OCR Text |
Show 302 DISSERT. IV. ~ H I S T 0 R Y 0 F M E X I C 0. courageous in New Spain, than they are in the old continent (q). Oa account of the excellence of the Mexican falcons having been known and acknowledged, Charles the V. ordered that every year fifty h.awks .lhould be fent to him from New Spain, and as many from the 1tfand of Hifpaniob, as the hifl:orian I en·era attcfl:s ; and Acofia relates, that the falcons of Mexico and Peru, becnufe they were m ch efl:cemed, were fcnt in prefents to the grandees of Spain. Acofta .lfo f:1y s, that the condors, or Mexican vultures, arc of an immellfe fizc, and have fo much ftrength, that they not only tear a ram, ut even a calf; and D. A. Ulloa tefl:ifies, that a fhoke of their w ng will knock down a roan (r). Hernande7. £1ys, that the Itzquauhtli or royal cagl~ of Me~ico, at~acks men, and even the fierccfl: .quadntJPed~: If the cl1mate of Amenca had taken from the quad1 upeds ftheu fl:rength and courage, it would without doubt have produc~d tt:f fa1~c effeCt on birds : but from the teftimony of the above ment10ne9 wnt~ crs, and other European authors, it is manifcfl: that they • are not feeble or pufillanimous, but that they excd thofe of the old continent in intrepidity and ftrength. . With refpeCl: to the beauty of birds, thofe authors do not refufc the u1periority to America, although in other rcfpcCl:s they have fo eagerly .depreciated the new world. Whoever would form to himfelf a competent idea of them, may confult Oviedo, Iernandez, Aco!l:a, Ulloa, and other E uropean au thors, who have feen the birds of America. In Ne~ Spain, fi1ys Acofta, there is a great plenty of birds adorned with fuch beautiful plumage, that they are not equalled by any in Europe. It is true, fay many E uropean authors, that American birds are fupcrior in beauty of pluq1age, but not in excellence of fong, in which they are exceeded by thofe of Europe. So think two modern Italians (s) : but ( IJ) Fatcor nccipitrum omne gen us npuJ hanc novnm Hifpnni:un, Jucatanic:unvc provinciam repertum prx flantius efic atque animofius vetcre in or be natie. Ilcrnandc~ de Avibus N. Uifp. 11:\p. 92 · (t·) The condor is fo large as to meafurc from fourteen to fix teen feet from tip to tip of the wings when extended. Bomare fitys it is common to both continents ; and that th~: Swifs call it the lrmnmcr-gry•.,.; but notwith!lnnding this, it is certain that no bird of prey has been found yet 011 the old continent equal in fi1.c and :thength to the condor of America. ( s) The author of n certain Diffcrtation metnphyficnl and politic;tl, Sulla p,.opo,·t:z.iollt tie' 9 illt•/111 I HISTORY OF ME X I C 0. btH however learned they are in certain fpeculative fubjeCl:s, they arc equally ignorant of the produCtions of America: it will be fufficient, in order to confute thofe author , to fubjoin the te!l:imony of Hcrn~n· dcz to this poin t (t).; who, after hav ing heard the finging of the bell: nighting:1lcs at the court of Philip II. heard for many years the ccntzontli or polyglots, the cardinals tigrcts, the cuitlaccochis, and other innumerable fpecies of vuJgar finging birds in Mexico unknown in Eu. rope, bcfidcs the nightingales, caldt!rinn c·1landras, aml others common to both con tinents. Among the fin ging birds mofl: eil:ee1ned in Europe the nightingale is the moil: C(;h.:bratcd, but it 11ngs frill better in .Americ;l, according to the aHirmation of J.VI r. Bomarc. The nightingale of Louiiiana is, he f. tys, the fame with tlut of Europe ; but it is more tame and f:tmiliar, and fings the whole ye.tr, anJ Ius a more varied fong. Th !l: are three confidcrable advantages which it poflcffes over the Europcnn bird. But although there were not in Amer ica either n i g htinga l e~ , caland r;Js, or <lilY one of thole birds which are efl:ecmed in E urope for th eir fon6, the centzontli or polyglot alone would be fuffi cic11t to exci te the envy of any country in the world. We ai·c free to declare to our Anti-american phi lo fophcrs , that what Hernandez fays of the excellence of the polyglot over the nightingale is extremely true, and agreeable to the opinion of m:-~ny Europeans who have been in Mexico, and alfo of many Mexicans who have been in Europe. Betides the fingu lar fweetncfs of its fong, the prodigious variety of its notes, and its agreeable talent in cou nterfeiting the di ff~rent tones of the birds and quadrup ds which it he.trs (u); it is lds 'ftdtllli c tlrlliJro Ufo, in which he has written 1110fl prepofl:crous p.trticulars rcfpe ~ing America, and (hewn him!t:lf as ignorant as a child of the land, the climate, th~ :mimals aod the inh.tbitanl~ of thnt new world. The other is the author of fomc he;tutiful Italian f:tblca itt one of which an American bird holds a diiC.:ourfc wiil1 a nightinga le. (t) lu avcis quibus dcti nrtur, fu :wiffimccanmt; nee eft avis ulla, anim:~lve cujus voccm non rcdd:tt lu ulcntilTimc et cYquillitiffim ':l rcmu lctu r. Qllid? Philomclam no!1 ram long() ft1p cr:11 int crvallo, cujus fuaviilimum concciHum tantopcrc laudant cclcbr:tnrquc·, vctuni ~u clore s , ct cptidf( uitl nvicnlarum apuJ notlrum orbcm cantu nuditur fuavilllmum. HcrnanJc:~. de Avibus N. Hifp. ca p. 30 de CCIIt'l.ontlatnle five cent7.ont li. Linru:tls ails the ccntzontli orpbtus. Ot 1cr authors call it moL'fjtWtr, the mocking-bird, or nctbrdo. ( u) Mr. Harrington, vicc-prclidcnt of the Roptl Society of London, fitys, in n curious work be has written 011 the Jinging of birds, and prdcntcd to that lcarnc<l acnckmy, that he h~arcl ;L polyglot which counterfe ited in the fpacc of one fingle mil}utc, the Jingin3 of tlw lark, the) challinch1 the black-bird, the fparrow1 nnd the thrulh. fhy DISSER T• IV. ~ |