they are dabbling at the side, and readily distinguishable from those of the Gyrìnus natàtor. I believe this to be the animal said to be so long lost in England, the water-shrew, Sòrex fòdiens of Pennant, and the Sorex bícolor of Turton's English Linnæus; for my Latin edition (Holmiæ, 1766) has him not at all. Gm. Lin. 113., describes him, "caudâ mediocri subnudâ, corpore nigricante subtus cinereo, digitis ciliatis; "* though, to me, the under parts seemed purely white. By reference to various books, I find the female has ten teats, and brings forth nine young; fore-teeth, lower two; tusks, upper three, under two; grinders, upper four, under three. I have said he only appears at evening, and such are his general habits. Once, however, at broad and bright noon, while leaning on a tree, gazing on the sun-sparkles passing (like fairy lights) in numberless and eternal succession under the gentlest breath of air, I was aware of my little friend running nimbly on the surface among them. My rapture caused me to start with delight, on which he vanished to security within his rush-fringed bank; while I, reasoning at every step, exclaimed with good old Belarius, "To apprehend thus, Draws us a profit from all things we see: Cymbeline. I should have mentioned that, on very still evenings, when my ear was close to the ground, I fancied I heard him utter a very short, shrill, feeble sibilation, not unlike that of the grasshopper-lark, in mild light summer nights, but nothing near so loud or long-continued. Though I have watched for him warily in that and other places, after having, to the end of May, contributed to the myriads of my amusements, I never saw him more. I have written this account, Sir, principally to gratify the urgent entreaties of some students of nature in these parts; particularly those of my amiable friend Mr. Richard Tudor, surgeon, who, I may almost say, can neither eat, drink, nor even sleep without your Magazine; and in whose ardent mind every, the minutest, gem of nature stirs some kindred germ: also those of my able, indefatigable, and scientific friend John E. Bowman, Esq., already a contributor, and likely to be a strong future support, to your pages. Should you sanction this with your imprimatur, I may, with such stimulants as the conversa Tail, middle-sized, nakedish; body, blackish, cinereous beneath; toes, ciliated." tion of these gentlemen, make some head against my habitual indolence, rummage my notes, and brush up my brains, being most cordially a well-wisher to the cause. Yours, &c. Westfelton, near Shrewsbury, May 6. JOHN F. M. DOVASTON. ART. IV. Remarks on the Nature and Habits of the Bearded Titmouse (Pàrus biármicus.) By a LOVER OF NATURE. Sir, IN the Introduction to your valuable Magazine of Natural History, you invite readers "to communicate your cirevery cumstance, even the most trivial, respecting the nature, habits, and economy of animals;" and thus encouraged, I am induced to offer a few remarks, drawn from my own observation, on the nature and habits of the Bearded Titmouse (Pàrus biármicus) (fig. 54.), which, as I have not found mentioned in any work on ornithology, may, perhaps, be acceptable, and be considered to throw some light on the history of a bird so very little known. Bearded Titmice inhabit the marshes bordering on the Thames, both in Kent and Essex. I was told, in December last, that some had been lately seen in a large piece of reeds below Barking Creek; and being desirous and determined, if possible, to see and observe them in their haunts, I went, accompanied by one person and a dog, to the above-named place on a cold windy dull morning, weather by no means favourable for my purpose; but the reed-cutters having even then commenced their operations, I was fearful of deferring it, lest my game should be driven away. * Arrived on our ground, we traversed it for some time without success; and were about to leave it, when our attention was roused by the alarm cry of this species, and looking up, we saw eight or ten of these beautiful little creatures on the wing, just topping the reeds over our heads, uttering in full chorus their sweetly musical note, which resembles (if it may be likened to a word) the monosyllable ping, ping; pronounced at first slow and single, then two or three times in a more hurried manner: it may be compared to the music of very small cymbals; is clear and ringing, though soft, and corresponds well with the delicacy and beauty of the form and colour of the bird. We saw several flocks during the morning, or, what is more probable, the same flock several times. Their flights are short and low, only sufficient to clear the reeds; on the seedy tops of which they alight to feed, hanging, like most of their tribe, with the head or back downwards. If disturbed, they immediately descend by running, or rather by dropping. The movement is rapid along the stalk to the bottom, where they creep and flit, perfectly concealed from view by the closeness of the covert and the resembling tints of their plumage. We could hear, but not see, our dog hunting; and we thought he was of service in pointing out to us whereabouts the birds were. His being near them, however, did not make them easily take wing; they seemed to follow him, hovering and crying about him. I question if we should have seen, or even heard, a single bird without his assistance. We were fortunate enough to shoot one (a male) in fine plumage. I held it in my hand when scarcely dead. Nothing could exceed the beauty of the eye; the bright orange of the iris, nearly surrounded as it is by the deep glossy black of the mustachios and streak above, receives additional brilliancy from the contrast, and struck me as a masterpiece of arrangement in colour and neatness. The bill also was of a fine clear delicate orange; but this, too, soon became dull and opaque. I would here ask if you, Sir, or any of your correspondents can guess of what use the long feathers, called the mustachios of this bird, are. We may fairly suppose that Nature does not give her creatures useless appendages, for mere ornament; but I own I am at a loss to imagine their purpose, unless it be to aid the wearer in its passage through so thick a covert. * The Bearded Titmouse is known in these parts by the name of the Reed Pheasant; and is not unaptly called so. Their relative length of tail is not very unequal; and when placed in certain lights, the tints of the tail feathers are by no means dissimilar. The accompanying sketch [from which fig. 54. is an engraving] represents the bird as I saw it. I am told that the males and females keep distinct during the winter. This is not improbable; Mr. White says the same of the chaffinches, in his Natural History of Selborne. I had no opportunity of deciding on the day in question. I have heard also that the families of old and young birds are sometimes seen together in the months of August and September. This I hope to witness; at present I am rather sceptical. As my name would give no weight to these remarks, I withhold it; but should they be thought worthy of a place in any of your forthcoming Numbers, I may at some future time trouble you under my own signature. At present I subscribe myself, A LOVER Of Nature. Woolwich, March 20. 1829. ART. V. On the White Butterflies of Britain. By J. RENNie, Esq. A. M. A. L. S. THE power of discriminating among things which differ in many minute points, but whose general similarity of appearance usually deceives the common observer into a belief of their identity, is one of the most necessary qualifications of a naturalist. This power, indeed, constitutes almost the whole difference between the accurate naturalist and those persons who look on the wonders of creation with careless indifference, who call every wild flower a weed, and every insect a fly or a beetle. According to my experience, it is exceedingly difficult for persons arrived at manhood to acquire this power of discrimination; but in early life, a little care on the part of a parent or a teacher will render it comparatively easy. The training up young people to this mode of observation is of infinitely more importance to them than exercising their memory exclusively upon books; which is the usual routine of procedure at schools. By the latter method, the memory may, no doubt, be highly improved; but it is, almost without exception, at the expense of the judgment, which, by the former method, is the chief faculty exercised. It would not, indeed, be a very hard matter to demonstrate that the practice of distinguishing among the genera, species, and varieties in natural history is a more efficient exercise of judgment than even mathematics, though I cannot at present spare time for this. It will answer my purpose better to illustrate the principles of discrimination which I have advocated, by some of the most conspicuous of our native insects. The most common British butterflies must have been re marked by most persons to be those which are white; and all these, it may be inferred, are usually looked upon as of the same species, differing in nothing, except perhaps in the size; the latter being erroneously ascribed to difference of age, according to the analogy of birds, quadrupeds, and fishes. But the fact is, that there are a considerable number of species of our white butterflies, as well as several genera; and probably more varieties even of these than have yet been ascertained or described. To these I shall now endeavour to direct the reader's attention. It may be of use, however to make the previous remark, that butterflies do not, like the larger animals, increase in size as they grow older: for every individual, from the moment it becomes a butterfly, continues invariably of the same size from its birth till its death. Butterflies, indeed, seldom live longer than a few days, or, at most, a few weeks, and during this time they eat little except a sip of honey: and since this is so, it would be absurd to expect that they could increase in size. It must not, however, be understood from this that the same species will always measure or weigh precisely the same; for, though this will hold as a general rule, there are many exceptions, arising from the accidents the caterpillar may have suffered from which an individual butterfly originated. It is only during the caterpillar state that the insect eats voraciously and grows in proportion; and if it is, during this stage of its existence, thrown upon short allowance, it cannot acquire the standard magnitude, and the butterfly will be dwarfed from the first, and may even be sometimes deficient in one or more of its wings; a circumstance which I have witnessed more than once in butterflies reared by entomologists, who sometimes forget to furnish their caterpillars with food. The same remarks with respect to growth apply to insects of every kind; and the fact cannot be better exemplified than in the uniformity of size in the house-fly (Músca doméstica), among which scarcely one individual in a thousand will be found to differ a hair's breadth in dimensions from its fellows. It is not, however, by size only that our British white butterflies may be distinguished; for they differ very considerably both in the shape of their wings and the markings with which they are embellished. The ground-colour, indeed, is white, but this is, in many instances, dotted, clouded, or shaded with black, and sometimes with other colours, which furnish good characteristic distinctions. I shall now give a short outline of these distinctions, such as may enable young entomologists to determine the species of those which fall in their way in their summer rambles. |