100 THE ODYSSEY OF AN ANIMAL COLLECTOR 
roost in the same trees during the daytime set off for their feeding 
grounds in the coastal swamps. These birds are known locally as 
Blue Quaaks and have blue-gray plumage with a black cap—the 
male with elongated black and white nape feathers. 
The manatees in the Botanical Gardens were the first I had seen 
and what impressed me most was their sluggishness and mode of 
feeding. There are several species—all entirely aquatic, frequent- 
ing rivers and estuaries of the warmer Atlantic countries. They are 
entirely vegetarian, living on seaweeds and fresh waterweeds, but 
here in the Botanical Gardens, besides a certain amount of natural 
vegetation growing in their ponds and dikes, they were living 
largely on lawn clippings. It was fascinating to watch them eating 
this floating grass; the upper lip of the manatee is split and 
furnished with bristles, and as the two portions are prehensile 
they are protruded and employed to grasp the vegetation, which 
is then sucked into the mouth. The female has one pair of teats 
on the breast and suckles her young like any other mammal; 
through this simple fact it has, like the dugong, given rise to the 
legendary mermaid, particularly as she is said partially to support 
her single young with her flippers while suckling. 
There is little of interest in the environs of Georgetown, as the 
coastal belt is flat, denuded of trees, and given over largely to 
sugar growing. 
The bulk of the interesting species of birds are found in the 
forests of the interior, access to which was then practical only 
by river. A notable exception is the Hoatzin—one of the avian 
curiosities of the world—which lives in a few widely separated 
localities bordering certain South American rivers. 
One of the objects of my visit to British Guiana was to intro- 
duce some live specimens of this bird to England, as no one had 
before succeeded in transporting them alive out of their own 
country. I found Sir Edward Denham, the Governor of the 
Colony, sympathetic to the idea, and both he and his A.D.C., 
Lieutenant-Commander Rushbrooke, gave me every assistance. 
The habitat of the hoatzin in British Guiana is along the Canje 
Creek and the Berbice River, not far from the border of Dutch 
Guiana. Having obtained permission to stay at the Government 
Rest-House at New Amsterdam on the right bank of the Berbice 
