Sheep, in this country, are equal to those of Spain, and are chiefly kept for the sake of their wool only.
Goats have multiplied astonishingly, and are hunted, in the mountains, for their skins.
The birds of Chili are as numerous as in Mexico, the known species inhabiting the land amounting to 135, and the aquatic to far more.
Parrots, swans, flamingoes, whose beautiful feathers are prized by the Indians for head dresses; wild geese, ducks, pigeons, turtle-doves, plovers, curlews, divers, herons, kites, falcons, blackbirds, crows, woodpeckers, partridges and European domestic fowls are common.
An eagle named calquin, measures ten feet and a half from the extremity of one wing, when extended, to that of the other.
The penguin inhabits the southern shores and islands; the alcatraz or brown pelican is as large as a turkey-cock, and may be constantly seen on the rocks and islets in the sea.
Humming-birds are very common in the fields and gardens; of which, three species, the little, the blue-headed, and the crested, are peculiar to Chili. Thrushes and other birds of song are very plentiful, and enliven the dreary woods with their varied notes.
The jacana is a kind of water-hen, about the size of a magpie, with a spur on each wing.
The piuquen or bustard, is larger than that of Europe, and nearly white, inhabiting the great plains; this bird lays two eggs larger than those of a goose, and is easily tamed.
The cheuque, or American ostrich, is sometimes seen in the plains of Chili, but chiefly inhabits that part of Araucania on the east of the Andes and the valleys of those mountains, and exactly resembles the cassowary of La Plata.