THE EDINBURGH 



JOURNAL OF NATURAL HISTORY, 



AND OF 



THE PHYSICAL SCIENCES. 



JANUARY, 1839. 



ZOOLOGY. 



DESCRIPTION or THE PLATE, THE DEER. 



The species here represented belono^ to the section having flattened antlers. 



Fig. 1. The i\Ioose-Deer, or Elk (Ceivus Alces), a young individual in winter. 



F.g. 2. The I\Ioose-Deer. The same in summer. 



This spenies, which inhabits the northern parts of both continents, is as large as a 

 Horse, and stands very high in proportion to its length. Its form is inelegant, its 

 Tiiuzzle being enlarged and tumid, its shoulders prominent, its hind quarters lower, its 

 tiii extremfly short, and its Hmbs strong and greatly elongated. The antlers are at 

 first simple, as in Fig. 2, but in the fifth year assume an expanded triani;ular shape, 

 with projecting digitations on the outer edge, and sometimes increase to a large size. 

 They are vigilant and timid, but when wounded will attack a Man. Their flesh is 

 esteemed excellent food. 



Fig. 3. The Rein-Deer (C. Tarandus), Male. 



Fig. 4. The ReinDeer. Young female. 



The Rein-D.'cr has attracted more notice than perhaps any other species, on ac- 

 count of the uses to which it is applied by the inhabitants of the northern parts of 

 Europe, who have reduced it to a state of perfect subjugation. T/iese animals, in 

 fact, constifute the chief liches of the Laplanders, who keep th*!m in herds, subsist 

 on their milk and fle-h, and employ them for drawing their sledges. They are of the 

 size of the Red- Deer, but are less elegantly formed, with stouter and shorter limbs. 

 This species occurs in the arctic parts of America, where it is known by the name of 

 Caribou. 



FiiT. 5. The Fallow-Deer (C. Dama). Male of the black or dark-coloured 

 Viiriety. 



Fig. 6. The Fallow-Dfer. Female. 



Fig. 7. The Falt.ow-Deer. Young. 



The Falloiv-Deer, which is inferior in size to the RL>d-D.'er, and exhibits great va- 

 riatinns in colour, is kept in a semi-doraeslicated state in many parts of Europe, and 

 especially in Eiitain, where it forms a conspicuous ornament to the parks of the No- 

 bility and others. The light-coloured or common variety is u^^ually spotted with 

 whitish ; but the dark-brown, here represented, is for the most part destitute of such 

 markings. 



DESCRIPTION OF THE PLATE THE HORNBILLS. 



The Hurnbirs, principally distinguished by their enormous bill, generally having a 

 large projection on the upper mandible, are considered by Cuvier as forming a genus 

 of the Syndactylous Family of the Passerine. In the form and size of the°biirthey 

 seem allied to the Toucans, while in their general aspect they resemble the Crows, 

 and in their short, syndactylous feet, approach the Bee-eaters and Kingfishers. The 

 tongue is extremely smill, so as to be incapable of being used as an organ of prehen- 

 sion. They are said to be omnivorous, like the Crows, and are pecuUar to Africa 

 and India. 



Fig. 1. The Mourning Hornbill {Buceros anthracicus). Black, with the 

 tail-feathers, except the middle, white in the terminal half; the bill yellow. 



Fig. 2. The White-breasted Hornbill {B convcxus). The head, neck, and 

 upper parts, black ; the lower parts and tail white. 



Fig. 3. The Yellow-billed Hornbill {B. gracilis). Black, with the terminal 

 parts of the tail white. 



Fig. 4. The Red-billeu Hornbill {B. sulcaius), with the bill red, the upper 

 parts of the body bluibh-black, the tail white, with a terminal black band. Inhabits 

 the Philippine Islands. 



F'g. 5. The Largup Hornbill {B. galerittis). Dusky, with the tail whitish, 

 terminated %vilh black. 



Fig. 6. The Red-necked Hornbill {B. rvjicollis). The head and neck light 

 red, the other parts bluish-black, except the tail, which is white. 

 44 



BRITISH BIEDS. — THE WATER-HEN. 



The "Water-Hen, or Green-footed Gallinule, when seen running along the banks of 

 a stream or pool, invariably calls to mind the idea of a young domestic fowl, its form 

 and attitudes being extremely similar. The body, although mutrh compressed, is ra- 

 ther full anteriorly ; the neck of moderate length, the head oblong, compressed, and 

 rather small. The bill, which does not exceed the head in length, is rather stout, 

 tapering, and much compressed. The feet are large ; the tibia muscular, its lower 

 part bare, the tarsus of moderate length, large, compressed, anterioily covered with 

 broad, curved sculella ; the toes very long, slender, compressed, the first, however, 

 very small ; the claws long, slender, slightly arched, compressed, acute. The plumage 

 is blended, soft, glossy above; the wings short, concave, and rounded; the tail very 

 short, arched, much rounded, of twelve weak, narrow, rounded feathers. 



In the end of autumn, when the moult has been completed, the bill is greenish-yel- 

 low beyond the nostrils, the basal part, and frontal-plate, crimson-red, the latter 

 somewhat paler. The iris, which is very narrow, seems red at a httle distance, but 

 is composed of three rings, the outer hazel, the middle dusky, the inner bright red. 

 The feet are dull green, with a ring of bright red above the tibio-tarsal joint ; the 

 claws dusky, the head, neck, and lower parts, are of a dark greyish-blue, the abdomen 

 tinged with pale-grey, and the uppermost hypochondrial feathers, which are very 

 long, have a longitudinal band of white on the outer web. The back and smaller 

 wing-coverts are of a deep olive brown. The quills, alula, and primary coverts, are 

 dark brown, the secondary coverts, the same tinged with olive-brown, the first quill 

 and first alular feather with the outer edge white, of which colour also is the edge of 

 the wing. The tail is blackish-brown ; the proximal under tail-coverts white, and a 

 tuft of feathers under the middle of the latter deep black. The length is thirteen 

 inches, and the extended wings measure twenty-two. 



The Water-Hen is found in all parts of England and Scotland that are adapted to 

 its nature. It frequents marshy places, pools, lakes, still streams, mill-dams, and even 

 ditches, where it searches for food chiefly among the reeds and other aquatic plants 

 along the shores. It sw ims with great ease and elegance, sitting lightly on the water, 

 with its neck erect, and its tail obliquely raised. It dives with equal facility, and in 

 travelling among the reeds, sedges, and other aquatic plants, makes its way with sur- 

 prising ease, owing to the compression of its body, and its elongated toes. When 

 surprised in a narrow stream or ditch, it usually dives, and conceals itself among the 

 plants or beneath the banks, ot'ien remaining for a long time submersed, with nothing 

 but the bill above the uater, I have seen it thus betake itself to the margin, when 

 on my going up to the spot, thinking the motion among the grass had been produced 

 by a Wdter-Rat, it sprung up from under the water, and flew away. On other oc- 

 casions, I have traced It under the overhanging earth, in a hole among the stones, and 

 behind a waterfall. When disturbed in a large pool or lake, it either swims out to 

 the open water, or betakes itself to the reeds or sedges, among which it remains con- 

 cealed until the danger is over ; and from its hiding place it is not easily scared, 

 for as its power of flight is not of a high order, it prefers the asylum of the water. 



In swimming, it moves its neck backward and forward, as a Pigeon does when 

 walking, a circumstance which becomes remarkable in this, as in some other 

 birds, when compared with the Swans, Geese, and Ducks, which keep the head 

 steady while advancing on the water. In general, it is not so ready on beinj dis- 

 turbed to betake itself to the open water as the Co'it, but prefers skulking along the 

 shores. When a shot is fired at one, and has not hit, it often flies ofl", but often also 

 keeps steadily swimming on. Being one evening with a friend at Seaton Marsh, on 

 the Don, near Aberdeen, I started a Water-Hen, and let fly after it, on which it 

 alighted at a very short distance, and concealed itself. My companion, however, 

 havmg discovered it, took it up, but could perceive no injury that it had sustained. 

 We carried it home, and having satisfied ourselves with observing its form and atti- 

 tudes, took it back next day and let it loose, when it flew directly off to a great dis- 

 tance. It had evidently been paralyzed by terror, as was the case with the Corn 

 Crake already mentioned. I have seen another when swimming right down the wind, 

 after a shot had been fired at it, raise up the hind part of its body, and spread out its 



