92 The Field Naturalist's Quarterly Feb. 



A. K., Huddersfield. 



The Right Whale or Greenland Whale is one of the large whales 

 without teeth. Their food consists of minute marine animals, which 

 are separated from the water by a process of straining through the 

 plates of whalebone. These whalebone plates project down from the 

 palate. The Dugong and the Manatee comprise the order of Sea- 

 Cows (Sirenia), and gave rise to the idea of the mermaid. 



J. R. V., Lampeter. 



The Apteryx or Kiwi is the small wingless bird of New Zealand, 

 about the size of a large fowl. The Moa was enormous, about i 2 feet 

 in height. It is now extinct, but its remains are found sometimes in 

 abundance. We shall refer to this bird later. 



Game-Bird, Sussex. 



The Pheasant is a native of Asia Minor and South-East Europe. 

 The Turkey hails from America. 



E. G., Manchester. 



Animals of the Rhinoceros type, though now confined to Africa and 

 South Asia, were ages ago widely distributed. Some of these extinct 

 forms inhabited Britain. A single horn upon the nose. 



Subscriber, Hants. 



You will find a description of the gradual evolution of the horse's leg 

 in any up-to-date text-book on Zoology. The five-toed ancestor was 

 Phenacodus. Equus walks on its middle digit. The Ostrich (African) 

 has two toes, the third and fourth. The males incubate the eggs. 



R. M., Leeds. 



Yes, warm blood is evidently to be associated with a high intelli- 

 gence and great activity. Compare birds and mammals with reptiles. 



Young: Naturalist's Quarterly Competition. 



In order to encourage the study of natural history and other scientific 

 subjects, the Editor offers prizes every quarter for the best essays sent 

 to him on the prescribed subjects. The competitions are open to all 

 young students and scholars, and are specially intended for the pupils 

 of public schools, colleges, &c, which have natural history and other 

 societies for their scholars. Competitors must send their essays in their 

 own handwriting, together with a statement from their head-master or 

 clergyman certifying the essay to be the original and unaided work of a 



