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Htate College of Agriculture

At Cornell University
Ithaca, M2. D.

 

 

 

 

Library
Cornell university Livrary

esearches in zoology, illustrative of t
RESEARCHES IN ZOOLOGY.
RESEARCHES IN ZOOLOGY,

ILLUSTRATIVE OF

THE STRUCTURE, HABITS, AND ECONOMY

OF

ANIMALS.

ae

JOHN BLACKWALL, F.LS.
SECOND EDITION.

LONDON:
JOHN VAN VOORST, PATERNOSTER ROW.

MDCCCLXXIII.
f
PRINTED BY TAYLOR AND FRANCIS,
RED LION COURT, FLEET STREET.
PREFACE

—.

As frequent inquiries have been recently made for
my ‘ Researches in Zoology,’ which were published
collectively in the year 1834, and have long been
out of print, I have been induced to offer to the
public a second edition of the work, which will be
found to comprise such additions and emendations
as subsequent investigations have enabled me to
effect. |

The descriptions of British Spiders given in the
first edition of the ‘ Researches’ are here omitted,
as they are all included in a ‘ History of the Spiders
of Great Britain and Ireland’ issued by the Ray
Society, to which work I refer those zoologists
who take an interest in that department of our native

Fauna.

1 may remark that the materials of which the
present volume. is composed have been collected, for
vi PREFACE.

the most part, during intervals of relaxation from
more important avocations ; and it is hoped that they
may be found to contain information on various
subjects interesting to the general reader and to the
natural philosopher.

Hendre House,
August 22nd, 1872.
CONTENTS.

stag
Page
On the Migration of Birds .......... 0.00.0 ce eee eee 1
Ou the Notes of Birds sis, coe er eae avei eer ewes vee ee 26
Observations on the Cuckoo........ Mietiunces Vols wah a eco 49
Additional Observations on the Cuckoo ................ 76
On the occasional Desertion of their Progeny by Birds of the
Swallow abe: nance isi due gheibag vee eenGhes 85
An Inquiry into the supposed capability of the Periodical
Birds to become Torpid................... Hissin ead 101
On the Instincts of Birds............ 0.000020 cee eueee 115
Observations on the Pied Flycatcher ........./........ 147
A brief notice of Bewick’s Swan ............00.- cues 152
On a remarkable Formation of the Bill observed in several
Species of Birds. sisay sss ay sis abode coke ke he 157
On the Nudity of the anterior part of the Head of the Rook
(Corvus frugilegus) .. 0... tee cee 160
Remarks on the Diving of Aquatic Birds .............. 166
Some account of the Manners of the Grenadier Grosbeak
(Lowia oryx, Linn.) when in Captivity ............ 172
Description of Falco Auduboni.... 2.0... eee 178
Description of Lamprotornis Vigorsti ....... «20-5500 181
On the Growth of the Salmon (Salmo salar) and of the Sewin
(Salmo cambricus).. 0... cee ees 184
A remarkable Physiological Fact...................... 205

On the Injury done to the Foliage of the Oaks in the Neigh-
bourhood of Manchester in the Spring of 1827 ...... 207
yim CONTENTS.

Page
On the Means by which various Animals adhere to the
Vertical Surfaces of Highly Polished Bodies ........ 216
Facts relative to the Movements of Insects on Dry, Polished,
Vertical Surfaces w.ic0iuy advan edeaw es ciees a1. 226
On an Insect of the Family Ichneumonide whose Larva is
Parasitic on. Spiders wise cisa sss cent as Raa aeaies 233
Experiments and Observations on the Poison of Animals of
the Order Araneidea...... Dit agg et sedngebaeasy 240

Observations and Experiments on Aéronautic Spiders, made
chiefly with a view to ascertain the Means by which

they effect their Aérial Excursions ................ 257
On the Manner in which the Geometric Spiders construct
ther Nets 3: /6ev sie k Ber oe Rh da Gao, ee 276
Observations on the Structure and Economy of Spiders.... 290
Explanation of the Platess.. c.cucwagasees scan guavas. 335
IMdeX: .cackinneietis tet enon mene g oa arena ated 337
ERRATUM.

Page 193, line 7 from bottom, for internally read externally.
RESEARCHES IN ZOOLOGY.

ON

THE MIGRATION OF BIRDS.

—>—_

AN accurate and comprehensive history of the Peri-
odical Birds may now be considered one of the
greatest desiderata in ornithology. Hitherto little
has been done to elucidate the manners and economy
of this interesting portion of the feathered tribes, as
connected with their periodical appearance and dis-
appearance ; for although much has been written on
the subject, yet few facts of any considerable import-
ance have been ascertained; and even those few lie
scattered through the writings of such various authors,
and are so blended with what is erroneous or merely
conjectural, that it is no easy task to distinguish and
collect them: consequently our knowledge of the
circumstances which regulate the motions of the
B
2 ON THE MIGRATION OF BIRDS.

numerous species of Periodical Birds is still very im-
perfect; and we are almost entirely ignorant of the
places of their retreat, and of the mode of their exist-
ence in those retreats. Whether, when they with-
draw, they depart from those districts and countries
in which they cease to appear, or whether they con-
ceal themselves and remain in a state of torpidity,
has not yet been positively determined ; and opinions
must continue to be divided on the subject so long
as authors indulge in fanciful speculations, instead
of collecting and arranging well-authenticated facts,
from which alone legitimate conclusions can be de-
duced.

The accumulation of facts, then, appears to be the
most important object to be attained at present; and
my principal motive for giving publicity to the fol-
lowing Tables and remarks is the hope that they may
be found to contribute, in some degree, to increase
our scanty stock of information on this obscure branch
of natural history.

It is remarkable that almost all the catalogues of
Periodical Birds with which I am acquainted have
been formed from observations made in the south of
England. This circumstance is certainly calculated
to give additional interest to the following Tables,
made in so northern a county as Lancashire. In
forming them I have ventured to deviate a little from
the usual mode of arrangement, having separated
those birds which are irregular in the times of their
ON THE MIGRATION OF BIRDS. 3

appearance and disappearance, and those species also
which are periodical in particular districts only, from
the regular summer and winter birds, and have classed
them under appropriate heads. I have, however,
retained the Stonechat and Pied Wagtail among the
suinmer birds, and the Snipe and Wild Duck among
the winter birds; for though individuals of the first
two species frequently remain through the winter in
the southern counties, and though considerable num-
bers of Snipes and Wild Ducks breed with us annually,
yet the periodical appearance and disappearance of a
very large proportion of these birds cannot, I think,
be questioned. Many of the larger species of aquatic
birds included in the Tables are rarely seen in the
vicinity of Manchester, except during severe frosts or
after violent storms of wind; of course their appear-
ance is uncertain, and their stay is generally short.

The remarks consist chiefly of details of such cir-
cumstances relative to the migration of birds as have
fallen under my own observation, and of conclusions
drawn from them and from an attentive consideration
of the facts recorded by others.

TABLES OF THE VARIOUS SPECIES OF PERIODICAL
BIRDS OBSERVED IN THE NEIGHBOURHOOD OF
MANCHESTER.

The Periodical Birds may, with propriety, be ar-

ranged under four distinct heads :—
B2
4 ON THE MIGRATION OF BIRDS.

lst. The Summer Birds, or those species which ap-
pear during the spring months and retire in autumn.

Ynd. The Winter Birds, or those species which ap-
pear during the autumnal months and withdraw in
spring.

8rd. Birds which are irregular in the times of their
appearance and disappearance.

4th. Birds which are partially periodical, retirmg in
particular districts only.

The Tables contain those species of Periodical Birds
which visit the neighbourhood of Manchester, classed
according to the above method; the times of their
arrival and departure, taken at an average of fifteen
years’ observations, commencing with 1814 and ter-
minating with 1328, and the general mean tempera-
ture of those days on which they have appeared and
disappeared during that period, found from the ex-
tremes indicated by a pair of Rutherford’s horizontal
self-registering thermometers exposed to the open air
in a shady situation, being also given.

It is proper to intimate that I have employed the
nomenclature of the second edition of M. Temminck’s
‘Manuel d’Ornithologie’ throughout the volume in
treating upon European birds; but that, as regards
extra-European species, the names, for the most part,
are accompanied by the authorities I have adopted.
ON THE MIGRATION OF BIRDS. 5

Taste I.— Periodical Summer Birds,

 

 

é di
: BP) Dis. | ae
Birds. Appear. 5
Pied Wagtail (Motacilla alba)* ..cs.cessesse. Mar. 13| 49 | Oct. 18| 49

Wheatear (Saxicola ananthe) .......
Sand-Martin (Hirundo riparia) ....

   
  
 
 
 
 
   
  

...| April 6} 43 | Sept. 21] 53
+} oa» 9] 48] ,, 15] 55

Wryneck (Yunzx torquilla) .......00 » 11) 45) 4, 9] 55
Yellow Wren (Sylvia trochilus) .... » 11/48] ,, 17] 56
Redstart (Sylvia phoenicurtis) v.06. » 13) 50 » 14] 59

Yellow Wagtail (Motacilla flava) ....
Lesser Field-Lark (Anthus arboreus) .1....006
Swallow (Hirundo rusticd) ..seccssrees se} 4, 15] 50 | Oct. 7! 53
Cuckoo (Cuculus canorus) ..ssccaree so yy 20] 47 | June 27) 59
House-Martin (Hirundo urbica) . .

Whinchat (Saxicola rubetra) .. » 26] 52 | Sept. 18] 55
Black-cap (Sylvia atricapilla) ........4+ ea
Pied Flycatcher (Muscicapa luctuosa) ...... » 27/44) 4, 4] 55
White-throat (Sylvia cinerea) ..cceccccsssoesers » 28) 52 » 15} 55
Wood-Wren (Sylvia sibilatrix) ..
Stonechat (Saxicola rubicola) js
Lesser White-throat (Sylvia curruca).........| ,, 80] 55 |Sept. 7] 58

Sedge-Warbler (Sylvia phragmitis) ....004+ May 3/53] ,, 10] 61
Pettychaps (Sylvia hortensis) ...cccseeeereeers » 4/52) ,, 10] 60
Sandpiper (Zotanus hypoleucos) ........0s00008 » 41 58 » 10] 56
| Grasshopper-Warbler (Sylvia locustella) ...| ,, 5| 52

Swift (Cypselus murarius) .seccecceceesseceeees » _8| 50] Aug. 17} 58
Spotted Flycatcher eon grisola) ...... » 11} 51 | Sept. 18] 58
Land-Rail (Gallinula crea) ..iccccseccerseseseee » 13] 53 |} Oct. 7] 49
Goatsucker (Caprimulgus europeus) .....| 5, 15] 53 | Sept. 8] 57

   

Red-backed Shrike (Lanius collurio) .
Lesser Pettychaps (Sylwia hippolais) . a 3
Spotted Gallinule (Gallinula porzana) we.) ec .» | Oct, 15) 45
Quail (Perdiar coturnie) ssececserssscorevrseeers
Hobby (Falco subbuteo) ...ssecere ea
Turtledove (Columba turtur) ..cceccecsssceeeee
Dottrel (Charadrius morinellus) reccerserecees
Common Tern (Sterna hirundo) ..ccrerseereree
Lesser Tern (Stermd Minutd) secssccorseeecrees
Black Tern (Sterna nigra) ...cccccorccnseseeves
Puffin (Mormon fratercula) sericcscseecsceverens

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

* This Wagtail, formerly supposed to be identical with the Motacilla alba
of Linnezus, but now known to be distinct from it, has had the specific name
of Yarredlié conferred upon it.
 

6 ON THE MIGRATION OF BIRDS.

Tapre I1.—Periodical Winter Birds.

 

 

 

 

   

   
 
  
     
   
  

 

 

a l,
3 29: Die [ee
Birds. Appear. | = 2! appear. |= 3
Se maa
° °o
Snipe (Scolopar ee sanagaees eeaae sezee Sept. 10| 58 | April 5} 45
J nak ae neon) * --{Oct. 1/56] 5 44
Water-Rail (Rallus aquaticus)... 82) 4 712.) 44
Great Snipe (Scolopax major) .. ix 127.58
Redwing ( Turdus iliacus)....... «| 5, 13] 52 | Mar. 29) 46
Grey-lag Goose (Anas anser) .....++ v1 4, 17] 52 | April 2) 43
Short-eared Owl (Strix brachyotos)......++++0 » 20| 46
Mountain-Finch (Fringilla Meng ee » 21] 48 | April 10; 40
Woodeock (Scolopax rusticola) . 5, 211 50 | Mar. 29] 43
Wild Duck (Anas boschas) ..... Seep gg 2b D2 hogy DE] AL
Smew (Mergus albellus) ....s0000++ apa a 2S [8S
Goosander (Mergus merganser) . teal ua “2 40 |
Fieldfare (Turdus pilaris) ....... weet 4, 27. 45 | Mar. 31' 41
Hooded Crow (Corvus COr1iZ)...secesessereenes » 9380} 44|April13 45
Green Sandpiper (Totanus och7opus) .ecceeeee| veces May 7 63
Snow-Bunting (Emberiza nivalis) ...... ssch, Gepenenes Feb. 27 38
Greenshank ( Totanus glottis) ..... web |
Godwit (Limosa rufa) .....0+

Hooping Swan (Anas cygnus)..
Bernacle Goose (Azas leucopsis
Golden-eye (Anas clangula).....+.
Pochard (Anas fering) .....0+

Widgeon (Anas penelope).....

 

Tare LIT.—Birds which are irregular in the times of their
appearance and disappearance.

 

Birds.

  

 

1 °

Great Cinereous Shrike (Lanius erevbitor)... April 21 | 49

 

 

poaree’ CO PUBESPODS) 6a oss sds sien sedindedncsh awe May 16 38 | Sept. 26
Crossbill (Lorta curvirostra) . .. Aug. 5 59 | Nov. 19! 3
Siskin (Fringilla spinus) w..0...c0.cceee ee wen NOV, Ct (39

Hawfinch (Fringilla coccothraustes) ......... Dee. |

Bohemian Wax-wing (Bombycivora garrula), ,, :

Golden Oriole (Oriolus galbula) ..scceccssessee |

Rose-coloured Pastor (Pastor ‘rosews) .........

 

2
le
Pe
fale
=
Sy
ue

 
ON THE MIGRATION OF BIRDS. i

Taste [V.—Birds which are partially Periodical.

 

 

 

 
 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

. 2. S| Dis- 2. :

Birds. Appear. 5 g appear. ql g

Ae H

Throstle (Turdws Mmusicus) srcseccccceccoseceees Jan, 23| 39 | Nov. 14| 45

Starling (Sturnus vulgaris) 41 | Oct. 16] 49

Common Bunting (Emberiza miliaria) ...... Mar. 6} 38] ,, 16] 56

Reed-Bunting (Hmberiza scheniclus) ......++ » 10/46] , 4] 55

Greenfinch (Mringilla chloris) ....ccccceere| 5, 14) 48} ,, 18] 54

Lapwing (Vanellus cristatus) w.ccscceceeesees| 5, 27} 49 | Sept. 29] 57

Lesser Redpole (Fringilla linaria) ..........4. April 10} 47 | Oct. 21) 47

Mountain-Linnet (Fringilla montium) ...... », 22} 50 | Sept. 17} 56

Grey Wagtail (Motacilla boarula) 57 | April 11) 44
Merlin (Falco @salon) .........60.0008 49| ,,

Ring-Ouzel (Turdus torquatus) .........000 49
REMARKS.

The gradual increase of temperature in spring, and
its decrease in autumn, are circumstances which seem
to be so closely connected with the appearance and
disappearance of the Periodical Birds that they have
long been regarded as the primary causes of those
phenomena. In reflecting on this very generally re-
ceived opinion, it occurred to me that I had never met
with any attempt to ascertain how nearly the tempe-
rature of the time of the appearance of the Periodical
Birds coincides with the temperature at the time of
their departure; and, as this is a consideration of
much importance, I have endeavoured, at least in some
measure, to supply the deficiency.

According to the Tables, it seems that, with a few
exceptions, the temperature is considerably higher
when the Periodical Summer Birds withdraw than it
8 ON THE MIGRATION OF BIRDS.

is when they appear ; and with regard to the Cuckoo
and Swift, this is uniformly the case in a remarkable
degree: but, as the motions of the Periodical Birds
may be supposed to be influenced by the weekly or
monthly rather than by the daily mean temperature,
I shall compare the mean temperature of April, the
month in which most of the Summer Birds are first
seen, with that of September, the month in which
they chiefly retire, prefixing the sign + to the differ-
ence of the means when the temperature at the time
of their departure is in excess, and the sign — when
it is in defect.

A comparative view of the mean temperature of April and
September from 1814 to 1828 inclusive.

 

1814, | 1815.| 1816.| 1817.) 1818.

 

 

MeN ic td tiled Cat 49-4] 452] 455| 468! 451
September...........00.0666 55°5| 544) 560) 58:9) 58:3
Difference of means} +671] +9:2|+10°5 jt121 413-2

 

1819.) 1820.) 1821.) 1822.| 1823.

 

pasado ee cea 50°5| 507| 485| 485] ato
September... .csccevasdesese 571) 561) 584) 5441 53:8

 

 

Difference of means} +66/ +54| +99; +79; +98

 

1824. | 1825.| 1896.) 1827." 1828.
Dil ox eiacandconiees 456| 473| 492! a24! 484
September......sssssess. 570| 596| 567) 562) 578

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Difference of means!-+11-4 ie He 43:8 ps)

 

General mean for April 47°-1, for September 56°-6. Difference of
means +995,
ON THE MIGRATION OF BIRDS. 9

Still the temperature, at the time of the disappear-
ance of the birds under consideration, is found greatly
in excess. We will now examine how nearly the
mean of October corresponds with that of April.

A comparative view of the mean temperature of April and
October from 1814 to 1828 inclusive.

 

1814, | 1815.| 1816.| 1817.} 1818, |

 

epithe eee ee acorn 49-4} 45-2| 45:5] 468] 45-2.
October s.sssevsesescseee, 463| 491| 506| 463] 565

 

Difference of means) —3'1| +3°9| +5:1] — 5/+11-4
1819. | 1820.) 1821.| 1822.] 1823.

 

 

Dip beanie ctu 505| 50-7| 485| 465] 440
Det ober jecri-erssiarsieccas 501] 47°7| 505] 51-0] 47-2

Difference of means| — 4} —3:0} +2°0] +45] +32
1824, | 1825.| 1826.| 1827.| 1828.

 

 

 

48-6| 478] 47-2| 47-4| 46-4
48-4| 51:5} 524] 528| 50-2

  

April
October ..

Difference of means) +28} +3°7) +52] +54] +3:8

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

General mean for April 47°-1, for October 50°. Difference of
means +2°-9.

A near approximation is observable in the tempe-
rature of these months, allowing for the unusual
warmth of the latter in 1818; yet the Stonechat, Pied
Wagtail, Swallow, House-Martin, and Land-Rail are
almost the only summer birds seen in October, and
they generally retire before the termination of the
third week; though Bats, Dormice, Hedgehogs, and
10 ON THE MIGRATION OF BIRDS.

various coleopterous and dipterous insects, &c. are
visible till the close of November, and even through
the winter when the weather is open. In the year
1820 Long-eared Bats were observed nearly to the
middle of November; and in 1821 they were first
noticed on the 23rd of April, the mean temperature
for the day being 50°:5, and were seen through No-
vember to the Sth of December, when the mean
temperature was 46°, the mean for November being
47°, which is within 15 of that of April for the same
year.

Now, if the Periodical Summer Birds when they
withdraw do not migrate into more genial climates,
they must retire to suitable retreats in which they
pass the winter months in a state of torpidity. But
where are such retreats to be found? The notion of
the submersion of these birds in lakes, ponds, and
rivers is too absurd to merit a moment’s considera-
tion, as they are not only specifically lighter than
water, but quite unfitted for existence in it by their
organization.

Mr. Gough, in his remarks on migration, published
in the ‘Memoirs of the Literary and Philosophical
Society of Manchester,’ vol. ii. new series, from a con-
sideration of the laws which regulate the temperature
of the earth at all moderate depths beneath its sur-
face *, clearly establishes the fact that deep caverns

* Those who wish for information on this subject may consult
Saussure’s ‘ Vovages dans les Alpes, tome iii. chap. xviii.
ON THE MIGRATION OF BIRDS. ll

cannot be the winter-retreats of the Periodical Sum-
mer Birds, as their temperature is not far from the
maximum when these birds retire, and is near the
minimum about the time that they begin to appear.
He then proceeds to observe (pp. 461, 462) that
“very few arguments will be now required to demon-
strate the impossibility of the analogy which is sup-
posed to connect the periodical birds of summer and
the sleeping animals of winter. It is sufficient barely
to remark, that the former are never found slumbering
with the latter near the surface of the earth, and
deep caverns are proved to be unfit for the reception
of any creature in the torpid season. Consequently
the birds in question desert the temperate zones at
the approach of winter, to seek a better climate in
lower latitudes.’ These conclusions, however, will
appear to have been formed rather hastily, when we
consider what numbers of: Bats become torpid every
winter in this country, and how rarely they are dis-
covered in their dormitories. Might they not have
been derived more satisfactorily from the circum-
stance of the Summer Birds being seldom or never
found abroad with the sleeping animals during the
mild weather which we frequently have in winter?
Bats, Hedgehogs, &c. usually appear when the mean
daily temperature is about 50°; but I am not aware
that there is a single instance on record of any of our
Periodical Warblers, properly so called, having been
observed in the cold season, either in a state of active
12 ON THE MIGRATION OF BIRDS.

existence or of torpidity*. A few, indeed, may occa-
sionally be seen at the customary time in spring even
when the weather is frosty, the increments of tempe-
rature by no means corresponding with the sun’s
increasing northern declination, but- they generally
seem to withdraw again. On the 9th of April, 1$21,
several Sand-Martins were observed at a sandpit in
the township of Cheetham, but the weather becoming
cold and stormy they quickly disappeared ; they were,
however, soon after discovered, in greatly increased
numbers, at a sheltered bend of the river Irwell, in
the adjoming township of Broughton. This circum-
stance proves that if the weather is severe and bois-
terous when the Summer Birds are first seen in spring,
they do not retire to their winter retreats, as has been
supposed, but merely seek sheltered situations where
they can procure a supply of food.

Inquiries into the temperature of the supposed
winter retreats of the Periodical Summer Birds may
now be looked upon, it is presumed, as quite super-
fluous, since it is sufficiently apparent from the
preceding Tables that even that of the atmosphere
is much higher at the time these birds disappear
than it is when they appear, the very reverse of
what ought to be the case if they become torpid,

* Since writing the above I find that Montagu, in the Sup-
plement to the ‘ Ornithological Dictionary,’ asserts that he has
occasionally discovered the Lesser Pettychaps (Sy/via hippolais)
in the south of Devonshire in mild winters.
ON THE MIGRATION OF BIRDS. 13

and of what is actually found to be so with the
sleeping animals of winter; indeed, as torpidity does
not appear to be induced in any British vertebrate
animal by a degree of temperature superior to that
which is required to revive it from its lethargic
state, it is evident that the birds in question must
migrate*. As there are, however, several other curi-
ous facts relating to the Periodical Birds which
throw great light on the subject of migration, and
powerfully tend to confirm this opinion, I shall pro-
ceed to examine them.

It is a surprising circumstance that several species
of Periodical Summer Birds almost constantly return
to the same places in the same numbers, and there
are sufficient reasons for believing that these birds
are generally the same individuals. Four or five pairs
of Swallows, and about two pairs of Redstarts and
of Spotted Flycatchers, visit our family residence in
Crumpsall every spring; and White, in his ‘ Natural
History of Selborne,’ p. 230, says, “among the many
singularities attending those amusing birds the Swifts,
I am now confirmed in the opinion that we have
every year the same number of pairs invariably ;”
and again, “the number that I constantly find are
eight pairs.” Now, as those birds usually make their

* T have never been able to induce torpidity in the Cuckoo, or
in birds of the Swallow tribe, by any experiments which I could
devise ; though with animals of known torpid habits I have suc-
ceeded without difficulty.
14 ON THE MIGRATION OF BIRDS.

-

nests in the same situations, this alone is a strong
proof of their identity: great additional weight, how-
ever, is given to this proof by the peculiarity of the
situations in which such birds occasionally build.
For three successive years a pair of Swallows: built in
a pigsty belonging to a relation of mine, their ingress
and egress being by a very low entrance; and in
Bewick’s ‘ History of British Birds,’ vol. i. p. 253, it
is stated, on the authority of Sir John Trevelyan, Bart.,
that “at Camerton Hall, near Bath, a pair of Swal-
lows built their nest on the upper part of the frame
of an old picture over the chimney, coming through a
broken pane in the window of the room. They came
three years successively, and, in all probability, would
have continued to do so if the room had not been
put into repair, which prevented their access to it.”
White, in speaking of the Selborne Swifts (‘ Nat.
Hist. Sel.’ p. 186), says, “they frequent in this vil-
lage several abject cottages; yet a succession still
haunts the same unlikely roofs: a good proof this,”
he observes, “‘ that the same birds return to the same
spots.” And he remarks of the House-Martin (p. 161),
that “the birds that return yearly bear no manner
of proportion to the birds that retire;”’ and this is
uniformly the case. Now Swallows and House-
Martins have frequently two broods in a summer,
the first consisting of about five young ones, and the
second of three, upon an average; and Redstarts,
Spotted Flycatchers, and Swifts have one brood, the
ON THE MIGRATION OF BIRDS. 15

first two species usually rearing four or five and the
last two young ones. What, then, becomes of this
increase? If these young birds do not quit the
country, why are they not seen in the ensuing
spring? These are perplexing questions, questions
which the advocates of torpidity will find it impos-
sible to answer satisfactorily ; indeed they involve
difficulties which can only be removed by admitting,
what is undoubtedly the case, that these birds mi-
grate, and that, being deserted by the old ones, and
losing all recollection of the places where they were
brought up, they are directed in their spring flight by
fortuitous circumstances, and are thus diffused over a
large portion of the globe.

The highly interesting and important fact that
several species of Periodical Summer Birds moult
during the interval which elapses between their de-
parture and reappearance, if generally known to orni-
thologists, would, it is reasonable to suppose, have
been frequently and strenuously urged as one of the
most conclusive arguments which could be advanced
in support of migration; but notices of this nature
are extremely rare, as perhaps no part of the animal
economy of the feathered tribes has been so greatly
neglected by natural historians as their moulting.
That Swallows, Swifts, Cuckoos, Redstarts, and
Spotted Flycatchers moult during their absence
scarcely admits of a doubt. I have cut feathers out
of the wings and tails of Swallows, so that I could
16 ON THE MIGRATION OF BIRDS.

easily distinguish them when flying, and I find that
such feathers are never replaced while these birds re-
main with us. Great numbers of young Swallows
retire in autumn before the exterior feathers of their
tails have acquired their full length, yet the tail-
feathers of those birds which return in spring are
always perfect in their growth. To these facts I shall
add a few extracts from Mr. Pearson’s account of his
experiments, made for the purpose of preserving
Swallows alive through the winter, as given in
Bewick’s ‘ British Birds,’ vol. i. pp. 250, 251, which
are decisive as to the moulting of this species. The
first year’s experiment failed ; but the second attempt
was completely successful, as Mr. Pearson states that
“the birds throve extremely well, they sung their
‘song through the winter, and soon after Christmas
began to moult, which they got through without any
difficulty, and lived three or four years, regularly
moulting every year at the usual time. On the re-
newal of their feathers it appeared that their tails
were forked exactly the same as in those birds which
return here in the spring, and in every respect their
appearance was the same. These birds were exhibited
to the Society for Promoting Natural History on the
14th day of February, 1786, at the time they were in
a deep moult, during a severe frost, when the snow
was on the ground.” The account is concluded by
Mr. Pearson in the following words :—“Jan. 20,
1797. I have now in my house, No. 21 Great New-
ON THE MIGRATION OF BIRDS. “it

port Street, Long Acre, four Swallows in moult, in as
perfect health as any birds ever appeared to -be in
when moulting.” The plumage of Swifts, from ex-
posure to the sun and air, loses that deep soot-colour
which it always has on their arrival, and becomes
gradually paler till they withdraw. This circumstance
has not escaped the observation of Mr. White (see his
‘Nat. Hist. Sel.’ p. 183). The plumage of young
Cuckoos, Redstarts, and Spotted Flycatchers is very
different from that of adults. Young Cuckoos have
the upper parts marked with various shades of brown,
mixed with black, where the old birds are dove-
coloured ; and the under parts are pale brown, barred
with dusky brown, where the old ones are white,
barred with black; in short, their appearance is in
many respects so totally different from that of their
progenitors, that they easily might be, and indeed
often have been, mistaken for a distinct species.
Young Redstarts and Spotted Flycatchers have their
heads, necks, backs, scapulars, &c. spotted; the
former with pale yellow and the latter with white,
which is not the case with old birds; and those
marks which so clearly characterize the sexes of Red-
starts when their plumage is matured are altogether
wanting in young birds. Now, as young Cuckoos,
Redstarts, aud Spotted Flycatchers do not usually
appear to cast off their nest-feathers before they
retire, they are readily distinguished from old birds
while they stay with us; and as birds of these species
c
18 ON THE MIGRATION OF BIRDS.

are never found to retain their first feathers on their
return in spring, they must moult in their absence ;
and it is probable this may be the case with the
Periodical Summer Birds generally * : but it would be
unphilosophical to suppose that these birds, in a state
of torpidity, when the animal functions are nearly
suspended, can both throw off their old feathers and
develope new ones; therefore they must seek those
countries which supply a requisite degree of warmth,
and a sufficient abundance of food, to enable them to
change their feathers. It appears from the following
passage, extracted from the ‘Manuel d’Ornithologie’
of M. ‘lemminck, second edition, p. 426, that, with
regard to the Swallow and House-Martin, this distin-
guished ornithologist had previously arrived at the
same conclusion from a consideration of similar facts.
“Je dois (he remarks) 4 M. Natterer de Vienne,
Pobservation particuliérement intéressante, que les

* Tn this attempt to prove that some of the Periodical Summer
Birds moult during their absence, I have purposely confined my
remarks to such species as are well known and easily observed.
The Red-backed Shrike, Whinchat, and some others with whose
habits and economy we are less familiar, might, however, be
added to those already enumerated. In my opinion respecting
the moulting of the Red-backed Shrike I am supported by
Montagu, who affirms “that all the young, when they leave us
in the month of September, very much resemble the adult
female ; and the whole return to us again in about six months
in their full sexual plumage.” See the Supplement to the
‘ Ornithological Dictionary.’
‘ON THE MIGRATION OF BIRDS. 19

Hirondelles et les Martinets muent une. fois l’année
en février, par conséquent dans le temps de leur
séjour dans les climats chauds de l'Afrique et de
l’Asie; un fait d’ailleurs qui prouve incontestablement
contre la prétendue torpeur ou sommeil hivernal de
ces oiseaux. Les observations de M. Natterer ont été
faites sur des Hirondelles élevées en cage, dont un
petit nombre a vécu huit et neuf ans en domesticité.”
Old Cuckoos leave us late in June or early in July,
when the temperature is approaching the maximum
for the year; and Swifts retire about the middle of
August, when the temperature, though receding from
the maximum, is still very high. To what cause,
then, shall we attribute the early retreat of these
birds? Certainly not to a deficiency of food, as young
Cuckoos are frequently found to remain upwards of
two months after the old birds have left ; and Swifts
are occasionally seen long after the great body of their
congeners has withdrawn* ; and yet these individuals

* In the year 1815 I saw « Swift in the township of Crump-
sall, on the 20th of October, and the same bird was seen again
on the 25th, which is more than two months beyond the time at
which this species usually departs, and nearly a fortnight after
the last Swallows and House-Martins had left us; and in the
year 1818 I saw one at Chester on the 18th, 19th, and 20th of
October. I had opportunities of observing both these birds at-
tentively for a length of time, and I remarked that they always
seemed to be in the active pursuit of their prey. White, in his
‘Nat. Hist. Sel.’ p. 264, mentions an instance of a Swift being
induced, by attachment to its young, to remain till the 27th of

c2
20 ON THE MIGRATION OF BIRDS.

procure plenty of nourishment. Is it not rather occa-
sioned by a disposition to moult, and the want of a
suitable degree of warmth to enable them to change
their feathers’ Our Domestic Fowls begin to moult
in July, the hottest month in this latitude, and birds
in a state of nature usually moult when they have
done breeding ; if, therefore, the temperature of July
is not sufficiently high to promote the moulting of the
Periodical Summer Birds, Cuckoos, as they leave the
care of their progeny to strangers, and, of course, are
at liberty when they have deposited their eggs, should
be the first birds which withdraw. Swifts also, having
only two young ones to rear, should be the next birds
which retire. The Periodical Warblers, and those birds
which have five or six young ones, ought to quit in
the next place; and Swallows and House-Martins,
which have two broods in a season, ought to be the
last that depart ; and this is always found to be the
case; so that whether the departure of these birds be
influenced by a disposition to moult or not, it seems
to be regulated in a great measure by the cessation of
their parental cares, and not by temperature solely.

It will be difficult to produce any direct evidence
of the migration of the Periodical Summer Birds until

 

August ; and though deserted by its mate early in the month, it
reared a second brood (the first having been destroyed) without
assistance—a convincing proof that, however disagreeable it may
be for Swifts to prolong their stay, they are not compelled to quit
so eurly as they do by any difficulty in obtaining food.
ON THE MIGRATION OF BIRDS. 21

their winter retreats are well ascertained* ; but from
what has been already advanced respecting these birds
it will be seen that this fact may be satisfactorily
proved indirectly, by a process of reasoning somewhat
analogous to that adopted by geometricians in inves-
tigating such propositions as do not admit of a direct
solution, namely, by showing that the contrary sup-
position involves an absurdity. It is absurd to sup-
pose that the Summer Birds become torpid with an
increased or an increasing temperature, or that they
can change their feathers in such a state when the
organs of secretion are known barely to perform their
several offices; or that, under such circumstances,
scarcely more than one fourth of those birds which
withdraw in autumn should reappear in spring,
though the same birds almost constantly return to
the same haunts: these suppositions, I repeat, are

* Adanson asserts that European Swallows pass the winter in
Senegal, but does not particularize the species (see his ‘ Histoire
Naturelle du Sénégal,’ p. 67); and it appears probable, from the
observations of Mr. White’s brother (the Rev. J. White), who re-
sided at Gibraltar (‘ Nat. Hist. Sel.’ pp. 87, 88, 139), that many
of our Periodical Summer Birds may winter in Africa. The length
and difficulty of such a journey are the chief objections which
have been urged against this opinion; but they will cease to be
looked upon as serious obstacles when we reflect that these birds
may pass hence to the equator without crossing any great extent
of sea, and that as they are continually advancing into better
climates they are enabled to travel leisurely, there being no
necessity for extraordinary haste.
22 ON THE MIGRATION OF BIRDS.

manifestly absurd; therefore the Summer Birds must-
migrate.

Writers, in treating on the Periodical Birds, have
confined their observations almost exclusively to the
various species of Swallow, neglecting, in a great
measure, the Short-winged Summer Birds, which
seem to be the least qualified for migration, and the
Periodical Winter Birds, which furnish some of the
strongest arguments in support of it.

If the Periodical Winter Birds do not leave this
country in spring, they must stay with us the year
through ; yet it is in the highest degree improbable
that Woodcocks, Jack Snipes, Mountain Finches, and
the numerous flocks of Redwings and Fieldfares which
are seen in winter should remain here during the
summer months and yet elude the observation of
ornithologists. The Redwing is generally admitted
to be a bird of song*; and as most of the Thrush
tribe sing more or less, it is very probable that the
Fieldfare is a singing bird also; yet we know nothing
of their songs or summer notes, but are merely ac-
quainted with their calls, which are heard in winter
only ; and I believe there are very few well authenti-
cated instances of the nests of these birds having been
found in England.

According to Linnzus, Redwings and Fieldfares

* Linneus says that “its lofty and varied notes rival those

of the Nightingale.” See his ‘ Lachesis Lapponica,’ translated by
J. E. Smith, M.D. &c., vol. i. p. 6.
ON THE MIGRATION OF BIRDS. 23

breed in Sweden. In his ‘ Fauna Suecica’ he says of
the Fieldfare, that ‘“‘maximis in arboribus nidificat,”
and of the Redwing that “ nidificat in mediis arbus-
culis, sive sepibus: ova sex ceruleo-viridia maculis
nigris variis ;” but it is plain that they must leave
that country in winter, as, with us, Redwings are
among the first birds which suffer in inclement
weather; and both Redwings and Fieldfares with-
draw from our northern counties, and great numbers
of them even quit the kingdom entirely, during long
and severe frosts, especially if they are accompanied
with snow*.

Scopoli, in his ‘ Annus Primus,’ says of the Wood-
cock, that “nupta ad nos venit circa equinoctium
vernale. Nidificat in paludibus alpinis. Ova ponit
3-5. Migrat post equinoctium autumnale. Fugit
brumam et acre gelu;” and of the Fieldfare, that
“migrat Novembri mense.” Thus it appears that
Woodcocks breed in the Tyrol, which they quit about
the latter end of September, and that Fieldfares leave
the same country in November. It is well known
also that Woodcocks desert the more northern coun-
tries of Europe at the commencement of winter.
Here, then, we have positive evidence of the migration
of the Redwing, Fieldfare, and Woodcock, some of

* In the severe winter of 1813-14 the northern counties of
England were nearly deserted by Redwings and Fieldfares, and
I have been informed that at this period they were far from
being plentiful in the southern counties.
24 ON THE MIGRATION OF BIRDS.

their haunts, both summer and winter, being known.
That Redwings and Fieldfares migrate, those persons
who are acquainted with their calls may be easily
convinced, as the faint scream of the former and the
chattering note of the latter may be heard frequently
repeated through the nights of October and November
as their numerous flights pass over head; and as that
is the time at which these birds visit us, and as their
calls cease to be heard at night soon after that period,
they must then be on their passage from some other
country to this, or to countries still further south.
This circumstance also establishes the fact that some
species of Periodical Birds perform their migrations in
the night ; and it is probable that this is the case with
most of them*, as I have frequently looked through
the woods and plantations in Crumpsall with great
care in April, the month in which most of the Summer
Birds appear, without perceiving a single individual of
any of the migratory tribes; yet early in the morning
of the day following that on which the search was
made, I have been surprised to hear the notes of the
Redstart and Yellow Wren, and to find that the latter
species had arrived in considerable numbers. From
the undeniable fact that the males of several Migratory
Summer Birds usually precede the females in spring,

* M. Temminck, in treating upon the Quail, in the second
edition of his ‘ Manuel d’Ornithologie,’ makes the following
observation : ‘+ voyage le plus souvent au crépuscule ou pendant
le clair de lune.”
ON THE MIGRATION OF BIRDS. 25

it would seem that, in these instances, the sexes do
not travel in society.

Having endeavoured, in the foregoing remarks, to
prove the migration of the Periodical Summer and
Winter Birds, I shall here briefly observe that our
irregular visitors also must migrate; as it is equally
impossible that they should he torpid during a period
of several years, or that they should escape the notice
of observers for so great a length of time. Thus the
migration of every description of Periodical Birds,
whose appearance has been difficult to account for, is
established according to the sound principles of the
inductive logic.
ON

THE NOTES OF BIRDS.

—sa~—

It is much to be regretted that the study of ornitho-
logy is too frequently confined solely to the perusal
of the best authors on the subject, and to the examin-
ation and arrangement of preserved specimens, whose
faded plumage and distorted forms convey very im-
perfect ideas of the elegance and symmetry which so
eminently distinguish this beautiful and highly inter-
esting part of the creation. To those whom business
or inclination leads to reside chiefly in large towns,
such are almost the only means of information which
offer themselves ; but who that enjoys the opportunity
of observing the free denizens of the fields and woods
in their native haunts would exchange their lively and
unrestrained activity, their curious domestic economy,
their mysterious migrations, and their wild but de-
lightful melody, for the fixed glassy eye and the mute
tongue of the inanimate forms which are crowded
together in melancholy groups in the museum? Let
me not, however, be misunderstood. I do not mean
to insinuate that those collections of birds which enrich
ON THE NOTES OF BIRDS. 27

the cabinets of the curious are of small utility ; on the
contrary, I am willing to allow that their importance
is very considerable; but I would anxiously guard
against an exclusive attention to the collecting and
arranging of specimens to the neglect of what is much
more instructive and valuable: I allude to the study
of their habits, manners, and economy. In these im-
portant particulars the history of birds is still very
defective, the majority of authors, foreign as well as
native, having limited themselves to the simple
enunciation of specific characteristics and distinctions
founded principally on external structure and colour,
and the occasional introduction of a few anecdotes,
which, from frequent repetition, have in general lost
much of the novelty they once possessed. We must
except from this remark, however, the excellent works
in natural history of our ingenious countryman the
late Rev. Gilbert White, of Selborne, in Hampshire,
which abound with new and interesting facts. This
diligent observer, whose example in investigating
nature cannot be too highly recommended, instead of
confining himself to the mere classification of natural
objects, ranged the extensive wood, the tangled brake,
the solitary sheep-walk, and the treacherous morass,
to contemplate the manner of life, dispositions, and
peculiar characters of their feathered inhabitants in
their most sequestered retreats ; and his writings bear
ample testimony how well his researches were repaid.
The subject, however, is still far from being exhausted.
28 ON THE NOTES OF BIRDS.

Knowledge is acquired slowly; and even the most
careful and indefatigable inquirers are liable to errors
and omissions. Much yet remains to be supplied,
much to be corrected, before the history of British
birds can be pronounced complete.

To the practical ornithologist who is desirous of
promoting and extending his favourite study by the
communication of his personal observations and re-
marks, an intimate acquaintance with the various
notes of the feathered tribes is of such importance,
that any difficulties he may encounter in obtaining it
will be more than compensated by the numerous ad-
vantages it affords. In many instances it enables him
to detect species which might otherwise elude his ob-
servation. Thus the Land-Rail (concealed in the long
grass of luxuriant meadows, where it runs with great
rapidity, and is sprung with difficulty), the Grass-
hopper-Warbler (closely embowered in thick hedges
and bushy dingles, where it employs every artifice to
escape notice), and the Sedge- Warbler (secluded amid
the reeds and other aquatic productions of pools and
marshes) are much more frequently heard than seen,
the harsh call of the first, the sibilous note of the
second, and the hurried song of the last; being re-
peated through the night, in fine weather, during the
breeding-season.

It also enables him to identify species with the
utmost precision ; in some cases, indeed, with greater
certainty than he could by the examination of speci-
ON THE NOTES OF BIRDS. 29

mens. The Wood-Wren, Yellow Wren, and Lesser
Pettychaps, for example, so much resemble each
other, that even nice observers might have some dif-
ficulty in determining them by inspection; and ac-
cordingly we find that they have been a source of
confusion, perplexity, and error among writers on
ornithology ; as their notes, however, are. perfectly
distinct, a little attention to them is sufficient to re-
move every difficulty. In the same manner the Crow
may readily be distinguished from the Rook, the
Raven from both, and the males of most species from
the females.

The arrival of many of the Periodical Warblers is
frequently first announced by their songs; and the
clamorous night-calls of the Redwing and Fieldfare,
in the months of October and November, serve to
establish the fact that these birds migrate, and that
they perform their journeys in the night.

But these are not the only advantages to be de-
rived from an acquaintance with the notes of birds.
As the feathered tribes communicate their sensations
and intentions to one another through the medium of
modulated sounds, the proficient in what, without
any impropriety, may be termed their language, can
comprehend their various wants and emotions, and
can participate in all their little joys and sorrows,
hopes and fears. To him the music of the groves is
not a confusion of pleasing tones merely, but the
melodious interchange of thought and feeling, which,
30 ON THE NOTES OF BIRDS.

though very limited and imperfect, still answers many
important purposes, and contributes materially to the
happiness and preservation of species. Thus birds
which congregate and which live in society have
usually a regular watch stationed in some command-
ing situation, whose note of alarm is understood by
the whole community. Of the truth of this obser-
vation, Fieldfares and Rooks furnish familiar and
striking imstances. The shrill call of the Swallow,
the harsh scream of the Jay, and the petulant cries of
the various species of Titmouse likewise intimate the
approach of an enemy. The reiterated cackle of the
Domestic Hen after she has laid speedily announces
the joyful event; her cluck indicates that she has
become the mother of a family ; by a peculiar call she
informs her brood whenever she discovers any thing
suitable for food ; and her shriek is a warning against
impending danger. What is usually called the prating
of poultry is expressive of satisfaction and compla-
cency: but it is needless to multiply examples or to
insist further on the many sueful purposes to which
a familiarity with the language of birds may be ren-
dered subservient. It will suffice to remark that this
knowledge supplies the means of making fresh dis-
coveries, of correcting numerous errors, and of re-
moving many of those doubts and difficulties which
have arisen from the great similarity of some species,
and the peculiarities incidental to age, sex, and a
change of food or climate in others, without placing
ON THE NOTES OF BIRDS. 31

the observer under the painful necessity of destroying
life—a recommendation which will be duly appreciated
by every person possessed of a humane disposition and
a reflecting mind.

Having endeavoured in these few preliminary ob-
servations to point out the great importance of attend-
ing to the notes of birds, I shall now proceed to an
inquiry into their origim—an inquiry well calculated
to exercise the skill of the experimentalist and the
ingenuity of the speculative philosopher, though. to
the generality of mankind it may seem trivial and of
little moment.

The only author that I am acquainted with who
has treated this curious’ subject at any length is the
Honourable Daines Barrington, in an essay entitled
“Experiments and Observations on the Singing of
Birds,” published in the second part of the sixty-third
volume of the ‘Transactions of the Royal Society ;’
and as the experiments there detailed appear to be
imperfect and unsatisfactory, and the conclusions
drawn from them hasty, unwarranted, and contrary
to common experience, and more especially as this
author is generally referred to by our cyclopzdists*,
and as his opinions seem to be finding their way into
modern works of respectability, where they are quoted
as established facts which do not admit of a doubt ft,

* See the ‘Encyclopedia Britannica,’ art. “Singing,” and
Rees’s ‘ Cyclopedia,’ art. “Song.”
+ See Bingley’s ‘ Animal Biography,’ vol. ii. pp. 166, 167.
32 ON THE NOTES OF BIRDS.

it was thought that an examination of his method of
investigation would be useful in exposing its insuffi-
ciency, and the consequent looseness of the arguments
founded upon it; while the institution of a less ex-
ceptional course of experiments, it was hoped, might
dissipate much of the obscurity in which this intri-
cate question is at present involved. In what degree
these expectations have been realized remains to be
shown.

Mr. Barrington informs us that his experiments
were principally made with young Linnets, which
were fledged, and nearly able to leave the nest ; and
the reasons assigned for this selection are, that birds
of this species are docile and possess great powers of
inutation, and that the cocks are easily distinguished
from the hens at an early period. These nestling
Linnets were educated under singing birds of various
kinds; and it appears that, instead of having the
Linnet’s notes, they learned those of their respective
instructors, to which they adhered almost entirely.
Tn some instances, to be sure, the nestlings retained
the call of their own species, which, as they were three
weeks old when taken from the nest, it is supposed
they had learned from their parents; and not un-
frequently, when they had opportunities of hearing
several species, they borrowed from more than one,
and their songs became mixed *.

* The reason given by Mr. Barrington for the steady adher-
ence of birds in a wild state to their own songs is, that they
ON THE NOTES OF BIRDS. 33

To be certain that nestlings will not have even the
calls of their species, Mr. Barrington remarks that
they should be taken when only a few days old. He
then proceeds to notice instances of a Linnet and a
Goldfinch taken at this early period, which came
under his observation, acknowledging at the same
time his own inability to rear birds of so tender an
age. The first, he states, ‘‘ belonged to Mr. Matthews,
an apothecary at Kensington, which, from a want of
other sounds to imitate, almost articulated the words
‘pretty boy,’ as well as some other short sentences ;”
and the owner assured him that it had neither the
note nor call of any bird whatsoever. The Goldfinch
had acquired the song of the Wren, without appearing
to have a note or even the call of the Goldfinch.

From these experiments and observations, of which
I have given a concise, but, I trust, impartial account,
Mr. Barrington was led to conclude that “ notes in
birds are no more innate than language is in man,
but depend entirely upon the master under which

 

attend to the instructions of the parent birds only, disregarding
the notes of all others. That young birds receive instructions
in singing from the old ones, appears to be a notion of great
antiquity (vide Aristot. ‘ Histor. Animal.’ lib. iv. cap. ix. ; Plinii
‘Histor. Natural.’ lib. x. cap. xxix.). The celebrated Count
Buffon seems to have entertained a similar opinion (see his
‘Histoire Naturelle des Oiseaux,’ tome cinquiéme, p. 47). Dar-
win also, in ‘ Zoonomia,’ vol. i. p. 155, lends it the sanction of
his authority.
nD
34 ON THE NOTES OF BIRDS.

they are bred, as far as their organs will enable them
to imitate the sounds which they have frequent
opportunities of hearing.” Iam not aware, however,
that he has brought forward a single fact from which
such an inference can be fairly deduced. The main
tendency of his researches is merely to prove (what
was before perfectly well known) that some birds
have very extraordinary powers of imitation, and may
be taught, when young, to sing the notes of other
species, whistle tunes, or even pronounce a few words.
If his remarks on this subject contain any novelty, it
is that birds so educated sometimes remain satisfied
with these imitations, never blending any of their
own notes with them; and, indeed, on this solitary
circumstance, slight and inconclusive as it is, the en-
tire weight of his argument is rested. The instances
of the Goldfinch acquiring the song of the Wren, and
of Mr. Matthews’s Linnet learning to articulate one
or two short sentences, without having even the calls
of their species, which this author seems to think so
decisive, prove no more than his own experiments,
which, as they were made for the most part with
birds remarkable for their imitative powers, were cer-
tainly by no means well adapted to his purpose. As
for the Goldfinch, Mr. Barrington heard it only once,
and then but for a short time; and that no depend-
ence could be placed on any report of the people to
whom it belonged, is evident from their supposing
that it sang its own notes. These are circumstances
ON THE NOTES OF BIRDS. 35

which powerfully tend to invalidate almost every thing
of importance that has been advanced respecting this
bird.

In order to ascertain whether nestlings, when taken
very young, will or will not have the calls and songs
of their species, they should be kept in situations
where they have no opportunity of learning any
sounds which they may substitute for them ; but this,
I believe, has never yet been attempted.

I have already asserted that Mr. Barrington’s con-
clusions are contrary to common experience. I shall
now endeavour to establish this charge.

It is well known to most persons who have the care
and management of poultry that Ducks, Guinea-fowls,
&c., hatched under the Domestic Hen, and Domestic
Fowls hatched under Turkeys, have the calls and
habits peculiar to their species. That this is the case
also with Pheasants and Partridges, brought up under
similar circumstances, I have had frequent opportu-
nities of observing. It is a matter of universal noto-
riety likewise that all Cuckoos of the species canorus,
though hatched and reared by birds of various de-
scriptions, have constantly their proper calls*. These

* Mr. Barrington will not allow that the well-known cry of
the Cuckoo is a song, because it does not happen to accord with
the conditions of his arbitrary definition, though to the bird it
answers every purpose of a song, as well as the more elaborate
effusions of the Nightingale and Sky-Lark. Mr. Barrington defines
a bird’s song to be a succession of three or more different notes,

p 2
36 ON THE NOTES OF BIRDS.

facts, one would suppose, were quite sufficient to con-
vince the most prejudiced that birds do not always
acquire the calls and notes of those under which they
are bred. But perhaps it may be urged that Ducks,
Guinea-fowls, Pheasants, arid Partridges are probably
incapable of learning the calls of Domestic Fowls,
that Domestic Fowls, in their turn, may be incapable
of acquiring the call of the Turkey, and that the
Cuckoo appears to be very poorly qualified for imi-
tatmg the notes of its foster-parents. Still I must
contend that the incapacity of those birds has never
been proved; and even if it had, it would afford no
explanation of the manner in which they become
acquainted with their own respective calls. Accord-
ing to Mr. Barrington’s theory they ought to be
mute, or at least should have such notes only as they
have been able to pick up casually, which, of course,
would possess little or no resemblance.

 

which are continued without interruption during the same
interval as a musical bar of four crotchets in an adagio move-
ment, or whilst a pendulum swings four seconds; which neces-
sarily excludes the Chaffinch, Redstart, Hedge-Warbler, Yellow
Wren, and some others, which have always been accounted birds
of song, as well as the Cuckoo, from any pretensions to the title.
Perhaps it would be more natural, and certainly less exclusive,
to apply the term song to those notes which are peculiar to the
males ; yet this definition would admit the Peacock and Turkey
into the catalogue of Singing Birds; and the hideous scream of
the one and the ludicrous gobble of the other are certainly any
thing but musical.
ON THE NOTES OF BIRDS. 37

From these and similar observations I have long
been thoroughly convinced myself that the calls of
birds, which seem to be the simplest expressions of
their sensations, are natural, not acquired; and in
order to determine whether this is the case with
their songs also, which are generally much more
complex, and, consequently, have the appearance of
being more artificial, the followimg experiments were
made.

In the summer of 1822 I procured three young
Greenfinches (a cock and two hens), which, as they
did not see till the fourth day after they were taken
from the nest, must then have been only two days
old *,

These birds were reared by hand, in a house situ-
ated in the town of Manchester, where they had no
opportunity of hearing the notes of any bird, except,
perhaps, the occasional chirping of Sparrows ; never-
theless they had all their appropriate calls, and the
cock bird had the song peculiar to its species.

It was hoped, at. the time, that this experiment
would be considered sufficiently decisive; but recol-
lecting that some persons, for the sake of showing
their ingenuity in raising objections, might say that
these birds remembered the notes of their parents,
which they imitated as soon as they had acquired

* From numerous observations which I have made, it appears

that young birds usually begin to sce about the sixth day after
they are hatched.
3

(fo

ON THE NOTES OF BIRDS.

the power, and being willing to remove every cir-
cumstance on which the most fastidious inquirer
could fix a doubt, I placed the eggs of a Redbreast
in the nest of a Chaffinch, and removed the eggs of
the Chaffinch to that of the Redbreast, conceiving
that if I was fortunate in rearing the young, I should,
by this exchange, insure an unexceptionable experi-
ment, the result of which must be deemed perfectly
conclusive by all parties. In process of time these
eggs were hatched, and I had the satisfaction to find
that the young birds had their appropriate chirps*.
When ten days old they were taken from their
nests, and were brought up by hand, immediately
under my own inspection, especial care being taken
to remove them to a distance from whatever was
likely to influence their notes. At this period an un-
fortunate circumstance, which it is needless to relate,
destroyed all these birds except two (a fine cock
Redbreast and a hen Chaffinch), which, at the expi-
ration of twenty-one days from the time they were
hatched, commenced the calls peculiar to their species.
This was an important point gained, as it evidently
proved that the calls of birds, at least, are instinctive ;
and that, at this early age, ten days are not sufficient
to enable nestlings to acquire even the calls of those

* Mr. Barrington defines the chirp to be the first sound a
young bird utters as a cry for food. It consists of a single note.
repeated at short intervals. and is common to nestlings of both

scXes.
ON THE NOTES OF BIRDS. 39

under which they are bred, thus clearly establishing
the validity of the first experiment made with the
young Greenfinches. Shortly after, the Redbreast
began to record*, but in so low a tone that it was
scarcely possible to trace the rudiments of its future
song in those early attempts. As it gained strength
and confidence, however, its native notes became very
apparent, and they continued to improve in tone till
the termination of July, when it commenced’ moult-
ing, which did not, as was expected, put a stop to its
recording +. About the middle of August it was in
deep moult, and by the beginning of October had
acquired most of its new feathers. It now began to
execute its song in a manner calculated to remove
every doubt as to its being that of the Redbreast,
had any such previously existed}; its habits also

* The first endeavours of a young bird to sing are termed
recording.

+ The important operation of moulting undoubtedly affects
the singing of wild birds very considerably, and may, perhaps,
be a principal cause of their silence in the month of August.
The London bird-catchers are well aware of the advantages of
occasioning their call-birds to moult prematurely, which by this
expedient are brought into full song while other birds of their
species are nearly mute. For an account of the manner in
which this is effected, see Pennant’s ‘British Zoology,’ vol. ii.
p. 332.

+ Montagu, in the Introduction to the ‘ Ornithological Dic-
tionary,’ p. 29, states, in a note, that “‘ a Goldfinch, hatched and
fostered by a Chaffinch, retained its native notes,” but does not
give any further particulars respecting this bird.
40 ON THE NOTES OF BIRDS.

were as decidedly characteristic as its notes ; and I
am the more particular in noticing this latter circum-
stance, because the peculiar habits of birds are quite
as difficult to account for as the origin of their
songs*. ‘Thus it appears from this satisfactory ex-
periment, which was conducted with the utmost care,
that, contrary to Mr. Barrington’s opinion, the notes
of birds, which probably consist of those sounds that
their vocal organs are best adapted to produce, are
perfectly instinctive t.

* Several birds sing in the night, and some warble as they fly.
The Titlark uses particular notes in ascending and descending,
and the song of the Whitethroat is accompanied with strange
gesticulations. Larks and Wagtails run, Finches and Buntings
hop, nearly the whole of the Gallinaceous and Pie tribes and
many species of Water-fowl walk, and Woodpeckers climb. The
Sparrow,.Sky-Lark, and most of the Galline are pulveratrices ;
and the Kestril, when it hovers, may be distinguished from
every other British Falcon by the fanning-motion of its wings.
Peculiarities in the modes of flight and nidification of various
species are equally remarkable and worthy of notice; but, as
they are foreign to the present subject, I shall not now dilate
upon them.

+ Since writing the above, I have met with the following
general assertion in the ‘ Physiognomical System of Drs. Gall
and Spurzheim,’ by J. G. Spurzheim, M.D., second edition, pp.
194, 195 :—“ Singing birds, moreover, which have been hatched
by strange females, sing naturally, and without any instruction,
the song of their species as soon as their internal organization is
active. Hence the males of every species preserve their natural
song, though they have been brought up in the society of indivi-
duals of a different kind.” This inference, I have been recently
ON THE NOTES OF BIRDS. 4l

Having shown that the notes of birds are natural,
or, in other words, that they do not depend upon any
previous instruction, it follows that they must furnish
the attentive ornithologist with an excellent method
of distinguishing species under all the various cir-
cumstances which are liable to affect their plumage ;
though it must be observed that the great similarity
so evident in the songs of birds of the same species
is more in tone and style than in the individual notes
of which they are composed *.

I shall here remark that it is highly probable that
no bird, in a wild state, ever borrows the notes of
others, or becomes a mocker. I am well aware that
several of our native birds, as the Pettychaps and
Sedge-Warbler, have usually been termed Mocking-
Birds ; but this is certainly improper; as they con-
stantly use their own natural notes, and no others,
they do not at all merit this appellation. The fine
strain of the first has been thought to bear a striking
resemblance to those of the Swallow and Blackbird.
This, however, must be entirely imaginary, as it is
totally different from them in manner and notes. If
it be possible to trace any similarity between them,
it will be found to consist in tone merely. The song

 

assured by Dr. Spurzheim, was deduced from carefully conducted
experiments made by Dr. Gall.

* Birds of the same species do not always deliver their notes
exactly in the same order of succession ; neither do they uni-
. formly use precisely the same notes.
42 ON THE NOTES OF BIRDS.

of the Sedge-Warbler is wonderfully varied, and
appears to be chiefly composed of passages borrowed
from the songs of the Sky-Lark, Titlark, Whitethroat,
Whinchat, Lesser Redpole, Swallow, &c. Now if any
bird is entitled to the epithet of mocker, surely it is
this ; yet these resemblances are common to the songs
of the whole species, which inhabits situations very
unsuitable for acquiring some of them. In short,
these fancied imitations are not studied, but purely
accidental, consisting of their own notes ab initio.

The singing of birds has been very generally attri-
buted to the passion of love, and a desire of pleasing
their mates.

«Tis love creates their melody, and all
This waste of music is the voice of love ;
That even to birds and beasts the tender arts
Of pleasing teaches” *.

Thus the great poet of nature elegantly expresses the
idea. This opinion, however, does not appear to be
well founded ; their language of love, their amorous
strains, consist of low, intermitted tones, accompanied
with ludicrous gesticulations, and are altogether dif-
ferent from their ordinary songs, which seem to be
occasioned by an exuberance of animal spirits, arising
from an abundance of nourishing food and an in-
crease of temperature, and by a spirit of emulation
and rivalry among the males. In confirmation of

* Thomson’s ‘Seasons,’ “ Spring.”
ON THE NOTES OF BIRDS. 43

what is here advanced, I shall observe that I have
known many instances of birds having nests after
they have entirely ceased singing, and that some
species, as the Wood-Lark, Redbreast, Wren, and Dip-
per, sing long after they have done breeding. Caged
birds also continue in song much longer than birds
at large, though they have no mates to solace and
amuse; and it is remarkable that almost any kind of
shrill continued noise is sufficient to stimulate them
to sing. That birds of the same species distinguish
each other by their notes better than by any other
circumstance, and that the songs of the males serve
to direct the females where to seek their society, as
Montagu has suggested, appears to me highly pro-
bable ; but I must differ from this ingenious naturalist
when he asserts that love is the sole cause of their
songs*. In support of this opinion he states that
the males of our Warblers, before they pair in spring,
sing almost incessantly and with great vehemence,
that from the time of pairing till the hens begin to sit
they are neither so vociferous nor so frequently heard
as before, that during the time of incubation. their
songs are again loud, but not so reiterated as at the
first, and that so soon as the young are extruded
from the eggs they cease singing entirelyf; but it

* This he does, in effect, in the Introduction to the ‘ Ornitho-
logical Dictionary,’ p. 28 and following.

+ See the Introduction to the ‘ Ornithological Dictionary,’
pp. 30, 31.
44 ON THE NOTES OF BIRDS.

may be remarked that if they are not heard so fre-
quently and earnestly after pairing as before, most
probably it is because they are occupied in attending
to the females; and I have already observed that
their amatory notes, which they chiefly use at this
period, are totally different from their ordinary songs.
When the hens are sitting, or by any accident happen
to be separated from their mates, the attention of the
latter is much less engrossed; their notes of love are
suspended, and their customary strains renewed. It
is a very mistaken notion of Montagu that the songs
of these birds cease immediately when their eggs are
hatched, as, in numerous instances, it is notorious that
they continue even for some time after the young have
left the nest. Surely it is needless to insist that it
cannot be love which prompts the young males to at-
tempt their songs so soon as they are known to do* ;
besides, it has been shown that when educated early
under other species, they sometimes possess their notes
exclusively, which would hardly be the case if love is
their only motive for singing.

For the mformation of those persons who may wish
to be acquainted with the Singing Birds found in the
neighbourhood of Manchester, I subjoin the following
catalogue.

* Young birds frequently begin to practise their songs when
only a month old.
ON THE NOTES OF BIRDS. 45

A Catalogue of Singing Birds heard in the neighbourhood of Man-
chester, with the periods at which they commence and discontinue
their Songs, taken at a mean of eleven years’ observations, com-
mencing with 1818 and terminating with 1828.

 

 

  
  
   
    
   
 
  

5 Commence} Cease
Bite: singing. | singing.
Redbreast (Sylvia rubecula) ............5 ee Jan. 2! Dec. 30
Wren (Sylvia troglodytes) * .........4. he 7 3 4
Missel-Thrush (Zurdus viscivorus) t we] 4, 24] June 5
Throstle (Turdus musicus) ....0...c00000 » 27 | Aug. 8

Hedge-Warbler (Accentor modularis) ....

Sky-Lark (Alauda arvensis) ............066. ee * 5 » 16
Chaffinch (Fringilla celebs) ... ae ay Cal ae)
Starling (Sturnus vulgaris) ... 16 | June 6
Blackbird (Turdus merula) ... March 5| July 19
Titlark (Anthus pratensis)........ jc: 2D » 18
Wood-Lark (Alauda arborea) .. » 20] Oct. 23
Greenfinch (Fringilla chloris) .. » 26] Aug. 17

Wheatear (Saxicola enanthe) ..
Linnet (Fringilla cannabina) ........

Yellow Wren (Sylvia trochilus) ..... we] 9, 12] Aug. 20
Redstart (Sylvia phenicurus) ...0..00 a » 13} July 17
Lesser Field-Lark (Anthus arboreus) .. Bo » +14 a. 29
Lesser Redpole (Fringilla linaria) ..... wey » 15 see
Goldfinch (Fringitla carduelis)........ a » 15 3 8
Whinchat (Saxicola rubetra) ... » 26 ae
Swallow (Hirundo rustica) ... 5 26 | Sept. 21
Blackcap (Sylvia atricapilla) .. » 28) July 17
Whitethroat (Sylvia cinerea) ... » 29 » 20
Stonechat (Saxicola rubicola) .......6664 » 900 « 23
Lesser Whitethroat (Sylvia curruca) .. May 1 » 12
Sedge-Warbler (Sylvia phragmitis) t .. 5 3 » 28
Pettychaps (Sylvia hortensis) .......006 es 5 6 » 14
Red-backed Shrike (Lanius collurio) .........0.00. » 20 o LF

 

 

 

 

 

* The Redbreast and Wren sing nearly at all times of the year, except
when moulting and during severe frost; and several species of birds which
cease singing about the latter end of July or the beginning of August are
sometimes heard again in autumn, when their songs are generally feeble,
imperfect, and of short continuance, like the early efforts of our Warblers
in spring.

+ The Missel-Thrush is the largest British. bird of song.

¢ In this catalogue I have omitted the Yellow Bunting, Reed-Bunting,
Golden-crested Wren, Wood-Wren, and some others, which have not uni-
formly been accounted Singing Birds.
46 ON THE NOTES OF BIRDS.

It would be difficult, nay impossible, to convey a
distinct idea of the songs of these birds by any verbal
description; indeed the delightful associations they
excite, with the adventitious circumstances of time,
distance, situation, &c., so greatly influence their effect,
that even the best imitations are utterly inadequate to
produce any thing equal to it.

Mr. Barrington, in his essay, has attempted to con-
struct a Table by which the comparative merits of
British Singing Birds may be examined ; but as he
does not appear to have formed a correct estimate of
the songs of some species, and as his Table is inac-
curate in other respects, besides being too limited, I
have endeavoured to supply one (p. 47) which will be
more comprehensive, and, I trust, less objectionable,
making, as he has done, the number 20 the point of
absolute perfection.

This long catalogue of birds, most of which, it
appears, are to be found in the immediate neighbour-
hood of Manchester, composes the feathered choir
which enlivens the pastoral scenery of England with
a rich and varied melody of song, which probably is
not surpassed in any known part of the globe.
ON THE NOTES OF BIRDS.

47

 

 

  
   
  
  
 
  
  
  
   
  
    

  

Dartford Warbler (Sylvia provincialis)t .........
Reed-Wren (Sylvia arundinaced) .......0cscceeevee

 

 

 

 

 

 

g leal, ¢

Oo 2 mle via 3
Birds, ra pele S68 als 2
Ss aso fas
Nightingale (Sylvia luscinia) .... »| 19 | 14] 19/19} 19
Redbreast (Sylvia rubecula) ..... -| 13 | 8) 14 |-16 | 17
Sky-Lark (Alauda arvensis) ... 4)19| 4) 17] 15
Blackcap (Sylvia atricapilia)..... 14|12/12] 10! 8
Pettychaps (Sylvia hortensis)..... 14} 6/14/10) 9
Wood-Lark (Alauda arborea)..... 18 | 2/17; 8] 6
Linnet (Fringilla cannabind)......00+5 10/13]; 9) 9] 11
Sedge-Warbler (Sylvia phragmitis)*.... 2/16] 2) 18] 10
Goldfinch (Fringilla carduelis) 1.00.06. 4)14] 4) 9) 11
Throstle (Turdus musicus)...... 3/12] 2}10] 5
Blackbird (Zurdus merula) iss... 8} 2) 7) 5] 5
Lesser Field-Lark (Anthus arboreus) 8) 5) 6) 4) 4
Yellow Wren (Sylvia trochilus) ....... 6| 5| 6) 4) 4
Chaffinch (Fringilla celebs) .....4+ 2);16| 1) 4] 4
Wren (Sylvia troglodytes) ......ceeccceseseee 1/19] O| 4] 4
Pied Flycatcher (Muscicapa luctuosa) .... 5) 5] 5) 4] 4
Greenfinch (Fringilla chloris) .........66++ 5} 3] 4] 4] 3
Dipper (Cinelus aquaticus) ...ccccceecceees 4} 5] 3] 4] 38
Hedge-Warbler (Accentor modularis) . 3} 4] 3) 4] 4
Missel-Thrush (Turdus viscivorus) . 3/ 4{ 2) 5) 38
Swallow (Hirundo rustica) ....... 3/ 6) 2) 3] 3
Red-backed Shrike (Lanius collurio). 2]; 4] 23] 4] 2
Starling (Stwrnus vulgaris) .......00 4; 2] 2) 4] 2
Titlark (Anthus pratensis).......... 2) 3] 2] 2! 2
Shore-Lark (Anthus aquaticus) ..... 2) 2) 2) 2) 2
Whitethroat (Sylvia cinerea)....... 1} 4] O}] 4] 8
Redstart (Sylvia phenicurus) .. 1} 4] Of} 3] 3
Whinchat (Saxicola rubetra)..... w{ LT} 3] Ly] 3] 2
Siskin (Fringilla spins) ....sccccseceeseesreeseeees 1/ 4] O| 3].2
Lesser Redpole (Fringilla linaria) ........06 1 1} 4; 0] 38] 2
Wheatear (Saxicola wnanthe) .. .-| L] 8] OF 38] 2
Stonechat (Saxicola rubicola)..........06+ L| 3] -O@) 2) 2
Lesser Whitethroat (Sylvia curruca) ...... 1} 2} O} 2] 2

 

 

* Mr. Barrington has inserted the Chaflinch, Hedge-Warbler, and Reed-
Sparrow in his table, which (according to his definition of a bird’s song)
ought not to have been admitted ; indeed the notes of the Reed-Sparrow are
so mean that I am inclined to believe that he has attributed the song of the
Sedge-Warbler to this species, especially, as he remarks in a note, that, it
sings in the night, an error by no means uncommon among ornithologists ;
yet, if this be the case, he has greatly underrated it; for though harsh in tone
and hurried in manner, and though the same note is repeated frequently in
succession, it certainly possesses great variety, and is, upon the whole, rather

agreeable.

+ I have included the Dartford Warbler and the Reed-Wren on the
authority of Montagu (see the ‘ Ornithological Dictionary’ and Supplement),
but I possess no means of estimating the songs of these specics, having never

heard them.

 
48 ON THE NOTES OF BIRDS.

The following poetical description of the vernal
-chorus, with which I shall close these observations, is
from Thomson’s ‘ Seasons,’ “ Spring” :—

“Up springs the Lark,
Shrill voic’d, and loud, the messenger of morn ;
Ere yet the shadows fly, he mounted sings
Amid the dawning clouds, and from their haunts
Calls up the tuneful nations. Every copse
Deep-tangled, tree irregular, and bush
Bending with dewy moisture, o’er the heads
Of the coy quiristers that lodge within,
Are prodigal of harmony. The Thrush
And Wood-Lark, o’er the kind contending throng
Superior heard, run through the sweetest length
Of notes ; when listening Philomela deigns
To let them joy, and purposes in thought
Elate, to make her night excel their day.
The Blackbird whistles from the thorny brake ;
The mellow Bullfinch answers from the grove:
Nor are the Linnets. o'er the flowering furze
Pour’d out profusely, silent. Join’d to these,
Tnnumerous songsters, in the freshening shade
Of new-sprung leaves, their modulations mix
Mellifluous. The Jay, the Rook, the Daw,
And each harsh pipe, discordant heard alone,
Aid the full concert: while the Stock-dove breathes
A melancholy murmur thro’ the whole.”
OBSERVATIONS ON .THE CUCKOO.

——_.—__

Durine a period of more than two thousand years,
from the time of Aristotle (the father of Natural His-
tory) to the year 1788, when the excellent observations
of Dr. Jenner, so justly celebrated for the introduction
of vaccination, were published in the ‘ Transactions of
the Royal Society’ *, the history of the Cuckoo, if
it deserved the appellation, consisted of a tissue of
extravagant fables, very sparingly interspersed with
facts. It will not be necessary to particularize the
many fanciful conjectures transmitted to us by the
ancients respecting this bird, as they have been
repeatedly noticed by authors of eminence, and are
sufficiently well known to the classical ornithologist.
It may be observed, however, that so profound has
been the veneration of succeeding ages for the opi-
nions of antiquity, and so unbounded the confidence
in the accuracy of those collected by Aristotle on this
particular subject, that, notwithstanding the great
absurdity of some of them, they long continued to

* Vol, Ixxviii. pt. 2.
50 OBSERVATIONS ON THE CUCKOO.

maintain the reputation they had acquired, a few
slight additions and corrections only having been
made by more modern writers till the publication of
Dr. Jenner’s interesting discoveries ; indeed almost
the only facts in the obscure history of this singular
species which seem to have been known with any
tolerable degree of certainty, even towards the close
of the eighteenth century, were that Cuckoos appear
and disappear periodically, that the call from which
they take their name is peculiar to the male, that the
female lays her eggs in the nests of other birds, that
those birds carefully bring up the young Cuckoo
(which has a weak, plaintive chirp, and is very different
in plumage from adults), and that it is generally ob-
served to be the sole occupier of the nest. In this
state the history of the Cuckoo remained, when Dr.
Jenner, at the request of Mr. John Hunter, undertook
to investigate its habits and economy; and in the
course of his researches, which were conducted with
great care and assiduity, he discovered a number of
curious facts, scarcely less wonderful than the marvel-
lous but visionary speculations of the ancients them-
selves. The following brief abstract will serve to
convey some idea of what his skill and industry
effected.

Dr. Jenner informs us that the first appearance of
Cuckoos in Gloucestershire, where his observations
were made, is about the 17th of April. The call of
the male, which is well known, soon proclaims his
OBSERVATIONS ON THE CUCKOO. 51

arrival ; that of the female is widely different, and has
been so little attended to, that few persons are ac-
quainted with it ; it is thought, however, to bear some
resemblance to the cry of the Little Grebe.

Unlike the generality of birds, Cuckoos do not
pair ; and as their eggs are seldom met with till about
the middle of May, it is supposed that the females do
not begin to lay till some weeks after their arrival.
Cuckoos deposit their eggs in the nests of a great
variety of small birds, intrusting them to the care of
the Hedge-Warbler, Pied Wagtail, Titlark, Yellow
Bunting, Greenfinch, Whinchat, &c. Among these
they usually select the first three, but show a much
‘greater partiality to the Hedge-Warbler than to any
of the rest. The Hedge-Warbler commonly takes up
four or five days in laying her eggs, and during this
time (generally after she has laid one or two) the
Cuckoo contrives to deposit hers among the rest.
This intrusion often occasions some discomposure ; for
the Hedge-Warbler, at intervals, whilst she is sitting,
not unfrequently throws out some of her own eggs,
and sometimes injures them in such a way that they
become addled; however, she is rarely observed to
throw out or injure that of the Cuckoo. She con-
tinues to sit the same length of time as if no foreign
egg had been introduced, the Cuckoo’s requiring no
longer incubation than her own—nay, it frequently
happens that it is hatched first. The Titlark is often
selected by the Cuckoo to take charge of its off-

E2
52 OBSERVATIONS ON THE CUCKOO.

spring, but, as it is a bird less familiar than many
which have been mentioned, its nest is not so often
discovered. ;

The young Cuckoo, soon after it is extricated from
the egg, commences the extraordinary practice of
turning out its companions, which are usually left to
destruction. The mode of accomplishing this is very
curious: with the assistance of its rump and wings
it contrives to get a young bird upon its back, and
making a lodgment for the burden by elevating its
pinions, clambers backward with it up the side of the
nest till it reaches the top, where, resting for a mo-
ment, it throws off its load with a jerk, and quite
disengages it from the nest. It remains in this situ-
ation a short time, feeling about with the extremities
of its wings as if to be convinced that the business is
properly executed, and then drops into the nest again.
It frequently examines, as it were, an egg or nestling
with the ends of its wings before it begins its ope-
rations ; and the nice sensibility which these parts
appear to possess seems sufficiently to compensate for
the want of sight, of which sense it is at first desti-
tute. It is wonderful to see the extraordinary ex-
ertions of the young Cuckoo, when it is two or three
days old, if a bird be put into the nest which is too
weighty for it to lift out. In this state it seems ever
restless and uneasy; but the disposition for turning
out its companions continues to decline from the time
it is two or three till it is about twelve days old,
OBSERVATIONS ON THE CUCKOO. 53

when it usually ceases; indeed the disposition for
throwing out the egg appears to cease a few days
sooner, for the young Cuckoo, after it has been
hatched nine or ten days, will frequently remove a
nestling which has been placed in the nest with it,
when it will suffer an egg, put there at the same time,
to remain unmolested. The singularity of its shape
is well adapted to these purposes; for, different from
other newly hatched birds, its back, from the scapule
downwards, is very broad, with a considerable de-
pression in the middle, which seems formed by nature
for the design of giving a more secure lodgment to
any object that the young Cuckoo may be desirous of
removing from the nest. When it is about twelve
days old, this cavity is quite filled up, and then the
back assumes the shape common to nestling birds in
general. The same instinctive impulse which directs
the Cuckoo to deposit her eggs in the nests of other
birds, directs her offspring to throw out the eggs
and young of the owners of the nests. ‘The scheme
of nature would be incomplete without it; for it
would be extremely difficult, if not impossible, for
the small birds, destined to find support for a young
Cuckoo, to find it for their own young ones also, after
a certain period; nor would there be room for the
whole to inhabit the nest.

The eggs of the Cuckoo are remarkably small in
proportion to the size of the bird; they also vary
considerably in size, weight, and colour. It some-
54 OBSERVATIONS ON THE CUCKOO.

times happens that two are deposited in the same
nest ; and Cuckoos’ eggs are frequently hatched in
the nests of other birds, after the birds which laid
them have disappeared.

There is certainly, Dr. Jenner observes, no reason
to be assigned, from the formation of the Cuckoo,
why, in common with other birds, it should not per-
form the several offices of nidification, of incubation,
and of rearing its young. It is in every respect per-
fectly formed for collecting materials and constructing
a nest; neither its external shape nor internal struc-
ture prevent it from hatching its eggs; nor is it by
any means incapacitated for bringing food to its
young. To what cause then, he inquires, must we
attribute the singularities of this bird? May they
not be owing to the followmg circumstances ?—The
short residence it is allowed to make in the country
where it is destined to propagate its species, and the
call which nature has upon it, during that short resi-
dence, to produce a numerous progeny. The Cuckoo’s
first appearance in Gloucestershire is about the middle
of April, commonly on the 17th; its egg is not ready
for incubation till some weeks after its arrival, seldom
before the middle of May; a fortnight is taken up by
the sitting bird in hatching the egg; the young bird
generally continues three weeks in the nest before it
flies, and the foster-parents feed it more than five
weeks after that period ; so that, if a Cuckoo should
be ready with an egg much sooner than the time
OBSERVATIONS ON THE CUCKOO. 55

pointed out, not a single nestling, even of the earliest,
would be fit to provide for itself, before its parent
would be instinctively directed to seek a new resi-
dence, and would be thus compelled to abandon its
young one; for old Cuckoos take their final leave of
this country in the first week of July.

If nature had allowed the Cuckoo to stay here as
long as some other Migratory Birds which produce a
single set of young ones (as the Swift or Nightingale
for example), and had allowed it to rear as large a
number as any bird is capable of bringing up at one
time, these might not have been sufficient to answer
her purpose ; but by sending the Cuckoo from one
nest to another, it is reduced to the same state as the
bird whose nest is daily robbed of an egg, in which
case the stimulus for incubation is suspended. Of
this we have a familiar example in the common Do-
mestic Fowl. That the Cuckoo actually lays a great
number of eggs, dissection seems to prove very deci-
sively. Upon comparing the ovarium, or racemus
vitellorum, of a female Cuckoo, killed just as she had
begun to lay, with that of a pullet killed just in the
same state, no essential difference appeared: the
uterus of each contained an egg perfectly formed
and ready for exclusion; and the ovarium exhibited a
large cluster of eggs gradually advanced from a very
diminutive size to the greatest the yolk acquires be-
fore it is received into the oviduct. The appearance
of one killed on the 3rd of July was very different.
56 OBSERVATIONS ON THE CUCKOO.

In this a great number of the membranes which had
discharged yolks into the oviduct might be distinctly
traced, and one of them appeared as if it had parted
with a yolk on the preceding day. The ovarium still
exhibited a cluster of enlarged eggs, but the most
forward of them was scarcely larger than a mustard-
seed.

It plainly appears, Dr. Jenner remarks, that birds
can keep back or bring forward their eggs (under
certain limitations) at any time during the season ap-
pointed for them to lay; but the Cuckoo, not being
subject to the common interruptions, goes on laying
from the time she begins till the eve of her departure
from this country ; for, although old Cuckoos generally
take their leave in the first week of July, yet instances
are not wanting of eggs having been hatched so late
as the middle of that month.

Among the many peculiarities of the young Cuckoo,
there is one which shows itself very early. Long be-
fore it leaves the nest it frequently, when irritated,
assumes the manner of a bird of prey, looks ferocious,
throws itself back, and pecks at any thing presented
to it with great vehemence, often at the same time
making a chuckling noise like a young Hawk. Some-
times, when disturbed in a smaller degree, it makes a
kind of hissing noise, accompanied with a heaving
motion of the whole body.

Its chirp is plaintive, like that of the Hedge-
Warbler ; but the sound is not acquired from the
OBSERVATIONS ON THE CUCKOO. 57

foster-parent, as it is the same whether it be reared
by the Hedge-Warbler or by any other bird. It
never acquires the adult note during its stay in this
country.

The growth of the young Cuckoo is very rapid ;
and as it is fed for a long period by the small birds
which have the care of it, they frequently have to
perch on its back or half-expanded wing, in order
to gain a sufficient elevation to put the food into its
mouth.

There seems to be no precise time fixed for the
departure of young Cuckoos. Probably they go off
in succession as soon as they are capable of taking
care of themselves ; for though they stay here till they
become nearly equal in size and growth of plumage
to old ones, yet in this very state the care of their
foster-parents is not withdrawn from them. If they
did not go off in succession, it is probable that we
should see them in large numbers by the middle of
August; for as they are to be found in great plenty
when in a nestling state, they must then appear
very numerous, since all of them must have quitted
the nest before that time; but this is not the case,
for they are not more numerous at any season than
the parent birds are in the months of May and
June.

Such are the most important particulars which have
resulted from Dr. Jenner’s well-conducted inquiry ;
and to the accuracy of the greater part of them I
58 OBSERVATIONS ON THE CUCKOO.

can unite my testimony with that of others, though,
in a few instances, our opinions do not entirely coim-
cide.

Dr. Jenner states that Cuckoos continue to lay
regularly from the exclusion of the first egg to the
time of their departure, and supposes that they are
enabled to do so by intrusting the care of their pro-
geny to strangers, being placed by this circumstance,
he observes, in a similar situation to the bird whose
nest is daily robbed of an egg. Nowif Dr. Jenner
means to assert that birds, during the breeding-
season, can produce eggs at will, and that they may
be excited to lay in succession many more than their
usual number, by daily removing one from their
nests, he is certamly mistaken: Colonel Montagu’s
experiments*, as well as my own, decidedly prove
the contrary, both with regard to wild and domestic
birds.

As Cuckoos deposit only a single egg in the same
nest, they have been thought, by most persons, to lay
no more than one. Dr. Jenner, on the contrary,
supposes, from an examination of the ovary in a bird
which had just commenced laying, and from having
observed that Cuckoos’ eggs are occasionally laid
about the time that the old birds disappear, that they
produce a large number. With due deference to such
high authority as Dr. Jenner, I think there are suffi-

* «Ornithological Dictionary,’ Introduction, p. 10 and follow-
ing.
OBSERVATIONS ON THE CUCKOO. 59

cient reasons for believing that both these extremes
are erroneous. According to Montagu*, whose opi-
nion is founded on the dissection of breeding females,
Cuckoos lay from four to six eggs; and this is pro-
bably near the truth. In females opened when they
had just begun to lay, only four or five eggs were
usually discovered that could possibly be laid in suc-
cession, from the smallest of which to what may be
termed the secondary eggs there was a sudden break
off, not a gradual decrease in size. The scarcity
also of the eggs and young of this species, even in its
favourite haunts, tends powerfully to confirm the
opinion that Dr. Jenner has greatly overrated its
fecundity f.

It is possible that those Cuckoos which arrive early
may sometimes lay two sets of eggs during their stay
with us; but then we may safely conclude that a
considerable interval of time always elapses between
the production of the first and second sets; and it
is quite as probable that those eggs which are occa-
sionally found in July should be laid by birds which
arrive late, as by early-coming birds which produce

* ¢ Ornithological Dictionary,’ Introduction, p. 8 and follow-
ing.

+ White Moss, a bog of considerable extent, situated about
four miles to the N.E. of Manchester, is a very favourite resort
of Cuckoos; yet the turf-cutters inform me that even in the
most favourable seasons they never knew of more than five or
six eggs belonging to this species in different nests at the same
time.
60 OBSERVATIONS ON THE CUCKOO.

more than one set of eggs; for Cuckoos come and go
in succession, some individuals appearing three weeks,
or even a month, before others ; besides, it may fre-
quently happen that many females have not an oppor-
tunity of forming a connexion with the other sex till
long after their arrival: for though it is generally
asserted that Cuckoos do not pair, and hence it may
be inferred that the intercourse between the sexes
must be greatly facilitated, yet the accurate obser-
vations of my friend R. G. Baker, Esq., certainly
render this opinion doubtful. In the spring of 1523
he noticed that a pair of Cuckoos frequented the same
spot for more than a fortnight, and were so jealous of
the approach of any other bird of the same species,
that they constantly united their efforts to drive away
an intruder, and always with success. I may add
that the male was distinguished from every other in
the vicinity by the deepness of his note. This un-
questionably looks like pairing, and should, at least,
prevent a hasty decision on a point which deserves
further investigation.

Colonel Montagu, from the extraordinary fact re-
lated by Dr. Jenner of two Hedge-Warbler’s eggs,
containing living foetuses, having been found under a
young Cuckoo about a fortnight old, and from the
difficulty which he supposes Cuckoos would have in
meeting with nests in a suitable state to receive their
eggs, if they were compelled to lay them in regular
succession, conjectures that, contrary to the generality
OBSERVATIONS ON THE CUCKOO. 61

of birds, they have the power of retaining the egg in
the uterus after it is perfected, and that while it
remains there the embryo is progressively advanced
towards maturity by the internal heat of the parent’s
body*. Now, without having observed a single cir-
cumstance in the whole course of my inquiries which
at all tends to corroborate this opinion of Montagu’s,
I have discovered a curious fact which appears to
render such a supposition altogether unnecessary.
On the 5th of May, 1822, I saw a Cuckoo in the act
of watching a pair of Titlarks construct their nest.
The Larks had just commenced building, and did not
seem to be at all disconcerted at the presence of the
Cuckoo, which sat on the ground, about seven or
eight yards from the spot, attentively observing them,
and when disturbed flew away with great reluctance,
and only to a short distance. This nest, which was
on Kersal Moor, where the races are annually held,
was too distant from my residence to permit me to
examine it frequently, and to make such numerous
and minute observations as I wished; but on the
12th of May I again visited it, in the confident ex-
pectation that it would contain a Cuckoo’s egg, and I
was not disappointed. I may further remark, in con-
firmation of this discovery, which, by exhibiting a
curious and hitherto unnoticed instinctive propensity
of this bird, forms an interesting addition to its
history, that Cuckoos almost invariably deposit their

* «Ornithological Dictionary,’ Introduction, p. 15.
62 OBSERVATIONS ON THE CUCKOO.

eggs in the nests of other birds as soon as those
birds begin to lay—not unfrequently, indeed, imme-
diately after the exclusion of the first egg; and Mr.
Baker informs me that he saw the hen of that pair
of Cuckoos which he observed so closely last spring
fly directly to a Titlark’s nest as to a place with
which she was perfectly familiar, though he had never
seen her there before; and after raising her head and
looking round, as if to ascertain whether she was
noticed or not; she went and deposited her egg in the
nest before the Larks had begun to lay. From these
circumstances, and from the direct evidence of my
own senses, I consider this fact, then, as satisfactorily
established ; and it is of importance, inasmuch as it
completely obviates a difficulty which has greatly per-
plexed modern ornithologists, and which chiefly in-
duced Colonel Montagu to form his extraordinary but
gratuitous opinion respecting the power of the Cuckoo
to retain its egg till it meets with a nest im a suitable
state to receive it.

Though Dr. Jenner enumerates a variety of small
birds in whose nests Cuckoos deposit their eggs, yet
he remarks that in Gloucestershire they give a decided
preference to that of the Hedge-Warbler. In the
neighbourhood of Manchester, where Titlarks are
numerous, their nests are usually selected for that
purpose, and perhaps would be so very generally
were they equally abundant in all situations, as, from
being built on the ground, they are much more
OBSERVATIONS ON THE CUCKOO. 63

accessible to so large a bird as the Cuckoo than that
of the Hedge-Warbler, which is frequently placed in
close thorn-hedges or thick bushes. If Cuckoos laid
in the nests of large birds, their young would not be
able to dispossess their companions, and would pro-
bably soon perish for want of proper food.

It is now well known that Cuckoos, in proportion

to their size, lay remarkably small eggs, which vary
considerably both in magnitude and colour.
- The following Table exhibits the mean weight of
the Cuckoo and of several birds in whose nests it most
frequently lays; also the mean weight of their eggs,
with the ratio of the weight of each bird to that of its
egg, omitting fractions :—

 

 

. Mean weight |Ratio of birds
Birds. Mean weight of their sce to their eggs
ny Brean in grains. in weight.

Cuckoo ......0..ceeeeceeeeee 1925 55 35
TILA Re, vccaienswec nanan noes 289 35 8
Lesser Field-Lark ...... 354 37 9
Yellow Bunting ......... 412 43 9
Hedge-Warbler .. ...... 332 35 9
Pied Wagtail ............ 333 37 9

 

 

 

 

If it be admitted, as I believe it safely may, that
Cuckoos lay from four to six eggs, it will not be dif-
ficult to furnish data from which a rough estimate
may be made of the mean annual destruction occa-
sioned by young Cuckoos among small birds in
England and Wales. Early in May, before Cuckoos
have begun to breed, and before the foliage of forest-
64 OBSERVATIONS ON THE CUCKOO.

trees has been sufficiently expanded to afford them
shelter and concealment, I have known nine or ten of
these birds come in an evening to roost among the
evergreens in the plantations immediately adjoiming
our family residence; and as I am certain that all the
Cuckoos belonging to the township of Crumpsall, in
which it is situated, did not come to roost with us on
those occasions, and as it is very probable that I did
not see all which did come, I think, though the num-
ber of males is reported to exceed that of females,
that four will not be considered a high average for
the latter in Crumpsall, which contains 3,301,816
square yards, nor three too high as a general average
for an equal area, since Dr. Jenner remarks that
Cuckoos are numerous in Gloucestershire, and Colonel
Montagu states that they are plentiful in Devon-
shire* ; and I know, from my own observation, that
they are much more abundant in many parts of Lan-
cashire, Cheshire, Derbyshire, Staffordshire, Warwick-
shire, and also in Westmoreland and Cumberland,
especially in the neighbourhood of the Lakes, than
they are with us. I am informed likewise that they
are very plentiful in Yorkshire and also in the prin-
cipality of Wales. The mean number of eggs laid by
those birds which are usually selected by the Cuckoo
to provide for its progeny is five. Now, according to
Pinkerton, the area of England and Wales is 49,450
square miles, which, reduced to square yards, gives

* ‘Ornithological Dictionary,’ Introduction, p. 10.
OBSERVATIONS ON THE CUCKOO. 65

153,176,320,000. This, divided by 3,301,816 square
yards (the area of the township of Crumpsall), and the
quotient multiplied by 3 (the mean number of hen
Cuckoos for every 3,301,816 square yards), gives
139,173 (the mean annual number of female Cuckoos
that visit England and Wales), which, multiplied by 5
(the mean number of eggs laid by the Cuckoo), gives
695,865, the number of nestlings produced annually
by the mean number of females; and this product
multiplied by 5 (the mean number of eggs laid by
those birds to whose care Cuckoos usually intrust
their offspring) gives 3,479,325, the mean annual
number of nestling birds destroyed by young Cuckoos
in England and Wales. Enormous as this destruc-
tion appears to be, it is probably rather under than
overrated, and ‘when compared with that occasioned
by Cuckoos in general, or by our British species alone
in the various countries in which it breeds, it sinks
into absolute insignificance.

The injuries which so frequently happen to the
eggs of those birds in whose nests Cuckoos lay are
occasioned, as I have often proved experimentally, by
the sitting bird in attempting to accommodate herself
to eggs of different sizes. If comparatively large and
small eggs are placed in the same nest, some of the
smaller ones are generally thrown out, or rendered
addle, by the hen bird in endeavouring to arrange
them so that she may distribute nearly an equal de-
gree of warmth and pressure to all; but the larger

¥
66 OBSERVATIONS ON THE CUCKOO.

ones, which chiefly sustain her weight, and, conse-
quently, are less liable to be moved, usually remain
unmolested. When the eggs of birds are exchanged
for others of a uniform magnitude, whether larger or
smaller than their own, provided the difference is not
so great as to occasion them to be forsaken, no dis-
turbance ensues, whatever their colour may be, the
change either not being perceived or totally disre-
garded ; and the young, when extruded, are attended
with the utmost care and solicitude.

Cuckoos generally use the precaution of waiting for
the absence of small birds from their nests before
they venture to lay in them: sometimes, however,
their approach is perceived, when the owners imme-
diately make every effort to repel them, but do not
always succeed, as the following instance evinces.
On the evening of the 24th of June, 1814, I saw a
hen Cuckoo alight in a field of mowing grass, when
a pair of Titlarks attacked it with such fury that they
pulled several small feathers off it. Their loud cries
and violent gesticulations attracted the notice of
several people at work near the spot, who, by throw-
ing stones at the Cuckoo, drove it to some distance ;
however, it soon returned, and, though repeatedly
annoyed, persevered till it ultimately accomplished its
purpose by laying in the nest of the Larks. As this
bird was on the very eve of its departure (for I did
not see a single old Cuckoo that year after the 25th
of June), the case was an urgent one, and may account
OBSERVATIONS ON THE CUCKOO. 67

for its unremitted exertions. This fact proves also
how very late in the season Cuckoos’ eggs are occa-
sionally laid.

On the 30th of June, 1823, I took a young Cuckoo,
which was hatched in a Titlark’s nest, on White Moss,
on the 28th, seven days after old birds had quitted
that neighbourhood ; and this nestling, while n my
possession, afforded me an opportunity of contem-
plating at leisure the entire process of ejecting young
birds and eggs from the nest, so minutely and accu-
rately described by Dr. Jenner. I observed that this
bird, though so young, threw itself backwards with
considerable force when any thing touched it unex-
pectedly. It died on the 2nd of July, the fifth day
after it was hatched, and then weighed 318 grains.

Intelligent ornithologists have denied or doubted
the capability of young Cuckoos to eject the progeny
of their foster-parents from the nest until they are a
week or ten days old, and have acquired the use of
their eyes. This incredulity can only be accounted
for on the supposition that such observers have failed
carefully to investigate the early economy of this
species, which I have shown not only establishes the
fact called in question, but likewise renders evident
the unreasonableness of hastily rejecting phenomena
which are extraordinary or anomalous as unworthy
of belief, and of relying too exclusively on analogical
reasoning in natural history.

Young Cuckoos are so very different from adults,

¥2
68 OBSERVATIONS ON THE CUCKOO.

that they have been described by several authors as
a distinct species. In the colours of their plumage,
and in their eyes, they bear some resemblance to
young Kestrils; while the old birds, in both these
particulars, are very similar to the male Sparrow-
Hawk after the third or fourth moult. As young
Cuckoos do not acquire their mature plumage while
they remain in this country, though they are fre-
quently seen here in September, two months later
than old birds, and as they are never found in their
first feathers on their return in spring, they must
moult during their absence, which clearly proves that
they are migratory, as it is hardly possible that they
should acquire fresh feathers in a state of torpidity.
This fact is further corroborated by the early depar-
ture of the old birds, which takes place when the
temperature is approaching the maximum for the
year, and consequently when it is much higher than
at the time of their arrival; and it is evident that
they cannot become torpid with an increasing tem-
perature: indeed the young birds, which stay so long
after them, instead of displaying symptoms of debi-
lity and torpor, continue to advance progressively in
growth and vigour. Cuckoos, at a mean of fifteen
years’ observations, appear in the neighbourhood of
Manchester on the 20th of April, when the tempera-
ture of the air is 47° in the shade, and quit it on the
27th of June, when the temperature is 59°.

It has been asserted that Cuckoos sometimes incu-
OBSERVATIONS ON THE CUCKOO. 69

bate their own eggs and bring up their own young ;
but all the instances brought forward in support of
this opinion, except one, are totally undeserving of
notice, and this might have been passed over without
comment also if Dr. Darwin*, the Hon. Daines Bar-
ringtonf, and the Rev. W. Bingley} had not seemed
to consider it conclusive and incontrovertible. The
circumstance is thus related by Darwin. “As the
Rev. Mr. Stafford was walking in Glossop Dale, in
the Peak of Derbyshire, he saw a Cuckoo rise from
its nest. The nest was on the stump of a tree, that
had been some time felled, among some chips that
were in part turned grey, so as much to resemble the
colour of the bird. In this nest were two young
Cuckoos : tying a string about the leg of one of them,
he pegged the other end of it to the ground, and very
frequently for many days beheld the old Cuckoo feed
these (her young) as he stood very near them.”’ That
Mr. Stafford must have been mistaken needs scarcely
to be insisted on, since Dr. Jenner has shown that
when two young Cuckoos happen to be hatched in
the same nest, the stronger invariably turns out the
weaker. The nest which Mr. Stafford found, from
the number of young it contained, most probably
belonged to a Goatsucker, as I know that this spe-
cies, which seldom lays more than two or three eggs,

* « Zoonomia,’ vol. i. pp. 172, 173.
+ ‘ Miscellanies,’ p. 255.
+ ‘Animal Biography,’ vol. ii. pp. 299, 300.
70 OBSERVATIONS ON THE CUCKOO.

breeds in the neighbourhood of Glossop, and it might
easily be mistaken for a Cuckoo by a person not very
familiar with birds who had only an opportunity of
observing it at a distance. If this gentleman had
been a skilful ornithologist, would he not have en-
deavoured to remove every possibility of doubt in a
matter which it is evident greatly excited his interest,
by examining and describing the structure of the feet
and bill of these young birds ?

Male Cuckoos, a short time before they retire,
entirely lose their cry, and this loss is generally pre-
ceded by stammering and a difficulty of utterance.
Now as most of our Singing Birds become mute in
autumn, solely from inability to continue their songs,
as is manifest from their unavailing efforts to prolong
them, whatever occasions their silence most probably
occasions that of the Cuckoo also; and I conceive
that an efficient cause will be found in the propaga-
tion of their species and in the decrease of their food,
which, by relaxing the vocal organs, renders them
incapable of obeying the dictates of the will. The
well-known cry of the male Cuckoo is frequently
heard in the night.

Various are the modes of accounting for the pecu-
harities of the Cuckoo adopted by different writers on
the subject. Some, who have turned their attention
particularly to the anatomy of this bird, think they
have discovered a satisfactory reason for its not
hatching its own eggs in the largeness and protu-
OBSERVATIONS ON THE CUCKOO. 71

berance of its stomach, which, they hastily conclude,
must render the act of incubation difficult, if not
impracticable ; but when we consider that several
birds, as the Owl, Goatsucker, &c., whose stomachs
are in those respects similar to that of the Cuckoo, do
incubate their own eggs, the insufficiency of this
imaginary cause will be very apparent.

Buffon supposes that female Cuckoos lay their
eggs in the nests of other birds to prevent the males,
which he states occasionally prey upon eggs, from
destroying them*. The chief objection to this sup-
position arises from the deficiency of evidence in sup-
port of this charge brought against the males.

According to the ‘ Physiognomical System’ of Drs.
Gall and Spurzheim, Cuckoos transfer the care of
their progeny to strangers in consequence of the
imperfect development of certain cerebral organs,
termed by those authors organs of constructiveness
and philoprogenitiveness, whose functions are thus
necessarily circumscribed. I shall not here discuss
the merits of this system, which, notwithstanding the
ridicule that is bestowed upon it, is at least entitled
to a patient and candid investigation, but shall pro-
ceed to consider the reason assigned by Dr. Jenner
for the singularities of the Cuckoo. This gentleman
conjectures, as I have already stated, that the short
stay which Cuckoos make in this country is the true
reason why they do not bring up their own young, as

* « Histoire Naturelle des Oiseaux,’ tome sixiéme.
72 OBSERVATIONS ON THE CUCKOO.

the parent birds would be impelled, by a desire to
migrate, to quit their progeny before they were able
to provide for themselves. This hypothesis, as re-
gards the British species, certainly has an appearance
of plausibility; yet the early departure of Cuckoos
may result from their not having to provide susten-
ance for their young: in what degree it is applicable
to foreign species, of which Dr. Latham, in his
‘General History of Birds,’ enumerates about 87,
besides varieties, is an interesting inquiry which our
present very imperfect knowledge of their habits and
economy will not permit us to answer. Dr. Latham,
indeed, does not particularize more than five or six
species belonging to this extensive genus which lay
in the nests of other birds, nor more than twice that
number which bring up their own young; and of the
manners and propensities of the rest we are almost
entirely ignorant.

Tt is reported that the Cow-pen Bird (Icterus pe-
coris, Bonaparte), a species perfectly distinct from the
Cuckoos, has many of their most remarkable peculi-
arities, intrusting the care of its offspring to strangers,
and laying only one egg in the same nest.

Dr. Darwin, in ‘ Zoonomia,’ maintains that the pro-
pensities of the Cuckoo to lay in the nests of other
birds and to migrate are not instinctive, and goes so
far as to reflect upon the reasoning-powers of those
who entertain a contrary opinion. But the Doctor,
though a profound scholar and a close observer of
OBSERVATIONS ON THE CUCKOO. 73

nature, was not infallible ; and it would be easy to
point out numerous errors into which he has fallen
in his very ingenious and amusing work, especially in
the section on instinct. I shall, however, in this
instance, content myself with exhibiting the errone-
ousness of his opinions respecting the Cuckoo, which
will be best done by tracing the progress of an indi-
vidual of that species from its extrusion from the egg
till it arrives at maturity, or begins to propagate its
kind ; since an examination of its various means of
acquiring information on those subjects which are of
the greatest importance for it to know, will furnish
the surest criterion of what is due. to nature, and
what to observation and tuition. Let us suppose,
then, that a Cuckoo’s egg is hatched in the nest of a
Titlark about the middle of June. No sooner is the
young bird disengaged from the shell than a disposi-
tion to eject whatever happens to be in the nest with
it begins to manifest itself; and as young Cuckoos
increase in size and strength very rapidly, it is soon
enabled to turn out the nestling Larks, which are
suffered to perish within a few inches of the nest,
being entirely abandoned by their parents. Now, to
what cause, I would ask, must we attribute this
extraordinary propensity which shows itself so early ?
As Titlarks do not possess it, and as old Cuckoos,
after they have deposited their eggs in suitable nests,
interest themselves no further about their progeny, it
is evident that it cannot be acquired from them ; it

+
74 OBSERVATIONS ON THE CUCKOO.

must, therefore, be perfectly innate. It may be re-
marked also, that the chirp of young Cuckoos is the
same, as Dr. Jenner rightly observes, whatever the
species of their foster-parents may be; hence it fol-
lows that it is not learned from any other bird, but is
exclusively their own. After remaining in the nest
about three weeks, this young bird deserts it early in
July, and begins to acquire the use of its wings ; but
the care of the Titlarks is not entirely discontinued
till towards the middle of August, when, having ob-
tained a considerable command of wing, a desire to
migrate prompts it to leave the country. The in-
stinctiveness of this impulse one would be inclined to
believe could not admit of a doubt ; for Titlarks are
not birds of passage, and as old Cuckoos depart late
in June or early in July, it is clear that young ones
cannot derive any benefit from their experience; yet
Darwin maintains that migration among birds is as
much an acquired art as navigation is among men.
With regard to the Cuckoo, I trust that I have
said sufficient to convince every impartial inquirer
that it is actuated in this particular purely by in-
stinct ; and, reasoning from analogy, I should be led
to conclude that this is the case with all Migratory
Birds without exception. But to return to the
Cuckoo. Early in the ensuing spring it revisits the
country where it was bred, or seeks another equally
well suited to its habits and necessities. If a male
bird, its well-known cry, which is now heard for the

~~
OBSERVATIONS ON THE CUCKOO. 57

first time, and which, I need scarcely observe, cannot
have been taught to it, at once distinguishes its sex.
If a female, it is solicitous, after impregnation, to
secure a suitable asylum for its offspring ; and here,
though Darwin denies it, the operations of instinct
are most strikingly manifested. Without any pre-
vious instruction it discovers the nests of other birds,
though it constructs none itself, by watching the
birds build them; and selecting such only as from
the size of the owners and their manner of feeding
are best adapted to afford security to its eggs and
proper nourishment for its young, it lays, just when
the small birds themselves begin to lay, a single egg
in each till it has produced its appropriate number, as
if aware of the consequences which would ensue were
two or more eggs deposited in the same nest.

Having, in this hasty sketch, shown that the in-
stinctiveness of the most remarkable propensities of
the Cuckoo admits of direct proof, it follows that the
notion of the peculiarities of this extraordinary bird
being acquired must be relinquished as quite un-
tenable.

I may observe, in conclusion, that the history of
the Cuckoo, by the evident marks of design which it
displays in the admirable adaptation of means to
ends, affords a convincing proof of the existence of a
first principle of causation, the mysterious source of
all that is good and beautiful in nature.
76 OBSERVATIONS ON THE CUCKOO.

ADDITIONAL OBSERVATIONS ON THE CUCKOO.

In the ‘ Gentleman’s Magazine’ for April 1806,
two instances are recorded of young Cuckoos having
been occasionally fed by large numbers of birds of
the same species as their foster-parents. It is stated
that one of these nestlings was sometimes supplied
with nourishment by upwards of twenty. Titlarks, and
that the other frequently received similar attentions
from forty-eight Wagtails. From these facts the
writer of the article concludes that birds which have
the care of young Cuckoos are not always able to
provide them with a sufficiency of food, and that on
such occasions they procure the assistance of their
neighbours of the same kind as themselves.

Colonel Montagu, in the Supplement to the ‘ Orni-
thological Dictionary,’ calls in question the accuracy
of these observations, and conjectures that the object
of birds in thus assembling about nestling Cuckoos is
not to administer to their necessities, but to assault
and persecute them.

I have been favoured with a communication from
Mr. Eaton, of York, which places the subject under
consideration in a somewhat different light from that
in which it has been viewed by any preceding orni-
thologist. Mr. Eaton informs me that in the summer
of 1827 Captain Porter, who resides near the city of
York, discovered a Hedge-Warbler’s nest in his
OBSERVATIONS ON THE CUCKOO. 17

garden containing a young Cuckoo only, the nestling
Hedge-Warblers, all of which had been ejected by
this formidable intruder, being found dead near the
spot. The nest and its occupant were taken by the
Captain and put into a cage, which was placed on
the summit of a pole in the garden. In this situa-
tion the foster-parents speedily visited their captive
charge, and, resuming their attentions, continued to
feed it with great assiduity ; but their most strenuous
exertions failing to satisfy its increasing voracity, a
third Hedge-Warbler was induced to cooperate with
them in the arduous undertaking. As the young
Cuckoo advanced in growth a still more ample pro-
vision of food became requisite, and a Spotted Fly-
catcher lent its assistance also in supplying the urgent
demands of its appetite.

It may be here remarked that the purpose of these
birds in visiting the young Cuckoo, from the numerous
observations which were made upon them, and the
favourableness of the situation and circumstances for
ensuring accuracy, could not be mistaken.

I shall now proceed to notice the most novel and
important fact detailed in Mr. Eaton’s interesting
narration—namely, the assistance afforded by the
Spotted Flycatcher. “How,” Mr. Eaton inquires,
could a pair of Hedge-Warblers prevail upon a bird
of a different species to contribute to the support
of their supposititious offspring ?” Were the case as
the question necessarily supposes it to have been, it
78 OBSERVATIONS ON THE CUCKOO.

certainly would present a great difficulty; for the
feathered. tribes, though capable in some instances of
connecting vocal sounds with the ideas intended to
be signified by them, do not possess an artificial
language: but I am inclined to think that the Hedge-
Warblers did not intentionally exercise any influence
whatever over their coadjutor.

Nestling Cuckoos, it is well known, are extremely
clamorous when powerfully stimulated by hunger;
indeed their cry for food is so incessantly repeated on
such occasions, that it frequently leads to their dis-
covery. Now this, I believe, is the exciting cause,
which, by calling into operation the parental affections
of birds so circumstanced as to be influenced by it,
impels them to succour the young of strangers, even
when they have not been placed under their imme-
diate care ; and the most probable reason which sug-
gests itself why so many individuals of a kind are
sometimes associated together in the performance of
the same task, is that they are attracted by each
other’s calls.

The following anecdotes support these opinions.

A nestling Greenfinch was placed in the same cage
with an adult Lesser Redpole, which brought it up
with the utmost care.

Several young Sparrows, whose nest had been de-
stroyed, were put into a small basket by a lady who
pitied their helpless condition, and the basket was
then conveyed to the grass plot in front of her house.
OBSERVATIONS ON THE CUCKOO. 79

In this situation they soon became clamorous for food,
and a great variety of birds hastened to the spot,
many of which were observed to supply them with
nourishment ; but unfortunately they soon perished,
probably from a deficiency of warmth, as they had not
been hatched many days and were almost destitute
of covering.

“The sons of Mr. Lord, of Ramsey, Essex, took
four young Ravens from a nest and put them into a
waggon in a cart-shed. About the same time they
destroyed the young of a Magpie which had its nest
near the cart-shed; and the old Magpies, hearing the
young Ravens crying for food, carried them some, and
constantly fed them till they were disposed of by the
boys.” (Trans. Linn. Soc. vol. xv. p. 10.)

I have thus attempted to show, contrary to the
opinion of Montagu, that the author of the article in
the ‘Gentleman’s Magazine’ was perfectly correct in
asserting that young Cuckoos are occasionally fed by
a more than ordinary number of birds ; but that it is
erroneous to suppose that these numerous purveyors
are invariably of the same species as the foster-parents
of the Cuckoos, and that their proceedings are influ-
enced entirely by the latter.

The belief that the Cuckoo sometimes constructs
a nest and brings up its own young has been main-
tained by several intelligent naturalists, and was
entertained by that excellent zoologist Dr. Fleming,
as is evident from the following passage extracted
80 OBSERVATIONS ON THE CUCKOO.

from the remarks on that bird given in his ‘ History
of British Animals.’ “In some cases, however,” he
observes, “it appears that the Cuckoo constructs its
own nest. ‘Thus, in a manuscript of Derham’s on
Instinct, communicated by Pennant to Barrington,
it is stated that ‘the Rev. Mr. Stafford was walking
in Glossop Dale, in the Peak of Derbyshire, and
saw a Cuckoo rise from its nest, which was on the
stump of a tree that had been some time felled, so
as much to resemble the colour of the bird. In
this nest were two young Cuckoos, one of which he
fastened to the ground by means of a peg and line,
and very frequently for many days beheld the old
Cuckoo feed these her young ones.’ ”

In my observations on the Cuckoo, page 69, I have
pointed out several circumstances which completely
invalidate Mr. Stafford’s account, to which unfortu-
nately so much importance has been attached; and
it is gratifying to find that the conclusions there
arrived at are supported by Dr. Jenner, whose opinion
will command attention in the view he takes of the
subject in his ‘‘ Essay on the Migration of Birds ” *.

Another supposed instance of a Cuckoo having in-
cubated its eggs and nourished its young, which had
escaped my former researches, is given in the octavo
edition of ‘ Zoonomia’ +t, in an extract from a letter

written by the Rev. Mr. Wilmot, of Morley, near

* «Transactions of the Royal Society’ for 1824.
t See the section on “ Instinct,” p. 246 ez seq.
OBSERVATIONS ON THE CUCKOO. 81

Derby ; and as it is deserving of attention, I shall
transcribe the entire passage. “In the beginning of
July 1792,” Mr. Wilmot writes, “I was attending
some labourers on my farm, when one of them said
to me, ‘ there is a bird’s nest upon one of the coal-
slack hills; the bird is now sitting, and is exactly
like a Cuckoo. They say that Cuckoos never hatch
their own eggs, otherwise I should have sworn it
was one. He took me to the spot, it was in an
open fallow ground; the bird was upon the nest; I
stood and observed her some time, and was perfectly
satisfied it was a Cuckoo. I then put my hand to-
wards her, and she almost let me touch her before
she rose from the nest, which she appeared to quit
with uneasiness, skimming over the ground in the
manner that a hen Partridge does when disturbed
from a new-hatched brood, and went only to a thicket
about forty or fifty yards from the nest, and con-
tinued there as long as I stood to observe her, which
was not many minutes. In ‘the nest, which was.
barely a hole scratched out of the coal-slack in the
manner of a Plover’s nest, I observed three eggs, but
did not touch them. As I had labourers constantly
at work in that field, I went thither every day, and
always looked to see if the bird was there, but did
not disturb her for seven or eight days, when I was
tempted to drive her from the nest, and found two
young ones that appeared to have been hatched some

days, but there was no appearance of the third egg.
, G
82 OBSERVATIONS ON THE CUCKOO.

I then mentioned this extraordinary circumstance (for
such I thought it) to Mr. and Mrs. Holyoak, of Bid-
ford Grange, Warwickshire, and to Miss M. Willes,
who were on a visit at my house, and who all went
to see it. Very lately I reminded Mr. Holyoak of it,
who told me he had a perfect recollection of the
whole, and that, considering it a curiosity, he walked
to look at it several times, was perfectly satisfied as
to its being a Cuckoo, and thought her more attentive
to her young than any other bird he ever observed,
having always found her brooding her young. In
about a week after I first saw the young ones, one of
them was missing ; and I rather suspected my plough-
boys having taken it, though it might possibly have
been taken by a Hawk some time when the old one
was seeking food. -I never found her off her nest but
once, and that was the last time I saw the remaining
young one, when it was almost full-feathered. I then
went from home for two or three days, and when I
returned the young one was gone, which, I take for
granted, had flown. Though during this time I fre-
quently saw Cuckoos in the thicket I mention, I never
observed any one that I supposed to be the cock bird
paired with this hen.”’

This case, so circumstantially detailed and attested
by witnesses of such high respectability, certainly has
an imposing appearance; but a glance at the parti-
culars intended to establish its accuracy is sufficient
to convince every ornithologist who is familiar with
OBSERVATIONS ON THE CUCKOO. 83

the economy of the Cuckoo, that the nest discovered
by Mr. Wilmot’s labourer did not belong to a bird
of that species ; indeed, from its situation and con-
tents, there can scarcely be a doubt that it was a
Goatsucker’s. We are informed by Mr. Wilmot that
in the beginning of July this nest contained three
eggs, two of which were hatched several days after
his attention was first directed to them, and that the
parental duties of the mother towards her offspring
were duly exercised till her last remaining nestling
(one having been removed by some unknown cause)
was nearly full-feathered, which could not have been
less than eighteen or twenty days from its extrication
from the egg. These, it will appear, are important
facts; for, as old Cuckoos quit this kingdom early in
July *, they plainly show that Mr. Wilmot’s observa-
tions and those of his friends must have been made
under the delusive influence of false impressions ;
and this opinion is confirmed by the peaceable
manner in which the young birds occupied the nest
while they continued together. Perhaps it may be
imagined, by those to whom the arguments already
advanced do not appear conclusive, that the maternal
affection of the parent bird induced her to remain so
much beyond the time at which adult Cuckoos usually
retire: but this hypothesis will not remove a single
difficulty ; for Mr. Wilmot expressly states that during

* Old Cuckoos depart from the neighbourhood of Manchester

on the 27th of June, at a mean of fifteen years’ observations,

G2
54 OBSERVATIONS ON THE CUCKOO.

that period he frequently saw Cuckoos in an adjoining
thicket, though he never observed any one which he
supposed to be the mate of this female. Had Mr.
Wilmot been a skilful ornithologist he would not have
failed to examine the structure of the feet and bill of
these nestlings, as he must have been well aware that
by so doing he might have completely established the
truth or fallacy of his supposition. It is almost
unnecessary to insist upon the caution with which
statements should be received from persons whose
information does not qualify them to discuss the sub-
jects upon which they write. The error into which
Mr. Wilmot has fallen, being evidently occasioned by
his imperfect acquaintance with the feathered tribes
(for it is pretty clear that he did not distinguish Goat-
suckers from Cuckoos, now that the economy of the
latter species is better understood), will probably mis-
lead none except those who are ignorant of natural
history or greatly deficient in reflection; but that so
distinguished a zoologist as Dr. Fleming should have
contributed to extend and perpetuate the mistaken
notion here controverted, by lending it the sanction
of his authority, is to be regretted.
ON THE OCCASIONAL

DESERTION OF THEIR PROGENY BY BIRDS
OF THE SWALLOW TRIBE.

gs

Tur late celebrated Dr. Jenner, in a posthumous
“Essay on the Migration of Birds,” published in the
first part of the ‘Transactions of the Royal Society’
for 1824, has briefly adverted to an extraordinary
occurrence in the domestic economy of two species of
British Hirundines, which, though far from uncom-
mon, has either been altogether overlooked or totally
disregarded by every preceding writer on ornithology
whose works I have had an opportunity of consulting.
The circumstance alluded to is the occasional deser-
tion of their last-hatched broods by the Swallow and
House-Martin. ‘This singular fact, with which I was
familiar previously to its enunciation by Dr. Jenner,
my own researches confirm and illustrate; I shall
therefore, without further prelude, proceed to state
the results obtained from them.

The Swallow appears in the neighbourhood of
Manchester on the 15th of April, and the House-
Martin on the 25th of the same month, at a mean of
86 REMARKS ON THE

fifteen years’ observations ; but as these birds do not
pair immediately on their arrival, and as they gene-
rally produce two and sometimes even three broods
in a season, it frequently happens that individuals
have nestlings in October, the period at which the
great body of their species withdraw from this
country *. Many of these young birds, from imabi-
lity to accompany their congeners in their autumnal
flight, are compelled to remain behind ; and some of
the most vigorous of them may occasionally be seen,
in favourable situations, lingering about till the close
of November, endeavouring to obtain a scanty sub-
sistence. As the temperature of the atmosphere de-
creases, however, the insects they prey upon gradually
diminish, till at last their utmost exertions to procure
a sufficient supply of food are unavailing ; they then
speedily become enfeebled, and concealing themselves,
as is usual in such emergencies, numbers undoubtedly
perish from exhaustion. A few accidental discoveries
of birds thus situated, before the vital principle has
been quite extinct, may very possibly have given rise
to the opinion that European Swallows pass the winter
season in a state of torpidity.

It did not come to my knowledge that these late
broods are sometimes deserted by the parent birds,
before they are capable of providing for themselves,
till the spring of 1821; when a pair of House-Mar-

* At Tarvin in Cheshire, in 1819, I saw a pair of House-Mar-
tins feeding their unfledged young on the 20th of October.
SWALLOW TRIBE. 87

tins, after taking possession of a nest which had been
constructed in the preceding summer, drew out the
dried bodies of three nearly full-fledged nestlings
which had perished in it, preparatory to appropriating
it to their own purposes. About the same time, and
near the same spot, a similar attempt was made by
another pair of House-Martins; but all their efforts
to dislodge the young proving ineffectual, they en-
tirely closed up the aperture with clay, and so con-
verted the nest into a sepulchre.

At first I was disposed to attribute the untimely
fate of the nestlings thus unexpectedly discovered to
the accidental destruction of one or both of their
_, parents; but a little reflection induced me to change
my opinion. So many instances were called to mind
of the sudden departure of House-Martins, at periods
when, to all appearance, they were most busily en-
gaged in providing for their families, that what before
was regarded as the unavoidable consequence of a
fortuitous circumstance, I now began to suspect might
be occasioned by a voluntary act of desertion.

In order to clear up this doubtful point, an exa-
mination of a considerable number of Swallows’ and
House-Martins’ nests was immediately resolved
upon; but, as the breeding-season had then com-
menced, it was deemed advisable, on more mature
deliberation, to defer the undertaking until its ter-
mination: accordingly the search was postponed to
the 27th of October, when, on being carried into
85 REMARKS ON THE

effect, several nests of both kinds were found to con-
tain dead young ones. Satisfied that a fact of such
frequent occurrence could not, with any degree of
probability, be ascribed to accident, and convinced
that the intentional desertion of their progeny by the
parent birds afforded the only adequate explanation
of it which was admissible, no further inquiry into
the matter took place till November 1825. On the
19th of that month, an fntelligent person, to whom I
am indebted for numerous interesting communica-
tions relative to the natural productions of the neigh-
bourhood in which he resides, assured me the sus-
picion I had formerly intimated to him, that House-
Martins frequently leave their last-hatched broods to
die of hunger in the nest, was perfectly well founded.
Having narrowly watched the proceedings of those
birds, many of which breed annually under the eaves
of a large barn situated near his house in the chapelry
of Blakeley, the result of his investigation, he informed
me, was the complete confirmation of my supposition
by the most unequivocal proof, namely that obtained
directly from personal observation of the fact ; and
he did not doubt, he remarked, that dead nestlings
might then be procured in abundance, if I would
take the trouble to have the nests at the barn exa-
mined. This suggestion was acted upon without
delay : repairing directly to the place, a ladder was
quickly provided, and fourteen nests underwent a
careful inspection ; of these, five were found to con-
SWALLOW TRIBE. 89

tain dead nestlings of various sizes*, and from another
two eggs were taken, whose contents very evidently
showed that they had been forsaken when on the
point of being hatched. The nestlings collected on
this occasion did not, it is true, exceed ten, which
may be thought few when compared with the number
of nests they occupied; but the second and third
sets of eggs produced by those House-Martins which
lay several times in a season, it should be recollected,
only average three and two respectively ; and even
these may not all be prolific.

The Sand-Martin, I believe, has never been sus-
pected of forsaking its progeny; yet, that it some-
times does abandon them, I have clearly ascertained
by repeated inspections of the nests of that species
during the winter months.

Whether the Swift, whose general habits are so
dissimilar to those of the British Hirundines, ever
deserts its young, I have not been able to determine,
as it is rather a scarce bird in the neighbourhood of
Manchester, and usually builds its nest in situations
to which I have no access. That this may sometimes
happen, however, in cases of extreme urgency, seems
probable from an anecdote related by Mr. White in

* The extremely flattened appearance of some of these young
birds, especially the smaller ones, which I was quite unable to
account for, greatly excited my attention. I soon learned, how-
ever, that it was occasioned by the pressure of the Sparrows
which every night took up their lodgings in the nests.
90 REMARKS ON THE

his ‘Natural History of Selborne,’ letter 52. “I
have just met with a circumstance respecting Swifts,”
says that pleasing writer, “‘ which furnishes an excep-
tion to the whole tenor of my observations, ever
since I have bestowed any attention on that species
of Hirundines. Our Swifts, in general, withdrew
this year (1781) about the first day of August, all
save one pair, which in two or three days was re-
duced to a single bird. The perseverance of this
individual made me suspect that the strongest of
motives, that of an attachment to her young, could
alone occasion so late a stay. I watched, therefore,
till the twenty-fourth of August, and then discovered
that under the eaves of the church she attended
upon two young, which were fledged, and now put
out their white chins from acrevice. These remained
till the twenty-seventh, looking more alert every day,
and seeming to long to be on the wing. After this
day they were missing at once; nor could I ever
observe them with their dam coursing round the
church in the act of learning to fly, as the first
broods evidently do. On the thirty-first I caused
the eaves to be searched, but we found only two
callow dead Swifts, on which a second nest had been
formed.” Now, although the maternal affection of
the female bird, in the instance before us, was suffi-
ciently powerful to induce her to remain with her
young till they were capable of accompanying her in
a distant journey to a more genial climate, as is
SWALLOW TRIBE. 91

sometimes the case with House-Martins when de-
serted by their mates, yet the conduct of the male, if
it does not absolutely establish the fact that Swifts
occasionally abandon their offspring to destruction,
certainly affords strong presumptive evidence in its
favour.

The frequent desertion of their last-hatched
broods by the Swallow, House-Martin, and Sand-
Martin, which is too well authenticated to admit of a
doubt, must appear surprising to every one; but
particularly so to those who are aware how highly the
parental feelings of the feathered tribes are excited
during the breeding-season. Few people are ignorant
of the care and attention bestowed upon their
offspring by our Domestic Fowls; and that the
winged inhabitants of the fields and woods are, in
their wild state, no less attached to their progeny
than the reclaimed inmates of the poultry-yard, may
be inferred from the following examples.

Early in August, 1825, a neighbour took a young
Cuckoo out of a Titlark’s nest, and, carrying it home
with him, put it mto a cage, which he hung in a
pear-tree in his garden. The foster-parents, speedily
discovering where their nursling was confined, not-
withstanding the distance of the place from its former
abode could not be less than three quarters of a mile,
proceeded, with every demonstration of delight, to
supply its immediate wants, and continued to provide
it with food till it was unfortunately killed by a cat,
92 REMARKS ON THE

though there never was the least probability that it
would be restored to liberty.

A still more extraordinary account is given by
Montagu, in the Introduction to the ‘ Ornithological
Dictionary,’ p. 33 and following, of some Golden-
crested Wrens, which were brought up in captivity
by the parent birds. The narrator took the nest, he
informs us, when the young were about six days old,
and, putting it in a small basket, enticed the old
ones by degrees to his study window. After allow-
ing them sufficient time to become familiar with
that situation, he placed the basket within the win-
dow, and then at the opposite side of the room. It
is remarkable, he observes, that, although the female
seemed regardless of danger, from her affection for
her offspring, yet the male never once ventured into
the room, though he constantly fed the young birds
while they were at the outside of the window. The
female, on the contrary, would feed them at the table
at which he sat, and even when he held the nest in
his hand, provided he remained motionless; but, on
moving his head one day, while she was on the
edge of the nest, she made a precipitate retreat,
mistook the closed for the open part of the window,
knocked herself against the glass, and fell breathless
on the floor, where she lay for some time. However,
recovering a little, she made her escape; and, in
about an hour after, he was agreeably surprised by
SWALLOW TRIBE. 93

her return, and she would afterwards frequently feed
the young while he held the nest in his hand.

The Partridge has generally been represented by
ornithologists as possessing a more than ordinary
share of affection for its offspring ; and the anecdote I
am about to relate tends greatly to corroborate this
idea. A near relation of my own * was told by the
late Rev. W. Evans, of Mayfield, near Ashburn, that,
some years since, his men, who were employed in
cutting a field of mowing grass, brought to him a
hen Partridge which they had caught on her nest.
Being desirous to save the eggs from destruction, he
ordered that they should be removed to his house,
and placed on some hay in an unoccupied room,
intending to put them under the care of a Domestic
Hen; but wishing to know whether the parent bird
would take any notice of them in that novel situation
or not, he directed that she should be set down near
them; when, to his great astonishment, she imme-
diately ran to the spot where they were deposited,
and, covering them with the utmost care, continued
to sit till they were hatched. At first she was un-
remitting in her attention to her young, many of
which were ultimately reared and set at liberty, but
her anxiety to regain her freedom evidently increased
with their growth; and, as soon as her assistance
could be dispensed with, she was suffered to make
her escape. ‘This instance is the more remarkable as

* John Blackwall, Esq., of Blackwall, Derbyshire.
94 REMARKS ON THE

the Partridge has never been known to breed in
captivity.

Ina conversation which I had with Dr. Dalton
in the summer of 1822, on the force of that im-
pulse which leads birds to sit upon their eggs with
so much patience and assiduity, he informed me
that he had removed hen Redbreasts from their
nests during the period of incubation, and that,
upon gently replacing them, they had continued to
sit as if they had not been disturbed. This experi-
ment of Dr. Dalton’s, which affords a striking in-
stance of one of the most constant and powerful
dictates of nature, self-preservation, being counter-
acted by a temporary excitation of superior energy,
I have repeated with the Redbreast, Whinchat,
Swallow, House-Martin, the Marsh, Cole, and Great
Titmice, &c., not only when they have been sitting,
but also when they have had small young ones, and
almost always with success.

These examples, to which many more might easily
be added, will be sufficient, I am persuaded, to con-
vince every unprejudiced mind that the parental
affections of the feathered tribes in general, and,
what is more immediately to the purpose, of the
Swallow and House-Martin in particular, are power-
fully excited during the breeding-season. Now,
what, we may ask, can induce the two. last-named
species and the Sand-Martin deliberately to consign
their offspring to a painful and lingering death in
SWALLOW TRIBE. 95

direct opposition to such intense feelings as these ?
The cause assigned by Dr. Jenner for conduct so
anomalous is the desire to migrate; and this desire,
he maintains, is produced by a change in the repro-
ductive system ; which, in the case of the birds under
consideration, is supposed to take place prematurely.
I say is supposed to take place ; for I do not see how
it is possible to ascertain what individuals will
desert their progeny before they carry their intention
into effect ; and after the accomplishment of the act,
no opportunity of examining the state of their in-
ternal organization can present itself: this notion,
therefore, it is pretty obvious, must have originated
in conjecture. That the sudden departure of the
Swallow, House-Martin, and Sand-Martin, under
circumstances so peculiar as those we have been con-
templating, is occasioned by the desire to migrate, I
do not dispute; but that this desire results from
certain changes which occur periodically in the con-
dition of the reproductive system seems to be quite
inadmissible. Indeed the undeniable facts that
every species of the feathered tribes, though subject
to those changes, is not migratory, and that Snipes,
Wild Ducks, &c., breed annually, and Woodcocks
occasionally, in countries where the majority of those
birds are known to sojourn during the winter only, are
so totally subversive of Dr. Jenner’s hypothesis, that
to attempt a more complete refutation of it, in this
place, would be superfluous.
96 REMARKS ON THE

It is particularly deserving of remark that the
early death which invariably terminates the sufferings
of those devoted nestlings that are abandoned by
their parents, powerfully militates against the opinion
that many of our Summer Birds of Passage, especi-
ally the Swallows, are capable of passing the winter
season in a state of torpidity; for, if this belief in
the liability of the European Hirundines to become
torpid in autumn be well-founded, how does it
happen that late-hatched broods of Swallows, House-
Martins, and Sand-Martins, when deserted, uniformly
perish, even under circumstances which are repre-
sented as rendering individuals of their species, too
young or feeble to undergo the fatigues of migra-
tion, merely dormant? The advocates of torpidity
will do well to consider this difficulty with atten-
tion ; since, if not removed, it leaves them no alterna-
tive but to renounce as untenable the doctrine they
maintain.

Since the foregoing observations were made on the
occasional desertion of their last-hatched broods by
several species of British Hirundines, a favourable
opportunity of pursuing the investigation has again
presented itself.

On the departure of the House-Martins, in Octo-
ber 1826, it was perceived that they left some broods
to perish in the nests built under the eaves of a
SWALLOW TRIBE. 97

barn, situated at the hill-top, in the chapelry of
Blakeley, the edifice being that to which I have
before alluded as a favourite haunt of those birds.
This occurrence determined me to have the nests
carefully examined ; accordingly, after procuring the
requisite assistance, a minute inspection of the whole,
twenty-two in number, took place on the 11th of
November; when, to my great surprise, thirteen
were discovered to contain eggs and dead nestlings.
With regard to the particulars, which are annexed, it
is only necessary to remark that the nests are denoted
by the progressive numbers, and that the state of
the contents, as there described, is the same in which
they were left by the parent birds.

Nests in which eggs were found.

Nests. Contents.
Nos Lewes 3 eggs, which had not been sat upon.
fae ES 1 egg, which had not been sat upon.
gi Dae 5 eggs, which had been sat upon a short time.
» 4...,.. 4eggs,which had been sat upona considerable time.
Sp DG ens 3 eggs, on the point of being hatched.
Total ..16
98 REMARKS ON THE

Nests in which young birds were found.

Nests. Contents.
NOs. Casesar 2 nestlings newly disengaged from the egg.
PN etre 3 nestlings a few days old.

+) Bisa savers 2 nestlings about a week old.

g59 VO a Sas 2 nestlings nearly half grown.

se AD ees 2 nestlings about three parts grown.

ge Dies ie 2 nestlings nearly fledged.

ae ree 5 nestlings nearly fledged.

Sab tay otses 1 nestling quite fledged.

Total. .19

From the unusual quantity of eggs and young de-
serted by the House-Martins on this occasion, it may
be inferred that the desire to perpetuate their species
was protracted, in a more than ordinary number of
individuals, to the termination of their stay in this
country, by the high temperature of the season*, and
the great abundance of food consequent upon it.

The circumstance of fresh-laid eggs being in several
instances forsaken, furnishes an additional argument
to those previously urged against the hypothesis
advanced by Dr. Jenner, that a premature change
uniformly takes place in the physical condition of the
reproductive system of those birds which abandon
their progeny to destruction ; for it is in the highest
degree improbable that an organic change, sufficient

* On referring to my Meteorological Journal, I find that the

mean temperature of the months of June, July, and August re-
spectively was higher in 1826 than in many preceding years.
SWALLOW TRIBE. 99

to induce a total alienation of parental affection—a
change, let it be remembered, which, in every ob-
served case, has been found to proceed gradually—
should so suddenly succeed to the extremely active
state of the system indicated by the recent produc-
tion of prolific eggs. The simultaneous departure
of both sexes also, when they desert their offspring,
which, as far as my own researches extend, appears
to occur with great regularity, is too remarkable a
a fact to be accounted for on a principle so
uncertain in its operation as that maintained by Dr.
Jenner.

A belief represented by Dr. Fleming, in his ‘ Philo-
sophy of Zoology,’ vol. ii. pp. 72 & 73, as prevalent
throughout Scotland, that Swallows are sometimes
found torpid in their nests, has, most likely, origi-
nated in the discovery of the forsaken young of the
Swallow and House-Martin (for both species are
termed Swallows indiscriminately by the multitude)
in a perishing condition or dead.

It appears from the following passage, extracted
from Pennant’s ‘ British Zoology,’ vol. ii. page 155,
that the Puffin, when placed under circumstances
similar to those which induce birds of the Swallow
tribe to desert their offspring, sometimes abandons
its progeny. “The first’ young (of the Puffin) are
hatched the beginning of July. The old ones show
vast affection towards them, and seem totally insensi-

ble of danger in the breeding-season. If a parent is
H 2
100 REMARKS ON THE SWALLOW TRIBE.

taken at that time and suspended by the wings, it
will, in a sort of despair, treat itself most cruelly, by
biting any part it can reach, and when it is loosed,
instead of escaping, will often resort to its unfledged
young. This affection ceases at the stated time of
migration, which is most punctually about the 11th
of August, when they leave such young as cannot fly
to the mercy of the Peregrine Falcon, who watches
the mouths of the holes for the appearance of the
little deserted Puffins, which, forced by hunger, are
compelled to leave their burrows.”
AN INQUIRY

INTO THE SUPPOSED

CAPABILITY OF THE PERIODICAL BIRDS
TO BECOME TORPID.

—

ORNITHOLOGISTS, in their endeavours to account for
the appearance and disappearance of the Periodical
Birds, have usually laid much stress on the supposed
capability of such birds to become torpid when ex-
posed to the influence of those atmospherical agencies
which are known to induce torpidity in hybernating
animals. Now, whether birds are or are not endowed
with the physiological property thus ascribed to
them, is a subject of considerable interest ; for if it
can be shown that on being exposed to those external
influences which occasion torpidity in animals prone
to that state of lethargy they are not similarly affected
(and such is the result obtained from the follow-
ing experiments and observations), then the con-
clusion is obvious; the migration of the Periodical
Birds must be regarded as an established fact.
Instances of young Cuckoos having been occasion-
ally preserved alive through the winter are on record,
102 ON THE SUPPOSED CAPABILITY OF THE

and to these I am enabled to add another by the
kindness of Mrs. Warner of Crumpsall Green, near
Manchester. ‘This lady procured a nestling Cuckoo
on the 12th of July, 1842, and by skilful manage-
ment and constant attention succeeded in keeping
it in excellent health till July 1843, when it died
of inflammation caused by the negligence of the
servant who had the care of it, Mrs. Warner being
absent at the time on a visit to her sister who re-
sided at a distance. In the second week of Au-
gust the young bird began to exhibit symptoms of
restlessness, which increased to such a degree that
it was found requisite to keep it in darkness, lest the
violent efforts it made to effect an escape from
captivity should occasion its destruction. This ex-
treme agitation, which continued with short intervals
of repose through the day and night, began to
subside towards the end of the month, and ceased
altogether about the middle of September, having
been limited to the night for a short period ante-
cedent to the last date. The act of moulting,
which commenced in February, proceeded with
extreme slowness, and was never completed, though
the bird was provided with nourishing food in
abundance, and the temperature of the room in which
it was kept was not suffered to fall below 50° Fahren-
heit. Though this degree of temperature is much
lower than that of the period at which young Cuckoos
cease to appear in Britain, yet the subject of this
PERIODICAL BIRDS TO BECOME TORPID. 103

experiment never evinced the least disposition to
become torpid, but, on the contrary, at that period
(and only then) it was affected with extreme excita-
bility and restlessness, indicative of a strong desire to
change its locality.

A person named Thomas Holt brought to Crump-
sall Hall, on the Ist of July, 1826, a young Cuckoo
which he had taken about an hour before out of the
nest of a Titlark ; and at my request he undertook to
keep and treat it according to such instructions as
from time to time I should communicate to him.
This nestling, under the prescribed system of man-
agement, increased rapidly in growth and vigour ; and
as the principal object I had in view was to ascertain
whether it would become torpid on the approach of
winter or not, the cage occupied by it was placed in
a room without a fire. In the ensuing November
sharp frosts were of frequent occurrence ; the maxi-
mum temperature of the last week in that month,
indicated by a pair of Rutherford’s horizontal self-
registering thermometers, exposed to the open air in a
shady situation, was 4675, the minimum 22°, and
the mean 36°, as recorded in my meteorological
journal: but in January, 1827, the cold became
intense; the temperature descended to zero on the
night of the 4th, and the mean for the month was so
low as 34°18.

Notwithstanding the extreme severity of the season,
the young bird did not manifest the slightest symp-
104 ON THE SUPPOSED CAPABILITY OF THE

tom of torpidity; and on the 12th of January I
exhibited it at a meeting of the Literary and Philo-
sophical Society of Manchester, at which time it
was moulting, and in as good health, apparently, as
birds usually are when undergoing that process, a
minute to that effect being entered in the Journal
of the Proceedings of the Society by my friend
Mr. Peter Clare, who then officiated as secretary.
On the 18th of the succeeding February this young”
Cuckoo died very suddenly, an event occasioned, in
all probability, by exposure to severe cold; for a
Six’s self-registering thermometer, fixed in its cage
several days before, indicated that the temperature
had descended to 31°; and though the bird had
previously resisted the effects of a much lower degree
of temperature, yet it had not then made such pro-
gress in moulting, and was therefore better protected,
being more completely covered with feathers. I may
remark that in the year 1826 adult Cuckoos dis-
appeared from the neighbourhood of Manchester in
the first week of July, and that young birds of the
same species were not observed there after the ter-
mination of August.

Admitting the difficulty of proving a negative,
still I am inclined to think that the experiments
detailed above, when taken in conjunction with
others yet to be adduced, go far to establish the
opinion that birds have not any physiological tendency
to torpidity.
PERIODICAL BIRDS TO BECOME TORPID. 105

In advocating this view of the subject, I am aware
that I stand opposed to the high authority of Cuvier,
who, in treating upon the Sand-Martin (Hirundo
riparia) in the first edition of the ‘Régne Animal,’
tome 1. p. 374, asserts, with reference to its supposed
torpor, that “il parait constant quelle s’engourdit
pendant l’hiver, et méme qu’elle passe cet état au
fond de l’eau des marais ;”” and the same opinion is
reiterated by Humboldt in one of his published
works ; but as I have not an opportunity of referring
to them at present, I cannot state in which. Both
these celebrated authors, however, have omitted to
communicate the particulars which led them to this
conclusion ; and the bare assertion even of persons the
most distinguished in the annals of science cannot be
received as equivalent to direct evidence.

It has been stated that the Cuckoo, Swallow,
House-Martin, and some other species of Periodical
Summer Birds moult in the interval which elapses
between the times of their disappearance and reap-
pearance in this country (see p. 15 e¢ seg.). How
utterly irreconcilable this plain fact is with the
hypothesis of their passing that interval in a state of
torpidity needs scarcely to be insisted upon ; indeed
it is absolutely inconceivable that birds in a lethargy
so profound as that in which the animal functions
seem to be suspended should undergo a change of
plumage, when Mrs. Warner’s Cuckoo, enjoying all
106 ON THE SUPPOSED CAPABILITY OF THE

the advantages of vital energy, high temperature, and
stimulating nutriment, failed to do so.

I shall now proceed with the experiments. Three
young House-Martins were taken from a nest in the
chapelry of Blakeley, near Manchester, in September,
1827, and were kept in a room without fire. From
the 21st of the November following to the 27th
inclusive there was a continuance of inclement
weather, the maximum temperature for the period
being 47°°5, the minimum 19°, and the mean
33°:39 ; yet not the least disposition to become
torpid was apparent in the young Martins, though
they did not long survive the test to which they
had been subjected: indeed, for Periodical Birds to
suffer severely, and even to perish from cold and
hunger during their sojourn in this country, is no
uncommon case; but a lowering temperature and a
decreasing supply of food, when they pass certain
limits, are the very conditions which should induce
torpidity in them were they liable to be so affected,
and which actually do produce such a result in
animals known to be endowed with this constitutional
peculiarity.

I myself have repeatedly seen large numbers of
Swallows reduced to the necessity of alighting in
fields for the purpose of obtaining some of the insects
which a low temperature had constrained to seek
refuge among the herbage ; and so greatly were they
PERIODICAL BIRDS TO BECOME TORPID. 107

enfeebled, as almost to suffer themselves to be taken
with the hand.

Severe and long-continued frosts, especially when
accompanied with snow, often prove very fatal to the
Redwing (Zurdus iliacus); and under such circum-
stances, I have occasionally found individuals of this
species dead or in a dying state.

Numerous instances of a similar kind might be
selected from works on natural history ; but two
will suffice. I quote from “A Catalogue of the
Norfolk and Suffolk Birds, with Remarks,” by the
Rev. R. Sheppard and the Rev. W. Whitear, pub-
lished in the ‘Transactions of the Linnean Society,’
vol. xv. “The following extraordinary circumstance
in the natural history of the Swallow, which oc-
curred at Christ Church, Ipswich (the residence of
the Rev. Mr. Fonnereau), very forcibly illustrates
the unusual coldness and backwardness of the season.
‘On the mornings of the 5th and 6th of June, 1816,
the gardeners could have taken up hundreds of
these birds in their hands; they were collected in
knots, and sat on the grass in parcels of thirty and
forty. This, there is reason to believe, was owing
both to cold and hunger’ (‘Suffolk Chronicle,’
June 15th, 1816). The same summer many House-
Martins were found dead on the ground in Norfolk,
and others were so weak that the cats sprang upon
them and caught them as they flew near the ground.
A pair of these birds, which had completed a nest
108 ON THE SUPPOSED CAPABILITY OF THE

under the eaves of our house, were both found dead
in it before any eggs were laid. From the above
circumstances, birds of this kind were unusually scarce
throughout the summer.”

In the ‘Report of the Twenty-fifth Meeting of
the British Association for the Advancement of
Science, held at Glasgow in 1855,’ Trans. of the
Sections, pp. 112 & 118, some highly interesting
facts are recorded relative to the great mortality
among birds of the Swallow tribe caused by the
unusually low temperature of the 30th and 31st of
May in that year, the maximum for the period being
50°, the minimum 85°, and the mean 41°-2, as indi-
cated by a thermometer in the shade.

The author of the communication, Mr. E. J. Lowe,
states that “on the 30th of May the Swallows be-
came so tame that they flew about the legs of per-
sons, and could be caught without difficulty ; and on
the following morning most of them lay dead upon
the ground or in their own nests.

“In this neighbourhood (near Nottingham) the
greatest mortality was occasioned amongst the House-
Swallow (Hirundo rustica), yet solely because this
bird predominates.

“Near the Red-Hill Tunnel at Thrumpton
there are great numbers of Sand-Martins (//-
rundo riparia), and there, in a saw-pit on the banks
of the river Soar, hundreds congregated and died.

« At Borrowash, near the Derwent river, there are
PERIODICAL BIRDS TO BECOME TORPID. 109

very many White Martins (Hirundo urbica); they
also congregated and died, lying ten and twelve deep
on the different window-sills.

“The manner in which they congregated was a
curious feature in the occurrence. A Swallow would.
fly round a heap of dead and dying companions,
and then suddenly dart down and bury itself among
them.”

How the well-known fact that the Periodical
Summer Birds which appear in this country in
spring uniformly bear only a small proportion to
those that withdraw from observation in autumn is
to be satisfactorily explained on the supposition that
the birds in question pass the cold season in a
state of torpidity, the ingenuity of those persons
who advocate the hypothesis of hybernation must
determine.

The effects produced by variations in tempera-
ture upon the Dormouse (Myoaxus avellanarius)
and other animals whose liability to become tor-
pid is unquestionable, claim attention in the next
place.

Having obtained five healthy Dormice, I endea-
voured, at various periods in the year 1824, to
render them torpid by the employment of artifi-
cial means. Two of them were placed in a tall
cylindrical glass jar, with a supply of flax and
cotton for the construction of a dormitory; and
when they were familiar with their new residence,
110 ON THE SUPPOSED CAPABILITY OF THE

it was weighted to keep it steady, and put into a
tub containing cold water, which rose within a few
inches of its top. The temperature of the water
was further reduced by causing to be speedily dis-
solved in it finely pulverized muriate of ammonia
and nitrate of potash mixed in equal quantities,
the degree of cold produced in the glass jar being
ascertained by means of a small thermometer in-
cluded within it. Experiments of this kind were
soon perceived to be too uncertain in their results
to effect the purpose for which they were insti-
tuted ; for though the Dormice sometimes became
perfectly lethargic, yet it frequently happened that
no such consequence followed, the rapid fluctuations
in the temperature of the water, and the motion
unavoidably attendant upon the process, combining to
stimulate the animals and prevent torpidity.
Disappointed in this attempt, I resolved to rely
on the natural temperature of the atmosphere
solely ; and on suspending a cage containing two of
the Dormice in the open air, from a window having
a north aspect, whenever the thermometer was un-
usually low for the season, I had the satisfaction to
find that by this simple expedient they were ren-
dered completely torpid at intervals in every month
of the year 1824, the other three Dormice con-
tinuing quite alert on those occasions if subjected
to the influence of a high degree of temperature.
After constructing a comfortable bed of flax and
PERIODICAL BIRDS TO BECOME TORPID. 111

cotton, cn being exposed to a cold atmosphere, the
two Dormice in the cage invariably placed them-
selves in their usual posture of repose, when sleep
ensued, which gradually lapsed into torpidity, ac-
companied with all the customary symptoms, such
as decreasing circulation, respiration, temperature,
and irritability. While in a state of transition, the
respiration became intermittent, and, with the circu-
lation, ultimately ceased to be apparent. The tem-
perature of the skin slowly descended to that of the
atmosphere or nearly so, and the nervous irritability
diminished so greatly that loud and sudden sounds,
whether grave or acute, produced no sensible effect ;
punctures also with sharp instruments, and_ slight
electric shocks and sparks given by means of a
Leyden-jar and an electrophorus, merely occasioned
a degree of muscular contraction so small as scarcely
to be discerned; but the repeated application of
external stimuli causing bodily pain, exposure to a
current of hot or cold air, or to a high degree of
temperature alone, at all times prevented the animals
from becoming torpid, and when torpid speedily re-
vived them.

The Hedgehog (LZrinaceus europeus), Long-eared
Bat (Plecotus auritus), Wasp (Vespa vulgaris), Flesh-
fly (Musca vomitoria), Housefly (Musca domestica),
Peacock Butterfly (Vanessa io), and Tortoise-shell
Butterfly (Vanessa urtice), when found in winter in
a torpid state, I have frequently restored to animation
112 ON THE SUPPOSED CAPABILITY OF THE

by subjecting them to a high temperature, perfect
torpidity having been again induced on submitting
them to the requisite degree of cold.

In the year 1329 I captured several specimens of
the large aquatic Beetle Dyticus marginalis, for the
purpose of making some observations and experi-
ments relative to the structure and use of the
cup-shaped suckers with which the males have
the tarsi of the first and second pairs of legs
provided on the underside; and putting them
into an earthenware vessel containing water, I sup-
plied them during several weeks with raw flesh,
which they devoured greedily. The month of De-
cember in the same year terminated in severe
frost ; the maximum temperature of the last week
was 37°, the minimum 16%5, and the mean
28°75 ; consequently the water in the earthenware
vessel was frozen into a solid mass of ice, and it
remained in that state for some days; yet, on
being gradually thawed, the Beetles resumed, and
long continued to exercise, their customary func-
tions.

From the foregoing experiments and observations,
it appears that birds are not liable to be rendered
torpid on being exposed to the same external agency
which quickly induces torpor in various animals
known to possess a constitutional proneness to
that state of lethargy. It is obvious, therefore, that
they must differ physiologically from those animals ;
PERIODICAL BIRDS TO BECOME TORPID. 113

and Iam disposed to think that the legitimate in-
ference to be deduced from the facts is, as I have
already stated, that birds have no tendency whatever
to torpidity, which seems to result from diminished
nervous uritability, occasioned by a low degree of
temperature, more or less directly affecting numerous
important vital functions, as circulation, respiration
(and necessarily the evolution of animal heat),
digestion, secretion, assimilation, absorption, and ex-
cretion.

That the Periodical Birds which visit this country
in autumn are not rendered torpid by cold, will be
readily acknowledged, as they are known to quit the
north of Europe on the approach of winter for more
genial climates in lower latitudes; and it has been
shown that even in Britain the Redwing frequently
falls a victim to severe and protracted frosts. Why,
then, should any reluctance be felt to admit that the
Periodical Birds, whose appearance in spring is at-
tended with so many pleasing associations, retire
from this kingdom on the return of the cold season
to more southern countries, where a suitable tem-
perature and an ample supply of food are to be
found? I have endeavoured to prove by experiment
that they do not become torpid; and I may add that
a premium of five pounds a head, publicly offered for
birds in a state of perfect torpidity, when I resided
at Crumpsall Hall, failed to produce a single indivi-
dual, though, for a fifth part of the sum, I know that

I
114 ON SUPPOSED TORPIDITY IN BIRDS.

I might have been abundantly supplied with torpid
Bats and Hedgehogs.

Thus it is seen that experiment, observation, and
analogy are all in favour of the conclusion at which
I have arrived—namely, that there is no physiological
tendency whatever in birds to become torpid.
ON

THE INSTINCTS OF BIRDS..

Se

THE manners and economy of the inferior orders of
animals form one of the most interesting subjects of
investigation which can engage the attention of the
philosophic naturalist. An acquaintance with this
important but greatly neglected branch of zoology
conduces to the correction of numerous erroneous
opinions and groundless prejudices, and opens an in-
exhaustible source of valuable information and ra-
tional amusement. It throws much light also on the
operations of that mysterious agency which regulates
those actions of animated beings that, although at-
tended with consciousness, do not result from obser-
vation, instruction, experience, or reflection, and
have therefore generally been termed instinctive
actions.

When we consider how many creatures are objects
of superstitious dread or veneration, and what multi-
tudes, even in this enlightened age and country, are
sacrificed annually to mistaken notions of their mis-
chievous properties, reason and humanity are alike

12
116 ON THE INSTINCTS OF BIRDS.

shocked; and we deeply deplore the prevalence of
errors which the zealous promulgation of more cor-
rect ideas and liberal sentiments can alone effectually
remedy.

That useful bird the White Owl, which, on ac-
count of the great number of mice it destroys,
ought to be carefully protected by the farmer, is fre-
quently looked upon with terror as a forerunner of
death, which it is supposed to announce by its loud
dissonant screams ; and a small Coleopterous insect,
the Anobium tessellatum of entomologists, has ob-
tained the appellation of death-watch, from a fancied
connexion between the ticking sound it produces and
that awful event. The Raven and Magpie are ima-
gined, by persons of weak intellects and timid dispo-
sitions, to prognosticate evil; and this notion has
been extended and perpetuated by the allusions made
to it in numerous legendary tales, and in the writings
of our poets. To. take the life of the Swallow or
House-Martin, or to disturb their nests, is regarded
as an unlucky event, portending disaster to the un-
feeling aggressor ; and the Redbreast and Wren owe
much of their security to popular prepossessions
equally without any rational foundation. Many
birds which subsist almost entirely on insects (as
the Cuckoo, Redstart, and Spotted Flycatcher) are
shot by ignorant gardeners and nurserymen, indis-
criminately with those species which feed principally
on the seeds of plants and other vegetable produc-
ON THE INSTINCTS OF BIRDS. LG

tions. The Goatsucker and the Hedgehog are falsely
accused of sucking the teats of animals; and those
beautiful and harmless reptiles the Common Snake
and Blindworm are destroyed without pity, upon
the groundless supposition that they are venomous.

These are a few instances only, selected from many
that have fallen under my own observation, of the
pernicious consequences which result from an ignor-
ance of that useful portion of natural history which
at present engages our consideration.

We will now proceed to notice briefly some of the
numerous advantages to be derived from a success-
ful cultivation of that delightful study; and a cor-
rection of the above-mentioned errors and abuses,
with the needless waste of life which it would pre-
vent, is not among the least of them. For the
preservation of our persons and property from those
creatures by which they are liable to be injured, for
the best methods of promoting the increase, improv-
ing the condition, and effecting the subjection of such
as contribute to our benefit or amusement, and for
the skilful management of our valuable reclaimed
and domestic animals, which supply us with so many
comforts and luxuries, we must depend, in a great,
measure, upon our knowledge of their habits, man-
ners, and propensities. ‘To this knowledge, also, the
practical physiologist is indebted for the means of
enlarging his acquaintance with the phenomena of
life; the scientific naturalist, and particularly the
11s ON THE INSTINCTS OF BIRDS.

ornithologist, for an excellent mode of distinguishing
species, under circumstances in which the ordinary
rules for determining them are of little or no avail;
and the physico-theologist for a more comprehensive
view of the power, wisdom, and goodness of the
Creator as manifested in his living works.

Having thus succinctly adverted to the great im-
portance of accurate information in this extensive
department of zoology, I shall now limit my remarks
exclusively to the feathered tribes; and whoever
attentively considers the diversified operations of the
various active powers with which the interesting
beings that compose that pleasing division of the
animal kingdom are endowed, cannot fail to receive a
high degree of mental gratification.

It frequently happens that the experienced observer
is enabled to discriminate birds with the utmost
certainty by their notes, manner of flight, or some
other peculiarity, when he has no opportunity of pro-
curing specimens of them, or of ascertaining the
colours of their plumage. Indeed, in this last parti-
cular, distinct species, as the Yellow Wren and Lesser
Pettychaps, several of the Larks, Finches, &c., so
nearly resemble each other, and individuals of the
same species, as many of the Falcons, Gulls, Sand-
pipers, Ducks, &c., are so very dissimilar, and vary so
greatly with age, change of season, and other circum-
stances, that colour cannot always be relied upon as
affording sufficient evidence of specific identity. A
ON THE INSTINCTS OF BIRDS. 119

much surer criterion will be found in the uniformity
so conspicuous in the manners and economy of birds
of the same kind—a coincidence which can only be
accounted for by supposing that their actions are
instinctive. That this is actually the case I shall
attempt to show, though it must be admitted that
they are occasionally modified, in a considerable de-
gree, by the exercise of the intellectual faculties.

I will not occupy the time of the reader in examin-
ing the many vague and contradictory opinions
which have been entertained with regard to the
nature of instinct by the various authors who have
written on the subject, being convinced that they
are purely speculative, and tend to retard rather
than advance the progress of science. We must
not, however, pass unnoticed the sophistical doctrine,
so ingeniously maintained by Dr. Darwin, in ‘ Zoono-
mia’ *, that what is usually termed instinct in animals
has reference to the powers of intellect solely ; since
the feathered tribes, notwithstanding the highly
curious and unequivocal examples of instinctive ac-
tions which they exhibit, have furnished him with
some of his most plausible arguments in support
of it.

Depending on the assertion of Kircher, that young
Nightingales, when hatched by other birds, never sing
till they are instructed, and confiding in the remark

* See the Section on Instinct, vol. i.
+ ‘De Musurgia,’ Cap. de Lusciniis.
120 ON THE INSTINCTS OF BIRDS.

of Jonston* that the Nightingales which visit Scotland
have not the same harmony as those of Italy, Dr.
Darwin was hastily led to conclude that the songs of
birds in general are artificial. Having observed also
that poultry readily obey their usual summons to be
fed, and that young Ducks hatched under the Domestic
Hen soon appear to understand her calls, and giving
credit to the mistaken idea that Wagtails and Hedge-
Warblers feed the young Cuckoos they bring up long
after they leave the nest whenever they hear their
cuckooing (which, on the authority of Linnzus f, he
states to be their cry of hunger), he was induced to
adopt the same opinion respecting their calls. Now,
whether the song of the Nightingale results from
education, as Kircher maintains, or whether it is
wholly independent of tuition, I have never had any
direct means of deciding, as the bird is only an acci-
dental visitor in this part of the kingdom. From
unexceptionable experiments, however, made with the
greatest care on several other species of British Sing-
ing Birds, I have no hesitation in affirming that the
peculiar song of each is the natural consequence of an
instinctive impulse, combined with a suitable state of
the vocal organs. This latter condition deserves par-
ticular attention ; for it is a fact, which has been very
generally overlooked, that most of our songsters are
absolutely unable to continue their melodious strains
* Pennant's - British Zoology.
+ + Systema Nature.’
ON THE INSTINCTS OF BIRDS. 121

beyond the latter end of July or the beginning of
August, the strenuous but unavailing exertions they
make to prolong them sufficiently proving their
silence not to be a matter of choice, but of necessity.
This circumstance, together with the extreme diffi-
culty they experience in recommencing their songs
in spring, clearly demonstrates that their delightful
warblings depend upon the energy of those muscles
which contribute to form the voice—an energy which
appears to be influenced chiefly by food, temperature,
health, and the exercise of the reproductive functions ;
for by due attention to the regulation of these parti-
culars the vocal powers of caged birds may be called
into action or circumscribed at pleasure. Of this
fact, persons who have the management of breeding
Canaries may easily satisfy themselves; and female
birds in a state of captivity, when brought into high
condition, are known occasionally to assume a song
somewhat resembling that of the male. That Jonston
must have been deceived in supposing he heard the
Nightingale in Scotland is evident, as that Warbler,
it is well known, is never found north of the Tweed
in Great Britain. It has been ascertained, too, con-
trary to the opinion of Linnzus, that young Cuckoos,
before they come to maturity, utter a feeble cry only ;
they cannot, therefore, acquire the calls of their spe-
cies while they remain in this country. No wonder,
then, that the conclusion Dr. Darwin arrived at was
erroneous, when the premises on which his reasoning
is grounded are so inaccurate.
122 ON THE INSTINCTS OF BIRDS.

It is not, let me remark, intended to insinuate that
birds are incapable of attainmg any knowledge of
each other’s notes, since our Domestic Fowls, in many
instances, are certainly enabled, by observation and
experience, to connect vocal sounds with the ideas
they are designed to convey *.. The House-Martin,
also, readily learns to distinguish the Swallow’s call
of alarm; and the Ringed Plover, Sanderling, and
Dunlin, when associated together, evince, by the
promptitude and exactness with which they perform
their various aérial evolutions, that they comprehend
one general signal. All that is meant to be insisted
upon is, that the notes peculiar to every species, in a
state of nature, are instinctive. This I have endea-
voured to prove, in an essay on the Notes of Birds
(supra, p. 26), by showing that even such individuals
as are brought up im situations where they have no
opportunity of being instructed in their appropriate
notes, do nevertheless utter them naturally.

The pairing of wild birds, and the period at which
they prepare to perpetuate their species, aré deter-
mined, according to Dr. Darwin, by the acquired
knowledge that their joint labour is necessary to pro-
cure sustenance for a numerous progeny, and that

* When our Domestic Cock gives notice to his mates that he
has discovered some choice morsel of food, the Turkey-hens
always hasten to secure the delicacy, which the gallant Chanti-
cleer suffers them to take, even out of his beak, without the
least molestation.
ON THE INSTINCTS OF BIRDS. 123

the mild temperature of the atmosphere in spring is
suitable for hatching their eggs, and for producing a
plentiful supply of that nourishment which is wanted
for their young. This opinion he attempts to support
by the fact that poultry, which have an abundance of
food throughout the year, and are protected from the
inclemency of the weather, lay their eggs at any
season and never pair. But it should be recollected
that this is not the case with Pigeons placed under
‘similar circumstances, which do pair, though they
produce only two young ones at a time; and that the
Pheasant among our naturalized, and the Black Grouse
among our native birds, though they have both large
families to provide for, are, in their wild state, poly-
gamous. Indeed it is evident from the anatomical
and physiological researches of Mr. John Hunter and
Dr. Jenner that the sexual connexions of birds,
and the season at which they breed, depend upon
certain conditions of their organization, and not upon
any information derived from experience or instruction.

The propensity to propagate their species in this
class of animals is well known to be of periodical
occurrence, and dissection clearly proves that it is
always accompanied by a very perceptible alteration
in the reproductive system. Besides, reclaimed birds,
under the influence of a plentiful supply of nourishing
food, shelter from the inclemency of the weather, and
the various stimuli with which domestication is usually
attended, may be kept in this state of sexual excita-
124 ON THE INSTINCTS OF BIRDS.

tion for several years with comparatively little inter-
ruption. A check to the greatly increased activity of
the reproductive powers so induced is speedily given,
however, by a diminution of sustenance and exposure
to cold; at the same time, also, a visible change
takes place in the physical condition of the organs of
reproduction.

In the selection of their mates, the feathered tribes
are undoubtedly governed by instinct, as there is reason
to believe that different species, in a state of nature,
rarely pair together, however near their affinity or
general resemblance may be. The Rook is not ob-
served to breed with the Crow, the Titlark with the
Lesser Field-Lark or Rock-Lark, the Sedge-W arbler
with the Reed-Wren, or the Cole Titmouse with the
Marsh-Titmouse. Now, were every individual left to
the unrestrained exercise of its own discretion in a
matter of such essential importance, the utmost con-
fusion might be expected to ensue; an unprolific,
hybrid progeny would be speedily produced, and the
total extinction of many species might be -the ultimate
consequence. But the allwise Author of nature has
not suffered the reproduction of his creatures to be
liable to such a contingency, but has implanted in
the mind of each a powerful predisposition to form
sexual unions with its own kind exclusively. Thus
the evils which would unavoidably result from the
indiscriminate intercourse of various species are effec-
tually prevented.
ON THE INSTINCTS OF BIRDS. 125

It must be admitted that an intermixture of di-
stinct species does sometimes occur among our domes-
ticated birds; but this deviation from their ordinary
imstinct is rare, and may with great probability be
ascribed to a change in their organization, occasioned
by the artificial mode of life to which they have been
subjected. Now, as it is a maxim in physiology that
the exercise of every animal function is dependent
upon its appropriate material organ, any display of
new instinctive phenomena, in birds which have long
been under the control of man, may also be attri-
buted to the operation of the same physical cause.
The singular propensity of the Cropper-Pigeon to
inflate its craw with air, and the still more remark-
able disposition of the Tumbler to turn itself over
backwards when on wing, which are permanent
characters in those varieties of the Rock-Dove, being
transmitted by generation, can be satisfactorily ac-
counted for on the foregoing supposition only. How
unsafe it must always be to draw general conclusions
from the habits and propensities of Domestic Fowls
alone, whose instincts frequently undergo changes as
marked as those of their plumage, by the unnatural
state im which they are kept, needs scarcely to be
insisted on.

Dr. Darwin conjectures that birds learn how to
build their nests from observing those in which they
are educated, and from their knowledge of such things
as are most agreeable to their touch in respect to
126 ON THE INSTINCTS OF BIRDS.

warmth, cleanliness, and stability ; but the undeniable
fact that birds, when taken very young, even before
they can see, and brought up in confinement, do
sometimes construct nests, is alone sufficient to refute
this opinion..-

The Sparrow-Hawk and Kestril often make use of
the deserted habitation of the Magpie as a receptacle
for their eggs, and the Sparrow frequently takes
forcible possession of the rustic dwelling of the
House-Martin for the same purpose. Why, then,
are they never known to build nests similar to those
which they thus appropriate to themselves? and why
does not the Cuckoo, which is always brought up in
the nest of some other bird, construct one itself» *
The reason is obvious: the act of nidification is not
regulated by observation or instruction, but is under
the immediate direction of instinct.

Guided by that mysterious power, individuals of
the same species, under like circumstances, always
adhere to the same style of architecture. Thus some
of the smaller birds, which produce a large number
of eggs, constantly make the entrance to their nests
very narrow, and line the interior with an abundance
of such materials as conduct heat slowly; while the
Ring-Dove, which lays two eggs only, forms so slight
a structure that they may frequently be seen through

* T have pointed out the errors into which Dr. Darwin has
fallen in his remarks on the Cuckoo in my observations on that
bird, p. 72.
ON THE INSTINCTS OF BIRDS. 127

it. The Partridge, Land-Rail, and those birds whose
young are able to run almost as soon as they are
hatched, generally give themselves very little trouble
in providing nests for their progeny ; and some spe-
cies of Waterfowl do not make any, but deposit their
eggs in the crevices and on the projecting shelves
and ledges of lofty rocks, or upon the bare ground.
The Sociable Grosbeak builds in society under a
common roof. The Pensile, Abyssinian, and Philip-
pine Grosbeaks construct curious nests, which they
suspend from the slender twigs of trees, particularly
such as grow over water, by these means securing
ther offspring from the predatory attacks of their
numerous enemies; and the Tailor-bird frames its
temporary abode by sewing leaves together with the
flexible fibres of plants, and lining the cavity with the
lightest and softest animal or vegetable down.

It is true that, in preparing their nests, birds
occasionally accommodate themselves to some circum-
stances, and take advantage of others, in a manner
which seems to indicate a large share of intelligence.
The Wren, for example, usually adapts the exterior
of its compact fabric to the situation in which it is
placed. When built against a haystack, hay is almost
invariably made use of; and green mosses or withered
leaves and fern are employed, as green or the various
shades of brown prevail in its vicinity. Nor let it
be imagined that these substances, which from their
contiguity are often most easily procured, are selected
128 ON THE INSTINCTS OF BIRDS.

merely as a matter of convenience; for I have known
this minute bird bring long pieces of straw from a
considerable distance with much toil, and, with in-
credible perseverance, mould the stubborn material to
its purpose, solely because its colour approached that
of a garden-wall, a hole in which, occasioned by the
giving way of a loose brick, it had chosen to place its
nest in.

A lady, who kept Canaries, was obliged to separate
a young brood from their parents, having observed
that the male bird stripped off the soft feathers from
their necks and wings for the purpose of lining a
newly constructed nest with them, notwithstanding a
supply of old feathers had been put into the cage.
From this remarkable fact, for which I am indebted
to Dr. W. Henry, it is evident that Canaries do not
collect materials for their nests indiscriminately, but
that they make a selection, in which they are directed
by powers of a higher order than those of a merely
instinctive character.

Mr. White, in his ‘ Natural History of Selborne,’
page 59, informs us that in Sussex, where there are
very few towers and steeples, the Jackdaw builds
annually under ground in deserted rabbit-burrows.
The same author remarks also (pp. 175, 176) that
many Sand-Martins nestle and breed in the scaffold-
holes of the back wall of William of Wykeham’s
stables, which stands in a very sequestered enclosure,
facing a large and beautiful lake, near the town of
ON THE INSTINCTS OF BIRDS. 129

Bishop’s Waltham, in Hampshire ; and some birds, as
already represented, frequently spare their own labour
by taking possession of the nests of others.

In these instances there certainly appears to be a
great display of sagacity; yet there are facts which
seem to render it doubtful whether the feathered
tribes are capable of deriving much benefit from
experience, or of exercising any remarkable degree of
intelligence. Thus birds when engaged in the per-
formance of their parental duties expose themselves,
without hesitation, to dangers which at another period
they would carefully avoid. Many species also, while
under the incitement of appetite, are readily snared
by the most simple contrivances, directly after wit-
nessing the capture of their companions ; and Rooks
continue to breed in those rookeries where the greater
part of their young are destroyed every spring*. For
three successive seasons a pair of Redstarts persisted
in making their nest in the upper part of our pump,
on that end of the lever which is connected with
the rod of the piston, and, of course, always had it
disturbed when that engine was used. Mr. White
observest, too, that in the neighbourhood of Sel-
borne House-Martins build, year by year, in the
corners of the windows of a house without eaves,

* JT was assured by the late T. Legh, Esq., that many thousands
of young Rooks were shot every breeding-season in his extensive
rookery at Lime Park, in Cheshire.

+ ‘Natural History of Selborne,’ p. 160.
130 ON THE INSTINCTS OF BIRDS.

situated in an exposed district ; and as the corners
of those windows are too shallow to protect the nests
from injury, they are washed down every hard rain ;
yet the birds drudge on to no purpose, from summer
to summer, without changing their aspect or house.

These actions, it cannot be denied, seem to indi-
cate a more limited degree of sagacity in birds than
might be inferred from those previously spoken
of. This apparent contradiction, however, may be
easily reconciled by admitting what, in all probability,
will be thought sufficiently obvious, that the dictates
of the understanding are frequently too feeble to
resist the powerful influence of instinctive impulse.
Several examples illustrative of this view of the sub-
ject will be found interspersed through the remainder
of the essay; there is not any necessity, therefore,
for entering into a more detailed consideration of it
here.

After the business of nidification is completed,
parturition commences, which is succeeded by incu-
bation; and as birds will frequently continue to
deposit their eggs in the same nest, though all, ex-
cept one or two, should be removed as fast as they
are laid, or exchanged for others of a different size
and colour, and as they will sometimes, after having
produced their appointed number, sit upon a single
egg, on the eggs of other birds introduced for the
purpose of experiment, on artificial ones of chalk, or
even upon stones of any irregular figure, it is plain
ON THE INSTINCTS OF BIRDS. 13]

that the acts of depositing and incubating their eggs
can be ascribed to instinct only. The parental offices
of birds to their young are also regulated by in-
stinctive feeling, as is evinced by their bestowing the
same attention on the offspring of other species, when
committed to their care, as they do upon their own.
Thus the Titlark and Hedge-Warbler manifest the
warmest attachment to the young Cuckoos, their
foster-nurslings, though they suffer their own pro-
geny, ejected by the intruders, to perish from neglect
within a short distance of the nest ; and this affection
continues, with little diminution, till their suppositi-
tious offspring have nearly attained their full growth :
yet under other circumstances they would pursue and
persecute them with the utmost rancour.

The instinctive nature of these actions is likewise
satisfactorily established by the fact that birds, when
taken very young and brought up in confinement,
not only construct nests occasionally, but also lay
their eggs in them, which they will sit upon till
hatched, should they prove prolific, and will then
carefully attend to the young. An anecdote or two,
serving more fully to corroborate the opinion advanced
above, will not, it is hoped, be unacceptable.

In the beginning of May 1812, having found a
Buzzard’s nest containing a single egg, the egg was
taken and a light-coloured stone substituted for it,
over which a rat-trap was set. The Buzzard sat upon
the trap a day and night, when it was discovered

K 2
132 ON THE INSTINCTS OF BIRDS.

that the iron ring which confined the spring had not
been withdrawn. The ring was then removed, and
on visiting the nest afterwards the female was found
caught by the feet. This change of character, in so
watchful and quick-sighted a bird as the Buzzard, is
certainly very surprising, and must baffle every at-
tempt to connect it with any intellectual process.

A highly interesting anecdote, illustrative of the
attachment of the Raven to its eggs, is thus admirably
related by Mr. White* :—“ In the centre of a grove
there stood an oak, which, though shapely and tall on
the whole, bulged out into a large excrescence about
the middle of the stem. On this a pair of Ravens
had fixed their residence for such a series of years
that the oak was distinguished by the title of the
Raven tree. Many were the attempts of the neigh-
bouring youths to get at this eyry: the difficulty
whetted their inclinations, and each was ambitious
of surmounting the arduous task. But when they
arrived at the swelling it jutted out so in their way,
and was so far beyond their grasp, that the most
daring lads were awed, and acknowledged the under-
taking to be too hazardous. So the Ravens built on,
nest upon nest, in perfect security, till the fatal day
arrived on which the tree was to be levelled. It was
in the month of February, when those birds usually
sit. The saw was applied to the but, the wedges
were inserted into the opening, the woods echoed to

* «Natural History of Selborne,’ p. 6.
ON THE INSTINCTS OF BIRDS. 133

the heavy blows of the beetle or mallet, the tree
nodded to its fall; but still the dam sat on. At last,
when it gave way, the bird was flung from her nest,
and, though her parental affection deserved a better
fate, was whipped down by the twigs, which brought
her dead to the ground.”

That ardent affection which most birds feel for
their young seems to awaken their dormant energies,
and to inspire them with a degree of courage and
address that is called forth on no other occasion.
Nor is the violence of this affection, to use the
language of Mr. White, more wonderful than the
shortness of its duration. Thus every hen is, in her
turn, the virago of the yard in proportion to the
helplessness of her brood, and will fly in the face of a
dog or a sow in defence of those chickens which in
a few weeks she will drive before her with relentless
cruelty. The Partridge will tumble along before a
sportsman in order to draw away the dogs from her
helpless covey ; and a very exact observer (the Rey.
John White) has remarked, that a pair of Ravens
nesting in the rock of Gibraltar would suffer no
Vulture or Eagle to rest near their station, but would
drive them from the hill with amazing fury; and
that even the Blue Thrush, at the season of breeding,
would dart out from the clefts of the rocks to chase
away the Kestrel or the Sparrow-Hawk. Indeed, so
regardless of danger are some species while their
nestlings are small, that I have known the Redbreast,
134 ON THE INSTINCTS OF BIRDS.

Whinchat, Great Titmouse, &c., when introduced to
their nests after having been forcibly removed to a
distance from their unfledged young, remain quietly
upon them as if they had not been molested. Yet,
although this instinct, the transient effects of which
depend most likely on a temporary excitation of the
parental feelings by some physical modification of
the corporeal organs, thus for a time powerfully
predominates, its manifestations are, nevertheless, fre-
quently influenced by the active cooperation of the
intellectual faculties, as in the following examples.

“The Flycatcher,” says Mr. White*, “builds every
year in the vines that grow on the walls of my house.
A pair of these little birds had one year inadvertently
placed their nest on a naked bough, perhaps in a
shady time, not being aware of the imconvenience
that followed. But a hot sunny season coming on
before the brood was half fledged, the reflection of
the wall became insupportable, and must inevitably
have destroyed the tender young had not affection
suggested an expedient and prompted the parent
birds to hover over the nest all the hotter hours,
while, with wings expanded and mouths gaping for
breath, they screened off the heat from their suffering
offspring.”

“A further instance,” continues the same author t,
“T once saw of notable sagacity in a Willow-Wren,

* «Natural History of Selborne,’ p. 151.
+ Ibid.
ON THE INSTINCTS OF BIRDS. 135

which had built in a bank in my fields. This bird
a friend and myself had observed as she sat in her
nest, but were particularly careful not to disturb
her, though we saw she eyed us with some degree
of jealousy. Some days after, as we passed that
way, we were desirous of remarking how this brood
went on: but no nest could be found, till I hap-
pened to take up a large bundle of long green moss,
as it were carelessly thrown over the nest in order to
dodge the eye of any impertinent intruder.”

Actuated by a similar motive, old birds which
have had their young frequently handled use every
art to induce them to desert the nest as early as
possible ; and I have known the Redbreast on such
occasions take off her nestlings long before they
could make the slightest use of their wings. That
this mode of proceeding must be referred to intel-
ligence, cannot, I think, be doubted, as the danger
of allowing their progeny to remain in a state of
insecurity is evidently perceived, and the surest means
of avoiding it are deliberately adopted in consequence.

Many birds, under particular circumstances, mani-
fest a natural inclination to fight. This disposition
is remarkably conspicuous in the Ruff, the Quail, and
the Domestic Cock. That the feeling is innate and
dependent upon organization is clearly proved by the
established fact that careful breeding and training
exercise a powerful influence upon the last species
with regard to this propensity.
136 ON THE INSTINCTS OF BIRDS.

Dr. Darwin states that Pheasants and Partridges
teach their young to select and take up their food ;
and hence he seems disposed to infer that all birds
receive instruction in those particulars ; but that they
are impelled by instinct, independently of education
and experience, to exercise the functions of their
various corporeal organs, whose structure is admir-
ably adapted to the several offices they have to
perform, admits of such numerous and decisive
proofs, that it is truly amazing how a person of so
much observation as Darwin could have so entirely
overlooked them.

Those young birds which do not acquire the use
of their eyes for several days after they are hatched
open their mouths for food as soon as they are
stimulated by hunger, not only when the old ones
bring it to them, but when any thing approaches the
nest. Nestlings, too, as soon as they are grown suf-
ficiently large, mute over the edge of the nest, though
the parent birds carefully convey to a distance what-
ever drops from them that they do not succeed in
ejecting. These actions occur also when birds are
brought up in confinement, however young they may
be when taken, and therefore must be instinctive.

The Common Duck has its toes connected by a
strong membrane, which enables it to swim with
facility; and the young of that species, though
hatched under birds which instinctively avoid com-
mitting themselves to the water, rush to it with
ON THE INSTINCTS OF BIRDS. 137

avidity almost as soon as they are extricated from the
shell, notwithstanding the utmost exertions of the
foster-mother to divert them from it.

Young Swifts are rarely, if ever, observed to perch ;
and as they cannot easily be distinguished from old
ones by their flight, they must display a considerable
corhmand of wing the very first time they quit the
nest.

Many of the Gallinaceous tribe scratch up the
earth with their feet in search of food, and they will
frequently repeat this action, when fed, on a stone or
boarded floor, where it can answer no useful purpose.
Now, as they do not correct this error, it is plain
that the action itself does not originate in observation,
experience, or reflection ; neither can it be attributed
to education; nor is this particular misapplication of
it to be ascribed to the force of habit, as it may often
be observed in very young chickens which have
never associated with others of their kind. But,
what is still more to the purpose, and, indeed, deci-
sive of the general question, even Pheasants and
Partridges, as well as Ducks, Chickens, Turkeys, and
Guinea-fowls, which have been hatched by artificial
heat, possess the instincts peculiar to their respective
species, as I have had several opportunities of ascer-
taining. How young birds, by their struggles in the
egg, can at all facilitate the use of their legs, as Dr.
Darwin conjectured, is to me inconceivable, especially
when the position in which they lie is taken into con-
138 ON THE INSTINCTS OF BIRDS.

sideration. But, even supposing this notion to be
correct, it does not in the least affect the instinctive-
ness of the act, unless we conclude, with Darwin,
that instinct has nothing to do with any of those
actions which result from the repeated efforts of the
muscles under the conduct of the sensations or de-
sires—an opinion so manifestly erroneous that it does
not require a formal refutation.

The habits and manners of birds are sometimes so
greatly modified by the exercise of the intellectual
faculties, that in many cases it becomes extremely
difficult, if not impossible, to determine what is due
to their influence ; but that no small portion of intel-
ligence is exhibited in the following imstances will
scarcely be denied.

The White-headed Eagle and several of the Gulls,
which prey upon the finny inhabitants of the waters,
frequently save themselves the trouble of fishing by
robbing their more expert and less powerful congeners
of the fruits of their industry, occasionally compelling
the objects of their violence even to disgorge their

undigested food *.

* The late John James Audubon, Esq., the celebrated author
of the splendid work on ‘American Ornithology,’ informed
me that when the White-headed Eagle pursues the Fish-
Hawk or Osprey for the purpose of depriving it of its prey,
it does not, in the first instance, attempt to rise above it, as
stated by Wilson in his ‘Ornithology of the United States
of America,’ vol. iv. pp. 90 & 91, but, following it closely,
urges it from below to as great an elevation as possible,
ON THE INSTINCTS OF BIRDS. 139

The Pied and Yellow Wagtails run close to the
legs and noses of cattle which are grazing, in pursuit
of the insects disturbed by them: the same motive
also induces these and many other birds to follow the
husbandman when he is busy with the plough or
harrow ; and the Redbreast attends the gardener in
his labours, and seizes the worms which he turns up
with his spade.

Mr. White* states that the Great Titmouse in
severe weather frequents houses, and in deep snows,
as it hangs with its back downwards, draws straws
lengthwise from the eaves of those buildings which
are thatched, in order to pull out the flies that are
concealed between them; and I have seen Hooded
Crows, on the eastern coast of Ireland, after many
unavailing efforts to break with their beaks some of
the mussels on which they were feeding, fly with
them to a great height in the air, and, by letting
them fall on the stony beach, fracture their shells,
and thus get possession of the contents. Perhaps it
would not be easy to select a more striking example
of intelligence among the feathered tribes than this,
where, on one expedient proving unsuccessful after a

 

in order that when the Hawk quits its prize it may be able to
secure the fish before it reaches the water. As the Fish-Hawks
are not capable of contending individually with the White-headed
Eagle, they sometimes combine together in considerable numbers
to expel the marauder from their haunts.

* «Natural History of Selborne,’ p. 106.
140 ON THE INSTINCTS OF BIRDS.

sufficient trial had been made of it, another was im-
mediately resorted to.

Chickens, in their early attempts to catch flies and
other winged insects, show little or no address; but
repeated failures teach them to use more circum-
spection, and they soon learn to distinguish between
an active vigilant prey and the inanimate substances
on which they likewise feed. This cautiousness of
proceeding is clearly the effect of information ob-
tained by experience, and affords an example of an
instinctive power being excited to activity by the
intellect ; but a still more extraordinary instance of
acquired knowledge is given by Montagu, in the Sup-
plement to the ‘Ornithological Dictionary.’ This
gentleman observed two Crows by the sea-shore
employed in removing some small fish (the refuse of
a fisherman’s net) from the edge of the flowing tide.
They carried them, one by one, just above high-water
mark, and there deposited them under large stones
or broken fragments of rocks, after having amply
satisfied the immediate calls of hunger. Now it must
be conceded that these birds were aware that the
advancing flood would sweep away their prize unless
they conveyed it beyond the limit of its usual rise,
or their conduct is quite inexplicable. It is equally
plain that this knowledge, in the practical application
of which they manifested so much foresight and
sagacity, could be derived from observation and ex-
perience only; because if it originated in a blind
ON THE INSTINCTS OF BIRDS. 141

instinct, it would be common to every individual of
the species, and consequently often displayed ; whereas,
although I have seen hundreds of Crows feeding
in situations similar to that above described, I never
perceived any of them resort to this effectual means
of preserving their prey from the encroaching waters ;
and I believe the instance related by Montagu is soli-
tary in the records of ornithology.

This propensity to hide the food it cannot devour
is not, however, peculiar to the Crow. I have noticed
it in the Raven and Magpie; and Rooks, in the
auttimn, frequently bury acorns in the earth, pro-
bably with the intention of having recourse to them
when their wants are more urgent; but sometimes
forgetting where they have concealed them, they ger-
minate, and not unfrequently excite surprise by the
singularity of the situations in which they grow, far
distant from any trees by which they could have been
produced, and where it is very evident that they have
not been planted by man.

It may be proper to remark here, in order to ob-
viate misapprehension, that. notwithstanding the cir-
cumstances attending this seemingly provident mode
of securing a supply of food against a future occasion
sometimes afford unequivocal evidence of an intel-
ligent and discerning agent, yet the act of hiding is
induced by a purely instinctive propensity. This will
be admitted by every one who considers that the
species of birds which are remarkable for this pecu-
142 ON THE INSTINCTS OF BIRDS.

liarity practise it, however well they may be fed,
when brought up from the nest in a state of domes-
tication.

In addition to the numerous proofs of the intel-
ligence of birds already given, I may mention their
susceptibility of receiving instruction by education.
Thus Eagles, Falcons, and Hawks have been trained
to limit the effects of their instinctive propensity to
kill to a particular species of game, and to return to
the call and lure of the Falconer after having struck
down the quarry. The Cormorant, too, was formerly
employed with success in taking fish. Here, then,
not only great attachment to their keepers and much
docility of disposition are evinced by birds which are
naturally wild and voracious, but a considerable share
of memory is displayed, and a surprising degree of
control exercised over some of their most active
instincts.

Several birds of the Finch, Grosbeak, and Warbler
genera acquire the art of piping long and difficult
tunes with facility and precision; and it is well
known that some of the Parrots, and also the Jay,
Starling, Jackdaw, and Magpie, readily learn to pro-
nounce single words, and even short sentences, with
tolerable exactness. Yet, although I have had excellent
opportunities of observing the last species, and have
been almost in the daily practice of investigating its
habits, I never knew it display any unusual exertion
of its capacity for imitation in a state of nature,
ON THE INSTINCTS OF BIRDS. 143

though when domesticated it appears to have this
faculty more highly developed than almost any other
British bird.

The congregating of gregarious birds, which takes
place in autumn when they have finished breeding, is
perhaps intended to promote their mutual security, as
they are much less liable to be surprised by enemies
when associated together in large numbers than they
are when separate. What tends to strengthen this
opinion is the fact that some species provide for the
general safety by appointing sentinels to give notice
of approaching danger. This social disposition, which
(with the well-known exception of Rooks) usually
continues no longer than the next pairing-season,
seems, from the uniformity of the actions that result
from it, to be of instinctive origin, though it certainly
would be difficult to bring any direct proof that such
is the case.

In treating of the migration of birds, Dr. Darwin
observes that as all species are capable of remaining
throughout the year in those countries in which they
were bred, any departure from them must be un-
necessary, and therefore cannot be instinctive. This
reasoning, however, is extremely fallacious, inasmuch
as it restricts the operations of instinct solely to what
is necessary ; whereas we have seen that the singing
of birds and the practice of concealing their super-
fluous food, though not absolutely indispensable, are,
nevertheless, decidedly instinctive. It is, moreover,
144 ON THE INSTINCTS OF BIRDS.

built on the gratuitous assumption that several of the
Periodical Summer Birds, as the Swallow, Spotted
Flycatcher, Cuckoo, Goatsucker, &c., which feed almost
entirely on insects, and consequently would not be
able to procure a sufficient supply of nourishment
in the winter months, have the property of passing
the cold season in a state of torpidity—an hypothesis
directly at variance with well-established facts. In-
deed, how very defective and unsatisfactory the argu-
ments advanced in support of the hybernating system
are does not require insisting upon, as those who
have considered the subject impartially must be well
aware that they are almost wholly founded on the
hearsay reports of ignorant and credulous persons.
The history of the Cuckoo proves most incontro-
vertibly that the desire to migrate, in that species, is
instinctive, since nearly all the young ones brought
up annually in the north of Europe quit it without
receiving the least instruction that such a proceeding
is requisite, and without any guide to direct them in
their novel undertaking. But I forbear to dwell on
the instincts of that extraordinary bird, partly on
account of their being so very anomalous, but
chiefly because I have already considered them at
length*. The highly curious fact that the Swallow,
House-Martin, Sand-Martin, and Puffin sometimes
leave their last-hatched broods to die of hunger in the
nest, in order to accompany their species in their

* See observations on the Cuckoo, p. 49.
ON THE INSTINCTS OF BIRDS. 145

autumnal migration, is alone sufficient to establish
the instinctiveness of that inclination which can thus
overcome their parental affection—a feeling so ener-
getic as frequently to counteract one of the most
powerful laws of nature, self-preservation. No theory,
in short, which is not founded on the opinion that
birds of passage, in undertaking their annual jour-
neys, are influenced by an instinctive desire to mi-
grate, liable to be called into action by various
exciting causes, can satisfactorily account for the
remarkable phenomena which result from this perio-
dical disposition to wander.

The certainty with which the Carrier Pigeon directs
its course towards its accustomed home from distant
places where tt has never been before, after every
precaution has been taken in its conveyance to pre-
vent it from obtaining any knowledge of the way by
observation, must, as well as the act of migration, to
which it bears a striking resemblance, be hkewise
attributed to instinct*.

* Some birds, though not migratory, occasionally undertake
long journeys, in which they cross extensive tracts of water.
On the 16th of March, 1823, at noonday, my father saw, from
the deck of the ‘ Vixen,’ steam-packet, bound for Holyhead, being
then near mid-channel, about thirty Rooks winging their course
towards the Irish coast, and, almost an hour after, five others
were observed following in the same direction. The flight of
these birds was low, silent, and direct; a steady breeze from the
east was blowing at the time, and they passed within a short
distance of the vessel.

L
146 ON THE INSTINCTS OF BIRDS.

It appears, then, from the foregoing observations,
that the principal actions of birds, though liable to
be considerably modified by the operations of the
intellectual powers and changes of organization, as
well as by various external circumstances, are, con-
trary to the opinion of Dr. Darwin, decidedly of in-
stinctive origin. Many additional arguments might
be advanced, and a multitude of highly respectable
authorities quoted in support of this doctrine ; but,
conceiving that sufficient evidence has been already
produced, I shall only add that I am not aware of
any serious objection which can be urged against it.
OBSERVATIONS ON

THE PIED FLYCATCHER.

—

In directing the attention of ornithologists to a
favourite haunt of the Pied Flycatcher, I am not
without hope that some individual who has leisure
for the undertaking may be stimulated to investigate
the manners and economy of this interesting species,
with a greater degree of minuteness than has hither-
to been done. The elucidation of several doubtful
points in its history could not fail to reward his
industry, and promote the interests of natural science.

On the 8rd of June, 1828, I procured a male
Pied Flycatcher.in the woods near the ferry-house
on the western shore of Windermere, where I saw
two males and a female. The female and one of the
males had paired, and were occupied in constructing
a nest in a hole in a decayed pollard ash on the
margin of the lake. But the vicinity of Ullswater
appears to be the favourite resort of this species; as,
in walking on the Ist of June from the water-head
to Gowbarrow Old Park, on the western side of the
lake, a distance not exceeding three miles, I saw,

L2
148 ON THE PIED FLYCATCHER.

without quitting the carriage road, five males at five
separate stations, which were distinctly marked by
large pollard ashes partially decayed. To these spots
the birds were evidently much attached, reluctantly
retiring from them to a short distance when greatly
disturbed, and immediately returning again when the
cause of their alarm was removed. This circumstance
led me to suppose that they had nests; and, as I did
not observe a single female, it is probable that they
were engaged in incubating their eggs or in brood-
ing their young. The males were all in full song,
and their notes, which were sometimes, though rarely,
delivered on the wing, were lively and pleasing.
Ornithologists do not seem to be acquainted with
the extent of the vocal powers possessed by this
species. According to Dr. Latham (‘General His-
tory of Birds,’ vol. vi.), Mr. Bolton, the author of
‘Harmonia Ruralis,’ has remarked that the song of
the male, which is heard in the breeding-season, re-
sembles that of the Spotted Flycatcher, but that it is
more sprightly and energetic. The comparison is an
unfortunate one, and may have induced a belief that
the Pied Flycatcher has no song whatever, as the
spotted species is one of our most silent birds. I
am happy, therefore, in being able to claim for the
Pied Flycatcher a place among British Singing Birds.
Montagu and Latham have regarded the Pied
Flycatcher as indigenous to England: several di-
stinguished ornithologists, on the other hand, have
ON THE PIED FLYCATCHER. 149

considered it to be an occasional visitor merely :
this latter opinion, however, must be abandoned, as
it certainly breeds year by year in the woods on the
borders of Ullswater. The prevalence of the idea
that this species does not migrate may be attributed
principally to the assertion of Montagu, that it
“rarely, if ever, makes its appearance in the southern
parts of the island”’ (see the Supplement to the
‘Ornithological Dictionary’); but Messrs. Sheppard
and Whitear, in their “ Catalogue of the Norfolk and
Suffolk Birds,” published in the ‘Transactions of the
Linnean Society,’ vol. xv. part 1, state, that they
have “seen a specimen of this bird which was killed
near Cromer,” that “two others were caught by Mr.
Downes in his garden at Gunton, in Suffolk, and a
fourth was shot at Keswick, near Norwich.” Mr.
Selby, also, in his ‘ Illustrations of British Ornitho-
logy,’ informs us that he has seen specimens from
Dorsetshire ; consequently Montagu’s observation
loses much of its force ; indeed, as the habits of this
bird indicate that it preys chiefly on insects in their
winged or perfect state, there can be little doubt
that it is migratory: a sufficient reason, however,
why the fact has not been more clearly ascertained
will be found in its great rarity and partial distri-
bution. In Lancashire I have never seen this
species earlier in the year than April, nor later than
September.

T have long known that the Pied Flycatcher breeds
150 ON THE PIED FLYCATCHER.

annually in the beautiful woods near Ullswater ; but
I was not aware, before the summer of 162%, that
it is to be found in such abundance in that delight-
ful locality. Subsequently I have discovered that this
species is to be seen every summer sparingly dis-
persed throughout the entire extent of the valley of
the Conway, North Wales.

For a long series of years a pair of Pied Fly-
catchers had incubated their eggs and nurtured their
young in security in a small aperture close by the
portico to the principal entrance of my father’s resi-
dence, Hendre House, Denbighshire, undisturbed,
apparently, by the frequent passing and repassing of
its inmates. The lively effect of the well-defined and
strongly contrasted black-and-white plumage of the
male, his short but pleasant song, and the confiding
habits of both sexes rendered them objects of great
interest to all the members of the family, who did
not allow them to be molested on any pretext what-
ever. Unfortunately, on the 18th of June, 1543, a
swarm of bees discovered the aperture, which then
contained a brood of nestlings nearly fledged, and
by hurrying in and out of it and flying about the
entrance in large numbers, seemed determined to
dispossess the rightful owners. Whenever the parent
birds attempted to approach the spot for the purpose
of feeding their young, they were instantly attacked
and repelled by the excited bees, from which they
took refuge among the branches of an oak growing
ON THE PIED FLYCATCHER. 151

near, and there manifested their anxiety by notes and
actions expressive of extreme uneasiness. After having
been severely stung, the nestlings fluttered to the
mouth of the aperture and fell to the ground,
where they all perished, their bodies being much
swollen.

Towards the close of April 1844 the same pair of
birds returned to their favourite breeding-haunt, and
repeatedly visited the aperture so long occupied by
their nest; but being again assailed by the bees,
which had removed to a parallel aperture on the other
side of the portico, it is probable that the incident
recalled the destruction of their progeny in the pre-
ceding year; for they eventually deserted the place,
and selected a hole in a low stone wall by the side of
the avenue leading to the house, in which they con-
structed a nest and brought up their young.

This instance (and other cases might be adduced)
evidently tends to show that the Pied Flycatcher re-
sorts annually to the same locality for the purpose of
continuing its species, and that, like its congener the
Spotted Flycatcher, it is a very familiar bird during
the breeding-season. ‘
A BRIEF NOTICE OF

BEWICK’S SWAN.

——

From an examination of the various specimens of
Swans contained in the Manchester Museum (two
of which are Whistling Swans or Hoopers, one in
mature and the other in immature plumage, and a
third is the Cygnus Bewickii of Mr. Yarrell, de-
scribed in the ‘ Transactions of the Linnean Society,’
vol. xvi. p. 445 et seg.) I had, for several years,
strongly suspected that there are two distinct
species of the genus Cygnus which occasionally visit
this country. But, notwithstanding the comparatively
small size of the last-mentioned bird, its more clumsy
figure, and the snowy whiteness of its plumage,
which indicates maturity, in general appearance it
bears so striking ‘a resemblance to the Hooper, that
I hesitated to announce it as a new species pre-
viously to having made myself acquainted in some
measure with its habits and internal organization, no
opportunity of investigating which had hitherto pre-
sented itself.

My attention was again directed to this in-
REMARKS ON BEWICK’S SWAN. 153

teresting subject, and my former suspicion corrobor-
ated, by a remarkable circumstance that occurred
in the neighbourhood in which I formerly resided.
About half-past eight on the morning of the 10th of
December, 1829, a flock of twenty-nine Swans, mis-
taken, by many persons who saw them, for Wild
Geese, was observed flying over the township of
Crumpsall, at an elevation of about fifty yards above
the surface of the earth. They flew in a line,
taking a northerly direction, and their loud calls (for
they were very clamorous when on wing) might be
heard to a considerable distance. I afterwards
learned that they alighted on an extensive reservoir,
near Middleton, belonging to Messrs. Burton and
Sons, calico-printers, where they were shot at; and
an individual had one of its wings so severely injured
that it was disabled from accompanying its companions
in their retreat.

A short time after I had an opportunity of seeing the
wounded bird, which resembled the rest of the flock
with which it had been associated, and found, as I had
anticipated, that it was precisely similar to the small
Swan preserved in the Museum at Manchester, which,
I should state, was purchased in the fish-market in
that town.

Twenty-nine of these birds congregated together,
without a single Whistling Swan among them, is a
fact so decisive of the distinctness of this species,
especially when taken in connexion with those ex-
154 REMARKS ON BEWICK’S SWAN.

ternal characters in which it differs from the Hooper,
that I should no longer have deferred to describe it
as a new bird to ornithologists had I not been antici-
pated by Mr. Yarrell.

Of the habits and manners of this species little
could be ascertained from a brief inspection of a
wounded individual; I may remark, however, that,
when on the water, it had somewhat the air and
appearance of a Goose, being almost wholly devoid of
that grace and majesty by which the Mute Swan is
so advantageously distinguished. It appeared to be
a shy and timid bird, and could only be approached
near by stratagem, when it intimated its apprehension
by uttering its call. It carefully avoided the society
of a Mute Swan which was on the same piece of
water.

On the 28th of Febrnary, 1830, at half-past ten
A.M., seventy-three Swans were observed flying
over Crumpsall in a south-easterly direction at a
considerable elevation. They flew abreast, form-
ing an extensive line like those seen on the 10th
of December, 1529; like them, too, they were
mistaken for Wild Geese by most persons who
saw them with whom I had an opportunity of con-
versing on the subject; but their superior dimensions,
the whiteness of their plumage, their black feet, easily
distinguished as they passed overhead, and their
reiterated calls, which first directed my attention to
them, were so strikingly characteristic that skilful
‘REMARKS ON BEWICK’S SWAN. 155

orpithologists could not be deceived with regard to
the genus to which they belonged.

That these birds were not Hoopers may be safely
inferred from their great inferiority in point of size.
Now the circumstance of the small Swans associating
together in large numbers, unaccompanied by Hoopers
(the only British species with which they could be
confounded by naturalists), and the difference pointed
out by Mr. Yarrell in their internal structure are
facts which completely establish their specific di-
stinctness.

I am informed that when the Wild Swans were
shot at near Middleton, on the 10th of December,
1829, one of them was so reluctant to abandon the
bird which was wounded on that occasion, that it
continued to fly about the spot for several .hours
after the rest of the flock had departed, and that
during the whole of this period its mournful cry was
heard almost incessantly. In consequence of the pro-
tracted disturbance caused by the persevering efforts
of Messrs. Burton’s workmen to secure its unfor-
tunate companion, it was at last compelled to with-
draw, and was not seen again till the 23rd of
March, when a Swan, supposed to be the same indi-
vidual, made its appearance in the neighbourhood,
flew several times round the reservoir in lofty circles,
and ultimately descended to the wounded bird, with
which, after a cordial greeting, it immediately paired.
The newly arrived Swan, which proved to be a male
156 REMARKS ON BEWICK’S SWAN.

bird, soon became accustomed to the presence of
strangers, and when I saw it on the 4th of April, 1830,
was even more familiar than its captive mate. As
these birds were strongly attached to each other and
seemed to be perfectly reconciled to their situation,
which in many respects was an exceedingly favour-
able one, there was every reason to believe that a
brood would be obtained from them. This expecta-
tion, however, was not destined to be realized. On the
13th of April, 1830, the male Swan, alarmed by some
strange dogs which found their way to the reservoir,
took flight and did not return; and on the 5th of
September, in the same year, the female bird, whose
injured wing had recovered its original vigour, quitted
the scene of its misfortunes and was seen no more.
ON
A REMARKABLE FORMATION OF THE BILL

OBSERVED IN SEVERAL SPECIES OF BIRDS.

—~-—

Instances of extraordinary deviation from typical
forms in the structure of animated beings are highly
interesting to the physiologist, whether his attention
be directed to the influence which organic modifica-
tions exercise upon the animal economy, or to the
more abstruse investigation of the predisposing
causes of these curious phenomena. Such being the
case, a concise account of a few examples of this
nature, which have come to my knowledge, will, it is
presumed, require no apology.

A Jackdaw, killed at Bowers, in the parish of
Standon, Staffordshire, was presented, in January
1830, to the Society for the Promotion of Natural
History, established in Manchester, and is deposited
in their Museum. This bird, in the structure of its
bill, presents a form closely resembling that which
so strikingly characterizes the species constituting
the genus ZLoaia, the mandibles crossing each other
at some distance from their points, the upper one
158 ON A MALFORMATION

curving downward on the right side of the lower one,
which takes an upward direction to the left. The
preternatural elongation of the mandibles, in con-
junction with a considerable degree of curvature,
gives to this individual (which, on dissection, proved
to be a male) a peculiar physiognomical expression,
and must have contributed greatly to modify its
manner of feeding; the contents of the stomach,
however, were so changed by maceration, that it
was not possible to determine by inspection of what
they consisted. I may remark that this bird was in
excellent condition, notwithstanding the inclemency
of the season, a convincing proof that it had acquired
much expertness in the management of its singularly
formed bill.

A Rook, also preserved in the Manchester Mu-
seum, has its mandibles crossed near their extremities,
but so slightly as not to have interfered materially
with the mode of procuring food usually employed
by that species, as is clearly evinced by the denuded
state of the nostrils and the anterior part of the head,
both of which are entirely destitute of feathers. Ano-
ther specimen which was in the possession of the late
Mr. R. Wood, a zealous collector of objects in natural
history, residing in Manchester, had the mandibles
greatly elongated and much curved, as in the case of
the Jackdaw detailed above. Now it is evident that
the bird possessing a bill thus formed could not
thrust it into the ground in search of worms and
OF THE BILL OF BIRDS. 159

the larve of insects, as the Rook is known to do
habitually ; and, accordingly, the plumage at the
base of the bill of this individual, and the bristly
feathers which cover its nostrils, are very con-
spicuous, not. having sustained the slightest in-
jury.

The last instance of this anomalous structure of
the bill which has fallen under my observation
occurred in a specimen of the Red-headed Wood-
pecker (Picus erythrocephalus, Linn.) contained in
a collection of birds’ skins lately brought from the
United States of North America. In this indivi
dual the mandibles, though pretty much elongated,
are but slightly curved, the upper one, as in the
preceding cases (Mr. Wood’s Rook alone excepted,
in which the direction is reversed), crossing the lower
one on the right side. A bill so constructed must
have proved exceedingly inconvenient to a bird of this
species.

I might now proceed to speculate upon the
circumstances which contributed to produce this
phenomenon; but as my acquaintance with the
history of the birds in which I have seen it exhi-
bited is so imperfect, that any thing I could ad-
vance concerning them would be little more than
conjectural, I shall not enter into the inquiry.
ON THE NUDITY OF THE ANTERIOR PART OF

THE HEAD OF THE ROOK
(Corvus frugilegus).
os

BewIck, in treating upon the Rook in his ‘ History
of British Birds,’ vol. i. p. 71, has remarked that
he is inclined to regard the naked condition of
the base of the bill and the anterior region of the
head in this species as an original peculiarity, appar-
ently intending to intimate thereby a belief that at
no period of its existence are the parts in question
covered with feathers—a construction of the passage
which is countenanced by his having omitted to
notice the fact that young Rooks, before their first
moult, do not exhibit this deficiency of plumage.
Now as. young Rooks, when they quit the nest, have
the base of the bill and the anterior part of the head
amply provided with feathers, the question naturally
arises, how is the nudity of these parts in old birds
occasioned ?

In the year 1834, I advocated the opinion, preva-
lent among ornithologists, that the loss of the feathers
alluded to above is attributable to the habit which
NUDITY OF THE HEAD OF THE ROOK. 161

the Rook has of thrusting its bill into the ground in
search of food. An extensive examination and com-
parison of specimens had led me to observe that the
nudity extends further and is more complete in some
individuals than in others, that the more prominent
and exposed parts are first deprived of feathers, and
that short filiform processes, bearing a close resem-
blance to new feathers enveloped in membrane, fre-
quently occur on the less prominent and less exposed
parts, particularly on the flaccid skin which occupies
the angle at the base of the lower mandible. In
addition to these facts, 1 may remark that an oppor-
tunity had presented itself of inspecting a Rook
whose mandibles were so greatly curved in opposite
directions, and, consequently, so much crossed. at the
extremities, that it could not possibly thrust its bill
into the ground; and the base of that organ and the
anterior part of the head did not manifest the least
deficiency of plumage. With such evidence in its
favour, I was induced to adopt the popular hypo-
thesis, which I now abandon in consequence of
having recently proved by experiment that it is
erroneous.

Being supplied by George Davies, Esq., with two
young Rooks, taken from a nest in his rookery at
Cyffdy on the 17th of May, 1843, I put them
into a large wooden chicken-pen, purposing, when
they could take their food without assistance, to re-
move one of them to a garden enclosed with walls,

M
162 ON THE NUDITY OF THE ANTERIOR

where it might have an opportunity of employing the
means of procuring sustenance common to the species,
and to let the other remain in the pen. This plan
was frustrated by the unexpected death of one of the
young birds soon after it came into my possession ;
but the result of the experiment, as will be seen in
the sequel, was not at all affected by this untoward
circumstance. In the month of August the surviving
Rook lost only a few feathers from various parts of its
body, but did not moult regularly till July and Au-
gust, 1S414, when the feathers at the base of the bill
and on the anterior region of the head were cast off,
and were not renewed, though the bird was remark-
ably healthy and was never, on any occasion, suffered
to leave the pen fora moment. On the 20th of June,
1846, an unfortunate accident terminated its exis-
tence. It lived long enough, however, thoroughly to
establish the fact, that after the feathers are once
shed from those parts in the act of moulting they are
not renewed, as the denudation became rather more
extensive and complete after the bird had moulted a
second time in the summer of 1845, and continued
unchanged to the day of its death, affording a con-
vincing proof that this conspicuous feature in the
adult Rook, which strikingly affects its physiogno-
mical expression, must be regarded as a specific
character.

That Rooks in a state of liberty usually moult in
the autumn of the year in which they are disengaged
PART OF THE HEAD OF THE ROOK. 163

from the egg may be inferred from the fact that
although numerous individuals, whose shrill voices
evidently denote that they are young birds of the
season, may be seen in the months of June and July
with the base of the bill and anterior part of the
head abundantly supplied with feathers, yet for seve-
ral months prior to the breeding-season not one can
be perceived, at least as far as my own observations
extend, which has not those parts denuded.

From what has been stated, it is evident that the
phenomenon under consideration has a physiological,
not a mechanical cause, though the removal of the
plumage may be facilitated by the frequently re-
peated act of thrusting the bill into the ground ;
and the circumstances which seemed to support
the ‘opposite conclusion admit, for the most part,
of an easy explanation upon this view of the subject.
The difference observable in the extent and complete-
ness of the nudity at the base of the bill and the
anterior part of the head of the Rook probably
depends upon the progress which has been made in
moulting, especially among the younger birds; and
the earlier denudation of the more prominent parts’
may be occasioned by the friction consequent upon
the manner in which the bill is employed in pro-
curing food. The short filiform processes so common
on the depressed and less exposed parts present a
difficulty of which no satisfactory solution suggests
itself ; but the state of the plumage on the head of

mM 2
164 ON THE NUDITY OF THE ANTERIOR

that Rook whose mandibles were greatly crossed
may be accounted for on the supposition that it was a
young bird which had not moulted.

Had the experiment recorded by Mr. Waterton in
his ‘Essays on Natural History,’ pp. 136-139, been
successful, this question, upon which public opinion
has been so long divided, would have been settled
some years earlier; unfortunately, however, both the
young Rooks selected for the purpose of deciding it
met with untimely deaths, one before it had begun to
moult, and the other soon after it had commenced
moulting. On Mr. Waterton’s return from Bavaria,
his gamekeeper, to whose care the latter bird had
been consigned, informed him that at the period when
its existence terminated “the lower mandible had
begun to put on a white scurfy appearance, while
here and there a few feathers had fallen from the
upper one.” It is to be regretted that the issue of
this experiment was not more satisfactory, as from
the nature of the case it was impossible to determine
whether the feathers lost from the base of the bill
would be renewed or not, though feathers shed from
other parts in the act of moulting are known to be
reproduced.

The Rook visits orchards and gardens when
cherries and walnuts are ripe, for the purpose of feed-
ing on those fruits ; it also devours grain of various
kinds, and frequently commits depredations in potato-
grounds hy abstracting the newly-planted sets; but I
PART OF THE HEAD OF THE ROOK. 165

entirely concur with those naturalists who maintain
that the injuries it inflicts on the farmer and gardener
are vastly more than compensated by the benefits it

confers upon them by the destruction of noxious
insects.
REMARKS

ON

THE DIVING OF AQUATIC BIRDS.

—<—

“Tux superior velocity with which Aquatic Birds
swim under water has not wholly escaped notice ;
but it is not entirely produced by the action of the
wings, which are sometimes used as fins to accelerate
the motion, but is occasioned by the pressure of the
water above. In swimming on the surface a bird
has two motions (one upwards, the other forward)
at every stroke of the feet; so that, when covered
with water, that force which was lost by the up-
ward motion is all directed to the progressive, by
which it is enabled to pursue its prey or to escape
an enemy with incredible speed.”

Many years since, when perusing, for the first
time, the foregoing observations on the diving of
Water-fowl, contained in the Introduction to Mon-
tagu’s ‘ Ornithological Dictionary, ’pp. xxxix & xl, the
insufficiency of the author’s attempt to solve this
ON THE DIVING OF AQUATIC BIRDS. 167

problem in natural history was perceived, and I was
induced to make a few comments on the subject
in my zoological note-book. It is probable, how-
ever, that they never would have filled a more con-
spicuous situation than that which they so long oc-
cupied in its pages had not my attention been again
directed to them by Dr. Drummond’s introduction
of Montagu’s hypothesis, which is directly opposed
to the established principles of dynamics, in his inter-
esting ‘ Letters to a young Naturalist.’

It is asserted by the advocates of this hypothesis
that the action of the legs in diving not only gives
to birds a progressive motion, but also a tendency
to rise; which tendency being overcome by the
pressure of the water above them, the entire moving
force is directed in the line of the body, accelerating
thereby the velocity with which they pursue their
subaqueous course.

Now, it is a law of hydrostatics that the pres-
sure of fluids in a state of equilibrium is equal
in all directions at the same depth: whatever
obstacle, therefore, the circumstance of pressure
may present to the ascent of a bird when diving
it must also present, ceteris paribus, to its progres-
sive motion.

Moreover, it is manifest, from the exceeding facility
with which the particles of water move among one
another, that if any tendency upwards did result
from the action of the limbs of Water-fowl in diving,
168 ON THE DIVING OF AQUATIC BIRDS.

it could not be wholly counteracted by the pressure
of the mass of fluid above them: indeed, the specific
gravity of such birds being less than that of water,
it would not be possible for them to continue beneath
its surface, even for a much shorter period than they
are known to do, without the employment of physical
force to effect their purpose; hence the fallacious-
ness of the argument that the propelling power
is increased on such occasions by the pressure of
the superincumbent water, is rendered sufficiently
obvious.

It remains to consider what means are actually
made use of by birds in diving to overcome the
resistance of the medium in which they move, and
the tendency upwards arising from their small spe-
cific gravity; and as Mr. White has illustrated this
subject in his usual felicitous manner, in treating
upon the Northern Diver (Colymbus glacialis,
Linn.), in the second volume of the octavo edi-
tion of his ‘Works in Natural History,’ pp. 184—-
186, I cannot do better than avail myself of his
observations.

“Every part and proportion of this bird (the
Northern Diver) is so incomparably adapted to its
mode of life, that in no instance do we see the wis-
dom of God in the creation to more advantage. The
head is sharp and smaller than the part of the neck
adjoining, in order that it may pierce the water ;
the wings are placed forward and out of the centre
ON THE DIVING OF AQUATIC BIRDS. 169

of gravity for a purpose which shall be noticed here-
after; the thighs quite at the podex, in order to
facilitate diving ; and the legs are flat, and as sharp
backwards almost as the edge of a knife, that in
striking they may easily cut the water; while the
feet are palmated and broad for swimming, yet so
folded up when advanced forward to take a fresh
stroke, as to be full as narrow as the shank. The
two exterior toes of the feet are longest; the nails
flat and broad, resembling the human, which give
strength and increase the power of swimming. The
foot, when expanded, is not at right angles to the
leg or body of the bird; but the exterior part in-
clining towards the head forms an acute angle with
the body, the intention being not to give motion in
the line of the legs themselves, but, by the combined
impulse of both, in an intermediate line, the line of
the body.

“Most people know, that have observed at all,
that the swimming of birds is nothing more than
a walking in the water, where one foot succeeds the
other as on the land; yet no one, as far as I am
aware, has remarked that Diving Fowls, while under
water, impel and row themselves forward by a motion
of their wings as well as by the impulse of their
feet; but such is really the case, as any person
may easily be convinced who will observe Ducks
when hunted by dogs in a clear pond. Nor do I
know that any one has given a reason why the
170 ON THE DIVING OF AQUATIC BIRDS.

wings of Diving Fowls are placed so forward:
doubtless not for the purpose of promoting their
speed in flying, since that position certainly impedes
it; but probably for the increase of their motion
under water, by the use of four oars instead of two;
yet were the wings and feet nearer together, as in
land birds, they would, when in action, rather hinder
than assist one another.”

Mr. White’s description of the manner in which
the Northern Diver impels itself through the water
by the agency of the legs, which have an extent
of motion enabling it to alter its course in any
direction whatever with astonishing facility, is ap-
plicable to Diving Birds in general; but it does
not appear that the wings are so uniformly employed
to promote their progress, when submerged, as the
statement of the natural historian of Selborne would
seem to imply.

I may remark, in conclusion, that the action of
the legs in diving, so far from giving birds an im-
pulse wpzards and forwards, as Montagu has affirmed,
evidently tends rather to propel them downwards
and forwards, except when they purpose to ascend,
and then a change of action, adapted to the accom-
plishment of the object to be attained, is instantly
resorted to. The simultaneous action of the legs
also, directing the impelling power in the line of
the body, will explain why the velocity with which

Aquatic Birds move in so dense a fluid as water is
ON THE DIVING OF AQUATIC BIRDS. 171

greater than that with which they move on its sur-
face, where the legs are usually employed alternately,
and the moving force cannot be so advantageously
applied ; and that the velocity is frequently accelerated
still further by the instrumentality of the wings, has
been already noticed.

Thus, in controverting the erroneous opinions of
Montagu relative to the diving of Water-fowl, I have
endeavoured to substitute for them an unobjection-
able theory of this remarkable phenomenon.
SOME ACCOUNT

OF THE

MANNERS OF THE GRENADIER GROSBEAK
(Lowia oryx, Linn.)

WHEN IN CAPTIVITY.

—_>—

Dourine a visit to the aviary of the late Mr. Garside,
at his residence in Piccadilly, Manchester, I noticed,
among various objects of attraction to the bird-fancier,
such as piping Bullfinches, loquacious Starlings,
and superb Parrakeets, which displayed powers of
imitation as astonishing as they were entertaining,
several choice exotic birds, whose habits and notes
afforded me much gratification. A fine male Gre-
nadier Grosbeak, in particular, engaged my atten-
tion: I say a male, although it had not the black
plumage on the throat which Dr. Latham seems
disposed to regard as a characteristic of that sex ;
for Barrow, in his ‘Travels into the Interior of
Southern Africa,’ vol. i. p. 243, distinctly states that
“the male is remarkable for its gaudy plumage

during the spring and summer months ;”’ and, again,
ON THE GRENADIER GROSBEAK. 173

“during the other six months it is stripped of its
gaudy attire, and adopts the modest garb of the
female, which is at all times that of a greyish
brown.” Now the animal economy of the individual
under consideration confirmed the correctness of
Barrow’s observations, as I was informed by Mr.
Garside that it changed its feathers twice in the
course of the year: the first moult occurred about
May, when it acquired the splendid livery of the
pairing-season, and the second in November, at
which period its gay wedding-dress was laid aside
for a homely suit of brown of various shades. In
short, so complete was the metamorphosis (the bill
itself undergoing a change of colour), that its specific
identity would have been called in question by any
person unacquainted with these particulars in its
history. It is probable, therefore, that the black plu-
mage on the throat may indicate maturity, or it may
conveniently be ascribed to the influence of circum-
stances which in our ignorance we term accidental.
Another fact, tending to corroborate the opinion
that this bird was a male, deserves consideration ; it
had a song, and a most extraordinary one it was.
Elevating the brilliant red feathers on the back of
its neck, and raising itself on its perch till it as-
sumed an attidude so perpendicular that it appeared
to be in danger of falling backwards, it commenced
its lay by uttermg one or two sharp chirps, which
were followed by.a chattering sound produced by the
174 ON THE GRENADIER GROSBEAK

hurried repetition of the same note; to this succeeded
a sort of snapping noise, similar to that occasioned
by bringing the open mandibles into sudden contact,
and the finale consisted of a protracted sound, en-
forced with considerable emphasis at regular intervals,
somewhat resembling the sibilation which results
from the grinding of scissors. Mr. Audubon, the
celebrated American ornithologist, who saw this bird
when he was last in Manchester, compared the con-
cluding part of its song to the sound produced by the
brisk agitation of the tail of the Rattlesnake. While
pouring forth its discordant strains, this grotesque
vocalist would frequently raise its wings, expand them
in a slight degree, and again bring them into their
ordinary position of repose. It would also approach
slowly towards any of its companions in captivity
which happened to occupy the same perch with itself,
and endeavour to touch them with its bill, as if it
were desirous to elicit their attention in particular
to its strange music, which, im conjunction with its
fierce deportment, had usually the effect of exciting
consternation in that portion of its audience.

For the purpose of calling into action one of the
most singular instincts with which this bird was en-
dowed, Mr. Garside supplied it with a little thread.
No sooner had it obtained the prize than a Dominican
Grosbeak (Loxia dominicana, Linn.) hastened to
dispute its right of possession. Erecting the feathers
on the back of its neck, and uttering a few angry
IN A STATE OF CAPTIVITY. 175

chirps, the Grenadier Grosbeak threw itself into one
of its most menacing attitudes, in order to intimidate
the insolent aggressor ; but, notwithstanding all these
formidable indications of resistance, it was compelled
to yield the object of contention to its more power-
ful adversary, which, after carrying it about the
cage for a short time, became tired of the amusement
and suffered it to drop, when it was instantly seized
by the vigilant Grenadier Grosbeak. This was the
signal for a renewal of hostilities, and several species
of Fringille and Loxie joined eagerly in the affray ;
while a few grave-looking birds, belonging to the
genera Paleornis, Platycercus, and Psittacula, sat
on the upper perches, passive spectators of the tur-
bulent scene below. At length, by dint of perse-
verance, the Grenadier Grosbeak again succeeded
in gaining possession of the thread, one extremity
of which it immediately proceeded to attach to the
wires of the cage. After accomplishing its object
by the employment of the bill alone, it passed the
other end of the thread through one of the intervals
between the wires, directing it towards the adjoining
interval on the right; then quitting hold of it, and
inserting its bill into the latter interval, it again
seized the thread near its extremity, drew it through
the opening and pulled it tight. In this manner it
interwove the whole of the thread among the wires
of the cage, with a quickness and dexterity quite
surprising; and so delighted was the feathered
176 ON THE GRENADIER GROSBEAK

operative with this engrossing occupation, that it
repeatedly demolished its work and renewed it
again, varying the direction it gave to the thread as
the circumstances of the case seemed to require, the
principal object in view, apparently, being the pro-
duction of a compact tissue. If supplied with a
sufficient quantity of thread, Mr. Garside assured
me that this industrious bird would speedily cover
the sides of the cage with its ingenious work; and
so indefatigable was it in procuring materials for the
prosecution of its labours, which were not restricted
to any particular season of the year, but were pursued
even in winter, when it had assumed the garb'of the
female, that Mr. Garside had been under the ne-
cessity of removing a beautiful male Wydah bird
(Vidua paradisea, Cuvier) into another cage, in order
to preserve the long feathers of its tail from the
injuries to which they were liable in consequence
of the incessant efforts of the Grenadier Grosbeak
to appropriate them to its purpose. When about
to be attacked by another bird, the Grenadier
Grosbeak would sometimes interlace the anterior toes
of one of its feet with the thread, the better to secure
it, by which contrivance its bill was left at liberty to
repel the marauder.

Nothing satisfactory appears to be known con-
cerning the nidification of this species of Grosbeak.
If, as Dr. Latham conjectures (‘ Gen. Hist. of Birds,’
vol. v. p. 228), it is identical with Kolben’s Finch,
IN A STATE OF CAPTIVITY. 177

it constructs a nest of small twigs, closely interwoven,
with cotton, and so compact as not to be penetrated
by the weather; but I am not aware that these
birds have been ascertained to be specifically the
same. The only information relative to this subject
given us by Barrow is that the Grenadier Grosbeaks
are gregarious, and build their nests in large socie-
ties (‘Travels into the Interior of Southern Africa,’
vol. i. p. 248). It may be safely inferred, however,
from what has already been stated with regard to
the instinctive propensities manifested by this species
when in confinement, that the position it occupies
among the heterogeneous forms with which it is
associated in the Linnean genus Lovia is decidedly
inappropriate.
DESCRIPTION OF

FALCO AUDUBONI.

—o—_-

Order Raptores, Llliger.
Family Falconide, Leach.
Subfamily Falconina, Vigors.
Genus Falco, Linneus.

Falco Auduboni.

Tae bill, which is curved from the base, is of a
deep blue colour, approaching to black at the tip ;
the upper mandible is provided with a prominent
tooth on each side, a corresponding notch occurring
on the under mandible, which is truncated at the
extremity. The colour of the cere is yellow. The
nostrils are circular, with a tubercle in the centre.
The upper part of the head and neck are blackish
brown, with a slight tinge of blue; the cheeks and
a line above each eye are yellowish white, marked
with fine longitudinal streaks of dark brown. On
the back of the neck there is an obscure collar of
yellowish white, spotted with dark brown. The
back, scapulars, tertials, and upper tail-coverts are
greyish black, tinged with blue, each feather having a
narrow black line down the middle. The upper
FALCO AUDUBONI. 179

wing-coverts are brownish black, faintly tinged with
blue. Quill-feathers of the wings brownish black,
the inner webs being marked with numerous oval
white spots. The first and second primary quills
have their inner webs deeply and abruptly emar-
ginated near their extremities ; the second and third,
which are the longest, are nearly of equal length.
Tips of the primaries (the first three excepted) and
of the secondaries finely bordered with dull white.
The tail is brownish black, tipped with white, and
has several narrow transverse bands of a cinereous
hue. The chin and throat are white, streaked longi-
tudinally with fine lines of dark brown. Breast,
sides, abdomen, and under tail-coverts yellowish
white, with longitudinal streaks and spots of a dark
brown colour; the largest and roundest spots occur
on the sides. Under wing-coverts dark brown,
spotted with white. The feathers of the thighs are
pale ferruginous, streaked longitudinally with dark
brown. The tarsi and toes are yellow, the former
being reticulated and the latter scutellated above.
Claws black. Colour of the eyes not known.

Length, from the point of the bill to the extremity
of the tail, 9% inches; wings, from the carpal joint to
the tip of the second quill-feather, 73; tail 5; bill,
from the point of the upper mandible to the rictus, 7% ;
tarsi 143; ; middle toe, including the claw, 12.

The Museum belonging to the Society for the
promotion of Natural History, established in Man-

N 2
180 FALCO AUDUBONI.

chester, contains the small Falcon described above,
which is probably a male. It was sent to this
country from Philadelphia, in a collection of the
skins of birds of the United States of North
America. It has the closest affinity with the Merlin,
but may readily be distinguished from that bird by
its smaller size, by the tips of the folded wings ap-
proaching nearer to the end of the tail, by the plumage
of the upper parts, which is much darker-coloured,
resembling that of the Hobby, and also by the plumage
of the inferior parts, which has less of the ferrugimous
tint.

A skin which I obtained from the same collec-
tion appears to have belonged to an immature male
of this Falcon. It differs from that of the adult
male principally in having the plumage of the upper
parts of a deep brown colour (with the exception of
a few feathers which have assumed the dark bluish
tint), and in the oval spots on the inner webs of the
quill-feathers of the wings having a pale red-brown
hue.

I have dedicated this species to the late J. J. Audu-
bon, Esq., the celebrated author of the ‘ Ornithological
Biography,’ whose splendid illustrations of the
‘Birds of America,’ to use the words of the illus-
trious Cuvier, constitute the most magnificent monu-
ment which has hitherto been raised to ornithology.
DESCRIPTION OF

LAMPROTORNIS VIGORSII.

—

TueEre are deposited in the Manchester Museum two
specimens of a bird belonging to the genus Lampro-
tornis. The following brief description will serve to
convey some idea, though it must be admitted an
inadequate one, of this highly interesting and beautiful
bird.

Order Insessores, Vigors.

Tribe Conirostres, Cuvier.

Family Sturnide, Vigors.

Subfamily Lamprotornina, Stephens.

Genus Lamprotornis, Temminck.

Lamprotornis Vigorsii.

The bill and legs are black. The plumage is soft,
silky, and glossy. The upper part of the head,
sides and back of the neck, anterior region of the
back, and lesser wing-coverts are of a burnished
golden-green colour ; a narrow border of fine purple
separates the anterior from the posterior part of
the back and from the scapulars, both of which
are of a rich golden bronze; greater wing-coverts
and feathers of the spurious wings deep purple,
relieved with violet-blue and gold; the exterior
webs of the quill-feathers of the wings are of a
182 LAMPROTORNIS VIGORSI.

brilliant golden bronze, those of the primaries and
the tips and inner webs of the tertials having a
mixture of purple and violet-blue; the tips of the
primaries are purple, glossed with violet-blue and
green, and the exterior and inner webs of several
of the larger quills in each wing are abruptly emar-
ginated, the latter near their termination, a prominent
point, formed by the projection of the more elon-
gated fibres of the webs, rendering the sudden
transition in their breadth remarkably conspicuous ;
inner webs of the primaries and secondaries obscure
purple, reflecting a famt golden lustre in a powerful
light. Tail rounded at its extremity, black, with
a slight mixture of golden bronze above, particularly
on the middle feathers ; tip and outer edges of the
lateral feathers purple, resplendent with violet-
blue and green; upper and under tail-coverts pur-
ple, varied with violet, steel-blue, and green; cheeks
purple, tinged with green; throat and anterior part
of the neck and breast similar in colour to the
scapulars, but less brilliant ; abdomen green-bronze,
tinged with gold; thighs and flanks purple, blended
with violet, gold, and steel-blue; underside of the
wings and tail black. Colour of the eyes not known.
The tints of the plumage vary considerably in inten-
sity in different specimens.

Length, from the apex of the bill to the extremity
of the tail, 113 mches; wings, from the carpal joint
to the tip of the fourth quill-feather, 675; tail 443;
LAMPROTORNIS VIGORSII. 183

bill, from the apex to the forehead 5%, to the rictus
13; tarsi 13%; middle toe, including the claw, 1};
hind toe, including the claw, 48.

As the two individuals of the above species in the
Manchester Museum were imported to Liverpool
from Brazil, along with a considerable collection of
the skins of Brazilian birds, it is possible that this
elegant creature may be a native of South America.
T have no positive information, however, that such is
the fact; and M. Temminck, in treating upon the
group to which it belongs (see his ‘ Manuel d’Orni-
thologie,’ vol. i. p. lv, note 3), remarks that “toutes
les espéces sont de l’ancien continent, le plus grand
nombre d’ Afrique.”

I have named this splendid bird in compliment
to that distinguished and disinterested naturalist the
late N. A. Vigors, Esq., who politely directed my
attention to it.

In detailing those peculiarities of structure
which characterize the genus Lamprotornis M. Tem-
minck says of the toes, “l’interne soudé a sa base,
Vexterne divisé”? (Manuel d’Ornithologie, vol. 1.
p. lvi), the very reverse of what is actually the
case. This error, which probably originated in in-
advertency, was repeated by an eminent French zoolo-
gist; it becomes the more desirable, therefore, that
it should be corrected.
ON THE GROWTH OF THE SALMON
(Salmo salar),

AND OF THE SEWIN

(Salmo cambricus).
rigs ee

To Mr. Joun Suaw of Drumlanrig belongs the merit
of having successfully developed the natural history of
the small fish denominated Parr, whose economy,
prior to the enunciation of his discoveries, was in-
volved in obscurity, and was the cause of much
perplexity and hypothetical reasoning among British
ichthyologists. By a series of well-conceived and
skilfully conducted experiments he has not only
proved that the Parr is neither a hybrid nor a species
sui generis, but has clearly established the interest-
ing and important truth that it is the young of the
Salmon.

Residing in the immediate vicinity of the river
Conway, for some years past my attention as a natu-
ralist and a fly-fisher has been directed to the finny
inhabitants of its waters and to the Salmon in par-
ticular. In the course of my researches several
remarkable facts relative to the latter species in its
ON THE GROWTH OF THE SALMON. 185

earlier stages of growth have come under my obser-
vation :—Ist, that young males, exhibiting all the
characters of the Parr, frequently have the lobes
of milt fully matured, while females of the same
size have the lobes of roe in so backward a state
that it is necessary to employ a magnifier to distin-
guish the ova; 2nd, that these males shed their
milt in the ensuing autumnal and winter months;
3rd, that the males of Salmon-smolts are found to
have shed their milt before they descend to the sea,
though the lobes of roe in the females are then
of very small dimensions; and, 4th, that Smolts
may be made to assume the barred appearance
of Parrs by carefully removing their silvery scales.
Perceiving that Mr. Shaw, in his ‘ Experimental
Observations on the Development and Growth of
Salmon-fry,’ published in the fourteenth volume of
the ‘Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh,’
had noticed the phenomena enumerated above, in-
dependent testimony to the certamty of which may
serve, however, in some measure, to corroborate
the accuracy of his views, I put aside my notes in
which they are recorded, and probably never would
have recurred to them again had not various state-
ments contained in Mr. Andrew Young’s treatise on
the ‘Natural History and Habits of the Salmon,’
having relation to the growth of that species, in-
duced me once more to turn to them, under the
impression that they comprised evidence in favour
186 ON THE GROWTH OF

of a conclusion opposed to that arrived at by the
latter observer.

Mr. Young has endeavoured to determine the
rate of growth of the Salmon after its first arrival
in the sea, by observations made upon marked
individuals.

In the months of April and May he marked a
considerable number of descending Smolts by making
a peculiar perforation in the caudal fin by means
of small nipping-irons, and in the enusing months
of June and July many of them, he asserts, were
recaptured ascending the river as Grilse, and weigh-
ing from three to eight pounds each, according to
the difference in the length of their sojourn in the
salt water *.

Hundreds of Grilse, each of the weight of four
pounds, as nearly as they could be selected, were
marked year by year, after having spawned, by in-
serting rings of copper wire into their fins, the sub-
jects of each year’s experiment being marked in a
different fin; and on their second return from the
sea as Salmon, in the following spring and summer,

* Mr. Young affirms that a Salmon-smolt measuring five
inches in length, and weighing half an ounce, in the course of
a sojourn of two months in the sea may grow into a beautiful
Grilse weighing six pounds, having increased in weight one
hundred and ninety-two fold in that short period, I have
reason to believe that many Smolts on their descent to the sea
remain in the salt water for more than twelve months.
THE SALMON AND SEWIN. 187

they were observed to vary in weight from nine to
fourteen pounds.

It was found also, by marking numbers of Salmon
after they had spawned a second and third time,
that the period of their sojourn in the sea exactly
corresponds with the period required to transform
Smolts into Grilse and foul Grilse into Salmon, and
that the average time from Smolts descending the
rivers in which they are bred to the sea until they
return as Grilse, and from Grilse leaving the rivers
in which they have spawned until they return as
Salmon, is about eight weeks.

A Salmon which had spawned, weighing ten
pounds, Mr. Young informs us, was taken by His
Grace the Duke of Athole in the Tay, near Dunkeld,
on the 31st of March, 1845, and was returned to
the river after having been marked with a zinc ticket
numbered 129. In the short space of five weeks
and three days this fish, with the ticket attached to
it, was caught returning from the sea, and then
weighed twenty-one pounds and a quarter. This
instance, Mr. Young remarks, ranks among the
earliest returns of the Salmon to fresh water
that have come to his knowledge, and also presents
the most interesting and remarkable example of the
rapid increase of weight in this species with which
he is acquainted; but how this statement and the
results of preceding experiments can be reconciled
with the assertion made in another place—namely,
188 ON THE GROWTH OF

that Grilse on their first arrival in rivers are small
in size and long for their weight, some of them
weighing only a pound and others less—I am at a
loss to conjecture.

Such are the principal experiments on the growth
of the Salmon detailed in Mr. Young’s treatise; and
the inference deduced from them is, that in its transi-
tion from a Smolt to a Grilse, from a Grilse to the
perfect state as to form and aspect, and also in the
perfect state, the rate of growth is extraordinarily
rapid during those portions of its existence which
are passed in the sea, but that Salmon do not
increase in weight while they remain in fresh
water.

Now, though it is an undoubted fact that great
deterioration in the condition and, consequently, in
the weight of Salmon uniformly takes place while
they are engaged in perpetuating their species, yet
that the prowth of young individuals which do not
accompany their congeners to the sea is steadily
progressive, observation and experiment plainly
show. Salmon-fry from 7 to 8 inches long, having
all the characters of the Parr, may be taken in
the Conway and its tributary streams in small
numbers late in the month of June, after the
Smolts of the season have quitted those rivers;
and occasionally I have obtained specimens of still
larger dimensions, weighing four ounces. The
physical cause, whatever it may be, which prevents
THE SALMON AND SEWIN. 189

these fish from acquiring the migratory dress and
instinct of their species, evidently does not prevent
them from increasing in growth and improving in
condition, even the males which have shed their
milt presenting every appearance of renovated
health and vigour.

Mr. Yarrell, in his ‘History of British Fishes,’
vol. il. p. 21, states that a large landed proprietor in
Scotland, in April 1831, put a dozen or two of small
Salmon-fry, three or four inches long, into a newly
formed pond between three and four acres in extent.
No fishing was allowed in this pond till the summer
of 1833, when several of these Salmon were taken,
weighing from two to three pounds, perfectly well-
shaped, well-coloured, and well-flavoured. As these
fish must have been in their second year when put
into the pond, it follows that they attained to the
weight of two or three pounds in rather more than
three years.

In the Supplement to the second volume of Mr.
Yarrell’s work other examples of the growth of young
Salmon in fresh water are given (pp. 5 & 6), from
which it appears that in one instance there was an
increase in weight of eleven or twelve ounces in
sixteen months, and in another instance an in-
crease of fourteen or fifteen ounces in twenty-seven
months.

I shall now proceed to inquire into the growth
of the Salmon during its sojourn in the sea.
190 ON THE GROWTH OF

Early in the month of June, Salmon in high con-
dition, weighing three pounds and upwards, ‘ascend
the Conway in considerable numbers if the state of
the water be favourable; but that they cannot be
identical with the Smolts of the same year is manifest,
because the inversion of established physiological
principles is involved in the opposite supposition ;
for as great numbers of young Salmon weighing
from half a pound to a pound come up the same
river in August, full two months later than the
former, there is no escaping from the unphilosophical
conclusion to which such an hypothesis leads—namely,
that young Salmon decrease in size as they increase
in age. To avoid the awkwardness of this dilemma,
it is only necessary to admit the identity of the small
Salmon which ascend the Conway in August with
Smolts of the preceding spring; and this view of
the subject (which, if correct, completely subverts the
theory of the all but preternatural growth of the
Salmon in salt water) derives support from the gradual
increase of this species in size when restricted to
fresh water, and from some circumstances attending
the loss of its teeth from the vomer.

Adult Salmon of average dimensions are known
to have one or two teeth only at the anterior ex-
tremity of the vomer, though Smolts have the same
part amply provided with teeth extending along a
great portion of its length. In the summer of 1540
I examined numerous specimens of Salmon in vari-
THE SALMON AND SEWIN. 191

ous stages of growth, for the purpose of ascertaining
the period at which the teeth begin to disappear
from the vomer and the order in which they are
shed. Specimens weighing from two to five pounds,
taken in the months of June and July, had from three
to seven teeth on the anterior part of the vomer, the
number, allowing for the difference in condition,
being almost always inversely as the weight; and
individuals of a larger size, captured at the same
time, usually retained one or two teeth only, situated
quite at its anterior extremity. Other specimens,
weighing from half a pound to a pound, taken in the
month of August, were found to have the vomer
well supplied with teeth, except at its posterior part,
from which some had been lost invariably. The
situation which the lost teeth have occupied is
distinctly marked by dark spots in small Salmon,
but as they increase in size these spots become more
obscure and ultimately are obliterated. —

As the teeth disappear from the vomer gradually
and nearly in regular succession, those at the pos.
terior part being shed first, it follows that the
youngest fish, generally speaking, will have lost the
fewest ; consequently, the small Salmon which ascend
the Conway in August may be safely regarded as
identical with the Smolts which descended the same
river in the preceding spring.

Having attempted to show that the growth of the
Salmon during its first visit to the sea is not so rapid
192 ON THE GROWTH OF

as has been supposed, I may state that I see no reason
for believing that it is accelerated in an extraordinary
degree at any subsequent period of its life. The
Salmon which come up the Conway annually exhibit
every gradation in weight from half a pound, or under,
to thirty-five and forty pounds. This would hardly
be the case were the belief in their extremely rapid
growth well founded, neither would individuals of
large dimensions bear so very small a numerical pro-
portion as they are known to do to those of a medium
size.

In pursuing researches of this description it is de-
sirable that measurement should be attended to as
well as weight, for Salmon of the same weight pre-
cisely often differ remarkably in their dimensions
according to the condition they are in; and the
neglect of this circumstance, I am inclined to think,
has contributed greatly to encumber the question with
difficulties. That condition, considered with reference
to weight, must have exercised no small share of in-
fluence in the case of the Grilse weighing four pounds
marked by Mr. Young after they had spawned, and
recaptured in the ensuing spring and summer as
Salmon weighing from nine to fourteen pounds,
and in that of the Salmon weighing ten pounds
taken by the Duke of Athole after it had spawned,
and retaken thirty-eight days afterwards, when it
weighed twenty-one pounds and a quarter, cannot be

doubted.
THE SALMON AND SEWIN.

193

For the following Table of the dimensions and
weight of Salmon differing in condition I am indebted
to my brother, Mr. Thomas Blackwall.

Length, Girth, Weight,
in inches. in inches. in pounds.
239 hades 1S? acne 5
26> cgctenary 12 pee 5
28 ieee oof 5
26 ocntsodary TOA teased 7
29 eae (EAR Open 7
29 foes EB) Sade saya 84
31 wet ED see’ 9
28 Bid, EOI -Genees 113
SF) ca ceae Ew ceses 113
35 aes 172 saeeus 153
34 TS Aiea’ 16
BO scence BORE ess fess, 184
BOO) Secs 183 182
36 («wt 20. acrayetins 20
BO pce es TR seen 21
BOE valet BOE sescaiacy 23
BH Gea salts VB vgceaslée —

The Salmon which ascend the Conway are fre-
quently infested internally by the Lepeophtheirus
Stromii of Dr. Baird’s ‘ Natural History of the British
Entomostraca,’ and internally by Entozoa, three per-
fectly distinct species being sometimes found in the
intestines of the same individual. These internal
parasites abound in Salmon newly arrived in the fresh
water; but in various specimens which I have exa-

oO
194 ON THE GROWTH OF

mined in March, when they had spawned and were
about to return to the sea, scarcely any were to be
seen. My observations, however, are too limited to
warrant the deduction of any general conclusions in
relation to this curious subject, which certainly merits
further investigation.

Researches relative to the growth of the Salmon
and also to the economy and growth of the Sewin, or
Bull-trout, conducted on the foregoing plan, have
been continued as suitable occasions presented them-
selves ; and I am induced to insist upon the decided
advantage which a recourse to physiological pheno-
mena possesses in investigations of this kind over the
customary practice of mechanically marking fish as
objects of experiment, in consequence of the various
sources of error to which the latter mode of proceed-
ing is exposed.

Persons, in their endeavours to determine the rate
of growth in fish by marking specimens, too fre-
quently employ subordinate agents to carry their in-
tentions into effect, to whom not only their system
of marks is of necessity made known, but the antici-
pated result is also communicated. Now, should it
so happen that the agents are dependent upon their
employers, or in any respect interested in making the
event appear to coincide with their preconceived
opinions, the desired object may be easily attained
either by secretly marking specimens of a larger size
than those which they were instructed and perhaps
THE SALMON AND SEWIN. 195

observed to select for the purpose, and by exhibiting
them alone when recaptured, or by adapting the
marks to fish subsequently taken, whose dimensions
appear to be best suited to promote the end they have
in view. Besides, it often happens that all the par-
ticulars of the undertaking transpire, and, becoming
widely circulated, other parties resident in the neigh-
bourhood may apply similar marks to fish of different
sizes captured in the same stream, more especially to
kelts, which are comparatively of little value; and
that this is not merely a supposititious case, or an
imaginary cause of delusion, I can confidently affirm
from personal experience. Perforations, and the
total or partial excision of any of the fins, may be
objected to on account of the modifications which
such marks undergo with the growth of the fish, and
also on account of the mutilations to which those
members are liable from incidental circumstances.

Having thus succinctly directed attention to a few
of the objections which may be urged against the
manner in which attempts to ascertain the rate of
growth in fish by employing artificial marks are
generally conducted, I shall revert to the method
pursued in my own researches—namely, careful and
frequently repeated observations on the gradual loss
of the teeth from the vomer, on the order in which
they are shed, and on the changes known to take
place in the figure of the caudal fin.

The usual number of teeth on the tongue of the

02
196 ON THE GROWTH OF

Salmon-smolt and Sewin-smolt of six or seven inches
in length, when none has been -lost, is ten, arranged
in a row of five on each side; occasionally I have
counted as many as twelve in both species, but ten
appears to be the normal number. These teeth are
not shed, but most of them are torn away by violence
in an irregular manner as the fish advance in growth,
so that a want of symmetry in the two rows is con-
spicuous in much the greater number of individuals.
I may remark that such is the case also in every par-
ticular with the teeth on the tongue of the Common
Trout (Salmo fario), and that the teeth on the vomer
of this species are not shed, but, like those on the
tongue and jaws, some of them are frequently removed
in an irregular manner by violence.

The teeth on the vomer of the Salmon-smolt and
Sewin-smolt commonly exceed twenty (in numerous
instances I have noticed twenty-four)—a fact which
the minute inspection of the heads of both species,
after having been placed in nests of the Great Wood-
Ant (Formica rufa), and subjected to the anatomical
process so admirably effected by that industrious in-
sect, fully confirms. Unlike the teeth on the tongue,
those on the vomer are shed gradually, commencing
at the posterior part and disappearing in nearly
regular succession as the fish increase in size; conse-
quently the loss of teeth from the vomer, taken in
conjur.ction with the form of the tail and the growth
of these species, affords to experienced observers a
THE SALMON AND SEWIN. 197

sufficiently exact criterion for determining their‘relative
ages within certain limits.

Smolts of the Salmon and Sewin have the caudal
fin much forked; but a progressive alteration in the
shape of this organ is effected by the more rapid elon-
gation of its central rays as the fish advance in growth,
till, on the acquirement of its perfect development,
the posterior margin becomes nearly straight in the
Salmon, and actually somewhat curved outwards in
large males of the Sewin, thus supplying the means
of forming a comparative estimate of the ages of both
species.

In accordance with what is here stated, I find that
specimens weighing from half a pound to a pound and
a half have the caudal fin more or less forked and the
vomer wel] supplied with teeth except at its posterior
part, from which some are lost invariably. Specimens
weighing from two to five pounds have the posterior
margin of the caudal fin either moderately forked or
nearly straight, according to their size, and usually
have from three to seven or eight teeth on the anterior
part of the vomer, the number, after making a suitable
allowance for differences in condition, being almost
always inversely as the weight; and individuals of
large dimensions constantly have the posterior margin
of the caudal fin nearly straight or slightly curved
outwards in males of the Sewin, and retain one or
two teeth only at the anterior extremity of the vomer,
or are even without any.
198 ON THE GROWTH OF

Young Salmon and Sewin weighing from about
half a pound to a pound ascend the river Conway
during the month of August in much greater numbers
than at any other period of the year; and as many of
them are infested with the marine parasite Lepeoph-
theirus Strémii, in various stages of growth, there can
be no doubt that they have very recently quitted the
salt water. These fish, which from oft-repeated exa-
minations of numerous individuals are found to have
the tail forked in a greater or less degree, and uniformly
to have lost some teeth from the posterior part of the
vomer, though its anterior part is still amply provided
with them, I feel thoroughly convinced are identical
with Smolts of both species which descended the same
river in the preceding spring, having then the full
complement of teeth on the vomer; for Salmon and
Sewin of smaller dimensions do not at any time come
up the Conway from the sea, as may be ascertained by
actual inspection in calm bright weather, when the
water is low and clear and the shoals of fish can be
distinctly seen ; and if further proof be required, it is
abundantly supplied by the conclusive evidence ob-
tained from the large number of specimens taken
annually. It is true that I have occasionally procured
Salmon and Sewin in the months of March and April
which have weighed six ounces only; but they have
always been males which had milted or females which
had deposited their ova and were out of condition, or
what in Scotland are denominated kelts.
THE SALMON AND SEWIN. 122

I shall here introduce to notice a few examples
illustrative of the loss in weight which Salmon and
Sewin undergo by the act of spawning.

On the 12th of November, 1844, a Salmon was
captured weighing fifteen pounds, the weight of the
lobes of roe, which contained a large quantity of ova
in an advanced state of development, being two pounds
and three quarters.

A Salmon captured on the 13th of November, 1844,
weighed seven pounds and a half, and the weight of
the lobes of roe, which comprised ova almost in a fit
state to be deposited, was two pounds.

A Sewin taken on the 18th of November, 1844,
weighed five pounds and a half, the weight of the
lobes of roe, which contained ova in an advanced
state of development, being one pound and a
quarter.

On the 11th of October, 1847, a Sewin weighing
half a pound was captured, whose lobes of roe, com-
prising ova nearly ready for deposition, weighed two
ounces.

A Salmon weighing fifteen pounds and a half was
taken on the 22nd of October, 1847, and the lobes of
roe, which contained ova in an advanced state of deve-
lopment, weighed three pounds.

The lobes of roe, comprising highly developed ova,
taken from a Salmon weighing twenty pounds, which
was captured on the 10th of November, 1847, weighed
three pounds and fourteen ounces.
200 ON THE GROWTH OF

Took the lobes of roe, containing ova on the
point of being deposited, from a Salmon weighing
sixteen pounds, which was captured on the 26th of
November, 1847, and found their weight to be four
pounds.

From these instances it is apparent that the weight
of Salmon and Sewin may be diminished one fourth
by the emission of their ova alone, the weight of the
collapsed ovaries with their included germs being too
insignificant to be taken into consideration ; and if to
this cause of decreased ponderosity be added another,
namely, deterioration in condition during the sojourn
of these species in fresh water, the absolute loss in
weight may be estimated at one third or more—a cir-
cumstance which ought on no account to be over-
looked in attempts to determine their rate of growth
by marking individuals; and this remark applies
with peculiar force when the subjects selected for ex-
periment are kelts, as, unfortunately, it is too com-
monly the practice to omit measurement altogether
on such occasions, and merely to give a statement
of weight, which, unaccompanied by other data, is
evidently insufficient to decide the point in question.

It appears then, from the physiological facts de-
tailed above, that the growth of Salmon and Sewin
during their first visit to the sea is much less rapid
than it is commonly supposed to be; and as in the
shoals of these species, which are more abundant in
the Conway than any of the other migratory Salmo-
THE SALMON AND SEWIN. 201

nidz, fish may be observed presenting every grada-
tion of size from the least to the greatest, it is
reasonable to infer that their rate of growth is not
accelerated materially at any subsequent period of
their existence, especially as individuals of large
_ dimensions are found to be very disproportionate
numerically to those of a small or even of an average
size.

By the cautious inspection of Salmon and Sewin
in one of the tributaries of the Conway running
through my father’s land, up which, when swollen
with rain in the months of October and November,
they ascend for the purpose of depositing their spawn,
and by the frequent examination of their progeny in
different seasons of the year, I have satisfied myself
that in their economy as well as in their rate of growth
these species bear a close resemblance to each other.
Both remain in large numbers for two years in the
fresh water after their extrication from the ovum,
during which period, notwithstanding the result of the
conclusive experiments so skilfully conducted by Mr.
Shaw, of Drumlanrig, they are still indiscriminately
named Parr in this district *, and do not descend to
the sea till they have acquired their migratory dress
or have been converted into Smolts, when they usually
measute from five to seven inches in length, and weigh
from half an ounce to an ounce and a half. I have

* A Sewin in its second year more nearly resembles a Trout
than a Salmon of the same age.
202 ON THE GROWTH OF

ascertained also, by the dissection of very numerous
specimens, that the males of the Salmon and Sewin
shed their milt before they make their first descent
to the sea, but that the females do not spawn till they
return from their first visit to the salt water; indeed
the ova are so little developed in the month of May,
at which time the principal migration seaward takes
place, as scarcely to be discerned without the aid of
a magnifier.

Perhaps no appellation employed by ichthyologists
to designate any of the various stages of growth
through which the Salmon passes has been more
abused or has led to greater confusion and misappre-
hension than the Scotch term Grilse, which is applied
to fish of this species supposed to have returned from
the sea for the first time and not to have spawned ;
but as male Salmon-smolts are known to have milted
before they descend to the sea, it is plain from this
fact, independently of others, that the term ought to
be rejected.

Among the external characters which serve to di-
stinguish the Sewin-smolt from the Salmon-smolt
are:—a more robust and trout-like figure, a more
decided prominence of the row of scales forming the
lateral line, a greater number of spots below that line,
a yellowish tinge on the lighter-coloured pectoral fins,
a bright-red tint at the extremity of the adipose fin,
and a firmer adhesion of the scales to the skin.

In conclusion, I shall briefly notice a few cases of
THE SALMON AND SEWIN. 203

rapid changes in the colour of fish which have come
under my own observation. ‘Trout suddenly trans-
ferred from their natural haunts into wooden, metallic,
or earthenware vessels supplied with water recently
taken from the same stream in which they were cap-
tured speedily assume a lighter hue; and as this
change does not appear wholly to depend upon the
colour or capacity of the vessels in which they are
placed, I am inclined to attribute it primarily to the
influence of fear; and in this opinion I am the more
confirmed from having frequently perceived a similar
transition in the hue of Salmon soon after they have
been hooked by the angler. That this is not the sole
occasion of sudden alterations in the colour of fish I
readily admit ; for I have often disturbed small Floun-
ders in the Conway, which, on changing their situa-
tion and reposing upon objects of a different hue from
those they had last quitted, soon became accommodated
to this circumstance of their novel position by under-
going a modification of tint which harmonized with
that of their resting-place and effectually served to
conceal them from ordinary observation. Even death,
as the disciples of Isaac Walton are well aware, and
as the following anecdote clearly proves, does not im-
mediately put a stop to this chameleon-like transition
of colour.

A gentleman of my acquaintance, a proficient in
the art of fly-fishing, had taken a young Salmon
weighing about a pound and a half, which, in conse-
204 ON THE GROWTH OF THE SALMON.

quence of having been a long time in the fresh water,
had lost its brilliancy, and had acquired a very dark
aspect. This fish one of my children requested to
be permitted to carry; so, after having inserted the
longer and smaller end of a slender forked twig
under one of the gill-covers and drawn it through
the mouth till the prize was retained in the angle
formed by the fork, I gave it to the boy, who held
it suspended with the tail downwards. After a lapse
of several minutes, perceiving that the fish had lost
all its blackness and had become perfectly bright,
I directed the attention of my acquaintance to it,
who could scarcely be persuaded that it was the
same which he had captured a short time before,
‘but supposed that I had secretly substituted an-
other for it; however, the speedy resumption of
its former dark complexion, which underwent no
further mutation, completely convinced him of its
identity.

I shall not attempt to offer any explanation of
the remarkable physiological phenomenon here re-
corded; but, apart from the mysterious operation
of psychological agency, its cause must undoubt-
edly be sought for in the organization of the in-
teguments.
A

REMARKABLE PHYSIOLOGICAL FACT.

——

A Spantex bitch, belonging to Mr. Robert Scholes,
of Cheetham Hill, near Manchester, in the autumn
of the year 1830, brought up a kitten and a fawn of
the Fallow Deer, which she attended to as assidu-
ously as if they had been her own offspring. In-
stances of animals, when deprived of their young,
attaching themselves to the progeny of other species,
endowed with physical and mental powers differing
widely from their own, are of frequent occurrence ;
and the warmth of affection usually manifested to-
wards the nurslings on such occasions proves how
deeply the parental feelings are implanted in the
inferior orders of animated beings. I have known
the Domestic Cat, for example, take charge of young
Squirrels and young Hares, which, but for the
powerful influence of this active principle, would, in
all probability, have fallen victims to feline voracity.
But what renders the case before us peculiarly in-
teresting to the physiologist is the fact that the bitch,
which was only about fourteen months old, had never
206 A REMARKABLE FACT.

had whelps; it is reasonable to suppose, therefore,
that the secretion of milk in her teats was promoted
by the excitation duced by the repeated efforts of
the kitten and fawn to derive sustenance from that
source. The fawn increased in growth so rapidly
that it soon greatly exceeded its foster-mother in

stature.
ON THE

INJURY DONE TO THE FOLIAGE OF
THE OAKS
IN THE NEIGHBOURHOOD OF MANCHESTER
IN THE SPRING OF 1827.

—~——

Insxors, though diminutive in size and insignificant
in appearance, when associated together in large
numbers frequently become exceedingly formidable
and destructive. A striking illustration of this fact
is supplied by the appalling devastation which is
sometimes occasioned by extensive bodies of Locusts,
a circumstance thus emphatically described in the
bold figurative language of the prophet Joel, ii. 2-6 :—
“A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of
clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread
upon the mountains: a great people and a strong ;
there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be
any more after it, even to the years of many genera-
tions. A fire devoureth before them; and behind
them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of

»
208 ON THE BLIGHT OF OAKS IN THE

Eden before them, and behind them a desolate
wilderness ; yea, and nothing shall escape them.
The appearance of them is as the appearance of
horses; and as horsemen so shall they run. Like
the noise of chariots on the tops of mountains shall
they leap, like the noise of a flame of fire that de-
voureth the stubble, as a strong people set in battle
array. Before their face the people shall be much
pained: all faces shall gather blackness.” From
this dreadful scourge, and from other plagues of a
similar though less distressing character, the inhabi-
tants of the British Isles are, fortunately, in a great
measure, exempt. Still they do, occasionally, experi-
ence much inconvenience, both as regards their
persons and property, from noxious animals of this
class. A multitude of examples confirming the
truth of this remark might easily be adduced; but
as lengthy details, relative to a matter of such general
notoriety, would, in all probability, be deemed super-
fluous, I shall, in the present instance, limit my obser-
vations to a single case, in which the oaks in ‘the
vicinity of Manchester were nearly stripped of their
foliage by two minute species of insects.

Early in May, 1827, the Green Weevil (Curculio
argentatus) appeared in unusual numbers in this
neighbourhood, and by its extensive ravages greatly
disfigured many of our most ornamental trees and
shrubs; the copper-beech im particular, in some
situations, suffered severely. ‘Towards the termina-
NEIGHBOURHOOD OF MANCHESTER. 209

tion of the month this indiscriminate feeder attacked
the young leaves of the oak, which were then ex-
panding, and the effects of its depredations soon be-
came very conspicuous in the gnawed and withered
foliage.

To this pest quickly succeeded another, the larva
of a small moth, Yortrix viridana, which completed
the devastation commenced by the Green Weevil ;
and the monarch of the grove, nearly destitute of
verdure and loathsome with numerous caterpillars,
stood almost leafless, wearing a wintry aspect even in
the middle of June. These caterpillars, in common
with many others provided with an apparatus for
spinning, on being disturbed, hastily quit their re-
treats among the convoluted leaves, and descend to-
wards the earth by a fine line, formed of a viscous
secretion, which hardens on exposure to the atmo-
sphere. So extremely abundant were they at the
period alluded to, that during a brisk wind thou-
sands might be seen thus suspended—some carried
out by the breeze far beyond the widest-spreading
branches of the tree to which their threads were
attached, others, with violent contortions, slowly
ascending their silken filaments, and all, as they
were wafted to and fro, fantastically dancing in the
agitated air without any visible support, their lines
being too attenuated to be discerned by the unas-
sisted eye, except when they occasionally reflected,
with a silvery lustre, the vivid light of the un-

P
210 ON THE BLIGHT OF OAKS IN THE

clouded sun. The spectacle, as may be supposed,
was at once highly singular and interesting.

During the continuation of these insects in the
larva state, various species of the feathered tribes
feasted upon them luxuriously. The Wood-Wren,
Yellow Wren, Whitethroat, and, indeed, the Warblers
generally were among the most vigilant and destruc-
tive of their enemies, and must have reduced their
numbers greatly. The Finches also, particularly the
Chaffinch and House-Sparrow, were indefatigable in
quest of them; and even the Domestic Poultry
sought with avidity for those which, by design or
accident, descended to the ground.

In the month of June they underwent their second
change, or were converted into chrysalides; and in
this almost inactive stage of existence, in which
several of the animal functions are suspended and
others are only imperfectly exercised, they displayed
an instinct deserving particular notice. Concealed
within the cavities which they had formed when
caterpillars, by folding down the edges of the leaves
and securing them in that position with a little of the
glutinous secretion discharged by the spinning-appa-
ratus, they awaited their final transformation ; but, as
if aware that so confined a situation would present
too many obstacles for a delicate and newly disclosed
moth to overcome, without incurring a great risk of
sustaining injury at the important crisis, they made
their way to the mouths of their retreats, and pro-
NEIGHBOURHOOD OF MANCHESTER. 211

truding themselves as far as they could consistently
with security, their exterior covering ultimately gave
way, and in July the insects made their appearance
in the imago or perfect state.

Having procured some of the larve of this moth,
for the purpose of observing the metamorphoses they
undergo and identifying their species, I put them
into clean phials of transparent glass, the perpendi-
cular sides of which they readily ascended by means
of lines of their own spinning, after the manner of
the caterpillar of the Goat Moth*. This circum-
stance induced me to try the experiment with the
larvee of other insects. Capturing, indiscriminately,
such as came in my way, I soon collected a consider-
able number; and, on introducing them into the
phials, found that several of them made their way up
the glass without any apparent difficulty, while others
were totally incapable of doing so. ‘These ascents,
in many instances, were effected by spinning lines,
which were made to answer the purpose of a ladder,
as noticed above, in some by the assistance of a
slimy or viscid secretion which left a sensible trace
on the glass, and in others by a method which I
cannot satisfactorily explain, the caterpillars, in this
case, neither spinning lines nor leaving any percepti-
ble trace behind them. At first I was disposed to

* Mr. Curtis, in his ‘ British Entomology,’ vol. ii. plate 60,

has given an excellent figure of this caterpillar, representing it
in the act of climbing.

P2
212 ON THE BLIGHT OF OAKS IN THE

think that their spurious legs, or prolegs ( propedes),
as they are denominated by Messrs. Kirby and Spence,
in their ‘Introduction to Entomology,’ acted as
suckers, and that they were held to the sides of the
phials by atmospherical pressure. It soon occurred
to me that the accuracy or inaccuracy of this suppo-
sition might be ascertained by means of the air-pump.
Under this impression I applied to Dr. Dalton, who
was so obliging as to allow me the use of his instru-
ment, and to lend me his assistance in conducting the
experiment. The result, however, proved the reverse
of what I had anticipated ; for, notwithstanding the
pressure was very greatly reduced, the caterpillars
were still capable of ascending the phial in which they
were enclosed: it is probable, therefore, that some
adhesive matter, which, perhaps, is not liable to leave
a sensible stain upon glass, may be secreted in small
quantities by the spurious legs of these larve, and: that
they are thus, in opposition to the attraction of gravi-
tation, enabled to climb up the vertical sides of bodies
with smooth and even highly polished surfaces*. A
minute examination of the structure of the false legs,
under a powerful microscope, might possibly throw
some light on this curious subject, which, it must be
acknowledged, merits further investigation.

* The near approximation of this conjecture to the truth will

be rendered apparent when the means by which certain animals

ascend the vertical surfaces of highly polished bodies are treated
upon.
NEIGHBOURHOOD OF MANCHESTER. 213

The injury sustained by the oaks on this occasion
was not limited to those which grow in this particular
district. I am well informed that in other parts of
the county, and in Yorkshire, Cheshire, Derbyshire,
Shropshire, Middlesex, &c., many were similarly
affected ; and it is probable that the mischief ex-
tended much further. The damage done to the first
leaves was, in a considerable degree, repaired by the
development of a second set about the close of June
and the beginning of July, the lively tints of which
gave to our oak-woods, at that season of the year, the
appearance of spring; but the bloom, as well as the
early foliage, having been nearly destroyed, the crop
of acorns, which had promised to be unusually abun-
dant, proved remarkably defective.

Various were the opinions entertained as to the
cause of this blight, as it was generally termed, it
being severally ascribed to disease, to lightning, to
the cold winds which prevailed in the spring of the
year, and to the ravages of insects. The last con-
jecture happens to be correct; but few persons gave
themselves the trouble to establish its accuracy by
actual observation, and still fewer endeavoured to
determine the species of those depredators. Their
vast multitudes may, with much plausibility, be at-
tributed to the high temperature of the preceding
year (1826) having been extremely favourable to
their increase; for in the same season many other
insects were also very numerous, especially the various
214 ON THE BLIGHT OF OAKS IN THE

species of Aphis and their natural destroyers the
Coccinelle. Among the latter, C. 7-punctata, C.
4-pustulata, and C. 2-punctata greatly predominated.
The last two are considered to be distinct, and, ac-
cordingly, have had different specific names assigned
to them by entomological writers ; but that excellent
botanist and attentive observer of the economy of
insects, the late Mr. Edward Hobson, of Manchester,
assured me that they are opposite sexes of the same
species, C. 2-punctata being the male and C. 4-pus-
tulata the female. Some observations of my own,
made since I have been in possession of Mr. Hobson’s
communication, had disposed me to regard C. 4-pus-
tulata as the male and C. 2-puanctata as the female ;
but I am now convinced that the colours of the sexes
are liable to vary.

 

Through the kindness of my friend Mr. Peter Bar-
row, I have been favoured with a sight of the fifty-
second number of Mr. Curtis’s work on ‘British
Entomology,’ which has been published since the
above remarks were written. In treating upon Coc-
cinella ocellata, the author observes that the genus
Coccinella “is at once a remarkable example of the
value of structure in the combination of groups, and
of the little importance of the distribution of colour
when employed to distinguish species. As a genus,
Coccinella is so natural that its appellation has never
been disturbed; whereas the species composing it
NEIGHBOURHOOD OF MANCHESTER. 215

are so variable that many of them have been de-
scribed under a great variety of names.” Mr. Curtis,
without alluding to sexual distinctions, brings toge-
ther the following synonyms under the specific name
dispar :—“ pantherina and annulata, Linn., Don.
7. 248. 2; dipunctata and 6-pustulata, Linn., Don.
2. 39. 3; unifascia and 4-pustulata, Fab., Don.
7. 243. 3; perforata and 7-pustulata, Mar. ; 4-punc-
tata, Don. 16. 542.” Subsequent researches induced
Mr. Hobson to coincide with me in the opinion that
the distribution of colour affords no criterion which
will serve to distinguish the sexes of C. dispar.
ON

THE MEANS BY WHICH VARIOUS ANIMALS
ADHERE TO THE VERTICAL SURFACES
OF HIGHLY POLISHED BODIES.

—

In the ‘ Physico-Theology’ of Dr. Derham, p. 363,
note b, it is stated that “diverse flies and other
insects, besides their sharp-hooked nails, have also
skinny palms to their feet, to enable them to stick
on glass and other smooth bodies by means of the
pressure of the atmosphere.” This opinion, which
appears to be adopted by some entomologists
of the present day, has derived additional weight
from the investigations of Sir Everard Home, whose
papers relative to this curious subject, illustrated by
figures of the parts employed in climbing, engraved
principally from drawings made by Mr. Bauer, are
published in the ‘ Transactions of the Royal Society ’
for 1816. These researches are regarded by Messrs.
Kirby and Spence (see their ‘ Introduction to Ento-
mology,’ vol. il. Jetter xxii.) as having “ proved most
satisfactorily that it is by producing a vacuum be-
tween certain organs destined for that purpose and
the plane of position, sufficient to cause atmospheric
ANIMALS ON POLISHED SURFACES. 217

pressure upon the exterior surface, that the animals
in question are enabled to walk up a polished per-
pendicular, like the glass in our windows, or with
their backs downward on a ceiling, without being
brought to the ground by the weight of their bodies.”
To dissent from an hypothesis so generally received,
including among its advocates numerous illustrious
names, may, perhaps, be deemed presumptuous ;
nevertheless, as facts absolutely irreconcilable with
this supposition have been forced upon my attention,
while engaged in examining the evidence by which it
is supported, I shall, with every sentiment of respect
for the high authorities to whom I stand opposed,
submit my views to the consideration of candid and
intelligent naturalists.

Concerning the structure of the instruments by
means of which flies ascend the vertical sides of
smooth bodies, various opinions have been promul-
gated. Some authors compare them to sponges, and
conjecture that they are designed to conta a glu-
tinous secretion capable of adhering to well-cleaned
glass. Dr. Hooke describes them as palms or soles
beset underneath with small bristles or tenters, like
the wire teeth of a card for working wool, which he
conceived give them a strong hold upon objects
having irregular or yielding surfaces; and he ima-
gined that there is upon glass a kind of smoky
substance penetrable by the points of these bristles*.

* ¢ Micrographia,’ pp. 170, 171.
218 MEANS BY WHICH ANIMALS ADHERE

According to the observations of Sir Everard Home,
they are expanded membranes, having their inferior
surface granulated and their edges beautifully ser-
rated *; while Messrs. Kirby and Spence, on the
contrary, remark that they are downy on the under-
side and granulated above f.

The want of accordance so conspicuous in the
preceding accounts induced me to inspect the parts
minutely under a good compound microscope, when
it was immediately perceived that the function
ascribed to them by Dr. Derham and Sir E. Home
is quite incompatible with their organization. Minute
hair-like papillz, very closely set and directed down-
wards, completely cover the inferior surface of the ex-
panded membranes, improperly denominated suckers,
connected with the terminal joint of the tarsi of flies,
the edges of which are plain, not serrated, as Sir E.
Home asserts, though, when placed in such a situation
relative to the eye of the observer that the hair-like
papillae in connexion with them are foreshortened,
they certainly present an appearance which, on a
superficial view, might lead to the latter conclusion.
This circumstance of the underside of the tarsal
membranes of flies being densely covered with erect
papille effectually prevents its being brought into
contact with the objects on which those insects move
by any muscular force they are capable of exerting:

* «Transactions of the Royal Society’ for 1816, p. 323.
+ ‘Introduction to Entomology,’ vol. ii. letter xxiii.
TO POLISHED VERTICAL SURFACES. 219

the production of a vacuum between each membrane
and the plane of position is, therefore, clearly im-
practicable, unless the numerous papillz on the under-
side of these organs separately perform the office of
suckers ; and there does not appear to be any thing in
their mechanism which in the slightest degree coun-
tenances such an hypothesis. When highly magnified,
their extremities, it is true, are seen to be somewhat
enlarged; but whether they be viewed in action or in
repose, they never assume a figure at all adapted to
the formation of a vacuum.

Satisfied that this difficult problem must admit of a
solution more consistent with the various phenomena
it comprehends than the popular one here contro-
verted, I determined to institute an experimental
investigation of it. Accordingly, having procured
living specimens of the House-fly (Musca domestica)
and of the large Flesh-fly (Musca vomitoria), 1 en-
closed them in clean jars and phials of transparent
glass, the interior surface of which they traversed in
every direction with the greatest facility, walking
upon it, even with their backs downward, while they
remained in full vigour; but when enfeebled by
exposure to cold, or by over-exertion, the identical
individuals ascended the sides of the same jars and
phials with considerable difficulty, falling from them
in numerous instances, and they were entirely incapa-
citated for adhering to them in an inverted position ;
yet when their physical energy was restored by re-
220 MEANS BY WHICH ANIMALS ADHERE

pose or an increase of temperature, they again repeated
their most extraordinary feats with all their original
promptness and dexterity.

Flies which are unable to maintain an inverted
position on highly polished bodies will frequently
adhere firmly, with their backs downward, to glass
rather defective in polish or slightly soiled ; indeed
I may remark generally -that the results of expe-
riments similar to those detailed above will always
be modified by the vigour of the insects and the
state of the glass vessels with regard to cleanness and
polish.

These facts plainly indicate that flies are not sup-
ported on: the vertical sides of smooth bodies by the
pressure of the atmosphere; and the only link in the
chain of evidence which was wanting to place the
matter beyond all dispute, the kindness of Mr. W.
Hadfield, of Cornbrook, has enabled me to supply.
With his assistance and the help of his air-pump it
was proved, to the entire satisfaction of several intel-
ligent gentlemen present, that the House-fly, while it
retains its vital powers unimpaired, can not only tra-
verse the upright sides, but even the interior of the
dome of the exhausted receiver; and that the cause
of its relaxing its hold, and ultimately falling from
the station it occupies, is a diminution of physical
energy attributable to impeded respiration. To this
circumstance in particular, as furnishing an experi-
mentum crucis by which the fallacy of the prevailing
TO POLISHED VERTICAL SURFACES. 221

hypothesis may be ascertained, I am solicitous to
direct the attention of naturalists.

I am aware that the males of several aquatic beetles
have the tarsi of the first and second pairs of legs
supplied on the underside with numerous cup-shaped
suckers of various sizes, which have their edges (the
larger ones at least) beautifully fringed with delicate
hairs. These suckers, which probably serve to faci-
litate the intercourse of the sexes, are remarkably
conspicuous on the tarsi of the males of a very com-
mon species, Dyticus marginalis, and unquestionably
give them a firm hold of smooth objects occurring in
water, a liquid whose specific gravity rather exceeds
their own ; but that they are inadequate to the sup-
port of this insect, the average weight of which is
about twenty-eight grains, on the vertical sides of dry
polished bodies, in so rare a medium as air, [ have
had frequent opportunities of remarking. My chief
object in adverting to these singular organs, on the
present occasion, is to guard entomologists against
the error of supposing that they correspond to the
pulvilli of insects, which, as I have attempted to
show, differ from them essentially both in structure
and function.

Having demonstrated the insufficiency of the re-
ceived explanation of the movements of flies on
polished perpendicular surfaces, I shall now endeavour
to establish a more satisfactory one in its place.

In pursuing my experiments with the House-fly I
222 MEANS BY WHICH ANIMALS ADHERE

observed that individuals sometimes remained fixed
to the sides of an exhausted glass receiver after they
had entirely lost the power of locomotion, and an
evident distention of the abdomen had been occa-
sioned by the expansion of the aériform fluids it
contained. To detach them from those stations the
employment of a small degree of force was found
requisite. This occurrence, which first suggested to
me the true cause of the phenomena under consider-
ation, induced me to prosecute the inquiry more
extensively than I had hitherto done. Selecting clean
phials of transparent glass, I placed in them spiders
and various insects in the larva and imago states,
capable of walking on their upright sides. I then
breathed into the phials till the aqueous vapour ex-
pelled from the lungs was copiously condensed on
their inner surface. The result was remarkable. The
moisture totally prevented those animals from obtain-
ing any effectual hold on the glass; and the event
was equally decisive if a small quantity of oil was
substituted for the aqueous vapour. A similar con-
sequence ensued also when the flour of wheat, or
finely pulverized chalk or gypsum, was thinly distri-
buted over the interior surface of the phials, the
minute particles of those substances adhering to the
tarsal brushes of the spiders, the pulvilli of the perfect
insects, and the underside of the feet of the larvee.
These facts appeared quite inexplicable, except on the
supposition that an adhesive secretion is emitted by
TO POLISHED VERTICAL SURFACES. 223

the instruments employed in climbing. The next
point to be determined, therefore, was, whether
spiders and insects in the larva and imago states,
when moving in a vertical direction on clean glass,
leave any visible track behind them or not. Careful
and repeated examinations, made with lenses of mode-
rately high magnifying-powers, in a strong light and
at a favourable angle, speedily convinced me that my
conjecture was well founded, as I never failed to
discover unequivocal evidence of its truth; though, in
the case of the spiders, considerable difficulties pre-
sented themselves in consequence of the exceedingly
minute quantity of adhesive matter emitted by the
brushes of those animals. On submitting this secre-
tion to the direct rays of the sun in the month of
July, and to brisk currents of air whose drying power
was great, I ascertained that it did not suffer any
perceptible diminution by evaporation under those
circumstances.

Now it is reasonable to infer from the foregoing
researches that the hair-like appendages constituting
the brushes of spiders, and occurring in such profu-
sion on the inferior surface of the pulvilli of insects,
are tubular. The delicate membrane also on the
underside of the prolegs, and the tarsi of the perfect
legs of various larvee capable of traversing polished
perpendicular bodies without the aid of lines pro-
duced by a spinning-apparatus, must be provided
with numerous pores or minute papillz, from which
224 MEANS BY WHICH ANIMALS ADHERE

an adhesive secretion is emitted. Some larve which
are not supplied with prolegs (those of the Cocci-
nelle, for example) have the inferior part of the tarsi
of their perfect legs thickly covered with hair-like
appendages, resembling in figure, and in the function
they perform, those on the pulvilli of insects in the
imago state; while others, altogether destitute of
legs, emit a viscid mucus from both their extremi-
ties, and by advancing and attaching each alter-
nately are thus enabled to ascend smooth bodies
with facility.

The larvee of the Chrysomele, Coccinelle, and some
other insects can protrude through an orifice at the
extremity of the caudal or terminal segment of the
abdomen a bundle of papillae, which, by a copious
emission of mucus, gives them so secure an attach-
ment to the objects on which they move, as readily
to sustain their entire weight ; by assisting them occa-
sionally in the act of progression it is also made to
serve the purpose of an additional leg. Provided with
a similar apparatus, the larva of the Glowworm (Lam-
pyris noctiluca), though unable to ascend a vertical
surface of glass, can adhere to one firmly by the appli-
cation of this eorgan, which is composed of several
branched membranous papille included in a common
envelope. They are extremely flexible and extensile ;
and, either separately or collectively, can be pro-
truded beyond the caudal segment or retracted
within it at the pleasure of the animal. Their effici-
TO POLISHED VERTICAL SURFACES, 225

ency as a cleaning-apparatus and an organ of adhe-
sion. and progression depends, principally, upon the
mucus they emit, which is secreted in great abund-
ance, and not upon the power of producing a vacuum.
When this instrument is applied to the body of the
insect, any extraneous matter immediately becomes
attached to it, and the impurities thus collected are
ultimately expelled by a fresh discharge of mucus and
a peculiar motion of the papille. Larve of the
Glowworm, kept in captivity for the purpose of ex-
periment and observation, may be fed on earthworms.

I may remark that snails, it is well known, can
adhere to polished bodies by means of a mucous se-
cretion; and from minutely inspecting preserved
specimens of tree-frogs ({yle), and the lizards deno-
minated Geckos, I am decidedly of opinion that those
reptiles are enabled to run upon the vertical sides of
smooth objects by the agency of adhesive matter
emitted from pores and papille situated on the inferior
surface of their toes.
FACTS RELATIVE TO THE MOVEMENTS OF
INSECTS ON DRY, POLISHED, VERTICAL
SURFACES.

——

As objections have been urged against the opinion
that flies and other insects of various species are
enabled to move on the vertical surfaces of highly
polished bodies by the emission of an adhesive fluid
from the numerous hair-like papille distributed over
the inferior surface of their pulvilli, the statement of
a few plain facts for the consideration of dissentients,
and especially of those who still advocate the hypo-
thesis that flies, in such instances as those referred to
above, are supported in their movements mainly by
the pressure of the atmosphere, may, perhaps, be
deemed deserving of attention.

Without the slightest intention to undervalue the
importance of microscopic researches into the organi-
zation of the parts in question, I may be permitted
to remark that the careful observation of phenomena
and judiciously selected and skilfully conducted ex-
periments afford equal if not superior advantages
with regard to the determination of the function they
perform, and that the two methods of investigation
MOVEMENTS OF INSECTS ON SURFACES. 227

should be pursued contemporaneously, and, as far as
opportunities will admit, in combination.

Having clearly ascertained by repeated inspections
of the pulvilli of flies under the microscope, both in
a state of action and repose, that a vacuum cannot
possibly be formed between them and smooth surfaces
to which they are applied, unless the papille with
which they are provided separately contribute to
produce such an effect, it was immediately perceived
that a decisive test of the truth or fallacy of this
conjecture might be obtained by means of the air-
pump ; and the result of its application was to demon-
strate, not only that flies can traverse the upright
sides and the interior surface of the dome of an
exhausted receiver while their physical energy is un-
impaired, but also to establish the important fact that
individuals occasionally remain fixed to the sides of
the glass after they have entirely lost the power of
locomotion, a circumstance which admits of only one
explanation, namely, that an adhesive fluid is emitted
from the extremity of their papilla. The sole sug-
gestion hitherto advanced, which has even the appear-
ance of at all affecting the validity of the conclusion
thus arrived at, is that the specific gravity of flies is
so low that a very slight degree of adhesive power is
sufficient to sustain them in the position they occupy;
but, low as it undoubtedly is, it greatly exceeds that
of atmospheric air, and it is evident that the efficiency
of the adhesive agency to support them on a polished

a2
228 ON THE MOVEMENTS OF INSECTS

vertical surface iz vacuo, thus conceded, must be
ample to enable them to move on the glass of our
windows in perfect security, under ordinary circum-
stances, without the adventitious aid of atmospheric
pressure ; the question of specific gravity, therefore,
may be safely eliminated as being of no moment in
any attempt to solve this interesting physiological
problem.

The argument so much relied upon by opponents
is, that if flies retained their position on polished
vertical surfaces by means of an adhesive fluid emitted
from the hair-like papillae on the inferior surface of
their pulvilli, they would, after remaining long in one
situation, be unable to quit it by any muscular effort
they could employ without seriously injuring those
delicate parts, in consequence of the tenacity that the
fluid would acquire by desiccation ; whereas it is well
known that their movements are not in the least
impeded by this circumstance. Plausible as this
reasoning is, it appears to be based on the erroneous
supposition that the properties of the fluid resemble
those of animal-glue or vegetable-gum, an assump-
tion which is at variance with all the particulars
that have been ascertained in connexion with the
phenomenon; in fact the fluid merely assumes a
gelatinous consistency on exposure to the atmosphere,
and is readily removed from the pulvilli, when re-
dundant, by the customary mode of cleansing those
organs employed by insects, which it could not
ON DRY, POLISHED, VERTICAL SURFACES. 229

possibly be were it of the tenacity implied by the
foregoing conjecture.

That flies are unable to walk on polished vertical
surfaces when breathed upon till the aqueous vapour
expelled from the lungs is copiously condensed thereon
is an acknowledged fact ; but it does not appear to
be known that when thus treated they cannot even
retain the position they occupy, whether they make
any visible effort to do so or not, a circumstance that
seems to be quite inexplicable on the hypothesis that
they are supported by the agency of atmospheric
pressure, but which admits of a satisfactory expla-
nation on the principle of a solvent fluid acting
upon a gelatinous and moderately adhesive animal
secretion; and these remarks apply to numerous
species of insects, and also to spiders provided with
scopule ; but the latter, when they perceive their
footing to be insecure, frequently attach themselves
to the spot by emitting from their spinners a little
of the viscid material of which their silken lines are
formed, that possesses the property of being insoluble
in water.

In spring, summer, and autumn House-flies may
frequently be seen adhering so firmly to the upright
surface of the glass of windows that they are incapable
of extricating themselves though they make every ex-
ertion to accomplish that object ; yet, when breathed
upon till the aqueous vapour exhaled is condensed
about them, they speedily fall from the spot to which
230 ON THE MOVEMENTS OF INSECTS

they were previously attached so strongly. Now that
this remarkable affection of the House-fly cannot be
caused solely by a low state of atmospheric tempera-
ture, as it has been surmised, is evident from the
circumstance that it often occurs in the hottest
period of the year; in the months of July and
August, 1864, upwards of twenty instances of this
curious fact were noticed; it must be ascribed,
therefore, either to feebleness resulting from some
other cause, or to an increase in the adhesiveness
of the fluid secretion emitted from the papille in
the act of climbing. If it should still be insisted
upon that the phenomenon is the result of atmo-
spheric pressure, it behoves the advocates of that
hypothesis to explain in what manner a little con-
densed vapour causes the liberation of insects that
are unable to accomplish the act by their own
unaided efforts. That an organ deemed to be
capable of so entirely expelling the air from the
space between its extremity and smooth surfaces
with which it is brought in contact as to pro-
duce a vacuum should yet be incompetent to
effect the exclusion of so dense a fluid as water,
does certainly appear to be in the highest degree
improbable *.

* The adhesion of flies to the glass of windows and to other
surfaces, towards the end of summer and in autumn, is usually
caused by the growth from the interior of the body of a parasitic
fungus (Sporendonema musce, Fries ; Empusa musce, Cohn).
ON DRY, POLISHED, VERTICAL SURFACES. 231

The promptness and celerity of the movements of
flies in an inverted position, or with their backs down-
wards, on highly polished surfaces, and the certainty
with which their hold is immediately secured when
they alight upon them, would seem to preclude the
possibility of the employment of muscular force on
such occasions adequate to the instantaneous expul-
sion of the air between their delicate climbing-appa-
ratus and the plain on which they move, to the extent
required for the formation of an efficient vacuum ;
but every difficulty is at once obviated by admitting
that a minute quantity of moderately adhesive fluid,
which acquires a gelatinous consistency on exposure
to the atmosphere, is emitted from the organs of
sustentation. Unexceptionable evidence that such
actually is the case has been obtained by observing
that the extremity of each papilla becomes cauterized
when subjected to the action of finely pulverized
nitrate of silver; and that insects, when traversing a
vertical surface of glass, leave upon it a visible and
enduring trace of their path, for the better perception
of which a lens having a high degree of magnifying-
power should be employed.

Though perfectly ‘satisfied that the conclusion de-
duced by me from the experiment with the air-pump
‘rests on too secure a basis to be subverted, yet a
desire to remove all apparent difficulties which may
be thought to militate against the view that I have
promulgated of the means by which numerous species
232 MOVEMENTS OF INSECTS ON SURFACES.

of insects and spiders, and even some reptiles, are
enabled to move on dry, polished, vertical surfaces,
must serve as my excuse for obtruding once more on
the attention of naturalists a subject that has been
the occasion of so much controversy.
ON AN

INSECT OF THE FAMILY JCHNEUMONIDA
WHOSE LARVA IS PARASITIC ON SPIDERS.

—_>——_

Immature Spiders of the species Epetra antriada,
Lpeira inclinata, Epeira cucurbitina, and Epeira dia-
dema, and adults of the species Linyphia minuta and
Linyphia tenuis, are frequently infested by the larva
of the Polysphincta carbonaria of Gravenhorst, which
feeds upon their fluids and ultimately occasions their
death. This parasite is always attached to the upper
part of the abdomen, near its union with the cephalo-
thorax, generally in a transverse but occasionally in a
longitudinal direction ; and, though it proves a source
of constant irritation, is secured by its position from
every attempt of the spider to displace it. Being
apodous, it appears to retain its hold upon its victim
solely by the instrumentality of the mouth and of a
viscid secretion emitted from its caudal extremity. I
never saw more than a single larva on the same
individual spider, which, indeed, could not supply
sufficient nourishment for two.

In the earlier stages of its growth this parasite has
234 ON AN ICHNEUMONID LARVA

an oblong oviform figure, somewhat depressed on the
underside ; it is whitish, with a faint tinge of yellow
extending along the medial line of the upper part,
which seems to be occasioned by the contents of the
viscera. At this period of its existence the external
covering presents a smooth, uniform surface; but
when its has completed its moultings and attained to
its full size, the head becomes visible, the body ex-
hibits thirteen distinct segments, a series of dorsal
prolegs is developed on the segments comprised
between the third and tenth, both inclusive, and its
prevailing hue is dark brown streaked and spotted
with white, particularly on the sides. The dorsal
prolegs are short, and, with the exception of that on
the tenth segment, are more or less bifid at the
summit; on their extremities numerous fine curved
processes or claws are disposed, with which the larva,
when about to fabricate its cocoon, attaches itself to
the lines spun by its victim. Only two instances are
noticed by Messrs. Kirby and Spence in their ‘ Intro-
duction to Entomology,’ sixth edition, vol. 1. pp. 227,
228, of the larvee of insects having prolegs situated on
their backs.

In April 1838, I captured a young female Epeira
antriada with one of these parasites upon it, and
placing it in a phial of transparent glass, I supplied
it with flies. Towards the end of May, having gone
through its final moult and increased considerably in
size, this larva became very restless, and on the 29th
PARASITIC ON SPIDERS. 235

quitted the spider, which was found dead and much
shrunk at the bottom of the phial, and attaching
itself to the extremity of the cork with which the
phial was stopped, it began to spin its envelope.
On the 31st it had completed its cocoon, which was
composed of pale yellowish-white silk of a compact
texture, and measured one third of an inch in length
and one tenth in diameter; it was of an oblong
quadrilateral figure, tapermg’ to its extremities, one
of which was more pointed than the other, and
was connected with the cork by numerous fine silken
lines. The perfect insect came out of the cocoon, at
the larger end, on the 27th of June, and proved to be
a female.

The length of this insect from the anterior part of
the head to the extremity of the abdomen, not in-
cluding the ovipositor, was one fourth of an inch;
the breadth from tip to tip of the anterior wings,
when expanded, 34. The antennz were filiform, and
had each twenty-four joints. The maxillary palpi
had five joints, and the labial palpi four. The tibiz
were terminated by two spurs on the underside.
The tarsi had five joints, of which the penultimate
was the shortest, and the claw-joint was provided
with two curved claws and a pulvillus. The head,
antennz, and several parts of the trunk were of a
brownish-black colour, with the exception of the
organs of manducation, which had a brown hue.
An oblong, soot-coloured spot occurred near the ex-
236 ON AN ICHNEUMONID LARVA

terior margin of each anterior wing, a little beyond
the middle towards the extremity. The legs and the
maxillary and labial palpi were of a yellowish-brown
colour, the tarsi and the extremities of the tibiee of
the posterior legs excepted, which had a brown hue.
The abdomen consisted of eight segments: the first,
which was the longest, was rather narrow and of a
brownish-black colour; the others had a dark brown
hue above, but the posterior margins of the second,
third, fourth, and fifth were much the darkest. The
caudal or terminal segment was the shortest, and had
a small hairy process on each side at the extremity.
All the segments, except the first, were of a pale
brown colour on the underside of the abdomen. The
ovipositor was hairy, of a very dark brown hue, and
measured 34; of an inch in length.

On the 20th of July, 1838, I obtained a young
female Hpeira antriada, to whose abdomen a full-
grown larva of this insect was attached, and placed it
in a phial. On the 23rd the larva became restless
and destroyed the spider, after having reduced it to a
mere corrugated skin; then quitting it, and taking
its station on the extremity of the cork which stopped
the phial, it commenced spinning its cocoon, and
completed it on the 24th. Out of this cocoon, which
exactly resembled the one described above in figure
and colour, though it was somewhat less, a male Poly-
sphincta carbonaria issued on the 16th of August.

This insect was without an ovipositor, and was
PARASITIC ON SPIDERS. 237

smaller than the female bred from the larva found on
the female Epeira antriada captured in April 1838 ;
its antenne also had each twenty-two joints only ;
but these differences may be regarded as sexual pecu-
liarities merely ; the close resemblance of the two in-
sects in other particulars, and the exact correspondence
in the economy of their larvae, leave no doubt about
their specific identity.

On the 26th of October, 1841, I caught an adult
female Zinyphia minuta with a parasitic larva, which
had completed its moulting, fixed upon its abdomen,
and enclosing it in a phial, I fed it with flies. The
larva increased in growth till the lst of February,
1842, when it destroyed the spider, which was much
reduced in size, and having quitted it, attached itself
to the underside of a slight, horizontal sheet of web
previously constructed in the phial by the spider. In
this situation it remained till the evening of the same
day, when it commenced spinning its cocoon, and on
the evening of the day following had completed it.
This cocoon was composed of brown silk of a com-
pact texture, and was of an oblong, quadrilateral form
tapering to its extremities, one of which was more
pointed than the other.

As this insect did not go through its final meta-
morphosis, I am unable to decide whether it differed
specifically from those already described or not; but
it is very probable that it did not, as the dissimilarity
in the colour of the silk composing its cocoon may be
238 ON AN ICHNEUMONID LARVA

reasonably ascribed to the quality of the food derived
from a different species of spider; for it is a well-
known fact that animal secretions are frequently
modified in colour by changes of diet.

It is deserving of notice that immature spiders
infested with the larva of Polysphincta carbonaria do
not change their skin. Were it not for this admirable
provision of Providence, the larva, cast off with the
integument in the act of moulting, would inevitably
perish, and the important purpose which its remark-
able economy is so evidently intended to subserve
(namely, the keeping of these deadly enemies of the
insect tribes within due limits) would fail to be
accomplished.

Various circumstances concur to render it probable
that Polysphincta carbonaria deposits its eggs on
spiders in the autumn, attaching one only to the
abdomen of each individual.

Messrs. Kirby and Spence, in treating on the dis-
eases of insects in the fourth volume of their ‘ Intro-
duction to Entomology’ *, have given a brief account
of observations made by De Geer on the larva of a
small Ichneumon discovered on a young spider, whose
economy is similar to that of the parasite which has
engaged my attention.

Being desirous of ascertaining whether these insects
were of the same species or not, and having no oppor-
tunity of consulting De Geer’s celebrated work, I

* Fifth edition, letter xliv. pp. 221, 222.
PARASITIC ON SPIDERS. 239

availed myself of the assistance of Mr. Peter Barrow,
of Manchester, who obligingly transcribed all that the
Swedish entomologist had published on the subject,
and transmitted it to me in Wales.

On perusing the description of the female Zchneuwmon
bred from the larva which formed the subject of his
investigations *, I found that it presented several
decided points of difference in colour from the insect
observed by me, from which it may be distinguished
at once by the two longitudinal yellowish lines on its
thorax.

It scarcely admits of a doubt that the whitish, oval
object noticed by Baron Walckenaer on a specimen of
Linyphia montana +, which seems to have induced no
small degree of surprise and perplexity in the mind
of that accomplished arachnologist, was the parasitic
larva of a small species of Ichneumon.

* «Mémoires pour servir 4 l’Histoire des Insectes,’ tom. ii.
p. 866.
+ ‘Histoire Naturelle des Insectes Aptéres,’ tom. i. p. 176.
EXPERIMENTS AND OBSERVATIONS

ON

THE POISON OF ANIMALS OF THE ORDER
ARANEIDEA.

——>__

Muc# has been written about the deleterious pro-
perty of the transparent colourless fluid emitted from
the minute orifice situated near the extremity of the
fangs of spiders on the side next to the mouth, when
those instruments are employed to inflict a wound.
The numerous accounts which have been published
by various authors of the singular effects mduced in
the human species by the bite of the Tarentula (Zycosa
tarentula apulie, Walck.), and of the still more extra-
ordinary mode of cure, together with the serious and
sometimes fatal consequences which have been attri-
buted to the bite of the Malmignatte (Latrodectus
malmignatus, Walck.), must be regarded as amusing
fictions in the natural history of the Araneidea ; and
if the opinion, prevalent among arachnologists of the
present day, that insects pierced by the fangs of
spiders die almost instantaneously, should be found
ON THE POISON OF ARANEIDEA. 241

on examination to be at variance with well-ascertained
facts, it must in like manner be deemed fanciful.

For the purpose of testing the validity of this opi-
nion, which I had reason to doubt, and in order to
determine, with a nearer approximation to accuracy
than had previously been done, some of the effects
produced under divers circumstances by the poison of
spiders, more especially the degree of influence it ex-
ercises in destroying the vital functions of animals, in
the summer of 1846 I commenced an experimental
investigation of the subject, the particulars of which
are comprised in the following pages.

To avoid confusion, the experiments have been
arranged under four distinct heads, corresponding to
the objects upon which they were made—namely, the
human species, spiders, insects, and inanimate sub-
stances. It may be proper to premise that all the
animals were adult individuals in vigorous health, and
that the temperature of the atmosphere, in every in-
stance recorded, was ascertained by means of a ther-
mometer graduated according to Fahrenheit’s scale,
and exposed to the open air in a shady situation having
a northern aspect.

1. Experiments on the Human Species.

On the 19th of July, 1846, a female Epetra dia-
dema was induced to bite me on the inner side of the
left hand, near the base of the fore finger ; it continued
to force its fangs deeper into the flesh during a period

R
242 ON THE POISON OF ANIMALS

of many seconds, and at last quitted its hold volun-
tarily, when a little blood issued from the wounds it
had inflicted. Though the spider was in a state of
great excitement from previous irritation, yet I did
not experience more inconvenience from its bite than
from a puncture made near it at the same time with
a fine needle; indeed, allowing for a considerable
degree of compression in the former case, the effects
of both injuries appeared to be very similar. The
thermometer, while the experiment was in progress,
stood at 76°; the air throughout the day was sultry,
and an extensive thunder-storm occurred in the
evening.

A highly exasperated female Eyetra diadema was
allowed to seize me on the inner side of the left fore-
arm, near the carpus, on the 30th of July, 1846. It
continued for more than a minute to bury its fangs
deeper in the flesh, and on quitting its hold volun-
tarily a little blood flowed from the wounded part,
near which a puncture was made simultaneously with
a fine needle. The air was sultry, the temperature at
the time being 75°, and distant thunder was heard.
No difference was perceptible between the results of
this and the preceding experiment.

At 11" 30™ a.m. on the 22nd of August, 1846, the
thermometer at the time indicating a temperature of
65°, a powerful and much-irritated female Zpetra
guadrata bit me on the inner side of the left fore-
arm, near the carpus. It retained its hold for the
OF THE ORDER ARANEIDEA. 243

space of five minutes, occasionally forcing its fangs
deeper into. the flesh, and on quitting it voluntarily
blood issued freely from the punctures. Due allow-
ance being made for the strong degree of compression
employed by this robust spider, the effects of its bite
did not differ materially from those of a wound made
near it at the same time with a needle of an average
size, the intensity and duration of the pain being very
similar in both instances.

On several occasions, in the month of August, 1846,
spiders of various species were induced, under the in-
fluence of excited feelings, to seize a piece of clean
window-glass with their fangs, when the transparent
fluid which escaped from the small aperture near their
extremity was deposited upon it. The application of
this fluid to the tongue did not produce any sensible
effect on that organ ; but the result was very different
when the poison emitted under like circumstances
from the sting of the common Wasp (Vespa vulgaris),
the Hive-bee (4pis mellifica), or the Humble bee
(Bombus terrestris) was so applied, a powerfully acrid
pungent taste being the immediate consequence. A
contrast equally remarkable was evinced when these
fluids were transmitted into a recent wound—that
secreted by the insects caused inflammation accom-
panied by acute pain; effects which if produced at
all by that secreted by the spiders, were scarcely
appreciable.

The legitimate conclusion deducible from the ex-

R2
244 ON THE POISON OF ANIMALS

periments seems to be, that there is nothing to
apprehend from the bite of the most powerful
British spiders, even when inflicted at a moment of
extreme irritation and im hot sultry weather, the
pain occasioned by it being little, if any, more than
is due to the laceration and compression the injured
part has sustained.

The manner in which spiders are affected when
pierced by the fangs of animals of their own order
demands attention in the next place.

2. Haperiments on Spiders.

On the 22nd of July, 1846, a male Zegenaria
civilis, in a violent struggle with a female of the
same species, deeply inserted his fangs near the
middle of the dorsal region of her abdomen, and
retained his hold for several seconds; from the
punctures thus made a brown fluid issued copiously,
and in a few minutes coagulated. The injured
spider appeared to suffer very little from the severe
wounds it had received, as it speedily constructed a
small web in the phial in which it was confined, and
continued for more than a year to feed freely on
the flies introduced to it. The thermometer, at the
time the experiment was made, indicated a tempera-
ture of 74°.

In a hostile encounter between two female spiders
of the species Segestria senoculata, on the 29th of
OF THE ORDER ARANEIDEA. 245

July, 1846, one of them was pierced by the fangs
of her opponent on the underside of the abdo-
men, near the spinners. A transparent colourless
fluid oozed from the wounds for many minutes, and
ultimately coagulated ; but the spider seemed to ex-
perience little inconvenience from the injury, being
lively in its motions and preying eagerly upon the
insects with which it was supplied. The tempera-
ture at the time was 76°, and the atmosphere was
highly electrical.

A female Ciniflo atrox was bitten by an exasper-
ated female Zycosa agretyca near the middle of the
cephalothorax, on the 29th of July, 1846, the tem-
perature by the thermometer being 76°. The Lycosa
retained its hold for many seconds, and on quitting
it voluntarily a transparent colourless fluid flowed
from the punctures and coagulated. The wounded
spider, apparently regardless of the injury it had re-
ceived, spun a web with which it long continued to
ensnare its victims.

On the same day, the mercury in the thermometer
denoting a temperature of 75°, a female Lpeira
diadema, in a violent struggle with a female Celotes
saxatilis, pierced her abdomen in the medial line of
the dorsal region, about a third of its length from the
spinners. The wounded spider did not exhibit any
marked symptoms of distress and speedily resumed
its accustomed habits.

Tn an attack made by a female Ciniflo ferox upona
246 ON THE POISON OF ANIMALS

female Lycosa agretyca, on the 30th of July, 1846,
the temperature being 74°, the latter was wounded
by the fangs of its assailant at the base of the coxa
of the left posterior leg, and a transparent fluid,
which soon coagulated, issued from the injured part.
Nothing occurred afterwards to indicate that the
Lycosa had suffered from the encounter.

Two female spiders of the species Zpeira diadema
engaged in a severe contest on the 30th of July,
1846, the thermometer standing at 73°, when one of
them was seized by the fangs of her antagonist near
the middle of the right side of the abdomen. A
brown fluid flowed from the punctures and soon
coagulated, but the spider appeared to be only
slightly and very briefly affected by the injury.

A female Epeira diadema, in a highly excited state,
bit itself near the middle of the femur of the left
anterior leg, on the 5th of September, 1846. The
temperature at the time was 69°, and a transparent
fluid flowed copiously from the wounded part ; coagu-
lation, however, quickly ensued, after which the spider
manifested no unfavourable symptom whatever.

Extensive mechanical injuries commonly prove
fatal to spiders, whether received in conflicts with
their congeners or otherwise, the extinction of life
being more or less rapid in proportion to the vitality
of the part lacerated; but no evidence supplied by
the foregoing experiments indicates that the fluid
emitted from the orifice in the fangs of the Aranetdea

3
OF THE ORDER ARANEIDEA. 247

possesses a property destructive to the existence of
animals of that order when transmitted into a recent
wound ; in short, it does not appear to exercise any
greater degree of influence upon them than it does
upon the human species.

I now proceed to show how insects are affected
when pierced by the fangs of spiders.

3. Haperiments on Insects.

1846. August 7th. A female petra diadema in-
flicted a severe wound on the mesonotum of a common
Wasp, near the base of the right anterior wing, at
11> a.m., the temperature at the time being 74°.
The wasp, though disabled from flying, survived the
injury for the space of thirteen hours.

August 7th. At 1° 30™ p.m., the temperature
being 72°, a female petra diadema pierced a Hum-
ble bee (Boméus terrestris) with its fangs near the
posterior part of the mesosternum. The wound de-
prived the humble bee of the power of flight, but
did not terminate fatally till 11° p.m. on the 10th.

August 8th. Temperature 68°. A female Seges-
tria senoculata seized a Flesh-fly (Musca vomitoria)
near the middle of the tibia of the right posterior leg,
and did not quit its hold for several seconds. A
transparent colourless fluid issued from the wounds
made by the fangs of the spider; but the fly retained
the use of its wings, and did not expire till evening
on the 10th.
248 ON THE POISON OF ANIMALS

August 13th. Temperature 64°. At 5" 15™ p.m.
a female Segestria senoculata inserted its fangs about
the middle of the abdomen of a large Green Grass-
hopper (Acrida viridissima), and retained its hold,
which it quitted voluntarily, for many seconds. A
greenish-yellow fluid flowed copiously from the punc-
tures ; yet the insect continued to be lively in its
movements, leaping with agility up and down the
glass vessel in which it was confined, and ceased not
to exist till midnight on the 15th.

August 14th. Temperature 66°. <A female
Epeira diadema pierced a large Green Grasshopper
at 4" 43™ p.m., burying one fang at the base of the
antenna on the right side, and the other in the right
eye. The spider retained its hold for several seconds,
and on quitting it a greenish-yellow fluid issued from
the former wound and a dark brown fluid from the
latter. Notwithstanding the serious injuries the
grasshopper had received, no diminution of its activity
was apparent, and it did not expire till afternoon on
the 16th. y

August 29th. Temperature 69° At 1" 22™ p.x.
a Hive-bee had its abdomen extensively lacerated
near the middle of the left side by a female Lycira
quadrata. A large quantity of transparent fluid
flowed from the wound, but death did not ensue till
3° 18™ P.M.

September 3rd. Temperature 68°. A common
Crane-fly (Zipula oleracea) punctured by the fangs of
OF THE ORDER ARANEIDEA., 249

a female Segestria senoculata, at 4" 35™ p.m., about a
quarter of an inch from the posterior extremity of its
abdomen, survived till 8° 7™ p.m.

September 7th. Temperature 69° “At 1° 45™
p.M.a Flesh-fly was bitten by a female petra dia-
dema on the underside of the abdomen, near its
posterior extremity, and a brownish fluid continued
to ooze from the wounds till 5" 18™ p.m. on the 8th,
when the fly expired.

September 7th. Temperature 68°. A common
Crane-fly was seized near the posterior extremity of
the abdomen, at 4° 54™ p.m., by a female Zpeira
guadrata. A brownish fluid issued from the punc-
tures made by the fangs of the spider, and the
existence of the insect terminated at 6" 9™ P.M. on
the 8th.

September 10th. Temperature 64°. Pierced a
Flesh-fly through the middle of the left side of the
abdomen with a fine needle, at 12° 14" p.m.; a
transparent fluid issued from the wound, which the
fly survived till 4" 20™ p.m. on the 11th.

September 10th. Temperature 65°. At 1* 13™
P.M. a common Crane-fly was pierced through the
left side of the abdomen, near the middle, with a
fine needle; the insect expired on the same day at
5* 29" P.M.

September 10th. Temperature 65°. The point of
a strong needle was deeply inserted into the right
side of the abdomen of a large Green Grasshopper,
250 ON THE POISON OF ANIMALS

near its anterior extremity, at 1> 20" p.m. Though
the injury was severe, the life of the insect did not
become extinct till 7* 41™ p.m. on the 12th.

September 10th. Temperature766°. The right side
of the abdomen of a common Wasp was penetrated
near the middle with the point of a fine needle, at
25 5™ p.m.; a transparent fluid oozed from the
puncture, and the life of the wasp terminated at
10° 20™ p.m.

September 18th. Temperature 60°. A male Ze-
genaria civilis deeply inserted its fangs near the
middle of the mesonotum of a House-fly (Musca
domestica) at 10° 10" a.m., and retained its hold for
more than an hour and a half. The victim continued
to manifest unequivocal signs of life till 10° 44™ a.m.,
and appeared to sink gradually from mere exhaustion.
All the time it was in the grasp of its enemy, with
the exception of short intervals, it was perceived to
have a slight nodding motion, which was discovered
to be caused by the act of deglutition on the part of
the spider, a synchronous motion being always ob-
served in the fluid suddenly and copiously propelled
into the spider’s mouth, and then by degrees reduced
in volume in exact proportion to the continuance of
the nutation. Whenever the fluid was withdrawn
from the mouth a fresh supply was speedily intro-
duced, and after mingling with that extracted from
the body of the fly, was conveyed into the stomach
of the spider by a repetition of the act of swallowing,
OF THE ORDER ARANEIDEA. 251

thus occasioning the nodding motion with intervals of
repose apparent in its prey.

September 18th. Temperature 61°. At 10" 20™4.M.
a female Zegenaria civilis seized a House-fly with its
fangs near the middle of the mesonotum, and did not
relax its hold for more than an hour. The struggles
of the fly became gradually more feeble, till they
ceased altogether at 10° 47" a.m. The nodding
motion of the victim, and all the attendant circum-
stances, were as conspicuous in this instance as in
the preceding one.

September 18th. Temperature 64°. <A female Se-
gestria senoculata penetrated with its fangs the right
side of the mesonotum of a House-fly at 1" p.m., but
did not deprive it of life till 1729" p.m. The spider
kept its hold about an hour; and a nodding motion
of the fly, regularly accompanied by the act of deglu-
tition in its destroyer, with brief and simultaneous
pauses in both, was observed during the entire
period.

1847. July 15th. Temperature 71°. At 5°3™ p.m.
a brilliant Green Fly (Musca cesar) was pierced by
the fangs of a female Agelena labyrinthica near the
posterior extremity of the abdomen, on the under-
side. After retaining its hold about ten minutes the
spider transferred it to the middle of the mesoster-
num, perforating the part and rapidly extracting the
fluids of its prey, whose existence terminated at
55 26" p.m. A nutation of the fly was constantly
252 ON THE POISON OF ANIMALS

observed to accompany the action of swallowing in
its adversary.

July 19th. Temperature 70°. A female Agelena
labyrinthica struck its fangs into the left side of the
mesonotum of a Flesh-fly, at 12"23™ p.a., and eagerly
extracted its fluids, the act of deglutition being at-
tended with the usual nodding motion of the victim.
After ineffectual efforts to escape, the insect became
exhausted, and finally expired at 12° 43™ p.m.

These experiments do not present any facts which
appear to sanction the opinion that insects are de-
prived of life with much greater celerity when pierced
by the fangs of spiders than when lacerated mechani-
cally to an equal extent by other means, regard being
had in both cases to the vitality of the part injured,
as the speed with which existence terminates mainly
depends upon that circumstance. It is true that the
catastrophe is greatly accelerated if spiders maintain
a protracted hold of their victims; but this result is
obviously attributable to the extraction of their fluids,
which are transferred by oft-repeated acts of degluti-
tion into the stomachs of their adversaries.

From the entire mass of evidence supplied by the
experiments taken in the aggregate, it may be fairly
inferred that whatever properties characterize the
fluid emitted from the orifice in the fangs of the
Araneidea, it does not possess that degree of virulence
which is commonly ascribed to it, neither is it so de-
structive to animal life when transmitted into a recent
OF THE ORDER ARANEIDEA. 253

wound as it is generally supposed to be. Were I
disposed to speculate upon the manner in which it
affects insects on being introduced by the fangs into
their vascular system, I might conjecture that it has
a tendency to paralyze their organs of voluntary mo-
tion, and to induce a determination of their fluids to
the part injured; but I refrain from dwelling upon
a suggestion, however plausible it may appear to be,
which, in the present state of our knowledge of the
subject, can only be regarded as hypothetical.

4. Haperiments on Inanimate Substances.

In the month of September 1846, litmus paper
presented to spiders belonging to several genera when
in a state of extreme irritation, having their fangs ex-
tended, and the transparent fluid which issues from
the fissure near their extremity conspicuously accu-
mulated there, on being seized invariably became red
as far as the fluid spread round the punctures made
in it, a result clearly proving that this animal secre-
tion, though tastless, is an acid. Care, however, must
be taken, in conducting the experiment, not to suffer
any fluid from the mouth to blend with: that which
proceeds from the fangs, either before or after it has
been transferred to the litmus paper, the former, ‘ren-
dering the blue colour of the test more intense, and
restoring it after it has been converted to red by the
action of acetous acid, being decidedly an alkali; con-
254 ON THE POISON OF ANIMALS

sequently, if both combined in due proportions, they
would neutralize each other; but as there is usually
a much more copious supply of the alkaline than of
the acid fluid, its agency would predominate, and
scarcely a trace of red would be discerned on the lit-
mus paper.

Submitted to the same chemical tests, the fluid
contained in the stomachs of spiders and that which
flows from wounds inflicted on their bodies and limbs
were found to be alkaline. Now if the frequency and
suddenness with which large quantities of fluid are
propelled into the mouths of spiders when occupied
in extracting nutriment from thei prey be borne in
mind, the conclusion that they must be ejected from
the stomach through the narrow cesophagus and pha-
rynx seems to be inevitable*, as there is not any other
source known whence they could be derived; and it
has been ascertained that if they are applied to litmus
paper, which has or has not been reddened by acetous
acid, they always produce upon it effects precisely
similar to those caused by the gastric fluid, or rather
by the fluid contents of the stomach, when subjected
to such tests. I may remark that the yellow colour

* The statement of Savigny, that some spiders have three
pharyngeal apertures, does not appear to be applicable to several
of our larger indigenous species, as I have not been able to detect
more than one such aperture in Ciniflo ferox, Celotes saxatilis,
Tegenaria civilis, Agelena labyrinthica, and Epeira quadrata, on
the most careful inspection.
OF THE ORDER ARANEIDEA. 255

of turmeric paper is rendered brown by the applica-
tion of the fluids from the mouth and stomach, and
that it is restored again by the agency of the fluid
secreted by the poison-glands, changes which afford
another proof, in addition to those already advanced,
of the respective alkaline and acid properties of these
animal products.

The instruments employed by the Araneidea to
seize and destroy their prey are improperly denomi-
nated mandibles; I say improperly, because they
actually do not constitute any part of the oral appa-
ratus, as Mr. W. 8. MacLeay has plainly asserted + ;
indeed many eminent zootomists, judging from their
position and from the origin of the nerves distributed
to them, entertain the highly probable opinion that
they are the analogues of the antenne of hexapod
insects, and in accordance with this view of the sub-
ject M. Latreille termed them chelicera; but so widely
do they differ from antenne in structure and func-
tion, that the propriety of bestowing upon them a
distinct appellation which does not imply any thing
hypothetical will scarcely be questioned: I propose,
therefore, to name them falces.

Much of the misapprehension that exists among
arachnologists relative to the falces has been occa-
sioned, in all probability, either by the prevailing

+ ‘Annals and Magazine of Natural History,’ 1839, vol. ii.
p- 2, note *.
256 ON THE POISON OF ARANEIDEA.

belief that spiders are destitute of a labrum, or by
mistaken notions as to its precise situation. That
they possess the organ in a low state of development
is undeniable, as I have distinctly observed it in spe-
cies belonging to the genera Lycosa, Dolomedes, Sal-
ticus, Thomisus, Olios, Drassus, Clubiona, Ciniflo, Age-
lena, Tegenaria, Colotes, Theridion, Linyphia, Epeira,
Dysdera, and Segestria*. It is attached by its
base to the superior surface of the palate; but the
extremity, which is free, and usually round or some-
what pointed, can be slightly elevated, depressed,
extended, retracted, and moved laterally at will. To
apply the term mandibles to organs originating above
the labrum, and therefore not situated within the
mouth, must evidently be erroneous ; and I venture
to anticipate, upon anatomical considerations, that
future investigations will lead to the conclusion that
the mandibles of the Araneidea are confluent with the
palate.

* Professor Owen has detected a rudimental labrum in spiders
of the genus Mygale. See his ‘Lectures on Comparative Ana-
tomy’ (Ist ed.), Lecture xix. Arachnida, p. 257.
OBSERVATIONS AND EXPERIMENTS

on
AERONAUTIC SPIDERS,

MADE CHIEFLY WITH A VIEW

TO ASCERTAIN THE MEANS BY WHICH THEY
EFFECT THEIR AERIAL EXCURSIONS.

—_>—__

AutHoucH it is well known that spiders frequently
ascend into the atmosphere through the instrumen-
tality of fine lines formed of a viscid secretion, which
proceeds from the mammule situated at the extremity
of the abdomen, yet the manner in which these aérial
journeys are effected still remains involved in obscu-
rity, and considerable diversity of opinion exists as to
the particular species of spider by which they are
undertaken. This deficiency leaves open a wide
field for speculation ; and, accordingly, we find that
natural historians have ascribed this interesting oc-
currence to several distinct causes, such as the agency
of winds, evaporation, and electricity, the exercise of
peculiar physical powers with which aéronautic spiders
have been supposed to be endowed, and the extreme
s
258 ON AERONAUTIC SPIDERS.

levity of the lines of those animals, which are repre-
sented, by some writers on the subject, to be of less
specific gravity than atmospheric air*: but that each
of these hypotheses is unfounded, and in direct oppo-
sition to facts, will be rendered evident by the fol-
lowing observations and experiments, from which I
have endeavoured to elicit a satisfactory solution of
the difficulty.

That gossamer, which usually abounds most in the
months of September and October, is perceived to
ascend into the atmosphere only in serene, bright
weather, is, I believe, generally allowed: it is also
admitted that gossamer in the air is invariably pre-
ceded by gossamer on the ground. These, as will
appear in the sequel, are circumstances of much im-
portance in the present investigation, every method
of accounting for the ascent of gossamer-webs and
spiders, however plausible, which does not imply their
concurrence being necessarily erroneous.

But to proceed to my own researches. A little
before noon, on the Ist of October, 1826, which was
a remarkably calm, sunny day, the thermometer in
the shade ranging from 55°:5’to 64°, I observed that
the fields and hedges in the neighbourhood of Man-
chester were covered over, by the united labours of
an immense multitude of spiders, with a profusion of

* For a more detailed statement of the above conjectures, see
the ‘ Introduction to Entomology,’ by Messrs. Kirby and Spence,
Letter xxiii.
ON AERONAUTIC SPIDERS. 259

fine, glossy lines, intersecting one another at every
angle, and forming a confused kind of network. So
extremely numerous were these slender filaments,
that in walking across a small pasture my feet and
ankles were thickly coated with them. It was evi-
dent, however, notwithstanding their great abund-
ance, that they must have been produced in a very
short space of time, as early in the morning they were
not sufficiently conspicuous to attract my notice; and
on the 30th of September they could not have existed
at all, for, on referring to my Meteorological Journal,
I find that a strong gale from the south prevailed
during the greater part of that day.

A circumstance so extraordinary could not fail to
excite curiosity; but what more particularly arrested
my attention was the ascent of an amazing quantity
of webs, of an irregular, complicated structure, re-
sembling ravelled silk of the finest quality and clearest
white. They were of various shapes and dimensions,
some of the longest measuring upwards of five feet
in length, and several inches in breadth in the widest
part ; while others were almost as broad as long, pre-
senting an area of a few square inches only. These
webs, it was quickly perceived, were not formed in
the air, as is generally believed, but at the earth’s
surface. The lines of which they were composed,
being brought into contact by the mechanical action
of gentle airs, adhered together, till by continual ad-

ditions they were accumulated into flakes or masses
8 2
260 ON AERONAUTIC SPIDERS.

of considerable magnitude, on which the ascending
current, occasioned by the rarefaction of the air con-
tiguous to the heated ground, acted with so much
force as to separate them from the objects to which
they were attached, raising them in the atmosphere
to a perpendicular height of at least several hundred
feet. I collected a number of these webs, about mid-
day, as they rose, and again, in the afternoon, when
the upward current had ceased to support them and
they were falling; but scarcely one in twenty con-
tained a spider, though, on minute inspection, I found
small winged insects, chiefly Aphides, entangled in
most of them.

From contemplating this unusual display of gos-
samer, my thoughts were naturally directed to the
animals which produced it ; and the countless myriads
in which they swarmed almost created as much sur-
prise as the singular occupation that engrossed them.
Apparently actuated by the same impulse, all were
intent upon traversing the regions of air; accordingly,
after gaining the summits of various objects, as blades
of grass, stubble, rails, gates, &., by the slow and
laborious process of climbing, they raised themselves
still higher by straightening their limbs ; and eleva-
ting the abdomen, by bringing it from the usual
horizontal position into one almost perpendicular,
they emitted from their spinning-apparatus a small
quantity of the glutinous secretion with which they
fabricate their silken tissues. ‘This viscid substance,
ON_ AERONAUTIC SPIDERS. 261

being drawn out by the ascending current of rarefied
air into fine lines several feet in length, was carried
upwards, until the spiders, feeling themselves acted
upon with sufficient force in that direction, quitted
their hold of the objects on which they stood, and
commenced their journey by mounting aloft.
Whenever the lines became inadequate to the pur-
pose for which they were intended, by adhering to
any fixed body, they were immediately detached from
the spinners, and so converted into terrestrial gossa-
mer, by means of the posterior pair of legs, and the
proceedings just described were repeated, which
plainly proves that these operations result from a
strong desire felt by the spiders to effect an ascent.
But what, it may be asked, is the exciting cause of
this singular propensity? It has been suggested that
hunger, or an inclination to procure some favourite
kind of food, may supply the requisite stimulus.
These suppositions, however, are discountenanced by
the plump appearance which the animals exhibit, by
their total disregard of such winged insects as happen
to be placed within their power, by their utter
inability to regulate their motions, while afloat, in
any other manner than by letting out or drawing in
the lines by which they are conveyed through the air,
and thus promoting their ascent or descent, by the
unsuitableness of the lines for securing their prey,
and, lastly, by the uncertainty when a favourable day
for their purpose may occur, or even that one may
262 ON AERONAUTIC SPIDERS.

occur at all. Were I to hazard a conjecture on the
subject, I should be disposed to attribute the manifest
anxiety of these animals to change their quarters to a
feeling of insecurity occasioned by their proximity to
one another, the prodigious numbers which in
favourable seasons are usually congregated together
affording the more powerful individuals an opportu-
nity, seldom neglected by these voracious creatures, of
making an easy prey of the weaker ; and this opinion
is strengthened, if not confirmed, by the fact that they
are chiefly spiders which have not arrived at maturity
that undertake these migrations.

I have asserted that when Aéronautic Spiders per-
form their aérial journeys they are borne upwards by
an ascending current of rarefied air impinging against
the slender lines which proceed from their spinners.
I shall now endeavour to demonstrate that this curi-
ous atmospherical phenomenon, which well deserves
the attention of meteorologists, affords them the only
available means of accomplishing their object, and
that the hypotheses previouly adverted to are quite
ureconcilable with facts, and, consequently, must be
erroneous.

It has been already stated that gossamer is never
seen floating in the air except in calm sunny weather ;
its buoyancy, therefore, evidently does not depend
upon the agency of winds, usually so called: indeed
it is probable that winds never do take an upward
direction, unless influenced by some extraordinary
ON AERONAUTIC SPIDERS. 263

circumstance or local peculiarity ; the ascent of gossa-
mer, on the contrary, is frequently observed to take
place over a great extent of country on the same day.
It was noticed on the 1st of October, 1826, for exam-
ple, in England, Wales, and Ireland.

If a satisfactory explanation of this interesting fact
cannot be derived from the operation of winds, it is
still less likely to be deduced from the action of eva-
poration or electricity ; for, not to insist upon the
probable, I had almost said absolute, insufficiency of
these powers, considered as agents, experiments show
that spiders do not select those periods for making
an ascent when the evaporating force is unusually
great or the electricity of the atmosphere is re-
markable for its intensity*. I find, likewise, that
when gossamer-webs and the larger species of Aéro-
nautic Spiders are raised into the air with facility,
the downy feathers of birds and seeds of plants are
also carried upwards, whatever may be their electri-
cal condition as induced by artificial means—a con-
vincing proof that the buoyancy of these several
objects does not depend upon the influence of elec-

* The evaporating force may be determined by the atmo-
meter, or from the temperature at which the aqueous vapour in
the atmosphere begins to be condensed into water, and the tem-
perature of the air (see the ‘ Memoirs of the Literary and Phi-
losophical Society of Manchester,’ Ist series, vol. v. part 11,
p. 588). The electrical state of the atmosphere is shown by
Bennet’s gold-leaf electrometer.
264 ON AERONAUTIC SPIDERS.

tricity. But though each of the alleged causes
just adverted to appears to be incompetent to pro-
duce the required effect, yet one abundantly adequate
may, perhaps, be thought to exist in the physical en-
dowments of the animals themselves, or in the extreme
lightness of their filaments; these two last-named
suppositions, therefore, merit a careful examination.
If spiders do impel their lines upwards by the
voluntary exercise of some animal function which has
hitherto eluded the researches of physiologists, it
follows that when the communication is interrupted,
the lines, unless influenced by some other force, must
necessarily fall. Now the reverse of this uniformly
ensues ; for if the animals, after having commenced
their ascent, are suddenly separated from the lines to
which they are attached, the latter still continue to
ascend, their motion being accelerated by the dimi-
nished action of gravity upon them, but the former
are rapidly precipitated to the ground. The conclu-
sion is obvious. The buoyancy of the lines cannot
be occasioned by the beings which produce them ;
and the ascent of large flakes of web unoccupied by
spiders, before alluded to, confirms this opinion.
Perhaps the buoyancy of lines from which spiders
have been detached, and of webs altogether destitute
of those animals, may be regarded as faccs power-
fully contributing to establish the accuracy of the
idea that this secretion is specifically lighter than the
mixed gases which compose the atmosphere. The
ON AERONAUTIC SPIDERS. 265

fallacy of this notion, however, is easily detected by
experiment. In the comparatively still air of a room
without fire, both the lines and webs descend slowly
to the floor, the latter falling with the greater degree
of velocity. Were these productions lighter than
atmospheric air, or were the spiders capable of effect-
ing an ascent without adventitious aid,a calm though
cloudy day might answer their purpose ; but as con-
siderable warmth is required to produce an ascend-
ing current of rarefied air strong enough to bear
them from the earth, a bright as well as still day is
indispensable. '

A distinguished French naturalist, M. Virey, gives
the following results of his observations and experi-
ments on Aéronautic Spiders, in the ‘ Bulletin des
Sciences Naturelles’ for October, 1829, p. 1383 :—
“ Réfléchissant aux moyens par lesquels ces insectes
gravissent dans l’air, une seule chose m’a paru la
plus vraisemblable, c’est qu’a l’aide des huit pattes
que animal peut faire vibrer avec agilité, 77 nage
dans air. On congoit que ces membres rapprochés,
ramant quatre a quatre simultanément de chaque
coté, frappent lair comme des ailes, et peuvent fort
bien enlever cet insecte d’ailleurs si léger. Ce pro-
cédé parait le seul possible dans ce cas. D’ailleurs:
l’extréme rapidité, ou l’agilité incroyable de ces pattes
en trépidation, comme la vibration des ailes chez les
oiseaux ou les insectes diptéres qui planent dans lair,
font qu’on ne peut pas toujours bien distinguer leur
266 ON AERONAUTIC SPIDERS.

motivement.” In this bold but fanciful conjecture,
M. Virey has been anticipated by our celebrated
countryman Dr. Lister, who, in treating upon his
“araneus subfuscus, minutissimis oculis é viola pur-
purascentibus, tardipes, & gressu & figura cancro
marino non adeo dissimilis,” remarks, “certé egre-
gius funambulus est, & mirificé filorum ejaculatione
delectatur : neque soliim in aére, uti superiores, vehi-
tur; sed ipse etiam ascensum velificationémque moli-
tur, pedibus scilicet arctitis ad se invicem applicitis
sese quodammodo librat, cursum promovet regitque
nihilo secitis quam si illi essent 4 natura concesse
ale vel remorum ordines”*. Supported by such
high authorities as these, this hypothesis assumes an
air of importance to which it is not otherwise en-
titled, since the single fact that spiders, when sail-
ing in the atmosphere, invariably fall to the ground
on being separated from their lines, is alone sufficient
to effect its complete subversion. Moreover, I have
thoroughly satisfied myself, by much elaborate inves-
tigation, that spiders never ascend into the air spon-
taneously without the assistance of lines connected
with the spinners, and that when they perform their
aérial journeys their legs are usually in a state of
quiescence, being contracted and brought into close
contaet with the body: indeed, should the limbs
happen to be observed in motion, they will generally
be found, on minute inspection, to be employed in

* «De Araneis,’ p. 85.
ON AERONAUTIC. SPIDERS. 267

adjusting the suspensory filaments, and not in pro-
pelling the adventurous aéronauts through the atmo-
sphere. It is manifest, therefore, that, in the strict
sense of the word, spiders do not fly.

The various directions in which spiders sail through
the atmosphere admit of an easy explanation. A
direction parallel to the horizon will be given by a
current of air moving in that plane; a vertical one
by the ascent of air highly rarefied ; and directions
intermediate between these two will, in general,
depend upon the composition of forces. When the
horizontal and vertical currents are equal in force, the
line of direction will describe an angle of 45° nearly
with the plane of the horizon; but when their forces
are unequal, the angle formed with that plane will be
greater or less accordingly as one current or the other
predominates.

Founded on results obtained from an experiment
which has been frequently made, but never conducted
with sufficient care, is the belief, entertained by many
eminent naturalists, that spiders can forcibly propel
or dart out lines from their papillae. Now as this
process would, contrary to my own experience, imply
the exercise of a physical power peculiar to these
creatures, and as attempts have been made to ex-
plain on this principle the fabrication of the nets of
Geometric Spiders in situations where their ordinary
mode of proceeding could not be employed, I deter-
mined to repeat the experiment from which so strange
268 ON AERONAUTIC SPIDERS.

a conclusion has been deduced. With this view,
having procured some small branched twigs, I fixed
them upright in glazed earthenware vessels with per-
pendicular sides, containing water, their bases being
immersed in the liquid, and upon them I placed
several Aéronautic and Geometric Spiders. When-
ever the animals thus circumstanced were exposed to
a current of air, either naturally or artificially pro-
duced, they directly turned the cephalothorax to-
wards the quarter whence it came, even when it was
so slight as scarcely to be perceptible; and elevating
the abdomen, they emitted from their spinners a
small quantity of glutinous matter, which was in-
stantly carried out in a compound line, with a velo-
city equal, or nearly so, to that with which the air
moved, as was apparent from observations made on
the motion of detached lines similarly exposed. The
spiders, in the next place, carefully ascertained
whether their lines had become firmly attached to any
object or not, by pulling them with the first pair of
legs; and if the result was satisfactory, after tighten-
ing them sufficiently, they made them fast to the
twigs; then discharging from their spinners, which
they apphed to the spot where they stood, a little
more of their liquid gum, and committing themselves
to these bridges of their own constructing, they passed
over them in safety, drawing a second line after them
as a security in case the first gave way, and so
effected their escape. Such was invariably the result
ON AERONAUTIC SPIDERS. 269

when the spiders were placed where the air was liable
to be sensibly agitated: I resolved, therefore, to put
bell-glasses over them ; and in this situation they re-
mained seventeen days, evidently unable to produce a
single line by which they could quit the twigs they
occupied without encountering the water at their
bases, though, on the removal of the bell-glasses,
they regained their liberty with as much celerity as in
the instances already recorded.

The manner in which the lines of spiders are carried
out from the spinners by a current of air appears to
be this. As a preparatory measure, the spinning-
mamuule are brought into close contact, and viscid
matter is emitted from the papille; they are then
separated by a lateral motion, which extends the
viscid matter into fine filaments connecting the
papilla ; on these filaments the current impinges,
drawing them out from the spinners to a length which
is regulated by the will of the animal; and on the
mammule being again brought together the filaments
coalesce and form one compound line.

The foregoing experiment, which, from a want of
due precaution in its management, has misled so many
distinguished naturalists, I have repeated with more
than thirty distinct species of spiders, at all hours of
the natural day, and in electrical and meteorological
states of the atmosphere differing most essentially ;
in short, under every variety of circumstances which
appeared likely to influence the result, yet always
270 ON AERONAUTIC SPIDERS.

with the same success. Placed under bell-glasses, or
in any situation where the air remained tranquil, they
in vain attempted to make their escape from the twigs
to which they were confined, notwithstanding their
best endeavours to quit them were persisted in perti-
naciously ; but in the disturbed atmosphere of an in-
habited room most of them readily accomplished their
object. I am confident, therefore, in affirming that
the lines produced by spiders are not propelled from
the spinners by any physical power possessed by
those animals, but that they are invariably drawn
from them by the mechanical action of external
forces.

Spiders, though placed on excellent conductors of
electricity, such as metallic rods insulated by water,
if exposed to a current of air, let out their lines with
facility, and invariably in the direction of the breeze.
The act is perfectly voluntary, and the lines, immedi-
ately after they are emitted, nay, at the very time they
are issuing from the spinners, if blown upon from
any other quarter, instantly obey the new impulse
thus imparted to them. I have tried this experiment
on numerous occasions without once perceiving the
slightest deviation from these results, which I, there-
fore, regard as completely established.

All spiders possessing an apparatus for spinning do
not appear to be endowed with the instinct to let out
their lines when placed on a twig insulated by water
and exposed to a current of air; and as this is the
ON AERON AUTIC SPIDERS. 271

case with some of the more common species, with
Tegenaria civilis and Ciniflo atrox for example, I take
this opportunity of calling the attention of observers
to the fact, which, if unnoticed, might occasion them
some disappointment.

In conducting experiments similar to those de-
scribed above, it will be very apparent that there is a
decided advantage in employing, as I have recom-
mended, vessels having smooth, perpendicular sides,
care being taken not to fill them with water, for
several kinds of spiders run upon that liquid with
greater facility than they do on land; and though
most of our larger indigenous species are, at least
when they have attained their full growth, quite
incapable of walking upon its surface, still they some-
times contrive to effect a passage over it by the fol-
lowing ingenious expedient. Placed on an insulated
twig, they attach a line to it which they seize with
the foot of one of the hind legs, allowing it to run
freely through the claws as it proceeds from the
spinners. Descending to the surface of the water,
they use their best exertions to pass over it; and
should a little dust or other extraneous matter hap-
pen to rest upon it, enabling them to obtain even a
slight footing, their efforts are frequently attended
with success, the line, which chiefly contributes to
support them during their progress and also serves
to secure a return to the twig should their attempts
prove abortive, being ultimately made fast to the
272 ON AERONAUTIC SPIDERS.

edge of the vessel containing the liquid. Various
species of spiders occasionally proceed down the twig
into the water, and endeavour to walk over the
bottom of the vessel, the atmospheric air confined
among the hairs with which they are clothed, and
enveloping in a greater or less degree their limbs and
body, empowering them to remain immersed for a
short period without suffering much inconvenience.
When the experiments are made with Hunting-
Spiders, a vessel of considerable internal dimensions
should be selected; for, if this precaution be ne-
glected, some species (Salticus scenicus, for example)
will escape by leaping over the water intended to
confine them; and on such occasions a line, attached
by its extremity to the station previously occupied
by each individual, is drawn out after it from the
spinners.

Some Aéronautic Spiders, procured on the 2nd of
October, 1826, were enclosed in glass phials with
ground stoppers, where they were suffered to remain
till the 16th of December, an interval of seventy-five
days, without either food or moisture; yet, at the
expiration of that period, the only alterations percep-
tible in their external condition were a small decrease
in bulk and a slightly wrinkled appearance, particu-
larly of the abdomen: but their functions were,
seemingly, unimpaired; for on warm days, or when
excited by artificial heat, they were lively in their
motions, and to the last continued to produce their
ON AERONAUTIC SPIDERS. 273

lines, which were often destroyed for the purpose of
ascertaining whether they would be replaced by
others or not, with the same facility, apparently, as
at the time of their capture. It is particularly de-
serving of notice that these animals, though unable
to climb up the smooth perpendicular sides of the
phials on their first introduction, soon contrived to
traverse the interior of their prisons in every direc-
tion.

In order to illustrate their manner of proceeding
on this occasion, the case of an individual has been
selected for description, the same method, with a few
trivial modifications, being pursued by all. Elevating
the abdomen, and pressing the spinning-apparatus
against the side of the phial, this spider emitted from
its papille a little viscid fluid, which, on exposure to
the air, hardened into a minute, semitransparent
speck ; then moving to a short distance, and drawing
out a line after it, one end of which remained fixed
to the spot it had just quitted, it connected this fila-
ment with another part of the phial by applying the
spinners as before. Several lines being thus pro-
duced, the spider, speedily raising itself upon them
above the bottom of the phial, promoted its under-
taking by repeating the process just described, every
step so gained enabling it to carry its operations still
higher. From the cylindrical figure of the phial, it
follows that all the lines attached to its sides by their-
extremities, such as were vertical alone excepted,

a
274, . ON AERONAUTIC SPIDERS.

formed with those sides chords to arcs of various
magnitudes. Lowering itself from one of these
chords to another, and applying the spinners to each
in succession, the spider soon connected the whole
of them together by a line; then ascending again
to the greatest altitude it could attain, and dropping
down by a line to the bottom of the phial, over
which it walked to the opposite side, it there drew
the filament tight and made it fast, having prevented
it from coming in contact with the glass previously
by raising the abdomen alittle. To this oblique line
it united others, extending them in different direc-
tions, till, by these means, it established a communi-
cation with every part of the phial. As there was
some difficulty in tracing these operations with the
unassisted eye, lenses of the magnifying-powers of
six and eight were employed.

The spiders seen ascending into the atmosphere on
the 1st of October, 1826, were of two distinct species
—the Thomisus cristatus of M. Walckenaer and the
Lycosa saccata of M. Latreille. The species noticed
by me as remarkable for the skill it displayed in
spinning its way up the sides of the phial in which
it was confined, and for having existed seventy-five
days without food or moisture, was 7homisus cristatus
—Lycosa saccata being neither so expert in climbing,
nor so tenacious of life under similar circumstances.
The largest individuals of the first species observed to
undertake aérial journeys measured % inch between
ON AERONAUTIC SPIDERS, 275

the extreme points of the head and abdomen, +5 inch
across the broadest part of the abdomen, and
-weighed about a quarter of a grain. The largest
individuals of the second species seen floating in
the air were of somewhat inferior weight and di-
mensions.

Aéronautic Spiders, properly so called, or those
species which by cxstinctively employing their lines to
sail in the atmosphere greatly facilitate and extend
their geographical distribution, will probably be
found chiefly among such as are active during the
day and erratic. Numerous facts tend to corro-
borate this idea, the correctness or inaccuracy of
which can only be determined by more extended
observations.

, »
ON THE MANNER

IN WHICH

THE GEOMETRIC SPIDERS

CONSTRUCT

THEIR NETS.

———_

Few animals of solitary habits are endowed with
more extraordinary instincts than spiders. The
ardent affection for their offspring so strikingly
manifested by some species, the exquisite skill
displayed by many in fabricating silken cocoons to
contain their eggs and in the construction of their
habitations, the highly curious contrivances by
means of which others traverse the regions of air
or descend beneath the surface of water, and the
various stratagems had recourse to by all in eluding
their numerous enemies and in securing their living
prey, are eminently calculated to attract the atten-
tion and elicit the admiration of every person who
has a mind alive to the wonderful physiological
phenomena exhibited by the inferior orders of ani-
mated beings. But interesting as the general eco-
nomy of this remarkable order of animals is, and
ON THE NETS OF GEOMETRIC SPIDERS. 277

well deserving of more minute investigation than
has hitherto been bestowed upon it, on the present
occasion I propose to limit my observations to the
manner in which several British species of Hpeire,
commonly denominated Geometric Spiders, construct
their snares.

By the elegance of their symmetrical structure,
and their extreme delicacy of texture, the nets of
these uneducated geometricians never fail to excite
astonishment, even in the most thoughtless observer ;
and the pen of the natural historian has been fre-
quently employed in describing the singular process
by which they are formed. Among the various
authors whose works I have consulted, Messrs.
Kirby and Spence have given the most circumstan-
tial account of this process, in their comprehensive
and excellent ‘Introduction to Entomology,’ vol. i.
letter xiii.; I shall, therefore, avail myself of what
those gentlemen have done, without reserve, intro-
ducing such particulars, in addition, as have resulted
from my own researches, and attempting to solve a
few of those difficulties which they have left without
explanation.

The Geometric Spiders usually suspend their nets
in an oblique or nearly vertical position, fixing them
to trees, shrubs, plants, buildings, &c., in places where
the insects they prey upon abound. After selecting
a suitable situation for her purpose, the spider’s first
operation, in most instances, is to enclose an area,
278 ON THE NETS OF GEOMETRIC SPIDERS.

the figure of which appears to be a matter of indif-
ference, with lines of her own spinning. This is
effected by proceeding along the objects immediately
surrounding the space destined to be occupied by
the net, and attaching to several points, by pressing
the spinners against them, a line drawn out afte
her in her transit from one to another. These mar-
ginal lines she strengthens with a few additional
ones, and finally gives them the requisite degree of
tension by applying to them, in different directions,
numerous smaller threads. Having thus completed
the foundations of her snare, in the next place she
commences to fill up the outline. Fixing a thread
to one of the boundary lines, along which she walks,
she guides the filament, produced in her progress,
with one of her hind feet, that it may not touch in
any part and adhere prematurely ; and crossing over
to the opposite side, she there attaches it firmly, by
applying her spinners. To the middle of this
diagonal thread, which is to form the centre of the
net, she fixes a second, which, in like manner, she
conveys and fastens to another part of the lines
encompassing the area. Along this last-formed
thread she returns, drawing out another after her,
which, as she does not employ any means to keep
it distinct, becomes connected with that on which
she is advancing, and is ultimately glued by its
extremity to the centre of the net. In this manner,
but without observing any regularity in the order of
ON THE NETS OF GEOMETRIC SPIDERS. 279

her progression, she forms about twenty or thirty
radii, composed of double lines, diverging from the
centre to the circumference, and giving the net the
appearance of a wheel. She then proceeds to the
centre, turns herself round, and pulls each radius
with her feet, to ascertain its strength, breaking
such as seem defective, and replacing them by
others. Her next proceeding is to produce, round
the centre of the net, a spiral line extending thence
to the circumference, and intersecting the radii, to
which she attaches it by pressing her spinners
against them. This spiral line, a few of the more
central circumvolutions of which*are much nearer
to each other than are those removed to a greater
distance from that point, serves as a temporary
scaffolding for the spider to walk over, and also to
keep the radii properly stretched during her suc-
ceeding operations. It, together with the radii and
marginal lines, is composed of unadhesive silk; but
a spiral line has now to be spun, from the circum-
ference around the centre, which may be regarded
as constituting the most important part of the snare.
It consists of a fine thread, closely studded with
minute dew-like globules, easily removable to a
greater distance from each other by extending the
elastic filament on which they are arranged. They
are, in fact, globules of viscid gum, as is proved by
their adhering to the finger and retaining dust
thrown upon the net, while the unadhesive radii
280 ON THE NETS OF GEOMETRIC SPIDERS.

and exterior threads remain unsoiled. These viscid
threads mainly serve to retain the insects which fly
into the net; and as they lose their adhesive property
by exposure to the air, it is requisite that they
should be- frequently renewed—a process not ne-
glected by the spider, which evinces a perfect con-
sciousness of its necessity. Placing herself at the
circumference of the net, and fastening her viscid
thread to the end of one of the radii, the spider
walks up that radius towards the centre, till she
comes in contact with the last produced circumvo-
lution of the unadhesive spiral line, along which
she passes to the adjoining radius, drawing out the
thread, in her transit, with the claws of the hind
leg nearest to the circumference. She then transfers
the thread to the claws of the other hind leg, and
passing down the radius at which she has just
arrived towards the circumference she places the
foot of the hind leg previously employed in drawing
out the thread on that pomt in the radius to which
her filament is to be attached, and, bringing the
spinners to the spot, there makes it secure. The
precise place in each radius at which to fix the
thread is always ascertained by the situation of the
foot of the hind leg; and this is determined by
touching, with the feet of those legs nearest to the
circumference, the marginal line, or, when the struc-
ture of the net is further advanced, the last-formed
circumvolution of the viscid spiral line. As this last
ON THE NETS OF GEOMETRIC SPIDERS. 281

line approaches the several circumvolutions of the
unadhesive spiral line, the spider bites them away,
being sensible that they are no longer of any use to
her ; and this fact explains why they are never seen
intermixed with the circumvolutions of the former in
finished nets. The viscid spiral line, whose circum-
volutions are nearly equidistant, being separated by
a space varying, according to the size and species
of the animal, from about a thirtieth to six or seven
tenths of an inch, is thus produced till it extends to
the most proximate circumvolutions of the unadhesive
spiral line, which, occupying the central part of the
net, are suffered to remain; it is then discontinued,
and the spider, making choice of some retired spot
in the vicinity, there constructs a cell, or selects a
situation in which she may conceal herself from ob-
servation. From the centre of the net to this re-
treat she spins a line of communication, composed
of several threads united together throughout their
entire length, the vibrations of which speedily inform
her of the capture of her prey; and here her labours
terminate.

Such is the process, with some slight modifications
now to be noticed, employed by the Geometric
Spiders in the formation of their snares. One spe-
cies, the Lpeira calophylla of M. Walckenaer, gene-
rally converts a radius into a line of communication
between the net and its retreat, instead of spinning
a separate line for that purpose; and this peculiar
282 ON THE NETS OF GEOMETRIC SPIDERS.

appropriation, whether the radius be in the plane of
the snare, or whether it be withdrawn from that
plane, as is frequently the case, imparts an unfinished
appearance to the net, as it prevents the spider from
giving her viscid line a spiral form, though this is
sometimes attempted with a greater or less degree
of success. No sooner does the spider arrive at one
of the radii adjacent to that in connexion with her
cell, than she returns, traversing the framework of
her snare till she arrives at the proximate radius on
the opposite side, when she again retraces her steps,
and, thus oscillating between the two, spins a num-
ber of curved, viscid lines, or arcs of circles, diminish-
ing in length from the circumference of the net
towards the centre. Dr. Lister, who has figured
and described this species in his treatise ‘ De Araneis,’
fig. x. pp. 47 & 48, was well acquainted with this
peculiarity, so common in the structure of its snare ;
but be has fallen into the error of supposing that
it occurs invariably, as appears from the following
passage, cited from his work :—‘ Rete amplum &
elegantissimum tendit: illud autem in eo perpetuum
& singulare est, nimirim é radiis unicum maculis
utringque nudari, idque @ centro reticuli ad ejus
usque circumferentiam; qui feré ad aliquam in pa-
riete rimulam aut alibi, ubi animal tuto totum diem
latet, porrigitur: atque hic radius ei velut scala est,
per quem ascendat descendatque.”

The learned authors of the ‘Introduction to En-
ON THE NETS OF GEOMETRIC SPIDERS. 283

tomology,’ in treating upon the construction of the
nets of Geometric Spiders (for their remarks, though
limited to the proceedings of an individual for the
convenience of description, seem to be intended to
apply to all), state that the spider always leaves a
vacant interval round the smallest, first-spun circles
which are nearest to the centre, but for what pur-
pose they are unable to conjecture; and that, lastly,
she bites away the small cotton-like tuft which
united all the radii at the centre of the net, and in
the circular opening resulting from this procedure
she takes her station and watches for her prey. In
this account I recognize the proceedings of a spider,
the petra inclinata of Walckenaer, which, as far
as my own observations extend, never, like the last
species, converts a radius into a line of communica-
tion with its retreat; and when it occupies the
aperture in the centre of its snare, a thread from
its spinners is generally connected with the inner-
most circumvolution of the unadhesive spiral line, by
means of which it quickly lowers itself to the ground
when suddenly disturbed. But there are other spe-
cies which rarely, if ever, leave a vacant interval, of
any considerable magnitude, round that portion of
the unadhesive spiral line allowed to remain near the
centre of the net; neither do they form an open-
ing at the centre, which, almost invariably, is left
entire.

The reason why the viscid spiral line is not con-
284 ON THE NETS OF GEOMETRIC SPIDERS.

tinued to the centre of the net is obvious, for by this
arrangement the spider is enabled to superintend her
toils without incurring the risk of being entangled
in them. The species referred to by Messrs. Kirby
and Spence as always leaving a vacant interval
round the smallest, first-spun circles which are
nearest to the centre of her net, produces fewer of
those small circles than almost any other Geometric
Spider which has fallen under my notice, except the
long slender-bodied species, TZetragnatha extensa,
Latreille, whose economy is very similar; conse-
quently, if the viscid line were prolonged till it
made a near approximation to them, the unadhesive
lines about the centre would be too closely circum-
scribed, and the spider would be subjected to great
inconvenience.

Hitherto I have supposed the spider to form her
snare in places evidently easy of access to her; but
it is not unusual to see nets fixed to objects be-
tween which it is quite impossible that a commu-
nication can have been established by any process
alluded to above—between distant plants, for ex-
ample, growing in water. “Here then,” as the
authors of the ‘Introduction to Entomology’ ob-
serve, “a difficulty occurs. How does the spider
contrive to extend her main line, which is often
many feet in length, across inaccessible openings
of this description?” To this curious fact my
attention has long been directed, and I have
ON THE NETS OF GEOMETRIC SPIDERS. 285

thoroughly satisfied myself, by observation and ex-
periment, that in such instances spiders invariably
avail themselves of currents of air, by which their
lines are sometimes conveyed to a surprising
distance.

If the Geometric Spiders be placed on twigs or
metallic rods set upright in glazed earthenware ves-
sels with perpendicular sides, containing a sufficient
quantity of water completely to immerse their bases,
the spiders, thus insulated, use every means in their
power to effect an escape; all their efforts, however,
uniformly prove unavailing in a still atmosphere;
nevertheless, when exposed to a current of air, or
when gently blown upon with the’ breath, they im-
mediately turn the abdomen in the direction of the
breeze, and emit from the spinning-apparatus some
of their liquid gum, which, being carried out in a
line by the current, becomes connected with some
object in the vicinity. This the spider ascertains by
pulling it with her feet, and, drawing it in till it is
sufficiently tense, she gums it fast to the twig or
rod, and, passing along it, speedily regains her
liberty. Now, that the same means are frequently
resorted to by spiders in their natural haunts, for the
purposes of changing their situation and fixing the
foundations of their snares, I have repeatedly ob-
served. I am aware that, in the ‘Introduction to
Entomology,’ an objection has been urged against the
explanation of the difficulty here insisted upon.
286 ON THE NETS OF GEOMETRIC SPIDERS.

“Tf,” say the learned authors, “the position of the
main line be thus determined by the accidental
influence of the wind, we might expect to see these
nets arranged with great irregularity, and crossing
each other in every direction; yet it is the fact that,
however closely crowded they may be, they con-
stantly appear to be placed not by accident but de-
sign, commonly running parallel with each other at
right angles with the points of support, and never
interfering.” In favourable weather it is well known
that the Geometric Spiders frequently begin to con-
struct their nets soon after the close of day; and
as similar processes must be influenced in a like
manner by the simultaneous operation of the same
cause, the lines of individuals carried out by a cur-
rent of air till they become attached to some distant
object will be all parallel or nearly so. This regu-
larity, therefore, instead of militating against the
opinion maintained above, appears to me to furnish
a powerful argument in support of it.

Sometimes the Geometric Spiders suspend their
nets in places not entirely surrounded by objects to
which, in the first instance, they can proceed and
attach their boundary lines. In such cases their
operations are deserving of attention. After spinning
a few radii, which are fixed to several distant points
most accessible to her, the spider fastens a thread
to one of them, gluing it to that extremity which is
furthest from the centre of her net. Along this
ON THE NETS OF GEOMETRIC SPIDERS. 287

radius she walks, drawing out the thread after her,
and guiding it with one of her hind feet, till she
reaches its point of union with one of the adjoining
radii: on this radius she steps, and passing along it
to the other extremity there makes fast her thread—
by this simple process connecting with marginal lines
distant objects between which no direct communica-
tion previously existed.

In the formation of their nets, spiders are regu-
lated chiefly by the sense of touch, which they
possess in high perfection. This is rendered ex-
tremely probable by the general tenor of their pro-
ceedings; for example, they ascertain when they
have the full complement of radii by approaching
the centre of the net, which is their common point
of union, and touching each in succession with the
feet, supplying deficiences wherever they are per-
ceived ; and I have already noticed a circumstance
which greatly tends to confirm this opinion—namely,
that they frequently construct their snares in the
night. The fact, however, is established beyond
dispute by the following experiment. I have re-
peatedly confined Geometric Spiders in glass jars
placed in situations absolutely impervious to light,
and yet, during their captivity, they have produced
perfect nets of admirable workmanship.

Spiders were supposed by Dr. Lister * to be able
to retract their threads within the abdomen; and

* «De Araneis,’ p. 8.
-288 ON THE NETS OF GEOMETRIC SPIDERS.

whoever minutely observes the geometricians when
fabricating their silken snares will be almost in-
duced to entertain the same belief. The viscid
line produced in the spider’s transit from one radius
to another is sometimes drawn out to a much greater
extent than is necessary to connect the two; yet,
on approaching the point at which it is to be at-
tached, it appears rapidly to reenter the spinners,
‘till it is reduced to the exact length required. This
optical illusion, for such it is, is occasioned by the
extreme elasticity of the thread, which may be ex-
tended greatly by the application of a shght force,
and, on its removal, will contract proportionally.
The viscid line alone possesses this property in an
extraordinary degree (the radii and marginal lines
being scarcely remarkable for it), by which it is
adapted to the frequent and rapid changes in distance
that take place among the radii when the net is
agitated by winds or other disturbing forces, and
by which the insects that fly against it are more
completely entangled than they otherwise could be,
without doing extensive injury to the framework
of the snare.

In order to determine whether objects entangled
in their toils are animate or inanimate, the Geometric
Spiders pull with their feet the radii immediately
in connexion with that part of the snare in which
they are suspended, and, suddenly letting go their
hold, produce by these means a vibratory motion
ON THE NETS OF GEOMETRIC SPIDERS. 289

in the net, which seldom fails to excite to action
such insects as are ensnared. Guided by the
struggles of her prey, the spider runs along the
most contiguous radius: to seize her victim, avoiding
any contact with the viscid line as much as possible,
and drawing out after her a thread attached to one
of the lines near the centre of her net, which serves
to facilitate her return.

Complicated in structure, elegant in design, and
admirably adapted to effect the purpose for which
they are intended, the nets of the Geometric Spiders
may, nevertheless, be shown by experiment to result
from a propensity to construct inherent in those
animals; for when their eggs are hatched in glass
jars, apart from every species belonging to the family,
the newly disclosed young, acting under the stimulus
of hunger, not only fabricate snares, prior to having
acquired the slightest knowledge of their prey, but,
even in their earliest attempts to accomplish their
object, display as consummate skill as the most ex-
perienced individuals.
OBSERVATIONS ON THE STRUCTURE AND
ECONOMY OF SPIDERS.

——_~>—_

Amonc the various species of Araneidea which cap-
ture their prey by means of snares composed of the
animal secretion emitted from their spinners, it would
be difficult to select any, the Geometric Spiders alone
excepted, whose structure and economy are better
deserving of investigation than those of Cixzflo atrox.
Whoever inspects closely the snare of this very com-
mon species cannot fail to be struck with the singu-
larity of its appearance, and will naturally feel a
desire to be made acquainted with the process em-
ployed m its formation. Such, at least, has been the
case with myself; and I have experienced no small
degree of disappointment in not being able to obtain
any information on the subject from those authors
whose works I have had an opportunity of consult-
ing. This unsuccessful examination of the labours
of naturalists, many of them distinguished for the
extent of their learning, the minuteness of their
researches, and the comprehensiveness of their views,
induces me to believe it probable that the inquiry
STRUCTURE AND ECONOMY OF SPIDERS. 291

may not have had that attention bestowed upon it
which it undoubtedly merits. As it is one, however,
which for some time past has occasionally occupied
a portion of my leisure hours, I shall proceed to
detail the results of my observations, trusting that if
they should not. possess that novelty which, notwith-
standing my limited knowledge of the writings of
foreign zoologists, I am disposed to claim for them,
still they will not be found wholly devoid of interest.

The favourite haunts of Cinifio atrox are the
branches of trees and shrubs growing against build-
ings, crevices in old walls, and the corners of win-
dows. In these and similar localities it fixes its
residence and fabricates its snare. On the objects
surrounding the spot selected for its retreat it ex-
tends to a considerable distance, but without any
apparent regularity or design, a number of fine,
glossy lines intersecting each other at various angles,
to which it attaches other lines, or rather fasciculi of
filaments, of a complicated structure, and of a pale
blue tint, nearly approaching the colour of skimmed
milk. These compound filaments, or flocculi, which
in exposed situations retain their delicate hue for a
short period only (old snares being generally of a dull
or sullied white, not at all advantageous to their
appearance), are arranged on the first spun glossy
lines both in longitudinal and transverse directions.
When recently produced they adhere strongly to
such insects as come in contact with them, and,

u2
292 OBSERVATIONS ON THE

though perfectly inelastic, may be drawn out into
fibres of extreme tenuity. A communication between
the snare of this spider and its retreat is established
by means of a funnel-shaped tube, of a slight texture,
whose smaller extremity is in immediate connexion
with the latter, and, indeed, sometimes constitutes
the animal’s abode. Not unfrequently two tubes
occur in the same snare, by one or other of which the
spider usually effects its retreat when disturbed.

If a newly formed flocculus be minutely examined
under the microscope, with a pretty high magnifying-
power, it will be found to consist of four lines and
two delicate bands. Two of the former are straight
and exceedingly attenuated, and upon each of them
is disposed a tortuous line, inflected into short curves
and loops, like a ravelled thread of fine silk. A pale
blue band, distributed on each of the tortuous lines
in numerous irregular curvatures, completes the floc-
culus. ‘The flexures of the pale blue bands are more
widely extended than those of the tortuous lines on
which they occur, and to them the adherent property
of the snare is chiefly to be ascribed. In attempting
to determine by experiment the cause of adhesion in
the blue bands, I ascertained that bodies with highly
polished surfaces, such as the bulbs of thermometers
and burnished metallic rods, if carefully applied to
them, may be withdrawn without deranging their
structure, though the viscid globules in the nets of
Geometric Spiders adhere to the same bodies as soon
STRUCTURE AND ECONOMY OF SPIDERS. 293

as they are brought into contact with them. From
this circumstance I was led to infer that the blue
bands are fibrous, although their structure is so ex-
ceedingly fine that I cannot detect it even with the
assistance of the microscope, and that the imper-
ceptible filaments of which they are composed adhere
to objects, not in consequence of being glutinous, but
solely by attaching themselves to inequalities on their
surfaces. The following brief description of the
manner in which the flocculi are fabricated, and of
the curious apparatus employed in the process, gives
additional weight to this opinion.

There are on the metatarsi of the posterior legs of
Ciniflo atrox two parallel rows of fine spines, mov-
able at the will of the animal, which may readily be
discerned by means of a lens having a magnifying-
power of ten or twelve. They are situated upon a
ridge on the abdominal side of the superior surface
of the joint, commencing a little below its articulation
with the tibia, and terminating at a strong spur near
its extremity. The spines composing the upper row
have a considerable degree of curvature, and taper
gradually to a fine point, those of the lower row
being stronger, more closely set, and less curved.
This important appendage has received the name of
calamistrum, and constitutes a striking character, which
ought on no account to be omitted in descriptions of
Ciniflo atrox.

When the spider purposes to form a flocculus, it
294 OBSERVATIONS ON THE

presses its spinners (which are eight in number)
against one of the glossy lines composing the founda-
tion of its snare, and, emitting from them a small
quantity of liquid gum, attaches to it several fine
filaments drawn out by advancing the abdomen a
little, and kept distinct by a lateral motion of the
mammule. The posterior legs are then raised above
the plane of position, and the foot of one of them is
applied to the superior surface of the metatarsal joint
of the other, a little above its articulation with the
tarsus, and the calamistrum, before described, is
brought immediately beneath the spinners, at right
angles with the line of the abdomen. By a slight
extension of the joints of the posterior legs the cala-
mistrum is directed backwards across the mammule,
the diverging extremities of which it touches in its
transit, and is restored to its former position by a
corresponding degree of contraction in the joints.
In proportion to the continuation of this process (and
it is not at all unusual for the spider to pass the
calamistrum across the points of the mammulz seve-
ral hundred times in rapid succession), the inflected
lines and bands of the flocculus are found to be pro-
duced, the spider making room for them as they
accumulate by elevating, and at the same time ad-
vancing, the abdomen, which it effects by slightly
extending the joints of the third pair of legs and
contracting those of the first and second pairs. As
this operation is generally performed in the night, it
STRUCTURE AND ECONOMY OF SPIDERS. 295

can seldom be seen to advantage unless artificial light
be employed, some skill in the management of which
is required in order to avoid disturbing the spider.
The modus operandi, as nearly as 1 can ascertain it
by the most diligent observation, appears to be this.
The points of the lower row of spines in passing over
the extremities of the mammulz draw from them lines
which run into numerous flexures in consequence of
not being kept fully extended ; and the purpose sub-
served by the upper row of spines seems to be the
detachment of these lines from the spines of the lower
row by a motion upwards. Now, were the blue
bands glutinous, this mode of proceeding would be
quite unavailing ; it is only on the supposition, there-
fore, that they have a fibrous structure that their
adherent property can be satisfactorily explained.
When a sufficient quantity of the inflected filaments
is produced, the spider again applies its spinners to
one of the glossy lines, and attaches the flocculus to
it. In this manner it proceeds with its labours,
occasionally employing both calamistra, till the snare
is completed. Should many of the flocculi be de-
stroyed, or rendered almost useless by having their
adherent property impaired, new ones are constantly
added to the snare.

The admirable adaptation of the structure and dis-
position of the calamistra to their action on the
spinners, by which, under the directing influence of
instinct, the curious snare of Ciniflo atrox is perfected,
296 OBSERVATIONS ON THE

affords manifest evidence of design, and, consequently,
of an intelligent designing agent.

A more exact idea of the mechanism of the cala-
mistrum than can be conveyed in words will be ob-
tained by inspecting Plate I. figs. 1 and 2*.

Distinguished naturalists have represented spiders
as having their tarsi armed at the extremity with
three claws, which occupy the upper and anterior
portion of the foot. That this is the case with many
species cannot be denied ; other species, however, be-
longing to various genera (J/ygale avicularia, Clubiona
erratica, Drassus nitens, Hecaérge spinimana, Philo-
dromus dispar, and Salticus scenicus, for example),
have only ¢wo claws on each foot ; and if the tarsi of
the larger Geometric Spiders indigenous to Great
Britain, such as petra umbratica, Epeira quadrata,
Epeira diadema, and Epeira apoclisa, be examined
under the microscope with a highly magnifying-power,
it will be distinctly perceived that the inferior part of

- their feet is provided with several claws, which have
a considerable degree of curvature, are finely pointed,
and are furnished with tooth-like processes on the
underside (Plate I. fig. 3); and should the investiga-

* The calamistrum of some small spiders belonging to the
genera Hrgatis, Mithras, &c. ‘consists only of a single row of
curved, movable bristles; and the proximate extremities of their
additional or fourth pair of spinners, unlike those of the larger
species of the genus Ciniflo, are not separated by a septum, but
are usually without any definite mark of distinction.
STRUCTURE AND ECONOMY OF SPIDERS. 297

tion be extended to other retiary spiders, the feet of
many species which construct complicated snares will
likewise be found to exhibit a similar organization.
As the best means of guarding against errors, to
which the inspection of limbs defective in structure
might conduce, it is advisable to select the legs of
vigorous individuals which have recently oe
whenever such can be procured.

The supernumerary claws were first observed by
me in examining the feet of Apetra apoclisa ; and in
every instance I counted as many as five, which, with
the three upper ones previously known, give a total
of eight claws on the same foot, distinguishable at a
glance from the coarse, setaceous hairs in their vici-
nity. There is also a strong, movable spine inserted
near the termination of the tarsus of each posterior
leg on the underside, which curves a little upwards at
its extremity, and exhibits a slight irregularity of out-
line at its superior surface. The function performed
by these spines, which have been named. sustentacula,
is an important one. By the contraction of their
flexor muscles they are drawn towards the foot, and
are thus brought in immediate opposition to the
claws, by which means the animal is enabled to hold
with a firm grasp such lines as it has occasion to
draw from the spinners with the feet of the hind
legs, and such also as it designs to attach itself to.
Now, as the sustentacula and the spinning-apparatus
are the most efficient instruments employed by the
298 OBSERVATIONS ON THE

Geometric Spiders for the purpose of suspension,
it is obvious why they usually direct their heads
downwards when they occupy the centre of their
nets.

As several difficulties present themselves in the
prosecution of these researches, occasioned, chiefly,
by the impracticability of comprising all the claws in
one distinct view, I cannot completely satisfy myself,
at present, whether the number and arrangement of
the additional claws are uniformly the same, on the
feet of such spiders as I have ascertained to be
supplied with them, or not; though, as regards the
larger species, I am thoroughly convinced that this is
the case, and I have reason to think that it will ulti-
mately prove to be so with the rest.

It is not at all surprising that the Geometric
Spiders, which employ their feet in the fabrication of
complicated nets, should have them more amply pro-
vided with claws than those species which use theirs
principally as instruments of progression. An esti-
mate of the number of viscid globules distributed
on the elastic spiral line in a net of Zpetra apoclisa
of a medium size will convey some idea of the ela-
borate operations performed by the Geometric Spiders
in the construction of their snares. The mean dis-
tance between two contiguous radii in a net of this
species is about seven tenths of an inch; if, there-
fore, the number 7 be multiplied by 20, the mean
number of viscid globules which occur on one tenth
STRUCTURE AND ECONOMY OF SPIDERS. 299

of an inch of the elastic spiral line, at the ordinary
degree of tension, the product will be 140, the mean
number of globules deposited on seven tenths of an
inch of the elastic spiral line; this product multi-
plied by 24, the mean number of circumvolutions
formed by the elastic spiral line, gives 3,360, the
mean number of globules contained between two
radii; which multiplied by 26, the mean number of
radii, produces 87,360, the total number of viscid
globules in a finished net of average dimensions.
A large net, fourteen or sixteen inches in diameter, I
have found, by a similar calculation, to contain up-
wards of 120,000 viscid globules; and yet petra
apoclisa will complete its snare in about forty
minutes, on an average, if it meet with no interruption.
Astonishingly great as this number of globules is,
each is separated from those adjacent to it by a sensi-
ble space: indeed the material of which they are
composed is so fluid, that they run together the
moment they are brought into contact. The globules
and the intervals between them may be distinctly
seen with the assistance of a magnifier of the power
of ten; and it would appear from the following pas-
sage, extracted from ‘ Micrographia,’ p. 202, that they
did not escape the notice of Dr. Hooke :—“ I observed
further,”’ he informs us, “ that the radiating chords of
the web were much bigger and smoother than those
that were woven round, which seemed smaller, and all
over knotted or pearled with small transparent glo-
300 OBSERVATIONS ON THE

bules, not unlike small crystal beads or seed pearls
thin strung on a clew of silk ; which, whether they
were so spun by the spider, or by the adventitious
moisture of a fog (which I have observed to cover all
these filaments with such crystalline beads), I will not
now dispute.”

Messrs. Kirby and Spence, in their ‘ Introduction to
Entomology,’ vol. i. letter xiii., state, that “the net
of the Garden Spider is composed of two distinct
kinds of silk; that of the radii not adhesive, that of
the circles extremely viscid:” and this difference,
they remark, “ when it is considered that both sorts
proceed from the same instrument, is truly wonder-
ful.” The fact, however, is even more extraordinary
than it is represented to be by those distinguished
naturalists ; for not only the Garden Spider, but every
Geometric species with which I am acquainted em-
ploys three distinct kinds of silk, if a liquid gum can
with propriety be termed silk, in the construction of
its net. The boundary lines, radii, and first formed
spiral line being unadhesive, and possessing only a
moderate share of elasticity, are evidently composed
of a different material from the last formed spiral line,
which is exceedingly viscid and elastic in a remark-
able degree. Now the viscidity of the elastic spiral
line may be shown to depend entirely upon the glo-
bules with which it is studded ; for if they be removed
by careful applications of the finger, a fine glossy line
remains, which is highly elastic, but perfectly unadhe-
STRUCTURE AND ECONOMY. OF SPIDERS. 301

sive. As the globules, therefore, and the line on
which they are disposed differ so essentially from
each other and from the rest of the snare, it is
reasonable to infer that the physical constitution of
these several portions of the net must be dissimilar.
The silk of which the cocoons and cells of many
spiders are constructed also differs remarkably in
strength and colour from that which enters into the -
composition of their snares.

When exposed to the desiccating influence of the
sun, and of air briskly agitated, the nets of Geometric
Spiders speedily lose their adhesive property; but
when formed in situations from which light is ex-
cluded, and where the atmosphere is not liable to be
perceptibly disturbed, I have known them retain
their viscidity for a long period. In a net of Epeira
diadema constructed in a glass jar, which was placed
in a dark closet, where the temperature was not sub-
ject to great or sudden fluctuations, the globules pre-
served their adhesive power, almost unimpaired, and
the Jast formed spiral line its elasticity, for more than
seven months.

The belief that spiders are incapable of ascending
the perpendicular surfaces of polished bodies without
the assistance of lines emitted from their spinners is
so widely extended, that an attempt to prove its
fallacy in particular cases will, in all probability, be
received with some distrust: nevertheless the fact
that many species have the power of traversing vertical
302 OBSERVATIONS ON THE

panes of window-glass in any direction whatever,
unsupported by a single filament, may be easily con-
firmed by experiment. Among the British Spiders
observed to ascend with facility well-cleansed win-
dows and the sides of glass jars in which they have
been confined, I may name Cludiona accentuata,
Drassus nitens, Hecaérge spinimana, Philodromus
dispar, and Salticus scenicus. The last species is ex-
tensively known, and may be readily procured in
warm sunny weather in summer, on the walls of old
buildings having a southern aspect.

On examining the legs of these animals under the
microscope, with a view to discover the means by
which they support themselves in opposition to gra-
vity, I perceived that the tarsi are provided on the
underside with numerous appendages curving down-
wards, which are slender at their base and dilated to-
wards their extremity (see Plate I. fig. 4). The idea
immediately occurred to me that these appendages
may perform the office of suckers, and that the spiders
are probably enabled to adhere to the upright sides of
smooth objects by atmospherical pressure; but being
sensible that mere conjecture, however plausible it
may appear, is the bane of natural history, I resolved
to investigate the subject experimentally. Having
obtained spiders of the above-named species in vari-
ous stages of growth, I found that the larger indivi-
duals experienced greater difficulty in ascending glass
than the smaller ones, which, in numerous instances,
STRUCTURE AND ECONOMY OF SPIDERS. 303

were capable of moving on an ordinary window-pane,
even in an inverted position, or with the back down-
wards. It was evident also that physical energy
(other conditions being the same) gave its possessor a
decided advantage in this respect. When highly
polished glass of a superior quality was employed, the
difficulty was somewhat increased; and, in all cases,
those spiders effected an ascent with the greatest
effort which, in proportion to their bulk, had the in-
ferior surface of their tarsi most sparingly furnished
with the requisite apparatus. These results, some
of which are in direct opposition to the hypothesis
I had previously entertained, determined me to in-
spect the tarsal appendages more minutely than I
had hitherto done; and a peculiarly favourable
opportunity unexpectedly presented itself. Three
living specimens of Mygale avicularia having been
brought accidentally to Manchester, in dye-woods
imported from the West-India Islands during the
year 1830, I availed myself of the circumstance to
examine under the microscope the appendages with
which the tarsi of that gigantic species are so abun-
dantly supplied, conceiving that their structure would
be exhibited to greater advantage in a recent subject
than in individuals which have long occupied a place
in the cabinet. In this expectation I was not dis-
appointed ; and I shall now proceed to describe the
organization of the appendages, which is much more
complex than I had anticipated. Each consists of a
304 OBSERVATIONS ON THE

slender shaft fringed on the sides with exceedingly
fine hairs gradually diminishing in length as they
approach its extremity, which is provided on its
inferior surface with a profusion of hair-like papille
forming a dense brush, and giving the part that
dilated appearance already alluded to. This struc-
ture, somewhat modified, as far as my researches
extend, is common to the tarsal appendages of those
spiders which are able to ascend the perpendicular
sides of smooth bodies without supervenient aid ; and
the minute papilla with which the tarsal cushions of
many insects remarkable for their ability to walk up
glass are furnished, appear to possess an organization
closely analogous.

The hold upon objects which the hair-like papille
give to the spiders provided with them, depending,
in a great measure, on the numerous points of
contact they present, seems to be mechanical ;
nevertheless, it has been shown by experiment (see
pp- 222 & 223) that their efficiency in this respect
must be attributed, principally, to a viscous secretion
which they emit. At a moderate estimate, there are
on the appendages which form the brushes occurring
on the inferior part of the metatarsi and tarsi and
the digital joint of the pediform palpi of adult
females of the species Mygale avicularia more than
4,000,000 papillze of extreme delicacy, a large pro-
portion of which can be applied by the spider to:
bodies with plain surfaces. If the finger be drawn
STRUCTURE AND ECONOMY OF SPIDERS. 305

gently along the underside of the tarsi, from their
extremities towards the tibie, they will be found,
even in dried specimens, to adhere powerfully to
the cuticle, the sensation occasioned by this pro-
ceeding exciting in the mind the idea that they are
smeared with some viscous matter. At Plate I.
an appendage from one of the tarsal brushes of
Mygale avicularia is represented by fig. 5, and one
of the compound hairs which clothe the limbs of
Tegenaria civilis by fig. 6. It is almost unnecessary
to offer any caution against confounding objects so
essentially distinct.

Dr. Leach, in treating upon spiders in the article
“ Annulosa,” published in the Supplement to the
‘Encyclopedia Britannica,’ p. 435, remarks that
“when about to cast their covering, they suspend
themselves in some corner, and creep out of a crack
which takes place on their back, gradually withdraw-
ing their legs from the skin, as if from a glove.”
With deference to so accomplished a zoologist, I
may be allowed to observe that this statement is not
in strict accordance with my own experience; and
as I do not remember to have met with a satisfactory
account of the moulting of spiders, in the course of
my reading, I shall endeavour to elucidate this
curious subject by giving such particulars relative
to it as have fallen under my notice.

Considering the apparent uniformity of the process
by which this important change in the external con-

X
306 OBSERVATIONS ON THE

dition of spiders is effected, it will suffice to detail
the proceedings of a single species; and as Epetra
calophylla is of frequent occurrence about retired
buildings situated in the country, and, consequently,
may be procured without difficulty, I shall select it
for the purpose. Preparatory to casting its integu-
ment, this spider spins several strong lines in the
vicinity of its snare, from which it suspends itself
by the feet and a filament proceeding from the
spinners. After remaining for a short time in this
situation, the coriaceous covering of the cephalo-
thorax gives way,—not in the median line of the
dorsal region, as Dr. Leach’s statement would seem
to imply, but laterally, disuniting immediately above
the insertion of the falces and legs, so that the head
and thorax are the first parts liberated. The line of
separation pursues the same direction till it extends
to the abdomen, which is next disengaged, the ex-
trication of the legs being the last and greatest
difficulty which the spider has to overcome. As the
suspensory filament connected with the spinners of
the exuviz is considerably shorter than the legs, and
does not undergo any sensible alteration in length,
the abdomen, during the process of moulting, be-
comes gradually deflected from its original horizontal
direction till it assumes a vertical position, nearly at
right angles with the cephalothorax. By this change
of posture, attended with numerous contortions of
the body, and alternate contractions and extensions
STRUCTURE AND ECONOMY OF SPIDERS, 307

of the limbs, the spider is ultimately enabled to
accomplish its purpose. The spines with which the
legs are provided no doubt contribute greatly to
facilitate the operation; for, as they are directed
down the limbs, and are movable at the will of the
animal, when it has partially withdrawn the legs from
their sheaths by contracting them, it can prevent
them from reentering by slightly erecting the spines,
and thus bringing their extremities in contact with
the inner surface of the integument. When the
spider has completely disengaged itself from the
slough, it remains, for a short period, in a state of
great exhaustion, suspended solely by a thread from
the spinners connected with the interior of the
abdominal portion of the cast skin, which is much
corrugated and drawn together. The entire pro-
cess, as above described, occupies the space of about
twenty minutes. After reposing a little, the spider
further attaches itself to the suspensory lines by the
claws of the feet; and when its strength is suffi-
ciently restored, and its limbs have acquired the
requisite degree of firmness, it ascends its filaments
and seeks its retreat.

Having frequently witnessed the moulting of
spiders in their natural haunts, and also in a state
of captivity, and having carefully examined the cast
skins of numerous species belonging to the genera
Dysdera, Segestria, Clubiona, Drassus, Tegenaria,
Tetrix, Theridion, Neriene, Pachygnatha, Linyphia,

x 2
308 OBSERVATIONS ON THE

Epeira, Thomisus, Dolomedes, Lycosa, Hecaérge, Sal-
ticus, &c., in the precise situations, and under the
same ‘circumstances, apparently, in which they have
been left by their former. occupiers, I am thoroughly
persuaded that the process is a very uniform one.

Recent observations establish the fact that the
number of times spiders change their integument
before they become adult is not uniformly the same
as regards every species. A young female Epetra
calophylla, disengaged from the egg on the 30th of
March, 1843, moulted on the 8th of the ensuing
month in the cocoon, which it quitted on the Ist
of May, moulting again, in the same year, on the
Ath of June, the 22nd of June,.the 12th of July,
and the 4th of August, respectively, when it arrived
at maturity, having cast its skin five times.

An egg of Hpetra diadema hatched on the 14th
of April, 1843, produced a female spider, which
moulted in the cocoon on the 24th of the same
month; on the 3rd of May it quitted the cocoon,
and moulted again on the 21st of June, the 10th
of July, the 3rd of August, and the 23rd of August,
in the same year. On the 28th of February, 1844,
it died in a state of immaturity after having com-
pleted its fifth moult.

On the 27th of June, 1842, an egg of Tegenaria
civilis produced a female spider, which underwent
its first moult in the cocoon on the 10th of the
ensuing July: quitting the cocoon on the 2lst of
STRUCTURE AND ECONOMY OF SPIDERS. 309

the same month, it moulted again on the 17th of
August, the 4th of September, and the 26th of
September in the same year, and on the 26th of
January, the 9th of April, the 24th of May, the
2Ist of June, and the 5th of August in 1843, when
it arrived at maturity, having changed its integument
nine times.

A male Zegenaria civilis, extricated from the egg
on the 27th of June, 1542, also moulted nine times,
casting its skin in the cocoon on the 10th of the
following July; on the 21st of the same month it
abandoned the cocoon, moulting again on the 18th
of August, the 10th of September, and the 13th of
October im the same year, and on the Ist of
February, the 25th of April, the 17th of June, the
13th of July, and the 17th of October in 1843, when
its development was complete.

Modifications of food and temperature exercise a
decided influence upon the moulting of spiders. A
young female Zegenaria civilis disengaged from the
egg on the 24th of July, 1842, on the 2nd of the
following August moulted in the cocoon, which it
quitted on the 12th of the same month, casting its
skin again on the 29th of August and the 10th of
October in the same year; being scantily supplied
with nutriment, it increased very little in size, and
died on the 4th of July, 18438, having changed its
integument three times only. Another female of the
same species, which was extricated from the egg on
310 OBSERVATIONS ON THE

the same day as the foregoing individual, and was
well fed, on the 13th of July, 1843, had moulted
seven times. It is apparent also, from the particulars
already stated, that the intervals between consecutive
moults are much shorter when the temperature of
the atmosphere is high than when it is low.

Immature spiders infested by the larva of Poly-
sphincta carbonaria, an insect belonging to the family
Ichneumonide, which feeds on their fluids, never
change their integument.

Intimately connected with the renovation of the
integuments is the reproduction of the limbs of
spiders. For this interesting discovery we are in-
debted to the late Dr. C. Heineken, whose imvesti-
gations relative to the subject are published in the ~
‘Zoological Journal,’ vol. iv. pp. 284 & 422; and I
am happy to bear testimony to the general accuracy
of his conclusions.

The reproduction of the palpi and spinners does
not appear to have been noticed by Dr. Heineken ;
but that those members, after suffering mutilation,
are restored in the same manner as the legs, I have
proved by repeated experiments. That mutilated
members are not always reproduced at a subsequent
moulting, even when it takes place at a period
considerably after the infliction of the injury, is
rendered evident by the following remarkable fact.
On the 13th of July, 1830, a male specimen of
Ciniflo atroc had the palpus and the second leg
STRUCTURE AND ECONOMY OF SPIDERS. 3811

on the right side divided, the former near the base
of the humeral joint, the latter about the middle
of the femur, and on the 15th of the succeeding
month it cast its skin; yet, though all the other
limbs were renewed, the stumps only of the mu-
tilated members were reproduced. In cases in
which spiders spontaneously throw off their legs
at the articulation of the femur with the coxa,
or have them partially removed by amputation, it
would be desirable to ascertain in what state the
limbs to be reproduced exist just previously to the
act of moulting, as there is something mysterious
in their extraordinary development during that
process.

I have since clearly established by dissection the
fact that reproduced legs, immediately antecedent to
the process of moulting, are curiously folded in the
integument of the undetached portion of such muti-
lated members.

The dimensions of reproduced limbs are in inverse
ratio to the extent of the injury previously inflicted
on the parts; thus palpi and legs detached at the
axillary joint and coxa are usually symmetrical, but
diminutive, when reproduced ; while those amputated
at the articulation of the digital with the radial joint,
and near the middle of the tibia or the metatarsus,
on being restored, are always very much larger and
unsymmetrical : in point of fact, the development of
the new limb depends upon the capacity of the unde-
312 OBSERVATIONS ON THE

tached portion of the mutilated part; for if a leg be
amputated near the middle of the metatarsus, the
coxa, femur, and tibia will be of the same dimensions
as those joints of the corresponding leg on the oppo-
site side, but the metatarsus and tarsus will be very
diminutive; should the excision be made near the
anterior extremity of the tibia, then the size of the
coxa, femur, and genual joint will be normal, but that
of the tibia, metatarsus, and tarsus will be very ab-
normal. These curious results plainly demonstrate
that not only reproduced limbs in their totality, but
that particular joints also are limited in their dimen-
sions by the capacity.of the undetached portion of the
mutilated part in which they are developed, and that
restored legs and palpi are never symmetrical except
when developed in the undetached coxa and axillary
joint respectively.

In order to obtain a satisfactory explanation of the
phenomena stated above, it must be conceded that
the limbs of spiders produced at each successive
moult, from the period at which the animals quit the
cocoon till they arrive at maturity, are absolutely new
organs resulting from the vital functions of assimi-
lation and accretion; indeed the renewal of a re-
peatedly detached leg at each succeeding change of
integument, and the circumstance of the dimensions
of entire limbs or portions of limbs depending upon
the space allowed for their development at the time
of restoration, present difficulties which do not admit
STRUCTURE AND ECONOMY OF SPIDERS. 313

of a solution on any other physiological principle that
T am aware of.

For some years past I have been engaged, occa-
sionally, in conducting experiments having for their
object the determination of a highly interesting ques-
tion in physiology—namely, what are the true nature
and functions of the remarkable organs connected
with the digital or terminal joint of the palpi of male
spiders? The opinion advanced by M. Treviranus,
and adopted by M. Savigny, that those parts are
instruments employed for the purpose of excitation
merely, preparatory to the actual union of the sexes
by means of appropriate organs situated near the
anterior extremity of the inferior region of the abdo-
men, is in direct opposition to the views of Dr. Lister
and the earlier systematic writers on arachnology,
who regarded them as strictly sexual ; and the results
of my own researches, which I shall proceed to detail,
clearly demonstrate the accuracy of the conclusions
arrived at by our celebrated countryman.

In the spring of 1831 I procured young female
spiders of the following species :—peira diadema,
Epeira apoclisa, Epeira calophylla, Epeira cucurbitina,
Theridion nervosum, Theridion denticulatum, Agelena
labyrinthica, &c., and having placed them in glass
jars, I fed them with insects till they had completed
their moulting and arrived at maturity, which is easily
ascertained, in most instances, by the perfect deve-
lopment of the sexual organs. I then introduced to
314 OBSERVATIONS ON THE

them adult males, taking care to remove the latter as
soon as a connexion had been consummated in the
usual manner, by the application of the palpal organs
to the orifice situated between the branchial opercula
in the females. I never, in a single instance, suffered
the sexes to remain together any longer than I found
it convenient to continue my observations ; and I may
remark that their union, however prolonged and un-
disturbed, was invariably accomplished in the manner
stated above, without the slightest deviation being
perceptible on the most minute inspection. After a
lapse of several weeks, the females, thus impregnated,
respectively fabricated their cocoons and deposited
their eggs in them, all of which proved to be prolific,
affording a complete refutation of the opinion promul-
gated by M. Treviranus.

In the act of copulation, the extremity of the organ
of each palpus of the male, in a state of tumefaction,
is usually introduced alternately into the vulva of the
female, and that many times in succession, without
being once brought into contact with any part of its
own abdomen, though it is very frequently conveyed
to the mouth; and I have observed a male Lycosa
lugubris apply its right palpus eighty times, in the
manner above described, to the vulva of a female
(both of which had been placed in a clean glass phial),
without the possibility of bringing it into contact with
the inferior surface of its abdomen, except by a very
conspicuous change of position; and as an equal
STRUCTURE AND ECONOMY OF SPIDERS. 315

number of similar acts were performed by the left
palpus, we have the extraordinary fact of the palpal
organs being employed 160 times during this greatly
protracted process, unaccompanied by any contact
whatever with the part where the seminal ducts are
considered to terminate.

A male Agelena labyrinthica, confined in a phial,
spun a small web, and among the lines of which it
was composed I perceived that a drop of white milk-
like fluid was suspended : how it had been deposited
there I cannot explain ; but I observed that the spider,
by the alternate application of its palpal organs,
speedily imbibed the whole of it. Perhaps the only
safe conclusion to be drawn from this very remark-
able circumstance, taken in connexion with the previ-
ously well-ascertained office of these parts, is that it
affords a complete answer in the affirmative to a ques-
tion asked by M. Dugés, namely, “le conjoncture ”
(palpal organ) “ ferait-il alternativement J’office de
siphon absorbant et d’organe éjaculateur ?”

Having repeated the foregoing experiment with
numerous species of spiders, and the results obtained
being uniformly the same, there did not appear to be
any necessity for pursuing the investigation further ;
nevertheless, that there might not remain the slightest
doubt on the mind of the most fastidious inquirer,
in the summer of 1832 I brought up from the egg
young females of the species petra calophylla, which,
when they had arrived at maturity, I treated in the
316 OBSERVATIONS ON THE

manner described in the preceding cases. In the
autumn of the same year these spiders deposited their
eggs in cocoons spun for their reception, out of which
the young issued in the ensuing spring, having under-
gone their first moult in the cocoons.

These experiments, besides effecting the purpose
for which they were instituted, served also to supply
collateral evidence of the correctness of M. Audebert’s
observations relative to the capability of the House-
spider (Zegenaria domestica) to produce several sets of
prolific eggs in succession without renewing its inter-
course with the male; for three females of the species
Agelena labyrinthica deposited each a second set of
eggs, and a female Lyeira cucurbitina laid four con-
secutive sets, intervals of fifteen or sixteen days inter-
vening, all of which produced young, though these
females had not associated with males of their species
for a considerable period antecedent to the deposition
of the first set of eggs *.

Female spiders, though incapable of producing pro-

* These results have been confirmed by subsequent researches,
which have also served to prove that the female of Tegenaria
civilis, when impregnated, is capable of producing many sets of
prolific eggs in succession without further sexual intercourse,
two years or more occasionally elapsing before all are deposited,
and a period of ten months nearly intervening sometimes be-
tween the deposition of two consecutive sets. (See the Report
of the Fourteenth Meeting of the British Association for the
Advancement of Science, held at York in 1844, Reports on the
State of Science, pp. 6S & 69).
STRUCTURE AND ECONOMY OF SPIDERS. 317

lific eggs without sexual intercourse, nevertheless,
when thus circumstanced, do occasionally produce
eggs that are sterile. .

Four, six, or eight mammule, somewhat conical or
cylindrical in figure, and composed of one or more
joints each, constitute the external spinning-appara-
tus of the Araneidea : they are usually closely grouped
in pairs at the extremity of the abdomen, and are
readily distinguished from each other by their relative
positions. The pair situated nearest to the anus may
be denominated the superior spinners ; the pair fur-
thest removed from the anus the inferior spinners ;
and the mammule placed between these extremes
the intermediate spinners, distinguishing them, when
there are two pairs, by prefixing the terms superior
and inferior. Exceedingly fine movable papille or
spinning-tubes, for the most part dilated at the base,
occur at the extremity of the mammule, or are dis-
posed along the inferior surface of their terminal
joint, whence issues the viscous secretion of which
all the silken lines produced by spiders are formed.
The. papilla connected with the mammule vary
greatly in number in different species of spiders, and
also differ considerably in size, not only in individuals
of the same species, but often even on the same
mammule.

Among our native spiders, the larger species of
Epeira have the mammule most amply provided with
papille ; it is certain, however, that the total number
318 OBSERVATIONS ON THE

does not greatly exceed a thousand even in adult
females of Epeira quadrata, whose weight is about
twenty grains, and in many other species it is much
smaller. In Zegenaria civilis the total number of
papille does not amount to four hundred ; in Zeatrix
lycosina and Clubiona corticalis it is below three hun-
dred, in Segestria senoculata it scarcely exceeds one
hundred, and in many of the smaller spiders it is still
further reduced.

A difference in the number and size of the papille
connected with the several pairs of mammule in the
same species, and with similar pairs in different
species, is also very apparent. In spiders of the
genera Epeira, Tetragnatha, Linyphia, Theridion, and
Segestria they are generally much more numerous
and minute on the inferior spinners than on the
superior and intermediate ones ; the last are the most
sparingly supplied with them, and im the case of
Segestria senoculata each has only three large papille
at its extremity. An arrangement nearly the reverse
of this takes place in some of the Drassi, and is con-
spicuous in Drassus ater, which has the intermediate
spinners abundantly furnished with papille, those on
the inferior spinners being very few in number and
chiefly of large dimensions, emitting the viscous
secretion copiously. The papillze connected with the
short terminal joint of each inferior spinner of this
species vary in number with the age of the animal:
the young, on quitting the cocoon, are provided with
STRUCTURE AND ECONOMY OF SPIDERS. 319

four only ; individuals which have attained nearly a
third of their growth have five or six; those about
two-thirds grown six or seven; and adults, which
have acquired their full compliment, eight—two of
them, situated on the inferior surface of the spinner;
at a greater distance from its extremity than the
rest, are minute and almost contiguous. It is a fact
deserving of notice that the papilla are not always
developed simultaneously on these spinners, six, seven,
or eight being sometimes observed on one, when five,
six, or seven only are to be seen on the other; and
this remark is applicable not to the inferior spinners
alone, but to the intermediate ones also, which, in
mature individuals, are further modified by having
the extremities of the terminal joints directed down-
wards at right angles to their bases. The same law
of development holds good as regards the papille
connected with the inferior spinners of Drassus
cupreus and Drassus sericeus ; and though their num-
ber is not uniformly the same even in adults of
either of these or the preceding species, yet the two
minute ones belonging to each mammula are present
invariably.

One of the most striking peculiarities in the struc-
ture of the Ciniflonide is the possession of a fourth
pair of spinners. These spinners are shorter and
further removed from the anus than the rest, being
situated at the base of the inferior intermediate pair,
by which they are almost concealed when in a state
320 OBSERVATIONS ON THE

of repose. Their figure is somewhat conical, but
compressed and truncated, so that the base and apex
are elliptical with long transverse axes. Consisting
of a single joimt only, each is connected with the
other throughout its entire length, the extremity
alone being densely covered with exceedingly minute
papillze, which emit the viscous matter that is formed
by the calamistra into the delicate tortuous bands
constituting a portion of every flocculus in the snares
of the larger Ciniflones, and chiefly imparting to them
their most important property, that of adhesion (see
Plate IT. fig. 1).

A small conical hairy process resembling a mam-
mula, on which, however, I cannot discern any papille,
occurs at the base of the inferior spinners of various
spiders belonging to different genera.

MM. Lyonnet and Treviranus, with other skilful
zootomists, have fallen into the error of mistaking the
superior spinning-mammule of spiders, when triarti-
culate and considerably elongated, for anal palpi
(palpes de l’anus), denying that they perform the
office of spinners, in consequence of their having
failed to detect the papille from which the silk
proceeds; and in this opinion they are followed
by some arachnologists of the present day. I
am inclined to attribute this singular oversight to
the peculiar disposition and structure which the
papille or spinning-tubes connected with the superior
mammule, when greatly elongated, frequently ex-
STRUCTURE AND ECONOMY OF SPIDERS. 321

hibit. Arranged along the underside of the terminal
joint, they present the appearance of fine hairs dilated
at the base projecting from it at right angles ; but if
the spinners, when they are in operation, be carefully
examined with a powerful magnifier, the function of
the hair-like tubes may be ascertained without diffi-
culty, as the fine lines of silk proceeding from them
will be distinctly perceived.

In conducting this observation I usually employ
the <Agelena labyrinthica of M. Walckenaer—partly
because I can procure specimens with facility ; but
chiefly on account of its size, the length of its supe-
rior mammule, and its habits of industry, affording
a combination of advantages comprised by no other
British spider (see Plate II. fig. 2).

The purpose subserved by the superior mammule,
when very prominent and composed of several joints,
is the binding down with transverse lines, distributed
by means of an extensive lateral motion, the threads
emitted from the inferior mammule ; by which pro-
cess a compact tissue is speedily fabricated.

The foregoing facts supply a striking exemplifica-
tion of the importance of connecting physiological
investigations with anatomical details.

Not being aware, apparently, of the publication of
the discovery in the ‘ Report of the Third Meeting of
the British Association for the Advancement of
Science, held at Cambridge in 1833,’ p. 445, Baron
Walckenaer, in the supplement to the second volume

Y
322 OBSERVATIONS ON THE

of his ‘Histoire Naturelle des Insectes Apteres,’
p. 407, has ascribed it to M. Dugés, whose observations
on the subject, in the ‘Annales des Sciences Natu-
relles,’ seconde série, t. vi., Zoologie, p. 166, were
not published till 1836.

Spiders usually have the groove which is situated
on the inner surface of the basal joint of the falces,
and receives the terminal joint, or fang, when in a
state of repose, armed on each side, to a greater or
less extent, with conical, pointed processes, which,
by a figure of speech, are commonly denominated
teeth; but that they are not the homologues of true
teeth is rendered sufficiently evident by the fact that
the falces do not constitute any part of the oral
apparatus, being lethal instruments employed by the
Araneidea in seizing, killing, and compressing their
prey.

Eminent arachnologists have stated that the spe-
cies belonging to extensive divisions of the family
Mygalde are entirely destitute of tooth-like processes _
on the basal joint of the falces; but the fallacy of this
opinion may be easily detected by a careful inspection
of specimens taken from the genus Mygale, the most
typical division of the family. In confirmation of the
fact that many of the J/ygalide are provided with a
longitudinal row of tooth-like processes, situated be-
tween two dense fringes of long, curved, red hairs on
the inferior surface of the basal joint of their falces,
various examples might be adduced ; but it will suffice
STRUCTURE AND ECONOMY OF SPIDERS. 323

on the present occasion to name the Mygale ursina
of Koch, the Mygale zebra of Walckenaer, and the
Atypus Sulzeri of Latreille.

Near the extremity of the outer margin of the
maxillze of numerous species of spiders there is a
- slight dark-coloured ridge, surmounted by a series of
extremely minute close-set spines, which I have long
known and regarded as contributing to give firmness
to the most exposed part of those organs, and as
affording some assistance in restraining the action
and in the retention of the insects on which such
spiders prey. Miss Staveley, on examining this struc-
ture under a high degree of magnifying-power, has
arrived at the conclusion that it may be resolved into
a row of minute teeth (Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. ser. 3.
vol. xvii. p. 399)—an opinion which its connexion
with the maxille would probably tend to suggest ;
by its position and conformation, however, it appears
to be little, if at all, adapted to aid in the office of
mastication.

As the maxille of those species of the family
Mygalide that have the palpi articulated at or near
their extremity might be expected to present other
modifications of structure, it became an object of some
interest to subject them to a careful examination ;
with this view, I dissected several specimens of the
Mygalide, belonging to different genera, from which I
obtained the following results :—In no instance was
any appearance of a ridge provided with a series of

Te
324 ‘ OBSERVATIONS ON THE

minute close-set spines observed near the extremity of
the outer margin of the maxille; but J/ygale ursina,
Mygale avicularia, and Cteniza nidulans were found
to have that deficiency amply compensated: by short,
distinct, black spines, grouped, apparently without
order, on the inferior surface of the base of those
organs, towards their inner margin, and to have the
apex of the lip also provided with similar spines (see
Plate II. figs. 3 & 4). Al/ygale zebra has spines at
the base of the maxilla, but none at the extremity of
the lip; and Atypus Sulzeri, which has the palpi in-
serted near the base of the maxillz, on the outer side,
is provided with numerous short spines on the inferior
surface of those organs, towards the inner margin, but
is without any either at their base or at the apex of
the lip.

I have hesitated to apply the term teeth to the
conspicuous spines at the base and towards the inner
margin of the inferior surface of the maxille and at
the apex of the lip of certain species of the family
Mygalide, notwithstanding that they are employed
by them in retaining and also, to some extent, in
lacerating their prey; but to a remarkable group of
spines, situated on the superior surface of the maxille
of Mygale zebra, and clearly indicating, by its position
and structure, that the principal function it performs
must be that of mastication, the appellation of teeth
appears to be more appropriate (see Plate II. fig. 5).
The spines composing this group, which are of a
STRUCTURE AND ECONOMY OF SPIDERS. 325

dark-brown colour, and have their pointed extremity
directed towards the inner margin of the maxille,
are fewer in number, enlarged at the extremity, and °
much longer and more distinct near the posterior end
of each group than the closely compacted: ones that
form its anterior part. These spines, by their figure-
and arrangement, present a highly interesting subject
for inspection under the microscope.

From the foregoing observations it is evident that
much careful investigation is yet required to complete
our knowledge of the various minute appendages con-
nected with the external organs of Spiders and of the
purposes to which they are subservient.

In attempting to drown a small Spider named
Neriéne longipalpis, for. the purpose of taking its
dimensions accurately by measurement, I was asto-
uished to find that at the expiration of two days,
though it had remained under water the whole of the
time, it was as lively and vigorous as ever. This
extraordinary circumstance induced me to submerge
numerous specimens, of both sexes, in cold water
contained in a glass vessel with perpendicular. sides,
on the 21st of October, 1832, in which situation some
of them continued for many days without having their
vital energies suspended.

This experiment I have tried with other minute
species, and several of them have preserved an active
state of existence for six, nine, and fourteen days,
spinning their lines and exercising their functions as
326 OBSERVATIONS ON THE

if in air; while others have not survived for a single
hour. It is evident, therefore, from these curious
facts, that some Spiders possess the power of extract-
ing respirable air from water; for though, in the act
of submersion, the branchial stigmata are usually
enveloped in a bubble of air, yet so small a supply is
speedily exhausted, and, indeed, soon disappears.

The external and internal organization of such
species of Araneidea as can exist for a long period of
time under water deserves to be attentively examined ;
but those species which I have observed hitherto are
minute, and it would require the hand and eye of an
accomplished anatomist, assisted by the most delicate
instruments and powerful magnifiers, to effect this
desirable object satisfactorily.

Instances of long-sustained abstinence from food
by animals of the order Araneidea, unaccompanied by
any manifest diminution of vital energy, have been
recorded by various naturalists, and many more might
easily be added to the catalogue ; I shall limit myself,
however, on the present occasion, to the narration of
a very remarkable case, in illustration of this fact,
which came under my own immediate observation.

A female Zheridion quadripunctatum, captured in
the month of August 1829, was placed in a phial of
transparent glass, and fed with flies till the 15th of
October in the same year, during which interval she
accomplished her final moult, and arrived at maturity.
She was then removed to a smaller phial, which was
STRUCTURE AND ECONOMY OF SPIDERS. 827

closely corked and locked up in a bookcase, her sup-
ply of food being at the same time discontinued. In
this phial she remained till the 30th of April, 1831,
on which day she died, without receiving the slightest
nourishment of any description ; yet, till the autumn
of 1830, no apparent change had taken place either
as regards her external appearance or physical energy.
Throughout the entire period of her captivity she
never failed to produce a new snare when the old one
was removed, which was frequently the case; and it
is particularly deserving of attention that the alvine
evacuations were continued, in minute quantities and
at very distant intervals, to the termination of her
existence.

In publishing cases similar to that just detailed, it
is desirable that dates should always be given; for
Spiders, during the winter months, remain in a state
of inactivity, their vital functions becoming feeble
under the benumbing influence of cold ; consequently,
until they are invigorated by an increase of tempera-
ture, a supply of nutriment is not required.

So little appears to have been done for the purpose
of determining the longevity of spiders with some
approach to accuracy, that a few observatious on
the subject probably will not be regarded as super-
fluous.

A young female Zegenaria civilis, disengaged from
the egg on the 6th of July, 1842, after quitting
the cocoon: was placed in a separate phial and was
328 OBSERVATIONS ON THE

abundantly supplied with nutriment. It continued
in excellent health and condition apparently till the
8th of July, 1845, when it died suddenly, having
completed the third year of its existence.

On the 27th of June, 1842, a young male Zege-
naria civilis was disengaged from theegg. It quitted
the cocoon on the 21st of the following month, and
underwent its last moult on the 17th of October,
1843. During the winter of 1844 it became
greatly reduced in bulk, and died on the 30th of
March, 1845.

The egg of a Zegenaria civilis hatched on the 27th
of June, 1842, produced a female spider, which
completed its final change of integument on the 5th
of August, 1843. It took its food well, and ap-
peared to be in good health till the 6th of July, 1846,
when it died, having attained to the age of four years
and nine days.

Allowing for the disadvantages to which spiders
are subjected in a state of captivity, I think the
duration of life in the species upon which the obser-
vations were made should not be estimated at less
than four years; and I have ascertained that the life
of Segestria senoculata is protracted to an equally
long period. Whether any spiders enjoy a more
prolonged existence or not remains to be discovered ;
but there can be no doubt that Dolomedes mirabilis,
Clubiona erratica, Agelena labyrinthica, Epetra quad-
rata, Tetragnatha extensa, Linyphia montana, The-
STRUCTURE AND ECONOMY OF SPIDERS. 329

ridion lineatum, and numerous other species do not
usually survive the second winter after quitting the
egg in this northern climate.

A passage in the ‘ Introduction to Entomology,’ by
Messrs. Kirby and Spence, fifth edition, vol. iv.
letter xliv. p. 214, merits a brief notice; it is this :-—
“Spiders are reputed to be subject to the stone: I do
not say calculus in vesica; but we are informed by
Lesser that Dr. John Franck having shut up fourteen
spiders in a glass with some valerian root, one of
them voided an ash-coloured calculus with small
black dots.” This singular opinion seems to have
originated in a misapprehension of an ordinary
occurrence, which I shall proceed to explain. If the
feeces of spiders, which consist of a white fluid com-
prising black particles of greater density, happen
when voided to be suspended in the webs or among
the lines spun by these animals, they assume, under
the influence of molecular attraction, the spherical
figure common to fluids in general when similarly
circumstanced, and soon becoming indurated by
desiccation, a change of colour from white to grey or
greyish brown spotted with black uniformly takes
place ; and in this state they constitute, I doubt not,
the substance which Dr. Franck mistook for a
calculus. .

Variations in the colour and size of spiders of the
same kind, resulting from differences in age, sex,
food, climate, and other conditions of a less obvious
330 OBSERVATIONS ON THE

character, as they conduce largely to the introduction
of fictitious species, have long engaged the attention
of arachnologists, while those arising from extra-
ordinary organic modifications (in consequence, per-
haps, of their less frequent occurrence) have been
almost entirely overlooked. The importance which
cases of the latter description possess in relation to
physiology and systematic arrangement will be best
illustrated by a few examples.

1. An immature female Zhomisus cristatus had the
two lateral pairs of eyes only; the four small inter-
mediate ones were altogether wanting, not the slightest
rudiment of them being perceptible even with the aid
of a powerful magnifier.

2. An adult female Zheridion varians was dis-
covered to have only six eyes; the two posterior
intermediate ones were entirely wanting, and the
posterior eye of each lateral pair was not half of the
usual size.

3. The left intermediate eye of the posterior row
was perceived to be wanting in an adult female
Epeira inclinata, and the right intermediate eye of
the same row was not half of the usual size.

4. Deficiency of the right intermediate eye of the
anterior row has been remarked in an adult male
Lycosa cambrica,

5. An adult female Ciniflo atror was found to
be without the left intermediate eye of the posterior
row.
STRUCTURE AND ECONOMY OF SPIDERS. 331

6. A supernumerary eye, situated between the two
small ones constituting the anterior intermediate
pair, has been observed in an adult female Theridion
jilipes. The total number of eyes possessed by this
individual was nine, and their arrangement was sym-
metrical.

7. The right intermediate eye of the posterior
row in an adult female Zpetra inclinata had not
one eighth of the natural size, being merely: rudi-
mentary.

8. A short but perfectly formed supernumerary
tarsus, connected with the base of the tarsal joint
of the right posterior leg on its outer side, has been
noticed in an adult female Zycosa campestris.

9. An adult Pholcus Lyoni presented the remark-
able fact of the union of the two sexes in the same
individual, the left side being that of a male and the
right side that of a female (see-the ‘Annals and
Magazine of Natural History,’ 3rd series, vol. xix.
p- 392).

The particulars stated in the foregoing cases, which
serve to establish the fact that spiders, in common
with many other animals, occasionally exhibit in-
stances of anomalous structure, derive no small de-
gree of interest from their novelty; but when it is
borne in mind that all the examples except two have
reference to those important organs the eyes (impor-
tant not only as regards the function they perform,
332 OBSERVATIONS ON THE

but also on account of the” extensive use made of
them in the classification of the Arancidea), that in-
terest becomes greatly augmented.

As spiders with four eyes have not yet been found,
though such there very probably may be, it is’a mat-
ter of some consequence to caution observers against
mistaking a mere defect in structure, like that re-
corded in case 1, for such a discovery. In the case
of the spider numbered 2, the symmetrical disposi-
tion of the organs of vision might induce an inexpe-
rienced arachnologist not only to assign to it a place
in the tribe Sexoculina, but also to propose a new
genus for its reception, although its appropriate
situation in a systematic arrangement of the Aranei-
dea is plainly indicated by its other characteristics of
structure and economy. Whether there are species
provided with an odd number of eyes or not, is at
present conjectural; should such exist, symmetry in
the arrangement of their visual organs certainly may
be expected to obtain; consequently, cases 3, 4, and
5, which present instances of an odd number of eyes
disposed irregularly, would be regarded at all times
with suspicion: as no such objection, however, can
be urged against case 6, a solution of the difficulty it
presents must be sought for in an accurate acquaint-
ance with the species.

Interesting chiefly in a physiological point of view,
cases 7, 8, and 9 show that a liability to uregularity
STRUCTURE AND ECONOMY OF SPIDERS. 333

in structure is not limited to the eyes, and that those
organs are subject to abnormal variations in size as
well as number.

The obscurity in which the cause of these remark-
able organic modifications is involved, careful investi-
gation, conducted upon sound philosophical principles,
can alone dispel.
 

John Parry del.

HAdlard se.

London. John Van vanrs:
EXPLANATION OF THE PLATES.

PLATE I.
Fig.
1. The metatarsus and tarsus of Ciniflo atrow, exhibiting the
calamistrum: a, the upper row of spines; }, the lower row

of spines; c, the spur at the extremity of the apparatus.

2. The metatarsus, very highly magnified: a, the upper row of
spines ; 6, the lower row of spines ; ¢, the spur.

3. The extremity of the tarsus of the right anterior leg of Epeira
diadema, exhibiting the claws.

4. A lateral view of the extremity of a posterior tarsus of Sal-
ticus scenicus: d, the appendages constituting the scopula or
climbing-apparatus.

5. An appendage from one of the tarsal brushes of Mygale
aviceularia.

6. A compound hair from a leg of Tegenaria eivilis.
336

PLATE II.
Fig.

1. The spinners of Ciniflo atrox: a, the fourth or inferior pair,
from which the material proceeds that is formed by the
calamistra into the pale-blue bands in the snare of this
Species.

2. A lateral view of a superior spinner or mammula of Agelena
labyrinthica : b, the spinning-tubes.

3. The left maxilla and palpus of Mygale ursina: c, the spines
at the base of the former.

4, The lip of Mygale ursina: d, the spines at its extremity.

5. The right maxilla and palpus of Mygale zebra: e, the spines
on the superior surface of the former.

(All the figures are highly magnified.)
Frances Blackwall

del

 

John Van Voorst

 

    
   
 

Aine

s he 4
DA
i iE y ee

    

 

HAdlard se.
INDEX.

Abstinence of spiders, 272, 326.

Adhesive lines of spiders, 279, 281, 292.

Air, rarefied, singular effects of, 260, 261, 262.

Air-pump, experiments with, 212, 220.

Animals, certain species of, can ascend the vertical surfaces of
dry polished bodies, 211, 216, 224, 225, 301: phenomenon
investigated, 211, 219, 222, 226, 302: advantages to be de-
rived from a knowledge of their instincts, 117.

Apparatus, climbing-, its structure and function, 217, 221, 302,
303, 304; carding-, or calamistrum, its structure and use,
293, 294, 295: spinning-, structure and function of its
superior ‘mammulee when greatly elongated, 320, 321:
structure and function of its inferior mammule when there
are four pairs, 319.

Audebert, M., his observations on the House-spider supported by
collateral evidence, 316.

Audubon, Mr., his remark on the song of the Grenadier Gros-
beak, 174.

Barrington, Honourable Daines, his experiments and observations
on the singing of birds examined, 31: inconclusiveness of
his deductions, 33.

Beetles, aquatic, tarsal suckers of, 221.

Bewick’s Swan, notice of, 152: specimen of, shot near Middleton,
153: anecdote of, 155.

Bill, remarkable formation of, 157.

Birds, notes of, observations on, 26: importance of an acquaint-
ance with, 28: are uttered instinctively, 40,120: the songs
of, by what occasioned, 42, 120: not liable to become tor-
pid, 112, 114: attachment to their offspring, 91, 183: de-
scriptions of Fulca Auduboni, 178, Lamprotornis Vigorsti,
181,

Z
338 INDEX.

Birds, aquatic, the diving of, 166: Montagu’s hypothesis respect-

ing, erroneous, 167: refuted, 167, 170. :

of the Swallow tribe, occasional desertion of their progeny

by, 85.

. Eaaoiiaal migration of, 1: tables of species which visit

the neighbourhood of Manchester, 3: probably migrate in

the night, 24: summer, temperature higher when they

withdraw than when they appear, 7: frequently return to

the same places in the same numbers, 13: moult during

their absence, 15: the males of some species precede the

females in spring, 24: winter, not seen or heard in sum-

mer, 22, _

, singing, table of species heard in the neighbourhood of
Manchester, 45: table showing the comparative merits of
the songs of British species, 47.

Buzzard, anecdote of, 131.

 

 

 

Cat, domestic, young Squirrels and young Hares suekled by,
205.

Chaffinch, young, experiment with, 38.

Ciniflo atrow, its structure and economy deserving of investiga-
tion, 290: construction of its snare, 291, 292.

Coccinella dispar, the sex of, cannot be distinguished by colour,
215.

Cow-pen Bird, economy of, 72.

Crow, anecdote of, 140.

Cuckoo, observations and experiments on, 49, 76: curious facts
respecting, 61, 62: prefers the nest of the Titlark to deposit
its eggs in, 62: destruction occasioned by the young of,
among small birds in England and Wales, 63: the male
loses its cry before it retires, 70: young of, fed by large
numbers of birds of the same species as their foster-parents,
76.

Curculio argentatus, ravages of, 208.

Dalton, Dr., his observation on the Redbreast, 94: experiment
with the air-pump, 212.

Darwin, Dr., his erroneous opinions relative to the Cuckoo, 69,
72: refuted, 73: his view of the instinctive propensities of
animals controverted, 119.

Derham, Dr., his hypothesis concerning the action of the pulvilli
of flies, 216.

a of cee birds, illustrated by White, 168: true theory
of, 170.
INDEX. 339

Domestication, effects of, on birds, 123, 125.

Dormice, experiments with, 109, 110.

Dyticus marginalis specifically lighter than water, 221: average
weight of, 221: experiment with, 112.

Eaton, Mr., his account of a young Cuckoo which was fed by

__ birds of different species, 77,

Education of birds, 32, 33, 142.

Eggs, number of, laid by the Cuckoo, 58: mean weight of, 63:
how those of birds in whose nests Cuckoos lay are frequently

‘ injured, 65.

Elasticity, extraordinary instance of, 288.

Electricity does not occasion the ascent of aéronautic spiders and
gossamer, 263.

Epeira apoclisa, number of viscid globules in the net of, 298.

calophylla, peculiarity in the net of, 281, 282.

 

Fawn of the Fallow Deer brought up by a Spaniel, 205.

Fieldfare migrates in the night, 24.

Fish, on changes in the colour of, 2038.

Fleming, Dr., mistaken concerning the economy of the Cuckoo,
79,

Flycatcher, sagacity of, 134.

, Pied, observations on, 147: vicinity of Ullswater a fa-

vourite haunt of, 147: occurs in the valley of the Conway,

150: a singing bird, 148: is migratory, 149: anecdote of,

150.

 

Garside, Mr., his aviary, 172, 173.

Gecko (lizard) adheres to polished bodies by means of a mucous
secretion, 225.

Glowworm, larva of, its organ of adhesion, 224.

Gossamer, most abundant in September and October, 258: how
produced, 258: ascent of, explained, 259, 260.

Gough, Mr., his observations on the supposed winter retreats of
the periodical summer birds, 10.

Greenfinch, young of, experiment with, 37.

Grenadier Grosbeak, some account of, 172: its weaving propen-
sity, 174.

Heineken, Dr. C., his discovery of the connexion which exists
between the moulting of spiders and the reproduction of
their limbs, 310.

Home, Sir Everard, his investigation of the structure and func-
tion of the pulvilli of flies, 216, 218.
340 INDEX.

Hooke, Dr., his description of the pulvilli of flies, 217: the
viscid globules in the nets of geometric spiders seen by,
299.

Illusion, optical, instance of, 288.

Imitation, faculty of, possessed by some birds, 32, 34, 142.

Insects, ravages of, 207: larve of, 211: experiments with, 219,
220, 223.

Instincts of birds, 115: dependent upon physical causes, 125:
of the Cuckoo, 73: of spiders, 276.

Intelligence of birds exemplified, 122, 127, 134, 138, 139,
142.

Jackdaw sometimes builds in deserted rabbit-burrows, 128.

Jenner, Dr., abstract of his history of the Cuckoo, 50: has ad-
verted to the occasional desertion of their progeny by the
Swallow and House-Martin, 85: cause assigned erroneous,
95, 98: his theory of migration, 95: views combated,
95.

Kirby and Spence, Messrs., their account of the fabrication of
the nets of geometric spiders the most circumstantial,
277: difficulties left without explanation, 282, 254: state
that the net of the Garden-Spider is composed of two Kinds
of silk, 300.

Kitten brought up by a Spaniel, 205.

Knowledge, actjuired, instances of, in birds, 122, 135, 1389,
142.

Language of birds, 29.

Larve, the prolegs of such as can adhere to polished bodies do
not act as suckers, 212.

Leach, Dr., his account of the moulting of spiders, 305.

Lister, Dr., his hypothesis to account for the ascent of aéronautic
spiders, 266: supposed that the peculiarity in the net of
Epeira calophylla occurs invariably, 282: thought that
spiders can retract their lines within the abdomen, 287:
was acquainted with the true nature of the palpal organs,
313.

Lycosa saccata an aéronautic spider, 274.

Martin, House-, has frequently two broods in a summer, 14, 86:
sometimes deserts its progeny, 86, 96.
——,, Sand-, sometimes abandons its progeny, $9.
INDEX. 341

Migration of birds, 1, 143: evidence of, 10, 12, 18, 15, 20, 22,
24, 29, 144.

Montagu (Colonel), attributed the singing of birds to the impulse
of love, 48: supposed that the Cuckoo can retain in the
uterus eggs perfectly formed, 60, 61: his account of the
diving of aquatic birds, 166.

Moulting, of birds, 15, 39: of spiders, 305: process described,
306.

Mygale avicularia, living specimens of, brought to Manchester,
303: tarsal appendages of, described, 303, 304.

Natterer, M., succeeded in keeping Swallows for several years in
captivity, 18.

Neriéne longipalpis, experiment with, 325.

Nests, in which Cuckoos deposit their eggs, 51: of the Swallow
and House-Martin examined, 87,96: various modifications
of, 127.

Nets of geometric spiders, how constructed, 277: modifications
of, 281, 283: fabricated in the dark, 287: composed of
three kinds of silk, 300.

Oak, injury done to the foliage of, 209.
Ovarium of the Cuckoo, 55, 58.
Owl, White, regarded as an ominous bird, 116.

Partridge, anecdote of, 93.

Pearson, Mr., kept Swallows in captivity for several years, 16.

Pettychaps in its wild state not a mocking bird, 41.

Physiological fact, a remarkable, 205.

Poison of Spiders, experiments and observations on, 240, 241,
244, 247, 253.

Polysphincta carbonaria, larva of, parasitic on spiders, 233.

Puffin sometimes deserts its young, 99.

Pulvilli of insects not suckers, 218, 220: theory of their action,
222, 223.

Quail migrates in the night, 24.

Raven, anecdote of, 132.

Redbreast, young, experiment with, 38, 39.

Redwing migrates in the night, 24.

Rook, nudity of the anterior part of its head and of the base of
its bill proved by experiment to be a specific character, 161,
162: frequently plants acorns, 141.
342 : INDEX.

Salmon, experiments and observations on its rate of growth, 154,
190, 192, 194, 199, 200.

Sedge-Warbler in its wild state not a mocking bird, 41.

Sewin, rate of growth of, 194, 195, 196, 198, 200, 201, 202. :

Spiders, lines of, drawn from the spinners by currents of air,
260, 262, 269: proved by experiment, 268: how effected,
269: not propelled by any organic function, 270: structure
and economy of, 290: falces and maxille of, 322, 323:
organic modifications of, 329, 330: reproduction of the
limbs of, 310,311. longevity of, 8327, 328: function of the
palpal organs of the males, 313: established by experiment,
313, 315: some species of, can exist for a long period sub-
merged in water, 325.

——, aéronautic, aérial excursions of, observations on, 257:
how accomplished, 260: manner in which some species

traversed the interior of a phial, 273.

, geometric, nets of, 276: sometimes constructed between

distant plants growing in water, 284: how effected, 255:
fabrication of, regulated chiefly by the sense of touch,
287: constructive propensity of, instinctive, 289: claws
of, 296.

Stafford, Rey. Mr., his supposed discovery of a Cuckoo’s nest, 69,
80.

Swallow sometimes abandons its progeny, 87.

Swan, Bewick’s, notice of, 152.

 

Temperature, 4, 7, 9, 12; 19, 68, 98, 213.

Theridion quadripunctatum, abstinence of, 326.

Thomisus cristatus an aéronautic spider, 274.

Torpidity, of animals, 10, 12, 109, 111: of spiders, 327.

Tortrie viridana, larve of, ravages committed by, 209: singular
spectacle presented by, 209: chrysalides of, instinct dis-
played by, 210.

Tree-frogs (Hyle) adhere to polished bodies by means of a
mucous secretion, 225.

Uterus of the Cuckoo, 60.

Virey, M., his hypothesis respecting the ascent of aéronautic
spiders, 265: anticipated by Dr. Lister, 266: shown to be
untenable, 266.

White, Rev. Gilbert, his observations on the Swift, 13, 14, 69:
on the affection of birds for their young, 133: on the
Northern Diver, 168.
INDEX. 343

Wilmot, Rev. Mr., his supposed discovery of a Cuckoo’s nest, 80:
controverted, 82.

Wren adapts the materials of its nest to the situation in which.
it is built, 127.

——, Willow-, sagacity of, 134.

Yarrell, Mr., his discovery of Bewick’s Swan, 153, 155.

THE END. .

 

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