26 Mr. Rennie on the Cleanliness of Animals. 



of trees ; and Colonel Montague observed it in the gold-crested 

 wren (Regulus cristatus, RAY,) in the instance of a nest of 

 young which were fed by the parents after being carried into a 

 room*. ' In birds,' says White, ' there seems to be a parti- 

 cular provision, that the moot of the nestlings is enveloped in 

 a tough kind of jelly, and therefore is the easier conveyed off 

 without soiling or daubing. Yet, as Nature is cleanly in all 

 her ways, the young perform this office for themselves in a 

 little time, by thrusting their tails out at the aperture of their 

 nests f.' Another delightful writer says, c birds are unceas- 

 ingly attentive to neatness and lustration of their plumage. 

 Some birds roll themselves in dust, and occasionally particular 

 beasts cover themselves with mire ; but this is not from any 

 liking or inclination for such things, but to free themselves 

 from annoyances, or to prevent the bites of insects .' 



I may be permitted to illustrate one of these remarks of Mr. 

 Knapp, by mentioning the fact, that in some parts of Africa 

 the elephant and the rhinoceros, in order to protect themselves 

 from flies, roll themselves in mud, for the purpose of forming 

 an impenetrable crust upon their skin when it becomes dry. 

 Their most formidable insect pest, according to Bruce, is a fly 

 called Tsalfaya, belonging, it would appear from the descrip- 

 tion, to Clairville's Haustellata. It is said not to be larger 

 than a common bee, but is more terrible to those two animals 

 than the lion himself. It has no sting, but insinuates its sucker 

 (haustellum) through the thickest skin, in the same manner as 

 our cleg (Hamatopota pluvialis, MEIGEN) does. The effects 

 of this sucking are such, that the part not only blisters, but 

 frequently mortifies, and in the end destroys the animal ; but 

 the coating of dried mud over the skin affords them effectual 

 protection, and therefore cannot be justly quoted as an instance 

 of their dirty habits. It is highly probable, as it appears to 

 me, that the proverbially unclean habits of swine may be re- 

 ferred to a similar origin, particularly as no animal is more 

 careful to have its bed clean and dry. 



There is another family of animals no less repulsive to the 

 feelings of many people, though not proverbially dirty as the 



* Ornith. Diet. Introd. f Nat. Hist. ofSetborne, i.269. 



I KNAPP, Journ, of a Naturalist ,311. 



