A NATURALIST IN BRAZIL 



weeks and then released. Many of them, including the boa-constrictor, 

 became so tame that I parted from them with regret. 



To these creatures were added certain voluntary guests. Each 

 morning I was awakened by the little hedge-sparrow, who flew into 

 my bedroom singing, in order to hunt for insects. In the evening, 

 when I was writing up my notes, my task was by no means easy, for 

 every moment some insect flew in ; often the whole table was covered ; 

 and now and again a great cockchafer crashed into a corner of the 

 room, and then, angrily buzzing, and lying on his back, performed 

 a wild dance across the floor. And over and over again I had to 

 jump up and see whether my new guest was not perhaps of a specially 

 interesting species. 



At night a gentle crackling was audible in my bedroom. It was 

 some time before I could make out what it was. The cockroaches, 

 which in Brazil are gigantic insects, as big as one's thumb, tried to 

 fly into my room at night, in order to feast on the breadcrumbs on 

 the floor, or gnaw the bindings of my books for the sake of the 

 glue ; but most of them were caught outside my window by the bats 

 that were flying to and fro. These bats then came into my bedroom, 

 hung by their hind legs from the ceiling-lamp, and there crunched 

 their prey, so that in the morning the wing-covers of their victims 

 lay about the floor. Other nocturnal hunters in my room were 

 certain delicate lizards of a yellowish colour, which were so trans- 

 parent that one could see the blood pulsating in their arteries. 

 With their outspread spatulate fingers they clung firmly to the wall, 

 and they were even able to run upside down across the ceiling. If 

 I struck a light at night I often found one of these geckos adhering 

 to the wall, where its dark eyes, whose pupils, like those of a cat, 

 were vertical shts, sparkled in the light of the lamp. If I made the 

 slightest movement the little creature disappeared in a flash behind 

 its accustomed refuge — a picture-frame. In many parts of the country, 

 I am sorry to say, the Brazilians call the gecko the vibora, or viper, 

 although it is a lizard and not a snake, and kill it, for they declare 

 that it is poisonous. As a matter of fact this vibora is a very useful 

 creature, since it catches mosquitoes, bugs, and other blood-sucking 

 insects. In Ceylon, where this pretty lizard is valued as it should 

 be, the gecko often becomes so tame that it climbs on to the table 

 punctually at supper-time and permits itself to be fed. 



I shall never forget the hours that I spent in the house of some 

 very dear friends in a suburb of Recife. As we sat at the supper-table, 

 pleasantly chatting, the doors and windows were wide open, and 

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