of 



247 



forked tail, all conspire to give him a su- 

 periority over his tribe, not only in length 

 and rapidity of flight, but also in the power 

 of maintaining itself on outspread pinions 

 in the regions of his aerial habitation amidst 

 the clouds ; where, at times, so lofty are its 

 soarings, its figure becomes almost invisible 

 to the spectator in this nether world." 



FRINGILLIDvE. A large family of 

 Passerine birds, known by the general name 

 of Finches, and including various minor 

 groups, consisting of several genera, more 

 or lesj closely related to one another. None 

 of them are of large size ; and in their habits 

 and general appearance they bear a very 

 strong relationship. They feed chiefly upon 

 various kinds of grain and seeds; occasion- 

 ally also upon insects. They are for the 

 most part hardy birds, and do not quit this 

 country during the winter ; but some few 

 are driven hither at that season from more 

 northern climates. Many of the Fringillidce 

 arc remarkable for their powers of song ; 

 others are highly prized for the delicacy of 

 their flesh. They frequent fields, groves, 

 hedgerows, and woodlands ; while many, in 

 a state of captivity, are rendered subservient 

 to the amusement and gratification of man. 

 They are severally described in this work, 

 and will be found in their alphabetical 

 order. In this place we shall merely give 

 one species, as an example, wliich we find 

 among the beautifully coloured specimens 

 in Mr. Gould's superb work. It is called 

 Estrchla Temporal!*, or the RED-EYKBKO\VED 

 FIXCII. This bird has the crown of the head 

 bluish-gray ; wings and tail olive-brown ; 

 patch over the eye and rump, crimson ; bill 

 red ; legs yellowish white. Eggs five or six 

 in number, of a beautiful fleshy white. It 

 is found in the pasture lands of New South 

 Wales and South Australia, and is parti- 

 cularly abundant in the neighbourhood of 

 Sydney. In the autumn it is gregarious, 

 often assembling in very large flocks ; but 

 in the spring they are mostly seen in pairs. 

 They build a large nest, formed of dead 

 grass, lined with thistle-down, in any low 

 bush adapted for a site, and in none more 

 Frequently than in that beautiful plant, the 

 Leptospcrmum sqtiarrosum. In the exten- 

 sive and admirable work by Messrs. Gray 

 and Mitchell, "the Genera of Birds," the 

 forms and figures of many of the Friny Hildas 

 are described and given. It will be seen by 

 an inspection of that work, or a glance at 

 the large collection of them in the British 

 Museum, or auy similar place, how impos- 

 sible it is for us to enumerate in this place 

 even a tithe of the genera of birds known 

 to naturalists. [See BCLI.I ixcn ; BUXTIXO: 

 GOLDFINCH : LINNET: CANAICY-BIUD, &c. 

 fee.] 



FRITILLARY [BUTTERFLY]. A 

 name given by insect collectors to various 

 species of Butterflies, of the genera A'cmeo- 

 bius, Melitea, and Argynnis [which see]. 



FROG, (liana.) Of all the Reptile 

 tribes none are better known than those 

 termed ANUROUS BATKACIIIA.VS, including 

 the genus Rana\ or common Frog. In co- 



lour this animal varies considerably, but its 

 general tinge is olive-brown, variegated on 

 the upper parts of the body and limbs with 

 irregular blackish spots ; those on the limbs 

 being mostly disposed in a transverse direc- 

 tion : it has also a long deep brown patch 

 under each eye. The under parts are of a 

 pale greenish-yellow cast, and much more 

 obscurely spotted and variegated than the 

 upper surface. It is not unfrequently seen, 

 however, especially towards the close of 

 summer, of a much brighter cast, and with 

 more vivid variegations ; but, like all other 

 species which are in the habit of casting the 

 skin, it differs at intervals as to the bright- 

 ness or intensity of its colours. The teeth 

 are very small ; the eyes large and brilliant, 

 and surrounded with a yellow circle; the 

 ears are placed behind them, and covered 

 with a membrane. Their muscles are con- 

 siderable in relation to their bulk, and pe- 

 culiarly elastic, strong, irritable, and sensible 

 to the action of galvanism. The Frog is 

 light, active, and lively ; the limbs admi- 

 rably calculated for the peculiar motions of 

 the animal, and the hind feet strongly 

 webbed, to assist its progress in the water, 

 to wliich it occasionally retires during the 

 heats of summer, and again during the 

 frosts of winter : for at that time it lies in a 

 torpid state, either deeply plunged in the 

 soft mud nt the bottom of stagnant waters, 

 or in the hollows beneath their banks, till it 

 is awakened from its slumber by the return 

 of spring. And here it may be observed, 

 that though the Frog and the Toad have a 

 general similitude, their distinguishing cha- 

 racteristics are very marked and decided. 

 The Frog leaps; the Toad crawls. The 

 Frog is in general the smaller of the two, of 

 a brighter colour, and has a more polished 

 surface ; the toad ii brown, rough, and dusky. 

 The Frog is light and nimble ; the toad slow, 

 corpulent, and heavy. In their internal 

 conformation the difference is not remark- 

 able, except that the Frog has more air- 

 bladders than the toad, by which it is ren- 

 dered better adapted for an aquatic life. 



Some time in March the Frog usually de- 

 posits its ova or spawn, consisting of a 

 clustered mass of gelatinous transparent 

 eggs, in each of which is embedded the em- 

 bryo, or tudpole, in the form of a round 

 black globule. In this state it lies for a 

 month or five weeks, before the tadpoles 

 are hatched from it ; during which period 

 each egg gradually enlarges in size, and a 

 few days before the time of exclusion the 

 young animals may be < perceived to move 

 about in the surrounding gluten. When 

 first hatched, they feed on the remains of 

 the gluten in which they were imbedded, 

 and in the space of a few days, if narrowly 

 examined, they will be found to be furnished, 

 on each side of the head, with a pair of ra- 

 mified branchiiE, or temporary organs, which 

 again disappear after a certain space. These 

 Tadpoles are so perfectly unlike the animals 

 in their complete state, that a person incon- 

 versant in natural history would hardly sup- 

 pose them to bear any relationship to the 

 Frog, since, on a general view, they appear to 

 consist merely of head and toi 1 ; the former 



