THE NATURALIST.

Otago Witness, Issue 2427, 19 September 1900, Page 62

THE NATURALIST.

Starlisli and Ojster.

How the starfish ents an o^ •nci' i^ 1 told by H. W. Conn, in St. JSicLolas ior Jvly. -lie oysip- when at borne iivcs in a hard lime shell, vrhuh nicely juofects liim fiom the attack of cranks. iLt.i, with his tcolf, can 02Den the shell and icmove the !«ofi anirnjl. but betides the man. the oyster jias few fotp. Oddly enough, hi.s grefitcat ioe h not, .is might bs txypefr-d," au animal with po\, erinl jans and. f-lif.iig teeth, but one wholly nithoat jw^. [ t "i. v i' ae com . mon stariifcl). «o common ever, where at the ;>eashore. Xow, tbe -i;afi<h is, ;l &n ft. flexible creature, very scemhiylv help3e-s, and nt'.cvly unable °to attack such an animal a« the 0./ylor. !t.s mouth, whi.li i< in the Lcntre c.f tho o'i-l. i ;•■.-, no iedh o?' jaws. How c-m ■■■aJi o I fl;,ltsM .-rsat'ni; open the formkkble oy«.tL>- slieh, and get or the animal concealed' tv itliiii? Us m^n.cd of doing so is odd enough. It firs', da-pb the oj'ster :n its arras, wiv.p])iiic- its iive arms n round, the shell tightly. ' Having lira.-, seized the oyster, it otrictly v aits.° Jn-r exactly what happens, ntst even our ti^ts do not exactly know. The two shells of the oyster are held together by a hinge, which is opened by a spring. The spring is .so adjusted that the shells will be pushed open unless they are held together by the Kiat^e;. Some scientists tell us that," after the &larfhh has held the oyster for a while the oyster opens its shell* in order to get food' and the starfish, lhat<£gs been waiting foi this, now injects into the si ell a littlo lccklish liqnid. This acts as a poiion, paralyping the . mus.cles, and thus making- it Impossible for the animal to close its shell. Others ' tell iis that the pi-oec ,s is simpler, and that the starfisrh simply holds tho shell tightly together, until the oyster is smothered, as soon as it is stupefied by the suffocation, the muscles relax, and the shell opens. Whichever of these two accounts is true, it is certain that after a little the oyster shells fly open. Now conies the oddest feature of all. Ihe stomach of the staifish is very large and cjastie, and it is now thrown out of the Manual's mouth much as one would turn a big inside out. This stomach is then thru&L within the oyster shell, and wrapped around the ?oft animal ,beginning at once to digest it. The staifish does not take the trouble even to remove the oysteri from its shell, digesting it in its own home, and eventually crawling away, "leaving behir.d the gaping, empty shell.

Incident of a Homer. — An extraordinary instance of the irstinct and fidelity of the homing pigeon has ju^t occurred at ]S7orihwich. In July, 1897, a bird belonging to Mr Woodward. Avenue Lodge, YPinningtoiij"«as liberated, with olheifc-, at Eennev Ffan.ce, under the auspices of the ilidChe&ter Federation. The- race proved disastrous, only , one out of several hundred, and 'that belonging to Mr- Woodwaid, returning home the same day. Recently the owuei was astonished to discover that one c of -the lost homers had found its way back, and that on the same date <).s when liberated." three years ago. The bird trore the racing ring which established his identity. Ostriches. — -A coirespondent writes as follows in the Field : '" In addition to importing horses, from South Africa for remount purposes. — lately, of course, the business has been entirely suspended — India has. been bringing in ostriches from the Cape, and, so far as the experiments have gone, the birds are" found to keep in excellent health in India, and to thiive and breed well. A small flock, comprising five pairs of fullgrown Wattley ostriches, and .six young birds, imported from the Cape before the export tux of £100 .per bird was levied by the Cape Government, was sold at Delhi life other day, and several people in India arc about to make a start at ostrich farming The tax referred to will naturally prevent any more importations from the Cape Colony, but good birds can be procured in other places. Ostriches have been reared in Australia and New Zealand for some years now, and many could no doubt be procured in those quarters. In New Zealand the industry owed its inception to the late Sir George Grey, who pressed tho idea upon such of his friends as had the facilities for breeding ostriches and took a fancy to this class of bird-raising. The late Mr John ilaison, of Christchurch, had a large farm at his home at Papanui, and he was enabled, through the agency of Sir George (ri'oy, not alvne to import a largo stock of good birds, but also to bring over expert lvallir "boys"' to lend them. As India possesses illimitable areas of country suitable for ostrich run«, the industry — which is always a profitable one — might be taken up largely and with great advantage. A Useful Simean. — Samuel Fairen, of Tr^nbley. N.J., near Elizabeth, U.S., has a large inouke^y on his farm which has become a ;ioLed. 'characlei-j, No}, only. clo_e&_Ue

perform vorious antics which attract visitors from far and near to watcli him, but he^s valued as a useful and obedient servant. The most useful and ai the same time intelligent act the monkey performs Us to get the big dinner bell down from the hook on the porch promptly at noon each day, and ring it vigorously for the farm hands to come to dinner. The animal does not stop his ringing until he sees the men. drop their hoes or farm implements and come to the house. The monkey is a good watchman, and runs chattering to the housewhen a stranger approaches. It will alsocarry water from the well, wash dishes, and do many other tilings about the farm, and is especially handy in shaking down apples and cherries from the trees. It frequently; sits at the table and cats from a plate with as much decorum, as a well-trained child. It delights in playing pranks with the horses and in ringing door bells as a joke. It is fond of milk, and will milk a cow. The animal is an early riser, and if til© household i.s late in rising it will seize tho bsll, and soon lia& the inmates astir.