JACAMARS, PARROTS, AND TROGONS. 41 



water flying in spray when he dipped toward a pool, 

 above which he suddenly arrested his flight, and sat 

 alertly upon a dead limb watching me. He was a per- 

 fect gem, brighter in colors, and smaller than his Amer- 

 ican cousin, being about eight inches long and eleven 

 across his wings. 



Plashing through the pools, climbing over slippery 

 rocks, and dodging overhanging branches, I did not 

 notice at first that I had reached a higher level, where 

 the stream spread out into a placid little pond, sand- 

 rimmed, and nestling within a wall of ferns and 

 mountain palms. 



The scene delighted me, for looking up I beheld a 

 hill slope studded with tree ferns and green hearts, 

 cedars and bamboos, on the crown of which was a 

 group of tall palmistes. It was a conical hill, sloping 

 gradually to the apex, rising like an artificial earth- 

 work above the dense forest growth around it. 



Beneath the trees was a turf of finest grass, in- 

 terspersed with the waving plumes of a taller variety, 

 the light and vivid green of which contrasted bright- 

 ly with the somberness of the circumjacent forest. 

 My heart went out to that spot at once, and as I 

 climbed the hill I determined that this should be the 

 site of my summer residence; for during the heat 

 of the approaching rainy season the seaside hut would 

 be intolerable, lying so lo^ and near the heated 

 sands. 



Arrived at the palm-crowned summit, I gazed 

 upon the scene spread around me with great dehght, 

 for it included a goodly portion of the north end of 



