THE EDINBURGH 



AL OF N 



AL HISTORY, 



AND OF 



THE PHYSICAL SCIENCES. 



OCTOBER, 1838. 



ZOOLOGY. 



DESCRIPTION OF THE PLATE THE CATS. 



The characters of the extensive family of predaceous quadrupeds usually designated 

 by the name of Cats have already heen oivi-n. 



Fiff. 1. The Black Leopard (FtUs Leopnrdus, var.) is a melanitic variety si- 

 iv.ilar to that of the Jaguar. 



Fig. 2. The RIaned Hunting Leopard (F.juhata), which is of a light yellow- 

 i=h-red colour, covered with small roundish black spots not confluent, is a native of 

 viirious parts of Asia, and has been tamed so far as to be sometimes used in hunting. 



Fi;;. 3. The Red-e^.kf.d Lynx (F. caligata)^ of a light-red colour, and with the 

 t^il of moderate length and banded with dark-grey, belongs to the section in which 

 the ears are pointed and terminated by a tuft of hairs. 



Fi'^. 4. The Serval (F. Strval) is very similar in form to the last, but wants the 

 tufts on the ears, and is spotted with black. It inhabits Southern Africa. 



Fig. 5. The Nlpaul Cat {F. torqvata) bears a great resemblance in colour and 

 markings to the Wild Cat of Europe. 



Fig. 6. The Collared Cat {F, anuillata), of the same general form as tlic 

 Serval, is marked with longitudinal elongated bands of light red, maigmed with 

 black. 



DESCRIPTION OF THE PLATE. THE SHRIKES. 



The Shrikes, which are small birds, generally of rapacious habits, with the bill 

 strong, and having a prominent tooth or projection on each side of the upper mandi- 

 ble, near the decurved tip, are generally distributed over i he globe ; but certain group* 

 are in a great measure confined to particular regions, and differences of form, com- 

 bined with geographical distribution, indicate the propriety of a more extended divi- 

 si m of this family than that adopted by the older systematic writers. The J^peeies of 

 which the bill is strong, with the point curved, constitute the genus Laniua ot Cuvier, 

 while those whose bill approaches to that of the Thrushes are referred by Vieillot to 

 the gi'nus Laniarius. 



Fig. 1. The Buff-breasted Shrike {Lanius icterus), olivaceous above, and 

 yellow beneath. 



Fig. 2. The Cruel Shrike {L. pendtns), bluish-grey above, white b -neath, 

 with the fore neck black. 



Fig. 3. The Supercilious Shrike (Z. superciUosua), light red above, whitish 

 hfineiuh, with a white frontal band extendmg over the eyes. 



Fig. 4. The Whiskered Shrike {L. nnj^tacetis) is one of the handsomest species 

 of the genus, and moreover remarkable for the vivid red of its lower parts and tail. 



Fig. 5. The Boubou (L. JEthiopiciis), dusky above, and white beneath. 



V/iLD Cattle of Chillingham Park. — The following account of the Wild 

 Cattle kept at Chillingham, and which are supposed to be the descendants of a'species 

 which furmerly inhabited this country, is extracted from a letter addressed by Lord 

 Tankerville to l\Ir Hindraarsh, who read a paper on these animals at the recent meet- 

 ing of the British Association. His lordship supposes that '* they wure the ancient 

 breed of the island, inclosed long since within the boundary of the park," but states 

 that be is not iu possession of any documents respecting them, or the period at which 

 the jiark was first inclosed. ** They have pre-eminently all the charactei lilies of 

 wild aiuraals, with some peculiarities that are sometimes very curious and amusing. 

 Tbey hide their young, feed in the night, basking or sleeping during the day i they 

 »re tierce when pressed, but, generally speaking, very timorous, moving off on the 

 ai>l)i^arance of any one,_eveu at a great distance. Yet this varies very much in dif- 

 f«'reiit seasons of the year, according to the manner in which they are approached. 

 In summer. 1 have been for several weeks at a time without getting a sight of them, 

 th.-y, on the shghtest appearance of any one, retiring into a wood, which serves them 

 aa a sanctuary. On the other hand, hi winter, when coming down for food into the 

 inner park, and being in contact with the people, they will let you almost come among 

 them, paiticularly if on horseback. But then they have also a thousand peculiarities. 

 They will be feeding sometimes quietly, when, if any one appear suddenly near them, 

 particularly coming down the wind, they will be struck vvilh a sudden panic, and 

 gallop off, running one after another, and never stopping till they get into their sanc- 

 tuary. It \% observable of them as of Rt-d Deer, that they have a peculiar faculty 

 of tak.ng advantage of the irregularities of the ground, so thai, on being disturbrd, 

 41 



they may traverse the whole park, and yet you hardly get a sight of them. Their usual 

 mode of retreat is to get up slowly, set off in a walk, then a trot, and seldom begin 

 to gallop till they have put the grc und between you and them in the manner that I 

 have described. In form they are beautifully shaped, short legs, straight back, horns 

 of a very fine texture, thin skin, so that some of the bulls appear of a cream colour ; 

 and thi'y have a cry more like that of a wild beast than that of ordinary cattle. With 

 all the marks of high br«eding, they have also some of its defects. They are bad 

 breeders, and are mut-h subject to the ri/i/i, a complaint (ommon to animals bred 

 in and in, which is unquestionably the case with these as long as we have any account 

 of them. When they tome down into the lower part of the park, which they do at 

 stated hours, they move like a regiment of cavalry iu single files, the bulls leading 

 the van, as in retreat it is the bulls that bring up the rear- Lord Oisulston was wit- 

 ness to a curious way in which ihey took possession, as it were, of a new pasture re- 

 cently opened to them. It was in the evening about sunset ; they began by lining the 

 front of a small wood, which seemed quite alive with them, when all of a sudden they 

 made a dash forward altogether in aline, and charging close by him across the plain, 

 they then spr.ad out, and after a little time began feeding. Of their^tenacity of Hfe, 

 the following is an instance. An old bull being to be killed, one of the keepers had 

 proceeded to separate him from the rest of the herd, which were feeding in the outer 

 park. This the hull resenting, and having been frustralud in several attempts to join 

 them by the keeper's interposing (the latter doing it incautiously), the bull made a 

 rush at him and got him down ; he then tossed him three several times, and afterwards 

 knelt down upon him and broke several of his ribs. There being no other person 

 prnseut but a boy, the only assistance that ciuld be given him was by letting loose a 

 deer hound belonging to Lord Ossulston, who immediately attacked the bull, and by 

 biting his heels drew hira off the man, and eventually saved his life. The bull, how- 

 ever, never left the k.-cpei", but kept continually watching and returning to him, giving 

 him a loss from time to lime. In this state of things, and while the dog, with singular 

 siigacity and courage, was holding the buU at bay, a messenger came up to the castlo, 

 when all the gentlemen came out with their rifles, and cummenced a fire upon the 

 bud, principally by a steady good marksman, from behind a fence at the distance of 

 tweniy-five yards ; but it was not till six or seven balls had actually entered the head 

 of the animal, one of them passing in at the eye, that he at last fell. During the 

 whole time he never flinched nor changed his ground, merely shaking his head as he 

 received the several shots. IMany more stories might be told of hair-breadth escapes, 

 accidents ol sundry kinds, and an endless variety #f peculiar habits observable in these 

 animals, as more or less in all animals existing in a wild state : but I think I have 

 recapi.ulated all that my memory suggests tome as most deserving of notice." 



THE BLACK-TAILED GANNET SL'LA MELANURA. TEMM. 



A sPECisiEN of this supposed species, w hich, however, seems to us to be merely a va- 

 riety of the Common Gannet, is in the Museum of the University of Edinburgh. It 

 was caught on the Bass Rock, in May 1831, and was submitted to our inspection 

 while it was recent. The notes taken at the time are as follows. Apparently adult. 

 The principal differences between this and the common are these : — 



The bill is shorter, and at the base thicker. 



The space from the eye to the base of the hill is shorter. 



The black line of bare skin Is extended down the neck to more thanhalf Its length, 

 wheri'as in the common it is only about two inches long. 



The secondary quills are dark purplish-brown; white in the common; but dark 

 brown in the second year. 



The tail is dark brown ; white in the common ; but dark brown in the second 

 year. 



Length 36 inches ; extent of wings 64 ; bill along the ridge 3^, along the edge of 

 lower mandible 6^- ; tarsus 2|; middle toe 4J ; primaries 10; secondaries 26 ; tail- 

 feathers 12. 



The size and proportions are thus nearly the same as those of the Common Gannet ; 

 from which it differs, as stated, more especially in having the bill shorter and thicker, 

 and the naked longitudinal band on the throat more extended. Should these differ- 

 ences occur in other individuals resembling the adult of the common kind, but with 

 the secondary quills and tail d^rk brown, the Black-tailed Gannet may be in reality a 

 distinct species. A few individuals have been seen on the Bass Rock, but the people 

 who rent it do not consider them of a different kind. This notice, it is supposed, is 

 the first account of the occurrence of the black-tailed variety or species of Gannet ui 

 Scotland. . . 



