Birds of Bri/ish Guiana. 5G3 



lip by these creatures if tliey happen to get on to oue's skin 

 is very great, but the ap])licatiou of a little oil soon alleviates 

 it. If you walk through the high grass, or sit clown on 

 bare ground, you are almost eertain to take home several of 

 these minute pests, but they do not seem to irritate birds in 

 the same way as they do the human species. 



The Hawks and their allies are very well represented in 

 British Guiana. One of the commonest is Astarina inagai- 

 rostris, and you can often recognize the presence of these birds 

 by the peculiar kind of whistling they make. The Barred 

 Crab-Hawk {ButeogaUus (equinocllalis), the food of which 

 consists chiefly of lizards and crabs, is fairly abundant. The 

 mud outside the sea-dam is simply honeycombed by crabs, 

 affording an unlimited food-supply for this species. The 

 trees along the rivers and creeks are the favourite haunts of 

 other species of Hawks, such as Tinnunculus isabel/inus, 

 Ictinia plambea, Ibycter aler, and Urubitinga zonura. The 

 beautiful Swallow-tailed Kite [Elanoides furcatus) is also 

 found in the colony. Specimens of Gampsomjx swainsoni 

 were obtained by Messrs, Quelch, MacConnell, and Lloyd 

 on their " Savannah Trip " to Roraima in 1894. The Island 

 of Wakenaam, at the movith of the Essequebo, is a splendid 

 locality for Hawks, a great number of the species found in 

 different parts of the colony having been obtained on this 

 island. But such birds as the Harpy {Thrasa'etus harpijia) 

 and the King Vulture {Gypagus papa) are obtained only in 

 the interior. On Wakenaam I procured a specimen of a 

 pretty little Hobby (Hypotriorchis rufigularis) ; it was sitting 

 on the bough of a dead tree near the water. 



The Trumpet-bird {Psophia crepitans), found in the 

 interior, is easily domesticated. A gentleman I know kept 

 several as pets ; they would come when called, and much 

 enjoyed having their heads scratched. At the same time 

 he would imitate the sound emitted by these birds, and they 

 immediately started the peculiar rumbling noise, whence 

 their name. Whether they did it from force of example, 

 or from pleasure, it would be hard to tell. 



The trip from Georgetown to Bartica up the Essequebo 



