634 



GLADIOLUS GLAREOL A. 



equally unnecessary and unwise to enlarge. It seems, 

 however, to be peculiarly fitted for making rapid way 

 over rough and stony grounds, where scarcely any 

 other animal could keep its feet even at the slowest 

 pace ; and its peculiar mode of ambling, in which it 

 lifts two feet at each side alternately, and bounds 

 along, almost as if it were a sort of biped, fits it re- 

 markably well for clearing the large stones which en- 

 cumber the surface of a country, so alternately burnt 

 up by drought and scourged by heavy rains as that 

 through which it has to pass. 



We omitted to mention, when speaking of the cha- 

 racters of this singular animal, that it has neither a 

 muzzle nor lachrymal sinuses ; that it has twelve 

 grinders and eight cutting teeth in the lower jaw, and 

 twelve grinders without any cutting teeth in the 

 upper ; and that the female has four mammae, which 

 are situated in the groin. 



GLADIOLUS (Linnaeus). A genus of tuberous 

 plants, and one of the finest ornaments of the flower- 

 garden. The flowers are triandrous, and belong to 

 the natural order, Iridete. Generic character : spatha 

 two-valved, grassy ; corolla six-parted and rather 

 gaping ; stamens rising upward, bearing anthers at- 

 tached to the filaments by their back, at a point a 

 little above the base ; stigma trifid, recurved ; cap- 

 sula oblong, three-sided ; seeds winged. The Asia- 

 tic and European species have been long in our gar- 

 dens, and known by the names of the sword-lily, or 

 corn-flag ; but a vast accession of species have been 

 received from the Cape of Good Hope, some of which 

 are most elegant plants. The European sorts do 

 very well in the open borders ; but the Cape species 

 require to be treated like other bulbs from the same 

 country, that is, potted in sandy leaf-mould, kept dry 

 when dormant, fresh potted in October, and after- 

 wards placed in a frame and regularly watered after 

 they begin to grow. 



GLAPHYRIDJ5 (MacLeay ; ANTHOBII, La- 

 treille). A sub-family of coleopterous insects, be- 

 longing to the section Pentamera, sub-section Lamcl- 

 licornes, and family Scarabce'idcs, belonging to the 

 group which feed upon the juices of trees or flowers 

 (Thalcropliaga), having the mandibles horny, con- 

 cealed by the clypeus, the upper lip advanced, and 

 . the lobes of the maxillae membranous. These insects 

 appear to be confined to the old world, frequenting 

 flowers, principally the vernal species, preferring that 

 of the LiliacecB ; and, from the hairiness of their 

 bodies, they must be very serviceable in promoting 

 the fecundation of plants. 



The genera are : Glaphyrus, Amphicoma, Antklpna, 

 Chasmoptcrus, Chasme, Diclicla, Lepitrix, Pachyenemus, 

 Anisonyx, and so.rae others ; the majority comprising 

 insects of small size, but considerably variegated in 

 their colours. 



GLAREOL A (Pratincole). A very peculiar genus 

 of birds, ranged by Cuvier in his order Echassiers, or 

 stilt birds, and forming one of those three small fami- 

 lies which stand in a great measure apart from the 

 rest. Those doubtfully classed birds are the carrion 

 bird of New Holland, the flamingo, and the genus 

 under consideration, none of which agrees in all 

 respects with the proper stilt birds ; and two of them, 

 the carrion bird and this genus, are not stilt birds at 

 all, for they have very short legs ; and it does not 

 appear that they arc in any way fitted for wading, or 

 given to such a practice, though all the three families 

 frequent the margins of the waters. 



The characters of the present genus are, the bill 

 short, conical, arched in its whole length, with the 

 gape wide, and in its general form bearing a very 

 considerable resemblance to the bills of the gallinidae, 

 with which, however, the birds have little in common ; 

 and they have even less resemblance to partridges, 

 although they have, strangely enough, been called sea 

 partridges, both in Britain and in other countries. 

 Their wings are very long and pointed, longer, in- 

 deed, than the wings of any known species. In some 

 of the species, too, the tail is very much forked ; and 

 the whole apparatus of flight in the birds bears a con- 

 siderable resemblance to that of the swallow tribe, 

 with whom, also, they have been confounded by some 

 naturalists, though they do not appear to have any 

 natural affinity to these birds. Their flight, indeed, 

 is something after the style of the swallows, or rather 

 of the terns, but they differ from these in not having 

 the feet webbed, except fora small space between the 

 outer and inner toe. Their legs are of medium length, 

 with scutcheoned scales on the tarsi ; and not reticu- 

 lated ones, as in the true wading birds. They have 

 three toes to the front, and one to the rear, the latter 

 of which touches the ground when they walk. They 

 frequent the margins of the water, along which they 

 usually fly in flocks, and utter loud and piercing cries j 

 their food is understood to consist chiefly of worms 

 and aquatic insects, the last of which they capture on 

 the wing, beating the surface of the water for them 

 something in the manner of swallows. 



These birds are remarkable for the closeness and 

 compactness of their plumage, upon which there 

 scarcely appears a loose feather to retard their flight, 

 even in the under covering of their wings. Indeed, 

 their covering is altogether so compact, that it is not 

 easy to discover in it much difference between feather 

 ana feather. Their colours are not gaudy ; but they 

 are in general rather rich, and well contrasted, so that 

 on the whole they are very handsome birds. 



They appear to be chiefly confined to the eastern 

 continent, to the east part of Europe, and to central 

 and southern Asia ; but some of them are also met 

 with in the south-eastern isles. Their power of flight 

 is indeed such, that a few hundred miles, more or 

 less, does not appear to make any material difference 

 in the ease of their journeys. The species which is 

 best known in eastern Europe, if, indeed, it is not the 

 only species which is found there, does not rome to 

 the British shores, or even beyond the valley of the 

 Danube, and not, as it should seem, even near to the 

 head of that valley as a regular visitant. But still one 

 will sometimes make a dash across ; and as they have 

 no western locality, there is no doubt that they come 

 from those eastern countries which we have incnti- 

 tioned ; and when they do come into Britain, they do 

 not, as is the case with most of those eastern strays, 

 alight on the east coasts of the country, or in latitudes 

 corresponding to those which they inhabit when in 

 their proper home. If one crosses the north sea, the 

 chance is that it will not alight until it is on the most 

 westerly of the Hebrides, or the northmost in the 

 Shetland islands ; and there, when one does come, 

 which, however, is but rarely, it appears to be quite 

 at home with the gulls and terns, which are abundant 

 in these remote places. Such as come there show 

 few signs of fear, and thus they become an easy prey 

 to collectors of birds, by whom they are much prized 

 on account of their rarity. There are several species, 

 though some of them are not very clearly made out. 



