Leaves from the note book of a naturalist

Front matter

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LEAVES

FROM THE NOTE BOOK

Chapter II

Menageries opposed to romance — The Condor — Unprotected state of its eggs — Elevation chosen for their resting-place — Colour &c. of the nestling — The Condor’s feast — Indian mode of capturing the bird — Exciting nature of the sport — Humboldt’s account of the Condor’s tenacity of life — The Lammergeyer — Its pertinacity and audacity — Dimensions of the bird — The Condor’s offspring in captivity — Eggs placed under a domestic Hen — Slowness of the hatching process — Description of the young bird — Its food — Attachment of the Hen to its nursling — Death of the young Condor — Modification of instinct — Relative proportions of new-born quadrupeds, birds just hatched, and fishes — Feathers of the Condor used as quills — The King Vulture — Its brilliant colours — Account of a Buzzard hatching chickens p. 8

Chapter III

Transmigration of Souls — The Stork : qualities attributed to the bird by the ancients — Its migration — The White Stork — Metamorphosis of Antigone — Gratitude of Storks proverbial— Heracleis of Tarentum rewarded by a Stork — Supposed

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CONTENTS.

gratitude, chastity, and hatred of infidelity, of the Stork — Its physical structure — Its food — * Liye fish’ — Feeding the nestlings—Yisits of the Stork to the nests of Wild Ducks — Traditions connected with the White Stork — The Black Stork — Its habits — Colonel Montagu’s specimen — Mode of cooking the Stork — The ‘Adjutant’ — The Stork family — General remarks p. 22

Chapter IV

Africa, the country of wonders — Phoenixes and Winged Serpents — The Giraffe — The Hippopotamus at Cairo — Pea-fowl sent to Africa as a present to the King of Dahomy — Expected additions to the Zoological Society’s collection — The Rhinoceros— Cause of its death — The African Elephant — Dimensions given by Major Denham — Manner of hunting the Elephant — Faust — The Hippopotamus — Its osteological organization — Dissection of a Hippopotamus calf — Voracious appetite of the Hippopotamus — Voice of the animal — Shooting excursion — The skin converted into an instrument of torture — Barbarous punishment of offenders — Supposed enmity of the Hippopotamus and the Crocodile — The Hippopotamus a master of the healing art p. 40

Chapter V

A freezing Spring — The American Barn-Swallow — Its nest— Superstition regarding the Swallow — The Chimney- Swallow — Courage of the Purple Martin — Extraordinary migration of birds into Pennsylvania from the South — The English Swallow — Process of taming described by the Rev. W. Trevelyan — Multitudes of insects destroyed by the Swallow — Ancient traditions — Singular medicinal properties ascribed to the Swallow — The Wood Swallow, or JBe-wowen of the Aborigines of Western Australia — Pleasing habits of the Wood-

CONTENTS.

XI

Swallow, described by Mr. Gould — -Its food and general character— Season of Incubation — Form of the nest — Colour and dimensions of the bird — Egg of the White-headed Eagle in the Zoological Society’s collection — Niagara a favourite resort of the bird — Its muscular power — Wilson’s description of its predatory habits — Franklin’s view of the case — Turkeys found by Cortes when he invaded Mexico — The Eagle’s unceremonious treatment of the Vulture — The nest of the Eagle — Incubation in captivity — Attachment of the parents to their young in the wild state — The Wedge-tailed Eagle — Its prey — A Kangaroo-shooting party — News from Egypt of the Society’s Hippopotamus p. 69

Chapter VI

The Siren, and its classic predecessors — Its generic character — Anatomical account — Description of a male and female — Death of the latter — The Camel — Its wonderful structure — Its adaptation to its state of life — Its noiseless step — The Baggage-Camel — Altered form of its dorsal vertebrae — The Dromedary — Its swiftness compared to that of the high-mettled racer — A lover’s exploit — African Camel-drivers — Training of the Camel — Camel-breeding at Pisa — Use of the Camel in ancient war — Holland’s account, translated from Pliny — Antipathy of the Horse to the Camel — Madness of the Camel — Reason assigned — Camel fight — Late appearance of the Camel on the Roman arena — Its medicinal properties — Its regular mode of progression — Manner of training the Camel described by old authors — Instance of its cruel treatment by drivers — The Camel-doctors — Diseases to which the Camel is subject — Objects of interest in the Museum of the College of Surgeons, in relation to this animal — Boat planned from its remains — The Pilgrim-caravan — Its glittering array —Construction and formation of the Camel .... p. 99

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CONTENTS.

Chapter VII

Further remarks on the process of incubation on the egg of the Wedge-tailed Eagle by a domestic Hen — Attempt by the parents to destroy the eggs — Parental care of their young by gregarious quadrupeds — The Reindeer — Fondness for its young — Maternal affection of animals of a high grade — Touchingly instanced in the case of a She-Bear — Boldness of Birds under such circumstances — Example given by White — Parental solicitude of the Partridge — Of the domestic Hen — Of the Mare — The practice of hatching Ducks’ eggs by a Hen — Black Swans and their brood — The Canada Geese — Their propensity to destroy the nestlings of other Birds — Instanced by a pair in St. J ames’s Park — The Goldfinch’s nest — Perseverance and manoeuvring of a Sparrow while nest-building — Anxiety for concealment manifested by Birds generally in the process of nidification — The Ostrich — The mode adopted by this bird of hatching its eggs — Humber of eggs produced — Its nest — A Hen’s eggs hatched by a Partridge — The Brush- Turkey — Its mode of egg-hatching — Genera of the family — A puzzle to systematists — The bird described — Construction of its nest — Of nests generally — Hunter’s experiments on the eggs of a domestic Hen in relation to the eggs of the Brush- Turkey — Gould’s remarks and experience on the same subject — Western Australian Pheasant described — Their ‘nest-mounds’ — The Jungle Fowl described — The Bower-Birds of Australia — Specimens in the Zoological Gardens — Arrival there of the Hippopotamus, the Thylacines, and the Snake-charmers p. 126

Chapter VIII

The Chlamydera , or Spotted Bower-Bird — Its range — Opinion of Mr. Gould thereon — Remarkable plumage — The great Bower-Bird — Specimen in the Zoological Gardens — Habits, &c. of the Bird — The Marsupiates, or Purse-Bearers — The

CONTENTS.

Xlll

Thylacinus Cynoce'pJtalus , or dog-faced Opossum — Specimen in the Zoological Society’s Gardens — The Kangaroo — Professor Owen’s observations and experiments upon this animal — Remarks thereon — Further account of the Thylacines — Speculations upon the mode of reproduction of the ornithorhynchus and echidna — The Hippopotamus of the Zoological Society — Its organization — Professor Owen’s account of the animal alluded to — General appearance and habits described — Sparrman and Mr. Cumming — The mode of capture of the Society’s Hippopotamus, and account of its voyage — Its attendants — General remarks p. 155

Chapter IX

Scriptural and classical allusions to Serpents commented upon— Their bite, and its antidote — Snake-charmers — HasselquisPs andBruce’s opinions — The feats of the Arab Snake-charmers at the Zoological Gardens described — The gift of Snake-charming said to be hereditary — The Spughslang, or ‘ Spitting- Snake’ — The Asiatic form of this genus of Serpents described — Taming Serpents, as related by Dr. Davy — Captain Knox’s experience on this subject — Cingalese veneration for Serpents — Their legends concerning these reptiles— Poison of venomous Serpents, Dr. Mead’s opinion thereon — Mr. Bell’s experiments, in investigating the anatomy of venomous Snakes — Case of a carpenter bitten by one of these reptiles — Similar instance given by Dr. Mead — His advice in such cases — His mode of curing a Dog — Viper-wine and Viper-broth — Remarks upon the poison and its nature — Authorities cited — General remarks . P- 190

Chapter X

Attraction of the reptile house in the garden of the Zoological Society — Fixedness of attitude of the reptiles — Its cause explained— Adaptation of colour of creatures in general to

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CONTENTS.

their haunts instanced throughout the animal creation — Effects of the bite of a Serpent upon two dogs — Remedies adduced — Snakes in the Reptile-house — Discrepancies of Reptile organization — The Land Tortoise described — Their immense size — American mode of immortalizing names — Large Land-Tortoises short-lived in England — White’s Tortoise, its peculiarities — Redi’s experiments upon the Land- Tortoise— Its enduring vitality instanced — Eranklin’s Elies — Extraordinary longevity of a Fly — The Land, Marsh, River, and Sea-Tortoises — General remarks p. 228

Chapter XI

The Turtle — Professor Owen’s observations— Difference between the Turtle and the Land Tortoise defined — The Green Turtle — Chantrey and Turtle-soup — The ‘Alderman’s Walk’ — A Turtle feast— Supper of Claudius Albinus — Wine-bibbing propensities of the ancient Romans — Use of Tortoiseshell in Rome — Large skull of a Turtle — Remarks on the natural history and capture of Turtles — Sloane’s account of a Turtle diet — Rabat’s opinion thereon — Mode of quieting Turtles, to avoid their bite — Protracted struggle between a slave and a Turtle — Mode of capture — Pliny’s account of it — Turtle-divers — A Turtle-chase — Account of the Remora — Of Turtles and their uses — Allusions and general remarks in relation to the Tortoise p. 265

Chapter XII

Geological remarks — Fossil foot-prints — Egyptian legends connected with the form of the Crocodile — Methods of capture — Crocodile-executioners — Ancient superstitions connected with the Crocodile — Sacred to the Egyptians — Nature of the Crocodile — Its protectors — Crocodiles destructive of the human race — Sonnini’s remarks on the Crocodile — Bait usedfor

CONTENTS.

XV taking it by the ancient fishermen — Crocodiles and gladiators — Supposed medicinal uses of the Crocodile — Peculiarities in the organization of the Crocodilian family — Difference between the Alligator and the Crocodile — Food of the Alligator — Their mode of reproduction — Ravenous and ferocious disposition— Capture of an Alligator, as related by Sir Hans Sloane — The Alligator’s habit of swallowing stones — General remarks p. 297

Chapter XIII

The Chameleon-r-Its habits — Change of colour, and living on air: the former well founded, the latter a fallacy — Hasselquist’s experiments — A tame Chameleon — Conclusion as to the principal agent in change of colour — D’Obsonville’s opinion — Structure and properties of the colorific stratum of the skin — Mechanism by which changes of colour are effected in the marine animals generally — Form of the Chameleon — Mode of taking its prey — Pliny’s account — The Chameleon eaten by the Chinese — Supposed virtue of various parts of the Reptile — Its medicinal properties — The Viper — Its organization— Mode of destroying the tribe — Capture of a Rock- Snake — Its extraordinary dimensions — A Malay crushed to death by a Serpent — Captain Stedman’s encounter with a Snake — Kircher’s account of the benefit derived by man from the Serpent race — Carver’s instances of its docility — Snake-worship — Serpent-idols at Mexico p. 336

Chapter XIV

General remarks upon climate — Condition of the Hippopotamus at the Society’s gardens — The great Land-Tortoise there — Escape of the White Bear — Its capture — Improvement suggested in keeping the Reptiles — Serpents, and their food — Supposed virtue of the fat of Serpents — A negro bitten by a

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CONTENTS.

Serpent— Antidote for tlie bite of tbe deadly Cobra — Penalty for killing a Fetish Snake — Fascination of Serpents generally believed in America — A pet Toad — Peculiar formation of tbe tongue of tbe Toad — A valuable 4 bit of its skeleton’ — Poisonous exudation from tbe Toad — Dr. Buckland’s experiments — Tbe Zoological Society’s Reptile-house on a summer nigbt — Death of tbe Land- Tortoises in tbe Society’s Gardens — Tbe Crested Pigeons there — Curious organization of tbe Dove-kind — Parrots, Macaws, &c.; their mode of feeding each other — 4 Pigeon’s milk,’ tbe joke not altogether groundless — Columbidse — Tbe Passenger-Pigeon — Its power of flight — Tbe Carrier-Pigeon — Its derivation — Proneness to domestication in tbe tame Pigeon — Breeding-places in the States of Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana — Vast flights of Pigeons — Fertility of tbe Dove-kind — Conclusion . p. 374

LEAVES

FBOM THE

NOTE-BOOK OF A NATURALIST.

Chapter I

A BEAVER* arrived in this country in the winter of 1825, very young, being small and woolly, and without the covering of long hair that marks the adult animal. It was the sole survivor of live or six which were shipped at the same time, and it was in a very pitiable condition, lean, and with the coat all clogged with pitch and tar. Good treatment quickly restored it to health; it grew apace, plumped out, and the fur became clean and in good condition. Kindness soon made it familiar. When called by its name, ‘ Binny/ it generally answered with a little low plaintive cry, and came to its owner. The hearth-rug was its favourite haunt in a winter evening, and thereon it would lie stretched out at its length, sometimes on its back, sometimes on its side, and sometimes on its belly, expanding its webbed toes to secure the full action of a comfortable fire on them, but always near its master.

The building instinct showed itself early. Before it had been a week in its new quarters, as soon as it was let out of its cage, and materials were placed in its way, it immediately went to work. Its strength, even before it

* Part of this narrative appeared, by the permission of the author, in The Gardens and Menagerie of the Zoological Society Delineated , 1830. A highly interesting and instructive work.

B

V was half grown, was great. It would drag along a large sweeping-brush, or a warming-pan, grasping the handle with its teeth so that it came over its shoulder, and advancing with the load in an oblique direction, till it arrived at the point where it wished to place it. The long and large materials were always taken first, and two of the longest were generally laid crosswise, with one of the ends of each touching the wall, and the other ends projecting out into the room. The area formed by the crossed brushes and the wall he would fill up with handbrushes, rush-baskets, books, boots, sticks, clothes, dried turf, or anything portable. As the work grew high he supported himself on his tail, which propped him up admirably; and he would often, after laying on one of his building materials, sit up over against it, appearing to consider his work, or, as the country-people say, c judge it/ This pause was sometimes followed by changing the position of the material fudged/ and sometimes it was left in its place. After he had piled up his materials in one part of the room (for he generally chose the same place), he proceeded to wall up the space between the feet of a chest of drawers which stood at a little distance from it, high enough on its legs to make the bottom a roof for him ; using for this purpose dried turf and sticks, which he laid very even, and filling up the interstices with bits of coal, hay, cloth, or anything he could pick up. This last place he seemed to appropriate for his dwelling : the former work seemed to be intended for a dam. When he had walled up the space between the feet of the chest of drawers, he proceeded to carry in sticks, clothes, hay, cotton-wool, &c., and to make a nest. When he had done this to his satisfaction, he would sit up under the drawers, and comb himself with the nails of his hind feet. In this operation, that which appeared at first to be a malformation was shown to be a beautiful adaptation to the necessities of the animal. The huge

NOTE-BOOK OF A NATURALIST.

webbed bind-feet of tbe beaver turn in so as to give the appearance of deformity; but if the toes were straight, instead of being incurved, the animal could not use them so readily for the purpose of keeping its fur in order, and cleansing it from dirt and moisture.

Binny generally carried small and light articles between his right fore-leg and his chin, walking on the other three legs ; and huge masses, which he could not grasp readily with his teeth, he pushed forwards, leaning against them with his right fore-paw and his chin. He never carried anything on his tail, which he liked to dip in water, but he was not fond of plunging in the whole of his body. If his tail was kept moist he never cared to drink ; but if it was kept dry it became hot, and the animal appeared distressed, and would drink a great deal. It is not impossible that the tail may have the power of absorbing water, like the skin of frogs, though it must be owned that the scaly integument which invests that member has not much of the character which generally belongs to absorbing surfaces.

It has been asserted, and in some degree proved, that the song of birds depends on that which they first hear; but their nest-making seems to be the result of innate instinct. Binny must have been captured too young to have seen any of the building operations of his parents or their co-mates, but his instinct impelled him to go to work under the most unfavourable circumstances; and he busied himself as earnestly in constructing a dam, in a room up three pair of stairs in London, as if he had been laying his foundation in a stream or lake in Upper Canada.

Bread, and bread and milk and sugar, formed the principal part of Binny "s food ; but he was very fond of succulent fruits and roots. Tender twigs, especially of the willow, were greatly to his taste, and he would handle them very adroitly, drawing them through his

B 2 fore-paws, which he closed on them much as a basketmaker would do when trying a twig, though less perfectly of course.

An animal so sociable in his habits ought to he affectionate; and very affectionate the beaver is said to he. Drage mentions two young ones, which were taken alive and brought to a neighbouring factory in Hudson's Bay, where they throve very fast until one of them was killed accidentally. The survivor instantly felt the loss, began to moan, and abstained from food till it died. Mr. Bullock mentioned to me a similar instance which fell under his notice in North America. A male and female were kept together in a room, where they lived happily till the male was deprived of his partner by death. For a day or two he appeared to be hardly aware of his loss, and brought food and laid it before her ; at last, finding that she did not stir, he covered her body with twigs and leaves, and was in a pining state when Mr. Bullock lost sight of him.

With no slight regret I must add a third example in the death of my pet. The housekeeper was very fond of Binny, always consulting his comforts and appetite, making his bed warm, and treating him frequently to Sally Lunns and plum-cake, till he became the most plump and sleek of beavers; and the attachment was reciprocal. At last, on the writer's departure from London for some time, it was thought that Binny, who had grown excessively fat, would be the better for exercise and change of air, and would be more comfortable if sent to pay a visit to the Tower of London, and expatiate there. Mr. Cops, the keeper of the lions, kindly undertook to take care of him. He was suffered to go at large, and had every accommodation, but soon began to lose his appetite. In vain did his kind host try every delicacy to tempt his guest. With the exception of a few raisins, the dejected animal would eat nothing,

NOTE-BOOK OF A NATURALIST.

and fell away visibly. Fearing the worst, and suspecting that it was pining for its home, Mr. Cops brought it back to the housekeeper. The poor beaver immediately recognised her, uttered his little cry, and crept under her chair. But the blow had been struck : he never rallied, and died, as the good old housekeeper declared, with tears in her eyes, of a broken heart. His skin is preserved in the museum of the Bristol Philosophical Society. Poor Binny ! He was a most faithful and entertaining creature, and some highly comic scenes occurred between the worthy but slow beaver, and a light and airy macauco that was kept in the same apartment.

The macauco was a white-fronted lemur,* and was presented to me by the late Captain Marryat, B.N. From the excessive agility of this sprightly creature, I named him c Monsieur Mazurier,' to which name, and also to that of ‘ Macky,' he would answer by a satisfactory grunting noise. His bounds were wonderful. From a table he would spring twenty feet and more, to the upper angle of an open door, and then back again to the table or his master's shoulder, light as a fairy. In his leaps, his tail seemed to act as a kind of balancing pole, and the elastic cushions at the end of his fingers enabled him to pitch so lightly, that his descent was hardly felt when he bounded on you. He would come round the back of my neck and rub his tiny head fondly against my face or ear, and, after a succession of fondlings and little grantings, descend to my instep, as I sat crosslegged before the fire, when he would settle himself down thereon, wrrap his tail round him like a lady's fur boa, and go to sleep. When in his cage, he generally slept on his perch, rolled up with his head downwards, and his tail comfortably wrapped over all. If a piece of orange were given to him, he would lift the fruit to his

Lemur albifrons.

mouth, and throw back his head, so as to secure the juice, not a drop of which was lost. He was very fond of sparkling champagne, and, after such a treat, his friskings and playful tricks were beyond description funny. His game of romps with Binny was most ludicrous. Often while Monsieur Mazurier was seated on my instep, the bell was rung for Binny, who entered as rapidly as his shuffling gait would permit him, immediately came close to my leg, uttered his little cry, and caressed the leg, after his fashion, by rubbing the side of his head and his nose against it. Presently he would perceive Macky, whom he would awake, and endeavour to seduce him to play, by prancing and shuffling before him. Macky, nothing loath, would make a spring on Binny5 s tail, and bound off in an instant. Upon which Binny would shuffle and prance, shake his head, and play wonderful antics. People may talk of the gambols of a rhinoceros, but the gambols of the rodent threw those of the pachyderm into the shade, beating them hollow in uncouthness and absurdity. Macky would bound on Binny5 s back, dance a kind of saraband upon him, and then leap before him, upon which Binny would charge the dancer with the most determined heavy alacrity. Macky was over his head and skipping on his great flat scaly tail in a second. Then Binny would shake his head, wheel round like a ponderous waggon, and by the time he had brought his head where his tail was, Macky had bounded from the tables and chairs on and off him twenty times. Binny at last would slap his tail again and again against the floor, till he made all ring, whereupon Macky would dance round him and cut the most extravagant capers, touching Binny5s tail with his finger, and jumping away as quick as thought.

They had evidently a good understanding with each other, and were on the best terms. One day they were left at large in a room together, where there was a linen

NOTE-BOOK OF A NATURALIST.

press, the doors of which had been left open. Macky climbed the doors, ransacked the press, pulled out the sheets, tablecloths, &c., and threw them down to the beaver, who, having made a most luxurious bed, laid himself down thereon; and when the room was entered, Macky and Binny were found fast asleep, the former with his head and shoulders pillowed upon Binny ’s comfortable neck. When Binny died, I determined to have no more sorrowing for pets, and sent Macky to the Zoological Society’s Garden in the Regent’s Park, where they got him a wife, with whom he lived long and happily.

The two beavers which were in that garden when I gave the late lamented Mr. Bennett permission to print the account of my domesticated beaver, were sent to the society from Canada by Lord Dalhousie. They were partially deprived of sight before their arrival in this country : but one of them had the use of one eye ; and the other, although totally blind, dived most perseveringly for clay, and applied it to stop up every cranny in their common habitation that could admit ‘the winter’s flaw.’ They lived some time together, apparently happy and contented.

January , 1850.