A NATURALIST IN BRAZIL 



I 



be achieved, even with the mere forms of the trees ! There are trees 

 which are dome-shaped and pyramidal and umbelHform in every 

 degree ; there is the flat roof of the fig-tree, and the Guapuvuru, 

 with its huge, pinnate, fan-shaped leaves, like a great tree-fern. 



Then the boughs may be adorned with epiphytes of all kinds, 

 or hung with lianas ; and all these must surely evoke a feeling of 

 romance for the infinite wealth of tropical Nature ! Animals too 

 may enliven the scene. There is a whole host of lovely birds which 

 need no invitation to visit the garden. From the fruits of the stilted 

 Pachimba palm in the botanical gardens of Rio hang the gaily- 

 coloured Rainbow Tanagers, and above the trees of the Orta da 

 Luz in Sao Paulo fly green parrots or parroquets with blue wings 

 and tails, which disappear, chattering, into the dense clumps of 

 Bromelias which grow upon the boughs. In any Brazilian garden 

 whose owner is sparing of powder and shot one may enjoy the sight 

 of many birds and animals. 



The Brazilians are themselves fond of animals, and it is a pretty 

 custom of theirs to keep captive birds and animals in their parks. 

 The magnificent storks, the white, red-throated, black-headed 

 Jabirus, must, of course, have one of their wings clipped, as in our 

 zoological gardens, but among them the Agoutis, with their golden- 

 red coats, run about on the grass, stooping their pretty short-eared 

 little heads to pick up the bread thrown to them. In the public 

 park of Rio whole flocks of these golden hares form a graceful 

 adornment to the banks of the lakes in which the lotus blooms, 

 and even the queen of the Amazon, the Victoria regia, outspreads 

 its enormous leaves. Across the lawns of the Jardim da Luz in Sao 

 Paulo the Seriema stalks with meditative steps, Jaciis sit on the 

 branches, and many other birds and beasts may be admired, which 

 seem to live there as though in freedom. The Sloths (Plate 27) are 

 comfortably at home in a garden, since they live on the foliage of 

 the trees, a diet that never fails, and it does not occur to them to 

 leave their park or garden, for these animals are not given to wander- 

 ing. On the Avenida Paulista in Sao Paulo a little piece of forest 

 has been preserved, which now serves as a park. Here I saw no 

 fewer than five Sloths; sometimes they were mere brown balls, 

 looking not unlike a bees' nest, suspended high in the tree-tops, 

 and sometimes they clambered from branch to branch, laying their 

 claws like hooks around the boughs, their long-haired bodies follow- 

 ing. There were Sloths in a park in the centre of the city of Santos, 

 and in one of the public squares in Recife. In such gardens, too^ 

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