6594 



Quadrupeds. 



" I may mention that on the same elevated sheet of water (3000 feet 

 above the sea) I was surprised to find great numbers of Fulica Ameri- 

 cana. They were much tamer in this lonely place than usual : 1 shot 

 one, and its mate watched its dying struggles with extreme surprise, 

 two or three more feeding near, taking no more notice of the report of 

 my fowling-piece than slowly to swim towards the opposite margin. 

 The shield was, as you describe, not entirely white. 



"The morasses of Vere also afforded me a specimen of Nycticorax, 

 a male in the finest plumage, and what the negroes call a ' white crane,' 

 which seems a species of Egretta ; it is 40f inches in length and 

 57 inches in expanse ; it may be E. leuce, which you include in your 

 list. 



" I hope soon to follow this up with another letter especially devoted 

 to the birds of this central range. 



" Yours very faithfully, 



" W. Osburn. 



"P. H. Gosse, Esq., F.R.S. M 



How does the Wolf drink P — This was a question recently put to me by some 

 juvenile naturalists, and on my replying, " Most likely in the same manner as the 

 dog," I was triumphantly referred to the Rev. J. G. Wood's ' Anecdotes of Animal 

 Life,' fifth edition, p. 187, where it is stated that " Wolves drink in a different manner 

 from dogs. Dogs, as we all know, drink by lapping with the tongue, but wolves 

 draw the water into their mouths after the manner of horses. These peculiarities, 

 together with the obliquity of their eyes, afford good reasons for separating them from 

 the true dogs, of which they were once supposed to be the ancestors." The means of 

 testing the accuracy of this statement are fortunately within reach of all persons who 

 can visit the Zoological Gardens, and a reference to the best authorities on the matter 

 in that establishment — the wolves themselves — at once settled the question in favour 

 of their habit of lapping the water precisely as the dog does. Foxes and jackals also 

 lap like the dog : an examination of their noses will show that any other mode of 

 drinking would be difficult without an alteration of the position of the nostrils, and a 

 greater development of the lips, and I imagine these two characters will generally be 

 found a sufficient guide in determining the mode which every animal adopts in taking 

 fluids into the mouth. I am induced to notice this subject, as Mr. Wood is now 

 bringing out a very useful serial on Natural History, and, as one of the latest writers 

 on systematic Zoology, may probably be quoted in the works of subsequent authors : 

 I trust therefore he will pardon my inquiring on what ground he states that " Wolves 

 draw the water into their mouths after the manner of horses." — E. W. H. Holdsworih ; 

 26, Osnaburgh Street, June 6, 1859. 



