182 COYPOU RAT. 



the branches, and such brilliant lizards as dart 

 among the grass birds, too, admired for the exqui- 

 site beauty of their plumage, and splendid butter- 

 flies, unknown in Europe, are faithfully represented 

 in the flowers of the orchidae. 



The Coypou or Coypou Rat (Hydromys), common 

 to the provinces of Chili and Buenos Ayres, though 

 rarely seen in those of Paraguay, is an amphibious 

 animal. A natural historian would readily pro- 

 nounce that the creature occasionally inhabited the 

 water, for the hair of its tail is thin and short, stiif, 

 and of a dirty red colour, while the body is defended 

 in some parts with scales, in others by a thick warm 

 felt beneath the hair which keeps it from being wet, 

 The colour of the fur admirably conforms to its as- 

 signed locality while on land; it is of a deep brown 

 or earthy tint, and hence the coypou readily eludes 

 the vigilance of its enemies, while running along the 

 ground, from which it is scarcely distinguishable. 

 This merciful provision for their safety, seems pe^ 

 culiar to animals of a mild and retiring disposition. 

 We discover nothing analogous in beasts of prey; 

 but in the mouse and coypou, the rabbit and 

 the beaver, it is remarkably obvious ; in singing 

 birds also, and even in the females of such as are 

 distinguished for the brilliancy of their plumage; 

 obviously because, if invested with bright colours, 

 they would be readily discovered while sitting on 

 their nests, or resting with their young among the 

 bushes. 



Pecaries represent, in the thick forests of South 

 America, the swine of the ancient world, but few 



