28 



liad advanced, but they diminished by examination. Jaguars 

 mnd tigers hissed, and, though it might be thought that such 

 powerful animals did not need the protection of this mimicry of 

 serpents, yet the hissing was probably a survival from the early 

 days when, as he had said, mammals were comparatively feeble 

 creatures, living in a world that swarmed with gigantic birds and 

 reptiles. Almost all animals had a dread of snakes, and he 

 believed that the habit of hissing and spitting had been evolved, 

 in imitation of snakes, as a protection against the mammals' 

 instinctive dread of serpents. As an illustration, the lecturer 

 cited the hissing of kittens and owlets in their arboreal nurseries, 

 the idea being to give the predatory intruder, who thought he 

 had smelt kittens, the impression that the nest in the hollow of a 

 tree wf) s occupied not by kittens but by snakes. He had said 

 nothing so far about the mimicry of snakes by birds, though it 

 would be perfectly easy to employ nearly a whole evening in such 

 illustrations. Take for example the gander, which stretched out 

 its snake-like neck and hissed. The Muscovy duck made the 

 same noise, and the habit was extremely common amongst almost 

 all birds that nested in the reeds by the river side. And not 

 only did they hiss, but they thrust out their necks in a style 

 similar to that of the ganders. This would propably be enough 

 to intimidate a carnivorous creature that might approach. One 

 other instance was that of the little night apes of South America, 

 which made a hissing and spitting noise when anyone approached 

 the entrance to their homes in the trees. Finally, the lecturer 

 said he believed that a large field of investigation awaited 

 someone in connection with this question of protective mimicry 

 amongst mammals. 



At the conclusion of Dr. Robinson's Paper, one was read on 



THE SEAMEW'S PROVIDER. 



BY 



Mr. ERNEST ROBINSON. 



" Why do the ' Chinton Hounds ', as the shepherds in the 

 neighbourhood of Brighton call Seagulls, come in-shore for food 

 when the land is fast bound in frost and other birds are drifting 

 to the coast ? " This, said Mr. Robinson, was the question which 

 had crossed his mind and had puzzled him for years. All earth- 

 worms (which appear to be the only prey the gulls take inland), 

 should be well below the frost, except a few dry, brown speci- 

 mens which were caught on the surface by the first sudden frost. 



