being the largest as well as most splendid of the feathered inhabitants of these islands. This bird, though driven from many of its ancient haunts, is still found among the highest of our Welsh and Cumbrian mountains, and also in the Orkneys. The erne, or sea-eagle, is chiefly met with on the steep cliffs which border the ocean in Wales and Scotland. The osprey and falcon are becoming rare. The crane, the egret, and the heron, are also very scarce, though they still frequent some parts of the kingdom. The British owls are similar to those of continental Europe. The principal native song birds of Great Britain, though these are by no means confined to this island, are the blackbird, thrush, linnet, goldfinch, bullfinch, chaffinch, dunnock, or hedge-sparrow, golden crested wren, common wren, robin redbreast, and the lark— Ethereal minstrel! pilgrim of the sky! Type of the wise, who soar, but never roam, These islands, especially in the southern districts, are, during the summer months, visited by various migratory birds, amongst which the nightingale and black-cap are very conspicuous as song birds; whilst the swallow tribe, from their number and the peculiarity of their habits, form objects of general interest. In the winter months their place is supplied by the field-fares and starlings; and all these birds, as well as the rooks, creepers, titmice, and even the common sparrow, as well as many others, are of great utility in keeping under the swarms of insects, which, but for this check upon their too great increase, would multiply to so vast an extent, that they would ere long destroy all the fruits of the earth. The stock dove, the cushat dove, ptarmigan, grouse, and partridge, also rank among our native birds. The capercalzie is supposed to have become extinct; and the bustard and quail are very rare. The manner in which birds follow cultivation, is exemplified in some of our British birds. Thus, the cross-bill is said to have followed the introduction of the apple into England; and the partridge was never known in Glencoe, until the cultivation of corn was introduced in that valley. The pheasant, now almost naturalized, was originally brought into this country from Asia Minor. Our domestic poultry, as is well known, has been introduced from various parts of the globe: the peacock and common fowl from India; the guinea fowl from Western Africa; and the turkey from North America. The British mammalia consist of about sixty species, independent of those which have been extirpated from these islands. We have nine species of bats; various species of rats and mice; the hedgehog, which is an innoxious animal, and of great utility in destroying snails; the mole, whose little hillocks, though they disfigure rich pastures, tend greatly to improve poor land; the dormouse; the badger and the otter, which are now becoming rare. The larger carnivorous animals have been nearly exterminated; the only animals of this order now found in Britain, consisting of the fox, wild-cat, and the weasel tribe; among the latter are included the polecat, marten, and stoat. The stoat perhaps forms one of the most striking instances of the variation which takes place in the garb of some animals with a change of climate. That animal, on account of its destructive habits, is regarded in this country as one of the greatest pests of the farmer, and its thin fur, of a yellowish brown colour, being considered of no value, the despised skin may frequently be seen nailed up against the farmer's outbuildings, as a trophy, or a scarecrow. The same species of animal also inhabits various parts of continental Europe; being in the more temperate regions, similar in appearance to our stoat, but, in its northerly range of Russia, Norway, and especially Siberia, the coat of the animal is transformed into a beautiful thick fur, adapted to protect it from the severity of the climate, of a clear white in every part, except the tip of the tail, which is deep black; and under this form affording the well-known fur called ermine; which name the stoat bears in the northern regions. This animal may occasionally be seen in an intermediate state, between summer and winter clothing. Our native horses, of which the Welsh and Zetland ponies may be considered as representatives, are small, but esteemed for their activity and strength. The dogs of Great Britain have been celebrated from remote antiquity; our mastiffs having been in great request with the Romans, who used them in their ferocious combats of wild beasts. The blood-hound was held in high estimation by our ancestors, as a means of tracking their enemies; but the race appears to be extinct. Scotland possesses three species of native dogs: the Scottish greyhound, the Zetland hound, and the colly, or true shepherd's dog, There still, of genuine breed, the colly meets, Barking shrill-toned, the stranger rarely seen. The Irish greyhound is a powerful dog, but is nearly extinct. The list of British ruminating animals is very limited, being confined to the stag, or red deer, the fallow deer, the roe-buck, and the almost exterminated urus, or wild Scottish ΟΧ. The excellent varieties of domestic oxen and also of sheep, which have been introduced, amply compensate, however, for any deficiency in this respect. The blackfaced horned sheep appear to be the most ancient race in our island, and these are still met with in some parts of Yorkshire, and the adjacent counties. The marine and cetaceous mammalia of Great Britain are not numerous. The principal are the seals, which are inhabitants of the northern parts of this island, and of the western shores of Ireland; and the grampus and porpoise, which have a wider range, being met with in considerable shoals off all our coasts. The whale tribe probably in former times were more abundant than at present. The piked whale, bottle-nosed whale, and others, are, however, not unfrequently met with in our northern seas, and are occasionally cast on the coasts of the Zetland and Orkney islands, as well as the Hebrides, and the north of Ireland: in some instances, in unfavourable seasons, to the no small relief of the distressed inhabitants. The walrus and the manatus have been seen in Scotland; but perhaps may rather be regarded as visitors than natives. The wolf, the bear, the beaver, and the wild boar, are extinct in these islands. Wolves existed in Ireland at a comparatively recent period, some having been killed in that country as late as the year 1710; nor were they wholly extirpated from Scotland until the year 1680. It is a commonly received opinion that wolves were totally destroyed in England and Wales in the reign of Edgar. It appears, however, that they cannot have been wholly exterminated at that period; (unless indeed they may have subsequently spread into South Britain from Scotland;) for in the reign of Edward I. we are informed that wolves were in such number, that officers were appointed to effect their complete extermination. Bears probably were anciently very numerous in this island, from whence they were transported to Rome; they also formed objects of chace in Wales. The exact period of their latest existence in Britain is not known, but they are recorded to have infested Scotland in the year 1057. The beaver was an inhabitant of Wales in 1168, though it is supposed at that period to have been confined to the banks of the River Teivi. The wild boar has given place to our domestic races of swine, as the wild ox has to our domestic oxen; but it appears that in the eleventh century, a vast forest occupied the north of London, which was the resort of stags, fallow-deer, and wild boars. Some of the ancient red-coloured swine may, however, still be seen in a half-wild state in the New Forest. THE OLD CHAPTER XI. WORLD.CENTRAL BAND OF MOUNTAINS. THE PYRENEES.-SPAIN AND PORTUGAL.-FRANCE. THE MARI TIME ALPS.-ITALY. Like as a ship, that through the ocean wide SPENCER. THE Old World, including Europe, Asia, and Africa, first claims our attention. A remarkable band of mountains traverses this vast continent from east to west throughout its whole extent, commencing on the shores of the Atlantic, near Fuentarabia, or Fontarabia, in Spain, and terminating on the shores of the Pacific, with the volcanic island of Formosa; the whole length of this mighty band being little less than eight thousand miles, and its breadth varying from five hundred to two thousand miles. Although this range is not altogether continuous, it is sufficiently so for us to regard it as our central axis, or stem, along which to take our general course, and from which we shall find lateral branches, of greater or less importance, diverging in all parts. The situation of this vast mountain band, about mid-way between the equator and the north pole, considerably influences the climate of the extensive regions through which it passes; whilst, at the same time, it forms a separation between the warm and fertile countries of Southern Asia, and the less genial northern regions of that portion of the earth. In ancient times, it constituted the boundary-line between the civilized nations and the barbarous tribes of Europe; and although the aspect of these territories is now |