64 MEMOIR OF 



the man follows it as close as possible and dispatches 

 it. Those, however, who hazard these bold adven- 

 tures, generally perish sooner or later in one of 

 them." * 



Though in our enumeration of Azara's zoological 

 works we have given the first place to that on 

 quadrupeds, yet in magnitude and importance it is 

 inferior to the one on birds. This very decidedly is 

 the author's own estimate. " The work on birds," 

 says he, "est deuxfois plus considerable que mon 

 histoire des quadrupeds." + And again, " Je crois 

 que cit ouvrage est superieur a celui des quadru- 

 peds." :j: In it he gives an original description of 

 no fewer than 448 species of birds, no less than 200 

 of which were quite new. His descriptions are 

 characterized by Mr. Swainson as " not only correct, 

 but masterly :" § whilst at the same time he greatly 

 laments, that from not being referred to the modern 

 genera, or accompanied with plates, their value is 

 much diminished. No one, however, was more 

 aware of this deficiency than Azara himself, who 

 did every thing in his power to lessen the evil. 

 " From the commencement of my labours," says he, 

 " I was quite aware that my notes would be com- 

 paratively of little value, unless they were accom- 



* In the French work already referred to, there is an inte- 

 resting abridgement of this treatise on quadrupeds, extending 

 to 1 40 pages, and enriched with notes by the Baron Cuvier. 



t Voyage, vol. i. p. 384. 



t lb. p. liv. 



§ Discourse on the Study of Natural History, p. 81. 



