TROPICAL AMERICA.— FISH. — REPTILES. 83 
plumage, yellow bill, and crimson frontlet, renders it 
one of the most elegant of aquatic birds. The spur- 
winged water-hens (Parra), walking on the broad leaves 
of aquatic plants, appear as if they trod upon the sur- 
face of the water, and relieve the solitude of such dreary 
tracts. 
C147.) Our information on the fish peculiar to these 
seas is very defective, and not generally interesting. 
The species materially differ from those of similar lati- 
tudes in the Old World; while the beautiful chetodons, 
which form such a prominent feature in the ichthyology 
of India, are but sparingly distributed in the American 
seas. The genus Anableps has been named the double- 
eyed loach, from what appears to be the real eye being 
covered with an elevated membrane: it is found in the 
rivers and fresh waters of Surinam. The Brazilian 
gar-fish is much smaller than ours, and is distinguished 
by the excessive length of the lower jaw, and the ex- 
treme shortness of the other. The fish generally ob- 
served by us in the markets of Pernambuco and Bahia 
were small; nor did we taste any that could be coms 
pared to the cod, turbot, or salmon of our own seas, 
(118.) The most extraordinary reptile of South 
America is the Surinam toad, disgusting and hideous 
in appearance, but interesting from the manner in which 
Nature has provided for the safety of its young ; the 
back of the mother being excavated into little hollow 
cells, within which the young retreat, and are carried 
about, until able to shift for themselves. The some- 
what marvellous adventures of a recent author, among 
the Cayenne crocodiles of Demerara, are very amusing ; 
but we cannot tell of such ‘* moving accidents:” those 
we observed in Brazil were small, timid, and more 
anxious to escape from man than to call forth his 
prowess. Another reptile, the horned toad (Ceratophrys 
dorsata Max., fig.54.) is one of the most singular rep- 
tiles of Brazil. Its colours are beautiful; the back being 
bright green, with stripes of deep black, and the sides 
are variegated with orange: over each eye is a short 
G 2 
