The New York herald., 1867-02-21

lsy of ne Am.ssa Bssidss. tAsss ass number Of
san geese remarkable for their elegant form and The
you see them IN snai nocks running along the shoN.
and eviaenty activs than any other aquatic hird
ether aquatic birds there are large number Of rSs ali
along the great rivers, and eornosants are not
s~sns on s the &c s0usrasy, s: : ~ s veT s;ssy sssa
tals Of the prominent feature: q he valley Of the
Amazon. Nothing Is beautiful than tAoss inmssss
. they ashs on the shores of she smsn iakse feeding
upon nshes running along the surface Of the water
Ss ~ wse
uI shsa apOnd besswn with thousssds and thousands
spreading % = IN. % leaves %" q our M watsr iilss on
our own ponds, and these ponds Al the Same
and they literally obscure the light and appear ike
clouds IN the atmosphere have seen on one occasion
"a Sis 50 as a M. q M
we found fishes by thousands which had been killed by
the birds walking over them When the birds rose into
the air 1t absolutely impossible to the sky The
most characteristic birds Of those regions family
insermediate between our sallnaceous birds and
the wade.s, being sort OF transition type
In country where there istlc dry land the gaina-
ceous BIRDS which characteristics OF prairie
.nS sno ,ne wn,cn
sive tracts Of dry and-havc natural home in the
valley OF the Amazon; bus there birds known under
the name Of curassous which II were interme-
date between the ganaceous birds and the wader hav-
ing the Same slender feet Of the wader and The
Characteristic structure Of the bill which dis
tngushes the gaInaceoos birds Then We
have immense number Of climbing birds
and families Of them particularly characteristic Of
South america The quantity OF parrots Of macaws, Of
parroques and the like which tho forest
ceens al possS's bs s MOI only sre inc
species Is large, and you may sometimes focks
OF parrots as dense ms the nocks Of the
ocks OF geese which pass heads a the time Of
the migration Of the Northern birds south ward,
or during their return from the South nonhwards.
ds all possible description When you have ocks Of
these parrots In your neghborhood Ii impossible 10
20 close Will they come Without being shsneS The
variety OF the kinds OF parrots which exist In the ANA
ron iSsery large Hundreds Of species are found In
South America, and most OF them are OF those
genera which have green feathers. While In other
parts of the world have parrots OF white color Of
mainly Of the green type With these parrots belong
ing the same family, fnd the hummng birds,
other family sacusvsy - American nea nere = no repre-
world. Neither in Africa, tropical Asia is there
single representative Of the family Of the humming
forms in tropical birds or the old world.
There is type Of humming birds, with slender and
compressed bill, with small feet and small
toes Of which is closely soldered to the other,
while their wings move with extreme rapdity and pre-
sent striking contrast 70 the motion Of other BIRDS
which soar, II were, in nying, the wnRs Of the hum
ming bird making sort Of vibration rather than flying
or that family South America is the home exclusively,
and their number daily increasing in the catalogues
Of natural history. While few dozens Of
species we're known in the beginning Of the
century, now the species are numbered by
thousands and It seems that they are localized in
their distribution that every valley has Its own kind,
while in an adjoining dssric. you find an entirely differ
multiplication Of species and the special localxaton
leading to the presence Of one kind In almost every little
district has naturally led 10 the inference that these ami
mails wherever they 60 are modified according TO
the circumstances under which they live. That
animals should have made their various species
from the beginning TO suit the localities But the inter-
pretation which prevails now seems 70 6e tnss animals
ther type Of birds which exclusively South American
is loteau another family of the climbing birds
markable or the extraordinary dimensions Of their bill
the bill being about as long and apparently heavy
the body though IL Is not so, as would seem
OF s cellular structure 1t is hollow internally
or least cellular internally that its weight is eo
paratvey slight; but its appearance is that OF an I'm.
nenss bill These BIRDS are remarkable icr me beauty
reflected tints which present all the variations OF oalic
colors under different influences Of light the
most striking juxsapOsition, band Of yellow BY band
Of red with band Of blue or white placed
Ssss Ssas he sss s s The .ss .sss 81: rest e u:
marked aid wsll c'rcumscribed ring Of brilliant
" Ss o 1s' IS Dh All n.
markabIe for this strange distribution Of tints and
the proportonate dimensions Of their bill Toucans,
features OF the flying tsbes OF the class Of birds in
these tropical REGIONS or perching brds there
1 spee rnsy Resembles
in measure, our warblers. and among
tribe Of this family q psreSns birds which constate @
characteristic feature Of the continent like those which
have already cnuIerssed Among the birds q prey
particularly among the vultures that we md them One
black vulture somewhat similar 10 that which Is found
in the Southern Sates may be seen everywhere where
there animals decaying There another species
nearly large AZ eagle, which Is known under the
beauty or coios the feathers upon its body being or
white yellow and red, with sort OF light halo Of golden
tint which give them very elegant appearaDce These
the largest OF the birds OF prey In the lower part Of
South America while in the higher mountainous regions
the condor found which s the largest OF the birds Of
prey. known on earth In The fiat countries Of
South America, which to the south OF the
valley Of the Amazon-in the pampas Of the dry
gons TO the west OF Buenos Ayres and also TO the
Of Bahia--ostrichss found which resemble tho
African ostrich in every respect except size, they being
about one half the size Of the African ostrich and diner
Ing further in having three toes instead Of two
South America has It's peculiar features in the class Of
birds as well as in the family OF reptiles and that Of
characterize the old yorld with propondence OF dimen
sIons as oomparsa with that Of Africa, and
sions as tha. Of the eagle and the falcon
tribe rib , and Their pregonSsranc. % in ,hs old world
that Of the Old World II had time to present the
subject in its fullncs could show you that this
also. And that the animal world Of North America y
old f.shoned and inferior IN comparison V the animal
ssoossais E sps.sins | IL % maturity; nss M sssnsd =:
form : continent North America as well a. south
America he's assumed The form Of continent 1t much
earlier period than any other part Of the globe North
America has Its outlines has its Canada range,
and IL Alleehanies, and iu Rocky Mountains II was
continent long before Europe assumed those features
which gave 90 much character So u with South
America and In relation 70 this singular geological
fact We end the animals living this continent rcssmb
ling those Of older age os older world and has
they arc inferior in their bulk 70 those which find
the older continents Of Europe, Of Asin and Of Africa
In my next lecture VII speak OF monkeys and man,
and compare the races Of human mammaIa Of which
the monkey is species, and will have an opportu-
nifty Of allowing you how much superior the ami.
mails Of the old world are TO that OF the new
But lot take glance 1t the quadrupeds before closing
these remarks On the old continent we have the ees
phant ths rhinoceros the hppopotamus and the gire
Who're they at homef In Africa and IN Asia. There
representative Of these families In South Amer
ica The larger carnivcrous animasthe lions and the
tigers-whsre arc they ct homef In Asia and Africa
There are panthsrs and red lions, 80 called in America
but they inferior In eSe and strength and inferior In
structure those caTniverous snimas which nhabIt
the old world. But let take moro in detail tnosa