Popular SJtcttonan? nf gmmatett ^atttrg. 115 



and a half to three feet. Its plumage is of a 

 dingy grey, deeper on the upper than on fhe 

 under parts. On the top of the head is a large 

 patch of dull wliite ; and the quill-feathers 

 both of the wings and tail are dusky black. 

 The naked extremity of the bill is black ; the 

 broadly expanded cere, light straw colour ; 

 the naked part of the legs, reddish orange ; 

 and the toes, together with their web and 

 claws, black. It has a deep, hoarse, clang- 

 ing voice ; its usual weight is from seven 

 to ten pounds ; and its flesh is considered 

 excellent. It is now exceedingly common 

 in aviaries. In the Gardens of the Zoologi- 

 cal Society we have been often struck with 

 the grallatorial appearance possessed by this 

 pleasing Australian Cere-faced Goose. Both 

 the genus and species were first described by 

 Dr. Latham. 



CERITHIUM. A genus of Mollusca, 

 chiefly inhabiting the Indian and Pacific 

 Oceans. There is a veil on the head of 

 the animal, two distant tentacula, having 

 the eyes at the side, and a round, horny 

 tuberculum. The shell (which is often also 

 found in a fossil state) has a turriculated 

 spire, an oval aperture, and a short but 

 distinct canal curved to the left and back- 

 wards. There are very many species, most 

 of which are in the collection of the British 

 Museum. 



CERTHIA. [See CREEPER.] 



CERTHIAELE. A family of Tenuiros- 

 tral or slender-billed Passerine birds, com- 

 monly known by the name of Creepers. 

 They are birds which for the most part are 

 adapted to live upon the trunks and branches 

 of trees, and to feed upon insects which infest 

 the bark. The form of the bill varies in 

 different species ; being long and slender in 

 some ; short and stout, and capable of pene- 

 trating very hard substances, in others. These 

 birds cling by their feet to the perpendicular 

 surface of trees, resting upon the stiff quills 

 of their tails ; and creep from the base to 

 the summit of the stem, with short jerking 

 movements, searching every crevice as they 

 ascend. Several species are described under 

 the word CREEPER. 



CERURA. A genus of Bombycidous 

 Moths, of which there are several species ; 

 one of the best known is the 



CERURA VINULA, or PUSS MOTH. 

 This delicately marked, and at the same 

 time common Moth, varies from two and a 

 half to three and a half inches in the ex- 

 panse of its wings, which are of a milky- 

 white or pale ash colour ; with a transverse 

 row of black spots, near the base, succeeded 

 by a rather more cinereous-coloured bar, 

 edged on both sides with black spots. Then 

 follow in the discoidal cell three curved 

 dusky stripes, which run in arches to the 

 hind margin of the wing. Beyond this are 

 two rows of blackish, very strongly dentate 

 waves ; several dark, wedge-like streaks 

 appearing between the veins along the outer 

 margin of the wing. The hind wings ar 

 wliite, but more ashy in the female, with 

 the margin spotted with dusky. Thorax 



ashy, spotted with black ; abdomen white, 

 with dusky marks. There are several va- 

 rieties, in which the ground colour of the 

 body and the markings of the wings are 



more or less intense. The Caterpillar is 

 green, with a reddish head ; the back dull 

 lilac, separated from the green colour by an 

 angulated white stripe. Its most striking 

 peculiarity is the possession of two appen- 

 dages, which, when the creature is disturbed, 

 it pushes out sometimes to a considerable 

 length. The Caterpillar, doubtless, in this 

 way of expressing defiance, alarms some of 

 its enemies ; and auy one not accustomed to 



insect-studies, would " look twice " before he 

 ventured to touch what would seem a beauti- 

 fully coloured and strange looking " grub," 

 armed with two "weapons" of unknown 

 powers. When full fed it encloses itself in a 

 cocoon formed of chips of wood agglutinated 

 together so firmly that it is difficult to cut it 

 with a knife. It feeds on the willow, poplar, 

 &c. in August, and the moth makes its 

 appearance early in the following summer. 



There are other British species of the 

 genus, smaller in size, but more delicately 

 marked ; these are all figured in the very 

 elegant British Moths and their transforma- 

 tions of Mr. Humphreys, the descriptions of 

 which were compiled by Mr. Westwood. 



CERVIIXE. The Deer tribe ; a group or 

 family of Ruminantia, distinguished by the 

 possession of bony deciduous horns, covered 

 with soft skin, instead of with horny matter, 

 and termed antlers. They are spread very 

 extensively over the globe, each quarter 

 having its own peculiar species, celebrated 

 either for vigour, beauty, or speed, or for all 

 these qualities combined. 



CERVUS. [See DEER.] 



CESTRACION. A genus of Sharks, found 

 in New Holland ; characterized by having 



