Zoological Illustrations Series II/Plate 64



In our former series we represented this species as it is usually seen; our present figures were drawn from a very uncommon variety, received by Mrs. Mawe from Brazil, in which not the slightest appearance of the external transverse bands are apparent. The specimen now forms a part of the valuable and extensive Museum of the Natural History Society of Manchester; a collection which we believe is superior to that of any provincial town in the kingdom. It is gratifying to us to inform the scientific student, that its contents will be thrown open to his enquiries with a promptitude and liberality, which he will in vain look for at some of the Zoological Institutions of the metropolis.

Our friend Henry Parker, Esq. of Liverpool, who while prosecuting his botanical researches in Demerara, was not unmindful of conchology, favoured us with an interesting series of specimens from that river, clearly shewing that the A. fasciata and canaliculata of Lamarck are varieties of one species; or rather, that there are specimens of fasciata which perfectly agree with his description of canaliculata. We further learn from Mr. Parker, that the inhabitant of this, and of other species, are a favourite food with the crafty Herons, who use their bill as a spear to take them from the bottom; in some places, the banks of the river are strewed with empty shells, all perforated by these birds.