WANDERINGS IN SOUTH AMERICA 295 



mentions it as coming from America. I had been 

 in quest of it for years, but could never see it, 

 and concluded that it was not to be found in Dem- 

 erara. The bird is of a greenish brown before 

 it acquires its rich plumage. 



Amongst the bare roots of the trees, alongside 

 of this part of the river, a red crab sometimes 

 makes its appearance, as you are passing up and 

 down. It is preyed upon by a large species of 

 Owl, which I was fortunate enough to procure. 

 Its head, back, wings, and tail, are of so dark 

 a brown as almost to appear black. The breast 

 is of a somewhat lighter brown. The belly and 

 thighs are of a dirty yellow white. The feathers 

 round the eyes are of the same dark brown as the 

 rest of the body ; and then comes a circle of white, 

 which has the appearance of a large pair of 

 spectacles. I strongly suspect that the dirty yel- 

 low white of the belly and thighs has originally 

 been pure white; and that it has come to its 

 present colour by means of the bird darting down 

 upon its prey in the mud. But this is mere con- 

 jecture. 



Here too, close to the river, I frequently saw 

 the bird called Sun-bird by the English colonists, 

 and Tirana by the Spaniards in the Oroonoque, 

 It is very elegant ; and in its outward appearance 

 approaches near to the heron tribe; still it does 

 not live upon fish. Flies and insects are its food ; 

 and it takes them just as a heron does fish, by ap- 

 proaching near and then striking with its beak 

 at its prey so quick, that it has no chance to 

 escape. The beautiful mixture of grey, yellow, 

 green, black, white, and chestnut in the plumage 



