The Australian Hedgehog. The Australian Hedgehog is about a foot long. It lives in burrows and feeds on insects, has a long tongue but no teeth. It has spines from which circumstance it is called a hedgehog after its English namesake, though its spines are almost hidden by its hair. It is said to be a dull, unintelligent animal.
CLASS II—AVES.
Classification. The Birds are distinguished from the Mammals by many obvious characteristics, chief among which are their bodily form, their feathery covering and their manner of producing their young by means of eggs. The Birds form the second class of the sub-kingdom Vertebrate and according to the classification followed in this work are divided into ten orders. These orders are, I Passeres: birds characterised by the habit of perching; II Picariæ: birds that climb, etc. Ill Psittacini: the Parrots; IV Columbæ: the Doves; V Gallinæ: the Fowls; VI Opisthocomi: the Hoazin of Brazil and Guinea; VII Accipitres: the Birds of Prey; VIII Grallatores: the birds that wade; IX Anseres: the Birds that swim; X Struthiones: the Ostrich, the Emu, etc., etc.
ORDER I.
Perching Birds. The species of this order are very numerous, and have been variously divided by different authorities. Mr. Wallace forms them into five groups, which classification we shall find it convenient to follow. These five groups are: I The Thrushes and Thrush-like perching birds; II The Tanagers and similar kinds; III The Starlings and allied species; IV The Ant-eaters, etc., and V The Lyre Birds, and the Scrub Birds of Australia. The first group includes many well known feathered favourites: the Thrush; the Blackbird; the Mocking Bird; the Tailor Bird; the Wren; the Robin; the Nightingale; the Titmouse; the Golden Oriole; the Jay; the Magpie; the Raven; the Rook; the Carrion Crow; the Jackdaw; the Chough; and the Bird of Paradise. The second group includes the Swallow; the Martin; the Goldfinch; the Linnet; the Canary; the Bullfinch; the Bunting and many others. The third group contains the Starlings; the Weaver Bird; the Lark; the Wagtail, and the Pipits; the fourth group, the King Bird of North America; the Manakins of Guinea; the Chatterers of South America; the Bell Bird of Brazil, and the Umbrella Bird of the Amazon. The fifth group contains the Lyre Birds and the Scrub Birds of Australia.
The Thrush. The order of Thrush-like perching birds is a very large one, including nearly three thousand known varieties. Of these it will be impossible, within present limits, to even mention a very large number, and we shall content ourselves with dealing with a few of the better known species.
The Common Thrush. The Thrush is one of the most popular of English native birds, as its song is one of the most beautiful of those of the bird kind. It is a herald of the English spring and summer, beginning to sing at the end of January and continuing until July. It builds its nest in a hedge or bush, and, as it breeds early in the year, lines it with a plaster of mud to protect its young from the cold winds. It is a bold bird and will vigorously defend its nest from the attacks of larger birds. It feeds on insects, snails and worms.
"Watch an old thrush," says Dr. Stanley, "pounce down on a lawn, moistened with dew and rain. At first he stands motionless, apparently thinking of nothing at all, his eye vacant, or with an unmeaning gaze. Suddenly he cocks his ear on one side, makes a glancing sort of dart with his head and neck, gives perhaps one or two hops, and then stops, again listening attentively, and his eye glistening with attention and animation; his beak almost touches the ground,—he draws back his head as if to make a determined peck. Again he pauses; listens again; hops, perhaps once or twice, scarcely moving his position, and pecks smartly on the sod; then is once more motionless as a stuffed bird. But he knows well what he is about; for, after another moment's pause, having ascertained that all is right, he pecks away with might and main, and soon draws out a fine worm, which his fine sense of hearing had informed him was not far off, and which his hops and previous peckings had attracted to the surface, to escape the approach of what the poor worm thought might be his underground enemy, the mole."
The Missel Thrush. The Missel Thrush, so called from its fondness for the mistletoe, is larger than the common or song thrush, less melodious and not so common in England, but well known upon the continent of Europe. Like the song thrush it finds a determined enemy in the magpie, against which it often defends itself with success. It is, however, unable to withstand a combined attack. Gilbert White says: "The Missel-thrush is, while breeding, fierce and pugnacious, driving such birds as approach its nest with great fury to a distance. The Welsh call it "pen y llwyn," the head or master of the coppice. He suffers no magpie, jay, or blackbird, to enter the garden where he haunts; and is, for the time, a good guard to the new-sown legumens. In general, he is very successful in the defence of his family; but once I observed in my garden, that several magpies came determined to storm the nest of a missel-thrush: the dams defended their mansion with great vigour, and fought resolutely pro aris et focis; but numbers at last prevailed, they tore the nest to pieces, and swallowed the young alive."