THE NATURALIST.

Otago Witness, Issue 1950, 4 April 1889, Page 35

THE NATURALIST.

The Singing Powers of Birds. The following table exhibits the comparative merit of the British singing birds." In this scale 20 is supposed to be the point of absolute.perfection : —

The doubtful songster is the thrush,- whom many may contend should rank better in the list fbufthe point is a very debateable one; Pigeons in a stats of nature choose coarse material for building, their nests, and our domestic pigeons when . opportunity offers follow these same instincts, choosing in place of fine hay and straw coarse twigs; pieces of rag ' and shavings, and we read of a pair of birds that constructed their nest almost entirely of large wire nails picked up somewhere in the neighbourhood of their home. A correspondent in a Home paper asserts that he has a duck which he has ,had for 20 years and two months. He does" not remember if it was quite young .when he got it, but it was full grown. - > 1 The camel is said to be the only animal that is unable to swim, . - . < <J Monkeys' on Tewsgraph, WißES.—The telegraphs in Mexico afford abundant exercise and recreation to the monkeys which abound in the wooded districts of that country. As many as a hundred able-bodied members of the tribe may often be seen looped together, swinginginfestoonsfromthewjresorperforming acrobatic feats which; frequently end in bringing the gymnasium, to the earth, and breaking down the telegraphs. ■ ■ < ' How- the Stabfish Feeds.— He places his stomach upon the the mussel shell on which he intends to feed. ' In a few minutes the gastric juices disßolve'the muscles which form the hinge of the shell, the slbomacb penetrates through ,the opening thus made to the fish within, and exercises upon it^ so powerful a ; suction that in a short time nothing remains of the. mussel. • Mr Charles Beaugrand says that he saw, a bed of these mollusks, consisting of some millions, exterminated in a few bays by their enemies the starfish. . ' Do all creatures possess the sense of taste 1 In superior animals the sense of taste is located almost entirely in. the tongue, the I organs ,oi taste consisting of peculiar bodies called taste-bulbs. These are very strongly L developed in the dog and the horse. -Leydig described. organs having a struoture,resembling that of the taste-bulbs," in_the skins of fresh- water fish; and he considered that these may possibly be widely-distributed taste-organs. , Dr - Carpenter is, however, of opinion that the sense of taste is>bsent in fish. Taste is closely allied, to smell, and it is probable that fish are guided in the selection or rejection of food by sight and smell only. In some reptiles the tongue is long and slender, and in others almost entirely deficient, but the sense of taste is thought to be in all cases absent in rep tiles. It is also, as a general rule, to which the parrot and some others are exceptions, absent or very slightly developed in birds. It is a singular thing that they should be without the power to distinguish the delicate flavours of the fruit that forms, the food of of so many of them. In most insects the palpi, which are small jointed appendages in the neighbourhood of the mouth, seem to answer the purpose cf an organ of taste. A great authority on all to do "with birds, the late Mr Yarreil, stated, -the known number of British birds at 354, of whioh 214, or slightly over 60 per cent., migrate. According to this observer,, 140 are found in this country at all seasons of the year, 63 are found only during the summer, 48 only during the 'winter, and 103 only occasionally.. Migration of birds, however, is much more general than at one time was supposed ; recent and systematic research, as instituted by the British, Association Committee for investigating these migrations at lighthouses, light vessels, as well as specially isolated stationsbavingaddedgreatlytoour knowledge of the subject. In the reports published since 1879 by the committee, ij; has bee shown that there is scarcely a bird of the Northern Hemisphere that is not in a greater or less degree migratory in some part of its range. Intheßritishlsleswithrareexceptions, all birds, even such as are generally considered habitual residents — the young invariably, th old intermittingly— leave in autumn, the place being taken by others, n&t always necessarily of the same species, coming from more northern latitudes, or from districts of Eastern Europe, where, on the approach of winter, the conditions of locality and food supply are less favourable to existence.

{Cmtiwtd on peg* S7-J4

at , - I ' 1 - I ! Njlmb. Is it m si I Nightingale ... ... [linnet ... ... * <« Skylark .... ' ... fVoodlark ... »• Pitlark... ... *>» Robin ... Goldfinch ... mi Chaffinch, Blackoap, or Norfolk Mock Nightlnglale ... areenflnch .. • ..• Hedge Sparrow ... ' Chrush... ... , IVren ... ' aiberdavin, or Siskiii Blackbird , ..... Redpoll ' ' ... Seed Sparrow ». •••! 19 12 4 18 12 6 4 4 v 18 19 4 I 12 16 19 12 19, 12 4 17 12 13 4 4 19 16 18 12 12 12 12 8 19 18 18 8 12 12 13 8 14 4 0 4 0 2 4 0 0 12 4 0 4 12 4 4 4 4 12 4 6 4 0' 0 0 0 0 14 4 I 4 4 4 .4 a 2 14 6 4 2 2 4 4 4 ;-4