X. 



EXPEDITION TO SURINAM. 245 



others emu. It is a middle fpecies between the oftrich and CHAP, 

 the caflbwary, as I was told, for I never faw one in the 

 country : it is faid to be about fix feet high, from the 

 top of the head to the ground ; its head is fmall, its bill 

 fiat, the neck and limbs long, the body round, without a 

 tail, and of a whiti(h grey colour ; its thighs are remark- 

 ably thick and ftrong, and it has three toes on each foot, 

 while the oftrich has but two. This bird, it is faid, can- 

 not fly at all, but runs very fvviftly ; and, like the oftrich, 

 afiifts its motion with its wings : it is moftly found near 

 the upper parts of the rivers Marawina and Seramica. 

 When fpeaking about birds, notwithftanding few of 

 them fing here with any degree of melody, for which 

 the beauty of their plumage is thought by fome to com- 

 penfate; I was, during this march, fo much charmed with 

 two in particular, that I was induced to put their fweet 



notes to mufic. Thofe of the iirft 



- .j .. — j 



Rather quick 



The fecond flow 



Thefe notes they fung fo true, fo foft, and to fuch 

 proper time, that in any other place I Ihould have been 

 inclined to believe they were the performance of a human 

 artift upon his flute. As I never faw either of thofe 

 birds but imperfectly and at a diftance, I can fay nothing- 

 more concerning them, than that they are frequently 

 heard in marfliy fituations. 



Vol. I, I i 3 On 



