can hardly be captured, gathering its back into an arched form, collecting the legs under the body, scratching away with the feet, and sinking like a stone in a cup of treacle.

These paws are not only potent in digging, but in clinging to any object, and their hold is so wonderfully firm that they cannot be disengaged even from smooth boards without very great trouble. To grasp the creature is impossible, because the sharp points of the projecting spines are capable of inflicting painful wounds, and its feet are so completely hidden under the body that they cannot be separately detached. Dr. Bennett gives a very graphic account of its clinging powers :-" When one of these animals was given to me, and placed in the box of the gig to bring home, on arriving there I could not by any effort remove it, from its adhering to the boards like a limpet to the rocks (the head and snout being drawn in). Only a formidable array of prickles was visible, so sharp that on the least touch they left a very painful feeling on the hands. So firmly was the animal fixed, that it was impossible to stir it from that position. At last, the method of removing limpets and chitons from the rocks was resorted to, and a spade being inserted gradually at one extremity of the animal, it was scraped from its position with some difficulty, and even then it was some length of time before we succeeded in grasping the hind legs, and conveying the troublesome creature to the place of confinement allotted to it."

Grasping it by the hind leg is the only method of conveying this animal with safety, for it kicks so hard with its powerful and armed feet, that the hands and clothes will suffer severely from the strokes; while the violent plunges of the body are sure to bring the pointed prickles into unpleasant contact with the fingers. In spite of the difficulty of procuring living specimens, and the interest which attaches itself to an animal of whose habits so little is known, Dr. Bennett was not very sorry when his specimen-which we cannot call a tame one-was one day found dead; for its burrowing propensities were so destructive, and its prickles so annoying, that it made itself into a positive nuisance.

If attacked when on ground into which it cannot burrow rapidly, the Porcupine Ant-eater immediately curls itself into a ball, hedgehog-wise, and sets its foes at defiance. The large

perforated spur with which the hind feet of the male are armed, and through which is poured a liquid secreted by a gland of considerable size, is a very formidable-looking weapon, but to all appearances is really harmless. Dr. Bennett often handled the animal, but never saw it attempt to use the spur, and found that the duckbill, which is armed in a similar manner, was equally innocuous.

At the present date, January, 1864, the living animal may be seen in the collection at the Zoological Gardens.

CHAPTER II.

BURROWING BIRDS.

The SAND MARTIN-Mode of burrowing and shape of the tunnel-Enemies of the Sand Martin-Midges and Martins-The KINGFISHER and its habits-Its burrow and peculiar nest-Number of the eggs--The PUFFIN a feathered usurper-The Feroe Islands and the Puffins-Pro aris et focis - The MUTTON BIRD and its burrows-Snakes and birds-The JACKDAW, STOCKDOVE, and SHELDRAKE-Nest of the Sheldrake-The BEE-EATER and its habits-Its burrow and nest-The STORMY PETREL-Its mode of nesting and shallow tunnels-mode of feeding its young-Evil odour of its burrow-The WooDPECKER-Its uses and misunderstood character-Method of burrowing-The Fungus and the Woodpecker-American Woodpeckers-The WRYNECK-Its popular names and locality of its nest-The STARLING-Its social characterLocality of its habitation-The TREE CREEPER-The NUTHATCH and the HOOPOE-Curious nest of the Hoopoe-The COLE-TIT and its habits-A Coletit's nest at Walton Hall-The TOUCAN-The enormous beak and its usesNest of the Toucan-The SWIFT-Its nest and eggs-Its curious feet and their structure.

WE now take leave of the furred burrowers, and proceed to those which wear feathers instead of hair.

One of the best examples of Bird Burrowers is the well-known SAND MARTIN (Cotile riparia), so plentiful in this country. The powers of this pretty little bird seem to be quite inadequate to the arduous labours which it performs so easily, and few would suppose, after contemplating its tiny bill, that it was capable of boring tunnels into tolerably hard sandstone. Such, however, is the case, for the Sand Martin is familiarly known to drive its tunnels into sandstone that is hard enough to destroy all the edge of a knife.

The bird does not prefer a laborious to an easy task, and if it can find a spot where the soil is quite loose, and yet where the sides of the burrow will not collapse, it will always take advantage of such a locality. I have frequently seen such instances of judgment, where the birds had selected the sandy intervals

between strata of stone, and so saved themselves from any trouble except scraping and throwing out the loose sand.

When, however, the Sand Martin is unable to find such a situation, it sets to work in a very systematic fashion, trying several successive spots with its beak, until it discovers a suitable locality. It then works in a circular direction, using its legs as

a pivot, and by dint of turning round and round, and pecking away as it proceeds, soon chips out a tolerably circular hole. After the bird has lived for some time in the tunnel, the shape of the entrance is much damaged by incessant passing to and fro of the inmates, but while the burrow is still new and untenanted, its form is almost cylindrical. In all cases the tunnel slopes gently upwards, so as to prevent the lodgement of rain,

and its depth is exceedingly variable. About two feet and a half is a fair average length. Generally, the direction of the burrow is quite straight, but sometimes it takes a curve, where an obstacle, such as a stone or a root has interrupted the progress of the bird. Should the stone be a large one, the Sand Martin usually abandons the burrow, and resumes its labours elsewhere, and in a piece of hard sandstone rock many of these incomplete excavations may be seen.

At the furthest extremity of the burrow, which is always rather larger than the shaft, is placed the nest--a very simple structure, being little more than a mass of dry herbage and soft feathers, pressed together by the weight of the bird's body. Upon this primitive nest are laid the eggs, which are very small, and of a delicate pinky whiteness.

Few foes can work harm to the Sand Martin during the task of incubation. Rats would find the soft sandy soil crumble away from their grasp; and even the lithe weasel would experience some difficulty in gaining admission to the nest. After the young Sand Martins are hatched, many foes are on the watch for them. The magpie and crow wait about the entrance of the holes, in order to snap up the inexperienced birds while making their first essays at flight; and the kestrel and sparrow-hawk come sweeping suddenly among them, and carry off some helpless victim in their talons.

Man is perhaps the worst foe of the Sand Martin, for there is a mixture of adventure and danger in taking the eggs, which is irresistible to the British schoolboy. To climb up a perpendicular rock, to cling with one hand, while the other is thrust into the burrow, and to know that a chance slip will certainly snap the invading arm like a tobacco-pipe stem, is a combination of joys which no well-conditioned boy can withstand.

Fortunately for the Sand Martins, many of their nests are placed in situations which no boy can reach, and there are happily some instances where the services which they render to mankind are properly appreciated. Mr. C. Simeon in his "Stray Notes on Fishing and Natural History," gives an interesting account of some Sand Martins which were thus gratefully protected:

"Whilst waiting for the train one afternoon at Weybridge, I amused myself with watching the Sand Martins, who have there