, which are darker.
The throat, breast, and belly are white, but there is a band across the
breast of brownish grey, intermixed with black. The iris is brown, the
bill is blackish ; the legs carnation red, covered with long brownish
feathers ou the fore and inside. The tail is forked like the common
swift, and the wings are likewise very long. The length is about nine
inches, the bill half an inch, the breadth of the expanded wings twenty
inches, and weight is about two ounces and a half.

Ranzani says it is usually first seen about Modena on the 12th of
March, and in Savoy at the beginning of April ; and Mr. White
observed them arrive at Gibraltar about the 25ih of March. It is com-
mon indeed, in most of the mountainous countries in the south of
Europe, building in rocks a nest composed of straw, moss, dried leaves,
and the like, simply interlaced according to Spallanzani, and without
any glutinous material to bind it. On the contrary, Meyer, Wolf, and

174 THE ALPINE SWIFT.

Delamotte say they have found in the nest a transparent viscous mate-
rial, probably similar to that mentioned by Wilson in his account of the
nest of the American swift (Cypselus pelasgicus, LATHAM). It has two
broods each summer, the first consisting of three to four young, the
second seldom more than two. The eggs are longish and white, and
the hatching is performed in three weeks. It remains in the high
mountains near Modena, according to Ranzani, up till October, but
the following account, from the observations made at Gibraltar by
Mr. White, renders this, I think, doubtful.

" This," he says, " as the common swift, is larger there than authors
mention, being nine inches and a half long, twenty two and a half
broad, and weighing three ounces and seven eighths. They arrive
often as early as the 25th of March, never sooner ; first to be seen
about the highest summit, and then proceed further, and several suc-
cessions seem to come before they stop there ; often in the beginning
of the season, fly so high as to be out of sight, and known only
by their being heard ; during the west winds, always remain on
the summit, seen only near the town in a levant wind, on the sudden
rising of which they swarm over the whole town among the common
swifts ; but after breeding time, although the levant winds blow, they
do not come to the town : hence it may be supposed that the reason
for their frequenting the town is to collect materials for their nests, as
all those shot in the town have had their mouths full of feathers, hair,
wool, and such like. The nest is composed in the same loose manner
as in the other swift; the eggs are five or six in number, and the
young fly in June. They depart usually the first week in August,
arid great numbers from other parts also congregate here, till the first
week in September. The voice is peculiar ; a shrill, jarring, tremulous
scream while on the wing, very distinct from the common swift, not
unlike the cry of some eagles or hawks; at other times they twitter
like a swallow. The flesh is accounted a delicate morsel, and they are
at first coming very fat."

Spallanzani, in his experiments on torpidity, subjected'a young bird
of this species to an artificial cold of 8| degrees below zero, without
causing its death.

It has long been suspected that stragglers occasionally reached this
country, and Dr. Latham was told that such had been observed ; but
he adds that the evidence was too slight to be trusted as actually proving
the fact. The preceding instance is conclusive, independently of the
accounts from Ireland.

Lee, Kent, 13d March, 1833.

175
ON PREPARING SPECIMENS FOR MUSEUMS.

BY R. B , ESQ. DUBLIN.

THE preparing of a collection of specimens being one of the most
seductive modes of fostering a taste for natural history, it appears of
importance to facilitate as much as possible the formation of museums.
The loss of useful discoveries may by this means in many instances be
prevented, and numerous improvements may possibly arise. I make
this suggestion with a full consciousness of the vast difference between
the naturalist of the museum, and the naturalist of observation in the
fields. Yet the importance of a museum cannot be denied, and if put
together by the observing and practical naturalist, it will much enhance
his pleasure by serving'as vivid memoranda to the informati6n he has
gleaned from observation of the specimens in their various localities.
In accordance with these views the following details are offered, pre-
suming them to be quite new to the public.

Birds are too often rejected as not worth preserving, from being
bloody or otherwise soiled ; but they can be perfectly restored to
purity of plumage in the following manner. Having mounted the
bird in the attitude designed, wash the soiled parts gently in the
direction of the feathers, with a sponge and cold soft water, which,
if carefully performed, will not discompose the plumage. Then,
having made a mixture of raw starch and cold water, of the con-
sistency of thin mortar, lay a coat of it about the eighth of an
inch thick over the parts to be cleansed, and in about twenty-four*
hours, when it is dry, it may be removed by a few taps of the finger,
and will carry with it the blood or other soiling which it was sought
to remove. This useful plan was suggested from seeing extensive
stains removed from carpets by starch, and was first put in practice
with complete success on a golden-eyed duck (Clangula vnlgaris).
This bird had been badly shot, was much soiled with blood, mud, the
discharge from the mouth, and had been many days killed ; yet by the
foregoing means its feathers were restored to perfect cleanness. The
same method has since been tried on birds many years mounted, with
great advantage, and even stains produced in performing the operation
after stuffing, may be readily removed in a similar manner.

In mounting mammalia, the natural expression is attained with con-
siderable ease as follows. Take a mould of the skinned breast of the
animal in Paris plaster, a simple operation, from which a cast of the
same material is to be made, inserting at the time, one or more wires

176 ON PREPARING SPECIMENS FOR MUSEUMS.

according to the size of the subject, into the neck, to represent the
spinal bones. An articulated bone skeleton is easily formed on this
principle, which being covered with tow to represent the muscles, and
the prepared skin sewn over it, a fac-simile of the original is produced
capable of being placed in any position the operator pleases. Other
advantages over the old plans are, that the skull, or even the entire
skeleton is preserved, and an unchangeable likeness obtained. In the
ordinary way, however modelled the head may be, yet upon the skin
shrinking, it is more or less distorted, a circumstance which does not
occur in the present plan ; for if care be taken that the drying proceeds
equally, the minutest parts are all completely preserved.

The escape of spirit so much complained of by those who keep wet
preparations, may be alleviated in the following manner: — Take a
portion of one of the toys, commonly sold under the name of Indian
rubber balls, not unlike a globular bladder, and having pulled it for
some time between the fingers, it will stretch to an astonishing tenuity,
being then drawn tightly over the mouth of the vessel containing the
preparation, it will, on being let go, contract round the edge, and form
a stopper, impenetrable to the vapours of either water or spirit, and its
elasticity allowing it to yield to the expansion of the enclosed liquids,
remedies the chief cause of the escape of spirit in the former modes:
for expansive force having hence established a passage through the old
elastic stoppers, vapour was expelled at every increase of temperature,
a neat appearance may be given to bottles or jars covered in the
manner shown, by tying a piece of coloured paper over the Indian
rubber, and pasting beneath a collar of ihe same. It is unnecessary
to observe that the India rubber should not be wetted during the ope-
ration of stretching, as in that state it is apt to tear.

In mounting fish, particularly flat-fish, having covered one side of
the specimen with a slight covering of gum, and laid over this a piece
of silver paper, lay the fish with the papered side uppermost in a tray
made of board or sheet lead, having slightly touched it with oil. Pour
over it plaster of Paris just about to set. When quite firm, reverse
the whole, arid remove the intervening parts of the fish from the
exposed side to the skin of the papered part ; an operation which a
little experience will render easy. Then fill it up with a cement made
of bees' wax and rosin melted together, which must be very cool before
it is poured in, otherwise it will cause the skin to curl up. When cold,
remove the plaster and silver paper, and wash the skin with a varnish
thus compounded: — Take six parts of gum arabic, and one part of
gum tragacanth dissolved in water, and squeezed through fine linen ;

CHAPTER OF VARIETIES. 177

reduce it with water to the consistency of cream, then*add half its
bulk of spirits of wine, having- a very small quantity of corrosive
sublimate, and a few drops of oil of thyme dissolved in it. This is a
very useful varnish, applicable to bones, shells, &c., and does not
suffer much from damp or heat. Several coats of this will be required
at intervals for the fish. The advantages of the foregoing plan are,
that it requires very little skill in the operation, the natural form of
the fish is retained in the utmost possible perfection, and the scales
are kept in their places. It is, perhaps, unnecessary to observe, that
only one side of the specimen is preserved by this process.

An insect net frame, very portable, exceedingly cheap, and appli-
cable to any common walking-stick, may be made of two semicircular
wires looped together, having pieces of slit tube soldered to the other
ends, and bent in the direction of the diameter of the entire circle, a
gimlet being looped both through holes in the pieces of tube and the
stick ; a piece of strong twine tied near the gimlet will make all fast.

Dublin, March 23, 1833.

CHAPTER OF VARIETIES.

ON REARING OAK PLANTS IN HYACINTH GLASSES. The fol-

lowing experiment on the germination and growth of plants, may be
new to many of the readers of the " Field Naturalist's Magazine," as it
was to several friends to whom I showed it, though they were by no
means inattentive to natural phenomena.

Let a common hyacinth glass, or other glass if more convenient, be
filled about a half or a third part full of water ; and a piece of card be
prepared as a cover for the opening of the glass, so as to fit close and
exclude the air. Fasten a strong thread, or a piece of brass wire,
round an acorn ; not iron wire, for it will rust and corrode the acorn,
and frustrate the experiment. Suspend the thread or brass wire

VOL. i. — NO. iv. 1833. N

178

CHAPTER OF VARIETIES.

from the card, (a) or from a small transverse bar of wood or metal beneath
it, so that the acorn (6) may be sustained at a short distance above the
surface of the water, but near enough for the steam, which will be
generated by the glass being kept in a warm room, to be communicated
to the acorn, from which it will depend in a large drop.

In a few days the germ will be found to burst the shell of the acorn,
and in about a fortnight afterwards the radicle, or little root, will pro-
trude itself through the cleft, and take a downward direction into the
water, where it will be continually extended and enlarged, by degrees
throwing out external fibres, until, after a few days more, the other
member of the germ will be seen to rise upwards till it comes near the
card that covers the vessel, through which a hole must be cut to allow
of its free passage. This forms the stem of the tree, which will shortly
be seen to throw out two leafits at its extremity, and shortly again
others; till in the course of a few weeks from the commencement
of the experiment, the tree will have grown to the height of several
inches, and be ornamented at its top with leaves of two or three inches
long, and wide in proportion, besides smaller ones breaking out at its
sides, the root meanwhile having continued growing to a length exceed-
ing that of the stem. In six instances of this experiment commenced
in November last, the hyacinth glasses having been kept during the
cold weather for the most part on the mantel-piece of an inhabited
parlour, of the usual temperature of such apartments, the stems have
grown to different heights, being respectively about five inches, which

CHAPTER OF VARIETIES. 179

is the lowest, and so on to about nine inches, with intermediate heights,
at the date of this letter, March 4th ; the acorn itself having in the
meantime become shrivelled, and lost much of its substance and
weight.

The annexed sketch represents one of the examples above described.
The growth of a similar plant will, I am sure, afford an interesting
object of observation to any of your readers who are fond of natural
history, and may be disposed to try the experiment ; and if, when they
have satisfied their curiosity by the phenomenon, they desire to turn it
to further account, they may do so, by removing their nursling from
the glass to the garden, where they may have the pleasure of seeing the
stem, at least, continue to improve under their eyes, the progress of
the root being of course known only by its effects in continuing to
supply moisture, and thereby giving increase and vigour to the stem.
I have in my possession a couple of small oak plants, now growing in
the earth, which were raised two or three years ago in glasses after
the manner above described.

Bath, 4th March, 1833.

ON THE HEDGE-HOG. — During three seasons I had a black setter
dog which was remarkably fond of discovering and pointing hedge-
hogs in their winter retreat. By this means I had many opportunities
of examining those singular animals, and of ascertaining whether or
not they lay up food for winter. It is an opinion as old as Pliny,
" prseparant hyemi cibos," but though I have examined many dozens
of their hybernacula, I have never been able to discover any of their
hoards. It appears to me from a consideration of the very curious, I
may even say' intricate, manner in which they are inclosed in their
globe of withered grass and moss, that they intend it for their dormitory
till spring, and can therefore have no occasion for any store of provisions.
The hedge-hog feeds on vegetables, slugs, beetles, eggs, &c. The
knowledge of the last fact, and the havoc they therefore commit among
the game, will, I fear, cause many a keen sportsman to destroy this poor
animal as an enemy ; for the true sportsman is a very selfish person,
and will not allow either bird or beast to interfere with the objects of
his pursuit. The hedge-hog was in great request among the Romans,
who eagerly hunted it for its spiny skin, which they converted into
cloth brushes. " Hac cute exspoliuntur vestes." Pliny details the
method of catching and killing it.

R. D.
N 2

180 CHAPTER OF VARIETIES.

[Pliny's account, which is in many things fanciful and fabulous,
runs thus. — EDITOR.]

" Hedge-hogs also make their provision before-hand of meat for winter, in this wise.
They wallow and roll themselves upon apples and such fruit lying under foot, and so
catch them up with their prickles, and one more besides they take in their mouth, and
so carry them into hollow trees. By stopping one or other of their holes, men know
when the wind turneth, and is changed from north to south. When they perceive one
hunting of them, they draw their mouth and feet close together, with all their belly part,
where the skin hath a thin downe and no pricks at all to do harme, and so roll them-
selves as round as a foot-ball, that neither dog nor man can come by any thing but
their sharpe-pointed prickles. So soon as they see themselves past all hope to escape,
they let their water go, and pisse upon themselves. Now this urine of theirs hath a
poisonous qualitie to rot their skin and prickles, for which they know well enough that
they be chased and taken. And, therefore it is a secret and special! policie, not to hunt
them before they have let their urine go ; and then their skin is very good, for which
chiefly they are hunted ; otherwise it is nought ever after, and so rotten, that it will
not hang together, but fall to pieces : all the pricks shed off, as being putrified, yea
although they should escape away from the dogs and live still : and this is the cause
that they never bepisse and drench themselves with this pestilent excrement, but in ex-
tremitie and utter despaire ; for they cannot abide themselves their own urine, of so
venomous a qualitie it is, and so hurtfull to their own body ; and do what they can
to spare themselves, attending the utmost time of extremitie, insomuch as they are
ready to be taken before they do it. When the urchin is caught alive, the device to
make him open himselfe again in length, is to besprinkle him with hot water ; and then by
hanging at one of their hind feet, without meat, they die with famine, otherwise it is not
possible to kill them, and save their case or skin. There be writers who bash not to
say, that this kinde of beast, (were not those pricks,) is good for nothing, and may
well be missed of men : and that the soft fleece of wooll that sheepe bear, but for these
prickes, were superfluous, and to no purpose bestowed upon mankind ; for which the
rough skin of these urchins, are brushes and rubbers made to brush and make cleane
our garments. And in very truth, many have gotten great gain and profit by this
commoditie and merchandise, and namely, with their crafty device of monopolies, that
all might passe through their hands only : notwithstanding there hath not bin anyone
disorder more repressed and reformation sought by sundry edicts and acts of the senate
in that behalf : every prince hath been continually troubled hereabout with grievous
complaints out of all provinces."

EGGS OF A SPIDER ATTACKED BY A PARASITE. — The preceding
figure represents a deposition of eggs, which I found attached to the

CHAPTER OF VARIETIES. 181

slender stalk of a fir tree during, March, 1832. I carefully placed them
in a breeding box, and in a few days they were hatched, and a number
of small flies made their appearance, having black bodies, four trans-
parent wings, the upper pair having a pretty tinge of changeable hues,
and a small square black spot in the middle of the exterior margin,
the hind pair of legs disproportionately long, and of a rather dark red
colour, and the antennae filiform, and bending upwards like an in-
verted arch. They were submitted to a gentleman distinguished in
this department of natural history,' and they were returned to me
labelled, (Micorogaster alvearius, FABRICIUS,) which is a species of
parasite. When found, the whole mass of eggs were covered over
by a very thin film of silk, of a light pink colour, and the apertures
from which the flies made their exit were not very apparent until they
were near upon opening, which, when they did, the round lid of each
cell turned back as though by a hinge, and the cells were divided
from one another by a thin delicate partition. I think it not impro-
bable that the eggs were deposited by a spider, as I have often found
them in somewhat similar situations, and, like the present, protected
by a thin web ; but as that is only conjectural, I^should feel obliged if
you could solve the mystery. — SOLIVARIUS.

EXPERIMENTS ON THE AIR CAVITIES AND THE COLOURS OF LEAVES.
— In a late number of the Annales des Sciences Naturelles ap-
peared a paper by M. Dutrochet, stating some experiments in which,
for the purpose of showing the air cavities in leaves, he put them, sub-
mersed in water, under the exhausted receiver of an air pump. The
pale underside of the leaf thus treated assumes the deep green colour
of the upper surface. The air leaving its cavities allows the water to
enter and fill them. On repeating these experiments I observed, that
as the water evaporated and the underside of leaf resumed its colour,
it did so not in all the parts of it at the same time, but the air cavities
afforded different degrees of facility to the evaporation j and of con-
tiguous cavities some of them remained for some time full of water
and of a deep green colour, while others were dried up and filled with
air, having" regained their paler colour. By this means, the form,
size, and arrangement of the air cavities were easily distinguishable.
The enquiry naturally suggested itself whether, if, instead of water,
a coloured fluid were used, the cells might not be permanently tinged
so as to become perceptible to the eye. Red and black inks were tried,
but without effect, and from' these and other trials it appeared highly

182 CHAPTER OF VARIETIES.

probable, that the fluids used were filtered, and their colouring particles
thrown back, by the minute openings of the air cavities. That difficulty
may be avoided by filling the air cavities successively with two diffe-
rent fluids ; such as prussiate of potass and sulphate of iron in solution.
Assuming these air cavities to perform that necessary function in
vegetable, which is performed by the lungs in animal, life j that is, the
aeration of the circulating fluids, their number and capacity must be in
proportion to the quantity of fluids circulated. The sap or circulating
fluid, is more abundant in young trees than in old ones, and in
fresh shoots than in matured ones. As regards the trees themselves,
the necessary supply of aeration may be provided for by an
increased foliage, as we find to be the case with respect to young
trees. But with respect to branches when the same leaves remain on
the same branch during a whole summer, the varying supply cannot
thus be provided for, since, while the degree of succulency and rate of
growth diminish, the aerating surface of the leaves increases. Another
expedient appears therefore to be adopted. Take the young shoot of
a vine, with its newly pruned leaves. Both sides of each leaf are
alike pale-coloured and covered with air cavities. The quantity of
aerating surface is thus increased by being extended to both sides of
the leaf. As the leaf grows, and the branch on which it stands is
matured, the upper surface loses its air cavities, which have become no
longer necessary.— W. B. 20th March, 1833.

ATTACK OF SPARROWS ON A MOUSE. — In the summer of 1831, one
of the residents of the Temple turned a mouse loose in the open grand
space, and the little intruder had no sooner made his appearance, than
he was simultaneously attacked by the sparrows, which commenced so
deadly an attack on him that he ran in all directions, endeavouring to
escape their fury, and leaped up in the air in great agony, in vain, for
the persecution abated not until the little sufferer ceased to exist. —
VERITAS, March 6, 1833.

SOCIALITY OF A RAT WITH A YOUNG CAT. — We have frequently
opportunities of observing the association of animals, which in a state
of nature exist in hostility to each other ; but this is generally the
result of education. It may therefore appear the more surprising, that
without any apparent cause for such an act of friendship, our cat (a
young one) should have permitted a rat to partake of her morning's
breakfast. During the last summer, when our cats were lapping their
morning's portion of bread and milk, a rat was frequently observed to

CHAPTER OF VARIETIES. 183

join them without molestation from either ; indeed the kitten was in-
variably deprived of a comfortable meal by her dam's hospitality, as
the little thing was so frightened as to scamper off the moment the
intruder made his appearance. I cannot imagine the cause of such
change of habit, and it appears the more strange as I have reason to
think that, from the servant's peculiar dislike to cats, they were not
too well supplied with food. What could have led the rat to suppose
his presence would have been tolerated in such dangerous company ?
Perchance the worthy company of rats, in imitation of the mice in the
fable, had held a council of war, and come to some dreadful resolution,
which this favourite was elected to execute. He has discontinued his
visits some time ; he has perhaps accomplished his object, or he may
have been once too often — VERITAS, March 6, 1833.

THE DANCING WITCHES' ROCK, JERSEY. — During a short stay in
the Island of Jersey, I frequently heard of the rock upon which the
witches danced previous to a storm at sea: and being disposed to visit
the salle a danser of the "weird sisters," I started from St. Helier,
the principal town of the island, d, pied, accompanied by Captain St.
Jewin, and after walking over a fertile country, descried the huge mass
of stone, which the islanders denominate the Dancing Witches' Rock.

This block of granite rests nearly on the centre of 'a meadow, about
an hundred yards from the sea shore, is of irregular form, of about
twenty yards in diameter, twenty feet high, and presents on its sum-
mit a flat surface, occupying about three square yards ; this surface is
marked with numerous impressions, resembling the feet of sheep or
goats, and is also impressed with a representation of the skeleton of
an animal similar in shape to a crocodile. The tracing of ribs, verte-
brae, and in fact the osseous system of some animal, appear carved on
the rock. From what cause these fanciful appearances proceed I am
unable to state, neither, as far as I have means of ascertaining, does
the history of the island furnish a clue to their origin.

There are remains of ancient temples of the Druids in the island,
and it is possible that the mass of stone had been employed by them
for the celebration of their mysteries. We are informed by Herodotus,
that the people who lived in the neighbourhood of Thebes and the Lake
Maeris, suspended gold ornaments from the ears of the crocodile, the
fore feet being secured by a chain ; they fed it with the flesh of the
sacred victims, and it was treated with great attention ; and when it
died it was embalmed, and afterwards deposited in a consecrated chest.

184 CHAPTER OF VARIETIES.

I am not aware that the Pagan priests of Britain held the crocodile in
religious veneration, but the sacrifice of animals was performed upon
their cromlechs or altars, which, says Borlase, sometimes were single
stones erect. If Druidism acknowledged the crocodile a necessary
appendage to its pretended incantations, and if the sheep or goat held
a place in the catalogue of its animal sacrifices, the curious appearances
on the Dancing Witches' Rock will admit of explanation.

I am not acquainted with the geological constitution of this rock,
but its exterior appearance is that of a close-grained granite. Assum-
ing that the granite is of the most prevalent compound, namely,
quartz, felspar, and mica ; assuming that an animal of anatomical
structure resembling that of the crocodile, had been deprived of life
on the rock, and had thereon lain till its bones came in contact with
the surface of the rock j I presume it is not probable, under those
circumstances, that natural chemical agency, acting either on the rock
or bone, would stamp the impression of the bone upon the rock. If
the bone had a considerable time rested in contact with a chalk rock,
it is assumed that chemical agency reposing in the bone, and influenced
by certain states of the atmosphere, would be roused into action, caus-
ing the rock to take the figure of the bone. Doubtless there are
changes continually going forward in the great laboratories of nature
— changes forming compounds of every kind, developing their ele-
ments as if by mere accident, and showing their existence by the spon-
taneous activity of their operations.

From the foregoing observations I think it may be said, that the
cause of the characters on the Dancing Witches' Rock is to be attributed,
in absence of better proof, to Druidic superstition j the reasoning ap-
plied to chemical transformation is liable to more difficulties, and is
influenced by circumstances not so immediately under the control of
probability.— R. T. C., Shouldham, 1st Feb., 1833.

SWALLOWS. — I think I have somewhere read that swallows do not
stop to rest during their migrations until they have reached their des-
tined port, unless they are overtaken by stress of weather, in which
case they have been known to alight upon the masts and rigging of
ships at sea; but the following circumstance which came under my ob-
servation, gives me reason to suppose that, when they pass over land,
they rest from their fatigues. Last March, when I was residing near
Lee, I was loitering one evening in a field, in hopes of finding the nest
of a blackbird frequenting a hedge on one side of the little stream

CHAPTER OF VARIETIES. 185

called Kidbrook. As I could not find any nest upon the field side of
the hedge I went round to the opposite side, and walking along by the
sandy margin of the brook tried to discover it. I crept slowly along
upon tip-toe, and was nearly opposite the place at which I expected to
find it, when suddenly I was surprised by a flight of swallows rising up
into the air close from the place where I was standing. When dis-
turbed, they seemed quite lost in confusion, and uttering a sharp plain-
tive cry, they dispersed in various directions, perhaps owing to the
darkness of the evening preventing them from collecting together, and
did not fly high up into the air, but, on the contrary, so low that they
swept the grass. Being interested in this occurrence, I went on the
following day and examined the place from which they arose, and found
that there was a long hollow fissure running under the bank, in which no
doubt they were secreted, and most likely were clinging to its sjdes and
asleep when I came up and disturbed them. However, after that evening,
I never saw one of them at that spot either flying in or out, from which
circumstance I think I am warranted in concluding that they were just
arrived in this country, and were resting from their fatigues, previous
to their repairing to their respective stations. — SOLIVARIUS.

THEORY OF RAIN. — The commonly received opinion, I believe, is,
that the water which evaporates from the surface of the earth is held
in a state of chemical solution in the air, which ascends into higher
regions, where the moisture is precipitated in the form of clouds, which
are sustained there by the joint agency of heat and electricity, and
the deposition of rain is the result of the electrical action of the clouds
upon each other.

The atmosphere, at the elevation of a few hundred yards, is at a
tolerably uniform temperature with that near the surface of the ground,
and therefore the condensation of the evaporated moisture must take
place at a considerable height; in tropical countries this conden-
sation in the form of clouds is not so frequently witnessed as in our
colder climate, where the temperature of the air is continually subject
to variation.

That evaporation does take place at all temperatures, when the air
is tolerably dry, may be easily shown, by placing a cup on the surface
of water, containing dried potash, or fused chloride of calcium ; either
of these substances will deliquesce with great rapidity, or if concen-
trated sulphuric acid be substituted it will speedily absorb nearly half
its bulk of water ; the vapour which appears to rise from water and

186 CHAPTER OF VARIETIES.

low ground after sunset, is merely the moisture precipitated from the
air upon the earth cooled by radiation. — W. E. H.
19th Feb. 1833.

ON THE OBJECTIONS OF MR. HART, PAGE 76, RESPECTING

THE THEORY OF RAIN. — The whole of Mr. Hart's objections are
highly curious and interesting, and the subject has always much puz-
zled me, particularly the fact, that a hot sun will dry a wet pavement
by heat, and a cold wind, if strong, though there is no sun, will produce
the same effect often in the same time.

Objection 1. The reason of this seems to be, that the vapour rises
imperceptibly, both above and below 60°, and is condensed in the at-
mosphere when it is below that temperature. Thus the vapour is im-
perceptible in the neck of a Florence flask boiling over a lamp, though
clearly seen above it, when the temperature is less. Again, when a
draft of cold air dries a wet pavement, no steam is perceptible on the
surface, though five or six feet above it may be felt as a sensible
dampness on the clothes and linen.

Objection 2. In this case the temperature is raised both in the air
and on the surface of the earth. We know not what becomes of water
when raised in the atmosphere, by a high or very low temperature, as
in both cases it is imperceptible, though its particles are no doubt affected
by heat or the absence of heat, the one expanding it into dispersed and
incoherent particles, the other condensing it into the form of hail or
snow. By the absence of caloric which, at any temperature above the
freezing point, is sufficient to keep it in a. state of fluidity.

Objection 3. This would undoubtedly be the case were water raised
by the heat of 300° in usual summer heat, but this is not the case in
any part of the globe. Again, in all cases of evaporation we must make
allowance for currents of air which disperse the vapours and separate
its particles, counteracting its tendency to gravitate.

Objection 4. This proves the effect of the condensation of the aqueous
particles by cold, but does not disprove their rarefaction by heat, which
would keep their particles divided, and thus prevent condensation.

Objection 5. Here the agency of increased temperature in the sur-
rounding air renders the vapour invisible, as with our breath, which is
only visible when the temperature is below that of itself when it comes
from our bodies. The glass is raised on its surface to the temperature of
the surrounding atmosphere, and therefore does not condense the steam,
but were it taken out of a pail of ice, wiped dry, and immediately held

CHAPTER OF VARIETIES. 187

over the river, would it not condense the vapour? Though water does not
BOIL without heat, it would be too much to say it does not evaporate ; or,
in other words, that no vapour rises from it when the air is above the
freezing point. Upon the whole question I think we must allow that
evaporation is constantly going on from the vast bodies of water on the
surface of the globe, though its condensation, on which its visibility de-
pends, must always be regulated by the temperature of the atmosphere,
as before explained. — E. G. BALLARD.
Islington.

ANECDOTE OF A CAT. — The collecting together and recording of a
variety of curious facts and occurrences, which would otherwise be
forgotten and lost, is certainly one of the principal objects and advan-
tages of a magazine of a natural history ; and as various remarkable
incidents cannot but continually occur to every student of nature, it
behoves all who are interested in the science to avail themselves of the
opportunity thus afforded them, to make known their observations to
the world. The following instance of remarkable cunning, or rather
sagacity, in the domestic cat, is worthy the attention of the naturalist :
— A cat, belonging to the Castle public-house, Tooting, is in the con-
stant habit, whenever the poultry are fed, of crouching herself in the
midst of the fowls, whilst they are all collected together round their
food ; by this artifice she very frequently contrives to seize some unfor-
tunate sparrow, who, descending for his share of the grain, little sus-
pects his ready foe to be lurking in such a strange hiding-place. —

Tooting. EDWAIID BLYTH.

SINGULAR LAYING OF THE BARN OWL. — A curious fact has been
related to me respecting the barn owl, and it is well attested by several
credible witnesses. A nest of that bird last summer, in this neighbour-
hood, contained two eggs, and when these were hatched two more
were laid, which latter were probably hatched by the warmth of the
young birds ; a third laying took place after the latter were hatched,
and the nest at last contained six young owls of three different ages,
which were all reared. — EDWARD BLYTH.

Tooting.

ON THE HAWFINCH AND BRA MBLEFiNCH. — I have now in con-
finement a beautiful cock hawfinch ; but he is a sad cripple, having
nearly lost the use of his limbs ; he eats very heartily, but I fear it will
take a considerable time before he recovers his strength. Day after
day passes on and I can hardly perceive any alteration ; but he cer-

188 CHAPTER OF VARIETIES.

tainly does not get worse ; indeed he is now much stronger than he was.
It seems a kind of paralysis, and I have been trying the effects of elec-
tricity upon him, by drawing sparks from the joints. This, at first,
seemed to have been of great service to him, but it appears now almost
to have lost its effect. He is an uncommonly handsome bird, and well
worth the trouble of curing, if I can manage it. It is worthy of
remark, that the mule of this bird is enclosed in a film like that of a
nestling, incontrovertibly establishing the fact, that this film is caused
by the bird being in a constant state of quiescence. He is fond of
pieces of almond, and the kernels of hazelnuts, and he consumes a
great deal of hempseed, but seems indifferent to any other small seed
that I offer him ; eating them when he takes them from my finger,
but never pecking them from the ground. He refuses haws, and
though he takes them from the hand, as he does every thing that is
offered, yet he invariably rejects the berries from which he takes his
name. I should very much like to ascertain the musical powers of the
hawfinch. I have also a very fine male bramblefinch, which, in form,
in manners, and in every thing I have yet observed, entirely resembles
the chaffinch ; even in the peculiar strut when on the ground. I have
not yet heard him sing, but he has had the migratory feeling very
strong upon him, and until that has quite left him, I cannot expect him
to sing. I keep the bramblefinch along with my pugnacious little nettle-
creeper, and each seems equally afraid of the other. The bramble-
finch has the migratory feeling upon him chiefly in the daytime ; the
warblers migrate ONLY by night. — EDWARD DLYTH.
Tooting.

CURIOUS INSTINCT IN A EWE. — A ewe belonging to Mr. ,

of Merton, has, for the last six weeks, been endeavouring to entice from
the mother every lamb that has been dropt of the flock to which she
belongs, and about a fortnight since she succeeded in getting a sickly
twin lamb to follow her, which would probably have died, had it
remained with its own mother. This lamb she has suckled ever since,
although she has not herself lambed yet ; but is expected to -drop a
lamb in the course of three or four days. — EDWARD BLYTH.

Tooting.

REDBREAST BUILDING WITH LEAVES. — Having always lived in the
country, I have had many opportunities of observing the habits of the
feathered race, particularly in the part of nest building, though I have
never studied natural history in a scientific way, but only as a rural

CHAPTER OF VARIETIES. 189

amusement. It has occurred to me whether local situations may not
make more difference with respect to the mode and the materials used
by birds in constructing their nests, than has been generally thought,
for it is very common in this neighbourhood to see a large quantity of
leaves used in the construction of the redbreast's nest. The robins,
however, do not confine themselves to the use of one particular sort ;
but seem to depend very much upon the situations, or, perhaps, upon
the sort of trees in the neighbourhood. They sometimes use the ivy
leaf, the apple, the elm, and the hazel, but more frequently the oak.
A specimen that I saw at Dorking a few weeks ago, appeared at first
sight to have the outside entirely formed of oak leaves intermixed
with moss, but upon a closer examination I saw there were three sorts
of leaves, — the hazel, the oak, and the elm ; but the oak formed the
greater part. — CHARLES ANDREWS.
Horsham, Surrey.

[Specimens of such nests sent, free of expense, to the publisher's, would be highly
acceptable. — EDITOR.]

SIMULATION OF DEATH BY A CORN CRAKE. — When the inter-
esting bird, named from its cry the corn crake (Ortygometra crex), is
alarmed, it has the instinct, in common with some other animals, and
especially insects, to feign death. A gentleman had one brought him
by his dog, it was dead to all appearance. As it lay on the ground
he turned it over with his foot; he was convinced it was dead. Stand-
ing by, however, some time in silence, he suddenly saw it open one
eye. He then took it up, its head fell, its legs hung down, it appeared
again totally dead. He then put it into his pocket, and before very
long, he felt it all alive, and struggling to escape ; he took it out, it
was lifeless as before. He then laid it on the ground, and retired to
some distance ; in about five minutes it warily raised its head, looked
round, and decamped at full speed. — E. G. BALLARD.

Islington.

ON THE BEARDED TIT. — Mr. Blyth, in his zeal to find a place
suitable for this beautiful bird, in some known genus, has, I think,
made a most unfortunate selection in adopting that of the shrike. It
appears to me, that even in similarity of marking, the resemblance is
but slight, and that with regard to the bill, which Mr. Blyth considers
" as perfectly that of the shrike," there is a perfect dissimilarity ; the
one being strong, powerful, and toothed, the other weak, slender, and

190 CHAPTER OF VARIETIES.

toothless. This, I am sure, will be evident to any careful observer;
who will further remark the different shaped tails, and the absence in
the tit of the ferocious look and strong-built head of the flusher. The
tooth is so plainly visible in the Lanius family, that it must at once
decide the question, and completely sever the new-formed connexion
between the shrikes and bearded tits. Though I am a novice in the
science, and perhaps rather too presuming, I cannot but think Laniellus
an unfit term, and would rather place this tit in the genus Muscicapa,
to which, in its general form, and in its shape of bill, it is rather more
nearly allied ; but closer observation will, no doubt, assimilate it yet
farther, or form of it a distinct genus. — WM. FOWLER.
1, Poland-street, 9th March, 1833.

[I thought it right to submit the preceding to Mr. Blyth, before I published it; and
the following are his remarks, given, as it appears to me, in the genuine spirit of a lover
of truth and candour. — EDITOR.]

ON THE BEARDED TIT. — On reconsideration, I admit that I was
perhaps too hasty in placing this species in the shrike family,
(Zcrwmna,) though I am still of opinion that the bearded tit resembles
the shrikes in several .particulars, more than it does any other group
of birds. The article was written from an observation of the living
bird ; and>if an alive bearded tit be taken into the hand, and exam-
ined, especially if it be an old bird, the resemblance of its physiognomy
to that of a shrike is very striking ; as in the various members of that
family the upper mandible of the bill is curved and pointed, though
undoubtedly very weak in comparison with those birds ; and it has
also a very distinct rudiment of a tooth or notch, the latter, however,
cannot well be observed in a stuffed specimen, unless very recently
preserved, as the bill of the bearded tit is so soft and delicate, that it
shrinks considerably as it becomes dry ; the colour also of the beak
changes in drying from a fine yellow to a dark reddish brown. Let it
be observed also, that in many of the smaller shrikes the bill is very
small and weak, and the tooth far from being well defined ; I allude
to the smaller species at present ranking in the genus Lanius, but for
which the term Collurio has, I believe, lately been proposed as a ge-
neric appellation. The flusher (Lanius Collurio, LINN.) can hardly be
adduced as an example, as it is one of the strongest formed birds that
can range under the generic name Collurio : but the weakness of
structure in many of the smaller shrikes fully entitles them, I consi-
der, to be separated from the genus Lanius ; and although the flusher

CHAPTER OF VARIETIES. 191

assimilates to these smaller species rather than to those shrikes to
which the term Lanius is to be restricted (the L. excubitor, L. bo-
realis, &c.), yet it is a much too powerfully formed bird to warrant,
of itself, any generic separation.

I am rather surprised that the form of the tail should be adduced as
a striking dissimilarity, as in most of the shrikes the tail is more or
less wedge-shaped j there is full as much difference in the tails of the
whitethroat and the Dartford warbler (species in other respects closely
resembling each other), as there is in the form of the flusher's tail and
that of the bearded tit. In its plumage also, I think, this latter species
is very similar to many of the shrikes, and few birds look fiercer when
held in the hand, or (if 1 may be allowed the word), have a more
shrikish expression of countenance than the little bearded tit. Its song
again, if song it can be called, bears a considerable resemblance to
that of the flusher shrike. For these reasons, I think the term La-
niellus, applied to this bird, is by no means inappropriate ; a genus of
the American tyrant fly-catcher (Tyrannina), is called Milvulus, the
members of which resemble the kites (Milvus) only, I believe, in
having forked tails.

If the bearded tit is still to be considered a member of the tit
family (Paritma), it must be placed in one of the most extreme limits
of that group ; to class it in the same genus with the ox-eye (Parus
major), to which it bears not the slightest similitude, must, to all who
have any knowledge of the living birds, appear absurd in the extreme.
There is however, certainly, some resemblance between the bearded tit
and the bottle tit (Parus caudatus, RAY) ; but the latter bird also
differs very considerablytfrom the other British species associated with
it in Parus. The bottle tit is one of the few small British birds that
I have not yet been able to procure alive, and as my knowledge of that
species is at present confined to field observation, I would rather defer
noticing its peculiarities until I could have an opportunity of studying
its manners in confinement.

Few animals, I observed in the paper to which Mr. Fowler refers,
appear so isolated as the bearded tit ; and let it be remembered that
one or two particulars were there mentioned, in which a great
dissimilarity was pointed out between that species and the shrikes ;
namely, the different formation of the digestive organs, and the
difference also, in their progressive motion when on the ground ;
that of the bearded tit being a decided walk, whilst the shrikes,
and the tits also, move forward by successive hops. The bearded tit,

192 CHAPTER OF VARIETIES.

it may be added, does not hop, but walks up and down among the
reeds, &c., amongst which in its wild state it is always found.

I may take this opportunity of mentioning another curious habit of
the bird, which, at the time that article was written, I kept in confine-
ment. Among the seeds which were daily put in the cage for
the sustenance of his finch companion, was a small foreign seed of
which the bearded tit was particularly fond ; and as there were never
but a very few of these seeds at a time, the bird had of course some
difficulty to find them from among the rest j the method he therefore
took to scatter the seed about the cage, to get at the bottom of the
pan, was curious ; not with his bill, as a finch, or as indeed most
other small birds would have done, but by jumping into the pan, and
scratching with his feet, much in the manner of a gallinaceous bird.

I have been informed by a dealer that, whatever number of these
birds they may have together in the same cage, (and I have myself
seen thirty or forty,) they always separate at night, and roost in
pairs. A male and female, that I possessed last autumn, appeared
extremely attached to each other, and when the cock bird died the hen
continued to call for him almost incessantly, for two or three weeks.
I afterwards procured another male, but she did not appear to take the
least notice of him, and in the afternoon of the same day she died in a
fit. In this female the moustaches were very conspicuous, though of
the same colour with the surrounding plumage ; I have since observed
them in two other hen bearded tits, but they are only visible when the
light falls on them in a particular direction ; they are more distinct in
the living bird, or in one but recently dead, than in stuffed specimens.

I am obliged to Mr. Fowler for noticing the article in question, and
hope that the various observations that have been made upon the
habits and peculiarities of this elegant little bird, will assist in
furthering the endeavours of some more competent person than myself,
to assign the true and proper situation of the bearded tit, in a systema-
tic arrangement of birds.

It may be as well here to observe, that the cut which accompanied
the article " On the habits of the bearded tit," was any thing but
a correct representation of the living bird, and gave it much more the
appearance of a species of Parus, than a drawing taken from life could
possibly have had. The form and attitudes of the living bearded tit
are most peculiar, and totally unlike those of any other British bird.

Tooting, Surrey.

193

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE BIRDS OF AFRICA.

TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH OF LE VAILLANT.

THE BLAGRE EAGLE. (Halicettts Blagrus, SAVIGNV.)

La Blagre, Levaill. Ois. de 1'Afrique, i. pi. 5 ; Falco Blagrus, Lath., Index Orn.
Sup, p. viii. ; Blagre Falcon, Lath. Gen. Sup. ii. p. 34 ; Gen. Hist. i. 159 ; Daud.
ii. p. 70 ; Shaw's Zool. vii. p. 96; Drapiez, Diet. Class., i. p. 333.

TiiEBlagre Eagle is in Africa what the baldbuzzard is in Europe. He
is modelled upon the same proportions, and possesses precisely the
same manners. His principal food consists of fish, which he observes
from a great height in the air, and seizes by precipitately plunging into
the water. Perched upon a tree that is situated on the margin of a
river or lake, or upon a rock bordering on the sea, he passes whole
mornings pouncing upon the fishes which are presented to his view.
He is seldom found in the interior of the country, where the land is
dry and sandy ; he only frequents the sea-shore, or rivers, where fish
are plentiful. He spars to a prodigious height, whence he is heard to

VOL. r. — NO. v. — (-MAY, 1833.) o

194 LE VAILLANT'S NATURAL HISTORY

utter the shrillest screams. These birds appear to have a piercing eye,
for I have seen them descend almost from the clouds directly upon
fishes that were swimming upon the surface of the water, and carry off
some of a tolerable size in their talons. The flesh of the Blagre Eagle
has an insipid fishy taste, and its fat, which is exceedingly abundant, is
so oily, that, in skinning the bird, it penetrates all over the feathers.
Two individuals of this species, which I had prepared with the greatest
care, were totally spoiled, because the fat, in time, spread over each of
these birds' feathers ; so that they were as completely soaked by it, as
if they had been steeped in oil.

The Blagre Eagle is of the size of our baldbuzzard ; his feathers have
the ruddiness of those of the kingfisher, especially those upon the belly,
whose beards are very close and strongly united. The head, neck, and
all the plumage of the fore part of the body, are of a satiny white. On
the top of the head, and back of the neck, the side of each feather is
brownish; the mantle and small wing-coverts are of a light grey brown,
as well as the tail, whose tip is white. The large quills are blackish ;
the intermediate ones have their outer beards of the same colour as the
mantle; the bill is brownish, the legs yellow, the nails black, and the
iiis of a deep brown.

Naturalists who, like BufFon, have a desire to diminish the number
of species, will not fail to class the Blagre Eagle as a mere variety of
our baldbuzzard ; but I, who repose no confidence in those great varia-
tions produced by the influence of climate, consider it as unquestion-
ably a second species of the same genus.

Kolben, in his voyage to the Cape, mentioned several eagles, which,
he says, he saw ; but in glancing over the portion of his books respect-
ing birds, it may readily be perceived that he had not the slightest ac-
quaintance with this branch of science. The stront-vogel, which he
reckons as an eagle, is a large sized vulture of the Cape, and of which
I shall hereafter give some account. At the Cape, I never beheld the
osprey, nor the bird which he names the duck-eagle, because, accord-
ing to him, it soared to a prodigious height, and devoured ducks in the
air. It is absurd to advance a story of this kind, which is perfectly
false ; for birds of prey never feed upon their booty whilst on the wing.
BufFon compares, but I cannot tell why, this duck-eagle to his small eagle ;
there is not in fact a single word in the description of Kolben, to warrant
him in making the comparison. As for the other eagle, which this
traveller saw on the sea, devouring flying-fish, they probably were only
frigate-birds and albatrosses, of which he has made eagles : as for in-

OF THE BIRDS OF AFRICA. 195

stance, he has made a peacock of the Cape ostrich, because the
colonists call that bird the wild peacock. It would be more than
astonishing, that, after five years' residence at the Cape, and engaged
solely in researches after birds, I should never see any of the eagles of
which Kolben speaks, and declares moreover to be so exceedingly com-
mon. Indeed, I should never have been induced to offer any remarks
upon birds mentioned by that writer, if BufFon had not taken occasion
to make comparisons from his descriptions, and to arrive at conclusions,
which are, in many instances, completely absurd.

There is not a bird, in respect of which so many fables have been
circulated aseagles, and particularly our baldbuzzard, which was known in
the early days of antiquity, if, indeed, the term known may be applied
to designate the gross errors, which have been perpetuated about this
bird. Albertus the Great wrote, that the baldbuzzard had one foot like
a kite, and the other like a goose ; Gesner, Aldrovand, Klein, and even
Linngeus, propagated the same story. Nothing affords more conclusive
evidence of the manner in which the observations of ancient ornitholo-
gists were conducted ; and, unfortunately, there is no new work which
is altogether free from the errors and absurdities of ancient writers.
The task is easier and shorter leisurely to compile a book, than to de-
pend upon personal observations ; and hence it most frequently hap-
pens, that consequences are deduced from the most absurd and im-
probable relations ; for ornithologists who have never studied nature but
in the writings of their predecessors, and who yet have a desire to
furnish us with their own ideas, heap new and absurd reflections upon
ancient errors, which never fail to produce results of a stilL more mon-
strous character. In this way Buffon himself, often confounding three
or four very different and unknown species, in order to make of them so
many varieties of the same species, eventually presents us, for a second
species of the same genus, with a bird of which he has no other indica-
tion than a description so imperfect, as to render it impossible to under-
stand to what genus it belongs.

For my own part I am of opinion, that those who have given varie-
ties of age and sex of the same species, as so many different species,
have done less mischief than Buffon, who is strongly against them,
when he indicates as three varieties of climate, three birds, which are
not only of different species, but even of different genera, as I shall
have occasion to remark in speaking of the Shrikes of the Cape ;
and in a hundred other articles I shall also prove, that this eminent
naturalist, in writing his ornithology, had perhaps never seen the bird

o 2

196 BLYTH ON THE NIGHTINGALE.

which he described, or at least, that he had never examined it. Be-
sides, there is no work upon birds, to which the observation I have just
made cannot be applied. Of what use is it, indeed, in each new
ornithology, to notice a number of species so superficially described,
either by travellers or the ancients, that it is doubtful even whether
such birds ever existed. I think it is better to describe with the ut-
most accuracy, a species which has been seen, and of whose existence
no doubt is entertained, than to dispute upon the analogy of another
which has been described some centuries ago ; and certainly the more
indecisive we are about the species to which we attribute a. described
individual, the more mischief will result from that description. Again,
when I open a book for my instruction, and see a bird that is well
known, as for example the baldbuzzard, to which the foot of a bird of
prey and of a duck have been assigned ; and when another tells me,
that such is impossible, since he knows that water-fowls exist which
have their feet half-webbed and half-cleft ; whilst another pretends, in
reference to the same bird, that the male and female parents destroy
such of their young ones as cannot support the rays of the sun ; and
others again, that baldbuzzards are the offspring of eagles of different
species, which have coupled together, and that these baldbuzzards again
produce small vultures^ which, in their turn, generate large vultures,
&c., &c., I say, that we must never open those books for our instruc-
tion, and that their authors were nothing less than ornithologists, and
certainly not observers. We cannot, then, place confidence in their
writings as naturalists. Buffon, who combated these absurdities, fell
moreover into them, on the subject of the Urubu and stront-vogel of the
Cape, which have been described by Kolben. I invite the reader to
peruse from beginning to end, Buffon's article on the Urubu, ouroua,
oura, or merchant ; he will there see the utmost mass of absurdities
in comparison that it is possible to compile.

ON THE NIGHTINGALE.

BY EDWARD BLYTH.

AT the head of the British warblers (Sylviana) is usually placed the
nightingale, (Curruca Luscinia of recent authors), a bird however differ-
ing in many respects from the other species which have been classed with
it in Curruca, and which, as I shall hereinafter endeavour to show,

BLYTH ON THE NIGHTINGALE. 197

can hardly be arranged even among the Sylviana. The other British
species to which the term Curruca has been applied, are the fauvette,
greater pettychaps, or garden warbler, (C. hortensis) ; the blackcap,
(C. atricapilld) ; the babillard, or lesser whitethroat, or nettle-creeper,
(C. garrula) ; the whitethroat, (C. cinerea) ; the Dartford or furze warb-
ler, (C. Provinciatis) ; the reed warbler, (C. arundinacea) ; the sedge
warbler, (C. Phragmitis); and the grasshopper warbler, (C. locus-
tella). These have usually been divided into two sections; namely,
the " aquatic warblers," containing the three last ; and the " sylvan
warblers," comprising the remainder. The aquatic warblers form a
numerous and extremely natural group, possessing in common several
peculiarities, by which they may be at once distinguished from the
members of the other section. The sylvan warblers, also, excluding
the nightingales, form another very natural genus ; although, if we
compare the extremes, that is to say, the fauvette with the furze
warbler, we may still perceive considerable diversity both in form and
in habits j though certainly insufficient to warrant any generic separa-
tion. The nightingales, however, differ in so many particulars from
the other species associated with them in Curruca, that it is really sur-
prising they have never been separated, especially as genera have often
been founded on much slighter and more trivial differences.

In the first place, the bill of the nightingale is formed differently
from those of the various warblers ; and, as is invariably the case, a dif-
ference in structure always intimates a diversity of habit. Accordingly,
the nightingale never touches fruit, of which the sylvan warblers are all
great devourers. The latter are very rarely seen upon the ground ; the
nightingale picks his chief subsistence there : they, when no fruit is to be
had, live principally on flies and other small insects ; the nightingale on
worms, beetles, and ttteir grubs. I may here remark that nightingales
when wild feed very much upon earthworms ; though Mr. Sweet
observes, in one of his interesting notes to the late edition of White's
Selborne, that " there is scarcely any insects that they will refuse,
except the common earthworm and hairy caterpillars." This may be
true, generally, with respect to birds in confinement, but even in the
cage I have known one individual to be greedily fond of worms. Very
few caged redbreasts will deign to swallow an earthworm, but that red-
breasts feed very much upon worms when wild, is a fact familiar to
everybody. Birds in captivity are apt to become dainty, and having
at all times plenty of artificial food to their taste, will frequently reject
that which, in a wild state, they would have greedily devoured.

198 BLYTH ON THE NIGHTINGALE.

The difference, however, between the nightingale and the other
birds with which it has been classed, is much more obvious in
confinement ; the quiet sedentary habits of the former contrasting
strongly with the activity of the smaller warblers confounded with
it. at present in the same genus. The nightingale in confinement
requires more nourishing food than what is necessary for the susten-
ance of the other various warblers. Many, I am aware, keep both on
the same diet ; but the warblers will thrive on a variety of food,
which will not support the nightingale. The general habits and man-
ners also of the latter, in captivity, much resemble those of the robin
and redstart genus, (Phcenicura ;) and bear a still closer similitude,
if possible, to the manners of the thrush group (Merulina.',} but they
differ greatly from those of the various warblers.

In tracing the resemblances which assimilate different species to one
another, much assistance is often afforded by a close attention to their
nidification : thus, if we examine the nests of the fauvette, the blackcap,
the babillard, the whitethroat, and the furze warbler, (all sylvan or
fruit-eating warblers,) we find the same generic similarity existing, which
we perceive in the birds themselves : and if we were to trace also the
various intermediate links, which almost imperceptibly connect the
most dissimilar forms together, we should generally find a regular gra-
dation in their nests, corresponding to the gradual modification of struc-
ture in the birds. Thus, the wood- wren, ( — sibilatrix,) the species that
assimilates the sylvan warblers to the genus to which it belongs, and
which is even classed in Curruca by Dr. Fleming, may be observed to
maintain a similar resemblance in its nest : it being of the same oval form
with those of its congeners, but never lined with feathers, as is invariably
the case with the nests of the willow-wren and chififchaffs, the
two other common British species of its genus. The gold-crests
(Regnlus) again, which closely assimilate to the willow-wrens in ap-
pearance and structure, resemble in their general habits, and even
in their common call-notes, the tits ; and the nest of the common
gold-crest (R. cristatus) is deep, and lined with feathers as in the
willow-wren genus j but instead of being placed on the ground, as
are the nests of those birds, it is frequently suspended from a branch,
like that of the penduline tit, (Parus pendulinus ;) which latter bird
also resembles the gold crests in the slender form of its bill, and
in the weakness of its general structure. The bottletit, (Parus ? cau-
datus, with whose beautiful nest most persons are well acquainted,) assi-
milates the penduline to the various species which build in holes ; which

BLYTH ON THE NIGHTINGALE. 199

last vary as to the quantity of feathers, &c. they make use of in lining,
the variation being always in accordance with the structure of the
bird.

From this it would appear, that the resemblance which exists
between birds of the same genus, is generally apparent also in the
structure of their nests. That of the nightingale differs exceedingly
from those of the other birds associated with it in Curruca ; it being
built of decayed leaves and lined with dry grass and horse hair,
more resembling- those of the different species of Phanicura; while the
nests- of the sylvan warblers are formed of various small slender
stems woven together into a kind of basket-work, and lined with dry
grass and hair ; certainly as unlike that of the nightingale as they
can well be. The situation, also, of the nightingale's nest is al-
ways on the ground, among the materials of which it is composed ;
whilst those of the sylvan warblers are as invariably placed in a bush.

The eggs of the five above-mentioned sylvan warblers possess great
generic similitude, in colour, and in markings; assimilating most in
those species which resemble most each other. That of the nightin-
gale is very unlike any of them. This of itself, however, does not
constitute any very material dissimilarity, as we occasionally find
species which closely resemble each other, (as the robin and redstart,
for instance,) differing remarkably in this respect. But it is at the
same time worthy of remark, and the more so, as the eggs of the
other species are so similar.

The song also of the sylvan warblers is usually delivered in a long,
continuous, hurried warble ; generally beginning low, and increasing in
loudness as they proceed. That of the nightingale is loud, broken, and
interrupted ; being uttered more in the manner of the song thrush (Turdus
musicus). I would not, however, lay too much stress on any of these par-
ticulars, taken singly, as they are all subject to many exceptions ; but
taken conjointly, and altogether, they seem to intimate, that our
nightingale, with the Sylvia Philomela and S.sericea of M. Temminck,
(species closely resembling it), possess sufficient peculiarities to warrant,
their being placed as a distinct genus.

A striking diversity again presents itself in the plumage of the
young birds ; in the various warblers the young and the adults are
nearly alike ; but the plumage of the young nightingale is mottled,
like that of the young redbreast, or redstart ; each feather having a
whitish spot at the tip ; in which they also resemble the young of the

200 BLYTH ON THE NIGHTINGALE.

various thrushes (Merulina). In short, on a close and critical exami-
nation, the nightingale will be found to resemble the sylvan or fruit-
eating warblers in little else, than in being, like them, a migratory
species, and exceedingly shy, and impatient of being observed.

In the various above-mentioned particulars, the nightingales, which
I would distinguish by the generic name Philomela, not only differ from
the sylvan warblers, (the fauvette, blackcap, whitethroat, &c.), but more
or less from all the various genera comprised under the term Sylvianu.
They may be considered as an intermediate genus, assimilating the
warblers (Sylviana) with the thrushes (Merulina), and from a long
and careful observation of the general habits and economy of our Bri-
tish species, both in captivity and in the woods, I am inclined to doubt
whether they would not range as naturally in the latter as in the
former group.

As these remarks will probably fall into the hands of many who
have but little field acquaintance with the nightingale, a few observa-
tions on the history of this celebrated bird, may not here, perhaps, be
deemed superfluous.

This renowned songster is of a size, intermediate, between the thrushes
and the warblers ; at least, he is much larger than any of our British
warblers ; and one of the continental nightingales, the Sylvia Philomela
of M.Temminck, (or, as I should prefer terming it, the Philomela major),
is a still larger bird. From its usual habit, however, of puffing up its
plumage, the nightingale generally appears more bulky than it really is.
But they vary considerably in size, and the variation does not indicate the
sex, some of both sexes being much larger than others. The hue of
the plumage, also, is subject to much variation, some of both sexes
being of a rufous tinge, and others inclining to an ash-brown. The
sexes therefore in this bird are not to be distinguished, either by the
colour of their plumage, or by their comparative size.

It makes its first appearance in the neighbourhood of London about
the middle of April, the period of its arrival being most remarkably
regular, generally even to a day. The females, however, do not
arrive until ten days or a full fortnight after the males ; a curious fact
which may be observed in all our small migratory birds. It resorts
chiefly to woods and thickets, and is often found in large double
hedges, and in gardens where there are plenty of thick shrubs. In
such situations its powerful and loud song may be heard at all hours,
over that of every other bird. Like the various warblers, he is very

BLYTH^ ON THE NIGHTINGALE. 201

shy of being seen, and is usually concealed in the thickest part
of a bush, or small tree, where, as soon as he has fixed his abode, he
sings almost incessantly until his notes have attracted a mate ; after
which he is not quite so much heard, though he continues to sing until
the young are hatched, when his song ceases for the season. It is well
worthy of remark, that caged, nightingales, also, cease to sing at
precisely the same time with the wild birds, being seldom if ever heard
after the first week in June.

The characteristic trait of the nightingale's song consists in his very
superior powers of execution ; he has an infinite variety of the most
beautiful and complex rolls and quavers, all of which are delivered with
a perspicuity and richness of tone peculiar to himself. The best
description, however, would convey but an inadequate idea of the musical
powers of the nightingale ; he must be heard to be duly appreciated.
His song is generally wild and unconnected, like that of the thrush ;
but when he joins his notes a little, as he sometimes though rarely does,
nothing can be conceived more exquisite. His habit also of singing
during the calm stillness of the night, when almost without a com-
petitor, adds considerably to the effect. To hear him however in per-
fection we should ramble along the margin of a wood on a fine spring
morning ; when, after a passing shower, the sun bursts forth in all his
splendour, and nature smiles in all her vernal loveliness ; when drops
of water glisten through the opening leaves, and every breeze wafts
fragrance : then it is the feathered choristers are heard in all their
melody ; the thrilling music of the thrush ; the deep-toned mellow warble
of the blackbird ; the whistling of the willow-wren and blackcap, loud
and clear ; the charming, ever-varied song of the little garden warbler,
rising and falling in softest, sweetest cadences on the enraptured sense ;
with the joint chorus of a thousand little throats each striving to excel
the rest in harmony ; while the murmuring of the turtles, and the plea-
sing call of the cuckoo serve to furnish variety, and to give an exquisite
finish to the whole, — then it is the nightingale is heard to advan-
tage ; high over all the rest he makes the woods re-echo to his song

of joy-

The nightingale may easily be distinguished from all other British
songsters by the wonderfully clear and distinct manner in which he
executes an endless variety of most complicated and inimitable shakes
and quavers. His song indeed is quite unlike that of any other British
bird, and many of his most frequently repeated notes are known to the
London dealers by particular names. Thus, one that is universally

202 BLYTH ON THE NIGHTINGALE.

admired, is that which is commonly called by them " sweet-jug," from
a fancied resemblance in the sound. It is a note that he frequently utters,
and may be tolerably expressed thus, huep, huip, huipp, hueep, hueep,
hueep, hueep, chuck, chuck, chuck; the former part to be pronounced very
slowly, in a kind of half whisper, half whistle ; the latter part, " chuck,"
is repeated about a dozen times, and so quick and distinct as to set all
imitation at defiance : sometimes instead of chuck it is terminated by a
kind of roll, resembling tottle-tottle-tottle; this sudden transition from
high to very deep notes has an extremely pleasing effect. Other
remarkably fine notes have been likened to the words water- bubble whit-
low, &c. This mode of illustrating the song of a bird may perhaps at
first sight appear unnecessary, but it is the only method in which a just
idea can be given; and if by this description the bird should be imme-
diately recognised by those who had not before heard it, as I conceive it
would, the object is, of course, accomplished.

When the nightingale is singing, concealed in a bush, he will not
suffer himself to be approached too near, and though he does not imme-
diately fly he ceases to sing, and signifies his displeasure by a peculiar
croak — resembling the word curve, pronounced with a rolling of ther's,
— and if, upon his repeating this three or four times, the intruder should
not retire, he flies to another bush; yet if he be approached very gently
so that he should not be frightened, he will sometimes show himself
and sing within a couple of yards of the spectator, when the wonderful
distension of his throat will be very obvious, and when it is impossible
not to admire the lightness and elegance of his form, and the amazing
long hops he frequently takes from bough to bough.

After the young are hatched, should any person approach their nest,
the parent nightingales are extremely clamorous, uttering a loud and
very plaintive monotonous cry, (resembling hiveep,) and repeating at
intervals their usual croak, so well known in places where nightingales
abound. The nest is, however, most exceedingly difficult to discover ;
the colour of the eggs and also of the young birds being exactly that of
the ground, or rather of the decayed leaves among which, under covert
of a thick bush, the nest is usually concealed.

It appears from the experiments of Montagu, that if the hen night-
ingale be taken from her nest, the male will resume his song, and con-
tinue to sing till very late in the summer, or until his notes have
attracted another mate. From this, therefore, it would seem, that the
reason the nightingale ceases his song at Midsummer, is, that his
whole time is then occupied in procuring food for his young family ;

BLYTH ON THE NIGHTINGALE. 203

bat as it is well known that caged nightingales that have no nestlings
to provide for, cease to sing at precisely the same time with the wild
birds, we must of course endeavour to assign some other cause for its
silence.

The very partial distribution of this bird can only be accounted for
by a peculiarity of food, which may be found in some places and not
in others. Montagu observes that the young were principally fed upon
a kind of small green caterpillar. It has been said, that the nightin-
gale may possibly not be found in any part but where cowslips grow
plentifully ; and with respect to Devonshire and Cornwall this coinci-
dence is just, but in the woods of Norwood and Dulwich near London,
where the nightingale is extremely abundant, the cowslip is not found.
Like all other small migratory birds, it will return year after year to the
spot where it first took up its abode ; and I have thus often noticed it in
gardens and places where I never should expect to have found it,
but which were probably at one time more shrubby, and more congenial
accordingly to its general habits.

Nightingales in confinement are rather hardy birds, and at their first
appearance in the spring are taken by the bird-catchers in considerable
numbers. They are usually caught with what is called a nightingale
trap, baited with a meal worm : and are fed by them on chopped meat
and egg, a food upon which they seem to thrive very well. When first
caught, they generally feed the bird about every two hours ; taking
it in the hand, and opening its beak with a quill, giving it four or
five bits of food of the size of a pea, to entice it to eat. They will soon
feed of themselves, and generally begin to sing in about a week. In
captivity they usually recommence singing about the latter end of No-
vember, and continue in full song until the beginning of June.

There can be little doubt but that this bird is the ar)8a>v of Aristotle,
notwithstanding he says that when it loses its voice at Midsummer, a
remarkable change of colour takes place in its plumage; the rest
of his description accords entirely with the natural history of our night-
ingale, and it is possible that he might have mistaken the mottled nest-
ling plumage of the young birds for a change of colour in the adults.
The young of the various willow- wrens are much yellower than the old
birds, and I have several times been informed that the willow-wren
(under which name the different species are commonly confounded)
becomes much brighter coloured in the autumn ; a mistake of course
arising from the above circumstance. The arjduv of the Grecian poets,
however, refers, I suspect, to a different species. Homer compares

204 DUTROCHET'S EXPERIMENTS.

Penelope to the green nightingale, x^Y"?* taj8<ov ; and Simonides has
the expression x^<?>pavxevfs amoves, green-necked nightingales ; Euripides,
again, mentions its yellow cheeks, £avdav yewjwov. These various ex-
pressions, I am inclined to think, allude to the bird described in the
Field Naturalist's Magazine for February, 1833, under the name of
" The Arbour Bird," Sylvia polyglotta, Ranzani, (S. Hippolais of
Bechstein, but not of Temminck ; the S. Hippolais of the latter refer-
ing to the monotonous willow-wren, or ching-ching, of the Hon. and
Rev. W. Herbert and Mr. Sweet.) A preserved skin of the Polyglotta
is now before me : the bill is large, and formed like that of the nightin-
gale, which latter bird it also somewhat resembles in make ; in the hue
of its plumage, and in the colour of its eggs, it assimilates to the wil-
low-wren genus; and the structure of its nest connects it with the
fruit-eating warblers. Upon the whole, it is an intermediate and
highly interesting form, and its characters are too peculiar to allow of
its being placed in the same genus, with any other known European
warbler. I think the term Horticola, expressive of its habits, would
be a good generic designation, and the species may very appropriately
be termed Horticola polyglotta.

Tooting, Surrey, April 19, 1833.

EXPERIMENTS ON PLANTS TURNING TOWARDS LIGHT.

BY M. DUTROCHET, MEMBER OF THE INSTITUTE, PARIS.

IN order to ascertain the effect of light on growing plants, the stems
of onions and of leeks were taken up with their bulbs, and laid
horizontally on the ground, in a dark and dry place. These plants,
although taken out of the ground, continued to live for a long time ;
their stems became curved, and their upper end took a direction
towards the heavens. This happened in about ten days ; but being
repeated in the open air, three days were sufficient to produce the
direction. In the first experiment, light being wholly excluded,
gravitation only could have operated in giving the stem a perpen-
dicular direction, — that power being the only one which is known to
act in a direction perpendicular to the horizon. Modifications of this
experiment were instituted, to be certain that humidity had no effect,
and the same result was obtained. In the prosecution of these
investigations, it also appeared that it was not merely the summit of

DUTROCHET'S EXPERIMENTS. 205

the stems which had a tendency to a perpendicular direction, but that
all the moveable parts of the plant possessed a similar disposition,
provided they were coloured.

Stems are sometimes directed towards the earth, in which they
attempt to bury themselves, like roots ; a phenomenon worthy of the
greatest attention, not only on its own account, but for the sake of the
circumstances connected with it : many vegetables, besides their
above-ground stems, have also subterraneous stems. These creep
horizontally in the interior of the earth, without manifesting any
tendency towards the sky. They are white, like roots, of which they
assume the course and the station. Sometimes, however, they are
pink, as in upright burreed : in such cases it is the rind that is
coloured, and not the pulp beneath ; but, whenever the point of their
stems approaches the surface of the soil, it becomes green ; and from
that moment they acquire an upward tendency.

Stems are generally directed towards the light, in accordance with
their colour, which is usually green ; while the roots have usually a
tendency to avoid the light, which coincides with their want of colour.
The colour of the roots is, in fact, nothing but that of the vegetable
tissue ; and can by no means be compared to that of the petals of
some plants, which arises from the presence of a white colouring
matter. Light, which is the principal, but not sole, cause of the
colour of stems and their organs, has no power of infusing colour into
the roots, as may be easily seen by roots growing in glasses of water.
In spite of the influence of the light, they constantly remain colour-
less ; and this does not depend upon immersion in water, because
leaves, developed in that medium, are nevertheless green. Although
roots have, in general, no tendency towards the light, yet such a dis-
position does become manifest, provided the terminal shoot of a root
becomes slightly green, as occasionally happens. Having induced
some seeds of marvel of Peru to germinate in damp moss, I remarked
that the young roots, when about as long as the finger, were terminated
by a shoot of a slightly green colour. Wishing to know whether these
roots would turn towards the light, I placed them in a glass vessel
filled with water, having a wooden cover pierced with holes to receive
the roots, and fix the seeds. I enveloped the vessel in black cloth,
leaving only a narrow vertical slit, through which light could enter" the
interior. This slit was exposed to the rays of the sun ; and, a few
hours after, I found that all my roots had hooked back their points
towards the slit through which light was introduced. The same ex-

206 W. GARDINER ON AURORA.

periment was tried with colourless roots; but no alteration in their
direction was produced. From this it appears evident that colour is
one of the conditions that determine the directions of vegetables and
their parts towards the light, and consequently towards the sky.
This is so true, that colourless stems are known to assume the di-
rections of roots. In the Sagittaria sagittifolia, this is particularly
obvious. Shoots are produced from the axillee of all the radical
leaves which grow at the bottom of the water. These shoots have
their points directed towards the sky, like those of all vegetables.
The young stems, which are produced by these shoots, are entirely
colourless, like roots ; and, instead of taking a direction towards the
sky, as coloured stems would do, they lead downwards, pointing
towards the centre of the earth. In order to take this position, the
young shoot forces its way through the substance of the petiole which
covers it ; thus overcoming a mechanical obstacle in its tendency
towards the earth. This subterranean stem next takes a horizontal
course, and does not assume any tendency towards the sky, until the
points become green. 1 have also remarked a similar phenomenon in
roots. It is well known that exposed stems of many plants, produce
roots ; when green, they turn upwards, as in Pothos and Cactus phyl-
lanthus ; when colourless, they point downwards. Hence, it is to be
inferred, that stems do not descend merely because they are. stems,
but because their parenchyma is coloured ; and that roots descend,
not in their quality of roots, but because their parenchyma is colour-
less. It seems, however, that although this law is uniform in its
operation in all terrestrial plants, yet that a deviation, or apparent
deviation from it, exists in the parasitic misehoe. The radicle of this
plant, which is of a paler green than the other parts, instead of turn-
ing towards the light, avoids it with so much pertinacity, that it is
impossible to induce it to take such a direction ; so that it seems to
be repelled by light.

STORMS PREDICTED FROM THE AURORA BOREALIS.

BY MR. WILLIAM GARDINER, JUNIOR, OF DUNDEE.

I FEEL much pleasure in being able to communicate a fact or two
respecting the atmospheric changes indicated by the appearance of
the Aurora Borealis, corroborative of these adduced by Captain Winn,
at page 108.

W. GARDINER ON AURORA. 207

For several years past this splendid phenomenon has been of fre-
quent occurrence, and I have observed that it was invariably followed
by moist weather, and a southerly wind, or at least a decided change
from that which preceded it. Sometimes the change was immediate,
at others it occurred after the lapse of a few days, and in extent was
proportionable to the brilliancy of the aurora ; a magnificent display
of the phenomenon being generally succeeded by a violent storm or a
continued fall of rain, and a faint one by merely a haziness of the
atmosphere, or at most a moderate shower. These assertions are the
result of observation, and based upon a multitude of facts, of which
the following are examples : —

August 13, 1828. Several beautiful streams of the aurora borealis
appeared above the northern horizon about midnight ; sky clear ;
wind E. 14. Cloudy, with passing showers. lf>. Cloudy till noon,
wind S. The five succeeding days were dull, with occasional soft
showers, the wind varying from W. to S.

September 15, 1828. A luminous arch seen about nine in the
evening; wind changeable. 16. Wind W. 17. Dull and cloudy;
wind variable. 18 and 19. Same as the preceding. 20. Still dull,
with a chill east wind. 21 and 22. Mists and clouds still prevailed ;
wind S. E. 23. Much rain. 24. Cloudy and showery : in the af-
ternoon the equinoctial gale commenced blowing with great violence
from the S. W., and continued with little intermission till the 2nd of
October, when it gradually diminished to a gentle breeze, and on the
6th veered to the S. E.

October 3, 1829. Vivid aurora illuminated the northen sky, im-
mediately succeeded by a strong gale from the S. W., which con-
tinued, with the exception of a few slight variations to the W. and
N. W., till the 12th. There were several showers on the 6th, and rain
commenced falling about nine o'clock p. M. on the 12th, which con-
tinued till the same hour on the following evening.

August 20, 23, and 26, 1830. Bright aurorse boreales, which were
attended with cold, wet, stormy weather, and destructive hoar-frosts.
November, same year. About the middle of the month the aurora
appeared in great splendour, and the succeeding day brought a
tremendous thunder-storm.

March 3, 1831. Aurora about ten in the evening. 4. Cloudy.
5. Heavy rain.

September 6, 183.1. The aurora appeared above the northern horizon,
beautiful, resembling the dawn of a summer morning On the 7th, several

208 W. GARDINER ON AURORA.

showers. For two or three successive evenings this phenomenon
illumined the sky with its radiance, and was constantly followed by
moisture.

January 22, 1832. Aurora seen. 23. Some rain. 24. Strong
gale from the S. W.

February 26 and 28, 1832. Beautiful aurora. Much rain on the
2d and 3d of March.

March 21, 1833. Aurora resembling the dawn: wind N. 22.
Cold S. E. wind, with drizzling showers, and some snow.

I might farther remark, that on those nights when the aurora bo-
realis is brightest, there is a more copious formation of dew than at
other times; and as it is now generally admitted that electricity is the
principal, if not the sole agent in precipitating, in the form of rain and
dew, the aqueous vapour held in solution by the atmosphere, I should
think that the influence manifested by the aurora in this operation, is
a strong proof of its electrical origin.

The Luminous arch is a modification of the aurora borealis of great
grandeur, but of rare occurrence. Having witnessed several of these,
a short account of them may not perhaps be deemed inappropriate in
this place. One of these arches was seen here in 1816, a second in
1824, a third in 1826, a fourth in 1827, and a fifth in 1828. The
last mentioned one was observed on the evening of the 15th of Sep-
tember. About half past eight o'clock a stream of white light ap-
peared in the N. W., and another in the opposite point of the com-
pass, which gradually, though almost imperceptibly, approached each
other, and, uniting, formed the arch about nine. This arch was about
the apparent breadth of a rainbow, but extended from horizon to
horizon, passing nearly through the zenith, and had a considerable
curvature in its centre, and another near its western extremity. It
continued with different degrees of brightness for about a quarter of
an hour, and then slowly faded away, the centre disappearing first.
The atmosphere towards the north was clear, but the southern portion
was crowded with gloomy clouds. On the evening of the 23d of
August, 1830, I had the pleasure of beholding another luminous arch.
The northern part of the sky was clear; in the east dwelt a few
stationary clouds, on one of which the eastern limb of the arch rested,
whilst the other was lost amongst a number of dark nimbose clouds
that overspread the western sky. These clouds extended from N. W.
to S. ; and the direction of the arch was from N. E. to S. W. Flashes
of light, like those of the aurora, seemed occasionally to issue from

M. SYLVATICUS ON TAME BIRDS. 209

the neighbouring clouds, and rush into the arch, as did also several of
those meteors called " shooting stars ; " and at these times the arch
became more vivid. It was visible to us for the space of an hour.
On several evenings during December, 1830, the aurora borealis filled
the heavens with its glory. On that of the 25th its brilliancy and di-
versity of form surpassed every thing of the kind I had ever before wit-,
nessed. From seven o'clock till midnight, it occupied more than half
the visible hemisphere, with all its magnificence of moving columns,
spears, lances, bows, waves, &c. About eight, three bows or arches
were formed, stretching from E. to W. ; and between nine and ten,
another appeared in the direction of N. E. to S. W. composed of
alternate stripes or strata of light and shade, which had a singularly
striking effect. The eastern extremity was curved or twisted. The
last one that occurred here was on the evening of September 17, 1831.
It appeared about eleven o'clock, extending from N. E. to S. W., of
a beautiful serpentine form, being remarkably curved or waved from
one extremity to the other.
Dundee, 5th of April, 1833.

ON THE HABITS OF TAME BIRDS.

BY MATTH^EUS SYLVATICUS.

IT is a common observation, confirmed by those naturalists who have
had the greatest experience, that our knowledge of the wonders of
creation is still in its infancy. One very interesting point, on which
we are much in the dark, is that faculty of the brute creation, called
instinct *. Now, Sir, it has always been my opinion, that one clearly
substantiated fact tends more to elucidate truth than any number of
theories and hypotheses, either wholly unfounded in fact, or built upon
some casual exception to the general rule ; and, with this feeling, I
submit the following statement as a candidate for a corner in the " Field
Naturalist's Magazine."

I am extremely fond of what I call practical natural history ; but,
as I reside in a large town, you will suppose I may find some little

* See page 54 of this Magazine, for an excellent paper on Instinct, by Dr. Virey,
of Paris.

VOL. I. — NO. V. P

210 M. SYLVATICUS ON TAME BIRDS.

difficulty in pursuing it. I am, however, so happy as to possess a
garden, about 140 feet in length by 40 in breadth ; in which, besides
as many flowers as it will contain, I usually keep one or more tame
birds, in the full enjoyment of undipped wings, and at free liberty to
leave my demesne if they feel so disposed ; but several have thought
proper not to do so for three or four years j and I believe that, when
they at last disappeared, they were either stolen or devoured by cats.
The bird with which I have had the most intimate companionship is
the magpie, and I will now proceed to tell you a little of what I have
observed in him. I shall not attempt to give you the characters of
individual magpies, which I believe differ as widely as those of indivi-
duals of the human species ; their loquacity and propensity to theft are
well known ; but I do not find many who are aware of the high notions
which a magpie possesses of his own rights in whatever he deems his
property. My magpie considers my garden as his estate; he walks
jealously behind any stranger who goes into it; and if any attempt be
made to touch a plant, a stick, or a stone, he flies at the offender with
every demonstration of rage and fury. He perambulates his bounda-
ries, i. e. the top of the surrounding wall, and never by any chance goes
beyond them. Every evening he voluntarily enters a cage appro-
priated to him, shuts the door after him, and goes to roost on the
perch. On one occasion, having some greenhouse plants turned out
in the borders, I wished to send them, for the winter, to a friend in the
country : a cart was accordingly brought to the gate, and a man com-
menced removing the plants from my garden ; but Mag, seeing his
estate thus plundered, made a vigorous attack upon the spoiler; he
would jump on each pot as the man took it up for removal, and
peck his hand until the blood sprung from it ; and he followed him,
constantly pecking his heels, to the garden gate, but no further;
for he then would run back to me, chattering loudly, and looking up
to me for approbation. He once entered the open window of a room
where breakfast was set out, before the family came down stairs ; he
drank largely out of the milk jug, tasted the butter, and concluded by
throwing down upon the floor the toast, spoons, knives, and every thing
that he could move. Having done this, he sat on the back of a chair
apparently quite delighted at his exploit. If any one looked particu-
larly at a flower, he would nip it off, and bury it for security. I
had, for some time, a tame jackdaw to keep him company. This bird
is fond of getting into dark holes and corners, which Mag studiously

LINK ON CELLULAR TISSUE. 211

avoids. In a small lobby, opening into the garden, there is a little
cupboard in the wall, about a yard from the ground. I once saw the
jackdaw enter this cupboard, and, with great labour, drag out a bunch
of large keys, which he threw down to his friend Mag, who was wait-
ing below. Jack then descended, and the two together worked in
good earnest at pulling the keys into the garden, no doubt intending
to hide them, had I not stopped their proceedings. This jackdaw fre-
quently hid himself in a dark corner by the larder door, waiting
patiently until the cook came to open it; he would then try to slip in
unperceived behind her, and hide himself behind a large cheese-pan,
in hopes of being left am.ong the good things.

I once had a magnificent cock pheasant in the same manner ; he
was as tame as the magpie, but not so amusing or cunning. I also had
a thrush who was perfectly tame ; he would wade up to his neck in a
little pond of gold fish, which was under the branches of a large mul-
berry-tree, for the purpose of getting the fruit that fell into it. In short,
I have not met with any bird in whom kind treatment would not give
rise to tameness and affection.

Aprils, 1333.

ON THE CELLULAR TISSUE OF PLANTS.

BY PROFESSOR LINK, OF BERLIN*.

THE tissue of cells in plants consists of small membranous
vesicles, very variable in form. There is nothing of a fibrous nature
perceptible in them; and M. Mirbel, (Exposition de la Theorie,
p. 5859), and M. Sprengel (Anleitung z. Kenntnis d. Gewachse,
Halle, 1802, t. i. p. 92), are right in rejecting the common opinion,
that all is evolved from fibres that exist throughout. Such as are
unprejudiced, will agree with these two naturalists in considering the
membrane as the primordial substance of vegetables, and, I may add,
of all organised bodies. These vesicles, which compose the tissue of

* Translated by Miss H. G , Lee, Kent.

p2

212 LINK ON CELLULAR TISSUE.

cells, are often separated from each other, sometimes quite combined,
and sometimes partly so. I have found them entirely separated from
each other in several parts, especially in fruits ; the berries of the
Ligustrum, and of the Lantana aculeata, furnish proofs of this. In
the midst of the fruit stalks, the receptacles, and some other hollow
parts, single cells are often seen. In order to examine the tissue of
cells in this respect, it is necessary first to boil the part, because the
cells are then easily detached from each other.

Fig. 1-

The oblong cells, taken from the exterior of a French bean, are
shown in the figure. I have seen the same thing in the potato, when
boiled ; in the roots of parsley, &e.

We cannot separate the cells in the rind (epidermis) of plants, by
this or any other method ; for there they are entirely united. The
cells that are found immediately under the rind, are also inseparable.
No interval being discoverable between the cells of this kind, it is,
therefore a tissue of cells, continued without any interruption.

In fine, there are cells which are not entirely united. The partitions
united with each other in the middle, are separated towards the edge,
and leave a little interval, similar to a vein. This structure is gene-
rally found in all succulent plants, in the pith, and, in general, in all
the fleshy parts. Hedwig was acquainted with these little intervals,
and called them vasa revehentia (De Fibres Animalis et Vegetabilis
OrtUy Lips. 1790, p. 23.) M. Sprengel pretends that Hedwig is
mistaken, and that he has looked at the lower edge of the partition, by
the transparent membranes, beside the upper edge, which causes the
appearance of an interval, or vessel. He is right ; one may easily be
deceived in this ; but on looking obliquely at the tissue of cells, we

LINK ON CELLULAR TISSUE.

may plainly distinguish the upper edge of the partition from the lower
edge ; and at the same time may.be observed the little interval, which
is usually filled with a dark matter, somewhat fluid. This is repre-
sented in the figure, (2) as taken from the stalk of the Cacaliajicoides.

Fig. 2.

M. Treviranus calls these intervals meatus intercellulares. They are
found only between the edges of the partition ; the rest of them ex-
hibit only a simple membrane. I find also other intervals between
these cells, which may be called Ductus intercellulares. They de-
scend in a perpendicular direction ; they have no visible communica-
tion with the intervals which I have just described, and they contain
a juice which is less fluid than the sap, and issues sometimes in the
form of small round corpuscules, and sometimes in the form of crys-
tals. These canals are considerably larger than the Meatus inter-
cellulares. These are represented in the figure (3), in a cross section

Fig. 3.

of the stalk of the Cnicus oleraceus, and in a longitudinal section of
the same stalk. They are found in many plants, particularly if the
tissue of cells is not very close, and they may be ranged among the
reservoirs of the pulp.

In the ferns and mosses the intervals are so large, and so well
united together, that they perfectly resemble vessels. They form a,

214 LINK ON CELLULAR TISSUE.

net-work, of which the meshes are the cells. It is very probable that
Hedwig, who has written much on the theory of the mosses, has suf-
fered himself to be deceived by this same net-work, so as to believe it
constitutes a separate species of vessels, which he called vasa reve*
hentia. Such a net-work occurs in the scales (strigce) of the Sco-
lapendrium vulgare, and is remarkable because the intervals are of
a different colour from those of the cells ; and they furnish an un-
doubted proof of the existence of the intervals.

M. Mirbel compares the tissue of cells to froth produced by soap
and water. This comparison is very exact. I do not know a better.
But the author entirely forgets the double partitions, which do not agree
with this compaiison ; for the froth of soap is composed of bubbles
of air, separated originally from each other, so that each bubble is
formed, as it were, of a separate membrane ; and it is only by ap-
proaching, that these partitions are confounded together. It often
happens that single bubbles rise to the surface of the froth, as we see
single cells in the cavities of the stalks in the receptacle of flowers or
of fruit. I even think that the cells have had the same origin as the
bubbles: gas having developed itself in a viscous fluid, and reduced it
to little vesicles, which have united together. As the vesicles of the
tissue of cells have a more regular arrangement than soap bubbles, a
particular attraction, necessary for the growth of the vegetable, must
have set them in that order. According to M. Sprengel, the tissue of
cells derives its origin from small grains, which are found in the cells
of the seed, and several other parts. I have proved that these little
bodies are usually grains of starch, sometimes grains of mucilage.
They may be dissolved in warm water, and sometimes in cold, while
on the contrary, the membrane resists all these solvents. It is there-
fore certain that these little grains are not cells. But it is very pos-
sible that these grains may be dissolved in the sap; and that they
then form that viscous fluid, which gives rise to the production of new
cells.

The cell appears to be perfectly closed, so that the sap, which
doubtless passes through the tissue of cells, penetrates by impercepti-
ble pores. There are examples, in which we distinctly see the juice
pass through this kind of pore. If the flower cup of the lettuce be
pressed ever so little, a small drop of milky fluid appears through the
rind, where no pores are discernible, even with the aid of the most
powerful microscope. M. Mirbel has, however, found pores, sur-

LINK ON CELLULAR TISSUE. 215

rounded by a little gland in the partitions of the cells. As the
observations of this naturalist are so exact, I am in doubt on this
subject. I have seen little points raised above the membrane :
I have seen a clear transparent spot in the middle of these points,
and have often believed I had found a real pore, but have always
resumed my own opinion. These little points were sometimes so
crowded on each other, that they may be taken for little grains fixed
on the membrane, and transparent in the middle. This is my opinion.
It is for others to decide on it.

There are many varieties of the tissue of plants, which may be
distinguished in the following manner : —

1st. Honey-comb Tissue. — It consists of short cylindrical or pris-
matic cells ; and is very common, especially in the pith, the exterior
bark, &c., as is represented in the figure.

2d. Extended Tissue. — This differs from the preceding, in the cells
being longer and narrower. They are found in the stamens, the
pistils, and in some other extended parts, as in the pistil of the Antir-
rhinum majus.

3. Globular Tissue. — It is composed of cells, either spherical or
nearly so, and fills up the interior of the leaves, of the flower stalks,
and of the receptacle, &c.

4. Vesicular Tissue. — Composed, like the preceding, of spherical
cells ; but these cells are more detached from each other, and are often
dispersed. This tissue is common in mushrooms, and several species
of Agarici, of Peziza, and of Phallus, are constituted entirely of
vesicles.

5. Irregular Tissue. — The partitions do not always form the same
angle with the base ; sometimes it is a right, sometimes an acute, and
sometimes an obtuse angle. This tissue is found in the sheath of the

216 LINK ON CELLULAR TISSUE.

leaves, in the flower scales, the flower cups, &c., and especially where
one part is attached to another, as in the flower scale of the Scirpus
maritimus.

6. Pulp Tissue. — The cells are neither spherical, cylindrical, nor pris-
matic ; but of an oval or oblong form. This tissue is common in the
interior bark of trees, in the pulp, (for which reason I have called it the
pulp tissue), and especially between the fibrous vessels, besides the
air vessels, as in the interior bark of a root of the Malva crispa.

These six varieties of the cellular tissue admit of several varieties, and
intermediate forms are often found, which seem to partake of two
varieties. A seventh variety might be added, the compact tissue, which
is found in some mushrooms, lichens, &c. ; but this tissue is scarcely
evolved, or rather it is so fine, that the structure of it cannot be distin-
guished.

The arrangement of cells is generally alternate, and the rows are
parallel to the length of the part in which they are found. Some-
times these rows are arranged crosswise. I have found this arrange-
ment in leaves when they are cut in a direction perpendicular to
the surfaces, which it is very difficult to do, especially when the leaves
are thin ; but in the latter this arrangement is more distinct than in
succulent leaves, where they are usually absent.

They are found in the young leaf just unfolded. These cross fibres
are seen in the middle of the wood, and on the surface of the large
roots of the Malva crispa. They are not found in the small roots, and
I am sure that they are formed by the enlargement of the root, which
spreads the bark, and draws aside the meshes of the net-work which
forms the cells. Take a net made of thread, stretch it sideways, and
you will see the meshes arrange themselves in horizontal rows in a
manner similar to that which we have just described.

The cell increases in size with the rest of the plant. It is astonish-
ing that a cell, surrounded by wood, should spread itself, notwith
standing the resistance which the latter opposes to it. All organised
bodies evolve themselves and grow by a strong power, and the plant in
its evolution breaks a strong thread which may be tied around it.

Each cell is a separate organ, destined to preserve and prepare the
pulp which is destined to furnish the other parts. The superfluous part
penetrates into the Mcatus inter cellular es, and somewhat resembles the
fat of animals. The green matter by which plants are coloured is

FAIRHOLME ON GEOLOGY. 217

always found in the cells. ' It resists the action of water, but dissolves
in spirits of wine. This solution is not precipitated by water like that
of the resins. All the coloured matter of leaves, flowers, and fruits,
are contained in the cells, as well as in the acid, astringent, saline,
&c., juices. In short, we there find the farina which forms the seed,
and the mucilage which sometimes forms little seeds, and sometimes
small crystals, and sometimes is already fluid. Chemical anatomy has
shown me remarkable varieties in the mucilage of plants.

MR. FAIRHOLME ON SCRIPTURE GEOLOGY*.

AT a period like the present, when many of the disciples of modern
geology either boldly disclaim all belief in the Mosaical account of the
creation, or consider it, at best, as a mere allegory ; and when others,
with a less daring, but not less dangerous scepticism, admit, with.
Moses, the broad, self-evident truth, that God did, at some time, and
in some manner and form, call this world into being by his own imme-
diate act, but deny that the time and mode are explicitly detailed in
the sacred record he has bequeathed us ; when both allow, that since
the first creation it has obviously undergone a violent revolution, but
contend that the history of the deluge is insufficient to account for it ;
and when a third party, professing its belief in the Mosaical history,
tampers with its details, or distorts them to any meaning that may
best suit some favourite hypothesis, extending days into ages, mul-
tiplying revolutions, and, in short, giving the sacred text any inter-
pretation rather than the literal and true one; at such a period we
hail the appearance of the work before us with unfeigned satisfaction.
To relieve the mind of the anxious and sincere inquirer after truth
from perplexity ; to disengage it from error concerning the important
subject of which it treats ; and to demonstrate the essential connexion
between scriptural and physical evidence, when we endeavour to explain
the causes of the present state of the crust of the earth, by the sensible

* A General View of the Geology of Scripture, in which the unerring Truth
of the inspired Narrative of the early Events in the World is exhibited and
distinctly proved by the corroborative Testimony of physical Facts on every Part of
the Earth's Surface. By G. FAIRHOLME, Esq. 8vo. London, 1833.

218 FAIRHOLME ON GEOLOGY.

phenomena it presents to our inspection, are the objects of Mr. Fair-
holme, who seems to have a very extensive practical knowledge of
geological facts, and exhibits a very amiable spirit in bringing these
to bear against the theories of the mineral geologists. It will not
suit the nature of this notice to go regularly over the same wide field
of research which the estimable author has done ; but this will be the
less necessary, as most readers who feel interested in the subject will,
we hope, procure the work itself, and those who wish to see an outline
of the leading principles which he adopts, may find them in " Con-
versations on Geology," pp. 293 — 315, by the Editor of this Magazine.
We shall, therefore, content ourselves with such extracts as will prove
Mr. Fairholme to be a practical geologist, because those who pique
themselves upon what they boastingly term science, which very usually
at present in reality means absurd theory, are in the regular habit of
taunting writers who take common sense and sound principle for their
guides, with ignorance of facts and blind bigotry in religion. We give
the following from Mr. Fairholme's personal observation.

" As one instance of the power with which rivers act, in filling up inland lakes,
and in adding to the accumulations in the bed of the sea, the following example
may serve to give an idea.

" The river Kander, a mountain torrent of no great size, rushes down the valley
of Kanderthal, in the Canton of Berne, in Switzerland, and enters the lake of
Thun, ahout four miles from the town so called. About a hundred years ago
this stream did not flow into the lake, from which its course was cut off by a ridge
of diluvial hills of several hundred feet in height, stretching along the south side
of the lake, in a north-westerly direction. This diluvial ridge, extending more
than ten miles in length, is entirely composed of rounded gravel, or pudding-stone.

" In consequence of the mischief done by the overflowing of the Kander, to a
great extent of valuable meadow land, in its course to join the Aar, ten miles below
Thun, which was its natural course, a spirited plan was proposed and adopted, for
cutting a subterraneous passage for the river, through the above mentioned ridge,
at a place where it approached the lake within about a mile, and thus admitting it
into its bed. This passage was cut in the beginning of the last century, (about
1715). The descent was rapid, from the lake being considerably lower than the
old course of the river. At this period, the depth of the lake was in proportion to
the steep hills forming its shore. The Kander had not long followed its new subter-
raneous course, when it greatly enlarged the artificial tunnel, and hurried great
quantities of gravel into the lake. The rapidity of the torrent in a few years enlarged
its course, till at length the whole superstructure gave way, and fell in ; so that
there is now a most romantic wild glen, where, a century ago, there was smooth
pasture and woodlands. The effects of the torrent soon became apparent in the
lake, an immense quantity of gravel, and every species of rock, was carried in by
the current, and lodged in its bed. In 1829, when I lived in that neighbourhood, the

FAIRHOLME ON GEOLOGY. 219

bed formed of this debris was of not less extent than 300 acres ; the greater part was
covered with thick woods, and this secondary formation is every year increasing in
the same proportion ; so that, as the lake is not here of great breadth, there is every
prospect of a rapid and most material change taking place in its form. I have
sounded the lake at the present mouth of the Kander, and as I found no bottom
with a line of about a hundred feet, we are certain that this mountain stream, has,
in little more than one century, produced a secondary bed of mixed materials, of
fully three hundred acres, and at least one hundred feet in depth.

" One circumstance, however, is worthy of remark, with respect to such
secondary formations in fresh water lakes ; and that is, that in consequence of the
absence of tides and currents, and that constant lateral movement kept up in the
bed of the sea,, we never discover in them that stratified regularity so remarkable
within the action of the tide. The mixture of mineral bodies carried into an inland
lake, remains, therefore, exactly as deposited at first, and this must always be in
great confusion. This difference of effect, may, perhaps, be safely taken as a guide,
in judging of what some geologists have called salt and fresh water formations ; and
if this be correct, we have an additional evidence against the extraordinary theories,
of Cuvier, who supposed the well defined strata of the Paris Basin, to have been
occasioned by the alternate occupation of that Basin by salt and fresh water. The
rounded pebble and sand, found in lakes, are never formed in the lakes themselves}
as they are in the bosom of the sea, but are carried into them by the rivers, nearly
in the shape in which we find them.

" It may, therefore, be safely assumed, that the regular strata of sand, of gravel,
or of fine clay, found in mosses and shallow lakes, if quite distinct from other strata,
must have been formed at the period of the Deluge, under the influence, and by the
agency of the action of the sea." — Page 126, Note.

To those who adopt the untenable theory, that the causes at present
in operation are sufficient to account for all the appearances to be
observed on the surface of the globe, the following fact seems to be
somewhat unanswerable, even if we grant them thousands, or even
millions of years.

" There cannot exist a doubt," says Mr. Fairholme, " that, though England be
now separated from France, by a distance of from twenty to forty miles, and that
distance be now occupied by the sea, the whole intervening space, and a great
extent of both countries, form one contiguous secondary formation of chalk, of
which the basins of Paris, London, and the Isle of Wight, so well known to geolo-
gists, form a part. It is the opinion of some, whose ideas in geology are quite un-
fettered by history, as to time, that the two countries were once united, and that
the separation has been effected by gradual decay, from the action of the sea upon a
narrow isthmus. But history will not bear us out in this idea ; for we know from
certain landmarks, which existed many centuries ago, such as the Roman part of
Dover Castle, and other ancient buildings on the coast, that the decay of the cliffs,
though constant and gradual, has not been such in the last 2,000 years as to warrant

220 FAIRHOLME ON GEOLOGY.

any such conclusion, supposing the Deluge to have taken place, as we have reason
to know it did, about 4,000 years ago." — Page 120, Note.

We have spoken above of the amiable manner in which Mr.
Fairholme treats those whose theories he opposes and refutes, and we
might prove this by a considerable number of quotations, but one will
suffice. In a postscript to his introductory chapter, Mr. Fairholme
says : —

" Since this work was completed, the ' Principles of Geology,' by Mr. Lyell,
have appeared ; a work of very great talent, and full of interesting research and
information on the secondary causes in constant action upon the earth. This able
writer, has, however, taken, in some respects, a new line of theory, and is as
desirous of accounting for the phenomena on the surface of the earth, without the
aid of any unusual or preternatural convulsion, as other geologists have been to
press into their service a constant repetition of deluges and disasters. We find, that
while Cuvier inculcates the doctrine of numerous deluges, alternately of salt and
of fresh water, Mr. Lyell endeavours to account for all things without the aid
of any general deluge, though he considers local deluges as amongst the ordinary
occurrences of nature, and producing violent local effects. The Mosaic deluge
appears to be looked upon either as a fable, or as a less general catastrophe than it
is usually conceived to have been ; and as a supporter of the Mosaic account of it,
it is probable that I shall be classed among those ' physico-theological writers,' who,
in the early days of science, wrote, it is true, but little worthy of saving them from
the contempt with which they are here treated.

" As it may be easily conceived of a theory where all things are to be accounted
for by the slow and gradual march of natural secondary causes, Mr. Lyell's system
requires an unlimited period of time for its completion ; and in tracing the errors
into which other philosophers have fallen, he thinks there can be no wonder if such
should be the case, when hundreds of years are reckoned instead of thousands, and
thousands instead of millions. Mr. Lyell accounts for the elevation of mountain
ridges by successive up-heavings of volcanic force, small in degree, but of frequent
repetition, and, having time at command, he finds no difficulty in this process.

" But notwithstanding this theoretical argument in the ' Principles of Geology,'
so distinctly opposed by so many facts in nature, and with regard to at least one
deluge, so totally opposed to history, and the traditions of all nations, Mr. Lyell
has taken a very learned and extended view of secondary causes, and of secondary
formations. On the evidences to be derived from the fossil remains of quadrupeds,
however, he has encountered the same difficulties a's Professor Buckland, without
having succeeded in throwing any greater degree of light on the obscurities of that
subject." — Page 32.

In conclusion, we strongly recommend the work to those who may
have been led to adopt plausible theory for science, and to deduce hasty
general conclusions from one or a few solitary facts. We trust that the

RANZANI ON SENSATION. 221

intelligent author may be induced to follow up his investigations at
some future opportunity into more detail, as his resources are evidently
good as well as abundant.

ON THE ORGANS OF SENSATION.

BY PROFESSOR RANZANI, OF BOLOGNA*.

As there are different kinds of sensations, the impressions which
arise from them will also be various. Such impressions, then, must
be made upon organs constructed in such a manner as to prove their
effects, and, consequently, to awaken in the mind corresponding sen-
sations. To these organs — of which every animal possesses a certain
number — the name of sensorium has been given. The organs of sense
are formed in different parts, and, with the exception of that of the
touch, are exceedingly limited. Among the parts which compose an
organ of sense, some serve to modify the impression, and others prove,
in an especial manner, its effect, and transmit it to the seat of the
mind. These ultimate parts of the sensorium, without which no reflex
sensations can be experienced, are called nerves. The nerves are
either visible or invisible ; those of the most minute animals will never
be evident to our eyes. When the nerves are perceptible, we recognise
them by means of those which are known, or we do not recognise them.
Poli, for example, in dissecting certain moluscous animals which
inhabit the Mediterranean sea, saw their nerves, described them, and
gave an exact figure of them ; yet did not consider them as nerves,
and therefore indicated them by a very different namef. Many nerves
of our own body are well known to us. Their figure, colour, and
structure, serve to guide us in judging of the nerves of other animals.
If the nerves of the latter bear no resemblance to ours, we shall not
regard them as nerves. Within these few years, the nerves of many
animals have been discovered, and, except in the minutest class, which
comprehends microscopic animals, they exist in every other animal
whose nerves have been observed and acknowledged. There can be
no doubt, then, that all animals have nerves, since all animals are

* Translated from the Italian by James Flewker, Esq. of the Theatre of Anatomy,
Windmill-street. t Testacea utriusque Siciliae, &c.

222 RANZANI ON SENSATION.

capable of feeling ; nor, indeed, can there be sensations without such
organs. Therefore, greatly do all those err, who impugn this assertion
by declaring, that nerves do not exist in many animals, since they are
imperceptible to us. Our not seeing and not recognising the nerves,
unquestionably arises from the extreme minuteness of the animals, or
from the excessive subtlety of the nerves themselves, or from their want
of that resemblance to the nerves of our own body, which is required
to render them distinct and palpable. They who formerly employed
this argument would display gross ignorance to deny the existence of
nerves in those animals in which modern anatomists, through their
industry and diligence, have discovered them. But some one will
perhaps remark, should we not deny the faculty of feeling to plants,
because, as they have not been observed to possess nerves, we may
judge that they have not any ? I have already replied, that it is not
the want of nerves which leads men generally to suppose that plants
have no feeling ; it is, indeed, their not seeing, in the motions of
plants, any indications of sensation, which induces them to form such
opinions ; which thing being certain, the other proof, deduced from not
recognising nerves in them, acquires no little weight ; and which, in-
dependent of the former, would obtain no value. And in respect to
less perfect animals, the reflection that they so move, demonstrates to
us, that they have sensoria and sense, at least that of touch ; and they
perform numerous actions in a manner similar to that in which other
animals comport themselves, when they act voluntarily ; this, as I have
observed in another place, is the strongest motive for reputing them
animals, and therefore provided with nerves and all the other parts
which appertain to sensations and voluntary motions. And if in some
of them we are not able to discover nerves and muscles, we may easily
persuade ourselves that it arises from a quite different cause, and per-
haps from the total want of organs so constructed.

The nerves, which we observe and acknowledge in different animals,
are soft whitish filaments, formed internally from medullary substance,
and invested with a membrane denominated the neurilema. Whether
these very subtle fibres are round or flattish-round — whether they have
or have not an internal cavity — whether they are internally pervaded
by a most active fluid, which deserves the name of nervous fluid — or
whether they are destitute of such fluid, are researches which belong
to the physiologist and anatomist, and in respect of which we have
hitherto received no decisive evidence. In those animals in which the

RANZAN1 ON SENSATION. 223

nerves appear they are not isolated and dispersed, but communicating
and united together, forming an assemblage, which is called the
nervous system. This communication, and this re-union of the nerves
should persuade us that those persons are in error who pretend that
the nervous system in animals has no centre of this kind. It is not
besides necessary that the centre, thus spoken of, should be a mere
spot, and we have reason to believe that it has an extension, which it
is not in our power to determine. Nor would it be reasonable in us to
indicate with precision the situation of such a centre in the absence of
those observations and those experiments which alone could establish
the fact, and which, perhaps, we shall never be able to accomplish.
The nervous system in different animals presents great differences, of
which there are four principal, and the remainder may be considered as
varieties.

In more perfect animals the nervous system is composed of a pri-
mary mass, called the brain, of a large trunk called the spinal marrow ;
then of filaments which ramify, and sometimes closely unite, to form
those minor nervous masses which have obtained the name of nerve-
knots or ganglia.

In other animals the nervous system is composed of scattered
nervous masses, connected by filaments, one of which, situated above
the gullet (oesophagus), is called the brain, and out of this proceeds
a collar which surrounds the gullet. Other filaments which ramify and
distribute themselves to the parts, issue as well from the brain as from
the other nervous masses.

There are, besides, animals over the belly of which run two longitu-
dinal nervous cords, which frequently swell out, and sometimes form
nodes or ganglia, distributed in a regular row. Of such nodes, that
which remains upon the gullet is denominated the brain. From the
same part a collar which encompasses the gullet, and the nerves des-
tined for the different parts, as well from this first node as from the
subsequent ones, derive their origin.

Finally, in animals whose structure is tolerably simple, the nervous
system consists of filaments without ganglia and without brain ; one
of these filaments surrounds the mouth, and from it again proceed
others like rags, and ramify and distribute themselves to the different
parts.

Such is the principal division which we are, at present, able to make
of the different forms of the nervous system. It is not improbable
that, as discoveries advance, we shall afterwards have occasion to

224 WICHTERICH ON NIHGT1NG ALES.

amend and correct it. The nervous system being formed of the prin-
cipal organs which are subservient to the sensations, that is to say, to
the most essential functions in animals, it is manifest that the con-
sideration of such a system should create a deep interest in the
zoologist.

ON CATCHING, TAMING, AND KEEPING NIGHTINGALES.

BY M. WICHTERICH, OF BONN*.

I HAVE been informed, that, in England, the greater number of
Nightingales confined in cages die within a short time after they
are caught, and rarely outlive the succeeding winter. This is so far
from being the case with me, that I should be ashamed to say I had
ever lost more Nightingales than of any of the other birds usually kept
in cages ; though M. Bechstein has also said, in his Natural History of
Cage Birds, that all his Nightingales died within no very long time.

When I have a Nightingale newly caught, I put him in a cage of
the form usually called a Nightingale's cage, cover it with a white
handkerchief — because any darker colour would intercept the light —
throwing in ten or twelve meal worms, previously pinching them on
the head, to prevent their crawling away, and about a handful of fresh
ants' eggsf. If it do not take to the ants' eggs at first, it will be sure
to do so after a few trials, by throwing the meal worms over them.
About half a dozen meal worms may be given every three or four
hours, for a day or two, till it takes to the eggs ; after six or eight
weeks it will not be necessary, except for a treat, or as an occasional
change of food.

As soon as it takes to feed well, it will begin to sing, which will
take place at the longest in about eight days ; and it will be impor-
tant, unless the cage be kept covered with the white handkerchief, to
let it remain in the same place, as change of place will often make a
nightingale leave off singing. Ants' eggs, in the quantity of a hand-

* Translated from M. Wichterich's manuscript communication to the Editor, by
Edward Rennie.

•f- The cocoons (not eggs) of the wood ant ( Formica rufa\ which are sold bv
measure in Germany, and are plentiful in our own woods. — ED.

W1CHTERICH ON NIGHTINGALES. 225

ful, or more, daily, for each bird, ought to be the principal food, so
long as the nightingale is in song ; but when done singing, the com-
position, called German paste, may be given. It is made in the fol-
lowing manner, of much better quality than what is sold in the shops.

Take four fresh eggs, boiled very hard, a quarter of a pound of
white pease meal, and about a table spoonful of good salad oil — if the
least rancid, it will not do. The eggs must be grated down very fine,
and mixed with the meal, and olive oil. The whole is then pressed
through a tin cullender, to form it into grains, like small shot, then
placed in a frying pan, set over a gentle fire, and gradually stirred
with a broad knife, till it be partially roasted and dried, the test of
which will be its fine yellowish brown colour.

All insect-eating birds will soon learn to eat this food, upon which
they may be kept all the year ; except when they appear drooping and
unwell, or at moulting time, when they ought to have a few meal
worms twice or thrice a day, While they are in song also, they ought
always to have about a dozen or more meal-worms, in the course of
every day, with ants' eggs, either fresh or dried. I have had several
nightingales, however, which have sung when fed upon the paste alone,
without meal-worms.

From the sort of food given by M. Bechstein, I am not at all sur-
prised so many of his birds died when first confined. In order to
make a fresh caught bird take to feed, he advises to dip it in water,
and after it has shaken and dried itself, it will, he says, be rendered
hungry, and will readily feed. By my method of giving meal-worms
and ants' eggs, I never found a single bird refuse to feed, so that the
cage be properly covered with a white handkerchief.

The net for catching nightingales which I recommend is made with
a semicircular hoop of iron wire, about as thick a swan's quill, raised
upon a cross stick like the common brick trap. Meal-worms are fixed
upon the cross stick with pins or thorns, and when the bird pulls these
the stick is deranged and the net falls.

There are two varieties of the nightingale, one which sings boih in
the night and in the day, and one which sings in the day only. I have
found only one that sung in the night out of twenty or thirty caged
nightingales. The night singers are considerably larger and darker
coloured, that is, not so rusty red as the day singers, and they are,
according to M. Bechstein, more partial to high ground, while the
day singers frequent valleys and hollow ways. When it is particularly
wished to have a night singing bird, the haunt of one must be dis-

VOL. i. — NO. v. (MAY, 1833.) Q

226 EDITOR ON CIRCULATION HST INSECTS.

covered about ten o'clock at night, and the bird-catcher must remain
by it till daybreak, when, if his net is in readiness, he may be sure to
lake it. I had one night singer last spring, which struck up the fourth
evening after he was caught.

Bonn on the Rhine.

ON THE DISCOVERY OF THE CIRCULATION OF THE FLUIDS

IN INSECTS.

BY THE EDITOR.

In INSECT TRANSFORMATIONS, published in 1830, I have said
respecting certain alleged discoveries of the circulation of the blood, or
the fluid similar to blood, in insects, that they " furnish no proof what-
ever of a general circulatory system, though they appear to indicate
local movements ;" and in the ALPHABET OF INSECTS published in
1832, I have said, " there is not, and cannot be any real or direct cir-
culation of blood in insects." These are the result of as careful and
cautious an investigation of the facts as it was possible for me to make,
and my conclusion has not been in the least shaken by anything that
has been, so far as I know, subsequently published; for though I have
met with an alleged more recent discovery of the circulation in inserts,
this is decidedly nothing more than a repetition of what has been well
known from the time of Lyonnet and Comparetti, and more lately from
the works of Straus-Diirckheim, and Dr. Carus of Dresden. The opi-
nion of Lyonnet is well known, and Bonnet has given a luminous
abstract of it, and agrees with the author in a note to his Contempla-
tions de la Nature (iii. 19). Comparetti, who in 1800 investigated the
subject with great minuteness in the grubs of Ephemerae, and numerous
other insects, says, " the vascular system of the circulation begins from
the pulsating dorsal trunk," [cceur, STRAUS ; grande artere, LYON-
NET] " and proceeds by very minute branches through every external
and internal part, of the abdomen, of the corselet, of the head, and of
the members, flowing back to the greater non-pulsating trunks." He
concludes that " the manner in which the fluid of the insect is conveyed
to the pulsating organ, with the various properties of the vascular system,
remain to be demonstrated*."

* I subjoin the original Italian of the passages which I have here translated.

EDITOR ON CIRCULATION IN INSE'CTS. 227

Even before this, however, the illustrious discoverer of the circulation
of the blood, says that " in bees, flies, and wasps, the heart could be dis-
tinguished by means of a magnifying glass* ;" and M. Lesser also
expressly says, " the fluids circulate in insects, and the arteries have a
sort of pulsation, which consequently indicates a heart, or something
similarf." Baker again speaks of the current of blood being remark-
ably visible in the legs of some small bugs, and he observed a green
fluid passing through the vessels of the wings of grasshoppers.

The late Baron Cuvier, after trying all the usual modes of injecting
the great dorsal vessel of insects, as Lyonnet had previously done J,
could not discover the slightest trace of outlet or inlet thereto, than
which nothing could be more decisive against a direct circulation ; and
M. Marcel de Serres, in 1819, in some experiments not very justifiable,
succeeded in removing this dorsal vessel, without causing the death of
the insect ; but if it were a heart circulating blood, it is impossible
that the insect could live without it.

In 1824, Dr. Carus of Dresden published an essay in which he lays
claim to the discovery of a circulating system in insects, particularly in
the grub of the common day fly (Ephemera vulgata), at the same time
confessing (and this is an important point) that the circulation ceases
in the adult insects, a circumstance for which he endeavours to account
on a similar principle to the obliteration of the blood vessels in the bones
and feathers of adult birds. Dr. Carus, however, is clearly of opinion
that " the insect blood in its currents is not confined to vessels," like
the blood of larger animals^.

In 1826, Messrs. Kirby and Spence, after examining the opinions of
previous authors, with the exception of Lesser, Comparetti, and Bonnet,
conclude very justly, as I still think, that " there is clearly no circula-
tion." But one of these authors, Mr. Spence, writing from Dresden,
28th of August, 1829, admits the discovery of Carus. " The first

" H sistema vascolare della circolazione, comincia dal tronco dorsale pulsante, e
progrcdisce pe' rami li piu fini per ogni parte esterna, ed interna, dell' addome, del
torace, del capo, e de' membri, ricorrendo a' tronchi maggiore non pulsanti."
" Resterrebe dimostrato il modo, con cui il liquido dell' insetto si porti all' organo
sante colla diversa qualita del sistema vascolare." — COMPARETTI, Dinamica Ani-
male, 8vo, Padova, IbOO, part L pp 230 and 236-

* Harvieus, de Motu Cordis, c. 17.

f Theologie des Insectes, ii. p. 91, 8vo, a la Haye, 1742.

{ Anatomie de Chenille, p. 427.

§ Carus, Entdeckung eines einfachen vom Herzen aus beschleunigter Blut-
kreislaufes in den Larven netzfluglicher Jnsecten. 4to, Leipzig, 1824.

Q2

228 KD1TOR ON CIRCULATION IN INSECTS.

insect," he says, " to which Dr. Cams directed my attention was the
larva of Ephemera vulgata (or an allied species) in which near to the
bronchiae, and parallel with each side of the body, was very distinctly
visible a constant current towards the tail, of oblong globules swim-
ming in a transparent fluid, propelled with a regular pulsating motion ;
and on cutting the body of the larva across near the tail, three
globules were most plainly seen pushed out of the divided vessels in a
distinct mass, which increased at each pulsation. I cannot express the
pleasure which it gave me to see thus clearly this ocular demonstration
of one of the most important physiological discoveries of modern times."
These are almost the very terms used in the Examiner newspaper, 14th
April, 1833, respecting another alleged discovery of the circulation in
insects, claimed for James Bowerbank, Esq. F. G. and Z. S., but who
has not, so far as I am aware, made any such claim himself. The details
of this newest discovery, however, amount to no more than those of Com-
paretti in 1800, of Carus in 1824, and of Straus-Diirckheim in 1829,
and relate chiefly to the grub of an Ephemera, as do those of Compa-
retti and Carus. It is particularly worth remarking that Mr. Bower-
bank expressly says that " the blood does not appear to be confined
within any specific vessels," before it passes into the dorsal vessel;
which is unquestionably correct, as most naturalists have expressed the
same opinion, from Lyonnet downwards ; but it at the same time proves
that there cannot be any direct circulation.

It may be worth quoting from Goring and Pritchard's Natural His-
tory of Living Objects, published February, 1829, a passage respecting
the circulation in the grub in question, particularly as it certainly con-
tains a discovery, though this has not, I believe, been claimed as such.

" During the infant state," it is remarked, " of this larva's existence
it is very transparent, exhibiting, under the microscope, in a most sur-
prising manner, the circulation of the blood along the large arteries in
the body, legs, and tail. While traversing the tail, the blood resem-
bles a string of globules. The part which exhibits the most rapid cir-
culation is the lower lip. The passage of the blood through the head
has a very singular appearance. It runs through a vessel which passes
quite round the body of the larva, constituting a band, which, incur-
vating itself on the head, forms, as it were, a semicircular chain round
the base of each antenna.''

The celebrated Goethe has well remarked, that " the number of real
discoveries is small, especially when one views them consecutively
through a few centuries ; yet people are very busy in repeating what
has been discovered by others." Viewing the alleged discovery above

CHAPTER OF VARIETIES. 229

referred to, under this point of view, I think I am fairly entitled to
repeat from INSECT TRANSFORMATIONS, p. 403, that it " does not
advance a step in demonstrating a circulation in insects similar to that
of other classes of animals."

I have given details at length from M. Straus-Diirckheim, in the
ALPHABKT OP INSECTS, with a figure of the heart of a cockchafer,
together with the opinions of two of the most distinguished German
physiologists, Meckel and Herold, showing that they were all well
acquainted what is now claimed as a discovery.

Lee, Kent, 22d April, 1833.

CHAPTER OF VARIETIES.

HERMAPHRODITE BUTTERFLY. — In the autumn of last year, I had
a butterfly sent me to make a drawing of it, being what is commonly
termed a malformation or lusus natura. I herewith send you a du-
plicate— (pardon the rudeness of finish ; self-taught labourers, with
nothing but nature to follow, often work to a disadvantage). Should
you be able to give any rational account of this, of the cause why it is
thus bisexual, I shall, with others of your readers, feel much obliged.
The insect was caught near Coventry in June. Similar specimens have
been in the possession of the curious, and Captain Brown, in the book
of butterflies, records five or six of them. We see the effect ; but as
all effects have a primitive cause, what, I may inquire, is that cause
in the present instance ? — L. W. CLARKE, Sec. Birmingham Entomo-
logical Society.

ADOPTION OF YOUNG LARKS BY A SPARROW. — In a place near
the pagoda of Paruntee, I took a nest of young larks, two young ones
nearly fledged, and placed them in a cage on a wall some distance off.

230 CHAPTER OF VARIETIES.

A male sparrow discovered them, and was extremely assiduotis in sup-
plying them with food, driving the real parents away whenever they
attempted to approach. I removed them still nearer to the bazaar — the
sparrow followed ; at length I suspended them outside the verandah,
and he paid the greatest attention to their wants, chirping and enjoying
himself with the delightful task ; at times he would indulge himself in
calls very similar to those of a lark, and certainly far from being unmu-
sical. He continued his care of them for about a week, when, as they
were hanging out, a heavy storm came on suddenly, tore the cage off
the nail, forcing it along the ground for forty or fifty yards, and killed
them. — L. W. CJLARKE, Birmingham.

CROWS. — In October, 1825, on the island of Calabah, while sitting
one beautiful morning in a verandah, I observed a sparrow leading its
young ones ; a crow pounced upon it, held it between its claws, and
instantly tore it to pieces, &c., as would a bird of prey. When the
meal was completed, it began its cawing noise, and flew to the sea-side
in search of further prey.

The audacity of crows is well known. At the Camp, near Poona, I saw
three picking a bone ; a vulture flew down to it and drove them from
their prize. Though they dared not contend with him for mastery, one
flew upon his back, another was endeavouring to steal the bone if he
should allow it the opportunity, and the third, in sulky mood, sat upon
a rugged rock, indifferent as to the result. — L. W. CLARKE, Bir-
mingham.

HEDGEHOG. — In the autumn of 1817 I was taking a ramble in some
fields adjoining Dosthiil Spa, near Tamworth, when my dog discovered
a nest of these animals. I had sufficient opportunity to examine it,
and therefore could more readily vouch for the facts. In it were five
young ones, and the mother giving them suck at the moment, and
beneath it were about ten or twelve crab apples, as fine as ever I saw.
•The entrance to the nest was similar to some of those formed by the
field mouse, in thickset hedges, for their winter habitation, being rather
underneath on one side, with a covered way to it among the decayed
sticks and leaves. To convince myself that the fruit had not fallen from
any tree in the vicinity, I examined the hedge minutely, and the near-
est one to the nest was at least twenty yards off. There was no
appearance of bruises on them to justify the vulgar belief that the

CHAPTER OF VARIETIES. 231

animal rolls itself underneath the crab trees to cause the wind-fallen
fruit to attach itself to their quills, and as this fruit could not possibly
have been in the situation found without the conveyance of the creature
itself, it is only reasonable to conclude that it had stored them there as
food; whether to supply present wants, or as a provision for the future,
when nothing of the kind could be procured, remains a question.

A few years before, I observed a gang of gipseys busily employed in
roasting a hedgehog,, and waiting to see them partake of it, which they
assured me was very good, they invited me to the feast, but my stomach
was too nice to accommodate itself to unknown luxuries.

I have repeatedly had them in my possession whilst a lad, and when
we wanted to make them unroll themselves, we did not resort to the
method mentioned of sprinkling hot water, replete with cruelty ; ours
was to put them in a pail of cold. They say it is not possible to save
their skin unless they are starved to death, but I have had several dogs
that would fetch them out of a river and kill them, and even destroy
them by pressing on one end of them, and forcing their mouths into
the part where their belly was concealed, despatching them in the
course of a few minutes, without breaking their skin or causing them
to bleed. In the parish where I was born, and passed my childhood,
from a belief that they injure cattle by milking them or wounding their
udders, the churchwarden would pay 8d. a head for old ones, and 4d.
for young ones, out of the parish funds, when taken to him, by any
one who chose to demand it. — L. W. CLARKE, Birmingham.

NATIVE BIKD-LIME. — The resinous substance on the buds of the
horse chestnut acts like bird-lime on several small- birds, particularly
the gold crests, which are often caught by it, and the poor little things
being unable to extricate themselves, are starved to death. — EDWARD
BLYTH, Tooting.

THEE CREEPER'S SONG. — The creeper (Certhia familiar is), is
usually represented in books to have no song ; but this is a mistake,
as it has a very pleasing song, executed in the high shrill key of the
hedge sparrow. It may be described as intermediate between the song
of the wren and that of the gold-crest. — EDWARD BLYTH, Tooting.

METHOD OF MAKING A STRANGE CAT REMAIN IN A HOUSE. — The
popular manner of attaching a cat to a particular house is to anoint
the feet with butter, confining her to a room till she free herself from

232 CHAPTER OF VARIETIES.

this (which of course she does not like) by licking. From her moving
about the room, a small portion of the butter is left in her track, and
it is supposed that the smell of this attracts her till she becomes fami-
liar with the place.'"' — MR. HENRY BROWN.

M. LASSAIGNE'S EXPERIMENTS ON BUCK WHEAT. — On the se-
cond of April, M. Lassaigne placed fifteen grains of buck wheat (Poly-
gonum Fagopyruvi) in a platinum capsule containing some washed
flowers of sulphur, which he had moistened with distilled water, re-
cently prepared, and he then covered the whole with a glass bell, to the
upper part of which was adapted a stop cock, which, by means of a
glass tube curved like a siphon and terminating in a funnel, enabled
him to pour water, from time to time, upon the sulphur. At the end
of two or three days, the greater part of the seeds had germinated.
They continued to be watered daily, and in the space of fifteen days they
produced stems of about two inches long, which were covered with a
great many leaves.

These, together with the seeds which had not germinated, were care-
fully collected and reduced to ashes in a platinum crucible. The ashes
obtained from them weighed ahout three grains undone third. These,
in 220 parts, contained 190 of the phosphate of lime, and five of silica.

Fifteen gains of the same seeds being incinerated, yielded the same
quantity of ashes, which were composed precisely of the same ingre-
dients.

It clearly follows from this experiment, which was repeated a second
time with the same result, that after their development in distilled
water, the young plants of buck wheat did not contain a greater quan-
tity of alkaline salts than the seeds from which they were raised.
Whence we may conclude, with Theodore de Saussure, that the al-
kalies and earths contained in vegetables have been absorbed and taken
in from the soil.

APPEARANCE OF LEAVES IN THE MICROSCOPE. — The back side of a
rose-tree leaf, but especially of a sweet briar leaf, looks diapered most
excellently with silver. The back side of the leaf of English mercury
(Chenopodium Bonus Henricus) looks as if rough cast with silver,
and all the ribs are stuck full of round white transparent balls, like

* From an essay which ohtained the prize offered by the editor of this Magazine to
the members of the London Mechanics' Institution.

CHAPTER OK VARIETIES. 233

innumerable grapes or oak apples, or a bracelet of crystal ; and we
could discover little footstalks in many of them, by which they were
fastened to the ribs and fibres of the leaf, which is a very pleasant
spectacle. A leaf of rue looks all full of holes like an honey-comb ;
a sage leaf looks like a white rugge or shagge, full of knots tasselled
all with white silver thrums, and one or two fine round crystal beads
or pendents, as big as pease, fastened to every knot. Look at the
back side of a nettle-leaf, and you shall see it all full of needles, or
rather long sharp transparent pikes, and every needle hath a crystal
pummel, so that it looks like a sword-cutler's shop, full of glittering
drawn swords, tucks, and daggers ; so that here you may autoptically
see the causes, as well as you have formerly felt the effects of their
netling. Something like thpm appear the prickles of borrage leafs
and stalks. — DR. HENRY POWER, 1661.

ON THE DIFFERENT DISPOSITIONS OF BIRDS, WITH ANECDOTES

OF A GOLDFINCH AND A CANARY. — I am a great admirer of all the
animal creation, and especially of remarking the habits of birds, many
of which I have as pets. I am partial to them, inasmuch as they form
one of the pages of that most interesting volume, the Book of Nature,
to study which, in any way, is my greatest resource. Perhaps few
persons are aware how much the tempers and dispositions of birds vary
from each other, and some, who were not much acquainted with them,
have smiled to hear me talk of birds' tempers. But nevertheless I am
convinced, from long and repeated observation, that they differ as much
in their tempers as the human race. We frequently see the children
of the same family, though receiving the same education as the rest,
differ extremely in their dispositions when they come to maturity, and
just so is it with animals, in proof of which, the circumstance I am
about to relate may, perhaps, possess some interest.

I have, among my other animals, a goldfinch, which was once a wild
one, and a canary bird, which of course was hatched in a cage. The
goldfinch, though originally wild, and full grown when made a prisoner,
accustomed to wing his airy flight without controul ; to " perch at will
on every spray" ; to roam as " free as air " far away from mankind, has
become so exceedingly gentle and tame, as to render him quite a little
wonder, and indeed 1 do not think it possible any wild creature ever was
more entirely domesticated. He is not only so very sagacious as to a
know and distinguish me, who have had the sole care of him, from every
one else, not allowing any other person to stroke or fondle him, but he

234 CHAPTER OF VARIETIES.

will, when placed in my hand, sit as if on a nest ; and after affectionately
caressing me, will close his eyes, and fall asleep, evidently proving his
extreme comfort. The canary bird, on the contrary, though for three
years he has had precisely similar treatment, (I have only had the gold-
finch two years,) cannot be rendered at all tame or docile, though he
was hatched in our room, and though he has been fondled and petted to
endeavour to make him amiable ; but all in vain has been every effort
to subdue his cross nature ; he flies at my fingers if I touch the cage,
and if food is offered to the little tyrant, he ruffles his feathers, and
evinces by every possible sign that attentions are not acceptable to him.
Now is it not singular that two such tiny creatures should possess such
widely different tempers ? One cannot be tamed, and the good-nature
of the other has triumphed over every disadvantage of wildness, and
subsequent imprisonment, when in fact he might have been forgiven,
had he pined for that liberty which he seems entirely to have forgotten.
I know that many would think the above a trifling statement, and would
reprove me for sending it to such a work as yours ; but I am of
opinion that nothing is frivolous or trivial that portrays the manners
or rather habits of animals, and that nothing concerning them is wholly
uninteresting to the naturalist — to him who looks from (l Nature up to
Nature's God," and who finds " sermons in stones, and good in every
thing." — Miss HUNTER.

18, Bicton Place, Exmouth, Devon.

ON THE NUTHATCH AND OTHER BIRDS. — As I was passing through
Kensington Gardens on the 5th of April, and listening to the notes of
the tits, of which there are great numbers, particularly of the oxeye and
tomtit, I was struck with the singular appearance of a bird which was
hanging to the trunk of a tree, and which I at first mistook for an oxeye,
but after noticing it for some time, on its turning round, I saw by its
buff-coloured breast and grey back, that it was the nuthatch, which I
had always understood to be rather scarce, and only to be met with in
the secluded parts of the country. Upon finding this I concealed my-
self behind a tree, and observed its motions. It climbed up the tree
in an odd shuffling manner, frequently passing round the trunk, and
thrusting its bill into the crevices, while every now and then a large
piece of bark fell. After some time it flew to another tree, and I then
saw another nuthatch moving up the trees in a similar manner. It
seldom descended ; but on reaching the top flew off to another tree.
I did not hear either of them utter any sound.

CHAPTER OF VARIETIES. 235

On the 7th, I went to the gardens again, in consequence of hearing
that the nightingale had been heard, and redstarts seen there. After
some time I saw a male redstart ; but it kept for the most part on the
higher branches of the trees, and but once settled on the ground. It
appeared very shy. I afterwards saw a small bird moving briskly side-
ways along a felled tree, and by advancing cautiously I got near it. It
appeared of a mouse colour on the back, and seemed to have a white
line through the eye. I have never-seen the creeper alive ; but judging
from stuffed specimens, this bird agreed in form and size. I next pro-
ceeded to the spot where I had seen the nuthatches, and saw them again.
I do not know whether you were aware of the existence of these birds
in the gardens, if not, and such notices are worth insertion, I shall be
very happy to communicate any other facts and observations which I
may obtain in the environs of London, during the present and succeed-
ing summers. I wish just to remark, that Mr. Blyth has been preceded
by Dr. Leach in forming a new genus of the bearded tit. The name
given by Dr. Leach is Calamophilus. I hope you will pardon any inac-
curacies, as I am but a young observer. — W. HENRY.

London, April 17, 1833.

ON THE COLOURS OF FLOWERS. — I find that a purple columbine
or a blue larkspur, held over a lighted match, changes first to pink and
then to black. The usual varieties of these flowers are blues, reds,
and whites. The yellows of other flowers all continue unchanged,
and the same is true of the green colour of leaves. I tried the experi-
ment on the primrose, the winter aconite, yellow crocus, furze blossom,
and daffodil, all of which remained unchanged ; but every other colour
instantly disappeared. If a scarlet, crimson, or maroon dahlia be tried,
the colour changes, not to white, but to yellow, — a fact known to
gardeners, who in this way variegate their growing dahlias. — E. BLYTH.
Tooting.

HOW TO MAKE A SAFETY-BOX FOR COLLECTING INSECTS. It

often happens with the common sort of box which the insect collector
carries with him into the fields, that while he is opening it to slip one
insect in, another jumps out, and with no insects is this so frequently
the case, as with the click-beetles (Elaterida;), grass-hoppers (Ache-
tidce, &c.), and plant-hoppers (Tettigonia). But to prevent the oc-
currence of this I would recommend a box of the following simple
construction, which can be very easily made of a common chip or pill-

236 CHAPTER OF VARIETIES.

box, provided it be of a cylindrical form. Take a box of any con-
venient size, and cut a square or circular piece out of the upper side
of the lid, and then clap the latter on the box again and fasten it on
tightly, but in such a manner that it can be easily removed when the
contents are to be taken out. Then having cut a corresponding hole
in another lid which is of a larger size, put that over 'the other one and
fasten it on by means of a central axis (a small screw will do for this
purpose) upon which it can freely turn when required. When it is
intended to slip a small insect in, by simply turning the outer lid
round upon the under one, the size of the aperture for its ingress can
be adjusted to the exact size of its body, without the least fear of
those already within making. their escape. — SOLITAIUUS.

London, April, 1833.

PARTIALITY OF THE BLACKBIRD TO THE NEIGHBOURHOOD OF
MAN. — For the last two years a couple of blackbirds built their
nest in a holly-bush in a gentleman's garden, at Blackheath, and
although he has a large family of children continually playing therein,
yet that circumstance did not drive them from the spot. The bush
grew close to the side of the garden-path, and the nest was about five
feet from the ground, and when I saw it was not very artfully con-
cealed. They built there during the previous year without their nest
being found by the children, but last year their retreat was discovered
and was soon plundered of its contents, consisting of four or five young
ones. The circumstance of their building in such a situation, where
there was the frequent noise of the children, instead of selecting a
more secure and quiet place, as there were other holly-bushes in the
neighbourhood, proves that this pair of birds preferred, as the rook
does, the vicinity of noise and bustle. — SOLITARIUS.

London, April, 1833.

ON THE COLOURS OF FLOWERS. — I am inclined to think that the
changing of the crimson colour of sweet-williams to white, as men-
tioned by Mr. Ballard, at p. 128 of your third Number, is not at-
tributable to the absence of light ; as I have frequently exposed a
nosegay in a window to the full blaze of a summer sun ; yet gene-
rally observed, that, after remaining a few days amongst the water, the
blue, red, and purple blossoms, such as Campanula rotundifolia,
Myosotis palustris, Vicia scpium, Orobus tuberosus, Geranium dis-
sectttm, Dianthus barbatus, &c., as their buds successively expanded,

CHAPTER OF VARIETIES. 237

generally become of a paler hue, and finally pure white. White-
flowered varieties of plants, as Scabiosa, succisa, Thymus Serpyllun^
Prunella vulgaris, Pedicularis sylvatica, &c., I have also most com-
monly found in damp and watery places, so that, in these cases,
it is evident a superabundance of moisture effected the change of
colour, either by absorbing or decomposing the colouring principle ; or
perhaps, more correctly speaking, by the transposition of the molecules
of those fluids, which, by their different refraction of the rays of light,
give rise to the different colours of flowers. In drying specimens of
plants for my herbarium, I have likewise observed several peculiar
changes of colour take place, as, for instance, the snowy white blos-
soms of Asperula odorata, became black; the yellow flowers of Pri-
mula, green ; and the green leaves of Mercurialis perennis, blue. I
heartily wish that some able chemist, who has leisure, would turn his
attention to the subject of vegetable colours, and give it a thorough
investigation. — WILLIAM GARDINER, JUN.
Dundee, April 5, 1833.

ON THE CHURCH-YARD BEETLE. — W. J. T.'s communication in
your Number for March, on the " Moulting of the Cock-roach," brings
to my recollection a similar case as regards the white appearance of
the insect.

About two years ago, I caused a bin in my wine-cellar to be cleared
of some dirty and decayed saw dust, among which I discovered a num-
ber of grubs of a dirty yellow colour, highly polished, varying in length
from half an inch to an inch and a half. I placed a few of them with
some of the dust in a bottle, such as is used for preserving gooseberries,
when they instantly buried themselves, which they repeated as often
as they were exposed to the light.

Being my own butler, I occasionally examined my prisoners, but
found no change till after several months, when I at length found two
or three had assumed a distant resemblance to a beetle, nearly shape-
less, but perfectly white ! After several weeks they became what I
considered the church-yard beetle, (Blaps Mortisaga), though as yet
of a dirty semi-transparent grey ; they at length became of the true
Warren s jet, as your correspondent says ; one of them I added to my
small collection. — G. W. B.

ON FLIES WALKING AGAINST GRAVITY. — I have an idea that
neither Sir Everard Home's comparison of the foot to a sucker, nor the
allegation of Dr. Power as to the flies glueing and soldering their feet

238 CHAPTER OF VARIETIES.

is correct. I would rather suggest that the foot is merely laid flat upon
the level surface of the glass, while in the advancing position, and kept
there by the atmospheric pressure ; just as two plates of glass, or two
scraped bullets are kept together, the contract being completed by what
Dr. P. calls a viscous liquor (oily, I should think, as mucus would dry
and harden, and so annoy the creature) ; and that when the foot is
directly under the body, the tendo Achillis (so to speak) begins to
act, curling up the posterior edge of the cushion, and so removing the
pressure. — T.

PECULIARITIES OF PLANTS. — All succulent plants, such as annuals,
will be found to have the leaves erect. This I consider to be a wise
contrivance of Providence, to supply them with the quantity of mois-
ture they require, which is more than the roots can furnish ; as dews
and light rain, which may be imbibed by the leaves, will scarcely ever
be in sufficient quantity to penetrate to the roots.

On the other hand, all woody plants, such as trees and shrubs, ex-
cept the willow, and some others, which require much water, have
their leaves pendent. This is to act as so many drains, or gutters, to
carry off the superfluity of moisture ; and it will be found, that as the
wood is more or less solid, the stem is rugged and channeled, to carry
off the wet to the root.

The bloom, or fine dust, discovered on plumbs, raspberries, grapes,
and some other fruits, and on the leaves of cabbages, is evidently in-
tended to shoot off the water, which, were it not for this contrivance,
would enter the porous skin, and rot the fruit, or plant. The down of
the peach appears intended for the same purpose. — E. G. BALLARD.

Islington.

THE GLOBE AMARANTHUS. — In this flower, which is what is
called everlasting, the parts of fructification are inclosed in a thick
down, like cotton wool, and the pericarp is provided with a thick and
hard skin, impervious to moisture. This curious provision is essential,
as from the varnished and parchment-like character of the calyx, it
would act as a cup at its base, to retain the moisture, were it not
absorbed by the down just mentioned. The pericarp is also further
protected by a thick and impervious capsule.— E. G. BALLARD.

Islington.

CHAPTKU OF VARIETIES. 239

HONEY IN FLOWERS. — It appears to be a doubt what use the
honey of flowers is calculated to serve. Dr. Darwin has supposed, that
the nectarious juice may be the food or nourishment of the pistillum
and stamina. Sketches 'of the Physiology of Vegetable Life, p. 84.
In this work the theory is embraced, but I think it may not be pre-
sumptuous to throw out a further conjecture on this curious subject ;
namely, that the nectarious juice may supply the pollen itself, as
that substance is totally different from any other part of the plant,
and may be produced by evaporation from the more solid parts of the
honey, whilst the more glutinous and liquid may serve to produce
that unctuous moisture which always pervades the stigma.

I think this curious fact might be ascertained by divesting the
flower of the honey by perforating the nectarium with a needle, by
which orifice the nectarious juice would exude, and the flower be less
injured than by excision. It would then be discovered whether there
was any pollen in the antherse, or any moisture on the stigma. I
should think this experiment ought to be performed immediately on
the corolla, at which period the nectary begins to secrete its honey.

In support of the above theory, I performed the following dissection
on a Canterbury Bell (Campanula hortensis.} Having divided the
whole flower by a vertical section, I discovered a projecting rib on the
outside of the nectary, running immediately from its bottom to the base
of each filament, which I should conceive to be the vessel by which the
farinaceous part of the honey is taken up and conveyed, by capillary
attraction, through the filament to the antheca. Besides this, on
dividing the pistil I discovered a number of white capillary vessels,
filled with a quantity of glutinous, sweet, and colourless liquid. In
the rib of the nectary which runs to the filament, a thin transparent
line was clearly visible, which is probably the vessel which supplies the
antheca.

From the circumstances it appears probable that the pollen of flowers
is the finer parts of the honey, which, evaporating by the heat of the
sun, is reduced to the state of farina. — E. G. BALLARD.

Islington, April 5th, 1833.

INSTANCE OF THE CARRION CROW PAIRING WITH THE HOODED
CROW. — It seems to be an undecided question among naturalists,whether
the carrion crow, (Corvus corone) and the hooded crow (orvus Ccornix)
ever pair together. For four successive years I had opportunities of
witnessing the pairing of these two species, on some large beech trees
which surrounded my house in Forfarshire. They never reoccupied

240 CHAPTER OF VARIETIES.

the old nest, nor did they always build iheir nest on the same tree ;
nor was I positively certain that it was the same individuals who re-
turned every year to these trees, though it is probable they were, for
they were never molested. Knowing the predatory propensities of the
carrion crow on hens' eggs, young chicks, and even Turkey poults,
I would have shot them had they been a pair of carrion crows ; but
I was anxious to watch the result of what appeared to me at the time,
a remarkable union.

Judging from the manners of the two birds, the almost constant
incubation, and carefulness exhibited, I should say that the hooded crow
was the female, though the carrion crow did frequently sit on the
eggs. After the young of the first year took wing, I perceived that
the one was a carrion and the other a hooded crow, and this distinctive
character was maintained in the young which were hatched every year,
as long as I remained in that part of the country. I shot the first
young pair, and ascertained that the hooded one was the female, and the
carrion was the male, which confirmed me in my conjecture of the sexes
of the parents. Ever after young and old were unmolested by me ; but
notwithstanding the increase of number every year after the first one,
only one pair came annually to build on these beech trees.*

Edinburgh, 22nd March, 1833. H. S.

The following corrections are necessary in the article on preparing
specimens for museums, which appeared in the last number : —

Page 175, 3d line from bottom, for " breast," read head.
176, 2d line from top, for " bone," read wire.

,, 3d do. do. erase the word principle.

,, 22d do. do. for " hence," read once.

,, 23d do. do. for " elastic", read inelastic.
177, 15th do. do. for " looped," read passed.

The accompanying sketch of a plaster head and wire skeleton,
prepared for a small monkey, will illustrate the mode recommended
for adoption in mounting mammalia.

* Did we feel at liberty to give the name of our highly respectable correspondent,
our readers, we are certain, would feel no doubt of his accuracy. — EDITOR.

241

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE BIRDS OF AFRICA,

TIJAKS-LATED FROM THE FRENCH OF LE VAILLANT.

THE CAFFER EAGLE (Halieetus vulturinu*, SAVIGNV).

Le Caffre, Le Vaill. Ois. d'Afr. pi. 6. Falco vulturinus, Latham, Irid. Ornith.
Sup. p. ii. Vulturine Eagle, Lath. Gen. Syn. Sup. ii. p. 15. Id. Gen. Hist. L 141.
Gypaete, Temminck, Man. 2nd ed. p. xlviii.

THIS bird may be regarded as an intermediate species forming a
link between the eagles and the vultures *. It has more resemblance
to the latter in the form of its beak and in its talons, which are some-
what curved and blunt ; but its head is not bare of feathers, an inva-
riable character which systematists have assigned to the vultures. The
feathers which cover the neck are not so tapering and lengthened as

* Although this savours of the fanciful language of the modern school, it does
not appear, from the whole tenor of the author's writings, that he had any idea of
an eagle passing into a vulture through this species. — J. R.
VOL. i.— NO. vi. (JUNK, 1833.) R

THE CAFFER EAGLE.

they usually are among the vultures. It is therefore a species which
embarrasses all the systems hitherto proposed, and refuses to rank in
the classifications adopted by many of our nomenclators, but which are
disavowed by nature. The actual state of natural history so frequently
exhibits nature making sport of the rigorously precise rules of our
systems, that we ought to be well accustomed to her deviations there-
from ; and should infer, that, in proportion as our knowledge is ex-
tended and a greater number of species discovered, our systems will
appear more and more defective. The present species affords an
example, being useful in an arrangement of a natural series, while on
the other hand it is of small use in our precise systematic divisions.

The Caffer eagle is of the size of the royal or great eagle (Aquila
aurea), but has the beak strqnger, the claws short and less curved.
The folded wings in this species, extend about eight inches beyond
the tail, and have their tips worn-like and rubbed, because the bird
frequenting rocks, and more frequently alighting on the ground than
the eagle, damages them by the friction. The shank is covered with
feathers as far as the toes : the tail is rounded, the outer quills being
the shortest.

The whole plumage of the caffer eagle is a dull black, with the
exception of some brownish reflections on the small wing coverts,
towards the quills of the wing. The eye, which is very large, is
placed deeply in the orbit ; and the iris is of a chestnut brown. The
beak is bluish at the base, and yellowish through the whole of the bend.
The claws are black, and the toes of a tarnished yellow.

I have only met with this bird on the confines of Caffraria, and
even there it is rare. I have seen altogether only five individuals, of
which number I only succeeded in killing two, that came to pounce
on the remains of a buffalo which I had caused to be scattered about
expressly to lure them. On skinning them they exhaled from their
body an insupportable odour, a circumstance which proves that they
feed principally on carrion. Like the vultures they are obliged to walk
some paces before they can raise themselves from the earth ; but they
do not congregate in great flocks, for I never saw but two together,
apparently male and female. Having only killed two females, I cannot
point out the difference between the sexes. I have been able to learn
nothing of their habits or their laying, except that the savages assured
me that they build in rocks ; that they attack lambs, devour them upon
the spot, and never, even when they have young, do they carry their
prey in their talons. We know that the eagle carries her prey in this

DUTROCHET\S KXI'KKIM KNTS. 213

manner to her eyrie in order to tear it up and part it amongst her
eaglets. The vulture, on the contrary, always carries food to the young
in her craw, whence she disgorges it when wanted. This, at least, is
frequently observed in the species called by the colonists at the Cape
stront vogel (dung bird) or aas vogel (carrion bird). It is probable
that it holds good in all the vultures, for their talons are not adapted
to clutch or to grasp strongly.

EXPERIMENTS ON THE RESUSCITATION AFTER DEATH OF
THE WHEEL ANIMALCULES.

BY M. DUTROCHET, MEMBER OF THE INSTITUTE, PARIS*.

THE marvellous property of returning to life after a prolonged desic-
cation, has caused the wheel animalcule of Leeuwenhoeck, (Ezechie-
lina Leeurvenhoeckii, BORY,) to be much celebrated. I was accordingly
anxious to ascertain whether my newly-discovered species were endowed
with the same faculty. My first experiments in this respect were made
upon the quadricircular wheel animalcule (Rotifera quadricircularis^
DUTROCHET). Knowing that Leeuwenhoeck 's animalcule only resus-
citated when preserved from contact with the air by a certain portion
of sand while it was drying, I was desirous of trying whether it would
resuscitate when dried simply under its own envelope. I accordingly
placed on a bit of glass a twig of the water-buttercup, (Ranunculus
aquations,) with a number of the wheel animalcules, which I left to
dry. In about twenty-four hours I moistened these wheel animal-
cules with water, and observed attentively what took place. I had at
first a glimmering of hope that I should see them resuscitate, upon per-
ceiving a round body issue from each of the envelopes ; but I soon ascer-
tained that these bodies, which appeared of a violet colour, were only
bubbles of air, which the water had impelled from the interior of the
envelopes, and which remained adhering to them. The violet colour
arose from the decomposition of the rays of light on the surface of
the spherical bubble, an observation which may prevent those who
repeat my experiments from being deceived by this optical illusion.
I continued then to observe my animalcules ; but although I preserved
them for many days in water, I never saw them restored to life.

* Translated from the French by the Editor.
R2

244 ON THE RESUSCITATION OF WHEEL ANIMALCULES.

I was desirous of ascertaining if a drying, under the same circum-
stances, of shorter duration, would be followed by a return to life ; but
I have seen that complete desiccation for five minutes was enough to
deprive them of life, which could not be restored ; and if a privation of
water for the shortest time did not kill them, it probably arose from
a small portion of moisture being retained under the envelope.

Being thus convinced of the impossibility of their resuscitation when
they have dried without any other protection than that of their own
envelope, I was anxious to ascertain whether they would resuscitate
when dried in a vase of the sand found at the bottom of the pond which
they inhabited. I accordingly placed a number of these animalcules
fixed on the same twig, in a watch-glass, and covered the whole with a
vase, leaving them to dry. In about twenty-four hours, the whole
appearing to be dry, I poured some water upon them, and when well
soaked, I cautiously lifted up the twig with the animalcules, and placed
it in some pure water in another watch-glass, in order to examine it
with the microscope. I was not able, however, to perceive in this case
any resuscitation, though I kept them during eight days in the water.

Astonished at these results, which deceived my strongest expecta-
tions, I began to imagine that the sand of the gutters imparted some
peculiar virtue to the animalcules to enable them to resuscitate. I
therefore took some of this sand, which swarmed with Leeuwenhoeck's
wheel animalcule, (Ezechielina Miillerii, BORY,) and dried in it a
number of my wheel animalcules. When I examined it in about
twenty-four hours afterwards, none of them showed any signs of life,
although the same sand contained a number of Leeuwenhoeck's
wheel animalcules and tile eels, (Anguilles des Tuiles,) which had
resuscitated. I conclude, therefore, that the wheel animalcule of
Leeuwenhoeck is the only one of the rotiferce known, which is endowed
with the faculty of resuscitation.

REMARKS ON THE RESUSCITATION OF THE WHEEL
ANIMALCULES.

BY COLONEL BORY DE ST. VINCENT.

ALL the wheel animals live exclusively in water, drying speedily
kills them, and it is difficult to imagine, on taking into account the
complication of their organs, of their heart, and their respiratory gills,

ON THE BLACK PULP LEECH. 24.J

(bronchii,} that there can be any more possibility of revivifying them
after death than any other animal to which respiration is an essential
condition of life. Yet upon the faith of observations inaccurately made
and inaccurately repeated, it has been promulgated for an age that the
wheel animalcules, when long deprived of water, and remaining as if
dead at the bottom of the places where they are preserved, revive as soon
as they are moistened. There is no possible means which I have not tried
to arrive at such a result ; but I have never succeeded. I have some-
times, upon moistening the tubes of caddis worms, (Phryganea,)
after long desiccation, or putting some water into vases filled with
sediments of animalcules, which had been a long time amassing in my
window, refound some wheel animalcules, but not resuscitated: they
were only evolved like the Daphnice, and other Entornostraca, whose
eggs (ovules) remaining in the soil, are hatched when the rain supplies
the fluid necessary for their evolution. For twenty years I have
repeated this statement ; but it requires reiteration, because those who
write on the microscope, copy the works of Spallanzani, contained in
almost every library, whence we find passages literally transcribed in
compiled books, unfortunately at present too much diffused.

ON THE BLACK PULP LEECH (Planuria nigra, MULLER).

BY J. G. DALZELL, ESQ. ADVOCATE, F. S. A., EDINBURGH*.

DURING the sunshine of summer, a small jet black velvet- skinned
animal may be often seen crawling near the edge of fresh water ponds
and ditches, with a lively, smooth, and gliding motion. This is the
Black Pulp Leech, (Planaria nigra,) which has been already charac-
terised and described by different naturalists ; but, unfortunately for

* From " Observations on the Planarife." Mr. Dalzell is understood to have
a splendid work in preparation, comprehending these singular animals.

246 ON THE BLACK PULP LEECH.

that accuracy which should mark the progress of science, their super-
ficial observations concerning it have led to those numerous errors which
darken the history of the whole genus.

Sometimes it is found in slow-running waters, and there of the largest
size ; but usually when they are almost stagnant, and, in particular,
where aquatic plants abound. On these, numbers crowd together as the
colder season advances, each contracting into an elliptical spot, and then
affording the most favourable opportunity for many being taken with
facility at a time ; or they fix on the under surfaces of pieces of slate
and smooth stones, and somewhat elevated above the mud. They live
in numerous pacific societies, associating with every other species,
and are so generally dispersed, that none has occurred to me of such
frequency in Scotland.

An animal so well known as the Pulp Leech, (Planaria,} scarcely
requires description ; nor considering its external uniformity of appear-
ance, does there seem much room for commentary. It is found of all
different sizes, from extreme minuteness to above half an inch in length,
and about an eighth of an inch in breadth. When very large, it has a
dull and sluggish aspect, and is chiefly roused to action by light and
heat. On the under part; or belly, are what naturalists have designated
two ventral pores, one of which, perhaps both, is more conspicuous at
certain seasons. The first is lower down than the middle of the body,
and the second still nearer the extremity of the tail. The opacity of
the animal precludes us from accurately distinguishing its internal orga-
nisation ; nevertheless, enough may be discovered to infer that it is far
from simple. Among Pulp Leeches, (Planaria,) some occasionally
occur of the ordinary size, figure, and proportions ; but, instead of the
jetty colour proper to the species, they are of a dark grey. By inter-
posing them between the eye and concentrated rays of light, the internal
structure may be obscurely recognised in many vessels branching from
about the middle of the body, and terminating in obtuse extremities
near the margin. These are certainly analogous to the pinnate ramifi-
cations already described ; and they bear much resemblance to the viscera
of leeches. Facts do not warrant our concluding, that the Grey Pulp
Leeches, (Planarice,) are indubitably a different species, or that they
are only varieties ; their contour seems more ovate, indeed, and they are
seldom, if ever, seen of the largest size. One taken in October was of
light grey, and mottled or streaked with deeper transverse bands ; it
was very broad in proportion to its length. Yet it must be admitted
that repletion always affects the colour of the leading species, which

ON THE BLACK PULP LEECH. 247

regularly darkens according to the age and increment. Probably, from
distension of vessels, shades of difference may prevail, which temporary
causes render more prominent.

The Black Pulp Leech (Planaria) is endowed with wonderful
tenacity of life, a property which materially aids the researches of the
physiologist. This truth is forcibly demonstrated by the dreadful lace-
rations with which it appears in its natural element. Sometimes a
large section from the neck is wanting, sometimes a semicircular wound
almost divides the animal asunder, or one half the body has been torn
from the other, and still it survives the mutilation. — This was a suf-
ficient guide. The genus had been partitioned by nomenclators, accord-
ing to the number of eyes, or their total absence ; and a place from the
latter was assigned to the Black Planaria. It was probable, however,
if eyes were present, they should not be sought in the full-grown animal,
which might be of equal opacity to themselves ; or, in other words, they
would more easily be detected in regenerating parts : and, if such lace-
rations as I had witnessed did not destroy the animals, neither would
artificial separation of important organs be fatal. Several planariae
were therefore decapitated on the 10th of September; and, in "nearly
three weeks, the wounds of some being examined by a magnifier,
appeared not only completely healed, but a conical reproduction of the
defective parts protruded. The regenerated organs of all animals are
light and colourless ; and I thought that a row of minute marginal
specks, such as are usually called eyes in the vermes and molluscae, was
discernible. This proved no illusion, for, on the 29th of the month,
they were distinctly visible, of a jet black colour, seated in a pale
ground. Other experiments corroborated the fact ; whence, one charac-
teristic of the species under discussion, is a row of numerous minute
black specks or eyes, situate in the very margin of the anterior part.
The same reserve in ascribing the faculty of vision to these specks, is
as necessary in this instance as before ; nor can we affirm, in denying
them that peculiar province, that they are void of all analogy to spira-
cula, or organs connected with respiration. A subsequent examina-
tion of those planarise just mentioned as a possible variety, showed that
the head is sometimes so light as faintly to expose the site of the specks.
Thus, if the genus is to be partitioned according to the presence or
absence of eyes, the Black Planaria will be removed from the place
hitherto assigned to it.

In the course of my earlier observations on this animal, many unsuc-

248 ON THE BLACK PULP LEECH.

•

cessful experiments were made to discover its food, which seems chiefly
derived from the under surface of aquatic plants in vigorous vegetation ;
and animal substances are likewise voraciously consumed.

The sexual* union takes place with the black planaria, though rarely to
be witnessed ; nor had I completely conviction of the fact before August,
1812, notwithstanding preceding incidents had led to such an inference.
Long anterior to that period, I knew that this species propagated by
eggs, which, for the most part, are laid by those of larger size, and
usually in the course of autumn ; but they may occasionally be found
throughout the year, or obtained in winter by the more genial tempera-
ture of an apartment. No external characteristic distinguishes the male
and female planaria, if there be actually a difference of sex between
them : that which is represented here, produced an egg, which entitles
it at least to the character of female ; and what I supposed the male,
was probably not quite so large. The egg is imbued by a yellowish
viscous matter, attaching it to any twig or straw selected for the deposit,
or the side of the including vessel. It is of a perfect oval figure, of a
dark-brown or chocolate colour, provided with a hard shell, and in every
respect resembles a bird's egg in miniature. Those of the largest
size, for great inequalities prevail, are about a tenth of an inch long ;
and one of this description is seen, somewhat magnified. I cannot
confidently affirm that more than a single egg is produced by each
planaria, but each egg contains several young, of the palest grey, or
almost white : their anatomical structure is then best disclosed, as they
speedily darken by succeeding increment. Some, hatched in the second
week of September, were deep grey on the fourth of October. The
speck or eyes may be recognised at an early stage by a magnifier, Fig.
c, which also exposes slight discrepancies in shape between the young
and the adult animal. A considerable interval elapses before exclusion
of the young planaria ; but observations on the period seldom coincide.
By the most recent, four were detected in the very act of issuing from
the egg, on the eleventh of April, twenty-five days after it was laid :
all lively, the marginal specks very distinct, but not of equal number.
An egg of the same species was at the same time hatched in twenty-one
days : but a fortnight later, a third of the like age was still entire.
Therefore, the period required for exclusion, is to be calculated at
twenty-one days, or longer ; and it is certainly affected by the tempera-
ture of the atmosphere. The oviduct and relative organs appropriated
for perpetuation of the species, are most likely situated in the second

ON THE BLACK PULP LEECH. 249

ventral pore : neither this nor the first is conspicuous in all planaria ;
in many they are scarcely perceptible, and appear connected in some by
a lighter line on the abdomen.

But, independent of propagating by eggs, the black planaria, from
that indestructibility of life preserving it under mutilation, is privileged
to multiply its species in proportion to the violence offered to its other-
wise delicate frame. It may almost be called immortal under the edge
of the knife. Innumerable sections of the body all become complete
and perfect animals : if the head be cut off, a new one replaces it : if
the tail be severed, a new tail is acquired : nay, if one half of the whole
a'nimal be longitudinally separated from the other, the defective portion
is speedily repaired.

A grand and leading law of nature is invariably to fulfil her original
object ; whence we must conclude, that the performance of accidental
lacerations, which we occasionally witness, results from some unknown
condition opposing the progress of reproduction. In the artificial muti-
lations, where advances can be watched, the period of renewal is strictly
commensurate with the temperature of the atmosphere. Regeneration
is retarded, or altogether suspended, by the cold of winter, promoted
by the heat of summer, and still farther accelerated by augmenting the
natural warmth of the air. A number of planariae mutilated on the
twentieth of January, 1803, had become entire animals in the succeeding
April : but all the new parts were of a lighter colour, which was long
in approaching the sable hue of the old : and it may be questioned
whether they ever grow equally dark as those regularly deepened by
age. Thus we see a black head, with a light coloured tail ; a dark
body, with a white head ; and one longitudinal half as black as jet,
while its corresponding portion is of a clear grey. The elementary
parts of all animals seem colourless : their future opacity is derived only
from certain assimilations of extraneous substances, the atmospheric
influence, or supervening rigidity of the parts. Pellucidity marks the
rudiments of life : fishes are transparent on exclusion from the egg ;
insects are pale on leaving the chrysalis ; their organs are infirm and
their senses obtuse. But scarce have they experienced the genial effects
of the air, when their members expand, strength is acquired, and instinct
becomes active ; all as the universal shade of the body darkens. Yet
exposure to the atmosphere, unmixed with another fluid, is inevitable
destruction to the pulp leech (planaria). If, chancing to wander beyond
the confines of its native element, its endeavours to return be interrupted,
it contracts and grows distorted, a kind of gluten issues from the whole

250 ON THE BLACK PULP LEECH.

body, and death speedily ensues. Should it be hastily removed, it may
recover, and then the gluten comes off like a sheath, or integument,
investing the body ; but the transition must be immediate. Whether
this substance be provided by nature, to avert the baneful effects of
unguarded exposure, or exudes in consequence of the sufferings of the
animal, is uncertain.

In the natural state, the pulp leech (planaria) probably survives
the cold of congelation ; yet it perished during the course of an observa-
tion, where the thermometer stood at 26°, and where it was imbedded
in a solid mass of ice. Perhaps the change was too sudden ; for numer-
ous societies dwell in shallow waters, affording an insecure retreat from
the rigour of the atmosphere ; nor are they diminished in succeeding
seasons. The bodies of those which perish thus, are distorted, stiff,
and invested by a very thick coating of gluten. In a few hours after
solution of the ice, they become soft and relaxed, and are quickly
decomposed.

Monstrosities sometimes occur in the black pulp leech (planaria),
and frequent distortions from casual injury. In 1808 one was found
with the tail bifid ; a ventral pore appeared in each portion, both of
which might be considered members of the same body. Accident may
give birth to superfluous parts, as well as the skill of the experimen-
talist ; but this species, perhaps from the energy of its reproductive
powers, seems less adapted for acquiring them.

In addition to what has been said of varieties, we may observe, that
a few are taken in places inhabited by the black planaria, of smaller
size, the head rather more obtuse, and the tail suddenly drawing
towards a point ; whereas it ordinarily forms a regular elliptical outline,
unless when produced to an acute angle by extreme extension. Possi-
bly, however, the difference may centre in the progress of reproduction,
whereof the commencement has not been seen. Very minute dark or
light pulp leeches (planarite) sometimes dwell along with the rest, of
which the tail is more acute in proportion than that of the larger ones.
Three of these, a line and a half long, being subjected to the micro-
scope, traversed the glass slider with great rapidity, much exceeding
the usual progression of the black planaria. A scanty row of very dark
specks environed the anterior margin ; and the internal organisation
was sensibly exposed through the gelatinous texture of the body. But
a series of experiments would be required to entitle us to deny their
identity with the young of the common species ; first, because the
accelerated motion might be excited, from the susceptibility of a small

PROGNOSTICS OF THE WEATHEU. 251

quantity of water of an increased atmospherical temperature; and,
secondly, from its not being improbable that the number of marginal
specks is augmented with age.

Superficial observation of such diversities only create embarrassment ;
for as the shades of distinction are fainter there is the more difficulty
in condescending on or rejecting identity. The pulp leech, (planaria,')
Proteus-like, incessantly assumes a variety of forms and appearances,
which, without due and careful appreciation, will lead the naturalist
further and farther from the truth.

PROGNOSTICS OF THE WEATHER.

BY COLONEL CAPPER.

IT is often remarked, that the most extraordinary changes take place
in the barometer during the two first and the two last months of the
year ; which is saying only, in other words, that these changes happen
in the four coldest months of the year, from the beginning of Novem-
ber to the end of February. But in the annual table it appears that
the mercury is highest in the warm months of June, July, and
August ; nevertheless, especially in high latitudes, the most violent and
sudden variations will of course take place during a frost, with a north-
east, or a north-west wind, and descend proportionably on the approach
of a thaw with a southerly wind. When the barometer falls, and the
thermometer rises, rain may be expected, especially in winter. In
summer, during settled fair weather, both are high.

In winter, particularly in mild open weather, twenty-four or forty-
eight hours preceding a fall of snow, the barometer will sometimes rise ;
but a few hours before it actually commences the mercury will sud-
denly fall again ; descending daily as long as the snow continues. A
severe frost in winter is always preceded by a great rise of the barome-
ter, and a proportionable fall of the thermometer. When the barometer,
in winter, or near the vernal, or autumnal equinox, is at or below 29° 50
or changeable, and suddenly descends two or three tenths, a gale of
wind, and rain may be expected. When the same change takes place in
summer, and early in autumn, it may precede either a gale of wind, or
only a thunder storm. When the gale of wind subsides, and before it
is quite past, the barometer will suddenly rise again. But after a
thunder shower it will sometimes remain nearly stationary, or the rise
will generally be moderate and gradual.

252 PROGNOSTICS OF THE WEATHER.

When the mercury in tlie tube is fluctuating, unsettled weather may
be expected. A sudden rise in the barometer is no proof, at any time,
of a continuance of fair weather ; but in rainy and cloudy weather,
when the mercury is convex and continues slowly and continually rising
for two or three days successively, settled weather for nearly a week,
at least, may be expected ; or in fine weather, when the mercury, being
near 30 degrees, and concave, continues gradually to descend for some
days, rainy and stormy weather will soon follow.

A current of air from the north, inclining either eastward or west-
ward, will produce a condensation of the atmosphere, and consequently
cause a rise in the barometer, and usually dry, cold, or cool weather,
according to the season. A southerly wind, either easterly or westerly,
especially the latter, will generally make the mercury in the tube
descend. A south -west wind seldom fails to produce rain when it
continues twenty- four hours in that quarter.

In foggy weather, if the barometer remains stationary, and especially
if convex, and inclined to rise, and the fog dissipates as the sun
advances towards the meridan, fine weather will follow ; but otherwise
rain. A ground fog in the evening will almost always be followed by
fine weather next day.

When the mercury in the barometer is concave, although it may have
risen in the night in consequence of a hoar frost, if the clouds in the
morning towards the east, about sunrise, are of a deep red colour, rain
will almost certainly follow ; and often in heavy showers in the course
of the day.

If the wind is westerly, a rainbow in the morning indicates rain.
The barometer will then certainly descend ; and very often the ther-
mometer will be higher than the usual temperature of the season.

But with the wind in the same quarter, especially when the western
clouds have a bright tinge of red, a rainbow in the evening towards
sunset, is almost a sure presage of fine weather the following day.
Hence the old proverb, that a rainbow at night is a shepherd's delight,
and a rainbow in the morning is a shepherd's warning.

When it rains early in the day, with an easterly wind, it almost
always continues until towards noon ; but rather in misty or drizzling
rain than in heavy showers. If it does not then clear, it will not
entirely cease before sunset.

The wind following the sun in his diurnal course, and a gentle breeze,
is a presage of fine, and generally of settled, weather. But if it backs
from the west towards the south, rain may be expected.

PROGNOSTICS OF THE WEATHER. 253

The barometer being concave, if the highest hills in the neighbourhood
in the morning are at the same time cloud-capt, and remain so till
afternoon, rain may be expected, But if the morning mist on the
summit of the hills gradually disappears towards noon, fair weather
will follow. Those who reside on plains, where there are no high hills
in sight, may judge of the weather by the smoke of their chimneys. If
it spreads abroad, and scarcely rises above the house, rain may be
expected in the course of the day. When it immediately descends
below the roof of the house, rain is almost certain ; but when the air is
in a condensed state, the smoke will rise rapidly, and perpendicularly,
if not immediately dispersed by the wind. It is sometimes unadvisedly
said that the air is heavy, and drives down the smoke ; but the fact is
precisely otherwise, for when the atmosphere is most condensed, it
immediately absorbs the smoke, as it does all other vapours and exha-
lations. Whence a condensed state of the atmosphere, which raises the
barometer, produces fair weather ; and the contrary high wind, and
rain, or both.

It is recommended to every person who wishes to consult the baro-
meter, to learn to read the height of the mercury by the degrees, and
not by the words now engraved on the plate ; otherwise the instrument
maker would do well to engrave the words on the plate according to the
height of the place from the level of the sea, where the instrument is
to be used ; for in situations very much elevated, the mercury will be
much lower than in valleys, and, besides, it frequently rains from the
causes above-mentioned, when the mercury, in common instruments, is
at fair, and sometimes even near set fair ; and, on the contrary, the
weather frequently continues settled, when the mercury remains
stationary at changeable. The principles of the barometer being thus
misunderstood, has greatly depreciated the value of this excellent
instrument, and made many persons hastily pronounce it to be perfectly
useless, as what is commonly called a weather-glass.

When the barometer rises as the tides increase, especially in summer,
settled weather may be expected. When, on the contrary, at the same
season, the barometer falls with the increase of the tides, wet or variable
weather will soon follow. So likewise, when the mercury rises, and
continues convex with the fall of the tide, settled weather may be
expected ; but when the mercury is concave, and continues descending,
on the decrease of the tide, rainy or squally weather will soon follow.
As a general remark on the subject of the influence of the tides on the
atmosphere it may once more be observed, that the principal changes

254 SMITH ON THE BOTANY OF KENT.

of the weather often do not take place on the days of the full and change
of the moon, which is the middle of the springs ; or on the quadratures,
which are the middle of the neap tides. But two or three days before
each of these periods, when the springs and the neaps actually commence,
the character of the weather to be expected at these periods is very often
indicated, both by the appearance the clouds themselves assume, and
also by the motions of the mercury in the barometer. About sixty hours
after the full and change, or as many after the quadratures in stormy
or unsettled weather, the most violent wind and rain may be expected ;
and this crisis past, especially with an increasing moon, a favourable
change very often takes place.

In summer a considerable descent of the thermometer, and conse-
quently an unseasonable coldness in the air, is a certain presage of unset-
tled weather, and is often followed by rain. But in winter, a sudden
rise of the thermometer above 40 degrees, attended by a descent in the
barometer, is a certain indication of rainy and unsettled weather.

MR. SMITH ON THE BOTANY OF KENT*.

WE do not recollect to have ever met with a work like this of Mr.
Smith's, full of notices strictly and sometimes profoundly scientific,
interspersed at intervals with bursts of sentimental enthusiasm, exhi-
bited in paragraphs as florid as a flower-garden, and proving that the
author has not devoted himself at St. John's exclusively to the dry logic
of Aristotle, and the still drier details of Linnaeus, whose lifeless and
marrowless catalogues did much to banish the beautiful study of natural
history from the literary world. Although, however, we are by no
means disposed to look upon the brochure before us as a faultless model,
we think that the little sketches of pretty writing are calculated to
attract many local readers who would be infallibly repelled by his dry
Linnsean enumerations. " The paths pursued," he says, " lie as threads
upon the map : but they led to many a rare and beautiful object, and
were attended by discoveries unhoped for by so young a botanist, and
unexpected within the circle of the metropolis of science, and in the

* Rare or remarkable phoenogamous Plants collected in South Kent. By
G. E. Smith, of St. John's College, Cambridge. 8vo. pp. 87, coloured plates.

SMITH ON THK BOTANY OF KENT. 255

footsteps of its first and most revered professors." The following is an
example of the sentimentalism to which we have alluded : —

" The newly expanded flowers of this grass (Anthoxanthum odoratum), emit a very
pleasant scent of sweet musk; when dried, its stem and leaves spread the well
known perfume through hay. We seek in vain a purer emblem of virtue, which in
youth breathes a grateful incense from the eye and the voice, and pleases still in
age, when early beauty is faded, diffusing the sweets and senses of chaste society
through every class and condition." — p. 2.

The following is still better : —

" The plant (Silene nutans) is humble without grace, and uses no display; when
night has hidden the glories of the garden, it expands the narrow petals, and fills
the whole air, and every breeze with most delicious fragrance. What in darkness
the distant glimmering lamp, the glow-worm, the firefly, are to the eye ; what, in
still night, the sound of distant bells, of soft music, of flowing waters, is to the ear ;
what, in night's solitude, the trembling footstep, the hand, the lip of a friend, is to
the sense of perception and touch, are flowers and fragrances, the tuberose, the
orchis, and the catch-fly to the sense of smelling ; and when the flowers of the
day are faded, the stillness and secret influence of night render sense as well as
imagination more vivid, and susceptible of agreeable as well as more acutely
impatient, and conscious of displeasing or discordant impressions." — p. 27.

As an exemplification of one of the innumerable and wonderful con-
trivances of Providence, we shall quote what Mr. Smith says of the
butterfly orchis (Plalanthera bifolia, RICHARD) : —

It is " characterised," he says, " by the anther lobes, whose foot rests upon a
concave, glutinous, projecting scale, upon which scale the fertilisation of the stigma
depends. Without these scales, the anther lobes must fall from the flower. The
nectar is distilled in a tube, which opens immediately below the stigma. Early
in the day the treasure is robbed : —

" ' Through the soft air the busy nations fly,
Cling to the bud, and with inserted tube
Suck its pure essence, its ethereal soul :'

but the eager insect, in thrusting forward its head, comes in contact with the scales,
the lobes are withdrawn, and decorate the robber with no light appendage ; his feet
are applied to remove the incumbrance, and the pollen is brushed upon the stigma.
This process, which compensates for the stolen nectar, is a beautiful instance of
provision, distinct from the provision made in other cases of the same tribe, and may
rank with the well known instances in the birthwort, the fig, and the barberry." —
p. 48.

Mr. Smith has also given a very interesting account of the tassel
pond- weed (Ruppia maritima), whose fructification is not a little
singular : —

ON THE DIRECTION OF PLANTS.

" At Dimchurch," says Mr. Smith, " the dyke was filled with the plant, and
I was surprised to observe pollen scattered over the surface of the water, and small
yellow spikes of flowers rising above its level ; many of these had discharged their
pollen ; in a few the elevated anthers were still entire. Sir J. E. Smith and Dr.
Hooker, therefore, are wrong in asserting that the impregnation takes place beneath
the water, and within the sheath of the leaves, before the elongation of the flower
stalks. On the contrary, these are universally elongated before the anthers burst,
the contacts of atmospheric air being necessary-to fecundation. The anthers are
vesicular and buoyant : as they swell and become mature, the membranous sheath
inclosing them is distended, and the whole is brought to the surface of the water.
The flower stalks are rapidly lengthened ; the flowers quit the sheath, which then
becomes a bladder, and aids the elevation of the spike an inch above the water.
Presently the anthers burst, the vesicle loses its buoyancy, and the flower stalk
bearing the fertilised stigmas sinks within the bosom of the parent plant. The
stigmas are rarely four only, usually four to six.

We need say no more to recommend this interesting work : the
preceding extract alone will be sufficient for that purpose to every
philosophical reader.

ON THE DIRECTION OF PLANTS.

BY PROFESSOR DE CANDOLLE, OF GENEVA.

THR roots of plants are lengthened out only by their extremity ; the
growing point of each root is then in a state of softness, which may be
compared to semifluidity. The constant action of gravitation should
therefore force it to descend ; the energy with which each root will
tend to direct itself towards the centre of the earth will be in proportion
to the degree of softness of its growing extremities. The stems increase
in a given time by the whole length of their shoot. But let us see
what happens in a branch with an obliquity of any kind ; when this is
the case, it is manifest that a portion of the lymphatic and nutrient
juices, as they pass through the intercellular passages, are drawn by
gravity towards the inferior side of the branch, and that as a con-
sequence this side receives a greater quantity of nutriment than the
superior part. The proof of this assertion is, that the superior part of
an oblique branch is always thicker than the inferior part, or, in other
words, the medullary canal of an oblique branch is a little nearer the
superior side, because its inferior layers are more grown. This dis-
proportion between the increase of the superior and inferior layers will
be the more strongly marked according as the branch is nearer a hori-

ON THE DIRECTION OF PLANTS. 257

zontal, because the influence of gravity on the nutrient juices is then
so much the more considerable. But if the inferior side of an oblique
branch is nourished better than the superior one, the effect ought not to
be limited to an enlargement of the layers, but it should also elongate
the fibres, for these two results always take place simultaneously as
long as a new shoot is capable of being elongated. The inferior side of
the branch will tend then to lengthen itself more than the superior: if
it could be made to grow separate, each of the sides would elongate
itself in proportion as it was nourished, but they cannot be separated ;
the fibres of the side the worst nourished continue shorter than the
others, and must draw them from their own side towards that part
which is most flexible, that is, towards the summit. Thus the branch
must always right itself in an upward direction, and this with so much
the more energy as it approximates the horizontal position.

It is natural to conceive, that, if a stem or branch be compelled to
right itself, whatever be the extent of its obliquity, nothing but
straight branches would be found, or branches tending to become so.
The exceptions to this law are, for the most part, more in appearance
than in reality. In a certain number of plants the stem is so weak,
that although its extremities are tending to rectify it, still the base
sinks under its own weight. This is what happens in a variety of
degrees to plants that are either procumbent or ascending, and the
infirmity is so much the more striking as the stem is softer, or as it-a
elongation has been the more rapidly effected.

In all this it is necessary to make our examination only into what
takes place during the first year ; it is then that the branch is length-
ened, and when it comes to be hardened afterwards, it generally keeps
the position which it had assumed during its development.

The brandies of trees follow the same laws ; at first the tendency is
to raise themselves as they are elongated ; then they direct themselves
downwards towards the horizontal line for two reasons : 1st, the new
branches which are formed above them shelter them from the light, and
the inferior ones are warped laterally in order to have their share.
2ndly, the weight which they acquire when they become very long,
acting constantly on the end of a lever, draws them towards the
horizontal position.

VOL. r. — NO. vr. (JUNE, 1833.)

258

MR. BLACKW ALL'S RESEARCHES RESPECTING SPIDERS*.

IT may be known to most of our readers, that Mr. Blackwall was the
first to discover the mode in which the line of a spider can be thrown
across brooks and other places inaccessible to the animal, — a subject
upon which a great deal of error had been propagated, even by natural-
ists of high name. His experiments were extensively repeated and
confirmed, as has been recorded in Insect Architecture, upon this point ;
and we have now to mention other researches of the same ingenious
character respecting the economy of spiders. His remarks were
chiefly made on Clubiona atrox, a very common species, whose web
must have caught the attention of all who attend to these interesting
animals.

" The favourite haunts," says Mr. Blackwall, " of Clubiona atrox are the
branches of trees and shrubs growing against buildings, crevices in old walls, and
the corners of windows. In these and similar localities it fixes its residence and
fabricates its snare. On the objects surrounding the spot selected for its retreat, it
extends to a considerable distance, but without any apparent regularity of design, a
number of fine shining lines intersecting each other at various angles, to which it
attaches other lines, or rather fasciculi of threads of a more complicated structure,
and of a pale blue tint, nearly approaching the colour of skimmed milk. These com-
pound threads, or fiocculi, which, in exposed situations, retain their delicate hue for
a short period only, (old webs being generally of a dull or sullied white, not at all
advantageous to their appearance,) are arranged on the first spun glossy lines, both
in longitudinal and transverse directions. When recently produced, they adhere
strongly to such insects as come in contact with them, and, though perfectly ine-
lastic, may be drawn out into fibres of extreme tenuity. The communication between
the snare of this spider and its retreat, is established by means of a funnel-shaped
tube of a slight texture, whose smaller extremity is in immediate connection with the
latter, and, indeed, sometimes constitutes the animal's abode. Not unfrequently
two or more tubes occur in the same web, by one or other of which the spider
usually effects its retreat when disturbed.

" If a new-formed flocculus be minutely examined under the microscope, with a
pretty high magnifying power, it will be found to consist of six lines. Two of
these filaments are straight and exceedingly attenuated ; and upon each of them is
disposed a tortuous white line inflected into short curves and loops, like a ravelled
thread of fine silk. A pale blue band, thickly distributed on each of the inflected
lines in numerous irregular curvatures, completes the flocculus. The flexures of the
pale blue bands are more widely extended than those of the white tortuous lines on

* Notice of several recent Discoveries in the Structure and Economy of Spiders.
By John Blackwall, Esq., F. L.S. Linn. Trans, vol. xvi.

BLACKWALI, ON SPIDERS. 259

which they occur, and to them the adhesive property of the snare is chiefly to be
ascribed. In attempting to determine by experiment the cause of adhesion in the
blue bands, I ascertained that bodies with highly-polished surfaces, such as the
bulbs of thermometers and burnished metallic rods, if carefully applied to them,
may be withdrawn without deranging their structure, though the viscid globules in
the nests of geometric spiders adhere to the same bodies as soon as they are brought
into contact with them. From this circumstance I was led to infer, that the blue
bands are fibrous, although their structure is so exceedingly fine that I cannot
detect it even with assistance of the microscope ; and that the imperceptible fila-
ments of which they are composed adhere to objects, not in consequence of being
glutinous, but solely by attaching themselves to inequalities on their surface." —
p. 473.

Several naturalists had remarked, that geometric spiders employ one
sort of silk for the frame-work, or outside lines of their nets, and another
sort for the part which is efficient as a snare ; but by more minute
attention to this, Mr. Blackwall thinks he has detected no fewer than
three sorts.

" Not only," he says, " the garden spider, but every geometric species with which
I am acquainted, employs three distinct kinds of silk, if a liquid gum can with pro-
priety be termed silk, in the construction of its net. The boundary lines, radii,
and first formed spiral line being unadhesive, and possessing only a moderate share
of elasticity, are evidently composed of a different material from the last formed
spiral line, which is exceedingly viscid, and elastic in a remarkable degree. Now
the viscidity of the elastic spiral line may be shown to depend entirely upon the glo-
bules with which it is studded ; for if they be removed by careful applications of
the finger, a fine glossy line remains, which is highly elastic, but perfectly unadhe-
sive. As the globules, therefore, and the line on which they are disposed, differ so
essentially from each other, and from the rest of the snare, it is reasonable to infer
that the physical constitution of these several portions of the net must be dis-
similar.

" When exposed to the desiccating influence of the sun, and of air briskly agi-
tated, the nets of geometric spiders speedily lose their adhesive property ; but when
formed in situations from which light is excluded, and where the atmosphere is not
liable to be perceptibly disturbed, I have known them retain their viscidity for a
long period. In a net of Epeira diadema, constructed in a glass jar, which was
placed in a dark closet, where the temperature was not subject to great and sudden
fluctuations, the globules preserved their adhesive property almost unimpaired, and
the last-formed spiral line its elasticity for more than seven months." — p. 479.

Mr. Blackwall gives an interesting and original account of the man-
ner in which Clubiona atrox makes what he terms the flocculus, a very
different thing, as our readers may perceive by comparison, from the
vague and unsatisfactory details given of similar processes from the
time of Homberg to our own days.

" When the spider," he says, " purposes to form a flocculus, it presses its

s2

260 BLACKWALL ON SPIDERS.

spinners against one "of the glossy lines composing the foundation of its snare, and
emitting from them a small quantity of liquid gum, attaches to it several fine
threads, drawn out by advancing the abdomen a little, and kept distinct by extend-
ing the mammulse laterally. The foot of one of the hind legs is then applied to
the superior part of the upper tarsal joint of the other hind-leg, a- little above its
articulation with the lower joint of the tarsus, and the curious apparatus of spines
above described, is brought immediately beneath the spinners at right angles, with
the line of the abdomen. By a slight extension of the joints of the hind-legs, the
apparatus is forced backwards across the mammulae, the diverging extremities of
which it touches in its transit, and is restored to its former position by a correspond-
ing degree of contraction in the joints. In proportion to the continuation of this
process, (and it is not at all unusual for the spider to pass its spiny apparatus across
the points of the mammulae several hundred times in rapid succession,) the inflected
lines of the flocculus are found to be produced, the spider making room for them
as they accumulate, by elevating and at the same time advancing the abdomen in a
small degree, which it effects by slightly extending the joints of the third pair of
legs, and contracting those of the two anterior pair. As this operation is generally
accomplished in the night, it can seldom be seen to advantage, unless artificial light
be employed, some skill in the management of which is required, in order to avoid
disturbing the spider. The modus opercmdi, as nearly as I can ascertain it by the
most diligent observation, appears to be this : The points of the lower row of spines
are protruded between those of the upper row, and in passing across the extremities
of the mammulffl comb out the tortuous lines, which run into numerous flexures
in consequence of not being kept fully extended. The purpose subserved by the
upper row of spines seems to be the extrication of the tortuous lines from the spines
of the lower row, by a slight motion outwards, which disengages their points.
Now, were the blue bands glutinous, this mode of proceeding would be quite una-
vailing ; it is only on the supposition, therefore, that they have a fibrous structure,
that their adhesive property can be satisfactorily explained. When a sufficient
quantity of the inflected filaments is produced, the spider again applies its spinners
to one of the glossy lines, and attaches the flocculus to it. In this manner it pro-
ceeds with its labours, occasionally employing the combing apparatus of both hind-
legs, till the web is completed. Should any of the flocculi be destroyed, or rendered
almost useless, by having their adhesive property impaired, new ones are constantly
added to the snare." — p. 475.

Another interesting portion of Mr. Black wall's paper consists in an
arithmetical computation of the number of viscid globules on the spiral
lines of the geometric spiders, which we shall now give : —

" An estimate," he says, " of the number of viscid globules distributed on the
elastic spiral line in a net of Epeim apoclisa of a medium size, will convey some
idea of the elaborate operations performed by the geometric spiders in the construc-
tion of their snares. The mean distance between two contiguous radii in a net
of this species, is about seven-tenths of an inch ; if, therefore, the number 7 be
multiplied by 20, the mean number of riscid globules which occur on one tenth of
an inch of the elastic spiral line at the ordinary degree of tension, the product will
be 140, the mean number of viscid globules deposited on seven-tenths of an inch

BLACKWALL ON SPIDERS.

of the elastic spiral line ; this product multiplied by 24, the mean number of cir-
cumvolutions formed by the elastic spiral line, gives 3360, the mean number of
globules contained between two radii, and produces 17,360, the total number of viscid
globules in a finished net of average dimensions. A large net, fourteen or sixteen
inches in diameter, I have found, by a similar calculation, to contain upwards of
120,000 viscid globules, and yet Epeira apoclisa will complete its snare in about
forty minutes on an average, if it meet with no interruption. Astonishingly great as
this number of globules is, each is separated from those adjacent to it by a sensible
space ; indeed the material of which they are composed is so fluid, that they run
together the moment they are brought into contact. The globules and the intervals
between them may be distinctly seen with the assistance of a magnifier of the
power of ten." — p. 478.

It appears that these globules had been observed by Dr. Hooke,
who says in his Micrographia : —

" I observed further that the radiating chords of the web were much bigger and
smoother than those that were woven round, which seemed smaller and all over
knotted or pearled with small transparent globules, not unlike small crystal beads
or seed pearls, thin strung on a clew of silk; which, whether they were so spun
by the spider, or by the adventitious moisture of a fog (which I have observed to
cover all these filaments with such crystalline beads) I will not now dispute." —
p. 202.

Connected with their mode of spinning, the claws of spiders are
important, and have been taken notice of by most naturalists who have
written on the subject ; but Mr. Blackwall, with his usual originality,
has extended these observations to several important minutiae : —

" Naturalists," he says, " appear to concur in the opinion that the tarsi of
spiders are armed at their extremities with three claws, which occupy the upper
and anterior portion of the foot. That this is the case with some species cannot
be denied ; other species, however, belonging to various genera, Mygale avicularia,
Drassus melanog aster, and Salticus scenicus, for example, have only two claws on
each foot ; and if the tarsi of the larger geometric spiders indigenous to Great
Britain, such as Epeira cicatrosa, Epeira diadema, and Epeira apoclisa, be examined
under the microscope with a high magnifying power, it will be distinctly perceived
that the inferior part of their feet is provided with several claws, which have a con-
siderable degree of curvature, are finely pointed, and are furnished with tooth-like
processes on the under side ; and should the investigation be extended to other
retinary spiders, the feet of many species which construct complicated snares
will likewise be found to exhibit a similar organisation. As the best means of
guarding against errors, to which the inspection of limbs defective in structure
might conduce, it is advisable to select the legs of vigorous individuals which have
recently moulted, whenever, such can be procured.

" The supernumerary claws were first observed by me, in examining the feet of
Epeira apoclisa ; and on every instance I counted as many as five, which, with the
three upper ones previously known, give a total of eight claws on the same foot,
distinguishable at a glance from the coarse setaceous bristles in their vicinity.

BLYTH ON BRITISH TITS.

There is also a strong moveable spine inserted near the termination of the tarsus
of each posterior leg on the under side, which curves upwards at its extremity, and
exhibits a slight irregularity of outline at its superior surface. The function
performed by these spines is an important one. By the contraction of their flexor
muscles they are drawn towards the foot, and are thus brought in immediate oppo-
sition to the claws, by which means the animal is enabled to hold with a firm grasp
such lines as it designs to attach itself to. Now, as the spines and the spinning
apparatus are the most efficient instruments employed by the geometric spiders for
the purpose of suspension, it is obvious why they usually direct their heads down-
wards when they occupy the centre of their nest.

" As several difficulties presented themselves in the prosecution of these
researches, occasioned chiefly by the impracticability of comprising all the claws in
one distinct view ; and as I have not yet succeeded in procuring instruments of
sufficient delicacy to enable me to accomplish the dissection of exceedingly minute
objects under the microscope, I cannot completely satisfy myself at present,
whether the number and arrangement of the additional claws are uniformly the
same on the feet of such spiders as I have ascertained to be supplied with them ;
though as regards the larger species I am thoroughly convinced that this is the
case, and I have reason to think that it will ultimately prove to be so with the
rest." — p. 477.

ON THE BRITISH TITS.

BY EDWAUD HLYTH.

I KNOW of no small birds, whose general manners are more amusing
than those of the various Tits (Pams) : their restless activity, the
neatness of their form and plumage, the lightness and rapidity of their
movements, and the grotesque and beautiful attitudes which they so
constantly assume, cannot but arrest the attention of every lover
of nature, and must be familiar to all who have ever resided in the
country. Bold and fearless in the winter season, they approach our
dwellings, gleaning a few morsels from the various refuse of the
house : troops of them are seen in every hedge, and their notes are
heard enlivening every tree ; the different kinds congregate together,
and their various calls and sprightly manners terrd much to break
the monotony of a winter scene. Familiar, however, to every body, as
are the habits of these pretty little birds when wild, there are compa-
ratively but very few who have had the curiosity to keep them in con-
finement, and perhaps a short description of their manners in the cage
will not here be considered uninteresting.

First, however, let me specify what birds I mean by the different
species of Par us ; for the Bearded Tit, (Calamophilus biarmicus,

BLYTH ON BRITISH TITS. 268

LEACH,) has been very incongruously classed among these birds, and
the Bottle Tit also, (P. caudatus, RAY,) differs too essentially, I con-
sider, to be retained under the generic appellation Parus. The genus
then, with these restrictions, will contain five British species ; one of
which, the beautiful Crested Tit (P. cristatus), is a rare inhabitant
of some of the Scottish forests, and will probably never be found in
South Britain. The other four abound throughout the country, and
are well known to all who have paid the least attention to birds : these
are, the Blue Tit, or Tomtit, as it is generally called (P. cceruleus) ;
the Great Tit, Ox-eye, or Joe Bent (P. major) ; the Marsh Tit, or
Lesser Blackcap, as I have heard it called (P. palustris) ; and the
Cole Tit (P. ater}.

Several of the old genera of birds, as for example the Woodpeckers,
(Picus), the Parrots (Psittacus), and the Pigeons (Columba), it has
been found convenient to divide into small groups on account of their
great multiplicity of species ; and although there is undoubtedly a very
strong general resemblance to be observed throughout all the various
members of those genera, still they exhibit also a considerable diversity
of habit, and of course a corresponding modification in their structure ;
sufficient to allow of their being formed into several very natural divi-
sions. The genus Parus also, as here restricted to the species which
builds in holes, still presents considerable modifications of form, and of
habit : the Marsh Tit, Crested Tit, and Cole Tit, for example, have
perhaps as much right to be separated from the Great Tit (P. major),
and its immediate congeners, as the genera Chrysoptilus and Dendro-
copus have from Picus among the woodpeckers as now divided. The
common Blue Tit also, might illustrate another form among the Tits,
differing considerably from the other British species, both in manners
and in make. The species of Parus, however, are not, as in the above-
mentioned genera, so remarkably numerous as to perplex and confuse
the naturalist when all arranged together under one generic appellation,
and it would, therefore, in this instance, be unnecessary to add to the
long catalogue of generic names, by forming the Tits into several genera
instead of one. The Bottle Tit, however, should be separate from
Parus, and also the continental P. pendulinus.

The resemblance which these little birds bear to the jays (Garrulus),
is curious, and has often been noticed. " Form, habits, even the pecu-
liar looseness of texture of the plumage, all," says C. Bonaparte, " are
similar in these genera, hitherto estimated so widely different. This
resemblance extends even to colour in some species ; it may even be
asked, what else, in fact, is the Canada Jay (G. Canadensis,) than a

264- B1,YTH ON BRITISH TITS.

large Titmouse, and what the ' American' Crested Titmouse (P.bico-
lor~), but a small Jay ?" The latter, however, seems to be pushing the
resemblance almost too far ; the different nidification of the two birds,
independent of size and habits, being quite sufficient to point out the
proper situation of each.

The habit which the Tits have in common with the various Corvidw,
of always placing their foot upon their food, has also been instanced as
another point of resemblance between these two genera. A Tit, how-
ever, that wished to break a seed, would hold it firm between its two
feet, and hammer it with repeated and amazingly forcible strokes of its
bill ; bnt if a jay wants to crack a nut, it usually fixes it fast in some
crevice, and breaks it while held firm in that situation. All the Cor-
mdae are remarkably fond of carrying away any small shining substance,
such as a trinket, a piece of metal, &c. This I have never observed in
the Tits, though I have several times thrown into their cage a small
clipping of tin, for the sake of observing whether they would take
notice of it. They have, however, one curious habit of the jays, that
has, I believe, never yet been noticed ; the instinct of concealing the
remainder of a meal to supply the wants of a future occasion. I have
frequently seen a Cole Tit, that I have long kept in confinement, hide
the remainder of an almond that he had been picking ; often in a corner
at the back of his cage, where, the drawer for sand not exactly fitting,
a crevice is formed very convenient for his purpose. It is amusing to
notice how he watches his opportunity when the other birds are not
looking, how stealthily he drops from his perch with a large almond in
his bill, and with what circumspection he lets it drop into his favourite
corner : and it was equally amusing to observe a Marsh Tit, late one of
his companions, who, without appearing to take the least notice of the
Cole Tit's proceedings, would often descend and make off with the prize
the moment the Cole Tit had left it. The Marsh Tit used generally
to deposit the remainder of the almond, or piece of suet that he had
been pecking, into the seed-glass attached to the cage, and not unfre-
quently would let it drop into the water. In this he was no doubt actuated
by the same motive of concealment as the Cole Tit, but he certainly
could not well have fixed upon a worse hiding-place than the latter, as
when once in the water he had no means whatever of getting it out again.
Sometimes the Cole Tit, after having been thus robbed once or twice of
his hoard, was under the necessity of finding a new place of conceal-
ment ; and I have seen the little fellow, when hungry, return to his
treasure, and draw it forth with much apparent satisfaction.

I cannot say from actual observation, whether the Large and Blue

BLYTII ON BRITISH TITS. 265

Tits ever conceal their food in the manner thus detailed of the two
other species ; I have little doubt but that they occasionally may, but
they certainly are not in the constant habit of doing so, as the Cole and
Marsh Tits are. The two latter are usually of a much tamer and more
familiar disposition than the others, and I have consequently been
enabled to obtain a more perfect insight into their habits. Nothing
can exceed the familiarity of the Cole and Marsh Tits that I have kept
in confinement; their sagacity is astonishing in such little creatures,
and their manners are highly interesting and amusing.

The Marsh Tit, in confinement, is in constant motion the whole day ;
he is extremely fond of flying loose about the room, but generally
returns to his cage in a few minutes ; his curiosity seems unbounded,
and is extremely remarkable : the Cole Tit, also, never fails to take
notice of any thing new, but he is by no means so curious and prying
as the Marsh Tit. The wings of the Cole Tit are considerably shorter,
and more rounded, than those of the Marsh Tit, and he is accordingly
much quicker in his movements ; so nimble indeed at times as even to
elude the eye ; but then he cannot so well sustain a protracted flight,
nor is he so restlessly active as the other, and after a few minutes' play,
he is always obliged to rest himself a little : at such times sooner than
move, he will even allow himself to be pushed along with the hand,
opening his bill at the aggressor, but rarely attempting to peck. They
seem both extremely fond of taking food from the hand, and at the
approach of any person, both would generally cling to the wires of their
cage, in hopes that something would be given to them. If the finger
and thumb were held to the Marsh Tit, and he was disappointed at
finding nothing, he generally took care to signify his displeasure by
giving two or three hard pecks. All the species in confinement are
very partial to bathing, and the Marsh Tit, which I have been describing,
was at all times extremely anxious that his companions should all be as
beautifully clean as himself. If he perceived a piece of dirt adhering
to the feet of any of them, he picked it off; and if one of them, by
staying too much at the bottom of the cage, chanced to become a trifle
taller, he instantly removed the nuisance in a most adroit and clever
manner. It would, in short, require a volume to detail all the curious
habits and ways of these two little birds ; indeed, one can hardly ever
look at them without observing some curious trait that had previously
escaped notice. But it is not so with the Great and the Blue Tits ;
I have kept several of each, but they have always been too watchful,
too suspicious when being beheld, to permit of my acquiring any very

BLYTH ON B1UTISH TITS.

intimate knowledge of their manners : this, indeed, is the more remark-
able, as the Large and the Blue Tits are, I think, generally rather
the most familiar when wild. It is, however, worthy of remark, that
most of those birds, which when at liberty are tame and familiar, and
partial to the vicinity of man, are, of all others, when placed in a cage,
the wildest and most untractable ; of this, the robin-red-breast and the
common house-sparrow may be adduced as striking examples. None
of the tits, however, are at all shy when at liberty, and perhaps the
reason that the Blue and Great Tits appear more familiar than the other
species when wild, is, that they usually frequent the neighbourhood of
dwelling-houses more than the Marsh and the Cole Tits commonly do.
The large and the blue species ought, perhaps, for confinement, to be
brought up from the nest, and then, possibly, they may become tame
and familiar in the cage.

Much has been said respecting the carnivorous, or rather predacious
propensities of the Tits : I think, however, I may confidently assert that
the Cole and Marsh Tits are innocent of the charge ; although Wilson,
speaking of the American Black Cap Tit (P. atricapillus, a species
very closely resembling our Marsh Tit), says, " These birds sometimes
fight violently with each other, and are known to attack young and
sickly birds, that are incapable of resistance, always directing their
blows against the skull." Birds of almost every kind are very pug-
nacious at the breeding season, and none more so than the minute gold-
crested Regulus, as I lately had an opportunity of witnessing ; Bottle
Tits also fight desperately in the spring, but I have never noticed any of
the four species which form the subject of this paper, to be particularly
quarrelsome at any season of the year. With respect to the Ox-eye
(P. major}, I have known some individuals to live in the greatest
harmony with other birds; one I kept for many months in a cage
full of warblers, without his ever showing the least indication of
hostility ; but I have, nevertheless, known others of this same species to
be complete birds of prey, killing and devouring even their own kind,
and plucking off the feathers of their victim before devouring it, in the
manner of a regular predacious bird. Mr. Selby, also, has seen
P. major eat young birds. I have never known the Blue Tit evince
these sanguinary propensities; but if the cruel experiment of M.
Hebert (of placing a robin in a cage containing several Ox-eyes), were
to be tried on the Blue Tits, substituting of course some smaller bird for
a victim, I think it not improbable that some individual out of the
number would be found to show a similar ferocity. Mr. Selby, indeed,

MLYTH ON BRITISH TITS. 267

expressly says, that " like the greater Titmouse, it will also attack other
small birds, sometimes killing them in a similar manner." This un-
accountable diversity, in the nature of different animals of the same
species, shows how cautious we should be in drawing conclusions from
the observation of a single individual.

Few persons are aware that the Tits ever attempt to sing. The

Marsh Tit is, I think, the most musical, and I have heard some notes

from this species which were exceedingly soft and pleasing : he usually

commences with a long squeaking preamble, and finishes with a few

remarkably sweet and musical notes ; I have heard a very similar song

from the robin : sometimes he begins with tsep, tsep, tsep, repeated

several times in rapid succession, and concludes with a mellow soft

song. The common chirp of the Marsh Tit may be expressed by the

sound tiss-ylp ; and sometimes a very loud hrveet is uttered nine or ten

times in quick succession. He has also a loud and remarkable note of

alarm, beginning shrill, and ending like the chatter of a magpie : this

he litters whenever he perceives an owl, a cat, a weasel, or any other

object of distrust ; and it is amazing how quick all the Tits are in

spying out an enemy. I have often heard the various Tits that I have

kept together in confinement, all set up their alarm notes when I have

been for some time quite at a loss to find out the cause ; and at length,

perhaps, discovered that a cat was quietly sitting on the top of some

distant house : the appearance of a boy with a monkey, at the distance

of at least fifty yards, once caused them all to utter their notes of alarm;

and at another time, when my attention was aroused by their repeated

cries, I could perceive nothing but one outstretched paw of a sleeping

cat, about an inch of which only was visible. I have heard the Cole

Tit make some very tolerable attempts at song, and this species will

sometimes sit for half an hour together, uttering a shrill monotonous

sree, sree, sree, more like the noise of some insect than the note of a

bird. The common call-note of the Cole Tit may be expressed by

peet-chy, peet-chy, peet-chy-tvee, sometimes pronounced quick, and

sometimes very slowly. Peet-chy is often repeated a dozen times in

succession, and always very distinct. It has also a call resembling

churrvee, churrvee, chnrivee. The Cole Tit has a greater variety of

notes than the Marsh Tit, and one of them is not unlike the sharp veet,

veet of the chaffinch. The Blue Tit's song is monotonous, but very

musical and soft ; it resembles the tingling ringing note of the Bottle

Tit : this species also has a considerable variety of calls, many of which

are very similar to those of the Ox-eye ; like that bird and the Cole Tit,

268 BLYTH ON BRITISH TITS.

it occasionally utters the chaffinch's veet, veet; but the notes of this bird
are too well known to every body to require a minute description.
The Ox-eye has an endless variety of calls, some of which are harsh and
grating, others soft and pleasing : this species and the Cole Tit some-
times utter a note resembling pee mi, mi, rvi, tvi, rvi, so very similar as
to deceive even the birds themselves, as I have once or twice witnessed.
The usual call notes of the three Black-headed Tits have been very
appositely likened to the whetting of a scythe ; but they may be easily
distinguished : the Cole Tit's is peel-chy, pcet-chy ; the Marsh Tit's
tis-yipp, tis-yipp, and that of the large species is sometimes, chee
turchee, turchee, turchee ; sometimes pincher, pincher, or rvinkly,
rvinkly, &c., but always louder and more harsh than the calls of the two
others. I have never known the Ox-eye to attempt a continuous song,
but I have heard him vary his calls in a very pleasing and agreeable
manner ; he usually, however, wearies the ear by an unvaried repetition
of the same note for half an hour together. I have been thus minute
in describing the notes of these birds, because several of the species of
Parus closely resemble each other in plumage and appearance, and
because much assistance is often thus afforded in the discriminating of
assimilant species. There would not have existed such confusion and
uncertainty respecting the Sylvia Hippolais, &c. of M. Temminck,
had that ornithologist described occasionally the notes of his birds, when
the species Avere difficult to be distinguished. It would be an endless
task, however, to commit to paper all the various call-notes of our
English Tits, but I have endeavoured to write down some of the most
common notes of each species; and I think, by a little attention to
the sounds as they are here expressed, the four common kinds may very
easily be discriminated.

The Cole Tit has generally been described as a rarer species than either
of the others; and it has also been said, that this bird does not usually
haunt the vicinity of houses in the winter so much as the three others,
keeping more to woods and forests throughout the year. This does not
altogether accord with my observation, for the Cole Tit literally abounds
in my garden during the winter months ; indeed, I think the four
species are about equally abundant. Their haunts are different, and
each, in its own respective habitat, may generally be found more plen-
tiful than any of the others. In the immediate vicinity of houses the
Blue Tit predominates ; in low, damp situations, and among willows,
the Marsh Tit is the most abundant species ; the Cole Tit may always
be found plentiful in the neighbourhood of firs, and among oak-trees ;

BI.YTH ON BRITISH TITS. 2G9

on a common, also, wherever a few trees are scattered, the Cole Tit is
generally to be heard ; and in inclosed situations, where a few oaks or
elms grow out of the hedge, there the Ox-eye is generally abundant.
Neither, however, are by any means confined to the above situations ;
these are merely their most favourite respective haunts ; and if a speci-
men of either kind were wanted, it might always, with a tolerable
degree of certainty, be procured in the above-mentioned localities.

In gardens, as soon as the sunflower seeds begin to ripen, the three
Black-headed Tits always make their appearance in great numbers; I
have never known the blue species to touch the seeds of the sunflower,
but the three others are extremely partial to them : this is the best
time to catch them for confinement, which may be very easily done in
almost any sort of trap, baited with a meal-worm or insect of any kind.
The young Cole and Marsh Tits of the year become quite familiar
almost immediately after they are caught, and may be fed on hempseed,
or sunflower seeds ; the Marsh Tit is also fond of canary seeds, which
the other species do not touch. The Blue Tit will not feed on any of
these seeds, but requires the same kind of food as is usually given to
the warblers, and other soft-billed birds. All the species are fond of
pieces of almond and hazelnut ; and also of suet, but should not have
much of the latter given to them, lest they become sickly. In the wild
state the large species feed much upon corn, swallowing it whole ; but
they will seldom touch this food in confinement, unless very hungry.
It is amusing to observe two or three of the Black-headed Tits when
they are hammering their hempseed in confinement ; a person that did
not see them would imagine, from the noise they make, that they heard
a number of carpenters at work. The autumn also is, I think, the
best time to procure these birds in fine plumage for stuffing ; they have
then just completed their annual change of plumage, and may at that
time occasionally be met with beautifully clean ; the plumage of the
Tits being generally, when wild, very much soiled with dirt, as is the
case with the treecreeper, woodpeckers, nuthatch, and most other birds
which creep or clamber much about the dirty branches of trees. The
Ox-eye, however, is an exception ; the plumage of that species being,
generally, remarkably clean and unworn ; the very reverse of the three
others, which are sometimes, during the winter months, so disfigured
with dirt, that their markings are hardly discernible.
Tooling, Surrey, May 18, 1833.

270

ON THE IRREGULARITY IN THE APPEARANCE OF INSECTS,
AND ON THE UTILITY OF CALENDARS.

BY SOLITARIES.

EXPERIENCE soon teaches the young naturalist, that what in one
county, or even in one village, may be the usual time of an insect's
appearance, is at variance with the usual time in another. Though
we have much to learn before we can positively assert the causes
of these irregularities, yet when we consider the influence all created
things have upon one another, and how the life of one being depends
upon the existence of another, sufficient grounds present themselves
upon which we may at least attempt an explanation. In my pre-
sent paper I express my opinion that the time at which an insect
shall appear in its perfect state, depends primarily upon the adaptability
of the soil which is to nourish the plant upon which the young feeds.
We know that if the soil fails, the plant thrives not, and then the growth
and transformation of the caterpillar which feeds thereon is retarded by
the scantiness, or the unwholesomeness of the food, and consequently
the perfect insect makes a, late appearance. But, on the contrary,
should the plant grow in a very favourable soil, it thrives well, and the
insect eggs, or other embryos, deposited in that soil, partaking of the
warmth, are hatched before their usual times, the caterpillar comes forth,
feeds upon the leaves, and soon assumes its perfect state. In both these
cases, we see that the soil is the main cause of both the late and early
appearance. It would, however, be hasty to conclude, that soil exerted
the only influence over the periodical appearance of insects ; for there
are certainly other causes, such as the prevalence of rain, frost, or sun-
shine. Besides the irregularity in the primary appearance of an insect
in its perfect state, there is also another circumstance to be observed,
which is, that when an insect makes its appearance, whether it be before
or after the usual time, it is rarely a general one all over the country.
In explanation of this let me suppose what is in point of fact the real
cause, the unequal distribution of temperature over the surface of the
country. The suburbs of London, for instance, during this month, may
be visited by rain or frost, which would retard the transformation of
embryos ; while, during the same time, the warm rays of the sun may
be throwing an exciting warmth over Bath, or any other place, and
accelerate their evolution. There being so many causes instrumental
in producing these anomalies, it renders it exceedingly difficult to form
a calendar of insects free from inaccuracies, though it may, in most

IRREGULARITY OF INSECTS, AND UTILITY OF CALENDARS. 271

cases, pretty accurately indicate the regular time of appearance. Every
naturalist I think must find it desirable to possess some calendar, to
point out to him the times at which he may expect to find the objects
of his research ; but when he finds in it so many inaccuracies, it is more
calculated to mislead than to assist him, and, consequently, the only
method which remains is for him to compile a calendar expressly for his
own neighbourhood, founded upon a series of accurate observations made
therein. He will find, however,that even in his own neighbourhood irre-
gularities occur, thus, perhaps, he may know that a species of insect is
found in one field long before it appears in another. Should this be the
case, he must search for the causes, and perhaps he will find that the
one field is damp and the other dry, or its aspect is shaded, while the
other is exposed to the sun, or more probably that the soil of the one
differs from that of the other. Whatever observations he may make,
and to whatever conclusions he may arrive as explanatory of the causes,
he should duly register in his note-book, and having a map of all the
fields round his neighbourhood, each of which is numbered thereon, the
differences observable in their soils, &c., may be also numbered so as to
correspond to them, and better to impress them upon his own memory.
Such a plan of proceeding will not only be serviceable in explaining
these irregularities, but will often be useful in pointing out certain
insects which may naturally frequent particular soils. Having done
this I would next advise him to bring from each field samples of the
soil, and to experiment upon their warmth and adaptation for evolving
and perfecting insect embryos. Such samples might be emptied sepa-
rately into flower-pots, placed at the side of one another, and all in the
same situation equally exposed to the open air, and in these embryos
of the same species being buried equally deep on the same day, by care-
fully watching for the time of the insect coming forth, calculations
could be easily made upon the time one soil took to hatch them to what
another did, and consequently he might expect with greater certainty
every succeeding year, when to find his insects in those fields from which
he took his samples of soil. To illustrate this more clearly, let us sup-
pose that he experiments upon the soil of three different fields, and
places them separately in the same number of flower-pots, the first of
which contains a chalky soil, the second common earth mixed with ma-
nure, the third damp marshy earth. Having adopted the manner of
experimenting as above laid down, each pot we will suppose to contain
chrysalides of the same age and species, and covered over with a piece
of coarse gauze to prevent the escape of the perfect insects when they

272 FIELD SKETCHES.

come forth. He perhaps finds that the earth in the first pot devclopes
the insect sooner than the earth in the other two ; that the earth in the
second takes three or four more clays more than the former, and lastly,
that the third requires several days more than the latter to effect the
required transformation. With such insect embryos as are naturally
deposited in damp soils, the results of the experiment would be the
contrary. But, whatever results he might obtain, they could not fail to
furnish him with more accurate data from which he might expect at
certain periods the appearance of an insect. Having investigated in the
above manner the causes of the irregularities of insect development,
the entomologist will now pursue his researches with greater success,
and build his- expectations upon better foundations ; but still other
causes will exist which it is not so easy to take into calculation, and to
make allowances accordingly. There will be rain, drought, sunshine,
&c., the degree of influence exercised by either of which upon the
embryos we cannot accurately determine, unless it be by examining by
dissection or otherwise, how the transformation of an embryo belonging
to any species is progressing to its perfect state in thsoe fields in which
the naturalist is in the constant habit of pursuing his researches.
London, March, 1833.

FIELD SKETCHES.

BY RURICOLA.

IN my grounds this month, within a few yards of each other, have
been two yellow buntings' nests : yellow yowleys, as they are commonly
called in this country, where the English vernacular name of yellow-
hammer is little known. One of these nests was built on the ground,
on a slight slope, in the midst of a tussock of dry withered grass, shel-
tered by the branch of a young spruce fir and by a low furze bush.
The other was situated in a white-thorn hedge, at about 18 inches
from the ground. Some withered grass rose about this nest also ; but
the situation of it is unquestionably in the hedge, where it rests in a
fork formed by the stem and one of the branches, at the height already
mentioned above the ground. I trouble you with this statement, as
affording within a short space examples of the two situations for build-
ing chosen by this bird, as noticed in the second edition of Colonel
Montagu's Ornithological Dictionary. Colonel Montagu says, that " the

FIELD SKETCHES. 273

nest is generally placed near the ground, in some low bush or hedge:"
whereas the editor of the late edition of his work observes, — "Among
several hundreds of these nests, with which I have been acquainted, I
have rarely indeed seen one ' placed in a low bush or hedge,' but almost
uniformly on the ground in a tuft of grass, or under the brow of a
ditch-bank." This example, therefore, especially as a casual occur-
rence, which is the case, may not be impertinent. By the way, I
remark, that Colonel Montagu says of the yellow-hammer, that " it
does not breed till late in the spring." In the examples, already
spoken of, both broods were hatched several days before the date of
this letter (April 29). From some cause, which is not apparent, the
brood belonging to the nest on the ground had been forsaken by the
dam, and were found dead two or three days ago under and in the
nest: whilst those in the hedge are going on well at this time, being
of such a size and so nearly fledged, as to make it probable that in a
few days they will have flown. On turning to Syme's " British Song
Birds," I find it stated, that " the yellow bunting rarely builds on the
ground, preferring a low bush, or among reeds in moist places." Syme
states also, that " it generally builds in May."

With reference to the engraving of the " oak in the hyacinth glass,"
taken from the drawing which I sent you from Bath, and given in your
number for April, permit me to direct your attention to an error of the
artist, who has in the first place represented the acorn with the cup on,
which is of no great moment, and has also exhibited the plant as ger-
minating from the wrong end of the acorn : in fact, as if the plant
made its way through the cup. While on this subject, I may add,
that on one of the trees, spoken of in that letter, has been since dis-
covered, what the discoverer supposes to be, the caterpillar of the Torlrix
viridana, or small green oak moth, noticed in " Insect Architecture,"
p. 162. At the risk of losing a future seventy-four for His Majesty's
navy, the little animal is allowed to live in the cottony habitation he
has spun for himself, and to come in and out to feed, when he pleases.
My informant inquires, " Is not this rather a curiosity ? Where can
the moth have laid the egg, and when ? Can it have been in the acorn,
and have been then nurtured through the process of vegetation? The
moths are out in June, and can hardly have deposited it at the time the
leaves were formed, which I imagine to be usual."

In an inclosure on the outside of my garden is a small heap of manure,
the materials of which came partly from the stable, and partly from the

VOL. i. — NO. vi. (JUNK, 1833.) T

274- FIELD SKETCHES.

sea-shore. In a little hollow on the side of this heap, under a sort of
pent-house formed by a lock of the sea- weed, a redbreast has built her
nest and hatched her young, unmolested by the gardeners and other
persons who are continually passing by, for her situation is almost close
to the garden-door ; and to all appearance insensible of any incon-
venience from the manure heap having been recently dug away within
a couple of feet of her nest, which she goes in and out of with little
scruple, in the presence of any one who happens to be near. The fact
is, perhaps, not unworthy of notice, both on account of the substance in
which the bird has chosen to establish herself, and of the public and
much frequented situation.

A twelvemonth ago I observed another redbreast's nest very pleas-
ingly situated in a window of a house at that time my residence, which
stood in a garden. The house was almost covered with ivy : and round
some of the windows was a light trellis, with which roses and other
flowering plants were interwoven. On the sill of one of the windows,
and in a snug recess within the trellis, the redbreast took up her
abode, where she might be continually seen from the parlour, to which
the window belonged, during the whole process of incubation, till in
due time she carried off her young brood in safety. She was much the
object of observation to different members of the family, and often would
have escaped notice, as she sat patiently on her nest, but for the bright
sparkling of her eye, Avhich seemed to speculate on the observers as
curiously as theirs did on her. But the window never being opened,
and care being taken not to disturb her, she arrived prosperously at the
termination of her maternal cares. The recollection of this occurrence
has given occasion to the following lines, which are at your service, if
you think them suited to the purposes of your Magazine.

TO A REDBREAST, WHICH BUILT HER NEST ON THE WINDOW SILL
OF A PARLOUR IN THE AUTHOR'S RESIDENCE.

YES, 'mid the dark-green ivy-twine,
Couch'd in the trellis'd eglantine,
We mark'd that tiny form of thine,

The spring's sweet tide ;
We mark'd thee weave thy mossy nest,
And in its hair-lined covert rest
Thy russet wings and ruddy breast,

Our home beside.

LINES TO A REDBREAST. 275

Close didst thou sit ; but we might spy
The sparkle of thy quick dark eye,
As if some reckless foe were by,

That mischief stirr'd : —
Sit on ! away we would not bear
Those freckled balls, thy anxious care ;
Nor of thy plames a feather mar,

Thou social bird !

Sit on, and keep thy leafy bed,

Secure in thy secluded shed,

Till forth thy spotted brood be led

Yon shrubs among :
When autumn chills the silent day,
Perch'd on the hawthorn's leafless spray,
They shall their guardian's care repay

With a sweet song.

Sweet is thy song from vernal tree,
Though noticed less amid the glee,
Which swells in general harmony

Each tuneful throat :
More valued, when its warbles cheer
The gloom of the departing year,
And pour into the pensive ear

Their lonely note.

That lonely note may wisdom preach ! —
To the lorn mourner it may teach,
'Mid saddest scenes within our reach

Some joys remain ;

A pledge no less, though winter's wing
Obscure our path, another spring
Shall come, and all things laugh and sing

With mirth again.

Then welcome to my window-sill,
Garden, or roothouse, as thy will
May lead thee, social warbler, still

By man belov'd !

Home in my homestead mayst thou find ;
And give in turn thy greeting kind,
Sweet to the ear, and by the mind

Not unimprov'd !

Holy wood, Ireland, May 11, 1833.

RECENT EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCHES ON THE PROCESS OF
KUMINATION OR CHEWING THE CUD.

HAVING been led, while composing the " Alphabet of Zoology," now
in the press, to investigate minutely the process of digestion in different
animals, I think it will be interesting to state here in brief the results
of the recent investigation by M. Flourens, of the curious process of
chewing the cud or rumination, which quite upsets all previous explan-
ations. This process is always connected, excepting in individual
instances, as in man and the kangaroo, with a complicated stomach,
there being four, or at least four, distinct chambers whose structure is
very different.

The first, similar to the crop or craw of birds, is termed the paunch,
and serves, by its heat and somewhat scanty moisture, to prepare the
herbage for farther change. It is situated on the left side, and lined
with a rough membrane studded with small flat projections. It is
inferred to have a rotatory motion, from the round masses of hair, called
bezoar stones, frequently found in it, arising from the union of hairs
licked off, from time to time, by the animal when cleaning itself, and
said, without proof, to be miraculously medicinal. In the chamois, the
bezoar stones appear to consist of vegetable matter.

The second is termed the honey-comb bag, king's hood, or bonnet,
is much smaller than the paunch, and is situated on the right of the
lower end of the gullet, which opens in common into it and into the
paunch. On the inside a number of shallow cells, like those of a honey-
comb, are formed by projecting membrane, and the whole is lined with
a rough scarf skin continuous with that of the gullet and paunch.

The third is the smallest of the four, and is named the many-plies,
because the inner surface rises up into a great many folds, one above
the other, amounting to about forty in the sheep, and about one hundred
in the ox, and covered with a rough scarf skin. Some of these folds
project farther than others, there being first two long ones on each side,
and within these two shorter, and so on. The smallest of them, between
the opening from the honeycomb bag, are puckered, so as to act as
a valve between this third chamber and the fourth.

The fourth, which is exclusively the digestive stomach, according to
Dr. Carus, is called the rennet bag, or red. Here, as in the simple
stomachs of beasts of prey, we find no lining of scarf skin, which goes

RESEARCHES OX RUMINATION, OR CHEWING THE CUD. 277

no further than the many-plies ; but a soft mucous membrane, which
has the property of curdling milk, and that of the calf is used for this
purpose in cheese-making.

It is important to observe, that, from the inlet of the paunch or first
stomach, from the termination of the gullet, near the junction of the
second and third stomachs, there runs to the third stomach a groove,
which I shall call the cud-duct, with the first stomach on its left, and
the second on its right. This cud-duct has thick prominent margins,
which can be brought to meet so as to form a tube, and constitute a
continuation of the gullet across the second into the third stomach.
This duct was ascertained by M. Flourens to remain always open, even
when the gullet inlet of the first stomach was closed.

The process of chewing the cud has recently been explained with
great minuteness by M. Flourens, of Paris, who killed a number of
sheep while in the act, for the purpose of investigating the facts, which
have not been well understood by Aristotle, Perronet, Daubentoii,
Camper, Ilaller, Chabert, Foggia^ and Bourgelat, and we may say the
same of Grew, Monro, John Hunter, Blumenbach, and Carus.

When an ox or a sheep first swallows grass or other herbage, it passes
chiefly into the paunch, but both partly, immediately and successively,
into the second stomach ; but in the instance of liquids, such as broth,
a portion always passes into each of the four stomachs immediately ;
the only opening into the third stomach being very strait, and capable,
also, of being quite closed, so as to prevent the passage of anything
coarse. The reason why liquids pass into the third and fourth stomachs
is, that unless the gullet -inlet into the first stomach is expanded by a
morsel of solid food, the cud-duct is more open to receive the liquid,
and for the same reason, the cud-duct is prevented, by the expansion of
the gullet-inlet, from admitting solid food.

In the process of common vomiting, the contents of the stomach are,
by the action of the midribs and the muscles of the belly, ejected in a
mass ; but in chewing the cud, there is only a small rounded pellet
brought up into the mouth, so that the process is in this very different
from vomiting. Bourgelat denied the existence of the pellet, and Dau-
benton says it is formed by the second stomach. M. Flourens ascer-
tained, beyond all question, that the pellet or cud, (which is only a dif-
ferent way of spelling quid,) is detached from the mass of aliment in
the paunch, by the latter contracting and pressing the mass upwards
towards the adjacent inlets of the paunch, the many-plies, and the

RESEARCHES ON RUMINATION, OR CHEWING THE CUD.

cud-duct, which seize and detach from it a portion about an inch in
diameter. The space, also, which these several adjacent inlets enclose,
being round, and its walls in motion, the pellet is thereby rounded, and
at length pushed up into the gullet, and returned to the mouth.

It is very remarkable, that, during the formation of the pellet, a very
copious flow of spittle takes place from the mouth down the gullet,
without which the pellet, which is rather dry at first, could not easily
be brought up. The second stomach also, has, by its contraction, the
opposite open cells brought into contact, so as to form a series of shut
cells ; an admirable provision for preventing the fluids, always more or
less present here, from being brought up along with the pellet.

The pellet, when returned to the mouth is minutely chewed and
reduced to a half fluid pulp, which, on being swallowed, is not solid
enough to force open the always shut inlet of the paunch, and conse-
quently enters the always open inlet of the cud-duct, and passes to the
third stomach, from which it is forwarded to the fourth. The account
of this process by Blumenbach, adopted by our British physiologists, is
grossly erroneous.

In consequence of this complicated process, animals which chew the
cud can digest more effectually than those which do not, such as the
horse, it being common for the latter to pass corn quite undigested, a
circumstance that rarely happens with horned cattle ; and hence it is
well known to graziers, that one third less will be enough for an ox than
for a horse or an ass. According, however, to the recent experiments of
De Dombaslea and Biot, this will depend, in the case, at least, of roots,
such as carrots or potatoes, upon boiling, so as to break the globular
crust enveloping the nutrient matter, which the stomach cannot well
effect. This matter, formerly termed Amidine, from its occurring in
starch, has been termed by M. Biot, Dextrine, from its polarising the
rays of light towards the right, — a singular property, by which the
nutritive qualities of vegetables may be, M. Biot thinks, determined by
optical experiments. If this be proved by farther research, it will
furnish a triumphant answer to those who are disposed to ridicule
minute and recondite inquiries, because they appear to be of no use.
When the polarity of light was discovered, it certainly could never have
been anticipated that it might become a test for the nutritive qualities
of food.

Lee, Kent, May 22nd.

279
ON THE HOODED CROW.

BY EDWARD BLYTH.

I AM informed that, in some parts of the north of Scotland, nothi ng
is more common than to see the hooded crow (Corvus comix, LINN.)

paired with a black crow. The gardener of Mr. , of Merton, a

very intelligent naturalist and accurate observer, tells me that, when
residing in Inverness, he, for several successive years, observed five or
six crows' nests, the owners of each of which, in every instance, were
one black crow and one hooded crow, which consequently he always con-
sidered to be merely the male and female of the same species. In the
south of England, the hooded crow is only seen during the winter
months ; and in the few instances which have come under my obser-
vation, I have noticed, that about an equal number of black crows have
always been interspersed among them. Some naturalists have even said
that there is no specific difference between the hooded crow (C. comix)
and the carrion crow (C. corone) ; the latter, however, is a stationary
species in the south of England, while the former is as constantly
migratory ; an obvious fact, by no means corroborative of their identity.
Mr. Selby, in his description of the hooded crow, remarks, that " some-
times this bird varies in colour, and is found entirely white or black : "
M . Temminck, also, makes the same observation, " Now are these black
crows varieties, or is the difference merely sexual ? " As to their being
of the carrion crow species, (C. corone,) I cannot for a moment sup-
pose it : several of the crow genus approximate most closely in size and
appearance, but are nevertheless most decidedly distinct. The North
American crow, for example, is so very similar in appearance to our
carrion crow, that, on the most careful and scrupulous comparison,
C. L. Bonaparte was not able to perceive the least difference between
them ; yet, nobody I should imagine, who has read Wilson's admirable
description of the habits of the American bird, could suppose it to be
identical with the common carrion crow of Europe. Is one sex of the
Corvus comix always black ? or are the black individuals of this species
mere varieties ?

Tooting, Surrey, Mai/ 18///.

280

CHAPTER OF VARIETIES.

SUMMER BIRDS OF PASSAGE. — A few days ago, being five hundred
miles from the coast of Portugal, four hundred from that of Africa,
&c., we were agreeably surprised by the appearance of a few swallows
(Hirundo urbicu, and rustica). This, however extraordinary, might
have been explained by an easterly gale, which might have cut off a
migrating band from the main to Madeira, only two hundred miles distant
from us ; but what was my surprise in observing several small warblers
hopping about the deck and riggings. These poor little strangers,
exhausted as they were, were soon caught and brought to me. The
following is a list of the species: — 1. Sylvia irochihis. 2. Sylvia
erithacus, LATH. (Tithys, TEMM.). 3. Sylvia sttecica, or rather a
similar species which I have already received from Egypt and Barbarv.
4. A species new to Europe, and perhaps even a nondescript, having
the plumage of an anthus, and which I think belongs (as Sylvia cisli-
cola, and others,) to the hitherto African genus, Malurus. This, how-
ever, must rest undecide ', my specimen having lost its tail, which had
been pulled off by the sailor who caught the bird. — CHARLES LUCIEN
BONAPARTE *.

On Board I he Delaware, near Gibraltar, March 20, 1828.

FURZE BRANCHES FOR CAGE BIRDS. — I have placed branches of
furze in my two large cages, and it is surprising to see how the birds
enjoy it. The twite and the siskin feed upon the seminal parts of the
flowers, and have stripped the branch that is in their cage of every
blossom bud. The twite remains upon the furze almost the whole day,
sings upon it, and at night roosts upon it. The warblers, also, are
extremely fond of threading the interstices, and concealing themselves
amongst it, as they do in their wild state. — EDWARD BLYTH.

Tooting.

TORPIDITY OF SNAILS. — In February, 1832, I had some snails out
of the country to feed a blackbird with ; one of them escaped and tra-
velled to the ceiling, where I found him next morning ; a date was

* From tlip Linn. Trans, xvi. — P. 754.

CHAPTER OF VAEIETIES. 281

written near him, and he was left to himself. In March, 1833, I took
it down and put it in water, when it was found to be alive.

It is very singular, but I found it had none of that fluid that so
resembles saliva, although its shell was broken three or four times,
which, had it not been previously torpid, it would have put forth in
large effusions. — B. B. CORNEY,

THE WORMEGAY OAK. — This celebrated oak, denominated the Great
Oak, which grew in Wormegay Park, in Norfolk, has not, that I am
aware of, been noticed by any writer ; and, having long attracted visitors
from all parts of the county, to gaze upon its gigantic form, is now a
shattered veteran, dry, prostrate, dead :—

Thou hast outlived

Thy popularity, and art become
(Unless verse rescue thee awhile) a thing
Forgotten, as the foliage of thy youth.

The history of celebrated trees is generally involved in obscurity,
because no particular attention is excited towards them until age or
size, decline or decay, renders them objects of curiosity. Such is the
case with the Wormegay Oak. All the information respecting it that
can be obtained from the peasantry is, that during fifty years previous
to its downfall, it had been propped with oak spars, that the oldest
inhabitant in the village does not remember the slightest show of vege-
tation on it, and that about fifty years ago its hollow trunk was con-
verted into a stowage for calves. I visited the tree in 1832, when so
much of it was standing, that I was enabled to ascertain its circum-
ference. Near the ground, where there were no projecting spurs, its
circumference was fifty-one feet ; its height twenty feet. At this point,
short stumps of branches were visible, but not a vestige of bark was
left on its bleached surface.

M. Bosc is of opinion, that an oak of a century's growth does not
measure more than a foot in diameter. The growth of the oak must
depend upon soil and situation ; and I think it probable, with great
respect to the opinion quoted, that the diameter of an oak of a century's
growth, under favourable circumstances, would measure double that
stated as the opinion of M. Bosc. If an oak were to increase only a
foot in diameter each century of its growth, the Wormegay Oak, whose
diameter was eight feet, had maintained vigorous growth eight cen-
turies. If the maximum of growth be taken at one foot each century,
during three centuries, the tree in question had never attained the

VOL, i. — NO. vi. (JUNE, 1833.) u

282

CHAPTER OF VARIETIES.

diameter here stated. Assuming that the Wormegay Oak increased in
diameter one foot each century during the lapse of eight centuries, and
allowing that the lapse of three centuries be necessary to complete the
total destruction of an oak,, provided that decay had commenced —
under these circumstances, the Wormegay Oak had an existence of
eleven hundred years, which, I think, cannot be implicitly credited ;
although Gilpin, in his Forest Scenery, notices " a few venerable oaks
in the New Forest, that chronicle upon their furrowed trunks ages
before the conquest." There remain, however, very imperfect accounts
of the progress of growth, and possible duration of the oak ; the axe,
with little exception, prevents its dying a natural death.

It may be imagined, that the soil which fed this '-'woody patriarch"
was rich in those substances, affording, in a high degree, food suited to
its healthy growth. It was situated on a patch of high land, between
two valleys of moor-soil, and, although they have the advantage of irri-
gation, their surfaces are swampy and interspersed with hassocks of
coarse grass. The surface-soil, on which the tree grew, is a moist dark
mould, in which appears to be mixed a quantity of finely-divided vege-
table matter. This stratum of earth is about two feet thick, and rests
on one of cohesive whitish clay, which, being tested with an acid, afforded
copious effervescence. The water of the soil, tested with tincture of
galls, afforded a slight purple tinge, but no sensible precipitate was
produced, after having stood ten hours.

The species of oak enumerated by Linnaeus, Hmnboldt, Martyn, and
others, are principally natives of America. The Quercus Se&siliflora
is supposed to have been introduced into England two centuries ago,
therefore the Wormegay Oak cannot be classed with this. The common
oak (Quercus robur), being a native of Britain, and, it is assumed, the
only kind of oak known in Britain at the time the tree under review
was a seedling ; the Wormegay Oak will take rank with that species
which furnished the hardy seamen of these islands with materials for the
construction of their war-ships before Caesar's invasion. Caesar s account
runs thus : — " The body of the vessel was entirely of oak, to stand the
shocks and assaults of the tempestuous ocean. The benches of the
rowers were made of strong beams of wood, of about a foot in breadth,
and fastened with iron nails an inch thick. Instead of cables, they
secured their anchors with chains of iron, and made use of skins, and a
sort of thin pliant leather, by way of sails, either because they wanted
canvass, and were ignorant of the art of sail-making, or, which is more
probable, because they imagined that canvass sails were not so proper

CHAPTER OF VARIETIES. 283

to bear the violence of tempests, the rage arid fury of the winds, and to
govern ships of that bulk and burden." — R. T. C.
Shouldham, April 25, 1833.

SCARCE BIRDS IN SCOTLAND. — Last month I observed the Bearded
Tit, (Laniellus Biarmicus, BLYTH,) at Paisley Water Mouth in a
marsh among the reeds. I could not obtain a specimen, (being Sunday,)
but I can specially speak to their identity, as I was within a few yards
of the tribe when feeding. A pair of black caps were shot in Sir John
Maxwell's garden last week ; I have stuffed them, and would be proud
indeed to have the liberty of submitting them for your inspection. The
spotted fly-catcher and redstart, of rare appearance, are now to be
found in our walled gardens. It is generally remarked by old people,
that the winters are not so severe, nor the summers so hot here, as in
some years past, and that, in fact, a complete change has taken place
in the atmosphere, therefore I cannot account for the presence of such
birds here, (though merely birds of passage,) at so uncongenial a season.
The spring weather has been most boisterous. I wish you would account
for this change, because, on the same principle, I may be wrong. I
think the nightingale and nuthatch will pay us a visit soon.

I am very fond of birds' eggs, but I do not agree with Captain Brown
in his mode of clearing, who opens them at the ends. I make two small
holes on the one side, and, consequently when exhibited in the cabinet
they appear entire. — HENRY JOHNSON.

84, Queen-street, Gfafgom, May 8th.

USE OF THE LONG HIND CLAWS IN LARKS. — There is an opinion
that larks have long claws, in order that they may remove their eggs
from place to place, when disturbed by mowers. This seems to me
very unsatisfactory. Perhaps some of your correspondents might help
me to a better explanation of the fact. — T.

ON AN UNKNOWN BIRD, AND A BRAMBLINOr's NEST. Last Satur-
day I walked from the high rocks through Waterdown Forest, and
particularly remarked two birds which flew pretty high above my head
in a wide circuit, several times, uttering a strange and, to me, an
unknown and distressing cry : one was very vociferous, but I think both
called. They were about the size of a crow, or rather smaller ; short
throat, flattish head — all the upper part of the body and wings black,
except a white bar across the tail, which was short — all the under parts

284 CHAPTEE OF VARIETIES.

white : the wings were exceedingly broad for their length, and had a
waving motion during flight. After some time they settled on some
high trees, at some distance. They appeared to me to answer exactly
to the description of the black-billed auk, but was not the situation
extraordinary ? I have little doubt in my own mind, also, that two
bramblings which, I believe, are not known to breed in this country,
are now building in a large patch of furze in Hurst Wood. I watched
them so long, and observed them so accurately, that I hardly think I
could have been mistaken ; I saw the nest also, but they had not begun
to lay, and I was obliged to leave the neighbourhood. — WM. SMITH.
Enjleld, May 4.

AGE OF BUTTERFLIES, MOTHS, AND BEETLES. — It has been said
of our butterflies, that the natural length of their existence amounts
to a whole year, because occasionally during the winter or spring, a
specimen is met with many months after the usual time of their first
appearance. None of those species which I have ever read of as
being captured so many months after their transformation into the
perfect state, I will venture to assert do naturally enjoy so long an
existence. I have seen it stated, as a positive fact, that the 'brim-
stone butterfly (Gonepleryx Rhamni) naturally lives a twelvemonth,
and how frequently do we read of the capture of other species, which
it would seem have existed five or six months longer than their usual
time. Such instances are not in accordance with their general habits,
but arise from accidental causes, such as the insect not having been able
to meet with a male and propagate its kind, which is one of the common-
est causes of the prolongation of life among insects, when nature supports
them seemingly with the hope that they may yet succeed in finding one.
Let any one who is desirous of being better informed upon this head,
take a male and female of the same species of butterfly, and place them
in a gauze-box, and in another box confine a virgin by herself. He will
find that the couple in the former box will breed, eggs will be laid, and
both will die at their natural time, but not so with the virgin — she will
live for months after, and this, by the way, it may be remarked, is
generally the case as regards other animals. It is from the results of
similar experiments, that I am warranted in so positively contradicting
the assertion, that some species naturally live through the winter and
spring, until they have spun out a twelvemonth's existence.

SOLITARIUS.

[I know of no instance of butterflies breeding in confinement as here
stated. EDITOR.]

285

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE BIRDS OF AFRICA,

TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH OF LE VAILLANT.

THE SHORT-TAILED EAGLE.

Le Bateleur, Le Vaillant, Ois. d'Afrique, i., p. 31, Plates 7 and 8 ; Falcx>
ecaudatus, Latham, Index Orn. Sup., p. iv. ; Daudin, Orn. ii. 54 ; Shaw, Gen.
Zool. vii. 98 ; Short-tailed Falcon, Latham, Gen, Synops. Sup. ii. 21 ; Gen.
Hist i. 171.

AMONG all the birds of prey at present known, there is not one that
can be compared, or that seems related, to the short-tailed eagle. Its
singularly short tail at once particularly distinguishes and characterises
it, scarcely extending beyond the tail coverts, which conceal more than
half of it. Its whole length, indeed, does not exceed six inches, con-
trasting badly with its long wings, whose extent appears more .on
account of the shortness of the tail, and both together rendering its
flight peculiar. When I saw this bird fly, for the first time, I was of
opinion that it had lost its tail by accident, a supposition strengthened
by the singularity of its mode of flight — for the tails of birds of prey,
acting as a rudder, serve to give them much agility and gracefulness in
the air. My subsequent observations, however, proved that the short tail

VOL. r. — NO. vii. (JULY, 1833.) x

286 THE SHOUT-TAILED EAGLE.

is a constant characteristic of this species ; while its manner of flying
is a sort of play which both the sexes practice in responsive turns.

The short-tailed eagle hovers by sailing round, and utters, from time
to time, two very hoarse sounds, one an octave higher than the other.
Frequently it stops short, and descends a certain distance, beating the
air with its wings, so as to make one believe it has been winged, and is
ready to fall to the ground. The female in such cases never fails to
repeat the same manoeuvre. The flapping of their wings can be heard
at a great distance ; and I can compare it to nothing more appropriate
than the flapping of a sail which has been slackened at one corner
during a gale.

I have named this bird Le Baleleur, from its flapping in this manner
in the air, and which might be said to be displays of tumbling for the
amusement of spectators. These birds are very common throughout the
Auteniqua country, and along the coast of Natal, as far as Caflfraria ;
and during the time that I traversed this charming region, I rarely
passed a day without seeing more than one pair. The male and the
female are always in company, and one is very rarely seen without the
other.

The short tail of this species distinguishes it from all other birds of
prey, and the strongly marked colours assist in preventing it from
being confounded with any other to which it may have a resemblance.
It is of a middle size, between the common eagle and the osprey. Its beak
and claws are black ; the base of the beak is yellowish ; the legs are of
a yellowish brown, covered with broad scales ; the head, the neck, the
fore and the under parts of the body, are of a beautiful pale black,
sharply terminated by the deep rust red of the back and of the tail ;
the scapularies are blackish, and in certain lights showing a tinge of
bluish grey ; all the small coverts of the wings are of a fawn colour ;
all the quills of the wings are black on their inner barbs, embroidered
exteriorly with silver grey, in such a manner that when folded they
appear all of this colour. The eye is deep brown. The female is a
fourth larger than the male, and her colours are in general of a paler
tint.

The short-tailed eagle builds its nest upon trees ; the female laying
three or four eggs entirely white ; at least, such is the information I
received from the colonists, never having myself seen the eggs. I have
shot several of the young whose colours are very different from those of
the adult bird, so much so that if I had not shot them when the parent
birds were giving them food, and if in dissecting them I had not ascer-

THE SHORT-TA1LKD EAGLE. 287

tained them to be young, I should have most certainly taken them for
another species, particularly as they were as large as the adults. When
I observed the birds, they were six in number, all perched on a very
large tree, where the eyrie was, and where the four young had no doubt
been hatched. I first brought down the two old birds, and afterwards
three of the young ones, but the fourth escaped into the wood. Among
the three young, there were one male and two females, and it is proba-
ble that the one which escaped was a second male. The three young
ones were all exactly coloured as the one represented in my eighth
plate, which is a female. Some months after, I shot other young birds
of the same species, but more advanced in age, and already showing
some red feathers on the rump, while the head and under parts of the
body had a number of black feathers. It hence appears, it is not till
the third moult that this species takes its beautiful colours, as repre-
sented in my seventh plate.

The young has the base of the beak bluish, the beak of a horn
colour, and the feet yellowish ; the general colour being a uniform
brown, more clear on the head and neck, and more deep on the rest of
the body ; yet all the feathers are edged with a paler and clearer tint.

The short-tailed eagle, like the vultures, feeds on all sorts of gar-
bage ; yet it frequently attacks the young antelopes. It prowls about
houses, where it tries to surprise lambs or sickly sheep ; and the young
ostriches, while little, become also its prey, particularly when they
chance to be separated from their parents. The colonists of Auteniqua
call the bird the mountain cock (berg-haan), a name, indeed, which
they apply to all large birds of prey, and particularly to eagles.

A single glance at this bird will convince arry one that it has not the
characteristics ascribed to the eagles : its claws not being so strongly
curved, and its beak comparatively less powerful. It is, therefore, one
of the doubtful species, as much resembling the vultures as the eagles,
and ought to occupy, by the side of the Gaffer eagle, a place between the
eagles and the vultures.

The district in which I most commonly met with the short-tailed
eagle was upon the confines of the Queur Boom, where I pitched my
camp, near Lagoa Bay. They do not fly in troops, and many of them
are never seen together, except when a concourse of other birds of prey
has attracted all those of the district to some piece of carrion. In that
case alone they flock together, but after feeding each pair takes a dif-
ferent route to their respective haunts in the neighbouring mountains
or forests.

x 2

288 ON THE PHILOSOPHY OF FINAL CAUSES.

I have also remarked, that these birds carry in their crops the food
they take to their young, to which they seem much attached ; for I have
seen them constantly providing food for young ones as full grown, and
apparently as capable of foraging, as themselves.

ON THE PHILOSOPHY OF FINAL CAUSES.

BY M. GEOFFROY ST. HILAIRE, PROFESSOR OF NATURAL HISTORY, PARIS*.

WE have recourse every day to the philosophy of final causes for
explaining every thing, and we fail not to affirm, with regard to the
teeth, that they are evidently made for dividing and grinding the food.
We wish not to confine ourselves to say exactly that which is, — to
specify merely that they are very well fitted for such an office ; — it is
doubtless more marvellous to explain the facts in this manner. But
why, I ask, are not pangolins/ant-eaters, tortoises, birds, &c., furnished
with teeth ? " Is this," it is replied, " of any consequence ? These
creatures are doubtless provided with other cutting instruments ? "

This remark was suggested to me by a monstrous calf exhibited
alive at Paris, as an interesting rarity of which we now possess the
skeleton at the Jardin du Roi. Its monstrosity consisted in a second
deformed (informs) jaw, grafted (entee) upon, the extremity of the
under jaw, which was in other respects regular. The grinders of the
grafted jaw occupied its sides, and were consequently directed outwards.
The animal showed much dexterity in using these as a cleaning instru-
ment either upon the right or the left side ; and it was in fact said,
from the great ease with which this calf managed this supplemental
organisation, that it was provided with two combs skilfully combined,
and marvellously adapted for its use.

The possessors of this curious monstrosity turned this dexterously to
account, in increasing the proceeds of their speculation. They knew,
or at least they said, that one organ being wanting, it was wondrously
supplied with another. They fed it solely with milk, but with great
difficulty, being obliged to pour it into the gullet by means of a bottle
with a long neck ; yet, said they, by how many other advantages is this
slight inconvenience redeemed ? The animal, however, left to itself,

* Translated from the French work " Systeme Dentaire," by the Editor, as a
specimen of the wild theories now prevalent, and which, to any plain man, must
carry with them their own refutation.

ON THE PHILOSOPHY OF FINAL CAUSES. 289

would not have lived two days, while the cupidity and devotion of its
attendants, in fact, provided for the state of its organs. They managed
to get it well through its period of lactation, and even beyond, conti-
nuing its existence as a lactivorous animal. It finally died.

Now, following the example of these avaricious speculators, would
you allow yourself to be prejudiced in favour of the philosophy of final
causes ? You may, like them, be inclined to say, that nature, in
endowing this creature, had acted as a good mother, since, with a view
to a singular predilection, she had furnished a compensation, as if to
balance the irregularity of the other parts. But this would show a
wish to penetrate into the secret of causes, and might lead to strange
aberrations. At this part of our enquiry let us abide by the sentiment
of admiration, and let us not indiscreetly give up our mind to that
which, like all our first notions, is and will be eternally above our feeble
intelligence. As naturalists, let us abandon audacious thoughts : let us
be contented with the manifestations accorded to us, and let us remain
the historians of that only which is accessible to our senses.

But you still insist that " this knife, for example, is made to cut."
Notwithstanding, to abide by the strict observation of fact, I prefer
holding to this reply : — The knife is susceptible of cutting ; it may — it
mill, no doubt, be employed in cutting. " But," you add, " the work-
man did, in fact, expressly make it for cutting." Who told you so? I
reply. The workman, it is true, has rendered it fit to cut ; but if this
circumstance interprets his intention, why may I not also believe that
he formed it to create something productive ; in a word — to be sold ?
The knife has in fact been fabricated for various purposes, and you will
only admit of one, and you will maintain, without knowing the matter,
that this one purpose prevails over every other that may be opposed to
you.

But would any one be justified in confidently speaking in this man-
ner ? This raises another question. There are without doubt high
manifestations which attest the designs of Providence : let the minister
of the altars, inspired by religion, propose them to our faith ; he thereby
fulfils his pious duties : but the naturalist, being in another situation,
passes, or ought to pass, from the observation of facts to its only and
immediate consequences*.

* When a theorist goes so far as to maintain, or at least hint, that a knife is not
made for cutting, it appears to be hopeless to set him right by facts or reasoning.
The concluding remark is very objectionable. — EDITOR.

ON THE GENUS PHCENICURA AND THE BLUE BREAST,

(Motacilla Suecica, LINN.&US.)

BV EDWARD BLYTH.

THE term Phcenicura (signifying, literally, red-tail), is now usually
employed to designate that genus of birds, to which the common red-
start and robin, of this country, belong : the name, however, is cer-
tainly not very applicable to the robin, one of its most distinguished
members, but it is one which is, nevertheless, passable, it being,
perhaps, impossible to devise a perfectly unexceptionable term. The
three described European species of this genus have each a curious and
very remarkable motion of the tail: the common redstart's tail (Ph.
ruticilla,) shakes — not horizontally, as it has been represented — but as
if it were nearly detached from the body ; as if loose, and ready to
fall off: being almost constantly moving in this remarkable manner
it gives the bird a most singular appearance. The redstart never
alights on a spray without giving its tail one of these curious shakes,
consisting of three or four quick oscillations, each less than the pre-
ceding, and the last hardly perceptible. The black redstart, (Ph.
Tethys,') also, shakes its tail, but in a different manner from the Ph.
ruticilla. The black redstart's tail is not in such continual motion as
that of the common redstart, but whenever he alights on a bough, he
always gives it, (I hardly know how to express it better,) four or five
slight wags in quick succession ; the motion not ceasing gradually, as
in the common red-start, but each successive shake or wag being equal
to the first. The robin-redbreast, (Ph. rubicula,} has a strange tre-
mulous motion of the tail, which has, I believe, never yet been noticed :
indeed, it can be observed only in tame caged birds, it being so small
and quick, as to be imperceptible at the distance of a yard ; I have,
however, many times observed it.

The common redstart is a very expert fly-catcher ; a tame one that
I once kept in confinement would, if turned loose into a room, in a
very short time rid it of every fly ; flying first to the windows, and
catching all that he could see there ; then examining the walls and
ceiling, hovering all the time in a very curious manner, and at length,
after having seized every fly that he could see settled, he would take
la's stand on a picture- frame, and dart after those which were flying
about, catching them in the manner of a fly-catcher, (Mugeicapa,)

BLYTH ON THE BLUE-BREAST. 291

with a loud snap of his bill. The black redstart, also, has much the
habits of a fly-catcher, but I have never seen the redbreast dart into
the air after an insect, though this species will sometimes seize flies
when settled on a wall in a very adroit manner.

The blue-breast, {Molacilla Suecica, LINN.) has always been classed
with these birds. Latham placed it in his extensive genus Sylvia;
and Temminck also makes it a Sylvia, placing it between the robin
and the redstarts ; and in the continuation to Shaw's Zoology, where
the term Sylvia is, strangely enough, restricted to the redstart genus,
the blue-breast is termed Sylvia Suecica; in Mr. Gould's beautiful
illustrations of European birds, it is called Phcenicura Suecicay being
still arranged with the redstarts and robin. This beautiful bird has
lately been added to our list of accidental stragglers, and it is probable
that, during their autumnal migration, some are annually compelled by
easterly winds to take shelter on the British shores when attempting to
cross from the southern point of Norway. When first I saw the blue-
breast alive, in Mr. Rennie's aviary at Lee, I was not a little surprised
to perceive, that the bird which has been placed by every writer in the
same genus with the redstarts and the robin, belonged most obviously
to a very different group, to the wagtails (Motacillana). Nothing can
more strongly show the difficulty of arranging birds from mere cabinet
specimens, and the necessity of studying living nature, than this
placing of the blue-breast in the genera Sylvia and Phcenicura : I
think I may confidently assert, that no naturalist who has thus ar-
ranged it had ever seen the living bird. The tail of the blue-breast is
partly red, but, with the exception of this very trivial particular, there
is no resemblance whatever between this bird and the redstarts. Even
in a stuffed specimen, the form of the head will show its proper
situation. The blue-breast does not hop, like the redstarts, but runs
about in the manner of the wagtails and pipits ; it has a remarkable
habit of continually spreading its tail, and should there not be already
a genus of foreign birds, in which this beautiful species could be placed,
the term Pandicilla (expressive of the peculiarity) might be given to it
for a generic designation.

Tooting, Surrey.

QI am sorry to say, that the living specimen above alluded to, was killed by
creeping between a cage and the wall on which it hung. He was exceedingly
tame, and would, on the wing, take an insect from the hand. — EDITOR.]

ON THE ANTENNAE OF INSECTS AS ORGANS OF HEARING.

BY PROFESSOR BONSDORF, OF ABO IN FINLAND *.

I SHALL here offer some observations on the use of the antennte of
insects, a subject which has been considered difficult of explanation.
Nature is always provident of advantages, while much skill is displayed
iu the construction of instruments for effecting peculiar purposes,
though the mode in which these act is not always so obvious, and some-
times leads inquirers to form various, or even opposite conclusions.

Some who are disposed to ascribe every thing to beauty, maintain
that the antennae of insects are intended only as an elegant ornament
for the head ; while others, from their analogous form and position to
the horns of larger animals, imagine that, like these, they are meant to
assist insects in attack or defence. The latter forgot that antennae are
slender and movable, while horns are strong and firmly fixed. I think
this, therefore, is erroneous. Nor am I inclined to think very differently
of the explanation which Swammerdam gives, unworthy of his acute
and well-practised genius in investigating the economy of insects ; when
describing the antennae of bees, he supposes from their very free
motion, that they can assist the sight and defend the eyes from ex-
ternal injury ; for the entire disposition and action of the antennae pre-
vent them from performing the functions of eye-lids and eye-brows,
since we perceive them joining the lowest membrane of the eye with
such hardness and remarkable tenacity, that without any certain
peculiar covering or other defence, they can preserve their safety
without injury.

But whoever takes delight in examining with care the action of the
antennae, will find, that being constantly extended, they are seized
with a sudden trembling as if struck by lightning, as often as they are
unexpectedly affected by the more violent motions of external objects.
He, I say, who has carefully examined all these circumstances, must
be justly dissatisfied with the opinion formed by Pliny (book xi. ch. 28),
Avho says, that the little horns extended before the eyes defend them
as if covered by a tent, and asserts that a certain sense resides in the
antennae, for which purpose these instruments have been constructed.

* Translated from the Latin, by John Sharp, Esq., Bannockburn, near
Sliding.

liONSDOHP ON THE ANTENNA OF INSECTS.

In describing, however truly, the properties of a sensation, they have
committed such mistakes, that I know not whether they have not
attempted to twist their experiments into crude conjectures and
opinions, as often as, on account of their desire of light in a matter
so involved in obscurity, they have thought it worth while to grapple
with the difficulties presented. For what can be farther removed from
common judgment and understanding than to suppose that the sense of
touch, taste, smell, or hearing, resides, where no traces are found of
ringers, of tongue, or of the organs of smell or hearing. In place of
these, organs of a very different structure may serve as substitutes, con-
tributing to form, in a few instances, the same sensations. It may be
considered, therefore, more as a conjecture to assert it as probable that
the antennae are the organs of one of the senses.

They are either wholly ignorant, or have given erroneous descriptions
of the nature of the sense of touch, and the delicate sensibility that
organ exercises in ascertaining the external properties of bodies, who
suppose that the antennae are organs of touch, because, being erect,
insects sometimes seem to act by feeling gently with them. The
antennae being sheathed with a crusty shell, are on this account more
unfit for feeling ; for it is evident, that the nervous papillae cannot be
easily affected by bodies in contact with them, unless they are covered
with a very fine skin like the human hand. Nevertheless, the internal
structure of the antennae has that lower degree of sensibility which is
common to all the softer parts of animals ; and hence they may not
only admit, but even, perhaps, afford the means of discovering the pro-
perties of external bodies, since the membranes of the joints, in some
measure, compensate for the hardness of the exterior crust ; by the aid
of which, it is far from doubtful that they may be able, on account of
the greater or less stiffness and resistance of bodies, — by striking or
otherwise touching them, — to distinguish solid from hollow substances ;
moist from dry, heavy from light, hard from soft, and also such as
penetrate strongly and subtly ; for example, a great degree of heat and
cold, or substances of an irritating nature, and, among these, concentrated
acids, — by all of which the joints of the antennae may be penetrated
and affected with a disagreeable sensation.

For a like reason, it is not doubtful that the sense of taste cannot be
referred to the antennae, because they are distant from the mouth, and
without the moisture so necessary for dissolving the minute particles of
bodies requisite for exciting taste. But to set the matter in a clearer
point of view to the mind of every one, that no sensible impressions are

294) BONSDOUF ON THE ANTENN.fi OF INSECTS.

made on the antennae by such substances as come in contact with them,
I shall now inquire, whether the odorous effluvia of bodies, or whether
sounds are perceived by the antennae. The conjecture of the distin-
guished C. Clerck, delivered in his inaugural discourse in the year 1764,
before the Royal Academy of Sciences at Stockholm, concerning what
is remarkable in insects, first maintained, with confidence, that the
antennae are organs of smell. He was, he says, led to this, by ob-
serving that certain beetles, (Melolontha aurata and M. fasciata.)
when alighting on flowers which are grateful to them, open the plates of
their antennae in the same way as horses after a hard gallop are
observed to expand their nostrils to the cool air. Indeed ! — Yet our
most acute M. Tobern Bergmann adopted Clerck's opinion, and men-
tioned that he himself had often seen the ichneumon jaculator prying
with its antennae into the holes which contained the grubs of sphex
figuli, as if to smell them out, in the manner pursued by many other
animals. This argument, however, has no great weight, although we
may, in some measure, give our assent to the fact recorded. We need
no more be surprised at seeing beetles incited by rapid motion, at one
time open, and at another shut the plates of their antennae, than when
we observe horses, or any other animals, when fatigued from labour or
swift flight move their ears : nay, even the whole body, in such cases,
may be seen to tremble.

Insects undoubtedly perceive at a distance their prey, and substances
agreeable to them by smell, or some other sense ; whence it appears that
the effort of smelling is quite unnecessary, in the instance of flowers
upon which they may alight. Nor does the history of the ichneumon
appear to me sufficient to establish this opinion, since I think it very
credible that the presence of grubs living in the bottom of their nest
holes can be more probably detected from their rolling and creeping
motions, and in a place too so narrow, by the organs of hearing, than by
the organs recognising smells applied to the exhalations, especially
when in the coldest blooded animals the insipid evaporations of bodies
are slower and less frequent. These holes besides are seldom dug to so
great a depth, that the antennae extended in their whole length could
not reach the grubs ; since I have frequently observed, that they not
only thrust in their antennae, but their whole head, and even the half
of the trunk into the little holes, so that it seems doubtful whether, iu
such cases, the true use of the antennae be any thing more than that
of touching.

Nothing therefore remains but to inquire whether the antcnnse may

BONSDO11F ON THE ANTENN.E OF INSECTS. 295

and ought to be accounted as organs contributing to the sense of hear-
ing, which inquiry, indeed, all the other external senses being out of
the question, requires careful consideration. The exact question
arising in this case is twofold ; first, whether insects really hear ; and
next, whether sounds, at least the more acute, or any noise whatever,
may produce a certain motion or remarkable change in the antennae.
As to the first question, certain writers deny altogether the sense of
hearing to insects, among whom are Linnaeus, Bergmann, and a great
many others. A few, among whom is Swammerdam, pronounced with
modesty, that it is a matter of doubt and obscurity ; and fewer still,
among whom I am rejoiced to mention the celebrated Lyonet, assert
that it is not only probable, but beyond all doubt.

Although, therefore, in a difference of opinion so great among phi-
losophers so distinguished, to remove and settle the controversy will
require no ordinary share of ability and experience; yet the various
affections of insects which may be brought forward, appear sufficient
to me to establish the opinion here stated.

There are none Avho know not that there exist many kinds of insects
which can produce sounds variously modulated, and sometimes acute
buzzing noises, for exciting which they are furnished with proper
instruments, which will be explained more fully (if it please God), on
another opportunity.

We ought not surely then to represent as useless to the insects them-
selves, the voice at one time fierce, at another the pure messenger of
joy, heard whilst we enter the woods and groves, or walk through the
meadows, resounding at one time with the shrilling of gnats, and at
another with the various nuptial songs of grasshoppers and crickets.

The more attentive observers and describers of the economy of the
honey-bees, mention differences in their sounds, such as a humming
early in the morning when the working bees go out upon their flower-
choosing excursions ; another, whilst they return to a peaceful rest in
the evening ; another, while they call forth the whole hive in defence
of the state against the attacks of enemies ; another, while they clean
their hives from filth; and another, whilst the queen-bee leads forth a
swarm to seek new settlements. Now I ask those who deny hearing
to insects, what can be the use of sounds so variously modulated, unless
the bees can by hearing discriminate those sounds ?

JElian affirms, that lobsters send forth music from their lurking
places, and though we reckon this amongst the fabulous stories of the

296 BONSDORF ON THE ANTENNA OF INSECTS.

ancients, our opponents may explain why those who take pleasure in
the study of insects remain so unaccountably silent if it be so.

Not once, but a hundred times, I have tried by experiment the
acuteness of hearing in insects, as often as I have delighted my mind
with contemplating the beauties of nature in study during the summer
nights, destined otherwise for the purpose of recruiting exhausted
strength. In such cases, how much attention is requisite to avoid
disturbing the roaming moths, and how rapid is their flight on the
least noise being made, even before I could have imagined that the
noise could have reached their ears.

Unless, therefore, every circumstance misleads me, the inference is
correct, that there is a constant relation between the power of ex-
pressing various sounds and the power of perceiving the same ; and this
is strengthened the more as it is more clearly seen and proved by sad
experience in the case of a man born deaf and dumb, which appears to
prove that hearing is the inseparable companion of the power of uttering
sound.

Some, however, object to this opinion, and I am very much surprised
to find Linnaeus among the number. Though convinced by arguments
and circumstances of so much weight and authority, yet they are
anxious to maintain the opinion they have once adopted, — namely, that
insects perceive noises and louder sounds equally with fishes, but
evidently in another manner than by hearing, which they think cannot
be conceived without ears, no more than sight without eyes.

I cannot clearly see the utility of referring the perception of sounds
in insects to a certain spirit or other diffused through their bodies, as
alleged by Franzius, and obeying by its tremors the agitation of the
air. Ardern asserts something similar with respect to fishes, and in
the same way we see timorous men tremble at terrific and unexpected
sounds ; but for exciting such tumultuary feelings, the slender voices
of insects are hardly sufficient, and murmurs uttered by a feeble voice,
especially when that explication supposes a very sensitive constitution
of the nerves might, were this true, be exceedingly inconvenient to
insects. They, indeed, persuade themselves on slight grounds, that all
the senses have organs of peculiar form as mutually dependent as the
sense of hearing is on the ear, and as feeling on the power of perception ;
and they think that the sensation is necessarily changed with the
change of the instrument, as creating on that account a new, and as to
its nature, an incomprehensible kind of sensation, neither to be com-

BONSDORF ON THK ANTENN.E OF INSECTS. 297

pared with our senses, nor to be confounded with any organ of insects
different from ours. This is the same as to maintain that the Divine
Artificer of the world is bound by definite laws, and that the model of
works in the universal series of animals is necessarily so uniform, that
with the dissimilar receptacles of equal impressions, similar effects could
never be produced ; a thing incompatible with the divine perfections,
and with the innumerable testimonies of varieties occurring in the
whole of nature.

When these authors therefore admit the perception of sounds, and
yet deny the organ of hearing, they appear to me to stand in the same
predicament as if they had said that insects indeed hear, but yet they
do not hear truly ; than which nothing could be conceived or expressed
more absurd : and the same may be said of fishes and many other
animals, the sense of hearing in which has been altogether denied by
Pliny, Ardern, Linnaeus, and many others, while Nollet has expressed
himself doubtfully ; but Allein, Boyle, Bradley, Pejer, Uffenbach, and
Bergman, give strong proofs and arguments against it, although the
organs are accurately described by Camper, and are often visible exter-
nally, though not always. A very difficult question occurs here, namely,
whether the situation of the ears thus denied to insects can be filled
by the antennae, which though a conjecture new and hitherto unheard
of, seems to me very probable. The form itself and hollow structure
of the antennae, accurately observed, differs indeed very much from the
inner structure of the ears of other animals, but seems to approach as
near as possible to the form of the semicircular canals, which always
exist not only in the inmost recesses of the ear of quadrupeds and birds,
without any exception according to Perault, Senac, and other zooto-
mists ; but likewise in the obscure organs of amphibious animals and
of fishes, in which frequently there is not even the least trace of the
bones of the drum or of an external ear. Duvernay, Richter, and Geof-
frey bear testimony that they are to be found, with a very few excep-
tions, so constantly, that they seem as it were indispensable in the parts
belonging to the ear ; wherefore it is said by many, and particularly
Haller, not improperly to form the seat of hearing, or receptacle of the
impression of sounds. Nor in that comparison does any thing displease
me, unless that the antennae and the joints, for the purpose of exciting
motion, are placed where the bony semicircular canals are concealed
between the bones of the temples : which variety however cannot pre-
vent the nerves destined for the sense of hearing from being disposed
generally, as to its layers, equally in each kind of hollow, although the

298 BONSDORF ON THK ANTENN.E OF INSECTS.

very great minuteness of these renders it difficult for us to perceive
them.

There remains only one doubt, which the diligence of an after age
may remove, namely, what openings the tremulous waves of sound may
have reserved for them in the inmost recesses of the antennae, since
these organs are terminated by no open mouth ; or whether these pores
and openings between the joints be concealed, by which the very tender
members connecting the joints alternately may be struck, for which use
these holes invisible to the naked eye seem clearly to be arranged, and
fitted equally for hearing, as the smallest bones of the semicircular
canals in the larger animals.

Nothing more therefore is requisite in this case for confirming this
opinion, than to show that the antennae are active and watchful
whenever they are exposed to hostile and sudden sounds.

I have examined by many and various experiments for several years
insects of different kinds, in which the size of the antennae was different,
and such experiments, provided due care and attention are employed,
cannot be performed without the most striking results. In proportion*
also, as the summer season was agreeable and the weather mild and
serene, my success was greater and more delightful. As all my observa-
tions agreed in this one circumstance, I omit to enumerate them ; for the
antennas being erect as soon as they were put on the alert, they were
moved hither and thither by means of loud sounds, for they disregarded
such as were very small. These they may be said to have drunk in ;
and if alarmed by new sounds they rejoiced when they could effect
their escape as soon as possible, and preserve life and safety by the most
rapid flight. So I have observed very frequently when the antennae
were folded up in the Lcptura, Elateres, Curculiones, Papiliones,
Apes; nay, even the housefly, as soon as they were moved and ex-
cited by irregular sounds or noise, would erect their antennae and
betake themselves to flight without any other excitement. The
Sphinxes again, and Pkalcente, during the night, fly about the flowers
of the marragon and other lily plants, emitting an agreeable smell ;
during the night, scarcely could a voice be raised than they would turn
round very swiftly, and the antennae appear to be, as it were, convulsed.
I must not pass over in silence, however, that no evidence more clear
could be desired oftthe sensibility of the antennae to quick sounds, than
what occurred to me last summer in my garden. I observed in a morn-
ing walk, undertaken for the purpose of catching insects on the hazels,
that while standing in the shade a nut weevil Avas sitting quietly at a

ON THE COLOURS OF THE FEATHERS OF BIRDS. 299

distance upon a leaf, with the antennae hanging down as if they were
asleep, on which account I directed a pocket-telescope to the spot,
which was above five feet distant, and therefore convenient for viewing
the insect. The point of view being thus determined, I made a loud
sound, and I was delighted with the opportunity of seeing the weevil
not only roused, but the antennae which had been hanging down
became elongated, and being full of joints struck by the undulations
of sound they extended themselves and remained on the alert till
alarmed again by a fresh sound. The insects fell down on the ground,
as is the habit of those and other weevils. I have never attended to
any proof of hearing in spiders, among which the want of antennae is
supplied by acute sight and smell ; but all these proofs weighed toge-
ther and separately, seem to add strength to the probability of our con-
jecture, namely, that the antennae are given to insects for the purpose
of perceiving and recognising sounds, in a similar manner as the sails
of a ship serve to convert the wind to the use of the sailor ; from which
analogy and comparison, I suppose that this name has been assigned
to these organs of insects.

ON THE COLOURS OF THE FEATHERS OF BIRDS.

BY L. P. VIEILLOT, MEMBER OF THE INSTITUTE, PARIS*.

THE American Indians give the humming birds a name which
signifies sun-beam, expressive of their splendour and rapidity of
motion, in some species producing an effect similar to that of the fires
which flash through the upper air in the fine nights of summer, popu-
larly termed falling stars. Upon the arrival of the Spaniards in Peru,
the conquerors beheld with admiration the pictures composed by the
Indians with the feathers of the colibris. All travellers agree in ac-
knowledging the beauty and delicacy of these pictures; and in fact, it
requires no great stretch of imagination to fancy their brilliancy and
freshness.

The plumage of the humming birds, sparkles not only with the
liveliest colours, but these colours possess ^he property of varying their
shades according to the direction in which the light falls upon them.

* Translated from the splendid French work " Oiseaux Dores " by Miss
H. G , Lee, Kent.

300 ON THE COLOURS OF THE FEATHERS OF BIKDS.

It may here be proper to examine these feathers, and to search for the
cause of their brilliancy. To do this successfully we should compare
them with the feathers of different kinds of birds.

The colours which usually adorn birds may be divided into several
classes : they are dull or brilliant, changeable or metallic.

The dull colours are those which are not susceptible of change from
the different directions of the rays of light : the plumelets of the
feathers which are thus coloured have the quill furnished on each side
from the base to the extremity with very fine and slender loose beards.
(Page 305, fig. 1.) These colours predominate most in the birds of
our own country,

Brilliant colours are those which, without having the property of
changing their shades, possess nevertheless a brilliancy similar to that
of polished bodies. This brightness is owing to the peculiar form of
the beards. A great number of birds have very brilliant colours ; such
as the red feathers of the woodpeckers, the yellow and red feathers
of the cassiques, those of the manakins, guit-guits, &c. The beards of
these feathers (fig. 2) have only fringes at their base, the rest is bare,
cylindrical, smooth and highly polished; but this cylindrical form
is not complete ; when seen from beneath, these beards are hollowed
longitudinally in channels (thus [o] ), which represents a section of
one of these beards. This smooth part is a continuation of the quill,
and differs from it only in being double the thickness, as if the
quantity of matter which composes the fringes were here reunited to
increase the bulk of the quill. This supposition is not altogether
without foundation. If we examine one of the feathers taken from the
head of our own king-fisher, or the little tufted king-fisher of Africa,
we shall find that this feather, which is black from the base to the
extremity, is varied by a spot of very brilliant light blue ; and it may
be remarked that the quills of each beard (fig. 3) are furnished with
fringes at the base and extremity, while the middle part is thicker,
cylindrical and destitute of beards, or at least they are so small, as to
be perceptible only by the aid of a strong magnifying glass.

We find the beards of brilliant feathers furnished also with fringes ;
but the latter are very short. The European jay has feathers in the
wings of a very lively blue ; the beards of these feathers (fig. 4) have
a long quill stalk which is thick, very shining, and coloured alternately
white, blue, and black ; this quill is furnished throughout with fringes ;
but they are short and black, and are only perceptible when the beard
is separated from those that are near it. It is the same with the blue

OX THE COLOURS OF THE FEATHERS OF BIKDS. 301

feathers of the jay of Carolina, I have made the same observation on
the green feathers of parrots, but in these the stalks of the beards
(fig. 5) are separated, and show the fringes with which they are
furnished ; sometimes the latter are coloured, but the colour is so dull
that, instead of adding to the splendour of the quill, it serves only to
qualify it.

Thus, the brilliancy of the shining feathers is owing to the hardness
and polish of the stalks of their beards, and this lustre is greater, in
proportion to the shortness of the fringes which accompany them.
That of the guit-guit is much brighter than that of the parrots, be-
cause the beards on the feathers of this bird are absolutely bare and
similar to prickles, while the beards of the parrot's feathers are fur-
nished with fringes which are rather long, and often of a dark colour.

Those feathers of which the colour varies, shine not only with a
high polish, but they have also the property of changing their shades
according to the angle described by the ray of light which falls upon
them. The green violet-breasted cotinga (Ampeli& Cazana) appears
of a sea green when the eye being situated between the bird and the
light, the luminous ray describes an acute angle ; but it becomes blue
as the angle approaches the obtuse. However the beards of the feathers
of this cotinga have no appearance which can be regarded as the cause
of this change ; they are like all shining feathers, barbed at the base,
and smooth and cylindrical along the remainder.

It cannot be supposed that the surface of these beards is charged
with roughnessj or projecting particles, of which one side is blue and
the other green ; if it were thus, these two shades might be perceived
on turning the bird round without change of place ; but, on the con-
trary, in both positions the feathers are constantly blue or green.

According to Newton's theory, this change of colour is produced by
the fringes being scarcely more dense than the surrounding air; the
rays, in passing through this medium to the thin plates or laminae,
which we suppose are situated on the side face of the body, diverge
but little ; and as, according to this theory, the colour of a body
depends on the degree of tenuity in these thin plates, it follows that
if the rays a, b, c, (fig. 6) fall perpendicularly on the plate d, e, the
space h, c, which it traverses in this plate, being much less considerable
than that traversed by the oblique rnyf, b, g, the eye moving from the
point a, will experience different sensations as it approaches the point
f. Thus, according to Newton, the changeable colours of feathers are

VOL. i. — NO. vn. (JULY, 1833.) Y

302 ON THE COLOURS OF THE FEATHERS OF BIRDS.

the result of their density, which is found to be nearly equal to that of
the surrounding medium.

However, it is as well to observe, that if the green cotinga were
plunged into a much denser medium, as water, the effect would be
absolutely the same as in the air.

Metallic colours have a brilliancy exactly similar to that of metals.
All the beards of the feathers thus coloured which I have observed
are furnished with fringes, which have the appearance of hardness.
These fringes are equally wide the whole length, and appear lopped
at the extremity ; when seen through a microscope we observe on their
surface a row of very luminous spots which appear hollow ; for they
are the more brilliant as the light falls perpendicularly; and become
darker as it approaches horizontally. On the copper coloured starling
of Africa, the barbs of the feathers (rig. 7) have fringes entirely black
on the outer side, along two-thirds of the quill, parting at the base.
The fringes of the interior side are longer, and black towards the
stock ; but the tworthirds towards the extremity are of a very dark
blue colour. These beards are imbricated with respect to each other so
that the black part of the beards is entirely hid.

The golden cuckoo of Africa has golden feathers on the back which
are very brilliant ; the beards of these feathers (tig. 8) have also fringes
which are entirely coloured. The beards of the peacock's feathers are
deeply coloured, of a golden green ; but in this the fringes are convex so
that the quill appears sunk (fig. 9 and a which represents the sec-
tion of this beard). In the jacamar the beards (fig. 10) are perfectly
flat ; the light however plays on these beards, so that in certain posi-
tions the quill appears to be raised, in others on the contrary it appears
to be depressed. But this is only an illusion ; the truth will be evident
on cutting the beard. On the Ccerebaflaveola the golden feathers are
at first black, coloured only at the extremity. The beards of these
feathers are furnished with very thick fringes of unequal length and
strongly marked with depressed or concave spots.

But however brilliant the colours which adorn the birds of which
we have just spoken, they are far inferior to that on the breast of the
Trochilus mosquitus. Let us examine in detail a feather of this
bird (fig. 12), and we shall soon discover the cause of that dazzling
brilliancy which distinguishes the colibri and the humming-birds. To
the naked eye this feather is two lines and a half in length ; we first
remark the quill, which is white at the base, and dark at the extremity ;

ON THE COLOURS OV THE FEATHERS Of BIRDS. 303

it is the same with the stalks of the beards, which are of two sorts :
those at the base of the feather are black, slender, terminating in a
point, and furnished the whole length with long and very fine fringes.
Those of the other half are also furnished with fringes on the part
adjoining the quill, but they are of the finest gold colour at the ex-
tremity. - This coloured portion is much extended on the intermediate
beards ; it is much less so on" those at the sides, which, at the same
time are very long, this causes the edge of the extremity of these
feathers to describe a perfect half circle, and makes them when im-
bricated over each other resemble the scales of a fish. If we detach
one of these beards (fig. 13), we shall see, that, like the entire feather,
it consists of a long quill, and that the little fringes of the first half are
long and similar to very loose hair ; but the coloured part of this beard
is very different : at first the fringes of it are much larger, the material
extremely dense, and, consequently, the surface of an extremely fine
polish. I have weighed the feathers of this species, and have found
that a feather from the breast weighs as much as three feathers of a
dull colour and of equal size. But the principal cause of the extreme
brilliancy of these feathers consists in the coloured part of each beard
being deeply hollowed in channels, and presenting to the light a
concave surface similar to that of a reverberator. Hence it. follows,
that if the ray of light fall horizontally on the beard (fig. 14), which
represents the section of it, there can be no reflection, consequently,
the throat of the bird will be dark: if it fall diagonally (fig. 15), the
part a b will be enlightened, and the plumage will shine ; and if it
fall perpendicularly (fig. 16), the light will be divided into a thousand
rays in this kind of focus, and reflect a dazzling light. This form of
the feathers in the Trochilus mosquitus, and the play of light which is
the result of it, explains very clearly in my opinion why, with the least
movement, the throat of this bird changes in an instant from dark to
the most dazzling brilliancy. If the beard of these feathers (fig. 17)>
be examined through a microscope, we shall see four or five very
brilliant spots ; they appeared to me to be of a golden red in the
middle, and of a golden green at the edges : they are, as I said before,
concave, and form so many little reverberators ; the intervals between
them are also sprinkled with very brilliant spots. The throat of this
species, however, does not shine in every position which permits the
light to reach the interior of the channel formed by the beards of its
feathers. If the eye be placed between the light and the bird, so that

304 ON THE COLOURS OF THE FEATHEUS OF BIRDS.

the beak may be seen fore-shortened, the breast will shine with the
greatest brilliancy ; if, on the contrary, the bird be placed with the
breast uppermost, between the eye and the light, it will not shine at
all. This appears to me to be caused by the fringes being imbricated
(fig. 18), as may be seen with the aid of a microscope ; if the light
comes from a, it will fall on the barb b, and will be reflected ; and if
from c, finding no resistance, it will be absorbed in rf, and there will
be no reflection. There is another remarkable character in the golden
feathers of the colibri ; their beards are deeply crenate at their ex-
tremity, because the end of the quill is devoid of beards (fig. 13).
This extremity of the quill resembles a very loose hair, and is ter-
minated by a little swelling like the antennae of butterflies.

This cause of the resplendency of the Trochilus mosquitus is found
in all feathers of extreme brilliancy, such as those on the throat of the
Trochilus auratus, T. pella, T. mango, &c. But some of these feathers
have not the beards crenate at the extremity. Those of the T. pella,
for example (fig. 19), are terminated in the form of a spear; at their
extremity is a beard which exceeds the others in length ; those of the
female (fig. 20), are also terminated in the form of a spear, but the
beards at the extremity are white, which contributes much to lessen
the brilliancy of this bird's breast.

The metallic feathers of the humming birds do not all shine with
the radiance of which we have just spoken ; the beards of the feathers
on the back of these birds (fig. 21) are not channeled, but flat, and
terminate in a point, the lesser fringes being black at the base and
extremity, the middle only is coloured; from this cause the beards
have a longitudinal line of gold on each side of the quill : the feathers
on the back and breast are less brilliant in proportion as these lines are
narrower.

From what has been said, it is evident that the metallic feathers
owe their brilliancy to their density, to the polish of their surface, and
to the great number of little concave mirrors which are perceptible on
the fringes; that the very brilliant feathers of the humming birds
differ from other golden feathers only in having their barbs hollowed
longitudinally, which produces an effect similar to that of a re-
verberator.

Fig. 1.

Fig. 2.

305

Fig:. 3-

1 iff. 4.

Fig. 5.

Fig. 6.

Fig. 7-

Fig. 12.

Fig. 17-

Fig. 13.

\

Fig. IS.

Fig. 10. Fig. 11.

Figs. 14, 15, 16.

Fig. 19. Fig. 20. Fig. 2i.

306
ON THE BRITISH FRUIT-EATING WARBLKRS.

BY EDWARD BLYTH.

THERE is not, throughout the whole range of British ornithology,
a group of birds more easy to be divided into natural and well marked
genera than the warblers (Sylviana^, if a little attention only be
paid to the habits and structure of the living birds ; and yet there
is hardly a single group that has been at all times so incon-
gruously and unnaturally arranged. The huge genus Sylvia, as
adopted by M. Temminck, in which the aquatic warblers, the night-
ingales, the sylvan warblers, the robin and redstart, the bluebreast
(a bird which moves by walking, like the pipits and wagtails), the
willow-wrens, the gold-crests, the wrens, and a host of equally dis-
similar foreign groups were all lumped together under one generic
name, is now, I believe with almost universal consent, set aside, or
limited very properly to a real sylvan group, the birds commonly,
though xmmeaningly, called " willow- wrens ;" but still, though our
systematists have, in most instances, abandoned the old superficial
system of classification, and have endeavoured to comprise, under the
same generic name, those creatures only which assimilate in habits and
structure, as well as in a few trivial and arbitrary characters, they have
again confused, in subdividing the old genus Sylvia, three distinct and
very natural groups under the one name Curruca.

All who have minutely studied the form, habits, and general
economy of this interesting group of birds, or who have kept the
different species in confinement, must allow, that if the willow-wrens
(Sylvia) are to constitute a separate genus from the other warblers, if
the field- wagtails (Budytes) are to be separated from the water- wag-
tails (Motacilla), or if the goldfinches arid siskins (Carduelis) are to
bear a different generic name from the linnets (Lin aria), by the same
rule, the aquatic warblers, the sylvan warblers, and the nightingales
should be distinguished from each other by diverse generic appellations.
" I cannot," says the Hon. and Rev. W. Herbert, in one of his
amusing notes to the late edition of White's Selborne, " close this note
without protesting against the injudicious manner in which the genus
Sylvia has been subdivided in the supplement of Shaw's Zoology. What
can be said in favour of a system that confines the name Sylvia to the
redbreast, the bluebreast, and two European redstarts, which have no
sylvan habits, and lumps the nightingale and all the aquatic warblers
with the fruit-eating-birds, under the name Curruca ? There is a

BLYTH ON THE BRITISH FRCIT-EATING WARBLERS 307

broad line of distinction which no ornithologist has noticed, separating
the fruit-eating Sylvia (Curruca, BKCHSTKIN) from the aquatic war-
blers and the nightingale. In all the true Currucce, which live mainly
on vegetable food, the inside of the mouth and throat is of a fine red * ;
in the others it is of a yellow- orange. Show me a nest of Sylviada,
just hatched, and by that feature I shall instantly determine to which
family they belong. I have seen no engravings or descriptions
of birds, in which due attention has been paid to the aperture of the
bill. In the true Currucce, or fruit-eating birds, it descends with a
curvature below the eye : in the wrens (I do not mean the troglodyte
or common wren), and in the aquatic warblers or sedge-birds, it is
straight and anterior to the eye, the bill being in the ' willow '-wrens,
slender and weak, in the sedge-birds, of which I should make a genus
Schcenia, strong and dilated at the base. The incomparable nightin-
gale has a very peculiar bill, and I suspect that its two species, the
larger and lesser {Philomela magna arid Ph. luscinia, BLYTH), form a
genus by themselves, unless the little known Sylvia sericea (TKM.)
belongs to them," &c.

The accuracy of these observations will be at once perceived by any
person who has ever examined living or recently killed specimens of
our various warblers ; as to the distorted hideous-looking caricatures
of nature which we so generally see in museums, they are often more
likely to mislead a naturalist, than to assist him in tracing the generic
resemblances of these birds. The collection of native warblers, for
example, in the British Museum, is a disgrace to the institution, and
so far from aiding the endeavours of a student to acquire a knowledge
of British ornithology (the proper object of such a collection), it requires
a very considerable previous acquaintance with the living birds to
enable a person to recognise many of the species in the disguised
forms which they have been there made to assume. The attitudes of
most of the warblers are peculiar and characteristic, and without a due
attention to the proper and natural positions of each species, no stuffed
specimens can ever be made to have the appearance of life, even if
otherwise well mounted.

I.t is, indeed, the wretched manner in which these birds have usually
been stuffed, that has been a principal cause of their having been so
badly and unnaturally arranged; their generic resemblances having

* In the garden warbler (Sylvia hortensis, Tem.), the inside of the mouth and
throat is of an orange yellow. — E. 13.

308 BLYTH ON THE liRITISH FRUIT-EATING WARBLERS.

been too often deduced from an examination of dry distorted skins,
rather than from the study of the living animals; though even in that
case it might have been supposed that the great difference in the make
of the bill, and even in the formation of the head, together with the
invariably wedge-shaped tails of the aquatic warblers, would certainly
have indicated the propriety of separating them from the fruit-eating
birds, whenever it was thought necessary to distinguish by different
generic appellations the various groups comprised under the old name
Sylvia. Subdivisions, however, have been made, although it would be
difficult in some instances to discover the characters upon which they
were founded : thus we find in Dr. Fleming's generally useful catalogue
of British animals, the wood-wren (Sylvia sibilatrix) arranged among
the fruit-eating warblers; while the willow- wren (S. trockilus) and the
chiffchafF (S. loquax, HERBERT), though so closely resembling it, placed
in the genus Regvlus among the gold-crests. Few birds are more
similar in their structure and general habits than the whitethroat and
the Dartford or furze warbler; yet, in the Supplement to Shaw's
Zoology, the latter is made a distinct genus, while the former is
arranged, together with the nightingales and the aquatic warblers,
in Curruca.

I have already stated *, in detail, my reasons for making a distinct
genus of the nightingales, which I have designated by the name
Philomela. The British nightingale, indeed, differs so very con-
siderably from our other warblers, in form, in manners, and in habits,
that it requires but a single glance at the living birds to perceive at
once that such a division is absolutely necessary, if our generic appel-
lations are to be confined to those species only whose structure and
habits assimilate. The best and most appropriate name that has
hitherto been applied to the fruit-eating birds, is the term Ficedula of
Aldrovandus. The appellation Curruca (derived from the Latin word
curro, to run), cannot with propriety be affixed to any genus of war-
blers, inasmuch as they all move forward by hopping; it would there-
fore, I think, be better to reject altogether the term Curruca, as
objectionable and inappropriate, and to consider the sylvan or fruit-
warblers as constituting a genus Ficedula. It would also, perhaps., be
as well to observe here, that the expressions " fruit-eating" and " sylvan
warblers," which have occurred in the course of the foregoing remarks,
are by no means so definite and exclusively applicable to this particular

* See Field Naturalist's Magazine for May,

BLVTH ON THK B1HTISH FKUIT-KATIN'G WARBLIiUS. 309

group of birds, as might have been wished. In the common accepta-
tion of the term, the nightingales, the willow-wrens, and even the
thrushes might, perhaps, with equal propriety be termed "'sylvan
warblers ;" but if we describe a warble to be that'jsoft continuous flow of
pleasing melody with which the Ficedula so frequently charm the ear,
the term "warbler" is undoubtedly more peculiarly applicable to the
birds of this genus than to any other European group whatever.

The epithet " sylvan" I have employed, merely because it has been
so often used before to distinguish these birds from the aquatic warblers,
and because they are most generally known by that name. The garden-
warbler and the blackcap inhabit woods, and so does the babillard or
lesser whitethroat occasionally, but all three are more abundant in
orchards and gardens ; the latter is most frequently observed in hedges,
out of which a few tall trees (especially elms) grow ; and this species
and also the blackcap may sometimes be heard on commons, but only
where there are trees. The favourite haunts of the whitethroat are
thick tangled hedges, the outskirts of woods, and among the brambles
and furze on commons ; often in the most exposed situations, if there
are but a few low bushes to give it shelter. In the midst of thick
oods they are rarely, if ever found, and it is only during the fruit
season that they occasionally venture into gardens. The Dartford war-
bler is rarely seen but amongst the very thickest furze; I have,
however, once or twice observed it amongst the lavender fields at
Mitcham. Its habits are precisely similar to those of the whitethroat ,
except that, like the babillard, it is much quicker in all its motions.
This species, though it ranks among the nyhan warblers, is never seen
in a wood.

The term " fruit-eating" warbler, also, is no less vague than "sylvan."
The aquatic warblers are, in confinement, as fond of fruit, or nearly so,
as some of the Ficedulic ; but I have not as yet been able to detect
either of our two common species (the reed and sedge warblers), as I
have the willow-wrens, in .the act of pilfering the fruit when wild.
The willow-wrens are partial to some kinds of fruit, but they
will not touch cherries, although they are very commonly known in
many parts of Kent and Surrey by the provincial name cherry choppers ;
a mistake originating in the very striking and singular resemblance
which the young garden-warblers (Ficedula hortensis) bear to these
li -ds. All the willow- wrens, however, are fond of soft pears, and, in
confinement, of a roasted apple. The nightingales I have never ob-
served to touch fruit of any kind, either in confinement, or when wild ;
nor does the aibour bird, or green nightingale (Sylvia poh/glolfa,

310 BLYTH ON THE BRITISH FRUIT-EATING WARBLERS.

RANZANI, Horticola polyglolta, BLYTH), a bird which, in the make of
its bill, very much resembles the nightingales. None of the above-men-
tioned birds, however, attack indiscriminately all kinds of fruit in the
voracious and determined manner which may be observed in the black-
cap, the garden-warbler, and the babillard. During the fruit season,
the two former of these birds hardly touch any other kind of food ;
indeed, from the time of their arrival (and the blackcap often visits us
as early as the latter end of March) to the period of their departure,
they subsist very largely on vegetable food ; ivy and privet berries, and
the like, supplying the place of garden fruit during the spring. The
whitethroat also is a keen devourer of raspberries, currants, and the
other smaller fruits ; and I have been informed of an instance of
the Dartford or furze warbler being taken with a limed fishing-rod,
while regaling itself on some mealy soft pears, in a garden, by the side
of a common : in confinement, the furze-warbler is as fond of all kinds
of fruit as its congener the whitethroat is. As these birds are, there-
fore, more decidedly fructivorous than any of the other European
Sylvmnce, the term " fruit-eating" warbler is, perhaps, a better desig-
nation for them than " sylvan ;" though neither name is quite as
definite and exclusive as could be wished. It would, perhaps, be better
to restrict entirely the appellation " warbler" to the birds of this genus,
and to call the aquatic species by the general name of " sedge-birds."

The genus Ficedula will contain five British species, and in all pro-
bability a sixth ; though the latter (named by the Hon. and Rev. W.
Herbert, the East Woodhay warbler, Curruca bidehensis ) has never yet
been obtained for examination. Four of the others, namely, the gar-
den-warbler (Ficedula hortensis), the blackcap (F. atricapilla), the
babillard (F. garmla), and the whitethroat (F. cinered], are to be
found, I believe, more or less common throughout the country. Of
these, the blackcap and the whitethroat are abundant every where; the
two others are less common ; but in no part of the south of England
can they, I think, be considered rare birds ; excepting, perhaps, in
Cornwall, and the west of Devonshire, a district which many of the
summer birds of passage do not visit at all. In some places near the
metropolis I have observed these four species to be about equally
abundant. The Dartford or furze warbler (Curruca provincialis and
Dartfordicnsis of authors), but which, as it is neither confined to
Dartford nor to Provence, to England nor to France, I should prefer
naming from its habits (Ficedula ulicicola), is an extremely local
species, to be found, sparingly, on many of the commons near London,
and very abundantly on some similar situations in several of the

BLYTH ON THK BRITISH FRUIT-EATING WARBLERS. 311

southern counties : generally speaking, however, this certainly is not
a common bird, though it is by no means so rare as it seems usually to
be considered. A few pairs breed annually on Wimbledon Common,
but a person might traverse that common for months without seeing
one, unless he should chance to alight on that particular patch of furze,
in which, only, I believe, they are to be found.

Dr. Fleming divides the sylvan warblers into two sections : those
which have the tail of a uniform colour, and those with parti- coloured
tails. These sections, to judge from the extremes, are natural enough,
the difference being by no means confined to the trivial dissimilarity in
their tails ; they differ in the form of the bill slightly, and also in their
general habits. To the first of these sections belong the garden warbler,
the blackcap, and also, I suspect, the bird figured from memory by the
Hon. and Rev. W. Herbert ; in the latter section the babillard, the
whitethroat, and the furze warbler are comprised. The division, how-
ever, is unnecessary, and of little or no practical use, the characters of
each section being so intimately blended in the babillard, the Sylvia
sarda, of TEMMINCK, of southern Europe, and several other intermedi-
ate species. The three British kinds with parti-coloured tails erect
almost constantly the feathers on the crown of the head and throat, a
habit which is not observed in the blackcap and garden warbler, which
occasionally, but not often, erect the feathers on the crown of the head
only. In the three former birds the iris of the eye is of a light colour,
being in the whitethroat and furze-warbler of a bright orange yellow,
and in the old babillard of a very beautiful pearly white ; in the garden-
warbler and blackcap it is of an extremely dark hazel, appearing black
unless closely examined. The bill, in the two last-mentioned birds, is
stronger made than in the whitethroat and furze-warbler, and better
adapted for feeding upon fruit : in the babillard it is of an intermediate
form, and the bird is accordingly more voracious after fruit than
the whitethroat and the furze-warbler, and less so than the garden-
warbler and the blackcap. I have never observed the blackcap to sing
whilst flying; the garden-warbler often begins to sing before he alights
on a tree, and, like the common wren, contiuues his song when perched ;
the babillard does the same, and often repeats his loud note of defiance
as he wings his way across a field ; the whitethroat and the furze-war-
bler frequently mount a considerable height in the air, with a peculiar
vacillating flight, singing all the time, and continuing their song
without stopping after they have alighted ; these two birds often sing
perched on the topmost twig of a bush, a habit which I have never

312 BLYTH ON THE BRITISH FRUIT-EATING WAHIiLEKS.

observed in any of the others. The babillard has the same vacillating
butterfly-like manner of flying as the whitethroat, but never mounts
singing into the air, like that bird and the furze-warbler. The habits
of the babillard closely resemble those of the blackcap, only it is much
more active and restless. Unlike the whitethroat (of which bird some
say it is only a variety !) it spends most of its time on trees, and may
not unfrequently be heard on the tops of the highest elms — to one
babillard that may be heard singing in a bush, at least twenty or thirty
may be heard on trees ; the reverse is the case with the whitethroat,
which, though so very common a bird, is seldom heard from any great
height on a tree. The whitethroat and babillard are, in confinement, of
a much tamer and more familiar nature than the garden-warbler and
the blackcap. The Dartford warblers, also, which I have seen in con-
finement, were extremely familiar and tame. The whitethroat and
babillard will generally, a day or two after they are caught, take insect
food from the hand ; but it will often require months before the black-
cap and garden -warbler can be rendered sufficiently familiar, and when
at length they do, it is usually fruit and not insects which entices
them. The two latter birds will almost always leave insect food for
fruit ; the babillard and whitethroat will leave fruit to feed upon insects:
some blackcaps and garden-warblers, -indeed, seem quite indifferent to
insect food ; I had once a garden warbler which would readily take
fruit from the hand, but which I never knew to take an insect that
was thus offered to it.

As but few persons are aware of the existence of the East Woodhay
warbler, as it has been termed, it would not be amiss here to give a slight
description of the bir.!,that the species might be recognised if obtained.
I have myself but very little doubt of its existence, though my endeavours
to procure it have been hitherto ineffectual ; its discoverers, Mr. Sweet
and the Hon. and Rev. W. Herbert, are too close observers of nature, and
manifest in their writings much too thorough a knowledge of the British
Sylmanaz to be mistaken easily in this particular. Mr. Sweet mentions
having seen several one summer attacking the fruit in a garden near
Bristol, and he adds that he never saw any of them but in that one
season. The Hon Mr. Herbert observed a pair of them in the parish
of East Woodhay, in Hampshire ; and he describes them as being
'•' formed much like a whitethroat, but as large as a nightingale ; the
upper part rufous, with a dark line over the eye, the under parts of a
glossy silver colour, which shone very conspicuously in the sun. My
attention," he continues, " was at first attracted at a considerable dis-

. ULYTH ON THE BRITISH FRUIT-EATING WARBLERS. «'J13

tance by one of these birds sitting on a low branch of the hedge with
its breast towards me. It did not stir till I came close to it, when I
perceived that there were a pair, exactly alike in colour and size. They
were not in the least shy, but sat very still, either on a low branch of
an oak tree, or on some part of the fence, and were quite mute. I
remained examining them about a quarter of an hour, being at times
very close to them. It was in the month of May, at which time the
foliage was very thin on the hedges, and very little on the oaks. They
were undoubtedly breeding in the neighbourhood, but I left the country
the next morning and could not investigate their habits any further.
There were gardens at a very short distance from the spot where I saw
them." I cannot but remark, that very mucli of the above description
would apply to the common spotted grey fly-catcher (Muscicapa gri-
solci), whose silvery white breast is often very conspicuous as he sits in
the sunshine on some bare branch or paling; the rufous colour of the
upper parts, however, shows evidently that it cannot be that bird, and
also the circumstance of their having been seen feeding upon fruit by
Mr. Sweet, whose description of the warbler perfectly accords with that
by the Hon and Rev. Mr. Herbert. I can hardly imagine that the
species is destitute of song, all its congeners being so very musical ;
and I think the specific name, Bidcheusis, which Mr. Herbert has
affixed to the bird, might be advantageously exchanged for some term
expressive of its habits or plumage ; such names being appropriate only
when a species is altogether confined to a particular district.

The garden-warbler (Ficedula hortensis}, though decidedly a very
common bird in many parts of Britain, and though a most exquisite
and delightful songster, was nevertheless quite overlooked by our earlier
naturalists, and was discovered for the first time in England by Sir
Ashton Lever, who transmitted it to Dr. Latham, from Lancashire.
In many places near the metropolis it literally abounds, and I well
remember, when a boy, the great difficulty I had in learning the name
of this charming little bird, which was as familiar to me as the common
sparrow, but which nobody seemed to know. On its first arrival in
the spring, (which in the older birds is often about the third week in
April, though they do not become common until the first or second
week in May), its presence is immediately announced by the torrent of
melody which it pours forth from the top of some tall pear-tree, or if
not in a garden, generally from amid the branches of an elm. The
song of the garden- warbler has often been well and accurately
described. In the spring he commences usually with some low twitter-

314 BLYTII ON THE B11IT1SH FRUIT-EATING WARBLERS.

ing notes, not unlike the song of the swallow, and raising his voice by
degrees, through a series of charming and most delightful modulations,
many of which closely resemble parts of the nightingale's song, he ends
with the full rich whistle of the blackbird, but delivered in a more
hurried cadence. This species certainly possesses several of the night-
ingale's notes, but those of the blackbird predominate ; the song is
nevertheless perfectly original, and is uttered in a more lively and
animated manner than the songs of either of those birds. He continues
singing usually about three or four minutes, when he stops as if to take
breath, and almost immediately commences again ; deep, rich, and
mellow, his lovely warble is heard nearly throughout the day, and
occasionally even after sunset ; singing nearly throughout the summer,
and often both beginning and ending with the same loud blackbird
notes. As in all other birds, some individuals are much finer songsters
than others.

The blackcap (F. alricapilla) is another charming warbler, com-
moner, and also better known than the preceding bird. His powers of
melody, however, are appreciated by very few, being generally placed
to the credit of some other bird ; by many the blackcap's notes are can-
founded with the " livelier summer song " of the redbreast ; others, and
not a few, actually consider them to proceed from the blackbird. The
summer song of the redbreast, however, though undoubtedly more lively
than its winter notes, is by no means so sprightly and animated as that
of the blackcap ; there is always a plaintiveness in its ditty, by which it
may be at once distinguished from the latter bird. " The note of
the blackcap," says Mr. White, " has such a wild sweetness, that it
always brings to my mind those lines in a song in ' As You Like It/

" ' And tune his merry throat
Unto the wild bird's note.'

SHAKSPEARE."

And indeed if the idea which is conveyed by that simple and pretty
couplet be embodied ever in a " wild bird's note," it is, I think, that
of the blackcap only which does it justice. The same author correctly
observes, in another place, that " the blackcap, has, in common, a full,
sweet, deep, loud, and wild pipe ; yet that strain is of short continuance,
and his motions are desultory ; but when that bird sits calmly and
engages in song in earnest, he pours forth very sweet, but inward
melody, and expresses a great variety of soft and gentle modulations,
superior, perhaps, to those of any of our warblers, the nightingale
excepted." These charming and delicate warblings of the blackcap are

BLYTH ON THE BRITISH FRUIT-EATING WARBLERS. 315

heard to very great advantage in a room, but the cheering, animated
notes with which he usually finishes his song are almost too loud and
stunning when heard in doors, though so exquisitely beautiful in the
open air. The notes of two of these birds which I have long kept in
confinement are extremely different, so that I can always with ease tell
which of the two is singing ; yet no person who knows the song of the
blackcap could ever possibly mistake the voice of either of them, for
that of another species, though so different from each other. One of
them sings part of the garden- warbler's song, and the other intermixes
a number of the nightingale's notes, though both of them were old birds
when caught. A few weeks since, when a nightingale that I also have
in confinement was singing, in his finest style, I observed one of
the blackcaps to listen with great attention, and when the nightingale
had ceased, the latter repeated several of his notes very correctly, but I
have never observed him to attempt them since. The blackcap is
known in some parts of England by the name of mock-nightingale : I
once heard a wild individual repeat the notes of the song so correctly as
to deceive me, until he broke out into his usual loud clear notes, which
latter are, in fact, a challenge and defiance to others of his kind.

The warble of the babillard or lesser whitethroat (F. garrula) is
pretty and lively, but its song is rendered monotonous, in the spring
and summer, by the constant repetition of its loud note of defiance,
analogous to the clear lively note with which the blackcap generally
concludes : this may be expressed by the monosyllable see, repeated
nine or ten times in quick succession, and at times very loudly : it is a
note which, though agreeable enough when only heard occasionally,
becomes tiresome when continually reiterated. This species, however,
can warble very sweetly if it please, and in confinement, during the first
months of the year, its song is heard to great advantage in a room ; it
then rarely repeats its loud see, see, see, and when at that time the above
mentioned note is uttered, it forms, indeed, an agreeable variety. The
song of the babillard is formed by a number of soft chirping notes, many
of which are extremely sweet and musical, and though at times tolerably
loud, yet they are generally delivered in a very low tone, scarcely
audible at a little distance. The male is almost perpetually singing,
erecting his crest and the feathers of his throat in the manner of a
whitethroat, and like that species of the furze warbler, he is in constant
motion the whole time, throwing himself into a variety of odd gesticu-
lations. The song of this bird is very superior to that of many white-
throats, but not to all ; he has none of those harsh sounding notes which

ol) ULYTH ON THE BRITISH FUUIT-EATING WAUBLEUS.

so often disfigure the whitethroat's song. He seems also to be always
in such high spirits as not to know how to contain himself, taking fre-
quently a long circuitous flight from tree to tree/ and back again a
dozen times, seemingly for no other purpose than mere exercise ; but he
.never mounts singing into the air, like the whitethroat. There are yet
many persons, I believe, who consider this species to be "a mere
variety " of the whitethroat ; and Mr. Mudie, who had evidently never
seen the bird, observes in the British Naturalist, when speaking of the
sylvan warblers, that " a diminutive of the whitethroat has also been
mentioned, but this will probably turn out to be only a mere variety of
that bird." These two species differ from each other in size, in make, in
colour, in their manners, their habits, their song, in the structure of
their nest, and in the markings of their eggs ; and surely " if all these
circumstances " (as Wilson observes, after making similar remarks on
two American birds, one of which had been considered a " bastard "
production of the other,) "be not sufficient to designate this" (the
babillard) " as a distinct species, by what criterion, I would ask, are we
to discriminate between a variety and an original species, or to assure
ourselves, that the great horned owl is not in fact, a bastard goose, or
the carrion crow a mere variety of the humming bird." In its general
habits, the babillard resembles the blackcap more than it does the white-
throat, and it utters precisely the same check (resembling the sound
produced by tapping two small pebbles together,) as the blackcap, but
its manners lean more to those of the whitethroat. It is, however, a
merely more active species than either. All the Ficedula; have notes
analogous to the above mentioned check ; that of the garden warbler is
very seldom uttered ; it may be expressed by chep : the whitethroat's
is a kind of tchut y and the furze- warbler is similar, but rather more
shrill, and it is usually preceded by a very peculiar rattling note, -which
I have once and only once heard from the babillard.

The song of the whitethroat is, I should imagine, too well known to
everybody to need a description here ; it is to be heard in every hedge,
in the margin of every wood, and upon every common ; and all who have
ever walked in a field must be acquainted with it. Its notes arc brisk
and lively, and in some individuals extremely sweet and musical, but in
others quite harsh and dissonant In confinement it is a very amusing
little bird, and, like the babillard, is perpetually singing ; like that bird,
also, it will never suffer itself to be outdone, and will often (as Mr.
Sweet observes) sing against a nightingale for hours together, but, in
raising its voice so much above its natural pitch, the song loses, in my

BLYTH ON THE BRITISH FRUIT-EATIKG WARBLERS. 317

opinion, much of its usual sweetness. I cannot, however, place the
music of this bird in the very high scale to which it has been assigned
by some writers : though undoubtedly a pretty songster, it is not to be
compared to the garden warbler or the black cap, or in my opinion, to
several other British birds. It is worthy of remark that the whitethroat,
the garden warbler, the babillard, and the furze warbler, all repeat the
same harsh note of alarm when their nest is approached ; but the furze
warbler and the whitethroat most pertinaciously, and it is amusing to
observe the whitethroat when he thinks his nest out of danger, as he
flies backward and forward crying too-ip, too-ip, too-ip, for joy.

The furze warbler's song is much like that of the whitethroat, and
is delivered in the same hurried manner which is observed in all these
birds; some of its notes are much like parts of the linnet's song, and it
has others which are peculiar to itself. It is a very pretty little bird,
erecting its crest and tail when it sings, and whisking about all the time
with such agility that it is by no means an easy bird to shoot. Sometimes,
like the whitethroat, it will sit singing on the topmost twig of a furze
bush, and the moment it perceives itself observed, will drop down into
the furze, and it will be often a long time before another sight of it can
be obtained, as it re-appears singing on the top of another bush. A very
beautiful feature in this little bird is the bright orange yellow of the
orbits of the eyes, similar to those of the bottletit.

It is worthy of remark, that six or seven furze warblers in the posses-
sion of my friend Mr. Bennett, of Upper Baker Street, London, all,
both old and young, exhibited the migratory impulse very strongly last
winter, although the species is resident in this country throughout the
year. I had long, however, suspected that there was a partial migration
of these birds, having observed them in some places much commoner in
spring than in the winter, and the above fact tends to strengthen my
suspicions : possibly, as in the stonechat, the young of the preceding
summer may leave the country, while the older birds continue resident ;
or their habits may be affected by the particular locality which they
may chance to inhabit ; as the robin-redbreast, a stationary bird in Eng-
land is migratory in many parts of the continent. The manners of the
furze warbler, in confinement, much resemble those of the babillard ; it
often darts about in the same active manner as that bird, and has also
the same remarkable habit of throwing back the head. A babillard, in
my possession, rarely descends to the bottom of the cage without per-
forming a somerset in the air, throwing himself over backwards. I may
here observe, that the babillard does not acquire the beautiful pearly

VOL. i. — NO. vii. (JULY 1833.) z

VTCi

318 SUNDRIES.

white iris until it is two years old, which has caused it to have been
entirely overlooked by writers ; indeed the birds of that age are altoge-
ther much handsomer than those of the preceding summer ; in some
individuals of this species the iris is of the purest white : the breast of
the cock whitethroat, also, does not acquire its full roseate tinge until
the second summer.

The different species of Ficedula are all, together with the aquatic
warbler and the spotted grey flycatcher, very commonly confounded
together under the one name " whitethroat." Some of the more discern-
ing, however, among the peasantry, distinguish the different species by
the names of billy whitethroat, for the garden warbler, peggy whitethroat
for the common whitethroat, little grey whitethroat, for the babillard,
&cv the latter bird (and not the whitethroat, as is said in books,) is very
commonly known by the name of nettle creeper. The garden warbler I
have also heard calledjuggler and nightingale's mate ; and the few persons
who know the furze warbler call it, some by the name of furze wren,
and others by the term rattle-snake-bird; though the latter evidently
confound it with the grasshopper-warbler, one of the aquatic species,
which also haunts commons, but which I have never noticed in the same
situation with the furze warbler. I have preferred terming the Ficedula
Hortensis, garden warbler, rather ihanfauvette ; the common fauvette
(lafauvette proprement dite of Cuvier) referring to the Ficedula Orphea
(Sylvia Orphea, TEMMINCK) of southern Europe, from which the
garden warbler is distinguished by the term la petite fauvette. It is as
well always to prevent, as much as possible, the confusion of names,
which has already much obscured the natural history of many species.

Tooting, June2\, 1833.

SUNDRIES.

BY BUBICOLA.

SEVERAL nests in my grounds having been robbed at different times,
and some disappointment having been thus occasioned to members of
my family, who were looking forward to the young birds making their
appearance in due time, inquiry was made after the depredators, who
were supposed to be idle boys or birdcatchers in the neighbourhood.
One case in particular occurred of the plunder of a redpole's nest,
which was known to contain four eggs, on which the female was sitting,
about noon of a particular day, (May 14,) but was found to be quite

SUNDRIES. 319

empty two hours afterwards, the nest itself remaining uninjured. In
the end we ascertained, from the observation of persons employed in
the grounds, that the plunderers were magpies ; for they had been seen
to visit the nests, taking away the eggs one at a time, which they
deposited in a safe place, and then returned for the rest. The thievish
propensity of these birds is well known, and the fact of their exercising
it on the eggs of other birds ; but their systematic mode of carrying
off their plunder thus deliberately to enjoy it at leisure, and leaving
the nestg without any trace of the depredation, in the form of broken
egg-shells, has probably been less the subject of remark.

The nest of the redpole is mentioned above as one of the sufferers
from these plunderers. Since the plunder, the nest has been taken ;
it is small and compact, being in diameter about three inches and a
half from outside to outside, two inches in the opening, about one
and a quarter deep, and neatly formed of bent grass and a little
moss, interwoven with threads and locks of cotton, and lined with
feathers and willow down. It was fixed in the fork of a Scotch fir,
about ten or twelve feet from the ground. The bird had suffered a
person to take the eggs from the nest, and replace them, she hovering
just above him at the time, and returning to her post immediately on
his quitting them. The eggs were of a light colour, not white, with
reddish or brownish spots.

It is said, but I know not on what authority, that the magpie was
unknown in this part of the kingdom (the north of Ireland,) until of
late years, when a certain curious lady caused a pair to be imported
from England. However this may be, they are now very plentiful, of
which we have had the most convincing evidence in the havoc they
have committed among our small birds ; in consequence of this we
have taken within a moderate extent of ground, and in the course of a
few days, five full grown birds, four nests, containing twenty young
ones, and one nest with five eggs.

The most favourite places selected by our numerous birds, such as
thrushes, blackbirds, green linnets, chaffinches, &c., are evergreen
shrubs, especially laurels and laurustines. A situation probably of less
frequent occurrence is a thick bed of lavender, in which a green linnet
built early in the spring, but deserted her nest ; in the same bed a
blackbird has since established herself, and at this time (May 29,) is
sitting on a fine brood of five nestlings. I observe that this bird on
being disturbed does not fly upwards from her nest, but goes off
laterally through the covert, and so escapes at the other side of it

z 2

320 SUNDRIES.

By the way, with reference to what I just now said about the im-
portation of the magpies, a large and very handsome sort of snail is
frequent in Surrey, in the neighbourhood of Ashtead, Leatherhead, &c.,
which is said to have been introduced into those parts originally on
account of a young lady, to whom a diet, containing that ingredient,
was prescribed as a remedy for consumption. To the fact of the snail
in question being found abundantly in that part of the county of
Surrey, I can speak from my own knowledge a few years ago, and at
this time several specimens of the shell are in my possession ; the fact
was accounted for in the way that I have described, and the statement
reached me under credible circumstances. It is familiarly spoken of in
the neighbourhood as the Spanish snail, doubtless from the country of
its supposed origin.

In " The Architecture of Birds," are mentioned the principal
heronries recorded to be existing at present in Great Britain. There
is one in this county, at Hillsborough, the seat of the Marquis of
Downshire. A few years ago the noble proprietor, preferring fish to
herons, and finding the latter very destructive of the former, his fish
ponds being immediately under the heronry, determined on abolishiug
the birds, and used every expedient in his power for the purpose. The
effort, however, was ineffectual, and the herons were ultimately left in
undisturbed possession of their ancient hereditary domain. It is
amusing to see them seated on the high trees, with their legs hanging
down from the branches through their nests, which appear to be very
loosely put together. There is another heronry, I am informed, in the
county of Cavan, but I do not know the proprietor, or the particular
spot, and another at the Marquis of Abercorn's, Baron's Court, near
Strabane, in the county of Tyrone ; perhaps there are others in this
country ; the bird itself is common in Ireland, and is perpetually
seen, for example, on the sea shore in the counties of Down and
Antrim. In the latter county it is frequent also at Shanes Castle,
the seat of Earl O'Neill, on the borders of that extensive expanse
of fresh water, Lough Neagh, sixteen or eighteen miles from the
sea : but they do not appear to nestle and breed there. I am told
that they never build except on an island.

I do not know whether the swift (Hirundo Apus, LINN.) will bear
confinement. But a friend has recently sent me a specimen of this
bird, which, at the time of its being shot, was found to have an orange
ribbon tied round its neck, so that it must at some previous time have
been in captivity. But where, and when, and how long, it had been

SUNDRIES. 321

confined, and for what purpose the badge had been appended to it, are
questions of which there is no obvious solution.

The Loon, or Great Northern Diver, (Colymbus glacialis, LINN.)
is sometimes found in this neighbourhood. A fine specimen, of which
by the kindness of a friend, I am now in possession of, was shot last
winter on Lough Neagh, near the town of Antrim, about sixteen English
miles from the sea. About the same time three more of these birds
were shot near the mouth of the bay of Carrickfergus ; all of them
having probably been driven to these parts by the excessive storminess
of the weather. My specimen measures, as near as possible, from
the extremity of the beak to that of the tail, three feet one inch and
a half.

TO A SWALLOW.

STAY thee, thou bird of nimblest wing,
Herald and harbinger of spring,
As round and round in airy ring,

Thou wheel'st thy flight ;
Or dart'st right on, as if to meet
My pensive steps, when lo ! more fleet
Than bowyer's shaft, thy turnings cheat

The following sight.

Stay, swallow, stay ! I fain would view

Thy glossy plumes of changeful hue,

Where black, and brown, and green, and blue,

Conflicting vie ;

Fain would I view thy belted chest.
Thy sable robe, thy snowy vest,
Thy front and chin in 'kerchief drest,

Of reddish die ;

The steerage of thy forked tail,
Thy dusky legs so short and frail,
Each pointed wing's expansive sail,

I fain would mark. —
Thou wilt not : well then, onward go !
Well deem'st thou, thou hast tasks enow,
To hold thee through the summer's glow,

'Till winter dark.

Go ! and or ere the eye of day
Strike the low thatch with level ray,
Trill from thy home to morning grey
A welcome sweet :

SUNDRIES.

Or call to aid, with sharp shrill cry !
Thy tribes, and dart on him from high,
If owl, or kestrel, sailing by,
Thy precincts threat.

Go ! and beneath yon rafter'd shed,
Hang thy clay house and procreant bed ;
Or the strait chimney downward thread,

Safe place to lay

Thy six white eggs, with red besprent ;
Now hovering o'er the steep descent,
Now in thy murky chamber pent

The livelong day.

Go ! and the mead or hedge-row skim,
Or, passing, sip the water's brim ;
Or plunge thee in the dimpled stream

Thy wing to prune :
Or with thy mate, now low, now high,
In sport thy viewless pinions ply ;
And catch with sounding beak the fly,

Thy nestlings' boon.

Go ! and abroad thy nestlings lead,
Perch'd on the chimney top to feed,
And train 'd the quivering wing to spread

For doubtful flight :
Soon shall they make more bold essay,
Mix with their kindred groups in play,
And round the village dwellings stray,

And church-topp'd height ;

Now watch to see thee duly bring
The wonted meal, and forward spring
With small brisk note, and on the wing

Their dole receive ;
Now fearless follow, here and there,
The insect myriads of the air ;
And thee to fresh domestic care

Forsaken leave.

Go ! and a mother's task renew,
Thy cares, and toils, and joys pursue,
Long as mild autumn, bath'd in dew,

The welkin warms ;
'Till chill October's fickle hour
Shall warn thee, with thy tribes, to cower
On each slope roof and sunny tower,

In countless swarms.

SUNDRIES.

Then, where more balmy winters smile,
Speed thee to blest Hesperian isle,
Libya's warm shores, or palmy Nile,

On wings of wind :

Taught by His voice, who bids thee know
Thy season, when to come and go,
To seek our genial skies, or throw

Our storms behind.

Farewell, sweet bird ! thou still hast been
Companion of our summer scene, ,

Lov'd inmate of our meadows green,

And rural home :
The twitter of thy cheerful song
We've lov'd to hear ; and all day long
See thee on pinion fleet and strong,

About us roam.

And dost thou no wise lore impart 1
Yes, still thou bid'st us act our part
With body prompt and willing heart,

While summer lasts :
Prepar'd the course to take, which He
For us appoints, who summons thee
To climes of grateful warmth to flee

From wintry blasts.

O may that warning voice be heard,
Howe'er reveal'd ! To thee, sweet bird,
The tongue that speaks the instructive word,

Within thee dwells :
To us, where'er around we look,
Each passing wing, the field, the brook,
But most his own unerring book

God's wisdom tells.

That book directs our mental sight,

To mark thy migratory flight,

With pow'r, surpassing human might,

On thee imprest :

And trains, by thy observant kind,
Man's wilful and reluctant mind,
Its refuge in God's laws to find,

And there to rest.

RURICOLA.

Holywood, Ireland,
4<A Jwn«,1833.

CHAPTER OF VARIETIES.

CANNIBALISM OF CATS, AND NON-CANNIBALISM OF POLECATS. —
A Mr. Craven was so fortunate as to capture four young polecats,
about half grown, two of which he sent to the Zoological Gardens, and
one he kept in a hutch. He also caught a rat half grown, and put with
the polecat, purposely to see his dexterity in killing it, when to his
surprise, but a very slight engagement took place between them. Mr.
Craven then kept them two days, without food, but to no purpose; not
even the pangs of hunger, could induce the noble polecat to taste the
blood of his confined mate, and no sooner were provisions given them
than they both ate together from the same dish, in the most amicable
manner. Mr. C. then put a cat in to keep them company, which very
soon became a sociable companion to them. A strange collection indeed,
for the next introduced to the society was a hedge-hog, which neither
party ever attempted to molest ; but whether from the want of proper
food, or from the foetid stench of their confinement, I know not, but the
latter animal soon died. Another cat was then put with them to fill
up the vacancy, so that the tenants of this one hutch are four, viz. a
polecat, two of our domestic cats, and one rat, which have now been
living together, on the most friendly terms, for nearly two years, and
what is more singular, the cats prefer the flesh of their own species, to
that of any other animal.

Tooling, 22nd May, 1833. OMICRON.

ON THE GRUB OF CHIRONOMUS PLUMOSUS. — The most inatten-
tive observers probably have noticed in pitchers of water which have
been allowed to stand undisturbed for three or four hours, black dirty
lines of about an inch in length lying here and there at the bottom.
These lines seldom exceed the above length, and at first appearance,
would lead one to suspect that some metallic substance, as a needle for
instance, having fallen into the water, had, by becoming oxidised,
accumulated a rust around it. Upon looking into the ewer of water

CHAPTER OF VARIETIES. 325

standing upon the wash-hand stand in my bed-room the other evening,
I observed by the aid of a candle that several of these black lines had
collected at the bottom since morning, and I remarked a small red worm
(the blood worm of anglers) with its body half protruded and stretching
itself to the right and left at the entrance of these earthern tunnels.
Having watched their proceedings I observed that they frequently with-
drew themselves to within side, and almost immediately after would
come out as before and proceed to collect together the dust and other
atoms which had been deposited by the water, and these were added to
the extension of the tunnels. Their proceedings bear no little resem-
blance to those of the clothes-moth ( Tinea pellionella, &c.) and like
them they live in separate apartments. Their tunnels never interfere
with each other, from the following reason. As each of them appro-
priates to itself all the dust, &c., which it can collect in its progress, it
consequently leaves a clear track behind and on both sides of it (see cut},
upon approaching towards which its fellows upon finding a clean surface
destitute of the materials they seek, alter their course and proceed in
another direction j from which circumstance some of these tunnels may
be observed to be bent, or running at right angles, whilst others direct
their course from the bottom of the vessel up 'to its sides. They pro-
ceed very rapidly in their work, and it is surprising that they do not
in their movement upset their frail fabric of atoms, but perhaps when
they move withinside they contract the width of their bodies, and thus
avoid jostling against its sides ; or it is not improbable that the materials
are held fast together by some glutinous substance insoluble in water.
The latter opinion I would the more readily adopt, as the grubs of the
common gnats (Culicidcz) which are closely connected to these, have
the hairs of their beautiful fringed tails covered with oil so as to repel
the water from that part, there being situated their respiratory organs ;
and that they are provided with a supply of this oil is evidently clear,
for Swammerdam discovered that when it was rubbed off, the grubs put
their tails within their mouths for the purpose of replenishing them with
another coating. While upon this subject, I will mention a circum-
stance which I once heard from the lips of a gentleman from whom I
some years since not only received academic tuition, but also imbibed
that taste for natural philosophy which while I live I hope will increase
with my years and add fresh pleasures to my existence. About a year
ago, I was invited to attend one of his lectures at his residence in the
New Kent Road, when in his discourse he mentioned that a leaden
cistern of his having become perforated with smal!4ioles, he was induced

CHAPTER OF VARIETIES.

to examine it, when he discovered the mischief to arise from blood
worms boring therein. Now as I know that this gentleman is not
an entomologist, I suspected that he was mistaken in the identity
of the species, for I cannot see what purpose worms of this nature could
have in perforating so hard a substance ; and I therefore think it not
improbable that, if worms were indeed the real cause, they were of some
other species : but I should be inclined to think that instead of worms
the real offenders were some animals of similar economy to the Teredines,
Lithophagd; and Lithodomi, molluscous animals which excavate gal-
leries in Avood and hard solid rocks. — SOLITABIUS.
May, 1833.

ON THE RELATIVE WARMTH OF COLOURS. — As many occurrences
of Nature are only explicable upon the principles of caloric, it is very
necessary that the naturalist should be acquainted with them, and
therefore the following few lines upon the subject cannot be considered
as entirely unconnected with his pursuits. In most works upon caloric
the method given for ascertaining the relative warmth of different
coloured skins, leaves, &c., (but more frequently cloth) is by laying
them side by side upon a smooth and level bed of snow when the sun
shines thereon, when the result will be, that the colour which imbibes
the most warmth from the sun's rays will sink deep in the snow, while
the rest will sink in depth in proportion to the degree of warmth which
they contain. Now this plan of experimenting can only be tried in
winter when the snow lies upon the ground, but my plan, which is very
simple, can be tried in summer. Take as many burning glasses of the
same power, as you have objects to experiment upon, and fix them up-
right side by side before the sun, and having fastened your objects in a
row upon a board, bring them to the exact distance of the foci of the lenses,
so that the concentrated rays of the sun may fall upon them, and then
by means of a watch held in the hand, the variation of time required to
consume the one before the other can be ascertained with exactness. The
colour of that one which consumes first will be the warmest, whilst the
others will consume according to their relative degrees of warmth.

SOLITARIUS.

London, May, 1833.

ON THE REDBREAST BUILDING WITH OAK-LEAVES. The notion

which your correspondent entertains of the materials employed by birds
jii the construction of their nests differing according to the localities in

CHAPTER OF VARIETIES.

which they are built, I, and indeed most naturalists, know to be a fact.
In the neighbourhood of London, for instance, where many birds can-
not procure in sufficient quantities particular substances which they may
require for this purpose, they are obliged to use other materials. In
truth, it would appear that the nidifi cation of birds is, like their
melody, subject to provincial differences. But the differences ob-
servable in the materials of which the redbreast's nest is formed, seem
to me not to depend so much upon the neighbourhood, as upon the
situation in which it is built, as will presently appear. The subject of
oak-leaves being employed in the nest of this species, has, in my humble
opinion, been as well supported by some, as it has been positively denied
by others. Dr. Mason Good, in his " Book of Nature," gave his opi-
nion in the affirmative ; and you have, in one of your small volumes,
the " Architecture of Birds," introduced his statement, but have
appended to it the following dissentaneous observation : " So far, how-
ever, from preferring oak-leaves, we are bold to say that these are
seldom, if ever, used in the formation of the redbreast's nest, which is
always neatly made of moss and grass, and lined with hair, and some-
times (not always) with feathers intertwined." Feathers, I do not
recollect ever having observed in its nest, but I can confidently state
that I have found oak-leaves therein ; and from my observation I am
inclined to believe that these are only used in such nests as are built
beneath the surface of the ground, down by the side of ditches, and not
in such nests as are built in banks above the earth's surface. During
last spring I found, in the ivy-covered and raised banks of a road, not
far from Shooter's Hill, three nests of the redbreast, in neither of which
was an oak-leaf ; but I once took a redbreast's nest from out of the lower
part of the bank of a ditch opposite the Tiger's Head at Lee, which
had one solitary oak-leaf in it, and I could mention other instances ;
but in the following account copied from my field-diary for April, 1831,
it will be seen that I once met with an instance in which the
only foundation upon which a redbreast's eggs were deposited was
oak-leaves. In the hollow stump of a tree, situated low down
by a streamlet's bank, near the Harrow Road, I found the eggs
of a redbreast, without a vestige of nest to contain them, unless a few
damp decayed oak-leaves scattered within could be called such, and
only sheltered by some over-hanging ivy. This was indeed a very
unusual and singular occurrence ; but I must confess that I had some
reason to suspect that it was owing to some accidental causes. I sus-
pected this the more, as I had never heard or seen any other robin near

328 CHAPTER OF VARIETIES.

the place, from which I conceived that, probably, it was a widowed
mate, and if so, that circumstance might account for the eggs being
laid in a hollow trunk, instead of a nest being built to receive them in
a bank, as it might have found the task of nest-building impossible for
itself to accomplish without assistance; and it might, therefore, have
sought a depository ready made. I am sorry that I have no redbreast's
nest containing oak-leaves in my possession, to send herewith, but
should I hereafter meet with a specimen I will forward it to you, that
the question may be at once decided by occular demonstration, which
is always, to the naturalist, more valuable than a thousand printed
affirmations.

SOLITARIUS.
London, April 1833.

ON MICROGASTER ALVEARius. — In addition to the facts connected
with the history of this very interesting parasitic fly, with which I have
already furnished you, I am now enabled to add the following : — On the
15th of last October, I observed upon a wall at Hampstead, several
caterpillars of the cabbage-white butterfly (Pontia Brassicce) most of
which were resting upon the yellow silken cocoons spun by those
parasitic grubs which had previously inhabited and fed upon their bodies.
There were, I should suppose, about twenty caterpillars which had
been thus attacked, and I could only find three which appeared to have
escaped. The latter I brought home with me, expecting to rear the
perfect insects, but in this I was disappointed, for they had not
been many days in my boxes before they died, having disclosed several
similar parasitic grubs, which immediately spun their cocoons, which I
kept until they hatched. On the 15th of the present month (May)
they appeared in their winged state, and upon comparing them with
those which came out of the spider's egg (figured at page 180), I found
them to be of the same species. Now, it is a very extraordinary cir-
cumstance that those grubs which were deposited in the eggs of the
spider never spun any cocoons, but were disclosed as perfect flies, and
we may ask what became of the silk with which nature supplies them
for that purpose ? Is it probable that the reason of the fly's undergoing
its transformation inside the eggs instead of coming out for that purpose
as is usual, was in consequence of its not having the strength, when in
the state of a grub, to force its exit through the shell, owing to its
being bound round with silk, and obliged patiently to remain within
until it acquired the power or implements necessary to remove the

CHAPTER OF VARIETIES.

impediment ; or did it find that the egg-shell, when it had eaten the
contents, formed as warm and as commodious a berth as any which it
could have spun ; from which circumstance it resolved to adopt it, and
save itself the trouble of constructing a new one, which, by-the-by,
would not have had the advantage of being defended by so hard an
exterior ? Is it not also a singular coincidence that this fly should be
an egg-parasite, and also a grub-parasite ? When I found the spider's
eggs I was unaware how long she had lain previous to my discovering
them in August*, but they were hatched a few days after, and thus we
see from the two instances that there are two broods of these flies in the
course of the year, the .one appearing in May, and the latter in August,
but whether the same parent is double brooded or otherwise, I know
not.

London, May, 1833. SOLITABIUS.

NEST OF A CHAFFINCH AND OF A REDBREAST. — I am led by
Ruricola's account of a " redbreast's nest situated in a window," to
address to you a line or two, detailing in my opinion an equally rare
and interesting occurrence. Had I not met with his communication
in your Magazine, I should not have thought of troubling you with
what I considered unworthy of notice, except by a mere beginner like
myself.

Immediately under, or rather in front of our sitting-room window,
grows a strawberry-tree (Arbutus unedci), the branches of which nearly
project into the room when the sash is thrown up. Upon a forked
stem of this shrub, within reach from the open window, a pair of chaf-
finches built their nest, and having lately turned my attention to
Natural History, I was an interested observer of their operations.
The foundation of this beautiful nest was laid on the 12th April, and
the first egg was deposited on the 2nd May : thus, by unwearied dili-
gence was the beautiful structure finished in three weeks — it was
really an elegant and compact habitation. On each succeeding day—
during the next four — another egg was deposited : and I found on the
15th, that the whole five were hatched. Was not the time of incu-
bation very short ? Had the hot weather which we had at this time
any effect in bringing out the young sooner than usual ?

But I wish more especially to direct your attention — (and that of
your readers — should you deem this worthy of a place in the Field

* Stated « April" by mistake at page 180.

330 CHAPTER OF VARIETIES.

Naturalist's Magazine) — to the following particulars. The sitting-
room was very seldom without inmates, as we principally lived in it,
and it not unfrequently happened that some one was sitting at the
window during the greater part of the day. More than this — the sash
was often thrown up by a member of our family, to call to persons in
the lane — for you must know that our house is situated about twelve
yards from the turnpike road, with only a small grass-plot and a few
low flowering shrubs in front. The nest being so near us was an
object of general curiosity and much observation ; for I seldom let any
of our visiters depart without directing their attention to it. None of
of these things, however, disturbed the parent bird .- — she sat most
patiently, and I don't recollect that she once flew away, although fre-
quently observed through the open window. There was not by any
means the care taken not to disturb her, which I could have wished ;
still she went on prosperously to the end, and, as I have stated above,
the whole five eggs were hatched. During the time of incubation, the
male bird often visited his partner, but I could not discover whether
he ever brought her food, as I was, for the most part, engaged in the
study. I have, however, seen him fly from beside her many times in
the length of a day. To my no small annoyance the young were de-
stroyed before they were fledged — (as we say in the country, when in
pen-feather) — by the servant-man, as I suppose, in compliance with
the commands of his master, who is prejudiced against them, because
he considers that they do much damage in the garden. Now this
statement respecting the chaffinch appears to me more remarkable than
that of the redbreast, inasmuch as I have always considered the latter a
much tamer bird than the former. I remember a few years ago, when
I was quite a boy, a robin built its nest in one of the empty compart-
ments of a book cupboard in a charity-school, and, if my memory is
not treacherous, reared her brood, entering and departing through an
open window, although the room was regularly filled with girls.

If you consider this worthy of notice, I shall be glad to see it in
print. Most likely, on some future occasion, I may have other com-
munications for you.

Sutton-juxla-Frodsham, Cheshire, W. B ***** w.

June 13, 1833.

ON THE NEST OF THE BOTTLE TIT. — It is impossible for any one,
even the most talented of writers, to form any thing like a good natural
history of any description, without the united efforts of correspondents

CHAPTER OF VARIETIES. 331

in every part of the kingdom. It is by this means alone that the differ-
ent internal migrations of birds from one part of one country to another
can be observed, commented on, and accounted for. The present age,
however, as all enthusiastic naturalists must see with delight (and who
can be a good naturalist who is not enthusiastic in his pursuits ?) ; the
present age is particularly favourable to the advancement both of this
and every other study. Societies have been formed, and communica-
tions have been established, the end of which will naturally be, the
propagation of, and increased attention to, the delightful study of
natural science. There was, a short time since, one circumstance which
retarded every one's endeavours, and which restrained almost every one
from the study I am now advocating What I refer to was the ex-
tensive use of books rather than Jield study, and the fast increasing
quackery of systems and forms. This is fast becoming obsolete, and
natural history will no longer hide its " nitidum caput obscura fer-
rugine/' and " impii gentes " will no longer dread " obscuram noctem."
It is time, however, that I should begin to lay before you my few
observations, in order to do which this communication was attempted.
To commence, then, with some remarks on the nest of the long-tailed
titmouse (Parus caudatus*), which this part of Devonshire is so abun-
dant in. On reading, a short time since, a work which decidedly is
very excellently written, both with regard to style and matter, " Mu-
die's British Naturalist," I found the following description of this
elegant little bird, and still more elegant nest. " This species is con-
fined to England ; it is of the same weight as the cole -mouse, but has
the tail about an inch longer. It is a very pretty little bird, having a
sort of rosy tint over the greater part of it. The throat, cheeks, fore-
head, and crown, all white, with which the secondaries of the wings,
and the outside feathers of the tail are edged ; a band of black runs
backward above each eye to the nape, from their junction at which a
black mesial line extends along the whole of the back ; and the quills
of the wings and middle feathers of the tail are also black ; the re-
mainder of the upper part is rose colour, and the under part grey, with
a shade of the same. The nest is found in a thick tree or bush ; and,
where the locality suits, an evergreen is preferred. It is constructed
with great neatness and care, made soft by abundance of feathers,
closed over, and formed with two openings, so that the bird neither
needs to turn in the nest, nor is in any way incommoded by its long
tail, which projects from one opening of the structure. As is the case
with all the other species, the eggs are numerous. In the pairing season
this titmouse has a kind of cry, but it is simple and faint." Now this

CHAPTER OF VARIETIES.

description of the " Long-tailed Tit " is perfectly in accordance with
my own and every other person's observations : with the nest the case
is different ; we cannot but acknowledge here, that the learned author
of the foregoing remarks has fallen into a mistake of no little conse-
quence. Had he examined, as he should have done, the nest of this
highly interesting little bird, he would have discovered that it has but
one opening, and that near the top. Had he even employed the com-
mon substitute of the generality of writers, book-study, he would have
seen that naturalists have seldom, if ever, given credence to the tale.
I need not here give a description of the nest ; it has already been done
in your " Architecture of Birds."

But the nature of my pursuits will not allow me to proceed further
in these observations. If they are found worthy of a place in your
Magazine, I may venture to trouble you with a few more of the same
description.

Plymouth, April, 1833. OBSERVATOR.

DOES THE WHIRLWIG-BEETLE (GYRINUS NATATOR) LIVE THROUGH

THE WINTER ? — I do not remember ever to have observed these little
beetles, sporting in the sunshine during the colder months of winter,
but having found a couple of them on the 17th of last December, I car-
ried them home alive in a bottle of water, which I placed in a warm
room, and in which they lived until the 22nd of February. As they had
lived so long in confinement, I conjectured that it might be their nature
to live through the winter, and that they might possibly have escaped
my observation during that season. But desirous of obtaining proof of
their living so long exposed to the chill open air, I removed the bottle
and its contents, and hung it up to the wall outside the window. On
the following day, when I looked at them, I found them lying upon
their backs quite lifeless, at the bottom of the phial, killed, most proba-
bly, by the severity of the night. I might have considered this as a
sufficient proof that they do not live through the winter, did I not
think that possibly the sudden transition from a warm room to a cold
atmosphere, might have had a deadly effect upon them, and it did not
disprove that they might perhaps have borne it without suffering, had
they always been kept in the open air. But as these ideas are anything
but satisfactory, I submit it as a query to your readers, whether this in-
sect is to be found throughout the winter, and if so, does it during that
season, swim upon the surface, or conceal itself by retiring into the mud
under water ?

London, April, 1833. SOLITARIUS.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE BIRDS OF AFRICA

TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH OF LE VAILLANT.

WHITE NECKED RAVEN. (Corvus albicollis, LATHAM.)

Corbivau, Levaill. Ois. d'Afrique, ii. p. 1. pi. 30; Corvus albicollis, Lath. Index
Orn. i. 151 ; Daud. ii. 227; Corvus_Vulturinus, Shaw's Zool. vii. 343; Corvus
Torquatus, Spalowsk, Voy. iii. 1. 10 ; South Sea Raven, Latham, Gen. Synops.
Sup. 75; Id. Sup. ii. 137 ; Bruce, Travels, App. p. 152; White-necked Raven,
Latham, Gen. Hist. iii. p. 8 ; Drapiez, Diet. Class, iv. 464.

THE white-necked Raven is an African bird, similar to the common
raven in the shape of its body, feet, and toes, the middle one of which
is united by a membrane to the inner toe, as far as the first joint, and
the feathers at the base of the bill are turned forward and cover the
nostrils ; but it differs very much from the raven in its bill, the length

VOL. r. — NO. viir. (AUGUST, 1833.) A A

334 THE WHITE-NECKED RAVEN.

of its wings and the wedge-like shape of its tail. This bird appears to
me to occupy a part of the interval which exists between the ravens
and the vultures.

The white-necked raven, however, is altogether more similar to the
first. It only resembles the vultures of Africa, which I have described,
in the dimension of its wings, which, when folded, are longer than the
tail by three inches, in the tapering shape of its tail, and in the form
of its bill, which is compressed on the sides, convex on the top, very
much bent and rounded, that is to say, rising like that of the Caffre and
Oricou as it lengthens, at the same time bending progressively : these
characters distinguish the white-necked raven from all hitherto des-
cribed ravens. If some travellers should at any future time happen to
bring several species similar to the white-necked raven, the specific
name will be drawn from the white spot which is on the nape of the
neck, which is strongly contrasted by the glossy black, which is the
only colour of the rest of its plumage, if a long streak of white, which
emanates from the larger white spot at the back of the neck and which
girts the chest, be excepted. This streak, which is very little seen, is
formed by a single row of feathers, the half part of them white, of
which the exterior edges only are seen. The throat is of a black,
less deep than the rest of its body, and all the feathers which cover it
are forked, and the plumelets spreading beyond the stem as if the
end had been cut off, a remarkable characteristic which I have only
found in very few birds. The tail of the white-necked raven, as I have
already said, is wedge-shaped, the feathers at the sides being shorter
than the others. The feet are black, as well as the bill, which is
entirely so, with the exception of the end, which is white. The iris is
hazelbrown. The size of the white-necked raven is less than that
of our large raven, and holds a middle space between this species and
the hooded crow. I shall also observe that the claws of the white-
necked raven are stronger and more bent than those of the ravens
generally.

The description which I have just given of the white-necked raven
shows that this genus of ravens, if I may thus express myself, possesses
some similarity of shape with birds of prey. The observations which I
have made respecting its habits and its manners of living will present
the same analogous features.

Voracious, clamorous, bold, sociable, and dirty, he imitates the raven
in his taste for carrion, which is the principal part of his food, and
sometimes assembles in very numerous and noisy flocks. This bird

THE WHITE-NECKED RAVEN. 385

utters most harsh and hoarse cries, almost similar to those of the raven,
and which singularly concur with its shape and habits, to give the idea
of a savage, cruel, and disgusting being which we form of the ravens in
general, from the whole of their disagreeable and mournful attributes.

The white-necked raven joins to the habits I have just mentioned,
a marked appetite for live prey : he attacks and kills lambs and young
antelopes, and devours them, after having previously torn out the eyes
and tongue. He is seen pursuing flocks of buffalos, oxen, and horses,
and indeed the rhinoceros, and even the elephant himself. His taste
for flesh and blood leads him to the pursuit of those large quadrupeds,
on the back of which they are continually perched in great numbers.
The white-necked raven would be for these animals a bird of prey,
deadly and dangerous, if it had the strength necessary to destroy them ;
but being powerless against their strong and solid hide, he satisfies
himself by plunging his bill into the wounds of the animal, in the
suppurating parts of its body, when the hide is opened by the pustules
which have been made by the wood-lice, and above all by the breeze-
flies ( Tabans}, in disposing their eggs in the thickness of the skin. If
these quadrupeds thus allow the white-necked raven to perch on their
back, it is in consideration of a service which its sanguinary instinct
renders them ; a service which they receive with a sort of pleasure,
since they suffer and allow him to pick out the larvae developed and full
of blood, the number of which is sometimes so great upon those large
animals, that I have seen several of them perish from leanness.

The white-necked raven is not a bird of passage; he lives throughout
the year in the canton where he was hatched. I have generally found it
in all the places which I have visited in my travels through Africa.
There are, however, some cantons in which it is more abundant than in
others, as for example, among the Great Namaquas. He is more rare
in the environs of Cape Town, but is found abundantly in Swarte
Land, where he is seen to mix with another very common species of
which I shall speak under the name of white breasted crow. The colo-
nists call the white-necked raven, Ring-hals-Kraai. The female is
rather smaller than the male ; the white of her collar is less spread ;
and her black is also less glossy, and seems in general of a browner
cast.

AA2

33G

APPEARANCES AND INFLUENCES OF THE MOON.

BY M. ABAGO OP THE FRENCH INSTITUTE*.

ACCORDING to Aratus, if, on the third day of the moon, the horns of
the crescent are sharp and well denned, the sky will continue serene
during the whole of the month. In reality, when the moon in the
evening begins to disengage herself from the sun's rays, she has always
the form of a crescent, terminated by two very sharp horns ; but if the
atmosphere happen to be troubled, the horns appear enlarged. This
enlargement, however, is a mere optical illusion, and is occasioned by
strongly illuminated clouds, in apparent contact with the moon, and
seeming to form a constituent part of her body. The fine extremities
of the crescent are then lost, as it were, in the parasitical light which
surrounds the moon, and become invisible to the naked eye. All this
is rendered evident by employing a telescope, which destroys the
illusion.

It is generally believed, especially in the neighbourhood of Paris,
that the moon in certain months has a great influence on the phenomena
of vegetation. They give the name of red moon, (lune rousse) to the
moon, which, beginning in April, becomes full either about the end of
that month, or more usually in the course of May. In the months of
April and May, the moon, according to them, exercises a pernicious
influence on the young shoots of plants. They maintain that they have
observed during the night, when the sky is clear, the leaves and buds
exposed to this light to become red, that is to say, to be frozen, although
the thermometer, in the free atmosphere, stood several degrees above
the freezing point. They also assert, that if the rays of the moon are
intercepted by clouds, and thereby prevented from reaching the plants,
the same effects do not take place, under circumstances perfectly
similar in other respects with regard to temperature. These phenomena
seem to indicate that the light of our satellite is endowed with a certain
frigorific influence, yet, on directing the most powerful burning-glasses
or the largest reflectors towards the moon, and placing the most deli-
cate thermometer in their foci, no effect has ever been observed which
could justify so singular a conclusion. Hence, with philosophers, the
effects of the April moon are now referred to the class of vulgar pre-

* Annuaire pour 1833.

ON THE APPEARANCES AND INFLUENCES OF THE MOON. 837

judices, while the gardeners remain convinced of the accuracy of their
observations. A beautiful discovery made some years ago, by Dr.
Wells, will enable us, I think, to reconcile two opinions in appearance
so contradictory.

No one had supposed, before Dr. Wells, that terrestrial substances,
excepting in the case of a very rapid evaporation, may acquire, during
the night, a different temperature from that of the surrounding air.
This important fact is now well ascertained. On placing little masses
of cotton down, &c., in the open air, it is frequently observed that
they acquire a temperature of six, seven, or eight centigrade degrees
below that of the surrounding atmosphere. The same is the case with
vegetables. We cannot therefore judge of the degree of cold with
which a plant is affected during the night by the indications of a ther-
mometer suspended in the free atmosphere ; the plant may be strongly
frozen, although the air remains constantly several degrees above the
freezing point. These differences of temperature between solid bodies
and the atmosphere only rise to six, seven, or eight degrees of the
centesimal thermometer, when the sky is perfectly clear. If the sky
is clouded, they become insensible.

Is it now necessary to point out the connection between these pheno-
mena, and the opinions of the country people regarding the April
moon?

In the nights of April and May, the temperature of the atmosphere
is frequently only four, five, or six centigrade degrees above zero. When
this happens, plants exposed to the light of the moon — that is to say,
to a clear sky — may be frozen notwithstanding the indications of the
thermometer. If the moon, on the contrary, does not shine, in short,
if the sky is cloudy, the temperature of the plants does not fall below
that of the atmosphere ; and they will consequently not be frozen, un-
less the thermometer indicates zero. It is therefore quite true, as the
gardeners pretend, that under thermometrical circumstances precisely
alike, a plant may be frozen or not, according as the moon may be visible
or concealed behind the clouds. If they are deceived, it is only in their
conclusion, in attributing the effect to the light of the moon. The moon's
light is, in this case, only the index of a clear atmosphere ; it is only
in consequence of the clearness of the sky, that the nocturnal congelation
of plants takes place ; the moon contributes to the effect in no way
whatever ; although she were hid under the horizon, the effect would
not be different.

A body exposed to the light of the moon, that is to say, to a clear

338 HUMBOLDT ON THE ORGANS OF THE VOICE.

sky, becomes, in consequence of its radiation, colder than the surround-
ing air. Under these circumstances, the air deposits a portion of its
humidity on the cold surface of the body, which is neither more or less
than the phenomenon of dew, as analysed by Dr. Wells. Now animal
substances become much sooner putrid when moist than when dry*
The observation of Pliny and Plutarch is therefore correct in all its
details. It was only necessary to reform the theory, and acquit the
moon of the mischief ascribed to her.

Of all known substances the chloride of silver is that of which the
colour suffers the greatest and most rapid change on exposure to light.
But a plate of this chemical compound, exposed for a long time to the
light of the moon, condensed in the focus of a powerful burning glass,
is observed to lose nothing of its primitive whiteness.

ON THE ORGANS OF THE VOICE IN BIRDS AND MONKEYS.

BY BARON HUMBOLDT.

THERE is a great difference in the construction of the larynx in
those animals which have an epiglottis and in those which have none.
In the latter we do not find any thing resembling the cricoid and thy-
roid cartilages of the larynx of mammiferae. In the amphibia, the
glottis is situated in a round fleshy mass (bourreleC), formed by the in-
terweaving of nearly circular fibres : in birds it is cartilaginous, almost
osseous, and tolerably uniform in its external form. In the genera
Pelecanus, Phasianus, Ardea, and Phcenicopterus, the larynx has a
triangular shape, the apex of the triangle being directed forwards, and
its base or posterior part being fringed with little pointed, white, carti-
laginous teeth. These tubercles, which border the glottis, are very
broad and short in Phasianus paraka of the Orinoco, they form a white
band in the Ardea cocoes ; they cover, almost entirely, the glottis of the
Palamedea bispinosa, and that also of the Aras, a family of the parrot
tribe ; but they are entirely wanting in some aquatic birds, as in the
alkatras of the South Sea. The six designs in which I have represented
the larynx of birds, present all these varieties of construction. The
glottis is supported at its base by an osseous, broad, flat cartilage,
sometimes crenated anteriorly, as in the Guyana pheasant, but pointed
and elongated in the pelicans and Phcenicopterus.

HUMBOLDT ON THE ORGANS OF THE VOICE. 339

This cartilage, to which I shall give the name of base (socle) has not

a, "Socle "of Pelecanus alcatras. 6, ditto of Pelecanw olioaceus. c, ditto Phasianus garrulvt.

hitherto been well described. It has, on its upper surface, a membrane
which divides it into two parts, and which proceeds from it at right angles.
This membrane is triangular, and resembles the index of a sun-dial. In
the living animal, it is generally visible at the centre of the opening of
the glottis : it there forms a partition, the presence of which must con-
tribute a great deal to modify sounds and render them more acute : it
divides, so to speak, into two currents, the air which is driven by the
inferior larynx towards the glottis. I was surprised to find that it was
wanting in the glottis of the Palamedea bispinosa. This flat cartilage,
thus furnished with a triangular membrane, is immediately attached to
the rings of the trachea : it may be considered as a half-ring of a
singular construction.

Besides this base, the glottis of birds is supported by four little
bones, which are connected, two by two, in the form of compasses,
the anterior pair of which is embraced by the posterior. I do not

a, Larynx of Ardea cocoes opened. 6, bonelets or compass bones.

hesitate to call these bonelets; for, in tropical birds their substance
is too dense for them to be ranked among the cartilages. They are
triangular, diminish towards the extremities, and are joined in pairs
by condyles. I have carefully copied those of the great heron with
black neck and white floating comb, of the river Magdalena, and
which constitutes an intermediate species between the Ardea cocoes

340 HUMBOLDT ON THE OHGANS OF THE VOICE.

and the Ardea johannce. This handsome bird is four feet four
inches high, when he stands with his neck elongated, and his
greenish bill raised. The two anterior bonelets, or the branches of the
anterior compass (if I may be allowed the expression,) are immoveable,
while the posterior compass, which is placed over and embraces the
other, extends its branches by means of two fleshy muscles which are
placed outside the bony glottis. These posterior bonelets might be
likened to the arytenoid cartilages, while the anterior by their position
might correspond with the thyroid cartilage of mammiferae ; but, in
classes of animals whose entire organisation is so different, these com-
parisons, most frequently, only serve to lead to very inaccurate ideas.

It follows from this construction of the superior larynx, that the
rima or opening of the glottis, confined by the anterior bonelets, can
scarcely ever become either widened or more contracted ; and that it is
by the action of the posterior branches, which are placed at the outer
border of the glottis, that the internal capacity of this organ becomes
changed. The voice is always projected through the same opening,
but the rapidity with which this is effected, depends as much upon
the impulse it has received in the inferior larynx, as upon the approxi-
mation of the bonelets of the glottis.

But the modification of the sounds does not depend solely upon the
extremity of the trachea, nor upon the form of the two larynxes. The
whole trachea in some of the tropical birds, presents very extraordinary
appearances. In the same species, the trachea in the male is sometimes
twice the length of that in the female : Linnaeus has already announced
this in the description of the Phasianus parraka. We also meet with
this difference in several swimming and wading birds of Europe, in
storks, cranes, and herons ; and M. Daubenton has observed it in the
fine genus Crax, the Koco of the tropics, which has often served us for
food in the woods. There is an extraordinary prolongation and sinuosity
of the trachea in a new species of pheasant, which I shall describe under
the name of Phasianus garrulus. This pheasant, which must not be
confounded with the Phasianus motmot, is very common north of the
equator, in the river Magdalena, in the province of Caracas, and in New
Andalusia. Flocks of from sixty to eighty perch themselves upon the
dead branches of contiguous trees, and fill the air with their piercing
cries of catacras ! catacras !

I found the length of the trachea in the male of this species, to be,
from the superior larynx to the bronchi, fifteen inches seven lines,
while the female's was but five inches four lines. That in the male
first descends among the teguments under the sternum as far as the

HUMBOLDT ON THE ORGANS OF THE VOICE. 341

legs ; it is then folded back (in nearly the same manner as M. Bonpland
found in the bronchi of the crocodile), forms a considerable sinuosity
in reascending, and then enters the lungs. The trachea of the female,
which is shorter in the proportion of five to two, does not form this
sinuosity, but enters, without folding itself, at once into the bronchi.
Here then we have a bird in which the air forming his voice passes
between the legs before arriving at the glottis. The Indians observe
that the cry of the female of this species is much less shrill than that
of the male, whose trachea presents so singular a construction. M.
Cuvier has communicated to me the important observation that, in
the common pheasant (Phasianus colchicus) the trachea does not, in
either sex, present this sinuosity, and that, in the Cygnus canorus,
the female presents the elongation of this organ. It is remarkable that
such differences should exist in species nearly resembling it.

In passing from Santa- Fe de Bogota to Quito, during the rainy
season in 1801, we found the banks of the Canca covered with the
Palamedea bijtpinosa, the kamichi of Buffon, which approximates in
size to the condor of the Andes. It is called by the inhabitants the
Uitre de Sienega. It walks about very gravely in marshy places,
uttering constantly a uniform cry, somewhat resembling the sound
produced by a boy's whistle (soufflet).

Staying some days at Buga, I had an opportunity of obtaining one
of these birds, and of examining its larynx. I saw with surprise that
it was rather its trachea than its inferior larynx which enabled it to
produce such extraordinary sounds. This trachea diminishes in dia-
meter from the bony glottis to the inferior larynx : it contracts in the
proportion of two to three ; but before arriving at the inferior larynx,
it suddenly becomes much wider; it becomes nearly five-sixths larger

Enlargement of the trachea in Palamedea bispinosa, with the insertion of the two muscles,

HUMBOLDT ON THE ORGANS OF THE VOICE.

than the glottis itself, and this enlargement is nearly fourteen lines long.
Lower down, the trachea contracts again and more than before ; for, in
entering the inferior larynx, it has not one fourth of its original diameter.
I sketched on the spot this peculiar conformation of the Palamedea bi-
spinosa, of which I have scarcely met with any analogy in other birds
which I have dissected. M. Cuvier, however, has seen two other ex-
amples of these sudden enlargements, in the Anas clangula, and in
Anas fusca ; but in these cases the swelling was of a spherical form,
with a nearly circular disc, and different, in that respect, from that of
the Palamedea bispinosa. In this two bundles of very long and slender
muscles are attached to the enlarged part of the trachea ; these draw it
downwards, so that the larger rings compress those of the narrower
part ; a mechanism resembling that of some musical instruments, and
which, without doubt, contributes to the production of the monotonous
cries and cadences of this bird.

I shall not dwell long on the structure of the inferior larynx of birds.
It would be difficult to add anything to a subject which M. Cuvier has
treated of in a particular memoir. I have drawn, in the greatest pos-
sible detail, the inferior larynxes of the Psittacus ararauna and of a
new species of pelican of New Guinea, which I shall describe under the
name of Pelecanus olivaceus. It has the habit of a Plotus ; but its bill
and its intermediate claw being serrated, indicate that it belongs to the
genus Pelecanus. In one figure the various muscles are delineated, with
which nature has furnished this inferior larynx, which is really an
instrument of music. The other figure represents the sacs or valves in
this bird, which are of an extraordinary size, being more than three
lines deep and two broad ; but in some tropical animals which have a
very strong voice, this seems to depend on the structure of the superior
larynx, rather than on that of the inferior. This is the case with
Phasianus garrulus, in which I have represented the bonelets and

Upper larynx of Phasianus garrulus, opened.

HUMBOLDT ON THE ORGANS OF THE VOICE. 843

the arytenoid cartilages bent forward, in order to display the internal
structure of the glottis. I did not find sacs in the inferior larynx
of this bird, but simply a bulging out and broadening of the last
rings. The base of its inferior larynx is sustained by a cartilage
which I have not met with in any other animal of this class; it is
a round, membranous, crenulated plate, upon which rises a small com-
pressed bone. The want of sacs in the lower end of the larynx, in the
Phasianus garrulus, is compensated by the mechanism of the superior
larynx. Above the opening of the trachea there is a rima leading to
two membranous pouches. In blowing through the bronchi into the
trachea, these pouches are seen to swell. Valves are also wanting in
the inferior larynx of the Pelecanus fusctts, but there are true sacs in
the superior. In the glottis of the Palamedea bispinosa, whose trachea
presents the extraordinary enlargement I have just described, there are
folds having some analogy with the sacs which in man form the
ligaments which go from the arytenoid cartilages to the thyroid. These
folds seem to modify the voice of this bird ; for in the inferior larynx,
which I opened and have carefully drawn, there is nothing which can
perform their functions. In the same class of animals, it is sometimes
the glottis, sometimes the form of the trachea, and sometimes the
inferior larynx, which modifies or gives character to the voice.

I cannot leave this subject without adding a few words on the
formation of the os hyoides in parrots and pelicans, furnished with
an immense sac under the throat. The os hyoides of the Pelecanus
alcatras does not present small horns (cornua) anteriorly, but a
complicated structure. It is triangular, spur-shaped and terminated

The os hyoides of Pelecanus alcatras.

by a large osseous button. Towards the base of the triangle, between
the two large horns, is a bony member or branch, which I have not
seen in any other animal, and which appears like a minute middle
horn. I have carefully examined the tongue of parrots, to discover the
reason that several tribes, the Aras for example, never learn to imitate

344 HUMBOLDT ON THE ORGANS OF THE VOICE.

the human voice ; while others, the Amazons for instance, which are
marked with red on the bend (Jbuefy of the wing, talk so well. I
think I have discovered the solution of this interesting problem in the
formation of the os hyoides of the Psittacus. In those parrots which
talk, this bone is slender and prolonged at the point ; in the Aras, on
the contrary, who are the dullest, though ornamented with the finest
colours, the os hyoides presents an extraordinary shape. The interval
between the two cornua is partly filled with an osseous membrane,
which becomes narrowed towards the point and apex, and is fixed to a
square bone, which is more than a quarter of an inch broad. It is this

Os hyoides, upper larynx, and part of trachea, in Psittacus araurana.

extraordinary member, this spatula-shaped bone which, going to the
tip of the tongue, renders it so inflexible in the Psittacus ararauna
and the macaw.

Having lived for several years almost constantly in the open air, and
in the midst of exotic animals, I have often been astonished at the
perfection with which some mammiferae imitate the voice of birds, as is
the case with some squirrels and small sapajous. In opening the
larynx of these animals I have been struck with the similarity they
present, with what M. Cuvier has discovered in the inferior larynx of
birds. If the organ of the voice of the Pelecanus olivaceus, in my
design, be compared with that of the Simla (Edipus of Brisson, and
with that of the squirrel of Carthagena, which is very different from
the Sciurus flavus, somewhat approaching the Sciurus erythceus of
Pallas, it will be seen that the larynx of the small whistling ape
might be mistaken for that of the orange squirrel, and similar
pouches which the bird has in its inferior larynx, will be found in

HUMBOLDT ON THE ORGANS OF THE VOTCE. 345

a. It

a, Larynx of Sciurus granatemis, opened ; b, os hyoides.

the superior larynx of these mammiferae. When the small sapajous
shut the epiglottis, and force, at the same time, the air into the trachea,
the current of air is reflected downwards, and passes into the valves
or pouches, the vibrations of which modulate the voice. The Simla
(Edipus, the Simla Jacchus of the Orinoco, the Simla leonlna, and
several new species of small apes, imitate the voice of the Galllnacece.
In them the os hyoides is slender, and presents very long cornua,
resembling that of man : other apes, on the contrary, particularly those
which have a very loud voice, and which are designated by the name of
howlers, have the larynx of a very complicated structure. I do not
think there exists a single genus of animals presenting such extra-
ordinary contrasts in the organ of voice, as the apes.

The small sapajous of America have the os hyoides slender and of
simple construction ; the large ones, as the Simla panlscus, and a
species, unknown to the present time, and which we found on the
banks of the river Amazon, (the chuva of Bracamorros,) have an
osseous tambour. The same kind of tambour is also found in the
howlers : it seems to be wanting in the apes of the old world, of which
some, on the contrary, have, like the baboons and the orang-outang,
described by Camper, a membranous sac in which the voice becomes
lost. The most complicated larynx of all presented by this family is
that of the Simla seniculus of Jacquin, which congregate in great
numbers on the Anacardium caracolls, the ochroma, and the myrodla,
on the banks of the Magdalena. Authors often confound the Simla
seniculus, the capuclna, the beelzebub, and the aragnato of the Orinoco

346

HUMBOLDT ON THE ORGANS OF THE VOICE.

with each other. The last forms a new and distinct species, having
the abdomen covered with hair. I shall designate it by the name of
Simla ursina, barbata, rufa, undlque pills longis tecta. I have
represented, in these designs, the larynx of the Simla senlculus

c, Larynx of Simla CEdipits, opened ; d, do. closed.

open and shut to show how the larynx rests upon the bony tambour
of the os hyoides, and how the air driven from the lungs enters
the six pouches which I found in this animal. The osseous box
of the os hyoides, measured by means of water, was found to have
a capacity of more than four cubic inches. The larynx is slightly
attached to it by some muscular fibres, and has communication with it
by a broad membranous canal. The interior of the larynx consists of
six pouches, two of which are in the form of pigeons' nests, having the
valves two lines long, and from three to five deep. These pouches
resemble those of the small whistling apes, those of the squirrel, and of
some birds ; they have the opening from above, on the same side as
that of the glottis, so that the air cannot enter them except by closing
the epiglottis ; they present transverse muscular fibres, very red, and
of a dense texture. Above these pouches, there are two others, the
lips or borders of which are yellowish and fatty : these are pyramidal
sacs, and enter nearly to two- thirds into the osseous box, and are
formed by membranous partitions. The air forced into these sacs,
which are three or four inches long, and terminate in a point, comes, at
no part, in contact with the bone of the tambour : their opening is
from beneath. The fifth pouch is in the rima, formed by two tube-
rosities of the arytenoid cartilage: it is situated between the two
pyramidal sacs ; it has the same form, but it is shorter by one third.
The sixth is formed by the osseous tambour itself, in which the voice
evidently acquires that lugubrious and plaintive character so remark-

ON THE LEGS AND FEET OF BIRDS.

347

able in these animals ; this larynx of the Simla seniculus is much more
complicated than that of the orang-outang, which Camper has described,
and which has attracted so much the attention of anatomists.

A CHAPTER FROM THE ALPHABET OF BIRDS.

ON THE LEGS AND FEET OF BIRDS.

ON comparing the legs and feet of birds with those of man, we find
that the bones differ considerably in number, and in relative length, as
may be seen in the figures.

Comparative view of the leg and foot in man and birds, a, a, the thigh bones * ; b, b, the leg
bones t ; c, c, the heel bone t ; d,d, the shank bone § ; e, e, the bones of the foot || ; /,/, the
bones of the toes *:, •, g,g, the knee.

* In Latin, Femur.

I In Latin, Oscalcis.

|| In Latin, Ossa metatarsa.

•f- In Latin, Tibia and fibula.
§ In Latin, Ossa tarsa.
IF In Latin, Phalanges.

348 ON THE LEGS AND FEET OF BIRDS.

In the bird, the thigh is very short ; and the knee, which has no knee-
pan * in diving birds and some other genera, bends so high up that
it is in most cases concealed by the feathers. The most conspicuous
bone, which I have termed the shank-bone, has been variously consi-
dered by naturalists, according to the views which they have entertained
respecting its analogy with the bones of other animals. The Emperor
Frederick II. and Belon seem to have been among the first to compare
the shank-bone with the heel; Borelli terms it a foot-leg f ; Merrem,
Herrmann, Wiedemann, and Daudin, take it to be the heel ; Vicq d'
Azyr and Blumenbach consider it only a foot -bone ; while Stenson,
Cuvier, Tiedemann, Ranzani, Savi, Carus, and Meckel, think it is
partly a heel, and partly a foot-bone J. The arguments for the last
opinion are derived from refined and fanciful analogies of what is
termed representation, upon which it is not important to decide.
Though the thigh, however, is often called the leg, the word leg is at
table generally applied in the way adopted by M. Le Vaillant and
other naturalists.

The lower extremity of the shank-bone has a projection correspond-
ing with each toe, and forming a sort of pulley to act as a moveable
joint. There are, consequently, three such pulley-like projections in
most birds ; but only two in the ostrich, which has not more than two
toes. In all birds that have four toes, with the exception of the swift,
the back toe has but one bone ; this back toe acting, as Willughby
observes, in place of a thumb. Birds have their toes for the most part,
proportionally much longer than other animals, while they are brought
more under the general centre of gravity by the bending of the thigh
upon the leg.

The muscles which bend the parts of the leg and foot, are consider-
ably different in birds from other animals, and consist of three masses.
The first is in two portions, of which one arises from the outer knob §
of the thigh bone, and the other from its hinder surface, running down
to be inserted in the toes. This is connected, by fibres, with another
muscle, which arises from the inner side of the thigh, runs over the
knee down to the toes, where it is inserted so as to bend them when the
thigh and the heel are bent.

* In Latin, Rotula.
f In Latin, Crus-pcdale.
In Latin, Os tarso-metastarso.
§ Technically, Condyle.

ON THE LEGS AND FRET OF BIKDS. 349

Muscles which bend the leg: and foot of birds, a, b, the muscle arising from the head of the
thigh bone ; c, d, the knee over which it runs ; e, its passage over the heel, and along the
shank ; /, to the toes, g,g,g, g.

In consequence of this curious mechanism, a bird is more perfectly
at rest when standing than in any other position ; for by letting the
weight of the body fall on the thigh, this is not only bent itself, but
without effort bends the toes inward, so as to grasp the bough of a tree,
or whatever the bird stands upon. As the toes will also grasp more
strongly in proportion to the weight thrown upon them, it follows, that
by throwing the whole weight of the body upon one leg, rather than on
both, the bird will be fixed more securely ; and hence it is that birds
most generally rest, or sleep, standing on one foot, with their head
turned back, behind the wing, to throw the greatest possible weight
directly over the leg.

The objections made by Vicq-d' Azyr and Barthez to this ingenious
explanation, first given by Borelli, have been refuted by Dr. Barclay.

Most of the smaller birds, such as sparrows and magpies, hop or
skip, but some walk by moving the legs alternately, as the larks, wag-
tails, and the blue breast. The bullfinch and the tits walk sideways,
up and down branches. Rooks and jackdaws swagger in their walk,
and the stork throws out its feet in a stalking manner, while all poultry
walk with a parading and not ungraceful strut, very different indeed
from the awkward roll of the goose, or the waddle of the duck. In
water birds, the bone of the shank is thin, and the skin sharp, while on
bringing forward the foot, the toes close behind each other, so as
to present but a small surface, and hence, in swimming, little velocity

VOL. i. — NO. viii. (AUGUST, 1833.) B B

350 RETROSPECT.

is lost, though the foot is not, like an oar, raised out of the water
at every stroke.

It has been supposed from the time of Gesner and Aldrovand to be
peculiar to climbing birds, to have two toes before and two behind ; but
this opinion, though adopted by Cuvier, Temminck, Lesson, and most
modern naturalists, is founded on inaccurate generalisation, for several
species such as the cuckoo and the wryneck, though they have their
toes thus constructed, never climb, while other species which do climb
have three toes before and one behind. The swift has all the toes
placed forwards, by means of which it can cling to walls, and on enter-
ing a narrow crevice, as under the tiles of a church, it can turn up
edge- ways and crawl to its nest. On account of its very short legs, the
swift is termed " footless *, " in books pretending to science, as is the
great bird of Paradise, though it really has very large feet before they
are cut off previous to exportation.

The fleetness with which some birds can run is very remarkable.
I have often been compelled to give up the pursuit of young curlews,
solely because they outran me ; but this is nothing to the speed of the
great bustard, which, was wont to be hunted on Salisbury Plain and
elsewhere, with greyhounds ; and even the bustard is far exceeded by
the ostrich, which in the words of Job, when " she lifteth up herself
on high, scorneth the horse, and his rider."

Among smaller birds, the partridge, the quail, and the corncrake are
very swift in running.

RETROSPECT.

BY EDWARD BLYTH.

THE following errata in the paper on the British fruit eating
warblers, published in the Field Naturalist's Magazine for July
last, it would be as well here to correct. In page 315, line 17, for
"song," read song-thrush; line 37, for "of," read and; page 316,
line 25, for " merely," read much ; line 28, for furze- warbler," read
furze-warbler's ; page 318, line 21, for " common," read appellation ;
and at page 309, line 38, add, after " birds," the qualifying clause,
when seen at some height from the ground.

The great length to which these remarks on the British Ficeduler

* In Latin, A pus.

RETROSPECT. 351

were extended, prevented me from mentioning a variety of minor par-
ticulars connected with these birds, which would, I conceive, he interest-
ing to many persons who are desirous of becoming intimately acquainted
with the Natural History of the British islands. I will not, however,
at present, enter much into detail on this subject, but will confine
myself here to a few observations which might, perhaps, have been as
well inserted in the paper to which I have referred.

A gentleman, on the accuracy of whose observation I can depend,
informs me, that he observed last April, a female blackcap (Ficedula
alricapilld} , singing with as much energy as the male bird; that he
several times distinctly saw its rust-coloured head, and heard it more
than once burst forth into the well-known loud song of its species.
What was particularly remarkable, this individual had commenced
nidificalion in the bush upon which it was seen to sing.

That various female quadrupeds and birds, when past a certain age,
acquire much of the outward appearance, and many of the habits
of the male, is a fact that has been long familiarly known to naturalists.

I have, myself, seen two or three instances wherein the common hen,
when past the age for laying, has assumed the pendent tail and gaudy
plumage of the cock, and has even crowed aloud, and strutted about
the yard with the same jealous-looking and haughty demeanour. Such
birds I have more than once seen in the London markets, for sale,
where they are known by the somewhat anomalous name, hen-cocks ;
the small comb and wattles still giving a feminine appearance to the
head. The hen pheasant and the pea-hen have often been known to
undergo a similar change, and I have seen the skin of an old female
blue breast (Pandicilla ? Suecicd), in which the patch of blue feathers
on the breast was considerably larger than what is usual in the females
of that bird. We need not, indeed, look beyond our own species for
ample illustration of this curious tendency in nature. When old age
has arrived, and the powers of reproduction have ceased, do not the
breasts often flatten, the pelvis contract, signs of a beard begin to appear
on the chin and upper lip, &c. ? Does not, in short, the whole general
structure of the body assimilate strikingly to the male ? This tendency
in old age, indeed, must be familiarly known to everybody who ever
observes at all the various natural phenomena, which are constantly
presented to our notice : but the above-mentioned instance of the female
black-cap, singing, cannot be attributed to old age, for the individual
was ascertained to have a nest: indeed, age would probably have

B B 2

352 RETROSPECT.

clothed it in the dissimilar plumage of the cock bird. Mr. Sweet
informs us of a hen nightingale which he " kept four years, without
its even attempting to sing ; the fifth year it sang frequently, a pretty
soft nightingale's note." He adds, " I have found that the case with
several female birds ; they do not sing till they become aged : but it is not
a general rule, as I have had a female willow- wren (Sylvia trochilus),
that sung when quite young." To this I can add an instance of a
thrush (Turdus musicus), one of the finest songsters I ever heard, and
which was always considered to have been a male bird until it was
two years old, when an egg was found in the cage, and two days after-
wards another. We have here, therefore, three authenticated instances
of a curious deviation from ordinary rule, which, not improbably, occurs
much oftener than we are aware of. There are, however, some small
birds in which both sexes are endowed with the same musical powers ;
as examples of which may be adduced the common bullfinch of this
country, and the cardinal grosbeak (Gnarica cardinalis, SWAINSON) of
North America. The female red-breasts, also, I am inclined to suspect,
sing during the winter months ; at least, I have never yet noticed a
red-breast in the winter that did not sing, after I had taken the trouble
to watch it for a few minutes. The fact, however, may be easily
enough ascertained by dissection.

I have before had occasion to advert to the extremely quarrelsome and
domineering disposition of the babillard or lesser whitethroat (Ficedula
garrnla), when in confinement. Though small in size, this species is
generally master of the aviary it inhabits, whatever may be the size of
its companions. I have known this little bird attack, and completely
persecute many species very much its superiors in size, and apparently
in force ; amongst which, might be enumerated the bramblefinch, the
bullfinch, the redbreast, the nightingale, and even the oxeye ( Partis
major) ; but it soon ceases its attacks when any of them attempt
to retaliate. The most inveterate antagonist which my babillard
has to encounter is the small redpole finch (Linaria minor), a species
of about the same size as itself, and, in my individual, of an
equally pugnacious disposition. These two little birds have fought
many a well contested battle with various success ; until, at length,
each seems to have acquired a proper respect for the other's prowess ;
at any rate, it is now some time since I have heard of their contending.
The furze- warbler (F. ulicicola], though equally animated and
lively with the babillard, is of the same quiet, amicable disposition

RETROSPECT.

as the whitethroat, living in perfect harmony with its own species, and
with every other bird. This species may very easily be recognised
when wild, amongst the furze, by its restless activity, and by its
very dark colour; appearing, as it flies, considerably darker than
even the common dunnock (Accentor modularis").

I may as well here avail myself of this opportunity, to correct a
variety of errors, &c., which have occurred in the course of my several
papers in the Field Naturalist's Magazine. In the No. for January,
at p. 22, line 28, instead of " back," read barb ; and the preceding
passage on the feathers of the stonechat's back should be erased ; for
although, in the specimen from which the remark was inconsider-
ately drawn, the fact was as there represented, the contrary is the case
with regard to the species generally.

No. for February, p. 78, line 26, for " pallets," read pellets. A
flusher, in this neighbourhood, was lately seen to seize an adult cock
chaffinch ; but, on the sudden approach of my informant, was compelled
to relinquish his victim.

See No. for March, p. 130. Two instances have come to my know-
ledge this season of the grosbeak or hawfinch, (Coccothrausles cratoegi)
breeding in this country. There is, at the present time (July 10,)
a brood of young hawfinches flying in the garden of one of my neigh-
bours, one of which has been shot for my collection. The nestling
plumage of these birds is worthy of remark ; there is a strong tinge of
yellow about the head and throat ; the rump and all the under parts
are of a brownish cream colour, with a number of small, transverse,
dark brown spots on the belly and flanks, not much unlike those on a
heri missel thrush ( Turdus viscivorux) ; a small line of similar spots
proceeds downwards, from each corner of the mouth, and curving
slightly inwards, traces the outline of what in the adult bird is a large
black spot, and the wing is without the ash-coloured cross-band which
distinguishes the species when in full plumage, This bird is described
as " subject to great variety of plumage," but the variation is, I suspect,
subject to fixed laws, and indicative of the age of the individual. As
in the babillard (Ficedula garrula), it is probably two years, or more,
before the iris of the eye becomes perfectly white ; and I have observed
that individuals which want the ash-coloured cross-band on the wing,
have always the iris more or less coloured. Many birds (but not all,
as the jackdaw for instance,) do not change the wing and tail feathers
until the second moult, and this is probably the case with the hawfinch,
which consequently does not assume the band on the wing until its

354 RETROSPECT.

second general change of plumage, by which time the iris has nearly
lost its colour. The specimens in which the top of the head is described
as " whitish surrounded by rufous," were probably aged individuals,
and those which are mentioned as partially, or wholly black, were most
likely such as had fed much upon hempseed, which is well known to
have that effect upon the plumage of many birds in confinement, and
to my knowledge, no species is fonder of hempseed than that now
under consideration. The young hawfinches, in my neighbour's garden
were first discovered by the great havoc which they committed among
the green peas, and since one of their number has been brought down
by the gun, they have become extremely shy and suspicious.

I think I may here safely record another instance of the parrot-cross-
bill (Loxia pytiopsittacus} , occuring in this neighbourhood, three winters
ago. The specimen was not preserved, having been unfortunately de-
stroyed by a cat ; but the very minute description which I received of
its size, and the peculiar structure of its bill, (which differs from those
of its congeners in the crossing point of the lower mandible not reach-
ing so high as the ridge of the upper one,) plainly indicated the bird
to have been of this species ; and on my showing plates of the different
LotficB, the L. pytiopsittacus was at once selected as the kind which
my informant had shot.

No. for April, page 187- The account here given of a hawfinch
which I kept some time in confinement, together with remarks " on
the stomachs of birds," page 90, and on caged birds, page 190, with
various other short anecdotes, &c. interspersed through the several
numbers of this periodical, were extracted from a series of letters on
Natural History written by me some time since to the editor. The
hawfinch's song I have not as yet been able to ascertain ; the individual
above-mentioned contrived somehow or other to break his leg in such
a manner, that it was thought necessary to have him killed, and I have
not since succeeded in procuring another. The song of the bramblefinch
(if song it can be called) is extremely simple and monotonous ; a few
low chattering notes, varied occasionally by a harsh, dissonant call, is
all the melody which this handsome finch can boast of. The call-note
is not unfrequently uttered when the bird is not singing, and, with the
exception of its simple song, is the only sound I have ever heard from
this species.

What the generic name of the bramblefinch and the chaffinch is,
according to modern nomenclature, I have never been able to learn : the
term Fringilla, used by the earlier naturalists to designate a numerous

RETROSPECT. 355

and varied host of species, is now, I believe, restricted to that parti-
cular group, or genus of finches, to which the canary bird (F. canaria)
belongs ; and I know of no generic name that has been applied hitherto,
exclusively to the chaffinch genus. The appellation Spiza is, I think,
the most appropriate, and the best that could be affixed to these birds,
the common chaffinch being undoubtedly the o-mfa of Aristotle ; but
the term, Spiza, unfortunately, has already been employed by Bona-
parte to designate a genus of American birds (the painted bunting or
nonpareil finch, Emberiza ciris, WILSON, and its immediate congeners),
and according to the generally received rules of nomenclature, that
genus must retain the name first given to it, however inapplicable and
inappropriate it may chance to be 5 but the time must finally arrive,
when a complete and thorough alteration will take place throughout
zoological nomenclature, and I consider it now to be almost the duty of
every lover of Natural History to endeavour, as far as he is able, to
improve the systematic arrangement of the various productions of
nature. The chief bar, however, at present, to all improvements in
classification, is the confusion which is caused by calling the same
species by various and different names ; but this confusion may, in a
great measure, if not entirely, be prevented, by adding to the approved
systematic name of an animal, that also by which it was first known
and described in systematical nomenclature. Thus, speaking of the
birds now under consideration, we might say " the chaffinch (Spiza
leucoptera, Fringilla ccelebs, LIN.), the bramblefinch (Spiza montana,
Fringilla monlifringilla,Iui'sx.'), or the ring-ousel (Petrocincla meruloidcs,
Turdus torquatus, LIN.), &c." If this simple plan were to be gene-
rally pursued in books, there would, of course, be no further necessity
for swelling the pages of natural history with those immense lists of
intermediate synonymes, with which they are now so frequently clogged
and rendered tedious. To return, however, to the retrospect ; instead
of "mule," at page 188, line 7> read mute.

No. for May, page 197, line 4, erase the first " or ; " page 200, line
22, for major," readmagna; page 202, line 4, erase the commas in
the nightingale's concluding note, as I have there endeavoured to ex-
press it ; and in a few lines afterwards, place a comma between the notes
mater-bubble and whitlow ; not to write down these notes at all would
be much better than to express them incorrectly. At line 19, also, a
note has been printed " curre," instead of carre. As this paper " on
the nightingale " is merely the continuation of that at page 134, written
at the same time, it will account for the latter concluding so very

356

RURAL GLEANINGS.

abruptly. What further remarks I Inve to make on the history of
this celebrated bird, want of space here compels me to reserve for
another opportunity, At page 235, line 21, for " black," read while ;
and at line 26, erase the word crimson.

No for June, page 2G3, line 22, for "builds," read build; page
268, line 5, in a note which I have endeavoured to express in writing,
the commas should be reversed : one should be placed after the sound
" pee," and all those after " mi" should be erased. The tame cole-
tit, whose habits I have there described, is since dead, but the degree
of familiarity which he in time attained was most extraordinary : he
would follow and play with a piece of thread for ten minutes together?
like a kitten, and perform a variety of other little diverting duties, in
many of which he exhibited a singular and most unexpected quantum
of sagacity, quite surprising in so minute a creature. It is worthy of
remark, that the cole-tit has a larger head, in proportion to its body,
than any other small bird we have.

Tooting, Surrey, I'Jth July.

RURAL GLEANINGS.

BY SOLITARIUS.

IT is amusing to observe the wide difference which frequently exists
between the disposition of animals of even the same species. At the
house where I am at present staying, there is a bantam cock which is
so deficient in point of courage (for which this breed of fowls is so very
famous), that he avoids and keeps at a distance from the other cocks,
and runs away like a coward whenever they approach. Yet this bird,
although wanting in natural courage, is in other respects more daring
than his companions ; for whilst they run away from every stranger
in human shape, he keeps his ground and will fight for a long time
with one's foot, if it be presented to him in a menacing manner. The
display of affection manifested by parent birds for their young has
often attracted the attention of mankind. Passing by a hen the other
day, she was so solicitous for the safety of her brood, that she flew up
at me as high as my chest. White has well remarked that " a hen
become a mother is no longer that placid bird she used to be," and that

RURAL GLEANINGS.

" every hen is in her turn the virago of the yard, in proportion to the
helplessness of her brood, and will fly in the face of a dog or sow in
defence of those chickens which in a few days she will drive before her
with relentless cruelty." The following affords a pretty good instance
of sagacity in fowls: — A few days back a Dorking cock and his
numerous wives being assembled round a tub (which is sunk in the
ground for the ducks to bathe in), I flung a piece of bread on to the
middle of the water's surface to see what they would do in that case to
obtain it, At first they strutted round and round the tub, trying at
different sides to reach it, but after many attempts, finding their endea-
vours unsuccessful, all retired from the spot except the cock and one of
the hens. The latter, after eying the desired morsel for some time,
and apparently considering how to get it, at length hit upon this inge-
nious expedient : placing her beak down to the brink, she sucked up
the water, and thus formed a current whereby the piece of bread was
attracted towards her, but very slowly ; which the cock perceiving, he
ran round to the opposite side and commenced fanning his wings, and
did not cease doing so until he had blown it over and within the reach
of the hen, who soon swallowed it up.

It is a curious and well known fact, that many male animals, instead
of being proud of their offspring and anxious for their care and pre-
servation, will treat them with such relentless cruelty as often termi-
nates with the death of their helpless victims. A duck lately hatched
a brood in which she seemed to take much pride ; but the drake, con-
sidering, it would appear, that he was neglected by her on account of
her attention to her ducklings, had, it seems, determined upon their
destruction. He was found the other day with one end of a little
duckling in his bill, whilst the duck held the other extremity in hers,
the former endeavouring to gain possession of it, and the latter anxiously
trying to retain it. A stop was however soon put to this game of
" pull devil, pull baker," by releasing the object of contention from
its perilous situation. As I have now noted all worth noting relating
to animals domesticated here, I must now speak of those enjoying the
sweets of liberty in the neighbouring fields.

At Snaresbrook, about a week ago, I witnessed an instance of
great tameness in the robin, certainly very remarkable when we con-
sider that it is rarely but in the winter that it makes itself familiar
with man. A gardener was filling a wheelbarrow with dead leaves and
other rubbish, which he was busily employed in sweeping up into a
heap, when, whilst thus occupied, and not farther distant from his
barrow than three feet, a robin continued hopping about the inside of

358 RURAL GLEANINGS.

it, and searching for food amongst its contents. Although it flew
away to a little distance as each successive spadeful was flung into the
barrow, yet it returned as soon as the dust arising from it had subsided.
Your very entertaining and well-read correspondent, MY. Blyth, speak-
ing of the robin (vide page 290), says it has "a strange tremulous
motion of the tail which has, I believe, never yet been noticed." He
does not mean by this, I suppose, the common wagging of the tail,
which, as White observed years ago, is always up and down instead of
being from side to side ; but I conceive that he alludes to what I have
often observed although never recorded, which is that the robin's tail
has a quick irregular vibration like that exhibited by a piece of watch-
spring (or other elastic body) when held tight at one end and struck
violently at the other. This motion of the tail is most frequently to be
observed when the bird is suddenly surprised, or when apprehensive of
danger.

Not far from Leyton I observed, a few evenings ago, a couple of
swallows flying after a straggling rook, and snapping their bills in a
menacing manner close to him. This he bore very quietly without
attempting to retaliate, but was evidently at a loss what to do, for
when he directed his course one way they intercepted his retreat, and
when he made for another direction they did the same. By what
means he had offended them and excited their wrath I cannot conceive.
I have often read and heard, though, of swallows strongly uniting for
the purpose of buffetting hawks and other similar birds of prey, when-
ever they may consider themselves in danger from them, and to this
fact your correspondent Ruricola alludes in the fourth verse of his
prettily written poem (vide page 321), but I doubt his accuracy in
asserting that they treat the owl in a similar manner. I doubt the
truth of it for two reasons * : first, on account of owls generally flying
when the swallows have gone to rest, and secondly, because it is con-
trary to a law much observed in nature, which is that birds strictly
carnivorous, rarely (and then only when their usual food fails them)
prey upon other birds which are like the swallow strictly insectivorous,
and who are as equally serviceable in lessening the number of insects
as the former are in preventing the superabundance of noxious birds
and quadrupeds. It is seldom indeed that the swallow has to attack
the hawk, for it being thus wisely ordained that animals of similar
utilities shall not prey upon one another, it is rarely that the hawk
gives any cause for their ire. As they perform equally important and

* If Solitarius will try the experiment, as I have done, he will find Ruricola
is quite correct. — See Field Nat. Ma//., pncje 2. — EDITOR.

RU11AL GLEANINGS. 359

useful offices, nature, it seems, sets as much value upon the life of the
one as upon the other, and for the preservation of it she has not im-
planted any spirit of constant warfare between them ; but when hun-
ger threatens the destruction of the stronger, he then breaks the
amicable bond, and preys upon the weaker.

Heronries are now very scarce in England, and the nearest to Lon-
don of the few remaining is situated not far from this in Wanstead
Park. This one, I am informed, for I have not yet visited it, is of
long establishment and very populous, and the birds, I am told, are
frequently seen flying many miles distant from the spot. Epping
Forest is just now a delightful aviary, being inhabited by wood-pigeons,
blackbirds, cuckoos, thrushes, woodpeckers, tree-creepers, torn-tits,
yellow-hammers, greenfinches, chaffinches, nightingales, linnets, larks,
bullfinches, butcher-birds, reed-sparrows, redstarts, wrens, and some
few others. I find it extremely difficult to discover the nests of birds
in this county, which I fancy are better concealed than in most places,
for when I ornithologise in Kent, Surrey, or Middlesex, I find them
easily enough and in plenty. I have however found one nest and only
one, which is that of the reed-sparrow. I found it at Snaresbrook,
situated among some reeds in a pond, but not fastened to them, being
only supported by their pressing upon all sides of it, and concealed by
loftier ones drooping over it. Externally it was composed of rather
coarse hay, having withinside a lining of the same material, but of a
finer and softer quality.

Upon the thorns of a furze-bush, a few days since, I found some
bees and moths impaled by the butcher-bird, which, as all your readers
are probably aware, receives its name from this butchering habit, to
explain the reason of its practising which naturalists have not as yet
been able.

Finding a mole boring into the side of a ditch, which I thought
would be too damp a situation for it, I took it up in my hand and con-
veyed it to a drier soil in quest of a hole for it. Having discovered a
hole which had evidently been excavated by one of its brethren, I
placed its snout to the entrance, but it refused several times to enter
it, being apparently reluctant to intrude into the dwelling of another,
from whom it might not have anticipated a very cordial reception.
But finding that I would not allow of its receding, and longer exposing
itself to danger by remaining above ground, it at length made a speedy
descent. This mole was, I observed, infested with fleas, very similar

360 RURAL GLEANINGS.

to those which suck the human blood, except that they were of a dark
black colour.

Of insects, which are new to me, I have collected several in this
neighbourhood, but their names and the observations I have made upon
them I shall reserve for a future paper. But I must however speak
of one species of butterfly, the Hipparchia Mtpgera, which you informed
me upon the wrapper of one of the numbers of this Magazine is one
of the commonest in Britain, if not in Europe. Now those who con-
fine their observations to any particular spot, soon learn that many
things which are pretty well diffused all over the country, are scarce
in the district of their researches. Let us look to London for an
instance proving the truth of this observation. The ornithologist there
finds the goldfinch a rara avis ; the botanist notices that the hemlock
is there comparatively scarce, and I, who have paid attention to the
entomology of London for the last five years, know that although the
Hipparchia Mtegera may be common in most places, like the goldfinch
and the hemlock, yet it is like them scarce in its vicinity. Now the
goldfinch may be scarce on account of its being a desideratum among
bird-catchers, and the scarcity of the hemlock may be attributed to the
hemlock-gatherers ; but how to explain the scarcity of this butterfly I
know not. I have found it but once, and that was in Battersea fields,
and I have this year searched Epping Forest and the neighbouring
fields, but cannot meet with a single individuaf of this species,
although others of the genus are extremely plentiful.

Last Sunday I found a black slug down a lane, voraciously eating a
piece of orange peel, a food which I was previously not aware they
would eat, although I have observed them eating fallen apples, plums,
and pears.

To-day I found, hanging upon a low furze bush on the forest, the
empty skin of a snake, which had been changed by the animal for a
new one, as snakes, if I am not mistaken, are in the habit of doing.
Could mankind change their skins in a similar manner, how many
discontented folks who value skin deep beauty more than mental culti-
vation, and who are more anxious to excel their neighbours in outward
show than to compete with them in intellectual attainments, would
instantly avail themselves of the opportunity if it presented itself !

MUSCULAR STRENGTH OF THK OYSTER IN RESISTING ITS ENK-
MIKS. — The oyster, as is well known, is provided with a very powerful
muscle, by the aid of which it can immediately close its shells with

RURAL GLEANINGS.

361

such firmness as obstinately to retain any substance that may be placed
in between to prevent their union. The following circumstance, which
appeared in the Hull Advertiser a few months ago, affords an amusing
instance of the exercise of this muscular power : — " Tuesday night
the family of Mr. Jennison, fishmonger, Queen-street, were alarmed
by a great noise in the shop, and suspecting some persons had broken
in, one of them went to the place, when to his surprise he found the
disturber of his repose not a human but a four-footed thief, namely a
rat, who in helping himself to an oyster on the shop-board (as we are
informed is the custom with this species), had his intruding paw so
firmly clenched in the grasp of the assailed oyster as to render his
escape impossible." In Borlase's Natural History of Cornwall is a
quotation from Mr. Carew's Survey of Cornwall, giving an account of
three mice being similarly caught by an oyster ; indeed the case is
nearly parallel to the preceding. He tells us of one " whose shell
being opened as is usual at the time of flood (when these fishes parti-
cipate and enjoy the returning tide) three mice eagerly attempted to
seize it, but the oyster clasping fast its shell killed them all." The
same writer also informs us of the cautious method employed by the
lobster to procure the oyster from between its strong resisting shells,
as he was informed by a clergyman of great veracity, who had the
account from a creditable eye-witness to the fact. " As he was walking
one day, a fisherman observed a lobster attempt to get at an oyster
several times, but as soon as the lobster approached the oyster shut his
shell ; at length the lobster, having awaited with great attention till
the oyster opened again, made a shift to throw a stone between the
gaping shells, sprung upon its prey and devoured it." Most readers
conversant with natural history, from the many instances on record are
aware, I presume, that the monkey has recourse to the same ingenious
plan to secure the oyster as its food. In Brown's " Anecdotes of
Quadrupeds," we are told that " Gemelli Carreri, in his voyage round
the world, relates a circumstance concerning the ouran-outang in his
wild state, which is indicative of very considerable powers both of
reflection and invention. When the fruits on the mountains are ex-
hausted, they will frequently descend to the sea coast, where they feed
on various species of shell-fish, but in particular on a large sort of
oyster which commonly lies upon the shore. ' Fearful,' he says, ' of
putting in their paws lest the oyster should close and crush them, they
insert a stone as a wedge within the shell, and then they drag out their
prey and devour it at their leisure.' Milo of old might have saved his

362 RURIOOLA ON THE AURORA BOREALIS.

life had he only been half so wise." The instances with which I have
furnished the reader are sufficient to show that the oyster which seems
so inactive and harmless a creature, is in truth one of no ordinary
strength, having sufficient to render its enemies extremely cautious
how they assail it. Besides the rat, the mouse, the lobster, and the
monkey, the oyster has other enemies to contend with, for the sea-star,
the cockle, and the muscle also prey upon it ; but its most universal
destroyer, and the one from which it has the least chance of escape, is
of that species to which the late illustrious Dando, of oyster-eating
celebrity, belonged.

Laytonstone, July. 1833.

THE AURORA BOREALIS, OR NORTHERN LIGHTS, HISTORI-
CALLY CONSIDERED.

BY RURICOLA.

Two of your former numbers contain some valuable observations on
the Aurora Borealis ; I beg leave to submit the following on the same
subject historically considered, for the purpose of correcting what I
suppose to be an error, which has been for a long time in considerable
circulation.

In Collins's posthumous " Ode on the Popular Superstitions of the
Highlands of Scotland " is this passage : —

" As Boreas threw his young Aurora forth
In the first year of the first George's reign."

Upon which the editor of the Ode, in or about 1 789, subjoins a note,
copied in subsequent editions of Collins's poems, and among others by
Mr. Pickering, in his Aldine edition of 1830, in these words : — " By
young Aurora Collins undoubtedly meant the first appearance of the
northern lights, which happened about the year ] 715 ; at least it is
most highly probable from this peculiar circumstance, that no ancient
writer whatever has taken any notice of them, nor even any modern
one previous to the above period."

That " the first appearance of the northern lights happened about
the year 1715 " would be hardly credible, considering the nature of the
phenomenon, even if they had not been previously noticed by any

RURICOLA ON THE AURORA BOREALIS. 363

ancient or modern writer. But in truth they had been previously so
noticed, and in one instance by an author who was a great favourite of
Collins himself, if, to adopt his own language—

" If not with light regard,

I read aright that gifted bard,
Him whose school above the rest
His loveliest elfin queen has blest."

I allude to Spenser, who, in his " Faerie Queene," thus describes Bri-
tomart in a passage so beautiful in itself, and containing so apt and
uncommon a comparison, and withal so curious in its application to our
subject, that I take leave to insert the whole stanza : —

" With that her glistening helmet she unlaced,

Which doft, her golden locks, that were upbound
Still in a knot, unto her heels down traced,
And like a silken veile in compasse round
About her backe and all her bodie wound.
Like as the shining skie in summer's night,

What time the days with scorching heat abound,
Is crested all with lines of fine light,
That it prodigious seems in common people's sight."

R Q. iv. i. 13.

It must be, I think, sufficiently obvious to every reader of this ex-
tract that, as Dr. Jortin remarks upon it, " Spenser here gives a
description of what we call Aurora Borealis" And I think it also
sufficiently obvious that the appearance had not escaped pretty general
observation in Spenser's time, though " common people " were puzzled
to account for it. Now the fourth book of the IC Faerie Queene " was
published in or about 1593, and written but a short time before, which
is about 122 years previous to " the first year of the first George's
reign," the supposed period of " the first appearance of the northern
lights."

But in the recent edition of White's " Natural History of Selborne,"
by Captain Thomas Brown, Edinburgh, 1833, occurs the following
note by the editor in reference to the Aurora Borealis, which White
describes as having ffmade a particular appearance, Nov. 1, 1787."
The editor says, " At what time this meteor was first observed is not
known ; none are recorded in the English annals till the remarkable
one which happened on the 30th of January, 1560: another very bril-
liant one appeared in 1760." It may be noticed, in passing, that the

364. RURICOLA ON THE AURORA BOREALIS.

earlier date, assigned in this note to the phenomenon, is more than
thirty years prior to the publication of the " Faerie Queene," and of
course more than 150 years prior to the date mentioned by Collins's
editors.

With submission, however, to the writer of the foregoing note, to
whom I feel obliged for many curious observations in his edition of
White's Selborne, several examples of the meteor in question are
recorded in the English annals at much more early periods than he
supposes. For instance, the phenomenon is described by our historians,
Matthew of Westminster and Florence of Worcester, as having occurred
in the years 555, 567, 743, 776, 926, and 979. The terms which they
employ for describing it are respectively " appearances, as it were of
lances, seen in the air from the north as far as the west" — "fiery
spears seen in the air " — " fiery beams seen in the air, such as the men
of that age had never before beheld " — " seen in the heaven after sun-
set red signs and horrible " — " fiery rays seen all over England in
the northern quarter of heaven " — " a cloud seen at midnight all over
England, sometimes blood-red, sometimes of the colour of fire ; and
afterwards being disparted into rays, and changed into sundry colours,
it disappeared about, day-break." And in some of the instances they
speak of the phenomenon as portending future events ; according to
Spenser's remark, " that it prodigious seems in common people's sight."

The reader who is desirous of seeing the original Latin of these
extracts, if the works of the annalists are not easily accessible, may
refer to an article in the Gentleman's Magazine of 1756, by the late
eminent antiquary, Dr. Samuel Pegge, whose observation on the last
cited example is as follows: — "These lights, it seems, were seen all
over England, and lasted till very late in the night ; at first it was one
body of light (nubes), but changed its colour from red to white, or
rather fire- colour; afterwards was disparted into rays or streamers of
various colours, just as the Aurora borealis is known very often to do."

The foregoing examples of the northern lights, as recorded by our
early annalists, occurred at times before the Norman Conquest. For
examples since that period I refer to the Saxon Chronicle, as edited
and translated by the Rev. Dr. Ingram, Oxford, 1823.

"A. D. 1098. Before Michaelmas the heaven was of such a hue,
as if it were burning nearly all the night," p. 318.

" A. D. 1117. Also in the night of the 17th day before the calends
of January was the heaven seen very red, as if it were burning,"
p. 338.

RURICOLA ON THE AURORA BOREALIS. 365

« A. D. 1122. After this there were many shipmen on the sea and
on fresh water, who said that they saw in the north-east, level with the
earth, a fire huge and broad, which anon waxed in length up to the
welkin, and the welkin undid itself in four parts and fought against it,
as if it would quench it, and the fire waxed nevertheless up to the
heaven. The fire they saw in the day-dawn, and it lasted until it was
light over all. That was on the 7th day before the ides of December,"
p. 343.

"A. D. 1131. This year, after Christmas, on a Monday night at
the first sleep, was the heaven on the northern hemisphere all as if it
were a burning pile, so that all they who saw it were so dismayed as
they never were before. This was on the 3rd day before the ides of
January." p. 361. The learned editor remarks on this last appearance
" Aurora Borealis, or the northern lights;" and I presume the same
remark to be equally applicable to the other instances of red and fiery
appearances in the heaven.

To the foregoing may be added one other example from another
of our annalists, who records the following appearance with reference
to the year 1173: — "On the ides of February there appeared in the
heaven a wonderful sign soon after midnight ; for a certain redness was
seen in the air between the east and west in the boreal region. And
athwart that redness were white rays, which now slender like lances,
and now broad like tables (or boards), now here, now there, were raised
high from earth as it were up to heaven. The aforesaid rays were
shining white, as the rays of the sun when they pierce a very thick
cloud ; thereupon there followed a lightsome brightness, like to the
summer dawn (auroras similis cestivce) when it clearly brightens into
day. At last there was lifted up from the earth as it were, in the
same quarter, a very thick blackish cloud, which spreading onwards by
slow degrees overshadowed that daylight." The original Latin may be
found in the appendix to the life of King Henry II , vol. vi. p. 436,
2nd edit, by George Lord Lyttelton, who remarks upon it, " It is hardly
possible to give a more exact description than this, which Gervase of
Canterbury has delivered down to us, of an Aurora Borealis, a phe-
nomenon then unusual in these parts of the globe, but of late much
more frequent."

Thus I apprehend it to be clear enough, that the meteor in question not
only had appeared, but had been often recorded by our annalists as well
before the year 1560 as before 1715. With respect to the latter period,
Dr. Pegge, in the paper before cited, observes, " The lights that appeared

VOL. i. — NO. viii. (AUGUST, 1833.) c c

86*6 RURICOLA ON THE AURORA BOREALIS.

then were very extraordinary, and happened at a very critical time,
which occasioned their being taken notice of, as also their being men-
tioned by our historians, to which I may well add that none so copious
or remarkable had probably happened for many years before." In this
last suggestion, as to the copiousness of the lights, the learned writer
is perhaps warranted by the fact ; but I would specify one example of
the phenomenon, which was discovered about 7i years before the date
in question, in this part of the British isles, and which is thus described
under the title of " A Northern Streaming, by Mr. Neve, of Maghra-
felt in the north of Ireland," county of Londonderry. I copy it from
" A Natural History of Ireland," published by George Grierson, Dub-
lin, 1 726 ; and I believe that it may be found in the Transactions of
the Royal Society, but for what year I know not.

" On Sunday, Nov. 16, 1707, after a frosty morning and fair clear
day, wind north westerly, about half an hour after eight in the evening,
there appeared a very strong light in the north. The evening was
clear and starlight, only the horizon was darkened with condensed
vapours in the north, reaching, I guess, ten or fifteen degrees above the
horizon. Out of this cloud proceeded several streams or rays of light,
like the tails of some comets, broad below and ending in points above.
Some of them extended almost to the tail of Ursa minor, and all were
nearly perpendicular to the horizon, and it was as bright as if the full
moon had been rising in the cloud. But what I wondered at most was
the motion of the dark and lighter parts, running strangely through one
another in a moment, sometimes to the east and sometimes to the west.
It continued after I first saw it about a quarter of an hour, often chang-
ing its face and appearance as to form and light ; sometimes broken,
sometimes entire, and long rays of light in the clear sky, quite separate
from and above the cloud, and none below in the cloud," page 126.
The next page contains an account of " An Aurora Borealis at Dublin,
by an Unknown Hand ;" but the year of its appearance is not stated, so
that I cannot say whether it was observed before " the first year of the
first George's reign," or at or after that epoch. It seems, however, to
have been of great brilliancy and beauty.

This very curious phenomenon is much more known in the present
age than it was a century ago, perhaps from the more genefal spirit of
inquiry and habits of observation, and from the greater facility of dis-
seminating intelligence, as well as from the fact of the phenomenon
itself being, according to the prevailing opinion, of more frequent occur-
rence. I remember to have seen it in Sussex, not far from Chichester,
in December, 1804; and at sundry times' and in various places in the

RURICOLA OX THE AUROltA BOREALIS. 367

interval, especially within the last ten years in this neighbourhood, and
in Dublin, and most of all in the northern part of the county of An-
trim, near the coast of the great northern ocean. Your correspondent
from Dundee, I perceive, states himself to have made his observations
upon it on no less than ten different occasions between August 13,
1828, and March 21, 1833, being not quite five years. However, this
is out of the way of my proposed object in the present communication,
which was to lay before your readers sufficient evidence of the Aurora
Borealis having appeared, and of its appearance having been recorded
by our annalists and other writers long and often before the period to
which it has been inadvertently, I apprehend, and improperly assigned.
In the foregoing inquiry I have confined myself to the subject as
connected with our own writers. If the Aurora Borealis has not been
noticed by the writers of classical antiquity, the omission is easily
accounted for by their remoteness from the climates where it might be
expected to appear. There are those, however, who are of opinion that
it has not been unnoticed even by such writers. In illustration of the
martial character attributed by our old annalists to the phenomenon,
and of its being thought predictive of great political events, Dr.
Pegge has cited a passage from the first Georgic of Virgil, where the
poet, enumerating the several prodigies that preceded and betokened
the death of Julius Caesar, mentions a sound of arms in the sky,
heard, not in Italy, but in the more northern regions of Europe.

" Armorum sonitum toto Germania ccelo
Audiit."

" The noise of battle hurtling in the air
Germania heard."

Upon which passage Heyne, in his edition of Virgil, notes that " Arms
are often related to have been seen in the sky, a superstition which
appears to have derived its origin from the Aurora Borealis." And
the late Professor Martyn, in his translation and notes to the Georgics,
having remarked that " Ovid speaks of the clashing of arms and the
noise of trumpets and horns," and that " Appian also mentions great
shouts in the air, and clashing of arms, and rushing of horses," adds
" Perhaps this was some remarkable Aurora Borealis seen about that
time in Germany. The learned M. Celsius, professor of astronomy at
Upsal in Sweden, has assured me that in those northern parts of the
world, during the appearance of an Aurora Borealis, he has heard a
rushing sound in the air, something like the clapping of a bird's wings

368 RURICOLA ON TttE AURORA UOREALIS.

Before these phenomena were so frequent among us as they now are, it
was no unusual thing for the common people to take them for armies
lighting in the air."

I am aware that the noise, which is said sometimes to accompany
this meteor, is not at all times observable. Thus Captain Parry, in
his third voyage for the discovery of a north west passage, chap. 3,
relates, " We frequently listened for any sound proceeding from this
phenomenon but never heard any ;" and accordingly the fact has not
only been questioned, but the possibility of it denied. The testimony
of other eye-witnesses, however, is certainly in favour of its sometimes
emitting a noise. The experience of Professor Celsius has been stated
above ; to which I would annex the following from the Quarterly
Review, vol. xix. p. 316; — " Dr. Henderson says, 'when they are par-
ticularly quick and vivid, a crackling noise is heard, resembling that
which accompanies the escape of the sparks from an electric machine.'
Sir Charles Giesecke, who had frequent opportunities in Greenland of
observing them streaming forth with peculiar brilliancy, has remarked
that they sometimes appeared very low, when they were much agitated,
' and a crashing and crackling sound was heard like that of an electric
spark or of the falling hail.' Gmelin gives a most terrific account of
the effects of the Aurora Borealis on the borders of the Icy Sea : ' All
the animals are terror-struck, the dogs of the hunters are seized with
such dread, that they crouch on the ground, while the streams of bril-
liant light in every tint of the rainbow, ' crackle, sparkle, hiss, make
a whistling sound, and a noise equal to that of artificial fireworks.'
' I have frequently,' says Hearne, a plain unostentatious traveller,
' heard them making a rustling and crackling noise like the waving of
a large flag in a fresh gale of wind.' " These statements give proba-
bility to the opinion, that the Aurora Borealis was the appearance
noticed at the time of Caesar's death. But however this be, that the
phenomenon has been often recorded by our own annalists seems indis-
putable.

Should any of your readers be disposed to peruse a poetical descrip-
tion of the Aurora Borealis, and of the superstitious terrors that have
been excited by it, they may be gratified by turning to a passage of
thirty-five lines in Thomson's Autumn, beginning, " But when half
blotted from the sky," &c. ; where, however, by representing it as an
" appearance beautiful and new," the poet falls into the popular mis-
take which we have been now considering,

Holy wood, Ireland, June, 1833.

369

CHAPTER OF VARIETIES.

INLAND GULLS. — Is it not unusual to find a gull so far inland as the
neighbourhood of London ? I was surprised last night in passing by
the Serpentine to observe one floating on the surface, and sailing about
in the air uttering its wild scream, just as when hovering over its sea-
girt cliffs. Do you imagine that it was a tame one escaped from some
private garden, or that it was driven inland by this tremendous gale we
have just experienced. If you think the circumstance worth recording,
you will perhaps notice it in your magazine.

I shall take this opportunity of sending you a few remarks on the
habits of one of my companions, a squirrel, which I have hitherto
delayed, from supposing that everything must be known with regard to
so familiar an animal that is worth knowing, or putting into print. If
in this account, you find anything new or of interest enough for your
excellent magazine, so much the more shall I be pleased; I have had
him for a year, and have brought him up almost from the nest, and a
tamer creature it would be impossible to find. This squirrel shows
a decided preference for warm places, either getting into my lap,
under the bed-clothes, or (if allowed) contriving to creep into my
pocket, where he will remain till disturbed. He is apparently very
indifferent about mere exercise, frequently remaining in his cage the
whole day, though this is not constant, for I have seen him out for
several hours, and then his chief amusement seems to consist in running
up and down a pair of steps, or other lofty thing in the room ; moving
like a pendulum in his cage ; at intervals darting rapidly out of the
door, and back again to repeat the motion ; in climbing up to the heads
of any persons in the apartment ; in scratching himself almost inces-
santly (when uncaged) ; in hiding his food ; in patting the table or
other flat surface with his claws, which is done with a sudden twist of
the body, at the same time making a sound which may be perfectly
imitated by withdrawing the tongue suddenly from the roof of the
mouth ; the call-note, I suppose, among squirrels. He sits up also
and rubs his face with his fore-paws, seemingly with the intention of
cleaning it. After eating he rubs his nose against the carpet, first on
one side, and then on the other ; hiding what he cannot eat in some
corner of the room, or under the edge of the carpet, and pushing it with

370 CHAPTER OF VARIETIES.

his nose as far as possible. His manoeuvres to get a nut which he has
placed in this manner under a fireguard, or other moving article, are
sometimes extremely diverting; for though he may be close to the desired
morsel, he almost invariably retires when he finds the pressure upon him
increasing, and returns to the trial again, again to be defeated. Though
he is generally careful of placing the thing hidden out of sight, I have
known him to put it in the shadow of my boots, or that of a book, or
even of a smaller article, as a pair of snuffers, and be quite content.
In his cage he sometimes drops it in the water, and as I have seen him
do this repeatedly with sugar, I presume that he relishes the water more
afterwards. If he is allowed to climb on the table during a meal, he
seems perfectly satisfied, and pries into every thing, hoping to find
either milk or sugar, laps the tea or coffee, if not hot, and is very
partial to butter. Fearing that I am becoming tedious, I shall here
conclude with mentioning that, if thwarted, he, like many rational
creatures, loses his temper, and seems nearly wild, but this ebullition
soon ceases, and he is as quiet as ever.

June \\th, 1833. WILLIAM FOWLER.

SQUIRRELS. — A very marked variety, if not a distinct species, of
squirrel exists in England, which I do not find noticed by any author.
It is, I think, generally, when full grown, rather larger and stronger
built than the common squirrel, and the fur is much coarser, and of a
very red colour ; the tail also is more bushy and handsome, and the
ears are rounder, and not furnished with those long hairs which adorn
the ears of the common squirrel. It is now three or four years since I
have seen one of these animals, so that this notice of it is merely written
from memory. It may be procured occasionally in the London markets,
where, at different times, I have seen upwards of a dozen of them ; I
once saw a nest of these round-eared squirrels, containing five young,
in which the above mentioned characters were all as decided as in the
adult animals.

Tooting. E. BLYTH.

TREE AND MEADOW PIPITS. — In the writings of the earlier British
naturalists, much confusion prevails respecting these two birds ; it
having been generally supposed that there were three species, which
have been described under the names of the tree-lark, the titlark, and
the pipit-lark. The true origin of this confusion has never yet been
pointed out, although it has been long shown that one of these birds

CHAPTER OF VARIKTrES. 371

had been multiplied into two species. Our later writers have supposed
the provincial name " pipit/' or " pipit-lark," to signify the meadow-
pipit (Anthus prater/sis) in its winter plumage, and the term " tit-
lark" they have referred to the same species in its summer garb.
This application, however, of the two provincial names is incorrect ;
the " tit-lark " of bird-catchers and bird-fanciers being the tree-lark?
or tree-pipit (A. arboreus) of naturalists; while the meadow-pipit
(A. pratensis) of naturalists is, at all seasons, and in every state of
plumage, provincially known by the name of " pipit," or " pipit-
lark."

Tooting. E. BLYTH.

HABITS OF THE LAMPREY. — I hardly know whether the following
observations on the habits of the lamprey are worth your notice ; but as
I do not recollect to have seen them mentioned elsewhere, they may be
new to some of your readers. Many of the brooks in Surrey, particu-
larly in the valley running from Guildford to Dorking, abound with
this species of eel. They do not grow to a size exceeding nine inches
in length, and seldom are so thick as the small end of the little finger ;
they have on each side of the head, in the place of gills, seven small
orifices, through which they breathe, and which gives them the common
name in the country of " nine eyes." I merely mention these facts,
being myself no naturalist, to identify the animal to you. The
mouth, when the creature is at rest, is of a very extraordinary form,
and one which I cannot at all describe, but which is no doubt familiar
to you. I was much struck, however, on a fine day some short time
ago, to see in a small brook a number of these little animals very busy
among the stones in the sunshine, and observing them closely, I found
that they fastened by the mouth to stones of considerable size, and by
strong muscular exertion, which was shown by a violent struggling
motion of the body, accompanied by considerable dilatation of the small
orifices at the side of the head, they succeeded in moving the stones
from their places, and instantly letting go their hold, they commenced
an investigation of the spot whence the stone was removed, feeding on
any small insects which had made their haunts beneath the stone. I
had one taken from the water and placed in a small bottle, when it
fastened by the mouth to the side ; the mouth then described a perfect
circle, with an orifice in the centre, in which a tongue, of considerable
size for so small a creature, and what appeared to be four teeth, were
visible. — Tavistock Square. * * *

372 CHAPTER OF VARIETIES.

ON THE MAY-FLY. — A very mistaken notion is prevalent in most
places with regard to the insect so well known to fishermen by the
name of the may-fly ; and until very lately I also acquiesced in the
popular error.

Most people, I believe, imagine that the cadis, which is to be found
at the bottom and sides of every streamlet, is the may-fly in an imper-
fect and undeveloped state, and many fly-fishers, as well as other per-
sons, are not aware of the incorrectness of the supposition. The grub
from which the may-fly is formed, is to be found under the weeds which
grow at the bottom of rivers, buried in a fine green sand, and present-
ing in every respect an accurate resemblance both in the head and tail
to the perfect fly ; the growth of the. wings being indicated by small
pointed substances like the wing-cases on the back of an earwig.

The cadis, on the contrary, when drawn from its covering, does not
present either in its head or tail any similarity to the body of the may-
fly, nor is there the slightest appearance of the growth of wings ; and
this is the case not only in February, March, or April, but even after
the may-fly has been some time on the water ; neither is one cadis ever
found in a greater state of forwardness than another, excepting as far
as regards its size, which would not be the case if the fly was formed
from that grub.

Besides which, numbers of cadis are frequently found in places
where it is notorious that the may-fly never rises at all ; and that sim-
ple fact I should consider as a conclusive argument.

Perhaps it may be as well to state that one of the members of the
fishing club at Stockbridge has caused the keeper to send a number of
the may-fly grubs up to London in a box, that the truth of this asser-
tion may be apparent. — D. M. Devizes, 12th May.

ON THE PECTINATED CLAWS OF HERONS AND NIGHT JARS. —

Having observed, in the last number of the Library of Entertaining
Knowledge, entitled " Habits of Birds," the various conjectures of
naturalists as to the use of the pectinated claws of certain birds, my
attention was recalled to the subject to which it had been directed some
time ago, when examining a bittern (Ardea stellaris) by finding in its
stomach a number of the large water beetle (Dytiscus marginalis ?).
It struck me at the moment that the comblike structure on the claw
was solely intended for disengaging the hooked feet of beetles from the
bill, to enable the bird to swallow these insects. It appears to me
indeed, that no better instrument could be devised for the purpose ; the

CHAPTER OF VARIETIES.

shnrp serratures being admirably calculated for catching in the p >lished
limbs of beetles. He who has attempted confining Dylisci or Scarabei
in a collecting box, must be aware of the difficulty of getting their feet
free from the edge, to which they hold with extraordinary pertinacity,
one foot being no sooner pushed in than another is protruded. The
experiment of putting into a pill box the common dung beetle (Scar a-
beus Slercoraneus) probably an insect often devoured by our night jar
(Nyctichclidon Europceus} and endeavouring to remove its feet from the
edge with a pectinated claw, will exemplify, I think, in a sufficient
manner to convince the most sceptical, both the necessity of such an in-
strument to birds swallowing entire insects of this kind, and its surpass-
ing efficiency for the use now ascribed to it. The kestril (Falco
tinnunculus) though feeding on beetles, does not require a pectinated
claw, as it devours them piece-meal. The opinion, that the instrument
is used as a cleanser from vermin, is not in accordance with the usual
distributions of providence, so many birds from their habits of nesting,
&c. having much greater need of a comb than those to whom it is sup-
plied. The idea, that its object is to enable its posssessor to perch more
firmly, is refuted by the fact that the bittern always alights on the
ground, and that the serrated edges of its claws never come in contact
with it. The view I have taken is, I think, supported by the observa-
tions of White and Dillon, who saw the night jar repeatedly put its
foot to its bill, as White conceived in the act of delivering prey into the
mouth, having previously taken it with its foot, though this seems quite
unfit for grasping. Dillon thought the movement was that of combing
the bristles (vibrissci) round the beak ; a position not tenable, consider-
ing the many birds furnished with pectinated claws that do not possess
bristles. I believe the act observed was that of disengaging the hooked
feet of the bird's prey from its bill, for the accomplishment of which I
conceive the pectinated claws were intended. If this be admitted it will
supply the desideratum alluded to by Audobon, and, I trust, observa-
tion will establish its truth, which may be ascertained by any person
who has a living specimen of one of the birds concerned, providing it
with a meal of beetles, easily procured on a fine evening. — R. B.
Dublin, 10//z June, 1833.

SCIENTIFIC TERMS OFTEN OBJECTIONABLE. — In the study of

natural history, the use of scientific terms is justifiable ; but in many

instances they are introduced unnecessarily. We like jointed just as

well as articulated, and see no need of such words as carinated, corne-

voij. i. — NO. vin. (AUGUST, 1833.) D D

CHAPTER OF VARIETIES.

ous, crenated, coriaceous, dentated, emarginated, ferruginous, fluviatile,
muricated, plicated, rugose, setaceous, striated, £c., when such good
English words as the following would have served the purpose as well :.
ridged, horny, notched, leathery, toothed, &c., and perhaps we shall not
be thought less classical for preferring the English cover or lid, to the
Latin operculum ; the ordinary word partition, to the coined one dis-
sepiment ; and the monosyllable beak, to the foreign dissyllable rostrum ;
or for remonstrating against such a word as canaliculated, when chan-
nelled would have been much easier to pronounce, and quite as expres-
sive. The word semitransparent is generally received ; in what respects
is it inferior to the heterogeneous compound snbdiaphanous ? — Quqr-
lerly Journal of Education.

NESTLING OF THE REDBRKAST — A pair of robins chose for their
abode, a small cottage, which though not actually inhabited, was con-
stantly used as a depository for potatoes, harness, &c., and repeatedly
visited by its owners. It closely adjoined a large blacksmith's shop,
in which it may be truly said

" That all day long with clink and bang
Close to their couch did hammer clang,"

and in which the usual din of such places, is considerably increased by
the strokes of a hammer which would have baffled the strength even of
" Hal of the Wynd" himself to wield, and is worked by water. But
neither the noise of the adjacent forge, nor the frequent visits of the
owners of the cottage deterred these fearless settlers. They entered
through a window frame, the lattice of which had been removed ; and
in a child's covered cart, which, with its horse attached to it, was
hanging on a peg over the fire-place, and just afforded space for the
purpose ; they built their first nest early in the spring. The circum-
stance was observed, and soon became an object of curiosity to the
neighbours, many of whom came to look at the nest ; these inquisitive
visits, however, had not the effect of alarming the birds, who here
reared without accident, their first brood. When the attention of the
parents was no longer needed by their full-fledged offspring, they set
about providing for another family, and built their second nest on a
shelf on the opposite side of the room close to an old mouse-trap.
Here again, they received visits of inquiry from bipeds of a larger
growth, and reared and dismissed their progeny. This second brood
had no sooner left them, than, as if mindful of their Creator's mandate,

CHAPTER OF VARIETIES. 375

" increase and multiply," they again betook themselves to the task of
building a third nest under the same sheltering roof, and for this pur-
pose chose another shelf, in a different corner of the same room, and
there in their mossy bed on a bundle of papers on the 21st of June, I
saw four half-fledged nestlings which the parent birds were feeding,
while a party of us were watching their proceedings. I am wrong
perhaps in saying the parent birds, for the hen alone entered the room
while we were there, the cock bird contenting himself with observing
us from the outside. There can be no doubt, that the same pair of
birds belonged to each successive nest, as the loss of her tail rendered
the hen conspicuous amongst her kindred in the neighbourhood. — J. R.
Bath, 10 July, 1833.

NATURAL THEOLOGY — PALEY'S DOCTRINE OF COMPENSATION. —
To hold that the " compensatory providence of God, " (an objectionable
if not an incorrect term of itself, and not used by Paley), is one of the
two principles which are to be traced throughout the works of nature,
(Nat. TheoL, ch. xvi.), is in effect to bring down the faculties of the
Divine Mind to a resemblance of, if not equality with our own imperfect
powers. It is to admit the possibility of after-thought and improve-
ment on works before made by an all- competent artist ; for the very
idea of compensation presupposes defect, and necessarily implies the
supply of this defect by counteracting contrivances. And even if, for
argument's sake, and with a view to the expression " compensating pro-
vidence," as understood in its most literal sense, the Divine Architect
be supposed to have counselled with himself previous to the actual for-
mation of his creatures, it is rather a clumsy expedient to make him
conceive the idea of a being having a structure inadequate to his
intended functions, and then supply the imagined deficiency by a differ-
ent species of mechanism. If the doctrine is designed merely to accom-
modate human views of nature, that is, to show the impressions which
the various apparent contrivances of Deity make on our minds, it
is scarcely correct to give it a place so conspicuous in a work on
natural theology, or in an elementary treatise. — Quarterly Journal of
Education.

REDSTART NOT RARE IN SCOTLAND. — I was surprised to see that
the redstart was included among the scarce birds in Scotland, in an
article on that subject in your magazine of last month ; having always
considered it rather common, not only in the neighbourhood of Edin-
burgh, but also in the more mountainous parts of Bamffshire. In the

37G CHAPTER OF VARIETIES.

latter locality, I used some years ago to observe it very frequently
during the spring and summer months, and that too at a time when I
did not take so great an interest in birds as I now do, and consequently
was little likely to have noticed it, had it been of rare occurrence. I
however, remember only to have once found its nest, which was situated
in a hole of an old garden wall near the house in which I then resided.

In your edition of Colonel Montagu's Ornithological Dictionary,
there is an account of one of these nests, which was constructed in a
hole of a wall close by an old gateway at Craigcrook Castle ; and I
may mention, that in the month of May last, there was a nest of some
small bird, in what appears to me to be the hole there alluded to. But
the young had flown, and their nest had been destroyed before I had an
opportunity of examining it, so that I cannot say what bird it was,
though I am informed it was a redbreast. (Sylvia rubecula, LATHAM.)

I saw a redstart (Sylvia phoenicurus, LATHAM), at Craigcrook last
month, and understand they have been numerous there this season ;
and that one pair built their nest in the garden, between the branch of
a tree and the wall. — T. M. G.

Edinburgh, 4th July, 1833.

STBROPUS MEDIDUS. — Should you think the accompanying sketch
of a singular specimen of Sleropus medidus, in my possession, worthy of
a place in the Field Naturalist's Magazine, it is greatly at your service.

I took the insect in my own garden, and was greatly astonished to
find it had eight legs ! the two extra ones articulated in contact with
one of the usual middle legs, perfectly formed, though somewhat
smaller than the other six. I have shown it to several collectors, who
were much pleased and astonished at the sight ; should any of your
numerous readers have a wish to see this lusus, I shall feel much
pleasure in showing it. — G. W. B.

Kensington.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE BIRDS OF AFRICA

TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH OF LE VAILLANT.

THE RAVEN (Coreut Coras:).

Grand Corbeau, Le Vaill. Ois. d'Afrique, ii. 9 pi. 51. Corvus Corax, Lath. Ind.
Orn. i. 150. Lin i. 155. Gm. Lin. i. 364. Faun. Suec. No. 85. Scop. Ann. i. No.
45. Brun. No. 27. Mutter, p. 11. Kram. El. 333. Georgi, 140. Bor. Nat. ii. 103.
Bris. ii. p. 8. Id. 8vo i. 156. Raii, Syn. p. 39. A 1. Witt. p. 82. t. 18. Frisch. t. 63.
Klein. Av. p. 58. Schoeff. El. t. 30. Lett. Nc. Sard. p. 69. Shaw's Zool. vii. 341,
Amer. Orn. ix. 113. pi. 75. f. 3. Lin. Trans, xii. p. 530. Tern. Man. d'Orn. p. 66.
Id. Ed. ii. p. 107. Grand Corbeau, Buf. iii. 13. pi. 2. PI. enl. 495. Koto. Cap. ii.
146 ; Daud. ii. p. 224. Gunth. Nest. U. Ey. t. 71. Bart. Trav. p. 286. Kolkrabe,
Naturf. ix. s. 140 to 2. Schmid. Vog. p. 44. t. 28. Raven, Lath. Gen. Syn. i. 367.
Id. Gen. Hist. iii. p. 4. Id. Sup. 74. Id. Sup. ii. 106. Br. Zool. i. 218, 74. Id. fol.
p. 75. Id. Ed. 1812, 1.279. Arct. Zool. ii. 134. Russ. Alep. p. 69. Alb. ii. pi. 20.
Bewick, i. pi. p. 66. Lewin, Birds, i. pi. 33. Id. Eggs, pi. vi. f. 1. Will. Engl. 121.
t. 18. Wakot, Syn. i. pi. 32. Wood's Zoogr. i. p. 435. Montagu, Orn. Diet. &. Sup.
VOL. i. — NO. ix. (SEPTEMBER, 1833.) E E

378 THE RAVEN.

THE raven of this article is so similar in many respects to our raven
of the large species, that described by Buffon simply under the name of
raven, of which he has given a bad figure in the coloured plates of his
work, No. 495, that I am very much inclined to believe it is merely a
variety of the same species. This raven being generally spread through
all the different parts of Europe, it would not be surprising if it was to
be met with at the Cape of Good Hope. I shall, however, remark
that in Africa this bird is rather larger, its bill stronger and more bent ;
but as in other respects all the characters are like those of our raven,
their habits are also exactly similar, and besides this, it has been re-
marked that, in several countries, these birds are either larger or smaller,
and their bill more or less bulged. We shall leave this raven of the
Cape by the side of our own, as a simple variety of the European species.

I have seen these ravens most commonly in the mountains in the
environs of the bay of Saldanha. They live in small isolated flocks,
without mixing with the other species of the same genus. They scent
offal, feed on all kinds of carrion, earth-worms, snails, the land tortoise,
and even insects. When in flocks they sometimes attack young ante-
lopes and succeed in killing them. It is asserted that in Europe this
bird feeds on fruit and even corn. I have not observed that this takes
place in Africa, having only found in 'their stomach the different sorts
of food which I have mentioned, though I have killed several in the
cultivated property of a negro colonist, whose habitation was situated in
the mountains of the environs of the bay of Saldanha, and who reared a
great deal of corn. This man has assured me that these birds were not
birds of passage, and that he saw them all the year round in the same
cantons. I have also learned from him that they lay their eggs and rear
their young in the rocks ; that their eggs, four or five in number, are of
a dark green, spotted with brown. In the cantons of the colony where,
this species of raven is found, the colonists distinguish it from the others
by the name of Groote-Kraai, or great crow. This name is also that
which the people have given to the same bird in all the different pro-
vinces of France where it is known.

The general colour of this bird is of a deep black, glossy on the wings
and tail, without, however, possessing any shade either of green or purple,
as in the rook. The eyes are of a deep brown ; the feet, bill, and nails,
of a beautiful black. The tail is very little wedge-shaped, and the
folded wings spread nearly three-fourths beyond its length. The female
is a little smaller than the male, and is also of a browner black.

I have never seen our small ispecies of carrion crow, or that which
Buffon calls the Corbine or Corneille noire at the Cape ; neither is our
hooded crow found there.

379

ON SWIMMING.

BY PROFESSOR BORELLI, OF NAPLES*.

SWIMMING may be considered as a certain species of flying; the
motion in each case being performed in a fluid in which fishes and
birds of different kinds both move forwards supported in the same
manner as terrestrial animals are upon the ground. As the ancients
have not fully investigated the causes of these motions, nor the means
by which they are performed, we shall endeavour to supply what they
have omitted.

In explaining the difference between flying and swimming, the object
of our inquiry is not the difference between the aerial and aqueous
fluid, but the manner in which birds and fishes move through the air
and water. It is evident that two operations are necessary in flying :
the first is the suspension of the body of the bird in the air, effected by
frequent leaps and by the great power of the pectoral muscles; the
second is the transverse motion of the bird which carries it forward in
flying. But animals that swim do not require any power to suspend
them, for they are supported by the specific gravity of the water so that
they cannot fall to the bottom, and therefore they can only move
through the water by the impulse of organs of motion peculiar to them-
selves.

As to the differences in the modes of swimming, it is evident from
the doctrine of Archimedes, that bodies which float upon the surface of
water are not wholly immerged in it, but a part of them remains above
the water ; the weight of the water displaced by the body is equal to
the weight of the whole body, both the part under and that above the
water; and the body is said to be of less specific gravity than water.
Bodies, which, wholly immersed, remain in any situation in the water
being of equal weight with the water they displace, are said to be of
the same specific gravity as water : and those bodies, which, when
wholly immersed, do not remain but sink to the bottom, are heavier
than an equal quantity of water, and are said to be of greater specific
gravity than water.

* Translated from the Latin, by John Sharp, Esq., Bannockburn, near
Stirling.

E E 2

380

BORKLLT ON SWIMMING.

We observe that all terrestrial animals while alive, likewise birds,
and fishes which breathe and have lungs, are not wholly immerged
while in the water, but a part of them at pleasure remains above the
water without any effort of the muscles, these are of less specific gravity
than water, and they move in it as animals do upon land. J3ut since
these animals are supported by their specific gravity, not by the hard-
ness of the water, these animals' motion in the water is performed
by the rowing of feet and arms, as ships or boats by oars. In this
manner terrestrial animals, birds, frogs, and tortoises, swim by one
large oar or tail violently moved sidewise as boats and fishes of the
whale species move directly upon the water ; or by impelling the
water upwards and downwards by the tail extended like a shovel, as
dolphins swim by rising and sinking in the water.

All fishes, except oysters and a few other shell-fish, are of the same
specific gravity as water, and therefore can remain at any depth, and
move in any direction, whether upwards or downwards, sidewards or
backwards, as we shall afterwards explain.

That we may be enabled to proceed further, we premise the following
explanations.

Any foreign body, whether at rest or in motion in a fluid, will
dispose itself so that its centre of gravity will occupy the lowest
place ; that is, will fall nearest the bottom.

Fig. 1.

Let a body, Fig. 1. be composed of lead pih and of thin and light
wood lik, whose lineal centre is b, and c the centre of gravity, be
immersed in water rst. First let the whole compound be of the
same specific gravity as water. It is evident that when covered wholly
with water, so as not to reach the bottom, it will remain at rest where
it is placed. I say, however, that it will revolve in such a situation,
until the heavier portion p, occupy the lowest place.

BORELLI ON SWIMMING.

381

The mass of water a may be considered equal in weight to the body
of lead pih, and the mass e to the wood lih. These will form two
weights, ap and el, the former of which will turn and fall downwards
by bending the arm to which the lead is affixed, and the latter upwards
to which the wood is affixed. The centre of gravity of the whole body
pi remains in the same situation, that is, it neither rises nor falls in
the water; therefore the right line cb joining the lineal centre with
the centres of gravity, will turn round upon the immoveable centre b,
by describing the arc of a circle cd (with the radius be) so far like a
pendulum, until it reaches bd perpendicular to the horizon and the
centre of gravity c nearest the centre of the earth, and thence p will
occupy the lowest, and I the highest situation.

Secondly. When the specific gravity of the compound body is
either greater or less than water, then it (pV) always rises or sinks in
the water, and the two collateral weights ap and el balancing them-
selves in the same manner as a ship, turn round the lineal centre b,
equally yielding to their tendency as if the ships and centre of the
magnitude were altogether at rest. Therefore it is necessary that the
heavier part p fall along with the common centre of gravity c towards
the lowest place, that is nearest the earth's centre ; and the lighter part
/ rises upwards as already mentioned.

If the same compound body pi float upon the water, the result will
be the same. To illustrate this, let the spherical figure ehfg (fig. 2.)

Fig. 2.

whose centre of magnitude b is the centre of the sphere, but c the
centre of gravity, and let the portion ehf be above the water rs. It
is evident that the compound body pi, in whatever manner it revolves
round the centre b, the portion Jge, which is immersed, will always be
of the same magnitude, because the mass of water equal to the part
immersed is of the same weight as the whole compound pi. Hence it
follows that the sphere pi rests in such a position equally well as if it

382 BORELLl ON SWIMMING.

were suspended from its centre b by a strong nail. Then the cord-
pendulum be rises, because the whole force of gravity pi is employed
and rests at the point c.

The pendulum be, as its nature requires, will turn about the fixed
centre b, until the centre of gravity of the whole arrive at the lowest
point d perpendicular to the horizon.

Hence it plainly follows, that in any foreign body, either at rest or
in motion in a fluid, the common centre of gravity is in the lowest part
of it, nearest the centre of the earth.

As to the situation of the centre of gravity in animals swimming
upon the surface of water, since all land animals and birds, while
living, are of less specific gravity than water, it is evident that they
can swim in water; and if wholly immerged in it, can rise at
pleasure (to the surface), so that some parts of the body will remain
above the surface. This takes place without any effort of the animal,
even although the feet are not moved by impelling the water under it.

Provided we knew what part of the animal is the weightier, and in
what situation of its bulk the centre of gravity is, we should be certain
of the posture of the animal while it swims, because quadrupeds and
birds, in whatever manner they fall into the water, or are immerged in
it, or in whatever posture they are in it, yet always rise and emerge
from it with the belly downwards, and with the back and head extended
upwards.

Therefore, their centre of gravity is in the middle of the belly, and
summit of the breast ; the back and head are of less specific gravity
than the rest of the body. But this is by no means the case in man,
for the head is of much greater weight, which, when under the water,
is raised with difficulty to the surface, unless the body be constantly
impelled by the hands and feet, which is performed by quadrupeds
without any effort ; their head rises above the water of its own accord.
Fishes of the whale species seem to have the centre of gravity in the
belly, and for this reason, they always swim, rest and sleep, upon the
water with the belly downwards and back upwards. Not so with sea
tortoises ; they sleep in the water with their belly upwards. Therefore,
their centre of gravity is situated in the back, the magnitude of the
shield with which it is covered leading to this belief.

As to the manner in which fishes preserve their equilibrium in deep
water, it was the opinion of Archimedes, that no body under the sur-
face of water, and not supported by the bottom, can remain at rest,
unless of the same specific gravity as water ; namely, unless the abso-
lute weight of the body immersed be equal to the weight of the volume

BORELLI ON SWIMMING. 383

of water it displaces. It must be admitted, that fishes are of the same
specific gravity as water, since they are observed to remain at rest in
any depth without any exertion made with the tail or fins. Hence it
happens, that fishes are supported better and easier in water than they
are upon land. The under parts, likewise, of fishes are not pressed by
the back and shoulder-blade above ; that is, they are not fatigued by
supporting their proper weight, as I have shown when treating of the
motions depending upon gravity, showing, in the first place, they do
not require feet, as land animals and birds do ; secondly, they are not
fatigued, nor do they feel any uneasiness, while stationary, because
their limbs being of the same equilibrium as water do not gravitate nor
press upon their under parts ; thirdly, their bodies can be formed of
greater bulk than land animals, as Galileo taught, because fishes are
not under the necessity of supporting their weight, and they employ no
pressive force on account of their specific gravity. But the manner in
which they preserve their equilibrium in water, depends upon the laws
of hydrostatics ; for nature has formed in the belly of fishes an air-
vessel, that the air it contains might counterbalance the excess of
weight of the muscles and bones ; by this resource the whole mass of
the fish, compounded of solids and the included air, is reduced to the
same specific gravity as the same volume of water. Besides the air
contained in the vessel, nature does not employ any instrument of
quicker effect ; for we observe, that oysters, and other shell fish, which
live always at the bottom of the sea, do not require such an air-vessel.
We have observed, in the Medical Experimental Academy, that a fish,
whose air-bag had been broken in a Torricellian vacuum, could not rise
in the water for a whole month, — the time it was in the pond, — but
crept along the bottom like a serpent. Fishes being of the same
specific gravity as water, can move in it in any direction, upwards and
downwards, and sideways, the water by its density and stillness oppo-
sing the impulse, and they move forwards the head and rest of the
body by an effort of the tail, and the force of the muscles connected
with it. Since they balance themselves in the water, provided their
whole mass is immersed, they can stop and rest in any place in the
water, whether above or below.

As the equality of the specific gravity of fishes and the water in
which they swim is preserved, the weight and body of fishes must
necessarily remain in precisely the same degree, and the density and
gravity of the water also must not be changed, for otherwise the
equilibrium, which consists in indivisibility, would be destroyed, and
so the fishes will either sink to the bottom, if they have been rendered

384

EORKLLI ON SWIMMING.

heavier than the water, or will float upon its surface, if their weight has
been" diminished.

But such uniform constancy in the gravity of fishes, and in the den-
sity of water, cannot be preserved in all places and for any length of
time, because fishes themselves add to their weight by food, and lessen
it by excretion and transpiration. Besides, water is condensed and
rendered heavier by the mixture of salts, by the conturbation of mud,
by ambient cold, by the absence and occultation of the solar rays. And
the same 'water, on the contrary, is rarefied and made lighter by the
mixture of the fresh water of rivers and rains, by subterranean heat,
by the ambient air, and sunbeams. And these changes happen at dif-
ferent times. But some parts of the water may be gladdened by the
rays of the sun, whilst, at the same moment, others being overcast with
clouds, or shadowed by rocks, are not rarefied to an equal temperature.
Some parts of the sea may be sweetened by rivers, and others not.
Moreover, the upper parts of water are lighter than the deeper, because
the salts, and other earthy particles, slowly descending, render the
water at the bottom more turbid and feculent.

By all these causes, therefore, the very equilibrium of fishes, which
consists in indivisibility, is disturbed ; and hence, provident nature has
bestowed on fishes that ready mechanical artifice, by which the inequa-
lity of weights may be reduced promptly and easily to the precise
equilibrium. As to this matter, among elementary bodies nothing
admits of greater expansion, or condensation, than air ; for experience
teaches, that five times the quantity of air is conveyed into the pneu-
matic receiver by the aid of a piston, and is there condensed, than is
usually contained in the same narrow space ; and in the Boylean ma-

BORELLI ON SWIMMING. 385

chine, and Torricellian tube, air is expanded to a remarkable rarity.
This being granted, that the same operation may be perceived more
clearly, first, in the same fluid, retaining the same degree of gravity, let
the syringe, AB, in which the piston, CD, being inserted, with its
stop -cock tightly pressing upon the smooth internal superficies, let
there remain a portion of air, DB, which may occupy the half of
the internal space of the syringe, and the spiracle, M, being stopped,
let the piston, cd, be drawn out, until the base, d, is brought near
the orifice, a, and is there violently retained by the handle, the internal
air, db, being rarefied, will fill double the space it did in its first natu-
ral expansion, DB.

In the third place, let the same portion of air, BD, be compressed, by
violently pressing down the piston, K%, until it nearly touches the
bottom of the syringe, ftp,, and let it be firmly kept there by the handle,
in these three constitutions, the bulks or spaces occupied by the same
machines will be unequal ; for instance, CAB will be greater than Kafi,
and less than cab; but the absolute weights of the same bodies will be
equal to each other, as they consist of the same syringe, the same piston,
and the same portion of air. Hence it follows, that the gravities of the
same unequal bodies are very much altered in appearance in respect of
the water. For if the body of water, EF, be equal to the space CABM ;
and the body of water, He, be equal to the space Ka.fi/ji ; and in like
manner the body of the same water, eG, be equal to the space, cab ;
and the three bodies of water, ef, EF, and sH, are understood to be
equal to each other ; the body, EF, will be greater than tH, and
smaller than eG. Now if the absolute weights of the syringe, CABM,
and the bulk of the water be equal among themselves, they will also be
equally heavy ; and, therefore, the syringe, CABM, being sunk within
the water, will remain equipoised in it, since their bulks and weights
are equal*. But the elongate syringe, cabm, will be lighter than the
fluid body eG, which is equal to it ; because the weight of the water,
e&, is greater than the weight EF, or of the syringe itself, CB, or cb ;
and, thereforef, it does not remain sunk down within the fluid, but
ascends, until some portion of it, cs, rests on the surface, of the
water. And on the other hand, the syringe, /c/3, being compressed or
shortened, will be heavier than the fluid, tH, a body equal to it ; and
for the same reason, v/3 descends and rests, floating at the bottom of
the vessel.

* In Arch. Auct. dc Ins. Flu. Prop. 2. f Jbid. Prop. 1.

386

BORELLI ON SWIMMING.

Now, suppose the fish is a machine similar to the syringe, CABM, and
that such fish contains in its abdomen a small bag, e, filled with air,
which, in a moderate constitution, may be compressed in such a manner
as to render the bulk of the fish equal to the bulk of the equally
pendent water ; in that case the fish can remain without motion im-
mersed in the water. But if it wishes to become lighter, in order that
its machine may rise to the surface spontaneously, it is necessary, that
by relaxing the abdominal muscles, it can do so, and that the air, by
exercising its elastic power, can expand into a larger space, d ; and, on
the contrary, if it wishes to be of a greater specific weight, and to sink
spontaneously to the bottom, it is necessary, that by a contraction of
the muscles of the abdomen, it tightens the air-bag, like a press,
until it occupies a small space, f.

Experience proves, that boats impelled by a single oar placed at the

BORELLI ON SWIMMING. 387

stern, and turned and vibrated here and there, glide upon the surface
of the water in a direct and rapid motion, without the aid of lateral
oars. And fishes, in like manner, are not impelled by the rowing
of the side fins, as we have already said ; and we observe, that as often
as their tail is vibrated, they pass with the greatest velocity through
the water ; and, on the other hand, when the tail is not moved in the
slightest degree, we observe they continue in the same situation.
Therefore the contortion and vibration of the tail is the true cause of
their motion, as the vibration of that single oar in the stern of a boat is
the cause of its direct motion.

But the mode in which both operations are effected, is this. The
single oar, whilst it obliquely impels the posterior water resisting its
support, necessarily forces the boat forwards, although in a zig-zag
course, by deviating from a straight track. But, because such deviation
is suddenly corrected, either by a contrary movement, or by a firm
retention of the oar in an oblique position, by performing the office of
a rudder, it happens, that those momentary deviations are not perceived,
and the direct motion is alone conspicuous. .

Now let us consider the configuration and motion of the fish, abc.
Whilst the head, a, with the belly, b, of the fish, directly constitutes
its remaining mediety, bfc, it bends and vibrates laterally, violently
lashing the water on account of the lubricate connection of the spinal
vertebrae, which like strong bows, may be easily contorted and turned
to the right and left. The extreme production of the fish has, besides,
an ample flexible tail, de, composed of cartilaginous small rods, which
are invested by a subtle membrane, as the feet of geese, and may be
contracted and dilated in precisely the same way. Again, at the
supreme edge of the back, and at the lowest edge of the belly, are also
consimilar cartilaginous fins, which are bent, contracted and expanded
just as the tail.

But the order of the motion is this. The fish, abc, being extended
in a straight line, it begins its motions by extending the tail, bfc, to-
wards the right side, g, which flexion is executed with such rule, that
the moved part, 6c, whilst it is turned about the centre, b, does not
retain the precise rectitude like the rays of a circle, but is incurved
with a two fold sinuosity about b, by moving forwards the side f,
towards the right side g, and about f, and by retroceding with the ex-
treme tail, d, towards the left side ; and such is the first motion, not
the rowing, but somewhat anticipation of the tail, similar to the antici-
pation of the feet of a frog swimming, like which the palmary fins of

388 ON THE EFFECT OF COAL FIRES ON THE EYES.

the tail, de, back, and abdomen are tightened and contracted, lest by
striking against the water, they should hinder the anticipation of the
tail, be. Now the tail being carried to g, and very much incurved
towards the head, a, and all the fins being expanded, the whole length,
bg, strikes with great velocity, and impels the lateral water like an
oar, by describing not a circular, but elliptical arc gd; by which motion
impelling the posterior water, and leaning against it, the fish must
necessarily move forwards from b towards a. In the second place, the
tail being anticipated, it finally strikes from h towards c ; by which
contrary motion, the preceding deviation from a straight course is
corrected, and, at the same time, the direct impulse of the fish from b
toward a, is doubled. And by this reasoning and method the progress
of fishes is effected in water.

The same flexion of the tail easily performs the oflice of a rudder,
by bending its course either to the right or left. But the bifold fins
which exist at the extremity of the lower part of the belly, serve for
the motion towards the bottom. Because these fins, lying underneath
and exserting towards the tail, are expanded and erected, and perform
the office of an horizontal rudder, as the tail being depressed does in
birds. Therefore, the head of the fish must be inclined towards the
bottom : and the contrary for the motion upwards. The lateral fins,
or oblique flexupus wings, and elevated aboye, can discharge the same
office ; and also the tail of birds by which the course of the bird is
directed upwards, being raised up does the same.

And perhaps, by the fins in the tail of fishes being inclined obliquely
upwards or downwards the same act may be executed ; which is con-
jectured from the circumstance, that fishes are directed upwards or
downwards in a moment, from a state of rest ; which rapid contortion
those small fins could riot effect, as the flexion of a rudder would be
unable to turn a ship that was at rest.

ON THE EFFECT OF COAL FIRES UPON THE COLOUR OF

THE EYES.

BY THE REV. T. PRICE. '

IT is a remarkable fact, and no less so, as having remained so long
unnoticed, that in Britain the dark coloured eye is always found to
prevail in the neighbourhood of coal mines, and where coal is used as
the general fuel ; while, on the other hand, the light, or blue eye belongs

ON THE EFFECT OF COAL FIKES ON THE EYES. 389

to those districts, in which the mineral is not used ; and, notwithstand-
ing the numbers of persons, continually pouring into the coal districts,
from other parts of the country, in consequence of the demand for
labour, yet the prevalency in the former of the dark eye, especially
among the children, is so evident, that whoever will take the trouble
to make the observation will most assuredly acknowledge the accuracy
of this statement. In what way the sulphuretted hydrogen, &ctj occa-
sioned by the coal fires, affects the pigment of the iris> it is not now my
intention to inquire. I consider it sufficient, for my present purpose,
to establish the connexion between the use of coal, and the dark
colour of the eye ; though, from repeated observations, I feel assured,
that there are more curious facts connected with the subject than have
yet come under the notice of physiologists ; and which, when properly
developed, will considerably alter the bearing of many opinions hitherto
entertained.

But as a system so new and unlooked for, cannot be expected to be
received without proof, I shall state such facts as I trust will be suffi-
cient to place the matter beyond all reasonable doubt. And as the
principality of Wales affords a great variety of the different characters
alluded to, I shall therefore commence with that portion of the island.
And, though writers upon this subject have generally referred to the
colour of the hair, yet I must state my opinion, that it is by no means so
steady and decided a characteristic as that of the eye. The hair is
continually changing its hue, even in individuals ; for what in the
child is yellow, becomes in a few years, brown, and at maturity, not
unfrequently black ; but the colour of the eye is much more fixed and
unchangeable, usually assuming its character of hue at a very early
period of infancy, and retaining it, without any great variation, to an
advanced age. Besides, the light eye is accompanied by every shade of
hair, whether red, yellow, or black, and the colour of the eye is appa-
rently less influenced by those external causes, which sooner or later
must succeed in changing the general physiological character. And
while I am describing the several districts, upon which I have made
observation I must state, that in grown up persons I have generally
found the hair to have, more or less, a shade of brown : and though
black, is not uncommon, and red sometimes seen, yet the people of
Britain are, in the aggregate, a brown-haired race.

But to proceed with this physiognomical survey. Almost the whole of
North Wales, and a considerable portion of South Wales, are occupied
by a light or blue-eyed people. This feature is so obvious, that Dr.

890 ON THE EFFECT OF COAL FIRES ON THE EYES.

Macculloch attributes it decidedly to a Belgic extraction, and says, " no
other supposition will explain the Gothic race or blue eye of North
Wales." This temperament is observable in Anglesea, Caernarvonshire,
Merionethshire, and the adjoining districts, in which the people generally
use peat, or wood fires, until we come to the south of Breconshire, and
approach the great coal basin of South Wales ; then an almost sudden
change is observed. The light eye ceases to be general, and the dark
prevails, and continues to do so through a great part of the counties of
Glamorgan and Monmouth; so much so, that in the vale of Neath the coal
black is very generally seen, and even in Merthyr Tydvil, notwithstand-
ing the continued influx of strangers, this feature^is very distinguishable,
especially among the children of those who have been some time settled
there. On coming from the district of the peat and wood fires into this
part of the principality, this change in the colour of the eye is singu-
larly striking and observable. And it is a remarkable coincidence that
this is the very country of the ancient Silurians, whom Tacitus describes
as possessing characteristics, which might have attended this feature
and temparament, and which induced him to suppose they might be a
colony from Spain. The ancient castle of Dunraven in Glamorganshire,
is said to have been one of the strong holds of Caractacus.

But though the black eye still remains, I have not been able to
ascertain that the hair of the present Silurians has a greater tendency
to curl than that of their neighbours ; nor is their complexion darker
than that, which in Britain naturally accompanies the melanic tem-
perament.

Whether the ancient Silurians derived their dark complexion from
the use of coal, or whether they were really a colony from Spain, as
Tacitus is inclined to suppose, I cannot undertake to say, but it appears
certain that they were acquainted with the use of coal, which is found
in such abundance in their country, as Pennant informs us that an
ancient flint axe was actually discovered in one of the coal mines of
Monmouthshire.

As we return from South Wales the change becomes visible in the
course of a few miles ; for as we quit the vicinity of the coal fires, the
light eye resumes its prevalency, until we approach the coal fires of
North Wales, in the neighbourhood of Rhuabon and Oswestry, where
the dark eye again appears ; notwithstanding the smallness of the coal
basin, and the number of strangers employed in working it.

But though the people of North Wales are generally a blue-eyed
race, as Dr. Macculloch has justly observed, yet that colour assumes

ON THE EFFECT OF COAL FIRES ON THE EYES. 391

various shades, and from Conway to Holywell the iris has an extraordi-
nary uniform leaden hue. The dark shade, as I apprehend, being
thrown in by the small supply of coal along that coast.

It ought to be observed here, that in towns where coal fires are used,
even in the clay and slate districts, the dark eye is not uncommon, as
in the town of Llandovery for instance ; while the people of the sur-
rounding country, who burn turf and wood, are universally light-eyed.
As we leave the principality and pass through Herefordshire, where
coal is not commonly used, the eye is uniformly of a light grey, and
continues so, with very little modification, towards Worcester and Bir-
mingham. But as we approach Wolverhampton, the change to the
dark eye is very perceptible, and here we find another coal field. From
Shrewsbury to Chester the dark blue eye is very prevalent ; forming an
intermediate tint between the black and blue varieties.

As we quit this coal district and proceed through Staffordshire in a
northern direction, the eye resumes its grey character, until we approach
the coal of Newcastle-under-Line, where symptoms of the use of that
fuel present themselves ; otherwise, the grey character prevails until
we approach Manchester, and in the vicinity of that extensive coal
field it becomes decidedly dark, and continues so for a considerable way
on the road towards Preston ; and in this country I have noticed several
instances of an anomalous description, — i. e. of dark eyes, accompanied
by light hair.

As we proceed from Chester towards Manchester, the black eye is
very rare, and at Warrington particularly so, and even onwards to the
environs of Manchester. What quantity of coal the common people
use as fuel I have not ascertained, but on the road side I noticed an
extensive turf bog, with its stacks of peat piled up in great quantities ;
indicating that a considerable portion of the inhabitants were supplied
from thence. And as might be expected, the blue eye prevails in its
vicinity.

On passing Manchester through Stockport, the influence of coal is
again very perceptible ; but in the Derbyshire hills, where it is more
expensive, and of course more sparingly used, the dark eye declines.
On approaching, however, the great central coal field in the neighbour-
hood of Matlock, it resumes its character.

As we skirt the borders of this coal field towards Derby, the blue
eye becomes a good deal darkened, and forms a sort of transition from
blue to black ; but if we dip into the basin, at Nottingham for instance
we find the dark eye appear, and become more and more frequent, so

392 ON THE EFFECT OF COAL FIRES ON THE EYES.

that at Mansfield it is pretty general, and at Chesterfield decidedly the
prevailing feature.

If we return southward through Leicester and Coventry we shall
perceive the same effect of coal, particularly at Nuneaton, as also along
the line of canals. And as the facility of conveying this fuel by means
of canals and rail-roads increases, we shall find that what is called the
Gothic character, will gradually give way to the Celtic.

It may be noticed that in Lancashire, the eye, which is generally
blue, has often a dark circle on the outer rim of the iris, giving it
a higher expression than when unaccompanied by that finish, and
having much the character of that of the people of Belgium, and which
I do not recollect having seen so general in any other part of England ;
though the inhabitants of Cheshire partake of it.

As we quit the coal districts and pass through Westmoreland and
Cumberland towards the North, the eye resumes the grey colour, and
retains it through the whole of those counties, and also through the
southern part of Scotland, on for a distance of more than a hundred
miles on the Glasgow road until we approach the neighbourhood of
Lanark, and the great coal fields of Scotland, where a change to the
dark eye is immediately perceptible. At Hamilton that melanic
tint becomes general, and continues to prevail along the whole of the
coal district, from Glasgow to Edinburgh, in so decided a manner, that
when once the fact is brought under notice it is impossible not to
connect it with the use of coal fuel. But when we quit this dis-
trict for the Highlands, in which coal is not found, and very little
used, the grey eye again makes its appearance ; and, notwithstanding
the very positive assertions respecting the dark character of that feature
among the Highlanders, I do not hesitate to say that, whenever it does
occur among them, it is so unusual, as to form an exception to the
general appearance ; whereas, on the other hand, in the country of the
Gothic Lowlanders where coal is used, the grey eye forms the exception.
So much for the system of Goths and Celts. A few facts accurately
observed are worth all the fanciful systems upon earth.

And here may be noticed a remarkable instance of that delusive
coincidence between real facts and imaginary theories which occasionally
occurs ; and which has not unfrequently succeeded in confirming
prejudices already partially adopted, however absurd and erroneous ;
for on going from England towards Glasgow, it is impossible for the
physiognomist not to notice the sudden transition from the grey to
the dark eye, as he approaches that city; and never suspecting the

ON THE EFFECT OF COAL FIRES ON THE EYES. 393

real cause of this change, and having nothing in his head but Goths
and Celts to account for every variety of physiognomical appearance, of
course these black-eyed people must be Celts. And it happens most
opportunely for his system, that this was the country of the Strath clyde
Britons, or Welsh of Strathclyde (Strathclud-Walli), whose citadel
was on the rock of Dumbarton : and therefore he is convinced, that the
people retain the Celtic character of their ancestors to this day. And
this circumstance, in conjunction with that of the same character
occurring among the descendants of the Silurians of South Wales,
seems to establish the fact to a demonstration : the blue-eyed Celts of
the remainder of Wales, Cumberland, and Ireland, being entirely
overlooked; and these inconsiderable spots made to represent the
great Celtic race.

Whether the author of Ossian was afflicted with the Celto-gothic
mania, and wished to make his heroine a genuine Briton of Alclud, or
a Roman of Theodosia, he certainly contrived to make her, in some
respects, correspond with the character of the country : for, in
describing Moina of Balclutha, in the poem of Carthon, he calls her,
" the daughter of strangers," " Moina with the dark blue eyes;" and
says, " Her hair was dark as the raven's wing."

Having never visited the coal-fields of Sutherland, in the north of
Scotland, I cannot say whether that fuel has been used there in
sufficient quantities to influence the physiognomy of the people. But
as far as regards those districts of the Highlands which I have visited,
I never saw anything to justify the assertion of the dark complexion
of the people. At Inverness, it is true, the dark eye sometimes occurs :
but not in a greater degree than in towns in general, where it always
prevails more in proportion than in the country. I have also, in this
part of Scotland, met with some remains of the gipsey race ; and am
much deceived if some of this gipsey blood has not been mistaken by
Dr. Macculloch for that of the aboriginal Celts ; as we know that, some
years ago, gipsey families were very numerous in Scotland. Meg
Merrilies' kraal was one of those establishments, very frequently met
with ; and, even in England, at this day, in the militia regiments of
those counties in which gipsey encampments have been most numerous,
the gipsey blood is very distinguishable in the dark Asiatic counte-
nance, which here and there meets the eye, as we pass along the ranks,
and forms a striking contrast to the fair and xanthous complexion of
the old agriculturists. Had this variety been noticed in a Welsh or

VOL. i. — NO. ix. (SEPTEMBER, 1833.) r p

394 OX THE EFFECT OF COAL FIRES ON THE EYES.

Highland regiment, the two races would have been pronounced Goths
and Celts beyond all recovery.

I must, however, frankly acknowledge here, that I am aware in
what degree this circumstance may be quoted against my own hypo-
thesis: inasmuch, as it may be asked, how, if the physiognomy
undergoes so great an alteration as I have said, the gipseys retain their
peculiar features unchanged ? I answer, that I deny the fact of their
remaining unchanged ; as it is evident that they are at this day less
dark than their ancestors who first arrived here : for Bishop Heber
remarks, that the gipseys which he saw in India were blacker than
those of England. Their retaining so much of their original character
in Europe must be attributed to the savage life which they always
lead ; and I have no hesitation in stating my opinion, that if a colony
of gipseys would attach themselves to the soil, in any one spot, and
become an agricultural and civilised people, even though unmixed,
they would soon change their Asiatic character for one more European.
And, however absurd the idea may at first appear, I am satisfied from
analogy, and a comparison of facts, that, had a colony of Senegal
negroes established themselves on the banks of the Thames or the
Rhine, two thousand years ago, and assumed the habits of civilised
agriculturists, their descendants at this day would scarcely have
retained a trace of their African origin.

But, to return to our survey. If the melanic complexion occurs in
the north, it is but very rarely. The grey eye uniformly predominates
throughout the whole of the Grampians, with the exception of the
towns, for a hundred and fifty miles, until we approach Kinross, where
the coal-fields again commence, and there a marked change takes
place ; for the eye is not merely occasionally dark, as in other places,
but here generally so. And these observations will perhaps explain a
fact mentioned by Dr. Macculloch, in his chapter upon the Origin and
Races of the Highlanders, vol. iv., when speaking of the female beauty
of Scotland, and making handsome mention of Hay, Skye, and the
Highland borders of Perthshire, he concludes : —

" And generally it is true, that the beauty of the females predomi-
nates on the line which allows the high and low countries to intermix."
Now, as he gives the fact from his own observation; there can be no
reason to doubt its accuracy, though his mode of accounting for it can
by no means be admitted. But it is deserving of notice, that the
Highland borders of Perthshire will just occur where the light eye of
the northern country rofirws in the dark tint of the coal districts : and

EXPERIMENTS ON FLIES. 395

perhaps the expression thrown into the grey eye by this tinge of black,
contributes more towards that beauty of countenance to which he
alludes, than any imagined mixture of Goths and Celts : for, whatever
inferiority the dark complexion may labour iinder, with respect to the
hue of skin, yet it must be allowed, that it communicates a certain
degree of expression to the countenance, which the fair sanguine
temperament never can possess. And, though the claims of the fair
complexion to mere beauty cannot be disputed, yet it almost entirely
depends upon its protection from the sun and weather; for when the
sanguine complexion loses its fair hue by exposure, the fine expression
of the blue eye is completely lost : "and in men, when the face is much
tanned by the sun, there is a certain species of light blue eye, which
assumes an aspect often exceedingly sinister and unpleasant, so as
perfectly to explain the classic expression of truces oculi : but the
dark complexion bears the influence of the sun much better, and strong
manly features are generally even improved by its bronzing effects.

MR. BLACKWALL'S EXPERIMENTS ON FLIES*.

THE various papers — we are sorry to say short papers — which Mr.
Blackwall has occasionally contributed to Natural History, are charac-
terised by much originality, and at the same time have little of the
speculative fancies that so frequently vitiate the researches of our most
ingenious observers. The account given by Sir E. Home of the struc-
ture of the foot in flies, enabling them to walk on smooth glass against
gravity, was considered so satisfactory, that it has been adopted by
most succeeding writers. This account Mr. Blackwall, however, found
to disagree with his own observations, as well as to be at variance with
those of Hooke and Derham, and determined to examine the subject
with care and minuteness.

" Satisfied," says Mr. Blackwall, " that this difficult problem must admit of
a solution more consistent with the various phenomena it comprehends, than the
popular one here controverted, I determined to institute an experimental inves-
tigation of it. Accordingly, having procured living specimens of the house-fly
(Musca domestica), and of the large flesh-fly (Musca yomitoria), I enclosed them

* Remarks on the Pulvilli of Insects. By John Blackwall, Esq. F. L. S.
Linn. Trans, vol. xvi.

F F 2

396 EXPERIMENTS ON FLIES.

in clean jars, and phials of transparent glass; the interior surface of which I hey
traversed in every direction with the greatest facility, walking upon it even with
their backs downwards, while they remained in full vigour ; but when enfeebled
by exposure to cold, or when fatigued by over exertion, the identical individuals
ascended the sides of the same jars and phials with considerable difficulty, falling
from them in numerous instances, and they were entirely incapacitated for adhering
to them in an inverted position ; yet, when their physical energy was restored by
• repose, or an increase of temperature, they again repeated their most extraordinary
feats with all their original promptness and dexterity.

" Flies which are unable to maintain an inverted position on highly polished
bodies, will frequently adhere firmly, with their backs downward, to glass rather
defective in polish, or slightly soiled ; indeed, I remark generally, that the results
of experiments, similar to those detailed above, will always be modified by the
v'gour of the insects and the state of the glass vessels, with regard to cleanness
and polish.

" These facts plainly indicate, that flies are not supported on the vertical sides
of smooth bodies by the pressure of the atmosphere, nor by the aid of a glutinous
secretion, but by means strictly mechanical, as Dr. Hooke has suggested : he
erred, however, in supposing that the hairs on the underside of the tarsal mem-
branes are jointed, and that there is a smoky substance on glass which they
penetrate. One other link in the chain of evidence was wanting to place the
matter beyond all dispute, and that, the kindness of Mr. W. Hadfield, of Coin-
brook, has enabled me to supply. With his assistance, and the help of his air-
pump, it was demonstrated to the entire satisfaction of several intelligent gentlemen
present, that the house-fly, while it retains its vital powers unimpaired, can not only
traverse the upright sides, but even the interior of the dome of an exhausted
receiver; and that the cause of its relaxing its hold, and ultimately falling from the
station it occupies, is a diminution of muscular force, attributable to impeded
respiration.

" Having thus established the mechanical theory of the movements of flies on
polished perpendicular surfaces, I shall offer a few remarks on the apparatus, by the
instrumentality of which they accomplish their purpose. In structure and function,
it bears the closest analogy to the pulvitti of insects, which, if named with reference
to the most important office they perform, should be termed holders, or supporters.
It .consists of expanded membranes, varying in size, figure, and number, in differ-
ent species; the edges of which are plain, not serrated, as Sir E. Home asserts,
though when placed in such a situation relative to the eye of the observer, that
the hairs connected with them are fore-shortened ; they certainly present an appear-
ance which, on a superficial view, might lead to the latter conclusion.

" The hold which insects are enabled to take of any roughness, or irregularity of
surface, by means of the fine hairs composing the brushes, must be very consider-
able ; and whoever examines the most carefully polished glass in a favourable light,
with a powerful lens, will speedily be convinced that it is not free from flaws and
imperfections." p. 421.

To us these details are highly interesting, and we cannot too
strongly recommend our readers, who may have an opportunity to

EXPERIMENTS ON FLIES. 397

repeat Mr. Blackvvall's observations, and extend the inquiry. He
was led subsequently to make the following experiments.

" Clean phials of transparent glass, containing spiders and various insects in the
larva and imago states, capable of walking on their upright sides, were breathed
into till the aqueous vapour, expelled from the lungs, was copiously condensed on
their inner surface. The result was remarkable. The moisture totally prevented
those animals from obtaining any effectual hold on the glass ; and the event was
equally decisive, if a small quantity of oil was substituted for the aqueous vapour.
A similar consequence ensued also, when the flour of wheat, or finely pulverised
chalk, or gypsum, was thinly strewn on the interior surface of the phials, the
minute particles of those substances adhering to the tarsal brushes of the spiders,
the pulvilli of the perfect insects, and the under side of the feet of the larva.
These facts, far from corroborating the mechanical theory, appeared quite inex-
plicable, except on the supposition that an adhesive secretion is emitted by the
instruments employed in climbing. The next point to be determined, therefore,
was, whether spiders and insects, in the larva and imago states, when, moving in a
vertical direction on clean glass, leave any visible track behind them. Careful and
repeated examinations, made with lenses of moderately high magnifying powers,
in a strong light, and at a favourable angle, speedily convinced me that my con-
jecture was well founded, as I never failed to discover unequivocal evidence of its
truth ; though, in the case of the spiders, considerable difficulties presented them-
selves, in consequence of the exceedingly minute quantity of adhesive matter
emitted by the brushes of those animals. On submitting this secretion to the
direct rays of the sun, in the month of July, and to brisk currents of air, whose
drying power was great, I ascertained that it did not suffer any perceptible
diminution by evaporation under those circumstances.

" Now it is reasonable to infer, from the foregoing remarks, that the hair-like
appendages constituting the brushes of spiders, and occurring in such profusion on
the inferior surface of the pulvilli of insects, are tubular. The delicate membrane
also, on the under side of the pro-legs, and the tarsi of the perfect legs of various
larvee capable of traversing polished perpendicular bodies without the aid of lines
produced by a spinning apparatus, must be provided with numerous pores, or minute
papillae, from which an adhesive secretion is emitted. Some larva which are not
supplied with pro-legs, those of coccinellae for example, have the inferior part of the
tarsi of their perfect legs thickly covered with hair-like appendages, resembling in
figure and in the function they perform, those on the pulvilli of insects in the imago
state ; while others, altogether destitute of legs, emit a viscid mucus from both
their extremities, and by advancing and attaching each alternately, are thus enabled
to ascend smooth bodies with facility.

" According to my observations, the instrument is composed of several branched
membranous papilla included in a common envelope. They are extremely flexible
and extensile, and, either separately or collectively, can be protruded beyond the
caudal segment, or retracted within it at the pleasure of the animal. Their efficacy
as a cleaning apparatus and an organ of adhesion and progression depends princi-
pally upon the mucus they emit, which is secreted in great abundance, and not
upon the power of producing a vacuum. When this instrument is applied to the

308 NOTES.

body of the insect any extraneous matter immediately becomes attached to it, and
the impurities thus collected are ultimately expelled by a fresh discharge of mucus
and a peculiar motion of the papillae." page 770.

Again we impress it on those who take interest in these curious
researches to repeat the ingenious experiments of Mr. Blackwall, which,
we confess, are by no means so satisfactory to us as they appear to be
to the worthy author.

NOTES,

BY BUHICOLA.

IN the delightful description of spring, with which Chaucer com-
mences the " Prologue" to his " Canterbury Tales/' he commemorates it
as the season, when

. " smale foules maken melodic,

That slepen alle night with open eye,
So priketh hem nature in her corages."

That some of our little songsters are very wakeful at that season, and
pass a portion at least of the night in singing, or " making melody," as
the poet says, is well known. Milton, indeed, goes so far as to affirm
of " the wakeful nightingale,"

" She all night long her amorous descant sung."

PAR. LOST, iv. 603.

If applied to such a case, Chaucer's phrase, " with open eye," would
require no explanation or justification. But that birds \vhen they
sleep, " sleep with open eye," is a property attributed to them, con-
cerning which I should be glad to be informed whether the position is
physically good.

In the course of the last spring, one of my family took a nest of three
greenfinches, or green linnets, which had been a few days hatched, and
succeeded in rearing them by hand. In about four weeks, when they
appeared strong enough to make their own way in the world, they
were turned into a large cage, containing several canaries, a couple of
bulfinches, two or three goldfinches, a redpole, and a grey linnet,
among whom they immediately made their way as well as the best of
their companions. But what particularly took my attention was that

NOTES. 399

a vessel of water being placed in the cage, one of the young birds
instantly flew to it, and bathed himself profusely. This was certainly
done from natural instinct : for he had never seen such a thing before,
nor did any of his new companions now set him the example. But,
like Virgil's bees, in pursuance of another natural instinct,

" Which strike, and leave their lives within the wound,"

I apprehend that our poor greenbird would have fallen a victim to his
temerity, if care had not been taken- to withdraw him from his bath,
and to dry and warm him in the sun.

A friend of mine in this neighbourhood was less successful in rearing
a brood of young partridges about the same time, which came into his
- possession in a remarkable manner. The whole history of the case is
so curious, that, being desirous of reporting it to you with the greatest
accuracy, I requested him to inform me of all the particulars, and shall
proceed to transcribe his narrative. " I grieve," he says, " that the
knowledge I possess, relative to hatching a brood of partridge eggs, is
so unsatisfactory, that it is not worth your notice : however, you shall
have the facts as they occurred.

" When .mowing a meadow, the men disturbed a partridge on her
nest, and the creature sat so long, that her head had nearly been
severed from the body. She escaped and flew away. Twelve eggs
were in the nest. This happened before breakfast on a Friday
morning. A patch of grass was left adjoining the nest; and next
morning the two birds were seen near the nest; but on feeling the
eggs, we thought from their coldness, that the mother had not re-
sumed her care. The eggs remained uncovered till about six or seven

o'clock in the evening, when Mrs. had them brought to the

house. We put them into a small tin pan and covered them with tow,
and the whole was put into a slow oven. Our cook took much interest
in the work ; and on referring to her, she says, the pan was only in the
oven, when very cool, but generally was kept on the top of it. The
oven is a perpetual one, placed, or rather built in the fire-place, heated
by a flue, which conveys the heated air of the fire round it ; and on the
top is a course of thick plaster to prevent the escape of heat. On this
course the pan was placed. The temperature of that place, as now
ascertained, is about 88° of Fahrenheit : but it varies according to the
cook's operations, the minimum being about 75°, the maximum 90°.
Unfortunately we did not keep notes, so that what I write is from the
collected opinion of the house.

400

NOTES.

" In about four or five days the cook came hastily up stairs,
and declared she heard the chicks chirp. I went, and distinctly
heard the little creatures chirp indeed ; and observed a small part
of one egg broken, and as if something was forcing against the
skin within the shell. (Here I may mention, that on all the eggs
I observed a circular line of shell broken by the chick, although
the film or inside coating of the shell remained sound : and in most
pheasant eggs, which had been hatched by the parent, I have
found the one-half of the shell nicely put within the other so that
the shell seemed only to be a half egg*.) Next day the first bird
appeared, and was pretty strong and able to move about. In succession
ten, I think, made their appearance ; and all continued to live for some
days. And could we have prevailed on them to eat, I have no doubt

they might have been reared. Mrs. thinks we were too kind ;

for a general interest was excited, and all and every body offered advice
or assistance. And I own when we saw the little creatures begin to be
weak, and felt them as if claiming assistance, by nestling themselves in
our breast or between the hands, the heart would liave been hard, which
would not have felt sympathy, and yearned to afford assistance. But
we could not hit upon substantial food. Ants' eggs, milk, every thing
we could think of was offered ; but no disposition to eat was evinced ;
and after four or five days of suffering they died. As a last resource they
were taken to the short grass before the door, which seemed much to
revive them. And although, when in the house, they appeared weak
and incapable of much action, when in the grass I saw some make
wonderful exertion, perhaps to hide from the haunts of men. We now
begin to think they were kept too warm, after being hatched : but that
is not likely to have prevented their eating. I forgot to mention that
the eggs were exposed to much rain the night they were deserted by
the mother."

This closes the account of the partridges. My correspondent adds,
that he had often taken common chicks the day they appeared, and
reared them in the house. And " I well recollect," he proceeds, " that

Mrs. found one somewhat troublesome, and we went to the

yard to put it with a mother, who had her brood of about a similar age.
Mrs. put her bird down beside the others, and ran into an ad-
joining house, and peeped at what was going on. The little creature
began to make most piteous and loud complaining, and looked about in

* I have explained these facts in my " HABITS OF BIRDS." Pages 170 and 171.
— EDITOK.

GLEAKINGS. 401

much terror, Mrs. 's petticoat blew past the corner of the

house ; the bird saw it ; and, although it was but a waft, it ran to her
and seemed to feel perfect safety when lodged close to her feet. All
this I saw, and can never forget."

As you have allowed me to address two favourite little birds in your
pages, I crave the same indulgence in behalf of a favourite little flower,
Convallaria majalix ; the " Lily of the Valley/' or " May Lily," as it
is popularly called, with reference to its natural situation, and the rea-
son of its flowering In illustration of some allusions in the following
lines, I would premise, that " the Lily of the fields," mentioned by our
Saviour in his sermon on the mount, Matt. vi. 18, is supposed by Sir
J. E. Smith to be the Amaryllis lutea, or "yellow Amaryllis," some-
times called the " autumnal Narcissus," or " Star Lily : " which over-
runs the fields of the Levant in autumn, and by its golden liliaceous
flowers affords one of the most brilliant and gorgeous objects in nature. '
" The Mount " is generally supposed to be Mount Tabor, in the plain
of Esdraelon, or Esdrela.

TO THE LILY OF THE VALLEY.

FAIR flow'r, that lapt in lowly glade
Dost hide beneath the greenwood shade,

Than whom the vernal gale
None fairer wakes on bank or spray,
Our England's lily of the May,

Our lily of the vale.

Art thou that " Lily of the field,"
"Which, when the Saviour sought to shield

The heart from blank despair,
He show'd to our mistrustful kind,
An emblem to the thoughtful mind

Of God's paternal care?

Not thus I trow : for brighter shine
To the warm skies of Palestine

Those children of the east. —
There, when mild autumn's early rain
Descends on parch'd Esdrela's plain,

And Tabor's oak-girt crest —

More frequent than the host of night,
Those earth-born star?, as sages write,
Their brilliant disks unfold ;

402 GLEANINGS.

Fit symbol of imperial state
Their sceptre-seeming forms elate,
And crowns of burnish'd gold.

But not the less, sweet springtide's flower,
Dost thou display the Maker's power,

His skill and handy work,
Our western valleys' humbler child ;
Where in green nook of woodland wild

Thy modest blossoms lurk.

What though nor care nor art be thine,
The loom to ply, the thread to twine ;

Yet, born to bloom and fade,
Thee too a lovelier robe arrays,
Than e'er in Israel's brightest days

Her wealthiest king array'd.

Of thy twin leaves th' embowered screen
Which wraps thee in thy shroud of green j

Thy Eden -breathing smell ;
Thy arch'd and purple-vested stem,
Whence pendent many a pearly gem,

Displays a milkwhite bell ;

Instinct with life thy fibrous root,

Which sends from earth th' ascending shoot,

As rising from the dead,
And fills thy veins with verdant juice,
Charg'd thy fair blossoms to produce,

And berries scarlet red ;

The triple cell, the twofold seed,
A ceaseless treasure-house decreed,

Whence aye thy race may grow, |
As from creation they have grown,
While spring shall weave her flowery crown,

Or vernal breezes blow : —

Who forms thee thus with unseen hand ;
Who at creation gave command,

And will'd thee thus to be,
And keeps thee still in being thro'
Age after age revolving, who

But the Great God is He ?

Omnipotent to work his will ;
Wise, who contrives each part to fill
The post to each assign'd ;

CLEANINGS. 403

Still provident, with sleepless care
To keep ; to make thee sweet and fair
For man's enjoyment, kind !

" There is no God," the senseless say : —
" O God, why cast'st thou us away ? "

Of feeble faith and frail
The mourner breathes his anxious thought —
By thee a better lesson taught,
Sweet lily of the vale.

Yes ! He who made and fosters thee,
In reason's eye perforce must be

Of majesty divine :
Nor deems she that his guardian care
Will He in man's support forbear,
Who thus provides for thine.

RURICOLA*.
Holynood, Ireland, July ^th, 1833.

GLEANINGS.

BY SOLITARIUS.

MICE IMITATING THE GRASSHOPPER'S CHIRP. — In a filed opposite
Porto Bello farm, near Wormwood Scrubbs, one evening in last May,
my attention was attracted by a noise at the bottom of a hedge resem-
bling the chirping of a grasshopper, but accompanied by a rustling
among the dry reeds and fallen sticks that lay beneath, caused by some
little animal running and jumping under and over them alternately.
This circumstance I have often observed in the country, and from the
hasty glimpse which I have now and then obtained of the animal, I
came to the conclusion that it was some shy little bird, and which, for
the want of a name, I christened the hedge-creeper ; but since I read
" White's Selborne," I renounced that name, feeling satisfied that it
must be the grasshopper warbler. But in the present instance, I
embraced the opportunity of assuring myself as to its species, with
which view I cautiously advanced towards the hedge and patiently
awaited, hoping to obtain another sight of it, but my approach had
frightened it, and all was still for some time. I was bending over the
bank, when suddenly I heard the same noise as before, and saw the
little author of it run out from under the dead stalks, and giving a
fluttering sort of jump, which defied one to form any idea of its shape,

* Will Ruricola have the goodness to inform us where a letter may at present
find him. — EDITOR.

4'04 GLEANINGS.

it concealed itself again in the dried rubbish under which it ran,
uttering its grasshopper-like chirp all the while. I now had my " eyes
about me," and remaining as perfectly still and motionless as though I
had been but an overhanging tree, I watched and listened attentively
Not many seconds had elapsed before there came another, a second, a
third ; but to sum up, I do not think I shall exceed the limits of truth,
if I say that there at length came the thirtieth of these creatures, and
all from the same direction, and uttering the same cry as they jumped
in their fluttering style one after another over my foot (which rested
upon the bank), and then betook themselves to the same path as the
leader did. Some of them, however, halted in their career at the sight
of my foot, and then it was that I got a correct view of them, and was
somewhat surprised to find that the objects of my attention were
nothing more nor less than mice of a thick bulky form, with blackish
backs and light coloured bellies, and abruptly terminated tails; but
one individual, which I had nearly succeeded in catching, was of a
beautiful sleek fawn colour above and white beneath, and was in every
respect an elegant little creature. In a short time they returned from
the opposite direction, and coming out with more caution from their
run, as it is termed, they first took a reconnoitring peep ; but observing
me perfectly motionless, they at length collected round my foot to
satisfy their curiosity, and were so desirous of removing it (for as it rested
upon their run, it intercepted their regular course), that two or three
of them had actually commenced nibbling the leather of my boot. As
fate would have it, however, I sneezed, and thus frightened this in-
teresting group, which in a moment was dispersed in different directions,
yet I still kept my quiet position, not doubting but that in a few
minutes, when their fears had subsided, they would again return. It
was not long before they did as I expected, but they came in a less
regular order, some arriving from one quarter and some from another,
and again they reconnoitred, but, as I moved not, they appeared un-
apprehensive of danger. They had re-assembled round my boot, when
I, who now felt anxious to capture a specimen, dashed my hand among
them, endeavouring, but without success, to grasp one. It was with no
better effect that I hit about with a stick in every direction in which I
heard them running, for the purpose of disabling or killing one as a
specimen, that its name might be ascertained. I waited some time
afterwards, until it grew dusk, yet, as I neither heard nor saw anything
of them subsequently to my attack upon them, I retired from the spot,
but well pleased with this singular occurrence.
July, 1833.

GLEANINGS. 405

A SPARROW FOUND IN A BANK. — The notice of your having found a
cock starling frozen to death in a hole in Copenhagen-fields, as stated in
your new volume upon the " Habits of Birds," caused me to smile with
surprise upon reading it, it being a singular coincidence, that it is
exactly similar in every particular, except as regards its being frozen,
and of a different species, to a circumstance noticed by myself. About
four years ago, in the same fields above named, I observed, one cold
evening in March, a bird apparently disabled in its flight, fly past me
and enter a hole in a bank ; I was then more of a novice in natural
history, yet I had lately read with pleasure and attention, that book
which we one and all so much admire and value, " White's Nat. Hist,
of Selborne ; " but I took particular interest in the statements, pro and
con, contained therein, relative to the long pending question as to
whether swallows conceal themselves in caves and holes during winter
or not, and as I had not been able to come to any decided opinion upon
the subject, on account of the various statements appearing equally
entitled to credit, I now upon seeing my bird (which I conceived was a
swallow), run into this hole, felt much rejoiced (as every naturalist
does when he anticipates a discovery), at the idea that it was now
within my power to decide this question, or at least to satisfy myself
upon the subject, by ocular demonstration, with which view I ran up
to the bank, and having stopped up every hole, except that at which it
entered, I proceeded to dig into it with the hope of disinterring the
object of my attention, but I had not reached a greater depth than three
feet, when the darkness of the hour obliged me to suspend my operations
until next morning; so having taken the precaution of stopping up the
hole to prevent its egress in my absence, I retired and returned home.
Early next morning I was upon the spot, and after having dug to a-
considerable depth, I at length spied the tail, and when in a few
minutes the remainder of the bird was released from the earth, I was
not quite so pleased to find it was merely a hen sparrow. Upon exa-
mining it closely, I could not discover any bruises or any other
appearance of hurt, and unless a small species of mite (somewhat
similar to that found upon the field mouse), with which it was infested,
could have weakened it, and have rendered its safety endangered by
remaining above ground, I could find no cause for its retiring into so
singular a place for a bird of its species to enter. If one might indulge
such an idea, one might suppose that it was some poor disconsolate
widowed bird, who, following the custom observed by the females of

406

CLEANINGS.

many uncivilised nations, upon being deprived of their husbands, had,
like them, sought death by self-inhumation.

ON THE HUMMING OF GNATS. (CulicidcE.) — It appears to me
very probable that the humming noise emitted by the gnat when flying
about in a dark room is useful to the insect itself, for, as it would be
differently modulated according to its distance from, or nearness to,
surrounding objects, it may have the effect of preventing its injuring
itself by knocking against obstructions to its flight. As a proof of the
great difference in sounds arising from even but trifling causes, we have
only to take a card in hand and whistle against its edge at a little
distance, then at a greater distance, and then against its flat surface at
a greater or less distance, and we shall observe that the tone widely
differs under each of these circumstances. Now, if we suppose that the
gnat knows, from either instinct or experience, that sounds thus differ
according to such circumstances as the above, it may learn its situation
in a dark room by the variation produced upon its piping noise (which
may thus be as serviceable to it in the dark as its sight in the day time),
and avoid breaking its wings, or otherwise hurting itself by flying
against anything in its way. In the same manner, I think, one may
explain the utility of the humming of the cockchafer (Melolontha
vulgaris}, the dung-beetle (Geolntpes slercorarius}, and many other
insects.

THE WAGTAIL, DOES NOT ALWAYS SHUN NOISE. — The common
wagtail in general seeks a quiet cottage or other retired place to build
in, and shuns all noise, but in the instance I now relate, a pair of these
birds built their nest in perhaps the noisiest place they could have
selected. Some years since, when I was a pupil of Mr. Bicknell's at
Tooting in Surrey, a couple of these birds built between the roofing of
the school-room, which was detached from the house. On one side of
the building there was a pond partitioned off from the play-ground, and
thither the birds frequently resorted, flying from this backwards and
forwards to their nests, quite regardless of the gambols and shouts of
the boys at play. In this situation, no doubt, they would have remained,
had not one of the boys more ornithologically mischievous than the rest,
by means of a ladder and a net, entrapped the old birds whilst flying
out from between the tiles.

Layionstone, July, 1833.

407

MR. MAIN'S VEGETABLE PHYSIOLOGY*.

WE have been much pleased both with the manner and the matter of
this work, which bears the impress of personal observation, of a love for
truth, and of a desire to write intelligibly upon subjects which a fantas-
tical misguided taste so usually bedizens with pedantic jargon, and what
is worse, mocks the understanding with the unreal seeming of sounding
words instead of things, and with fancies instead of facts. Several of
these fashionable gew-gaws may be seen in the ALPHABET OF BOTANY,
second edition, and in the ALPHABET OF SCIENTIFIC GARDENING,
stript of their meretricious finery and exhibited in their proper naked-
ness, and Mr. Main has, in several^places of the work before us, argued
judiciously against the fanciful doctrine of rooting buds, though- we are
sorry to say that his own doctrine of the life of a plant being a " distinct
member " is out of all doubt a fancy no less void of foundation. This
fancy, however, it may be well to remark, is by no means the staple of
the book, and is only a sort of episode which may amuse the ingenious
that are fond of speculation ; and as it is not likely to be ever adopted to
any extent, more than the organic vortices of Baron Cuvier, we may
consider it as a piece of innocent pleasantry, at the risk, mayhap, of
the worthy author not much relishing this view of the subject, for he
has evidently written in good and sober earnest respecting this new
" distinct member " in plants, termed by him the " life," which he
alleges is situated in some inscrutable space between the bark and the
wood. We say " inscrutable," for he does not, so far as we can find,
pretend to have ever either seen or touched this " distinct member,"
and we may thence justly infer that it is as invisible, intangible, and
consequently as unreal as Cuvier's vortices, or the spirit of the scholastic
philosophers, which does not exist in place but ubi. It will be but fair,
however, to allow the excellent author to give his own evidence in this
matter, and we cannot select a better passage for this purpose than the
following.

" The foregoing idea of the existence of a distinct vital member, whence all new
accretions proceed, is directly opposed to the modern doctrine of the " organisable
property " of the elaborated sap of plants. The idea is founded upon the general

* Illustrations of Vegetable Physiology, practically applied to the Cultivation of
the Garden, the Field and the Forest, consisting of original Observations collected
during an Experience of fifty Years. By James Main, A. S. L.

408

MR. MAIN S VEGETABLE PHYSIOLOGY.

law of vegetable nature ; for where do we find the most insignificant vegetable
body come into visible existence without having a pre-existing embryo or nidi-
mental atom, whence it derives its essential structure and qualities. There is no
such instance in nature. Can the most minute species of Fungi spring forth with-
out its propago, or the smallest herb without a seed, or previously existing part of
itself? Is the bark or wood self-productive ? No : when either is destroyed it
cannot be renewed but by the assistance of that vital member which is the origin
of both.

" Admitting, then, that plants and certain parts of plants possess the property of
perpetual reproduction and extension, a question follows : How is this subdivision
effected? In the case of bulbs it has already been stated that the radicle plate is
composed of an endless train of gems, which are developed in the order of their
seniority ; tubers are multiplied by division or branches ; fibrous-rooted herbaceous
plants perpetuate themselves by lateral offsets ; but how is the annual subdivision
of the vital envelope of trees accomplished ? To this question a direct answer
cannot be given, because the process is invisible ; but we can gain a knowledge of
the changes which take place between the wood and the liber of a tree by making
frequent incisions through the bark, and marking the changes during the spring,
summer, and autumn growth.

" In early spring, say in the beginning of February, the transverse and vertical
sections of the stem of four years old appear as represented.

Transverse and perpendicular sections of a stem four years old ; the latter through the pith.
a, pith and wood of the first year; b, c, d, layers of wood of the second, third, and fourth
years ; e, the four thin layers of bark.

" About the end of May, sooner or later, according to the favourableness of the
season, similar sections of a stem of the same age will appear thus.

Sections of a stem as it appears in May or June of the fifth year,
the swelling: cambium,

The white spaces show

Mil. MAINS VEGETABLE PHYSIOLOGY.

409

" At the end of September, and in many kinds of trees much sooner, the sections
appear as beneath.

Sections of a stem at the end of the fifth year. The envelope and layers of liber are too
thin to be shown by the pencil.

" Here we observe that a new concentric layer of alburnum has been added
during the fifth summer, and also an additional layer of liber has been parted off,
and placed close to that of the preceding year, and lined on the inner side with an
almost imperceptible membrane or coating of gelatinous matter, which is the vital
envelope, and from which the new growths of wood and liber of the next, and all
succeeding years will be produced.

" Judging, then, from these changes, about which there can be no doubt (because
of them we have an ocular proof), we may conceive that the vital envelope is con-
structed of an indefinite number of distinct concentric layers, two of which are
developed annually ; the inner one (A, Fig. 46) being inflated into alburnum, and
the outer one (B, Fig. 46) into a layer of liber.

Fig. 46.

Segment of a transverse section of a tree five years old, magnified -. a, growth of alburnum
first year ; b, the seeond ; c, the third ; d, the fourth ; e, the fifth ; /, five layers of liber, ideally
magnified; g, epidermis and cuticle.

" The appearance of the structure of the alburnum affords confirmation of the
reasonableness of this idea. If we examine it as soon as it is formed, or in any
future stage of its existence, we find the longitudinal fibres strongly and distinctly
marked, and the minute vesicles of the cellular fabric between the fibres posited
horizontally ; showing that they are enlarged in the same direction — that is, advanced
from the centre of the tree outwards. (Fig. 2.)

" This hypothesis is only objectionable, perhaps, on the ground of the difficulty
of conceiving how such a mass of organisation, forming the extended trunk of a
full grown tree, can be contained in such a slender space as that between the liber
VOL. i.— NO. ix. (SEPTEMBER, 1833.) G G

410

Mil. MAIN S VEGETABLE PHYSIOLOGY.

and the wood of one of four years' growth. But this difficulty is not greater,
indeed not -quite so incomprehensible, as is the other supposition already alluded
to, namely, that all increments are elaborated from juices and qualities inherent in
the plant, or formed by accidental associations of certain electro-chemical bodies
extractable from the earth, air, and water. The identity of the vital envelope,
during summer, is visible and palpable ; and if in winter it be only a cincture of
transparent cellular matter, no doubt need be entertained of its subsequent expan-
sibility. That vegetable matter appears in the first stage of its existence as a
colourless homogenous mass is indisputable ; and that it gradually gains consistency
and organic form, may be easily believed by examining an orange when first visible
in the flower, and again when fully ripe and deprived of its juice. Besides, the
accrescent powers and indefinite limits of vegetation in this case, should banish
incredulity ; in many other instances it is equally surprising ; witness the mon-
strous gourd, the majestic oak, the magnificent Banyan Fig; the latter shading
acres of surface, all originating in an atom of a seed.

" The new layer of wood which is added on the old stem or trunk, ranges with
the first layer of wood on the terminal shoots. On the latter all primary buds,
and consequently branches, originate. The shoots developed this year, except
water shoots *, are based on the alburnum formed on the last ; and the buds formed
in this year are seated on this year's alburnum, and on which they remain to be
developed in the next or some following year. The pith, wood, buds, and bark of
every shoot are all simultaneously produced.

" But all buds or branches are not primary. Such as are produced from an old
stem (6, Fig. 47) whether naturally, or by consequence of pruning, may be called,

Example of a primary shoot a, and a secondary shoot b. The former is seated on the
alburnum of the first year, the latter on that of the third.

for the sake of distinction, secondary^. These can have no immediate connection
with the first formed layer of wood and pith, and therefore invariably spring from
the envelope. The following delineation represents the disposition of the layers of
wood and bark, with the places of the primary and secondary buds or shoots, on a
section of an abbreviated stem of a tree of three years' growth.

* Water shoots are such as are produced on luxuriant growing shoots of the
present year, frequently seen on the peach, apricot, and always on the grape vine.

f Botanists suppose that there are what they call " adventitious buds," that is,
if buds come forth from other places than the axils of the leaves or bractea, they
are adventitious and new creations. Their appearance, indeed, may be adventi-
tious, but not their identity. If a bud can be produced without a rudiment, so may
a whole plant.

MR. MAIN'S VEGETABLE PHYSIOLOGY

Fig. 4".

411

\ 1831.

829.

1831, 1830, 1829.

" This figure shows, that the lateral shoots, d, d, d, d, and new layer of wood, b, b,
on the lower part of the stem of the present year, are not attached to each other ;
and that the growth of the former can only affect that of the latter indirectly ; nor
can they (the shoots, d, d, d, d, except the leading one, c,) be supposed to assist the
formation of the new zone of wood by ejecting fibres down into it; because their
fibrous attachment is upon the alburnum, as at e, e, Fig. 47 ; that is, upon that
division of the envelope which was formed into alburnum in the previous year.

" The young shoots which are elongated and bear the foliage of deciduous trees,
are pretty regularly studded with buds along their whole length, though only a small

412

MR. MAINS VEGETABLE PHYSIOLOGY.

number of them are developed in succeeding years. A few at the point always burst,
namely, the leader and two or three laterals, part of the latter being resolved into
branches. Some of the lower situated are prolonged into spurs, and become flower
buds, as at/, jr, Fig. 47 ; many remain dormant, and are never developed unless the
stem be cut over immediately above their station.

" From these circumstances it appears, in respect of secondary or tertiary buds
springing from the vital envelope, that that member is possessed of these latent
principles, which are put forth when surrounding circumstances favour their develop-
ment. It was this fact which induced an eminent French botanist to imagine, that
vital gems floated in the sap : for on no other principle could he account for their
inexplicable appearance."

Lest our readers should imagine that Mr. Main's work is throughout
of this fanciful cast, we must remark that by far the greater portion of
it is practical, derived, as is stated on the title page, from fifty years'
experience. We have accordingly most excellent chapters on " sowing ;"
" transplanting ; " " propagation ; " " pruning ; " " training ; " " fell-
ing timber ; " " grubbing ; " &c. We shall select as a specimen, a
passage from his remarks on " pruning," which the reader may remark
is not even tinged, much less vitiated, by his fancies about the life being
a te distinct member."

" Fir timber for the use of builders and mast makers cannot be too free from knots,
and it is impossible to have it so, unless planted and trained up in the closest order.
When so disposed no lower branches can live to distort the longitudinal structure of
the bole. The centres of the trunks when cut up for use, only show the bases of
the first laterals ; but every concentric layer of wood imposed after these first
branches decay is free from knots. (Fig. 55.)

Vertical section of a tree, the lateral branches of which had consecutively died, or been cut
when three years old.

" A single fir requires a large space, and produces the worst timber ; its first
branches continue to enlarge and extend themselves, sweeping the ground as long
as the stem continues to rise ; and though the latter arrives at a great size, its tim-
ber is of the most inferior description, being deteriorated by large knots. (Fig. 56.)

MR. MAINS VEGETABLE PHYSIOLOGY.

Fig. 56.

413

Section of a fir tree which has never been pruned, supposed to be cut through opposite
branches.

" In fact, fine grained deal cannot be produced unless the trees are planted, or
chance to stand so closely together as to prevent all extension of branches. All
sorts of the pine tribe intended for profit should be planted to grow up, and, like a
field of corn, be all cut down together. Such plantations do not admit of being
gradually drawn, except when very young. They may be called, on this account,
social trees ; for as soon as the unity of the congregation is broken, the exposed
trees, for want of their wonted protection, not only cease to thrive, but many die.
Firs planted for ornament should stand at forty or fifty feet distances ; otherwise
they cannot show the grandeur of their forms. The pruner must not touch them ;
his interference only tends to make them the most ugly objects in the vegetable
kingdom. Planted as nurses in young woods of deciduous trees, they are kept
within due bounds by a very simple method of pruning, recommended by Mr.
Billington, viz. by pinching off from time to time the leading buds of the branches.
This induces a spray-covered, rather than a naked stem ; and prevents the
encroachment of the branches, without destroying their character as nurses. By
the same means, fir tree may be formed into impervious screens, or sheltering
hedge-like boundaries ; very useful in many cases of rural improvement.

" Ash timber is produced of superior quality by being grown in close order; its
toughness and clearness of grain make it enviable material for the coach maker.
Straight, smooth sticks of ash, fifty feet in length, and from eight to twelve inches
diameter, are highly prized by all machine makers. Whether for timber or under-
wood this tree should always be grown in plantations by itself; not only because
of its greater rapidity of growth, but because it is a most noxious tree in hedge
rows, or as standing single in corn fields or meadows.

" Oak and elm are best suited for hedge rows. It is incredible how much elm
timber can be raised in hedge order. And as the superiors are cut down, a con-
stant succession of young stems are rising from the old roots. No tree bears
pruning so well as the elm. So severely is this executed in Middlesex and
elsewhere, that a very small branch only is left at the top every time the tree is
shredded. This property of being unhurt by wholesale pruning, is owing to the
vivency of the tree which, being every where studded with latent buds, throws out
a numerous spray over all the stem ; and, though unequal to increase the diameter

414 MR. MAIN'S VEGETABLE PHYSIOLOGY.

of the trunk as a large branch head would do in the same time, yet it gives the
wood a gnarled character particularly useful for the naves and fellies of carriage
wheels, and other purposes where liability to split would be a defect.

" Ages had elapsed before forest trees were considered as objects worth the
expense of pruning ; but during the last century, the great demands made upon
both public and private woods and forests, and the great quantities of defective
timber rejected at the dockyards, at last called attention to this neglected branch
of rural economy. The defective state of oak timber was attributed to the want
of ^pruning. The rotten stumps of branches which had been torn off by the wind,
and which in their decay admitted water into the trunk, were said to be the cause
of the disaster. Pruning was therefore had recourse to ; but a bad style was
introduced, viz. cutting off the lower branches at the distance of two or three feet
from the bole. This plan was soon given up ; not only because it disfigured the
tree, but also because many of the stumps dying, the same defects followed this
practice as were complained of before it was had* recourse to. Close pruning was
next recommended ; but with no good result, as has been previously shown. A
middle course is now adopted, namely, what is catted foreshortening. This method
preserves all the branches, but the lower ones are kept back, by having their
leading shoots repeatedly taken off.

« This is particularly suitable for hedge-row timber, as it prevents the trees from
overshading the land. It must be observed, however, that though this method
gives soundness, it does not produce clearness of grain, which is the grand object
of pruning."

This instance, (and we could easily select many more) will show our
readers the useful practical character of the work, and at the same time
exemplify the plain easy flow of style which marks everything that Mr.
Main writes. Considering the number and good execution of the cuts, and
the manner in which the whole is got up, we must pronounce the work
to be as cheap as it is excellent.

415

CHAPTER OF VARIETIES.

ANECDOTE OF THE DOMESTIC CAT. — The sagacity of animals in
shunning disease has been observed by several naturalists, particularly
among gregarious animals, who are constantly found to avoid such as are
affected with any complaint. Domestic animals are not generally so
remarkable for this propensity, as their habits are associated with
those of man. A cat I have, however, has exhibited a remarkable
instance of sagacity during the present epidemic. She had been in the
practice of coming up to my bed-room every morning to drink out of my
ewer; but during the continuance of the febrile symptoms attending
the influenza, she did not come to drink, and never entered the room.
No sooner, however, had the fever subsided, than she immediately re-
turned, and took her morning draught as usual. This shows that the
senses of animals, particularly that of smell, must be extremely acute,
and that the diseased atmosphere, however insensible we may be to its
eifect, has a powerful influence on their more acute organs.

% E. G. BALLARD.

Islington, August 1, 1833.

THE FOX. — The keen senses of this animal form one of the most
distinguishing characteristics and marks of the genus. His predatory
habits render it necessary that he should be equally prepared for the
attack of his prey or speedy flight. The acuteness of his sight and
smell are very remarkable, as well as his agility and suppleness of limb,
which enables him to enter passages which would seem impassable to
his bulk. To these qualifications, rather than to any preternatural
mental endowment, may be attributed the greater part of those tales of
his cunning so plentifully recorded by authors. The singular story of
the arctic foxes related by Bingley, on the authority of Steller, may, I
think, be reasonably questioned, as its particulars are so strongly tinctured
with the marvellous.

But in this animal, as in many others, we find nature has provided
compensation. The rattle-snake is furnished in its moveable rings with
an instrument, the noise of which seems as a warning to the inferior
animals that would become its prey ; and the body of the fox exhales a
foetid odour, most probably destined for a similar purpose. It may be
for this reason also that it seeks concealment during the day, in holes

416 CHAPTER OF VARIETIES.

in the earth, where it can remain in safety, and seeks its prey while they
are asleep, and thus unable to detect its approach. — I have often found
that both large animals and insects, particularly those which are either
destructive or helpless, are of nearly the same colour as the places of their
retreat. This, in common with many others, is the case with the fox.

E. G. BALLARD.
Islington, August 1, 1833.

THE NIGHTINGALE. — The following singular fact is taken from a
note relating to this bird, in the Rev. Mr. Bowles's " History of the
Antiquities of Locock " (which will shortly be published). " Of the
character of the song of the nightingale (says Mr. Bowles), Mr.
Coleridge has spoken as being lively and not melancholy. But
neither Mr. Coleridge, nor any ornithologist, to my knowledge, has
remarked what, I have no hesitation in saying, will be found a
fact : — The nightingale has no note of its own, except in commencing
its rich and varied song, the first short whistle, and succeeding — jug —
jug — as if to prepare itself for its elaborate and rich song. It invariably
opens, or, I should say, preludes its song, only with those two, its native
notes. It then distinctly, and literally as a mocking bird *, pours out
with richer, louder, and more mellow tones, the identical notes in rapid
succession of other singing birds, from the notes of the thrush, the
blackbird, the yellowhammer, the lark, the red-breast, the wren, &c.,
until it is tired. This I know from those who can instantly pronounce,
from the song which they hear, what bird sings. Another remarkable
fact may be mentioned. The nightingale never sings without a twig
upon which it can rest its breast whilst it sings, as if to assist it in
exerting all its powers, and for this reason, it always lays a twig across
its nest, for the purpose of teaching its young to resort to the same
assistance in their future song. While I am on the subject, I may
remark another curious fact. The bulfinch naturally has only one note,
and that dull. To sing, it must have the regular instruction of art, and
then it learns its varied song in cottagers' houses. It may be taught
the perfect scale of eight notes, with the half and the whole notes,
and modulate exactly any tunes, or bits of tunes, its music master
teaches." — E. G. BALLARD.

Islington, July 1, 1833.

* See " HABITS OF BIRDS," chap. xvii. for a refutation of all this EDITOR.

CHAPTER OF VARIETIES. 417

THE KINGFISHER AND THE SEDGE BIRD. — On Tuesday last, a
man called on me with four young kingfishers, which he had just taken
from a nest about five hundred yards from my house. I went the
next morning to see it, accompanied by a man with a pickaxe and spade.
It was situate in a bank over a very small pond (which for some weeks
has been dried up) about a foot and a half below the surface of the
turf ; about two feet and a half deep, and nearly horizontal, though
slightly sloping upwards. We found in it three more young ones,
making in all seven. They are all doing very well upon meat soaked
in water, but I am obliged to cram them, as they are full fledged and
very obstinate, and can fly faster than I can run.

I have procured a very handsome sedge bird, the first aquatic
warbler I have ever kept in confinement. It is doing extremely well,
and is unaccountably tame. When first caught it would readily take
food from the hand. It is very fond of earth worms, and will swallow
a very large one, considering the size of the bird : this is quite at
variance with the Ficedulce. Its manners closely resemble those of
the willow wren. — E. BLYTH.
Tooling, Aug. 22nd, 1833.

THE LONDON NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. — While societies for
the study of Natural History have been formed throughout the
different counties of England, it has been a matter of surprise and
regret to the lovers of that science, that no similar institution has been
established in the metropolis, which would afford sufficient and general
facilities to the student, at a reasonable expense.

To remedy this deficiency, a society has been formed for attaining
mutual improvement in this study, in all its branches, by means of
Meetings, Excursions, and the formation of a Library and Museum.
The subscription is fixed at £1 per annum, to be paid quarterly, in
advance ; the admission is 5*.

Any person wishing to become a member of this society, is requested
to apply by letter, (post paid) to Mr. OGILVIE, 10, Gloucester Street,
Queen Square, who will furnish him with copies of the regulations, and
any other information he may require.

QWe wish all success to this society, which originated in a notice on
the cover of an early No. of our Magazine. Such associations we know
from experience are both pleasant and profitable. — EDITOR.]

WHITE MONKEY. — A letter from Ramree of the 15th of April,
VOL. i. — NO. ix. (SEPTEMBER, 1833.) H H

418 CHAPTER OF VARIETIES.

1827, makes mention of a perfectly white monkey that had been
caught there. The hair on the animal's body was white, curly, and soft
as silk, and excited great wonder and admiration among the natives.
They represented that such a creature had never but once, to their
knowledge, been seen in those parts, and that the king of Ava sent
down a golden cage, with a host of people, to escort the animal to his
presence, and expended, besides, 20,000 rupees in sacrifices and public
rejoicings, auguring from the arrival of the extraordinary stranger, the
most happy presages of good fortune. The monkey brought to our
correspondent was one of the same description, but unfortunately it was
of too young and tender an age when caught. A Burmese woman who
was nursing an infant of her own, requested permission to suckle it, and
fairly divided her maternal attention between the two. Pug lived in
apparent good health and spirits for six days, but whether it was that
its nursing disagreed with it, or that it was naturally very delicate, it
died on the seventh day. — E. G. BALLARD.
Islington.

THE CUCKOO. — I take the liberty of sending you a drawing of a
young cuckoo, which I trust is faithfully though roughly executed *.

When we consider the difference of plumage between the young and
adult birds, it is by no means surprising that it should have been con-
sidered as a different species ; but there is, I think, no doubt but that
the red cuckoo, described by some authors, is the young of the common
cuckoo, and so totally different is the plumage of the immature bird,
that I think more than one year must elapse before the bird acquires its
perfect plumage.

The bird which I possess feeds entirely upon raw meat, of which it
eats considerable quantities, but is extremely dainty, and prefers being
fed by hand to taking food itself. It is very tame, and has no objection
to sit on my hand ; in fact, when once seated it is difficult to shake it
off. When at rest or going to sleep, it sits in the position in which I
have endeavoured to draw it, and one would think it was unwell, but
it seems perfectly healthy, and chirps when hungry, seeming very
eager for its food, which it takes about every hour.

This bird I purchased in London on the 10th of this month (July),
and I remarked that it was with another cuckoo, to all appearances

* An excellent figure, which we would have had engraved, had we not already a
good cut of the bird from Le Vaillant, in " Architecture of Birds," p. 88 — ED.

CHAPTER OF VARIETIES. 419

exactly similar in size and markings. Could they have been brought up
in the same nest ? When I first had him, he was so weak in the wings
that he could not fly even across the room, and now, though he grows
fast, I am sure that he could not be able to take any long journey at a
stretch. Now it has appeared to me, that if the cuckoo leaves this
country in the beginning of July, and I believe it does about the first
of the month, what can become of the young ones ? I have never heard
of its being noticed that they leave late in the year, by themselves, but
I am sure that this must be the case, unless my bird was hatched
remarkably late, and then the circumstance of there being another with
him of the same age, seems to throw some doubt as to this being the
case.

The migration of this bird is altogether very singular, and I think
the reason that we have not noticed particoloured birds (and this must
be the case, or the red cuckoo would not have been considered distinct)
is because the cuckoo does not breed until it is two years old ; for I do
not think it possible that it can change its brown plumage, for the
beautiful and regular colour of the adult bird, in less than two moults,
and there can be no doubt that the cuckoo comes to England solely to
breed.

I think this bird can have no other motive for resorting to this
country, because it is believed to migrate from the south, and therefore
it cannot come for the sake of climate, for it comes in the most tempe-
rate part of the year, and leaves us when the hot weather commences :
and secondly, it breeds almost immediately upon its arrival, and leaves
us as soon as it has performed the necessary duties for propagating
the species. The natural history of this bird is perhaps more interest-
ing than that of any other, the wonderful instinct with which it is en-
dowed for providing for its young, and more particularly that it should
only choose the nests of those birds which would provide proper food
for the nestling, is truly astonishing ; how wonderful indeed is that
Divine Wisdom which instructed this bird to seek proper nurses for
its young, and which taught the foster parent to nourish the young
stranger in preference to her own family. T. C.

REASON OF CATS ALIGHTING ON THEIR FEET IN FALLING. — The
instinct which all animals seem to possess in bringing the line of
direction of the centre of pressure within the base is admirable. It is
this instinct which renders the wild goat and the chamois so fearless of
danger in the terrific leaps they take among Alpine precipices ; and
which enables a cat always to alight on its feet in falling from heights

420 CHAPTER Ol<' VARIETIES.

that appear sufficient to render a fall fatal. Now the operations of
instinct, though in many points of view not a little miraculous, are
always regulated by some ingenious principle, when that can be dis-
covered ; and in the instance of the cat always falling on her feet, it
appears to me that the same principle operates which enables listowalk
upright by regulating our centre of pressure according to the things
around us. In learning to walk, we judge of the distances of the ob-
jects which we approach by the eye ; and by observing their perpen-
dicularity determine our own. Hence it is that no one who is hood-
winked can walk in a straight line for a hundred steps together ; and
for the same reason most people become dizzy when they look from the
summit of a tower or battlement much raised above the objects in the
sphere of distinct vision. A whirling wheel or the current of a rapid
river, or the apparent motion of the sea on looking over the side of a fast
sailing ship, have often a similar effect. When a child can first stand
erect on his legs, if you gain his attention to a white handkerchief
tended like a sail, he will stand firm, but the instant you wave it he will
tumble down. It is for this reason that rope-dancers, who have a very
narrow base upon which to maintain the line of direction perpendicular,
keep their eye fixed on a point of the framework upholding the rope
by which to regulate their centre of pressure, and for the same reason
those who perform difficult feats of balancing keep their eye fixed on
the top of the things balanced, to retain the line of direction within the
base. It may be accordingly inferred that the reason why a man loses
his balance when tipsy is, that his eyes roll so unsteadily as to prevent
him from regulating his balance by the things around him, while the
muscular feelings that assist him when hoodwinked are also deranged.

It would be curious to ascertain whether a cat, if rendered tipsy,
would fall equally on her feet when dropped from a height as a sober
cat. The difficulty of the experiment would lie in getting a cat to
drink beer, wine, or spirits, all of which it greatly dislikes. I have no
doubt, indeed, that it is by fixing the eye on the things around, that a
cat falling from a height regulates her centre of pressure, so as to fall
on her feet. She is, however, aided in this by the form of her body,
somewhat the reverse of that of a greyhound, the centre of pressure
lying far back from the head, and consequently bringing down the hind
feet rather before the fore feet.

* From " ALPHABET OF PHYSICS, or NATURAL PHILOSOPHY," by the Editor,
now in the press.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE BIRDS OF AFRICA,

TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH OF LE VAILLANT.

THE PIAPIAC (-Pica Senegalensis, BUISSON.)

Piapiac, Le Vaill. Ois. d'Afrique, ii. p. 17, pi. 54. Corvus Senegalensis, Lath. Iml.
Orn. i. p. 163. Lin. i. 158. Gm. Lin. i. 374. Shaw's Zool. vii. 371 ; Pica Sene-
galensis, Briss. ii. 40, t. 3, f. 2 ; Id. 8vo. i. 166; Corvus Piapiac, Daud. ii. 239;
Pie du Senegal, Buf. iii. 97, PL Enl. 538; Senegal Crow, Lath. Gen. Syn. i.
394; Id. Sup. ii.. 114; Id. Gen. Hist iii. p. 39.

I BESTOWED the name of Piapiac on the only species of Magpie which
I observed during my travels in Africa, and which I met with in the
remotest district of the country of the Great Namaquas. This bird
appears to me to be of the same species as that which Buffon lias

vox. i. — NO. x. (OCTOBER, 1833.) i i

SENEGAL MAGPIK.

described under the name of the Senegal Magpie, and figured in his
coloured plates, No. 538 ; but I think that the individual, which served
as a pattern for the engraver, and from which Buffon wrote his descrip-
tion, was a young bird, that had not attained its full development, for
its tail is neither of sufficient length nor sufficiently wedge-shaped ; and,
according to the indication of Button, his bird not only appears smaller,
but has more brown on the tail and wings. Such characteristics,
indeed, are perfectly conformable to the piapiac in its young age, and
add force to my opinion, that the Senegal and Namaqua magpie belong
to the same species. As this bird, therefore, is not found exclusively
in Senegal, I considered myself at liberty to bestow on it a different
name, which is far more appropriate, and ought to be adopted, on
account of its resemblance to the tones of its cry, and which it repeats
as distinctly as we can pronounce it.

These magpies perch at the top of lofty trees, where they sometimes
assemble in small companies, consisting of twenty individuals. The
tail is much longer in the males; it is even longer than that of our
European magpie, and is strongly wedge-shaped, but as its quills are
narrower, and exceedingly pointed, it is consequently not so broad.

This bird, although as long as our magpie, is, moreover, more slender
in its body ; it is, besides, more rapid in its flight, as the wing-quills
are proportionally shorter.

The piapiac, like our magpies, builds its nest at the top of the loftiest
trees, fortifies it strongly with thorns, and leaves only a hole for its
admission into the interior. Its eggs, which are from six to eight in
number, are of a bluish white, besprinkled with brown spots, which are
larger and more numerous at the thick end. The savages declared to
me that these birds arrived only at certain periods of the year, in the
canton in which I discovered them. It is singular that, possessed of
such strength and rapidity of flight, they have not penetrated into
countries which are situated much nearer to the Cape, and have not, in
fact, reached so far as the borders of the Great River, where, at least,
I never heard or saw any of them.

This magpie is entirely of a glossy black, paler on the belly than
upon the back; the primary wing-quills, and the lateral tail-quills,
have a brownish tinge. The legs and bill are of a pure black, as in our
European magpie, and the eyes hazel brown. The female is abso-
lutely similar to the male, except that she is rather smaller, and her
tail shorter.

In the splendid cabinet of M. Ray de Breukelerwaard, of Amsterdam,

BRITISH BIRDS OF THE ROBIN KIND. 423

a bird of the same species is remarked, which, as I have been informed,
was sent from Senegal: but this individual has a very remarkable
peculiarity, one of its tail-quills is double, at least a beardless stem,
which is absolutely of the same dimension as that of the feather to
which it is attached at its base throughout its full length, arises from
the same quill-barrel ; in other respects there is nothing which distin-
guishes it from the bird which I observed in the Namaquas ; and as
for the bare stem, which I have just mentioned, it must certainly be
looked upon as an accidental variety, a mere whim of nature, occasioned
by a superabundance of matter, which produced a double plume, but
nevertheless without plumelets. Might not this circumstance give rise
to the' idea, that the matter which forms the barbs of feathers is of a
different nature from that which produces the stem ? Besides it is not
uncommon to observe double feathers, which are completely formed,
rising out of the same quill-barrel.

A GENERAL ARRANGEMENT OF THE BRITISH WARBLERS,
(Sylvianci) AND BIRDS OF THE ROBIN KIND, (Ruleculinas}
WITH VARIOUS REMARKS.

BY EDWARD BLYTH.

IN my paper on the nightingale (p. 196,) it was remarked, that
the usual classification of this noted songster amongst the warblers,
(Sylviance,) is by no means so natural, and agreeable to the general
conformation and habits of the bird, as could be wished ; and I there
pointed out a number of little dissimilarities, of which, each, in itself,
might probably be thought trivial, and of little consequence, but which
considered altogether, and conjointly, seem to intimate that the situa-
tion which the nightingale has hitherto held in systematic arrangement
might, in all probability, be somewhat ameliorated. It is impossible
to overlook the great general resemblance which the nightingale bears
to the birds of the redstart genus, (Phcenicura of authors ;) in its form,
its manners, its actions, in many of its habits, in the structure of its
nest, and in the mottled plumage of the young birds, it approximates
closely to the redstart, and the robin-redbreast, and in all these parti-
culars it differs as obviously from the group in which it has been
hitherto arranged. The genus Phcenicura, however, has been placed

i i2

424 BRITISH BIRDS OF THE ROBIN KIND.

(and naturally enough,) with the birds of the wheatear kind, (Saxico-
lince,) and it would hardly appear very natural to arrange the
nightingale in a group which takes its name from so dissimilar a species
as the wheatear, although the wheatear and the nightingale also might
both range quite naturally as " birds of the robin kind." I propose,
therefore, first, that the Linnaean specific name of the robin-redbreast,
(Rubecttla) should be employed as a generic name, to denote the red-
start and robin genus, and that the term Phcenicura (or red-tail, which
has been used to designate this genus,) should be consequently aban-
doned as objectionable, inasmuch as it is quite inapplicable to the
redbreast, the most conspicuous member of the genus ; and secondly,
that instead of Saxicolince, or birds of the wheatear kind, the group
should be denominated Rubectdinfe, or birds of the robin kind ; a
general appellation which should comprise the nightingale genus,
Philomela.

According to this view, the following, I think, appears a natural
arrangement of the British Rubeculince and Sylmanae, two of the sub-
divisions of the major group, Sylmadce.

BRITISH BIRDS OF THE KOBIN KIND.

Sylviadce Ritbeculinae.
Genus Philomela; Nightingale.
The common nightingale . . . Ph. luscinia

Genus Rubecula ; Robin.

The robin-redbreast . . . . R. fam'diaris

The black redstart . . . R. tithys

The common redstart .. . . R. arborea

Genus Saxicola ; Wheatear.
The common wheatear . . . . S. cenanlhe

Genus Rubetra ; Chat.

The whinchat . . . . R. migratoria

The stonechat . . . . . R. rnbicola

BRITISH BIRDS OF THE WARBLER KIND.

Sylviadoe Sylviance.

Genus Ficedula ; Fructivorous warbler, or Fauvette.

The garden fauvette, or garden warbler . F. hortensis

The blackcap . . . . F. atricapilla

The babillard . . . . F. garrula

The whitethroat . . . F. cinerea

The furze fauvette, or Dart ford warbler ' . F. nlicicola

BRITISH BIRDS OF THE ROBIN KIND. 4&O

Genus Phragmites ; Aquatic warbler.

The reed warbler . . . v. . s> . Phr. arundinacea

The sedge warbler . . . •* •.' • . Phr. salicaria

The grasshopper warbler . . • Phr. locustella

Genus Sylvia; Pettychaps.

The shivering pettychaps or wood wren . S. sibilalrix

The garden pettychaps, or willow wren . S. melodia

The loquacious pettychaps, or chiff-chaff . S. loquax

and one or two other species which will be mentioned in the sequel.

All these various birds together with the wrens, the wagtails, the
accentors, and a host of others, were included in the immense genus
Molacilla of Linnaeus and his immediate followers ; and, with the
exception of the wagtails, in the genus Sylvia of Dr. Latham and
M. Temminck. The gold-crests (Reguhis) and I believe also the
accentors, are still generally classed amongst the Sylvianee, but they
can hardly be said to range naturally with those birds ; further obser-
vation, I have no doubt, will assimilate them more closely than has
been done hitherto, and assign for each of these two genera a better
and more appropriate situation.

The general systematic arrangement and nomenclature of birds,
are yet, I consider, quite in their infancy ; we require a vast deal of
information on the habits and general economy of various foreign groups
before any attempt can be successful towards forming a good and
natural general arrangement. I am far, however, from supposing this
to be an impossibility ; time, and a few more such volumes as those
of Wilson, and Le Vaillant, and Audubon, are necessary to effect it-
The works of these worthies alone have done more towards advancing
our knowledge of the feathered creation than all the systematic cata-
logues that ever were written, and these authors' names will stand high,
and be quoted as authorities, when the mass of compilers and mere
museum naturalists will have sunk into oblivion. There is no great
difficulty in arranging animals when once their general economy and
habits are well understood, but without a competent and thorough
knowledge of these various particulars, it is of little use attempting to
form them into anything like a natural systematic arrangement. Very
little is known, at present, respecting the manners and the habits of
the feathered inhabitants of various portions of the globe. These have
yet to be scrutinised, and studied in their native haunts with the same
patience, and diligence, and persevering assiduity which mark the
naturalists whose names I have mentioned, and which still distinguish

426 BRITISH BIRDS OF THE ROBIN KIND.

their adventurous and enthusiastic survivor. The time, perhaps, is not
far distant when Australia will produce her Wilson, when the orni-
thology of that vast distant continent will be explored, and published
to the world, and become as familiar to the European naturalist as
that of North America has already been rendered ; when other lands
will send forth their Audubons and Le Vaillants into distant countries,
and the wonders of creation in every realm be revealed, and made
known to all who take pleasure in their contemplation.

In the minor group or subdivision, Sylvianep, will also rank the
polyglot, or arbour bird, (Horticola polyglotta ; Sylvia hippola'is of
Bechstein and Temminck, S. polyglotta of Vieillot and Ranzani,) a
species 'not uncommon in many parts of Europe, and which,, I am
inclined to suspect, will be found ere long to straggle occasionally to
the south of England. Splendid, however, as the music of this interest-
ing species is described to be, it might possibly for a long time pass
unnoticed by people in general, as we daily see to be the case with
the blackcap, and the garden-warbler, two of our very finest native
songsters ; but the " rich intonation, and multitudinous variety of its
notes," must, I should imagine, at once excite the attention of any
observer of nature, and lead direct to its discovery, should it chance
ever to make its appearance in any part of Britain, where natural
history is at all attended to. I shall make further mention of this
bird when I come to the consideration of the generic division Sylvia,
with one species of which, the chiff-chaff, (S. loquax, Herbert,) it has
been so strangely and unaccountably confounded.

It is remarked in the paper on the nightingale, by M. Wichterich,
of Bonn (page 225), that "there are two varieties of the nightingale,
one which sings both in the night and in the day, and one which sings
in the day only. I have found only one that sung in the night out of
twenty or thirty caged nightingales. The night singers are considerably
larger and darker coloured, that is, not so rusty red as the day singers,
and they are, according to M. Bechstein, more partial to high ground,
while the day singers frequent valleys and hollow ways," &c. Since
reading the above, I have paid particular attention to the nightingales
which inhabit this district, and am, as yet, by no means satisfied upon
the subject. The majority of them, certainly, do not appear to sing in
the night ; and in some places where, during the day, the air literally
resounds with their melody, scarce an individual is to be heard at night
to break the universal silence which, at that time, commonly prevails.
I have observed, however, the night singers to haunt low damp situa-

BRITISH BIRDS OF THE ROBIN KIND.

tions, as well as high ground j and I think it will be found that their
song is generally more continuous, and not quite so loud as those which
sing only by day. I rather, however, hazard this last remark, as I
have not, as yet, observed it in a sufficient number of instances to
conclude that it is so invariably.

On speaking to a bird-catcher on this subject, who sends every year
a considerable number of these birds to the London dealers, he informed
me that he had often noticed that, in many places, the nightingales
sang only by day ; that his house was situate between two woods, in
both of which nightingales abounded, but that he never remembered to
have heard them in the night excepting in one particular rising ground,
where, during the season, they might always be heard at all hours. I
employed this man to procure me one of these night-singing birds, and
he soon succeeded in catching one. He promised also to bring me some
nests and eggs of each, but these I have never received. The bird
seemed very different from another (a day-singer), which I had at the
time in confinement ; it was of a darker and more uniform colour, and
rather smaller than the generality of nightingales which I have seen ;
the tail, also, was shorter, and its attitudes, in general, more crouching.
It seemed of a remarkably tame and familiar disposition, and took to its
food much better than is usual with these birds when newly caught.
It died, however, about ten days after it was taken, and very much to
my surprise, for it fed heartily, was in good condition, and seemed in
every respect to have been thriving. The season at that time was too
far advanced for me to have thought of procuring another, and I was
compelled, in consequence, to postpone the further investigation of the
subject until another spring. These observations may, perhaps, appear
rather crude, as indeed they are, but I have been induced to offer them
in the hope of calling some attention to the subject. Possibly it may
yet be found that two distinct species of nightingale inhabit this
country, as similar, or even more so than the chiff-chaff and the willow-
wren, the distinctness of which no naturalist pretends to doubt.
Nothing, however, has been discovered as yet that can be said to con-
stitute any specific difference, and it is probable that the little diver-
sities which have been mentioned will eventually prove to be mere
accidental and individual peculiarities. The matter, nevertheless, is
worthy of further investigation, as marked varieties are extremely rare
among animals in a state of nature ; those which have been described
as such having, in almost every instance, been proved, by closer
research, to be in reality different and distinct species.

428 BRITISH BIRDS OF THE ROBIN KIND.

It would be of little use here to particularise, in detail, the characters
of the genus Philomela. Those who know the nightingale will be at
no loss to recognise its generic peculiarities, and to those who are un-
acquainted with the bird, the most elaborate technical description
would convey but an imperfect idea. The form is very similar to that
of a robin, excepting that it is in every way rather longer and more
slender. In manners, also, and general economy, the nightingales very
closely resemble the different species of Rubecula. As in that genus,
the young are at first mottled, each feather of the upper parts having a
whitish spot at the tip, and those of the under parts being edged with
black : this may be observed in all the British Rubeculince, but not in
the Sylviance. The plumage of the adults is sombre, of different
shades of brown, without spot or streak ; and (as in the other Rube-
culitHE), the feathers are thick, long, and puffy, but smooth, and very
pervious to water. They subsist entirely on living prey ; their food,
consisting of worms, and almost every description of insects ; especially
beetles, both in the grub and in the perfect state, and various large
moths (Tryphcence, &c.), which they find on the ground. The nest is
of very loose and simple construction, placed on the ground, or some-
times in a ditch bank, but always under covert of a thick bush, and
very difficult to discover : it is formed of decayed leaves, generally of
the oak (which, in such situations, frequently cover the ground), and
lined with dry grass, and sometimes horsehair. Their habits are truly
sylvan, their disposition shy and retired, and were not the retreat of
our British species always made known by its unrivalled song, it would
probably be considered rare, as its presence would scarcely be suspected.
As far as is at present known, the genus Philomela will contain but
two species, the Ph. luscinia and Ph. ntagna (Sylvia philomela, TEM.)
for from what M. Temminck says of his S. sericea, it seems probable
that that species will rank more naturally in some other genus, perhaps
in Horlicola ; but it is impossible to judge without having examined a
specimen.

The robin-redbreast and the different species of redstart constitute
another small, but very natural, genus, and which, though by different
names, has already been described as such by several authors: for
reasons already mentioned, I prefer the designation Rubecula, and
have termed the redbreast (Sylvia or Phcenicura rubecula of authors),
R.familiaris, a name to which none can object. The common redstart,
also, I should propose to distinguish by the specific name arborea,
rather than by rulicilla, or phcenicura ; terms which have been affixed

BRITISH BIRDS OF THE ROBIN KIND. 429

t<j th.s species, hut which are applicable alike to almost erveiy member
of the genus. The form of these birds is too well known to require a
description; it is intermediate between the nightingales (Philomela)
and the chats (Rubelra). It presents itself, however, under two slight
modifications, which differ a little in their habits ; one, exemplified in
the common redstart of this country ; the other, in the robin : their
respective peculiarities are, however, united in the black redstart
(R. tithys), which species may accordingly be selected as the standard
of the genus Rubecula^ These birds are all very partial to the vicinity
of man, a fact which, in the common redstart (R. arborea), is rather
singular, it being, nevertheless, one of the shyest birds we have.
The different species are remarkable (see page 290), each for a peculiar
tremulous movement of the tail; and there are but few persons, I
should imagine, who have not often noticed the jerk, or rather, bowing
motion of the robin-redbreast (accompanied often with a loud tit tit),
when he sees any object of distrust : this bow I have observed in the-
black redstart (R. tilhys), and occasionally also in the common redstart,
in the nightingale, in the common wren, and (during the breeding
season) in the gold-crested regulus: the magpie, also, has frequently a
similar movement. The species of Rubecnla nidificate in various
situations, such as the chinks and crannies of old walls, particularly if
covered with ivy or other plants; in the clefts of rocks, in church
steeples, or in various out- build ings, &c. The common redstart selects
frequently the hole of a tree ; and the redbreast usually prefers situa-
tions near the ground ; in a ditch bank, in the holes and mossy nooks
formed by the half-exposed roots of trees, and often in an old basket or
a flower-pot, if placed in a secluded situation. It may be observed,
however, in all these various locations, that iheRubeculce invariably select
some little snug recess wherein to rear its progeny ; and accordingly,
as might be expected, the nest is not of that firm compact structure,
which we observe generally in those which are more exposed to the
weather. It is composed, in most instances, principally of moss, and
lined with horse-hair, but in the redstarts' nests with soft feathers.
The young, as in all the other British Rubecnlince, are at first mottled,
in the manner above detailed of the young nightingales. It would be
needless here to describe the redbreast's song : that of the redstart is
plaintive and not unpleasing, and it often introduces the notes of other
birds : I have heard it imitate the blackcap very correctly, and also the
monotonous glittering note of the bunting (Emberiza miliaria). As
in the robin, its natural song is broken and interrupted, and not very

430 BRITISH BIKDS OF THE ROBIN KIND.

unlike that of the missel-thrush (Turdusviscivorus), only not nearly so
loud. Like that bird, also, it frequently sings as it flies from tree to
tree. The black redstart's song I have never heard, but have very
little doubt of its possessing one, though I have never yet met with a
description of it. The species, though common enough in many parts
of Europe, has but lately been discovered in Britain, and can only be
considered here as a rare and accidental straggler. It is a bird inter-
mediate between the common redstart and the robin ; like the former,
it is an expert flycatcher, and the sexes are very dissimilar in plumage ;
and as in the latter, its manners are remarkably familiar and domestic.
This bird, together with an Indian species, the Rubccula alrata,
has been beautifully figured in a volume of the ornithological illus-
trations, conducted by Mr. Selby, Sir W. Jardine, and other eminent
naturalists.

Genus Saxicola. It is not without due and careful consideration
that I have ventured to divide the chats (Rubetra) from the wheatears
(Saxicola). There appears, however, to be as much difference between
them as exists between the generic divisions Lanius and Collurio,
between Astur and Sparvius (Accipiler of some authors), Tyrannus and
Tyrannula, and many others which might be named, and which, as
separate genera, have been adopted by various writers of distinction.
They moreover differ as much from each other as the tAvo genera which
have been just described, Rubecnla and Philomela. The form of the
bill, in Rubetra, is more that of the fly-catcher than in Saxicola ; and
their respective habits are in accordance. The birds of the former genus
are smaller than those of the latter, and they require, at least in con-
finement, a more nutritious kind of food. The two British species of
Rubetra, like the nightingale, I have never found to thrive well in the
cage without much animal food, but the wheatear will subsist, and
thrive, upon bread crumbs and bruised hemp-seed. This latter food,
or rather a slight variation of it, crumbled buns being used instead of
bread, mixed with a little of the German paste sold in the shops, I have
found to be an excellent general food for most soft-billed birds ; the
redbreast, the wheatear, and many of the warblers (the Ficednlaz in
particular) will do well on this food only ; but the whinchat and stone-
chat require something more nourishing, and if they have not, every
day, a little meat given to them in addition, they will very soon die.
The general haunts, also, of the chats are somewhat different from those
of the wheatears. The former frequent chiefly commons overrun with
furze, and a few (particularly whinchats) may often be observed in the

BRITISH BIRDS OF THE ROBIN KIND. 431

more cultivated parts, in small inclosures, and along hedges by the
road- side, especially if there be a thick growth of weeds on the bank
beneath ; but the wheatears, the species to which I would restrict the
generic term Saxicola, are found more upon large open downs, and in
mountainous and rocky districts ; our British species abounds in many
parts of the sea-coast, and at the ebbing of the tide, may often be seen
on the sands, in great numbers, feeding upon the various marine insects,
&c. thrown up by the sea. A few may also be generally seen about
ploughed fields, in gravel-pits, and in the vicinity of old stone-walls ;
but they never haunt furze-brakes, the true habitat of the Rubetrce,
unless in the immediate neighbourhood of such situations as are above-
mentioned. The nest, in the few species of Saxicola (as here restricted)
whose nidification is known, is built on the ground, under covert of a
stone, or clod of earth ; frequently in a deserted rabbit-burrow, or in
the hole of a rock, or old wall. It is composed of dry grass and moss
intermixed with wool, and lined with the last mentioned material, and
generally (when it can be procured) with hair. The song of our native
species is pleasing and varied, and its notes are continuous and
unbroken ; not, as in the other British Rubeculince, delivered in short
interrupted staves. It is generally uttered as it suspends itself on the
wing over the female or the site of its nest. During the pairing season,
the manners of this bird are very amusing ; with tail expanded, and
wings a little spread, he jerks, and bobs, and flirts about, often appear-
ing as though he found it difficult to balance himself upon his perch.
A close observer may have noticed somewhat similar manners in the
chats, but in these birds they are hardly marked enough to attract par-
ticular notice, and would never, perhaps, have been observed at all, had
not the attention been excited previously by beholding them in the
wheatear. For the standard of the generic division Saxicola, might be
selected the russet wheatear (LATHAM) of southern Europe, (S. slapa-
zina, TEM.,) in preference to the wheatear of this country ; the latter
resembling too much the Rubetrce to be considered as the standard
species of its genus.

The common whinchat and stonechat of this country seem to be the
only European species of Rubetrce, the other various iraquets of M.
Temminck appearing all to range more naturally in the wheatear genus.
There are, however, I believe, several others found in different parts of
the old continent, and I lately saw a specimen of a bird of this genus
from New Holland, which excepting in being a little larger, was hardly
to be distinguished from the European stonechat. The general haunt*

432 BRITISH BIRDS OF THE ROBIN KIND.

of these birds have already been described. Their nests are placed upon
the ground, amongst the grass, or at the bottom of a furze or other bush,
very artfully concealed, the entrance not being from above, but often
by a long and winding path made through the adjoining herbage ; they
are composed chiefly of moss, and the dried stalks of grass, and lined with
horsehair and grass of a finer texture, and sometimes feathers. Their
song, as in most of the Rubeculin<e, is interrupted and broken, and the
notes of the whinchat closely resemble those of the common redstart*,
(Rtibecula arbored). As in that species, it frequently pours forth from
the top of a high tree ; a habit which I have never noticed in the only
British species of the neighbouring genus Saxicola. The Rubetrce,
when reared from the nest, are remarkable for their talent for mocking,
and even in the wild state I have heard them imitate the notes of other
birds very correctly. Le Vaillant mentions an African wheatear (tra-
quet imitaieur) that, in its wild state, imitates the notes of every bird
in its vicinity ; but it certainly is not a very usual habit among the wild
birds. The faculty, however, may be more or less observed in most of
the Rubeculince. A very curious fact, in the Rubetrce, is the amazing
predominancy of females among the young birds ; this was observed by
the Hon. and Rev. W. Herbert ; and out of five young whinchats and
four stonechats which I have this season reared from the nest, I have
obtained but one male of each species. In the furze-warbler, the white-
throat, and some other small birds, there is a similar preponderance of
the other sex. I may remark here, that the young cock stonechats may
readily be distinguished from the hens, in their nestling plumage, by a
large white spot on the wing, which, in the female birds, is of a light
brown.

The chats, like the rest of the Rubeculince, subsist on earth-worms,
and insects of all kinds : sometimes, in the manner of a flycatcher,
taking their prey on the wing ; they feed likewise greedily on small
snails, and on some kinds of berries; they are particularly fond of
beetles, and perched, as is their usual habit, on the topmost twig of
a bush, they can espy one crawling among the grass at a considerable
distance. Wilson observed the same habits in the American blue
bird (Sialia Wilsonii, SWAINSON), and in a note which Sir W. Jardine
has appended to his (Wilson's) admirable description of that species,

* They are, however, to be distinguished. Each stave of the redstart's song
usually begins with a long drawn, plaintive note, resembling fyare. The whin-
chat's notes commence generally with a sort of tit tit. — E. B.

BRITISH BIRDS OF THE ROBIN KIND. 4-33

the habits of our British Rubelrce are admirably potirtrayed. This
note I should have taken the liberty to have transcribed entire, had it
not been already cited at page 34. It contains, however, one remark,
to which I rather object. Sir William says, that " they alight at
intervals, run for some distance, and again remount to a fresh station."
M. Temminck also observes, " leur nourriture se compose uniquement
d'insectes, qu'ils saisissent le plus souvent en courant avec celerite ;
leur tarse souvent tres long les rend assez agiles coureurs." Mr.
Selby again remarks, in his " generic characters " of Saxicola, (which
term has always hitherto comprised both the wheatears and the chats,)
that " they run with much celerity, being enabled to do so by the great
proportional length of the tarsus." These several observations seem to
imply, that the mode of progression of these birds, when on the ground,
is not by successive hops, but by running, in the manner of the larks
and wagtails ; the latter, however, is not the case ; the wheatear, as
Mr. Selby afterwards observes, " hops with great celerity," and much
in the manner of a robin, and the chats also move forward by hopping,
though not exactly like the wheatear ; they dart forward a considerable
space at each spring, and hardly rising from the ground, really appear,
at a little distance, to move by running. These minutiae, trivial as
they may perhaps seem, are by no means to be disregarded, inasmuch
as they often render most essential assistance towards the grouping of
animals in a natural and proper manner. In this point of view, the
differences in the progressive motion of birds seem never to have been
sufficiently taken into consideration.

The Rev. G. White remarks, in the Natural History of Selborne,
that " whinchats and stonechatters stay with us the whole year."
This, in the whinchat, is very unusual, but a few stonechats may
generally be observed throughout the winter on most commons in the
south of England. Both species were, however, to be seen upon
Mitcham common last January. A few wheatears, also, are sometimes
observed during the winter months, and I have been, more than once,
informed, that nightingales and redstarts have been noticed so late as
in the last week in November. I cannot, however, corroborate this
from my own personal observation, but I think it not very improbable.
The whinchat and stonechat, in confinement, are rather tender birds,
and are remarkable for the curious and outre positions which they
continually assume ; attitudes which, in stuffed specimens, would be
declared quite unnatural by such as were unacquainted with the birds
when alive. The Rubetrce (especially the stonechat) and also the
Saxlcolae are further remarkable for perpetually flirting the tail.

434 BRITISH BIRDS OF THE ROBIN KIND.

It will appear from the foregoing observations, that the general
similarity which, in a systematic arrangement, approximates these
various species together may be traced, not only in their mere external
form, as studied in museums, but also in a variety of minute and
collateral resemblances ; in their mode of nidification, their manners,
their actions, even in their notes ; in short, in many of the most trivial
and minute particulars ; unimportant, perhaps, in themselves, con-
sidered singly and individually, but which all concentre and tend alike
to show that the arrangement which I have above proposed is not
founded merely upon a few arbitrary and artificial chararacters, like
the huge incongruous genera which some writers seem to prefer, but is
based likewise on a general consimilarity of habits, economy and mode
of life. In all the llubeculin<s it maybe observed, that the nest is
invariably placed either on the ground or in a hole ; never (as in most
of the warbler genera, Sylviance,} fixed among the twigs of a bush, or on
the forked branch of a tree, but always resting on a solid and substantial
basis. It is mostly of rather loose construction ; and the materials
and situation vary, in the several genera, according to the different
localities which they naturally inhabit. In all the species we may
observe a considerable resemblance in form and manners to the robin-
redbreast, the standard of the group ; a little modified, of course, in
the diiferent genera, but in each adapted peculiarly to the particular
mode of life allotted to its several species. I might here add a variety
of little trivial particulars, as further instances of the resemblance
which may be traced throughout these various birds, but enough has
been already mentioned to show that the arrangement is quite natural.
The peculiar double note, however, which all the species utter when a
person is near their nest, is worthy of being noticed : this, in the
nightingale, may be expressed by hweep ; hrveep, carre : in the red-
start, by htveet, tit tit tit ; htveet lit tit : in the robin, by a loud tit tit
tit, and now and then a long drawn plaintive note (between a
whistle and a hiss), which cannot be expressed in writing : the stone-
chat's note resembles hrveel, jur, jur ; htveet, jur : the whinchat's is
yeer, tip ; yeer, lip, tip : and the wheatear also has a note analogous,
but which I cannot accurately express in writing, from mere memory.
The common grey fly-catcher (Muscicapa grisola) has likewise a note
of this kind, which may be tolerably expressed by 1st, chit ; ist, chit,
chit.

The general characters of the Sylvianoe, or warblers, are well known
to every student of natural history, and it would be consequently of
little use here to dilate much on their peculiarities. The known

BRITISH BIRDS OF THE ROBIN KIND. 435

British species are all referable to three generic divisions, one of
which, Ficediila, has already been described in detail in the No.
of this Magazine for July last. The birds of this genus may be
distinguished easily (see page 300) by the form of the aperture
of the bill, and by the red* colour of the inside of the mouth,
which, in the other genera, is of an orange yellow. Their make is
slender and elegant, and presents itself under two slight modifications :
one rather more stoutly built, and more strictly and thoroughly fruc-
tivorous, of which the blackcap and the garden warbler maybe adduced
as examples ; the other exemplified in the furze warbler and white-
throat, more insectivorous, and, though fond of fruit, not so ravenously
so as the former, and living, in general, nearer the ground than those
birds. The babillard ( F. garrula), an intermediate species, may be
considered the standard of Ficedula. The nest, in this genus, is placed
usually in a low bush ; often, in the blackcap and garden warbler, in a
forked branch, at four or five feet from the ground ; and, in the ba-
billard, sometimes at the height of eight or nine feet, but most commonly
near the ground. It is of rather flimsy construction, but firmly put
together, composed chiefly of the withered stems of catchweed ( Galium
aparine), formed into a kind of basket-work, and lined with fine dry
grass and horse hair, and in some species with small fibrous roots. Their
song, generally, is continuous and uninterrupted ; in some species very
fine, usually beginning low and increasing in loudness as they proceed.
Their food insects, and almost every kind of fruit and berry ; their
habits and manners have already been described in detail, in the article
to which I have above alluded, (page 306,) wherein will be also found
a notice of the bird described by the Hon. and Rev. W. Herbert, under
the name of

The East Woodhay warbler, (Curruca Bidekensis, Herbert). This
species, I am inclined to suspect, from a careful perusal of the Euro-
pean Bee-fins of M. Temminck, will prove to be identical with the
bee-fin rubigeneux (Sylvia galactotes) of that author. Its superior
size to the Sylviance in general; "as large as a nightingale." Herbeit.
" 6 pouces, 6 lignes." Temminck ; (the nightingale Ph. luscinia mea-

* I was wrong in stating, in a note to page 307, that the garden warbler (Fice-
dula hortensis) was an exception to this rule. A nest of very young featherless
birds had been brought to me for garden warblers, in which the interior of the
mouth was yellow ; and, on my referring to Montagu's description of his Sylvia
hortensis, I found it stated, that " the pettychaps of Mr. Pennant seems to corre-
spond with this, except that the inside of the mouth of this inclines more to yellow
than red." Hence originated the mistake. — E. B.

436 BRITISH BIRDS OF THE ROBIN KIND.

suring, according to that author, six inches five lines).* The bright
rufous colour of the upper parts, and the " glossy silver colour " ( Her-
bert , "blanc Isabelle," Tern.)* of the under parts, all seem indicative of
their identity ; and the only particular which is at all at variance in
the two descriptions is, that Mr. Herbert mentions " a dark line over
the eye, " whereas M. Temminck observes, that " une bande brune va
du bee £ 1'ceil, et un sourcil blanc passe au-desstis. " The Sylvia galac-
totes is described by M. Temminck to be a new species, from the southern
provinces of Spain, much resembling in its form the Rousserolle
(Sylvia turdoides, Meyer;), and he makes the following rather remark-
able observations f : " I am not aware that this species inhabits reeds and
aquatic situations, but I range it provisionally in this (" the aquatic")
section ; it is only by means of a knowledge of its manners and habits
that the proper situation of this species can be determined with ac-
curacy, in the division of these birds into aquatic and sylvan sections."
From this remark of M. Temminck, I think it very probable, that the
species will rank neither in Ficedttla nor in Phragmites, but (perhaps
with S. turdoides') in a separate generic division ; and this view is
further corroborated by what the Hon. Mr. Herbert states of his East
Woodhay warblers, that " they were not in the least shy, but sat very
still either on a low branch of an oak tree, or some part of the fence,
and were quite mute." This trait in -their manners, in the month of
May, I need scarcely add, is entirely at variance with those of both the
fructivorous and the aquatic warblers, all the species of which are re-
markable for their extreme shyness and love of concealment. I may
here also observe, firstly, that the general form and structure of the
members of these two genera are much too distinct to be ever con-
founded by any person of the least discrimination ; and, secondly, that
the habits alone of these birds will not, in every instance, indicate the
genus to which they belong. M. Temminck says of the grasshopper
warbler, (Phragmites locustella,') that "it frequents the borders of
xivers ; that it feeds on the insects, &c. natural to such situations ; and
that its nest is built among the reeds, or in large tufts of herbage."
Every syllable of which is either quite incorrect, and demonstrative of

* This tinge of buff (Isabelle), probably very faint, was most likely overlooked
•by Mr. Herbert, who only saw the bird when in a state of liberty. — E. B.

•f J'ignore si 1'espece habite les roseaux et les bords des eaux, je la range pro-
visoirement dans cette section ; car seulement la eonnaissance des moeurs et des
habitudes pent determiner au juste la place qu'on doit ltd assignor, dans la section
des riverains ou bien des sylvains.

BRITISH BIRDS OF THE ROBIN KIND. 437

the inaccuracy of all descriptions written from mere analogy, or, what
is very improbable, the habits of the grasshopper warbler on the conti-
nent differ essentially from the habits of the same species in this
country, I could point out, however, a number of other similar inaccu-
racies in the Manuel d'Ornithologie, if there were necessity for so
doing, but shall here merely remark, that however high M. Tem-
minck's authority may stand on other points, and I have not the
slightest shadow of a wish to detract from his real merits, still what
little he says on the manners and habits of birds, is by no means to be
implicitly relied on. The grasshopper warbler, though it belongs most
decidedly to the genus of aquatic warblers (Phragmites}, the habits of
which, in most instances, are such as M. Temminck has described those
of this species to be, is never found (like its congeners) on the borders
of streams and ditches, but upon open moors and commons, overgrown
with brambles, furze, and underwood ; sometimes, it is true, haunting
low damp situations, but not unfrequently places where no signs of
moisture are visible.

The aquatic warblers (Phragrnites) are a very distinct group from
the Ficedulce, and resemble more, in their manners, the pettychaps or
willow-wren genus (Sylvia). They are distinguished by having the
forehead and crown remarkably low, and flat; the wings, in most
species, very short, and rounded ; the tail invariably wedge-shaped ;
in some instances rather long ; the bill strong, often much dilated at
the base, and, in some species rather longer than in most of the
Sylviance ; the aperture straight, and anterior to the eye — not, as in
the Ficedulce, descending with a curvature below the eye. The plu-
mage is generally sombre, of different shades of olive ; in some species
plain, in others more or less marked with spots of a darker colour, and
sometimes a light streak over the eye. The species are pretty nume-
rous, and appear divisible into two or three sections, in one of which
might be comprised (with various other species) the reed and sedge
warblers of this country ; and another might be formed, to contain
the grasshopper warbler, and probably, also, the Sylvia certhiola of
M. Temminck. They chiefly frequent marshy places, and the borders
of lakes and rivers ; are all, I believe, migratory, and very shy and
impatient of being observed. The nest, in the three British species,
varies considerably in structure and situation ; the birds, indeed, are
not what is commonly called very " nearly allied." Speaking how-
ever, of the genus generally, the nest is usually formed of the coarser
grasses, and the seed-tops of reeds, with sometimes a little moss, and

VOL. i. — NO, x. (OCTOBER, 1833.) *c K

438 BRITISH BIRDS OF THE KOBIN KIND.

lined with fine dry grass and horse-hair. It is placed generally in a
low bush, or among the low side branches of a poplar or willow tree
near the water ; or it is firmly bound (in some species) to a few con-
tiguous reed-stems. The construction is thicker and more solid than
in the nests of the Ficedulce, the quantity of material being much
greater ; and it is usually very deep, in most species nearly oval.
Their song consists generally of a great variety of guttural, grinding
notes, by no means unpleasing, and may be heard alike at all hours, by
night as well as by day. That of the grasshopper warbler, however
(if song it can be called), is very peculiar. Mr. Selby describes it
well, as 'f a sort of sibillant ringing cry." It is a singular, continuous,
rattling, or rather thrilling sound*, beginning generally very low, and
becoming, in about a minute, loud enough to be heard at a considerable
distance : this continues for several minutes without intermission, and
is uttered with a kind of ventriloquism, the bird continuing in one
place, while the voice would intimate that it was perpetually shifting
its situation. This species has been represented as extremely rare in
the neighbourhood of London, a statement which does not correspond
with my observation, as I have heard, and indeed shot, several within
five or six miles of the metropolis. I have known them to breed on
Streatham Common, and likewise on Penge Common f, within that
distance of London ; also on Wimbledon Common, and (in great num-
bers) in a particular part of Coombe Wood^:, where, on a summer
evening, the whole place -seems in a thrill with them. In this neigh-
bourhood they are amongst the earliest of the summer birds of passage,
making their appearance generally about the first or second week in
April ; and, on their first arrival, are easy enough to procure, as they
then often expose themselves, at all hours, on the topmost twig of a
bramble or other bush, repeating, almost incessantly, their monotonous,
unvaried cry. After a week or ten days, however, (that is, when the
female has arrived,) these birds no longer expose themselves, but skulk
all day in silence amongst the thickest brambles, rarely commencing

• It bears not the slightest resemblance to the shrill and not unpleasing cry of
the common shrew (Sorex araneus), the species whose faint chirping cry was once
thought by Solitarius to proceed from the grasshopper- warbler. See page 403 —
E. B.

t Amongst the brambles and underwood, on the left side of the Croydon canal
going from town. I have never observed them on the other side. — E. B.

J The low ground about Coombe Bridge ; I have heard them also in various
parts of the wood.— E. B.

BRITISH BIRDS OF THE ROBIN KIND. 439

their chant until the setting of the sun, but continuing then, with
very little intermission, throughout the night. Their note considerably
resembles that of the mole-cricket (Gryllotalpa vulgaris) ; and it has
been suggested by Montagu, that as it is chiefly uttered at the time
these singular insects are about, it may possibly serve also as a decoy
to inveigle them to their destruction; had this, however, been in-
tended, it is probable that both sexes would have been endowed with
the same deceptive cry ; whereas, the female grasshopper warbler is,
it is believed, quite mute.

In one of the excellent and original notes to White's " Natural
History of Selborne," by the Hon. and Rev. W. Herbert, to which I
have -already so often referred, is a figure and description of the nest
of an aquatic warbler, found by that gentleman in the neighbourhood
of his residence, at Spofforth in Yorkshire, and which is now in his
possession. The owners having deserted it, there was of course no
method of ascertaining the species to which it belonged ; but it is, most
decidedly, the nest of a bird of this genus, and different from that of
any of the species whose nidifi cation is known. It contained one small,
acute, white egg. M. Temminck states, but without mentioning his
authority, that several specimens of the bouscarle (Phragmifes cetti,
Sylvia celli, MARMORA) have been killed in England, and that it is here
probably always confounded with the reed warbler (Ph. arundinacea) .
He infers, also, from this, that the species is probably more widely dis-
tributed than naturalists are aware of; but as, excepting in this in-
stance, the bouscarle has never been found but in the south of Europe,
it is more than probable that that author was misinformed. All the
aquatic warblers whose nests are known, with the exception of the
grasshopper warbler, lay spotted eggs * ; and I think it extremely
probable that the species, the nest of which was found by Mr.
Herbert, will turn out to be new, and hitherto undescribed.

The generic division Sylvia being now rendered sizeable, and limited
to one only of the numerous and dissimilar groups, or natural genera,

* The egg of the bouscarle is of an extremely dark colour, and not very unlike
that of the tree pipit (Anthus arboreus). This bird, together with its nest and eggs,
forms one of the very best of Shintz's coloured engravings of the European Sylviadce.
The colouring of these plates, in most instances, is very correct, but the figures
are, in general, most execrable, having evidently been taken from villainously stuffed
specimens. Most of the numerous representations,* however, of the nests, and
eggs, are admirable. — E. B.

KK2

440 BRITISH BIRDS OF THE ROBIN KIND.

which it was once made to comprise, contains three well-known British
species ; and I have reason to suspect one, if not two others, which
have hitherto escaped the attention of British ornithologists. I have
termed the genus by the English name pdtychups, in preference to
willow-wren, the latter not being at all applicable to these birds, and
implying that they particularly frequent willows, which is not the case.
Pellychaps is not quite so euphonical a term as could be wished, but
it is well known to most readers of natural history, as having been
employed by many writers to denote the garden warbler (Ficedula
hortensis), and also the chiff-chaff (Sylvia loquax, HERBEIIT), contra-
distinguished from each other by the appellations larger and lesser-
How the garden warbler came to be so termed is not easy to imagine,
as it is one of the strongest billed birds of its genus ; and it is as diffi-
cult to conceive how the chiff-chaff came to be considered as a sort of
diminutive of the garden- warbler, there being no manner of resemblance
between them ; but chiefly, I suppose, from a disinclination to alter
established names, however inappropriate. The terms greater and
lesser petty chaps, have been adopted for these two dissimilar birds by
most of the British writers on ornithology. The name Pettychaps is
certainly very expressive of the delicate little beaks of the Sylvice (as
now restricted), and I have therefore employed the term as a general
appellation for the various members of this genus ; it being as well
always, I think, as far as possible, to have a vernacular designation for
every generic division.

Sir James E. Smith (as quoted by Mr. Loudon) has well remarked,
in botany, that " while Rosa, Rubus, Quercus, Salix, Ficus, Cypri-
pedium, Epimedium, and Begonia exist, it will be in vain to deny
that generic distinctions are founded in nature, although botanists may,
as yet, be very far indeed from having discovered them all correctly.1'
That this remark applies with equal force to the other branches of na-
tural history, all, who have given them a study, cannot fail to testify. In
ornithology natural genera certainly do exist, but as the number of
species is not near so great as in botany, so also the several genera are
much less extensive. It is, therefore, possible, the generic divisions
being small, that the specific names can, in most instances, be rendered
significant and exclusively appropriate, each expressive of some pecu-
liarity not to be observed in the other members of the genus. Impressed
with a belief in this possibility, I have ventured, together with some
other alterations, to change the name of one species of Sylvia for a name
which I consider better and more expressive of a specific peculiarity,

BRITISH BIRDS OF THE ROBIN KIND. 44-1

but, in doing so, I think I have selected a term which cannot give rise
to any confusion, because the other known species of the genus do not
possess the peculiarity which this altered name implies. The yellow or
willow-wren of British authors (Pouillet of the French) is particularly
distinguished from its congeners by possessing a delightful and truly
melodious song, and I have therefore termed the species Sylvia melodia,
in preference to S. trocldlus, a name which it has hitherto borne, but
which, as it is without any definite meaning, might with equal pro-
priety be affixed to any other member .of the genus, which melodia
could not.

The members of the genus Sylvia are beautiful, delicate little birds,
so similar to each other in appearance that few common observers
distinguish them. They have no varied song like the Ficedula, but
uniformly, with very little variation, reiterate the same run of notes,
which, in the three common British species, is remarkably dissimilar,
considering the close resemblance of the birds. They chiefly frequent
woods and the neighbourhood of large trees, but one species (the willow
wren, or garden pettycbaps, S. melodia) is found abundantly in almost
every other situation, by the road-side, in gardens, and amongst the
brambles and furze on commons. Their bills are small and weak, and
of the true warbler form ; their plumage chaste and inobtrusive, always
more or less tinged with green and yellow, with a light streak over the
eye, in some species broad and well defined. The nest is built upon
the ground, amongst the herbage, or occasionally in a low bush ; some-
times, in the wood- wren, against the trunk of a tree; it is of an oval
form, with a rather wide opening near the top, composed of dead leaves,
dry grass, and moss, and lined with a profusion of feathers ; but in
that of the wood-wren invariably with fine dry grass and horse hair-
All the species have a very plaintive cry when any one is near their
nest : that of the wood wren is not peculiarly dolorous, it may be ex-
pressed by tee-yip. The willow- wren's is hui, or rather heu-ee; and
that of the chiff-chaff is extremely similar, thotigh not so much so but
that it may be distinguished, being uttered in rather a different key,
and it does not articulate the two syllables so distinctly as the willow-
wren. The food of the Sylvias consists chiefly of aphides, small
caterpillars, and the smaller winged insects, which latter are frequently
taken on the wing, in the manner of a fly-catcher (Muscicapa).

As the birds of this genus have been, and still are, very much con-
fused, I shall conclude this long (and, I fear, tedious) paper, by en-
deavouring to elucidate the several species as far as I am able. Three
species are very common in the south of England j these are

442 BRITISH BIRDS OF THE ROBIN KIND.

The wood-wren, or shivering pettychaps, (S. sibilatrix) ; very easily
distinguishable from the others by its broad, well defined, yellow eye
streak, by the brighter green of the upper parts, and by the pure silvery
white of the belly and under tail-coverts, which latter in the other
species are tinged with yellow. The gape of its mouth is wider, and
the tibia bone of the leg shorter than in the others ; its attitudes are,
in general, more crouching, and its wings are longer, extending, when
closed, more than half way down the tail. It chiefly frequents oak and
beech woods, and is never heard but in the vicinity of high trees, where
it may be recognised easily by its remarkable shivering note, resembling
twit, trvil, twit, tit, tit, tit, tit, ti-ti-ti-i-i-i, beginning slow, but gra-
dually becoming quicker and quicker, until it dies away in a kind of
thrill. During the utterance of this it shivers its wings in a remark-
able manner.

The willow- wren, or garden pettychaps, (S. melodia). This is much
the most abundant of the genus, arriving in this country early in the
month of April, (the wood- wren does not make its appearance till the
very end of that month), and haunting alike all situations, the fields
and the woods, the road-side, the gardens and the commons. It is
eminently distinguished from its congeners, by its charming and truly
melodious song, consisting generally of ten or twelve extremely sweet
and musical notes, being a repetition of the sound heu-ee, delightfully
modulated, each succeeding note being uttered a little deeper than the
preceding, like running down the notes of a gamut, but laying a greater
stress on the concluding three or four ; or, to express it still more mi-
nutely, the stress in the first notes is placed more on the latter syllable
ee, becoming gradually greater upon heu. These notes, (or rather this
repetition of one note), though they constitute the whole extent of the
willow-wren's song, are nevertheless most pleasingly varied, being
sometimes extremely loud, at other times uttered in a very soft and
low tone ; then, perhaps, they are delivered in a different key, or with
a few additional notes : sometimes two syllables are distinctly articu-
lated, at other times only one ; in short, this little bird, in my opinion,
is one of the most pleasing songsters we possess ; and, as in the spring
it is one of the first of the migratory birds to greet us with its melody,
so also, in the autumn, it is generally the very first to resume its song,
having often finished its moult by the first week in July. It is of
about the same size as the wood-wren, or perhaps a trifle smaller ; the
whole plumage of the upper parts is darker, inclining more to olive;
the eye-streak, though tolerably well defined, is of a more dingy colour,
and not so broad and conspicuous as in the wood-wren ; the under

BRITISH BIRDS OF THE ROBIN KIND.

parts, also, are more dingy ; and the under tail-coverts are tinged with
yellow, a character by which it may always be at once distinguished
from the wood- wren, in which these feathers are of the purest white.
The legs (tarsi) and feet of the willow-wren are of a yellow brown,
forming the best distinctive character between it and the chiff-chaff,
the legs and feet of which are of a dark brownish black.

The chiff-chaff pettychaps, (S. loquax). This species, though very
well known to the naturalists of this country, seems to have been
altogether overlooked on the continent, or confounded with the rufous
pettychaps, (S. nifa.) It assimilates most closely in appearance to
the willow-wren (S. melodia), but may be distinguished by being
rather smaller, and of a rather darker hue ; but more especially by the
different colour of the legs and feet, and by the comparative shortness of
the wings, which in this species, when closed, hardly reach to the tail.
Its song, also, differs most essentially from that of the willow-wren,
and consists but of two notes, resembling chik, chah, chik, chah, chik,
chah, repeated ten or twelve times in monotonous succession, and
which, as the excellent observer White remarks, are often uttered with
such emphasis as to cause a distinct echo in hollow woods. These
notes, however, are not always exactly as above represented ; sometimes
they are nearly monotonous, and at other times they may be expressed
better by tsick, tsing, tsick, tsing ; and occasionally, but rarely, a note
like chrah, chruh, is introduced : but that these all proceed from one
and the same species I have ascertained by means of the gun. Though
this is the smallest of the three common species, the tibia bone of the
leg is longer than in either the willow-wren or the wood-wren. It is
the earliest of the summer birds of passage, (at least, of the migratory
Sylviadce,') and in these parts, is generally first heard about the close of
the month of March. Like the willow-wren and the wood-wren, it
sometimes sings as it flies from tree to tree.

In a monograph of these birds, by the Hon. and Rev. W. Herbert,
in one of his notes to White's Selborne, mention is made of a species
distinct from either of the above, under the name of the ching-ching,
or monotonous wren (pettychaps), which he considers to be identical
with the bee-Jin a poitrine jaune, (Sylvia hippolais,} of M. Temminck.
He adds further, that " it frequents trees in woods, and may be seen
very conspicuous upon oak trees, before the leaves are full grown,
articulating its monotonous ching, ching, ching. I observed and
listened to one for a long time last week, on the twenty-eighth of May,
on some oak trees in Coombe Wood, near Kirigston-upon-Thames, at

444 BKITISH BIRDS OF THE KOBIN

which time the hen bird, which I eould not perceive, was probably
sitting amongst the thick underwood." I have invariably found the
measurements and descriptions of plumage in M. Temminck '$ Manuel
to be most scrupulously correct, as far as could possibly have been
taken from museum specimens ; and I have therefore very much
wondered that the whole of our British writers on ornithology should
have considered the Sylvia hippolais of that author to have been
identical with the common chiff-chaff of this country. The chiff-chaff
(£. hippolais of British naturalists) is a smaller species than the
willow-wren, the latter measuring, as Temminck correctly states, about
four inches, five or six lines * ; but the S. kippofais of the continental
writers is a mnch larger bird, and measures, acccording to the same
author, five inches, four or five lines. M. Temminck's description,
also, of the plumage of his bee-Jin h poiirine jaune, does not accord
with that of the chiff-chaff, and it is therefore clear, that two distinct
birds have hitherto been jumbled together under the one name Sylvia
hippolais. Mr. Herbert, however, is wrong in considering his ching-
ching to be the S. hippolais of the continental writers, for I find, by
the most careful and minute comparison, that the polyglot (the bird
described at page 50 of this magazine, under the name of " the
arbour bird," Horticola polygloita,} is the species intended ; and I
was incorrect, therefore, myself, at page 204, in stating that Tem-
minck's S. hippolais referred, not to the Horticola, but to the ching-
ching. I have now before me a specimen of the polyglot, which cor-
responds exactly to a feather with M. Temminck's description of
S. hippolais; it bears not the least resemblance to the different
willow- wrens, excepting in the colour of its plumage ; its bill is large,
and of the nightingale form ; longer, and not quite so thick as it is
represented at page 52, and the rictorial bristles, also, are not so
large and conspicuous as they are there made to appear. The under
mandible of the bill, as Temminck states, is white; in the chiff-chaff
it is of a dark colour ; and the whole plumage of the under parts (in
the Horticola) is of one uniform pale brownish yellow. Its general
structure is much like that of a Ficedula, but it differs from that
genus in the form of its bill, and in its never feeding upon fruit. Its
nest, a fine specimen of which I lately examined, is of a very beautiful
and solid construction, and is well represented at page 49. It is the
bastard nacligall of Bechstein ; the grand pauillot of Cuvier ; and the

* French measure.

BRITISH BIRDS OF THE ROBIN KIND. 445

Sylvia polyglot ta of Vieillot and Banzani. That a bird exists,
however, in this country, such as Mr. Herbert has described, I hardly
entertain a doubt, though my endeavours to procure a specimen have
hitherto been ineffectual. Several gamekeepers and others to whom
I have spoken on the subject, recognised the species directly ; but all
described it as being very rare, and extremely difficult to procure on
account of its shyness. In opposition, however, to what Mr. Her-
bert has stated, they say that it never mounts up into the trees,
like the other species, but skulks about always amongst the thickest
underwood, and that it may often be followed for hours together before
a momentary view of it can be obtained. Of its nest I have been able
to learn nothing, but I very strongly suspect that I have had a young
bird of the species in confinement.

Happening in the month of August, last year, to call at a bird-
catcher's in London, who deals largely in the various summer birds of
passage, I observed, in a cage containing about a dozen young chiff-
chaffs and willow wrens, one small bird of this genus which I had never
seen before, and what I felt confident was new and undescribed. I
purchased it, together with a couple of chiff-chaffs to keep it company,
having always observed that these little birds thrive best in society ;
but being at the time particularly engaged in business, and not being
able to pay that attention to it which it required, I confided it to the
care of a man who seemed to understand the management of caged birds,
until such time as I could attend to it properly myself. I saw it twice in
the course of the following week, and it appeared to be doing well ; but
on my calling a third time, a few days afterwards to take it away, I found
to my regret that it was dead, and had been unfortunately thrown away.
This bird was about the same size as the chiff-chaff, but of a stouter make.
It was in its nestling plumage, which very much resembled that of the
young chiff-chaff, excepting that the belly was white j (I may observe
here, that the nestling plumage of the S. loquax is of a finer yellow,
and much more beautiful than that of the adult bird ; and that the
same difference is observable in the S. melodia). Its manners and
actions, however, differed in a striking degree from those of the chiff-
chaff, and when held in the hand it always screamed out lustily, in a
manner which I have never observed in either of the three common
species, all of which I have kept in confinement. This bird, I am
almost positive, must have been of the species which Mr, Herbert has
described. It was taken in Kensington gardens.

M. Temminck, in his account of the rufous pettychaps (S. rufa),

446 BRITISH BIRDS OF THE ROBIN KIND.

alludes to one or two birds which he 'thinks will turn out to be mere
varieties of that species ; these I think may possibly refer to our chiff-
chaff. I have specimens of both these birds now before me. The
rufous petty chaps is shorter and stouter built than the chiff-chaff; its
legs and feet are of a very light colour, and the ridge of its bill is more
depressed than in that bird. The colour of the upper parts, in both,
is nearly the same, but inclining more to brown in the former, and to
green in the latter. The whole under parts of the former have a faint
but decided tinge of russet brown ; and the feathers on the thighs
(tibice'), which in the chiff-chaff are yellow, in the rufous pettychaps
are of a pale, brown. Both -species utter the same, or nearly the same
peculiar double note. The rufous pettychaps, according to M. Tem-
minck, inhabits large woods, and especially fir and pine plantations,
the same is said also of the chiff-chaff, but I cannot corroborate this
from my own observation, for out of hundreds of these birds which I
have heard, I never remember to have noticed one in a fir-tree. The
rufous pettychaps is found in Germany, France, and Holland, and per-
haps the birds which in this country are observed particularly to affect
fir-trees, will turn out, upon examination, to be of that species, con-
founded hitherto with. the chiff-chaff from the similarity of their notes.
The young of these two birds, I am informed, are very dissimilar, those
of S. rufa, being of a dark ashy brown ; but their eggs are hardly to be
distinguished.

There is in the British Museum, in a room exclusively set apart for
the reception of British specimens, a well-preserved skin of the Nat-
terer's pettychaps (S. nattereri), a species which is described as an
inhabitant of the south of Europe. Whether or not this really is a
British specimen I cannot pretend to determine, but I can find no
account of the species ever having been found in this country. Unless
it is thoroughly ascertained to have been killed in Britain, it certainly
ought not to be placed in a collection of (exclusively) British spe-
cimens.

I may remark, in conclusion, that throughout the whole range of
ornithology there is not a more natural genus than Sylvia, as thus
restricted; indeed, I feel confident that the whole of the arrangement
here proposed will meet the approbation of all who are acquainted
with the living birds. The generic divisions may appear rather small,
perhaps unnecessarily so to those who have studied only in museums ;
but they certainly are not more so than the genera which are almost
universally adopted in entomology, and in other departments of natural

NOTES BY RURICOLA. 447

history. I scruple not to assert, that they are divisions clearly and
distinctly indicated by nature ; and if it be agreed that the old genus
Sylvia is to be divided at all, the British species ought certainly to
range in as many separate divisions as are here pointed out. Whether
or not, however, these divisions are to be considered as genera is a
matter of minor importance, about which difference of opinion may
exist. The divisions are quite necessary to the establishment of a
natural system of arrangement ; and, as each is easily distinguishable
from the others by decided and marked characters, each, I think,
should be considered as a separate genus, and known as such by a
particular name. I am of opinion, also, that the various American
warblers (Sylvicola of authors) should likewise be arranged into seve-
ral generic divisions. Their habits, as described by Wilson, are much
too varied for any one natural genus ; but those only who have studied
the different species in their native haunts, and who have acquired an
intimate and minute knowledge of their several habits, their manners,
their nidification, their various notes, and their several respective pecu-
liarities, can be competent to classify them in a natural and satisfactory
manner. To attempt such an arrangement from their mere skins,
would be little better than a useless waste of time.
Tooting, 18tk August, 1833.

NOTES BY RURICOLA.

IT has so happened that three wasps' nests have fallen in my way
this year, of very different appearances, and in very different situations.

One was discovered in the spring, in April, I think, or May, in an
empty bee-box in a bee house. It was fastened to the upper part of
the box, and contained two wasps only. It is in my possession still,
apparently perfect and uninjured : of a shape approaching to oval, but
somewhat imperfect towards the lower extremity, near the opening.
It has been remarked as having some resemblance in shape to a peg-

top. In length it is not quite two inches : the diameter of the widest
part is about one inch and a half. The structure appears to consist of

448 NOTES BY RURICOI.A.

two cases, one within the other, and not connected together except at
the upper extremity : the material much resembling to the eye a coarse
greyish paper, with alternate darker and lighter stripes or bands going
breadthwise round the fabric. The figure is represented at A : the
dimensions about one-half less than those of the nest itself.

Different from this was another small nest found by a gentleman in
my neighbourhood, suspended from a twig in a beech hedge : the end
of the twig being woven into the fabric, and serving for its support.
This is shaped more like a pear than an egg ; perhaps a cabbage rose
may be an apt comparison : being broader and flatter at the upper
extremity, and verging towards a point at the lower part, which contains
the opening. The length of this is about two and a half inches, and the
greatest diameter in the other direction rather more. Of this second
nest I am not able to send you a sketch.

The third specimen was taken in my grounds this month, August
16th. It is in shape rather spheroidal, the axes being respectively
six and seven inches, that from the top to the bottom the greater of the
two. As well as I can judge without taking the nest to pieces,

it consists of several cuticles lapped over each other latitudinally,
with alternate shades as in the first mentioned. It was found de-
pending from the end of a branch of spruce fir, as represented at B, the
smaller twigs and leaves being interwoven with the structure : and it
contained a large number of insects. The species I suppose to be that
of the Vespa Britannica, or tree wasp, mentioned in your book on
"Insect Architecture," p. 81. It is considerably smaller than the
common wasp : the front of the head of a pale yellow ; seven narrow
•bands of yellow round the body, interchanged with others of a dingy or
blackish green ; the legs of a bright orange ; the animal in general
covered with grey hairs. I am no entomologist, as you will readily

NOTES BY RURICOLA. 4 H)

perceive: but perhaps the foregoing particulars will enable you to
identify the animal : and I beg the favour of a marginal note informing
me whether this conjecture is right, and to what species it is probable
that the two other nests belong.

Dr. Withering in his " Arrangement of British Plants," speaking of
individuals of the common mushroom (Agaricus campestris) as " dif-
fering very much in size/' adds, " I gathered one whose pileus
measured nine, inches over." It may, therefore, perhaps be worth
noticing, that one was lately brought to me, measuring eleven inches
over by the longest diameter, and ten and a half by the shortest. The
stem was nine inches high, and large in proportion. It grew at the
side of a meadow, under the shade of firs and other trees: and on
being broiled proved very good for eating.

I should be glad to be made acquainted through your pages with the
scientific name * of a small marine animal, culled by sailors the little
man of war. It is in length about an inch and a quarter, and about a
quarter of an inch in breadth : consisting of a flat, hardish, glutinous,
purple substance, which floats upon the water; and a thin light-
coloured membrane, which is capable of being erected, and kept per-
pendicular to the former. A specimen, Avhich I possess, was found in
the autumn of 1831, together with a numberless multitude of others,
on the northern coast of the county of Antrim, not far from the village
of Ballintoy, and onwards to the little seaport of Portrush. From
inquiries on the spot, addressed to various persons in the habit of
frequenting that shore, and particularly to a clergyman who had passed
many years there, and had been very observant of the natural productions
of the neighbourhood, I could not learn that this little animal had ever
been noticed there before. A naval officer immediately recognised it
as familiarly known to him by the name of the little man of war,
which, however he said that he had never before seen within three
hundred miles of land.

Holy wood, Ireland, Aug. 22, 1833.

* Evidently a Medusa. I cannot pronounce with certainty either on the species
of tins or on those of the wasps.

450

SIR WILLIAM JARDINE ON MONKEYS.*

WE have hitherto known Sir William Jardine chiefly as a writer on
birds. Here he comes before us in a different department of the ani-
mated creation, of no less interest both to the naturalist and the general
reader. What we regret the most, however, both in the present and
the preceding volumes of this publication is, that Sir William is, from
the nature of his subject, restricted wholly to compilation, whereas had
he chosen some other departments he could have given us good original
observations, such as those with which he has enriched his highly
valuable edition of Wilson's American Ornithology.^ The compilation
is, notwithstanding, judiciously executed, the drier scientific details
being relieved at intervals with interesting anecdotes and traits of cha-
racter. But the selection of the subject has evidently been made not
so much for the display of the author's materials as on account of the
coloured figures^ which in general do great credit to Mr. Lizars, par-
ticularly in the instances of drawings made from nature ; for the copies
from F. Cuvier and Audebert retain so much of their Frenchified air
as to be easily recognisable. The colouring is in most of the figures too
bright and showy for nature ; as an instance of which we may refer to
plate 20, where Aides paniscus, whose colour is jet black, is coloured
blueish grey ; while the tip of the tail, whose colour is also black, with
a thick callous skin like the heel of a negro, is coloured light pink,
giving it the look of being thin and tender.

The memoir of Buffon is well written, but greatly too short, and its
shortness may probably account for the omission of one of the most
instructive passages in the life of the great French naturalist. For the
benefit of our younger as well as of our older readers, who may riot
have met with it, we shall here insert the omitted passage as given by
Buffon himself to the Chevalier Aude.

" I was," he says, " a great lover of my bed in my youth. My poor
Joseph " (a servant who lived with him more than sixty years) "assisted
greatly to conquer that propensity. I promised him a crown every time
he roused me at six. The next morning he did not fail to do his duty,
but I repulsed him ; he came the morning after, and I threatened to
turn him out of the room. ' Thou hast .gained nothing, Joseph, and I

* The Naturalist's Library. Mammalia. Vol I. Monkeys. By Sir William
Jardine, Bart, &c. &c. Coloured plates.

SIR WILLIAM JAUDINE ON MONKEYS. 451

have lost my time/ said I to him at noon; ' you know not how to manage
me ; think only of my promise, and do not listen to my threats.' The
next morning he fulfilled my wishes, by forcing me to rise in spite of
'my ill-humour ; and every succeeding day he was indemnified for my
cross temper when I awoke by my thanks and a crown, which he
received an hour after ; indeed, I owe to my poor Joseph ten or twelve
volumes of my works."

We must now pass on to the Monkeys, and shall begin with the
general observations introductory to the histories of individual species.
The following are some of the just and excellent remarks made by the
author upon the striking differences between the orang-outang and
man : —

" The parts," says Sir William Jardine, " allotted for locomotion in the most
man-like monkey are unfitted for sustaining an upright attitude, while they are
beautifully adapted to perform all the requisites of a sylvan life.

" The first distinction that would undoubtedly strike an observer of an orang and
human being placed in the same enclosure would be the positions and attitudes ;
and a closer attention would soon convince that the corresponding members in each,
while beautifully formed for their proper uses, could not be employed to perform
similar actions with an equal degree of strength, firmness or ease.

" Few persons in the present era will assert

' Men have four legs by nature,

And that 'tis custom makes them go
Erroneously upon but two.'

While the fact that no nation in the world assumes any except the erect attitude,
will be sufficiently conclusive without making use of the many arguments which
might be drawn from the adaptation of structure. Let us now see how this agrees
with the natural gait of the orangs. In man the limbs, the principal organs of
progression, and of maintaining the upright position, are equal in length to the
head and trunk together, while the upper extremities are comparatively short. The
glutei muscles are the largest in the human body, and the gastrocnemi, or calf, are
of immense power, and terminate in a powerful cord inserted in the extremity of
the bone, forming the heel or os calcis. These, however, would be insufficient
without a surface or base on which the trunk itself could rest ; and we find this
supplied by a broad and capacious pelvis, with which the thigh-bones form a right
angle by means of the length of the cervix femoris, or neck of the thigh-bone. In
the orangs, on the contrary, and indeed in all monkeys, the lower extremities are
comparatively short, while the upper or arms are very long, so as to allow the
knuckles to be applied to the ground when the animal is nearly erect, and which
is, in fact, the mode of progression always adopted when necessity requires this
position. The black orang, noticed by Dr. Tyson, advanced in this manner, and
that dissected by Dr. Trail was observed never to place « the palms of the hands on
the ground.' Dr. Abel's red orang performed the progressive motion by placing

4-58 SIR WILLIAM JARDINE ON MONKEYS,

his bent fists upon the ground and drawing his body between his arms.' The nar-
rowness of the pelvis, and the short neck of the femur, forming an acute angle with
the spine, also render the erect position impossible for any time and always irksome,
which is farther confirmed by the weakness of the muscles. The glutei are scarcely
visible, and the calves are very weak.

" The extensors of the knee are much stronger in the human subject than in
other mammalia, as their operation of extending the thigh forwards on the leg
forms a very essential part in the human mode of progression. The flexors of the
knee are, on the contrary, stronger in animals, and are inserted so much lower
down, even in the monkeys, that the cord which they form keeps the knee habitu-
ally bent, and almost prevents the perfect extension of the leg on the thigh. < The
motion of the knee-joint in the black orang was free backwards, but the animal
does not seem capable of perfect extension of this joint from the contraction of the
posterior muscles of the limb.'

" The most remarkable muscle about the top of the thigh has not been noticed
by Tyson, Camper, Cuvier, or the older anatomists. It is a flat triangular muscle,
arising from the whole anterior edge of the ileum to within half an inch of the ace-
tabu] um, and is inserted just below the fore-part of the great trochanter, between
the head of the crurales and vastus externus, a little below the origin of the former.
It is thin and fleshy through its whole extent, except where it is inserted by a very
short flattened tendon. At its upper part it is united by cellular substance to the
iliacus externus. The action of this muscle appears to be intended to assist in
climbing. On this account we intend to name it scandens, or musculus scansorius ;
and we are disposed to regard it as one of the principal peculiarities in Simia
satyrus." — DR. TRAIL. Account of Slack Orang. Wern. Soc. Trans. Vol. iii.
p, 29.

" Continuing the organisation of the lower extremity, we shall now examine the
foot. In man the whole surface of the tarsus, metatarsus, and toes rests upon the
ground, and the os calcis forms a right angle with the leg. In the orangs this bone
begins to form an acute angle with the limb, and consequently does not rest upon
the ground. The sole of the foot becomes narrower ; and in all the attempts at
erect progression exhibited by the orangs which have been shown in this country
the foot was never observed to rest on its outer edge. The plantaris muscle also,
which is very fleshy among quadrumanous animals, instead of terminating, as it
does in man, by insertion in the os calcis, passes over that bone into the sole, and is
there connected with the plantar aponeurosis ; an arrangement incompatible with
the erect attitude, as the tendon would be compressed and its action impeded if the
heel rested on the ground. But the most marked peculiarity in the foot, and one
which is instantly perceived, is the great length of the phalanges or toes, and the
position of the great toe, which is placed nearly in a line with the ankle, and does
not reach at the nail within an inch of the first metatarsal joint, having the appear-
ance of a thumb and hand, whose office it in reality performs. Nor is the internal
conformation less remarkable ; the whole arrangement of muscles is much nearer
to that of a hand ; but the thumbs of both the fore and hind extremities have no
separate flexor lorigus (long flexor), but receive tendons from the flexors of the
fingers. ' Hence the thumbs in these animals will generally be bent together with
the other fingers ; and they are less capable of those actions in which the motion of

Sill WILLIAM JAKDINE ON MONKEYS. 4/>3

the thumb is combined with that of the fore and middle finger — a combination so
important in numerous delicate operations.'

" The upper extremity approaches much nearer to the human form, and in its
similarity points out the unfitness of these animals for a constant quadruped
motion. The inferior structure of the hands, arid particularly the thumbs, show
them fitted for grasping alone, and incapable of performing any nice mechanical
operation, while the great comparative length indicates their utility in climbing,
and therefore their fitness for an arboreal life."

It appears to us not a little singular, seeing that Sir William
Jardine thus unequivocally and justly shows there could be no passage
from the orang-outang to man by means of ages of gradual improve-
ment— (a most absurd fancy, though extensively promulgated) ; yet
in other parts of his work he uses the very terms and language of
those who adopt this wild opinion, the terms and language namely of
the Lamarckian School, as modified by Mac Leay into what is called
the circular system. We shall not stop at present to point out the
tendency of this highly objectionable language, but refer to the In-
troduction to the second edition of Montagu's Ornithological Dic-
tionary for ample details, while we pursue the more pleasant task of
selecting what we can better approve of from the interesting details
with which the volume abounds. We dip at random, and find the
following account of the hoolock (Hylobates Hoolock, HARLOW), from
a letter of Dr. Burrough.

" The specimens," says the Doctor, " of the ourang-outang, or Gibbons, fur-
nished you, were obtained by me during my late excursion into the interior of
Bengal. They were presented to me by Captain Alexander Davidson, of the
Honourable East India Company, stationed at Goalpara, situate on the Bur-
rampooter river, in Assam. This district of country was formerly attached to
the Burmese Empire, but at present is in possession of the East India Com-
pany, and constitutes the north-eastern limits of their territory in this quarter.

" The ourang, of which I am now to speak, called by the Assamese ' hoolock,'
is to be met with on the Garrow Hills, in the vicinity of Goalpara, between
latitudes 25° and 28° north ; and the specimens brought to this country by me
were taken within a few miles of the town of Goalpara. The full grown one,
which at this time you have prepared, was in my possession, alive, from the
month of January to May, when it died, from a blow it received across the lumbar
region, inadvertently inflicted with a small stick by one of my servants at Cal-
cutta. They inhabit more particu'arly the lower hills, not being able to endure
the cold of those ranges of the Garrows of more than 400 or 500 feet elevation.
Their food, in the wild state, consists, for the most part, of fruits common only
to the jungle in this district of country ; and they are particularly fond of the seeds
and fruits of that sacred tree of India, called the Peopul-tree, and which, on the
Garrow Hills, attains a very large size. They likewise take of some species of
grass, and also the tender toyigs and leaves of the peopul and other trees, which

VOL. i. — NO. x. (OCTOBER, 1833.) L L

454 SIR WILLIAM JARDINE ON MONKEYS.

they chew, swallow the juice thereof, and reject the indigestible part. They are
easily tamed ; and when first taken show no disposition to bite, unless provoked
to anger, and even then manifest a reluctance to defend themselves, preferring to
retreat into some corner than attack their enemy. They walk erect ; and, when
placed upon a floor or in an open field, balance themselves very prettily by raising
their hands over their head, and slightly bending their arm at the wrist and elbow,
and then run tolerably fast, rocking from side to side ; and if urged to greater
speed, they let fall their hands to the ground, and assist themselves forward,
rather jumping than running, still keeping the body, however, nearly erect ; if
they succeed in making their way to a grove of trees, they then swing with such
astonishing rapidity from branch to branch, and from tree to tree, that they are
soon lost in the jungle or forest.

" The individual in question became so tame and manageable in less than a
month, that he would take hold of my hand and walk with rne, helping himself
along with the other hand applied to the ground, as described above. He would
come at my call, and seat himself in a chair by my side at the breakfast-table, and
help himself to an egg or the wing of a chicken from my plate, without en-
dangering any of my table furniture. He would partake of coffee, "chocolate,
milk, tea, &c. ; and, although his usual mode of taking liquids was by dipping his
knuckles into the cup and licking his fingers, still, when apparently more thirsty,
he would take up the vessel from which I fed him with both hands, and drink
like a man, from a spring. His principal food consisted of boiled rice, boiled
bread and milk, with sugar, plantains, banana, oranges, &c., all of which he ate,
but seemed best pleased with bananas. He was fond of insects ; would search
in the crevices of my house for spiders, and if a fly chanced to come in his reach,
he would dexterously catch him in one hand, generally using his right hand. Like
many of the different religious castes of this country, he seemed to entertain an
antipathy to an indiscriminate use of animal food, and would not eat of either the
flesh of the cow or hog ; would sometimes taste a little piece of beef, but never
eat of it. I have seen him take dried fish, which he seemed to relish better than
almost any other description of animal food, with the exception of chicken, and
even this he would eat but very sparingly of, preferring his common diet, bread
and milk, with sugar, fruit, &c. In temper he was remarkably pacific, and
seemed, as I thought, often glad to have an opportunity of testifying his affection
and attachment for me. When I visited him in the morning, he would commence
a loud and shrill whoo — whoo — whoo — whoo, which he would keep up often for
five or ten minutes, with an occasional intermission for the purpose of taking a
full respiration, until finally, apparently quite exhausted, he would lie down and
allow me to comb his head and brush the long hair on his arms, and seem
delighted with the tickling sensation produced by the brush on his belly and legs.
He would turn from side to side, first hold out one arm and then the other, and
when I attempted to go away he would catch hold of my arm or coat tail, and
pull me back again to renew my little attention to him, daily bestowed. If I
called to him from a distance, and he could recognise my voice, he would at once
set up his usual cry, which he sometimes gradually brought down to a kind of
moan, but generally resumed his louder tone when I approached him. This
animal was a male, but showed no particular marks of the sex, and by a casual

FIELD SCRAPS. 455

glance might readily, if not examined more closely, have passed for a female. I
have no idea of his age ; but, judging from the size and length of his canine,
suppose him to have been advanced in life.

" The other large ' hoolock,' of which you have the cranium, was also a male,
and full grown. He was likewise obtained from the Garrow Hills in Assam,
and presented to me by my friend Captain A. Davidson, of Goalpara. He came
into my possession in the month of April, and died at sea in July, just before
getting up with the Cape of Good Hope, of a catarrhal affection. His death
probably might have been hastened from want of proper food, such as is not
procurable on long voyages. This animal was similar in habit and general cha-
racters to the one already described, and may have been eight or ten years of age,
or perhaps older, as I am informed by the natives of Assam they live to the age
of twenty-five or thirty years.

" The young specimen was also alive in my possession : this is a female, and
was brought to me by a Garrow Indian at the same time the first was received,
but died on the way from Goalpara to Calcutta, of a pulmonary disease following
catarrh. This poor little creature, when first taken sick, suffered great pain and
oppression at the chest, for which I prescribed a cathartic of castor oil and
calomel, and a warm bath, which seemed to afford it some temporary relief; but
she died after ten days' illness. The animal appeared delighted with the bath ;
and when I removed her from the vessel, she would run back again to the water,
and lie down again until again removed. She was, like the others in my pos-
session, gentle and pacific in disposition, very timid and shy of strangers, but in
less than a week from the time she was taken, would, if put down in an open
place, quickly run to me, jump in my arms, and hug me round the neck. I sup-
posed her to have been from nine months to a year old. I fed her on boiled
milk, goat's milk diluted with water and sweetened with sugar-candy. She also
would sometimes partake of a little bread and milk with the older one. She soon
learned to suck the milk front a small bottle, through a quill covered with a piece
of rag." — Page 102.

It may be said, we have only extracted a quotation, and not a portion
of the author's own description ; but in this we give the most correct
view of the book, whose staple material is quotation ; and this, so far
from deteriorating, enhances its value in our estimation, inasmuch as
the very words of an original observer are far preferable to any ab-
stract or abridgment thereof.

FIELD SCRAPS.

BY SOLITAR1US.

I HAVE often observed that many animals, naturally of a timid dis-
position, do not fly from man when they observe him motionless, but
presuming from his stillness that he intends them no harm, they
approach close to him, and continue their operations quite fearless of

455 FIELD SCRAPS.

his presence. The smaller animals in particular, when they observe a.
person silent and motionless, seem to regard him with as little indiffer-
ence as they do the stump of an old oak, and this is particularly the
case in secluded places, seldom visited by man, the terror of the brute
creation. I have had many instances to confirm me in the truth of these
remarks, besides the one I now note. The other day I stood for many
minutes down at Laytonstone, vis-a-vis to a rat, who, in a ditch about
five yards from me, washed his face, as leisurely as though no curious
naturalist were by. On my first approach he was startled, but as soon
as I drew myself up and continued silent and motionless, his fears were
subdued, but he was off and down his hole with quick speed, directly
that I moved to leave the spot.

On Hampstead Heath, about three weeks ago, upon looking into a
gravel-pit, I was somewhat surprised to observe a toad and a shrew
mouse both peeping out from the same hole, which was so small that
the former, whose body was much compressed, seemed greatly inconve-
nienced. So squeezed indeed were they for room, that the mouse
could not, without some difficulty, enter his dwelling by forcing a
passage between his singular companion and the sides of the door-way.
The mouse having got out of his dwelling, I jumped down into the pit and
caught hold of him, in doing which I unintentionally killed him. Upon
turning round to see whether his fellow-lodger had decamped, I found
him in the same situation as before, his head and shoulders poked out
of the hole, and his eyes directed upwards to the sky, as though he
were Sir Isaac Newton himself, studying the stars. Having removed
away the hard sand that imprisoned him, he crawled out, but his move-
ments betokened that his legs, from long inactivity, had become nearly
unable to perform their offices.

Squirrels, though common in Kensington Gardens, are not generally
to be seen within any short distance of London ; I saw one, however,
last Friday, running down a lane near Belsize House, Hampstead.

Ducks, and other web-footed birds, usually rest upon the ground,
but a remarkable exception to this is known to occur in the summer-
duck or tree-duck (Anus sponso) of America, which perches upon trees,
like a sparrow ; but a friend to whom I mentioned this fact, assures
me that his father had some Muscovy ducks (Anas moschala) which
frequently perched upon the branches of the trees, upon which they
also roosted during the night. When we consider the aquatic habits of
ducks, it appears rather singular that they should die merely from
staying in the water rather longer than usual, but this however has

FIELD SCRAPS. 457

been the case with some little ducklings belonging to my friend Bt
Laytonstone, which have lately come to a watery grave in consequence
of their having got into their bathing tub when the water within it has
been too low to allow of their walking out again. .

Some of my friends, who have read my " Rural Gleanings/' and have
had a laugh at the anecdote contained therein, concerning a cock fanning
his wings to blow a piece of bread across the water to a hen, who on the
opposite side was longing for it, differ from me in considering it an
instance of sagacity, and pronounce it as being merely an odd coinci-
dence. I am ever ready to renounce an opinion when I perceive the
propriety of adopting another which is better founded; but in the
instance alluded to, there were many movements observable, but not
easily to be described, which seemed to evince that the birds were sum-
moning all their faculties of reasoning (or whatever that power is which
assists animals upon extraordinary occasions, when instinct, which is
limited in its performance, and adheres to a certain course from which it
never deviates, fails them,) to devise some means to overcome the diffi-
culty, which otherwise would have prevented them from obtaining their
desired object.

In Edwards's " Discourse on the Emigration of British Birds," pub-
lished in 1814, the author in speaking of the cuckoo says, " Many are
the conjectures how it preserves itself in winter ; some say that it hides
itself in our island, and continues in a dormant state ; and it has been
asserted, that cuckoos have been discovered in the midst of winter, not
only in holes of trees, but under ground in sandy soils, also in the
caverns of rocks, antique buildings, old walls, outhouses, and the like.
I have heard it affirmed, that an old hollow tree being cut down in a
certain village in Wiltshire, and laid on the fire, a cuckoo, revived by
the warmth, jumped out of the fuel, and began repeating its usual note
with great energy, to the admiration of the beholders ; but I think this
relation is too extravagant to deserve credit." I agree with the author
that this savours of extravagance, or at least of exaggeration, but I
think there are too many instances of cuckoos being found concealed in
places during the winter, to warrant our entire disbelief, and he him-
self, it will be seen in the following passage, says, " it is indisputable
there are instances of cuckoos appearing in winter, but they are very
rare and uncommon; and we may reasonably suppose, that when a
straggler is seen in that severe season, it was either bewildered in its
passage, or hatched too late to take its flight with the rest of the genus."
Yet, notwithstanding this, our author doubts that they are ever found
in a torpid state in trees. In the course of casual conversation with a

458 FIELD SCRAPS.

gardener at Laytonstone, who was quite unaware of this being a
matter upon which all heads are not agreed, and who consequently
could have no object in telling me an untruth, he assured me that he
knew of an instance of a cuckoo being found in the hollow of a tree
during a severe winter in Dorsetshire, and that it was apparently
lifeless, until restored to active animation by artificial warmth.

I think it is stated in books that none of the swallow-tribe ever
perch upon trees *, but an instance to the contrary came under my
notice some weeks ago, when walking in a garden I observed a
chimney-swallow (Hirundo ruslica), resting upon a dead branch at the
top of a walnut-tree. It now and then left its station to take a short
flight, but it returned again and perched upon the same branch to which
it seemed to have taken a fancy. Speaking of swallows, I cannot
refrain from returning to the subject of their attacking the owl, the
truth of which I have called in question at page 358, where in a note
you tell me that if I try the experiment I shall be convinced of the
correctness of the assertion. The result of the experiment, in a case
like the present, would not satisfy me. I must see the occurrence
happen in nature, and that more than once before I shall alter my
opinion, and conclude that the swallow and the owl are natural foes,
the one having cause to fear the other. It may be, however, that the
owl being a night-bird, is so rarely seen by the swallow during the day,
that when he does appear among them, his nature not being familiar
to them, they look upon him as a suspicious character, and treat him
as alleged. The appearance of a camel or a dromedary in our streets
from a similar cause of unfounded apprehension, will excite fear among
horses, although naturally they are not enemies.

Since my mention of Hipparchia mcegera (at page 360) being scarce
about London, I have taken some specimens near Belsize-house
Hampstead, yet they are but partially distributed about the fields, for,
although where one is found there are numerous others, yet their
localities are wide apart.

At Hampstead, about three weeks since, I observed one of the common
nettle-butterflies {Vanessa Urticw) upon a flower, off which I several
times pushed it by means of a blade of grass, but it as often alighted
upon it again, and had not an impudent wasp appeared and rudely
turned it away, I dare say that she would have stood her ground for
some time.

* Nothing is more common than the perching of Swallow?. — ED.

ON THE BURROWING OWL. 459

Upon a wall at Layton I found a live beetle (Blaps obtusa) with
deep, wide, and irregular indentations in its elytra, arising apparently
from its having been pressed or jammed in somewhere.

At Laytonstone there is a species of black beetle, the scientific name
of which I have not been able to ascertain, which is called by the col-
lectors about there the spider-beetle, from its being usually found in
the nests of spiders, which, according to their account, it preys upon.

I found a common fly (Musca domestica) the other day, the legs
and body of which were so covered with a small red acarus as to
disable it in its flight ; and upon Epping Forest I captured a small
white moth, similarly attacked ; and since then a friend has shown me
a larva, apparently that of the fox-moth (Lasiocampa rubi) to whose
body numbers of these parasites were adhering.

Ants, it is said, find their way back to the place from whence they
came, by means of a peculiar smell which they leave behind them in
their course, and of this I, some weeks since, convinced myself by
rubbing the epidermis off the bark of a tree, up and down which they
were continually running. By doing so, I flung them into some con-
fusion, as they hesitated for some time to cross the part that had been so
treated, until one of them less scrupulous than the rest walked over it,
and then they followed.

ON THE BURROWING OWL.

BY K. H. L.*

I DO not now recollect whether in your architecture of birds, you
have stated that the food of the burrowing owl, (Slrix cunicnlaria of
Molina, ) consists entirely of insects, but having seen it said in another
publication of the Society for Diffusing Useful Knowledge, on the
authority of Charles Lucien Bonaparte, a naturalist of high authority,
that this was supposed to be the case, as on the examination of its
stomach, nothing but the parts of the hard wing cases of insects were
found, I would wish to record the fact of its being a feeder on other
birds, in your Magazine, where it will be more likely to secure the
attention of naturalists, than in the miscellany I am noticing. My
experience has been acquired during two years' travelling in St. Do-

* Any other communication from so well informed a correspondent will be
highly acceptable — Editor.

460 ON THE BURROWING OWL.

mingo, (Haiti), where the burrowing owl is known to be an inhabitant
as well as about the neighbouring Continent of Central America. I
shall beg leave to transcribe the note I made in these travels, in which
you will find other incidents respecting the bird in question, hitherto
unnoticed, but deserving to be recorded.

" During my travels I had frequent opportunities of observing the
habits of the burrowing owl, (Strix cunicitlaria) ; my attention was
first drawn to it by its invariable habit when emerging from its burrow
of rapidly hopping, or rather jumping two or three paces, then stopping
short and bobbing down. The effect of this coming forth, very much
reminds a person familiar with the theatre of the hasty shuffling sort of
run with which dancers start out from the side scenes, and make the
bow with which they prelude their intended ballet. A careless unob-
servant person might pass unnoticed this curious habit in the case of
a single bird,' — but, should he chance to see the attitudinising of a
pair of owls dodging out from two neighbouring burrows at the same
moment, the effect of posturing first to the right, and then to the left,
and bowing simultaneously like a couple stepping out to a minuet, is
so truly grotesque, that he is not likely to be otherwise than forcibly
struck with it. It is said, indeed, as a joke on the Haitiens, whose
national dance, the charraibine, is a posture dance, mingling the lubri-
city of the waltz with the stately courteousness of the minuet, that
Dessalines, who first brought it into vogue, owed the happy thought
of adopting it as the national ballet to the casual sight of a pair of
burrowing owls posturing in this way. I must confess, whether it be
mere satire or not, the resemblance is very great between them.

" To return, however, to the habit of owls ; before I was aware that
this owl burrowed in the ground, I had been struck with excavations in
the low earthy cliffs about the ravines and hillocks of the country,
particularly of the prairies or savannas, which much resembled rabbit
holes, and concluded that they were the haunts of the agouti ( Dasy-
procta acuti); knowing that this was the only large animal of the
Rodentia order here, likely to dig such a hole, but not considering that
this particular rodent did not excavate a burrow, but contented itself
with hollowed rocks, and niches of fallen trees. The casual meeting
with a large egg translucid as alabaster, at the mouth of one of these
excavations, and the scattered feathers of some of the smaller birds
with which I was familiar, soon taught me, however, that these were
habitations of the burrowing owl. At Fort-Dauphin, when the waters
of its splendid basin sweep into loose low cliffs of zoophitic marl, and

CHAPTER OF VARIETIES. 461

from patches of shallow swamps, the frequency of the burrows of the
Strix cunicularia, might be mistaken for the holes of the millions of
crabs, that crawl through the contiguous morass, if it were not that
beside being high and dry in the perpendicular breaks of the ground,
they wanted the ridge of recent mud which encircled the crab holes.
It was here, indeed, that I first remarked that this species, like its
congeners, preys on the lesser birds. I collected, scattered at the
entrance of their burrows, feathers of the golden banded oriole, of the
boat tailed grackle (Gracula barita) and of the ground dove (Turtur
passarina) all birds that frequented the vicinity of their haunts. That
difference in their owl nature, which adapts them for revelling like
birds of day in the luxury of sun-light, is as striking a circumstance,
when they have once caught the attention of a common observer, as
their burrowing propensities. It is certain that in the island of Haiti,
they are the elaborators of their own cavern home. There is no animal
there of equal size which has the same habit. In the ravines where
clusters of shrubs overhang the steeps, so as to supply the wonted
leafy covert to a small, very diminutive, but brilliantly green sort of
muscicapa, with crimson breast, called by the Spanish Haitiens the
barrancali*, and by the French the perroquet de terre, a bird that
burrows in the earth also, the excavations of both may be found
together, notwithstanding the certain fact that the burrowing owl is
predacious."

Sept, 16, 1833. R. H. L.

CHAPTER OF VARIETIES.

FAULTS IN ZOOLOGICAL NOMENCLATURE. — Though nomenclators,
who take a pride in the manufacturing of names, and fight among
themselves, as to which of them shall have the honour of appending his
name to them, hoping that by thrusting a Jack Scroggins-of-a-name
into notice, it will be handed down to posterity, may be inclined to
consider it as presumption in one not quite as learned and ambitious as
themselves, to call for a repeal of the following generic appellations, so

* This bird called barrancali by the Spaniards, from barranca, the name for an
earthy ravine cliff, is thus described by Drouin de Bercy, " Le perroquet de terre
est ainsi nomme, parcequ' il fait son nid dans la terre; il est gros comme une
fauvette : il a le dos vert comme une emeraux, la gorge rose, le ventre gris de lin,
legerement rose, les pattes noires, et le bee rouge brun en forme de lancette."

VOL. i. — NO. x. (OCTOBER, 1833.) M M

462

CHAPTEll OF VARIETIES.

that they may be rendered sufficiently distinct from one another as to
prevent the possibility of their causing that confusion which they are
at present calculated to create, yet some readers whp, like myself, only
wish to see science advancing, will, perhaps, second my call for the
removal of these clogs to the student's progress. The only use of a
name is to distinguish one object from another. This admitted, it
cannot then be denied, that a name ceases to be useful in distinguishing
one object from another, if that name is also conferred upon other
species. The following list is composed of names which, instead of
being restricted to one species, are conferred upon others also, and
although it will be observed, that some of them are not exactly similar,
yet they are so nearly so (many of them only differing by a letter),
that they are very likely to be the cause of leading students, par-
ticularly those who are not acquainted with the languages from which
they are derived, into errors, to prevent the occurrence of which they
require some alteration. In the alteration of any two similar names
applied to different objects, the rule, I think, ought always to be to
preserve the older and discard the newer, and bestow another in place
of it.

Papilio (in Entomology),
Phthiria (in Diptera),
Phthirus (in Anoplura),
Philanthus (in Hymenoptera),
Philanthus (in Coleoptera),
Psylla (in Homoptera),
Psila (in Diptera),
Psilus (in Hymenoptera),
Rhagio (in Diptera),
Rhagium (in Coleoptera),
Rana (in Erpetology),
Rana (in Botany)

Lycus > ,, ., • p. i n v Zachina (in Diptera),
T* \ (both in Coleoptera),
Lyctus 3 Zachmus (in Coleoptera),

Zachys ) (both -n Coleo era)
Zrachys 3

Aphidius (in Hymenoptera),
Aphodius (in Coleoptera),
Auchenia (in Quadrupeds),
Auchenia (in Entomology),
Anomala (in Coleoptera),
Anomalon (in Hymenoptera),
Chrysopa (in Neuroptera),
Chrysops (in Diptera),
Ephyra (in Lepidoptera),
Ephydra (in Diptera),
Laridae (in Entomology),
Laridae (in Ornithology),

Metopia (in Diptera),
Metopius (in Neuroptera),

> (both in Coleoptera), _J ' \ (both in Coleoptera).
Noterus 3 Zychms 3

Papilio (in Ornithology),

The compiler of the " Systematic Catalogue of British Insects" has
very properly refused to admit into his work many entomological names,
on account of their being previously engaged in other sciences. Thus,

CHAPTER OF VARIETIES.

he rejects the term Cephalotes on account of there being a genus of
Mammalia of that name ; Cheetophora, because of its also being a genus
of Fungi ; Dascillus, Phycis, and Zygaena, because of their having
been bestowed by the ancients upon certain species of fish ; Nanodes,
Gryphus, and Lagopus, on account of their being the names of orni-
thological genera ; Liparis, because of its being a genus in Ichthyology ;
Cerastis, because of its being a genus in Erpetology ; Lissa, because of
its being a genus in Crustacea ; and lastly, Scoparia, because of its
being a genus in Botany. Proceeding upon equally justifiable grounds
for the alteration, as those presented by the compiler of the above work,
Professor Burnett, in his excellent " Outlines of Botany," has intro-
duced " Term-affines" as a preferable botanical name, to Term-ites, on
account of that word being already bestowed upon a genus of tropical
insects, erroneously called white ants. In conclusion, I hope that this
paper may not be unproductive of the object of its writer, as above
stated. SOUTARIUS.

London, August, 1833.

ON THE MAY-FLY LARVA BEING THE CADIS-WORM. — Your corre-
spondent " D. M." of Devizes, states that it is a popular notion that
the cadis is the larva of the may-fly (Ephemera). I have never heard
any person speak of the may-fly otherwise than as being the grub of the
cadis-fly ; and in books upon angling, besides those upon natural
history, it is spoken of as such. Had " D. M." (who I infer belongs
to the angling fraternity), read Sir Humphry Davy's " Salmonia," he
would have been gratified by an account of the proceedings and trans-
formation of the cadis to a fly. He is decidedly incorrect in stating
that a cadis- worm is never found " in a greater state of forwardness
than another, excepting as far as regards its size." Now it so happens
that the larva within its moveable case is by and by transformed to a
pupa *, in which state it bears a greater resemblance than it did pre-
viously to its perfect state as a fly. The cadis-fly (Phryganea) may
be found during the spring months, resting upon palings near water,
and to a common observer has somewhat of a resemblance to a moth.
It is by no means a new piece of information to entomologists to be
told that the may-fly, instead of coming from a cadis- worm, comes
from a grub answering to the description your correspondent has given
of it. SOLITARIUS.

London, August, 1833.

* Figured in " Insect Transformations," p. 321.

464 CHAPTER OF VARIETIES.

To WHAT MODERN GENUS DOES THE SHAMBLING BELONG? — Mr.

Blyth (p. 354) says, that he is unable to learn what the modern generic
name of the bramblefinch is. Is not Pyrgila the modern name ? Pyrgita
Montana is synonymous with Fringilla montifringilla, Linaria mon*
tana, and Passer montanus, all which superfluous names have been
bestowed upon this bird to gratify the whims and fancies of different
nomenclators, who, for the love of name-making, are never pleased to
be unanimously agreed upon the propriety of any single one.

London, August, 1833. SOLITARIUS.

REDBREAST'S NEST. — On my garden chair, in an ivy-clad arbour, I
accidentally left on the close of the evening a piece of writing paper
from which I had taken Romana melon seed for sowing. On the
morning succeeding the evening I visited the arbour for the purpose of
replacing in the paper the seed not sown, but was somewhat surprised
to find the paper gone ; the situation of the arbour rendering it very
improbable that human visitant had been there after me the previous
evening, or before me the succeeding morning. Looking round with an
impression that a gust of wind had whirled the paper to a resting place
amongst the ivy, I espied the identical paper high up in the ivy, bearing
the inscription " Romana melon seed, 1829 ; " and on nearer search
ascertained that it formed part of a redbreast's nest. The exterior of
this nest was composed of dried ivy leaves, paper, string (the refuse
of flower-tying bands), and straw. A few weeks ago the nest of a song-
thrush was brought to me which had been lined with touchwood ; it
was partially so lined when I saw it. The touchwood was not cemented
with cohesive earth, but with garden mould *, the inefficiency of which
as a cement caused a portion of the touchwood to deposit itself on the
floor of the nest. A gate-post hard by was the source from which this
bird obtained the touchwood part of its building material. Thus, it
appears, at least in the foregoing instances, that the redbreast and the
song-thrush do not confine themselves to a particular kind of material
for the construction of their nests, but use that kind which is suited
to their purpose, and obtained with readiness in the vicinity of their
architectural labours. R. F. C.

Shouldham, 1833.

* And also, I should think, with saliva, as I have shown in " Architecture of
Birds." — ED.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE BIRDS OF AFRICA.

TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH OF LE VAILLANT.

j

THE CROW MAGPIE (Pica Ventralis, CUVIER).

La Pie a Culotte de Peau, Le VailL Ois. ii. p. 20, pi. 55 ; Corvus rufigaster,
Lath- Ind. Urn. Sup. xxvi. ; Shatv, Zool. vii. 377; Corvus octopennatus,
Daud. ii. 243 ; Rufous-bellied Crow, Lath. Gen. Syn. Sup. ii. 118; Id.
Gen. Hist. iii. 40.

As the manners of this bird, which is entirely new to us, are un-
known, I place it by the side of the African magpie, a species which,
in my opinion, it most closely resembles in the form of its bill and
wedge-shaped tail. As its bill, however, is more feeble than that of the
magpies, it appears to belong rather to another genus of birds, whose
species are exceedingly numerous in Africa, and have been generally

VOL. i. — NO. xi. (NOVEMBER, 1833.) N N

466 MIGRATION OF VARIOUS BIRDS AND INSECTS.

but carelessly examined by scrupulous systematists, who have confounded
them v/ith blackbirds and thrushes, birds totally different in their habits,
which ally them more closely to starlings and martins, whose manners
and kind of living they in reality adopt.

This bird is drawn from the superb collection of M. Ray de
Breukelerwaard, and I never observed it in any other place. It is
reported to be found in the South Sea Islands. Its bulk is nearly
equal to that of our common blackbird ; but its tail, which is exceed-
ingly long and wedge-shaped, is half as long again as the bird's body,
and has only eight quills. Such a character, to the best of my know-
ledge, is not found in any other bird, and led me to suspect that two of
its tail-feathers had fallen off: but after a most scrupulous examination,
I felt convinced that their number was complete, and that the indi-
vidual never had more. All the under part of its body, head and
scapulars, as well as the breast, are of a shining black, over which,
in particular situations of light, bluish tints appear. Two of the
medial feathers, situated in the middle of the wing, have their outer
barbs of deep red, and the rest are absolutely black, as well as those of
the tail. The feathers which clothe the sides, the belly, and the
thighs, are of the same clear red as that of our huppe : the lower tail-
coverts are of this same tint, but have also some blackish-brown shades.
The bill, legs, and claws are of a deep black.

NEW FACTS ON THE MIGRATION OF VARIOUS BIRDS AND

INSECTS.

BY EDWARD BLYTH.

THE following very interesting intelligence has been communicated
to me by a neighbour, an excellent observer of nature, who has just
arrived by sea on, board a trading smack, from the vicinity of Aber-
deen.

On the voyage from London, northward, on the 16th of September,
when off the coast of Yorkshire, and about ten or twelve miles from
Redcliff, several small birds alighted on the vessel. They were of va-
rious species; tree-pipits (Anlhus arboreus), willow-wrens (Sylvia

MIGRATION OF VARIOUS BIRDS AND INSECTS. 467

mclodia*), whin-chats (Rubetra migratoria^), and a single female red-
start (Rubecula arborea^).

On the following day, (September 17th,) other species made their
appearance; several wheatears (Saxicola (Enanlhe}, robins (Rubecula
familiaris), and one male stonechat (Rubetra rubicola). All these
birds migrate by night ; and they all left the vessel on the first night
after their appearance, excepting two robins, which remained for some
time, being fed by the passengers, and which, with the characteristic
effrontery of their species, stationed themselves, the one at the front of
the vessel, the other at the stern, and fought on the least intrusion into
each other's territory. The robin is constantly migratory in all parts
of the Continent, and, I believe, in the Orkney and Shetland isles,
but stationary throughout Britain.

On returning southward, however, the greatest number of species
was seen. When off Whitby, about fourteen miles from land, on the
7th of October, a flock of gold-crests (Regulus auricapillus-minor§),
settled on the ship's tackle ; the little creatures, being much exhausted,
suffered themselves to be taken with the hand ; as did also a solitary
chiff-chaff (Sylvia loquax\\}, which, together with nine gold-crests, it
was attempted to bring alive to London ; but they all died on the
passage. On the same day two female chaffinches (Spiza leucoptera^ ,)
two song-thrushes (Turdus musicus), some field- fares (T. pilaris),
starlings ( Sliirnus varius), and tree-pipits (Anthus arboreus), alighted
on the vessel, many of which were taken alive. An eve-jar (Nychti-
chelidon Europceus), also followed the ship for some time, and settled
more than once upon the bowsprit : perched lengthwise, (as is its con-
stant habit,) its wings drooping, its head lower than the body, and
panting with fatigue, it presented, I am told, a very curious and inter-
esting spectacle. A woodcock (Rusticola Europaa), likewise flew
about the vessel for some time on this day, and alighted twice on the
deck.

October 8th. A flock of tree sparrows (Passer arboreus), settled
on the ship, and others of this species continued to arrive during the
whole day as the vessel passed the Norfolk and Suffolk coast, particu-
larly when off Haisborough, Yarmouth, and Harwich. Their numbers

* Motacilla Trochilus, LIN. f Motacilla rubetra, LIN.

J Motacilla Phcenicurus, LIN.

§ Motacilla regulus, LIN. || Syhia hippoldis of British authors.

*ft Fringilla caslebs, LIN.

N N2

468 MIGRATION OF VARIOUS BIRDS AND INSECTS.

increased at length to upwards of a hundred, and they remained
on board until the vessel almost entered the Thames. The exact
direction from which they came could not be very well ascertained, as
they descended from an invisible height in the air to the call of those
which were in the ship ; and after wheeling two or three times round
the vessel to reconnoitre, joined their companions on board. They
appeared to arrive from the English coast, and there can be little or
no doubt but that they did so.

This last species, I believe, has not, heretofore, been known to
migrate ; in fact, attention has never, perhaps, been directed to the
subject, it having probably been supposed, from analogy, that the
species was resident in this country throughout the year. I have
long, however, had some suspicions on this subject, from their being so
frequently taken by the London bird-catchers about Michaelmas, in
situations where, I am confident, they are never found during the
summer. I have never heard of their being taken near the metropolis
at any other time of the year, though I know of one locality, within
ten miles of London, where a few pairs annually breed. After the
ocular testimony, however, which is above related, there can be little
doubt but that the tree sparrow will prove to be a bird of passage.

The fact, also, of redbreasts, and of starlings, crossing the German
Ocean is curious and new. An astonishingly vast migration of the gold-
crested regulus has been described by that admirable observer,
Mr. Selby, who saw them arrive by thousands on the sand-banks of
the Northumbrian coast, and the flight was traced throughout the
whole length of the coasts of Northumberland and Durham. Is it not
astonishing, after such direct testimony has been recorded of the actual
migration of so delicate and tender a little creature as the gold- crest,
that persons should yet be found who doubt that swallows ever cross
the sea ? What would not White of Selborne have given for such
direct evidence of migration as is here recorded ?

The number and variety of the species, which my informant observed,
are, indeed, so extraordinary, that if I did not know my source of
information to be respectable, I should have felt great hesitation in
thus making it public. I have seen, however, several of the birds
which were taken on board, and can quite safely vouch for the accuracy
of all that is above stated. It is worthy of notice, that the captain of
the ship remarked, that he had never known so many birds to alight
on his vessel before. What opportunities for observation must these
men have, if they were to devote but a little attention to natural
history !

MIGRATION OF VARIOUS BIRDS AND INSECTS. 469

The extent, also, to which insects migrate, or rather wander, seems
never to have sufficiently engaged the attention of entomologists. Most
persons must have remarked, on perusing an account of the localities
of our rarer strong-winged insects, (such as the Sphingidce, many of
the butterflies, &c.,) how very many of them have been principally
taken on the eastern and southern coasts of the kingdom. My
friend, to whom I am indebted for the above information on birds,
mentions having seen several small moths flying out at sea, when about
ten miles distant from the Suffolk coast; one only of which was
captured, which I find to be the Lampetia defoliaria. Mr. Stephens,
also, records an instance of the death's-head hawk-moth (Acheronlia
alropos) being captured four miles at sea ; and I have myself observed
numberless instances of diurnal moths, and butterflies, flying at a
considerable distance from land. I have repeatedly seen the humming-
bird hawk-moth (Macroglossa stellataruni) fly straight out to sea ;
also, on two or three occasions, the clouded yellow butterfly (Colias
Edusa,} the small copper butterfly (Lyccena Phlceas,*) and once, the
wall butterfly (Hipparchia megcera). I have picked up, also, in the
isle of Jersey, amongst the rejectamenta of the sea, a drowned specimen
of the large rhinoceros beetle (Sinodendron cylindricum,} and I could
here enumerate various other instances of insects being captured in
the Channel ; but the species, in which, of all others, I have most
frequently observed this wandering propensity, is the beautiful painted
lady butterfly (Cynthia Cardui).

There is not, perhaps, any lepidop~terous insect whatever, the
natural history of which would comprise so many curious particulars
as that of the interesting and elegant butterfly, Cynthia Cardui. All
the insects, it will be observed, whose names are above mentioned, are
known to possess a wide geographical range ; but the painted-lady
butterfly may be even said to be an inhabitant of the world at large.
Mr. Rennie informs me, that he has seen specimens from America,
from the Caucasus, and from China ; I have seen them from North
America : the species is said, also, to occur in Otaheite and Australia,
and it is undoubtedly found in Africa. Reports, however, of this kind
must be received with some degree of caution, as, without actual and
careful comparison, distinct species may have been confounded together.
Many birds (particularly of the order Grallatores) were once thus
said to inhabit all parts of the globe ; until it was shown, by careful
and minute comparison, that different creatures had been confused
together : I allude to the species of Scolopa,v, Charadrius^ Thalasi-

470 MIGRATION OF VARIOUS BIRDS AND INSECTS.

drama, Sec, which, though closely resembling each other, are now
proved, by various and constant characters, to be distinct. There can,
however, be no doubt but that the painted-lady butterfly has an
amazingly wide range of geographical distribution, and I think it may
be fully accounted for by the strange wandering propensities of the
insect.

Of this I have just witnessed a very remarkable example. I had
often observed this species to fly straight out to sea, and I have
noticed it at a considerable distance from land ; but, until within this
last fortnight, I never knew them travel in immense flocks. On the
8th of this month, (October, 1833,) this beautiful butterfly abounded
in all the gardens about this place ; upwards of twenty were counted
on one clump of dahlias ; and, at the same time, they were noticed in
equal abundance in a garden about half a mile distant from that in
which those dahlias grew. None had been previously observed in the
neighbourhood, and all that were seen on that day were very much
rubbed and injured, so that they had evidently been long excluded
from the chrysalis, and had perhaps travelled a considerable distance.
I was unable to ascertain the direction from which they came, neither
could I discover the route which they pursued ; for a single day the
species appeared every where in abundance, and the day after not one
was any where to be seen. On the morning of the tenth, however, I
observed a single one flying swiftly to the eastward ; and since that
time several others have been seen ; but, as these last were all perfect
and uninjured insects, I do not consider that they formed part of the
immense flight which passed this place on the eighth. It will be
remembered, also, that this same butterfly is the species which passed
in such incalculable multitudes through Switzerland some years ago ;
an occurrence, the description of which must be familiar to every
student of entomology.

Does not this ascertained fact, of insects thus travelling in enormous
flocks from one district to another, explain, in some measure, the
sudden appearance of a particular species in vast numbers, in a neigh-
bourhood where it is usually considered rare ? It certainly does seem,
in many instances, to account for this phenomenon ; but still, it will
not equally apply in all. It would be wandering, however, from the
present subject, to treat on the wonderful irregularity of insect
appearance ; some curious facts concerning this I will reserve for a
future opportunity ; but it is nevertheless worthy of being observed
here, that the painted-lady butterfly, which is remarkable, in most

MIGRATION OF VARIOUS BIRDS AND INSECTS. 471

places, for the extreme irregularity of its occurrence, is equally
remarkable in others, (as in some parts of the west of England, and
in Jersey,) for appearing with great regularity.

A very singular circumstance is also related of the Cynthia Cardui,
by Mr. Knapp, in his amusing and excellent " Journal of a Natu-
ralist." After some other remarks on the species, he observes that
" some years ago a quantity of earth was raised in cutting a canal in
this county (Gloucestershire) ; and in the ensuing summer, on the
herbage that sprang up from the new soil on the bank, this butterfly
was found in abundance, where it had not been observed for many years
before." Might we not reasonably expect, if the soil about Hampstead
were to be turned up, on any occasion, to some depth and extent, that
the extraordinary and distinctly marked butterfly, Cynthia Hamp-
stediensis, would reappear, although so many years have now elapsed
since it was last seen ?

To return to the subject of migration ; nothing is more easy, in the
spring, to a person acquainted with the voices of our native migratory
birds, than to note down the periods of their respective arrivals, as they
all then announce their approach by their perpetual loquacity 5 but, in
the autumn, it is no such easy matter to ascertain the exact time of
their several departures. The following observations, therefore, may
not be altogether without interest. The last willow- wren (Sylvia
melodia), which I noticed in this neighbourhood this autumn, was on
the 18th of September; the morning was cold and frosty, and it was
hopping about on a large dunghill, attracted, I believe, chiefly by the
warmth. The same morning I observed a blackcap (Ficedula atri-
capilla), and shot a babillard (F. garrula). The arrival of this last
bird, in the spring, was observed by Montagu (in Wiltshire) to be for
many years, from the 21st of April to the 10th of May. In the spring
of 1831, I had a nest of this species brought to me, containing four eggs,
so early as on the 23rd of April ; the first babillard which I noticed
this year was on the 6th of May. Grey fly-catchers (Muscicapa gri-
sola), continued plentiful here until about the 20th of September ; the
last I observed was on the 25th. I heard a blackcap on the 27th ; and
on the 26th a wryneck ( Yunx torquilla), was shot. Several ring-
ousels (Petrocincla merulozdes*) , appeared during the Michaelmas
week ; they were extremely shy, and difficult of approach.

A species of creeper, also, hitherto undescribed, has been two or three

* Turdus torquatus, LIN.

472 THE BRITISH MUSEUM.

times seen in this neighbourhood, in the spring and in the autumn.
The following description is from a person who has seen it twice, in the
spring of 1831, and on the 8th of September last, when he was enabled
to ge.t a very close view of it. In its make, its plumage, and in its
manners it closely resembles the common brown creeper (Certhia
familiar is), and its bill, also, is similarly curved ; but it differs in
being about double the size of that bird, and in having a forked tail ;
possibly, however, in the individual from which this description was
taken, the middle feathers of the tail may have been wanting. The
attention of my informant was first attracted by the novelty of its
notes, which he describes to be much varied, and totally unlike those
of the common creeper, or of any other small bird with which he is
acquainted.

Tooting, October 16th, 1833

THE BRITISH MUSEUM.

BY B. G. BALLARD, ESQ.

To the general visiters of the British Museum, the Synopsis pub-
lished by that institution, though admirable in its scientific arrange-
ments, and absolutely necessary to the diligent inquirer, by the nature
of its construction, as a catalogue, fails to convey a variety of particu-
lars relative to its contents, which would, if embodied in separate essays,
be highly useful to the student in natural history. In my own visits
to the Museum I have constantly felt the want of some condensed
information of the several specimens of zoology, many of which are
extremely curious, and naturally excite inquiry and stimulate investi-
gation. As a reader in the library I had the opportunity of gratifying
these desires, and accordingly pursued the study with considerable
ardour, and made rather extensive collections from the works of various
authors on the several species in the zoological department ; but the
immense extent of the collection at length baffled my patience, and I
was compelled to abandon my labours. The effect, however, served to
convince me of the utility of the inquiry ; and I shall venture on the
experiment of submitting some of my notices of the most curious
specimens to the pages of the Field Naturalist's Magazine, since the
works which describe them are not in the possession of every student ;
and though to the professor the descriptions may be familiar, the tyro

THE BRITISH MUSEUM. 473

may find them acceptable. I shall take the several objects as they are
arranged in the Synopsis, and intersperse the descriptions with such
original observations or gleanings from various sources as may serve to
elucidate the subject, and comply with some, at least, of the requisi-
tions on the cover of the early numbers of the Magazine.

THE MUSK OX.

This animal has many striking peculiarities which appear to give it
an alliance with the goat rather than the ox. The singular secretion
of musk, which so strongly pervades and taints its flesh, particularly
the heart and kidneys, not only indicates a similarity in secretory
organs with the species of deer which yields that drug, but may, from
these circumstances, lead to a reasonable inferential conjecture that the
concrete substances both of musk and civet, and, perhaps, ambergris,
may owe their origin to the action of some secretory ducts connected
with the heart and kidneys of the animals which produce them. The
silky texture of its hair again nearly resembles that of the Cashmere
goat ; while its habitat on the tops of mountains, its facility in running,
and its dexterity in climbing rocks, are all indicative rather of the goat
than the ox : the identity, however, of general figure and size will
warrant the naturalist in placing it in the bovine tribe.

ARBORESCENT FERN (Alsophila Buenontaria, WALLICH).
This, which stands on the staircase, between the musk ox and polar
bear, is one of the most curious and interesting specimens in the Mu-
seum. We, who in this country are accustomed to see the fern only as
a small ramose herb, springing on our heaths and commons in the early
months of the year, like the tufted varieties of the acanthus, and gra-
dually expanding its leaves till, in the autumn, it covers the ground
with its luxuriance, and affords shelter to the hare and partridge, can
have no conception of a tropical species, which, like the present speci-
men, rises on a trunk forty-five feet in height, rivalling the most lofty
palm, and bearing on its summit a frond as clearly defined as the most
minute species of this singular genus. On examining this curious spe-
cimen, I observed it possessed several very remarkable peculiarities.
It has been cut into two parts for the convenience of placing it. That
on the right hand is the lower part of the trunk ; the other is the
upper portion ; and above is placed the frond. The whole appears a
botanical phenomenon. It seems that the first leaves (if they may be
so called) are of the nature of scales, proceeding from the cortex, or
outer bark, as thwe is no vestige of liber or inner bark. These leaves

474 ON THE ROOTS AND STUMPS OF THE SILVER FIR.

fall off and leave the wood exposed ; and nature, in ovder to protect
the wood from injury, has furnished the plant with a power to produce
an artificial covering for the denuded wood in a kind of net- work which
appears (on the lower portion of the trunk) to shoot, like crystals of
salt, and cover the cortex. This peculiar reticulated production is
visibly commencing in every part of the trunk where the leaves had
been, but is most conspicuous towards the root.
Islington, 26th September.

ON THE INCREASE OF THE ROOTS AND THE STUMP IN THE
SILVER FIR LONG AFTER IT HAS BEEN FELLED.

BY M. DUTROCHET, MEMBER OF THE INSTITUTE, PARIS*.

WHEN a tree has been felled, and when no shoots arise from the
stump, this stump, as well as the roots which fix it in the ground, fail
not in a short time to die. The cause of this phenomenon is found in
that well-known law of vegetation by which the leaves are produced
from the effect of the sap, the latter being essential to the life and
growth of the tree, both in the branches and the root. When the
stump reproduces stems after the tree has been felled, the roots may
continue to flourish to an indefinite period. Thus, in coppice-woods,
the roots of the same trees live through an indefinite number of cen-
turies, and their existence may be prolonged to an indeterminate period.

It is well known that the coniferous trees never reproduce stems
when the tree has been felled ; and that the stump and roots which fix
it in the earth usually die, and are quickly decomposed. There is,
however, a very remarkable exception to this fact in the silver fir,
(Pinus picea, LINN., Abies pectinata, DE CAND.) The stump and
roots of this tree continue to live, arid even grow, during a great
number of years. This singular fact was pointed out to me by my
brother inspector of forests, one of the most intelligent men connected
with the forest administration ; though I must confess I doubted the
fact till I was enabled to verify it myself. I have observed in the forests
of the Jura, that all the stumps of the silver fir, whose branches had
been many years felled, were still vigorous as well as their roots ;
while all the stumps and roots of the Norway spruce, (Abies excelsa,
DE CAND.,) were dead, including those which had been recently felled.

* Translated by Miss H. G , Lee, Kent.

ON THE ROOTS AND STUMPS OF SILVER FIR. 475

I have seen old stumps of the silver fir which, according to certain
marks, had been felled forty-five years before, still full of life. The
interior was entirely decayed, but the outer wood and the bark pre-
sented signs of life. These observations were made in the spring ; the
stump and the roots being full of sap, the bark, separated from the wood
by the effusion of the pulp, (cambium,) was easily detached. This
bark, and the wood adjacent, had all the appearances which these parts
present when in a flourishing state. The existence of the pulp (cam-
bium) indicated that the stump was increasing in diameter. This point
I was also able to prove, which I did in the following manner. I per-
ceived that a kind of enlargement was formed between the bark and
the wood of the stump, and that this swelling, consisting of the wood
and bark which had been produced since the tree was felled, had again
covered a portion of the transversal section of the stump, so that the
section of the sap which limited the central system of the tree at the
time of its being felled, was in perfect preservation. The traces of the
axe on this sap, transversely divided, removed all doubt on this point.
I have also seen on all these stumps an increase in the diameter from
the production of new pulp, the thickness of which, in the old branches
which I examined, was about two-fifths of an inch, so that these stumps.,
during the space of forty- five years, had acquired a total increase of
four-fifths of an inch, or eight lines in diameter.

The phenomenon which the silver fir presents in such circumstances
appears at first sight to invalidate the theory which supposes the sap
furnishing the materials of growth to be derived from the leaves or the
umbrageous parts of the vegetable. But the extreme scantiness of the
increase in the diameter of the stump of the silver fir, on the contrary,
confirms this theory ; for the stump which continues to live during so
great a number of years increases thus slowly from the want of leaves,
which are peculiarly the productive organs of the nutritive pulp. It
appears that the roots of this tree possess the faculty of producing a
small quantity of crude sap, and of converting it into nutritive pulp,
which preserves life in the roots and stump, and contributes to their
scanty growth during a great number of years. This faculty is wanting
in the Norway spruce and the Scotch fir, (Pinus sylvestris,) of which
the stump and roots die soon after the tree has been felled. Whence
arises this difference ? This is a question not easily decided. How-
ever this may be, the fact is very remarkable which proves that the
roots of trees, and the small portion of the stem which is left when
they are felled, do, in certain cases, live a long time and increase,
though not surmounted by any foliage.

470
THE ALLIGATOR OF THE ANTILLES.

BY R. H L.*

GOING down from Puerta Plata, a town on the north eastern coast
of Haiti, to the bay of Isabella, to trace the remains of the first
settlement made by Europeans in the new world, I was particularly
struck by the multitude of alligators, or caimans, that infest the
Bajabonico, a considerable river, watering the plain in which that
ancient city stood. This feature in the scenery leading me to insert
in my journal a note on the habits of this reptile, which I think may
serve, if not to correct some vulgar errors respecting it, at least to set
old truths in a new light, I send you the extract of it, as a trifling
addition to what is already known of this curious monster.

I must premise, that the ancient city of Isabella stood a little away
from the Bajabonico. A good trackway winds among low thickets
along the stream. The plain expands, marshy, green, and grassy,
a sort of lake being made by a broad reach of the river, called the
" Vuelta Larga." The mixture of meadows and water is pleasing,
but wild, and not a little of this wildness is increased by the swarming
alligators there, the largest I have any where seen. * * * * When
the hard toils, the privations and mortality which attend a new
settlement in the wilderness, with a multitude of morbid and irritable
passions, spread a curse over the scenes of this first city of the
Europeans, till its green fields seemed all pestilence, and its sunny
waters the Stygian bourne that separated the dead from the living
world, it became desolate and deserted as soon as the golden harvests
to be reaped in the luxurious lap of the Vega Real, a finer and more
fertile plain of the interior, induced them to build another and more
splendid city there. From that time till now the alligator has had an
undisturbed possession of the wastes arid wilds.

I have never understood why the early Spanish writers in noticing
these events, overlooked so remarkable a feature in these wild, marshy,
river scenes, as this peculiar animal. Peter Martyr, who has given in
his Decades *, so full and so spirited a summary of the natural
characteristics, as well as the productions of Haiti, after mentioning

" We are exceedingly obliged by R. H L'S very interesting conimuni-

nications. — EDITOR-

t P. Martyr, Decad. 3, lib. xi.

THE ALLIGATOR OF THE ANTILLES. 477

that the season of flowers, and seed-time and harvest, are a perpetual
spring-tide and summer, expressly excepts from its scenes all ravenous
animals and noisome reptiles. " There is no province," says he, " nor
any region, which is more notable for the majesty of mountains, the
fruitfulness of vales, the pleasantness of hills, the delectableness of
plains, with abundance of fair rivers running through them. There
never was any noisome animal found in it, nor yet any ravening four-
footed beast, but all things blessed and fortunate." The Indians, I
take it, must have made war on these gigantic reptiles, and they thus
became not so obtrusive as at present ; yet in these marshes they must
have been always remarkable. I saw the cows and horses feeding in
the sedges in which they prowled, without any apprehension of danger,
though I know the nature of this animal to be fierce and mischievous ;
but like all the cold-blooded reptiles, it requires to be roused either by
a sense of danger, or the impulse of hunger, to an attack. In the calm,
long-enduring quality of its nature, the alligator is really a timid
animal. With the advantage of an impervious armour, in its hard
impenetrable covering of scales, strength of limb, commanding shelter
of the water, and jaws, whose clasp is an inextricable hold, it fears to
attack an animal it is unused to devour. The inhabitants, aware of its
timidity, fearlessly cross the stream, even when numbers are swimming
around ; but this is not done without some ruse. The alligator, they
say, is greedily partial to dogs, and surprises them often when they
come to drink at the river. The voice of the dog will always draw
them away from an object when prowling. Those who would cross
the river without any risk from their attacks, send a scout down the
stream to imitate the canine bark, yelp, or howl, when away swim the
alligators for their prey, leaving an unmolested ford to the traveller
higher up. Instinct has taught the dog to secure himself by a similar
expedient. When it has to traverse a stretch of water, for the Hatero's*
dog wanders alone a good deal, it boldly goes some distance down the
stream, and howls and barks. On perceiving the alligators congregating
in eager cupidity to the spot, it creeps gently along the banks higher
up, and swims over the water without much fear of being pursued.

This fact is universally asserted, and is unquestionably true, but I
doubt the conclusion. The well known habit of the alligator, never
to eat its food until in a state of putridity, negatives the supposition
that it has any particular choice in the flesh of its victim. The fish it

* Hatero, — the colonial Spanish for a herdsman or breeder of cattle.

478 THE ALLIGATOR OF THE ANTILLES.

probably devours immediately after catching them, but all other things
else, as soon as they are slain, are torn, and mangled limb by limb, and
left to putrify in the mud of the river or the sedge about its lurking
place. It can have no particular preference, therefore, for the dog as
food. I am disposed to ascribe this susceptibility to be roused at the
canine yelp to the similarity of that sound to its own peculiar cry
under any species of excitement ; to the fact that it is the impassioned
voice of their young; to maternal solicitude of the female for its
progeny, when it hears that voice ; and to the ravenous appetite of the
male on the same occasion ; for, like many of the rapacious animals,
the male of this tribe preys upon its own offspring.

It is not very clear whether the male parent, after it has sought the
attachment of the female, in which its passion is fierce, violent, and
jealous, assists her in the office of disposing the eggs in the earth. It
is much more likely, from the necessity of her after watchfulness to
guard against his reprisals, that he does not. After burying the eggs
in the soil to be there matured, the female visits from time to time the
place in which they are secreted, and just as the period of hatching is
completed, her eagerness is exhibited in the anxiety with which she
comes and goes, walks around the nest of her hopes, scratches the
fractured shell, and by sounds which resemble the bark of a young dog,
excites the half extricated young, in their broken covering, to struggle
forth into life. When she has beheld, with this sort of joy, fear, and
anxiety, the last of her offspring quit its casement, she leads them forth
into the plashy pools, away from the river, and among the thick under-
wood, to avoid the predatory visits of the father. In this care and
watchfulness over them, she is ferocious, daring, and morose, guarding
with the inquietude of the hen her brood wherever they wander;
turning when they turn, and by whining and grunting showing a
particular solicitude to keep them in such pools only as are much too
shallow for the resort of the full-grown reptile. When I was in
Yasica, a river district of that name, as many as forty had been
discovered in one of these secret resorts ; but in half an hour, when the
boys who had found them out returned to visit their hiding-place, they
saw the traces of the coming and going of the watchful parent, who
had led them away to some further and safe retreat. In this period
of infantile helplessness, the mother feeds them with her masticated
food, disgorging it out to them as the dog does to its pups. It is not
frequently it is seen otherwise than crouching with its belly to the
earth, and crawling with a curvilinear motion, as the eft, or water-

THE ALLIGATOR OF THE ANTILLES. 479

newt swims, or the esox cleaves the flood ; but at this time it may
be seen firmly standing on its fore feet. This is the attitude of anger
and attack, and its spring is quick, a sort of agile leap, by no means
short in distance. During all this time of protection and dependence
is heard the voice, by which the young makes its wants known, and
the parent assures its offspring of its superintendence. It is the
yelping bark of the dog, and the whining -of the puppy.

From all these facts, I take it, that when the sound of the dog's
bark is heard, the caimans press to the spot from which it issues,
agitated by two several passions, the females to protect their young,
and the males to devour them ; and to this, and not to their predilection
for dog-meat, are we to ascribe the eagerness with which they scud
away, agitated by that voice, which in the one case is the thrilling
cry of danger, and in the other the exciting hope of food.

This susceptibility to be excited by hearing a cry associated with
peculiar instincts and appetites, has other parallels in other animals.
A very striking analogy is to be found in Wilson's anecdote of the
cat bird.

" In passing through the woods in summer," says this distinguished
ornithologist, " I have sometimes amused myself with imitating the violent
chirping or squeaking of young birds, in order to discover what different
species were around me ; for such sounds at such a season in the woods are
no less alarming to the feathered tenants of the bushes, than the cry of fire
or murder in the streets to the inhabitants of a large and populous city. On
such occasions of alarm and consternation, the cat bird is first to make his
appearance, not singly, but sometimes half a dozen at a time, flying from
different quarters to the spot. At this time, those who are disposed to play
with his feelings, may almost throw him into fits, his emotions and agitation
are so great at the distressful cries of what he supposes to be his suffering
young. Other birds are variously affected, but none show symptoms of such
extreme suffering. He hurries backwards and forwards, with hanging wings
and open mouth, calling out louder and faster, and actually screaming with
distress, till he appears hoarse with his exertions. He attempts no offensive
means ; but he bewails, he implores, in the most pathetic terms with which
nature has supplied him, and with an agony of feeling which is itself affecting.
Every feathered neighbour within hearing hastens to the place, to learn the
cause of the alarm, peeping about with looks of consternation and sympathy
But their own powerful parental duties and domestic concerns soon oblige
each to withdraw. At any other season, the most perfect imitations have no
effect whatever on him." — WILSON'S AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.

The alligator swims with scarce conceivable velocity. * * * I once

480 ADDITIONAL NOTICES OF THE AURORA BOREALIS.

eat of the flesh roasted; it is white, the fat as transparent and colourless
as glass, and the taste that of veal, but sweet as if cooked with sugar.

Mr. Heneiken, a gentleman of great experience in tropical natural
history, who accompanied me in my rambles in Yasica, confirmed the
common tradition that the caiman swallows sticks and stones for the
purpose of keeping the stomach distended. In a multiplicity of
instances in which he examined it when killed, he found these sub-
stances in its stomach, an instinct it has in common with another of
the amphibious tribes, the phocee, or seals.

ADDITIONAL NOTICES OF THE AURORA BOREALIS.

BY RURICOLA.

IN pursuance of the historical notes, inserted in the Field Naturalist's
Magazine, p. 362, and following, concerning the AURORA BOREALIS,
I take the liberty of submitting the following supplemental remarks.

This phenomenon was observed in England several times in the
reign of Queen Elizabeth. Of these the earliest seems to be that
which was seen at London on January 30th, 1560, and which is re-
corded under the appellation of " Burning Spears," in a book entitled
" A Description of Meteors," reprinted at London in the year 1654,
signed W. F., D.D.

By the testimony of Stow, the historian, the same phenomenon was
observed on the 7th of October, 1 564.

By the same historian, and his contemporary Camden, the like
appearances are described to have occurred for two successive nights,
namely, the 14th and 15th of November, 1574. On the 14th, the
former records in his annals, that there " were seen in the air strange
impressions of fire and smoke to proceed forth of a black cloud in the
north, towards the south. The next night following, the heavens from
all parts did seem to burn marvellous ragingly, and over our heads the
flames from the horizon round about, rising, did meet, and there double
and roll one in another, as if it had been in a clear furnace."

Subsequent to this date are no instances on record as having appeared
in Britain, though some are mentioned to have been seen during the
interval in Brabant, Wirtemburg, and France, at several periods, under
circumstances which make it probable that they must have been visible

ADDITIONAL -NOTICES OF THE AURORA BOREALIS. 481

in this kingdom likewise : however, in this kingdom, subsequent to
the date of 1574, are no instances on record, till September or Oc-
tober, 1706, when an appearance occurred in England, which was
transiently noticed by Mr. Denham, in a communication to the Royal
Society of London, inserted in the Philosophical Transactions for 1709,
No. 320.

The same communication contains the account of the " Northern
streaming," which was observed by Mr. Neve in Ireland, Novem-
ber 10th, 1707; and of which an account was introduced in my former
letter, p. 306. This appears to have been the first particular descrip-
tion inserted in the Transactions of the Royal Society.

Soon after this appearance another took place, but of short duration,
having been seen near London, a little before midnight, between the
9th and 10th of August, 1708, by the Right Reverend Philip, Lord
Bishop of Hereford, and by his Lordship communicated to the Royal
Society. This communication is noticed by Dr. Halley, in his " Ac-
count of the late surprising appearance of the lights seen in the air,"
inserted in the Philosophical Transactions for 1716, No. 347- The
appearance, which is described very minutely and copiously by that
eminent professor, I presume to be the one intended by Collins's
" Young Aurora,"

" In the first year of the first George's reign,"

stated by Collins's editor to have '•' happened about the year 1715 :" in
fact the phenomena occurred on Tuesday, March 6, (old style) 1716.
Dr. Halley, speaking of his great desire to witness this particular
sort of meteor, says, " This was the only one I had not as yet seen,
and of which I began to despair, since it is certain it has not hap-
pened to any remarkable degree in this part of England since I was
born ; nor is the like recorded in the English annals since the year of
our Lord 1574; that is above 140 years since, in the reign of Queen
Elizabeth. Then, as we are told by the historians of those times,
Camden and Stow, eye-witnesses of sufficient credit, for two nights
successively, namely, on the 14th and 15th of November that year,
much the same wonderful phenomenon was seen, with almost all the
same circumstances as now." The foregoing position of Dr. Halley,
that the appearance of this meteor is " not recorded in the English
annals since the year of our Lord 1574," may possibly have given
occasion to the opinion, that it has not been recorded in the English
annals at all. It is evident, also, that although, as the Professor says,
VOL. i. — NO. xi. (NOVEMBER, 1833.) o o

482 NOTES FROM LOUGH ERNE.

" the phenomena had not happened to any remarkable degree in his part
of England since he was born," later writers mistake in describing this
as its " first appearance" at that period, since it had certainly ap-
peared in 1706 and 1708 in England, not to mention its appearance in
Ireland in the intervening year.

I trouble you with these observations in consequence of having
recently procured access to the Philosophical Transactions, to which I
could not refer at the date of my former letter. With reference to the
noise which is said to be at times an accompaniment to this meteor I
would add, that in " Observations on the Lumen Boreale, or Streaming,
on OctoberS, 1726," communicated to the Royal Society by the Rev.
W. Derham, and inserted in the Philosophical Transactions for 1727>
No. 398, it is noticed, that " several persons who viewed this appear-
ance, heard a hissing, and in some places a crackling noise, in the time
of streaming."

Killeshandra, Ireland, Sept. 27/7;, 1833.

NOTES FROM LOUGQ ERNE,

BY RURICOLA.

HAVING availed myself of a very obliging invitation to take ad-
vantage of being in the neighbourhood, for visiting the magnificent
mansion of CRUM or CROM Castle, now building on the estate of the
Earl of Erne, on the upper lake of LOUGH ERNE, in the county of
Fermanagh, I beg leave to notice two or three things which took my
attention as fit matters for communication to the Field Naturalist's
Magazine.

Of these, the most remarkable is a YEW TREE, of great age and
proportionate expansion, situated in a curious, old-fashioned, terraced
garden, adjoining the fine ivy-mantled ruin of the old castle, which was
burnt down fifty or sixty years ago. The stem of the tree is upright
and undivided, being by measurement eight feet and a half in circum-
ference, at about three from the ground. The highest point, as near as
we could compute, is eighteen feet. Six feet from the ground, the
boughs project horizontally round the stem so as to cover a space nearly
circular ; the diameter of which is about twenty-seven yards, or eighty-
one feet ; and the circumference, of course, about eighty-four yards, or
254 feet. No particular date can be assigned to this tree : but local
tradition, as well as internal evidence, attributes to it a far-off origin.

NOTES FROM LOUGH ERNE. 483

It .appears, however, to be in a very healthy and flourishing condition :
no symptoms of decay are observable upon it ; on the contrary, its
foliage is perfect, and I noticed many of its bright scarlet berries
gleaming through its dark green leaves. It may seem somewhat
derogatory from the dignity of this noble tree, if I observe, that a
mushroom, with its stem and pileus magnified to the before-mentioned
dimensions, would give no very inaccurate idea of the form and
arrangement of the yew : however, as a compensatory comparison, I
would add, that occasion having been taken, from fear of the boughs
being injured by their excessive length and weight, to support them in
their horizontal position by numerous props, the tree has been thence
remarked to bear a resemblance to the Ficus Indica, or Banian Tree,
so beautifully described by Milton.

" The fig-tree, not that kind for fruit renown'd,
But such as at this day to Indians known,
In Malabar or Deccan, spreads her arms
Branching so broad and long that in the ground
The bended twigs take root, and daughters grow
About the mother-tree, a pillar'd shade
High overarch'd, and echoing walks between ;
There oft the Indian herdsman shunning heat,
Shelters in cool, and tends his pasturing herds,
At loopholes cut through thickest shades."— Par. Lost,ix. 1101.

Not to commend our yew-tree, however, hyperbolically, the extent
over which I have above described it as expanding, would evidently
suffice to accommodate no small party of herdsmen or herds, though it
would hardly be capacious enough for a regiment of soldiers, which
tradition alleges to have taken shelter under it ; at the same time that
the deep umbrageous foliage of its gigantic branches would serve as an
impenetrable protection against the most powerful summer heat.

My excursion to Crum Castle enables me to add another Heronry to
those which I have on former occasions mentioned as existing in Ireland.
Of the beautiful and almost innumerable islands, which are scattered
over Lough Erne, one was pointed out to me as containing a large
number of herons, or cranes, as they are commonly called in this
county. They were reported to me as building and breeding on that
island in the spring : but in answer to my inquiries concerning their
forsaking it in winter, as I mentioned in a late letter to be the case
with Lord Downshire's Heronry at Hilsborough, I did not learn that such
was their habit. On the contrary, my informant, an inhabitant of the

o o 2

484 NATURAL HISTOTIY OF THE REED BIRD.

immediate vicinity of the island, stated that the birds continue there
throughout the year, living for the most part in the wood during the
days,, but coming out for food in the evenings and mornings. He added,
that he continually saw them at such times, a dozen together, on the
edge of the lake, catching the pike, bream, and other fish, with which
those waters abound. Admitting the fact, which there appears no
reason to question, of the habits of these birds, as to their winter resi-
dence varying in different places, may it riot be accounted for by
supposing that they can easily find a larger supply of food in some
inland situations than in others ?

The shores of Lough Erne abound with a fossil production, which
is called by the inhabitants, petrified reeds. I brought away with me
a specimen, which seems to answer that description. It consists of a
congeries of pipe-like substances, filled with crystallised matter, and
consolidated into one mass of great weight and hardness, with an inter-
mixture of indurated clay.

Killeskandra, Oct. 8, 1833.

P.S. The Heronry which I noticed in the Field Naturalist's Magazine,
p. 320, as being in the county of Cavan, is Jit Farnham, the seat of
Lord Farnham, near the town of Cavan. I have been lately told by
a gentleman who knows the spot, that there is another at Horetown,
near Taghmon, in the county of Wexford, the property of Mr. GofF.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE REED BIRD.
(Ripoecola arundinacen, RF.NNIE.)

BY ROBERT SWEET, ESQ., F. L. S*.

THIS is a very variable bird in its colours, some being very pale, and
others altogether as dark, while those that are pale one season frequently
become dark the ensuing one It is a curious little lively bird, known
often by the name of reed wren. It generally makes its appearance
with us the beginning of April, and leaves us in September ; its early
or late departure seems to depend a good deal on the warmth or coolness
of the season. It is a very merry bird, almost continually singing, and
will sing by night as well as day, sitting amongst the reeds, or in some
bush or tree near the water, where it feeds on gnats and other insects,
which abound in moist situations. It is very fond of flies, spiders,

* From the notes to White's Selborne, 8vo. edit. 1833.

FIDELITY AND ATTACHMENT OF DOGS. 485

small caterpillars, grasshoppers, crickets, moths, and many other insects,
and will swallow a larger one than could be imagined for so small a
bird. In confinement it will feed readily on the general food pf its
congeners, and is very fond of the yolk of an egg boiled hard, so that it
may be crumbled, on the top of the other food, or put in the cage in an
empty egg-shell. It should also be supplied with a few insects occa-
sionally, such as flies, spiders, small caterpillars, moths, or butterflies.
Being an inhabitant of the sides of ditches and rivers, it is very partial
to washing, which it must not be allowed to do in winter, or it will wash
itself till it is so weak that it can never recover, and I lost several of
this species by allowing them to wash in winter. I therefore gave them
their water in a very small cup, not much larger than a walnut, in
which they can only dip their heads ; but they even try to wash in
this, by throwing the water over themselves, which amuses without
hurting them. I have a male bird of this species that has sung occa-
sionally all the winter. The song is very loud and variable, consisting
of a great number of notes, and sung with many changes of voice, so
diversified as to resemble the song of several different birds. Birds of
this species are very courageous, and are sometimes apt to quarrel with
each other ; and if two are in one cage they must be parted, or one will
probably fall a victim to the other.

The nest of this bird is generally affixed to the side of a large tree,
such as a pollard willow or poplar, twisted round the young branches
with the webs of caterpillars. It is a deep nest, and composed chiefly
of dry blades of grass, intermixed with a few bits of moss, all closely
and neatly bound tight together, with the strong webs of the gregarious
caterpillars that infest the trees and hedges in summer. It is rather a
rare bird in this country, much more so than the sedge bird, and only
visits particular districts. It is not, however, uncommon in the neigh-
bourhood of London, there being annually several in the Regent's Park,
and also on the banks of the Thames, between Battersea Bridge and the
Red House Tavern, in Battersea Fields.

ON THE FIDELITY AND ATTACHMENT OF DOGS TO THEIR

MASTERS.

BY MISS HUNTER*.

THAT dogs forsake their own species, relinquish their own pleasures,
and leave their natural food to become the friends and companions of

* This communication does great credit to the young writer. — EDITOR.

486 FIDELITY AND ATTACHMENT OF DOGS.

man, is a fact so universally allowed, that it is not my purpose to venture
any remarks on a subject which has occupied the attention, and guided
the pens of far abler writers than myself. But it appears to me that
any illustrations of their noble friendship, their disinterested attach-
ment, and their unshaken fidelity, cannot fail to interest those who
study the great volume of nature, and on that account the following is
offered.

A particular friend of mine, Mr. J , resided with his married

son and his family, and was beloved by all, but by no one more than
an old and valued four-footed friend, called Sim. This sagacious
creature was more attached to my late respected friend than any one
can imagine, for he watched his every look, his every action, and long
and patiently would he solicit the long-wished for pat or kind word
which frequently was bestowed on him. Sim sat at his master's feet
the whole day — when he rose from his chair, Sim followed gently and
unobtrusively : he always was at his side. He ate nothing but from
his master's hand, and if he ever spoke sharply to him, he evinced,
through the whole day by his subdued demeanour, how deeply he felt
the rebuke. If his master went out and did not allow him to follow
him, poor Sim did not rest, until he had sought out some glove, or

book, or something belonging to Mr. J , which, when he had

secured, he laid him down, and woe be to whoever was so rash as to

wish to deprive him of it. If Mr. J 's carriage came to the door,

Sim was all eagerness the moment its wheels were heard, }ong before
any person in the room with him knew to whom it belonged (for the
drawing-room did not command a view of the carriage drive to the
house) ; and what is still more singular, if another carriage drove up to
the door before that of his master, Sim took no notice of it whatever ; but
the moment those wheels approached, he was in an extacy of joy and
impatience, for lie always had accompanied it ; but being at the time I
speak of too old, his indulgent master took him in, and he always sat
at his feet quite upright, as if delighted to show to other dogs his
elevation. He always slept at his master's bed-room door, and if his
master was ill, Sim evinced the greatest grief, sitting by the side of the

bed; and if Mr. J called to him, leaping on the bed, and crawling

Very gently, as if fearing to annoy him by being too rough in his caresses,
he would lick his hand, and, after a great show of pleasure, resume
his station by the bed-side. At length, however, the poor gentleman
became worse and worse ; Sim was grieved beyond measure, scarcely
fete any food; and no force or coaxing could induce him to quit the side

FIDELITY AND ATTACHMENT OF DOGS 487

of his beloved master. Mr. J died ; and amongst those who

mourned his loss was Sim, the humblest, the most disinterested, and
the most intense mourner ; for he followed the body to the grave, and
when it was consigned to its kindred dust, no inducement, no entreaty
could prevail on him to leave that master in death, to whom in life he
was so tenderly devoted. He lay on the grave day and night,
intimating his humble grief by low piteous whining ; and melancholy
indeed it was to see this faithful creature testifying after his manner
his sorrow at his irreparable loss. His new master finding all endeavours
to remove him vain, took Sim in his arms and carried him wet and dirty
as he was into his house — but to no purpose ; the creature escaped and
ran to resume his station on the grave,, where he remained two days
and two nights, through storms of wind and rain, which made all
other animals forget every thing in the wish to find shelter ! The poor
dog on the third day was found dead, having actually pined to death
from grief at his dear master's death. Hard and unfeeling that heart
must be who could hear such an account and not be touched by so
great an instance of devotion. The clergyman of the parish kindly
gave a small piece of ground at the foot .of the grave, that the poor
dog might rest by his beloved friend, and that even in death he might
not be parted from him he so fondly loved.

Another instance of fidelity was proved by a large spotted dog of
ours : we had long wished to purchase him, as his beauty first attracted
our attention, he being at that time the property of a poor man
residing in the same place, and who being very fond of the animal, for
some time could not be prevailed on to sell him, though frequently
urged to do so. At last, however, pressed hard by poverty, and having
a very large family to maintain, he consented to sell the dog, which we
were glad to buy, and he was accordingly brought to our house, where
he found kind friends, both in his master and the coachman, whose
peculiar charge he was, as he was purchased for a coach dog, being too
large to bring into the house. Still, with every kindness and all our
coaxing, he never could be induced to become reconciled to his change
of abode, nor could he forget his former master. If he was chained but
for a moment, he ran away to his old home, and could only be brought
to remain with us by force ; and if we went out, he was obliged to be
tied under the carriage to make him learn to follow it. We left the
place at which we resided, and went to Ramsgate, and we imagined
that being so far removed from the home he so loved, he would cease to
think of it ; but far from forgetting his former friends, he thought

488 INSECTS POPULARLY CALLED MOSQUITO.

of them as much as ever ; and the very first time he was unchained
we missed him, and the coachman asserted he saw the animal running
at a fast gallop along the road we came by into Ramsgate, and gave it
as his opinion he would run home. That day passed — another, and
another, and the dog returned not. We wrote to his former master, and to
our astonishment, received an answer from him, saying, that as he was
at breakfast, the dog all tired and exhausted, dirty and splashed,
rushed into his house, and seemed quite overjoyed to see him again,
having travelled alone, a distance of seventy-eight miles, and passed
the city of Canterbury and Maidstone, besides numerous smaller towns,
without a guide, to return to his former master : what renders it more
singular is, that a period of a month had elapsed since the time he
arrived at Ramsgate and his being at liberty.
Exmouth, Devon, Sept. 29th, 1833.

ON THE SPECIES OF INSECT POPULARLY CALLED
MOSQUITO.

BY THE EDITOR.

IN Insect Miscellanies, I remarked that numerous species of insects
"are confounded under the common names of gnat and mosquito,
whereas M. Meigen enumerated more than a dozen European species of
gnat ( Culex~) independent of other similar genera which, though readily
distinguished by naturalists, appear to common observers to be identi-
cal ; and hence it is probable, the foreign mosquitoes are also of several
species, though to common observers, they do not appear to differ from
the common gnat (Culex pipiens)."

When I wrote the preceding passage I had no means at hand of
ascertaining the species termed Mosquito in foreign countries, either in
specimens or figures ; but I have just received from Vienna an excel-
lent German work which serves to confirm my conjecture; two very
different insects, belonging even to different genera, being indiscri-
minately called mosquito in Brazil*. The word indeed is a diminutive,
and literally signifies " little fly." It is worth remarking that neither of
the species alluded to, is the common gnat of Europe, though one is not

* Braziliens vorziiglich liistige Insecten. Von Dr. J. E. Pohl und V. Kollar
mit illumin. Kupfertafl. 4to. Wien. 1832.

INSECTS POPULARLY CALLED MOSgUITO. 489

unlike it in form and colour, but rather smaller. I shall here give the
figures and descriptions of these two mosquitoes, as curious and
interesting to those who, like myself, are fond of such inquiries.

Fig. 1. Ctilex molestus.— a, natural size; b, magnified. Fig. 2. Simillum pettimtx.— c, natural
size ; d, magnified.

1. Culex molestus, KOLLAU ; in Portuguese, Mosquitto. The
colour is dusky brown, the corselet and feet paler, the wings shining,
and the wing ribs somewhat indistinct. The corselet is uniform in
colour, and the abdomen has the rings grey. The body is one sixth of an
inch in length. The wings are finely fringed, the wing ribs being
darker and hairy. The antennae have fourteen joints and are beset with
tufts of hair disposed in whirls at the joints, these being much longer
and thicker in the male. The beak (der russel} is composed, as in
other gnats of several pieces, namely a fleshy, semi-cylindrical lip,
terminating in a divided tip, another grooved lip of a horny texture,
and four fine bristles, two on each side.

Parts of the mouth in a gnat, magnified and separated.— a, b, the upper lip and upper jaws
carrying the jointed feelers ; /, c, d, the under jaws and tonguelet; e, the under lip.

It is the female only which is troublesome as a bloodsucker, causing
a burning pain followed by an inflamed swelling produced by the poison-
ous fluid she instils into'the wound for the purpose of rendering the
blood thinner and more easily sucked. The species is so annoying both
to men and cattle, that some districts, where they are unusually abun-
dant, have been quite abandoned by the colonists. This will not appear

490 ON THE GEOGRAPHY OF PLANTS.

wonderful when we find that Stedman and his soldiers were forced to
sleep with their heads thrust into holes made in the earth with their
bayonets, in order to escape from their tormenting bites; while Baron
Humboldt tells us, the wretched inhabitants are accustomed to stretch
themselves on the ground and pass the night buried in the sand three
or four inches deep.

2. Similium pertinax, KOLLAR ; in Brazilian, Boraxudo ; in Portu-
guese, Mosquitto. The colour is black, the wings translucent, the
antennae and the legs pale yellow, the shanks (tibice) of the hind legs
and all the feet (tarsi) blackish. The body is one twelfth of an inch
in length. The wings in some lights have a reddish gloss, and are
exceedingly thin and furnished with delicate wing ribs. The poisers
(Jialteres) are yellow, The female, as in the former instance is the
most troublesome, and the blood flows copiously from the wound she
inflicts. This, which is about the size of a pin's head, ought to be
squeezed firmly to expel the insect poison.

Our authors report that there are many other species of Similium
in Brazil, which are- similarly troublesome. They add that the Brazi-
lians call every species of troublesome fly Mosquilto.
Lee, Kent, >]th Oct. 1833.

ON THE GEOGRAPHY OF PLANTS.

BY BARON HUMBOLDT.

THE numerical relations of the forms of vegetation are capable of being
investigated in two very different modes. Supposing that the natural families
of plants are studied without reference to their geographical distribution,
the question will arise as to which form of organisation it is after which the
greatest number of species have been created. Are there most Glumaceae or
Composita: in the world? Do these two tribes together constitue a fourth part
of phcunogamous vegetation ? What proportion is borne by monocotyledones to
tlicotyledones ? Questions of this kind refer rather to the science of vegetable
organisation and of mutual affinities. But if, instead of studying natural
groups of species in this abstract manner, we view them with reference to the
relations they bear to climate or to the distribution over the surface of the globe,
other questions of a more varied nature will arise. Which families, for instance,
are more predominent in the torrid zone than iu the polar circle? Are Compo-
sitor more numerous in the same parallel of latitude or in the same isothermal
line in the old world or the new ? Do those forms, which are found to diminish
in retreating from the equator to the pole, follow a similar law of decrement in
rising from the plains into the mountains of the equator? Do the proportions

ON THE GEOGRAPHY OF PLANTS. 491

borne by one family to another vary on the same isothermal line ? and are such
proportions the same on either side of the equator ? These are, properly speak-
ing, questions of geographical botany : they are connected with the most
important problems of meteorology, and the physics of the globe in general.

In studying the geographical distribution of particular forms, we can
pause either at a consideration of particular species, genera, or natural families.
It often happens, that, a particular species, especially of those kinds which
I have called social, covers a vast extent of country: such, for instance are, in
the north, the heaths and forests of pines ; such are, in equinoctial America,
the assemblages of multitudes of Cactus, Croton, Bambusa, and Brathys, of
the same species. It is curious to examine such instances of multiplication
and organic development. We may enquire what species, in a given zone,
produces the greatest number of individuals ? and we may mark the families
to which the predominant species belong in different climates.

In a northern climate, where Composite and ferns are to phcenogamous
plants in the relation of one to thirteen; and of one to twenty-five, one single
species of fern may occupy ten times as much land as all the Composite put
together. In such a case, ferns would exceed Composite by their mass, by the
number cf individuals belonging to particular species of Pteris or Polypodium ;
but they would not exceed them if a comparison were instituted between dif-
ferent forms exhibited by the two groups of Composite and ferns, and the sum
total of phoenogamous species. As the multiplication- of all species does not
follow a single law, and as these do not all produce an equal number of indivi-
duals the quotients obtained by dividing the total number of phoenogamous
plants, by the number of species of different families, do not by themselves
determine the aspect, or, it might almost be said, the nature, of the monotony
of vegetation in different quarters of the world A traveller is often surprised
at the continual repetition of individuals of one species, and of the masses of
such individuals which are continually occurring ; but he has equal reason to
wonder at the rarity of other species which are useful to mankind. Thus
in countries where whole forests are formed by Rubiaceae, Leguminosaa, and
Terebinthaceae, the cinchonas, logwood, and balsam trees are comparatively very
rare.

In the consideration of species, the subject may also be viewed in an
absolute manner, with reference to the number of species which prevail in parti-
cular zones. This interesting kind of comparison has been made in M. De
Candolle's grand work, and M. Kunth has carried it into effect with more
than 3,500 Composite now known. It does not, indeed, indicate what families
predominate, in a given degree, over other phoenogamous plants, either with
regard to the number of species, or the mass of individuals ; but it determines
the numerical relations of species of the same family in different latitudes.
The most varied forms of ferns, for instance, are found in the tropics ; it is in
the mountainous, temperate, humid, and shady regions of those parts of the
world that the family of ferns produces the greatest number of species. In

492 ON THE GEOGRAPHY OF PLANTS.

the temperate zone there are fewer than in the tropics, and the total number
continues to decrease as we approach the pole; but as a cold country, Lapland
for instance, produces species that have a greater power of resisting low tempe-
rature than the great mass of phoenogamous plants, it happens that, in
Lapland, the relative proportion borne by ferns to the rest of the Flora, is
greater than in France or Germany. The numerical relations which appear in
the tables which I shall produce, are entirely unlike the relations indi-
cated by an absolute comparison of the species that vegetate under different
parallels of latitude. The variation which is observable in proceeding from
the equator, to the poles is consequently different in those two methods. In
that of fractions, which is adopted by Mr. R. Brown and myself, there are two
causes of variation; that is to say, the total numbers of phoenogamous plants do
not vary in passing from one parallel of latitude, or rather from one isothermal
zone to another, in the same proportions as the number of species of a given
family.

If from species or individuals of the same form, which reproduce them-
selves in conformity to certain fixed laws, we pass to those divisions of the
natural systems which are abstractions of different degrees of importance, we
may either confine ourselves to genera, or orders, or sections of a still higher
degree. There are certain genera and families which belong exclusively to
certain zones, and a particular combination of the conditions of climate ; but
there is also a great number of genera and families, of which we find repre-
sentatives under all zones and at all elevations. The earliest researches upon
the geographical distributions of forms were those of M. Treviranus, published
in his ingenious work on Biology, and the object of these was the stations of
genera upon the globe. But it is more difficult to obtain general results from
such a method than from that which compares the number of species of each
family, or the great groups of a particular family to the whole mass of phreno-
gamous plants. In the frozen zone, the variety of genuine forms does not
diminish in any thing like the degree of decrement of species ; a greater
number of genera, in a given number of species, is always to be found in such
countries ; and so it also is with the summits of high mountains, which are
colonised by a great number of genera supplied by the more abundant vegetation
of the plains.

It is very instructive to study the vegetation of the tropics and of the
temperate zone between the parallels of 40° and 50°, in two different ways:
first, in determining the numerical properties of the Flora of a large extent of
country, including both mountains and plains ; and, secondly, in ascertaining
those proportions for the plains only of the temperate and torrid zones. As in
our herbaria we have indicated, by barometrical measurement, the elevation
of each plant in more than 4000 cases above the level of the sea in equi-
noctial America, it will be easy, when the account of the species is completed,
to separate those which grow at or above an elevation of 6000 feet from such
as are inhabitants of a lower region. This operation will affect most sensibly

ON THE GEOGRAPHY OF PLANTS. 493

those families which abound in alpine species ; as, for instance, Gramineae and
Compositae. At 6000 feet of elevation, the mean temperature of the air, on
the back of the equatorial Andes, is 62° 6', which is equal to that of July at
Paris. Although, upon the table-land of the Cordilleras, we find the same
annual temperature as in high latitudes, yet it is not right to generalise too
much, such analogies between the temperate climates of equatorial mountains
and low stations in the circumpolar zone. These analogies are not so great as
is supposed ; they are much influenced by the partial distribution of heat in
different seasons of the year. The quotient does not regularly change, in
rising from the plains into the mountains, in the same manner as it does in
approaching the pole ; as happens with monocotyledones in general, ferns,
and Compositae.

We may, moreover, remark, that the development of the vegetation of
different families depends neither upon geographical nor isothermal latitude
alone; but that, on the contrary, the quotients are not in accordance on
the same isothermal line of the temperate zone in the plains of America
and of the old world. Under the tropics, there is a remarkable difference
between America, India, and the western side of Africa. The distribution of
organised_beings over the surface of the globe depends not only upon very
complicated conditions of climate, but also upon geological causes, the nature
of which is wholly unknown, but which are connected with the original state
of our planet. In the equinoctial zone of Africa, palms are not very numerous,
if compared with the much greater number in South America. Differences
such as these, far from turning us from a search after the laws of nature,
should, on the contrary, excite us to contemplate those laws in their most
complicated forms. Lines of equal heat do not follow the parallel of the
equator ; they have convex and concave summits, which are distributed very
regularly over the globe, and form different systems along the eastern and
western sides of the two worlds, in the centre of continents, and in the vicinity
of oceans. It is probable that, when the globe shall have been more correctly
examined, it will be found that the lines of maxima of grouping will be
isothermal lines. If we divide the globe into lines of longitude, and compare
the numerical proportions of those lines under similar isothermal latitudes, the
existence of different systems of grouping will at once be evident. From such
systems can be distinguished, even in the present imperfect state of our
knowledge, those of the new world, of western Africa, of India, and of New
Holland. As we find that, notwithstanding the regular increase of heat from
the equator to the poles, the maximum of heat is not always identical in
different countries in different degrees of longitude; so there exist places
where certain families attain" a.greater degree of development than elsewhere;
as is the case with the Compositae in the temperate region of North America,
and especially at the southern extremity of Africa.

494
MISCELLANIES.

BY SOLITARIUS.

WHEN the swallow and other birds at evening suspend their ento-
mological researches, the bat comes forth to commence a sharp and fatal
attack among the nocturnal insects, and very pleasing it is to observe
with what extraordinary agility he performs his swift aerial gyrations,
for the purpose of capturing the little gnats and moths that have attracted
the attention of his quick and observant eye. It is said that burs, if
whitened with chalk, and thrown up into the air where bats are flying,
will attract them, owing to their appearing like white" moths, and from
their sticking to their furry bodies prevent them flying, and cause them
to drop upon the earth, a prey to those who practise this artifice.
Though this plan may not fail in its purpose, yet the success of it I do
not think depends upon the bats mistaking the whitened burs for
moths, but consider that it results merely from their accidentally coming
in contact with them. At the back of my residence bats fly almost
every evening, and from experiments which I have tried with them, I
have been induced to form a much higher opinion of their sagacity than
to suppose that they would mistake inanimate substances for living
prey. When they have been passing and re -passing by my window at
dusk, I have flung out small pieces of white wool, which, when borne
upon the breeze, more nearly resembled white moths, than would burs
when ejected into the air ; yet I never once saw the bats, although they
flew close to them, take the least notice of them, but, upon exchanging
these dead baits for live moths, they instantly pounced upon them. On
the 2nd of this month I was very much amused by watching a bat flying
about some trees in a field near Camden Town, which frequently
descended from aloft, and skimmed along the grass in the manner of a
swallow, the object of its doing so being, most probably, to capture the
smaller insects flying near the earth's surface.

In the " Habits of Birds" is a chapter upon the longevity of certain
species, but as I do not see any instance of this kind respecting the
swan, I beg to introduce the following account into the pages of your
Magazine, the fittest place for it. " The other day a male swan, which
had seen many generations come and go, and witnessed the other muta-
tions incident to the lapse of 200 years, died at Rosemount. He was
brought to Dun when the late John Erskine, Esq. was in infancy, and
was then said to be 100 years old. About two years ago he was pur-

MISCELLANIES BY SOLITARIUS. 495

chased by the late David Duncan, Esq , of Rosemount, and within that
period his mate brought four young, which he destroyed as soon as they
took the water. Mr. Molleson, Bridge-street, (in whose museum the
bird is now to be seen,) thinks he might have lived much longer, but
for a lump or excrescence at the top of the windpipe, which, on dissec-
tion, he found to be composed of grass and tow. This is the same bird
that was known and recognised in the early years of the octogenarians
in this and the neighbouring parishes, by the name of the ' old swan of
Dun.'" — ride Morning Chronicle, Sept. 25, 1833.

In support of the probable truth of the two accounts given in my
" Field Scraps" (p. 457), I bring forward other instances on record.
At page 102 of the Kaleidoscope (a Liverpool periodical) for 1822, an
account is given from the Dublin Journal, of a farmer having found,
during March, a cuckoo, apparently lifeless, enclosed in furze and bog,
which, upon exposure to the sun's heat, showed symptoms of life, and
flew away. In a number of the same instructive work, for March 25th,
1823, is an account copied from the Derby Reporter, which, if true,
not only confirms the assertion of cuckoos being found after the usual
time, but shows that, with proper attention, this bird will live through
the winter in confinement, thus disproving the popular notion to the
contrary. " During last summer a cuckoo was taken out of a sparrow's
nest, in Locke Park, at a time when the period of migration was past.
It lived, and has been brought up during the winter with considerable
care, the cage in which it was kept being wrapped up every night and
placed in the butler's pantry."

Swallows have engaged much attention, and have been described at
great length, but no ornithologist seems to have written a word in refu-
tation of the popular belief, that they cannot perch upon trees, a notion
which I for some time credited, until I saw an instance to the contrary,
as related at p . 458, where I have to thank you for informing me that the
circumstance is one of very common occurrence. I have often observed
with surprise, that swallows, when wounded by shot, make towards
trees, to which they cling and hang when dead. I do not find it men-
tioned by Pennant, White, Edwards, and other authorities, that during
the time of migration, swallows, at evening, collect in hundreds roost-
ing all night upon the open plains. Returning from an excursion with
a friend, on the 14th of last month, we were amused by an immense
concourse of swallows assembled upon Wormwood Scrubbs, which place
seemed to have been selected by general consent, as the place of ren-
dezvous for all of the species in the neighbourhood, for we could not

496 MISCELLANIES BY SOLITARIUS.

discover any resting elsewhere. I have recorded a somewhat similar
instance, respecting a number of swallows hidden in a long creek, near
a streamlet's bank, being put to flight upon my approach.

It should be the endeavour of every naturalist to gain the confidence
of the animals that venture to draw near unto his dwelling, instead of
giving them cause to fear him. It is my practice every morning to
throw the broad that has been soaking all night in that very inebriating
and fattening beverage, known by the name of toast-and-water, on to
the roof of an abutment at the back of the house for the food of the
sparrows and other birds that choose to come hither for a breakfast.
This practice affords me matter for amusement even before I am up,
for whilst in bed I can watch them hopping about, not only on the
chimney tops, but on the window-sill, where, by their clamorous
chirping, they signify in very plain terms, their readiness for their usual
gratuitous meal. The sparrows constitute the greater part of my little
pensioners, and they are rather desirous of appropriating all the food to
themselves, and once, but not without some provocation, made a very
ferocious attack upon a crow, who was in the habit of arriving every
morning punctually at the time of feeding, and giving a most practical
proof of the sharpness of his appetite, by swallowing the whole of the
breakfast, to the great disappointment of the rest of the company, who,
considering him more free than welcome, gave him at length to under-
stand that his visits would be no longer countenanced, by their making
a simultaneous attack upon his sable person one morning when he made
his usual appearance. Since then, I do not think he has ever honoured
them with his presence. But in his stead a more welcome and less
selfish guest has come, who, for what he receives, requites me with
a song. A young female relation has enabled me to address this latter
bird, the robin, and also the sparrows, in verses, which breathe sen-
timents felt by all who take compassion upon these little commoners when
pinched by hunger, and consequently, perhaps, will not be altogether
unacceptable to some of your readers.

When breaks, in fog, the autumnal morn,

And hoar frost glitters on the thorn,
And winds blow hard and chill,

The redbreast then the forest leaves,

And joins the sparrows from the eaves,
Upon my window-sill :

By hunger pressed he hither comes

To pick the freely scatter'd crumbs,
Till he has pick'd his fill.

MISCELLANIES BY SOLI.TARIUS. 497

No noble e'er, to pomp a slave,
it To peers a sumptuous breakfast gave,

With half such joy, as I
Scatter the crumbs with lavish hand,
And watch the little feather'd band,
And mark each sparkling eye ;
Until my little guests at length
By gathering crumbs have gather'd strength,
To spread their wings and fly.— E. F.

One of the greatest proofs of the insensibility of insects to pain is
afforded by the fact, that many will live for months with pins stuck
through their bodies. Having set a specimen of B laps obtusa, I shut it up
in a box, quite confident that I had killed it, but, to my surprise, on
opening the box three weeks afterwards, I found that it was still alive
and sufficiently strong to turn itself round upon the pin. He probably
simulated death in the first instance, as many other insects are in the
habit of doing when impaled. Such instances as these tend to establish
that which I strongly believe to be the case, namely, that beetles and
other animals exposed to constant danger are not subject to the usual
agonies of death. Shakspeare said that " the beetle that we tread upon
in corporal sufferance feels a pang as great as when a giant dies."
Upon which passage the critic has observed, " Ah ! and a great deal
more too, for he feels no pang when the giant dies." From the many
facts of which we are in possession, and from the numerous papers
which have been written upon the insensibility of insects to pain, it
appears that the meaning Shakspeare intended to convey, of the pain
felt by a beetle when dying being comparatively as great as though it
were a giant under the suffering of death, is most probably devoid of
truth, and if so, the criticism is as far from being correct as the passage
to which it relates.

The revival of animals from a state of inactive torpidity into a state
of reaction presents many singular facts to the contemplative philoso-
pher who muses upon the extraordinary wonders of nature, to the
physician who endeavours to discover more respecting either the
materiality or the spirituality of life, and to the naturalist who, not
satisfied with a mere detail of facts., labours to trace effects to their
causes. It is stated in the Kaleidoscope for 1822, at page 106, that
Mr. Beddome, a chemist in Tooley-street, London, thus writes to the
editor of the Times : — " Sir, having lately read in the very interesting
Introduction to Entomology, by Messrs. Kirby and Spence, of the

VOL. i.— NO. xi. (NOVEMBER, 1833.) p p

498 MISCELLANIES BY SOLITARIES.

great tenacity of life which some insects possess, it has brought to my
recollection a fact that occurred three years ago, which I confess I could
not have credited had it not passed under my own observation. I had
purchased twenty large hives and a hogshead of Dutch honey in the
natural state, not separated from the wax, which had been in my
friend's warehouse above a year ; and after emptying my hives as well
as I could, I boiled them for a considerable time in water to obtain
what honey remained between the interstices. A considerable number
of bees that had been mixed with the honey were floating on the
surface of the water, and these I skimmed off and placed on flag-stones
outside -my laboratory, which was at the top of the house, and then
exposed to a July meridian sun. You may imagine my astonishment
Avhen, in half an hour, I saw scores of these same bees that had been
for months in a state of suffocation, and then well boiled, gradually
come to life and fly away. There were so many of them that I closed
the door, fearing that they might be disposed to return and punish me
for the barbarous usage they had received at my hands." A friend at
Laytonstone informed me that upon pulling down part of his cottage
during the winter some time since, a wasp was discovered, seemingly
dead, but of a very fresh and bright appearance, and which, upon
being held to the tire, became re-animated, as did the bees in the above
instance.

Last Friday I found two specimens of some species of Phryganea,
attached to the branches of an osier, on the banks of the river Wandle,
near Merton. Is it not very late in the year to find any species of
these flies ?

The snail of which Ruricola speaks (p. 320), as having been intro-
duced from Spain into England, is most probably the Helix pomalia of
Linnaeus, which Sir Kenelm Digby and Da Costa consider as having
been . imported hither, and which Turton, in his Manual of British
Shells, considers as the species mentioned by Sallust, as having been
" so instrumental in the capture of the castle near the river Malacha,
in Spain, and which effected the termination of the Jugurthan war."
A coloured plate of this species he will find in the above work, where
it is described as being " two inches long and as many inches high,
rather solid, with the body evolution extremely large and inflated, the
others very little rounded, strongly striate across, and minutely so in
spiral direction; colour whitish, with the bands hardly visible, or pale
tawny, with usually four darker bands, two of them penetrating the
aperture at the pillar : aperture somewhat orbicular, longer than broad,

NOTES BY llURieOLA.

with the margin thick, and reflected at the pillar, so as in general to
cover the umbilicus or nearly so ; the inside of a pale violet brown."
It is also stated to inhabit " chalky or gravelly counties."

A friend took me, a few weeks since, to see a very beautiful and lofty
oak, standing down a lane near Mill Hill, Hendon. The most obvious
peculiarities of this tree consist in its branches not being like other
oaks, crooked and irregularly disposed, but perfectly straight, and
directed slightly upwards, giving the tree a most elegant appearance
and a well preserved outline. I regret that my ignorance of botaiiy pre-
vents my rendering a phytographical account of this tree, by which it
would stand a better chance of being recognised by the botanist, either
as a species or a variety.

Paddinzton, Oct. 12t/i, 1833.

NOTES.

BY BURICOLA.

I am at present visiting at a house, in the pleasure garden <jf
which there is a small piece of water overhung with some fine beeches,
as well as Portugal laurels and other shrubs, where a party of Water
Hens, or Moor Hens, (Gallinula Chloropus, LATHAM,) have long made
their abode. The party consists at present of about six, having been
but little increased for some years, in consequence of accidents, as it is
supposed, for care ia taken not to molest them intentionally. But
rat-gins have been known in more than one instance to prove injurious
to them ; and last summer a young brood of four chicks, having been
led by the mother a little distance below the water-dam, appear to
have been prevented by the fall from returning, and were found dead
beyond it by a labourer, who had endeavoured to catch and lift them
over the water-dam, but they ran from him into the crevices of the
stones, and so perished.

These birds, which belong to a naturally timid species, are apt to
take alarm at the sudden approach of a footstep, as I just now witr
nessed. As I was walking by the side of the water, one hastily
,rose a few yards befofe me, and skimming along but a little above the
surface of the pool, took shelter in the adjoining bushment. They
.habituate themselves, however, to the presence of man, when they have
assurance that he means them no harm. The gardener inform^ me

500 NOTES BY RURICOLA.

that they seem to have no fear of him whilst he is at work in the
garden, and will come without scruple within a short distance of the
spot where he is employed. Indeed, the garden is one of their con-
iinnul places of resort ; so that I have been much amused by seeing
them roving about, sometimes on the greensward under the canopy of
the spreading beech-tree,

" • patulffi sub tegmine fagi,"

and sometimes on the beds in the flower garden, busily engaged in
picking up their food, which consists of worms, insects, seeds, and
generally such productions as the common domestic fowls are fond of;
which, indeed, they resemble in some of their habits, particularly in
the sort of clucking, by which the mother calls her young about her.

I have seen them engaged in feeding on the same spot with the
domestic fowls, and apparently in pursuit of the same objects : they
did not appear, however, to associate at all with each other ; on the
contrary, some symptoms of hostility, as resenting the invasion of each
other's territories, were observed to pass between them.

I spoke just now of injuries sustained by these birds from gins that
had been set for rats, but by which the water hens had unfortunately
been trapped. Two of our party have in consequence lost each a leg.
On enquiring of the gardener whether this loss affected their swimming
or flying, as it evidently must their walking, he thought not. The
bird, of which I just now made mention, as rising before me, is one of
the mutilated animals ; and, so far as I could notice, its flight war-
ranted the opinion of the gardener. I could not, however, be so
minute in my observations, as to ascertain whether he is right in saying
that, when they fly, they draw their legs up to the body. This is
not agreeable to Col. Montagu's Ornithological Dictionary, which says
that the Gallinula " flies badly, with its legs hanging down." One of
the family, however, testifies to having remarked them passing over
the water on the wing, but with the legs depending, and almost
touching, and, as it were, walking on the surface. On my further
reference to my friend, the gardener, he repeats his former statement,
and, at the same time confirms the other, adding in explanation, that
when the birds are taking a short flight with intent to alight again
soon, they fly with their legs hanging down ; but that they gather them
up when they are employed in a more distant flight.

These birds are sometimes seen perched among the branches of a
Portugal laurel : and not uncommonly creeping amid a bed of " the

NOTES BY RURICOLA. 501

weed, the Frenchman's darling ;" for food, perhaps, or for concealment.
In the spring, the gardener was continually missing the blossoms of a
tuft of hepaticas, which; as they successively flowered, were carried off,
nothing but the flower-stalks remaining. On carefully watching for the
plunderers, he discovered them to be the water-hens, whose propensity
for flowers, however, does not appear to have been observed by him in
other instances : but hs has noticed them feeding luxuriously on plums
that had fallen from the tree.

I have just availed myself of the opportunity of being at this place to
visit the Marquis of Downshire's heronry, which I mentioned in a former
letter, F. N. M., page 320. But although his lordship's ponds are
enlivened by numerous wild ducks, bald-coots, water-hens, &c., we
could discover only one or two herons. They return hither early every
spring for building and breeding, in March, I understand, and forsake
the place in the autumn, about the end of August, for the sea, leaving
behind them, as an old labourer near the spot told me, one, two, or perhaps
three birds to " keep the ground," or, as another expressed himself,
" to guard the place," till their return the following spring. Whether
or not this opinion be correct, I am not able to say : but it seems to be
the opinion generally prevalent here ; at all events the persons who
entertain it, speak positively to the fact of a .heron or two being seen
" now and again " about the heronry during the absence of the great
body of their companions. There is a fancy also that the same sen-
tinels do not remain throughout the winter, but that they relieve each
other by turns. The grounds of this do not appear.

Under the trees, and beside the water, we observed a very beautiful
fungus, which I mention for a reason to be specified presently. The
pileus is circular and slightly convex, becoming gradually flatter, and
in the end concave like a bowl, when in a more advanced stage. The
diameter of the pileus is, as near as possible, six inches, and the stem
rises to about five inches. The colour of the upper surface of the
pileus a bright crimson, covered all over here and there with yellowish
incrustating spots or blotches of angular irregular forms, at nearly equal
distances from each other, of about a quarter of an inch; the under
surface of a rich cream colour. My acquaintance with cryptogamous
plants does not suffice for giving a name to this, and I have no botanical
work at hand^to refer to: but perhaps the foregoing description may
identify the plant to your botanical readers. The circumstance which
especially causes me to mention it is this : — For the convenience of
making a drawing of it, the fungus had been lodged in an empty water

502 CHAPTER OF VARIETIES.

guggler, the stem occupying the neck, and the pileus resting horizontally
on the mouth, and was thus placed at bed-time on the top of a chest of
drawers in a bed-room, between the door and a window.

In the morning, the outer surface of the bottle and the top of the
chest of drawers were mantled with an uninterrupted and complete
coating of white impalpable powder, giving to the bottle much the
appearance of being covered by steam, as when a bottle of cold liquid
is suddenly brought into a warm room ; and extending to a considerable
distance, though fainter as more remote, in every direction round the
bottle. Towards that end of the chest of drawers which stood nearest
the door, this coating reached only a few inches, and then ceased : but
towards the other end, which was furthest from the door, and towards
the window, it extended quite to the extremity of the chest, a distance
of twenty-one inches, and would certainly have been perceived beyond,
if there had been a continued surface to receive it : in fact, beyond the
chest, with an interval of about a foot, was a wash-hand stand, to
which some of the powder had been extended. This difference appears
to have been occasioned either by the light, (though, the window-
shutters being closed, that is hardly probable;) or, which is more
probable, by a slight current of air passing in through the doorway:
though, indeed, on examining the passage in the morning, the draught
is hardly, if at all perceptible.

Hillsborough, Ireland.
Sept. 21sl, 1833.

A METEOROLOGICAL PHENOMENON.

BY RUBICOLA.

IN a late letter I communicated an account of a curious little marine
animal, discovered at Ballintoy, on the northern coast of the county of
Antrim. I have been just made acquainted with a remarkable meteo-
rological phenomenon, which has been observed on the same spot, and
which appears to me sufficiently strange to merit being recorded in your
pages, for which I beg leave to transcribe it. It may be convenient for
your readers to be apprised that the cliffs of Ballintoy rise precipitously
from the edge of the Great Northern Ocean, and that at the distance
of about sixty feet from the main land is an insular rock, called
Carrick-a-rede, frequented by salmon fishers, connected with the main-
land by a swinging bridge of ropes during the summer months.

A iMETEOROLOGICAL PHENOMENON. 503

A few miles off is the small island of Raghery, or Rachlin, the most
northerly part of Ireland ; and about twenty miles off is the Mull of
Cantyre, Campbelltown, &c., in Scotland. The rocks of Ballintoy are
a customary scene of resort for tourists ; and it was from them the fol-
lowing appearance was presented to two of my family, one of whom
thus describes it : —

" From Ballintoy we walked to Carrick-a-rede, but there was such
a mist that we saw nothing whatever of the coast until we got to the
bridge. We were, however, very much amused and delighted by
watching an appearance like a rainbow in the mist; the sun being
bright behind us through the mist. The bow was distinct but colour-
less, except the outside, which had a tinge of violet. It was also more
than a semicircle*, which W. attributes to our being on a very high cliff.
When we got to Carrick-a-rede we could scarcely see further than
across the swinging bridge ; but the mist soon cleared away gradually.
While we stood on a high rock, a little to the east of the bridge, we
saw each of us his own shadow on the water, which was just visible
below us, with an extraordinary effect ; the head of the shadow being
surrounded by a halo of very faint prismatic colours : and at a few
yards' distance from this I saw another circle, with my head also for a
centre, and also faintly prismatic ; and the bow which we had previ-
ously observed, at a yet greater distance, but not quite a complete circle,
part being apparently cut off by -the rock that we stood on. It seemed
that if we had been on a higher rock at some little distance we should
have seen the whole circle of this bow ; but before we could get to this
eminence the whole gradually but 'quickly melted away, lasting alto-
gether about five minutes from the time we first observed our own.
shadows. Soon after the mist cleared off, and we had a fine view of the
little rock of Carrick-a-rede ; then of Raghery, Fairhead, and Scotland.
The whole phenomenon struck us as extraordinary and curious ; and
we thought that you might like to send an account of it to Professor
Rennie."

Holy wood,' Ireland, Sept. 16, 1833.

* The bow being more than a semicircle would depend upon the relative
position of the sun. When I visited the falls of the Rhine in the autumn of
1833, I observed a very bright rainbow on the rising spray, which, from the
Icwness of the sun on the western horizon, was very little curved, but stretched
across in almost a straight line. — EDITOR.

504
CHAPTER OF VARIETIES.

MICE. — The following singular circumstance happened in the ware-
house of the Dublin Custom-house, and as I had it from an eye-witness
of the fact, I have no reason to doubt its authenticity. A bag of malt
was hung upon the triangle from which the scales were suspended, and
having remained some time, on being taken down from that situation,
it was discovered that the mice had made this their granary, and many
ran out and were killed. They were left dead on the floor, and about
four hours afterwards, no one having been in the warehouse during
that time, there were but two or three remaining, but several live mice
were seen in the room round the dead. The room was again visited in
about another hour, when not a mouse dead or alive was to be seen.
Much surprise was expressed at the sudden disappearance of the dead
mice, when one of the persons present observed, that no doubt they
had been buried by their companions. This occasioned u general
laugh ; but shortly after, on removing some reams of paper in the same
room, which were placed more than six feet from the ground, in the
Opening between the reams was discovered a perfect cemetery, the dead
mice being regularly interred, and covered with small particles of paper
like a nest. Others were found in the same manner buried in piles of
hides. E. G. BALLARD.

Islington, Sept. 26, 1833.

THE LITTLE MAN OF WAR. — The marine animal which your cor-
respondent, Ruricola, speaks of under the name of the little man of
war, is the Medusa hysocella. The circumstance of his finding it in
the British seas, and of his describing it as light coloured, would lead
me, in the absence of more distinct facts, to refer it to the species
hysocella instead of the M. aurita or M. pelagica, these two last being so
deeply tinted, that he must have spoken with admiration of their
extreme brilliancy of colour had he seen them.

The Medusa hysocella (I speak from my own experience), is to be
found in the northern parts of the Western Ocean, being conveyed
there by the impetus of the gulf stream. In the meridian of the
Azores this great current is 550 miles wide, but its course being E.
and E. s. E., it would not account for the stray visitants found on the
coast of Antrim, if it were not that off Newfoundland the stream
separates, and running from s. w. to N. E. reaches by this branch the

CHAPTER OF VARIETIES. 505

higher and colder shores of Europe. It is in the south, in the latitude
of Madeira, that the opaline coloured mollusca are most common. In
consequence of their prevalence in this part of the Atlantic, the English
sailors give them the name of Portuguese men of war. Humboldt, in
noticing them in his Narrative, says, that when he had passed the lati-
tude of 36° he entered the Azores, in which the whole sea was covered
with a prodigious quantity of them. The vessel was almost becalmed,
but the mollusca advanced towards the s. E. with a rapidity equal to
four times that of the current, and continued to pass for three quarters
of an hour. Here he recognised three species, the Medusa aurita of
Baster, the M. pelagica of Bosc, and a third which approached the
M. hysocella, distinguished by its yellow-brown colour, and its tentacula
longer than its body. They are one of the sources of the phosphores-
cence of the ocean. By Humboldt's experiment they emitted light
when shaken. Placed on a tin plate, the vibration of the tin when
struck was sufficient to make the irritated animal shine. R. H — L.

VEGETATIVE PECULIARITIES IN DURABLE AND SOFT WOODED
TREES IN THE TROPICS. — In the temperate zone, those trees which
change their foliage with the seasons, shedding their leaves as the
winter comes on, and standing with bare branches through a succession
of weeks, if hard and solid timber trees, are notoriously of slow
growth, and require years, in some cases ages, to mature the texture of
their fibres. This is the case with the oaks and elms. Where, how-
ever, vegetation is never checked by hibernation, as in most trees in the
tropics, and in the evergreens of temperate climates, woods may be of
quick growth, and have all the characters of durability, weight, and
compactness. The Acacia batriahonda, which yields a more solid and
durable timber than any European tree, arrives at maturity in fifteen
or twenty years, and is never leafless ; whilst the ceiba or silk-cotton-
tree (Bombax pentandra), a very giant of the forest, and the gomier
(Busera gummifera), a tree of good size and bulk, showing their golden
foliage every year, are the softest of all tropical woods used for domestic
or constructive purposes. The one is scooped into canoes, for which its
large growth and light texture admirably adapt it ; the other is formed
into bowls and small gamelles, for which its facility of being worked,
and its clean whiteness render it highly suitable. The dye woods,
which are all woods of hard flinty fibre, suffering no hybernation, are
of rapid growth ; such are the logwood (Hematojcylum Campechianum) ,
the fustic (Morus tinctoria), and the braziletto (Ccesalpiniavesicarid),

VOL. i. — NO. xi. (NOVEMBER, 1833.) « Q

506 CHAPTER OF VARIETIES.

&c. j but the balsamiferous or resinous trees, though they do not cast
their leaves, are comparatively slow growers. R. H — L.

INDICATIONS OF THE QUALITY OP MAHOGANY IN THE GROWING
TREE. — Even a passing observation on the trees in the savannahs of
St. Domingo, very contrary to common opinion, cannot be made
presenting those peculiarities in the form, ramifications, and leafage of
the mahogany, which indicate a superior quality of wood. What con-
stitutes a relation between the texture of the wood and the leafage, the
bark and the branching, may be explained by considering the circum-
stances in the situation and the growth of the tree.

Trees standing detached and exposed to a free expansion of the
branches on all sides, have those branches acted upon by the wind.
Working with the power of a lever, it endeavours to twist the trunks
round, and in reality does effect this so much, as to give twirls and
contortions to the fibres. The mahogany throws out two or three main
branches, from which subordinate stems expand all round. These
expose it to a forcible action of the breeze on all sides. The continual
action produced by these means on the fibres, creates those beau-
tiful curls and wavy lines, which, through the whole bulk of the tree,
gives that variety as the light glances on the polished surface, by which
its value is so much enhanced with the cabinet-maker. In close
situations, as in forests, the force of the wind scarcely acts at all in this
way. The tree shoots up strong and straggling, and the fibres, less
disturbed, seldom possess much variety. It is for this reason too, that
the trunk of a mahogany tree growing in any situation, is less mottled
and waved than the branch wood.* R> H — L.

October 7tk, 1833.

ON THE HOODED CROW. — I was glad to observe that my remarks
on the pairing of the hooded and carrion crow attracted the attention
of Mr. Blyth, who evinces in all he says an intimate acquaintance with
the feathered creation. He corroborates the fact which I mentioned
of the hooded crow pairing with another crow having a different ap-
pearance from it, — a black crow. " As to its being of the carrion crow
species," he however subjoins, ' ' I cannot for a moment suppose it :
several of the crow genus approximate most closely in size and ap-

* I have mentioned this effect of the wind on the external twisting of trees
in the " Companion to the Almanac." The internal effect is to me quite new
and highly interesting. EDITOR. •

CHAPTER OF VARIETIES.

pearance, but are nevertheless most decidedly distinct ;" and he refers
to eminent naturalists being unable to distinguish between individuals
of the crow species in appearance, though their habits are widely
different *. Not having acquired the natural history of birds with
sufficient accuracy, I would not positively assert that the black crow
which paired with the hooded crow in the instance I described, was
a carrion crow (C. Corone). But I can safely say, that I had a very
favourable opportunity of remarking any difference in the appearance
and habits of the carrion crow and the black crow which paired with
the hooded crow ; for a carrion crow and its male built their nest in
the same row of large beech trees, within fifty yards of the nest of
the hooded crow. I watched the two pairs of birds very attentively at
all times of the day, and I could not perceive the least difference in
the shape, gait, general manner, cry, on the ground or on the tree, or
mode of flight in the air, between the carrion crow and the black crow.
The common crow, or rook, chased both on the wing, and both swerved
from the attack in the same manner, and with the same indifference.

In regard to hooded crows mixing with black crows, I never saw
the former with any black crows but the rook, except in the case of
pairing. I never saw the black crows in flocks, but the hooded crows
so every season. The hooded crows used to follow the plough every
spring, in company with the rook, in search of food when the lea was
turned over; but the black crows were never so occupied. The
hooded crows live in numbers on the sea shore in winter, but I never
saw the black crows with them in that situation. In short, were it
desired to be ascertained what the black crows are, they should be
described as being much more nearly allied, in every respect of ex-
ternal appearance and habit, to the carrion, than to the hooded, crow.

H. S.

Edinburgh.

ON TAMING WILD DUCKS. — I have heard it often remarked, that
wild ducks, though hatched by domestic ducks or hens, will fly away
from the poultry yard whenever they can take wing. Whether this
observation is true or not I do not know ; but that full grown wild
ducks can be so tamed as to permit the person who feeds them to
approach quite near them, is an undoubted fact. A gentleman, whose
property was bounded on one side by the river North Esk, in Forfar-

* Field Naturalist's Magazine, vol. i. p. 279.

508 CHAPTER OF VARIETIES.

shire, used to amuse himself by laying down handfuls of corn, and
watching the wild ducks regaling themselves on it. He continued
this practice so long, that at length, whenever he made his appearance
near the river, the ducks would fly about him in such numbers, that
the whole wild ducks in that part of the country seemed collected
around him. He would then throw down the grain, which he kept
loose in his coat pockets for that purpose. The ducks would alight
and run to his very feet to gobble up the corn. He would bow down
and lay hold of a duck or two and thrust them into his then empty
pocket ; and in this way he supplied his hospitable table with wild
ducks, fed plump fat with his own hand, for many years without firing
a gun. He would not allow any body to fire a gun near the fields
which were frequented by the ducks, and which were always kept in
grass, in consequence of the overflowing of the river. The ducks
would not come near any person else, though he should have been
habited in a similar dress, and dispensing his cereal favours as boun-
tifully as their real friend. The old gentleman died, and with him
died all the hopes of protection, and the enjoyments of good living for
the poor ducks.

Edinburgh. H. S.

SINGULAR ROOSTING-PLACE FOR A CANARY. — So many canary-
finches are kept by different persons in the neighbourhood, that during
the late summer, it has been no uncommon occurrence to see one that
had escaped from confinement flying at large, enjoying the sweets of
liberty. Their habits, when thus in a manner wild, closely resemble
those of the goldfinch : they frequent gardens and orchards, passing
their time on the fruit-trees, and they contrive to pick up a plentiful
subsistence: their colour, however, renders them so conspicuous, that
they are sure before long to attract the attention of somebody, and
they have generally been entrapped, before passing many days, or at
most weeks, in a state of freedom. A fine cock has just been captured
here in the following singular manner. A few evenings ago, when it
was getting dusk, as two persons were walking along the side of a wide
ditch containing but little water, they observed a canary bird pass
and fly direct into a deserted rat's hole in the bank. Eager to obtain
the bird, one of them leaped across and secured the entrance with a
wisp of grass, and the next morning it was dug out alive, and unhurt,
from its strange subterraneous retreat. E. BLYTH.

Tooling, Oct. '23rd, 1833.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE BIRDS OF AFRICA.

TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH OF LE VAILLANT.

THE BENTEOT (Phrenatnx Tcrnia, HOBSFIELD),

Le Temia, Le Vaill. O\s. d'Af. ii. p. 22, pi. 56 ; Baud. ii. 244 ; Shaw, Zoo!,
vii. 372. Corvus varians, Lath. Ind. Orn. Sup, xxvi. Phrenotrix Temia,
Liu, Trans, xiii. p. 165 ; Horsf. Zool. Res. No. 1., plate of the bird ; w/,
plate of bills, N a. b. Changeable Crow, Lath. Gen. Syn. Sup. ii. 119;
Id. Gen. Hist. iii. p. 34 ; Leson. Diet. Class, xiii. 4:)7.

HERE again is a new species, which, according to the form of its bill,
claims particular alliance with our magpies. It appears, indeed, to be
more closely allied to this genus than the bird of the preceding article,
to which we have applied the name of Mustachio Shrike. Its manners,
habitudes, mode of living, number of eggs, &c., and even the part of
India it inhabits, are absolutely beyond our knowledge*. It is a bird
of extreme rarity in our cabinets of natural history, and forms a part of
the magnificent collection of M. Temminck, treasurer of the India com-

* It is now known to inhabit Java.— ED.
VOL. i. —NO. xir. (DECEMBER, 1833.) R R

510 ANGLING. &C.

pany, Amsterdam. To this amateur, so zealous for the advancement
of natural history, I owe the greatest obligations ; he had not only the
kindness to allow me to take a description of all the rare birds in his
collection, but ordered engravings to be made of them, which I shall
communicate to the public in the course of this work, in proportion as
I shall find occasion to speak of African birds, to which they are ana-
logous ; I here publicly offer him my best thanks. I am also much
indebted to Messrs. Ray de Breukelerwaard, Holthuysen, Ameshof,
Gevers, Arnst, and W. S. Boers, &c., &c., &c., who have all contributed
to the completion of this ornithology, by furnishing me with the new
species, which will form a supplement to this work, which was, at first,
intended only to treat on African birds.

The bird, which I have called Teiuia, has the body of the size of
that of our song thrush, but is rather larger ; its tail, composed of ten
feathers, is very long, and much wedge-shaped ; the four middle quills
are successively rather shorter. The bill, legs, and claws are black ; all
the feathers on the body are long, delicate, and provided with silky
barbs, which are exceedingly soft to the touch j in a bad light they
appear black, but in certain situations present a greenish or purple
appearance. The forehead, and space comprised between the eye and
the bill, as well as the throat, are clothed with small feathers, which
are united so intimately together as to appear like a dull black mat, and
resemble velvet in particular points of view. The tail-quills are
blackish ; the four feathers, situated in the middle of the tail, are
greenish ; the rest have only their outer barbs of this colour ; so that
the 'tail underneath is black, and, on the upper surface, of a dull green.

This bird was sent from Batavia to M. Temminck ; but as that city
is the general entrepot of all vessels trading to the Indies, it might
possibly have been conveyed thither from some other part of the
world.

ANGLING, &c.

BY L. W. CLARKE.

WHEN a youth, my time was partly occupied with a hook and
line, and many have been the days that I have sat bank-emperched
above the stream of the silver Tame, conning the lore 'of my country-
man, honest Izaak Walton, my float diving unheeded by me ; and as
you mention the delight you experienced in being enabled to " make
out" the speedwell on the mountains of Caledonia, I often dwell with
similar pleasure on the recollection of the joy experienced by me in

ANGLING, &C. 511

being able to discover, to me, a new fish, by an Encyclopaedia (I forget
whose) in my father's library. It was a barbalus, or barholt, as inland
fishermen call it ; the largest I ever took, or heard of having been
taken, — weight 24| ounces, — (not barbel). Speaking of fishing re-
cals to my mind an occurrence of by-gone years. I was trolling one
sunny day in a stream at the bottom of our own garden, a small ditch
or branch being between me and it ; all around was silent, excepting
the splash of some playful roach, or the plunge of a pike after its prey,
when my attention was arrested by the dabbling of something in the
ditch, then about four to six inches deep of water. It was our old
tortoiseshell cat quietly wading through it. She came and sat by me
for about ten minutes, probably in anticipation of a share ; but as I
did not pay the most courteous attention to her wants, she skulked
along the grass on the margin to a shallow, where young chub, roach,
and dace were basking themselves, or, as they seemed, sleeping. One,
larger than the numerous fry around, had sought rest still nearer the
bank, where the water was but a few inches deep; the artful puss with
her prying eyes discovered it, stood, or rather set it for a few seconds,
then making a plunge seized it, and after some little scuffling in the
water, she bore off her prize, dabbling through the ditch as before,
and taking her prey, now out of danger from escape, to an arbour at the
bottom of the garden, she devoured it at her leisure. From the known
antipathy that cats have to water, I considered this a rather singular
anecdote in their history ; but I had often an opportunity of seeing her,
half drowned, bearing away the finny tribe, yet never saw but this
one exhibition of her prowess : the fish seemed to be about six ounces'
weight. She would also take the water rat from its native burrow, or
plunge into the stream after it and devour it. I never saw or heard of
another cat that would touch them. Her habits were invariably filthy :
no chastisement would correct them, though her skin was ever spotless.
Bred and nurtured contiguous to the water, and being but half domes-
ticated as it were (since she scarcely ever entered the house, excepting
to sleep before the kitchen fire on a winter's night ; in the summer
sleeping under the trees, in them, or some out-house), she felt no
dread in fording a stream, of which she probably knew the deeps and
shallows as well as I did myself. This history of a cat, perhaps, may
be more tedious to you to read than it is to me to write ; but a scribbling
propensity I have is not easily overcome, therefore must entreat your
kindest construction upon my scrawl, resting assured I should not wish
to annoy, though ever happy in contributing to your amusement.

R R 2

512 ATTACHMENT IN A WILLOW WREN TO ITS NEST.

But to return once more to the subject of natural history, not of cats,
dogs, or red-breasts, but of insects, — bondjide insects.

We have long expected the appearance of your conspectus of two-
winged flies, and hoped for one on beetles.

I have sent you specimens of Nitidula grisea ; Ptinus ovatus ;
and also of the Cryptorhyncus Lapalhi (!LLIGER). They are not
set, as I captured one hundred and fifty-eight one morning in a
shrubbery here, on the bark of poplar trees. I know not whether
they are common with you, but here they are not, and I do not
meet with any other trees in this neighbourhood infested with them.
I took them in all stages, eggs, grub, pupa, and perfect insect, at
the same time and place. I do not know what else to put in
the box, or I would fill it; but I entreat your acceptance of the
specimens it contains, — would they were better worthy your
notice. I have since thought of mentioning to you that I have
taken this summer six specimens of a curious architect, that you
do not mention in your work, a caddis worm, with • an onisius-shaped
envelope, formed of small particles of sand cemented together ; many
of a spiral cylindric kind formed of grass ; and one of small grains of
sand, like a horn, open at one end and broader at the other, slightly
bent or curved. At the end of the cylindric ones is a sort of net-work,
with meshes * like bobbin-net, about .01 wide ; they burrow into
decayed branches of trees, &c. under water, and there assume the pupa
state. I found some hundreds of the empty cases in a pool recently
drained. I know not whether you have met with them, but I send
you a specimen of the first and second kind. In the history of the
Ephemera vulgala I do not recollect having read of a fact connected
with their history, that is, after emerging from the water, they seek
the grass or stems of trees, often flying to a considerable distance, and
there cast their skins, wings, &c. I took several of them in the act,
besides many cast skins or sloughs.

Birmingham, Sept. 30th.

REMARKABLE INSTANCE OF ATTACHMENT IN A WILLOW
WREN (Sylvia trochilus) TO ITS NEST.

BY A LADY.

IN the spring of last year, 1832, walking through an orchard, I was
attracted by something on the ground in the form of a large ball, and
composed of dried grass. I took it up in my hands, and upon exami-

* I have figured this in " Insect Transformations," page 221. — ED.

EXPERIMENTS ON THE ROOTS OF PLANTS. 513

nation found it was a domed nest of the willow wren (Sylvia trochilus).
Concerned at my precipitation, I put it down again as near the same
place as I could suppose, but with very little hope that the architect
would ever claim it again after such an attack.

I was agreeably surprised to find, next day, that the little occupier
was still proceeding with its work. The feathers inside were increased,
as I could perceive by the alteration in colour. Whether this little
bird was attracted by the beauty or softness of the guinea fowls' fea-
thers (as there were a number kept about the house), I know not, but
they composed the principal part of the tapestry.

In a few days, two eggs were laid, and I thought my little protege
safe from harm, when a flock of ducks, that had strayed from the
poultry-yard, with their usual curiosity, went straight to the nest,
(which was very conspicuous, as the grass had not grown high enough
to conceal it,) and with their bills spread it quite open, displaced the
eggs, and made the nest a complete ruin. I now despaired ; but im-
mediately on driving the authors of the mischief away, I tried to restore
the nest to something like the same form, and placed the eggs inside.
That day I was astonished to find an addition of another egg ; and in
about a week four more. The bird sate, and ultimately brought out
seven young ones ; but I cannot help supposing it a singular instance
of attachment and confidence, after being twice so rudely disturbed.

ROSE.

Blackburn, V]th April.

EXPERIMENTS ON THE EXCREMENTITIOUS REJECTIONS
OF THE ROOTS OF PLANTS, WITH REFERENCE TO THE
ROTATION OF CROPS.

BY M. MACAIRE, OF GENEVA.

[The highly important paper, of which the following is a translation, has
been published in the fifth vol. of Mem. de la Soc. de Phys. et d'Hist.
Naturelle de Geneve. — EDITOR.]

FOR a considerable time, M. De Candolle has been led to form a
particular theory respecting the rotation of crops , founded on the
hypothesis, that the roots were the seat of secretions of an especial
nature. Some facts, already given in the Flore Franqaise by this
learned naturalist, seem to have furnished him with the first oppor-
tunity of turning his thoughts to this important subject ; he thus

514 EXPERIMENTS ON THE ROOTS OF PLANTS.

expresses himself, p. 167- " M. Brugmans, having placed some plants
in dry sand, saw some small drops of water exude from the extremity
of the radicles." And further on, in p. 91 : " In fine, the roots
themselves in some plants present particular secretions ; this may be
observed in the Carduus arvensis, the Inula Helenium, the Scabiosa
arvensis, several Euphorbias, and several of the Succories. It appears
that these secretions of the roots are only parts of the juices, which not
having served for nourishment, are rejected when they arrive at the
inferior parts of the vessels. Perhaps this^phenomenon, which is not
easily perceived, is common to a great number of plants. MM.
Plenck and Humboldt conceived the ingenious idea of seeking from
this fact the cause of certain habits of plants. , Thus, we know that
the thistle is injurious to oats, the Euphorbia and Scabiosa to flax, the
Inula betulina to the carrot, the Erigeron acre and tares to wheat, &c.
Perhaps the roots of these plants give out a matter which is hurtful to
the vegetation of others. On the contrary, if the Ly thrum salicaria
grows freely near the willow, and the branching Orobanche near the
hemp, is it not because the secretions from the roots of these plants
are beneficial to the vegetation of the others ?"

Extending these ideas still further, and applying them to the theory
of the rotation of crops, both in his public lectures and in his Vegetable
Physiology, M. De Candolle admits, that every plant, in ejecting all
the moisture that extends to the roots, cannot fail to eject also such
particles as do not contribute to nourishment. Thus, when the sap
has been spread by circulation throughout the vegetable, elaborated and
deprived of a great quantity of water by the leaves, and then rede-
scending has furnished to the organs all the nourishment it contained;
there must be a residue of particles Avhich cannot assimilate with the
vegetable, being improper for its nourishment. M. De Candolle
asserts that these particles, after having traversed the whole system
without alteration, return to the earth by the roots, and thus render it
less proper to sustain a second crop of the same family of vegetables,
by accumulating soluble substances that cannot assimilate with it j in
like manner, he observes, as no animal whatever can be sustained by its
own excrement *. Besides, it may also follow that the action even of
the organs of a vegetable converts the mixed particles into substances
deleterious to the plant which produces it, or to others, and that a
portion of this poison be also rejected by the roots. Some refinements

* Yet, the ostrich and cassowary always devour what falls from them. — E0.

EXPERIMENTS ON THE ROOTS OF PLANTS. 515

which I had formerly the honour of communicating to the Society,
have shown that, in fact, vegetables may suffer from the absorption of
the poisons which they themselves furnish. The continual elongation
of the roots renders the effect hurtful not to the same generation of
plants ; it is the following of the same species which suffers from it,
while it is possible to imagine that, on the contrary, these same excre-
ments will furnish wholesome and abundant nourishment to another
order of vegetables. The examples drawn from vegetables here offer
themselves again with the force of analogy which is very remarkable.
It was still, perhaps, necessary to this very ingenious theory, which
accounted so reasonably for most of the facts obtained, to be more
clearly confirmed by the results of direct experiments; and by the
invitation of M. De Candolle I endeavoured to obtain them. The thing
was, however, not very easy, and my first attempts were unavailing.
I first strove to obtain the supposed exudation directly from plants
plucked up by the roots, but, with the exception of some very doubtful
cases, it was impossible ever to obtain any sufficient quantity, and the
rapidity with which the plants perished in this state destroyed all
chance of succeeding by this means. I afterwards attempted to sow
the seeds in substances purely mineral, such as pure siliceous sand,
pounded glass, &c. Also on clean sponges, white linen, &c. ; but
although they germinated well, the existence of the plants was always
short and precarious, and when I endeavoured to collect their exudation
by the use of earths, I found that the decomposition of the refuse from
the seeds gave the same character to the whole of them, and that a
sort of vegeto-animal substance was always obtained, of which it was
impossible to mistake the source, and which entirely concealed the
results of the real exudation, if any were present in plants so imper-
fectly developed. As a last resource, with the use of rain water, the
purity of which I had ascertained by the usual reactives, and which
left no residue after evaporation, I endeavoured to preserve plants that
were entirely developed. Their roots being taken from the ground
with the greatest care, I washed them minutely in rain water to
remove all the mould, and when they were entirely cleansed from all
impurity, they were dried and placed in phials with a certain quantity
of water. I soon observed that they flourished in it, developing their
leaves, blossoming, and, after some time, giving by the evaporation of
water in which their roots were plunged, and by the reactives, evident
marks of exudation by the latter. Much time is required for studying
a great number of families, and at present I am able to present to the

516 EXPERIMENTS ON THE ROOTS OF PLANTS.

Society only a kind of preface to a more complete work. I have,
however, seen the phenomenon repeated with a sufficient number of
vegetables, and agree with the author whose theory of the rotation of
crops is the basis of my observations, in considering it nearly general,
at least among all the phanerogamous vegetables.

Vigorous plants of Chondrilla tmiralis, when placed in rain water
filtered, having their roots first cleansed as I above described, vegetate and
bloom freely. These were thrown away when full blown, and replaced by
fresh ones every two days, to allow no time for a change of regimen.
After eight days, the water acquired a yellow tint and a strong odour
very similar to that of opium, and a bitter and rather a pungent taste;
it precipitated in small brown flakes the solution of sub -acetate and
neutral acetate of lead, rendered turbid a solution of gelatine, &c., and
by slow evaporation deposited a residuum of a brown -reddish colour,
which I shall examine hereafter, and which leaves no doubt that the
water was perfectly free from any observable substance whatever. In
order to ascertain whether this substance was produced or not from
the vegetation of roots, I steeped, during the same time, the roots only
of the Chondrilla, and in another phial, the stalks only, cut from the
same plant. They continued fresh and in flower, but the water was
not charged with any remarkable colour, had no taste, nor smell resem-
bling opium, did not precipitate the acetate of lead, arid contained
scarcely any thing in solution. It was now clear to me that the
produce obtained from the entire plant was the result of exudation
from the roots, which took place only while the vegetable followed its
natural course. The same experiments repeated on several other plants
produced similar results, as will be seen when I speak of the produce of
a small number of families which I have had time to examine. When
once assured that plants rejected by their roots the parts improper for
their nourishment, ^it remained for me to ascertain at what time of the
day the phenomenon took place. For that purpose I steeped a vigorous
plant of the kidney bean (Phaseolus vulgarif) with the root in rain
water during the day ; at night the plant was taken out, washed
carefully, dried, and replaced in another jug full of rain water : the
experiment continued eight days, the plant continuing to vegetate with
great vigour. On examining the two liquids, I found in both evident
marks of the excretion from the roots; but the water in which the
plant had vegetated during the night contained a considerably greater
quantity. Both were clear and transparent ; the experiment being
repeated many times on plants of different natures, produced always

EXPERIMENTS ON THE ROOTS OF PLANTS. 517

similar results. I am convinced that by causing artificial night for the
plants during the day* the excretion of the roots would be instantly
much increased ; but in all the plants that I have tried, I always
found that it continued slightly during the day. As it is well known
that by day the action of the light causes the roots of the plants to
absorb the liquid which contains their nourishment,* it is natural to
suppose that the absorption would cease during the night when the
excretion takes place.

It appeared probable that by means of the roots the plants might
throw off the substances which they had imbibed, which were injurious
to vegetation. To satisfy myself on this point, and at the same time, as
the result was another means of verifying the existence of the excretion
of roots, I tried the following experiments : some plants of annual
mercury (Mercnrialis annua), carefully taken up, and washed with
great precaution in distilled water, were so placed that a portion of their
roots was plunged in a slight solution of acetate of lead, and the other
portion in pure water. They continued to live very well during several
days ; after which the pure water evidently precipitated the black
hydrosulphate of ammonia, and consequently had received a certain
quantity of salt of lead, rejected by the roots which were soaked in it.
Groundsel (Scnecio wilgaris), cabbages, and other plants, placed in the
same manner, produced the same results. Some plants, which were
placed in a slight solution of acetate of lead, lived very well during two
days, after which they were taken out. Their roots were washed in a
large quantity of distilled water, carefully dried, again washed in dis-
tilled water, which precipitated no hydrosulphate, after which they were
left to vegetate in rain water : in two days the reactives demonstrated in
the water a small quantity of acetate of lead.

The experiments were made in lime water, which, being less hurtful
to vegetation than acetate of lead, was preferable for the object
sought after. When part of the roots were steeped in lime water, and
part in pure water, the plants lived very well, and the water consider-
ably whitened the oxalate of ammonia which demonstrated the presence
of lime. Also, a plant that had been kept in lime water, and washed
until the water no longer precipitated the oxalate of ammonia, then
transferred into pure water, after some time discharged a great quantity
of lime, which was demonstrated by the reactives.

I repeated the same trials with a slight solution of sea salt, and the
nitrate of silver also demonstrated that the salt, which the plant had
imbibed by absorption, was partly ejected by the same roots which had
imprudently admitted it.

518 EXPERIMENTS ON THE ROOTS OF PLANTS.

When speaking to M. De Candolle of these results, he related to me a
curious fact which he had himself observed. The plants that are cul-
tivated near the sea for the produce of soda, sometimes thrive very well
at a great distance from the ocean, provided they are placed within the
influence of the sea air, which, it is well known, transports the particles
of salt with which it is charged to a great distance. M. De Candolle
was persuaded that the land where the kali thus placed had grown, con-
tained more salt than the land adjoining, so that, instead of extracting
it from the earth, these plants appeared to have furnished it by the
exudation of their roots. Reflecting on this experiment, I imagined
that I could perform it myself on a small scale with common plants,
and I placed the roots with the plants of the groundsel, swine thistle,
(Sonchus oleraceus,) mercury, &c. in rain water, and proceeded to
bathe the leaves with a solution of sea salt. My solution being too
concentrated acted forcibly on the leaves, I diluted it with water, and
with a pencil touched the lower part of the leaves and stalks, I even
moistened all the green part of the plant, but the reactives never indi-
cated any trace of salt rejected by the root, although the plants had
flourished. Hence it appears, that either solutions of salt cannot imitate
the proceedings of nature, or that perhaps the soda vegetables alone
have the power of absorbing the marine salt, and of rejecting a portion of
it by their roots. I should like very much to be able to repeat my
experiment on a Mesembryanthemum or a Salsola. There is then no
doubt that the plants have the power of rejecting by their roots those
soluble salts injurious to vegetation, which are found in the water
which they absorb ; though but a small portion of these salts appeared
in the residuum which I obtained in my own experiments, because the
plants, imbibing only pure water and carbonic acid, could reject by their
roots only the small quantity of salt which they contained at the time
they were taken out of the earth. I could gather little more than the
result of the action of their organs on the aliment, not of foreign bodies,
which only spread through the vegetable system without being decom-
posed. I shall now enter into some details on the small number of
families which I have examined ; each of them has produced results
nearly similar in the divers individuals or kinds under experiment, but
unhappily the number is very small.

Leguminosfe. — The only plants examined of this family were kidney
beans, peas, and beans of the species generally cultivated in this country.
These plants exist and develope themselves extremely well in rain
water. After they have vegetated in it some time, the liquid, when
examined, has but little taste, and the smell is slightly herbaceous ; it is

EXPERIMENTS ON THE ROOTS OF PL-ANTS. 519

clear, and scarcely coloured by the kidney bean, but turns more yellow
with the pea and common bean ; it precipitates the acetate of lead, and
nitric acid re-dissolves the precipitated gum without effervescence;
nitrate of silver gives a slight precipitate soluble in acids (carbonic
acid) ; oxalate of ammonia renders it turbid ; the other reactives cause
no change. By slow evaporation a yellowish or brownish residuum is
obtained, more or less abundant, according to the plant under experi-
ment, increasing in this order : kidney beans, peas, beans. In all other
respects these residua are similar to each other. Ether separates an
oily substance ; alcohol nothing, and a substance remains analogous to
gum and a little carbonate of lime.

In the course of the experiments on these plants, I perceived that
when the water in which they had been kept was charged with much
excrementitious matter, the fresh flowers of the same species that were
put into it faded quickly, and did not live well in it. To ascertain if
this resulted from the want of carbonic acid, although they might draw
it from the air, or from the effect of the matter excreted, which these
plants refused to absorb, I replaced the leguminous plants by those of
another family, especially that of corn. The latter lived in it, and
the yellow colour of the liquid diminished in intensity ; the residuum
was less considerable, and it was evident that the new plants absorbed
a part of the matter excreted by the former. It was a kind of rotation
of crops in a bottle, and the result tends to confirm the theory of M.
De Candolle, of whom I spoke at the commencement of this memoir.
It is not impossible that by trying this experiment on a great number
of plants, we may arrive at some results which may be applicable to
the practice of agriculture: for example, by supposing, as I feel disposed
to believe by my trial, that the exudation from the roots of cultivated
legumes contributes to the nourishment of corn, I should be disposed
to conjecture, according to the relative quantity of these exudations,
that the bean will produce the finest wheat, then the pea, next to that
the kidney bean. I am not sufficiently a practical agriculturist myself
to know if experience has confirmed this view of the fact.

Graminece. — The plants examined were wheat, rye and barley.

These plants do not thrive so well in rain water as the Leguminosce,
and I suppose that this difference arises from the great quantity of
mineral substances, especially silex, which they contain, and which
they do not imbibe from pure water. The water in which they have
vegetated is very clear, transparent, without colour, smell, or taste.
The reactives demonstrate the presence of salts, muriates and carbonates,
alkaline and earthy ; and the residuum from evaporation is scanty and

520 EXPERIMENTS ON THE ROOTS OF PLANTS.

but slightly coloured, containing but a very small proportion of the
gummy matter, no oily matter, and the aforesaid salts. I should be
led to believe that the exudation from the roots of these plants scarcely
tends farther than to reject the saline matter which is foreign to
vegetation.

ChicoracecE. — The plants examined were the Chrondrilla muralis
and the Sonchus oleraceus. They Kve very well in rain water; the
latter acquires a clear yellow colour, a strong odour, and tastes bitter
and somewhat virous. It precipitates abundantly brown flakes of
neutral acetate of lead, and renders turbid a solution of gelatine. Eva-
porated slowly, the liquor, when concentrated, has a very strong and
persistent taste. The residuum of a reddish brown, by boiling absolute
alcohol, partly dissolves ; the alcohol evaporating leaves a yellow,
slightly brown, substance, of a very bitter taste, soluble in water, alco-
hol, and nitric acid, precipitated in brown flakes from its solutions by
nitrate of silver, and appears to be very analogous to the bitter prin-
ciple of the English chemists. The residuum, re-dissolved in water, has
a very strong virous taste, similar to that of opium ; it contains tannin,
a brown gummy extractive substance, and some salts.

Papaveracece. — Plants of the corn poppy (Papaver Rhceas) cannot
live in rain water ; they fade in it immediately.

The white poppy (Pupaver somniferum) will exist in it ; the roots
impart to the water a yellow colour ; it acquires a virous odour, a bitter
taste, and the brownish residuum might be taken for opium. This
plant is one of those of which I cut the roots from the stalks, and
soaked them separately, and which imparted to the water none of the
properties which it acquired from the entire living plant.

Eupkorbiaccfe. — The plants tried were the Euphorbia Cyparisias
and E. Peplus. These are the euphorbias on which Brugmans says
he had observed the phenomenon of small drops oozing from the roots
during the night. Possibly I did not adopt the right method, as I
could not verify the fact by my own observations. The euphorbias
vegetate extremely well in rain water ; the liquor becomes slightly co-
loured, but acquires a strong and persistent taste, especially after it is
concentrated by evaporation. Boiling alcohol dissolves almost all the
residuum, which has but little colour, and by evaporation deposits a
granulous substance, gummy, resinous, yellowish, white, very acrid,
and unpleasant to the throat.

Solanece. — The only plant of this family that I had time to vegetate
is the potato. It lived well in rain water, and developed its leaves-

REMARKS UPON ZOOLOGICAL NOMENCLATURE. 521

The water, not coloured, leaves very little residuum, and the taste is very
slight ; which makes me think that the plant is one of those of which
the excretions are very trifling, and scarcely perceptible. But this
conclusion is drawn from a single and very short experiment made on
a plant scarcely developed.

In concluding this memoir, which should have contained the exami-
nation of more families and individuals had the time permitted, I shall
recount that the results deduced are : First, That most vegetables
exude by their roots substances useless to vegetation ; Second, That the
nature of these substances varies according to the families of the ve-
getables that produce them ; Third, That some being pungent and
resinous may hu.t, and others being sweet and gummy may contribute
to, the nourishment of other vegetables ; Fourth, That these facts tend
to confirm the theory of the rotation of crops suggested by M. De
Candolle.

REMARKS UPON ZOOLOGICAL NOMENCLATURE AND
SYSTEMS OF CLASSIFICATION.

BY SOLITARIUS.

cf \VITHOUT names," it has been truly said, " the knowledge of
things perishes." It is evident, that to distinguish one thing from
another, and to point out to which in particular we allude, it becomes
absolutely necessary to call it by some name. Hundreds of beings are
in existence, which, though found upon careful examination to be
widely distinct from each other, pass with the unscientific community
under the same denomination. Let us select one instance out of the
many that could be adduced. The numerous and beautiful insects
composing the order Lepidoptera, are spoken of in common parlance
merely as moths and butterflies, and when persons are desirous of
speaking in less vague and general terms, they endeavour, but in vain,
to particularise the sort of moth or butterfly they mean, by describing
it, perhaps, as a red moth, a white moth, or a red butterfly, a white
butterfly, little conscious that such colours are possessed by a multitude
of moths and butterflies, differing materially in their habits from the
one to which they allude. I will not at present, however, enter into
illustrations of the inconvenience arising from the ambiguity and
paucity of terms in our language, relating to the different objects in
nature, nor expose the imperfections of common unscientific descrip-

522 REMARKS UPON ZOOLOGICAL NOMENCLATURE.

tions, as it is my intention that these matters shall hereafter form the
subject of a paper upon English zoological nomenclature. The above
illustration alone will be sufficient to make those who complain of the
hard words used in science, sensible of the necessity which induced
Linnaeus and others, who found that it was totally impossible to make
known the histories of things without names, to invent a scientific
nomenclature.

The Latin and Greek languages, from their being the most universally
understood, were wisely selected as the best sources from which to
obtain names for nature's productions. Hence every animal, from the
huge whale down to the smallest being with which we are acquainted,
has its Latin or Greek name. The names of genera are, for the
most part, of Greek derivation : whilst the names of species are some-
times of Greek, but more frequently, of Latin derivation. We can
rarely ascertain the specific name of any animal or plant, otherwise
than by possessing a knowledge of the permanent characters belonging
to the genera composing the class to which it relates, or by reference
to figures or cabinets. It is less difficult to ascertain the generic than
the specific name, owing to there being a less number of the former
than there are of the latter, and many species, particularly of the
smaller animals, bear so close a resemblance to each other, that their
differences, which are often exceedingly slight, frequently escape
observation.

It should be the aim of every nomenclator to bestow only such
names upon animals, as will express the peculiar forms, habits, &c. of
the species to which they respectively apply ; if they fail in this
particular, scientific names are but of little worth. This important
point, however, is unfortunately too much disregarded, for it has long
been the absurd fashion to make the specific, and even some of the
generic names, bear allusion to men. What benefit does a student
derive from knowing that there are certain species, bearing such names
as Clarkella, Brownella, Harrisella, Smithella, and the like terms,
which only serve to glorify those whose paltry conceited minds are
gratified at the idea of having obtained a little celebrity for themselves,
by the shortest and easiest method. The practice of obtaining names
for genera and species from the heathen mythology, is also objectionable,
as majiy persons cannot very readily perceive in what way they are
applicable, on account of their not being acquainted with the fabulous
narrations related therein. Although the names of animals are never
so appropriate and so easy to remember as when they have reference to

REMARKS UPON ZOOLOGICAL NOMENCLATURE. 523

their habits, localities, &c., yet, even here some judgment will be
necessary, for if an animal frequent several localities, it will not be
exactly correct to call it by such specific names as Sylvaticus, Pra-
tensis, &c., unless it be the only one in its genus that inhabits the
wood or the meadow.

It is much to be regretted that, whilst chemistry and other important
sciences observe an almost rigid adherence to certain conventional
terms, the language of zoology and botany is necessarily changing.
And what is the consequence ? we are overburdened with synonymes,
and the language of one naturalist instead of being understood by
another, is not comprehended in consequence of their each applying
different terms to the same objects. The synonymes create as much,
if not more, confusion than did the provincial terms, in the absence of
scientific nomenclature. Some of the synonymes, it must be confessed,
have their origin in accident, but the majority of them were purposely
and unnecessarily introduced, and, in many instances, without any
reasons whatever being assigned for the innovation. But, however,
as we cannot rid science of her synonymes, it behoves every true lover
of natural history to attempt to discover some effectual means of
preventing their causing further confusion, and also to devise, if it be
possible, some plan for preventing their further increase. Mr. Blyth
says, that the confusion arising from the synonymes " may, in a great
measure, if not entirely, be prevented, by adding to the approved
systematic name of an animal, that also by which it was first known
and described in systematic nomenclature." If the vile passion for
altering names were once quelled, this plan might do, but while it
rages as at present, it is impossible to tell which are the approved
systematic names. The inconvenience resulting from the synonymes
would be materially lessened, if not eventually obviated, if we possessed
good dictionaries of natural history, with the various scientific terms
duly arranged in alphabetical order. But there is but little chance of
our ever having this great desideratum supplied, if persons object, as
has lately been the case, to have the scientific names made by them,
collected, and disposed in merely a systematic order. Within these
few months, the compiler of the " Systematic Catalogue of British
Insects," published a new and improved edition of his work, and with
the view of rendering it a complete catalogue, he, as a matter of course,
included in it all the various specific names to be found in other
catalogues of indigenous species. In this new edition he has included
all the names to be met with in the " Guide to an Arrangement of

524 REMARKS UPON ZOOLOGICAL NOMENCLATURE.

British Insects," by doing which he has excited the wrath of its
author. Now, as the party who affects to be aggrieved in this case, is
notoriously addicted to name-making, and publishes the names he
makes for the use and benefit of the public, it follows that, like the
words in Johnson's or Walker's Dictionary, they become public property.
Surely, then, he can have no just cause for complaint, if any one
should collect and arrange them in any form which he may think fit.
It is rather strange, indeed, for a nomenclator to object to the pub-
lication of the terms he has made, in any other work but his own, and
particularly, as his own catalogue clearly shows, that he himself did
not scruple to copy the names contained in the works of other ento-
mologists, as, for instance, the Ichneumonologia of Gravenhorst, which
has evidently much added to the extent of his work. If every
nomenclator were to deny the world the free use of the terms intro-
duced by him into science, where should we look for these useful and
grand compilations, known by the name of Encyclopaedias, or for the
less extensive compilations of Turton and Blumenbach ? However, as
the former edition of the " Systematic Catalogue," and also of the
" Guide to an Arrangement of British Insects," both professed to
supply the student with the various generic and specific names, I will
just take the liberty of pointing out the deficiencies, which will give the
reader some idea of the importance of our possessing a work embracing
all that these contain, and furnishing all that they ought to have
contained. When I some time since commenced the dry and tedious
task of forming a Dictionary of Entomology, I detected in the course of
transposing the terms from the above " Catalogue" and " Guide," into
alphabetical order, several mistakes and omissions in both, and dis-
covered that many names which were contained in the one were not
contained in the other, which was almost an inexcusable fault, as the
editions in question were published about the same time. Of genera,
whose names commence with the letter A alone, there were no less
than fourteen omitted in the " Catalogue" which were to be found in
the " Guide ;" while, on the other hand, the number of those com-
mencing with the same letter omitted in the " Guide," but contained
in the " Catalogue," was much more considerable, treble the number !
There being so many under letter A, how many omissions may we not
reasonably conceive there were of other words commencing with the
remaining letters of the alphabet. Both of these works, however, it
must be admitted, are of very great assistance to the entomologist.
But we want books of a very different and more instructive kind.

REMARKS UPON ZOOLOGICAL NOMENCLATURE. 525

Dictionaries containing all the known species of animals (or of any
particular class of animals), arranged in alphabetical order, and fur-
nishing the student with the principal facts connected with the habits
and economy of each, and also with the derivations of their technical
names, would be a most acceptable work, not only to professed
naturalists, but to every one unwilling to remain in ignorance of the
habits and properties of animated nature. As Martin's Dictionary of
Natural History, the only one in our language, was published so long
ago as 178o (I believe there has been no new edition subsequent to that
period), and consisted of only two volumes, it of course does not
contain the names of the many hundreds of animals which have been
discovered since that time, and, consequently, it frequently fails to
supply those who are fortunate enough to possess a copy of it, with the
information they seek.

Our Encyclopaedias profess to supply every information upon natural
history that can be required, but, like a good many other works, they
only profess; for even the most modern Encyclopaedias that have
appeared are sadly deficient in point of zoology, many genera (particu-
larly those in entomology), comprehending numerous species, being
altogether omitted. The French have two or three " Dictionnaires
d'Histoire Naturelle," which far surpass anything of the kind that
has hitherto been produced in this country. It is the absence of a good
and copious dictionary of natural history, written in the English lan-
guage, which causes so many mistakes among our naturalists as to the
identity of the species, makes them mistake the one species for the
other, and commit other blunders equally mischievous and detrimental
to the progress of science, which thus becomes related by a maze
of error and confusion. The synonymes, which constitute the
principal obstacle to the advancement of the student, nearly exceed in
number the amount of species themselves, and threaten to far exceed
them, unless some means be devised to check the existing baneful
passion for name-making, among those, whose anxiety is to puff their
empty names into notice, though they have done but little to promote
the welfare of the science itself. Would that our government would
select a certain number of our most learned and zealous naturalists, and
incorporate them into a society, giving them the sole privilege to alter,
or increase, when necessary, the nomenclature of natural history, and
also giving the power of punishing those who presumed to infringe
upon their privilege. Now, this may appear a droll wish, but
•when we consider how great is the popularity of the study of natural

VOL. i. — NO. xir. (DECEMBER, 1833.) s s

526 REMARKS UPON ZOOLOGICAL NOMENCLATURE.

history at the present day, what an instructive and innocent amusement
it affords the people, and the salutary and moral benefits they are likely
to derive from it, it becomes a subject as well deserving of the attention
of a government as many other matters which have obtained their inter-
ference. Government, however, has hitherto done so little to forward
science, that naturalists must not expect that natural history will, at
any time, be favoured with its patronage.- " Legislators/' says Fell,
when describing the museums of Holland, " are not often philosophers ;
and while the wealth of nations is exhausted for the destruction of the
human species, small are the sums that are expended for the advance-
ment of useful knowledge*."

As we have considered the subject of nomenclature, let us take a
general view of systems of classification. The system which first
deserves attention is that which arranges animals in agreement with
the connection subsisting between their forms and structures.

The popular and favourite notion that the Creator has purposely con-
nected his creatures, by bonds of assimilation, to one another, thus
constituting what is usually termed the " Chain in Creation," and that
he has designedly made a gentle and easy gradation from the first link
of which this is composed, down to the last, has always appeared to me
nothing better than a mere fancy. The object of this chain, and also of
the gradation in its links, it is said, was the exhibition of order instead
of confusion. It must be presumption in any man to suppose himself
qualified to explain the purposes of the Creator. Whence did we imbibe
our notions of order but from Nature ; the only source from which it
was possible for us to have imbibed them. Consequently, had the
whole economy of nature been very different, even quite the reverse
of what it at present is, our notions of order would have varied accord-
ingly, yet they would have been in unison with all around us f. The
creation must always appear to us the " ne plus ultra" of perfection,
because our minds cannot conceive anything more perfect than that
which our senses can comprehend, and nothing can be comprehended by
our senses but that which exists in nature. To suppose, however, that
the said chain was designedly formed, is not more probable than to
suppose that it was unintentional ; for had the various animals and plants
been formed of any other shape whatever, yet still it would have been
observable that each individual bore a nearer resemblance, in certain
particulars, to another than it did to the rest, and thus would successive

* Fell's Tour through Batavia, p. 90.
f This is a remark to me equally novel as it is profound and just.— En.

REMARKS UPON ZOOLOGICAL NOMENCLATURE. 527

and similar observations have been made eventually leading to the dis-
covery of a " chain/' Naturalists, having observed there exists a
connexion between all the species of animals, have attempted to class
them according to their affinities, so as at once to exhibit the chain, with
all its numerous links, in their relative places. As to the proper
situations of the various links, differences of opinion have always existed,
and will continue to exist so long as there are wantonly meddling indi-
viduals, who cannot be induced to refrain from disorganising the classi-
fications of their predecessors. Systems of classification formed in
accordance with the relations animals bear to one another in their
outward structures, are undeniably the most simple, the most assistant
to the purposes of study, and the most easy of remembrance. The
singular methods of classification, designated quinary and septenary,
have the least claims to be considered as systems, for besides the very
numerous objections attached to them, they are never found to be
perfect in the arrangements upon which they proceed. Mac Leay
endeavoured to form a quinary system of entomology ; subsequently
Vigors a similar system of ornithology ; but the systems of both were
imperfect. Lately another schemist has sprung up, and offered a
septenary system for the classification of insects, stating that his own
will be found to be the true, natural, and scriptural system, and that
all others are unnatural, and inferior. When common sense fails us,
perhaps we may be induced to credit his assertion, and award him the
palm of merit, for his natural system ; but while we preserve our
judgments we must decide in favour of such systems as those of Cuvier
and of Lamarck. With great truth has Professor Burnett remarked,
that u Nature's materials may be perverted, and her working plans are
often misconstrued ; but this is our error, not her fault. Thus we find
systems of science, the most unnatural and vague, may be constructed
of facts, the value of which may be indisputable and great; just as the
materials that were wasted on a Babel would have built a pyramid ;
and as those same marbles, which to the Turks are merely stones, were
statues in the temples of the Greek *." The same agreeable writer
with equal truth, has observed, that the " distinction between a science
and the things it treats of, though of primary importance, is too often
overlooked ; and the means taken for the end to be attained ; a fatal
error, and one that leads to many misconceptions. For the latter are
immutable, the former always changing ; that is but the instrument of

* Burnett's Outlines of Botany, p. xi. '

528 NOTES FROM KILLESHANDRA.,

knowledge, these the matters to be known." It cannot be denied that an
excess of importance is at present attached to matters relating solely to
system, whilst the book of nature itself is neglected. Let us, who are
pleased to be designated field-naturalists, in contradistinction to the
museum and book-naturalists, be careful ever to regard classifications
and scientific nomenclature not as the real objects of our study, but as
the means of acquiring more information, and of retaining that of which
we are already in possession.

Paddington, October 7th, 1833.

NOTES FROM KILLESHANDRA.

BY RURICOLA*.

WITH respect to the heronry at Crum Castle, I omitted to mention
a remarkable circumstance, namely, that for a long time the herons had
occupied a particular part of the wood, till about four or five years ago,
when they were attacked and driven away by a party of rooks, who
established themselves on their conquered territory. The herons
thereupon removed to another part of the wood at no great distance,
which is now their dwelling and breeding place, and where they do not
appear to annoy, or to be annoyed by, their former assailants.

A very brilliant Aurora Borealis was seen at this place on the night
of Saturday, October 12th, and also in the counties of Down and
Antrim. I was not so fortunate as to see it myself; but it has been
described to me by eye-witnesses, as exceeding in brightness any before
observed by them, and as giving the idea of a great ,/ire, spreading
round the northern horizon, and shooting up into the sky with various
fantastical shapes. The following day, both here and in the north,
was very wet and stormy: an exemplification of the position of your
correspondents in pages 108 and 206, that this phenomenon is a fore-
runner of storms. By the way, to revert for a moment to the historical
notices of this phenomenon, an observation on the subject has been
pointed out to me in Sir Walter Scott's curious little volume on
" Demonology and Witchcraft." He says, " the Aurora Borealis,
or northern lights, do not appear to have been seen in Scotland so
frequently as to be accounted a common and familiar atmospherical

* With respect to " the little man of war," again inquired about, see p. 504 :
we are sorry to say that we did not receive the figure of it as said to have
been sent. — ED.

AN OCTOBER DAY'S RAMBLE. 529

phenomenon, until the beginning of the eighteenth century." But
this I take to be explained by the fact of habits of observation being
less generally prevalent before that epoch, and of opportunities of
communicating intelligence being less obvious.

I have amused myself by poetically arranging some of the principal
natural appearances of the delightful season now rapidly drawing to a
close, and I submit it .to you, if you please, for insertion. It is, in
fact, a sketch from nature, and I hope you will think it not unlike the
original.

Killeshandra, Oct. 30, 1833.

AN OCTOBER DAY'S RAMBLE, A SKETCH FRO'M NATURE.

BY BURICOLA.

How lovely this October day !
Mild Autumn still maintains his sway,
In part controll'd, but not subdued,
By tyrant Winter's sceptre rude.

Come, and ere yet the miry way
Forbids us far a-field to stray,
Come, well-beloved, forth with me !
For much thou lov'st to hear and see
Each rural sound, each rural sight,
Pure source of innocent delight ;
Now by the swiftly waning year
Made to the pensive mind more dear.
Or, if perchance domestic care,
Or health infirm, detain thee there,
Alone I go : the autumnal hour
O'er all things sheds a soothing pow'r ;
And grateful to the musing mood
Is then the rural solitude.

How bright, and blue, and calm, and clear,
Appears the unclouded atmosphere !
About the mountain's viewless head
The morn in wreathed folds was spread,
And vainly strained the inquiring eye
For stream or hedge, for earth or sky.
But, lo ! withdrawn the misty screen,
The far-off landscape smiles serene,

530 AN OCTOBKK DAY'S 11 AMBLE.

And not a speck I see impair

The pureness of the bright blue air.

Yet remnants of that misty screen
Still linger on tha meadows green,
On coppice bow'r, and hedgerow spray,
That flaunting skirts the amusive way.
The spider there her mazy line
Suspends, how delicately fine !
Besprent with many a sparkling gem,
From blade to blade, from stem to stem :
Like pleasant thoughts that wait behind,
The bright memorials to the mind
Of ills, that o'er its prospect cast
An early gloom, now clear'd and past !

Climb we yon path, and rest awhile
Inclining on the upland stile I
How deep the stillness all around I
How clearly comes each distant sound I
The schoolboy's shout now mounts the hill ;
And now the ploughman's whistle shrill.
Hark ! 'tis the crowing cock ! and hark !
'Tis now the lonely sheepdog's bark !
Or woodquest's solemn coo ; or cry
Harsh-grating of the watchful pie ;
Or gabbling geese from elmy grange,
That o'er the late-shorn stubble range ;
Or rooks, that crowd the new-turn'd ground,
Or seek the wood with croaking sound.
Such simple sounds, that please the ear
In nature's ample theatre,
Find echoes in the feeling heart
More pure than richest strains of art.

Nor wholly is the thicket mute :
Perch'd by the hawthorn's scarlet fruit,
Or the tall poplar's leaves among,
The redbreast trills his cheerful song.
Sing on, sweet bird ! And if thou come
To cheer our hearth, the frequent crumb
Shall be thy meed. Far off are flown
Thy kindred tribes, while thou alone
Sing'st blithe, as in the hour of prime,
Lov'd warbler of the autumnal time.
Of many an early friend bereft,
More prize we those who still are left !

AN OCTOBER DAY'S RAMBLE. 531

And oft I pause with thee to note*
Though not like thee of tuneful throat,
Or breast of ruddy plumage, him
The bird of graceful figure slim*,
And robe, and vest, and kerchief pied,
As to and fro, from side to side,
With quivering tail and forward head,
Quick runs he o'er the dewy mead,
And darts upon his insect prey : —
Or mark the flocks of linnets grey
Start from the sheltering hedge beneath,
And flutter o'er the furze-clad heath.
See from their white-plum'd fronts are fled,
And dusky throats, the flaming red,
Till spring again with love illume
The lustre of each blood-bright plume.

But stay ! O'er yonder lake the while
What bird, about that wooded isle,
With pendent feet, and pinions slow,
Is seen his ponderous length to row ?
'Tis the tall heron's awkward flight ;
His crest of black, and neck of white ;
Deep sunk his pale blue wings between ;
And giant legs of murky green.
His tribe is seaward far away :
But he remains, as peasants say,
About, a faithful guard to roam,
Till genial April call them home,
On their lov'd oaks' wide spreading crown
Aloft to build their close-set town.
So without words, by secret sign,
Speaks to their sense the voice divine !

And see, alarm'd, with upward wing,
As near we draw, the wild-ducks spring,
And through the sky tumultuous stream,
With outstretch'd neck, and noisy scream.
With silent flight across the pool
On wing and foot the gallinule
For safety flits to lowly bush,
Or lurks within the sheltering rush.
Thus nature prompts diverging ways :
Some soar expos'd to public gaze ;

* Motacilla alba, (LiN.) M. £O*O;-,(RENNIE.) Pied Wagtail, or Dish-washer.

532 AN OCTOBER DAY'S RAMBLE.

More safe to others, as more sweet,
The secret path, the close retreat !

And lo, where dives the hungry coot !
I know him by his sable suit,
Streak'd with his pinion's border white,
And o'er his bill the frontlet bright.
Again he dives : you well might know,
There's store of finny prey below,
Ev'n heard you not the frequent dash
Break the still lake with sudden splash ;
What time, emerging from the deep,
The fish with spring elastic leap ;
Nor saw the rippling motion pass
In circles o'er the wavy glass.

The wavy glass is smooth again :
And mark, nor wrinkle now, nor stain,
Disturbs the crystal mirror's face ;
Where in illusive traits we trace,
Complete as limner's brush can show,
The sunbright sky's cerulean glow.
The margin, that the waters lave,
The flags that on their margin wave,
The sheep, and cows, and pastures green,
And circling hills are pictur'd seen :
Seen is the hill's o'ershadowing pride,
In all its tints diversified,
Which Autumn's glowing touch indues
With richest robe of thousand hues.
Alas ! those thousand hues declare
Corruption's work is busy there,
Forerunners they of winter's gloom :
A victim garnish'd for the tomb.

Too true, too true ! For as we tread
The woodland path, behold, o'erspread
With leaves is all the slippery way,
Unseen consumption's early prey.
Nor flow'r is left to glad the sight ;
Save that its streaks of pink and white
The cranebill here and there displays ;
And mushrooms spread their gill-like rays,
Dispersing wide the powdery seed,
Past by the crowd with little heed ;
While curious eyes admiring view
Their structure, and their varied hue.

ON THE BLACK HEADED GULL. 533

Or red, or yellow, white, or brown,
The club-like stem, the pent-house crown,
No mine through nature's wide domain,
But yields, when wrought, a precious vein.

Still ruin spreads. Ev'n now a blast
Has o'er the' lingering foliage past,
And round our steps the forest pours
Its gorgeous dress in frequent show'rs,
As full and frequent as the rain,
Which threatens soon to fall amain,
And with a veil the landscape shroud,
Impervious as the morning cloud.
Such oft -is life's brief day ! At first
"Tis wrapt in gloom, but that disperst,
All radiant does its noontide shine j
In gloom its evening hours decline.
O, for those days, from morn till night,
When all is gladness, all is light !

Enough : behoves we homeward haste,
Content and grateful to have past
Not pleasureless, throughout our way,
Nor useless, this October day.
Blest, who can soften care, or find
Employment for the vacant mind,
In nature's scenes ! Thrice blest, is he,
Who onward easts his eyes to see,
In all that through the waters move,
In earth beneath, and heav'n above,
The Sovereign Pow'r who nature made,
The Author in his works display'd !
October, 1833.

ON THE BLACK-HEADED GULL (Larus Ridibundus.)

BY MR. C. PARSONS.

I RKSIDE very near the coast in Essex, and to observe the various
species that resort here, and retire at each successive change of season,
has been for years a source of pleasure to me.

The black-headed gull is a constant resident with us, but not till
last summer have I ever been able to discover a nest in my immediate
neighbourhood, although on a small island, about twelve miles further

534 AGJSNDA FOR CONTRIBUTORS, &C.

on the coast, they regularly breed in abundance. I was much pleased
last spring on finding a few eggs on a piece of salterns, (waste land
which the tide occasionally flows over,) a short distance from where I
reside, and on visiting the spot about a week after, I found that a large
company of them had taken up their abode there. I procured a few
more eggs, for specimens, and left the rest untouched, promising my-
self much amusement in watching the progress of the young, but was
disappointed by some fishermen taking all the eggs, which was done
several times before the birds would leave, which, however, they were
at last obliged to do, and repaired to another spot not far distant, where,
I am sorry to say, they were again plundered; and although they were
indefatigable in laying, I do not think one egg ever came to maturity.

They are very social birds, always keeping and breeding together in
large flocks, and, when undisturbed, will resort to the same place many
years. They make a simple nest ; a few bits of sea-weed or rejecta-
menta suffice ; and lay three (I have never found more) eggs, spotted,
more or less, with black ; the ground colour varies exceedingly, some
being of a sea-green, and some a dark brown, with every intermediate
shade. The young of the year are brown on the back and breast; after
they moult, the wing coverts and other feathers are edged with brown.
In the spring they attain their perfect plumage, and have then a beau-
tiful roseate tinge on the neck and breast. As the summer advances,
they, in some degree, lose this tint, as well as the colour of the head,
which in June becomes a mouse-coloured brown ; in July they begin
to moult, and are not again in good feather till October. In the winter
they intermix with the common gulls (Larus canus), and with them
resort to the uplands, and follow the ploughs in search of worms.

Southchurch, Essex, Oct. 15, 1833.

AGENDA FOR OUR CONTRIBUTORS, AND FOR THE ZOOLO-
GICAL SOCIETY.

BY N. N.

BUT few minds, I will hope, are so constituted as to feel pleasure in
finding fault : for myself, I can truly say, that nothing is more unplea-
sant, although I am just going to do this very thing. I cannot but suppose
that you would wish your publication to be useful as well as attractive
and entertaining ; yet must lament that it is not so, in the degree that
it might be. Little information is acquired by being told how a cock-

AGENDA FOR CONTRIBUTORS, &C. 535

robin, or a cock-sparrow builds its nest, whether with leaves, or moss,
or feathers, or flue ; or by any information of that kind. But I did
expect information of another kind, namely, what new kinds of game,
or domestic fowls, water-fowls, singing-birds, fish, deer or stags, had
been or might be naturalised, and were adding to the riches of our
farm-yards, parks, woods, or fields. Nothing of this kind is to be met
with in your Field Naturalist. In vain we expect, in every new number,
to meet with the best information how to hatch and bring up gold and
silver pheasants in large numbers, to turn out in our woods ; how to
domesticate bustards, argus pheasants, curassows ; or to stock our
woods and fields with red and black grouse, the large cock of the wood,
and the black partridge from the East India mountains ; how to do-
mesticate the wood pigeon, cover our ponds with eider and summer
ducks, teal, geese of beautiful and new kinds, and our parks with deer,
stags, elks, antelopes of every shape and form, emus, kangaroos, &c.
&c. ; or how to stock our woods with Virginia nightingales, and our
orchards and shrubberies with the common nightingale, in those parts
of England where they are now never heard ; and also to naturalise
canary birds, Baltimore orioles, &c &c. Or how, by some mechanical
contrivance, more surely to hatch partridge and pheasant eggs*, which
are mown out and destroyed by tens of thousands every year. Infor-
mation on these heads would be of some use, and enable us really to
do much in a few years, if premiums were given to excite trials.

Our Horticultural Societies have introduced a few flowers; they
have done something, though very, very little ; the Zoological Society
nothing whatever, except taking a very great income for amusing the
people, but not one animal can I hear of that they have introduced to
common use or ornament ; I do not mean in a confined state, but
introduced to our parks, fields, farm-yards, and gardens. This, I ima-
gine, should be made the criterion of usefulness.

Pray can you tell me how to attract rooks to build, — in other words,
how to establish a rookery f ?

* I have given the Egyptian and other artificial modes of Hatching in
" Domestic Habits of Birds," chap. viii. EDITOR.

t This question I am quite unable to answer. It appears to me a task ex-
tremely difficult, if not impossible; as difficult as to procure information on
many of the points suggested by N. N. EDITOR.

53G

MR. J. S. MENTEATH ON THE GEOLOGY OF THE
SNOWDON RANGE OF MOUNTAINS*.

THE patriotic exertions of Mr, Menteath, in endeavouring to intro-
duce the plan of teaching the principles and practice of gardening into
the parish schools of Scotland, must be well known to most of our
readers ; and though the paper before us is not immediately connected
with the diffusion of information among the humbler ranks of society,
we find more than one allusion to the interesting subject which has
attracted so much of his attention. In the following note, for example,
with reference to slate quarry men in Carnarvonshire.

" We cannot here refrain from observing, that these quarrymen, though civil
and industrious, do not possess the same information and intelligence that the
miners of Leadhills and of Wanlockhead, in Scotland, have. While the latter
have extensive libraries to instruct them, the slate quarrymen and miners of
North Wales are entirely without these valuable sources of mental improve-
ment. It may be remarked, that the miners of Leadhills have a library of
1200 volumes , and those of Wanlockhead, another of 700 volumes. All which
books are more thoroughly read, and more anxiously sought after by the
industrious miner, than the numerous and splendid collections in flaany of the
libraries in the low country ; hence these people are comparatively well
informed."

The whole paper teems with interesting facts expressed in plain
unaffected language, as our readers may see from the following account
of " Carnarvon slate " to which the note already quoted has been
appended.

" One of the finest and most extensive slate-quarries of this range is that of
Dolawen, belonging to Mr. D. Pennant, on the south bank of the river Ogwen,
about six miles from Bangor.

" The quarry is situate on the face of a lofty hill. The vein ranges from
south-west to north-east, as do all the slate veins of this district ; and its dip
is nearly vertical to the horizon. It is included in a hard blackish greywacke
sort of rock. The breadth of the quarry, now working, and which has been
opened considerably nlore than forty years, is no less than 300 yards, and about
100 in depth. In colour it is blue, reddish, and green ; but these varieties
occur generally in separate veins, though occasionally passing into each other.
The blue, which predominates, is excelled in hardness and durability by no

* Memoir on the Geology of the Snovvdori Range of Mountains, as con-
nected with its Scenery, Soil, and Productions. By J. S. Stuart Menteath,
Esq. Wern. Trans. Communicated by the Author, -

ON THE GEOLOGY OF THE SNOWDON MOUNTAINS. 537

other slate any where found. It splits readily and easily into the thinnest
laminae or plates, and may be obtained of any size ; and almost any kind of
architectural article can be made of it, as roofing-slate, flooring-flags^ window
and door jambs, chimney-pieces, tombstones, and various other articles.

" This great vein of slate is penetrated about the middle, from south to north,
by a hard quartzy vein, having occasional traces of sulphuret of lead. The
slate in immediate contact with this dike or vein of quartz is much inferior in
quality, as it splits less readily.

" The slate of this quarry cannot be raised without the assistance of gun-
powder. Though great quantities are thus separated and brought down,
much is shattered and rendered useless by the explosion. Being removed
from the quarry, and prepared for architectural purposes, it is then, by means
of an iron-railway, upwards of six miles in length, transported to Port Penryn,
within a mile of Bangor, where it is shipped for all quarters of the globe.

"At this quarry a useful piece of machinery, put in motion by water, is
employed for sawing and cutting slate into tombstones, jambs, and such like.
Near Port Penryn is a writing-slate manufactory. Of the refuse slabs of slate
very good fences are made ; some that are long enough are fastened together
with iron-nails, like post and rails, and in that form look well, and answer a
good purpose.

" The returns from this quarry in the course of a year are immense, many
thousand tons being sold and exported. Nearly a thousand men are daily to
be seen at work ; and from the interesting appearance of the various workings
of the Dolawen-slate quarry, and the great extent of the operations, few places
can afford a higher treat to the practical mineralogist.

" Were instances wanting to exemplify the vast advantages iron-railways
confer in prosecuting great works, at less expense, and with greater expedition,
over common roads, repaired and engineered on the best principles, the iron-
railway at Dolawen slate-quarry may be adduced. It is said, that, before the
present one was laid down, nearly 400 horses were required to convey the
slates from the quarry to Port Penryn ; but with the assistance of the railway,
twenty horses can do all the carriage.

" The next slate-quarry worthy of examination is that of Alt Dhu, belonging
to Mr. A. Smith, situate on the eastern bank of the lower lake of Llanberris,
on the steep declivity of a mountain, rising not much less than 2000 feet
above the level of the sea. This slate-vein, which is evidently the continuation
to the south-west of Dolawen vein, on the Ogwen, first described, passes along
the Alt Dhu mountain. In thickness it is 300 yards, and in height not much
less. It consists, like that of Dolawen, of three kinds, the blue, the red, and
the green. The blue, being most preferred, is the most valuable to the pro-
prietor, though the other two are equally durable. These veins are included
between hard dark-coloured greywacke rocks, and are penetrated through,
from the north to the south, by a sparry vein containing pieces of galena, and
now and then sulphuret of copper. This dike deranges the structure of the
slate near it, and renders it unfit for splitting.

538 ON THE GEOLOGY OF THE SNOWDON MOUNTAINS.

" This quarry surpasses all others in convenience of removal of rubbish.
Placed on the high steep face of a hill, the refuse is easily got rid of, and all
obstruction in the working; of it is prevented. On a railway of iron, seven
miles long, extending to the Menai Strait, the slate is conveyed to the
shipping.

" In this quarry of Alt Dhu 800 workmen are generally employed.

" The situation of these quarrymen is often exceedingly perilous. In the
course of boring and blasting the slate-rock, they have to descend by ropes
perpendicularly 100 feet or more ; and, in this position, suspended in the air,
they fearlessly proceed in their operations.

" Two ropes are employed by these men ; the one they coil round their body
and one of their thighs ; and the other rope they hold in their hands, and with
wonderful dexterity, raise or lower themselves at pleasure.

" Good workable slate is raised also in considerable quantities "at Clogwyn,
on the western bank of the lake of Llanberris, nearly opposite to that of Alt
Dhu, and on the north side of Nantle and Llanlyfne lakes. From the latter
place an iron-railway has just been completed, nine miles in length, to connect
these quarries with the port of Carnarvon. The colour of these slates is
reddish, and they 'are not equal in quality to those of Dolawen and Alt Dhu.
The veins of slate being entered from the surface, and sunk into a great deptn,
considerable more expense in machinery is necessarily incurred .in draining
and freeing the workings of rubbish in these quarries, than in the two first
described.

" Before passing to the consideration of the other minerals of this side of the
Menai basin, it may not be uninteresting to remark, that no less a quantity
than 200,000 tons of slate is annually shipped from the above described quarries.
And when to this we add their value, not much less than 400,000/. a year being
paid for them, thus enriching the proprietor, and affording, at the same time, a
comfortable livelihood to a population of 20,000 people, including wives and
children, some idea maybe formed of the immense importance of slate to the
county of Carnarvon.

" The other transition-rocks, which are found in this portion of the Menai
basin, are more curious than valuable. Around the eastern and northern faces
of Snowdon, as seen from the pass of Llanberris, hornblende, porphyry, basalt,
greywacke, quartz, and micaceous rocks, are observed, as well as on the sides
of some others of the higher mountains of this range. The rocks in these
places have less of the slatey vertical structure, which is so predominant else-
where. They often assume, when the basalt prevails, a columnar form. Near
the summit of Snowdon, in the hard greywacke, impressions of shells are found,
proving, in the clearest manner, that all the rocks of this chain belong to the
transition-formation.

" In cutting a new road along the western side of the lower Llanberris lake,
fine sections of the hard rocks are exposed to view. We can there trace veins
of asbestus, from an inch to three or four in thickness, passing through

NOTES FROM THE WEST. INDIES. 539

a tough asbestine greenish slate rock ; and in other places of this road, in the
sections so formed, are great blocks of amygdaloid, and coarse conglomerate
puddingstone rock, which, from the extreme hardness of the cementing matter,
and from the beauty of some of the imbedded pebbles, might probably be
sawed and polished into ornamental slabs for tables."

In the same manner he describes three interesting geological basins :
the Convvay basin, the Menai basin, the Cardigan Bay basin. We can
bear testimony to the accuracy of most of the details, having ourselves
in the autumn of 1831, gone over the greater part of the district
comprehended in this intelligent memoir.

NOTES FROM THE WEST INDIES.

BY R. H L, ESQ.

IT was my intention to have transmitted you something more than
the meagre note which accompanies the nest and drawings now sent
you, but being unexpectedly required to depart in the ensuing week
for the West Indies, I can do little more than just say what they are.

The nest is that of the Golden-banded Oriole, one of a well-known
brilliant family of tropical birds. Its natural song, though varied and
well modulated, is said to be improved when the bird is caged, by its
mingling with its wild wood notes the melody of regular compositions.

I had heard so much of the hammock which it constructed, twisted
of fibrous substances, and so placed as to swing to the breeze, that I

540

NOTES FROM THE WEST INDIES.

felt eager and anxious in my travels to acquire a specimen of so curious
a nest. The only one I possessed myself of, I now send you. The
loops by which it was strung up are veryinartificially made, and it
does not otherwise exhibit much nice labour in its construction ; never-
theless, the simplicity of its materials renders it curious.

The twine-like fibres of which it is woven, are the filaments taken
from between the folds of the gigantic fan palm (Corypha urnbraculd).
These threads break away from the leaf in the process of expansion,
and hang like fringes to the magnificent foliage. I found the nest situ-
ated, just as the drawing represents it, between the crutches of a low
thorny, small leafed shrub, in an open savannah, in the immediate
neighbourhood of a forest of these palms. In addition to the sketch

of one of the superb leaves, I send you some of the fibres themselves,
collected from the growing tree, that you may see the ordinary length
of the threads. The leaf varies from six to nine feet in diameter, a
magnificent specimen of vegetation in these gardens of the sun. When
passing through the forest of which I have spoken, I was overtaken by
a shower of rain, and myself and horse found shelter from the wet
under a single leaf of one of the young low trees. I rode under it, and,
seated on the horse, remained there secure from the wet for the space

CHAPTER OF VARIETIES. 541

of an hour. The rain spurting off all around me, in the channels of
the leaf, was conveyed along the line of each depending filament,
between fold and fold, in little streams, so as to fall quite clear away
from me.

I shall beg leave to resume my communications with you from the
West Indies, from whence I shall take opportunities to transmit you
such specimens of natural history as I may procure, capable of being
conveniently sent. I look upon this attention, to one contributing so
earnestly and well to the information and amusement of the public, as
a matter of duty*.

Gloucester Street, Bloom&bury, 2nd Nov.

CHAPTER OF VARIETIES.

NOTICE OF A PAPER BY DR. KNOX, ON THE NATURAL HISTORY

OP THE SALMON. — (Read at the Royal Society of EdinburglS) —
The object of the author was a careful examination of facts in the
natural history of the salmon, which hitherto have been taken merely
upon opinion. He watched and carefully observed personally the
deposition of the ova or eggs of the salmon under the gravel, — its long
confinement' in that situation, — its growth into a fish of about an inch
in length, — its ascent through the gravel, and rapid growth whilst in
the rivers : the journals of observation were partly read to the Society.
Twenty weeks was the period from the time of deposition to their burst-
ing the outer shell ; for nine days longer they continued under the gravel
as fishes, drawing their nourishment from the yolk of the egg, which
is of course attached to them by the umbilical vessels, or, more properly,
by the ompholo-mesenteric vessels. During this period, they do not
eat or grow much, but without doubt acquire strength. When the
yolk on which they have been feeding becomes nearly exhausted, they
rise from their sandy and gravelly bed, making their way to the
surface, through a thickness varying from one to two feet, and at last
gain their new habitat in the waters. In ten days they may be caught
in the rivers, very considerably grown, and in twenty days have
attained a length varying from six to nine inches.

* Our readers, with ourselves, must deeply regret the temporary (as we
hope) interruption of the exceedingly interesting contributions of our corre-
spondent. Nothing could be more acceptable than what he so liberally pro-
mises.—EDITOR.

VOL. i. — NO. xii. (DECEMBER, 1833.) TT

542 CHAPTER OF VARIETIES.

An extensive personal inquiry showed that they arc never the prey
of trout ; and a more limited one renders it doubtful if they ever
become the prey of kelt, or spawned salmon, on its return to the ocean.
It is probably to avoid the effects of severe frosts, that the salmon selects
the bed of the running stream as the spot for the favourable deposition
of the ova. The beds of rivers, he conjectures, must vary somewhat
in temperature ; and the author supposes, that extreme frosts are
less likely to reach the gravel under the stream than under the pool.
Frequent experiment has convinced the author, that the opinions
of Sir Humphry Davy, Jacobi, and others, — opinions which maintain
that the gravel below the stream is selected by the salmon, on the
ground of the better aeration of the ova, have no real foundation
whatever.

The food of the fry has been determined precisely, and their whole
habits, by repeated anatomical examinations made by himself.

The salmon seems to hybernate somewhat in certain seasons; a
great number of salmon and trout do not enter into the spawning
condition, and consequently may be got in first rate order as food,
at any time, provided they have the means of subsistence : now, this
the salmon can always get at in the ocean, which is his true feeding
ground. He cannot get food in rivers of the kind he desires. The
salmon-trout, on the contrary, even at the mouths of rivers, will take
to the fry of other fishes, to small fishes, and to worms ; and in rivers,
he will feed on the larvos of insects, insects themselves, and, in short,
on the ordinary food of trout.

The true salmon prefers a peculiar kind of food, the ova of the echino-
dermata, and takes, with great reluctance, any other. Hence, the
moment he enters rivers, having abandoned his natural feeding ground,
he deteriorates constantly, refuses all kind of food, loses weight and
flavour, and gets, in short, entirely out of order. Nor can he ever
recover from this state, till he has revisited the feeding-ground in the
ocean. It is easy to perceive, in these few statements, how entirely
they alter the whole question of the salmon-fisheries.

These inquiries led the author to examine into the history of the
herling. They resemble in their habits the salmon-trout, haunting
the feeding-ground of the salmon ; and when fed on the peculiar food
of the salmon, their flavour is excellent ; but they take readily to
coarser food, as small herrings, fry, sand-eels, and the fry of any other
fishes. Their stomach and intestines get loaded with putrescent debris,
their flesh loses its flavour, and their condition, as articles of human food,

CllAl'TElt Of VARIETIES. 513

lias changed materially. No two conditions can be supposed more opposite
than the herling presents, when fed on salmon food, and when fed on
fishes. They differ, therefore, from salmon-trout in this respect : that,
when feeding on the food of the salmon, they attain almost the flavour
of the salmon, which the salmon-trout never does.

The author discovered and exhibited the food of the vendace of
Lochmaben, which had never been seen before by any one; explained
the reasons why this fish could not be taken with bait ; proved the
vendace to be male and female, and offers suggestions for the stocking
of the various lakes in Britain with this exquisite fish, pointing out
first the necessity of locating its natural food, without which it cannot
live. The discovery of these circumstances, with regard to the vendace,
led the author immediately to think of the herring, whose food and
natural history generally he believed to be unknown.

It was ascertained that the herring resembles the vendace in its
habits, as to food more particularly ; and that whilst feeding on the
incredibly minute entomostraceous animals, which it more especially
affects, the condition of the herring is excellent, rendering it an ex-
tremely desirable food for man. In this state, the stomach seems as if
almost altogether empty (as in the vendace), though at the moment full
of minute animals, to be discovered only with the microscope, and on
which the animal has been feeding. The intestines also seem as if
empty ; the tunics of the whole digestive canal are fine and semi-
transparent, and as free of intestinal and putrescent debris found in
the stomach and intestines of animals, as if the herring actually fed on
nothing but air and water. When he approaches the shores, thus
quitting the proper feeding-ground, he takes to other and coarser food ;
his condition alters, and his flesh becomes soft and tasteless. The
stomach and intestines are found loaded with putrescent remains, and
gutted or ungutted, this fish could never be brought into the market
as equal to the product of the Dutch fisheries.

THE LIBELLULA, OR DRAGON-FLY. — " He," says Dr. Leach, " who
neglects the study of insects, or thinks it beneath his notice, cannot
deserve our respect as a general observer of nature, or be considered
as a scientific naturalist." A few observations upon one of the most
beautiful of the British insects cannot, therefore, be considered unim-
portant. The dragon-fly is by no means an uncommon insect in
England. The situations where it is most commonly found are near
the water's edge, sporting amongst the flags ; in pasture lands, and in

514 CHAPTER OF VARIETIES.

gardens. I have found this insect frequently among clover and lucerne,
where it delights to bask in the hot summer sun. There are several
varieties of this insect in Britain, of which six or eight inhabit the
counties of Kent and Surrey. The great dragon-fly (L. deprcssa), its
body being of a sky-blue colour, may be found often on the heath at
Addington near Croydon, where I have collected numerous fine spe-
cimens of this and several other insects, especially of the genus Papilio.
The small varieties may be found on hot days hovering about the hedge-
rows in the glare of the sun. The great dragon-fly is remarkably rapid
in its career, seldom stopping to rest, and is extremely watchful.
Every one who pretends to any thing like observation, must have
remarked the beautiful and perfect eye of this insect. It forms a beau-
tiful object for the microscope. Although the dragon-fly seems a
formidable insect from its size, it is quite harmless. The country folks,
however, in some places, have given it the uncourteous name of the
horse-stinger, or devil's needle. It has no sting, nor does it infest
horses, at least as far as I am aware. I have lately met with two
species uncommon in this part of country, I believe, one of which
I send with the communication for your inspection. The other
specimen was unfortunately destroyed. I hope to be able at some
future period to contribute (if thought sufficiently important), some
further particulars regarding other insects which have come under my
actual observation. SYLVANUS.

Camberwell, August 3, 1833.

BARON CUVIER'S ANIJIAL KINGDOM *. — The work, which in imita-
tion of the quaint conceit of Linnaeus, Baron Cuvier entitled " Regne
Animate," that is, " Animal Kingdom," is well known to naturalists
as the only publication since the Systema Naturae, that pretends to
embrace a view of the whole animal creation. As such, therefore, and
coming from the greatest comparative anatomist who ever lived, it is
highly valuable as a work of reference, though from the briefness of
detail, it is not at all a readable book any more than the Systema
Naturae. In the great lumbering, ill-translated, and ill-digested pub-
lication of Griffith, indeed, an attempt has been made to combine the

* The Animal Kingdom arranged according to its organisation serving as
a foundation for the Natural History of Animals and an Introduction to Com-
parative Anatomy. By Baron Cuvier, with coloured plates. In monthly
numbers. Henderson, London.

ejl/5
CHAPTER OF VARIETIES.

brief notices of Cuvier with popular details chiefly taken from Buffbn,
but so wretchedly hashed up as to be even less readable than the bad
translation. The only redeeming feature, indeed, in Griffith's Cuvier
are the contributions and figures of Major Hamilton, which it is a pity
to see in such company.

The translation, which we have announced below, has a much better
claim to public favour than that of Griffiths ; appears to be well exe-
cuted so far as we have compared it with the original of 1829 ; and in
place of the hash from Buffon, which needlessly swells out Griffiths, it
contains a few good notes from Blumenbach and others of recent
interest. The cost, also, of this new work, which is a material con-
sideration, is a trifle compared with the other, and even with the
original, notwithstanding the comparative greater cheapness of French
works.

The coloured plates which accompany the work are taken from the
splendid French works of F. Cuvier, Werner, and others, and their
origin, indeed, is betrayed by their Frenchified air.

We can, upon the whole, conscientiously recommend this work as
well worth the money to every naturalist who does not possess the
original.

SHREW MOUSE. — Having read in your Magazine an account of wild
animals not being alarmed at the sight of man, provided he remain
stationary, I can add to the instance of the rat there mentioned, a more
remarkable one in the case of the shrew mouse. In consequence of the
bareness of the bushes from the tardy approach of the late spring, the
grasshopper warblers were very easy to be seen, and I had several times
an opportunity of watching them for a very considerable time, as they
were uttering their exceedingly curious note. On one occasion I had
been observing one for some time, when I heard some shrew mice
squeaking in a bush I was standing by ; in a little time one ran out
into the clear space with the intention of reaching the next bush, about
two feet distant. Without making any noise I put my foot upon it
and killed it. Immediately after another came out, and I also killed
that : afterwards a third, but this one was too quick for me, and es-
caped by running back into the bush ; in about a minute, however, he
came out again, and I then killed the third. I dare say I might have
killed another, as I heard more in the bush, but I felt some compunction
at my murderous proceedings, and made no farther attempt. As the
mice had all come exactly from the same part of the bush, I examined

CHAPTER OF VARIETIES.

the place, and found there were runs of the shrew mice, in different
directions through the bushes, like those made by rabbits, just large
enough to admit their bodies. On the same day I caught a young full-
fledged titlark among the furze, by running it down. I caught one the
year before in the same place, and if I had had a companion could have
captured several more: I soon tired them down, but they hid themselves
among the furze. It may not, perhaps, be generally known that robins
can be hunted down in the same way by two or more persons, and it
forms most excellent exercise on a frosty morning, as it requires some
speed ; they are, however, soon confused and taken, if once surrounded.
The common brown wren, when hunted in the same manner, is very
easily outstripped, and attempts to escape by concealment more than
by flight : it will creep for a considerable distance along the bottom of
a hedge in the most stealthy manner. The hedge sparrow can also be
taken in the same manner, but it requires a good deal of exertion in
running, and therefore should not be attempted unless you wish for a
regular breathing.

Stepney, Nov. 4, 1833. C. W. S.

P.S. I should like to know whether it is possible to breed any par-
ticular sort of insect, such as earwigs, &c. for the purpose of feeding
the summer birds*.

WILD HAUNT OF THE WINDOW SWALLOW. — Two fine examples of
immense masses of basalt are afforded on the hills of Penmaen Bach
and Penmaen Mawr. The cap or summit of the latter, in appearance,
resembles much a volcanic crater. It is curious to observe that the
north-west front of this last hill is the favourite resort of multitudes
of many of the common house-swallow, whose clayey nest covers in
many places the rock.

" This guest of summer,

The temple-haunting martlet does approve

By his loved mansionry, that the heaven's breath

Swells wooingly here ; no jutty frieze,

Buttress, nor coigne of vantage, but this bird

Hath made his pendent bed and procreant cradle.

Where they most breed and haunt, I have observed,

The air is delicate." — SHAKSPEARE.

J. STUART MENTEATH.

* Meal worms may be bred in thousands. — En.

CHAPTER OF VARIETIES, ,V17

HOUSE BUG. — While in Poonah, East Indies, finding that immense
quantities of domestic bugs were in the rooms, I diverted myself with
observing their history and economy. Bingley says, if I recollect right,
that they remain twelve days in the egg state. To prove this, on the
23rd of May, 1826, 1 placed eight eggs, deposited by a female the same
morning, in a small box, and on the 28th the young insect emerged
from its confinement, having been but five days, instead of twelve,
encased in the egg.

Most insects that suck the blood of animals refuse that of the un-
healthy, but these seem not to regard such a circumstance. I knew
them prey on men in every stage of sickness, and even where mercury
and antimonials had been introduced most freely into the system.

L. W. CLARKE.

Birmingham.

GROWTH OF STONES. — The celebrated French naturalist, Tourne-
forte, inferred that rocks grow, from the circumstance of names which
are cut in the famous grotto of Antiparos, in the Grecian Archipelago,
appearing a few years afterwards in alto relievo. Linnaeus also laid it
down as a first principle, that "stones grow;" while "vegetables grow
and live ; and animals grow, live, and feel." But except in the case
of depositions of stony matter from an aqueous solution, such as occa-
sions the relieving of names cut in the rock at Antiparos, and the
incrustation of wigs, birds' nests, birch-brooms, and other things exposed
to its influence at Matlock, in Derbyshire, stones and rocks may more
correctly be affirmed to decrease than to increase, subjected, as all
those which are uncovered must be, to the repeated action of rains
and frosts. In the beds of rivers, and the basin of the sea, the
incessant motion of the water must, in the same way, produce a constant
wearing down into sand of the hardest rocks and stones which are
there deposited.

TRUFFLES. — We discovered many years ago an immense stock of
very small truffles, crowded together under a young cedar tree upon
the lawn near the house at Highclere. Mr. Gowen tried successfully
the experiment of transplanting several of these, and setting them
under beech trees, marking the spots where they were planted. They
increased in size, and became much finer than those'which were left.

HON. & REV. W. HERBERT.

548 CHAPTER OF VARIETIES.

THAW. — In the neighbourhood of Spofforth, when a very sudden
and mild thaw takes place, with perfect calm, after a severe frost of
some duration, I am able to prognosticate that a most violent gale of
wind will come on in about twenty-four hours. Numbers of times
have I prophesied this, and I do not remember having been once wrong.
So invariably have I found this to occur, that I have acted upon it ;
and I remember particularly surprising my groom on a very still and
mild day, after a frost, by telling him that I would not ride the horse
he proposed to have ready for me the next morning, on account of its
being very skittish in a gale of wind : and the next day it blew a hur-
ricane, as I had expected. I apprehend that it is occasioned by the
volume of cold air from Craven and the moors, which rushes down
upon our lower regions, when the temperature is suddenly relaxed, and
becomes unusually warm. HON. & REV. W. HERBERT.

THE LAMPLIGHTER INSECT. — This astonishing insect is about one
inch and a quarter in length ; and, what is wonderful to relate, she
carries by her side, just above her waist, two brilliant lamps, which
she lights up at pleasure with the solar phosphorus -furnished her by
nature. These little lamps do not flash and glimmer like that of the
fire-fly, but give as steady a light as the gas light, exhibiting two per-
fect spheres, as large as a minute pearl, which afford light enough in
the darkest night to enable one to read print by them ! On carrying
her into a dark closet in the day time, she immediately illuminates her
lamps, and instantly extinguishes them on coming again into the'light.
But language cannot express the beauty and sublimity of these lucid
orbs in miniature, with which nature has furnished the queen of the
insect kingdom. E. J. BALLARD.

Islington,

CHRYSALIS OF THE DEATH'S HEAD HAWK MOTH. — Those who
endeavour to rear these often fail after the insect has passed into the
chrysalis state. I have been informed by a person who has several times
bred them, that his method is to moisten the chrysalis every morning
with warm water, and then place it in the breeding-cage, near the fire,
by which means the fluids of the body are preserved, and the case is
not too strong for the perfect insect to penetrate. He also says, that
if they be placed in a bark stove with plants, and covered with the
earth, they will not perish, as is the case with those generally exposed
to the temperature of our climate. L. W. CLARKE.

Birmingham.

CHAPTER OF VARIETIES. 549

LUMINOSITY OF THE SEA. — On the evening of the 6th June, 1824,
not having been able to cross the bar with a full tide, we coasted on
the outside of the harbour of Bombay, when I observed a remarkable
luminous appearance of the sea. The whole ocean around us was as
a mass of flowing molten gold. The soft balmy breeze propelled us
forward at about five knots an hour ; the night warm ; the moon hid
beneath a dark cloud, but a countless host of stars shone with all their
radiance, brilliantly sparkling, seeming to allure the eye from gazing
on the splendour of the rolling waves to behold their humbler beauties.
Instead of the pale phosphoric light that danced before the prow of the
vessel, in those tiny stars pillowed on the foam of the ocean, this had
all the rich hues of metallic lustre. I resided upwards of six months
afterwards in Bombay, but had not the opportunity of again indulging
myself with such a sight. Perhaps some of your correspondents may
be able to describe the cause of these "ruddy flames ."

At different periods of the voyage, about nine or ten at night, several
of us were accustomed to go to the prow of the vessel, and bathe
ourselves, when the weather permitted, by drawing water up in buckets,
throwing it over each other ; the sparks of liquid fire would attach
themselves to the skin, and in an instant their light was extinguished,
unless occasionally, in applying the towel, a few solitary ones seemed to
be re-ignited. But one circumstance occurred in this practice, that led
me to consider the cause, not as a phosphoric matter contained in the
water, as some have conjectured, but a living creature : as in using
soap, though at first these sparks were elicited, so soon as any thing
like a diffusion of it was obtained, all was dark. The same invariably
occurred in washing ourselves in tubs, or other vessels ; the alkali in
every instance depriving the insect of life.

L. W. CLAHKE.

Birmingham.

MAGPIE MOTH REFUSED BY BIRDS. — Can any reader inform me
what peculiarity there is in the chemical composition of the common
magpie moth, (Abraxas grossulariata), that all my various insectivorous
birds invariably reject it ? I have a nightingale which will readily take
food from the hand, and which, like all other small insectivorous birds,
is most voraciously fond of lepidopterous insects, in general ; but the
magpie moth he constantly refuses, though I have seen him swallow in
succession three or four of the large yellow underwings (Triphcena)
I once even kept my insect-eating birds without food beyond their
VOL i. NO. xii. (DECEMBER, 1833.) u u

550 CHAPTER OF VARIETIES.

usual time, when I threw into their cage a variety of common moths
amongst which were three or four of the A. grossulariata ; but the
latter were even then rejected, though the other various species were all
devoured greedily. One, however, Avas swallowed by a whin-chat, but
he did not take a second, and I noticed a tree-pipit (Antkus arbor eus)
take one of them in his mouth, which, on tasting, he refused. The
caterpillar also, is rejected by all these various birds. May not this be
a principal cause of the magpie-moth being one of the most abundant
species we have ?

Tooting. EDWARD BLYTH.

NIGHT-SHINING EYES OF THE DARK ARCHES MOTH. — A few weeks
ago, on seeing a remarkably fine specimen of the dark arches moth
(Xylopkaria polyodon}, I caught it, and placed it in a small box which
I happened to have in my pocket. On my return home in the evening
when it was almost dark, I gently lifted up the lid, and was not a
little amazed to perceive that the moth's eyes had the power of con-
verging the few rays of light, shining in the dark like two little stars
with considerable brilliancy. Ten minutes afterwards, however, when
I again looked at the moth, I was surprised to find that its eyes were
not visible at all, showing that this faculty is dependent on the will of
the animal. I have since examined a considerable number of moths, in
various genera, but only in one instance have I again had the satisfac-
tion of beholding this beautiful phenomenon. This was in a common
golden-tail (Portkesia chrysorrhcea,) but the appearance was not so
bright as in the Xylophasia. It shows, however, that moths, like
many other nocturnal animals, are endowed with this curious power, to
enable them to see their way clearly at a time when the vision of
diurnal creatures is of little or no avail. — EDWARD BLYTH.

Tooting.

M. PERTY'S FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES OF NATURAL HISTORY. —
In a Latin thesis prefixed to some observations on East Indian beetles,
by Max. Perty, published at Munich, we find the following general
principles, which we have tried to translate, as a specimen of the stuff
now current in Germany, belonging to the school of Schelling, Oken
Fries, &c.

" 1. The world was formed by antithesis, and is preserved by anta-
gonism.

CHAPTER OF VARIETIES. 5,51

" 2. As to the genesis of celestial bodies, the theory of aggregation is
of greater moment than Vulcanism and Neptunism.

" 3. A central fire in the orb of the earth must be admitted.

" 4. Whatever are the mechanical powers in organic nature, the
same are the organic powers in the animal and vegetable kingdom :
whatever are the organic powers in organic nature, the same are the
psychical (spiritual?) powers in the human race; throughout nature
there is a perpetual analogy, the same powers being only different, not
by quality, but by evolution.

" 5. Explain to me the growth (indoles) of the lowliest grass, and
I will explain to you the phantasy and agitation of the human mind.

" 6. The psychical condition of animals is certainly and exclusively
derived from their organisation.

" 7. Oxygen and photogen are the universal vivifactive powers.

" 8. The exact limits between the beginnings of each organic king-
dom are not to be found.

" 9. It is destined in the generation of the most simple plants and
animals, from elementary causes, whether any particle of organisable
matter may become a plant or an animal.

"10. The magnitude of animals depends in kind upon the propor-
tional abundance of the nervous mass, and the degree of the respiratory
process : thus it is, that insects and the mass of spiders (araclinidcz) are
so small.

"11. The more perfect organisation of Infusoria, lately discovered
by the celebrated Ehrenberg, does not contradict their spontaneous
generation."

We think our readers will agree with us, that this is a tissue of wild
and useless fancy, of similar character to the speculative systems of the
ancients. No wonder that all the Germans agree in one opinion, that
no philosophy is taught in the British universities, and that a village
schoolmaster in Germany knows more of philosophy than our most
learned men in England. With such nonsensical philosophy as the
above, indeed, we have no wish to see our literature contaminated.

EDITOR.

SPIDERS FOR CABINETS. — The preservation of spiders (Aranea,
LIN.) appears to me the most difficult part in obtaining perfect British
specimens in Entomology. Donovan recommends holding to the fire
until they plump up, or else to plump them up with the blow- pipe,
and fill them with sand ; but the above ways seem very imperfect, and

00^ CHAPTER OF VARIETIES.

I should not like to risk a fine or rare specimen, such as the diadem
spider, (A. diadema) or brown water spider (A. aquatica), on the
efficacy of either method. If any of your readers would answer this as
to the best manner of " setting " them, many scarce specimens would
no doubt be saved.

B. B. CORNEY.

London, July, 1833.

ON THE COLOURS EXHIBITED BY THE CHAMELEON. — It frequently

occurs that an individual can suggest to others a clue to the solution
of a mystery, although he himself is unable to prosecute "his own views.
In the present case, this is my situation; I state that which I conceive
to be very probable, but yet not possessing one of the animals to which
it relates, I am unable to pursue the inquiry which, I strongly con-
ceive would, in the end, answer my expectations. The sudden varia-
tion of colour exhibited by the chameleon, has, since that period in
which it was first observed, been regarded as a wonderful phenomenon,
and has employed numerous naturalists and philosophers in attempting
to explain it, and, as yet, they have not succeeded. The light, which
I conceive I am throwing upon the subject, embraces optical principles,
while it discards the belief of the variation in colour being voluntary,
or under controul of the animal itself. Some years since, I saw the
chameleons in the Tower of London, and it was then I first noticed
the similarity of shape, existing between the three-sided form of its
body, and that of a prism ; and the idea immediately presented itself,
to my mind, that this was probably the principal cause of its possessing
the extraordinary power of reflecting all the prismatic colours like that
instrument ; for although the fluids of its body may be rather opaque,
yet they may be sufficiently adapted to reflect various colours when
the light falls upon it. But, whatever may hereafter be discovered to
be the cause, I premise that the peculiar shape of its body will be one,
if not the principal explanatory point of it. If, however, my idea
should in the end prove nothing more than fanciful, the singular coin-
cidence of the shape of the body so strongly, although somewhat
irregularly, resembling an optical instrument, possessing similar quali-
ties, will, I trust, be considered sufficient to warrant me in having
entertained it ; and the publishing it under the belief that it mav afford
to others, who may have opportunities of experimenting upon the
animal, a clue to the discovery, will, I hope, secure me from the
attacks of those who may differ in opinion. — SOLITARIUS.

•;

THE

FIELD NATURALIST,

THE GREEN TODY (Todus viridis), WITH A COLOURED

FIGURE.

BY B. H. L., WITH ADDITIONS BY THE EDITOR.

I HEREWITH forward you a drawing of the Barrancali^ or Perroquet
de Terre. The birds are represented of the natural size. M. Drouin
de Bercy's description will be found to be exact and full, brief as it is.
He has not, however, noticed the curious conjointed toes of the feet.
It is essentially insectivorous ; and as to its voice, the only sound I
have ever heard it utter was a sort of angry pur, or murmur, when
approached, a sound invariably an intimation of its rising on the wing.
Its flight is always extremely short, scarcely ever further than from
bush to bush. It may be easily knocked down, and I used to procure
them by striking them down with a switch, having a few leaves not
stript off at the end of it, to break the blow and well cover the bird.

37, Gloucester Street, Bloomsbury, Nov. 2, 1833.

As I do not know where to procure M. Drouin de Bercy's descrip-
tion, I beg to subjoin the following notices from the sources within my
reach, beginning with the synonymes.

Green Sparrow or Humming Bird, Edwards, Glean, pi. 121. Green Tody, Lath.
Gen. Hist. iv. 81 ; Shaw, Gen. Zoo], viii. 129, pi. 16 ; Wood, Buffon, xviii. 239,
pi. 172, (wretched) ; Griffiths, Cuvier, vii. 414. Todus viridis, Gmelin ,Linn. i.,
442; Srisson, iv. 528, tab. 41, fig. 2; Borowsky, Nat. ii. 141, tab. 19; Pallas,
Spec. vi. 16 ; Vieillot, Amer. i. 87, pi. 56. Sylvia gula Phcenicea, Klein, 70, 16.
Rubecula viridis elegantissimus, Rail, 187, 40 ; Sloan, Jam. ii. 306, tab. 363, 1 ;
Brown, Jam. 476. Todier de 1' Amerique, Buffon, Planches enlum. 585, 1, 2 ;
Temminck, Man. 2nd edit. p. Ixv. ; Desmarests, Tanag. pi. 1 ; Lesson, Man. 1 .
Drapiez, Diet. Class, in voce. Todo verde, Ranzani, Elementi, iii. iv. 227.
Der grune Plattschnabel, Schmidt, Vog. 69, 56.

VOL. ii. — NO. i. (JANUARY, 1834.) B

a THE GREEN TODY.

Baron Cuvier's description is, e ' Fine green above ; yellowish white
beneath ; throat with a red spot ; four inches in length." " It will be
always easy," says M. Montbeillard, " to distinguish the bird ; for,
besides the peculiarity in the bill, the upper side of the body in the
male is of a dilute blue, and the under side rose-coloured ; and, in the
female, the back is of a fine green, and the rest of the plumage similar
to that of the male. In both, the bill is reddish, but lighter below
and browner above ; the legs are grey, and the claws long and hooked.
The bird feeds on insects and small worms, and inhabits wet and
sequestered spots." Professor Ranzani mentions that the bill changes
its colour after death, being " in the living bird, reddish above and
brown yellow beneath ; in the dead bird, the upper mandible brownish
red, the tip clear reddish brown, the under mandible yellowish." It
is probable, I think, that a similar change of colour may occur in the
legs and feet. This accounts for Latham describing the " upper
mandible brown, the lower orange ; " but he seems only to have seen a
female, which he mistook for a male.

The accounts given of the nest and eggs differ considerably. M.
Chervain says, " that, in the pairing season, the male, has a feeble
though pleasant warble. The female builds her nest on the dry
ground, and preferably on the friable mould, and for that reason these
birds choose the ravines and water gullies. They often nestle also in
the low galleries of houses, yet always on the ground. They make an
excavation with their bill and claws, give it a round form, hollow out
the bottom, and place pliant straws, dry moss, cotton, and feathers,
which they artfully arrange. They lay four or five eggs, which are
grey and spotted with deep yellow." M. Ranzani follows this account.

M. Vieillot again says it makes its nest of dry grass and moss,
feathers, cotton, and other soft materials within, laying three or four
blue eggs, the size of those of the redstart.

M. Drapiez says, " it establishes its nest in the ground, or rather
in the crumbly earth on the edges of ravines, at such a height as may
not endanger it from inundations, and that the cradle of the young
family may be perfectly sheltered from the rain. This nest, or rather
subterranean lodging, exhibits a rounded apartment, to which the
approach is by a winding gallery. The lining of the nest consists of
bits of straw covered with down, upon which the female lays four or
five eggs of a grey colour spotted with brownish."

Prince Maximilian, of Neuwied, says the bird is not uncommon in
Brazil, where it makes a conical bag-shaped nest, composed of wool,

EXPANSION AND CONTRACTION OF SOLIDS BY HEAT. 3

dosed at the top, with a narrow entrance ; and builds in the neigh-
bourhood of a species of wasp, for the purpose, it is believed, of
rescuing it from the attacks of its enemies. The latter is of course
absurd, and the nest described by the prince must surely belong to
some other species.

M. Salerne, as well as Vieillot, mentions its singular habit of sitting
crouched with its head drawn in betwixt the shoulders, so that the
hind head almost touches the back, giving it a very awkward appear-
ance ; and then it is so stupid as almost to permit itself to be taken by
hand.

With respect to its voice, we have seen that M. Chervain says, " the
male has a feeble though pleasant warble ; " and M. Drapiez says it has
" a small song, rather agreeable, to which the female responds by a
small call-note." M. Vieillot says, " they make a frequent melancholy
noise." Ranzani says the female scolds (gridare) when the nest is
approached.

" They are difficult to tame," says M. Montbeillard ; " yet we may
succeed if they are young, and fed by their parents in a cage till they
can feed themselves. They have a strong attachment to their brood,
and will not leave them as long as they hear them cry." This, how-
ever, is not peculiar to the green tody, but common to all birds.

M. Temminck has made a genus of this single species; and
Baron Cuvier, M. Drapiez, and Signor Ranzani follow him. The
peculiar formation of the toes alluded to by R. H. L., is well known
to all systematic writers, and brings the bird under the division
SYNDACTYLI.

EDITOR.

ON THE EXPANSION AND CONTRACTION OF SOLIDS

BY HEAT.

BY R. T. C.

THE principles of heat being associated with the pursuits of the
naturalist, the following, it is presumed, will not be misplaced by
occupying a space in the columns of the Field Naturalist.

The particles of matter composing a solid body are kept at certain
distances from each other by two forces, viz. cohesion and repulsion.
If heat be applied to a solid, the attraction of cohesion is weakened,

B '2

4 EXPANSION AND CONTRACTION OF SOLIDS BY HEAT.

repulsion is increased, and the substance acted upon is larger in bulk.
If heat be abstracted from a solid, repulsion is weakened, the colresive
force is augmented, and the solid occupies diminished space. If a solid
be heated equally in all its parts, it will maintain its figure ; expansion
will cause all its parts to increase in the same proportion, Avhich is
easily proved by taking a brass plate pierced with a hole, into which a
bar exactly fits, the bar and plate being of the same temperature. Let
the bar be heated to a considerable temperature, and it will be found
that the hole in the brass plate will be too small to admit the bar.
Reduce the bar to the temperature of the plate, and it will resume its
original dimensions.

Of solids, metals are the most expansive ; and of metals, lead. The
effect of the expansion of metals has been regulated with respect to the
construction of clocks ; and the labours of experimental men have
brought these instruments " to such perfection," says Sir John Her-
chel, " that an irregularity in the rate of going, to the extent of a
a single second in twenty-four hours in two consecutive days, is not
tolerated in one of good character ; so that any interval of time less
than twenty-four hours may be certainly ascertained within a few
tenths of a second, by their use." The effect of raising the tempera-
ture of a pendulum clock would be to cause the pendulum to expand,
which would remove the centre of oscillation further from the point of
suspension, and cause its rate of vibration to be slower ; diminution of
temperature would be attended with a contrary effect. To remedy
these defects, Graham, in the year 1715, made several experiments,
which led to the construction of the mercurial pendulum. The point
of suspension in this pendulum is always kept at the same distance
from the bob, or centre of oscillation, by means of mercury, which
ascends when exposed to increased temperature, and descends when
heat is abstracted, thereby regulating the rate of vibration. In 1726,
Harrison, originally a carpenter, at Barton in Lincolnshire, invented a
pendulum formed of brass and steel rods. The object in this invention
is attained by the greater expansion of the brass rods, which force the
bob, or mass, upwards, as much as the steel rods are elongated, or
forced downwards. In making patterns for cast-iron moulds, the work-
man allows one-eighth of an inch per foot for the contraction of the
metal. If a goblet glass, at about the temperature of 50°, be filled
half full of hot water, probably the glass will crack, because its surface
in contact with the water will rapidly expand, and be forced away
from that part not heated, and beyond the reach of the water ; but if

EXPANSION AND CONTRACTION OF SOLIDS BY HEAT.

the glass be heated gradually to the temperature of the water, danger
need not be apprehended, because the vessel undergoes a uniform and
gradual increase of bulk.

There are exceptions to the law of uniform expansion by heat with
respect to solids. Lavoisier and Laplace, by experiment, showed that
tempered steel, from the temperature of 32° to ] 50°, decreased in expan-
sibility ; but they accounted for this exception to the law, by the
change in the temperature of tempered steel during the process of
annealing, which changed its nature, and converted it into untempered
steel. An apparent exception to this law of expansion by heat, mani-
fests itself with respect to aluminous clay. When this substance is
exposed to intense heat, it contracts, by reason of the extrication of
moisture ; it does not belong to the class of ordinary expansion by heat
any more than the case of tempered steel, as stated above. These sub-
stances, after the change of temperature which they suffer, cease to
consist of the constituent parts which originally composed their mass.
Exceptions, also, are observed in animal and vegetable matter ; they
are accounted for in the same manner as the case of heated clay, viz*
by their aqueous parts being dismissed in vapour, causing their volume
to contract. Hence it appears that the abstraction of heat from a
solid body is equivalent to compression or condensation ; the volume of
the substance acted upon being lessened without diminishing its parti-
cles of matter, proving that solid bodies are porous.

The porosity of gold was proved by an experiment instituted at the
Accademia del Cimento, in Florence. A hollow ball of gold was filled
with water, and the aperture closed. The globe was submitted to pres-
sure until its figure was changed, when the water oozed through the
pores of the metal, and covered the surface of the globe, having the
appearance of dew. The pores of a solid body are occupied by air,
provided that the solll is exposed to the atmosphere, and that its pores
are larger than the particles of air. This is the case with limestone,
charcoal, dried fruit, and many kinds of wood, and particularly a sili-
ceous substance called hydrophane ; the proof of which is manifest by
plunging each substance under the surface of water, when the air occu-
pying their pores will escape at the surface in bubbles.

The diminution of density produced in solids by the application of
heat, and the increase of density by the abstraction of heat, must be
evident to all persons who do not look upon objects around them with
a passive and indifferent gaze. Expansion and contraction of solids
force themselves into notice during our daily vocations, either to frus-

D EXPERIMENTS ON THE HEAT OF LIVING PLANTS.

trate our views, or to forward our wishes. A clearer view of these
phenomena enables us to trace the operations of general causes, affording
to the contemplative man inexhaustible springs of knowledge. Thus,
it seems that the solid bodies by which we are surrounded, although
to us they appear to possess a leaden dulness, a sluggish and inert
appearance, are never at rest. Constant motion influences their exte-
rior dimensions, and their interior and hidden particles are constantly
approaching and receding from each other.
Shouldham, Nov. 1833.

EXPERIMENTS ON THE HEAT OF LIVING PLANTS.

BY PROFESSOR GOEPPERT, OF VIENNA.*

AFTER making some remarks upon the development of heat in plants,
and indicating the authors who have maintained conflicting opinions
thereupon, M. Goeppert states, that he has been led, by recent experi-
ments, to conclude that plants, as living beings, can generate heat.
That, however, which is disengaged during the nutrition and respiration
of the insulated plant, cannot be brought under observation, as it is con-
tinually carried off by the surrounding air.

A. Experiments made on seeds while germinating. No author
has yet made the observation, that caloric is emitted by plants when
germinating; they, however, generate a considerable quantity.
Modern authors had usually ranked germination as belonging to
the phenomena of chemistry or fermentation; they know only that
wheat generated at that time a greater degree of heat, but without hav-
ing made any distinct observations on the subject. After having soaked
some grains in water until they had absorbed the quantity necessary to
germination, the author withdrew them, and placed them in heaps. In
proportion as the quantity of corn was greater and more surrounded by
bodies that are non-conductors of heat to prevent deperdition, the
higher the temperature became. M. Goeppert usually made his obser-
vations in wooden vessels, which were deep, and surrounded with tow
to the thickness of two or three inches. The length of time necessary
for the development of the shoots and radicles depends more or less on

* Ueber Wiirme-Entwicklung in der lebenden Pflanze : pp. 32. 8vo. Gerald,
Wicn, 1832.

EXPERIMENTS ON THE HEAT OF LIVING PLANTS. 7

the temperature of the air. Immediately after this phenomenon, moul-
diness is visible ; the farinaceous grains become acid by fermentation,
and then all power of germination is at an end. The seeds which
contain azote, such as kidney beans, requiring four or five days to
germinate, are not proper for experiments; because, after so long a
space of time, a part has already become putrid. The same observation
may be made of mucilaginous grains : consequently, the grains that may
be employed with most success are those which germinate very quickly.
To prevent a premature budding of the mouldiness, care should be taken
to choose a time when the temperature is not very high. The heat of
grains when germinating rises rapidly, and stops at a moderate height :
it usually rises some degrees higher, when decay, or acidity from fer-
mentation, appears. The first representation that the author gives of
these experiments indicates the development of heat in wheat, oats,
and maize, during thirteen days successively. At a moderate tempe-
rature of 11-12°, wheat arose after the third day to 20° ; at which it
remained during three days. Then appeared symptoms of decay and
acidity, which successively caused the thermometer to rise to 28°. The
oats exhibited nearly the same results. The maize rose about the time
indicating 16°. On the thirteenth day only signs of decomposition
appeared. The results obtained from peas and hemp differed but little
from those produced by monocotyledonous plants. The grains hitherto
submitted to experiments possessing a great deal of fecula, the author
sought to discover the phenomena presented by the germination of those
plants which do not possess any ; for this purpose he made experiments
on the following plants: Triqfolium repens, Brassica napus, Spergula
arvensis, and Carum Carui ; they produced the same results ; and
therefore prove that the quantity of fermenting substances has no in-
fluence whatever on the quantity of caloric disengaged, and that we
cannot explain the development of heat by a simple process. Experi-
ments made on considerable quantities of wheat leave not the least
doubt that the sugar developed during germination may be only the
result of an organic operation, and that the caloric disengaged owes its
existence to the vital power of the vegetable only, and not to a
process of combustion, an opinion adopted in preference by chemists to
explain the increase of the temperature.

B. Experiments made with bulbs and tubercles. — Those which
were made on potatoes, radishes, and other large tubercles, produced
no results ; it being impossible to make observations on them. The
author consequently proceeded by the method employed with seeds.

8 EXPERIMENTS ON TH[E HEAT OF LIVING PLANTS.

He took nine ounces of the bulbulli which grow on the umbels of the
Allium sativum, at the moment when the leafits were near developing.
He examined them during ten days, repeating his observations three
times a day : the maximum of caloric observed was from 2 to 3°. Nearly
the same results were obtained by 2-| pounds of bulbulli of the Lilium
tigrinum, and by potatoes the size of a hazel nut.

C. Experiments made on plants already developed, and in full vege-
tation.— That which especially prevents the discovery by these experi-
ments of results, analogous to those furnished by germination, is the
considerable exhalation of vegetables, by which certain plants lose in
one day nearly half the weight of their leaves. After having taken the
precautions necessary for making decisive observations, the author was
convinced that the young oat plants were of a higher temperature by
two or three degrees than the surrounding air. The maize and the
Cyperus esculentus showed an increase only of from 1 to 1-J°. Similar
results were obtained from the following plants : — Hyoscyamus niger,
tiedum acre, Pinus abies, Eupatorium cannabinum, Solidago arguta,
and the fruits of the Mespilus cotoneaster. The Spergula arvensis had
exhibited during germination a higher temperature than the other
plants ; and plants in full vigour gave the same results. In a few
hours the thermometer rose from 16° to 26° : this result may partly
proceed from the fact that plants contribute to the restoration of each
other, and by that means prevent the escape of caloric. Peas, observed
at different stages of growth, constantly presented a higher tempe-
rature.

At the conclusion of his memoir, M. Goeppert again speaks of caloric
being developed by the Aro'idecc. The Arum dracunculus exhibits a
considerable increase of caloric ; the anthers especially evince its escape :
when cut, they still preserve during twenty-four hours a higher tem-
perature than the atmosphere. The highest degree of heat observed in
the flowers of this plant is from 27° to a temperature of 13*^. The ob-
servations made to discover the development of caloric in the flowers
of the Cactus and the Malvas have hitherto produced no results : the
author, however, does not despair of obtaining them in the course of
time.

[ Our younger readers may be told that the evolution of heat both in animals and
plants, is, so far as we know, the result of the combination of various gases, the
heat being, as it is conceived, forced out from between their particles, when these
particles are pressed closer together. — EDITOR.]

ADVANTAGES OF NATURAL HISTORY.

I HAVE often been asked by persons who know that I am pursuing
the study of Natural History, but who are unacquainted with that study,
of what utility is the pursuit of that and similar sciences ? In answer
to these inquiries, I think I cannot do better than to transmit to the
pages of The Field Naturalist an attempt to give some of the most
obvious benefits which arise to mankind from the real study of natural
science. In so doing I shall divide these benefits into the direct and
indirect : the direct are those which the science has immediately in
view ; the indirect are those which, although not sought for, yet very
naturally become the consequences of a pursuit of the study. Before,
however, proceeding to consider these two principal branches, it will be
necessary for us to inquire what are the objects proposed by the study
of natural history.

Natural history is not at present, as it has been, a mere science of
words and names. Amongst all the improvements which modern
science has gained to herself in this very scientific age, — amongst all
the varied aspects which modern literature presents to our wondering
gaze, natural history stands pre-eminent. The vivifying influence of a
few illustrious men, in a few short years, has raised it from the depths
of oblivion to the highest elevation which science can offer to her
numerous and aspiring votaries. I do not, I cannot acquiesce in the
opinion, although it has been, and still is, supported by some of our
most eminent scientific men, that science is declining amongst us, and
that Britain is rapidly losing, if it has not already lost, its pre-eminence.
As a scientific country, I confess, that this lamentation over the fallen
fortunes of our land appears to me utterly unfounded. How can it be
said that science is declining amongst us, whilst such ardour i» the
pursuit of all its diversified branches cannot fail to be perceived
amongst almost every class of society ; and whilst such a list of splendid
names grace the annals of modern British science, which cannot fail to
adorn the fair page of history ? " Can it be necessary," exclaims
the learned author of that interesting discourse on the objects of science,
which is prefixed to the scientific publications of the Society for the
Diffusion of Useful Knowledge — " can it be necessary to declaim on
the superiority of a people amongst whom intellectual pleasures, how-
ever trifling, are preferred to mere animal gratifications ? " The time
is now gone by, when a defence of any department of natural

VOL. II. — NO. I. C

10 ADVANTAGES OF NATURAL HISTORY.

science is necessary. The pleasures of science now go hand in hand
with the solid benefits derived from it. They tend, unlike other grati-
fications, not only to make our minds more agreeable, but better ; and a
rational being is bound, by every motive of interest and duty, to direct
his mind towards pursuits which are found to be the sure path of virtue
as well as happiness."

To return, however, to natural history : In following up this most
interesting study, it is not our object merely to make ourselves acquainted
with a long catalogue of technical terms and scientific appellations.
Although some knowledge of this is necessary for a student of nature,
yet, were this all, nature could not have gained as many attentive
observers of her charms as she has done ; for were it so, who, to use the
words of Dr. Johnson, would take all that care, and endure all those
hardships, which are attendant on a due pursuit of the science of
natural history ? Who would listen to hear the " owl shriek at mid-
night, and the cricket cry in the noonday heat ? " Who would, like the
indefatigable Wilson, wander amongst the dark and impenetrable woods
of the vast continent of America ; or, like Le Vaillant, endure, with
imperturbable magnanimity, the scorching influence of an African sun?
This, then, is not the study we advocate ; this is not natural history.
The objects proposed by the study of modern natural science are of a far
higher tendency. In order to be competently acquainted with this so
different science, we must search out nature in all her varied shapes,
and in all the beauteous forms which she adopts to dazzle the eye and
entrance the mind of the enchanted beholder. We study nature, not
principally to become acquainted with the number of genera contained
in a certain class, or with the number of species contained in a single
genus — not in order to arrange those classes in systems, either quinary,
or any other singular compound ; but in order to adduce facts from which
certain principles may be laid down in order to become acquainted with
the habits and peculiarities of those animals in a state of nature, which
we cannot do in a state of domestication or confinement. These, then,
are the objects proposed by the study of natural history. I would now
proceed to consider the benefits derived from those objects, but I am
fearful that I have already proceeded too far ; and that, by the intrinsic
interest of my subject, I have been led into considerations which might
become matter of discussion for talents far higher than any I can boast
of. I hope, however, in a future letter, to be able to follow up my
subject ; meanwhile I must beg leave to subscribe myself,

OBSEUVATOR.

11

NOTES

BY OBSEKVATOU.

A MOST singular instance of instinct — may I call it ? — has recently,
come under my observation, as happening in this town. A cuckoo
(Cuculns canorus) was found, just feathered, in the nest of a hedge-
sparrow (Accentor modularis). It was immediately taken from thence
and placed in a cage, containing a hen canary (Fringilla canaria). The
birds agreed perfectly well ; but, what is most singular, when the proper
food for the cuckoo (small caterpillars or larvae of the Lepidop-
tera) was placed in the cage, the canary fed its young charge with that,
although she herself still kept to the hemp seed, &c., whieh she had
always been accustomed to. Can this be referred to mere instinct ? Is
there not in this an exhibition of some higher principle ?

An hoopoe ( Upupa Europceus) was shot a short time since in or near
a village adjoining this town. I had not an opportunity of observing it
myself, or I should have transmitted to you an account of its plumage,
and other peculiarities which it may have had. The humming bird
sphinx (Sphinx stellatarum) has been very plentiful hereabout this
summer. I have seen and captured several very perfect specimens. In
going over lately, for the second time, " Knapp's Journal of a Natu-
ralist," I met with a passage which I do not remember to have parti-
cularly remarked before, descriptive of the song or note of the missel
thrush (Turdus viscivorus), or holm screech, as it is here provincially
termed. The passage I proceed to transcribe : " The approach of a
sleety snow-storm, following a deceitful gleam in spring, is always
announced to us by the loud untuneful voice of the missel thrush, as it
takes its stand on some tall tree, like an enchanter calling up the gale.
It seems to have no song, no voice, but this harsh predictive-note, and
that in a great measure ceases with the storms of spring." Most other
ornithological writers, however, whom I have consulted on this subject,
give a contrary statement. In fact, none that I recollect at present
mention the note of this thrush as being loud (at least unpleasantly
so) or untuneful. I have been led to pay particular attention to this,
and confess that I must disagree with Knapp, and hold with the authors
who describe this bird's song as not perhaps soft, but at least melo-
dious *.

Plymouth, October, 1833.

* See Habits of Birds, p. 291.
c2

12
ON THE AGENDA OF N. N.

IN answer to N. N., I beg leave to offer you one or two remarks,
though I am perfectly of opinion that it will be impossible to satisfy
him on some of the points suggested in his communication. It is well
that all are not of his opinion ; that " little information is acquired by
being told how a cock robin or a cock sparrow builds its nest, whether
with leaves, or moss, or feathers, or flue, or by any information of that
kind ;" in other words, that no knowledge is useful but that which tends
to some pecuniary profit ; such as rearing game or poultry, or " adding
to the riches of our farm-yards, parks, woods, or fields."

For my own part, I think no study can be more instructive, more
useful, or more amusing, than the study of NATURE, whether with
regard to " new kinds of game," or only relating to a " cock robin," or a
( ' cock sparrow."

Notwithstanding the delicious food thus afforded, it is with regret
that I see the quantities of game brought to the London markets, and
1 should fear that time alone is wanting to exterminate from this
country the game we already possess.

The bustard, the largest British bird, is now rarely to be found, and
it is a melancholy prospect to the naturalist to see so fine a species
gradually exterminated by the encroaching hand of cultivation. If
taken young, the bustard will live in confinement, and might, with
care, be possibly made to breed. I am informed by an eye-witness, that
one, kept by a gentleman in Norfolk, became so tame that it was quite
troublesome, and would not only help itself to whatever came in its
way, but would run after its visitors, pecking them, and without
showing the slightest degree of fear. This bird was fed upon bread
and other fragments, and was also fond of cabbage-leaves and other
vegetables. The Argus pheasant has, I believe, never been kept in
confinement ; but the different varieties of the curassow are equally
hardy with the turkey, peacock, &c. In South America, we are
informed, they have long been reclaimed ; and a friend of mine from
Honduras, tells me that there they are kept as common poultry, that
is to say, the common crested sort (Crax alector, LINN.) ; and as we
know they will live in the English climate, there can be no reason for
their not becoming as common and useful in this country as the
common fowl, turkey, &c. &c. Gold and silver pheasants have been

ON THE AGENDA OF N. N. 13

" hatched and brought up in large numbers/' and might be " turned out
in our common woods/' though I should imagine they would not agree
very well with the common species ; but M. Temminck says they have
been kept in Germany, in an open pheasantry, in company with the
common sort ; the silver pheasant is as hardy as the common one, and
it is possible that the experiment might succeed in this country. The
principal difficulty in all these experiments is the great expense
incurred in making them.

With regard to the game which we now possess, such as red and
black grouse, &c., while such numbers are daily destroyed, it is vain
to endeavour to increase the number of the survivors.

It is impossible to force a bird to breed in a country, the climate and
food of which are different from those to which it has been accustomed ;
but, as the pheasant has been naturalised, it is possible that the black
partridge might also. The wood pigeon has been tamed, though it will
not breed in confinement, and how to make it is certainly more than I
can say. Perseverance and patience may possibly achieve this end. To
cover our ponds with summer ducks, and teal, and some geese of
"• beautiful and new kinds/' I imagine would not be difficult, if it were
once attempted ; and our parks are already stocked with deer and stags,
though not with elks, antelopes of every shape and form, kangaroos, &c.
But the emeu is very easily domesticated, and has frequently bred in
confinement, both at the Zoological Gardens and in the collection of his
late Majesty, so that it might, were it worth the expense, be readily
made to breed in our parks, &c.

With regard to " how to stock our woods with Virginian nightingales*
and our orchards and shrubberies with the common nightingale, in those
parts of England where they are now never heard, and also to
naturalise Canary birds, Baltimore orioles," &c. &c., I must confess
my utter inability to answer this question ; and until England shall
possess the climate of Virginia, and be equally wooded and equally
temperate in all its parts; till birds shall change their natures, and
those inhabiting the tropics shall fly to the poles; till palms shall
spring up in the woods of Great Britain ; and, in a word, till all
nature shall be altered and her laws entirely changed — I must leave
this question to be answered by more learned naturalists than myself,
and hope that the little I have been able to say in answer to his other
queries may not prove entirely void of interest to N. N.

[In our next we will give an instance of the successful naturalization of the
Lama of Peru — EDITOR.]

14

MR. BIRT'S ARRANGEMENT OF CLOUDS.

DURING a series of meteorological observations, in which I have
been engaged for some years past, I found it important to register the
appearance of the clouds, and for this purpose directed considerable
attention to them. When I first registered them, I adopted the nomen-
clature of Howard, but soon found it insufficient to convey to my mind,
after a lapse of time, a clear and distinct idea of the clouds I had seen
at the time of registering. I was, therefore, under the necessity of
sketching out a nomenclature for my private use ; when, after a course
of daily observations for upwards of twelve months, I found so many
distinct varieties and modifications, not mentioned by Howard, that I
was induced to collect and classify them for the benefit of meteorolo-
gists, generally ; and with this view I have laid them before the Eclec-
tic Society of London.

The clouds, I conceive, may be divided into three distinct divisions
or classes, according to their structure, as all those that I have hitherto
observed may be referred to one of them. There are clouds which
possess a structure similar to those known by the familiar name of fogs
or mists, and these are observed in the upper and lower regions of the
atmosphere : for this class I conceive the most appropriate name to be
Nebula ; and I have noticed five distinct varieties and modifications,
two in the upper, and three in the lower regions. The terms I have
applied to those observed in the upper region, founded on their appear-
ance, are Nebula expansus, and N. siriatus ; or an expanded nebulosity,
and a streaked nebulosity. The term applied to those observed in the
lower region is N. stratus, as expressing that it is spread over a por-
tion of the earth's surface.

The next class is more extensive, and includes all those clouds that
possess a fibrous structure ; the term Fibrus, employed generically, will,
I conceive, sufficiently point out the structure of the cloud to which it
is applied. The varieties which compose this class I have arranged
according to their appearance and relative altitude, commencing with
the long, thread-like fibres, which, on close inspection, I have found
on some occasions to result from a resolution of the nebulosity of N.
striatus ; this variety I have termed Fibrus Jiltformis. These clouds
sometimes unite and form broad bands, stretching from one part of the
horizon to another : to express this appearance, I have suggested the
term F. striatus. On some occasions these bands unite, and form-

* The paper, of which the present article is an outline, was read before the
Eclectic Society of London, on November 26, 1833.

MR. BIRT'S ARRANGEMENT OF CLOUDS. 15

a sheet of cloud extended over the heavens : to point out this spreading
or extending of the cloud, I have employed the term jP. stratus ; it
embraces three modifications, which I have distinguished by the Greek
letters. Another variety of this class consists of short thin lines or
fibres : these, I conceive, may be sufficiently pointed out by the term
F. linealis. The next variety may be described as very beautiful
feather-like clouds, sometimes of considerable size ; to these I have
applied the term F. plumatus. In addition to these, we have a
curled variety, commonly known by the name of mares' tails ; these,
I conceive, may be appropriately designated F. crispatus. The last
variety of this class consists of clouds that appear as bundles of fibres :
to point out these I have employed the term F. fasciformis ; the
variety includes three modifications, expressive of the size of the clouds
and their influence on the weather.

The third division embraces all those clouds that differ from the pre-
ceding classes, in their structure being hairy : the appearance they
present to the eye is that of hairs or fibres, having a very irregular or
confused arrangement. As this structure can be clearly traced through
the whole class, perhaps the generic term Crinis may be appropriately
employed. The clouds composing it occupy the middle region of the
atmosphere, while those of the class Fibrus are generally observed in
the upper. The appearance of the clouds of Crinis differ according to
their elevation ; and I have noticed five distinct series of them, which
I have designated by the terms primus, secundus, tertius, quartus,
and quintus, commencing with those that occupy the lowest station.
These series generally include four varieties, which I have termed te-
nuis, compactus, cumulatus, and serratus ; the first expresses that the
cloud exists in its earliest stage, and is so thin that its structure is
readily perceptible ; the second points out that the cloud has obtained
an accession of vapour, which gives it a compact appearance, and
obscures its structure in the middle: the third that the cloud has
put on a heaped appearance ; and the fourth, that it has become
so accumulated as to present a fine notched or serrated edge : this
variety is very conspicuous in showery weather. In the upper series
the term sphasricus is substituted for that of compactus, as the variety
then assumes a more globular figure. In the series secundus, I have
noticed an additional variety, which, on account of its rough and
shaggy appearance, I have termed hirtus. The tennis of the fifth series
approximates very closely to the class Fibrus, especially the variety
plumatus ; to point out this connexion, I have suggested the term
Jibratus instead of tenuis.

16

MR. BIRTS ARRANGEMENT OF CLOUDS.

On some occasions a variety may become so prevalent as to over-
spread a great portion or the whole of the atmosphere : to point this
out, I conceive the term stratus may be applied, as C. 1. Compactus
stratus. I have noticed nine varieties that in this manner form strata.
In the following table all the varieties and modifications hitherto
noticed are arranged in the manner above mentioned, and for the sake
of reference I have prefixed a letter to each variety and modification,
the Nebula being distinguished by the small Roman characters ; the
Crinis by the small italic letters, the Fibrus by the Roman capitals, and
the Stratus by the italic capitals. In order that this branch of meteoro-
logy may be distinguished from the others, I have suggested that the
term Nephology be used, which is derived from the word ncphos, a
cloud, and logos, a discourse.

TABULAR VIEW OF THE NOMENCLATURE OF
NEPHOLOGY.

k G. Sphaericus

I ... ... 0

m ... Cumulatus
n ... Serratus
o ... Tenuis 0

p ... Sphaericus

NEBULA.

a N.

Expansus

b ..

Striatus

f ...

Stratus

g ...

0

h ...

7

FIBRUS.

A F.

Filiform! s

B ...

0

C ...

Striatus

D ...

Stratus

E ...

0

F ...

7

G ...

Linealis

H ...

Plumatus

I ...

Crispatus

K ...

Fasciformis

L ...

0

M...

7

CRINIS.

Primus.

« C.

Tenuis

b ...

Compactus

c ...

0

d ...

7

e ...

Cumulatus

/.;•

0

9 ...

Serratus

h ...

0

Secundus.

Hirtus

V

)

Tertius.

s C. Tenuis

t 0

v ... Sphaericus

w ... ... 0

Quartus.
x C. Tenuis
y ... Sphaericus

Quintus.
z C. Fibratus
a' ... 0

b' ... Sphaericus 0

c' STRATUS.

A F. Fasciformis 0

B

C C. 1

D

E...
F...
G ... 2

i C. Tenuis

y
Compactus

... 7
Cumulatus
Serratus
Sphaericus

17
NOTES FROM YORKSHIRE.

BY J. H. ANDERSON, ESQ.

As you give encouragement to lovers of natural history in the
country to address you and make known their observations, and in
return ask information of you, I therefore without further introduction
commence my irregular epistle.

The memorable storm of the 31st of August last made terrible havoc
among the feathered race in this neighbourhood ; whole covies of young
partridges were found starved to death in the fields, and a great many
larks and other small birds, and several rooks and jackdaws, also shared
the same fate. A neighbour found above twenty sparrows lying dead
under some poplar trees in his yard; so, computing from the number
of dead birds found in this neighbourhood, the quantity that perished
must have been very great throughout the country. As I was ranging
the fields the first week in September, I fell in with twelve or thirteen
fieldfares (Turdns pilaris), which I am inclined to think had been
bred in the neighbourhood ; the locality, I think too, favours the sup-
position. Their daily haunt is a plantation of ash, oak, and elm trees,
through which a considerable stream runs ; and in the vicinity
there is a good deal of marsh or boggy land. I inquired of some
labourers who were well acquainted with the place, if they had noticed
them before, and they thought they were natives. However, to be more
certain, I intend keeping a strict look-out after them another year.

I also fell in with a young heron (Ardea cinerea) at the same place,
and had it brought to me a day or two afterwards. I saw a family of
long-tailed tits (Parus caudatus), and was much amused by their
manoeuvres as they flitted from one willow to another, twittering
incessantly.

We have the gold-crested wren (Regiilus cristatus) in the larch
plantations round about here, and in hard weather they may be seen in
our gardens and paddocks in plenty.

The kingfisher (Alcedo Ispeda) is a summer resident with us, and
some years back I saw a nest of six or seven, but am sorry to add
they all met an untimely fate from myself and schoolfellows. Being
ignorant of their history, we thought they were natives of the watery
element ; and being anxious that they should have plenty of it, we put
them into water so often, that none of them survived many days. I
have watched a kingfisher for more than an hour together, sitting on

VOL. II. NO. I. D

18 NOTES FROM YORKSHIRE.

the branch of a willow overhanging a corner of the fine open sheet of
clear water we have in this village, and it apparently took no notice
of the passengers on the road within forty or fifty yards of it. I believe
the pretty harmless creature was marked, and shot by a mischievous
school boy in the end.

The water hen ( Galinula chloropus) graces our water course all the
year round. The bittern (Ardea stellaris) has been seen and heard here
occasionally, but is rare.

Wild ducks (Anas Boschas) are plentiful here throughout the autumn
and winter. Wild geese (Anser ferns') visit our hills and large open
fields by thousands every autumn, and it is very pleasant to observe
their orderly martial flight as they come and go every morning and
evening. The whizzing sound a large flock of them makes, as they fly
over one's head, puts one in mind of the music of the spheres: —

" Unheard, but yet remembered still,
Through gleams of hope and clouds of ill."

O ! did the town-bred youths but know the sweet pleasure that the
study of natural history would aiford them, they would forsake the
billiard table and other idle games, and hie into the country after
business hours to hold converse with Nature and Nature's God.

I am very glad, my dear Sir, that I fell in with some of your works
on natural history when I did, — had I not, I might now have been
spending my time in the same idle, profitless manner, that a great
many other young men do who have not their time fully occupied by
business. But to our subject again.

The dottrel (Charadrius morinellus) and the plover (Charadrius
pluvialis) both visit our large open fields every spring and autumn; —
the latter bird often in great numbers, and dire is the slaughter com-
mitted among them both by experienced and inexperienced gunners.

The curlew (Numenius arquata} may be found on our hills in
summer time, and some few years back I had two half-grown young
ones. In crossing the hills on a still summer evening after sunset,
when a boy, I verily thought I had got on haunted ground when I
came where there were three or four of these birds. They used to flit
about and utter such shrill, plaintive whistles, that I was almost afraid
of looking over my shoulder for fear of seeing the genii of the place,
or the fairies " tripping on the light fantastic toe/' around the dark
green circles formed here and there on the hill sides. Maturer years
have, however, happily stripped imagination of all such illusions, and
where demons and genii were once reported to dwell, I now behold only
the presence of a God.

NOTES FROM YORKSHIRE. 19

The hen harrier (Falco pygargus) breeds among our furze brakes,
and a few years ago, I shot the cock bird on a nest, and found six eggs
under him ; I have also had young ones more than once.

That beautiful bird the goldfinch (Carduelis elegans) may be seen
in companies of from ten to twenty or forty, throughout the winter, on
our sheepwalks and large open pastures where thistles abound. In
July and August the starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) congregate together
in large flocks, and may be found generally, in the day time, in our
sheep pastures; they seem more partial to sheep than to any other
animal ; two or three may often be seen on a sheep's back.

On the 10th instant I saw a young cuckoo, apparently quite healthy ;
but the poor bird, I am sorry to say, has not been at all consulted in
regard to its comfort and convenience, as it has all along been confined
in a small canary cage, and has hardly room to spread both its wings
at once.

I am sorry that ill health prevented me from getting out in the
spring to inspect a few nests and eggs of the carrion crow, or lesser
raven ; I think it quite possible that I may find Mr. Waterton and
yourself both right on that head. It is possible a crow may have more
reasons than one for covering her eggs sometimes, before leaving them ;
a magpie's nest, built in the same neighbourhood, may cause her to do
so when she is going to be absent from it for some time.

I should like to see naturalists a little more courteous and respectful
in their criticisms one towards another, and not abusing one another
like tinkers, as I have seen specimens in another magazine, and all
about " trifles light as air."

The chapters relating to our British smaller birds in some of your
magazines are exceedingly interesting, and they will, I have no doubt,
be the means of awakening greater attention towards them among
country naturalists.

The Zoological Dictionary was announced to be forthcoming in
1833. I have not yet heard of its publication ; pray when may we
expect it out * ?

I should like to have some good coloured illustrations of some of our
British birds, to bind up with the Field Naturalist and Montagu's
Ornithological Dictionary. Can I get any at a reasonable rate for
that purpose, and where ? I have never seen any but Lewin's, and
they are very indifferently executed f.

I was just about closing my letter, when a young friend of mine

* The publisher, Mr. Tegg, said it would be out at Christmas or in Spring. EJ>.

f I am not aware of any separate plates of British birds. Selby's are the best ED.

D 2

20 NOTES FROM YORKSHIRE.

sent me in a merlin (Falco cesalori) which he shot while out ranging
the fields for game.

It is a very fine specimen, and perfect in every feather : dissection
proves it to be a male bird, and apparently a full grown young one.

The description of the merlin given in Montagu's Ornithological
Dictionary, at page 320 and 321, is beautifully accurate. Mine answers
best to Mr. Foljambe's description.

Its length is ten inches and a half, and weighs four ounces and seven-
eighths exactly. The tail is composed of twelve long feathers, and has
six transverse bars thereon. The first two wing feathers appear as
if cut with a pair of scissors, as mentioned in Montagu.

Some few months back, as another gentleman and myself were
standing on the top of an elevated mound (raised for what purpose
history does not say), we witnessed a most animating aerial chase
between a merlin and a skylark.

I can only very faintly describe the short, but animating scene ; it
is as fresh in remembrance as if I saw it only yesterday.

The merlin came like an arrow upon the poor lark, which was flit-
ting about on the wing at the time ; it fled hither and thither in utter
dismay, calling most piteously for mercy or assistance all the while ; it
exerted every muscle, and tried every shift and evasion, to shake off its
deadly foe. It fled to the bushes and brakes for safety ; but alas ! found
not even a single leaf to shelter it from its merciless pursuer. It made
an attempt to reach us on the top of the mound, but was soon out-
stripped, and made to tack about suddenly; it repeated the attempt
again and again — and again and again was frustrated. After a few
minutes of such severe exertion the lark became gradually exhausted ;
and in making a last feeble effort to reach us, was overtaken by its
swift- winged adversary, and triumphantly borne off to a distant field,
there to be dissected and offered as an oblation to appease the cravings
of nature.

Should these lines meet the eye of my friend on his return from
abroad, the time, and place, and scene will be recalled to his memory,
and probably he may feel the current of his blood somewhat accelerated
by the recollection thereof.

Should this P.S. meet the Editor's views, he will please to make
any amendment he deems necessary, and the author will be gratified.*
Kilham, East Riding, Yorkshire, Nov. 20.

* The Editor will feel obliged for any other P. S. such as this from Mr.
Anderson.

21

BEDELL'S TREE.

BY RURICOLA.

THERE is in this neighbourhood a noble tree, memorable as well on
its own account, being an uncommon specimen of its kind, as from
local circumstances, which are likely to make it equally an object of
interest to many of your readers. I allude to a Sycamore, in the
garden of the Bishop's residence at Kilmore, about three miles from
Cavan, and six from this place.

s. The tree, the chief dimensions of which I have procured on the
spot for " The Field Naturalist," and which is in a flourishing and
vigorous condition, is planted at the end of a fine terrace walk, at
the back of the episcopal residence, overshadowing on one side the
adjoining church-yard. Local tradition reports it to have been planted
by the truly primitive and apostolical Bishop Bedell, who was advanced
to the see in 1629, and died in February 1641-2, having been driven
from his house the preceding year by the Irish rebellion, and compelled
to take refuge in a ruinous castle, in one of the neighouring lakes, pro-
perly called the Castle of Loughouter, but commonly known at this
time in the country by the appellation of " Bedell's Tower." The
Sycamore, of which I am speaking, is also a memorial of the Bishop,
being known by the name of " Bedell's Tree."

Whether or not the tree was originally of his planting, seems to be
questionable ; indeed I have heard the supposed age, for it must in that
case be near two hundred years old, alleged as improbable in so quick-
growing and soft-wooded a tree as the sycamore : on the other hand,
its bulk, and the extent of its boughs, v/hich shall be particularised
presently, must have required no small number of years to complete
them; whilst the sheltered situation in which it grows, may be judged
favourable to its protection and preservation,

However this be, it is certain that in the church-yard, which is con-
tiguous to the Bishop of Kilmore's garden, and in a spot now over-
shadowed by a large limb of this majestic tree, were deposited the
mortal remains of the venerable prelate, whose name it bears. At
the solemnity of his interment, the Irish papists attended with great
decency, and discharged a volley of shot over his grave, crying out
in Latin, " Requiescat in pace ultimus Anglorum ! " — " May the last
of the English rest in peace ! " — for, as recorded by Bishop Burnet in
his life, they had often said that as they esteemed him the best of the

22 BEDELL'S TREE.

English Bishops, so he should be the last that should be left among
them ; and a popish priest, who attended on the occasion, is said to
have paid him a tribute of respect and veneration in the following
wish: — " 0 sit anima mea cum Bedello ! " — " May my soul be with
that of Bedell ! "

The tomb, which marks the spot of the interment, is raised about
four feet above the surface of the burying-ground, and is covered by
a slab of black sand-stone coarsely carved, bearing at the top the
private arms, as I suppose, of the Bishop, not impaled with those of the
see, but surmounted by a rudely-formed mitre; under this a death's
head and cross-bones, between an hour-glass and an open book, designed
probably for the Bible, and at the bottom this inscription —

GUILELMI BEDEL

QUONDEM KILMORENS

IS. EPISCOPI.

DEPOSITUM.

Bishop Burnet says, that " this base inscription " was ordered by
Bedell's will ; but it is given by Burnet inaccurately, for he omits the
name, and arranges the rest thus : — " Depositum Gulielmi quondam
Episcopi Kilmorensis ; " whereas the inscription, as actually arranged,
and as " spelt by the unlettered muse," was transcribed by me from
the tomb-stone as above..

But this may be thought somewhat beside the scope of the " Field
Naturalist." To revert, therefore, to our Sycamore, I will merely add,

that its dimensions are these : —

Feet. Inches.

Circumference of the trunk on the ground 17 8

three feet above 14 8

..... eleven feet above 25 0

At this height, namely, 1 1 feet above the ground, the arms of the
tree diverge, being respectively in circumference 11 feet 2 inches;
11 feet 3 inches; and 16 feet 4 inches. This last arm, after somewhat
more than 3 feet, is again divided into two limbs, one of which being
1] feet 7 inches in circumference, passes off laterally in an angle, and,
overhanging the adjoining church-yard, forms a canopy for Bedell's
tomb.

The extent of the branches from north to south is 77 feet ;

east to west, 69 feet 8 inches ;
thus' covering an area, of which the circumference is about 230 feet.

ON THE ORGANS OF HEARING IN INSECTS. 23

The annexed sketch may give some idea of the appearance of the
trunk, and of the manner in which the arms diverge from it. The
different numbers indicate the circumferences of the parts respectively,
as above enumerated. The limb marked B is that which projects over
Bedell's tomb.

Trunk and lower limbs of Bedell's Tree.
Killeshandra, Now. 18, 1833.

ON THE ORGANS OF HEARING IN INSECTS.

BY PROFESSOR G. R. TREVIRANUS, OF BREMEN*.

IN the posthumous writings of M. Lyonnet, there is given the
anatomy of the sheep tick, which belongs to M. Latreille's genus,
Microphthiris. On the forehead of this animal the author discovered,
at the place where the antennae of insects are usually situated, two
oblong protuberances, covering a hole under a double horny scale, in
which lay a rounded body on a short footstalk. This projected from
a white fleshy substance, composed of a number of globules, very
transparent, and rather hard, the footstalk being fixed by a ligament
on the interior of the hole. Lyonnet did not, however, come to any

* Translated from the German, by Edward Rennie.

24 ON THE ORGANS OF HEARING IN INSECTS.

definitive conclusion respecting the functions of this organ, though it
appeared to have a structure analogous to ears.

I believed I had discovered the organ of hearing in the cockroach,
(Blatta orientalis), in the form of an opening, covered by a membrane,
white, interiorly concave, and situated at the base of the antennae.
Under it there is a projection from the brain (the first nerve knot or
ganglion), which appears to perform the office of an auditory nerve. The
membrane was not round but semicircular, and immediately bordering
on the ring in which the antennae are fixed. Under it I found a white
horny substance, similar to that which covers the inner crustaceous
envelope of the head. The projections from the brain appeared to give
off nerves to the antennas on each side ; but I could not determine
whether it spread out over the membrane, which I am inclined
to consider the organ of hearing, as I could not otherwise conceive of
its functions.

The antennae of butterflies terminate in a clubbed tip, in which
there are not muscles for producing motion, as in the body of these
organs, but a half liquid substance filling the cavity. In the alderman
butterfly (Ammiralis Atalanta), I found this substance intermixed with
membranous matter, resembling in some degree the substance found
in the auditory sacs (horsackeii) of the frog, the calcareous portions
being less than in the latter. I think it exceedingly probable that
these clubs of the antennae are the seat of the sense of hearing.

I formerly remarked (Biologic, vi. 359), that in the dragon fly, in
the space on the forehead between the eyes and the antennae, there is
a projection covered with a thin membrane, filled with a whitish fluid,
which is probably the organ of hearing. t

In other winged insects, besides beetles, the interior of the head is
large, and destitute of any apparent organ which could serve for the
perception of sounds. In the breeze fly (Tabanus bovinus), there is
on the upper part of the head, between the two compound eyes, a
longish, slender (schmale), horny plate ; and above this on the forehead,
a small scutiform projection over a hole, between the inner side of the
eye, the brain, and the under envelope of the head, continued below,
and covered with a very thin, blackish, multiplicate, and uniformly dry
membrane. When the head is opened under water, many air-bubbles
escape from this hole. Besides small nerves appeared to me to be
given off from the further side of the brain to be distributed to this
membrane, though I could not make myself certain of this. Rosenthal
observed a similar membrane in the flesh fly (Musca carnaria) ; but in

NOTES. BY T. C. 25

this insect there is no external aperture, though air tubes reach it
through the scutiform protuberance.

In many yoke-winged flies, (Hymenoptera), such as bees, there are
similar apertures in the head, which probably perform the function of
hearing. But it is not, as Ramdohr believed, in that part of the head
in bees with which the palpi are joined, that the organ of hearing is
situated, as I formerly remarked (Biologic, vi. 356). A small sac
indeed lies there, as I subsequently found, but this is simply one of the
air cells.

NOTES. BY T. C.

IN your Number for September, you honoured me by inserting some
observations respecting the cuckoo ; I have much pleasure in saying,
that the specimen to which I alluded, is still alive, though in a most
shabby state, as to plumage, being without tail, and almost without
wings ; still, however, it eats as much as ever, and seems much better
than could be expected, when we consider that it is moulting, and I
have some hopes of its living through the winter.

I take the opportunity of troubling you with a few remarks, made at
different times, and in different places.

THE SWALLOW. — That solitary instances of swallows being dis-
covered at times when they have been supposed to have departed,
cannot be denied ; for we have instances recorded by highly respectable,
as well as accurate observers ; but that this should be accepted as a
proof that the swallow tribe generally, does not migrate, is preposterous.
Is it not much more rational to suppose, that such individuals have
been disabled by illness, or by some accidental injury, from having been
hatched late, or from some other unknown cause, and have existed in a
state of stupor (for I do not believe that any bird has the faculty of
enduring torpidity,) till the first warm day has roused them, and they
have sallied forth in search of food ?

I should imagine that a bird might exist for some time in this way,
either in the chimney in which it was hatched, or in some hole, where
it might find a scanty supply of insect food ; and it is not certain that
when these individuals were observed, that was the only time they had
ventured from their hiding places, but they might have left them many
times without being observed. Now, though this may appear impro-
bable, how else are we to account for the appearance of swallows in the
winter? As to the absurd idea of torpidity, were I even to find a

VOL. II. NO. I, E

26 NOTES. BY T. C.

swallow in some hole in the winter, I should rather believe that it had
taken shelter there from the cold, and that it would have died, if not
released, than I would believe it to be in a state of torpidity, and that,
on the return of spring, it would have aroused and joined its com-
panions.

It is very different with quadrupeds ; the cold weather would over-
take them long before they could reach a warmer climate, even if they
were not prevented by seas and other obstacles ; but, with BIRDS,
what reason is there for supposing them incapable of migration ? they
can cross land and sea with most astonishing swiftness. No one doubts
that the woodcock and other short-winged birds actually migrate, and
why should we believe that the swallow, which of all birds is the best
provided with the means of flight, should remain with us in a state of
torpidity, for want of power to seek a warmer climate ?

No one can deny, that it is a most wonderful faculty which enables
birds to resist the obstacles which they must necessarily meet with in
their passage over trackless seas ; but the same power which enables
them to support themselves on wing, which guides them across immense
tracks of land and sea, and which teaches them whither to direct their
course on the change of climate, has endowed them with power and
instinct to overcome every difficulty which they may encounter, and
has enabled them to resist every storm and every obstacle which would
intercept their course, or retard their progress.

It is a mistake, that the kingfisher is a shy and unsociable bird; I
have often enjoyed its company when fishing, and a friend of mine*
found two eggs in a hole, which he says belonged formerly to a rat, in
the bank of an artificial river, flowing through a garden, in which chil-
dren were constantly playing ; these eggs were nearly spherical, and
were deposited at the end of the hole, without any kind of nest, unless
a slight hollow may be worthy of the name.

Much confusion appears to have existed respecting the common
starling ; whether such a bird as the solitary thrush exists in this
country or not, I cannot pretend to say ; but it is certain, that the
common stare does not obtain its black plumage until the end of July
or beginning of August, being of a dingy hair-brown colour; this
plumage is sometimes very smooth, and gives the bird the appearance
of an adult, but it only remains until the first autumn, when the black
feathers appear first on the sides, and gradually spread over the whole
body.

The plumage, however, is not in perfection until the second moult,
when it assumes the beautiful gloss of the adult bird.

•27

THE EDITOR'S MEDICAL BOTANY*.

FROM the title of this work it may be supposed that it is exclu-
sively of interest to the medical profession; but though it is mainly
adapted to this purpose, it may also be very useful to all young
botanists who are desirous of a knowledge of the two great systems
of Linnaeus and Jussieu. In the ALPHABET OF BOTANY, indeed,
outlines of these two systems are given, as full as the space there
would permit ; but here, in the MEDICAL BOTANY, numerous practical
examples are given from medicinal plants, with figures and accurate
dissections, to show the structure of the flowers. We think the
readers of our Magazine will be pleased to see a specimen of these
illustrations, as the title of the work might prevent many of them,
perhaps, who do not belong to the medical profession, from looking into
it. We begin with an illustration (in this case not taken from a
medicinal plant), to show the principal parts of a flower.

-a

Example of the principal parts in a
flower. NEPAL CINQUEFOIL (Po-
tentitta Nepalensis).

a Calyx.

b Blossom of five petals.

c Stamens.

d Pistils.

We shall next go over the twenty-four Linnaean classes in their
order, as they are illustrated in this little book.

* Alphabet of Medical Botany and Zoology, for the Use of Beginners. Jus-
published.

28

THE EDITORS MEDICAL BOTANY.

FIRST CLASS, MONANDRIA.

GINGER (Zingiber qfficinale).

This plant, which belongs to the
Jussieuan order, Scitaminece, is a na-
tive of the East Indies, and is also
cultivated in the West. The root
is creeping and perennial, with fleshy
finger-like tubers, which is the part
used medicinally. These, when the
stalks fade, are taken up like pota-
toes, scraped, washed, and dried in
the sun, and constitute white ginger.
By scalding the tubes before drying,
black ginger is formed. The flowers
grow in a club-shaped spike.

« Flower.

b The stamen and pistil.

SECOND CLASS, DIANDRIA.

OLIVE (Olea JEuropcea).

This plant, which belongs to the
Jussieuan order, Oleina;, is a native
of the north of Africa and of the
south of Europe, where it is much
cultivated. The flowers are in oppo-
site clusters, half the length of the
leaves, on short flower stalks ; the
calyx four-cleft and regular; the
corolla white, four-parted, regular,
and spreading. The fruit is a smooth
oval plum, bitter and nauseous. The
ripe fruit is bruised in a mill, to
procure the oil, which is the part
used.

a Flower, showing the two sta-
mens and pistil.
b Pistil and seed organ.

THE EDITORS MEDICAL BOTANY.

THIRD CLASS, TRIANDUIA.

S ugar Cane ( Saccharum officinarum).

This plant, which belongs to the
Jussieuan order, Graminece, is a native
of Asia, and also, it is said, of Ame-
rica, where it is cultivated. The calyx,
as well as the corolla, is two-valved,
the flowers being in terminal panicles
of many spikes, very downy. Sugar
is the expressed juice evaporated of
the fresh canes, and undergoes various
preparations.

a Flower, showing the three sta-
mens.

b The seed-organ, surrounded with
hair.

FOURTH CLASS, TETRANDRIA.

Contrayerva (Dorstenia contrayerva).

This perennial plant, which be-
longs to the Jussieuan order, Urticece,
is a native of tropical America.
The flowers are very small, closely
crowded, and immersed in a common
one -leaved fleshy receptacle, where
also the seeds are in sockets. The
root, which is the part used, is
spindle-shaped, knotty, and branchy.

a Flower opened, showing the
four stamens, single forked pistil,
and the seed organ.

30

THE EDITOR S MEDICAL BOTANY.

FIFTH CLASS, FENTANDRIA.

Hemlock ( Conium maculalum).

This biennial plant, which belongs
to the Jussieuan order, UmbellifercE,
is a native of waste places and hedge
banks in Britain, flowering in June
and July. The flowers, which are
white, grow in umbels of ten or
twelve rays ; the corolla has five
inflected petals, the outer ones larger
than the inner ; the seeds are nearly
globular, with five streaks, notched
at the side, and smooth ; the stem is
smooth, shining, and marked with
irregular spots of brownish purple.
The dried leaves are used, and also
an extract.

« Flower, showing the five sta-
mens and two pistils.

SIXTH CLASS, HEXANDRIA.

Meadow Saffron (Colchicum

nale). \

This perennial plant; which be-
longs to the Jussieuan order, Colchi-
cecB, is a native of moist meadows I
in Britain, flowering in September,
and ripening its seed the following
June. The flower, which is lilac pur-
ple, appears after the spring leaves
have withered away. There is no
calyx ; the corolla is six parted, the
tube extending to the bulb ; the seed
organ has three lobes and three cells.
The expressed juice of the flowers,
the seeds, and bulbs, which are taken
up from June till August, are used.

a The Plant as it is seen towards
the close of autumn.

6 The same, as it appears in the
spring following.

c The flower opened to show the
six stamens.

d The three pistils.

THE EDITOR'S MEDICAL BOTANY.

31

SEVENTH CLASS, HKPTANDRIA.

Horse Chestnut (^Esculus Hippo-
castanum).

This tree, which belongs to the
Jussieuan order, Aceridece, is a na
tive of Asia, cultivated in Britain,
and flowering in April and May.
The flowers, which are reddish
white, grow in large spikes. The
calyx has one inflated leaf; the
corolla five spreading downy petals
arising from the calyx : the seed
organ is three-celled ; the seeds are
large, smooth, and round. The bark
is the part used.

a Flower, showing the seven sta-
mens and single pistil.
b The fruit.

EIGHTH CLASS, OCTANDRIA.

Balsam of Gilead Tree (Amyris
Gileadensis).

This tree, which belongs to the
Jussieuan order, Terebinthaceee, is a
native of Abyssinia. The flowers,
which are white, grow three on a
stalk, and two of these are commonly
infertile. The calyx is four- toothed
and persistent ; the corolla has four
cancave spreading petals; the seed-
organ is egg-oblong ; the fruit opens
with four valves, containing a small
nut. The part used is a balsam,
procured by incision.

a Flower.

b The same, showing the eight ^
stamens, and single pistil.

THE EDITOR'S MEDICAL BOTANY.

NINTH CLASS, ENNEANDRIA.

Cinnamon Tree (Laurus Cinnamo-
mum).

This evergreen tree, which be-
longs to the Jussieuan order, Lauri-
nece, is found in tropical Asia, parti-
cularly Ceylon, flowering in January.
The flowers, which are white, grow
in axillary panicles. There is no
calyx ;-the corolla has six petals, oval
pointed, and spreading; the fruit is
an oval berry, with a depressed tip,
and one seed. The bark, which is
the part used, is taken off from May
till October.

a Flower, showing the nine sta-
mens.

b Anther magnified, showing the
apertures, with their lids, for the dis-
charge of the pollen.

c The single pistil.

TENTH CLASS, DECANDRIA.

Senna Plant ( Cassia Senna).

This annual plant, which belongs
to the Jussieuan order, Leguminous,
is a native of Africa, flowering in
July and August. The flowers,
which are . yellow, grow in loose
spikes ; the calyx has five narrow
leaves; the corolla has five petals,
the two upper smaller than the three
under ones ; the fruit has two valves
and from six to nine cells, with a
seed in each. The leaves, which
are the part used, are winged, the
leafits being unequal at the base.

a Flower showing the ten stamens,
and single pistil.

33

ELEVENTH CLASS, DODECANDBIA.

Agrimony (Agrimonia Eupatoria).

This perennial plant, which be-
longs to the Jussieuan order, Rosa-
cece, is a native of Britain, flowering
in June and July. The flowers,
which are yellow, grow in a tall
bunch. The calyx is five-toothed ;
the corolla has five concave notched
petals; the seed organ has a fleshy
receptacle; the seeds are two, egg-
oblong and flat. The whole herb is
used.

a Flower, showing the twelve
stamens.
b The five pistils.

TWELFTH CLASS, ICOSANDRIA.

Pomegranate Tree (Punica Gr ana-
turn).

This tree, which belongs to the
Jussieuan order, Myrtacece, is a na-
tive of the tropics. The flowers,
which are of a fine deep red, are
sessile, and grow in threes or fours
together. The calyx is superior,
thick fleshy, red, and five^cleft ; the
corolla has five wrinkled petals ; the
fruit has a red succulent pulp, with
many seeds. The rind of the fruit
is the part used ; the bark of the root
has similar properties.

a The flower.

b The calyx and stamens.

d Another view of the same,
showing the attachment of the sta-
mens to the calyx.

c The fruit.

VOI,. II. — NO. I.

THE EDITORS MEDICAL BOTANY.

THIRTEENTH CLASS, POLYANDRIA.

White Poppy (Papaversomniferum).
This annual plant, which belongs
to the Jussieuan order, Papaveracece,
is a native of Asia, extensively culti-
vated, flowering, with us, in June
and July. The flower is large, and
usually white, but varieties of red
and purple colour are not uncommon.
The calyx has two large smooth
leaves; the corolla has four large
wavy petals ; the seeds, sometimes
called maw seed, are numerous,
small, and greyish white. The seed-
heads (not the seeds) are the part
used, as well as the concrete juice
or opium, procured from them by
incision.

a The seed-organ, showing the
stamens attached to the receptacle.
b The fruit.

FOURTEENTH CLASS, DIDYNAMIA.

Foxglove (Digitalis purpurea).

This biennial plant, which belongs
to the Jussieuan order, Scrofularice,
is a native of Britain, flowering from
June till August. The flowers,
which are large and purplish red,
grow all on one side in a fine showy
spike. The calyx is five-parted, the
uppermost division the narrowest ;
the corolla has one large bell -shaped
petal, spotted and hairy within, the
upper lip slightly cleft.; the seed
organ has a double partition with
many seeds. The leaves, gathered
when the plant is in flower, are the
part used.

a Part of a flower, showing the
four stamens, two short and two
long.
b The pistil.

THE EDITORS MEDICAL BOTANY.

FIFTEENTH CLASS, TETRADVNAMIA.

Cuckoo Flower, or Ladies' Smock
( Cardamine pratensis).

This perennial plant, which be-
longs to the Jussieuan order, Cruci-
ferce, is a native of Britain, flowering
in April and May. The flowers,
which are pale purple, or rather
purplish white, grow in bundles.
The calyx is somewhat gaping and
yellowish green ; the corolla has the
petals large and slightly notched ; the
seed pod opens when ripe with an
elastic spring. The flowers are the
part used.

a The six stamens, four long and
two short.
b The pistil.

SIXTEENTH CLASS, MONADELPHIA.

Tamarind Tree (Tamarindus In-

dica).

This tree, which belongs to the
Jussieuan order, Leguminosce, is a
native of the tropics, flowering in
April and May. The flowers, which
are yellowish, grow in loose bunches
of five or six ; the calyx is straw yel-
low and four parted; the corolla has
three egg-oblong, indented petals,
plaited at the margin ; the seed pods
contain a pulpy substance (the part
used) enveloping the seeds.

a The three stamens, united by
their filaments into one body.
b The pistil.

F 2

36

THE EDITORS MEDICAL BOTANY.

SEVENTEENTH CLASS, DIADELPHIA.

Cowhage (Dolichos pruriens).

This perennial climbing plant,
which belongs to the Jussieuan
order, LeguminoscE, is a native of the
tropics, flowering from September
to March. The flowers, which are
blood red, grow in drooping spikes.
The corolla has two oblong scales at
the base of the standard ; the fruit is
a leathery pod, in the form of the
Italic f, containing from three to five
seeds. The part used are the short
brown bristly hairs which cover the
pods.

a The flower.

b The ten stamens and pistils
which lie folded up in the keel-like
petals of the flower. The stamens
are divided into two bodies, of which
nine form the lower, c, and one, the
upper, d.

e The pistil.

EIGHTEENTH CLASS, POLYADELPHIA.

Lemon Tree ( Citrus medico).

This evergreen tree, which be-
longs to the Jussieuan order, Auran-
tice, is a native of Asia, cultivated in
the south of Europe. The flowers,
which are large and purplish white,
grow on the smaller branches. The
calyx is saucer-formed, five-cleft,
with pointed teeth ; the corolla with
five petals oblong and concave ; the
fruit is large, and egg oblong. The
juice of the fruit, and the essential
oil of its rind, are the parts used.

a Flower, showing the division of
the stamens into three bundles.
b Section of the fruit.

THE EDITORS MEDICAL BOTANY.

37

NINETEENTH CLASS, SYNGENE8IA.

Chamomile (Anthemis nobilis).

This perennial plant, which be-
longs to the Jussieuan order, Co-
rymbifercK, is a native of Britain,
flowering in August and September.
The calyx is hairy, and has broad
membranaceous edges ; the florets of
the disk are yellow — of the circum-
ference, white, and more than five in
number; the receptacle is chaffy;
the seed is downless. . The dried
flowers are the parts used.

a Florets of the circumference;
6, florets of the disk ; c, the recep-
tacle, showing the insertion of the
two kinds of florets ; d, floret of the
circumference, consisting of a single
strap-shaped petal; c, floret of the
disk ; /, the five stamens, adhering
by their anthers, together forming
a tube, through which the single
pistil, g, passes.

TWENTIETH CLASS, GYNANDRIA.

Snake Root, or Birthwort (Aristo-
lochia Serpentaria).

This perennial plant, which be-
longs to the Jussieuan order, Aristo-
lochice, is a native of North America,
flowering in May and June. The
flowers, which are brownish purple,
grow upon bending foot stalks, from
the joints near the root. There is
no calyx ; the corolla has one petal,
with a triangular lip, and bulging
out at the base ; the seed vessel is
inferior, with six cells and many
seeds. The root, which consists of
bundles of yellow fibres, is the part
used.

a The flower ; 6, section of the
same, showing the situation of the
stamen and pistils, c ; <l, the stamens
attached to the pistils, e.

THE EDITORS MEDICAL BOTANY.

TWENTY-FIRST CLASS, MONO2CIA.

Colocynth Plant, or Bitter Cucum-
ber ( Cucumis Colocynthus).

This annual plant, which belongs
to the Jussieuan order, Cucurbi-
tacece, is a native of Africa, flow-
ering from May till August. The
male flowers have the calyx five-
toothed ; the corolla five-parted ; the
stamens three. The female flowers
have the calyx and corolla like the
male ; the pistil is three-cleft. The
fruit is the size of a small orange,
and of a yellow colour. It is the
fruit which is used after it has been
peeled and dried.

a The male flower, containing
stamens.

k The female flower, containing
pistils.

TWENTY-SECOND CLASS, DIOZClA.

Hop (Humulus lupulus).

This climbing perennial plant,
•which belongs to the Jussieuan order,
Urticeae, is a native of Britain, ex-
tensively cultivated, flowering in
July. The flowers are furnished
with flower scales. The male flowers
which are whitish, and grow in pani-
cles, have a five-leaved calyx and no
corolla. The female flowers have
a one-leaved, entire, spreading calyx
and no corolla. The fruit cones
(strobili), are egg-oblong and pen-
dulous. It is the cones, after drying
in a kiln, which are used.

a, a branch of the male plant ; b,
the male flower, bearing stamens
only ; c, another ; d, a hop, or catkin
of flowers, from the female plant ;
«, a single scale of ditto ; with the
pistils and germ at its base ; /, the
same, enlarged.

THE EDITOR a MEDICAL BOTANY.

39

TWENTY-THIRD CLASS, POLYGAMIA.

Fig Tree (Ficus Carica).

This tree, which belongs to the
Jussieuan order, Urticea, is a native
of Asia, not uncommon in gardens,
and flowering in June and July
The male flowers have the calyx
three-parted, and three stamens ;
the female flowers have the calyx
five-parted, and one pistil : neither
has a corolla. The fruit, which is
the part used, in a dried state, is
pear-shaped and fleshy.

a, section of the fruit, bearing in
its inner side, male, female, and her_
maphrodite flowers.

b, male flower.

c, female flower.

TWENTY-FOURTH CLASS,
CRYPTOGAMIA.

Bladder Wrack (Fucus vesiculosus).

This plant, which belongs to the
Jussieuan order, Algce, is a native of
the British seas, bearing its fruit in
spring. The leaf is smooth, glossy,
and dark olive, having a mid-rib
tapering from the base. The male
vesicles are hollow ; the female vesi-
cles filled with jelly. The whole
plant is used.

a Vesicles, containing the spores.
b Section of the same.

40

THE FIELD DIARY OF SOLITARIUS.

JANUARY. This month has not hitherto presented me with any-
thing peculiar to it, although I have paid as much attention to field
pursuits during its continuance as I have in other months. The active
reader, however, must not let this remark deter him from searching the
fields at this time of the year, for much may be noticed by him that
has escaped my observation.

FEBRUARY 7, 1832. At Kilburn I found the larva of the goat-
moth (Cossus ligniperda) concealed in the earth beneath a stone,
which is rather a singular situation to find it in, as it generally inhabits
willows and poplars, to which and other trees it is very destructive.

— 8, 1831. In the soft earth of a bank at Kilburn, I found seve-
ral specimens of Chrysomela staphylea, and of Pcecilus cupreus.

MARCH 5, 1833. The dung-fly (Scatophaga stercoraria) appeared.

— 16, 1831. The red-ants (Formica rufa) commenced their labours
in Kensington Gardens.

— 17,1837- Found the scarlet satin-mite (Trombidium holoseri-
ceurri) in Kensington Gardens, where I noticed that the squirrels are now
in a state of activity, jumping with their wonted agility from bough to
bough.

— 19, 1833. At Paddington, in the afternoon, heard the song of
the blackbird (Merula vulgaris) for the first time this year. Saw a
Scarabaeus vulgaris on the wing.

— 27, 1831. Heard the skylark (Alauda arvensis) for the first
time this year, at Harlesdon, on the Harrow Road.

— 22, 1832. At Lee, observed a flock of fieldfares, and a single
specimen of the nettle-butterfly {Vanessa Urticce). Snails were copu-
lating.

— 25,1831. The common bat ( Vespertilio Pipistrellns, GEOFF.*)
flying at Kilburn, at about seven o'clock in the evening. This species
is said to fly throughout the year ; but although I have observed it in
the cold evenings of October, November, and December, yet I have
never seen it during the frosty nights of January and February. In

* The Rev. Mr. Jenyns, in the Linnsean Transactions, denies that our com-
mon-bat is, as is generally supposed, the Vespertilio murinus of Linnaeus, and
endeavours to prove (and I think with success) that it is the V. Pipistrellus
of Geoffrey. I have therefore adopted the latter term.

THE FIELD DIARY OF SOLITARIUS. 41

the selection of its haunt, it does not seem to give preference to either
secluded or quiet places ; for I have observed it flying over the Elephant
and Castle at Newington, and other places equally noisy. But the
great bat appears to attach itself to still places, usually in the neigh-
bourhood of water, flying over canals and reservoirs, where its prey
probably consists of insects of the genera Botys, Hydrocampa, Alu-
oil a, &c.

— 25, 1832. Timarcha coriacea abundant upon Blackheath.

— 25, 1833. Found Acanlhosoma virens, Coccinella 7 punctata,
and Timarcha coriacea on Hampstead Heath.

— 30, 1832. The water-measurer (Hydrometra Stagnorum) ap-
peared upon the brooks at Lee, Kent.

APRIL J, 1833. The house-fly (Musca domestica) appeared.

— 6, 1833. On the skirts of the wood near Shooter's Hill, I ob-
served the nettle-butterfly (Vanessa Urticce), the brimstone-butterfly
(Gonepteryx rhamni), the peacock-butterfly {Vanessa lo), and the
cabbage- white butterfly (Pontia Brassicoe}.

— 13, 1831. Noticed a large flock of fieldfares at Kilburn.

— 13, 1833. The bed-flea (Pulex irritans) appeared.

— 24, 1832. Observed at Blackheath the first pair of swallows I
have seen this year.

— 27, 1831. Swallows made their appearance at Kilburn.

— 29, 1831. Found several chrysalides of Vanessa Urticce at
Twickenham.

— 30, 1831. At Twickenham, heard the cuckoo for the first time
this year.

MAY 1, 1833. On Wandsworth Common found the purple dorr-
beetle (Geolrupes sylvaticus) and Silpha levigata.

— 9, 1831. Found the larva of Arciia caja.

— 11, 1832. In a field near the Harrow Road found the larva of
Abraxas grosmlariata.

— 18, 1832. In the course of a walk from Blackheath to Chisel-
hurst and back, I found several specimens of Curculionidce (including
Oliorhynchus scaber and Polydrusus untformis) Chrysis ignita, Seiop-
tera vibrans, Libelhila vulgata, &c.

— 19, 1833. Some specimens of Cynips Rosa? were hatched in one
of my chip-boxes, from a gall found upon a rose-tree.

— 20, 1831. In Fitzroy Square I noticed in the evening what, in
my notion, was a very singular occurrence. There was a very beautiful
halo or circle on one side of the moon, but not round it as is usual. It

VOL. II. NO. I. G

42 THE FIELD DIARY OF SOLITARIUS.

attracted the attention of several persons, all of whom appeared to
regard it as something extraordinary.

— 22, 1833. Ptinus pectinicornis appeared.

— 30, 1832. In some fields near Westbourn Green, Paddington,
I captured three specimens of the orange-tip butterfly (Pontia carda-
mines).

— 30, 1833. In Epping Forest, captured Abia sericea, Cetonia
aurata, Elater fulvipes, a Chrysopa and a Pimplia, Hipparchia
Mcegera, Hipparchia Pamphilus, Lycana phlceas, Polyommatus Alexis,
Callimorpha Jacobcece, several specimens of the long-horned japan
moths (Adela), and the larva of Arclia caja.

JUNE 8, 1831 . Syrphidce, Cynipidce, Culicidce, Libellulidce, Bombi,
TortrLv viridiana, and the larvae of Cassida equestris, very abundant
jn the fields between Kilburn and Hampstead.

— 13, 1832. Found Chrysomela Polygoni.

« — 21, 1833. In Epping Forest, found several specimens of
Hipparchia JEgerla. This species of butterfly, from repeated observa-
tion and an attentive search, I observed was local to one particular dry
ditch, at the Wanstead side of the forest, where I could obtain specimens
every day during their continuance, although elsewhere about Wan-
stead, Ilford, &c., I could not meet with a single one.

— 23, 1833. Vanessa Urticce made its appearance at Laytonstone,
which is a much later date than usual.

— 25, 1832. In Kensington Gardens, took several specimens of
Cantharis biguttata ; and two moths, somewhat resembling a species of
Tinea, being of a black colour, except on the exterior margin of the
superior wings, where there is a conspicuous line of white.

— 30, 1833. A female of Pygera bucephala, confined in one of my
boxes, laid her eggs therein.

JVLY 11, 1832. Found the larva of the peacock-butterfly, (Vanessa
/o) and observed the meadow-butterfly {Hipparchia Jurtina) in
great abundance at Kilburn, and caught Carabus catenulatus on
Hampstead Heath.

— 19,1833. The magpie-moth (Abraxas grossulariata) appeared
at Laytonstone.

— 24, 1833. Saw the brimstone-butterfly (Gonepteryx Rhamni)
near Caen Wood, Hampstead.

— 27, 1833. In Epping Forest, captured Vanessa lo, Hipparchia
Jurtina, Hipparchia tinea, Hipparchia Pamphilus, Polyommatus
Alexis, Lyccena phlceas, and Geometra illunaria.

THE FIELD DIARY OF SOLITARIUS. 43

JULY 28, 1833. Cerambyx moschalus taken at Nonvood.

AUGUST 1, 1832. Found in Kensington Gardens the spider's eggs,
figured in the Field Naturalist (p. 180), and from which emerged the
Ichneumon-flies, called Microgasler alvearius.

— 7, 1833. On Wormwood Scrubbs, caught Hipparchia Pamphilus
and Lyctena phlceas.

— 9, 1833. On Hampstead Heath and Golder's Green, captured
Pontia Brassicce, Hipparchia Mcegera, Hipparchia Pamphilus, Poly-
ommatus Alexis, Vanessa lo, Vanessa Urticce, Cassida equestris,
H&matophora pluvialis, and Carabus moniiis.

— 20, 1833, In Hornsey Wood, found Pcecilus cupreus *.

— 23, 1833. Blackberries observed to be very plentiful, and re-
markably fine, in the hedges about Shooter's Hill.

SEPTEMBER 2, 1832. At the pretty little village of Wilsdon, ento-
mologising with a friend, we found in some ponds, the boat-fly (Noton-
ecta glaucd), the water-scorpion (Nepa cinered), the water-measurer
(Hydrometra stagnoruin), Ranatra linearis, and several larvae of Libel-
litlidce. We also found Necrophorus sepultor, three solitary specimens
of Hipparchia Jurtina and of Polyommatus Alexis, which is now nearly
out of season.

— 3, 1833. At Hendon, saw a heron flying over head, and found
the larva of Lasiocampa Rubi.

— 14, 1833. Found Timarcha coriacea on Old Oak Common,
Wilsdon.

— 16, 1832. At Hampstead, with a friend, found Chrysomela
nigricornis very abundant in the gravel pits, and in a pond found
Geotrupes stercorarius infested with acari. We also found two
specimens of Catocala nupta, one of Lyccena phlaeas, and the larva of
Arctia caja.

— 29, 1832. The larvae of the buff-tip moth (Pygera bucepkala)
very plentiful in Hyde Park, where it committed extensive ravages
upon the foliage of the trees.

OCTOBER 2, 1833. Found Carabus catenulatus, and a species of
Chrysopa, in Copenhagen Fields.

— 11,1833. In the river Wandle, found Notonecta glauca, Hydro-
metra Stagnorum, and Gyrinus nataior.

— 15, 1832. At Hampstead, observed an alderman butterfly

* I know not what the natural food of this is, but I found it some time since
eating a piece of boiled potato with great avidity.

G 2

44

hovering round a glass-house, and making many vain attempts to get
at the plants within. This species of butterfly is rather scarce in the
fields around London.

— 26, 1833. Starlings observed in flocks at Kilburn and Hamp-
stead.

— 27, 1 833. At Hampstead, in company with a friend, we found
Plusia gamma, Hydrophilus piceus, and the larvae of JAbelluUdce.
Saw Mesembrina equina.

NOVEMBER 13, 1833. On Wormwood Scrubbs, observed a few
daisies still in flower.

— 17, 1833. The day excessively warm. Flies observed to be
very abundant in Gray's Inn Lane ; observed a bat on the wing at
about five o'clock, at Highbury.

DECEMBER 5, 1833. At Wilsdon, found Crioceris cyanella, con-
cealed under moss.

— 17, 1832. In some fields at Paddington, searching for insects,
few of which were to be seen on account of the boisterous wind.
Windy days are the least favourable to entomologising, as all insects
(excepting the aquatic, but to many of these even the observation
is applicable) have an antipathy to wind ; and beetles, notwithstanding
their being encased by a hard covering, will, during its continuance,
seek some place of shelter to defend themselves from its annoyance. The
only insects I met with to-day, were Gyrinus natator, Notonecta glauca}
several larvae of Ephemerae and of Libellulidce.

— 25, 1832. Saw a single specimen of Coccinclla bipunclata in
the Commercial Road.

Paddington, Dec. 1833.

ON PROCURING SPECIMENS OF THE SMALLER
BRITISH LAND BIRDS FORA MUSEUM,

WITH OBSERVATIONS ON THE HABITS OP VARIOUS SPECIES.
BY EDWARD BLYTH.

HAVING generally remarked, in the numerous public and private
collections of stuffed British birds which I have visited, that in the
hurry to be all at once possessed of specimens of every species, little
or no attention has been paid to the state of feather in which they were
obtained, I conceive that it would be useful to many who arc now
forming collections, to point out, as far as I am able, the particular

SMALLER BRITISH LAND BIRDS FOR A MUSEUM. 45

season of the year in which each species is to be obtained in its highest
degree of beauty ; and, as the plumage of many birds varies greatly
in different individuals, according to age, sex, and season, I shall also
endeavour to explain what number of specimens of each sort are
necessary to illustrate the species properly, and likewise the precise
periods at which the contrasts they afford would be exhibited to the
greatest advantage.

In the birds of prey (Accipilres, LINNAEUS), and in various aquatic
groups, the changes of appearance which the same species presents, at
different periods of existence are, in many instances, so considerable,
as to have occasioned an unnecessary multiplication of species in the
works of the earlier naturalists ; but as the variations to which these
birds are subject are for the most part dependent on age more than
upon season, and as they have moreover long occupied the attention of
the first ornithologists, who in their several works have described them
with great minuteness, a repetition of them here would be superfluous.
The more particular object of this little essay is to note down a variety
of minor changes, which, from different causes, take place in the
plumage of the smaller birds, and which materially affect, in many
cases, the beauty of their tints ; for which reason, all who are forming
museums should be acquainted with them.

It would be foreign to my purpose here to give minute directions
upon what I consider to be the best method of mounting and preserving
skins ; I am of opinion, indeed, that no kind of written direction is of
much use towards teaching the art of taxidermy, as it is now fashionably
called. It requires a vast deal of patience, and practice, and close
attention, to enable a person to stuff birds well, and those generally
become the greatest proficients who have taught themselves the art
by dint of their own ingenuity and perseverance. A few words, how-
ever, on the subject of bird-stuffing, may not perhaps be deemed
irrelevant. I want to recommend to the great majority of those who
undertake to preserve animals, the study of living nature, at present
so very generally neglected. There are hundreds of persons who under-
stand extremely well how to take off and prepare the skin of a bird,
and who can afterwards even mount it in the very best possible style,
but who have nevertheless no kind of notion whatever of finishing it
off in even a tolerable manner. This, of course, arises from their having
never studied the living originals. The specimens are got up without
attention either to form, attitude, or proportions, and they have, there-
fore, to persons accustomed to admire the beauty and symmetry of

46 ON PROCURING SPECIMENS OF THE

living nature, the appearance of mummies, rather than of artist-like
attempts to imitate the appearance of life ; or they may appositely
enough be compared to an endeavour to delineate the human figure by
one who had never studied its proportions.

To naturalists who might wish to possess a small museum of British
birds, but who cannot well spare the time it requires to prepare a
number of specimens, a general contract with a person of this kind,
who is capable of undertaking the more mechanical parts of the
operation of bird-stuffing, will be found to prove very advantageous.
In mounting the skin of a bird, the principal faults of stuffers are,
generally, the filling of it out with a great deal too much tow, or
other stuffing, especially about the neck — the putting too much wire
into the neck, which effectually precludes all possibility of restoring it
to anything like its natural form — and in drawing up the skin close,
when sewing up the incision made for the purpose of extracting the
body ; a very common practice, which contracts the under parts out of
all shape and proportions, but which is totally unnecessary, as even in
the living birds the feathers of these parts completely conceal a very
wide space of naked skin, or which is covered only with a little down.
These, however, are faults which require but to be pointed out to be
avoided. With care, attention, and a little practice, and a tolerable
share of patience withal, the difficulties of this first part of the opera-
tion may be soon surmounted ; and a specimen thus far well prepared
may, while the skin remains moist and flexible, be placed by a skilful
hand into any kind of position. But in this it is that most stuffed
birds are spoilt, it being here that an acquaintance with the peculiar
attitudes of each species is necessary, and that a correct knowledge of
proportions and general form is required : in this part of the operation
it is that the various little niceties of outline, the natural curves, the
gentle sinkings and convexities, the expression of the countenance, &c.,
must be given ; a want of attention to which in the generality of
museum specimens is the cause of their horrid stiffness and deformity.

It is a very common practice among bird-stuffers, when finishing off
a specimen, to endeavour to render one side smooth and even at the
expense of the other ; which latter, when the bird is encased, is sup-
posed not to be at all seen. Specimens that are thus prepared, however,
can never have the appearance of life ; and to persons who have any
knowledge of proportions their faultiness is detected at a glance. A
specimen is badly stuffed if it does not on every side bear inspection.

With regard to the numerous peculiarities of attitude and position

SMALLER BRITISH LAND BIRDS FOR A MUSEUM. 47

among the smaller birds, a proper knowledge, I think, cannot well be
acquired without keeping the different species in confinement; and
though, perhaps, the idea of this may appear rather formidable at first
sight, the difficulties of doing so are by no means so great as might be
anticipated. A cage containing twenty birds requires no more atten-
tion than a cage containing one ; both should be daily cleaned out, and
both should every day be replenished with fresh food. To the naturalist,
indeed, who is desirous of obtaining a thorough insight into the manners
and dispositions of the feathered race, various other advantages accrue
from keeping the different species in confinement, besides the mere
study of their figures and attitudes. In the economy of most birds
there are a number of little curious peculiarities, which often throw
considerable light on their natural history, but which can only be
learned by studying their habits in the cage. By keeping birds in
confinement, also, a thorough acquaintance with their various notes is
obtained, which of course greatly facilitates all field observation of
their habits. But it is not from wild and timid newly-caught birds
that information of this kind is to be derived, nor is it from such that
a knowledge of their free unrestrained positions can be acquired ; it is
only when they have become familiar, and devoid of fear and restraint,
that their habits become interesting in confinement. A wild bird,
however, becomes speedily familiar, if placed with a number of tame
companions ; though it is advisable, when newly caught, to keep it a
few days by itself.

The natural positions of most of our British birds require a great
deal more study than is usually bestowed upon them by stuffers ; and
it is a matter of primary importance to all who intend forming collec-
tions, to become minutely acquainted with the general appearance, and
with the peculiar attitudes of each separate species when alive. Indeed,
the great diversities in this respect, among the smaller kinds, are often
surprising. The natural positions of the most approximate species
differ in many instances widely ; and it consequently requires a close
and intimate acquaintance with the living originals to enable even a
proficient in the art of mounting skins to give to stuffed specimens the
appearance they presented when alive. Excepting in the case of
absolute rarities, examples of which might never, perhaps, be a second
time obtained, it would be as well not to attempt any bird whatever
until this minute knowledge of its appearance and natural attitudes
when living had been thoroughly and correctly acquired. It is not
enough even that the positions of an assimilant species had been

48 ON PROCURING SPECIMENS OF THE

minutely studied: the characteristic attitudes of the siskin (Carduelis
spinus) are not to be learned by studying those of a goldfinch (C.
elegans) ; nor can a knowledge of the natural positions of the chiffchaff
(Sylvia loquax) be obtained by observing those of a wood- wren (S.
sibilatrix} ; again, many of the most common attitudes of the babillard
(Ficedula garrula) would be altogether unnatural in either the white-
throat (F, cinerea) or in the blackcap (F. atricapilla).

It is now quite time, however, that I proceed to the immediate object
of this paper, which is to point out the different periods of the year
in which specimens of the various British land birds should be obtained
for stuffing. To commence with the predacious species (Accipiires,
LINN.) These vary exceedingly in their plumage ; but as their tints
are in no case affected by change of season, and as the species are for
the most part rare, and difficult to obtain, it would be useless to say
much upon them. To illustrate the Accipitres well, at least three
specimens of every species should, if practicable, be preserved, repre-
senting the adult male, the adult female, and the young in its first or
nestling plumage. As they do not much injure their feathers, they
are generally in a fit state for stuffing, excepting, of course, during the
autumnal moult ; though even then it is often interesting to represent
them when in a state of change. Many species, as the common buzzard,
(Buleo vufgartSy) and the marsh harrier, (Circus rufus,} exhibit much
individual variety, and such cannot be well illustrated without a
number of specimens. The common barn owl (Aluco vulgaris) also
varies very much in colour and in markings. I have lately examined a
considerable number of these birds, and have hardly found two of them
alike. They differ very much in the number and disposition of the
black bars on the wings and tail; in one very beautiful specimen,
which was lately shot in this neighbourhood, these bars were altogether
wanting. In this species, contrary to what is usual among birds of
prey, the two sexes are about equal in size ; the male may generally
be distinguished by the greater quantity of ash-colour on the upper
parts, and by the under parts being of a buff-colour, more or less
studded with black spots: in the female, the under parts are often
pure white, without a spot, and in some specimens there is hardly any
appearance of ash-colour on the back; but both male and female
present every intermediate shade, and many specimens occur in which
the sex can only be ascertained by dissection.

In some species of birds of prey, the sexual difference of size is so
considerable, even among the nestlings before they can fly, that it

SMALLER BRITISH LAND BIRDS FOR A MUSEUM. 49

would be as well, in illustration, to represent both sexes when about a
month old: this is particularly observable in the sparrow-hawk (Spar-,
verius Europocus), and in the tawny wood-owl (Strix stridula). The
attitudes of these birds require a great deal of study to enable one to
stuff them well ; and I cannot but recommend all who ever attempt
to preserve them, to avail themselves of every possible opportunity of
becoming acquainted with their positions. When alive, they often for
a very long time remain fixed in one attitude; and therefore, if
properly mounted, stuffed specimens of birds of prey may be made to
have the exact appearance of life.

All the crow-kind should be procured in winter, their feathers being then
new and uninjured, and they acquire no additional beauty in the spring.
A single specimen of each sort is sufficient, as the sexes are similar*, and
the young closely resemble the adults : the young rook ( Corvusfrugi-
legus), however, differs from the old bird in its forehead being clothed
with feathers, on which account some, perhaps, may think it worth
preserving. Of the jackdaw species (Corvus monedula), the hand-
somest are the old males, in a few of which the back of the neck is
almost white. The jay (Garrulus glandarius), and the magpie (Pica
Europcea), are two of the most showy of our native birds : the former
varies little, and does not much injure its feathers ; the latter is only
occasionally to be met with in full beauty : to obtain a fine specimen,
several should be procured, and the most beautiful selected.

The different woodpeckersf should be sought for about the com-
mencement of winter, as early as possible after the completion of their
autumnal moult, and in fine weather, when the trees are dry : at this
time their plumage is very much brighter than at any other season, the
tail being new and unworn, and the under parts often beautifully clean.
Three specimens of each are necessary, in illustration of the male, the
female, and the young in its first feathers. Of the -common green
species (Ckrysoptilus Europfsus-major^) , a male should be selected in

* Perhaps the hooded crow (C. cornix) may prove an exception. See vol. i.
pp. 239 and 279 — I have just examined a female in which several black feathers
were intermixed with the grey on the back. — E. B.

f I am informed that a specimen of the great black woodpecker (Picus martins)
was shot about three years ago, somewhere in the northern vicinity of London ; it
was stuffed by a person who did not know its value ; and not being properly pre-
served, was, in a few months, completely destroyed by the moths. — E. B.

\ Chrysoptilusviridis, AUCTORUM ; but as all the woodpeckers of this division are
green, the term viridis is not exclusive, as. every specific name ought to be. — E.B.

VOL II. — NO. T. H

50 ON PROCURING SPECIMENS OF THE

which the back is of a lively green, and the moustaches rich crimson,
some being much handsomer than others: the back of the female
should be a fine clear grey ; and the young handsomely mottled, before
it has begun to cast its feathers.

The wryneck (Yunx torquilla) should be procured early in the
spring ; the sooner after its arrival the better, as it is apt to become
dirty. The elegant markings of this species being in some individuals
much more beautifully defined than in others, several specimens should
be shot, and the finest of them selected for stuffing. The sexes are
equally handsome, and sufficiently dissimilar to require a specimen of
each to be preserved. This bird's attitudes should be carefully studied ;
they are extremely peculiar, and totally unlike those of any other
British species. It is a mistaken notion to suppose that the wryneck
is unable to climb ; it runs up trees with as much facility as a wood-
pecker, though it is not often seen to do so : in the pairing season, it is
a curious sight to observe the male and female toying, and following
each other about on a large tree; often running spirally up the bole,
and occasionally exhibiting the strangest and most unaccountable
attitudes. Those who have winged, or otherwise slightly wounded one
of these birds, will not easily forget the singular snake-like manner in
which it twirled its neck when it was handled ; its crest erect, and the
feathers of its long neck depressed as closely as possible. A bird of
this species was brought to me last August, that had been winged in
the spring, and had supported itself in the interim in the garden of one
of my neighbours, its wound having healed up to all appearance, though
it was quite unable to fly. For the satisfaction of seeing it climb I
placed it on the trunk of a pear-tree, which it immediately ascended
with ease and celerity, by repeated springs, in the manner of a wood-
pecker. It seemed fearless, and exceedingly pugnacious : when placed
upon the ground its attitudes were most extraordinary, appearing more
like an automaton figure set in motion by machinery than a living bird.
The most detailed description would convey no adequate idea of its awk-
ward appearance ; sometimes it would stretch itself out at full length, its
chin, throat, breast, and belly touching the ground, and suddenly spring
backwards a couple of inches ; then stretch itself out as before, and again
spring backwards. If the hand were held to it, it made no attempt to
escape, but raising itself a little on its legs, and cocking its tail to
nearly a right angle with the body, it slowly twirled its neck about in
the peculiar manner of the species, and with crest erect, and uttering its
singular hiss, darted up suddenly, and gave a sharp peck ; then twisted

SMALLER BRITISH LAND BIRDS FOR A MUSEUM. 51

its neck about as before, and again sprang up to peck. But these
manoeuvres must be witnessed ; no description can convey any notion
of their singularity, their stiffness, their absolutely unnatural appear-
ance ; as before observed, it seemed to resemble a piece of clockwork,
much more than it did a living bird. The long tongue of the wryneck,
as in the woodpecker, is darted forth by means of a peculiar annular
muscle, and returns, not by any play of muscle, but simply by
the elasticity of its tendons ; no other contrivance would admit
of the rapidity with which it moves, so great as to elude the
sight, its insect food appearing to be drawn up into its mouth by
attraction. The reader will pardon, I hope, the length of this
and other similar digressions, for the interest which they possess ;
and the more especially as the subject matter of this paper is rather
dry and tedious. A few more words on the wryneck, and I have done
with it. The species is exceedingly abundant in this part of Surrey ;
so much so, that in the spring, when their frequently repeated call
betrays their presence, two or three dozen might easily be procured in a
few hours. This call, which much resembles the cry of several hawks,
and may be expressed by the sound pee-up repeated nine or ten times in
quick succession, is always answered by, and generally attracts to the
spot, every wryneck within hearing ; but not, as far as I have been able
to ascertain, with any hostile intentions. Several may thus often be
seen assembled on a few contiguous trees, calling to each other by turns
for half an hour together, the voices of the females being easily distin-
guished, by being in a higher key than those of the males. From the
beauty of their plumage they are in high request among the London
collectors, who take advantage of this habit, by imitating their cry with
a kind of mouth-whistle, a method by which many unfortunate birds
are lured to their destruction. The wryneck is remarkably tenacious
of its nest, or rather of the hole which it has itself excavated in a
decaying tree ; for it forms no nest, but lays its eggs on the soft saw-
dust-like chips at the bottom of the hole. I have known every egg to
be taken away the morning after it was laid, and yet the bird to con-
tinue laying her whole number in the same hole, and afterwards to
resort to the same place to lay her second lot. Even if caught in it
several times, she will not forsake it ; but on being loosened, will often
fly direct to the spot.

The common cuckoo is generally in fine plumage during its short stay
in this country; even the female, being exempt from the ordinary
duties of incubation, is almost always in a fit state for stuffing. Speci-

H 2

52 ON PROCURING SPECIMENS OF THE

mens of the male and female should be preserved, and two of the young
in their first plumage ; the latter varying very considerably, even in the
nest : individuals should be preferred illustrating the extremes of
variation ; a very dark and a very rufous specimen : the former, I
believe, are generally, if not always, males. The old female cuckoos,
also, are subject to much variation, the neck being more or less mottled,
like the young. In the adult birds of this species, the irides are very
rich, deep yellow ; those of the young are of a remarkably dull, insipid
grey. I may here remark, that the best method of obtaining artificial
eyes of the exact colours required, is to purchase colourless glass eyes,
which may be had at several of the London shops, and to colour them
one's self from nature.

The nuthatch ( Sitla Europcea) should be procured about the month
of October, in fine dry weather, when its breast is least likely to be
soiled with dirt. This bird may easily be recognised by its cheerful,
sprightly note (resembling chrvite; chrvite; chrvi-chivi-chivite ; chrvite),
which it sometimes utters for several minutes together, perched on the
topmost twig of a tree ; or as it creeps about upon the larger branches.
This is rather a pugnacious species ; if two males happen to meet each
other in their perambulations, a contest is almost sure to ensue, which
is not unfrequently carried on upon the wing, twittering at each other
as they fly. The nuthatch is a very bold, fearless bird ; even if shot
at, and missed, it often seems to take no notice, but continues its search
for insects with the most perfect nonchalance ; or it merely flies, per-
haps to the next branch, uttering its usual cry.

The common mottled creeper (Certhiajamiliaris) is a most beautiful
little bird when its plumage is clean and unworn ; but, although very
common, it is seldom to be obtained in a fit state for preserving. It
should be sought for about the end of September, as soon as possible
after the completion of its moult ; for it very soon gets dirty, especially
on the breast, and it injures its tail feathers very much. This is an
exceedingly abundant species, though, from the retired nature of its
habits, it is but little noticed : if listened for, its faint tsit, Isit, is sure
to be heard in almost every clump of trees ; and if watched for it will
very soon be observed, as it flits from one tree to another, alighting
generally on the trunk within a few inches of the ground, and creeping
quietly along the outline, occasionally peeping round to take a glimpse
at the spectator, and as soon as it thinks itself observed disappearing
behind : it will often flutter down after it has ascended a few feet, and
again alight near the ground, ascending the same tree several times in

SMALLER BRITISH LAND BIRDS FOR A MUSEUM. 53

different directions. In the spring months, its short song is usually
uttered as it flits from tree to tree ; commencing always a few seconds
before it settles, and continuing for about a minute after it has alighted,
then leaving off abruptly, like the common wren. This last bird rarely
injures its plumage, and consequently is almost always in good con-
dition for stuffing : both it and the creeper vary very much in size, the
males continuing to grow for three or four years. The common wren
runs up the trunk of a tree with as much facility as the creeper.

It would be useless here to say much on the plumage of rare species,
such as the roller (Coracias Europ&us), the hoopoe (Upupa epops) ,
&c. which in any state of feather are desiderata in almost every col-
lection ; but I may take this opportunity to mention, that the summer
before last a pair of hoopoes frequented a garden in this neighbourhood,
the male of which, in beautiful plumage, was shot, but as a specimen
was most irretrievably ruined by a tyro stuffer. The same summer a
roller was observed on Penge Common, Kent; and in the preceding
winter, a number of waxwings (Bomby ' cilia Europcea) were shot in this
immediate neighbourhood. Of this last bird three specimens are neces-
sary to illustrate the species properly ; and as they generally appear in
small flocks, and are by no means shy, a sufficient number may mostly
be obtained to select them from : an old male, an old female, and a
young bird, before the singular wax-like appendages on its wings are
developed.

A pair of kingfishers, male and female, should be procured in spring,
for though very handsome specimens may occasionally be met with in
winter, yet their plumage is at this time always slightly fringed with
an edging, which rather impairs its brilliancy. A young bird should
also be preserved in its nestling feathers. The attitudes of a living
kingfisher require to be carefully studied ; no species is more frequently
preserved, and yet it is exceedingly rare to see one even tolerably stuffed.
The form of the head and the expression of the countenance are pre-
cisely those of the heron ; and the soft loose feathers, also, on the back
of its head, being generally erected, render its physiognomy most
strikingly similar to those of the various Ardeidce. I kept a young
kingfisher in confinement last summer for about three months, during
which time it subsisted entirely on raw meat, which was given to it
soaking in a little water ; it never once tasted fish, but would occa-
sionally, though not often, swallow a common earth worm. It always
knocked its food several times violently against the perch of its cage,
to kill it, before devouring it ; and swallowed, without difficulty, most

54 CHAPTER OF VARIETIES.

amazingly Jarge mouthfuls. It was at times extremely brisk and
lively, flying about from perch to perch for half an hour together with
great activity, and generally accompanying every movement with a very
singular motion, which made it appear exactly as though afflicted with
the hiccoughs. It rested sometimes on the whole length of the tarsus,
but most commonly in the usual manner of most birds. Though by no
means timid, it never became very familiar, although some pains were
taken to make it so. I was never able to divine the cause of its death ;
it was taken ill during my absence from home, and the next day, when
I returned, was too far gone for to entertain any hope of its recovery :
when dead, it was in good plump condition ; and had a few sprats been
given to it at the time it was first taken ill, it would very probably not
have died. As it was, I was not sorry to get rid of it, for a more messy
bird never existed.

The length to which I have unconsciously been extending these
desultory observations prevents me at present from finishing the
subject ; there is a vast deal to be said about the plumage of the smaller
birds; which it would be useless to attempt to cram into this paper. I
must, therefore, close here for the present, and reserve for a future
occasion a number of other similar remarks on the numerous smaller
birds which frequent the British islands.

Tooting, Surrey, Dec. 18th, 1833.

CHAPTER OF VARIETIES.

ANECDOTE OF A SLOW WORM. — As every little anecdote, however
insignificant in itself, tends in some degree to the advancement of
knowledge, I have sent the following, which, should you find it worthy,
you may insert in your magazine.

My attention was lately arrested, during a ramble, by a rustling
among some dry grass, which was contiguous to the path I was tread-
ing. And upon examining into the cause of the disturbance, I dis-
covered a slow worm in the close pursuit of a large moth which it had
apparently wounded, and was upon the point of capturing ; but, on my
appearance, it made a precipitate retreat into its hole. I should like
to know something more of this beautiful little reptile ; perhaps some
of your contributors will furnish us with its history.

CHAPTER OF VARIETIES. 55

Being a constant reader of your magazine as well as of your other
interesting publications on the science, I intend to make a point of
occasionally sending you Ornithological and Botanical notices*. — PLINY.

Lancaster, Dec. 6th, 1833.

THE WOODCHAT. — On the 17th of May, 1833, I shot a female
woodchat, Bewick, (Lanius rufus, Lin.) • it was in company with a red-
backed Shrike (Lanius Colurius), and appeared to have paired with it,
as after I had shot the woodchat, the flusher kept flying round the place
where the bird fell, and appeared evidently distressed. I tried to shoot it,
but he was too cunning, keeping at a very good distance from my gun.
After trying to get at him for some time, I was obliged to give up the
chace. As some naturalists state that the Lanius rufus is a distinct
species, and others that it is only a variety of the red-backed shrike,
I think it right to forward this statement to your valuable magazine.
Not seeing any other woodchat about, makes me think that it must
have paired with the flusher. On dissecting the bird, I found her full
of eggs ; her gizzard was filled with beetles' wings. Red-backed shrikes
abound about here, on the sides of the mountains, near the Capel Curig
lakes. On the 19th instant, I shot four of them ; they all proved to be
male birds ; their gizzards were filled with the same kind of beetles'
wings as the woodchat. As you state that you will receive hints from
mere beginners, I trust you will consider this as one.

Since writing this, I have killed another xvoodchat, in company with
a red-backed shrike. Although I shot at both at the same time, I only
killed the woodchat, which proved to be another female. After I had
shot it, the flusher kept flying from rock to rock round the place, giving
a shrill whistle. I have also shot another flusher, which was a male
again. It seems odd I cannot shoot a female, unless the woodchat is it.
Both the woodchats corresponded exactly with the figure in Bewick.

A. T.

Capel Curig, Caernarvonshire, May 22, 1833.

* The fact mentioned by our correspondent is curious : every attention will be
paid to the promised notices. — EDITOR.

56 CHAPTER OF VARIETIES.

DRAGON PLIES. — In my remarks on the Dragon Fly, in your
Number for December, I named a few of the situations where this
splendid insect might be found, but omitted to observe that it may be
often seen hovering over stagnant waters in company with some other
insects, chiefly two-winged flies. This creature often becomes the prey
of insectivorous birds, although it possesses so rapid a flight. Last
August I was endeavouring to capture a very beautiful specimen, and
had approached a patch of lucerne where he was basking in the sun.
His numerous eyes, however, were on the alert, and he rose in the air,
moving his wings briskly with a humming noise, when, at that instant,
one of the many swallows which were skimming along the meadow
pounced on the unfortunate dragon fly, and bore him off in triumph. I
have ascertained the generic names of five species of the dragon fly,
which have come under my observation, and have subjoined their
haunts as I have noted them down.

ORDER HltfROPTERA — GENUS LIBELLULA.

( Found resting on a wall- tree in a garden

Libellula vana . „ . . ° 0

( at Brixton, Surrey.

C Situations enumerated, common in

L. depressa 1 v . „ , n/r-ji,

l Kent, burrey, and Middlesex.

L. forcipata Cordulegaster annulatus, 4 Hawthorn hedges and sunny banks,
(Leach MSS.) . . . . I Isle of Wight and Hampshire.

( On a lilac tree in a garden at Camber-

L. Flaveola >

« well.

i Banks of the river Stour, Suffolk, and
L. Virgo (Linnaeus) . . . J Croydon canal.

I have not been able to identify the L. cancdlata of Donovan ; and
have only met with a single specimen of L. flaveola. The most
common of all these insects is the L. depressa. The female, however,
differs entirely in colour from the male, being of a brownish hue. The
larva of this fly has been made the subject of much observation*, and
differs considerably from the perfect insect, both in habits and appear-
ance, passing its life under water, but in an active state previous to its
emerging as a winged insect. The insect, both in its aquatic and
winged state, is formidable to its smaller brethren. Excuse mistakes,
as I am but a tyro entomologist.

SVLVANUS.

Camberwell, December 10th, 1833.

* See Insect Transformations.

N

1=1

THE

FIELD NATURALIST

THE ZEBRA SPIDER (Epeirafasciata, FABRICIUS).

[ With a coloured figure of the female and her nest of eggs, drawn from, the Editor'

specimen.]

BY THE EDITOR.

WHEN I resided in Normandy, in 1829, the rugged cliffs at Cape
La Heve formed my favourite spot for field excursions, and I seldom
went thither, without meeting with something new or interesting,
though I had repeatedly traversed every foot of the ground that was
accessible. Geological fossils of the oolitic series, plants, shells, insects,
reptiles, and birds alternately attracted my attention, and furnished
me with numerous facts, which I might in vain have searched for in
books of Natural History. This very shore, indeed, had previously
been perambulated by two distinguished native naturalists ; but
St. Pierre seldom condescended, in the midst of his excursive fancies,
to look at the more minute facts ; and Deterville, though a sufficiently
minute observer, had no idea of generalising ; while it is more con-
genial to my turn of mind to combine these extremes, observing
minutely to obtain facts, and bringing these facts to bear on some
general inference, or some philosophic induction.

In one of my excursions to Cape La Heve, towards the end of
summer, I had clambered high up on the grassy escarpment, in pursuit
of a butterfly, and, in order to reach the path along the sbore at the base
of the cliff, I was compelled to make my way through a thicket of
brambles and blackthorn, mid-way down the slope. A field naturalist,
in such cases, is rarely out of his way. In an opening among the
brambles, I remarked a spider's web, of unusual dimensions and
texture, with geometrical meshes, but these far too wide to have been

VOL. n.— NO. ii. (FEBRUARY, 1834.) i

58 THE ZEBRA SPIDER.

made by the garden spider {Epeira diadema), or any similar species;
while the centre of the web was much more opake and broader than I
had ever remarked in others. The whole web was also but slightly
sloped from a horizontal position, another striking peculiarity ; for the
garden spider and its congeners place their webs nearly vertical. The
rustling, which I had made amongst the bushes, had frightened the
spider to its retreat ; but I soon discovered it, and was not a little
surprised at its great size and the brightness of its colours, so different
from any species previously known to me.

Pleased with my discovery, I took the creature home, and let her go in
my study, where she soon constructed a web in the corner of the
window; but was compelled to make it more vertical than the one she
had previously made among the brambles.

By careful search near the place, I discovered eight other Zebra
spiders, all females, and six nests of eggs, which I took with me,
as well as some of the living spiders to England, expecting to be able
to rear a few of them as a matter of curiosity, but I was unsuccessful ;
for not one of the eggs was hatched, probably from the air of my study
being too close, when compared with the sea breezes at La Heve, where
they had been destined by their mothers to winter.

I never observed this spider depositing her eggs, but I have many
times seen other species do so, and infer that they proceed in a similar
manner. Looking at the size of the spider, and at that of the egg
which she lays, it appears almost incomprehensible how they could be
contained in so small a body ; but, by observing them more closely, it
may be discovered that they have not, like the eggs of birds, a hard
shell, being on the contrary soft and compressible. Accordingly,
before they are laid they lie in the egg bag (ovarium) within the
spider's body, squeezed together in a flat manner, and only come into a
globular form after they are laid, in consequence of the equal pressure
of the air on every side, in the same way as we see dew drops, and
globules of quicksilver formed from the same cause.

The eggs of spiders, it is worthy of remark, are in most cases,
though not always, placed in a roundish ball ; and as there is nothing
in nature without some good reason, if we can discover it, we may
infer that this form is designed to economise the materials of the
silken web which the mother spins round them by way of protection.
Whether I am right or not in this conjecture, there can be no question
as to the manner in which the ball is shaped, as I have often observed
the process. The mother spider, in such cases, uses her own body as

THE ZEBRA SPIDER. 59

a gauge to measure her work, in the same way as a bird uses its body
to gauge the size and form of its nest. The spider first spreads a thin
coating of silk as a foundation, taking care to have this circular by
turning round its body during the process. It then in the same
manner spins a raised border round this, till it take the form of a cup ;
and at this stage of the work it begins to lay its eggs in the cup, not only
filling it with these up to the brim, but piling them up above it into a
rounded heap, as high as the cup is deep. Here, then, is a cup full of
eggs, the under half covered and protected by the silken sides of the
cup, but the upper still bare, and exposed to the air and the cold. It
is now the spider's task to cover these, and the process is similar to
the preceding ; that is, she weaves a thick web of silk all round them,
and instead of a cup-shaped nest, like some birds, the whole eggs are
enclosed in a ball, much larger than the body of the spider that
covered it.

Dr. Heineker found the zebra spider common in Madeira, and M.
Leon Dufour, in Spain. The following is

Walckenaer's Description. — Corselet and upper base of the abdomen silvery; back
yellow, with black wavy crossing bands, somewhat contiguous; belly black, with two
yellow bands placed length wise.

Synonymes. — Araneus Septimus totus viridis et pratensis, protenso corpore, et acuto alvo
lineis candidissimis quinque insignita. Aldrovandi de Anim. Insect., Francofurti, 1618,

p. 240, D, fig. 11, No. 7. Id. De Inseetis, Bononiae, 1602, p. 607 et 609, fig. 7

Ar. Septimus. Jonstonius de Inseetis, Francofurti, 1653, p. 134, tab. 18, fig. 7. — Ar.
Tarentina. Bonanni Micrographia, 4to, Romae, 1691, p. 70, fig. 69, 70 et 71. — Ar.

Zebra. Sulzero abgekurtze Geschichte der Spinner, 4to, 1776, p. 254, fig. 15 Ar.

Speciosa? Cosaccis ad Jaikum Bojie Misgnir, i. e., Aranea sacrariorum. Pallas
Voyages, traduit par la Peyronie, Paris, 1789. In 4to. vol.2, p. 543, No. 40. — Der
Heilige Spinne? Ibid. Reisen 2. Ausg. Auh., p. 36, No. 97, et Mailer's Suppl. und

Reg. B. p. 343, t. 51 Ar. Speciosa. Goeze, System Naturg. der Spinnen, p. 267, No. 41.

— Ar. Pulchra. Razoumowsky, Lettre a M. Reynier sur une Araign6e dans le Journal
de Physique et d'Histoire Naturelle de Rozier, 1787, t. 2, p. 372. — Ar. Pulchrs.
Razoumowsky, Hist. Nat. du Jorat, p. 244, No. 333, pi. 3, fig. 14. — Ar. Fasciata. Ar.
Fasciee, Olivier, Encyclop. Method. Ins. t. 4, p. 188, No. 1, ct p. 198, No. 1. Ibid. pi. 18,

partie, pi. 261, fig. 14 Ar. Formosa (la belle). C. deVilliers c. Linnae Entomolog.,

Lugduni, 1789, p. 130, No. 125, pi. 11, fig. 10. — Ar. Fasciata. Fabricins, Entomol.
Systematica, p. 414, No. 28. — Ar. Phragmitis. Rossi, Faun. Etrusca, t. 2, p. 128,
No. 964, tab. 3, fig. 13, et tab. 9, fig. 15 — Ar. Speciosa. J. F. Hermann, Aranea
Rheni medii, p. 4, tab. 4, et 5. — Ar. Fasciata. Gmelin, Linnee SystemaNat. edit. 13, t. 1,

partie 5, p. 29 46, No. 48 Ar. Fasciee. Latreille, Hist. Nat. des Crust, et des Insect.

t. 7, p. 269, No. 79 Epeire Fasciee. Walcken. Tableau des Araneides, p. 55, No. 4.—.

Epeira Fasciata, Latreille, Genera Crustac. et Insect, t. 1. p. 106, spec. 8.
" Eyes lateral, touching each other, the front one red, the hind one
black and larger. Corselet flattened with silvery hairs. Breast yellow

60 THE ZEBRA SPIDER.

in the middle, black at the sides. Mandibles yellow and sometimes
brown on their upper part. Abdomen in a lengthened yellow oval,
crossed by black transverse bands, which form so many segments ; the
first, the third, the fifth, and sixth segments often covered with silvery
hair ; the fourth black transversal line always more markedly waved
than the others. Belly black in the middle, with some yellow points,
and two yellow longitudinal lines on the sides. Feet long and robust,
ringed with black and with a reddish yellow, thighs of the front pair
of legs tinged with black. Feelers (palpi) yellow with black prongs
(piquant s).

" Pallas, de Villers, and Rossi have published excellent descriptions
of this beautiful species, and much more extended than that which we
have just given ; but for this reason have been more embarrassing on
account of the varieties. Rossi has published the most accurate figure
of the species.

" I am somewhat inclined to refer to this species, the spider of
LEPECHIN, Tagelnch, t. ii. p. 316, tab. xvi. fig. 1, since he took it
in the same country as Pallas ; but the transverse bands are not waved
in Lepechin's figure, and appear differently disposed. His figure much
resembles that of the Aranea Luzon, of Petiver, Gazophyll, tab. 1.
no. 3, and indeed these two figures resemble also the Aranea fasciata
which Poiret has brought from Barbary, and which he has described
and figured in M. Rosier's Journal de Physique, t. ii. p. 1 14, pi. i. fig. 3.
The description which he gives of its cocoon, differs in every thing
from ours, and is conformable to the cocoon of the Aranea luzon of
Petiver.

" I am led to believe that the species described by these authors
ought to be referred to the Aranea trifasciata of Yorskal, and which
he took at Cairo. I have seen this Epeira in the collection of M. de
Savigny who brought it from Egypt, and who ought to give a detailed
description of them. It differs specifically from ours by the transverse
bands being less waved, and by an abdomen less elongated. The letter
of Razoumowsky upon the spider of Poiret contains many errors
both of the author and printer ; but he has well described the eyes,
particularly the lateral ones.

" This spider is common in all the south of Europe ; it was recently
found in the environs of Paris, where it is rare. MM. Hermann have
often taken it near Strasburg. Pallas has described it on the borders
of the river Jaik or Ural, to the north of the Caspian Sea.

" This spider likes moist places, on the borders of streams as well as

RETROSPECTIVE REMARKS. 61

the streams themselves, when their borders are covered. Hermann, in
his manuscript work, says, ' he has seen them more than once suck at
the drops of water which were on the leaves.' Its cocoon is an abrupt
oval, greyish marked, longitudinally with black bands, and shut
hermetically at the abrupt end.

" Pallas tells us, that the Cossac of the borders of the Ural have a
sort of veneration for the Aranea speciosa, because it penetrates often
into the houses, and because it suspends its net to the statues of the
domestic divinities which are there. It is not certain that this spider
of Pallas ought to be referred to our species, and it is perhaps the same
as the Aranea irifasciata of Yorskal. The descriptions of these two
species resemble each other in every thing.

" M. Ray, in his Zoologie Portative, page 54, gives to the article
upon Araignee portefeuille of Geoffroy, the extract of a memoir of
M. Dorthe's, who appeared not to have had this species in view, as
Ray believed, but our Epeira Jasciala, the cocoon of which he had
described very well. The Journal of Nat. Hist., of Bertholon, where
the observations of Dorthe are said to occur, not being found in the
imperial library, where we had sought for it in vain, we could not
present the results." — Hist. Nat. des Araneides, No. iii. fig. 1.

All seem to agree that this species prefers damp marshy places ; but
the eight specimens, which I obtained at La Heve, were all found in
a remarkably dry locality, about one or two hundred feet above tide
mark.

Lee, Kent.

RETROSPECTIVE REMARKS.

BY JAMES FENNELL.

I THINK it not improbable that your correspondent, Mr. Ball, of
Dublin, will, upon careful examination, find the cuckoo mentioned
by him at page J, of the volume just concluded, to be an American
species, either the Coccyzus Carolinensis, Bonaparte, or else the
Coccyztis erythrophtalmus, which by some persons has been con-
founded with the former, from which it may be easily distinguished
by its having, according to Wilson, " a bare wrinkled skin of a deep red
colour," surrounding the eye, and also by its being much smaller, and
its wings being destitute of the cinnamon colour observable upon that
species. From the circumstance of the description given in your pages

62 RETROSPECTIVE REMARKS.

having been taken from a coloured drawing and not from the bird itself,
it is so imperfect in its details as to be very little assistant to the ascer-
taining of its species ; yet some of the more permanent characters
mentioned therein accord pretty well with those of the Carolina
cuckoo, (Coccyzus Carolinensis,) two specimens of which are stated
in the Philosophical Magazine (vol. iii. page 62,) to have been lately
met with in Ireland, and a single individual to have been exhibited at
a meeting of the Zoological Society on February the 26th, 1833, shot
in Wales during the preceding autumn, on the preserves of Lord Cawdor,
by whom it was transmitted to London for scientific examination.

Your correspondent " Solitarius " (in whom I think I can recognise
a very intimate acquaintance of mine,) states in his " Miscellanies,"
published in your November number, that he had a specimen of (Blaps
obtuaa) that lived for three weeks without food. A similar, but more
remarkable instance of abstinence from food with respect to another
species, (Blaps morlisagn,) is mentioned by Mr. Baker, the celebrated
microscopic observer, who says that he kept one without a morsel of
nourishment for the space of three years. The statement which " Soli-
tarius" has introduced into the above named contribution, respecting
the reariimation of bees after they had been " well-boiled," may appear
to some persons quite incredible, but is not altogether so improbable,
for Mr. Spence whose zeal in entomology is a sufficient guarantee for
his veracity, tells us at page 237, v°l- "• of his valuable " Introduc-
tion," that he once took from the hot dung of his cucumber-bed a small
beetle, (Lyclus Juglandis, F,) which he immersed in boiling water
until he conceived it to be dead ; but upon taking it out and laying it
to dry it soon showed symptoms of life and regained sufficient strength
to walk. Upon this curious and surprising exhibition of resistance to
a degree of heat that would have proved fatal to other animals, Mr.
Spence remarks, that the native station of that species " being of so
high a temperature, Providence has fitted it for it, by giving it extraor-
dinary powers of sustaining heat."

Mr. Clarke's instance (p. 511) of cats catching fish is not the only
one on record, several having been furnished by various writers. The
author of the " Menageries" at page 208, vol. i., gives an instance
which he witnessed of a cat's seizing an eel out of a pail of water, and
quotes an account of a similar nature, from Dr. Darwin, respecting a
cat being in the constant habit of catching trouts by darting upon them
in the water. Many other accounts, all proving that this is a common
and a natural habit of the domestic cat as well as of the jaguar (Fe/is

RETROSPECTIVE REMARKS. 63

onca), (which is a famous swimmer,) and said to attract its finny prey
by dropping its spittle upon the water, have been published in the
Magazine of Natural History.

That the winged pupae of Ephemerae cast their skins, and with them
their beautiful wings, as stated at page 512, is a well known fact men-
tioned in introductory works on entomology. I once had the pleasure
of witnessing the pupa discarding its infantile dress for one better
adapted for that state of life into which it was about to enter; an
exhibition putting one in mind of a fair and innocent virgin laying
aside her maiden-dress to assume the gay apparel of a bride.

" RURICOLA," having, at p. 449, spoken of his having obtained an
enormous mushroom, I am induced to draw the attention of your
readers to another record of a very large mushroom which, although
not equal to his in point of size, yet exceeds the usual dimensions. In
the Morning Herald, of October 16, 1833, it is stated that the family
of a Mr. Coulton, of the Pig and Whistle, Macclesfield, " supped off
a mushroom, which was brought from Shirley Fold, and was in circum-
ference at the top two feet and six inches, eight inches round the stalk,
and weighed two pounds and a half."

To some of the numerous queries of ' ' N. N." (p. 535) who appears
by his preliminary observations to put but little value upon Natural
History, unless it be made conducive to the fattening of barn-door
fowls, I will endeavour to reply ; but I am some-vhat suspicious that
his questions are put more with the desire of ridiculing our pursuits,
than to be informed upon the subjects mentioned in his communication.
He seems to think with Cobbett, that the study of Natural History is
next to useless, unless its principal object be the increase of our already
very ample stock of luxuries in the way of food. Though he does not
perceive that much information is derivable from studying the archi-
tecture of "a cock-robin's" nest, yet experience proves that a great
deal of useful knowledge may be reaped by those who pursue the
investigation of that or any other object, (however insignificant it may
appear to an ordinary and unthinking mind,) with a proper and philo-
sophic spirit. He is certainly much mistaken in asserting that the
Horticultural and the Zoological Societies have effected but very little
good. Let him procure a prospectus of each of these Societies, or
consult any well-informed botanist and a zoologist, and then, perhaps,
he will be induced to alter the opinion he has so rashly stated. The
Zoological Society have, I think, done as much as they well could do,
in endeavouring to introduce foreign animals, possessing superior

(U RETROSPECTIVE REMARKS.

qualities, and requiring less trouble and expense, into the parks, &c. of
John Bull, who is not easily to be induced to divest himself of his vulgar
and erroneous prejudices against rearing and eating what he terms
" curosities." In the very elegant work entitled " The Gardens of
the Zoological Society delineated," published under the superintendence
of the secretary and vice-secretary, are many hints upon the manage-
ment of poultry. Speaking of the golden pheasant (Phasiamtspictus),
they remark, that it requires no small degree of care and attention to
procure a breed from this species, and inform us " that much of the
difficulty, as well as of the tenderress of constitution manifested by
these birds, is attributed by M. Temminck to the close confinement in
which they are usually kept, and to the very precautions which are
taken to preserve them from the effects of cold." He advises that they
should be gradually habituated, like the more common race, to the
large pheasantries in which the latter are preserved, and doubts not,
that, as they multiplied under such circumstances, they would become
more and more hardy, until at last they would be fully capable of
supporting the cold of our northern winters. The experiment, he tells
us, has already been made in Germany, where they have been kept at
perfect liberty in an open pheasantry, in company with the common
species, and suffered no greater inconvenience than the latter from the
change of seasons. We anticipate an equally favourable result from
the repetition, under the auspices of the Zoological Society, of this
attempt to naturalise so brilliant an addition to our native game. Such
an experiment could not have been made with any success in the
gardens in the Regent's Park ; but the farm in the neighbourhood of
Kingston, of which the Society has lately become possessed, affords the
fairest prospect of carrying this and many similar undertakings into
complete effect*." The silver pheasant (Phasianus nycthemerus) they
say, thrives "better in domestication than the common pheasant of our
woods, and breeds with tolerable facility; so that it might, in all
probability, be readily propagated in the open country. We believe
that this has, in some instances, been attempted with successt."
Respecting the introduction of curassows, the editors of the work from
which these extracts are taken, tell us that they have no doubt that
the crested curassow (Craw alecior) with proper treatment would
speedily become habituated to the climate of our country, and that
" numerous examples have shown that they thrive well even in its

* Zool. Soc. Gardens, vol. ii. p. 62. f Idem, p. 64.

RETROSPECTIVE REMARKS. 65

northern parts ;" and they expect that the Zoological Society will be
as successful in naturalising the curassows as completely as our
ancestors have done the equally exotic, and, in their wild state, much
less familiar breeds of the turkey, the Guinea-fowl, and the peacock*.
Now, as to the " modus operandi" in establishing a rookery. The only
information I can procure upon this head is in the Magazine of Natural
History, vol. 6, p. 334, where, in a note, the Rev. Mr. Bree of
Warwickshire states, that he has learnt that " the readiest way to
establish a rookery where one did not previously exist, is, to withdraw
the eggs from the nest of a magpie that is about to sit, and has built
near the place where it is wished the new colony should be raised, and
to substitute in their room the eggs of the rook. The young birds, it
is said, will return the following spring, and take up their quarters in
the same tree in which they were reared."

The bird objectionably called the Virginian nightingale, it being in
fact a species of grosbeak, the Loxia cardinalis of Wilson, I should
hardly think it possible to naturalise in this country, the warblers of
which are indeed so rich in point of melody, that, for my part, I fain
would remain a stranger to the harmony of all foreign songsters, lest
I should become less delighted with those of my native land. There
are many, no doubt, who would like to see our groves inhabited by a
host of screeching parrots ; our gardens graced by the presence of the
splendid bird of paradise, and each expanded flower fanned by the
humming-bird's resplendent wings ; but feeling well satisfied with the
songs of such of the feathered race as inhabit this country, I am happy
to be able to declare with Shenstone, that

" I covet riot the price of foreign looms ;

In search of foreign modes I scorn to rove ;
Nor for the worthless bird of brighter plume- s
Would change the meanest songster of my grove."

The lepidopterous insects mentioned by Mr. Blyth, at page 550, as
having " night-shining eyes," are not the only species that exhibit a
similar appearance. The eyes of several, when viewed in the dark, are
found to be luminous : this is, as is well known, thtt case with Acro-
nycla Psi and Cossus ligniperda, and to these I can add, from frequent
observation, the names of Plusia Gamma and Plusia Chrysilis, the
eyes of both of which species, when viewed in the dark, shine with
considerable brilliancy.

* Zool. Soc. Gardens, vol. ii. p. 9,
VOL. II. — NO. II. K

66 THE LLAMA.

P.S. The London Natural History Society, of which you published
a notice at p. 417 of the volume just brought to a close, is doing pretty
well ; and we are of opinion, that in the course of a short time, when
our number becomes augmented, we shall do very well*.

Paddington.

N. N's AGENDA.

THE LLAMA OF PERU.

WE are indebted to the attention of a correspondent in Oban for the
following account of the interesting attempt now making in that neigh-
bourhood to domesticate the llama.

1 am not surprised that the llamas here should be exciting attention,
for they certainly are objects worthy of notice. This animal does not
in any shape resemble the sheep of this country ; its height is from
four to five feet, with long legs and long neck, in some respects not
unlike the camel, a small head without horns, the countenance gentle
and expressive of wonder. It is not remarkable for any peculiar habits,
except that it delights in ascending to the summits of the hills : its
appearance indicates an unfitness for climbing ; I observe, however,
nature has served it with a hooked claw on each hoof, which enables it
in some measure to travel heights with as much security as the goat.
Their food and treatment differ in no particular from Mr. Stevenson's
cows ; they graze, eat hay, chopped straw and potatoes, with them
daily, and have formed such an attachment to the cows, that when the
latter are brought from the hill for the purpose of milking, the llamas
will not remain behind, but accompany them to and from the byre three
times a day, a distance of half a mile — the wool is extremely fine, each
fleece \veighing from five to six pounds. Mr. Stevenson imported the
first pair (of the Alpacha breed, for there are several varieties) about
three years ago — he tells me that there were four or five pairs shipped
for him, but all died during the voyage except the one, and the follow-
ing year he received another pair of what he terms the real llama, but
a common observer cannot discern any difference. They inhabit the

* I wish all success to this, as yet young, Society, and hope to see contributions
from others of its members, besides our present well- informed and enthusiastic
correspondent ED.

ON THE ADVANTAGES OF NATURAL HISTORY. 67

mountains of the Andes, and, when domesticated, are used in that
country as beasts of burden, chiefly in carrying ore from the mines of
Peru, and they carry about lOOlhs., and if one pound be added more
than they can carry with freedom, like the camel, nothing will impel
them forward. If there was any chance of rearing them they would
doubtless beome a benefit to the country, but I fear the hope of their
breeding is very uncertain. Those who have any curiosity to see
their wool, can inspect it by calling on Mr. Paterson, 138, Trongate,
Glasgow ; this gentleman received a quantity from Mr. Stevenson to
get dressed.

ON THE ADVANTAGES OF THE STUDY OF
NATURAL HISTORY.

IN following up my last paper, I shall adopt the plan proposed
in the commencement, and consider, first, the direct, secondly, the
indirect, benefits which we may derive from the attainment of what I
then showed to be the objects proposed by the study of Natural Science.
First, then, we shall proceed to the consideration of the direct benefits :
these, or at least some of the principal of these, (for here the difficulty
consists, not in searching for what we may call benefits, but in making
a selection from the vast number which immediately present themselves
to us ;) are as follows : — First, were there no other inducement than the
mere observation of nature, in all her wildest forms and most beautiful
appearances ; to see, as is so graphically brought before us by the pen of
Washington Irving, " the solemn pomp of groves and woodland glades,
with the deer trooping in silent herds across them, the hare bounding
away to the covert, or the pheasant suddenly bursting upon the wing ;
the brook winding in its beautiful meanderings, or expanding into a
glassy lake, the sequestered pool, reflecting the quivering trees, with
the yellow leaves sleeping on its bosom," this alone, without any farther
benefits, would be sufficient to induce many to become enthusiastic votaries
of the delightful study of Natural History. What naturalist, worthy
of the name, is there, who cannot exclaim with the Mantuan bard,

" Rura mihi, et regni placeant in vallibus amncs,
Flumina aim-in, sylvasque inglorias "

especially when we know that whilst we are thus luxuriating in Na-
ture's loveliest haunts, we are occupied in discovering those " causas"
of which the poet so much desired the knowledge? But this can

x'2

68 ON THE ADVANTAGES OF NATURAL HISTORY.

hardly be called a benefit ; perhaps the following may be more deserving
of the name. Secondly, the domestication, and consequent introduction
to the purposes of civilised life, of the various tribes of wild animals,
and the beauteous forms of the feathered creation. I was never more
struck with this, than in the perusal of the delightful work lately pub-
lished by the Zoological Society. The various animals, birds, &c.,
which are there shown to be capable of domestication, and of producing
the most striking benefits to mankind in general, convince us, more
than ever, of the benefits to be gained from the pursuit of Natural
History. To this study, in some measure at least, are we indebted for
the horse, that animal, the want of which we should so much feel ; for
all the feathered inmates of our farm-yards, and many others, the
enumeration of which would encroach too much on your time and
patience. The third direct benefit I would mention, refers to another
branch of Natural Science, scarcely less interesting, viz. Botany ; and
the advantage to be acquired from this pursuit, which I should wish to
bring forward is, the benefits derived from the discovery of plants and
herbs, which may be useful in Medical Science. Here, perhaps, we
may see most clearly the use of some system of Natural History.
The botanist knows that a plant of a certain genus is useful as a
medical herb ; arguing from analogy, which is alone allowable in a case
of this kind, on the discovery of a new plant which may be referred to
the same genus, he imagines that this plant may be used in a case of a
similar kind ; a trial is made of it, and frequently the result answers to
the expectations of the experimentalist. An admirable illustration of the
truth of this position occurs in the history of the chemical substance
entitled iodine. Long before the discovery of this substance which is
procured from a kind of sea-weed, it was known that burnt sponge was
an excellent remedy in cases of that dreadful malady, the Swiss goitre.
On the discovery of iodine, (which was then perceived to exist in sponge,
and most other marine productions,) Dr. Coindet, a medical practitioner
of Geneva, imagined that this might also be used with efficacy in similar
cases. He tried the experiment, and it is now well known, that iodine
is a safe and sure remedy for goitre. I might mention other instances,
but this most likely will be sufficient to establish my argument.

We may now, perhaps, proceed to consider what may be called the
indirect benefits to be derived from the study of Natural Science.

If we see that some of the most singular productions with which we
are acquainted, are the work of those animals whose habits and modes

ON THE ADVANTAGES OF NATURAL HISTORY. 69

of life I am now arguing the propriety of studying, I do contend
that it is not only our interest, but our duty, to pursue that study which
will make us better acquainted with their properties and peculiarities.
Nor is this all ; there is no study, which is more capable than the present,
of lifting our thoughts to the understanding and comprehension of a
Divine and Omnipotent Being. Whether we roam delighted through
the fair scenes of nature, and wonder at the dazzling plumage of the
feathered creation, admiring the myriads of animated beings, revelling
in their native glades, and are led insensibly " From Nature up to
Nature's God ;" or whether we regard the formation of even a blade of
grass, or the varied colours of the " meanest flow'ret of the vale," we
can in every part trace the wisdom, power, and skill of Him

" Unde nil majus generator ipso
Nee viget quidquam simile aut secundum."

Nor whilst we are pursuing the study of animated nature, must we
neglect the sister, vegetable creation ; we must remember, that the same
hand which has formed the one, has formed the other, for, according to
the magnificent descriptions of our immortal bard, whilst he is describing
the progress of the creation: —

" Forth flourished thick the clustering vine, forth crept

The swelling ground, up stood the corny reed

Embattled in her field, and the humble shrub

And bush with frizzled hair implexed ; last

Rose as in a dance the stately trees, and spread

Their branches hung with copious fruit, or gemmed

Their blossoms, with high woods the fields were crowned,

With tufts the valleys, and each fountain side ;

With borders 'long the rivers."

Let us view then all these, and far more than these, and then say
with some that He exists not !

" Sunt, qui fortunes jam casibus omnia ponant,
Et nullo credant mundum rectore moveri,
Natura volvente vices, et lucis, et anni
Atque ideo intrepide quaecunque altaria tangent."

It is for us, then, to trace the principles of design of the Almighty
Creator, it is for us to search into, and gain that benefit, which all
around us is so capable of affording, and we, at least, shall exclaim with
the poet,

" These are thy glorious works, Parent of good,
Almighty ! thine this universal frame
Thus wondrous fair."

OBSERVATOR.

70
ON THE MIGRATION OF BIRDS.

BY T. C.

THERE is no subject connected with birds more interesting- or more
wonderful than their migration : so wonderful is this habit, that it has
given rise to much discussion, and diversity of opinion ; and notwith-
standing the numerous proofs which have been advanced in favour
of this beautiful and astonishing habit, many are yet unconvinced,
or are so bigoted to their own opinion, as to be inconvincible.

There is no greater obstacle to the acquisition of knowledge than
that prejudice, which is often so deeply rooted in some narrow minds
(and that too, without consideration or examination of facts), that it is
almost impossible to eradicate it, or to convince them of their error ;
how clear soever may be the proofs brought forward in opposition
to their favourite theory.

Since I troubled you with a few remarks on the migration of
swallows, and which appeared in your number for January, I have
been informed that, " there is abundant proof of the swallow's remain-
ing in a state of torpidity," and also that "this fact is well known."
I have therefore been induced to trespass upon your patience with
a few more remarks upon the subject, though I must confess that I
think the migration of swallows is now generally acknowledged.

The accurate and intelligent observer, White of Selborne, however,
evidently inclined more in favour of torpidity than of migration, as
appears in many places throughout his interesting letters. He says,
" It is very remarkable that after the hirundines have disappeared
for some time, a few are occasionally seen again ; sometimes in the
first week of November and that only for one day. Do they not
withdraw, and slumber in some hiding place during the interval ? &c.
Speaking of the sand martin, he observes "it is easy to suppose that
they may, like bats and flies, have been awakened by the influence of
the sun amidst their secret latebrce, where they have spent the
uncomfortable foodless months in a torpid state, and the profoundest
of slumbers."

Now as I have already observed, it is possible that these individuals
may have retired to some hole, and there remained in a state of slumber,
but this is no proof that this slumber was torpidity ; and it is possible

* The alleged evidence for this I have given in " Faculties of Birds."— ED.

ON THE MIGRATION OF BIRDS. 71

that the unusual warmth of the weather might have awakened them ;
but had it not been for this timely fair weather, they would no doubt
have perished.

And it is also very probable, as Mr. White himself observes, that
they " spend their time in deep and sheltered holes, near waters, where
insects are more likely to be found."

I will not occupy your pages (should you deem this worthy of
insertion) with further quotations ; suffice it to say, that both White
and Markwick advance numerous facts in favour of torpidity, but they
appear to consider, not that the whole tribe of swallows remains in a
torpid state, but that individual birds only have been found. Now,
I do not doubt, that, " after the hirundines have disappeared for some
weeks, a few are occasionally seen again, and that only for one day,"
and it is most probable that " they withdraw and slumber in some
hiding-place during the interval ;" but torpidity is a very different
thing, and if we allow that swallows have been found in a state of real
torpidity, we must allow that the swallow is capable of enduring
torpidity, and we may very justly observe that if this power has
been given, it must have been for some express purpose, and why
does not the whole tribe remain in that state ? but we have abundant
proof that this is not the case.

Markwick says " Of their migration, the proofs are such as will
scarcely admit of a doubt. Sir Charles Wager and Captain Wright saw
vast flocks of them at sea, when on their passage from one country to
another." And Mr. White himself gives an instance of what he con-
sidered actual migration ; in fact that the swallow is a migratory bird is
seldom doubted ; and indeed what reason is there for doubting it, when
so many heavier and shorter winged birds are known to migrate ; the
only doubt upon the subject is, that some swallows remain in a torpid
state ; and this I deny for reasons stated above ; but this will be much
better explained by referring to an excellent note by Sir W. Jardine,
in White's Natural History of Selborne.

The swallow is a very peculiar bird ; I have seen it busily employed
in building its nest under an ornamental swing bridge, in a garden, and
so low that a person could but just pass under sitting upright in a boat.
White says " they do not enter, like the house martin, the close and
crowded parts of the city ;" this is not the case in the present day, for
they are quite as common in the city as the martin, and frequently
build in the " close and crowded parts."

72 ON THE ROOT OF THE ASH TREE.

Before departure this bird assembles in large flocks on house-tops, and
frequently on trees, and indeed is often seen to perch upon trees, gene-
rally the topmost branches. From its being frequently seen on trees grow-
ing near waters, it has been supposed to spend the winter immersed in
that element : an enviable berth truly ! like the poor swift from July
to April, " to rest after so rapid a life," as Mr. White observes !

P. S. The cuckoo to which I have twice alluded, is dead, after being
kept for five months, and without ever having evinced any desire to
slumber, more than is usual amongst all animals.

Had it been properly attended to, and kept warm, it would no doubt
have lived through the winter.

ON THE ROOT OF AN ASH TREE.

BY R. T. C.

A FEW days ago I was riding through South Runcton, a village near
Lynn, in Norfolk, when my attention was drawn towards an ash tree
root of remarkable length, the history of which I subsequently learnt.
The tree to which this root belonged had yielded to the axe some two
months ago.

It is known that the roots of most trees, if embedded in a soil
favourable to their habits, will extend themselves a considerable dis-
tance from the trees themselves. Du Hamel states, that he found the
tap root of an oak, which measured four feet in length, the stem of the
tree being only six inches high. The ash, I conceive, under ordinary
circumstances, produces the longest root of any forest-tree growing in
Great Britain. Farmers in general, who have the opportunity, fell the
ash, if growing in the hedge-rows of corn-fields ; because, say they, its
roots run a long distance near the surface, thereby injuring the corn
growing within the range of their baneful influence. Whether the
roots of the ash excrete a deleterious matter, which acts upon the root-
lets of the corn-plants within their reach, or whether they draw so much
nourishment from the soil, that sufficient food is not left therein for the
healthy support of the corn-plants, I have no means of ascertaining ;
probably, each contributes its share of the ills experienced by the agri-
culturist, whose corn-field fences are encumbered with ash timber.
Large timber trees of all kinds overhanging corn-fields, doubtless, are

NOTES FROM THE ISLE OF WIGHT. 73

injurious to the corn growing within the spread of their branches, even
if no excrementitious matter is ejected by their roots, and that their
roots penetrate too deep into the earth to draw nourishment from the
soil in contact with the rootlets of the corn. Light and exposure to
the passing breeze are necessary to the rearing a good crop of corn, as
they are to the production of wide- spreading, useful, and ornamental
timber. But to the root under notice.

A portion of the root reposes on the undulating surface of a meadow
near the road's-side, furnishing daily conversation for those travellers
whose attention may be directed towards its extraordinary appearance.
The root was divided into three parts by the workman employed to fell
the tree, and the greatest circumference, of that part detached from the
trunk of the tree, was about three feet ; its length about twenty feet ; the
second and middle part was taken from the soil, and measured ninety-five
feet in length ; its greatest circumference measured eighteen inches ; the
third part was severed at the distance of. one hundred and fifteen feet
from the trunk of the tree, and took a zig-zag direction through the
space of eighteen feet, making the entire root one hundred and thirty-
three feet in length. When in its natural position, its distance under the
surface soil was from one foot to one foot and a half. The tree itself
was about forty-five feet in height ; it grew on a poor sandy soil, on
the brink of a rivulet ; its age was from ninety to one hundred years ;
and it contained about two loads of timber.

Shouldham,

NOTES FROM THE ISLE OF WIGHT.

ABOUT six weeks ago, a countryman brought me a specimen of the
Night-Jar, which he had just taken. He fell in with it suddenly, by a
hedge-side in his field. The sun was shining brightly at the time, and
he thought that the bird was asleep : it was probably dazzled by the
glare, as he caught it in hand without its attempting to escape. It
appeared perfectly uninjured when brought to me. I am not sufficiently
acquainted with the species to know its age, but a want of full plumage
under the wing makes me suppose that it is a young bird. It could
not fly perfectly, alighting, after having flown about half across a field,

VOL. II. — NO. II. L,

74 . NOTES FROM THE ISLE OF WIGHT.

and suffering itself to be retaken. It refused to take any food ; but was
fed by having very small pieces of raw meat forced down its throat. It
has been kept alive, and in apparent health, ever since by the same
means ; being fed in this way every evening. It seems to be stronger
than when it was originally taken, but not at all less shy. It will not
feed itself, either by pecking from the hand or from the floor of its
cage ; water has been put into its cage in an open saucer, but it does
not appear to make any use of it, either in washing itself or drinking.
Can you, or any of your correspondents, suggest any way of managing
it, which may tend to tame it, or any mode of feeding which may lead
it to provide for itself?

In the next parish to this there is a Gull (either the Larus hybernus
or L. Rissa) which was brought up there about twenty-seven years ago.
There is a small piece of water which it used to frequent ; but for many
years it has nearly forsaken this, and spends its time, either sitting upon
the rails of one or two cottages to which it confines its visits, or flying
at liberty around the country. Every spring, when the breeding season
arives, it leaves the parish, which is inland, and pairing with one of the
wild birds, inhabits the white cliffs on the coast, whence it returns again
alone when the breeding season is over, after disappearing, however, for
some days to either. It is so tame at other times with those whom it
knows, that it will come into their cottages and eat out of their hands,
but will not be approached thus closely by strangers.*

A few months since, a peasant brought me alive, a female Kestril
and a Magpie, which he had captured in a singular manner ; whilst
working in a field he heard a great scuffling on the other side of the
hedge, and upon looking over, saw the Kestril and Magpie fighting on
the ground. He got over the hedge, and approached them ; the Hawk
endeavoured to escape, but the Magpie held her so firmly by the leg,
.which he had grasped in his claw, that she could not escape, and both
were taken with the hand. The Magpie was very much wounded
about the head, and died in the course of the night. The Hawk did
not appear to be hurt ; but she refused all food, and did not live long.
She had lost one eye in some former battle, but the socket was quite
healed and dried up.

B Rectory.

* This is an exceedingly curious, and, so far as I know, a very uncommon
fact.— ED.

75

NOTES ON BIRDS.

BY T. C.

As every fact connected with Natural History is worth recording,
simply because it is a fact, and as a perfect history is only a collection
of such facts, I have not scrupled to hand you a few observations or
rather remarks, which, though insignificant in themselves, may be inte-
resting to those, to whom they are new, and may form small parts of
one great and perfect whole, — as the more of such facts the history of
any animal contains, the more nearly it must approach to perfection.

The Redbreast, though seldom seen in densely populated districts in
summer, is very common in winter ; this is not so much owing to the
inclemency of the season, as to his partiality to the society of man, for
it is only when engaged in the duties of incubation or rearing his
family, that the Robin returns to more secluded spots, and about the
middle of August he approaches our dwellings*. At this season he
sings very late in the evening ; I have often observed him seated on
some projecting corner of the roof, singing for hours together, and that
when the moon shone brightly, and the sun had sunk far beneath the
horizon. The wren and blue tit also frequently visit the outskirts of
London in the winter, and the common wren is exceedingly plentiful
in the country surrounding the metropolis. Mark wick notices young
goldfinches on the 15th of June. White on the 15th of August. I
have seldom seen them till the 1st of August, but they are not plen-
tiful till the middle or end of the month.-]- I have seen a nest on a
cherry-tree, with only one or two eggs in it, at the beginning of July.

The black begins to appear on 4he head of the young goldfinches
about the middle of September, and the red at the end of that month.
On one which I kept, the black first showed itself on the 1st of October,
and was perfect on the 1st of November, the face was covered with a
dull orange, much mixed with black ; it is some time before the head
assumes its perfect colouring. The" goldfinch has many of the manners
of the tits ; it is very active and lively, frequently hangs with its back
downwards, and will put its feet on its food, and peck at it like a
genuine parus : it is amusing to see it with a teazle or thistle, leaning
upon it and pulling out the seeds.

* This remark is not quite correct. See ARCHITECTURE OF BIRDS, page 83.
f There are more broods than one. I have seen the young as early as the end
of May, and eggs as late as September. — ED.

76 NOTES ON BIRDS.

I have already noticed the brown plumage of the young starling, but
in adult buds there is some variety, owing chiefly to age, but sometimes
I think it is accidental, some having the plumage more glossy than
others ; these are the old ones ; but some have no white specks on the
throat and neck, which are very much glossed with purple. At the
British Museum there is a handsome variety, were it not so badly
preserved ; the birds there are certainly a disgrace to the institution-
The bill of the young starling is always dark horn colour, but in the
old bird it is sometimes yellow ; is this the effect of age or season ? I
have never seen the yellow bill in winter.

The common sparrow, though an artful bird, is by no means shy ;
there was a nest on an elder-tree in St. James's Park, very few feet
from the ground, near which a sentry was constantly on duty, besides
the numerous visiters who were passing and repassing beneath it all
day. In Corinthian capitals, and in bassi-relievi it frequently builds,
though quite as frequently in trees, and it is probably only the scarcity
of trees in towns, which makes the bird appear so fond of building
in houses, &c. At the Zoological Gardens a few years ago, this bird
had constructed her nest between the wire roof of the Condor's
cage and the thatching of the building, by no means alarmed at the
presence of her formidable neighbour, through whose apartment she
frequently flew, secure in her insignificance. — Sparrows both wash and
dust.

The greater redpoles (JFringilla cannabina) and the grey linnet
(-F. linotd) are one and the same bird, but the twite (F. montana) is
a distinct species, the upper tail coverts of which are red, but this is
seldom obtained after moulting in the cage ; it has a ludicrous chatter-
ing note, quite unworthy the name of a song.

White notices vast flocks of hen-chaffinches at Selborne about
Christmas. In the North of England I have seen them about the end
of September, probably on their way southward, but near London the
males are as common as the hens in winter.

On the 22nd of last September I noticed some black caps, feeding
eagerly on the fruit of the elder-tree. Was not this rather late in the
year for them * ?

Does the cuckoo leave us so early as has been said ? I am persuaded

* At Bonn on'^the Rhine I had a nest of young blackcaps in my garden in
September. — ED.

ON TAME NIGHTINGALES. 77

that the young ones do not, for I have seen one long after that time ;
(July). Is it not that the bird being no longer heard is not noticed ?

In Montagu's Ornithological Dictionary, 2nd edition, is the follow-
ing passage by the editor : —

"In the Edinburgh edition of Wilson's work, the first volume of
which I have just seen, Dr. Jamieson says in a note to the sea eagle
(F. ossifragus). ' This is the young of the Falco leucocephalus, or
white headed eagle, not the young of the F. albicilla, or cinereous eagle,
which is the sea eagle of Britain ;' he does not say upon what grounds
he has come to this conclusion, in opposition to the best authorities
upon the subject."

Now Dr. Jamieson means, that the bird, described by Wilson under
the name of Falco ossifragus, is the young of the white-headed eagle,
and not that the English sea eagle, formerly described under the name
of F. ossifragus, is the young of the white-headed eagle.

This is perfectly correct ; the similarity of the young of both species
has led to their being described as one bird, under the name of F. ossi-
fragus, which bird does not now exist, the English being the young of
the F. albicilla, and the American the young of the F. leucocephalus.
I have not seen the last edition of Montagu's excellent work, and
should this passage be omitted in it, of course it is needless to notice it
here.

ON TAME NIGHTINGALES.

BY ORNITHOLOGUS.

IT has long been a subject of regret, that, among the various pub-
lications of the day, no periodical should have made its appearance,
exclusively devoted to natural history, wherein the observations of those,
whose attention is directed to the phenomena of nature, might be com-
municated to that portion of the public, who take an interest in one of
the most delightful and innocent studies that can occupy the mind of
a reflective being. This blank in our national literature has now been
supplied, and I beg leave to congratulate you, no less on the design of
your publication, than on the manner in which it is conducted. I am,
myself, an ardent admirer of nature's wonders, but my attention has

78 ON TAME NIGHTINGALES.

been chiefly directed to the manners of birds, of which I have now
several varieties by me.

The charming Philomel, is, of course, the prime favourite ; and, as
I have had two nightingales constantly under my eyes for a long time,
I trust a few remarks will not be deemed intrusive. One of these birds
was taken on the 19th of April, 1832, and has been in good health
nearly ever since. He did not, however, commence his song till the
end of March, 1833, and even then he never appeared to warble " his
native wood notes" in full perfection. The other I brought up from the
nest, and as I had it when only a fortnight old, it is so perfectly
familiar, that nothing seems to alarm it. It began to record its song
when five weeks old, and has continued to improve till now, when its
song is almost perfect. During the summer and autumn, this bird was
very amusing from its dexterity in catching flies, which, on appearing
in front of his cage, immediately fell victims to his quickness of eye,
and rapidity of movement; in this manner he must have destroyed
nearly two hundred per diem. He now sings nearly all day, and what
is remarkable, when the room is lighted up for the evening he seems
most cheerful, and sings with most animation,

" In his sweetest, saddest flight,

Smoothing the rugged brow of night."

Thus have I enjoyed one of the greatest delights of spring through
the dreary season of winter. I was aware that these birds would sing-
in confinement at night, during the summer, but am somewhat sur-
prised that my bird should do so in winter. It is remarkable that these
birds seldom roost with the head under the wing- ; at least, I have never
seen my other bird (taken when old) in that position. This is, perhaps,
the reason, why they have been supposed never to sleep, but my young
one frequently assumes that posture, starting from it sometimes
suddenly, and resuming his song as if he had been actually dreaming,
which Buffon asserts they do. If placed in an obscure corner of the
room they become very restless, but resume their tranquillity if brought
nearer the light.

I am informed, that, in some parts of Germany, nightingales may
be seen hanging from the windows, as common as canaries are in
England. If this is the case, (and it appears very probable from the
number of German canaries, imported, singing the nightingale's note)
I should like much to ascertain the food on which they are kept.

GEOLOGICAL POSITIONS. 79

as our German friends have most likely some less extravagant food for
them than egg and meat, which are -alone found to answer the purpose
here. The great difficulty is that the food must be moist, as they
seldom drink ; one of mine lived, I should think, for a month without
water, but then the food was very moist. Perhaps some of your corre-
spondents can suggest an efficient substitute, as I have not yet succeeded
in discovering one. I find I have so filled my paper that I have no
room for an interesting anecdote of the hawfinch, which I had intended
to communicate ; if, however, the above is deemed worthy of a place
in your Magazine, I will not fail to forward it shortly*.
Gravesend, Jan. 8th, 1834.

IN DIRECT PROOF OF AN IMPORTANT PART OF SCRIPTURE CHRONOLOGY.
FIRST LINE OF ARGUMENT.

1. The chalk is a marine formation, and consequently was deposited
as a sediment, in the bed of the sea^.

2. As the chalk now forms an extensive member of the secondary
strata of our dry lands, there must have been a time when it first
became dry land.

* In Germany, they feed their nightingales, from May till September, almost
wholly on ants' eggs, which are regularly sold for this purpose, and are also dried
for winter food ; but in winter the chief food is German paste. Live meal worms
are also given them, to the number of twelve a day, during their time of singing.
I myself purchased, at Cologne, about ten thousand for a sovereign, and have
now, I should think, a million or more. Full information on all these points is
given in Dr. Bechstein's work on Tame Birds, now in the press. See also Field
Naturalist, vol. i. page 224. — ED.

t This singular paper has been sent to me, in print, without any name, or
printer's imprint. — ED.

| The chalk formation is here selected for the establishment of the following
positions, from its very marked features, and from the facts on which they are
founded having been first remarked on the chalk coasts of France and England.
But the argument applies with equal force to all other secondary formations, acted
upon by the erosion of the sea.

80 GEOLOGICAL POSITIONS.

3. The actions of the waves upon a sea coast is unceasing-, and the
effects of this action are more or less visible on, every shore, according
to the consistency of the rocks which compose it.

4. From the very first moment that the chalk became dry land, this
unceasing agent must have operated as it still does, upon such portions
of it as extended to the level of the sea.

5. From that time to the present, is the exact age of the chalk, as
a dry land.

6. The chalk is never superficially level, but is, on the contrary,
invariably of a rounded and sloping surface.

7. The surface of the chalk is always grooved out into valleys, divided
hy ridges of various degrees of steepness, hut invariably smooth.

8. These valleys seldom contain water, or running streams ; they,
consequently, have never been altered in their surface by the erosion of
rivers, since they became valleys.

9. Notwithstanding this ahsence of rivers, the chalk valleys univer-
sally open either into larger valleys which lead to the level of the sea,
or they individually point to this exact level, thus plainly bespeaking
the action of waters.

10. As all chalk valleys, unaffected by the corroding action of the
waves, have this character and tendency, we are certain that all other
valleys, though now cut short by precipitous sea cliffs, had, originally,
the exact same form and tendency.

11. Our present chalk cliffs are constantly encroaching upon the
lands, hy a progress more or less rapid, according to circumstances.

12. As rotundity is a universal characteristic of the chalk, and as the
cliffs will thus all be higher, and further back a thousand years hence,
than they now are, it follows that they were more in advance, and con-
sequently lower, a thousand years ago.

, 13. Having the perpendicular of the cliffs, and the angle formed by
the hypothenuse with that perpendicular, we can have no difficulty in
correctly ascertaining the length of the base.

14. The length of the base is the exact amount, of space de-
stroyed by the action of the waves, since the chalk first became dry
land.

15. The length of the base being ascertained, and also the rate of
decay per annum, we are led with certainty to the number of years
which have elapsed since the erosive action first commenced.

16. As this action is unceasing, and as the chalk is peculiarly

GEOLOGICAL POSITIONS. 81

affected by it, it never could have been in full force, even for a single
century, without occasioning a cliff.

17. As no such cliffs exist, from top to bottom of the whole chalk
formation, except those now in progress on the sea shores, the sea
never could have acted upon the chalk for any length of time, except
on its present level, as compared with the chalk.

18. We are thus forced to the conclusion that to whatever elevation
the chalk may extend, (and it is upwards of 1000 feet in England,)
the whole mass was either raised at one time from the bosom of the
deep, or the deep was depressed, at the same individual period, so far
below its former level.

19. No stratum now reposing on the chalk above the level of the
sea could have been deposited in the sea, since the present cliffs were
begun.

20. The whole series, therefore, of what are usually termed Tertiary
Strata, reposing on the chalk, were formed in the sea previous to the
elevation of the chalk, and were elevated along with it, at the very
same period.

21. Assuming 900 yards as the mean extent of decay on the chalk
coasts of both sides of the British Channel, (as indicated in the thirteenth
position,) a waste of eight inches per annum gives four thousand years
as the age of the chalk as a dry land.

22. As eight inches is above the general average decay of chalk cliffs
at their present height, so it nrnst have been greatly below the real
amount during the first two thousand years of the operation, and may
be considered as a fair general average of the whole.

23. As the action of the Falls of Niagara in the midst of the great
marine formation of North America, brings us exactly to the same
period of about four thousand years ; as we are, in neither case, able to
extend the calculation much beyond that period ; and as both coincide
so exactly with what Sacred History and the traditions of all nations
have handed down to us, we may look upon these latter as being most
fully confirmed, as to the great and preternatural event to which they
both bear witness.

24. As we know of no law of nature by which the chalk formation,
and the tertiary strata reposing upon it, could have been raised, at one
time, above their native element, we must conclude that this effect was
the result of a preternatural power, and of an Almighty decree.

25. We are thus forced to admit a more powerful Agent into our

VOL. II. NO. II. M

82 GEOLOGICAL POSITIONS.

systems of Geology than the mere laws of nature, to which all pheno-
mena are generally referred ; and the science is thus placed upon a new,
a more solid, and more consistent foundation *.

SECOND LINE OF ARGUMENT.

1. A river consists of the fresh waters of a district, seeking their
level in the waters of the ocean.

2. Rivers usually flow in valleys to which their own size and force
bear no sort of proportion, and which must, therefore, have been
formed by an agency distinct from that of the waters now flowing
through them.

3. These valleys must have been scooped out by a force, similar to
that of which we have distinct proof in the valleys of the chalk districts,
which have never been occupied by rivers. We are also certain of this
having been an aqueous agent, from the well known fact of their always
ending on the exact level of the ocean.

4. All valleys occupied by rivers terminate at length in this general
level, in the same manner as the chalk valleys, without rivers, once
did, though these latter are now often cut short by sea cliffs.

5. The bed of every river is a plane, more or less inclined, according
to circumstances.

6. As we know that the corroding action of the sea is incessant, and
consequently that all sea coasts have been gradually encroaching on the
lands, from the very first moment that they became sea coasts ; as we
also know with certainty, that, at the period when this action first
began, the valleys must all have terminated, as they still do, in the
exact level of the sea ; we have a right to conclude that the time cannot
be very distant when this corroding action first began.

7. If we assume that the general average decay of a coast is but one
foot per annum (and it will not be denied that it is considerably more
upon a large proportion of coasts) ; and if we take so short a period,
(geologically speaking) as only one hundred thousand years, we must
suppose that more than eighteen miles have been lost, from the original
mouths of all rivers.

8. Had this been the case, we must have found a waterfall, or rapid,

* A detail of the facts on which the above positions are founded, has been sent
to the editors of the London and Edinburgh Philosophical Magazine and Journal,
in which work they will probably soon appear, in the form of two papers.

VULTURES. 83

at the mouth of every river ; and, consequently, all inland navigation
from the sea must have been impossible, except in perfectly flat
countries.

9. As we rarely find such falls, or rapids, at the mouths of rivers,
and as we have reason to know, on the contrary, that their originally
inclined planes have neither been materially altered in inclination, nor
shortened in extent, we must conclude, that the loss of land on all
sea coasts has, as yet, been but small, and, consequently, that the un-
ceasing action of the waves has been but of recent origin *.

10. As the superficial slopes of all hilly countries lead the eye, in a
regular line, to the level of the sea, in about one mile, (more or less,
according to the consistency of the shores,) we cannot avoid the very
same conclusion which we have before attained in a more exact manner,
in the instance of the chalk ; viz. that all our present sea coasts have
been acted upon by the sea but a very few thousands of years, and, con-
sequently, that all existing dry lands were elevated above the level of
the ocean, at the same recent period.

VULTURES, (From Le Vaillants Birds.)
(VULTUR,— CW., Vieill., Temm., Briss, Linn., Lath.; EGYPIUS, Saviy.j

PRINCIPAL CHARACTERS.

BILL straight, longish, flattish at the sides, convex on the upper part, thick or
slender ; upper mandible covered with a cire at its base, and curved only towards
the point ; the lower straight, rounded, and inclined at its point ; nostrils naked,
crescent-shaped or rounded, transversal or longitudinal. Tongue channelled, bor-
dered with points or without points, indented at its extremity. Mouth cleft almost
as far as under the eyes. Shanks reticulated. Toes four in number, warty under-
neath, three in front, one behind ; the outer ones united at their base by a short
membrane ; the intermediate very long ; the hinder articulated at the base of the
shank in the same manner as the anterior. Claws slightly arched.

* It is stated by a recent and very able writer on this subject, (but who advocates
an unbounded theory of Chronology) in treating of the action of the sea upon its
coasts, that, on the coast of Yorkshire, four yards a year is the rate of decay.
This loss, for only one million of years, amounts to no less than 2272 miles j and
even at one yard of annual loss, Yorkshire must once have extended 568 miles
further eastward than it now does.

84 VULTURES.

ACCESSORY CHARACTERS.

Wings long; the first quill shorter than the sixth j the fourth longest. The
crop forming a projection above the fork bone, and covered with a thick down .
Head and Neck partly destitute of feathers ; prominent eyes.

Vultures have a very sharp face (fades bien trancMe) this character is peculiar
to them, and distinguishes them from all kinds of hawks. They are dastardly,
cruel, and voracious birds, and feed much oftener on offal than on living prey, for
putridity and infection will attract rather than drive them away. In hot countries,
as Egypt for instance, where they are in vast numbers, they render the inhabitants
an essential service, in purging the land of many noxious impurities, the remains
of carcases, which, in becoming putrid, would empoison the atmosphere. The
structure of their legs does not permit them to make use of their talons for the
purpose of carrying off their prey; they convey the food destined for their young
in their crop, which is very capacious, and thence disgorge it into their bill on
their arrival at the nest. Their sight is exceedingly keen, and their sense of smell
is perfect to the highest degree j they discharge a fetid matter from their nostrils
after feeding ; their crop forms a large prominence above their fork-bone. The
mouth is simple.

Vultures are the only birds of prey which live and fly in flocks ; they construct
their nests among the most inaccessible rocks SAVIGNY.

THE ORICOU ( Vultur auricularis).

L'Oricou,Ze Vaitt., Ois. d'Afriq. i. p. 36, pi. 9; Shaw's Zool. vii. pi. 10; Vultur
auricularis, Lath. Ind. Orn. Sup. p. 1 ; Daud. Orn. ii. p. 19 ; Sociable Vulture,
Lath. Syn. Sup. 2d, p. 11 ; Id. Gen. Hist. i. p. 20.

THIS species is larger than even the largest of our vultures, it
being- ten feet across the wings from tip to tip. It presents one of
those striking- characters which I think so useful for the purposes
of nomenclature ; it is a membrane of four lines in thickness, which
encircles the front of the ear, and is then continued in a straight line
upon the neck. This kind of raised concha is four or five inches long,
and must necessarily improve the faculty of hearing in this species.
The entire head and one half of the neck are naked, and of a flesh-red
colour, assuming a violet-blue tint towards the beak, and a whitish one
towards the ears; a few short and sparse hairs are only to be seen on
this coloured skin. The gorge is black, and is covered with rigid hairs
of the same colour. All the feathers of the upper part of the body,
together with the wings and tail, are of a dull brown colour, but tinged
with a lighter shade at the borders ; those of the back part of the neck
are curved backwards and upwards, forming a sort of cravat, in which
the bird, by drawing in its neck, conceals all that part of it which is
bare of feathers ; it is especially during the digestion of its food that

VULTURES. 85

the bird assumes this most disagreeable attitude. The craw, which pro-
trudes very much, is covered with a fine glossy down of a silky texture,
but altogether not unlike the wool of quadrupeds. The entire body,
from the breast to the tail, is covered with long narrow feathers, ex-
tending from the body in proportion to their length ; they are sabre-
shaped, of a pale-brown colour, bordered with whitish grey. The thighs
and one half of the shank are covered with a very fine white down,
presenting a slight shade of fawn at the lower part. The same down
also clothes all the under part of the body ; it is also visible between
the feathers of the breast and on the sides of the neck. The tail is
tapering, and is always worn at the end. The base of the beak and the
skin surrounding it are of a yellowish horn colour ; the feet and toes,
very large, are defended with large brown scales ; the nails broad, and
but slightly arched, are> as well as the end of the beak, horn-coloured.
The eye is encircled by long black lashes, and the iris is of a chesnut
brown.

This vulture, like other species of this genus, is a mountain bird :
it forms its habitation in the caverns and other places of shelter met with
in rocky localities. These birds there pass the night, and there repose
during the day, after feeding. Great numbers of them may be seen at
sunrise, perched upon rocks at the entrances of their dwellings ; some-
times they may be seen thus occupied, dispersed over the greater part
of an entire range of mountains.

These birds are always found to have their tails much worn ; this is
from their rubbing them against the rocks, in the interstices of which
they squat, or upon the tops of which they roost : but eagles, seldom
alighting on the earth, or perching upon trees, preserve theirs
more entire ; besides this, vultures use the tail also against the ground
on the plain, for they do not take flight suddenly, but after a short run
and forcible contraction of their members. The flight of vultures is
not, however, less powerful and lofty ; they rise to an immense height,
and totally disappear from the eye. It is astonishing that these birds,
themselves invisible, should perceive what passes on the earth, and dis-
tinguish such animals as serve them for food, plunging down upon their
prey, in great numbers, the moment death has delivered it up to them.
Should a hunter kill any large game, which he cannot immediately
carry off, and leave it for a short time, he will not find it at his re-
turn ; but he will find a flock of vultures, and that too in a place from
which a quarter of an hour before not a single one could be perceived.

86 VULTURES.

This is a fact, which I have on several occasions, in the course of
my travels, experienced on the part of vultures, whether of the present
species, or of others which will be described hereafter ; for all voracious
carnivorous animals mix with each other under such circumstances.
The first time I was their dupe was at a time when I was labouring
under a scarcity of provisions, and, consequently, the lesson which they
gave me made a very sensible impression. I had killed three zebras :
satisfied with my sport I retiirned to my camp, from which 1 was at a
league's distance, and ordered a wagon to bedespatched to bring them
away. My Hottentots, better informed than myself, told me, that the
journey appeared to them quite useless, as the zebras would be de-
voured before our return. However, we set forth ; but we had not
advanced far, before we saw afar off the air filled with vultures. At
our arrival, we found them strewed over the plain ; the zebras were de-
voured ; the only remaining vestiges of them were large bones ; vultures
moreover were still arriving, and on all sides there was an astonishing
assemblage of these animals in motion, of which I could reckon more
than a thousand. It was curious to observe with what rapidity such
an immense number of vultures could be so soon collected. 1 one day
hid myself in a bush, after having killed a large gazelle, and left it on
the spot. In an instant crows came, and, croaking loudly, jumped
upon the animal ; in less than a quarter of an hour, hawks and buzzards
arrived ; a moment afterwards, raising up my head, I perceived birds
at a prodigious height, and, which, wheeling around, were rapidly de-
scending. I was not long in recognising them to be vultures. From
their appearance one might have supposed that they had escaped from a
cavern in the sky. The first were not slow in pouncing upon the
gazelle; I did not allow them time to tear it piecemeal; I hopped out of
my hiding place ; they heavily retook to flight and rejoined their com-
panions, who were visibly increasing in number, and who seemed to fall
from the clouds to participate in the prey ; but my presence quickly
caused them all to disappear in the air.

The following seems to me to be the way in which vultures are called
to share in any prey : the first carnivorous birds, which discover a
carcase, give an alarm to the others in the vicinity, as much by their
screams as by their movements. If the nearest vulture should not ob-
serve the prey, from the high region of the air in which he is floating,
he discerns, at least, the inferior land birds of prey who are preparing
to feast on it ; but it may be the vulture's sight is sharp enough todis-

VULTURES. 87

cover the body itself. He descends then rapidly, and in circles ; his
descent is understood by other vultures who observe it, and who have,
doubtless, a thorough knowledge, and practised instinct, upon what-
ever relates to their food. In the neighbourhood of the carrion, there
is then formed a concourse of carnivorous birds which drop from the
clouds, and are certainly sufficient to attract vultures from every part
of the country, in the same way as several men, by running in the
streets, would draw a crowd together.

From the congregation of vultures towards a given spot, we may
sometimes infer the proximity of the lion, tyger, or hyaena ; for, when
one of these animals has killed a large quadruped, the vultures, who
have observed him, immediately arrive, and bring after them a train of
others, which warns the traveller to be upon his guard. These timid
and dastardly birds, wanting the courage to dispute a prey, evince on
this occasion all the baseness of their character; for not daring to
make use of their force, weapons, bulk of body, advantage of flight
and even of numbers, which make even cowards valiant, keep at a
respectful distance from the ferocious animal, wait until he has finished
his repast and retired, and then devour the abandoned fragments,

The Hottentots and colonists of the Cape of Good Hope, well
informed by experience of the ability of vultures to discover the bodies
of animals, and also their voracity, never leave what they have killed,
without concealing it, generally beneath a heap of leaves and branches ;
sometimes they cover it over with a pocket-handkerchief, or waistcoat;
but, in spite of these precautions, it often happens they find nothing
more than a mere skeleton at their return ; for the crows, who are of
a bolder temper, first of all search out the animal, and the vultures,
then venturing to approach, in a short time entirely devour it.

The Dutch colonists of those districts which the oricou inhabits,
give it the name of swarte-aas-vogel — the black carrion vulture. They
call it black, to distinguish it from another species of vulture of paler
colours, and which I shall describe in the following chapter, under the
name of Chasse-Jiente ; a name which it has at the Cape, where it is
also called by the inhabitants stront-jager. All vultures are generally
known at the Cape by such names as stront-vogel, stront-jager or aas-
vogel.

I never observed the oricou in the environs of the Cape ; it is very
common in the inland districts, especially towards the country of the
Great Namaquais, where the other species is also found.

VULTURES.

It builds in rocky caverns. The female lays two white eggs, and
sometimes, but very rarely, three. In October these vultures begin to
pair, and in January the young ones are all hatched. As they live in
very large flocks, a single mountain will contain as many nests as it
has places adapted for them. It is worthy of remark, that vultures
never build on trees, at least in Africa; and I am very much deceived
if they do in any other part of the world. They appear to live toge-
ther in great harmony; for I have sometimes seen in the same cavern
as many as three nests side by side.

During the period of incubation, each male stations himself as senti-
nel at the mouth of the cave in which his female is sitting : a circum-
stance from which it is easy to discover the situation of the nest, which
on the other hand is almost always inaccessible. I have, however, by
the assistance of my Hottentots, occasionally vanquished all difficulties,
and often risked my life to examine the eggs of these birds ; their
dwellings are disgusting, and infected with an insupportable stench.
To approach these obscure retreats is attended with great danger, as
the entrance to them is covered with dung, which is always in a fluid
state, from water which continually filters through the cracks of the
rocks : so that in happening to slip on one of these rocky points, we
run the risk of falling down the frightful precipices above which these
birds usually establish themselves.

I have tasted the eggs of the oricou as well as those of the chasse-
fiente, and found them very good for use.

At its birth, the young oricou is covered with a whitish down. On
leaving the nest, its plumage is of a pale brown, and all its feathers are
tinged with red on the borders : those of the breast and belly are not
yet sabre-shaped, and its head and neck are entirely covered with
a fine thick down, and the stripes round its ears are hardly perceptible ;
which often misleads inexperienced naturalists, and induces them to
consider it as an eagle, or vulture of a different species ; though it is not
difficult to distinguish a vulture from an eagle by the form only of
the claws — a character much more decisive than that of a bare head,
which in all vultures, while young, is covered over with down. In tnis
way, who can point out in the numerous works on birds all the young
vultures which have been regarded as eagles, although there is nothing
more easy than to distinguish a young from an old bird ? But on this
subject, I repeat, that a single glance from an experienced naturalist is
unquestionably worth more than the scrupulous testimony of all those

M. BIOT ON THE SAP OF PLANTS. 89

numerous and general characters, which, for the most part, only exist
in the imagination of him who established them, and are seldom suit-
able to two species of the same genus. The Grands Namaquas call the
oricou ghaip, preceding the word with a loud clap.

M. BIOT ON THE SAP OF PLANTS.

IN all my experiments, the motion of the sap appears to me to pro-
ceed from the eminently hygroscopic quality of the vegetable tissue.
The sap received at the roots evaporates by the leaves, whilst between
these points the vegetable tissue acts precisely as a cylinder, composed
of animal charcoal, covered with an impenetrable envelope, and with
its lower part immersed in liquid. The column is thus supplied with
all the liquid that it can contain ; the vegetable tissue becomes itself
in the state of saturation that suits its mass under the existing tempe-
rature. This kind of equilibrium being established, should any cause,
a sudden change of temperature for instance, increase the evaporation
at the extremity of the branches, these will act by suction ; draw more
from the roots, and the equilibrium is still preserved. Should, however,
the roots come to furnish more, and the leaves evaporate less, then will
ensue turgescence in the vegetable tissue ; and if a hole be made, the
sap or liquid will overflow. This is precisely what is observed in the
birch tree in spring, when its sap begins to rise, and before its leaves
have come forth, or are able to perform their task of evaporation.

As another trait of resemblance, it may be remarked, that the lateral
action of heat on any hygroscopic column, such as we have represented
the vegetable tissue to be, would have the effect of rendering it ca-
pable of less saturation, and, consequently, would oblige it to throw
out a part of the liquid it contains. This is the effect which the sun
produces upon the birch, and upon other trees, whose sap runs out at
this period. When the leaves come these phenomena cease ; the task
of evaporation is performed, and the sap bursts neither from the bark,
nor through an orifice, if made.

Now suppose we replace the impermeable or air-tight envelope by
one, on the contrary, capable of absorption from within, and exha-
lation from without, the state of things will be changed. The issue of
the sap or liquid, by the sides of the envelope, will be more frequent

VOL. u. — NO. n. N

90 M. BIOT ON THE SAP OF PLANTS.

and facile. The diminution of the exhaling- power by a sudden cold
will favour it, and the sap will burst forth at once from all the pores
of the tree equally, taking into account merely the different degrees of
thickness in the bark. Such is an account of the emission of sap by
the sides of the nut tree and sycamore, in spring.

The influence of the leaves on the internal motions of the sap in
trees being thus explained, let us observe what will be the consequence>
if these leaves, or great evaporating organs, be enveloped with a colder
atmosphere. The sap conveyed to them being no longer evaporated,
will rest and collect on their surface, and check all evaporation, espe-
cially at night. The upper parts of the vegetable tissue, or hygro-
scopic column, being thus overcharged, will let fall their superabun-
dance upon the parts that are lowest, which will produce a descent of
the sap. Hence proceed the alternate ascent and descent of sap, such
as have been noticed. Moreover, these effects will become continuous,
if the evaporating property of the leaves should diminish before the
supplying power of the root ceases to throw up the sap ; and this is
precisely the case in September : the same trees that afforded me but
their ascending sap in the spring, in September afforded a continual
sweat. The latter was no longer the same as the spring sap, for it
contained no saccharine principle.

M. Biot concludes from his experiments, that the alimentation of
the foliaceous organs is accomplished principally during the day ; whilst
the alimentation of roots, and the formation of new layers of them, is
effected during the night, when the diminution of evaporating power
in the leaves precipitates the sap in a descending course towards the
roots.

That in deciduous trees, the annual increase of the trunk and branches
taking place in summer, the increase of the roots takes place in winter.
The ascending motion is thus suspended by the cold, and the absence
of leaves allows the sap to accumulate in the roots, which experience
little of the atmospheric variations, and which, in the first warmth of
spring, send up their accumulated juices with force through the upper-
most parts of the tree.

91

THE EFFECTS OF MUSIC, ELECTRICITY, MAGNETISM,
AND GALVANISM UPON ANIMALS.

BY JAMES FENNELL.

THOUGH music has but little to do with the three sciences with
which I have here associated it, yet in connection with them it forms
one of the four principal extraneous powers capable of operating- in
various extraordinary ways upon the senses and actions of animals.

As music consists of sounds emitted from instruments constructed
by man, its effects, however enchanting1 and harmonious they may be,
are in reality altogether unnatural ; but the various notes that enter
into the composition of music are quite natural ; being voluntarily pro-
duced by animated bodies, and involuntarily produced by inanimate
bodies. It is with music, indeed, as it is with all other human produc-
tions ; for we can merely take to ourselves the merit of having- made,
in this instance a pleasing- combination of natural tones ; as in the case
of the construction of a clock, or of a steam-eng-ine, we are merely
entitled to the praise of having produced useful and mighty effects
by an ingenious artificial association of numerous natural principles
Thus the notes of music may be all traced to the source from whence
they were derived, which source is nature's orchestra ; in which her
birds and other uninstructed musicians lend their sweet and soothing
voices, which intermingling with the deep tones of the wind playing
through the thickset grove or hollow cavern, and with the babbling of
the running brook, produce a concert possessing charms for the lover of
nature, far superior to those which attract the admirers of even the
most talented and skilful performer.

The inferior animals being accustomed to the music that resounds
through their sylvan haunts, are not affected by it in any peculiar man-
ner, but like our own uncivilised species remain unmoved by it. But
instrumental music exercises extraordinary effects upon them. It sub-
dues the rude dispositions of some ; arouses the ferocity of others .
renders some sufficiently docile and tractable as to be induced fearlessly
to approach ; while it awakens the alarms of others, and expels them
from their abodes. It may be observed, however, that that strain of
music which may affect an animal in any particular way, will not be
attended with similar results in all others, and in the cases of domesti-
cated animals the effects are various upon different individuals of the

N 2

92 ON THE EFFECTS OF MUSIC, &C.

same species*. Having said thus much upon music in general, I shall
now proceed to bring forward instances illustrative of my subject.

Of the repulsive effects of music upon animals there is an amusing
story in a volume of the London Magazine for 1825, which I here
transcribe: "A soldier, who had obtained a passport to go to England
from Ireland, being fatigued, sat down in a wood, and commenced eating
some victuals which he had brought with him ; but suddenly he was
surprised by the appearance of two or three wolves, who approached
towards him, and to whom he threw, for the sake of ensuring their
friendship, bit after bit of his bread and cheese until he had no more to
give ; and then, as the wolves began to approach nearer, he knew not
what to do to appease them otherwise than by playing an air upon his
bag pipes ; but he had no sooner commenced than to his astonishment
they all scampered away. ' The deuce take you all !' cried he ; ' had I
known that you loved music so well, you should have had it before
dinner." Sparrman furnishes us with an anecdote of a trumpeter, who
by a similar expedient saved himself from falling a prey to a prowling
hyaena. " One night, at a feast near the Cape, a trumpeter, who had got
himself well filled with liquor, was carried out of doors in order to cool
and sober him. The scent of him soon attracted a spotted hyaena,
which threw him on his back, and carried him away to Table Mountain?
thinking him a corpse, and consequently a fair prize. In the mean
time, however, our drunken musician awaked sufficiently sensible to
know the danger of his situation, and to sound the alarm with his
trumpet, which he carried fastened to his side. The beast, as may be
easily imagined, was not less frightened in its turn." From a notice in
" Goldsmith's Animated Nature," it appears that crickets are frightened
from houses by the sound of music, as he states, that a woman who
detested their chirping had her residence accidentally rid of these
objects of her dislike, by the playing of a band of music engaged for
the amusement of her friends on the occasion of a wedding. Fish?
it seems, are usually frightened by music ; a circumstance of which the
Chinese avail themselves for the purpose of making their finny prey

* For instances of the indifference and the respect of various domesticated ani-
mals for the music of the trump-marine, vide " Alphabet of Zoology," page 113.
We must not, however, judge of the degrees of musical taste respectively possessed.
by the animals there mentioned, as they might have been differently affected by
other instruments, or by other tunes upon even the same instrument. — J. F.

UPON ANIMALS. 93

assemble at one particular spot, where they are captured, consequently,
in greater numbers. Captain Basil Hall, in his interesting " Voyages,"
tells us, that proceeding- up a river in China, he and his seamates were
somewhat surprised at observing some fishermen in their vessels utter-
ing loud yells and shouts, at the same time striking some of those well-
known musical instruments termed " gongs," which were suspended
from their masts. The captain at first considered that all this noise
was intended to drive away the English Ambassador, who had just
arrived ; but in this opinion, however, he was soon undeceived by
learning that it was merely produced with the view of driving the fishfrom
that part of the river to another, where nets were waiting in readiness
to receive them *. ^Esop would seem to have been aware of the
repulsive effect of music upon fishes, as he makes the fisherman in one
of his fables fail in his sport in consequence of his playing on the flute.
We will now consider the attractive power of rnusic over the brute
creation. This power seems to be, from a variety of recorded instances,
remarkably apparent in the case of the stag, of which creature it is
stated, that upon the sound of music it becomes divested of its natural
timidity, and gradually approaches to the place from whence the sounds
proceed. " If a person happen to whistle, or call at a distance," says
the authoress of the Natural Historian, " the stag stops short, and
gazes upon the stranger with a kind of silent admiration ; and if he per-
ceives neither fire-arms nor dogs preparing against him, he goes slowly
forward, with apparent unconcern. * * * * He seems delighted
with the sound of the shepherd's pipe ; which, on that account, is
sometimes used to lure him to destruction." A dolphin, according to
ancient history, was so charmed with the lute of Arion, as to swim
towards him and save him from the watery element into which he was
necessitated to throw himself, to escape from his mutinous crew, who
permitted him, at his request, to chant some sweet strains to his lute
previous to his diving into the sea, from which he was so happily res-
cued by the intervention of this philharmonic fish, who safely conveyed
the great musician upon its back to Cape Taenarus in Sparta, where it
was taken leave of by its rider, who went thence to the city of Corinth.
Mr. Wadd, in an extremely interesting article on " Medical Music,"
published in the Quarterly Journal of Science, in April 1829, when
alluding to the above historical account, justly observes, that " it would

* Hall's Voyages, vol. 1 . p. 24.

94 ON THE EFFECTS OF MUSIC, 8CC.

have been well for the mutineers if their taste for music had been as
great as the dolphin's, for the history not only affords a grand instance
of the power of music, but of retributive justice, as the sailors acci-
dentally going to Corinth paid the penalty of their evil intentions with
their lives." Persons who have been aware of the possibility of attracting
animals by music have, according to different writers, resorted to it
with great success, when desirous of removing obnoxious animals from
their abodes. In Hone's Every Buy Book, p. 1372, is given a re-
markable (and the reader, perhaps, will say an incredible) account of
this kind, with respect to the rat, from Verstegan's Restitution of
Decayed Intelligence. This account (Which may be found versified in
some works) is thus stated : " Hulberstadt, in Germany, was extremely
infested with rats, which a certain musician called, from his habits, the
' Pyed Piper' agreed for a great sum of money to destroy ; whereupon
he tuned his pipes, and the rats immediately followed him to the next
river, where they were all drowned. But when the piper demanded his
pay, he was refused with some scorn and contempt ; upon which he
began another tune, and was followed by all the children of the town
to a neighbouring hill, called Hamelin, which opened and swallowed
them up, and then closed again. One boy, being lame, came after the
rest ; but seeing what had happened, returned and related this strange
circumstance. The story was believed, for the parents never after heard
of their lost children. This incident is said to have happened on the
22nd of July, in the year 1376, and that since that time the people of
Hulberstadt permit not any drum, pipe, or other instrument, to be
sounded in that street which leads to the gate through which the chil-
dren passed. They also establish a decree, that in all writings of con-
tract or bargain, after the date of our Saviour's nativity, the date also of
the year of the children's going forth shall be added in perpetual re-
membrance of this surprising event." By similar means to those pur-
sued by the revengeful piper towards the rats, the natives of cer-
tain countries aresaid to rid themselves of snakes, which by reason of
their venom they would not venture to eject from their houses by appli-
cation to force. " The eastern Indians will rid their houses of the
most venomous snakes, by charming them with the sounds of a flute,
which calls them out of their holes. Instances of the same kind, how-
ever incredible they may appear, are given not only by ancient writers,
such as Pliny and Seneca, but by modern authors of undoubted credit,
such as Sir William Jones, Bruce, Shaw, Greaves, Forbes, and Chateau-

UPON ANIMALS. 95

briand.*" These instances, exhibiting the attractive influence of
music over certain creatures, are very curious ; but how much more
curious is it to find some animals so sensitive to its charms as volun-
tarily to resort to places where they have learnt by experience that they
can gratify their taste by it. In a note prefixed to Innes's edition of
Goldsmith's Natural History, we are told, that " an ass at Chartres
used to go to the chateau of Quarville, to hear the music that was
performed there. The owner of the chateau was a lady, who had an
excellent voice ; and whenever she began to sing, the ass never failed to
draw nearer to the window, and listened very attentively. Once when
a piece was performed, which no doubt pleased him better than any he
had ever heard before, he left his ordinary post, walked without ce-
remony into the music-room ; and, in order to add to the concert what
he thought was alone wanting to render it perfect, began to bray with
all his might." I remember having read an account, some time since,
of a dog that loved military music, so much as to be in the daily habit
of going to some barracks, or court-yard, where a performance of this
kind took place. — Though

" Music's force can tame the furious beast ;

Can make the wolf or foaming boar restrain

His rage ; the lion drop his crested name,

Attentive to the song ;"

yet one would hardly suppose that it would have sufficient influence
over a spider as to appease its fears and render it perfectly tame, a
matter which one would suppose extremely difficult to effect upon so small
a being. But M. Pelissan, when an imprisoned inmate of the Bastile,
is said to have gained the friendship of a spider, to whose habits he
paid much attention, by means of music. The observations which M.
Pelissan made upon the habits and actions of his dumb, but amusing
companion, must have tended, in great measure, to divert his mind
from the gloomy contemplations which a prison's walls are too well
calculated to engender.

I now come to speak of the effects of electricity upon animals : — If
we consider electricity with reference to its universal presence, its ex-
traordinary powers, its useful properties, and its awful consequences,
we find it embracing some of the most curious and splendid phenomena
among the many that engage the attention of the natural philosopher.
In this paper I speak of the effects of electricity, magnetism, and gal-

* Mag. Nat. History, vol. i. p. 373.

96 ON THE EFFECTS OF MUSIC, &C.

vanism separately ; though modern discoveries, particularly those of
Faraday, Ritchie, Pixii, and others, amount almost to a proof that the
subjects of these three sciences are merely modifications of the same
principle. I would therefore ask, by the way, would it not be better to
consider these as constituting- three branches of one science, in like
manner as we, in natural history, regard ornithology, conchology. and
entomology as three branches or sub-sciences of the extensive science
of zoology. To say more at present upon this point would be some-
what foreign to the professed object of this paper, and would defeat the
aim I have in view of supplying a few pages of interesting and untech-
nical matter, chiefly intended for the amusement of those who are not
over partial to the perusal of the dry details of science.

To describe the effects of electricity, when administered by the
electrician to the bodies of animals, would here occupy more space
than I can reasonably expect could be conveniently granted for the pur-
pose ; therefore I shall confine myself to speaking of the powers of
lightning, which is merely a strong electric shock, the thunder by
which it is accompanied being the noise of its explosion. The dreadful
effects of lightning, in depriving mankind and other creatures of their
limbs and senses, and of even life itself, are too well known, from the
unfortunate frequency of their occurrence*. The illness and debility
which seize some persons previous, and sometimes subsequent, to the
discharge of the electric cloud, must have been noticed by almost every
one. Pains are felt, particularly in the head and stomach, by some
persons (myself included) upon the approach, or after the cessation of
lightning ; which pains, perhaps, are ascribable to its acidifying pro-
perty, which appears to convert the food contained within the stomach
into acid, as freely and as quickly as it does the beer in a beer barrel.
Previous to the appearance of lightning, cattle and most animals, all of
whom are, probably, more sensitive than ourselves to the atmospherical
changes by which it is no doubt preceded, become restless, and resort to
places of protection. Ants, bees, and butterflies, I have, from repeated
observations made in the field, been induced to think, diligently avoid
exposure to lightning, at least when it is unaccompanied by rain : but
how they behave when it is attended with rain I have not as yet re-
marked. Before the commencement of lightning, and during its pre-

* The best means of guarding against the destructive consequences which so
often result from exposure to lightning, will be described in a future communica-
tion.— J. F.

UPON ANIMALS. 97

ralence, ants are seen in great commotion ; bees hide themselves in
flowers ; and butterflies become sluggishly inactive and rest upon the
leaves of plants, which leaves, I have reason to believe, are not pro-
miscuously selected. The devastation which lightning commits among
the insect tribe, and which is so heartily welcomed by the selfish hus-
bandman, who would deny all such animals as are not convertible into
pounds, shillings, and pence, any participation in the fruits of the
earth, is a circumstance familiar to all. From the same cause great
numbers of fish are sard to be destroyed.

Magnetism exhibits its inexplicable effects principally upon metallic
bodies ; and with the exception of the power attributed to it of curing
corns and rheumatism, of stopping vomitings, and of sending persons
into so sound a slumber that all endeavours to awake them by hallooing
in their ears, or even pinching their flesh, are of no avail, I am only
acquainted with one instance (which appears to be well authenticated)
of its exercising any effect upon the living body. The instance to
which I allude is that of the ill-fated youth Caspar Hauser, who was
secretly confined within a dungeon, wherein he lived from his infancy,
devoid of speech, a stranger to the light of the heavens and of the
beauty and luxuriance of the earth, until at the age of seventeen he was
conveyed by the same unknown being, who had hitherto supplied him
with bread and water during the time of his unmerited incarceration, to
Nuremberg, where he first beheld the face of man, upon being discovered
after his abandonment by the wretch who brought him hither while
under the influence of sleep. This individual, whose life has recently
been taken by an unknown hand at Anspach, where he had long resided
under the fostering protection of benevolent individuals, was, it is stated,
wonderfully affected by the application of the magnet, as was accident-
ally discovered by the circumstance of his complaining that a magnetic
toy, with which he was presented, occasioned in him disagreeable sen-
sations. Some experiments are said to have been instituted upon him
by Professor Daumer, with a view of eliciting the cause and nature of
this singular susceptibility to magnetic influence. " When the north
pole was presented to him, he complained of pain in his stomach, and
that a current of air appeared to flow from him towards the magnet ;
the south pole had less effect on him. These experiments were varied
as much as possible, but he was never deceived*."

Galvanism produces some very remarkable and powerful effects upon

* London Medical and Physical Journal, vol. 70, page 173.
VOL. II. NO. II. O

98 ON THE SINGING OF THE SWAN.

man and other creatures. The saline taste which is conveyed to the
tongue, by the mere insertion of that organ between two metallic plates
connected to each other in a certain manner, and the sudden and violent
convulsions which it produces upon animals when alive or dead, are
facts too generally disseminated to require recapitulation at any great
length. An extract from a treatise upon galvanism, published in the
Library of Useful Knowledge, perhaps will suffice to convey an idea of
its effects upon some of the smaller and more sensitive animals. " If a
crown piece be laid upon a plate of zinc of larger size, and a living leech
be placed upon the silver coin, it will suffer no inconvenience so long as
it remains in contact with the silver only; but the moment it has
stretched out its head so as to touch the zinc, it suddenly recoils, as if
it had experienced a painful shock. An earthworm will also exhibit the
same kind of sensitiveness ; and the same effect is still more strikingly
exemplified by the nais, which is an aquatic worm. Humboldt found
that the cernaa, or water-serpent, and even vcenia, ascaris, and other
species of intestinal worms, had their movements accelerated by the
influence of galvanism, which altogether speedily destroyed their life.
Powerful shocks from a voltaic battery are no less immediately fatal to
animals than discharges from an ordinary electric battery. Small
animals are easily killed by discharges which would only produce a
temporary stunning effect on larger animals*''

At a future period I may have occasion to revert to the subjects here
introduced, in an article on the distribution of electricity among animated
beings.

Paddington.

ON r SINGING OF THE SWAN.

BY SIR T. BROWNE, M. D., NORWICHf .

FROM great antiquity, and before the melody of syrens, the musical
note of swans hath been commended, and that they sing most sweetly
before their death. For thus we read in Plato, that from the opinion of
Metempsychosis, or transmigration of the souls of men into the bodies
of beasts most suitable unto their humane condition, after his death
Orpheus the musician became a swan. Thus was it the bird of Apollo

* Treatise on Galvanism, page 79.
f From Pseudodoxia Epidemica.

ON THE SINGING OF THE SWAN. 99

the god of music by the Greeks ; and an hieroglyphic of music among
the Egyptians, from whom the Greeks derived the conception — hath
been the affirmation of many Latines, and hath not wanted asserters
almost from every nation.

All which notwithstanding, we find this relation doubtfully received
by ^Elian, as an hearsay account by Bellonius, as a false one by Pliny,
expressly refuted by Myndius, in Athenseus, and severely rejected by
Scaliger ; whose words unto Cardan are these, " You are a goose to
throw a light upon the true sweet song of the swan, which of the story
tellers I appoint, with their parent Greece, a tribunal to Lucian about
which you will say something new." Authors also that countenance it
speak not satisfactorily of it. Some affirming they sing not till they
die; some that they sing, yet die not. Some speak generally, as though
this note were in all ; some but particularly, as though it were only in
some ; some in places remote, and where we can have no trial of it,
others in places where every experience can refute it ; as Aldrovandus,
upon relation, delivered concerning the music of the swans on the river
Thames near London.

Now that which countenanceth, and probably confirmeth this opinion,
is the strange and unusual conformation of the windpipe, or vocal organ
in this animal ; a figuration to be found in elks, and not in common
swans, observed first by Aldrovandus, and conceived by some contrived
for this intention. For in its length it far exceedeth the gullet ; and
hath in the chest a famous revolution ; that is, when it ariseth from the
lungs, it ascendeth out directly unto the throat, but descending first
into a capsulary reception of the breast bone, by a serpentine and
trumpet recurvation it ascendeth again into the neck ; and so by length
thereof, a great quantity of ayr is received, and by the figure thereof a
musical modulation effected. But to speak indifferently, this formation
of the weazen is not peculiar unto the swan, but common also unto
the platea or shovelard, a bird of no musical throat ; and, as Aldrovandus
confesseth, may thus be contrived in the swan to contain a larger stock
of ayr, whereby being to feed on weeds at the bottom, they might the
longer space detain their heads under water. But were this formation
peculiar, or had they unto this effect an advantage from this part, yet
have a known and open disadvantage from another, that is, a flat bill.
For no latirostrous animals, (whereof nevertheless there are no slender
numbers,) were ever commended for their note, or accounted among
those animals which have been instructed tospeak.

When, therefore, we consider the dissension of authors, the falsity of

100 ON INSTINCT IN BIRDS.

relations, the indisposition of the organs, and the unmusical note of all
we ever beheld or heard of ; if generally taken, and comprehending all
swans, or of all places, we cannot assent thereto. Surely he that is bit
with a tarantula shall never be cured by this music ; and with the same
hopes we expect to hear the harmony of the spheres.

ON INSTINCT IN BIRDS.

BY C. W. S.

IT is my present intention to make known to you a few facts, which
have come under my own observation, illustrative of the partial loss,
or modification, of instinct in animals, which frequently takes place in
them when domesticated. I think that cag-ed birds often lose the habit
of swallowing gravel for the purpose of grinding their food in the giz-
zard. I generally open my own birds which die, and have always found
a deficiency of gravel, from which circumstance I am induced to believe
that the diseases of caged birds are very often owing to their losing
the instinct of swallowing gravel.* I observed one of my redpolls the
other day in a fit, tumbling about in violent convulsions ; he remained
so for about two hours, during which time I, for an experiment, made
him swallow some drops of sherry, without its seeming to have any
very good effect ; I then, with a great deal of trouble, forced three little
pebble stones down his throat, and he has had no recurrence of the fit,
though he does not look quite well. I think that the above-mentioned
case shows evidently that the bird had partially lost its instinct. I once
put two hen canaries, with one cock, into a breeding cage ; one of the
hens immediately paired, but the other was of too quarrelsome a dis-
position, and was continually fighting with its two fellow prisoners.
She, however, built a nest by herself ; and as her eggs were addled, I
put some chaffinches' and green linnets' eggs under her, which she
afterwards hatched. But I will proceed to relate the more remarkable
part of the affair. As the single hen hatched more young ones than
the other, I took some from under her, and put them under the other
hen ; this she immediately discovered, and used to go over and feed
her young one on the other's nest ; and, what was most extraordinary,
used to feed the other old hen as well, whenever she found her sitting

* I have entered minutely into the subject of birds swallowing gravel in " FACUL-
TIES or BIRDS," Chapter v. — ED.

CHAPTER OF VARIETIES. 101

on the young ones, though if she met her any where off the nest, she
used invariably to fight. The above fact seems to show a kind of
blindness in instinct. I have put green linnets and chaffinches, nearly
fledged, into canaries' nests, when their own young ones have been just
hatched, and they seem to have generally observed no difference, but
fed them and brought them up as their own. I, however, once put some
young whitethroats into a canary's nest, but she refused to feed them,
though they opened their mouths most importunately ; but these were
very nearly full-fledged birds, and of course looked very dissimilar to
young canaries. I once paired a couple of green linnets, and the hen
laid as many as six eggs : the cock, however, had so far lost his original
instinct, that one day, after the eggs had been sat upon for several
days, he went and turned the nest quite over and broke the eggs. I
also had a bullfinch who had two sets of eggs, but the cock broke them
in the same manner. I will conclude my remarks by an instance of
very early formed instinct : I once broke a chaffinch's egg, in which I
found a young one, with its stomach as yet in a fluid state ; it, however,
opened its mouth and swallowed some food which I gave it even at this
early period ; I tried to bring it to maturity under a canary, but it was
so fluid that it dried to the shell and died.
Stepney.

CHAPTER OF VARIETIES.

EFFECTS OF INUNDATIONS ON THE HAUNTS OF SMALL BIRDS. —
In the month of August, 1829, the estate of Ballindalloch, in Banff-
shire, was among others a very great sufferer by the dreadful floods
which at that period devastated almost the whole of the north of Scot-
land. The house was surrounded with water for upwards of eighteen
hours ; and the garden, pleasure grounds, and parks, were all either de-
stroyed or very much injured. But what I think most surprising, in
connexion with this, was the almost total desertion of the smaller birds
which then took place, and was so remarkable as to attract the notice
of the most careless observers.

Before this inundation, the chaffinches and house sparrows in par-
ticular, had become so numerous as to be a perfect pest, and nothing in
the garden was secure from their depredations. The latter of these birds
built in great numbers, not only in holes of the garden wall, and under
the eaves of the out-houses, but nestled also on the tops of some lofty

102 CHAPTER OF VARIETIES.

silver firs, the summits of which were quite filled with their " straw-
built sheds." After the subsiding of the waters, and for the greater
part of the season which succeeded this visitation, very few chaffinches,
and not a single sparrow, were seen. The former, however, gradually
retiirned, and are now nearly as numerous as ever; but of the latter,
not one individual, as far as I can learn, has since been noticed, though
I have been very assiduous in looking for them myself, and in in-
quiring of all others who were likely to have observed them. What
seems to me to make this still more surprising, is the fact that there
is a great extent of wooded bank not a hundred yards from their usual
haunts, which was quite beyond the reach of the water, and on an
elevated part of which the silver firs grow, in which, as I have already
observed, many of their nests were built.

I cannot think that the destruction of the garden is tLe cause of it,
for this reason, that a new one has been formed, at a little distance,
no doubt, from its predecessor, but still on a spot, the neighbourhood
of which they used formerly to frequent, and in it I have seen numbers
of chaffinches, hedge-chanters, redbreasts, and other small birds, but
never could distinguish any sparrows among them. All the other
grounds near the house have been restored to their former condition,
so that no change on them can account for it.

Should you think this worthy of a corner in your Magazine, I will
feel much indebted to any of your numerous readers, who can suggest
a reason for this curious desertion of so common and familiar a bird*.

T. M. G.

Edinburgh.

BLACK RAT. — It is, I believe, very generally supposed that the
black rat of this country has become very rare, and that it is now
almost every where superseded by the larger brown species ; so that the
circumstance of it still being common in one part of this island may
not be, perhaps, altogether uninteresting. At Ballindalloch they are
at present very numerous, and are the only species of rat known there,
principally frequenting the granaries and stables, where they do a great
deal of damage. It is, however, not long since they made their appear-
ance ; as I recollect, some years ago, that there was not a single rat of
any kind to be seen on that property. The black rat is in every respect
much less offensive than the brown one ; it is also smaller, and has

* An exceedingly curious and interesting fact. Other communications from
T. M. G. will be very acceptable. — ED.

CHAPTER OF VARIETIES. 103

more of the shapg and general appearance of a mouse, while its glossy
black fur and long tail make it, in my opinion at least, a very handsome
animal*.

T. M. G.

Edinburgh.

SPARROWS BUILDING IN WINTER. — I was a good deal surprised
to-day, to see a sparrow with a large feather in its bill. It was sitting
on the ground when I first observed it, where it remained for some time,
while it looked about with as much caution and circumspection as they
generally do in spring, when they are afraid of their nest being dis-
covered. After a little it flew away with its treasure, but I could not
see where it went. I noticed one some time ago carrying off some
straws, but unfortunately neglected to note it down. The frost is at
present severe, and has been so for a day or two ; so that it cannot be
supposed that the sparrow intended to employ the feather in the con-
struction of a nest f .

T. M. G.

Edinburgh.

JANUARY REMARKS. — In the Field Diary of " Solitarius," in your
last number, he mentions not having met with any thing in the month
of January peculiar to it; and he states, under date of April 13th, 1833,
that the Pulex irritans " appeared," as if it were for the first time that
year. Now I captured a very fine one on the 15th of January instant.
I know not if you or your correspondent will think this worthy of
notice. I consider that in mild winters, like the present, this insect
may be found, not only in one particular month, but any day or night
during the season.

I beg to add, that a solitary Musca domestica remained in my room up
to the 16th instant, since which it has disappeared. It seemed in a
very healthy and lively state, and there were others with it till very
lately. I should be glad to learn from you if these insects survive the
winter or not ?

A friend brought me a short time ago a kitten with a double head,
complete in every respect, except that the two eyes, which came to-

* Could T. M. G. favour us with a specimen or two of the stuffed skins, sent
to Messrs. Orr and Smith, through Messrs. Chambers, Edinburgh ? — ED.

f As the sparrow is very fond of warmth, (see Faculties of Birds, chap, i.)
might not this be for lining a roosting, not a breeding, nest ? — ED.

104 CHAPTER OF VARIETIES. .

gether in the centre, appeared to be formed into one, of larger dimen-
sions than the other two. The scull &c. I have preserved in spirits,
and the skin has been stuffed by Mr. John Ware, of this town. By
the way, John Ware is a taxidermist of some celebrity — he is also a
ventriloquist and a musician, and upon the whole a great natural genius,
worthy of a recommendation in your valuable work.

The neighbourhood of a large town, like this, is not very favourable
for observations in natural history ; but I intend to record such things
as may come under my notice relating to it, and send them to you, if
you think them worthy of your acceptance*. M.

Southampton.

RAT'S NEST. — In removing a. stack of paper, some time since, I was
surprised to see a full -grown Norway rat (Rattus decumanus, Fleming)
issue from the centre ; this excited my interest, and the probability of
her having just left a nest made me remove the remaining bundles
with the greatest care. The desideratum was soon discovered ; she had
excavated one of the reams so completely, that but for the aperture at
which she entered, it would have deceived the most scrutinising eye.
No young were there; but by the quantity of dung behind the stack she
must have lived there multos per annos, and had probably reared
many a " progeny."

RAZOR BILL (Alca Torda, Linn.) — A very fine specimen of this
singular bird was shot in the parish of Bew Castle, a few miles from
Carlisle, a short time ago. It was esteemed rather a curiosity, being
seldom met with so far inland. The great winds, which have been so
prevalent lately, have probably had some hand in its appearance so far
out of its " latitude," as well as in that of the Northern Diver (Colym-
bus glacialis), a specimen of which bird has now for more than ten
weeks been sojourning at the farm, a small lake near Brampton, in this
county. The capabilities of this bird for diving have hitherto enabled
it to escape all the contrivances of neighbouring sportsmen for its de-
struction. F. J.

Carlisle.

HOSTILITY EVINCED BY THE LAPWING TO CROWS. — Most persons
residing in the country must have observed the determined hostility

* The Editor will feel obliged by M.'s future correspondence

CHAPTER OF VARIETIES. 105

shown by the lapwing against the crow, whenever the latter lias the
audacity to enter a field in which the lapwing has chanced for a time
to take up its residence. On such occasions, immediately the intruder is
discovered, he is pursued with the greatest animosity, until driven away
from his enemy's dominions; and it is rare, indeed, that the crow has
the courage to face its opponent, who keeps up the attack on all sides,
and without intermission. This takes place during the breeding season,
either when the eggs are being hatched, or the young ones are not suf-
ficiently grown to be left to themselves ; but at no other time, as I
have often observed, and as any person may observe for himself, in the
autumn of the year, when numbers of lapwings may be seen feeding
and flying quite peaceably with flocks of crows. Whether this aversion
on the part of the " peewit'' proceeds from mere jealousy, or is the effect
of that wonderful power of instinct, which in this instance might lead
that bird to evince hostility in order to protect its young from the
ravenous maw of the crow, I must leave to some one more experienced
in the study of natural history than myself to determine. F. J.

Carlisle.

TRANSPARENCY OF THE SEA. — Having been struck by the descrip-
tions of the transparent clearness of the sea in high latitudes, and also
near the line, and far from land, in many situations, I feel surprise that
so little advantage has been taken of this by naturalists, to attempt to
discover plants and animals living at such a depth, as to be unlikely ever
to be discovered by any other means than by sight. Times may occur,
in a long voyage, when on these deep seas (the surface may be so still
and quiet) that telescopes might enable the eye to penetrate many
miles down, and bring to our view many of those creatures still living,
which are supposed to have been destroyed, and not to have lived since
the creation of man. Over these immense plains, lofty mountains, and
dense groves, two or three miles from the surface of the sea, far out of
the reach of winds, and storms, and currents, may even now exist those
huge snails, the Cornua Ammonis, the Nautilus with its own proper
inhabitant, the Megalosaurus, Icthyosaurus, Plesiosaurus, Ornitho-
cephali, Mammoths, &c., &c. All these may, most of them certainly
could, live at these immense depths, and in the dense air, as we know
our own toads, frogs, and newts can do. No argument against this
can be framed on the fact, that their recent remains are never found
thrown up on any shores ; because the great depth at which they live
would render it impossible for any storm ever to disturb them ; and if

VOL. II. NO. II. P

106 CHAPTER OF VARIETIES.

the animals lived at the bottom, their remains could never rise to the
top, through such a prodigious weight of water and of air. There,
therefore, they may be at this very day — and in my opinion are : as,
from analogy, no part of nature that we are acquainted with is void of
inhabitants. If you like to insert this it is at your service. P. W.

HAWK SHOOTING — I read with interest in the 1st number of the
" Field Naturalist," an interesting account of an ingenious method
of shooting eagles in the Alps. Since that time, I have heard that
a similar plan for shooting hawks has been adopted by a clever and

intelligent gamekeeper at W He has two tame hawks, (a

kestrel and a sparrow hawk) which he stakes down in some exposed
situation, at the distance of about a yard from each other, and places
a dead rabbit or pigeon between them. He then stations himself in
concealment behind some neighbouring hedge or tree. If there are
any hawks in the neighbourhood, they are almost immediately attracted
to the spot, either from motives of curiosity or anger, and afford an
easy shot. What is worthy of remark is, that all kinds of hawks seem
to be equally attracted by this lure. C. B.

January 23, 1834.

ESTABLISHMENT OF A ROOKERY. — Although T. C. has already
replied to the sweeping demands of N. N. for accounts of the best mode
of improving nature, and although I cannot inform him on all his innu-
merable points of inquiry, yet I can tell him how (please the rooks)
to establish a rookery. In Northamptonshire there is a village where
three rookeries have been established by the following plan ; namely,
removing the eggs of the first magpie that builds in the desired locality,
and^substituting those of rooks ; of course this presupposes the existence
of a magpie's nest, but few large clumps of trees are without that, in
Northamptonshire at least. If no magpie will build, I cannot help him.

Your correspondent A. T., Capel Curig, has, I think, been misled by
Bewick's cut into a belief that the female Red-backed Shrike was a
Woodchat. This uncommon visiter of our country is there so ill
described, and the cut is so carelessly done, that I was in the same
manner deceived until I got your edition of Montagu, where I found it
properly described as totally distinct from the hen-flusher.

If A. T. ever visits London, he might see preserved specimens of the
Woodchat at Mr. Ashmead's, bird preserver, in Duke Street, Grosvenor
Square, in good plumage, and well set up, T.

CHAPTER OF VARIETIES. 107

SANDPIPER AND STINT. — Presuming an interrogatory communica-
tion to be not entirely repugnant to the plan of your Magazine, I have
sent the following, it being to me the only plan of solving the difficulty
in which I find myself.

I have often remarked, during my ornithological rambles on the coast,
the alternately dark and white appearance presented by the flocks of a
species of Sandpiper, as they skim the surface of the water.

Till your edition of Montagu came into my hands, I had always
regarded it as the Stint (Fringa Cinclus) of Bewick. Now in Montagu
the stint is said to be a name for the Dunlin, which it seems is not
abundant, (whereas this species is extremely so,) and no notice is taken
of the characteristic I have mentioned.

Now the question is, am I right in calling it the Fringa variabilis ?
it seems strange that Montagu should have omitted so striking a pecu-
liarity. PLINY.

Lancaster.

ROOKERIES. — At a village called Hatherby, about four miles from
Gloucester, there is a rookery, the nests of which are built in poplar
trees ; is it not an unusual thing ?

In the last number, December, N. N. wants to know how he may
establish a rookery ; I have been told it may be accomplished by placing
some old nests in the trees where you wish to establish one.

ALPHA.

Gloucester.

SAGACITY IN A HORSE. — I am unwilling to trespass on the public
stock of room in the Field Nat.'s pages, but have just seen an instance
of sagacity worthy of notice, — that of a horse in one of those large coal-
waggons going down one of the steep avenues to the Thames, turning
the fore wheel against the curb-stone, and keeping it there as a drag
during the whole descent. T.

SINGULAR HABIT IN A BACHELOR'S CAT. — If the following re-
markable fact is likely to amuse any of your readers, you will oblige a
great admirer of your " Field Naturalist." I am a bachelor, and really
a happy one, though I anticipate many an incredulous smile on the
lips of some of your fairer readers for my choice of the epithet ; but I am
a bachelor, and consequently never pass an evening, when alone, without
my tea, with which I generally have an egg boiled, or a fine Yarmouth

108 CAAPTER OF VARIETIES.

herring- broiled. I have a fine old motherly-looking cat, who is never
allowed to come near my " sanctum sanctorum ;" but whenever / ring
the bell for the removal of my tea-table, she starts up before the servant,
and waits on the staircase for her morsel. This only takes place when
my egg, or herring, is ordered ; and she eats the egg-shell with quite as
much relish as the herring-bones : if I have neither egg nor herring,
the sound of the bell has no charms for her, and she does not even stir
from her fire-side.

I can readily imagine her finding out the herring, but cannot see
how she can detect the egg, which she runs up stairs for with such
glee. — From a great admirer of Nature, and of your valuable labours.

s.

Shrewsbury.

EFFECTS OF MOUNTAIN HEIGHTS ON PLANTS. — M. Gay, in his
recent interesting tour among the Cordilleras, discoverd many beau-
tiful and rare species of Baccharis, Loasea, Alstrozmeria, and, " above
all," he says, " those charming Mnlisia which exhibit this singular
phenomenon." The tendrils with which these plants are usually fur-
nished, becoming useless in these cold regions, unprovided with shrubs
or bushes, change into real leaves, organs of such great utility to alpine
plants. I have also remarked that the plants which are herbaceous
in the plains, become here entirely ligneous ; and that several trees,
especially the Escallonia, instead of assuming that forked appearance
which characterises it, becomes stunted, creeping along the rocks, and
thus offering less surface to the cold, with which the wind is charged
in passing over these numerous and immense glaciers. But another
observation which I have also made among these cold regions, is still
more interesting ; it is the form of imbricated leaves, which the greater
portion of the vegetables assume — those genera even whose habitual form
seems to be entirely contrary to this disposition. Thus, the leaves of
the Triptilions, which are so lax and small in the lower regions, be-
come here extremely hard and tough, closely imbricating the stalk, and
even the flowers of these beautiful plants ; the Mutisia, which is nearly
devoid of leaves, when at the side of the mountains, produces at their
summit a considerable number. The Violets here have not that ele-
gant form which we observe in those lower down, but are found under
a form altogether different ; they represent a rosette, which may be
compared to that of a Sedum, with this difference, that the leaves, in-
stead of being almost vertical, are in these alpine violets entirely hori-

CHAPTER OF VARIETIES.

109

zontal. These leaves, which are extremely hard and tough, are round,
scabrous, strongly imbricated, and exhibit at the footstalks flowers,
which are sessile, and of a violet colour, somewhat approaching to red.
Although very familiar with the genera Triptilion, Escallonia, Muti-
sia, Viola, the particular aspect of these alpine species caused me to
mistake them entirely, and I did not discover to what genus they be-
longed, until I studied them after my return."

MIGRATORY BIRDS IN CORNWALL. — I have taken the liberty of
sending1 to you a list of birds that frequent this neighbourhood in the
summer ; together with a few others which visit us in the winter.
Should you deem them worthy of insertion in the " Field Naturalist,"
you will oblige your constant reader,

Those marked with an asterisk are rare.

Arrival. Departure.

Chiff Chaff ( Trochilus rufa) -
Swallows^ (Hirundo, rustica and urLica)
Curlew, (Scolopax Arquata) -
Reed Bird (Ripcecola arundinacea) -
Cuckoo ( Cuculus canorus)
Whitethroat (Sylvia cinerea)
Turtle Dove (Columba Turtur)
Bearded Tit* (Pants Biarmicus)
Black-cap Warbler* (Sylvia Atricapilla} -
Spotted Fly Catcher* (Muscicapa Grisola)
Red-backed Shrike* (Lanius Collurio) -

The following birds visit us in the fall of the year and depart in
spring : — wild goose, wild duck, wigeon, teal, heron, woodcock, snipe,
lapwing, dottrel, terns, redwing, bluebird, and kingfisher ; after minute
observation I may venture to say none of these birds breed here.

The long -tail tits, together with a host of golden-crested wrens and
other tits, I have observed this winter (as is usual with them) con-
gregated together, flying from tree to tree in perfect friendship.

P.S. Should these my first gleanings be acceptable, I shall always feel
happy in doing my best endeavours to contribute to your interesting
Magazine. E. P.

Penzance, Cornwall.

2nd April

lat. end Sept.

14th do.

begin. Oct.

22nd do.

middle Aug.

26th do.

lat. end Sept.

28th do,

begin. Aug.

1st May

begin. Sept.

5th do.

middle do.

do. do.

do. do.

do. do.

do. do.

middle do.

middle do.

do. do.

begin, do.

The Swift and Bank Martin are very rare in this neighbourhood.

1 10 CHAPTER OF VARIETIES.

FLOATING ISLANDS. — In the province of Colchagna, M. Gay found,
near Tagnatagua, an extensive lake, " in which," he says, " I saw,
for the first time, that singular phenomenon, a great number of float-
ing islands directed entirely by the winds. Having studied a certain
number of these islands with great care, I observed that they were
composed entirely of the remains of several vegetables, and especially
of the stalks of Typha, Arundo, Convolvulus, &c., interlaced in a
thousand different ways, and forming a species of net-work, on which
had been driven many other plants ; these latter, decaying, deposited
a mould, which increased from day to day, and became at length
capable of receiving shrubs and even trees of a moderate size. Their
form is generally circular, and their thickness four or six feet ; the
greatest part of which is sunk in the water.

As this lake is nearly desert, and surrounded by very high moun-
tains, birds of every genus and species repair to it in flocks, and add
to the truly picturesque aspect of its environs that gay and animated
air which is so pleasing to the landscape painter ; it was, indeed,
both curious and agreeable, to see at one time this prodigious quantity
of birds navigating peaceably among these floating islands ; some of
them, such as the black-necked swan, the numerous varieties of ducks,
trails, cocks, &c., seemed to prefer the middle, while the ibis, spoon-
bill, flamingo, hyalus, and an infinity of other wading birds, with a
beak more or less slender, wandered by the banks, quietly seeking
objects for food, at the bottom of the water. I visited for several days
the greater part of these isles, which enriched me with several very
interesting plants, such as Convolvulus, Ranunculus, Islricularia,
and other European genera, and, above all, with a series of beautiful
nests and eggs, objects which are so neglected by travellers, and yet
possessing such real interest in the natural history of birds."

ON THE ANIMALCULJE FOUND IN WATER, &c. — There is, perhaps,
no more surprising fact in the study of nature, than the existence of
such minute beings as these. That each of these creatures which are
invisible to the naked eye, unaided by the microscope, possesses a per-
fect set of organs, as well calculated to perform every function as those
of superior animals, — those who have attentively studied can testify.
But the most extraordinary fact, and one which (I confess) fairly puz-
zles me, is the theory of their production. I have made some trifling
experiments on this subject but can form no satisfactory conclusion.
I made an infusion of hay in spring water, and after letting it remain

CHAPTER OF VARIETIES. Ill

two days, I tried it with my microscope, but I could perceive no living
creature whatever ; I tried it again after four days, but with as little
success. I then let the infusion stand till it became putrid, when I
found that it absolutely teemed with life. I perceived among others
the Verticella, or wheel animalcule, that shaped like an eel, and some
round ones, edged with spiculse, which last revolved similar to the
wheel animalcule. I should observe, that some of the latter possessed
a kind of tail. I never observed any living creature in good spring
water, though many impurities. There can be no doubt, I think, that
they owe their being to decomposition, which is certainly one of the
most wonderful and important phenomena of nature. I should feel
grateful if some of your correspondents would be so kind as to give me
a few hints upon this subject ; viz., by investigating in some future
number, the changes which take place among the particles of vegetable
matter when submitted to the putrefactive process, so as to produce
these singular creatures. TYRO.

June 1st, 1833.

FANNING OF THE WINGS OF CERTAIN INSECTS. — May not the
constant fanning- of the wings of certain insects, particularly those of
the genus Vanessa, and the constant vibration of the wings of Seioptera
vibrans, &c., be intended to create a current of wind to repel the at-
tacks of acaridae and other little parasites, most of whom have an obvi-
ous antipathy to it? The explanation which some have given, of this
fanning being- produced by the insects to cool themselves, I think is not
very likely to be correct, for other insects equally exposed to the sum-
mer's heat do not practise this habit. The notion which some have
entertained, and stated, of this being performed to assist the circulation
of the fluids of the insects, I am just as little inclined to adopt.

Paddington. • JAMES FENNELL.

ANIMALS SWALLOWING HARD SUBSTANCES. — Ostriches, as is well
known, will purposely swallow, and without injury, hard substances,
such as stones, &c., which are digested whole, as they do not possess
the incredible powers of digestion attributed to one Francis Bathalia,
who is said to have been capable of swallowing- flints, and then, at the
expiration of a week, passing them in the shape of sand. The stomach
of the ostrich is so simple and so strong-, as readily to admit of the safe
passage of pointed nails, keen edged stones, and even sharp knives, as

112 CHAPTER OF VARIETIES.

frequent experiments have satisfactorily proved. It seems, indeed, to
be absolutely necessary that the stomachs of some birds shall always
contain pieces of stones and other hard bodies for the purpose of assist-
ing and facilitating1 the process of digestion. Messrs. Kirby and Spence,
in their Introduction to Entomology, tell us, that one of the camellicorn
timber beetles occasionally gnaws a passage through sheets of lead, the
particles of which are taken into the stomach. " The larva of a Ceram-
byx" say these famed entomologists, " which Dr. Leach has discovered
to be Cerambyx bajulus, sometimes does material injury to the wood-
work of the roofs of houses in London, piercing in every direction the
fir-rafters, and when arrived at the perfect state, making its way out
even through sheets of lead one-sixth of an inch thick, when they
happon to have been nailed upon the rafter in which it has assumed its
final metamorphosis." They afterwards mention their being " indebted
to the kindness of Sir Joseph Banks for a'specimen of such a sheet of
lead which, though only eight inches long and four broad, is thus
pierced with twelve oval holes, of some of which the longest diameter
is a quarter of an inch ! Mr. Charles Miller first discovered lead in
the stomach of this insect." Hard substances are sometimes swal-
lowed by animals, without any better motive than that of mischief.
D'Azara mentions the circumstance of an American tapir, (Tapirus
Amcricanus,*) which he kept domesticated, swallowing his silver snuff-
box. The ingulfment of D'Azara's snuff-box (are naturalists really
given to taking snuff?) was not a matter of so serious a moment as
that detailed in the following account of an expensive meal made by
an elephant, as reported in the Morning Chronicle of September 19,
1833. " On Friday afternoon, at the Zoological Gardens, Regent's
Park, a lady was holding a biscuit to the elephant from the top of her
reticule, when the animal, mistaking the extent of the lady's generosity,
seized the reticule with his trunk, and conveyed it with its contents, con-
sisting of a ten-pound note, some loose money, and a bunch of keys,
into his stomach, to the dismay of the lady and amusement of the
bystanders." The animal in this case, no doubt, swallowed the keys to
open his trunk, but what he needed the money for, unless to present
his keeper with a pecuniary reward, is difficult to discover. What a
pity that the thought did not occur to the lady, of sending for an
officer to overhaul the trunk, and insist upon the seizure of the
smuggled goods, SOLITARIUS.

Paddington.

THE

FIELD NATURALIST,

ON PROCURING SPECIMENS OF BRITISH LAND BIRDS
FOR A MUSEUM, WITH INCIDENTAL OBSERVATIONS
ON THE HABITS OF VARIOUS SPECIES.

( Continued from page 54.)

BY E. BLYTH.

I AM sorry that a severe indisposition should have prevented me
from continuing- this subject last month ; but if these desultory gossiping
observations are worthy a place in your pages, I feel much pleasure in
resuming them now.

In addition to the various remarks I made upon a kingfisher, which
I kept for some time in confinement, I may here add, that it was very
rarely heard to emit any sound ; but that when hungry, or kept longer
than usual without a supply of fresh food, it was at times extremely
clamorous, uttering- continually a sharp and loud chirp, resembling
chwite. I have heard it said, that, on account of the extreme shortness
of its legs, the kingfisher is unable to move forward upon the ground,
but this is erroneous ; if placed on the ground, it will generally fly off
immediately, but I have, nevertheless, on more than one occasion, seen
it with short quick steps waddle along in rather a ludicrous manner.
I have lately examined a considerable number of jays ( Garrulus glan-
darius), and think that to illustrate this species well both male and
female should be preserved ; in the former, the feathers upon the fore-
head are whiter, and the black spots consequently better contrasted
than in the other sex : the tail also is more barred, and the colours of
the whole plumage more lively : the female, however, exhibits a number
of small transverse bars upon the crest, which, in the male bird, are
scarcely discernible. My own observation of this species leads me to

VOL. ii. — NO. in. (MARCH, 1834.) a

114 ON PROCURING SPECIMENS OF BRITISH LAND BIRDS

corroborate a remark which Pennant has made concerning it, that the
young follow their parents until the succeeding- spring. Mr. Selby
appears doubtful on this point ; but I have always noticed them, in
places where they are not much disturbed, to remain throughout the
autumn and winter in small parties of five or six.

The swallow kind are in good feather for stuffing during the whole of
their stay in this country, as they do not injure their plumage, and
moult in the middle of winter. Four specimens are requisite to illus-
trate the common swallow ( H. rustica) ; the adult male and female,
and the young male and female in their first feathers. Of the other
species two specimens, an old bird and a young one, are sufficient.
The evejar (Nychtichelidon Europeans, Rennie) varies a little, some
individuals being much brighter than others, and the delicate pencil-
lings on their plumage being better defined. Three examples, male,
female, and young, should be preserved. This curious bird is not rare
in several places within a short distance of the metropolis ; I have
noticed it upon Penge Common, in Dulwich Woods, and in several
other suitable localities, especially about the Coombe district, where I
have compared its powers of ventriloquism with those of the little
grasshopper warbler (Salicaria locustella, Selby); [which species, how-
ever, is much its superior in the exercise of this strange faculty. It is
well worthy of remark, that all animals which emit rolling, thrilling-,
rattling, or croaking sounds, have the power of making their voice
appear to proceed from different directions: as examples may be adduced,
besides the two birds above mentioned ,the corn-crake, the water rail,
the frog, the mole-cricket, and various other Orthoptera.

The evejar will often sit for hours, during the day, perched length-
wise on the top of some grey lichen-covered paling, or other similar
situation where its colours are not conspicuous, looking like, and
being often passed by and mistaken for, a large lump of mouldiness.
At such times, it will occasionally suffer itself to be approached suf-
ficiently near to be easily struck down with a stick ; but if alarmed,
it seems not much incommoded by the glare of day, but darts
off to hide itself in some close fern covert, often at the distance of
a couple of hundred yards, with as much promptness and confidence as
any diurnal species, and in a manner very different from what some
owls would do in similar circumstances. Of the various conflicting
opinions which have been advanced respecting the use of the pectinated
claw in this and other species, the most plausible is certainly that
suggested by Mr. Hay ward in the Magazine of Natural History for

FOR A MUSEUM. 115

September, 1830, p. 449 ; and by H. B. of Dublin, at p. 373 of the
Field Naturalist's Magazine : — that it is formed for the purpose of
detaching the sharp hooked claws of beetles, which hitch to the sides of
the bird's mouth, and impede its swallowing of them. Certainly no
kind of structure could answer such a purpose better, as may be readily
seen, by bending the foot of a dead evejar to the mouth, and observing
how extremely well it is adapted for removing whatever might adhere
to it or to the vibrissse. I have never been able, however, to find
the remains of beetles in this bird's stomach ; the few that I have
opened having contained nothing but moths, principally, if not entirely,
the different yellow under- wings (Tryphcena). A very simple method
will go far towards determining whether or not this is the true use of
it. The bird is often noticed, when flying, to bring its foot to its
mouth ; I have frequently seen it do so myself; and if, immediately
after doing this, it were to be shot, and the just swallowed beetle found
in1 its stomach, there would be no reason for hesitating to admit this
to be the use for which it was designed. Perhaps your correspondent
S. W. of the Isle of Wight will favour us with the result of some
experiments on this subject, if his bird be still living. I may observe
here, in reference to that gentleman's observations on the evejar, that
the common swallow (Hirundo rustical) and martin (H. urbica)
feed readily, and thrive well in confinement ; and that, according
to a very interesting note in the quarto edition of White's Selborne,
by the Hon. and Rev. Mr. Herbert, the young swift (Cypselus mura-
rius) soon learns to snap food from the point of a stick, but that (I
think we may almost venture to infer negatively from the same note,)
this species has but little notion of pecking up its food from the ground.
If hunger cannot induce S. W.'s evejar to feed of itself, I fear that no
other kind of method will prove successful.

To recur to the pectinated claw ; I have just observed a somewhat
similar structure in all the front claws of a bee-eater (Merops Euro-
pens; M. apiaster, auctorum), now before me; only, that not being
serrated, it forms a sharp cutting edge, turned inward, like the comb
of the evejar. Can any correspondent suggest the use of this ? Its
consideration may, perhaps, throw some light on the much controverted
question of pectinated claws. Does the bee-eater perch lengthwise,
in the manner of the evejar ? An apparently still more curious struc-
ture in the latter bird are the two spaces of transparent membrane
inside of its capacious mouth, one in front of each eye, which would
seem to intimate that it possessed the power of directing its eyes straight

Q2

116 ON PRODUCING SPECIMENS OF BRITISH LAND BIRDS

forward, and seeing through its widely open mouth. A peculiar muscle,
however, would be necessary to enable it to do this, which dissection
proves not to exist ; the eye is indeed sufficiently large and prominent
io render such a power quite unnecessary.

The ash-coloured shrike (Lanius excubitor) is occasionally shot in
this neighbourhood during the winter ; but being exceedingly rare, I am
unable to say any thing concerning it. The wood-flusher (Collurio
rufus), also, I have never yet observed alive ; but have seen two speci-
mens of it, said to have been killed in Britain. The common flusher
( C. vulgaris) is in these parts very abundant, and should be sought for
on its first appearance in the spring, as the beautiful lilac gloss upon
the breast of the male becomes in a few weeks much obscured. Several
of our native birds are adorned with these lovely glosses, of various
intermediate shades between pink and purplish lilac, when their plumage
is in full perfection ; a delicate pink may be observed on the breast of a
cock whitethroat during the spring, and a trace of it also on some babil-
lards ; in the bearded tit ( Calamophilus biarmicus, Leach), and bottle
tit, these tintings are more permanent. Similar glosses may likewise
be observed on the wings of certain butterflies ; a full rose colour, for
example, on the hinder wings of some male specimens of Colias edusa ;
also the rich and splendid purple which plays on the emperor's
wings (Apatura Iris). Two chief requisites should be present to form
a fine specimen of the maleflusher shrike, some being much handsomer
than others ; the forehead should be white, or very nearly so, and the
above-named lilac gloss tolerably conspicuous. A female should also be
procured in the spring, and a specimen of the young in its first feathers,
which should be sought for about the latter end of July, or beginning
of August, not later, as they soon begin to moult. In their nestling
feathers these birds are very handsome, the upper parts being beauti-
fully barred with black ; I have not Bewick's work now by me, but I
think that author represents one in this state of plumage for the female
wood-chat, another and very different species. The young flushers are
easy to procure, as they follow their parents until they leave the country,
and always indicate their presence by their perpetual clamour : which,
though it may be heard at a considerable distance, generally appears as
if close by, and leads one to imagine that in the nearest bush a brood of
nestlings are about to fly ; though accustomed to the sound, I have thus
been often deceived. I know of no bird whatever, the eggs of which
vary so much in shape, markings, colour, and size, as those of this
shrike ; they are usually somewhat similar in the same nest, but I hardly

FOR A MUSEUM. 117

ever remember to have seen eggs from different nests which bore much
resemblance to each other. One in my possession has the zone of spots
on the smaller end, and I have others which it would be impossible to
distinguish from those of the robin.

The common grey fly-catcher (Muscicapa grisola) visits us in great
abundance, but very late in the spring ; and, what is singular, (being at
variance with the garden warbler, swift, wood-wren, and other late
summer visitants) is also very late in its departure. The sexes are
much alike ; a male should be procured early, and also a young one in
its nestling plumage, which is mottled, like that of a young wheatear.
I should have mentioned that all young birds should be procured, if
possible, about a fortnight or three weeks after they have left the nest :
that is, when their feathers are all quite developed, and before they have
begun to moult them. The pied fly-catcher (M. luctuosd) is here a rare
species, though not so much so as it has been described. I have two
nests which were taken in this neighbourhood, and which are built more
of moss, and contain less bass and other garden rubbish than those of
the common species ; they each contained three eggs, of a remarkably
spherical form, and very pale pea-green colour. Some circumstances
connected with one of these nests are worthy of being here recorded, as
showing the remarkable attachment of this . species to the place it has
selected for nidification. A pair of pied fly-catchers took up their abode
in a garden near this place ; their first nest was robbed by a boy, and
another was soon built in the same situation (against the ivied trunk of
a large poplar), and four eggs laid ; these were destroyed by a snake ;
and a third nest was actually constructed on the top of the last, which,
with three eggs in it, and the broken egg-shells of the last adhering to
the bottom, was brought to me as a curiosity, in the supposition that it
was a nest of the common grey fly-catcher. I had it replaced as well as
could be done, in about a couple of hours after it had been removed,
hoping that after all the female would perhaps set ; but so much per-
secution had at length driven the unfortunate pair from the place, and
they were not seen afterwards : had the season been earlier, I would
have placed the eggs in the nest of some other species, but it was now
late in August, and very little incubation going forward. The two
sexes of the pied fly-catcher are very dissimilar, and both should, there-
fore, if possible, be procured for stuffing; the young I have never seen,
but from analogy should suspect it to be mottled. I am told that the
song of this fly-catcher is pleasing, but have never yet heard it ; the
common species is one of the least vocal of our native birds, though

118 ON PROCURING SPECIMENS OF BRITISH LAND BIRDS

even it I have heard at times to chirrup forth a fragment of music ; the
usual call note of the pied fly-catcher is extremely dolorous, whence its
specific name, luctuosa. t

The different thrushes (Merula*, Ray) should be procured in winter,
as their plumage acquires no additional beauty in the spring, and as
they are then, moreover, generally cleaner than at any other season.
Of the blackbird (M. vulgaris) several specimens are necessary ; its first
plumage is mottled, like that of a young robin or nightingale ; and the
male may then be distinguished by being of a darker colour, and by the
spots on its breast being generally more distinct. On their first moult,
the males become wholly black, with the exception of the quill feathers,
which, with those of the tail, are not changed till the succeeding autumn ;
the females, after their first moult, resemble the adult birds, only that the
colour of the bill is not changed. Some female blackbirds have hand-
some spotted breasts, and I have seen some in which the bill is nearly
as yellow as the male's ; generally, however, the bill of an adult hen
blackbird is only yellow at the base : that of the cock becomes yellow
the first spring, and of an orange colour the second, at which time the
bird has acquired its full beauty. The fieldfare (M. pilaris) varies very
much ; several specimens should therefore be obtained, and the finest
of them selected for preserving ; the female is smaller than the male, and
its colours and markings less distinct ; examples of both sexes should be
preserved. A cock missel thrush (M. viscivora) should have the ground
colour of the breast a fine rich sulphur yellow, and the spots well defined ;
the female is rather smaller, paler all over, and its spots in general very
small ; a young bird should also be procured in its mottled nestling fea-
thers. Three specimens of the song thrush CM. musica) are necessary,
representing the male, female, and young ; the breast of the male, in
this species, is usually of a deeper colour, and the spots smaller and
better defined than in the other sex. The same remark applies also to
the redwing (M. iliaca), though in both these species individuals
frequently occur, the sex of which can only be distinguished by
dissection.

A division has been made by some authors between the thrushes with
plain, and those with spotted breastsf , but I think without sufficient

* As the central genus of the Merulidce, or birds of the thrush kind, Mr. Selby
has (I think with propriety) adopted Ray's name, Mcrula, for this genus, in pre-
ference to the subsequent appellation Turdus, of Linnaeus. — E. B.
. f All the species have the breast more or less spotted when young. — E. B,

FOR A MUSEUM. 119

grounds for so doing : the former (to which Mr. Swainson restricts the
term Merula) are rather more stoutly built ; and the common blackbird
of this country differs a little in habit, being never, I believe, strictly
gregarious, and passing its time more in low underwood, protecting
itself by stealth and concealment, rather than by open vigilance like the
thrushes with spotted breasts : but these characters are at most but of
little importance, and are not constant in the exotic species. The M.
migratoria, of North America, is as gregarious as the fieldfare, which
bird it indeed very much resembles, excepting in being much more
familiar; and moreover, some of the American thrushes with spotted
breasts are solitary. This division is, indeed, quite unnecessary ; but
I think differently of the separation of the rock thrushes, (Merles saxi-
coles of M. Temminck,) and their formation into a genus (Petrocincla,
Vigors). These form a very natural group *, and I am of opinion that
the ring-ousel of this country (Merula torquata, Ray) should range in
it. Hitherto it has been always placed among the wood-thrushes
(Merles silvanes, Tern.) ; but it seems, in fact, to be an intermediate
species, connecting the rock thrushes (Petrocincla) with that part of
the genus Merula to which the blackbird belongs, but leaning rather to
Petrocincla. It might with propriety, therefore, be denominated P.
meruloides. This bird is very regular in its migration in these parts,
appearing for a few days about the middle of April, and again at the
latter end of September. Three specimens of it — male, female, and
young — should be preserved. They are handsomest in the spring.

I shall conclude for the present with a few remarks on the common
starling (Sturnus variabilis, Meyer). At least seven specimens are
necessary to illustrate this species properly ; the young are at first of a
uniform brown all over, and one in this state should be preserved ; they
soon begin to moult ; and a specimen, when moulting, should also I
think be stuffed, in illustration of the change. Both sexes, immedi-
ately after the first moult, are very handsome, and specimens of them
should be procured about November; the males are then very thickly
speckled, and their hues brighter than those of the female ; the spots of
the latter are much larger, especially about the head and on the belly ;
the bill of each brownish black, or dark horn colour. The male that has
moulted twice differs only in not being quite so much spotted on the

* A specimen of the blue-grey rock thrush (P.cyanea), said to have been shot
in Kent, is now for sale, at Mr. Tucker's, in the Regent's Quadrant, London. —
E. B.

J20 FIELD DIARY.

breast, and in the bill being; partly yellow ; it is never yellow at the
base, but purplish in the male, and brownish flesh colour in the female.
At the third moult the male acquires its mature plumage, the feathers
on the throat and breast being1 much more narrow, and sharper pointed
than before, and not being tipped with white. About this time the
female also acquires a yellow bill.
Tooting, Feb. \\th, 1834.

FIELD DIARY.

BY WILLIAM THORN, ESQ.

BEING a subscriber to your " Field Naturalist," and " Magazine of
Botany," will you allow me to select a few observations, from my diary,
on the past remarkable month ? — a liberty I should not have presumed
on, had you not given encouragement to lovers of natural history to
send you their remarks, or " even the slightest hints." Although I am
devotedly attached to this branch of science, yet (as will he but too
evident), I am by no means an adept in it.

I have your " Insect Architecture," " Transformations," and " Mis-
cellanies," also the " Alphabet of Insects ;" but I want a Manual of
British Entomology, giving a plain description of the size, colour, loca-
lities, &c., of those numerous insects which are constantly presenting
themselves to our observation. Do you intend to publish a work of this
kind, or can you recommend any already published * ?

Will you permit me to suggest for your consideration, whether it
would not be for the advantage of many of your readers, as well as
myself, if you were monthly, or occasionally, to give plain descriptions,
with wood-cuts, of some of our British birds, insects, reptiles, &c., which,
though common in the fields and woods, are not generally known by
name ?

DIARY.

January 2nd, 1834. Pirus Japonica, and laurustinus in flower.

3rd. Larks (Alauda arvensis) congregating. A few fieldfares ( Tur-
dus pilaris) made their appearance.

4th. Heard a blackbird ( Turdus merula) singing between seven and
eight o'clock this morning. Remarkably mild for the season.

* My " Conspectus of Butterflies and Moths" is the only cheap English work.
For other insects there is no similar work — EDITOR.

FIELD DIARY. 121

7th. Sweet-scented violet, purple and white ( Viola odor ata, var. pur-
purea et alba) in flower. Observed a few yellow crocuses peeping
between the leaves.

9th. Observed at nine o'clock this morning the wind was east, a dense
fog — from eleven to one o'clock sunny, an upper current of clouds
coming from the west, an under current from the south-east ; at two
o'clock rain commenced and continued till sunset, when the wind had
changed to the south-west.

10th. Heard a thrush (Turdus musicus) singing.

14th. This day (St. Hilary's) is said, on an average of years, to be
the coldest, but to-day the weather has been particularly fine and mild.
I heard this morning a blackbird (Turdus meruld), a sky-lark (Alauda
arvensis), singing; observed a snow-drop (Galanthus nivalis), blue
hyacinth (Hyacinthus orientalis), and many crocuses in flower.

15th. Heart's ease ( Viola tricolor), furze ( Ulex Europeans}, in flower ;
wren (Sylvia troglodytes), singing ; moles throwing up their heaps of
fresh earth.

24th. Common laurel (Prunus lauro-cerasus), hazel (Corylus avel-
lana), in flower.

25th. Saw some toads' (Rana bufo) spawn, many dung flies (Scato-
phaga stercoraria) , common house-flies and gnats in numbers. Elm,
(Ulmus campestris), dandelion (Leontodon taraxacum), phillyrea (var.
latifolia) and countless daisks (Bellis perennis), in flower. Heard the
ground sea particularly loud through the day * ; this phenomenon
(which has not been satisfactorily accounted for) generally precedes
heavy rain and high wind.

27th. Observed pilevvort (Ranunculus jicaria), creeping crowfoot
(Ranunculus reptans), in flower; honeysuckle ( Caprifolium pericly-
menum), and elder (Sambucus niger), in leaf.

28th. Blue tit (Parus c&ruleus), chirping ; Corcorus Japonica, pur-
ple and striped crocuses, and double-blossomed furze, in flower.

29th. Arabis grandijlora in flower. Observed on the branch of a
larch (Pinus larix), in a warm and sheltered situation, some leaves just
in the state of forwardness they generally are the last week in March,
or first week in April.

30th. Saw a large elm felled, which was covered with flowers.

31st. Observed two gulls for the first time this winter. Very few
fieldfares and redwings have visited us as yet ; but to-day I saw a larger

* Grilston is about eighteen miles distant from the coast.
VOL. II. — NO. III. R

122 VULTURES.

flock than at any time before this winter. Not a wild duck or widgeon
has yet been seen about the streams in our valleys. Saw some frogs'
(Pama temporaries) spawn ; Gathered the first primrose (Primula vul-
garis), yellow hawkweed (Hieracium aureum), scorpion senna, shep-
herd's purse ( Thlaspi latifolium), and lychnis, in flower ; sweet briar
and gooseberry in leaf. An early shaw potato, which was left in the
ground last summer, under a south wall in my garden, has produced a
stalk one foot ten inches and a half in height.

P. S. (Omitted January 23rd.) I have frequently seen of late, a single
heron by the rivers (Mole and Nymph), which I have no doubt comes
from Pixton near Dulverton, the seat of the Earl of Carnarvon, (about
twelve miles distant,) as there is a heronry in the park. - They often
visit us during the summer and autumn.

Grilston, near South Maldon, North Devon,
4th February, 1834.

VULTURES (From Le Vaillanfs Birds').

CAPE VULTURE (Egypsfulvus, Savigny).
( Continued from page 89. )

Le Chasse-Fiente, Le Vaill, Ois. d'Afriq. i. p. 44, pi. 10; Vultur Kolbii, Lath.
Ind. Orn. Sup. p. 1 ; Daud. i. p. 15; Temm. Man. d'Orn. p. 4; Id. ed. 2d, p. 6;
Kolben's Vulture, Lath. Gen. Lyn. Sup. ii. p. 12; Id. Gen. Hist. i. p. 19.

INDEPENDENT of the large vulture, described in the preceding arti-
cle, there is still, throughout every part of Africa which I have visited,
another large vulture, totally differing from the former, as much in its
colours as in several characteristics which easily distinguish it from the
other species.

I have suffered this bird to retain the name of Chasse-Fiente, which
is the literal translation of the Dutch name stront-jager, applied gene-
rally by the colonists of the Cape of Good Hope to all vultures, and
particularly to the one in question, because it is more commonly known.
The Oricouh found only on the confines of European plantations, where,
as I have previously observed, it is called the black carrion vulture
(swarte-aas-vogel).

The Chasse-Fiente is the bird spoken of by Kolben under the same
name, and which he has particularised as an eagle at the Cape. Buffon,
it seems, in comparing this pretended eagle, at the Cape, to the genus

VULTUEES. 123

of Vultures, has not, moreover, failed to place it among the species of
American urubu, and to conclude that the urubu equally inhabits Ame-
rica and Africa ; a conclusion the more hazardous, inasmuch as it has
not yet been shown in a single instance that any vulture is common to
the new and the old world. But Buffon was not contented to stop here ;
he must needs precisely indicate the passage between the Brazils and
Guinea by which the urubu traverses the sea, and repairs into Africa.
If this naturalist had given himself the trouble to compare the urubu of
America with the description of Kolben, he would have been easily
convinced that the stout and crooked bill of the stront-vogel was not at
all applicable to the urubu, which has, on the contrary, a bill so long
and slender, that the Spanish and Portuguese colonists have given it
the name of gallinaco, gallinaca ; and the English, that of turkey-buz-
zard. The urubu has, in fact, a bill more resembling that of the tur-
key than the vulture. M. Dumarchais, who had remarked with great
care the particular form of the bill in this bird of prey, inconsiderately
concluded that it was a species of wild turkey, which was accustomed to
eat dead bodies and carrion. Look at the ourigourap (plate 14 of Le
Vaillant) ; it is also a vulture, and has a bill of nearly the shape of the
urubu '.y, but rather longer.

It is a fortunate circumstance that the designer, at least, saw the
urubu, when he made his figure of that bird ; for it is, possibly, repre-
sented in Buffon's coloured plates, No. 187, under the name of the Brazil
vulture. Is it not, however, astonishing that in Buffon's works all the
birds, or at least nearly all of them, have, in the coloured plates, names
different from those under which they are described ? Is not this strong
evidence of the way in which his work was executed ? It is clear, how-
ever, that Buffon never saw the urubu, and never glanced his eye over
the plate which represents it, or he would not have committed the error
which he has done. But unhappily it requires no great effort to be
convinced that all his relations have been written under the same dis-
advantages ; thajt is, without his having seen or compared the species.
It is yet deserving of remark, that the Chasse-Fiente, of Africa, is more
than three times as powerful as the urubu, and but little smaller than the
oricou. During repose its wings almost reach to the tip of the tail.
This character alone would be sufficient to distinguish it from the oricou,
whose wings go several inches beyond the tail. It has not, besides, the
head and neck bare like the latter, but covered with a fine and cottony
down, like the percnoptera, the vulture figured in No. 425 of Buffon's
plates.

R2

124 VULTUIU-S.

Before I compared the Chasse-Fiente with these two birds, I was of
opinion that it belonged to the species of percnoptera : but from the
confrontation of these three birds I saw that I was mistaken, and that
the Chasse- Fiente was a new species to be added to the other two, which
bear more resemblance to it than any other description of vulture.

The Chasse-Fiente should not be confounded with the percnoptera,
since the character of the latter, in having- its wings shorter and tail
longer than the eagle's, is in no respect appropriate to the former, whose
wings, on the contrary, are longer and tail shorter ; besides, its head is
of a clear blue, and its neck is not covered with a white but yellowish
down. In a word, the Chasse-Fiente has not that brown heart-shaped
spot on the breast which is peculiar in the percnoptera, and its colour
is altogether different. The Chasse-Fiente cannot, moreover, be con-
sidered as a variety of the vulture, depicted in Buffon's plates, No. 425.
A single glance at the two figures will convince those who shall take the
trouble to compare them together.

The general colour of the Chasse-Fiente borders on Isabella yellow,
and afterwards approaches what is called pale coffee brown. Some of
the small wing coverts are marked with a deeper tint, and the large
quills are blackish. At the nape of the neck is a sort of ruffle com-
posed of long and slender feathers, curved by the friction of the head,
which they totally conceal when the bird shrugs up its shoulders. The
feathers, which cover the legs, descend a little over the fore part of the
shank ; the large scales, which cover the legs and toes, are brownish.
The claws are blackish horn colour, as well as the bill. The iris of the
eye, is of a dark brown. The male and female differ but little from
each other, and I never observed but a very trifling difference in their
size; the male, indeed, is not quite so strong; but there must neces-
sarily be that marked disproportion between them, which is observable
between the sexes in almost all other species of birds of prey.

The Chasse-Fiente retires amongst the highest mountain rocks.
Immense numbers of these birds inhabit the whole of that rugged chain
of mountains which spreads over the point of Africa, from Cape Town
to False Bay ; whence they visit all the dwellings in the environs, and
find abundance to supply their hunger : for as the country in the vici-
nity of the town is exceedingly dry, animals can find but scanty fare,
and very frequently perish through want of food. Such is the cause
that the carcasses of several oxen, which have been abandoned by their
owners, are invariably to be observed in the roads. It is a providential
occurrence on behalf of the indolent inhabitants of these climates,

VULTURES. 125

that vultures deliver them from putrid infections. I have seen these
birds fly down to the entrances of slaughter-houses, in order to feed
upon the head and intestines of animals which had been killed there,
and which the prevalence of a bad custom allows to be thrown before
the door.

The Chasse-Fiente, also, frequents the sea-shores in great plenty,
where the inhabitants deposit their rubbish, or house-dust. It is, also,
attracted to these parts by the offal which is thrown overboard from
vessels riding in the roads, as well as by the shell-fish, crabs, and dead
fish, which the ocean ejects from its bosom. It is very probably owing
to this abundance of food, that the species of Chasse-Fiente, which is
much more numerous than that of the oricou, has so extensively mul-
tiplied in the colony of the Cape.

I know from experiments which I have tried, that this bird can
exist a long time without receiving any food. One day, when a violent
south-east wind had caused several of them to fall down into the streets
of Cape Town, I took two alive ; and, as these birds are in general
excessively fat, in order to reduce them to a state of meagreness,
I was desirous of famishing them to death. For this purpose, I ordered
them to be put into a large hen-coop without food. At the end of
some time, I killed one of them, which was still too fat. After that
I suffered the other to fast several days ; but seeing it grow enfeebled,
and believing it to be lean enough, I killed it. I was much astonished,
nevertheless, to find that it had even too much fat when I prepared it.

My remarks on the manners of the oricou are equally appropriate to
the Chasse-Fiente, which has the same habits. This species, as I
have already mentioned, has infinitely more increased than the other,
although the females produce an equal number of eggs : those of the
Chasse-Fiente are bluish white. These birds being of a more con-
spicuous colour than the oricou, are more readily perceived when
perched upon the rocks at the entrance of their retreats, and known
by their white spots. It is an agreeable sight to behold a troop of these
birds quite covering an entire chain of mountains ; the report of a car-
bine, loaded with ball, will be sufficient to set them all heavily on the
wing, and cause them to wheel round in the air. In deserts, where
vultures do not always meet with carrion in plenty, they feed on what-
ever they can obtain. I have killed some, which had nothing in their
crops but pieces of the bark of trees, or clay, — often even bones, upon
which there was no flesh whatever ; and sometimes, also, the crop was
filled with the excrements of animals. The savages assured me that

126 A BACHELOR'S GLEANINGS.

when vultures are oppressed by want, they reciprocally devour each
other's young ones, and even their own : but I had never an opportu-
nity of ascertaining- the truth of this fact, and will not, therefore, be
responsible for its correctness. The land turtles and land shells, at the
Cape, which these birds swallow entire, are to them a very delicate
prey : they also fling themselves upon those clouds of grasshoppers,
which I have described in my travels.

A BACHELOR'S GLEANINGS.

YOUR bachelor correspondent (S.) has been wandering lately, and
hopes a few gleanings may not be unacceptable.

I have been on the borders of the New Forest, Hampshire, and had
an opportunity of witnessing the following extraordinary fact. The
fallow deer there are remarkably fond of the common holly, but will
only feed upon it when cut and thrown before them by their keepers,
and then they strip off the bark and eat the leaves greedily ; if not cut,
they will never think of touching it.

Staying a few days at a friend's house, I was not more surprised than
delighted with the following instance of the tame and domestic habits of
the robin. Though my friend is father of a large family, the pet (for
so the welcome little bird has been christened) invariably comes to the
window at breakfast-time, taps violently with his beak at the window,
hops in without the least alarm, feeds, and really saunters about for
nearly an hour, then flies to the window, where he knocks violently
again for liberty. Although the children are playing about, he hardly
thinks it necessary to get out of reach of their romps. His visit is again
repeated before night ; he knocks for admission^ and as the window opens
walks in as a matter of course.

Last year I had a bed of tulips of rare and beautiful sorts, which I
thought I would protect from chance of frost, by covering them with
tan. They all flowered perfectly black.

This may not be uninteresting to some of your readers who study
garden chemistry.

Shrewsbury, 4/A February, 1834.

[Did S. remark whether the holly leaves cut by the keepers were with or with-
out prickles ? The lower branches of holly have their leaves always prickly, while
the top leaves are smooth ; a circumstance which led Dr. Darwin to fancy the
hollies in Needwood Forest knowingly put out these prickles to defend themselves
from the deer ! ! ! The fact about the black tulips is exceedingly interesting. ED.]

127

SKETCHES FROM GRAVESEND.

BY ORNITHOLOGUS.

MANY thanks for your kind insertion of my former communication,
as well as for your answer to my question relative to the nightingale's
food used in Germany ; I have no doubt that meal-worms are much
used, but can hardly understand how they procure them in such
amazing numbers. It is probably from the animation of warble which
such stimulating diet excites that the German canaries acquire that
astonishing vigour of song which they possess. One which I purchased
last year actually commenced singing at the bottom of the chaise in
which I was riding, and this too in the streets of London ! I am, how-
ever, inclined to think that the bringing them into this high condition
(if I may so express myself) has a tendency to shorten their lives,
as their strength becomes prematurely exhausted by such extreme
exertion. I will now relate the story of the grosbeak to which I
referred in my last.

In the summer of 1832, I was informed that a pair of these birds
had taken up their abode in a garden or plantation near Cobham.
Aware of the doubts which existed as to their nidification in this
country, I went over to convince myself of the fact by a personal
inspection. Unfortunately I was a few days too late. There had
been a nest placed on the projecting branch of an apple tree ; but the
owner of the garden had secured both the old ones, by placing the
young ones under a sieve, and thus entrapping them when they came
under it to feed them. They lived for some days ; but did not appear
to eat any of the food that was given them, with the exception of
snails, which they attacked and devoured with great gusto, even before
our eyes. The whole, however, soon died, and no others appeared
in the neighbourhood. The owner promised to let me know if any
appeared in the ensuing year, an event which did not seem probable,
as this family had perished. In the month of May, 1833, I went over ;
and much to my satisfaction found that a pair had built their nest
in the garden, and, what is most remarkable, on the same branch of
the same apple tree ! How can we account for this extraordinary
predilection? Is it not possible that in countries where these birds
abound they congregate after the manner of rooks, and return at the
proper season to their favourite haunts, which might be called a
Loxiary ? I merely suggest this idea, not having the means of proving

128 SKETCHES FROM GRAVESEND.

its correctness ; but there are two circumstances which give it the
appearance of probability. The first is, that there is one member of
this family, the Loxia Soda, or Sociable Grosbeak, found at the
Cape of Good Hope, which breeds in the manner I have suggested.
The other circumstance is, that whenever the Crossbill (Loxia cur-
virostra) appears in this country, it is generally in flocks. In my own
neighbourhood, a few years since, a small flight of these birds came
over and took possession of some high fir-trees in a garden close to
a gentleman's house; Here they remained during the summer, when
their progeny having arrived at maturity, they took their departure.
Their habits were very interesting, and their familiarity seemed to
imply that they had come from some region where man had not
wrested his powers to their molestation. On the other hand, I am
well aware that the bulfinch, and many others of this genus, are only
found in pairs ; so that doubts may exist on both sides. The nest was
composed of small roots, lichens, and small sticks, much resembling
that of the bulfinch, especially in the slightness of its contexture.
On reference to my diary, I find that it was brought to me on the
27th of May, with two young ones about half grown, and the male
parent, which had been caught in the same manner as in the preceding
summer. I let them loose in a large volary, and anxiously watched to
see whether he fed the young ones. Unfortunately I was taken sud-
denly ill, so that I could not bestow that personal attention to them I
should otherwise have done ; but I had the pleasure of seeing the old
bird eating hemp-seed, and of hearing that he .had repeatedly fed his
offspring. Notwithstanding this, however, they did not appear to
thrive, and after a "short time died, the father surviving his young
ones about a fortnight.

I think it very probable that this species might be taught to pipe
tunes like the bulfinch, and wonder the experiment has not been
tried. There is one circumstance I have omitted, relative to the nidi-
fication of this genus, which is, that there is a small species of green
parrot which is gregarious ; and as I consider them nearly allied to the
Loxia family, (the parrot crossbill, or loxia pityo-psittacus, being the
connecting link,) this fact seems to favour the idea. I am a great
admirer of this genus, and think them very interesting. The bulfinch
especially I have paid great attention to. It is curious that of a nest
of six young ones I brought up last year, four of them are hens ; curi-
ous, because the cocks generally preponderate in about the same pro-
portion. I have for two years had one of them paired with a canary,

DESCRIPTIONS OF THE NESTS AND EiiGS OF SPIDERS. 129

but although they appeared completely attached, the bulfinch feeding
the canary on the nest, &c., the eggs never hatched. I also tried the
same experiment with the siskin, and with the same ill success, not-
withstanding the opinion which exists that they will pair readily. A
few days since I had brought to me a very remarkable linnet : this bird
was of a dirty cream colour throughout the body, and the wings only
differed in having those red streaks with which the common linnet is
marked. The bird-catcher had been some time attempting to secure
it ; and when he did succeed, it came but singly from a flock of a hun-
dred, down to his nets. It is curious that very near the spot where
this bird was caught, a young lark was taken with white wings, and
which having now arrived at maturity, presents a very curious appear-
ance. Is this merely an accidental coincidence, or the effect of some
peculiarity in this particular spot ? I should think the former. I must
now bring my rambling remarks to a conclusion, apologising for their
prolixity. The man of the world may smile at what he deems the
frivolity of such pursuits, and deem that attention thrown away which
is directed to the observation of such diminutive objects ; but for my
part I am well content to say with friend Horace —
" Libet jacere modo sub antiqua ilice,

Modo in tenaci gramine :

Labuntur altis interum ripis aquae ;

Queruntur in sylvis aves ;

Fontesque lymphis obstrepunt manantibus

Somnos quod invitet leves."

As links in the mighty chain, no " created things" are to be despised ;
they form parts of the stupendous whole, which is the work of Omnis-
cience— the production of that Being, (to use the words of the poet,)

" Who sees with equal eye, as God of all,
A hero perish, or a sparrow fall ;
Atoms or systems into ruin hurl'd,
And now a bubble burst, and now a world."

SOME NEW DESCRIPTIONS AND FIGURES OF THE
NESTS AND EGGS OF SPIDERS.

BY SOUTARIUS.

I AM sorry that the circumstance of not being able to procure any
work treating upon our British spiders, prevents me from furnishing

VOL. II. NO. HI. S

130 DESCRIPTIONS OF THE NKSTS AND EGGS OF SPIDERS.

the reader with the names of the species to which the accompanying1

figures relate.

Fig. I. Represents a spider's nest, formed by an old oak leaf being

doubled and supported upon a rush,
which penetrates the top of it.
The sides of the leaf are apart from
one another, but are prevented
from spreading, by means of a thick
web of silk extending from the
margin of the one to that of the
other. The two extremities of
the upper part of the leaf are al-
ways open, so as to allow of the
little inhabitant escaping upon the
approach of danger. The first spe-
cimen I ever noticed I met with in a
field near Wormwood Scrubbs, but
I now find them in nearly every
field in which oak trees grow; and
in none of them do I notice any
difference, except in the size of
the leaf and the height at which
it is supported from the ground.

Fir). 2. Is that of an irre-
gularly shaped deposition of
eggs, found about a week
since, attached to a piece of
grass, on Hampstead Heath.
The eggs are enveloped in
snowy white silk, which also
folds round the ends of two
sprigs of grass, which, bend-
ing, act as its suspenders.

MICE IMITATING THE GRASSHOPPER S CHIRP.

131

Fig. 3.

Fig. 3. Relates to another clus-
ter of spiders' eggs, similar in its
sittiation to the preceding, but dif-
ferent in shape and colour, being
globular and brown. For what
purpose this suspension is intended
is not very apparent, unless it be
for the purpose of placing the eggs
beyond the reach of predacious
larvae, and such apterous (for it
would not avail with the diptera,
&c.) insects as might devour
them.

MICE IMITATING THE GRASSHOPPER'S CHIRP.

•

IN a field opposite Porto Bello Farm, near Wormwood Scrubbs, one
evening in last May, my attention was attracted by a noise at the
bottom of a hedge, resembling the chirping of a grasshopper, but
accompanied by a rustling among the dry reeds and fallen sticks that
lay beneath, caused by some little animal running and jumping under
and over them alternately. This circumstance I have often observed
in the country ; and from the hasty glimpse which I have now and then
obtained of the animal, I came to the conclusion that it was some shy
little bird, and which for the want of a name I christened the hedge-
creeper, but since I read " White's Selbourne," I renounced that name,
feeling satisfied that it must be the grass-hopper warbler. But in the
present instance, I embraced the opportunity of assuring myself as to
its species ; with which view I cautiously advanced towards the hedge,
and patiently awaited, hoping to obtain another sight of it ; but my
approach had frightened it, and all was still for some time. I was
bending over the bank, when suddenly I heard the same noise as before,
and saw the little author of it run out from under the dead stalks, and
giving a fluttering sort of jump, which defied one to form any idea of
its shape ; it concealed itself again in the dried rubbish under which it
ran, uttering its grasshopper-like chirp all the while. I now had my
"eyes about me," and remaining as perfectly still and motionless as

13*2 MICE IMITATING THE GRASSHOPPER'S CHIRP.

though I had been but an overhanging tree, I watched and listened
attentively. Not many seconds had elapsed before there came another,
a second, a third ; but, to sum up, I do not think I shall exceed the
limits of truth, if I say that there at length came the thirtieth of these
creatures, and all from the same direction, and uttering the same cry as
they jumped in their fluttering style one after another over my foot
(which rested upon the bank), and then betook themselves to the same
path as the leader did. Some of them, however, halted in their career
at the sight of my foot, and then it was that I got a correct view of
them, and was somewhat surprised to find that the objects of my atten-
tion were nothing more or less than mice of a thick bulky form, with
blackish backs and light-coloured bellies, and abruptly terminated tails ;
but one individual, which I had nearly succeeded in catching, was of
a beautiful sleek fawn colour above, and white beneath, and was in
every respect an elegant little creature. In a short time they returned
from the opposite direction ; and coming out with more caution from
their run, as it is termed, they first took a reconnoitring peep, but
observing me perfectly motionless they at length collected round my
foot to satisfy their curiosity, and were so desirous of removing it (for
as it rested upon their run it intercepted their regular course) that two
or three of them had actually commenced nibbling the leather of my
boot. As fate would have it, however, I sneezed, and thus frightened
this interesting group, which in a moment was dispersed in different
directions ; yet I still kept my quiet position, not doubting but that in
a few minutes, when their fears had subsided, they would again return.
It was not long before they did as I expected, but they came in a less
regular order, some arriving from one quarter and some from another ;
and again they reconnoitred, but as I moved not, they appeared un-
apprehensive of danger. They had re-assembled round my boot, when
1, who now felt anxious to capture a specimen, dashed my hand among
them, endeavouring, but without success, to grasp one. It was with no
better effect that I hit about with a stick in every direction in which I
heard them running, for the purpose of disabling or killing one as a
specimen, that its name might be ascertained. I waited some time after-
wards, until it grew dusk ; yet as I neither heard nor saw anything of
them subsequently to my attack upon them, I retired from the spot,
but well pleased with this singular occurrence.

SOLITARIUS.
July, 1833.

133

*

THE BRITISH MUSEUM.

BY E. G. BALLARD, ESQ.

THE CAMELOPARD, (Giraffe, Linn.)

THIS curious animal, of which the present are two of the largest spe-
cimens ever exhibited, when standing erect, and holding up its head,
measures seventeen feet from the crown of the head to the ground, and
eighteen feet from the point of the nose to the end of the tail. It is
only nine feet high at the rump ; the neck is seven feet long, and the
distance from the withers to the rump is six feet.

Such is the general description of this interesting animal, but the
Menageries, vol. 1. p. 339, will furnish us with several particulars of its
structure and habits, which, though but borrowed from various sources,
afford those data on which is founded the true character of the animal,
and thus become valuable in a zoological point of view.

Of its structure and habits we have the following description : Le
Vaillant, who saw the animal in its natural state, says, " The Giraffe
ruminates, as every animal does that possesses at the same time horns
and cloven feet ; it grazes also in the same way, but not often, because
the country which it inhabits has little pasturage. Its ordinary food is
the leaf of a sort of mimosa, called by the natives kanaap, and by the
colonists kameeldoorn (Acacia xariffiana ?). This tree being only
found in the country of the Namaquas, may probably afford a reason
why the Giraffe is there fixed, and why he is not seen in those regions
of Southern Africa where the tree does not grow.

" Doubtless the most beautiful part of his body is the head. The
mouth is small, the eyes are brilliant and full. Between the eyes, and
above the nose, is a swelling, very prominent and well defined. This
prominence is not a fleshy excrescence, but an enlargement of the bony
substance, and it seems to be similar to the two little lumps or protu-
berances with which the top of the head is armed, and which being
about the size of a hen's egg, spring on each side at the commencement
of the mane. His tongue is rough, and terminates in a point ; the two
jaws have on each side molar teeth ; but the lower jaw has, beyond these,
eight incisive teeth, while the upper jaw has none.

" The hoofs, which are cleft, and have no nails, resemble those of the
ox. We may remark, at first sight, that those of the fore feet are
larger than those of the hind. The leg is very slender, but the knees
have a prominence, because the animal kneels when it lies down.

104

THE BRITISH MUSEUM.

There is also a larger callosity on the breast, which would lead one to
conclude that he generally rests on that part.

" If I had not myself killed the Giraffe, I should have believed, as have
many naturalists, that the fore legs are much longer than the hind.
This is an error ; for the legs have, in general, the proportion of those of
other quadrupeds. I say in general, because in this genus there are
varieties, as there are in animals of the same species. Thus, for
example, mares are lower before than stallions of an equal height. What
has led to this error, as to the difference between the legs of the Giraffe,
is the height of the withers, which, according to the animal's age, may
exceed the height of the rump by sixteen or twenty inches, and which
disproportion, when we see it at a distance, must have led to the belief
that its legs were longer than behind. His defence, as that of the horse
and other hoofed animals, consists in kicks ; and his hinder limbs are so
light, and his blows so rapid, that the eye cannot follow them. He
never employs his horns to resist any attack."

To this quotation, which is sufficient for my present purpose, I may
add one circumstance, mentioned under the head of Antelopes, in the
same Menageries, p. 355 ; namely, " The Giraffe forms the second tribe,
which is distinguished by having horns, or prominences on the frontal
bone, covered with a soft skin, which is a continuation of the skin of
the head. The horns exist in both sexes, and are permanent."

From these brief particulars, a few remarks arise relative to the
peculiar structure of the head of this animal. We find that it is fur-
nished with very full and prominent eyes. Tnese, from the peculiar
narrowness of the osfrontis, do not admit of the deep-seated eye socket

observed in the ox or horse.

1234

Fig. 1, 2, in which a blow from above would be thrown off in the
direction a or or b b, and thus escape the eye; but in this animal the

THE BRITISH MUSEUM. 135

protection of that organ appears to be provided for in the prominence a
fig-. 3, in which case a blow would be thrown off in the direction c c
which I consider as the use of the conspicuous prominence on the
frontal bone.

The prominences at the back of the neck, a a, fig. 4, I consider as
placed there to give a firm arid broad basis for the insertion of the
strong and powerful ligaments necessary to support the long neck of
the animal, which find a similar provision at their base in the height
and expansion of the scapulce, which form the withers of the animal.
The above prominences may also serve as bases to the insertion of the
muscles which support the head, as well as by their position form a
protection to the tender horns with which the animal is furnished.

THE HIPPOPOTAMUS.

THIS huge and unwieldy animal, of which the present is a very fine
specimen, has been estimated at various dimensions by authors. Some
have been killed measuring seventeen feet in length, seven in height,
and fifteen in circumference ; according to the testimony of experienced
travellers. But the individual before us does not by any means come
up to the above standard of colossal proportions. Its colour is said to
vary considerably, according to its situation ; when just emerged from
the water it appears of a palish brown or mouse colour, with a blueish
or slate-coloured cast on the upper parts ; and the belly is flesh-coloured,
the skin appearing through the hair ; but when quite dry, the colour is,
as in the present instance, of an obscure brown, approaching to black,
without any of the blueish cast. Its head is of great size and weight,
and armed with formidable tusks. From its stupendous size, imposing
appearance, and horrid aspect, it is calculated to inspire feelings of
dread ; but notwithstanding its exterior, it is of mild and inoffen-
sive habits, and subsists wholly on vegetable food. Its singular
faculty of sinking at pleasure when in the water, and continuing its
course at the bottom, appears to indicate its possessing the open
foramen ovale, common to some amphibious animals ; while its thick
skin resembles that of the whale, and is probably furnished with a
mucilaginous secretion to prevent the effects of maceration.

I have been often powerfully struck, when viewing the uncouth form
of this animal, in juxtaposition as it is with the light and elegant
giraffe, at the wonderful adaptation of means to ends in their organisa-
tion. In the former all is suited to its habitation in the deep. Its
ponderous legs short, and widely separated, and thus fitted either for

1»}6 UPON THE NATURE OF THE PAR,

swimming or traversing the bed of the river, while its great length of
body and consequent specific gravity enables it to sink with facility.
What a contrast does this present to the long and agile limbs,
lengthened neck, and light body of the swift and timid tenant of the
mountain and the plain ! Were they to change situations, how could
the necessary adaptations be made in physical structure, according to
the fanciful theory of some modern naturalists ?

E. G. BALLARD.

Islington, \\th Dec., 1833.

UPON THE NATURE OF THE PAR, AS OBSERVED IN

SCOTLAND.

THIS small fish abundantly frequents our Scottish rivers, and (as is
well known) is never found except in streams accessible to the sea-
trout and salmon. We are aware that Pennant and other writers have
disputed this fact, and attempt to prove upon their own observation,
certainly not the most accurate, that few are to be caught in some
waters which salmon are unable to ascend. Pennant mentions a stream
in Inverness-shire in support of his assertion, the upper part of which is
separated from the rest by an insurmountable water-fall, and yet con-
tains par in considerable numbers. We have inquired into the truth
of this statement, and find that it must have originated in some mistake
of the learned tourist, who confuses with this fish a very small species
of trout, inhabiting rapid and stony streams, and which, in external
appearance somewhat resembles the par, without possessing any of its
fixed and characteristic developments. Like that, it is white and silvery,
active for its size, and in many cases marked on the side with those
blueish impressions as of depending finger-points, which are erro-
neously supposed to be the leading distinction of the other ; we say
erroneously, because anglers must have observed, how even common
and good sized trout are often set off with this peculiarity in different
degrees. Nor do we wonder much at Mr. Pennant's statement, since
we have known observing and scientific craftsmen fall into a similar
error, and hold out to be the par what a little examination has proved
to be the common river-trout. What then, it may be asked, are the
points which distinguish this fish ? And first, let it be noted how the
par, with very few if any exceptions, hath only one row of scarlet
spots or stars extended on either side, from the gills to the tail, whereas

AS OBSERVED IN SCOTLAND. 137

the common trout hath always two or more of such rows, more varied
in colour, and less equalised in their dimensions. Again, the pectoral
fin of the par is broader, and contains a greater quantity of spines than
that of the common trout. Thirdly, the gills are more silvery and clear of
marks, being at no time impressed with more than one or two ; while in
the trout they have a yellowish appearance, and are studded over with a
large number of dark spots. The tail of the one also is forked, that of
the other mostly straight. In fact, there is in the whole aspect of the
par, when narrowly examined, a singular difference from that of the
trout. It is, besides, a nimbler and less cunning fish, and never seems
to increase beyond a certain size, although well known to attain that
maximum in the course of two or three months from its first appear-
ance during the angling season. And this is a fact to which we beg
attention, as it will shortly go some way to support our theory concern-
ing the par, that it is the young of the salmon in a certain state.

In order to prove this, it will be granted to us, as we shall boldly
assume, that Pennant's assertion is erroneous, and that this fish is only
found in waters visited by the salmon ; that, in point of fact, it has some
sort of connection, whether direct or indirect, with the sea-

This postulate has been allowed by almost every writer on the sub-
ject, and yet has clone little towards settling the question at issue.
Three theories, barring the one of its being a distinct species of trout,
are abroad concerning the par. The first and most general opinion is,
that the par belongs both to the trout and salmon species, and is a sort of
mule betwixt them. The second theory maintained by some reckons
it to be the male] of the sea-trout, whitling, or finnock ; and the third,
which is by far the soundest, is held, certainly we confess upon suspi-
cious premises, by the Ettrick Shepherd, and assumes that the par is
nothing else than the fry of the salmon.

We shall consider these three opinions individually, and give our
reasons for supporting the last. First then, as to the par being a mule
betwixt the salmon (under which term we include the grilse and
whitling,) and river trout. ,

How happens it, that two such comparatively large fishes produce so
attenuated a breed, when we know that the cross betwixt beasts, such
as that of the horse and ass, is proportioned to the size of the animals,
and that the four-footed mule is so much less than the one, and larger
than the other ? Neither does the crossing of different birds, such as the
goldfinch with the bulfinch, diminish their offspring in any degree ; —
yet the par produced by one fish a yard in length, with another most

VOL. II. —NO. III. T

ON THE NATURE OF THE PAR,

probably exceeding a foot, never attains half tbe weight of its smaller
parent, and measures at most six or seven inches. Again it is singu-
lar, that in rivers where par lie, they muster as ten to one, compared
with the common trout, a most extraordinary proportion of mules !
which, if we consider the well-known precautions of salmon, while
spawning, could not possibly be produced. These fish in ascending
our streams pair off as spawner and milter ; the female to deposit her
roe, and the male not merely to impregnate, but guard the spawn
against the attacks of trout and smaller fish, who naturally, instead of
doing the same office, molest and devour it ; and in the case of trout
roe, the reverse happens ; it is a favourite food of the salmon, and not
likely to be impregnated by him, who is well known to watch so
devoutly the operations of his own spawner. Hence, a very meagre
portion indeed of the ova can possibly (and that by chance, when the
water is heavy) be so crossed as to produce mules, if such a production
were the consequence. How then is the fact of the par being found in
such large numbers reconcilable, supposing them to be mules, with the
other fact of the comparatively accidental crossing, which takes place
between the salmon and trout ? We submit the question to the main-
tainers of this theory for a solution. Again, what is the ground upon
which the opinion is founded, that par are a sort of mules ? Simply
this, that they are incapable of breeding — that they have no spawners
among them, and are seemingly all milters. We allow the statement
to be true, although, as we shall presently show, it is somewhat ques-
tionable whether or not they be all spawners ; at any rate they are all
of one sex. But is this the case with mules ? On the contrary, as is
well known, the male and the female mule are just as fully developed
in every part, as the stallion and mare are among horses. You have
both the one sex and the other perfectly distinct, and their only inhe-
rent defect is a mutual incapability to extend the species. The forma-
tion of the par is, however, precisely the same in every individual.
You have not that essential difference in mouth, by which the sex of
fresh-water fishes is so easily ascertained. The internal structure of
each is the same, examine whatever number you may ; so that, if
mules, they want the property common to them with other animals ;
a separation into sexes. And here we shall be asked, to which sex do
we suppose the par to belong? The natural reply is, that they are
milters ; and thus we hold, in spite of the argument of a Clyde fisher
from Hamilton we met with during a ramble, some summers ago, who
cut up in our presence several of these fish, and pointed out in each of

AS OBSERVKD IN SCOTLAND. 139

them a small yellowish matter, collected near the back-bone, which he
maintained was an incipient roe, although no more resembling it than
the moon does a man's face. He likewise assured us of a fact,
which during the experience of thirty years he had carefully noted, but
whether worthy of credit or not we ourselves are unable to discern,
namely, that the par in Clyde every fifth year are both fewer and much
larger than they are in the other four. If this is the case, it proves
nothing, but still it is singular ; and no doubt every angler must have
observed in most rivers, that one season often presents him with different
sized fish from those of another, and that they are few or numerous,
according to their size.

But leaving the mulists as sufficiently handled, we proceed to the
opinion held by some, and by the author of an article in the Edinburgh
Encyclopaedia, that par are the males of the sea-trout, whitling, or
finnock. This theory is at once overturned by the well-known fact,
that these fish have the tail straight, or nearly so, while the par and
salmon have theirs fully and beautifully forked. But supposing, as we
grant it possible, that the growth of the fish changed in some measure
the appearance of that appendage, still we are by no means at a loss
for another argument, to be taken from open and conclusive facts,
which readily exposes the error of this opinion. In the Rochil, a
respectable stream, which joins the Earn, opposite to Comrie, in Perth-
shire, there are few par, except in the lowermost parts, where they,
are pretty abundant during the summer months. Two or three miles
up, above a point where salmon generally halt, owing both to the
uncertainty of the floods, and likewise to the interruption of a small
but ill-assorted waterfall, in overcoming which a large fish runs the
risk of falling either among bare rocks or shallows, par are seldom or
never caught ; and yet the sea-trout and whitlings run up without
danger, and spawn in immense numbers many miles on, through the
whole extent of Glenartney; nay, it is well known throughout Perth-
shire, that the Rochil is the best stream in the whole county for these
fish, and that a dozen or more, averaging three pounds weight each,
may be taken by a single rod among the highest pools in a proper
season. If, then, par are the males of the sea-trout and whitling, or
mules- between them and the common trout, of which there are vast
quantities in this stream, why are they not to be found among the
innumerable spawn-beds along its course ? A few surely might remain
above as well as under the point alluded to ; and yet we ourselves have
never been able to capture one individual, although we have angled

T 2

140 ON THE NATURE OF THE PAR,

there over and over again. But a fact somewhat similar may be noted,
nearer Edinburgh, on the stream which runs into the Forth below
Cramond, and also on the Esk close to Musselburgh, both of which are
visited by a small species of sea-trout. From the former stream we
have taken them in considerable numbers ; and although angling with a
small fly, we never caught or saw a single par. Also at Musselburgh
the same thing has happened to us*.

We have thus disproved two theories respecting the par : first, that
it is a mule betwixt the salmon and river trout ; and second, that
it is the male of the sea-trout, whitling, or finnock. We are now
narrowed to the following points — either that it forms a distinct and
separate species of fish, or is the real fry of the salmon in a certain con-
dition. In disproving one of these points we prove the other. Now as
to its being a separate species of fish, we need only refer to the facts
alluded to above, in order to refute this notion ; viz., its known relation
to the sea, its identity of sex, and want of generating power. But
besides these we may further, remark, that the par is known to grow
rapidly, and that the same individuals do not remain in our rivers above
a single season; because, as will be observed, the supply of every suc-
ceeding year is a supply of young and fresh-formed fish, without any
intermixture of a former breed. What then has become of the vast
quantities left in our rivers during the bygone season ? Were they dead,
a mortality so striking might easily be discovered by their remains; the
fact is, they all proceed naturally to the sea, there to undergo those
processes which submit them back to us in the shape of grilse and sal-
mon. Nay, there is no other refuge for our opponents in this discus-
sion to take to unless they revert, as we once heard an angler do, to
the cross system, and maintain the par to be a breed betwixt the min-
now and trout, both of which fish exist in waters inaccessible to the
salmon ; moreover, the folly of the cross system is here exposed,
because we imagine it more likely for the minnow and trout to produce
a mule, than a half sea-fish with one absolutely fresh-water. We have

* Salmon, however, are said sometimes to ascend these waters ; we have heard
of one being caught with the rod above Kirkliston. This, however, on further
inquiry, turned out to be a species of bull-trout, bred in the long still pools below
that village, and which are not unfrequeritly taken with the leister near the head of
Almond during the spawning season. Salmon have certainly been caught close to
the sea in the neighbouring bays, but we doubt very much their breeding in either
stream. The fry of these fish have not been discovered of late years in any shape,
whether as common smouts or par.

AS OBSERVED IN SCOTLAND. 141

proved then, upon undeniable premises, that the par can be nothing- else
than the fry of the salmon ; and we will now discover a few points of
similarity in these fish, and relate a singular circumstance, which about
a year ago turned our attention to this subject. And first, as to the simi-
larity between them. Both have the tail forked — the gills marked in
the same manner — the ventral fins strong and blackish ; while in trout
they have a less fixed and generally yellowish colour — the dorsal one
more extended than in the latter fish — they have both an activity pro-
portioned to their sizes, and an equal affection for rapid streams.

The external shape> although not fully developed in the par, is yet
similar : it wants the proportions of a grown fish, no more than the foal
those of the horse. Its head, indeed, is somewhat rounder — requiring
elongation — the back too straight, and displaying a want of strength :
but still the principal points are alike, discovering an intimate and
mutual kinship. And here an objection will be taken to the colour of
the par, and its want of those silvery scales which belong to the salmon ;
but let it be remembered that as yet it is in a manner an unclean fish,
not having proceeded to the sea ; how then can it be expected to retain
this brilliant covering, when salmon themselves in ascending rivers
throw it off, and become, in some cases, un distinguishable from a large,
common, ill-fed trout ? We believe, however, that the young fry, when
first produced, exhibit a coat of scales which lies on them till spring,
when many descend in shoals to the salt water, and the others remaining
cast it off ; nor does it grow again until the end of autumn, when they
are prepared to journey sea-ward with the floods which happen about
that season. Nor is such an hypothesis altogether imaginary ; for we
come to the relation of a circumstance, the happening of which grounded
our belief on this theory, and no assailable one it is, if our eyes, which
are good, did not deceive us. Last spring, after the time when smelts
generally descend, we chanced to capture a few of them in St. Mary's
Loch, the streams about which are a favourite breeding-place for salmon.
These were of a large kind, and had been prevented from joining the
spring shoals by their inability to discover the outlet to the lake ; they
were soft and loose in the scale, but, seemingly, an enticing bait for
pike, which frequent a smaller sheet of water immediately above St.
Mary's.

In the afternoon, happening to use one of these smelts on our pike-
tackle, we remarked how its scales came off in great numbers, discovering
beneath a perfect par, not to be mistaken in any one respect. This
accidental discovery we further confirmed by repeated experiments ; and

142 ON THE NATURE OF THE PAR, ETC.

we are now convinced, beyond a doubt, of the fact, that par are the
young of salmon in a certain state.

Nor have we availed ourselves in the minutest degree of the obser-
vations of the Ettrick Shepherd, in the Agricultural Journal ; for we
esteem his method of proof as somewhat fallacious, and at war with the
established doctrine of chances ; yet we have conversed with those who
asserted the accuracy of Mr. Hogg's statement ; and we know it to be
the constant practice of the Bard of Altrive to mark the tail-fin of his
par with a peculiar incision, not difficult to recognise. We confess,
however, that it is wonderful : first, that Mr. Hogg should be able to
catch the ten-thousandth portion of the par frequenting Yarrow; —
secondly, that out of a few hundreds which he might catch and muti-
late, such a number should reach the sea — undergo the many chances
of disaster on the way thither — the more hideous perils of that element
— that they should ascend the stream of their birth in preference to
many others ; and, that when of good size, and liable to be taken on
ever so many occasions by human means, they should, escaping net and
hook, otter and leister, arrive uninjured before Mr. Hogg's nose, and
allow him to transfix them through and through in order to discover
their personal identity. All these circumstances combined, it seems as if
fortune were peculiarly gracious to the poet in overcoming what is next
to a physical impossibility — in invalidating the origin of evidential law,
and throwing the calculating system of philosophers back among the
rubbish of ignorance and error.

We have avoided upholding Mr. Hogg's method of supporting this
theory, for no other reason than that we find ourselves unable to
answer the many objections which it calls forth ; but we think, notwith-
standing, that the theory is a good one, that it is worthy of general
credit, and that such a manner of support might prove no small advan-
tage to our salmon fisheries in Scotland. We call not for the inter-
ference of an act of legislature in order to prevent the destruction of
par ; such a measure would fall too severely upon the brethren of the
streams ; it would rob the honestest of our countrymen of a kindly and
quiet privilege ; it would root out a better sort of men, and a nobler
pastime, than are to be found amid the hum of cities and the haunts
of viciousness ; and that in order to gratify the palates of epicures, and
adorn the tables of luxury. But we would submit it to every able angler
as a principle he ought to adopt, to commit again to the waters those
tiny fish which come ignorantly to his hook ; and at best are but a
meagre morsel, and give small proof of his skill in the gentle craft.

RAMBLING NOTES. 143

There are unprincipled poachers enough, who make it a glory to harass
our waters with net and lath ; who annually diminish, by some millions,
the healthiest fry of our salmon ; who depopulate many a river by means
of their nocturnal enginery. But we wish not to see, classed with these,
the humane and virtuous, the true and patriotic angler ; who should be
above employing his energies on such indiscriminate slaughter ; caring
not to check the growth of some future salmon, by the unprofitable and
childish act of destroying the infant fish.

RAMBLING NOTES.

BY J. H. ANDERSON, ESQ.

As you deemed my last rambling notes worthy of insertion in your
January Number, I am induced to offer a few more, for any future
number, when you have not more interesting matter to give us from
other correspondents. A few days after the date of my last epistle,
I was so fortunate as to fall in with and capture a bilcock or water rail
(Rallus aquaticus). I never had the pleasure of handling and exa-
mining one before, nor was I aware that we had got this interesting-
species so near us. You may be sure I was very much delighted with my
prize ; aye, not even a sailor could be more so, when his gallant foe has
struck in bloody fight, nor the soldier when the leaguered town is won.
Montagu gives an excellent description of this bird at page 33. The
only variation was in weight ; his weighing four and a half, and mine
exactly five and a quarter ounces.

Mine is a male bird, and was very fat when taken.

In Vol. I. at page 2J2, of the Field Naturalist, Ruricola says he
found the nest of a yellowhammer (Emberiza citrinella) built in a
hedge about eighteen inches from the ground. I can add my testi-
mony to his and Colonel Montagu's, that they do sometimes, though
rarely, build in such situations. I think I shall be under the mark
when I say, I have seen not less than half a dozen in my time, and
more than that in furze bushes. I recollect an instance of finding one
in a hedge about three feet from the ground perfectly well, from the
attending circumstances thereof. The old bird was on the nest at the
time we found it ; and so, taking it as a mark, my comrade let fly an
arrow from his bow, which pierced through nest and bird together.
The horrid crime thus perpetrated has riveted the place and circum-

144 KAMBLING NOTES.

stance in my memory. The poor bird's dying shrieks even now ring in
my ears, while I touch on the subject. My observations accord with
Colonel Montagu's, with respect to the time of building its nest ; it is
late, when compared with the several other kinds of birds. The one seen"
by Ruricola might be an exception to the general rule. An early or
late spring may influence them in some measure, and does, there is no
doubt of it. Some few individuals, perhaps, may cling to the old doc-
trine ; yet I attribute such matters to the influence of the moon, but
adopt the former theory. Last summer I found out this bird to be an
excellent friend to the gardener, by destroying caterpillars.

On looking into Montagu's Dictionary for the Yellow Wagtail, it
says, " a name for the winter wagtail." This must surely be an error
of the press. — Quere. Should it not be "a name for the spring wag-
tail ? "

The spring wagtail (Budytes flava) goes under the name of the yellow
wagtail with us 'hereabout ; and out of the three, is the only one entitled
to the name in my opinion.

I have seen the nest of the pied wagtail (Motacilla lotor) in two in-
stances, in what perhaps may be considered by many rather out of the
way places. They were both on the high wold hills in this neighbour-
hood, and neither of them within a mile or two of any stream ; but there
were artificial ponds for cattle to drink at, within four or five hundred
yards of both. One was built on the top of a shepherd's sod hut, in a
large sheep walk, where whins abounded. The hut was covered over with
whins and loose straw as a protection from rain. I was on a piratical
cruise after birds' nests and young rabbits, &c., when I found this nest.

The other was built in a more curious situation still ; and as I had
heard and read of an artificial method of hatching eggs, I was almost
inclined to think the wagtails were trying the experiment. It was built
five or six feet from the ground in the side of a pyramidal sod heap,
which had been thus piled up for the purpose of being burnt to ashes
as manure for turnips. Owing to unfavourable weather, part of the
outside wall of sods had not been consumed by the fire ; and in this
part the birds had built their nest, which had eggs in it when I found it.

It happened unfortunately for them that the ashes were wanted
before they had time to complete their experiment ; and as I have not
since seen the experiment repeated by any kind of birds, I am not able
to inform you and your readers what the result would have been.

No boy was ever more fond of birds and birds' nesting than I was ;
had I been a close observer of nature, I might have had a budget full of

RAMBLING NOTES. 145

interesting facts respecting birds and animals ; but I am sorry to say I
was not.

I have frequently rambled for miles over the hills and dales, and
through woods and brakes, in search of birds' nests and young hares and
rabbits. I have often with another companion or two visited that
beautifully romantic place, Falconer's Hall, seven or eight miles distant
from our homes, on expeditions of this kind. I probably may give you
an account of some of our visits to that place by and by. It stands on
the high wold hills, and commands a fine view of the country around ;
a finer place for hawks and hounds cannot be conceived.

Falconer's Hall was built for the celebrated Colonel Thornton of
sporting notoriety. In his day it was the resort of beauty and of wit ;
the scene of revelry and mirth. The ploughman was then often
cheered by the sound of " the echoing horn," and the hills enlivened by
the gallant train of horsemen in the field. But hear the immortal
Peter's song : —

" Come, sportsmen, away, — the morning how fair !
To the wolds, to the wolds, let us quickly repair ;
Bold Thunder and Lightning * are mad for the game,
And Death and the Devil are both in a dame.

" See, Backers, a kite ! — a mere speck in the sky —
Zounds ! out with the owl — lo, he catches his eye —
Down he comes with a sweep — be unhooded each hawk ;
Very soon will they both to the gentleman talk.

" They're at him — he's off — now they're o'er him again :
Ah ! that was a stroke — see ! he drops to the plain —
They rake him, they tear him — he flutters, he cries,
He struggles, he turns up his talons, and dies.

" See a magpie ! Let fly — how he flutters and shambles !
How he chatters, poor rogue ! now he darts to the brambles ;
Out again — overtaken — his spirits now flag —
Flip ! he gives up the ghost — good night, Mister Mag.

" Lo, a heron ! Let loose — how he pokes his long neck,
And darts, with what vengeance, but vainly, his beak !
Egad he shifts well — now he feels a death-wound,
And with Thunder and Lightning rolls tumbling to ground.

* Thunder, Lightning, Death, and Devil, — names of four hawks.

An uncle of mine, who was a true sportsman in his day, says he once met above
threa hundred gentlemen and farmers at breakfast at Falconet's Hall, after which
they had a stag chase.

VOL. II. — NO. III. U

146 ON THE PRODUCTION OF INFUSORIA.

" Thus \ve falconers sport— tlien homeward we stray,
To fight o'er the bottle the wars of the day ;
And in honour at night of the chase and its charms.
Sink sweetly to rest, with a dove in our arm's."

Kelharn, Yorkshire, 11th of January, 1834.

ON THE PRODUCTION OF INFUSORIA.

BY E. G. BALI.ARD, ESQ.

THE inquiry which your correspondent, " Tyro," has made, relative
to the " changes which take place among- the particles of vegetable
matter when submitted to the putrefactive process, so as to produce
these singular creatures," involves many particulars relative both to
chemistry and vegetable physiology in its first point, namely, the
" putrefactive process;" and, secondly, another intricate investigation-,
on the actual generative production of these animalcules from the ovi-
form state. Such I consider to be the real state of the question pro-
pounded by your correspondent.

In subjects of this nature, the extreme minuteness of the objects of
research, which are only visible under the most powerful microscope,
renders it impossible to determine their habits or changes, even in the
adult state, much less to detect the imperceptible ova from which they
are probably hatched ; for equivocal generation, I presume, is excluded
from your correspondent's inquiry. Under these circumstances, probable
conjecture, on sound and rational principles, is all we can have to aid
our investigations.

Having thus placed the question in its true light, I shall proceed to
examine, —

1. The putrefactive process in vegetable matter.

Without entering minutely into the chemical analysis of vegetable
matter, which, throughout the whole vegetable kingdom, according to
Nicholson's Chemical Dictionary, amounts to no less than twenty-nine
various ingredients, we may briefly observe that the following are
universal constituents of all vegetable substances; namely, 1, Sugar;
2,1 Gum ; 3, Starch ; 4, Gluten ; 5, Albumen ; 6, Gelatine ; 7, Wood ;
8, Fibrin. Of these he gives the following definitions : —

1 . Sugar — crystallises ; soluble in water and alcohol ; taste sweet ;
soluble in nitric acid, and yields oxalic acid.

2. Gum — does not crystallise; taste insipid; soluble in water, and

ON THE PRODUCTION OF INFUSORIA. 147

forms mucilage ; insoluble in alcohol ; precipitated by silicated potash ;
soluble in nitric acid, and forms mucous and oxalic acids.

3. Starch — a white powder, insoluble in cold water ; taste insipid ;
soluble in hot water; opake and glutinous; precipitated by an infusion
of nutgalls; precipitate redissolved by a heat of 120°; insoluble in
alcohol; soluble in dilute nitric acid, and precipitated by alcohol; with
nitric acid yields oxalic acid and a waxy matter.

4. Gluten — forms a ductile, elastic mass, with water ; partially soluble
in water; precipitated by infusion of nutgalls, and oxegericycae muriatic
acid ; insoluble in alcohol ; by fermentation becomes viscid and ad-
hesive, and then assumes the properties of cheese ; soluble in nitric
acid, and yields oxalic acid.

5. Albumen — soluble in cold water ; coagulated by heat, and becomes
insoluble; insoluble in alcohol; precipitated by infusion of nutgalls ;
soluble in nitric acid ; soon putrities.

6. Gelatine — insipid ; soluble in water ; does not coagulate when
heated ; precipitated by infusion of galls.

7. Wood — composed of fibres ; tasteless ; insoluble in water and
alcohol; soluble in weak alkaline laxivium ; precipitated by acids; leaves
much charcoal when distilled in a red heat ; soluble in nitric acid, and
yields oxalic acid.

8. Fibrin — tasteless; insoluble in water and alcohol; soluble in
diluted alkalies, and in nitric acid ; soon putrifies.

1. By this analytical survey, in which I have been minute on account
of the future inductions, we may observe that all but the starch, fibrin,
and wood, are soluble in water, and the gluten partially so.

2. We also find that the gluten, which remains undissolved, forms a
ductile elastic mass with the water ; and, besides, becomes viscid and
adhesive by fermentation, and then assumes the properties of cheese.

3. We discover that the albumen and the fibrin soon putrify.

4. Thus we have, as the component parts of vegetable matter, four
soluble substances, three insoluble, one partially soluble ; and of these,
two soon putrify. Besides these, we have, according to a more accurate
chemical analysis, the elastic products or gases, carbon, hydrogen, and
oxygen ; nitrogen is a constituent principle of several, and the fixed
and volatile alkalies are also found.

Having now decided the component parts of the matter or subject
in question, we come to the process by which it is decomposed, and the
agent employed. The process is maceration, and the agent water.

Maceration is that process by which a body is steeped in a cold liquor.

u '2

148 ON THE PRODUCTION OF 1NFUSOH1A.

It does not differ from digestion, excepting that the term is never used
when the temperature of the mass is raised beyond that of the sur-
rounding air.

On the nature and phenomenon of the putrefactive process in vege-
table matter, we have the following excellent account in Rees's
Cyclopaedia : —

" The conditions necessary for the putrefaction of vegetables are
similar to those required in the putrefaction of animal substances. It
is necessary that the organisation be impregnated with water; the contact
of air is necessary, as also a certain degree of heat ; and for the due
effect of this kind of decomposition, the vegetables should be heaped
together, and their juices be abundant. In these circumstances, the
phenomena of decomposition are as follow: — the colour of the vegetable
is changed, the green leaves become yellow, the texture becomes lax,
the parts less coherent, the colour of the vegetable itself changes to
black or brown, the mass rises and perceptibly swells up, the heat
becomes more intense, and is perceived on approaching the heap ; and
the fumes that arise have already a smell, which sometimes is not dis-
agreeable ; at the same time bubbles arise and break at the surface of
the liquid, when the vegetables are reduced to a magma, or mass of
feculent matter. This gas is a mixture of nitrogen, hydrogen, and
carbonic acid. At this epocha, likewise, an ammoniacal gas is emitted,
which is formed in these circumstances ; and in proportion as these
appearances diminish, the strong and offensive odour is succeeded by
another which is fainter and milder, and the mass becomes dry. The
internal part still exhibits the vegetable structure when the stem is
solid, and the fibrous matter has been the predominating principle ; and
it then constitutes manure or soil. Hence it arises that the herbaceous
plants of a loose texture, and abounding in juices, are not capable of
forming manure by their decomposition, but are reduced to a brown
mass of little consistence, in which neither fibre nor texture is observed;
and this is what for the most part forms vegetable mould."

This is, decidedly, one of the clearest descriptions that can possibly
be given of the theory and phenomena of vegetable putrefaction. The
circumstances, however, are not the same as those recorded by " Tyro ;"
and, consequently, the effects, or results, or products will be different.
Let us then examine each.

First, in the usual circumstances there are the following conditions:
1, impregnation (not maceration) with water; 2, the contact of air;
3, the accumulation of the vegetable matter in a heap.

ON THE PRODUCTION OF INFUSORIA. 149

The results are : — 1, a change of colour; 2, a change of consistence ;
3. a rising or swelling up of the mass ; 4, a great degree of heat ; 5, the
disengagement of foetid fumes ; 6, the evolvement of a combination of
gases ; 7, the change of the vegetable substance into a magma or fecu-
lent mass ; 8, the drying of the remains into the form of manure, or
vegetable mould.

Second, the required circumstances are: — I, maceration in stagnant
and unchanged water ; 2, the imperfect access of air by the interposition
of the surrounding water ; 3, the loose contact of the stalks or leaves of
the vegetables, owing. to their partial diffusion in a fluid medium.

In all cases of philosophical, and more especially in chemical investi-
gation, we are to consider causes and effects: the latter, by the immu-
table laws of nature, being the result of the former. If the causes (or
circumstances) be precisely the same, the effects will exactly coincide ;
but if the effects are different, we must seek for the reason in some
alteration or modification of the cause.

Now, in the present case, the causes or circumstances have been
shown to be altered, or modified, and we must therefore expect to find
a variation of effects, or a difference in the results.

Accordingly we find the following effects proceeding from their
respective causes :

CAUSE 1. — Maceration in stagnant and unchanged water.

EFFECT. — The effect here is two-fold. 1st, The constant maceration
of a vegetable when severed from its root, which is the natural medium
by which moisture is received by the plant, cannot conduce to its
nourishment, but will sensibly aid its decay, because no circulation can
possibly take place ; fresh water would, indeed, produce a temporary
revival, but its death and decomposition would ultimately ensue. But
here is, 2nd, A water stagnant and unchanged ; and, consequently, not
only maceration aids decay, but it is accelerated by the momentarily
increasing quantity of decomposed vegetable matter which arises from
the process of putrefactive fermentation which is going on. Hence
arise the results of gluten, gelatine, and magma ; all of which are to
be found in the water, and are the solid parts of the vegetable matter
decomposed.

CAUSE 2. — The imperfect access of air, by the interposition of the
surrounding water.

EFFECT. — This produces results different from the usual circum-
stances. 1, The evaporation of moisture from the mass is prevented,
and the water becomes charged in a considerable degree with those

150 ON THE PRODUCTION OF INFUSOKIA.

gases which would otherwise evolve, Hence the offensive smell of the
mixture. 2, The heat not Being so powerful as when the vegetable
matter is only impregnated with water, the gluten and gelatine still
remain unchanged, and are held in suspension in the water. 3, The
magma, which would be dried and become vegetable mould, remains
as a feculent matter, also held in suspension in the water. 4, The
ammonia, probably, which would have exhaled in the state of gas, is
held in solution by the water, and gives it new properties.

CAUSE 3. -The loose context of the stalks or leaves of the vegeta-
bles, owing to their partial diffusion in a fluid medium.

EFFECT. — This will effectually prevent the extrication of the heat
which is produced by the close context of the vegetable matter when
in a heap, and the decomposition will consequently be slower and more
imperfect.

Having gone through the principal elements of the subject, — viz. 1,
The component parts of vegetables : 2, the nature of putrefactive fer-
mentation : 3, the usual circumstances and the required circumstances
under which this process proceeds : 4, the causes and effects of the re-
quired circumstances : — we now come to demonstrate the actual state
of the water, which we must now consider as an infufion, and how that
state produces the animalcules, which are the subject of " Tyro's "
inquiry.

We have then an infusion consisting of water, holding in suspension
a compound of gluten, gelatine, albumen and magma, as also numerous
insoluble ingredients. It holds in solution a portion of the nitrogen,
hydrogen, and carbonic acid, and probably ammonia.

In this, when in a state of putrefactive fermentation, a number of
minute animalcules (called infusoria) are detected by the aid of the
microscope. To suppose that these animalcules are produced by the
putrid infusion, without the agency of eggs from parent animalcules,
would be to admit equivocal generation, a theory too absurd and mon-
strous for any philosopher, much less a Christian, to admit for a moment ;
but the puzzling question then presents itself — whence did the eggs
come ?

To answer this question in a fully satisfactory manner to the minds
of all enquirers, may be a matter of considerable difficulty ; but I think
our previous analytical investigation will lead to the following inductive
reasoning : —

As these animalcules are found in I/quids on/y, and the species
referred lo in putrefactive infusion generally, and as all stagnant waters

CHAPTER OF VARIETIES. 151

which hold putrid vegetable matter in suspension afford some of them,
I think we may conclude that water is their native element, and putrid
vegetable matter first their nidus, where they are hatched; and, perhaps,
their first pabulum or food on their exclusion from the egg-. I do not,
say their constant food, since the oxy-hydrogen microscope clearly
shows that they are cannibals, and devour each other.

If, then, we consider the eggs to have been laid in the water, (though
too small even for the most, powerful glasses to detect) and only to-
require a proper nidus, pabulum, and temperature, to bring them to
life, we have in the infusion in question all the conditions required — viz.,
gluten, gelatine, and magma, as nidus and pabulum, and the heat
generated by the process of putrefactive fermentation ; added to which
we have the temperature of the atmosphere in the summer season, when
they are most abundant.

With these few remarks I shall close this tedious dissertation, which,
I trust, will throw some light on the object of " Tyro's" inquiries, and
induce some of your more learned correspondents to pursue this highly
interesting subject.

Islington.

CHAPTER OF VARIETIES.

ACCOUNT OF A CANARY. — In the Christmas of 1831 I procured a
fine canary bird (Fring. cnnaria, Linn.) For a considerable time I
expected him to break out in the bold strains of his species, but still
he was mute. At first I attributed it to his removal ; to his being
in a strange place. The spring advanced and summer came, and all
the foreign warblers graced our plains and cheered our groves ; the only
note he would occasionally give was a simple tweet tweet, for silence
was with him the order of the day. When autumn approached I pro-
cured a very active and lively goldfinch (Fringilla cardualis, Linn.),
with excellent action and song, with the hope of eliciting something
from this taciturn being ; this had no effect. Moulting time came ;
that was an excuse for him, and continued long. I did not know what
to think of him ; sometimes I thought it must be a hen ; at other times
I thought it must be diseased or weak — then a weak bird he was con-
sidered. In the following March I procured another of good character,
which was soon proved ; for the second day he broke out in full song,
as if he had been long accustomed to the house ; unintimidated he

152 CHAPTF.R OF VARIETIES.

" tuned his pipe and sung his lay/' and poured forth his full notes in
sweet profusion ; but he had no influence on the other. Wanting his
cage, I turned him in a large one in a room upstairs, where I gave him
the companionship of a young unmoulted goldfinch, which moulted and
sung. But the other was obdurate ; it seemed as if cheerfulness or
music never touched his breast, and he appeared as if he was deter-
mined it never should issue from it. At length his cheerful little
companion died ; and as the winter was now approaching — it being
Christmas time — I thought the room would be too cold for him. I
purchased a small cage for him, and brought him to my parlour in
companionship with his former friends. For two days he sat on his
perch, " burly and big," with his usual silence. On the following day,
on my return home, I was informed that he had sung ; I thought there
must have been some mistake. But on the next morning I had a con-
vincing proof by a lengthened strain ; since that time he seems to be
priding himself in emulating the others, always responding, and very
frequently preceding and calling to time.

It really is astonishing to see the emulation and activity displayed
by this uncertain and hitherto idle bird. He appears as if he was
desirous of repaying for his long-suspended song by its now peculiar
fulness and continuity ; and as if proud of his acquirements, even before
daylight, when the fire is lighted, he will begin with a short prelude of
invitation to the other There is a peculiarity in the character of this
bird, who should thus break out with such emulation, energy, quick-
ness of action, and melody of song, after a quiescence of two years.

Old Dawley Park, Jan, 27. PHILOAVKS.

WANT OF A SYSTEM OF ORNITHOLOGY. — In reading your Field
Naturalist's Magazine — which, I may stop to say, pleases me — I find a
disregard of the system of Linnaeus in your ornithological remarks,
without the adaptation of any other system in its place ; each writer on
that history seems to give his own terms, or adopts those of another, but
I cannot discover that any general ay stem is pursued If the system of
Linnaeus is exploded — which I make no doubt subsequent discoveries
in the science have tended to nullify — will you be pleased to inform
me if any other system on ornithology is established, and what are its
principal features, divisions, and characters * ?

I would suggest — would not the system of ornithology make a

* There are several systems, such as Temminck's, Vieillot's, tlie Quinary, as
I have sketched in " Architecture of Birds." — EDIT.

CHAPTER OF VARIETIES. 158

feature in the above Magazine, making it a leading article therein ;
beginning, as you would in the Linnaean system, at the order Accipi-
tres, giving the genus Vultur, with all the known species of that genus,
in succession. From thence to the genus Falco, with its different
species until complete ; thus completing an order, &c., until you get
to Picaete ; and so on, until the whole of the orders, &c., are disposed of.
Cuvier's " Animal Kingdom," published by Henderson, is not suffi-
ciently clear ; it is too brief and ill-arranged : witness the additional
notes and the shortness of the text.

Old Park, Dawley, Jan 27, 1834. PniLOAVES.

METHOD OP FORMING A ROOKERY. — If N. N. wishes to establish a
rookery, and has suitable trees for them, he has only to get a nest or
two of young ones from some neighbouring haunt, and place it in them.
The old ones will find and come to feed them, and these will the fol-
lowing year return there to breed. A colony may thus be obtained
whenever he wishes one, provided there is any other establishment
within three or four miles of him. His host of ironical questions I will
not pretend to1 answer, especially as many of them have already been
so ably replied to. C. PARSONS*.

MIGRATION OF THE TREE SPARROW (Passer arboreus). — This bird
is a constant winter visitant here. I have shot them repeatedly in
severe weather in January, intermixed with the common sparrows in
the farm-yards, and also with green-finches, chaffinches, and other
small birds in the fields ; about a fortnight ago I caught one at night
in a folding net in a corn-stack, when in quest of common sparrows.
I never saw one here in the summer months.

I have been induced to offer these remarks in consequence of an
observation in your Magazine, vol. i. page 468, that the tree sparrow
might prove a bird of passage, and the fact of some alighting on a vessel
off the Suffolk coast ; but many of them certainly prefer the winter air
of Southchurch to a sea voyage.

Many of the small birds perform partial Sittings from one part to
another, that do not come under the denomination of migratory birds;
and it is only by observations and correspondence from all' parts of the
country that these minor changes of situation can be ascertained.

Southchurch, Feb. 8, 1834. CHRIS. PARSONS.

* Other communications from our intelligent correspondent will be acceptable.
— EDITOR.

VOL. II. — NO. III. ' X

154 CHAPTER OF VARIETIES.

ON THE DUNLIN (Tringa variabilis). — The birds "Pliny of
Lancaster" has seen on the sea shore, presenting an alternate dark or
silvery white appearance as they have their backs or breasts towards
him, is the dunlin (Tringa varialilis) in winter plumage ; the purr or
stint ( Tringa clnclus) of Bewick, or ox bird, as it is here called, of
which his dunlin (Tringa alpina) is a figure and description in its
summer plumage.

With regard to their scarcity. In summer they disperse to breed, to
what part I am not able to say (none kof them stay in this neigh-
bourhood), and at that time it is most' probable that not more than
a pair will be seen together ; but about the middle of July the old ones
arrive here, and the first of the young the beginning of August ; and all
that month and September continue to come, and during the winter,
may be seen in immense flocks traversing the surface of the water ; or
sometimes rising higher, they appear like a dark cloud, and rapidly
turning and presenting their breasts to the spectator, they all at once
appear of a snowy white. These evolutions are chiefly performed during
the time of high water; and when the tide leaves, they may be seen
busily running over the sands in quest of food.

In February, a few red feathers may be seen on the backs of some
individuals; in March they become beautifully variegated, and the
black on the breast begins to appear ; many of them take their depar-
ture this month; some, however, stay till April, and a few even to the
beginning of May : these acquire their full summer plumage before
they leave ; and it is then that I have obtained them in greatest per-
fection for preserving, although some good coloured ones may be got
when they first return in July.

The young when they first come, are very differently marked from
the adult bird in any state of plumage, and it is exceedingly interesting
to watch the progress of their changes of colour during the months of
August, September, October, and November, when they get their
perfect winter dress, and are no longer to be distinguished from their
parents. C. PARSONS.

THE REDBREAST. — I am sorry to have committed any error in the
few observations (professedly " facts") which appeared in your number
for F*ebruary ; but speaking of the robin, I should have said that he
enters the suburbs of London, about the middle of August; for it is
rarely that he is seen in the metropolis during the breeding- season,
though in winter his familiarity is daily observed. It was the circum-

CHAPTER OF VARIETIES. 155

stance of my writing1 in London which led to this mistake, which I hope
you will excuse, being from a tyro. I am aware that in country villages
the robins are plentiful throughout the year, though when the young
have flown, like all other birds, they are most abundant ; and yet the
next breeding season they do not appear more so than the last, and we
never notice, in any district, one species to become gradually more
numerous. As, for instance, the swallow: the departing flocks are beyond
comparison larger than those which return in spring, and one would
suppose that there would be a perceptible increase, but this is checked
by numerous accidents, to which migratory birds are subject, such as
diminution by storms in crossing the ocean, and by the attacks of birds
of prey and other enemies in travelling overland : so admirably is every
thing in nature arranged, and so true is the balance of Nature's scales.
With regard to " animals swallowing hard substances," I had often
heard of the ostrich swallowing stones, &c. ; but was surprised to observe
the cassowary at the Surrey Zoological Gardens swallowing several
stones of considerable magnitude, after having already passed through the
bird, apparently without being injured; how often this process was
repeated, I had not patience nor inclination to discover ; nor do I know
whether it be a new fact respecting this bird or not. T. C.

SPONTANEOUS GENERATION. — "Tyro" notices animalcules found in
water, and says " there can be no doubt, I think, that they owe their
being to decomposition.'' 1 wish I could give him " a few hints upon
this subject;" but unfortunately can only suggest one or two qxieries,
being more fond of contemplating Nature's more beautiful, though
perhaps less astonishing, works.

1. Do not these animalcules, or at any rate the spawn, eggs, (or
from whatever else they maybe produced), exist at all times in water?
and is it not their extreme diminutiveness which prevents their being
seen, even with a microscope ?

2. Is it not their increasing in size which renders the water putrid ?

3. Is not decomposition the effect of these very animalcules ?

I should be glad to be enlightened respecting these points, or infor-
med of the best work upon the subject *. T. C.

RATS AND GUINEA PIGS. — Some people, I believe, have an idea that
rats are afraid of guinea pigs ; when I kept rabbits I had great diffi-

* I have taken up this question at some length in " Insect Transformation."
I have also given the more recent discoveries in the " ALPHABET OF NATURAL
THEOLOGY," now in the press. ED.

x2

156 CHAPTER OF VARIETIES.

culty in preserving them from rats ; for though the doors of the hutches
were lined with tin, the rats would squeeze through an almost incre-
dibly small space, and I have frequently seen one feeding out of the
same trough with an old rabbit, though the young they would
destroy without ceremony. I had also a collection of the spotted cavy ;
and though placing but little faith in the notion that they would pre-
vent the depredations of rats, I was willing to make the experiment,
and allowing some to run about in the " rabbitry," I placed the rest in
a hutch by themselves ; but what was my horror upon opening the
door, one morning, to find the whole collection of " pigs" weltering in
their gore ; a prey to their kinsmen, the rats*. I have had much
painful experience that so far from rats being afraid of guinea pigs,
they evince a particular partiality to them.

The spotted cavy is remarkably cleanly in its person, spending much
time in smoothing its coat ; it produces generally two, or three, some-
times four at a litter, which run about as soon as born, and grow re-
markably fast. How this little animal came by the name of guinea pig
I cannot conceive, as I believe it was originally brought from Brazil.
There is no food of which rabbits and guinea pigs are so fond as the
leaves, stalks, and juicy pod of the maize, or Indian corn, and they
will touch no other food while a particle of this remains.

AURORA BOREALIS. — A splendid axirora was seen at this place on the
28th of December last, at about six o'clock in the afternoon, appear-
ing, I am told, more to the eastward than is usual with this phenome-
non ; it was followed within twenty-eight hours by the tremendous
south-westerly gales which prevailed on the last day of the year. As
I did not myself witness it, I am sorry to be unable to furnish a parti-
cular description of its appearance.

E. BLYTH.

Tooting, Feb. Uh, 1834.

THE SNIPE (Scolopax gallinago, Linnaeus). — A short time since a
snipe was brought to me, slightly wounded in the pinion. It refused
at first all nourishment, and would probably have been starved, had I
not forced a few worms down its throat, and held its beak until it
swallowed them ; it soon began to swallow worms if merely placed

* It is possible that this accident might be caused by stoats, though I never saw
any in the place ; the bodies were not mangled, but a hole made in the head, through
which their enemies had extracted the nourishment.

CHAPTER OF VARIETIES. J57

between its mandibles, and would retain one occasionally for a consider-
able time in its bill, seizing it in a very adroit manner, and contriving
to hold it straight along its bill's whole length. In the course of a few
days it fed itself, consuming a most amazing quantity of earth-worms,
the major portion of which it ate by night ; but this being rather
troublesome food to procure, I endeavoured to get it to feed on bread
and milk, by putting into it some cleanly washed worms; but was
unsuccessful, though Montagu succeeded thus with the woodcock. It
soon picked out the worms, and I have reason to believe, from the
appearance of a pan of water to which it had access, washed every one
of them before swallowing it, as a curlew did, mentioned by Montagu.
I kept it for some days on short commons, putting only about a dozen
worms into its mess, in hopes that it would soon be forced to take to
the bread and milk, but all to no purpose ; it became so much reduced
in three days that I was compelled to desist, and to furnish it again
with its natural aliment, worms, which, in a very short space of time,
restored it to its previous good condition. I allowed it the range of a
small garden, and when first suffered to remain loose, it would frequently,
as may be supposed, endeavour to fly away ; at such times it would run
about spreading its tail in a very singular manner, the caudal feathers
being expanded as widely as possible, and the whitish last feather on
each side showing very conspicuously ; but not spread horizontally, in
the manner of the American redstart of Wilson (Setophaga ruticilla,
Swain), or the Swedish blue breast (Pandicilla suecica, Mihi), but
turned up perpendicularly, that is to say, on one side of the bird the
upper surface only could be seen, on the other side only the under
part, appearing, indeed, on a superficial view, like the tail of a common
barn-door hen ; it never thus placed its tail excepting when it
intended to spring up into the air, but would then run swiftly along,
first turning one side of it uppermost, then the other, thus shifting it
every two or three yards, until it made a sudden spring, with the
intention of flying away. It ran with great celerity ; and, what is sin-
gular, would often when loose in the garden run into a cage for protec-
tion, in which it had at first been confined. I know of no writer who
has mentioned the snipe's singular mode of spreading the tail ; but Mr.
Selby observes, in his most admirable description of the woodcock, that
that species "just before rising, upon being]disturbed, or when running,
jerks its tail upwards, partly expanding it, and fully showing the white
that distinguishes the under surface of the tips of the tail feathers."
It is by means of this extreme mobility of the tail that these birds are

158 CHAPTER OF VARIETIES.

enabled to perform those sudden turns and evolutions in the air which
render their flight so remarkable. I observed that in the living bird
the eye did not appear to be placed so far back in the head as it does in
dead specimens, and as it has generally been represented in drawings.
The markings of the plumage also, in the living bird, are beautifully
regular, forming a well-defined pale brown or cream-coloured line along
the crown of the head, and three similar lines down the back, which are
never the least discomposed. This disposition of the snipe's plumage
should be carefully attended to in stuffed specimens.

E. BLYTH.
Feb. 5th, 1834.

ON THE NOTIONS OF P. W. — In your Chapter of Varieties for last
month, a letter (signed P. W.) is introduced, which, as it contains
notions that I can hardly conceive any one can seriously entertain, I
would rather suppose is meant as a joke on the numerous theories that
start up daily, or to see if persons can be found credulous enough to
believe any absurdity, so that it possesses originality and a seeming
plausibility. As coming from a correspondent in the Magazine, some
few may, without examination, and without perceiving the writer's
intention, think the ideas good, and attach more weight to them than
they deserve ; for their sakes I will treat the letter as one which gives
P. W.'s opinion truly, and I hope in a few lines to show the utter
fallacy of such notions. Granting that the sea is two or three miles
deep, that an observer might have every favourable opportunity, that
the sea should be clearer than crystal, and telescopes more perfect even
than any yet invented, still do I assert that P. W.'s ideas cannot be
supported, for these few, but, as they appear to me, important reasons :
that the Megalosaurus, Icthyosaurus, &c., were formed for breathing
air, and that though they might continue under water for some time,
yet sooner or later they must come up to respire ; that the Pterodactyli,
or Ornithocephali,^fett> in the air like bats ; and that the Mammoth was
in every respect a land animal. The latter part of P. W.'s letter, is, I
think, rather obscure* Does the writer suppose that there is a stratum
of air under the mass of water three miles deep ? If so, I would ask
him how it is retained there? how prevented from ascending through the
heavier liquid above ? or, granting that it could be retained, how would
it be renewed ? for so many large animals would surely soon destroy
its purity. If, as P. W. imagines, these living beings are to be found at
the bottom of the sea, and my idea of his stratum of air be correct, they

CHAPTER OF VARIETIES. 159

must either swim about in the water, descending to the air to breathe,
and never touch the earth, or they must move on the ground in this
dense stratum of air, and, excepting- the Pterodactyli, which have wings,
not be able to get to the water ; both of which notions appear to me
incomprehensible, and, according to their conformations, are next to
impossible.

By inserting this you will much oblige a constant reader of your
excellent Magazine.

I beg leave also to state to P. W. that the Cornu Ammonis is not a
snail, but a Cephalopod.

WILLIAM FOWLER.
February Uth, 1834.

WINTERING OF THE HOUSE FLY. — In the last number of your Field
Naturalist, I observe that your correspondent M. of Southampton
mentions it as a remarkable circumstance that he had a common house
fly in his room so late as the 16th of January. I was myself surprised at
their long stay with us ; but such has been the extraordinary mildness
of the season, that I have seen them every day, up to the present
moment, with the exception of a few days that I was from home, during
which interval, I am told, they did not forsake theirs. Sometimes one
fly only has appeared for days in succession, at other times several would
appear together. Many times, both in January and February, I have
taken one, sometimes two, out of the milk. They seem to have little
strength, for they will admit of very near approach before they take
flight ; and upon one occasion, seeing one fly from a dish of broccoli on
to the table, I very gently placed a small piece of that vegetable near
him, upon which he immediately began to feed, without any apparent
alarm. At this moment, February 18th, there are two in the room.
The wintering of these insects appears much more mysterious than that
of the swallows, about which so much has been written. I should be
happy to see a satisfactory account of their migrations*.

E. K.

St. Paul's Church Yard, ]8th February.

THE CAT AND THE RABBIT, &c. — Your having favoured a former
communication of mine, on the habits of tame birds, with a place in
the "Field Naturalist," induces me to hope for the like indulgence
now. I have always been fond of studying the habits both of birds

* The Natural History of the House Fly is still obscure. — EDITOR.

160 CHAPTER OF VARIETIES.

and animals ; and, if I have benefited by it in no other way, I have
at last found much innocent amusement in it ; and this, with sub-
mission to your correspondent N. N., is an object not altogether unwor-
thy of attention, even if Cock Robins and Tomtits should happen to
contribute to it. But on this head I know that your opinion coincides
with my own, as you prove by the manner in which the " Field
Naturalist" is conducted. Some years ago, I kept a tame rabbit, a
very fine and large specimen of the common domestic variety, and who
for boldness, sagacity, and playfulness, equalled any monkey : he had
the range of a small garden and the lower part of the house ; nor
indeed was he confined to the lower part, for he could go up and down
stairs as easily and as well as the biped inhabitants ; he was very fond
of playing before the kitchen fire with a large cat ; sometimes, how-
ever, they did not agree, and the cat would erect her back and hiss
at him, when he would leave the kitchen at full speed ; presently his
head would be seen peeping in at the door ; and, if the cat's back
happened to be turned towards him, he would hop softly up to her
and disturb her meditations with a sound box on the ear from one
of his fore-paws ; he would repeat this several times successively ; he
was frequently caught, when he thought himself unobserved, dragging
bunches of turnips, carrots, and greens, from the kitchen to a dark
closet, in which he slept. In going into the garden, this little animal
had three rooms to pass through : he would beat at the first door with
his fore paw, until admitted ; then cross the room, and repeat the same
operation at the next door, looking wistfully back for assistance to any
one in the room ; and so on into the garden, from which he returned
in the same way. He was quite devoid of fear, and would fight any
one with his fore paws, sitting upright in the most ludicrous manner.
He was at last stolen, to my great regret. At different times, I have
kept several squirrels ; one in particular was perfectly tame, and devo-
tedly attached to the person who usually fed it. It was not confined
to the cage, but was frequently indulged with liberty, when it would
run up and down the body of its protector, enter his pockets in search
of nuts, which it generally found, and, sitting on his shoulder to crack
them, suffered itself to be carried all over the house. It was so tame
that we often allowed it to run in the garden ; in a moment it would be
at the top of a mulberry tree, about twenty feet in height, and hop
about from branch to branch ; but at the call of its protector would
immediately descend and get on his shoulder, or into his pocket to be
carried to the cage : it was a common thing to see this squirrel at play

CHAPTER OF VARIETIES. 161

with the cat ; it would get on her back, and sit there as long- as it
thought proper without any fear whatever : I observed that at times
it was more than commonly playful, and would amuse itself for hours
together with any thing- that came in its way.

Squirrels are particularly dexterous in the arrangement of their bed
or nest. I would strongly advise all who keep them in cages never to
put hay into their little dormitory ; a bit of wool or flannel would be
much better, as it would not so conveniently harbour vermin, and
would obviate the danger of the squirrel being strangled by the hay
becoming twisted round his neck ; — -a fate which overtook one in my
possession. MATTHJEUS SYLVATICUS.*

London, Feb. 12, 1834.

THE REV. A. WELLS ON INSTINCT f. — This is an excellent pro-
vincial production, upon a very difficult subject, well written, and
shrewdly reasoned, and only deficient in being too brief; hut this was,
of course, unavoidable. The following specimen will show our readers
the style in which Mr. Wells has cleared up some of the points, often
rendered obscure and mystical even among good writers.

" Instinct, then, is not mere mechanism, or organisation. A bee
does not form and store the cells of a honey-comb, a bird does not build
a nest, as a power loom produces a fabric of calico, or a watch indicates
the hour of the day, by a mere arrangement of mechanical powers, or
suitable organs. The organs of the creatures are the instruments by
which instinct works, not that guiding power itself. Nor is instinct
mere sensation. The various irrational creatures do not accomplish
their wonderful labours and actions because certain sensations prompt
their activities, and find in them their gratification. That sensation,
as well as organisation, is subordinate and auxiliary to instinct, is, in-
deed, highly probable. It may rouse to effort ; it may determine as to
the materials selected for use ; it may, by finding its gratification ^in
instinctive labours, secure perseverance and success in them. But
sensation is not a guide ; it is an impulse : it may move, but cannot
direct ; or, if at all, only in those subordinate instances, such as the

* Our correspondent will perceive that his verses on a Garden have been trans-
ferred to the Magazine of Botany and Gardening — EDITOR.

f On Animal Instinct : a Lecture delivered before the Members of the Me-
chanics' Institute, Colchester, by the Rev. A. Wells; and published by their re.
quest. 8vo. Colchester, 1834.

VOL. II. — NO. III. Y

162 CHAPTER OF VARIETIES.

choice of food, in which the evidence of sense at once determines be-
tween the injurious and the wholesome. Neither is instinct sagacity.
Brutal sagacity is in many instances very great ; but it is most easily
distinguishable from instinct, and in many respects stands perfectly con-
trasted with it. Sagacity, by exercise and tuition, may be improved —
instinct cannot. Sagacity displays itself where the guidance of instinct
fails. Sagacity is most perfect and remarkable in creatures whose
instincts are few and simple ; as the dog, the horse, the elephant, and
the monkey. Sagacity is various in different individuals of the same
species ; instinct is uniform in every separate tribe. Sagacity in a
brute resembles reason in a man ; it is a contriving faculty : it observes
circumstances, and makes use of them ; it perceives difficulties, and
provides against them ; it can receive instruction, remember facts, and
profit by experience. But of instinct the exact reverse is true: it
works where contrivance and instruction, experience and observation,
are all alike impossible, and can be of no advantage. What, then, is
instinct ? A guiding faculty, given for a specific purpose ; within
which design it directs with unerring correctness, but beyond which it
has no light or power; equally effectual for any operation, however simple,
or however complex ; surpassing reason as much in the steadiness of its
operation and the certainty of its results, as it falls short in extent of
application and capability of improvement. A light to these humble
creatures emanating from the Father of lights, as much suited to their
necessities and happiness, as reason and revelation are to ours. But
of the particular nature of this guiding faculty, and of the mode in
which it operates, we can, perhaps, know no more than the individual
who possesses only the sense of hearing can comprehend of sight,
which he never enjoyed : he can be informed of its results and disco-
veries, as we can observe the wonders of instinct ; but in either case,
we must possess the faculty to enable us to do more than perceive its
effects, and give it a name."

ON THE COLOURS OF NATURAL BODIES, BY SIR DAVID BREWSTER,
V. P. R. S. ED.* — The only theory of the colours of natural bodies that
has met with reception in modern times, is that of Sir Isaac Newton,
who considers them as identical with those of thin plates, and as varying
with the size of the ultimate particles of the body.

Although this theory, ingenious as it is, be liable to many great

* Read before the Royal Society of Edinburgh.

CHAPTER OF VARIETIES. 163

objections, and be not capable of explaining the phenomena, even if its
postulates be admitted ; yet the author of the present paper does not
assail it with any arguments of this kind. He has, on the contrary,
attacked it in its stronghold, and has endeavoured to bring it to the test
of direct experiment.

Sir Isaac Newton considers the green colour of plants (the most gene-
ral colour which nature presents to us) as a green of the third order of
periodical colours, and has also given us the exact composition of this
particular colour.

In order to determine the composition of the green colour of plants,
the author dissolved their colouring matter in alcohol ; and having ana-
lysed it by a fine prism, he found it to have, in every case, the same
composition. The portions of the spectrum, however, which entered
into its compound tint were totally different from its theoretical com-
position, as assigned by Sir Isaac Newton ; and had no relation what-
ever to the colour of their plates. The green colouring matter exercised
an arbitrary specific action upon different parts of the spectrum, and its
green colour was owing to its having absorbed a certain number of rays,
which, when subtracted from the white light, left the colour under
consideration.

In order to render this result more general, the author examined an
immense number of coloured solutions, obtained from plants and arti-
ficial salts, and a great variety of coloured solids, either formed by art,
or obtained in nature ; and in all these cases he found no indication
whatever of periodical colours. The colours were invariably produced
by the absorption of certain definite rays taken arbitrarily and unequally
from different parts of the spectrum ; and, excepting in the case of cer-
tain imperfectly transparent and opalescent fluids, there never was the
slightest trace of a reflected tint similar to that which, might have been
expected, had the Newtonian theory been true.

ON THE GRADUAL ELEVATION OF LAND IN HIGH NORTHERN
LATITUDES, BY J. F. W. JOHNSTON, ESQ., F. R. S. ED.* — In this
paper, the author showed by a number of phenomena observable within
the coasts of Sweden, chiefly around Stockholm, and on the shores of
the lake Macler and its arms, that the conclusion of the Swedish sur-
veyors in 1821, that a change of the relative level of the land and water

" Read before the Royal Society of Edinburgh.

164 CHAPTER OF VARIETIES.

along1 the coasts of the Baltic had in many localities taken place, could
not reasonably be disputed. He then considered if it were possible that
the level of the Baltic could have fallen, being, by its connection with
the North Sea, a branch of the great ocean ; and concluded, from the
permanency of the respective level of the land and water on the coasts
of Pomerania, among- the Danish islands, and at some points on the
shores of Finland, that the level of the Baltic Sea had undergone no
change of level for the last six hundred years. The change observable
on the coasts of Sweden, therefore, must be due to an elevation of the
land, now gradually, though insensibly, in progress. This rising is
estimated to proceed at present at the rate of about one foot in twenty-
five years.

The absence of any record of violent volcanic action in the Scandi-
navian Peninsula renders it improbable that the rise is due to such a
cause. The author referred it, therefore, to the gradual cooling of the
crust of the earth, which, by causing a contraction and compression in
parts where the cooling was a maximum, tended to elevate other por-
tions of the earth's surface at points or in lines of minimum resistance.

The centre of the action in Scandinavia he considered to be in the
mountain chains which traverse Norway, and Sweden, and Finland
respectively ; and which are mutually connected beyond the head of the
Bothnian Gulf; and attributing the original elevation of these chains,
with Elie de Beaumont, to the secular refrigeration of the earth, he
found in the rise still observable in Scandinavia a relic only of that once
powerful action by which these mountain ranges were originally pro-
jected. He suggested the probability also, that on other coasts where
high mountain ridges ran parallel with the sea, accurate measurements
of the mean level of the water, in reference to the scarped rocks on the
coast, if repeated at certain distant intervals, might make known other
gradual elevations still in progress, similar to those observable on the
shores of the Baltic.

The Editor's HAND BOOK OF ALLOTMENT AGRICULTURE is now
in the Press, and will contain a new rationale of the effects of fallowing,
hitherto so much misunderstood among agricultural writers.

THE

FIELD NATURALIST.

THE WOOD CHAT (From Le Vaillanfs Birds).

La Pie-griesche rousse, LeVaill., Ois. d'Afriq. ii. p. 46, pi. 63, fig. 1 and 2, Buf.,
i. p. 301, pi. enl. 9 male, 31 female; Bechst. Deutsch., ii. p. 387, 1. 15; Lanius
rutilus, Lath., Ind. Orn. i. p. 70; Shaw, Zool. vii. p. 316; Lanius rufus, Briss.,
ii. p. 147; Id., 8vo. i. p. 199; Gm., Lin., i. 301, 12, &c. ; Tern., Man. d'Ornith.
p. 62; Id., ed. ii. p. 147; Lanius pomeranus, Mus. Carls., Fasc., i. 1. 1 ; Gmel,
Lin., i. 302; Lanius minor cinerasceus, Rait, 19, A. 6; Will., 54, § iv. 1. 10,
f. 2. (?); Klein, ,p. 54; Frisch., C. 1. M. & F.; Bor. Nat, ii. p. 84; Lanius
minor rutilus, Klein, p. 53; Id. Ov., 1. 5, f. 7; Germ., i. 1. 56; Ampelis dorso
griseo, &c., Faun. Suec. Ed. i. p. 180, f. 2, fern. ; Kramer, p. 363 ; Dorndreher,
Gunth. Nes!. U. Ey., 1. 41(?); Kleiner rother Neuntodter, Naturf., 8. s. 69, 39;
Buferola, Ferlotta bianca, Zinn. Ov., 89, 1. 15, f. 59; Another sort of butcher-
bird, Will., Engl. p. 89, s. 4; Wood-chat, Lath., Gen. Syn. i. p. 169; Id. Sup.,
ii. p. 70; Br. Zool., i. No. 73; Ib. fol., 74. 1. C. 1; Id. ed. 1812, p. 277;
Albin., ii.pl, 16; Bewick, i. p. 61 ; Lewin, Birds, i. I. 32; Pulh., Cat. Dors. p. 4;
Don, Br. Birds, 4, I. 84; Wood-shrike, Flem., Br. Anim. p. 63; Montagu, Orn.
Diet. (Rennie's edit) p. 566 ; Wood-chat shrike, Lath., Gen. Hist. ii. p. 14.
Pie-griesche rousse du Senegal, pi. enl. 477, 2; Lath., Gen. Syn. i. 170. 17 A.

THIS bird, both from its carriage, attitude, and manners, as well as
whole conformation, unquestionably belongs to the genus of Butcher-
bird, properly so called, and enters into the first of the three sections
which I consider myself obliged, for the sake of distinction, to establish
in the family of butcher-birds. It is found not only in JEurope, but
inhabits a considerable portion of Africa ; since I obtained it in the
inland districts of the Cape of Good Hope, and Adanson found it in
Senegal. I shall not take up much time in my description of this
species, as its manner of living at the Cape is precisely 'the same as in
Europe, and as it has not sustained any variation in colour or stature.

VOL. ii. — NO. iv. (APRIL, 1834.) z

166 THE WOOD-CHAT.

I refer my reader, therefore, to the descriptions published by ornitholo-
gists, and particularly to that of Brisson, who has given a most accurate
and detailed account. The reader, by consulting the plates in this
work, representing a male and a young one of this species, which I
brought from the Cape of Good Hope, and by comparing them, either
with Buffon's portraits of the same species, killed in Europe*, or,
which will be more advantageous still, with similar birds, found in
almost every collection, may be convinced, that the species has not, in
reality, experienced the slightest change at the Cape. There is, also,
in my cabinet, a male wood-chat, brought from Senegal ; and I can
positively declare, that the slightest difference is not observable between
the three individuals^ although they were killed in countries so remotely
situated in respect to each other.

Buffon pretends that butcher-birds are passengers in Europe, — that
they regularly depart in autumn, and return in spring. I shall not
confidently assert the contrary, — but maintain that such has not gene-
rally taken place in the cantons of France; for most true is it that
during winter I have killed wood-chats in Lorraine, and have constantly
noticed butcher-birds at the Cape, in those months in which Buffon
supposes they return to France for the purpose of breeding.

Besides, if it could be proved that wood-chats retire from certain
districts of France to visit and inhabit warmer temperatures, would it
not be absurd to imagine that they consequently traverse in their mi-
grations such an immense tract of land as that which separates Europe
from the southern point of Africa, where this bird is likewise found ?
In examining my journals, moreover, I perceive that I killed some of
these birds in all seasons of the year in Africa, — and in Europe I did
as at the Cape. Their travels do not appear, then, to extend to any
considerable distance. I have observed on many occasions, too, that in
general these butcher-birds constantly frequent the same cantons ; and
if one of these birds, whether the grey butcher-bird, the wood-chat, or
the flusher (Lanius Collurio), has been noticed in any place whatever, it
will most certainly be seen there daily, unless it apprehend danger from
the sportsman, or be alarmed by too hot pursuit. They have that sus-
picious disposition which is common to nearly all birds of prey, and that
habitude of appropriating to themselves a domain exclusively for their
own predatory excursions, th« deposition of their eggs, and select
habitation.

• See Buff., pi. enl. No. 9, f. 2, le male ; and No. 31, f. 1, la female.

ON THE WOOD-CHAT. 167

It is useless, I presume, to combat Buffon's idea, that the wood-chat
and the flusher might with propriety form one and the same species.
According to similar principles he pretends that all foreign butcher-
birds, which have red in their plumage, are merely varieties of the same
species. How are these notions to be reconciled with the changes
which he imagines birds unceasingly undergo, in the different climates
which they inhabit; and why should the red only be free from change?

The male wood-chat is rather larger than the female ; the latter is
easily distinguished by the absence of that deep red colour on the head
and behind the neck, which is the peculiar attribute of the male.

In its young age this bird is so different from its appearance at a
later period, that, in this state, it has been described by many ornitho-
logists as a mere variety of the flusher, — an error into which Brisson
has been led by Aldrovand, who first mentioned this bird without having
any knowledge of it; see Brisson's Ornithology (ii. p. 154), who like-
wise describes this variety of age, under the name of the variegated
red-backed shrike (L'ecorcheur varie), avowing his uncertainty whether
it was not the female of the flusher. I refer the reader for other par-
ticulars to figure 2 of plate 64 (Oiseaux d'Afrique), in which this bird
is represented, and which is beyond all question a wood-chat in its first
young age, and not a variety of the flusher. I am certain on this point,
having examined and pursued, both in Africa and Europe, more than
twenty broods of this species, and having reared several young ones.

ON THE WOOD-CHAT.

BY II. M. D.

YOUR correspondent A. T. makes mention of his having shot a female
wood-chat (Lanius rufus, as described by Bewick), which was in
company with a male red-backed shrike (Lanius Collurio), and also
of his never having been able to meet with the male wood-chat nor the
female red-backed shrike, which confirms my opinion that Bewick
has mistaken either the female or the young of L Collurio for the
female L. rufus; but I rather think it to be the latter. Indeed, I
feel very much mistaken if (L. rufus) is a native of Britain at all.
However, I should feel very much obliged to any of your correspondents
if they could point out any instance of the male bird being seen in this

z 2

168 ON THE WOOD-CHAT.

country; if not, I shall consider it as a foreigner, and not to be a
variety of the red-backed shrike, as some naturalists have supposed it
to be, an error which I can easily prove ; for being abroad this last
summer, where wood-chats are in great abundance, I had both the
opportunity of finding their nests and of shooting both the old birds and
the young, all of which I found differing greatly from the red-backed
shrikes, in every respect. I had also the opportunity of watching their
habits, and found them to be very shy, much more so than the red-
backed shrike; and, like the ash-coloured shrike (L. Excubitor),
keeping watch upon the end of a decayed twig, or upon the tiptop of a
tree, and keeping a good look-out upon their pursuer, whom they
seldom allow to get within gun-shot. The female differs little from
the male; her colours are more dingy, and the patch of chestnut on the
back of the head is not quite so bright, and her breast is a great deal
more marked with wavy lines (more or less, according to age), but
never totally disappearing, as in that of the male. I here take the
liberty of sending you a sketch of a male bird, which I shot in April
last at Geneva. I have in my possession at present the male, female,
and young of L. Collurio : the young bird is precisely the same as
that described by Bewick under the title of the Wood-Chat, and in
general appearance differs little from the adult female ; yet, on looking
at them closely, one can observe that each feather, on all the upper
parts, is fringed with dirty-white, which gives it the appearance of
being larger than the old bird, which might probably have led to its
being mistaken for another species. I decidedly agree with your very
able correspondent Mr. Blyth, that it is absolutely necessary, in col-
lecting birds for SCIENCE, and not for the paltry motive of placing them
in cabinets to please the eye, that one should collect different specimens
in their different liveries, according to their age and the season of the
year ; a plan which I have no doubt, if universally followed, would pre-
vent our so frequently meeting with so many doubtful species as we
find amongst the families of the falco, picse, tringa, colymbi, mergi, and
most of our sea birds. Mr. Blyth, in his description of preserving
birds, mentions, that on mounting the skin of a bird, the general fault
of bird-stuffers consists in the filling of it out with a great deal too
much tow or other stuffing, especially about the neck ; but there is a
very simple plan of obviating that, in the following manner, by stuffing
the bird with cork, which is more durable, and less likely to be attacked
by moths or other insects than anything used. After the body is
stripped of its skin, procure a piece of cork of sufficient size ; and hav-

ON THE WOOD-CHAT. 169

ing measured the body with a pair of semicircular compasses, cut the
cork nearly to the proper dimensions ; then take a rasp, and having
removed all the unevenness occasioned by the knife, so as to make the
artificial body exactly of the same size as the real one, insert a wire

at the shoulder (a), and bring it
out at the breast (b), and bend
the end into the cork (c), so as
to make it steady ; then apply
the compasses to the neck, and
having measured it, take some tow
(rf) and twist it round the wire (e)
till it is exactly the proper size ;
so that no difficulty will be found
in the stuffing, and the sewing

maybe drawn quite tight, without any danger of destroying the shape
and proportion of the bird. Should the cork be found not to be thick
enough, place one piece above the other, and drive a small wooden peg
in at each end, and proceed as before. Although it is hinted by T. C. that
the young of the starling may be the solitary thrush ( Turdus solita-
rius), perhaps he is not aware that its plumage is tinged with blue,
and in France goes by the name of Le merle solitaire, ,ou bleu.

I had almost forgot to mention, that when stuffing a bird with cork^
the precaution should be taken to damp the skin well with wet tow, in
case it should become too dry.

A friend of mine informs me, that while taking a walk on Sunday
the 12th, which was remarkably close for the season of the year, he was
very much surprised at seeing (between the hours of three and four in
the afternoon) quantities of midges and small flies, which were dancing
about in their aerial sports, though frequently annoyed every now and
then by the appearance of their great enemy the bat, who seemed to be
making a luxuriant feast, flying and darting about as if it had been the
middle of summer ; a circumstance which perhaps you may think
worthy of a place in " The Field Naturalist"

January 14th, 1834.

170
RETROSPECTIVE REMARKS.

BY EDWABD BLYTH.

FKOM a comparison of the original coloured drawing of the cuckoo
(or rather Coccyzus), mentioned at page 7 of the Field Naturalist's
Magazine for January, 1833,, with Wilson's figures and descriptions of
the Coccyzus carolinensis and C. erytliropthalmus, I am inclined to
dissent from the opinion expressed by Mr. Fennell (at page 61 of the
present volume), that Mr. Ball's bird will most likely prove identical
with one of these American species. I entirely concur with Mr. Fennell
in placing but little dependence on coloured representations of animals,
as they are but too generally executed ; but the drawing now in ques-
tion bears such evident marks of the most scrupulous accuracy, that I
hesitate not to assert, judging from it alone, that the species which it
represents is distinct from either the C. erytliropthalmus or C. carolinen-
sis. In size and general proportions it approximates more to the former,
but differs, in being about an inch shorter, in the very dissimilar colour
of the bill, and in wantingthe characteristic space of bare wrinkled skin,
of a deep red colour, which encircles the eye of the American bird.
From C. carolinensis it differs, in the much smaller comparative size
of the bill (in this resembling C. erytliropthalmus) , in being about two
inches shorter, and in the different colour of the whole under parts,
which in the Carolina coccyzus are pure white. Various minor diver-
sities might also be mentioned ; but after stating the above, I conceive
it hardly necessary to describe them, as the differences just related, I
think, are sufficient to show that this is a distinct species. Indeed, it
is far from being likely that so many specimens of an American bird,
possessing no greater powers of flight than the common cuckoo of this
country, should have been met with east of the Atlantic; to me it
appears more probable, that, when the natural productions of the inte-
rior of Barbary, at present but very partially known, shall have fallen
more under the observation of Europeans, this coccyzus will be found
to range, perhaps extensively, in that vast but almost unexamined
region. It is remarkable that no mention is made of this bird in the
late edition of Mr. Selby's work.

Since writing the notice to which Mr. Fennell refers (page 65), of
the brilliant night-shining eyes of certain moths, I have observed this
phenomenon in a great variety of instances. It can never be observed
when the moth is quite at rest ; but when flying, or when about to fly,

RETROSPECTIVE REMARKS. 171

the appearance is, at times, extremely beautiful. The fact, however, I
find, is familiar to most entomologists, though perhaps it may be novel to
many who, like myself, have hitherto conducted their entomological
researches chiefly in the day time. That it should be observable in
Plusia gamma and its congeners is, I think, rather singular, as these
insects fly very much by day, and in the brightest sunshine.

Your correspondent T. C. (page 70), has favoured you with some
remarks on the supposed torpidity of swallows. I was so fortunate last
November as to succeed in tracing one of these torpidity reports to its
foundation. First I heard that several swallows had been found by the
workmen, when repairing some part of Streatham Church, Surrey ; of
course I was all animation, and inquired of my informant, " who told
him so?" He referred me to another man, who said, " Some swallows
had certainly been found there," and gave me his authority for so
saying. I inquired again, and again, and again, and at last I discovered
the actual truth — that two dead swifts, in a skeleton state, had been
found in a hole in the steeple ! So much for the torpidity of swallows,
and for an account of several swallows being found in the steeple of
Streatham Church. I am not aware of any author who has mentioned
the fact, that the common swallow (ff.rustica) sometimes builds in the
hole of a tree : a season or two ago, as I was walking by a row of lofty
elms at Sydenham, Surrey, I observed a boy descending one of them
with a bird's nest, which, to my surprise, contained three young swal-
lows, that he had just taken from a hole in the tree. This, no doubt,
is the original and natural situation for a swallow to construct its nest
in ; although in a country like England, where more convenient situa-
tions abound, it may but very rarely be known to select a hollow tree
for this purpose.

I have a few observations to offer on T. C.'s " Notes on Birds." The
habit of the goldfinch, of placing its two feet upon its food (an almond
or piece of apple, for instance), and pecking it while held firm in that
situation, in the manner (as T. C. justly observes) of a genuine Parus,
is, I believe, among the Fringillida, peculiar to the crossbills (£<m'a),
and to the genus Carduelis. I have noticed it in the American gold-
finch, and in the common siskin of this country ( C. spinus) ; but none
of the linnets do so, not even the common redpole, which in many
respects so closely resembles the siskin. If a piece of almond be given
to the redpole, it will take it up in its bill, nibble off a small portion,
and lay the remainder gently on the perch beside it, but it has not the
least notion of holding it between its feet.

172 RETROSPECTIVE RRMARKS.

The great variations in the plumage of the common starling are
governed by fixed laws, and quite uninfluenced by season. The bill of
the male does not acquire its yellow colour till about six months after
its first moult; that of the female, I think, not until the second or
third year. I have shot both male and female starlings with yellow
bills, at all seasons of the year. Great numbers are always brought
into the London markets during the months of January and February,
where they may be procured in almost every state of plumage ; some
beautifully glossed, with hardly a spot on the under parts ; others
speckled all the way down ; some with yellow bills, others without.
The females are most readily distinguished by the invariably larger size
of the spots upon the belly.

T. C, is evidently unacquainted with the true greater redpole, which
is a A'ery different species from the common linnet, either in its summer
or winter dress. It appears to be a rare bird in collections; and though
it visits us occasionally in considerable flocks, yet its appearance is very
uncertain, many years sometimes elapsing between its visits. Such is
the case at present. About six years ago, the London bird-catchers
took vast numbers of greater redpoles, — but since that time 1 have not
been able to procure a single specimen, though the common species has
been abundant. I learned that half a dozen of them were taken last
winter in the neighbourhood of Croydon; and this is the only instance
of their capture which has come to my knowledge since the season in
which they so abounded. The common red-pole and the twite are in
these parts extremely regular in their appearance, and the linnet is
more or less plentiful with us throughout the year. The greater red-
pole very closely resembles the common species in form, and in the
markings of its plumage; but is considerably larger, exceeding the
twite in size, and the feathers on the back are margined with dull
white, or stone colour, whence it is termed by the bird-dealers the stone
redpole, in contradistinction to the common species. Mr. Selby is
consequently mistaken in applying this name to the common or lesser
red-pole linnet (Linaria pusilla ; Fringilla linaria, Auct.).

The only distinct notice of this bird which I can find in the works
of the various British authors which I have consulted, is contained in a
note affixed by Mr. Selby to his description of the lesser redpole. " A
large variety of this species," says that gentleman, "is noticed by Tem-
minck, and which is sometimes met with in this country. *****
In size it nearly equalsthe common linnet, but the markings-and colour
are those of the lesser redpole." To this he adds, in the edition of

RETROSPECTIVE REMARKS. 173

1833, — " I am now inclined to think that these birds will not be of a
distinct species, but only extra-sized specimens of the female of Lin.
minor." Having myself examined a considerable number of greater
red-poles, both British and from the neighbourhood of Lake Ontario,
I feel no hesitation in saying that they are a distinct species. I have
seen them in every state of plumage which is observable in the common
red-pole; both males and females, — some of the former having beau-
tiful red breasts ; I have invariably observed the whitish or stone colour
edgings on the plumage of the upper parts, which give them a charac-
teristic appearance, quite different from that of the common red-pole;
and, lastly, I have never noticed any remarkable variation of size, nor
other approximation to the common species, which, were it a mere
variety, we might reasonably expect to find. In its wild state, I am
informed by the bird-catchers that it associates much with the gold-
finch. Its song I am unacquainted with, — but its usual call-note
resembles that of the lesser red-pole.

Before quitting this subject, let me guard the inquirer against a very
common source of error, by means of which many naturalists have been
misled. The greater red-pole, being generally a rare bird, is unknown
to a great many dealers, who, when asked for a stone red-pole, will
often endeavour to sell a fine male of the common species under that
name, thereby causing the purchaser, naturally enough, to suppose the
two species to be identical. From this practice it probably came to
pass that in all our works on British ornithology the provincial name
titlark is affixed to the Anthus pratensis, instead of to the A. arboreus;
the former species being universally known to dealers and others, in
every state of plumage, by the name pipit lark. The common red-pole
is thus often fraudulently sold under the name of stone red-pole, which
probably occasioned Mr. Selby to say, in his description of the former,
" that it is frequently taken by the bird-catchers, by whom it is called
the stone red pole." Those who know the genuine stone red-pole will
be at no loss to recognise the appositeness of its provincial name.

Chaffinches of both sexes remain plentiful in this part of Surrey
throughout the winter: the females congregate in large flocks, and
frequent the open country; whilst the males mostly continue solitary,
and are chiefly found in gardens, and other places in the immediate
vicinity of houses.

A few black-caps, babillards, sedge- warblers, grey- fly catchers, and
wry-necks, usually linger in the south of England until the last week

VOL. II. — NO. IV. A A

174 RETROSPECTIVE REMARKS.

in September ; but being at this season mute, they are but rarely
noticed.

The adult cuckoos leave us about the last week in July or the first
in August ; the young of the year remain until about the middle of
September, when they form into small flocks of six or seven, and migrate
in society.

Your correspondents have favoured N. N. with two methods of
establishing a rookery; by fixing some old nests on the trees on which
they are wanted to build, and by placing rooks' eggs in the nest of the
first magpie that builds in the desired locality, — which latter method
appears to have been successful in three instances. I think I can sug-
gest a third plan, though I am not aware that it has ever yet been tried.
Suppose a nest of young rooks were to be brought up tame (and, like
the rest of the Cowidce, they are susceptible of great attachment to
their owner) ; would they not select for nidification, on the ensuing
spring, any trees of convenient size which grew nearest to the place
where they were reared ? They do not, however, invariably select high
trees, and perhaps, under such circumstances, they might not. Some
time since I observed a rookery in Warwickshire, some of the nests of
which were not above ten feet from the ground.

It would appear from E. P.'s communication (page 109), that the
bearded tit ( Calamophilus liarmicus, Leach) is a migratory species in
Cornwall. It is observed in most places to forsake its breeding place
in the autumn, but does not leave the country, being found throughout
the winter dispersed in small parties along the coasts of Suffolk, Essex,
and Sussex, wherever a sufficient growth of reeds affords it a suitable
locality. Many are brought to the London markets, during the winter,
from the Essex marshes.

What species does E. P. intend by the name "bluebird?" The
Parus ceeruleus? Surely not the blue-grey or solitary rock-thrush
(Petrocincla cyanea, Vigors)?

Allow me, in conclusion, to congratulate your readers, and the lovers
of natural history in general, upon the many accessions made to the
number of your correspondents, from all parts of the country. The
number of field observers is evidently fast upon the increase, and will
still continue to increase ; and the more natural history is studied, the
more and more popular it will become, — the prophecies of certain saga-
cious persons, who call it the mere rage of the day, and say that it will
soon blow over, notwithstanding.

Tooting, Surrey, Feb. Uth, 1&34.

175
ON SAGACITY AND INSTINCT.

BY T. C.

THE more I have considered the subject, the more I am inclined to
believe that animals possess, when in a state of domestication, some
degree of the reasoning faculty, or at any rate sagacity, which, if it do
not amount to reason, is far superior to mere instinct.

Instinct is implanted in all animals solely to enable them to provide
for their immediate wants, and it extends only so far as they them-
selves are concerned ; it is given to all according to their necessity, to
prevent their several species from becoming extinct, and all have
instinct adapted to their natures. The worm which is cut to pieces by
the spade of the husbandman, " the poor beetle which we tread upon,"
and all those which we consider the meanest of God's creatures, have as
much instinct as the " cunning " fox and the " sagacious " elephant,
because it extends only so far as their necessities : it teaches them
to procure proper food for themselves and their young ; to defend them
from or elude the attacks of enemies ; to construct their habitations of
suitable materials, and in a manner adapted to their respective natures.
It actuates the bird when it builds in some safe retreat, and gathers
certain substances wherewith to construct its nest; when it flies from
clime to clime, over vast tracts of land and over trackless seas ; or when
it darts from its nest, affecting lamenesfc, to entice the intruder from its
young to itself: it teaches some to retire to their roosting places when
the sun sinks beneath the horizon, and others to sally out in quest of
that prey which nature has destined to form their food ; and it teaches
the cuckoo to deposit her egg in the nest of a stranger, and the owner
te nourish her young in preference to her own. But the cuckoo has no
reason for acting as she does ; she never attempted to build her own
nest, or to feed her own young ; she needs no trial nor experience ; she
does not consider whether the bird into whose nest she drops her egg
will feed the young with food adapted to its nature, or whether it will
be able to turn out its brethren and take possession of the nest ; she
needs no instruction, nor does she reason in any way, but, guided by a
power to her far superior to reason, she seeks only those nests which
nature has adapted for the reception of her eggs, and trusts her young
only to those birds which will procure proper food for the nestling.

A A 2

176 ON SAGACITY AND INSTINCT.

This is the principal difference between reason and instinct.

" Reason serves when press'd,

But honest instinct comes a volunteer." — PofR.

Instinct acts without consideration, without reflection or thought ; it
needs no instruction, nor experience, nor trial, but its impulses are
mechanical, and its effects certain. Witness the bee ; what can exceed
the beauty and regularity of the honey-comb ? What labour and
reflection would it not have cost man to build it ? It is formed in the
best possible manner for strength and economy of room ; but the archi-
tect acts without any plan or model ; has no idea of what the fabric
will be when completed, nor has it thought what will be the best
method of forming it ; but it has no idea of any other plan than that
which it adopts, and acts without experience and without instruction,
guided solely by instinct, thus in many instances superior to reason.

There is another wide difference between these faculties : as instinct
requires no previous trial to insure its effects, but is implanted in all ani-
mals from the time of their birth, so it is susceptible of no improvement ;
domestication, on the contrary, impairs it ; for inferior animals, as well
as man, lose in some measure their powers of discerning what food is
wholesome and what is not, and hence require medicine and artificial
means to preserve their health. Man, in a savage state, has more in-
stinct, but less reason, than when civilised ; and domesticated animals
have less instinct, but more of what is called sagacity, than when in a
state of nature. Animals are the same now as they were a thousand
years ago ; they never desire to discover new kinds of food; nor do birds
build with different materials, or improve in their architecture, or alter
in any way, but feed as their parents fed, and build as their parents
built, and have the same habits and manners as they had " in the
beginning." But how is it with rational man ? He is always invent-
ing and altering, if not improving: his manners differ with every cen-
tury, and almost every year ; he is different in many respects now to
what he was a hundred years ago ; and the stately palaces of the pre-
sent day bear no resemblance to the Indian's wigwam, or the hut of the
Hottentot. Thus reason is ever varying, but instinct remains the
same ; and for this reason, as well as for many others, it is better adapted
to the brute creation, because all have been made for some purpose ; and
if they changed their natures as man does, there would be an end to- all
order, and the laws of nature would be entirely subverted.

ON SAGACITY AND INSTINCT. 177

Instinct is always admirably adapted to the habits of the animals to
which it has been given ; and in examining the works of nature, and
observing the action of this wonderful faculty, we cannot avoid being
struck by the infinite wisdom and beneficence of the Creator; and
though in some instances we may notice peculiarities, the reasons for
which we cannot comprehend, we have no right to expect nature to
conform to rules laid down by ourselves, and it is no reason because to
our limited understandings habits which we observe are incomprehen-
sible that such reasons do not exist; we have no right to question the
wisdom of the great Creator, nor to imagine, because these peculiarities
do not agree with our ideas of perfection, that it is an error on the part
of the Maker of all.

But I have been led deeper into the mazes of this most interesting
subject than I intended ; and I shall now merely mention one or two
facts in illustration of my first proposition, " that animals (some
animals) possess, when in a state of domestication, some degree of the
reasoning faculty."

I had, when a school-boy, a Newfoundland dog, which I was in the
habit of taking out, twice a week (half-holidays); and he knew so well
when those days came, that he would howl piteously, if by any occur-
rence he was not taken for his exercise : he was a great favourite, and
a most " sagacious" animal.

A spaniel, with which I was acquainted, would always insist upon
accompanying any member of his master's family who went out, and
frequently when his company was anything but agreeable; but on
Sunday he never attempted it, nor would he even think it worth while
to rouse himself from before the fire.

Now, if I go too far in stating this to be direct reason, it is certainly
not instinct ; these dogs could not possibly know the interval between
two periods, but must have known from other circumstances the days
when they were to remain at home and when they might go out.
Would instinct teach the horse to obey his master ? or would an animal
possessed of mere instinct show such evident traits of attachment and
docility as the horse, the dog, and the elephant, not to quote the mul-
titude of anecdotes which we have on record of the astonishing " saga-
city " of these noble animals ? Would instinct alone teach the shep-
herd's dog to scour the hills for miles around, and gather every stray
sheep to the flock, or select his master's sheep from among any number
of strangers ? Instinct might instruct the dog to find his master, or

178 OK SAGACITY AND INSTINCT.

his master's home ; it might teach the carrier pigeon to seek the spot
where it was hatched, and where it had always been fed, but it would
not teach this bird to carry a letter to a strange place and return with
an answer ; and if a pigeon were to do this, it would be something more
than mere instinct. The cat, if removed to a vast distance from its
home, will return; but the dog will find his master, and evince affec-
tion for him, and not for his house ; and this is the difference between
instinct and reason. In the first instance, the cat is only attached to
her home, because there she has always found food and shelter ; but the
dog would not remain if his master left it, but would follow him ; and
instinct, I am convinced, is not the only faculty employed in this
instance.

I knew a horse, which, if put into a box or shed by itself, would
open the latch, and thus escape. Now, instinct would have taught him
to kick at the door, and get out by violence, and not to effect his pur-
pose by this deliberate and indirect manner; but he must have observed
the effect previously, and employed, if not reason, a higher faculty than
instinct.

Some of your readers may recollect the elephant which a few years
since performed at- the Adelphi Theatre, and, as far as I am a judge,
showed as much talent and reason (or sagacity, or whatever else it may
be called), as any of the other performers. Witness also Ducrow's
horses ; and I might relate numerous anecdotes of what is called "saga-
city " in animals ; but as they may be seen in almost every work upon
the subject, as well as in the " Percy Anecdotes," I will not trespass
further upon your time and pages, but refer your readers to the works
mentioned ; and in conclusion merely say, that there are, as I conceive,
different grades of reason, from the most enlightened man to inferior
animals ; from the philosopher to the herdsman ; from the white to the
black (but here I speak generally, for we have many negroes who
would shame the majority of Englishmen in literary attainments), and
from the black to the savage ; and I do not know in what respect the
cannibal is superior to other animals : he possesses instinct, but no
more, and perhaps not so much reason as the horse, the dog, or the
elephant.

I have often wondered at the extraordinary though well-known
habit of the cuckoo, of laying in the nests of other birds, but have never
been able to account for it. Since writing the above, however, I have
thought, as this bird no doubt lays several eggs, and as I know from

NOTES FROM GRAVESEND. 179

experience the young are very, ravenous, that possibly one young one
requires as much food as the parents could procure ; they therefore
provide a nurse for each, and hence the reason for the young cuckoo
turning out all its companions, for it appears that this one charge is
sufficient to occupy the whole care of its foster parents ; and allowing
this reasoning to be just, it will also account for the cuckoo's not sitting
upon even one egg ; for how could she build her nest, and hatch one
egg, and at the same time provide for the hatching of the others ?

NOTES FROM GRAVESEND.

BY ORNITHOLOGUS.

THE hybernaculum, or winter retreat of the swallow tribe, presents
a question which naturalists, from Linnaeus downwards, have been
unable to solve. It appears to me that this arises in a great measure
from the want of corresponding societies in different parts of the world,
which would communicate to each other the exact periods of their de-
parture and return, and thus eventually elicit the truth. This remark
is founded on the assumption that they do actually migrate ; but it will
be, at the same time, advantageous to pay attention to all those circum-
stances connected with this remarkable genus that may transpire in
our own country, as a careful collation of such facts, nantes in gurgite
vasto, will contribute essentially to determine a point at once so
mysterious and so interesting. Under this impression, I mention a
circumstance which fell under my own observation, and which seems to
favour the idea of their remaining torpid during the winter months.
During the severe winter of 1830-31, a labourer, while threshing in a
barn, had his attention drawn to a swallow which flew from one bay (as
it is called) to the other. It flew so low that it almost touched him,
and so feebly that he not only had sufficient time to determine its
species, but nearly succeeded in knocking it down with his flail. It,
however, managed to reach the top of the corn on the opposite side, and
did not again appear. Here we have a strong instance, as I before
observed, in favour of their torpidity, as, even admitting this to have
been a young bird hatched late in the summer, it must have existed for
some months in a state of inactivity, from which it only emerged for a
short time when disturbed by some accidental circumstance. I have

180 NOTES FROM GRAVESEND.

frequently questioned the labourer (who is an intelligent man) as to
whether it might not have been a bat ; but h,e persists in maintaining
his opinion, and declares he could not by possibility have been mis-
taken. Your correspondent T. C. seems to ridicule the idea that birds
could exist in this state for so long a period. What does he think of
that theory which supposes that they remain under water during the
winter, and which, absurd as it is, has met with more than one advo-
cate? Notwithstanding the foregoing case, however, I am bound, as
an impartial observer, to notice some of the arguments in favour of
migration, which, I must confess, are numerous and convincing. Every
one must have observed those immense flocks of swallows which, at the
time of their supposed departure, (or rather antecedently to it,) seem
by their rapid evolutions to be exercising their wings and strengthen-
ing themselves for some arduous journey.

" The air
Floats as they pass, fann'd with unnumber'd plumes."

What motive can we assign for this unusual congregation, but that
" intelligent of reasons," they are preparing themselves for their ap-
proaching migration ? I consider the objection by no means fatal
which asserts that they could not remain so long on the wing as the
supposed distance of their winter quarters must require them to do ;
for if we once admit the principle of migration with regard to any of
the feathered race, what bird is so well calculated for the undertaking
as the swallow, which has been always deemed the emblem of swiftness,
and moreover procures its food at all times in the air ? Such being the
case, the migration of the motacilla genus, and some others, is far more
surprising to me than that of the hirundines. It is well known that
the nightingale, for instance, scarcely moves a hundred yards from the
spot where he first locates himself during the whole summer ; and yet
we have still stronger grounds for supposing that he " wends liis way
to distant climes," than the swallow does so, as no one, I believe,
has ever asserted that the former passes the winter in a state of torpor.
This applies also, though not perhaps in an equal degree, to the black-
cap (M. atricapilla, Linnaeus), and some others, none of which are
remarkable for prolonged flights while in this country.

With regard to the naturalization of the golden pheasant, and other
natives of the " gorgeous East," the following facts will show that it
might easily be effected. I had a share in bringing up two of these
birds, which fortunately proved male and female. They certainly

NOTES FROM GRAVESEND. l&l

require great attention when young, principally in supply ing them with
the proper food, and this at stated periods. These were fed regularly
every two hours throughout the day; but no particular precautions
were taken to screen them from the cold, as they were kept in an open
coop (in front), with merely the addition of a wire frame at night to
screen them from the rats. During the day they had the run of a grass
plat, the coop being shifted weekly to a fresh spot. In this manner
they grew rapidly, and both arrived at maturity. I should mention
that they had the advantage of having an extremely careful hen for a
mother, which is a highly necessary point, as I have had whole broods,
both of partridges and pheasants (but especially the former), trampled
to death by the clumsiness or over anxiety of their foster parent. The
great impediment to breeding from these birds (in a state of captivity)
is the extraordinary ferocity of the male. He is, in fact, a perfect
Blue-beard. The individual, whose history I am relating, not only
destroyed the female that was reared with him, but also killed two
more in the two consecutive years, and has therefore ever since led a
life of blest celibacy. I do not know how to account for this strange
moroseness of disposition. Perhaps it arose from his having only one
partner on whom to bestow his affections, as they are probably salacious,
like the rest of this family. Be this as it may, he still lives to repent
of his barbarity. He has survived the severe winters of 1829-30,
1830-31, although his sole protection from the cold has been a coop by
no means air-tight, into which he is driven at night, and always enters
it with apparent reluctance. But the circumstance I am about to
mention affords a still more decisive proof of their capability of endur-
ing the inclemency of our climate. Whilst in company with a party
who were pheasant -shooting the year before last, the beaters sprang a
very fine cock gold pheasant, which was known to have escaped from a
menagerie more than a year before ! It has frequently been seen sub-
sequently, and the keepers moreover report that they have noticed a
variety which they considered was the offspring of this bird and the
common pheasant.

I was much pleased, a few days since, to hear the delicate warble of
the golden-crested wren (Motacilla regulus}. It had taken its station
in a low but bushy fir-tree, so that I was enabled to approach almost
close to it. It is very seldom that such an opportunity presents itself,
and I was agreeably surprised to find its song so varied. One of your
correspondents says, that in confinement these birds are so extremely
susceptible of cold, that the least exposure to it is fatal. This is very

VOL. n. — NO. iv. B B

182 ON THE TOTAL AND PARTIAL

remarkable, when we reflect that this little bird is one of the few of
that genus (motacilla) which endure the utmost rigours of our winter.
Did not their sudden death arise from some impropriety of food, rather
than from the cause to which it was ascribed ? The straw which your
correspondent T. M. G. observed the sparrows purloining was probably
carried away for the sake of the corn left in the ear, and not for the
purpose of forming a nest at so early a period. I have now a hen
canary, which is a most beautiful singer. What is remarkable is, that
she still continues her warble, although she has paired with a cock, so
that they are often singing simultaneously. My paper warns me to
conclude these desultory remarks. I fear you will deem them
" Non benejunctarum discordia semina reruni ;"

but I am emboldened to forward them by your former kindness.
Gravesend.

ON THE TOTAL AND PARTIAL EXTERMINATION OF

ANIMALS.

BT JAMES FFNNKM..

THAT the number of species of animals now upon this globe is less
than formerly, is an unquestionable fact. Some, species of animals, we
shall presently see, have totally disappeared from the earth, — while
others are daily becoming scarcer, and gradually approaching to their
general departure.

The important and extensive science of geology has revealed to us
many surprising truths relating to this subject. It tells us of the
existence at one period of the mammoth, elephant, rhinoceros, hippopo-
tamus, bison, hyaena, bear, crocodile, &c., in England ; and from the
circumstance of no human bones occurring among these numerous fossil
remains, induces the supposition that man, and such of the above-named
creatures as are now extinct, were not contemporaneous beings, the
creation of the former being subsequent to that of the latter. The
presence of the elephant at one time in this and other countries the
most cold and northern, in which it does not and cannot possibly exist,
appears a strange fact, but one which perhaps might easily be explained,
were we disposed to entertain the views of some modern and shrewd
philosophers who. from matter of fact, not theory have arrived at the

EXTERMINATION OF ANIMALS. 183

conclusion, that there ever has been, and is still going on, u gradual and
regular change in the earth's polarity, and consequently in its tempera-
ture. The author of the " Menageries," when speaking of fossil bones,
observes, that though it has been usual to refer the destruction of the
animals to which they belong to the great Deluge, yet " it does not in
the least invalidate the authority of the sacred books to believe that
other causes of the destruction of life may have been called into action,
previously to, or simultaneously with, that great event, of which so
many undoubted traces may be found. A very general belief now
prevails amongst geologists, that the climate of the northern hemi-
sphere has undergone an important change, and that its mean annual
temperature must once have resembled that now experienced within
the tropics.* Shells and corals, having an affinity with species now
living in warmer latitudes; remains of reptiles belonging to hot cli-
mates, such as turtles, tortoises, and crocodiles; fossil plants, such as
palms of the most luxuriant growth, which could only have been pro-
duced under the influence of high temperature; and, above all, the
bones of the quadrupeds of the tropics: all these, which have been
found in such abundance in Europe, have naturally pointed out that a
great change of this nature must have taken place." The same writer
remarks, that, " the theory of a slow change of temperature produced
by the new formation of great masses of land, has derived considerable
support from the well-known facts connected with the remains of the
Siberian elephants." Some excellent remarks upon this subject are
made by Mr. Lyell, who considers it fair to infer, that " the same
change of climate which has caused certain Indian species of testacea to
become rare, or to degenerate in size, or to disappear from the Mediter-
ranean, and certain genera of the sub-appenine hills, now exclusively
tropical, to retain no longer any representatives in the adjoining seas,
has also contributed to the annihilation of certain genera of land mam-
mifera, which inhabited the continent at about the same epoch. The
mammoth (Elephas primigenus), and other extinct animals of the
same era, may not have required the same temperature as their living
congeners within the tropics : but we may infer that the climate was
milder than that now experienced in some of the regions once inhabited
by them, — because in Northern Russia, where their bones are found in
immense numbers, it would be difficult, if not impossible, for such ani-
mals to obtain subsistence, at present, during an arctic winter. It has

* Lyell's Geology, vol. i. p. 92.

B B 2

184 ON THE TOTAL AND PARTIAL

been said, that as the modern northern animals migrate, the Siberian
elephant may also have shifted his place during the inclemency of the
season ; but this conjecture seems forced, even in regard to the elephant,
and still more so when applied to the Siberian rhinoceros, found in the
frozen gravel of that country, as animals of this genus are heavy and
slow in their motions, and can hardly be supposed to have accomplished
great periodical migrations to southern latitudes. That the mammoth,
however, continued for a long time to' exist in Siberia after the winter
had become extremely cold, is demonstrable, since their bones are found
in icebergs, and in the frozen gravel, in such abundance as could only
have belonged to herds which lived at one time in the district, even if
those northern countries had once been clothed with vegetation as luxu-
riant as that of an Indian jungle. But if we suppose the change to
have been extremely slow, and to have consisted not so much in a
diminution of the mean annual temperature, as in an alteration from
what has been termed an "insular" to an "excessive" climate, — from
one in which the temperature of winter and summer were nearly equal-
ised, to one wherein the seasons were violently contrasted, — we may,
perhaps, explain the phenomenon. Siberia, and other arctic regions,
after having possessed for ages a more uniform temperature, may, after
certain changes in the form of the arctic land, have become occasionally
exposed to extremely severe winters. When they first occurred at
distant intervals, the drift snow would fill the valleys, and herds of
herbivorous quadrupeds would be surprised and buried in a frozen mass,
as often happens to cattle and human beings, overwhelmed in the alpine
valleys of Switzerland by avalanches. When valleys have become filled
with ice, as those of Spitzbergen, the contraction of the mass causes
innumerable deep rents, such as are seen in the Mer de Glace on
Mont Blanc. These deep crevices usually become filled with loose
snow; but sometimes a thin covering is drifted across the mouth of the
chasm, capable of sustaining a certain weight. Such treacherous bridges
are liable to give way when heavy animals are crossing, which are then
precipitated at once into the body of a glacier, which slowly descends
to the sea, and becomes a floating iceberg. As bears, foxes, and deer
now abound in Spitzbergen, we may confidently assume that the im-
pedding of animal remains in the glaciers of that island must be an
event of almost annual occurrence. The conversion of drift snow into
permanent glaciers and icebergs, when it happens to become covered
over with alluvial matter, transported by torrents and floods, is by no
means a rare phenomenon in the arctic regions. During a series of

EXTERMINATION OF ANIMALS. 185

milder seasons intervening between the severe winters, the mammoths
may have recovered their numbers, and the rhinoceroses may have
multiplied again, — so that the repetition of such catastrophes may have
been indefinite. The increasing cold, and greater frequency of incle-
ment winters, would at least thin their numbers, — and their final
extirpation would be consummated by the rapid augmentation of other
herbivorous quadrupeds, more fitted for the new climate."* Besides
the mammoth (Elephas primigenus), the following animals are in the
list of extinct beings, of whose history nothing is known but through
the medium of post-mortem examinations of their remains, — viz., the
mastodon, of which Cuvier supposes there were five species ; rhinoceros
tichorinus; rhinoceros incisivus; rhinoceros leptorhinus; megatherium;
megalonyx; elasmotherium ; megalosaurus ; ichthyosaurus; plesio-
saurus ; annnoni tis ; together with several undescribed species of fish
and insects.

Perhaps few large animals co-existent with man have become extinct,
with the exception of a singular species of gallinaceous bird, the dodo;
though probably many species of insects and other small beings, on
which attention has but lately been bestowed, have passed unnoticed
into oblivion.

The extinction of the dodo (Didus) is supposed to have taken place
towards the conclusion of the seventeenth, or the commencement of the
eighteenth century. Its disappearance maybe ascribable to its not having
been able to defend itself from the attacks of those who pursued it for
its fleshf , in consequence of its having been incapable of flying, owing
to the shortness of its wings, — and unadapted for running, owing to
the shortness of its legs and the unwieldiness of its body. The only
places which it is known to have inhabited are, the isles of Bourbon,
Mauritius, and Roderigue. Bourbon and the Mauritius having become
colonised previous to Roderigue, it is conjectured to have disappeared
from them some time prior to its extermination in the latter place. It
would seem, from the circumstance of no efforts having apparently been
made to retain the breed in either of the countries which it inhabited,
and the neglect of a timely transmission of individuals, in a preserved

* Lyell's Geology, vol. i. p. 96.

t Herbert, an old traveller, who gives a strange description of the bird, states
that it was more pleasant to the eye than to the palate ; but Legaut, another old
traveller, in his account of the bird, as translated from the French by Mr. Thomp-
son, says that it was " extremely fat, and of most excellent flavour, especially when
young." — J. F.

186 ON THE TOTAL AND PARTIAL

state, to the museums of different countries, in none of which, at the
present day, does one perfect specimen exist, that the destruction of
the species must have been carried on so quickly that its eventual
extinction was not anticipated. With the exception of the specimen
once contained in the museum of Tradescant at Lambeth, and which is
said to have been transferred by Dr. Ashmole to the Ashmolean
Museum of Oxford, in which it is recorded to have remained until
1755 (at which period it was destroyed on account of its having become
decayed), no entire specimen appears ever to have found a place in the
cabinet of the naturalists. The only remains ascertained now to exist
of this creature are in the Ashmolean Museum, which contains a bill
and leg of the Tradescant specimen ; in the British Museum, which
contains a single foot, once belonging to the collection of the Royal
Society ; and, lastly, in the Paris Museum, which is enriched by the
possession of, according to Mr. Lyell, "the head, sternum, and humerus
of the dodo," sent thither amongst some fossil bones discovered under
a bed of lava in the Isle of France. A disparity has been observed
between the size and length of the foot in the British Museum and
that in the Ashmolean Museum, — which observation has induced some
to suspect that this country must have either contained two different
specimens, or else one whole specimen, and only the leg of another. If
the latter suspicion be correct, then the difficult question presents itself,
whether this disparity is to be ascribed to a difference of age, sex, or
species. The accounts given by various writers are so dissimilar, that,
assuming them to be correct, one might indeed suspect that more than
one species of dodo existed.

Since the disappearance of the dodo, some other creatures of smaller
size have become extinct, probably in consequence of the scarcity or
complete eradication of those wild plants that constitute their food.
To what other cause can we refer the loss of our Hampstead butterfly*
(Vanessa Hampstediensis), which has not been seen for upwards of a
century; our scarce swallow-tailed butterfly (Papilio podalirius),
which has not been seen since the time of Ray ; and, our straw
May-fritilary butterfly, which has not been seen since the time
of Petiver? It is not difficult to imagine that the loss of a few
species of weeds may have produced all this destruction of animal life,
for we well know that some animals are so restricted in their diet

* Vide Stephens's Illustrations of British Entomology, vol. i. page 5, for figure*
and further information respecting this species.— J. F.

EXTERMINATION OF ANIMALS. 187

that they will eat only of one particular species of plant, and will
perish sooner than feed upon other plants, though closely allied to, or
mere varieties of, their favourite food. This is instanced most conspicu-
ously perhaps in the case of the larva of the ringlet butterfly (Hipnarchia
hyperanlhus) ; of the brown heath butterfly (Hipparchia pamphilus);
of the nettle-butterfly {Vanessa Urticae) ; and in the case of almost all
the aphides : the first of these feeding exclusively on the annual poa-
grass ; the second on the dog's-tail grass* ; the third on the nettle ; and
most of the various species of the last example living entirely upon a
single species of plant,, only certain parts of which in some instances
give nourishment to one particular kind of aphis, from which circum-
stance it is not uncommon to find the leaves, stalks, &c. infested by
different species. The prevention, then, of any animals like these
from becoming extinct, it will be seen, must depend upon the existence
and wide distribution of those peculiar plants from which they derive
their sustenance.

Leaving that division of my subject relating to the total extinction
of animals, the consideration of their partial extermination, with special
reference to the British Kingdom, now claims our attention.

Naturalists are well aware that as the' cultivation of the earth, the
chief employment of mankind, progresses, certain animals either, .from
fear, compulsion, or other causes, recede in search of other quarters
where they may rest undisturbed and in the full gratification of their
wants, until once more being encompassed by the further advance of
cultivation, and again subjected to the assaults of man, they gradually
diminish in numbers, and eventually become extirpated. The enclosing
of land, the felling of timber, the sports of the field, and similar acts,
have also driven and are now driving many animals from our island.

To the followers of the chase we may attribute the extermination of
the wolf, bear, wild boar, and beaver from this country.

Pennant, when alluding to the extirpation of wolves, confesses that
he cannot state for certain when the last wolf was destroyed in Scot-
land ; but says, upon the authority of Hollingshed, that the flocks in
that country suffered extensively from their ravages in the year 1577-
He adds, also, that he is informed that at the time of his then writing
(1 768) none were to be found there. It is said, however, by more recent
writers, that the last wolf that inhabited Scotland was killed at Lo-
chaber, by Sir Ewen Cameron of Lochiel, about the year 1677- A

* Insect Miscellanies, page 24.

188 ON THE TOTAL AND PARTIAL

writer in later times states, but upon what grounds does not transpire,
that wolves were not extirpated from Scotland until the end of the
seventeenth century. In England several attempts were made to destroy
the whole race of these ravenous animals, whose constant depredations
rendered such attempts very justifiable*. King Edgar, at about the year
972, (not during the tenth century, as the author of the " Menageries "
states,) with aviewto their destruction, dispensed with the punishment of
those who had committed certain offences, upon their producing a specified
number of wolves' tongues ; and the Welch, instead of paying to him
their wonted tribute in money, were demanded to produce three hun-
dred wolves' heads every year, which great number was furnished, but
not without considerable difficulty and the incurring of much risk, for
the space of three years, at which time (975) the royal exacter died.
After his decease it seems this exaction was abolished, on account of no
wolves remaining in Wales at that time. From the death of Edgar
the increase of wolves appears to have been allowed to go on in Eng-
land, without the interference of the legislature, during the space of
three hundred and six years, until at length Edward the First, in the
year 1281, issued a proclamation for their destruction f, which seems to
have been fully and speedily effected, as no mention is found of their
existence in a wild state in this country subsequent to the adoption of
this measure. More than four centuries had elapsed after the exter-
mination of wolves in England, before they were totally destroyed in
Ireland, which land was not rid of them until about the year 1710,
when the last presentment for their destruction is said to have been
made in the county of Cork. It is affirmed, that occasionally during
hard winters, wolves make their appearance in France J ; and that
" several were seen in the forests near Boulogne, in 1818§."

* " To look back into the Saxon times we find that in Athelstan's reign, wolves
abounded so in Yorkshire, that a retreat was built at Flixton'in that county, to
defend passengers from the wolves, that they should not be devoured by them; and such
ravages did these animals make during winter, particularly January, when the cold
was severest, that our Saxon ancestors distinguished that month by the title of wolf
moneth. They also called an outlaw ivolfshed, as being out of the protection of
the law, proscribed, and as liable to be killed as that destructive beast." — Pennant.

f Camden, as cited by Pennant, states that certain persons at Wormhill in Derby,
held their lands on condition of their pursuing and killing the wolves that infested
the country. — J. F.

{ Menageries, vol. i.

§ The Zoological Gardens, in Regent's Park, contain a specimen from
France — J. F.

KXTERMI NATION OF ANIMALS.

The brown bear ( Ursus urctos} was once wild in this country, and
afforded to the lovers of the chase much amusement. At what time"
the last English bear was destroyed does not appear, but it was probably
after the reign of Queen Elizabeth, as bear baiting was then a favourite
amusement ; though the bears employed for the purpose might have
been brought from abroad, as the importation of bears is known to have
been carried on long previous to their extirpation from this country^
The last bear wild in Scotland is said to have perished in the year 1057.

Wild-boars were in former times common in Britain ; but the enclos-
ing of land, and the intentional worry to which they were subjected,
have long extirpated the whole race. The time at which they became'
extinct in this country seems not to have been recorded. The celebrated
Welsh legislator, Hoel Dda, is said to have prohibited his grand hunts-
man from chasing wild-boars at any other time that between the middle
of November and the beginning of Decembejr. " William the Con-
queror punished with the loss of their eyes any that were convicted of
killing the wild-boar, the stag, or the roe-buck ; and Fitz-Stephens
tells us, that the vast forest that in his time grew on the north side of
London was the retreat of stags, wild-boars, &c."*

That sagacious and amusing animal, the beaver (Castor Jiber}, once
dwelled in our lakes and ponds ; but the value of its fur found it so
many pursuers that the species has long since disappeared. It is sup-
posed to have become scarce at the end of the ninth, and to have become
extinct in the twelfth century. Pennant states that Giraldus Cam-
brensis, in his Itinerarium Cambriee, remarks that when he travelled
through Wales in 1188, beavers were only found in the river Teivi-
The skins of beavers forming so extensive and lucrative a trade, causes
them to be eagerly sought after in Canada and the other countries
which they at present inhabit ; and such numbers are annually destroyed,
that the unwelcome prospect presents itself of their soon becoming uni-
versally extinct. Indeed, it is reported, that they have already become
scarce in North America.

The Urus Scoticus, or wild-bull, was formerly common in England and
Scotland. William Fitz-Stephens mentions among the animals inhabit-
ing the forest situated on the north of London, wild-bulls. They have
long since, however, been extinct ; but the precise time when they be-
came so has not been recorded, though it is generally supposed to have
been prior to the death of Henry the Eighth in 1547- The breed was

*' British Zoology, vol. i, p. 44.
VOL. II. NO. IV. C C

19U ON THE TOTAL AND PARTIAL

destroyed by horsemen, who drove them singly frbui the herd towards
places where musket-men were stationed in readiness to kill them. The
prevailing colour of all the wild species was white, and their marking*
were always alike in different individuals. Some remains of the urus
are said to exist at the present day in a reclaimed state at Chillingham
Castle, Northumberland ; Gisburne, in Craven, Yorkshire; Wollaton,
Nottinghamshire; Leine Hall, Cheshire; Charby, Staffordshire; and
in Hamilton Palace Park, Scotland. From the non-appearance of the
urus in the catalogues of animals now indigenous to foreign lands, it
would seem, indeed, that in its wild condition it is not only extinct here,
but everywhere. It may be observed, in passing, that our common
domesticated animals of the bovine tribe are of much larger stature,
and are considered by naturalists to be either entirely of foreign extrac-
tion, or an improved produce originally obtained by crossing the wild
with the exotic species.

It is a curious fact that the common ass was once extinct in this
country for several years, and that we owe those that are now in use to-
a second importation from Spain. It is stated to have been " entirely
lost among us during the reign of queen Elizabeth." Hollingshed informs
us that in his time, " our lande did yeelde no asses." But we are
not to suppose that so useful an animal was unknown in these kingdoms-
before that period, for mention is made of them so early as the time of
king Ethelred, about four hundred years preceding ; and again in the
reign of Henry III. ; so that it must have been owing to some accident
that the race was extinct during the days of Elizabeth. We are not
certain of the time it was again introduced, probably in the succeeding
reign, when our intercourse with Spain was renewed ; in which country
this animal was greatly used, and where the species is in great per-
fection."*

The discovery of an otter (Lutra vulgaris) now-a-daysis a very un-
common occurrence in this country, though once they were plentiful,
and even so in the neighbourhood of the metropolis. Walton, in his
" Angler," published nearly two hundred years ago, has introduced an
otter-hunter, who repairs for sport to the small streams in the neigh-
bourhood of Tottenham, Middlesex. " Hunting the otter was a
favourite pastime in Britain; but it has now fallen greatly into disuse;
a few otter-hounds are, however, still to be found. His Grace the
Duke of Buccleuch has some braces of them. Daring Queen Elizabeth's

* British Zoology, vol. i. p. 12.

EXTERMINATION OF ANIMALS. 191

reign, large packs were kept for this diversion, which was eagerly
practised by the young nobles *." That otters were scarce in Hamp-
shire in Gilbert White's time, appears from his mentioning with such
delight that one was brought to him shot within his own parish.

The badger (Meles Europ&a), an animal that is frequently made the
object of much diabolical cruelty, has become considerably rarer IH
England than formerly, though not so much so as the otter.

The cat, though never a native of our island, yet was once wild in it.
Wild cats are now, however, very scarce, and only to be found in our
least frequented woods and forests f. They were the most ferocious
animals we had, and therefore it behoved the people to destroy them as
quick as possible ; and we accordingly find that sportsmen, by whom
they were considered as beasts of the chase, sallied forth for that pur-
pose. A specimen of the wild cat, from Scotland, may be seen in the
gardens of the Zoological Society.

It is a well known fact, that our indigenous black rat (Mus rattus),
a species which was formerly universally diffused throughout Great
Britain, has become nearly extirpated in consequence of the introduc-
tion of the more powerful brown rat. generally called the Norway rat,
though it appears not to be an inhabitant of that country, but a native
of Persia, from whence we received it. Pennant states, that they
arrived in England about forty years before the time of his then writ-
ing (1768), and in Paris about seventeen years prior to that period, or
not until three-and-twenty years after their appearance in this country.
A modern writer, but of no celebrity, asserts that they appeared in
France towards the middle of the sixteenth century, and were first
observed in the neighbourhood of Paris. " Its first arrival, as I am
assured," says Goldsmith, " was upon the coasts of Ireland, in those
ships that traded in provisions to Gribraltar ; and perhaps we owe to a
single pair of these animals the numerous progeny that now infests the

* Brown's Sketches of Quadrupeds, p. 157.

t Perhaps it will be long ere this country becomes entirely destitute of wild
cats; for the existence of wide woody forests, well stocked with live prey, fre-
quently tempts cats reared in houses to forsake their domesticated life for one more
natural, and on that account, perhaps, preferable. " In Jamaica," says a female
writer on Natural History, " the domestic cat will sometimes become wild from
the quantity of food at all times to be found in the woods and mountains." I have
been informed that wild cats are at present more restricted to the hills and woods of
Scotland and Ireland than of England. — J..F.

CG 3

19'2 ON THE TOTAL AND PARTIAL

whole extent of the British Empire *." America, according to Pennant,
received its stock of brown rats by a ship from Antwerp. '• Pallas
tells us that they arrived at Astracan in the autumn of 1727, in such
numbers, and in so short a time, that nothing could be done to oppose
them. They came from the western desert, and traversed the waves
of the Volga, which unquestionably must have swallowed up part of
their horde. They have not advanced any farther north, and are not to
be found in Siberia t." The brown rat has diffused itself almost over
the whole of those countries just particularised. In Scotland they do
not seem to have established themselves so generally as in England and
Ireland. Cuvier says that in some parts of France tbe brown rat is
not known ; and Dr. James Mitchell, in an interesting lecture delivered
some time since at one of the metropolitan institutions, in adverting to
the invasions made by the brown rats, stated that though they had
appeared in London in considerable abundance, yet they had not hither-
to extirpated the black rat, which was to be found in the society of the
former, in many of the large distilleries and breweries. As the few
black rats that remain are continually being routed by the stronger and
larger species, we now and then hear of their appearing in different
places, to which they probably resort to avoid their annoyers. In the
catalogue of the Zoological Gardens, published in 1831, it was stated
that the black rat (Mas rattus) had lately appeared in various parts
of London; and a correspondent to this Magazine has informed us that
they have recently made their appearance at Ballindalloch, Scotland.
(Vide page 102.) So scarce, however, were black rats in Goldsmith's
time, that he says he does not remember ever to have seen one.

Owing to the encroachment of cultivation and the consequent disap-
pearance of open and seldom traversed plains, the bustard ( Otis tarda) is
now very seldom to be seen. It is one of the scarcest birds at present in this
country, though once it was very abundant in different places. Though
this and many other birds, nearly extirpated, may be great desiderata to
the cabinet of the collector ; yet it were well, and to their credit, if, upon
the discovery of such living rarities in their neighbourhood, they would
refrain from destroying or alarming them, for there can be but little
doubt that this and other rare species, if permitted to pass unmolested,
would, in a few years after a cessation of hostilities, again become plen-
tiful, and afford to all the opportunity of observing their habits. View-
ing the matter in a natural history light, I cannot but consider that the

* Natural History, vol.i. p. 21. (new edition.) f Ibid, p. 212.

EXTERMINATION OF ANIMALS. 190

destruction of any species of bird or other animal nearly extinct, for the
mere purpose of placing it among a collection of stuffed skins, is an un-
justifiable and unpardonable act, the commission of which may leave a
gap in the chain of beings, and, by furnishing a subject in future ages,
for much fruitless discussion, speculation, and doubt, impede the pro-
gress of knowledge. The sensations of a true lover of nature, or — (if
you think that designation too poetical and sentimental, as some do) —
of a true naturalist, would, I conjecture, partake more of regret than of
pride, upon the reflection that his hand had destroyed the last of a race
of beings. ,

The egret and the crane were formerly plentiful throughout Eng-
land, as is proved by the immense numbers that were served up at
ancient feasts.* The great demand for these birds as delicacies for the
table led to their extirpation in this country. No mention can I lind of
the time at which the egret became extinct among us ; but it must have
been prior to the time at which Pennant wrote (1768), as he observes
that he had not met with a single specimen, but took his description of
the bird from one in Dr. Mauduit's cabinet at Paris.

The crane ( Grus cinerea), it is well known, is not now a resident in
this country, as it was in the days of Aldrovand and Willoughby, when
they bred in our marshes, and a tine of twenty-pence was inflicted upon
those who removed or destroyed its eggs. Ray says that in his time
they abounded during the winter in Lincolnshire and Cambridgeshire.
William Turner, the old English botanist, in his account of the prin-
cipal birds of Pliny and Aristotle, published in 1544, mentions his hav-
ing frequently seen the young birds in our marshes. Pennant upon

* Since writing the above I have seen Selby's new volume of Illustrations of
British Ornithology ; and I find that he suspects, with Dr. Fleming, that the
egret of our ancient gourmands was nothing more than the lapwing ( Vanellus
cristatus). He adduces certainly some very strong facts to disprove that their bird
was the egret, but he does not prove by research or otherwise that they designated
the lapwing the egret. His principal and only point for objecting to the conclu-
sion that the bird in question was of the latter species, is derived from the circum-
stance of the early writers not having mentioned it as a native of Britain. " Wil-
loughby, in his description of the Lesser White Heron (which is without doubt
the bird now under consideration), expressly states that the specimen from which
it was taken was obtained in Venice ; and he never alludes to this bird as inhabit-
ing or visiting the British Islands. Pennant is the only writer who adduces any
evidence of the egret having been killed in Britain ; and even that evidence is far
from being conclusive, as it only amounts to his having once received from Angle-
sea the feathers of a bird shot there, which he conjectured to be those of the
egret." — Selby's Illustrations of British Ornithology, vol. ii. page 22.

194 ON THE TOTAL AND PARTIAL

learning, after instituting strict inquiries in the above counties, that
the species was entirely unknown there, justly concluded that they had
forsaken our island.

The stork (Ardea ciconia), many years back, was occasionally seen ;
but the country having become more populous, they have not been ob-
served for years. I have consulted several works, with the view of
learning when they were last observed, but can find no instances with
dates prefixed.

It is perhaps owing to the disappearance of retired places suited to
the establishment of heronries, that herons in this country have become
so rare. The heronries recorded to be in existence in England at the
present day do not amount to more than eleven. The places at which
those heronries occur are as follows — viz. Wanstead Park, Essex,
(vide Field Naturalist, vol. i. p. 359) ; Colonel Wilson's estate, Did-
lington, in Norfolk, (Zool. Gardens Illustrated, vol. ii. p. .142) ;
Windsor Great Park, on the borders of Bagshot Heath; Penshurt
Place, Kent ; Cobham Hall, Kent ; Mr. Bethel's seat, Hutton, near
Beverley in Yorkshire; Lord Carnarvon's seat, Pixton ; Gobay Park,
on the road to Penrith, near a rocky pass called Yew Crag, on the north
side of the romantic lake of Ulswater ; Cressi Hall,, six miles from
Spalding, in Lincolnshire ; Downington-in-Holland, in Lincolnshire ;
Brockley Woods, near Bristol ; and Brownsea Island, near Poole, in
Dorsetshire.

The wood-grouse, or cock of the wood ( Tetrao tirogallus), once inha-
bited Ireland and Scotland, but has been extinct in the former coun-
try for nearly seventy years, and in the latter for fifty years. Wood-
grouse now and then find a place at our tables ; but such individuals,
according to Bullock, are imported from Sweden. " It is to be re-
gretted," says Sir William Jardine, " that some of our extensive and
wealthy northern proprietors do not attempt the introduction of the
wood-grouse ; extensive pine or birch forests, with quiet, would be all
the requisites; and the birds themselves, or their young, could very
easily be obtained, and at a trifling expense*."

It is notorious that the felling of trees for timber has operated to a
great extent towards the diminution of rookeries. " In many counties
very few rookeries remain, where once they were considered as a neces-
sary appendage, and regularly pointed out the abbey, the hall, the
court-house, and the grange t."

* White's Selborne, p. 21— note. t Knowledge for the People, Part iv. p. 104.

EXTERMINATJON OF ANIMALS. 195

/ When this country presented a more extensive and secure abode for
birds of a solitary disposition, it is probable that several of those species
of owls, now so rarely seen, were common in it. The long-eared owl
(Stri,v otus), the eagle owl (Slrix bubo), the snowy owl (Slrix nycted),
and the little owl (Strix passerina), are extremely scarce; and the
only localities for the less rare, but yet not common, short-eared owl
(Slrix brachyotus), are Norfolk, the northern counties of England, the
north of Scotland and its islands.

The bad taste which induces proprietors of land to destroy old trees
on account of their decayed state, is supposed by Selby to have occa-
sioned the redstart (Sylvia phcenicurus) to have become scarce in Nor-
thumberland. " For some years past," says he, " the redstart has
become of comparatively rare occurrence in Northumberland; but
without any apparent cause for this change in the line of its migration,
unless it may be attributed to greater attention having been latterly
bestowed upon the management of woods, &c., and a consequent defi-
ciency of old and decaying trees, for the purpose of nidification, and
stone-walls having, during the same period, so much given way to the
use of hedges for inclosure."

The grey lag goose (Anser palustrix) has, in consequence of the ex-
tending prevalence of cultivation *, become very scarce in the fens of
Lincolnshire, and the other places indicated by the earlier writers as
their breeding quarters. " The draining and cultivation of these
marshy tracts," says Selby, " under progressive agricultural improve-
ment, and the increasing population of the kingdom, has, however,
banished these birds from their native haunts ; and they are now, com-
paratively speaking, of rare occurrence, and, as far as I can ascertain,
only met with in small flocks during the winter."

The dotterel (Charadius morinellus, Linnaeus) has become nearly
extirpated in some parts of England in which it was once common,
owing to its having been shot in great numbers for the table. But a
less useful purpose, it is said, has for some time been causing it to

* With reference to the scarcity of this species of goose, owing to the appropria-
tion of their favourite haunts to the purposes of cultivation, I may perhaps be ex-
cused quoting the following pithy piece of old rhyme, which on the present occa-
sion is very apropos.

" 'Tis bad for either man or woman
To steal a goose from off a common ;
But who can plead that man's excuse
W ho steals the common from the goose ?"

1UO ON THE TOTAL. AND PARTIAL

become scarcer and scarcer in the vicinity of Keswick, in Cumberland,
where considerable quantities are destroyed merely for the sake of its
feathers, which are extensively used in the manufacture of artificial
flies for anglers *. Selby observes, that the bird is scarce on the moors
of Cumberland, but does not appear to be aware of the cause of its
scarcity.

Besides the above-mentioned mammalia and birds, there are some
smaller animals, lower in the scale of animated nature, that have be-
come nearly or totally extirpated from the British Islands.

We are told that the patron saint of Ireland banished from that
land all the toads and noxious reptilest. We are informed by Gold-
smith that the frog (Rana aquatica) was designedly introduced into
Ireland some years before those all-conquering animals, the brown rats,
(of whose influence in expelling the black rat I have already spoken)
took possession of that country, and it was observed to multiply amaz-
ingly. " The inhabitants," he states, " were pleased with the propaga-
tion of a harmless animal that served to rid their fields of insects ; and
even the prejudices of the people were in its favour, as they supposed
that the frog contributed to render their waters more wholesome. But
the Norway rat (brown rat) soon put a stop to their increase ; as
these animals \vere of an amphibious nature, they pursued the frog to
i(s lakes, and took it even in its own natural element. I am, therefore,
assured that the frog is almost extinct in that kingdom ; and that the
Norway rat, having no enemies left to destroy > is grown less numerous
also \"

The natterjack (Rana rubetci) has become so scarce in England,
that it was questioned, a short time ago, in the Magazine of Natural
History, whether it was still to be found here or not. From the re-
plies that were elicited to this query, it appears that though rare and
local, yet it is not extinct.

Were I better acquainted with Ichthyology, a branch of Natural
History which is too much disregarded at the present day, I have but
little doubt that I might furnish a few instances of the extermination

* Knowledge for the People, Part iv. p. 103.

•}• Not having sufficient credulity to believe in the Saint's power, I am disposed
to think that some peculiar quality of the soil, water, or atmosphere, is the real
cause of toads, &c., not being found in Ireland. Toads, &c. are not the only ani-
mals not to be found in Ireland, for the mole ( Talpa Europcea) does not exist
therein, on account, it is supposed, of the general moist nature of the country. — J. F.
£ Natural History, page 210.

HINTS FOR COLLECTING WATER BIRDS. 197

of fish ; but I do not remember to have either read or heard of any,
though I am aware that it has been observed that several species of fish
have diminished in number in consequence of the introduction of steam-
packets on our rivers. The influx of nauseous and poisonous filth and
refuse from sewers and manufactories has also contributed to produce
the same effect.

It is not alone in England and the countries adjacent that certain
species of animals are progressing towards their extirpation. Bona-
parte tells us that in " Canada and the densely peopled parts of the
United States, wild turkeys were formerly very abundant ; but, like
the Indian and buffalo, they have been compelled to yield to the destruc-
tive ingenuity of the white settlers, often wantonly exercised, and seek
refuge in the remotest parts of the interior. Although they relinquish
their native soil with slow and reluctant steps, yet such is the rapidity
with which settlements are extended and condensed over the surface of
the country, that we may anticipate a day, at no distant period, when
the hunter will seek the wild turkey in vain."

We have now seen the influence of man and other agents exerted
sometimes designedly, sometimes unintentionally, in extirpating vari-
ous species of animals in different parts of the world, and driving them
from one quarter to another where they may rest with less chance of
being annoyed. But whilst man has been the principal cause of the
extirpation of the animals herein mentioned, he has been instrumental
to the dissemination of others, by introducing them into countries
where previously they did not exist.

Poddington, 22nd February \ 1834.

HINTS FOR COLLECTING WATER BIRDS.

BY C. PARSONS, KSQ.

AQUATIC birds are subject to so much variation from age and change
of season, that several specimens of each are essentially requisite to
form a complete collection. The annual changes many of them un-
dergo, have led to various errors in books on ornithology, — but they are
better understood now, and have been accurately pointed out by late
writers ; it would, therefore, be useless to describe them minutely here.
I shall merely notice them, to show how many specimens of each "sort

VOL. II. NO. IV. » D

198 HINTS FOR COLLECTING WATER BIRDS-.

are necessary to exhibit the birds in every variety of plumage, and also
the times, as far as I am able, when they may be obtained in greatest
perfection.

As the plover family, following the bustards, connects the waders
with the land birds, I will begin with them : — and, first, of the golden
plover ( Charadrius pluvialis}, four specimens of which will be requi-
site,— one in summer with its black breast, one in winter when it quite
loses it, one in March when acquiring it, and a young one in autumn:
and the same may be said of the grey lapwing ( Vancllus melnno-
gaster) ; the young of this species very much resembles the young of
the golden plover, but may be distinguished from it by the black
feathers under the wing. These birds are seldom seen in flocks, but
generally in little bunches of four or five, and very frequently a few
are interspersed with a flock of dunlins.

Of the ring dotterel (Charadrius htaticula), an old male and female
and the young will be sufficient.

The lapwing ( Vanellus cristatus) is handsomer the latter end of
April and May than at any other time of the year ; the whole plumage
is more vivid, the black on the breast enlarged, and the crest longer ;
the female is not quite so bright in colour, and the young have but a
very short crest till after the moult.

The sanclerling (Calidris arenaria), it will be necessary to have at
least three specimens of, — the old in summer and winter, and the young
in autumn, and if one or two in change be added, it will be better ; the
young have all the feathers of the back widely margined with white,
and after the moult become plain grey till the spring, when they again
change, — the middle of the feathers of the back get black, and are
edged with rufous.

The oyster-catcher (H&matopus ostralegus) loses the white on the
neck in the summer months; one should be got then, and one in winter;
the young have the feathers of the back and wings margined with
brown.

The heron (Ardea cinerea} does not acquire its beautiful crest, and
long flowing feathers of the breast, till after the third year, and is
rather difficult to be met with in this plumage; the young have but the
rudiments of these, and in this state nine out of ten will be found, at
least in this part of the world. The bittern (At'dea stelfaris) is
perfect after the first moult ; one of these may be considered sufficient;
the males are, however, rather the brightest coloured.

The curlew (Xtunenins «rqu(il«), and the- whimbrel (N.

HINTS FOR COLLECTING WATER B1KD!>. 199

have but little variation of colour, — but the curlew varies very much in
size, and the young of both species have the bill shorter than the old ;
several should be shot, and a fine long-billed one selected ; any time in
winter or spring will do.

The young turnstone (Strepsilas collaris) differs much from the ol<t
— and specimens of each should be procured. I am not aware they
undergo any change from season, but have never seen them except in
the month of August, when they frequent our coast.

The birds comprising the Tringa genus are subject to so many
changes, that a considerable number of each is requisite to illustrate
the species properly. The dunlin ( T. varidbilis) varies so much, that,
except during the winter months, it is difficult to find two specimens
that are exactly alike. In addition to the summer and winter plumage
of this group, several others in the intermediate states will add great
interest to a collection ; they should be killed at different times in the
autumn and spring, to show the gradual change of colour ; and two or
three young ones at different times in the autumn. Of the ruff ( T.
pvgnax) the variety in summer is almost infinite ;. three or four, pre-
senting the greatest contrast, should be selected. A female, or reeve, a
male in winter, and a young one in autumn, which very much resembles
the female, should also be added. The beginning of May will be found
the best time for getting the males in perfection.

The red-shank ( Totanus Calidris), green-shank (T. Glottis), and
spotted red-shank (T. fuscus], differ considerably in summer and
winter; the young but little from the winter plumage of the adult.
They have but little sexual difference, a characteristic, indeed, of the
whole genus Totanus. The green sand-piper (71. ochropus) I have
never seen except in the autumnal months, when I have shot the old
and birds of the year, which differ sufficiently to require specimens of
each ; as does also the common sand-piper ( T. hypoleucus).

The godwits become beautifully red in the spring. The male of the
common godwit (Ltintisa ?'«/«) is much smaller, and in summer of a
brighter red than the female ; one or two of these should also be got
when in change, and the young in autumn. May will be found the
best month for getting these and all the various species of sand-pipers
in their summer plumage in the greatest perfection ; if deferred till
later, and until they begin to breed, the feathers of many get rugged
and shabby.

A well selected assortment of these families forms perhaps the
prettiest and most interesting group of British birds that can be got

200 HINTS FOR COLLECTING WATEK-B1 KDS.

together ; it is, however, a difficult task ; many of the species are
exceedingly rare, and most of them shy and difficult of approach, — and
frequenting the marshes, sea shores, and wastes, are not so generally
known as land birds, which are constantly before us ; and it is to be
regretted that so many of them are disfigured, and their beautiful pro-
portions and elegant attitudes entirely destroyed in setting up ; they
are difficult birds to do well, and it is impossible for any one to give a
natural air to them who has not made himself acquainted with the
living animals ; but whether a duck, a sand-piper, a hawk, or a warb-
ler, they are, by the generality of bird-stuffers, all done on one prin-
ciple ; the consequence is, that if one is well done, the others are sure
to be spoiled, — and I think it will generally be found that they do
large birds better than small ones. Bird-stuffing cannot be done or
explained by fixed rules ; every group of birds requires something
peculiar to be observed, either in fixing the leg wires, the degree of
fulness which should be given them, and many little particulars only to
be acquired by practice, but without a knowledge of which birds never
look well ; and admitting a bird to be properly stuffed and ready for
mounting, here if the artist be not acquainted with the attitudes of
the species he is at work upon, all his former care in stuffing will not
enable him to give his bird a correct and lively appearance, but it will
look, as stuffed birds, and particularly sand-pipers and their affinities,
too often do, stiff and unsightly, without any resemblance of nature.

But to proceed ; and next of the gallinule ( Gallinula chloropus), of
which an old and young one should be procured ; the red on their bill
is brightest in the spring, and the young do not acquire it at all till the
second winter ; the female is not quite so bright as the male.

The coot (Fulica atra) varies but little; the male has rather a larger
frontlet than the female, and in the young it is very small.

The phalarope (Phalaropus platyrhinclms} undergoes similar changes
to the knot and godwit, and has been called, according to season, the
red and grey phalarope ; it is of course desirable to get them in both
dresses, but they are not often to be met with.

Of the grebes old and young are quite requisite. A fine old crested
grebe (Podiceps cristatus) has an exceedingly curious appearance, but
it is not very easily got in that state, although the young are common
enough, they do not get quite perfect till the third winter. The Dab-
chick (P- minor) is also three years before it gets its black chin and
perfect adult plumage.

I come now to the web-footed tribes (Palmipedes') — and first of the

HINTS FOR COLLECTING WATER-BIRDS. '201

Terns : these should all be got on their first arrival here in spring, they
are then in beautiful feather, and I must caution the collector to be
very particular in keeping the birds he shoots as clean as possible, a
hint to be attended to in all birds killed for preserving, but more par-
ticularly requisite in these, as the feathers are very delicate, and the
beautiful gloss on them can never be restored when once they are soiled
or made bloody; they are also very liable to run at the mouth, which is
sure to stain the feathers; to prevent this a piece of cotton or tow
should be put in the mouth and through the nostrils as soon as shot,
and always avoid (when possible) carrying them in the pocket, a better
way is to tie a piece of string to their legs and sling them under the
arm by a belt, I always find that I injure them less so than in any
other way. They lose their black heads in winter, but are not with us
then ; I have, however, frequently shot them in autumn just before
they leave, with the head half white. The Sandwich Tern (Sterna
canliaca) I have killed in this state, and have also had the pleasure of
bringing home the beautiful eggs of this fine birdfrom some Salterns at
the mouth of the river Blackwater in this county, and also from the
Fern Islands, on the Northumberland coast. A young of all the
species should be obtained before they take their departure.

In the gulls, the variety of plumage from the young to the perfect
state is exceedingly great. The black -backed gull (Larus marinus)
requires five specimens ; an adult bird in summer and winter, the
young before the first moult, one the first winter, and one the second ;
the third winter they are perfect. I never noticed any difference of
colouring in the sexes. The same number of specimens are required
for the lesser black-back (L.fuscus) and the herring gull (L. argen-
tatus), they being the same time in immature plumage ; the young of
these three species are very much alike. The common gull (L. canus)
must also have five specimens ; the old in summer and winter, the
young before moulting, one the first winter, and one the second ; they
are nearly perfect then, having only a little brown on the tail, and in
the spring are quite so. Of the black-headed or laughing gull (L.
ridibundus) , four specimens will be sufficient; one in summer with its
black head ; one in winter, and two young ones ; one before the moult
and one after ; the following spring their plumage is complete ; they
assume their black head in March, and the latter end of that month or
beginning of April should be obtained : if killed later in the summer
the black on the head is not near so fine, and the gloss on their breast
in a great measure lost.

20*2 HINTS FOR COLLECTING WATER-BIRDS.

Wild geese exhibit so little variety that one of each sort will be suf-
ficient. The two species, the grey goose (Anser palustris] and the
bear goose (A.ferus) are apt to be confounded ; they are however easily
discriminated by the bill. The bernacles (Anser Bernicla) I have
noticed a considerable difference in ; but whether mere variety, or
whether the young are not perfect the first winter, I do not know.
The brent goose ( A. Brenta) varies in size, the smaller ones are the
females; the young have the feathers of the back and wing coverts
edged with brown, but there is scarcely difference enough in them to
require more than one specimen. The sheldrake ( Tradena vulpansa)
must have three, a male, female, and the young ; and if the male be
got in the spring it will, I think, be found brighter in colour than if
killed in winter.

The several species of ducks differ much in sex : the females of most
are clad in the same plain garb, and the young males in general much
resemble them. A young of all should be obtained.

A mallard and duck of the Anas Boscha-s will be sufficient, in addi-
tion to a young one. A male and female pintail (Dafila caudacuta') ;
the female of this species may readily be distinguished from others by
its more slender and elegant shape. I believe the male acquires his full
plumage after the first moult. A male, female, and young male
wigeon (Mareca Jistularis) will be required. The old male has the
whole of the wing coverts of a pure white. The eider duck (Somateria
mollissima), being two or three years acquiring perfect plumage, in
addition to the old, at least two young males will be necessary in dif-
ferent degrees of perfection. It is useless particularly to notice the
scoup duck, golden eye, and others, as they all vary in the same manner,
and the like number of specimens should be got of each. The young
males may soon be recognised; if examined, a feather or two in different
parts will be seen breaking out into the gay markings of the old, at
first hardly perceptible, but gradually increasing till complete.

Care is requisite in stuffing these birds not to make them larger than
natural; to attend to the shape of the back, and not make the bird
roundj; and, though last not least, to avoid stretching the neck beyond
its proper proportions, as their skins will extend a great deal beyond the
real size of the birds.

The goosander (Mergus merganser"), though by no means an un-
common bird, is not often seen in its perfect plumage, those that are
killed being generally young, or dun divers, as they are called. We
have them here, but it is a rare thing to see an old bird; perhaps the
greater part of the old do not come so far south.

AMAZON ANT. 203

Two or three young gannets (Sulu alba) should be got in different
stages of perfection. They are lirst of all covered with white down,
but I never saw one in that state; they then become brown all over, in
this stage called boobies by the fishermen, and are not perfect till the
third or fourth summer.

I am not much acquainted with the rock birds, therefore will say
nothing about them ; and I have already extended this paper to a
greater length than I intended.

Southchurch, March 7, 1834.

AMAZON ANT (Formica rupescens, LATREILLE).

BY THE EDITOR.

THIS is a species whose history was first investigated by the younger
H uber, and whose economy is so extraordinary as almost to exceed
belief. The details, indeed, have hitherto been credited chiefly if not
solely on the well known veracity of Huber ; but in the autumn of
1832 we had an opportunity of verifying them, both in the Black
Forest and in Switzerland, where the species is found chiefly on the
borders of the great pine forests.

The species has not hitherto been found in Britain, and we were
unsuccessful in our attempt to bring over from the Black Forest a nest
of live ones, which we had placed in a box for the purpose. This ant
is of a pale reddish colour all over, the female larger than the worker,
and of a clear colour : the male, pale black. We think that it will
prove most interesting to the reader to give Huber's narrative in his
own words.

'•On the 17th of June, 1804," says he, "whilst walking in the
environs of Geneva, between four and five in the evening, I observed
close to my feet, traversing the road, a legion of amazon ants. They
moved in a body, with considerable rapidity, and occupied a space of
from eight to ten inches in length, by three or four inches in breadth.
In a few minutes they quitted the road, passed a thick hedge, and
entered a pasture -ground, where I followed them. They wound along
the grass without straggling, and their column remained unbroken
notwithstanding the obstacles they had to surmount ; at length they
approached a nest inhabited by dark negro ants (F. fusc(t), the dome
of which rose above the grass, at a distance of twenty feet from the

204 AMAZON ANT.

hedge. Some of its inhabitants were guarding the entrance, but, ort
discovery of an approaching army, darted forth upon the advanced
guard. The alarm spread at the same moment in the interior, and
their companions came forth in numbers from their underground resi-
dence. The amazon ants, the bulk of whose army lay only at the
distance of two paces, quickened their march to arrive at the foot of the
ant-hill; the whole battalion, in an instant, fell upon and overthrew
the negro ants, who, after a short but obstinate conflict, retired to the
bottom of their nest. The amazon ants now ascended the hillock,
collected in crowds on the summit, and took possession of the principal
avenues, leaving some of their companions to work an opening in the
side of the ant-hill with their teeth. Success crowned their enterprise,
and by the newly-made breach the remainder of the army entered.
Their sojourn was, however, of short duration, for in three or four
minutes they returned by the same apertures which gave them entrance,
each bearing off in its mouth a larva or a pupa ; they retraced the
route by which they had arrived, and proceeded one after another,
without order or regularity. The whole army might be readily distin-
guished in the grass by the contrast afforded by the amazon ants and
the white eggs and pupae they had captured. They repassed the hedge
and the road, in the place they had previously crossed it, and then
directed their course through a field of ripened corn, where I expe-
rienced the regret of not being able to follow them.

" I now retraced my steps towards the scene of the recent assault,
aud there found a small number of negro labourers, perched upon the
stalks of plants, holding in their mouths the few larvae they had
rescued from pillage ; these they shortly carried back to their former
station.

This feature, so prominent in the history of this ant, of whose name
I was ignorant, induced me to give them the appellation of amazon or
legionary ants, as being most analogous to their martial character ; which
denomination I still retain.

I returned the following morning at the same hour, by the route I
had observed the amazon army take, in the hope of acquiring some
knowledge of the phenomenon of which I had been a witness, when I
discovered the habitation of one of these martial hordes.

I observed on the right of the road a large ant-hill, covered with ants
of that species. They formed into column, set forth in a body, and fell
upon one of the habitations of the negro-ants, which, experiencing little
or no opposition, they entered. One party immediately returned,

AMAZON ANT. 205

bearing in their pincers the purloined larvae ; another party, less for-
tunate, quitted the scene of attack, without reaping any advantage from
their expedition : the former took the road to their own citadel ; the
latter marched in a body upon a second ant-hill, tenanted by the same
species as the first, where they made ample booty. The whole army,
now forming two divisions, hastened to the spot from which it had taken
its departure. I reached the garrison a little before them ; but what
was my surprise to observe all around, a great number of that identical
species they had gone forth to attack. I raised up a portion of the
building, I still saw more ; this induced me to regard it as one of the
habitations that had already been pillaged by the amazons, when my
suspicions were removed by the arrival of the amazon legion at the
entrance, charged with the trophies of victory. Its return excited no
alarm among the negro ants, who, whilst the legionaries were descending
with their booty, so far from offering opposition, were even seen to
approach these warriors, caress them with their antennae, offer them
nourishment, as is the custom with those of their own species, take up
some of the larvae, and carry them into the nest. The amazons remained
within the rest of the day : the negro ants kept their station some time
without, but retired before night.

"No enigma ever raised my curiosity so high as this singular discovery ;
and I had the satisfaction of finding near my own residence several ant-
hills of the same kind, not a little astonished at being the first to notice
their existence.

" Conscious of the great advantage of having them so near me, I deter-
mined to devote the whole of my time to tjiem. As I was extremely
impatient to ascertain the nature of the connexion between these differ-
ent species, I opened one of their dwellings, and there observed a great
number of rufescent mingled with ash-coloured ants, which gave me
some general idea upon this head. The latter were busily engaged in
re-establishing the several avenues, hollowing out galleries, and carrying
below the exposed larvae and pupae. The amazons, on the contrary,
passed over the larvae, &c., with indifference, not once deigning to lift
them, or take any part in the labours going forward ; they wandered
for some time over the surface, and then retired to the bottom of their
citadel.

" But at five in the evening, the scene undergoes a complete and
almost immediate change ; the amazons leave their retreat, become
restless, and assemble on the outside. They are all in motion ; none,
however, move but in a curved line, and in such a way, as quickly to

VOL. II. NO. IV. E E

206 AMAZON ANT.

return to the outer wall of their garrison ; their number increases each
moment, they describe greater circles, a signal is communicated, they
pass from one to the other, striking as they proceed with their antennae
and forehead the breast of their companions ; these, in their turn,
approach those advancing, and communicate the same signal, it is that
of departure ; the result satisfactorily proves it. We see those receiv-
ing the intimation put themselves at the moment in march and join
the rest of the troop. The column becomes organised, advances in a
straight line, passes over the turf, and removes to a considerable dis-
tance. Not a single amazon is any longer to be seen near the garrison.
The advanced guard sometimes halts until the rear guard comes up,
and then diverges to the right and left without advancing ; the army
forms anew, and again moves forward with rapidity. There is no com-
rnander-in-chief, every ant is in turn first, each seeking to be foremost ;
some, however, move in a different direction, pass from the front to the
rear, then retrace their steps and follow the general movement. There
are always a small number constantly returning to the rear, and it is
probable in this way the movement of the whole army is governed.

" At a little more than thirty feet from their own residence they
stop and explore the ground with their antennae, much in the
same way as dogs when searching for game. They soon find a
subterranean negro ant-hill, to the bottom of which its inhabit -
ants have retired. The amazon ants, unopposed, penetrate an open
gallery ; the whole army enter, seize upon the pupa;, and return through
the several apertures, immediately taking the road to their garrison.
It is now no longer an army disposed in column, it is an undisciplined
horde. The amazons run after each other with rapidity, and the last
comers from the stormed city are followed by some few of its inhabit-
ants, who endeavour to wrest from them their prize ; an effort in
which it but rarely happens they are successful.

" I return to the garrison to be once more a witness of the reception
given to these plunderers by the ash-coloured ants, with whom they
dwell. I observe a considerable number of pupae heaped up before the
door ; each amazon, on its arrival, deposits its burthen, and then re-
turns to the invaded ant-hill ; — their auxiliaries suspend their labours
in masonry, and come forward to the pupae, which they carry one by
one into the interior. The negroes are also frequently seen'to unload
the amazbns, after having amicably touched them with their antennas,
when the latter yield to them, without opposition, the pupae they have
purloined

AMAZON ANT. '207

"Let us still follow this army of plunderers on their second return to
the attack of the nearly ruined ant-hill. Its inhabitants, however, have
had time to recover themselves, and to station a strong guard at each of
the entrances. The amazons, whoare in small numbers at first, take flight
as soon as they perceive the negroes in a state of defence ; they return
to the main body of the army, and advance and retreat several times
successively, until they are in sufficient force ; they then throw them-
selves, en masse, upon one of the galleries, driving away and putting
in confusion its inhabitants. The whole army now enter the subterra-
nean city, and seize upon the larvae, which they carry off in great
numbers, and in great haste. They never take any of the parent ants
prisoners, their sole object being the possession of their offspring.
Upon their return to the garrison the most friendly reception is still
given to the amazons, who, — their associates having arranged the pro-
duce of their first harvest, — either deposit their load at the entrance,
or consign it to those in attendance, who hasten to place it in the inte-
rior.

" Could one for a moment suppose that these intrepid warriors would
return a third time to the pillage? This time, however, they had to
undertake a siege in regular form, for the individuals from whom they
had twice successively taken larvae and pupae, had lost no time in
throwing up trenches, barricading the several entrances, and reinforc-
ing the guard of the interior, as if fully aware of this third attack from
their adversaries. They had, moreover, brought all the little pieces of
wood and earth within reach, with which they had blocked up the pas-
sage to their habitation, in which they were posted in force. The le-
gionaries at first hesitated to approach, but rambled about or returned
to the rear until sufficiently reinforced ; they then, upon a given signal,
rushed forward en masse with great impetuosity, and began removing
with their teeth and feet the many obstacles that opposed their pro-
gress. Having succeeded, they entered the ant-hill by hundreds,
notwithstanding the resistance of its inhabitants, and carried off their
prize to their garrison. But this time, in lieu of remitting to their
associates their plunder, they carried it into the under-ground chambers
themselves, where they remained the rest of the day.

" On the 23rd June, at half-past three, when the sun was extremely
powerful, a few of the amazons quitted their abode, and after taking
a survey of the environs, re-entered ; a moment after, others, but in
trifling number, came to take the air at the entrance of one of the
galleries, where they seemed to await the favourable moment for com-

E E2

208 NOTES UPON INSECTS..

mencing their expedition. At a quarter before five they sallied forth iu
crowds, and appeared extremely restless ; some advanced into the
meadow, whilst others remained on the ant-hill ; but a few, returning
to the rear, by the effect of that tactic we have elsewhere noticed,
arrived at the garrison and gave the signal for departure, by approaching
in turn, and striking with their antennae all their compatriots, who
immediately put themselves in march to join the army. This warlike
phalanx took a direction different from that of the preceding evening,
but soon stopped in their course, and separated in search of some ant-
hill; but experiencing no success, they again formed and continued their
march, until they alighted upon one hidden in the grass, at about fifty
paces from their own dwelling. The ash-coloured ants, frightened at
the unexpected arrival and number of the amazons, took flight, leaving
the latter to make ample booty of larvae and pupae, which they carried
off to their own abode.

" Another army, infinitely more numerous than the first, now issued
from the garrison, and took a different direction in their march, which
was somewhat tedious ; they passed untouched several ant-hills inhabited
by a different species, but finding at length a nest of ash-coloured ants,
they attacked it with their usual fury, and returned laden with pupae
and larvae. I was a witness every day during the summer to these
invasions."

Another species of slave-making ants (Formica sanguinaria,
Latreille), whose proceedings are somewhat different, will be detailed
in a subsequent page.

NOTES UPON INSECTS.

BY SYLVANUS.

IT is a trite but no less true remark, that the structure of every
creature is fitted for the life it is designed to lead : however minute, or
however vast the size of the animal, this equally applies in all instances
throughout the creation. The more familiar the illustration which we
select of this great law, the more forcibly are we impressed with a sense
of the mightiness of the Creator. We will choose from out the varied
host of insects, two for examination and comparison — which every
reader, however young, must have observed, viz. the beetle and the

NOTES UPON INSECTS. 209

butterfly. The first (which belongs to the order Coleoptera*) has
every part of its body formed for strength, and in the most of instances
is well supplied with the organs both of offence and defence f. The
first pair of wings form an effectual protection to the under pair, and
likewise to the abdomen. By some authors they have been denomi-
nated the " wing sheaths," but they are more properly wings, although
they " are so horny and stiff, that they have no close resemblance to
what are called wings in other insects J." The use which the work
just quoted assigns to these first pair of wings is, " to cover the second
pair in a state of repose, and to balance the body, perhaps by their
weight, in flying." These reasons I consider perfectly satisfactory ;
but there is one point left which deserves mention : I allude to the
humming noise which some beetles make in their flight, attributable to
the rapid displacement of the opposing particles of the atmosphere,
produced by the quick passage of the insect through it. Your intel-
ligent correspondent Solitarius, at page 406 of the first volume, speak-
ing of the gnat (Culex pipiens), says he conceives it possible, that " it
may learn its situation in a dark room by the variations produced upon
its piping noise, (which may thus be as serviceable to it in the dark, as
its sight in the day time,) to avoid breaking its wings, &c. He also
conjectures that " the humming of the cockchafer (M. vttlgaris), the
dung beetle (G. stercorarius~), and many other insects," may be refer-
able to the same cause. With all due deference to the ingenious obser-
vations of this gentleman, I would humbly remark, tbat the latter
conjecture does not appear to be borne out by facts. How is it, it may
be asked, has the proverb " as blind as a beetle," arisen, but from the
well-known stupid tendency of beetles to fly direct against any obstacle
which may occur in their course, by which many of those kinds which
fly about in the dusk of the evening are stunned and captured. Besides,
— the rapidity of their flight would not give them much time to employ
the instinct for which Solitarius gives them credit. The question is
very interesting, and to the lover of Entomology, is very important.
Experiments might be made which would throw some light on this
subject. In the next number (if deemed worthy of insertion) I shall
resume these notes.

Camberwell, February 26th, 1834.

* Derived from the Greek ico\tos, a sheath, and irrfpov, n w'ng. — S.
f For instance, the large forceps of the L. C'cri-us.
% Alphab. Inf. page 54.

210

THE EDITOR'S ALPHABET OF INSECTS*.

THE first edition of the " ALPHABET OF INSECTS," though more
comprehensive than any other elementary work in Eng-lish, did not
contain several particulars, which were omitted for fear of swelling the
size and increasing the price of the book. Many of these omissions
have been supplied in the present edition, in consequence of the pro-
prietors finding that the extensive demand would remunerate them for
the additional expense ; and on the same principle, a number of new
engravings have been introduced, chiefly from the splendid work of M.
Straus Durckheim on the Anatomy of the Cockchafer, published at the
expense of the French Institute. As many of our readers who possess
the first edition may not meet with this, and may not be aware of the
important additions, we shall here give an extract, as a specimen of a
work which we sanguinely hope will be of no inconsiderable use to
those who are beginning the study, as well as serve to show those who
are advanced what is doing by our neighbours on the Continent.

" FOOT-CQMBS AND FOOT-BRUSHES OF INSECTS. — Most people may
have remarked, that flies are ever and anon brushing their feet upon one
another to rub off the dirt, and equally assiduous in cleaning their eyes,
head, and corselet with their fore legs, while they brush their wings
with their hind legs. In the foot of the common blow-fly there are
two rounded combs, the inner surface of which is covered with down,
forming a fine brush ; and some crane flies have three such combs on
each foot. Mr. Blackwall denies that what are here termed combs
exist, as they are represented by Bauer, on the edge of the membrane
of the flies' foot, and says, the appearance of this is caused by minute
short hairs. But though I should be more disposed to trust so cele-
brated a microscopical observer as Bauer, yet it is of little moment to
the office of a comb, which I have here ascribed to the foot, whether it
is hairs or serratures. I have also observed the water measurer clean
its feet, though not by crossing them like the fly, but merely by wiping
them upon one another.

"In the case of the large green locustf , the structure of the instrument
is more obvious ; and it being important to keep the soles of its feet

* Alphabet of Insects, for the use of Beginners. 2d edition, revised, with
numerous additions. London, 1834.

f In Latin, Acrida viridissima.

THE EDITORS ALPHABET OF INSECTS.

211

clean, to enable it to walk up glass or other smooth substances, it is not
contented, like the fly, with brushing them one on another, but will,
like a spider, as first recorded by me, go over the foot with its jaws,
mumbling off every bit of dust, a process which Swammerdarn mistook
for chewing the cud.

" MUSCLES OF THE LEGS AND FEET.— Beginning with the haunch,
Straus-Durckheim describes in the cockchafer four flexor muscles in the
fore leg, three in the mid leg, and five in the hind leg, without men*
tioning two others attached to the latter, which he supposes rather to
be pertractors of the. abdomen. Opposed to these are the extensor
muscles of the haunch, one strong one in the fore leg ; a short one and
a long one in the mid leg ; and three in the hind leg. Besides these,
there are a flexor and an extensor to that which I have called the third
piece of the haunch.

Fig". 2

pig. 3.

" Muscles of the right fore leg and foot in the cockchafer magnified eight times. Fig. 1 ,
a, 6, c, extensor muscles of the trochanter cut across ; </, flexor also cut ; e, the trochanter ;
f, extensor of the leg ; g, flexor of the leg ; h, extensor of the foot ; i, /, /, the flexor of
the foot, the tendon being the long white line in the centre ; A, the leg ; m, extensor of
the claws ; n, the flexor of the claws ; o, the foot; />, the claws. Fig. 2. Haunch of the
same laid open ; a, the third flexor muscle ; 6, c, d, extensors of the trochanter ; e, the
flexor of the trochanter ; /, the rotula ; g, the trochanter. Fig. 3. Thigh of the same ;
«, portion of the extensor of the leg ; 6, C, the two side parts of the flexor.

" The thigh, in each of the three pairs of legs, has only a very feeble

•212 THE EDITOR'S ALPHABET OF INSECTS.

abductor muscle, and as it is but very slightly movable, there is no
antagonist abductor.

" The shank has a strong flexor muscle, and a more feeble extensor
in each of the three pairs of legs.

" The foot, in each of the three pairs of legs, has an extensor and a
flexor in each of the joints. The last joint includes a flexor and ex-
tensor for moving the claws.

" STANDING * OF INSECTS.— The centre of the pressure f in insects
being usually either in the base of the abdomen or in the hind corselet,
the three pairs of legs are of course inserted in advance of it ; and hence,
did they stand perpendicular to the body like the legs of quadrupeds, it
would be impossible for an insect to alight on its legs without being
upset.

" To obviate this, the legs extend to a considerable length from the
body, and not only so, but the first pair project obliquely forward, and
the third pair obliquely backward, while the second pair are, in some
species nearly at right angles to the body, and in other species, project
obliquely forward or obliquely backward, according as the position of
the centre of .pressure requires for the stability of the animal. In two-
winged flies, for example, the mid pair of legs projects obliquely for-
wards, as may be seen in the figure.

" Figure of a Crane FlyJ to show the position of the feet, as extending the base within
which falls the line of direction of the centre of pressure.

" The singular pendulum-like motion, exhibited by some species of
long-legged flies while their feet are quite stationary, may be referred

" In Latin, Statio. t See Alphabet of Physics, p. 38.

J In Latin, Tipula oleracea.

CHAPTER OF VARIETIES. 213

perhaps to the same cause as the similar motions of caged animals in a
menagerie. When they are observed to perk up their hind legs in the
air while they are standing on their fore legs — a common practice among
gnats — it is probably to ascertain, from the agitations of the air, the
approach of danger, as they are extremely timid."

CHAPTER OF VARIETIES.

OF WHAT USE ARE THE AIGRETTES OF CERTAIN OWLS? Whilst

minutely examining a specimen of the little horned or scops owl*
(Scops Aldrovandi, Ray), in my collection, I observed that the feathers
which form the aigrettes or tufts upon the head were much rubbed and
worn. This would seem to imply that these hitherto considered orna-
mental tufts are of some decided use to the bird,— but what that use
can be, I cannot imagine. These feathers do not appear in the least
worn, in the specimens which I possess of the two British species of
Otus. E. BLYTH.

Tooting, Feb. 4th, 1834.

HABITS OF THE TAWNY WOOD-OWL, OR SCREECH-OWL (Ulula
stridula, Selby; Strix Aluco of Linnaeus). — An owl of this species,
which, with its wing cut, enjoys the range of a large garden in this
neighbourhood, is in the coiistant habit of burying whatever food it
cannot eat ; scratching up the earth with its feet, and covering up its
treasure as carefully as any fox: it does not, however, like that animal,
suffer it to remain until it becomes putrid, but returns and scrapes it
up again, generally in the course of a few hours. It frequently rests
itself sitting, like the African serpent-eater, the cassowary, and various
Grallatores, upon the whole length of the tarsus, selecting generally
an angle of the garden wall away from the sun, against which awkward
place it has rubbed and much injured the appearance of its tail; this
circumstance led me to suppose at first that the habit was not common
to the species, as the tails of the wild birds are always perfect; but
probably in a state of nature they contrive to fix upon situations where
no injury to their plumage can take place.

E. BLYTH.

Tooting, Surrey, Feb. 4<£, 1 834.

* Shot in Kent.
VOL. II. NO. IV. V F

214 CHAPTER OF VARIETIES.

WINTER BIRDS. — In the last number of the " Field Naturalist," I
mentioned having seen sparrows carrying off feathers during frost, and
now beg to state a still more curious instance of unseasonable nestling,
which has just come to my knowledge.

A gentleman residing in this city, so early as a fortnight after Christ-
mas, found at East Cliffe, in East Lothian, the nest of a hedge chanter
{Accentor modularis, Cuvier) with one egg in it, which he blew and
ascertained to be fresh. My authority is most respectable, and, were I
at liberty to give his name, would I am sure not be doubted.

During a sudden fall of snow about ten days ago, I observed that
all the house sparrows in the neighbourhood retired for shelter to the
crevices of an old brick building; and it was very amusing to see them
peeping out every little while to ascertain if the storm was over. As it
is in the direction of this building that I have generally observed them to
fly with feathers and other materials, it seems probable that the sugges-
tion of the Editor, as to their constructing roosting nests, is correct.

T. M. G.

Edinburgh, February 21, 1834.

MODE OF CATCHING SMALL, BIRDS. — As the spring is now coming
on, and a great deal of interest has been excited with regard to our
summer warblers since the publication of Mr. Sweet, I wish to make
known to you a mode of catching them, which I have partially tried
myself with success. I procured a slender wand of about 18 inches in
length, and hung from it at different distances a number of nooses formed
of single horsehairs. I bored a hole in a tree, where I thought it likely
for birds to fly past, and inserted the wand into it, so as to present the
appearance of a natural branch, with the nooses hanging some distance
below. It was merely an experiment, for I could catch nothing but the
common brown wrens by the method recommended by Mr. Sweet, and
I was fortunate enough to capture first the lesser whitethroat, which is
a bird not very often seen from its habits of concealment ; it took a fly
from the hand the first day, and it learnt to eat bread and milk imme-
diately ; by throwing some flies into it I kept it in perfect health for
some time, until it eventually escaped. I afterwards set nooses in other
places, and caught a good many other commoner birds, especially on some
rails covered with thorns which crossed a brook, and were much fre-
quented by birds for the purposes of bathing. I caught even so large
birds as blackbirds and thrushes with single hairs, but they got entangled
in more than one noose, so that I cannot sav whether one hair alone

CHAPTER OF VARIETIES. 2l5

would hold them. I believe I also captured a specimen of the bird
described as having an appearance and size between the nightingale arid
common white-throat, but it died the next day. It was in the autumn
that I used these nooses, and without any bait, but I have no doubt in
building time the hair would itself be a bait ; and birds do not seem to
have the least fear of it. The nooses might be used like a net in an
open part of a hedgerow, and the birds driven into them. I have no
doubt the sedge bird might be very easily caught by driving him up and
down a drain, and having a number of nooses suspended from a string
across ; and also those warblers which frequent furze, as the Dartford
warbler, furze chit, &c. might possibly be taken. I am very little of
an entomologist, and I therefore should like to elicit from some of
your correspondents this coming summer, a mode of breeding particular
sorts of insects, in addition to the common meal worm, for the feeding of
summer birds. C. W. S.

Stepney.

HABITS OP SWAI-LOWS PREVIOUS TO MIGRATION. — For several
years past I have observed, that after the swallows have reared their
young, and they are become strong on the wing, they assemble in vast
quantities on the roofs of the highest houses, from which they fly off at
a given signal made by some of the flock (no doubt by the old birds,
which may be thus expressed, twit, twit, trait, repeated several times in
succession), and perform their various evolutions in the air. After
being absent a short time they return again : this practice is kept
up for several days : after which they may be seen sporting in the
fields, and frequently alighting on trees and bushes. A day or two
previous to their departure they assemble in a large flock, and at night
roost on the willows and trees in an adjoining marsh, near the sea-
shore, at a short distance from the town. I have observed them in this
place of an evening, in the beginning of October, and the day after
there was not more than two or three to be seen ; so that I concluded
they must have migrated in the night, or very early the next morning,
as I was on the spot shortly after daybreak.

After having made the above observations four years since, I saw, on
a fine day in the depth of winter, a solitary swallow (H. rustica) skim-
ming the surface of a pond. The weather for some time before had
been very cold. This bird must have remained in a state of torpidity
for several weeks previous to the time I saw it.

Penzance, Cornwall, Feb. 5, 1834.

FF2

216 CHAPTER OF VARIETIES.

OAKS GROWN IN HYACINTH GLASSES. — An occurrence has lately
taken ray attention, which is possibly not unworthy of notice, as illus-
trative of the eiforts made by natural productions to discharge their
functions in some other way, if interrupted in the ordinary way of
discharging them. The case was one of the rearing of an oak plant in
a hyacinth glass, according to the mode described in your first volume,
p. 177. The acorn having been suspended on a thread fastened round
it, as there described, in due time the germ burst the shell and made
its appearance at the smaller end ; but in thereupon proceeding down-
wards, the radicle was intercepted by the lower part of the shell, which
was not open enough to allow it to pass free. The radicle was accord-
ingly bent upwards ; when penetrating along the length of the acorn
horizontally, within the shell and of course within the thread which
surrounded the shell, it made its way out at the larger end; and
thence passed down at a right angle into the water, where it is now
luxuriating several inches deep, and with every prospect of the plumula
shortly shooting upwards, and becoming a tree in proper season.

RURICOLA.
Holywood, Feb. 12/A, 1834.

DR. KNOX ON THE STRUCTURE OF THE FOOT OP THE HORSE*. —

He demonstrated the navicular bone of the horse's foot not to be a sesa-
moid bone, nor a peculiar structure formed expressly for the horse, but
the Epiphysis of the Os pedis, or coffin-bone. This was proved satis-
factorily by a direct appeal to structure. Besides anticipating results
of practical consequence from this discovery, the author is led to ob-
serve, that an organ may be displaced and employed to perform different
functions in different animals, — that the epiphyses of bones are intended
by nature to form separate bones in a vast variety of animals, — and that
they may often lead to the discovery of the type of the skeleton in fossil
remains of extinct animals.

DAILY FLIGHT OF ROOKS (C. frugilegus). — It is a daily habit with
the rooks belonging to the rookeries situated several miles to the east-
ward of this town, from the end of one breeding season to the com-
mencement of the next, to fly to the west. I have often observed them
on Sennen Green, near the Land's End, at which place and in the neigh-
bouring fields they remain all day, seeking food, accompanied by jackdaws

* Read before the Royal Society of Edinburgh.

CHAPTER OF VARIETIES. '217

and gulls; the former appear to be very sociable* at this time of the year,
but the latter often have desperate battles with them, the rooks generally
coming off victorious. About an hour or two before dark the rooks
assemble together, mount in the air, and wing their way to their
respective homes.

I may also state that, when the weather is fine, they may be seen in
the morning, flying at a great height over the town (from east to west ).
If it happens to be blowing strong, they fly very low; and I have
frequently observed them, when they have not been able to get forward,
to remain in the fields near the town. When this is the case, they
return earlier than usual. E. P.

Penzance, Cornwall.

OBSERVATIONS* ON THE WILLOW WREN (S. trochilus), AND OTHER
BIRDS. — This bird is a regular summer visitant in this part, but some
of them remain with us all the year. A few days since I saw one
climbing the branch of an elm, seeking for food in the interstices of the
bark. I was also shown one, about the middle of last month, by a
gardener, which was caught the evening before by his son : and one
evening in January, 1833, whilst out catching birds for specimens, I
observed two willow wrens comfortably perched, sid^e by side, on a
small twig in the thickest part of a strawberry tree, one of which I
captured ; it lived several days, and ate freely of boiled egg, chopped
fine. This bird is seldom seen in the summer, on account of its
shyness.

The loon and dunlin visit us regularly in the autumn, and
remain till spring; also the crested shag, northern diver, and golden
plover, when the winter is severe. -K« P.

Penzance, Feb. 5.

THE STARLING. — On the morning of the 25th of February (1834),
I observed several starlings flitting amongst the trees in Lincoln's
Inn Gardens, amidst the smoke and din of London.

The gardener informed me that there had been a nest of these birds
in the gardens. Is it, or not, an unusual place for this species of bird ?
Probably they were the progeny of some tame birds which had escaped
from confinement.

* Omitted in my last communication of migratory birds in this neighbourhood ;
a list of which see p. 109 of this volume. , E. P.

'218 CHAPTER OF VARIETIES.

They first attracted my attention, as they flew from tree to tree,
pursued by sparrows, who seemed to deem them intruders on their
long-possessed domain. In your edition of Montagu's Dictionary, it is
stated that the natural notes of this bird are a shrill whistle, and a
chattering noise. The latter remark appears correct, but I do not
concur in the expression shrill whistle. I would rather say, a melancholy
or plaintive whistle. In the same work, it is said, in confinement it
is very docile, and is taught to imitate the human voice, and to whistle
tunes. But it has great natural powers of imitation, according to
Mr. Lowe, in his work on the Orkneys. " I have," says that author,
" often been much diverted to hear a couple of cock stares, perched
upon two opposite chimneys, trying to excel one another in imitating
all the noises below — the crowing of cocks, cackle of hens, barking of
dogs, mewing of cats, particular notes of different wild birds ; all this
intermixed with its own natural harsh discordant squeak."

Mr. Knapp terms their call " a fine clear note, that in particular
states of the air may be heard at a considerable distance." I presume
these naturalists are speaking of different notes ; though Knapp after-
wards speaks of their chattering " in a low song-like note."

These arid such like discrepancies involve the subject of natural
history in much difficulty. If you think any part of this letter fit to be
published, you will probably, in a note, clear up the ambiguity.

Yours, &c. J. B. (B. v. B. v.)

ON CATS. — As you have occasionally given us some observations on
the domestic cat, and as you solicit even the slightest information
upon any thing relating to Natural History, I am induced to trouble
you with the following particulars as to a cat of the large black and
white kind now in my possession, which, though (I believe) more than
twelve years of age, is in good condition and as lively and playful as a
kitten.

My object principally is, to correct two errors which some natu-
ralists have fallen into; namely, that the cat seldom or never lives
beyond the age of ten years, and that it is always attached to the
house and not to the person of its owner.

Being at lodgings in London in 1824 and 1825, the cat above allu-
ded to, which then belonged to the people of the house, attached itself
in a particular manner to my wife and me, so much so that it was
never contented but in our apartments ; and when we happened to be
absent for a short time, it was quite disconsolate, though, till this feel-

CHAPTER OF VARIETIES. 219

ing had been first evinced, we had taken no particular notice ef it.
The cat (which is a female) had a kitten with her nearly half grown
when we were about to leave London for the country, in September
1825, and my wife wishing to take the kitten with her, I proposed to
take the mother also ; and they were accordingly put together into a
basket, and accompanied us on our journey. The unconscious kitten
was full of play, even in this state of confinement, to the no small
annoyance of its mother, who seemed to be gravely contemplating on
weightier matters, perhaps connected with the change occasioned bv her
unexpected trip. We .travelled in a circuitous route upwards of 1 40
miles, occasionally stopping for one, two, and three days, at different
places, till at last the cats were apparently quite reconciled to their
new mode of life. When the basket was opened at the places we
visited, the mother would at first, for a moment, look wildly and sus-
piciously around her ; but when she found her friends standing by and
speaking kindly to her, she immediately resumed her confidence and
composure, and would walk about contentedly whilst we were in view,
till called again to her basket, which she would enter without the least
reluctance, evidently showing that she was really attached to our per-
sons, and not to any place in particular, and was perfectly satisfied
whilst she knew we were near her. We left her at a friend's house in
the country, upwards of twenty miles from this place, for more than a
year, and ultimately, when we came to settle here, took her home with
us, she never having appeared to forget, but always recognised us when
she saw us, and stayed contented where we were without any apparent
inclination to leave us or return to her former habitation ; and this has
likewise since been the case when we have occasionally changed our
residence in this town. I have no doubt that want of kindness and
attention very often prevents personal attachment in these animals, and
is many times the destruction as well of them as of our own species,
and it is certainly very inexcusable and cruel to neglect or ill-treat the
brute creation placed under our care. — " A good man is merciful to his
beast," and he or she who is not so is not a friend to humanity, nor fit
to have the management of children.

De Ville, the Professor of Phrenology, in the Strand, extends his
observations to other animals, as well as to man ; and in a course of
lectures he delivered here a short time since, he remarked upon the
generally received opinion that cats were attached to the house, and not
to the person, stating that there were exceptions to the rule, and that
where this was the case, the animal would be found to possess a more

220

CHAPTER OF VARIETIES.

than usual rotundity of head, which, I must acknowledge, in justice to
Phrenology as a iscience, I think is so far sufficiently exemplified in
my cat.

P. S. Two or three of the Musca domestica, or common house fly,
made their appearance again in February, the last of the winter stock
having disappeared only on the 16th of January ; so that owing to the
mildness of the winter we have not been deprived of their company
more than five or six weeks. On the evening of the 1st of March
instant, I saw a bat on the wing. The fruit trees are showing their
blossoms, and the willows are covered with catkins or male flowers.

Southampton, March 3, 1834. M.

LADY-BIRDS. — In the spring of 1830, having accidentally walked to
some sand hills (cliffs) in the neighbourhood which are covered with
that kind of grass, provincially called Marram, I was much surprised
to find that the' whole surface of the ground appeared to be covered
with ladybirds ( Coccinella) of various kinds.

In the space of an hour or two I collected as many as fifty-two kinds,
distinctly different from one another ; five of these were larger than the
common ladybird (Septem punctata), but in general they were of a
very small size.

On returning the next day to the same spot, I could scarcely find
a single individual, which 1 attributed to a strong wind which had
blown from the shore all night ; and on descending to the beach I found
that my conjecture was true, as multitudes of ladybirds, left by the
receding tide on the shore, were dead.

As I took no note of the circumstance at the time, I cannot exactly
say in what month this happened, but I think it was in May.

I should be much gratified if any of your readers are able to assign
any cause for the collection of so many different species of Coccinella
in such a situation. C. B.

January 23nf, 1834.

//./ 0.^