Spot (animal)

“ We have before us a number of elegant spindle-shaped bodies, somewhat thicker in front than behind, and in what may be called the head there glitters a brilliant red speck, commonly called an eye-spot, although, like the eyes of potatoes, it cannot see. Round this eye-spot the tissues are clear, like glass; but the body of the creature is of a rich vegetable green, which shines and glistens as it catches the light. Some swim rapidly with a rollicking motion, while others twist themselves into all manner of shapes. ”

“ If food were sought on the bottom by means of sight, the animal would probably swim dorsal side up, for by canting from side to side it could see the bottom just as easily as though it were ventral side up, and at the same time it would be in position to drop quickly on the prey. ”

“ A flock of twenty may easily survey an area of two miles, as they go turning in large circles, often intersecting each other in their lines, as if forming a vast chain of rounded links;—some are high, whilst others are low;—not a spot is passed unseen, and, consequently, the moment that a prey is discovered, the favoured bird rounds to, and, by the impetuosity of its movements, gives notice to its nearest companion, who immediately follows him, and is successively attended by all the rest. ”

“ As some of the vessels around the eye 49 fall entirely outside the eye, on account of their protuberance, while others are more sunken, and still others are placed in an even surface, it is probable that for this reason also the ideas vary, and dogs, fishes, lions, men, and grasshoppers do not see the same things, either of the same size, or of similar form, but according to the impression on the organ of sight of each animal respectively. ”

“ In old lions and tigers the face wrinkles pretty much all over, especially across the nose and under the eyes. In all the Felidæ the opening of the eye changes most strikingly. When angry, the eye of a ruminant animal opens its widest, and shows portions of the eyeball that are never seen otherwise. ”

“ Although dwelling principally on the ground, he is ready and expert in catching his prey in the air, in which act his movements are full of animation,—bounding from the ground with a sudden impulse to the height of eight or ten feet; his wings and tail are seen expanded for a scarcely appreciable 215 instant, and his bill is heard to snap as he takes his prey, when he drops as suddenly to the spot from which he sprang. ”

“ By constantly traversing the same ground, in going and returning from their burrows, they gradually tread down a path among the grass and herbage, by which their presence may readily be discovered by an experienced eye. When under water, their fur is covered with multitudes of tiny air-bubbles that shine like silver and have a beautiful effect when seen against the dark surface of the body. ”

“ If a grub stirs responsive to the tap, tap, tap of his inquiring bill—if his delicate ear detects a cavity, as a doctor detects a weak spot in a lung with his prying stethoscope—in a second our bird has drilled a hole with that powerful augur, his wedge-shaped beak, has darted out his long and extensile tongue, and has extracted the insect by means of its barbed and bristled tip. ”

“ Having found where a fish is lying, probably under an overhanging branch or beneath the grass jutting out from the bank, you lie down silently as close to the edge of the water as you can get, and slip one paw in, ever so gradually, behind the fish, and move it towards him gently—gently. If he takes fright and darts away, you leave your paw where it is, or move it as close to the spot where he was lying as you can reach, and wait. ”

“ His eyes are rolled upward until only the white can be seen, which is strongly injected and as he sees nothing, is as apt to leap against a wall or a man, as in any other direction. Anything which excites him appears to induce the fits, which, I think, are more apt to occur in crossing water than elsewhere, and the animal sometimes falls so exhausted as to drown in water not over two feet deep. ”

“ Do not make them unusually staring, as though about to burst from their sockets. It is the eye more than any other one feature that gives any animal, living or stuffed, its expression, and this is due entirely to the arrangement of the lid and brow. ”

“ Any taxidermist can understand how a dried skin which has been softened unevenly might be stretched in such manner as to extend the margin of the spot outward in any direction, even under the eye, as in Audubon's swimming bird, or how an indentation could be produced such as appears on the front margin of the spot in his standing bird. ”

“ At the will of the animal this is rapidly protruded from its hiding place, and passing swiftly over the eye, shovels up every nuisance mixed with tears, and then being suddenly drawn back, the dust or insect is wiped away as the haw again passes under the corner of the eye. ”

“ As the deer or antelope treads on the snare, the foot passes easily through the elastic spikes, but, when the foot is raised, the spikes run into the joint and hold the hoop upon the limb. Terrified by the check and the sudden pang, the animal tries to run away, but, by the united influence of sharp spikes and the heavy log, it is soon forced to halt, and so becomes an easy prey to its pursuers. ”

“ Plat-eyes appear to old and young of both sexes, sometimes in the form of a small dog or other animal, while at other times they may float like wraiths along the marshes or unfrequented paths, or stoop like low-hung clouds and envelop the victim. ”

“ When verging on half an inch long the body broadens, the eye has got well towards the right, the dorsal fin has advanced to its hinder border, the lateral line looms up, and brown pigment is diffused throughout the upper or right surface of the fish. ”

“ Their senses of sight and smell are very acute, especially the former; and when searching for prey they soar to a very great height, and if they chance to discover a wounded animal they immediately follow and attack it whenever it sinks down. ”

“ The accustomed eye finds points which mark the line, if not the very spot, where the bird has fallen—a spray of charlock flower, a thistle-stem, or a tinted leaf. When a bird falls at a distance it is helpful to take some prominent object in front and behind to mark the line—such as a gap and a sapling in opposite hedges. ”

“ The most striking characteristic of the animal, and that from which it takes its name, consists in the large cheek pouches which hang from each side of the mouth and extend back to to shoulders. They are used as receptacles of food which the animal hurriedly gathers when above ground, afterward returning to its burrow to enjoy its feast at its leisure. ”

“ One of Herbert Spencer's questions was, Why do animals and birds of prey have their eyes in front, and others, as sheep and domestic fowl, on the side of the head? Man, then, by the position of his eyes belongs to the predaceous animals. ”

“ Characters.—Hairs of body long, but thin on the head, body, limbs and tail; hair of crown very long and projecting over the face and the sides of head, forming what has been called a "hood." Face nude, flesh-coloured; cheeks and lower jaw nearly nude also, but the skin of a blackish hue. Hair on back black, intermingled with numerous others which are yellowish-grey in colour; crown and back of head, hands, and feet black—the hairs black throughout. Nude part of tail flesh-coloured. The hands have a rudiment of a thumb in the shape of a small tubercle. ”

“ Should he not succeed in discovering the desired object in the fields, he enters the forest and perches on some detached tree, tall enough to enable him to see to a great distance around. His posture is now erect, he remains still and silent, moving only his head, as on all other occasions, to enable his keen eye to note the occurrences which may take place in his vicinity. ”

“ Sometimes these organs are enormously enlarged, their great size indicating that the fish is either nocturnal, or lives at a depth to which only a part of the sun's rays penetrate. On the other hand, small eyes occur in fishes inhabiting muddy places, or great depths to which scarcely any light descends, or in fishes in which the want of an organ of sight is compensated by the development of other organs of sense. In a few fishes, more particularly in those inhabiting caves or the greatest depths of the ocean, the eyes have become quite rudimentary and hidden under the skin. ”

“ Sitting on the summit of a huge rock, or sailing around at a great height in the air, he discerns his prey. Sometimes it is a fish just below the surface of the water, or a lamb accidentally separated from its mother. ”

“ With clear water and a clear atmosphere a light-colored fly will show as plainly on the surface as a dark one to the fish below. If we gaze upward during a fall of snow, the flakes appear quite dark, while on a level or below the eye they appear white. ”

“ The head.—The segments of which the body of an insect is composed are grouped into three regions: the head, the thorax, and the abdomen.
The head is the first of the three regions. It is formed of several segments grown together so as to from a compact box. It bears the eyes, the antennæ, and the mouth-parts.
The eyes are of two kinds, which are distinguished as the compound eyes and the simple eyes.
The compound eyes are two in number, one on each side of the head; they are the organs commonly recognised as the eyes. ”

“ I have frequently seen it shot in this manner. At other times, by watching its beats over a field or meadow, one may obtain a good opportunity by concealing himself near a spot where he has seen it miss its object, as it is sure to repass there in a short time, at all events before it removes to another field. ”

“ It is probable that the species with a rostrum use it to procure small prey hidden between stones or buried in the mud, and that the fleshy mental appendage with which many are provided is a tactile organ compensating the imperfection of the vision in the search for food. ”

“ This greater or less separateness of his own shadow reminds him of cases where a shadow is quite separate. When watching a fish in the water on a fine day, he sees a dark, fish-shaped patch on the bottom at a considerable distance from the fish, but nevertheless following it hither and thither. Lifting up his eyes, he observes dark patches moving along the mountain-sides—patches which, whether traced or not to the clouds that cast them, are seen to be widely disconnected from objects. ”

“ Face, ears, and hands nude; tail long and carried over the back; whiskers small, directed backward, below and behind the ears. Face of a livid brownish colour; ears, hands, and feet darker; fur on the upper parts of the body and the outside of the limbs sooty-black; chin, throat, breast, cheek-whiskers to below the ears, the under side of the body, and inside of the limbs, ashy-grey; the whiskers sometimes of the same colour as the back; tail darker grey. ”

“ Accordingly, we find that no structure exhibits such strange variations as the skin. Besides the regular modifications which we see in the scales or horny plates of fishes, the smooth coats or solid shells of reptiles, the feathers of birds, and the hair of mammals, numerous other minor peculiarities occur in almost every species. Such are the horns of cows and goats, the spike of the rhinoceros, the beaks, nails, claws, hoofs, and talons of beasts or birds, and the tail-plumes, ruffs, lappets, crests, and ornamental adjuncts of all the more aesthetic animals. ”

“ If we take highly decorated species, that is, animals marked by alternate light and dark bands, or spots, such as the Zebra, some Deer, or the carnivora, we find first that the region of the spinal column is marked by a dark stripe ”

“ His remarkably large and handsome eye is too sensitive for the glare of the sun, and during the greater part of the day he remains closely concealed in marshy thickets or in rank grass. In the morning and evening twilight and on moonlight nights, he seeks his food in open places. ”

“ During the day, it lurks generally in some obscure nook or dark corner; but at dusk sallies forth in search of prey, running up or down the steepest walls with wonderful swiftness, and giving utterance to a quick shrill noise by smacking its tongue against its palate. ”

“ Whether it be standing in or near a reed-bed, erect, with neck preternaturally elongated and beak pointed upwards, or crouching against a riverside tree-stump, the attitude is calculated to deceive the eyes of all but the keenest observers, especially since the colour of the bird's plumage harmonizes in a remarkable degree with that of the natural surroundings. ”

“ A dead branch, or the projecting twig of a tree, or the summit of a tall bush, or the angle of the roof of a house, is also not unfrequently chosen as the watch-post, the object being to secure a commanding range of observation on the surrounding air. The captured insect is never swallowed on the wing, but is held for a few seconds in the beak even after the return to the post. ”

“ The bird rises to the surface to swallow its prey, but a strap round the neck allows it to dispose of the smallest only of its captures, while it is forced by its master to disgorge the remainder before it is rewarded with a portion of the catch. ”

“ When disturbed, if there be not a dog present, it runs to a short distance, stops, raises its head, erects its ears, and is then easily discovered and shot. When the period of parturition approaches, it forms a kind of nest of long grass, arranged in an oblong form. ”

“ Whence they come none can tell, and the only probable suggestion is that they hover at a height beyond the ken of human eye over a passing caravan, for they are first noticed as specks in the air above, moving [112] slowly round in circles as they descend spirally upon their prey. ”