400 



cf Datura! $2t's'tcrvy ; 



flomalistis yrandis, a native of Brazil. The 

 pectinated figure on the one side shows the 



antennae of the male ; the other figure re- 

 presenting the leg, with its five-jointed or 

 pentamerous tarsus. 



MALLEUS, or HAMMER- HF.ADED 

 OYSTER. ( Malleus vulyaris\ A genus al- 

 lied to Ostrea, chiefly remarkable for its sin- 

 gular form ; the two sides of the hinge being 

 extended so as to resemble in some measure 

 the head of a hammer, while the valves, 

 elongated nearly at right angles to these, 



represent the handle. It inhabits the Indian 

 archipelago, attaching itself by a byssus to 

 submarine rocks. The shape of the shells 

 are so very various, that scarcely two of a 

 species can be found alike ; externally their 

 appearance is very rude and irregular, but 

 the interior is extremely beautiful, being 

 lined with the most brilliant mother-of- 

 pearl ; hence, as they are rather rare also, 

 they generally obtain a good price. 



MALURUS. A genus of Passerine birds, 

 abundantly dispersed throughout New South 

 Wales, containing several species, one of 

 which, 



MALURUS CTANEUS, named by the colo- 

 nists the SUPERB WARBLER, BLUE WREN, 

 &c., is the oldest known species of the whole 

 of the lovely group forming the genus ; and 

 its favourite haunts are localities of a wild 

 and sterile character, thinly covered with 

 low scrubby brushwood, near the borders of 

 rivers and ravines. The male in summer 

 has the crown of the head, ear-coverts, and 

 a lunar-shaped mark on the upper part of 

 the back light metallic blue ; lores, line over 

 the eye, occiput, scapularies, back, rump, 

 and upper tail-coverts velvety black ; throat 

 and chest bluish black ; tail deep blue, in- 

 distinctly barred with a darker hue, and 

 finely tipped with white ; wings brown ; 



under surface buffy white, tinged with blue 

 on the flanks ; bill black ; feet brown. The 

 female has the lores and a circle surrounding 

 the eye reddish brown ; wings and tail 

 brown ; under surface brownish white ; bill 

 reddish brown ; feet pale brown. 



The Malurus Cyaneus is of a very wander- 

 ing disposition, but seldom travels far beyond 

 the district in which it was bred. During 

 the winter they associate in small flocks ; 

 but as spring advances they separate into 

 pairs, the male undergoing a most surprising 

 change of plumage, which for a few months 

 is as resplendent as it is possible to conceive: 

 indeed, its whole character and nature 

 appear also to have received a new impulse ; 

 the little creature now displaying great 

 vivacity, proudly showing off its gorgeous 

 attire, and pouring out its animated song 

 almost unceasingly, until the female has 

 completed her task of incubation. In the 

 winter no bird can be more tame and fami- 

 liar, seeming to court, rather than shun, the 

 presence of man. Its mode of progression is 

 a succession of bounding hops, performed 

 with great rapidity, its short and rounded 

 wing incapacitating it for protracted flight. 

 Two, if not three, broods are reared in a 

 season ; and, independently of her own 

 young, the female is the foster-parent of 

 the Bronze Cuckoo, a single egg of which 

 species is frequently found deposited in her 

 dome-shaped nest, which has a small hole 

 at the side for an entrance, and is usually 

 placed near the ground, in a secluded bush, 

 tuft of grass, or under the shelter of a bank. 

 The song is a hurried strain, somewhat re- 

 sembling that of the European Wren. 



MAMMALIA. That class which is placed 

 at the head of the Animal Kingdom, because 

 it is composed of the beings whose faculties 

 are the most numerous, whose structure is 

 the most perfect, whose movements are the 

 most various, and whose intelligence is the 

 most developed. The term is derived from 

 mammce [breasts'], and the class contains all 

 those animals which suckle their young by 

 means of breasts. Most mammiferous ani- 

 mals are formed for walking ; a few, how- 

 ever, can sustain themselves in the air ; and 

 a limited number are destined to live in the 

 water. From Man, who, from his most 

 perfect organization, stands at the head of 

 the system, to Whales and other cetaceous 

 animals, which are classed at the end of 

 Mammalia, the skeleton is formed upon the 

 same general principles, and its parts are 

 only altered and modified to suit the station 

 which the animal is destined to fill. All 

 Mammalia are viviparous ; the foetus derives 

 its nourishment direct from the blood of the 

 mother, and, after birth, she supports it, for 

 a longer or shorter time, by her milk, a 

 nutritious liquid secreted by particular 

 glands, called mammary. Sometimes the 

 young are born with their eyes open, and 

 can immediately run about, and procure 



their own food ; but many come into the 



d, a 

 of utter helplessness. 



world with their eyes closed, and in a state 



Linnaaus was the first to bring under 

 review the whole animal, vegetable, and 



