WANDERINGS IN SOUTH AMERICA. 189 



the cries of the different species of the woodpecker ; and 

 when the sheep bleat, he will distinctly answer them. 

 Then comes his own song again ; and if a puppy-dog, or a 

 Guinea-fowl interrupt him, he takes them off admirably, 

 and by his different gestures during the time, you would 

 conclude that he enjoys the sport. 



The cassique is gregarious, and imitates any sound he 

 hears with such exactness, that he goes by no other name 

 than that of blocking-bird amongst the colonists. 



At breeding time, a number of these pretty choristers 

 resort to a tree near the planter's house, and from its out- 

 side branches weave their pendulous nests. So conscious 

 do they seem that they never give offence, and so little 

 suspicious are they of receiving any injury from man, that 

 they will choose a tree within forty yards from his house, 

 and occupy the branches so low down, that he may peep 

 into the nests. A tree in Waratilla creek affords a proof 

 of this. 



The proportions of the cassique are so fine, that he may 

 be said to be a model of symmetry in ornithology. On 

 each wing he has a bright yellow spot, and his rump, belly, 

 and half the tail, are of the same colour. All the rest of 

 the body is black. His beak is the colour of sulphur, but 

 it fades in death, and requires the same operation as the 

 bill of the toucan to make it keep its colours. Up the 

 rivers, in the interior, there is another cassique, nearly the 

 same size, and of the same habits, though not gifted with 

 its powers of imitation. Except in breeding time you will 

 see hundreds of them retiring to roost, amongst the moca- 

 moca-trees and low shrubs on the banks of the Demerara, 

 after you pass the first island. They are not common on 

 the sea-coast. The rump of this cassique is a flaming scar- 

 let. All the rest of the body is a rich glossy black. His 

 bill is sulphur colour. You may often see numbers of this 



