Naturalist.

Alexandra Herald and Central Otago Gazette, Issue 382, 3 September 1903, Page 2

Naturalist.

SOME FAMOUS GBEYHOUNDS being well, the Waterloo Cup, wJMffi: frhe most coveted priza in the SSSaSIS coursing world, was recently decided at Altcar. Tae sport is by no means so popular as it was tlirty years ago, and it still has a large following. Perhajs the mest famous greyhound that ever lived was Master McGrath, who won the Waterloo Cup three times. His third win created a great sensation, and his owner, Lord Lurgan, had the honour of showing the dog to Queen Victoria The famous greyhound only appeared eight times in public, and he won thirty-six public courses.iost one, and ran three undecided courses It is said that among Master MiGrath's ancestors was a thoroughbred bulldog, and that this, fact accounts for this famous greyhound's wonderful courage and stoutness. His heart was of an enormous size; at the post mortem examination it was found to weigh fiftyfour ounces-—which is just about double the size of the heart of a dog of his'weight —fifty-four pounds. One Bettjeb. Mister McGrath's great feat has been beaten only once—by Fallerton, a greyhound bought by the late Colonel North, The price- 850 guineas—was said at the time to be a record price for a greyhound, although there is a story thafr .£3 000 was refused for Master McGrath. Fulieiton won the Waterloo Cup four times. In all the thirty-one courses he ran in public he was beaten only once Fallerton weighed sixty-five pounds, and was, therofore, a much bigger dog than Master McGrath. ! However, size and colour have little to do with a greyhound's good qualities. Master McGrath was a black dog with a few white marks. Fallerton was rather an awkward looking brindJed dog; probably neither of them would have taken a prize at a dog show. •Little and Good. As showing the importance of size with regard to greyhounds, it may be mentioned that one Coomassie who took away the Waterloo Cap twice, weighed only 44.£lbs. Ske was the smallest of the Cup winners. Another famous greyhound—and a tmall one—was Bab at the Bowster, who won more courses in public than any other greyhound that has lived. She ran sixty-seven courses in public, and won sixty-two (f them. There was once a famous greyhound, however, by name Czarina, who held even a better record than this, for she ran forty-seven times in public and never lost & course. Indirectly this greyhound ciused her owner's death. She belonged to Lord Orford, an enthusiastic, but eccentric, sportsman who lived at the close of the eighteenth cenf nry, On one occasion, when Czarina waß entered for a very large stake, Lord Orford fell ill, and on the morning when the stake was to be run ha was confined to his bed. In defiance of medical orders he had his pony saddled, and roda on to the course just as the dogs were being slipped, He hai the satisfaction of seeing his Czarina win easily, but just at the moment of victory he fell from his pony and died instantly. Hard Kdn. Many instances have. b6en known of greyhounds displaying the most wonderful powers of endurance in a course. A hare was ones killed by a brace of greyhounds seven miles from the place they had started. Both dogs were thoroughly exhausted. On another occasion, after a course extending over several miles, both the greyhounds and hare wore found dead within a few yards of each other. Such a course is extremely rare, but it is no uncommon thing nowadays for a greyhound to be literally ' run to a standstill.' NATURAL HrSTOKY NOIES. The development among animals, and especially among birds of purely ornamental wind-bags, used as adjuncts in courtship, forms the theme of an article in 'Knowledge,' by Mr. W. P. Pycraft, who writes: —' These wind-bags, which, almost without exception, may be inflated and deflated at the will of the animal, differ much in the nature of their origin. .... Take the common pigeon, for example. Could anything appear more silly than tho strutting, bowing, and cooing of the cock aided by this very practice of ailing his gullet with intoxicating draughts of the morning air, the which swells Irs nech to uaduly large proportions, and apparently, on this account, makes him so much the more fascinating P With the pigeon tribe, no special receptacle is provided for the undrawn air. .... The present greatness of the crop, we would point out, is due not- so much to. the efforts of the prancing bird as to the care and selection of the breeder. .... ' A still more remarkable gullet pouch is that of the frigate-bird cf the tropics. Bare externally, of a vivid Ecarlet colour, and capable of being inflated till it is nearly as .large as the rest of the body, this pouch is an invaluable asset to its possessor when seeking a mate. For here, as elsewhere, the successful saitor is he who makes the most of his peculiar charms; the prize falling to him who is able to display i the biggest and moat brilliantly-coloured pouch. Only, the males wear this ornament, which is retained only (Turing the breeding season, At this time a lively competition appears to take place, a dozen or so of these birds crowding together in a tree and greeting the approach of their prospective mates with inflated pouches and drooping wings, aocompanied by a peculiar apology for a song, described as a sort of 'wow-wow-wow-wow,' and a noise resembling the sound of castanets, which is made by a violent chattering of the horny beak.' 1