KIDD'S LONDON JOURNAL. 



It is about the size of a crow, and black ; but its 

 head is adorned with a crest the most fully de- 

 veloped and beautiful of any bird known, whence 

 its name cephalopterus ornalus. When fully 

 opened, the crest radiates on all sides from the 

 top of the head, reaching in front beyond the beak, 

 and forming a perfect slightly elevated dome of a 

 beautiful shining blue color, in length about five 

 inches, in breadth about four-and-a-half. When 

 flying, the crest is laid back, but when at rest in 

 the daytime, it is fully expanded; but at night, 

 when the bird is asleep, all the feathers are puffed 

 out to their fullest extent, so that the head and 

 feet are quite invisible, the plume and crest alone 

 being conspicuous, amidst a mass of feather, 

 giving the bird a most singular appearance. 



The public generally, are not, we believe, 

 aware that the glorious collection of humming 

 birds formed by Mr. Gould (and which, thanks 

 to Lord Seymour, is at present not exhibited), is 

 but subservient to the publication of a work de- 

 voted to their description — a work which, for pic- 

 torial beauty, has not seen its equal. We espe- 

 cially call attention to the part just published, as 

 a perfect marvel for brilliancy of those ever- 

 changing metallic hues characteristic of the tribe, 

 and for extreme fidelity. 



There has been much doubt in the minds of 

 many scientific men as to whether the accounts 

 which have from time to time appeared of the 

 poisonous effects produced by the sharp spines 

 with which certain fishes are armed, have not 

 been exaggerated. The following incident, re- 

 lated by Mr. Mac'Gillivray, the naturalist, dur- 

 ing the recent expedition of H.M.S. Rattlesnake, 

 is therefore highly valuable, as affording un- 

 impeachable testimony to the fact : — " During 

 the afternoon, one of the crew of a boat upon 

 the reef, while incautiously handling a frog-fish 

 (atrachus), which he had found under a stone, 

 received two punctures at the base of the thumb, 

 from the sharp dorsal spines, partially concealed 

 by the skin. Immediately severe pain was pro- 

 duced, which quickly increased, until it became 

 intolerable, and the man lay down and rolled 

 about in agony. He was taken on board the 

 ship, in a state of great weakness. The hand 

 was considerably swollen, with the pain shooting 

 up the arm to the axilla, but the glands there did 

 not become affected. The pulse fell as low as 

 forty beats in the minute, with a constant desire 

 to vomit. Large doses of opium in the course of 

 time afforded relief; but a fortnight elapsed be- 

 fore the man was again fit for duty.'* — (JFrom the 

 Critic.) 



THE ROBIH KEDBBEAST. 



We gave in our last, a singular anecdote 

 of the robin ; illustrating the friendship of one, 

 and the ferocity of another. 



We have many other anecdotes of the 

 robin preparing, full of the greatest interest. 

 To-day, we select one or two anecdotes re- 

 lating to their pugnacity. They are taken 

 from the Natural History of Ireland, a book 



just ''published, written by William Thomp- 

 son, Esq., of Belfast. 



"Well known," says Mr. Thompson, " as 

 is the pugnacity of robins, one or two in- 

 stances may be given. Their being so 

 wholly absorbed during combat as to be re- 

 gardless of all else, was ludicrously evinced 

 at Springvale, by a pair righting from the 

 air downwards to the earth, until they disap- 

 peared in a man's hat that happened to be 

 lying on the ground, and in which they were 

 both captured. On one occasion, two of 

 these birds, caught fighting in a yard in Bel- 

 fast, were kept all night in separate cages. 

 One was given its liberty early in the morn- 

 ing; and the other, being tamer, possibly 

 from having been the better beaten of the 

 two, was kept with the intention of being 

 permanently retained. So unhappy, how- 

 ever, did the prisoner look, that it too was set 

 at liberty in the yard, which Avas believed 

 to be its chosen domicile. The other came a 

 second time, and attacked it ; when my in- 

 formant, who was present, hastened to the 

 rescue, and the wilder bird flew away. The 

 tamer one was again caught, and brought 

 into the house for safety. The intruder 

 was now driven out of the premises ; and in 

 the evening, when it was expected that he 

 was in a different locality, the other bird 

 was turned out ; its wicked and pertinacious 

 antagonist, however, still lay in loait, a third 

 time attacked, and then killed it. The 

 tame bird, though inferior to the other in 

 strength, always joined issue with it, and 

 fought to the best of its poor ability. 



" Some years ago, at Merville (co. An- 

 trim), a robin kept possession of the green- 

 house, and killed every intruder of its own 

 species, amounting to about two dozen, that 

 entered the house. This had been so fre- 

 quently done, that my informant became 

 curious to know the means resorted to for 

 the purpose; and, on examination of two or 

 three of the victims, he found a deep wound 

 hi the neck of each, evidently made by the 

 bill of the slayer. The lady of the house, 

 hearing of the bird's cruelty, had the sharp 

 point of its beak cut off, and no more of its 

 brethren were afterwards slaughtered ; but 

 it did not itself survive this slight muti- 

 lation. 



"The following came under my own ob- 

 servation at Wolfhill : Two robins, fighting 

 most wickedly in the air, alighted to take 

 breath ; having recovered a little, and ap- 

 proached within a foot of each other to re- 

 commence the charge, a duck that had wit- 

 nessed the combat quickly waddled up, and, in 

 the most gentle and pacific manner, shoved with 

 its bill one to the right and the other to the 

 left, thus separating them, evidently to prevent 

 a renewal of the conflict. 



" Having alluded to their evil propensities, 



