March 1, 1SGS.] 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



THE SMEW. 



Fig. 44. Mergus albellus. 



/"\NE of the handsomest water-birds which 

 " honour our islands with "a flying visit" is 

 that of which we present a portrait, taken "from 

 the life." The number of landsmen who have seen 

 this beautiful stranger bear a very small proportion 

 to those who have seen a swallow or heard a cuckoo. 

 It is really but an occasional winter visitor, and the 

 places it honours with a call arc on the coast. 

 Hence, as few visitors from the interior are to be 

 found in our seaside towns at tlie time of its appear- 

 ance, those who really have seen it alive, especially 

 when mature and in good plumage, are chiefly the 

 visitors at the gardens of the Zoological Society. If 

 smews would take a hint, we should commend them 

 for their discretion hitherto, and advise them never 

 to venture upon a visit to the interior, where so 

 many enthusiasts are sworn to the destruction of 

 rare birds for the good of science. 



This bird is something like a duck, but more like 

 a Merganser. Eor the length of the bill, the form 

 of the feet, and number of feathers in the tail, we 

 must refer our readers to technical works. The 

 general colour of the male is black and white, and 

 its appearance in the water is indicated above. It 

 is said to be a native of the Arctic regions, retiring 



southward in winter. The " Old Bushman," in his 

 " Ten Years in Sweden," tells us that it is never 

 seen on the south-western or eastern coast of Scan- 

 dinavia, except in winter. "Breeds sparingly in 

 the far north, but the egg is, I think, more difficult 

 to obtain than that of any other Scandinavian bird, 

 except the great auk. I fancy they breed more 

 easterly in Siberia. The egg in my collection was 

 taken out of a hole in a tree between Iockmock and 

 Quickiock, in Lulea Lapland. The year before a 

 golden-eye had bred in the same hole. The egg is 

 so like that of the widgeon in shape, size, and colour- 

 ing, that it is difficult to tell one from another ; but 

 the widgeon never breeds in a tree. I believe, 

 when placed under a microscope, there is some 

 difference in the texture of the shell." 



The manners and customs of such a stranger are 

 little known to us, except that it is an expert in 

 diving, good at flying, and dexterous in eluding the 

 sportsman. Male and female differ so much in 

 appearance that they were by some of the older 

 naturalists considered as distinct species, and Old 

 Bewick figures the female as the "Lough diver." 



This bird is generally represented as feeding 

 upon fish, Crustacea, and other aquatic creatures ; 

 but the Rev. L. Jenyns records an instance of a 

 smew which was shot in Swaffham Fen, having the 

 stomach entirely filled with vegetable remains, con- 

 sisting apparently of some species of seaweed. Was 

 this bird a " vegetarian " by accident, or the force 

 of circumstances, or are they more indiscriminate 

 feeders than they have been supposed to be ? 



TRACES OF THE GIANTS. 



TN the second volume of Science-Gossip there 

 -*- appeared an interesting paper entitled " The 

 Track of the Pygmies." I have long thought that 

 another, equally instructive, might be written upon 

 those monstrosities of the human race known as 

 "giants." 



It is quite a mistake to suppose that the giants of 

 antiquity were abnormal phenomena, like " the 

 Norfolk Giant " and other celebrities of our own 

 time ; they were veritable races of men of a stature 

 far exceeding even the Patagoniaus of South 

 America. We learn from the Scriptures that giants 

 lived before the flood : these are probably the Titans 

 of tradition, whose daring impiety provoked the 

 Deluge. After the flood we find gigantic races — the 

 Emim, Anakim, or Rephaim — inhabiting Palestine ; 

 and therefore we may infer either that one of the 

 wives of Noah's sons was of gigantic stature, or that, 

 coming of this race, some of the children subse- 

 quently reverted to it, in conformity with a well- 

 known law of nature. Whatever doubt may exist 

 upon the subject of the antediluvian giants, none 

 whatever can possibly exist regarding these Anakim, 

 or Sons of Onk, for we are expressly told that the 



