door in a fashionable square. He had a particular fancy for the extremities of the corner pillars of the cage; on these he spent his most elaborate taps, and at this moment, though he only occupied the cage a day, the wood is pierced and worn like a piece of old wormeaten timber. He probably had an idea, that if these main beams could once be penetrated, the rest of the superstructure would fall and free him. Against the doorway he had also a particular spite, and once succeeded in opening it; and when, to interpose a farther obstacle, it was tied in a double knot, with string, the perpetual application of his beak quickly unloosed it. In ordinary cages a circular hole is left in the wire for the bird to insert his head, to drink from a glass: to this hole the nuthatch constantly repaired, not for the purpose of drinking, but to try to push out more than his head, but in vain; for he is a thick bird, and rather heavily built; but the instant he found the hole too small he would withdraw his head, and begin to dig and hammer at the circle, and where it is rooted in the wood, with his pickaxe of a beak, evidently with a design to enlarge the orifice. His labour was incessant, and he eat as largely as he worked; and I fear it was the united effects of both that killed him. His hammering was peculiarly laborious, for he did not peck as other birds do, but, grasping his hold with his immense feet, he turned upon them as upon a pivot, and struck with the whole weight of his body, thus assuming the appearance, with his entire form, of the head of a hammer, or, as I have sometimes seen birds on mechanical clocks made to strike the hour by swinging on a wheel. We were in hopes that when the sun went down he would cease from his labours, and rest: but, no; at the interval of every ten minutes, up to nine or ten o'clock in the night, he resumed his knocking; and strongly reminded us of the coffin maker's nightly and dreary occupation. It was said by one of us," he is nailing his own coffin ;" and so it proved. An awful fluttering in the cage, now covered with a handkerchief, announced that something was wrong: we found him at the bottom of his prison, with his feathers ruffled, and nearly all turned back. He was taken out, and for some time he lingered amidst convulsions, and occasional brightenings up; at length he drew his last gasp; and will it be believed that tears were shed on his demise? The fact is, that the apparent intelligence of his character, the speculation in his eye, the assiduity of his labour, and his most extraordinary fearlessness and familiarity, though coupled with fierceness, gave us a consideration for him that may appear ridiculous to those who have never so nearly observed the ways of an animal as to feel interested in its fate. With us it was different. Since our poor nuthatch died, I have observed that White, in his charming work on the Natural History of Selborne, states that the knocking of the nuthatch may be heard at the distance of a furlong; and that he has frequently placed nuts in the joints of a gate for this bird, which were quickly penetrated by his beak, and the kernel extracted. The beak is uncommonly large and strong for so small a bird. I have requested my friend Mr. Swainson to add a short scientific note to this memoir; such matters not coming within my range. H.S. Note by Mr. Swainson. After this animated sketch from nature (would that we had more of them !) scientific details will appear dry; yet a few may not be misplaced. The great force with which, as my friend describes, this little bird laboured with its bill, led me to examine it minutely, and to compare it with several of the extra-European species; but in none of these is the bill of an equal size and proportionate strength. It may further be remarked, that, among the Sittæ generally, the end of the bill is more depressed than compressed, while the tip is generally rounded: but in the European nuthatch, this part, when viewed laterally (fig. 163. a), exhibits a good deal of that abrupt truncation so well adapted for breaking hard substances, which is seen in the woodpecker, the point of whose bill exactly resembles that of a wedge. The only foreign species I have seen, in which any thing like this structure can be traced, is the Sitta carolinensis. The group evidently stands intermediate between the true Certhiadæ and the Picìdæ of modern ornithologists. To the latter it is assimilated a 163 by its perfectly straight and somewhat wedge-shaped bill, and by a corresponding economy of habit in procuring nourishment, already so well described. On the other hand, the feet of the Sitta, although scansorial, are not of that peculiar construction which constitutes the typical perfection of climbing birds; the toes, as in all the Certhiadæ, being placed three forwards and one backwards. With this union of characters I am disposed to consider the Sittæ as a distinct type or sub-family of Certhiadæ, and that by which nature passes to the true woodpeckers, through the intervening forms of Oxyrhynchus and Yúnx. The tongue is not capable of extension; it is bifid, with the divisions slightly ciliated (fig. 163. b).-W. S. ART. VI. Manners and Economy of the Pied Flycatcher. By JOHN BLACKWALL, Esq. Sir, IN directing the attention of the ornithological readers of the Magazine of Natural History to a favourite haunt of the Pied Flycatcher (Muscicapa luctuòsa Temminck) (fig. 164.), I am not without hope that some individual, who has leisure for the undertaking, may be stimulated to investigate the manners and economy of this interesting species, with a greater degree of minuteness than has hitherto been done. The elucidation of several doubtful points in its history could not fail to reward his industry, and promote the interests of science. On the 3d of June last, I procured a male Pied Flycatcher in the woods near the ferry-house, on the western shore of Windermere, where I saw two males and a female. The female and one of the males had paired, and were occupied in constructing a nest in a hole in a decayed pollard ash, on the margin of the lake. But the vicinity of Ullswater appears to be the most favoured resort of this species; as in walking, on the 1st of June, from the Water-head to Gowbarrow Old Park, on the western side of the lake, a distance not exceeding three miles, I saw, without quitting the carriage road, five males at five separate stations, which were distinctly marked by large pollard ashes, partially decayed. To these spots the birds were evidently much attached, reluctantly retiring from them to a short distance when greatly disturbed, and immediately returning again when the cause of their alarm was removed. This circumstance led me to suppose that they had nests; and as I did not observe a single female, it is probable that they were engaged in incubating their eggs, or in brooding their young. The males were all in full song, and their notes, which are sometimes, though rarely, delivered on the wing, are pleasing and varied. Ornithologists do not seem to be acquainted with the extent of the vocal powers possessed by this species. According to Dr. Latham (General History of Birds, vol. vi.), Mr. Bolton, the author of Harmònia Ruralis, has remarked that the song of the male, which is heard in the breeding season, resembles that of the Spotted Flycatcher, but that it is more sprightly and energetic. The comparison is an unfortunate one, and may have induced a belief that the Pied Flycatcher has no song whatever, as the spotted species is one of our most silent birds. I am happy, therefore, in being able to claim for the Pied Flycatcher a place among British singing birds. Both Montagu and Latham have regarded the Pied Flycatcher as indigenous to England; but, in Lancashire, I have never seen this species earlier in the year than April, nor later than September. Its habits indicate a bird which preys principally on insects in their winged or perfect state, and, as such, there can be little doubt that it is migratory. A sufficient reason, however, why the fact has not been more clearly ascertained, will be found in its great rarity and partial distribution. I have long known that the Pied Flycatcher breeds annually in the beautiful woods near Ullswater, but I was not aware, before the present summer, that it is to be found in such abundance in that delightful locality. I am, Sir, &c. Crumpsall Hall, July 28. 1828. JOHN BLACKWALL. ART. VII. On the Instinct of Insects. By J. H. DAVIES, Esq. Sir, It has been asserted that the circuitous flight of the butterfly tribe arises from one sex pursuing through the air the track of the other; and that, if an unimpregnated female of the Phala na quercus (egger moth) be carried in a gauze cage into the haunts of that species, numbers of the males will be attracted, so as to be easily captured. I have never had an opportunity of verifying this fact; but, from a circumstance which occurred to me during the past year, I have no doubt of its correctness. I was engaged in rearing lepidopterous insects from the larvæ, and had a great variety of the pupae of different species; one evening I found a female Sphinx ocellàta just emerged, which, in lifting from the floor, ran up my arm, and round the collar of my coat: two hours afterwards, on returning to my study from shutting some glass frames in the garden, a very fine male of the same species was fluttering on my shoulder, where the female had previously crawled. But a still more curious fact, which must appear almost incredible, remains to be stated. Two females of the Sphinx pópuli were developed; the next day I found three males in the room. As no one had entered it in the interval, nor was there apparently any mode by which they could gain access, I was somewhat puzzled to account for their appearance. The same evening, however, their mode of entrée was made apparent, by two more males of the same species coming down the chimney, one of which fell into a vase standing in the fireplace where I captured it before it could extricate itself. Afterwards, on occasion of the evolution from the pupa state of females of the Phala na bucéphala and P. sálicis, the windows of my study were completely besieged by males of the same species, which, on throwing open the windows, eagerly rushed in. The instinct which in these cases must have guided the little animals is truly wonderful. Portsmouth, August, 1828. I remain, Sir, &c. J. H. DAVIES. ART. VIII. The Jussieuean, or Natural, System of Plants. ORDER XIII. FLACOURTIANEÆ. A VERY small order formerly comprised in Tiliàceæ. It is remarkable on account of the structure of its fruit, to the inner lining of which the seeds are attached upon a branched placenta. Nothing is known of the properties of the flacourtias. The berries of Flacourtia Ramóntchi are eaten in Madagascar. The order consists entirely of small tropical trees or bushes. Flacourtia Herit. ORDER XIV. CAPPARI'DE. These are nearly related to Cruciferæ, of the properties of which they partake. Many are very pretty plants, especially Cleòme ròsea, and the various species of Cratæ`va. The common caper is an elegant bush, remarkable for its large white flowers and long purple stamens. The species are found occasionally in various parts of the world. The different kinds of Capparis are reputed to be stimulating, antiscorbutic, and aperient. The bark of the root of the common caper passes for a diuretic medicine. Several species of Cleòme have an acrid taste, which has been compared by travellers to that of mustard. The root of Cleòme dodecandra is employed as a vermifuge in the United States; and the leaves produce an inflammation of the skin, whence they are used in Cochin-china as a sinapism. (Dec.) Capparis L. Cratæ`va L. Cleome W. |