THE NATURALIST.

Otago Witness, Issue 2455, 3 April 1901, Page 62

THE NATURALIST.

The Far South. Mr Borchgrevink recently gave an account of the zoology obseived on his voyage to the Antaictic in a paper read before the British Association, md a few items of interest are nicked out by the Zoologist. On the Duke" of York Island, off Victoria Land, the penguins were found breeding in thousands. Their nests were lying on the top of guano deposits, and consisted of pebbles. From the middle of October a continuous stream of .birds waddled over the ice towards the nesting-ground. On sunny days the male stood Etolidly beside the female, and gave forth his love song, which was a hoarse, half-suffocating sound, and the female seemed to like it. The birds stole pebbles from one another's nests, and the thefts led to a vigorous fight, not without bloodshed. The result of the fight was peculiar,, and reminds one of Carroll's ••Through the Looking-glass," for in that topsy-turvj land the defeated bird calmly walked off with the pebble, while the victor proudly chortled his psean of success. A sight like this must have gone far towards alleviating the miseries of the terrible climate. The young penguin, when feeding, puts its beak right into its mother's throat, which, by a shaking movement, brings the food up from the ciop. One of the curious sights was during a gale, when the birds lay with their beaks towards the wind, and looked like soldiers bivouacking on a battle-field. A year or two ago a large number of king penguins were brought to Melbourne from the Macquarie Island, and lived for some time in the Aquarium, and one of the .sights of the place was to see these birds walking about at feedmgtime. The head was tin own well back, with the beak pointing upwaid& ; the flip per-like wings were held stiffly, and used as balances to steady the ungainly waddle they as -slimed. The apparent black coat.) and white vests of the portly biids and their eiect carnage completed a mo&t ludicrous picture. A Beetle Colleetoi. — Among illustrious personages with queer fads must be numbered Prince Luitpold of Bavaria. His collection of beetles, is the most extensive and complete in the woild, nnd the Prince is a skilled entomologist, deeply verged in the habits of ants, bee,% moths, flies, caivtigs and the insect world generally. Petrified Fish. — One of the wondeis of the world, says a contempoiary, is to .be found in Coloi-cdo, where certain mineial beds of the nature of slaty coal occur. These bed*, containing millions upon millions of petrified fMi. cover hundreds of square mile 5 ; in the north.-Yr-e-.tern part of the State. T hey extend a distance of 100 miks in the direction of Green River, and "shelve out" fur 100 mile-; more towaid the mteiior of the Slate. Iv some places these bed:- — almc.-L a solid ina-s of fos-ih^ed fi«h — are from 150 to 200 ie»l 111 tLitkne««. A point of pi eat in ten si j- the iact thai they lie about SOOOft <:b<ne hm W< 1 : lo winch extent the land 1-- tlieic'iy pio\rd to have i^en. L'c^iau liuvs in ihe Uaited -

In a late report of the Secretary for Agriculture to the American Government there is an interesting allusion to the introduction of the so-called Belgian hare into the United States. It is well known in this country that this animal is a large variety of the domestic rabbit. When turned out at large in our own rabbit warrens it merely serves as an introduction of fresh blood, and increases for a time the size of our wild species, into which it merges. Its introduction into America is likely to be attended with very disastrous effects if it i? allowed to become wild as the rabbit ia in Australia and New Zealand. The report of the Secretary for Agriculture states that the interest in this animal has greatly developsd during the last three years, more especially in California, Colorada, and other ■western states. The report shows that tha risk of acclimatisation is recognised", as it is state 1 that however valuable the animals may be for meat or fur, their introduction is accompanied by a degiee of danger which should not ba overlooked. Many have already escaped, and the State Board of Horticulture in California has estimated that several thousands of these ar^mals are already at large in that State. Of course the multiplication of these thousands into millions is merely a question of a short t jne, and it is recognised that their increase when at large v ill (become a very serious affair, and that the most stringent methods should be employed to keep them under control. it is exceedingly doubtful, however, whether any measures will be more effectual in Ameiica than they have proved to be in our own Aubtiahan"colonies. The craze for the so-called Belgian hares in America has, as we have already stated, led to an enormous temporary increase in the value of tho&e in Great Britain and on the Continent, under the absurd idea that they are distinct in species from our common domestic rabbit. — Field, February 2»