ANIMAL LIFE IN MADAGASCAR. 741 



resting on the ground. No otlier example of a plantigrade animal is 

 known. 



The masked wild-boar, which is still more ugly than its European 

 fellow, is the only mammifer met with both in Madagascar and Africa. 

 It is a hideous creature, with high withers, low back, and little hair. 

 It boasts of an enormous tubercle, supported by a bony prominence 

 in the jaw, which renders the face of the animal extremely disagree- 

 able. A species of gray squirrel, which lives in hollow trees, and bats, 

 complete the list of the mammifers yet known in Madagascar. 



It is very different as regards birds ; they can cross immense 

 spaces ; and so the tern, the petrel, the albatross, and many other well- 

 known birds, abound in this island. It is a charming sight, on a sunny 

 day, to see flights of ducks with brilliant and varied plumage pad- 

 dling and diving on the rivers or lakes. One large species, with bronze 

 and violet reflections, like metals, its white head and neck spotted 

 with black, is a great favorite with the natives. A beautiful teal-duck, 

 only known here, has an exquisite blending of brown, fawn, and slate- 

 colored plumage, with fair white wings. In the marshes stalks the 

 proud sultana-hen, with its magnificent blue body, a red patch on its 

 head, and coral feet adorned with a tuft of white feathers, by which 

 it is easily distinguished among the reeds. The jacana, a bird of the 

 water-hen family, is also peculiar to this place ; mounted on long legs 

 like stilts, and extremely long feet, it runs through the long grass, or 

 upon the floating water-leaves, with wonderful rapidity. 



The sacred ibis of the Egyptians is found in large flocks, as well 

 as the green variety of Europe. The crested ibis is peculiar to the 

 country ; a beautiful bird, bright-red, with yellow beak and claws ; 

 a green head, from which the long plume of white and green feathers 

 lies back. Another bird, classed among the Gallinaceoe^ is remark- 

 able for the length of its beak; while the pretty blue and green 

 pigeons afford plenty of sport for the lover of the gun. Near the 

 streams, the nelicourvi, a green-plumaged bird, builds its nest among 

 the leaves, composed of bits of straw and reeds artistically woven 

 together. The magnificent cardinal, in its bright scarlet robe of feath- 

 ers, black-spotted on the back, haunts the open glades of the forest; 

 and on the banks of streams are numbers of linnets, wagtails, and 

 humming-birds, which are almost as small and graceful as the Ameri- 

 can ones, in addition to possessing all their beauties. The one which 

 is the most common is also the most beautiful, with its bright-green 

 body shaded with violet; the large feathers of the wings, brown- 

 edged, with a violet band on the breast, succeeded by one of brown ; 

 and yellow beneath. The family of cuckoos is well represented ; 

 the blue variety is a magnificent bird, common in the woods on the 

 shore. 



As for the reptile class, it is pleasant for the traveler to walk 

 through the forests knowing that the venomous species are unknown. 



