THE EDINBURGH 



JOURNAL OF NATURAL HISTORY, 



AND OF 



THE PHYSICAL SCIENCES, 



MAY, 1838. 



ZOOLOGY. 



DESCRIPTION OF THE PLATE, THE CAT TRIBE CONTINUED. 



Is the Number for January 2, 1836, is an account of several species of this genus, 

 ■which is characterized hy the ferocity, agility, and insidious nature of its different 

 species. Among the larger of these is the Jaguar, which on the New Continent may 

 be considered as analogous to the Tiger of the old. 



Fig. 1. The Jaguar (Felis Onca). Although this animal is the most powerful 

 of the American Cats, it is inferior in size and strength to the Tiger, and so closely 

 resembles in form, as well as in the distribution of its colours, the Lfopard, that 

 the two species have been confounded by many naturalists. The Ja^^uar, however, is 

 much superior in size to that animal, individuals often measuring nearly 6ve feet from 

 the nose to the insertion of the tail. The body is mucli thicker, the limus shorter, 

 and the tail inferior in length, so that its tip scarcely trails on the ground. Both 

 animals are of a yellowish-red colour, marked with circular dusky rino-s, which in the 

 Leopard are smaller, and composed of rather widely separated spots, whereas in the 

 Jaguar they rather form continuous rings. This species appears to be generally dii- 

 tributed over South America, but does not extend northward beyond the isth- 

 mus of Panama. Although not uncommon in the parts remote from cultivation, 

 it has disappeared in the neighbourhood of the citie?, and is daily becoming 

 more scarce, as its predacious habits, together with the value of its skin, render 

 it an object of pursuit. The Jaguar, like other species of *his genus, lies in 

 wait for its prey, and springs upon it unawares, bearing it down by its weight 

 and great strength, and instantly depriving it of life, when it devours a portion 

 of it on the spot, or carries it off to the thickets. It very rarely ventures to 

 attack a man, unless urged by extremis hunger, and, notwithstanding its great 

 vigour, is considered as cowardly. It clinib,^ trees with facility, swims with almost 

 equal ease, and although generally nocturnal, sumeiimes hunts by day. Its strength 

 is so great, that it can drag so large an animal as a horse or a cow to a considerable 

 distance. 



Fig. 2. The Jaguar Female. The female differs from the male chiefly in 

 being somewhat smaller, and in having the colours less bright. 



Fig. 3. The Persian Ltnx (Felis Caracal). The Lynxes are distinguished 

 from the other Cats by having the ears pointed, with a tuft of iiairs at their ex 

 tremity. The present sp'jcies, which is of a yellowish-red colour, and the tail 

 reachmg to the heels only, inhabits various parts of Asia and Africa. The Persian 

 variety here represented is marked with smalt dusky s^iots. 



Fig. 4. The Colocolo (F. Cvlocol»), which inhabits South America, is of 

 smalt size, with the head short, broad, and flattened, the body greyish-white, with 

 longitudinal streaks of dusky and red, and the tail beautifully ringed with the same. 



DESCRIPTION OF THE PLATE. THE SHORT-TAILED CROWS OR BREVES. 



The genus Pitta of Temminck is composed of birds generally of very spendid jdu- 

 mage, of a singularly abbreviated form, arising chiefly from the shortness of the tail, 

 whence the name Breves applied to them by the French. They are in a manner 

 intermediate between the Crow and Thrush families, having the bill of the former 

 with the feel of the latter. According to Mr Swainson, they have the gradually 

 curved bill of the true thrushes, but much stronger; the predominant colour of their 

 pkmage is green, the sides of the head and the wing-; being generally variegated with 

 vivid blue ; and all are confined to New Holland, and the neighbouring isles of the 

 Indian seas. 



Fig.l. The Giant Breve (Pitta cyanoptera) is one of the largest species, but 

 inferior in beauty to many of the rest, although coloured with green, blue, yellow, and 

 black. It was discovered in Sumatra by Messrs Diard and Duvaucel. 



Fig. 2 Macklot's Breve {P. Macklotii) has the head reddish-brown, the throat 

 dusky, the fore-neck light blue, the lower parts dull-red, and the upper green. 



Fig. 3. The Noist Breve (P. strepitans) is a very beautiful species, having the 

 upper part of the head brown, the throat and upper part of the neck, with a patch on 

 the breast, black, the fore-neck, breast, and sides, yellow, the abdomen red, the back 

 green, and the wing-covets and secondaries blue. It inhabits New Holland. 



Fig. 4. The Grenadine Breve (P. gianatina) is aUo splendidly coloured 

 with red, brown, green, and blue; as is 



Fig. 6. The Red-erea&ted Breve (P. erythrogaUra), which inhabits the 

 Philippine Islands, has the head brown, the neck azure blu-^. the back green, and 

 the wings blue, with two white spots. 

 36 



ON THE GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF ANIMALS. — NO. IV. 



(Contitined from page 140.) 

 The remark which wo made relative to the Accipitres as being prone to roam, of 

 individuals of one species being stationed in localities of very I'ifferent natu: es, of their 

 partaking of a variety of food, and of the same species being found in various quarters 

 of the globe, applies, though less forcibly, to the family of the Pies, and to the Shi ikes. 

 The appetite of the Raven extends to every sort of animal food: it has of necessity a 

 roaming disposition, and it is spread over the globe from the northern countries to 

 the Cape of Guod Hdjk;. The Crow and Magpie also enjoy a very extensive range, 

 and the latter is found in America. Those Pi.-s, however, which are in some degree 

 granivorous, or less decidedly carnivorous, are not so widely dispersed, or of so roam- 

 ing a disposition : the Rook, the Jaikdaw, the Jay, the Hooded Crow, and the Chough. 

 The Great Slirike, Lanitis Excubitor^ has a range almost equal to that of the Raven, 

 while the Flu>hef, Laniits CoUurio, which is chiefly insectivorous, is confined to 

 Europe, or extends at most to Ejypt. Among land birds, therefore, the Accipitres 

 and rapacious or carnivorous Passeres, enjoy the most extensive distribution. The 

 Kingfisher, a piscivorous bird, is also very widely dispersed, being common to Europe, 

 Asia, and Africa. The Waders and Web-footed birds are, however, more extensively 

 distributed than land birds, more especially the former, as we may have occasion to 

 observe hereafter. Fish enjoy a very wide ran^e, but quadrupeds seem to character- 

 ize the natural divisions of the earth, at least in a great measure. The other tribes 

 are likewise in some degree characteristic of different quarters of the world. 



Proceeding in our comparison of the cultivated parts of Devon with Oxfordshire, 

 we come next to the Scansores, in w inch divii^ion we do not possess more species than 

 are met with in Osfordsh:re, or most other counties. There are two stragglers, the 

 Black Woodpecker, Piciis raaTtius. and the Hairy Woodpecker, Picus v'dlosus^ which 

 have not been noticed with us. The Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, Picus jniiior, and 

 Wryneck, J'u/iX Turquilla, are rare with us, and seemingly prefer some stations to 

 others. 



In the Gallinae, we have the advantage of Oxfi)rdshire, in possessing the Stock 

 Dove, Columba QLnaSy a bird which appears here in large flocks in winter, but is not 

 noticed at other times. The Rock Dove, C. Livia^ is not known to exist on our coasts 

 in any considerable numbers. The Quail is rather scarce with us : it is found prin- 

 cipally in October, at the time of departure, but a few stay with us through the 

 winter. 



The order of Waders, Grallce, comprehends some which reside in swampy situations, 

 or in connexion with inland -ivers and l.<kes, besides being principally composed of those 

 usually termed shore birds (which likewise at times resort to rivers and lakes, and for 

 the most part breed in fens or retired swampy spots), and a few other species which 

 are by no means water birds, and are found in very different situations from the other 

 Grallffi. Accordingly, some birdi of this order find a place in the Oxfordsliire list, 

 and may with propriety be enumerated amongst our own birds of the South Hams. 

 Of these birds some breed on Dartmoor, and appear in auturnn and winter in the 

 cultivated lands, as before noticed with respect to the Golden Plover, the Grey Plo- 

 ver, and the Lapwing. Some individuals of the Woodcock and Snipe also breed in 

 retired moorland situations, and appear with the main body of those migrators in the 

 cultivated parts, on the occurrence of the tirst cold. The Curlew and Dunlin (or 

 some of them) breed on the moors, and pass over to the shores and rocks in winter ; 

 while very many species may be regarded as common to the cultivated parts and to 

 the coasts, rendering it in some degree questionable which situation should claim 

 tliem. The Grallae, however, generally are shore birds. I enumerate about twenty- 

 two Waders as frequenters of the cultivated districts of South Devon, of which thirteen 

 are found in Oxfordshire, the remainder consisting of the Grey Plover, the Great 

 Snipe, Olivaceous Gallinule, Spotted GaUinule, Dottrel, Little Bustard, Little Gal- 

 linule. Ruff, and Green Sandpiper, all of which are,, as in the preceding instances of 

 birds found here and not in Oxfordshire, rarities, or at least uncommon birds. Nor 

 does that county claim any species not found with us, as may readily be imagined from 

 the fact that there are but two British birds belonging to that division of the GralliE 

 which we may term inland and fluviatile Waders. Sabine's Snipe, Scolopax Sabini, and 

 the Courser, Cursoriua isabelllnuSj have been seen in England but twice or thrice. 

 The Thick-kneed Plover, liowover, which in our cultivated districts is scarce, is in 

 Oxfordshire common, though probably this depends on that county possessing such a 

 noble and extensive forest, and other uncultivated tracts. In Oxfordshire the Golden 

 Plover appears only in winter, whereas here it breeds on our moors, and appears in 



