. - 
 
 UC-NRLF 
 
 B 3 275 DflS 
 
 
 
 
 
 H| 
 J 
 
 JMJMS 
 
 PHHi 
 
 ^iBsRw?'t^v 
 
 OHftilM' 
 
 LmWw&MiyMWv 
 
 I 
 
 lit 
 
 oVA-V^;' 
 
 11! 
 
 sill 
 
 tUt 
 V 
 
 
 
 
 
 [lilii 
 
THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 PRESENTED BY 
 
 PROF. CHARLES A. KOFOID AND 
 MRS. PRUDENCE W. KOFOID 
 
LONDON 
 
 BIRDS AND BEASTS. 
 
 BT 
 
 J. T. JRISTRAM-YALENTINE, F.L.S., F.Z.S. 
 
 (Member of the British Ornithologists' Union.) 
 
 WITH A PREFACE 
 
 BY 
 
 FRANK E. BEDDARD, F.R.S. 
 
 LONDON : 
 
 HORACE COX 
 WINDSOR HOUSE, BREAM'S BUILDINGS, E.C, 
 
 1895. 
 
 M366678 
 
LONDON 
 
 PRINTED BT HORACE COX, WINDSOR HOUSE, BREAM' 
 BUILDINGS, E.C. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 THE reader of the following pages will doubtless 
 remind the writer of the present lines that good 
 wine needs no bush. As, however, the authorship 
 of the articles from the Saturday Review was only 
 known to a few friends and acquaintances, it 
 appeared desirable that they should be prefaced 
 in the book form by someone interested in the 
 matters of which they treat, and, as so many of 
 them relate to the animals at the Zoological 
 Society's Gardens, I was asked by the author's 
 friends to say a few words by way of an intro- 
 duction to these essays of Mr. Tristram-Valentine. 
 The first set of sketches deals with animals at 
 the Zoological Gardens. When they appeared in 
 the Saturday Review, they were a propos of recent 
 acquisitions ; but it will be seen that they are of 
 more than temporary value as short essays upon 
 the animals in question. Moreover a large per- 
 centage of them relates to creatures that are 
 generally included in the collection of living 
 animals at the Kegent's Park. At the moment 
 of writing there happens to be neither an Aurochs 
 
iv Preface. 
 
 nor a leaf insect ; but nearly all the other animals, 
 particularly vertebrate, are DOW on view, and in 
 the summer probably many of the invertebrate 
 types will be exhibited. 
 
 This volume, therefore, being of moderate dimen- 
 sions, can be usefully carried by the visitor and 
 studied with the animals before him. It speaks 
 well for the care taken of animals by the Society 
 that many of the individuals spoken of Mr: 
 Tristram- Valentine are still with us. The Crypto- 
 procta, of which he wrote in December, 1890, is 
 still alive and shows no signs of decay; the African 
 rhinoceros only died after a prolonged residence in 
 the gardens of over twenty years, in all probability 
 the extreme span of life of this animal. 
 
 The articles which follow those upon the 
 Zoological Society's collection deal with London 
 birds. They will possibly surprise those who 
 regard, as Mr. Tristram-Valentine suspects of 
 many, the sparrow as the only indigenous bird of 
 this metropolis. I am informed that, after the 
 article on " Bird Life in London " was published 
 (the last the author wrote), he found that there 
 were still many flycatchers to be seen in London 
 parks and gardens, and that during his last illness 
 he obtained evidence of the breeding of a pair in 
 Kensington. It is probable that many persons 
 were astonished by the pair of magpies in the 
 Regent's Park, which were genuine inhabitants 
 thereof, and not escaped prisoners from the 
 Zoological Gardens. The extraordinary number 
 
Preface. v 
 
 of seagulls that have been seen this winter from 
 London Bridge seems to surpass those noticed 
 by Mr. Tristram- Valentine in March, 1888. 
 
 Some years ago a few gulls took up their abode 
 during the winter in the large inclosure devoted to 
 these birds at the Zoological Gardens, where they 
 found abundant food. It is said that the same 
 birds put in under stress of weather another 
 winter. The list of London birds can be largely 
 increased, as Mr. Tristram- Valentine points out, 
 by the inclusion of migrants which stop here on 
 their journeys to and fro the south. The Zoo- 
 logical Gardens is a favourite place wherein to 
 make a temporary halt, the attraction being 
 perhaps partly the food, and perhaps more due 
 to the presence of individuals of the same species 
 whose call note stops them in their flight. 
 
 FRANK E. BEDDARD. 
 
 Zoological Society's Gardens, 
 Regent's Park, 
 February, 1895. 
 
THE COMPILER OF THESE 
 
 ESSAYS WISHES TO THANK THE 
 
 PROPRIETORS OF THE " SATURDAY REVIE 
 
 FOR THEIR COURTESY IN ALLOWING 
 
 THEM TO BE REPRINTED. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 EVERY book published must of course stand or fall 
 by its own merits and the verdict of the public ; 
 but in the case of a book of this nature, made up as 
 it is of articles written from time to time, without 
 any settled connection made by the author, it is 
 perhaps not impertinent for those who know the 
 private history of the work to put forth an intro- 
 duction pointing out matters of some public interest 
 which would hardly be perceived from internal evi- 
 dence. 
 
 From a purely " natural history " point of view 
 it may be well to point out that the author was one 
 of that valuable race, the sportsmen naturalists. 
 
 He enjoyed keenly a good day's shooting, and his 
 greatest pleasure was to secure his bag by his know- 
 ledge of woodcraft, and of the habits of game birds. 
 Every note in the present book is the result of 
 personal observation, most of the material for the. 
 papers on " London Birds " having been picked up 
 in his almost daily walk from Kensington to West- 
 minster through the parks. 
 
 There is another point about the collected 
 
viii Introduction. 
 
 papers which, is perhaps well worthy of being 
 made known. When Mr. Tristram- Valentine 
 wrote "The London Sparrow" he had never 
 attempted any form of literary composition. The 
 result of his first attempt was, as may be 
 imagined, that curious burlesque of journalistic 
 commonplace which most beginners perpetrate ; 
 but, without losing heart, he rewrote that paper at 
 least six times until his work took possible shape. 
 From that moment, in the midst of the busy life 
 of a London solicitor, the duties of home and 
 friendship, he found time to work at the art of 
 writing, to revive and continue his studies in 
 scientific zoology and classification, and to blend 
 with the whole another passion of his life, that 
 for " quaint old books "as he loved to call them, 
 the effect of which may be seen by anyone who 
 cares to know how a man may become a successful 
 writer by comparing " the London Sparrow " with 
 say " Pharoe's Mouse." 
 
 GORDON WIGAN. 
 
 Marseilles, March, 1895. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 I NOTES FROM THE ZOO. 
 
 MAMMALIA. 
 
 PAOB 
 
 APES . . . . . . .1 
 
 THE MANATEE . . . . . 9 
 
 THE GAUE 15 
 
 THE AYE-AYE . 20 
 
 THE LEMURS .... .26 
 
 EUROPEAN BISON .... .34 
 
 STANLEYAN CHEVROTAIN 39 
 
 ANT-EATERS. 43 
 
 THE ENGLISH WILD-BULL . . . .51 
 
 KHINOCEROSES ...... 60 
 
 THE CRYPTOPROCTA ...... 68 
 
 CONIES . 73 
 
 ZEBRAS 80 
 
 b 
 
Content 
 
 BIRDS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 BOWER- BIRDS 
 
 TUFTED UMBRES 
 
 THE GREAT BUSTARDS . 95 
 
 THE MOT-MOT. . . 106 
 
 OWLS . . . ... HI 
 
 OSTRICHES 
 
 AETICULATA. 
 
 THE LEAF-INSECT . 12 4 
 
 THE PRAYING MANTIS 
 
 STICK-INSECTS . 135 
 
 COCOSNUT CRAB 
 
 TARANTULAS . 142 
 
 REPTILES AND FISH. 
 
 LEPIDOSIRENS . , . . 150 
 
 CHAMELEONS . 155 
 
 CROCODILES . . . - . . . 168 
 
Contents. xi 
 
 II.-BIRDS IN LONDON. 
 
 PAGK 
 
 THE SPARROW . . 171 
 
 THE ROOK 180 
 
 THE STARLING 187 
 
 THE WOOD PTGEON . . . . . .193 
 
 THE SEAGULL 200 
 
 THE THRUSH 205 
 
 THE REDBREAST . . . . . .210 
 
 THE HEDGE SPARROW . . . .. . 216 
 
 TITMICE 221 
 
 THE BLACKBIRD . . . . . .227 
 
 THE DAW . 233 
 
 WOOD PIGEONS IN THE PARKS .... 238 
 
 BIRDS IN FROST 241 
 
 BIRD LIFE IN LONDON . 247 
 
Xll 
 
 Contents. 
 
 III. -APPENDIX. 
 
 i'AUK 
 
 PALLAS' SAND-GROUSE . 
 
 THE FARNE ISLANDS 
 
 971 
 PROTECTION OF WILD BIRDS 
 
 976 
 
 FOUR-FOOTED BEASTES . 
 
 MEDICINES FROM ANIMALS . 
 PHAROE'S MOUSE 
 
 OQQ 
 
 MEDIAEVAL LORE . 
 
 OAf7 
 
 ANCIENT AFRICANA . 
 CROCODILE BIRDS 
 
I.-NOTES FROM THE ZOO. 
 
 MAMMALIA. 
 
 APES. 
 
 (Feb. 16, 1889.) 
 
 THE Zoological Society have a singularly good 
 collection of anthropoid apes in their Gardens at 
 the present time, consisting of four specimens. 
 The well-known bald-headed chimpanzee " Sally " ; 
 a young one of the same species (Anthropopi- 
 thecus calvus) obtained in December last ; a young 
 common chimpanzee (Anthropopithecus troglodytes), 
 which was presented to the Society in May 1888 ; 
 and a silvery gibbon (Hylobates leuciscus), which 
 has been in the Gardens since November, having 
 also been presented to the Society; this, like the 
 last two, is a young animal. It will thus be seen 
 that two out of the three known genera of anthro- 
 poid apes are now represented ; the third was so 
 until quite recently by a young orang (Simia 
 satyrus) ; this, however, was not the property 
 of the Society, having only been placed in the 
 collection " on deposit," and has, we regret to say, 
 
 B 
 
2 Apes. 
 
 been removed by its owners. These animals are 
 not only of great interest to naturalists, especially 
 "Sally" and her " younger sister/' but are a 
 source of never-ending amusement to the people 
 who all day crowd the house in which they are 
 confined. 
 
 To naturalists the bald-headed chimpanzees are 
 specially interesting, as though the species was 
 described by Du Chaillu, who claimed to have 
 discovered it, and named it Troglodytes calvus 
 no living specimen had been seen, in this country 
 at least, until " Sally " was obtained in October 
 1883 ; and the young one, recently added to the 
 collection, is only the second that has been brought 
 to this country alive. Du Chaillu gave a very 
 interesting account of this ape the native name 
 of which he tells us is Nshiego mbouve; he 
 describes it as building for itself a nest, or rather 
 roof, under which to sleep, of leafy branches 
 ingeniously tied with vines to the tree in which 
 the nest is built, and adds, ' ' The tying is done 
 so neatly, and the roof is so well constructed that, 
 until I saw the Nshiego actually occupying his 
 habitation, I could scarce persuade myself that 
 human hands had not built it." The material for 
 the nests is, he tells us, gathered by both the male 
 and female; but the former alone acts as builder, 
 and the two do not occupy the same nest, or even 
 tree, but have separate habitations not far apart. 
 Du Chaillu obtained several specimens of this new 
 ape, one of which is now in the British Museum; 
 
Apes. 8 
 
 but considerable doubt was expressed whether they 
 were not simply varieties of the common chimpanzee. 
 These doubts have, however, been set at rest by the 
 acquisition of " Sally " and her " younger sister " 
 and as the latter is of about the same age as the 
 Society's specimen of the common chimpanzee, and 
 is kept in the same cage, it is easy to compare them 
 and we imagine that most persons will agree with 
 Du Chaillu, who said : " I was at once struck with 
 the points of difference between it (the Nshiego) 
 and the chimpanzee. Its great distinction was its 
 bald head. This is its mark." There are, how- 
 ever, other very noticeable differences, not the 
 least of these being the difference in colour of the 
 faces of the two animals. The young bald-headed 
 chimpanzee is at present dark brown, but will no 
 doubt, should she arrive at maturity, become, like 
 " Sally/' perfectly coal black ; forDu Chaillu tells us 
 that the face of a young one he captured was ' ' pure 
 white very white indeed pallid, but as white as 
 a white child's," though its mother was " as black 
 as soot in the face " ; and that the young are 
 invariably light in colour, becoming darker as they 
 arrive at maturity. 
 
 " Sally " has spent more than five years in 
 Regent's Park, having been acquired by the 
 Society in October, 1883, and is probably better 
 known than any other inhabitant of the Gardens. 
 There is a great deal that is quaintly human about 
 her ; but Dr. Brookes, a writer of the last century, 
 went too far when he said of the chimpanzee that 
 B 2 
 
4 Apes. 
 
 " all the joints bear an exact resemblance to those 
 of a man, insomuch that one egg cannot be more 
 like unto another; the fingers, thumbs, and toes 
 are an exact representation of those of a human 
 creature, and he has calves in the same manner/' 
 She is very intelligent and well educated ; so well 
 educated, indeed, that one is apt to forget that 
 many of her actions are not natural to her, but are 
 the result of education. As a noticeable example, 
 how many, we wonder, who see her fed are aware 
 that she does not take her food in a perfectly 
 natural manner ? Yet if they observe the young 
 and uneducated apes in the next cage they will 
 see that, instead of lifting the tin containing their 
 milky food to their mouths as she does, they stoop 
 down and take the food from the tin on the 
 ground. 
 
 " Sally " also uses a spoon with such dexterity 
 that even this action seems natural to her, and, 
 like the chimpanzee described by Dr. Brookes, she 
 will, " when she has done drinking, wipe her mouth 
 as carefully as any person whatever." Her educa- 
 tion has, however, not been confined to table 
 manners; in fact, they are among the least of her 
 accomplishments, the greatest of which is that she 
 is able to count up to five, picking up and handing 
 to her keeper, without mistake, the number of 
 straws that he may ask for. Her method of pro- 
 ceeding is curious, as she puts all the straws in her 
 mouth, with the exception of the last one. For 
 example, if she is asked for five, she puts four in 
 
Apes. 5 
 
 her mouth, picks up the fifth, and hands the whole 
 number to her keeper. She can appreciate size as 
 well as numbers, as is proved by the fact that she 
 will at command pick up a long or short straw, or, 
 when pieces of fruit of different sizes are placed 
 before her, take the largest, the smallest, or the 
 middle-sized piece, as directed by her keeper. 
 She also has an idea of colour, or at least can 
 distinguish between a light and dark straw ; for 
 being asked for a black straw, she will hunt in her 
 litter until she finds a really dark one. These, 
 though they by no means exhaust the list, are 
 among the most wonderful of her accomplishments ; 
 but they are apparently not so appreciated by the 
 public as such comparatively simple tricks as 
 leaving her food untouched until told to take it, 
 finding fruit in her keeper's pocket, or kissing 
 or shaking hands with him through the bars of 
 her cage tricks which require comparatively little 
 intelligence. 
 
 " Sally " would appear to be sufficiently advanced 
 to have some crude ideas of sale and barter j for on 
 one occasion a lady who was watching her had in 
 her arms a suricate, and " Sally," who is fond of 
 rats, evidently mistook it for one, and desired to 
 possess it, and to this end produced all her valu- 
 ables, consisting of a piece of wood, a penny, and 
 the tin from which she had just drunk her beef-tea 
 and offered them one by one, evidently in exchange 
 for the little beast, and her fury and indignation 
 on finding her offers refused were most amusing. 
 
6 Apes. 
 
 It may here be mentioned that the bald-headed 
 chimpanzee, unlike its cousin the common one, is 
 fond of meat. Du Chaillu tells us that one he kept 
 for some months " was very fond of boiled meat, 
 particularly boiled fish, and was constantly picking 
 bones he collected about the town." " Sally " will 
 kill and eat a pigeon or a rat, while her " younger 
 sister" is satisfied with a sparrow or other small 
 bird, and, like Du Chaillu's pet, they both 
 appreciate cooked meat. Neither of them has, 
 however, so far as we are aware, acquired the 
 pernicious taste for strong drink possessed by that 
 animal. 
 
 " Sally's " cage is separated from that in which 
 the three young apes are confined by a wooden 
 partition, through the cracks in which she is fond 
 of peeping at them. The' action is wonderfully 
 human ; as indeed, is the jealousy with which she 
 regards her keeper when he pays any attention to 
 his young charges, and we have little doubt that it 
 would fare badly with them were the partition 
 removed. Though not so interesting as the adult 
 and well-educated ape, the young ones are well 
 worth a visit. They are in good health and full 
 of spirits, and play with one another in a most 
 amusing manner. 
 
 The chimpanzees have a certain quaint stolidity 
 even in their most lively moments, and though 
 evidently fond of fun and laughter and that they 
 do laugh, cannot, we imagine, be disputed 
 apparently recognise the gravity of life ; while the 
 
Apes. 7 
 
 gibbon is the very spirit and essence of impish 
 activity, bounding about her cage with perfectly 
 marvellous agility and grace, now and then dropping 
 on her two slow-moving companions, to their 
 evident discomposure, and retreating with a bound 
 before they have time to resent the intrusion, 
 which, being much the larger and stronger, they 
 would probably do in an extremely unpleasant 
 manner were they able to catch her. It will 
 be extremely interesting as time goes on to ' 
 watch the education of the young chimpanzees 
 the gibbon, we imagine, will not be seriously 
 taken in hand and to discover which is the most 
 intelligent (Du Chaillu expressed the opinion that 
 the Nshiego was far more docile and intelligent 
 than the chimpanzee) ; at present there appears 
 to be little to choose between them. But the bald- 
 headed chimpanzee is by far the most amiable ; 
 so much so, that while she and the gibbon live 
 amicably together, the common chimpanzee has, 
 except for some hours in the day while the keepers 
 are present, to be confined by herself in part of the 
 cage partitioned off for the purpose. 
 
 The weather that we have experienced since the 
 beginning of the year has been singularly trying 
 for animals born near the Equator, and little 
 wonder could have been felt if the Society's apes 
 had suffered from the fogs and frosts of the last 
 six weeks ; but so far from this being the case, 
 they all appear to be in singularly good health 
 a fact which reflects the greatest credit on all 
 
8 Apes. 
 
 concerned in their management. The house in 
 which they are kept is certainly not arranged, like 
 the reptile-house, for example, with a view to the 
 comfort of those who visit it, being the worst in 
 the Gardens ; but that it is eminently fitted for its 
 purpose is proved by the excellent health of its 
 inmates. And we can only hope that if the Society 
 build a new and more taking house for their anthro- 
 poid apes it may prove as well suited for its pur- 
 pose as the present, from the visitor's point of view, 
 particularly uncomfortable quarters. 
 
THE MANATEE. 
 
 (May 4, 1889.) 
 
 A NOTABLE addition lias lately been made to the 
 Zoological Society's menagerie in the shape of a 
 young manatee (Manatus australis) from Demerara. 
 The little beast is a comparative baby, being, as is 
 supposed, only about twelve months old, and is 
 about 3 feet 6 inches long. It appears to be in 
 excellent health, and has, we believe, increased 
 considerably in bulk since its arrival in the 
 Gardens in March. Its present habitation is one 
 of the large glass tanks in the Eeptile House ; an 
 excellent place so far as the animal itself is 
 concerned, but one which is apparently the cause of 
 a great deal of mystification to many of the visitors, 
 who imagine that, as it is in that house, it must be 
 a reptile, and look upon it as a species of sea- 
 serpent. So far as we are aware, only two specimens 
 of the manatee have been exhibited alive in London, 
 at all events in recent years, until the arrival 
 of the one now in the Regent's Park. The first of 
 these was obtained by the Zoological Society about 
 fourteen years ago. It was, we believe, full grown, 
 and lived for a short time in one of the tanks in 
 the Gardens. The other belonged to Mr. Farini, 
 and was exhibited by him at the Westminster 
 
10 The Manatee. 
 
 Aquarium. Both, of these animals excited consider- 
 able interest at the time of their exhibition j and 
 the present one will, from all appearances, be 
 qnite as popular as its predecessors. It is certainly 
 well worth a visit, being a most quaint little beast. 
 It is particularly well placed in its present tank in 
 the Reptile House, as the light is good, and the 
 tank is at a convenient height ; and, as the water 
 is changed every morning, it is so clear that all the 
 animal's movements can be easily watched. 
 
 The manatee belongs to the order Sirenia, a 
 small group of herbivorous aquatic mammalia, 
 which now contains but two genera, the manatees 
 and the dugongs a third, the rhytina, or Northern 
 Sea Cow, having been exterminated about a 
 hundred years ago. The manatee is widely 
 distributed, being found not only in tropical 
 America, but also on the West Coast of Africa, 
 frequenting the shallow bays, lagoons, and 
 sheltered creeks of the coast, and ascending the 
 rivers. Formerly these animals were said to have 
 lived in innumerable shoals at the mouths of the 
 rivers Oronoco and Amazon, and to have worked 
 their way up them for hundreds of miles, and 
 peopled the freshwater lakes connected with them ; 
 but unfortunately for the manatees their flesh is 
 highly esteemed, and in consequence their numbers 
 have been terribly reduced. As we have said, 
 they are herbivorous, feeding entirely on aquatic 
 vegetation, apparently preferring fresh-water 
 plants. 
 
The Manatee. 11 
 
 The Sirenia are certainly not beautiful, and it 
 says much for the imaginative powers of our 
 ancestors that they could, as doubtless was the 
 fact, have evolved so charming a figure as the 
 mermaid out of such a clumsy, graceless animal as 
 either the manatee or the dugong. Though not 
 graceful, however, the manatee is a very curious 
 animal, with many striking outward peculiarities, 
 which will be noticed by any one examining the 
 specimen at the Gardens. The body is compact 
 and cylindrical, narrowing towards the tail, which 
 is large, flat, and rounded, reminding one rather 
 of an exaggerated beaver' s tail, and, as in the 
 whales, is placed horizontally. The head is round 
 and clumsy in appearance, and can hardly be 
 distinguished from the body by any neck ; the eyes 
 are exceedingly small and deep set, and are singu- 
 larly wanting in expression ; the ears are appa- 
 rently wanting, being only two small fissures which 
 penetrate the skin ; the muzzle is large and fleshy, 
 semi-circular in the upper part, in which the 
 crescent-shaped valvular nostrils are placed, and is 
 thickly set with short, stiff bristles. The mouth 
 is most peculiar ; the lips are lined with short, 
 hard, very thick bristles, the upper lip, which is 
 somewhat prehensile, being very full and cleft in 
 the middle, while the jaws are furnished in front 
 with horny plates upon the gums, the whole 
 being specially adapted to the animal's method of 
 feeding, which is most curious. 
 
 The food is taken between the divisions of the 
 
12 The Manatee. 
 
 upper lip, being held securely by the bristles, 
 and is passed into the mouth by a backward move- 
 ment of the lips, the process being repeated with 
 considerable rapidity, and quaintly reminding the 
 spectator of a gigantic caterpillar in the act of 
 feeding. The fore limbs may be described as 
 swimming-paws, and are very free in their move- 
 ments, being, in fact, hands four fingers and a 
 thumb covered with skin, like the flipper of a 
 whale ; the fingers, which are very flexible, can be 
 felt through the skin, and are furnished in the adult 
 with very small nails. These limbs are used, 
 however, not only for swimming, but also to 
 guide the food into the mouth, and, when so used, 
 look much like a man's hand in a sailor's mitten, 
 the joints being plainly visible. The manatee at 
 the Zoo, when resting at the bottom of its tank, 
 has a curious habit of crossing its hands under its 
 chest, which gives it a most curious appearance. 
 The skin, which is dark grey, is thick and coarse, 
 and is sparsely covered with slender hairs. When 
 full grown, the animal attains a length of about 
 12 feet. 
 
 The Society's manatee made the journey from 
 Demerara to Eegent's Park in a tank, and was 
 lucky in escaping almost unhurt, in fact, with no 
 worse injury than a slight abrasion of the flipper. 
 It bears, however, a mark, apparently the result of 
 a wound with either a spear or harpoon, which may 
 possibly have been caused at the time of its capture, 
 as certainly in days gone by these animals were 
 
The Manatee. 13 
 
 taken with the harpoon, and were said to " yield 
 the sporter no small diversion ; for, after having a 
 dart or harpoon struck into their side, with a long 
 line and buoy fastened to it, they hold some time in 
 play/ ' and "many times they upset the boat in 
 struggling." However this may be, the animal is 
 now, as we have said, in excellent health, and is 
 blest with a vigorous appetite, to satisfy which a 
 large supply of lettuce and beetroot is required. 
 It is particularly fond of the leaves of the former 
 plant, which it devours greedily, and with which it 
 is constantly supplied by its keeper. It is quiet 
 and docile, not to say phlegmatic a character said 
 to be possessed in a notable degree by all its kind 
 and seems quite at home and comfortable in its 
 tank, showing not the slightest sign of fear of the 
 crowd of persons continually gathered in front of 
 it. In the morning, when the water in the tank 
 is drawn off, the keeper sponges it all over a 
 proceeding which it thoroughly appreciates. It 
 cannot, however, be kept long out of water, as 
 being perfectly helpless, it is liable to injure itself 
 in its awkward movements. Its tank is furnished 
 with a sloping log to enable it, should it so desire, 
 to rest its head out of water ; but we believe that 
 it never makes any use of this contrivance, though 
 it is hard to conceive that it can obtain all the 
 sleep necessary to it in snatches of two and a half 
 minutes. Yet this is apparently the limit of its 
 .stay under water. It is amusing to watch the 
 methodical manner in which the animal retires to 
 
14 The Manatee. 
 
 one particular corner of its tank, and, folding its 
 flippers under it and closing its eyes, composes 
 itself apparently for a long and comfortable sleep, 
 which, however, never lasts more than two minutes 
 and a half, at the expiration of which time it is 
 forced to the surface for air. If, as we sincerely 
 hope may be the case, it should live to attain to 
 maturity, a new house will have to be provided for 
 it, as it would certainly outgrow its present tank. 
 As, however, the lives of all animals, especially 
 tropical ones, in confinement are somewhat pre- 
 carious, we would advise all our readers interested 
 in natural history, who are able to do so, to lose no 
 time in paying a visit to this interesting representa- 
 tive of a very old-world but steadily-diminishing 
 race. 
 
THE GAUR. 
 
 (Nov. 2, 1889.) 
 
 AN exceptionally important addition to the Zoo- 
 logical Society's collection has been made during 
 the last week by the safe arrival in Regent's Park 
 of a young Gaur (Bos gaurus) from Pahang, Malay 
 Peninsula, presented by Sir Cecil C. Smith, 
 K.C.M.G. This animal, which is the " bison " of 
 Anglo-Indian sportsmen, is not only " new to the 
 collection/' but is the first of its kind that has 
 been seen alive in Europe, and its arrival is viewed 
 with more than ordinary interest, owing to the 
 fact that it belongs to a race which is said to be of 
 such an untamable disposition that no member of 
 it has yet lived for any length of time in captivity, 
 howevery o ung it may have been when captured. 
 
 The present animal is a young bull, presumably 
 about two years old, and is one of a herd of gaurs 
 taken in April last by the Sultan of Pahang, or, to 
 be more correct, under his direction. We gather 
 thefo 11 owing facts relating to the capture from an 
 extremely interesting letter which appeared in the 
 Singapore Free Press and in the Field, and which 
 was apparently written by an eye-witness. It 
 appears that the Sultan, having conceived the idea 
 of capturing a herd of gaurs, chose for the site of 
 
16 The Gaur. 
 
 his undertaking a long narrow neck of land, 
 skirted on three sides by the river, about a mile in 
 length and half a mile wide at its junction with the 
 mainland, which was known to be a favourite resort 
 of a herd of these animals, which were accustomed 
 to come down from the high hills at the burst of 
 the monsoon and take up their quarters there. 
 
 Having established himself in the neighbourhood 
 with about 1500 men, he set them to work to 
 build a strong fence to inclose the whole promon- 
 tory, with the exception of the side next to the 
 mainland which was to be left open for the gaurs 
 to enter ; before the fence was half finished, how- 
 ever, the animals unexpectedly arrived, and it was 
 only by dint of excessively hard work that the 
 fence was completed and they were secured. The 
 next day a small pen about twenty yards square 
 was constructed within the inclosure, about fifty 
 yards from the river, and into this the whole herd 
 consisting of twenty-four head was with consider- 
 able difficulty, finally driven. 
 
 The scene which ensued appears to have been a 
 most extraordinary one, and we quote the account 
 of it verbatim : "It was a magnificent sight to see 
 these great beasts congregated together, and it is 
 doubtful whether a similar spectacle has ever been 
 witnessed before by a European, or indeed by any- 
 one. Terrified by the noise of the beaters and wild 
 with fear, the great creatures appeared almost mad, 
 and rushed about attacking each other with indes- 
 cribable fury. Luckily a deep drain had been cut 
 
The Gaur. 17 
 
 alongside the barricade, and this prevented their 
 charging it, otherwise they would have speedily 
 liberated themselves. As it was, they continued t > 
 charge and fight like demons, amidst the yells and 
 cheers of the excited crowd, until at nightfall ten 
 of the noble beasts lay dead or dying. Two more 
 succumbed during the night, and it was a pitiable 
 sight next morning to see the twelve survivors all 
 jaded and gory, utterly exhausted, but still vicious 
 and ' game/ ' Ultimately these twelve survivors, 
 by being driven in single file down a narrow alley 
 about five feet wide between strong fences erected 
 for the purpose, were safely caged and floated on 
 strong bamboo rafts down the river to Pekan, the 
 capital of Pahang, and one of them the animal 
 now in the Zoo was presented to Sir C. C. Smith, 
 the Governor of the Straits Settlements, by whom 
 it has been sent to England. 
 
 The gaur, which extends its range from Hindo- 
 stan through the Indo-Chinese countries to the 
 Malay Peninsula, is the largest and fiercest of wild 
 cattle, and is said to be not only untamable, but so 
 fierce that it will hold its own against the tiger. It 
 grrows to an enormous height, bulls measuring 
 eighteen hands at the withers being apparently not 
 uncommon ; and specimens have been recorded, 011 
 the authority of well-known sportsmen, which far 
 exceeded even this great height. For example, 
 one killed by Mr. Ditmas stood not less than 
 20 hands S^in., or 6ft. ll^in., at the withers; and 
 as, like the well-known gayal, it has a ridge running 
 
 c 
 
18 The Ganr. 
 
 along the middle of the back, it appears even 
 taller ; Mr. Ditmas's bull measured 7ft. 3f in. to 
 the top of this dorsal ridge. The back is curiously 
 arched, forming a fairly continuous curve from the 
 nose to the base of the tail. The skull is massive, 
 and is surmounted by a large semi-cylindrical crest, 
 rising above the base of the horns. The muzzle is 
 large and full. The horns in the adult bull are, 
 like the skull that bears them, very strong and 
 massive ; they extend outwards from the head, and 
 the points are turned upwards and inwards. A 
 good head is shown at the Zoo, on the wall opposite 
 the stall in which the gaur is confined. The colour 
 of the animals is a very deep brownish-black, with 
 the exception of a light tuft on the forehead 
 between the horns, and four "white stockings." 
 There is no dewlap in either sex. 
 
 ''Jack," as the new arrival is called, is but a 
 small beast, standing, as nearly as we can guess, 
 between thirteen and fourteen hands. But if it be 
 true, as alleged, that the bull does not attain his 
 full growth until his tenth year, he has plenty of 
 time to reach even the enormous proportions that 
 we have mentioned. At the present time he is in 
 very bad condition, being indeed little more than 
 a bag of bones, the result of his long journey, 
 during which, for some reason which we cannot 
 understand, he appears to have been fed principally 
 on bananas and other fruit ; but we believe he 
 already shows a marked improvement, and he cer- 
 tainly takes kindly to the good clover hay with 
 
The Gaur. 19 
 
 which he is supplied, and appears to have settled 
 down comfortably in his new quarters in the Ante- 
 lope House, in the stall next to those occupied by 
 the Indian cattle belonging to the Prince of Wales. 
 He shows no signs of wildness, in the sense of 
 being frightened by his surroundings, but at the 
 same time appears to be anything but an amiable 
 character, as he will not allow his keeper to enter 
 his stall, and has rather a startling trick of sud- 
 denly striking at the bars in a very suggestive 
 manner, when anyone is looking at him. If, as 
 we hope may be the case, he should live to 
 maturity, it will be most interesting to watch his 
 development, and especially to see whether constant 
 care and attention will not have the effect of 
 rendering him, if not tame, at least amenable to 
 discipline. Should he, however, retain his present 
 ferocity as he increases in size and weight, he will 
 be anything but a pleasant animal to manage. 
 
 c 2 
 
THE AYE-AYE. 
 
 (Nov. 16, 1889.) 
 
 THEEK are many animals in the Zoo whose habits 
 are so completely nocturnal that, for all that the 
 ordinary visitor can see of them, they might 
 as well have remained in their native haunts. 
 Certainly not the least interesting of these is the 
 Aye-Aye (Cheiromys Hadagascariensis) ; in fact, 
 there are few, if any, more interesting animals in 
 the collection, and, unfortunately, there are none 
 that are less often seen, as the animal in question 
 remains in a semi-torpid condition during the day 
 in the box at the top of its cage in the Monkey 
 House, never by any chance moving out, or indeed 
 showing itself. In consequence, visitors see nothing 
 but an apparently empty cage; those, however, 
 who are observant will notice that this cage, unlike 
 the neighbouring wall-cages in which the lemurs 
 are confined, is backed with patched zinc, and 
 contains a bough which has been much gnawed as 
 if by a rodent, the marks of its occupant's nightly 
 amusements. 
 
 The Aye- Aye, as its scientific name implies, is a 
 native of Madagascar, and was long a puzzle to 
 naturalists, owing to its many peculiarities of form 
 
The Aye- Aye. 21 
 
 and structure. Its dentition is most curious, and 
 much resembles that of the rodents. It has only 
 eighteen teeth, of which the four front ones, two 
 in the upper and two in the lower jaw, are much 
 like those of a rat Cuvier compared the lower 
 teeth to ploughshares these powerful incisors or 
 cutting-teeth are used for cutting away wood, 
 making holes in branches, and also for gnawing 
 through the stems of sugar-canes and similar 
 plants ; the ears are very large, round, and open, 
 and have, not inaptly, been compared to those of 
 a bat ; the eyes are wide and staring ; and a fact 
 which adds to the weirdness of the animal's 
 appearance it possesses a perfect, that is an 
 uncleft, upper lip. Its feet, however, especially 
 the forefeet or hands, are amongst its most striking 
 peculiarities, the latter, indeed, being unlike those 
 of any other animal ; all the fingers and toes, with 
 the exception of the hallux or great toe, which, 
 like that of all the quadrumana, is opposable, and 
 has a flat nail, are furnished with long, compressed 
 claws ; but and herein lies the great peculiarity 
 the third and fourth fingers of the hands are 
 very long, the fourth being the largest and longest, 
 while the third is so extraordinarily thin and 
 wasted in appearance that, to quote Professor 
 Owen, it seems as if it were paralysed. The 
 animal is about three feet in length, including the 
 tail, which is long and bushy longer, indeed, than 
 the body ; and the whole creature, with the excep- 
 tion of its ears, nose, and the soles of its feet and 
 
22 The Aye-Aye. 
 
 the palms of its bands, is covered with thick dark 
 fur. 
 
 It was discovered by the French naturalist and 
 traveller Sonnerat about one hundred years since, 
 who gave it the name Aye-Aye from an exclama- 
 tion of the natives on seeing it. He obtained a 
 pair, male and female, which he kept for two 
 months, feeding them only on boiled rice. He 
 evidently observed them very closely, and left a 
 good description of their appearance and habits 
 in confinement. In his opinion, the Aye- Aye did 
 not approach any genus, but leaned towards the 
 maki, the squirrel, and the ape. He made the 
 curious mistake, however, of imagining it to be a 
 subterranean animal. Buff on, who tells us that he 
 examined the skin of one which Sonnerat pre- 
 sented to the Cabinet du Roi, considered that it 
 was allied to the squirrel, and also that it bore 
 some relation to the tarsier, and accordingly placed 
 it among the rodents-. Cuvier first placed it next 
 to the flying squirrel, and immediately before the 
 rat, but afterwards in the list of doubtful animals. 
 Schreber was the first to class it among the 
 lemurs, and named it Lemur psilodactylus a name 
 adopted by Shaw while Sonnini, who formed the 
 genus Cheiromys, observed, rightly, that it was the 
 only species known. Most naturalists, however, 
 continued to class it among the rodents, until, in 
 the year 1859, Professor Owen placed it in its 
 present position as the sole representative of the 
 last of the three families into which the Lemuroidea 
 
The Aye-Aye. 23 
 
 the second sub-order of the Primates are 
 divided. 
 
 Professor Owen's Aye- Aye was obtained for him 
 by Dr. Sandwith, who, while the animal was in his 
 possession, observed its habits very closely, and 
 wrote an extremely interesting account of them, 
 from which the following is an extract: "I 
 thought that those strong rodent teeth, as large as 
 those of a young beaver, must have been intended 
 for some other purpose than that of trying to eat 
 his way out of a cage, the only use he seemed to 
 make of them besides masticating soft fruits. 
 Moreover, he had other peculiarities, e.g. singularly 
 large naked ears directed forwards as if for 
 offensive rather than defensive purposes; then, 
 again, the second finger of the hands is unlike 
 anything but a monster supernumerary member, 
 it being slender and long, half the thickness of the 
 other fingers, and resembling a piece of bent wire. 
 Excepting the head and this finger, he closely 
 resembles a lemur. Now as he attacked every 
 night the woodwork of his cage, which I was 
 gradually lining with tin, I bethought myself of 
 tying some sticks over the woodwork, so that he 
 might gnaw these instead . . . they were bored 
 in all directions by a large and destructive grub 
 . . . presently he came to one of the worm-eaten 
 branches, which he began to examine most atten- 
 tively, and bending forward his ears and applying 
 his nose more closely to the bark, he rapidly tapped 
 the surface with the curious second digit as a wood- 
 
24 The Aye- Aye. 
 
 pecker taps a tree, though with much less noise, 
 from time to time inserting the end of the slender 
 finger into the worm-holes as a surgeon would a 
 probe. At length he came to a part of the branch 
 which evidently gave out an interesting sound, for 
 he began to tear it with his strong teeth. He 
 rapidly stripped off the bark, cut into the wood, 
 and exposed the nest of a grub, which he daintily 
 picked out of its bed with the slender tapping 
 finger, and conveyed the luscious morsel to his 
 mouth." This unfortunate little beast was in due 
 time sacrificed to science, being killed by chloro- 
 form and sent over to this country in spirit. Its 
 skin may now be seen in the British Museum. 
 
 The older writers considered the Aye- Aye to ba 
 lazy and slothful, but this is by no means its 
 character, as though, like the well-known dormouse, 
 it spends its days in its nest, curled up comfortably 
 in a ball, and covered with its bushy tail during 
 which time no doubt, as Sonnerat remarked, it 
 requires a good deal of shaking to make it move 
 still after dusk it awakes, and is sufficiently 
 lively and active during the night. Its method of 
 taking its food is, as indeed is not surprising in 
 such an extraordinary animal, most curious. In 
 this performance the long fingers are brought into 
 use, being dipped into the food and drawn rapidly 
 between the lips, thus conveying it into the mouth 
 an action which has been compared to that of a 
 Chinaman using his chopsticks. It also occasion- 
 ally laps like a cat. The specimen at the Zoo 
 
The Aye-Aije. 25 
 
 is fed principally on sopped bread, bananas, and 
 dates \ fare on which it appears to thrive. It is 
 by no means an easy animal to keep in confine- 
 ment, as, like most of the lemurs, it is very sus- 
 ceptible to cold ; and it therefore says much for 
 the care and attention that have been bestowed on 
 it by its keeper that it has lived in the Regent's 
 Park for more than two years, and is still in the 
 enjoyment of excellent health. 
 
LEMURS. 
 
 (Nov. 30, 1889.) 
 
 NEARLY one half of the wall-cages in the Monkey 
 House are occupied by lemurs, which attract much 
 less attention from ordinary visitors than do their 
 neighbours and distant relations, the monkeys, the 
 result, no doubt, of their less human appearance 
 and quieter habits. Never theless, they are ex- 
 tremely interesting animals, whether from the 
 point of view of the naturalist, or simply of the 
 unscientific lover of pets. 
 
 Scientifically the Lemuroids are placed next in 
 order to the monkeys and form the second sub- 
 order of the Primates, and to quote from the very 
 excellent guide to the Mammalia in the British 
 Museum : " This sub-order consists of a number 
 of very remarkable animals of a far lower type 
 than the monkeys; they are for the most part 
 natives of Madagascar, although a few aberrant 
 members of the group are found in Africa and 
 Southern Asia. They are invariably arboreal in 
 their habits, with generally long, bushy, and non- 
 prehensile tails, opposable thumbs and great toes 
 large eyes, and long dog-like faces." They are 
 divided into three families the Lemuridae, 
 
Lemurs. 27 
 
 Tarsiidse, and Cheiromyidae, each of the two 
 latter containing only a single species, while the 
 first is subdivided into four groups, which contain 
 all the remaining species known. The first and 
 last of these families are at the present time 
 represented at the Zoo ; the first by specimens of 
 ten or eleven species, and the last by its solitary 
 species, the Aye- Aye. 
 
 The best known of the Lemuridse are the true 
 Lemurs, all of them inhabitants of Madagascar, of 
 which something like twenty specimens, represent- 
 ing six or seven species, are now in the Gardens. 
 It was to them that Linnaeus gave the name 
 Lemurs lemures, ghosts, from their habits being 
 more or less nocturnal though it is now popularly 
 extended to all the family. By most of the authors 
 of the last century, to whom several species were 
 known, they were called Macacos, or Makis, 
 though we find many variations in the spelling 
 for example, Maucauco, Mocawk, and Mococo, 
 and these by no means exhaust the list. 
 
 Dr. Brookes, in his Natural History of Quad- 
 rupedes, describes seven species, while Pennant 
 enumerates eleven ; but the ringtailed lemur was 
 the Macaco, or Maki, par excellence, of all the 
 authors of this time, being then, as now, generally 
 the best known of the family. Unfortunately this 
 extremely handsome and gentle lemur is excessively 
 delicate and difficult to keep in confinement, 
 seldom living for any length of time, and is not at 
 present represented at the Zoo. It is the animal 
 
28 Lemurs. 
 
 which is more particularly known to sailors and 
 dealers as the " Madagascar cat." 
 
 Among the species that are represented the 
 ruffed lemur is certainly the handsomest, as it is 
 also the largest ; indeed, it is a very handsome and 
 striking animal, with a long, thick, black-and- 
 white coat, and a grand bushy black tail ; but it is 
 neither so lively nor so amiable as some of its 
 smaller relations. The black lemur is perhaps 
 the plainest of the family no lemur can be called 
 ugly ; this species is noticeable for having the 
 sexes so dissimilar in appearance that until quite 
 recently they were considered to be specifically 
 distinct, as the male is perfectly jet black from the 
 end of his nose to the tip of his tail, while his mate 
 is of a dingy yellowish-red, with white whiskers. 
 
 Animals of this species appear to be compara- 
 tively hardy in confinement, and several of them 
 have lived for a considerable period in the Monkey 
 House. So well, indeed, do they thrive that one 
 female has brought forth no less than seven young 
 ones since its arrival at the Gardens in the year 
 1882, the last of these, a male, having been born 
 on June 10 last. And here we may mention the 
 curious manner in which the young are carried. 
 When first born, the helpless little creature, which 
 is almost naked, clings to its mother's waist, 
 attaching itself firmly by grasping her fur with all 
 its hands, and twisting its tail tightly round her 
 in such a position that when she sits up it is hidden 
 by her legs, and so firmly is it fixed that it rides 
 
Lemurs. 29 
 
 safely through all her leaps and bounds. As time 
 goes on and it becomes stronger it changes its 
 position from time to time, often riding on its 
 mother's back, and eventually, but gradually and 
 by slow degrees, it learns to walk alone. Besides 
 the ruffed and black lemurs, there are now living 
 in the Gardens specimens of the five following 
 species the black-headed, the white-fronted, the 
 red-fronted, the nocked, and the mongoose lemurs 
 all of which are dull-coloured in comparison with 
 those we have already mentioned. 
 
 In addition to the true lemurs there are in the 
 collection specimens of the genera Hapalemur, 
 Cheirogaleus, and Microcebus, but of these one 
 alone, the little grey lemur (Hapalemur griseus), is 
 shown in a wail-cage, the others being kept in the 
 keeper's room. This little animal, however, is one 
 of the most interesting of the lemurs, not only for 
 its rarity it is but the second that has been in the 
 possession of the Society, its predecessor having 
 been acquired in 1883 but ulso for its quaint 
 beauty and wonderfully gentle winning ways, 
 which obtain for it a good deal of attention. 
 
 Both Cheirogaleus and Microcebus are strictly 
 nocturnal, and, therefore, of very little interest to 
 the general public ; but this remark, perhaps, 
 hardly applies to the brown mouse lemur (Cheiro- 
 galviis milii), which the keeper regards with great 
 pride and is fond of showing to visitors. This 
 beautiful little animal, which is in appearance 
 much like an enormous dormouse with very large 
 
30 Lemurs. 
 
 and prominent eyes, has lived in its present 
 quarters since the year 1878, and is still fat and 
 well-liking. " Billy/' as it is called, is perfectly 
 tame ; but from its strictly nocturnal habits is 
 by no means lively in the daytime, though it never 
 seems to resent being taken out of its snug nest 
 of hay for purposes of exhibition ; but, in the even- 
 ing, after the Gardens are closed, it wakes up, and 
 takes both food and exercise. Like the dormouse, 
 tihs species hibernates during the cold season. 
 
 To lovers of pets, lemurs must always be of 
 interest, as no other animals combine so many 
 attractive qualities ; in fact, in our opinion, the 
 only drawback they possess is their excessive 
 delicacy, which renders them extremely difficult to 
 keep in a house ; so difficult, indeed, are most 
 of the species, and notably the most beauti- 
 ful of all, the ring-tailed lemur, that even at 
 the Zoo, where they live in an even temperature 
 and carefully guarded from their greatest enemy, 
 draught, they are by no means long lived. Were it 
 not for this most unfortunate drawback they would, 
 no doubt, be far more often kept than they are. 
 They have all the amusing ways of the smaller 
 monkeys without their treachery and cunning, and, 
 though they can bite shrewdly- on occasion, they 
 are, especially if they have been captured young, 
 usually gentle in their manners and capable 
 of great affection ; in fact, to quote an old 
 author, they are " very sociable, gentle, harmless 
 creatures." Their activity is most extraordinary, 
 
Lemurs. 31 
 
 and they delight in taking long flying leaps, 
 pitching with the utmost lightness, and never by 
 any chance missing their hold ; in this way they 
 will, for example, leap on to the top of an open 
 door, and from that on to a distant chair. 
 
 When in good health they are extremely playful, 
 at which times, as Dr. Brookes said, they " use a 
 sort of galloping with their tails raised over their 
 backs/' pouncing about with extended arms in a 
 peculiarly ludicrous manner. They form affections 
 for, and are fond of playing with, not only human 
 beings, but also other animals ; for example, one 
 which the writer had in his possession for some 
 time was on the most affectionate terms with a 
 wire-haired fox terrier and a cat, both of which 
 animals reciprocated its affection, and were never 
 more happy than when playing with it or lying 
 together curled up with it in a basket before the 
 fire, where it would, with the greatest care, wash 
 the dog's coat, at the same time combing out any 
 knots in the hair with its teeth ; a performance 
 which seemed to afford the greatest possible 
 gratification to both animals. This habit of 
 licking and cleaning is one of the lemurs' 
 peculiarities, as not only do they keep themselves 
 scrupulously clean and attend to the coats of other 
 animals with which they may be friendly, but 
 they also show the greatest interest in the clean- 
 liness of their human companions ; as, for example, 
 if a finger stained with ink be presented to them, 
 they will lick it and scrape it with their teeth in a 
 
32 Lemurs. 
 
 most persistent manner till the stain is removed. 
 They are most chilly animals, and nothing delights 
 them more than a good fire, before which they will 
 sit by the hour together with their hands spread 
 out to the blaze enjoying the warmth, in which 
 position, notwithstanding their fox-like faces, they 
 are quaintly human in appearance. On a hot 
 summer day they will sit in the sun, spreading out 
 their arms and hands to receive the heat in the 
 same way. They are also very fond of being 
 nursed. 
 
 These animals make several different sounds, 
 which to those who understand their ways are 
 very expressive. When pleased and comfortable 
 they purr loudly, much like a cat. They make a 
 chattering noise when displeased or when wanting 
 anything, and they also have a loud call-note a 
 rather shrill long-drawn-out coo-o-o and, lastly, 
 they grunt in a peculiar manner, which cannot 
 easily be described, but which is by no means 
 the least expressive of the sounds they make. 
 They should be fed principally on fruit, vegetables 
 and sopped bread ; but they have most omnivorous 
 tastes, and, if allowed to be at liberty in the room 
 during meal times, will endeavour to help them- 
 selves to anything that may be on the table, 
 and express the greatest disgust if they are 
 prevented. 
 
 The one we have mentioned was particularly 
 fond of fish and butter ; the latter especially it 
 found perfectly irresistible. It was also very fond of 
 
Lemurs. 33 
 
 tea, though it was by no means a total abstainer 
 on principle,, as it never missed a chance, if it 
 saw one, of helping itself to either beer, wine, or 
 spirits, though it was perfectly conscious that this 
 was against rules and would meet with prompt 
 punishment. This little beast, which was certainly 
 among the most charming of its race, eventually, 
 like most of its fellows in this country, fell a victim 
 to the cold. All lemurs are particularly fond of 
 anything sweet, and there is no quicker way to 
 their affections than giving them pieces of sugar, 
 or raisins, or perhaps their greatest treat lumps 
 of " Turkish delight"; but they do not, contrary 
 to the ideas of many visitors to the Zoo, care for 
 nuts. 
 
THE EUBOPEAN BISON. 
 (Dec. 21, 1889.) 
 
 IT is not often that visitors to the Zoo have the 
 chance of seeing examples of so many species of wild 
 and domesticated cattle as are found in the Gardens 
 at the present time, and certainly never before have 
 specimens of the two largest and fiercest of the 
 wild cattle been in the collection simultaneously. 
 Such, however, is now the case, as, in addition to 
 the Graur presented to the Society a short time 
 ago, which, we may add, appears to be thriving 
 immensely, they have lately been fortunate enough 
 to receive ' ' on deposit " a bull European Bison, or 
 Aurochs (Bison bonasus) an addition to the 
 menagerie of no little interest; for, though this 
 bison is not "new to the collection/' it is many 
 years since a specimen has been seen in Eegent's 
 Park ; in fact, we believe we are correct in saying 
 that the last, a cow, was obtained about twenty 
 years since, and lived but a few weeks. 
 
 The bisons, both European and American, are, 
 unfortunately, fast verging towards extinction, and 
 though but a few years ago such a thing would 
 have appeared impossible, there is now little doubt 
 
The European Bison. 35 
 
 that the former will survive the longest, as, though 
 its range is confined to the Caucasus and to the 
 forest of Bialowicza, in Lithuania, it is most strictly 
 protected by the Emperor of Russia, while its 
 unfortunate American cousin has been practically 
 exterminated, having fallen a victim to the greed 
 of the pelt-hunters. 
 
 The Aurochs, now, as we have said, extremely 
 restricted in its range, was originally an inhabi- 
 tant of all the large forests of central Europe, 
 and is in all probability, though the fact has 
 been disputed by many, and notably by Cuvier, 
 the Urus mentioned by Caesar, who described these 
 animals as being little inferior in size to the 
 elephant, but bulls in nature, colour, and figure, 
 and further mentioned their great strength, speed, 
 and fierceness. While in reality not quite so large 
 as an elephant, or indeed as a rhinoceros, to which 
 animal Cuvier compared it, the modern bison may 
 fairly be described as enormous, far exceeding in 
 size the American species, which otherwise it much 
 resembles. Yet it, in turn, is said to be much 
 smaller than its ancestors of quite recent times \ 
 indeed, the race is declared to be diminishing in 
 height and weight as it decreases in numbers, 
 though, apparently, it still retains its strength and 
 fierceness, as it is alleged that an old bull is a 
 match for four wolves. 
 
 At the present time a large bull will stand 
 about 6 feet to the top of the hump on the 
 shoulders, and is about 11 feet long; whereas 
 D 2 
 
36 The European Bison. 
 
 a height of 7 feet and a length of 13 feet have 
 been recorded. The two species of bison are 
 wonderfully alike in general appearance j they 
 both have huge, ungainly heads, humps between 
 the shoulders, and long shaggy manes on their 
 heads and necks, with long beards under their 
 chins ; the hind parts are smaller than the fore, 
 and have a comparatively weak appearance, though 
 this is more noticeable in the American than in the 
 European form. Again, in both cases the females 
 are smaller and less shaggy than the male. The 
 Aurochs, however, is by far the larger and finer 
 animal, and, as indeed might be expected, has 
 better horns. The two species, again, differ com- 
 pletely in their temperament ; for, while the 
 European bison is famous for its ferocity, the 
 American is sluggish and timid though this 
 description hardly applies to the American bison 
 bull at the Zoo, which is as bad-tempered and fierce 
 a beast as can be found in the collection and, in 
 addition, has the credit of being one of the most 
 stupid animals on earth. In fact, there is little 
 doubt that this stupidity has been one of the causes 
 of its destruction ; for, as Captain Dodge said of 
 it, "if not alarmed at sight or smell of a foe, he 
 will stand stupidly gazing at his companions in 
 their death throes, until the whole herd is shot 
 down," and, " having made up his mind to go a 
 certain way, it is almost impossible to swerve him 
 from his purpose." And the last difference 
 between the species that we propose to mention 
 
The European Bison. 37 
 
 the Aurochs has but fourteen pairs of ribs, while 
 the American bison has fifteen pairs. 
 
 The general colour of the European bison is a 
 light brown; but the hair of the mane, beard, 
 and legs, together with a stripe on the middle 
 of the back, is much darker, almost inclining to 
 black, while the long tuft of hair on the end of the 
 tail is black. The hair, especially on the back and 
 hind parts, is soft and woolly. The tongue is very 
 blue in colour. The animal has a strong musky smell, 
 which is very noticeable, but far from unpleasant ; 
 this is said to be strongest in the winter, and to be lost 
 by degrees when the animal is in confinement ; and, 
 finally, the hide is said to be double the thickness 
 of that of a domestic bull. The Aurochs at the 
 Zoo is a fine adult bull, and is certainly a magnifi- 
 cent animal, standing, as near as we can judge, 
 about 1 7 hands at the shoulder. It is to be seen 
 in the easternmost of the " Cattle sheds," next to 
 the shed in which the American bisons are kept 
 (in which latter, by the way, a bison calf was born 
 a few days since, a beautiful little animal, well 
 worth a visit) . As yet it prefers to remain in its 
 shed, not having fully recovered from the fatigues 
 and dangers of its journey ; indeed, though it has 
 been in its present quarters since Nov. 25, the poor 
 beast is still most woefully stiff and strained, the 
 result of being sent for a sea voyage of many days' 
 duration in a large case or crate, the bottom of 
 which was perfectly smooth, instead of being 
 furnished with cross-pieces fastened to the floor to 
 
38 The European Bison. 
 
 give its inmate a foothold. However, though so 
 stiff that it can neither lie down, nor, when down, 
 get up again with any comfort, it seems to be 
 feeding well, and we hope, therefore, that it may 
 live and thrive, and also that it may become the 
 property of the Society. 
 
THE STANLEYAN CHEVROTAIN. 
 
 (Jan. 11, 1890.) 
 
 THE Chevrotains are a group of very curious and 
 extremely beautiful little animals, much like 
 diminutive deer, which until quite recently were 
 classed, with the musk-deer, among the true deer, 
 but are now placed in a family Tragulina by 
 themselves, between the Tylopoda, or camel tribe, 
 and the Pecora, or oxen, antelopes, deer, and 
 giraffe. Like the musk-deer itself a doubtful 
 deer, by the way with which they were formerly 
 classed, both sexes are hornless, and, as is the 
 case with that animal, and also with the muntjacs, 
 the males have two long canine teeth in the 
 upper jaw, which project from the mouth with 
 a backward curve, and form very noticeable 
 tusks. One remarkable difference, however, exists 
 between the chevrotains and the musk-deer 
 namely, that the former do not possess the pecu- 
 liar secretion, contained in a pouch about the 
 size of an egg on the abdomen, of the male, 
 which was formerly used as a drug, but is now 
 a valuable article of trade as a perfume, for which 
 the latter animal is famous ; and this fact made 
 
40 The Stanleyan Chevrotain. 
 
 many of the naturalists of the earlier part of the 
 century extremely doubtful whether the chevro- 
 tains should not, as is now the case, be placed 
 in a family by themselves. For example, in 
 Bennett's Zoological Gardens, published in the 
 year 1830, we read : " This remarkable difference 
 [the absence of the ' musk'], added to the great 
 dissimilarity in the form and structure of their 
 hoofs, and other minor points of discrepancy, 
 furnishes an obvious means of subdividing the 
 genus; and may probably, at some future time, 
 when the animals have become more completely 
 known, be adopted as the foundation of a generic 
 distinction." 
 
 The Tragulina are wonderfully graceful little 
 creatures, about the size of rabbits, with the 
 most slender limbs imaginable, their legs being 
 little, if any, thicker than an ordinary cedar 
 pencil. They have long, delicately-pointed noses, 
 and very large lustrous dark eyes; indeed, except 
 for the fact that they are hornless, they have 
 much the appearance of deer seen through the 
 wrong end of a telescope. In reality, however, 
 many of their parts are very peculiar; chief 
 among these we may notice that their feet are 
 more like those of pigs than deer, as each foot 
 possesses four complete digits, and that their 
 stomachs, unlike those of most other ruminants, 
 have only three instead of four divisions, the 
 third division, or manyplies, being wanting. 
 There are two genera in the group, namely, 
 
The Stanleyan Chevrotain. 41 
 
 Tragulus, containing five or six species among 
 them the Stanley an Chevrotain now represented 
 at the Zoo ranging from Ceylon and India 
 through the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, and 
 Java to Borneo; and Hyomoschus, with but one 
 species, the Water Chevrotain, of Western Africa. 
 Among the Malays these animals are considered 
 the very embodiment of cunning, much as the 
 fox is with us, and Sir Stamford Baffles told 
 many of their curious tales regarding it, such as 
 that it would feign death when caught until it 
 saw a chance of escape, when it would be up and 
 away in a momenb; and that when pursued by 
 dogs it would spring up and hook itself to a 
 bough by its curved tusks, and so allow its 
 enemies to pass under it. He further tells us 
 that u cunning as a Kanchil" is a common Malay 
 expression. 
 
 The little animal at the Zoo is officially de- 
 scribed as a " Stanleyan Chevrotain, Tragulus 
 Stanleyanus, Ceylon. Purchased Nov. 25, 1889." 
 The species was named after the Earl of Derby, 
 grandfather of the present Earl. Like all its 
 kind, it is a beautiful little animal. Its coat is, 
 in colour, much like a bright sable, barred with 
 white on the chest. Its nose and ears, which 
 latter are small and nearly bare, are black; while 
 its eyes are very full, dark, and lustrous. Being 
 a female, however, it does not possess the pecu- 
 liar tusks we have mentioned. This is by no means 
 the first chevrotain that has been in the possession 
 
42 The Stanleyan Chevrotain. 
 
 of the Society, as specimens are frequently 
 brought to this country; but, as they are ex- 
 tremely delicate, none of them, so far as we are 
 aware, have lived for any length of time in 
 Regent's Park. A new departure has, however, 
 been made in the present case by placing the 
 animal in a house kept at a high temperature, 
 and in a cage shielded as far as possible from 
 draught; and we have, therefore, every reason to 
 hope that the little creature may live and thrive 
 longer than any of its many predecessors. 
 
ANT-EATEBS. 
 
 (April 26, 1890.) 
 
 THE ant-eaters, including not only the true ant- 
 eaters (Myrmecopliagidce) , all of them inhabitants 
 of tropical America, but also the aard-varks, or ant- 
 bears (Orycteropodidce), which are found only in 
 Africa, belong to the order Edentata an order 
 which has obtained its name from the fact that its 
 members either lack teeth altogether, or at the best 
 have but an incomplete dentition. This order is 
 made up of several families widely different in 
 appearance and habits, containing as it does the 
 Sloths, the Ant-Eaters, and the Armadillos, natives 
 of the New World, and the Pangolins and Aard- 
 varks, of the Old. 
 
 The ant-eaters, both of the Old and New Worlds, 
 are now, as indeed has long been the case, repre- 
 sented at the Zoo, and it is perhaps curious that they 
 attract but little attention from the large number 
 of visitors that constantly pass through their house, 
 not one in ten of whom cast even a glance in the 
 direction of their cages. No doubt the superior 
 attractions of their neighbours, the anthropoid apes, 
 and especially of " Sally," are quite sufficient to 
 
44 Ant-Eaters. 
 
 account for this, especially when we consider that 
 most people, after a few minutes' stay in the heated 
 atmosphere of " Sally's " house, are only too glad 
 to make their escape into the fresh air. Again, 
 ant-eaters can scarcely be described as frolicsome 
 or even lively animals. The aard-vark, indeed, 
 being nocturnal in its habits, spends the greater 
 part of its day sleeping peacefully in its bed of 
 sand, generally with its back turned to its visitors ; 
 while the great ant-eater, if not asleep under a 
 covering of straw, stalks slowly round and round 
 its cage with an appearance of most abject listless- 
 ness and want of interest in its surroundings. This 
 listlessness and want of interest is, no doubt to a 
 very considerable extent, caused by the fact that 
 visitors cannot feed it, stale buns and nuts having 
 no attractions whatever for an ant-eater. That it 
 does take a lively interest in matters which appeal 
 to its stomach will be admitted by anyone who has 
 seen it fed, or, better still, has seen its keeper give 
 it a dead mouse a very favourite bonne bouche. 
 And here we may remark upon the extraordinary 
 fact that a vast proportion of the visitors to the Zoo 
 are apparently convinced that nuts and stale buns 
 form the natural and favourite food of all "wild 
 beasts " in which term they include every living 
 creature to be found in a menagerie, from an 
 elephant to a tortoise, and, accordingly, never fail 
 to press those dainties upon the inmates of the 
 cages, often in defiance of notices requesting that 
 the animals may not be fed. A habit which leads, 
 
Ant-Eaters. 45 
 
 for example, to the water in the crocodiles' pond 
 being generally covered with floating nuts and 
 pieces of sodden bread and buns. 
 
 The Great Ant-Eater (Myrmecophaga jubata) is 
 far too well known to need any detailed description 
 here. It is a most uncanny-looking creature ; its 
 curious little head, with small eyes and ears, and 
 extraordinarily long snout ending in a diminutive 
 mouth ; its great fore-limbs armed with enormous 
 claws, which it carries folded in upon its palms ; and 
 its huge, bushy tail giving it an odd appearance 
 of being out of all proportion. This odd appear- 
 ance, indeed, no doubt gave rise to the extra- 
 ordinary stories that were told of it by the earlier 
 travellers and writers such, for example, as that 
 it was in the habit of climbing trees in search of its 
 food, a story which aroused the wrath of the late 
 Charles Waterton, who attacked both the story and 
 its authors with his usual fierceness. The author 
 also strongly objected to "the remark that the 
 long visage of this most singular quadruped is out 
 of proportion and unsightly," stating that he 
 " considered it to be quite in unison with the rest 
 of the body, and admirably adapted to the support 
 of life ; " adding, " What could the ant-bear do 
 without its tremendous claws, and cylinder-shaped 
 snout, so tough as to enable it to perforate huge 
 nests of ants, which in certain districts of Southern 
 America appear more like the roofs of Chinese 
 temples than the work and habitations of insignifi- 
 cant little insects ? " The ant-eater's method of 
 
46 Ant-Eaters. 
 
 obtaining its food is said to be as follows : Having 
 torn open an ant-Mil with its powerful claws, it 
 draws its enormously long flexible tongue,, which is 
 covered with a glutinous saliva, over the masses of 
 insects which rush out in defence of their home, 
 with the result that numbers of them adhere to it, 
 and are thus drawn into the animal's mouth ; and, 
 so quickly is this operation repeated, that we are 
 assured that the tongue is put out, and drawn in 
 again covered with insects, twice in a second. 
 Quaint Dr. Brookes describes the process as 
 follows : " He [the ant-eater] lives upon ants, and 
 when he has found out one of their nests, he opens 
 the upper part of it with his claws, that he may 
 have room to put in his snout and tongue. This is 
 besmeared with a slimy liquor and is soon covered 
 with ants, which, when he finds, he draws it into 
 his mouth and swallows them. He repeats this 
 practice as long as there are any remaining, or at 
 least as long as they will run into the same snare. 
 When he is hungry again, he will go in quest of 
 another nest." The tongue is a wonderful organ, 
 much longer than the head, round, and capable of 
 being projected sixteen or eighteen inches ; in 
 appearance it is very much like an enormous 
 worm; when at rest it is bent backwards in the 
 mouth, or, as Dr. Brookes has it, " he is obliged to 
 bend part of it back when he keeps it within his 
 mouth, for it is not long enough to hold it without 
 this artifice." When the animal at the Zoo is fed, 
 this curious tongue is most noticeable sweeping 
 
Ant- Eaters. 47 
 
 round the pan in which the food is contained in a 
 most extraordinary manner. Don Felix d'Azara, 
 who wrote what is still probably the best account 
 of this animal and its habits, says : " It seems 
 almost incredible that so robust and powerful an 
 animal can procure sufficient sustenance from ants 
 alone ; but this circumstance has nothing strange 
 in it for those who are acquainted with the tropical 
 parts of America, and who have seen the enormous 
 multitudes of these insects which swarm in all 
 parts of the country to that degree that their hills 
 often almost touch one another for miles together." 
 The ant-eater is described as being an extremely 
 stupid slow-moving animal, by no means given to 
 attacking its neighbours, but when hard pressed it 
 is said to sit up on its hind quarters like a bear and 
 defend itself with its powerful claws. Apropos of 
 this habit we have heard the following story of an 
 ant-eater at the Zoo, and, though we cannot vouch 
 for its scientific accuracy, it has a moral, and will, 
 we think, bear repetition. A man one of the 
 class so well known to, and hated by, the keepers, 
 whose chief interest in visiting the menagerie 
 appears to be to torment the unfortunate animals 
 standing by the ant-eater's cage was heard to 
 remark that this was the sort of animal he liked, as 
 it could not bite. He then proceeded to poke it 
 with his new silk umbrella, on which the ant-eater 
 retaliated by quietly taking hold of that weapon 
 with its claws, with the result that the unfortunate 
 owner was left in possession of the frame, while the 
 
48 Ant-Eaters. 
 
 animal carried off the silk as a trophy of well- 
 earned victory over its enemy. Not only is it a 
 stupid and slow-moving animal, but it is also an 
 extremely sleepy one, and when preparing for sleep 
 it makes a very good though curious use of its 
 enormous tail, as it lies down on one side, rolls 
 itself into as small a compass as possible, and turns 
 the tail over its body so as to completely cover it. 
 
 The Cape ant-bear or Aard-vark (Orycteropus 
 capensis) being, as we have said, nocturnal in its 
 habits, is by no means so well known to the general 
 public as is its neighbour, the great ant-eater; in 
 fact, but little more can generally be seen of it than 
 a piece of fat and pig-like back, as it spends its 
 day reposing in a hole which it has dug for itself 
 in the coarse sand with which it is plentifully sup- 
 plied ; but at feeding-time, in the morning, it is 
 out and about, and is then sufficiently lively. It is 
 a most extraordinary-looking creature, so curious 
 that, in our opinion, a sight of it alone well repays 
 an early visit to the Gardens. 
 
 The name aard-vark, or earth-pig, given to these 
 ant-eaters by the early Dutch settlers at the Cape, 
 is a most happy one, as the creature is comically 
 pig-like in appearance, though it is perhaps rather 
 the pig of a nightmare than of real life that it 
 resembles. The body is long and low, covered 
 with coarse, bare-looking skin and bristles, and 
 rests on short thick limbs, with four toes on the 
 fore and five on the hind feet, which are modified 
 for digging, and therefore very unlike those of a 
 
Ant-Eaters. 49 
 
 pig ; the long snout,, with round nostrils pierced in 
 the end of it/ is, however, very pig-like; but the 
 mouth is small, and the end of the snout and 
 nostrils are thickly covered with light hair; the 
 ears are very long, erect, and pointed, and give a 
 comic expression to the face ; the tail, which is 
 stout and powerful, is very curious, being perhaps 
 best described as a tapering of the body to a point, 
 as it is extremely thick and cylindrical at the base, 
 but decreases gradually towards the end, which is 
 pointed. The tongue, unlike that of the great 
 ant-eater, is flat, and though it can be protruded to 
 a considerable extent, cannot reach anything like 
 the distance that that animal's does ; it is, however, 
 covered in the same way with a glutinous saliva, 
 which enables its owner to catch the ants on which 
 it lives, a feat which the animal performs much in 
 the same way as does the great ant-eater. The 
 aard-vark's teeth are of a highly peculiar and com- 
 plex structure, and it has many anatomical pecu- 
 liarities which, however, are not within the scope of 
 this article. It is a curious, retiring beast, digging 
 for itself great burrows in which it spends the day, 
 and from which, if half the tales we hear be true, it 
 is an extremely difficult matter to dislodge it, as it 
 digs with such rapidity that it seems literally to 
 sink into the ground, in addition to which, it is so 
 strong that, if it be caught, it is by no means easy 
 to drag it from its earth. The specimen at the 
 Zoo, though so lazy by day, seems active enough at 
 night, as it turns its sand in all directions, gene- 
 
 E 
 
50 Ant-Eaters. 
 
 rally making a new resting-place for each day, 
 and the keeper tells us that, if by chance its food- 
 tin is left in its cage at night, it will certainly be 
 buried in the morning. 
 
 Ant-eaters apparently live and thrive well in 
 confinement, those at the Zoo being quite old inha- 
 bitants, the great ant-eater, a male, having lived in 
 its present quarters since April 24, 1883, and the 
 aard-vark, a female, since October 30, 1884. 
 
THE ENGLISH WILD BULL. 
 
 (July 19, 1890.) 
 
 SOME time ago, in our notice of the European 
 Bison, we drew attention to the extremely inte- 
 resting collection of cattle, both wild and domesti- 
 cated, then in the Gardens in Regent's Park. 
 No deaths have occurred since that time, but the 
 collection has been increased by several births, 
 among which we may mention, first, a young 
 gayal, born early in the year ; secondly, a curious 
 hybrid, in which the blood of the gayal, the zebu, 
 and the American bison are mixed, the mother 
 being the well-known large hybrid cow, and the 
 father, the American bison bull ; and, lastly, a 
 yak, born only a week or two since, one of the 
 prettiest little creatures imaginable, with a woolly 
 coat and pink nose. These births, however, are 
 really hardly worth mention, as calves of one sort 
 or another are constantly to be seen in the cattle- 
 sheds; but a very noticeable addition was made 
 on June 25 last by the arrival of a young English 
 wild bull (Bos taurus var.) presented to the 
 Society by Lord Ferrers from his famous herd 
 at Chartley, in Staffordshire, an animal " new to 
 the collection." 
 
 E 2 
 
52 The English Wild Bull. 
 
 The British Wild White Cattle have been the 
 cause of endless long and learned arguments, the 
 point in dispute being whether they are an 
 aboriginal race, direct descendants of Bos primi- 
 genius, or merely the outcome of domestic cattle 
 which have become feral. As is not unusual, both 
 parties give excellent reasons for the faith that 
 is in them ; but the exigencies of space alone are 
 sufficient to prevent us giving even a faint outline 
 of the arguments adduced on one side or the 
 other. Suffice it to say that, in our opinion, the 
 weight of evidence is in favour of what we may 
 call the aboriginal theory, though possibly the 
 writer who remarked that, "whether they were 
 derived from abroad, or were descended from wild 
 individuals of the urus race, native to Britain in 
 former ages, are questions which the lapse of time 
 will never solve, but rather tend to shroud in 
 deeper darkness," took the wisest view of the 
 situation. One fact, at all events, is undisputed 
 namely, that, whether aboriginal or not, they are 
 an extremely ancient race. Numberless quotations 
 from early writers could be given in support of 
 this. Perhaps the best known, though by no 
 means the earliest, of these is that of Hector 
 Boece, or Boethius, who, writing in 1526, alleged 
 that there were then to be found in Scotland, 
 in the Caledonian Forest, which at that time 
 extended from Stirling through Monteith and 
 Strathearn to Athol and Lochaber, wild cattle of 
 a pure white colour with manes like lions, or, as 
 
The English Wild Bull. 53 
 
 Holinshed lias it, with " crisp and curled manes 
 like feirs leonis." Another writer of about the 
 same date stated that " thoct thir bullis were bred 
 in sindry boundis of the Colidin Wod, now be 
 continewal hunting and lust of insolent men, they 
 are destroyit in all parts of Scotland, and nane of 
 them left but alien erlie in Cumernald." Long 
 before this, however, FitzStephen had left it on 
 record that in his time wild bulls were to be found, 
 with other large game, in the great forests which 
 then surrounded that city. And in the fourteenth 
 century King Robert Bruce was nearly killed by 
 a wild bull "in the great Caledon Wood," as 
 Holinshed tells us, but was rescued by one of 
 his followers, "whom he endowed with great 
 possessions, and his lineage is to this day called of 
 the Turnbulls, because he overturned the beast, 
 and saved the King's life by such great prowess 
 and manhood/' Again, in 1466, at the feast which 
 was held to celebrate the "intronization" of 
 George Nevell Archbishop of York, we find six 
 wild bulls mentioned as forming part of the 
 extremely heterogeneous bill of fare provided for 
 the occasion. 
 
 These few extracts are sufficient to show that 
 wild cattle have lived in Great Britain, at all 
 events for many centuries, and though the race 
 is undoubtedly dwindling, they are still to be 
 found in both England and Scotland inhabiting a 
 few large parks. 
 
 Before giving any further account of these wild 
 
54 The English Wild Bull. 
 
 cattle and their habits, we cannot resist the temp- 
 tation of quoting Pennant's remarks on the reason 
 why England was always famous for its cattle. 
 He says : " The climate of Great Britain is above 
 all others productive of the greatest variety and 
 abundance of wholesome vegetables, which, to 
 crown our happiness, are almost equally diffused 
 through all its parts; this general fertility is 
 owing to those clouded skies which foreigners 
 mistakenly urge as a reproach on our country; 
 but let us cheerfully endure a temporary gloom, 
 which clothes not only our meadows, but our hills, 
 with the richest verdure. To this we owe the 
 number of our cattle." However, to return, wild 
 cattle are, as we have said, a dwindling race; 
 for, as Mr. Harting tells us in his extremely 
 interesting account of the British Wild White 
 Cattle, published in 1880, only six herds are left 
 out of twenty-one, "concerning which some his- 
 torical notices are to be found," and individually 
 these cattle are certainly becoming smaller, and 
 generally deteriorating. So long ago, indeed, as 
 1836, " Robert Brown, Esq., Chamberlain to his 
 Grace the Duke of Hamilton," wrote of the cattle 
 at Cadzow, "The circumstances of their breeding 
 in-and-in, of being chased so much when any 
 of them are to be shot, of being so frequently 
 approached and disturbed by strangers, and of 
 having been exposed so long to all the vicissitudes 
 of the seasons, and constantly browsing the same 
 pasture, have no doubt contributed greatly to the 
 
The English Wild Bull. 55 
 
 deterioration of the herd, and must have reduced 
 them much in size and other qualities/' and other 
 writers speak of them as having " worn out " in 
 places where they were formerly to be found. 
 However, where they still live they are most care- 
 fully preserved. 
 
 That at Chillingham, the property of Lord 
 Tankerville, is certainly the best known of all the 
 existing herds. That at Chartley probably taking 
 the second place. The cattle comprising these 
 herds differ in many points for example, in the 
 colour of their ears, which are red in those at 
 Chillingham and black in those at Chartley, though 
 it would appear that this difference did not always 
 exist, and is, as Darwin suggested, the result of 
 selection, as both Pennant and Bewick speak of 
 the Chillingham cattle as having black muzzles 
 and ears. They also differ in the shape of their 
 horns, which in the former are very fine and bent 
 upwards, while in the latter they are long and, 
 by comparison, straight the Chartley cattle being, 
 as Mr. Harting says, " in fact, ' long horns. 1 " 
 There are other points of difference; but these 
 are, perhaps, the most noticeable. Pennant's 
 remark, that though they have lost their manes 
 they retain their fierceness, applies to the mem- 
 bers of both herds, though perhaps not in an 
 equal degree, as Mr. Harting tells us those at 
 Chartley are not so wild as the Northumberland 
 herd, and adds that it has been suggested that 
 this is probably owing to the circumstance that 
 
56 The English Wild Ball. 
 
 the park is bounded on one side by a public road, 
 from which, it is ouly separated by a paled fence, 
 which is not the case at Chillingham, so that they 
 are at Chartley much more habituated to the sight 
 of man. All the wild white cattle possess a pecu- 
 liarity which distinguishes them from domestic 
 cattle; namely, that they hide their calves, 
 " concealing them " we again quote Robert 
 Brown " among long grass or reeds in some 
 brushwood or thicket, and approaching them 
 cautiously twice or thrice a day for the purpose 
 of supplying them with the necessary nourishment. 
 On these occasions it is not a little dangerous to 
 approach the place of retreat, the parent cow 
 being seldom at any great distance, and always 
 attacking any person or animal approaching it 
 with the utmost resolution and fury." The young 
 calves, when startled, lie with their heads close to 
 the ground and with their ears back close upon 
 their necks, "like a hare in her form; " but are 
 said to butt fiercely if touched, calling the while to 
 attract the attention of the herd. 
 
 The writer of Bewick's well-known account 
 of these cattle, who was apparently intimately 
 acquainted with the Chillingham herd, tells us 
 that on one occasion he " found a hidden calf, two 
 days old, very lean and very weak : on stroking 
 its head, it got up, pawed two or three times like 
 an old bull, bellowed very loud, stepped back a 
 few steps, and bolted at his legs with all its force. 
 It then began to paw again, bellowed, stepped 
 
The English Wild Bull. 57 
 
 back, and bolted as before; but, knowing its 
 intention, and stepping aside, it missed him, fell, 
 and was so very weak that it could not rise, 
 though it made several efforts. But it had doue 
 enough; the herd were alarmed, and, coming to 
 its rescue, obliged him to retire. 3 '' 
 
 Another point of distinction between the wild 
 and domestic cattle is that the former feed in 
 herds, while the latter scatter widely while feeding. 
 No doubt this habit of the wild cattle is necessary 
 for their protection. If disturbed, they attack in 
 a body, and, forming into line, they advance upon 
 the intruder " until they come within ten yards, 
 when most people think it prudent to leave them, 
 not choosing to provoke them further." All 
 accounts agree that there are few more dangerous 
 animals than one of these bulls when wounded, 
 and numberless stories ars told of their ferocity. 
 The method of killing them adopted in old days 
 seems to have been both clumsy and barbarous : 
 and though, no doubt, sufficiently exciting, was 
 decidedly unsportsmanlike, and the so-called 
 marksmen must "certainly have been wanting in 
 skill, though Bewick tells us that "it was perhaps 
 the only modern remains of the grandeur of 
 ancient hunting." His account of the performance 
 is as follows : " On notice being given that a 
 wild bull would be killed on a certain day, the 
 inhabitants of the neighbourhood came mounted 
 and armed with guns, &c., and sometimes to the 
 amount of a hundred horse and four or five 
 
58 The English Wild Bull. 
 
 hundred foot, who stood upon walls, or got into 
 trees, while the horsemen rode off the bull from 
 the rest of the herd, until he stood at bay, when 
 a marksman dismounted and shot. At some of 
 these huntings, twenty or thirty shots have been 
 fired before he was subdued. On such occasions 
 the bleeding victim grew desperately furious, from 
 the smarting of his wounds, and the shouts of 
 savage joy that were echoing from every side." 
 Another author says that ' f some of these [bulls] 
 have been known to receive as many as eleven 
 bullets without one of them piercing their skulls. 
 When fretted in this manner, they often become 
 furious/' After this it is refreshing to find that 
 Bewick adds that " from the number of accidents 
 that happened, this dangerous mode has been little 
 practised of late years ; the park-keeper alone 
 generally shooting them with a rifled gun at one 
 shot." 
 
 The bull at the Zoo is a nice little beast ; he is 
 quite young, only a yearling we believe; but we 
 feel considerable doubt whether he will make a 
 large animal. He is white, with a black muzzle, 
 black ears and black hoofs, and a fact which we 
 have never seen mentioned in connection with the 
 Chartley cattle, though it is one of the marks of 
 the Hamilton herd his legs below the knees, 
 especially his forelegs, and his nose about the 
 muzzle are mottled with black. Though the rest 
 of his hair is pure white, his skin is sparsely 
 sprinkled with round black spots, except in the 
 
The English Wild Bull. 59 
 
 region of his spine, where they are very numerous, 
 which are very noticeable through his somewhat 
 thin coat. His horns are quite straight and stand 
 out horizontally, and are therefore useless for 
 butting, but his keeper says he has a nasty knack 
 of striking with them sideways if annoyed. He 
 seems to have settled down very comfortably in 
 his new quarters, and certainly does not give one 
 the idea of being untameable or indeed even very 
 fierce, though we believe he has a shrewd temper 
 of his own. Certainly Lord Ferrers' s keeper, who 
 brought him to town, need have been under no 
 apprehension, as we believe was the case, that he 
 would prove more than the authorities at Kegent's 
 Park could manage, though, we may add that, 
 after the keeper had been shown round the 
 gardens, he materially altered his opinion, and 
 arrived at the conclusion that there were larger, 
 stronger, and probably fiercer animals in the 
 collection than even a young bull of the famous 
 Chartley breed of wild white cattle. 
 
KHINOCEROSES. 
 
 (Oct. 18, 1890.) 
 
 RHINOCEROSES are now so common in menageries 
 and so many have been seen at the Zoo that it is 
 difficult to realise that until the early years of this 
 century only about half a dozen of these animals 
 had been seen in Europe since the time of the 
 I i oman Empire. Yet so it was, and consequently 
 the accounts of the earlier authors teem with the 
 most marvellous stories, not only of the appear- 
 ance, but also of the manners, of these creatures. 
 But, if their stories were marvellous, their pictures 
 were even more wonderful, most of them repre- 
 senting an impossible creature clothed in what 
 was apparently intended for a highly ornamented 
 suit of armour. The first of these wonderful draw- 
 ings is said to have been made in Lisbon in the 
 year 1513 from a rhinoceros sent from India to 
 Emmanuel, King of Portugal, and was engraved 
 at Niirnberg by Albert Diirer ; and here we may 
 add that the King, after trying all sorts of experi- 
 ments to prove the ferocity of this rhinoceros, sent 
 the unfortunate animal by sea as a present to the 
 Pope ; but " in an access of fury it sunk the vessel 
 
Rhinoceroses. 61 
 
 on its passage." The following are examples of 
 the stories to which we refer. 
 
 One veracious author informs us that ft a full- 
 grown rhinoceros measures fourteen feet from the 
 ground to the highest part of the back, and the 
 legs are so remarkably short that, with all this 
 height, the belly comes near the ground." It is, 
 perhaps, hardly surprising that an animal of this 
 immense size should be able to " toss up a large 
 bull/' as we are told the " old ones " were in the 
 habit of doing whenever opportunity offered. 
 
 From another source we gather that the rhino- 
 ceros the African black rhinoceros, apparently, in 
 this case was most distinctly an animal to be 
 avoided, as " when he attacks a man he lays hold 
 of the middle of his body, and throws him over his 
 head with such force that he is almost always 
 killed with the fall. This done, he come and licks 
 him, and his tongue is so rough and hard that it 
 brings off the flesh from the bones. He likewise 
 serves other animals in the same manner after he 
 has killed them." This being so, it is reassuring 
 to learn that Cf he very rarely attacks mankind, 
 unless he is provoked or meets with a person with 
 a red garment," and that "when he is seen 
 running along, it is pretty easy to avoid him, 
 because he cannot turn about very readily, so that 
 when he is about eight or ten feet distant, a man 
 needs only go one side, and then he will be out 
 of his sight." The rhinoceros, however, though so 
 fierce and untameable, had apparently one soft 
 
62 Rhinoceroses. 
 
 spot in its heart, which often led to its destruction, 
 for " it is said by Albertus, Isidorus, and Alumnus 
 that above all creatures they love virgins, and that 
 unto them they will come, be they never so wilde, 
 and fall asleep before them, so being asleep they 
 are easily taken and carried away." 
 
 Finally, the horn of the rhinoceros was supposed 
 to possess wonderful medicinal properties, and to 
 be an antidote to poison a belief which held its 
 ground nntil quite the end of last century, for 
 Dr. Brookes, writing in 1763, says : "It has been 
 usually said that the horn of a rhinoceros will fall 
 in pieces when poison is poured therein. At the 
 Cape they have cups made of the horn, which are 
 mounted in gold and silver. When wine is poured 
 therein it will rise, ferment, and seem to boil ; but 
 when mixed with poison, it cleaves in two, which 
 experiment has been seen by thousands of people." 
 
 Rhinoceroses, of which five or six species are 
 known, are found only in the African and Indian 
 regions; and though they vary much in appear- 
 ance, they all of them have large unwieldy bodies, 
 supported on short legs, with three toes on each 
 foot, skins which are thick and unyielding so 
 much so, in the Asiatic species, as to " necessitate 
 the formation of deep folds to enable them to 
 move their limbs with any facility " and either 
 one or two horns, which differ from those of other 
 mammals not only in their position (placed as they 
 are on the animal's nose), but also in their 
 structure, as they are " composed of modified and 
 
Rhinoceroses. 63 
 
 agglutinated hairs." At the present time there are 
 five individuals at the Zoo, representing three 
 species, one African and two Asiatic, namely, one 
 common African black rhinoceros (R. bicornis), 
 two hairy-eared rhinoceroses (R. lasiotis), and two 
 Indian rhinoceroses (JR. unicornis) . Three of these 
 are old inhabitants of the Gardens, one of the 
 Indian rhinoceroses having been presented to the 
 Society so long ago as July 25, 1864, while the female 
 hairy -eared rhinoceros was purchased in 1872. 
 This animal, " Begum " byname, is said to have 
 been captured in rather a curious way, having 
 had the misfortune to walk into a quicksand, from 
 which it found it impossible to extricate itself. 
 And, lastly, the African black rhinoceros has 
 lived in Regent's Park since 1868. This animal 
 is specially noticeable as being, to quote the official 
 "Guide to the Gardens," "the first specimen of 
 this animal brought to Europe since the days of 
 the Romans." 
 
 Though a far larger number of Asiatic than 
 African rhinoceroses have been seen alive in 
 Europe, the latter are, we imagine, far better 
 known in this country by report, at least than 
 are their Asiatic congeners, the result of their 
 being found very plentifully in what was, without 
 exception, the finest game country in the world, 
 and thus, naturally, being fully described in every 
 book relating to travel or sport in South Africa. 
 
 Much has been written about the number of 
 species of rhinoceroses found in Africa, some 
 
64 Rhinoceroses. 
 
 authors contending for as many as five species; 
 but the best authorities are satisfied with two, the 
 black rhinoceros so called, though in reality it is 
 of a dark slate colour and the white or square- 
 mouthed rhinoceros ; both of them are two-horned 
 and smooth-skinned ; but the former, among other 
 points of difference, has a long pointed and prehen- 
 sile upper lip, and feeds on leaves and branches, 
 while the latter has a short upper lip and feeds 
 on grass. The black rhinoceros is found all over 
 the continent the animal in the Zoo was captured 
 in Upper Nubia and is therefore in little present 
 dread of extermination ; but the range of the white 
 rhinoceros is or, perhaps it would be more correct 
 to say, was limited to Southern and South Central 
 Africa, with the unfortunate consequence that it 
 has been practically, if not absolutely, exter- 
 minated. On this subject Mr. Selous made some 
 interesting remarks in an article which appeared 
 in the Field on August 16 last. He says: 
 
 It was within a mile of this spot (near the river Se-whoi- 
 whoi, in Mashunaland) that two years previously (i.e., in 
 1883) I shot two white rhinoceroses (R. simus), the last of 
 their kind that have been killed, and perhaps that ever will 
 be killed, by an Englishman. They were male and female, 
 and I preserved the skin of the head and the skull of the 
 former for the South African Museum in Cape Town, where 
 they now are. I shall never cease to regret that I did not 
 preserve the entire skeleton for our own splendid Museum 
 of Natural History at South Kensington, but when I shot 
 the animal I made sure I should get finer specimens later 
 on in the season. However, one thing and another pre- 
 vented my visiting the one spot of country where I knew 
 
Rhinoceroses. 65 
 
 that a few were still to be found, and now these few have 
 almost, if not quite, all been killed, and to the best of my 
 belief the great white or square-mouthed rhinoceros, the 
 largest of terrestrial mammals after the elephant, is on the 
 very verge of extinction, and in the next year or two will 
 become absolutely extinct ; and if in the near future some 
 student of natural history' should wish to know what this 
 extinct beast really was like, he will find nothing in all the 
 museums of Europe and America to enlighten him upon 
 the subject but some half-dozen skulls and a goodly 
 number of the anterior horns. In 1886 two Boer hunters 
 got into the little tract of country where a few white 
 rhinoceroses were still left, and between them killed ten 
 during the season ; five more were killed during the same 
 time by some native hunters from the Matabele country. 
 A few were still left, as in the following year, 1887, myself 
 and some English sportsmen saw the tracks of two or three 
 in the same district, but could not find the animals them- 
 selves. Some of these last remnants of their race may still 
 survive ; but it is not too much to say that long before the 
 close of this century the white rhinoceros will have vanished 
 from the face of the earth. . . . The subject of the 
 extinction of this huge quadruped has a melancholy interest 
 for me, who remember that less than twenty years ago it 
 was a common animal over an enormous extent of country 
 in central South Africa. 
 
 The extermination of the white rhinoceros is, 
 perhaps, not to be wondered at, as it is one of 
 the inevitable results of the extension of the settle- 
 ments in South Africa; but that no museum in 
 Europe or America should possess a specimen if 
 we except the young mounted specimen, about the 
 size of a large pig, in the British Museum is 
 curious, and very much to be regretted, and we 
 are pleased to see that Dr. Sclater has called 
 
66 Rhinoceroses. 
 
 attention to the fact in the columns of Nature, " in 
 the hope that the attention of the several exploring 
 parties now traversing Mashunaland and Matabele - 
 land may be called to this subject, and that in case 
 of a straggling survivor of the white rhinoceros 
 being met with, it may be carefully preserved for 
 the National Collection at South Kensington." He 
 draws attention to the following differences in the 
 forms of the heads of the two species. First, the 
 different formation of the lips already mentioned ; 
 secondly, the size and shape of the ears ; " in 
 B. bicornis the ear-conch is much rounded at the 
 extremity, and edged by a fringe of short black 
 hairs which spring from the margin. In R. simus 
 the ear-conch is much elongated and sharply 
 pointed at its upper extremity, where the hairs 
 which clothe its margin constitute a slight tuft. 
 While the upper portion of the ear-conch is much 
 more expanded in R. simus (than in R. bicornis), 
 in the lower portion the two margins are united 
 together for a much greater extent, and form a 
 closed cylinder, which rises about three inches 
 above the base." Thirdly, the shape of the 
 nostrils, "which in R. simus are elongated in a 
 direction parallel to the mouth, while in R. bicornis 
 they are more nearly of a circular shape " ; while, 
 lastly, the eye in R. simus appears to be placed 
 further back in the head than in R. bicornis. 
 Another point of difference, mentioned by Mr. 
 Selous, is that the square-mouthed rhinoceros 
 walks and runs with its nose close to the ground; 
 
Rhinoceroses. 67 
 
 while the black rhinoceros carries its head high 
 in the air. 
 
 In conclusion, we can only say with Dr. Sclater 
 that " the country in which alone (as it is possible, 
 but by no means certain) the last stragglers 
 exist being now within the British Empire, it is 
 clearly our duty to endeavour to obtain and 
 preserve examples of the great white or square - 
 mouthed rhinoceros for the use and information 
 of posterity." 
 
 P 2 
 
THE CRYPTOPBOCTA. 
 (Dec. 13, 1890.) 
 
 AN addition to the Zoo Gardens of far more than 
 usual interest has been made by the acquisition of 
 a Cryptoprocta (Cryptoprocta ferox) purchased by 
 the Society on November 12 last. The animal 
 an inhabitant of Madagascar, the home of so many 
 curious forms of animal life is "new to the 
 collection," which fact alone renders its appearance 
 in the Gardens a matter of interest. Our reason, 
 however, for attaching unusual importance to its 
 arrival is that it is not only ' ( new to the collection," 
 but it is also an extremely rare animal so rare, 
 indeed, that it is little known to science. It is, of 
 course, no uncommon thing for the Society to 
 obtain animals specimens of which have never 
 before been seen in the Gardens, or indeed even in 
 Europe the gaur, for example yet which are 
 perfectly well known both to scientific men and to 
 sportsmen; but Cryptoprocta is not one of these, 
 as very few specimens have been obtained, and 
 only two, so far as we are aware, have previously 
 been seen alive in Europe, one of which was living 
 in the Zoological Gardens at Rotterdam in the year 
 1873, and the other in the Jardin des Plantes, at 
 Paris, in the year 1874. The fact that the animal 
 
The Cryptoprocta. 69 
 
 has only a scientific name or, rather, that it 
 possesses no English name goes far to prove 
 its rarity. It has the further distinction of being 
 the only known member of its family. Of the few 
 specimens obtained, the first known to science was 
 presented to the Zoological Society so long ago as 
 1833 by Mr. Telfair, a corresponding member of 
 the Society and President of the Mauritius Natural 
 History Society, and was described by Mr. Bennett 
 in Vol. 1 of the "Transactions of the Zoological 
 Society." This animal, however, did not reach 
 England alive. The donor stated that he received 
 it from the interior of the southern part of Mada- 
 gascar, but that he had not seen in Mauritius any 
 of the Madagascar people who were acquainted 
 with it. He kept it for some months, and 
 described it as the most savage creature of its 
 size that he ever met with. Its motions and power 
 and activity were those of a tiger, and it had the 
 same appetite for blood and destruction of animal 
 life. Its muscular force was very great, and the 
 muscles of its limbs were remarkably full and 
 thick. Since that time M. Pollen, one of the 
 joint authors of Schlegel and Pollen's " Faune 
 de Madagascar," has added considerably to our 
 knowledge of this little-known animal. Crypto- 
 procta appears to form a connecting link between 
 the civets (Viverridce) and the cats (Felidce), having, 
 according to Bennett, the prickly tongue, the two 
 tubercular molar teeth in the upper jaw, and other 
 characteristics which distinguish the civets from 
 
70 The Cryptoprocta. 
 
 the cats on one side and from dogs on the other; 
 but, like the cats, its claws are retractile. Bennett 
 describes them as " truly retractile/' but M. Pollen 
 says that they are not so perfectly retractile as 
 those of the cat. In its internal anatomy, Bennett 
 tells us, it nearly approaches the cats. In many 
 respects, again, it resembles the Paradoxures, for 
 example, in the nakedness of the soles of its feet 
 a very noticeable characteristic but it differs 
 from them in that its hair is close, short, and 
 smooth, instead of being soft, loose, and spreading, 
 as is the case with members of that family, and in 
 the fact from which Bennett gave it its generic 
 name. M. Pollen, who enumerates many points 
 in which it both resembles and differs from the 
 Felidce, compares its colour to that of the puma 
 (Felis concolor), a very happy comparison, the 
 animal being a light brownish red. This author, 
 who appears to have had some experience of these 
 animals in their native haunts, tells us that they 
 are called " fossa " by the natives of Mada- 
 gascar, and describes them as being by no means 
 dangerous to man except when wounded or during 
 the breeding season, though the natives appear to 
 have a very wholesome dread of them, and have 
 many curious stories and fables about them. They 
 are said to be terribly destructive massacreurs de 
 premiere classe } is M. Pollen's expression and he 
 relates that one of them in a very short time 
 carried off two turkeys, three geese, and a score 
 of fowls, the owner of which assured him that 
 
The Cryptoprocta. 71 
 
 fossas would, if occasion offered, take, not only 
 fowls, but also young pigs and other domestic 
 animals. They are also said to climb trees in 
 pursuit of lemurs, of the flesh of which animals 
 they are very fond. When the natives capture 
 an unfortunate fossa they torture it to death, 
 having previously burnt off its moustaches for the 
 purpose of disgracing it, as they say. M. Pollen 
 gives an account of an expedition which he made 
 during his stay in Madagascar for the purpose 
 of shooting a Cryptoprocta which had been doing 
 great mischief to the villagers' fowls. The hunt, 
 if so it can be called, took place by moonlight. 
 Accompanied by several natives, one of whom 
 carried a cock, he took up his position in a small 
 thicket at some distance from the village. The 
 cock was tlien made fast to a peg, driven into 
 the ground, a short distance from their hiding 
 place, by a cord, one end of which was held by 
 one of the hunters, who, by constantly jerking 
 it, kept the bird in a state of noisy excitement, 
 with the result that, after waiting about half 
 an hour, a noise like the howling of dogs was 
 heard at some distance. This was repeated from 
 time to time, at last two fossas appeared under the 
 shade of some large trees, and " like shadows 
 gliding through the grass ;" though the cock was 
 not allowed to be quiet, the cunning animals, no 
 doubt suspecting mischief, kept out of range. 
 M. Pollen, however, eventually obtained a shot, 
 but was only successful in breaking the leg of one 
 
72 The Cryptoprocta. 
 
 of them, which unfortunately escaped, the other 
 going off, as he says, safe and sound. It appears 
 that the flesh of the Cryptoprocta is, in the opinion 
 of the natives, good to eat, for we are told that 
 they enjoy " beefsteaks " of this animal, which 
 they say are excellent. 
 
 The specimen now in the Zoo is a young male, 
 about half grown. It is to be seen in the " small 
 Cats' House/' and is apparently in excellent 
 health, and has taken kindly to its new quarters. 
 It is a curious-looking little beast, about the size 
 of a large cat, with a long body, and short, stout 
 legs, and, perhaps, at the first glance the most 
 noticeable part of it, a tail which is very long, 
 cylindrical, and tapering. Its colour, with the 
 exception of the tips of its toes, which are white, is 
 a bright reddish-brown, the under parts being by 
 far the reddest. Its head is much like that of a 
 genet. Marvellously quick as it is in all its move- 
 ments, its general appearance makes it easy to 
 believe it the arch-destroyer which M. Pollen de- 
 scribes. It certainly does not show the untameable 
 ferocity described by Telfair; indeed, it seems rather 
 a kindly little animal, especially when compared 
 with many of its neighbours in the Cats' House, 
 among which may be reckoned some of the fiercest 
 creatures in the Gardens ; but we believe it is not 
 to be trusted. In conclusion, while hoping that it 
 may live long and thrive in its present quarters, 
 we have the satisfaction of knowing that, when it 
 dies, science is likely to profit by its decease. 
 
CONIES. 
 
 (Nov. 21, 1891.) 
 
 IN the words of Agur, the son of Jakeh, " there 
 be four things which are little upon the earth, 
 but they are exceeding wise/ 5 the four things in 
 questiqn being ants, conies, locusts, and spiders ; 
 and in proof of the wisdom of the conies, we are 
 told, that though they are " but a feeble folk, yet 
 make they their houses in the rocks." Not only 
 are the conies wise and their wisdom in all that 
 relates to their own safety would appear to be one 
 of the few points in their economy about which 
 there has never been any dispute but they are 
 also among the oddest and most anomalous of 
 four-footed beasts, though the latter fact was 
 probably unknown to the ancients, as it certainly 
 was not discovered until their anatomy was 
 studied. The animal in question is, in reality, no 
 coney, or rabbit, though it bears a quaint super- 
 ficial likeness to one, with very short ears and no 
 perceptible tail. Indeed, the little likeness that it 
 does possess to a rabbifc can hardly be said to be 
 skin-deep. It is, in fact, a Hyrax, a little animal 
 which has always been, and still is, a puzzle to 
 
74 Conies. 
 
 zoologists, a sort of waif or stray of nature, having 
 no near relations in the world at the present time, 
 and no direct affinity with any extinct form as yet 
 discovered. 
 
 The Hyracidse, of which there are some six or 
 seven species, are active furry little beasts, much 
 like rodents in appearance and habits, and have 
 been compared to hares, rabbits, and marmots a 
 likeness which accounted for the position which 
 was formerly allotted to them by naturalists among 
 the rodentia, but which was not sufficient to retain 
 them in that order when their anatomical structure 
 came to be studied by the scientific zoologists of 
 the present century. Cuvier was the first to point 
 out that they were wrongly placed among the 
 rodents, and he removed them, and placed them 
 among the ungulates, or rather pachyderms, 
 between the rhinoceros and tapir a position 
 which they retained for some time, but from 
 which they have now been dislodged, and placed in 
 an order Hyracoidea by themselves. Certainly 
 no one guided by outward appearance alone could 
 imagine any affinity whatever between active little 
 furry animals like these and such ponderous beasts 
 as the elephant or rhinoceros, and Cuvier very 
 justly observes in this connexion that there is no 
 quadruped which proves more completely than 
 Hyrax the necessity of having recourse to anatomy 
 for the determination of the true relations of 
 animals. It is, of course, impossible within the 
 limit of this article to give even an outline of the 
 
Conies. 75 
 
 anatomy of the Hyracidge ; but one or two notice- 
 able features common to the family may be 
 mentioned for example, the number of ribs is 
 extraordinarily large, twenty-one or twenty-two on 
 each side as against the twelve or thirteen usual 
 among the rodents. The feet, again, are peculiar, 
 as the front ones have four and the hind ones 
 which are very much like those of the rhinoceros 
 three toes, or rather rounded hoofs, respectively, 
 which are absolutely unlike the claws of rodents ; 
 or, as Bruce put it in his description of the 
 Abyssinian Hyrax, which he called the Ashkoko, 
 "the nails are rather broad than sharp, much 
 similar to a man's nails ill grown/' to which 
 description he added the remark that " these 
 appear to be given him rather for the defence of 
 his soft toes than for any active use in digging, to 
 which they are by no means adapted." The soles 
 of the feet are covered with fleshy pads which 
 enable the animals to cling to, and thus climb 
 safely up, vertical and smooth surfaces, such as 
 rocks and trees. The dentition, which consists of 
 incisors and molars alone, is remarkable. The 
 upper incisors are two in number and rootless, as 
 in the rodents ; but, unlike the chisel-shaped teeth 
 of that family, are triangular, and terminate in a 
 sharp point, and are not unlike the canines of the 
 hippopotamus, while the lower incisors, four in 
 number, are short, flattened, and rooted; the 
 molars are much like those of the rhinoceros seen 
 through a diminishing glass. And, lastly, the 
 
76 Conies. 
 
 intestinal canal is unique in its arrangement, being 
 unlike that of any other vertebrate animal. 
 
 The Hyracidse are found throughout the Ethio- 
 pian region, with the exception of Madagascar ; in 
 other words, throughout Africa south of the 
 Tropic of Cancer and in southern Arabia, one 
 species being found in Fernando Po, while another 
 H. syriacus, the coney of the Bible is an in- 
 habitant of Syria, and thus enters the Palaearctic 
 region. There are two forms, which, according to 
 some authorities, differ so much both in structure 
 and habits as to be entitled to generic rank. The 
 first, Hyrax, includes several species, of which 
 H. capensis and H. syriacus are well-known 
 examples, all of which inhabit mountainous and 
 rocky regions and live on the ground. The other, 
 Dendrohyrax, of which D. dorsalis, to be mentioned 
 hereafter, is an example. Its members frequent 
 the trunks and large branches of trees, in holes in 
 which they sleep. 
 
 The "conies" are noticeable apart from their 
 zoological interest from the fact that one of 
 them, H. syriacus, is without doubt the Hebrew 
 " Shaphan," improperly translated coney in our 
 version of the Bible, where it is mentioned four 
 times : in Leviticus and Deuteronomy as an un- 
 clean beast, in company with the camel and the 
 hare, " because he cheweth the cud, but divideth 
 not the hoof," in the Psalms as making ' ' its home 
 in the rocks," and in Proverbs in the passage 
 already quoted. These passages have given rise 
 
Conies. 77 
 
 to considerable controversy, but, as we have said, 
 there is no doubt that the Hyrax is the animal 
 intended, and there is equally no doubt that it does 
 not chew the cud. With regard to the first two 
 passages in which it is said to chew the cud, Canon 
 Tristram, who observed it in Palestine, writes as 
 follows : <e It is quite sufficient to watch the 
 creature working and moving its jaw, as it sits in 
 a chink of the rocks, to understand how any one 
 writing as an ordinary observer, and not as a com- 
 parative anatomist, would naturally thus speak of 
 it, and this apart from the question whether the 
 Hebrew word signifies anything more than ( re- 
 chew/ " The same authority adds that "the stony 
 rocks are a refuge for the conies, and tolerably 
 secure they are in such rocks. No animal ever 
 gave us so much trouble to secure. They are far 
 too wary to be taken in traps, and the only chance 
 of securing one is to be concealed patiently about 
 sunset or before sunrise on some overhanging cliff, 
 taking care not to let the shadow be cast below, 
 and then to wait till the little creatures cautiously 
 peep forth from their holes." Bruce, who recog- 
 nised the Hyrax as the ' ( animal erroneously called 
 by our translators cuniculus, the rabbit or coney," 
 says of it that ' ' in Arabia and Syria he is called 
 Israel's sheep, or Grannim Israel, for what reason 
 I know not, unless it be chiefly from his fre- 
 quenting the rocks of Horeb and Sinai, where the 
 children of Israel made their forty years' pere- 
 grination/' He kept one of these animals in con- 
 
78 Conies. 
 
 finement, his principal reason for so doing being 
 to discover whether it chewed the cud, and came to 
 the erroneous conclusion that it certainly did so ; 
 but he also had the odd idea that the animal 
 must be carnivorous, and tried sundry experiments 
 in his endeavour to prove this to be the fact, such 
 as shutting it up in a cage with a small chicken, 
 "after omitting feeding him a whole day," and 
 appears to have been surprised when the next 
 morning the chicken was unhurt, " though the 
 ashkoko came to me with great signs of having 
 suffered from hunger/ 7 He gives a description of 
 the animal and its habits as he saw it among 
 the rocks, from which we extract the following 
 passage : " They do not stand upright upon their 
 feet, but seem to steal along as in fear, their belly 
 being nearly close to the ground, advancing a few 
 steps at a time and then pausing. They have 
 something very mild, feeble-like, and timid in their 
 deportment, are gentle and easily tamed, though 
 when roughly handled at first they bite very 
 severely." Those who take an interest in these 
 odd little animals have an opportunity of making 
 the acquaintance of two of them in the flesh, as 
 both H. capensis and H. dorsalis have representa- 
 tives living at the present time in the small 
 mammal house at the Zoo. Descriptions of both 
 of these species can be found in the Proceedings of 
 the Zoological Society. H. capensis was described 
 by Mr. Rudston Read so long ago as 1835, and 
 from his account we gather that he found it living 
 
Conies. 79 
 
 ID families in hollows and crevices of rocks, both, 
 on the summits and sides of hills, as well as near 
 the seashore, even a little above high- water mark 
 that in winter it is fond of coming out of its hole 
 and sunning itself on the lee side of a rock, and 
 in summer of enjoying the breeze on the top ; but 
 that in both instances, as well as when it feeds, a 
 sentinel, generally an old male, is on the look-out, 
 which gives notice of the approach of danger by a 
 shrill prolonged cry. It would appear to make an 
 amusing pet, if taken young and allowed to run 
 about the house, and is described as being remark- 
 ably clean in its habits, and inclined to be sociable, 
 but if shut up, to become savage and snarling. 
 Layard, in his Birds of South Africa, states that 
 Verreaux's eagle is called Dassie Vanger (coney- 
 eater) by the colonists, from feeding principally on 
 the coney or rock-rabbit, H. capensis. H. dorsalis 
 was described by Mr. Louis Fraser in 1852 from 
 a specimen obtained from the island of Fernando 
 Po ; he tells us that its native name is 'Nybar, that 
 it is nocturnal in its habits, and no doubt common, 
 as its loud cry of ccurr-ccurr-ccurr may be heard 
 every evening after dark during the commence- 
 ment of the rains, and that the natives say that it 
 sleeps in the trees all day, and feeds upon leaves 
 at night, but is very difficult to find. 
 
ZEBRAS. 
 
 (Oct. 7, 1893.) 
 
 AMONG the rarer animals that have recently died 
 in the Zoo, certainly not the least noticeable were 
 the common zebras (Equus zebra) of which, until 
 in 1892, the Society was fortunate enough to 
 possess two specimens, a male and a female, the 
 former obtained so long ago as December 11, 1886, 
 while the latter was "received in exchange" July 
 23, 1889. 
 
 The term " common" is certainly not well 
 applied in the case of this zebra, as it was always 
 the rarest of the three South African zebras, and 
 is now fast verging on extinction. "True zebra," 
 or "mountain zebra," names which have been 
 applied to it, are less misleading; the latter, 
 indeed, seems to us the best of all, as the animal 
 is essentially an inhabitant of mountainous dis- 
 tricts. In menageries the common zebra has 
 always been rare ; and we believe that the Zoo- 
 logical Society have had but two specimens in 
 their possession before the pair which have lately 
 died, Burchell's zebra (Eguus Burchelli), an in- 
 habitant of the plains and open country, being 
 
Zebras. 81 
 
 the animal generally seen in captivity, and popu- 
 larly known as " the zebra/' 
 
 Three species of zebra are indigenous to, and 
 formerly abounded in, South Africa namely, the 
 common zebra, which inhabits the mountainous 
 districts of Cape Colony, where, as we have said, 
 it is fast verging on extinction; BurchelPs zebra, 
 still found in considerable numbers north of the 
 Orange River, beyond which, in a southerly direc- 
 tion, its range apparently never extended, at all 
 events, in historical times; and, lastly, the quagga, 
 now nearly if not actually extinct, which ranged 
 no further north than the Vaal River. All three 
 species have been from time to time represented 
 at the Zoo ; but we fear that it is hardly within 
 the bounds of possibility that a live quagga should 
 ever again be seen there. The death of both the 
 common zebras is most unfortunate, and we fear 
 that they will not be easily replaced. As they 
 stood in stalls adjoining those of the BurchelPs 
 zebras, the difference in form, colouration, and 
 markings between the two species could be easily 
 observed. The common zebras are far the most 
 asinine in appearance, having longer ears, shorter 
 manes, and less hair on their tails than their 
 allies, the BurchelFs zebras; they are also smaller. 
 Perhaps the most noticeable difference, however, 
 between the two species is in the colour and 
 markings, the common zebra being white striped 
 with black, with the exception of its nose, which 
 is bright bay, the stripes extending to the hoofs; 
 
82 Zebras. 
 
 while in Burchell's zebra the ground colour of the 
 body is a yellowish-white,, with broad and narrow 
 stripes of black and brown, the legs being nearly 
 white and usually unstriped ; but,, as is the case 
 with one of the animals at the Zoo, the stripes in 
 some cases extend to the hoofs, and to this variety 
 the name Equus Chapmanni has been givea. 
 However, to quote Sir W. H. Flower, " perhaps 
 the most constant and obvious distinction between 
 the species is the arrangement of the stripes on 
 the hinder part of the back, where in the common 
 zebra there are a number of short transverse 
 bands leading to the median longitudinal dorsal 
 stripe, and unconnected with the uppermost of 
 the broad stripes, which pass obliquely across the 
 haunch from the flanks towards the root of the 
 tail " ; a difference which must strike the least 
 observant when the animals are seen side by side. 
 Though the common zebra is only found quite in 
 the South of Africa, within Cape Colony, a nearly 
 allied species, named Equus Grevyi by M. Milne- 
 Edwards, has within the last few years been dis- 
 covered in Northern Somali Land, the type-speci- 
 men having been sent to the Jardin des Plantes, 
 in Paris, in the year 1882, since which time 
 several skins have been received in Europe, but, 
 we believe, no other living specimen. In Equus 
 Grevyi the stripes, though they are arranged very 
 much as they are in the common zebra, are finer 
 and more numerous. When the new zebra was 
 first brought to notice Sir W. H. Flower was 
 
Zebras. 83 
 
 inclined to think that it was not specifically dis- 
 tinct from Equus zebra ; but, in June, 1890, Dr. 
 Sclater, at a meeting of the Zoological Society, 
 exhibited, and made some remarks on, the skin 
 of one of these animals which he had received 
 from Somali Land, when he said that he had 
 again examined the typical example of this 
 species, now mounted in the new gallery of the 
 Jardin des Plantes, and was still more confident 
 of its distinctness, as shown by the narrowness of 
 the black stripes, the difference of the markings, 
 and the white spaces on the forehead and on each 
 side of the dorsal stripe in the northern species. 
 Whether it is specifically distinct or not, to again 
 quote Sir W. H. Flower, "it is curious that the 
 most northern and the most southern of the dis- 
 tricts inhabited by zebras both contain identical 
 or closely-allied species, while the intermediate 
 territory is occupied by a wholly different form 
 Equus Burchelli." 
 
 The rapidity with which the different zebras 
 have been exterminated, owing to the advance 
 of civilisation in South Africa, is shown by refer- 
 ence to such works as that of Sir Cornwallis 
 Harris, written in 1840, in which the author tells 
 us that the quagga was at that time found in 
 te interminable herds," bands of many hundreds 
 being frequently seen; while he describes Bur- 
 chell's zebra as congregating in herds of 80 or 
 100, and abounding to a great extent ; but, now 
 after the expiration of but fifty years, the one 
 G 2 
 
84 Zebras. 
 
 species is extinct or practically so, while the other 
 has been driven much further afield, and its num- 
 bers are yearly being reduced. This author's de- 
 scription of the common zebra is well worth re- 
 peating. He says : " Seeking the wildest and 
 most sequestered spots, the haughty troops are 
 exceedingly difficult to approach, as well on 
 account of their watchful habits and extreme 
 agility and fleetness of foot as from the abrupt 
 and inaccessible nature of their highland abode. 
 Under the special charge of a sentinel, so posted 
 on some adjacent crag as to command a view of 
 every avenue of approach, the chequered herd 
 whom ' painted skins adorn/ is to be viewed 
 perambulating some rocky ledge, on which the 
 rifle ball alone can reach them. No sooner has 
 the note of alarm been sounded by the vedette, 
 than, pricking their long ears, the whole flock 
 hurry forward to ascertain the nature of the ap- 
 proaching danger, and, having gazed a moment 
 at the advancing hunter, whisking their brindled 
 tails aloft, helter-skelter away they thunder, down 
 craggy precipices and over yawning ravines, 
 where no less agile foot could dare to follow 
 them." While of BurchelPs zebra he says : 
 "" Fierce, strong, fleet, and surpassingly beautiful, 
 there is, perhaps, no quadruped in the creation, 
 not even excepting the mountain zebra, more 
 splendidly attired, or presenting a picture of more 
 singularly attractive beauty." 
 
 Zebras are by no means amiable animals, and, 
 
Zebras. 85 
 
 though many of the stories told of their ferocity 
 are doubtless much exaggerated, they have 
 so far not proved themselves amenable to 
 domestication. In the catalogue of the African 
 Museum, dispersed in 1838, BurchelPs zebra 
 was described as " an animal that admits of 
 being tamed to a certain extent with consider- 
 able facility " ; it was said that " occasionally 
 a half-domesticated specimen was exposed for 
 sale at Cape Town, with a rider on his back " ; 
 and it was, however, added that the persons who 
 had most " opportunities of becoming acquainted 
 with its character regard it, even in the most 
 tractable state to which it has yet been reduced, 
 as wicked, treacherous, obstinate, and fickle " 
 a true character, no doubt, and one which could 
 be applied with equal justice to both of the other 
 species. At all events, the fact remains that 
 zebras have not been domesticated, our occupation 
 of the Cape having, unfortunately, had a very 
 different effect from that prophesied by the author 
 of the " Naturalist's Pocket Magazine/' who in the 
 year 1800 wrote :" Should the Cape of Good 
 Hope, which we have recently taken from the 
 Dutch, continue in our possession, the period of 
 this animal's being tamed and rendered service- 
 able may probably be not very far distant" the 
 species to which he referred being apparently the 
 common zebra, of which a by no means bad figure 
 is given, notwithstanding the fact that the artist 
 has coloured the animal's stripes a bright red. 
 
BIBDS. 
 
 BOWER-BIRDS. 
 
 (May 25, 1889.) 
 
 AN extremely interesting and amusing sight is 
 provided for visitors to the Zoo during the present 
 warm spring weather by the bower-birds confined 
 in the first compartment of the Western Aviary, as 
 they are busy about their bower, the peculiar 
 structure from which they take their name. 
 
 The bower-birds belong to a group of Australian 
 birds, which also includes the cat-birds and 
 regent-birds, famous for their peculiar habit of 
 constructing on the ground a bower of sticks 
 and other substances, not as a nesting place, 
 but simply for purposes of love-making and play, 
 their nests being built in trees. These bowers are 
 most peculiar structures; and, though differing 
 both in construction and decoration according to 
 the species of the architect, have very much in 
 common. Little was known of the habits of 
 bower-birds until Mr. G-ould published his work on 
 the Birds of Australia, and that famous ornitholo- 
 gist not only gave to the world an excellent 
 
Bower-Birds. 87 
 
 account of the habits of these birds and their 
 allies, bnt also brought home specimens of their 
 architecture, several of which are now at the 
 Natural History Museum at South Kensington, 
 and, as they are placed together in one case, the 
 difference between them can be appreciated at a 
 glance. All of them are, as we have said, built 
 upon the ground, and are mainly composed of 
 sticks, and are more or less decorated with shells, 
 bones, and pebbles, and, in the case of the Silky 
 Bower-bird, with bright-coloured feathers worked 
 into the structure. Like our own ravens and jack- 
 daws, the bower-birds appear to be fond of picking up 
 unconsidered trifles, as Mr. Gould tells us he found 
 in one bower a neatly- worked stone tomahawk, 
 and the natives are in the habit of searching the 
 birds' bowers, often with success, for objects lost in 
 the bush. At the Zoological Gardens there are at 
 the present time specimens of two species the 
 Silky Bower-bird (Ptilonorhynchus violaceus) and 
 the Spotted Bower-bird (Ghlamydodera maculata) 
 and the former are now amusing themselves by 
 bower-building. There are in the aviary niue 
 or ten of these birds, the whole of them, with two 
 exceptions, being cocks, in different stages of 
 plumage ; and it is worthy of remark that the male 
 and female are utterly unlike, the former when in 
 adult plumage being of a beautiful glossy blue- 
 black, with a brilliant sapphire eye, while the 
 latter is, by comparison, but a dull bird, being 
 greenish-brown, with a spotted, or rather spangled, 
 
88 Bower-Birds. 
 
 breast. The young cocks much resemble the 
 hens ; in f act, the only noticeable difference is 
 that the green in their plumage is brighter. They 
 do not obtain their full adult plumage until their 
 third year. 
 
 Among all the Society's specimens there is but 
 one cock in full adult plumage, though another 
 has nearly attained to it ; and the former is appa- 
 rently the principal bower-builder, and extremely 
 interesting it is to watch his performance. The 
 bower is made of sticks, which are cut from a 
 birch-broom and supplied to him for the purpose, 
 placed on end in the ground, and so arranged as 
 almost to form an arch about a foot in length, open 
 at both ends, and is probably, among other 
 reasons, for want of material by no means so 
 perfect a structure as those to be seen at the 
 Museum, though it is never for two days alike, one 
 peculiarity of these birds being that they are, to 
 all appearance, never satisfied with their work, as 
 they are constantly pulling it to pieces and re- 
 building it. The decoration in this case is 
 especially poor; but this is not the fault of the 
 bird, as he has made use of all the materials at his 
 command; as these consist only of a few oyster- 
 shells and suchlike odds and ends, the effect is 
 doubtless not as good as it might be if his supplies 
 were brighter and more varied. However, as 
 often as feathers or pieces of ribbon are given to 
 him the mice, which swarm in the Gardens, appro- 
 priate them, thus rendering the brightening of the 
 
Bower-Birds. 89 
 
 structure of the bower almost an impossibility. 
 His ornaments, such as they are, are arranged on 
 the ground at each entrance, and apparently afford 
 him great delight, as he is constantly moving and 
 rearranging them. Whenever the bower has been 
 satisfactorily arranged, the cock politely invites 
 one of the hens to enter, which she does and squats 
 down, and then begins a most amusing perform- 
 ance, as he erects his feathers and dances round 
 the bower w4th most ludicrous bows and contor- 
 tions, occasionally picking up a shell or other 
 ornament, and carrying it round.in his bill, and this 
 exercise he continues for some time. The habit of 
 destroying and rebuilding the bower is, from the 
 visitor's point of view, particularly annoying, as it 
 is most disappointing on paying a visit to the birds 
 to find that they are simply, after their usual 
 manner, flying backwards and forwards through 
 their cage, apparently intent on obtaining as much 
 exercise as possible, and with no more idea of 
 bower-building and decoration than have their 
 unsesthetic fellow-lodgers, the Hill Mynahs. 
 When seen in their builders' native country these 
 bird-built bowers must be very beautiful. That of 
 the Spotted Bower-bird has been described as 
 " beautifully lined with tall grasses, so disposed 
 that the heads nearly meet, and the decorations are 
 very profuse." while that of the Regent-bird is 
 said to be ornamented with " berries of various 
 colours, blue, red, and black, which give it when 
 fresh a very pretty appearance. Besides these, 
 
90 Bower-Birds. 
 
 there were several newly -picked leaves and young 
 shoots of a pinkish colour, the whole showing a 
 decided taste for the beautiful." In comparison 
 with these the bowers made by the birds at the 
 Zoo of birch twigs cut from an old broom and 
 decorated with pieces of oyster shell are much 
 what a heap of dry bones is to a living animal 
 nevertheless, such as they are, they are very 
 interesting and well worth a visit. 
 
TUFTED TIMBRES. 
 (Feb. 1, 1890.) 
 
 THE most noticeable addition that has lately been 
 made to the menagerie in Regent' s Park consists of 
 four tufted umbres (Scopus umbretta), purchased 
 by the Society on January 7 last. These curious- 
 looking brown birds, though from the very quiet- 
 ness of their plumage they have little about them 
 to attract the attention of the ordinary visitor to 
 the Gardens, are in reality extremely interesting. 
 They belong to the order Herodiones } in which they 
 are placed between the herons and the storks. 
 They are natives of South Africa, ranging as 
 far North as the Zambesi river on the East and 
 Benguela Land on the West. While widely 
 distributed over this region, they appear to be 
 only locally common ; for example we quote from 
 Layard's " Birds of South Africa " Captain 
 Trevelyan records the umbre as common about 
 the vleys near King William's Town, " where he 
 has sometimes seen as many as five or six 
 together ; " and Majors Butler and Fielden and 
 Captain Reid state that near Newcastle it was 
 a common bird in vleys and along sluggish 
 
92 Tufted Umbras. 
 
 streams; while, according to Mr. Ayres, it is 
 spread all over Natal, "but is not numerous, 
 and is always seen singly ; " and, again, Mr. 
 Andersson tells us that "this queer and sombre- 
 looking bird is pretty generally diffused throughout 
 Damara Land and Great Namaqua Land during 
 the rainy season, but is nowhere numerous." 
 
 The umbre is known in South Africa as the 
 hammerkop or hammer-head a name which was 
 doubtless suggested by its appearance, as its 
 curiously-shaped beak and the tuft on its head 
 look comically like a hammer. It frequents 
 marshes, rivers, and pools, and feeds upon fish 
 and frogs, worms, snails, and insects, and is said 
 to watch for fish with its neck drawn in much like 
 a heron. 
 
 In flight its neck and legs are carried straight 
 out. Mr. Layard, who has given the best descrip- 
 tion of this bird and its habits, describes it as a 
 " strange, weird bird, flitting about with great 
 activity in the dusk of the evening ; " and he adds 
 that "at times, when two or three are feeding in 
 the same pool, they will execute a singular dance, 
 skipping round one another, opening and closing 
 their wings, and performing strange antics." The 
 hammerkop's nest is an extraordinary structure, of 
 very considerable size, with a domed roof, the 
 whole being built of sticks of which some nests 
 contain at least a large cartload and the inside 
 neatly plastered with mud, and so strong is the 
 construction that the roof will bear the weight 
 
Tufted Timbres. 93 
 
 of a "large, heavy man" without collapsing; the 
 entrance is through a small hole, generally placed 
 in the most inaccessible side. These nests are 
 placed on trees or rocky ledges, and are occupied 
 year after year, being added to or repaired as 
 required. 
 
 The birds have a curious habit of decorating 
 their nests; on which subject we again quote 
 Mr. Layard, who says : " About some that we 
 visited we found brass and bone buttons, bits of 
 crockery, bleached bones, &c. Mr. Jackson said 
 if a ' Tottie y lost his knife or tinder-box on the 
 farm, or within some miles of the place, he made a 
 point of examining the hammerkops' nests, and 
 frequently with success ; the birds, like the Bower- 
 birds of Australia, embellishing their dwellings 
 with any glittering or bright-coloured thing they 
 can pick up." Sir John Kirk describes the nests 
 as colossal, and says that they sometimes measure 
 six feet in diameter ; and he tells us that the 
 Africans look on this bird as unfit for food, and 
 also as sacred, or as possessing the power of 
 witchcraft, and that it is considered unlucky to 
 injure it. 
 
 The tufted umbres now in the Zoo are not the 
 first of their kind that have been in the possession 
 of the Society, as some few years since a solitary 
 specimen was acquired which lived in the Gardens 
 for something like twelve months, and became 
 extremely tame; but, with this single exception, 
 they are new to the collection. They are in the 
 
94 Tufted Umbres. 
 
 Eastern Aviary, well known to most visitors as the 
 home of the hornbills, though at present they are 
 practically invisible without the aid of the keeper, 
 as they are confined behind the glass at the back of 
 the cage, an arrangement which is, of course, only 
 temporary. Though they appear to be in very 
 good health, they have by no means got over the 
 wear and tear of their journey, their plumage 
 being filthy and broken, with the result that they 
 have but little beauty to boast of. When, however, 
 after their moulfc they obtain their new plumage 
 they will be, though quaint and sombre, far from 
 ugly birds, their general colour being a warm 
 glossy brown. They are fed on fish, which they 
 devour greedily, and they have a peculiar and 
 very noticeable habit of standing in their water- 
 pan after being fed, and feeling about with one 
 foot as if searching for some living creature at the 
 bottom a searching habit which is, we believe, 
 common to the species. 
 
GREAT BUSTARDS. 
 
 (May 10, 1890.) 
 
 FOUR great bustards (Otis tar da), purchased 
 April 11, are among the recent additions to the 
 menagerie which will be of general interest. 
 These birds, all of them males, have been received 
 in splendid health and plumage, and certainly do 
 credit ' to those who had charge of their travelling 
 arrangements. They are confined in one of the 
 inclosures opposite to the Monkey -house, among 
 the cranes, where they have room to move about 
 and show themselves, and can be easily observed. 
 
 The great bustard, though formerly fairly 
 plentiful in this country, is now unfortunately 
 only an occasional visitor, as, like many other 
 members of our native fauna, it has fallen a victim 
 to increasing population and advancing civilisation, 
 with the consequent extension of cultivated land 
 and improved methods of agriculture, or, in the 
 words of a writer in the early part of the century, 
 " the increased cultivation of the country and the 
 extreme delicacy of the flesh occasioned great 
 havock with this species." It is essentially a bird 
 of the plains and downs, delighting in open country, 
 and was formerly found in considerable number on 
 
96 Great Bustards. 
 
 the warrens or " brecks " of Norfolk and Suffolk, 
 where it survived longer than in any other part of 
 the island; the moors of Haddingtonshire and 
 Berwickshire, the wolds of Yorkshire and Lincoln- 
 shire, Newmarket and Royston Heaths, on the 
 borders of Cambridgeshire, together with the 
 downs of Berkshire, Wiltshire, Dorsetshire, Hamp- 
 shire, and Sussex. At the present time, though 
 no longer an inhabitant of the British Islands, it 
 is found in Europe, in Germany, and Russia, on 
 the steppes of the Danubian and Black Sea 
 districts, and in Spain. 
 
 Among early references to this bird may be 
 noticed that of Hector Boece, or Boethius, a 
 Scottish historian, who, writing in 1526, says: 
 " We have, moreover, another foule in Mers, more 
 strange and uncouth than all those afore-mentioned, 
 called a Gustard, fully so great as a swanne, but in 
 colour of feathers and taste of fleshe little differing 
 from a Partriche; howbeit these byrdes are not 
 very common, neyther to be seen in all places." 
 In the Northumberland Household Book, 1512, 
 the following mention of them occurs: "Item. 
 Bustardes for my Lordes own mees at Principal 
 Feestes and non other tyme except my Lordes 
 Commandment be otherwyse"; from which it 
 would appear that they were highly valued, as 
 certainly was the case in the next century ; for 
 in Willoughby's Ornithology (1678) the following 
 passage occurs : "Though some discommend their 
 flesh, yet with us it is esteemed both delicate and 
 
Great Bustards. 97 
 
 wholesome. Hence, but chiefly for its rarity, the 
 bustard sells very dear, serving only to furnish 
 Prince's and great men's tables, at feasts and 
 public entertainments." This author also tells us 
 that " on Newmarket and E/oyston Heaths, in 
 Cambridgeshire and Suffolk, and elsewhere in 
 wasts and plains, they are found with us." In 
 the Household Books of the L'Estranges of Hun- 
 stanton, in Norfolk, in the "Privy Purse Accounts" 
 for the year 1527, there is the following entry : 
 
 The xljst weke. 
 
 "Wedynsday. Item viij malards, a bustard and 3 hemsewe 
 kylled wt ye crosbowe. 
 
 And again, in the year 1530: 
 
 Itm in reward the xxvth day of July to Baxter's Svnt of 
 Stannewgh f or bryngyng of ij yong busterds ij d . 
 
 One Dr. Thomas Muffet, of Bulbridge, near 
 Wilton, in Wiltshire, who died in 1590, wrote as 
 follows : 
 
 Bistards, or Bustards (so called for their slow pace and 
 heavy flying), or, as the Scots term them, Gusetards, that 
 is to say, slow geese, feed upon flesh, livers, and young 
 lambs out of sowing time and in harvest time, then they 
 feed upon pure corn. In the summer, towards the ripening 
 of corn, I have seen half a dozen of them lie in a wheat- 
 field fattening themselves (as a deer will doe) with ease and 
 eating. . . . Chuse the youngest and fattest about 
 Allhallowtide (for then they are best) and diet him a day 
 or two . . . then let him bleed to death in the neck 
 veins, and having hung three or four days in a cool place 
 out of the moonshine, either rost or bake it as you do a 
 Turkie, and it will prove both a dainty and wholesome 
 meat. 
 
98 Great Bustards. 
 
 The idea that bustards eat young lambs, &c., no 
 doubt, as remarked by Mr. Howard Saunders, 
 " arose from a confusion not uncommon at the 
 present day between the names Bustard and 
 Buzzard" In 1713 Ray wrote: "In campis 
 spatiosis circa Novum Mercatum et Royston, 
 oppida in agro Cantabrigiensi, inque planitie, ut 
 audio, Salisburiensi, et alibi in vastis et apertis 
 locis, invenitur. 77 And in 1763 Dr. Brookes tells 
 us : "This bird is bred in several parts of Europe, 
 and particularly in England, especially on Salis- 
 bury Plain, Newmarket and Royston Heaths, in 
 Cambridgeshire, and Suffolk, for it delights in 
 open spaces. The flesh is in high esteem, and 
 perhaps the more so because it is not very easy 
 to come at." This author further tells us that 
 " they take them with a hook baited with an apple 
 or flesh. 77 In 1770 Gilbert White, in a letter 
 written from Ringmer, near Lewes, to the Hon. 
 Daines Barrington, says, " There are bustards on 
 the wide downs near Brightelmstone " ; in another 
 place he tells us, "Bustards when seen on the 
 downs resemble fallow deer at a distance. 77 In 
 the early years of the present century the species 
 had become very scarce in this country. Montagu, 
 in his "Ornithological Dictionary, 77 published in 
 1802, says that on Salisbury Plain it had become 
 "very scarce within these few years, 77 from the 
 great price given for the eggs and young to hatch 
 and rear in confinement, half a guinea being no 
 unusual price for an egg, and ten or twelve guineas 
 
Great Bustards. 99 
 
 for young birds not full-grown, while in 1813 he 
 stated that he was informed by the shepherds that 
 they had not been seen for the last two or three 
 years in their favourite haunts on the Wiltshire 
 Downs. 
 
 The actual date of the disappearance of the 
 bustard from its various haunts in this country 
 is not known except in the case of Yorkshire, 
 Norfolk, and Suffolk, in the former of which 
 counties it is believed that the last hen bird was 
 trapped on Sir W. Strickland's estate at Boynton, 
 near Bridlington, in 1832 or 1833. In Norfolk 
 and Suffolk, however, it managed to hold its own 
 in some numbers for a considerable time after it 
 was practically extinct in other parts, and, as it 
 found a most careful historian in the late Mr. 
 Stevenson, of Norwich, the whole of the facts of 
 its disappearance have been preserved and can be 
 found in that author's " Birds of Norfolk/' from 
 which we gather the following facts : 
 
 Two " droves" existed, one having its head- 
 quarters in the open country round Swaffham, and 
 the other near Thetford. There is reason to 
 believe that a nest found on the borders of 
 Thetford Warren in the year 1832 was the last 
 known in Suffolk, and a single bird observed later 
 in the summer of the same year on Icklingham 
 Heath was the sole survivor in that once noted 
 locality. The Norfolk birds were now the last of 
 the indigenous race, but they did not long survive. 
 
 In the spring of 1833 three females resorted to 
 H 2 
 
100 Great Bustards. 
 
 Great Massingham Heath for incubation ; their 
 eggs consisted of two pairs and a single one; 
 these were taken away under the impression, 
 possibly a mistaken one, that there was no male 
 bird, and that, therefore, they were good for 
 nothing. A small flock of hen bustards, including 
 the parents of the eggs mentioned, continued to 
 occupy the country round Swaffham for some years 
 longer, but there is no record of a cock having 
 been seen, and the actual date of the death of the 
 last survivor is not known with certainty, but was 
 probably in the year 1838, though "several persons 
 believe, and with some show of reason, that a bird, 
 or even two birds, lingered on till 1843 or 1845." 
 
 Thus, as Mr. Stevenson observes, the failure of 
 " heirs male " was the final cause of the extinction 
 of this noble indigenous species, as is so often the 
 case in the human race with some great historic 
 name. The main cause of the diminution in the 
 number of bustards was, no doubt, primarily the 
 improved methods of agriculture, and the substitu- 
 tion of the drill for the old method of sowing 
 broadcast, on which followed the horse hoe, with 
 the result that ec every nest made by a bustard in 
 a wheat-field was sure to be discovered, perhaps in 
 time to avert instantaneous destruction from the 
 horses' feet or the hoe blades, perhaps (and this 
 probably much the more often), only when the 
 eggs had been driven over and smashed, and their 
 contents were pouring out on the ground. But even 
 in the first case, instantaneous destruction being 
 
Great Bustards. 101 
 
 avoided, the eggs were generally taken up by the 
 driver of the hoe/' and " appear often to have 
 been preserved as natural curiosities to lie with 
 grotesquely shaped flints and petrified echini (the 
 ' fairies' loaves ' of the district) on the parlour 
 mantelpiece or bookshelf till they met with the 
 usual fate of such fragile articles." But improve- 
 ment in agriculture was not alone to blame, as we 
 read of a gamekeeper being allowed, " not only to 
 go in quest of them with a swivel-gun mounted on 
 a wheelbarrow screened with boughs, a parchment 
 stalking-horse, and similar devices, but even to 
 construct masked batteries of large duck-guns 
 placed so as to concentrate their fire upon a 
 spot strewed with turnips. The guns forming his 
 batteries had their triggers attached to a cord 
 perhaps half a mile long, and the shepherds and 
 other farm-labourers on the ground were instructed 
 by him to pull the cord whenever they saw the 
 bustards within range." 
 
 On one occasion this man is said to have 
 succeeded in killing no less than seven at one 
 discharge, the birds being presented to the Prince 
 of Wales (George IV.), the Duke of York, and 
 others. And we are sorry to say that the gifts are 
 reported to have " had the effect, in some degree, 
 of procuring the berth of head-gamekeeper at 
 Windsor" for the son of this arch bustard-slayer. 
 
 Every one has probably heard, and most people 
 firmly believe, that bustards were formerly coursed 
 by greyhounds; but, although the statement that 
 
102 Great Bustards. 
 
 they were so taken lias been repeated by author 
 after author, there would appear to be no evidence 
 of its truth. Stevenson tells us that, though " the 
 Swaffham coursing meeting was one of the most 
 celebrated in the whole country, and in the open 
 districts of both counties (Norfolk and Suffolk) 
 the sport of coursing was formerly most extensively 
 followed, greyhounds being very generally kept, 
 yet none of the older inhabitants have ever heard, 
 except from books, that bustards were taken by 
 dogs. If ever the coursing of bustards by grey- 
 hounds were practised in any part of England, 
 it could only have been when the birds were very 
 young, or, being old, had moulted out their quill 
 feathers." Still the statements of the older authors 
 are so explicit that one can only wonder what 
 could have given rise to the fable. The following 
 are a few examples. Drayton, in the " Polyolbion," 
 25th Song, mentions 
 
 The big-boan'd Bustard then, whose body bears that size 
 That he against the wind must run ere he can rise. 
 
 In a " History of Animals," by John Hill, M.D., 
 published in 1752, we find the following explicit 
 statement : " This is a bird more nearly allied to 
 the ostrich and cassowary kind than people are 
 aware, and, like them, it runs at a prodigious rate, 
 and but rarely rises on the wing. . . . We 
 have this bird in many parts of England, where 
 it feeds on vegetables, and on corn when it can get 
 at it. I have seen great numbers of them on the 
 downs in Sussex ; they run away at the approach 
 
Great Bustards. 103 
 
 of men, but rarely, and indeed difficultly, take 
 wing. They are often taken by greyhounds in a 
 fair course, in the manner of a hare. Their flesh 
 is very well tasted." 
 
 In the " Naturalist's Pocket Magazine," published 
 in 1800, the plates dated 1798, the author says : 
 "But tho' they cannot be reached by a fowling- 
 piece, they are sometimes run down by greyhounds. 
 Being voracious and greedy, they often sacrifice 
 their safety to their appetites; and, as they are 
 generally very fat, they are unable to fly without 
 much preparation. When, therefore, the grey- 
 hounds come within a certain distance, the 
 bustards run off, clap their wings, and endeavour 
 to gather under them air enough to rise. In the 
 meantime the dogs are continually gaining ground, 
 till at last it is too late for flight. However, not- 
 withstanding the sluggishness of their usual pace, 
 they can when in danger run very fast, and once 
 fairly on the wing are able to fly several miles 
 without resting." 
 
 Dr. Brookes says " they take them with grey- 
 hounds, which often catch them before they are 
 able to rise," which, be it observed, would hardly 
 appear to be the same thing as coursing them. 
 
 Lastly, Bewick wrote : ' ' They are slow in 
 taking wing, but run with great rapidity, and 
 when young are sometimes taken with greyhounds, 
 which pursue them with great avidity. The chace 
 is said to afford excellent diversion." And in his 
 woodcut of the great bustard he shows in the 
 
104 Great Bustards. 
 
 background a mounted sportsman running a 
 bustard with a brace of greyhounds, the bird 
 using both legs and wings. That they were in 
 old days valued for their power of flight is proved 
 by the following extract from the "Booke of 
 Falconrie or Hawkinge," published in 1611 : 
 " There is yet another kind of flight to the fielde 
 called the great flight, as to the cranes, wild 
 geese, bustard, bird of paradise, bittors, shovelars, 
 hearons, and many other such like, and these 
 you may flee from the fist, which is properly 
 termed the source. Nevertheless, in this kind of 
 hawking, which is called the great flight, the 
 falcons or other hawkes cannot well accomplish 
 their flight at the cranes, bustard, or such like, 
 unlesse they have the help of some spaniell, 
 or such dogge, wel inured and taught for 
 that purpose with your hawke. Forasmuch as 
 great flights require pleasant ayde and assist- 
 ance, yea and that with great diligence." 
 
 Space will only allow us to mention one other 
 point in the economy of the bustard about which 
 there has been a great deal of controversy, namely, 
 the gular pouch found in the male. Most extra- 
 ordinary stories have been told of the use of this 
 pouch j for example, Bewick wrote, the male 
 
 is furnished with a sac or pouch, situated in the fore part 
 of the neck, and capable of containing about two quarts ; 
 the entrance to it is immediately under the tongue. This 
 singular reservoir was first discovered by Dr. Douglas, who 
 supposes that the bird fills it with water as a supply in the 
 midst of those dreary plains where it is accustomed to 
 
Great Bustards. 105 
 
 wander ; it likewise makes a further use of it in defending 
 itself against the attacks of birds of prey ; on such occa- 
 sions it throws out the water with such violence as not 
 unf requently to baffle the pursuit of the enemy. 
 
 The whole of this statement as to the use of the 
 pouch is purely imaginary, as there is little or no 
 doubt that the pouch, which does not appear to 
 have been present in every specimen dissected, is 
 found only in the adult during the breeding season, 
 contracting during the non-breeding season "so 
 considerably as to become insignificant." It is 
 probably inflated at will when the bird is " show- 
 ing off/-' at which time he puts himself into the 
 most extraordinary postures imaginable, "unex- 
 celled for a love display by any of the game 
 birds." 
 
THE MOT-MOT. 
 
 (May 17, 1890.) 
 
 THE Parrot-house is always well worth a visit, and 
 were its inmates less noisy would, no doubt, be much 
 more frequented than it is, as it contains not only 
 an excellent collection of parrots, of all sorts and 
 sizes, but also many other very beautiful and inte- 
 resting birds. At the present time, however, a 
 bird of more than ordinary interest is to be seen in 
 this house which, though not "new to the collec- 
 tion," will certainly be new to a very large majority 
 of the present visitors to the Zoo, as it is a very 
 long time how long we cannot say with certainty, 
 but at least twenty years since the last specimen 
 died there. The bird in question is a mot-mot, 
 presented about a week since, and is to be seen in 
 the large cage nearest to the keeper's room. It 
 has not yet been labelled, but is, we believe, 
 Momotus 'brasiliensis. It is an extremely striking, 
 though not very brilliantly coloured, bird, about 
 the size of a jay, with a long tail; its brightest 
 colour, a most beautiful blue, forms a band round 
 the crown of its head, which is black, and there 
 are smaller patches on its cheeks; it has a bold 
 
The Mot-Mot, 107 
 
 bright eye, the iris of which, is red. Its tail, how- 
 ever, is without doubt its most noticeable feature, 
 not so much from its length and colour as from the 
 extraordinary habit the bird possesses, especially, 
 it would seem, when excited, of swinging it from 
 side to side after the manner, and with the regu- 
 larity, of the pendulum of a clock, occasionally 
 varying the monotony of the proceeding by jerking 
 it straight up over its back an odd habit, calcu- 
 lated to attract the attention of the least observant. 
 The mot-mot's tail has the further peculiarity that 
 the two middle feathers, which are longer than the 
 others, are racket-shaped at the end that is to 
 say, that for about an inch the feather is perfect, 
 and then for an inch, or rather more, the shaft is 
 entirely denuded of web. This peculiarity has 
 given rise to some controversy, one side contending 
 that it is natural, while the other avers that it is 
 artificial, being caused by the bird itself. 
 
 Waterton first drew attention to the fact that 
 the bird acted as its own barber, and described the 
 process as follows: " This bird [the mot-mot, or 
 houtou as he called it] seems to suppose that its 
 beauty can be increased by trimming the tail, 
 which undergoes the same operation as one's hair 
 in a barber's shop, only with this difference, that 
 it uses its own beak, which is serrated, in lieu of a 
 pair of scissors. As soon as its tail is full-grown, 
 it begins about an inch from the extremity of the 
 two longest feathers in it, making a gap about an 
 inch long. Both male and female adonise their 
 
108 The Mot-Mot. 
 
 tails in this manner, which gives them a remarkable 
 appearance amongst all other birds. While we 
 consider the tail of the houtou blemished and defec- 
 tive, were he to come amongst us he would 
 probably consider our heads, cropped and bald, 
 in no better light." 
 
 Dr. Murie, writing on the other side, said : 
 "The story has found credence that they nibble 
 off the occasionally absent vanes of the long middle 
 tail-feathers; but this notion has been contra- 
 dicted." This brought forth a reply from Mr. 
 Salvin, which can be found in the ' ' Proceedings of 
 the Zoological Society for 1873, and which appears 
 to us to be conclusive. He tells us that he noticed 
 a specimen which lived in one of the cages in the 
 Parrot-house all by itself, and adds, ' ' For a long 
 time its tail had perfect spatules ; but towards the 
 end of its life I noticed that the median feathers 
 were no longer trimmed with such precision ; and 
 on looking at its beak I noticed that, from some 
 cause or other, it did not close properly, but gaped 
 slightly at the tip, and had thus become unfit for 
 removing the vanes of the feathers." He wrote to 
 Mr. Bartlett on the subject, who replied, "During 
 the several years the mot-mot lived here I had 
 many opportunities of watching its habits, and I 
 have seen the bird in the act of picking off the 
 webs of the central feathers of its tail, and have 
 taken from the bottom of its cage the fragments of 
 web that fell from the bird's bill.. As the bird 
 lived here for some years, its bill got rather out of 
 
The Hot-Mot. 109 
 
 order ; that is, it did not close properly at the 
 point ; and consequently the picking off the web 
 at last was improperly performed, and the two 
 sides of the tail-feather presented an unequal and 
 unfinished appearance/' Whether this racket- 
 shaped end to the tail be natural or artificial, it 
 is most noticeable in the specimen at the Zoo. 
 Another peculiarity of the bird, though one not 
 ordinarily visible, is the tongue, which is long, 
 ff bifid for half an inch, and feathered at the 
 sides/' and much resembles that of the toucan, 
 with which the mot-mots were formerly classed. 
 
 The mot-mots are natives of tropical America, 
 their range extending from Mexico, in the North, 
 to Brazil and Paraguay, in the South; they are 
 solitary forest-haunting birds. The following is 
 Waterton's account of their habits, as noticed by 
 him in Demerara : cc He who wishes to observe 
 this handsome bird in his native haunts must be in 
 the forest at the morning's dawn. The houtou 
 shuns the society of man, the plantations and culti- 
 vated parts are too much disturbed to engage it to 
 settle there. The thick and gloomy forests are the 
 places preferred by the solitary houtou. In those 
 far-extending wilds about daybreak, you hear him 
 articulate in a distinct and mournful tone, ' Houtou, 
 houtou.' Move cautiously on to where the sound 
 proceeds from, and you will see him sitting in the 
 underwood, about a couple of yards from the 
 ground, his tail moving up and down every time he 
 articulates ' houtou/ He lives on insects and the 
 
110 The Mot-Mot. 
 
 berries from the underwood, and very rarely is 
 seen in the lofty trees, except the bastard silolabi- 
 tree, the fruit of which is grateful to him. He 
 makes no nest, but rears his young in a hole in the 
 sand, generally on the side of a hill." 
 
 In captivity the mot-mot may fairly be said to 
 be omnivorous, as Dr. Murie tells us that it "will 
 then eat bread, raw meat, oranges, water-melons, 
 small birds, mice, lizards, snakes, cockroaches," 
 &c. He further tells us that "in pouncing on 
 these latter, they afterwards strike them violently 
 against the ground or perch." 
 
 The bird at the Zoo is not, so far as we are 
 aware, supplied with mice, lizards, or snakes 
 cockroaches, we should imagine, it could have for 
 the asking, as the large American species commonly 
 known as the " ship's cockroach " swarms in many 
 of the houses ; but the bird's food consists of raw 
 meat, boiled rice, bread, fruit, and vegetables, on 
 which we hope it may live and thrive as well as did 
 its predecessor, mentioned by Messrs. Salvin and 
 Bartlett. 
 
OWLS. 
 
 (Oct. 4, 1890.) 
 
 VERY few people, few even of the regular fre- 
 quenters of the Gardens, are, we imagine, aware 
 of the existence of the "owls' cages" at the Zoo. 
 Indeed, we have many times heard the remark 
 that it was extraordinary that the Society should 
 possess no owls except eagle owls birds of this 
 species being well known to all visitors from the 
 position of their cage. This ignorance, however, 
 is not to be wondered at, as the cages in question 
 are placed at the back of the " llamas 7 house," 
 perhaps the most out-of-the-way spot in the 
 Gardens ; but they generally contain an interest- 
 ing little collection of owls, and amongst them 
 examples of most of the commoner of our native 
 species. 
 
 At the. present time ten species are represented, 
 of which the following are British: the barn owl, 
 the tawny or wood owl, the long-eared owl, and 
 the short-eared owl; among the most noticeable 
 of the others being the Oriental eagle owl from 
 Java, and several burrowing owls from Buenos 
 Ayres the latter the most comically consequential 
 looking little fellows imaginable. 
 
112 Owls. 
 
 Much may be learned from a visit to the 
 "owls' cages." For example, it is hardly matter 
 of common knowledge that the barn owl, the 
 commonest and best-known of our British species, 
 has practically a world- wide range, the countries 
 in which it is not found being very few. Yet 
 that it is widely distributed will be palpable to 
 anyone who notices that two birds of this species, 
 the one from the " British Islands/' the other from 
 Chili, are confined in the same cage. Again, how 
 many people are aware that owls, when perched, 
 sit with two toes in front of their perch and two 
 behind ? This piece of knowledge has most cer- 
 tainly been acquired by very few bird-stuffers, 
 and apparently is not possessed by many writers 
 on birds, or the artists who illustrate their books 
 (curiously enough, neither Yarrell nor his artist 
 appears to have been acquainted with the fact), 
 yet a visit to the Zoo will convince the most 
 sceptical that this habit is possessed by the whole 
 family. 
 
 The construction of the owl's foot is peculiar; 
 unlike the well-known foot of the parrot, which 
 has two toes in front and two behind, it, like that 
 of the eagle, or (a more familiar example) the 
 common sparrow, has one toe behind and three 
 in front; but the first of these is capable of much 
 lateral motion, while the fourth, or outer toe, is 
 reversible, and when the bird perches is turned 
 backwards, so that the bird sits on its perch with 
 the two middle toes in front and the two outer 
 
Owls. 113 
 
 toes behind. But though, as we have said, much 
 may be learned from a visit to the " owls' cages" 
 at the Zoo, unfortunately the vastly important 
 lesson that owls are the farmer's greatest friends, 
 and are practically harmless to the game-pre- 
 server, cannot be learnt by observing them in 
 captivity. 
 
 In these remarks we refer only to the commoner 
 of the British species, as the snowy owl, the hawk 
 owl, and the eagle owl (which are, without doubt, 
 given to preying on game-birds, hares, &c.), 
 though included in the British list, are of such 
 rare occurrence in this country that they may 
 be left out of consideration altogether. 
 
 The food of the owl can be determined with 
 absolute certainty, as the bird swallows its prey, 
 bones, fur, feathers, and all, and afterwards dis- 
 gorges the indigestible parts in the shape of 
 pellets, numbers of which can always be found 
 near its haunts a well-known fact, yet one of 
 which neither the farmer nor the gamekeeper 
 takes the slightest notice. Dr. Altum, a German 
 naturalist, examined hundreds of pellets of the 
 barn ,owl and the tawny owl, among other species, 
 with the following remarkable results : 706 
 pellets of the barn owl yielded the remains of 16 
 bats, 3 rats, 2520 mice of sorts, including voles 
 and shrews, 1 mole, and 22 small birds; while 
 210 pellets of the tawny owl a bird which, ac- 
 cording to most gamekeepers, and even to many 
 writers on game-preserving who should know 
 
 I 
 
114 Owls. 
 
 better, is a most inveterate poacher yielded 1 
 stoat, 6 rats, 371 mice, voles, and shrews, 48 
 moles, and 18 small birds, to say nothing of 
 beetles and cockchafers ; and we are quite sure 
 that anyone trying the same experiment as Dr. 
 Altum will arrive at the same results. 
 
 Naturalists have from time immemorial done 
 their best for the owl by describing it in its true 
 character as a mouser and a friend to the farmer, 
 and it is therefore extraordinary that in these 
 days of universal education the usefulness of the 
 owl should still remain as a lesson to be learnt 
 by those for whom it spends its existence in doing 
 good. 
 
 Yet so it is, and the unfortunate birds are still 
 persistently destroyed. That the gamekeeper 
 should be an owl- slayer need, however, cause 
 little wonder to those who are acquainted with 
 him and his ways ; for we venture to say that 
 there are few people, with his opportunities, at 
 all events, who are so singularly ignorant of 
 natural history as the average gamekeeper. He 
 lives on tradition, and is hard to teach ; owls 
 were vermin to his forefathers, and this is suffi- 
 cient for him. He would rather not argue the 
 matter; vermin they are, and must, therefore, be 
 destroyed. Unfortunately he is often encouraged 
 in his senseless slaughter of these beautiful and 
 harmless birds by his employer, who, in many 
 cases, is more ignorant of everything connected 
 with natural history than himself, and is willing 
 
Owls. 115 
 
 to pay so much a head for all the "vermin" his 
 keeper can procure. But that farmers should 
 join in the slaughter is curious, and shows most 
 lamentable ignorance ; yet many of them will re- 
 morselessly shoot an owl whenever they have an 
 opportunity, under the mistaken idea that it will 
 destroy their pigeons, and utterly regardless of 
 the fact that it is doing its best to free their 
 land of rats and mice. 
 
 Under these circumstances we are pleased to 
 find that so high an authority as Lord Lilford, 
 the President of the British Ornithologists 7 Union, 
 has taken up the cudgels in defence of the owl, 
 and his remarks, which are to be found in a 
 recent number of his "Coloured Figures of the 
 Birds of the British Islands," are so trenchant 
 and to the point that they should have the widest 
 possible circulation, and therefore we make no 
 apology for quoting them very fully : he says : 
 
 ' ' I am glad to believe that the minds of game- 
 preservers and gamekeepers are gradually awaken- 
 ing to the fact that in destroying owls in general, 
 and this species (the barn owl) in particular, they 
 are committing acts of the most egregious folly, 
 not only as regards the birds which are the 
 special objects of their care and protection, but 
 also from an agricultural point of view, for these 
 owls not only destroy enormous numbers of rats, 
 mice, and voles, but also take many sparrows and 
 other seed-eating birds from their nocturnal 
 resorts. The stolid and unenlightened gamekeeper 
 
 i 2 
 
116 Owls. 
 
 may plead that owls do eat birds, and, as I have 
 just stated, so they do ; but if he allows his 
 young hand-reared-game birds to be out of their 
 coops at the time that owls are abroad in search 
 of food, surely the blame for losing them attaches 
 justly to him, and not to the tempted owl. I 
 need hardly say that wild bred game-birds, whilst 
 small enough to be attacked by the barn owl, are 
 carefully stowed away under their mother's wings 
 at the time when the 'bird of night' is on the 
 quest of prey. I have examined hundreds of the 
 pellets cast up by this species, in and under 
 their nesting-places, and never discovered either 
 bones or feathers of any game-bird, the castings 
 consisting mainly of the fur and bones of small 
 mammalia, with feathers and skulls of seed-eating 
 birds, and, occasionally, a few bones and scales 
 of small fishes." 
 
 As showing the infinite amount of good done 
 by the barn owl, he adds : 
 
 " A. young owl of this species, which I kept 
 as a pet in my school days, on one occasion, 
 when about half-grown, swallowed nine full-grown 
 house mice in rapid succession till the tail of the 
 ninth stuck out of his mouth, and he could do 
 no more ; but within three hours he was hungry 
 again, and was barely satisfied with four more of 
 the little quadrupeds. With this appetite and 
 capacity for stowage the numbers of four-footed 
 vermin supplied by a pair of barn owls to a 
 brood of six or seven ravening youngsters may 
 
Owls. 117 
 
 well be imagined ; I have seen an old pair bring 
 food to their brood seventeen times in half an 
 hour from a rickyard near their nest." 
 
 Every right-minded man will sympathise with 
 the writer in his concluding sentences, which are 
 as follows : 
 
 " A great number of these and other owls are 
 massacred and sold to be made into fire-screens 
 and plumes for ladies' hats, barbarities upon 
 which I can hardly trust myself to enlarge. The 
 bird-manglers who devote themselves to this 
 branch of art, almost invariably put glass eyes 
 of the wrong colour into the distorted faces of 
 their victims, and in every way shock all the 
 better feelings of our human nature." 
 
 We have little doubt that the constant perse- 
 cution suffered by these extremely useful birds, 
 and the consequent diminution in their numbers, 
 has much to do with the plague of rats and mice 
 from which so many parts of the country are at 
 present, and have long been, suffering. This is 
 a plague which, if owls were encouraged instead 
 of being destroyed, they would doubtless do much 
 to mitigate ; but at present the unfortunate birds 
 have no chance, their very endeavour leading to 
 their destruction. For example, we were told by 
 a farmer in a highly preserved district that his 
 stacks, being attacked by numberless rats and 
 mice, attracted, as he expressed it, all the owls in 
 the neighbourhood; the unfortunate birds, in 
 their tura, attracted the keepers, and were every 
 
118 Owls. 
 
 one of them ruthlessly killed, to his great detri- 
 ment, but to the benefit of the keepers, whose 
 master paid a fixed sum per head for all te vermin" 
 destroyed on his estate. 
 
 In conclusion, we will only add that, whatever 
 may be said about other birds included in the 
 gamekeeper's list of " vermin " and much may 
 be said for more than one of them there can be 
 no doubt that the owl should have no place 
 there, but should instead become an object of 
 preservation as one of the best bird friends that 
 the farmer possesses. 
 
OSTRICHES. 
 
 (Oct. 22, 1892.) 
 
 OSTRICHES have been. known to, and their feathers 
 appreciated by, mankind from time immemorial, 
 and it is, therefore, perhaps a little curious that 
 so much romance attached to them as was the 
 case till quite recently. Indeed, we doubt if, even 
 in these days of ostrich farms and incubators, 
 all the old-world fables are entirely exploded. 
 Though probably no one could be found like 
 Cardan, whom an old author tells us " Scalinger 
 do's, upon good grounds, laugh at" because he 
 was " of Opinion that Ostriches had red, blew, and 
 green Feathers, not knowing that they are dyed 
 of these Colours," yet many, we imagine, still 
 have a lingering belief that the stupid birds when 
 pursued do hide their heads in the sand under 
 the impression that they are then hidden from 
 their enemies, and that they are by no means 
 averse to, and are quite capable of assimilating, a 
 diet of stones, horse shoes, copper coins, and such- 
 like trifles. One of the most interesting accounts 
 of the ostrich given by mediaeval writers is that of 
 Pierre Belon du Mans, in his "Histoire de la 
 nature des Oyseaux," published in Paris in 1555. 
 
120 Ostriches. 
 
 This, like all the writer's works, is, for the time 
 in which it was written, eminently free from 
 romance, though no doubt there was some truth 
 in the words of a later writer who said "the 
 protestations which Belonius and some others do 
 make, to say nothing but what they have seen, and 
 the Assurances which they do give of having 
 discovered a great many of the falsities which 
 have been writt before them, have scarce any 
 other effect, than to render the sinceritie of 
 all Travellers very suspect, because that these 
 Censurers of the good Credit and exactness of 
 others, do not give sufficient Cautions of their 
 own." Belon repeated the well-known fables, 
 though not entirely on his own authority, for he 
 wrote of the ostrich : " Quand on le chasse, il a 
 1'industrie de jecter des pierres avecques les pieds 
 en fuyant, contre ceux qui le pourchassent. Et si 
 d'avanture TAutruche trouve un buisson, Ion dit 
 qu'il est si sot oyseau, que se cachant seulement la 
 teste, pense que tout le reste du corps est en 
 sauvete." And in his " Portraits d'Oyseaux, &c." 
 we find the following quatrain under the figure of 
 this bird : 
 
 L'Austruche pent la pierre digerer : 
 Et a quasi du Chameau la figure. 
 Bien qu'il soit lourd, legiere est son allure : 
 Mais a voler ne s'ause aventurer. 
 
 From Belongs account it would appear that 
 ostrich-farming is by no means the modern 
 invention that many would have us believe ; for, 
 
Ostriches. 121 
 
 after an account of the shops in Alexandria in 
 which he says that more than two hundred ostrich 
 skins with the feathers attached, might be seen in 
 a heap, he goes on to say : " Bfc si nous a Ion dit 
 qu'ils en nourrissent des privees au pais de Lybie, 
 comme nous faisons noz Oyes, et Cannes, dont les 
 paisans mangent la chair, et ont profit des plumes 
 qu'ils vendent aux estragers." A sufficiently 
 wasteful method of ostrich-farming be it observed 
 and one that would hardly pay in these days. His 
 description of the bird is so good and quaint that 
 we give it in full. He begins by saying that Latin 
 authors were doubtful whether it should be 
 considered a terrestrial animal or a bird, and 
 continues : 
 
 Ja n'est il pas oyseau : car il ne se pent eslever de terre 
 pour prendre 1'ser. Ausi ses selles luy servent seulement 
 pour luy ayder a courir. II n'est pas convert de poil 
 comme les animaux terrestres, excepte sur les paupieres 
 et dessus la teste, et le log du col : parquoy on ne le pent 
 bonnement ref erer estre terrestre, attendu qii'il est convert 
 de plumes par le corps. II a un long bee, fort et poinctu. 
 La teste, et le dessus du col est sans beaucomp de plumes, 
 mais couverte de petits poils, comme 1'Ostarde. II a les 
 yeux gros, et noirs, semblables a ceux d'une Chameau. Au 
 reste il a toute la maniere d'un Oyseau, excepte qu'il excede 
 touts autres en stature, et qu'il n'a que deux ergots aux 
 pieds, qui sont onglez come ceux d'un Chameau, faisant 
 comparaison du grad au petit, du quel il tient beaucoup de 
 merques; car ses pieds sont mols par le dessous, et ne sont 
 point fenduz en doigts, comme ceux des autres oyseaux. 
 
 It is, perhaps, needless to point out that the 
 description here given of the bird's feet is 
 
122 Ostriches. 
 
 incorrect, as, though the inner toe has a stout 
 and hoof -like claw, the outer one is clawless. If 
 we may believe this author, ostriches must have 
 been commoner in Europe in his time than they 
 are at present, as he says : " L'Autruche est ja 
 si commune qu'en oultre ce qu'on la cognoist de 
 nom, assui y a peu de gens qui n'en ayent veu." 
 
 Leaving ancient history, it may be said that the 
 ostrich, though it does not thrive on a diet of 
 stones, metal, and so forth, is fairly omnivorous, 
 as nothing seems to come amiss to it. Vegetable 
 substances of all sorts, including grain, seeds, and 
 berries, together with beetles, locusts, small birds, 
 and animals, snakes, and lizards, are said to be 
 devoured indiscriminately, and it is a fact that the 
 birds will pick up and swallow almost anything 
 that comes in their way for example, pieces of 
 wood or metal, stones, cord, glass, indeed, any- 
 thing that is not too large or too heavy. This 
 habit is, however, often fatal to them. To give 
 only two examples from birds formerly in the Zoo, 
 one is said to have owed its death to the fact that 
 it swallowed part of a parasol, while the other 
 came to its end by the aid of 9Jd. worth of copper 
 money. Finally, the ostrich, though by no means 
 a pleasant fowl, is not as bad as it was painted by 
 the ancients, and is certainly not guilty of the 
 unnatural conduct attributed to it of leaving its 
 eggs, and therefore its young to take care of 
 themselves, the fact being that not only do the 
 hens, which lay in one nest, relieve one another in 
 
Ostriches. 123 
 
 the duty of incubation, but that the male also 
 takes his turn on the nest. 
 
 There are just now two ostriches at the Zoo, 
 which are to be seen in the Giraffe House, one 
 purchased in June, and the other, which only 
 arrived on Saturday last. The latter is the pro- 
 perty of the Queen, and was, as all readers of the 
 daily papers are doubtless aware, presented to Her 
 Majesty a short time since, and is only in the 
 menagerie " on deposit." It is a remarkably fine 
 specimen, quite dwarfing its neighbour in the 
 adjoining compartment ; indeed, we believe that it 
 is the finest bird of its kind that has ever been 
 seen in Begent's Park. We can only hope that 
 Her Majesty will present it to the Society ; but, 
 meanwhile, as it is only t( on deposit," we should 
 advise those who are interested in ostriches to pay 
 it an early visit. It seems to have borne the 
 journey well, and to be in excellent health. 
 
AETICULATA. 
 
 THE LEAF-INSECT. 
 
 (June 1, 1889.) 
 
 AT the last meeting of the Zoological Society for 
 scientific business, Mr. Sclater called attention to 
 a specimen of a leaf-insect, living in the Society's 
 Insect-house, which had been received from the 
 Seychelles, and presented by Lord Walsingham. 
 He described it as not quite fully developed, but 
 believed it to be referable to Phi/Ilium gellonus, 
 Gray. This is an extremely interesting addition 
 to the Society's collection, and will doubtless, 
 as its presence becomes known, induce many 
 persons to pay a visit to the Insect-house. 
 
 The leaf-insects, of which but few species are 
 known, belong to the same family (Phasimidae) as 
 the stick-insects, and both are marvellous illustra- 
 tions of mimicry in nature. They are all of them 
 nocturnal in their habits, and spend their days 
 resting on trees and bushes, the leaves of which 
 form their food, and their resemblance respec- 
 tively to the leaves and twigs is so extraordinary 
 
The Leaf-Insect. 125 
 
 that it is not surprising that they escape the 
 observation of their enemies. 
 
 The leaf -insects are most singular; the head 
 and part of the thorax form a stalk, while the 
 abdomen, which is flat, thin, and much dilated, 
 exactly resembles a leaf. The legs, which are six 
 in number, have broad membranous appendages 
 on the thighs, and these are especially noticeable 
 on the fore-legs; the result being that the 
 creature, while resting immovable, has the 
 appearance of a leaf which has been gnawed on 
 both sides by a caterpillar. In the insect at 
 the Zoo this resemblance is most exact, and the 
 illusion is heightened by the colouring, which 
 makes it appear slightly withered at the edges. 
 
 It is the habit of the insect to hang back 
 downwards, with the abdomen slightly curled up, 
 and, to quote Mr. Murray, " this habit brings to 
 light another beautiful contrivance for still further 
 heightening its resemblance to a leaf. The upper 
 surface is opaque green, the under surface glossy 
 glittering green, just the reverse of the myrtle 
 or guava leaf, so that by reversing its position, 
 it brings the glossy side up and the dull side 
 down." 
 
 The eggs of the Phasimida9, which are few in 
 number, are large, and covered with a horny 
 shell, at the end of which there is a distinct 
 operculum, and are deposited singly. The insect 
 attains a considerable amount of development 
 before emerging. Mr. Murray tells us that, " after 
 
126 The Leaf-Insect. 
 
 having reached the form of a six-legged, jointed 
 insect, it emerges from the egg by pushing off the 
 lid. It comes out middle foremost that is, its 
 head and tail are packed downwards so as to meet 
 each other. The back between these first appears, 
 and they are drawn out next ; the legs are extri- 
 cated last. The colour of the insect at this stage 
 is a reddish yellow, something of the hue of a 
 half-dried beech leaf ; for it is to be observed 
 that, although the colour of the insect varies at 
 different periods of its life, it always more or less 
 resembles a leaf at some stage. When it has once 
 settled to eat the leaves on which it is placed, the 
 body speedily becomes bright green." 
 
 The leaf-insect at the Zoo is confined in a glass 
 case in the Insect-house facing the door, and is 
 supplied with a small orange tree on which to 
 rest ; the orange is, however, not one of its food- 
 plants, as it refuses to eat the leaves. On its first 
 arrival considerable difficulty was experienced, as 
 the proper plant on which to feed it was unknown, 
 and though many experiments were made they 
 were unsuccessful, as the insect refused everything 
 that was offered to it. At length, however, a dry 
 leaf, discovered in the box in which it arrived, was 
 referred to the authorities at Kew Gardens, who 
 solved the mystery, and it is now supplied with 
 its proper food, and, we believe, feeds well. 
 
 Specimens of the leaf-insect are not uncommon 
 in collections ; but, after death, the green colour is 
 lost, and the whole insect acquires a yellowish- 
 
The Leaf -Insect. 127 
 
 brown tint, much the colour of a dry leaf. Living 
 specimens, however, are by no means common, 
 and we believe the present species to be even less 
 common than Phi/Ilium siccifolium, of which, 
 according to the Rev. J. Gr. Wood, " specimens 
 have been hatched in England, have passed into 
 their perfect state, and have lived for some 
 eighteen months/' 
 
THE PRAYING-MANTIS. 
 
 (June 14, 1890.) 
 
 WE have always considered it matter for regret 
 that hard fate, in the shape of want of room and 
 the necessity for a sunny spot with a southern 
 aspect, should have compelled the Society to build 
 their Insect House in such an extremely out-of- 
 the-way corner of the Gardens as that which it 
 occupies, as from its position comparatively few 
 visitors find their way to it, in spite of the fact 
 that it always contains many very interesting 
 animals. Though it is known as the " Insect 
 House," its inhabitants are not entirely confined to 
 insects, or indeed even to invertebrates, as among 
 them are several birds, and two or three examples 
 of the electric eel of South America. Still, inver- 
 tebrates very largely predominate, and a very good 
 and extremely interesting collection they are. As, 
 indeed, would naturally be expected, the inhabi- 
 tants of this house are at their best during the 
 summer months, and at the present time the house 
 contains several more than usually interesting 
 animals, in addition to the Lepidoptera (butterflies 
 and moths), which alone always well repay a visit. 
 
The Praying-Mantis. 129 
 
 Among these we may mention a Tarantula, just 
 received of which it may be remarked parenthe- 
 tically that it is not an insect, notwithstanding the 
 popular belief that all " spiders " are insects and 
 two specimens of the Praying-mantis (Empusa 
 pauperata), a native of the South of Europe, also 
 received within a week or so, of which latter alone 
 we propose to treat in this article. 
 
 The Mantidse belong to the order Orthoptera, 
 one of the " oldest families," be it observed, in the 
 insect world, tracing their descent back to the 
 Upper Devonian period, and are somewhat nearly 
 related to the stick and leaf insects (Phasmidse), 
 and, like them, afford a marvellous illustration of 
 protective mimicry in nature, their resemblance to 
 the leaves and twigs being so great that it is 
 almost impossible to notice them when they are at 
 rest upon the plants which they frequent. They 
 are most extraordinary-looking creatures, but can 
 be easily distinguished from their relations, the 
 Phasmidae, by the peculiar structure of their fore- 
 legs, which are long and thick, and marvellously 
 adapted for seizing flies and other insects on which 
 they feed. The femora are thick, grooved on the 
 underside, and furnished with a double row of 
 spines, while the tibiae, which are by comparison 
 slender, are also armed with spines on the under- 
 side, and are so constructed as to close upon the 
 femora " as the blade of a pocket-knife does upon 
 its handle. The efficiency of this implement is 
 shown not only in seizing small insects, which 
 
 K 
 
130 The Pray ing -Mantis. 
 
 become an easy prey, but in the combats which the 
 Mantidse carry on with each other, for a dexterous 
 application of it decapitates an opponent as ex- 
 peditiously as could be done by a guillotine." 
 These powerful raptorial legs are attached to the 
 extremity of the prothorax, which is very long and 
 capable of being raised nearly at a right angle to 
 the body, which gives them much the appearance 
 of arms. The other two pairs of legs are slender 
 and are used entirely for walking, and in the genus 
 Empusa, as may be seen in the specimens in the 
 Zoo, the thighs are ornamented at the ends with 
 curious little leaf -like expansions. 
 
 In all the Mantidae the head, which is triangular, 
 is attached vertically to the thorax by a distinct 
 neck in Empusa it is decorated by a long horn- 
 like projection of the forehead and is furnished 
 with large oval eyes, and the curious manner in 
 which the creatures turn their heads in all directions 
 intently watching the movements of anything near 
 them is most striking. 
 
 The Mantidge are noticeable, not only for their 
 structural peculiarities, but also for the fact that 
 they are living and walking exponents of the truth 
 that the world is governed by appearances, as from 
 very ancient times wherever they are found that 
 is, throughout the warmer regions of the world 
 they have been credited with piety, meekness, and 
 all good qualities, whereas in truth they are the 
 most bloodthirsty creatures imaginable. This 
 extremely mistaken estimate of their character has 
 
The Praying-Mantis. 131 
 
 arisen from the fact that, especially as they move 
 slowly about, the thorax is raised, as we have said, 
 at an angle to the body, and the large raptorial 
 legs are carried extended and raised thus fanci- 
 fully imitating, or rather caricaturing, the position 
 of a person whose hands are elapsed in prayer. 
 In many parts of the world they are still regarded 
 with superstitious reverence, and extraordinary 
 stories are told of them for example, they are 
 believed to be able to indicate coming events., 
 whence their names of f ' soothsayers " or " prophets," 
 and in the South of Europe the Praying-mantis is 
 supposed to direct any lost wayfarer, especially a 
 child, into the right way ; as Kondelet puts it : 
 "Puero interroganti de via altero pede extento 
 rectam monstrat, atque rare vel nunquam fallit." 
 Another legend is to the effect that " St. Francis 
 Xavier, on seeing a mantis moving slowly along 
 with its fore-legs raised as if in devotion, desired 
 it to sing the praises of God, which it immediately 
 did in a very beautiful canticle." Again, we are 
 told that among the Hottentots "the individual 
 upon whom one happens to alight is supposed to 
 have a peculiar degree of sanctity imparted to 
 him, and to be a special favourite of heaven." As 
 we before remarked, however, all this reverence is 
 sorely misplaced, the whole of the creature's life 
 being spent in murder and rapine ; for, being 
 <c fierce, cruel, gormandizing wretches, so far from 
 indulging, as has been fondly supposed, in a state 
 of religious abstraction, they are continually ( ' seek- 
 K 2 
 
132 The Praying-Mantis. 
 
 ing what they may devour/ 7 and the very position 
 which has given them a reputation for sanctity is 
 only assumed to enable them the more readily to 
 seize any unfortunate insect that may come within 
 their reach ; and they are by no means particular 
 what that insect may be, as they will with the 
 greatest readiness seize and devour one of their 
 own species, particularly if smaller and weaker 
 than themselves. It is, therefore, not surprising 
 that they are most pugnacious, and indulge in the 
 fiercest encounters on the least possible provoca- 
 tion or, indeed, without any apparent provocation 
 at all when " their manoeuvres very much resemble 
 those of hussars fighting with sabres, and some- 
 times one cleaves the other through at a single 
 stroke, or severs the head from the body. During 
 these engagements the wings are generally ex- 
 panded, and when the battle is over the conqueror 
 devours his antagonist." The performance is 
 curious and amusing, the peculiar shape and 
 carriage of the insects giving them the appearance 
 of dancing with one another. In China and the 
 East we are told that they are fought, like game- 
 cocks, for wagers. The following extract from the 
 work of an American authority says much for their 
 power of endurance : ' f We have seen a female 
 decapitated, and with her body partly eaten, slip 
 away from another that was devouring her, and 
 for over an hour afterwards fight as tenaciously 
 and with as much nonchalance as though nothing 
 had happened ." 
 
The Praying-Mantis. 133 
 
 It is, perhaps, needless to say, the character of 
 the Mantidae being such as it is, that the two 
 specimens at the Zoo are not confined in the same 
 case, as were they placed together the Society 
 would in all probability very shortly possess but 
 one only. They are of different ages, one having 
 arrived at the perfect winged state of maturity, 
 while the other is much more youthful, and it is 
 interesting to compare the two examples. Like all 
 the Orthoptera, the young Mantidge came into the 
 world fully equipped with six legs, and, except that 
 they are much smaller, differ very little in shape 
 and general appearance from their parents ; their 
 wings, however, are entirely wanting. The changes 
 in their development from the larval stage to that 
 of the perfect insect are gradual, being carried out 
 by a series of moults, during which the wings, 
 which first appear under the skin behind the pro- 
 thorax, increase in size with each successive moult 
 until they attain their full development in the 
 perfect insect. And their wings have this peculi- 
 arity, that the upper pair, the tegmina, are hard, 
 and form a covering for the under pair, which 
 latter are so constructed that when the insect is at 
 rest they fold together like a fan. Both tegmina 
 and wings are longer than the abdomen, upon 
 which they rest horizontally, the tegmina being 
 placed one over the other. Though not possessing 
 wings, the young Mantidae are blessed with 
 voracious appetites, and are fully as fierce and 
 bloodthirsty as their elders qualities which they 
 
!B4s The Pray ing -Mantis. 
 
 soon display by attacking one another. They are 
 produced from eggs, which are laid by the parent 
 insect in clusters, inclosed in an envelope, which, 
 soft when produced, becomes hard by exposure to 
 the air, and are attached to the twigs and stalks of 
 plants. 
 
 A Mantis, notwithstanding its evil habits, or 
 rather, perhaps, on account of them, is a charming 
 pet, if the expression is allowable in reference to 
 an insect, its " tricks and its manners" being most 
 amusing. No doubt, to be seen in perfection, it 
 must be kept in its native country as, indeed, is 
 the case with all inhabitants of the warmer parts 
 of the globe ; but even here, if carefully brought 
 over and so received in good health, and kept 
 warm and well supplied with food, we know no 
 animal of its size from which so much amusement 
 can be derived. 
 
STICK-INSECTS. 
 
 (June 22, 1889.) 
 
 WE are sorry to say that the leaf-insect lately 
 presented to the Society by Lord Walsingham is 
 dead ; and this fact is the more to be regretted as 
 during the present week a considerable number of 
 stick-insects have hatched out in the insect-house. 
 Had it survived, it would have been interesting to 
 see side by side living specimens of these very 
 nearly allied, though to the casual observer 
 extremely dissimilar, forms. 
 
 The leaf -insects, spectres, or walking sticks, 
 though the number of species is not large, are 
 widely distributed, being found not only throughout 
 the Tropics, but extending their range into more 
 temperate regions; for example, the eggs from 
 which the insects now in the Zoo were hatched 
 were brought from Canada, the species (Diaphe- 
 mora femorata) to which they belong ranging 
 throughout the North and North- West of the 
 United States and through parts of the Dominion. 
 Again, two species are found in the South of 
 Europe, occurring in Italy and the South of 
 France. As may be readily imagined, the tropical 
 species are by far the largest, some of them 
 
136 Stick-Insects. 
 
 attaining to a length of nine or ten inches. The 
 insects in the Gardens, however, will not, when 
 full grown, be more than three or four inches in 
 length, belonging, as they do, to one of the 
 comparatively small species. At the present time 
 they are most curious little creatures, bright green 
 in colour, barely an inch in length from the tips of 
 their out-stretched forelegs to the ends of their 
 abdomens, and have a singularly attenuated 
 appearance. They are kept in a glass-case, the 
 bottom of which is filled with growing grass ; on 
 this, when first hatched, they seem to rest, and 
 there easily escape notice. They are supplied with 
 a small branch of hazel, on the leaves of which 
 they feed. Many of them, however, leave the 
 cover of the plants and wander to the top of their 
 case, where they are very noticeable; they are able 
 to do this, as the formation of their feet makes it 
 easy for them to walk on smooth surfaces. Like 
 the whole of their order Orthoptera these 
 insects undergo an imperfect metamorphosis ; that is 
 to say, they are hatched from the egg in a form 
 closely resembling that of their parents. They 
 come into the world fully equipped with three 
 pairs of legs, which retain their shape with but 
 little, if any, alteration, during the creature's 
 existence, and all of which are walking limbs, in 
 which they differ from those of the Mantidae, a 
 family of raptorial insects nearly allied to the 
 Phasmidae, whose forelegs are adapted for seizing 
 their prey. At all stages of their existence they 
 
8 tick-Insects. 137 
 
 closely resemble sticks and twigs, either green and 
 growing or brown and withered, from which fact 
 they obtain their names of stick - insects, or 
 walking sticks ; their other 'name spectre is 
 doubtless the result of their skeleton-like shape 
 and slow, stealthy movement. 
 
 This is not the first time that stick-insects have 
 been hatched in the Society's Gardens. About 
 four years ago several specimens of one of the 
 large Asiatic species were kept safely through all 
 their stages and arrived at maturity, and one at 
 least of them deposited her eggs, and we have it on 
 the authority of the keeper of the Insectorium, 
 who observed the insects closely while under his 
 charge, that the process was most peculiar. The 
 eggs, as is the case in all the family, were deposited 
 singly ; but, instead of being dropped directly on 
 the ground on which the animal was resting, they 
 were jerked forward over its head by an upward 
 and forward movement of the end of the abdomen. 
 As we have said, a considerable number of the 
 insects have now been safely hatched, and, there- 
 fore, we have every reason to hope that some at 
 least will grow to maturity, in which case it will be 
 extremely interesting to watch their development, 
 and we may further hope that one or two at least 
 may safely deposit their eggs, from which in turn 
 a new generation may be brought forth. 
 
THE COCOS-NUT CRAB. 
 
 (July 13, 1889.) 
 
 AMONG the additions to the menagerie during the 
 m onth of June is a Cocos-nut crab Birgua latro 
 which was presented to the Society on the 14th of 
 the month, and is " new to the collection."' It is 
 officially described as from " India/' a vague, and 
 in our opinion, unsatisfactory, description of its 
 habitat. It can be seen in the Insect-house, 
 where it is kept in a large glass case. It is a land- 
 crab belonging to the same family Anomoura, 
 or irregular-tailed crabs as the hermit-crabs, a 
 family which forms the connecting link between the 
 crabs and lobsters. 
 
 This species grows to a large size. The carapace 
 has been well described as being "somewhat in the 
 form of a reversed heart, with the apex pointing 
 forward." The first pair of legs are armed with 
 strong toothed pincers, or knob-claws, the left 
 being larger than the right ; the second and third 
 pairs terminate in single nails ; while the fourth 
 and fifth have pincers, but they are small and 
 very weak in fact, the fifth pair of legs may 
 almost be described as rudimentary. Its colour 
 is most peculiar, and was well described by a lady 
 
The Cocos~Nut Grab. 139 
 
 we overheard at the Zoo as being exactly the tint 
 of a pickling cabbage. Its appearance is far from 
 prepossessing ; indeed it is no exaggeration to say 
 that it is as evil-looking and uncanny a creature as 
 can be found in the Gardens. 
 
 Darwin,, who describes these crabs as being 
 found on coral islands, saw them in large numbers 
 on Keeling Island, and the following are extracts 
 from his extremely interesting account of them. 
 He says: "Keeling Island has no quadruped 
 excepting the pig, and no vegetable in quantity 
 except the cocoanut. On it the pigs, which are 
 loaded with fat, almost entirely subsist, as likewise 
 do the poultry and ducks. Even a huge land- 
 crab is furnished by nature with a curious instinct 
 and form of legs to open and feed upon this same 
 fruit. It is very common on all parts of the dry 
 land, and grows to a monstrous size. . ... . It 
 
 would at first be thought quite impossible for a 
 crab to open a strong cocoanut covered with the 
 husk; but Mr. Leisk, one of the two British 
 residents, assures me he has repeatedly seen the 
 operation effected. The crab begins by tearing 
 the husk, fibre by fibre, and always from that end 
 under which the eyeholes are situated. When this 
 is completed the crab commences hammering with 
 its heavy claws on one of those eyeholes till an 
 opening is made ; then, turning round its body, by 
 the aid of its posterior pair of narrow pincers it 
 extracts the white albuminous substance. I think 
 this is as curious a case of instinct as I ever beard 
 
140 The Cocos-Nut Crab. 
 
 of, and likewise of adaptation in structure between 
 two objects apparently so remote from each other 
 in the scheme of nature as a crab and a cocoanut- 
 tree." He further tells us that these crabs visit 
 the sea every night, no doubt for the purpose of 
 moistening their branchiae; that the young are 
 hatched and live for some time on the coast; and 
 that they " inhabit deep burrows, which they 
 excavate beneath the roots of the cocoanut trees, 
 and here they accumulate surprising quantities of 
 the picked fibres of the cocoanut-husk, on which 
 they rest as on a bed. The Malays sometimes take 
 advantage of their labour by collecting the coarse 
 fibrous substance and using it as junk." 
 
 These crabs are alleged by the natives to climb 
 cocoanut-trees in the night to get the cocoanuts 
 a story which was believed by both Linnaeus and 
 Cuvier, but of which Darwin wrote, " 1 very much 
 doubt the possibility of this." However, Cuming, 
 who found them " sufficiently abundant" in Lord 
 Hood's Island in the Pacific, stated that they 
 climbed Pandanus odoratissimus the Screw-pine 
 for the purpose of feeding on the small nuts 
 that grow on it, and that he had seen them in the 
 trees; and, no doubt, some species of Anomoura 
 are great climbers. However this may be, there 
 is little doubt that the only cocoanuts they eat are 
 those which have fallen to the ground. Cuming 
 also tells us that " when he met them in his road 
 they set themselves up in a threatening attitude, 
 and then retreated backwards, making, both at 
 
The Gocos-Nut Crab. 141 
 
 first and afterwards, a great snapping with their 
 pincers." These crabs are said to be excellent 
 eating when properly prepared, and under the tail 
 of the larger ones there is a great mass of fat 
 which, when melted, sometimes yields as much as 
 a quart of limpid oil. 
 
 The specimen now in the Zoo is, as we have 
 said, kept in a large glass case, the bottom of 
 which is covered for a considerable thickness with 
 moist sandy gravel, in which it delights to burrow, 
 making as deep a hole as possible to rest in. It 
 is fed on bananas, four or five of which are given 
 to it every evening, and all of which, as the 
 keeper informs us, have invariably disappeared 
 by the morning. It appears to attract but little 
 attention from the general visitors to the Insect- 
 house, but few of whom are apparently aware that 
 it is not only new to the collection, but also a rare 
 and very interesting animal. 
 
TARANTULAS. 
 
 (Aug. 2, 1890.) 
 
 IN June last we remarked parenthetically, in our 
 notice of the praying mantis, that a tarantula had 
 been received by the Society, and was then in the 
 Insect House. This animal, however, was very 
 short-lived, dying within a few days of its arrival. 
 We are, therefore, glad to say that the loss has 
 been much more than repaired by the arrival in 
 Regent's Park of not less than five of these 
 gigantic spiders, which, though all known as 
 tarantulas, belong to two different families, 
 Mygalidse and Lycosidas. There is a solitary 
 specimen of the former, and four specimens of 
 the latter. They are respectively labelled as 
 "Brazilian Tarantula, My gale sp. ?, Brazil," and 
 <f Deserta Tarantula, Lycosa nigra, Deserta 
 Grande, Madiera." The first of these was pur- 
 chased by and the others presented to the 
 Society, the last, at least, being, we believe, 
 " new to the collection." 
 
 The Mygalidae have a considerable range ; but 
 the larger of them, which are truly gigantic 
 spiders, are found only in warmer parts of the 
 world tropical America and the West Indies 
 
Tarantulas: 143 
 
 being specially favoured by them. Among the 
 smaller species which are found in Europe are 
 the well-known trapdoor spiders, specimens of 
 which are generally living in the Zoo, but, owing 
 to their burrowing and nocturnal habits, can 
 rarely, if ever, be seen; and also one species 
 found in England, principally in the South, which 
 constructs a curious dwelling consisting of a silk- 
 lined tube or gallery, which takes at first a hori- 
 zontal and then a vertical direction, the mouth 
 being covered by a curtain formed of a continua- 
 tion of the silken lining. At present, however, 
 we are only concerned with the large American 
 species. These, as a rule, do not burrow, but live 
 in crevices in the bark of trees, and in hollows 
 among rocks and stones, where they make a sort 
 of silken case as a home. They are generally 
 nocturnal in their habits, pursuing their prey in 
 the evening and during the night, and appear to 
 be by no means particular what they attack, 
 though, no doubt, insects and other arthropods 
 form the bulk of their food. According to the 
 older authors, however, they are much given to 
 destroying and feeding on birds, whence their 
 name of bird-catching spiders, and the specific 
 name of Avicularia given by Linnaeus to one 
 species. Mme. Merian figured and described one 
 of these spiders, which she declared was in the 
 habit of surprising small birds on their nests and 
 sucking their blood with avidity. 
 
 Mr. Bates, in his "Naturalist on the Elver 
 
144 Tarantulas. 
 
 Amazons/' tells us that, though he found the 
 circumstance to be quite a novelty to the residents 
 on the banks of the Para Kiver, he was able to 
 (f verify a fact relating to the habits of a large 
 hairy spider of the genus Mygale, in a manner 
 worth recording." The following is his account of 
 what he saw : " The spider was M. avicularia, or 
 one very closely allied to it ; the individual was 
 nearly two inches in length of body, but the legs 
 expanded seven inches, and the entire body and 
 legs were covered with coarse grey and reddish 
 hairs. I was attracted by a movement of the 
 monster on a tree-trunk ; it was close beneath a 
 deep crevice in the tree, across which was stretched 
 a dense white web. The lower part of the web 
 was broken, and two small birds finches were 
 entangled in the pieces ; they were about the 
 size of the English siskin, and I judged the two 
 to be male and female. One of them was quite 
 dead ; the other lay under the body of the spider 
 not quite dead, and was smeared with the filthy 
 liquor or saliva exuded by the monster. I drove 
 away the spider, and took the birds; but the 
 second one soon died." This author also gives 
 the following particulars of these spiders, which 
 he describes as " quite common :" " Some species 
 make their cells under stones, others form artistical 
 tunnels in the earth, and some build their dens in 
 the thatch of houses. The natives call them 
 Aranhas Carangueijeiras, or crab-spiders. The 
 hairs with which they are clothed come off when 
 
Tarantulas. 145 
 
 touched, and cause a peculiar and almost maddening 
 irritation. The first specimen that I killed and 
 prepared was handled incautiously, and I suffered 
 terribly for three days afterwards. I think this is 
 not owing to any poisonous quality residing in the 
 hairs, but to their being short and hard, and thus 
 getting into the creases of the skin." After this 
 description it is curious to find that the Indian 
 children make pets of these creatures. Yet Mr. 
 Bates relates that one day he saw some Indian 
 children " with one of these monsters secured by a 
 cord round its waist, by which they were leading it 
 about the house as they would a dog/ 5 
 
 In confinement these tarantulas are fed princi- 
 pally on cockroaches and meal-worms. The speci- 
 men now in the Zoo is a large and sufficiently 
 terrible-looking spider, though it is, we believe, by 
 no means full grown. It is of a deep glossy black, 
 with the exception of its abdomen, the longer hairs 
 on which are a rich orange red ; it keeps itself 
 concealed during the day, for which purpose it is 
 supplied with two small flower-pots and a quantity 
 of moss, but if disturbed, it shows considerable 
 activity and every desire to attack the intruder on 
 its privacy. 
 
 Like the Mygalidae, the Lycosidae or wolf-spiders, 
 to which family the Deserta tarantula belongs, have 
 a very wide range, and the different species vary 
 much in size, though none of them are so large as 
 the larger members of the former family. Still 
 many of them, especially those inhabiting the 
 
 L 
 
146 Tarantulas. 
 
 warmer parts of the world, attain a very con- 
 siderable size, as indeed may be seen by anyone 
 visiting the Zoo at the present time. They differ 
 from the Mygalidse, however, not only in size but 
 also in general appearance ; as, for example a 
 point which will strike the least observant they 
 are by comparison hairless and, indeed, generally 
 more spider-like, though, be it observed, they are 
 by no means destitute of hair. They are wandering, 
 preying spiders capable of running with consider- 
 able swiftness, and, like the Mygalidae, many of 
 them are nocturnal in their habits, wandering 
 about after dark in pursuit of the insects on which 
 they feed. They live in holes, under stones, and 
 in crevices in rocks or walls, and some species are 
 fond of the water, on which they run in pursuit of 
 insects. 
 
 The most famous of all the wolf-spiders is the 
 tarantula of Southern Europe, Lycosa tarantula, 
 about which most extraordinary stories were told 
 by the older writers, many of which still cling to 
 every spider that can be called a tarantula, thus 
 causing the unfortunate animals to bear a worse 
 name than even they deserve. As a fact, the bite 
 of the tarantula is painful, but not dangerous ; yet 
 it was fully believed to be the cause of a sort of 
 hysterical dancing mania which appeared in an 
 epidemic form in Italy in the fourteenth century, 
 and spread all over the country, reaching its 
 height in the seventeenth century, after which it 
 gradually faded away. The following extract from 
 
Tarantulas. 147 
 
 Brookes's "Natural History" gives in detail the 
 symptoms which were supposed to result from the 
 bite of one of these spiders: ' f ln the summer- 
 months, particularly in the dog-days, the tarantula 
 creeping among the corn in the fields bites the 
 mowers and passengers. . . . The part which 
 is bitten is soon after discoloured with a livid black 
 or yellowish circle, attended with an inflammation. 
 At first the pain is scarcely felt ; but a few hours 
 after there comes on a violent sickness, difficulty of 
 breathing, fainting, and sometimes trembling. The 
 person who is bit after this does nothing but laugh, 
 dance, and skip about, putting himself into the 
 most extravagant postures; but this is not always 
 the case, for he is sometimes seized with a 
 dreadful melancholy. At the return of the 
 season in which he was bit his madness begins 
 again, and the patient always talks of the same 
 thing ; sometimes he fancies himself a shepherd, a 
 king, or any other character that comes into his 
 head, and he always talks in a very extravagant 
 manner. These troublesome symptoms return for 
 several years successively, and at length terminate 
 in death . . . this odd distemper is cured by 
 a remedy altogether as odd, which is musick; for 
 this only will give them ease, and they make use of 
 the violin in particular." The effect of the music 
 was to make the patient dance sometimes for three 
 or four hours, until he was " all over in a sweat, 
 which forced out the venom which did the mis- 
 chief." Dr. Hill, however, whose book was pub- 
 L 2 
 
148 Tarantulas. 
 
 lished earlier than that of Dr. Brookes, evidently 
 doubted the truth of the stories which were current 
 about the effect of the tarantula's bite, as he passed 
 over the subject with the remark, " As to the effect 
 of the poison they convey into the wound they make, 
 there seems yet room for much explanation about 
 it." The Deserta tarantulas are, as we have said, 
 much smaller and less hairy in appearance than the 
 Brazilian ; they are also differently coloured, being 
 black in ground colour, spotted and striped with a 
 light grey and white. Those now in Regent's Park 
 have no means provided for them to hide them- 
 selves, except a small plant in the middle of each 
 case, and can therefore nearly always be seen, each 
 of them sitting, generally in one of the corners of 
 the glass cases in which they are confined, appa- 
 rently screwed up into the smallest possible com- 
 pass as, indeed, is the habit of most spiders when 
 at rest. They are, however, very fond of the sun, 
 and when it shines they spread themselves out to 
 enjoy the warmth, and at such times are full of life 
 and vigour, and constantly on the look-out for prey, 
 leaping with great agility on any unfortunate insect 
 that may come near them. 
 
 Considering the fierce and brigand nature of all 
 tarantulas, it is, perhaps, needless to say that they 
 are each confined in a separate case, the five cases 
 being placed on the stand at the east end of the 
 Insect House. It is by no means an uncommon 
 event for a tarantula, or even tarantulas., to be 
 exhibited at the Zoo ; but the present specimens 
 
Tarantulas. 149 
 
 are particularly noticeable as belonging to un- 
 common, and, so far as the Society's collection is 
 concerned, new species. 
 
 Pepys mentions the musical cure for the bite of 
 the tarantula. " One Mr. Templer, a great tra- 
 veller and an ingenious man, and a person of 
 honour he seems to be," with whom he dined at 
 my Lord Crewe's, after telling him a wonderful 
 story of a " serpent " and a lark, the scene of 
 which was laid in the "waste places of Lanca- 
 shire," speaking of the tarantula, informed him 
 that " all the harvest long (about which times they 
 are most busy) there are fiddlers go up and down 
 the fields everywhere, in expectation of being hired 
 by those that are stung." 
 
LEPIDOSIRENS. 
 
 (Oct. 19, 1889.) 
 
 THE Manatee is dead, and its tank in the Reptile 
 House is now occupied by Lepidosirens, or African 
 mud-fish (Lepidosiren annectens). Thus one very 
 old-world form has given way to another immeasur- 
 ably older j for these fish are representatives of the 
 Dipnoi a type reaching back to the time when the 
 Devonian rocks were in course of formation. The 
 Dipnoi, once extremely plentiful and widely dis- 
 tributed, are now represented by four species only 
 Lepidosiren paradoxa, a very rare American 
 species, an inhabitant of the river Amazon and its 
 tributaries, of which little is known; two species 
 of Ceratodus or Barrmunda, plentiful in the 
 Burnett, Dawson, and Mary rivers in Queensland ; 
 and Lepidosiren annectens, the African species, 
 specimens of which are now living in the Zoo. 
 The last-named is by far the commonest and most 
 widely distributed, being found throughout the 
 whole of tropical Africa, in the Upper Nile, in the 
 Central Lake region in some parts of which, 
 Baker tells us, it is eaten by the natives both fresh 
 and dried 011 the Zambesi, and in all the rivers of 
 
Lepidosirens. 151 
 
 the West Coast. Little was known of these 
 animals until the year 1837, in which year this 
 species was described by Professor Owen under 
 the name Protopterus ; while in the same year Dr. 
 Natterer published an account of the allied 
 American species under the name Lepidosiren 
 parodoxa ; after which Professor Owen, considering 
 that both species must be referred to the same genus, 
 adopted Dr. Natterer's generic name, and called the 
 African species Lepidosiren annectens, the name 
 still in general use and adopted by the Zoological 
 Society. Authorities, however, are not agreed, as 
 Dr. Giinther, as we find by reference to the 
 collection of fishes in the British Museum, is of 
 opinion that the African form should more 
 correctly be described as Protopterus annectens, 
 and that it is generically distinct from the 
 American Lepidosiren. 
 
 From the point of view of ordinary visitors to 
 the Zoo the change from the manatee, or 
 " mermaid," as many of them, preferred to call it, 
 to the Lepidosiren, is eminently uninteresting, and 
 many are the expressions of disappointment called 
 forth by the sight of what is apparently considered 
 to be some species of eel in the place of the 
 expected "mermaid." Yet though so generally 
 treated with contempt, and passed by with a mere 
 glance, Lepidosiren is a creature of more than 
 ordinary interest. In appearance it certainly bears 
 some faint resemblance to an eel, or better still, to 
 an eel-pout, in that its body is somewhat eel- 
 
152 Lepidosirens. 
 
 shaped, but here the resemblance ends. One 
 difference between the Lepidosiren and the eel 
 must strike the least observant namely, that the 
 former has four limbs, occupying the places of the 
 pectoral and ventral fins in other fishes, which, to 
 quote Professor Owen, (( are round, filiform, gradu- 
 ally attenuated to an undivided point, resembling 
 tentacles or feelers rather than fins or legs/' and 
 are the simplest form of limb known. Though 
 they have no other very noticeable outward 
 peculiarities, the Lepidosirens are very remarkable 
 creatures, approximating to the amphibia, and 
 possessing in reality far more peculiarities than 
 it is possible even to mention in an article of this 
 description. A few, however, of the most 
 important must be given. The respiratory organs 
 consist not only of gills, but also of lungs, or 
 rather lung-like sacs ; the skeleton is very peculiar, 
 being partly cartilaginous and partly bony, the 
 bony part being green, as in the common gar-fish ; 
 the dentition is also very peculiar, the jaws being 
 armed with two conical and slightly recurved 
 teeth and with strong dental plates on both the 
 upper and lower sides of the mouth ; and, lastly, 
 the nostrils, of which there are two pairs, are 
 placed within the opening of the mouth, and 
 these nostrils by their structure determine the 
 class to which the Lepidosiren belongs; for, as 
 Professor Owen says, "in the organ of smell we 
 have at last a character which is absolute in 
 reference to the distinction of fishes from reptiles. 
 
Lepidosirens. 153 
 
 In every fish it is a short sac communicating only 
 with the external surface ; in every reptile it is a 
 canal with both an external and an internal 
 opening. According to this test, the Lepidosiren 
 is a fish ; by its nose it is known not to be a reptile ; 
 in other words it may be said that the Lepidosiren 
 is proved to be a fish not by its gills, not by its air 
 bladders, not by its spinal intestine, not by its 
 unossified skeleton, not by its generative apparatus, 
 nor its extremities, nor its skin, nor its eyes, nor its 
 ears, but simply by its nose ; so that at the close of 
 our analysis we arrive at this very unexpected 
 result, that a reptile is not characterised by its 
 lungs nor a fish by its gills, but that the only 
 unexceptionable distinction is afforded by tbe 
 organ of smell." 
 
 Though Lepidosirens are without doubt fishes, 
 they spend a considerable part of their existence 
 out of the water, as they inhabit shallow waters 
 which periodically dry up. During the dry season 
 they enclose themselves in balls of clay, which are 
 lined with mucus, and have small holes at either 
 end to admit the air. In these they remain torpid 
 until the rains refill their pools, when they emerge 
 and resume their existence in the water. The 
 balls of hardened clay enclosing the fishes in a 
 torpid condition are sometimes brought to this 
 country, and specimens of them may be seen in the 
 British Museum. These fishes are said never to 
 leave the water voluntarily ; but from time to time 
 they rise to the surface to fill their lungs with 
 
154 Lepidosirens. 
 
 a fresh supply of air, a habit which cannot escape 
 the notice of anyone watching those in the Keptile 
 House. The Australian Ceratodus, on the con- 
 trary^ is believed to go out among the reeds and 
 rushes on the flats which are left uncovered by the 
 tide. Lepidosirens attain a length of from three 
 to six feet ; they are carnivorous, feeding on frogs, 
 fishes, and other aquatic animals. The specimens 
 in the Zoo, however, are small, averaging about a 
 foot in length, and are fed on small fishes. 
 
CHAMELEONS. 
 
 (Aug. 30, 1890.) 
 
 THE chameleon is one of nature's strangest pro- 
 ductions ; it belongs to the great order of liznrds, 
 an order which is divided into a large number of 
 families, and comprises many hundreds of species 
 which exhibit a great variety of form and structure, 
 none of them, however, showing such a degree 
 of specialisation as the chameleon. Its curious 
 uncanny appearance, to say nothing of its power 
 of changing colour which, be it observed, is not, 
 as is generally supposed, peculiar to itself, but is 
 possessed, though not in so marked a degree, by 
 other species of lizards have made it an object 
 of interest and wonder to mankind from the 
 earliest times, and all sorts of fabulous stories 
 have been told of it, some of them having a 
 foundation in fact, but the majority, as is usual in 
 such cases, being nothing but the purest invention. 
 The chameleons have by no means a large range, 
 the greater number of species being natives of 
 Africa and Madagascar the latter country alone 
 possessing more than twenty species though one 
 or two are found in Asia Minor, India, and Ceylon. 
 
156 Chameleons. 
 
 Among the many amusing and interesting 
 accounts of these animals which are to be found 
 scattered up and down the literature of natural 
 history, certainly neither the least amusing nor 
 interesting is " The Anatomical Description of a 
 Camelion," to be found in certain " Memoirs for a 
 Natural History of Animals/' containing the 
 anatomical description of several creatures dis- 
 sected by the Eoyal Academy of sciences at Paris, 
 done into English by a fellow of the R.S., and 
 published by order of the Council of the Royal 
 Society in 1701. A work which, though probably 
 little known, appears to have held its own for 
 many years as the great authority on the subject 
 with which it treats, as we find Dr. Brookes, in 1763 
 boldly plagiarising it. The writer had evidently 
 carefully observed a chameleon, which he tells us 
 was an "Egyptian one, which is the greatest of 
 all," both in life and by dissection after death, the 
 result of his observations being that he wrote an 
 extremely interesting treatise containing much 
 excellent matter. Many of his remarks and 
 deductions, however, are very quaint, and of 
 these alone, rather than of his facts, we propose 
 to treat. Asa preface, he says that " there is 
 scarce any animal more Famous than the Camelioii, 
 its admirable Properties have ever been the sub- 
 ject as well of Natural as Moral Philosophy. 
 The changing of its colour, and the particular 
 manner of feeding which is attributed to it, have 
 in all Ages given great Admiration and Exercise 
 
Chameleons. 157 
 
 to those that do apply themselves to the Know- 
 ledge of Nature. And those Wonders which 
 Naturalists have related of this inconsiderable 
 Animal have made it to be the most Famous 
 Symbole used in Bhetorick and Ethicks, to repre- 
 sent the base compliance of Courtiers and 
 Flatterers, and the Vanity wherewith simple and 
 light Minds do feed themselves. Its very name 
 in Tertullian is the subject of a Serious Meditation 
 upon False-glory, and he proposes it as the 
 Example of the Impudence of Cheats and 
 Boasters." After this diatribe our author pro- 
 ceeds to deal with the animal's name in the 
 following quaint manner : " It is not known truly 
 why the Greeks have bestowed so fine a Name 
 upon so vile and ugly a Beast by calling it the 
 Little-Lyon, orDwarf-Lyon according to Isidore's 
 Etymology. Gesner says that it somewhat 
 resembles the Lyon, without mentioning wherein. 
 Panarolus would have it the Tail, which is crooked 
 at the end, as he says, like the Lyons ; But the 
 Truth is, that neither the Camelion nor the Lyon 
 have a crooked Tail. . . . Licetus thinks that 
 this name was given it, because as the Lyon 
 Hunts and devours other Animals, so the Came- 
 lion catches Flies ; by the same reason that a little 
 Worm which hunts and takes Ants, as Albertus 
 has described, is called Formicaleon." The 
 following is his amusing account of the animal 
 and its habits : " The Camelion is of the kinde 
 of four-footed Beasts, which do lay eggs, as the 
 
158 Chameleons. 
 
 Crocodile and Lizard, which it sufficiently 
 resembles, save that its Head and Back is not 
 flat, like the Lizard's who has likewise much 
 shorter leggs, with which it crawls very fast along 
 the ground; whereas the Camelion has longer 
 leggs, and goes easily only upon Trees, where it 
 delights it self much more than on the ground ; 
 because, that as it is sayd it fears the serpents, 
 from which it cannot secure it selfe by flight, 
 and that from thence it spies them, watching the 
 opportunity when they do pass, or sleep under 
 him, to kill them with his Foam which he lets 
 fall upon them." Its "foam," however, does not 
 appear as its only weapon against " serpents"; 
 for our author, after correctly describing the 
 animal's teeth, which he says <f to us appeared not 
 at all serviceable to it in eating ; because that it 
 swallowed the Flyes and other insects which it 
 catched, without chewing them," adds, " ^Elian 
 says that it defends it self against the Serpent, by 
 the help of a great Stick which it takes in its 
 Mouth ; and its probable that its Teeth may serve 
 to hold it fast ; but it is to be understood that it 
 holds it cross-wise, to hinder the Serpent from 
 swallowing him up, as it usually do's Frogs and 
 Lizards whole ; For there is no possibility of 
 explaining this place of ^Elian as Gesner and 
 Aldrovandus do, who think that the Camelion 
 makes use of this Stick as of a Buckler or Sword 
 wherewith it defends it self against the Serpent as 
 a Fencer would do ; for it is not nimble enough for 
 
Chameleons. 159 
 
 that." Of its method of progression we are told 
 "Its pace was slower than that of a Tortoise, 
 and seemed very Ridiculous, in that its Leggs 
 being not short and incumbered like those of the 
 Tortoise, but very loos and free, it carried them 
 with a kind of gravity which seemed affected, 
 because needless. Wherefore Tertullian saith that 
 one would think that the Camelion rather made as 
 if it would walk than that it really did. Some do 
 think that this Gate is a Mark of the Timerousness, 
 which is said to be very extream in this Animal. 
 But because it is certain that Fear, when it is not 
 great enough wholly to take away Motion, adds 
 great Strength to that of the Leggs ; into which 
 it is believed that it makes all the Heat and 
 Vigour, which has left the Heart to descend. It 
 is much more probable that this slowness is the 
 effect of a great Precaution, which makes it to act 
 circumspectly." Of the ultimate fate of the 
 chameleon in question we are told nothing 
 directly ; but no doubt it fell a victim to science, 
 as we know that " after it was dead" it was 
 most carefully dissected, and drawings of its 
 skeleton and viscera have been handed down to 
 us. That no part of it was wasted we gather 
 from the concluding sentences of the treatise, 
 which are as follows : " As for the Knowledge 
 of the incredible Virtues which the Superstition 
 of the ancients hath attributed to the Camelion 
 .and of which Pliny saith that Democritus hath 
 writt a whole Book, they are so Extravagant in 
 
160 Chameleons. 
 
 the Judgment even of Pliny that we referr our 
 selves to his opinion thereof. And without trying 
 whether we could raise Tempests with its Head, 
 or gain Law-suits with its Tongue, or stop rivers 
 with its Tail, and do the other Miracles which 
 it is said Democritus hath left in Writeing ; we 
 were contented to make those experiments which 
 seemed to have some probabilitie, being founded 
 on Sympathie and Antipathy, such as is that 
 which Solinus Reports to be so great between the 
 Crow and the Camelion, that it dyes immediately 
 after having Eaten of its Flesh. The truth is 
 that a Crow peckt several times with its Bill on 
 our Camelion, when it was set to it Dead ; and we 
 gave it several Parts of it to eat, and even the 
 Heart it self, which it swallowed without any 
 harm." 
 
 Chameleons of one species or another can 
 generally be seen in the reptile house at the Zoo, 
 it being a rare event for the Society to be with- 
 out one at the present time they have no less 
 than eight. But they attract but little attention 
 from visitors, and indeed are not very interesting 
 looking animals, as they sit stolidly on the plants 
 provided for them in their cases, generally without 
 moving. They cannot be kept constantly supplied 
 with insects for food, and, speaking from a some- 
 what intimate knowledge of the habits of these 
 animals in confinement, there is nothing in the world 
 will induce a chameleon to take even the slightest 
 apparent interest in its surroundings unless it be 
 
Chameleons. 161 
 
 the sight of what it considers a toothsome insect. 
 Nevertheless, they are by no means uninteresting 
 animals, and when allowed to wander at large and 
 forage for themselves in a greenhouse they are 
 a constant source of amusement. The chameleon's 
 method of taking its prey is very curious, being" 
 effected by shooting out an enormously long 
 wormlike tongue, the end of which is clubbed, 
 and covered with a viscid secretion, to which the 
 insects stick, and are thus drawn into its mouth. 
 The actual projection of the tongue is made with 
 marvellous rapidity, but, before striking, the 
 animal very slowly opens its mouth, with all the 
 appearance of taking a most deliberate aim. Its 
 eyes are most noticeable; they are very large, 
 but with the exception of an extremely small 
 opening in the centre, are covered with skin ; 
 they are also entirely independent of one another, 
 with the result that occasionally the creature is 
 looking forward over its nose with one eye, while 
 with the other it is intently watching something 
 directly behind it. And, finally, its far-famed 
 power of changing colour which, as we have said 
 is also enjoyed by other lizards is perhaps the 
 most noticeable of the creatures many peculiarities. 
 It is " partly dependent on the degree in which 
 the lungs are filled with air, and different layers 
 of chromatophores (cells in the skin in which the 
 colouring pigment is deposited) are pressed towards 
 the outer surface of the skin." It appears to be 
 produced partly at the will of the animal and 
 
 M 
 
162 Chameleons. 
 
 partly by an te involuntary habit which enables its 
 tints to correspond with the natural substances on 
 which it is placed/' 
 
 Chameleons can generally be obtained in London 
 during the summer months ; but the trade appears 
 to be a very fluctuating one, as sometimes they 
 are scarce, and therefore expensive, while at others 
 they may be bought in many of the " bird-shops," 
 their price at such times being about 2s. 6d. 
 a-piece. They are by no means difficult to keep 
 while the weather remains warm ; but we imagine 
 that few of them survive a winter in this country. 
 
CEOCODILES. 
 (Dec. 3, 1892.) 
 
 " THE river Nilus nourisheth the Crocodile ; a 
 venomous creature, foure footed, as dangerous on 
 water as land. This beast alone, of all others that 
 keepe the land, hath no use of a tongue ; he only 
 moveth the upper jaw or mandible, wherewith he 
 biteth hard ; and otherwise terrible he is, by reason 
 of the course and ranke of his teeth, which close 
 one within another, as if two combes grew together. 
 Ordinarily he is above eighteene cubits in length. 
 His feet be armed with claws for offence, and his 
 skin so hard, that it will abide any injury whatso- 
 ever and not be pierced." Thus quaintly, and 
 with the odd mixture of fact and fable so common 
 to all old-world writers, does Pliny, or rather his 
 seventeenth-century translator Philemon Holland, 
 Doctor of Physicke, describe the crocodile. 
 
 Crocodiles have always exercised a weird fas- 
 cination over men, with the result that the ancient 
 Egyptians worshipped them while living and made 
 mummies of them when dead, and that books 
 of natural history and travel in all ages have 
 abounded in anecdotes and fables concerning them. 
 Indeed, there are so many of these wonderful 
 M 2 
 
1 64 Crocodiles. 
 
 stories extant that it would be easy to fill a volume 
 with them. We only propose, however, on the 
 present occasion, to notice two of the best known 
 and most generally believed. That which related 
 the method of attack supposed to be adopted by 
 the ichneumon on his enemy the crocodile was 
 found in grave works on natural history so late 
 as the end of the last century, as it is set out in 
 full in the pages of Dr. Brookes's "History of 
 Quadrupedes," though it is only fair to that erudite 
 author to add that he says, " We know that it must 
 be false." Holland in his translation of Pliny's 
 " Natural History/' referred to above, gives the 
 story as follows : " When he [the crocodile] hath 
 filled his belly with fishes, he lieth to sleep upon 
 the sands in the shore : and for that he is a great 
 and greedie devourer, somewhat of the meat 
 sticketh evermore between his teeth, in regard 
 whereof commeth the wren, a little bird called 
 there Trochilos, and the king of birds in Italy : and 
 shee for her victuals' sake, hoppeth first about his 
 mouth, falleth to pecking or picking it with her 
 little neb or bill, and so forward to the teeth which 
 he cleanseth, and all to make him gap. Then 
 gefcteth shee within his mouth, which he openeth 
 the wider, by reason that he taketh so great delight 
 in this her scraping and scouring of his teeth and 
 chaws. Now when he is lulled as it were fast 
 asleep with this pleasure and contentment of his : 
 the rat of India, or Ichneumon above-said, spieth 
 his vantage and seeing him lye thus broad gaping, 
 
Crocodiles. 165 
 
 whippeth into his mouth and shooteth himselfe 
 downe his throat as quicke as an arrow, and then 
 gnaweth his bowels, eateth an hole through his 
 belly, and so killeth him/' Topsell, of course, 
 relates this story, but he enlarges on and gloats 
 over the misery of the unfortunate reptile, which 
 he calls a serpent ; for he tells us that the crocodile 
 after the attack " tumbleth to and fro sighing and 
 weeping, now in the depth of water, now on the 
 land, never resting till strength of nature fayleth. 
 For the incessant gnawing of the Ichneumon so 
 provoketh her to seek her rest, in the unrest 
 of every part, herbe, element, throwes, throbs, 
 rowlings, tossings, mournings, but all in vaine, 
 for the enemy within her breatheth through her 
 breath, and sporteth herselfe in the consumption 
 of those vitall parts, which wast and weare away 
 by yeelding to impacificable teeth, one after the 
 other, till shee that crept in by stealth at the 
 mouth, like a puny theefe, come out at the belly 
 like a conqueror through a passage opened by her 
 owne labour and industry." This last author, by 
 the way, has a wonderful picture of a hippopotamus 
 lifting up in his mouth a crocodile apparently 
 rigid with terror by the tail, which he says " was 
 taken out the Colossus la the Vatican at Koine 
 representing the River Nylus, and eating of a 
 Crocadile." 
 
 The other story which gave rise to the proverbial 
 expression " crocodile's tears " was universally 
 believed in old times. The author of the " Voiage 
 
166 Crocodiles. 
 
 and Travayle of Sir John Maundeville Knight" 
 says : " In many places of Inde are many coco- 
 drilles that is, a manner of a long serpent. These 
 serpents sley men and eate them weping, and they 
 have no tongue." While Topsell writes, " There 
 are not many bruite beasts that can weepe, but such 
 is the nature of the Crocodile that to get a man 
 within his danger, he will sob, sigh, and weepe as 
 though he were in extremetie, but suddenly he 
 destroyeth him. Others say that the Crocodile 
 weepeth after he hath devoured a man." Both 
 Shakespeare and Spenser, be it observed, notice 
 this fable ; the former says : 
 
 The mournful crocodile 
 "With sorrow snares relenting passengers ; 
 
 while the latter in his " Faerie Queen " relates the 
 story in a passage much too long for quotation. 
 With the following extract from Topsell, which is 
 too good to be passed over, though it does not 
 relate to either of our fables, we must leave this 
 branch of our subject : " Some have* written that 
 the Crocodile runneth away from a man if he 
 winke with his left eye, and looke steadfastly 
 uppon him with his right eye, but if this be true, 
 it is not to be attributed to the vertue of the right 
 eye, but onely to the rarenesse of sight which is 
 conspicuous to the serpent from one eye." 
 
 The position of the crocodile in the animal 
 kingdom was a terrible puzzle to naturalists of 
 old, and has, indeed, been but very recently 
 determined. Pliny and most of the mediaeval 
 
Crocodiles. 167 
 
 authorities who copied him placed it among the 
 serpents; but Belon placed it with the fishes, 
 and over his woodcut, which represents the animal 
 walking along a river bank with "one foot in sea 
 and one on shore/' we find ''Portrait du Crocodile, 
 poisson du Nil," while below is the following 
 quatrain : 
 
 Le Nil produit des monstres perilleux, 
 Lors que d'Egypte arrouse le pais. 
 Mais entre ceux, dont sommes esbahiz, 
 
 Le Crocodile est le plus merveilleux. 
 
 The naturalists of the last century, including 
 Linnaeus, classed it with the lizards, but in our 
 modern classification the crocodiles, gavials, and 
 alligators form an order Crocodilia by themselves. 
 It is not surprising that the naturalists of the last 
 and the early part of this century should thus have 
 classed the crocodilians with the lizards, when we 
 consider that they were guided by external appear- 
 ances only, and paid little, if any, attention to 
 anatomy; but anatomically there are many and 
 great differences between the two orders, differ- 
 ences which in this article it is impossible even to 
 touch on, and there is no doubt that their respec- 
 tive places in the animal kingdom have at last 
 been rightly determined. Popular misconceptions 
 die hard, and it is therefore not surprising that 
 two errors respectable from their age should still 
 hold their ground namely, that the crocodilians 
 are lizards, and that crocodile and alligator are 
 synonymous terms but that they do so is indis- 
 
168 Crocodiles. 
 
 putable. Sir S. W. Baker, for example, who has 
 probably as extensive an acquaintance with these 
 reptiles in their native baunts as anyone living, 
 cherishes both these errors, for in his very 
 interesting book, "Wild Beasts and their Ways," 
 he says, (f We find the largest of all lizards, the 
 crocodile, under various names, in nearly every 
 river of the tropics. In America this reptile is 
 generally known as an alligator, and some persons 
 pretend to define the peculiarity which distin- 
 guishes that variety from the crocodile, but I 
 regard the distinction in the same light as that 
 between the leopard and the panther, the differ- 
 ence existing merely in a name." Yet, as we 
 have said, the Crocodilia are not lizards, and the 
 true crocodiles are distinct from the alligators. 
 Among the points of distinction the following are 
 the most noticeable. lu the crocodiles the so-called 
 canine tooth, the fourth counting from the front, 
 fits into a notch in the side of the upper jaw, and 
 is, therefore, visible when the mouth is closed, 
 while in the alligator it is received in a pit in the 
 upper jaw, and, is, therefore, invisible, or nearly so. 
 Again, in the crocodiles the hindlegs have a 
 fringe of flattened scales which is wanting in 
 the alligators, whose legs are round. 
 
 Crocodiles are found in Africa, Asia, the tropical 
 parts of Australia, Central America, and the West 
 Indies; while the alligators, with the exception of 
 one species discovered some few years since in 
 China, are found only in America. They are all 
 
Crocodiles. 169 
 
 of them terribly destructive creatures ; the young 1 
 feed principally on fish, but as they grow larger 
 they attack every animal that they can overpower, 
 dragging their prey into the water, and so drowning 
 it. It has been said that more people are killed by 
 crocodiles than by any other of the wild beasts of 
 Africa. To those who wish to know more of this 
 part of the subject we commend Sir S. W. Baker's 
 book mentioned above. The Crocodilia, are, as 
 every one is aware, thoroughly aquatic in their 
 habits, and their peculiar conformation enables 
 them to attack and seize their prey unawares. 
 Their nostrils, which lead by a long canal to the 
 back part of their throats, their eyes and their ears, 
 are placed on the upper part of the head, so that 
 when in the water they can breathe, see, and hear 
 while they are themselves practically invisible. 
 When they dive their nostrils and ears are closed 
 by lids or valves, and their eyes are covered by 
 a transparent nictitating membrane. They are 
 further furnished with an arrangement which 
 prevents the water from getting down their own 
 throats when they are holding large animals under 
 the water to drown them. The dentition of these 
 reptiles is peculiar; the teeth are sharp and conical, 
 and are hollow at the base, and each tooth serves 
 as the sheath of another, which will in time replace 
 it. The tongue for, notwithstanding the ancient 
 belief, the crocodile does possess a tongue is 
 fleshy, and is attached to the bottom of the 
 mouth. And finally the lower jaw is hinged at the 
 
170 Crocodiles. 
 
 very back of the skull, thus giving the animal its 
 extraordinary gape, and also the peculiar appear- 
 ance which caused the notion that it moved its 
 upper jaw. 
 
 Though in the foregoing remarks we have barely 
 touched the fringe of crocodile lore, space will not 
 permit us to do more than draw attention to the 
 fact that at the present time the reptile house at 
 the Zoo is more than usually well furnished with 
 crocodiles and alligators, ranging in size from mere 
 babies of a few inches in length to the well-known 
 Mississippi alligator, which has lived in the gardens 
 for more than eight years, and is now about 1 1 feet 
 long, and has by no means done growing. The 
 collection includes at least one specimen of the 
 hill crocodile, and two of the recently discovered 
 Chinese alligators. In conclusion, we may observe 
 that these animals are not always the quiet, voice- 
 less creatures that they generally seem to be, but 
 that on occasion they can and do hold an extremely 
 noisy, roaring concert. 
 
IL-BIEDS IN LONDON. 
 
 THE SPARROW. 
 
 (Oct. 8, 1887.) 
 
 THEEE is a popular theory, which, like many 
 another, is founded on error, that the sparrow 
 is the only wild bird to be found in London ; 
 and this belief, curiously enough, is held not only 
 by Londoners, who, were they really possessed 
 of eyes to see, should know better, but also by 
 most people who live in the country. There is 
 perhaps more excuse for this than for many other 
 popular fallacies, owing to the ubiquity and self- 
 assertiveness of the bird in question. Wherever 
 the sparrow is found and it is now largely dis- 
 tributed not only over the Old World but the 
 New it is, as one of our greatest ornithologists 
 has said, a parasite of man ; in fact, without 
 man it cannot live and thrive. It will, no doubt, 
 in default of better accommodation build its nest 
 in a tree, but that tree must be near a human 
 habitation, though to the sparrow it is a matter 
 
172 The Sparrow. 
 
 of utter indifference whether the habitation in 
 question be a palace or a hovel. When, however, 
 it has the chance it infinitely prefers some nook 
 or corner of a house or out-building where it 
 can insure what to it are in reality necessities 
 rather than luxuries of life warmth and human 
 companionship. 
 
 Admitting these facts, there is surely no cause 
 for wonder that London is the sparrow's paradise. 
 And again, admitting the self-assertiveness of the 
 bird and Bewick, by-the-bye, stated, quoting, 
 as he says, Buffon, that ""its familiarity and petu- 
 lance are disgusting" it is not surprising that 
 Londoners, or the great majority of them, have 
 decided that it is their only wild bird, and that 
 the rest of the world has agreed to accept their 
 dictum as absolutely true. 
 
 As we have before stated this is an entire mis- 
 conception, as not only have very many birds of 
 different species their habitation in London, but 
 many, nay, most, of the migrants pay it literally 
 a flying visit. In the densely-populated parts of 
 the city and central London the sparrow carries 
 matters with a high hand, as it has practically 
 no rival. Here, indeed, we meet the true " London 
 sparrow," a distinct species of sparrow as some 
 apparently imagine, but in truth no other than 
 Passer domesticus, suffering from moral and 
 physical deterioration, the result of life in a 
 great city. 
 
 The true "London sparrow" resembles in its 
 
The Sparrow. 173 
 
 habits no being so much as the street boy. They 
 are both the result and outcome of life in a 
 crowded city, and have practically the same vices 
 aud foibles. Watch them in a busy street; they 
 are thievish, self-assertive, and pugnacious. The 
 sparrow is also the impersonation of vanity ; for, 
 notwithstanding that, like the street boy's, its 
 coat is always dirty and very much out-at-elbows, 
 and that its general appearance conveys the idea 
 that it sleeps in a chimney, and that a very 
 crowded one, it evidently considers itself the 
 pink of perfection, and we have no doubt looks 
 down on its country cousin in his neat suit of 
 brown, black, and grey as being badly dressed 
 and generally a very inferior person. 
 
 To thoroughly appreciate the vanity of the 
 sparrow the cock bird must be seen on a sunny 
 morning in early spring when engaged in dis- 
 playing his charms to the lady of his love; then, 
 indeed, is he in all his glory. How he struts 
 and swells, and spreads his tail, often nothing 
 finer than a few stunted feathers ! No peacock, 
 we are convinced, has a higher opinion of him- 
 self, or thinks himself a finer fowl. The London 
 sparrow is generally spoken of as a wild bird, 
 though in reality a tamer and more homely bird 
 does not exist on the face of the earth; indeed, 
 were it wild, in the strict sense of the term, its 
 existence, in the crowded streets of London at 
 least, would be a short, but certainly not a 
 merry, one. As we have before remarked, the 
 
174 The Sparrow. 
 
 sparrow cannot live unless it is associated with 
 man, but nevertheless the country sparrow is 
 wild indeed in comparison with his London 
 cousin, who would, we are convinced, were he 
 but a few sizes larger than he is have the im- 
 pudence to dispute the pavement with all 
 passers-by. 
 
 If any of our readers desire to test the tame- 
 ness and familiarity of the ' ' London sparrow," 
 we advise them to provide themselves with a 
 pocketful of crumbs, and go to some open space 
 say, for example, Palace Yard, Westminster, 
 a place where sparrows largely congregate, and 
 scatter them oil the ground. We doubt if they 
 will not be astonished, not only at the number 
 of sparrows that will in a very few moments 
 assemble round them, but also at the excessive 
 tameness of the birds; they have literally no 
 fear of man ; to them he is not an enemy, but a 
 benefactor; they look to him for food, and have 
 evidently no notion that he could wish to do them 
 harm, not having like their relations in the 
 country any experience of guns, batwing nets, 
 and other devices for their destruction. 
 
 As a fact, no being a boy or a cat always ex- 
 cepted has the least desire to injure a " London 
 sparrow," and our observation leads us to believe 
 that both these enemies are treated with well- 
 merited contempt, their power of mischief being 
 for obvious reasons excessively limited, as the 
 London boy, though thoroughly possessed with 
 
The Sparrow. 175 
 
 the hunting instinct said to be inherent in human 
 nature, finds his ardour always damped and his 
 aim impaired by the fear that, should he start 
 on a sporting expedition, he in turn may find 
 himself the object of pursuit by his natural 
 enemy the policeman; and the cat finds the 
 tiles and parapets of London houses badly 
 arranged for stalking purposes, and, with the 
 exception of an hour or two in the very early 
 morning, the streets, the " London sparrows' y 
 happy feeding-grounds, are absolutely impassable 
 to him. 
 
 Most open spaces in London are provided with 
 a cab-rank, and there the sparrows receive from 
 the cabmen their daily rations, and show no more 
 fear of man than do the pigeons with whom in 
 such places they always associate. Hitherto we 
 have spoken of the true London sparrow, the 
 bird whose home is in the crowded streets, and 
 whose life is spent among bricks and mortar, who 
 knows no more of trees and fields and growing 
 corn than does his congener the street boy. There 
 is, however, another sparrow, of the same species 
 be it always understood, that inhabits the suburbs 
 and parks of London, whose coat, though not so 
 clean and bright as that of its country cousin, 
 is passable, and generally whole and unruffled, 
 and looks as if the wearer took some little pride 
 in its condition. Circumstances are no doubt in 
 this bird's favour, as, in lieu of smutty roofs it 
 has trees on* which to perch, and can always find 
 
176 The Sparrow. 
 
 a spot suitable for a good dust bath, the sparrow's 
 greatest luxury. This is, however, a "London 
 sparrow," though not so tame, and therefore not 
 so impudent, as its city brother. In fact, while 
 having little fear of man, there is more of the 
 true wild bird about it, due, no doubt, to its sur- 
 roundings and to the fact that it is not so directly 
 dependent on man for food. It can, if so minded, 
 obtain a change of diet; and, while not believ- 
 ing in the sparrow as an insect-eater, and there- 
 fore a benefactor to man, as some of its more 
 ardent friends and admirers would have us believe, 
 we must admit as a well-known fact that it does, 
 when they are obtainable, eat, and no doubt enjoy, 
 a few insects. Who, indeed, has not seen it on 
 a hot summer day fluttering ludicrously in the 
 air in an apparently frantic endeavour to emulate 
 the fly-catcher. 
 
 Another advantage that the suburban sparrow 
 has over its brother of the city is that, towards 
 the end of summer it can, and often does, remove 
 into the country with its family, there to live on 
 the fat of the land until, the harvest being 
 gathered and the nights becoming long and cold, 
 it, like the human Londoner, returns with its 
 beloDgiugs to town, invigorated no doubt by 
 change of air and scene. So far we have spoken 
 only of the sparrow's bad qualities. One good 
 quality, however, cannot be denied it that is, 
 love of its family. In this it is pre-eminent 
 among birds. Many species will, no doubt, by 
 
The Sparrow. 177 
 
 devices, such as pretending to be wounded, 
 endeavour to draw a supposed enemy from their 
 nest; but the sparrow stands alone as the bird 
 that will, as has been proved without possibility 
 of doubt, continue for months to feed one of its 
 young that, being unfortunately entangled in the 
 nest, has been unable to fly with the rest of the 
 brood. 
 
 Its nesting in London is an unmitigated nui- 
 sance. No place is sacred to it. Wherever a 
 convenient hole can be found, there it collects 
 the heap of rubbish, always lined with feathers 
 if they are available, which it pleases to term 
 a nest; and not infrequently the hole in question 
 is the top of a water-pipe, the result being that 
 the first heavy shower not only destroys the 
 bird's prospects of a family, but also leads to 
 material damage to the property and temper of 
 its human landlord. If abused for the destruc- 
 tion and discomfort it causes it might, were it 
 possessed of the power of speech, and therefore 
 able to enter into an argument, retaliate, and say 
 " Why not do as your forefathers did ? " for 
 Rennie, who edited Montague's " Ornithological 
 Dictionary," tells us that in his time "he was 
 not aware that any contrivance was resorted to 
 in Britain to entice birds to build in particular 
 places, except in the case of house sparrows ; " 
 and then proceeds : " That in the vicinity of 
 London more particularly pots of unglazed 
 delf-ware of suboval shape, with a narrow 
 
 N 
 
178 The Sparrow. 
 
 hole for an entrance, were fixed upon the walls 
 of houses several feet below the eaves ; " and 
 adds that "the sparrows delight in, and imme- 
 diately take possession of, these as nesting- 
 places." 
 
 This fashion having, in London at least, so far 
 as we are aware, died a natural death, the sparrow 
 can hardly be blamed for taking possession of 
 what appear to it equally suitable building sites. 
 No account of the sparrow, whether of town or 
 country, would be complete unless mention were 
 made of its pugnacity. It delights in a row, 
 whether the object relates to its own affairs or 
 those of its neighbours. All who are in the habifc 
 of observing birds, and many who do not make 
 them their study, must again and again have 
 seen a group, or, perhaps a better description, a 
 bundle, of sparrows screaming, pecking at, and 
 falling over, one another, apparently possessed by 
 most insensate rage. The cause of the excite- 
 ment is as likely as not an altercation between 
 two birds as to the possession of a piece of 
 rubbish which both desire for nesting purposes. 
 A battle begins between the interested parties, 
 and immediately all the sparrows in the neigh- 
 bourhood, though they know nothing of the bone 
 of contention, think it is their duty, like the 
 seconds in the duels of old times, to join in the 
 fray. The combats are, however, generally of 
 short duration, as, after one or two good rounds, 
 the birds' fighting ardour is apparently satisfied, 
 
The Sparrow. 179 
 
 and they, with one accord, separate, and return 
 to attend to their own affairs. 
 
 In conclusion, however, we must say that, im- 
 pudent, mischievous, dirty, vain, and pugnacious as 
 he is, we would not for any consideration part 
 with the " London sparrow." 
 
 N 2 
 
THE BOOK. 
 (Dec. 3, 1887.) 
 
 AMONG the many species of birds that live, or 
 rather nest, in London, the rook is by no means 
 the least common, though it is year by year 
 becoming scarcer, and will, we fear, be extinct as a 
 London bird within a measurable period. The two 
 main causes of the diminution of its numbers are, 
 firstly, that the speculative builder is rapidly 
 destroying the fine old trees, once so common in 
 London and its suburbs, in which the bird loves to 
 build; and, secondly, the unfortunate propensity 
 of old trees, especially elms, when exposed to the 
 smoke-polluted atmosphere of London, to decay 
 at the top. It is well-known that a nesting rook 
 has as much objection to an unsound tree as the 
 rat of the proverb is said to have to a sinking 
 ship. If rooks, having nested for years in any 
 particular tree, leave it without being disturbed, 
 that tree may, without examination, be declared 
 unsound. 
 
 It is curious that the rook should, among 
 Londoners, be so intimately connected as it is with 
 the country ; for, in truth, there are few birds 
 that more readily adapt themselves to life in a 
 
The Rook. 181 
 
 populous city. In fact, if they can find suitable 
 nest-trees, where they are free from disturbance, 
 and feeding-grounds within a reasonable distance, 
 crowds, the roar of traffic, and even London 
 smoke, are utterly ignored by them. A better 
 instance of this cannot be adduced than the fact 
 that rooks still build in considerable numbers 
 so near the centre of London as the gardens in 
 Gray's-inn, though these gardens are situated in 
 the midst of a densely populated and most busy 
 neighbourhood, and the traffic in the surrounding 
 streets is as heavy as any in London. 
 
 The builder is, without doubt, the London 
 rook's greatest enemy, as not only has he, within 
 the last half-century, destroyed several rookeries 
 within the four-mile radius, but by continually 
 covering with buildings their former feeding- 
 grounds, and therefore increasing the labour of 
 providing food for their young, he is making life 
 in London more difficult for those birds whose 
 nesting-places are, at all events for the present, 
 beyond his reach. The builder, however, is not 
 wholly to blame, as the decay of the trees was, so 
 far as we are aware, the sole cause of the 
 rooks deserting their ancient nesting-places in 
 Kensington Gardens, where certainly within the 
 last quarter of a century there were three large 
 rookeries. 
 
 Some people imagine that this desertion was 
 caused by the increased traffic through the Gardens, 
 and by the large number of buildings that sprang 
 
182 The Rook. 
 
 up around them ; but we are not prepared to 
 admit this in view of the rookery in Gray's Inn, 
 and of the fact that some of the birds when they 
 left Kensington Gardens joined the old rookery in 
 Holland Park, many of them settling in the trees 
 skirting the high road. Had their objection to 
 traffic and buildings driven them from their old 
 haunts, they would surely have gone further afield, 
 and have chosen some quieter spot. The truth, 
 however, is that rooks have a strong affection for 
 what Gilbert White called " neighbourhoods," 
 though, unlike the sparrows and pigeons, they 
 cannot from the nature of their food, which 
 consists principally of worms and insects, obtain 
 their living in the streets, but are obliged to seek 
 it far from their homes. 
 
 Rooks can hardly be said to have any permanent 
 habitation, though year by year they nest in the 
 same trees ; for no sooner are their young able to 
 fly and provide for themselves than they leave 
 their nest-trees, and, forming large companies, 
 choose some woodland as a roosting-place. 
 
 London rooks are not exempt from this habit ; 
 in fact, they leave town with as great regularity 
 and about the same time as do their fashionable 
 human friends. In October, about the time known 
 as " St. Luke's Summer," they return to their 
 nest-trees, apparently to see that their homes are 
 in order, and at this time they may be seen busily 
 carrying sticks, and evidently engaged in making 
 repairs necessary to ensure the safety of their 
 
The Rook. 183 
 
 nests during the coming winter. This business 
 having been satisfactorily accomplished, they again 
 leave, and remain out of town until the end of 
 January or early in February, when they return 
 to their homes, and begin at once to prepare for 
 family cares. 
 
 Rooks, whether of town or country, live in large 
 communities, and their form of government is, so 
 far as we can understand it, republican; but in 
 their case, as happens in more highly organised 
 communities, a democratic government does not 
 lead to absolute freedom of the subject. Let 
 anyone who doubts this watch the inhabitants of a 
 rookery in early spring, and we shall be surprised 
 if he does not see at least one pair, probably young 
 and inexperienced birds, endeavouring to build a 
 nest in a position, generally a short distance from 
 the main rookery, evidently disapproved of by the 
 governing body. So far as the human observer's 
 understanding can carry him, the offending pair 
 are within their right in making their choice of 
 a home, but this is evidently not the opinion of 
 the powers that be, and the nest is destroyed again 
 and again, if need be, until, apparently driven to 
 despair, the wretched couple accept the inevitable, 
 and make their home, not in the place of their 
 choice, but in a position allotted to them by the 
 ruling body. When first they return to their 
 nest-trees in the spring, rooks are most noisy 
 birds. According to Gilbert White, at this season 
 "they attempt sometimes in the gaiety of their 
 
184 The Rook. 
 
 hearts to sing," but, he adds, and we think that 
 no one who has lived within earshot of a rookery 
 will disagree with him, " with no great success/' 
 
 While they are building and repairing their 
 nests they are most pugnacious and thievish, as not 
 only will they, as we have said, prevent a pair 
 building in what may seem to the majority 
 an unsuitable site, but they are constantly 
 endeavouring to rob one another of their nesting 
 materials, and woe betide the unwary pair that 
 are rash enough to be absent from their nest at 
 the same time ; on their return they will, in all 
 probability, find the labour of days destroyed, and 
 nothing but the poorest foundation left of what 
 was on their departure, probably a very short 
 half hour before, a promising structure. Our 
 observation leads us to believe that only the very 
 young and inexperienced birds leave their homes 
 in company. As a rule one bird remains on guard 
 while its mate goes afield, and the unfortunate 
 stay-at-home often has to fight against long odds 
 in defence of its nest, which would, were it not 
 stoutly defended, be torn from under it. Occa- 
 sionally an enterprising pair will separate them- 
 selves from their companions and build sufficiently 
 far from the nearest rookery to be free from 
 molestation, though after their nest is built they 
 in many cases, apparently finding solitude not so 
 pleasant as they anticipated, desert it and return, 
 no doubt in a penitent mood, to their former 
 friends. 
 
The Rook. 185 
 
 An instance of this occurred in Kensington 
 in 1885, when a pair of birds, no doubt from the 
 rookery in Holland Park, built their nest in a tall 
 plane-tree not far from the parish church; but no 
 sooner was it complete than they deserted it. 
 All, however, are not so vacillating, and often they 
 continue to rear their young from year to year 
 far from any of their kind. 
 
 Many cases are on record of these birds making 
 choice of such unusual positions for their nests 
 as the vanes on the spires of churches or 
 public buildings. One well-known instance which 
 occurred in London may be cited we refer to the 
 case of the birds which early in the century built 
 between the wings of the dragon forming the 
 vane of Bow Church. They were dispossessed 
 when the vane was repaired, but removed to a 
 plane-tree at the corner of Wood-street, Cheapside, 
 where they continued to nest for many years, and 
 became one of the sights of London, or at least of 
 the City. 
 
 It would be impossible within the limits of this 
 article to give even an outline of the history of 
 the rookeries of London, as during the early years 
 of tho century London was comparatively a small 
 city, and abounded in trees, and consequently 
 rooks were as common as they are now in most 
 of our provincial towns. When London began to 
 spread, as it did with marvellous rapidity about 
 the middle of the century, the rook, finding 
 its home destroyed, gradually withdrew to the 
 
186 The Rook. 
 
 suburbs, from which, as we have said, it is slowly 
 but surely being driven. 
 
 In conclusion, the rook, by still nesting in 
 London wherever it is permitted, has most con- 
 clusively proved the falsity of the theory generally 
 held in the country, that, if many of the young 
 birds are not shot as soon as they are able to fly, 
 the rook will desert its nesting-place. 
 
THE STARLING. 
 
 (Jan. 21, 1888.) 
 
 THE starling is, with, the exception of the sparrow, 
 probably the commonest of London birds. From 
 the nature of its food it is not so ubiquitous, but 
 in all the Parks and larger open grassed spaces it 
 may be seen at all times of the year. Its food 
 consists principally of worms and insects ; but, 
 notwithstanding that it possesses an enormous 
 appetite, it can live and thrive where the rook, who 
 feeds like it, would starve, the difference in size, 
 and therefore in the amount of food required, 
 having doubtless much to do with this. The 
 number of starlings, in the Parks at least, does not 
 appear to be diminishing, the decay of the trees, 
 which has driven the rooks from their former 
 haunts, having made life easier for these birds by 
 providing them with excellent nesting places, a 
 hole in a tree being considered by the starling a 
 most comfortable nursery. Kensington Gardens, 
 which unfortunately contains as many decaying 
 trees as any park of its size in England, is in con- 
 sequence largely frequented by these birds during 
 the breeding season, as they find not only com- 
 fortable homes and plenty of food within a reason- 
 
188 The Starling. 
 
 able distance, but also immunity from disturbance, 
 as since the park-keepers have been replaced by 
 the metropolitan police, even the most adventurous 
 boys have given up any idea of bird's-nesting 
 there. However, it does not by any means confine 
 itself to nesting in trees, as it thoroughly appre- 
 ciates an unused chimney, and will take possession 
 of any suitable hole or cranny in a house or other 
 building. In thejcase more especially of buildings 
 thickly covered with ivy, of which we are sorry to 
 say few are to be found in London, it builds its 
 nest and rears its young in close company with 
 the house-sparrow, with which it appears to live on 
 the best of terms, thus, we think, disproving one 
 of the many charges that have been brought 
 against it to wit, that it, like the daw, is occasion- 
 ally given to making a meal of the young of its 
 smaller and more feeble companions. 
 
 During the breeding season, more particularly, 
 the starling is a noisy, merry bird, spending the 
 whole of its spare moments in whistling, singing, 
 and chattering, as if endeavouring to explain to 
 the whole world how thoroughly it enjoys its life. 
 It is also one of the busiest of birds, constantly 
 running over the grass in pursuit of its food with 
 a manner and gait that is best described by the 
 word f( fussy." While it is so engaged no living 
 thing appears to be too small to escape its notice ; 
 it is not, however, content with the insects to be 
 found on the surface, but is constantly stabbing 
 and probing the ground with its bill in search of 
 
The Starling. 189 
 
 worms and larvaB. It is, in fact, a true friend to 
 the gardener, though we can but admit that the 
 charge brought against it of robbing cherry and 
 other fruit trees has considerable foundation in 
 fact, and that it will also, though this is probably 
 not so heinous an offence in the eyes of the 
 suburban gardener, help itself freely to gi'apes 
 grown out of doors. Wherever sheep are kept, it 
 is fond of perching on their backs, the cause of 
 this habit being, no doubt, that it is enabled to 
 vary its diet- by making a meal of the ticks and 
 other parasites to be found in the wool. 
 
 The starling is one of the most beautiful of 
 British birds, though there are many that are more 
 brilliantly coloured. The cock bird in his summer 
 dress, with his bright yellow bill, and his spotted 
 plumage shot with metallic colours, is, in our 
 opinion, surpassed by very few. Even the smoke 
 and dirt of London cannot destroy his beauty; 
 and, unlike the sparrow, wherever he is found he 
 looks and carries himself like a gentleman. This 
 bird, indeed, deserves to be a much greater 
 favourite than it is. Its beauty, and its merry 
 chattering ways, to say nothing of its usefulness 
 in destroying enormous numbers of insects and 
 their larvse, entitle it to respect and protection 
 wherever it is found, even though it does make the 
 gardener pay toll of his fruit. In addition to its 
 other attractive qualities, it has a certain fearless- 
 ness of man, quite distinct from the aggressive 
 impudence of the sparrow, a fearlessness apparently 
 
190 The Starling. 
 
 the outcome of a clear conscience, the very move- 
 ments of the bird when searching for its food on a 
 lawn conveying the idea that it knows it is 
 engaged in a good work, and will therefore not 
 be molested. 
 
 When the gronnd is covered with snow, starlings, 
 especially in the suburbs, are generally found 
 among the birds coming with great regularity to 
 be fed by those bird-lovers who clear a space and 
 throw down crumbs and scraps to help their 
 feathered friends through what to them is a most 
 trying time. 
 
 Though, as we have said, starlings are to be 
 found in London and its suburbs at all times of 
 the year, the main body leave town as soon as their 
 young are strong on the wing that is, towards the 
 end of summer. Being birds with great power of 
 flight, they are very wide rangers, and many of 
 them, there is little doubt, leave this country 
 during the winter ; a yet larger number, however, 
 migrate to the westward. Those that remain in 
 this country form large flocks, which are during 
 the day often to be seen in company with rooks, 
 daws, and even lapwings. These flocks collect at 
 night to roost, often forming huge bodies, the 
 birds being literally in thousands. Yarrell gives 
 an account of one of these " starling roosts" which 
 existed in his time at King's West on, near Bristol, 
 "in a plantation of arbutus, laurustinus, &c./ J to 
 which he tells us, the birds "repaired in an 
 evening by millions from the low grounds about 
 
The Starling. 191 
 
 the Severn, their noise and stench being something 
 altogether unusual." 
 
 Young starlings, until after their first moult, are 
 in colour utterly unlike their parents, their plumage 
 being of a dull brown. So unlike, in fact, are 
 they that such good observers as Montagu and 
 Bewick described and figured young starlings as 
 specimens of the " solitary thrush," though how 
 the mistake could have arisen it is hard to conceive, 
 as we should imagine that any boy who had ever 
 had an opportunity of bird's-nesting could have 
 identified the species. During the time they 
 remain in the nest the young birds are most 
 voracious, nothing apparently coming amiss to 
 them, and this voracity often leads to their 
 destruction, or at least captivity, as they are so 
 wanting in discrimination that even the human 
 finger is readily seized under the mistaken idea 
 that it can be swallowed and is good for food. 
 The wily boy, knowing this, is often enabled to 
 capture fledglings, whose nursery is far from his 
 reach in the depths of a hollow tree. The pro- 
 ceeding is a simple one ; he waits until he knows 
 that, the birds are nearly fledged, and therefore 
 strong and fit for his purpose, when inserting his 
 arm into the hole in which the nest is built, and 
 spreading his fingers, he, as a rule, finds at least 
 one of them seized, and is able, before the deluded 
 bird has time to discover its mistake, to drag out 
 his struggling victim. Starlings when taken from 
 the nest are not difficult birds to rear, and if 
 
192 The Starling. 
 
 trouble is taken with their education, can be taught 
 to articulate words, and even very short sentences, 
 though they much more readily imitate other birds, 
 or animals, than the human voice. This bird is, 
 indeed, a mocking-bird, and may often be heard 
 to mix the notes of other birds with its own 
 peculiar song. From its wide-ranging habits it 
 associates with all sorts of apparently incongruous 
 companions, and may occasionally be heard to 
 imitate exactly the wild cry of the redshank or 
 other wader, the result, doubtless, of a visit, during 
 the winter, to the banks of one of our tidal rivers, 
 as it is a very common habit of this bird, especially 
 in severe weather, to visit the banks left bare by 
 the tide, as by so doing it can always ensure a 
 meal. 
 
 Starlings are certainly on the increase in the 
 country, and, as we have said, their numbers do 
 not, in our opinion, materially decrease in London, 
 or at least in the suburbs ; nor do we think that, 
 so long as the Parks at least remain, there is any 
 cause to fear that they will cease to be reckoned 
 among the birds of London. 
 
TBE WOOD-PIGEON. 
 
 (Feb. 25, 1888.) 
 
 PEOBABLY the last bird that a countryman would 
 expect to find in London would be the ring- 
 dove,, or, as it is more commonly called, the wood- 
 pigeon ; yet this bird, though not by any means 
 common, is generally to be seen in the Parks, and 
 can certainly claim to be included in any list oi 
 London birds, as it is found so near the centre, if 
 not of London proper, at least of the cab radius as 
 St. James's Park, and may occasionally be seen 
 under the shadow of the Clock Tower at West- 
 minster, in the trees near the Sessions House, and 
 is not unknown in Whitehall. 
 
 It is certainly curious that a bird naturally so 
 wild and wary as the wood-pigeon should so alter 
 its habit as to live the year through in parks even 
 as large as those of the West End, surrounded as 
 they are by miles of streets and buildings. Those 
 birds, however, that have chosen London as their 
 dwelling-place, while in no way comparable in 
 tameness to the dovecote pigeons which congregate 
 in such large numbers about many of our public 
 buildings, are, no doubt from long immunity from 
 disturbance, so free from fear of man that they 
 
 o 
 
194 The Wood-Pigeon. 
 
 may occasionally be seen quietly feeding on the 
 grass plots in St. James's Park, surrounded as they 
 always are by crowds of pedestrians. Kensington 
 Gardens are always frequented by a few of these 
 birds, and they breed there from year to year. 
 We have also every reason to believe that they 
 build in the gardens of Buckingham Palace. 
 
 It is surprising that these birds are not better 
 known to the average Londoner than they 
 appear to be. Their size they are the largest of 
 our wild pigeons their peculiar flight, and their 
 distinctive markings the most noticeable of these 
 being the white feathers on each side of the neck, 
 from which they derive the name of " Ringdove/ ' 
 and by which alone they may be at once distin- 
 guished from any dovecote pigeon should, one 
 would suppose, attract the attention of the least 
 observant. Their note, again coo, coo-coo, roo, 
 roo, the last two syllables long drawn out once 
 heard, can never be mistaken, being entirely 
 different from that of any other pigeon. There 
 are many word versions of this note, but we think 
 it is best expressed by one we have heard in 
 the Eastern Counties, to wit, "My toe bleeds 
 Betty." 
 
 The wood-pigeon is not only the largest, but in 
 our opinion the handsomest, of our wild pigeons. 
 The London bird, however, from his habit of, after 
 the manner of his kind, perching in and roosting 
 on trees, is always soot-begrimed and dirty, but 
 notwithstanding is still a handsome and noticeable 
 
The Wood-Pigeon. 195 
 
 bird. Wood-pigeons begin to breed early in the 
 spring, and have, as a rule, two, if not three, 
 broods in the year. During the breeding season 
 the cock bird, possessed doubtless with a desire to 
 show himself off to his mate, constantly takes short 
 flights in which he rises and falls alternately, 
 occasionally clapping his wings over his back. 
 This flight is so peculiar that it alone should, one 
 would suppose, attract the attention of the least 
 observant. The nest is but a poor structure, 
 being, indeed, nothing more than a meagre 
 platform of sticks, placed one over the other, on 
 which the two white eggs are laid. Such a miser- 
 able structure, indeed, is it that few interested in 
 birds who have lived where wood-pigeons breed in 
 large numbers can have failed to notice nests 
 through which the eggs could be seen from below. 
 This nest has evidently been a source of wonder 
 for generations, and many are the legends told to 
 account for it. All, so far as we are aware, are 
 based 011 the same idea namely, that the pigeon, 
 unable to build a nest itself, and considering the 
 magpie's a beautiful specimen of bird architecture, 
 an opinion which few will dispute, asked it for 
 lessons in nest-building. The best of these 
 legends, perhaps, is that given by Montagu as 
 current in his time in Suffolk, and this is specially 
 interesting as it contains another word version of 
 the wood-pigeon's note, it is as follows : ' c Instead 
 of being a docile pupil, the pigeon kept on her old 
 cry of 'Take two, Maggie! take two.' The 
 o 2 
 
196 The Wood-Pigeon. 
 
 magpie insisted that this was a very unworkman- 
 like manner of proceeding, one stick at a time 
 being as much as could be managed to advantage, 
 but the pigeon reiterated her ' two, take two ' till 
 Mag, in a violent passion, gave up the task, 
 exclaiming, ' I say one at a time is enough, and if 
 you think otherwise, you may set about the work 
 yourself, for I will have no more to do with it/ ' 
 The unfortunate pigeon was thus left in the lurch 
 when nothing more than the bare foundation had 
 been laid ; and being, as we have said, no 
 architect, has not to this day been able to improve 
 on the miserable structure. 
 
 The young of these birds when first hatched are 
 blind, and like puppies, remain so for the first nine 
 days of their existence. At this time they are 
 covered with yellow down, and certainly have no 
 pretensions to beauty, being, in fact, as ugly as 
 when full grown they are handsome. At this time 
 they are far from pleasant in their ways, having a 
 disagreeable habit of puffing and snorting when 
 approached, a habit which, according to Bewick, 
 resulted in the death of a pair hatched under a 
 dovecote - pigeon, the foster - mother being so 
 alarmed at her supposed offspring that she 
 deserted them. In common with all other pigeons, 
 the wood-pigeon feeds its young on half-digested 
 food from its crop. The process is curious and 
 amusing. The young bird, instead of opening its 
 mouth to receive the expected meal, forces its bill 
 between its parent's mandibles and sucks out the 
 
The Wood-Pigeon. 197 
 
 milky mass, thus proving, as has been aptly 
 observed, that "pigeon's milk" is not the 
 " absolute unfounded fable it was once supposed 
 to be/' In about three weeks' time they are 
 fully fledged, and are then of much the same 
 colour as their parents, except that the metallic 
 colouring and the white ring on the neck are 
 wanting (these appear after the first moult), and 
 a considerable amount of yellow down is still 
 attached to the tips of the feathers. In the 
 autumn wood-pigeons congregate in large flocks, 
 which remain together until the ensuing breeding 
 season, roosting at night in woods and fir planta- 
 tions, their numbers, in the Eastern counties at 
 least, being increased by immigrants from the 
 Continent. At this time they are most wary and 
 difficult of approach, and from their voracity are 
 dreadful enemies to the farmer. This bird is, 
 indeed, possessed of -so insatiable an appetite that 
 we have often wondered how it contrives to live, 
 and apparently thrive, as ifc does in London, where 
 one would suppose ifc impossible for ifc ever to 
 obtain anything approaching to what it would 
 consider a " square meal." Its food consists of any 
 grain that may be available, though, like all 
 pigeons, it doubtless gives the preference to peas 
 or beans, together with beechmast, acorns, and, so 
 far as the farmer is concerned the only point in its 
 favour, the seeds of many noxious weeds. Ifc also 
 feeds largely on green food, doing greafc damage in 
 clover and turnip fields, especially the latter, where 
 
198 The Wood-Pigeon. 
 
 it not only eats the leaves, thus seriously inter- 
 fering with the growth of the plant, but also in 
 winter destroys the roots, hollowing them out so 
 that little is left but the shell. No better examples 
 of the voracity of this species can be given than 
 those supplied in the last edition of YarrelPs 
 " British Birds/' from which the three following 
 are extracted. The crop of one bird examined 
 contained 1020 grains of corn; that of another, 
 144 peas and 7 large beans; and the last, but 
 certainly not the least, 231 beech-nuts. 
 
 Wood-pigeons, in common with all their con- 
 geners, are very fond of water. They are essen- 
 tially thirsty; drinking, be it observed, not like 
 most other birds, sip by sip, but as a horse drinks, 
 at one long draught. Water is also necessary to 
 them for bathing purposes. Their fondness for 
 water leads the London birds to places where they 
 may easily be observed. For example, it is not 
 uncommon to see wood-pigeons on the island in 
 St. James's Park, this being a favourite drinking 
 and bathing place for the birds resorting to that 
 neighbourhood. They may also be seen from time 
 to time, especially by those acquainted with their 
 habits, drinking and bathing in the Serpentine. 
 Wood-pigeons, though among the wariest and 
 wildest of birds in the autumn and winter, in the 
 breeding season so change their habits as not 
 infrequently to be found nesting in gardens, and 
 at this time they seem to lose much of their natural 
 fear of man. When taken from the nest or reared 
 
The Wood-Pigeon. 199 
 
 under dovecote pigeons the young become tame, 
 though they are at best but bad pets, their innate 
 wildness inducing them, however well they may 
 have been treated, and however happy they may 
 appear in confinement, to escape at the first oppor- 
 tunity, and retire to their natural haunts in the 
 woods. They are, in fact, incapable of domestica- 
 tion, only one case, so far as we are aware, being 
 on record of a wood-pigeon remaining, when given 
 its liberty, and mating with a dovecote pigeon, and 
 in this case, though three nests were made and 
 eggs laid in each of them, only one young bird 
 was reared. There is no doubt that these birds 
 are largely on the increase in this country, and 
 that they are also extending their range, a fact, 
 from the farmer's point of view, much to be 
 deplored. Many reasons have been given for this 
 increase, such, for example, as the greater cultiva- 
 tion of turnips and other green crops, the larger 
 number of plantations. As an inhabitant of 
 London this bird is absolutely harmless, and we 
 hope it may be long before it becomes necessary 
 for Londoners to journey into the country to make 
 the acquaintance of the wood-pigeon. 
 
THE SEA-GULL. 
 
 (March 17, 1888.) 
 
 THK sea-gull we speak generically is entitled 
 to a place in the list of London birds. In 
 the London below-bridge, the busy, mercantile, 
 riparian London, among the docks and shipping, 
 this bird can hardly be said to be uncommon, 
 being at all events a frequent visitor. It does not, 
 however, confine itself entirely to the East-end, 
 as specimens may from time to time be seen, 
 especially in the spring, about the waters in the 
 parks of the West-end, the Serpentine in Hyde 
 Park being a specially favourite resort. 
 
 During the severe weather we have lately expe- 
 rienced, accompanied as it has been by hard north- 
 easterly winds and snow, Londoners have had an 
 unusual opportunity of observing the habits of 
 sea-gulls, as they have frequented the river above 
 bridge, literally in hundreds, their range extending 
 at least to Putney in other words, from one end 
 of London to the other. It is seldom, indeed, that 
 these birds appear in such numbers on. the Thames 
 above London-bridge as they have done lately, 
 and their appearance has, from its rarity, caused a 
 corresponding excitement among Londoners, as 
 
The Sea-Gull. 201 
 
 is proved by the numbers of people that have 
 crowded the bridges and embankments to watch 
 their movements. To a considerable proportion of 
 them, no doubt, the marvellous flight and power of 
 wing of the gull came as an absolute revelation. 
 To those intimately acquainted with the bird and 
 its ways, the advent of so many on the higher 
 reaches of the river was not only a surprise, but a 
 source of enjoyment, which no doubt induced them 
 to form part of the crowds engaged in watching 
 the birds. There is, perhaps, some slight cause 
 for wonder, when we consider the habit so 
 common to gulls of following the tide in rivers, 
 that these birds are not more often seen in London 
 between bridges, as food in the tideway cannot 
 be lacking to them. The reasons of their scarce- 
 ness, however, are no doubt, firstly, the crowded 
 state of the river itself, to say nothing of the 
 densely populated condition of its banks, and, 
 secondly, the great distance from the sands and 
 saltings of the estuary to which the birds always 
 retire for the night. In addition, food is plentiful 
 in the lower reaches ; and therefore, except in the 
 case of such exceptional weather as we have lately 
 experienced, the gulls find no occasion to venture 
 into the narrow and crowded waterway of the 
 river as it flows through London. 
 
 When we say that food is plentiful in the lower 
 reaches of the river, we must not be understood to 
 speak of food to be found in the river itself, or 
 even on its banks, as the sea-gull in autumn, 
 
202 The Sea-Gull 
 
 winter, and early spring, before it leaves for 
 its breeding-places, is as fond of foraging in the 
 fields and following the plough as is the rook 
 with which, indeed, it may often be seen feeding 
 in the greatest amity. 
 
 No doubt the late immigration of this bird into 
 London was to a very considerable extent caused 
 by the fact that its feeding-grounds on land were 
 closed to it by the snow and frost, and that it was 
 therefore forced to depend entirely on the water 
 for its supplies. 
 
 The gull may be said to be omnivorous; nothing, 
 indeed, apparently comes amiss. It will devour 
 small fish, and for this reason is very fond of 
 following shrimpers and other small trawling 
 vessels for the feast to be obtained when the 
 fishermen are shaking out their nets mollusks 
 and crustaceans which it finds left by the tide, 
 and, one of its greatest feasts perhaps, the scraps 
 and offal thrown overboard from the cook's galley 
 of a passing ship. 
 
 So fond, indeed, are the gulls of the meal 
 provided them by the refuse thrown overboard 
 from ships, that they \\ill in a harbour where a 
 guardship is moored, apparently observing times 
 and seasons, attend daily with the greatest regu- 
 larity for the food they know will be supplied to 
 them. In addition they will, as we have said, 
 wander far inland in search of worms and grubs, 
 and when so engaged will not even disdain on 
 occasion to help themselves to the farmer's grain, 
 
The Sea-Gull 203 
 
 though this cannot be said in any way to be their 
 natural food. That a gull, however, can live 
 entirely on corn is proved by the fact that the 
 stomach of one so kept by John Hunter is now pre- 
 served in the Museum of the College of Surgeons. 
 
 G-ulls make excellent pets, and are most useful 
 in gardens, having an illimitable appetite for slugs 
 and a general aptitude for devouring obnoxious 
 insects. And, strange though it may appear, con- 
 sidering their natural wariness and wildness, it is 
 not necessary to obtain them young, as an adult 
 bird, pinioned by a good or lucky shot as the case 
 may be, will, often before its wound has thoroughly 
 healed, have become so tame that it will come with 
 great regularity to be fed, if it does not, as certainly 
 will eventually be the case, know and follow the 
 person who is in the habit of feeding it. 
 
 Gulls in captivity, or rather wandering at large 
 in a garden, though deprived of their power of 
 flight, are by no means the miserable birds that 
 many would imagine. On the contrary, they are 
 most masterful, and evidently consider themselves 
 of very great importance. They will generally 
 condescend to notice all the members of the house- 
 hold to which they belong, though naturally they 
 have their favourites, giving their preference as a 
 rule to those who feed them, and will possibly 
 admit certain well-known visitors to a limited 
 intimacy ; but they usually resent the intrusion of 
 strangers, even to the extent of pecking their heels 
 a far from pleasant operation for the victim, 
 
204 The Sea-Gull. 
 
 especially if performed by a specimen of one of the 
 larger gulls. They are, in fact, birds of great 
 character, each individual having ways of its 
 own. 
 
 Their noisiness they cannot be said by their 
 best friends to possess musical voices is to some 
 few people an absolute bar to their being kept as 
 pets. We, however, can only pity those whose 
 nerves are so highly strung, as they thereby lose, 
 at all events, the chance of the friendship of one 
 of these delightfully intelligent birds. 
 
 Some knowledge of these birds and their habits 
 may be obtained by watching those in the Zoo- 
 logical Gardens, where a considerable number are 
 kept, pinioned and in a semi-domesticated condi- 
 tioD, yet living so happily, that many of them nest 
 in the spring, though we fear with, as a rule, little 
 satisfaction either to themselves or their keepers. 
 Here the birds may be seen in all states" of 
 plumage, from the mottled brown of the first year 
 to the pure white and grey and black of the adult. 
 Since the large aviary was built last year, matters 
 have been so ordered that some of the smaller 
 gulls may be seen unpinioned, and, therefore, able 
 to use their wings. 
 
 In London, as we have said, gulls are only occa- 
 sional visitors, and the Londoner must go far from 
 town to make certain of seeing them in all their 
 beauty. 
 
THE THRUSH. 
 
 (Sept. 22, 1888.) 
 
 THE song-thrush, or mavis, is one of the best 
 known and best loved of British song-birds, and 
 with reason, as not only is it one of the best of 
 singers, but, with the exception of its cousin, the 
 missel-thrush, or storm-cock, as it is called in some 
 counties, it is the first bird that by its song 
 suggests the coming spring. No sooner has the 
 new year begun than, given a few warm days, 
 the thrush may be heard from its favourite post, 
 on one of the higher branches of a tree, piping 
 in half-hearted manner, it is true, and as if it were 
 almost ashamed of its presumption, but still delight- 
 fully. 
 
 As a London bird the thrush is far from 
 uncommon, being found in all the parks and in 
 most . of the larger gardens and pleasure-grounds 
 of the inner suburbs. In the outer suburbs, where 
 houses are fewer and gardens more plentiful, this 
 bird is almost as common as it is in the country. 
 It is essentially a ' ' homely " bird, fond of human 
 society, as is proved by the fact that it will nest 
 in gardens, often close to much -frequented paths. 
 The nest, which is one of the most compact of bird 
 
206 The Thrush. 
 
 structures, is built of small sticks or roots, dry 
 grass, straw, and moss, the whole mass being 
 intermixed with clay. The interior, which is about 
 three . inches in diameter, is lined with a plaster 
 composed by the bird of clay, horse or cow dung, 
 and rotten wood, thoroughly mixed and compacted 
 with its own saliva, and has been well described as 
 being " about the form and size of a large break- 
 fast teacup, being as uniformly rounded and, 
 though not polished, almost as smooth." The 
 whole forms probably the best protection that 
 could be devised against the bitter winds of the 
 early spring, in which this bird commences to 
 breed; but from its very excellence the nest is 
 occasionally the cause of disaster, as, being water- 
 tight, a heavy rain may fill it when some only of 
 the eggs have been laid, and therefore before the 
 hen has begun to sit. 
 
 The nest is generally built in a thick shrub, 
 bush, or hedge ; but the bird is far from parti- 
 cular, adapting itself very much to circumstances, 
 so much so that it will on occasion if no better 
 position can be found, build in a shed or out- 
 building, and even but this is very rare upon 
 the ground. The eggs of the thrush, of which from 
 four to six are generally laid, are probably better 
 known than those of any other British bird, 
 not even excepting the ubiquitous sparrow. The 
 reason of this is doubtless that the nest is large 
 and easily to be found by the most inexperienced 
 birds'-nester, and that the eggs, from their colour 
 
The Thrush. 207 
 
 and markings blue-spotted and streaked with 
 black are noticeable and unlike those of any of 
 our other birds. The cock-bird certainly cannot 
 be accused of laziness, as not only does he take 
 his turn from time to time upon the nest during 
 the period of incubation, but also attentively feeds 
 the hen while she is sitting. 
 
 Thrushes are early breeders ; so early, indeed, 
 that with the first warm days of the new year 
 the cocks begin, as we have said, to sing a 
 certain sign that they are preparing to nest. 
 Gilbert White, indeed, " laid it down as a maxim 
 in ornithology that so long as there is any incuba- 
 tion going on there is music." This year they 
 were singing in the latter end of January; but 
 the terrible weather that followed the comparative 
 warmth of that month drove for the time all idea 
 of nesting from their minds, if, indeed, it was not 
 the cause of death to many of them, as they are, 
 strange though it may appear with such apparently 
 hardy birds, most susceptible to cold, especially if 
 accompanied by snow. In this respect the London 
 birds are better off than those that live in the 
 country, as not only can they find more shelter 
 from the inclemency of the weather, but they have 
 more chance of being fed by human friends. This 
 fact the birds of the district round London are 
 apparently capable of appreciating, as in very hard 
 weather they move into town, and may then be 
 seen in considerable numbers. 
 
 This bird is well named the song-thrush, its 
 
208 The Thrush. 
 
 note being rivalled only by that of the nightingale, 
 and we must admit that, in our opinion, there is 
 little to choose between them. Of the birds that 
 remain with us throughout the year the thrush is, 
 at all events, facile princeps, and, in addition to its 
 other good qualities, it has in its favour the fact 
 that, while beginning to sing earlier in the year 
 than most birds, it continues in full song 
 throughout the summer, and often sings again 
 in the autumn after its moult, long after the 
 generality of birds have become silent. It is also 
 apparently untirable, beginning its song with the 
 dawn and ending only with darkness ; so late, 
 indeed, will it sing that we have often late in the 
 evening been called out, in most impossible places, 
 to hear a nightingale, only to find, as we supposed 
 would be the case, that a belated thrush was in full 
 song. 
 
 Unlike most birds we speak of songsters as 
 distinguished from birds having merely a call note 
 the thrush has a song which can be translated 
 into words, nonsensical, no doubt, but nevertheless 
 conveying the song most exactly in fact, to quote 
 the late Frank Buckland, the bird does actually 
 sing the following words: "Knee deep, knee 
 deep, knee deep ; cherry du, cherry du, cherry du, 
 cherry du ; white hat, white hat; pretty joey, 
 pretty joey, pretty joey." 
 
 Thrushes are without doubt most destructive to 
 small fruit when ripe, but the damage they do to 
 the gardener in this way is more than compensated 
 
The Thrush. 209 
 
 for by the immense- amount of good they do him 
 the year through by destroying snail s, slugs, and 
 other pests of the garden. As Yarrell remarked, 
 " Prudent gardeners, who surround their fruit with 
 nets, have nothing to fear from the song- thrush, 
 and much for which to be thankful. " In London, 
 at all events, their song would always secure them 
 a welcome were they the most mischievous of birds. 
 Snails are among their greatest delicacies, and it 
 is most amusing to watch the dexterity with which 
 one of these birds will rid the snail of its shell by 
 knocking it against a stone, the same stone being 
 used continually until quite a heap of broken shells 
 is collected round it. 
 
 Thrushes, though many remain with us the year 
 through, are distinctly migratory, moving from 
 north to south and vice versa with great regularity. 
 So far as London is concerned, the larger number 
 of young birds leave at the end of summer never 
 to return. Still, in the parks at least, the number 
 of these birds remains fairly constant, and we hope 
 and believe that it will be many years before they 
 cease to be the home of the song-thrush. 
 
THE REDBREAST. 
 
 (Nov. 17, 1888.) 
 
 PROBABLY no bird is better known than the Red- 
 breast, yet we doubt if there are not thousands of 
 Londoners, even amongst those who should know 
 better, who would be surprised to hear that it is by 
 no means the rarest of the birds of London. It 
 does not, of course, frequent the streets ; but in the 
 parks, and wherever there are trees and gardens, it 
 may be found penetrating, especially in the winter, 
 in considerable numbers into the inner suburbs. 
 Kensington Gardens is one of its favourite haunts, 
 and there it may be seen at any time of the year ; 
 it is also fond of the shrubberies in St. James's 
 Park. Many birds possess, and are ordinarily 
 called by, human names. " Mag " pie, " Jack " 
 daw, " Tom " tit, are familiar instances among 
 others which will occur to everyone ; but " Robin " 
 Redbreast stands alone, so far as we are aware, as 
 the bird which may be said to have dropped its 
 proper name, and to be generally known by its 
 prefix, as most people apparently think that " Red- 
 breast " is nothing more than a pet name, and that 
 the bird should be known as the " Robin." 
 
 Robin Redbreast is an amusingly impudent bird, 
 
The Redbreast. 211 
 
 showing in all its tricks and ways that it has abso- 
 lutely no fear of man. This fearlessness is, no 
 doubt, to a certain extent, the result of its immunity 
 from persecution, as for centuries legend and tradi- 
 tion have so favoured it that the schoolboy is chary 
 of even touching its nest, as he has a vague notion 
 that something uncanny will happen if he in any 
 way injures a robin. The origin of this super- 
 stitious feeling in ifcs favour is lost in the mist 
 of antiquity, but its beauty and its winning 
 ways are in themselves sufficient to account for 
 the love bestowed on it. Beauty the redbreast 
 certainly possesses, which even the grime and dirt 
 of London cannot destroy, as its bright full eye and 
 fearless carriage have a charm of their own quite 
 apart from its plumage. Of its excessive tameness 
 and of its winning homely ways numberless tales 
 have been told, to which most people could add from 
 their own experience, as it has been well said that 
 redbreasts in the winter become t{ almost domesti- 
 cated/ 1 There is a very common belief that in the 
 spring these birds leave the neighbourhood of 
 houses and retire into the woods to breed. This is 
 certainly not true of the main body, and we agree 
 with Rennie that "a great number do not go 
 further from their winter haunts than the nearest 
 hedgerow." Many, indeed, do not go so far, but 
 build in gardens, often choosing such places as 
 summer-houses and tool-sheds, or holes in walls, 
 especially if covered with ivy, for their nests, 
 and this applies especially to the birds that make 
 v 2 
 
212 The Redbreast. 
 
 their homes in London and its suburbs. Red- 
 breasts often choose extraordinary places for their 
 nests, such as flower-pots and old kettles, andinaiiy 
 cases are on record of their having nested in rooms 
 to which they have had access through windows 
 which have been kept constantly open. But 
 perhaps the most extraordinary position ever 
 chosen by one of these birds for its nesting-place 
 was the interior of a human skull, in the well-known 
 bone-crypt under the church at Hythe, in Kent. 
 
 At the end of summer the old birds retire as 
 much as possible into seclusion during their moult,, 
 leaving the young in possession of their haunts. 
 On their return many a battle-royal takes place, and 
 old-world tales would lead us to believe that the 
 young birds drive off their parents. The process, 
 however, is, in fact, reversed, and it is the old 
 birds that, as a rule, remain in possession, while 
 the young are sent out into the world to seek 
 their fortunes; and certain it is that redbreasts 
 migrate to the southward in very considerable 
 numbers during the autumn. As soon as cold 
 weather sets in another movement takes place, and 
 the birds close in upon houses and outbuildings, 
 knowing that in such places they are sure to find 
 food, and at this time there is a strong immigration 
 into London, and even in the inner suburbs they 
 become far from uncommon, being found wherever 
 there are gardens of any size. 
 
 The food of the redbreast varies with the 
 seasons. During the greater part of the year 
 
The Redbreast. 213 
 
 insects and worms form the chief part of its diet; 
 but in the summer it feeds largely on fruit and 
 berries. Gilbert White, indeed, gave it as his 
 opinion that, " notwithstanding the prejudices in 
 their favour, they do much mischief in gardens to 
 the summer fruit." In the winter they may be 
 said to be omnivorous, nothing coming amiss to 
 them a fact which can be vouched for by those 
 who are in the habit of throwing down food for 
 birds during hard weather. 
 
 Its song, continued as it is " the year round, 
 hard frost excepted," would, had it nothing else to 
 recommend it, make this bird a universal favourite. 
 Many suppose that it is only an autumn and winter 
 songster; but this is a mistake, for, as we have 
 said, it sings at all seasons, but in the spring and 
 summer its sweet little song is lost in the chorus of 
 louder voices. 
 
 Belon, a French naturalist of the sixteenth 
 century, published, among other works, a quaint 
 book called " Portraits d'Oyseaux, Animaux, &c.," 
 which, as the title implies, contains figures of birds, 
 and, to use the writer's own words, is " enrichy 
 de Quatrains pour plus cognoisance des Oiseaux et 
 autres For trait s," in which he writes as follows of 
 the redbreast : 
 
 Au Rossignol de muraille ressemble 
 La Gorge-Rouge, en chant armonieuse. 
 Elle en hyver apparoist fort ioyeuse, 
 Luy en este aupres de nous s'assemble. 
 
 The comparison of its song with that of the 
 
214 The Redbreast. 
 
 redstart is not unfair, but it was surely unnecessary 
 in turn to compare the redstart as a songster with 
 the nightingale, as he does in his description of 
 that bird, which is as follows : 
 
 Ce Rossignol est nomme de inuraille 
 Pource qu'es murs il bastit sa maison, 
 Fait ses petits : mais en comparaison 
 Au Rossignol, il ne dit rein qui vaille. 
 
 Its name, perhaps, caused the invidious com- 
 parison, though all three birds, in fact, belong to 
 the same family. 
 
 Many people prize the redbreast as a cage bird 
 not only for its song, though it is a free singer in 
 confinement, but also for its tatneness and friendly 
 ways, and with proper attention it will thrive 
 in captivity and live for years, though like all " soft 
 meat" birds it requires very great care in feeding. 
 Frank Buckland stated that Londoners were parti- 
 cularly fond of robins as pets, but we cannot vouch 
 for this. Its pugnacity, however, is so great that 
 it cannot be kept successfully with other birds, and 
 is therefore not often found in aviaries. So pug- 
 nacious, indeed, is it, that it will not allow another 
 bird of its own species its mate always excepted 
 to intrude upon the space which it considers its own 
 domain, and will even endeavour to drive off other 
 small birds. 
 
 One of the redbreast's peculiarities is its love of 
 human society, and this is curiously exemplified in 
 the case of those birds that live in woods and other 
 solitary places, as they invariably find out and 
 
The Redbreast. 215 
 
 attend closely upon anyone who approaches their 
 haunt if he only stand still for a moment or 
 two. No doubt this habit is much the result 
 of cupboard love,, as the birds have found from 
 experience that human beings more often than not 
 disturb the surface of the ground, and thus supply 
 them with a meal of worms and insects. In London 
 the redbreast never appears to us quite, so soci- 
 able as in the country, where it enters houses 
 freely, especially in the winter ; but wherever it is 
 found, whether in town or country, it is a sociable, 
 inquisitive, truly pugnacious, and most lovable little 
 bird. 
 
THE HEDGE-SPARROW. 
 
 (Jan. 19, 1889.) 
 
 THE hedge-sparrow, or dunnock, is not only one 
 of the most familiar, but also one of the most 
 harmless, of British birds. As Bewick remarks, 
 " it has no other relation to the sparrow than in 
 the dinginess of its colours ; in every other respect 
 it differs entirely." Indeed, it belongs to the genus 
 Accentor, of which it is the only resident British 
 representative, its cousin, the Alpine accentor, 
 being only an occasional visitor to this country. 
 Its slight resemblance in plumage to the sparrow 
 was doubtless the cause of the name "hedge- 
 sparrow," by which it is most commonly known ; 
 an unfortunate name, which has, without doubt, 
 caused the destruction of thousands of its species, 
 as many persons think that, as it is called a 
 sparrow, it must be mischievous. Attempts have 
 from time to time been made by different writers 
 to change this name hedge-accentor, hedge- 
 chanter, and hedge-warbler being among the new 
 names suggested but always without success ; 
 for hedge-sparrow it was, as we know, in Shak- 
 speare's time, and hedge-sparrow it will remain 
 at all events in those parts where it is not 
 
The Hedge- Sparrow. 217 
 
 known by its other familiar name of dunnock. 
 Oddly enough,, this bird has two human names, 
 "Dick" and " Molly/' being known as Dick 
 Dunnock and Molly Hedge-sparrow; in many 
 places the latter name is dropped, and it is 
 known simply as the Molly. 
 
 The hedge-sparrow is not uncommon in London, 
 and, like the redbreast, is found in the Parks, 
 and, practically, wherever there are shrubs and 
 gardens of any size ; the dinginess of its plumage, 
 which in the smoke and dirt of town becomes 
 almost black, and its habit of never going far 
 from shrubs and bushes, render it, however, less 
 observable than that bird. The fact that it is 
 found in London will not surprise those acquainted 
 with its habits, for it has been well described as 
 "our most domestic bird," and certainly appear- 
 ances favour the idea that it delights in human 
 society, as it is to be found at all times near 
 houses, in gardens, orchards, and shrubberies. 
 In the spring, no doubt, many retire to the 
 hedges and woods to breed ; but, like the red- 
 breasts, they, as winter approaches, again draw 
 near to the neighbourhood of houses, and at this 
 time many find their way into London. 
 
 As we have said, the hedge-sparrow is one of 
 the most harmless of British birds, feeding as it 
 does on insects, worms, and seeds. In hard 
 weather, as Gilbert White tells us, it "frequents 
 sinks and gutters, where it picks up crumbs and 
 other sweepings," and it will always be found 
 
218 The Hedge- Sparrow. 
 
 among the birds coming to be fed where food is 
 spread for them in the winter-time, Gilbert 
 White also tells us that " in mild weather they 
 procure worms, which are stirring every month 
 in the year, as any one may see that will only 
 be at the trouble of taking a candle to a grass 
 plot on any mild winter's night." Many persons 
 accuse the hedge-sparrow of taking fruit, and 
 even peas, in the summer-time; but not only is 
 it innocent of the offences so laid to its charge, 
 but in reality it is a friend to the gardener. 
 
 These birds are generally seen in pairs, and 
 have been well described as unobtrusive, quiet, 
 and retiring, without being shy. They may gene- 
 rally be seen on lawns, though never far from 
 cover, moving about in search of food with a 
 cheerful, jerky gait, and continually flirting their 
 wings in a way peculiarly their own. This curious 
 motion of the wings is doubtless the origin of 
 " Shufflewing," one of the bird's many names. 
 They are very early breeders, pairing as they do 
 in the beginning of February, at which time the 
 cock may be heard constantly singing his quaint 
 little song, which, though deficient in variety, 
 is very pretty and sweet in tone. Like the red- 
 breast, he continues his song practically the year 
 through, singing as he does at all times, except 
 during his moult and in very hard weather. 
 Bewick said of the hedge-sparrow: "Its song 
 is little varied, but pleasant, especially in a season 
 when all other warblers are silent ; its usual 
 
The Hedge-Sparrow. 219 
 
 strain is a sort of quivering, frequently repeating 
 something like the following, 'tit-tit-tititit/ from 
 which in some places it is called the Titling." 
 The nest is a rather loose structure of twigs, 
 roots, green moss, and wool well rounded inter- 
 nally, and lined with hair. So neat is this lining 
 that Bennie suggested that the birds must moisten 
 the hairs to make them wind, since otherwise 
 it would not be easy to account for the neatness 
 of the work. It is placed in a bush or hedge, 
 usually low down, or favourite places with these 
 birds in the heaps of faggots, pea-sticks, brush, 
 and rubbish so often found in gardens and, shrub- 
 beries. The eggs, from four to six in number, 
 of a uniform light blue colour, are laid often 
 early in March, and, therefore, before the bushes 
 and hedges are in leaf, the consequence being 
 that they not infrequently become the prey of 
 bird's-nesting boys. Cuckoos are particularly 
 fond of depositing their eggs in the nests of 
 hedge-sparrows, a circumstance evidently well 
 known to Shakspeare, as he made the Fool in 
 " King Lear " say 
 
 For you trow, nuncle, 
 
 The hedge-sparrow fed the cuckoo so long 
 
 That it had its head bit off by its young. 
 
 This apparent preference is probably accounted 
 for by the fact that the nest is easily found, as 
 little art is used in concealing it. Frank Buck- 
 land expressed the opinion that one pair of hedge- 
 sparrows could not feed such a glutton as a young 
 
220 The Hedge- Sparrow. 
 
 cuckoo, and that other birds, attracted by its 
 peculiar cry, must help the foster-parents. Be 
 this as it may, it is an undoubted fact that many 
 cuckoos are yearly hatched and brought up by 
 these birds. Hedge-sparrows are occasionally 
 kept in captivity ; they thrive in aviaries, and, 
 being of a peaceful disposition, are not given to 
 interfering with the other birds, though some 
 people complain that they are unsociable. When 
 so kept they will eat canary seed, breadcrumbs, 
 paste, &c., but they look upon an occasional 
 meal-worm as their greatest luxury. 
 
 In London hedge-sparrows breed regularly in 
 Kensington Gardens, being particularly fond of 
 the Flower Walk and the private gardens sur- 
 rounding the Palace, where some of them may 
 always be seen the year through. And, generally, 
 we do not think their numbers are diminishing 
 in the Parks, or, indeed, in any part of London 
 or the suburbs, where they are not driven out 
 by the builder. 
 
TITMICE. 
 
 (Feb. 9, 1889.) 
 
 TITMICE are common in the inner suburbs of 
 London and by no means rare in the Parks, 
 Kensington Gardens especially being a favourite 
 haunt, and the fact that they are not more 
 generally known shows how little observation, at 
 least in matters ornithological, is possessed by the 
 average Londoner. Three species of the genus 
 Parus the Great-Tit, the Blue-Tit, and the Coal- 
 Tit may from time to time be seen, but the 
 second is by far the commonest, and is always 
 to be found where there are large gardens. All 
 three species are much alike in their ways and 
 habits, and are among the merriest and most 
 active of birds, being indeed perfect little winged 
 acrobats, to whom it is a matter of indifference, 
 when climbing about trees or shrubs, whether they 
 are hanging back downwards while clinging to 
 some slender twig or perched securely on a bough. 
 They are also extremely fearless of man, and while 
 busily engaged in searching for insects, their 
 favourite occupation, will allow of a very near 
 approach without apparent distrust. 
 
 The blue-tit is, as we have said, the commonest 
 
222 Titmice. 
 
 of the three, not in London alone, but throughout 
 the country; it is also, in our opinion, the most 
 beautiful indeed there are few British birds that 
 excel it in beauty, though the result no doubt of 
 its being very common it is not appreciated and 
 admired as it should be. Not only is this the 
 commonest of the tits, but it is also the most 
 friendly, delighting as it does in gardens and 
 orchards. Its food, like that of the others, con- 
 sists principally of insects, though it is, especially 
 in the winter- time, as Gilbert White said, " a 
 general devourer " and " a vast admirer of suet." 
 Gardeners consider it one of their greatest enemies, 
 but in this they are in the wrong, as, indeed, is not 
 uncommon with that most "opinionated race," 
 when birds are in question. They see it at work 
 among their fruit-trees, and because it plucks off 
 buds and scatters them on the ground, they declare 
 war against it, either forgetting or being ignorant 
 of the fact that it is not the bud, but the insect it 
 contains, which is attractive to the bird, and that 
 uninfected buds are safe from it. 
 
 It is, in fact, doubtful whether birds of this 
 species are at any time vegetable feeders, though 
 many authors declare them to be so. But both the 
 great-tit and the coal-tit undoubtedly eat both 
 seeds and berries, the former being particularly 
 fond of the seeds of the sunflower. Darwin said 
 of the great-tit, " It sometimes, like a shrike, kills 
 small birds by blows on the head; and I have 
 many times seen and heard it hammering the seeds 
 
Titmice. 223 
 
 of the jew on a branch, and thus breaking them 
 like a nuthatch." Titmice, blue-tits especially, 
 are very fond of meat, aad by no means object 
 to it if rather high ; they are generally found 
 about the horseflesh and other carrion hung up 
 near dog-kennels, and a bone, a lump of suet, or, 
 as Jardine suggested, the skeleton of a cooked 
 fowl, if hung up in a garden, will surely attract 
 the titmice, if any are in the neighbourhood ; and 
 to the bird-lover nothing is more delightful than 
 to watch the marvellous activity of these little 
 acrobats as they swing securely on the tempting 
 morsel without fear of disturbance by other birds, 
 as they alone can keep a foothold. 
 
 Titmice, especially great-tits, are held in great 
 horror by many bee-keepers, who declare that they 
 are their greatest enemies, and accuse them of 
 tapping at the entrances to the hives, and snapping 
 up the bees as they come out to discover what is 
 amiss. Though, no doubt, they do occasionally 
 destroy a few bees, we cannot but think that the 
 mischief they do is much exaggerated, and are 
 pleased to say that in this opinion we are now 
 supported by many bee-masters. Titmice are 
 wonderfully noisy, garrulous little birds, especially 
 in the spring-time, when the notes of the cocks 
 rise to the dignity of what, in lieu of a better 
 expression, we must call a song, though they are 
 certainly not harmonious. The great-tit is, indeed, 
 called the " Saw-sharper " in some parts of the 
 country, the name being doubtless due to the fact 
 
224 Titmice. 
 
 that some of its notes much, resemble the sound 
 made when sharpening a saw. Notwithstanding 
 that the song has little melody, it is wonderfully 
 lively and pleasant, and was evidently much 
 admired by Belon, who, in his " Portraits 
 d'Oyseaux, &c.," wrote as follows of the great-tit 
 and the blue-tit respectively : 
 
 Au temps d'Autonne il y a des mesanges, 
 En grand foison, qui bautent par les boys, 
 Et font des oeufs douze ou quinze par fois 
 Oyseaux petits et qui chantent comme anges. 
 
 and 
 
 L'este es bois la mesange bleue est, 
 Et nous vient voir en Hy ver et Autonne, 
 Le doux chanter d'icelle plaisir donne, 
 A tout esprit, a qui 1'escouter plaist. 
 
 These birds are early breeders, and their " note of 
 incubation^ can be heard in February. They 
 build their nests in holes, in trees, walls, rocks, or 
 banks; and there is little doubt that, if a hole 
 suitable for their purpose cannot be found, they 
 will hew one out for themselves, even, in the case 
 of a wall, removing mortar and small stones for 
 the purpose. They are, however, by no means 
 particular, and often choose most extraordinary 
 nesting-places, such as the inside of a pump, the 
 frame of a window, or an inverted flower-pot or 
 bottle. In London we have known a blue-tit build 
 her nest and hatch her young in the interior of a 
 lamp-post, to which she obtained access through a 
 a small hole. But perhaps the most extraordinary 
 
Titmice. 225 
 
 position on record is that mentioned by the Rev. 
 F. O. Morris, when a blue-tit built its nest " within 
 the jaws of the skeleton of a man who had been 
 executed and hung in chains for murder." 
 
 A remarkable instance of the persistence with 
 which these birds will use the same nesting-place 
 year after year is given in the fourth edition of 
 YarrelPs " British Birds/' the facts being as 
 follows: Either in 1779 or 1785, for on this 
 point accounts differ, a pair of blue-tits built their 
 nest in a large earthenware bottle which had been 
 left to drain in the branches of a tree in a garden 
 at Oxbridge, and, the bottle being allowed to 
 remain, they used it year by year for the same 
 purpose until 1822, when, the tree becoming 
 decayed, the bottle was placed in one near by, and 
 the tenancy continued, with only two interruptions, 
 until 1 873, the date of the publication of the book. 
 The nest is composed of moss, hair, and feathers,. 
 and in it the eggs, white, prettily spotted and 
 speckled with red, usually from seven to nine in 
 number, are placed. The hen bird, more especially 
 in the case of the blue-tit, is most courageous in 
 defence of her eggs and young, and will fight 
 stoutly if disturbed, puffing out her feathers and 
 hissing the while like a snake or an angry kitten, 
 and the boy who boldly puts his hand into the hole 
 containing her nest generally gets well pecked by 
 the irritated matron for his pains. This habit is 
 without doubt the origin of Billy Biter the school- 
 boy's name for the bird. She will not only fight 
 
 Q 
 
226 Titmice. 
 
 as described, but so devoted a mother is she, that 
 she will even allow the branch containing her nest 
 to be sawn off and carried to a distance without 
 deserting her eggs. The young birds, which 
 resemble their parents, with the exception that 
 their colours are not; so bright, remain together 
 until the ensuing spring; thus forming little 
 troops, they may be seen flitting together from 
 tree to tree in pursuit of food. 
 
 All London birds suffer from the dirt and grime 
 of town, but titmice, from their habit of creeping 
 about the trunks and boughs of trees and shrubs, 
 lose all their beautiful colouring and become, 
 especially after such a series of fogs as we have 
 lately experienced, the blackest and grimiest little 
 birds imaginable. But whether clean or dirty 
 they are always sprightly and most friendly, and 
 will never fail to afford amusement by their antics 
 to those who, being lucky enough to possess 
 gardens, encourage them by supplying for them 
 their favourite dainty, a bone or a piece of suet. 
 
THE BLACKBIRD. 
 
 (March 9, 1889.) 
 
 FEW British birds are better known than the black- 
 bird, the glossy black plumage and bright orange 
 bill of the cock being sufficiently noticeable, and 
 it is therefore wonderful that anyone should doubt 
 its right to a place in the list of birds of London. 
 Like the thrush, it frequents the Parks and large 
 gardens of the inner suburbs, but is not so 
 common or perhaps it would be more correct 
 to say, is not so widely distributed being some- 
 what local. The " flower walk " in Kensington 
 Gardens, for example, is one of its favourite 
 haunts, and there as many as five or six may 
 occasionally be seen together in the winter picking 
 berries from a tree, and in the spring and early 
 summer the cocks can always be heard singing. 
 Again, though it frequents the same localities as 
 the thrush, it is by no means so bold a bird ; it has 
 a great objection to going far from cover, and 
 when in the open has a curious, suspicious, 
 listening way, and is always ready, on the slightest 
 provocation, to dash back into shelter. When 
 suddenly alarmed, it flies off with a peculiar 
 startled cry, and, after a short flight, turns almost 
 Q 2 
 
228 The Blackbird. 
 
 at right angles into cover a habit which always 
 attracts attention to it. Where, however, through 
 living in much-frequented places, it is not liable 
 to sudden alarms, its shy habits render it less 
 observable than the bolder thrush. 
 
 The song of the blackbird, though wonderfully 
 rich and mellow, has bat little variety, and is, in 
 our opinion, poor in comparison with that of the 
 thrush. The bird begins to sing early in the 
 spring, and continues his song, with short intervals 
 of silence, throughout the summer, singing his 
 best early in the morning and in the evening. The 
 song, unlike that of many other birds, has not, so 
 far as we are aware, ever been put into words. 
 
 The blackbird is an early breeder so early, 
 indeed, that during the abnormally warm weather 
 in December last several cases of blackbirds 
 nesting were recorded, the birds evidently being 
 deluded into the belief that spring had begun. 
 The nest is a most solid structure of roots, grass, 
 and clay, carefully lined with fine dry grass, the 
 whole forming a wonderful protection from the 
 weather; but occasionally such extraordinary 
 substances as paper or rags enter into its com- 
 position, and Frank Buckland recorded and pub- 
 lished an illustration of one which was festooned 
 with pieces of lace, some of which were worked in 
 and out throughout it. It is usually placed in a 
 thick low bush, by preference an evergreen, but 
 now and then a high tree is chosen, and cases 
 have been known where the nest has been built 
 
The Blackbird. 229 
 
 on the ground; indeed, the bird is by no means 
 particular as to situation, occasionally choosing 
 most unlikely places in which to build ; perhaps 
 the most extraordinary on record being the crown 
 of a w ater-pipe under the overhanging roof of 
 a house, a position admirably adapted for a 
 sparrow's nest, but certainly not one in which a 
 blackbird's might be expected. 
 
 The eggs, from four to six in number, are 
 greenish blue, thickly spotted with dull red, and as 
 a result of the size of the nest, and the little care 
 taken to conceal it, often fall a prey to bird's- 
 nesting boys. This is perhaps not altogether to be 
 regretted, as blackbirds are very prolific, having 
 two and three broods in the year, the same nest 
 occasionally doing duty for the whole season. 
 The " leading case " was supplied by a pair of 
 London blackbirds, which iu the year 1837 built 
 four successive nests upon the island in St. James's 
 Park, and safely reared and brought off seventeen 
 young ones, the first three broods consisting of five 
 each, the last of two only. 
 
 The young in their first plumage are curiously 
 spotted, especially on the breast in this stage the 
 cocks may be distinguished, as they are darker 
 than the hens, aud the spots on the breast are 
 more distinct. After the first moult they lose 
 their spots, and are then of a dark rusty brown, 
 very much like the hen, but darker; the adult 
 plumage is attained in the ensuing spring. 
 
 The food of the blackbird varies with the seasons, 
 
230 The Blackbird. 
 
 and in the summer it cannot be denied that it is a 
 great devourer of fruit, cherries, strawberries, and, 
 in fact, all small fruit, where not protected by 
 nets, suffering severely from its attacks. We 
 cannot, however, admit that it is such a deadly 
 enemy to the gardener as it is popularly supposed 
 to be, as it feeds for the greater part of the year 
 on insects and their larvae, together with worms, 
 snails, and slugs, thus doing him immense good, 
 while the time available for mischief is by com- 
 parison very short. 
 
 Many gardeners, while refusing to kill thrushes, 
 will ruthlessly destroy blackbirds under the mis- 
 taken idea that, though both are fruit-eaters, the 
 former alone makes amends for the mischief they 
 do by destroying slugs and snails. As a fact, 
 there is little to choose between the two birds iu 
 this respect, the blackbird being as fond of shell 
 snails as the thrush, and adopting the same 
 method of obtaining them. 
 
 Others, again, maintain that the blackbird is 
 more persistent in its attacks upon fruit than 
 its cousiu the thrush. In this also they are 
 mistaken, though the mistake admits of easy 
 explanation. The plumage and habits of the 
 thrush are all in its favour, as its colour enables 
 it to peck away at the fruit without being seen, 
 and when disturbed it steals away without any 
 noise. The blackbird, on the contrary, at once 
 attracts attention by its sharp cry of alarm, if, 
 indeed, its black coat and yellow bill have not 
 
The Blackbird. 231 
 
 already betrayed its presence. Both birds should, 
 in our opinion, be protected, and the fruit they eat 
 be regarded as given in payment for services 
 rendered. London birds, however, have little to 
 fear from the gardener, as fruit-growing is not 
 carried on to any extent in suburban gardens. 
 
 Like many other birds, blackbirds in hard 
 weather draw near to houses and homesteads ; and 
 at such times many find their way into town, 
 where they lose their shy habits and become 
 excessively tame, especially if the ground is 
 covered with snow, and will take food, even 
 when placed close to a window, with hardly 
 more hesitation than is shown by the impudent 
 sparrow. 
 
 Blackbirds, when reared from the nest, make 
 excellent cage-birds, and become very tame and 
 companionable ; but in aviaries they are trouble- 
 some, as they are excessively pugnacious, and harass 
 other birds. They are perfect mimics, and may 
 be taught to whistle simple tunes; they will also 
 imitate the songs of other birds, and have been 
 known to crow like a cock, and cackle like a hen ; 
 and some authors go so far as to affirm that they 
 will even imitate the human voice. 
 
 In the country blackbirds, from their habit of 
 suddenly dashing out of cover, flying straight 
 away, and as suddenly turning in again, are con- 
 sidered to afford excellent sport for boys who learn 
 to shoot, and hundreds are yearly killed in this 
 way. Blackbird hawking, again, is a recognised 
 
232 The Blackbird. 
 
 form of sport; but is followed by so few that it 
 does little to lessen the number of blackbirds. 
 And, lastly, great numbers are, as we have said, 
 killed by gardeners during the fruit season. Yet, 
 notwithstanding all this, their numbers appear to 
 suffer no diminution. In London, however, where 
 the bird has practically but one enemy the 
 prowling, ubiquitous cat we doubt if it would not 
 long ago have been extinct were not its numbers 
 continually recruited by immigrants from the 
 country. 
 
THE DAW. 
 
 (May 11, 1889.) 
 
 THE daw or jackdaw, as it is generally called is 
 a particularly sociable bird, fond of human society, 
 and consequently much given to frequenting towns, 
 where it seems quite as much at home as it does in 
 the country. It is therefore, not surprising that 
 London possesses colonies of these birds, which 
 do not, indeed, live and breed in the heart of the 
 city, but are far from uncommon in the suburbs. 
 Kensington Gardens is much frequented by them, 
 one of their favourite resorts being the meadow at 
 the back of Palace Gardens, where they are generally 
 undisturbed. They are, however, by no means 
 shy, and do not confine themselves to the parks 
 and open spaces, but may be seen at all times of 
 the day flying over or settling on the roofs of 
 houses on the look-out for anything they can pick 
 up, and they share with the cats and sparrows the 
 bits of broken food which are thrown out into 
 the gardens and backyards of suburban houses, 
 pouncing down, when they think themselves un- 
 observed, upon any choice morsel and carrying it 
 off to some neighbouring roof for consumption. 
 The early morning, before the daily traffic has 
 
234 The Daw. 
 
 fairly begun, is the London jackdaw's time of 
 greatest enjoyment, as it can then forage un- 
 disturbed, and at this time, especially in the 
 summer, when there are several hours of daylight 
 during which there is practically no traffic, it may 
 not uncommonly be seen in the deserted streets 
 breakfasting, inter alia, on the grain which is 
 always to be found in considerable quantities about 
 cabstands. 
 
 The jackdaw is decidedly omnivorous ; nothing- 
 eatable apparently comes amiss to it ; worms and 
 insects, grain and fruit, are equally acceptable ; 
 and, as Jardine said, " in the midst of cities and 
 towns it is never at a loss, and will indiscriminately 
 feed on almost any kind of offal ." In gardens it 
 is mischievous so much so, that even Waterton, 
 who certainly could not be accused of giving any 
 bird a bad character if he could truthfully avoid 
 it, was forced to confess that " it is vastly fond of 
 peas and cherries/' though he added that he could 
 not imagine how any one could " bring his mind to 
 drive away this playful, merry bird, or allow his 
 gardener to take its life for the value of a handful 
 of cherries." 
 
 During the breeding season it attacks the nests 
 of other birds, devouring their eggs and young, 
 and carrying off the latter to feed its own nest- 
 lings; it destroys many young sparrows in this 
 way, but often takes larger birds; for example, 
 we have known a pair of jackdaws to take all the 
 young from a thrush/s nest in the course of a 
 
The Daw. 235 
 
 morning, and we have little doubt, though we have 
 never actually caught it in the act, that the daw 
 is responsible for the disappearance of many a 
 weakly chicken, and it is certainly destructive to 
 very young game. However, like its congener the 
 rook, with which it so often associates, it does 
 sufficient good by the destruction of noxious insect s 
 to counterbalance the mischief it does in other 
 ways. Among other insects which it destroys are 
 the parasites of sheep, during the search for which 
 it may often be seen perched on the backs of these 
 animals ; in return for the service so rendered it 
 supplies itself at the expense of the sheep with 
 wool with which to line its nest. 
 
 The nest is built of sticks, and is lined with soft 
 materials, such as wool, grass, and hair. In towns 
 the birds choose as nesting-places church towers, 
 disused chimneys, ruined buildings, hollow trees, 
 or, as we have sometimes seen in London, the holes 
 left for fireplaces in the walls of partially finished 
 rows of houses. In the country similar positions 
 are chosen, with the addition of cliffs, chalk-pits, 
 and occasionally rabbit-burrows. Most people give 
 the jackdaw credit for a considerable amount of 
 sense, but this is certainly not shown in its nesting, 
 wherein, to again quote Jardine, " it often exhibits 
 a great want of instinct" ; its one idea, apparently, 
 being that, having found a hole which it considers 
 suitable for its purpose, it must fill it with sticks 
 regardless entirely of its size, which idea occasion- 
 ally leads it, like " Baker's blue-jay/' into the 
 
236 The Dem. 
 
 ridiculous position of endeavouring to fill a house, 
 the only difference being that, while the blue-jay 
 dropped acorns through a knot hole in the roof, 
 the jackdaw drops sticks down a chimney, the 
 result in both cases being equally unsatisfactory to 
 the labourer. 
 
 It is astonishing what an enormous mass of 
 sticks one pair of jackdaws will collect, as will 
 be seen from the following among other recorded 
 cases. One nest which was built in seventeen days 
 in the bell-tower of Eton College Chapel formed a 
 solid pillar ten feet in height, while another in 
 Hillington Church, in Norfolk, which took three 
 weeks to build, completely blocked up the tower 
 stairs by a substantial mass some twelve feet in 
 height and a cartload in bulk. Again the Rev. 
 F. O. Morris expresses the opinion that the im- 
 mense masses of sticks heaped together by jack- 
 daws in the western towers of York Minster 
 " formed a most unfortunate kind of firewood for 
 the tremendous conflagration " which took place 
 there. 
 
 The young are hatched at the end of May or 
 beginning of June, and seem to have a curious 
 knack, when half-fledged, of falling out of the 
 nest ; as, where jackdaws are plentiful, young ones 
 may often be found on the ground under the nests, 
 uninjured, but unable to fly. When so caught, or 
 when taken from the nest, they are by no means 
 difficult to rear, and make most amusing, but 
 dreadfully mischievous, pets ; they become wonder- 
 
The Daw. 237 
 
 fully tame, and can be taught to imitate a few 
 words. 
 
 Whether at liberty or in confinement, they have 
 a peculiarly impudent, self-satisfied air, with a 
 knowing way of putting their heads on one side 
 and looking out of the corners of their bright, 
 greyish -white eyes, which gives them a comical 
 appearance of being full of all worldly wisdom. 
 Jackdaws are noisy birds, constantly repeating 
 their sharp shrill cry, which is certainly not 
 musical, but is a wonderfully pleasant sound in our 
 opinion, especially when repeated simultaneously 
 by a whole flock, after the manner of these birds. 
 
 Jackdaws hold their own in London far better 
 than many other birds, but are certainly not so 
 plentiful as they were some years since ; but we 
 hope and believe that it will be many years before 
 they cease to be reckoned among the birds of 
 London. 
 
WOOD-PIGEONS IN THE PARKS. 
 
 (July 4, 1891.) 
 
 THE enormous increase during the last few years 
 in the number of wood-pigeons frequenting the 
 London Parks must have struck the least 
 observant. Formerly a few pairs bred there 
 every year, Kensington Gardens and the grounds 
 of Buckingham Palace being their favourite 
 nesting-places ; but a few years since their 
 numbers began to increase, and they are now 
 sparrows always excepted the commonest of 
 London birds, and are certainly, without any 
 exception, the most noticeable. Curiously enough 
 the greatest increase has taken place in the most 
 frequented parts of the Parks, the head-quarters 
 of the birds being situate in the district lying 
 between the eastern end of the Serpentine and the 
 Birdcage Walk, omitting the Green Park; and 
 they now frequent the district literally in scores, 
 and many breed there. The ' ' Dell )} and the 
 enclosed lawn on the north side of Rotten Row are 
 very favourite resorts, and large numbers may 
 always be seen there during the summer and 
 autumn, especially after the young birds have 
 flown; but St. James's Park is also a favourite 
 
Wood-Pigeons in the Parks. 239 
 
 breeding-place, and has a very considerable con- 
 tingent. Curiously enough, however, they do not 
 confine themselves to the Parks. For example, 
 a pair nested last year and, we believe, brought 
 off their young in safety in the elm tree over the 
 fountain at the end of Great George-street, West- 
 minster. This spring they again built a nest, 
 laid their eggs and began to sit ; but, owing to the 
 backwardness of the season, they were in full view 
 of all the passers by, and we have reason to 
 believe that their eggs were taken; at all events, 
 the nest was deserted. 
 
 One of the most noticeable characteristics of the 
 Park pigeons is their excessive tameness, which 
 seems to have grown as their numbers increased. 
 They walk about most unconcernedly within a few 
 feet of the constant stream of pedestrians ; and 
 especially in St. James's Park, are ever on the 
 alert for the food which is often thrown to them ; 
 indeed, four or five may frequently be seen, in 
 company with a small army of sparrows, almost 
 at the feet of some person who is feeding them 
 with pieces of bread or grain. This excessive 
 tameness is curious, as, though it is well known 
 that wood-pigeons during the breeding season so 
 far alter their ordinarily wild habits as often to 
 choose their nesting places in very close proximity 
 to houses, they never seem thoroughly to lose 
 their native wariness and fear of man, whereas 
 the Park birds are very nearly, though not quite, 
 as tame and fearless as the dovecote pigeons 
 
240 Wood- Pig eons in the Parks. 
 
 which frequent Palace Yard, St. Paul's Cathedral, 
 the Guildhall Yard, and other open places , and 
 that not only during the actual time of breeding 
 but during the whole of their stay in London, 
 which, we may observe does not extend the year 
 through, as they leave town for the winter. The 
 extraordinary tameness of the birds will be best 
 appreciated by those who have shot "dows," as 
 they are called in the Eastern Counties, and who 
 have, therefore, had experience, of their extreme 
 wariness and timidity in places where, owing to 
 their mischievous and destructive habits, they are 
 subject to constant persecution, and is an instance 
 of the confidence shown by birds living under 
 circumstances which render them free from fear 
 of molestation. 
 
 The increase in the number of wood-pigeons 
 has certainly added a charm to the Parks, as 
 they are beautiful birds, whether seen on the 
 ground or on the wing and, though the London 
 smoke and grime darkens the brightness of their 
 plumage, it cannot destroy it. At this time of the 
 year many young birds are about which may easily 
 be distinguished from their parents by their duller 
 tints and by the absence of the extremely notice- 
 able white ring on the neck from which the bird 
 obtains one of its names the ring-dove. 
 
BIRDS IN FROST. 
 
 (Jan. 24, 1891.) 
 
 FROST and snow are terrible enemies to birds, and 
 a prolonged spell of hard weather such as that 
 which we are experiencing, and which will make 
 the winter of 1890-91 a memorable one, brings 
 untold misery to all our birds, and absolute 
 starvation and death to a vast number of them. 
 The movements of birds during such times of 
 hardship are extremely interesting, and it is 
 curious to note how completely many species 
 change their habits in the endeavour to adapt 
 themselves to their altered surroundings. 
 
 When the ground is hardened and frost-bound 
 most of the insect and worm feeders are put to 
 sore straits ; but when, in addition to the frost, a 
 mantle of snow covers the ground, and, as has 
 been the case for weeks during the present winter, 
 even the rivers and streams are full of ice and snow, 
 the whole economy of bird life is disorganised, and 
 there are but few birds that do not find some 
 alteration in their usual habits necessary. At 
 such times the inland waters are deserted, and wild 
 fowl of all sorts, frozen out of their accustomed 
 haunts, flock to the coasts and. estuaries, their 
 
 R 
 
242 Birds in Frost. 
 
 numbers being constantly increased by arrivals 
 from the still more frozen North ; while gulls, on 
 the contrary, are inclined to leave the sea and 
 follow rivers, often to a very considerable distance 
 from their mouths, a fact which is apparent to 
 anyone who has noticed the large number of 
 these birds that have frequented the river "above 
 bridge " during the continuance of the frost. 
 Everyone, however, has not the opportunity of 
 n oticing the habits of water-fowl; but land birds 
 are practically ubiquitous, and can, therefore, 
 be studied by most people. 
 
 As is now well known, most birds are more 
 or less migratory ; even the redbreast, popularly 
 supposed to be a pattern of all the stay-at-home 
 virtues, not being exempt from the habit ; but 
 times of frost and snow make wanderers of many 
 that in open weather would have been content to 
 stay the winter through with us, and the rush of 
 birds of all sorts to the South before the advancing 
 wave of cold during the first few days of the 
 present frost in the latter part of November was 
 most noticeable, and was a sure sign of what was 
 in store for us. Many, again, though they do 
 not leave the country, at such times of hardship 
 become, to adopt Mr. Seebohm's happy expression 
 though perhaps not quite in the sense in which 
 he uses it " gipsy migrants," wandering up and 
 down the country, here to-day and gone to-morrow, 
 in search of food. 
 
 But perhaps the most noticeable effect of long- 
 
Birds in Frost. 243 
 
 continued frost on birds is that it makes them 
 draw near to human habitations, and even in many 
 cases to penetrate into towns, and at such times 
 the fields and hedges have a singularly lifeless and 
 deserted appearance. Finches and other seed- 
 eating birds flock round farmsteads and stack- 
 yards; while robins and hedge-sparrows draw 
 close to houses, and are always to be found in the 
 neighbourhood of pigsty es, wherever they exist 
 which, we may add, are also much frequented by 
 blackbirds. 
 
 Sparrows appear to be capable of making a 
 living under any circumstances ; but even they 
 during a long frost move into towns in con- 
 siderable numbers. Rooks, again, become very 
 hard pressed; if within reach of tidal waters, they 
 pick up a living on the foreshores; but inland 
 they are reduced to sore straits, and at such times 
 may even be seen under oak-trees turning over the 
 dead and fallen leaves with their beaks in search 
 of the few remaining acorns ; and, as every one 
 -knows who is in the habit of feeding birds in 
 winter, they will come for their share of the scraps 
 that are thrown out. 
 
 Of all our birds, however, the thrashes of 
 different species probably suffer most, as hard 
 frost, especially if accompanied by snow, com- 
 pletely closes the source of their supply of animal 
 food. So long, indeed, as they have berries to 
 fall back on they do well ; but even in the most 
 fruitful years of which the last was certainly one 
 R 2 
 
244 Birds in Frost. 
 
 the supply is soon exhausted, and then numbers 
 die of sheer starvation. Curiously enough, red- 
 wings, which only visit us as winter migrants, 
 seem always first to feel the pinch, though all of 
 the species eventually suffer alike. Fieldfares, 
 when hard pressed, take to the turnip fields, and 
 pick out the inside of the roots that have been at- 
 tacked and opened up by rabbits ; but the food does 
 not appear to agree with them, as all that we have 
 obtained under such circumstances have been little 
 better than skin and bone, and numbers may be 
 picked up dead. 
 
 There are, in our opinion, few more wretched 
 objects in life than a half-starved thrush in time of 
 frost. The unfortunate birds creep about under 
 hedge-banks, and similar places, looking most 
 forlorn, with all their feathers staring and ruffled 
 ({ hover/' as the country people call it and 
 with scarcely sufficient energy remaining to enable 
 them to get out of the way of the passer-by ; 
 indeed, at such times many may be caught 
 by hand. As before remarked, however, all 
 birds suffer terribly in seasons of prolonged frost; 
 and there are but few species indeed whose 
 numbers are not thinned by the privations they 
 endure. As a further instance of the dangers to 
 which birds are liable, we may add that larks are 
 sometimes overwhelmed by heavy snow, and are 
 found dead on the ground after the thaw. Among 
 the few birds that seem almost indifferent to the 
 weather which is bringing death and desolation 
 
Birds in Frost. 245 
 
 to so many of their neighbours are the long-tailed 
 tits, diminutive and tender-looking birds, yet 
 sufficiently hardy withal; and one of the prettiest 
 sights of winter is to see a family of these active 
 little birds flitting from tree to tree, and spray to 
 spray, in some wood or shrubbery, in their search 
 for food, uttering the while their cheerful little 
 call-notes. 
 
 Londoners, at such times as these, find the 
 number of birds frequenting the parks and open 
 spaces immensely increased, and included in the 
 number are some which, in ordinary seasons, 
 certainly cannot be ranked among the birds of 
 London; for instance, throughout the present frost 
 a few skylarks have used the Thames Embank- 
 ment as a feeding-ground, while gulls do not 
 visit town in large numbers except during hard 
 weather. As an example of the increase in 
 numbers, large flocks of starlings have frequented 
 places where usually but a few are to be seen, rooks 
 have entered the suburbs in considerable numbers, 
 and blackbirds have penetrated much further into 
 town than is their custom in open weather. 
 
 In conclusion, we would point out that a vast 
 amount of bird-misery may be saved, and a corre- 
 sponding amount of pleasure be gained, by any 
 one, possessed even of a small garden, who will 
 regularly, during time of frost, throw out scraps 
 from the table as a meal for the starving birds. 
 We say scraps advisedly, as many people feed their 
 bird-pensioners on crumbs of bread alone, either 
 
246 Birds in Frost. 
 
 forgetting, or being ignorant of the fact that 
 pieces of meat and other waste from the kitchen 
 are good substitutes for the usual food of many 
 birds which do not thrive on bread. Bones, and 
 pieces of fat and suet, should be hung in the trees 
 for the benefit of tits, and finally, a pan of water, 
 renewed from time to time, will be found to be 
 thoroughly appreciated. 
 
BIRD-LIFE IN LONDON. 
 
 (June 3, 1893.) 
 
 THE rooks, after an absence of some years 
 how many we cannot really commit ourselves to 
 say have returned to Kensington Gardens, and 
 established a flourishing little colony of some 
 eleven nests in the trees on the west side of the 
 Broad Walk, between the old Banqueting Hall 
 and the Bayswater Koad. We remember the time 
 when Kensington Gardens could boast of at least 
 three large rookeries ; but in those days Ken- 
 sington itself was little better than a village, and 
 was surrounded on all sides, except to the east, by 
 fields, orchards, 'and market-gardens. In those 
 days alas ! long since passed Kensington was a 
 centre of the bird-catching industry, and a sort of 
 small bird-fair was held in the season in the open 
 space near the parish church. 
 
 The cuckoo, the nightingale, and the blackcap 
 could always be heard in the spring-time upon 
 Camp den Hill, and ff the Gardens" were as much 
 frequented by birds as is Eichmond Park at the 
 present time. Gradually, however, the fields and 
 open spaces were covered, Kensington was joined 
 to Chelsea by streets instead of lanes, and Hammer- 
 smith, Fulham, and Netting Dale became a wilder- 
 
248 Bird-Life in London. 
 
 ness of houses. As the human population increased, 
 so did the bird population decrease ; but the rooks, 
 though in yearly diminishing numbers, held their 
 own, as is their wont in towns, long after many other 
 birds had retired, till at length, apparently dis- 
 gusted with the somewhat ruthless felling of the 
 trees in Kensington Gardens which was carried 
 out, no doubt, under high authority, but perhaps 
 not altogether with knowledge they, too, gave up 
 the contest, and retired to Holland ^Park. Now, 
 however, they have returned we hope not to be 
 disturbed again, but to build in increasing numbers 
 for many years to come. Their return was heralded 
 by one pair, which built successfully last year in 
 the south-west corner of the Gardens, in one of the 
 trees that once formed part of the fine avenue that 
 shaded the old walk running at right-angles to the 
 Palace. 
 
 It is curious that the bird population of London 
 seems still to be undergoing a process of change, 
 some species being largely on the increase, while 
 others are decreasing in numbers, or have quite 
 recently disappeared. The wood-pigeons afford the 
 most noticeable example of increase in numbers, as 
 they are now fully established, not only in the 
 parks, but also in many of the squares which have 
 trees suitable for them to build in, and they have 
 extended their range well within the City boundary. 
 They may always be seen in Palace Yard, West- 
 minster, and for the fourth year in succession 
 a pair are nesting in the elm tree over the fountain 
 
Bird-Life in London. 249 
 
 at the end of Great George-street. This great and 
 very noticeable increase has taken place within the 
 last ten years, and had Mr. Seebohm been writing 
 his " History of British Birds " in this year of 
 grace 1893, instead of in 1884, he would not have 
 had to go to Paris and Berlin for instances of the 
 tameness of wood-pigeons in large cities. And here 
 we may observe that these birds have not only 
 enormously increased in numbers and tameness, 
 but that they seem to be adopting town ways, quite 
 foreign to the usual habits of the species, as we 
 have frequently seen them on the roofs of houses, 
 apparently as much at home as any of the dovecote 
 pigeons; while, oddly enough, the latter, at all 
 events in St. James's Park, have, contrary to their 
 usual habit, taken to perching in trees. 
 
 Blackbirds and thrushes, though by no means so 
 noticeable as the pigeons, are certainly on the 
 increase in the Parks, owing, no doubt, in great 
 measure to the fact that many inclosures planted 
 with shrubs have been made of late years. They 
 are far from uncommon ; indeed, one morning not 
 long since we saw no less than five cock blackbirds 
 engaged in a tussle under the trees near the flower 
 walk in Kensington Gardens. 
 
 Tits of two species the great tit and the blue 
 tit have lately been largely on the increase in 
 Kensington Gardens. And, lastly, though this is 
 only an occasional or, rather, seasonal increase, 
 we must mention the extraordinary visitation of 
 gulls, mostly black-headed gulls, which now takes 
 
250 Bird-Life in London. 
 
 place every winter. Whenever the weather is 
 hard these birds come up the river literally in 
 thousands, and they have become one of the winter 
 sights of London. The simple fact that they do so 
 is not astonishing in itself, but it is somewhat 
 curious that they should, some five or six years 
 ago, have suddenly adopted the habit, while before 
 that time they were only represented by an occa- 
 sional straggler. 
 
 The list of birds that have left town during even 
 the last ten years never, we fear, to return is a 
 somewhat large one, but we must content ourselves 
 with mentioning the martins and flycatchers. The 
 spotted flycatcher, not many years ago common in 
 Kensington Gardens and the neighbourhood, seems 
 now to have entirely deserted its former haunts, 
 and the martins have gone with it. The cause of 
 this disappearance is, we think, sufficiently clear, 
 but is not usually, in our opinion, satisfactorily 
 explained. So high an authority as Mr. Howard 
 Saunders, for example, in his very valuable 
 "Manual of British Birds," gives it as his 
 opinion that the martins were driven out of 
 their former nesting-places in the West-end of 
 London by sparrows ; but though without doubt 
 sparrows exist in London in countless thousands, 
 and though equally without doubt they are the 
 greatest possible enemies to nesting martins, as 
 they ruthlessly dispossess them as soon as they have 
 completed the outer walls of their nests, yet we 
 cannot think that sparrows alone are to blame in 
 
Bird-Life in London. 251 
 
 this case, and certainly they can have taken no 
 part in ousting the flycatchers, yet the diminution 
 in numbers and final extinction of the martins and 
 flycatchers were practically simultaneous. It is a 
 noteworthy fact that martins nested in the heart of 
 London in Gilbert White's time, for he wrote: 
 (t They even affect the close air of London. And 
 L have not only seen them nesting in the Borough, 
 but even in the Strand and Fleet-street ; but then 
 it was obvious from the dinginess of their aspect 
 that their feathers partook of the filth of that sooty 
 atmosphere." Yet sparrows were, no doubt, rela- 
 tively as numerous and quite as mischievous in the 
 London of Gilbert White's time as they are in our 
 own. After weighing all the evidence, we cannot 
 help feeling that the case against the sparrow must 
 be dismissed with the Scotch verdict " not proven." 
 Wandering cats, no doubt, do enormous injury to 
 birds in London, and may possibly have interfered 
 with the fly-catchers, but they cannot have affected 
 the martins. Our theory, the value of which we 
 leave entomologists to decide, is that the extinction 
 of the birds in question is caused by the state of the 
 atmosphere, and the general change of condition 
 due to altered surroundings which have destroyed 
 much of the insect life on which they feed. The 
 effect of the atmosphere is shown in the fact 
 that rose culture, for which the district of Ken- 
 sington was once famous, is now practically impos- 
 sible even in the largest gardens, and, roughly 
 speaking, it may be taken as true that in the 
 
252 Bird-Life in London. 
 
 suburbs of London the zone in which roses nourish 
 practically coincides with that in which the martins 
 continue to breed. 
 
 We will only mention one other bird that is, we 
 fear, fast verging on extinction in London, the 
 hedge sparrow. From the nature of its food it has 
 been able to hold out longer than either the fly- 
 catcher or the martin, but we fear that its days are 
 numbered. A few still linger in the Parks, but 
 they are very few and far between. Until within 
 the last year or two a pair always built in the 
 private garden in front of Kensington Palace, but 
 this year they are not to be seen. 
 
 Among the birds that have always been with us 
 in town, and whose numbers are fairly stationary, 
 may be mentioned starlings and jackdaws ; the 
 former have, we think, slightly increased in 
 number, especially in St. James's Park, while 
 the latter are, if anything, less common than they 
 used to be. 
 
 Many birds visit London during their migra- 
 tions. In early spring wheatears may be seen 
 in Hyde Park, and after them come the great 
 army of warblers chiff-chaffs, willow-wrens, &c., 
 the chiff-chaff, from its well-known note, being 
 perhaps the most easily recognised ; many of them 
 stay to rest in Kensington Gardens, but they make 
 but a short visit, soon moving on again to their 
 chosen summer quarters. In the autumn and early 
 winter woodcocks often drop in town, sometimes 
 in most extraordinary places, the overhead wires 
 
Bird-Life in London. 253 
 
 being in many cases,, no doubt, accountable for 
 their appearance. A winter or two ago we saw 
 one which had been captured, apparently unin- 
 jured, in Kensington High-street. Unfortunately 
 the captor was no naturalist, and imagined that, as 
 his prisoner was a bird, it must necessarily feed on 
 " bird-seed," and consequently its life in captivity 
 was but a short one. 
 
 Among birds one would hardly expect to find 
 nesting in town may be mentioned a pair of crows 
 which have long made their home in Kensington 
 Gardens. We have not seen their nest this year, 
 but understand on the best authority that it exists. 
 Still more extraordinary is the fact that a pair 
 of magpies are nesting in Regent's Park. A bird 
 doubtless one of the pair in question has been 
 about town all the winter, and for some time could 
 often be seen in one of the large inclosures in 
 St. James's Park, where it appeared to be quite at 
 home and at its ease. If it had ever been in 
 captivity, it had certainly moulted after it regained 
 its freedom, as its plumage had all the appearance 
 of that of a wild bird. If, as is most likely, this is 
 one of the nesting pair, it no doubt left town in 
 search of a mate, and only returned as far as the 
 Regent's Park, where, owing to the proximity of 
 the Zoological Gardens^ it found food abundant. 
 
 Before concluding these somewhat discursive 
 remarks, we would draw attention to a mixed 
 colony of birds which are, many of them, Londoners 
 perforce we refer to the waterfowl in the several 
 
254 Bird-Life in London, 
 
 Parks, and notably to those on the ornamental 
 water in St. James's Park. The so-called wild- 
 ducks, though a sadly mongrel-looking lot, are 
 excellent flyers, and are by no means chary of 
 exhibiting their powers, thereby adding greatly to 
 the pleasure of those who are fond of seeing birds 
 on the wing, and by their flight recalling to the 
 mind many a pleasant hour spent amid very diffe- 
 rent scenery in pursuit of their wild congeners. 
 They live in a semi-domesticated state in all the 
 Parks, free to come and go as suits their fancy, 
 but, being Londoners by birth and education, are 
 doubtless perfectly satisfied with their surround- 
 ings, and therefore seldom wander further than from 
 one sheet of water to another. St. James's Park, 
 however, can, in addition to the ducks which are 
 common to all the Parks, boast of an interesting 
 collection of water-fowl, worthy successors of the 
 King's wild-fowl, mentioned by Willughby as 
 existing there in his time. Among the most 
 interesting of the ducks which form part of this 
 collection, and have places in the list of British 
 birds, we may mention common and ruddy sheld- 
 ducks, shovellers, wigeon, pochards, red-crested 
 pochards of which there are a particularly beau- 
 tiful pair and tufted ducks, though these by no 
 means exhaust the list of ducks, not to mention the 
 geese and other fowl, which we do not propose to 
 particularise. Though these birds are pinioned, 
 and therefore Londoners against their wills, they 
 seem to thrive exceedingly. 
 
TIL-APPENDIX. 
 
 PALLAS'S SAND-GROUSE. 
 
 (Sept. S, 1888.) 
 
 THE present year will be famous among ornitho- 
 logists as the year of the second great irruption 
 of Pallas' s Sand-grouse into Europe. These birds 
 were unknown in the British Islands until the year 
 1859, when three were obtained two in England, 
 and one in Wales. From this time until 1863, 
 the year of the first great irruption, no further 
 specimens were observed; but in that year they 
 visited this country in considerable numbers, ex- 
 tending their range as far west as the coast of 
 Donegal. Unfortunately, as is too often the case 
 with rare birds, the interest which they excited 
 was fatal to them ; and the main body, which 
 arrived early in May, was practically exterminated 
 by the end of June, though specimens were 
 obtained until the early spring of 1864, by which 
 time the whole of the unfortunate immigrants 
 had been destroyed. From that date until the 
 present year, though some few stragglers have 
 
256 Pallas' s Sand-Grouse. 
 
 been from time to time observed, there has been 
 no further westward movement of large bodies of 
 these birds from their natural homes and breed- 
 ing-places, the Steppes of Central Asia. Early 
 in May reports reached this country that the 
 sand-grouse were again, after a lapse of twenty- 
 five years, appearing in large flocks in Central 
 Europe, and by the latter end of that month the 
 advanced guard had reached our shores, the 
 main body arriving shortly afterwards, and spread- 
 ing over the country, many hundreds having been 
 observed. 
 
 The sand-grouse, possessing as it does affinities 
 not only with the grouse, but also with the plovers 
 and pigeons, is not a true grouse, but is placed 
 by ornithologists in a separate order " Ptero- 
 cletes." It is a quaint and noticeable bird, 
 whether seen on the wing or on the ground; in 
 weight between ten and eleven ounces ; in length 
 about fifteen inches. Its plumage may be roughly 
 described as buff, chestnut, and orange, streaked 
 and spotted with black ; the feathers of the tail 
 tipped with white, with the exception of the centre 
 pair, which are long and tapering, the ends, for 
 about three inches, being filamentous ; the wings 
 are also long and tapering. Its legs, like those 
 of the red grouse, are covered with feathers down 
 to the toes, of which, like the plovers but unlike 
 the grouse, it has but three. The feet are most 
 peculiar, as the toes are united by a membrane 
 as far as the claws, thus forming a little feather- 
 
Pallas' s Sand-Grouse. 257 
 
 covered pad with three black claws. This curious 
 construction, coupled with the shortness of its 
 legs, renders the bird anything but an elegant 
 walker. 
 
 As in the true grouse the flesh of the breast 
 is of two colours, white near the bone and dark 
 in the outer part. The sand-grouse is very strong 
 on the wing, and its flight is very rapid, and 
 much resembles that of the golden plover, but 
 is noisy, and can be heard at a considerable dis- 
 tance. Not very much is known of its nesting ; 
 it lays three or four eggs, certainly not less than 
 three. The young when hatched are covered 
 with down, and are able to shift for themselves. 
 
 The sand-grouse have now been among us for 
 four months, and, though we are grieved to 
 observe from the reports that have appeared 
 from time to time in the columns of our con- 
 temporaries that many of these rare and harm- 
 less birds have, as in 1863, fallen victims to 
 what we can only characterise as the foolish love 
 of slaughter possessed by self -termed " sports- 
 men " and " collectors of British birds," still, 
 thanks to the fostering care of many landowners 
 and their gamekeepers, and to the more intel- 
 ligent interest that has been taken in them 
 throughout the country, a considerable number 
 have remained practically undisturbed. This 
 being the case, it is perhaps extraordinary that 
 we have no absolutely trustworthy reports of 
 their having nested and bred. Mr. Hewlett, of 
 
258 Pallas's Sand-Grouse. 
 
 Newmarket, well known as a careful observer, 
 has stated that he has daring the last month 
 seen young sand-grouse, but a certain amount 
 of doubt is thrown on the correctness of his 
 observation by the number of young seven 
 which he alleges to have accompanied one pair 
 of old birds. The abnormal wet and cold of this 
 summer, which, according to reports from all 
 parts of the country, have been terribly destruc- 
 tive to young partridges, have without doubt been 
 most unfavourable to the breeding of the sand- 
 grouse. We hope nevertheless that native-bred 
 birds may now be living among us. 
 
 Great difference of opinion exists as to whether 
 the sand-grouse if unmolested will become a natu- 
 ralised British bird. So great an authority as 
 Mr. Tegetmeier apparently has no doubt on the 
 subject; we, however, while admitting some 
 slight want of confidence in the result, can only 
 hope that this interesting problem may be satis- 
 factorily solved. This can only happen, another 
 immigration being for the present at least im- 
 probable, if the birds now among us are care- 
 fully preserved from destruction, and as much 
 as possible from disturbance. We would there- 
 fore impress upon our readers the importance of 
 doing all in their power to protect the sand- 
 grouse during the shooting season which has 
 just commenced, and we hope that all owners 
 of shootings will, during this season at least, 
 make a strict rule that under no circumstances 
 
Pallas's Sand-Grouse. 259 
 
 shall a sand-grouse be shot. Sportsmen should 
 be as interested in the preservation of these 
 curious birds as are ornithologists, for should 
 their naturalisation become an accomplished fact, 
 our list of game birds would receive a most wel- 
 come addition in Pallas's sand-grouse. 
 
 3 2 
 
THE FARNE ISLANDS. 
 
 (Aug. 16, 1890.) 
 
 THE Fames, or Fearnes, are a group of very small 
 islands one or two of them, indeed, being little 
 more than rocks which are nearly covered at high 
 water lying off the north coast of Northumber- 
 land, about half-way between Bamburgh and the 
 little fishing village of North Sunderland, and 
 separated from the mainland by a channel about 
 two miles wide. They are, perhaps, most generally 
 known as the scene of the rescue of nine of the 
 crew of the s.s. Forfarshire by Grace Darling and 
 her father, the latter of whom was the keeper of 
 the lighthouse on the outermost of the islands. 
 Their fame, however, does not rest on this exploit 
 alone; but rather, among ornithologists at least, 
 on the fact that during the summer months that 
 is, from May to September they are the home of 
 countless sea-birds, which resort to them to nest 
 and rear their young, a purpose for which they are 
 eminently adapted, not only from their isolated 
 position, but also from their conformation, as, 
 though extremely small, they provide cliffs, stacks, 
 and crags, rabbit-warren and land thickly covered 
 with vegetation, rocks, and sloping beach, all of 
 which are taken possession of for nesting purposes 
 
The Fame Islands. 261 
 
 by different species of birds. With the exception 
 of two on which the lighthouses stand, and of a 
 third on which two of the keepers live during the 
 breeding season, they are without human inhabi- 
 tants, and after the departure of the birds are 
 given over entirely to a few rabbits, which must, 
 we should imagine, find it hard to eke out a 
 subsistence during the winter months in such 
 extremely bleak and inclement quarters. It may 
 be added that on the inner Fame, which is the 
 largest of the group, there are two lighthouses, 
 and also a curious little church dedicated to St. 
 Cuthbert, and an old tower, formerly used as a 
 lighthouse, and known as St. Cuthbert's Tower ; 
 and as this island has quite a considerable popula- 
 tion one at least of the lighthouse keepers at the 
 present time having a wife and family it is not 
 frequented by the birds as the others are. 
 
 To any one who is a lover of birds there can be 
 no greater treat than a visit to the Fame Islands 
 during the breeding season ; indeed, in our opinion 
 they afford a sight which well repays the traveller 
 even for the trouble of a ten hours' journey from 
 London. The second week in June is the best 
 time to visit them, as this is the height of the 
 breeding season, and in addition to the eggs, 
 which are practically countless, the visitor has 
 the pleasure of seeing many newly-hatched birds. 
 To reach the islands it is necessary to charter a 
 coble. This, with its crew of three men, can be 
 obtained at North Sunderland, which can boast of 
 
262 The Fame Islands. 
 
 as quaint a little harbour as can be found on the 
 coast, and where lives the man, Cuthbertson by 
 name, who knows probably more about the Fame 
 Islands, and the birds which frequent them, than 
 any one living. There are, of course, many days, 
 even in June, on which the islands are not acces- 
 sible, as, if there is any sea, it breaks with such 
 violence on them as to make landing and embark- 
 ing, even when possible, very unpleasant, if not 
 absolutely dangerous. But given a fine day with a 
 smooth sea, the trip is most enjoyable. 
 
 Looking across from the little harbour the islands 
 appear quite close, though the nearest of them is 
 distant about four miles; so close, indeed, that one 
 cannot help wondering whether there really are 
 birds upon them, as none are visible; but this 
 apparent absence of birds applies to the whole 
 of the coast between North Sunderland and 
 Bamburgh, which, considering that there are 
 thousands in such close proximity to it, is singularly 
 devoid of bird life a few gulls and terns, two or 
 three pairs of eider ducks, and a pair or so of 
 ringed plover, with one or two gannets, probably 
 visitors from the Bass "Rock, being all the birds 
 often to be seen between the two places. 
 
 Yery soon after leaving the harbour, however, 
 birds begin to appear, first a pair of guillemots, 
 then four or five together, then a puffin or two, 
 and so on, as the islands are neared, until at 
 length the water is covered with birds of different 
 sorts which dive, swim, or fly off to make way for 
 
The Fame Islands. 263 
 
 the boat as it approaches, apparently more to avoid 
 being run over than from any fear of its crew, and 
 the air is full of parties flying in all directions, 
 among which the puffins are particularly noticeable 
 on account of their bright bills and orange legs, 
 the latter of which they carry extended behind 
 them as they fly. Then as " the Pinnacles " flat- 
 topped rocks divided from the cliffs of the nearest 
 island by a very narrow channel, and rising forty 
 or fifty feet perpendicularly from the sea are 
 approached, the guillemots are seen in all their glory 
 as they occupy, literally in thousands, the flat tops, 
 which, with a considerable part of the sides., are so 
 completely whitewashed by their droppings as to 
 give the rocks even at a considerable distance the 
 appearance of being whitecapped. They sit on 
 end in their own peculiarly prim fashion, packed 
 so closely, that to all appearance there is not room 
 for another ; indeed, so dense are the masses, that 
 one cannot help wondering how any individual 
 bird can recognise its own egg, for the guillemot 
 lays but one, or having, left it, can force its way 
 back to it again when it has recognised it, more 
 especially as the eggs are placed on the bare rock 
 without the faintest vestige . of a nest. They are 
 pear-shaped, very large for the size of the birds, 
 and the colour and markings vary in different 
 specimens in a most extraordinary manner, the 
 former ranging through every shade, from a light 
 slaty grey, or even white, to a bright blue. As 
 the boat passes, hundreds of birds stream off the 
 
264 The Fame Islands. 
 
 rocks, but even then the masses appear but 
 slightly loosened, as the greater number refuse to 
 budge. The guillemots, however, are not the sole 
 occupants of the Pinnacles, as nearly every shelf 
 or projection in the perpendicular face of the rock 
 is occupied by the nest of a kittiwake ; and, in our 
 opinion, one of the most beautiful sights which the 
 islands afford is that of these pretty little gulls as 
 they fly circling round, clamouring loudly the 
 while, when disturbed from their nests by the 
 presence of the boat and its crew, the white and 
 blue-grey of their plumage relieved by the black 
 tips to their wings, and their greenish-yellow beaks 
 contrasting well with the dark rocks which form 
 the background of the picture. They are not, 
 however, confined to the Pinnacles, but nest in the 
 adjoining islands wherever there are perpendicular 
 cliffs. Before taking leave of the guillemots and 
 kittiwakes, we may remark that they can be 
 approached, within a very few yards, from the top 
 of the neighbouring cliff, on which, indeed, an odd 
 guillemot's egg or two can be seen, laid, no doubt, 
 by birds crowded out of the main body; and from 
 this position it is easy to look down into the well- 
 built nests of the kittiwakes, and to see their 
 spotted brown eggs or speckled downy young. 
 The islands may be described as being generally 
 steep and cliffy on one side, and sloping down to 
 the water on the other. Most of them are rocky 
 even on the low side ; but one or two have shingly 
 beaches, the former being occupied by gulls, the 
 
The Fame Islands. 265 
 
 latter by terns; while the inhabitants of the 
 interior of the islands vary with their formation. 
 For example, as we land on one of the outer 
 islands, which is rocky throughout, the higher part 
 alone being covered with very scanty, coarse 
 vegetation, with a tremendous clamour hundreds 
 of gulls, mostly lesser black-backed gulls, but with 
 a few herring gulls interspersed, start into the air, 
 circling and screaming round the intruders ; while 
 from among the rocks in the highest part of the 
 island seven or eight cormorants fly quietly off 
 to sea, followed by one or two eider ducks. 
 Walking about, it is hard to avoid treading on the 
 gulls' eggs, which are placed in rather loosely- 
 made nests among the coarse herbage or on the 
 rocks themselves. As the centre of the island is 
 reached it is easy to see the nests of the cormorants, 
 which are large, slovenly constructions, composed 
 principally of seaweed, mixed with pieces of drift- 
 wood, corks off fishing - nets, and other such 
 flotsam and jetsam, the whole covered and made 
 filthy both to sight and smell by the droppings 
 of the birds and remnants of fish. The eggs, 
 which are bluish-green in ground colour, are 
 covered with a white calcareous matter; but, 
 except when freshly laid, look as dirty as the 
 nests. Most of the cormorants, however, breed on 
 a rocky islet called the Megstone, a little distance 
 from the main group, of which the other birds 
 leave them in undisturbed possession. In a com- 
 fortable hollow between two rocks we find the nest 
 
266 The Fame Islands. 
 
 of an eider duck, and then, within a very short 
 distance, one or two more. These nests are most 
 cosily lined with the brown down which the bird 
 picks from her breast, from time to time,, during 
 the process of incubation, and in which the large 
 greenish-grey eggs, from five to eight in number, 
 are almost covered. The eider ducks seem quite 
 aware that they are protected, and many of them, 
 especially when sitting deep in the sea campion, 
 with which most of the islands are covered, will 
 permit a very near approach unmoved, sitting as 
 quietly as any tame duck. While the ducks are 
 thus engaged with family cares the drakes leave 
 them, and may be seen swimming about near the 
 islands, their handsome black and white nuptial 
 plumage being extremely noticeable. On another 
 and larger island, off which the Pinnacles lie, we 
 are met on landing with the same clamour of 
 seagulls, but the birds are noisier and bolder, one 
 or two of them occasionally dashing down close to 
 our heads in a threatening manner, screaming 
 loudly the while a sure sign that they have 
 young ones and with very little search the little 
 down-covered creatures can be found, having, 
 though very lately hatched, left their nests to hide 
 among the herbage or under any piece of dry 
 seaweed or other rubbish that may be near. The 
 centre of the island is thickly overgrown with sea 
 campion, and is white with blossom which fills the 
 air with perfume ; the soil is light and peaty, and 
 is full of burrows, the possession of which, is 
 
The Fame Islands. 267 
 
 divided between numberless puffins and a few 
 rabbits. Many of the puffins, curious pompous- 
 looking little fellows, with large, brightly coloured 
 bills, may be seen sitting about on the rocks and 
 flying and swimming round the island, while their 
 partners are below the ground, sitting each on the 
 solitary egg which she has laid at the end of the 
 burrow. These birds sit most assiduously, so much 
 so, that they can be taken off their eggs a 
 dangerous experiment, we may remark, for anyone 
 who does not know how to handle them, as they 
 not only bite fiercely, but scratch terribly with 
 their sharp claws and, when put down again, 
 scramble back with ludicrous haste into their holes. 
 On this island we find more eider ducks' nests in 
 fact, eider ducks, gulls, and puffins are found on 
 nearly all the islands. 
 
 The terns, the most interesting of all the birds, 
 have been left to the last; and at length we visit 
 their islands, which, as we before remarked, have 
 shelving beaches, and are covered over their 
 centres with the universal sea campion. Here the 
 terns are numberless, and the beach down to high- 
 water mark is literally covered with their eggs ; so 
 much so that very great care has to be used in 
 walking to avoid treading on them. They are also 
 to be found in large numbers among the sea 
 campion ; many are laid on the shingle with little, 
 if any, pretence of a nest; while others have 
 slight nests made of bents and pieces of seaweed. 
 The birds are of four species common, arctic, 
 
268 The Fame Islands. 
 
 Sandwich, and roseate terns the two latter being 
 such rare birds that a sight of their nests and eggs 
 alone is sufficient to repay the trouble of a visit to 
 the Fames. The first of the two, however, though 
 rare elsewhere, are found here in large numbers, 
 the colony being a famous one ; while of the last 
 there are only a few pairs. The sight of these 
 graceful little birds sea-swallows, as they are 
 often called as they rise in countless numbers 
 when disturbed, is most beautiful, and it is 
 interesting, as one moves along, to see them 
 constantly rising in front of and settling down 
 behind one, as, especially when they have young, 
 they remain in the air but a very short time after 
 the person disturbing them has passed. The 
 eggs of the common and arctic terns are much 
 alike, and are very similar in colour. They are 
 generally of a buffish-grey, blotched and spotted 
 with brown. The Sandwich terns usually lay two, 
 and occasionally three, eggs of great beauty, which 
 also are subject to very great variation in colour, 
 some of them being nearly white, while in others 
 the ground colour is a rich yellow, and every 
 intermediate shade can be found, spotted, blotched, 
 and streaked with brown of different shades. On 
 these beaches, in addition to the terns, a few pairs 
 of oyster - catchers breed, laying their eggs in 
 curious nests, if so they can be called, formed of a 
 small collection of shells; and here, also, may be 
 found the stone-coloured eggs spotted with black, 
 so difficult to see among the shingle, of that 
 
The Fame Islands. 269 
 
 prettiest of waders, the ringed plover a little 
 bird which always shows the greatest solicitude for 
 its young when they are approached, endeavouring 
 by every artifice in its power to draw away the 
 intruder. With these little plovers, our list of 
 birds breeding on the Fame Islands is closed ; it 
 consists of the twelve following species, which 
 alone, so far as we are aware, breed there : The 
 cormorant, eider duck, ringed plover, oyster- 
 catcher, arctic tern, common tern, roseate tern, 
 Sandwich tern, kittiwake, herring gull, lesser 
 blacked-backed gull, guillemot, and puffin. Other 
 birds, for example a few herons and gannets, may 
 be seen, but they are only visitors. 
 
 The islands have from time immemorial been 
 famous as a breeding-place of sea birds, and their 
 very fame went far to ensure the entire destruction 
 of the birds which caused it, as, the several Wild 
 Birds Protection Acts passed since 1869 notwith- 
 standing, the unfortunate birds were shot in 
 thousands by self-styled " sportsmen," and their 
 nests were also persistently robbed, the fishermen 
 and others taking eggs indiscriminately for sale as 
 food, while the army of " egg collectors " was 
 constantly raiding the nests of the rarer birds. 
 The extent to which this robbery was carried on, 
 even by scientific men, may be imagined when 
 we find so well known an ornithologist as Mr. 
 Seebohm confessing, in his "History of British 
 Birds," to having taken as many as 456 eggs in 
 one day, of which no less than 149 were those 
 
270 The Fame Islands. 
 
 of the rare Sandwich tern. But, fortunately, in 
 the year 1888, an association of gentlemen 
 interested in ornithology was formed, and was 
 enabled to obtain a lease of the islands ; and since 
 that time the birds and their eggs have been most 
 efficiently preserved, egg-collecting being strictly 
 prohibited except with th'e special leave of the 
 proprietors, which, except in the case of the gulls' 
 eggs mentioned hereafter, is practically never 
 granted. As might be expected, much trouble 
 was experienced iu the early days of preservation ; 
 but a judicious mixture of firmness and kindness 
 appears to have made the path of the Association 
 smooth; firmness was shown by bringing actions 
 against trespassers, kindness by taking the first 
 eggs of the guils and dividing them among the 
 fishermen. The islands are carefully watched by 
 four keepers, who live on them during the whole of 
 the breeding season, and allow no one to land 
 unless provided with a pass. These passes can be 
 obtained on application to Mr. Cuthbertson, at 
 Seahouses, North Sunderland, or to the landlady 
 of the "Crew Arms Hotel" at Bamburgh; they 
 are granted on the applicant paying a small fee 
 and signing an undertaking not to take any eggs 
 or in any way molest the birds, and generally to 
 obey the rules of the Association if allowed to land 
 on the islands. The result has been all that could 
 be desired, as we understand that more birds are 
 breeding on the islands this season than has been 
 the case for many years. 
 
THE PROTECTION OF WILD BIRDS. 
 
 (March 14, 1891.) 
 
 A SHORT Bill, which, should it become law, will be 
 known as " The Wild Birds Protection Act, 1891," 
 has been introduced into the House of Commons by 
 Mr. A. E. Pease, member for York, one of the 
 chief objects of which, as it was originally drawn, 
 was to extend the protection of the law to eggs as 
 well as to the parent birds. Much attention has been 
 drawn to this Bill owing to the preposterous design 
 of the " Naturalists' Publishing Company, of 
 Birmingham," to undertake an " Oological expedi- 
 tion to the land of the Great Auk ; " or, in other 
 words, to despatch an " experienced oologist " to 
 trespass in the Shetland Islands in search of birds 7 
 eggs, of which we were told, "if the season is a 
 pretty fair one, a haul of at least 20,000 (including 
 many beautiful and rare varieties) may be 
 expected ; " a design which, thanks to the efforts 
 of Lord Lilford and Mr. Wilson Noble, who 
 exposed it in the Times, has, perhaps luckily for 
 the experienced oologist in question, been aban- 
 doned. That a suggestion such as this could be 
 made in all seriousness, as was apparently the case, 
 will no doubt satisfy many that Mr. Pease's Bill is 
 
272 The Protection of Wild Birds. 
 
 urgently needed. Yet, though we are entirely in 
 sympathy with him in his endeavour to preserve 
 our rarer and more harmless birds, we cannot help 
 entertaining serious doubts whether the proposals 
 embodied in his Bill would, if they had become 
 law, have had the desired effect; for, like Lord 
 Lilf ord, we " rather dread any legislative action in 
 the matter of the protection of birds' eggs/' and 
 we were therefore pleased to see his announcement 
 in the Times of Tuesday last that, owing to objec- 
 tions which have been raised to the form of his 
 Bill, especially in regard to the protection of eggs, 
 he had put it down for a later period of the session, 
 and in the meantime intends to remodel it. 
 
 The law as it stands, though no doubt capable 
 of great improvement, is a powerful weapon if 
 properly used, and the fact that it is not sufficiently 
 enforced can hardly be considered a good argu- 
 ment for its alteration. If, however, it is to be 
 amended, we should prefer that the amendment 
 should be in the direction of more stringent 
 provisions for the protection of the parent birds, 
 and that many birds which are now omitted from 
 the schedule of specially protected species should 
 be included in the new Act rather than, as Mr. 
 Pease originally proposed, that protection should 
 be given to all wild birds' eggs with the exception 
 of those of some sixty or seventy species. For it 
 is demonstrable that in the case of most birds, 
 if the parents are protected, the species is in little 
 danger of extinction. No doubt, however, many 
 
The Protection of Wild Birds. 273 
 
 of our rarer birds, and notably those that breed in 
 cliffs, and other open situations, suffer terribly 
 from the ravages of ' ' collectors," a race with whom 
 we have no sympathy, and many of whom, having 
 more money than brains, are willing to give large 
 prices for specimens of the eggs of " rare" birds if 
 guaranteed to be " British/ 7 Indeed, it would be 
 a matter for congratulation if a law could be 
 devised which would reach the collectors, who, 
 being receivers, are far worse than the actual 
 thieves. Yet much of this destruction might be 
 prevented under the law as it stands, as, indeed, is 
 well exemplified in the case of the birds breeding 
 on the Fame Islands, for, as the Lord Advocate 
 pointed out in answer to a question put to him 
 in the House, <( oologists are not yet exempt from 
 the general law of trespass, 57 and landowners have 
 the power of preventing birds'-nesting if they care 
 to use it. Unfortunately, however, very many 
 landowners, especially if they are game preservers, 
 are the greatest offenders in the matter of bird 
 destruction, and, by encouraging their gamekeepers 
 to destroy all birds which they consider " vermin/ 7 
 have practically exterminated many of our native 
 species, utterly regardless of the fact that all birds, 
 whether included in the schedule or not, are, under 
 the provisions of the existing "Wild Birds Protec- 
 tion Act/ 7 entitled to a close time from March 1 to 
 August 1. To take only one example ; the (c owl, 77 
 which is named in the schedule ; no particular 
 species is mentioned, and therefore it must be 
 
 T 
 
274 The Protection of Wild Birds. 
 
 concluded that all are intended; yet gamekeepers 
 destroy owls ruthlessly during the close season 
 without fear of prosecution. The truth of the 
 matter is, that the law has, in most places, been 
 allowed to become practically a dead-letter, owing, 
 we imagine, to the fact that no one is appointed to 
 see that its provisions are enforced, for as usual 
 what is everybody's business is nobody's business, 
 and this is further emphasised by the boldness with 
 which the captures of rare birds during the close 
 season are constantly reported. That close times 
 can be enforced is proved by the fact that coarse 
 fish, which in open waters at all events were until 
 quite recently considered by the multitude fair 
 game at any time, are now most efficiently 
 protected. 
 
 As it is Mr. Pease's intention to remodel his Bill 
 we do not propose to criticise the draft which is 
 now before the public further than by saying that 
 we are at a loss to understand by what principle of 
 selection he decided on " the sixty or seventy kinds 
 of eggs" we quote from his letter to the Times 
 which he proposed " to abandon to the ravages 
 of the birds'-nesting boy," as we have no doubt 
 that if, as is his declared intention, he obtains 
 " the best advice he can," his second schedule will 
 be very materially altered when next his Bill is 
 published. We hope, however, that among the 
 authorities whose advice he proposes to take he 
 does not number his Norfolk correspondent, who 
 is responsible for the startling statement that in 
 
The Protection of Wild Birds. 275 
 
 looking round the London, Norwich, and Cam- 
 bridge markets this winter he always saw, amongst 
 other birds, hoopoes, nightjars, and sand grouse 
 killed, as he would lead us to believe, in this 
 country not to mention great bustards, which are 
 also included in his list, for although, as is well 
 known, there has been a considerable immigration 
 of bustards this winter, they have certainly not 
 been so plentiful as to find their way into the 
 markets as ordinary articles of commerce. 
 
 In conclusion, we most heartily endorse Lord 
 Lilford's opinion that if the egg question is to be 
 dealt with, the most simple way of dealing with it 
 would be to make the taking of all British birds' 
 eggs, with about eight or nine exceptions, a penal 
 offence, unless such taking was effected with the 
 express permission of the owner or occupier of 
 the lands upon which the nests were situated, 
 and we commend this suggestion to Mr. Pease's 
 most careful consideration. 
 
 T 2 
 
FOURE-FOOTED BEASTES. 
 
 (Feb. 13, 1892.) 
 
 AMONGST the many quaint old books on natural 
 history that have come down to us, there is none 
 quainter than " The Historic of Foure-Footed 
 Beastes, describing the true and lively figure of 
 every Beast, with a discourse of their severall 
 Names, Conditions, Kindes, Vertues (both naturall 
 and medicinal), Countries of their breed, their love 
 and hate to Mankinde, and the wonderfull worke of 
 God in their Creation, Preservation, and Destruc- 
 tion. Necessary for all Divines and Students 
 because the story of every Beast is amplified with 
 Narrations out of Scriptures, Fathers, Phylosophers, 
 Physitians and Poets : wherein are declared divers 
 Hyeroglyphicks, Emblems, Epigrams, and other 
 good Histories, collected out of all the volumes 
 of Conradus Gesner and all other writers to this 
 present day." By Edward Topsell. A book 
 which is now by no means common, and is there- 
 fore not so generally known as it deserves to be. 
 This Edward Topsell appears, from his own 
 account, to have been, in 1607, when his book 
 was published, " Chaplaine in the Church of 
 Saint Buttolphe Aldergate " ; but a poor prefer- 
 
Foure-Footed Beastes. 277 
 
 ment, apparently, as lie tells us that he had " not 
 any accesse of maintenance, receiving no more but 
 a labourers wages/' We are informed that his 
 " endeavor and paines in this Booke was that he 
 might profit and delight the Reader, where into 
 he may looke on the holyest daies (not omitting 
 prayer and the publicke service of God), and pass 
 away the Sabbaoths in heavenly meditations upon 
 earthly creatures/' and he succeeded so well in his 
 endeavour that the reader must be hard to please 
 who cannot find much to delight him in the curious 
 pot-pourri of fact and fiction which the worthy 
 divine collected together in his 760 folio pages. 
 Of course, in the early days of the seventeenth 
 century zoology had not been raised to the dignity 
 of a science ; in fact, it had advanced but little, if 
 at all, since the days of Pliny, whom our author 
 constantly quotes as an authority. And it may 
 therefore, be easily imagined that fiction very 
 largely preponderates over fact; but the result is 
 quaint beyond measure. Topsell tells us that he 
 followed "D. Gesner, a Protestant Physitian, as 
 neer as he could," and adds the odd remark, " A 
 rare thing to finde any Religion in a Physitian, 
 although Saint Luke, a physitian, were a writer of 
 the Gospell." He evidently expected that many 
 of his tales would be received with incredulity ; 
 for in his epistle dedicatory he says : " For the 
 rude and vulgar sort (who being utterly ignorant 
 of the operation of learning, do presently condemne 
 al strange things which are not ingrave in the 
 
278 Foure-Footed Beastes. 
 
 palms of tbeir own hands, or evident in their own 
 heards and flockes) I care not. I may remember 
 you of a Countrie tale of an old Masse-Priest in the 
 daies of Henry the eight, who, reading in English 
 after the translation of the Bible the miracle of the 
 five loaves and two fishes, and when hee came to 
 the verse that reckoneth the number of the ghuests 
 or eaters of the banquet hee paused a little, and at 
 last said they were about five hundred. The 
 clarke, that was a little wiser, whispered into the 
 priests eares that it was five thousand, but the 
 priest turned backe and replied with indignation, 
 Hold your peace, sirrha, we shall never make them 
 believe they were five hundred. Such priests, 
 such people, such persons I shall draw upon my 
 backe, and although I doe not challenge a power 
 of not erring, yet because I speake of the power of 
 God, that is unlimitable, I will be bold to averre 
 that for truth in the Booke of Creatures (although 
 first observed by Heathen men) which is not con- 
 trary to the booke of Scriptures." 
 
 So delightfully quaint is the whole book that it 
 is impossible to open it without finding something 
 amusing, and the good stories are so many in 
 number that it is equally impossible to say of any 
 of them that they are the best. Among the 
 descriptions, however, the following is distinctly 
 good, and will commend itself, we imagine, to all 
 lovers of cats, and, further, it is an excellent 
 example of the author's style; " It is needlesse to 
 spend any time about her loving nature to man, 
 
Foure-Footed Beastes. 279 
 
 liow she flattereth by rubbing her skinne against 
 ones Legges, how she whurleth with her voyce, 
 having as many tunes as turnes, for she hath 
 one voice to beg and to complain, another to 
 testifie her delight and pleasure, another among 
 hir own kind by flattering, by hissing, by 
 puffing, by spitting, insomuch as some have 
 thought that they have a peculiar intelligible 
 language amongst themselves. Therefore how 
 she) beggeth, playeth, leapeth, looketh, catcheth, 
 tosseth with her foote, riseth up to strings held 
 over her head, sometimes creeping, sometimes 
 lying on the back, playing with one foot, sometime 
 on the bely, snatching now with the mouth and 
 anon with the foot, apprehending greedily any- 
 thing save the hand of man with divers such 
 gestical actions it is needlesse to stand upon." 
 As showing that our author was not ignorant of 
 the habits of animals that came under his own 
 observation, we may notice that he states that 
 weasels "kill, eat, and devour" moles, "because 
 of their long slender bodies, they are apt to creep 
 into the holes of the earth " ; a fact which, if we 
 may judge from correspondence which from time 
 to time appears in the natural history columns of 
 the Field, is not even yet as well know as it should 
 be. The following a propos of moles, is too good 
 to be omitted : " When the wortnes are followed 
 by molds (for by digging and heaving they fore- 
 know their owne perdition) they fly to the super- 
 ficies and very toppe of the earth, the silly beast 
 
280 Fours-Footed Beastes. 
 
 knowing that the molde, their adversary, dare not 
 followe them into the light, so that their wit in 
 flying their enemy is greater then in turning againe 
 when they are troade upon " ; and finally we com- 
 mend the follow prescription to those who are 
 troubled by these mound-raising little animals : 
 " If you whet a mowing syth in a fielde or meddow 
 upon the feast day of Christ's nativity (commonly 
 called Christmas Day), all the molles that are 
 within the hearing thereof will certainly for ever 
 forsake that fielde, meddow, or garden," though 
 in fairness we must add that Topsell considered 
 this a " superstitious conceite." 
 
 It is not, however, when writing about familiar 
 animals that the author of the " Historic " is at his 
 best, but when he launches out into what, for want 
 of a better term, we must call heroic natural 
 history; for example, he knew all about, and 
 described and figured among the apes, the Satyre, 
 the beast called Pan, the Sphinga or Sphynx, and 
 other wonderful creatures which are certainly not 
 to be found in any modern list of Anthropoidea ; 
 but even these are but commonplace animals when 
 compared with that " fearful and terrible beast " 
 the Gorgon, one of the <( manifold and divers sorts 
 of beasts which are bred in Affricke," which he 
 figures on the title-page, where it appears with 
 cloven hoofs and a curly tail and covered with 
 scales like a Pangolin. The following is its 
 description : " It hath high and thicke eie-lids, 
 eies not very great, but much like an Oxes or 
 
Foure-Footed Beastes. 281 
 
 Bugils, but all fiery-bloudy, which, neyther looke 
 directly forwarde, nor yet upwards, but contin- 
 uallye downe to the earth. From the crown of 
 their head downe to their nose they have a long 
 hanging mane, which maketh them to look feare- 
 fully. It eateth deadly and poysonfull hearbs, 
 and if at any time he see a bull or other creature 
 whereof he is afraid, he presently causeth his mane 
 to stand upright, and being so lifted up, opening 
 his lips, and gaping wide, sendeth forth of his 
 throat a certaine sharpe and horrible breath, 
 which infecteth and poysoneth the air above his 
 head, so that all living creatures which draw in 
 the breath of that aire are grievously afflicted 
 thereby, loosing both voice and sight, they fall 
 into leathall and deadly convulsions. It is bred in 
 Hesperia and Lybia." The Lamia, of which we 
 are given " the true picture," was another scaly 
 beast, " of which, leaving fables we come to the 
 true description " ; this, we are told, is the beast 
 called ff Lilith " in the Hebrew, " in the foure and 
 thirty chapter of Esay which is there threatened to 
 possess Babell." Like the Gorgon, " this doth not 
 onely kill by biting, but also by poysoning," after- 
 wards " feeding upon the carcasse which he hath 
 devoured . . . the hinder parts of this beaste 
 are like unto a goate, his forelegs like a Beares, 
 his upper parts to a woman, the body scaled all 
 over like a dragon," and so he is represented in 
 the cut. " The Ethiopian Eale," again, was 
 distinctly "a strange beaste," for it had " the 
 
282 Fome-Footed Beastes. 
 
 cheekes of a Boare, the tayle of an Elephant/' 
 and, most marvellous of all, " homes above a cubit 
 long, which are moveable upon his head at his 
 owne pleasure like eares; now standing one way 
 and anone moving another way, as he needeth in 
 fighting with other beastes, for they stand not 
 stiffe but bend flexibly, and when he fighteth, he 
 alway stretcheth out the one and holdeth in the 
 other, of purpose, as it may seeme, that if one of 
 them be blunted and broken, then hee may defend 
 him self e with the other." And, lastly, the 
 Mantichora, said to be a species of hysena, ''bred 
 among the Indians " a sufficiently vague descrip- 
 tion of its habitat " having a treble row of teeth 
 beneath and above, whose greatnesse, roughnesse, 
 and feete are like a lyons, his face and eares like 
 unto a mans, his eies gray, and collour red, his 
 taile like the taile of a scorpion of the earth, armed 
 with a sting, casting forth sharp pointed quills, his 
 voice like the voice of a small trumpet or pipe, 
 being in course as swift as a Hart ; his wildues 
 such as can never be tamed, and his appetite is 
 especially to the flesh of man ; with her taile she 
 woundeth her hunters whether they come before 
 her or behind her, and presently, when the quils 
 are cast forth, new ones grow up in their roome, 
 wherewithal she overcometh all the hunters " ; 
 altogether a pleasant type of animal, which it is 
 satisfactory to think has disappeared from the 
 earth, leaving no trace of its existence behind it. 
 The examples we have given by no means exhaust 
 
Foure-Footed Beastes. 283 
 
 the list of fearsome beasts with which Topsell was 
 acquainted, and did space permit we could tell of 
 that (C cruell, untamable, impatient, violent, raven- 
 ing, and bloudy beaste," the Su, a native of Pata- 
 gonia, and of many others, equally fierce and 
 equally mythical ; also of the Unicorn, whose horn 
 as shown in its picture is palpably the tooth of a 
 narwhal, and of other fabulous, but harmless, 
 creatures ; but our quotations are sufficient to show 
 the extraordinary fables which in Topsell's days 
 did duty for zoological facts. No doubt they were 
 days of unlimited faith in the marvellous, but even 
 then we imagine that the learned divine could 
 hardly have been disappointed in his expectation 
 of drawing many of the vulgar sort "upon his 
 backe. 
 
MEDICINES FEOM ANIMALS. 
 
 (Sept. 17, 1892.) 
 
 THAT ' ( divers medicines arise out of every part of 
 every beast almost " was universally believed from 
 the earliest times of which we have any record, 
 until comparatively quite recently, so recently 
 indeed, that Dr. Brookes, in his " History of 
 Quadrupedes," speaks of their properties and uses 
 in medicine, and he wrote late enough to quote 
 " Mr. Buffon" and " Linnaeus." This belief is now, 
 however, except among the uneducated classes, 
 nearly extinct, and happily so for those unfortunate 
 enough to require medicine. Although, as has 
 been pointed out by Mr. Hudson in his delightful 
 book ' ' The Naturalist in La Plata/' some of the 
 animal specifics used by the vulgar, and formerly 
 laughed at by learned physicians, now have 
 honourable places in the pharmacopoeia pepsine 
 for example, of which he says, " The Gauchos 
 were accustomed to take the lining of the rhea's 
 stomach, dried and powdered, for ailments caused 
 by impaired digestion . . . science has gone over 
 to them, and the ostrich-hunter now makes a 
 double profit, one from the feathers, and the other 
 from the dried stomachs which he supplies to the 
 
Medicines from Animals. 285 
 
 chemists of Buenos Ay res. Yet lie was formerly- 
 told that to take the stomach of the ostrich to 
 improve his digestion was as wild an idea as it 
 would be to consume bird's feathers in order to 
 fly." Dr. Brookes gave many curious prescriptions, 
 but was careful not to give them on his own 
 authority ; for example, he says, " There are grave 
 physicians who affirm, that if those who have a 
 whitlow put their finger into the ear of a cat, it 
 will certainly cure it." But the Eev. Edward 
 Topsell, or rather his authority, Gesner, had no 
 such scruples, and without doubt believed implicitly 
 in all his marvellous remedies ; for in " the first 
 epistle of Conradus Gesnerus/' in the ff Historie of 
 Foure-f ooted Beastes," we read, " The beastes do 
 offer many profitable medicines for the cure of 
 men ; which the skilful Phitisia.n must borrow from 
 them if he will be perfect in his art and conscion- 
 able in his profession. . . . And I have proved, 
 by the inspection into this knowledge, that herein 
 is layed the largest foundation of Medicine." Of 
 course, in the sixteenth and early in the seventeenth 
 centuries medical science, as now understood, was 
 practically non-existent; and the authorities for 
 the remedies to be found in the Historie range from 
 Hippocrates downwards. 
 
 The following are a few of the recipes, taken 
 almost at random, choice being only made of those 
 prescribed for diseases and afflictions which are 
 perhaps as common as any to which flesh is heir. 
 To those who suffer from toothache a complaint 
 
286 Medicines from Animals. 
 
 which few escape we commend the following 
 simple remedies : " The teeth which were first 
 ingendered in a horse have this vertue in them, 
 that if they should touch the teethe of a man or 
 woman who are molested and grieved with the 
 toothache, they shall presently find a finall ende of 
 their paine : if in like manner a child doe kisse the 
 nose or snowt of a horse he shal never feele paine 
 in his teeth," " the tooth of a hare layed to that 
 part where the teeth ake easeth them," or " if the 
 liver of a Bull be boiled on a soft fire, and put into 
 ones mouth that hath the tooth ache, the paine will 
 goe away so soone as ever the teeth touch it." In 
 cases of earache and deafness, " The fatte of a 
 Dormouse, the fatte of a hen, and the marrow of 
 an Oxe melted together, and being hot, infused 
 into the Eares, doth very much profit both the 
 paines and deafeness thereof." Gout was a common 
 complaint in the days of Topsell, as is evidenced 
 by the large number of prescriptions for the cure 
 and " easing " of it that he has handed down to 
 us. 
 
 The following, which form but a very small 
 part of those given, are sufficiently quaint for 
 repetition : " The Oyle in which a Fox is baked 
 either alive or dead, doth either altogether cure 
 and make whole those which are troubled with the 
 gout, if so be that the disease or sicknesse be 
 greene or new, or at the least not of to longe con- 
 tinuance, it doeth so cure them, although it may 
 happen to returne againe yet it will be much more 
 
Medicines from Animals. 287 
 
 milde and gentle then it had beene." " A Fox sod 
 in water till nothing of the Fox be left whole 
 except the bones, and the Legges or other parts 
 of a gouty body washed and daily bathed therein, 
 it shall drive away all paine and griefe, strengthen- 
 ing the defective and weake members." After 
 this prescription, however, our author adds, " Never- 
 thelesse, such bodies are soone againe replenished 
 through evill dyet, and relapsed into the same 
 disease againe." "A fat cat sod" is also pre- 
 scribed, "first taking the fat, and aiinoynting 
 therewith the sicke part, and then wetting Wooll 
 or Towe in the same, and binding it to the offended 
 place," and " A Woulfe being sodden alive untill 
 the bones doe only remaine, is very much com- 
 mended for the paines of the goute," though how 
 the remedy is to be applied does not appear. 
 " The dust of a living Weasell brent, mingled with 
 wax and rose-water, and annointed with a Feather 
 upon gouty legs," we are told, " cureth the same 
 disease " ; but all the above prescriptions are 
 simple in comparison with the following gruesome 
 recipe : " If ther shal be any flesh or bones of 
 men found in the body of a dead Hyaena, being 
 dried and beaten to powder, and then mixed with 
 a certain perfume, they will bee very excellent to 
 help the gout." Topsell quaintly adds : "The 
 vanity of the Magi or Wise-men which is witty in 
 nothing but in circumstance of words, doth say 
 that the best time to take Hyaenaes is when the 
 Moone passeth over the signe called Gemini." 
 
288 Medicines from Animals. 
 
 " For giving great ease unto the gowt the skinnes 
 of beavers burned with drie Oynions and liquid 
 pitch put into the soles of shooes," or soles made 
 of "Badger skins," are very much commended. 
 
 The prescriptions for the cure of coughs are 
 almost as numerous as are those for gout, but three 
 examples must suffice. " The liver of a fox washed 
 in Wyne and dryed in an earthen pot in an Oven, 
 and afterward seasoned with Sugar, is the best 
 medicine in the world for an old cough, for it hath 
 bin approved to cure it ; although it hath continued 
 twenty yeares, drinking every day two sponsfuls in 
 Wine." " The broath that is confected of goat's 
 fat sodden helpeth the cough being tempered with 
 new sweet wine, that an ounce may be put in a 
 goblet and so mixed with a branch of rue " ; or 
 " the fome of a horse being 3 or 4 times taken in 
 drinke doth quite expell and drive away the cough. 
 The same also being mingled with hot water, and 
 given to one who is troubled with the cough, or 
 consumption of the lunges, being in manner past 
 al cure doth presently procure health." Should 
 any of our readers, however, think of trying this 
 prescription, we advise them not to obtain the 
 necessary " fome" from a horse that they value, as 
 the death of the horse "doth instantly ensue" upon 
 the cure of the patient. The approved medicine 
 for the Squinancy, or quinsie, is compounded as 
 follows : " Take a live cony and burn her in an 
 Earthen pot to pouder, then take a spoonful of 
 that pouder in a draught of wine, and drink the 
 
Medicines from Animals. 289 
 
 most part there of and rubbe your throat with the 
 residue and it shal cure with speed and ease." In 
 cases of colic we learn that ft Tenne sprigs of 
 Lawrell, seaven graines of Pepper, and of Opponax 
 as big as Pease, the skin of the ribs of a Hedghog 
 dryed and beaten cast into three cups of Water 
 and warmed, so being drunk of one that hath the 
 Collicke and let rest, he shall be in perfect health; 
 but, with this exception, that for a man it must bee 
 the membrane of a male Hedgehog, and for a 
 woman a female. The ashes, also, of a horses 
 hoofe, being mingled with wine and water doth 
 greatly ease and helpe the disease called the 
 collicke." 
 
 Smallpox can hardly nowadays be reckoned as 
 one of the common diseases, but the following 
 recipe is too good to be passed over : " The 
 shaving of a Goates skinne, being rubbed with 
 pumice stone, and mixed with Vinegar, is an 
 excellent good remedy for the smal pox." 
 
 The medicines of animals were not only con- 
 sidered useful for the cure of actual disease, but 
 were thought equally efficacious in minor com- 
 plaints, such, for instance to take two examples 
 only as nightmare and baldness, for both of 
 which we find a large number of remedies sug- 
 gested. For example, " One of the great teeth of 
 an Hyaena being bound with a string unto any that 
 are troubled in the night times with shadowes 
 and fantasies, and which are frayed out of their 
 sleepe with fearful visions, doth very speedily and 
 
 u 
 
290 Medicines froin Animals. 
 
 effectually procure them ease and rest/' or "the 
 right eie of a beare dried to pouder and hung 
 about childrens neckes in a little bag driveth away 
 the terrour of dreames." Both of these were, 
 no doubt, more in the nature of charms than 
 medicines, and could certainly do no harm if they 
 did no good, which can hardly be said of. the 
 following prescriptions, which, if indigestion and 
 nightmare represent cause and effect, would surely 
 tend to increase the mischief they were said to 
 cure: "He which doth eate the skinne of a 
 woulfe well tempered and sodden, will keepe him 
 from all evill dreames, and cause him to take his 
 rest quietlie," or <e the flesh of a Lyon being eaten 
 will very effectually worke him ease and quiet- 
 nesse." "For those which are troubled with the 
 casting and shedding of their hair there is an 
 excellent remedy, which is this to take mice 
 which inhabite in houses, and to burn or dry them 
 in a pot, and then beat them; and being so used, 
 to mixe them with oyle of Lawrell, and to rubbe 
 the haires which are like to fall or shed with 
 garlicke, and to put them altogither into a Frontlet 
 or fore-head cloath, and daily to keepe the same 
 medicine or plaister unto them, untill the haire do 
 grow fast, and they be ridde of that disease/' 
 There is also another remedy for the same disease, 
 which is this: "To burne a mouse and .beate 
 him into pouder and then to mingle the same with 
 hony aiid greace of a Beare, and so to annpint.tlpLe 
 head, and this is accounted for a very speedy and 
 
Medicines from Animals. 291 
 
 effectual cure " ; or, ft if the woole of a hare be 
 burned to ashes, and mingled with oyle of myrtles, 
 Buls gall, Beaten alume, and so warmed and 
 annointed uppon the heade, it stayeth the falling 
 away of the haire." In cases of actual b ildness, 
 the " blood of a mole baing killed, spread or 
 annointed upon the head,, wil very speedily renew 
 and bring the haires againe"; or l( the skinne of 
 the hedgehog being rosted with the head and 
 afterwards beate into powder, and if you add 
 thereunto Beares-grease it will restore unto a bald 
 man his head of haire againe, if the place be 
 rubbed untill it be ready to bleed" ; and, lastly, 
 "If one make a small candle of paper and cowes 
 marrow, setting the same on fire uuder his browes 
 or eyelids, which are balde without haire and often 
 annoynting the place he shall have very decent 
 and comely hair grow thereupon/' 
 
 In conclusion, we can only say that if the terrible 
 mixtures prescribed in all good faith by Topsell 
 of which those given above are but a very small 
 and random collection, were used by our ancestors, 
 we can only marvel at their wonderful faiDh and 
 hardihood. 
 
 u 2 
 
"PHAROE'S MOUSE." 
 (Dec. 24, 1892.) 
 
 THE animal called by the Old- World naturalists 
 Pharoe's mouse, Pharaoh's rat, the rat of India, 
 or ichneumon, is perhaps best known in these 
 days by its Indian name mungoose. It was so 
 intimately connected with the crocodile in the 
 minds, and consequently in the books, of these 
 writer.*, that, having recently written on croco- 
 diles, we feel that our subject is hardly complete 
 without some account of this animal and of the 
 marvellous stories which surrounded it. 
 
 Ihe ichneumon, or mungoose, is a terrible 
 enemy to " mice and rats, and such small deer," 
 a fact which was emphasised by Belon in his 
 " Portraits d'Oyseaux," &c., in the following 
 quatrain, under the woodcut of this animal: 
 
 Voy le portrait du Rat de Pharaon, 
 Qui chasse aux Rats, comme fait la Belette; 
 ATI demeurant fort cauteleuse heste, 
 Qui autrement est nominee Ichneumon. 
 
 But it is not so much in this capacity as in that 
 of a destroyer of snakes and other reptiles that 
 it has always been and is to this day famous. 
 Everyone has heard and read histories of fights 
 
"Pharoe's Mouse." 
 
 between mungooses aad cobras, and stories of 
 how, when struck by the snakes, the animals run 
 off into the jungle, and eat sorne plant or ro >t 
 which acts immediately as an antidote to the 
 poison, and enables them to return and renew the 
 fight none the worse for their wounds. And 
 many long and learned disquisitions have been 
 written on the same subject, and different plants 
 named as affording the antidote. Yet all these 
 stories are without foan lalijn, the truth being 
 that the mungoose is victorious owing to his won- 
 derful agility and watchfulness, or, as Bjlon has 
 it, to the fact that he is (C fort cauteleuse beste " ; 
 and if he is unfortunate enough to be bitten he 
 dies as certainly and as quickly as any other 
 mammal. 
 
 And in this the ancient writers were far nearer 
 to the truth than many of the moderns, f >r they 
 ascribed the victory of the ichneumon over the 
 " Aspis" to his cunning. The story as related by 
 Aristotle, and repeated by Pliny, runs as follows 
 in the words of the learned Philemon Holland: 
 " There is mortall war between the Aspides 
 and the Ichneumones, or Rats of India. A beast 
 this is well knowne to the Aspis, in this regard 
 especially, that it is bred likewise in the same 
 -/Egypt. The manner of this Ichneumon is, to 
 wallow oft times within the mud, and then to dry 
 it selfe against the Sun : and when he hath thus 
 armed himself as it were with many coats hardened 
 in this manner, he goeth forth to combat with the 
 
294 " Pharoe's Mouse." 
 
 Aspis. .In fight lie .sets up his taile, and 
 about turning his taile to the enemie, and therein 
 latcheth and receiveth all the strokes of the Aspis, 
 and taketh no . harm thereby : and so Jong he 
 maintainieth a defensive battell, untill he espy 
 a time, turning his head a to-side, that he may' 
 catch the Aspis by the throat, and throtle it." 
 
 Topsel). mentions this story, but adds that, in 
 his opinion, " this combate is better expressed by 
 Oppianus. For, saith he, the Ichneumon covereth 
 her body in the sande as it were in a grave, 
 leaving nothing uncovered but her long serpen- 
 tjne taile, and hir eyes, and so expecteth her 
 enemy. When the Aspe espyeth her threatening 
 rage, presently turning about her taile, provoketh 
 the Ichneumon 'to combate, and with an open 
 mouth and lofty head doth enter the list, to her 
 owne perdition. For the Ichneumon being nothing 
 afraid of this great bravado, receiveth the en- 
 counter, and taking the head of the Aspe in his 
 mouth, biteth that off, to prevent the casting out 
 of her poison : afterwards tearing her whole body 
 in [pieces, although gathered together wound in 
 a circle, for the successe of these two combatants, 
 lyeth in the first blow. If the Aspe first bite the 
 Ichneumon, then doth her poison destroy her 
 adversary ; and so on the contrary, if the Ich- 
 neumon first bite the Aspe, then is the Ichneu- 
 mon conqueror, and so for this cause she covereth 
 her body as aforesaid." 
 
 This author further tells us that if an ichneu- 
 
" Pharae's , Mouse." 295 
 
 mpn chances to find an " Aspe " by the water- 
 side, " it ketcheth hold on the taile, and so drawetK, 
 tlie beast into the Water, anil receiveth help from 
 the fluds to devour her enemy ."' It will tte 
 observed that in neither of these Stories is there 
 any suggestion of any vegetable antidote to the 
 snake's poison, but that victory waits on the most 
 active and cunning of the combatants. The story 
 of the mungoose and its antidote is generally 
 ascribed to the natives of India; but it is noticeV 
 ab>le that Sir Emerson' Tennent 1 mentioned it as, 
 being of European origin, and said that the 
 natives of Ceylon attached no credit to it. The 
 ichneumon was also supposed to sometimes encase 
 itself in its armour of sun-dried mud before attack- 
 ing the crocodile in the manner described in 'our 
 recent article- a story which apparently sorely 
 exercised TopselFs mind, as, after describing the 
 animal as l< sitting close upon the liver of the. 
 Crocodile, and feeding full sweetly upon his 
 intrals," he expatiates upon it as follows : " I, 
 wonder for what cause the beast should rowle 
 her selfe in sand and durt, to enter into tHe 
 Crocodiles belly: For first of all, if after her 
 roling in the durt, she dry her selfe in the sunne, 
 yet will not that hard crust be any sufficient 
 armour of proofe to defend her small body from 
 the violence of the Crocodiles teeth, and besides, 
 it encreaseth the quantity of her body, making 
 her more unfit to slide downe through the Croco- 
 diles narrow throate; and therefore the ( 
 
296 "Pharoe's Mouse." 
 
 cannot be but deceaved in ascribing this quality 
 to her when she is to enter into the Crocodile 
 but rather I beleeve, she useth this defence 
 against the Aspe, and therefore the Author seeing 
 her so covered with . mudde might easily be mis- 
 taken in her purpose. For it is true indeed that 
 when she seeth the Aspe upon the land she 
 calleth her fellowes who arme themselves as be- 
 foresaid before the combat, by which meanes 
 they are safely preserved, from the bit ings of 
 their enemies ; or if it be true that they wallow 
 themselves in the mudde, they do not dry them- 
 selves in the sunne, but while their bodies are 
 moist, slide downe more easily into the Crocodiles 
 belly." 
 
 Notwithstanding their belief in these wonder- 
 ful stories, which, however, if we except the 
 crocodile story, are not much more incredible 
 than some of those which pass current at the 
 present time for example, the fable of the vege- 
 table antidote mentioned above the old writei^s 
 knew a good deal about the Egyptian ichneumon, 
 at all events, and were perfectly aware of its 
 value as a vermin-killer. Topsell tells us that 
 " it eateth indifferently every living thing, as 
 Snales, Lizards, cainelions, all kinds of Serpents, 
 Frogs, mice, and Aspes," and that it "loveth all 
 manner of foules," and he was quite aware of 
 its propensity for destroying the eggs and young 
 of the crocodile, " whereby," he adds, " the mer- 
 ciful providence of God doth notably appeare, 
 
"Pharoe's Mouse." 297 
 
 for the safeguard of mankind, which in those 
 countries where these noisome beasts are bred, 
 hath provided such an enemy to destroy them, 
 both eggs and birds, as is friendly and tameable 
 by the hand and wit of man." 
 
 This reference to the tameableness of the animal 
 is perfectly correct; indeed, mungooses are as 
 they have doubtless been from time immemorial 
 often kept in a semi-domesticated state to clear 
 houses of vermin, such as snakes, rats, and mice, 
 and a tame mungoose is as fascinating, but withal 
 as bloodthirsty, a pet as can well be desired, 
 and we should not advise any one who takes an 
 interest in his poultry-yard to attempt to keep 
 one. Bennett, in his " Tower Menagerie," gave 
 the following instance of the rat-killing power of 
 the mungoose: " The individual now in the 
 Tower actually on one occasion killed no fewer 
 than a dozen full-grown rats, which were loosed; 
 to it in a room sixteen feet square, in less than 
 a minute and a half." 
 
 The mungooses, or ichneumons, belong to the 
 family Viverridce, which also includes the Crypto- 
 procta, the Genets, and the Suricate, specimens 
 of all of which can be seen in the " Small Cats' 
 House " at the Zoo. There are a large number 
 of species, the best known being the Egyptian 
 ichneumon (Herpestes ichneumon), the Phaioe's 
 mouse of the ancients, about which the wonder- 
 ful stories were told, and the grey or Indian 
 ichneumon (H. griseus), the best known of all. 
 
?98 "fharoe's . Mouse." 
 
 They are widely distributed, being found through- 
 outi Africa, Southern Asia, and the In do-Malay an 
 Archipelago, the", Egyptian ichneumon being also 
 found in Spain. l 
 
 '"So trie years Since '. mungooses were introduced 
 into Jamaica for the purpose of destroying rats, 
 which infested the sugar plantations ; and they 
 nave since, in company with stoats, weasels, and. 
 other "vermin" been turned down in Australia 
 and New Zealand in the hope that they would 
 destroy the' rabbits, which have become such a 
 terrible plague; but we doubt whether, in the 
 latter case at least, the remedy will not prove 
 worse than the disease. There are at the Zoo at 
 the present time, in addition to specimens of the 
 Egyptian and Indian ichneumons, a white-tailed 
 ichneumon (H. albicaudatus) from British East, 
 Africa, and a Puisa ichneumon (Bdeogale puisa) 
 also from East Africa, the latter being "new to 
 the collection," and, as will be seen, belonging 
 to a different genus to the others, from which it 
 differs in having only four toes on each foot. It 
 is a curious little brown animal, by no means 
 beautiful, and possesses a bushy tail, which oddly 
 reminds one of a bottle-brush. " And thus much 
 for the description of the Ichneumon/' 
 
MEDIAEVAL LORE. 
 (March 4, 1893.) 
 
 IN a little book lately published by Mr. Robert 
 Steele (Elliot Stock) under the title that we have 
 chosen for the heading of this article he introduces 
 us to the work of a man famous in his day, but, 
 now practically forgotten, for which the thanks of 
 all who are interested in the literature of the 
 Middle Ages are due to him ; and be it added, 
 with all deference to Mr. William Morris, who is 
 responsible for the preface that this body does 
 not, as he fondly imagines, consist only of ''those 
 who are pledged to the forward movement in 
 modern life." The book in question consists of 
 extracts from Berthelet's edition of the English 
 translation of the great work in nineteen books of 
 Bartholomew Anglicus, "De Proprietatibus rerum," 
 with short dissertations by the editor. This 
 Bartholomew was a Franciscan friar, and doubt- 
 less an Englishman. The date of his book is not 
 known with any certainty, but Mr. Steele in his. 
 introductory chapter gives excellent reasons .for 
 concluding that it was written about the year 1260. 
 Originally written in Latin, it was translated into 
 most of the European languages, English among <, 
 
300 Mediceval Lore. 
 
 the number, the edition from which " Medieval 
 Lore " is compiled bearing date 1535. It was no 
 doubt immensely popular, but perhaps had hardly 
 so great an effect on the general literature of the 
 sixteenth century, at least directly, as Mr. Steele 
 would have us believe. Indeed Gesner, in his 
 "History of Animals," treats it with scant courtesy, 
 and apparently thought but little of the author's 
 Latin and less of his facts, though he himself was 
 sufficiently credulous. 
 
 Like all the writers of what may be called the 
 pre-scientific age, Bartholomew Anglicus drew 
 largely on Pliny for his natural history, and we 
 accordingly find an account of all the wonderful 
 beings described by that author, men " that be all 
 headless and noseless, and their eyen be in their 
 shoulders, and some have plain faces without 
 nostrils, and the nether lips of them stretch so, 
 that they hele therewith their faces when they be 
 in the heat of the sun," and so on, and so on, 
 through all the wonderful descriptions known to 
 readers of Pliny, or of the " Voyage and travayle 
 of Sir John Maundeville, Knight." 
 
 Of our author's stories of animals, among the 
 best, perhaps, is that which treats of the " ever- 
 lasting fighting" between elephants and dragons, 
 the end of the fight being as follows : " The 
 dragon leapeth upon the elephant, and busieth 
 him to bite him between the nostrils, and assaileth 
 the elephant's eyen, and maketh him blind some- 
 time, and leapeth upon him sometime behind, and 
 
Mediceval Lore. 301 
 
 biteth him and sucketh his blood. And at last 
 alter long fighting the elephant waxeth feeble for 
 great blindness, insomuch that he falleth upon the 
 dragon and slayeth in his dying the dragon that 
 him slayeth." Mr. Steele says, perhaps with 
 justice, that Du Bartas " wrote page after page of 
 rhyme all but versified direct from Bartholomew/' 
 and, as Du Bartas is nowadays but little more read 
 than Bartholomew himself, it may not be uninter- 
 esting to give his version of this part of the 
 story as told by his translator, " Silver-tongued 
 Sylvester/' which is as follows: 
 
 While th' Elephant (but to no purpose) strives 
 With's winding Trunk t' undoo liis wounding gyves 
 His furious fo thrusts, in his nose, his nose ; 
 Then head and all : and thear-withall doth close 
 His breathing passage : but his victory 
 Hee joyes not long ; for his huge Enimy, 
 Falling down dead doth with his waighty Fall 
 Crush him to death, that caused his death, withall. 
 
 To return to Bartholomew. "The cause why 
 the dragon desireth his blood is coldness of 
 the elephant's blood by which the dragon 
 desireth to cool himself. Jerome saith, that the 
 dragon is a full thirsty beast; insomuch that 
 unneth he may have water enough to quench his 
 great thirst; and openeth his mouth therefore 
 against the wind, to quench the burning of his 
 thirst in that wise. Therefore when he seeth ships 
 sail in the sea in great wind, he flieth against the 
 sail to take their cold wind, and overthroweth 
 the ship sometimes for greatness of body and 
 
&02 Mediaeval Lore. 
 
 strong rese against the sail. And when the ship- 
 men see the dragon come nigh, and know his 
 coming by the water that swelleth ayenge him> 
 they strike the sail anon, and scape in that wise." 
 So much for the natural history. The book 
 embraced the whole of human knowledge as it 
 existed in the thirteenth century, including 
 '" science/' medicine, and geography, and Mr. 
 Steele's extracts under these several headings are 
 Distinctly well chosen. The following passages 
 will give an idea of mediaeval science as 
 expounded by our author: " Quicksilver and 
 brimstone is the element, that is to wit matter, of 
 which all melting metal is made. Quicksilver is 
 matter of all metal, and therefore in respect of them 
 a simple element." " Iron is gendered of quick- 
 silver thick and not clean, full of earthy holes, 
 and ; of brimstone, great and boisterous and not 
 pure. In composition of iron is more of the 
 xoresaid brimstone than of quicksilver, and so for 
 mastery of cold and dry and of earthy matter, 
 iron is dry and cold and full well hard, and is 
 compact together in its parts. " After this 
 Description of the metal, Bartholomew gives us 
 ihe, following delightfully quaint dissertation on 
 its uses :" Use of iron is more needfull to men in 
 many things . than use of gold ; though covetous 
 men love more gold than iron. Without iron the 
 commonalty be not sure against enemies. Without' 
 jlread of irpn the common right is not governed ; 
 with iron innocent men are defended; and fool- 
 
Mediceval Lore. 
 
 hardiness- of- wicked men is chastised ; with dread 
 of iron. And well-nigh no handiwork is wrought 
 without iron; no field is eared without iron, 
 neither tilling craft used, nor building builded 
 without iron. And therefore Isidore saith that 
 iron hath its name ferrum, for that thereby farra 
 that is corn and seed, is tilled and sown. For 
 without iron bread is not won of the earth, nor 
 bread is not departed when it is ready without 
 iron convenably to man's use." 
 
 The chapters on medicine, though extremely 
 interesting, are by no means so full or so curious 
 as those of many of the later writers Topseil, for 
 instance and Mr. Steele has contented himself 
 with but very few examples. The following will 
 commend itself to many : " The liver is a noble 
 and precious member, by whose alteration the body 
 is altered " ; but it may not be so well known that 
 " by the spleen we are moved to laugh, by the gall 
 we are wroth, by the heart we are wise-, by the 
 brain we feel, by the liver we love." The geo* 
 graphy, as may be imagined, is a curious medley 
 of fact and the wildest fiction. The descriptions 
 pf countries which were evidently known to the 
 author, suph as England, Scotland, France, and 
 the Low Countries, are eminently free from fable, 
 but no story was too wonderful for him when. told 
 of countries and peoples beyond his ken. His 
 description of England as a " strong land and 
 a .sturdy ". ia,r fortunately, true : to this day) and 
 this country is still in a sense (t the plenteousest 
 
304 Mediaeval Lore. 
 
 corner of the world"; but unfortunately it cannot 
 now be said at all events in the author's sense 
 to be " so rich, a land that unneth it needeth help 
 of any land, and every other land needeth help of 
 England " ; nor perhaps would it be strictly true 
 to say of the England of our day that it is " full 
 of mirth and of game, and men oft times able to 
 mirth and game, free men of heart and with 
 tongue, but the hand is more better and more 
 free than the tongue." 
 
 In our opinion, the most amusing part of the 
 whole book is Chapter iv., on "Mediaeval 
 Manners." The worthy friar was evidently a 
 keen observer, and who shall say that he knew 
 nothing of the ways of children when, in the 
 chapter " Of a Child," we find the following: 
 " They dread no perils more than beating with 
 a rod; and they love an apple more than gold 
 . . . and make more sorrow and woe, and 
 weep more for the loss of an apple than for the 
 loss of their heritage. . . . They desire all 
 that they see, and pray and ask with voice and 
 with hand . . . they keep no counsel, but 
 they tell all that they hear or see. Suddenly they 
 laugh, and suddenly they weep. Always they cry, 
 jangle, and jape ; that unneth they be still while 
 they sleep. When they be washed of filth, anon 
 they defile themselves again. When their mother 
 washeth and combeth them, they kick and 
 sprawl, and put with feet and with hands, and 
 withstand with all their might." In the chapter 
 
Mediaeval Lore. 305 
 
 " Of a Man " we find an amusing account of 
 courtship and marriage. The description of 
 courtship, allowing for change of manners, is as 
 true now as when it was written; for example, 
 "The spouse thinketh to win love of her he wooeth 
 with gifts, and certifieth his will with letters and 
 messengers and with divers presents 
 and to please her he putteth himself to divers 
 plays and games among gatherings of men, and 
 useth oft deeds of arms, of might and of mastery. 
 And maketh him gay and seemly in divers clothing 
 and array. And all that he is prayed to give and 
 do for her love, he giveth and doth anon with all 
 his might. And denieth no petition that is made 
 in her name and for her love." But in these 
 degenerate days the bridegroom no longer 
 " maketh revels and feasts and spousals, and 
 giveth good gifts to friends and guests, and com- 
 forteth his guests with songs and pipes and other 
 minstrely of music " ; indeed, manners and 
 customs have so changed that the te friends and 
 guests " are now expected to supply the " good 
 gifts." After his account of courtship and 
 marriage, the good friar gives us his ideas of the 
 married state, and though his description of a 
 bad wife is perhaps curiously worded according to 
 our modern ideas, there is no doubt that his judg- 
 ment was a sound one, for he says : " No man hath 
 more wealth than he that hath a good woman to 
 his wife, and no man hath more woe than he that 
 hath an evil wife, crying and jangling, chiding and 
 
306 Mediaeval Lore. 
 
 scolding, drunken, lecherous, and unsteadfast, and 
 contrary to jhim, costly, stout and gay, envious, 
 noyfull, leaping over lands, much suspicious, and 
 wrathful." 
 
 The chapter 011 "Medieval Manners " in Mr. 
 Steele's book ends with an account of " dinner 
 and feasting," which, as he tells us, is much 
 abridged, but is unfortunately, even in this form 
 too long for quotation, and we can only give one 
 short extract, which shows how completely 
 manners have changed in the course of centuries. 
 The author says of the household servants while 
 waiting at table that ' c they busily help each other 
 to do everything diligently, and talk merrily 
 together." The extracts which we have given are 
 taken practically at random, but give a fair idea 
 of the contents of the book, which we heartily 
 commend to all who are interested in the old-world 
 manners, customs, and ideas . 
 
ANCIENT AFRICANA. 
 
 (April 1, 1893.) 
 
 AFEICA attracts so much attention at the present 
 time, and our knowledge of the great Continent 
 increases so rapidly, that in a very few years the 
 blank spaces found in maps even twenty or thirty 
 years old will all have been filled in, and the 
 mystery which has during the ages shrouded the 
 land will be a thing of the past. Under these 
 circumstances it may not be uninteresting to ascer- 
 tain the state of knowledge when James I. was 
 king that is, about a century and a quarter after 
 the famous voyage of Yasco de Gama, who is 
 generally accredited with being the first European 
 to have rounded the Cape of Good Hope, though 
 in truth Bartholomew Diaz had before his time 
 sailed at least as far as Algoa Bay. 
 
 It may readily be imagined that in 1626 nothing 
 very definite was known of the interior of the 
 country, and it is, therefore, at first sight a little 
 surprising to find the whole of it shown, apparently 
 in great detail, in a map published by that worthy 
 tailor and author, John Speed, which he had 
 " newly done into English," no doubt from a 
 Portuguese source, in the year above mentioned. 
 
 x 2 
 
308 Ancient Africana. 
 
 But a close inspection convinces us that the carto- 
 grapher, while possessed of very little knowledge, 
 was favoured with a lively imagination; for 
 mountain-ranges and rivers meander over the 
 surface of the country, the latter tunnelling under 
 the former in all directions in a manner suggestive 
 of ornament rather than of geographical exacti- 
 tude. And, as is usual in old maps, names are 
 repeated and inconvenient blank spaces are filled 
 either with figures of animals or with such incon- 
 sequent notes as " In the Hill Amara the sons of 
 the Emperor of ^Ethiopia are held in ward and 
 kept by a garrison"; or, "Here is gold digged 
 up in great quantity." The Nile, we may observe, 
 is shown as rising in two large lakes Zaire and 
 Zaflan in 10 S. ; the Congo, or Zaire, river also 
 rises in Lake Zaire, as do some six or seven other 
 rivers to the south of it, through another lake, 
 Aquilunda. However, we will leave the map and 
 turn to Speed's " description of Africa." He tells 
 us in his prefatory remarks that, " give the people 
 their own asking, and they will have the glory of 
 the first inhabitants of the world and prove it too 
 both from the temperature of their Ayre, and 
 f ertiiitie of their Soyle, which breeds and nourisheth 
 not onely Plants and fruits, but sends forth of its 
 owne Vertue living creatures in such sort as 
 amaseth the beholder. We have a report (if you 
 will beleeve it) that in a ground neere the River 
 Nilus there have bene found mice halfe made up, 
 and nature taken in the very nicke, when shee 
 
Ancient Africana. 309 
 
 hath already wrought life in the fore-parts, head 
 and brest, the hinder joynts yet remaining in the 
 forme of earth. Thus I suppose they wo d have 
 man at first growne out of their soyle without the 
 immediate hand of Grod in his creation . . . and 
 it hath bene the opinion of some vaine Philosophers 
 . . . that there the sunne by his propinquitie 
 wrought soonest upon the moisture of the ground 
 and made it fit for mortalitie to sprout in." With 
 regard to the stories of " monstrous people without 
 heads, with their eyes and mouthes in their 
 breasts," he was of opinion that though "main- 
 tained to this day by some Authors of good 
 esteeme," they were but idle fables invented by 
 those who told them, " either out of their owne 
 error, or else a desire of glory more then they had 
 deserved; or perhaps a Travailors tricke to cheat 
 the ignorant world that could not confute their 
 reports." However, he apparently believed all the 
 wonderful tales extant in his time of ravening 
 beasts and other horrible monsters, for he tells us 
 that beside other " annoyances," the country was 
 "so full of a venomous kind of Serpent that in 
 some places they dare not dresse their Land, 
 unlesse they first fence their leggs with bootes 
 against the sting. Other wild creatures there are 
 which range about, and preserve to themselves a 
 great portion of this Country, and make a wilder- 
 nesse of Lyons, Leopards, Elephants, and in some 
 places Crocodiles, Hyaenas, Basilisks, and, indeed, 
 monsters without number or name." After this 
 
310 Ancient Africana. 
 
 account of the ravening beasts our author moralises 
 as follows : " But among all these inconveniences, 
 commodities are found of good worth : and the 
 very evills yeeld at last their benefit to their owne 
 Country and other parts of the world. The 
 Elephant, a docible creature and exceeding usefull 
 for battle. The Camell, which affords much riches 
 to the Arabian. The Barbarie horse, which we 
 our selves commend. The Ramme, that besids his 
 flesh gives twentie pounds of wool from his very 
 tayle. The Bull, painefull, and able to doe best 
 service in their tillage. And so most of theire 
 worst, alive or dead, yeeld us their medicinall parts, 
 which the world could not well want." 
 
 Speed divided Africa into " seaven " parts (1) 
 Barbarie or Mauritania; (2) Numidia; (3) Lybia 
 or Africa propria; (4) Nigritarum terra; (5) 
 ^Ethiopia superior; (6) Ethiopia inferior; and 
 (7) ^Egypt. Of the first and last of these divisions 
 he has little to say worth repeating here. Numidia, 
 he tells us, was peopled by "Idolaters, Idiots, 
 Theeves, Murderers, except some few Arabians that 
 are mingled among them of ingenuous disposition, 
 and addicted much to poetry ." Lybia was called 
 " Sacra as much as a Desert. For so it is, and a 
 dry one too, such as can afford no water to a 
 travailor sometimes in seaven dayes journey." 
 
 Terra Nigritarum, the land of negroes, "hath 
 the name either from the colour of the people 
 which are blacke, or from the Eiver Niger, famous 
 as Nilus almost for her overflowing ... it is full 
 
Ancient Africana. 311 
 
 of gold and silver and other commodities." The 
 inhabitants, we learn, " lived not as if reason 
 guided their actions," and are said to " have enter- 
 tained all Eeligions that came in their way. First 
 their owne, then the Jewes, the Mahumetans, and 
 some of them the Christian," indeed we are not 
 surprised to learn that it was considered ' ' a poore 
 Country, God wot, not worth either Gentrie or 
 Lawes, or indeed the name of a Kingdom." 
 
 ^Ethiopia superior, "likewise called the King- 
 dome of the Abissines," was the land of Presbyter 
 John " one of the mightiest Emperours in the 
 World " who drew his line from Saloman and the 
 Queene of the South. 
 
 Speed has little else to tell us of this division, 
 except that in one Province there was a law 
 that "no man marrie till he have killed twelve 
 Christians," after which statement it is not 
 astonishing to find that the inhabitants were 
 "base and idle," and that their religion was 
 "mixt." 
 
 Lastly, Ethiopia inferior comprised the whole 
 of South Africa. " On every side begirt with Sea 
 except toward the North," this was divided into 
 five " kingdomes." Aina, of which our author has 
 nothing to say, except that it abounds "with 
 Flesh, Hony, Wax, Gold, Ivorie, Corne, very large 
 Sheepe." 
 
 Zanguebar, in which " stands Mesambique, called 
 by Ptolmie Prassum Promontorium, and was the 
 utmost part Southward of the old world." Mono- 
 
312 Ancient Africana. 
 
 molopa spelt Monomotapa in the map which 
 embraced the whole of the territory now known as 
 Mashonaland. As is pointed out by Mr. Bent in his 
 "Eiiined Cities of Mashonaland/' it was so named 
 by the early Portuguese explorers after Mono- 
 matapa, the dynastic name of the paramount chief. 
 In this country, we are told, there were " reported 
 to be three thousand mines of gold/' and we find 
 Zimbaos the present Zimbabwe duly marked on 
 the map; but Speed, doubtless from want of space, 
 does not give us any of the wonderful stories of 
 the wealth of the Emperor extant among the early 
 Portuguese travellers, contenting himself with the 
 remark that " their King is served in great pompe, 
 and hath a guard of two hundred mastives." 
 
 Caf raria seems to have been practically unknown, 
 as our author has literally nothing to say of it, 
 except that its people lived (< in the Woods without 
 Lawes like brutes/' and that " here stands the 
 Cape of good Hope/' about which, he adds, the sea 
 is always rough and dangerous. " It hath beene 
 especially so for the Spaniard. It is their owne 
 note, in somuch, that one was very angry with God, 
 that he suffered the English Heretickes to pass it 
 so easily over, and not to give his good Catholikes 
 the like speed." 
 
 And, finally, Manicongo, whose inhabitants are 
 very vaguely said to be in some part Christian, but 
 in "other by-Provinces Anthropophagi, and have 
 shambles of mans flesh, as we have for meate." 
 They can hardly have been pleasant neighbours 
 
Ancient Africana. 313 
 
 even for Africans, as they are said to have killed 
 their "owne children in the birth, to avoide the 
 trouble of breeding them," and to have " preserved 
 their Nation with stolen brats from their neigh- 
 bouring Countries." 
 
 This being, in Speed's words, "as farre as we 
 may travaile by Land," as we do not propose to 
 ' ' loose out into the bordring Seas " with him, we 
 must bid him farewell, only observing in conclusion 
 that, notwithstanding his great show of knowledge, 
 his information appears to have been of the very 
 scantiest description. 
 
CROCODILE-BIRDS. 
 
 (May 6, 1893.) 
 
 THE current number of the Ibis contains an 
 extremely interesting communication by Mr. J. M. 
 Cook on the subject of the Old World story of the 
 bird which is said to attend on the crocodile, and 
 to enter its mouth for the purpose of either picking 
 its teeth or removing the leeches from its mouth. 
 The latter is the older version, and was told by 
 Herodotus as follows : ' ' All other birds and 
 beasts avoid him [the crocodile] but he is at 
 peace with the Trochilos because he receives 
 benefit from that bird. For when the crocodile 
 gets out of the water on land and then opens its 
 jaws, which it does commonly towards the west, 
 the Trochilos enters its mouth and swallows the 
 leeches; the crocodile is so well pleased with 
 this service that it never hurts the Trochilos." 
 Numberless authors have repeated the story 
 which was amplified and oddly distorted by Pliny 
 and the mediaeval authors who followed him but 
 among modern ornithologists, at all events, it has 
 received but little credence, though it is mentioned 
 by many of them. Their position in the matter is 
 
Crocodile- Birds. 315 
 
 well exemplified by Gould in his " Birds of Asia/' 
 where, though in the background of his plate 
 representing the Egyptian plover (Pluvianus 
 ^Egyptius) he shows two of these birds entering 
 the mouth of a crocodile, and in his letterpress he 
 discusses the question whether this bird or the 
 spur-winged plover (Hoplopterus spinosus) is the 
 Trochilos of Herodotus, he tells us that he only 
 inserted the figure of the crocodile to illustrate 
 an oft-told tale, and that the point as to which 
 bird was intended is of little moment, since in 
 all probability the story is not founded on truth. 
 
 Mr. Cook has, however, thrown new light on the 
 question, and has supplied us with direct evidence 
 that a bird, which he identifies as the spur-winged 
 plover, does enter the crocodile's mouth. It 
 appears that in the year 1876 he noticed some 
 crocodiles and several of the birds "which are 
 called by all the natives of the Nile Valley 
 crocodile-birds," on a very large sand-bank near 
 Derr (the capital of Lower Nubia), and with his 
 brother-in-law, the late Mr. J. E. Hedges, deter- 
 mined to watch them. The following is his 
 account, in a somewhat condensed form, of what 
 happened : " For this purpose, during the dark 
 hours, we had a small pit dug on the western side 
 of the large sand-bank in question, and about the 
 peep of day the following morning we ensconced 
 ourselves m the pit. . . We watched patiently 
 until about noon, when two large crocodiles came 
 out of the water on to the bank, and apparently 
 
316 Crocodile-Birds. 
 
 were soon asleep. Several crocodile-birds com- 
 menced flitting over them, and through our 
 field-glasses we watched one bird and saw it 
 deliberately go up to a crocodile, apparently 
 asleep, which opened its jaws. The bird hopped in 
 and the crocodile closed its jaws. In what 
 appeared to be a very short time, probably not 
 more than a minute or two, the crocodile opened 
 its jaws, and we saw the crocodile-bird go down to 
 the water's edge. As the sandbank was,, I should 
 say, at least half a mile across, and the bird's back 
 was turned towards us, we could not see whether 
 it vomited in the water or drank ; but in the course 
 of a few seconds it returned to the crocodile, 
 which opened its mouth again, and the bird again 
 entered. The mouth was closed, and in a short 
 time was opened again for the bird to come out, 
 and the same operation was repeated at the river- 
 bank. We saw the same bird enter the crocodile's 
 mouth three times, and on three occasions run to 
 the water to either vomit or drink." Eventually 
 Mr. Cook shot two of the birds, which, as we have 
 said, he has since identified as the spur- winged 
 plover. In conclusion, he tells us that "he never 
 knew that the fact of the crocodile-bird entering 
 the crocodile's mouth was seriously doubted" until 
 a conversation which he had recently with Dr. 
 Sclater and Mr. Seebohm. 
 
 To this account the editor of the Ibis adds a 
 note, in which he says that " the story is univers- 
 ally believed on the Nile, but, so far as we know, is 
 
Crocodile-Birds. 817 
 
 not confirmed by an eye-witness since the days of 
 Herodotus, Aristotle, and ^Elian." No doubt, 
 until Mr. Cook made his observation, the story had 
 not " been confirmed by recent observations," but 
 Giovanni Leone, perhaps better known as Leo 
 Africanus, an author and traveller, who lived and 
 wrote in the latter part of the fifteenth and the 
 early part of the sixteenth century i.e., at least 
 1300 years after ^Blian and whose accounts of 
 what he saw are singularly devoid of fable, tells 
 the story in a manner which makes it hard to 
 believe that he was not relating facts which 
 actually came under his own observation. He 
 tells us we quote from the French translation of 
 his " Description of Africa," published in 1556 that 
 he was on the Nile, " distant de Caire environ 
 quatre cens mille," when he saw several crocodiles 
 upon some little islands in the middle of the river 
 " qni estoyent etendus au Soleil, les gueules bees ; 
 dans lesquelles aucuns oysillons de blanc panage, 
 & grandeur d'une grive entroyent dedas, la ou 
 ayans sejourne quelque espace de temps s'en 
 retournoyent, dressans leur vol ailleurs. Dont 
 estat curieus d' entendre la raison de cela, je m'en 
 enquis, & me fut dit, qu'entre les dens du Crocodile 
 demeurent quelques files de chair, ou poisson 
 pen dans; lesquels venans a se putrifier, se conver- 
 tissent en vers, qui les molestent aucunement, & 
 estans aperceus remuer par ces petits oyseaus 
 volas, viennent & entrer dans la gueule pour les 
 mager, ce que ayans fait, le Crocodile ingrat tache 
 
318 Crocodile-Birds. 
 
 a les engloutir, mais se sentant pique au palais 
 (Tune dure & poignante epine (que 1'oyseau a sur 
 le sommet de la tete) il est cotraint de desserrer, 
 dormant lieu a la fuitte de 1'oyseau, & avenat 
 q ' j'ea puisse recouvrer un, je raconteray cette 
 histoire plus surernent, & a la verite." Again, 
 Paul Lucas, who wrote in 1719, though by no 
 means an exact author or worthy to be too 
 implicitly believed, distinctly says that he saw 
 close to his boat some birds " like a lapwing, and 
 near it in bigness," which went " into the 
 crocodiles' mouths or throats . . . and after 
 they had stayed a little while the crocodiles shut 
 their mouths, and opened them again soon after to 
 let them go out." He was told by the people that 
 the birds in question (f feed themselves on what 
 remains between this animal's teeth by picking 
 them j and, as they have a kind of spur, or very 
 sharp thorn, in the tops of their wings, they prick 
 the crocodile, and torment him when he has shut 
 his mouth, till he opens it again, and lets them out ; 
 and thus they secure themselves from the danger 
 they were in." And he adds the suggestion that, 
 " likely these are the birds which Pliny calls 
 Trochilos." This last story told to Lucas by the 
 people of his time is very interesting, as it agrees 
 exactly in all its details with an account given by 
 Dr. Leith Adams, of which he says : " This 
 addition to the old story was given to me on good 
 authority, as being very generally believed by the 
 Nile boatmen." 
 
Crocodile-Birds. 319 
 
 Can it be that, after all, the Egyptians have been 
 right through all these ages, and that they have 
 more real knowledge of the habits of the birds 
 inhabiting their own country than modern orni- 
 thologists are inclined to allow ?