45 



COCCOLOBA. 



COCCULUS. 



49 



COCCO'LOBA, a genus of Plants belonging to the natural order 

 Pol !/ynnacccr. It has a 5-parted calyx, eventually becoming succu- 

 lent ; the filaments 5, inserted into the base of the calyx, and forming 

 a short ring by their union ; the styles 3 ; stigma simple ; the nut 

 1-seeded, bony, covered with the succulent enlarged calyx; the 

 embryo in the middle of the albumen. 



C. uvifera, Sea-Side Grape, has cordate roundish shining leaves. 

 It is a tree 20 feet in height, with flexuose branches. The leaves 

 are very beautiful, being of a full bright glossy green colour, with 

 the principal nerves of a deep red. As the fruit advances to maturity 

 it becomes surrounded by the succulent perianth, which forms an 

 obovate reddish purple berry, not unlike a small pear. The nut in 

 the inside is roundish, very acute, 3-lobed at the base, and attached 

 by the centre. The embryo has foliaceous cotyledons. The leaves, 

 wood, and bark of this plant are powerfully astringent, and a 

 decoction of them is evaporated to form the substance called Jamaica 

 Kino. The astringency depends on the presence of tannin, but there 

 is in addition present in the wood a red colouring-matter which is 

 used as a dye. The wood is also valued for cabinet-work. The fruit 

 is eatable, and is exposed for sale in the West Indian markets, but is 

 not valued much. It is a native of the sea-coasts of most of the 

 West Indian Islands and the adjoining shores of America. There 

 are several other species of Coccoloba natives of the West Indies. 

 They are all of them evergreen-trees. They grow freely in a light 

 loamy soil, and ripened cuttings taken off at the joint and placed under 

 a hand-glass in a pot of sand will root freely. They require a stove. 



(Loudon, Encyclopedia of Planti ; Lindley, Flora Mtdica.) 



COCCO'STEUS, a genus of Fossil Fishes, with a tuberculated scaly 

 covering, from the Old Red-Sandstone of Gamrie, Cromarty, Caithness, 

 and the Orkney Islands. (Agassiz.) 



COCCOTHRAUSTES, a genus of Insessorial Birds belonging to 

 the family FrinyUiidie. It has the following characters : Beak 

 conical, very thick at the base, tapering rapidly to the point ; culmen 

 rounded ; the commissure slightly arched ; lower mandible nearly 

 tut large as the upper, its cutting edges inflected, and shutting within 

 thoae of the upper. Nostrils basal, lateral, oblique, oval, nearly 

 hidden by the short feathers at the base of the beak. Wings long, 

 rather powerful, the second and third quill-feathers of nearly equal 

 length and rather longer than the first. Legs with the tarsi short, 

 not exceeding the length of the middle toe, the outer toe longer than 

 the middle one ; claws sharp and curved, the hind-toe and claw broad 

 and strong. Tail short and more or less forked. 



C. t^Ugarit. the Hawfinch, Haw Grosbeak, Grosbeak, of the 

 English ; Gylfiubraff of the Welsh; Le Grosbec and Pinson 

 Royal of the French ; Frogione, Froccione, Frosone, Frisone, 

 Friggione, of the Italians ; Kernbeisser, Kirsch Kernbeisser, Kerech- 

 fink, Nusbeisaer, of the Germans; Appel-Vink of the Netherlander)*; 

 Lofia. Coccothraiutfi of Linnaeus ; Prim/ill a Coccotkrautta of 

 Temminck ; Coccothratutct rulyaru of Brisson. 



It has the rump, head, and cheeks, red-brown ; edging round the 

 bill, space between that and the eye, a line beyond the eye and throat, 

 deep black ; a large ash-coloured collar just below the nape ; back 

 and greater part of the wings deep brown, but there is an oblique 

 white stripe upon the wing, and beyond it a considerable space of a 

 light whitish colour going off into chestnut ; secondary quills as if 

 cut off square at the ends, or, as Edwards says with justice, like the 

 figures of some of the ancient battle-axes, glossed with rich blue, less 

 conspicuous in the female ; tail-feathers white within, of a blackish- 

 brown on the external barbs ; lower parts of the bird vinous-red ; iris 

 pale red (according to Temminck); feet and bill grayish-brown. 

 Length seven inches. 



The female is generally like the male, but with the colours much 

 less brilliant. 



The young of the year before the moult are very different from the 

 adults and old birds. Throat yellow ; face, cheeks, and summit of 

 the head dirty yellowish ; lower parts white or whitish ; sides marked 

 with small brown streaks, with which all the feathers are terminated. 

 As the young bird advances in age some red vinous feathers appear 

 disposed irregularly upon the belly ; the upper parts are of a 

 tarnUhed brown, spotted with dirty yellowish ; bill whitish brown, 

 except at the point, where it is deep brown. (Temminck.) 



Mr. Gould (' Birds of Europe ') says that in the male the beak and 

 feet in winter arc of a delicate flesh-brown, the former becoming in 

 summer of a clear leaden hue, the ends straw-colour, and in Home 

 instance** white ; the top of the head, the cheeks, and rump, of a 

 chestnut-brown. The rest of the description does not differ much 

 from M. Temminck's. 



Varieties. White, yellowinh, or grayish. Wings and tail often 

 white. Plumage often variegated with white feathers. 



Pood, Habits, Reproduction, &c. Hard seeds and kernels form the 

 principal food of the Grosbeak, but we have seen it feeding on the 

 IMTII' s of the hawthorn (whence its name), and shot it when so 

 yed ; so that it is probable that the soft part of fruits is not 

 dUr^reeable to it, although the bill is evidently formed for cracking 

 the itony kernel. Willughby states that it breaks the stones of 

 cherries, and even of olives, with expedition. The stomach of one 

 which he dissected in the month of December was full of the stones 

 of liolly-berrien. The majority of ornithologists give the Hawfinch 



credit for forming a nest beautifully constructed of lichens and 

 vegetable fibres, with a lining of feathers and other soft materials. 

 But, according to Mr. Doubleday i who has thrown much light on the 

 history of thia bird, and discovered it breeding in Epping Forest in 

 May and June, the nest, which is made in some instances in bushy 

 trees at the height of five or six feet, and in others near the top of 

 firs at an elevation of twenty or thirty feet, is remarkably shallow 

 and carelessly put together, being scarcely deeper than that of the 

 dove. In materials it resembles that of the bullfinch, but is not to 

 be compared with it in neatness and compactness of construction. 

 Eggs, from four to six in number, of a pale greenish-white, varying 

 in intensity, spotted and streaked with greenish-gray and brown. 

 Mr. Gould states that he has known the bird to breed near Windsor, 

 and a few other places ; but certainly nowhere so abundantly as on 

 the estate of W. Wells, Esq., at Redleaf, near Penshurst, Kent. This 

 gentleman informed Mr. Gould that he had, with the aid of a small 

 telescope, counted at one time eighteen on his lawn. 



Mr. Selby remarks that in the pairing season it probably utters a 

 superior song, as Montagu says that even in whiter, during mild 

 weather, he has heard it sing sweetly in low and plaintive notes. 



Distribution. Plentiful in some districts of France ; permanent 

 and not uncommon in Italy ; common in Germany, Sweden, and part 

 of Russia. In Mr. Selby's ' Illustrations,' and indeed in most other 

 English works, the Hawfinch is noticed as an occasional visitant. 

 Dr. Latham says that " the hawfinch visits us chiefly in winter, but 

 one was shot in the summer months near Dartford, in Kent." He 

 goes on to remark that White records another instance at the same 

 season, and says that it had the kernels of damsons in its stomach, 

 " These," continues Dr. Latham, " might possibly have bred here, 

 though we have no authority for its ever being the case," This 

 authority now exists in the observations of Mr. Doubleday. " The 

 hawfinch," says Mr. Doubleday, " is not migratory, but remains with 

 us during the whole of the year." This observer sufficiently 

 accounts for the rarity of its appearance : " Its shy and retiring 

 habits leading it to choose the most secluded places in the thickest 

 and more remote parts of woods and forests, and when disturbed it 

 invariably perches on the tallest tree in the neighbourhood." 



Grosbeak (Coccothrautles nilgaru). 



C. chlorit, the Greenfinch or Green Grosbeak ; Grosbec Verdier of 

 the French ; Loxia Moris and Frinyilla Moris of authors. 



The male has the upper parts and breast yellowish-green ; the head 

 tinged with gray ; the edges of the wings, outer webs of primary 

 quills, with the basal part of the tail-feathers, yellow. Female with 

 the upper parts greenish-brown ; the breast grayish-brown ; the wings 

 and tail marked yellow, as in the male. Young similar to the female, 

 with fault brown streaks on the back. 



This bird is common in all the countries of Southern Europe, and 

 is found generally in the cultivated parts of England, Ireland, and 

 Scotland. It remains in this country all the year round, and 

 frequents gardens, shrubberies, orchards, small woods, and cultivated 

 lands. It feeds on grain, seeds, and insects. Its notes are harsh 

 and inharmonious. The eggs are white tinged with blue, from four 

 to six in number. 



(Yarrell, British Birdt ; Macgillivray, Manual of British Birds.) 



CO'CCULUS, a genus of Plants belonging to the natural order 

 Menitpermacece, consisting of climbers, whose leaves are usually more 

 or less heart-shaped, and the flowers small, and either white or pale 

 green, in loose panicles or racemes ; in most cases they are dioecious, 

 and are always very minute. The distinguishing characters of the 

 genus are : Six sepals in two whorls, a corolla of 6 petals, 3 or 

 6 distinct stamens, terminal 2-celled anthers opening vertically; 

 3, 6, or more ovaries ; and 1-celled 1-seeded drupes. The species 

 are usually powerful bitter febrifuges. Coccutm criepus, a twining 

 plant found in Sumatra and the Moluccas, with a tubercled or warted 

 stem, is employed by the Malays for the cure of intermittent 

 fevers. Owing to its intense bitterness and twining habit it was 

 called Funit felleut by Rumf. Another plant, the Menispermum 



