THE NATURALIST.

Otago Witness, Issue 2102, 7 June 1894, Page 48

THE NATURALIST.

The Female Cuckoo and Her Eggs. The egg of the cuckoo is most frequently found in the nest of the hedge sparrow, but occasionally it is discovered in nests po tiny that the old cuckoo could not possibly find an entrance. The astuteness displayed by the female cuckoo in getting her egg into places too small to admit her is remarkable. In the island of Colonsay, for example, young cuckoos have been ft-und in hole=i of rock and wall, with such narrow openings that none but very tiny birds could enter tbem. The eggs, however, if has been ascertained by observation, am first laid en the ground and then carried by the cuckoo herself, in her capacious bill, and put throngh the narrow opening of tbe nest. Tbe cuckoo, too, occasionally takes away one of the eggs from the nest in which she leaves her unusual present. Now, the question naturally arises — Why should the cuckoo alone among birds thus delegate the duties of motherhood to a bird of another species 2 Various theories have been advanced to ex-

plain the phenomenon, but only one is really worthy of attention. Kichard Jefferies was of opinion that tbe cuckoo did not rear its young because the task of feeding three or four young cuckoos was more than any single pair of birds could accomplish. The incredible voracity of the cuckoo, he says, cannot be computed. The two robins, or a pair of hedge sparrows, in whose nest the young cuckoo is bred, work the day through and cannot satisfy him. The cuckoo's difficulty, or one of its difficulties, seems to be in the providing sufficient food for Its j ravenous young. Three of them would wear j out their mother completely, especially if — as may possibly be the case — the male cuckoo will not help in feeding. Chinese Dogs.— The dogs of China vary considerably. The kind best known is the edible dog, or, as it is more commonly called, the Chew Chow. These dogs are commonly eaten by the poorer class in China, and the black variety of the breed is looked upon «8 a greater delicacy than the red. In Canton it is not an uncommon thing to see notices at some of the resturants, paying that the flesh of the blaok dog and cat can be served up at a moment's notice. These dogs somewhat resemble a large, coarse Pomeranian, and are probably related to the Esquimaux. They have a keen scent, and are used in packs in the north of China. The great peculiarity in the breed is the black or very dark blue tongue. China also possesses a small breed of toy dogs very much resembling the Japanese spaniel. They are about the size of a small Blenheim spaniel, with long, silky, wavy coats, black and white. A Fascinating Business.—" A really good bird or animal staffer is one of the rarest workmen to be found in the world," said a well-known dealer in objects of natural history, and a first-class journeyman can earn from £5 to £10 per week. To be a good taxidermist is nst simply to preserve a bird or animal — hundreds of men can do that — but it is to mount it appropriately and in a thoroughly natural and characteristic attitude, and to do this latter presupposes a close and accurate study of the habits of thousands of creatures, and this knowledge some men actually possess. A natural history specimen is, I may tell you, enhanced twenty-fold in value "in the trade and amongst collectors by the way in which it is mounted. A bird or animal can not only be made an object-lesson but a picture by being mounted with thoroughly characteristic accessories which are never made obtrusive. Even to mount a big fish properly costs from three to ten guineas, and to have a lion or a tiger preserved properly would cost from £60 to £100. I know taxidermists who work for others who make quite £1000 a year." Stoats Climbing Teees.— "l have on two occasions shot stoats (not weasels) in the act of descending or climbing trees — viz , a crab apple and a hawthorn. On the last occasion it was observed that the stoat had only one fore leg — it had evidently lost the other some time previously in a gin trap ; so that stoats not only readily climb trees, but find no difficulty in doing bo with the use of only one fore foot. I think it may be accepted that wherever a rat or mouse can run a stoat is adapted to follow and overtake it. — W. H. A." •• In your issue of January 20 a paragraph appears about stoats climbing trees. I beg to say I hunt the stoat (commonly called the weasel here in Ireland) with a pack of beagles in the spring and summer. The animal makes his point straight across country for four or five, sometimes eight or nine, miles, running like a fox along the fencee. A frequent termination of the run is to see him climb a tree, which he can do with the greatest ease, and there we generally leave him in peace, after a geod run. I have very many times seen a stoat in the highest branches of a tree from 30ft to 40ft high. It is an animal not easy to kill— that is, to run down fairly — for it can run as far as a fox and nearly as fast, swim and dive like an otter, and when nearly blown he will run the foil, and double and twist like a hare. Finally, he will go to ground, climb a tree, or get up on the roof of a cottage.— J. E. Bull (Cork)."— Field.