BIRD LIFE OF BARTICA 123 



This is in strong contrast with pheasant chicks and other 

 Eastern gallinaceous birds, which retain their wildness to the 

 end of their life, never becoming more than semi-domesti- 

 cated. With these facts are correlated others which seem 

 only to emphasize them. The trumpeters and curassows, 

 which at once become so ridiculously tame, even trouble- 

 somely so, seldom or never lay eggs or breed in captivity. 

 Year after year passes with no sign of approaching breeding 

 season, except now and then a feeble attempt at courtship on 

 the part of the curassows. No nests are built, no eggs laid, 

 even when tall trees are available and the sticks provided 

 which might suggest or tempt this .performance. The pheas- 

 ants, peafowl and partridges, on the contrary, too wary ever 

 to allow any caress or even a near approach, usually lay 

 promptly, and if undisturbed, Will incubate and rear their 

 broods. We have no explanation of this. It is a fascinat- 

 ing problem for the future. 



I was interested in seeing the various ways in which the 

 Indians secured wild birds. A breech-loading gun, such as 

 that which I loaned to our Akawai hunter, was almost un- 

 known, and he hunted de luxe, the envied of all the Indians 

 he met. They sometimes were the proud possessors of an 

 old-fashioned muzzle-loader, or in lieu of this they used bows 

 and arrows and blow-pipes. They seemed poor trappers 

 and would choose rather to wait for hours at some likely 

 place than to set springes or nooses. 



Next to any scientific research, my chief desire was the 

 gathering of live vertebrates to send north to the New York 

 Zoological Park. When the coolies heard of the horde of 

 pence and three-pences and bits available, they came in day 

 after day with all sorts of specimens, and in this way we got 

 a number of interesting birds. Others were purchased from 

 Indians, young ones we collected from nests, and brought 

 up by hand, while the majority were trapped in cages or 

 caught with lime sticks. It was exciting work, for we never 



