THE NATURALIST IN LA PLATA. 



BY W. H. HUDSON, C.M.Z.S. 

 WITH NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS BY J. SMIT. DEMY 8vo, 



SOME OPINIONS OF THE PRESS. 

 Mr. Alfred B. Wallace in "Nature" says: 



" It is so far as the present writer knows, altogether unique among books on natural 

 history. What renders this work of such extreme value and interest is, that it is not written 

 by a traveller or a mere temporary resident, but by one born in the country, to whom its 

 various tribes of beasts, birds, and insects have benn familiar from childhood ; who is imbued 

 with love and admiration for every form of life ; and who for twenty years has observed 

 carefully and recorded accurately everything of interest in the life histories of the various 

 species with which he has become acquainted. When we add to this the fact that the writer 

 of this volume is well acquainted with the literature, both old and new, bearing upon his 

 subject ; that he groups his facts and observations so as to throw light on obscure problems, 

 and olten adduces evidence calculated to decide them ; and, in addition to all th^s, that the 

 book is written in an earnest spirit, and in a clear and delightful style, it becoines evident 

 that not all who attempt to follow in his stepNcan hope to equal their forerunner. . . . These 

 subjects are discussed with a fulness and originality the result of long personal observation, 

 and will command the careful attention of those who are interested in the mental phenomena 

 presented by animals. It remains only to add that the book is beautifully got up, that the 

 text is singularly free from misprints, and that the numerous illustrations photographic repro- 

 ductions of drawings are at once delicate and characteristic. Never has the present writer 

 derived so much pleasure and instruction from a book on the habits and instincts of animals. 

 He feels sure that it will long continue to be a storehouse of facts and observations of the 

 greatest value to the philosophical naturalist, while to the general reader it will rank as the 

 most interesting and delightful of modern books on natural history." 



Mr. B. Lyddeker in "Natural Science" says: 



" Seldom, if ever, have we read with such extreme pleasure and interest any work on the 

 habits and ways of animals in their native state as Mr. W. H. Hudson's 'The Naturalist in 

 La Plata,' a volume which is in every respect a worthy successor to Mr. Bates's ' Naturalist 

 on the Amazons,' or Mr. Wallace's ' Malay Archipelago.' Mr. Hudson is, indeed, in some 

 respects unrivalled as an observer of animate nature, and is equally at home when treating 

 of the ways of large ferocious animals like the puma, or when describing the curious dances 

 of the birds of the Pampas. He has also the rare charm of conveying to his readers I he 

 results of his observations in such bright and vivid language as cannot fail to make the 

 volume acceptable to all lovers of nature. Indeed, so striking is his word-painting, that we 

 seem to realize the scenes described, even without the aid of the very excellent figures with 

 which many of them are illustrated." 



The "National Observer" says: 



" Mr. Hudson's book has a right to a place in the naturalist's library beside ' The Voyage 

 uf the Kean/i;' Hatcs's 'Amazons,' and Belt's ' Nicaragua.' It is the pith and marrow of 

 years of collecting and observing on the great plains of the Plate, by a man who knows how 

 to write as well as how to observe. He gives a fascinating account of the extraordinary 

 aerial and terrestrial dances and wing displays indulged in by the birds of the Pampa> 

 and the forests, partly in the prosecution ot courtship, but largely also, as he holds, out of 

 the pure joy of living ; and he describes, with something of the eye of the poet as well as 

 the naturalist, the quality of their notes and the wonderful beauty of their plumage. Un- 

 fcathered things have also their moments of exaltation ; only, birds have more graceful and 



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