Zoologist: A Monthly Journal of Natural History, 21. köide

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West, Newman, 1863

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Page 8328 - Hail, beauteous stranger of the grove ! Thou messenger of Spring! Now Heaven repairs thy rural seat, And woods thy welcome sing. What time the daisy decks the green, Thy certain voice we hear ; Hast thou a star to guide thy path. Or mark the rolling year? Delightful visitant! with thee I hail the time of flowers, And hear the sound of music sweet From birds among the bowers.
Page 8540 - Saiiba (CEcodoma cephalotes). This ant is seen everywhere about the suburbs, marching to and fro in broad columns. From its habit of despoiling the most valuable cultivated trees of their foliage, it is a great scourge to the Brazilians. In some districts it is so abundant that agriculture is almost impossible, and everywhere complaints are heard of the terrible pest. The workers of this species are of three orders, and vary in size from two to seven lines; some idea of them may be obtained from...
Page 8544 - They would be, on this view, a kind of "pieces de resistance" serving as a foil against onslaughts made on the main body of workers. " The third order of workers is the most curious of all. If the top of a small fresh hillock, one in which the thatching process is going on, be taken off, a broad cylindrical shaft is disclosed, at a depth of about two feet from the surface. If this be probed with a stick, which may be done to the extent of three or four feet without touching bottom...
Page 8541 - I discovered it only after much time spent in investigation. The leaves are used to thatch the domes which cover the entrances to their subterranean dwellings, thereby protecting from the deluging rains the young broods in the nests beneath. The larger mounds, already described, are so extensive that few persons would attempt to remove them for the purpose of examining their interior ; but smaller hillocks, covering other entrances to the same system of tunnels and chambers may be found in sheltered...
Page 8551 - ... useless to reason with them on the subject. The Macroglossa moths are found in most countries, and have everywhere the same habits; one well-known species is found in England. Mr. Gould relates that he once had a stormy altercation with an English gentleman, who affirmed that humming-birds were found in England, for he had seen one flying in Devonshire, meaning thereby the moth Macroglossa stellatarum. The analogy between the two creatures has been brought about, probably, by the similarity of...
Page 8545 - The successful debut of the winged males and females depends likewise on the workers. It is amusing to see the activity and excitement which reign in an ant's nest when the exodus of the winged individuals is taking place. The workers clear the roads of exit, and show the most lively interest in their departure, although it is highly improbable that any of them will return to the same colony. The swarming or exodus of the winged males and females of the Saiiba ant takes place in January and February,...
Page 8547 - It is a dull, quiet bird. A much commoner species was the Cigana or G-ipsy (Opisthocomus cristatus), a bird belonging to the same order (G-allinacea) as our domestic. fowl. It is about the size of a pheasant ,- the plumage is dark brown, varied with reddish, and the head is adorned with a crest of long feathers. It is a remarkable bird in many respects. The hind toe is not placed high above the level of the other toes, as it is in the fowl order generally, but lies on the same plane with them ; 'the...
Page 8550 - It was only after many days' experience that I learnt to distinguish one from the other when on the wing. This resemblance has attracted the notice of the natives, all of whom, even educated whites, firmly believe that one is transmutable into the other. They have observed the metamorphosis of caterpillars into butterflies, and think it not at all more wonderful that a moth should change into a humming-bird. The resemblance between this hawkmoth and a humming-bird is certainly very curious, and strikes...
Page 8428 - Ireland symptoms of drooping unmistakably exhibited themselves ; but, although they never fully rallied, I, as before stated, succeeded in bringing one of them alive to London, where it died on the second day after its arrival at my house. The vessel in which I made the passage took a northerly course, which carried us over the banks of Newfoundland, and, although the cold was...
Page 8540 - The difference in colour from the superficial soil of the vicinity is owing to their being formed of the undersoil, brought up from a considerable depth. It is very rarely that the ants are seen at work on these mounds ; the entrances seem to be generally closed ; only now and then, when some particular work is going on, are the galleries opened. The entrances are small and numerous; in the larger hillocks it would require a great amount of excavation to get at the main galleries ; but I succeeded...

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