HAflDWlCKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



79 



horse. ludeed, so peculiar is this hirsute cover- 

 ing, that the species almost deserves the name of 

 " hairy." 



lu this respect, therefore, it at ouce puts us in 

 mind of the Rhinoceros tichorhiiius, or " Woolly- 

 haired Rhinoceros," whose bones and teeth are 

 found in our bone-caverns and river-gravels. The 

 latter M'as found, as a frozen carcass, in the in- 

 tensely frozen soils of Siberia ; and described by 

 Pallas in 1793. This was before the discovery of a 

 contemporaneous hairy elephant. But the woolly 

 hair of the extinct species was much longer, and 

 was evidently an adaptation to the rigorous circum- 

 stances uuder which the animals provided with it 

 had to exist. There are other features shared 

 partly in common- between the extinct type and 

 the animal iu the Zoological Gardens. The former 

 was two-horned, like the latter, and its teeth and 

 bones iadicate a close resemblance, as far as size is 

 concerned. We conclude, therefore, that it is not 

 impossible the Sumatran species may be a lineal 

 descendant of the extinct Rhinoceros tichorhinus. 

 Siberia, where the ktter seems last to have roamed, is 

 more intimately connected with India than is any 

 other part of the globe ; the Indian tiger stiil finds 

 its way thither, when forced by hunger ; and the 

 short woolly hair of the Sumatran Rhinoceros 

 may be the relics of a covering which once formed 

 no unimportant character to the northern pro- 

 genitor of the species we ai-e dwelling upon. 

 Further, the occurreace of tliis species on the island 

 of Sumatra at once shows that it must have ex- 

 tended thither before the separation of that island 

 from the Indian coutinentj as the sea is by far too 

 extensive for it to have crossed by swimniiug. Its 

 geographical distribution, therefore, is a good proof 

 of its antiquity ; whilst its general replacement iu 

 India by the Indian species would lead us to infer 

 that the latter and dominant species was the most 

 recently introduced. We strongly advise all our 

 readers who have the opportunity to pay a visit to 

 an animal which seems, in many respects, to be one 

 of the " missing links." J. E. Taylok. 



A GOSSIP ABOUT BLACKCAP WARBLERS. 



AFTER hearing Mr. Rudd's excellent " Gossip 

 about Canaries" in the March number of 

 Science-Gossip, I thought it might perhaps both 

 interest and profit some of your readers to learn a 

 little of my experience in the treatment of the above 

 graceful aud beautiful birds. As a cage bird, with 

 proper care, I know of none which at the same time 

 is so tame aud so well repays the little trouble he 

 gives by his wild and rich song, in which he excels 

 every chorister of the grove as regards rapidity and 

 clearness. Mudie says " that although the Blackcap 

 Warbler has not the volume and variety of the 



Nightingale, nor the .ineffably sweet chant of the 

 Garden Warbler, its notes take us by surprise, and 

 the changes, and especially the trills, are finer than 

 those of any other bird." 



I have never been without several of these birds 

 in cages. They readily take to confinement, and 

 never seem to repine at their lot, or sulk and mope 

 as is often the case with the Nightingale ; they are 

 also easy to manage at the moulting and iiiigrutory 

 seasons. I have had them so tame that they would 

 perch ou the finger and take any insect offered 

 them. Of all insects they, however, have a pre- 

 ference for the spider aud the mealworm. 



The Blackcap being both insectivorous and 

 frugivorous, requires a blending of the two iu con- 

 fiuement. I have always found the following the 

 best standard food for both the Blackcap and 

 all other warblers :— Ants' eggs, one teaspoonful; 

 chopped cabbage, one ounce; currants (grocer's), 

 one ounce ; powdered rusks, one ounce ; hemp- 

 seed, one ounce ; German paste, one ounce ; the 

 yolks of two hard-boiled eggs, which should be 

 well rubbed up with the rusk and hempseed, and- 

 then all mixed together. 



The best German paste is made from Mr. Adams's 

 recipe ; viz., Take 2 ounces bullock's liver boiled 

 and grated ; 6 ounces pea-meal, 4 ounces stale 

 bread-crumbs finely rubbed ; the raw yolk of one 

 fresh c^g. Mix these well together ; then put into 

 a clean frying-pan gently heated, one ounce of 

 unsalted butter ; add the above mixture ; place 

 the frying-pan on a very slow fire, stir till a little 

 brown ; when taken off the fire and still warm, mix 

 2 ounces coarse sugar ; let . the whole stand in the 

 pan till quite cold, then add 12 ounces ground hemp- 

 seed and 1 ounce of maw-seed. Mix the whole 

 well together, and leave the compound in grains 

 about the size of canary-seed ; then put into pots 

 well covered up. The embers of a fire answer best 

 in making this paste, as the nourishment is de- 

 stroyed if it is burnt, and if not equally and gently 

 done it is apt to mould. A uniform and rich brown 

 is the proper colour. 



Mr. Sweet, who first kept the Blackcap suc- 

 cessfully, always used scalded bread-crumbs and 

 powdered hemp-seed scalded and mixed together 

 with some finely-chopped beef or yolk of e^g hard 

 boiled. This forms an excellent change from the 

 former food ; as is likewise scalded rusk biscuit 

 with all the superfluous water pressed out, and as 

 much milk added as the rusk will take up. This 

 would be good for them once or twice a week, but 

 not oftener, as milk used too often makes the 

 feathers fall off, and brings on consumption by re- 

 laxation of the bowels. The Blackcap is also fond 

 of curds, which may be made iu a homely way by 

 placing iu a clean pan half a pint of new milk, 

 placing it on the fire, and, when just at the boiling 

 point, put into it a tablespoouful of vinegar, which 



