THE HAUNTS OF THE PARROT. 127 



to reward me, and during my stay those humming- 

 birds watched with me, the male darting off upon 

 frequent forays for insects and honey, the female 

 snuggled cosily in her dainty nest. The little hus- 

 band now looked upon me as an intruder, to be tol- 

 erated only upon sufferance, and at my slightest 

 motion he would dive at my face ; at which exhibi- 

 tion of bravery the little wife would twitter with de- 

 light and swell with pride. 



Finally I retraced my steps, as it was near noon. 

 I had nearly reached camp when I saw a puff of 

 smoke and heard a loud report, and directly Coryet, 

 who had espied me, ran forward with animated ges- 

 tures. Interpreting their meaning, and obeying his 

 directions, which he jabbered in broken French, I 

 directed my attention to an immense gommier tree a 

 few hundred feet away. At first I saw nothing, but 

 approaching I gradually resolved the mass of foliage 

 into its component leaves and twigs, vines and air 

 plants, and caught sight of a glowing body clothed in 

 purple and golden-green. 



In the cloud of smoke from my gun it disappeared, 

 but only to gleam again athwart the leafy space ere 

 it fell with heavy thud to the ground. To recover it 

 was the work of an instant with the excited Indian, 

 whose enthusiasm almost equalled mine as he placed 

 in my hands this largest of all the parrots of the 

 Indies. Their first shot in the morning had been in- 

 effectual, but the second had wounded the mate to 

 this ; and it was its loud cries that caused my bird to 

 remain so long in a place fraught with so much 

 danger. 



At last I had secured this valuable bird ! And I 



