340 Information respecting Zoological Travellers, 
past. Thus I find that the Willow Wren (Sylvia Trochilus), instead 
of the 16th or 18th of April, was not seen or heard before the 3rd 
of May ; the same in regard to the Blackcap {Curruca atricapilla) , 
the Tree Pipit {Anthus arboreus), the Whinchat (Saxicola rubetus); 
and the 13th of May had arrived before an individual of the Fly- 
catcher (Muscicapa grisola) was observed. Of the species just enu- 
merated, a deficiency, such as I have already mentioned, was re- 
marked ; but I think it was even more striking in others, among 
which I may particularize the Sedge- warbler (Salicaria phragmitis) , 
Greater Petty-chaps (Curruca montana), White-throat {Curruca 
clnerea). To this cold and long- retarded spring, succeeded a short 
and, with the exception of a few days in July, a moist and chilly 
summer, circumstances which affected not only the increase of animal 
life, but produced the more serious calamity of a deficient harvest. 
Fruits also did not ripen at all, or very imperfectly, and were devoid 
pf their proper taste and flavour. In conclusion, I may add, that a 
great deficiency of the insect tribes was generally remarked, and, 
from having given a considerable degree of attention to the entomo- 
logy of this district for some years past, I can confidently say, that 
in most of its great families or divisions the remark is correct, more 
particularly as it applies to the Coleopterous and Lepidopterous in- 
sects, upon a comparison with what was observed in 1835 and 1836, 
as well as years previous to that date. 
XLIl. — Information respecting Botanical and Zoological 
Travellers, 
It will give satisfaction to many of our friends to learn that letters 
have been received from our valuable contributor Dr. Parnell. He 
is now about to leave Jamaica, after a residence of nearly nine 
months, during which time he has investigated much of the zoology 
of that island. His entomological collections have suffered consider- 
ably from insects, but in ornithology he states, ** I have been more 
fortunate, having obtained 140 species in a good state, several of 
which are very rare, and two or three of them I suspect have never 
been before noticed. In ichthyology I have been most successful, 
having obtained about 500 specimens." At the date of his letter 
(22nd March), Dr. Parnell was about to sail for Cuba, whence he ex- 
pected to return to Britain in November or December next. 
We have also letters from another gentleman, T. C. Jerdon, Esq., 
Assistant Surgeon 2nd Madras Light Cavalry, who has been for some 
Information respecting Zoological Travellers, 341 
years resident in India in the prosecution of his profession, and has 
employed his leisure time in studying the zoology of that country, 
particularly its ornithology. Our parcel contains a partial result of 
researches in the latter department in the first part of a *' Catalogue 
of the Birds of the Peninsula of India, with brief Notes on their Habits 
and Geographical Distribution* ;" and notwithstanding the informa- 
tion contained in the illustrated works of Hardwicke and Gould, and 
in the valuable Catalogues and Papers of Franklin, Sykes, Hodgson, 
and Eyton, several species among the Raptores are given as new, 
Mr. Jerdon divides the peninsula into four great districts or divisions. 
1st, The Northern Circars, comprising a narrow tract of land (be- 
tween 16° and 20° N. lat.) from the sea-coast on the eastern side of 
the peninsula to the Eastern Ghauts, by which it is separated from 
the Great_,Table-land ; 2nd, The Carnatic, including the whole of the 
country lying south of the Northern Circars along the coast as far 
as Cape Comorin, and bounded on the west by the Eastern Ghauts, 
except the Coimbotoor district, where the eastern as well as western 
range is broken ; 3rd, Western coast, including Travancore, Cochin, 
and Malabar, and comprising a strip of land of various width lying 
between the sea on the western side of India, and the range of 
Western Ghauts, which it includes ; 4th, The great central table land, 
including Mysore, the Baramahl, the ceded districts (Bellary andCud- 
dapah),the kingdoms of Berar and Hyderabad, the Southern Mahratta 
country and the Decan. 
The species already noticed in this range are 390, and the list will 
probably be extended before the completion of the catalogue, which 
now reaches only to a part of the Strigidse. Of the Falconidae 32 
species are noted ; and among those belonging to the British list we 
have Pandion Haliaetos, Aquila Chrysaetos, Circus cineraceus and 
rufus, Falco peregrinus and Tinnunculus, Accipiter fringillarius, and 
Astur palumbarius. It is possible however that some of these may 
require a more rigorous comparison with the birds of Europe. This 
part of the catalogue is illustrated by a lithographic figure of an owl 
(Huhua pect oralis), very neatly engraved ; and if figures can be pro- 
duced in India equal to that now attempted, they will be of much 
importance in illustrating the views of the gentlemen who may in 
future attend to the zoology of this very interesting region. Our 
correspondent states, " I have 50 or 60 drawings in the same style f, 
drawn by myself and finished by the native artists I kept at Trinco- 
* Published in the Madras Journal of Literature and Science for Sep- 
tember 1839. The Raptores. 
f Specimens accompany the packet well drawn and beautifully finished. 
342 Botanical and Zoological Travellers, 
nopoli, most of them of birds hitherto unfigured. I shall commence 
sending my specimens next month, and hope by the end of the year 
to have forwarded to you a series of alll have procured, for the iden- 
tification of species, &c. As you requested, I now add a few remarks 
on the Indian Fox and Wolf. Canis Bengalensis, Shaw, C. Kokree, 
Sykes, lives chiefly on the open plains, burrows in the ground, ge- 
nerally four or five openings to the burrow, some of which commu- 
nicate with each other; others are blind : it feeds chiefly on lizards, 
locusts, grasshoppers, beetles, small snakes, and occasionally crabs 
and rats ; runs with remarkable speed ; the chase with greyhounds 
is a favourite pursuit in India. — Canis Lupus, C. pullipes, Sykes, 
Wolf : hunts in small packs and runs down antelopes and hares, 
seizes also sheep in a very daring manner in daylight, and carries 
off young calves, goats, sheep, &c. during nights, and not unfre- 
quently children. It possesses great speed and most extraordinary 
powers of endurance. Though often chased by the best horsemen, 
unless it is gorged, it always outlasts the fleetest horse, keeping ge- 
nerally 20 or 30 yards ahead at whatever pace the rider may go.'* 
Dr. Krauss's Return from Southern Africa. 
It will be remembered, that about two years and a half since. Dr. Fer- 
dinand Krauss of Stiittgard, left England for the Cape, on his way 
to explore the interior of Southern Africa, with a view to collect 
objects of Natural History from those regions. He has within the 
last month returned to London with his extensive collections of both 
animals and plants, collected principally in Natal and Amazoola 
land, where he resided about twelve months ; during which period 
he assiduously devoted the whole of his time and attention to pre- 
serving objects in every department of natural history. The zoolo- 
gical collection comprises Mammalia, Birds, Fishes, Amphibia, Crus- 
tacea, Insects, Shells (land, freshwater, and marine,). Zoophytes, &c. 
The Botanical collection comprises about 3000 species of native 
plants, carefully preserved, and in most instances 30 specimens of 
each species ; those of Natal, amounting to about 1000 species, are 
offered to botanists at forty shillings the hundred ; and those col- 
lected in the Cape Colony at twenty-five shillings per hundred spe- 
cies. A series of the zoological and botanical collections we under- 
stand are about to be purchased by the British Museum ; the re- 
maining sets will be disposed of to those desirous of possessing 
them. 
In addition to the above collections Dr. Krauss attentively ex- 
Information respecting Zoological Travellers. 343 
amined the geological features of the country through which he tra- 
velled, with a view especially to record the exact position and situa- 
tion of the coalfields, very imperfectly known to the farmers in the 
interior of Africa. He has brought with him specimens illustrative 
of the different formations, including the coal and fossils from the 
beds : we anticipate giving a more detailed account of this traveller's 
expedition in a future Number. 
Mr. Schomburgk's recent Expedition in Guiana, 
[Continued from p. 288.] 
1 HAVE been told of eight varieties of Opossum which inhabit Guiana, 
five of which have come under my notice. I have identified four species 
with those described by authors, as Didelphis cancrivora, L., D. quica, 
Temm., D. philander, Temm. and D. dorsigera, L. and Temm. ; but the 
fifth appears to me to stand intermediate between D. virginiana and Z>. 
Azarce, Screb. Temm. It differs from the latter in the absence of the 
black markings on the head, black neck, and the black and white ears, 
which in the Guiana species are of a uniform black colour. If we could 
reconcile the geographical distribution of D. virginiana over a space so 
different in temperature, I should consider the specimen which I 
am now describing a variety of that species : the circumstance that 
the ears are of a uniform black would scarcely constitute a specific 
difference. Its body from the nose to the insertion of the tail mea- 
sures 15 inches and a half, the tail 15 inches. The latter, which is 
prehensile, is for the length of 3 inches clothed with thick fur, the 
remainder scaly for about 4 inches, of a black colour, and afterwards 
white. The scaly part is covered with a few short hairs, black on the 
back part, and white for the remainder. The fore leg to the mal- 
leolus measured 3 inches, the hind leg 4 inches. The fur is of a 
brownish yellow, short and silky, but intermixed with longer hair of 
white colour and somewhat stiff. These white hairs are along the ver- 
tebral line from 4 to 5 inches in length, intermixed with shorter silky 
hair, which being black above and white beneath, give it the appear- 
ance of a black band stretching from the head along the back to the 
insertion of the tail. The fore and hind feet are of a dark mouse 
colour, intermingled with a few white hairs. The ears somewhat 
compressed at the base, naked, black, and about 1*2 inch in length. 
Round the eyes is a dark spot of an oblong figure, but otherwise the 
head is almost entirely of a brownish yellow. The neck is covered 
with the same short fur of a brownish yellow as the belly, while in 
D. Azarece it is of a black colour. The specimen which has served 
344 Information respecting Zoological Travellers, 
me for description was shot in the neighbourhood of Georgetown^ 
but as it was the only one of its kind which I ever saw, I hesitate 
to establish it as a separate species, until I have had opportunity of 
procuring individuals of the same appearance. It is said to be very 
common at the coast region, and is called the white Yawarri by the 
colonists, Nopu by the Warrau Indians, Yawarri by the Arawaks and 
Macusis. It does great injury to the feathered stock, and frequents 
the sugar-cane fields, being apparently partial to sweets. 
The black Yawarri {Didelphis quica, Temm.), called so by the co- 
lonists from its appearance when at rest ; the hair being long and 
black at the tip, but yellow towards the root. The tail is longer 
than the body, clothed with hair for one-fourth of its length, the re- 
mainder naked and scaly. Its size is that of a marten, but in its 
head it resembles a fox, and the muzzle ends with a whitish spot. I 
do not possess an actual measurement, but I should estimate the 
length of its body about twelve or thirteen inches, and the tail from 
fifteen to sixteen inches. The latter, which is prehensile, is of great 
assistance to them in climbing. They are very destructive to poultiy 
and likewise to fruit. They are often found on those savannahs 
where the wild pine (J5rome/ea, spec?) flourishes, to the fruit of which 
they appear to be partial. Like its congeners, the female possesses 
a pouch in which she carries and suckles her young until they are 
as large as half-grown rats. They produce from six to seven young 
at a time. They sleep during the day and hunt at night. They are 
sometimes eaten by the Creoles and Indians, but as they have a 
rank and disagreeable smell I doubt if they would prove palatable 
to us. 
The Didelphis cancrivora is too well known to deserve more 
than a passing remark ; moreover, I am not able to add anything 
about its habits, as it is more peculiar to the sea-coasts than to the 
interior of Guiana. 
The Yawarri cusinai of the Macusi Indians, or Picanappa of the 
Warraus {Didelphis philander, Temm.) has an extensive range in 
Guiana. It is met with in the coast regions as well as in the interior. 
It resembles in size a full-grown rat ; the fur, short and silky, is of 
a rust-colour, lighter beneath the belly ; length of the body nine 
inches, tail ten inches and a half, clothed with fur for about two 
inches, the remainder naked and of a uniform brown colour. A 
deep furrow divides the nostrils, and the eyes are brown and very 
prominent, and surrounded by a reddish spot. Possessing all the 
peculiarities of its tribe, it appears to be more lively than the rest, and 
climbs with the alacrity of a squirrel. Although I have seen many 
Information respecting Zoological Travellers, 345 
in the day time, I am inclined to think that the night is their fa- 
vourable time for going abroad in search of food. I have had tame 
ones that slept the greater part of the day. In their M'ild state they 
live principally on fruits and insects, but I have been assured by the 
Indians that they have the art of surprising small birds, and in 
this I am corroborated by Mr. Vieth, who found animal food in their 
stomach. In a tame state scarcely anything comes amiss ; boiled 
rice, yams, flesh and fish seem equally agreeable to them. 
One of the Opossums of that species which I had in a tame 
state was a female. It was kept in a birdcage of wire-work which 
permitted me to watch its habits. I have already observed that it 
passed the greater part of the day in sleeping, and that it fed alike 
upon fish or flesh. It might have been in my possession for about 
a fortnight, when one morning, on feeding it, I observed five young 
ones of the size of a new-born mouse crawling about in the cage. 
They were perfectly naked and blind. The mother allowed them 
to crawl about and did not appear to care for them. Next morning 
I found only four ; the fifth had been eaten by the mother during 
night ; the four remaining ones had however returned to the pouch. 
The succeeding night two more were eaten by the mother, and the 
last two were crawling about in a helpless state, and the following 
day fell a prey to the voracity of their unnatural mother. It is re- 
markable, that although I had the animal longer than a fortnight, I 
never was aware that it had young ones until I found them crawling 
about, and it remains now a riddle to me how the mother could 
secrete them so well. I thought her with young all the time, but 
had no idea that they were already in a state so far advanced. Con- 
finement no doubt was the reason of her acting so cruelly towards 
her off'^ipring. She died a few weeks after. 
The fifth species which I have observed during my journeys in 
Guiana is Didelphis dorsigera, L. and Temm. It is nearly the size 
of the former, its fur of a brownish -gray, the tail thin, covered with 
hair for about the fifth part of its length, the rest scaly, and of a uni- 
form brown. The spot which surrounds the eyes is of a darker brown 
than in the former, but it is distinguished chiefly in the females 
being without an abdominal pouch, and merely provided with lon- 
gitudinal folds near the thighs, within which the young continue to 
suckle, or which serves as a place of security in case of danger. I 
have seen this species in a tamed state ; it appeared however shy, 
and was fed upon milk and bread, and plantains. They are said to 
be very partial to the latter, and they frequent therefore the plan- 
Ann, Nat, Hist. Vol.5. No. 32. July IS40, 2 b 
S4G Information respecting Zoological Travellers. 
tain fields in large numbers. They produce from six to seven young 
ones. 
An individual of that kind, which had been kept for some time in 
the house where I resided during my stay in Georgetown, met with 
a tragical end. I had procured two young Jabirus (Mycteria Ame- 
ricana) : the first exploit when landed and introduced to their new 
domicile was, that one assailed the cage which contained the opos- 
sum, and having seized the poor animal with its beak, drew it by 
force through the bars of the cage, and swallowed it without fur- 
ther hesitation. 
Having brought these Jabirus under the notice of the reader, I 
shall leave the class Mammalia, and turn for a few moments to the 
Aves, in order to indulge in a biographical notice* of these two in- 
teresting individuals with an introductory remark on the whole 
tribe. 
The Jabiru or Negrokoop, as it is generally known to such of the 
colonists who have seen this bird in its natural haunts, frequents the 
great savannahs of the interior and the marshy environs of the 
rivers Pomeroon and Guainia, where they live on moUusca, crabs, 
frogs, and other amphibious animals. While at Pirara, I saw them 
in flocks of several hundreds feeding at lake Amucu, or on the 
marshy tracts along the Pacaraima mountains. During our stay in 
that village several were shot. Their flesh is palatable, and when 
prepared with the necessary ingredients, as a steak, so strikingly re- 
sembles beef, that one unacquainted with the fact would pronounce 
it such. One was winged in shooting at a flock and was brought 
alive to us. The bill measured 13 inches ; it was laterally com- 
pressed, thick at its base, and ended rather sharply. The upper 
mandible was straight and triangular, the lower rather thicker and 
slightly turned up. The nostrils are narrow, as the bird seeks 
its food in the water; the feet with three anterior toes slightly 
united by a membrane ; the hallux, or hind toe, high up on the 
tarsus. 
* These notices of animals which inhabit Guiana are gleanings from my 
Journal, taken at random as they occur, and without tying myself to any 
scientific arrangement or description. Those who have thought the prece- 
ding observations worthy of their perusal, will be aware that they do not pre- 
tend to scientific dissertations ; it has been my wish to make the reader 
acquainted with the manners of such of the animated beings of Guiana as 
have come to my knowledge and under my personal observation, disclaiming 
all scientific descriptions and discussions, which we will leave to a period 
when I may have gained by experience, and when, not further urged by the 
desire of extending my travels, leisure may permit me to digest what prac- 
tical knowledge I possess. 
Information respecting Zoological Travellers. 347 
From the head to the toes, that is to say, standing upright, it 
measured 6^ feet, from the tip of the beak to the tail 4 feet 4 inches, 
and to its end 4 feet 1 1 inches ; from the end of the toe to the knee- 
joint li foot, from ditto to the thigh-joint 2 feet 10 inches. Its 
wings when spread out measured 8^ feet ; it has therefore, next to 
the Condor, the greatest extent of wings. Its plumage is pure 
white ; the bill, head, and upper part of the neck are black, and with 
the exception of a few scattered downy feathers, quite naked. The 
lower part of the neck is red, and likewise set with a few downy 
feathers. The skin of the neck, but particularly of the gullet, is 
generally wrinkled, but the bird can extend it. The neck measured 
1 foot 10 inches. A species of Ampullaria {guyanensis) is found in 
prodigious numbers in the lakes and swamps, as well as in the ri- 
vulets which meander through the savannahs, and it appears they 
constitute the chief food of the Jabiru. In spite of their unshapely 
beak, they are able to remove the operculum most admirably, and to 
draw the mollusc out of its shell. I have found it difficult to procure 
perfect specimens of that Ampullaria for my collections, although 
shells partly broken or devoid of the operculum covered the low 
savannahs extensively, while in other parts I found the opercula 
equally numerous, but no shells. 
The Jabiru builds its nest generally on trees, sometimes on rocks. 
It is constructed of dry branches, lined with a few feathers, in which 
the female deposits two eggs, which are perfectly white and some- 
what larger than a swan's e^^. The young ones are gray and not 
roseate as has been asserted. 
When the waters subside after the annual inundations, they fre- 
quent in small groups the sandbanks of the river Rupununy in search 
of crustaceous animals. Nothing can surpass the gravity with which 
they stalk along ; their measured step and upright bearing frequently 
amused my military companion while on our first expedition in the 
interior, who was forcibly reminded of the parade, so that he could 
not refrain while passing the beach from giving these feathered re- 
cruits the word of command, and they ever afterwards among our- 
selves went by the name of his recruits. Before they rise on the 
wing they prepare for their flight by taking two or three hops, by 
which they are the better enabled to get on the wing. Their flight 
is light and graceful ; and before they alight, or when rising, 
they first wheel round the place in gyral motions, either lessening 
or extending the circles according as it is their intention to do the 
former or the latter. They soar uncommonly high, and might vie with 
the eagle. Indeed they appear sometimes as a mere speck in the air. 
2 B 2 
348 Zoological Society, 
It is a beautiful sight to see a numerous flock on the wing ; all ap- 
pears confusion when they are first disturbed and rise in the air : 
they cross each other in the flight, and one would think from below 
they could not avoid coming in contact; but scarcely have they 
reached a height of 80 or 100 feet, when order is restored, and they 
begin flying in circles, rising with each circle higher and higher. 
When on a more extensive journey, they fly in a horizontal line, and 
change the leader like the cranes. When feeding on the savannahs, 
a party is always on the alert while the others seek for their food. 
The Macusis call them Tararamu, the Brazilians Juju, the Ara- 
waks MoRA-CoYASEHAA, which signifies spirit of the Mora tree 
{Mora excelsa, Benth.), the Warraus Doih. ; 
[To be continued.] 
Mr. Cuming, some letters from whom, while at Manilla, were 
given in the 1st vol. of Annals, pp. 57 and 147, we are most happy 
to state has lately arrived in London ; bringing with him, as we 
understand, very extensive collections of the animals and plants 
found in the Philippine islands. Of shells, the quantity is large ; 
there are said to be a very great proportion of new species. He has 
also brought alive, and presented to the Zoological Society, a fine 
specimen of a new species of Gibbon, a species of Paradoxurus, a 
large Flying Squirrel (Pteromys nitidus), the Argus Pheasant, a 
Fire-backed Pheasant, a Hornbill, &c. 
PROCEEDINGS OF LEARNED SOCIETIES. 
ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 
Sept. 10, 1839. — William Yarrell, Esq., Vice-President, in the Chair. 
The following letter, addressed by M. Baillon to Mr. Waterhouse, 
was read. It is dated Abbeville, July 16, 1839 : — 
*' M. De la Motte has just informed me that when he had the 
pleasure of seeing you in London you expressed a wish to know the 
name of a new species of Goose which I described in 1833 in the 
catalogue of the birds observed in the department of the Somme, and 
which I have inserted in the * Memoirs of the Society of Emulation 
of Abbeville.' To this bird I gave the name Anser hrachyrhynchus, 
because it appeared to me that one of its most striking characters 
consisted in the shortness of its beak. This species has been sent 
by me, under that name, to the museums at Paris, Turin, Mayence,