British Guiana and its Birds. 319 



Mr. im Thurn's bird was obtained by hiin from the 

 Indians on the Barima River^ which divides the colony of 

 British Guiana from Venezuela, and is said to have been 

 brought from the upper reaches of the same river. This 

 Parrot is commonly known as the Toua-Toua, and is much 

 prized by the Indians as being a rare bird and as being 

 capable of becoming a very good talker. 



3. Leucopternis albicollis. 



I shot a specimen of this fine Buzzard at Seceeka, on the 

 Ari-pia-caru, a tributary of the Pomeroon ; it was sitting on 

 a naked branch of a tree not far from the settlement, and 

 allowed me to approach within a short distance of it. 



4. Opisthocomus cristatus. 



So far as I could make out, the Hoatziu is only found in 

 one district of British Guiana. This is in the eastern part 

 of the colony, in the county of Berbice, where the bird is said 

 to be very abundant on the Canje Creek, on which account 

 it is locally known by the name of the '' Canje Pheasant.^' 

 The Canje Creek is a large tributary of the Berbice River, 

 and its mouth is within a mile or two of New Amsterdam, 

 the second town in the Colony, whence it would be readily 

 accessible. The bird has also spread a little way up and 

 down the Berbice River from the mouth of the Canje Creek. 

 As is well known, the aroid shrub upon which the Canje 

 Pheasant feeds {Caladium esculentum) gives its flesh a strong 

 and disagreeable odour, whence comes the saying in the 

 colony, "to stink as bad as a Canje Pheasant.'^ The 

 breeding-season of this bird would probably be after the 

 .rainy season in February or March ; and had I been able to 

 remain longer in Demerara, it was my intention to make 

 a special expedition to the Canje River to get specimens 

 of the eggs and young, in order to verify the American story 

 of the " Quadrupedal Bird "^. As, however, I was not able 

 to accomplish this desirable object, my father has asked Mr. 

 Quelch, the Curator of the Georgetown Museum, to under- 

 take the job, which he has kindly consented to do. 



* Cf. 'Ibis,' 1885, p. 118. 



