COLONIES OF HANG-NESTS 221 



terrible insects, otherwise how can we account for the hives 

 and nests being sometimes so close together that the birds, 

 in the frequent visits they make to their nests while feed- 

 ing their young have to brush past the marabunta hives ? 

 There is moreover a good deal of resemblance between the 

 nests and the hives. Both cassiques are favourite cage- 

 birds in Venezuela, but the yellow variety, being commoner, 

 is seen much more frequently in houses than the other. 

 While in Venezuela the yellow cassique is called Arrendajo, 

 it is known as OropSndola in Colombia. Singularly 

 enough many of the commoner birds are known under dif- 

 ferent names in the two republics, although the people of 

 both speak the same language and are of common descent. 

 At about ten o'clock on the morning of April 7 we 

 reached the mouth of the stream which flows from the 

 direction of Mount Arawa, and bears the same name. It 

 had rained steadily from daybreak and we were all wet to 

 the skin. The men built a substantial hut and stored our 

 things in it, as I determined, if it were possible to get 

 close enough to the mountain by the stream, to make this 

 spot a basis for its exploration. After breakfast Maite, 

 Pedro Hospedales, Pedro Asoque, and myself ascended 

 the stream in a small boat. At the end of about an 

 hour's paddling we reached a shallow rapid which pre- 

 vented our going any farther. From the foot of this 

 rapid we had a magnificent view of the stupendous preci- 

 pice forming one side of Arawa. We were still at a con- 

 siderable distance from the mountain, and I felt that with 

 the limited time at our disposal we would never be able 

 to cut a track through the forest to its base, and have 

 time to go to Ameha afterwards. With more water in 

 the stream in which we were I have no doubt that it 

 would be easy to get over the rapids and probably reach 



