92 THROUGH THE BRAZILIAN WILDERNESS 



in the little garden back of the house; their habits were 

 those of creepers, and they scrambled with agility up, along, 

 and under the trunks and branches, and along the posts 

 and rails of the fence, thrusting the bill into crevices for 

 insects. The oven-birds, which had the carriage and some- 

 what the look of wood-thrushes, I am sure would prove 

 delightful friends on a close acquaintance; they are very 

 individual, not only in the extraordinary domed mud nests 

 they build, but in all their ways, in their bright alertness, 

 their interest in and curiosity about whatever goes on, 

 their rather jerky quickness of movement, and their loud 

 and varied calls. With a little encouragement they be- 

 come tame and familiar. The parakeets were too noisy, 

 but otherwise were most attractive little birds, as they flew 

 to and fro and scrambled about in the top of the palm 

 behind the house. There was one showy kind of king- 

 bird or tyrant flycatcher, lustrous black with a white head. 

 One afternoon several score cattle were driven into a big 

 square corral near the house, in order to brand the calves 

 and a number of unbranded yearlings and two-year-olds. 

 A special element of excitement was added by the presence 

 of a dozen big bulls which were to be turned into draught- 

 oxen. The agility, nerve, and prowess of the ranch work- 

 men, the herders or gauchos, were noteworthy. The dark- 

 skinned men were obviously mainly of Indian and negro 

 descent, although some of them also showed a strong strain 

 of white blood. They wore the usual shirt, trousers, and 

 fringed leather apron, with jim-crow hats. Their bare 

 feet must have been literally as tough as horn; for when 

 one of them roped a big bull he would brace himself, bend- 

 ing back until he was almost sitting down and digging his 



