114 



THE EDINBURGH JOURNAL OF NATURAL HISTORY, 



FifT. 1. The Common Uoofoh {Up^'pa Epops). This species, which inhabits 

 all parts of Africa, and migrates into most of the countries of Europe, occasionally 

 appearing in Britain, is of a reddish colour, with a broad band of black on the back. 

 The win^s and tail are also of that colour, the former with five white hands, the 

 latter with one. The crest, which is erectile, is red, the feathers tipped with black, 

 and some of them having a white band. It Hves in woods and thickets in the vicinity 

 of low and moist ground ; feeds on beetles and other insects, larvte, ants, and young 

 frogs ; and nestles in the holes of trees. 



Fig. 2. The Lesser Hoopoe (U. minor) resembles the Common, but is con- 

 siderably smaller, and wants the white band on the crest. It occurs in India and 

 Afrii a. 



Fig. 3 The Madagascar or Cape Hoopoe {U. Capensis) differs so much in 

 the form of its bill, that M. Temminck has referred it to the genus Pastor, and M. 

 Lesson thinks it might be with propriety placed in the genus Fregihis. Its crest is 

 composed of very slender feathers, some of which are curved forwards over the 

 nostrils. 



FifT. 4. The Striped Promerops (Epimachvs fi/scvs). Tlie genus Epima- 

 chus is composed of species which agree in having a long slender bill, more curved 

 and compressed than that of the Hoopoes, from which they differ also in wanting the 

 crest of elongated feathers on the head, while, on the other hand, some of thern have 

 the feathers of the sides greatly developed. The species here represented is one of 

 the smallest, and inhabits Africa. 



BRITISH BIRDS, NO. VI. THE BLACK GROUSE. 



The genus Tetrao of authors, comprehending birds of the Gallinaceous order, 

 characterized bv a full habit of body, short, concave, rounded wings, legs of moderate 

 size, and having the tarsus completely or partially covered with feathers, a small head, 

 and bare superciliary crests, has by soms been divided into two genera, one including the 

 Grouse properly so called, which Vavs the toes pectinated viith elongated lat ral scales, 

 the other including the Ptarmigans, of which the toes are destitute of these lateral 

 scales and covered with feathers. There are three species of this genus resident in 

 Fritain, of which one belongs to the first or Grouse section, the rest to the second, 

 or that including the Ptarmigans. They are popularly named the Black Grouse, the 

 Red Grouse, and the Ptarmigan. 



'I'he Black Grouse, Tetrao Tetrixj is nearly of the size of the domestic fowl. 

 The male differs gi >atly from the female in colour, and in the form of its tail, which 

 is lyrate, or has the outer feathers longer and curved outward^. The general colour 

 of the plumage is black, that of the neck and back glossed with deep blue ; the lower 

 wing-coverts, lower tail-coverts, and bases of the secondary quills, white. The female 

 has the tail slightly forked, ils lateral feathers straight; the general colour is yellowish- 

 red, spotted and undulated with brownish-black. 



In its internal organization this species exhibits the peculiar characters distinctive 

 of the gallinaceous birds in a remarkable degree of development. The oesophagus is 

 dilated into a very large membraneous crop, which covers the fore part of the neck ; 

 it then contracts, and enlarges into a proventriculus of moderate size. The stomach 

 is a very muscular gizzard, lined with a thick and dense rucous membrane. The 

 intestine is of considerable len^ith, and has two extremely elongated coecal appenJages, 

 furnished internally with longitudinal ridges, and in which the residuum of the food 

 receives a second e'aboration. 



It feeds on fresh twigs of Erica cinerea, CalJuna vulgarist Vaccinium Myrtillus^ 

 willows, and other shrubs, as well as on berries and leaves of various plants, gradually 

 filling its crop, which is capable of containing a globular mass from three and a half 

 to four inches in diameter. The food varies according to the season, although heath 

 twigs always form the principal part. In spring the tops of eriophora, carices, blades 

 of grass, willow-catkins, and buds of trees ; in summer, leaves of various shrubs ; and 

 in winter, juioy twigs of all kinds, are found in the crop. 



The Black Grouse, then, is a phytophagous bird, which, feeding on substances 

 containing comparatively little nourishment, introduces a large quantity at a time, hke 

 a ruminating quadruped, and gradually triturates it in the gizzard, with the aid of 

 particles of white quartz, which it picks up as required. In the gizzard the mass, 

 acted upun by the fluid abundantly secreted by the proventricular glands, is reduced 

 to a pulpy mass, which in the duodenum is further diluted by the pancreatic juice, and 

 mixed with the bile. The nutritious parts are absorbed as it passes along, and the 

 ccecal appendages subject it to a further elaboration. 



In searching for food it frequents the lower grounds of the less cultivated districts, 

 keeping for the most part in the vicinity of woods or thickets, to which it retreats 

 fi;r shelter or protection. Sometimes it makes an excursion into the stubble fields, 

 or even attacks the standing corn. It walks and runs among the herbage with con- 

 siderable agility, perches adroitly on trees, and may often, especially in spring, be seen 

 on the turf tops of the low walls inclosing plantations. Its flight is heavy, direct, 

 and of moderate velocity, but is capable of being protracted to a great distance. This 

 species, however, does not generally wander far from its ordinary haunts, which are 

 the lower slopes of hills covered with coppice, interspersed with heath, rank grass, 

 and ferns, or valleys flanked by rocky and wooded ranges. In such situations, it is 

 plentiful in many parts of the northern and middle divisions of Scotland, in several 

 districts in the southern division, and in the north of England ; but is rare in other 

 portions of that country. 



In autumn it falls an easy prey to the sportsman, but in winter and the early part 

 of spring it is shy and difficult to be procured. As an article of food it ranks high, 

 the flesh being whiter than that of the Red Grouse, and the males weighing from 

 three to four pounds. Its natural enemies are Foxes, Polecats, Eagles, and Falcons. 

 Vipers are said to destroy its eggs and young, as do Ravens, Hooded Crows, and 

 Carrion Crows. 



The males keep by themselves in autumn and winter, and towards the middle of 

 spring join the females, fighting with each other when they meet. At this season, 

 the red space over the eye assumes a deeper tint, and the bird manifests increased 



activity and vigour; but when the excitement is over, the males appear fatigued and 

 emaciated, meet together without manifesting animosity, and seem in'ent on recruit- 

 ing their diminished energies. 



The female forms a rather inartificial nest of dry grass, in which she deposits from 

 five to ten eggs, of a regular oval shape, generally two inches long, with a yellowish 

 ground colour, irregularly spotted and dotted with brownish-red. As the nests are 

 usually placed in low situations, they are frequently partially or entirely inundated in 

 very wet seasons. 



The young, which are at first covered with close, fine down, are able to run about 

 the moment after they leave the egg. 



Hybrids are sometimes, though very rarrly, produced between this species and the 

 Red Grou=e, as well as the Pheasant. 



Formerly another species of this genus, the Wood Grouse, or Capercailly, Tetrao 

 XJroguUus^ occurred in the northern parts of Scotland, but has been extirpated. The 

 last individual recorded to have been seen was killed in 1769, in Strathg'ass, to the 

 nortii of Inverness. This species, which is about equal in size to a Turkey, is still 

 abundant in Sweden and Norway, whence it is imported in winter, when it may fre- 

 quently be obtained in the London markets. 



BOTANY. 



Directions for the Preservation of Sea Plants. By J. S. Drummond, M.D. 

 Abridged from the Magazine of Zoology and Botany, No. VIII. — The first object 

 to be attended to in preserving marine plants, is to have them wa.^hed perfectly clean 

 before spreading. It is a good practice to cleanse them before leaving the shore 

 either in the sea, or in a rocky pool. All foreign bodies, as fragments of decayed 

 sea-weeds, sand, gravel, or portions of the softened surface of the rock on which the 

 specimens may have grown, together with the smaller tesfacea, and cerallines, must 

 be carefully removed. On getting home, it is further necessary to prepare each 

 specimen by examining it in fresh or sea water in a white dish oi plate, so that 

 every foreign substance may be detected and removed. The next thing to be at- 

 tended to is the quality of the paper on which the specimens are to be spread. A 

 great error is generally committed in using it thin and of inferior quality. Indeed, 

 much of the beauty of many species depends on the goodness of the paper, just as a 

 print or drawing appears better or worse, as it is executed on paper of a good or an 

 inferior kind. Some spec'es contract so much in drying as to pucker the edges of 

 the paper, if it be not .sufficiently thick. That which has been found best is a thick 

 music paper, closely resembling that used for drawing, and of which the sheet divides 

 into four leaves about the size of royal octavo. 



Whatever pains may have been taken in cleaning the recent specimens, it is often 

 found, when spreading them, that some foreign particles continue attached, and for 

 the removal of these, a pair of dissecting forceps, and a camel-hair pencil of middle 

 size, will be found very convenient. A silver probe, with a blunt and a sharp end, 

 is the most convenient instrument for spreading out and ^gpaiating branches from 

 each other, but any thing with a rigid point, such as a large needle, or the handle 

 of the camel-hair pencil, will answer. A large white dish serves for Sj reading the 

 specimens in, and all that is further necessary is a quantity of drying papers, and 

 some sheets of blotting paper, with three or four flat pieces of deal board. Nothing 

 answers better for drying than old newspapers, each divided into eight parts, but it 

 is necessary to have a large supply of these. 



The beautiful and common Plocamhnn coccineum is one of the most easily pre- 

 served species, and may be taken as an example of the mode of proceeding with most 

 of the others. The steps to be pursued are as follows : — 



1. The specimen is to be perfectly well cleaned. 



2. A dinner dish to be filled about two thirds with clean fresh water. 



3. The paper on which the specimen is to be spread to be immersed in the water 

 in the dish. 



4. The specimen to be then placed on the paper, and spread out by means of the 

 probe and camel-hair pencil. 



6. The paper with the specimen on it to be then slowly withdrawn from the dish, 

 sliding it over its edge. 



6. The paper with the specimen adhering to it to be held up by one corner for a 

 minute or two, to drain off the water. 



7. To be then laid on a paper or cloth upon a table, and the superfluous water 

 still remaining to be removed by repeated pressure of blotting paper upon the speci- 

 men, beginning this operation at the edges, and gradually encroaching towards the 

 centre, till the whole can be pressed upon without danger of any part adhering to 

 the blotting paper, which probably would be the case were the latter applied at once 

 to the whole specimen. 



8. The specimen then to be laid on a couple of drying papers placed on a carpet or 

 a table ; two more papers to be laid over it, and then the piece of board, on which 

 latter a few books are to be put, to give the necessary pressure. 



9. These papers to be changed every half hour or oftener, till the specimen is suf- 

 ficiently dry. A number of specimens with drying papers interposed, may be pressed 

 at once under the same board. 



Destruction of the Vine by Insects. — The Academie des Sciences having 

 lately appointed a commission to repair to Argenteuil, and examine into the disasters 

 caused there by a species of insect, which destroys the vines, IMM. Dumeril and St 

 Hilaire visited the place, and went over an extent of ground of a league in length, 

 and half a league in breadth. All the vines which covered this place were entirely 

 destitute of leaves and grapes, and nothing was to be seen but vine-props support- 

 ing blackened stalks almost in a state of atrophy, owing to several sorts of in- 

 sects, among which the first place must be assigned to the Pyralis, of which RI, 

 Dumeril presented the Academy with specimens of the Eggs, Caterpillar, Chrysalis, 

 and Butterfly. The presence of all these metamorphoses, and above all the deposit 

 of eggs on the leaves of the vine, indicate that the Pyralis is continually reproduced, 

 and that in consequence it would be difficult to destroy it by fire, as is generally done 



