730 



of Natural 



endowed with more capacity than his con- 

 geners, but from his lion-like mane and aspect 

 as well as his strongly marked features and 

 colour, looks peculiar among his allies. 



WAPITI. (Cerww Canadensis.) This 

 animal, which is frequently called the Ca- 

 nada Stag, more nearly resemhles the 

 European red deer, in colour, shape, and 

 form, than it does any other of the cervine 

 race, though it is much larger and of a 

 stronger make. It is, in fact, one of the 

 most gigantic of the deer tribe, frequently 

 growing to the height of our tallest oxen, and 

 possessing great activity as well as strength. 

 His horns, which he sheds annually, are very 

 large, brandling in serpentine curves, and 

 measuring, from tip to tip, upwards of six 

 feet. Most of the upper parts of the Wapiti 



are of a lively yellowish brown colour ; the 



neck, mixed red and black, with coarse black 

 i hairs descending from it like a dewlap ; 

 j from the shoulders to the hips French gray ; 

 ; a pale yellowish patch on the buttocks, 

 i bounded on the thighs by a black line. They 

 i are considered more stupid than the rest of 

 | the deer kind ; and they frequently make 

 I a shrill quivering noise, which is " not very 

 ! unlike the braying of an ass." The flesh is 

 i coarse, and but little prized by the natives ; 



but its hide, when made into leather after 

 ! the Indian fashion, is said not to turn hard 

 i in drying after being wet a quality which 



justly entitles it to a preference over almost 



every other kind of leather. 



WARBLERS. {Sylvia. Sylviadce.) The 

 small singing-birds comprised under this ge- 

 neral name form an interesting and compre- 

 hensive group, spread over the whole globe, 

 and were arranged by Linnaeus under his 

 genus Motacilla. Their bill, as Nuttall re- 

 marks, is slender, straight, awl-shaped, 

 higher than it is wide at the base, and 



furnished with scattered bristles ; the lower 

 mandible straight. Nostrils basal, lateral, 

 oval, half closed by a membrane. Tongue 

 lacerated at the tip. Tarsus longer than 

 the middle toe ; inner toe free. Wings 

 moderate or short ; scapulars considerably 

 shorter than the quill-feathers. The same 

 author further observes, that they are ge- 

 nerally small, sprightly, and endowed with 

 an incessant activity, in accordance with the 

 subtleness of their flying insect prey : they 

 therefore approach, both in habit and cha- 

 racter, the Flycatchers, Thrushes, Saxicolas, 

 and Wrens so nearly, that it is rendered at 

 times doubtful to which of these several ge- 

 nera they ought to be referred. They prin- 

 cipally inhabit forests or thickets, and some 

 affect watery situations or reed-marshes. 

 Many are remarkable for the melody of their 

 song and the sprightliness of their airs, which 

 in the period of incubation they almost in- 

 cessantly pour forth. The Nightingale, so 

 celebrated for his powerful, varied, and pa- 

 thetic lay, as well as the humble but tuneful 

 Robin Redbreast, belong to this highly vocal 

 genus (Sylvia) ; and though many species 

 seek out the arctic solitudes in which to waste 

 their melody or soothe alone their mates, 

 yet other species may be numbered among 

 the more familiar tenants of our gardens, 

 groves, and orchards. Living almost ex- 

 clusively on the winged insects of summer, 

 which they dexterously catch in the air or 

 pick from off the leaves, they migrate to the 

 south in autumn, and pass their winter in 

 the warm or tropical regions. The greater 

 part of the group we have described under 

 their several names ; we shall therefore now 

 only select the undermentioned : 



The DAETFORD WARBLER. (.MelizvpMus 

 provinciate.) Fond of retirement and se- 

 clusion, this pretty little Warbler secretes 

 itself in the thickest parts of the bushes, 

 where it may be heard but not seen. Though 

 not by any means abundant in this country, 

 they are met with in the neighbourhood of 

 London, and also in several of the south- 

 western counties. Mr. Gould observes, with 

 reference to its secluded habits, that in the 

 spring it becomes more lively and more fre- 

 quently visible, "rising on quivering wing 

 above the tops of the furze, and uttering a 

 hurried babbling song, much after the man- 

 ner of the Whitethroat ; at these times it 

 erects the feathers of the head into a crest, 

 and distends the throat, exhibiting many 

 attitudes and gesticulations." It is truly 

 a mocking-bird, imitating the notes of va- 

 rious kinds, generally beginning with those 

 of the Swallow, and ending with the song of 

 the Blackbird. It is between five and six 

 inches long ; the whole upper part of the 

 body is darkish brown, tinged very slightly 

 with olive ; throat, breast, and sides, reddish 

 purple ; tail very long, blackish brown, the 

 external feather only terminated with white ; 

 wings very short ; legs dark brown, and feet 

 yellowish ; bill black, but yellowish white 

 at its base. Its food consists of insects, and 

 also of such berries as it can obtain near its 

 retreats. The nest, which is composed of 

 dry stalks and grass intertwined with fibres 



