130 WILD LIFE UNDER THE EQUATOR. 
It was a very pretty sight! The country being 
nothing else than a gigantic forest, of course, wherever a 
village or plantation is made, the trees have to be cut 
down, and nearly all are cut from a height of ten or 
fifteen feet. These in the course of time become dry, and 
after being dead a sufficient time the wood softens, and 
becomes the object of the attack of the beautiful little 
bird I am writing about. Itis really a beautiful bird, 
and was unknown before I brought it here. It has been 
named the Barbatula du Chaillut. The throat and breast 
~ are of a glossy blue-black color; the head is scarlet; a line 
of canary yellow from above the eyes surrounds the 
neck, and the back, which is black, is covered with 
canary yellow spots. Above the bill it has what might 
be termed two. little brushes. 
The trunks of the trees on which they were so busily 
engaged were within a few yards of the forest. These 
birds were hard at work with their bills, pecking out 
circular openings about two inches in diameter. It was 
a tedious operation, and now and then a little bird had to 
rest, or its mate would come and take its place. Their 
little feet are constructed like those of the woodpeckers, 
to whom they are somewhat related, but their bill is 
much thicker, stronger, and shorter, hence better adapted 
to make holes in the trunks of trees. 
It was very interesting to see them holding to the 
trees, sometimes with their heads upward and sometimes 
with their heads downward. Some had just begun to 
work at the aperture, others had already made a pret- 
ty deep hole, and the end of their tail only could be 
seen, while still others were working inside, and their 
bodies could not be seen at all, though now and then 3 
ya 
