Part 20

NOTE W. THE ROBIN, page 164.

The two birds bearing, in England and America, the same name of Robin redbreast, are in most respects very different. The English robin, motacilla rubecola, is much the smaller of the two, is stationary throughout the year, loses his red jacket in autumn, is little noticed for its song in spring, but sings more or less even in winter; and, very possibly, while gathering the autumn leaves over the “babes in the wood,” sang their dirge with the pleasing note so often alluded to, by English writers, as one of the charms of the season:

“But now with treble oft, “The redbreast whistles from some garden croft, “And gathering swallows twitter in the air.

Our American robin is a portly thrush, turdus migratorius, wandering far and wide as soon as the cold weather sets in; it is one of our most chatty, loquacious birds in spring, his voice being heard morning and evening throughout April and May, above the notes of most of his feathered neighbors, but he becomes silent and taciturn toward autumn. In one sense, he deserves the name of redbreast in preference to the English bird, since his colors never change; and, should some mute straggler appear in the leafless groves of January or February, as occasionally happens as far north as the Mohawk, his jacket will be found still warmly dyed in red. In several particulars, however, the two birds resemble each other; both are partial to the neighborhood of man; both have the reputation of being somewhat pugnacious in temper as regards their fellows, and both are remarkable for their fine, large eyes. At page 164, the author alludes to this peculiarity of the English robin, and the reader will observe the size of the same feature in our American bird.

NOTE X. THE GOLDFINCH, (fringilla carduelis) p. 167.

The goldfinch of Europe, is in some respects very like our own. “So much does the song of our goldfinch resemble that of the European species,” says Mr. Audubon, “that while in France and England, I have frequently thought, and with pleasure thought, that they were the notes of our own bird which I had heard.” The flight of both, in deep, curved lines, alternately rising and falling, their manner of gathering in flocks, their way of feeding, are also similar.

The goldfinch of Europe has a very varied plumage; in some parts of England, it is called the “Sheriff’s man,” from its gay livery, and also the “Seven Colored Linnet,” from the varied tints of scarlet, black, white, gray, brown, and gold color blended in its markings. It is widely diffused throughout Europe, where it is a favorite cage-bird. The docility of these finches, and their quickness at learning tricks, are remarkable; at an exhibition in London, some half a dozen birds,—all of the finch tribe—appeared standing on their heads, playing at sentinel, mounting guard, imitating milkmaids going to market with tiny pails on their shoulders, acting as cannoniers, armed cap-a-pie, firelock on the shoulder, match in the claw, actually discharging a small cannon!

NOTE Y. THE SKY-LARK, (alanda arvensis) p. 184.

“It is, in fact, more joyous in the sun, more inspirable by the life which the solar influence diffuses through the atmosphere, than almost any other creature: not a spring air can sport, not a breeze of morn can play, not an exhalation of freshness from opening bud or softening clod can ascend, without note of it being taken and proclaimed by this all- sufficient index to the progress of nature. The lark rises not like most birds, which climb the air upon one slope, by succession of leaps, as if a heavy body was raised by a succession of efforts, or steps, with pauses between; it towers upward like a vapor, borne lightly in the atmosphere, and yielding to the motion of that as vapors do. Its course is a spiral, gradually enlarging, * * * The accordance of the song with the mode of ascent and descent is also worthy of note. It gives a swelling song as it ascends, and a sinking one when it comes down; and even if it take but one wheel in the air, as that wheel always includes either an ascent or a descent, it varies the pitch of the song.”

“Every one in the least conversant with the structure of birds, must be aware that with them, the organs of intonation and modulation are inward, deriving little assistance from the tongue, and none, or next to none, from the mandibles of the bill. The windpipe is the musical organ, and it is often very curiously formed. Birds require that organ less for breathing than any other animals, because of the air-cells, and breathingtubes with which all parts of their body (even their bones) are furnished. But those diffused breathing organs must act with less freedom when the bird is making the greatest efforts in motion, that is, when ascending or descending, and in proportion as these cease to act the trachea is more required for the purpose of breathing. The sky-lark thus converts the atmosphere into a musical instrument of many stops, and so produces an exceedingly wild, and varied song—a song which is perhaps not equal either in power or compass, in the single stave, to that of many of the warblers, but one which is more varied in the whole succession.”

“Every body knows the sky-lark,” continues Mr. Mudie, but the American reader may like to be reminded that this celebrated bird is about seven inches long, with a brown plumage, tinged with reddish, yellowish, and dusky shading in places. These larks are abundant in Europe. They are brought to market in great numbers. In England, they are sold for the table at about a dollar the dozen. It is said that at Leipsic in Germany, a duty of twelve thousand crowns per annum was raised on the larks eaten in that city, at the rate of about five cents for every sixty larks, and if the English crown be meant this would give the number of birds eaten in the town at the incredible amount of nearly four millions.

They have a legend in Ireland, that the larks of the wild valley of Glandalough never sing, “having been miraculously silenced by St. Theresa, during the building of the Seven Churches, because they broke the morning sleep of the wearied masons, by their loud native warblings.”

NOTE Z. THE WINTER GNAT, (tipula hiemalis) p. 189.

Gnats are rarely indeed seen in our colder climate in winter, but in England they are common, often dancing gaily over the snow and ice of mid-winter. There are said to be no less than thirty species of gnats found in Great Britain, and they are all aquatic in their origin. The female launches her eggs on the water, in the form of a diminutive boat composed of two or three hundred eggs, each of which taken separately is heavy enough to sink, but so cleverly are they arranged in their skiff- like form, that when thus glued together, they not only float buoyantly, but it is next to impossible either to upset or sink them permanently. The grub or larva issues from the egg head downward, breathing through the tail. The second or pupa stage of existence is also passed in the water, whence it rises at length the winged insect with which we are familiar. Our musquitoes are members of the same culex family, and resemble very closely the winter gnat of England. The English gnats however are quite harmless, with the exception of an occasional bite from the females of the tribe.

NOTE AA. BUTTERFLIES AND MOTHS, page 192.

Mr. Knapp mentions in his journal the following butterflies and moths: The sulphur or brimstone, gonepteryx rhamni, (see Note M;) ghost moth, hepialus humuli; blue argus, papilio argus; painted lady, papilio cardui; marble butterfly, p. galathea; humming bird hawk-moth, sphinx stellatarum; brown meadow butterfly, p. janira; the admirable vanessa atalanta; peacock, vanessa Io; gamma moth, phalæna gamma; goat moth, ph. cossus; blue argus butterfly, papilio argiolus.

This beautiful and highly interesting family of insects, with which we are all familiar by sight at least, has been thus far less studied in America, than in other countries. Very little has yet been printed among us regarding our native butterflies, and even European works on these subjects are rarely met with. It has long been the writer’s wish to become better acquainted with these interesting little creatures, and, doubtless, there are others who have the same inclination; but few of us have the good luck to meet with the necessary books and teachers. A few facts relating to the butterflies alluded to by Mr. Knapp, will be found below.

The Ghost Moth, hepialus humuli, p. 198.—There is a division of moths in England, called swifts, or ghost moths, having all the same habit of flight described by Mr. Knapp, as the origin of their name of “Ghosts.” The particular moth alluded to by the author, is very common in England; their white, satiny wings are easily seen in the twilight, and as fragments of these are frequently found in the morning scattered about, it is supposed that night-hawks and owls feed much on their bodies. The female lays a number of small, black eggs, resembling gunpowder. Mr. Gosse, in his “Canadian Naturalist,” mentions a moth or Bombyx, found in Canada, the Dragon Moth, hepialus argenteomaculatus, belonging to the same family; “I was surprised and pleased to observe the striking similarity, not only of shape and general appearance, but also of manners, to the English species of that family. They continue in one place, dancing from side to side on the wing, just over the herbage, within a space of a yard or two. A large female I caught, on being pinned, began to eject her small, white eggs with great rapidity, driving them to a considerable distance.”

The same moth is found in Massachusetts, and doubtless in other parts of the United States; it is included in Prof. Hitchcock’s “Catalogue of the Animals and Plants of Massachusetts,” p. 72.

Painted Lady, cynthia cardui.—This insect ranks with the largest and most beautiful of European butterflies, and is one of the few creatures of its race very widely diffused over the world, being found alike, it is said, in the western and eastern, the northern and the southern hemispheres. In North America they are more common than in England, where they are rather rare. They have been found in China and Western Asia, as well as in Africa, and travelers declare that they are to be met with in Otaheite and Australia. These pretty creatures are indeed great rovers; they will frequently, when on the coast, sail out straight to sea, and are usually very bold in their flight, which is higher than that of other species.

One of the most singular incidents on record, connected with entomology, is related of this species of butterfly. A migration of these insects occurred some years since in Switzerland, on the Lake of Neufchatel during the month of March; they flew with great rapidity from north to south, moving in a column from ten to fifteen feet in breadth, in compact order, and continued passing in this manner for upward of two hours. Although many flowers yielding honey were in bloom at the time, not a butterfly alighted, but all continued their strange flight. Other instances of the same kind have been noticed in Europe and South America, but we do not remember to have ever seen any allusion to migrations of this kind, among our native butterflies.

The caterpillar of the Painted Lady feeds on the spear thistle, whose thick leaves it nevertheless succeeds in rolling up as a cover for its chrysalis.

The Gamma Moth, noctua gamma, derives its name from having on its primary wings, a figure stamped in gold, precisely similar to that letter of the Greek alphabet. In England it is very common. In some countries of Europe this moth in its caterpillar stage of existence, has been a scourge to the vegetation. In 1735 these insects increased so rapidly in France, that they excited serious fears of famine by their ravages in the fields and gardens. The roads were covered with them traveling from one field to another. In the kitchen gardens, they left nothing but the stalks of the plants. Mr. Reaumur calculated that a single pair of these moths might produce in one season eighty thousand caterpillars!

Mr. Gosse found the gamma moth in Canada: “I have obtained several new species of noctua, among which is the dusia gamma so common in England.”

The Blue Argus, polyommatus argiolus.—This pretty little blue butterfly is found also in America; it is mentioned by Mr. Gosse, who saw it in Canada, and is included among the insects of Massachusetts also, and doubtless it belongs to other parts of the United States. Its caterpillar feeds on the buckthorn and on the holly.

The Goat Moth, cossus ligniperda.—“The great goat moth, while yet a caterpillar, occupies in solitary darkness the trunk of willow, oak, or poplar. For three successive summers it is employed in eating into the solid wooden barrier which divides it from the sunny world—for as many winters it sleeps within one of the dark tunnels thus excavated by its powerful jaws; but after this extended period of repletion and repose, it scarcely lives over the same complement of weeks to exercise its broad, dusky pinions in the summer moonlight.”

“A large, smooth, unsightly crawler, of a livid red and salmon color, black-headed, and black-clawed, this caterpillar swallows the chippings and dust made in his tunneling progress through the wood. Throughout the summer he thus eats his way, but in autumn prepares himself a broader chamber, which he hangs with a fabric as thick as broadcloth, and equally warm, composed of the raspings of wood scooped out of his cell, and united with the strong silk, which every species of caterpillar can spin.” For three or four years he thus continues in the tree chosen by the parent moth for his abode, and then “with bulky body, and dusky wings, from three to four inches in expansion, he is wont, about July, to emerge from his wooden cell.”—Acheta Domestica.

The muscular strength, very remarkable in the insect tribes, is surprisingly great in the goat moth. The number of muscles in the human body is reckoned at 529; but in this caterpillar, not so large as a man’s finger, there are 4061! Mr. Rennie relates that he once put a goat moth caterpillar under a glass bell weighing nearly half a pound, “yet it raised it up with the utmost ease.” A book weighing four pounds was then placed over the bell, and still the creature made good his escape by raising both book and glass! The name of this insect is derived from its peculiar odor. It is not found in America, although we have several moths partially resembling it, and among others, “Cossus Macmurtri.”