IN THE DESERT 



among the green leaves. The plumage of these wonderful birds is 

 blue, merging into green on the back, and their bills are red. I 

 saw them near Olinda too, and always with renewed delight. 

 I never knew them to fly ; if they were disturbed they hid themselves 

 between the leaves of the Eichhornia, and some time later one 

 might see a blaze of sapphire as the sunlight struck upon their 

 splendid plumage. 



The Hyacinthine Waterhens were always accompanied by the 

 Jassanas. These charming birds are of the same family, but they 

 have long, slender toes, which are still further prolonged by long 

 claws, so that they are able to run quickly over the floating leaves 

 of the aquatic plants, just as a ski-runner, with his long wooden 

 skis, is able to pass quickly over soft snow. The Jassanas too have 

 delightfully coloured plumage; from a glossy chestnut body rises a 

 glossy, deep-violet neck, and at the root of the bill is a flame-red 

 fold of skin. These birds are uncommonly lively, constantly quarrel- 

 ling and rising into the air, when a splendid yellow shines on the 

 wings, throwing the dark wing-tips into strong relief. The male 

 birds perform a sort of courtship dance, flapping their wings, and 

 rising into the air, and sinking down again. When they fly across 

 the water the air resounds with their cries : zip, zip, zip, zip, zip, 

 zip, credit, credit. 



There was another waterhen swimming about on the lake, not 

 unlike the Bald Coot, except that the white patch on the bill was 

 replaced by red, while the black plumage was relieved by the white 

 root of the tail and a stripe of white on the shoulder. Inconspicuous 

 among these three waterhens was a small diver, paddling about in 

 as lively a fashion as his European relatives, and disappearing to 

 bob up in another place. There was also a brown duck, the Cabocla 

 duck, whose plumage was almost plain. 



Herons stood motionless as statues in the shallow water, or flew 

 off, if I approached them too closely, with slowly-beating wings 

 and gracefully reverted necks. I saw the Soco, a bird not unlike 

 our common heron, and the Soc6-y, a smaller bird with red-brown 

 plumage ; and there were night-herons also, squat of stature, with 

 large heads which drooped over their white crops as though the 

 birds were absorbed in meditation. On a post squatted a kingfisher, 

 in shape like our own, but much larger, with blue-grey head and 

 white collar. With a loud plump! he fell headlong into the water, 

 reappearing with a fish in his bill. 



Early next morning the cars which were to take us into the Sertao 



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