172 



Crnrrfuni at Natural 



as they cannot be induced to rise, or even 

 I expose their bodies. Wherever the limbs of 



ia tree project over, and dip into the water, 

 : there the Darters are sure to be found, these 

 i situations being convenient resting-places 

 I for the purpose of sunning and preening 

 I themselves, and, probably, giving them a 

 ] better opportunity than when swimming, of 

 j observing their finny prey. They crawl 

 ! from the water upon the limbs, and fix them- 

 ! selves in an upright position, which they 

 I maintain in the utmost silence. If there be 

 foliage, or the long moss, they secrete them- 

 selves in it in such a manner that they cannot 

 be perceived unless one be close to them. 

 ' When approached, they drop into the water 

 | with such surprising skill, that one is asto- 

 ' nished how so large a body can plunge with 

 ; so little noise, the agitation of the water 

 i being apparently not greater than the gliding 

 of an eel Formerly the Darter was con- 

 sidered by voyagers as an anomalous pro- 

 ; duction, a monster partaking of the nature 

 ! of the snake and the duck ; and in some 

 ; ancient charts which I have seen, it is de- 

 j lineated in all the extravagance of fiction." 



DARTER-FISH. [See Toxoxcs.] 



I DASYORNIS. A genus of insectivorous 

 j birds, belonging to the great family of 

 ! Thrushes, and found throughout the greater 

 | part of Southern Australia. The BKISTLE- 

 I BIRD (DasyornisAustralis) inhabits reed-beds 

 and thickets, but owing to its recluse habits 

 is a species familiar to few persons. It carries 

 the tail erect, and threads its way through 

 the thickets with great dexterity; but its 

 powers of flight appear to be very limited. 

 The wings, tail-coverts, and tail, are rufous 

 brown, the latter indistinctly barred with a 

 darker tint ; under parts brownish grey ; 

 bill brown ; legs grayish brown. Another 

 species, of a smaller size, called the LONG- 

 BILLED BiiisTLE-BiKD (Dasyornis longiros- 

 tris), is a native of Western Australia, and 

 bears a very close resemblance both in the 

 character and colouring of its plumage to 

 the one above described. 



DASYPROCTA. A genus of Rodent 

 Mammalia. In disposition and the nature 

 of their flesh they resemble Hares and 

 Rabbits, which they in some degree represent 

 in the Antilles and hot parts of America. 

 They employ their fore feet to hold up food 

 to their mouth. [See AGOUTI.] 



DASYPUS. A genus of Rodent animals, 

 very remarkable among the Mammalia for 

 the scaly and hard shell-like armour which, 

 divided into regular compartments, covers 

 their head and body, and often the tail. 

 [See ARMADILLO.] 



DAY-FLY. [See EPHEMERA.] 



DECAPODA. An order of Crustacea, 

 containing those in which we find the high- 

 est general organization, the most varied 

 habits, and such as are the most useful to 

 man as food. Their growth is slow, and 

 their habits are mostly aquatic : they are 

 naturally voracious ; and they are armed 

 with a pair of powerful claws, by which they 



seize their food, and convey it to the mouth. 

 In this order are included Crabs, Lobsters, 

 Prawns, Shrimps, &c. [which see]. For the 

 history of the British species, see Dr. Leach's 

 " Malacostraca," or, as more easily accessible, 

 the elegant work on British Crustacea, by 

 Professor Bell, in which are figures and de- 

 scriptions of all the British species. 



DEATH'S-HEAD HAWK-MOTH. A 

 remarkable Lepidopterous insect, belonging 

 to the family Sphinyuloe. [See ACHEKO.NTIA 

 ATROPOS.] 



DEATH-WATCH. (Andbium tessda- 

 tum.) Among the popular superstitions 

 which the almost general illumination of 

 modern times has not been able to obliterate, 

 as Dr. Shaw very truly observes, the dread 

 of the Death-watch may well be considered 

 as one of the most predominant ; yet it must 

 be allowed to be a very singular circum- 

 stance that an animal so common should 

 not be more universally known, and the 

 peculiar noise which it occasionally makes 

 be more universally understood. The insect 

 in question is a small beetle belonging to the 

 timber-boring genus Anoblum; and the po- 

 pular superstition alluded to is, that when 

 its beating is heard, it is a sign that some 

 one in the house will die before the end of 

 the year. It is chiefly in the advanced state 

 of spring that this little creature commences 

 its sound, which is no other than the call or 

 signal by which the male and female are led 

 to each other, and which may be considered 

 as analagous to the call of birds ; though 

 not owing to the voice of the insect, but to 

 its beating on, or striking, any hard sub- 

 stance with the shield or fore-part of its 

 head. The prevailing number of distinct 

 strokes which it beats is from seven to nine 

 or eleven ; and this very circumstance may 

 perhaps still add to the ominous character 

 which it bears among the vulgar. These 

 sounds or beats are given in pretty quick 

 succession, and are repeated at uncertain 

 intervals ; and in old houses where the in- 

 sects are numerous, may be heard at almost 

 any hour of the day ; especially if the 

 weather be warm. The sound exactly re- 

 sembles that which may be made by tapping 

 moderately hard with the finger-nail on a 

 table. The insect is of a colour so nearly 

 resembling that of decayed wood, viz. an 

 obscure greyish brown, that it may for a 

 considerable time elude the search of the 

 inquirer. It is about a quarter of an inch 

 in length, and is moderately thick in pro- 

 portion, and the wing-shells are marked 

 with numerous irregular variegations of a 

 lighter cast than the ground-colour. It is 

 singular that this insect may so far be fami- 

 liarized as to be made to beat occasionally, 

 by taking it out of its confinement, and 

 beating on a table or board, when it will 

 readily answer the noise, and will continue 

 to beat as often as required. I cannot con- 

 clude this slight account of the Death-watch, 

 says our author, without quoting a sentence 

 From that celebrated work the Pseudodoxia 

 Bpidemica of the learned Sir Thomas Brown, 

 ho on this subject thus expresses himself: 

 He that could eradicate this error from 



