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REPTILES AND BIRDS.
PU re
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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.
To facilitate the introduction of caustic into the wound, the
same naturalist has invented a little bottle closed with emery; the
stopper, which is long, and conical at the lower end, plunges
VENOM OF SNAKES. 97
into the liquid. By means of this stopper the medicated sub-
stance can be made to penetrate by drops as far as the bottom
of the wound, which has been previously enlarged by the bistoury.
This little apparatus will replace with advantage the bottle of
volatile alkali with which Viper-hunters are usually furnished.
But all these means are only useful when applied immediately.
The limbs and round about the wound must besides be rubbed with
ammoniacal liniments. Afterwards emollient poultices should be
used to lower the swelling and reduce the chances of congestion;
while tonics, sudorifics, and sometimes ammoniacal potions should
be given internally.
It is aremarkable fact that this venom, which is one of the most
virulent poisons known, can yet be swallowed with impunity. It
is neither acrid nor burning, and only produces a sensation on
the tongue analogous to that caused by greasy matter, But if
introduced into a wound in sufficient quautities, it enters into the
blood, and causes death with frightful rapidity. This is a charac-
teristic common to all morbid and venemous virus.
The strength of the venom varies according to the species
of Snake, and likewise the condition of the animal. The same
species is more dangerous in hot than in cold or temperate regions.
The bite is serious, according as the poison is more or less abun-
dant in the glands, and probably with the degree of rage expe-
rienced by the animal, as Professor Owen supposes.
[Of Snakes in general it has been remarked that “all strangers
in countries where these reptiles abound are apt to exaggerate
their danger; but in a year or two they think as little of them
as we do in England. I never knew an instance of a Snake
attacking a person unless it was trodden upon or molested, and
even then they almost always give warning by hissing, or endea-
vour to effect their escape. During my residence in the Cape
colony, I have at different times trodden on them or kicked them
in the grass unintentionally, but was never bitten.’* This
writer, however, could hardly have accidentally placed his foot
upon a Puff-adder.t ]
* Moodie’s “Ten Years in South Africa,” vol. i. p. 318.
+ Subsequent experiments with the virus of the Indian Cobra have conclusively
proved that ammonia is not a sufficient antidote, as alleged in p. 95.—Eb.
131
CHAPTER III.
Tur OrpER oF LizArps.—SAuRIANS.
Tuts is the second order of the great section of Scaly Reptiles
(Squamata), as distinguished from the Shielded Reptiles (Cata-
phracta). The name Saurian, Zaipos, given by Aristotle to the genus
of Lizards, has been more comprehensively applied to a group
of Reptiles which have the body elongated, covered with scales, or
having the skin rough like shagreen. They have, for the most
part, four feet, the toes of which are furnished with hooked claws ;
their eyelids are movable, and their jaws armed with encased
teeth ; they have a distinct tympanum, a heart with two auricles
and a single ventricle, sometimes partially valved, having sides and
asternum. They are not subject to metamorphosis, and, finally,
they are furnished with a tail.
[“By far the greater number of the Saurians,” writes Dr.
Giinther, “are easily distinguished from the other orders of
reptiles by their elongated form, by their movable thorax covered
with skin, by the presence of legs, and by their general integu-
ments, which are either folded into scales, or granular, or
tubercular, or shielded; still, there are many Saurians which, at
a superficial glance, might easily be taken for members of the
preceding order—that of the Snakes; and it cannot be denied
that there is a gradual transition from one of these orders to the
other. On the part of the Saurians, we allude to those which
have no externally visible limbs, and which combine with a
greatly elongate, cylindrical body, the pecular kind of locomo-
tion we observe in Snakes. Yet the greater affinity of these
reptiles to the ordinary Lizards is indicated by another character,
which is in intimate connection with their mode of life.. The
>
SAURIANS. 99
Snakes, having movable maxillary bones, and mandibles not joined
by a symphidis, are enabled to swallow other animals of appa-
rently greater bulk than their own. In the Saurians the maxille
are fixed and immovable, and the mandibles are joined by an
osseous suture, so that the cleft of the mouth can be dilated only
in the usual vertical direction. Moreover, in these limbless
Saurians we always find bones of the shoulder hidden below the
skin, whilst no trace of them can be discovered in the true Snakes.
The motions of some Lizards are extremely slow, while those of
others are executed with very great, but not lasting, rapidity.
Many of them have the power of changing their colours, which
depends on the presence of several layers of cells loaded with
different pigments; these layers the animal compresses by more
or less inflating its lungs, whereby the changes in the coloration
are effected.”
Dr. Ginther does not follow Dr. Gray in arranging all
true reptiles into the two grand divisions of Shielded Reptiles
(Cataphracta) and Sealy Reptiles (Sguamata), but he includes the
Crocodilide among the Saurians as a first grand division of them
—Emydosauri, and the other Lizards constitute his second grand
division of them—Lacertini. These latter are again primarily
divisible according to the structure of the tongue. Thus, in the
series of Leptoglossa, the tongue is elongate, forked, and exser-
tile, much as in the Ophidians ; in that of Pachyglossa the tongue
is short, thick, attached to the gullet, and is not exsertile ; and in
the Vermilingues it is Worm-like, club-shaped in front, and very
exsertile.
The various genera of Saurians which have either not a trace of
external limbs, or have them more or less diminutive and rudi-
mentary—either the usual two pairs or one pair only, and in the
latter case sometimes the fore and sometimes the hind pair being
deficient—are included among the Leptog/lossa, or the series which
have a forked and protrusile tongue ; and, so far as is practicable,
we will commence by noticing the different serpentiform genera ;
only, in a classification which is not confessedly superficial, it
will be found that the various Snake-like Saurians appertain to
several distinct natural families, most of the other genera belong-
ing to which have, in sundry cases, limbs that are well developed.
bE i
100 SAURIANS.
Some of them, therefore, will have to be noticed as the different
families to which they belong are successively treated of; and
there will yet remain the curious serpentiform family of Am-
phisbenide, which Dr. Gray refers to his grand series of Shielded
Reptiles (Cataphracta).
The same naturalist divides the Leptoglossa into two tribes,
which he styles Geissosaura and Cyclosaura; and, as constitut-
ing particular division of the former, he includes under it the
family Typhlopide, which Dr. Giinther refers—as we have seen—
to the order of Ophidians. In the series of Gezssosaura, the scales
of the belly and (almost always) of the back and sides are
quincuncial, rounded, and imbricate; the tongue is narrow, short,
flat, and but slightly forked; and the head is of a conical shape,
and is covered with regular shields.
Of the families thus characterised, some only have distinct
eyelids, as the families Acontiade, Ophiomoride, Sepside, and
Scincide ; while others have the eyelids rudimentary and the
eyes exposed, as the families Lialiside, Aprasiade, Pygopodide,
and Gymnopthalmide. In the Acontiade the nostrils are placed
in the enlarged rostral plate, with a longitudinal slit behind. The
form of the body much resembles that of our common Orvet, or
Blind-worm, and their limbs, when present, are so rudimentary
that they can aid little in locomotion. One genus, Acontias, is
without limbs, and the eyes are furnished with a lower lid, while
the upper eyelid is rudimentary. Of this, one species, A. meleagris,
inhabits South Africa; and another, A. Layardii, has been dis-
covered in Ceylon. The genus Nessia has four rudimentary
limbs, and the rostral shield is large, sub-conical, and depressed.
In one species, V. monodactyla, the limbs are diminutive, the pos-
terior placed far apart from the anterior, all being very short,
weak, and undivided into toes. In another, WV. Burtoni, each
foot is divided into three minute toes. Both species are peculiar
(so far as known) to Ceylon, and the habits of this family are
much the same as those of our common Orvet (Anguis fragilis).
The family of Ophiomoride is founded on a single genus and
species, Ophiomorus miliaris, which inhabits North Africa. As
remarked by Dr. Gray, this reptile seems to be intermediate to the
Acontiade and the Scincide, and makes it appear as if the large
SEPSIDZ. 101
rostral shield of the former was formed of the united rostral,
supra-nasal, and nasal shields of the present family, and of the
Scincide. It has an elongate, cylindrical body, without external
limbs, and the ears are hidden under the skin; the eyes are dis-
tinct, with valvular eyelid ; and the scales of the body and some-
what elongate tail are hexagonal.
The Sepside differ from the preceding, and also from the great
family of the Scncide, by having the nostrils placed in the front
edge of asmall shield, in a notch at the hinder side of the rostral
plate, which latter is rather large and square. The eyes are dis-
tinct, the lower eyelid scaly, or with a transparent disk. Body
fusiform or sub-cylindrical, elongate. These reptiles burrow in dry
sand, and are peculiar to the anciently-knowncontinents and certain
islands. Some have a wedge-shaped head, with prominent rostral
plate. Of these the genus Sphenops has more developed limbs,
each dividing into four toes; and the only species, S. sepsordes,
inhabits Egypt and other parts of North Africa. Sphenocephalus
has a more slender and elongate shape, and the limbs are placed
more distantly apart; the anterior minute, and fitting into a
groove, the posterior as large as in Sphenops, and each of them
having but three toes, of which the innermost and next are sub-
equal, and the outer much shorter. The only known species,
S. tridactylus, is common in Afghanistan. In Sce/otes the ante-
rior limbs disappear altogether; and the only known species,
S. bipes, inhabits South Africa. Other genera have a pyramidal
head, with the rostral plate erect, and rounded in front. Such are
the five following, each founded on a single species :—Gongylus
ocellatus, from North Africa and the borders of the Mediterranean ;
Thyrus Boeri, from the Mauritius; Amphiglossus astrolabi, from.
Madagascar; Seps tridactylus, from the south of Europe and
north of Africa; and Heteromeles mauritanicus, from North
Africa. The last has only two toes to the fore-feet, three to the
hind; and Seps has three toes to each foot, while the other three
genera have five to each foot. In general these animals are found
in dry and elevated spots, where they hide themselves in the sand
or under stones.
The Scincide have the head covered with shields, which are
symmetrically arranged. Tongue slender, free, extersile, termi-
102 SAURIANS.
nating in two pointed lobes. Scales on the back rounded, quin-
cuncial, imbricate; those on the belly similar to those on the
back and on the sides. No fold across the throat or along the
side; no femoral or inguinal pores. ‘Tail generally long, rounded,
fragile. Eyes and eyelids well developed. Nostrils in a separate
plate, between the frontal and labial shields. Generally four
limbs, moderately developed, sometimes feeble or hidden below
the skin. The species of this family are exceedingly numerous, and
inhabit almost every part of the tropical regions, some extending
Fig. 25.—Seps tridactylus.
into the temperate zones. They are thoroughly land Lizards,
preferring dry ground, and hiding themselves in the sand, under
stones, fallen leaves, &c., very few of them entering the water. They
do not attain to any considerable size, only a few species of
Australia and the West Indies growing to the thickness of a
man’s wrist, and exceeding a foot in length. Some of them are
viviparous, others deposit from eight to twelve globular eggs.
Dr. Gray divides them into the sub-families of Sezneine, or those
which have the scales thin, smooth, and neither striated nor
keeled; the nostrils ina single smooth plate, without any lunate
groove behind; and the tail round, tapering, unarmed; and
Tropidophorin@, or those which have the scales thick, bony,
rugous, striated, and with one or more keels upon each of them;
BLIND-WORM. 103
the rostral plate rounded in front, and the body fusiform, with
well-developed limbs, which terminate always in the full comple-
ment of toes. A few species of the Scincine have no external
limbs, thus approximating in their appearance to certain of the
burrowing Ophidians. |
The Orvet, or Blind-worm, Anguis fragilis, is small, eylindrical
in shape, about eleven or twelve inches in length, and having the
exterior appearance of Snakes. The scales which cover the body
are small, smooth and shining, being red in the middle, and
edged with white, of a silvery yellow on the upper part, and
dusky beneath ; the sides somewhat dusky brown, and the throat
slightly marbled with white, black, and yellow. Two larger spots
Fig. 26.—Orvet, or Blind-worm (Angus fragilis).
appear, one above the muzzie, the other upon the back of the
head; from this point two blackish longitudinal rays start, which
extend to the tail, as well as two other nut-brown rays, which
start from the eyes; the markings vary, however, in different
countries, and probably with age and sex.
The Orvet is found in woods and dry, sandy, and stony
wastes. They are timid, harmless creatures, retiring into holes
and concealing themselves in moss at the foot of trees to hide
themselves from observation. ‘They feed upon worms, insects,
and the smaller mollusks. Although perfectly harmless, the
104 SAURIANS.
country-people are strongly prejudiced against them, believing
their bite to be a deadly poison. This animal is extremely brittle.
Laurenti and others assert that when captured it throws itself into
a position of such rigidity that it sometimes breaks in two, and .
that a smart blow of a switch will at any time divide it.
[There are little-known species of Anguis in India and South
Africa, which are at least provisionally so considered, and certainly
do not differ essentially ; and next we come to forms in which the
limbs are successively more developed. Such are the Ophiodes
striatus of Brazil, which has two short, flattened, undivided, and
one-pointed limbs, corresponding to the usual hind pair; the
Brachymeles bonite of the Philippines, in which there are two
pairs of short and rudimentary limbs, the fore bearing two minute
claws, while the hind are undivided; Venira bicolor, of the same
archipelago, has very short limbs, the fore and hind being placed
distantly apart, but in this genus all have five distinct toes ;
Chiamelea lineata, from some part of India, and Hagria Vosmaéri,
from Bengal, are kindred forms which conduct to the genus
Eumeces, the species of which are very numerous, and spread over
nearly all the different countries between or near the tropics, and
in certain of them (as the Burmese /. anguinus) the limbs are still
remarkably diminutive, and (as in /. isodactylus of Cambodia) the
fore and hind limbs are placed very far apart, the body and tail
being long and anguiform. In various other species of Hwmeces,
however, the proportions are more those of an ordinary Scink, as
again in the kindred genera Mabonia and Plestiodon, which are
widely distributed.
In other series of Seinks, the distinctions of which ave far from
being conspicuous, we again have limbless genera, or nearly so,
as the Australian Soridia lineata, which has one pair of small,
posterior, undivided extremities ; while in another Australian form,
the Rhodona punctata, the anterior pair of limbs are simple and
undivided, while the hinder divide into two unequal toes, and the
two pairs of limbs are situate as distantly apart. And thus we
may continue to trace the successive gradations, in sundry genera,
until we arrive at the Scineus officinalis of North Africa, a well-
known reptile, the geographical range of which extends eastward
into Afghanistan, and which was formerly in considerable request
SCINKS. 105
for its supposed medicinal properties. Indeed, this notion still
prevails in Hindustan, into which country dried specimens of both
this reptile and of Sphenocephalus tridactylus (p. 101) are brought
by Afghan traders, and are sold in the bazars. Both of these are
Sand Lizards, which burrow into the sand with great rapidity.
We now come to the Tropidophorine, or second sub-family of
Scinks indicated by Dr. Gray (ede p. 102), which have always weli-
developed limbs, the body only moderately elongated, and the
scales variously keeled. Several species of larger size appertain to
this series, as the Cyclodus gigas of Australia, and the curious
Stump-tail Lizards, Trachydosaurus rugosus and T. asper, of the
same insular continent, which latter have most prominently rugous
scales, and the tail literally appearing like the short and abrupt stump
of one. Egernia Cunninghami and Tropidolesma (of different species)
are other comparatively large Australian Lizards ; and examples of
most of those that have been mentioned may generally be seen
alive in the London Zoological Gardens, where the Cyclodus gigas
has bred and proves to be viviparous. Of the species of Euprepes,
of which several inhabit the Indian region, some (as the very
common F. rufescens) are viviparous, and others (as L. mu(tica-
rinata) are oviparous. These have three more distinct, though not
prominent, keels upon each scale ; and the different species inhabit
both the Old World and the New, as well as Australia. The
Galliwasps ( Celestus) of the West Indies, and sundry other genera,
do not greatly differ. Of Zvropidophorus, which has exceedingly
rugged scales, the species inhabit the Indo-Chinese countries, and
one (7. cocinsinensis) is found likewise in the Philippines; while of
another (7. Berdmore?), 1 Burmah, Mr. Theobald remarks that
“its scales are dull and lustreless, and the coloration peculiar for a
Scink. It harbours under half-immersed stones, and enters the
water and gravel freely.” In several of this family of Lizards
the scales are beautifully iridescent, and many of them show
longitudinal pale or white lines, or are otherwise variegated.
Nearly akin to the extensive family of Scincide, there are three
small families (as classed by Dr. Gray), the species of which
are peculiar to Australia. They have small, undivided, posterior
limbs only, or are quite limbless. These families are the Lialside,
founded on three or more species of a single genus, Lialis ; the
106 SAURIANS.
Aprasiade, founded upon one species only—Aprasia pulchella,
which is limbless; and the Pygopodide, comprising the two
genera Pygopus and Delma, the former containing two, the latter
only one ascertained species. The Gymnopthalmide constitute still
another small family, quadrupedal, but with the limbs small and
weak. Of seven genera referred to it, five are Australian, one is
European, and one belongs to South America. Adblepharus panno-
nicus 1s a small Lizard of this family, inhabiting Eastern Europe,
with a congener, A. é2vittatus, in the Caucasus; and Gymno-
pthalmus lineatus inhabits Brazil and the Island of Martinique.
In the second tribe of Leptoglossa, entitled Cyclosaura, the
scales of the belly are square, in cross bands; those of the back
and tail are rhombic and imbricate, or circular and subgranular ;
the tongue is lengthened, and more or less conspicuously furcate ;
and the eyes are diurnal, having two valvular lids. The limbs are
generally well developed; but in several genera they still are more
or less rudimentary, or even absent.
There are four small families in which the sides are rounded and
covered with scales like the back. Of these, that of Chamesauride
is founded upon the South African Lacerta anguina of Linnzeus, now
Chamesaura anguina, which has the limbs quite rudimentary. In
the American families of Cercosauride, Chirocolide, and Anadiade,
the limbs are moderately developed, and have each five toes. The
two last-mentioned families are founded each upon a single species,
Chirocolus imbricatus and Anadia ocellata ; and the other contains
the two genera Circosaura and Lepisoma—of which the first com-
prises some two or three species only. All of these reptiles have
exceedingly long tails, though not so inordinately long as in the
Lacertide of the genus Tachydromus.
Certain other families have a distinct longitudinal fold, covered
with small granular scales on each side. These are the families
Chalcide, Holaspide, and the more extensive one of Zonuride.
The Chalcide have the head covered with regular many-sided
shields, and the lateral fold is indistinct; limbs small and rudi-
mentary, and the hind feet are undivided in the genera Céa/cis and
Bachia, with three tubercles in place of toes in Microdactylus, and
with four clawed toes in Brachypus. Each of these genera is
founded on a single species, and all are doubtless peculiar to the
ZONURIDA. 107
New World. The Ho/aspide is also founded on one species only,
the Holaspis Guentheri, which again is supposed to be South
American. It has four well-developed limbs, a double row of
plates along the back and upper surface of the tail, and the latter
organ is curiously serrated laterally.
The Zonuride constitute a considerable family, to which some
eighteen or twenty genera are assigned, and which present con-
siderable modification of form. The ears are distinct, whereas in
the Chalcide they are hidden under the skin. The head is
pyramidal, or depressed, and covered with regular many-sided
shields; eyes with two valvular lids. Limbs mostly well developed,
but short in some, and rudimentary, or even wanting in the so-
called “ Glass-snakes”’ which constitute the sub-family Pseudo-
podine. There is no external trace of them in the North American
Glass-snake, Ophisaurus ventralis ; and in the Old World genus,
Pseudopus, there is only one pair, posterior, rudimentary, and
undivided. ‘These reptiles are long, and serpentiform in shape:
whilst in other Saurians the whole skin of the belly and of the
sides is extensible, the extensibility is limited in the “ Glass-
snakes” to a separate part of the skin; and, as Dr. Giimther
remarks, “the scaly covering of the upper and lower parts is so
tight that it does not admit of the same extension as in Snakes
and other Lizards; and the Pseudopus, therefore, could not receive
the same quantity of food in its stomach as those animals, were
it not for the expansible fold of the skin running along each side
of its trunk.”’ One species of Pseudopus, the P. Pallasii, inhabits
Asia Minor and the south-east of Europe; and there is another,
P. gracilis, in the Indo-Chinese countries (or those lying eastward
of the Bay of Bengal). A second sub-family, Gerrhonotine, is
peculiar to America, and consists of nrore ordinarily-shaped Lizards,
which are ranged in four genera. Together with the Ophisaurus,
or American Glass-snake, they are the only known Zonuride that
inhabit the New World. The great mass of this family and all of
its most characteristic species are African, and these are arranged
by Dr. Gray under the sub-families Cicignine and Zonurine. In
the first of these sub-families the tail is smooth, or unarmed, and
in the second it is spinous. The Cordules, Cordylus, Zonurus, &c.,
are very characteristic Lizards chiefly of Southern Africa, several
108 SAURIANS.
species of which have been figured by Sir Andrew Smith. They
are mostly of shortish form, and the neck is more or less spinous ;
the body-scales in some (as Zonurus cataphractis) being extra-
ordinarily rugous. These Lizards squeeze themselves into crevices
in the rocks, in which they hold on so firmly by their nuchal
spines that it is next to impossible to dislodge them, the tail com-
monly giving way at once if it be attempted to pull them forth by
means of it.
The family of Lacertide, comprising our ordinary European
Lizards, have no longitudinal fold along the sides, but generally
one across the throat; the tail is very long, rounded, with its
scales arranged in rings, being also fragile; the head is covered
with shields, which are symmetrically arranged; scales on the
back granular or rhombic; on the sides granular; on the belly
largely quadrangular or rounded, and arranged in cross-bands ;
eyes diurnal, with eyelids; the tympanum distinct; limbs always
four, and well developed. This group of Lizards has no repre-
sentative in America or (so far as known) in Australia.
The sub-family of Tachydromine is included by Dr. Gray in the
family Zonuride. These are Asiatic Lizards, with a most in-
ordinate length of tail, the fore and hind limbs being not placed
distantly apart, as in the various anguiform Lizards already
treated of—there is an indistinct collar, and the toes are not ser-
rated or keeled. Two genera have been distinguished, Tachy-
dromus and Tachysaurus, the latter founded on a Japanese Lizard,
T. japonicus. At least three species are known of Tachydromus,
two of which inhabit China, 7. septentrionalis and T. meridionalis ;
the third belonging to the Indo-Chinese countries, T. sex-lineatus.
In an example of the last, measuring fourteen inches long, the
tail occupies eleven inches and a half. It is the longest-tailed
creature that we have any knowledge of, in proportion to its
other parts; indeed, something quite wonderful to behold and muse
over.
The rest of the Lacertide are chiefly from Africa and the south
of Europe; there are probably more of them to be discovered in
Middle Asia, and only three or four species are known to inhabit
the Indian region. Fifteen or more genera are recognised. In
temperate Europe (inclusive of the British Islands) two species
GREY LIZARD. 109
are common—the Zoolica vivipara and the Lacerta agilis. The
former, as its name imports, is viviparous, whereas the other
genera belonging to the family are (so far as known) oviparous.
Others occur in the south of Europe. |
The common Grey or Sand Lizard (L. agilis), sometimes attains
the length of from eight to ten inches, of which the tail occupies more
than half. These little inoffensive creatures, so common in Southern
Europe, are siender and active ; their movements are so rapid that
they escape the eye as quickly as a bird. They require a mild tem-
perature, and seek shelter among ruins. When the sun strikes
with its meridian force upon a wall, they may be seen basking in
its rays, enjoying themselves delightedly upon the heated surface.
They seem to be pervaded with the blessed warmth, and mark
their pleasure by soft undulations of the tail. It is commonly
said that the Lizard is the friend of Man, since far from flying at
his approach, they seem to regard his appearance with great
complacency. They pass the winter at the bottom of small holes
which they have hollowed out of the earth, where they become
torpid. At the commencement of spring they issue from their
hiding-place, and each seeks its mate; they go in pairs, male
and female, it is said, living in faithful union for many years,
sharing between them the domestic arrangements, which com-
prise hatching the young and nursing them in their helplessness,
carrying them into warm and sunny places, and sheltering them
from cold and damp.
Lizards feed chiefly upon insects, and especially flies, All who
have watched the actions of the Grey Lizards must have observed
that the caudal vertebra are so extremely fragile that they separate
on the slightest touch, the tail remaining in the hand of any
one attempting to seize it. These tails sometimes grow again.
When an attempt is made to seize a Grey Lizard on the wall
it lets itself fall to the ground, and remains there a moment
immovable before attempting to run, evidently simulating death.
Grey Lizards are easily tamed, and appear happy in captivity:
From their extreme gentleness they soon become familiar with
their keepers, and return caress for caress, approaching mouth to
mouth, and suck the saliva from between their lips with a grace
that few people would allow them to display.
110 SAURIANS.
Tn the Green Lizard, L. viridis, the scales of the temple are many-
sided and unequal, with a central layer; back granular and oblong,
with shelving sides; throat fold distinct. Nothing can be more
brilliant than the variegated colouring with which it is ornamented.
Its favourite locality is a slightly elevated woody place, where the
sun’s rays readily penetrate. It is also found in sunny meadows.
It feeds upon small insects, and shows no alarm at the presence of
Man, but stops to look at him. Snakes, on the contrary, they
Fig. 27.—Green Lizard and Ocellated Lizard.
seem to fear much, but when they cannot avoid them they fight
courageously. In length they are about eighteen inches.
Green Lizards are found in Jersey and Guernsey, and other warm
countries of Europe, on the African coast of the Mediterranean,
and they are not rare in France.
How often have we admired their magnificent colours in the
neighbourhood of Montpelier, where they rival the green of the
meadows, and glitter in the sun like so many living emeralds!
In the Ocellated Lizard, L. ocellata, the upper part of the body
TEIDA, 111
is green, variegated, spotted, and reticulated or ocellated with black,
having large round blue spots upon the flanks ; the under-part of the
bedy is white, frosted with green; in size it is about twenty inches.
They are found at Fontainebleau, in the south of France, and in
Spain. They establish themselves in hard sand, often between two
beds of calcareous rock, upon some steep declivity, more or less
directly exposed to the south; they are also found between the
roots of old stems, either in hedgerows or vineyards. They feed
almost exclusively on insects; but are said to attack Mice,
Shrews, Frogs, and even Snakes, and to destroy the eggs of the
Partridge. They have sometimes been tamed by feeding them
on milk.
[In the genus Ophiops, two species of which inhabit Asia Minor,
and one of them the shores of the Mediterranean, the eyelid is
rudimentary and the eye exposed, whence the name, signifying
“snake eye.” So far as known, the habits of the various Lizards
which constitute the family of Lacertide are much the same.
The family of Teid@ is peculiar to the New World, and some
of the species attain to the length of several feet. In these Lizards
the head is pyramidal, and is covered with regular many-sided
shields ; supra-orbital plate horny; the teeth solid and well
rooted; tongue elongate, flat, free (rarely slightly sheathed at
its base) ; the scales of the baci are regular and keeled, and of a
rhombic shape; sides flat, and covered with small granular scales ;
the throat scaly, with a double collar, rarely indistinct.
In some the throat has two cross-folds, with large six-sided
scales within ; and of these some have the ventral shields small,
long, and smooth, while others have them much broader. The
former are known as the Teguexins (Tews and Ca/lopistes), and
the latter as the Ameivas (Ameiva, and three other genera). One
species of Teguexin, Teius tequexin, may commonly be seen alive
in the London Zoological Gardens. This is a large and powerful
Lizard, exceeding five feet in length when full grown, and ex-
tremely active. It feeds on small living animals of any kind, and
will even devour poultry, and especially their eggs, for which
latter it manifests an especial liking, as observed in captivity.
Sometimes it has been known to prey on other and kindred
Lizards, as the Ameivas. The teeth of this species are strong,
112 SAURIANS.
and the reptile can bite with great force. It is a bold and
determined combatant when attacked, and if it succeeds in seizing
its foe, retains its hold with pertinacity. Its flesh is eaten by
some people, who consider it excellent. Together with a second
species, 7. nigropunctatus, it inhabits Brazil, and the two species of
Callopistes are also South American, one at least of them occur-
ring in Chili. The species of this family, although strong and
agile, never ascend trees, but range at will the hot sandy plains
or the dense and damp underwood on the margins of lakes and
rivers, into which they plunge when alarmed, and remain below
the surface until the danger has passed away, their capacious
lungs and imperfect circulation permitting them to endure a
very long immersion without inconvenience.
The Ameivas have a long whip-like tail, and peculiarly
elongated toes on their hind feet. The species of Ameiva and
Cnemidophorus are numerous, and the genera Dicrodon and
Acrantus are founded each of them upon a single species. In
general these are Lizards which correspond with the ordinary
Lacertide of the Old World. One species only, Cxemidophorus
sex-lineatus, inhabits the Southern States of North America ; there
are at least four others in Mexico, and the rest belong to South
America and the Antilles. “The Ameiva dorsalis,” writes Mr.
Gosse, ‘is one of the most common of the reptiles of Jamaica, and
is as beautiful as abundant. Its colours are striking, but not
showy, and its countenance has a very meek expression. All its
motions are elegant and sprightly; when it is proceeding de-
liberately, its body is thrown into latent curves the most graceful
imaginable; but when alarmed its swiftness is so excessive that it
appears as if it literally //ew over the ground, and the observer can
scarcely persuade himself that it is not a bird. It is very timid,
and though its toes are not formed as in the Geckos and Anoles,
for holding on against gravity, I have seen a large Ameiva run
with facility on the side of a dry wall, along the perpendicular
surfaces of the large stones.”’
A second series occurs in those Te:de which have a collar of
large shields on the throat. As many as five genera of them have
been established, each upon a single species, and all are from
intertropical America. In Crocodilurus lacertinus the two rows
VARANID A. 113
of crests along the tail recall to mind the Crocodiles, whence the
name bestowed. Others have been styled Dragons, as the Great
Dragon, Ada guianensis, and the Smaller Dragon, Custa bicarinata.
All bear a certain amount of superficial resemblance to the Croco-
diles, and the Great Dragon grows to six feet in length, and is
found in many parts of South America. This large reptile runs up
the trunks of trees with facility, is quick when on the ground, and
it also swims, though not particularly well. It preys upon such
small animals as it can manage to seize, and chiefly frequents the
inundated savannahs and marshy localities, where it is seen bask-
ing in the sunshine ; but there is considerable difficulty in taking
this Lizard, as it makes generally for its burrow in some raised
spot, and bites desperately in self-defence. Its flesh is eaten, and
is considered a delicacy. Its eggs, also, are considerably esteemed
at Cayenne and other places, and each female lays some dozens of
them.
The family of Helodermide is founded on a very remarkable
Lizard from Mexico, the H. horridum, which is of the same size as
the Great Dragon, and in some respects approximates the following
Old World family of Varanide. Its back and sides are covered
with oblong, hexagonal, very convex and shield-like scales, and
the belly with oblong, rather convex plates; tail cylindrical,
with oblong, convex scales above, and flat, elongate, thin plates be-
neath. The head is somewhat flattened, and is covered with poly-
gonal, convex shields; the muzzle is rounded; and the teeth are
on the inner side of the jaws, incurved, with a groove on the front
of their inner side. The bite of this reptile is said to be severe.
The family of Varanide inhabit South-eastern Asia and its
islands, Africa, and Australia. In this family are comprised the
largest of existing Lizards, with the exception of the Crocodilide.
They are very commonly miscalled Iguanas by Europeans and
their descendants, in the countries where they are found. These
reptiles have a pyramid-shaped head, more or less elongated, and
covered with small and scale-like, but not imbricate, shields. Their
teeth are acute and compressed. The tongue is elongate, slender,
terminating in a long fork, and is retractile into a sheath at its
base. Their scales are small, equal on the sides and on the back,
and arranged in cross rings; those on the belly and tail are
I
114 SAURIANS.
square, in cross bands. Tail long, and ‘generally more or less
compressed. The feet are well developed, with five toes on each,
which are armed with strong claws. Most of them live near
water, and they are excellent swimmers, their long and com-
pressed tail serving as a propeller. Their movements on land
are not much less rapid than in the water. Several of the species
climb trees, and they are more or less nocturnal in their time of
action, though also about by day. They are exclusively carni-
vorous, feeding on the different water animals, and on the eggs
of birds, and likewise on those of other large reptiles; some of
them are also destructive to ducklings, and to various Snakes.
Dr. Giinther remarks that “their external nasal opening leads
into a spacious cavity situated in the snout; when the animal
dives, it closes the nasal aperture, and retaining a certain quantity
of air in that pouch, or rather in the two pouches, it is enabled
to remain under water for a prolonged period without the neces-
sity of rising to the surface in order to breathe. It is the same
plan of structure as that with which a large northern Seal
(Cystophora borealis) is provided.” In like manner, the air-bag
connected with the one developed lung of the Ophidians retains
the necessary supply of air during the tedious process of degluti-
tion or swallowing. ‘The nostrils are variously placed, either mid-
way between the eye and muzzle, or nearer to one or to the other ;
and according to this and some other differences, Dr. Gray divides
the Varanide into as many as seven genera, but Dr. Giinther would
seem to admit not more than two genera. When the tail of these
Lizards is mutilated, the lost portion is never renewed; whereas
in the preceding families of the Zonuride, Lacertide, and Teide
a new tail or portion of one soon sprouts forth—but this renewed
portion contains no bony vertebra, and it remains smooth exter-
nally; when the fracture is cleft, as sometimes happens, two
new tails are put forth. Another family of Lizards in which the
tail is thus commonly renewed is that of the Geckos; but never
in the Iguanide, the Agamid@, and the Chameleonide, any more
than in the Varanide. The species of this family defend them-
selves vigorously, when attacked, by lashing forth smart blows
with the tail, as do also the Crocodiles and the larger [guanide.
In the genus Varanus, the nasal apertures form an oblique
VARANIDA. 115
slit, in, or nearly in, the middle, between the eye and the tip of the
snout. The scales are elliptic and small; those on the back and
on the sides are not imbricate, each of them being surrounded by a
small, circular, granular fold. Tail with a low crest, formed by two
or four series of strongly keeled scales. Throat with a transverse
fold. One very common in India and Ceylon is the V. dracena,
which grows to a length of five feet, the tail being longer than the
body. ‘These reptiles live in holes, and in midday they steal out of
their cells to seek their food, which consists chiefly of the smaller
reptiles and of insects. In many parts of India, and in Ceylon, the
flesh is much eaten by the natives. The late Dr. Kelaart states
that he once tried some excellent soup made from it, which tasted
not unlike hare-soup. At Trincomali, he tells us, they are hunted
down by Dogs, and sold in the market for sixpence each. This
species climbs walls, and holds on so firmly with its strong claws,
wherever these can be inserted, that it is actually used by house-
breakers in India to help in raising themselves up a wall or
building, the man grasping the tail, while the reptile affords a lift
by endeavouring to escape from him upwards. It lays twenty or
thirty eggs, which in texture and appearance resemble those of many
Snakes, being similarly agglutinated together by a viscid mucus.
Sir J. E. Tennent remarks that “‘one of the earliest, if not the
first, remarkable animal to startle a stranger on arriving in Ceylon,
whilst wending his way from Point de Galle to Colombo, is this
large Lizard, which may be seen at noonday searching for Ants
and other insects in the midst of the highway and along the
fences. When disturbed, but by no means alarmed, by the
approach of Man, it moves off to a safe distance ; and the intrusion
being at an end, it returns again to the occupation in which it had
been interrupted. It lives in any convenient hollow, such as a
hole in the ground, or the deserted nests of the Termites; and
some small ones, which frequented my garden at Colombo, made
their retreat in the heart of a decayed tree.”
Of another species, V. favescens, which inhabits Lower Bengal,
and to the eastward in Burmah, &c., Mr. Theobald remarks that
“large specimens are not often procurable by Europeans, as they
are much sought after by both Burmese and Karéns as choice
articles of food. They are chiefly hunted with Dogs, whose scent
12
116 SAURIANS.
enables them to discover the Varans in the hollow trees in which
they habitually shelter themselves. A Burman, though ordinarily
a lazy man, will think nothing of cutting down and breaking up a
large tree in which one of these creatures has sought refuge. The
Varanide deposit their eggs in the ground, usually selecting a
deserted White-ant’s nest. The eggs are cylindrical, with taper-
ing ends, of a dirty white colour and leathery texture (those of
V. dracena are two inches long), and, being esteemed an uncom-
mon luxury by the Burmese, sell dearer than fowls’ eggs. They
are oily and feculent-looking, though devoid of any nauseous
odour, and some Europeans eat them with pleasure.
A well-known African species, the V. or Psammosaurus scincus,
extends (without the slightest difference) to the extreme desert
region of the north-west of India, and more habitually frequents
dry localities than others. In this species the nasal apertures are
placed very near the eyes.
In the genus Hydrosaurus, the nostrils are more or less
rounded, and are situate near the extremity of the snout. These
animals are more decidedly aquatic than the preceding, and
some of the species grow to seven or even eight feet in length.
Such is the H. giganteus of Australia, where three, if not four,
species inhabit. In all south-eastern Asia and its islands,
its range extending to Lower Bengal but not to India proper,
although found in Ceylon, the H. salvator is a common species,
which, according to the late Dr. Cantor, is ‘very numerous
in hilly and marshy localities of the Malayan peninsula. It is
commonly, during the day, observed in the branches of trees over-
hanging rivers, preying upon birds and their eggs and smaller
Lizards, and when disturbed it throws itself from a considerable
height into the water; it will courageously defend itself with
teeth and claws, and by blows with its tail.”
We have now to treat of the
PAcHyGLossa,
Which are those Lizards which have the tongue short, thick, at-
tached to the gullet, and not exsertile. These fall under two very
distinct tribes—the Strobilosaura and Nyctisaura of Dr. Gray, or
IGUANAS. 117
the tribe of the Iguanas and their kindred, and that of the Geckos
and their kindred. The tribe of
STROBILOSAURA
Have the scales of the back and sides imbricate, generally rhombic,
and those of the lower parts imbricate and of small size. Tail
with more or less distinct whorls of scales. The eyes diurnal,
with round pupil, and valvular lids. Feet with toes of very
unequal length. Many of these reptiles have a row of spines or
spine-like scales along the back and tail, which in some are very
long, while others have high dorsal and caudal crests, an expansile
gular pouch, or other adornments. Like the Varans among the
Leptoglossa (p. 114), these Lizards do not renew the tail, ora
portion of it, after mutilation. There are two great families of
them—one peculiar to the Old World with Australia, the other to
the New World ; but as families they do not differ much, and might
very well be retained as divisions of the same extensive family.
In the family of /guanide@, all of which inhabit America or its
islands, the teeth are round at the root, dilated and compressed at
the tip, and toothed at the edge; they are placed in a simple
series on the inner side of the jaws, just below the edge, and are
covered on the inner side by the gums; as they fall out they are
replaced by others, which grow at the base of their predecessors,
and gradually cause the absorption of their roots. Probably not
fewer than a hundred and fifty species are now recognised, which
are distributed under more than fifty genera. We can only
notice a few of the most remarkable of these Lizards, some of the
larger of which attain a length of five or six feet, with propor-
tionate bulk of body. As a general rule, the Jarger species are
mainly herbivorous, while the smaller are chiefly insectivorous,
though many of the latter also devour fruit. As most of them are
remarkable for their rapid changes of colouring, the name of
Chameleon is often misapplied to them, in the supposition that
the Chameleons are the only Lizards in which that curious phe- ”
nomenon is observable. In one remarkable species, the Spherops
anomalus, inhabiting Brazil, it is stated that the eye nearly re-
sembles that of the true Chameleons, and it is also one of those
which are particularly celebrated for its changes of hue. |
118 SAURIANS.
The name Jguana was given by Laurenti to a heterogeneous group
of Saurians, various forms being included which were first separated
by Daudin. The Iguanas, as thus restricted, are characterized by a
very large thin dew-lap under the neck, a double row of small
palatal teeth, and a crest on the back and tail; the latter long,
slender, compressed, and covered with small imbricated and cari-
nated scales. Messrs. Duméril and Bibron describe the genus, thus
modified, as principally remarkable for the cutaneous prolongation
which constitutes the deep and thin dew-lap, or pouch, the free
border of which describes a curved line, and is dentated at the part
Fic. 28.—Iguana tuberculata.
nearest the chin. The head is moderately long, and has the form
of a pyramid with four faces. The neck is slightly compressed,
the limbs long, the toes unequal and sometimes denticulate on the
edge. The five toes of the posterior feet are graduated ; the tail,
which is long and slender, is slightly flattened from right to left.
IGUANAS. 119
The Iguanas live chiefly on trees, but they take readily to the
water, swimming with great facility.
There are numerous species, all of which are found in South
America and the Antilles. In the Island of Isabella, Sir E. Belcher
found swarms of them which he had reason to consider omnivorous,
feeding voraciously on birds’ eggs and the intestines of birds and
insects.
The Common Iguana, J. tuberculata, which inhabits a great part
of South America, is one of the best known species of this family.
These reptiles are easily recognised from the large pouch under-
neath the neck, and the dentated crest which extends from the head
to the extremity of the tail. The tail, feet, and body are covered
with small scales. On the upper part, their colour is a more or less
decided green, sometimes becoming blue, at others slate-coloured ;
the lower part is of a yellowish green. The sides present zigzag,
roundish, brown scales, edged with yellow; frequently a yellow
line is traced obliquely in front of the shoulder, and some indi-
viduals are sprinkled with brown; others have the limbs spotted
with brown on a black ground. The tail is surrounded with
brownish rays alternating with others green and yellow. When
full grown it attains the length of four feet, but the more ordi-
nary length of the animals is about thirty inches. They are very
gentle creatures, and perfectly harmless, feeding almost exclu-
sively on vegetables. They are hunted in America for their flesh,
which is excellent; and they are especially common at Surinam,
in the neighbourhood of Cayenne, and in Brazil.
[Of a kindred species, Metopoceros cornutus, which also is
common in the Antilles, an excellent description has been pub-
lished by Lieutenant Tyler,* which we must endeavour to con-
dense. This reptile attains a length of five, and sometimes even
of six feet, the tail being about twice and three quarters the
length of the body. When first hatched it measures four inches.
The mouth is large, and isarmed with two rows of maxillary and
two of palatal teeth, which appear simply to be intended to crop
leaves and to provide the stomach with vegetable food. Each
maxillary tooth is a little double-edged saw, and they are so
lapped over each other that the reptile, in closing its mouth upon
* “ Proceedings of the Zoological Society ” for 1850, p. 106.
120 SAURIANS.
a leaf, cuts through it completely. The tongue is curiously used
by the animal to draw food into the mouth, and to forward it
down the gullet, or to repel it at will, and the only use of the
palatal teeth appears to be to secure the food while the tongue
moves forward to afford fresh assistance in its journey down the
throat, The tongue is always covered by a glutinous secretion,
which is perceptibly appended to the jaws when the mouth is
open. Between the lower jaw and the chest is a pouch, which the
animal draws in or extends simultaneously with the compression
or swelling out of the body when enraged or excited. The
portion of the gular pouch attached to the jaw is inflatable, and
food is sometimes retained in it for a considerable period, but the
lower part is merely extensible.
“Whilst always retaining the same colours, this Iguana has the
power of considerably changing its hues; but these changes are
gradually performed. The colours become more dull as the
period of the change of cuticle approaches—which is not, however,
very frequent. Each scale has its own tint, and the colours
being thus irregularly blended, an appearance is given, particu-
larly to the younger reptiles, very much lke that of worsted-
work.
“These Iguanas live principally on trees, and near the wind-
ward coast of the island” (of St. Lucia). ‘‘ They are not much
seen, excepting in the months of February, March, and April, when
they quit their hiding-places, and repair to the sea-shore or other
sandy places to lay their eggs in the sand. The older females lay
a great number of eggs. I have known an instance of one in
confinement laying five in one day, and thirty-two within the
space of ten minutes five days afterwards, making thirty-seven in
all. Younger females are much less prolific, according to their
size. The eggs are very liable to destruction by Ants, which fact
probably accounts for their being usually deposited in sea-sand.
They are soft, and without any white, and their shell resembles
the most beautiful kid leather used for French gloves, of a very
light straw-colour. They are about the size of those of a domestic
Pigeon, but rather longer; but they vary in dimensions according
to the age and size of the Iguana.
“This Iguana is not averse to water, when not too cold, taking
IGUANAS. 121
to it only when the sun is shining; in fact, not moving about
much at any other time. Its mode of swimming differs from that
of other Lizards, inasmuch as it places its four legs close by the
side of its body, and swims entirely with its tail. It dives with
great facility, and remains sometimes for a considerable time
under water. I believe that it never ventures into the sea. The
tail is a very valuable limb; for, besides being the sole means of
swimming possessed by the animal, it is of great use in climbing
trees, although not prehensile; and it is a most important weapon
of defence, a blow from it being frequently sufficient to inflict a
severe wound. In fact, this reptile is rather formidable when
brought to bay in the woods. It is hunted by the natives with
Dogs trained for the purpose. The Dog, immediately upon
scenting it, gives tongue, and, if on the ground, the Dog seizes it
by the back, and either kills it or maims it, which makes its
capture easy; if in a tree, the Iguana is either shaken down—a
matter ordinarily of no small difficulty—or the branch is cut off.
It is almost useless to attempt to find these reptiles without Dogs,
as the resemblance of their colour to that of the trees which they
inhabit prevents them from being easily seen. Few Dogs but
those accustomed to the sport will touch them, as, in addition to
the blows which they inflict with the tail, they bite and scratch
furiously ; and when once they lay hold of anything with their
teeth, they can only be made to let go by an inducement to bite
some other attractive object being offered to them. They run
into holes when chased, if an opportunity offers, and when their
eyes are hidden from view, they fancy that their whole body is
safely covered. The flesh, particularly of the female, is a great
delicacy ; it is cooked in various ways, sometimes in a fricassee,
with the eggs whole, sometimes roasted or stewed. The eggs
have a very glutinous consistence. The flesh is said to disagree
with some constitutions.
“Unless when caught young, it is very difficult to induce these
reptiles to feed in confinement, and particularly when watched.
Their disposition is sulky and savage, and I have known some of
them,” continues Lieutenant Tyler, “to die in confinement from
starvation, rather than feed. This has caused me to try the
following plan, which I find very successful, of affording them
122 SAURIANS.
nourishment :—I hold them by the lower part of the body with
one hand, and with the other I irritate them until they open their
mouth and attempt to bite, when I insert food; and by annoying
them in this way, I have not only made them eat their natural
food, but I have killed some of them by forcing them to eat corn
and leaves, which appear to have disagreed with them. By some
of the natives this Iguana is said to eat Lizards and insects; but
I have opened several, and I have never succeeded in finding any
but vegetable matter in the stomach.”
Of the habits of a kindred species of Iguana, the Cyclura lophura,
inhabiting Jamaica, Mr. Gosse has given an elaborate description ;
and he tells us that the gular pouch in the Jguanide “is exten-
sible, but not inflatable,” as is the current opinion. Holbrook and
others have remarked the same; and Professor Thomas Bell
describes the fold of skin as being drawn down by a peculiar
arrangement of the lingual bone, and a singular cartilage fixed to
it and attached also to the skin. These parts are moved by deli-
cate muscles, so that, when the cartilage is drawn down, the skin
of course is distended, and follows it “in the same way that the
silk is stretched over the whalebone of an umbrella.” “In fact
the skin,” writes Professor Holbrook, “ when distended in life by
the animal, does not resemble the inflated vocal sacs of the Frogs
and Toads, which are round, but looks like a fold of the skin,
pinched and drawn down, the two portions of it being in contact,
like a dewlap.” It appears that the Cyclura, also, is exclusively
herbivorous; and Mr. Gosse remarks upon the severe wounds
which it inflicts upon Dogs with its sharply-serrated tail. In
general, the larger species of this family are solely vegetable-
feeders, while the smaller kinds (such as the Anoles) are more or
less insectivorous ; and there are some, of intermediate size, which
even prey occasionally upon the kindred Anoles and other small
animals. The genera of these reptiles are exceedingly numerous,
as we have seen, and amongst so many there must be considerable
variety in the habits ; but we can only notice a very few of them.
Within the limited area of the small archipelago of the Gallapagos,
situate on the equator about ten degrees west of South America,
there are two remarkable species of Iguanide, of which the habits
have been described and commented upon by Mr. Darwin in his
IGUANAS. 123
volume of the “ Voyage of H.M.S. Beagle.” One of them is
particularly so, because, as that naturalist observes, it is the only
existing Saurian which can properly be said to be a maritime
animal. In the whole of that group of islands, as he tells us, there
is only one rill of fresh water that reaches the coast; yet this
reptile frequents the sea-beaches, and no other parts of the islands.
He adds that it is the only known existing Lizard that feeds
exclusively on aquatic productions. Although he refers both
species to the genus Amblyrhynchus, the aquatic sort now con-
stitutes the genus Oreocephalus of Dr. Gray, and it bears the name
of O. cristatus. This Lizard, according to Mr. Darwin, “is ex-
tremely common on all the islands throughout the archipelago of
the Gallapagos. It lives exclusively on the rocky sea-beaches,
and is never found—at least, I never saw one—even ten yards
inshore. It is a hideous*fooking creature, of a dirty black colour,
stupid and sluggish in its movements. The usual length of a full-
grown one is about a yard, but there are some even four feet long.
I have seen a large one which weighed twenty pounds. On the
island of Albemarle they seem to grow to a greater size than on
any other. These Lizards were occasionally seen some hundred
yards from the shore swimming about; and Captain Colnett, in
his ‘ Voyage,’ says, ‘they go out to sea in shoals to fish. With
respect to the object, I believe that he is mistaken ; but the fact
stated on so good an authority cannot be doubted. When in the
water the animal swims with perfect ease and quickness, by a
serpentine movement of its body and flattened tail—the legs,
during this time, being motionless and closely collapsed on its
sides. A seaman on board sank one, with a heavy weight attached
to it, thinking thus to kill it directly ; but when an hour after-
wards he drew up the line, the Lizard was quite active. Their
limbs and strong claws are admirably adapted for crawling over
the rugged and fissured masses of lava which everywhere there
form the coast. In such situations, a group of six or seven of
these ugly reptiles may oftentimes be seen on the black rocks,
a few feet above the surf, basking in the sun with outstretched
legs. I opened the stomachs of several,” continues Mr. Darwin,
‘and in each case found it largely distended with minced sea-weed
of that kind which grows in thin foliaceous expansions of a bright
124 SAURIANS.
green or dull red colour. I do not recollect having observed this
sea-weed in any quantity on the tidal rocks; and I havé reason
to believe that it grows at the bottom of the sea, at some little
distance from the coast. If such is the case, the object of
these animals occasionally going out to sea is explained. The
stomach contained nothing but the sea-weed. Mr. Bynoe, how-
ever, found a piece of a Crab in one; but this might have got in
accidentally. The intestines were large, as in other herbivorous
animals.”
The food of this Lizard, equally with its compressed form of
tail, and the certain fact of its having been seen voluntarily swim- -
ming out at sea, absolutely prove its aquatic habits; nevertheless,
as we are told by Mr. Darwin, “there is in this respect one
strange anomaly, namely, that when frightened it will not enter
the water. From this cause, it is easy to drive these Lizards down
to any little point overhanging the sea, where they will sooner
allow a person to catch hold of their tail than jump into the water.
They do not seem to have any notion of biting; but when much
frightened they squirt a drop of fluid from each nostril. One day
I carried one to a deep pool left by the retiring tide, and threw it
in several times as far as I was able. It invariably returned in a
direct line to the spot where I stood. It swam near the bottom,
with a very graceful and rapid movement, and occasionally aided
itself over the uneven ground with its feet. As soon as it arrived
near the margin, but still being under water, it either tried to
conceal itself in the tufts of sea-weed, or it entered some crevice.
When it thought the danger was passed, it crawled out on the dry
rocks, and shuffled away as quickly as it could. I several times
caught this same Lizard by driving it down to a point, and though
possessed of such perfect powers of diving and swimming, nothing
would induce it to enter the water; and as often as I threw it in,
it returned in the manner above described. Perhaps this singular
piece of apparent stupidity may be accounted for by the cireum-
stance that this reptile has no enemy whatever on shore, whereas
at sea it must often fall a prey to the numerous Sharks. Hence,
probably urged by a fixed and hereditary instinct that the shore
is its place of safety, whatever the emergency may be, it there
takes refuge. I asked several of the inhabitants if they knew
IGUANAS. 125
where it laid its eggs: they said, that although well acquainted
with the eggs of the other kind, they had not the least knowledge
of the manner in which this species is propagated—a fact, con-
sidering how common an animal this Lizard is, not a little extra-
ordinary. During our visit (in October) I saw extremely few
small individuals of this species, and none I should think under
a year old. From this circumstance it seems probable that the
breeding season had not commenced.”
The terrene species, Amblycephalus subcristatus, unlike the
aquatic one, is confined to the central islands of the Gallapagos
archipelago, where they inhabit both the higher and damp, as well
as the lower and sterile parts; but in the latter they are much
more numerous. ‘‘I cannot give a more forcible proof of their
numbers,”’ relates Mr. Darwin, ‘‘ than by stating that, when we were
left at James Island, we could not for some time find a spot free
from their burrows on which to pitch our tent. These Lizards,
like their brothers of the sea-kind, are ugly animals; and, from
their low facial angle, have a singularly stupid appearance. In
size, perhaps, they are a little inferior to the latter, but several of
them weighed between ten and fifteen pounds each. The colour
of their belly, front legs, and head (excepting the crown, which is
nearly white) is a dirty yellowish orange; the back is of a brownish
red, which, in the younger specimens, is darker. In their move-
ments they are lazy and half-torpid. When not frightened, they
slowly crawl along, with their tails and bellies dragging on the
ground. They often stop and doze for a moment, with closed
eyes, and hind legs spread out on the parched soil. These Lizards
inhabit burrows; which they sometimes excavate between frag-
ments of lava, but more generally on level patches of soft volcanic
sandstone. The holes do not appear to be very deep, and they
enter the ground at a small angle; so that when walking over one
of these Lizard warrens, the soil is constantly giving way, much
to the annoyance of the tired pedestrian. This animal, when
excavating its burrows, alternately works the opposite sides of its
body. One front leg for a short times scratches up the soil, and
throws it towards the hind foot, which is weil placed so as to heave
it beyond the mouth of the hole. This side of the body being
tired, the other takes up the task, and so alternately. I watched
126 SAURIANS.,
one for a long time,” continues Mr. Darwin, “till half of its body
was buried; I then walked up and pulled it by the tail; at this
it was greatly astonished, and soon shuffled up to see what was the
matter ; and then stared me in the face, as much as to say, ‘ What
made you pull my tail?’ They feed by day, and do not wander
far from their burrows; and, if frightened, they rush to them with
a most awkward gait. Except when running downhill, they
cannot move very fast; which appears chiefly owing to the lateral
position of their legs. They are not at all timorous; when atten-
tively watching any one, they curl up their tails, and raising them-
selves on their front legs, nod their head vertically, with a quick
movement, and try to look very fierce, but in reality they are not
at all so; if one just stamps the ground, down go their tails, and
off they shuffle as quickly as they can. I have several times
observed small fly-eating Lizards, when watching anything, nod
their heads in precisely the same manner; but I do not at all
know for what purpose. If the Amblyrhynchus is held, and
plagued with a stick, it will bite it very severely; but I caught
many by the tail, and they never tried to bite me. If two are
placed on the ground, and held together, they will fight and bite
each other till blood is drawn. ‘Those individuals (and they are
the greater number) which inhabit the lower country, can scarcely
taste a drop of water throughout the year; but they consume
much of the succulent cactus, the branches of which are occa-
sionally broken off by the wind. I have sometimes thrown a
piece to two or three when together ; and it was amusing enough
to see each trying to seize and carry it away in its mouth, like so
many hungry Dogs with a bone. They eat very deliberately, but
do not chew their food. The little birds are aware how harmless
these creatures are: I have seen one of the thick-billed Finches
(peculiar to the Gallapagos) picking at one end of a piece of cactus
—which is in request among all the animals of the lower region—
whilst a Lizard was eating at the other; and afterwards the little
bird, with the utmost indifference, hopped on the back of the
reptile. The stomachs of several that I opened were full of
vegetable fibres and leaves of different trees, especially of a species
of Acacia. In the upper region they live chiefly on the acid and
astringent berries of the guayavita, under which trees I have seen
BASILISK. 127
these Lizards and the huge Tortoises feeding together. To obtain
the acacia leaves, they crawl up the low, stunted trees; and it is
not uncommon to see one, or a pair, quietly browsing, whilst
seated on a branch several feet from the ground.
“The meat of these animals, when cooked, is white; and by
those whose stomachs rise above all prejudices, it is relished as
very good food. Humboldt has remarked, that in intertropical
South America, all Lizards which inhabit dry regions are esteemed
as delicacies for the table. The inhabitants of the Gallapagos say,
that those inhabiting the damp region drink water, but that the
others do not travel up for it from the sterile country, like the
gigantic Land Tortoises. At the time of our visit, the females
had within their bodies numerous large elongated eggs. These
they lay in their burrows, and the inhabitants seek them for
food.”’
These two curious Lizards of the Gallapagos agree nearly in
general structure, and in many of their habits; and neither of
them has that rapidity of movement which is characteristic of
various other Jguanide. The form of the head resembles a good
deal that of a land Tortoise, and we find the same form of head,
and again the same disinclination to bite, in certain herbivorous
Lizards, such as the Uromustyx and kindred forms, which are
referred by Dr. Gray to the corresponding Old World family of
Agamide. |
In the iamily of Iguanas the Basilisk may be noted. According
to ancient authors, fe eedueed by writers of the middle ages, the
Basilisk, although such a small animal, could produce instant death
by its sting. The man whose eyes met theirs was supposed to be
at once devoured by an intense fire. Such are the fabulous ideas
which tradition has transmitted to us about these animals. It is
to be remarked, however, that the Basilisk of modern herpetology
isnot the Baowwxos, or Royal Serpent, of the ancients, the Cocka-
trice of Scripture. The reptile which now bears the name is an
inoffensive animal, living in the forests of Guiana, Martinique,
and Mexico, and leaping from branch to branch, in order to gather
the seeds or seize the insects on which it feeds.
The Basilisk is distinguished from the other Iguanian Lizards
by the absence of the long and dilatable skin under the throat,
128 SAURIANS.
and by the presence of an elevated crest which runs along
the whole length of the back and tail.
The Hooded Basilisk, 5. americanus (Fig. 29), measures seven or
eight inches from the nose to origin of the tail, which is itself nearly
three times as long, being nineteen or twenty inches in length.
Upon the occiput it has a sort of horn or bag, in shape like a
hood, round at the summit, and slightly inclined towards the
neck. This bag, when distended, is about the size of a pullet’s
egg. In the male the back and tail are surmounted by a
raised crest, such as we have described above, sustained in its
Fig. 29.—Hooded Basilisk.
thickness by the knotty process of the vertebrz. The general
colour is a mixture of sandy brown, slightly marbled on the back
and sides, with shades of blue on the upper part, and a silvery
white underneath. On the throat are larger bands of brown,
and on each side of the eye is a white ray bordered with black,
which is lost upon the back; and the tail is so remarkably
attenuated towards its extremity as to show the articulations of the
vertebree beneath.
[According to Mr. O. Salvin, the Basilisk is very common about
Lanquin, in the province of Guatemala, where it may frequently
be seen on the low branches of a bush, and it is particularly fond
of basking on the boughs of a felled tree in a clearing near a
ANOLES. 129
stream. In some specimens of the males, we are informed, the tail is
much more compressed than in others. In a series of the young
the crest is shown in all stages of development. We also learn
from this naturalist that, notwithstanding the compressed form of
its tail, the Basilisk does not habitually enter the water, as most
writers have supposed.
The sub-family of Anoles (Anoliin@) have mostly the skin of
their toes widened (under the ante-penultimate phalanx) into an
oval disk, striated crosswise underneath, which enables them to
attach themselves to various surfaces. They do not attain the large
size of the Iguanas, and the habits and characteristics of the
various species inhabiting Jamaica are thus vividly described by
Mr. P. H. Gosse in his “ Naturalist’s Sojourn” in that beautiful
island. ‘The stranger,” he remarks, “walks into the dwelling-
house. Lizards, still Lizards, meet his eyes. The little Anoles
(A. todurus, A. opalinus, &c.) are chasing each other in and out
between the ja/ousies, now stopping to protrude from the throat a
broad disk of brilliant colour, crimson or orange, like the petal of
a flower, then withdrawing it, and again displaying it in
coquettish sport. Then one leaps a yard or two through the air
and alights on the back of his playfellow; and both struggle and
twist about in unimaginable contortions. Another is running up
and down on the plastered wall, catching the Ants as they roam
in black lines over its whitened surface; and another leaps from
the top of some piece of furniture upon the back of the visitor’s
chair, and scampers nimbly along the collar of his coat. It jumps
on the table ;—can it be the same? An instant ago it was of the
most beautiful golden green, except the base of the tail, which was
of a soft, ight, purple hue; now, as if changed by an enchanter’s
wand, it is of a dull sooty brown all over, and becomes momen-
tarily darker and darker, or mottled with dark and pale patches of
a most unpleasing aspect. Presently, however, the mental emotion,
whatever it was—anger, or fear, or dislike—has passed away, and
the lovely green hue sparkles in the glancing sunlight as before.”’
The green colour of certain of these Anoles so closely resembles
that of foliage, that they are apt to be overlooked. Thus Mr.
Gosse was about to throw a net over a Butterfly, when, as he
remarks, “on a slight rustle among the leaves, I observed that it
K
130 SAURIANS.
was fluttering as if unable to get away. My impression was that
an invisible Spider’s-web was holding it; but, looking closer, I
found that a little green Anolis had the Butterfly in its mouth.
Jts colour was so exactly that of the verdant leaves of the bush,
that I had not perceived it before, although my eyes were fixed on
the spot. I have also observed the same species feeding on Ants.
On a gateway a number of scattered Ants of a small kind were
running to and fro, as they very frequently are seen to do. A
beautiful male Anolis had stationed himself on the post perpen-
dicularly, with the head downwards, and as the Ants one by one
came near him he snapped them up. Lach capture was the work
of an instant; he touched the post with his muzzle, and the Ant
was gone: they were evidently seized with the lips, not with the
tongue. These little creatures are as playful as they are pretty.
As they creep about they often catch sight of another of the same
species ; immediately one suddenly raises and depresses the head
and fore-parts, flirts the tail from side to side, and extends the
goitre by means of the elastic arched bone in front, till its tip
reaches nearly as far as the muzzle. The brilliant goitre is thus
alternately extended and relaxed several times. After being thus
‘signalized’ for a few seconds, one darts towards the other, who
usually runs away, apparently as if wishing to be caught.” Else-
where Mr. Gosse describes the noosing of an example of a fine Lizard
of this Anolis group, the Dactyle Edwardsii, which is also a native
of Jamaica, “about a foot long, and of a lively green colour. He
was very savage, biting at everything near: presently his colour
began to change from green to blackish, till it was of an uniform
bluish black, with darker bands on the body, and a brownish black
on the tail ; the only trace of green was just around the eyes.”” He
was placed in a cage, and “at night,” continues Mr. Gosse, “I
observed him vividly green as at first—a token, as I presumed,
that he had in some measure recovered his equanimity. The next
day he continued very fierce. I hung the cage out in the sun ; two
or three times in the course of the day I observed him green, but
for the most part he was black. The changes were rather quickly
accomplished. The food of this Lizard appears to include both
vegetable and animal substances. I was never able to induce
one to eat in captivity; but the dissection of several has given me
LIZARDS. 131
this result. Thus in one I have found seeds and farinaceous
substance ; in another the fragments of a brilliant beetle of the
weevil group. I once observed one deliberately eat the ripe
glass-berries, munching half of one at a mouthful.” *
Thus far we have treated of chiefly arboreal Jguanide ; and
although a Marine Lizard (Trachycephalus cristatus) cannot well
be so designated, it nevertheless belongs to the same particular
series. We have next along series of mainly terrene genera of
the same great American family, in which the body is subtrigonal
or depressed. As many as twenty-two genera, with sixty-one
species of the terrene Jguanid@, were catalogued by Dr. Gray in
1845, and a good many have since been added. There is a cor-
responding series in the kindred Old World family of Agancide,
and in neither instance are the majority of them ground-frequent-
ing Lizards to any great extent. Thus, of Dr. Gray’s first
genus Tropidolipis (so named from its large keeled scales), and of
which as many as nine species are given from Mexico, a tenth
(T. undulatus, of the United States) is described by Professor
Holbrook to inhabit chiefly the pine-forests, where it is often
found under the bark of decaying trees; it also commonly chooses
old fences for its basking-place. “It is exceedingly rapid in its
motions, climbing with great facility to the tops of trees, and is
hence not taken alive without great trouble. Its food consists
of insects, especially such as are found under decaying wood.”
The colouring of this Lizard is remarkably brown, with narrow
zig-zag black bands above, and green below, with a white medium
stripe bordered with black ; throat and breast black, with a broad
green band across. Various species of kindred genera were
collected by Mr. Darwin, and are figured in the “ Zoology of
H.M.S. Beagle,” and of one of these (probably Lecolenus Dar-
winii), which he observed at Bahia Blanca, in Northern Patagonia,
he remarks that ‘it lives on the bare sand near the sea-coast, and
from its mottled colour, the brownish scales being speckled with
white, yellowish red, and dirty blue, can hardly be distinguished
from the surrounding surface. When frightened it attempts to
avoid discovery by feigning death, with outstretched legs, depressed
body, and closed eyes: if further molested, it buries itself with
* «A Naturalist’s Sojourn in Jamaica,” by P. H. Gosse, .
K2
132 SAURIANS.
great quickness in the loose sand. This Lizard, from its flattened
body and short legs, cannot run quickly.” With others these
Lizards constitute the sub-family Tropidolepine of Dr. Gray,
which are followed by the sub-family Phrynosomine, in which some
very singular Lizards find their place. The most extraordinary
of them constitute the genus Phrynosoma, four species of which
inhabit Western North America. These have great spines to
the occiput, in these respects resembling the African genus Cor-
dylus (p. 107), and very Toad-like proportions, looking somewhat
like Toads with short tails ; and again they decidedly approximate
in appearance to the curious Moloch horridus of Western Australia,
which belongs to the corresponding Old World family of Agan-
cide ; and, like that strange reptile, they are slow of motion, and
perfectly harmless, and they may be handled with impunity, as
they never attempt to bite. |
Fryine Lizarps.
Flying Lizards (Draco) have the head small, the nostrils
Fig. 30.—Flying Lizard (Draco volans).
in a scale, tubular, on the side ridge; tympanum white
and opaque. They live on trees, walking with agility with
their wings folded by their sides. These wings they expand
FLYING LIZARDS. 133
-and use as a parachute when they throw themselves upon their
prey from the tops of trees or other elevated places. But they
cannot move them as birds do their wings. These remarkable
appendages also serve to drive away insects.
[The fabulous Dragons of the ancient Greeks were Serpents or
Lizards with remarkably piercing sight, which guarded treasures
_and devoured men. The Dragons of medizval artists were frightful
and fantastic beings, one half Bat and the other half quadruped
or Serpent. The little Saurians which now bear the once
dreaded name are no less interesting, although they are no longer
monsters; they are distinguished from all other reptiles by a kind
of wing, which is a large fold of skin, or membrane, on each side of
the body. These wings are entirely independent of the other
members, being sustained by six false ribs, which do not surround.
the abdomen, but rather extend horizontally. They are the only
existing examples of our day of that organic arrangement which
distinguished the reptiles known under the name of Pterodactyl,
and which belonged to the jurassique period of geology.
Dr. Gray divides the Draconina into three genera, namely :—
I. Dracos, having the ears naked, nostrils below the fore ridge,
of which three species are described—viz., D). volans, the Flying
Lizard (Fig. 30), having the scales of the back broad, generally
smooth, those of the throat granular ; wings grey, fulvous, or brown,
spotted and marbled with black, sometimes forming four or five
oblique black bands near the outer edge; the sides with a series of
large keeled scales: the Timor Flying Lizard, D. viridis Timorensis
of Schlegel ; and the Fringed Flying Lizard, D. fimbriatus, keeled.
II. Draconella, of which there are two species, one D. Dussumieri,
having the nape crested; and D. hematopogon, the Red-throated
Dragon, without crest on the nape.
III. Dracunculus, of which five species are described—namely,
D. quinquefasciatus, the Banded Flying Lizard, nape not crested,
having a longitudinal fold ; ). /ineatus, having the nape crested,
the ears slightly concave; J. ornatus, wings grey, reticulated
with black, and having broad black bands at the edge ; the Spotted
Winged Dragon, D). maculatus, grey, and the wings black spotted ;
and D. spilopterus, having the wing reddish near the body. |
134 SAURIANS.
GEcKoTID®, oR TuIck-Tonevep Lizarps.
This singular family of Saurians have the head wide and
flattened, the mouth wide, the nostrils distant and lateral, the
eyes large, with short lids; the tongue short, fleshy, and capable
of slight elongation. The body is thick and short, low on the legs,
rather squat and depressed, with a belly trailing on the ground ;
back without crest. The skin is defended by granular scales,
interlaced with others of a tubercular character ; they are almost
always of a sombre colour. Their feet are short, wide apart, and
robust; they are furnished on the upper part with imbricated
lamin, which enable them to adhere firmly to the surface of even
the smoothest bodies, and to run with rapidity in all directions on
a plain surface, and even to remain stationary with the back
downwards, like the common house Fly. More generally, however,
their hooked and retractile claws, like those of cats, assist them
in climbing, crawling up trees, rocks, and even perpendicular
walls, and to remain there immovable for several hours. Their
flexible bodies mould themselves into the depressions of the sur-
face of the earth, in which they become scarcely visible, their
natural colour blending, and being confounded with, the colour
of the soil. Their eye-balls, which dilate and contract consider-
ably, protect them from the action of the sun’s rays, and enable
them, it is thought, to see in the dark. They are nocturnal,
avoid the sun’s rays, and catch their food in the chinks of rocks.
Their movements are rapid, silent, and sudden. They hibernate,
and are provided with fatty masses in the groin which are sup-
posed to be a provision for their nourishment during that period.
Geckos emit sounds which resemble the noise an equestrian
makes when he would encourage his horse — smacking their
tongues on the palate to produce the sound. They seek habita-
tions in which they can find food, and are timid, inoffensive, and
quite incapable of inflicting injury either by their bite or claws ;
but their repulsive appearance makes them objects of general
repugnance, and has caused evil properties to be attributed to
them. Thus people try to destroy them by every possible means.
There are about sixteen known species of Geckos distributed
in all quarters of the globe, but chiefly in warm countries.
GECKOTIDA. 135
[The Geckotide are divided into many genera, according to the
construction of the toes. Duméril refers to the comparative short-
ness and general structure of the feet and conformation of the
toes, which he describes and figures in detail. The lower surface
and the sole he states are very dilatable, and furnished with
small plates or lamelle, following or overlying each other in a
mode which varies in the different species. The nails are some-
times wanting on all the toes, but more frequently hooked, and
more or less retractile ; the toes sometimes united at the base, and
in Platydactylus the extremity of the toe expands into a fan shape,
as in the Tree Frogs. The membranous and soft plates of the
lower surface of the toes have various modifications in different
genera, which have been made the basis of their arrangement.
The Wall Gecko is supposed by Gesner to be the Lizard spoken
Fig. 31.—Platydactylus homalocephalus.
of by Aristophanes and Theophrastus, and the Tarentula of the
Italians: and there is little doubt that it was the ’AdxadaBorvpe
of Aristotle and the ancient Greeks; it clambered about their
walls catching spiders, on which it fed. Schneider has shown
it was the Sted/io of Pliny. Linnzus mentions three species, which
he places with his great genus Lacerta. Modern herpetologists,
following Cuvier and Duméril, class them according to the struc-
ture under the several genera Ascalabotes, Platydactylus, Hemi-
136 SAURIANS.
dactylus, Ptyodactylus, Thecadactylus, Stenodactylus, and Gymno-
dactylus. |
The Wall Gecko (P. homalocephalus), Fig. 31, is of an ashy
grey colour, as if powdered on the upper part of the body. It
is white underneath, and inhabits the islands of the Mediterranean,
as well as the countries which form the basin of that sea, such as
Italy, France, Spain, and Africa. They are generally found in old
walls ; they are, however, sometimes seen running on those of
modern habitations. They feed on all sorts of insects, particu-
larly on the dipterous insects and Arachnidans.
CHAMELEO. (LAURENTI.)
The genus Chameleo, of which ten species are described in the
British Museum Catalogue, are natives of Africa and Asia and
naturalised in Southern Europe. They live on trees, clinging to the
branches by their feet and prehensile tails; they move slowly and
with great caution, feeding upon insects, which they catch with
singular dexterity by the rapid elongation of their tongue, which
is viscid at the tip.
Certain groundless metaphors, deeply rooted in the popular
mind, have singularly distorted the truth in respect to these
reptiles. It is commonly believed that the Chameleon often
changes its shape, that it has no fixed colour belonging to itself,
but takes that of all objects which it approaches. This singular
idea has descended from very ancient times. According to the
reports of Theophrastus and Plutarch, the Chameleon takes all
colours in turn but white; according to Aristotle it changes
colour all over the body; but Ailian seems to have had views more
in accordance with those of modern observers, for he says when it
takes other colours than grey and disguises itself, it covers only
certain parts of the body with them. Altogether the ancients
made the Chameleon a very fantastic animal; hence in the familiar
comparisons of literature these fabulous beings serve as a type to
designate uncertain principles; to paint fawning men, who have
neither character nor individuality of their own, but who bend
themselves to the will and adopt the opinions of others. Putting
aside the imaginary attributes accorded to the Chameleon by the
fancies of the ancients, and painting them such as they are, we
CHAMELEONS. 137
still see in them animals most worthy of observation and highly
interesting to the naturalist, as well for the singular formation
of different parts of their bodies as for their remarkable habits,
and even for peculiarities which have given some sanction to the
errors and prejudices to which we have alluded.
Chameleons have compressed bodies ; the back round and pro-
jecting, or rather pyramidal; the skin granulated; the head
angular, with salient occiput resting on a short and thick neck ;
their legs are slender; the hind, as well as the fore toes are five ;
the tail prehensile and round. The eyes are very large and
protruding, their globes covered by a single shagreen-like eyelid,
which the animal can dilate or contract at will, but which
leaves little liberty to a small hole pierced at the centre, through
which a quick and rather brilliant eye-ball is perceived. The
eyes, in the Chameleon, are thus completely enveloped, as if
they were too delicate to sustain any glaring light; but this
is not all—their eyes have a singular mobility. By certain
special muscular arrangements they have the power to direct
them on objects either together or separate. Sometimes they turn
their eyes in such a manner that one eye looks back and the
other forward. With one eye they can see objects above them,
while with the other they can see those situated below. It is
a common saying in France, apphed to the Chameleon, “ that
it could look into Champagne and see Picardy in flames.”’
The vermiform and retractile tongue is also a most singular
organ. It is cylindrical, about six inches long, terminating
in a fleshy, dilatable, and somewhat tubular tip, which is covered
with a glutinous secretion, by the aid of which it seizes its
insect food, and draws it towards its mouth. The feet have
five very long and almost equal strong and hooked claws, but
the skin of the legs extends to the end of these toes, and
unites them in a very peculiar manner. Not only is this skin
attached to each of the toes, but it envelops them, and forms,
as it were, two bundles,—the one of three fingers, and the other
of two. From this structure one can anticipate the extreme differ-
ence which exists between the habits of Chameleons and those of
Lizards. These two bundles of long toes are placed in such a
manner as to enable them to seize the branches easily on which
138 SAURIANS.
they love to perch; they can grasp these branches by holding
on with one bundle of fingers before, and the other behind, in the
same manner as Woodpeckers, Cuckoos, and Parrots. Chameleons
are better able to preserve their equilibrium upon trees than upon
the ground; consequently they are more often seen in those
erial domiciles. Besides, their long and strong prehensile tail
serves them as a fifth limb. They swing themselves about lke
monkeys, grasping the small branches, and thus saving them-
selves from falling. Moreover, they are cautious, moving at all
times very slowly when going from one branch to another.
Walking becomes much more difficult for them when they rest
upon a level surface—groping their way as they advance, placing
their feet upon the earth, one after the other, with the greatest
circumspection. They also steady themselves on the ground
by the aid of their tail. In their walk they display a certain
erayity which contrasts with their diminutive size and the
agility which might be expected from them. Even when perched
upon a tree their movements exhibit a slowness and delibe-
ration that one would be inclined to say was affected. It is
true that the arrangement of their eyes, and the rapid move-
ments of their tongue, render personal activity superfluous in
their search for food. They can see their prey and their enemies
from a great distance, and in all directions. The latter they
readily avoid. As to their prey, when about to seize it, the
Chameleon rolls round its extraordinary eye-balls so as to bring
them to bear on the devoted object. As soon as it arrives within
range of the tongue, that organ is projected with unerring pre-
cision, returning into the mouth with the prey adhering to the
viscous tip. This tongue they can extend to a length sometimes
surpassing that of their body. The skin of the Chameleon
does not adhere to the muscles everywhere ; some spaces are left
free, into which the air penetrates, causing the skin to heave and
swell; this mechanism is voluntary, the animal having the power
of inflating or relaxing it at pleasure. When this great living
bladder is emptied, the animal may be said to resemble a bag
of gold-beaters’ skin filled with bones. Chameleons exhibit great
variation in their colours; that is to say, they may be almost
white, sometimes yellowish, at other times green, reddish, and
CHAMELEONS. 139
even black, either in portions, or all over their bodies. These
changes of colour were for a long time attributed to the greater
or less distention of the vast lungs they possess, and to the
corresponding modifications in the quantity of blood sent to the
skin; but this explanation is now abandoned. According to
Mr. Milne Edwards, the cause of these variations of colour lie
in the peculiar structure of their skin, in which there exists two
layers of membranous pigment, placed the one above the other,
but disposed in such a manner as to appear simultaneously under
the cuticle, and at other times so that the one hides the other.
Again, occasionally the cuticle is hidden under the superficial
pigment.
[Sixteen or seventeen species of Chameleon are described in the
British Museum Catalogue.
I. Having an erect fin on the back, the belly crested; which
includes the Fringed Chameleon, C. cristatus, a native of Fer-
nando Po.
II. Having the back high, and compressed belly and sides,
with a toothed crest; including the Side-crested Chameleon,
C. laterales, a native of Madagascar.
III. The back and belly having a toothed crest, the sides
simple, the scales small and equal, muzzle simple; including
the Common Chameleon, C. vulgaris, with many synonyms. It
is anative of the Hast Indies, is the recognised type of the family
(Fig. 32), and the one most commonly brought to England.
There are probably two varieties,—one from North Africa, which
is also found in Sicily and the South of Spain; the other, the
East Indian variety—C. Senegalensis, the Senegal Chameleon,
a native of West Africa; C. arpelis, from Ashantee and Ga-
boon; C. verrucosus, a native of Bourbon and Madagascar ;
the Rhinoceros Chameleon, C. rhinoceroceratus, also from Mada-
gascar.
IV. Having a toothed crest on the back, with the belly and
sides simple, the chin and muzzle simple; including C. tuder-
culiferus, a native of South Africa; C. cucullatus, the Hooded
Chameleon, a native of Madagascar; C. nasutus, having the chin
simple, and the muzzle compressed, and C. bifurcus, having the
muzzle in the male forked—both natives of Madagascar; C.
140 SAURIANS.
Tigris, Seychille Islands; C. ventralis, from South Africa, and
C. pumilus, from the Cape of Good Hope.
V. Having back and belly without crest; including C. Par-
Fig. 32.—Chameleo vulgaris.
sonii, a native of Madagascar; and C. Owenii, the Three-horned
Chameleon, from Fernando Po, and C. Brookesianus, an adult
species, from 8. W. Brookes’s collection.
EMYDOSAURIANS
Have the head large, covered with a thick skin, ears closed with
two valves, gape very wide, tongue short, jaws with a single series
of cone-shaped teeth inserted in sockets; back with a hard disc
formed of a longitudinal series of square keeled plates of hard
bony consistence embedded in the skin; the under surface covered
with smooth thin square plates; legs short, feet webbed, with
four to five tees, the three inner toes of each foot only armed with
claws.
They are divided into two groups :—
I. Crocodilide, having the lower canines fitting into a notch
in the edge of the upper jaw.
II. Alligatoride, having the canines fitting into a pit in the
upper jaw. |
CROCODILES. 141
CRocoDILEs.
The Shielded Saurians, as Duméril designates the largest of
living species of that order of reptiles, have the body depressed,
elongated, and protected on the back with a solid carinated
shield or buckler; the tail longer than the trunk, compressed
laterally, annulated and crested above; having four very short
feet ; the toes of the posterior feet united, or web-footed, each foot
having three claws only; head depressed and elongated into a
muzzle ; the gape of the mouth extending back beyond the skull ;
tongue fleshy, adherent ; teeth conical, simple, hollowed at the base
or towards the root, unequal in length, and in a single row. Such
is a brief summary of the family by Duméril and Bibron.
If the Eagle is the king of the air, the Tiger and the Lion the
tyrants of the forests, and the Whale the monarch of the deep,
the Crocodile has for the exercise of his undisputed control the
maritime shores of tropical seas and the borders of tropical rivers.
Living on the confines of land and water, this formidable rep-
tile is at all times the scourge of those human beings who are
compelled to reside near its haunts. Much larger than the Tiger,
Lion, or Eagle, the Crocodile surpasses all terrestrial animals,
with the exception of the Elephant, Hippopotamus, and some
Serpents, in its power of destruction.
Crocodiles have the head depressed and elongated into a muzzle,
in the front of which the nostrils are seen close to a fleshy tuber-
cule, and furnished with movable valves. The mouth opens up to
the ears; the jaws are of commensurate length, and are armed, as
we haye seen, with conical-pointed teeth, bent back, and disposed
in such a manner that when the mouth is closed they pass one
under the other. These teeth are implanted in a single row, and
continually maintained in a good condition by an organic system
which ensures their immediate reparation. In short, each tooth is
hollowed at the base in such a manner as to form the cell or sheath
of another tooth of a larger calibre. The new tooth, which presses
on, exercises a sort of absorption upon the base of the old hollow
tooth, so that the first is developed whilé the second is decaying.
In some species the front teeth of the lower jaw are so long and
142 SAURIANS.
sharp that they perforate the edge of the upper jaw and appear
above the muzzle when the mouth is closed. The lower jaw alone
is movable, and that only in a downward movement. The mouth is
without lips, consequently, whether walking or swimming, the
teeth of Crocodiles are always visible.
This formidable conformation gives to the Crocodile an aspect
at once terrible and alarming, which is increased by two wicked-
looking eyes placed obliquely and close together, surmounted by a
kind of eyebrow. The tail of these animals is very long, as thick
as the body at the junction, and in shape it is flat, like an oar;
this enables them to steer through the water like a fish, and to swim
with rapidity. They have four short legs, of which the hinder
have toes, united by a natatory membrane, and only three claws
to each foot. The skin is coriaceous, thick, and resistant; being
also protected by very thick knots intermingled with plates of
different size, according to the parts of the body they protect. On
the skull and face the skin adheres closely to the bone, and
there is no trace of scales.
Nature has provided for the safety of these animals by covering
them with a cuirass, the resistance of which is proof against
almost everything. Thus the scales which defend the back and the
upper part of the tail are square, and form hard transversal
bands possessed of great flexibility, which prevents them from
breaking. Down the centre of the back there is a hard crest,
which adds to the strength of their armour. This cuirass is in
many points proof against a bullet from a gun. ‘The plates
which cover the belly, the upper part of the head, neck, tail, and
legs are also arranged in transversal bands, but less hard, and
without crests. It is at these weaker and consequently vulnerable
parts that those inhabitants of the waters which are enemies to
Crocodiles manage to attack them successfully.
The general colour of the Crocodile is a dullish brown, with
sometimes a shade of green along the back; the head and the
sides are marked with green, or at least they have a greenish
tint, with blackish spots; the under part of the legs and belly
are of a yellowish grey. All these shades, however, vary with
age and sex, and the nature of the water in which the animals
live.
CROCODILES. 143
Crocodiles are oviparous, and their eggs are provided with
resistant shells. These eggs are deposited by the female in
some secluded place in the sand on the banks of the river, and
are hatched simply by the ambient heat, without any assistance
from the mother. The female Crocodiles of the Nile deposit their
eggs where the solar heat soon brings them to maturity. In
certain countries, such as the neighbourhood of Cayenne and
Surinam, the eggs are buried under a kind of mound which the
Aligators raise in damp places by gathering together leaves and
herbaceous stems. This vegetable debris undergoes a kind of fer-
mentation, the result of which is an increase of temperature, which,
joined to that of the atmosphere, produces the desired result.
Lacépéde describes an egg in the Museum of Natural History
in Paris, which was laid by a Crocodile fourteen feet in length,
which was killed in Upper Egypt. This egg is only two inches
and five lines in its greatest diameter; in its least diameter
it is one inch and eleven lines. It is oval and whitish. Its
shell is cretaceous in substance, like the eggs of birds, but
not so hard. At the time of their birth the little Crocodiles
are only about six inches in length, but their growth is very
rapid. They abound in large rivers in the tropics, and in
marshy places near their banks. They often come on shore, for
they are amphibious. In the night they watch for their prey.
They feed exclusively on flesh—that is to say on fish, small
Mammalians, aquatic birds, and reptiles. When they have seized
a large object they drag it under the water, where it soon
dies by asphyxia; there they leave it to macerate, when they eat
it by instalments. In this manner men are sometimes carried
away by Crocodiles, but it is contrary to the habits of the animal to
suppose that they are devoured immediately. When a Crocodile
has succeeded in seizing a negro, it does not devour him till
the body becomes decomposed, when it can tear it to pieces with
greater facility.
From the general structure of their bony framework it is diffi-
cult for Crocodiles to turn round or move otherwise than for-
ward. This circumstance renders it easy to escape their pursuit.
When chased by a Crocodile, it can be avoided by describing a
circle, or running in a succession of curves. Upon the banks
a
,
Fig. 33.—The Englishman and the Caiman, or the Cirenlar Flight.
ALLIGATORIDZ. 145
of the Lake of Nicaragua, in America, an Englishman was once pur-
sued by an Alligator which had surprised him when on its margin.
The animal was gaining upon him rapidly, when some Spaniards
who witnessed the scene cried out to him to run round it. Thus
fortunately warned the pursued dodged the Alligator, and escaped
from his dangerous enemy (Fig. 33).
[No specimens of the Crocodilide have been found in Europe,
and until very recently none had been found in Australia, but they
are very common in the new colony of Queensland, an Alligator
twenty feet long having been shot on the banks of the Mackenzie
river, which was afterwards exhibited at Rockhampton. Croco-
diles, properly so called, are found in Africa, Asia, and America.
The Gavials seem to be limited to the Ganges and other large
rivers in India. Besides the Gavial, Asia produces. three other
species, namely, C. vulgaris, C. galeatus, and C. bifurcatus. Of
the first, Siam is the chief locality ; the others are found in the
rivers which debouch into the Indian Ocean and the Ganges.
Tue ALLIGATORIDE
Include the Jacares, Alligators, and Caimans.
The Jacares have the head oblong and depressed, with a ridge
across the face in front of the eyes; teeth unequal, canines of the
lower jaw fitting into a pit in the upper jaw; toes only partially
webbed, eyelids fleshy, nostrils separated by a cartilage. Five
species are described—namely, J. fisspes, from Tropical America,
six feet in length; J. sclerops, from the Brazils; J. Nigra, also
from the Brazils; J. punctulatus, with triangular oblong head,
muzzle elongated, thin and flat, with a rounded point in front,
and a slight enlargement behind the nostrils; J. vallefrons, differ-
ing slightly from the above—both natives of the Brazils.
Alligators have the jaws oblong, much depressed, broad and
nearly parallel; forehead with a small longitudinal ridge between
the orbits; feet fringed, toes half webbed, the outer toes free;
nostrils separated by a bony septum rising from the upper edge,
muzzle lengthening with age. One species only is known, which
is a native of North America; it attains a length of six to seven
feet, and is known also as Crocodilus Mississipensis.
L
146 SAURIANS.
The Caimans have the jaws oblong, depressed, rounded, and
swollen at the end, without frontal ridges or maxillary pits;
teeth unequal, the lower canines fitting into pits in the upper
jaw; toes webbed. There are three species described—C. trigo-
natus, C. palpebrosus, and C. goddeceps, all natives of Tropical
America.
The Jacares, Alligators, and Caimans are natives of America,
which country is fruitful in other species of the family. C.
acutus is also found in Martinique and San Domingo; C. rhom-
bifor, at Cuba; A. palpebrosus, A. sclerops, A. punctulatus, and
A. cynocephalus are natives of the southern part of the Ame-
rican Continent ; and A. ductus is found im the north. |
The principal characteristics of the American Crocodile are
a head one-third its length, and a very short muzzle; teeth
unequal in shape and size, the fourth lower tooth being buried
in the upper jaw when the mouth is closed; the first teeth of
the lower jaw piercing the upper at a certain age, so as to appear ~
through the muzzle when closed. The hinder legs and feet
rounded, having neither crest nor indentation on their edges;
the intervals of the toes more than half covered with a short
membrane, forming semi-palmated feet.
It is generally admitted, as we have stated above, that there are
five species of this genera, all exclusively American, the type of
which is the Alligator, or Caiman. A. Mississipensis (Gray) belongs
properly to North America, through the whole southern extent of
which it is found. They are gregarious, living together in large
herds in the Mississippi and its southern tributaries ; they are also
found in the lakes and marshes of Louisiana, Carolina, and even as
far north as thirty degrees of north latitude. Alligators do not ap-
pear to leave fresh water. During the winter season they bury them-
selves in the mud of the marshes, and await in a state of torpor the
return of spring, which is the signal of their restoration to activity.
In the neighbourhood of Bayou Sarah, on the Mississippi, flats of
lakes and marshes stretch away to a vast extent on either bank;
every year these reservoirs are flooded by the overflow of the
river, when they are visited by myriads of fishes. The heat soon
partly dries up these lakes, leaving only about two feet deep of
water, thus displaying a vast amount of prey ready prepared for
THE CAIMAN. 147
the shore birds and Crocodiles. Millions of ibis, herons, cranes,
and cormorants wade into the water in pursuit of these fish.
In the deepest portions vast quantities of these imprisoned fish
accumulate, and these parts are known in the country as the Alli-
gators’ holes. Thither these reptiles crowd, pressing one against
the other, and they soon thoroughly clear it of the fish which
lately were in such dense crowds. As evaporation proceeds and the
marshes gradually dry up, the fish are more and more exposed to
their voracious enemies. The Alligators pursue and devour them
in the water, whilst the ibis destroys those which seek the banks
for refuge. Alligators fish chiefly during the night. In the
hours of darkness and obscurity they assemble in large herds,
chase the fish before them, driving them into some retired creek,
where they rejoice their hearts at the expense of the unfortunate
finny tribes, which they force into their widely opened mouths by
a lateral movement of their tails. On these occasions the clash-
ing of their jaws may be heard at the distance of a mile.
Alligators are found by thousands in Mexican waters, and nearly
all North American rivers to the south of them. In the beautiful
transparent waters of Lake Claro they abound, and are without
difficulty seen by the naked human eye. Here they are so closely
pressed one against the other that they resemble a raft of trees
recently felled, and the resemblance is further increased by the
colour of their backs and the bark of a newly-felled tree being
identical. In this united and immovable condition, while waiting
for their prey, the approach of a boat is disregarded ; but they
rush with avidity at everything animate which either falls or is
thrown into the lake. Many children of poor negro women
become a prey to the Caiman in this locality. They rarely, how-
ever, pursue men, yet they would not hesitate to devour them if
their imprudence has placed them close to their terrible jaws.
The natives of Mexico hunt the Caiman. When they meet an
isolated individual asleep, they throw a lasso round its body, and
when secured, gag it. After this operation, the victim’s career
is terminated by hammering on his head. There is another means
which the Indians use to capture the Caiman. They provide them-
selves with four pieces of hard wood about a foot long, and as thick
as a man’s finger, and pointed at each end; round these they tie
L 2
148 SAURIANS.
a cord in such a manner that, supposing the cord to be an arrow,
the four sticks would form the head of it. They then fasten the
other end of the cord round a tree, and bait with meat. This
device is thrown into the water. When the Caiman snaps at the
prey the points of the hook, on straining on the line, penetrate
into its flesh. Having waited till the Alligator is dead, it is drawn
from the water, when the captors further gratify their dislike and
spirit of revenge by breaking its skull with stones and sticks.
Another method of capturing Alligators is practised by the
residents on the upper waters of the giant river Orinoco. A tree
is bent (generally a bamboo is selected from its elasticity) till the
top is brought down to the butt, a bait is then placed on a sharp
hook, the line attached to it being fastened securely to the small
end of the bent tree, which is caused to relax its position by an
ingenious piece of mechanism which gives way the moment the
least strain is felt upon the line; the tree-point becoming thus.
released, straightens itself with great velocity, and drags the
victim from the water.
Frequently the Alligator, from constant pursuit and interrup-
tion, becomes excessively wary and difficult to destroy; when
such is the case, a live bait is sometimes successfully employed.
For instance, a Dog with a hook tied to his back is taken in a
canoe and dropped in the water; it is seldom the unfortunate cur
is permitted to swim far before being seized.
It is currently believed that the Alligator prefers dog-flesh to
all others. The negroes on the plantations in the South- Western
States of America, by imitating the barking of a dog, frequently
lure these reptiles from their hiding-places, when a well-directed
bullet terminates their career.
Alligators are very voracious, but, like Serpents and Turtles,
they can live a long time without nourishment. In Brown’s
“ Natural History of Jamaica,” he asserts that he has known the
Caiman to live several months without food. The following
experiments have been tried in that island:—The mouth of an
Alligator was muzzled by a strong cord, it was then thrown
into a reservoir of water. Thus these animals lived a consider-
able time. They were seen to rise occasionally to the surface
of the water, until death came to their rescue. Let us add to
THE ALLIGATOR. 149
this, that Crocodiles bred in captivity in the menagerie of the
Museum of Natural History, at Paris, sometimes live for several
months without eating.
The female Alligator takes more care of her young than the
Fig. 34.—Alligator ( Crocodilus luctus).
female Crocodile, properly so called. She conducts them to the
water, and in the slimy mud she disgorges her half-digested food
for their nourishment.
The TRUE CrocopiLEs are indigenous to Africa, but they are
found also in Manilla and India. Their length of head is almost
double its breadth. The fourth tooth of the lower jaw is the
longest and largest of all, and passes into an indentation hollowed
out in the edge of the upper jaw, becoming visible on the outside.
The hind feet have on their external edge a dentated crest, and
the interstices of their toes, externally, are palmated.
The principal type is the Common Crocodile, C. vulgaris, which
sometimes attains the length of nine or ten feet. The upper part
of the body of these reptiles is of an olive green colour spotted with
150 SAURIANS.
black, and marbled upon the head and neck with the same colour,
also the back and tail; two or three broad, oblique black bands
are visible upon the flanks of the under part of the body, which is
of a yellowish green. Crocodiles abound in Africa. Formerly
they were found in all parts of the Nile, but lately it is said that
C. vulgaris is no longer to be met with in the Delta, but that it
exists in great numbers in the Thebaid and in the Upper Nile.
They are also found in the rivers Senegal and Niger, in Caffraria,
and in Madagascar. Most authors give them the name of Croco-
diles of the Nile. This species are found also in India.
The Crocodile was considered a sacred animal by the ancient
Egyptians. In ruins of temples mummies of Crocodiles are still
found in a perfect state of preservation. The Romans introduced
living Crocodiles at the national games in the Colosseum. At first
only five were imported under the edileship of Scaurus. Under
the Emperor Augustus thirty-six were killed in the Circus of
Flaminius. Several ancient medals represent this reptile, the
body of which perfectly resembles that which now lives in the
waters and on the banks of the Nile. There is a truly wonderful
fact in the natural history of the Crocodile. Listen to what
Herodotus, the father of history, tells us with regard to it :—
“ When the Crocodile takes his food in the Nile, the interior of
its mouth is always covered with dded/a (flies). All birds, with one
single exception, flee from the Crocodile ; but this one, the Nile Bird,
Trochylus, far from avoiding it, flies towards the reptile with
the greatest eagerness, and renders it a very essential service.
Every time the Crocodile goes on shore to sleep, and at the moment
when it lies extended with open jaws, the Nile Bird enters the
mouth of the terrible animal and delivers it from the ddella which
it finds there ; the Crocodile shows its recognition of the service,
and never harms the bird.”
This fact, reported by Herodotus, was long considered to be a
fable, but the naturalist, Etienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, who
formed part of the commission that General Bonaparte took with
him in his expedition into Egypt, had on several occasions oppor-
tunities of proving the truth of the historian’s narrative.
In a memoir read to the Academy of Science on the 28th
of January, 1828, he says, “It is perfectly true that there
THE CROCODILE. 151
exists a little bird which flies about, perpetually seeking, even in
the mouth of the Crocodile, the insects which form the principal
part of its nourishment.” ‘This bird, which Geoffroy Saint-
Hilaire recognised as the Charadrius Atgyptius of ornithologists,
is like a Plover. The $édella, which thus torment the Croco-
diles, and even excite them to madness, are no other than our
European gnats. Myriads of these insects haunt the banks of
the Nile, and when these giants of its waters repose on its margin,
warming themselves in the sun, they become the prey of these in-
significant pigmies. It is like the war between the Lion and the
Mouse, described by La Fontaine. The ddel/a fly into the Croco-
diles’ mouths in such numbers that they cover the entire surface
of the palate, and form a brownish crust. These little pests
pierce the tongues of the reptiles with their stings. It is then
that this bird comes into the mouth of the monster to catch
them, and deliver it from such innumerable enemies. The
Crocodile with one bite could easily destroy the bird, but he
knows too well what he owes to this friend to do it an injury.
Crocodiles of the Nile are more voracious than the American
Alligators. Hasselquist asserts that in Upper Egypt they often
devour women who come to draw water from the Nile, as well as
children playing upon its banks. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire says,
that in the Thebaid they often met with Arabs wanting an arm
or leg, who accused Crocodiles of this mutilation. Sir Samuel
Baker also mentions, in his late work on the Nile and its tribu-
taries, the desire of these amphibia for human flesh, and the dread
they are held in by the natives. Livingstone, the celebrated.
traveller, gives the following account of an encounter he had with
one of these ferocious animals :—
“The Crocodile,” says the celebrated traveller, “makes many
victims every year among the children who are so imprudent as to
play on the banks of the Liambia when their mothers go to fetch
water. The Crocodile stupefies its victim with a blow from its tail,
then drags it inte the river, where it is soon drowned. In general,
when the Crocodile perceives a Man it dives, and furtively glides
away from the side which he occupies. Sometimes, on the other
hand, it precipitates itself with surprising agility towards the person
it has discovered, which may be noticed from the disturbance
152 SAURIANS.
caused on the surface of the water. An Antelope which is being
hunted and takes to the water, in the lagunes of the Barotsé valley,
a Man or a Dog who goes there to seek for game, will scarcely fail
to be seized by a Crocodile, of whose presence he has not the
slightest suspicion. It often happens that, after having danced in
the moonlight, the young natives of the river’s bank will often
plunge into the water in order to refresh themselves, when, being
seized by an Alligator, they perish.”
[This mode of attack (striking with the tail) is also one of the
methods adopted by the Alligator of America for disabling its
prey. A friend, on whose veracity I have much dependence, while
shooting wild fowl on one of the tributaries of the Lower Missis-
sippi, had the fortune to witness a fight between a Bear and an
Alligator. He was called to the scene of the struggle by the
noise made by the combatants, in the dry cane, that yielded to
their pressure as they fought in each other’s embrace. Several
times both ceased only to recover breath and fresh energy; at
length the Alligator missed striking the foe with its tail, Bruin
seized the opportunity, and with all his efforts succeeded in turning
the amphibian on its back, where he held him for some minutes, at
the same time gnawing one of the fore-shoulders. A final
struggle of the now worsted Alligator hurled both into the water,
where they disappeared, the’ disturbed surface telling of the
dreadful contest that was being prolonged beneath ; after the lapse
of over a minute the Bear came up, evidently much fatigued, and
swam ashore, my friend forbearing to wound, or possibly kill, the
gallant conqueror. |
Crocodiles, it is said, which have never eaten human flesh, are
much less dangerous than those that have acquired a taste for
it. Mr. Combes states that he was assured by an inhabitant of
Khartoum, who had reached the town with the Egyptian troops—
that is to say, before the horrors committed by the Desterdar, acting
with Mehemet Bey, who had been Governor of the Soudan some
time before Mr. Combes’s voyage—that the Crocodiles appeared to
be quite indifferent to human flesh; but after the many executions
by drowning ordered by Mehemet Bey, as he was told by a native
whom he interrogated——“ since the Nile has been loaded with the
carcasses of my. brethren”’—the monsters which inhabit it have
THE CROCODILE. 153
become habituated to substantial food, which they scarcely knew
before: so that afterwards those swimming in the river, or even
bathing on its banks, were exposed to imminent danger.
Natives of Africa shoot the Crocodile with a gun, or attack
it with a barbed javelin, which is thrown by hand, and aimed at
the fore-shoulder. Some Egyptians are reported to be daring
enough to swim under the Crocodile, and pierce him in the belly
with a dagger. The negroes of Senegal are said to be equally
expert. If they surprise the animals in parts of the river where
there is not sufficient water for them to swim, they attack the
monster with a lance; and with their left arm wrapped in a
sheet of leather, they commence by aiming with their weapon
at the eyes and throat; then they thrust the arm, encased in
leather, into its mouth, and, holding it open, their enemy is
either suffocated or expires under the wounds received. Traps
are also employed successfully for their destruction. In Egypt
the natives dig a deep hole in the ordinary route of the Croco-
diles, which is easily discovered by the trail they leave in the
sand. This hole is covered with branches and strewed with
earth. The Crocodile is now alarmed with loud cries, which
disturb and drive him back to the river, by the same way that
it has left it. As it passes over the treacherous hole it falls in,
when it is killed, often with the most brutal cruelty. At other
times a thick cord is attached to a large tree, and to the other
end of the cord a lamb is bound, held by a protruding hook. The
cries of the lamb attract the Crocodile, which, in its attempt to
carry off the bait, is taken by the hook.
Still another method for the destruction of these repulsive-
looking creatures has been adopted on one or two-occasions by
our countrymen in India. A dead animal is procured, in its abdo-
men is placed a loaded shell, to which is attached a wire made fast
to an electric battery ; when the bait has been seized and carried
to the bottom, the shell is exploded, which invariably maims or
kills the Crocodile.
The Gavials, or Indian Crocodiles, have long narrow cylindrical
muzzles, slightly inflated at the extremity; the teeth are almost
the same, both in number and shape, on each jaw, the two first
and the fourth of the lower jaw pass into notches or indentations
154 SAURIANS.
in the upper jaw, and not into holes, as in Crocodiles ; the hind legs
are dentated and palmated, like those of African Crocodiles. The
Gavials are chiefly remarkable for their long head, its type being
the Gavial of the Ganges, or Gavial longirostre. It is of a deep
watery green colour, having on the upper part numerous irregular
brown spots; in the young, the back and limbs are transversely
banded with black; the lower part is of a pale whitish yellow ;
the jaws are marked with brown, the claws are of a clear horn
colour. This species is not so carnivorous as the others, and is con-
sequently less dreaded.
The Gavial of the Ganges, G. Gangeticus, is supposed to be the
largest of the existing Saurians ; its length, as given by Duméril,
is seventeen feet four inches.
CHAPTER IV.
CHELONIANS, OR SHIELDED REPTILES.
[‘‘ THE body,” as described by Dr. Gray, “is covered with square
imbedded plates, generally forming a dorsal and ventral shield
united by their margins, leaving only the head, neck, limbs, and
tail free, and (in some species, as the Box-Tortoises, Cinasternon,
shut up by movable closely-fitting doors) only covered with a scaly
skin ; the upper shield formed of the ribs united together and
adherent to the dorsal vertebrze by a toothed suture, and surrounded
by a series of bones forming the edge of the shields; the lower
shield, or sternum, formed of four pairs and a central anterior
bone ; the jaws toothless, covered with a horny bill, rarely hid by
fleshy lips; eyelids distinct ; drum of the ear visible ; legs short
and thick ; tail conical.” ‘‘The natural dwelling chamber of the
Chelonia consists chiefly,” says Professor Owen, “and in the
marine species (Chelone) and Mud Turtles (Trionyx) solely, of the
floor and the roof; side-walls of variable extent are added to the
fresh-water species (Emydians) and Land Tortoises (Testudinians).
The whole consists of ‘ osseous plates,’ with superincumbent horny
plates, or ‘scutes,’ except in the Soft or Mud Turtles (Trionyz
and Sphargis), in both of which these are wanting.”’—(“ Circle of
the Sciences.’’)
These animals, to which a portable stronghold is thus given
in compensation for inferior powers of locomotion and defence,
are recognisable at a glance from the singular armour with
which Nature has provided them. A double shield envelopes all
parts of their bodies, only permitting the head, neck, legs, and
156 CHELONIANS.
tail to pass through it: moreover, all these organs can be hidden
within this double cuirass by means of a retractile power pos-
sessed by the animal. This double armour consists of a carapace,
or back-piece, and plastron, or breast-plate, composed of a series
of small bones or plates closely united together ; the first resulting
from the union of the sides and dorsal vertebre, the plastron, or
lower buckler, being only a highly-developed sternum. These
organs are merely portions of the skeleton, which, in place of being
lodged in the depths of the soft parts, has become the superficies,
which is only covered by a thin, dry skin.
This numerous and highly-interesting order of Reptiles, called
Chelonia, from yedwvy, a Tortoise, are also called Testudinata, from
testudo, the Latin name for a Tortoise, from the double shield in
which the bodies of all, whether terrestrial, fresh-water, or marine
Tortoises, are enclosed.
The skeleton of the Tortoise is, perhaps, the most extraordinary
structure with which we are acquainted. This oddly-organised
animal when first seen strikes the beholder with astonishment.
The carapace and plastron, with their connecting plates, form a sort
of protecting box, in which the animal lives, its head and tail ex-
cepted. In the land Turtles the head and feet, which are compara-
tively senseless, can be withdrawn within the protecting armour.
The ribs and sternum are both placed quite on the exterior of
the body, so as to form a broad dorsal shield on the upper surface,
and an equally strong ventral plate; between these, the limbs and
the head can be more or less completely retracted. Nevertheless,
the modifications in the arrangement of the elements by which
these changes are accomplished are of the simplest nature. In
the common Tortoise, Emys Europeus, the vertebree of the neck
and tail being connected together in the ordinary manner, the
neck and caudal region of the spine present their usual flexibility,
but the dorsal vertebree are strangely distorted, the upper arch
being disproportionately developed, while the bodies remain almost
in a rudimentary state; the spinous processes of these vertebrae
are flattened and converted into broad osseous plates, which form
a longitudinal series along the centre of the back, and connected
together by means of sutures. The ribs are changed into broad
flat bones firmly united by sutures to each other, and also to the
TORTOISES. 157
lateral margins of the spinous processes of the vertebra, so that
they form together a single broad plate ; the heads of the ribs are
feebly developed, and the intervals between them and the bodies
of the vertebra filled up with ligament. The margin of the shield
thus formed by the dorsal ribs is further enlarged by a third set
of flat bones fixed by sutures around the whole circumference of
the carapace.
The plastron, or ventral plate, is made up of nine pieces, of
which eight are arranged in pairs ; but the ninth, which is always
placed between the four pieces composing the two anterior pairs,
is single, and occupies the mesial line. The bones of the shoulder
and hip are placed within the thorax, and articulated to the sides
of the vertebral column.
Of this vertebral column in these extraordinary animals, Pro-
fessor Owen remarks that the manifold modifications of the
framework which render it a portable abode, appear to have been
given as a compensation for inferior powers of locomotion, and the
absence of offensive weapons. But with all its modifications, the
same number of pieces are found in the bony skeleton as in other
ordinary vertebratz, the form and volume of many of these pieces
being alone changed.
The skin which covers the body of these animals sometimes
preserves its softness, being altogether devoid of scales; but in
nearly all the species it is covered with horny scales of great con-
sistency. Upon the plastron and carapace these scales form large
plates, the arrangements and appearances of which vary in dif-
ferent species, some of them being often remarkably beautiful.
The material which bears the name of Tortoise-shell forms an
important article of commerce.
Aristotle mentions three groups of Tortoises; namely, yeAwy-
xepoaa, or Land Tortoises; 6adarria, or Sea Tortoises ; and Ewis,
or Freshwater Tortoises. Cuvier divides them into five sub-
genera :—1, Land Tortoises, Zestudo (Brogniart) ; 2, Fresh-water
Tortoises, Emydes (Brogniart); 38, Marine Tortoises, Chelque
' (Cuvier); 4, Chelydes, Testudo fimbriata ; 5, Soft Tortoises, Trionya
(Geoffrey)—in which he is followed by Dr. Gray in the British
158 CHELONIANS.
Museum Catalogue, who makes them the third order of Reptiles
in his arrangement as follows :—
I. TESTUDINIDA.
Testudo, Chersina, Kinixys, Pyxis.
Il. EMypID&.
Geoemyda, Emys, Cyclemys, Malaclemys, Cistudo, Kinosternon,
Chelydra, Platysternum.
Ill. CHELYDIDZ.
Sternotherus, Pelomedusa, Hydraspis, Chelymys, Phrynops, Chelodina,
Hydromedusa, Chelys, Peltocephalus, Padocnemis.
IV. TRIONYCID.
Trionyx, Emyda.
VY. CHELONIADA.
Sphargis, Chelonia, Caretta, Casuana.
In the valuable “ Erpétologie”’ of Messrs. Duméril and Bibron,
the Chelonians are divided into—1, Land Tortoises, Chersites ; 2,
Marsh Tortoises, Mlodites ; 3, River Tortoises, Potamites ; 4, Sea
Tortoises, or Turtles, Thalassites.
This arrangement being the most simple, is adopted as best
adapted to our purpose. |
Lanp TorrotsEs.
Terrestrial Tortoises are distinguished by their short, oval, and
convex bodies, covered by carapace and plastron; four feet, and
the absence of teeth ; short, stumpy, unshapely legs ; nearly equal
toes, armed with claws, united by a thick skin, so as to form a
clumsy foot, the periphery of which forms a sort of hoof, which
seems adapted for the land.
In this group the carapace is very convex, its height sometimes
exceeding its breadth; it forms a solid, generally an immovable,
arch, under which the animal can completely conceal its feet and
tail. This duckler is covered with large horny plates or scales.
' Land Tortoises have been known from the earliest times, repre-
sentations of them being found on numerous monuments of anti-
quity, the product of ancient art. Moreover, ancient writers tell
LAND TORTOISES. 159
us that the carapace of the Tortoise contributed its substance to
the formation of the first lyre; it was consequently sacred to
Mercury as the deity of music and inventor of that instrument.
The Land Tortoises are divided into four genera, which Duméril
and Bibron again divide into three sub-genera and thirty species.
The most interesting species, however, to which we must limit
our remarks are—the Marginate Tortoise, Testudo marginato ; the
Moorish Tortoise, Testudo Mauritianica; the Greek Tortoise,
Testudo Greca ; and the Elephantine Tortoise, Testudo elephantina.
The Margined Tortoise, which was long confounded with the
Greek Tortoise, is found abundantly throughout the Morea, in
Egypt, and upon the Barbary coasts. The carapace is oval in
form, oblong, convex, and much dilated at the posterior margin,
and nearly horizontal; the plastron is movable behind, which is
its chief sub-generic character; the tail is thick, conical, and
scarcely issues from the carapace. The plates of the disc are of a
blackish-brown, presenting towards the centre certain spots of a
beautiful yellow colour; the marginal plates are habitually orna-
Fig. 35.—Testudo Mauritianica.
mented with two triangular spots, one yellow, the other black.
The underpart of the body is of a dirty yellow, with one large
triangular black spot upon six or eight of the sternal scales. This
Tortoise is of medium size.
The Moorish Tortoise, Testudo Mauritianica, is commonly found
in the neighbourhood of Algiers, and along the coast of Morocco,
160 CHELONIANS.
whence those are sent which are sold in the Paris markets.
When shooting in Morocco, scarcely a day would pass without
the setters or pointers finding numbers of them, to which they
would stand with as much staunchness as game. The scent they
emit is so powerful as to be easily detected by a human being.
The carapace of this species is also convex ; the sternum is also
movable behind: it is generally olive-coloured. The plates of the
disc are marked with blackish spots, and sometimes with a buckle
of the same colour, which covers their circumference on the front
and sides. The plates of the plastron, the ground of which is
olive, have each a large black spot in the centre. This species is
rather smaller than the Marginate Tortoise.
The Greek Tortoise, Testudo Greca, is of small dimensions,
scarcely exceeding twelve inches in length. They inhabit Greece,
Italy, some of the Mediterranean isles, and the south of France,
from whence it seems to have been transplanted into Italy. They
feed upon herbs, roots, slugs, and lob-worms. Like all their race,
they sleep during the winter, passing this season in holes which
they excavate in the soil sometimes more than thirty inches deep.
As the month of May approaches they issue from their retreat,
resorting to some sheltered sandy place, where they bask them-
selves in the sun’s rays. Towards the month of June the females
lay from twelve to fourteen white spherical eggs, as large as a
small walnut ; they dispose these eggs in a hole exposed to the sun;
but covered over with earth. Thus the operation of hatching is
performed. The carapace of this species is oval and very much
arched; their marginal plates are twenty-five in number; the
plastron, which is almost as long as the carapace, is separated
into two great portions by a longitudinal line; the plates of
the carapace are spotted with black and greenish yellow, forming
a large marbled pattern ; the centre of the disc is besides relieved
by a small, irregular, blackish, central spot. These three species
are held in high estimation on account of their flesh, which gives
an agreeable taste to soup.
The Elephantine Tortoise, Testudo elephantina, the length of
which is more than three feet, inhabits most of the islands
situated in the Mozambique Channel—namely, between the
eastern coast of Africa and the Isle of Madagascar. The Museum
MARSH TORTOISES. 161
of Natural History at Paris had specimens of this Tortoise which
lived more than twelve months, and which weighed about six
hundred pounds. Their flesh is extremely delicate, and much
sought after.
In some other Terrestrial Tortoises, from which the genus Pyzis
has been formed, the anterior portion of the plastron is movable ;
and when the head and feet are drawn in, the animal can fasten
itself against the sides of the carapace like a door in its case.
In some Terrestrial Tortoises, which have been formed into par-
ticular genera, the carapace is flexible, and can lower itself behind
‘like the plastron; these are Kinixys. Lastly, there are others
which, for legs, have only four unguiculated toes: such as the
Homopodes.
Marsu TorvolseEs.
Marsh Tortoises, EJodites, occupy a place between Terrestrial
Tortoises and those which are essentially aquatic. They have the
carapace more or less depressed, oval, and broader behind ; their feet
have distinct flexible toes supplied with hooked claws, of which the
phalanges are united at the base by means of an elastic skin, which
enables them to separate one from the other, at the same time
preserving their strength and assisting them to grasp a much
larger surface. Thus they can walk upon the ground, swim on the
surface of deep waters, and climb up the banks of lakes or other
tranquil waters, which are their habitual dwelling-places.
These Tortoises are generally of small size; being carnivorous,
they feed upon small living animals. As they exhale a nauseous
odour they are not used as an article of food; and further, as
their carapace is neither thick enough nor beautiful enough to
be manufactured as tortoise-shell, they are consequently little
sought after. There are a hundred species of Elodians, or
Marsh Tortoises, known, which are spread over all parts of the
globe, but principally in warm and temperate regions. Such are
the Cistudo, Emydes, and Trionyx.
The Elodians have none of the sluggishness of the Land
Tortoises ; they swim with facility, and on land they walk with con-
siderable rapidity. Their eggs are white, and nearly spherical, with
a calcareous shell, and these are deposited in a hollow dug in the soil
M
162 CHELONIANS.
or sand, like the Land Tortoises, the place chosen being generally
situated on the banks of some secluded stream; the number of
eggs increasing as the animal approaches maturity.
The Elodians are divided into Cryptoderes and Pleuroderes :
the former distinguished from the latter by the retractile power
they possess of concealing their cylindrical neck, with its sheath
of loose skin, under the middle of the carapace; the head, whose
width is nearly equal to its height at the occiput ; the eyes always
lateral, and their orbit so large that the diameter of the cavity
nearly equals a fourth of the whole cranium ; and the jaws, which
are strong, sometimes trenchant, in others are dentated on the edge.
In the larger number of species the anterior extremity of the upper
beak is notched with a strong tooth on each side, producing the
appearance of a beak closely resembling that of birds of prey.
Fig. 36.—Mud Tortoise (Cistudo Europea).
The Mud Tortoises, Cistudo, sometimes called the Yellow Tor-
toise (Fig. 36) are very abundant in Europe. They are found in
Greece, Italy, Spain, Portugal, and in the southern provinces of
France; also in Hungary, Germany, and as far north as Prussia.
They inhabit lakes, marshes, and ponds, at the bottom of which
they bury themselves in the mud. Occasionally they come to the
surface of the water, and remain there for hours. They live
priicipally upon insects, mollusks, aquatic worms, and small
MARSH TORTOISES. 163
fishes. Although the flesh of the Mud Tortoise is far from being
palatable, it is nevertheless eaten in countries where they
are common.
Fig. 37.—Emydes Caspica.
The Emydes are divided into four considerable groups, namely,
the European group, of which Fig. 37, E. Caspica, is typical;
Fig. 38.—Chelys matamata.
the American group, containing twelve or fourteen species; the
African Hmys ; and the Oriental group of twelve species.
M2
164 ‘ CHELONIANS.
The Pleuroderes have the neck retractile on one side of the
carapace, without their having the power of drawing it between
their fore feet, and under the buckler and plastron, like the
Cryptoderes. Chelys matamata (Fig. 38) belongs to this division.
This species lives in stagnant water, and is altogether remark-
able for its singular appearance—for its depressed, wide, and tri-
angular nostrils, prolonged into a proboscis; its wide gape,
rounded jaws, and the cutaneous appendages to the chin. This
is sometimes called the Bearded Tortoise.
PorTaMIANns, oR River Torroisss.
The River Tortoises live constantly in the water, only coming
to land occasionally ; they swim with much ease below and
on the surface. The carapace is very broad and flat; the toes
united up to the claws by broad flexible membranes. These
membranes change the feet into true paddles, which perform
the office of oars. They seem to attain a considerable size,
one kept by Pennant for three months weighing twenty pounds,
its buckler not reckoned; the neck measuring twenty inches
in length. The upper parts of their bodies vary in tint from
brown to grey, with irregularly marbled, dotted, or ocellated
spots; the underpart is a pale white, rosy, or purple tint. Sinuous
brown, black, or yellow lines are symmetrically disposed on the
right and left, principally on the neck and on the limbs.
During the night, when they think themselves safe, the River
Tortoises seek repose on the rocks and islets, or on timber floating in
the rivers, from which they plunge into the water on the slightest
noise. These Tortoises, which accommodate themselves so perfectly
to the medium that they inhabit, are continually at war with
the fishes, reptiles, mollusks, and other denizens of the rivers.
They are voracious and active, and are relentless enemies to the
young of fishes, and especially of Crocodiles.
The carapace of the River Tortoise, Trionyx, is soft, covered with
a flexible cartilaginous skin resting on a greatly-depressed osseous
disk; its upper surface is covered with shrivelled sinuosities. As
they are destitute of scales these Tortoises are said to be soft;
their flesh is much esteemed, and they are angled for with hook
and line, baited with small fishes or living worms and mollusks, or
RIVER TORTOISE. 165
with dead bait, to which the sportsman gives motion and apparent
life, for they are said never to approach dead prey. When they
seize their victim, or defend themselves, they dart out their head
and long neck with great rapidity, biting sharply with their
trenchant beak, and holding on till they have bitten out the
piece. From this peculiarity they are commonly known in the
United States as the Snapping Turtle. Persons wading have been
known to lose toes from their bite.
M. Lesueur states that towards the beginning of May the
Fig. 39.—Trionyx ASgyptiacus.
females of Gymnopus spinifera, belonging to this division, seek
out sunny sandy spots on the river’s bank for the deposit of their
eggs; they are not deterred from choosing steeps of ten or fifteen
feet for this purpose. Their eggs are spherical, and more fragile
than those of the Marsh Tortoise. They deposit from fifty to
sixty at a time. None of this group are found in Europe. The
fresh-water lakes and rivers of the warmer regions, such as the
Nile and the Niger, in Africa, the Mississippi, the Ohio, and the
166 CHELONIANS.
Amazon rivers, in America, the Euphrates and the Ganges, in
Asia, are its habitats. Among other remarkable species in the
group we here represent Trionyx gyptiacus, Fig. 39, supposed
to be the Epis of Aristotle.
No modern naturalist has done more to illustrate the habits of
the Fresh-water Turtle than Mr. Bates, in his highly interesting
work, “The Naturalist on the Amazon.” “The great Fresh-
water Turtle (probably Platemys c@fipes) of the Amazon or
Solimoens grows on the upper river,” he says, “to an immense
size, a full-grown one measuring nearly three feet in length, by
two in breadth, and is a load for the strongest Indian. Every
house (in Ega) has a little pond called a corral, or pen in the
back-yard, to hold a stock of these animals through the season of
dearth—the wet months. Those who have a number of Indians in
their employ send them out for weeks, when the waters are low,
to collect a stock, and those who have not purchase their
supply—this is attended with some difficulty however, as they
are rarely offered for sale. The price of Turtles, like that of
other articles of food, has risen greatly since the introduction
of steam-vessels. Thus, when I arrived, in 1850, a middle-sized
one could be bought for ninepence, but when I left, in 1859, they
were with difficulty obtained for eight or nine shillings each.
The abundance of Turtles varies with the amount of diurnal subsi-
dence of the waters. When the river sinks less than the average,
they are scarce; but when high waters have prevailed, they can
be caught in abundance, their haunts being less restricted, and
appropriate breeding-places more numerous.
“The flesh is very tender, palatable, and wholesome; but it is
very cloying, and every one ends sooner or later by becoming
thoroughly surfeited. I became so sick of Turtle in the course of
two years that I could not bear the smell of it, although nothing
else was to be had; consequently I suffered from actual hunger.”
One of the most amusing sketches in Mr. Bates’ book is a journey
he made on the Solimoens, during which he visited the praias, or
sand-islands, the Turtle-pools in the forests, and the by-streams
and lakes of the great river. His companion was Cardozo, who
was a sort of official superintendent of the diggers for Turtles’ eggs
on the sand-banks of Shimuni, the island lying nearest to Ega.
FRESH-WATER TURTLES. 167
There are four or five of these Royal Praias, as they are called, in
the district, each having its commandant, whose business is to see
that every inhabitant has an equal chance in the egg-field.
“The pregnant Turtles descend from the interior pools of the
main river in July and August, before the outlets dry up, and seek
their favourite sand-island in countless swarms; for it is only a
few praias that are selected by them out of the great number
existing. When hatched, the young animals remain in the pools
throughout the dry season ; for these breeding-places of the Turtle
then le from twenty to thirty feet above the level of the river, and
are accessible only by cutting a path through the dense forest.’? On
the 26th of September Mr. Bates left Ega with his companion, who
was about to visit the sentinels placed to mark when and where the
Turtles laid their eggs. Their conveyance was a stoutly-built canoe,
or wareté, arranged for two paddlers, with an arched covering in
the stern, under which three persons could sleep pretty comfort-
ably. The swift current of the Solimoens carried them rapidly to
the large wooded island of Baria, which divides the river into two
broad channels. Shimuni lies in the middle of the north-easterly
passage. They were quickly paddled across, reaching it an hour
before sunset. The island is about three miles long and half a
mile broad. The forest which covers it rises to an immense
uniform height, presenting all round a compact and impervious
front, the uniformity being interrupted here and there by a singular
tree, called Mulatto wood, whose polished dark-green trunk is seen
conspicuously through the mass of vegetation. The sand-bank lies at
the upper end of the island, and extends several miles, presenting
an irregular surface of ridges and hollows. At the further shore to
the north-east, where no forest line shuts out the view, the white,
rolling, sandy plain stretches away to the horizon; to the south-
west a channel, about a mile in breadth, separates Baria from
Shimuni.
Arrived at this island, Mr. Bates proceeds to describe with great
minuteness the operations of the Turtles, as well as those of the
sentinels placed to watch them.
“We found two sentinels,” he says, ‘lodged in a corner of the
praia, where it commences at the foot of the towering forest west
of the island, having built themselves a little rancho with poles
168 CHELONIANS.
and palm-leaves. Great precautions are obliged to be taken to
avoid disturbing the vigilant Turtles, which, previous to crawling
ashore to lay, assemble in great shoals off the sand-bank. The
men during this time take care not to show themselves, and they
warn off any fisherman who attempts to pass near the place; for
the passage of a boat, or the sight of a man, or a fire on the sand-
bank, would prevent their laying their eggs that night, and if
repeated, they would forsake the praia for some quieter place.”
After a night spent under a temporary shed rapidly constructed
for himself and companion, Mr. Bates rose from his hammock
shivering with cold.
“Cardoza and the men were already watching the Turtles on a
stage erected on a tall tree fifty feet high ; from this watch-tower
they are enabled to ascertain the place and date of successive
deposits of eggs, and thus guide the commandant in fixing the
time for his general invitation to the Ega people. The Turtles lay
their eggs during the night, leaving the water in vast crowds
when all around is quiet, when they crawl to the central and
highest part of the praia. The hours between midnight and dawn
are those when the Turtles excavate, with their broad, webbed
paws, deep holes in the fine sand, the animal in each case making
a pit about three feet deep; in this pit it lays its eggs, about a
hundred and twenty in number, covering them over with sand ;
then a second deposit is placed on the top of the first, and so on
until the pit is full.” This goes on for about fourteen days.
“When all have done, the area, or tadoliero, over which they
have been digging is only distinguished from the rest of the
praia by signs of the sand having been a little disturbed.
“ On rising I went to join my friends,” he continues, “and few
recollections of my Amazonian rambles are more vivid and agree-
able than that of my walk over the white sea of sand on this
cool morning. The sky was cloudless; the just-risen sun was
hid behind the dense woods on Shimuni, but the long line of
forest to the west on Baria, with its plumy decorations of palms,
was lighted up with his yellow horizontal rays. A faint chorus
of singing-birds reached the ears from across the water, and flocks
of Gulls and Plovers were calling plaintively over the swelling
banks of the praia. Tracks of stray Turtles were visible on the
FRESH-WATER TURTLES. 169
smooth white surface, two of which had been caught, for stragglers
from the main body are a lawful prize.
“On arriving at the edge of the forest I mounted the sentinels’
stage just in time to see the Turtles retreating to the water on the
opposite side of the sand-bank. The sight was well worth the
trouble of ascending. They were about a mile off, but the surface
of the sand was blackened with the multitudes which were wad-
dling towards the river; the margin of the praia was rather
steep, and es, all seemed to imal head first down the declivity
into the water.”
On the 2nd of October the same party left Ega on a second
excursion, the object of Cardoza being this time to search certain
pools in the forest for young Turtles. The exact situation of these
hidden sheets of water are known to few. The morning was
cloudy and cool, and a fresh wind blew down the river ; they had
to struggle, therefore, against wind and current. The boat was
tossed about and shipped a good deal of water. Their destination
was a point of land twenty miles below Shimuni. The coast-line
was nearly straight for many miles, and the bank averaged about
thirty feet above the then level of the river; at the top rose an
unbroken hedge of forest. No one could have divined that pools
of water existed on that elevated land.
A path was cut through the forest by our party with their
hunting-knives to the pool, half a mile distant; short poles were
cut and laid across the path, over which three light canoes were
rolled, after being dragged up the bank. A large net, seventy
yards in length, was then disembarked and carried to the place.
Netting, however, the older Indians considered unsportsmanlike ;
and, on reaching the pool, they commenced shooting the Turtles
with bows and arrows from light stages erected on the shores.
“The pool covered an area of about four acres, and was closely
hemmed in by the forest, which, in picturesque variety and
grouping, often exceeded almost anything I had seen. The
margins for some distance were swampy, and covered with large
tufts of fine grass called matupd. These tufts were in many places
overrun with ferns, and exterior to them was a crowded row of
arborescent shrubs growing to a height of fifteen or twenty feet,
forming a green palisade. Around the whole stood the taller
170 CHELONIANS.
forest trees—palmate-leaved Cecropie; slender Assai palms thirty
feet high, with their thin feathery heads crowning their gently-
curving, smooth stems; and, as a background to these airy
forms, lay the voluminous masses of ordinary forest trees, with
garlands, festoons, and streamers of leafy parasites hanging from
their branches.”
The pool which was hemmed in by this gorgeous scenery was
nowhere more than five feet deep, and of that one foot was a fine
soft mud. Cardoza and the author spent an hour paddling about
admiring the skill displayed by the Indians in shooting Turtles.
They did not wait for the animals to come to the surface to breathe,
but watched for the slightest movements in the water which
revealed their presence underneath; that instant an arrow flew
from the bow of the nearest man, which never failed to pierce the
shell of the submerged animal, and by mid-day about a score of
full-grown Turtles had been shot. The net was now spread at
one extremity of the oval-shaped pool, its side resting on the
bottom, while the floats buoyed the other side up on the sur-
face, the cords being held by two Indians. The rest of the party
now spread themselves round the pool, beating the water with long
poles, in order to drive the Turtles towards the centre. When they
neared the net, the men moved more quickly, beating and shouting
with great vigour. The ends of the net were now seized with
vigorous hands, and dragged suddenly forward, bringing them at
the same time together, so as to enclose all within a circle. Every
man then leapt into the enclosure, the boats were brought up, and
the captured Turtles were thrown in. In this manner about eighty
were secured in twenty minutes.
Among these were several male Turtles, or capetaris, as they
are called by the natives. They are much less numerous than the
females, much smaller, and more circular in shape; their flesh is
considered unwholesome.
On the 17th of October, the day announced for the taboliero, or
ege-digging, Mr. Bates made a last excursion in Senhor Cardoza’s
company. Egg-collecting occupied four days. On the morning
of the 17th about four hundred persons were assembled on the
sand-bank ; each family had erected a rude temporary shed of
poles and palm-leaves, to protect themselves from sun and rain.
SEA-TORTOISES. 171
Large copper kettles to prepare the oil, and hundreds of red
earthenware jars, were scattered about on the sands. The com-
mandant commenced by taking down the names of all masters of
households, with the number of persons each intended to employ
in digging ; he then exacted from each a fine equal to fourpence
a head towards defraying the expense of the sentinels, when the
whole were allowed to go to the taboliero. It was exhausted by
the end of the second day, when each household had erected large
mounds of eggs beside their temporary hut.
THALASSIANS, OR SEA TorrolszEs.
Cheloniade, Gray ; Carettoide, Fitzing ; Halychelones, Kelgen ;
Oiocopode, Wagler.
The Turtles or Sea Tortoises are distinguished from all others by
a comparatively flat carapace, long members, the extremities of
which terminate in broad paddles, the anterior much longer than
the posterior ones; the toes, though formed of distinct pieces, can
only act together, thus constituting true oars, admirably arranged
for swimming. ‘Their carapace, besides being flat, is indented and
elongated in front, and contracted behind, being disposed in such
a manner that the head and feet can be completely hidden.
Marine Tortoises are the largest of their species: they swim
and dive with great facility, and can remain long under water.
The external orifice of the nasal canal is furnished with a sort of
valve, which the animal raises when it is in the air and closes when
under water; but it rarely leaves its liquid element except in the
breeding season, when nature prompts it to seek the shore to lay its
eggs. Some of the species, however, seek the shore in the night,
when they frequent the banks of desert and solitary isles, where
they browse on marine plants. Although they walk with difficulty,
and even with pain, in quiet seas they may be seen floating like a
boat, in absolute immobility, and asleep on the surface of the
water. With their horny jaws, which are hard and trenchant
as the beak of a bird of prey, some of them feed upon sea-weed
and alge, while others feed on living animals, such as crustaceans,
zoophytes, and mollusks.
~ We have seen how regularly and systematically the Land Tor-
172 CHELONIANS.
toises proceed in depositing their eggs—nor is less precaution
taken by the Sea Tortoise. The females, accompanied by the
males, traverse several hundreds of miles of sea in order to deposit
their eggs in some favoured locality. Other females resort, year
after year, almost to a day, to the sandy shore of some desert isle,
where they drag themselves ashore during the night, sufficiently
inland to be safe from the tide. In some such spot, using their
hind feet by way of a shovel, they excavate holes about thirty
inches deep. Here they lay frequently a hundred eggs, covering .
them up afterwards with the fine sand, levelling the surface,
and then returning to sea, leaving the eggs to be hatched by
the solar rays. The eggs are round, slightly depressed at both
ends, and furnished with a coriaceous shell. From the high tem-
perature communicated to the sand-bank, they are hatched in about
fifteen days. The females seem to have two or three layings in
the season, at intervals of two or three weeks. When the young
Turtles are hatched, they are feeble, white, and about the size of
frogs, and their instincts lead them at once to the sea. Under
the fostering care of their mother, those which have escaped the
birds of prey on their way to the sea, and the fishes lying in
wait for them, rapidly develop, and attain, under favourable
circumstances, an enormous size,—some of the Sphargis, or
Soft Turtles, having been known to weigh from fifteen to sixteen
hundred pounds,—while others, whose carapaces measured more
than fifteen feet in circumference and seven feet in length, exceeded
eighteen hundred pounds.
Marine Tortoises are met with in herds more or less numerous
in all seas, principally towards the torrid zone in the tropical
regions, on the shores of the Antilles, in Cuba, Jamaica, St. Do-
mingo, the Gulf of Mexico, and in the Indian Ocean. Those occa-
sionally found by navigators in the North Atlantic and Mediter-
ranean seem to be wanderers separated from some travelling
bands.
Of all reptiles, the Sea Tortoise is the most useful toman. In
countries where they are common, and where they attain an
enormous size, their flesh is the most healthy and nourishing food,
and their carapace serves as a canoe in which the natives paddle
along the shores. They even roof their huts with them; they
SEA-TORTOISES. 173
convert them into drinking-troughs for their cattle and into baths
for their children. According to Strabo and Pliny, the ancient
inhabitants of the shores of the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea
converted the enormous carapaces of the Tortoise which frequented
their shores into coverings for their houses, and boats for paddling
along the coast. The fat of many species, when fresh, is used as
a substitute for oil and butter. When the musk-like odour of this
fatty substance, as in Chelonia caouana and C. caretta, becomes
too repulsive for food, it is employed in embrocations, in tanning
leather, or in lamps. The eggs of nearly all the Turtles are sought
Fig. 40.—Green Turtle (Chelonia Mydas).
after for their flavour. Finally, the carapace of several species
constitutes a valuable material much employed in the arts, and
known as tortoise-shell. This material is sought after in con-
sequence of its hardness and the fine polish of which it is sus-
ceptible, and also for the facility with which it is worked. It has
a strong resemblance to horn, but is easily distinguished from
it. Though, like horn, it is formed of parallel fibres, it seems to
be rather the result of exudation, consisting of a kind of solidified
mucus. Its texture is homogeneous; it can be cut and polished
with precision and beauty ; in short, under the influence of a gentle
Hi yl
i
[|
| AW
|
ry
Fig. 41.—Capturing Turtles.
MODES OF CAPTURING TORTOISES. 175
heat, it is softened and can be modelled into any fashion, accord-
ing to the taste of the moulder; after becoming cool it retains
the desired shape.
While most of the Tortoises are highly useful to man, both for
food and other purposes, perhaps the most interesting are the Green
Turtles (Zortues franches of French authors), Chelonia caouana
and Caretta. From these man draws the greatest advantage from
their superior size, and from the thickness of their shells. The Green
Turtle (Chelonia Mydas, Fig. 40) is so called from the reflected
green of its carapace. It abounds in the Southern Atlantic Ocean,
where it keeps habitually far from the shore, except in the breeding
seasons, when it makes long voyages in order to deposit its eggs,
giving a preference for that purpose to Ascension Island and
St. Vincent. It rests on the surface of the open sea, and as
it sleeps heavily, it is easily taken by a cord with a running
knot, which is carefully slipped round its neck as the boat con-
taining the captors silently glides past. It is even said to be a
practice with the Malay fishermen to dive beneath them, and attach-
ing a cord to the foot of a sleeping Turtle, thus take it alive.
Many other modes are employed for capturing them. In the
regions frequented by them in the breeding season, they are fol-
lowed by their track on the sands, and their retreat cut off, when
met with, by forming a circle round them, when they are thrown on
their backs ; hand-spikes sometimes being necessary to accomplish
this from their great size. In this position they are helpless, and
must remain until wanted, so that their enemies have time to pursue
their sport elsewhere, as represented in Fig. 41. The next day they
are collected or destroyed at leisure. In 1802 the crew of a French
ship surprised a female Turtle on the Island of Lobos. The men had
infinite trouble in making good its capture and throwing it on its
back, for it was strong enough to drag them all towards the sea. It
was at last mastered. Its head was as large as that of an infant, and
its beak four times the size of a paroquet. It weighed two hundred
and sixty pounds, and had in its body three hundred and forty-
‘seven eggs. Turtles are also taken in nets, in the meshes of which
their beaks and flippers get entangled; thus prevented from coming
to the surface for air, they die of asphyxia. Others harpoon them
on the open sea when they come to the surface to breathe. The
176 CHELONIANS.
harpoon is attached to a cord, by which the animal is soon
brought to the surface and drawn into the boat. But the com-
monest mode of capture is approaching them in a boat as they
float asleep on the surface—this must be done silently. When
within reach, a back flipper is laid hold of by one of the crew, and
by a sudden twist the Turtle is thrown on its back, when becoming
helpless for the moment, it is dragged on board.
A very curious mode of fishing for Turtle is pursued by means
of small fish, a species of Echeneis or Remora. These small fish
are provided with an oval plate on the head, which consists
of a score of parallel plates, forming two series, furnished on their
== (ay)
SS I oleh ue
Fig. 42.—Hawk’s-bill Turtle (Chelonia caretta).
outer edge with an oval disk, soft and fleshy at its circumference ;
in the middle of this plate is a complicated apparatus of bony
pieces dispersed across the surface, which can be moved on their axis
by particular muscles, their free edges being furnished with small
hooks, which are all raised at once like the points of a wool-card.
The fishermen keep many of these fishes in buckets of water.
When they see a sleeping Turtle they approach it, and throw one of
these suck-fish into thesea. Thefish dives under the Turtle, and fixes
itself inextricably to it by means of their cephalic disk. As the fish
is attached to a long cord by means of a ring in its tail, the fish
HAWX’S-BILL TURTLE. li7
is drawn on board along with its victim. This is line fishing of a
new kind, in which the hook is living, and pursues its prey in the
bosom of the deep.
The Green Turtle, whose flesh is celebrated for its delicacy and
excellence of its fat, is that from which Turtle soupis made. Turtle
soup is only of recent invention, the first Turtle having been
brought to London by Admiral Anson in 1752. It was long a
costly dish, and even now, although the introduction of steam and
other adjuncts to navigation has greatly modified the expense,
its price is about ten shillings per pound weight.
Much of the tortoise-shell of commerce comes from the Green
Turtle, but by far the finest specimens are produced by the Imbri-
cated or Hawk’s-bill Turtle, Chelonia caretta (Fig. 42). In this
Fig. 43.—Loggerhead Turtle (Chelonia caouana).
species the plates of the disk are imbricated, or lapping over each
other, and thirteen innumber. The muzzle is long and compressed ;
the jaws with straight edges, without dentation, curving slightly
towards each other at their extremities, with two nails on each
fin. It rarely attains the size or weight of the Green Turtle.
The Hawk’s-bill Turtle is met with in the Indian Ocean, and also
on the American shores. It feeds on marine plants, on mollusks,
and small fishes, and is chiefly sought after for its shell, which
produces the finest tortoise-shell known ; while its flesh is rendered
N
178 CHELONIANS.
unpalatable from its musky flavour. On the other hand, its eggs
are excellent when fresh, and eagerly sought after.
In order to prepare the shell, it is softened by means of boiling
after being torn from the animal’s back. It is then flattened by
being passed through a press, previous to being polished. In
this condition it is ready for all sorts of ornamental work. The
Loggerhead Turtle, or C. caouana (Fig. 43), like the Green
Turtle, has its scales placed side by side. Its colour is brownish
or deep maroon. It is found incidentally on the French and
English coasts, and abounds in the Atlantic and Mediterranean
seas. Its length is about four feet ; its weight, from three to four
Fig. 44.—Leather-back or Corded Tortoise (Spargis coriacea).
hundred pounds. It is very voracious, and feeds principally on
mollusks. Its shell is much valued, but its flesh is indifferent, and
its fat altogether uneatable ; however, it is used in some localities
to make lamp-oil.
The Leather-back or Corded Tortoise, Spargis coriacea, differs
from every other genus, its body being enveloped in a coriaceous
hide ; tuberculous in the young, perfectly smooth in adults. The
feet are without claws. Seven longitudinal grooves extend from
the neck to the tail, which remind one of the seven chords of the
ancient lyre. Only one species of Sphargis is known (S. coriacea,
CORDED TORTOISE. 179
Fig. 44). This species is found in the Mediterranean and Atlantic
Ocean, and is, with the Hawk’s-bill Tortoise, the only species
found on the British coast. Its body is a light brown, with the
lines of the carapace fawn-colour; its members black, edged with
yellow. It attains the length of six to eight feet, and a breadth
of about one-fifth of the length : it sometimes attains the weight of
fourteen to sixteen hundred pounds. Its flesh is said to be un-
wholesome, and, on being eaten, to produce severe vomiting and
purging.
N 2
BIRDS.
INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER.
Birps are the spoilt children of nature—the favourites of creation.
Their brilliant plumage often assumes the most resplendent
colours. They have the happy privilege of moving in space—now
fluttering through the air, hunting the insect which flits from
flower to flower ; now soaring high aloft, and swooping upon the
victim it has marked for its prey ; now cleaving the atmosphere
on rapid wing, and performing journeys of vast extent with great
rapidity. Mankind have a profound sympathy with these little
winged beings, which charm at once by the elegance of their form,
the melody of their song, and the graceful impetuosity of their
movements.
Anatomically speaking, birds are connected with the Mammi-
fera by their internal structure. Their skeleton essentially
resembles that of the Mammals, the bones being nearly the same,
only modified slightly for the purposes of flight.
In birds there is a double circulation. The heart consists of
two moieties, or lobes, known as the auricle and ventricle. It
is conical in form, and occupies the anterior part of the thorax,
its apex passing between the lobes of the liver ; but there is little
perceptible distinction between auricles and ventricles. Their
blood is richer in globules than that of the Mammalia, being more
thoroughly permeated by air; the respiratory function is also more
energetic, from the same cause—in fact, they consume a larger
quantity of oxygen, and produce a proportionately greater degree
of heat; for while their lungs are small, and placed in the upper
ANATOMY OF BIRDS. 181
part of the thorax only, where they are confined on each side to a
cavity, bounded above by the ribs, and below by an imperfect.
diaphragm, they are perforated by tubes, which communicate
with membranous cells, distributed over the thoracic and abdo-
minal cavities, between the muscles, and beneath the skin,—often
in all parts of the body. What distinguishes the bird, in fact, is
not the wing; for certain of the Mammalia, as the Bat, and even
some fishes, as the Gusard and Exoccetus, can traverse the air by
expanding their wings. In birds the diaphragm which arrests
Fig. 45.—Skeleton of the Swan.
the air in the Mammalia is scarcely perceptible, so the external
air penetrates into every part of the body by the respiratory tubes,
which ramify the whole cellular tissue, the interior of the bones, and
even the feathers, and between the muscles. Their bodies, dilated
by the air inhaled, lose a proportionate amount of weight ; balloon-
like, they float in the air, and, from their peculiar forms, they
can swim, so to speak, in any direction in the gaseous element.
Wings alone, then, would fail to support the bird in space.
182 INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER.
The position renders a double system of breathing necessary.
Vital heat in animals is always in proportion to their respiration,
for the oxygen of the air, which penetrates every cell and cavity
of their bones, feathers, and body, warming and giving increased
activity to their circulation, and specific lightness to their bodies,
from its rich organisation enables
birds to live in the coldest atmo-
spheric regions. In Fig. 46 the
respiratory organs of a Pigeon are
represented. The trachea, or wind-
pipe, is composed of many bony rings,
varying in different species. In the
Falcons it is slightly flattened, and
tapers in asmall degree ; but in many
genera it presents dilatations and
contractions, and in others it is vari-
ously curved, two slender muscles,
which run along its sides towards the
sternum, serving to contract it. In
many of the song-birds several pairs
of small muscles are attached to the lower larynx where the tube
bifurcates, by which they are enabled to control this organ, which
is the producer of their note.
The trachea carries the air to the lungs in a Pigeon, and sepa-
Fig. 47.
rates into two branches in the breast, where it abuts on the
acrial sacs, and on the two lungs (Fig. 47). The air carried by
ANATOMY OF BIRDS. 183
the windpipe acts upon the blood through the thin substance
of the cells which constitute the pulmonary tissue, in which it
traverses in an infinity of minute vessels, whose thin walls are
permeable by the gas.
The lungs are small, and placed in the upper part of the
thorax, where they are confined on each side by a cavity bounded
above by the ribs and below by an imperfect diaphragm ; but they
are perforated by tubes which communicate with membranous
cells distributed over the thoracic and abdominal cavities, between
the muscles, beneath the skin, and in all parts of the body—the
air even penetrating many of the bones when the species are
peculiarly aérial in their habits.
The external form of birds is modified so as to be subservient to
aerial progression. The vertebral column, or spine, along the
centre of which runs the spinal cord, is divided into three regions—
the cervical, dorsal, and sacral regions—terminating in the caudal
extremities, the number of vertebrae, or pieces, varying much in
different genera. The body consists of the dorsal, sacral, and
caudal parts of the column; laterally, of the ribs and pelvis; and
beneath, of the sternum and the soft parts contained init. Its
anterior part, containing heart, lungs, and liver, is named the
thorax ; the posterior, the pelvis. The sternum, with the clavicles
and scapulze, is perhaps the most curiously modified part of the
skeleton of birds.
The sternum, then, is a large expanded plate extended over the
whole anterior part of the thorax, and even covering more or less
what may be considered the abdomen. It varies greatly in dif-
ferent genera; but in all it is more or less four-sided, and convex
externally, forming the basis for the powerful muscles by which
the wings are moved. These wings serve as arms by which the
bird guides itself, ascending or descending according to the im-
pulse given them. ‘That the anterior form of birds is modified
so as to be subservient to the aérial progression for which these
animals are intended,” says McGillivray, ‘‘is obvious and intel-
ligible. Their bodies are oval, with the more powerful muscles
placed on the breast, so that, when the horizontal position is
assumed, the centre of gravity comes between the wings, and is
Kept near the lower part by the weight of the pectoral muscles.
184 INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER.
The length and flexibility of the neck enable the bird to make the
necessary changes in the centre of gravity, while the solidity of
the dorsal spine gives advantage to the action of the muscles.
The head is terminated by a pointed bill, which aids in cleaving
the air; the feet, when short, are drawn up and concealed under
Fig. 48.
the feathers; when long, they are stretched out beneath or behind
the tail, which is more or less expanded, and helps to support
the body in the air, as well as, by acting in the manner of a
rudder, to change its direction, or, by being expanded, to break
its descent.”
The wings of birds are acute or obtuse. The more angular the
Fig. 50.
wing of birds—that is to say, the longer the feathers on the edge
of the wing—the more rapidly does it propel itself through the
air. The tail consists of a number of feathers, to which are
attached a series of small muscles, one for each vertebra, which
are capable of depressing and elevating the tail in various degrees ;
while a series of connections, whose fibres invest the base of the
PLUMAGE. 185
quills, curve round the edge of the tail. Their action is to spread
out the tail-feathers, and incline them to the right or left; thus
enabling it to perform the part of a helm or rudder as it cleaves
the atmosphere.
Besides flight, birds possess other means of locomotion. They
are formed for walking or for swimming as well as for flying,
according as their habits are aérial, terrestrial, or aquatic. Their
general form, though possessing all the characteristics of the class,
is modified and adapted to the kind of life they are intended to
lead. Where the skin of a bird is covered with feathers, it is
observed that the true skin, or derma, is thin and transparent ;
while the cuticle is thicker, and even covered with scales, in those
parts where feathers are absent.
Before addressing ourselves to the physiological functions of
birds, a few words descriptive of their feathers, beaks, and claws
will not be out of place.
The covering of birds is known by the general name of plumage.
It is composed of many individual feathers. The feathers are
horny productions, consisting of a hollow tube or barrel, and a
stem rising from it. Chemically, this covering is of the same
material as the hair on Mammals and the scales on reptiles and
fishes, differing only in its mechanical structure. Besides the more
conspicuous feathers, most birds have an underneath covering of
smaller ones known as down-feathers. A feather of the ordinary
kind consists of the tube, or barrel, by which it is attached to the
skin, varying in length according to the species; the stem, or
shaft, composed internally of a soft, compact, but elastic substance
of a whitish colour, and in its buoyancy not unlike cork ; the web,
which is a lateral prolongation of the external coating of the shaft,
and which assumes the form of a thin linear membrane springing
from it at an angle more or less acute in different species: this is
the dard. From the upper edge of each barb two sets of minute
filaments proceed at an angle similar to that of the barb itself in
respect to the shaft. These smaller filaments are the darbules, by
means of which the barbs are retained in opposition—not by the
barbules of one barb interlocking with those of another in the
manner of dovetailing, but by the anterior series of one barb over-
lapping and hooking into the recurvate formation of the barb next
186 INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER.
to it (Figs. 51, 52). The barbules themselves frequently throw
out filaments in the same manner, which are called barbicels, whose
object is apparently the same—namely, that of connecting and
Hy,
HS
f Wr Be .
Lees
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poy
yf
vy)
WA
vA
YW DUE:
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Fig. 51. Fig. 52.
retaining the barbules in position. These may be observed, by
the aid of a small magnifying glass, in the quills of the Golden
Eagle, Aguila chrysaétus.
Feathers, then, consist of three parts—the tube, the shaft, and
the webs ; the webs being the barbs furnished with barbules, some-
Fig. 53. Fig. 54. Fig. 55.
times barbicels. They are convex above, and are thus enabled to
resist flexion or fracture better from beneath than from any other
direction. They are also elastic; and this property, together with
their curvature, tends to keep them closer together.
FEATHERS. 187
In the feathers of a large portion of birds there isa plumiform
formation, or small feather or plumule. This plumule is conspi-
cuous in gallinaceous birds—for instance, the Pheasants (Fig. 53) ;
it springs from the fore part of the tube, just at the commence-
ment of the shafts; it gradually narrows, and is continued in the
form of a very delicate, thread-like fibre; from its side proceed
two series of barbs, and from the barbs two series of barbules,
extremely fine, entirely disunited, and very loose. This plumule
seldom exists among aquatic birds, but in gallinaceous fowls it
attains the length of two-thirds of the feather, and in the EKmu
and Cassowary it equals it in length.
Feathers may be divided into those specially employed as the
means of locomotion and those intended to protect the bird from
extreme cold. The former are much stronger, more compact, and
more elongated than the others. The row of feathers bordering
the wing behind is known as the alar quills, or wing-quills, and
those terminating the extremity of the tail, as caudal quills. From
the head, backwards to the tail, the feathers increase in strength
and size; those on the face, or round the base of the bill, being
smallest, the tail-coverts longest. Immediately covering the base
of the wing-quills are a row of feathers on both surtaces of the
wing; these are the quill-coverts.
The most brilliant feathers are found in birds of warm climates,
and the more tropical the climate the more dazzling and brilliant is
the plumage. In many species the brilliant plumage is confined to
the’ males, while that of the females is dark and sombre. In other
cases it is the same in both sexes. The young of some species
attain the adult appearance after the first moult; others take
several years to acquire their full splendour.
Birds cast their feathers at least once a year, in order to
put on a fresh dress. This is called moulting—a change which
usually occurs in the autumn, but sometimes both in spring and
autumn. During the moulting season birds are dull, retiring,
and silent; but when they emerge from this state they proudly
display their lively colours, which now rival the gayest flowers that
surround them.
Among the gallinaceous birds, and especially among the
aquatic species, there exist over the coccyx certain receptacles
188 INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER.
from which is distilled the oily substance with which they lubri-
cate their plumage. These receptacles are known as the uropygial
glands. On the lower surface is a layer of cellular tissue con-
taining a similar fluid, which seems to be connected with the
growth of the feathers.
The feet of birds are as varied in different species as are their
wings. In birds of prey the claws are powerful and hooked. In
some the foot is flat and the claw straight and adapted for walking
(Figs. 56, 57, 58). The great toe is generally the strongest,
Fig. 56. Fig. 57. Fig. 58.
but this is not an absolute law: a projection which is found on
the leg of some birds, and is designated a spur, is a formidable
weapon in some species (Figs. 59, 60). Some birds walk by
PSS
Fig. 59.
bringing their feet forward alternately; others by a simultaneous
motion, or a succession of leaps. Some run with great velocity,
while others walk with great difficulty, and that only on a flat
surface. Many have their toes. joined by thin membranes, which
act as paddles by which they propel themselves through the
water.
The beak, or bill, of birds is composed of two bony pieces, called
mandibles, surrounded by a horny substance, differing both in
BEAKS. 189
form and thickness according to the habits of the species. In the
genus F'atco the bill is shorter than the head ; the upper mandible
is furnished at the base with a bare coloured skin, of a peculiar
dense texture, called the cere; its outline slightly convex as far
as the edge of the cere (Fig. 61), then curved so as to form about
Fig. 61.
the third of a circle, and evidently destined, in connection with its
formidable claws, to tear its prey.
In the Tovcans Rampuastip# the bill is half a foot long,
hollow within, thin, and nearly transparent; and the mandibles
are so disposed as to combine, with their great bulk, strength
and lightness, and assisting by their digestive power to assimilate
both animal and vegetable food (Fig. 62). In the Prticantpa,
CE
as in the Common Cormorant, Phalacrocorax carbo, the bill is
long, straight, and compound; the upper mandible curved
towards the point, the lower compressed; the base inserted in a
small membrane which extends under the throat. In the back
part of the head is an additional bone (Fig. 63, a), attached in
Fig. 63.
such a manner to the occiput as to admit of great expansion, which
permits of its swallowing plaice and other flat fish of considerable
190 INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER.
size. The Crane, Grus cinerea (Fig. 64), has the bill rather
longer than the head, strong, straight, compressed, and pointed at
the extremity ; the sides of the mandible deeply channelled with
nostrils, and closed backwards by a thin membrane.
Fig. 64.
In the Goose, genus Anser (Fig. 65), we find the bill short,
not longer than the head, conical, covered at the base with a cerous
skin, with under mandible smaller than the upper. In the Spar-
Fig. 65.
rows, Passerina (Fig. 66), the bill is strong and conical, the
upper mandible slightly curved, the lower compressed and smaller
than the upper; nostrils lateral, basal, round, and partly con-
Fig. 66.
cealed by the short feathers at the base of the mandibles. In
the Goatsuckers, Caprimulgus (Fig. 67), the bill is remarkably
small and weak, the sides inflexed and sometimes gaping.
The tongue, like the bill, however, is only an accessory to the
digestive apparatus; for while the beak serves the purpose of
prehension and trituration, the tongue assists in deglutition or
swallowing. Digestion is so active in some birds, that they get
fat in an excessively short space of time. The Ortolan Bunting,
Emberiza hortulana, and some others, are fattened for the table in
DIGESTIVE ORGANS. 191
five or six days. In the swelling under the throat, called the
crop, a (Fig. 68), or first stomach, which is largely developed in
some of the granivorous or grain-eating birds, the food remains
for a time, where it undergoes certain modifications which
facilitate digestion ; thence it passes into the succenteric ventricle,
or second stomach, 4 (Fig. 68),—there it imbibes the necessary
amount of gastric juice; being finally transformed into chyme in
the gizzard, c (Fig. 68), or third stomach,
which is possessed of great muscular power,
being capable of acting upon the most solid
bodies, triturating even the flints and gravel
which the gallinaceous birds swallow to aid
their digestion.
It is a curious fact that a grain of seed,
introduced into the stomach, may be digested
without alteration, and ejected where it will
germinate, if it meets with no obstacle to its
vegetation. In this manner trees are fre-
quently found in regions where their species
appear to have been previously unknown.
Chyle, which is a milky fluid formed from
the junction of chyme and bile, is received
by the small intestine, where the bile also
flows from the liver and the saliva from the
pancreas.
The urinary apparatus consists of the kid- Ee
neys, two in number, thick and irregular, and distinct one from
the other, abutting on the intestine, which terminates in a species
of pouch, or cloaca, through which evacuation, alternately of urine,
excrement, and eggs, takes place.
The sense of touch, of smell, of taste, and hearing are only
slightly developed in birds. Some have spoken of great deli-
cacy of scent in birds of prey, which are observed to assemble in
great numbers on fields of battle and other places where human
carcasses are exposed. But the opinions of naturalists, such as
Audubon and Levaillant, seem to prove that these animals were
attracted rather by the sight than smell.
The organ of sight is, indeed, more highly developed in birds
192 INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER.
than in any other class of animals. The volume of the eye itself
is large compared with the head. It includes an addition which
seems to be confined to birds. This is a black membrane, with
many folds, very rich in blood-vessels, and situated at the bottom
of the ocular globe, and advancing towards the crystalline.
Fig. 69.
Anatomy has failed to explain the use of this, but it is sup-
posed that by advancing or withdrawing it, it gives to birds
additional power of vision. Other parts of the eye, such as
the choroids, the thin membrane which covers the posterior part
of the eye, the iris, the retina, present nothing remarkable.
The white of the eye is surrounded by an osseous or cartilagi-
nous matter, evidently placed there for protection of this delicate
and useful organ.
SIGHT AND SWIFTNESS OF BIRDS. 193
Besides the ordinary upper and lower pupils, birds possess a
third. This consists of an extensive transparent membrane, dis-
posed vertically, which covers the eye like a piece of network,
protecting it from the effects of a blaze of light. It is this pupil,
or nictating membrane, placed at the internal angle of the eye,
between the orb and the external pupil, which the animal uses at will,
which permits the Eagle to gaze at the sun, and prevents the noc-
turnal birds of prey from being dazzled when exposed to daylight.
The perfection of the sight of birds seems to be proved from
the Vulture, so distant from his prey as to appear a mere speck
in the heavens, without deviation flying directly to it; or the
Swallow, which perceives, while on rapid wing, the smallest
insect on which it feeds. According to Spallanzani, the Swift has
sight so piercing, that it can see only five lines in diameter at the
distance of five hundred feet.
Birds, of all animal creation, can traverse distances with the
ereatest rapidity. The fleetest among the Mammifera cannot
run over five or six leagues in an hour. Certain birds easily
traverse their twenty leagues in the same interval of time. In
less than three minutes we lose sight of a large bird, such as a
Kite or an Eagle, whose body is more than a yard from wing to
wing. Itisassumed, from these facts, that these birds traverse more
than fifteen hundred yards each minute, or more than fifty miles
in an hour. A Falcon of Henri II. strayed from Fontainebleau
in pursuit of a Bustard; it was taken the next day at Malta.
Another Falcon, sent from the Canaries to the Duke de Lermes,
in Spain, returned from Andalusia to the Peak of Teneriffe in six
~ hours—the flight representing a distance of two hundred and fifty
leagues. In short, the whole organisation gives to a bird that
remarkable lightness which contributes so much to its velocity. Not
to speak of the feathers with which it is covered, its bones are hollow
and form large cells, called aérial sacs, which it is able to fill
with air at will, and its sternum is furnished with a bony frame
or breast-bone, formed somewhat like the keel of a ship, into
which the pectoral muscles are inserted—which, besides being
largely developed, in birds of flight possess remarkable contractile
properties.
The vocal apparatus in birds, represented in Figs. 70 and 71,
)
194 INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER.
is very complicated, and differs from the human larynx and trachea.
It consists of a kind of osseous chamber ; which, however, is only
a swelling in the arterial trachea at the point where it bifurcates
and enters the breast to form the bronchial tube. It is this
formation, called the lower larynx, which constitutes the organ of
song. Five pairs of muscles, attached to the walls of this chamber,
stretch or relax the vocal chord, by which means they enlarge
Fig. 70. Fig. 71.
or diminish the cavity of the larynx. Whoever has watched any
song-bird singing must have noted the swelling and contracting
of its throat as it poured out its melody, modifying, im a thousand
ways, the tension of the vocal chords and of the larynx, and
producing those marvellous modulations whose perfection must
always be a subject of astonishment and admiration.
The song of birds must be the expression of some sentiment ;
they surely sing as much for their own pleasure as to charm those
who listen to them. While they fill the woods with their melo-
dious accents they direct their looks on all sides, as if proud of
their talents, and desirous of gathering the tribute of admiration
to which they feel themselves entitled. Their song varies with
the season, but it is in the early spring their efforts are the most
successful, and we are most disposed to admire the beauty and
harmony of their voices. Can anything be more delicious than
the warbling of the Linnet, the piping of the Goldfinch, slowly
swelling from their leafy bower, or the melodious cadence of the
Nightingale, as it breaks the silence of the woodland during the
serene nights of leafy June ?
Our landscape would be sad and mute indeed without these
THE SONG OF BIRDS. 195
graceful inhabitants of the air, which give so much animation to
country life and solitary rambles. In the silence of night, when
all nature sleeps and life seems suspended, all at once certain
notes of harmony rise from under the dense foliage, as if to pro-
test against the universal silence. It is sometimes a plaintive
cry, prolonged into a stifled sigh, now a continuous warbling,
now a lively song, gay and melodious, which the whole forest re-
echoes to.
When the darkness of night gives place to the first dawn of
day—when the soft gleam of Aurora has appeared on the horizon,
all is transformed, all is vivified on the new-born earth, lately
asleep and apparently deserted. The larger birds rise higher
and higher in the air, till they are lost in the clouds. The small
birds hop from branch to branch with joyous gambols, commu-
nicating a movement of happiness and content over all nature.
What a wonderful variety of music issues from them—what
dazzling brillianey and variety deck their plumage—what a
charm pervades the whole scene, enlivened by these living flowers
flitting about in intense enjoyment, hovering, traversing, and
embellishing the air! Be it a Titmouse, which seems to spend its
life suspended from the branch of a tree; or the Fly Catcher,
on the other hand, always perched; the Lark, performing its
graceful circles in the air as it rises higher and higher, pourmg
forth its melodious song more vigorously with each circle described ;
the Thrush, which runs along the grassy path, watching for its
prey, or the House Sparrow chirping from the straw-built roof, or
the Robin warbling from some leafless bower—how completely the
little winged wanderers decorate the landscape and improve the
picture with their innocent gambols!
Assuredly birds have a language which they alone comprehend.
When danger threatens them, a particular cry is uttered by one,
and immediately all of the same species hide themselves until
their fears are dispelled and confidence restored. When the pre-
sence of a bird of prey is announced by the plaintive cry of the
Thrush, all the feathered race of the neighbourhood are hushed
into silence.
Birds of prey with carnivorous instincts live in the most solitary
places. The Eagle lives alone with his mate in some unapproach-
0 2
196 INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER.
able aerie, his nest placed on the side of some steeply-scarped
mountain, or perhaps hidden in the depth of some inaccessible
ravine, whence they sally forth to visit some distant region in
search of prey.
It is very difficult for us to appreciate the degree of intelligence
exhibited by birds. In the Mammifers, whose organisation ap-
proaches nearer to that of man, we are enabled partially to com-
prehend their joys and griefs; but in the case of birds we are
reduced to conjecture in order to arrive at an estimate of their
sensations. To explain this profound mystery a word has been
invented which satisfies easy minds: we call the sentiment which
leads birds to perform many admirable actions which are related
of them, zmstinct. The tenderness of the mother for her young—
a tenderness so full of delicacy and foresight—is, we say, only the
result of zmstinct. It is agreed on all hands, however, that this
instinct singularly resembles the intelligence called reason, and,
in the opinion of many, is nothing else.
Reproduction in birds occurs at intervals regulated by nature,
and they are distinguished, above all other creatures, for the
fidelity of their affections. It is frequently a matter of observa-
tion that a male attaches itself to a female, and they henceforth
live together till the death of one or both; and many affecting
scenes are described where death has overtaken one of the affec-
tionate pair. When the breeding season approaches, the habits
of the female are modified; she abandons her former, freedom, and,
having laid her eggs, she passes her whole time in incubation,
defying hunger and all other dangers, apparently well instructed
in the fact that the equal and prolonged heat communicated by
their contact with her body is necessary to hatch them. During
the period of incubation the male, in most instances, watches
the female, and supplies her with food ; afterwards the little ones
are waited on by both the parent birds with the tenderest care
until they finally attain the use of their wings.
The solicitude of birds for their young is first manifested in the
choice of the locality for the nest, and in the care with which this
cradle of their progeny is constructed. But all this disappears
when the young no longer require the maternal protection.
In spring, when the birds have paired, they set themselves to
BIRDS’ NESTS. 197
work at once to collect the necessary materials for their nest.
Each carries its blade of grass or stem of moss. Large birds con-
tent themselves with a coarser structure — chips of wood, or
branches of trees interlaced with twigs, lined with hair and other
soft materials, are fashioned into the necessary shape. But the
smaller species really display great art in framing their miniature
dwelling, which they furnish inside with wool, blades of grass,
or down, the male and female labouring in the common work.
Their effort is to make a soft, warm, and solid bed on which
to deposit the coming eggs. The mother-bird has recourse
to all sorts of cunning devices in order to conceal her nest
Fig. 72. ig. 7
i)
from prying eyes, choosing for this purpose the heart cf a
leafy bush, the forked limb, the concealed crack or hollow in the
Fig. 74. Fig. 75.
trunk of a tree, the chimneys of a house, crevices in a wall
or under a roof. Curiously enough, the nests of the same
species are always fashioned in precisely the same manner.
198 : INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER.
The Kinglet, or Wren (Fig. 72), builds its nest under a bank, gene-
rally near some brook; it is neatly formed of moss, nearly covered
with leaves, and lined with small feathers, hair, and wool. In this
nest the smallest of our native birds lays six delicate little white
eggs, marked with small pink spots. The Humming-birds (Fig.
73), which flit about in tropical woods, build their nests of grass,
lined with feathers. The House Sparrow (Fig. 74) builds its nest
under the eave of some house; while the Hedge Sparrow (Fig.
74) chooses the fork of a hawthorn-tree in which to construct its
children’s home. The Magpie, more ambitious, constructs, in the
topmost fork of some tall ash, or poplar, or elm, its nest of branches
interlaced with twigs, and lined with fine grass, hair, and other
soft materials (Fig. 75). It is a large and consequently a con-
spicuous fabric, elliptical in form, composed first of rough boughs,
on which is laid a quantity of mud, and then a layer of twigs, the
whole lined with fibrous roots and other soft material. The Gold-
Fig. 77.
finch builds its nest on trees; it is composed of grass, moss, and
lichens, and lined with the down of various plants and such other
soft material as comes in its way, elaborately interwoven with
wool and hair (Fig. 76).
The Owl, Strix flammea, chooses her nest in some obscure nook
of an old tower, the steeple of a church, a dovecot, or the hollow
of an aged tree (Fig. 77). It is composed of twigs and straws
loosely arranged.
Some birds form into a sort of coarse tissue the fibres of which
NEST OF TAILOR BIRD. 199
1)
they construct their nest, which has procured them the name of
Weaver Birds. The nest of Mondia erythrops occupies the centre
of a bundle of reeds growing in shallow water, in which various
grasses are roughly interwoven in the form of a cupola. The
Black-headed Synalaxis, S. melanops (Bonaparte), constructs a
more delicate fabric, but remarkable for its strength. It builds
its nest with grasses, interlacing them in a firm and inextricable
web; the form is globular, and the entrance is a small hole in one
of its sides. The Orioles and Cassiques of the New World cannot
be passed without noticing their wonderful skill in nest construc-
tion. The nest of the Baltimore Oriole forms a perfect family
pouch, which it suspends from the upper branches of a shrub or
tree. The nest of Cassicus hemorrhous (Cuvier) consists of dry
grasses woven into long sacks, gradually increasing in size towards
the bottom, with an elongated slit in the side; this is so con-
structed as to exclude rain from the nest. ‘These wonderful
structures are sometimes two yards in length; and when these
birds are numerous in the country, the nests, as they hang
suspended from the branches of trees, give a singularly novel
aspect to the landscape.
Not less curious is the nest of the Tailor Bird, Orthotonia (Fig.
78), which is formed of a large leaf, the two sides of which the
bird has contrived to sew together ; in the interior is placed the nest.
Miraculous indeed is the produce of these little workers. The
wonder is how the birds contrive to enter anest on the wing when
the opening seems scarcely so large as the bird’s body, and yet it
enters without disturbing a fibre. The hut of some savage races
is left constantly open, their intelligence not suggesting a pro-
tecting door. The Spiders are more ingenious. They contrive
to close the entrance to their dwellings, while the door is left
habitually open ; some birds adopt analogous precautions. In M.
Jeudon’s book on the Birds of India, he reports a curious arrange-
ment of a species of Homrain: when the female of this bird
begins te lay, the male encloses her in their, nest by shutting up
the door with a thick mud wall, leaving only a small opening by
which the female can breathe and receive her food from the male
bird’s bill; for this severe husband. is not forgetful of his duties, but
every few minutes conyeys some morsel to the enclosed prisoner.
200 B INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER.
Sonnerat, in his ‘“ Voyage to India,” speaks of a Cape Tit, the
nest of which is in the form of a bottle, and composed of cotton.
While the female hatches the eggs, the male, like a true sentinel,
maintains a strict watch on a specially-formed resting-place,
built on one of the sides. Finally, for ingenious construc-
tion, instigated by affection for its progeny, there is nothing
to compare to the work of the Republican (Fig. 79). This little
bird of the Cape, which is about the size of a Sparrow, which it
much resembles, lives in numerous families, that unite in forming
immense colonies. Their dwellings have the appearance of a
circular framework surrounding the trunk of some large tree,
as represented beneath. Levaillant counted as many as three
hundred cells, which indicate that it is inhabited by six hundred
i}
Fig. 75.
birds. These nests are so heavy that Levaillant was compelled
to employ a cart with many men in transporting one of their
colonies. At a distance they resemble great roofs attached to the
trunks or branches of trees, on which hundreds of birds sport and
enjoy themselves. Further, the Oriole suspends its basket-like
nest by a twig at the extremity of a flexible branch, placing it
thus beyond the reach ef any prowling four-footed ravisher. The
Magpie selects the topmost fork of the loftiest trees. Again, the
nest of the esculent Eastern Swallow, the one so much sought
after by gourmands, hangs from those cliffs washed by the sea,
HATCHING. 201
and is constructed of a /ucus, or marine plant, of the ‘genus Ge/i-
dium, Which gelatinous substance, cemented by the saliva of the
bird, forms a sort of paste of most delicate flavour.
When this nest is built, and the walls properly cemented, and
the home of the little brood prepared, the eggs are laid and the
process of hatching commences. Eggs are generally numerous in
inverse proportion to the size of the bird. The Eagle lays two, for
instance, while the Titmouse (Paws) lays from twelve to eighteen.
The eggs laid, the female must now submit to the long and
painful labour of incubation. While the male lies in wait in the
neighbouring bush to defend his young brood against any enemy
which may present itself, giving battle to much larger animals
if they venture to attack his nest, the female only quits her charge
for necessary food, and her place is often occupied during her
absence by her mate. Enemies that le in wait are numerous.
Among them may be enumerated birds of prey, small quadrupeds,
reptiles which treacherously insinuate themselves into the nest,
and perhaps more unfeeling than all, children with destructive
instincts.
If nothing occurs to disturb the repose of the pair, the male,
perched upon a neighbouring branch, pours out a song expressive
of his felicity. The little ones are finally hatched. Helpless and
incapable, without feathers and with closed eyes, they are utterly
dependent on the parent birds, by which they are fed until the
time when they are covered with feathers. They now begin to
try their wings, and find their own food. The mother directs
their first efforts, uttering a peculiar cry to attract them when she
discovers a favourite morsel; defending them courageously, and,
with a total abnegation of self, meeting the most formidable
enemies; sometimes going so far for their protection as to offer
herself a victim. How pitiful are the cries of a Swallow whose
nest is built under the roof of a house on fire! Fearlessly she
rushes on the flames, flying to the assistance of her young, as if
she woula rescue them or perish under the fatal roof. ~Or mark
the unhappy Partridge which the sportsman has surprised on the
nest. She hesitates not to offer herself a sacrifice, throwing her-
self almost under the intruder’s feet, in order to attract his atten-
tion from her progeny.
202 INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER.
When the young are strong enough to take wing, they
abandon the family tie, and soon lose themselves in the great
world of nature, forgetful of their parents’ unselfish care. The
ingratitude of their first-born does not, however, discourage the
forsaken couple. With the returning season they renew their
labours, exhibit the same solicitude, the same affection, to meet
with the same return. Nature is an unfailing source—an eternal
focus of tenderness and love.
Most families of birds are migratory; that is, they abandon their
summer quarters and undertake long journeys at certain seasons.
These migrations occur with the greatest regularity. By their
departure from temperate or cold climates they prognosticate the
approach of winter, as their return heralds spring. Among
the ancient Greeks, as we learn froma passage of Aristophanes
on birds, the arrival of the Crane pointed out the time of sow-
ing; the arrival of the Krre the sheep-shearing season; and the
arrival of the SwaLtow in Greece was the date for putting off
summer clothing. The impulse which causes birds to depart is
an instinctive desire to find climatic conditions appropriate to their
wants of life. At the approach of winter they desert the regions of
the north in,search of southern countries with a warmer climate,
while others niigrate northwards to escape the heat.
Nevertheless, all birds are not migratory ; many species remain
during their whole lives in the locality where they were hatched,
straying but little distance from their birth-place. The majority of
those which migrate perform their journeys annually and with
great regularity; a few irregularly and accidentally ; that is, they
are caused by necessity, or by atmospheric influences, to change
their residence; and it is no unusual sight on such occasions to
see numerous flocks of birds assembling under the leadership of a
chief, and taking their flight in perfect order, traversing seas,
and passing from one continent to another, with astonishing
rapidity. On the 22nd of September, 1771, White, of Selborne,
witnessed the flight of a flock of Swallows which had rendez-
voused the night before in a neighbour’s walnut-tree. “ At dawn
of what was a very foggy day, they arose all together in infinite
numbers, occasioning such a rustling from the strokes of their
wings against the hazy atmosphere that the sound might be heard at
LONGEVITY OF BIRDS. 203
a considerable distance.’ In the Old World, choosing a time when
the winds are favourable, most migratory birds direct their flight
towards the south-west in the autumn, and the north-east in
spring. In America the migratory birds take a south-east direc-
tion in autumn, and the reverse in spring. These aérial travellers
instinctively direct their flight to the same regions—often to the
same district ; and there are good grounds to believe that the same
pair frequently find their way year after year to the same nest.
The duration of the life of birds in a state of nature is one of those
subjects on which little is known. Some ancient uuthors—Hesiod.
and Pliny, for example—give to the Crow nine times the length
of life allotted to man, and to the Raven three times that period ;
in other words, the Carrion Crow, according to these authors, attains
to seven hundred and twenty years, and the Raven two hundred
and forty. The Swan, on the same authority, lives two hundred
years. This longevity is more than doubtful. Paroquets, how-
ever, are known to have reached more than a hundred. Goldfinches,
Chaffinches, and Nightingales unquestionably, even in the con-
finement of a cage, have lived four-and-twenty years. A Heron,
Girardin tells us, lived fifty-two years, which was testified by
the ring which he bore on one of his legs, and even then
he lost his life by an accident, while in full vigour. A couple of
Storks, moreover, have been known to nestle in the same place for
more than forty years. All that we can affirm is that birds live
much longer than the Mammalia.
We can easily fix a circumscribed geographical boundary to any
species of Mammalia. They may be limited to a country, or even
a district. Can we impose a like distribution on birds? At first
sight this seems difficult: their powerful organs of locomotion
permit of their travelling rapidly; and, moreover, their nature,
essentially mobile, and their wandering humour, lead them to
continual change; and then their organisation adapts them for
great extremes of temperature—circumstances which would lead
us to consider them quite cosmopolite. Nevertheless, many species
reside habitually in countries of very limited range. A Sovereign
Hand has traced on the surface of the globe limits that cannot
be passed. How such small creatures are able to perform such dis-
tant journeys, pausing only at far-severed resting-places for neces-
204 INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER.
saries, has always been a matter of surprise. They pass on without
an instant’s sleep, however long and fatiguing the route. How
can the Quail, for instance, with its short wing and plump body,
traverse the Mediterranean twice in the year? Hasselquist tells
us that small short-winged birds frequently came on board his
ship in squally weather, all the way from the Channel to the
Levant ; and Prince Charles Bonaparte. was agreeably surprised
by the visit of a party of Swallows to the ship Delaware, in which
he was a passenger, when five hundred miles from the coast
of Portugal, and four hundred from Africa. Audubon relates
a similar occurrence; and numerous instances are recorded in
which these fatigued travellers have taken shelter in the first
fisherman’s boat they met, sometimes so weak as to be hardly
able to move a wing. It is therefore a fact truly inexplicable,
in spite of every hypothesis, more or less reasonable, which has
been advanced by naturalists in explanation.
Men have little influence over birds, and have, therefore, few
opportunities of studying their habits in a state of nature. Some
few species may be retained in captivity, and some observers
have been able to obtain their entire confidence while in that
condition ; but, except two or three species, it has not been pos-
sible to reduce them to a state of domestication. Our knowledge
of the habits and manners of the feathered race is, therefore,
entirely dependent on chance observation.
The Humming-bird is confined to certain portions of America.
The Nightingale, if a visitor to Scotland, is only found in Ber-
wick and Dumfriesshire in fine seasons, while it is constantly
seen in Sweden, a country much colder and much more northerly.
The Toucans, so brilliant in plumage, are only found in tropical
South America. The Swallow, so rapid on the wing, clearing
its twenty leagues an hour when it leaves us for its southern
winter quarters, never deviates from the route which seems to
have been traced for it by a Sovereign Master.
It may, then, be stated that the great zones of the earth differ
as much in birds as in the Mammifers found in them. We
find in climatic regions birds, or groups of birds, of per-
fectly distinct species, and which are rarely found beyond that
particular zone. Glancing at the various countries forming a
UTILITY OF BIRDS. 208
region, particular types of birds are easily recognised. Africa,
for instance, alone possesses the Great Ostrich, while only a
small species exists in America —the Rhea; the Emu repre-
sents the genus in Australia. Africa has species brilliant as
the most precious stones. To America belong exclusively the
Humming-birds, so remarkable for the brilliancy of their plumage.
Again, if Africa is the country of the Vulture, to America belongs
the Condor.
Nevertheless, the acclimatisation of birds is by no means beyond
our power. Experience proves that by carrying a bird far from
its native country, and placing it in conditions approaching those
to which it has been accustomed, it will live and multiply—accli-
mate itself, in short, to its new home.
Europe possesses no ornithological type peculiar toit. It is
only in Africa and America that we find those rich varieties of
form and colour which characterise the feathered race. The
Island of . Madagascar is the land which possesses the greatest
number of ornithological types—simply, perhaps, because that
island abounds in species whose rudimentary wings do not permit
of their wandering away. Whatever the cause, however, the
species found there are not obtained elsewhere. Here we find
the unique Dodo, a form of animal which became extinct in
Europe in the last century.
There is a wonderful charm of companionship in birds—they
give animation to the scene, skipping from bush to bush, or
skimming the surface of land and water. They please the eye
by their graceful shape and plumage, and they charm our ears
by their ceaseless warblings. Even in this sense we lie under a
debt of gratitude to these graceful inhabitants of the air. But this
is far from being the limit of the benefits we derive from them.
The birds of the poultry-yards furnish our most delicate food; their
eggs form a considerable branch of trade, and are indispensable in
the kitchen ; and what would become of our country gentleman
should our game birds ever become extinct ?—an event by no
means improbable, seeing that, in the year of grace 1868, the
head-dress of every votary of fashion was decorated with the
wing of a bird—not confining the demand to Birds of Paradise,
Ostrich, Pheasant, and other feathers of brilliant plumage whose
206 INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER.
value was a protection, but extending to the harmless sea-fowl,
which were destroyed by thousands only for the sake of their
feathers.
Birds are useful to man by their feeding on the insects, larve,
and caterpillars which infest cultivated crops. Without their aid,
agriculture would become impossible. In former times it was a
favourite doctrine with the agriculturist that the Passerina were
the real destroyers of his crops, and a war of extermination was
declared against them; but the observations of more enlightened
persons have demonstrated that the chief food of most of these
consists of insects, and the havoc among them has consequently
been stayed; still much ignorance, and its concomitant, cruelty,
exist on this point. Elsewhere, those interested soon discovered
that the destruction of small birds led to formidable increase in
the numbers of voracious insects—that these lively and joyous
creatures, which float in the air and twitter on the bough,
are sent us more for good than evil, and that if some of them
make the crops pay a tax, they repay it tenfold by keeping
down the excess of more destructive ravagers.
While the smaller birds have proved essentially beneficial
to man, some of the larger birds exhibit similar tendencies.
The Wading Bird clears the earth of serpents and other unclean
and venomous animals. The Vultures and Storks throw them-
selves in flocks on corrupt carrion, and divest the soil of all
putrefying objects: thus, in concert with insects, birds are the
scavengers of the earth, lending their aid to make it a fit residence
for man ; in fact, are constituted by nature guardians of the public
health.
In former days Falconry afforded a stately and picturesque
sport to the great, in which lords and noble dames assisted. This
pastime still exists in some parts of England and some portions of
the East, especially in Persia, where the Falcon is trained to
chase the Gazelle and small ruminants; while in China and Japan
the Cormorant and Pelican are taught to fish the rivers for their
masters. From very ancient times, the Carrier Pigeon was the
bearer of messages now transmitted along the electric wires with
lightning speed.
Nor do these benefits comprise all the claims of birds to the
CLASSIFICATION. 207
gratitude of man. In tropical Ameriéa the Agami, Trophia crepi-
tans, or Trumpet Bird of Guiana, is domesticated, and so docile in
its habits, that it is employed to watch the flocks, which it does
with the fidelity and intelligence of a Dog. “The Agami,” says
M. Monocour, “is not only tamed easily, but becomes attached to
its benefactor with all the fondness and fidelity of a Dog. When
bred in the house, it loads the master with caresses, and follows
all his motions, but is easily offended.” It is bold and obstinate,
and will attack Cats and Dogs, fighting a tough battle with one of
the latter, however considerable his size. In Cayenne the denizens
of the poultry-yard are confided to its care; it leads them to their
pasture, prevents them from straying to a dangerous distance, and
brings them home in the evening, just as a trained shepherd’s
Dog will do the flocks committed to his care, and it manifests
its delight by cries of joy when its master vouchsafes a caress
in return for its faithful service. The Kamichi, which belongs,
like the Agami, to the same order, possesses similar characteristic
intelligence. Like the former, it is sociable and susceptible of
education, and becomes a useful auxiliary to the inhabitants of
South America.
After these brief remarks on the organisation and habits of
birds, we proceed to describe the more remarkable species, arranged
according to a simple and comprehensive order of classification,
placing before the reader the various orders of the class Avzs,
in the ascending scale which has been adopted in our previous
works.
Aves—Birps.
Warm-blooded, vertebrated, biped animals. Pectoral limbs,
fore-arms or wings organised for flight; feathery tntegument ;
red blood; respiration and circulation double; lungs fixed and
perforated.
I. Naratores, OR PALMIPEDES.
Swimming birds, having the toes united by a membrane; legs
placed behind the equilibrium; the body covered with a thick
coat of down beneath the feathers. They include the following
orders and families :—
208 INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER.
I. Brevipennes, Ostriches, Cassowaries, the Penguins, Auks, Guillemots,
and Grebes.
II. Longipennes, including the Terns, Gulls, Mews, Petrel, and Albatross.
III. Totipalmates, the Pelicans, Gannets, Cormorants, Frigate Bird,
Tropic Bird.
IV. Lamellirostres, the Ducks, Geese, Swans, Flamingos.
II. GRALLATORES.
Wading birds, having the legs long and naked from the tibia
downwards.
I. Macrodactyli, Crakes, Coots, Rails, Screamers.
Il. Cultrirostres, Boatbills, Cranes, Herons, Ibis, Storks, Spoonbills.
III. Longirostres, Avocets, Snipes, Ruffs, Turnstones, Sandpipers, Godwit,
Curlews, Gambets.
IV. Pressirostres, Oyster Catchers, Thicknee Plovers, Lapwings, Bustards,
Coursers.
III. Rasores.
Scratching birds. Feet with strong, obtuse, scratching claws ;
mandible vaulted; nostrils pierced at the base, covered by a
cartilaginous scale.
I. Gallinacee (Polygamous), Pea-fowl, Partridge, Pheasant, Quail, Grouse,
Pentados, Turkey, Curassow.
Il. Columbacee (Monogamous), Pigeons, Gourayinago.
IV. CANTOREsS.
Singing birds. Legs short and slender, three toes before and
one behind. In this order, according to Professor Owen, the
brain attains its greatest proportionate size, and the organs of the
voice their greatest complexity.
I. Dentirostres, Shrikes, Wrens, Wagtails, Thrushes, Warblers, Manakins.
IL. Conirostres, Birds of Paradise, Crows, Tits, Starlings, Buntings, Larks,
Finches, Grosbeaks.
Ill. Tenuirostres, Nuthatch, Creeper, Sunboard.
IV. Fissirostres, Swallows, Martins.
V. Vouireres.
Birds moving solely by flight. Skeleton light and buoyant;
head large; keel deep (entire on the Humming-bird); wings
CLASSIFICATION. 209
powerful, in some long and pointed; legs small and weak. The
order includes—
I. Cypselide, Swifts. VIL. Galbulide, Jacmar.
Il. Trochilide, Humming-birds. VIII. Coraciade, Rollers.
Til. Caprimulgide, Nightjar. IX. Capitonide, Puff-bird.
IV. Trogonide, Trogons. X. Alcedinide, Kingfishers.
V. Prionitide, Momots or Motmots. XI. Bucerotide, Hornbills.
VI. Meropide, Bee-eaters.
VI. ScaAnsores.
Climbing birds, with opposing toes in pairs, two behind and two
before. The order includes—
I. Ramphastidee, Toucans.
Il. Bucconide, Barbets.
_ TL. Cuculidee, Cuckoos.
IV. Picide, Woodpeckers.
V. Musophagide, Plantain-eaters.
VI. Coliide, Colys.
VIL. Psittacide, Parrots.
VII. Raprrores.
Rapacious birds, with strong, curved, pointed, and sharp-edged
beak ; legs short and robust, three toes before and one behind,
armed with strong, crooked talons. The order includes—
I. Nocturnes, Owls.
Il. Diurnes, Eagles, Vultures, Hawks.
CHAPTER I.
THE NATATORES, OR SWIMMING BIRDS.
Tuer Natatores are obviously devoted, by their organisation, to
an aquatic life. Their constant haunts are found on the great
rivers and lakes, or on the coast. They are chiefly characterised
by the form of their feet. The toes are united by marginal mem-
branes in the Coots and Water-rails, or in others by the extension
of webs between and uniting the toes, of a soft membrane slightly
lobed; hence the name of Palmipedes, or web-footed, usually
applied to them. These broad palmate feet, acting at the end of
a long lever, strike the water with great force when fully ex-
panded, being favoured by their backward position. When the
bird recovers its stroke, the toes are relaxed in their forward
movement, preparatory to another effort ; thus progression through
the water is obtained.
Some of the swnuming birds in their flight are feeble and slow ;
others are incapable of even rising from the water, being only
furnished with rudimentary wings. Again, there are species
which possess extraordinary powers of traversing the air, their
well-developed wings enabling them to pass through space with
wonderful rapidity. The Albatross is met with on the high seas
at a vast distance from the shore. Others, as the Petrels, seem
to revel in storms and tempests, mingling their wild cry with
that of the storm-tossed waves. The sailors, who look anxiously
to windward at the dark horizon, where the clouds are sur-
charged with torrents of rain ready to burst on the ship, are
assured of the approaching tempest by the circling flight of the
white-winged Albatross, as it is seen through the obscure and
threatening mist.
THE NATATORES. 211
The whole order of Natatores swim and dive without: saturation,
their plumage being anointed by an oily liquid furnished by
certain glands in their skin, which renders them impervious to
moisture. This immunity from the effect of water is further
assisted by the disposition and structure of their feathers, which,
being smooth and three-cornered, with the barbules closely inter-
laced, cause the water to glide off their polished surface ; while
the down beneath the feathers of which we have spoken protects
their bodies from the cold, maintaining their natural heat, and
enabling them to resist the cold of the most rigorous winter.
The Natatores are numerous both in species and individuals,
having their habitat in all countries. According to Prince Charles
Bonaparte, one of the most eminent of European naturalists, those
which frequent the sea-shore alone constitute one-fourteenth part
of all the birds on the globe, and the number of species he reckons
at nine thousand four hundred. They feed on vegetables, insects,
mollusks, and fishes. They seek the coast in the breeding season,
where they build their nests on the sand, or in nooks and crannies
of the rocks, or on the margin of lakes and rivers.
In the spring the sea-birds assemble in large flocks, pair off, and
proceed to deposit their eggs in nests constructed generally with-
out skill, but always lined or carpeted with a fine down, which forms
a soft warm bed for the embryo progeny. Certain localities are
frequented by preference, which are occupied by innumerable flocks
in the breeding season, all of which seem to live together in per-
fect harmony. Some of the families of the Natatores are valuable
additions to the poultry-yard. Ducks and Geese furnish delicate
and nourishing food for man; the Swan is gracefully ornamental
on our lakes and ponds. The down of all the aquatic birds
is of immense value to the commerce of northern countries.
The eggs are good to eat, and in many countries the inhabitants
consume them in great quantities. Nor does their usefulness
end here. Guano, so eagerly sought for by the farmer, is the
excrement of aquatic fowls—the accumulation of ages, until,
in the South Pacific Ocean, it has formed whole islands, some
of them being covered with this valuable agricultural assistant
to the depth of ninety or a hundred yards. Nor is this so
marvellous, if it is considered that twenty-five or thirty thousand
Bee
212 THE NATATORES.
sea-birds sleep in these islets night after night, and that each
of them will yield half a pound of guano daily. Our lands receive
valuable assistance to fertility from this unrivalled material, which
owes its power to the ammoniacal salts, phosphate of lime, and
fragments of feathers of which it is composed.
The order of Natatores, or Palmipedes, consists of four families :
—1. Brevipennes, or Divers; 2. Longipennes, or Skimmers ;
3. Totipalmates, or Pelicanide; 4. Lamellirostres, including
Geese, Ducks, Swans, and Flamingos.
THe Divers (Brevipennes).
Penguins, Aptenodytes; Auks, Alcea; Grebes and Divers,
Colymbus ; Guillemots, Uria.
The birds which constitute this family of the Natatores are
characterised by wings so thin and short as to be totally useless
for the purposes of aérial locomotion. They are also called
Brachypteres, from the Greek compound Bpoaxis, short, and zrépa,
winged. These are all habitual divers and indefatigable swim-
mers, using their wings as fish do their fins. To raise these
after making the down-stroke requires a considerably greater
effort than a bird of flight makes in raising its wings in the
air, for which reason the second pectoral muscle in this and
other diving birds has an unusually large development to give
further strength. Their plumage is smooth and silky, and im-
pervious to water from its oily nature. They live chiefly on the
sea, coming ashore in the breeding season.
The Divers, Colymbus, are distinguished from other Brachypteres
by their beak being longer than the head, straight, robust, and
nearly cylindrical, slightly compressed on the sides, acute, the
upper mandible longer than the lower ; their toes, in place of being
each furnished with marginal membranes, have the three united
by a single membrane ; their feet being placed far backward and
on the same perpendicular line with the tibia—an arrangement
very unfavourable for walking, compelling the birds to take a
vertical position, rendering their movements on land both painful
and. difficult.
They are, however, intrepid swimmers, and they dive with such
GREAT NORTHERN DIVER. 213
alertness that it requires a quick eye and hand to shoot them.
They are inhabitants of northern seas; there they build their
nests in some solitary islet or desert promontory, where they
lay two eggs, oblong in shape, and more or less shaded of an
Isabella white. Fish, particularly the herring, form their prin-
cipal food ; crustaceans and marine vegetables are also eaten by
them. Their flesh is tough and leathery, and tastes disagree-
able. In the winter they migrate to temperate countries, where
they frequent the rivers and lakes, returning to the northern
regions when the ice has broken up.
There are three species described: the Great Northern Diver,
Colymbus glacialis ; the Arctic Diver; and the Imber Diver. But
there is considerable doubt on this subject, the young of C. glacialis
of the first and second year being so unlike the parent birds as to
have been long supposed a distinct species.
THe Great NortHern Driver (Colymbus glacialis).
ENGLISH SynoNyMs.—Northern Diver: Montagu, Selby. Speckled Diver,
Ember Goose: Gunner. Ring-necked Loon.
Latin Synonyms.—Colymbus glacialis: Linn., Adult, Latham, Jenyns,
Brien. Colymbus Immer: Young, Linn., Latham.
FRENCH SynonyM.—Plongeon Imbrim : Temminck.
The Great Northern Diver is among the mass of those birds
which seek their food on the bosom of the great deep. It is not
numerous in British waters, and can scarcely be called gregarious,
although adults sometimes, and the young more frequently, form
small parties of two to five. A wanderer on the ocean, it not only
frequents the margins of the sea, fishing in the bays and estuaries,
but it is also met with many miles from the shore. Narrow chan-
nels, firths, coves, sea-locks, and sandy bays are, however, its
favourite resorts; there it floats, the body deeply immersed in the
water. But though deep in the water, it moves on steadily and
majestically ; it overtakes and shoots ahead of all its more buoyant
congeners. But let us watch the actions of a pair of these children
of the ocean, and listen while Mr. McGillivray describes one of
those picturesque scenes in which he delights. ‘It is now the
214 THE NATATORES.
end of spring, when the returning warmth gives an increase of
animation to the wandering tribes of the winged inhabitants of
the ocean air; but the Loon makes comparatively little use of his
wings, and his great bulk and robust frame would be ill adapted
for the hovering flight of the Gulls and Petrels. There he comes,
followed by his mate, advancing with marvellous speed. They
have rounded the point, and now stop for a moment to cast a
searching glance along the shore, lest an enemy should be lurking
there. Forward they start—the smooth water rippling gently
against their sides. Small effort they seem to make, and yet
powerful must be the stroke of the oars which impel masses so
large at so rapid a rate. Now and again they dip their bills into
the water; then the head and neck. One glides gently under the
sui GENT: | titers
“LAKAI
WA:
Fig. 80.—Great Northern Divers (Co/ymbus glaciaits).
surface, without plunge or flutter, and in a few seconds it appears
with a fish in his bill, which, with upstretched head and neck, it
swallows. The other having also dived, appears with a fish, larger,
and less easily managed. She beats it about in her bill, plashing
the water, and seems unable to adapt it to the capacity of her
gullet; but at length, after much striving, she masters it, and
continues her search. Backwards and forwards, over the clear
sand of the shallow bay, they glide in their quiet way, and now
they have both dived with their heads towards us. One rises close
to the sea-weed, and so near to us, that we might almost count the
spots on his back. The other, in emerging, has perceived us, and
somehow communicates the discovery to her mate. They swim
about for a short while with erected necks, then sink into the
GREAT NORTHERN DIVER. 215
water, their heads disappearing last ; and when we see them again,
they are three hundred yards distant, standing out to sea, with
half-submerged bodies.” ‘If shot at and not wounded,” continues
this most picturesque of writers on Natural History, “it never
flies off, but dips into the water and rises at a great distance, and
unless shot dead, there is little chance of procuring it, for its
tenacity of life is great, and its speed far exceeds that of a four-
oared boat.”
The great American naturalist, Audubon, has left a most
interesting account of this bird in his ‘‘ Ornithological Biography.”
After describing the various Transatlantic localities in which he
has studied its economy, he describes its nest. ‘One that I saw,”
he says, “after the young had left it, on Lake Cayuga, was almost
afloat, and rudely attached to the rushes, more than forty yards
from the land, though its base was laid on the bottom, the water
being only eight or nine inches deep. Others I examined in
Labrador were placed on dry land, several yards from the water,
and raised to the height of nearly a foot above the decayed moss
on which they rested. The nest, however placed, is bulky, and
formed of withered grasses and herbaceous plants found in the
neighbourhood. The true nest, which is from a foot to fifteen
inches in diameter, is raised to the height of seven or eight inches.
Of the many nests I have examined, more contained three than
two eges, and I am confident that the former number most fre-
quently occurs.”
Of this handsome bird Sir John Richardson remarks, contrary
to the generally-received notion, that it is seldom seen either in
the Arctic Sea or Hudson’s Bay, but that it abounds in all the
inland lakes. It is rarely found on land, being ill fitted for
walking, but admirably adapted to aquatic habits, swimming with
great swiftness and for considerable distances under water ; and
when it does come up, seldom exposing more than its neck. It
flies heavily, but rather swiftly, and in a circle round those who
have disturbed it in its haunts; its loud and melancholy ery
resembling the howling of the Wolf, or the distant scream of
a man in distress. When the Loon calls frequently, it is sup-
posed to portend a storm. In the bad weather preceding the
advent of winter on the smaller northern American lakes, previous
216 THE NATATORES.
to migration, their wild, weird note is so unnatural, that both the
Indians and settlers ascribe to it supernatural powers.
The Imbrine Diver, L’Imbrim of Buffon, is also a fine bird
of blackish plumage shaded with white, the belly and a ring
round the neck being also white. The head is of a changeable
black and green colour. When it has young, in place of diving
under water, as its ordinary habit is when threatened, it boldly
attacks its enemies with its beak. Its skin serves the Greenlanders
as clothing. It inhabits the Arctic seas of both hemispheres, is
abundant about the Hebrides, in Norway, in Sweden, and even
on the coast of Scotland. Its appearance on the French coast
is very irregular, and only after great storms.
The Arctic Diver, C. arcticus, has the beak and throat black ;
summit of the head ashy grey; the breast and the sides of the
neck white, with black spots; the back and rump black; the
coverts of the wings with white spots, and all the lower parts
pure white. The bird, though rare in England and France, is
very common in the North of Europe. It is found on the lakes of
Siberia, of Iceland, in Greenland and Hudson’s Bay, and some-
times in the Orkney Islands. The women of Lapland make
bonnets with its skin dressed without removing the feathers; but
in Norway it is considered an act of impiety to destroy it, as
the different cries which it utters are said to prognosticate fine
weather or rain.
Tue BLack-THROATED Driver (Colymbus arcticus).
ENGLISH SynoNyMS.—Black-throated Loon, Black-throated Diver: Mon-
tagu, Selby.
Latin Synonyms.—Colymbus arcticus : Linn., Latham, Temminck, Jenyns,
Yarrell, Bonaparte.
FrencH SynonyMs.—Plongeon Lumme: Temminck. Plongeon Arctique:
Cuvier.
Smaller and more slender than the Great Northern Diver, this
species retains many of its characteristic habits. It floats deep in the
water, and when alarmed swims at surprising speed, with out-
stretched neck and rapid beat of the wings, and little more than
its head above the surface. It flies high and in a direct course with
ereat rapidity. Mr. Selby describes an ineffectual pursuit of a pair
RED-THROATED DIVER. » Ag
on Loch Shin, in Sutherlandshire, which was long persevered in.
In this case submersion frequently took place, which continued for
nearly two minutes at a time, and they generally reappeared at
nearly a quarter of a mile distant from the spot at which they
went down. In no instance did he ever see them attempt to
escape by taking wing. ‘I may observe,” says this acute ornitho-
logist, ‘that a visible track from the water to the nest was made
by the female, whose progress on land is effected by shuffling along
upon her belly, propelled from behind by her legs.” When
swimming, they are in the constant habit of dipping their bill in
the water with a graceful motion of the head and neck.
The eggs, of which there are two, sometimes three in the same
nest, are of a very elongated oval form, three inches in length, two
inches in their greatest girth, and of a brownish olive sprinkled
with black or dark-brown spots, and are larger at one end than at
the other.
THe Rep-THROATED Diver (Colymbus septentrionalis).
ENGiisH Synonyms.—Red-throated Loon, Red-throated Diver: Montagu,
Selby, Yarrell. Speckled Diver: Montagu.
Latin Synonyms.—C. septentrionalis: Linn., Latham, Jenyns, Bona-
parte, Temminck. C. borealis, Siviatus, and stellutus: Latham.
FREncH Synonyms.—Plongeon Col Marin, ou ad Gorge Rouge: Temminck.
J g g
The Red-throated Diver is smaller than either of the preceding,
the plumage is dense and firm, the wings of moderate length, the
tail rounded and firm.
From the beginning of October to the middle of May these birds
are constantly found on our northern coasts, and on the rivers and
estuaries with which they abound. When on a long journey, they
keep at a great height, moving rapidly in a direct course with
outstretched wings. On these occasions they exceed the speed
of most of their congeners. With their long outstretched necks
and snow-white breasts, from their comparatively short wings,
they present a curious and novel sight. When swimming they are
extremely vigilant, and permit nothing to approach them. On the
appearance of a boat they glide as it were out of sight under the
water, without noise or flutter, and thence pursue their way with
great rapidity, using wings as well as feet to propel themselves.
218 THE NATATORES.
Tue Penourns (Aptenodytes)
Belong exclusively to cold countries. They rarely quit the vicinity
of land, yet only take to the shore in the breeding season, or when
driven by squalls and storms from their favourite element. On
shore they are compelled to sit erect. They carry the head very
high and the neck stretched out, while their short winglets are
advanced like two diminutive arms. When they sit perched in
flocks on some lofty projecting rock they: might be mistaken at a
distance for a line of soldiers.
At certain periods of the year the Penguins assemble on the
beech as if they preconcertedly met for deliberation. These
Fig. 31.—Penguin (Aptenodytes).
assemblies last for a day or two, and are conducted with an
obvious degree of solemnity. When the meeting results in a
decision, they proceed to work with great activity. Upon a
ledge of rock, sufficiently level and of the necessary size, they
trace a square with one of its sides parallel and overlooking
the edge of the water, which is left open for the egress of
the colony. Then with their beaks they proceed to collect
all the stones in the neighbourhood, which they heap up outside
the lines marked out, to serve them as a wall, to shelter them
from the prevailing winds. During the night these openings are
PENGUINS AND MANCHOTS. 219
guarded by sentinels. They afterwards divide the enclosure into
smaller squares, each large enough to receive a certain number of
nests, with a passage between each square. No architect could
arrange the plan in a more regular manner.
What is most singular is that the Albatross, a bird essentially
aérial, and adapted for flight, associates at this period with
these half fish, half birds, the Penguins; so that the nest of an
Albatross may be seen next the nest of a Penguin, and the
whole colony, so differently constituted, appear to live on the best
terms of intimacy. Each keeps to its own nest, and if by chance
there is a complaint, it is that some Penguin (probably the king
Penguin, for he is generally the greatest thief) has robbed the
nest of his neighbour, the Albatross.
Other sea-birds come to partake of the hospitality of the little
republic. With the permission of the masters of the coterie they
build their nests in the vacancies that occur in the squares.
The female Penguin lays but one egg, which she only abandons
until hatched for a few instants, the male taking her place while she
seeks her food. The Penguins are so numerous in the Antarctic
seas that a hundred thousand eggs have been collected by the
crew of one vessel.
The Manchots (Fig. 82) have been described by most of the
French naturalists as a distinct species, but there is little doubt of
their being only a variety of the Aptenodytes. They abound in the
southern seas. Their short, stunted wings, which quite incapa-
citate them from flying, are reduced to a flat and very short stump,
totally destitute of feathers, being covered with a soft down, having
something” of the appearance of hair, which might be taken for
scales. Like the Penguin, the Manchots are excellent swimmers
and incomparable divers, and their coating of down is so dense
that it even resists a bullet; it is consequently difficult to shoot
them.
Everything about. these birds indicates their adaptation to an
aquatic life. Their feet are placed at the extremity of the body—
an arrangement that renders them awkward and heavy when
ashore; where, in short, they only come to lay and hatch their eggs.
They begin to assemble in great numbers at the commencement
of October. Their nests are a very simple construction ; for they
220 THE NATATORES.
content themselves with digging in the sand a hole deep enough
to contain two eggs—but more often one than two.
In spite of the limited number of eggs, the quantity of these
birds found in the south of Patagonia is something prodigious.
When sailors land in these high latitudes they take or kill as many
as they choose. Sir John Narborough says, speaking of those at
the Falkland Islands, that “when the sailors walked among the
feathered population to provide themselves with eggs, they were
regarded with sidelong glances.’ In many places the shores were
covered with these birds, and three hundred have been taken
within an hour ; for generally they make no effort to escape, but
ii vis
oe Be
Fig. 82.—The Manchot (A. Patachonica).
stand quietly by while their companions are being knocked down
with sticks.
In another islet, in the Straits of Magellan, Captain Drake’s
crew killed more than three thousand in one day. ‘These facts
are not exaggerated. This island, when visited by these navi-
gators, was, so to speak, virgin ; and the birds had succeeded each
other from generation to generation in incalculable numbers,
hitherto free from molestation.
The Penguins have no fear of man. Mr. Darwin pleasantly
relates his encounter with one of these birds on the Falkland
Islands. “One day,’’ he says, “ having placed myself between a
Penguin (A. demersa) and the water, I was much amused by the
THE GREBES. 221
action of the bird. It was a brave bird, and, till reaching the
sea, it regularly fought and drove me backwards. Nothing less
than heavy blows would have stopped him. Every inch gained
he kept firmly, standing close before me firm, erect, and deter-
mined, all the time rolling his head from side to side in a very
odd manner, as if the powers of vision only lay in the anterior and
basal part of each eye.” This bird, Mr. Darwin states, is called
the Jackass Penguin, from this habit, when on shore, of throwing
its head backwards, and of making a loud strange noise very like
the braying of an ass.
They defend themselves vigorously with their beaks when an
attempt is made to lay hands upon them; and when pursued,
they will pretend to retreat, and return immediately, throwing
themselves upon their assailant. ‘ At other times they will look
at you askance,” says Pernetty, “the head inclined first on one
side, then on the other, as if they were mocking you.” They hold
themselves upright on their feet, the body erect, in a perpendicular
line with the head. In this attitude they might be taken for a
party of choristers with white surplices and black gowns. Their
ery strikingly resembles the braying of an ass. Navigators passing
these islands of the southern seas might suppese that they were
densely inhabited, for the loud roaring voices of these birds produce
a noise equal to that of a crowd on a féte day. The flesh is most
unpalatable, but it is frequently the only resource of ships’ crews
who find themselves short of provisions in these inhospitable
regions. As to the eggs of most of the Palmipedes, they are said
to be excellent.
THE GREBES.
The Grebes (Podiceps) have the head small, the neck somewhat
elongated, the legs attached to the abdomen, the tail rudimentary,
the tarsi compressed, the anterior toes united at their base by a
membrane slightly lobed in its contracted extent. These birds
live principally on the sea, but they inhabit fresh water by pre-
ference, feeding on small fishes, worms, mollusks, insects, and
the products of aquatic vegetation. While they dive and swim
admirably, they also fly with vigorous wing when pursued; but
222 THE NATATORES.
they rarely ascend into the air unless they are alarmed, or under
migrating impulse, which disperses them among the interior
lakes in the autumn, and compels them to select a favourable
breeding-place in the spring.
The nest of the Grebe is usually placed in a tuft of rushes,
on the edge of the water. It is composed exteriorly of large
grassy plants roughly interlaced, and the interior is lined with
soft broken grasses delicately arranged. The eggs vary from three
to seven. On shore they cannot walk at all, but creep, so to
speak; for they must hold themselves nearly upright, supported
on the croup, the toes and the tarsi being extended laterally. But
ungraceful as they are on shore, so much greater is their elegance
on the water. They are covered with a close warm down—so close
and so lustrous, that muffs of a silvery white are made of the down-
covered skins of their breast, which are impervious to water.
M. Noury, Director of the Museum of Natural History at Elbeuf,
who has carefully studied the habits of the Grebes, relates of the
Castanean Grebe, P. cornutus, that its nest is a perfect raft, which
floats upon the surface of our ponds and lakes. It is a mass of
thick stems of aquatic herbs closely woven together ; and as these
materials contain a considerable quantity of air in their numerous
cells, and from disengaging various gases besides in decomposing,
these aériform supporters render the nest lighter than the water.
In this improvised ship, and upon this humid bed, the female Grebe
silently sits upon and hatches her progeny. But if anything
unforeseen disturbs her security, this wild bird plunges one foot
into the water, which she employs as an oar to transport her
dwelling from the threatened danger.
Grebes are inhabitants of the Old and New Continents.
Among the European species may be noticed the Crested Grebe
(Podiceps cristatus), Fig. 83, about the size of a Duck, ornamented
with a double black crest ; the Horned Grebe (P. cornutus), pro-
vided with two long tufts of feathers, in form somewhat resembling
a horn; the Eared Grebe (P. auritus), distinguished by its beak,
‘the base of which is depressed, while the point is raised upwards.
Among the American species may be mentioned P. Carolinensis
and P. rubricollis, killed at the Great Slave Lake, along with
P. cristatus and P. cornutus. P. Chitensis and P. Americanus
THE CRESTED GREBE. 223
are natives of the warmer parts of America, of St. Thomas, St.
Domingo, and the Philippines.
THe CresteD GREBE.
ENnGcuisH Synonyms.—Greater Crested Grebe: Jenyns. Crested Grebe:
Montagu, Selby.
Latin Synonyms.—Colymbus cristatus: Linn., Yarrell. C. wrinatur:
Young, Linn. Podiceps cristatus: Latham, Jenyns, Bonaparte, Selby.
FRENCH SYNONYM.—Grébe huppé : Temminck.
The Crested Grebe is found along our coasts, and in their estu-
aries, in limited numbers; but in the splendid lakes of the North
American fur-countries, according to Dr. Richardson, this species
is veryabundant. Mr. Audubon says that it returns to the United
v
a ee
SSS SS SS
——
EEE
F:g. 83.—The Crested Grebe (Podiceps c, istutus).
States from its northern wanderings about the beginning of Sep-
tember, and proceeds south as far as Mexico, a few stragglers only
remaining on the lower part of the Ohio, Mississippi, and the
neighbouring lakes. “ They pass swiftly through the air,’’ says
this enthusiastic naturalist, “at. the height of about a hundred
yards, in flocks of from seven and eight to fifty or more, proceeding
in a loose body, and propelling themselves by continual flappings,
their necks and feet stretched out to their full extent. When
about to alight on the water, they glide swiftly downward, with
their wings half closed, producing a sound not unlike that of a
Hawk swooping upon its prey. At this moment their velocity
24 THE NATATORES.
is so great that, on alighting, they glide forward on the surface of
the water for twenty or thirty yards, leaving a deep furrow in their
wake. They are exceedingly quick-sighted, and frequently elude,
by diving, the shot which is aimed at them.”
The Guillemots (Ura), Fig. 84, have the beak long, straight, con-
vex above, somewhat angular below, a little curved and hollowed
at the extremity of each mandible; the legs are short, compressed,
and placed well behind the body; the three anterior toes are united
by the same membrane; the claws recurved and pointed ; no hind
toe; the wings are straight, and the tail short. These birds,
when placed on the ground, raise themselves with great diffi-
culty, owing to the conformation of their legs. They only come
ashore when driven there for shelter by the storm, or for breed-
ing. Jor the latter purpose
they choose some precipitous
coast where the rocks project
in ledges, from which they can
throw themselves into the sea
if they are disturbed. Boldly-
searped cliffs, which rise per-
pendicularly from the waves,
are consequently their favourite
breeding-places. There it is
necessary to seek them. Un-
fortunately, the demand for the
wings and down of the Guille-
mots has reached a point which
is not unlikely to lead to their
extermination. One London
dealer, we are told, has given
\\ an order at Ailsa Craig, on the
Be eeepc mnemnons (Urea. Trode), Clyde, for a thousand sea-birds
weekly ; and’ the tacksman of the rock is so intent on supplying
the demand, that he spreads his nets while the birds are sitting
on the newly-hatched young, which are thus left in thousands to
perish from being deprived of a mother’s fostering care.
Among the Guillemots, the female lays only one large egg.
They feed on fishes, insects, and crustacea. They principally
UTILITY OF BIRDS. 225
inhabit northern regions, visiting our shores and other temperate
climates when the ice has invaded their summer home. In their
migratory journeys they must trust to their wings—which, how-
ever, as already observed, are very short. They are consequently
not possessed of long powers of flight, and skim the surface of the
water, rarely rising much above the surface. Their progress,
however, is sharp and rapid, but of short duration. The Guille-
mots during winter are frequently seen in immense numbers on
Rock-all Bank and on the banks of Newfoundland. So little are
they alarmed at the approach of a vessel, that should they be
directly in her track, they will only dive to save themselves.
These banks are several hundred miles from land.
The whole race of aquatic birds of which we have spoken, whether
Divers, Penguins, Grebes, or Guillemots, are, in these northern
regions, a valuable resource, where vegetation almost entirely
ceases. The poor people whose lot compels them to live there
obtain in their feathers, skin, oil, and eggs, clothing, food, and
light during their long and gloomy winter. But to obtain
what they truly consider a blessing from heaven, they have to
surmount innumerable difficulties, the birds often building their
nests in islets almost unapproachable, or on rocks rising perpen-
dicularly out of the water. Slung upon seats hung from the
summits of these crags, the courageous islanders suspend them-
selves, in the breeding season, to gather and make, so to speak,
a harvest of the sea-fowls’ eggs. Some of these men walk along
the rocky coast, furnished with a conical net attached to the
end of a pole, which enables them to secure the birds flying
around them, much in the same manner as boys catch butterflies
in the meadows.
But chasing these graceful swimmers at the foot of their rocky
retreat is mere trifling ; the dramatic and dangerous incidents occur
at the summit of the steep, giant cliffs. The intrepid inhabitants
of the Feroé Islands, which are situated to the north of Scotland,
between Norway and Iceland, in the Atlantic Ocean, proceed as
follows in the search after eggs. The fowler begins operations
by swarming, as schoolboys call it, up a pole, which carries
him to the first projecting ledge of the rocks. This point attained,
he throws a knotted rope to his companions, who soon join him on
Q
——SSS= s
————
f= Z
i) | i, : i)
iia
o a : |
% \ aN) i f 2
Fig. 85.—Catching Birds and gathering Eggs in the Feroé Islands.
GATHERING SEA-BIRDS’ EGGS, 227
the aérial cliffs. The same maneuvre is performed, stage by stage,
until they reach the summit. But this is nothing ; he has now to
visit the recesses in which the nests are to be found.
Upon the edge of the rock a beam is run out horizontally ; to
this beam a two-inch rope, which is not less than nine hundred feet
in length, is attached. To the end of this immense line a plank
is tied, upon which the fowler seats himself. This man holds
in his hand a light cord for the purpose of signalling to his com-
panions above. The fowler, thus seated, descends from cliff to cliff,
and from rock to rock ; he visits every nook and cranny in search of
plunder, making an ample harvest of eggs and birds, either taking
them by hand, or striking them with the end of his line. The
product of his perilous expedition he places in a sort of haversack,
which he carries slung from the shoulder. When he wishes to
change his place, he gives a preconcerted signal with his cord,
imparting an oscillating motion to it in the direction of that part of
the rock he wishes to visit. When the harvest is deemed sufficient
—when the day’s sport is concluded—his companions are notified,
and the fowler is hoisted to the summit of the cliff.
How incredible is the address, and how great the courage,
required to induce a man to let himself be suspended by a slender
cord over a precipice some hundreds of feet in height, and how
hazardous, how frightful the peril! The cord might be cut by
chafing against the sharp rock. What risks he runs on changing
his place! It has sometimes happened to those above to hear one
loud heart-rending shriek—the cry of despair. The men who hold
the rope lean forward—they see nothing—they hear only the
ereat voice of the sea, which drowns all other sounds as it breaks
against the island. They hasten to draw up the cord—alas! its
reduced weight too plainly tells what has happened! The fowler
has been seized with vertigo ; or, probably, he has overreached him-
self and lost his equilibrium on the slippery stones, and the wave
which roars at the base of this wall of rock has closed over him.
It is such accidents as these which induce the inhabitant of
the Feroé Islands, when he leaves his house on such an expedi-
tion, to bid farewell to his family. Fatal catastrophes, however,
are not very frequent. Men who live in those climates which
nature seems to have, as it were, disinherited, become accustomed
Q2
228 THE NATATORES.
to struggle with the elements, and almost always to triumph
over the dangers which surround them. They go to demand from
the abyss food for their wives and children, and the idea animates
and sustains their courage.
THe Common GuitiEmor (Uria Troile).
EncuisH Synonyms.—Lesser Guillemot: Montagu. Foolish Guillemot:
Montagu, Selby, Willock, Linn. Marrot, Scout, Sea-Hen, Scuttock:
Local.
Latin Synonyms.—Uria Troile: McGillivray, Latham, Jenyns, Bona-
parte. Colymbus Troile: Latham.
FRENcH SynonyM.—Guillemot a capuchon.
Individuals of this species are to be found dispersed over all our
seas, in small parties or singly, during the interval between the
breeding seasons. In estuaries, bays, and narrows, where herrings
or other fry are abundant, they congregate in vast numbers, along
with Auks, Red-throated Divers, and Gulls of various species.
About the end of April great quantities may be seen flying in
strings along the coast towards their favourite haunts, which are
the precipitous cliffs of Flamborough Head, the Farn Islands,
St. Abb’s Head, and other well-known spots on the English and
Scottish sea-board. No preparation is made for the reception of the
eggs, which are deposited in hollows of the rocks and ledges of
the cliffs, each female laying a single one, although a great
number are often seen so closely packed together as to be possibly
covered by one bird.
Where the cliffs are lofty and other birds breed with them, the
Guillemot occupies a zone above the Kittiwake and below the
Razor-bill. “It is interesting,’ writes McGillivray, with the
enthusiasm of one who has tried it, “to visit one of the great
breeding-places, to row along the foot of the cliffs in a boat, or to
stand on a near promontory, and see the multitudes perched on
the rocks, or flying out to sea or returning; or to look out from
the summit upon the groups in sight ; or startle from their stations
a whole flock by letting down a large stone; or to descend by
some crevice, clinging with fingers and unshod feet to the little
narrow ledges, and creep in among the eggs; or to be let down,
dangling on a rope, half trembling between fear and excitement.”
CHAPTER II.
DUCKS, GEESE, SWANS, AND PELICANS.
Wittoveusy distributes the Palmipedes into such as have the
back toe, and those in which it is absent; the former, again, into
such as have the four toes webbed together, and such as have the
back toe separated from the others. These latter he again subdi-
vides into narrow-billed and broad-billed; the former having
their bills either hooked at the end or straight and sharp-pointed.
The hook-billed have them either even or toothed on the sides.
Those which have them straight or sharp-pointed are either short-
winged and divers—such as Doukers and Loons—or long-winged,
such as Gulls. The broad-billed are divided into Ducks and
Geese. The Ducks are either Sea or Pond Ducks. ‘ The Ducks,”
he adds, “have shorter necks and larger feet, in proportion to
their bodies, than Geese. Howbeit, the biggest in this kind do
equal, if not exceed, the least in that. They have shorter legs
than Geese, and situated more backward, so that they go waddling ;
a broader and flatter back, and so a more compressed body ; and,
lastly, a broader and flatter bill. Their tongue is pectinated, or
‘toothed, on each side, which is common with them and the
Geese.”
“The Ducks are of two sorts, either wild or tame. The wild,
again, are of two sorts :—1, Sea Ducks, which feed mostwhat in
salt waters, dive much in feeding, have a broader bill (especially
the upper one), and bending forward to work on the stem; a large
hind toe, and then, likely for a rudder, a long train, not sharp-
pointed. 2, Pond Ducks, which haunt plashes, have a straight
and narrower bill, a very little hind toe, a sharp-pointed train, a
230 DUCKS, GEESE, SWANS, AND PELICANS.
white belly, speckled feathers, black, with glittering green on the
middle wing, with a white transverse ring on either side.”
According to Mr. Yarrell, the first division of Ducks com-
prises the Wild Duck, Shieldrake, Muscovy Duck, Gadwall, Sho-
veller, Pintail, Widgeon, Bimaculated Duck, Garganey, and Teals,
all of which exhibit length of neck, wings reaching to the end
of the tail, tarsi somewhat round, hind toe free or without pendent
lobe. They generally frequent fresh water, but pass much of their
time on land, feeding on aquatic plants, insects, worms, and some-
times fish. The second division includes the Red Crested Duck,
Poachard, Ferruginous Duck, Scaup, Tufted Duck, Harlequin
Duck, Long-tailed Duck, and Golden Eye; while between the two
divisions he places, as possessing some of the characters of each,
the Eider Duck, King Duck, Velvet Duck, and Scoter.
McGillivray accepts this arrangement, with some slight varia-
tions, remarking that the differences as to habits, as well as struc-
ture, are quite obvious; and he gives us a graphic description of
the three types. ‘ High in air,” he says, “advancing on gently-
arched and outspread wings, that winnow a passage for them over
the far-spreading sea, is seen advancing from the north a flock
of large birds, that are observed, as they draw nearer, to be arranged
in lines ever undulating and changing figure; while their clear
eries seem to express their joy at having escaped the dangers of
their long passage over the waste of waters. Now they descend,
mingle their ranks, wheel in dislocated bands, unite, sweep along,
and, clamorous in their joy, at length alight on the open pasture.
Having rested awhile and plumed themselves, they begin to move
about in search of food, walking sedately and with decurrent necks,
stretching their strong bills to the ground, from which they wrench
the roots of the grasses, and pluck the herbage. Prudent, how-
ever, as they well need be in an unexplored tract, and careful of
their safety, they neither scatter about at random nor leave them-
selves subject to surprise. Should a suspicious object present
itself, one of them presently erects himself and emits a warning
ery, on hearing which they all rise together, raise their necks to
their full stretch, and carefully inspect the ground. Should the
danger be imminent, they run a few paces forward, spread out
their large wings, ascend into the air, and betake themselves to
DUCKS. 231
some distant place.” These are of the first division, or Cribatores,
as Mr. McGillivray calls them—more useful to man than the other
aquatic birds, many of them not only affording him savoury food,
but feathers, quills, and down; while some have become domesti-
cated, and rival the Gallinaceous Fowls in utility: these are the
Ducks and Geese of the poultry-yards and commons.
These web-footed birds, the Lamellirostre of Cuvier, are distin-
guished from all others by their laminated bills, which are thick,
have a covering of soft skin, also small teeth placed along the edge.
The tongue is fleshy, broad, and dentated on the edge. They are
aquatic, and principally inhabit fresh-water lakes and _ rivers.
Their wings being short, and living chiefly on the water, they
are badly qualified for a sustained flight. Their food is mostly
vegetable.
Numerous flocks of Ducks, of various species, frequent the sea-
shores and the rivers of all parts of the world. No family of birds
seems more profusely distributed over the world of waters, and
some of them are remarkable for the brilliant colouring of their
plumage. On land, the waddling gait of Ducks is anything but
graceful, but in the water their appearance is alert and elegant.
Look at them as they glide lightly over the surface of the
stream, or mark them as they plunge into its bosom with a splash,
either to bathe themselves or seek their food! All their move-
ments here are executed with graceful ease, and it is easy to see
that they are in their natural element. They love to paddle in
the mud, where they often find a sufficient supply of food to satisfy
their voracity. But no description of animal matter comes amiss to
them, whether water-insects, worms, slugs, snails, small frogs, bread,
fresh or tainted meat, fish, living or dead. They are such gluttons,
that we have seen two of them fighting and disputing for more than
an hour over the skin of an eel, or some other garbage, which one
of them had partly swallowed, whilst his antagonist was dragging
at the other end. To this division of the Anatide belongs the
Mallard, or Wild Duck, which may be considered typical of the
others, and which is generally supposed to be the ancestor of the
Domestic Duck. }
232 DUCKS, GEESE, SWANS, AND PELICANS.
Tur Common Duck, or MALLARD.
Enauish Synonyms.—Mallard: McGillivray, Jenyns. Common Wild
Duck: Montagu, Selby.
Latin Synonym.—Anas boschas: Linn., Latham, Jenyns, Bonaparte,
Temminck.
FrENcH SynonyM.—Canard sauvage: Temminck.
The plumage of the Wild Duck is dense and elastic. The head,
throat, and upper part of the neck of the male are adorned with
hues of a bright emerald green, shot with violet; its breast is of a
purplish brown; its back is ashy brown, sprinkled with greyish-
white zigzag bars; the four feathers in the middle of the tail,
curling up at the end in a semicircle, are of a blackish hue with
a green reflection ; its length is about twenty-four inches; length
of wing, thirty-five inches. The female, which is always smaller
than her mate, does not possess the bright colours which adorn
the Drake. Her plumage is brown and russet grey. Individuals
Fig. 86.—Wild Ducks (Anas boschus).
sometimes, though seldom, vary. Sir William Jardine states
that he has seen Drakes having the upper parts of a bluish grey,
decreasing in depth of colouring down the breast; and Mr.
Yarrell mentions two instances in which females of this species
have assumed, toa considerable extent, the appearance and plumage
of the Mallard, even to the curling feathers of the tail. On the
other hand, the male plumage, according to Mr. Waterton, under-
goes a singular alteration. About the end of May the breast and
tS
WILD DUCKS. 233
back of the Drake begin to change colour; in a few days the
curled feathers of the tail drop out, and grey feathers begin to
appear in the lovely green plumage round the eyes; and, by the
23rd of June, scarcely one green feather remains. By the 6th of
July all the green feathers have disappeared, and the male has
assumed the female garb, but darker in colour. In August this new
plumage begins to drop off, and by the middle of October the Drake
again reappears in all the rich magnificence of its former dress.
The Wild Duck (Fig. 86) forms the original stock from which
our Domestic Ducks have sprung. Their favourite resorts are to be
found in those hyperborean regions whose rigorous climate renders
it uninhabitable by man. The rivers of Lapland, Greenland,
and Siberia are sometimes literally covered with them ; and, in
the month of May, their nests are there found in quantities
which the imagination can scarcely picture. At the first ap-
proach of frost their earliest harbingers begin to appear among
us, and about the middle of October these travelling bands arrive
in increasing numbers.
Wild Ducks have a powerful, sustained, and rapid flight. With
one stroke of the wing they raise themselves either from the land
or water, and mount perpendicularly above the summits of the
loftiest trees, when they take a more horizontal course, maintaining
themselves at a great height, and making long journeys without
rest. Triangular columns of them may sometimes be seen
directing their unerring course towards their destination, the
rustling of their wings being heard at considerable distances.
The leading bird, which directs the course of the band, and which
is thus exposed to the first resistance of the wind, from being
foremost to cleave the air, soon becomes fatigued, when it falls
back into the second rank, its place in the van being immediately
taken by another (Fig. 87).
Wild Ducks are extremely suspicious in their nature. When
they want to settle down on any spot, or to go from one pool to
another, they sweep round in concentric curves, descending and
ascending again and again, until they have made a complete sur-
vey of their intended halting-place.
The margins of fresh-water lakes, pools, and marshes are the
principal localities frequented by the Wild Duck, so long as the
i |
Fig. 87.—Flight of Wild Ducks.
INCUBATION OF WILD DUCKS. 235
frosts of winter do not prevent their obtaining the water-insects
and aquatic weeds on which they feed. But when the frost has
congealed the stagnant waters, they take themselves off into more
temperate climates, invariably following the course of the rivers
and running streams. When they return northward after the great
thaw—that is, about the end of February—they keep in pairs, and
. disperse themselves in search of breeding-places among the rushes,
reeds, and sedge-grasses, constructing a bulky nest of weeds, which
is simply placed on the ground, and generally near to water.
Much elegance is not to be looked for in the nest of the Wild
Duck.
262 DUCKS, GEESE, SWANS, AND PELICANS.
THE WiLp Gooss.
Enorisn SyNonyms.—Grey Lag Goose: Montagu, Selby.. Wild Goose:
Jenyns. Marsh Goose, Grey Lag, Grey Goose, Fen Goose,
Latin Synonyms.—Anas anser: Linn., Latham. Anser ferus: Temminck,
Jenyns, McGillivray. Anser palustris: Selby. Anser cinereus: Bona-
parte.
FRENcH SynonyM.—Oie Cendrée : Temminck.
The Wild Goose, though by no means elegant in form, has
none of the awkwardness of the Domestic Goose, which is gene-
rally supposed to be descended from it. The body of Anser
Jerus is large and full; the neck long, at its upper part slender ;
the head proportionately small, ovate, oblong, and rather com-
pressed; the feathers of the head are small, short, rounded and
blended, of a greyish brown; those of the upper part of the
neck small and oblong, and arranged in ridges with deep inter-
vening grooves, gradually getting paler until it fades into greyish
white; the wings are long, reaching nearly to the end of the tail,
the feathers of the fore part of the back and wings close, broad,
and abrupt; the prevailing colour a bluish grey.
The Geese in many respects resemble the Ducks and Swans, but
they are less aquatic in their habits, keeping at a distance from large
bodies of water, and frequenting, by preference, moist meadows and
marshes, where they find herbage and various kinds of seeds, on
which they principally feed. They swim very little, and seldom
dive. They make their nests on the ground, and lay from six to
eight eggs, which are hatched in rather more than one month. The
young ones walk about and find their own food almost as soon
as they are hatched. Geese, especially the male birds, moult twice
"a year—in June and November.
The noise made by a flock of Geese seeking their food can be
heard at a great distance. Their call, which is repeated at regular
intervals, somewhat resembles the sound of a trumpet or clarion,
and is accompanied by a continuous muttering noise in shorter
notes. The hissing common to both Geese and Ducks is pro-
duced by two membranes placed in juxtaposition at the lower
part of the trachea. These two membranes are situated side by side
in the two bony and elongated openings of the internal larynx,
WILD GEESE. 263.
from which the two principal bronchia have their origin. A close
examination of this organ in the Goose is supposed to have con-
tributed to the invention of certain wind instruments, such as the
flute, bassoon, bagpipes, clarionet, and even the organ.
When attacked, the Goose makes a hissing noise similar to that
of some serpents. Endeavours have been made to express this
sound by the three Latin words strepit, gratitat, stridet. The
slightest noise wakes them up, when they at once give the signal
of alarm, which immediately warns the whole flock of approaching
danger. Thus, some authors have maintained that the Goose is more
vigilant than the Dog ; and in proof of this, instance the story of the
Geese of the Capitol, whose wakefulness saved the Romans from
Fig. 97.—Wild Goose (Anser ferus).
an attempted assault on the part of the Gauls. The Roman people
were grateful enough to award an annual sum for the maintenance
of a certain number of Geese in the Capitol; and on the anni-
versary of the day when their services had been so valuable, they
were in the habit of whipping the Dogs in front of the building,
as a retrospective punishment for their culpable carelessness.
The Gauls, on the other hand, never pardoned the Goose for
having baffled their attack. Frenchmen, even in the present day,
possibly the descendants of the proud companions of Brennus, or of
the conquerors of Northern Italy, appear still to inherit this ances-
tral hatred. At some of the French village fétes they are in the
habit of hanging up Geese by the feet in order to cut through
their necks with a sword, or to beat them to death by hurling
264 DUCKS, GEESE, SWANS, AND PELICANS.
stones and sticks at their heads. At every blow the poor creature
must suffer dreadful agony, but it is left in its pain until it dies a
lingering death. It is then borne away in triumph by the con-
queror, and its mutilated carcass afterwards appears at his table to
be devoured by him and his companions. Happily, the Assemblée
Nationale has now forbidden this brutal and sanguinary amuse-
ment as being dishonourable to a civilised nation.
It is difficult to say why the Goose should have been considered,
from the earliest ages, as the symbol of stupidity. Their sight
is sharp and piercing, and they enjoy a remarkable delicacy of
hearing. Their sense of smell, moreover, may be compared to
that of the Crow. Their watchfulness seems never at fault. When
they either sleep or eat, one of their number is placed as a sentinel.
With neck stretched out and head in the air, it scrutinises the
distant horizon in every direction, ready, at the slightest alarm,
to give a signal of danger to the rest of the flock.
The flight of Wild Geese indicates no slight degree of intel-
ligence. They place themselves in two slanting lines, forming a
< shaped angle, or sometimes in a single line, if the flock is not
very numerous. This arrangement allows each bird to follow the
main body with the least possible amount of resistance, and at the
same time to keep its rank. When the individual which leads
the flight begins to be fatigued, it takes its place in the rear,
each bird in its turn leading the flock.
These birds are too numerous to travel in large flocks ; it would
appear, therefore, as if they fixed upon some points where they
separate in order to distribute themselves over various countries.
In Europe Wild Geese come principally from Asia. On their
arrival here, the flocks disperse themselves over different districts.
In our land they make their appearance towards the beginning of
winter, and depart towards the end of April. Formerly they are
said to have been abundant, and to have been even permanently resi-
dent; now they are rare, and are seldom known to breed with us.
On their arrival they resort to open pastures and cultivated fields,
feeding on the roots of aquatic grasses, young corn, clover, and
other green herbage. On an alarm being given by the sentinel on
watch, they all erect their necks, run forward, and, uttering their
loud, grating cry, spring into the air, departing with a heavy,
WILD GEESE. 265
measured, and lofty flight. According to Temminck, “the Wild
Goose inhabits the seas, coasts, and marshes of eastern countries,
seldom advancing northward beyond the fifty-third degree ; it is
abundant in Germany and in Central Europe; occasionally, in its
migrations, it halts in small numbers in Holland.” Those which
visit France are the harbingers of the frost; and when they make
an early appearance, it is well known that the winter will be a
severe one.
Although they live little in the water, Wild Geese repair every
evening to the ponds and rivers in their neighbourhoods to pass
the night ; so that the Wild Goose only takes to the water when
the Wild Duck is leaving it. These birds are very difficult to
shoot in consequence of their lofty flight, from which they only
descend when they see the water on which they are to pass the
night. Even then their excessive caution renders nearly useless
all the stratagems of the sportsman. The attempt is sometimes
made to take them in the evening with nets, the wild ones
being attracted by means of tame Geese, which are trained to act
as decoys.
The Ostiacs, on the banks of the Obi, in Siberia, pile up the snow,
and, with the addition of branches, construct small huts. Near
these they place some stuffed birds in the water; the Wild Geese
dart on these and peck them to pieces. While thus busily occu-
pied, they can easily be shot or taken with nets.
But the most curious and difficult mode of capturing them is
that followed by the adventurous inhabitants of St. Kilda, a little
islet on the west coast of Scotland. Wild Geese of several species
make their nests there in large flocks at the foot of the sea-washed
rocks which surround the island. It is very doubtful if the
Wild Goose, Anser ferus, is found among these. Both for
strength and economy, the inhabitants use a cord made of thongs
of twisted cow-hide covered with sheep-skin. With a rope of
this description, two men climb to the top of a cliff; there they
fasten themselves to either end of the cord; then one lets him-
self down over the face of the cliff, and the other clings to
the rugged points above. The first man fills a sack with the
eggs, and suspends by their claws as many goslings as he can
hang to various parts of his person. When he has made his
266 DUCKS, GEESE, SWANS, AND PELICANS.
collection, his companion hoists him up by main force, twisting
the cord round his own body after the manner of a windlass.
This aérial and dangerous sport is very productive. A cow-
hide rope forms a large portion of the dowry of a St. Kilda girl,
and very often it is the sole dependence of a household. The
hardy sportsmen have so much coolness and nerve, that accidents
very, rarely happen.
The Bean Goose (Anas segetum) of most authors differs from
the preceding in being somewhat smaller, and having the bill more
slender, although not much shorter; the hind part of the back is
also dark brown. In its habits it closely resembles the Wild
Goose, for which it has probably been frequently mistaken. Vast
flocks of this species frequent the northern waters, such as
Montrose Bay, the mouth of the Findhorn, and especially the
inland waters of Ross and Sutherland—thirty or forty pairs
having their nests annually on Lake Laighal.
The Domestic or Common Goose (Anser sylvestris) has been
made the source of great utility and profit. It appears to be the
civilised offspring of the Wild Goose, to which it bears the same
proportions as other tame animals bear to their prototypes. Mr.
Yarrell was of opinion that the White-fronted Goose (Anser albi-
frons) has concurred, with the
Fig. 175.—Fighting Cocks,
COCKS. 433
which sometimes rise to considerable sums. The spectators con-
template with barbarous pleasure the result of the anticipated
combat, as both adversaries, armed with artificial spurs of pointed
steel, are placed in the cock-pit. When left to themselves, they
attack each other furiously, using their steel spurs with great
adroitness (Fig. 175). The fight only terminates by the death of
one of the combatants, and the victor is exhibited in triumph
to the crowd. But his triumph is of short duration; the late
hero called again to do battle, the spur of a more powerful
adversary strikes a vital part, and he in his turn expires in the
arena. The victor upon whom formerly so much interest rested,
who excited so much admiration and such enthusiastic praises, 1s
now in turn defeated—the former favourite of Fortune is deserted
by the fickle goddess. In the meantime the other birds are
ceaselessly heard crowing defiance, and proclaiming their eagerness
for the fray. In the poultry-yard the Game Cock is quarrelsome,
and even cruel; but this may be said of poultry generally. If
one of their companions is sick or wounded, they unite to put
an end at once to his sufferings and life. A stranger in the
yard is certain to meet with a bad reception; the others set on it
in a body, and only cease hostilities at the end of several days, or
in the case of the Cock, who is their lord and master, taking the
new arrival under his protection. Hens feed on anything that
comes in their way ; this renders them valuable to country-people,
for they yield a profit without occasioning more expense than
that of a few handfuls of corn in the morning and evening.
Grain, herbs, worms, insects, carrion, rubbish of all kinds, are
alike acceptable to them.
In France Hens begin to have eggs towards the month of
February, and cease about the beginning of autumn, when they
moult. By giving them heating food, they can be made to lay
even in winter. They generally produce an egg daily—sometimes,
but rarely, two. Pairing exercises no influence in this respect ;
that is to say, Hens have eggs without a Cock, but these are clear or
unfruitful, and can only be used for food. The cry of the Hen when
about to lay is well known. When she has produced about twenty
eggs a desire to sit is manifested: if this is permitted, twelve or
fifteen eggs, placed in a basket filled with straw, are given her;
FE
434 GALLINACEOUS BIRDS.
when, uttering a peculiar clucking and spreading her wings, she
sits upon her treasures, and covers them with so much perseverance
as sometimes to forget to eat or drink, unless food is brought her.
During twenty-one days the eggs are maintained at a uniform
temperature of about 40° Centigrade. At the end of that time
the young chickens burst their shell. The Hen fulfils the duties
of a mother with incomparable devotion and tenderness ; she follows
her young brood step by step, calls them to her when they stray,
and seeks nourishment for them, thinking little of her own wants
till theirs are satisfied. Against all aggressors, with every feather
bristling and angry eyes, she warns them, protects them, and de-
fends them. If a bird of prey appears, she hastens to meet it,
and assumes such a menacing attitude, that few will not imme-
diately take to flight. The chickens develop rapidly. At the
end of a month the crest of the males shows itself; at six months
they have acquired the vigour necessary for reproduction ; females
begin to lay about the same time. At the age of three months
transforming them into capons and pullets is performed—names
given to those individuals which have been deprived of the sexual
organs. In this condition they are fattened, and acquire a superior
flavour and delicacy of flesh. Pullets and capons, in losing the
generative faculty, lose also the inherent characteristics of their
sex. The temper of the male becomes so mild that he has been
made to perform maternal duties when a Hen has deserted her
chickens to recommence laying, by plucking out feathers from
his stomach, and then rubbing the part with nettles ; the chickens
gliding under, allay the pain which the stings have caused, and
thus the bird derives pleasure from his wards, and soon attaches
himself to them. The departments of Sarthe and Ain are cele-
brated for the pullets there raised.
Hatching is sometimes performed by artificial incubation. In
olden times the Egyptians had recourse to this means to increase.
the production of poultry. The method which was used, and
which is still employed in modern Egypt, consists in placing the
eggs in a furnace maintained for twenty-one days at a uniform
temperature of 40° C. By this means a hundred millions of Fowls
are annually produced in Egypt. Simple as this operation appears,
it is not without difficulty, or the climate of Africa assists, for
GUINEA-FOWLS. 435
attempts in France have never been crowned with success. In
the Sunda Islands artificial incubation is accomplished in
another manner: here men are found who, for a small salary,
remain for three weeks stretched out and immovable upon eggs
placed in ashes. Antiquity has bequeathed to us the story of a
curious incubation made at Rome by the Empress Livia. This
lady being pregnant, and desiring a son, thought of hatching
an egg in her bosom, and drawing a prognostic from the sex of
the chicken. The operation sueceeded—the egg having produced
a Cock, the empress concluded that her wishes would be granted.
These were realised, for she brought into the world Tiberius—rather
a wicked bird, as every one knows.
The Tracoprans (Ceriornis, Swainson) and the JuNGLE-FoWiS
belong to India or the Indian Archipelago, and are all remarkable
for the brilliancy of their plumage. The Hovrireres, or, as their
name expresses, Tuft-bearers, strongly resemble our Domestic
Fowl. The Tragopan, which Buffon calls the Horned Pheasant,
looks like a cross between the Domestic Fowl and the Pheasant,
but is distinguished by two small horns, which decorate the head
of the male. Lastly, the Jungle-fowls live in a wild state, being
as yet unknown domesticated, consequently little can be said of
their habits, but they probably differ but shghtly from those of the
Pheasants.
Pinrapos (Guinea-fowls) have ates small heads for their
size; beak and neck short; the tail equally short and drooping ;
the tarsus very low, and destitute of spurs; body round; wings
short and concave; on the head is a hard crest of a reddish blue,
sometimes replaced in mature birds by a tuft; the wattles are
fleshy, and hang under the beak.
The Common Guinea-fowl (Fig. 176) has a slate-coloured
plumage, covered with white spots; it is indigenous to Africa,
and its introduction into Europe dates from far-distant times; it
was known to the Greeks and Romans. The former made it an
emblem of paternal affection. According to Greek writers, the
sisters of Meleager felt such grief at the death of their brother, that
Diana, to terminate their woes, changed them into Guinea-fowls.
The goddess, wishing that their plumage should bear the trace of
their tears, marked it with white spots.
FF2
436 GALLINACEOUS BIRDS.
The Romans, who highly esteemed the flesh of these birds,
propagated them with the greatest care to figure at their feasts, but
after the invasion of the barbarians they disappeared from Europe,
and during the Middle Ages we never hear of them. The Portu-
guese re-discovered them in Africa on their return from the
Indies, and again imported them into Europe, where they have
since multiplied toa great extent. But the turbulent and quarrel-
some character of these birds and their noisy and discordant cries
are serious obstacles to their becoming favourites; they have also
Fig. 176.— Guinea-fow! (Numida cristata, Latham).
ceaseless quarrels with the Hens and Turkeys, their neighbours, and
although not so strong as their antagonists, they fight them fear-
lessly. They have been seen to attack the young of other birds,
and split their skulls with a blow of their beaks. They show
great attachment to their own young, yet they occupy themselves
but little with the cares of a family; consequently their progeny
is generally brought up by Hens or Turkeys. Although bad
nurses, their fecundity is very great, and when well fed they
lay as many as a hundred eggs in a year: these are much
sought after, and epicures prefer them to those of the Hen. Their
flesh, though good, is not so much esteemed. There are now
several species known in a wild state in Africa, and in a domestic
TURKEYS. 437
state in Europe. They are numerous in Arabia, where they
are found in the neighbourhood of marshy places, in little bands
composed of a male and several females. Transported into America
after the discovery of that continent, the common variety is now
perfectly acclimated there, and is even to be found wild in some
of the vast forests and savannahs of that country.
Turkeys are birds of large size, easily distinguished from
other Gallinacean fowls by the following characteristics :—Bare
heads and necks, decorated with fleshy appendages—those of the
neck, which fall under the head in front of the bird, are capable
of being inflated and much enlarged under the influence of love or
anger; a brush of long and straight hairs hangs at the base of
the neck; the tarsi are strong, and provided with slightly-
developed spurs; lastly, the tail is round, of moderate length, and
at the will of the bird can be expanded like a fan.
The Turkey was originally imported from North America,
where it still lives in a wild state; it is frequently met with
in the forests which border the large western rivers of that country,
such as the Mississippi, Missouri, and the Ohio, and it must be
studied there to acquire a correct idea of its habits. The Domestic
Turkey is not so handsome in plumage as is the Wild, but the
former generally much exceeds the latter in size. The colour of the
Wild Turkey is brown, mixed with blue and green, giving out a
diaphanous metallic brilliancy. The full-grown male bird some-
times measures over three feet, and weighs from twenty to
twenty-five pounds. The American naturalist, Audubon, speaks
of having seen one which was upwards of thirty-six. The female
is much smaller, and seldom exceeds ten pounds in weight: her
plumage cannot vie with that of the malein splendour. Although
it does not appear constructed for the purpose, the mature bird
is capable of taking considerable flights, passing with ease in
its wild state across such gigantic rivers as the Ohio, Mississippi,
and Missouri, which in every direction traverse and bisect the
middle portion of the great North American continent; but it, as
a rule, only takes wing when all other means of locomotion are
denied, for it runs with surprising rapidity, distancing the common
cur dog with ease, and only abates its speed after a lengthened
pursuit. It accomplishes long journeys on foot; not, however,
438 GALLINACEOUS BIRDS.
caused by atmospheric influence, but want of sustenance in the
country which it inhabits. It is generally towards the beginning
of October that these migrations commence. The Turkeys then
unite in troops of from ten to a hundred individuals, and go
towards the regions which they have chosen for their new abode ;
the males form a separate drove from the females, which march at
their sides, surrounded by their young families. The necessity of
protecting their young from the brutality of the old cocks, who will
kill them if opportunity offers, inspires the hen Turkeys with
this habit. It sometimes happens that the emigrating band are
stopped by a water-course, when all evince great agitation by
spreading their tails, uttering frequent gobbles, and yielding
themselves to extravagant demonstrations. At the end of a day
or two, after having inspected the neighbourhood, they mount
upon the branches of some of the highest trees, and take to the wing
to traverse the obstruction. Some of the young ones always fall
into the water, but they know perfectly how to swim: when all
have reached the opposite bank they run hither and thither as if
they were mad, and from their recklessness at this time it is very
easy to approach and kill them. These birds pair in February or
March, according to latitude ; the females produce eggs six weeks
afterwards. At this time the hen secretes herself in a place
unknown to the male, as he would break the eggs. The nest is an
indentation in the ground, lined with soft grasses, moss, and dry
leaves, and in it are deposited her embryo progeny, which are sat
upon with perseverance deserving praise. In this respect they
are superior to all Gallinaceous fowls, even surpassing the Domestic
Hen. When the mothers leave their eggs to seek food they are
always careful to cover them with leaves, the better to screen
them from the sight of the Fox, Lynx, or Crow. The incubation
lasts about thirty days. As the time for hatching approaches, no
power can make the mother leave her nest, no peril will cause her
to desert her charge. On being hatched, the young Turkeys,
under the protecting care of the old bird, are led to sequestered
feeding grounds, and do not leave her till the end of several
months. Wild Turkeys have many formidable enemies, the most
destructive being Man, next the Lynx and the Eagle Owl; they
are, therefore, very distrustful, and when on the ground secrete
WILD TURKEY. 439
themselves at the least appearance of danger; but if perched upon
a tree they are less guarded, and consequently can be more easily
approached by the sportsman. On a misty, moonlight night
American hunters take their posts under trees where Turkeys com-
monly perch. In this situation the game will receive several
Fig. 177.—Wild Turkey.
discharges without making the slightest attempt to escape, although
numbers of them in succession may have been killed. It is diffi-
cult to explain this apparent apathy, especially when we know their
hurry to fly before the Owl. It is doubtless owing to the want of
sagacity which they manifest under these circumstances, as well as
to their ludicrous aspect and eccentric attitudes, that Turkeys have
440 GALLINACEOUS BIRDS.
gained the reputation of stupidity. This bird, however, sometimes
gives proofs of intelligence, as the following fact, related by Audu-
bon, shows. He had raised a Wild Turkey from its most tender
age, which had become extremely tame, but the love of indepen-
dence remained very strong in the bird, for it could not accustom
itself to the pent-up life of its domestic relations. Thus it enjoyed
the greatest freedom; it went and came, passing nearly all its time
in the woods, only returning to the house in the evening. At length
it ceased to come back, and from that moment dispensed with
visiting its birth-place. Some time after, Audubon, whilst hunting,
perceived a superb Wild Turkey, upon which he set his dog ; but,
to his great surprise, the bird did not fly, and the dog, instead of
seizing it when it was overtaken, stopped and turned his head
towards his master: greater still was the hunter’s surprise when,
having approached, he discovered his ancient pensioner. ‘This
Turkey had recognised the dog, and understood that it would do
him no harm, otherwise it would have scampered off immediately.
Turkeys feed upon herbs, grasses, fruits, and berries of every
description ; they are partial to beech and other nuts; and their
liking for wheat and maize is such that they frequent the
neighbourhood of cultivated fields, where they make the greatest
ravages. They also occasionally feed upon insects, frogs, and
lizards. The large destructive grub familiarly known as the
Tobacco Worm they are particularly partial to, and are con-
sequently much encouraged by the tobacco planters. In a
domestic state they are even known to have killed and eaten
rats. One curious peculiarity in the history of the Turkey
is its horror of red; the sight of a scarlet object throws it
into the most comical fury. It is needless for us to vaunt the
flesh of the Domestic Turkey ; every one is agreed on this subject.
We will only say that, from the testimony of many travellers and
naturalists, the flesh of a Wild Turkey, killed in winter or spring,
before laying, is far superior to that of the Domestic bird, those
coming from Southern Indiana and Illinois being considered by
Americans as the finest. The Turkey, being indigenous to
America, was naturally unknown to the ancients. The precise
date of its introduction into France is not recorded. According
to some, it was at the end of the fifteenth century; to others,
PEACOCKS. 441
only at the commencement of the sixteenth. Anderson affirms
that the first Turkeys raised and eaten in France were served at
the marriage of Charles [X., in 1570.
The Honduras or Ocellated Turkey (Meleagris ocellata, Cuvier)
is one of the most beautiful Gallinaceans; its plumage is mag-
nificent ; the tail is enamelled with large blue eyes, each of which
is surrounded with a circle of brilliant yellow and purple. It
inhabits the country surrounding the Bay of Honduras, Southern
Mexico, and all Central America. At the Regent’s Park Gardens,
London, is to be seen a splendid hybrid, bred between the American
Wild Turkey and the Honduras species.
The tribe of PEacocks comprehends the genera Pavo cristatus,
Mist. Anim. ; Pavo javanicus, Horsfield; and Lophophores. The
feature which essentially distinguishes Peacocks from other Gal-
linaceans is the immense tail with which nature has endowed
them. This tail, formed of long, large, and tufted feathers, coloured
with the richest shades, is capable of being raised up like that of
a Turkey. When one contemplates this magnificent appendage,
in which purple and gold vie with the most varying colours of the
emerald, and notices the innumerable and brilliant eyes with which
it is studded—when with delight he views its lofty stature, elegant
shape, noble carriage, and, above all, a slight and mobile tuft,
the emblem of royalty, crowning its head—one cannot help being
struck with lively admiration, and spontaneously according the
palm of beauty to the privileged being which unites in itself so
many marvels. The Peacock was known from the earliest time ;
for it ismentioned in the Bible as one of the most precious products
brought from Asia by King Solomon’s ships. It made its first
appearance in Greece after Alexander’s expedition into India.
Alexander, it is said, was so astonished at the sight of this bird
that he forbade it to be killed under the severest penalties. For
a long time they were very rare, and fetched a high price at Athens,
and the people from the neighbouring towns assembled in crowds
to see them. From the Greeks they passed to the Romans; but
this nation, more fond of the pleasures of the table than of
spectacles, soon made them figure in their feasts. Peacocks
consequently were rapidly propagated in the poultry-yards of
the rich patricians; and some of the emperors, such as Vitellius
442 GALLINACEOUS BIRDS.
and Heliogabalus, caused dishes of the heads or brains of Peacocks
to be served: from this cause their price became excessive in
Rome. Little by little they spread throughout the empire, and
thus the Peacock has become naturalised in Europe. During
several centuries its exquisite and delicate flesh was in very great
favour; but the importation of the Pheasant, and later that
of the Turkey, brought successful rivals for table honours. The
Peacock is now bred principally to please the eye; and even
when it does make its appearance at some ceremonious repast, it
is intended more to gratify the eye than the palate, for the carcass
is invariably decorated with the resplendent tail, spread out in
fan-shape. The Domestic Peacock, which is now the pride of
our gardens and parks, is indigenous to India and the isles of the
Eastern Archipelago. There they still live in large troops in the
depths of the forests. They are so abundant in localities, that it is
said the traveller, Colonel Williamson, being delayed one day in
the district of Jungleterry, counted not less than from twelve to
fifteen hundred. The Peacock runs with such rapidity that it often
escapes from pursuing dogs; it takes to the wing with difh-
culty, and flies slowly, though it can prolong its flight to a con-
siderable distance. It feeds upon grain of all kinds, which it
swallows without crushing. In the evening, to roost for the
night, it perches upon the limbs of the highest trees. In a state
of domesticity it retains this fancy for elevated places, and takes
pleasure in mounting on the roofs of houses, upon which it struts
and excites itself, scattering tiles, or tearing up the thatch, as the
case may be; for the devastating instinct appears to be very
strongly developed in it when opportunity offers. This bird also
commits great ravages in cultivated fields. The Peacock at times
utters deafening cries, which contrast unpleasantly with its daz-
zling plumage—one wishes for a more harmonious voice with
such a magnificent body; but what animal possesses all perfec-
tions? Itis polygamous. At the commencement of the spring
the male displays to the females all the splendour of his plumage ;
he struts, spreads his tail, delights at the sight of his own figure,
and receives with pleasure the admiration which his charms draw
forth. His vanity knows no bounds; the adulation of his females
is not sufficient for him, he must have eulogiums from man also,
PEACOCKS. 443
and before him rejoices to display all the riches of his wonderful
tail. Complete master in the art of pleasing, he knows how to
manage the transitions of light and shade so as to present him-
self to the greatest advantage; and when he has been gazed at
HL)
—————
= SSERVEILCER:
Fig. 178.—Domestic Peacock (Pavo cristatus, Wood).
sufficiently, by reiterated struts he marks his contentment. At the
end of August his beautiful plumage falls off, not to come forth
again till the spring. It is said that the Peacock is so ashamed of
having lost that which was his pride, that he then shuns the sight of
444 GALLINACEOUS BIRDS.
man. This is better explained by the fact that the time of moult-
ing is for this, as for all other birds, a period of sickness; they
consequently retire into solitude, to find there the calm and tran-
quillity which their critical state demands. The Wild Peahen lays
from twenty to thirty eggs ina hole hollowed out in the ground. She
is much less fruitful in the Domestic state. She takes the greatest
care to hide her nest from the searching eye of the male, which
breaks the eggs whenever he finds them. Incubation lasts from
twenty-seven to thirty days. The young follow their mother from
their birth; at six months they are reputed adult, and attain
their full development at three years. The Peahen, like the hen
Pheasant and the Common Hen, adopts the plumage of the male
when age has rendered her unfruitful, or when, by a premature
atrophy, her eggs have become sterile. The Peacock lives from
twenty-five to thirty years; some authors have wrongly attributed
to them the longevity of a century.
The Potypiecrrons (Jiplectron, Vieillot) owe their name to the
superabundance of spurs with which they are armed; the males
always possess two, sometimes three. The plumage of these birds,
like that of Peacocks, is sprinkled with glittering ocellations; but
their tails are shorter, and not susceptible of expansion. There
are three or four varieties known, which inhabit India, China,
and the isles of Sumatra and Borneo. Their manners have not
yet been studied.
Impryan Pueasants are little better known than the Poly-
plectrons. They prefer cold climates, which sufficiently accounts
for their predilection for the elevated ridges of the Himalayas.
No one has as yet succeeded in acclimating them in Europe.
This is one of the most brilliant Gallinaceans; its plumage,
bedizened with the most lively colours, has gained for it in India
a very significant name—that of the ‘ Golden Bird.”
Under the name of Alectors (from the Greek éAéxrwp), Cuvier
has united a certain number of American birds bearing some
resemblance to the Cock, and has divided them into several
varieties : the Hoccos, Pauxis, Penelopes, Parraquas, and Hoazins.
Hoccos are analogous in form and size to Turkeys, of which
they are the representatives in their habitat, Central America,
Guiana, and Brazil. Deprived of spurs, they have a large tuft
HOCCOS.
upon the head, formed of distorted and erectile feathers. They
Fig. 179.—Impeyan Pheasants (Lophophorus Impeyanus, Gould).
live in numerous troops in the midst of forests, and feed upon
Fig. 180.—Curassow, or Hocco (Craz alector, Linn.).
seeds, berries, and buds. Naturally very gentle, they readily yield
to captivity, when they become familiar, and evince pleasure in
446 GALLINACEOUS BIRDS.
the caresses of their masters. Sonnini relates that he has seen
them wander at liberty through the streets of Cayenne, return
to their homes without hesitation, and leap upon the tables to
take their food. Their flesh is exquisite, and in all respects
worthy of the favour of epicures. These different qualities should
cause an honourable place to be assigned to Hoccos in our poultry-
yards ; it is, therefore, to be regretted that the attempt to acclimate
these birds made by the Empress Josephine, at the commence-
ment of this century, have not been renewed.
GALEATED Curassows, or Pauxis (Ourax pauaxi, Cuv.), differ
but little physically from the Hoccos. They have the same habits
and characteristics, and easily habituate themselves to servitude.
Guans or Penetopss (Penelope cristata, Gmelin), and PaRRAQuUAS
(Latham), are two genera of birds strongly resembling each other ;
they have an analogy to Pheasants, but only on account of their
general forms; in short, they possess the confiding and peaceable
nature of Hoccos and Pauxis, and easily submit to the domina-
tion of man. Their flesh is delicious; they also deserve to be
acclimated.
The Hoaztns (Opisthocomus cristatus, Quoy and Gaimard)
inhabit the savannahs of Guyana. Their flesh, which exhales a
strong odour—due, no doubt, to the vegetables on which they feed
exclusively—is far from being agreeable.
CoLUMBID&.
The Columbide family establish a transition between real
Gallinaceans and Passerines ; in short, they partake of the nature
of both. Whilst they approach the former in their anatomical
and purely material characteristics, such as the structure of their
beaks, sternum, and crops, they resemble the latter in their elegant
forms, peaceable manners, and in all their habits.
Like the Passerines, they are monogamists. The male and female
build their nests together, and share the cares of the incubation and
education of their young; these, when born, are blind, and only
covered with a slight down, and are quite unable to run like young
Gallinaceans. There are generally two Pigeons hatched at the
COLOMBI-GALLINES. 447
same time; and it isa very curious fact that there is almost always
amale anda female. They do not quit the nest till they have
acquired sufficient strength to use their wings and fly. During
the earliest portion of their existence they receive no other nourish-
ment from their parents than a sort of pap secreted in the walls
of the gullet; but at the end of some days the father or mother
discharges into their beaks the food which they themselves take.
When they are sufficiently developed, they travel with the adults
in large flocks to seek a milder climate or better feeding ground :
their migrations in the natural state occur in spring and autumn.
What distinguishes them from the true Gallinaceans is that
they have a thumb inserted even with the other toes, and that
consequently they are able to perch ; almost all Pigeons pass much
of their lives on trees. Their food consists principally of seeds,
berries, and fruits, sometimes insects, and a peculiar little snail
similar to that found in the Isle of France. Their flesh, gene-
rally good, in some species, such as the Crowned Goura, acquires
an exquisite flavour. Thus they form an immense part in
public alimentation, both in a domestic and wild state. They
are shot very extensively at the time of their migration.
Although their flight is noisy, and even presents some appearance
of heaviness, it is easy and sustained, so that Pigeons have
been known to accomplish journeys of surprising length in a
few hours.
We will divide the Pigeons into three families—the Colombi-
Gallines, the Colombes, or, properly speaking, Pigeons, and
the Colombars.
CoLomMBI-GALLINES.
A certain number of birds rank in this family, which, with the
general forms of Pigeons, still preserve the habits of Gallinaceans ;
hence the mixed name of Colombi-Gallines. Thus they constantly
live on the earth, build their nests there, and only take refuge
upon trees to pass the night or escape from danger. They run
perfectly, but fly badly, and are sedentary; lastly, some species
have cephalic nudities and fleshy appendages, or long, movable
feathers round the neck like the male of the Domestic Fowl.
Physically they are characterised bya slight and straight beak,
448 GALLINACEOUS BIRDS.
and by rather high tarsi. This family comprises a very large
number of species spread throughout Central and South America,
the isles of the Indian Ocean, and a great part of Africa.
The compass of this work will not permit us to examine all:
we will merely mention the most remarkable, the Great Crowned
Pigeon (Columba coronata, Latham), very common in New Guinea
and the Moluccas. The plumage of this bird is of a beautiful
greyish blue; its head is ornamented with a pretty plume of
straight, long, and tapering feathers; it is about the size of a
Fig. 181.—Crowned Goura (Phasianus cristatus indicus, Latham).
Domestic Fowl, and very highly esteemed for the qualities of
its flesh; consequently the inhabitants of the above islands raise
it in their poultry-yards (Fig. 181).
CoLOMBES.
Colombes have slender beaks, long wings, and short tarsi.
The principal species are the Wood Pigeons, Common Domestic
Pigeons, Carriers, Turtle Doves, and Passenger Pigeons: the
first three are indigenous to Europe.
The Woop Picrons (Columba Ginas, Selby), Fig. 182, are the
largest species of this family; their plumage is slaty grey,
WOOD PIGEONS. 449
with bluish, green, dnd rose-coloured reflections. They are
spread throughout all Europe, but chiefly in warm and tem-
perate parts. They are very common in France, where they
arrive in numerous flocks early in March, generally departing
in October or November to pass the winter in more hospitable
climates. At the time of their passage the Alpine and
Pyrenean hunters destroy them in large quantities. The Wood
Pigeons or Cushats inhabit forests, and delight among the
branches of large trees. They feed upon acorns and _ beech-
nuts, and are very partial to cherries and strawberries. With
the farmers this bird is far from a favourite, for its appetite is
insatiable, and it is alike destructive to grain in the ear or ger-
minating. They build their nests in lofty trees. The female, after
having chosen a place, forms the nest out of materials which the
male brings her, such as little
dead branches which it detaches
from trees by the aid of its feet
or beak ; it never picks up the
boughs which strew the ground.
This nest is but a rude shelter,
scarcely large enough to contain
the young, and sometimes falls
to pieces before they are able to
fly; in this case the brood re-
tains, if possible, a position on =
the large branches which sup- fig. 1s2.—The Wood ae Pigeon (Columba
. : 5 Gnas, Selby).
ported their previous dwelling.
Queests, as they are frequently called, generally lay in March
and August. Incubation lasts twelve days, and the young can
take flight about two weeks afterwards. During all the time
of the incubation and education of the young the male remains
near the female, constantly cooing, as if to break the monotony
of her occupation. In the wild state Ring Pigeons are distrustful
and difficult of approach, but their characters become modified
by domestication, or even by an independent life passed in the
neighbourhood of man. Thus young ones taken from their birth
familiarise themselves without difficulty, and do not appear to
regret having lost their liberty. ‘They do not breed in this con-
GG
450 GALLINACEOUS BIRDS.
dition—or at least we do not know how to make them do so ert pts)
said that the ancients understood this art.
Ring Pigeons are seen in Paris which have from time imme-
morial chosen a domicile in the gardens of the Tuileries, at the
Luxembourg, and in the Champs Elysées. They are very tame, and
come almost under the feet of promenaders. Few inhabitants of
Paris have not seen at the Tuileries the charming spectacle of
an old man who attracts round him numbers of Wood Pigeons
and Sparrows, to which he distributes crumbs of bread. The
confidence they show to this kind friend as an acknowledgment
of his goodness is wonderful; they rest upon his shoulders,
take the bread from between his fingers, and even from his
mouth, and allow themselves to be caressed without manifesting
the least fright: this is evidence of the possibility of taming Ring
Pigeons.
Wood Pigeons (Columba Cinas) have many traits of resem-
blance to Ring Pigeons, but they are smaller, justifying the
name of Little Queest which is sometimes given to them; their
habits are the same as those of the preceding species, except
that they build their nests in the hollows of trees, instead of
upon the branches, as the former species do. They are very
plentiful in the South of Europe and in Africa. They leave
France regularly in the month of October.
Witp Rock Picrens (Columba livia, Selby) delight in rocky
and arid places. They depose their two eges in the clefts of rocks
and ruins. They are seldom seen in Europe in a state of com-
plete liberty, except upon some parts of the coasts of England
and Norway and certain isles of the Mediterranean. They will-
ingly sacrifice their independence to live in pigeon-houses. They
are generally regarded as the founders of the numerous races of
our Domestic Pigeons.
Domestic Picrons probably sprang from the Wild Rock
Pigeons. They are of two kinds—the Colombier Pigeons and the
Aviary Pigeons. The former enjoy almost complete liberty ;
they traverse the country all day to seek for food, and sometimes
even return to a wild state. The latter are quite tame, and the
door of their habitation can be left open without danger; they go
a little distance, and always return to their domicile. If Domestic
DOMESTIC PIGEONS. 451
Pigeons cause some harm to our crops, they amply compensate
for these devastations by the services which they render to agri-
culture. They are equally valuable to the breeder and consumer ;
the former derive a certain profit from them, and the latter an
agreeable and economical article of food. To give a sufficient
idea of the resources which they supply to public alimentation,
we have only to state that certain species lay as many as ten
egos a year. Further, they supply a manure which is very effica-
cious for some soils. Raising Pigeons necessitates certain precau-
tions which cannot be neglected without bad results: the greatest
cleanliness is necessary in the pigeon-house or aviary; all tur-
bulent individuals which sow discord, and often injure the
fecundity of females, must be excluded; and the races must be
separated as much as possible the one from the other, in order
to avoid the production of sterile varieties. Amongst the
Domestic species the naturalist can study at leisure the manners
of Pigeons, and form an exact idea of their natures and inclina-
tions; for he can observe them from their first steps, making
their early timid endeavours to raise themselves in the air; after-
wards noting at more mature age the evolutions of the sexes,
and their fidelity to each other through years after pairing.
We will examine rapidly the principal races of Domestic Pigeons.
The first is, as we have said, the Common House Pigeon,
differing slightly from the Wild, which almost exclusively sup-
ports the population of Pigeon-breeders; this is sometimes called
the Fugitive Pigeon. The Blue Rock is only a modification of
the Wild Rock Pigeon; in form it is, however, more elegant,
while the plumage is prettier. It is one of the most fruitful
species.
The Pouter Pigeon owes its name to the faculty which it
possesses of inflating its crop to an immense size by the introduc-
tion of air. This peculiarity often destroys them; indeed, when
feeding their young, they find so much difficulty in causing the
seeds which they have swallowed to reascend into their beaks,
that they contract a malady which is frequently fatal.
The Roman Pigeons, thus named because they are very common
in Italy, are easily recognised from the circle of red which
surrounds their eyes.
GG2
452 GALLINACEOUS BIRDS.
The Swift Pigeon is of small size, its flight is light and rapid,
and its fecundity very great.
The Carrier Pigeons belong to this race. They are celebrated
for their attachment to their birth-place, or to the spot that con-
tains their offspring, and for the intelligence which enables them
to regain their native countries from whatever distance. Trans-
port them miles from their homes, even in a well-closed basket,
then give them their liberty, and after a time they will return,
without the slightest hesitation, to the place from which they
were taken. This valuable faculty has long been utilised, espe-
cially in the East. The Romans made use of Pigeons as mes-
sengers. Pliny says that this means was employed by Brutus
and Hirtius to concert together during the siege of a town by
Mare Antony. At the siege of Leyden, in 1574, the Prince of
Orange employed Carrier Pigeons to carry on a correspondence
with the besieged town, which he succeeded in freeing. The
Prince, to mark his acknowledgment of the services rendered
by these sagacious birds, wished them to be fed with strawberries,
and their bodies to be embalmed after death. We learn from Pierre
Belon, the naturalist, that in his time navigators from Egypt
and Cyprus took Pigeons upon their galleys, and liberated them
when they had arrived at the port of destination, in order to
announce to their families their safe journey. In our century
they have been made use of for similar purposes. The fluctua-
tions of the Bourse were for a long time sent from Paris to
Brussels by means of Carrier Pigeons.
The Tumbler Pigeon owes its name to its curious manner of
flying. It has a habit, after it has risen to a certain height, of
throwing five or six somersaults.
The Wheeling Pigeon describes circles like birds of prey. It
is turbulent, and ought to be banished from pigeon-houses.
The Nun Pigeon is recognised by a kind of hood formed of
raised feathers, which covers the back of the head and neck, and
to which it owes its name. It flies heavily, but is very familiar
and very prolific.
The Fan-tailed Pigeon is remarkable for its tail, which is
very large, and raised like that of the Peacock, and for the con-
DOVES. 453
vulsive trembling which agitates it, especially at breeding-time.
It thrives badly in an aviary, and is little valued, except’ as an
object of curiosity.
There are two species of Doves—the Turtle Dove (Turtur
communis, Linn.) and the Ring Dove (Turtur risorius, Selby).
The former is the smallest species of the family of Colombide.
They are found throughout Europe, but are more abundant in
the south than the north. They arrive in France in spring, and
depart for warmer countries at the end of summer. They build
their nests in large trees in the shady and most retired parts
of woods. They feed on seeds and berries. After harvest they
visit stubbles of wheat or other grain; the abundant nourish-
ment which they there find makes their flesh extremely delicate
and nutritious. Although naturally wild, the Turtle Dove is easily
tamed when taken young, when it evinces great attachment.
The Rine Dove is indigenous to Africa, where it lives in a
state of freedom. This is the species which, in Europe, is raised
in cages and aviaries. In certain towns of Egypt, particularly
Alexandria and Cairo, they are so tame that they walk in the
streets, and even enter houses, fearless of the presence of occu-
pants. They are prolific, for they lay every month, except
during the moulting season. Their cooing somewhat resembles
a laugh—hence the name of Laughing Love which has been
given them. The ancients made the Turtle Dove an emblem of
tenderness. This honour is justified by the kind attention which
the male shows the female, especially during the period of incu-
bation.
The Passencer Picton (Fig. 183) is the Columba migratoria
of many authors: it inhabits North America. They are remark-
able for the strength and rapidity of their flight, and for the
migrations which they accomplish.
The American naturalist, Audubon, says, “ Pigeons have been
killed in the neighbourhood of New York, having their crops still
full of rice, which they could not have taken nearer than the
fields of Georgia and Carolina—six or seven hundred miles dis-
tant. As their digestion is sufficiently rapid to entirely decom-
pose grain in the space of twelve hours, it follows that they
must have travelled the above space at the rate of a mile a
454 GALLINACHOUS BIRDS.
minute. One of these birds, if able to keep up this velocity,
could visit the European continent in less than three days.”
It is not for the purpose of seeking a warmer climate that they
undertake their journeys, but to procure food when the acorns
become scarce in the woods which they inhabit. Their migra-
tions, consequently, are irregular as to date. Looking at the
innumerable and closely-packed masses of Passenger Pigeons
which take part in these voyages confuses the mind. Audubon one
Fig. 183.—Passenger Pigeons (Ectopistes migratoria, Sw.).
day endeavoured to count the flocks which passed above him in one
hour. He counted a hundred and sixty-three in twenty minutes,
but he was soon obliged to give up, the flights succeeded each
other so rapidly. He says: “‘The more I advanced, the more
Pigeons I met. The air was literally filled with them. The day-
light, in full mid-day, was obscured as by an eclipse; the dung
fell like flakes in a fall of snow; the buzzing of their wings
stunned me, and gave me a sleepy sensation.”’ These Pigeons are
TRAVELLER PIGEONS. 455
endowed with very strong sight. When flying at a considerable
height they can perfectly distinguish the places which will furnish
them with the means of subsistence. Having found a suitable
country, they alight upon an immense space of ground, and in a
few minutes completely ravage it. Large quantities of them can
then be destroyed without any apparent diminution in their num-
ber. Some hours after their descent they again take to flight, and
regain their nocturnal domicile, frequently twenty or thirty miles
distant, where a frightful slaughter is often made amongst them.
Long before the sun sets the inhabitants of surrounding counties
await them with horses, carts, guns, and ammunition. Some even
bring flocks of pigs, to fatten on the flesh of the Pigeons which
the destroyers are unable to carry away. Audubon, who assisted
at one of these slaughters, has related it as follows. He says :—
“Every one holds himself in readiness, with eyes directed towards
the heavens. Suddenly a general cry of ‘They come!’ resounds.
The noise which they made, although at a distance, reminded me
of a strong sea-breeze amongst the cordage of a ship, the sails of
which are furled. When they passed above my head I felt a
current of air which astonished me. Thousands were already
struck down by men armed with poles, but they continued to
arrive without intermission. Fires were lit, and it was then a
fantastic sight full of frightful magnificence. The birds pre-
cipitated themselves in masses, and pitched where they could,
one upon the other, in large heaps like barrels. Then the
branches gave way under the weight, cracked and fell, bringing
to the ground and crushing the closely-packed flocks which.
covered every part of the trees. It was a lamentable scene of
tumult and confusion. In vain I tried to speak, or even to call
the persons nearest to me. It was with difficulty that I could
hear the guns fire, and I only perceived they had fired by seeing
them reload their arms. Pigeons continued to come, and it was
past midnight before I noticed any diminution in the number of
the arrivals. The uproar continued all night. At last the day
approached, the noise began to abate a little, and, long before we
could distinguish objects, the Pigeons commenced to start in quite
an opposite direction to that in which they had come in the even-
ing. At sunrise all that were capable of flying had disappeated.
456 GALLINACEOUS BIRDS.
Now it was the Wolves’ turn, the howls of which saluted our ears.
Foxes, Lynxes, Cougars, Bears, Rats, Opossums, and Martins,
bounding, running, climbing, pressed to the quarry, whilst Eagles
and Falcons of different species flew down from the air to take
their part of such rich booty. The sportsmen then, in their turn,
entered into the midst of the dead, the dying, and the wounded.
The Pigeons were piled in heaps, each took what he wished, and
the Pigs were left to satiate themselves on the remainder.”
These massacres are in nowise injurious to the existence of this
species. In short, according to Audubon, the number of these
Pigeons becomes doubled or quadrupled in a single year.
CoLOMBARS.
This family, established by Levaillant, comprises some species
which belong entirely to the hot countries of Asia and Africa.
These birds are characterised by thick, strong, bent beaks, which
enable them to break the envelopes of the fruits which serve them
for food. They fly less rapidly than birds of the Dove family,
and coo in a different manner. They inhabit woods, and build in
holes in trees. Their flesh is good. The principal species are
found in Abyssinia, Senegal, and the Indian Archipelago.
CHAPTER VI.
SCANSORES, OR CLIMBERS.
Prorte will be strangely mistaken if they imagine that all the
birds which rank in this order possess the faculty of climbing. In
reality it is only the privilege of some, and does not belong
exclusively even to them, for it is found in some of the Passerines.
The essential characteristic of the Climbers lies in this organic
disposition—that the external toe, instead of being placed in front
like that in other birds, is placed behind, by the side of the thumb.
For this reason the denomination of Climbers has been substituted
by that of Zygodactyles, which is used by Temminck, Vieillot,
and others, and which has the advantage of perfectly express-
ing the distinctive characteristic of the order, for this word
signifies fingers disposed in pairs. Thanks to the formation of
their feet, the Climbers can clasp the branches of trees strongly ;
thus they are almost continually perched. Their flight is medium,
being neither so powerful as that of the Raptores nor so hght as
that of the Passerines. These birds feed upon fruits or insects,
according to the strength of their beaks. They chiefly inhabit
warm countries, and their colours are generally brilliant. Lastly,
they are all monogamists, with the exception of the Cuckoo. This
order is one of the least numerous of the class of birds. It com-
prehends but few families, amongst which we will mention the
Parrots, Toucans, Cuckoos, Woodpeckers, and Jacamars.
PARROTS.
Parrots have large, strong, and round beaks; the upper man-
dible strongly hooked and sharp at the extremity, extending
beyond the lower, which is rather deeply hollowed. The tongue,
458 SCANSORES, OR CLIMBERS,
which is thick, fleshy, and movable, is terminated by a cluster of
sinewy papillz, or by a cartilagmous gland. The tarsi are very
short, and the feet perfected to such a degree that they really
become hands, able to seize, hold, and retain small objects. Their
toes are supplied with strong and hooked claws, which make
these birds pre-eminently Climbers. With the exception of one
single species—the Loriets (Platycercina Vigorsia, Sw.)—which
have rather long tarsi and straight claws, enabling them to run
with some rapidity, the Parrots, on the contrary, walk with
difficulty. They drag along the ground with such trouble that
they rarely descend to it, and only under pressing circumstances.
Besides, they find all the necessaries of their existence on trees.
They are not more favoured with regard to their flight, and we
can understand that it should be so; for, living in thick woods,
they only require to effect trifling changes of place, such as from
one tree to another. However, some species, especially the smaller,
are capable of a more prolonged and effective use of their wings.
According to Levaillant, some even emigrate, and travel hun-
dreds of miles every year; but this is an exception. In general,
Parrots are sedentary, and willingly remain in localities without
a desire to leave.
Sociable in their dispositions, they assemble in more or less
numerous bands, and make the forests re-echo with their loud
cries. To some species it 1s such an imperative necessity to be
near each other and live in common, that they have received
from naturalists the name of Inseparables. At breeding-time each
couple isolate themselves for the purpose of reproduction. ‘The
male and female evince the greatest attachment to each other.
The females deposit their eggs in the hollows of trees and in the
crevices of rocks. The young birds are quite naked when hatched ;
it is not till the end of three months that they are completely
covered with feathers. The parent birds wait upon them with the
ereatest solicitude, and become threatening when approached too
closely by intruders.
Essentially frugivorous, Parrots prefer the fruits of the palm,
banana, and guava trees. They may be seen perched upon one
foot, using the other to bear the food to their beaks, and retain it
there till eaten. After they have extracted the kernel they free
PARROTS, 459
it from its envelope and swallow it in particles. They often visit
plantations and cause great devastation. In a domestic state they
are omnivorous. Besides seeds and grain, they eat bread, and
even raw or cooked meat, and it is with manifest pleasure that
they receive bones to pick; they are also very partial to sugar.
It is well known that bitter almonds and parsley act upon them
as violent poisons. They drink and bathe very frequently; in
summer they evince the greatest desire to plunge into water.
Captive Parrots will habituate themselves, if permitted, to the use
of wine; it produces the same effect on them as on the human
family, viz., excites their loquacity and gaiety. They climb in a
peculiar manner, which has nothing of the abruptness displayed
by other birds of the same order. They accomplish their slow and
irregular movements by the help of the beak and feet, which
lend a reciprocal support. Like almost all birds of tropical
regions, Parrots are adorned with most beautiful colours, green
predominating; then comes red, and finally blue and yellow.
They have often largely-developed tails.
Notwithstanding their prattling, Parrots are the favourites of
men, from their remarkable talent of imitation. They retain and
repeat with great facility words which they have learned or heard
by chance, and also sometimes imitate, with startling resemblance,
the cries of animals, the sounds of different musical instru-
ments, &e.
By the words that they utter in an unexpected manner, Parrots
contribute to our amusement and diversion, and quite become
companions. Is it, then, to be wondered at that these birds
have been eagerly sought since their introduction into Europe?
Alexander the Great brought into Greece a Parrot which he
had found in India. These birds became so common in Rome
at the time of the emperors, that they figured in their sump-
tuous repasts. Thev are now spread throughout Europe in a
domestic state.
The species most remarkable for their mimic babbling faculties
are the Grey Parrot, or Jaco, a native of Africa, and the Green
Parrot, from the West Indies and Tropical America.
In the sixteenth century a cardinal paid a hundred crowns fov
a Parrot because it recited the Apostles’ Creed correctly. Monsieur
460 SCANSORES, OR CLIMBERS.
de la Borde relates that he has seen a Parrot supply the place of
chaplain to a ship, for he recited the prayer and rosary to the
sailors. Levaillant heard a Parrot say the Lord’s Prayer lying on
its back, placing together the toes of its feet as we join our hands
in the act of prayer. Willoughby mentions a Parrot which, when
he said to him, “ Laugh, Parrot!” immediately burst out laughing,
and cried out an instant after, ‘“O the great fool who made me
laugh!” A keeper of a glass shop possessed one which, when-
ever he broke anything or knocked over a vase, invariably ex-
claimed, in tones of anger, “Awkward brute! he never does
anything else.”
«We have seen a Parrot,” says Buffon, “ which had grown old
with his master, and partaken with him the infirmities of age.
Accustomed to hear little more than the words, ‘I am ill,’ when
asked, ‘ How are you, Parrot—howare you?’ ‘I am ill,’ it replied.
in doleful tones, ‘I am ill,’ and stretching itself on the hearth
—‘Tamill’” “A Parrot from Guinea,” says the same author,
“being taught on the journey by an old sailor, learnt his rough
voice and his cough so perfectly that they could be mistaken.
Although it had been given immediately after to a young person,
and only heard his voice, it did not forget the lessons of its
former master, and nothing was so agreeable as to hear it pass
from a sweet and pleasant voice to its old hoarseness and the
cough of early times.”
Goldsmith relates that a Parrot belonging to King Henry VIIL.,
and always confined in a chamber bordering upon the Thames,
had learnt several phrases which it heard repeated by the boat-
men and passengers. One day it was let fall into the Thames,
when it cried with a strong voice, “A boat! a boat! twenty
pounds to save me!” A waterman immediately threw himself
into the river, thinking that some one was drowning, and was
much surprised to find it was only a bird. Having recognised
the king’s Parrot, he carried it to the palace, claiming the
recompense the bird had promised when in distress. The circum-
stance was related to Henry VIII., who laughed much, and paid
it with a good grace.
The Prince Léon, son of the Emperor Basil, having been
condemned to death by his father, owed his life to his Parrot,
PARROTS, 461
which, in repeating the lamentable accents several times, “ Alas!
my master Léon!” ended by touching the heart of this barbarous
father. M. Lemaout says :—‘ In a town of Normandy a butcher’s
wife beat her child unmercifully every day. The infant sank
under the ill-treatment. The justice of man made no remonstrance,
but a Grey Parrot which lived in the house of a rope-maker,
opposite to that of the butcher, took upon itself the chastisement
of this unnatural mother. It continually repeated the cries which
the poor child uttered when he saw his mother rush at him with
the rod in her hand—‘ What for ? what for?’ This phrase was
uttered by the bird with such doleful and supplicating accents,
that the indignant passers-by entered unexpectedly into the shop,
and reproached the rope-maker with his barbarity. He justified
himself by showing his Parrot, and relating the history of his
neighbour’s child. After some months the woman, pursued by
the accusing phrase and the murmurs of public opinion, was
obliged to sell her business and leave the village.”
The Marquis of Langle, in his “ Travels in Spain,” writes thus :
—‘‘T saw at Madrid, at the English Consul’s, a Parrot which has
retained a quantity of things—an incredible number of stories and
anecdotes—which it retails and articulates without hesitation. It
spoke Spanish, murdered French, knew some verses of Racine,
could say grace, repeat the fable of the Crow, and count thirty
louis. They dared scarcely hang its cage at the windows; for
when it was there, and the menehiee was leu the Parrot talked
ceaselessly. It said everything it knew, apostrophised all passers-
by (except women), and talked politics. In pronouncing the word
Gibraltar it burst out laughing. One would think it was a man
who laughed.”
An Fuslish gentleman bought a Grey Parrot in Bristol, ne
Puipilieence of rival was quite extraordinary. It asked for
everything it wanted, and gave orders: it sang several songs,
and whistled some airs very well, beating the measure. When
it made a false note it recommenced, and never committed the
mistake again. We have often, when passing through the
Rue Four-des-Flammes, at Montpellier, heard a Parrot which
sung and articulated most distinctly the two verses of this
song :—
462 SCANSORES, OR CLIMBERS.
“Quand je bois du vin clairet,
Tout tourne, tout tourne au cabaret.’
Parrots imitate not only the words, but even the gestures of
those with whom they come in contact. Scaliger knew one which
repeated the songs of some young Savoyards, and imitated their
dances.
These birds are more or less susceptible of education. Some,
Fig. 184.—The Ara Macaw (JMucrocercus (Sw.) arurauna, trom Brazihau name). ,
naturally peaceable, are easily tamed; others, more refractory,
submit to captivity unwillingly. In general, when they are
taken young they attach themselves strongly to those who have
care of them.
Parrots have a mania for using their beaks upon everything
that comes in their way. When encaged against their will they
utter loud cries, and sometimes turn their fury upon the bars of
PARROTS. 463
their prison. They have been known to pluck and even tear them-
selves in these paroxysms. Supplying them with a plaything is
the only means of keeping them quiet under such circumstances.
These Climbers are endowed with remarkable longevity. The
“Memorandums of the Academy of Sciences of Paris’? mention a
Parrot that lived in the family of the Grand Duke of Tuscany, in
Florence, more than a hundred and ten years. Vieillot speaks of
Fig. 185.—Ringed Parrakeet (Pa/eornis torquatus, Vig.).
having seen one near Bordeaux which was eighty-four years of
age. The average length of their life cannot, however, be exactly
ascertained.
Parrots rarely breed in Europe; it is true they often lay, but
the eggs are sterile. A few instances have been known in
France where, under favourable circumstances, they bave per-
petuated their species. Generally all that we see in our tem-
perate regions are brought from countries where the majority
have been taken from the nest. Different means are employed
to capture the adults, all of which have for their aim to stun
them for an instant, in order to paralyse their movements.
464 SCANSORES, OR CLIMBERS.
The family of Parrots comprises four principal groups—
the Macaws, Parrakeets, Parrots properly speaking, and Cocka-
toos.
The Macaws (Fig. 184), the largest of the Parrots, are recog-
nisable from their bare cheeks and long tapering tails. They in-
habit South America, and are arrayed in the most brilliant colours.
The principal species are the Red, the Blue, the Green, and the
Black Macaws. The name Arara, by which they are known in their
Fig. 186.—Love-birds (Psittacula taranta, Gould),
habitat (Brazil), describes the deafening cries which they utter.
Very familiar, they tame easily, and do not abuse the liberty granted
them, for they never move far from their dwelling-place, and
always return to it. They like the caresses and attentions of people
they know, but do not care for strangers. The Green Ara is
remarkable for its aversion to children. This peculiarity doubtless
arises from the fact that it is very jealous, and that it often sees
children receive the caresses of its mistress. The Macaws have
PARROTS. 465
only the gift of imitation in a slight degree; they are scarcely
able to retain any words, and articulate badly.
PARRAKEETS, much smaller than Macaws, have, like them, long
and tapéring tails, but their cheeks are wholly or partially feathered.
Some species, which resemble the preceding group by being more
or less destitute of plumage round the eyes, for this reason have
received the name of Macaw-Parrakeets. Parrakeets are bighly
yj YY,
I< Woes
Pt EY Me wer 210
Fig. 187.—Grey Parrots (Psittacus erythacus, Sw.).
esteemed for their vivacity, gentleness, and the facility with which
they learn to talk. Their plumage is generally of a uniform green ;
sometimes it is varied with red or blue. They inhabit South
America, the islands of Oceania, the Indies, Africa, and Senegal.
The Tapuan or Kine’s Parrot (Platycercus scapulatus, Vig.),
which inhabits Australia, belongs to this group. These birds form
a curious exception in the order of Climbers by their terrestrial
HH
466 SCANSORES, OR CLIMBERS.
habits. According to M. J. Verreaux, they never perch when
pursued, but take refuge on the ground among the herbage.
Parrots, properly speaking, are distinguished from other groups
of the same family by their short square tails. They have feathered
cheeks like Parakeets, and their size is intermediate between them
and the Aras. They are much appreciated on account of their
memory, and also for their habit of repeating what they hear.
Parrots are divided into several species, founded upon the size
and the predominating colour of the plumage. ‘The first of
these is generally grey, and consists only of the Grey Par-
rot, or Jaco, indigenous to the West Coast of Africa, to which
Fig. 188.—Green Parrot (Psittacus amazonicus, Briss.).
the chief part of the anecdotes recounted in the preceding pages
relate. Next comes a species the plumage of which is green;
the most remarkable of these is the Amazonian Parrot. The
principal colour of the Lories is red; they inhabit the Moluccas
and New Guinea. Love-birds (Fig. 186) are the smallest of this
group; their plumage varies in shades according to the climates.
They are met with in America, Southern Africa, and in the islands
of Oceania.
Cockxatoos have tails of medium length, cheeks feathered, and
head surmounted by a white, yellow, or pink tuft, which they can
TOUCANS. 467
raise and lower at will. They are the largest among the race of
Parrots of the Old Continent. They inhabit the Indies and the
isles of Oceania, and are pretty, graceful, docile, and caressing,
but are indifferent talkers. One very remarkable species of this
group is the Microglosse (little tongue), called by Levaillant the
‘Macaw with the trumpet,” from the formation of its tongue, which
is cylindrical, and terminated by a little gland slightly hollowed
at the extremity. When this bird has reduced into fragments,
by the help of its jaws, the kernels of the fruits which form its
nourishment, it seizes the pieces by means of the hollow which
terminates the tongue, and having tried the flavour, projects
\
)
=
i
\\
Fig. 189.—Sulphur Cockatoos (Cacatua suiphurea, Wood).
the trumpet in front, and makes it pass to the palate, which has
the function of causing it to fall into the throat. This curious
mechanism was disclosed by Levaillant.
ToucaNs.
The characteristic of the birds which compose the family of
Toucans is their enormous beak. This is much longer than
the head, is curved at its extremity, dentated at its edges, and
HH 2
468 SCANSORES, OR CLIMBERS.
possesses a projecting bone at the middle of the upper man-
dible. It is not so heavy to bear, and incommodes the movements
of the birds less than might be supposed, for it is formed of a
spongy tissue, the numerous cells of which are filled with air.
Thus itis very weak, and does not serve to break, or even to bruise,
fruits, notwithstanding the idea one forms at first sight of its
strength, for it is not even capable of breaking off the bark of trees,
as certain authors have urged. This wonderful bill encloses a still
more strange tongue ; very straight, and as long as the beak, which
is covered on each side with
closely-packed barbs, similar
to a feather, the use of which
remains a complete mystery
to us. This curious instru-
ment so struck the naturalists
of Brazil, where many Tou-
cans are found, that it fur-
nished these birds with a
name. In Brazilian Toucan
means ‘ feather.”
Toucans feed on fruits and
insects ; they live in bands of
from six to ten, in damp places
where the palm tree flourishes,
for its fruit is their favourite
food. In eating they seize
the fruit with the extremity
Fig. 190.—Toucan (Ramphastos toco, of the beak, make it bounce
aative meme): up in the air, receive it then
into the throat, and swallow it in one piece. If it is too
large, and impossible to divide, they reject it. They are
rarely seen on the ground, and although their flight is heavy
and difficult, they perch on the branches of the highest
trees, where they remain in ceaseless motion. Their call is a
sort of whistle, frequently uttered. Very timid, they are ap-
proached with difficulty. During the breeding season they
attack the weakest birds of their own race, chase them from
their nests, and devour the eggs or nearly-hatched young ones
CUCKOOS. 469
which they enclose. They build their nests in holes hollowed
out by Woodpeckers or other birds. They all have very brilliant
plumage, and inhabit Para-
guay, Brazil, and Guiana.
This family is divided into
Toucans, properly speaking,
and the Aracaris. These are
distinguished from the former
by their much less size, more
solid beak, and longer tail.
The most beautiful species of
the family is the Brazilian
Toucan, described by Hum-
boldt under the name of Yel-
low Toucan (Fig. 191). The
beautiful orange feathers Fiz. He allo, Cees ae terofonsi Hum-
which cover this bird are
sometimes employed for ladies’ dress. This fashion has passed
from Brazil and Peru into Europe, and muffs made of the throats
of Toucans sell at a great price.
Cuckoos.
The general characteristic of the birds ranked in this family
are—slizhtly-curved beaks of medium dimensions, wings generally
short and concave, and tapering tails. Among the Cuckoos are
comprehended Anis, or Annos (Cotophagus, Briss.), Barbets,
Trogons, and Touracos, or Plantain-eaters. Cuckoos have elegant
shapes ; beaks almost as long as the head, compressed, and slightly
curved ; the tail rather long and rounded. Unlike other birds
of the same family, they have long and pointed wings. Their
size is about that of the Turtle Dove. Their flight is hght and
rapid, but they are unable to bear strong winds; thus they cannot
accomplish great journeys without resting. There are a great
number of known species belonging to all the countries of the Old
Continent. The whole of Africa, South Asia, China, Japan, and
certain isles of Oceania are inhabited by Cuckoos.
Europe only possesses one species, the Grey Cuckoo, which has
470 SCANSORES, OR CLIMBERS.
been carefully studied, and to which what we have to say regarding
this group of birds apples. Grey Cuckoos are essentially migratory.
They pass the warm season in Europe, and the winter in Africa
or in the warm parts of Asia. They arrive in France in the
month of April, and leave it at the end of August or the begin-
ning of September. They travel during the night, not in numerous
bands, but alone, or in groups of two or three at the most. They
prefer bushy parts of woods, but often traverse the country in
search of nourishment, which is composed principally of insects
and caterpillars. They are frightfully voracious, which accounts
for the enormous capacity of their stomachs. Of a surly and
tyrannical nature, they suffer no rival of their species in the
neighbourhood which they have chosen; for if some intruder
arrives, 1t is hunted out without truce or mercy. On account
of this unsociable disposition, the Grey Cuckoos, when captured
after attaining maturity, are unable to accommodate themselves
to confinement—in short, adults starve themselves to death when
in captivity. Young birds are less restive, and gradually accus-
tom themselves to a cage; but they are always disagreeable
on account of their quarrelsome habits, which prevents them
from living caged with feathered companions.
Cuckoos are celebrated for the peculiar manner in which
they raise their progeny. The females do not build a nest or
cover their eggs, neither do they take care of their young. They lay
their eges in the nests of other birds, generally in those of little in-
sectivorous Passerines, such as the Lark, the Robin, Hedge Sparrow,
Redthroat, Nightingale, Thrush, Blackbird, and sometimes also in
those of the Magpie, Turtle Dove, and Wood Pigeon. They leave
the care of hatching their eggs to these strangers, and of feeding
their young until they are completely developed. Different expla-
nations have been proposed to justify the anomaly which seems to
make a hard-hearted mother of the Cuckoo. We owe to M. Florenf-
Prevost the possession of certain information on this point which
had long remained in obscurity. According to this naturalist,
Cuckoos are polygamous, but in a reverse sense to other birds.
Whilst among them males have several females, with Cuckoos it
is the females that have several males, because the stronger sex is
much more numerous than the weaker. These ladies have no
CUCKOOS. 471
fixed home. At the breeding-time they wander from one district
to another, reside two or three days with a male at one place,
and then abandon him, according to inclination. Itis at this time
that the males so frequently utter the cry known to all the world,
and from which the bird derives its name; it is a sort of call or
challenge to the females, which in their turn reply by a peculiar
clucking. Cuckoos lay eight or ten eggs in the space of a few
weeks. When an egg has been laid, the female seizes it in her beak,
and carries it to the first unoccupied nest in the vicinity, and there
deposits it, profiting by the absence of the proprietor, which would
Fig. 192.—Cuckoo (Cuculus canorus, Linn.).
certainly oppose such an addition. A Redthroat has been seen to
return unexpectedly, and force the stranger to retire with her
burden. The next egg is placed in a neighbouring nest, but never
in the same as the first. The mother is doubtlessly conscious of
the unfortunate position it would place her two nurslings in if she
acted otherwise, for it would certainly be impossible for two
little Passerines to supply the wants of two such voracious beings
as young Cuckoos. Pertinent to this, we will*mention a fact
that we have not seen stated in any work on natural history. It
often happens that the female Cuckoo takes from the nest one of
the eggs of the Passerine, breaks it with her beak, and scatters the
472 SCANSORES, OR CLIMBERS.
shell. Thus, when the mother returns, she finds the same number of
eggs that she left. It is from this cause one frequently sees pieces
of egg-shell surrounding the nests where Cuckoos have deposited
their progeny. This action on the part of the birds denotes
perfect reasoning powers, and consequently real intelligence.
What say the great philosophers to it, who refuse this faculty
to animals? When it has thus left its eggs to nurse, the
female comes several times to see that they are well cared for,
and does not leave the neighbourhood till she is assured that such
is the case. She is not quite so free from solicitude about the
welfare of her young as one at first thinks. Thus we can under-
stand why the female Cuckoo does not herself discharge her
maternal functions. Laying her eggs at considerable intervals,
she would find that to cover several eggs and to raise a young
one at the same time was incompatible, for the latter duty
involves frequent absences which would destrey the eggs, to which,
during incubation, an equal and constant temperature is necessary.
It is not then indifference, but thought, that causes her to confide
to others her maternal cares. The young Cuckoo is no sooner
hatched than he employs his infant strength to get rid of the true
children of his foster-parents, in order to be the only one to profit
by their attentions ; he glides under the frail creatures, gets them on
his back—where he holds them by means of his raised wings—and
precipitates them one after another from the nest. The mother,
though thus cruelly treated in return for her affection, generally
retains her love for this perfidious child of her adoption, and
provides for all its wants until the time of its departure. Some-
times, however, she is so angry at the loss of her young, that
she brings no nourishment to the monster, and lets it die of
starvation.
Honey Gurpes, or Inpicators (Zndicator, Vall.), have their place
next to Cuckoos. These are little birds inhabiting the interior of
Africa. They feed on insects, and especially delight in the pupz of
bees; they employ very curious manceuvres in order to procure them,
which denote perfect intelligence. When one of these birds dis-
covers a hive, it endeavours to attract the attention of the first
person it meets by frequently-repeated cries. When observed it -
ANIS. 473
proceeds to fly, and sometimes leads thus for great distances till it
reaches the place where the hive is, which it takes care to point out,
by every means in its power. Whilst the honey is being taken, the
bird remains in the neighbourhood, observing all that passes, and
when that work is accomplished, it approaches to reap the fruits of
its trouble. The bees make very little buzzing, but flutter round,
trying to sting it (but its skin is impervious to their efforts).
Often, however, the despoiled bees attack its eyes, and sometimes
succeed in blinding it: the unfortunate bird, incapable of guiding
itself, then perishes in sight of the place that witnessed its
triumph. The Hottentots esteem Indicators very highly on account
of the services which they render them in revealing the abodes of
bees, and therefore scruple to kill them.
The group of Cuckoos is supplemented by several more species
nearly allied to the genus Cuckoo, upon which it is useless for
us to enlarge. These are Courols, Coccyzus, Couas, and Guiras.
All these birds are strangers.
Anis have bulky, short, very compressed beaks, surmounted by
a slight and sharp crest. They inhabit the countries of Equatorial
America, and live in troops of from thirty to forty in the midst of
savannahs and marshes. They feed upon reptiles and insects ; they
are often seen to alight upon cattle to devour the insect parasites
which torment them. Hence comes their scientific name of
Crotophaga (Linn.), or eaters of insects. They are of very gentle,
confiding natures, and the sight of man does not frighten them ;
besides, there is no advantage in killing them, for their flesh
exhales a repulsive odour. Taken young, they become very familiar,
and are as quick as Parrots in learning the art of speaking. They
possess the instinct of sociability in the highest degree; so much
so, that they do not even isolate themselves at pairing-times as
other birds do. They build a common nest either in the trees or
bushes, in which all the females lay and sit on their eggs.
This nest is sometimes divided by walls into a certain number of
compartments, each of which belongs to a female, but generally
all the eges are mixed, and the females cover them indiscrimi-
nately. This admirable understanding does not cease after the
young are hatched. These are nourished by all the mothers
474 SCANSORES, OR CLIMBERS.
in common. Are not these little republ’es models of peace and
_concord? and does not man find in them salutary examples
of disinterestedness and affection? The two principal species of
the genus are the Razor-bill of Jamaica and the Crow Blackbird
of America. The former is the size of a Blackbird, the latter of a
Jay.
Barpets (Fig. 193) owe their name to a number of straight
hairs which they have upon their beak. They are massive in form,
and their flight is heavy. Inhabiting warm countries of both con-
tinents, they conceal themselves in thick forests, either alone or
in small bands. They feed on fruits, berries, and insects. Certain
species even attack and devour young birds. They build in the
Fig. 193.—African Barbet (Pogonias hirsutus, Sw.).
trunks of trees. The number of eggs they lay is two, sometimes
(though rarely) three. Levaillant asserts thatthe old and
infirm Barbets are cared for and fed by those in the enjoyment
of all their vigour. He says that, having taken five Barbets
in anest of Republicans, one of which was so old that it could
not stand on its legs, and having enclosed them in a cage,
“the four healthy Barbets hastened to give food to the one lying
in a dying state in a corner of the cage.” He adds that the
nest whence he had taken them was filled with husks and the
remains of insects, which led him to think that the old invalid had
TROGONS. 47
Gr
been fed a long time by
these kind and thought-
ful birds. If this is true,
it is worthy the atten-
tion of moralists.
Trogons, like Barbets,
have the bases of their
beaks covered with hairs.
Their soft and silky
plumage = glitters with
the most brilliant hues,
and their tails are ex-
tremely long. They very
strongly resemble the
birds of night by their
unsociable nature and
melancholy dispositions,
and by the solitary lives
they pass in the wildest
parts of woods. Like
them, also, they only go
out in the morning and
evening to seek the in-
sects and caterpillars
which form their prin-
cipal nourishment. The
presence of man does
not frighten them; and
this confidence often leads
to their death, for they
are actively pursued for
their flesh, which is said
to be excellent, and also
tor their very beautiful
feathers. Their name
Couroucous arises from
the ery which they utter
at breeding-times. They
inhabit the intertropical
Fig. 194 —Resplendent Trogons ( Trogon ( Calurus)
resplendens, Gould).
476 SCANSORES, OR CLIMBERS.
regions of both continents. The most remarkable species is the
Resplendent Trogon (Fig. 194), indigenous to Mexico and Brazil.
The plumage of this bird is
of a magnificent emerald
green frosted with gold:
its head is surmounted by a
beautiful tuft of the same
colour. The daughters of
the Caciques in the New
World formerly used its
feathers in their dresses. At
the present time creoles
employ them for the same
purpose. The most com-
mon species is the Zrogon
mexicanus (Fig. 195).
Fig. 195.— Mexican Trogon (Trogon mexicanus, Gould). TourRAcos, or PLANTAIN-
EATERS (Musophagide), are
African birds, of which the general forms bear some analogy to
the Hoccos. They live in forests, and perch upon the highest
branches of trees: their flight is heavy and little sustained.
W oopPECKERS.
The birds which compose this family are characterised by a
rather long, conical, pointed beak, and by a very extensible tongue.
They form two genera, Woodpeckers and Wry-necks.
WoopreEckeErs excel in the art of climbing, but they do not per-
form it in the same manner as Parrots. They accomplish their
ascensions by extending their toes, supplied with bent claws, upon
the trunk of a tree, and maintain themselves hanging there ; then
move themselves a little farther by asudden and jerked skip, and
so on. These movements are facilitated by the disposition of
the tail, formed of straight resistant feathers, slightly worn away
at their extremities, which, pressed against a tree, serve as a
support to the bird. Thanks to this organisation, Woodpeckers
traverse trees in every direction—downwards, upwards, or hori-
WOODPECKERS. 477
zontally. Woodpeckers are of a timid and restless disposition ;
they live alone in the midst or on the borders of large forests.
Insects and their larvee form their nourishment; there they seek
them in the trunks and clefts of trees. Their tongue is wonder-
fully suited to this work of exploration. It is very long, and,
by a peculiar mechanism, can be projected out far enough to
Fig. 196.—Black Woodpeckers (Picus (Dryocopus) martius, Gould).
1. Female. 2. Male.
reach objects three or four inches away. The beak is termi-
nated by a horny point bristling with small hooks. In many
species it is overlaid with a sticky humour, secreted by two
voluminous glands, the effect of which is to catch the insects
which it touches. Whenever the bird darts this tongue into
the crevices, it draws it out more or less laden with insects. If it
perceives an insect that it cannot reach by means of this organ, it
478 SCANSORES, OR CLIMBERS.
has recourse to its strong beak: striking the tree with redoubled
blows, it cuts the bark, breaks an opening, and seizes the coveted
prey. It often also strikes with its beak to sound the tree, and
assure itself that there is no cavity in the interior which would
serve as a refuge for its prey. If the trunk is hollow, it examines
all parts to find the entrance to the cavity. When it has dis-
covered it, it introduces its tongue; and if the canal is not
large enough to permit it to explore the hiding-place with suc-
cess, it increases the size of the aperture. It is not only to seek
for food that Woodpeckers
make holes in trees, but
also to establish their nests.
Some species, it is_ true,
select the anfractuosities
which they find, but others
hollow out their resting-
places according to their
tastes. When such is the
case, they inspect soft-wood
trees, such as the _ beech,
aspen, &c., to ascertain those
that are decayed in the
interior. When they have
made their choice, the male
and female peck the bark off
the tree by turns, and do not
cease to labour till they have
reached the decayed portion.
} : : \ \\ ;
ue
Fig. 197.-—Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers (Picus The cavity which they bore
minor, Gould). J
is generally so oblique and
so deep that perfect darkness must surround them. It is doubt-
less a measure of security against the little mammals, especially
the rodents, the natural enemies of their family. The female
deposits her eggs upon a bed of moss or the dust of worm-
eaten wood. The young birds grow slowly, and receive in the
nest the care of their parents for along time. In general they
have little voice, or only utter disagreeable cries. At breeding-
time they frequently employ a language peculiar to them-
WRY-NECKS. 479
selves: they strike the trunks of dead trees with their beaks,
and these blows, which are heard at a great distance, attract all
the Woodpeckers of the neighbourhood.
Woodpeckers are generally considered noxious birds, because
they are supposed to injure the trees of forests and orchards, and
for this reason a relentless war is made against them. They should,
on the contrary, be protected ; for they destroy innumerable insects,
the real enemies of timber. Besides, they scarcely ever attack
healthy trees — they reserve their labours for those which are
worm-eaten. There are a great number of species of Woodpeckers
known, which are spread over the two continents : Europe possesses
eight, seven of which live
in France either in a set-
tled state or as birds of
passage. The principal are
the Black Woodpecker,
the Spotted Woodpecker,
and the Grey Woodpecker.
Wry-NeEcks owe their
name to the curious pro-
perty which they possess
of being able to twist their
necks in such a manner
as to turn the head in all
directions. They repeat
this movement every in-
stant, especially when sur-
prised or angry. At the
same time their eyes be-
come fixed, the feathers of the head stand up, and the tail
expands itself. Like Woodpeckers, they can hang upon trees,
and sustain themselves in a vertical position for a long time ;
but they are incapable of climbing. The weakness of their
beaks does not permit of their boring trees; therefore they
seek their nourishment upon the ground, principally amongst
the ant-hills. They lead a solitary existence, which they only
relinquish at pairing-time. They possess a characteristic con-
fidence, never in the least avoid the presence of man, and
Fig. 198.—Wry-necks ( Yunz torquilla, Yarrell).
480 SCANSORES, OR CLIMBERS.
become very familiar in captivity. They build in the natural
holes of trees, or in those hollowed by Woodpeckers. Their
plumage is pleasing, and their size is the same as the Lark.
They inhabit all the Old Continent.
J ACAMARS.
Jacamars (Fig. 199) inhabit Equatorial America. They are
characterised by long and pointed beaks, short tarsi, and short
or obtuse wings. They have three or four toes, according to the
Fig. 199.—Paradise Jacamar (Galbula paradisea, Latham).
species. Their habits are little known; but it is certain that
they live isolated or in pairs, that they are stupid, move but
little, and rarely depart from the neighbourhood where they have
chosen their dwelling. All species do not frequent the same places
—some like thick woods, others prefer plains, while some select
damp localities; but all are insectivorous. In their manners, as
well as in their physical characteristics, Jacamars appear to
resemble King-fishers, of which we shall speak in the following
order.
CHAPTER VII.
PASSERINES.
Tue Passerines (from passer, the Latin name for Sparrow)
form the least natural group of the class Aves. Here one seeks
in vain for the homogeneous characteristics which distinguish
the preceding races. Indeed, it is difficult to detect the bonds
which connect them together. For example, where is the link
which unites the Crow to the Swallow or to the Humming-
birds ? Nevertheless, all these winged creatures, though so
different externally, belong to the Passerine. It may be said
that this order presents only negative characteristics, bringing
together in a somewhat odd assemblage all birds which are
neither web-footed, wading, gallinaceous, climbing, nor rapacious.
The only physical feature on which much stress can be laid, which
is common to all Passerines, and even that not of much value, is
that the outward toe is united to the middle one in a more or less
extended manner. Their food consists of seeds, insects, and fruit.
They live singly or in pairs; they fly gracefully and easily ; their
walk consists of a leap; and they build their nests and take their
rest under the thick foliage of trees, or under the eaves of
buildings.
In this extensive group we find most of the songsters whose
melodious voices so charmingly wake the echoes of the wood-
lands. Some of them have even the gift of imitating to a certain
extent the human voice, as well as the cries of wild animals.
Many are remarkable for their brilliant plumage; others are
appreciated for their delicacy on the table. Man has reduced
numbers of them to comparative tameness, but has altogether
failed in bringing them to a domestic state.
Cuvier divides the Passerine into five great families—the Syn-
II
482 PASSERINES.
dactyles, Tenuirostres, Conirostres, Fissirostres, and Dentirostres.
The first is based on the structure of the feet; the other four on
the formation of the bill. But this classification is very arbitrary,
as it is not always possible to assign a place to certain groups by
an inspection of the beak alone. We shall, however, follow this
distribution, as being that generally adopted.
SYNDACTYLES.
The Syndactyles (having the toes united) have the external
toe nearly as long as the middle one, and united to it up to the
last articulation. The birds which constitute this group have
little analogy with each other, the physical characters which we
shall have occasion to notice being purely artificial as a means of
classification. The family includes the Hornbills (Buceros, Linn.),
the Fly-catchers (Muscicapide), the King-fishers (Alcedo, Linn.),
the Bee-eaters (Merops, Linn.), and the Momots (Prionites, I1l.).
The Hornsitts, or CaLaos, are remarkable for their enormous
development of beak, which is long, very wide, compressed,
and more or less curved and notched, and in some species
surmounted by a large helmet-like protuberance. This immense
beak is nevertheless very light, being cellulose, as in the Tou-
cans. The Hornbills have in some respects the bearing of the
Crow: this led Bontius to class them among the Crows, under
the name of Indian Crow (Corvus indicus). They walk with
difficulty, and their flight is clumsy, their favourite position being
on a perch at the summit of lofty trees. Great flocks of these
haunt the forests of the warmer regions of the Old World,
especially Africa, India, and the Oceanic Archipelago. They
build their nests in the hollows of trees. They are omnivorous,
and the fruits, seeds, and insects of those regions are their prin-
cipal food; yet they feed also on flesh. In India they are
domesticated, their services in destroying rats and mice being
much appreciated. The plumage of the Hornbill is black or
grey, of various shades; but there is a species described by Dr.
Latham and Dr. Shaw, under the name of the Crimson Hornbill,
which Mr. Swainson thinks may prove to be a link between
Toucans and Hornbills, and thus combine the beauty of plumage
of the former with the peculiarity of form of the latter. Their
FLY-CATCHERS. 483
flesh is delicate, especially when fed on aromatic seeds. Many
species are described, varying in size, among which the Rhinoceros
Hornbill (LBuceros rhinoceros), Fig. 200, is the most worthy of
notice. This bird is so named from the singular protuberance
with which its bill is surmounted: this is a smooth horny casque
or helmet, curving upwards from the bill, somewhat resembling
the horn of the rhinoceros. It is a native of India and the
islands of the Indian Ocean.
Fig. 200.—Rhinoceros Hornviil (Buceros rh.noceros, Gould).
The Fry-catcuers (Muscicapide) are a family of insectivorous
birds, many of which are British, comprehending, according to
Temminck, the Todies (7odus), distinguished by long, broad, and
very flat bills, contracting suddenly at the tip. Characteristics :—
Tail short, slender, and rounded ; legs long and weak; toes short,
the outer one more or less united to the middle one. 7. viridis,
the only species, according to Temminck, has a bright green
112
484 PASSERINES.
plumage above, whitish beneath; a scarlet throat; sides rose
colour ; and the tail-coverts yellow. It is a native of South
America and the Antilles; and Sir Hans Sloane, under the name
of “Green Humming-bird,” describes it as ‘one of the most
beautiful small birds he ever saw.” Mr. Browne states that
it is a familiar little bird, and will often let a man come within
a few feet to admire it before becoming alarmed. “It keeps
much about the houses in country parts,’’ he adds, “ flies slow, and
probably may be easily tamed.”
It lives almost entirely on the ground, feeding on insects, which
it catches in the evening. It builds its nest in the crevices
on river banks, or in the soft rocks, in which it hollows out a
dwelling by means of its bill and feet.
The Krna-FisHers (Alcedo), the Martin-fishers of some authors,
form a highly interesting group, of which bird-
catcher. If compelled, it will eat dead fish, as was observed by
Audubon on the banks of the Mississippi; but this latter cir-
cumstance is excessively rare. ‘This bird possesses little dread of
man, for it sometimes has the audacity to swoop upon the game
which the sportsman has killed, and not unfrequently succeeds
in carrying it off. One of these birds established itself, some
years ago, on the towers of Notre-Dame, in Paris, and every day
captured several of the tame Pigeons which fly at liberty in the
city. This continued for a month, and was only put a stop to
by the proprietors of the Pigeons keeping their pets shut up.
Thus deprived of its means of existence, the Falcon soon dis-
appeared.
Notwithstanding the magnificent powers of flight of the Pere-
egrine Falcon, it is not always successful in its forays. Naumann
narrates that he saw a Pigeon pursued by one of these destroyers
throw itself into a lake, dive down, and shortly after emerge
in another part, thus baffling its enemy. When a Pigeon is
harassed by a Falcon it endeavours to mount above its enemy ;
if it succeeds in this it is saved, for the Falcon becomes fatigued,
and gives up the pursuit.
Large Ravens are inveterate enemies of the Peregrine Falcon.
They have frequent fights, in which the former sometimes prove
the conquerors. A Raven has been known to break the skull of
a Falcon with a blow of its bill.
The Falcon is gifted with a more remarkable degree of longevity
than even the Eagle. It is reported that in 1797, at the Cape
of Good Hope, a Falcon was caught which showed no signs of
decrepitude, and which had on a golden collar with an inscription
stating that in 1610 it belonged to James I., King of England; it
was therefore over one hundred and eighty-seven years old.
RR2 ®
612 RAPTORES, OR BIRDS OF PREY.
The parent birds exhibit the greatest solicitude for their young
Fig. 287.—The Hobby (Hypobuorchis subbuteo).
until able to provide for themselves: when that stage of maturity
arrives they are driven forth.
Fig. 288.—Merlins (7. salon).
The Peregrine Falcon is found among the cliffs of N ormandy,.
>
HAWKING. 613
There are other species of Falcons smaller than the preceding.
They are only distinguished from them by their size; their habits
are identical, except that they prey on smaller birds, such as
Quails, Larks, Swallows, and sometimes insects. These species
are: the Hobby (Fig. 287), which is found all over Kurope,
and also in Africa—it is about a foot in height; the Merlin (Fig.
288), which is not much larger than a Thrush, and in summer
Fig. 289.—Kestrel ( Zinnunculus alaudurius).
inhabits the North, and in winter the South, of Europe; the
Kestrel (Fig. 289), which owes its name to its sharp cry—it is
thirteen inches in height, and is common in the centre of Europe ;
lastly, the Bengal Falcon (Terax cerulescens), which is a native
of India and Java—this is the smallest of all birds of prey.
Several other varieties of Falcon, which do not present any
remarkable peculiarity, are met with both in Africa and America.
The name of Falcon is still associated with the sport of hawking
or falconry, of which we are about to speak.
Falconry, the art of training or flying hawks to take other
birds, was formerly held in high esteem in the various countries
614 RAPTORES, OR BIRDS OF PREY.
of Europe. In consequence of the invention of fire-arms, after
having been for centuries the delight of kings and nobles, it
fell into disuse. The Arabs and other Asiatic nations adhere
to it to the present day. This sport may be traced back to a
very remote period, for Aristotle, and subsequently Pliny, make
mention of it. Falconry was introduced into Europe about the
fourth century of our era, and was at its greatest repute in the
Middle Ages and during the Renaissance. All the nobility, from
the monarch to the lowest courtier, were passionately fond of
hawking—the name specially applied to it. Sovereigns and noble-
men expended princely sums upon it. The gift of a few fine
Falcons was considered a magnificent present. The kings of
France solemnly received twelve Falcons every year, which were
given to them by the grand-master of the Order of St. John of
Jerusalem. They were intrusted on their voyage to a French
knight of the order, to whom the monarch accorded, under the
name of a present, a sum of £3,000, and the expenses of his
journey.
Gentlemen, and even ladies, of the Middle Ages, seldom appeared
in public without a Falcon on their wrists; and this example was
followed by bishops and abbots—they entered the churches sup-
porting their favourite birds, depositing them on the steps of the
altar during mass. Noblemen on public ceremonies proudly held
their Falcons in one hand and the hilt of their sword in the
other.
Louis XIII. was devoted to faleonry. Daily he went hawking
before going to church; and his favourite, Albert de Luynes,
owed his fortune to his great skill in this science. Charles
. d@’Areussia of Capri, Lord of Esparron, published, in 1615, a
“Treatise on Falconry,” in which it is stated that the Baron de
la Chastaigneraie, chief falconer of France under Louis XIIL.,
purchased his office at a cost of fifty thousand crowns. He had
the direction of one hundred and forty birds, which required the
assistance of a staff of one hundred men for their care.
This kind of sport has almost totally disappeared; a revival
of it in England and Germany has taken place, but only with
moderate success. For this purpose a society, called the ‘“‘ Hawking
Club,” meets together every year in a dependency of the royal
HAWKING. 615
castle of Loo, under the presidency of the King of the Netherlands,
to fly the Heron. They take from one to two hundred of these birds
in the space of two months; but this is only a feeble resuscitation
of an institution which has now practically passed away.
Falcons were formerly divided into birds of the noble and inferior
grades. The former comprehended the Gyrfalcon, the Falcon, the
Hobby, the Merlin, and the Kestrel; the latter, the Goshawk and
Sparrow-hawk. The name of Goshawk training has been given to
the art whose special end was the education of these last two birds.
As the mode of education varies little for all these birds, which
only differ in docility, we shall merely consider one species, that
of the Falcon, which will serve as a type for all the others.
The Falcons destined for training must be captured young.
Those that have been providing their own food, and have nearly
reached maturity, are taken with a lure, which is generally
a Pigeon. Young birds which have just left the nest are called
eyases ; when rather more mature, dranchers ; that is to say, birds
about three months old, strong enough to hop from branch to
branch, but incapable of flying or providing for their own sub-
sistence. The latter are preferable to all others, as they are not
so young as to require the care necessary to the eyas, and are yet
not old enough to have become intractable. At a year old it would
be nearly useless to attempt their education ; they are then called
haggards.
The Falcon being naturally wild, violent, and alike insensible
to caresses and chastisements, it can only be tamed by priva-
tions, such as want of light, sleep, and food, and also by constantly
being cared for by the same person. ‘This is the foundation of the
method which the falconer practises.
Supposing that a drancher has been caught, its legs are first made
fast in the shackles, or dewits (Fig. 290), made of straps of supple
leather, terminated by bells. Then the falconer, his hand covered
with a glove, takes the Falcon on his wrist, and carries it about
night and day, without allowing it rest. If the pupil is in-
tractable, refuses to submit, and tries to use its bill, the tamer
plunges its head into cold water, and thus produces stupor in the
bird. Afterwards the head is covered with a hood (Fig. 291), which
keeps it in complete darkness. After three davs and nights of this
616 RAPTORES, OR BIRDS OF PREY.
treatment, rarely more, the bird becomes, to a certain extent,
docile. The falconer then accustoms it to take its food quietly ;
Fig. 290.—Bewits.
this is presented in the hand, while at the same time a peculiar noise
is made, which it learns to recognise as a call. In the meantime it
is carried about in frequented places,
so as to familiarise it with strangers,
and also with horses and dogs, which
are to be at some future time its com-
-panions in the chase. When an obsti-
nate bird is dealt with its appetite is
excited, so as to render it more de-
pendent; with this view it is made to
swallow small pellets of tow mixed up
with garlic and wormwood. ‘These
pellets have the effect of increasing
Fig. 291.—Hood.
Fig. 292.—Dressed Falcon.
its hunger; and the pleasure which it afterwards experiences in
eating tends to attach it more closely to the individual who feeds it.
HAWKING. 617
In a general way, after five or six days of restraint the Falcon
is tamed, and the faleoner can then proceed with the training,
to which the former practices are nothing but preliminaries.
The bird is taken into a garden, and taught to hop up on the
fist when called; a piece of meat is shown to entice it, which is
not given to the bird until the requisite mancuvre is properly
executed. The meat is then fastened to a (ure, or decoy, and the
same course is adopted, the bird being attached to the end of
a string from ten to forty yards in length. The lure (Fig. 293)
is a flat piece of wood, covered on both sides with the wings
and feet of a Pigeon. The Falcon is uncovered, and the (ure
is shown to it at a short distance off, and at the same time
a call is given. If the bird stoops upon the lure it is allowed
to take the meat which is attached to it. The distance is pro-
gressively increased, and the Falcon is recompensed for its docility
on each occasion. When, at the full length of the string, it
will obey the call, a great point is gained, for it fully recog-
nises the lure, and knows that the meat attached will become its
own on returning to its master. Then the falconer no longer fears
it becoming free, for he well knows he can reclaim it; that is,
make it settle down upon his fist, even when the bird is flying in
the air.
Afterwards it is introduced to living game by letting it fly at
tied Pigeons; and, lastly, its education is completed by habitu-
ating it to stoop on the special game which it is intended to
chase.
Supposing the game it is destined for pursuing to be the
Partridge, in the first place, the Pigeon’s wings on the /ure are
replaced by those of the Partridge, and then the Falcon is let
fly in succession, first at Partridges tied to a string, and then at
liberated birds. When it divds its prey well, and shows itself
obedient, it is employed on wild game.
Birds of prey used to be educated for taking the Kite, the
Heron, the Crow, the Magpie, the Hare, Partridges, Quails, and
Pheasants; also Wild Ducks and other aquatic birds.
The pursuit of the Kite, the Heron, the Crow, and the Magpie,
the profit of which was absolutely nothing, was looked upon as a
sport fit for princes, and was carried on by means of the Falcon
618 RAPTORES, OR BIRDS OF PREY.
and Gyrfalcon. But the chase of other birds, in which the in-
ducement was a prey fit for food, was considered the sport of an
esquire ; and for this were used the Hobby (Hodereau, French), the
Merlin, the Kestrel, the Goshawk, and the Sparrow-hawk. Hence
comes the nickname of Hobereau applied to French country gen-
tlemen ; ‘‘ because,” as Lacurne de Sainte-Palaye says, ‘“ they wish
to show an appearance of more property than they really possess ;
and not being able to keep Falcons, which cost too much in their
purchase and food, they hawk with Hobbies, which are readily pro-
cured, and also provide Partridges and Quails for their kitchens.”
The most noble cast, but also the rarest, was that at the Kite.
We have already mentioned, when speaking of nocturnal birds of
prey, how at one time they were in the habit of alluring this
bird by means of a Great (Long-eared) Owl,
dressed out with a fox’s brush. Some strata-
gem of this kind was obliged to be used in
order to get near the Kite, which flies at
heights altogether inaccessible to the best
Falcon. When the Kite came within range
a Falcon was det fly, and then a most inter-
esting conflict took place between the two
birds. The Kite, harassed by its enemy, and,
in spite of its turns and twists and numberless
feints, unable to escape him, generally in the
end fell into its foe’s clutches.
The cast at a Heron generally presented
Fig. 293.—The Lure. fewer incidents. This bird, from not being
gifted with the same powers of wing, was
unavoidably overtaken with much greater ease, although, when
not overloaded with food, it occasionally managed to escape. Still
it always defended itself with energy, and the blows of its formid-
able bill were often fatal to its pursuer. In Heron hawking (Fig.
294) a deg was required to flush the game, and three Falcons to
capture it: the duty of the first was to make the quarry rise, of the
second to follow it, and of the third to clutch it. We shall quote
from an ancient author of a “ Treatise on Falconry ” the account
of a cast at a Heron; the description will well explain the details
of this kind of sport.
HAWKING. 619
“Now riding fast, we soon came by the side of the meadows
adjoining the warren, where the ‘ markers’ of M. de Ligné dis-
covered three Herons, and at once came to tell him of it. Making
up his mind to attack them, the Sieur de Ligné did me the favour
Fig. 294.—Heron Hawking.
of giving me a white Gyrfalcon, named ‘ La Perle,’ to let fly; he
himself took another, called ‘Le Gentilhomme,’ and one of his
people took a third, named ‘ Le Pinson.’ When the Herons heard
us approach they became alarmed, and took wing while we were
yet some distance off; seeing this, we let fly the birds, which were
620 RAPTORES, OR BIRDS OF PREY.
some time before they perceived the quarry. At last one of the
Hawks caught sight of them, and went in pursuit. The two others
immediately followed with so much ardour and speed that in a very
short time they had all reached the Herons, and were attacking one,
which defended itself; but it was so roughly treated that it could not
make much resistance, and was soon taken. Whilst the Falcons
were having their pleasure with it (that is, whilst the quarry was
being given them), the other Herons, frightened at seeing their
companion so badly treated, kept on rising in the direction of the
sun, hoping to shelter themselves in its glare. But they were
descried; M. de Ligné told me of this, saying, ‘I can see the two
Herons up above still rising. I give you one as your share.’ On
which, seeing them at such an immense height, I replied that the
Falcons would have great difficulty in getting at them. Then he
let fly his bird, we doing likewise, and they all vied with one
another in soaring upwards, using such diligence that soon we
saw them almost as high up as one of the Herons. Having first
made an effort and got above their prey, they commenced to deal
it such a shower of blows that it seemed stupefied, and flew down
to gain the shelter of the woods. We rode forward to bring the
hounds to the assistance of the Falcons, and were just in time;
for the Heron had thrown itself into a thicket, in which we
captured it alive, although taken from the mouth of one of the
dogs. Giving this bird to the Falcons, we mounted our horses
again to let fly after another.”
The casts at the Crow and the Magpie were also very amusing.
These birds would try at first to escape by means of speed, and then,
recognising the uselessness of their efforts, they afterwards took
refuge in a tree, from which the falconers had much trouble to
drive them, so great was their terror for their pursuers.
For field and river sport the Falcon is not let fly direct from the
jist; that is, the Falcon does not attack immediately on leaving the
hand—it is thrown up, or, in common parlance, is let fly, before
the game flushes. The Falcon hovers for some time, and then
stoops down on the prey which the dogs have forced up. In order
to escape its persecutor the Wild Duck often takes to the water ;
from this the dogs again force it to take wing. The Hare is
hunted in much the same way.
HAWKING. 621
Hawking is even nowadays held in high honour in the North
of Africa and in Asia, being the favourite diversion of the Arabs.
In the Sahara the Falcon is trained to hunt Pigeons, Partridges,
Hares, Rabbits, and even the Gazelle.
In Persia and Turkestan the Falcon is not trained, as it used to
be in Europe, for some special game; they accustom it to stoop on
all kinds of prey. Hunting the gazelle with Hawks is a diversion
much esteemed among these nations. The plan adopted is as
follows :—
“The Persians,” says Thévenot, the traveller, “provide stuffed
Gazelles, on the noses of which they always place the food for their
Falcons, and never feed them anywhere else. After they have
been thus trained they take them out into the open country, and
when they see a Gazelle they let fly two of these birds, one of
which darts down on the nose of the Gazelle, and fastens on to it
with its talons. The Gazelle stops short, and shakes himself to
get rid of the bird; but the latter keeps his place for some time
by means of flapping his wings, thus preventing the Gazelle from
running fast, and even from seeing where it is going. When at
last, with some trouble, the Gazelle disengages itself from its
pursuer, the other Falcon, which is flying near, takes the place of
the one thrown off; the latter, in its turn, again resumes the
assault when its companion has fallen. The birds thus hinder the
running of the Gazelle, so that the dogs easily overtake it.”
In Egypt the Falcon is trained for this kind of sport by taking
it young, limiting the quantity of its food, and then frequently
bringing it into the presence of sheep: being in a famished state,
the bird unhesitatingly darts on them.
Hawking is also held in high esteem in India, both by the
natives and Europeans resident there. It is no rare thing to see
young ladies reviving all the customs of the Middle Ages, and
penetrating into the jungles mounted on elephants, accompanied
by their Falcons, which are flown at the charming blue antelope.
In China and Japan hawking is also very popular: in the course
of a day’s journey it is no uncommon thing to meet persons pur-
suing this sport.
The birds which form the next family differ from the Falcon
in having no teeth in the upper mandible of the bill; their tarsi,
622 RAPTORES, OR BIRDS OF PREY.
also, are longer, and their wings shorter. Their flight, too, is both
less high and less rapid than that of the Falcon. They are found
in all parts of the globe, presenting some slight modifications due
to the influence of climate. They generally feed on small birds
and reptiles, and exceptionally on very small mammals. They
are divided into Goshawks proper and Sparrow-hawks.
There are various species of the Goshawk, all characterised
by very strong tarsi, one only of which, the Common Goshawk, is
a native of Europe.
The Common GosHawk (Fig. 295) is by no means rare in
France and England. In summer it frequents the oak and beech
Fig. 295.—Goshawks (Astur palum- Fig. 296.—Common Sparrow-hawk
barius). (Accipiter nisus).
woods which cover the mountain-sides, and sometimes ventures
near habitations to carry off Fowls and Pigeons. At the com-
mencement of autumn it descends into the plains, making its
nest on the skirts of some extensive wood, from which it darts
out upon Partridges, Grouse, or young Leverets, which form its
SPARROW-HAWKS. 623
principal food. It pursues Larks with such ardour that it often
falls into the snares laid for these birds ; but it will never attempt
to get free from the trap until it has satiated its sanguinary
appetite. When hunting for its prey it skims over the ground and
bushes, carefully inspecting each. Should it perceive a victim, it
approaches with caution until within striking distance, when it
suddenly darts upon its prey with unerring precision. This bird
is as large as the Gyrfalcon, but, although equal in cunning and
address, is possessed of less courage.
The Goshawk is difficult to tame; its ferocious nature is not
subdued by captivity. In 1850, a young one four months old, kept
in the Botanical Garden of the Natural History Society of Savoy,
killed with its claws and bill a Kite the same age as itself, which
had been its companion for fifteen days. The young savage tore
its victim to pieces and fed on the carcass, although it had not the
least necessity for food, being perfectly well cared for.
The Common Goshawk is also found in the North of Africa.
Two other species are known in North America.
The Sparrow-HAwks are distinguished from the preceding birds
by the slenderness of their tarsi. The Common Sparrow-hawk
(Fig. 296) is found all over Europe. In France it is a constant
resident. Although smaller, it has much the same habits as the
Goshawk, but is bolder, and will carry off Partridges, or other
small game, under the very hands of sportsmen or gamekeepers.
It will even attack and devour Fowls and chickens in the poultry-
yard, and so absorbed does it become in the enjoyment of its feast
that a person may sometimes get sufficiently near to capture it.
In the plains where game is abundant, Sparrow-hawks are very
destructive, and consequently are seldom spared when within
gunshot.
The Sparrow-hawk (Accipiter fringillarius of some authors) will
become gentle and tame in captivity. Dr. Franklin mentions an
instance of one of these birds, belonging to a friend of his, which
lived with two Pigeons. This bird had succeeded in gaining the
affection of all who knew it, and was, it is said, as playful as a cat.
Africa possesses two species of Sparrow-hawk: the Dwarf
Sparrow-hawk (A. minullus), which does not exceed the Blackbird
in size. As intrepid, although not so strong, as its European
624 RAPTORES, OR BIRDS OF PREY.
brother, it often ventures to attack Kites and Buzzards, and, by
its agility, harasses them with impunity. The Chanting Falcon
(Melierax musicus), which is about the size of the Goshawk, sings
in the vicinity of the female during the season of incubation. It
is the only musician among birds of the Rapacious order, and
therefore has claim to honourable mention.
Both the Goshawks and the Sparrow-hawks were employed in
hawking in days of old, but their
relative value was much inferior
to that of the Falcon.
The birds which belong to the
Kire genus (M/vus) are charac-
terised as follows :—Beak curved
from the base, and not toothed ;
tarsi short, slender, and feathered
on the upper part; wings very
long; tail long, and more or less
forked ; colour generally brown.
Several species are known, but
their characteristics are identical.
The Kite (Milvus regalis), Fig.
297, thus named on account of
affording amusement for princes,
who hunted it with the Falcon,
and even the Sparrow-hawk,
measures two feet in height, the spread of its wings being not less
than five feet. Of all the Falcon tribe this bird is gifted with the
most graceful, rapid, and sustained powers of flight. It is so
incessantly on the wing, that it appears scarcely to require rest.
Love for soaring through space must be the cause of this activity,
as it never pursues its prey, but descends upon it from the pro-
digious heights at which it may be hovering with incredible
velocity, and seizing it in its claws, bears it to some adjacent
tree to be devoured. Its food consists of leverets, moles, rats,
field-mice, reptiles, and fish—the latter it catches on the surface
of the water. It builds its nest on lofty trees, rarely on rocks.
It is a constant resident in some parts of France, and is met
with in nearly all countries of Europe.
Fig. 297.—The Kite (Milvus regalis).
KITES. 625
The Black Kite (Milvus niger) is very common in Russia, and
has a particular penchant for fish. It is not, however, above assist-
ing Vultures in devouring carrion, and may be seen hovering
over the city of Moscow to pick up the fragments which are
thrown into the streets. In autumn these Kites assemble in flocks,
and, crossing the Black Sea, proceed to winter in Egypt, where
they are so tame that they perch on the windows of the houses.
In the spring they return to Europe.
The Parasite Kite (i/vus egyptius) is thus named by Levail-
lant because his whole system of life seems to be at the expense of
man, either by devastating his poultry-yards or robbing with ex-
traordinary impudence travellers encamping in the open air. This
celebrated naturalist relates that whenever he made a halt, some
of these birds came and perched on his waggons for the purpose
of stealing.
“At Cairo,” says Dr. Petit, in the account of his travels in
Abyssinia, ‘‘I one day saw a Kite snatch suddenly from the hands
of an Arab woman a piece of bread and cheese, at the very moment
she was raising it to her mouth. At Chizé, in Abyssinia, another
Kite carried away, from under the very nose of my dog, which
was guarding it, a portion of a sheep just killed. The same thing
took place several times in view of my servants.”
The same authority adds that these birds sometimes assemble in
innumerable flocks; for he has seen thousands hovering over an
Egyptian village.
The American Kite (dctinia mississipiensis) 1s remarkable for
its deeply-forked tail, which it uses as a rudder to guide it in fly-
- ing, when it describes the most elegant curves; hence the name
Forked-tail Pilot, which is sometimes given it. | Essentially
migratory, they may be seen in spring and autumn proceeding
North or South. They are protected by law; for, aided by the
Buzzards, they are of great service in clearing away garbage.
They have no fear of water, and pounce upon fish when oppor-
tunity offers. In the harbours of the Southern States they
may frequently be seen perched on carcasses floating in the
tide-way.
The bill and claws of the Kite are weak in comparison with its
size; it therefore wisely avoids coming in collision with birds of
Ss
626 RAPTORES, OR BIRDS OF PREY.
prey better armed than itself. This has been sufficient to give
it the character of cowardice.
Kites are easily tamed, and if taken young they will soon
become familiar.
Buzzarvs (Buteo) have long wings, a large head, and a rather
squat figure; the tarsi are short, or of medium size; and the
beak curved from the base; in fact, their appearance is heavy
and ungraceful. They do not chase their prey when it is on the
wing, but secrete themselves on a tree or other elevation, where
they wait until a victim passes within reach. When thus occu-
pied, they will remain for several hours in the most complete
immobility, presenting an air of drowsiness which has become
proverbial. This stupid look is owimg to their nonchalant and
apathetic attitude, and also to the weakness of their eyes, which
are affected by the glare of strong light.
They generally build their nests on the loftiest trees, occa-
sionally in thickets of brushwood growing among rocks. When
frost occurs they approach settlements and make forays upon
poultry. If pressed by hunger, they become excessively bold.
Their general food consists of small birds, rodents, serpents, in-
sects, and sometimes corn. They are easily tamed. M. Degland
mentions one which lived in perfect harmony with a sporting
dog, and even went so far as to share its food. Buffon also
speaks of another which was so attached to its master that it
could not be happy unless in his company; it was present
at all his meals, when it would caress him with its head
and bill; and, although this bird always enjoyed the most com-
plete liberty, every evening it returned to roost on the window-
sill. One day when its master was riding on horseback, it
followed him for more than two leagues, hovering over him in
the air.
Mr. Yarrell relates of these birds, which are much attached
to their progeny, that in the town of Uxbridge a Buzzard kept
in a domestic state having manifested a desire for building,
the means were furnished, and two Hen’s eggs placed under
her. The young chickens were hatched and reared as if they |
had been her own. On another occasion, in order to save
the trouble of sitting, some chickens just hatching were placed
HARRIERS. 627
in her nest; these she killed, evidently feeling that she was not
allied to them by any maternal tie.
The principal species are the Common Buzzard (Buteo vulgaris),
Fig. 298, which is found all over Europe—it was until lately
very common in England; the Honey Buzzard (Pernis apwworus),
a native of Eastern Europe—this bird is partial to bees, wasps,
and their Jarvee, of which its food principally consists—it will also
eat grain, and, in a domestic state, fruit; and the Rough-legged
Buzzard (Archibuteo lagopus), so called on account of the feathers
which cover its tarsi down to the toes: it is a native of Europe,
Fig. 298.—Common Buzzards (Buteo vulgaris).
North Africa, Asia, and America. Ptarmigans are their principal
food, and cold climates their favourite habitat.
The birds which belong to the Harrier genus are characterised
by long and slender tarsi, covered with feathers on the upper
portion only, and also by a sort of collar formed of closely-planted
feathers, which surrounds the neck and extends on each side
to the ears. Marshy plains, and woods situated in the vicinity
of rivers, are their most frequent resorts. They build their nests
on the ground, or close to it, in the brushwood, and in this respect
differ from most of the Falcon family. When searching for their
ss2
628 RAPTORES, OR BIRDS OF PREY.
prey they skim over the ground, and always seize it suddenly,
as if by surprise: if the unfortunate is lucky enough to avoid the
Harrier’s onset it is safe from pursuit. In Europe the best-known
species of this family are the Hen Harrier (Circus cyaneus) and
the Moor Harrier (Circus @ruginosus), Fig. 299.
The former bird is about seventeen inches high; it inhabits. all
the countries of Europe, and feeds on serpents, rodents, and frogs.
Fig. 299.—Moor Harrier (Circus @ruginosus).
When it succeeds in making its way into pigeon-houses or poultry-
yards it commits great havoc.
‘ The Moor Harrier feeds principally on game, to which it is
extremely destructive. Game preservers consequently are their
bitterest enemies. Their flight is not swift except when pouncing
on their prey, when it is possessed of great certainty and velocity.
The other species we will mention are the Frog-eating Harrier
(Circus ranivorus), which is a native of South Africa, where
it feeds principally on frogs and fish; the Pale-chested Harrier
and Jardine’s Harrier (C. Swainsonit and C. Jardinii); and
the Ash-coloured Harrier (C. cinerescens), which is met with in
the extreme south of America. The latter has great powers of
CARACARAS. 629
flight, and is always in motion, never halting except to seize its
prey ; it is very wild, and can only be approached when feeding.
The Caracaras (Polyborus, Vieillot) are a race of birds which
form a link between the Falcon and the Vulture families. They
have, like the latter, the projecting crop, goggle eyes, head partly
bare of feathers, toes long, especially the middle one, and the
claws but slightly crooked. They show a decided taste for putrid
carrion. They do not, however, feed exclusively on it, for when
opportunity offers they will capture mammals, young birds, rep-
tiles, mollusks, grasshoppers, and even worms. ‘These birds are
essentially pedestrians ; the slight curvation of their claws renders
this easy, and it is not an unfrequent thing to see them walk at
a slow pace for considerable distances.
Their name is derived from the ery which they utter. They are
peculiar to South America, in which they are found in every
latitude, and at all altitudes. ‘They present, however, differences
according to the region which they inhabit. Each species fixes
itself in a zone, which becomes its special place of habitation.
Thus the Brazilian Caracara (Fig. 300) is met with everywhere,
from the coldest districts to the hottest countries, but only ata
slight altitude, and in company with the Chimango Caracara
(Milvago chimango), whilst the summits of the Andes are inhabited
by the Long-winged Caracara (IZ. megalopterus) ; and the Chima-
chima Caracara (MM. chimachima) inhabits the burning plains
between the tropics.
The Caracaras, especially the common species and the Chimango,
are distinguished from the other Falconides by an excessive amount
of sociability : everywhere they seek out the vicinity of man. But
we should be labouring under a mistake if we supposed that affec-
tion had any share in this alliance; egotism and self-interest are
the motives which impel them to act thus. It is to feed at his
expense—to devour the fragments of his meals, kill his Domestic
Fowls, or take possession of the pieces of meat which are hung in
the sun to dry. This bird, however, is useful, for it most efficiently
performs the duties of scavengers.
The Caracara will craftily follow the sportsman, and steal away
game that is not quickly bagged. It also accompanies travellers
across the vast pampas to prey on the carcasses of the worn-out
630 RAPTORES, OR BIRDS OF PREY.
beasts of burden. It will even attack horses and mules which
are galled by the pack-saddle, fastening greedily on their wounds,
and would actually devour them alive if the quadrupeds had not
the sagacity to dislodge them by rolling on the ground. It will
also take up its abode near flocks of sheep, and if it can evade
pea
SSS, Ves :
Fig.
30u.—TLhe Braziliaa Caracuras (Potyborus brasiliensis).
the watchfulness of the shepherd, will destroy the newly-born
lamb.
Having confidence in its own strength, the Caracara frequently
pursues other birds, especially Vultures and Gulls, which it forces
to disgorge their food. It will even engage in sanguinary con-
flicts with its own species for the possession of prey. Contrary
to the habit of most birds in a state of freedom, it remains con-
stantly paired, without, however, having more than one or two
broods a year. The Caracara lays two eggs; the nest is generally
placed on the ground among brushwood.
Besides the four species we have mentioned there is also
the Caracara funebris, thus named on account of its plumage,
VULTURES. 631
which is almost entirely of a black hue. This bird is still more
of a plunderer than the preceding species, and is a native of the
shores of Tierra del Fuego, the Falkland Isles, Van Diemen’s
Land, New Zealand, &e.
VULTURES.
The Vultures (Vulturide) form a well-marked genus, which
is readily distinguished from the Falcons by the following cha-
racteristics :—A beak almost entirely straight, and curved only
at its extremity ; the head and neck generally devoid of feathers ;
small and staring eyes; head small; tarsi generally bare; toes
short and slightly curved; weak claws; and wings very long.
They are also distinguished from holding themselves in a hori-
zontal position, whether walking or at rest; whereas the Falcons
stand erect, and present a noble bearing. Vultures probably
adopt their attitude on account of the length of their wings,
which even in a stooping position sweep the ground, and would
drag much more but for this precaution. Lastly, they are
specially characterised by their partiality for putrefied flesh, which
forms their almost exclusive nutriment, as it is only occasionally
they attack living prey.
When a Vulture has glutted itself, its crop, swelled by the food
which it has devoured, forms a voluminous projection in front of
the neck; a fetid humour oozes from its nostrils, and it remains
sunk in a state of stupid torpor until the food is digested.
They fly heavily, but mount aloft to great altitudes. Their
powers of vision are extraordinary. Should a carcass be left on
the plain, they immediately see it and drop down, turning over
and over in their hurry to partake of the anticipated banquet.
It has been supposed by some that their olfactory organs are so
acute as to smell, at great distances, the emanations which escape
from bodies in a state of decomposition, and thus to account for
their prompt arrival. Latterly, however, certain observers have
opposed this theory: according to their ideas the Vulture tribe
owe this wonderful facility to their sight, not to scent. This
reason, however, has not as yet been rendered altogether clear.
We therefore think it prudent to abstain from giving an absolute
judgment on the point, and will content ourselves by admitting
6352 RAPTORES, OR BIRDS OF PREY.
that both sight and smell concur in producing the result: these
two senses may either exercise an equal power, or one of them
may predominate over the other.
The Vulture family exhale a tainted odour, which is owing to
the peculiar nature of their nutriment ; it is, therefore, impossible
for their flesh to be in any way utilised as food. This family
comprises four principal genera: the Griffons (Gypaétos, Storr),
the Sarcorampht (Duméril), the Cathartes (Cuv.; Gallinazos,
Vieill.), and the Common Vultures (Percnopterus, Cuv.; Neophron,
Sav.).
The GrirFons, or Vulture Eagles (Vultur fulous, Bennett), form,
as their name indicates, an intermediate genus between the Eagles
and the Vultures. Although they have small and gogele eves,
not very strong talons, and a projecting crop during the diges-
tion of their meals, they are allied to the Eagles in virtue of
their feathered tarsi, as well as by their head and neck; they also
show a preference for living prey, which they attack with readi-
ness. We will complete their portrait by stating that they have
a very strong beak, enlarged towards the point.
The Bearded Griffon (Gypaétus barbatus, Gould) is the cele-
brated Lammergeyer, described by Buffon under the name of the
Golden Vulture. It owes its name to a tuft of stiff hair which
is under the beak: the loftiest mountains of Hurope, Asia, and
Africa are its habitat. Its aerie, which is of considerable dimen-
sions, it builds amongst the most inaccessible rocks. On the old
continent it is the largest of all the birds of prey, and sometimes
reaches five feet in length. Its spread of wing generally mea-
sures nine or ten feet. Sometimes these limits are exceeded, for
one was killed during the French expedition to Egypt, in the
presence of Monge and Bertholet, which measured upwards of
fourteen feet.
The Griffon is endowed with wonderful strength of body and
powers of flight. It is not, therefore, surprising that it attacks
animals of considerable size, such as calves, lambs, deer, cha-
mois, &c., and that it succeeds in overpowering them. Like the
Eagle, it is reported to perpetrate the following vwse, one almost
telling of reasoning powers. Waiting until its victim stands
isolated on the edge of a precipice, it flies suddenly against the
GRIFFONS. 633
poor creature, beats it with its wings, and forces it to fall over
into the abyss below, where the Griffon descends to feed on the
mangled carcass.
It has been asserted that it sometimes ventures to employ this
manceuvre against the chamois-hunter, to make him lose his equi-
librium in difficult passes. But in spite of all the wonderful
stories told, it cannot be admitted that it is capable of carrying
off lambs or children, for the weakness of its claws will not
support a prey of weight; it is therefore obliged to rend its
victims in pieces, and devour them where killed.
Although it cannot carry off children, it is nevertheless true that
it sometimes attacks them, as the two following facts will prove.
In 1819 two children were devoured by Griffons on the environs
of Saxe-Gotha, which induced the Government to set a price on
the heads of these birds. M. Crespon, in his “Ornithologie du
Gard,” relates the second facet :—
“For many years,” says he, “I was in possession of a living
Griffon which exhibited no very great courage towards some other
large birds of prey which were kept with it, but it was different as
regarded children, upon whom it attempted to spring, spreading
out its wings as if it wished to strike them. Latterly, I let
this bird run about free in my garden. Watching for a moment
when no one saw it, it darted upon one of my nieces, two years
and a half old, and, having seized her by the top of her shoulders,
threw her down to the ground. Fortunately her cries warned
us of the danger she was in, and I hastened to her rescue, and
found that the child had suffered no other injury but fright and
the tearing of her dress.”
This bird shows great courage in defence of its offspring.
Joseph Scherrer, a chamois-hunter, having first killed the male
parent, climbed to an aerie to obtain the young, and had to
engage in such a furious encounter with the female that it was
with immense difficulty he saved himself by shooting the bird,
from which he had received some severe wounds.
They live in pairs, and a number together are rarely seen.
This is common to all animals which nature has endowed with a
ereat amount of physical strength, for it is the weak only which
practise the maxim, ‘“ Union is strength.”
634 RAPTORES, OR BIRDS OF PREY.
These birds were once far more plentiful in Europe than
now. The reason of this is the great havoc which was made among
them in the last century. Even at the present day pursuit of
them is encouraged by the grant of a reward for each indi-
vidual killed. The number of eggs they lay being limited (two),
there is but little cause for surprise that the species is very
sensibly diminishing.
In the birds which belong to the Sarcoramphus family the base
of the bill is furnished with a ring of long feathers, and the bill
itself is surmounted with a thick and scalloped fleshy crest; from
this peculiarity of organisation they derive their name, the signifi-
cation of Sarcoramphus being “ fleshy-billed.”
This genus comprises but two species, the Condor (Sarco-
ramphus gryphus, Duméril) and the King Vulture (Sarcoramphus
pape).
The Connor (from the word Cuntur,in the Peruvian language),
Fig. 301, commonly called the Great Vulture of the Andes, is the
most remarkable species of the Vulture family, both for its size and
strength, and also for the vast extent of the stretch of its wings.
Its plumage is of a dark blue, approaching to black; its collar,
which occupies only the back and sides of the neck, is formed of
a dazzling white down. Its crest, bevelled off at the edge, is
cartilaginous in its nature, and of a bluish colour, and extends down
the side of the neck in two fleshy strings. Lastly, the male
has two fleshy appendages under the lower mandible, level with
the collar. The wings are as long as the tail, their whole develop-
ment being ten or twelve feet. The length of the bird from the
point of the bill to the tip of the tail is on an average about four
feet.
he chief habitat of the Condor is the western slope of the chain
of the Andes, in Bolivia, Peru, and Chili; it frequents: all the
different altitudes, from the burning sands of the sea-coast to the
ice-bound solitudes of perpetual snow. Humboldt and Bonpland,
when exploring the Andes, repeatedly noticed Condors close round
them when at a height of 15,700 feet above the level of the sea.
D’Orbigny saw them as high up as the summit of Ilimani, a
height of 24,600 feet ; and he likewise met with them on the coasts
of Peru and Patagonia, seeking their food among the various
CONDORS. 635
débris which the waves had thrown upon the shore, proving that
they can support variations of temperature which man would
be unable to bear; in fact, at a height of 19,000 feet the air
becomes so rarefied, and the cold so intense, that no human being
ANN
i
Fig. 301.—Condor (Vultur gryphus, Liun.).
would be able to exist for any length of time subject to their
influence.
The Condor passes the night at great elevations, perched on th
cleft of a rock. As soon as the rising sun gilds the peaks of the
mountains it raises its neck, hitherto buried between its shoulders,
and shaking its wide wings, launches into space. The impetus
of its own weight at first carries it downwards, but soon recover-
636 RAPTORES, OR BIRDS OF PREY.
ing itself, it traverses the aérial space with majestic ease and
grandeur. Almost imperceptible movements of the wings are
sufficient to carry it in every direction; at one moment it is
skimming over the surface of the ground, now it is up in the
clouds, three thousand feet above. The Condor’s power of vision
is so great that it commands a view of the plain beneath from
the greatest heights, and although it is no longer visible to
the denizens of earth, their slightest movements cannot escape its
piercing sight. When it catches view of prey, it partly folds
its wings and descends upon it with the rapidity of hghtning.
Although thus endowed with such powerful means of action, the
Condor never attacks living animals unless they are helpless from
youth, or enfeebled by disease. The stories of some travellers con-
cerning the boldness of this bird are not founded on fact. It
is inaccurate to state that the Condor will attack a man, as a
child of ten years old, armed with a stick, has been known to put
it to flight. It has been asserted that this bird will carry off
lambs, young llamas, and even children, but this statement will
not hold good when subjected to examination ; for the Condor,
like all the Vulture tribe, has short toes and non-retractile claws;
it is, therefore, radically impossible for it to clutch and carry prey
of any considerable weight.
It is, however, a fact beyond all question that the Condor is in
the habit of prowling round flocks of sheep and cows; and, like
the Caracara, will fall upon and devour newly-born animals. It
accompanies the caravans which cross the plaims of South America,
and when an unfortunate pack animal, worn out with fatigue
and privation, sinks down exhausted, totally unable to proceed on
the journey, it becomes the prey of these winged banditti, which
often commence their meal before life has left the body. M. de
Castelnau, who has observed the Condor in the Andes, writes
with regard to this subject :—
“Travellers who have sunk down upon the ground when utterly
worn out with fatigue and suffermg have been known to be
attacked, tormented, and finally torn to pieces by these ferocious
birds, which pluck strips of flesh off their victims, having first
disabled them with blows of the wing. The unfortunates may
resist for a few instants, but ere long a few blood-stained frag-
CATHARTES. 637
ments are all that remain to announce to the passer-by the
horrible death of those who preceded him on these dangerous
paths.”
The Condor possesses extraordinary tenacity of life. Hum-
boldt relates that he found it impossible to strangle one, and that
he was compelled to shoot it to put an end to its existence.
When the Condor is gorged with food it becomes very heavy,
and can scarcely fly. The Indians, who are well aware of this
peculiarity, take advantage of it to destroy the robber thus :—
Carrion is placed in full view to entice the Condors. When the
birds have thoroughly surfeited themselves they are hunted on
horseback and entangled with lassoes, to be finally beaten to
death with clubs.
Condors do not assemble in flocks except when devouring some
animal of great size. The hen bird lays a couple of eggs in
some crevice on the mountains or cliffs: nest-building they
entirely disregard. The rearing of the young requires several
months; the parent birds feed them by disgorging into their bills
the food which they have stored in their crops. All the Vulture
tribe do the same.
The Condor is tamed with difficulty; captivity seems only to
increase its savage nature. Humboldt kept one at Quito for
eight days, and he states that to approach it was always dan-
gerous.
The Kine Vettrure (Sarcoramphus papa), Fig. 302, is distin-
guished from the Condor by its collar, or ruff, which is of a slate
colour, and surrounds the neck ; also by its crest, of an orange hue,
situated on the top of the bill. Instead of confining itself to arid
and barren localities, it frequents plains and wooded hills, and
nests in the hollows of old trees. Its habits are, however, very
much the same as those of the Condor. It has been named the
King of the Vultures because the other Vultures dread it, as it
appropriates their prey. It is found in Mexico, Guiana, Peru,
Brazil, and Paraguay, and occasionally in Florida, doubtless its
most northern habitat. In this species the female has a crest
as well as the male.
The genus Cathartes of Llliger has a long and elongated
bill; the head and neck bare; the nostrils oblong and pierced
638 RAPTORES, OR BIRDS OF PREY.
‘through; the wings obtuse, and reaching a little beyond the tail.
There are three species: the Urubu (Vultur atratus) and the
Turkey Buzzard (Vultur aura, Linn.), which are natives of
Fig. 302.—King Vultures (Sarcoramphus papa, Yarrell).
America, and the Percnopterus (Vulture of Latham, Pharaoh’s
Hen of Bruce), peculiar to the Old World.
The Urusvu (Vultur atratus), Fig. 303, is the size of a small
Turkey. Its plumage, of a brilliant black, gives it a somewhat
dismal look, which is amply justified by its disgusting habits.
This bird is of a sociable nature, and is always met with in nume-
rous flocks. Like all birds which subsist on decaying matters, it
is the constant guest of man, and accompanies him in all his
wanderings through its habitat. In nearly all the large towns
of South America it has acquired rights of citizenship, where it
THE URUBU. 639
may be seen almost in a domestic state, and multiplying under
the protection of the laws. In Peru the inhabitants are pro-
hibited from killing a Urubu under penalty of ten pounds. The
same prohibition exists in Jamaica.
This will easily be understood when it is explained that in
these countries the Urubus perform the whole duty of cleansing
the public streets from all kinds of filth and garbage, which,
Fig. 303.—Urubus (Vultur atratus, Wils.).
under the influence of an elevated temperature, would certainly
infect the air, and engender continual epidemics. These birds,
officiating as public scavengers, preserve the general health, and
are therefore placed under the protection of the laws in spite of
their unpleasant aspect and their unclean odour.
“The familiarity and tameness of the Urubus,” says Alcide
D’Orbigny, “are extreme. At the time of the distributions of meat
made to the Indians in the province of Mojos I have known them
snatch away the pieces as soon as the men had received them. At
- 640 RAPTORES, OR BIRDS OF PREY.
one of these periodical distributions at Concepcion de Mojos, an
Indian told me beforehand that I should see the most impudent
bird possible, which was well known by the inhabitants by having
lost a foot. It was not long, in fact, before we saw it come up,
and it certainly showed all the qualities that had been attributed
to it. I was told,” says he, ‘that it was perfectly aware of the
time of the distribution, which took place every fifteen days in
each mission. And true enough, for happening to be present the
following week at a similar performance at the mission of Mag-
dalena, distant twenty leagues from Concepcion, I heard the
Indians cry out, and soon recognised the lame Urubu just arrived.
The curés of the two missions informed me that this bird never
failed to be present on the fixed days at both places. This fact
would seem to indicate a very high degree of instinct in the
Urubu, combined with memory.”
According as it inhabits country or town, the Urubu passes the
night on branches of trees or roofs of houses. As soon as it
is light in the morning it proceeds to search for food; and,
describing wide circles in the air, explores the neighbourhood. If
it perceives a carcass, it pitches on it, and, from the power with
which its beak is furnished, soon effects an opening through the
hide into the intestines. But its movements have been watched
by others, and soon thousands arrive to take part in the putrid
banquet. Contests and fights, wrangling and struggling, in which
the strongest is always triumphant, then arise. In an incredibly
short time the carcass is devoured, and nothing remains but a
skeleton, the bones of which are cleaned as thoroughly as if
done by an anatomist. The Urubus afterwards perch in the
neighbourhood, and with their necks drawn back between their
shoulders, and their wings extended, rapidly digest their food.
The Urubus, like most of the Vulture family, spread their wings out
for hours, although in a state of repose. The cause of this habit
is that the attitude permits them to exhale from their bodies a
kind of greasy perspiration.
In spite of the services which this bird renders to man, it {is
still regarded. with the greatest repugnance. Nevertheless,
D’Orbigny states that he has seen some completely tamed, and
that they appeared susceptible of affection. This naturalist also
THE COMMON VULTURE. 641
relates that a creole had one of these birds, which he had reared,
and that it accompanied its master wherever he went. At one
time, its master having fallen ill, the bird became very sad; but
finding one day that the window of the sick-room was left open,
it flew in, and came close to the invalid, manifesting by its caresses
the joy it felt at seeing him again.
The Turkry Buzzarp (Vultur aura) is a native of the same
hemisphere as the preceding species, but is more addicted to
temperate climates: it is met with as far north as the shores of
the great chain of lakes. It is the same size as the Urubu, and
its habits of life are nearly identical. Like the Urubu, too, ‘it is
protected by the laws. In Peru, for instance, any one who kills
an Aura is punished by a fine of fifty piastres; in Cuba, the
culprit is excommunicated. They are capable of standing a great
amount of cold: when snow covers the ground in the State of
Illinois they may be seen congregated in great numbers wherever
carrion is to be found.
The Common Vuiture (Neophron percnopterus, Yarrell) is in
the Old World that which the Urubu and the Turkey Buzzard
are in the New. It is very common in Greece and Turkey, and
especially in Egypt and Arabia. In Constantinople and other
Eastern cities it performs the duty of removing all the putrid
matter which the carelessness and apathy of the inhabitants allow
to remain in the streets. A great amount of respect is conse-
quently paid to these birds ; and although the law inflicts no penalty
for killmg them, they nevertheless enjoy the most perfect security
in the midst of the Mussulman population.
These birds were well known to the ancients, who gave them
the name of Percnopterus on account of their black wings. The
Egyptians classed them among sacred birds, and often repre-
sented them on their monuments as religious symbols. Flocks
of them are in the habit of following caravans across the desert,
always finding something to pick up; and, as they invariably
‘accompany the pilgrims in their journey to Mecca every year,
some devout Mussulmen have bequeathed money sufficient to
support a certain number of the birds which manifest such fidelity
to the faith of Islam.
They are about the size of a Fowl; hence they obtain the name
ee
642 RAPTORES, OR BIRDS OF PREY.
of Pharaoh’s Chickens, by which they are designated in Egyptian.
Although they do not manifest much inclination for living prey,
they will sometimes attack small mammals which are incapable
of defence or flight. The Crow is an adversary whose superiority
they never fail to acknowledge, and rarely dare to resist.
The Pondicherry Vulture (Vultur ponticerianus), the Indian
Vulture (Vudtur indicus), and Kolbe’s Vulture (Vultur Kolbi),
are also deserving of notice; the two former are found prin-
cipally in Hindostan, the latter in different parts of Africa as well
as Jaya.
The Vultures properly so called (Vultwr, Cuv.) have the head
and neck bare, the latter being surrounded at its base by a ruff
or collar of feathers; the nostrils round or oval; the tarsi bare
or feathered on the upper portion; the middle toe very long;
the wings pointed, and almost hanging down to the ground.
Their faculty of flight, although powerful, is slow and heavy ;
they take wing with difficulty, and this fact has procured for them
their name of Vu/tur (volatus tardus, slow flight). Preferring
putrid meat, they feed but little on flesh in a fresh state, although
they do not absolutely refuse it; they consequently seldom attack
living animals.
Buffon has branded the Vulture with a stigma of infamy which
will always cast an odium on its name. “ Vultures,” says he,
‘are actuated by nothing but a degraded instinct of gluttony and
greediness. They will never contend with the living if they can
glut their appetites on the dead. The Eagle attacks its enemies
or its victims face to face; it pursues them, fights them, and
seizes them by its own individual prowess. Vultures, on the
contrary, however slight may be the resistance which they antici-
pate, combine in flocks. hke cowardly assassins, and are rather
thieves than warriors—birds of carnage rather than birds of prey ;
for these are the only birds which are so madly devoted to carrion
that they pick the very bones of a decaying carcass. Corruption
and infection seem to attract instead of repelling them.” Further
on, too, he adds, ‘‘ In comparing birds with quadrupeds, the Vul-
ture seems to combine the strength and cruelty of the tiger with
the cowardice and gluttony of the jackal.”
The great naturalist has, however, somewhat calumniated the
VULTURES. 643
Vulture. In depicting it in such very dark colours, his desire
seems to be to contrast it with the Eagle, which he had repre-
sented as the highest type of courage and nobility ; and he has
evidently yielded to the temptation to make the contrast between
the two birds as striking as possible. The idea of this antithesis
must, in fact, have led Buffon’s mind astray, as he was often more
fond of figure than fact. The Vulture seeks after carcasses because
it really prefers them to living prey; and its not attacking
living animals, like the rest of the family, is caused by the fact
\ A \
Fig. 304.—The Yellow Vulture (Vudtur fulvus).
that it is neither armed nor organised for such an attack. It
obeys the irresistible and ordained instincts of its nature, and in
this we have no right to discover any feeling of cowardice. In
the present day it is really time to have done with all these time-
worn rhetorical fancies of the old naturalists, which are in con-
tinual and complete variance with the results of science and
observation.
644 RAPTORES, OR BIRDS OF PREY.
The Vulture genus comprises several species, all of which belong
to the Old World. .
The Yellow Vulture (Fig. 304), the size of which is about
equal to that of the Goose, is a native more especially of the
South and South-east of Europe. It is common in the Pyrenees,
Alps, Sardinia, Greece, Hungary, Italy, and Spain; it is rarely
seen in France. It makes its nest in the crevice of some inac-
cessible rock. When pressed by hunger it shows no fear in
attacking living animals ; it is thus an object of dread among the
shepherds along the sea-coast of the Mediterranean. It is easily
tamed when caught young. Of this fact M. Nordmann gives
us an instance :—
“A lady residing at Taganrog,” says he, “ was in possession of
a Yellow Vulture which was in the habit every morning of leaving
its home and resorting to the fresh-meat market, where the bird
was well known and usually fed. If it so happened that it was
refused its daily pittance, it was always well able to get hold of it
by some cunning or other; and then, after the larceny was com-
mitted, the bird would take itself off to the roof of some neigh-
bouring house, so as to consume its plunder in peace, and safe from
any attack. This bird would often cross the Sea of Azoff, and
visit the city of the same name, situated opposite Taganrog; and,
after having spent the day there, would come back at night to the
house of its mistress.”
There is a variety of the above bird rather larger than the one
just noticed. It is common in the Alps, Pyrenees, the Tyrol, the
Greek Archipelago, and also in the South of Spain, in Egypt,
and a great part of Africa. In autumn it leaves the temperate
regions to winter in some warmer clime. M. Degland and M.
Bouteille mention various instances of intelligence and courage
shown by it, for it has been known to repel dogs. Another bird
of the same kind, having flown away from its master’s house,
grievously wounded two men who endeavoured to catch it. The
shepherds fear it even more than the preceding.
The Sociable Vulture (Fig. 305) is a native of the lofty moun-
tain regions of Africa. It has a fleshy crest, which, taking its
rise close to each ear, extends down the neck; from this it
derives its Latin specific name. Levaillant, who often observed
THE SECRETARY BIRD. 645
it in Africa, was several times a witness of its voracity. One
day he had killed a couple of buffaloes, and, after having had
them cut up, caused the quarters
of meat to be hung to dry in the
sun ; they were soon assailed by a
flock of these Vultures, which
carried away the pieces of meat in
spite of the numerous gunshots
with which they were greeted. On
another occasion, having killed
three zebras at some distance from
his camp, he went to find a waggon
to carry them away ; on his return
he found nothing but the bones
remaining, round which hundreds
of Vultures were hovering.
The Oricou is of somewhat con-
siderable size; it is about four feet
and three-quarters in length, and
the spread of its wings measures
as much as three yards and a half. It builds its nest among
Fig. 305—SociableVulture ( }udtus auricularis)
inaccessible steep rocks.
Lastly, the Chinese Vulture ( Vultur leuconotus), which is about
the size of a Turkey, is of a dirty brownish black on the body, and
white about the shoulders; it is very common in the southern
portions of the Celestial Empire.
THE SERPENT-EATERS (Gypogeranus, Llliger).
This family comprehends but one single species, the Secretary
Bird, which in its organisation seems allied to the Waders.
The Secretary Birp (Gypogeranus serpentarius), Fig. 306,
has a widely-opening bill, very crooked and very powerful; a pro-
jecting superciliary arch; feathered legs; tarsi very long, and
covered, as well as the toes, with largeand hard scales. The tail
is tapering, and the two middle feathers are longer than the others.
The wings, which are short and provided with bony protuberances,
form most destructive weapons, which the bird uses with much
646 RAPTORES, OR BIRDS OF PREY.
skill to disable the serpents, of which its food principally consists.
It has on its head a tuft of long feathers, which can be raised
at will. This has been the origin of its name, in allusion to the
custom that clerks had of placing their pen behind their ear in the
days when goose-quills were used for writing. Its toes are short,
and its claws blunt and well adapted for walking. It con-
Fig. 306.—Secretary Bird (Gypogeranus serpentarvus),
sequently runs very rapidly ; hence it sometimes obtains the name
of Messenger Bird. .
A contest between a Secretary Bird and a Serpent is a most
curious sight. The reptile, when attacked suddenly, stops and
rears itself up, swelling its neck and showing anger by shrill
hissings.
“ At this instant,” says Levaillant, ‘the bird of prey, spreading
oo
THE SECRETARY BIRD. 647
one of his wings, holds it in front of him, and covers both his legs
as well as the lower part of his body with it as if with a buckler.
The reptile makes a spring at his enemy; the bird makes a bound,
and spurning the Serpent with his wing, retreats again, jumping
about in every direction in a mode which to a spectator appears
highly grotesque. He soon returns to the combat, ever presenting
to the venomous tooth of his adversary nothing but the end of his
well-protected wing ; and whilst the latter is fruitlessly expending
its poison by biting the callous feathers, the bird is inflicting
vigorous blows with his other wing. At last the reptile, stunned
and wavering, rolls at full length in the dust; the bird then
cleverly catches hold of it and throws it several times up into the
air, until the victim becoming exhausted and powerless, the bird
crushes its skull with his sharp-pointed bill. The Serpent is then
swallowed whole by its conqueror, unless it is too big, in which
case it is first torn in pieces.”
The Secretary Bird does not feed exclusively on serpents; it
also consumes lizards, tortoises, and even insects; its voracity is
extreme, and it possesses a power of digestion which is really sur-
prising. Levaillant killed one the stomach of which contained
twenty-one small tortoises, still whole; eleven lizards, eight or
nine inches long; three serpents of a length varying from two to
two and a half feet; a perfect heap of grasshoppers and other
insects; and, lastly, a great pellet of various remains, which it
had not been able to assimilate, and which would have ultimately
been vomited up.
These birds are natives of the arid plains of South Africa.
They pair about the month of July, the male birds having first
engaged in sanguinary conflicts for the choice of their mates.
Their nest, which is flat, and lined on the inside with down and
feathers, is constructed in the thickest bushes, or on the loftiest
trees, in which two or three eggs, of a white hue spotted with
red, are laid. The young ones are very late in quitting the
parental home; for they do not leave it till they have acquired
full development. Nearly four months elapse before they are able
to stand firmly and run about with complete freedom.
The Secretary Bird is much appreciated at the Cape of Good
Hope, on account of the services it renders in destroying
648 RAPTORES, OR BIRDS OF PREY.
venomous reptiles. As it is easily tamed if captured when young,
the colonists have made a domestic bird of it, and use it to protect
their poultry against the incursions of serpents and rats. With .
the inhabitants of the poultry-yard it is always on good terms,
even to quelling the quarrels which spring up among the Gall-
naceze around it. But it must be related that it is necessary to
see that it is sufficiently fed, for otherwise it will not hesitate to
help itself occasionally to a chicken.
In 1832 the Secretary Bird was introduced into the French
West Indies, particularly Guadaloupe and Martinique, on purpose
to make war upon the Trigonocephalus, or Rattlesnake, a dan-
gerous reptile swarming in those countries, which we mentioned in a
previous portion of this work. The introduction of the Secretary
Bird into the Antilles proved to be a real benefit. In order to be
convinced of this it is only necessary to read the interesting work
published a few years ago on this question by M. Rufz de Lavison,
who was for a long time an inhabitant of the French West Indies
before he became director of the Jardin Zoologique d’ Acclimatation,
in Paris.
THE END.
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