286 Pictures of Bird Life 



The scene was one full of interest and animation, and I 

 enjoyed it to tlie utmost. I was soon hard at work, and found 

 that after a while the birds were too busy to take much notice of 

 me crouching behind the camera enveloped in my green cloth. 

 The weather, howe^'er, got so bad, and the wind and rain so 

 heavy, that it was impossible to work, and we retm-ned to our 

 ship in a rough kind of punt, exceedingly leaky and rickety, 

 pulled by two natives, arriving in a very dripping condition. 



On board we foimd a Spanish "• shikari,*' sent by the 

 friend to whom we owed the privilege of working in this 

 paradise for naturalists, as guide, factotum, and assistant 

 generally; and a first-rate fellow I found him, always obliging 

 and willing, and with a good knowledge of the local birds 

 and beasts. He could also skin birds and blow esfos, and 

 altogether was a great acquisition. Xot one word of English, 

 however, could he speak ; it is, in fact, unusual to find any 

 Spaniard outside the large towns able to speak anything 

 except his own language, and not very usual tliere. 



The next day we had a long roimd tln-ougli the pinales 

 and over the sand-dunes, and after a while came to a Kite's 

 nest up at the top of a big pine-tree. As I was ^ cry nuich 

 out of condition, and it was a stiff climb, all swarming to 

 the top, I suggested he should tackle it, and gave liim a 

 back till he was standing on my shoulders, and then I 

 pushed his feet up as far as I coidd reach ; but as soon as 

 this support was withdrawn he came tmnbling down again. 

 As a climber he was a dead faihn*e, though it is only fair 

 to say that he had a nasty cut on one hand. 



