156 



C O T T U S. 



bestowed upon it in America. The size of the 

 cotinga varies from that of the raven to that of the 

 song thrush. The colours of the females are, in 

 general, much less rich than those of the males ; their 

 plumage is, indeed, frequently dull and dusky. The 

 habits of these birds, and the facts concerning their 

 reproduction, are very imperfectly known ; many 

 species, however, are known to make their nests on 

 the loftiest trees, and lay four or five eggs. 



As the same parts of the forests in which these 

 birds nestle, are inhabited by climbing quadrupeds, 

 which are much disposed to plunder both eggs and 

 young, the birds take the precaution of building at 

 heights, and under circumstances of concealment, 

 which make their broods pretty safe, not only from 

 quadruped enemies, but from nest-plundering birds, 

 of which there are many species in the luxurious 

 forests of tropical America. Thus, the cotingas, in 

 their quiet way, contrive to get on as well in their 

 domestic economy as the most noisy tenants of the 

 forest. Their general history is a short one : they 

 live in the very richest places of the world, feed well, 

 wear handsome clothing, dwell in secure habitations, 

 and take as little fatigue as they possibly can. We 

 shall just mention one or two of the species. 



Blue Cotinga. Plumage bright azure, with the 

 exception of the head, neck, and breast, which are 

 rich purple ; the quills and coverts, and also the bill 

 and feel, are black. These are the colours of the 

 male bird , and the length is about eight inches and 

 a half. The female is of a blackish brown with 

 purple reflections on the under part, and each feather 

 slightly bordered with white. Head and under tail- 

 covert red. The young, while in their nest, in plumage 

 resemble the female. This species is found in Guiana. 



Brazil Cotinga or Blue Riband. This is a very 

 beautiful species, rather smaller than the former. Its 

 upper part is exceedingly bright azure blue ; the 

 under part rich violet purple, with a band of black 

 crossing the breast, the quills, and the coverts. The 

 bill and feet are black. The young have the under 

 part marked with small flame-coloured spots. 



There are three or four species more, which appear 

 to be tolerably well defined and established, and 

 there are some others which are doubtful ; but, as we 

 have already sard, there is not much of interest in the 

 manners of the birds, nor would there be more to the 

 general reader in merely running over changes or 

 markings of colour, however beautiful. 



COTTON, is the name of the plant, as well as of 

 the filaceous substance produced by the Gossypium, 

 Herbarium, Vitifolium, &c., of botanists. Linnsean 

 class and order, Monadetphia Polyandria, and natural 

 order, Maloacea:. Generic character : involucrum 

 large, three-cleft, persisting, segments heart-shaped , 

 calyx goblet-shaped, five-toothed ; petals inversely 

 heart-shaped ; stamens united in a cylinder ; anthers 

 kidney-shaped ; style columnar ; stigmas three or 

 five ; seed-vessel three-celled and three-valved ; seeds 

 enveloped in wool. It is almost unnecessary to ob- 

 sewe, that this is one of the most useful plants known, 

 and not only to the warmer parts of Asia, where it is 

 cultivated, but to every other part of the civilised 

 world, whether favourable to its culture or not. As 

 an article of commerce and manufacture, it rivals the 

 fleeces of the northern latitudes, and perhaps employs 

 as much, or more capital, than any other branch of 

 trade whatever. For further particulars, see MAL- 

 VACEAE. 



COTTUS (Bull-head). A genus of spinous-finned 

 fishes, belonging to Cuvier's division of Jouet 

 cuirassees, or fishes with hard plates on the cheeks, 

 and which he ranks immediately after the perch 

 family. The relations of the family will be pointed 

 out shortly in the article HARD CHEEKS, and more 

 at length in the general article FISH, so that we shall 

 only, in this article, have to notice the generic 

 characters, adding some short notice of the species, 

 particularly of such as are British. 



The most general description which can be given 

 of this genus of fish is, that they are all very small 

 and very ugly, and, at the same time, of little or no 

 use to man ; but, from their very general distribution, 

 they must answer some important purpose in the eco- 

 nomy of nature, and there is little doubt that they are 

 also of much indirect importance to the human race, 

 in affording food to larger and more valuable fishes. 



The generic characters are : the head large and 

 depressed, furnished with hard plates on the cheeks, 

 which are variously armed with spines and tubercles : 

 two dorsal fins ; teeth in the advanced part of the 

 vomer, but none in the palatal bones ; six rays in the 

 gills, and three or four only in the ventral fins. They 

 have no air bladder. 



The head is disproportionately large, flattened, and 

 has the eyes turned upward, which gives them an 

 unhandsome appearance ; their colours also are very 

 dull, and their skin is, in general, covered with a 

 mucous secretion, so that they slide through the 

 fingers of those who offer to catch them. They are 

 found both in the fresh waters and in the sea, but the 

 greater number are inhabitants of the fresh waters, 

 and these have the head always smooth and only 

 one spine on the gill-lid. They are, though small, 

 lively and active fishes, lurking under stones and in 

 small holes of the banks and bottoms, from which 

 they issue with great rapidity, and seize fry-worms, 

 the larvae of aquatic insects ; but as some of them 

 inhabit fresh water and others salt, and as the ones 

 that have these different haunts have also necessarily 

 different manners, it will be desirable to treat each 

 species by itself. Of the enumerated species, at least 

 five are natives of Britain ; and as, though they are 

 not of much value in an economical point of view, 

 they are of some curiosity as subjects of natural 

 history, we shall give some notice of each of them. 



Coitus gobio, the river bull-head, miller's thumb, 

 tommy logge, and various other names. This species 

 seldom exceeds four inches or four and a half in 

 length ; its head, though flattened, is broad, but its 

 body is very slender. It is pretty generally distri- 

 buted over Europe, being Tound in most of the small 

 streams of fresh water from Italy to Russia ; but it is 

 found only in gravelly places, or, at least, where the 

 water is not impregnated with peat, and, for this 

 reason, it is not general in Scotland or in Ireland, 

 except in the north-east part of the country, where 

 there are no peat bogs. Its flattened head and hard 

 cheeks enable it to poke itself under stones ; and 

 thus, as its motions. are veryquick.it is not seen 

 without some difficulty. Those who are curious in 

 tracing the origin of popular names, suppose it is 

 called the bull-head in consequence of the size of its 

 head, though it probably receives this appellation as 

 much from its wrinkled front. " The miller's thumb" 

 has given rise to various other speculations. Some 

 have said that the thumb of a miller derives a parti- 

 cular shape, resembling that of the head of this fish, 



