Chap. VII.] DAY IN THE JUXGLE. 255 



falcons now sweep through the sky to mark the smaller 

 birds which may be abroad in search of seeds and larvte. 

 The squirrels dart from bough to bough uttering tlieir 

 shrill, quick cry ; and the cicada on the stem of the palm- 

 tree raises the deafening sound whose tone and volubihty 

 have won for him the expressive title of the " Knife- 

 grinder." 



It is during the first five hours of daylight that nature 

 seems hterally to teem with life and motion, the air 

 melodious with the voice of birds, the woods resounding 

 with the simmering hum of insects, and the earth replete 

 with every form of Hving nature. But as the sun ascends 

 to the meridian the scene is singularly changed, and 

 nothing is more striking than the almost painful still- 

 ness that succeeds the vivacity of the early morning. 

 Every animal disappears, escaping under the thick cover 

 of the woods ; the birds retire into the shade ; the 

 butterflies, if they flutter for a moment in the blazing 

 sun, hurry back into the damp shelter of the trees as 

 though their filmy bodies had been parched by the brief 

 exposure ; and, at last, silence reigns so profound that 

 the ticking of a watch is sensibly heard, and even the 

 pulsations of the heart become audible. The buffalo 

 now steals to the tanks and watercourses, concealing all 

 but his gloomy head and shining horns in the mud 

 and sedges ; the elephant fans himself languidly with 

 leaves to drive away the flies that perplex him ; and the 

 deer cower in groups under the over-arching jungle. 

 Eusthng from under the dry leaves the bright green 

 lizard springs up the rough stems of the trees, and pauses 

 between each dart to look inqumngly around. The 

 woodpecker makes the forest re-echo with the restless 

 blows of his beak on the decajdng bark, and the tortoise 

 drops awkwardly into the still water which reflects the 

 bright plumage of the kingfisher, as he keeps his lonely 

 watch above it. 



So long as the sun is about the meridian, every living 

 creature seems to fly Ids beams and hnger in the closest 



