THE EDINBURGH 



JOUKNAL OF NATURAL HISTOEY, 



AND OF 



THE PHYSICAL SCIENCES. 



DECEMBER, 1836. 



ZOOLOGY. 



DESCKIPTION OF THE PI.ATE THE PTARMIGAN. 



Modern Naturalists have separatecl the Ptarmigan from the Grouse, under the new 

 generic title of Lagopus, or Hairy-legged Grouse. They are wild birds, frequent- 

 :nff and incubating on high and precipitous mountain ranges, particularly in northern 

 latitudes. Thev are susceptible of considerable variations in their summer and winter 

 plumage, in the latter season being, with the exception of the tail feathers, quite 

 white. They have a wide Geographical range, inhabiting all the islands which lie 

 on the south of Baffin's Bay, and ai-c pretty common on some of the loftiest mountains 

 in the north of Scotland. 



Figs. 1, 2, & 3. The Willow Ptarmigan {Lagopits Suliceti), — This is one 

 of the most beautiful species which bear the designation of Game Birds. Its summer 

 plumage is of rich and beautiful dark and pale chestnut, and its winter attire white, with 

 a sli'Tht rosy hue. It inhabits the fur countries from the 50th to the 70th degrees of lati- 

 tude, breeding in the valleys of the Rocky Mountains, and on the Arctic coasts, assera- 

 blin'^ in vast flocks on the shores of Hudson's Bay during winter. So numerous arc these 

 Birds, that Mr Hutchins mentions he has known ten thousand to be captured in a 

 season. It is not yet ascertained whether this is identical with the Willow Grouse 

 of Europe, and which is common to Greenland, Iceland, and Scandinavia. 



Figs. 4 & 5. The Ptarmigan (X. muiu$)y in summer and winter plumage 



The«e were taken from specimens killed during the Arctic Expedition, under Cap- 

 tain Parry, and seem to differ from the European species, principally in their more 

 diminutive size. The Ptarmigan always keeps near the snow line. It is considered 

 an excellent food, many preferring it to Grouse. 



DESCRIPTION OF THE PLATE — THE CHATS. 



This genus belongs to the group of birds termed Ampelidce by Swainson, and are 

 distinguished by the shortness of the bill and excessive width of the mouth, which 

 gives them the capacity of swallowing large berries, and even moderate-sized fruits. 

 They alight very seldom on the ground, but may be seen constantly moving about 

 among bushes and trees with great rapidity, to which the formation of their feet 

 pecuhai'ly adapts them. Their toes are rather short, more or less united at the base, 

 and the soles broad. They are totally devoid of the nuchal bristles, which pro- 

 tect the mouth of insectivorous birds. This family is almost exclusively confined to 

 America. 



Fig. 1. The Yellow-throated Chat (F/reo Jiavifrons). — This species is 

 chiefly found in the woods during summer, and utters a slow and plaintive note with 

 but little variation, which it repeats every ten or twelve seconds, and sounds like 

 preeOi preea, &c. It arrives in the Middle States from the south early in May, and 

 returns with its young in the beginning of September. 



Figs. 2 St 3. The Solitary Chat ( V. solUaria), Male and Female. — This is a 

 silent and solitary bird, found in Georgia and Philadelphia, and inhabits Louisiana 

 during the spring and summer months, frequenting thick cane-brakes of the alluvial 

 lands contiguous to the Mississippi. It hangs to branches of small berries, feeding 

 upon them as a Titmouse does on buds of trees. The flight of this bird is rather 

 peculiar, consisting of a continued tremor of the wings, as exliibitcd by birds when 

 they are angry. It is about five inches and a half in length. 



Fig. 4. The Pine- Swamp Chat ( V. sphagnosa). — The favourite haunts of this 

 bird are the deepest and gloomiest pine and hemlock swamps in mountainous 

 regions of the central states of North America. Its place of incubation is still un- 

 known. Its habits are much akin to those of flycatchers, as it seeks after and feeds 

 upon insects with great keenness. It has not been yet ascertained whether it is a 

 bird of song. 



Fig. 5. The Yellow-breasted Chat ( V. polygloita), frequents close thickets 

 of hazel, brambles, and vines, and dense underwood ; and when approached utters a 

 scolding note, and seems offended at the intruder. The principal food of this Chat 

 consists of large black beetles and other coleopterous insects. It arrives in Pennsyl- 

 vania about the first week in May, where it incubates, and returns to the south about 

 the middle of August, the males generally preceding the females by several day?. It 

 seems a bird of a wide geographical range, as it has been found in Mexico, Guiana, 

 and Brazil. 



Fig. 6. The Red-eyed Chat (F, olivacea). — This species, like most of its 

 tribe, is a bii'd of passage, spending its summers in Pennsylvania and the neighbouring 



States, and wintering in Jamaica. It builds a hanging nest between two twigs of a 

 young dogwood or other small s.ipling, seldom more than four or five feet from the 

 ground. Its notes are rapid and hvely, consisting of three or four syllables. 



Fig. 7. The "Wuite-eyed Chat fF. Noveboracensis), visits Pennsylvania and 

 Georgia about the end of February, and is supposed to winter in Blexico. Its nest 

 is frequently the shape of an inverted cone, suspended by the upper edge of the two 

 sides on the circular bend of a prickly vine. It generally produces two broods in a 

 SL'ason. It is five inches and a quarter long, and seven in extent of wing. 



Fig. 8. The Warbling Chat ( F. melodia), arrives in Pennsylvania about tho 

 middle of April, and frequents the thick foliage of orchards and high trees. Its 

 voice is very soft and melodious. Its food consists principally of insects and cater- 

 pillars, and in its general manners is not unlike the Warblers. It is five iaehes Ion", 

 and eight and a half in extent of wing. 



On the Habits of Leeches, and tendency of the Reptiles of Valdivia and 

 Chili to become Viviparous — M. Gay, in a letter toM.de Blainville, dated 5th July 

 1835, says, ** It is a remarkable circumstance, that here all the Leeches exist in the 

 woods, and never in the water ; and, indeed, I cannot botanize without having my legs 

 severely punctured by them. They crawl on plants, trunks of trees, andiTirubs, never 

 approaching marshes or rivers ; and the only one which I have been fortunate enough 

 to discover in such localities is a very small species of • Branchibolle,' which inhabits 

 the pulmonary cavity of ^uc«?a jDom&a'i; it was while dissecting this molluscous 

 animal that 1 detected it. I have discovered another species m the neighbourhood of 

 Santiago, which lives on the gills of the Astacus. An equally interesting fact, and 

 which deserves your attention, is the tendency exhibited by reptiles to become vivi- 

 parous in these southern regions. Almost all those which I have dissected presented 

 this remarkable cu-cumstance. Not only does the harmless adder of Valdivia give 

 birth to a living progeny, but likewise all the beautiful Iguanas allied to the genus 

 Leposoma of 1\L Spix, and which, on account of their beautiful colours, I have in 

 the meantime termed Chrysosaurus. All the species which I have examined, in- 

 cluding those which at Santiago deposit eggs, have without exception presented this 

 phenomenon, and I may hence be allowed to generalize. The Batrachians have also 

 furnished me some examples of this description, although in general they are ovipa- 

 rous. Keverthcless, a genus resembling the Rhinella of Fitzinger, and of which 

 several species, rather prettily marked, form part of my collection, is constantly vivi- 

 parous, and therefore increases the proofs of a fact, which is rendered more remark- 

 able by the circumstance that all the examples occur within a radius of two or threa 

 leagues only. 



The habitat of Leeches, mentioned by M. Gay, is not, however, peculiar to South 

 America, as he seems to imagine ; for we find, by an account given in Percival's 

 Ceylon, that they frequent similar locaUties. *' One species of Leech, however," 

 says he, " has left too deep an impression on my mind to be passed over unnoticed. 

 It infests in immense numbers the woods and swampy grounds of Ceylon, particularly 

 in the rainy season, to the great annoyance of every one who passes through them. 

 The Leeches of this species are very small, not much larger than a pin, and are of a 

 dark-red speckled colour. In their motions they do not crawl hke a worm, or like 

 Leeches we are accustomed to see in Europe, but keep constantly springing, by first 

 fixing their head on a place, amj bringing their tail up to it with a sudden jerk, while 

 at the same time their head is tlirown forwards for another hold. In this manner 

 they move so exceeding quickly, that before they are perceived, they contrive to get 

 upon one's clothes, when they immediately endeavour by some aperture to find an 

 entrance to the skin. As soon as they reach it, they begin to draw blood ; and as 

 they can effect this even through the light clothing worn in this climate, it is almost 

 impossible to pass through the woods and swamps in rainy weather ^vithout being co- 

 vered with blood. On our way to Candy, in marching through the narrow paths 

 among the woods, we were terribly annoyed by these Leeches ; for whenever any 

 of us sat down, or even halted for a moment, we were sure to be immediately attacked 

 by multitudes of them ; and before we could get rid of them, our gloves and boots 

 were filled with blood. This was attended with no small danger, for if a soldier were 

 from drunkenness or fatigue to fall asleep on the ground, he must have perished by 

 bleeding to death. On rising in the morning, I have often found my bed-clothes and 

 skin covered with blood in an alarming manner. The Dutch, in their marches into 

 the interior, at different times, lost several of their men ; and in our setting out, they 

 told us we should hardly be able to make our tray from them." 



