THE AMAZON DISTRICT. 
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to tropical America, tliey appear to abound most in the 
hilly and mountainous districts, and the level forests of 
the Amazon have comparatively few and inconspicuous 
ones. The whole number of species I met with in the 
Lower Amazon and Rio Negro, does not exceed twenty, 
and few of them are very handsome. The beautiful 
little Lophornis Gouldi, found rarely at Para, and the 
magnificent Topaza pyra, which is not uncommon on the 
Upper Rio Negro, are however exceptions, and will bear 
comparison with any species in this wonderful family. 
Probably no country in the world contains a greater 
variety of birds than the Amazon valley. Though I did 
not collect them very assiduously, I obtained upwards 
of five hundred species, a greater number than can be 
found all over Europe ; and I have little hesitation in 
saying that any one collecting industriously for five or 
six years might obtain near a thousand different kinds. 
C, Reptiles and Fishes. 
Like all tropical countries, the Amazon district abounds 
in reptiles, and contains many of the largest size and 
most singular structure. The lizards and serpents are 
particularly abundant, and among the latter are several 
very venomous species ; but the most remarkable are the 
boa and the anaconda, which reach an enormous size. 
The former inhabits the land, and though it is often 
found very large, yet the most authentic and trust- 
worthy accounts of monstrous serpents refer to the lat- 
ter, the Uunectes murinus of naturalists, which lives in or 
near the water. The Indians are aware of the generic 
