NATURAL HISTORY OF AFRICA. 455 
frequent in the warmer, than in the colder regions 
of the earth. 
II. — Birds. 
Birds peculiar to Africa. 
Many more species of birds are found in South 
America than in Africa ; but the African species 
are more numerous than those of Australia, if we 
except the aquatic birds, that appear tp be more nu- 
merous in Australia than in Africa. The orni- 
thology of the lakes and rivers of Africa is as little 
known as that of the rivers and lakes of New Hol- 
land and New Zealand ; hence the small number 
of marsh and aquatic birds enumerated in the Fauna 
of Africa, compared with what is contained in the 
fauna of the comparatively small continent of Eu- 
rope. 
There are in Africa about 642 species, being a 
sixth part of the known species of birds ; and of 
these nearly 500 are peculiar to it. Of 87 genera 
found in Africa, six or eight are peculiar to it, viz. 
corythaix, musophaga, buphaga,numida, didus, sco- 
pus, and probably also gypogeranus and pogonias. 
The didus or dodo, so much celebrated in ornitho- 
logy, was formerly seen in the island of Bourbon, 
as well as in some parts of Africa ; but is now be- 
come so rare as to be no longer discoverable in the 
regions where it was formerly found ; and has pro- 
