718 



STACHYS STARLING, i 



head, with the tail the same colour, but margined 

 with black ; the whiskers are black, and composed of 

 very long hairs. This species remains in the colder 

 parts of North America, and is not found so far to 

 the south as the preceding species. 



In the mountains of Georgia to the west of the 

 Caspian, and also in the provinces of Persia lying 

 immediately to the south of that great inland sea, 

 there have been squirrels described which appear to 

 belong to this section ; and there have been others 

 named as inhabiting Abyssinia, various parts of India, 

 and the eastern islands. There are also said to be 

 some analogous ones in the elevated parts of central 

 America, near the Andes ; but these are all so uncer- 

 tain and obscure, that they cannot be rendered inter- 

 esting as subjects of popular description. 



Those which we have enumerated must serve as a 

 specimen of'this very generally distributed and very 

 interesting genus of animals. Among all the mam- 

 malia, there is scarcely one that can be named which 

 is found in so many places, and places so widely 

 apart from each other ; and though, in almost all the 

 species, there are few animals subject to more varia- 

 tions of colour, either in different localities or in the 

 same locality, there are not very many in which the 

 generic characters are preserved more definite and 

 easy to be understood. It adds to the puzzle which 

 hangs over the natural history of Australia, that those 

 animals which are met with in every other country of 

 any considerable extent should not be met with in it. 

 We have them on all sides of it where there is land ; 

 and this would lead us to suppose that Australia 

 belongs to another revolution of the globe than those 

 which have produced the other continents. 



STACHYS (Linnaeus). A genus of undershrubs, 

 and annual and perennial herbs, belonging to Labiatce. 

 Two or three species are natives of Britain, where 

 they are called hedge-nettles. One or two are green- 

 house plants, and a few are admitted into the flower 

 garden ; all are easily propagated. 



STACKHOUSIA. A natural order, containing 

 only one genus, and of that only one species, viz., the 

 S. linarifalia, which is an herb with stipulate leaves, 

 the calyx ventricose and bearing both petals and 

 stamens, the styles lateral, the ovarium lobed, the 

 fruit dry, and the seeds erect. Of the properties of 

 these plants there is at present nothing known. The 

 S. linarifolia is a greenhouse plant, thrives in loam 

 and heath mould, and is increased by cuttings. 



STADMANNIA (Lambert). A New Holland 

 ornamental tree, belonging to Sapindacece, and bear- 

 ing octandrous flowers. It is a scarce plant in our 

 collections. 



STAG BEETLE. A large coleopterous insect, 

 being the Lucanus cervus. (See Luc AMD.*.) 



STAPELIA (Linnaeus). A curious genus of suc- 

 culent plants, from the Cape of Good Hope. Having 

 five stamens they belong to Linnaeus's fifth class, 

 but from the manner in which these are united the 

 genus is arranged among the AsclepiadecE. Some of 

 the species bear very handsome flowers, but emit a 

 most- abominable scent. They are easily propagated 

 by cuttings, laid to dry a few days before planted in 

 dry soil. 



'STAPHYLE.& (Linnaeus). A genus of decidu- 

 ous shrubs, belonging to CeUtslrinete. One of the 

 species is a native of England, and called bladder- 

 nut, from the appearance of the seed-vessel. 



STAPHYLINID.E (MacLeay). A family of 



coleopterous insects, belonging to the section Penta- 

 mera, and sub-section Brachelytra (which see), and 

 corresponding with the tribe Staphylinides of Manner- 

 heim. The restricted genus Staphylinus, as at present 

 constituted (instead of comprising the whole Brache- 

 lytra, as in the system of Linnaeus), contains only 

 those large-sized species which have their anterior 

 tarsi dilated, the body nearly glabrous, not hairy, the 

 antenna; filiform, with the tip obliquely acute, and 

 the palpi slender, with the last joint thin ; typical 

 species, Staphylitu crythropterus, a 'common insect 

 found in dung, being of the length of half to three- 

 quarters of an inch, with red elytra, and the sides of 

 the abdonvnal segments with golden pile. There are 

 six other species, excluding the Trichodermce of Ste- 

 phens. (Staphyl, murinus, Linn. &c.) 



STARLING (Stumus). A genus of birds be- 

 longing to the conirostral family of Cuvier's great 

 order Passeres, and being omnivorous in their feed- 

 ing, resembling the crows in some particulars, but. 

 differing from them in others. The characters of 

 the genus are these : the bill straight, conical, de- 

 pressed, slightly obtuse, with an angular ridge on the 

 culmen advancing some way upon the forehead ; the 

 nostrils near the base and lateral, anal, and halt 

 closed by a thick arched membrane ; four toes on 

 the feet, three to the front and one to the rear, the 

 claw upon the hist hung stronger than that upon 

 any of the others ; the tarsi rather stout, and of mean 

 length ; the wings long, the first quill little more 

 than nidi mental, and the second and third the longest 

 in the wing. 



Two species of starling occur in Europe, and in all 

 latitudes and situations in which they occur their 

 habits and manners are nearly the same. They are 

 noisy, and, as one would say, scolding birds, at the 

 same time that they are social birds, and generally 

 found together in flocks more or less numerous. As 

 is the case with some of the crow family, and with 

 others of the harsh voiced birds, they can be taught 

 to articulate ; and on this account, as well as on that 

 of their strong coats and their active motions, they 

 are often kept in cages ; and they have acquired in 

 this country a sort of poetical celebrity, from Sterne's 

 pathetic account of the captive starling, which kept 

 constantly calling " I can't get out." They are often 

 found on the tops of towers and steeples along with 

 the pigeons, and they occasionally enter the pigeon- 

 houses. They nestle in holes of lonely walls, cran- 

 nies of rocks, and openings in hollow trees. At the 

 pairing time there are many fierce and particularly 

 noisy battles among the males ; and, as is usually 

 the case with all animals, biped or quadruped, that 

 fight battles of gallantry, the female becomes the 

 prize of the victor. The nest is formed externally of 

 straw, then of rather fine vegetable fibres, and inter- 

 nally it is finished off with still finer ones, or with 

 feathers or wool. This nest is a rude structure, as is 

 usual among birds of the family. The eggs are four 

 in number, about the same size as those of the 

 thrush, and of a greenish blue colour. The male 

 alternates with the female in the incubation, and 

 both birds are assiduous in feeding the young, which 

 do not leave the nest till they are fully feathered. 

 The love-song of these birds is not a very agreeable 

 one, being a sort of querulous chirping, kept up 

 incessantly, as if they were dissatisfied. Their note 

 of actual dissatisfaction is even more agreeable, being 

 a shrill and prolonged whistle. But though their 



