752 



Erea^urjj of Natural 



are almost incessantly heard from the road- 

 side hedge. In winter the yellowhammer 

 joins the flocks of greenfinches, chaffinches, 

 &c., which congregate in the fields and farm- 

 yards. The nest, made on or near the ground, 



YEI.LOWHAMMER. 

 (SMBKBIZA CITRINEIJ.A,) 



is composed of moss, roots, and hair, well 

 interwoven. Theiemale lays four or five pale 

 purplish white eggs, streaked and speckled 

 with dark reddish-brown, and the male 

 takes his turn with her in the business of 

 incubation. 



YPONOMEUTID^E. A family of Hete- 

 rocerous Lepidoptera, comprising an exten- 

 sive collection of minute Moths. The body 

 is ordinarily slender and elongated ; the 

 head is small and occasionally clothed with 

 long scales in front ; the antennas long, 

 slender, and generally simple in both sexes ; 

 the wings are entire, and often long, and 

 more or less convoluted 5 the legs are of 

 moderate length and spurred ; the anterior 

 tibiae having one, the intermediate two, and 

 the posterior four spurs ; the palpi are gene- 

 rally long and slender, and mostly recurved. 

 Some of the species reside in the larva state on 

 flowers, upon which they subsist ; others are 

 found within the surfaces of leaves, devour- 

 ing only the parenchyma ; some form exten- 

 sive webs, and live in society; others are 

 solitary. Some species are remarkably bril- 

 liant ; their wings being ornamented with 

 highly polished metallic scales, and some of 

 them being extremely varied in the number 

 of their tints. 



" The typical insects of this family, forming 

 Latreille s genus Yponomcuta, are amongst 

 the largest in the family, having the fore 

 wings long, and convoluted when at rest, 

 and the posterior large, and with moderate 

 cilia;. They are generally of white or slate 

 colours with black spots, whence their names 

 of small Ermine Moths : the larvae reside 

 in large societies under a common web on 

 various fruit-trees, and especially on white- 

 thorn hedges, which are sometimes entirely 

 defoliated by them. I have also seen the 

 apple-trees, along the sides of the roads in 

 France, equally deprived of their leaves by 

 these insects, and festoons of their webs sus- 

 pended from the trees, and clothing the sur- 

 face of the ground beneath the trees. These 

 larvae are of a slate colour with black dots, 

 and let themselves down to the ground when 

 alarmed. They form their cocoons in com- 

 pany together ; in the midst of their webs. 



The elegant species of CEcophora fly during 

 the day, frequenting gardens and hedges. 

 Adela also comprises day-flying species, 

 known under the name of "Japan Moths," 

 from their polished metallic wings, and some- 

 times called " Long-horns," from the great 

 length of the antenna;. They frequent woods, 

 and fly in troops, like gnats, over the bushea 

 in the sunshine. But the most beautiful 

 species in the family are those minute moths 

 with metallic spotted wings, the majority of 

 which in the larvae state are leaf-miners. 



ZEBRA. The name given to at least two 

 species of South African mammalia, belong- 

 ing to the family that contains the Horse 

 and the Ass. They are beautifully banded, 

 and have never yet been thoroughly domes- 

 ticated. The Zebras are closely allied to the 

 common ass, the gradations, as it were, being 

 the Quagga (See QUAGGA), and Dzigetai 

 (Eqmis hemiomis). Two species of Zebra are 

 known, both natives of the Southern parts 

 of Africa, where they are frequently found 

 in large herds : the one frequents moun- 

 tainous districts, while the other only occurs 

 in the plains, where it associates with some 

 of the antelopes, and even with the Ostrich. 



The COMMON ZEBRA (Equus Zebra, L.) is 

 found in South Africa, both within and be- 

 yond the Cape Colony, but is confined to the 

 mountainous regions. Dr. Burchell, not 

 knowing that it was the Zebra of the older 

 naturalists, has very characteristicallynamed 

 it Equus montanus. It may be at once known 

 from the following species by the pure white 

 ground-colour of its coat, and the numerous 

 glossy jet-black bands with which it is 

 striped, except on the belly ; the legs also 

 are striped from the top to the bottom ; the , 

 ears are longer than in the following species, ; 

 while the tail is tufted, like that of the ass, 

 the tuft being of a black colour. There are 

 other characters, but these may suffice to 

 distinguish it. Major Harris as well as other 

 travellers tell us that it seeks the wildest ! 

 and most sequestered spots, so that it is ex- j 

 ceedingly difficult of approach, not only from I 

 its watchful habits and very great agility of ; 

 foot, but also from the inaccessible nature of 

 its highland abode. The herds graze on the 

 steep hill side, with a sentinel posted on 

 some adjacent crag, ready to sound the alarm 

 in case of any suspicious approach to their 

 feeding quarters, and no sooner is the alarm 

 given than away they scamper with pricked 

 ears, and whisking their tails aloft, to places I 

 where few, if any, would venture to pursue. 

 It is the wilde Paard (wild horse) of the 

 Cape Colonists, and the Daaw of the Hot- 

 tentot. 



BURCHEJ,L'S ZEBRA (Eauus Burchellii, 

 Gray). This beautiful species inhabits the 

 plains of South Africa beyond the Gariep or 

 Orange river, but is never, according to Major 

 Harris, found to the southward of that 

 stream. The ears and tail more resemble 

 those of the horse than the preceding species, 

 which approaches the ass in these particu- 

 lars. The back, neck, and head are tinged 

 with brown, harmoniously banded with black 

 and deep brown transverse stripes ; the belly 



