374 TRINIDAD. 



The insectivorous tribes are likewise largely distributed ; but 

 as fruits and certain berries are rarely found but in the neigh- 

 bourhood of inhabited places ; as insects seem even to swarm in 

 greater abundance in the skirtings of wood-lands, never will the 

 chirpings and twitterings which announce the coming dawn be 

 heard amidst the density of the forests. At all times there 

 reigns in those solitudes a stillness which one would be far from 

 expecting. 



There is more, however, to be considered in this flitting life, 

 on the one hand, and in this attachment to cultivations on the 

 other, than the mere support of existence. Certain species, 

 though frugivorous or baccivorous, are not met with except in 

 very remote and wooded localities; they never approach our 

 abodes. If some species seem to shun the solitude of the wood- 

 lands, and do not dread the neighbourhood of man, it is quite 

 the reverse with others, though belonging to the same genus. 

 The Liable enrliume {Tanagra Mexicana), the brown-headed Vert- 

 Vert (Tanagra gyrola) are met in the fruit and berry trees 

 which grow near our clearings ; whilst another tanager (Arrivant) 

 flies to conceal its beautiful plumage in the depths of forests. 

 One of our blackbirds enlivens our copses, whilst another (Tardus 

 flavipes) seems to avoid our abodes. 



The Troglodytes eudon is so much attached to the society of 

 man, that it never deserts him, and it is even under his roof that 

 it establishes its nest. Never does its note salute the ear of the 

 wanderer in the forest. More than once, after a long jaunt, and 

 thinking myself still near the starting point, I have been quite 

 surprised at finding myself approaching the end of my journey — 

 the song of a wren being a sure sign I was in the proximity of 

 some inhabited place. And yet the other species is met with 

 everywhere. 



Certain flowers which are eagerly sought by some species of 

 humming-birds are far from being scarce in those localities 

 which suit their growth : and yet it is well known that, in order 

 to procure these humming-birds, the naturalist must seek them 

 in other and well-determined spots. 



The black-headed Urubu is found in all parts, whilst the red- 

 headed species is never seen in towns, but is met with only at a 

 distance in the country. The former may be said to be mainly 

 urban, and the latter rustic ; still, their habits are the same ; and 



