GENERIS totius una e rarissimis Simia Sylvicola alta est circiter tres pedes, corpore valido et toroso. Cum notentur singuli pili annulis alternis nigricantibus ferrugineisque, idem fere huic aspectus ac Simiæ Mormoni, jampridem in hoc opere depictæ. Facies pedesque omnes nigrant. Pedum anticorum seu manuum ungues longuli, sed rotundati: posticorum longiores tantum non acuminati. Nates amplæ, nudæ, rubræque. Africam incolit hæc species, in Guinea præcipue reperta.

THIS animal, which is one of the rarest of the genus, is of a very considerable size, and of a robust frame. Its height is about three feet. Its general colour a sort of ferruginous greyish-brown, owing to the alternate rings of blackish and ferruginous with which each individual hair is marked, and which gives a sort of speckled appearance, similar to that of the Simia Mormon, or Variegated Baboon, already figured in the present Work.

The face, hands, and feet are black. The nails on the hands longish, but rounded at their extremities: those on the feet longer, and much more inclining to acuminate. The space on each side the tail is large, bare, and red. The tail very short. It is an African species, and is principally found in Guinea.

INTER exempla avium varia nitidissimaque, plumarum luxuria exuberantium, insigniter exstat Phasianus Pictus, cujus valentis et adulti colores hebetant, adverso sole, spectatorum oculos, superati non nisi politissimis Trochilorum et Certhiarum splendoribus: cedit enim vel ipsius Pavonis stellatus gemmansque decor.

Minor est Phasianus pictus communi seu Colchico, et aspectu delicatior. Caput insignitur crista magna, dependula, serica, lucidissime aureo-flava. Collum superius tegitur quasi cucullo e pennis truncatis eximie aureo-aurantiis 205 confecto, fasciisque plurimis nigris transversim notato. Reliqua pars colli pennis rotundatis, more squamarum dispositis, aureo-viridibus vestitur. Gula gilva est seu ex albo sub-rubescens, flavedine intermista. Pectus cum toto corpore inferiore splendet ardentissime aureo-coccineum, eodem fere modo quo Amaryllidis formosissimæ Linnæi flores. Ejusdem fere sunt coloris alarum tectrices minores, nisi quod paulo minus luceant: majores nitide fusco-ferrugineæ, nigro conspersæ. Pennæ scapulares lucidissime cyaneæ. Remiges fusci, margine gilvo. Remigum autem secundariorum alii magis infuscantur, nigro guttati, alii splendide cærulei. Dorsi pars posterior cum uropygio aureo-flavet, carens tamen splendore cristæ. Caudæ tectrices quæ subjacent pennis flavis quas jam memoravimus, purpureo-ruberrimæ, quarum nonnullæ longissimæ et lanceæ ad instar formatæ super latera caudæ producuntur. Cauda ipsa longa et acutius cuneata nigrat, maculis tamen modicis, ovatis, castaneis, creberrime aspersa, ut color primarius, scilicet niger, pene delitescat. Rostrum flavescit, ut et crura calcaribus armata.

Rutilis his et micantibus plumis avem formosissimam superbire voluit Natura. Quod si quis eam ipsam nunquam vidisset, sed imaginem tantum in tabula, putaret profecto pictorem, colores pulcherrime disponendi studiosum, ingenio indulsisse ut imaginariam fingeret venustatem. Femina, mare minor, modica tantum est pulchritudine, obscure fusco-flavens, striis maculisque obscurioribus seu nigricantibus notata.

E regione Sinensi primitus advecta est hæc species, musæorum Europæorum grande Decus. Sub nostro tamen cœlo, Britanniæ jamdiu familiaris prolem sæpissime alit nullo fere negotio; non enim necesse est ut mollius et delicatius curetur, cum eodem, ut plurimum, utatur vivendi modo quo reliqui congeneres.

OF the brilliancy with which Nature so often decorates the feathered tribe the Golden Pheasant of China is unquestionably one of the most striking examples: a bird, of which the colours, when in a state of perfection, are so powerfully lucid as to dazzle, in a full light, the eye of the spectator; and can only be exceeded by the polished lustre of the Humming-birds and Certhiæ. Even the Peacock himself, with all the grandeur of his plumage, falls short in comparison.

The size of the golden or painted Pheasant is smaller than that of the Colchic or common Pheasant, and its shape is much more delicate. The head is ornamented by a large pendent crest of the brightest golden yellow, and of an appearance resembling silk. The upper part of the neck is covered with a sort of hood, or mantle, composed of truncated feathers of the richest golden-orange, traversed with numerous bars of black. The remainder of the neck is cloathed with gold-green feathers of a rounded shape, and disposed in the manner of scales. The throat is of a bright buff, or very pale reddish-brown. The breast and whole under side of the body are of the fullest, brightest, golden-scarlet, nearly approaching to the colour displayed in the sparkling petals of the Jacobæan Lily. (Amaryllis formosissima Lin.) The smaller wing-coverts are of a similar hue, but somewhat less bright. The larger coverts are of a high ferruginous brown, dashed with black. The scapular feathers of the richest and most resplendent Prussian-blue. The remiges or long wing-feathers brown, edged with buff; some of the secondaries darker, and dashed or speckled with black; others of a rich blue.

The lower part of the back and rump are of a gold-yellow, but deeper than the crest. The tail-coverts, (which lie beneath the yellow part just mentioned,) are of the richest carmine-colour; some of them are very long and lanceolate, and spread over the sides of the tail. The tail, (which is long and sharply cuneiform,) is black, most thickly beset with moderately large pale-chesnut oval spots, so as almost to invade or nearly exclude the black ground-colour. The beak is pale yellow. The legs the same, and armed with spurs.

Such are the colours with which Nature has decorated this brilliant bird; which, had it been only known from paintings, would doubtless have been considered as the exaggerated representation of some fanciful artist, intent on producing a figure of the most profuse and unlimited gaiety.

The female bears no marks of superior beauty; being less than the male, and merely of a pale yellowish-brown, barred and spotted with much deeper or blacker stripes.

It is to China that we owe this matchless ornament of our European collections. It is a species which may be considered as in great measure naturalized to this country; since it frequently breeds here, and requires no very particular care in its management; resembling in its general habits the rest of its genus.

SPECIEM hanc obiter et incuriose visam facile putemus eandem esse ac Pelecanus communis, seu saltem istius varietatem. Quod si eam accuratius examinemus, patebit tantum differentiæ, ut revera distinctam pronunciare non dubitemus. Tota avis albet, si excipiamus remiges orasque humerorum, quæ nigrant. Rostrum, quod e flavo paululum rubescit, non ut Pelecani communis, læve, sed serie longitudinali prominentiarum inæqualiter assurgentium distinguitur. Saccus qui in gula magnus lineis plurimis nigris in longitudinem ductis insigniter 210 utrinque striatus. Ad Pelecani communis magnitudinem vix plene pertingit Pelecanus trachyrhynchos; modus vivendi fere idem. Americam incolit Septentrionalem. Conveniunt inter se, ut plurimum, moribus species hujus generis majores, piscibus præcipue victitando, quorum nec non et aquæ magnam copiam in sacculo possunt asportare.

Diu habitus est Pelecanus communis quasi symbolum, et vulgo credi solitum est pascere eum pullos cruore e sui ipsius pectore sponte extracto. Ad quam opinionem quodammodo contulisse verisimiliter satis putarunt nonnulli situm ipsius avis simul atque in nidum advolaverit et consederit; certatim enim e patulo ore escam in sacculo allatam vellicantibus pullis, rostri apex oræque rubentia velut sanguine perfusa videntur: quod quidem ipsum incuriosos spectatores in errorem duxerit.

Omnibus notissimum est monstrosam hanc materni amoris imaginem, decantatamque istam phœnicis de flammis exurgentis fabulam in signis publicis et insignibus gentilitiis repræsentari; unde fit, ut imperitæ multitudinis animis hallucinationes absurdissimæ in perpetuum dominentur.

IN its general appearance this species so much resembles the common Pelican, that, on a cursory view, it might easily pass for the same bird, or at least for a mere variety. When accurately examined, however, the differences, tho’ not very striking to a common eye, are sufficient to justify its being considered as specifically distinct. The whole bird is white, except the longer feathers of the wings, and the edges of the shoulders, which are black. The 212 bill, which is of a reddish yellow, instead of being smooth or even, as in the common Pelican, is furnished with a very remarkable elevated longitudinal ridge, the prominences of which are irregular, or of unequal heights in different parts. The pouch or gular membrane is large and striated with numerous longitudinal lines of black on each side. In size this bird is scarcely equal to the common species, which it resembles in its manner of life. It is a native of North America. The larger birds of this genus agree in their general habits; living principally on fish, of which, as well as of water, they are capable of carrying a vast quantity in the pouch or skin of the lower mandible.

The Pelican has been long considered as the emblem of parental affection, and has been idly supposed to feed its young ones occasionally with blood, voluntarily drawn from its own breast; an absurdity the origin of which has with some degree of probability been attributed to the posture and general appearance of the female when just returned to her nest with provision in her gular pouch, when the eagerness of the young ones, in endeavouring to obtain the contents, and the appearance of the tip and edges of the bill, as if stained with blood, may be supposed in some measure to excite this erroneous idea.

It would be superfluous to observe that this outrageous display of maternal tenderness still continues to be exhibited on sign-posts and in heraldic paintings, and together with the representation of the Phœnix in flames, contributes to perpetuate some of the most remarkable amongst popular errors.

IN Otidum genere singularis omnino et rarissima est species quæ in tabula cernitur; et ab aliis omnibus torque maximo pennarum longissimarum super collum prope humeros dispositarum, et utrinque ad pectus dependentium distinguitur, quem erigere potest seu deprimere ad libitum. Constat torquis e plumis diverse coloratis: pennæ scilicet quæ in collo postico maxima ex parte nigrant, quæ vero utrinque dependent, albæ.

Caput crista alba dependula decoratur. Collum cinereum, striis transversis nigris undulatum. Color generalis pennarum in corpore superiori pallet levissime fusco-flavescens seu gilvus, punctulis maculisque fuscis creberrime guttatus. Remiges primores nigri maculam habent prope medium albam. Cauda modica pallet, fusco conspersa, fasciisque transversis fusco-nigricantibus virgata. Pectus et abdomen fere albent. Crura longa fusco-flavescunt.

Magnitudine superat Otis Houbara gallum vulgarem gallinaceum. In Arabiæ desertis præcipue invenitur.

AMONGST the birds of the genus Otis the most singular, as well as perhaps the rarest, is the species represented on the present plate, which is distinguished from every other kind by a very large ruff of greatly lengthened feathers surrounding the lower part of the neck, and hanging down on each side the breast. This ruff can at pleasure be elevated or depressed according to the will of the bird, and consists of plumes of different colours: 216 those on each side being chiefly white, while those on the back part are mostly black.

The head is furnished with a white pendent crest. The neck is ash-coloured and undulated with black. The general colour of the plumage on the upper parts of the body is gilvous, or very pale yellowish-brown, freckled with innumerable spots and markings of dark-brown. The larger wing-feathers or remiges are black: each marked near the middle by a patch of white. The tail is of a moderate length, and of a pale or whitish colour, speckled with brown, and marked by several transverse bars of blackish-brown. The breast and belly are nearly white. The legs are long and of a yellowish-brown.

The size of this species considerably exceeds that of a common fowl. It is found chiefly in the deserts of Arabia.

INTER aves quæ ad nos a nova Hollandia nuper advenerint, parva est hæc psittaci species: forma sane adeo venusta ut plurimis iisque formosissimis sui generis antecellat. Magnitudo est quasi parvi Turturis. In illa generis divisione ponitur, quæ species macrouras continet.

Color imus est gramineo-viridissimus; singulis plumis super dorsum humerosque macula nigra media flavo fasciata ornatis. Caput nigro leviter striatum, 218 et in fronte macula rubra conspicitur. Cauda admodum cuneata, coloris est flavissimi, rectricibus (intermediis exceptis,) fasciis plurimis nigerrimis transverse notatis. Rostrum pedesque subfusca.

Insigniter differt hæc avis a reliquo genere, quod nunquam arboribus insidat, sed loca amet juncosa et caricea, humi cursitans more ralli. Crura ei pedesque longiora sunt quam cæteris psittacis; unguesque, digitorum præcipue posticorum, ita in longitudinem gracilescunt ut ad alaudæ unguium similitudinem quodammodo videantur accedere.

AMONGST the new species of birds lately received from New Holland is a small Parrot, of an appearance so singularly beautiful as to surpass most of the gay tribe to which it belongs. Its size is that of a small Turtle, and it belongs to the division in this genus containing the psittaci macrouri or long-tailed parrots.

The general colour of the bird is a full grass-green, each feather on the back and shoulders being marked in the middle with a dash or spot of 220 black fasciated with yellow. The head is slightly streaked with black, and in front is a red spot. The tail is highly cuneiform; all the feathers (except the intermediate ones) of a rich jonquil yellow, crossed throughout the whole length with numerous bars of the deepest black.

It is remarkable, that this bird, (unlike the rest of its genus,) never perches on trees, but constantly frequents sedgy and rushy places, running along the ground in the manner of a Rail. Its legs and feet are of a longer and more slender form than in other parrots; and the claws, particularly on the hind toes, are long and slender, approaching in some degree to those of a Lark.

EMINET inter congeneres Tetrao Urogallus, avium sane omnium gallinaceorum quotquot revera Europeæ, si Otidem communem excipiamus, facile maximus. Longus est mas fere tres pedes, vix ac ne vix cedens magnitudine Mwleagridi Gallopavoni Linnæi.

Color corporis superioris et alarum est ferrugineo-fuscus seu castaneus, virgis inæqualibus transversis maculisque nigricantibus notatus. Capiti colloque cinereis 222 lineæ innumeræ nigræ obliquæ obducuntur. Pectus nigrum, nitore relucens eximie viridi. Reliqua inferiora nigrant, abdomine et femoribus albo maculatis. Caudæ latæ, rotundatæ, fuscæ, margines exteriores albo distinguuntur. Rostrum validum et breve. Oculo utrique superimponitur quasi crista, seu cutis nuda producta ruberrima, granosa. Crura valida, plumis fuscis vestita.

Inter marem et feminam mira diversitas, cujus in variis avibus varia sunt exempla. Mare multo minor femina maxima ex parte lucide ferruginea est, lineis maculisque nigris variata. Nigrat dorsum cum parte quadam alarum, quarum reliquum subnigrum maculis pallidis aspergitur.

Aves has anteactis temporibus abundanter protulit Britannia nostra, in partibus præcipue septentrionalibus. In Scotia etiamnum, rarissime tamen, dicuntur inveniri. In Hibernia olim extitisse feruntur, jam deperditæ. In Arcticis regionibus, Suecia nempe et Norvegia, et in Alpinis Italicis frequentes degunt. Amant præcipue sylvas, baccisque vescuntur, gemmis autem et seminibus pini sylvestris creditur eas maxime delectari.

THE Tetrao Urogallus, or Cock of the Wood, may be considered as the prince of its genus, and indeed, (if we exclude the Bustard,) may be reckoned the largest of all the European birds of the gallinaceous tribe. The size of the male is scarce inferior to that of a Turkey, and its length is not far short of three feet. Its general colour on the upper part 224 of the body and wings is a ferruginous-brown or chestnut, marked with irregular transverse lines and spots of blackish. The head and neck are of a dark colour, owing to innumerable transverse lines of black disposed on an ash-coloured ground. The breast is black with a rich gloss of green; the remainder of the under parts black; but varied on the thighs and belly with patches of white. The tail is broad, of a rounded shape and of a dark colour, and is marked on the exterior sides with white. The bill is short and strong. Over each eye is a very conspicuous upright crest or production of bare, red, granulated skin. The legs are strong, and coated with dusky feathers.

The female is one of the most remarkable instances of that strange difference which takes place in the opposite sexes of many of the feathered tribe. It is much smaller than the male, and its predominant colour is a bright ferruginous, barred and spotted with black. The back and part of the wings are black; the remainder of a browner cast, variegated with pale spots.

These birds were once not uncommon in our own island; but were chiefly confined to the northern parts of the country: in Scotland they are still said to exist, tho’ very rare. In Ireland they were also said to be found, but seem at present unknown. In the more northern climates of Norway and Sweden they are frequent; as well as in many of the northern regions of Asia, and in the Alpine tracts of Italy. They live chiefly in woods, and feed principally on various kinds of berries, as well as on the buds and seeds of pine-trees, of which they are said to be particularly fond.

IN pulcherrimis quæ a Nova Hollandia hactenus asportatæ sunt avibus jure habeatur Columba Chalcoptera, quæ magnitudine fere palumbi æqualis est, corpore graciliori et elegantiori. Color quoad superiora fusco-pallet, tectricibus alarum majoribus singulis macula lata splendide cuprea insignitis, unde per alam ducuntur totidem ordines metallici nitoris. Variata luce, variant quoque maculæ, pulchritudinem avis mirum in modum augentes. Pennarum, de quibus jam diximus, apices coloris sunt leviter cinerei. Remiges interiores 226 seu secundarii similiter speculo lucide cæruleo-viridi, ut in anatum alis videre est, notantur apicibus fuscis.

Cauda plumbea seu cærulescens prope apicem fasciam habet nigricantem. Colli latera nec non corpus inferius sunt plumbeo-cærulea, pectore vinario. A rostro trans oculos excurrit stria fusca, et utrinque capiti imponitur nota albicans. Rostrum pedesque rubra.

THIS species may certainly be numbered amongst the most beautiful birds hitherto discovered in the continent of New Holland. Its size is nearly that of a wood-pigeon, but it is longer and of a more elegant form. The colour above is a fine pale brown, the larger wing-coverts being each marked by a broad patch of lucid copper-colour, and by their position on the wing forming so many rows of large cupreous spots, of the richest metallic splendor, and accompanied by a degree of varying lustre, which adds in a singular manner to the elegance and beauty of the bird. Each of 228 these feathers is tipped with pale ash or dove-colour. The interior remiges or secondaries are marked in the same manner with a speculum of deep, lucid, blue-green, like that of a duck: the tips of these feathers are brown.

The tail is lead-coloured, or blueish, and marked near the end with a blackish bar. The sides of the neck and under parts of the body are of a blueish lead-colour, but the breast has a strong cast of vinaceous. The forehead is yellowish-white. From the beak thro’ the eyes runs a streak of brown; and a whitish mark is visible on each side the head. The bill and legs are red.

CARENT pleraque musea Anate Gambensi Linnæi, cujus meminit Willoughbeius nomine Gambo Goose, notatque Lathamus in Synopsi avium, vix aliud specimen in Britannia exstare præter quod in Museo Leveriano asservatur. Anas Ægyptiaca Linnæi, species penitus diversa, a quibusdam scriptoribus cum hac confunditur.

Notam habet hæc nostra præcipuam spinam magnam, acutam, validissimam, utrinque super humeros sitam, quæ quamvis non huic speciei propria sit et peculiaris, major tamen est et eminentior quam in alia ulla quam adhuc novimus. Rostrum rubet, assurgitque a basi mandibulæ superioris tuber dilatatum in fronte. Tota avis superius nigrat, non sine purpurei cujusdam nitoris vestigiis, exceptis genis humerisque quæ albent. Pectus quoque inferius cum abdomine albet. Crura pedesque rubra.

In Africa nascitur Anas Gambensis, in regione Gambiæ præcipue conspecta. Magnitudine Anatem Anserem Linnæi æquat.

THE Anas Gambensis of Linnæus, or Gambo Goose of Willoughby, is very rarely to be met with in collections; and it is observed by Mr. Latham, in his Synopsis of birds, that it is probably no where to be found in our own Country except in the Leverian Museum. The Egyptian goose, (Anas Aegyptiaca. Lin.) a species widely differing from it, has been sometimes confounded with it by ornithological writers.

Its principal mark of distinction consists in a large, strong, and sharp spur, situated on each shoulder: a particularity, which tho’ not peculiar to the present species, is possessed by it in a far higher and more striking degree than any other yet discovered. The bill is of a red colour, and rises at the base of the upper mandible into an expanded protuberance in front. The whole upper part of the bird is black, with a cast or gloss of purple, except the cheeks and shoulders, which are white. The breast and belly are also white.

It is an African bird, and is principally found in the regions of Gambia. Its size is that of a common goose.

NOMEN inde adepta est hæc avis quod a peculiari partium internarum dispositione proveniat simile quiddam voci palumbis; sed abruptius et majori intervallo: quodque præcipue auditur post finitam vocem communem ab ore, cui fere constanter respondet sonus interior.

Æquat saltem magnitudine gallum vulgarem gallinaceum, quo sane major videtur ob colli crurumque longitudinem. Color niger est, nitore cæruleo-viridi 234 et mutabili super pectus præcipue perfuso. Pennæ, quæ in collo et pectore, breves, rotundatæ, sericæ, et squamiformes; quæ vero in corpore et alis, elongatæ, seu e fibris laxis longisque constantes. Dorsi et alarum, quæ cinerea, pars summa nitet quiddam ferrugineum.

In America Australi generatur Psophia crepitans. Convenit huic modo vivendi tum Grallis, tum Gallinis, quippe non modo grana comedit, sed et pisces.

THE curious bird represented on the present plate has obtained its common title from an extraordinary circumstance in the confor­mation of its internal organs, in consequence of which it is enabled at pleasure to produce an uncommon sound, not ill resembling the voice of a wood-pigeon, but more abrupt, or interrupted. This particularity is most observable after the bird has 236 emitted its common or natural note by the mouth, which is almost constantly succeeded by the internal sound above-mentioned.

The size of this bird is at least equal to that of a common fowl, but its length of neck and legs give it a still larger appearance. Its general colour is black, richly glossed (particularly on the breast) with a changeable blue-green. The feathers on the neck and breast are short and scale-like: those on the wings and body long-fibred and loose. The wings and back are cinereous, accompanied on the upper parts with a ferruginous cast.

It is a native of South America, in many parts of which it is not uncommon. In its habits and manner of life it seems to partake of the nature both of the Grallæ and Gallinæ, feeding not only in the manner of poultry, on grain and vegetables, but likewise on fish.

IN illarum avium numero est Callæas, quas nuperis temporibus regiones antarcticæ suppeditarunt. Quod ad ejus notitiam pervenerint physici Europæi, debetur omnino illustrissimo Cook, quo duce iter facientibus navibus, a Nova Zelandia allata est. Ibi satis abundare dicitur.

Longa est circiter quindecim uncias, magnitudine corvo glandario Linnæi similis. Color cinereus pene nigricat. Frons penitus nigrat, et utrinque a mandibula inferiore dependet caruncula rotundata, magna, rubra; qualis fere cernitur in gallo vulgari gallinaceo. Caruncula utriusque basis est cærulea. Oculorum quoque irides lucide cæruleæ. Cauda longula leviter cuneata. Mores huic fere iidem ac corvino generi.

THE Wattle Bird is one of those late acquisitions with which the discoveries in the southern Hemisphere have enriched ornithology. It was a bird entirely unknown to the naturalists of Europe, till brought during the voyages of the late Captain Cook from New Zealand, where it is said to be not uncommon.

Its length is about fifteen inches, and its size that of a jay. Its colour is an uniform deep cinereous or rather nearly black; the front of the head is of a deep black, and from beneath the lower mandible on each side hangs a rounded wattle, of considerable size and of a red colour; in substance not ill resembling the same part in the common cock. The base of each wattle is blue. The irides of the eyes are also of a bright blue. The tail is rather long, and in shape slightly cuneiform. In its manners it seems much to resemble the birds of the genus Corvus.

FRETUS omnino celeberrimi Lathami sententia avem hanc rarissimam inter Lanios numeravi, licet fortasse huic generi in omnibus non plene respondeat. Species est de cujus historia locoque natali nihil adhuc pro certo exploratum est, nec ab alio quopiam descripta est præter Lathamum, qui in synopsi avium nomine eam distinxit apto satis et idoneo, viz. Magpie Shrike; Corvi enim Picæ Linnæi specimini pusillo primo intuitu simillima est.

Observavit autem Lathamus eam ad genus Corvi nequaquam posse pertinere, quippe quod careat capistro reverso, seu setarum serie, quæ in isto genere insignes sunt ad distinctionem. Notavit præterea, licet ob rostrum validum inter Loxias fortasse non inepte posset disponi, ad Laniorum tamen similitudinem magis accedere. Magnitudine turdum vulgarem seu musicum fere æquat Lanius Leverianus.

IT is entirely in compliance with the opinion of Mr. Latham that the very rare and curious bird here represented is placed under the genus Lanius, though not perhaps accurately corresponding in all particulars with the characters of that genus. It is a species whose history and native country are not certainly known, and was never noticed by any ornithological writer ’till Mr. Latham introduced it into his Synopsis of Birds, under the title of the Magpie Shrike; a name by no means ill adapted to the appearance of 244 the bird, which, at first view, bears a striking resemblance to a diminutive specimen of the Corvus Pica of Linnæus, or common magpie.

Mr. Latham has observed that it cannot with propriety be referred to the genus Corvus, since it is destitute of the capistrum reversum, or series of bristles in front, which characterize that genus. He also adds, that though the stoutness of the beak might almost admit of its being placed in the genus Loxia, yet it seems to have more conformity with that of Lanius. Its size is that of a small thrush, and its length about ten inches.

HYSTRICES sane et Erinaceos spinis longis et mucronatis, Manimque squamis validis et acutis contexit Natura: habet vero Dasypus loricam osseam, mire adeo confectam, eximieque ornatam, ut exquisitissimum artificium non sine stupore possit conspici. Huic quidem generi gula pectus et abdomen cute granosa contecta sunt.

Appropinquante periculo, illico sese contrahere solet Dasypus in formam ovi, vimque omnem mediocrem facile potest sustinere. Noctu potissimum evagatur, et vermibus, frugibus, et radicibus innocue vescitur: interdiu in antris subterraneis habitat. Caro ejus multum laudatur; et in deliciis ab America Australioris incolis habetur. Brasiliam et Guianam præcipue incolunt Dasypodes. Valde inter se similes sunt variæ hujus generis species, præcipueque illas distinguit in loricato corpore circulorum numerus. Inter pulcherrimas sunt species jam depictæ.

Fæcunda sunt hæc animalia, frequentesque partus edunt. In magnam molem rarissime crescunt, nec sæpe longitudine unum pedem superant; cauda excepta. Buffonus tamen speciem descripsit, quæ tres fere pedes præter caudam longa fuit. Fortasse igitur qui in Europam advecti fuerint Dasypodes, ad plenam magnitudinem non pervenerant.

NATURE, which has clothed the Porcupine and the Hedgehog with sharp quills, and the Manis with strong scales, has bestowed on the genus Dasypus a complete suit of armour, so admirably constructed and so elegantly ornamented, that it is impossible to view without astonishment an apparatus 248 of so much curiosity. The throat, breast, and belly, are covered with a granulated skin.

On the approach of danger these animals roll themselves up into an oval form, and are then so securely cased up in their bony covering, that no common force can injure them. They are of a perfectly harmless nature, and wander about chiefly by night, in quest of insects, roots, and fruit; and in the day-time reside in their holes, which they make under ground. Their flesh is reckoned excellent, and is much admired by the inhabitants of South America. They are found principally in Brazil and Guiana.

There is a great general resemblance between the several species of Armadillos, and they are principally distinguished by the number of divisions on the body part of their armour. The two species represented on the present plate may be reckoned amongst the most elegant of the genus. Armadillos in general are prolific animals, and breed frequently. They do not grow to a large size, and are seldom seen of more than a foot in length, exclusive of the tail. Yet the Count de Buffon has described one which measured near three feet without the tail: in all probability those which are generally brought over to Europe are not arrived at their full size.