352 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY. 



filled it, about one-half consists of feathers, being, for the most part, 

 the wing and the tail feathers of the chimney swallows, (Ct/pselus 

 2)elas(jius, Tern.} The other half is made up of the exuvia of insects, 

 mostly the fragments and eggs of the large wood ant, and a brownish 

 dust, probably derived from the decayed wood of the interior of the 

 tree. 



Now, -while the discovery at Middlebury is, on many accounts, an 

 interesting one, there would be nothing very remarkable in it, were 

 the materials which had filled the hollow of the tree jumbled promis- 

 cuously and disorderly together. It would be just Avhat we should 

 expect to find in a hollow tree, which had been for centuries, per- 

 haps, the roosting place of myriads of swallows. But this is not the 

 case. As a general thing, the large feathers have their quills pointing 

 outward at the surface of the cylindrical mass, while the plumes, or 

 ends containing the vanes, point inward. This arrangement might, 

 perhaps, arise from the nesting of small quadrupeds in the hollow, 

 making the feathers their bed. But in addition to this, we find in 

 various portions of the mass, in some cases all the primary feathers of 

 the wing, and in other cases all the feathers of the tail, embedded in 

 the mass, lying in contact, and precisely in the order and position in 

 which they are found in the living swallow. In a mass of the mate- 

 rials, measuring not more than 7 inches by 5, and less than 3 inches 

 thick, I could trace at least, 5 wings and 2 tails, and in one of the 

 wings the secondary quills were also plainly arranged in their true 

 position with regard to the primaries. Now it is not possible to con- 

 ceive that these feathers were shed by living birds in the order in 

 which they are found. But if the birds died there, what has become 

 of their beaks, claws and bones? We should think that these, or 

 portions of them, would be as durable as the feathers ; but I do not 

 learn that a particle of any of these has been found in any part of 

 the mass. How, then, have these been removed, while the wing and 

 tail feathers remain in their true natural position ? It could hardly 

 be done by any violent means without disturbing them. But if done 

 quietly, what did it ? Would any insects devour the bones and not 

 the quills '? Does the formic, or any other acid, which might be 

 generated within the hollow of the tree, decompose, bone V 



THE TSETSE, OR ZIMB, OF SOUTH AFRICA. 



THE following interesting facts are derived from a communication 

 made to the American Geographical Society, by Rev. Mr. Livingston, 

 the distinguished English missionary, and explorer of South Africa. 



" The Tsetse is the name given to an insect found in the interior of 

 Africa. In size it is between the common house-fly and the honey- 

 bee, and is of a drab color, having some yellow bars across the hinder 

 part of the body. They seemed to be confined to certain districts, 

 generally along the banks of rivers, where reedy swamps, intermingled 

 with trees, prevail. They are very numerous, and, from their devas- 

 tations among domestic cattle, have been termed the scourge of 



