913 



MOTACILLIN.E. 



MOTIONS IN PLANTS. 



with alacrity, moving its tail incessantly, and picking up worms and 

 insects. It is very locally distributed, and uniformly deserts the 

 neighbourhood of populous villages. It is almost entirely confined to 

 the southern coast of Java, which abounds in small streams, descending 

 rapidly from the southern hills, and shaded by luxuriant shrubs. 

 Here I first discovered this bird, in the district of Pajittan, in the 

 year 1809. I afterwards met with it again along this coast, in the 

 district of Karangbollong, and in the provinces south of Kediri. 

 Among more central situations it frequents the banks of an elevated 

 lake near the declivities of the mountain Prahu, where I found it more 

 numerous than in any other part of Java. In the extensive forests of 

 Pugar and Blambangan I never noticed it, althoxigh I devoted a 

 considerable time to their examination." (' Zoological Researches in 

 J:iva.') 



Motacilla (Enicurus) tpeciosa, Hovsfield. 



3t. lugubrit (Pallas) ; Schwarze Bachstelze of the Germans ; the 

 White-Winged Wagtail. 



Summer Plumage. Back of head and neck, line from bill to eye 

 and from eye to hinder part of the head, back, rump, six middle 

 tail-feathers, throat, and chest, black ; shoulders, tips, and outer edges 

 of the primaries, dark grayish-brown ; remainder of wings white, 

 except the tertiaries, which are brown in the centre ; bill and feet 

 black. 



Winter Plumage. Upper part of throat pure white ; back and 

 scapulars uniform gray, instead of black. (Gould.) 



. 





White-Winged Wagtail (Mntactlla lugubru). 



M. Temminck states that individuals which are marked with black 

 and gray on all the upper parts are passing from one state of plumage 

 to the other. 



ma. HIBT. DIV. VOL. ni. 



Young of the Year. Lore and stripe behind the eyes black, but 

 very narrow ; top of the head and all the upper parts, to the upper 

 tail-coverts, gray-ash ; nuchal collar very narrow, indicated in great 

 part by black spots ; coverts of the wings always pure white. Length 

 of the species about 7 inches 8 lines. (Temm.) 



It is found in Eastern Europe, seldom advancing farther west than 

 the central parts ; Russia ; Southern Siberia ; Egypt ; Hungary ; the 

 Crimea ; Asia Minor probably ; scarce in Italy, Provence, and Picardy ; 

 very common in Japan, especially in winter, where it is called Sekirei, 

 and frequents the streams of mountainous valleys. 



MOTELLA, a genus of Fishes belonging to the family Gadidcs. 

 It has the following characters : Body elongated, cylindrical, com- 

 pressed posteriorly, the first dorsal fin very slightly elevated, delicate 

 in structure, scarcely perceptible ; second dorsal and anal fins long, 

 continued nearly to the base of the tail. 



M. vulgaris, Mustela marina (Ray), Gadus tricirratiu (Bloch), the 

 Three-Bearded Rockling, Sea-Loche, Whistle-Fish, Three-Bearded 

 Cod, Three-Bearded Gade, has the following characters : The length 

 of the head compared to the length of the body alone, without the 

 caudal rays, is as one to four ; the depth of the body equal to the 

 length of the head ; the first dorsal fin delicate in structure ; the first 

 ray elongated, the rest hair-like : the second dorsal fin commencing 

 immediately behind the end of the first, and reaching along the back 

 to the tail, but ending a little short of the base of the caudal rays ; 

 ventral fins with the first two rays elongated, the second most so, the 

 two disunited ; the other five rays nearly equal, united, and short ; 

 pectoral fins rather large and rounded; the vent half-way between 

 the point of the chin and the end of the fleshy portion of the tail ; 

 the anal fin commences immediately behind it, is one-fourth less in 

 length than the second dorsal, and ends on the same plane with it ; 

 the tail moderate in size, and rounded at the end. The fin rays 

 in number are 2nd D. 55; P. 20; V. 7; A. 49; C. 18. The head 

 is depressed; the mouth wide; the jaws neai-ly equal, but when 

 separated the lower jaw is the longest, with one barbule at the 

 chin ; a mixture of large and small teeth in each jaw ; the upper 

 jaw with one barbule on each side the middle, between the lip and 

 the nostril ; inner part of the upper lip crenate ; the irides golden 

 yellow ; the anterior portion of the body of the fish cylindrical, or 

 slightly depressed ; the tail compressed ; the general colour of the 

 body and head is a rich yellow-brown, spotted on the top of the 

 head, along the back, the pectoral, dorsal, and caudal fins, with rich 

 chestnut-brown ; the lower part of the sides, the ventral and anal 

 fins pale yellow-brown approaching to white, and without spots. 



Young fish of this species are of a uniform brown colour, until 

 they have acquired 6 or 7 inches in length ; in this condition they are 

 the Mustela alia of Ray. (Yarrell.) 



This fish is common on the coasts of Cornwall, and also on the 

 coasts of Ireland. 



M. cimbria (Gadus cimbriva, Linnams), the Four-Bearded Rockling. 

 This fish has been taken in Scotland, and is common in the Baltic and 

 the southern coast of Sweden. 



M. quinquecirrata (Gadits mustela, Linneeus), the Five-Bearded 

 Rockling. This fish is common on the British coast. Its habits 

 resemble those of the Three-Bearded Rockling, and by some naturalists 

 it is regarded as a variety of that species. 



M. glauca (Ciliata glauca, Couch), the Mackerel Midge. This fish 

 has been taken on the coasts of Cornwall by Mr. Couch. It dies 

 instantly on being taken out of the water. It is like the young 01' 

 some of the other species, but it has not been observed to grow. 



M. artjenteola (Gadus argenteolus, Montagu), the Silvery Gade. This 

 fish is a miniature representative of the Three-Bearded Rockling, as the 

 last is of the five-bearded species. It was first described by Montagu, 

 and is admitted as a distinct species by Yarrell. , 



MOTH, the English name of the Insects belonging to that section 

 of the Ltpidoptera called Nocturna. [LEPIDOPTEBA,] 



MOTHER-OF-PEARL. [SHELL.] 



MOTHER-WORT. [LEONUROS.] 



MOTIONS IN PLANTS. It was atone time considered a distinctive 

 mark of the animal kingdom that it had a power of locomotion which 

 was denied to plants. It was however gradually discovered that 

 plants had within a limited space a considerable power of self-generated 

 or automatic movement. It is now believed that these movements 

 originate in the protein which constitutes the protoplasm or nucleus, 

 in connection with which all vegetable cells are formed. This substance 

 is the material which, being conveyed into the system, becomes the 

 material out of which the nervous and muscular systems of animals 

 are formed. This substance possesses an inherent power of movement 

 under all circumstances ; and in the movements of plants and their 

 susceptibility to the action of heat and light, we see the first dawnings 

 of a nervous and muscular system. It is thus that the plant, though 

 not actively locomotive, becomes the source of all locomotion and 

 sensation in the animal kingdom. 



The instances in which movements of various kinds have been 

 observed in plants are very numerous. Amongst Confervce is a genus 

 named Otcillatoria, consisting of green articulated filaments. These 

 plants derive their name from the oscillating motion observable 

 in them. They not only move their limbs, but shift their station 

 with some rapidity ; for example, if a patch of them is placed in water 



