( 10) 



I found, as above stated, only ruins, and was compelled to pitch my tent. It so 

 happened that the favoured locality for it was very near a thick bush full of flowers. 

 Hardly was the tent up when I heard the alreadj- familiar sound of the wings of 

 Loddigesia mirabilis. Immediately other arrangements were left and gun seized. 

 I saw a beautiful male L. rnirabilis in the bush, too near to shoot. A thought came 

 to me to save the bird for observation, for which I have never been sorry, although I 

 may have run the risk of losing so fine a specimen. 



Shortly after a. female arrived and rested upon a small limb. Immediately the 

 vude bird discontinued feeding and flew forward to the female, the tail so spread that 

 the spatules were protruded in front of his bill. In this position it hovered a short 

 time, when a young male appeared upon the scene. The adult male discontinued his 

 performance and sat upon a little branch ; the young hovered before it, flying from 

 side to side about ten inches, and flipping its two long tail-feathers at every extreme 

 of its course, producing a sound as if two fine leather belts were flipped together. 

 The old male soon tired, forced the young to sit down, and then performed in the 

 same way, but flipping the spatules together above instead of below the tail as the 

 young one did. At times the adult male would also fly before the female from side 

 to side, making a noise with the spatules so as to be heard thirty metres off. If the 

 young returned alone and had nothing to play with, he would attack a dry leaf 

 furiously, pick at it, and flap the tail for many minutes at a time. 



Once two young birds met, one attacking the other. The sitting bird would 

 watch the flying one, moving its head from side to side, and suddenly slip on the 

 branch and into a hanging position. The flying bird would still attack it ; yet the 

 hanging one, although imitating death, had its eyes wide open. 



GUAYABAMBA (= HUAYABAMBA). 



Guayabamba is the valley along the river of that name, and has several settle- 

 ments at various elevations. AU is hea\dly wooded, and is a part of the great Amazon 

 forest. I descended to a place called " Huambo," also the former hunting ground of 

 Mr. Stolzmann, one corner-post of whose hut was still standing. 



The fauna of this place, 4000 feet elevation, is verj' similar to that of Zamora in 

 Ecuador. 



I found it a difficult place to hunt, because the former settlement had been 

 abandoned and nearly all paths were overgrown. 



