254 



Crra&trn at Natural fft 



and plump : the teeth are small in front, 

 but as they approach the back part of the 

 jaws they increase considerably in size. It 

 is a native of the West India islands, and 

 seems to be particularly common in Jamaica, 

 where it is said to frequent woody and 

 marshy districts. It is usually of a palish 

 brown colour, clouded with spots and bands 

 of deeper cast, but it is reported to change 

 its colour occasionally to a lively golden 

 yellow. 



GALLOWAY. A peculiar breed of strong, 

 active, middle-sized horses ; so called from 

 the county of Galloway, in Scotland, which 

 was formerly noted for them. Tradition 

 reports, that the stock originated from seve- 

 ral Spanish stallions, which swam on shore 

 from some ships wrecked on the coast, be- 

 longing to the famous Armada ; and, pro- 

 pagating with the mares of the country, 

 furnished the kingdom with their posterity. 



GAMBET. (Totanus.) A genus of wading 

 birds, allied to the Scolopaci'dcK, and inclu- 

 ding numerous species. The GREENSHANK 

 GAMBET (Totanus Glottis) is the largest 

 European species, being nearly the size of 

 the Godwit, with the beak comparatively 

 stout, and a little recurved ; ashy-brown 

 above and on the sides, with the margins 

 of the feathers punctated with brown, the 

 croup and belly white, and tail rayed 

 with narrow irregular bars of gray and 

 white ; the feet green : infrsummer the throat 

 and breast are marked with dusky spots, 

 which disappear after the breeding season. 

 It breeds on the margins of lakes, which 

 it mostly frequents ; is very clamorous when 

 on the wing ; and in winter resorts to 



the sea-shore The DUTSKY GAMBET (Tota- 



nus /USCM-S), another European species, but 

 rare in Britain, is more delicately formed, 

 with particularly slender beak and feet, and 

 beautifully barred tail and coverts ; it be- 

 comes entirely suffused on the under parts 

 with fuliginous black in the spring. A 

 third, the REDSHANK GAMBET (Totanus 

 calidris\ is very abundant in this country, 

 breeding also not uncommonly in marshes 

 near the sea-shore, and especially about the 

 estuaries of rivers. There are others, as the 

 delicate WOOD GAMBET (Totanus glareola), 

 remarkable for the extraordinary length of 

 its legs, and its habit of gracefully tripping 

 across the broad floating leaves of aquatic 



gants when in search of its prey ; and the 

 KEEN- GAMBET, (Totamis ochropus), with 

 shorter legs, and easily known as it flies by 

 its conspicuous white rump. 

 GAME, BLACK and BED. [See GROUSE.] 

 GAMMARTJS : GAMMARID^E. A 

 genus and family of Crustaceans belonging 

 to the order Amphipoda. The body of this 

 marine genus is covered with a coriaceous 

 elastic tegument, generally compressed 

 and arched ; the posterior extremity of the 

 tail is not furnished with swimmerets, but 

 its appendages are in the form of cylin- 

 drical or conical styles. Two at least of the 

 four anterior legs are terminated by claws. 

 The vesicular bags (the use of which has not 

 been ascertained) are situated at the external 



base of the legs, commencing with the second 

 pair, and accompanied by a small plate. 

 The pectoral scales enclosing the eggs are six 

 in number. There are several species of 

 this family found in the British seas ; for an 

 account of which we must refer our readers 

 to the works of Milne Edwards and Kroyer, 

 but especially of the latter. The genera 

 Talitrus, Orchestia, Dexamine, Amphithoe, 

 and others recorded in the List of Crustacea in 

 the British Museum, belong to this family. 

 The habits of some of these are very in- 

 teresting. [See AMPHIPODA, &c.] 



GANNET, or SOLAN GOOSE. (Sula 

 Bassana.) This Palmipede bird is about the 

 size of the tame goose; its length two feet nine 

 inches, and its weight nearly seven pounds. 

 The bill is six inches long, jagged at the 

 sides, and straight almost to the point, where 

 it inclines downwards ; a darkish line passes 

 from the brow over the eyes, which are sur- 

 rounded with a naked blue skin, and, like 

 those of the Owl, are set in the head so as to 

 look nearly straight forward, and the ex- 

 treme paleness of the irides gives them a 

 keen wild stare. A loose black bare skin, 



capable of great distension, hung from the 

 blades of the under bill, and extended over 

 the throat, serves it as a pouch to ca_rry pro- 

 visions in the breeding season to its mate 

 and young. The neck is long ; the body 

 flat, and very full of feathers ; the crown of 

 the head, and a small space on the hind part 

 of the neck, are buff-coloured ; and, with the 

 exception of the quill and bastard- wing fea- 

 thers, the rest of the plumage is white. The 

 legs and toes are black ; but the fore part of 

 both are marked with a pea-green stripe ; 

 and the tail is composed of twelve tapering 

 sharp-pointed feathers, the middle ones 

 being the longest. The male and female are 

 nearly alike ; but the young birds, during 

 the first year, are of a dusky hue, speckled 

 with numerous triangular white spots ; and 

 j it is not until the third year that the plu- 

 mage is perfected. 



In the Hebrides, the north of Scotland, 

 and in Norway, this species is very abun- 

 dant ; it is also met with in great numbers 

 on the coasts of Newfoundland and other 

 northern regions, as well as in more tem- 

 perate climes of both hemispheres. Their 

 food consists chiefly of salt-water fish, the 



