158 BIRDS IN TOWN AND VILLAGE 



it a chance, and there is reason to believe that they 

 have helped to protect it, and have taken a great 

 interest in the experiment* Whatever the ultimate 

 result may be, the partial success attained during 

 these few years is decidedly encouraging, and that 

 for more reasons than one* In the first place, the 

 bird was badly chosen for such an experiment* It 

 belongs to the pampas of La Plata, to which it is 

 restricted, and where it enjoys a dry, bright climate, 

 and lives concealed in the tall close-growing indi- 

 genous grasses* The conditions of its habitat are 

 therefore widely different from those of Essex, or of 

 any part of England ; and, besides, it has a peculiar 

 organization, for it happens to be one of those 

 animals of ancient types of which a few species still 

 survive in South America* That so unpromising 

 a subject as this large archaic tinamou should be 

 able to maintain its existence in this country, even 

 for a very few years, encourages one to believe that 

 with better-chosen species, more highly organized 

 and with more pliant habits, such as the hazel hen 

 of Europe for a game bird, success would be almost 

 certain* 



Another circumstance connected with the at- 

 tempted introduction of this unsuitable bird, even 

 of more promise than the mere fact of the partial 

 success achieved, is the great interest the ex- 

 periment has excited, not only among naturalists 



