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THE EDINBURGH JOURNAL OF NATURAL HISTORY. 



niited notice, at least in respect to the number of ?pecies. In the first place, it is 

 highly probable that the distribution of this class has never yet been completely un- 

 derstood, and that, so far from their being scarce in the British seas, as usually sup- 

 posed, they are tolerably common even now, and were doubtless more so formerly, I 

 have a most respectable authority for stating that, in the middle of July 1836, several 

 "Whales were seen between the Azores and the Land's End. The crew of the ship in 

 which he took his passage indeed captured one, and one was noticed by him immedi- 

 ately off the Land's End. The species, however, he could not tell. A Whale was found 

 dead off Penzance not long since. Amongst the "rarer fish of Cornwall is men- 

 tioned the Blower or Fin Fish, Balmia Physalus, Linn. 1 have seen a tooth of a 

 "Whale thrown ashore a few miles from Plymouth, which proves to belong to the Phy- 

 sfter Microps, L. In October 1831, a Sharp-lipped Whale, Bala:na Boops, L., 

 found dead off the Eddystone, was towed into Plymouth Sound. In 1S14, a specimen of 

 Ddphmus Tw'sio was captured about five miles up the Dart. The Grampus is found 

 in the Channel, and has been often seen off the coasts of Cornwall ; and the Porpoise 

 is common on all our coasts in herds, and frequently enters our estuaries in pursuit of 

 fish. We have here, therefore, an account of sis species, or probably more, found off 

 the coasts of Devon and Cornwall. 



We have now to conclude the subject of the Birds of Devon by speaking of those 

 on the shores and sea. With regard to the Accipitres, we enumerate the following 

 as more or less peculiar to the coasts :— The Peregrine Falcon, Red-legged Falcon, 

 Osprey, Si?a Eagle, and Kestrel. In this tribe of birds we perceive that, besides their 

 disposition to roam and change residence, there are remarkable examples of diversity of 

 habitat in the same species. Thus, while the Kestrel is found pretty commonly in inland 

 counties, with us it is almost wholly confined to the coasts. The Red-legged Falcon, 

 Falco rufipeSi has only been once obtained here, and then in the Channel. I must 

 here state, that I owe my acquaintance with this last fact, and also a great many others 

 relative to the rarer birds of Devon, to the " Catalogue of the Birds of Devonshire," 

 pLiblished by Dr Moore of Plymouth in the Magazine of Natural History. The Pe- 

 ret^rine Falcon and Osprey are not very uncommon; but the Sea Eagle is decidedly 

 rare. A few Passerine birds must be mentioned in connexion with the coasts. The 

 Rock Pipit, Antlms petrosus, is stationary, its food seeming to consist of the smaller 

 marine insects. The Chough is likewise a coast bird, but is not stationary on the 

 Devon shores, visiting us only in small numbers towards Winter. Both these birds oc- 

 cur in the list of Dartmoor birds prefixed to Carrington's poem of that name. They 

 seem to me to be the only true Passerine birds of our coast; at least, alterations have 

 taken place in the geographical situation of the Wheatear, Jackdaw, and Martin, as 

 before named; in addition to which, these do not confine themselves to one abode, 

 and are, moreover, observed to affect inland rocks equally with shores. Their ap- 

 petites are not limited to shore productions, and though the Chough is in some other 

 countries an inland bird, it is not so in England, save through accident or necessity. 

 The Raven at times builds on our cliffs. The Crow is noticed very frequently in 

 Autumn and Winter, examining the rejectamenta of the tide. The King-fisher migrates 

 partially to the sea-side in October ; and those which are found there remain till 

 Spring. This is another instance of diversity of action in individuals of one species 

 according to situation. It is certainly an ordination of Nature to allow of more ex- 

 tensive dispersion of the whole of the species during the season of greatest want ; for 

 by this arrangement of their appetites the removal of some portion of the species to 

 the estuaries and coasts permits a very general though very slight change in the posi- 

 tion of all the members of the kind, and at the same time gives to each a more ex- 

 tensive range for capture of prey during the time of necessity. Mr Knapp ob- 

 serves that the universality of the Robin, that is to say, its general dispersion, is re- 

 markable. This is confirmed by my notice of it, though rarely, on the furze of our 

 cliffs, far removed from farms or villages. How remarkably does the history of one 

 species differ from that of another, when thoroughly investigated, and how evident is 

 it that the completion of these histories is essential to the development of those various 

 plans instituted by the Creator for the perfection of his w^ondrous scheme of nature. 

 There is one of the Gallinaceous birds recorded by Polwhele as a frequenter of the 

 Devon coasts, the Rock Dove, Columha Livia, though be refers it exclusively to 

 Combe Martin and Lundy Island on the north of Devon. It is, however, now under- 

 stood to be an inhabitant of the southern shores, occurring rarely in the caves. 



We calculate that there are fifty-six Waders belonging to South Devon, and since 

 twenty-two of these may be regarded as belonging to the terrestrial and fluviatile por- 

 tion uf this class, there is a preponderance in favour of the marine portion. With 

 respect to very many of this class, it is quite impossible, as before remarked, to assign 

 to them unequivocally an inland or marine station. They are either so imperfectly 

 known that their preference is merely suspected by their accidental occurrence in one 

 of these situations on the occasions when seen, or they have been found to resort 

 equally to both kinds of habitats ; even in the case of those species which breed 

 on our moors, and appear in Autumn and Winter on the coasts, allowing that they 

 do not at those seasons visit lakes and rivers also, it must cause a doubt on the mind 

 whether it would be natural to refer them to the inland or to the marine class ex- 

 clusively. In fixing the numbers, however, as above, at twenty-two for the cultivated 

 districts, and the remainder, thirty-four, for the uncultivated parts and the shores, I 

 have been guided thus ; I first selected those respecting whose station no doubt could 

 be felt, and then classified the rest by ascertaining, as far as possible, which parts of 

 South Devon they evinced the most preference for, or in the case of the rarer birds by 

 considering that to be their station where each had by good accident been observed, 

 unless it seemed to me that this station was at variance with the general character 

 of the bird, and assumed only by mere casualty. Of the thirty-four, then, I have 

 reckoned two as belonging to Dartmoor, and thirty-two as shore birds. Then, besides 

 the two which are pecuhar to the moor, namely, the Great Bustard and Crane, more 

 than two dozsn other species have been noticed on that spot, very many of which 

 breed there. Some of these I have considered as belonging to the cultivated parts, 

 and some to the shores, according to the bias they exhibited. Again, of the twenty- 

 two Grallse of the cultivated parts, seventeen are also at times visitors of the coast. 



And, lastly, of the thirty-two shore birds about to be named more particularly, only 

 one-half have exclusively been seen on the coasts, and at the mouths of rivers. 



REVIEWS. 



REMARKS ON THE NATURAL HISTORY PERIODICALS. 

 The Magazine of Natural History ^ov May contains, several interesting papers. The 

 first, on the Influence of Man in modifying the Zoological Features of the Globe, by 

 Dr W. Weissenborn, being part of a series, is devoted to the Zubr, Bos Urus, which 

 anciently inhabited the whole tract between the Baltic and Haemus, whilst the Black 

 Sea and the Steppes of Russia confined it on the east, and the cold hindered it from pe 

 netrating farther in a north-easterly direction, but which *' is now restricted to a single 

 habitat, the wild and swampy forest of Bialowieza, in Lithuania." ^fter reviewing and 

 comparing the statements made by authors from Aristotle downwards, he comes to the 

 result, " that the Vrus and Bison are the same animal ; and that we have for the 

 creature now called in the systems Bos Urus four sets of synonyms, viz. one pro- 

 bably of barbarous origin, but employed by Aristotle, Bonasus^ Monassus : One, it 

 seems also of barbarous origin, Bison, Visen^ Wisont^ Wisant, &c. ; one derived from 

 the same root as Taurus, (the syllable or, or ur, of the primitive language, from 

 which the Greek ^ opog, and the very word origin, are derived, and which conveys the 

 idea of what is ancient and grand), Urus, Gall, and Lat. Our, Auer, Ur, Auerochs, 

 Germ., Ureox, Engl., Tur, Pol., Tor, Russ., Tyr, Dan. ; and oneof Sclavonian origin, 

 Zimhr, Mold., and Zubr, Lith." — "We may, therefore, with much probability, consi- 

 der the zubrs of the forest of Bialowieza as the only survivors of a species which was for- 

 merly found, in great numbers, in the vast swampy furests of the whole of Middle Eu- 

 rope, and perhaps Great Britain, whilst no other bovine animal inhabited the same tract 

 within the historical times." The next paper is by Mr Blyth, Curator to the Orni- 

 thological Society, and is entitled " Outlines of a new Arrangement of Insessorial 

 Birds." This arrangement is professedly formed on the basis of anatomy and physio- 

 logy, and he takes occasion to show some of the more palpable defects of the " pre- 

 posterous mode of classifying" usually denominated the quinary system. The class 

 of birds appears to him '' resolvable into three primary divisions, which might be re- 

 spectively styled — Insessores, Gressores, and A'a^u^ores, that is, Perchers, Walkers, 

 and Swimmers. The class of mammalia might be divided piecisely in the same man- 

 ner, namely, into Perchers, as Monkeys and Squirrels ; Walkers, as H.-rses, Oxen, and 

 Tin-ers ; and Swimmers, as Seals, Shrews, and Whales. If into a single " subclass" 

 are admitted Perchers, Parrots, Swallows, and Woodpeckers, as well as Falcons, 

 Owls, and Pigeons, we see no reason why into another should not be admitted Ba- 

 boons and Opossums, Mice and Elephants. Mr Blyth's Insessores then include all 

 birds that do noc belong to his Gressores and Natatores, for it is impossible to define 

 them otherwise. His Gressores include the Gallinaceous birds and Waders. His 

 Natatores we presume are the palmipede birds. We can scarcely admit that all the 

 Insessores, including Vultures, Falcons, Owls, Crows, Shrikes, Thrushes, Warblers, 

 Cuckoos, Parrots, Swallows, Woodpeckers, Creepers, and King-fishers, are modelled 

 on a single anatomical type ; but when the different orders and families are explained, 

 we shall be able to form some idea of the system. In the meantime, it is pleasant to 

 us to observe that from our own small beginnings in the physiological method of ar- 

 ranging birds, there is thus presented a prospect of the science s being rescued from 

 the hands of mere collectors of dry and arsenicated skins. In the third article Mr 

 Newman combats the idea of the antennae of insects being analogous to the ears of 

 higher animals. " Further Observations on Rules for Nomenclature," by Mr Ogil- 

 by, are amusing and clever, but the subject, having been so much discussed of late, lud 

 the parties being as pugnacious as ever, sober folks would rather hear of something 

 else. 



The Naturalist for the same month commences with a pleasantly written paper 

 by Mr R, Adie on the physical power of insects as labourers, and on their architec- 

 ture. The next paper affords an explanation of a peculiar mechanism in the trachea 

 of Birds, which appears to have been overlooked, and which consists of an arrange- 

 ment of the rings, so managed that one side of a ring slips over the sides of its two 

 neighbours, while the other side of the same ring slips under their sides. Mr H. C. 

 Watson then corrects an error in the Meteorological Journal of the Royal Society, 

 reo-arding the minimum of the thermometer in January last. I\Ir Rylands favours the 

 young entomologists with '* farther hints," and earnestly cautions " the student against 

 suffering a passion for collecting to choke the desire of investigating nature." From this 

 results the misfortune which jMr Swainson justly regrets, ''that nearly all naturalists 

 are more bent upon increasing the contents of their cabinets, than on studying the 

 eK^onomy of those living objects which are perpetually crossing their patb." Mr 

 Swainson we presume classes himself among the small number of persons who study 

 nature more than the contents of their cabinets ; yet we are not assured that the 

 gentleman may not be decrying his besetting sin. A long list of fiowering plants for 

 May occupies four pages and a fifth ; the remaining four-fifths being adotted to the 

 " British Swans," of which absolutely nothing is said by '' G. L. Lister, Game- 

 dL'aler," &c. Mr T. B. Hall deals more hardly with Mr Yarrel's •* British Birds" 

 than we should feel disposed to deal were we to criticise the engravings. Proceedings 

 of societies, with reports of lectures and various notices, occupy the remainder. 



The Annals of Natural History contain ^ Observations on the Coregoni of Loch 

 Lomond," by Dr Par n ell ; an account of a journey to and residence of nearly sis 

 mouths in the organ mountains in Brazil, with remarks on their vegetation, by Mr 

 George Gardner; continuation of Mr Thompson's Contributions to the Natural 

 History of Ireland ; on a new English species of Urtiea, namely, U. Dodartii, by Mr 

 Babington ; and other articles which we have not room to notice. 



Edinbcrgh: Published for the Phoprietor, at the Office, No. 13, Hill Street. 

 London: Smith, Elder, and Co., 65, Cornhill. Glasgow and the West of 

 Scotland: John Smith and Son; and John Macleod. Dublin: Georgk 

 Young. Paris: J. B. Balliere, Ruede I'Ecole de Medecine, No. 13 bis. 



THE EDINBITRGH PRINTING COiH-ANT. 



