Zoology, 375 



known to breed in this country, a particular account of the nest and eggs 

 may be acceptable to ornithologists. The nest has been described to be of 

 beautiful construction, and built in the upper branches of trees ; whereas, 

 the one just mentioned was of a slovenly loose form, and shallow, not 

 being so deep as those of the greenfinch or linnet, and was placed against a 

 large bough of an apple tree, about 10 ft. from the ground. It was com- 

 posed externally of dead twigs and a few roots, next with coarse white moss 

 or lichen, and lined with horsehair and a little fine dried grass. The eggs 

 were five in number, about the size of a skylark's, but shorter and rounder, 

 of a dull greenish-grey, irregularly streaked, and spotted with bluish-ash and 

 olive-brown, some of the spots inclining to dusky or blackish-brown ; the 

 markings were variously distributed on the different eggs. — T. F. London^ 

 June '2'3. 



National Distinctiotis. — In the Hue and Cry of Jan. 22., a list of 102 

 deserters is advertised. Of these there are, — English, 34 ; Irish, 32 ; Scotch, 

 16. Of the 16 Scotch, 6 have long necks ; of the 52 Irish, 12 have long 

 necks ; of the 34 English, 7 have long necks. Most of the Irish are de- 

 scribed as having short necks. These are described as having large and 

 wide mouths: English, 3; Irish, 19; Scotch, none. Nearly all the long- 

 necked Scotch are weavers and spinners. The chief peculiarities appearing 

 in the list are, that the Irish have as frequently blue eyes as grey or hazel, 

 while the blue eyes, among the English and Scotch, are to the grey, as one 

 to six ; that the Irish monopolise all the wide mouths ; that there are more 

 fair-haired men among the Scotch than among the Irish, and more among 

 the Irish than among the English. ( ITme*, January 25.) 



The Spider of Solomon. (Prov. xxx. 25.) — The learned Dr. Scott of Cor- 

 storphine, in a paper read before the Wernerian Natural History Society 

 of Edinburgh, and since published in Professor Jameson's Journal, has gone 

 far to prove that the word translated spider should have been translated 

 lizard. Lizards of all kinds are very numerous in Syria. Bruce saw in one 

 day many thousands of them, in the great court of the Temple of the Sun 

 at Balbec. The ground, the walls, and the stones were covered with them ; 

 and the various colours of which they consisted, made a very extraordinary 

 appearance, glittering in the sun, in which they lay sleeping and basking. 

 Arabia is full of lizards ; and, wherever a tent is pitched or a house reared, 

 the Arabs are infested with their presence. Solomon's spider is said to take 

 hold with its hands, while in kings' palaces ; the hind, but especially the 

 fore, feet of the lizard very much resemble the arms and hands of a man. 

 Hence, the tribe of animals to which this family belongs are called Z^acertae, 

 i. e. creatures with arms or hands. Supposing the spider of Solomon {Sema- 

 mith in the original Hebrew) to be a lizard, it is most consistently said to 

 take hold with its arms or hands, in moving from one place to another, that 

 it may catch flies, which are its ordinary food, elude the pursuit of its 

 enemies, when it moves along places which they cannot reach, or secure its 

 safety if its back be undermost. In these respects it was natural for him to 

 admire its dexterity, and declare that it discovered great wisdom, though it 

 was little on the earth. {Scott in Jam. Phil. Jour., Dec. 1827, p. 35.) 



A Canary Bird fed by a Sparrow — You may, perhaps, Mr. Editor, have 

 read an observation of Mr. Hunt's, in his charming little periodical, The 

 Companion, that the same things have been acting over and over again since 

 the beginning of the world, with only slight alterations as to time, name, 

 and locality ; an observation which, I think, I can also illustrate myself, if 

 you will permit me to give you the history of the benevolent Howard, acted 

 over again, about a dozen years ago, by so very humble an individual as a 

 house sparrow. 



The late Mrs. O'Brien, of Manor Place, Chelsea, was extremely fond of 

 birds, of which she kept a considerable number in cages, for her amuse- 

 ment. Among others she had a canary, who was a particular favourite 



c c 4 



