156 Dr. Emil A. Goeldi — Ornithological 



graceful play of Chiromacharis gutturosa. This dancing is 

 almost the same as that of Chiroxiphia caudata, which I 

 have already observed and described. Along the river I also 

 saw a few specimens of the Common Vulture, Cathartes 

 foetens. I was very ^ much pleased to hear nearly every 

 morning and evening the song of the " Uru'^ [Odontophorus 

 guyanensis), the Amazonian Partridge, represented in 

 Southern Brazil by O. dentatus, called "Capoeira.^' The sou 

 of one of our neighbours brought home from a hunting-trip 

 a specimen of the '^ Aracuii^' {Ortalis motmot), and one of 

 a large Tinamus, designated by the natives " Inhambu-serra/' 

 and by my Para hunter as " Inhambu-toro. In general 

 aspect and the serrated scales of the posterior face of the 

 tarsus it resembled T. solitarius, and I do not doubt that 

 the specimen belonged to this species ; unfortunately the 

 specimens were in too bad a state for skinning. 



Every night we heard Goatsuckers around the village ; the 

 cry was that of Nyctidromus guyanensis. 



The 17th and 18th October were dedicated to an exploration 

 of the " Lago do Tralhoto/^ a lake indicated on all geo- 

 graphical maps, but, as regards its exact situation and extent, 

 unknown even to the inhabitants of Counany. I do not 

 intend to enter on a detailed description of the painful 

 journey there through the forests and the savannas, as from 

 an ornithological standpoint there would be very little to say 

 about it. After an awful march of more than eight hours 

 on bad paths and through savannas literally glowing with 

 the hot sun of Guyana, we arrived at the mysterious lake, 

 and. though very tired, we could not resist an immediate 

 examination of this wonderful freshwater-basin. It is a 

 true Eldorado for a hunter. I have never met with a spot 

 in which the animals showed such a complete absence of 

 the fear of mankind, such a truly paradisiacal state, as here 

 on the borders of this unknown forest-lake, which is probably 

 only the most southern of a series of similar lakes distributed 

 over the unexplored region between the mouths of the 

 rivers Counany^ and Cassipare. The blue Araras perched 

 every moment in flights of from four to six individuals on 



