G. GENERAL NATURAL HISTORY AND ZOOLOGY. 349 



or villages, or those for burial, and for other purposes. The 

 shell mounds, the stone graves, the rock walls, and fortified 

 towns, all pass under review. The work closes by a consid- 

 eration of the various implements among the Indians, such 

 as the arrow and spear heads, axes, agricultural tools, fishing 

 apparatus, articles used for games and plays, pipes, idols, 

 pottery, shells, etc. 



ACQUIRED HABITS OF THE TUMBLER PIGEON. 



Mr. Darwin, in a recent communication to JVcitwe^ refers to 

 a very remarkable East Indian variety of the tumbler pigeon, 

 called the Lotan, and one which has been known in that 

 country as possessing certain peculiarities, transmitted from 

 generation to generation, for nearly three hundred years. It 

 is only necessary to shake this bird, or, in the case of one va- 

 riety, to touch it on the neck with a stick, in order to cause 

 it to roll over backward on the ground. This it continues 

 to do with great rapidity until utterly exhausted, so that it 

 will die unless taken up, held in the hands, and soothed, when 

 it will recover. This is believed by Mr. Darwin to be a he- 

 reditary transmission of possibly some accidental injury to 

 tlie brain, as it is well known that if the base of the brain of 

 a pigeon be pricked with a needle, the bird will roll over 

 backward in the same manner as do the ground tumblers. 



One pigeon thus pricked recovered perfectly, but continued 

 ever afterward to perform somersaults like a tumbler, al- 

 though not of the breed. The movement appears to be of 

 the nature of a recurrent spasm or convulsion which throws 

 the bird backward, as in tetanus; it then recovers its balance, 

 and is again thrown backward. Whether the performances 

 of the common tumbler, which are carried on in the air, are 

 related to those of the s:round tumbler is uncertain, although 

 Mr. Darwin thinks that in this case the tendency may have 

 originated in some accidental injury, or from some morbid 

 affection of the brain. 12 A,Api'il 3, 1873, 417. 



ODONTOPTERYX, A NEW FOSSIL BIRD. 



The discovery of a fossil bird with teeth implanted in the 

 jaws, in distinct sockets, recently made by Professor Marsh, 

 has been followed by the announcement on the part of Pro- 

 fessor Richard Owen of a related form, in describing a portion 



