Btcti'onarM of ^mmatitt feature. 527 



They inhabit the whole northern parts oi 

 Europe, Asia, and America. Great flocks 

 of them are sometimes spread along the isles 

 and shores of Scotland and Ireland, as well 

 as on the interior lakes of both those coun- 

 tries. The male Pintail Duck is twenty-six 

 inches in length, and two feet ten inches in 

 extent : the bill is a dusky lead colour ; head 

 and half of the neck pale brown, each side 

 of the neck marked with a band of purple 

 violet, bordering the white ; hind part of 

 the upper half of the neck black, bordered 

 on each side by a stripe of white, which 

 spreads over the lower part of the neck be- 

 fore ; sides of the breast and upper part 

 of the back white, thickly and elegantly 

 marked with transverse undulating lines of 

 black, here and there tinged with pale buff; 

 throat and middle of the belly whitish ; 

 flanks finely pencilled with waving lines ; 

 vent white ; under tail-coverts black ; lesser 

 wing-coverts brown ash ; greater wing-co- 

 verts black, tipped with orange ; below which 



is the speculum of rich golden green, bor- 

 dered below with a band of black, and another 

 of white ; primaries dusky brown ; tertials 

 long, black, edged with white, and tinged 

 with rust ; rump and tail-coverts pale ash, 

 centred with dark brown ; tail greatly 

 pointed, the two middle tapering feathers 

 being full five inches longer than the others, 

 and black ; the rest brown ash, edged with 

 white ; legs, a pale lead colour. The female 

 has the crown of a dark brown colour ; back, 

 and root of the neck above, black, each fea- 

 ther elegantly waved with broad lines of 

 brownish white, these wavings becoming 

 rufous on the scapulars ; but the general 

 plumage is a dull brownish white, speckled 

 with dark brown. 



PIPA. A genus of Batrachian reptiles, 

 closely allied to the common Toad, but dis- 

 tinguished by the body being horizontally 

 flattened, the head large and triangular, 

 tongue wanting, tympanum concealed be- 

 neath the skin, the eyes small, placed near 

 the margin of the upper jaw. The best 

 known species is the SURINAM TOAD, PIPA 

 SUHINAMENSIS (the Rvfu pipa of Linnams). 



This species considerably exceeds in size 



the Common Toad. It is one of those ani- 

 mals which, at first view, every one pro- 

 nounces deformed and hideous ; the general 

 uncouthness of its shape being often aggra- 

 vated by a phenomenon unexampled in the 

 rest of the animal world, namely, the young 

 in various stages of exclusion, proceeding 

 from cells dispersed over the back OT the 

 parent. It was for a long time supposed that 

 the ova of this extraordinary reptile were pro- 

 duced in the dorsal cells, without having been 

 first excluded in the form of spawn ; but. it is 



318.) 



now thoroiighly ascertained that the female 

 Pipa deposits her eggs or spawn at the brink 

 of some stagnant water ; and that the male 

 collects or amasses the heap of ova, and de- 

 posits them with great care on the back of 

 the female, where, after impregnation, they 

 are pressed into the cellules, which are at 

 that period open for their reception, and 

 afterwards close over them ; thus retaining 

 them till the period of their second birth ; 

 which happens in somewhat less than three 

 months, when they emerge from the back of 

 t).e parent in their complete state. During 

 the time of their concealment, however, they 

 undergo the usual change of the rest of this 

 genus, being first hatched from the egg in the 

 form of a Tadpole ; and gradually acquire 

 their complete shape, some time before their 

 exclusion. This species inhabits the obscure 

 nooks of houses in Cayenne and Surinam, 

 and has a granulated back, with tliree lon- 

 gitudinal ranges of larger granules. 



PIPE-FISH. (Syngnathus.) There are 

 several species of this genus, the distinguish- 

 ing characters of which are, that the body is 

 greatly elongated, slender, and covered with 

 a series of indurated plates, arranged in 

 parallel lines ; that the nose is long and 

 tubular ; that the gills are arranged in small 

 round tufts along the branchial arches ; and 

 that there are no ventral fins. 





The GREAT PIPE-FISH (SyngnatJaut ac?) 

 s one of the most common species found on 

 our coasts, sometimes among sea-weed at 



