deer, in large herds, abound
on the higher plains. They are followed, as elsewhere, by packs of
wolves and foxes or wild dogs; while the puma makes himself at home
here, as he does in Southern America. The bear takes possession of many
a mountain cavern; the beaver and otter inhabit the banks of the streams
and lakes; the raccoon is found in the woods; and the antelope bounds
across the plains.

We know more about the feathered tribes than the mammalia of Mexico.
There are upwards of one hundred and fourteen species of land birds, one
half of which are unknown in other parts of the world. Still, out of
this entire number of species, only one new genus--which connects the
family of the tyrant-shrikes with that of the caterpillar-catchers--has
been discovered. There are two species of this genus, in both of which
the males differ greatly from the females. In this intermediate region
we find numerous genera which exist both in Northern and, Southern
America intermixed. Several South American birds have found their way
into Mexico,--as the mot-mots and trogons, the harpy and carracara
eagles, the hang-nest, the true and red tanagers, parrots, parrakeets,
macaws, creepers, crest-finches, and the fork-tailed and even-tailed
humming-birds. Of the genera peculiar to North America,--but which are
unknown in the South,--found in Mexico, are the fan-tailed wagtails,
titmice, and worm-eating warblers--blue robins, ground-finch and
sand-finch, crescent-starlings and ground-woodpecker. The sand-finch
is, however, found in the Brazils. Vast numbers of aquatic birds
frequent the lakes and marshes of the table-lands of the interior, as
well as the rivers and shores of the coast, nearly the whole of which
are well known in the United States, the greater number also inhabiting
the Arctic regions.

Among the reptiles, there is one curious creature, peculiar to the
country, allied to the siren of Carolina. It is the axolotl, which
partakes of the form of a fish, and abounds in many of the lakes in
Mexico. It is much esteemed as an article of food by the inhabitants of
the neighbourhood.

We cannot speak of Mexico without having our minds drawn to the time of
the Aztec monarchy,--when sumptuous palaces, enormous temples,
fortresses, and other public edifices covered the face of the country.
In the midst of the territory, on the western shore of the large lake of
Tezcuco, stood the city of Tenochtitlan, the superb capital of the