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if to tantalize their baffled enemy by ostentatiously displaying their 

 graces. 



When surprised on the open ground the Ypecaha lies close, like a 

 Tinamou, refusing to rise until almost trodden upon. It springs up with 

 a loud-sounding whirr, rushes violently through the air till, gaining the 

 reeds, it glides a few yards and then drops : its flight is thus precisely 

 like that of the Tinamou, and is more sounding and violent than that of 

 the Grouse or Partridge. On spying an intruder it immediately utters 

 a powerful cry, in strength and intonation not unlike that of the Pea- 

 fowl. This note of alarm is answered by other birds at a distance as 

 they hastily advance to the spot where the warning was sounded. The 

 cry is repeated at irregular intervals, first on one side, then on the 

 other, as the birds change their position to dog the intruder's steps and 

 inspect him from the reeds. I have surprised parties of them in an open 

 space, and shot one or more ; but no sooner had the survivors gained 

 their refuge than they turned about to watch and follow me, sounding 

 their powerful alarm the whole time. I have frequently been followed 

 half a mile through the rushes by them, and by lying close and mimick- 

 ing their cries have always succeeded in drawing them about me. 



But the Ypecaha's loudest notes of alarm are weak compared with the 

 cries he utters at other times, when, untroubled with a strange presence, 

 he pours out his soul in screams and shrieks that amaze the listener with 

 their unparalleled power. These screams, in all their changes and modu- 

 lations, have a resemblance to the human voice, but of the human voice 

 exerted to its utmost pitch, and expressive of agony, frenzy, and despair. 

 A long piercing shriek, astonishing for its strength and vehemence, is 

 succeeded by a lower note, as if in the first one the creature had well- 

 nigh exhausted itself. The double scream is repeated several times ; 

 then follow other sounds, resembling, as they rise and fall, half-suppressed 

 cries of pain and moans of anguish. Suddenly the unearthly shrieks 

 are renewed in all their power. This is kept up for some time, several 

 birds screaming in concert ; it is renewed at intervals throughout the 

 pay, and again at set of sun, when the woods and marshes resound with 

 the extravagant uproar. I have said that several birds unite in scream- 

 ing ; this is invariably the case. I have enjoyed the rare pleasure of 

 witnessing the birds at such times; and the screams then seem a fit 

 accompaniment to their disordered gestures and motions. 



A dozen or twenty birds have their place of reunion on a small area 

 of smooth clean ground surrounded by reeds ; and by lying well con- 

 cealed and exercising some patience, one is enabled to watch their pro- 

 ceedings. First one bird is heard to utter a loud metallic-sounding 

 note, three times repeated, and somewhat like the call of the Guinea- 



