TRIOPTERIS TROCHILIUM. 



815 



slightest innovation. One ascends the "hill," and 

 raises the cry of defiance, upon which forth rush the 

 doughty birds, and the battle rages the live-long day, 

 or till one has been conqueror, and leads off the dame 

 to rushy bowers of sweetest love. The battle is 

 renewed, with continuation of days, until they are 

 paired and pacified ; but the fate of the vanquished 

 in the last and single combat is not known, whether 

 he takes monastic vows, subject to fracture, more 

 monachi, or goes off in purling streams, the learned 

 have not decided. The wars of the ruffs are, how- 

 ever, very curious matters, and matters which cannot 

 be explained upon any of our common theories of the 

 conduct of animals, and the reasons which \ve affect 

 to assign for that conduct. 



The nests for which all this battling is carried on 

 are but rude structures. They are formed of a few 

 withered stalks, in the thick tufts of herbage, which 

 stud the marshes. The eggs are four in number, 

 pale olive brown in the ground colour, and spotted 

 with darker brown. The young are produced about 

 the longest day. It does not appear that the males 

 give themselves any trouble about the females, the 

 nests, or the young. During the incubation they bill 

 as before, and battles are fought in the early parts of 

 it ; but as it proceeds these wear off, and by the time 

 that the young break the shell the males merely show 

 themselves. Soon after this they leave the females 

 to provide for the young as they best can, and go 

 into retirement for the purpose of changing their 

 dress. The mantle, the ear-tufts, the caruncles on 

 the face, and all the other insignia of the period of 

 pugnacity, are thrown off, and the ere-while warriors 

 come out of the places of their temporary retirement 

 in plain apparel, and as gentle and peaceable as lambs. 

 The produced feathers on the males of these birds do 

 not belong to any particular moult ; they come after 

 the lime of what may be considered the spring moult, 

 and they are gone before the autumnal one, so that 

 they are in an especial manner insignia of the breed- 

 ing season. They are so varied in their colours, 

 between nearly black and nearly white, that it is 

 impossible to mention their tints. Their lustre is 

 almost equally a puzzle ; it is not metallic or vitre- 

 ous, or any other that we could name ; it is the 

 bloom on the nuptial plumage of the ruff, and as 

 such, it has no counterpart in nature by means of 

 which it can be explained to those who have not 

 seen it. After the moult the plumage of the birds is 

 of a very sober character. Besides the capture of 

 the males upon their appearance in the spring, there 

 used to be a more extensive and indiscriminate 

 capture in the month of September, at which males, 

 females, and young birds of the year, were equally 

 captured. It appears that the greater number migrate 

 in the winter, but there are some stragglers that 

 remain in the countrv. 



TRIOPTERIS (Linnaeus). A genus of twining 

 shrubs, natives of the West Indies. The species 

 belong to the tenth class of Linnaeus, and to the order 

 Mnlpighiacece of Jussieu. They are easily grown 

 and increased in the stoves. 



TRIPHASIA (Loureira). A genus of one spe- 

 cies of plants found in China, and specifically called 

 Aurantiola,i\\Q little orange. The flowers are pentan- 

 drous, and the plant belongs to the order it so much 

 resembles, viz. Aurantiacecs. It was called Limonia 

 trifoliata by Willdenow. It does not thrive with much 

 moisture, but with care may be increased by cuttings. 



TRIPLARIS (Linnaeus). A forest tree of South 

 America, bearing dioecious flowers, and belonging to 

 the natural order Polygoneae. Notwithstanding its 

 natural bulk it may be kept in a dwarfed state and 

 propagated in our hothouses, with the ordinary treat- 

 ment of plants from the same quarter of the world. 



TRIPLAX (Fabricius). A genus of coleopterous 

 insects, belonging to the group of which Erolytus is 

 the typical genus, and distinguished by the ovate 

 form of the body, with the last joint of the maxillary 

 palpi strongly securiform ; the maxillae have the 

 internal lobe membranous, with a small tooth at the 

 tip. These are insects of small size, found in boleti 

 and fungi ; they have the head and thorax generally 

 of a red colour, with the elytra blue or black. The 

 genus Tritoma (Fabricius) is closely allied to the pre- 

 ceding, differing chiefly in the rounded form of the 

 body. The type is the Tritoma bipuatulatum (Olivier), 

 which is found in similar situations with Triplax. It 

 is small, and of a shining black colour, with a large 

 red humeral spot. 



TRISTANIA (Dr. R. Brown). A genus of 

 New Holland evergreen shrubs, bearing polyadel- 

 phous flowers, and belonging to the natural order 

 Myrtacece. The species are desirable greenhouse 

 plants, thrive in light loam and heath-mould, and 

 may be propagated by cuttings. 



TRITICUM (Linnaeus). One of the most im- 

 portant of all the GraminecE to European society, as 

 well as to every other part of the world suitable to 

 its culture. As a bread-corn wheat is superior to 

 every other kind of grain. There are several species 

 described and hundreds of varieties. A few only of 

 the best varieties of winter and spring sorts are culti- 

 vated ; the great majority are as suitable for the 

 British climate, and even the favourite varieties are 

 so much mixed that a pure sample of any one parti- 

 cular sort is not to be had. It is with wheat as with 

 almost all other plants ; the best varieties being acci- 

 dental productions, are only for a longer or shorter 

 time thrifty in any one locality. After a few years 

 they degenerate, and then require to be succeeded 

 by another kind, and, if convenient, from some distant 

 quarter. 



TRITOMA (Ker). A genus of herbaceous per- 

 ennials, natives of the Cape of Good Hope. The 

 flowers are hexandrous, and the genus is associated 

 with the HemerocallidecB. They are half-hardy plants, 

 and bear our winters with a very slight covering. 

 They flower early in the spring, if kept safe from 

 frost. 



TRITONIA (Ker). A genus of handsome flow- 

 ering South African bulbs, belonging to the third 

 class of Linnaeus, and to the natural order Tridacece. 

 The species, of which there are above twenty, require 

 similar treatment and soil with other Cape bulbs, 

 that is, potted in light soil in October, and when 

 rooted fully, they may be removed to the greenhouse 

 to bloom. 



TRIUMFETTA (Linnaeus). A genus of tropical 

 undershrubs and annuals, bearing dodecandrous 

 flowers, and belonging to the order Tiliacece. The 

 species already in our collections are easily) grown 

 and increased by seed, which they yield plentifully. 



TROCHILIUM (Scopoli). A genus of lepi- 

 dopterous insects belonging to the family JEgeriidoE, 

 having the body thick, with a small caudal tuft ; the 

 wings diaphanous, and the antennae short and stout. 

 There are two British species, namely, T. apiforme, 



