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 



