Scorpions are large and dreaded; but their sting is not more painful than that of a hornet, and they are sluggish, and not abundant even in their chosen haunts. Centipedes are seen on the tree-stems, and many are drowned during the rains. This articulate is by no means quick in its motions, and falls a prey to the agile cockroach. Spiders are abundant, both in species and individuals; and Mr. Frederick Sarg, of Guatemala, has drawn most beautifully, and carefully described, many new species. The hairy tarantula is the most dreaded; but others found on the rocks by the river-sides are perhaps larger. The birds of Guatemala are of great beauty; and the quetzal (_Macropharus mocino_), the pavo (_Meleagris ocellata_), and the curassow, are perhaps unsurpassed in splendor of plumage. The wild turkey was supposed to be peculiar to Honduras, but has been found in Verapaz. Toucans with enormous bills and brilliant colors, parrots even more brightly colored, especially the guacamayo (_Psittacus macao_), and many species of humming-birds, frequent the river-banks; the palomas, or doves, and the social and noisy yellow-tails are on the trees, especially the qualm (_Cecropia sp._); the white cranes and the great pelicans frequent the shoals; the johncrows (_Cathartes aurea_) congregate on the trees about the towns and serve as scavengers; and owls, hawks, and eagles are distinct elements of the Guatemaltecan avifauna. Not less brilliant than the birds are the lepidoptera. The superb blue butterfly (_Morpho sp._) flits among the trees with its wings spreading nine inches; with this are smaller relatives,—black, blue, carmine, and yellow; some with swallow-tails (Papilionidæ), others short and broad. Among the beetles are two of immense size,—the Hercules beetle (_Dynastes Herculis_) and the harlequin (_Acrocinus longimanus_); the former attains a size of five inches in length, and the latter infests the rubber-trees. Another beetle—one of the Elateridæ (_Pyrophorus nyctophorus_)—gives a most brilliant and constant light, quite as bright as the _cacuyo_ of the West Indies. All through the highlands wasp-nests of large size and curious form are seen in the trees; ants also build mud-nests in the trees and on posts. Many chapters might be written of the habits of the Central American ants, which are perhaps the most abundant of indigenous insects,—the little “crazy ant,” which runs rapidly in all directions, seemingly without any object; the zompopos, or leaf-cutters (_Œcodoma_), whose trains are seen all through the forests, bearing above them the great sail-like fragments of leaf they have cut to stock their homes; the comajen (white ant), which destroys dead-wood and is intolerant of light; the fire-ant; and many others. The zompopos are very destructive in the vegetable garden, and indeed would quickly destroy a cacao, orange, or coffee plantation if allowed to establish their immense burrow in the midst. Some of the burrows are thirty feet