:m THE HOT LANDS OF THE PACIFIC m 



BOAT-BILLED HERON 



We reached dry ground at last and seated ourselves 

 on a fallen log-. For a moment the silence was unbroken. 

 Then a fearful voice arose, apparently coming- from all 

 directions at once. Cacklings, screechings, wheedlings, 

 peals of uncanny laughter ! The screams of macaws 

 dwindled to mere whispers beside this awful din. It 

 gave us the greatest shock which we experienced on 

 our trip. One prominent factor in the medley was a 

 most peculiar subdued humming which, beginning low, 

 gained steadily in volume, until it ended in a shrill 

 falsetto shriek. A more terrifying sound can hardly 

 exist. 



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