18 



A C A S T A A C C I P E N S E R. 



ft was an ants' nest on which it had taken its station ; 

 llie ants immediately came out to attack it, and oh- 

 serving the insect covered with acari, soon destroyed 

 or carried them oft'; when the bee, thus relieved from 

 its enemies, carefully cleansed its body and wings 

 with its feet, and then took flight again, evidently 

 much relieved. There is nothing which more strik- 

 ingly displays the wisdom and power of the Creator 

 than the faculties with which the small species of ani- 

 mated nature are endowed. In our ordinary estimates 

 we are accustomed to associate grandeur and power 

 with magnitude, and to suppose that the productions 

 of nature become insignificant in proportion as they be- 

 come small. But, when we go to nature itself, and 

 compare the size of the creature with the functions 

 which it performs, we discover that mere material size 

 is an absolute clog upon the living energy, and that 

 the smaller animals arc, in proportion, much more 

 active than the greater. 



ACASTA. A genus constituted by Dr. Leach, 

 from the Linnasan genus BALANUS. These shells are 

 found enveloped in sponge, and never affixed to hard 

 bodies ; the valves are but slightly connected toge- 

 ther, particularly those at the lower part ; the exterior 

 form is oval subconical, formed of six lateral unequal 

 valves with an orbicular lamina, internally concave 

 (resembling a patella), forming the base ; the opercu- 

 lum with four pieces or valves, the exterior of the 

 base being conical or convex, prevents the shell from 

 standing by itself in an erect position, when detached 

 from the substance which envelopes it. There 

 are three species known. Lamarck and modern 

 naturalists continue to place this genus with the 

 Balani, from which there does not appear sufficient 

 reason to separate it. 



ACCENTOR. A genus of birds belonging to 

 the insectivorous order, or rather of that intermediate 

 c'.iaracter which connects the insectivorous with the 

 seed-eating birds, as the hedge-accentor, hedge-chanter, 

 commonly but incorrectly styled the " hedge-sparrow," 

 the species with which we are most familiar as a com- 

 mon resident British bird ; it feeds upon insects in the 

 summer, and upon seeds and other vegetable matters 

 in the winter. 



The characters of the genus are : the bill slender 

 and of mean length, conical in its form, much pointed, 

 the towia or cutting edges compressed, and the upper 

 mandible slightly notched towards the tip ; the nos- 

 trils basal, pierced in a large membrane, and naked ; 

 the legs stout, with three toes forwards and one be- 

 hind, the inner toe free, but the middle and outer 

 ones united at their bases. The wings are wedge- 

 shaped, the first quill being very short, the second 

 half the length of the third, and the third the longest 

 in the wing. They run fleetly upon the ground, and 

 fly with boundings or jerks. They are, as far as is 

 understood, all song birds, with sweet notes, but not 

 very much varied or powerful. There are several 

 species. 



A. modularis, the hedge-chanter, is the only British 

 species ; it is resident, though it migrates within the 

 country with the seasons, being found in the fields and 

 on the edges of the moors in summer, and resorting to 

 the neighbourhood of farm-houses in the winter, 

 though not in large flocks like the seed-eating birds, 

 properly so called. They hop about in farm-yLvds 

 and near houses in the winter ; but in February, or 

 even in January, if the weather is mild, the male 



commences his song, which is sweet and plaintive, 

 and always delivered from the perch; for when the 

 bird flies, he merely utters that querulous " tit," which 

 has procured him the name of titling. Soon after 

 the song commences, the birds pair, retire to the 

 fields, copses, or moors, and commence the labour 

 of nest building. The m-st is always built in the thick 

 cover of a hedge or bush, constructed of moss and 

 wool, and lined with hair. The eggs are four or five 

 in number, of a clear greenish blue without any 

 markings. The nest is usually completed in March, 

 at least in the southern parts of Britain ; but there 

 are probably two broods in the year, as the eggs of 

 the cuckoo are said to be found in the nests of these 

 birds, and the hatching of the first brood must be in 

 progress before the cuckoo arrives. The hedge 

 chanter is an inoffensive little bird, and one of sober 

 appearance ; and there is hardly any difference in the 

 plumage of the sexes. The length is about six inches, 

 the extent of the wings about eight, and the weight 

 about six drams. The size is nearly the same as that 

 of the common red-breast, but it is more slender in 

 proportion to its length, does not seem so robust, and 

 has not the pert and pugnacious air of the red-breast. 

 The bill is dusky, and the tarsi and toes yellowish 

 brown. Top of the head grey with brown streaks, 

 throat and breast bluish grey, upper part yellowish 

 brown with the centres of the feathers purplish 

 brown, belly greyish white, and some white on the 

 middle coverts of the wings and the lower ones of 

 the tail. 



A. montanellus, the hill-chanter, is a bird of the 

 hilly parts of south-eastern Europe and central Asia ; 

 and, like the former, does not migrate far, as it is not 

 found so far south as Naples, even in the winter. 

 During the greater part of the year it inhabits the 

 woods on the hills and dales of the mountains, form- 

 ing its nest nearly in the same manner as the British 

 species ; and, like that, descending to the plains and 

 inhabited places when the severe weather sets in ; 

 and it serenades the people with its soft and plaintive 

 song before it departs. The most remarkable exter- 

 nal distinction between the two is that the hill species 

 has the cheeks black. 



This genus has been confounded with the warblers, 

 and also sometimes with the wagtails ; but they are 

 distinct both in their generic characters and their 

 habits. 



ACCIPENSER (Sturgeon). A genus of fishes 

 belonging to Cuvier's seventh order, or first order of 

 Chondroptergii the order Sturionidcs , that is, car- 

 tilaginous fishes, with two gills, and having a gill- 

 lid to the opening, but no gill-flap. Their bodies 

 are long, and not unlike those of the sharks in 

 shape, but they are very different in their covering. 

 Their skins are beset with longitudinal rows of 

 osseous plates, in some instances bearing a consi- 

 derable resemblance to the shells of limpets, and in 

 others keeled or produced into spines. Their heads 

 are also armed with bony plates ; their muzzles more 

 or less produced, and their mouths placed under the 

 muzzle, of small dimensions compared with the size of 

 the animals, and without any teeth. The upper maxil- 

 lary bones are united tt> those of the cranium, which 

 form one piece without distinct sutures, as is the case 

 with all the cartilaginous fishes ; but the under jaw can 

 be protruded, or projected farther forward than in the 

 sharks, there being three articulations in the inter- 



