THE NATURALIST ON THE RIVER AMAZONS. 



ver seen. I searched well at Caripi, expect- 

 ing to find the Lophornis Gpuldii, which I 

 was told had been obtained in the locality. 

 This is one of the most beautiful of all hum- 

 ming-birds, having round the neck a frill of 

 long white feathers tipped with golden green. 

 I was not, however, so fortunate as to meet 

 with it. Several times I shot by mistake a 

 humming-bird hawk-moth instead of a bird. 

 This moth (Macroglossa Titan) is somewhat 

 smaller than humming birds generally are, 

 but its manner of flight, and the way it 

 poises itself before a flower while probing it 

 with the proboscis, are precisely like the 

 same actions of humming-birds. It was only 

 after many days' experience that I learned 

 to distinguish one from the other when on 

 the wing. This resemblance has attracted 

 the notice of the natives, all of whom, even 

 educated whites, firmly believe that one is 

 transmutable into the other. They have ob- 

 served the metamorphosis of caterpillars into 

 butterflies, and think it not at all more won- 

 derful that a moth should change into a hum- 

 ming-bird. The resemblance between this 

 hawk-moth and a humming-bird is certainly 

 very curious, and strikes one even when both 

 are examined in the hand. Holding them 

 sideways, the shape of the head and position- 

 of the eyes in the moth are seen to be nearly 

 the same as in the bird, the extended pro- 

 boscis representing the long beak. At the 

 tip of the moth's body there is a brush of 

 long hair-scales resembling feathers, which 

 being expanded, looks very much like a 

 bird's tail. But, of course, all these points 

 of resemblance are merely superficial. The 

 negroes and Indians tried to convince me 

 that the two were of the same species. 

 " Look at their feathers," they said, " their 

 eyes are the same, and so are their tails." 

 This belief is so deeply rooted that it was 

 useless to reason with them on the subject. 

 The Macroglossa moths are found in most 

 countries, and have everywhere the same 

 habits ; one well-known species is found in 

 England. Mr. Gould relates that he once 

 had a stormy altercation with an English 

 gentleman, who affirmed that humming- 

 birds were found in England, for he had seen 

 one flying in Devonshire, meaning thereby 

 the moth Macroglossa stellatarurn. The 

 analogy between the two creatures has been 

 brought about, probably, by the similarity of 

 their habits, there being no indication of the 

 one having been adapted in outward appear 

 ance with reference to the other. 



It has been observed that humming-birds 

 are unlike other birds in their mental quali- 

 ties, resembling in this respect insects rather 

 than warm-blooded vertebrate animals. The 

 want of expression in their eyes, the small 

 degree of versatility in their actions, the 

 quickness and precision of their movements, 

 are all so many points of resemblance be- 

 tween them and insects. In walking along 

 the alleys of the forest a Phaethornis fre- 

 quently crosses one's path, often stopping 

 suddenly and remaining poised in mid-air, a 

 few feet distant from the face of the intruder. 



The Phaethorninae are certainly more numer 

 ous in individuals in the Amazon regions; 

 than the Trochilinae. They build their- 

 nests, which are made of fine vegetable fibres- 

 and lichens, densely woven together and-, 

 thickly lined with silk cotton from the fruit 

 of the samauma-tree(Eriodendronsamauma)r 

 on the inner sides of the tips of palm- fronds. 

 They are long and purse-shaped. The youu.i^ 

 when first hatched have very much shorter 

 bills than their parents. The only specie 

 of Trochilinae which 1 found 1 afc Caripi \\eit; 

 the little brassy-green Polytmasviridissimiis, 

 the sapphire and emerald (Thaluraniai 

 furcata), and the large falcate- winged Cam 

 pylopterus obscurus. 



Snakes were very numerous at Caripi ; 

 many harmless species were found near the 

 house, and these sometimes came into the- 

 rooms. I was wandering one day among the 

 green bushes of Guajara, a tree which yields 

 a grape-like berry (Chrysobalanus Icaco) an-l 

 grows along all these sandy shores, when I. 

 was startled by what appeared to be the flexu- 

 ous stern of a creeping plant endowed with 

 life and threading its way among the leaves 

 and branches. This animated liana turned 

 out to be a pale-green snake, the Dryophis - 

 fulgida. Its whole body is of the same green 

 hutT, and it is thus rendered undistinguishable- 

 amid the foliage of the Guajara bushes, 

 where it prowls in search of its prey, tree- 

 frogs and lizards. The forepart of its head : 

 is prolonged into a slender pointed beak, and 

 the total length of the reptile was six feet. 

 There was another kind found among bushes - 

 on the borders of the forest, closely allied to 

 this, but much more slender, viz., the Dryo- 

 this acominata. This grows to a length of 

 4 feet 8 inches, the tail alone being 22 inches ; . 

 but the diameter of the thickest pait of the - 

 body is little more than a quarter of an inch 

 It is of light-brown color, with iridescent, 

 shades, variegated with obscurer markings, 

 and looks like a piece, of whip-cord. One iri 

 dividual which I caught of this species had 

 a protuberance near the middle of the body. 

 On opening it I found a half-digested lizard 

 which was much more bulky than the snake 

 itself. Another kind of serpent found here,, 

 a species of Helicops, was amphibious in its ; 

 habits. I saw several of this in wet weal her- 

 on the beach, which, on being approached, . 

 always made straightway for the wntir, . 

 where they swam with much grace and dex- 

 terity. Florinda, the housekeeper, on. day 

 caught a Helicops while angling tor nVh, it 

 having swallowed the fish-hook with the bait 

 She and others told me these wuler-snakc* 

 lived on small fishes, but I did not meit with 

 any proof of the statement. In the wot ds,. 

 snakes were constantly occurring ; it was 

 not often, however, that I saw poisonous 

 species. There were many arboreal kinds, 

 besides the two just mentioned ; and it was 

 lather alarming, in eritornologizing about the 

 ti uuks of tiees, to suddenly encounter, on> 

 turning round, as sometimes happened, a. 

 pair of glittering eyes ana a forked t ng-ie 

 u few inches of cue's head. The last 



