THE MAQUIRITAKES' LAND 17:. 



in pairs like chickens and were slow to take wing. Occa- 

 sionally we ran into a flock of trumpeters (Psophia), which 

 stared at us in curiosity for a few moments and then flew 

 into a tree, and raised an unearthly din, cackling and 

 screaming until dispersed by a few shots. 



The Indians told a curious story about a trumpeter and 

 a curassow. In the very beginning of things two of these 

 birds decided upon a matrimonial alliance, but domestic 

 troubles soon broke out and there was no possibility of a 

 reconciliation; it was thereupon decided to lay the case 

 before the gods who live on the summit of Mount Duida. 

 The wise gods ordered them to fight it out ; in the course of 

 the combat that followed, the curassow pushed the trum- 

 peter into the fire, burning off the feathers of the latter's 

 tail; the trumpeter promptly retaliated by pushing her 

 mate into the fire, singeing his crest. Thereupon the gods 

 decreed that they should remain in this humiliating plight 

 for the rest of their days, and so even to this day the curas- 

 sow wears a curled crest and the trumpeter has a very 

 short tail. 



No matter how far we chanced to go during the morn- 

 ing's hunt it was alw r ays easy to determine the exact loca- 

 tion of our camp. A colony of caciques had built their 

 nests in the top of a tree near the tent, and quarrelled and 

 chirped so noisily all day long that we could not get out of 

 hearing of them. 



After the trail had been completed for a distance of 

 several miles, hunting was rendered much easier. It was a 

 delight to wander noiselessly along the clean path and 

 watch the wild things pursuing their daily activities. Ta- 

 pirs moved quietly across the narrow lane, like shadows; 

 but if disturbed crashed through the brush and thundered 

 away like frightened horses. Large red squirrels frisked in 

 the trees or fed in the nut-bearing palms. Monkeys were 

 always about; there were red howlers, cebus, and small 

 black woolly monkeys with gold-colored hands; the latter 

 travelled in small troops and raced through the tree-tops 



