SPECTATOR'S LIBRARY.
Biartrasx HiliToRT, The Birds of Jamaica. By Philip henry (home; assisted by Richard Hill, Esq., of Spanish Town Van Vomit. Taavine, A Summer Visit to Ireland, in 14186. By Mrs. Frederic West Bentley. STATIST!
The Progress of America, from the Discovery by Columbus to the Year 1846. By John Macgregor, Secretary to the Board of Trade ; Author of "Commercial Statistics,"
&c. &c. In two volumes Whstlaker • MILITSU ADVENIVILES, Jottings from my Sabnitaach. By a Chelsea Pensioner Bentley. FICTION,
A Whim and its Consequences. In three volumes &aide and Elder.
MR. GOSSE'S BIRDS OP JAMAICA.
WHEW we first encountered Mr. Gone, some seven years ago, as " the Canadian Naturalist," he had been living in Lower Canada, nominally as a settler or farmer, but the observation of nature seemed to have been his principal employment. For some time past he has been resident in Jamaica, pursuing the study of natural history in the most agreeable way in which it can be studied, both for author and reader—the observation of the life itself. In this pursuit he has been assisted by several colo- nists; especially by Mr. Richard Hill, of Spanish Town, who is known by his contributions to scientific periodicals as a keen observer and a graphic describer.
The result is a very attractive and original volume, valuable to the naturalist for its information, and acceptable to the general reader for its lifelike descriptions of the habits of the birds of Jamaica and the landscapes in which they are found, as well as for incidental glimpses of colonial manners and character. Limited to one sulect, the work wants the variety of topics of The Canadian Naturalist; and, as Mr. Gosse states nothing which he has not himself seen or received from ori- ginal and trustworthy authority, it also wants the completeness of a re- gular treatise. The Birds of Jamaica, however, possesses the reality and freshness of its predecessor' with the undescribable charm which, as in the case of White's Selborne, direct transcription from nature generally im- parts. The present work, too, seems to display a greater maturity of mind, and more of conscious power. The pictures of landscapes with which it abounds have none of the vagueness or tediousness of mere tourists' or novelists' descriptions ; they have all the force and life of the nature from which they are taken. Though in strictness they might sometimes be dispensed with, they not only serve as a relief, but form a background or accessory to the principal figures dependently of their value as Tropical pictures. Take as an instance thisindependently sketch of a Jamaica road, which adds a local habitation to the nests, &c. of the Vervain Hamming-bird. "The small bashes of lantana, so common by road-sides, and always covered with orange and yellow blossoms, are favourite situations for the domestic eco- nomy of this minim bird. The smooth twigs of the bamboo also are not unfre- quently chosen. It is not an uncommon thing in Jamaica for a road up a moun- tain to be cut in zig-zag terraces to diminish the steepness; and to prevent the lower side of such a road from crumbling away, stems of green bamboo are cut and laid in a shallow trench along the edge. Shoots spring from every joint, and presently a close row of living palisades are growing along the margin of the mad, whose roots, as they spread, effectually bind together the mountain-side, and make the terrace perpetual; while, as they increase in height and thickness, they throw their gracefully-waving tufts over the way, like gigantic ostrich plumes, affording most refreshing shadow from the heat. Such shag:boo-walk, as it is called, winds up the steep side of Grand Vale mountain in St. Elizabeth's, and here the nests of the vervain humming-bird are frequently met with. One day in June, being up this road, I found two nests attached to twigs of bamboo, and one just com- menced.'
The plan of The Birds of Jamaica is regular in its arrangement; the families being grouped under their respective orders, and the species classed under the families to which they belong. The popular and the various learned names are given at the head of each paper, with the di- mensions of the bird and its ornithological description in a foot-note. Other scientific particulars are scattered through the text ; but the greater part of it consists of descriptions of the haunts and habits of the birds as observed by Mr. Gosse or his friends, incidents that occurred in the pursuit or observation, and anecdotes of individuals, either in confinement or a state of nature. The limitation of the book to original matter necessarily renders the length of each notice unequal, because the treatment depends upon the matter collected ; so that some papers are elaborate, and others very short—little more than a description of the specimen, obtained perhaps from a Negro fowler.
The vulture, falcons, hawks, the doves, and several other families, are handled at length; but the most elaborate account is that of the ham- ming-birds. They appear to have been Mr. Gosse's hobby : their num- bers, their beauty, their graceful and incessant activity, and the readiness with which they could be observed even from the house, afforded him temptation and opportunities. He had set out with the intention of transporting some of these fragile and delicate little creatures to England; but all his efforts proved unsuccessful. The shock of capture seems to have destroyed many ; for they died almost immediately, though taken with the greatest care in an insect-net. Others lived longer, but still died, apparently without physical injury. Those of a hardier character, who bore captivity, either escaped, or perished by striking against their perches or the furniture of the room in which they were at large, or died when placed in cages,—Mr. Gosse thinks from want of insect-food, bat perhaps from the confinement, under which they seem to suffer consti- tutionally. The attempt, though it failed, gave Mr. Gosse great opportunities of observing the tiny beings ; whose beauty and familiarity would, as he in- timates, make them delightful inhabitants of a conservatory, though one would not envy the gardener who had them in charge. The Long-tailed Hamming-bird was the species he principally attempted to domesticate in order to transport; and his anecdotes of those pretty creatures during their captivity is as interesting as Cowper's account of his hares. They seem to have varied much in courage and disposition. The following
passage gives an account of the first he was able to preserve to the stage of confidence.
"Having on the 13th of November captured two young males sucking the pretty pink flowers of urena lobate, I brought them home in a covered basket. The tail-feathers of the one were undeveloped; those of the other, half their full length. I did not cage them, but turned them out into the open room in which the daily work of preparing specimens was carried on, having first secured the doors and windows. They were lively., but not wild; playful towards each other, and tame with respect to myself, sitting unrestrained for several seconds at a time on my finger. I collected a few flowers and placed them in a vase on a high shelf, and to these they resorted immediately. But I soon found that they paid attention to none but asclepias curassavica, and slightly to a large ipomea. On this I again went out, and gathered a large bunch of aselepias; and was pleased to observe, that on the moment of my entering the room, one flew to the nosegay, and sucked while I held it in my hand. The other soon followed; and then both these lovely creatures were buzzing. together within an inch of my face, probing the flowers so eagerly as to allow thew bodies to be touched without alarm. These flowers being placed in another glass, they visited each bouquet in turn; now and then flying after each other playfully through the room, or alighting on various objects. Though occasionally they flew against the window, they did not flatter and beat themselves at it, but seemed well content with their parole. As they flew, I repeatedly heard them snap the beak; at which times they doubtless caught minute flies. After some time, one of them suddenly sunk down in one corner, and on being taken up seemed dying: it had perhaps struck itself in fly- ing: it lingered awhile, and died. The other continued his vivacity: perceiving that he had exhausted the flowers, I prepared a tube, made of the barrel of a goose- quill, which I inserted into the cork of a bottle to secure its steadiness and up- right position, and filled with juice of sugar-cane. I then took' large ipomea, and having cut off the bottom, I slipped the flower over the tube, so that the quill took the place of the neetary of the flower. The bird flew to it in a moment, clung to the bottle rim, and bringing his beak perpendicular, thrust it into the tube. It was at once evident that the repast was agreeable, for he continued pumping for several seconds, and on his flying off I found the quill emptied. As he had torn off the flower in his eagerness for more, arid even followed the frag- ments of the corolla as they lay on the table, to search them I refilled the quill and put a blossom of the marvel of Peru into it, so that the dower expanded over the top. The little toper found it again; and after drinking freely, withdrew his beak, but the blossom was adhering to it as a sheath. This incumbrance he pre- Bendy got rid of; and then (which was most interesting to me) he returned im- mediately, and inserting his beak into the bare quill, finished the contents. It was amusing to see the old position of his head and body as he clung to the bot- tle, with his beak inserted perpendicularly into the cork. Several times in the course of the evening he had recourse to his new fountain, which was as often replenished forhim; and at length, about sunset, betook himself to a line stretched across the room, for repose. He slept, as they all do, with the head not behind the wing, but slightly drawn back on the shoulders; and in figure reminded me of Mr. Goulds beautiful plate of trogon resplendens, in miniature. In the morn- ing, I found him active before sunrise, already having visited his quill of syrup, which he emptied a second time. After some hours, he flew through a door which I had meautiousleleft open, and, darting through the window of the next room, escaped, to my no small chagrin."
The volume contains many sketches of equal interest to these; the characteristics varying with the family, and one might almost say the intellect of the birds ; courage, keenness, sagacity, and something like reason being traceable in their conduct when leisurely watched. We turn to topics that have a little mixture of life in them ; such as bird's- nesting in Jamaica. "The large earthy nests accumulated by the duck-ants (termites) around the trunk or branches of trees, frequently afford the [yellow-billed] parroquet a fit situation for her own domestic economy. Though easily cut by her strong beak, the thin arches and galleries of these Insects are of sufficiently firm consistence to constitute a secure and strong abode. In the cavity formed by her own industry she lays four or five eggs, upon the chips and dust. "But the precaution of the poor bird in selecting a locality, and her persever- ance in burrowing into so solid a structure, are not sufficient to insure her safety or that of her young. The aperture by which she herself enters and departs affords also a ready entrance to a subtle and voracious enemy, the yellow boa. A younF friend of mine once observing a parroquet enter into a hole in a large duck-ant a nest, situated on a bastard-cedar, mounted to take her eggs or young. Arrived at the place, e cautiously inserted his hand, which presently came into contact with something smooth and soft. He guessed it might be the callow young; but, hesitating to trust it, he descended, and proceeded to cut a stick, keeping his eye on the orifice, from which the old bird had not yet flown. Having again mounted, he thrust in the stick and forced off the whole upper part of the structure; dis- closing, to his utter discomfiture and terror, an enormous yellow snake, about whose jaws the feathers of the swallowed parroquet were still adhering, while more of her plumage scattered in the nest revealed her unhappy fate. The serpent instantly darted down the tree; and the astonished youth, certainly not Less terrified, also descended with precipitation, and ran as if for life from the scene."
The guinea-fowl in Jamaica is as destructive to crops as game in England; and the Negroes, unscared by landlords or their game-laws, adopt various modes of destroying them : one of the most effective is based upon anti-temperance principles.
"The guinea-fowl is sometimes caught by the following stratagem: a small in
quantity of corn is steeped for a night proof ram, and is then placed in a shal- low vessel, with a little flesh rum, and the water expressed from a bitter GUMMI, grated; this is deposited within an enclosed ground, to which the depredators re- sort; a small quantity of the grated cassava is then strewn over it, and it is left. The fowls eat the medicated food eagerly, and are soon found reeling about intoxicated, unable to escape, and content with thrusting the head into a corner."
This is a true illustration of pigheadedness teasing and tiring out even the mocking-bird in breeding-time.
"When young are in possession, [of the nest,] their presence is no secret; for an unpleasant sound, half hissing, half whistling, is all day long issuing from their unfledged throats; delightful efforts, I dare say, to the fond parents. At this time the old birds are watchful and courageous. If an intruding boy or naturalist approaches their family, they hop from twig to twig, looking on with outstretched neck, in mute but evident solicitude; but any winged visitant, though ever so unconscious of evil intent, and though ever so large, is driven away with fearless pertinacity. The saucy ani and tinkling instantly yield the sacred neighbourhood, the brave mocking-bird pursuing a group of three or four, even to several hundred yards' distance; and even the john-crow, if be sail near the tree, is instantly attacked and driven from the scene. But the hogs are the creatures that give him the most annoyance. They are ordinarily fed upon the inferior oranges the fruit being shaken down to them in the evenings; hence they ac- quire the habit of resorting to the orange-trees, to wait for a lucky windfall. The mocking-bird, feeling nettled at the intrusion flies down, and begins to peck the hog with all his might. Piggy, not understanding the matter, but pleased with the titillation, gently lies down and turns up his broad side to enjoy it; the poor bird gets into an agony. of distress, pecks and pecks again; but only increases the enjoyment of the luminous intruder, and is at last compelled to give up the effort in despair."