596 



0f 



denly appeared. The water was quite still, 

 and many little fish were rising. The bird 

 continued for a long time to skim the sur- 

 face, flying in its wild and irregular manner 

 up and down the narrow canal, now dark 

 with the growing night and the shadows of 

 the overhanging trees. At Monte Video I 

 observed that some large flocks during the 

 day remained on the mud-banks at the head 

 of the harbour, in the same manner as on 

 the grassy plains near the Parana ; and 

 every evening they took flight direct to sea- 

 ward. From these facts, I suspect that the 

 Rhyncops generally fishes by night, at which 

 time many of the lower animals come most 

 abundantly to the surface. M. Lesson states 

 that he has seen these birds opening the 

 shells of the mactrae, buried in the sand- 

 banks on the coast of Chile." 



SCISSOR-TAIL. (Milvulus forficatus.) 

 " A bird with a forked tail, terminated by 

 two long feathers, and named by the 

 Spaniards Scissor- tail, is very common near 

 Buenos Ayres. It belongs to the family La- 

 niidce or Butcher-birds. It commonly sits 

 on a branch of the ombu tree, near the house, 

 and thence takes a short flight in pursuit of 

 insects, and returns to the same spot. When 

 on the wing, it presents in its manner of 

 flight and general appearance a caricature- 

 likeness of the Common Swallow. It has 

 the power in the air of turning very shortly, 

 and in so doing, opens and shuts its tail 

 sometimes in a horizontal or lateral, and 

 sometimes in a vertical direction, just like a 

 pair of scissors. In structure this bird is a 

 true tyrant-flycatcher, although in its habits 

 certainly allied to the Swallows." Darwin. 



SCIURnXE. The name given to the 

 Squirrel tribe. 



SCIURUS. [See SQUIRREL.] 



SCOLIADJE. A family of Hymenopte- 

 rous insects, distinguished by having the 

 collar laterally extending to the base of the 

 wings ; the legs short and robust, the tibiae 

 being thick, spinose, or denticulate. The 

 antennae are generally short, thick, and more 

 or less serrated : the abdomen is elongate- 

 ovate, and attached by a short peduncle : 

 both sexes are winged ; and the body is often 

 very hirsute. The greater part of the spe- 

 cies are exotic, and some are of a very large 

 size. They abound in the very hottest si- 

 tuations, a?id make deep burrows in sand 

 banks ; and they are said to be particularly 

 fond of revelling in strong-scented flowers, 

 such as rue, &c. 



SCOLOPACID./E. The name of a nu- 

 merous family of Wading Birds, the greater 

 part of which were comprehended by Lin- 

 naeus in his genus Scolopax, consisting of the 

 different species of the Snipe tribe, the Sand- 

 pipers, Curlews, Godwits, &c. ; all of which 

 inhabit marshy lands, the borders of lakes, 

 rivers, and the sea-shore. They are all more 

 or less migratory in their habits ; breeding 

 in high latitudes ; and their powers of flight 

 are considerable. They are characterized 

 by a long, slender, and feeble bill, provided 

 with a very peculiar distribution of nerves, 



which render its exterior sensitive, especially 

 towards the tip, the membrane of which is 

 fleshy ; and in many species there is a pecu- 

 liar muscle, that enables the bird to separate 

 the flexible points of the mandible, so as to 

 seize its prey the moment it is felt, while the 

 bill is still buried in the ground. When it 

 is considered that their food consists of in- 

 sects, worms, slugs, &c., which they find in 

 the mud or soft earth, it will be seen how 

 admirably adapted the bill we have described 

 is for the purpose of obtaining it. [See 

 SNIPE i WOODCOCK ; SANDPIPER ; GODWIT 5 

 RUFF ; &c.] 



SCOLOPENDRA. A genus of annulosa 

 of the class Myriapoda* They inhabit the 

 southern parts of Europe, and all the tropical 

 portions of the globe, where they are much 

 dreaded for their venomous properties : their 

 mandibles are terminated by a sharp hook, 

 which is pierced for the transmission of a 

 venomous fluid. The Scolopendrce have the 

 body long, slender, and depressed, and pro- 

 tected by coriaceous plates : they run very 

 fast, and shun the light, living for the most 

 part under logs of wood and the loose bark 

 of decayed trees. [See CENTIPEDE.] 



SCOLYTID^. A family of Coleopterous 

 insects, the type of which is named Scolytus 

 destructor. The body is oblong or cylindric, 

 convex and rounded above, with the head 

 globular ; and the antennae have the basal 

 joint elongated, and the terminal joints form 

 a more or less solid oval mass. We learn 

 from Mr. Westwood, that of all the species, 

 " the Scolytus destructor is the most obnoxious 

 in this country, annually destroying a great 

 number of elm trees in the neighbourhood 

 of London ; and the injury is gradually 

 spreading into the provinces, owing to the 

 inattention or ignorance of those whose duty 

 it is, or ought to be, to adopt decided mea- 

 sures for stopping the mischief. The parks 

 and public gardens and walks around Lon- 

 don have been especially subject to the at- 

 tacks of these insects. It has, indeed, been 

 a question whether the insects were the pri- 

 mary cause of the mischief, or whether the 

 trees were not previously infected in some 

 way or other, and thus rendered an agreeable 

 nidus for the insect. From the recent ob- 

 servations of Messrs. Audouin and Spence, 

 it, however, appears evident that, in the first 

 instance, both the male and female insects 

 attack the trees for the purpose of obtaining 

 food, burrowing into the trunk. This brings 

 the trees into a state of ill health, which is 

 adapted for the reception of the eggs and 

 food of the larva. The female insect then 

 burrows deeper into the trunk, and there 

 deposits her eggs ; and the larvae, when 

 hatched, form cylindrical galleries, diverging 

 at right angles from the track of the parent, 

 and parallel to each other ; within which 

 they also become pupae ; and so great is the 

 fecundity of these insects, that their count- 

 less numbers are soon sufficient to destroy 

 the largest tree." " The larvae of Scolytus 

 destructor are thick, fleshy, curved, apod 

 grubs, of a whitish colour, the back much 

 wrinkled, armed with a scaly head and 

 powerful horny jaws." 



