TWO HORNED RHINOCEROS.

Designed by W. Daniel.

Published by Macmillan & Co., London and New York.

## RHINOCEROS.

### GENERIC CHARACTER.

With one, sometimes two large horns on the nose.
Each hoof cloven into two parts.

RHINOCEROS UNICORNIS. Linn. Syst. Nat. Gmel. 1. p. 57.

RHINOCEROS. . . . . . Penn. Hist. Quadr. 1. p. 154. Edw. Av. tab. 221. f. 2. Sm. Buff. 6. p. 92. pl. 167. Bew. Quadr. 156. Shaw Gen. Zool.

RHINOCEROS BICORNIS. Linn. Syst. Nat. Gmel. 1. p. 57.

TWO-HORNED RHINOCEROS. Penn. Hist. Quadr. 1. p. 150. pl. 29. Bew. Hist. Quadr. p. 160. Shaw Gen. Zool. pl. 60. Daniell's Afr. An. pl. 30.

NATURE, who has bestowed so many brilliant qualities on the elephant, has denied this clumsy animal the smallest share of intelligence. Rash and brutal, without sentiment or docility, he seems to exist merely to gratify a voracious appetite; and, being covered with an almost impenetrable skin, frequently commits the greatest devastations with impunity.

VOL. I.

G

HIPPOPOTAMUS.

GENERIC CHARACTER.

Four cutting teeth, and two tusks in each jaw.
Hoof divided into four parts.

SPECIFIC CHARACTER.

<table><tr><td>HIPPOPOTAMUS AMPHIBIUS.</td><td>Pedibus quadrilobis. Linn. Syst. Nat. Gmel. 1. p. 214.</td></tr><tr><td>HIPPOPOTAMUS.</td><td>Has four rounded hoofs on each foot. Sm. Buff. v. 6. p. 277. pl. 187. Penn. Hist. Quadr. 1. p. 157. pl. 31 and 32. Bewick's Quadr. Shaw Gen. Zool. 2. pl. 219. Daniell's Af. An. pl. 12.</td></tr></table>

It appears extraordinary that Providence should have destined this huge animal to inhabit an element where it cannot exist, since it eats nothing that the rivers afford. During the night, the hippopotamus leaves the waters to graze, and sometimes goes as far as six miles from the banks, either in search of food or of another river; frequently doing great damage to the sugar-canes and plantations of rice and millet. This unwieldy creature moves but

HIPPOPOTAMUS.

Designed by W. Daniel.

Published by Majorага & Danielis, New York, 1867.

AFRICAN BIRDS NESTS, PHIL.

Designed by W. D. Doane.

Printed by J. B. L. Cline & Co., London, England.

BIRDS.

the same rule, she is never mistaken in her time,
so as to lay her eggs before she has completed her
nest. All this is wonderful, and serves as one
among many instances to prove the agency of a
wise and powerful Being; "the author in nature,"
says Paley, "of infinitely various expedients for in-
finitely various ends, upon whom we must rely for
the choice and appointment of means adequate to
the execution of any plan which his goodness or
justice may have formed, for the moral and ac-
countable part of his terrestrial creation."

The different propensities of animals, says Mr. Barrow, proceeding from the different organs with which nature has furnished them, are no doubt modified and altered according to situation and circumstances. Most of the small birds of Southern Africa, continues this gentleman, construct their nests in such a manner that they can be entered only by one small orifice, and many suspend them from the slender extremities of high branches. A species of loxia, or grossbeak, always hangs its nest on a branch extending over a river or pool of water. It is shaped exactly like a chemist's retort, and is suspended from the head; so that the shank of eight or nine inches long, at the bottom of which is the aperture, almost touches the water. This curious little habitation is made of green grass, firmly put together, and very artfully woven. Another small bird, the Cape titmouse, constructs its luxurious nest of the down of a species of asclepias. This nest is made of the texture of flannel, and the fleecy hosiery is

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22

AFRICAN BIRDS NESTS, PLI.

Designed by W. Daniel.

Published by Houghton Mifflin Company, New York 1907.

BIRDS.

form a complete and comfortable apartment, properly calculated to preserve the necessary warmth.

Before we pass to the next stage, we must again return to Africa, and once more avail ourselves of Mr. Barrow's information. This gentleman describes a small bird of the loxia genus, *Loxia socia*, *Lath. Ind. orn.* which lives in a state of society with the rest of its species. These birds construct a whole republic of nests in one clump, and under one cover. Each nest, however, has a separate entrance on the under side, and has no communication with its neighbour from within. Sometimes one of these clumps of nests will extend a space of ten feet in diameter, and contain a population of several hundred individuals.

"The industry of these birds," says Mr. Patterson, "seems almost equal to that of the bee. Throughout the day they appear busily employed in carrying a fine species of grass, which is the principal material they employ for the purpose of erecting this extraordinary work, as well as for additions and repairs. Though my short stay in the country was not sufficient to satisfy me by ocular proof, that they added to their nests as they annually increased in their numbers; still from the many trees which I have seen borne down by the weight, and others that I have seen with their boughs completely covered over, it would appear that this is really the case. When the tree, that is the support of this aerial city, is obliged to give way to the increase of weight, it is obvious that they are no longer protected, and