Various

“ Whoever has an opportunity to observe reptiles in confinement for an extended period of time can easily draw conclusions as to their mode of living in freedom. A captive Gila Monster is fed on hens’ eggs; in summer one each week, in winter one every two or three weeks. It refuses every other kind of food, however temptingly it may be offered, such as mice, frogs, angleworms, mealworms and the like. It is more than probable that in their wild state they live on a similar diet, consisting then of eggs of other lizards, of turtles and of birds. ”

“ What do we mean by the “Geographical Distribution” of birds? Are not birds to be found everywhere, over both land and sea? Are they not, then, universally distributed? As a class they certainly are, but not as species nor even orders. Parrots are not found in frigid regions, nor are snowflakes and snowy owls found in the tropical regions. Our Wood Warblers and Vireos are not found outside of America, while there are no birds of Paradise anywhere in America. ”

“ We know that the distribution of land and water over the earth has not always been the same as it is now, but that many places that are now covered with water were once dry land, and that in many places where there is now land there used to be water. Now, America is wholly separated from Uro-Asia-Africa, but once they were connected together by a broad neck of land where Bering Sea now lies, and there may have been another neck of land connecting Europe with Iceland and Greenland and so with North America. ”

“ The configuration of the Orient is such that animals would have a far greater range east and west than north and south. A great mountain range and a great desert are thrown as barriers across the way of the northward and southward movement. In America there is a continuous gateway to the north and south, but barriers to an eastward or westward movement. With such creatures as the birds freedom to move north and south would always lessen competition, while the crowding of one group or race upon another eastward or westward would increase the competition. ”

“ Among the edible snails none excel in public favor the common edible snail of Europe (Helix pomatia) . The cultivation of this animal has become an established business, like our oyster fisheries, and thousands are consumed annually. The early Romans considered this animal a dainty dish, and the inhabitants of France, Spain and Italy have inherited or cultivated a liking for the succulent “Shell-fish.” This species has been introduced into New Orleans where it is eaten by the French inhabitants. ”

“ The illustration to this paper is so excellently made that scarcely any description is necessary as to the animal’s exterior in color and markings. This Heloderma is a little over nineteen inches in length by ten inches in circumference of the body and five inches at the thickest part of the tail, which makes one-third of the total length of the body. When such a reptile grows to the size of eighteen inches it is called adult. Those growing beyond these figures are unusually large specimens and in very rare instances the species of our illustration reaches the extraordinary length of two feet. ”

“ The Greek interest in fishes seems never to have gone beyond their utility as an article of food. The building of aquaria and fish-ponds never came to be the sport of the Greeks, although they became extravagant luxuries among the Romans. Likewise fishing never became the sport of a Greek gentleman, unless, perchance, at a rather late period. Plato excludes fishing from the sports of a free-born gentleman. The only sport he would have him engage in was the chase, which, athletic games aside, was about the only outdoor sport a Greek gentleman seems to have indulged in. ”

“ Hibernating animals always begin their long sleep upon an empty stomach, and food injected into their stomach is not digested. The fat disappears, it is true, but it is not in any strict sense digested. Any experienced hunter is aware that unless the entrails are removed from the shot rabbit the fat will disappear from about the kidneys. The fat may, and no doubt does, assist in some way in the long sleep. It may act as fuel to keep up the right living temperature. At any rate, it is true that hibernating animals eat voraciously and grow very fat just before they go to sleep. ”

“ Helix nemoralis, an edible snail of England, with a beautifully banded shell, is sold in the streets of London and eaten much as we eat walnuts, by picking out the animal with a pin! The edible snails, as well as many others, make good and interesting pets in captivity, the Helix pomatia being of such a size that it may be easily studied. It is interesting to watch one of these snails feeding upon a piece of lettuce. First the jaw is seen to protrude and to cut off a small piece of the leaf, which is drawn into the mouth and reduced to still smaller pieces by the rasp-like radula. ”

“ The South American species feed on the larger mollusks, as the Bulimus before spoken of, and the aperture of each intended victim’s shell is carefully examined before any attempt is made to enter. When our “tiger” is satisfied that its victim is really within, it will enter the aperture and devour the animal. Sometimes it will make a hole for itself in the shell of its victim and will eat the contents through this aperture instead of the natural one. In Florida these animals prey upon the large pulmonates like Lignus and Orthalicus. ”

“ When we understand that at least one-third of the species found in the Nearctic are also found in the Palearctic, we shall understand why these two are grouped under one region. There are no orders, and there seem to be no families which are found in the Holarctic and nowhere else. Indeed, it is difficult to find even genera which do not have some species ranging into the Neotropical, Ethiopian or Indian. But among the species we find many. ”

“ At the present time these reptiles are not so very common. Ever-prevailing superstition among the ignorant and exaggerated bad reputation have brought on a relentless war of extermination against them, so that now in the neighborhood of settlements they are seen seldom if ever. Their center of distribution is more and more confined to the region along the banks of the Gila river in Arizona, although less frequently they may still be found as far west as the Mojave desert in California. But those are wrong who believe that the Heloderma is living only in the most arid portions of the southwest. ”

“ The land shells of the United States, while numerous in species, are not as conspicuous in color-pattern as those of Europe, South America or the islands of the Indian and Pacific Oceans, although California produces some highly-colored species, as will be seen by consulting the figure of Helix fidelis, on our plate. The majority of our species are uncolored, like the figure of Polygyra albolabris.
One of the largest and most interesting of American shells is the Bulimus, found in South America. The shell of Bulimus ovatus attains a length of six inches and the animal is correspondingly large. ”

“ Unlike the vultures the Hawks feed upon living prey while the former seek the dead or dying animal. The vultures are often called “Nature’s Scavengers,” and in many localities they have been so carefully protected that they will frequent the streets of towns, seeking food in the gutters.
The family Falconidae, which includes the Hawks, the falcons, the vultures, the kites, and the eagles—all diurnal birds of prey—numbers about three hundred and fifty species, of which between forty and fifty are found in North America. The remainder are distributed throughout the world. ”

“ Some are so small that they can scarcely be seen with the unaided eye, while others attain a length of six inches; some have the aperture of the shell armed with numerous folds or teeth, while others are smooth and the colors vary from whitish or horn-colored to the gorgeously colored helices of the tropics with their bands and blotches of red, brown, white or green. With all this diversity the land shells or helices may always be distinguished from their salt or fresh-water relatives. ”

“ The family is interesting because the species, though closely related, vary so widely in their habits. They “are found living in ground of every nature, from dry plains and wet marshes to the densest forest growth.” Here are classed some of the birds which are among the most beautiful of our songsters. Here, too, are classed some species that never utter a musical sound, and whose voices are harsh and rough. The sexes are usually dissimilar, the female being the smaller and generally much duller in color. ”

“ Fish culture never became a serious occupation among the Romans. It was a pastime, one of the many directions which their senseless luxury took rather than a carefully directed effort to stock ponds and rear fish for food, or as a means of nature study. The immense ponds were stocked with rare fish in preference to useful varieties. Next to the rare species those that could be tamed were in favor. ”

“ This species may be called our winter hawk and for this reason the name borealis is most appropriate. “The coldest days of January serve to give this hawk a keener eye and a deeper zest for the chase.” The best locality to seek the Red-tail may be found at the wooded borders of pastures and streams, where it can easily perceive and swoop down upon its prey. It seldom visits a barnyard, but will occasionally catch a fowl that has strayed away from the protection of buildings. Its food consists to a great extent of meadow and other species of mice, rabbits and other rodents. ”

“ Thus in some species of our common snails there are seventy-one teeth in a single row, and the whole radula is made up of a hundred rows of teeth, making a grand total of seventy-one hundred teeth in the mouth of a single snail!
Land snails are found almost everywhere, in valleys, high up on mountains, and even in deserts. They may be found in the cold climate of Alaska or in the tropical zone under the equator. As a rule, they prefer moist localities, where there is an abundance of vegetation and where the ground is strewn with rotting logs, beds of decaying leaves or moss-covered rocks. ”

“ This mollusk has a long, worm-like body, the shell being very small and rudimentary, ear shaped, and placed on the extreme posterior end of the animal. Its principal food consists of earth-worms, although it will attack other mollusks and even its own species. It has been likened to the tiger and the shark in its cunning while pursuing its prey and in its ferocity when attacking it. The poor earth-worm stands but a slight chance of escape when Testacella scents it and starts in pursuit. ”

“ Since most birds migrate shorter or longer distances in search of a place to rear their young, and return again to warmer regions to pass the winter months, the question at once arises, What is the geographical distribution of such migratory birds? That is not so difficult as it may seem at first glance. We have only to inquire what governs the movements of the species in question in such a way that its appearance at certain places at certain known times may be confidently expected. ”

“ There are five species, all found in the United States, The Bronzed and the Purple Grackles are the most generally distributed and best known.
The Great-tailed Grackle, as well as the other species, usually builds rude and bulky nests in trees, sometimes at quite a height from the ground. It will also nest in shrubs and it is said that it will occasionally select holes in large trees. The males are an iridescent black in color and the females are brown and much smaller. Both sexes spend most of their time on the ground. ”

“ These teeth serve in a manner to protect the little animal from its enemies. These tiny shells are always to be found plentifully under starting bark and under chips, stones and debris, in more or less moist localities.
In another genus of Pupidae, Clausilia, nature has provided the aperture of the shell with a little valve called a “clausilium,” which acts as a spring door to close the shell against all its enemies. This door is an additional safeguard as the aperture is already provided with numerous teeth and folds. In this manner does Mother Nature look after her children. ”

“ No more interesting object can be placed in a library or study than a snailery with several species of snails. They are far superior in interest to goldfish or canaries.
The most interesting snails are by no means the largest. Frequently the small snail shells with their animals have habits or shell structures of absorbing interest. ”

“ Australia seems to have been the next tract of land cut off, for here, too, we meet with the lower forms which show the lack of the keen competition which their relatives further north had to sustain. When North America was cut off from Siberia, marking the close of more or less extensive interchange of communication of the animals of both regions, there was little difference in their animal life ”

“ It is just as true in the natural world as in the commercial, that competition is necessary for the highest development. It is probably true that the disturbances which caused the land to sink in places and so disconnect what had been connected lands, possibly a splitting up of one great flat land mass, also brought about the changes which made out of one great tropical world the one that we know with its frigid, temperate and tropical zones. ”

“ These spiders—often seventeen or eighteen of them—are stupefied in the same manner as in the case of the potter wasp, and are living when the young wasp begins his repast. This habit is peculiar to many 61 species of wasp and is, I think, worthy of careful study. I wish I had space to tell of the almost fiendish ingenuity that certain parasites show in maintaining themselves at the expense of their hosts.
The ground hog has a knack of spending his winter in a way that is at once economical and pleasant. They generally hibernate in pairs, rolling themselves up into balls. ”

“ In the markets of Rio Janeiro this mollusk is sold as food and is eagerly sought by the poorer people, among whom it is considered a great delicacy. Another interesting fact in connection with this species (as well as others of the genus) is the size of the eggs which it deposits, they being as large as pigeons’ eggs. These are also eaten with avidity by the negroes of Brazil.
One of the most beautiful of the land shells found in the United States is the Liguus fasciatus, found in Florida and Cuba. The shell is about two inches long and is encircled by bands of white, brown and green. ”

“ The Loir, a peculiar little native of Senegal, never hibernates in its native clime, but every specimen brought to Europe becomes torpid when exposed to cold. The common land tortoise—wherever he may be and he is a voracious eater of almost anything—always goes to sleep in November, and wakes some time in May.
Just as in the north numerous animals hibernate upon approach of cold, so in the south there are species that may be said to estivate during the hottest weather. ”

“ In our part of the Holarctic, that is, the Nearctic, the familiar birds about us do not nest also in the tropical regions.
THE ETHIOPIAN REGION,
as the name suggests, includes the whole of Africa except that portion north of the Sahara desert, and Arabia and Egypt, with Madagascar and other islands in the immediate vicinity. It seems hardly necessary to even mention the forms that are peculiar to this peculiar region. Even the word Africa brings trooping to our minds a whole continent of peculiarities in more realms than one. ”

“ The under side of the latter and the abdomen are covered with tessellated scales of a light-brown and dull yellow color arranged in another handsome pattern.
A Heloderma’s head, with its triangular shape, is very like that of a venomous snake; it gives the animal—especially when it is raised in anger—a truly awe-inspiring appearance.
The wide-cleft mouth reaches far behind the eyes. These are very small and, like all lizards, provided with eye-lids that close when the animal sleeps. ”

“ The birds are more certain to appear at their old summer homes in spring than they are to be found at any particular place during the winter. But if there be any objection to this view it will yet remain true that where a bird rears its young should more properly be called its home than the place to which it is forced by the approach of cold or the lack of food. ”