The Western World Part 26

It has a short, quick flight, and a sweeter voice than most of its feathered companions.

The paradise jacamar (galbula paradisea) frequents the more open parts of the forest, and is generally found in pairs. It is a larger bird than the former, being nearly a foot long. The prevailing plumage is green, but the throat, front of the neck, and under wing-coverts are white.

It seizes its food in the same way that the trogons do. It will sit silent and motionless on a branch, moving its head slightly, and when an insect pa.s.ses by, within a short distance, it will fly off and seize it with its long beak, and return again to its perch.

Most jacamars are clothed with a plumage of the most beautiful golden, bronze, and steel colours. They bear a strong outward resemblance to kingfishers, but are not further united to that group of birds. They appear to have the same peculiar attachment to particular branches as many humming-birds possess; and the spot can generally be discovered by the number of legs and wings and hard cases of the insects they have caught, and which they have plucked off before eating their victims.

The little three-toed jacamar possesses a few of the brilliant hues which adorn his brethren.

The great or broad-billed jacamar is very like a kingfisher. The beak is very broad, while the dilated ridge on the upper mandible is distinctly curved. It feeds very much like the kingfisher,--darting down from a branch to secure, with its bill, the active insects as they fly by. It feeds exclusively on them, however, never attempting to obtain food from the waters.

THE JACANA.

The light-bodied jacana, supported by its spider-like, widely extended feet, treads over the floating pan-like leaves of the Victoria Regia, and other aquatic plants, without sinking them in any perceptible degree below the surface of the calm pools in which they float. They take up their dwelling on the borders of the remote lakes and igarapes of the Amazonian Valley.

They are called by the natives oven-birds, because frequently seen on the pan-shaped leaves of the before-mentioned magnificent lily.

The common jacana has a black plumage, with a greenish gloss. The legs are very long and slight,--as are the toes and claws, especially that of the hind-toe, which is nearly straight. The body is about ten inches long; and the beak upwards of an inch, and of an orange colour.

The jacana feeds on aquatic insects and vegetable matter. While feeding it utters a low-sounding cluck, cluck, at short intervals. When flying it throws out its long legs horizontally to their full length, generally skimming above the surface, out of danger.

Its body is of a peculiarly light construction, so that, large as it appears, it weighs but little when pressing the floating leaves, on which it delights to walk in search of its prey.

FRIGATE-BIRD PELICANS.

Even to the distance of fifteen hundred miles and more from the mouth of the Amazon, large flocks of the high-flying frigate-birds are descried hovering at an immense height above the stream, preparing to plunge down and seize their finny prey.

They measure seven feet from wing to wing, and appear almost to live in the air. The neck is partly bare, and very extensible; the bill long, and hooked at the end; the feet small, and webbed. The body of the male is entirely black, while the hen has the head and neck white.

It is probably a different species from the frigate-bird, or sea-hawk, of the Eastern tropical seas.

THE HORNED SCREAMER.

On the sh.o.r.es of a sand-bank, flocks of wild gulls may be seen flying overhead uttering their well-known cries, sandpipers coursing along the edge of the water, here and there lonely wading birds stalking about, and among them the curious Palamedea cornuta--the anhima of the Brazilians, or the horned screamer of Cuvier--called also the kamichi.

Startled by the approach of the canoe, up it flies, its harsh screams resembling the bray of a jacka.s.s--but shriller and louder, if possible-- greatly disturbing the calm solitude of the place.

It is the size of a swan, but more nearly resembles a crane. On its head it wears a long, pointed horn, surrounded with small black and white feathers. It has a tail about eight inches long; its wings, when folded, reaching to more than half the length of the tail. They are armed with sharp spines, with which it can inflict a wound on its foes, and which a.s.sist it in repelling the attacks of snakes and guarding its young from their rapacity. Unless when attacked, however, it seldom uses its weapon of defence. It walks boldly along, as if conscious of its power; and when on the wing, has a strong and easy flight.

The head and neck are of a greenish-brown colour, and covered with soft feathers. The back is black, except the upper part, which is brown, with yellow spots; the whole lower part, with the thighs, of a silvery white.

It feeds on grain and aquatic plants, in search of which it wades through the reptile-haunted mora.s.ses.

VULTURES.

Monarch of the feathered tribes of the forest, the king vulture fears no rival throughout his wild domain. While the condor has its home on the mountain-tops, the sovereign of the vultures confines himself exclusively to the thickly-wooded regions along the banks of the rivers or lagoons, where he can more readily obtain the carca.s.ses on which he feeds.

He is a magnificent bird, of about two feet and a half in length, and upwards of five feet across the expanded wings. The neck is brilliantly coloured of a fine lemon tint; both sides of the neck, from the ears downwards, are of a rich scarlet. The crown of the head is scarlet, and between the lower mandible and the eye, and close to the eye, there is a part which has a fine blue appearance; the skin which juts out behind the neck, like a carbuncle, is partly blue and partly orange. The bill is orange and black. Round the bottom of the neck is a broad ruff of soft, downy, ash-grey feathers, and the back and tail-coverts are of a bright lawn. The middle wing-coverts and tail-feathers are glossy black.

These superb birds may sometimes be seen seated in pairs on the topmost boughs of trees, but occasionally in large flocks. The great expanse and power of his wings enables the king vulture to soar to a prodigious height, whence he can survey with his piercing sight a wide extent of his domain; possibly also his exquisite sense of smell enables him to detect the odour of the putrefying carca.s.s which rises through the pure air.

He is somewhat of a tyrant among his subjects; for not only will he allow no other vultures or carrion-feeding birds to approach the carca.s.s he has selected, but on his appearance the other species, who may already have discovered it, fly to a distance, and stand meekly looking on while their sovereign gorges himself.

The king vulture makes his nest in the hollow of a tree, where his queen lays two eggs.

THE BLACK VULTURE.

The gallinaso, or black vulture (Cathartes atratus), acts the part of a scavenger, and as such is of great use throughout the whole centre of South America, as also in the northern continent. Disgusting as are its habits and appearance, it is carefully protected, on account of the service it renders to mankind.

It may easily be distinguished from the turkey-buzzard, which it greatly resembles, by the shape of the feathers round its neck, which descend from the back of the head towards the throat in a sloping direction; whereas those of the turkey-buzzard form a ring round the throat. Its general colour is a dull black. The head and part of the neck are dest.i.tute of feathers, wrinkled, and sprinkled with a few black hairs.

The throat is of a yellowish tint.

It flies high, sweeping through the air with a beautifully easy motion, and is generally found in the neighbourhood of fresh-water.

The black vultures are gregarious, brought together apparently by the pleasure they seem to have in society rather than by the attraction of a common prey. Darwin describes seeing flocks of them on a fine day at a great height, each bird wheeling round and round without closing its wings, and performing the most graceful evolutions.

THE TURKEY-BUZZARD.

The turkey-buzzard (Cathartes ora) is similar in its habits to the black vulture, and is frequently mistaken for it. It is seldom found southward of lat.i.tude 41 degrees. Of late years, however, they have become numerous in the Valley of the Colorado, three hundred miles further south. It is not found on the desert and arid plains of Northern Patagonia, except near some stream; and it is supposed not to have pa.s.sed into Chili, although in Peru it exists in great numbers, where it is preserved to act the part of a scavenger.

It is a solitary bird, and goes in pairs; and may at once be recognised at a distance, from its lofty soaring and most elegant flight. It ranges from North America to Cape Horn.

Such are some of the more notable members of the feathered tribes inhabiting the Valley of the Amazon. There are numberless others,--both land and water birds,--a description of which would occupy too much s.p.a.ce, some of them also being common to other parts of the world.

Several, likewise, are seen more frequently either in Venezuela and Guiana, or in the La Plata region, and will be noticed when we visit those countries.

From the Birds, then, we will pa.s.s on to the Reptiles and Insects of South America; in which, as to number and the variety of their forms and habits, it equals, if it does not surpa.s.s, any portion of similar size of the Old World, in the same lat.i.tude.

PART THREE, CHAPTER FOURTEEN.

REPTILES.

ALLIGATORS.

Along the river-banks, in every igarape, stream, and pool, the hideous and ravenous alligator lurks for its prey. It is greatly dreaded by the natives for its treachery and cunning, numbers falling victims to its powerful jaws. The largest, the jacare-ua.s.su, or great cayman, is often found from fifteen to twenty feet long, and of enormous bulk.

There is a smaller species, the jacari-tinga, which has a long slender muzzle, and black banded tail. This, when full-grown, is about five feet long.

A still smaller one exists, said to be found only in shallow creeks. It does not attain, when full-grown, a length of more than two feet. Its eggs are rather larger than those of a hen, and oval in shape, the sh.e.l.l having a rough, hard surface. So numerous are they, that Bates observes "it is scarcely exaggeration to say that the waters of the Solimoens are as well stocked with alligators in the dry season, as a ditch in England is in summer with tadpoles."

Like the turtle, the large alligator has its annual migrations. During the wet season it retreats to the interior pools and flooded forests, and descends to the main river in the dry season. During the hot months, when the pools are dried-up, and the alligator cannot reach water, it buries itself in the mud, and becomes dormant, sleeping till the rainy season returns.

As the alligator cannot turn its head, it is little feared on sh.o.r.e, as a person can easily leap out of its way; but he must beware of its tail, which, when angry, it will lash about in a furious manner, sufficient to break a limb. The alligator never attacks human beings when on their guard, but, lying in wait, seizes them when he can venture, to do so with impunity. These savage saurians are called indiscriminately, though improperly, alligators, crocodiles, and caymans.

The real alligator is distinguished by having its toes only partly webbed--the outer ones being free. It will never willingly seek an encounter, and shows great terror, even, when attacked by dogs. The creatures are often killed by jaguars, who pounce upon them, and with their powerful claws tear out their entrails. But when aroused to anger it blindly attacks all opponents, and is then a truly formidable foe.

With a single blow of its tail it can overturn a canoe. The instant it seizes its prey it sinks with it below the surface, to devour it at its leisure. It usually feeds on fish, fowl, turtle, or any creature it finds floating on the surface of the water; but when these fail, it lies concealed among the sedges on the banks, waiting for any land animal which may approach to drink. Sometimes it thus retaliates on the jaguar, and seizing the fierce brute, drags it down below the surface, where it is soon drowned.

The great alligator usually lays fifty or sixty eggs, rather oblong than oval, and about the size of those of a goose,--covering them up with sand, and allowing them to be hatched by the heat of the sun. The mother, however, does not desert her young, but conducts them to the water, and watches over them till their scales have hardened, and their limbs have gained sufficient strength to enable them to take care of themselves.