July 13, 1888.] 



SCIENTIFIC NEWS. 



37 



Notes on the Blackbird. — Mr. H. Kerr (Newcastle 

 Weekly Chronicle) mentions, in proof of the imitative dis- 

 position of the blackbird, that a wild one was found 

 mimicking the crowing of a cock, and flapping its wings 

 in the style of chanticleer. Mr. Kerr scarcely puts the 

 case fairly when he blames the " ignorant gardener " for 

 his displeasure at this bird's " helping itself to a little 

 ripe fruit." Like many other species, the black- 

 bird spoils 1 jt " a little," but a great deal, by pecking at 

 the sunny side, when earwigs and flies creep into the 

 holes and complete the mischief. For all this, we would 

 spare every bird except the sparrow. 



Swifts Flying by Night. — Correspondents both of 

 Nature and of the Field record instances of swifts remain- 

 ing on the wing through a considerable portion of the 

 night, if not through the whole. 



A True Tail in a Human Subject. — A case of this 

 rare phenomenon of reversion is stated on the unim- 

 peachable authority of Professor St. George Mivart. He 

 was called in to a consultation on the safety of ampu- 

 tating this superfluous member, which was duly effected. 

 The tail was 2^ ins. long, and was no tumour, mole, 

 or other morbid excrescence, but had true joints, like 

 that of a baboon. 



Poisonous Honey. — Certain species of bees in Boliva 

 are said to collect a poisonous honey, gathered doubtless 

 from dangerous plants. Others are said by a writer in 

 Cosmos to yield a honey endowed with strengthening 

 properties, but in return their black and hard wax has 

 the " the most fatal properties." What is the exact nature 

 of these " fatal properties " the writer does not say, but 

 as we do not eat wax it can be of but little consequence. 



The Serpent Charmers of the East. — F. Mocquard, 

 writing in La Nature, suggests that cobras and other 

 venomous serpents may possibly be thrown, by the 

 manipulations and the monotonous music of the jugglers, 

 into a hypnotic crisis. They are said to become stiff and 

 inflexible like a rod— a state, doubtless, of catalepsy. M. 

 Mocquard suggests that these phenomena deserve a 

 serious scientific investigation. 



The Action of Pathogenic Microbia (" Disease 

 Germs "). — M. Arloing had previously observed that the 

 development of the microbe of the contagious pneumonia 

 of cattle determines the production of a special substance, 

 the most striking properties of which are those of the 

 diastases. He has just announced to the Academy of 

 Sciences that he has obtained the matter in question in a 

 state of purity by precipitating it with absolute alcohol. It is 

 soluble in water, and the solution, on injection into a vein, 

 occasions the same symptoms as the disease germ itself. 



The Hessian Fly. — This pest has been again noticed 

 in our cornfields, and on Wednesday Miss E. A. Ormerod 

 received some infested stalks of barley from Mr. George 

 Palmer, jun., of Revell's Hall, Hertford, the gentleman 

 who was the first observer of the pest in England. 



The Aquarium of Banyuls. — According to a paper 

 read before the Academy of Sciences by M. de Lacaze- 

 Duthiers Murex trunculus and Elcdone moschata have 

 deposited ova, a fact never witnessed before in captivity. 

 He exhibited a photograph of a colony of little Alcyonia. 



THE CANON WREN, 



LONG ago, when our country was comparatively new, 

 and naturalists few and far between, hundreds of 

 birds whose notes had never been heard by men of 

 science flitted through the woods, and whose songs, when 

 heard for the first time, were a source of pleasure 

 seldom equalled, and occasioned a feeling akin to 

 idolatry. 



Owing to the efforts of ornithologists, this state 01 

 affairs no longer exists. True, there is still much to be 

 accomplished in the study of the singing of our birds, 

 but to hear something comparatively new, something not 

 constantly heard of and talked about, it is necessary to 

 enterthemore remote and isolated portions of the country, 

 and to traverse the mountains and valleys seldom trodden 

 by man. It is in such localities as this, in the south- 

 western part of the United States, that the canon wren 

 (Catherpcs mexicanus conspersns) is to be found. Here, 

 no matter how lonely, darksome, or dreary the vale, no 

 matter what dearth of life is otherwise to be found, the 

 clear, melodious song of this bird breaks forth from the 

 gloom and thrills the very soul of 'the listener as with 

 something holy. This is entirely different from the song 

 of any of our birds, and is as marvellous for its character 

 as for its clearness and strength, consisting of a series of 

 eight or ten notes, descending regularly as does the 

 musical scale until the lowest note is reached, each clear 

 and distinct, but prolonged, so as to glide smoothly into 

 the next. 



I remember well the first time I heard it. I had been 

 climbing the " Bee Rocks" near Meridian, Texas, and on 

 reaching the summit paused a moment for breath and 

 to rest. From a considerable elevation I looked across 

 the Bosque Valley to the hills on the opposite side, and 

 along the river, for a distance of twenty miles in either 

 direction. The bed, owing to a three years' drought, was 

 dry, save for a few stagnant pools of water, and the 

 valley, although still of a sickly green, contained but 

 little animal life. 



In the air above circled countless numbers of vultures, 

 while on the edge of the cliffs perched swarms too 

 gorged to fly, but at times dispelling the monotony by 

 shifting their location in long, awkward hops. The 

 whole presented a scene similar to some of those de- 

 scribed by Dante, and a more gloomy and desolate spot 

 would be hard to find. While comparing it with a 

 landscape viewed from a similar location in central New 

 Hampshire, the wonderful note of the canon wren 

 burst upon the air. It was repeated several times at 

 intervals of about three minutes, when it was answered 

 by another lower down on the cliff. Both sang for some 

 moments, then all was hushed as before. That the 

 rocks had now a new interest, and had assumed a 

 different aspect, can be readily imagined. For some 

 time I waited in vain for it to be repeated, when of a 

 sudden it burst forth again, seemingly directly beneath 

 me. Crawling to the edge and peering over the cliff, 

 the author was discovered some distance below flitting 

 from rock to rock, pausing occasionally to give utter- 

 ance to its song, then resuming its occupation. To 

 descend to a point about on a level with the bird and 

 conceal myself was the work of a few moments. 

 Presently, with a " chip " and flutter, the little songster 

 entered my retreat, visiting every nook and cranny, 

 peering into every crack and crevice in search of insects. 

 Yet it never for a moment lost sight of me. Coming at 

 times to within a few feet of my hands, it would dart to 



