LLAMA.

ONLY two species of the genus Auchenia, peculiar to South America, are now found wild, namely the huanaco or guanaco, and the bicugna. They inhabit, in numerous herds, the lofty Cordilleras, their range extending considerably below the line of perpetual snow; and it is remarkable that they do not inhabit Quito, Santa Fe, Caraccas, etc., although the climate of the mountains in those parts is like that of high Peru, where they live and multiply abundantly, the llama and alpaca are not found in a wild state, and are only known as beasts of burden employed by the Peruvians. Hernandez speaks of llamas in New Spain, Mexico, but there they are scarce, and only kept as curiosities, and neither of the wild species extends its range to that distance.

Into Chili the alpaca was probably introduced, and it is the only species the country possesses. The llama is the largest, strongest, and stoutest species, and anciently was the most valuable beast of burden the Peruviaus possessed. Its ordinary height is from four to four feet and a half, sometimes five feet. It is generally light brown, but sometimes dun, grey, or even inclined to purple, and very seldom black or party-coloured; under the belly it is uniformly white. The hair is long, of a texture between silk and wool, but not curled. The alpaca is less than the llama, its ordinary height being four feet. It appears twice as corpulent, owing to its possessing a much longer and more profuse clothing of hair, which is sometimes from eight to twelve inches in length on the sides, rump, and breast. It partakes

of more colours, is often party-coloured, and more frequently white than the three other species.

The Peruvians are careful not to overload either of these animals, whose burden is generally one hundred pounds weight, though for a short distance, on good roads, they occasionally carry twelve or fifteen pounds more. They are usually gentle and willing. If provoked they express their anger by turning back their ears, and spitting into the face of their offender, even if he be four yards off. Their food is never prepared for them, but when unemployed, they are suffered to graze on their native mountains, often pasturing in the company of the wild species; but they are so much accustomed and apparently attached to mankind, that they never exchange servitude for freedom. They very seldom drink for weeks or even months together, and only a little, being mostly satisfied with the moisture they express from their green food; and it even exceeds the camel in its abstinence and endurance of thirst. The voice of the llama resembles the shrill neighing of the horse.

The long silky hair of all the species, but more especially that of the alpaca, is spun into blankets, friezes, and coarse woollens, which are warm and durable, and admit of a good dye. As it is perfectly clean, and free from smell, it does not require any preparatory process with Fuller's earth. The flesh of all the species is eaten. Owing to a scarcity of fire-wood, the dung is used as a substitute for fuel, in the mountain cottages and mines, and it emits a clear, strong, and lively flame."

CROSSBILL.

THE Crossbill is a bird that is not commonly seen in this country, owing to its frequenting woods, when it comes among us, but, nevertheless, it may be met with every year, and sometimes in large numbers in various parts of the kingdom. That they have done so in ancient times, as well as in modern, is evident from the following statement in Matthew Paris:-"In 1254, in the fruit season, certain wonderful birds, which had never before been seen in England, appeared, chiefly in the orchards. They were a little bigger than larks, and ate the pippins of the apples, but no other part of them, on which account they were extremely prejudicial, as they deprived the trees of their fruit. They had the points of the beak crossed, by which they divided the apples, as with a forceps or knife."

The crossbill is a singular bird, about the size of a lark, but rather more bulky, and remarkable for the peculiar construction of its bill, both mandibles having hooked points, and the lower crossing the left side of the other. The muscles on the right side, for closing the lower jaw, Dr. Fleming remarks, are much larger than those on the left-a singular example of compensation for the loss of power occasioned by the oblique position and motion of the lower jaw.

The general colour of the body is a reddish orange, which changes with age into a yellow and ashy hue; the tail is forked, and, with the wings, is of a dusky shade. It breeds early in spring, in the north of Europe, in the pine forests, fixing its nest in the clefts of the branches,