1838.] BIRDS AND ANIMALS. 53 



and fruit trees natural to colder climates are met with in 

 great variety. 



The markets in the Brazilian towns are plentifully sup- 

 plied with beef, fish and poultry, and vegetables of all kinds 

 are sold in the streets. The principal articles of food, how- 

 ever, especially in the country, are came seca, or dried beef, 

 and farina, a -preparation of the manihot. 



It is not only for their valuable timber that the forests of 

 Brazil are celebrated. Numerous species of parasites and 

 creepers abound, — bromelias, bignonias, honeysuckles, and 

 mistletoes, — which, extending their long sprays from tree to 

 tree, from limb to limb, like the cordage of a ship, form leafy 

 coverts that afford a shelter from the oppressive heat of the 

 equatorial sun, to the brute denizens of these vast woodland 

 solitudes. Birds displaying in their plumage all the bril- 

 liancy and splendor possible to combine from gold and scarlet, 

 purple and emerald ; fierce and ravenous beasts, chatter- 

 ing monkeys, and huge scaly serpents and alligators, fre- 

 quent these dark and shady retreats. Conspicuous among 

 the birds, is the couroucoo, whose plumage is purple, green, 

 and gold, beautifully blended together ; the cephaloptem, 

 which has a singular tuft on its head, like a parasol ; the 

 aicurus, whose head is variegated with yellow, red and vio- 

 let, its body green, the tips of its wings red, and its long tail 

 yellow ; the mocking-bird, famous for its unrivalled strains 

 of richest melody ; the witwall, or golden oriole, whose 

 swinging nest, depending from the loftiest tree, sways to and 

 fro with every breeze ; the gay-coated king fisher ; the scarlet 

 macaw ; the lustrous jacamar ; the guara, of a vivid red 

 color ; the cotinga ; and the many-tinted paroquet. Among 

 the beasts, are the jaguar, or ounce of Brazil ; the puma ; 

 the tapir ; the cabial ; the ant-eater ; the paca, which re- 

 sembles the guinea-pig ; and the armadillo, called taton by 

 the natives. Of the monkeys there are upwards of twenty 

 different species, varying in color and size, from the acari, 

 or scarlet monkey, to the silky tamarin. 



In the interior of Brazil, west of the Araguay river, and 



