FRITILLARY-FROG. 



547 



measure fourteen inches, are very broad, and termin- 

 ate in a long filament ; the two that follow are also 

 very broad in the middle, but narrower and more 

 pointed at the end, and also end in a similar long 

 filament ; the other side feathers arc much shorter, 

 but the two next to those which are elongated are a 

 little diverging, and arch over like the tail of a cock, 

 are glossy, and more brilliant than the others. 



This beautiful species, according to Bechstcin, comes 

 from Angola, and other parts of Africa, and is par- 

 ticularly common in the kingdom of Whidah, in 

 Guinea, whence it has derived its name. They are 

 lively birds, constantly in motion, always waving 

 their long tails up and down, and often arranging 

 their feathers, and they are very partial to bathing. 

 They are healthy birds in confinement, and require 

 to be kept in a large cage, that their handsome tail 

 should not be injured. The} 7 sing a little, and their 

 notes though somewhat melancholy are very agreeable . 

 THE DOMINICAN WHIDAH (F. screna) is a smaller 

 species than the last, rarer, and with a still longer tail. 

 It is sold in London at a very high price, and sings 

 as agreeably as the other. A third species, the shaft- 

 tailed Whidah (V. fegia) has a tail rather shorter, but 

 is equally beautiful, and is not less admired than the 

 two former. 



THE AMANDUVAD (Fringil/a amandeva of Linnaeus) 

 is a beautiful little finch, which is brought to Europe 

 in great numbers by the vessels trading with India. 

 It inhabits Bengal, Java, Malacca, and other countries 

 of tropical Asia, and also Africa, is about four inches 

 long, of which the tail measures one and a third ; its 

 bill is short and thick, and of a deep bright red ; 

 irides also red ; the males are several years before 

 their colours become fixed, and the plumage attains 

 its utmost stage of beauty ; the head and under part 

 of the body are then of a fiery red, the upper part of 

 a dark grey, but the feathers having a broad red 

 edge, the latter colour seems to prevail ; in the game 

 way thy rump appears to bo of a brilliant orange, 

 though the extreme tips only of the feathers are of 

 that colour all over ; many of the feathers arc also 

 terminated with shining white spots, which are 

 largest upon the wings, and which impart a re- 

 markably pretty appearance to the bird. The females 

 are smaller, and not so bright, and from the time the 

 species takes to arrive at its full beauty, it is rarely 

 that in a large cage-full of them one can find two that 

 are exactly alike. 



They are remarkably social little birds, and sing 

 very sweetly, their run of notes resembling exceed- 

 ingly those of our pleasing vernal songster, the 

 willow wren (Sylvia trocJiilus] ; and what is singular 

 however many may be confined together in the same 

 cage (and in the London shops we may often see 

 thirty or forty), they never sing together, but in turns 

 the rest keeping quite silent to listen to th.e little songs- 

 ter. They are very active, often bowing and spreadin^ 

 their tails like a fan, are fed upon canary seeds, and mil- 

 let, and will live from six to ten years in confinement 

 THE WAXBILL (Loxia astrilda of Linnaeus) is 

 allied to the last, but has a smaller bill, and exhibits 

 a considerable degree of affinity with the beardec 

 reed bird. It is a little larger than the gold crestec 

 regulus, its length being but four inches and a half 

 of which the tail feathers measure two ; the bill is 

 dark red ; a band which crosses the eyes, togethe 

 \vith the centre of the breast and belly, are red ; the 

 remainder of the lower parts are grey and the uppe 



)rown, being everywhere streaked with soft transverse 

 lairs, which become finer as they approach the head ; 

 ail pheasant shaped. The waxbill inhabits the Canary 

 sLuids, Senegal, Angola, the Cape of Good Hope, 

 and may be found even as far as India, whence they 

 are brought in considerable numbers to Europe ; they 

 are much admired for their gentle and tame disposi- 

 ion, soft plumage, and elegant shape, and are gene- 

 rally kept, like the amanduvads, about a dozen 

 together in one cage. They are fed on millet, which 

 brms their chief subsistence in their native country, 

 ,o the damage of the fields which are sown with it. 

 They are said to approach the villages as familiarly 

 as our sparrows, and are readily caught in traps. 

 Their song is hardly worthy of notice. 



The wild habits of the tropical Fringillida are in 

 general but very little known, and they require to be 

 studied, with a view to the generic classification of the 

 jirds, which as yet has hardly been attempted, nor 

 an it be accomplished satisfactorily from a mere 

 txamination of their stuffed skins. It will probably, 

 nowever, be a long time yet before we understand 

 much of the peculiar economy of these interesting and 

 beautifully plumaged tribes. 



FRITILLARY is the Fritillaria impcrialis of 

 Linnams, a large genus of bulbous flowering plants, 

 chiefl\ T introduced into our flower gardens from Persia 

 and the warmer parts of Europe. They belong to 

 TulipacecB. 



FROG (Rana), a genus of Batrachian reptiles, the 

 typical genus, and the one from which the name is 

 taken, Batrachos being the Greek name for a frog. 

 In the Linnsean system, the genus Rana included not 

 only the frogs properly so callpd, but the tree frogs 

 (Hyla\ and the toads (Ba/o) ; and Cuvier, as he has 

 done in many other instances, has retained the Lin- 

 mean arrangement for the whole genus, or rather 

 family, but has divided it into three sub-genera, an- 

 swering to those which we have mentioned ; agreeably 

 to that arrangement, we shall notice the three, each 

 separately under the common English name, and thus 

 the present article will be restricted to a very short 

 account of the true frogs. 



The general physiology and relations to the other 

 parts of the animal kingdom will be found treated at 

 some length in the article BATRACHIA, so that it 

 will not be necessary to repeat them here, but merely 

 to give some general hints and short notices of the 

 leading species, the whole number of which is too 

 extensive for the space to which we are restricted, 

 and some of the species are so little known, that 

 nothing very interesting to common readers can be 

 said concerning them. 



The general characters of frogs are : The body 

 thick, and a little compressed, elongated, moist on the 

 surface, covered on the upper part with a few small 

 tubercles, and generally granulated on the under 

 surface.with the exception of that of the thorax which 

 is smooth. On each side of the back, just above the 

 loins, some of the species have an angular fold. The 

 fore feet have four separate toes, or toes without any 

 webs, the thumb being larger than the others, and in 

 the males undergoing a peculiar enlargement at the 

 pairing time. The hind feet are much longer, not 

 much less than the length of the body ; and they are 

 five-toed and palmated in all the species. The upper 

 jaw is furnished with a single row of small and finely 

 pointed teeth, and there is also a row of similar teeth 

 across the palate. The tongue is short, thick, aod 

 M M2 



