310 THE GUACHARO. 



nuts are heart-shaped, and are about the size of a walnut. 

 They are strung upon the fibres of a palm leaf, and thus 

 form a torch, which gives a very good light; but the only 

 inconvenience is that these nuts give a considerable heat, 

 and crack and fly about to the discomfiture of the persons 

 who chance to be near them. The tree which produces them 

 (Jlkurites triloba) is large, bears a handsome blossom, and 

 supplies ornaments for the ears and hair. It belongs to the 

 order Euphorbiacese, and independent of the use which is 

 made of its oily nuts, the inner bark yields a dark red dye, 

 and the tree affords a gum with which the Otaheitans dress 

 their cloth. 



Aleurites Triloba. 



HENRIETTA. 



But the most curious candle which I ever heard of is that 

 used in the Ferroe Islands, where the inhabitants kill the 

 stormy petrel (Procellaria pelagica) in great numbers; and the 

 bird is so fat and oily that they only pass a wick through its 

 body, and it serves the purpose of a lamp. 



MRS. F. 



So we are told, on the authority of Pennant; but I believe the 

 bird that produces the greatest quantity of fat, is the Guacharo 

 (Steatornis caripensis) of South America, which the Indians 

 destroy in immense numbers for its fat, which they eat. This 

 singular bird is the first example of a nocturnal bird among the 

 Passerine class. It is of the size of a fowl, and inhabits one of 



