112 MR. BLYTH ON THE DISPOSITION OF ANIMALS. 



ox-eyes, and other tits, which had been caught by means of the call, 

 that lived above a year in the same volery, without any act of hosti- 

 lity ; and at this very moment, there is an ox-eye which has lived 

 six months on good terms with goldfinches and siskins, though one 

 of the siskins was sick during that period, and, in its feeble state, 

 incapable of resistance, offered an easy prey to voracity." * 



In the other authors whom I have consulted, namely, Gesner, 

 Turner, Aldrovand, Jonston, Klein, Linnseus, Brisson, Daudin, 

 Pennant, Bewick, Latham, Temminck, Cuvier, Lesson, Brapiez, 

 and Fleming, there is no allusion whatever to the circumstance : 

 Selby copies Montagu's statement. 



The following paper will show that some ox-eyes are even cannibals, 

 attacking and devouring their own species ; as is extensively exem- 

 plified among fish, such as the pike, and among insects, such as the 

 grass-hoppers and earwigs, which make no ceremony of devouring 

 their own kindred. Spiders are said to be, if possible, still more bar- 

 barous. 



Lee, Kent, Dec. 3, 1832. 



ON THE DIVERSITY OF DISPOSITION IN ANIMALS OF 

 THE SAME SPECIES. 



BY EDWARD BLTfTH. 



THE very great difference of temper and disposition between dif- 

 ferent animals of the same species, seem never to have been suffici- 

 ently taken into consideration by naturalists, who have often described 

 the character of a whole species, judging from the peculiar disposition 

 of a single individual. 



I have an oxeye, (Parus major,} that has now lived for several 

 months in the same cage with a number of other small birds, (finches, 

 tits, and warblers,) and that still continues to live with them in the 

 most perfect harmony ; never showing the least indication of hosti- 

 lity, nor of that carnivorous disposition which this species occasionally 

 evinces : this was an adult bird when caught. Another oxeye was 

 lately brought to me, which not wanting, I gave to a young gentle- 

 man in my neighbourhood who keeps a few birds in confinement : it 

 was put into a cage, and a day or two after another of the same 

 species was caught, and placed with it in the evening after the 



* Hist. Nat. Des Oiscaux, Ant. La Grosse Mesange ou Charbouiere. 



