OMY WHEE EEE EEE” Mitt iid habits bie x x Y ‘ & Lig CIDLO De OED OT LODO SS AIG WW LQG AN ~ disddasbimdiddsigidstsgibltitibsaddsisaslsliak pallistkaligats ates tatatyl whilst Miahh nai PEI MITEL ee SOI ASD td ada atti demtg As bbb ag b Sy a 5% > < lo etches Bae : + . S| 7 ae : va 7 = (ee . REPTILES AND BIRDS. PU re t =, HAWKING IN THE MIDDLE AGI Frontispiece. _ sr 673 | | 1864. ; REPTILES AND BIRDS/ me POPULAR ACCOUNT OF THE VARIOUS ORDERS; WITIT A DESCRIPTION OF THE Habits and Economy of the Most Interesting. bY ogee LOUIS: FIGUIER. © --+ =~ EDITED LY i Pewee kow Ro (Gli PMO RE: Author of ‘* Gun, Rod, and Saddle,” &ec. ‘A ¢ IS WITH 307 ILLUSTRATIONS. MEARNS a aut COLLECTION Cas ZAIAINZ Wf. HOLLAND & CO., Ties © Roe hLON, BOOK PUBLISHERS, SPRINGFIELD, MASS. IS FO PREFACE. In presenting to the public this English version of Louis Ficursr’s interesting work on Reptiles and Birds, I beg to state that where alterations and additions have been made, my object has been that the style and matter should be suited to the present state of general knowledge, and that all classes should be able to obtain useful information and amusement from the pages which I have now the honour and pleasure of presenting to them. On commencing my undertaking I was not aware of the immensity of the labour to be done, and fear that I must have relinquished my arduous task but for the kind encouragement of Frank Buckiann, Esq., Inspector of Salmon Fisheries, and Henry Leg, Esq., F.L.S., F.G.S., &., to both of whom I take this oppor- tunity of returning my sincere thanks. PARKER GILLMORE (‘‘ UBIQUE’’). December, 1869. CONTENTS. REPTILES. PAGE Inrropuctory CHAPTER 1 CHAPTER I AMPHIBIA, OR BATRACHIANS. PAGE PAGE Structural Distinctions Sy) Loads. 25 Intelligence . 13 Natterjack . 26 Characteristics 15 Surinam op Ns 28 Historical py 18 land Salamanders . 31 Distribution . 19 Spotted . 32 Frogs . 19 Black ‘ : 33 Habits of Life etc le Aguatic Salamanders . 33 Development of Young . .. . 22 Crested . 34 Green a8 5, OB Gigantic A 34 Common 5 Be Transformations and Reproduction 38 Green Tree . 24 CHAPTER II. OPHIDIAN REPTILES, OR TRUE SNAKES. Snakes . 38 Snakes— Burrowing. 42 IS 6 6 61 Ground . 43 Natal Rock 61 eBreGy. <5 43 Guinea Rock . 61 Fresh-water 43 Royal Rock 61 Sea ; 43 Aboma . 62 Innocuous . 46 Anaconda . 65 Blind! s . 46 Cobra . 70 Shield-tail . 47 Asp . 75 Black 49 Bungarus . 76 Rat . 49 Pit Vipers . 78 Ringed . 49 Fer-de-lance . ae 49 Green and Y ellow 52 Jararaca MESS 0 Viperine 52 Trimeresurus . 2950 Desert 53 Rattle 82 Whip . 54 Copperhead 82 ear heads 56 Tic-polonga 88 IBOASI.| is 56 Puff Adders : 89 Diamond . - 59 Common Adder . 92 Carpet . . ~ 59 Vill THE ORDER OF LIZARDS—SAURIANS. Lizards, Distribution and Division Grey. Gee sas Ocellated Ameivas Iguanas. Basilisk . Anoles . Flying . Formation . CONTENTS. CHAPTER III. PAGE 99 Lizards— . 109 Gecko 5 EO) Chameleons - 110 Crocodiles. ele Jacares . 5 IY Alligators . 5 7 Caiman . . 129 True. . ~ [32 Gavials . CHAPTER IV. CHELONIANS, OR SHIELDED REPTILES. Distribution and. Classification . Tortoises . Iberal 5 ¢ Margined . Moorish. Greek : Elephantine Genus Pyxis . Ditto Kinixys Homopodes Anatomy . Plumage... Beaks - Digestive Organs Powers of Sight Vocal Organs Divers. . Great Northern ¢ Imbrine . Arctic .. Black- throated Red-throated . INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. . 155 Hlodians, or Marsh Tortoises : 5 WS Mud. 0 . 158 Emydes. . . . 158 Pleuroderes . . 159 Potamians, or River Tor toises : . 159 Trionyx - 160 Thalassians, or Sea Tor toises < . 160 Green Gi Hawk’s pill 5 GI Loggerhead . 161 Leather-back . BIRDS. - 181 #£Nests . 184 Reproduction - 189 Longevity LO Witalitya . 193 Classification . . 195 CHAPTER I. THE NATATORES, OR SWIMMING BIRDS. ° . . . . 212 Penguins . . 213 Manchots . . 216 Grebes . 5 ALG Castanean . 216 Crested . . 217 Guillemots . 162 . 163 . 164 . 164 5 ily on dietey oy, izes! . 178 a Ie . 201 . 203 . 205 . 207 . 218 219 221 . 222 . 228 . 224 CONTENTS. CHAPTER II. DUCKS, GEESE, SWANS, AND PELICANS, PAGE Mallard. o. ea a ee a oz, Goose Golden-eyed Garrot ec) ome onene?- 274 White-fronted Boucle IRoachard) : 2; Sees ee 243, Sean SHONGU Gra Guete Co hatWicn es s) gill 2a Whooping . 5 simiaobae 4G & 5. Bede on eee Black ; aderuek! 2). = . ss). « 3 247 Frigate.Bird™. Common Peal . .). « «« «250 ‘Tropic Bird’. WelyetDuck.. 4 «55 . » « . 208 Darter. 5 Scarermblackemamus) wep ererener uw 205 )Ganmneton epic x Great-billed . . ... . . . 268 ##(Cormorant Giamsemulie 4 Bo 5 6 5 6) oo 0 2ER) slike SMEWaEe runs Seuss) i wl 260) “Pelicans CC OOSOM SA Ursin: os: Warden Mao lan26l! Wihites. 9. Walder eet cuss sn f. yeemstZOr Crested. . . Caner eymiey (6) isi) wu laew Ue aswereu 200 Brown . . WMOmeshiCw ae fy soa ce ae) ene OO Spectacled . Isena@ll) "S$ 5, 6 Seta a to Ac, oc, cack CHAPTER III. THE LARID#, enim) rs sk wy eee 299) |= Skua IE. g 9 6 Geeas Ace aoe wos eso UL Parasite : NGG" 36 oH e) -G8 ls Goeto) o.ouclyY Richardson’s . Silver-winged . ... .. . 802 Pomerine ARGHE. 9 “6 @ a 6B oto toe pic Common Wihiskerediet ss 5. wis) «i s0s Petrels: Cmlepilledim, say es 0S Giant : VOSGALO Manes ca Wit tel, sy ey se) Reh OU Chequered . Sandwich 9 . s15 % « «| . » 803 Fulmar . (CESER, 6. TO ve) “OP oe tp Be oe es colle Stormy . MEISSOTS-Dillavamacs ee a vy acy sel 0S Blue. Blackman is) beraiet as oe tee oO Coeutinesr. Gulls. . hota a Waser Grey. Large White- winged of fe Boe COG English . i Great Black-backed . yy es ae oS: IBA, Gg Oo OO Herring .. eee eh ere c0G) ee Al batrosaic. Sea Mews . : Sem Gaile Common . White, or Senator weep a si ee OO U Black- rowed. Browi-maske@) «94 % «+ « « oO” Brown. . : IbeiNedVE! 45 6 56 6 5 oo tae a CY Yellow and Black-beaked . GROVE ects re) cl see vols GOS CHAPTER IV. GRALLATORES, OR WADING BIRDS. Palmidactyles : (OO 6 on % Plein) 6 G6 6 6 A oso moecHlys Bald. AVO@OHG 6. 95 oo (8 no jee Je ePID Crested . Stile Iovegoh ee os GaN oleneegucrs Blue. Macrodactyles : Glareola MWGTOEMELONS ust «eS oe, ee cu ooo... Jacana i Common . wos ozs) Kamicht ae or Sultana Fowl . . . . 324 Horned . Rails o bho 5 BRR Faithful ix . 308 . 309 . 309 . 309 . 310 . ol0 . oll 5 itil . dll 5 Gyllit . 312 5 ail . 312 . 012 . 312 . 312 . d14 . 314 . dl4 . ol4 . 326 328 . 328 . 828 . 328 . 328 - 330 - 332 332 Longirostres : Sandpipers Brown . Gneandineal Redshank . onda. Wood Green Common Turnstone. Irak 9 GG Knot Sanderlings ‘Woodcock Snipe Common Great oes. Jack. Wilson’s Godwit Curlew .. DIS teas ve Sacred . Green . Scarlet . Cultrirostres : Spoonbills White . = Rose-coloured Storks . White Black Argala . Jabiru... Ombrette . Bec-ouvert Drome . Habits, origin, &e. . Tetraonide : Capercailzie . Grouse, Black Pinnated . ited: eae Cock of the Plains . Gelinotte . Ptarmigans . . Common Red Grouse Perdicides : Gangas Pin- Failed ie and ‘Gronte f Heteroclites . Quails . Partridges Grey CONTENTS. PAGE Tantalus Si3e82)) Boatbuill . 884 Herons. . od4 Common . 334 Purple . . 034 White . 384 Bitterns . 884 Crane . 384 Ash-coloured . . 884 Demoiselle . 336 Crested . . 338 Hooping , 009 Canurale . . 8389 Pressirostres : . 8438 Cariama : . 344 Oyster-catchers . . 845 Runners . 345 Lapwings . . 845 ~=Plovers. . 845 Great Land . 346 Doterel . . 848 Ringed . . 348 Kentish . ool Golden . . 801 Pluvian Bustard . d02 Great . 802 Brevipenne: so) Osineh 3 353 ‘Rhea . 300 Cassowary . 357 Emu . 8357 = Apteryx . 809 = =Extinct Brevipenne : . 359 Dodo . 809 Epiornis . 859 Dinornis CHAPTER V. GALLINACEOUS BIRDS. . 899 Partridges, Red- legged Gambra . . 401 Colin, Virginian . 402 Californian . 402 Solitary . 403 Francolins . 402 Chinese . . 4038 Kuropean. . - » 404 African and aden se OE Coturnix . 406 Turnix tachydroma. Tinamides ¥ . 405 Chionide. . 406 Megapodide. - 406 Phasianide: . 406 Pheasants . 410 Common . 415 Golden . . 417 - 417 - 417 . 418 . 419 - 419 . 419 - 420 . 420 . 420 - 420 - 420 . 421 - 421 422 . 422 - 425 CONTENTS. xi PAGE PAGE Pheasants— Impeyan Pheasants . ... . . 444 Silver.) acm eeg ths) ie) Us) eon -Alectorsmn. ts a Ady ase eee aa Ring-necked . Ne cere etl oye 3 427, Hocco, or Curassow . . . . . 444 Reeves’s . S oe Ss Nae Pa UsSIse co, we J ed Lady Amherst’s. . . . . . . 427 Penelopes, or Guans . . . . . 446 PAVOUS! <) . & Atari us! Pema ae ON lalorvaiit 5. oo oS uoemow Ganoeaces 240 MMUIMA Rs ew, we fe 3 427 | Columbide': Commony ga ees ees + 427 ‘Colombi-Gallinesi nt) 7 co on 47 inning 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 0 Oo EWA) lets (Coils) 6 ¢ 5 ono oo Ziel) Mmnple-towl <) - 6. . « « « » 429 Tiare Wiel G G6 4 6 o 6 o “ail STON eHiper can tc rret Perl tiene el 429 IWaldeRockw ei) ee Wot) see aD) onk=tatlediy ys 2 oe Ue. 429 Common Domestic. .. . . . 480 ikgulloty “S509 'b.) pe ee, mn Renee Ao) IPoutere aed ete ls) eo eee LOL INCOTO ME UMN meri tices: | eee sn t29 IRON 6 SO Ge G6 ies Ge oo EG! Mracopanses. 4 . « . a « = « 485 Swittimjoe fp de = eu eam ert OSteeumicmys, oo. cc. ae cs oe 4S C@arrienysed on ad hone: Meee bom MUR GV Ss fo. je ts, fou fo Ow een 4 umblerwece etal hn to. 5) nO Wilde) foc-ten nate Peo WWikkeelingy me Swe eee eo MomestiG.. +. =. « « % 1 e440 INIT tes tothe) Y- uk. Gon Asi coehem toe, OMccllatedas 92 o & & & ie eal iHan=taledi met tos, pee 2) Mattes: tahoe IREACOCKSi ices oe a eee a4 ‘Murtlen overs = es. 5 & en 2 400 DOMESTIC Ws 53) Sakis en wie, 442 Ring; Dover 2 = . = «= 3 4 400 NVI |) 2h Salen meme Smee a0 | eeesenreggye 5 5 SG a 646 o bo Se Holvplecurong syc8 eo) te eae 444d, Columbars, yy. = 4) =... 8 « 406 CHAPTER VI. SCANSORES, OR CLIMBERS. eAETOLM caw) st oe) tl Ot Glee s 407. Cuckoos— Wralciwiers is \.s. ch las sol « 0 464 Gre veencwre ch alee wt ae OO Pe RCEisiee et ad Se abo... “aidicators, 2 3. 2 3 2. wader Saree ee eee ese 405) VAIS! ects. A ow ea Oe oS Bae HUEOLGLOVME (nls lp aiser dae fO0) oisarbetsl Wo a asi) ei st.) eu, Su (Greener wie eS oscwi nn) mers 400" ROCONS: i) eo et uc, Noe sale eek lo Wockatoos 2. = a < = « «os « 466 Resplendent,<. v= 1%) = etc! Seupee eee Bioncanseeyiy ss) c UOn th wl teres ee 4On IMIGKICHI ech etary Lic ele EO IBTOpeLEwey os) fl ids ce. came Gen4O0 woodpeckers: 92) 5s, a. eri ine ls) enh 76 AAC ATS Rn) ic cn na mniae re 409% MlWaryeNCCKS§ sania) iQ cn ci 5) iow het ee CREO oe oe op eo 6 90 6 eG) dee he 6 oS) Sp Se 5 oo BIL CHAPTER YII. PASSERINES. Syndactyles : Creepers! ey ss. a ss 495 EGrmovlspweey bcos ec) se | or 4820 ge RicumMmMUstger ee sees cst oe a a 496 binOcerOs ey =. ce sn st 280) © eurmariusls Se ss ts 496 ES ERALCROnS sai) po | qe) <=) a 480, “SOCTIORS ee begs) 2 5. se Se eM aOT iinet BB 6 5 Oo Belo We cee Geo ISOC EHS 5 “Bu iGmoue 0 o) 10 ey SeyseWenimiine, s... . = -. . .. 486 - Nuthatelies 3. . 5. .) 3, 3 3, 498 Bee-eaters . . .. .. =. - »« 486 Conirostres: OMMONM Ee nis eee e408) “birdsiokiearadise’ : 5 2 . if). )e499 WGI, go 6 6 6 3) 6 jo Seeorey/ Great Emerald . . ... . . 500 Tenuirostres : Leche Teil SM a oo oo HOO IEIGOPOES! Waa subse Ss er es 12 488 PSL) ova eioe On 6 ein © 0 OLIN) MeCHUse ey els Seles: ren Gees 9, 490 SwUIEIS. 6 6 6 io om 2 oh eo BDU LENONARS 696 SG. oo oy. a console CRIUMNGHON ec eg 1G ce ho os NY Colibri ames op soe buon es 9 401 Ravienis tm tase cvs) 1 eee OO 2 PLONE MMR MME Cone: cine te, ha tO Carniontee ieee Ue iamming-pirds. = +. + . \. 491 Royecene ta) se eee ee OO xii Crows— Rook Jackdaw Magpies Common Brazilian Chinese Jays ~ 5 Nut-cracker . Rollers. Starlings . Common Sardinian . Baltimore Oriole Beet-eater Crossbill Grosbeak . Bullfinch . Siskin . House Sparrow . Goldfinch . Linnets Chaffinch . Canary. Widow Bird. Java Sparrow Weaver Birds Republican Buntings . Reed Cirl . Ortolan. Snow bins A Greatiln: 4 Long-tailed arksi. Crested isle Fissirvostres : Swallow Salangane . Goatsuckers . Night-jar . Guacharos . Nocturnal : Horned Owls Great Virginian . Short-eared Ley 6 6 6 NICODS ees Hornless Owls Sparrow Small Sparrow CONTENTS. PAGE - 502 - 002 . 007 - 508 - 509 - 009 - 009 - 510 6 (@ilil soll? - 013 - 613 . O14 . O14 . old - O16 5 (oily By alr) - 518 5 My . 019 - 520 - O21 - 623 - 023 - 623 . O24 . 624 - 025 - 526 . 026 - 627 - 027 - 528 - 028 6 5 AS) a a Weyl . O31 . 637 - O38 - 040 . 641 Dentirostres : Manakins. . Cock of the Rock Warblers . Nightingale Sedge Warbler Night Warbler : La Fauvette Couturiére Garden . 5 Robin . Wrens... . Golden- crested. European Wood . Stone Chat Wagtails Pied . Quaketail . Pipits Lyretail Orioles . Golden Mino Honey-sucker Ouzel, Rose- coloured Water ae 5 Solitary Thrush . Blackbird, Common Ringed . Solitary . ; Thrush, Poly slot Song. . Redwing Tanagers Drongos Cotingas Caterpillar- -eater . Chatterers . Fly-catchers Tyrants Cephalopterus ornatus . Shrikes . Vangas . Cassicus .. - CHAPTER VIII. RAPTORES, OR BIRDS OF PREY. . 576 . 076 . 579 . O79 . O81 . O81 . 588 - 083 . 584 Hornless Owls— Pampas Sparrow Burrowing Tawny . Barn Canada . de awk 9. 4. « % White Caparacoch Harfang .. - 084 . 085 . 085 . 085 - 088 . 089 5 BS) - 090 - 590 ee =e ‘oe = CONTENTS. PAGE Hornless Owls— Sparrow-hawks— Lapland . 591 Chanting Falcon Ural . . 591 Kites Diurnal : Common Eagles . - 592 Black Royal . 602 Parasite Imperial - 602 American . Bonelli’s ~ . *- 602, Buzzards). Tawny . co 5 Oo HY Common Booted . i ao (at Honey Reinwardt’s . 602 autos legeed Vulturine . . 602 Harriers Sea Eagles BG: mo, Cuter ely Hen. European . Gio oo) 6 62.0 1, GUE} Moor American . . 604 Frog-eating Marine . . 604 Pale-chested . Piscivorous - 604 Jardine’s . . Caffir . 604 Ash-coloured . Mace’s . . 604 Caracaras . - Pondicherry . - 604 Brazilian... Indian . 5 6 6! 9 DE Chimango . Osprey . bo fo (5 ONE Long-winged . Huppart : . 606 Chimachima . Falco urubitinga . 606 Funebris Harpy . . See en GOG me Viultures White- bellied Eagle 52 6 to, 6 HUI Griffons . Falcons Ay 6) Non ees Bearded . Gyrfalcons . 608 Sarcoramphi . White . . 609 Condor. . 0 Iceland . . 609 King Vulture. . Norway - 609 Cathartes . 5 Falcons . 610 Urubu : Lanier . . 610 Turkey Buzzard . Sultan . > 6 GIG Common Vulture Peregrine . a GLO ee eercnoplerusi yin 4 Hobby . 6 5 Olle Vulture, Pondicherry : Merlin . co co (IR Kolbe’s 9. . c Kestrel . s 6 a (ile) Yellow .. Bengal . - 613 Sociable. . Goshawk . a LG oF IGueeh Meaon er. Oe Chinese. . Sparrow-hawksi. << «. . « « «(62d Oricou é Common ; . 623 Serpent-eaters . . Dywartivarts! - 623 Secretary Bird ERRATA. Phasianus cristatus indicus, in page 448, should be attributed to Brisson, not Latham. The synonym for Ring Pigeon, in page 448, should be Columba palumbus. Woodcut 182 represents the Stock Dove, erroneously named Wood Pigeons in page 450. REPTILES AND BIRDS. INTRODUCTORY. THERE is little apparent resemblance between the elegant feathered warbler which makes the woods re-echo to its cheerful song, and the crawling reptile which is apt to inspire feelings of disgust when the more potent sensation of terror is absent—between the familiar Swallow, which builds its house of clay under the eaves of your roof, or the warbler whose nest, with its young progeny, care- fully watched by the father of the brood in the silent watches of the night, is now threatened by the Serpent which has glided so silently into the bush, its huge mouth already open to swallow the whole family, while the despairing and fascinated parents have nothing but their slender bills to oppose to their formid- able foe. ‘Placed side by side,’ says Professor Huxley, “a Humming-bird and a Tortoise, or an Ostrich and a Crocodile, offer the strongest contrast; and a Stork seems to have little but its animality in common with the Snake which it. swallows.” Nevertheless, unlike as they are in outward appearance, there is sufficient resemblance in their internal economy to bring them together in most attempts at a classification of the Animal King- dom. The air-bladder which exists between the digestive canal and kidneys in some fishes, becomes vascular with the form and cellular structure of lungs in reptiles; the heart has two auricles, the ventricle in most is imperfectly divided, and more or less of the venous blood is mixed with the arterial which circulates over the body; but retaining their gills and being therefore transitional in structure, they are also cold-blooded. In B 2 INTRODUCTORY. birds, the lungs are spongy, the cavity of the air-bags becoming obliterated by the multiplication of vascular cellules; the heart is four-chambered, transmitting venous blood to the lungs, and pure arterial blood to the body; the temperature is raised and maintained at 90° to 100° Fahr. Thus Reptiles, like Birds, breathe the common air by means of their lungs, but respiration is much less active. ‘‘ Although,” remarks Professor Owen, ‘the heart of Birds resembles in some particulars that of Reptiles, the four cavities are as distinct as in the Mammalia, but they are relatively stronger, their valvular mechanism is more perfect, and the contractions of this organ. are more forcible and frequent in birds, in accordance with their more extended respiration and their more energetic mus- cular action.” It is true, as Professor Huxley informs us, that the pinion of a bird, which corresponds with the human hand or the fore paw of a reptile, has three points representing three fingers : no reptile has so few.* The breast-bone of a bird is converted into membrane-bone: no such conversion takes place in reptiles. The sacrum is formed by a number of caudal and dorsal vertebre. In reptiles the organ is constituted by one or two sacral vertebre. In other respects the two classes present many obvious dif- ferences, but these are more superficial than would be suspected at first glance. And Professor Huxley believes that, structurally, “reptiles and birds do really agree much more closely than birds with mammals, or reptiles with amphibians.” _ While most existing birds differ thus widely from existing rep- tiles, the cursorial or struthious genera, comprising the Ostrich, Nandou, Emu, Cassowary, Apteryx, and the recently extinct Dinornis of New Zealand, come nearer to the reptiles in structure than any others. All of these birds are remarkable for the short- ness of their wings, the absence of a crest or keel upon the breast- bone, and some peculiarities of the skull, which render them more peculiarly reptilian. But the gap between reptiles and birds is only slightly narrowed by their existence, and is somewhat unsatis- factory to those who advocate the development theory, which asserts that all animals have proceeded, by gradual modification, from a common stock. * Vide, however, p. 8.—Ep. CONNECTING LINKS IN CLASSIFICATION. 3 Traces had been discovered in the Mesozoic formations of certain Ornitholites, which were too imperfect to determine the affinities of the bird. But the caleareous mud of the ancient sea-bottom, which has hardened into the famous lithographic slate of Solen- hofen, revealed to Hermann von Meyer, in 1861, first the impression of a feather, and, in the same year, the independent discovery of the skeleton of the bird itself, which Von Meyer had named Archeopteryx lithographicus. This relic of a far-distant age now adorns the British Museum. The skull of the Archeopteryx is almost lost, but the lee, the foot, _ wae —= vig. 1.—Archeopteryx lithographicus. the pelvis, the shoulder-girdle, and the feathers, as far as their struc- ture can be made out, are completely those of existing birds. On the other hand, the tail is very long. Two digits of the manus have curved claws, and, to all appearance, the metacarpal bones are quite free and disunited, exhibiting, according to Professor Huxley, closer approximation to the reptilian structure than any existing bird. Mr. Evans has even detected that the mandibles were pro- vided with a few slender teeth. On the other hand, the same writer points out certain peculiari- ties in the single reptile found also among the Solenhofen slates, which has been described and named Compsognathus longipes by the B 2 4 INTRODUCTORY. late Andreas Wagner. This reptile he declares “to be a still nearer approximation to the missing link between reptiles and birds,” thus narrowing the gap between the two classes. While we think it proper to point to these structural resem- blances of one class of the animal creation to others very different in their external appearance, it is necessary to guard ourselves and our readers from adopting the inferences sometimes deduced from them; that ‘these infinitely diversified forms are merely the final terms in 4n immense series of changes which have been brought about in the course of immeasurable time, by the operation of causes more or less similar to those which are at work at the present day.” Domestication and other causes have no doubt produced changes in the form of many animals; but none from which this inference can be drawn, except in the imagination of ingenious men who strain the facts to support a preconceived hypothesis. In spite of the innumerable forms which the pigeon assumes by cross-breeding and domestication, it still remains a pigeon; the dog is still a dog, and so with other animals. Nor does it seem to us to be necessary, or calculated to advance our knowledge in natural history, to form theories which can only disturb our existing systems without supplying a better. Systems are necessary for the purpose of arrangement and identification ; but it should never be forgotten that all classifications are artificial —a framework or cabinet, into the partitions of which many facts may be stowed away, carefully docketed for future use. ‘ Theories,” says Le Vaillant, “are more easily made and more brilliant probably than observations; but it is by observation alone that science can be enriched.” A bountiful Creator appears to have adopted one general plan in the organization of all the vertebrate creation ; and, in order to facilitate their study, naturalists have divided them into classes, orders, and genera, formed on the differences which exist in the structure of their vital functions. The advan- tages of this are obvious, but it does not involve the necessity of fathoming what is unfathomable, of explaining what is to man inexplicable in the works of Gon.* * This, however, is a subject upon which naturalists of the highest rank hold different opinions, many of those most highly qualified to form a correct judgment advocating the tenets propounded by Mr. Charles Darwin.—Ep. ‘ CONNECTING LINKS IN CLASSIFICATION. 5 In previous volumes of this series* we have endeavoured to give the reader some general notions of the form, life, and manners of the branches of the animal kingdom known as Zoophytes, Mollusea, Articulata, and Pisces. We now continue the superior sub-kingdom (to which the fishes also belong) of the Vertebrated Animals, so called from the osseous skeleton which encircles their bodies, in which the vertebral column, surmounted by the cranium, its appendage, forms the principal part. The presence of a solid frame in this series of animals admits of their attaining a size which is denied to any of the others. The skeleton being organized in such a manner as to give remarkable vigour and precision to all their movements. In the vertebrated animals the nervous system is also more developed. There is, consequently, a more exquisite sensibility in them than in the classes whose history we have hitherto discussed. They possess five senses, more or less fully developed, a heart, a circulation, and their blood is red. We have now to deal with a class advanced above that of fishes, that of Reptilia, which is divided as follows :— Ampuipra—(Barracuia, Cuv.) Animals having ribs or processes, or short, slight, and free ver- tebrae, forming a series of separate centrums, deeply cupped at both ends, one of which is converted by ossification in the mature animal into a ball, which may be the front one, as in the Surinam Toad, Pzpa, or the hind ones in the Frogs and Toads, Rana. The skin is nude, limbs digitate, gills embryonal,—permanent in some, in most lost in metamorphosis, — to be succeeded by pulmonary respiration,—or both; a heart with one ventricle and two auricles. They consist of :— I. OPHIOMORPHA. Creciliadze or Ophiosomee. Il. IcrHyomMorPHa. Proteids or Sirens, Proteus, Newts, and Salamanders. * “The Ocean World,” from the French of Louis Figuier, “The Insect World,” from the French of the same author. 6 INTRODUCTORY. IIT. THERIOMORPHA. Aglossa . . . Pipa or Surinam Toads. Ranide . . . Progs: Hylide . . . Tree Frogs. Bufonide . . Toads. CHELONIA, OR TURTLES. Distinguished by the double shield in which their bodies are enclosed, whether they are terrestrial, fresh-water, or marine. The Turtles, Chelonia, have the limbs natatory. Mud Turtles, T'rionyx, Terrapens, Emys, Tortoises, Z'estudo, limbs terrestrial. limbs amphibious. LAcERTILIA. Having a single transverse process on each side, single-headed ribs, two external nostrils, eyes with movable lids; body covered with horny, sometimes bony, scales. Lacerta—the Monitors, Crocodiles, Lizards; having ambulatory limbs. Anguis—Ophisaurus, Bimanus, Chalcides, Seps ; imbs abortive ; no sacrum. OPHIDIA. Having numerous vertebre with single-headed hollow ribs, no visible limbs, eyelids covered by an immovable transparent lid ; body cevered by horny scales. It includes :— Viperine—the Vipers and Crotalide. Colubring@—the Colubers, Hydride, and Boide. CrocopiLia. Teeth in a single row, implanted in distinct sockets; body de- pressed, elongated, protected on the back by solid shield; tail longer than the trunk, compressed laterally, and furnished with crests above. The several families are :— Crocodilide—the Gayials, Mecistops, Crocodiles. Alligatoride—Jacares, Alligators, Caiman.* * By some naturalists the Amphibia are considered as a distinct class, by other as a sub-class either of Reptilia or of Pisces. Of the reptiles proper (at present existing), the arrangement into the orders Testudinata (or Tortoises), Sawria (or Lizards), and Ophidia (or Snakes), is the one most generally adopted; but De Blain- ville elevates the Zoricata (or Crocodiles) to the rank of an order, and others have adopted a division of corresponding rank, Sawrophidia, for the Angus series above referred to; but the latter are merely limbless Lizards (or with abortive limbs) akin to the Scinques.—Ep. CHAPTER I. AMPHIBIA, OR BATRACHIANS. THosr geographers who divide the world into land and sea over- look in their nomenclature the extensive geographical areas which belong permanently to neither section—namely, the vast marshy regions on the margins of lakes, rivers, and ponds, which are alternately deluged with the overflow of the adjacent waters, and parched and withering under the exhalations of a summer heat ; regions which could only be inhabited by beings capable of living on land or in water; beings having both gills through which they may breathe in water, and lungs through which they may respire the common air. ‘The first order of reptiles possesses this character, and hence its name of Amphibia, from appBus, having a double life. The transition from fishes to reptiles is described by Professor Owen, with that wonderful powerof condensation which he possesses, in the following terms :—‘ All vertebrates during more or less of their developmental life-period float in a liquid of similar specific gravity to themselves. A large proportion, constituting the lowest organised and first developed forms of this province, exist and breathe in water, and are called fishes. Of these a few retain the primitive vermiform condition, and develop no limbs; in the rest they are ‘fins’ of simple form, moving by one joint upon the body, rarely adapted for any other function than the impulse or guidance of the body through the water. The shape of the body is usually adapted for moving with least resistance through the liquid medium. The surface of the body is either smooth and lubricous or it is smoothly covered with overlapping scales ; it is rarely defended by bony plates, or roughened by tubercles. & BATRACHIANS. Still more rarely it is armed with spines.” Passing over the general economy of fishes we come to the heart. ‘The heart,” he tells us, “consists of one auricle receiving the venous blood, and one ventricle propelling it to the gills or organs submitting that blood in a state of minute subdivisions to the action of aérated water. From the gills the aérated blood is carried over the entire body by vessels, the circulation being aided by the contraction of the surrounding muscles.” The functions of gills are described by the Professor with great minuteness. ‘The main purpose of the gills of fishes,” he says, “being to expose the venous blood in this state of minute sub- division to streams of water, the branchial arteries rapidly divide and sub-divide until they resolve themselves into microscopic capillaries, constituting a network in one plane or layer, supported by an elastic plate, covered by a tesselated and non-ciliated epithe- lium. This covering and the tunics of the capillaries are so thin as to allow chemical interchange and decomposition to take place between the carbonated blood and the oxygenated water. The requisite extent of the respiratory field of capillaries is gained by various modes of multiplying the surface within a limited space.”’ “Each pair of processes,”’ he adds, “ has its flat side turned towards contiguous pairs, and the two processes of each pair stand edgeway to each other, being commonly united for a greater or less extent from their base; hence Cuvier describes each pair as a single bifurcated plate, or-‘ feuillet.’ ” The modification which takes place in the respiratory and other organs in Reptilia, is described in a few words. ‘“ Many fishes have a bladder of air between the digestive canal and the kidneys, which in some communicate with an air-duet and the gullet; but its office is chiefly hydrostatic. When on the rise of structure this air-bladder begins to assume the vascular and pharyngeal relations with the form and cellular structure of lungs, the limbs acquire the character of feet: at first thread- like and many jointed, as in the Lepidosiren ; then bifurcate, or two-fingered, with the elbow and wrist joints of land animals, as In Amphiuma; next, three-fingered, as in Proteus, or four- fingered, but reduced to the pectoral pair, as in Siren.” In all reptiles the blood is conveyed from the ventricular part STRUCTURAL DISTINCTIONS. 9 of the heart, really or apparently, by a single trunk. In Lepi- dosiren the veins from the lung-like air-bladders traverse the auricle which opens directly into the ventricle. In some the vein dilates before communicating with the ventricle into a small auricle, which is not outwardly distinct from the much larger auricle receiving the veins of the body. In Proteus the auricular system is incomplete. In Amphiuma the auricle is smaller and less fringed than in the Sirens, the ventricle being connected to the pericardium by the apex as well as the artery. This forms a half spiral turn at its origin, and dilates into a broader and shorter bulb than in the Sirens. “The pulmonic auricle,” continues the learned Professor, ‘“ thus augments in size with the more exclusive share taken by the lungs in respiration; but the auricular part of the heart shows hardly any outward sign of its diversion in the Batrachians. It is small and smooth, and situated on the left, and in advance of the ventricle in Newts and Salamanders. In Frogs and Toads the auricle is applied to the base of the ventricle, and to the back and side of the aorta and its bulb.” In the lower members of the order, the single artery from the ventricle sends, as in fishes, the whole of the blood primarily to the branchial organs, during life, and in all Batrachians at the earlier aquatic periods of existence. In the Newt three pairs of external gills are developed at first as simple filaments, each with its capillary loop, but speedily expanding, lengthening, and branching into lateral processes, with corresponding looplets; those blood- channels intercommunicating by a capillary network. The gill is covered by ciliated scales, which change into non-ciliated cuticle shortly before the gills are absorbed. In the Proteus anguinus, three parts only of branchial and vascular arches are developed, corresponding with the number of external gills. In Siren lacertina the gills are in three pairs of branchial arches, the first and fourth fixed, the second and third free, increasing in size according to their condition. The Ampursta, then, have all, at some stage of their existence, both gills and lungs co-existent: respiring by means of branchieze or gills while in the water, and by lungs on emerging into the open air. 10 BATRACHIANS. All these creatures seem to have been well known to the ancients. The monuments of the Egyptians abound in represen- tations of Frogs, Toads, Tortoises, and Serpents. Aristotle was well acquainted with their form, structure, and habits, even to their reproduction. Pliny’s description presents his usual amount of error and exaggeration. Darkness envelops their history during the middle ages, from which it gradually emerges in the early part of the sixteenth century, when Belon and Rondi- © letius in France, Salviani in Italy, and Conrad Gesner in Switzer- land, devoted themselves to the study of Natural History with great success. In the latter part of the same century Aldrovandi appeared. During fifty years he was engaged in collecting objects and making drawings, which were published after his death, in 1640, edited by Professor Ambrossini, of Bologna, the Reptiles forming two volumes. In these volumes, twenty-two chapters are occupied by the Serpents. But the first arrange- ment which can be called systematic was that produced by John Ray. ‘This system was based upon the mode of respiration, the volume of the eggs, and their colour. Numerous systems have since appeared in France, Germany, and England; but we shall best consult our readers’ interest by briefly describing the classification adopted by Professor Owen, the learned Principal of the British Museum, in his great work on the Vertebrata. The two great classes Batrachians and Reptiles, include a number of animals which are neither clothed with hair, like the Mammalia, covered with feathers like the birds, nor furnished with swimming fins like fishes. The essential character of rep- tiles is, that they are either entirely or partially covered with scales. Some of them—for instance, Serpents—move along the ground with a gliding motion, produced by the simple contact and adhesion of the ventral scales with the ground. Others, such as the Tortoises, the Crocodiles, and the Lizards, move by means of their feet; but these, again, are so short, that the animals almost appear to crawl on the ground—however swiftly, in some instances. The locomotive organs in Serpents are the vertebral column, with its muscles, and the stiff epidermal scutes crossing the under surface of the body. ‘A Serpent may, however, be TADPOLE LIFE. 11 seen to progress,” says Professor Owen, “without any inflection, gliding slowly and with a ghost-like movement in a straight line, and if the observer have the nerve to lay his hand flat in the reptile’s course, he will feel, as the body glides over the palm, the surface pressed as it were by the edges of a close-set series of paper knives, successively falling flat after each application.” Others of the class, such as the Tortoises, Crocodiles, and Lizards, move by the help of feet, which are generally small and feeble— in a few species being limited to the pectoral region, while in most both pairs are present. In some, as in various Lizards, the limbs acquire considerable strength. There is one genusof small Lizards, known as the Dragons, Draco, whose movements present an exception to the general rule. Besides their four feet, these animals are furnished with a delicate mem- branous parachute, formed by a prolongation of the skin on the flanks and sustained by the long slender ribs, which permits of their dropping from a considerable height upon their prey. Batrachians, again, differ from most other Reptilia by being naked: moreover, most of them undergo certain metamorphoses ; in the first stage of their existence they lead a purely aquatic life, and breathe by means of gills, after the manner of fishes. Young Frogs, Toads, and Salamanders, which are then called tad- poles, have, in short, no resemblance whatever to their parents in the first stage of their existence. They are little creatures with slender, elongated bodies, destitute of feet and fins, but with large heads, which may be seen swimming about in great numbers in stagnant ponds, where they live and breathe after the manner of fishes. By degrees, however, they are transformed: their limbs and air-breathing lungs are gradually developed, then they slowly disappear, and a day arrives when they find themselves conveniently organized for another kind of existence; they burst from their humid retreat, and betake themselves to dry land. “The tadpole meanwhile being subject to a series of changes in every system of organs concerned in the daily needs of the coming aérial and terrestrial existence, still passes more or less time in water, and supplements the early attempt at respiration by pullu- lating loops and looplets of capillaries from the branchial vessels.” (Owen.) 12 BATRACHIANS. Nevertheless, they do not altogether forget their native element; thanks to their webbed feet, they can still traverse the waters which sheltered their infancy; and when alarmed by any unusual noise, they rush into the water as a place of safety, where they swim about in apparent enjoyment. In some of them, as Proteus and the amphibious Sirens, where the limbs are confined to the pectoral region, swimming seems to be the state most natural to them. They are truly amphibious, and they owe this double existence to the persistence of their gills; for in these perenni- branchiate Batrachians, arteries are developed from the last pair of branchial arches which convey blood to the lungs: while, in those having external deciduous gills, the office being dis- charged, they lose their ciliate and vascular structure and disap- pear altogether. The skull in Reptiles generally consists of the same parts as in the Mammalia, though the proportions are dif- ferent. The skull is flat, and the cerebral cavity, small as it is, is not filled with brain. The vertebral column commences at the posterior part of the head, two condyles occupying each side of the vertebral hole (Fig. 2). The anterior limbs are mostly shorter than the posterior, as might be expected of animals whose progression is effected by leaps. Ribs there are none. The sternum is highly developed, and a large portion of it is cartilaginous ; it moves in its mesial portions the two clavicles and two coracoid bones, which fit on to the scapula, the whole making a sort of hand which supports the anterior extremities, and an elongated disk which supports the throat, and assists in deglutition and respiration. The bone of the arm (/wmerus) is single, and long in proportion to the forearm. In the Frogs (Rana), the ilic bone is much elongated, and is articulated in a movable manner on the sacrum, so that the two heads of the thigh bones seem to be in contact. The femur, or thigh, is much lengthened and slightly curved, and the bones of the leg so soldered together as to form a single much elongated bone. The respiration of Reptiles and some of the Batrachians, like that of Birds and Mammals, is aérial and pulmonary, but it is much less active. Batrachians have, in addition, a very considerable cutaneous respiration. Some of them, such as Toads, absorb more oxygen through the skin than by the lungs. Their circulation is INTELLIGENCE OF BATRACHIANS. 13 imperfect, the structure of the heart only presenting one ventricle ; the blood, returning after a partial regeneration in the lungs, mingles with that which is not yet revivified: this mixed fluid is launched out into the economic system of the animal. Thus Reptiles and Ba- trachians are said to be cold-blooded animals, more es- pecially the for- mer, in which the respiratory organs, which are a con- stant source of in- terior heat, are only exercised very feebly. Owing to this low temperature of their bodies, reptiles affect warm climates, where the sun exercises its power with an intensity unknown in tem- perate regions; hence it is that they abound in the warm lati- tudes of Asia, Africa, and America, whilst comparatively few are found in Europe. This is also the cause of their becoming torpid during the winter of our latitudes: not having sufficient heat in themselves to produce reaction against the external cold, they fall asleep for many months, awakening only when the temperature permits of their activity. Serpents, Lizards, Tortoises, Frogs, are all subjected to this law of their being. Some hybernate upon the earth, under heaps of stones, or in holes; others in mud at the bottom of ponds. The senses are very slightly developed in these animals; those of touch, taste, and smell, are very imperfect; that of hearing, though less obtuse, leaves much to be desired; but sight in them is very suitably exercised by the large eyes, with contractile eyeballs, which enables certain reptiles—such, for instance, as the Geckos, to distinguish objects in the dark. Most Reptiles and Batrachians are almost devoid of voice: Serpents, Fig. 2.—Skeleton of a Frog. 14 BATRACHIANS. however, utter a sharp hissing noise, some species of Crocodiles howl energetically, the Geckos are particularly noisy, and Frogs have a well-known croak. In Reptiles and Batrachians the brain is small, a peculiarity which explains their slight intelligence and the almost entire impossibility of teaching them anything. They can, it is true, be tamed; but although they seem to know indi- viduals, they do not seem to be susceptible of affection: the slight compass of their brain renders them very insensible, and this insen- sibility to pain enables them to support mutilations which would prove immediately fatal to most other animals. Jor instance, the Common Lizard frequently breaks its tail in its abrupt movements. Does this disturb him? Notat all! This curtailment of his being does not seem to affect him; he awaits patiently for the return of the organ, which complaisant nature renews as often as it becomes necessary. In the Crocodiles and Monitor Lizards, however, a muti- lated part is not renewed, and the renovated tails of other Lizards do not develop bone. In some instances, the eyes may be put out with impunity, or part of the head may be cut off; these organs will be replaced or made whole in a certain time with- out the animal having ceased to perform any of the functions which are still permitted to him in his mutilated state.