CHAPTER IV. 



GENERAL SURVEY OF THE ZOOLOGY OF NORTH AMERICA. 



|AVING thus obtained a bird's-eye view of the 

 physical features of North America, we will take 

 a rapid survey of its zoology before we more 

 minutely inspect the individuals of which it consists. 



In a region of extent so vast as the continent of America, 

 reaching from the Arctic Circle at one end far away towards 

 the Antarctic Ocean at the other with dense forests, under a 

 tropical sun, in some parts ; open plains, lofty mountains, or 

 a network of rivers and streams, vast lakes and marshes, in 

 others we shall find all varieties of form in the animal king- 

 dom. This gives to its study an especial interest. While 

 the larger number of its members are especially local, confined 

 in narrow spaces between two streams, others range beyond 

 50 and 60 of latitude. The puma wanders across the plains 

 of Patagonia, and ravages the "flocks of the settlers on the 

 western prairies of the United States. The reindeer feeds 

 on. the moss-covered moors "of the Arctic islands, and is chased 

 by the hunters far south among the defiles of the Rocky 

 Mountains. Vast herds of bison darken the plains of New 

 Mexico, and reach the upper waters of the Saskatchewan. 



