PUERTO ANTONIO LICCIONI 107 



it is called locally Garza morena. Another bird which is 

 common on the banks of the river as far as Suapure, 

 is the tree-duck {Dendrocygna discolor). In size, ap- 

 pearance, and many of its habits this duck appears to 

 be closely allied to Dendrocygna fidva, and they are 

 frequently seen together ; but while the former bird 

 spends a considerable part of the day perched upon the 

 branches of trees in the vicinity of the swamps where it 

 feeds, the latter does not alight upon any eminence, such 

 as a tree, but remains concealed among the rushes. The 

 call-notes of both of these ducks possess a peculiar 

 metallic shrillness, such as is produced by blowing 

 violently through an ordinary tin whistle, but there is 

 a very decided difference in the uttering of the notes by 

 each species. An excellent decoy whistle may be made 

 by extracting the caps from the brass ends of an ordinary 

 central-fire cartridge and forcing one head into the other. 

 With such a whistle the ducks can be lured to within 

 easy shooting distance of the sportsman, and if the flock 

 be not an exceedingly wild one, the birds will return 

 repeatedly in answer to the call. I have been assured 

 by native hunters that the tree-duck is in the habit of 

 laying its eggs in some hollow stump of an old tree. 

 When the young are hatched the parents force them out 

 of the nest, taking care to make them fall into the water 

 beneath. The large black duck {Cai7'ina moschata) or Pato 

 real, is also a lover of trees. It perches frequently during 

 the day, and repairs late in the afternoon to some particular 

 tree where several individuals meet to pass the night. 



At nine the ' Caura ' reached Puerto Antonio Liccioni. 

 A long shed-building covered with galvanized iron, with 

 a few mud houses with thatched roofs scattered around, 

 constitute the station. It is only a few years since the place 



