230 VOYAGE UP FHE TAPAJOS. Cuap. IX. 
The Caiardra keeps the house in a perpetual uproar where it is kept: 
when alarmed, or hungry, or excited by envy, it screams piteously ; it is 
always, however, making some noise or other, often screwing up its 
mouth and uttering a succession of loud notes resembling a whistle. 
My little pet, when loose, used to run after me, supporting itself for 
some distance on its hind legs, without, however, having been taught to 
do it. He offended me greatly, one day, by killing, in one of his jealous 
fits, another and much choicer pet—the nocturnal owl-faced monkey 
(Nyctipithecus trivirgatus). Some one had given this a fruit, which the 
other coveted, so the two got to quarrelling. The Nyctipithecus fought 
only with its paws, clawing out and hissing like a cat ; the other soon 
obtained the mastery, and before I could interfere, finished his rival by 
cracking its skull with his teeth. Upon this I got rid of him. 
After a ramble of four or five hours, during which José shot a 
beautiful green and black-striped lizard of the Iguana family from the 
trunk of a tree, and I filled my insect box with new and rare species 
(including an extremely beautiful butterfly of the genus Heliconius, H. 
Hermathena), we rejoined our companions at a hut, in the middle of 
the campo, where the Indians lived who had charge of the cattle. A 
tract of land like this, several miles in extent, alternating prairie and 
woodland, would be arich possession in a better peopled country. The 
few oxen seemed to thrive on the nutritious grasses, and to make all 
complete there was a little lake in the low grounds, surrounded by 
fan-leaved Carand palms, where the cattle could be watered all the year 
round. The farm was at present new, and the men said they had not 
yet been visited by jaguars. The poor fellows seemed to fare very 
badly. Captain Antonio treated all his Indians like slaves ; paying 
them no wages and stinting them to scanty rations of salt fish and farinha. 
There was an air of poverty and misery over the whole establishment, 
which produced a very disagreeable impression : these are certainly not 
the people to develop the resources of a fine country like this. 
On recrossing the river to Aveyros in the evening, a pretty little 
parrot fell from a great height headlong into the water near the boat ; 
having dropped from a flock which seemed to be fighting in the air. 
One of the Indians secured it for me, and I was surprised to find the 
bird uninjured. There had probably been a quarrel about mates, 
resulting in our little stranger being temporarily stunned by a blow on 
the head from the beak of a jealous comrade. The species was the 
Conurus guianensis, called by the natives Maracana ; the plumage green, 
with a patch of scarlet under the wings. I wished to keep the bird 
alive and tame it, but all our efforts to reconcile it to captivity were 
vain ; it refused food, bit every one who went near it, and damaged its 
plumage in its exertions to free itself. My friends in Aveyros said that 
this kind of parrot never became domesticated. After trying nearly a 
week I was recommended to lend the intractable creature to an old 
Indian woman, living in the village, who was said to be a skilful bird- 
tamer. In two days she brought it back almost as tame as the familiar 
love-birds of our aviaries. 1 kept my little pet for upwards of two 
years ; it learned to talk pretty well, and was considered quite a wonder 
as being a bird usually so difficult of domestication. I do not know 
