38 
As with the elephant, the height of the Giraffe is enor¬ 
mously over-estimated in popular opinion; the distance from 
the head, when fully erect, to the ground, probably not aver¬ 
aging over sixteen feet. They are very delicate in constitution, 
and in our climate require the most careful attention. 
The South American Tapir ( Tapir us terrestris ), as before 
stated, belongs to the same division of ungulates as the horse 
and rhinoceros, though in appearance it somewhat resembles 
the swine. The natives of the regions which it inhabits con¬ 
sider it to be very good eating. It is fond of the water, div¬ 
ing and swimming with great ease, and is rarely found far 
from the banks of some lake or stream. Their common re¬ 
sort is the dense thickets of undergrowth, where they lie con¬ 
cealed from danger. D’Azara says of them :—“ It is also re¬ 
marked that when the jaguar pounces upon them, they rush 
headlong through the thickest parts of the woods, until they 
force him to quit his hold, passing through narrow and intri¬ 
cate places. The Mborebi, indeed, never frequents a beaten 
road or pathway, but breaks and pushes through whatever it 
encounters with its head, which it always carries very low. It 
flies all danger, and anticipates it by means of its strong noc¬ 
turnal vision and its acute sense of hearing.” 
There are several not very well defined species in South and 
Central America and one in south-eastern Asia. Of this 
species ( Tapirus malayanus ), the Society obtained a specimen 
in the fall of 1876, but the severe winter which followed its 
purchase proved fatal to it, renewing a previous inflammation 
of the lungs, from the effects of which it died. It was much 
larger than the South American form, and had a grayish-white 
patch marked out like a saddle-cloth over the back and sides 
from the shoulders to the rump—from this it derives its pop¬ 
ular name of Saddle-backed Tapir. 
During the winter a number of macaws will be found in 
this building, which, when the weather is sufficiently warm, 
are kept in a wire cage opposite the Eagle Aviary. 
These superb birds form an important group of the order 
Psittaci, or Parrots, and live in large flocks in the forests of 
Central and South America, where their brilliant colors vie in 
intensity with the tropical vegetation which surrounds them. 
There are a number of species, of which the best known are 
the Red and Blue Macaw (.Ara macao), the Red and Yel- 
4 
