MISCELLANIES.

LANDING IN INDIA.

Nothing can be more ludicrous than a young Englishman's first landing in Calcutta. The shore is thronged with the swarthy natives, eagerly awaiting his arrival. Innumerable palanquins are brought down to the boat, and the bearers, like the Paddington stagecoach men, are all violently struggling to procure a passenger. The bewildered stranger is puzzled which to choose; and when he has made up his mind, he finds it no easy matter to jostle through the countless rival conveyances which completely surround him. He is also sure to make some laughable mistake in entering the palanquin. It requires a certain tact to steady the vehicle as you throw yourself into it, or it is apt to turn over, like a tailor's swinging cot. Another ridiculous error which a stranger is liable to, is his endeavouring to seat himself on the little drawer inside, supposing it to be intended for that purpose. But he soon finds, after having doubled himself up, like people passing on a coach top under a low gateway, that it would be utterly impossible to remain long in that position, unless the human back were as pliable as a piece of whalebone. After all, perhaps, the bearers are compelled to rest the palanquin on the ground, and the abashed stranger, creeping hastily in, is glad to escape from the ill suppressed smiles of the surrounding multitude.

London Weekly Review.

INCUBATION AND AGE OF BIRDS.

The full period of incubation by the hen in this country, is well known to be twenty-one days. In warmer climates it is said to be a day or two less. The periods of incubation vary much in different species of birds. We introduce the following table, which has been compiled from different authors by Count Morozzo, in a letter from him to Lacépépe, to show the periods of incubation compared with those of the life of certain birds.

Names of Birds Periods of Incubation (Days) Duration of Life (Years) Authority

Swan 42 About 200 Aldrovande

Parrot 40 About 100 Wulmaer

Goose 30 80 or more Willoughby

Eagle 30 Period of life not known.

Bustard 30

Duck 30

Turkey 30

Peacock 26 to 27 25 to 28 Aristot. & Pliny

Pheasant 20 to 25 18 to 20 A Treatise on Pheasants

Crow 20 100 or more Hesiod

Nightingale 19 to 20 17 to 18 Buffon

Hen 18 to 19 16 to 18 Buffon

Pigeon 17 or 18 16 to 17 Several observations

Linnet 14 13 to 14 Willoughby

Canary 13 to 14 13 to 14 A Treatise on these birds

Goldfinch 13 to 14 18 to 20 Buffon