THE AUAUA. 207 



yellowest hird is considerably the largest, and has its quill and secondary feathers tipped 

 willi wliite, whieli tlie others ha\-e not. This last haunts only the tops of trees in high 

 beccheu woods, and makes a sibilous, grasshopper-like noise, now and then, at short inter- 

 vals, shivering a little with its wings when it sings. It is, I make no doubt now, the 

 lic(jHliis lion crt/dithis of Ray, which ho says caiitai race nfruhih'i lovwifn' — 'sings with the 

 piping voice of a grasshopper.' Yet this great ornithoLigist never suspected that there 

 were three species." 



In this yellow bird, exceeding the other two, wo discover the wood-wren, so called from 

 its fondness for woods. It prefers them, particularly when of old growth, to copses, thick- 

 ets, or hedge-rows, taking as its prey various insects as they are on the wing. Its note 

 has been compared to the word iivcc repeated .slowly t^^•ice or thrice, and tlien followed by 

 a sort of shake of the same tone, while there is a vibratory action of the wings. Rising 

 aloft from its perch, it often utters its very peculiar and shrill note. 



So concealed is its nest, that it is only discoverable with great difhcully, or by watching 

 the parent-birds while attending to their young. 



THE ARADA. 



This bird was considered by Cuvicr as nearly allied to the wrens. It is solitary, 

 perches on trees, and never descends to the earth, but for the purpose of catchin'" mits 

 and other insects of which it also eats. Its song is peculiarly fine. 



The traveller, who wanders through the immense and solitary forests which cover 

 almost the whole of Guiana, is at first struck with the gloomy silence which pre\'ails in 

 the depths of these sombre retreats, crowded, however, with animals of every class and 

 of everj' genus. The more he penetrates into the interior, the more general this silence 

 becomes ; animated nature appears mute, or if the monotonous uniformity should be 

 interrupted by any sound echoing from afar, the impression produced on the mind is 

 exceedingly disagreeable. 



(Sometimes the ear is struck by the horrible bowlings of the alouatta ; sometimes by 

 the alarum of the chiming thrush ; sometimes by the siidden strokes given by the tail of 

 the great adder ; and sometimes by the startling and reiterated crash of many falling 

 trees, which, tumbling one over the other, break in rapid succession, causing an instan- 

 taneous clearance in the most magnificent plantations of nature. But one sound more 

 siugidar than the others will occasionally arrest the attention of the wanderer through 

 these mighty woods. Removed to the distance of many leagues from e\erv human 

 habitation, his ear will bo suddenly saluted Ijy a whistle like that of a bandit calling to 

 his brothers of spoil. 



Nor wdl this be all. This whistle ^vill be repeated, and the traveller will believe that 

 he is approaching one of those \^ald settlements formed in the depth of almost impene- 

 trable forests, or in the distant solitude of nearly inaccessible mountains. Advancing 

 towards the point from which the sounds appear to issue, he will find them to recede ; 

 but should he approach miperceived Vi-ithin sufiicicnt distance, he will discover, to his 

 astonishment, that this whistling is not produced by a man, but a bird, though nothiiig 

 can bo more perfect than the resemblance. Neither will he be long in perceiving that 

 the same bird has a most melodious song, and that the whistler is also a most agreeable 

 musician. Its song is less varied and less brilliant than that of the nightingale, but more 

 grave, toucldng, and tender, and more resembling the mellow sounds of a soft-toned flute. 

 It is modulated on different keys and accents, to which the seven notes of the octave, 

 wdiich the bird delights to repeat, serve, in some sort, as a prelude. In those warm 

 climates, where there are several young broods in a year ; the song, that exquisite expres- 

 sion of love, lasts longer than in cold or temperate regions. 



