Chapter 2

Pl.56.

NYCTINOMUSamictus.Duvaucel's Nightfeeder.

Plate 56.

NYCTIORNISamictus.

Duvaucel's Nightfeeder.

Sub-order, Fissirostres. Family ——?

Generic Character.

Billsubfalcated, compressed, margins of the upper mandible folding over those of the lower:rictusexcessively wide.Wingsrounded, moderate. Plumage lax, long.Tarsimuch shorter than the hallux.Toesand claws as inMeropsandPrionites.Nobis.

Specific Character.

Green, crown (in the adult) lilach, front of the throat and breast bright red.Merops amictus.Pl. Col. pl. 310. fig. pessima.

Green, crown (in the adult) lilach, front of the throat and breast bright red.

Merops amictus.Pl. Col. pl. 310. fig. pessima.

Mus. Paris.

This is perhaps the rarest, and certainly the most extraordinary bird, which the recent Zoological researches in India has brought to light. Its discovery is due to a young and accomplished Naturalist of France—M. Duvaucel, now alas! no more: but who lived to perpetuate his name by his brilliant discoveries, and to enrich the French Museum with the most splendid specimens of oriential Zoology now in Europe.

The form, habit, and wings of this charming bird, are almost precisely those ofPrionites; while the bill resembles that ofMerops. Nothing can exceed the beauty of its lilach crown, or the bright vermillion of its throat. The bill is strong, and marked above on each sides with a sulcated line: the gape is so wide, as to reach underneath the eye. The whole structure of the bird, its round wings, and long lax plumage, indicates a totally different economy from that ofMerops; and this has been confirmed by Sir W. Jardine and Mr. Selby, who inform us that anotherbeautifulspecies, they have described,feeds during the night.

Our drawing, scrupulously exact, was made at theJardindes Plants. As we findNyctinomusis a name already appropriated, we have substitutedNyctiornis: and we place this group at the extremity of theFissirostres, adjoining toPrionitesamong theScansores.

Total length ab. 13, wings 5¼, tail (beyond,) 3, tarsi hardly ½ in.

Pl.57.

CULICIVORAatricapilla.Black-crowned Gnatcatcher.

Plate 57.

CULICIVORAatricapilla.

Black crowned Warbler.

Family, Sylviadæ. Sub-family, Sylvianæ.Nob.(See North Zool. Vol. 2.)

Generic Character.

Culicivora.Swains. in Zool. Journ. No. 11. Lesson Man. 2. p. 430.Billvery slender, the base depressed, the sides compressed, the culmen arched from the base.Nostrilslong; aperture linear and naked; rictus bearded.Wingsremarkably short.Tailslender, graduated, and generally lengthened.

Culicivora.Swains. in Zool. Journ. No. 11. Lesson Man. 2. p. 430.

Billvery slender, the base depressed, the sides compressed, the culmen arched from the base.Nostrilslong; aperture linear and naked; rictus bearded.Wingsremarkably short.Tailslender, graduated, and generally lengthened.

Specific Character.

Above cinereous, beneath white; upper part of the head, middle tail feathers, and base of the three outer feathers deep black. Quills blackish, with white and grey margins.Figuier à tête noir de Cayenne?Pl. Enl. pl. 704. f. 1.?

Above cinereous, beneath white; upper part of the head, middle tail feathers, and base of the three outer feathers deep black. Quills blackish, with white and grey margins.

Figuier à tête noir de Cayenne?Pl. Enl. pl. 704. f. 1.?

The birds composing this natural but intricate group, have hitherto been found only in America. Scarcely superior in size to the Gold-crested Wrens, they exhibit much of the same activity and restlessness in searching after insects. Yet their manners, in other respects, are more in unison with those of the flycatching birds.

In size and in structure, our bird perfectly accords with theSylvia cæruleaof Vieil, and represents that northern species in tropical America, but we are fearful of identifying it with that figured in thePl. Enl.Our drawings are of the natural size; in both these species the bill perfectly resembles that ofPrinia. Horsf. except in being somewhat shorter: the feet, however, are those ofSetophaga, Swains. The Flycatchers and Warblers, are so blended together, by all writers, that we have not yet been able to discover the typical example of this group. Its true affinities, however, appear to be as follows:—

Culicivorais represented in Africa byDrymoica, Sw., in India byPrinia, Horsf., and in Australia byMalurus, Vieil.These genera, in conjunction with that ofSylvia, seem to indicate the first typical circle of this family. Culicivora exhibits many singular characters; in some approaching toPrinia, the tail is very short: others, shewing an affinity toSylvia, have yellow crests: while a few species, leading toSetophaga, present us with the depressed bill of a Flycatcher.

Pl.58.

OLIVA. Pl. 2.Olivella purpurata. 2. eburnea.

Plate 58.

OLIVApurpurata.

Purple-mouthed Olive.

Family Volutidæ.—Genus Oliva.Auct.

Sub-genus, Olivella.

Characters.

Spireof the shell lengthened, conic, the tip acute: inner lip not thickened, outer lip straight: base of the pillar curved inwards, and marked by 2 strong plaits; upper plaits evanescent, or entirely wanting.Apertureeffuse, and closed by an operculum?Nobis.

Specific Character.

Shell whiteish, with a very acute spire, nearly as long as the aperture; middle of the body whorl marked by angulated brown lines: suture with spots and fascicles of longitudinal stripes: basal belt very broad: aperture purple.Oliva biplicata?Sow. Tank. Cat. No. 2332. p. 33.

Oliva biplicata?Sow. Tank. Cat. No. 2332. p. 33.

This shell maybe considered as typical of a small group of Olives, which we suspect are peculiar to the American seas; they offer many points of difference from those of the Indian Ocean. We recollect to have seen another species, in some cabinet, with a small operculum. We have been fearful of pronouncing this to be theO. biplicata, as the judicious Conchologist will perceive the two descriptions do not exactly agree; and we have another to which the characters given ofbiplicatawill equally well apply. The perpendicular line indicates the natural size.

OLIVAeburnea.

Ivory Olive.

Shell entirely white, or marked by two bands of angulated purplish spots; pillar about 8-9 plaited: basal belt and spire always white; the former single.Oliva eburnea.Lam. Syst. 7. 1. p. 438.

Shell entirely white, or marked by two bands of angulated purplish spots; pillar about 8-9 plaited: basal belt and spire always white; the former single.

Oliva eburnea.Lam. Syst. 7. 1. p. 438.

This is the very common little Olive, sent in such abundance in the West India boxes of shells; we figure it, because it is seldom rightly named in collections, being confounded withconoidalis,oryza, and several others of an equally diminutive size: the plaits are sharp, short, well defined, and nearly all of equal size; although the base of the pillar forms an internal elevation.

Pl.59.

MARIUSThetys.

Plate 59.

MARIUSThetys.

OrderLepidoptera. Sub-order Papilionides.

(Thrysanuriform Stirps.—Horsf.)

Generic Character.See Pl.45.

Specific Character.

Wings horizontally lengthened, above bright rufous, transversely banded, with blackish stripes; beneath marbled with brown: lower part of the head, body, abdominal margin of the inferior icings, and feet, cream colour.Papilio Petreus,Cramer, Pl. 87, D. E.—— Thetys.Fabricius.Mant. Ins. 2, p.47. Eus. Syst. 3, 1, 77.

Papilio Petreus,Cramer, Pl. 87, D. E.

—— Thetys.Fabricius.Mant. Ins. 2, p.47. Eus. Syst. 3, 1, 77.

We frequently captured this Butterfly on the skirts of the Brazilian forests: its flight is bold and powerful, but it loves to bask on those leafy spots, where the sun, darting through a small opening of the dense foliage, illuminates a little space with sparkling brightness.

The poor and somewhat inaccurate figure of this insect in Cramer's work, is the only representation yet published. We have not had leisure to investigate its scientific relations, further than to ascertain its close affinity withMarius; of which group it appears on aberrant species.

Pl.60.

EURYMUSPhilodice.

Plate 60.

EURYMUSPhilodice.

Family Papilionidæ. (Juliform Stirps. Horsf.)

Sub Family, Colianæ.

Sub-genus(?) Eurymus.Nob. Horsf.

Characters.

Palpirather lengthened, cloathed and fringed with unequal, disunited hairs, the two last joints obliquely porrect, and scarcely touching the head.Antennæslender, terminating abruptly in a thick cylindrical club.Wingssimple, rounded, entire; destitute of concealedappendages.

Specific Character.

Wings yellow above; with a common border of black. Anterior above with a small, linear-oval, black, discoid spot.Col. Alis integerrimis, rotundatis, flavis, limbo communi suprà nigro: subtùs anticis puncto ocellari, posticis sesquialtero argenteo; his sub-rufescentibus; anticarum limbo suprà (fem.) flavo maculato.Ency. Meth. p. 100.

Wings yellow above; with a common border of black. Anterior above with a small, linear-oval, black, discoid spot.

Col. Alis integerrimis, rotundatis, flavis, limbo communi suprà nigro: subtùs anticis puncto ocellari, posticis sesquialtero argenteo; his sub-rufescentibus; anticarum limbo suprà (fem.) flavo maculato.Ency. Meth. p. 100.

The Butterflies constituting this group, are nearly restricted in their geographic range to the temperate regions of the old and the new world. Their principal metropolis appears to be in Europe; about twelve species having been described as natives of that continent. Of these, five are found in Britain; one of which,E. Edusa, has a very wide range; we have seen specimens from the mountains of Nepaul, and we possess others, collected by our friend Mr. Burchell, in Southern Africa.C. Philodicehitherto unfigured, is the only species of a strictly typical character discovered in North America: we have several specimens from New York, where it appears not uncommon: the middle figure represents the female.

In illustrating this group, we feel called up to notice in a particular manner, the courtesy of Dr. Horsfield in adopting our manuscript name, after it had remained so many years unpublished, that the circumstance, on our part, had been totally forgotton. To us the mere credit of having pointed out a group, flattering as it might once have been, is now trifling: but the high principles which prompted the unequivocal thanks of Dr. Horsfield, must ever demand our respect. The passage, indeed, so honourable to its writer, singularly contrasts with the ambiguous acknowledgements, tendered to us from other quarter.

Pl.61.

GRYLLIVORAsaularis.Male.

Plate 61.

GRYLLIVORASaularis.

Dial Bird.

Family Sylviadæ. Sub Family Saxicolinæ.

Generic Character.

Billstrong, compressed, the culmen gradually curved from the base, the tip strongly notched: the margins inflexed, the rictus bearded.Tarsielevated, robust.Wingsrounded, the 3, 4, 5 and 6th quills nearly equal, lesser quills nearly all of equal length.Tailgraduated; the feathers broad.Nob.

Specific Character.

Glossy blue-black, body beneath, and a broad longitudinal band in the middle of the wing, pure white: tail graduated, the three middle feathers black and nearly equal, the three outer suddenly diminishing, and pure white.Gracula Saularis.Auctorum.

Gracula Saularis.Auctorum.

Naturalists, until of late, were accustomed to pay so little regard to the habits and manners of birds, that of some of the most common species, we know as little now, as we did a century ago. We are in this predicament with the species before us, called the Dial Bird by Albin, whose vague and very questionable account of its manners, has been copied by every succeeding writer. We believe that under the name of Gracula Saularis, two, if not three species are confounded. We doubt Le VaillantsCadran(Ois. d'Af. pl. 109) being the same as our bird: he distinctly describes and figures the female asrufous. Ours, (so labelled), is grey. To us, its natural affinity with the Saxicolæ appears almost unquestionable, but on this point we shall dwell more at length in another place. The curious analogy between this bird andPetroica bicolor, has already been mentioned: the plumage of both are precisely alike. It is thus that Nature, ever unfolding some new link of her interminable chain of relations, impresses on the mind the sublimity of that plan, whichOMNIPOTENCEalone can fully comprehend.

Pl.62.

PTILIOGONYScinereus.female.

Plate 62.

PTILIOGONYScinereus.female.

Family Laniadæ. Sub-family Ceblepyrinæ.

Generic Character.See Zool. Journ. No. 10, p. 164.

Specific Character.

Head sub-crested; body above cinerous, tinged with grey brown, beneath ferruginous; belly white; under tail covers bright yellow; lateral tail feathers with an internal white band.Female.Ptiliogonys cinereus.Cat. of Mex. Mus. App. p. 4. (1824.)Ptiliogonys (not Ptiliogonatus,) cinereus.Zool. Journ. No. 10, p. 164. Phil. Mag. and Annals. June 1827, p. 367.Piroll velauté.Pl. Col. p. 422.

Head sub-crested; body above cinerous, tinged with grey brown, beneath ferruginous; belly white; under tail covers bright yellow; lateral tail feathers with an internal white band.Female.

Ptiliogonys cinereus.Cat. of Mex. Mus. App. p. 4. (1824.)

Ptiliogonys (not Ptiliogonatus,) cinereus.Zool. Journ. No. 10, p. 164. Phil. Mag. and Annals. June 1827, p. 367.

Piroll velauté.Pl. Col. p. 422.

Mus. Nost.

Although not particularly striking in its plumage, this is one of the most interesting birds, to the ornithologist, which has yet been gleaned from the little known regions of Mexico. Closely allied, by its short and broad bill to the Flycatchers, it is principally distinguished from them by the absence of those bristles round the mouth, which almost invariably belong to purely insectivorous birds. Its very short, robust, and feathered tarsi, the profile of the bill, construction of the wing, and even the colouring of the plumage, all remind us of theCeblepyrinæor Catterpillar-catchers, and point to that group as containing its true affinities: a group, however, which is in such confusion, that we venture not to hazard any speculations on the precise station of this curious genus.

If the authors of thePlanches Coloriées, will consult the Philosophical Magazine for July 1827, (one of the oldest and best of our scientific Journals), they will find that this, and most of the birds from Mexico, which they are now describing asnew, were long ago named andcharacterizedby us. Our list, indeed, of all those brought over by Mr. Bullock, was printed with the catalogue, in 1824, when one of the Authors was himself in England, and viewed the collection.

Pl.63.

CYNTILIASwainsonia.

Plate 63.

AMYNTHIASwainsonia.

Family Papilionidæ. Sub-family Colianæ.

Characters.

Antennægraduating from the base to a lengthened, cylindrical truncated club; the terminal joint of which is naked and concave.Headsmooth, destitute of a fascicle of hairs between the antennæ.Palpias inColias, the last joint inclining upwards.Wingsangulated, with concealed appendages.Feetas inColias.Nob.

Type.Col. Merula.Auct.

Specific Character.

Wings above greenish white, anterior with a yellow disk, and a quadrangular black dot, encircled with orange: wings beneath obscurely lineated with green.Colias Swainsonia.Leach. M. S. S.

Wings above greenish white, anterior with a yellow disk, and a quadrangular black dot, encircled with orange: wings beneath obscurely lineated with green.

Colias Swainsonia.Leach. M. S. S.

We had the satisfaction of discovering this lovely Butterfly in the interior of Pernambuco, during our Brazilian researches in 1813. Although assiduously sought after, we never captured more than three specimens, and these were met with far distant from the coast: it must be either excessively rare, or very locally distributed. The colouring is peculiarly chaste and elegant; the ground is a pearly white, tinged with green, and relieved by clear yellow: in the female this latter colour is more diluted, and spreads nearly to the base of the anterior wings. This group appears to be the tropical representative ofGonepteryx; from which it is much more distinguished thanEurymusis fromColias. The two European types are called by British collectors, Brimstones, and Clouded-yellows. Dr. Horsfield has judiciously removedP. GlaucippefromPieristoColias, to which (although an aberrant species,) it manifestly belongs. We should not be surprised if that insect leads toAmynthiaby means ofAmy. Leachiana(Pl. 6. of our first series), which will be seen, from the description, to exhibit many deviations from its conjenors: this however is a mere supposition, for we have not yet analized these groups. Independant of the characters here sketched,Gonepteryxis distinctly separated fromAmynthia, by the peculiar construction of the feet. The mistake of the printer, seen upon the plate, was discovered too late for correction.

Pl.64.

Ampullaria.Pl. 3.A. fasciata.

Plate 64.

AMPULLARIAfasciata. var.

Fasciated Apple Snail.

Order, Phytophaga. Family, Ampullaridæ.Guilding.

Generic Character.—See Guilding in Zool. Journ. No. 12, p. 538

Specific Character.

Shell thin, smooth, banded, ventricose; spire pointed, the whorls very convex; umbilicus open, rather large.Am. fasciata.Lam. Sys. 6, 177.Am. fasciata.Zool. Illust. 1 Series. 2. pl. 103.Am. fasciata, var. canaliculata.Sw. in Bligh Cat.Am. canaliculata.Lam. Syst. 6, 178.

Shell thin, smooth, banded, ventricose; spire pointed, the whorls very convex; umbilicus open, rather large.

Am. fasciata.Lam. Sys. 6, 177.

Am. fasciata.Zool. Illust. 1 Series. 2. pl. 103.

Am. fasciata, var. canaliculata.Sw. in Bligh Cat.

Am. canaliculata.Lam. Syst. 6, 178.

In our former series we represented this species as it is usually seen; our present figures were drawn from a very uncommon variety, received by Mrs. Mawe from Brazil, in which not the slightest appearance of the external transverse bands are apparent. The specimen now forms a part of the valuable and extensive Museum of the Natural History Society of Manchester; a collection which we believe is superior to that of any provincial town in the kingdom. It is gratifying to us to inform the scientific student, that its contents will be thrown open to his enquiries with a promptitude and liberality, which he will in vain look for at some of the Zoological Institutions of the metropolis.

Our friend Henry Parker, Esq. of Liverpool, who while prosecuting his botanical researches in Demerara, was not unmindful of conchology, favoured us with an interesting series of specimens from that river, clearly shewing that the A.fasciataandcanaliculataof Lamarck are varieties of one species; or rather, that there are specimens offasciatawhich perfectly agree with his description ofcanaliculata. We further learn from Mr. Parker, that the inhabitant of this, and of other species, are a favourite food with the crafty Herons, who use their bill as a spear to take them from the bottom; in some places, the banks of the river are strewed with empty shells, all perforated by these birds.

Pl.65.

CONUS. Pl. 2.Conus lithoglyphus.

Plate 65.

CONUSlithoglyphus.

Ermine Cone.

Zoophaga. Family Strombidæ.Nob.

Operculum of the Animal smaller than the aperture of its shell; outer lip of the latter detached above.Typical Genera.1,Terebellum. 2,Strombus. 3,Conus. 4, ——? 5,Pleurotoma.Auct.

Operculum of the Animal smaller than the aperture of its shell; outer lip of the latter detached above.

Typical Genera.1,Terebellum. 2,Strombus. 3,Conus. 4, ——? 5,Pleurotoma.Auct.

GenericCharacter.See Lam. Syst. 7, 440.

Specific Character.

Shell turbinated, redish orange, with two undulated white boards; base granulated, spire obtuse.Conus lithoglyphus.Mus. Gevers. p. 350. Brug. Ency. Meth. p. 692. Lam. Syst. 7, 490. C. Ermineus, Dillwyn, 395.Icones.Seba 3, pl. 42, f. 40, 41. Chem. pl. 140, f. 1298. Ency. Meth. pl. 338, f. 8.? Martini, 2, pl. 57, f. 630.—1.?

Shell turbinated, redish orange, with two undulated white boards; base granulated, spire obtuse.

Conus lithoglyphus.Mus. Gevers. p. 350. Brug. Ency. Meth. p. 692. Lam. Syst. 7, 490. C. Ermineus, Dillwyn, 395.

Icones.Seba 3, pl. 42, f. 40, 41. Chem. pl. 140, f. 1298. Ency. Meth. pl. 338, f. 8.? Martini, 2, pl. 57, f. 630.—1.?

The Cone Shells belong to a predatious race of Molluscæ, who feed upon the innumerable "creeping things," which swarm in the prolific seas of the Oriental hemisphere: destitute both of jaws and lips, their mouth is formed into a long trunk or proboscis; with this they contrive to bore into solid shells, and suck the vital juices of their victims. Nearly all the species are natives of the Indian Ocean.

The circular system of Nature has been so fully demonstrated, that it must now be received as the first great truth in Natural History. As, therefore, there can be butonenatural system, it necessarily follows that all combinations of groups, whether large or small, which do not pretend to exhibit such a disposition, must be more or less artificial classifications. We allude to this our opinion, as explanatory of those principles which have influenced the views indicated here of M. CuviersPectinibranchi; the more so, as we shall be obliged to characterize many new divisions, and to reform others, without the immediate opportunity of explaining our reasons. In another work we hope to enter on such details; and to shew we have been guided, in this matter, by more weighty considerations than mere individual opinion.

Pl.66.

TODUSviridis.Green Tody.

Plate 66.

TODUSviridis.

Green Tody.

Family Todidæ. See Pl.41.

Published Genera.Fluvicola. Nengetus. Alecturus. Muscicapa, (pars). Conopophaga. Platyrhynchus. Todus. Eurylamus. Querula? Psaris. Pachyrhynchus.

Generic Character.See Lesson, Man. 1, p. 178.

Specific Character.

Bright green, beneath whiteish; throat scarlet; sides of the body rosey; under tail covers yellow.Todus viridis.Auct.

Bright green, beneath whiteish; throat scarlet; sides of the body rosey; under tail covers yellow.

Todus viridis.Auct.

Mus. Paris. Nost.

This singular little bird has long excited the particular attention of those naturalists who study the affinities of groups, more than the details of species. It is a native of the West Indian Islands, and although stated to be not uncommon, the accounts given of its manners are perfectly contradictory. One author asserts that it is almost always seen upon the ground, from whence it receives the name ofPerroquet de Terre: another, that it only frequents the "lonely part of moist places" (woods?), where it sits in a couched manner, with its head thrown considerably back, and is so stupid, as almost to be taken by the hand. M. Vieillot confirms part of the latter particulars, although he repeats, without denying, the former. In our opinion the last is entitled to the most credance, although it is contradictory to the idea of this being a terrestial bird.

We cannot but feel surprise and regret, that the "very interesting account" of this bird, long ago announced (Zool. Journ. Dec. 1827. p. 439), as having been sent from Cuba, by Mr. Macleay, to the Linnean Society, should still be unknown to the scientific world. There is, indeed, a valuable paper by this gentleman on certain birds of Cuba, in the first part of the sixteenth Vol. of the Society's Transactions, where its author alludes to the "description and anatomy of two birds" (p. 12) both of which are nevertheless omitted: TheTodus viridis, we apprehend is truly "one of those solitary species," which, as Mr. Macleay observes, "from having been neglected, may serve to unfold an exception,sufficient to destroy the most plausible system." For ourselves, we shall feel much surprised if this bird is entitled, in the slightest degree, to a station among theFissirostres, in which order it has been placed by M. Vigors, in his paper "On the Natural affinities of Birds."

Pl.67.

MURICINÆ Pl. 1.Murex imperialis.

Plate 67.

MUREXImperialis.

Imperial Murex.

Family, Buccinidæ. Sub-family Muricinæ.Nob.

Generic Character.See Lam. Syst.

Types of form. 1. M. Regius. 2. palmarosæ. 3. tripterus. 4. tenuispinosus. 5. radix?Lam.

Specific Character.

Type 1.Shell ponderous, with from four to five varices between the two lips; the varices simple, nodulous, and obtuse: intermediate, or false varices, none; aperture yellow, orange, or red; inner lip striated only at the base.

The inhabitants of the Murices, or Rock Shells, are rapacious; and feed, for the most part, upon animal matter, either living or dead. By the latter instinct they are led to frequent harbours and sea-ports, for the sake of offal, and other animal refuse, thrown from vessels, which they greedily devour. Lamarck, with his usual precision, has characterized many species; but for the very beautiful one now, we believe, for the first time described, we have to thank Messrs. Stuchbury, who favoured us with the inspection of a fine series of specimens, received from the Island of Margarita, Lat. 11. 20. N. Lon. 63. 20. W.

The generaBuccinumandMurexof Linné, appear typical of the carnivorous orderZoophaga, whose shells are either notched or channelled at their base. These arrange themselves under two great divisions. In one the animal has an operculum or lid, which closes the entrance of his shell; in the other, the shell itself is more or less enveloped by two large lobes, called the mantle, with which the animal covers his habitation. Nevertheless, these two divisions, as M. Cuvier has fully shown, become insensibly united, and form one natural group. The two principal divisions of the operculated race are represented byCassisandMurex; the genera of the first have been pretty correctly made out; but those of theMuricinærequire much reformation; so far as regards the definition of their typical forms, and their apparent series of affinities.

Pl.68.

CONUS. Pl. 1.1. fumigatus. 2. franciscanus.

Plate 68.

CONUSfumigatus.

Family Strombidæ. Sub-family Conianæ.

Generic Character.See Lamarck.

Specific Character.

Shell smooth, spire very short, channeled, or with the whorls· concave: colour chesnut, belted with white, and articulated rows of chesnut dots.Conus fumigatusBrug. Diet. 94. Lam. Syst. 7. 496.Icones.Mart. 2 pl. 56. f. 618. Ency. Meth. pl. 336. f. 7.

Shell smooth, spire very short, channeled, or with the whorls· concave: colour chesnut, belted with white, and articulated rows of chesnut dots.

Conus fumigatusBrug. Diet. 94. Lam. Syst. 7. 496.

Icones.Mart. 2 pl. 56. f. 618. Ency. Meth. pl. 336. f. 7.

A species not conspicuous for its beauty, but by no means of common occurrence: its close resemblance to the next has induced us to illustrate both by figures.C. fumigatusseldom exceeds the size here represented; it may at once be known fromfranciscanus(which is a much smaller shell,) by the spiral whorls beingconcave, instead ofconvex: this species occurs in the Indian Ocean.

If the student compares eitherStrombus Luhuanus,Mauritianus, orPersicus, with any of the wide mouthed Cones, he will immediately perceive the affinity between the two groups. In both, the operculum of the animal is small, but inConusit seems reduced to a mere vestage; while the shell, nearly rolled upon its own axis, indicates the near approach which Nature has now made towards the Cowries; a family, however, essentially distinguished by the great developement of the mantle, and the total absence of an operculum.

CONUSfranciscanus.

Shell smooth, chesnut, with two white bands, the upper one near the suture: spire short, the whorls convex.C. franciscanus.Lam. Syst. 7. 493. Ency. Meth. 337. f. 5.

Shell smooth, chesnut, with two white bands, the upper one near the suture: spire short, the whorls convex.

C. franciscanus.Lam. Syst. 7. 493. Ency. Meth. 337. f. 5.

Lamarck mentions Africa and the shores of the Mediterranean, as the native locality of this shell. It escaped our researches on the coasts of Italy, Sicily, and Greece, and we suspect it to be an Oriental species.

Pl.69.

PIERISNigrina.

Plate 69.

PIERISNigrina.

Pieris(pars.) Latr: Stev.Pontia(pars.) Fab. Horsf.

Generic Character.

Antennæwith a spatulate, considerably compressed, obovate club.Palpihairy: the first joint with basal articulations, (Horsf. pl. 4. f. 10) beyond which it is hardly longer than the second, or the third, which are each of equal length.Anterior Wingswith the exterior margin manifestly shorter than the posterior.

Type. Pieris Belisama.Lat.

Specific Character.

Wings above white in one sex, grey in the other; anterior tipt with black; beneath black, with a terminal band of yellow: posterior wings beneath black, varied with grey, and marked with an undulated, nearly central, border of crimson.Pieris Nigrina.Fab. Sys. Ent. 475. Ent. Sys. 3. 1. 20. Ency. Meth. p. 149. Don. Ins. of New Holl. 19. f. 1.

Pieris Nigrina.Fab. Sys. Ent. 475. Ent. Sys. 3. 1. 20. Ency. Meth. p. 149. Don. Ins. of New Holl. 19. f. 1.

Although this elegantly marked insect has long been known to Entomologists, we believe it has only once been figured. It is not uncommon in Australia, and being a typical species, we select it to illustrate this group.

The Butterflies calledWhites, in the common language of Collectors, (Pieris,Lat.) are distinguished by their great simplicity of colouring, and a predominence of white upon their wings. It is a singular fact, that the various species of this family, among which are included the different white Butterflies of Europe; feed chiefly on such plants as are nourishing and salutary to the human body, such as the various sorts of cabbages, coleworts, turnips, &c., and in every foreign country where these white Butterflies have been found, plants of the same nutricious qualities, are sure to be discovered in the vicinity of their haunts.

The group to which we here restrict the name ofPieris, is confined, we believe, exclusively to the old world, and principally to intertropical latitudes. We have been much embarassed, however, in applying this name correctly. Dr. Horsfield has placed many of our IndianPieresunder the genusPontia, which group is restricted by Mr. Stephens to European insects. As this latter disposition is more in unison with our own views, we have adapted it; consideringP. Cratægito be the only aberrant representative ofPierisin Europe.

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