Troglodyte

“ They are objects of delicate manipulation, the value of which is proved by the occurrence of examples accidentally broken, and drilled with a new eye. The caves of the Dordogne pertained, even in the remote era of the mammoth or reindeer periods, to a race of inland hunters and fishermen to whom such a harpoon would have been cumbrous, if not wholly unsuited to their requirements. But the Kent’s Hole Troglodyte had probably more formidable prey to encounter, and so adapted the implements of the chase to his special requirements. ”

“ A. troglodytes [2] (cave-dweller) is a very common, but interesting object. The members of this species are especial favourites with the writer, from their great suitableness for the aquarium. They vary considerably in their appearance from each other. Some are red, violet, purple, or fawn colour; others exhibit a mixture of these tints, while not a few are almost entirely white. There are certain specimens which disclose tentacula, that in colour and character look, at a little distance, like a mass of eider-down spread out in a circular form. ”

“ Judging from the style of weapons these Troglodytes employed, we should say that they were quiet folk, not given to war.
It has been supposed that they wore no clothing, as all the human figures portrayed by their artists are nude (Fig. 5) . This, however, proves just nothing, because it proves too much. By parity of reasoning, the Greeks would have gone naked also. But we find in the caves all the necessary outfit of the (Troglodytic) tailor. There are needles of bone and of reindeer-horn, some of them being mere awls, but ”

“ More often we have unconscionable yarns about men without noses, or with only one eye, tailed men, solid-hoofed men, Amazons, and parthenogenesis. The Troglodytes, or Cave-dwellers, on the Nubian coast of the Red Sea seem to have been in the middle status of barbarism (Diodorus, iii. 32; Agatharchides, 61-63) , and the Ichthyophagi, or Fish-eaters, whom Nearchus found on the shores of Gedrosia (Arrian, Indica, cap. 29) , were probably in a lower stage, perhaps true savages. It is exceedingly curious that Mela puts a race of pygmies at the headwaters of the Nile (see map above, p. 304) . ”

“ Troglodytes may be found, as I have said already, in hundreds at Hastings, in similar situations to that of Bellis; its only token, when the tide is down, being a round dimple in the muddy sand which firs the lower cracks of rocks.
But you will want more than these anemones, both for your own amusement, and for the health of your tank. Microscopic animals will breed, and will also die; and you need for them some such scavenger as our poor friend Squinado, to whom you were introduced a few pages back. ”

“ The noble Brutus went wise Trivia to inquire,
To show them where the stock of ancient Troy to place.
M. Drayton, Polyolbion, i. (1612) . Trog ́lodytes (3 or 4 syl.) . According to Pliny (Nat. Hist., v. 8) , the Troglodytes lived in caves under ground, and fed on serpents. In modern parlance, we call those who live so secluded as not to be informed of the current events of the day, troglodytes. Longfellow calls ants by the same name. ”

“ Their bones have not been found in caves or in the state of fossils anywhere, so they must be regarded as essentially African. The group clings to forest and jungle, and its members lead very much the same kind of lives, for they are all vegetarians, liking quietude, and either roaming singly or in pairs, or living in troops. There is no evidence whatever that any of these species of Troglodytes have ever wandered ”

“ This mixture of bones and charcoal occurs so generally, so uniformly, that it is not easy to suppose that the Troglodytes lighted fires merely for the purpose of keeping themselves warm. They must have lighted fires daily at all seasons of the year, and hence it is likely that they cooked their food. ”

“ In a skulking manner, with its little tail erect, it hops about the most entangled parts of the forests of Tierra del Fuego; but when near the outskirts, it every now and then pops out, and then quickly back again. It utters many loud and strange cries: to obtain a good view of it is not always easy, and still less so to make it fly. A specimen I procured at Chiloe had its upper mandible stronger and more arched, but differed in no other respect.
1. Troglodytes Magellanicus. Gould.
T. Magellanicus, Gould, in Proc. of Zool. Soc. Part iv. 1836, p. 88. This bird has a considerable range. ”

“ The castle of my fathers is strangely incrusted into an excavation in a wall of basalt 500 feet high. The base of this wall, with that face to face with it, identically the same rock, forms a narrow and sinuous valley, through which winds and leaps an inoffensive torrent in impetuous cascades. The Château de la Roche is a nest of troglodytes, inasmuch as the whole flank of the rock we occupy is riddled with holes and irregular chambers which tradition points out as the residence of ancient savages, and which antiquaries do not hesitate to attribute to a prehistoric people. ”

“ There there is neither South nor East nor West, but only North and Beyond; there is only North of it where lie the Worlds, and Beyond it where lies the Silence, and the Rim is a mass of rocks that were never used by the gods when They made the Worlds, and on it sat Trogool. Trogool is the Thing that is neither god nor beast, who neither howls nor breathes, only It turns over the leaves of a great book, black and white, black and white for ever until the End. ”

“ Eine Art davon wird die fette der Ebene genannt, von der durch Auspressen die Stakte gewonnen wird, eine andere die Gabirea, sehr fette, welche auf fruchtbarem fettem Boden wächst, und auch viel Stakte liefert. Alle übertrifft die troglodytische, so genannt von dem Lande, wo sie wächst; sie ist grünlichgelb, beißend und durchsichtig. Eine gewisse feine Art wird auch gesammelt, welche gleich auf die troglodytische folgt, etwas weich wie das Bdellium, von üblem Geruch ist und in sonnigen Gegenden wächst. ”

“ Judging from the structure of the eye and the color of the skin, Troglichthys has been longest established in caves. Amblyopsis came next, and Typhlichthys is a later addition to the blind cave fauna.
"Those," said Dr. J. N. Langley, in his sectional address on Physiology at the British Association, "who have occasion to enter into the depths of what is oddly, if generously, called the literature of a scientific subject, alone know the difficulty of emerging with an unsoured disposition. ”

“ The Trogons form a well-marked family of insectivorous forest-haunting birds, whose dense yet puffy plumage exhibits the most exquisite tints of pink, crimson, orange, brown, or metallic green, often relieved by delicate bands of pure white. In one Guatemalan species the tail coverts are enormously lengthened into waving plumes of rich metallic green, as graceful and marvellous as those of the Paradise-birds. Trogons are tolerably abundant in the Neotropical and Oriental regions, and are represented in Africa by a single species of a peculiar genus. ”

“ I too can endure. I will not be conquered by my own child.' There spoke the human being. That was the utterance natural to the woman. 'In this struggle, hard as it is, I will not be beat by one who has been subject to my authority.' In all those prayers,—and she had prayed,—there had been the prayer in her heart, if not in her words, that she might be saved from the humiliation of yielding.
Early in the day Caldigate was again in front of the house, and outside there was a close carriage with a pair of horses, standing at the gardener's little gate. ”

“ Scarcely had he curled himself up before the tread of human steps made him cock his ears, and when the Earthstopper bent over his clean-cut footprints the ominous silence had brought him to his feet. But as the footsteps died away he had settled himself down again, and it was out of a deep sleep that the warning voice of Troubadour had roused him. Once more, like an outlaw, he was driven forth under the eye of the wintry sun with hue and cry behind him, conscious that his safety lay in his own cunning and endurance and the stout heart that had carried him through before. ”

“ The extreme development of the type in the New World just noticed also furnishes another hint. While in some of the American trogons (Pharomacrus, for instance) the plumage of the females is not very much less beautiful than that of the males, there are others in which the hen birds retain what may be fairly deemed a more ancient livery, while the cocks flaunt in brilliant attire. Now the plumage of both sexes in all but one [4] of the Asiatic trogons, Harpactes, resembles rather that of the young and of the females of the American species which are modestly clothed. ”

“ There was barely time for a glance, but never had she been more conscious of the grand proportions of that manly throat. A sweet feeling of pity came upon her, causing her to determine to relieve his sufferings in the shorter space of fifteen minutes. He had been lying on his back, with his lips apart, and as she held back his beard, that and her hand nearly covered the features of his face. But he made no violent effort to free himself from the encounter. He did not even move an arm or a leg. He simply emitted a snore louder than any that had come before. ”

“ Two other families, the Trogonidæ and the Meropidæ, are not represented by species inhabiting the United States or the more northern countries of this continent. Of the Trogonidæ, however, several species are found in Mexico, one of which (Trogon mexicanus) was observed by Lieut. Couch, in the northern part of that country, and will very probably yet be found within the present limits of this confederacy. All the American Trogons are birds of remarkable beauty, and one of them (Calurus resplendens) can scarcely be surpassed in any country. ”

“ But the words were hardly out of her mouth before it struck her that the man was Aaron Trow, of whom every one in Bermuda had been talking.
“Come into the house,” he said, “and give me food.” And he still held her with his hand as though he would compel her to follow him.
She stood for a moment thinking what she would say to him; for even then, with that terrible man standing close to her in the darkness, her presence of mind did not desert her. “Surely,” she said, “I will give you food if you are hungry. But take your hand from me. No man would lay his hands on a woman.” ”

“ They appear even more solitary in their disposition than the Trogons; their note may be heard, morning and evening, from the depths of the forests, but the bird is never seen, unless the hunter comes unexpectedly upon its retreat. This we have generally found to be a low, withered branch, completely shaded, and just at the edge of such paths as are made by the Cavies, or the Indians. The Jacamas and the Trogons both love these shady nooks, where they sit nearly motionless, watching for passing insects, upon which they dart. ”

“ He also asserts than in the species which have the wings coverts freckled, the freckling becomes finer with age. So far as has been observed, the nidification of these birds is in holes of trees, wherein are laid without any bedding two roundish eggs, generally white, but certainly in one species (quezal) tinted with bluish green.
The trogons form a well-marked family, belonging to the coraciiform birds, and probably to be placed in that assemblage near the colies (see Mouse Bird) and swifts (q.v.) ”

“ He was twenty inches in length and carried himself with conscious dignity, albeit mud knocks the dignity out of almost anything but a trilobite. But this trilobite, for such he was, surveyed that Cambrian noon pensively, curled his whiskers with thought, and wriggled his shining joints in the sun. Presently a hen trilobite appeared and squatted beside him placidly.
“When I survey this spectacle,” said the trilobite, “when I reflect that the world is empty but for us, I am often tempted to wonder.” ”

“ Trollope, a mild, gentlemanly, retiring young man, with a bashful manner and a weak voice, found himself utterly unable to cope with the lout, who mocked at him before his face and mimicked him behind his back, and refused to be taught or guided by him in any way. ”

“ Trevelyan, as he spoke, advanced close up to his father-in-law; and at last hissed out his words, with his lips close to Sir Marmaduke's face. "Your right in her is gone, sir. She is mine,—mine,—mine! And you see the way in which she has treated me, Mr. Glascock. Everything I had was hers; but the words of a grey-haired sinner were sweeter to her than all my love. I wonder whether you think that it is a pleasant thing for such a one as I to come out here and live in such a place as this? I have not a friend,—a companion,—hardly a book. There is nothing that I can eat or drink. ”

“ Now, although the Quezal or Resplendent Trogon is such a magnificent bird, he is not so very often seen. It is difficult to find him in the dense forest, and I wish it was still more difficult than it is, for [Pg 190] when he is found, he is always shot for those beautiful feathers of his. When the Indian who is looking for him sees him sitting in the way I have told you, he hides somewhere near and imitates the cry of the bird. When the poor Trogon hears it, he thinks it is another Trogon—a friend of his, perhaps—and so he comes flying to where the sound came from. ”

“ A woman. They look like Earthmen. Bipeds. I think they have intellects. Must be non-human. Like the lilithae.
From the tree outside he heard the trocoid's muffled screeches. He knew it was the standard routine of the asexual bird for fissioning—when an old trocoid's instinct told it that it was about to die, it found a breeding place safe from the ithycyphos, supplied it with food, barricaded itself inside, and then fissioned into two nearly-grown, mindless trocoids. ”