162 



COW- PARSNEP CRAB. 



morous for food, and from that moment the red-bird 

 seemed to adopt it as his own, feeding it with all the 

 assiduity and tenderness of the most affectionate nurse. 

 When he found that the grasshopper which he had 

 brought it was too large for it to swallow, he took the 

 insect from it, broke it in small portions, chewed them 

 a little to soften them, and with all the gentleness 

 and delicacy imaginable, put them separately into its 

 mouth. He often spent several minutes in looking 

 at it, and examining it all over, and in picking off any 

 particles of dirt that he observed on its plumage. In 

 teaching and encouraging it to learn to eat of itself, 

 he often reminded me of the lines of Goldsmith 



" 'He tried each art, reproved each dull delay, 

 Allur'd to 'fav'rite food,' and led the way.' " 



The sight, however, of a young helpless nestling 

 operates wonderfully upon the instinctive feelings of 

 most birds, however dissimilar may be the species, of 

 which a very striking instance has been already given 

 in our article BOTTLETIT. 



" This cow-bird," continues Wilson, ' is now six 

 months old ; is in complete plumage ; and repays the 

 affectionate services of his foster-parent, with a fre- 

 quent display of all the musical talents with which 

 .nature has gifted him. These, it must be confessed, 

 are far from being ravishing ; yet, from their singu- 

 larity, are worthy of notice. He spreads his wings, 

 swells his body into a globular form, bristling every 

 feather in the manner of a turkey coek, and, with great 

 seeming difficulty, utters a few low spluttering notes, 

 as if proceeding from his belly; always, on these oc- 

 casions, strutting in front of the spectator with great 

 consequential affectation. 



" To see the red-bird, himself so excellent a per- 

 former, silently listening to all this guttural splendour, 

 reminds me of the great Handel contemplating a 

 wretched catgut-scraper. Perhaps, however, these may 

 be meant for the notes of love and gratitude, which are 

 sweeter to the ear, and dearer to the heart, than all 

 the artificial solos or concertos on this side heaven." 



Here we cannot but remark that the males of nearly 

 all sorts of polygamous birds exhibit some sort of 

 curious display in uttering their notes. Thus, the 

 grouse (Tetrao), spread their tails and strut, whilst 

 the nearly allied, but monogamous, ptarmigan (Lago- 

 pus\ do nothing of the kind. Almost all birds that 

 spread out their plumage, like the peacock and turkey, 

 are polygamous. Indeed, birds that never pair are 

 generally distinguished by supernumerary feathers, or 

 by having particular parts of their plumage unusually 

 produced. Thus, the Ruff (Machetes pugnax] is the 

 only known species of the sand piper and plover tribes 

 which is polygamous; and it is the only one which is 

 distinguished in summer by a remarkable develop- 

 ment of feathers about the head and neck. So the 

 bitterns are the only known polygamous birds of the 

 heron kind, and these are similarly distinguished. The 

 bustards also are polygamous, and the males of these 

 have accessory plumage in summer ; and common 

 poultry are polygamous, the males of which have many 

 feathers of their much produced. But the rule does 

 not invariably obtain : many pheasants and polyga- 

 mous species of ducks exhibit no kind of display, and 

 the monogamous partridges are not thus to be distin- 

 guished from the polygamous quails ; and inversely, 

 in certain humming-birds and others, which are known 

 to pair, the males have a very splendid display. The 

 rule, however, is sufficiently general to allow of its 

 being worthy of remark. 



COW-PARSNEP is the Herackum sjihondyUum 

 of Linnaeus. This is one of our largest herbaceous 

 plants, and known by the provincial name of kex or 

 kexes. It is very common in damp meadows, and as 

 its seeds are always shed when hay is made, it is liable 

 to usurp too much room in the turf. Grazing the 

 meadow for a few consecutive years is the .best way 

 to get rid of it, because the leafy point of the stems is 

 nibbled off by the sheep as soon as they shoot up. It 

 is a very coarse plant in hay, though it docs not, 

 appear to be ungrateful to cattle. Cow-parsley is 

 another Heracleum, but which is a native of Siberia. 



COWSLIP is the Primula verts and vu/garis of 

 Linnaeus. If any one plant is better known than 

 another it is this; every child knows the cowslip ; and 

 notwithstanding its being so common, and in favour- 

 able spots in such great profusion, it is always welcomed 

 and admired. There are several unnoticed varieties 

 of this plant; and it is allied to a numerous family, of 

 which the auricula, polyanthus, and primrose are the 

 chief; all which are described under the proper names, 

 and in that of the natural order to which they belong. 

 A kind of wine is made from the flowers of the cow- 

 slip, which, it is said, is particularly efficacious as a 

 febrifuge. 



CRAB. The ordinary English name by which 

 many of the larger species of the Crustacea are dis- 

 tinguished, and to which in the Linnaoan system the 

 name of Cancer was applied. The term however is 

 not exactly synonymous with the latter name, as the 

 lobster, cray-fish, shrimp, prawn, &c., formed portions 

 of the LinnsDan genus. Since the time of Linmvus, 

 however, the study of these animals has greatly in- 

 creased, so that the two Linna^an genera, Cancer and 

 Monoculus, have been raised to the rank of a distinct 

 class composed of several orders, one of which, the 

 Decapoda, or ten footed Crustacea, comprises two 

 principal divisions, the Brachyura, or those of a 

 broader form and with short tails, and the Macronra, 

 having an elongated form and a more developed 

 abdomen. In the former division, the animals known 

 by the ordinary name of crabs are placed, whilst the 

 latter comprises the other species above mentioned ; 

 still, as if to show the total disagreement of the ordi- 

 nary terms in natural history with their scientific 

 limits, the king crab of the tropical seas belongs to a 

 totally different order of Crustacea than either of those 

 above mentioned, whilst even the hermit crab belongs 

 to the macroura. 



Crabs are for the most part marine animals, fre- 

 quenting the rocky shores of the ocean, and having 

 the body generally broader than long, although in a 

 very few instances the reverse takes place. As, 

 however, the general structure of the crabs will be 

 found detailed under the article BKACHYDRA, we 

 shall here confine ourselves to a few general observa- 

 tions upon the habits of the order. We regret their 

 paucity, owing as it is to the very slight attention 

 which has been paid to the habits of marine animals. 



This class of animals, as compared with that of the 

 true insects, is very limited in its extent, but many of 

 the species far exceed in size any of the great division 

 of annulose or ringed animals, whilst some of them 

 are very minute. They are found in all latitudes, 

 but are more abundant in the warm and temperate 

 climates than in more northern regions. Some genera, 

 as Ocypode, Gecarcinus, Uca, Grapsus, &c., frequent 

 more southern regions, being found in nearly equal 

 latitudes in the different parts of the old and new 



