324 OUR SEARCH FOR A WILDERNESS. 



the clearing, yet all in deep jungle. The parents differed 

 radically in their actions; two allowing us to inspect their 

 treasures without fear, while two others became terrified 

 if we approached within twenty feet of their nest. 



To return to our Trumpeter and howling monkey hunt; 

 it rained much of the morning, but for the most part only 

 a drizzle. Francis said that wet weather made bad hunt- 

 ing except for deer and bush-cow or tapir, chiefly because 

 the continual noise made by the falling rain-drops made 

 it difficult to hear the rustlings of birds and animals. 



I thoroughly enjoyed this new aspect of the jungle world. 

 As usual small birds were fairly abundant, of which appar- 

 ently 99 per cent, were Antbirds or Woodhewers. The 

 most common Antbird in the valleys was the Scaly-backed, 

 slate-colored except for the feathers of the back, wings 

 and tail which were black tipped with white. At one place 

 two dozen of these little birds must have been in sight, utter- 

 ing sharp, snapping calls, and clinging, like Marsh Wrens, 

 to upright stems in the low underbrush. 



Every now and then we came across a good-sized hole 

 with fresh earth thrown out at the entrance. Francis said 

 that this was made by a "Yasee" and he recognized an 

 armadillo when I drew it. 



Suddenly the rain came down in sheets, and streamed 

 through the dense foliage. Francis gave me his gun, ran to 

 a tooroo palm, a species which has no stem but sends its 

 leaves, fern-like, from a base level with the earth. He cut 

 off five stalks with as many blows of his knife, brought them 

 to me and stuck them upright in the fork of a low branch. 

 We stood under them for half an hour and never a drop 

 came through, although three inches out in any direction 

 the rain was falling in torrents. It was a wonderful example 

 of a waterproof shelter put up in about thirty seconds. Can 

 we blame these Indians for a general lack of industry, when 



