1 88 



KNOWLEDGE & SCIENTIFIC NEWS. 



[August, 1904. 



several of the common Herring Gull (L. «):, md passed 



unusually close. 



The bird was noticed to have orange legs, not only by his 

 brother, the Hon. Walter Rothschild, but also bv the Hon. 



F. R. Henlev. 



» * * 



Longevity of Eagle Owl. 



Mr. E. G. B. Meade-Waldo has just forwarded to the 

 Natural Historj- Museum a female Eagle Owl (Dtdio igitavus), 

 which had lived seventy-two years in confinement, having 

 been brought from Norway in 1829: and during the last fifty 

 3'ears had reared no less than ninety 3'oung. 



The mate of this bird is now fifty years old, and still vigorous. 



Although the Eagle Owl is reputed to live to a great age, 

 there are surprisingly few similar instances recorded where the 

 age has been definitely ascertained. A golden eagle which died 

 at Vienna in 1719 was known to have been captured T04 years 

 previously ; and a falcon, of what species is not recorded, is 

 said to have attained an age of 162 years. A white-headed 

 vulture taken in 1705 died in the Zoological Gardens at Vienna 

 in 1S24, thus living 118 years in captivity. 



Herring Gull Laying in Confinement. 



I have recently obtained circumstantial evidence of the fact 

 that a Herring Gull {Lams Ar^entatus) has, after twenty-two 

 years in captivity, commenced egg-laying. Two eggs were 

 laid by this bird during the present spring, at intervals of a 

 week. Both were quite normal in size and colour, and. after 

 laying the second egg, the bird commenced to sit. but the eggs, 

 of course, were infertile. Wild Herring Gulls frequently 

 approached her, but of these, strangely enough, she took no 

 heed. 



* * * 



Breeding of Crested Screamer in 

 Confinement. 



A pair of Crested Screamers iChauna chavavia) have just 

 successfully hatched out three nestlings in the Gardens of the 

 Zoological Society. Careful observations kept during the 

 period of incubation .show that the male takes a full share of 

 the brooding, which lasts three weeks. The young are said to 

 resemble goslings, but not very closely. They are }'ellow in 

 colour, and have no stripes. They are described in the Field 

 for July 9 as having no down, but being clothed in feathers 

 which are miniature copies of those of the Khea. This descrip- 

 tion is somewhat remarkable, and demands further considera- 

 tion. 



* * * 



Allen's Gallinule at Sea. 



.\x\ example of Allen's Gallinule (Porphyriola AUeni) has just 

 been sent to the London Zoological Gardens. It was taken 

 at sea, 140 miles from the nearest land — the west coast of 

 Africa. \ similar instance occurred in 1S79, when a specimen 

 was taken on board a ship off the coast of Sierra Leone. 



ZOOLOGICAL. 



Arn\adillos in North America. 



With the exception of one or two species, ranging into Texas 

 and the adjacent States, armadillos, both recent and fossil, 

 have hitherto been supposed to be confined to South and 

 Central America, inclusive of Mexico. The discovery is, how- 

 ever, announced of the skeletons of extinct members of the 

 group in the Lower Tcrtiarj', or Eocene, formations of the 

 United States. In place of the bony armour characteristic 

 of the existing and later Tertiary members of the group, these 

 primitive armadillos appear to have had their backs protected 

 merely by a shield of hard leathery skin. '1 he discovery must 

 profoundly modify current views as to the origin of the 

 South .American fauna, indicating apparently that armadillos, 

 at any rate, wereinmiigrauts into the southern half of the New 

 World from the North. 



An Insect Pest. 



One of the most terrible of insect pests appears to bs the 

 minute black fly of the Mississippi Valley, commonly known as 

 the buffalo gnat, from a fancied resemblance in outline to the 

 buffalo, or bison. The buffalo-gnat chiefly attacks the larger 

 kinds of live stock, although it will occasionally bite, and even 

 kill, human beings. In the year iS74it is stated that in a 

 single county in Tennessee these insects killed stock to the 

 value of /loo.ooo; while within a single week one parish in 

 Louisiana lost 3,200 head of live stock. Horses and mules, 

 during such visitations, are killed while working, or before they 

 can be got under cover when grazing ; while in some of the 

 cities on the Mississippi the running of tramcars has been ren- 

 dered impossible. 



* * * 



G\ills and Fish. 



Confirmation of the view expressed in our last issue as to 

 the serious extent of the damage caused to our sea-fisheries 

 bv gulls is afforded by a note in the Field of July 11, from 

 ^ir. J. A. Harvie-Brown, a well-known field naturalist. 

 -According to this gentleman, there can be no doubt that cer- 

 tain species of gulls, if not indeed all, are fir too numerou?, 

 not only on account of the fish they destroy, but also owing to 

 the destruction they inflict on the eggs and young of other birds. 

 Mr. Harvie-Brown goes, however, further than this, and con- 

 siders that much of the bird protection in this country is 

 downright harmful. 



* * * 



A Rare Rodent. 



Everything comes to him who waits. -\s noticed in our 

 summary of papers read. Dr. E. .A. Goeldi has recently com- 

 manicated to the Zoological Society a notice of certain 

 rodents living in the Museum at Para, Brazil. The species to 

 which these rodents belong (Diiioinvs hranicki) has been hither- 

 to known only by a single specimen which was found early one 

 morning about the year 1S73 wandering in the courtyard of a 

 house in Lima, Peru. Although it was considered by its 

 describer to indicate a family and genus whoss nearest relative 

 is the Paca (Calogcnys piica), the suggestion has been made that 

 it was a hybrid between that animal and some other large 

 rodent. The specimens now living at Para suffice to dispel 

 this theory ; and when Dr. Goeldi's description is published 

 we shall be able to appreciate the true affinities of this re- 

 markable and interesting creature. 



* * « 



The Orkney Vole. 



Unusual interest attaches to the discovery by Mr. J. G. 

 Millais in the Orknej'S of an entirely new species of short- 

 tailed field-mouse, or vole, which is described in the /^(wlogisl 

 for July under the name of Mici-olus oirndeiisis. Having no 

 affinity with the red- backed, or bank, vole {Evotoiiiys glnriolm), 

 the Orkney species comes nearer to the common field-vole 

 {Micnitns aqrestis). from which it differs not only in proportions 

 and colour, but likewise in the structure of its cheek-teeth. 

 It is, therefore, nothing in the way of a sub-species, but a per- 

 fectly distinct species, which does not appear to present a 

 near relationship with any other known member of the group. 

 That such a totally distinct type should turn up in the Orkneys 

 is certainly most surprising, and it suggests a number of pro- 

 blems in the geographical distribution of animals. Mr. Millais 

 is to be heartily congratulated on having been the means of 

 making known such an important and interesting addition to 

 the British mammalian fauna. 



■i^ -^ --^ 



Papers R^ead. 



At the final meeting for the session 1903-4 of the Zoologica 

 Society of London a large number of exhibits were made and 

 papers taken. Among the exhibits, reference may be made to 

 a series of hybrid pheasants killed in the coverts at Woburn 

 Abbey belonging to the Duke of Bedford ; and likewise to a 

 skull of the Cape crowned crane, showing bony processes sug- 

 gestive of the horns of mammals. Living specimc ;is of hairless 

 rats and mice were also shown. The papers included one by 

 Colonel J. M. Fawcett on certain butterflies from the North- 

 West Himalaya and elsewhere, and a second, by Mr. .^. G. 

 Butler, on seasonal changes in butterflies. Captain R. 

 Crawshay contributed notes on the prey of the lion, directing 



