134 WANDERINGS IN SOUTH AMERICA 



other, and these have gained him the name of 

 Karabimiti, or Ara humming-bird, from the In- 

 dians. You never find him on the sea-coast, or 

 where the river is salt, or in the heart of the for- 

 est, unless fresh water be there. He keeps close 

 by the side of woody fresh-water rivers and dark 

 and lonely creeks. He leaves his retreat before 

 sunrise to feed on the insects over the water; 

 he returns to it as soon as the sun's rays cause a 

 glare of light, is sedentary all day long, and comes 

 out again for a short time after sunset. He builds 

 his nest on a twig over the water in the unfre- 

 quented creeks; it looks like tanned cow-leather. 



As you advance towards the mountains of Dem- 

 erara, other species of humming-birds present 

 themselves before you. It seems to be an errone- 

 ous opinion that the humming-bird lives entirely 

 on honey-dew. Almost every flower of the trop- 

 ical climate contains insects of one kind or other ; 

 now, the humming-bird is most busy about the 

 flowers an hour or two after sunrise and after a 

 shower of rain, and it is just at this time that the 

 insects come out to the edge of the flower in order 

 that the sun's rays may dry the nocturnal dew and 

 rain which they have received. On opening the 

 stomach of the humming-bird, dead insects are 

 almost always found there. 



Next to the humming-birds, the Cotingas dis- 

 play the gayest plumage. They are of the order 

 of Passeres, and you number five species betwixt 

 the sea-coast and the rock Saba. Perhaps the 

 Scarlet Cotinga is the richest of the five, and is 

 one of those birds which are found in the deepest 

 recesses of the forest. His crown is flaming red ; 



