WANDERINGS IN SOUTH AMERICA 143 



are too much disturbed to engage it to settle there ; 

 the thick and gloomy forests are the places pre- 

 ferred by the solitary lioutou. In those far- 

 extending mlds, about daybreak, you hear him 

 articulate, in a distinct and mournful tone, ''Hou- 

 tou, houtou." Move cautious on to where the 

 sound proceeds from, and you will see him sitting 

 in the underwood, about a couple of yards from 

 the ground, his tail moving up and down every 

 time he articulates "houtou." He lives on in- 

 sects and the berries amongst the underwood, and 

 very rarely is seen in the lofty trees, except the 

 bastard- siloabali tree, the fruit of which is grate- 

 ful to him. He makes no nest, but rears his young 

 in a hole in the sand, generally on the side of a 

 hill. 



While in quest of the houtou, you will now and 

 then fall in with the Jay of Guiana, called by the 

 Indians Ibibirou. Its forehead is black, the rest 

 of the head white; the throat and breast like the 

 English magpie: about an inch of the extremity 

 of the tail is white, the other part of it, together 

 with the back of the wings, a greyish changing 

 purple ; the belly is white : there are generally six 

 or eight of them in company; they are shy and 

 garrulous, and tarry a very short time in one 

 place ; they are never seen in the cultivated parts. 



Through the whole extent of the forest, chiefly 

 from sunrise till nine o'clock in the morning, you 

 hear a sound of ''V7ow, wow, wow, wow." This 

 is the bird called Boclora by the Indians. It is 

 smaller than the common pigeon, and seems, in 

 some measure, to partake of its nature : its head 

 and breast are blue ; the back and rump somewhat 



