THE NATURALIST.

Otago Witness, Issue 1971, 14 November 1889, Page 37

THE NATURALIST.

Eftgigg teaching Theii* ll f oun*». , A short time ago Mr &. Barrpw; of the Geological Survey . ,o! Scotland; wiio is iurvepdhg fchig district} , s'avVj wpeti oii ihjj highest point of my. deer forest (Glencally), two golden eagles 'flying towards himj .and on tlieir approaching .nearer .he perceived that one.of therhwas carryir^ what a'p'jjprea to b6 k ball in its talons; When jthey came to a large, soft piece oi; ground, which seemed to suit their purpose, one birdjremained flying ; r6und, and round close to tjhe ground', while th^ othpf, .carrying the, .ball, mounted to a, considerable heigbt| when, it let it droji } 'but, , after it (the ball) had fallen a little w.ay', .the bird, swooped .down and caught it, ■ and took it up again, and again dropped it, and again qaught,,iti. This occurred three or four ' times, till, at length, ,on b,eing. ( dropped, the ball op^nedjts wings, and.. Mr, Barrow perbeived it w£s a young eagle, which steadied Itself in its fall. The parent bird, who had dropped it, did not attempt to catch it this time, but allowed it to lower itself, and the other parent bird caught it in its talons before it quite reached the ground, These tactics havihg been accomplished to their satisfaction* the 1 did birds Carried their oftspfing back to their nest in the next forest to mine (Caenlochan). Surely the above shows the great natural instinct in wild animals— i,e. t the parent birds teaching their young one to fly, in case it might fall out pi its nest, which was high up on the rocks, with a fall of- 200 ft on to the rocks below. It ia generally supposed that eagles only strike their quarry on the ground, but Mr. Barrow not long ago saw one of .the eaglet above referred td strike & ptarmigan wheh about 30ft in the air; dash it to tlie ground; and then kill it (the bird streamed when on the ground), pick it up; and fly off with it.— Gbokge Wilder (Glenisla House, Alyth, N. 8.) ' s

The Tarantula.— This insect is a native of Italy; Cyprus; Barbarry, India, and also abounds in Arizona, New Mexico, and the far South and West. ' It lives dn the grouiid in a mud house which it builds" and to which it attaches^ door by means of a hinge;

PECtrEiAKiTY IN Walking.— Does any animal walking alternately move the two legs on the satno side of its body ? ' The bear, the giraffe, the elephant, ahd the camel all have this peculiarity. As a general rule, quadrupeds in walking have a diagonal motion, moving first the forefoot on one side and the hind ' loot on the other side, and then the other two feet in a similar way. This may be seen when cattle are grazing.

Colliery Ponies. — A curious instance of the intelligence of these creatures may be mentioned. At a small colliery near Barusley, the ponies, though working daily underground, were stabled at the surface. Many of them knew as well as the human beings the hour when the day's work came to an end, and, without guidance, would make their way at top speed to the shaft, then take their places in the cage and stand quiet and motionless while they Were drawn to the surface. We do not know whether they displayed the same alacrity and intelligence when going t© work.

White Swallows. — Two pure white swallows have been seen about Ingestre several days lately, mingling freely with the ordinary ones. I fancy they must be birds of this year, as they never go far from a building where there are a lot of nests. , I have never heard of any before, and should be glad to know if they are uncommon or net. — Arthur Young (Birch Hall, Ingestre, Stafford). [Scarcely a summer elapses in which we hear of a white swallow or two. We have seen several, all young birds, and once shot one in Sussex. It is preserved in the Natural History Museum, South Kensington.—Ed.]—Field.

Hunting the Rhinoceros. — The Malays resort to a very curious method of killing the rhinoceros. The animal, being fond of wallowing in the mud, will find a spot in a marsh where the soil is of the consistency of dough. Here he will remain for a long time, and when observed by the Malays, they will approach cautiously from behind, pile combustible materiaLover him, and set it afire. The intense heat bakes the mud so that the rhinoceros cannot escape, and then, the fire being continued, cooks the animal. A curious coincidence is here found, for the remains of a mastodon wkre recently discovered which gave evidence of having been disposed of in the same manner by savages who existed centuries ago.

What Plant Plays the Part of a Compass? — In the western prairies of the United States there grows a plant which proves of great value to the wanderer in these trackless regions. It is described as a dwarf variety of the osier, is perennial, attains usually a height of 3ft 6in, and has a head of yellow flowers, somewhat resembling our hawkweed, The help it renders the traveller arises from the fact that the long leaves at the base of the stem, which are placed, not flat as in plants generally, but in a vertical position, present their edges north and south. This peculiar propensity of the foliage of this plant is attributed to the fact that both surfaces of its leaves display an equal receptivity for light. All the other known varieties of its class are characterised by the presence on the lower surface of their leaves of from twice to thrice as many respiratory vessels as are contained on the upper surface, which is therefore the more sensitive of the two to the influence of light. But both surfaces of the " compass plant " are clothed alike with an epidermis exceptionally receptive of light; and the same instinct of its leaves that prompts them to require an equal distribution of light upon either surface causes them to assume a vertical position, and to point their edges due north and south. Travellers on dark nights are said to feel the edges of the leaves to ascertain the points of the compass when no other means are available for helping them on their way. " Longfellow refers to the " compass plant " in " Evangeline ":— "Look afc this delicate plant that lifts its head

from the meadow, SeeJiow its leaves all point to the north as trne as a

magnet ; It ii the Compass Plant that the finger of God has suspended Here on its fragile stalk, to direct the travellers

journey Over the sea-like, pathless, limitless waste of tho desert.