436 TRINIDAD. 



consequence of a certain cockroachy flavour, which is the reverse 

 of tempting, I have, for a long time, discarded that dish. 



There is, however, in this island, a bird which verifies the 

 proverb, " All is good that is rare," this is the yacou, or pajui. 

 With all the good qualities of the pheasant, it possesses besides the 

 advantage of being far more juicy ; and any one who has once 

 been treated to this truly recherche gallinacean, only regrets that 

 it is not more plentiful. Thus, some species cause us to be un- 

 mindful of that in which they are all deficient, viz., the flavour. 

 Whatever be their defects, however, the main deficit is that they 

 are not prepared by some Vat el ; for, when in Europe they 

 praise the snipe, they really mean that they have good cooks. 



NOTE AND SONG. 



It is well known that song is the heritage of the birds of the 

 north ; whilst under our brazen sky, the beauty and richness of 

 plumage replace the melodious notes of the nightingale. True, 

 the ear is not greeted by notes warbled in simple trills, or in full- 

 toned cadences : but the eye cannot be satiated with admiring 

 those colours, the variety of which can alone vie with their vivid- 

 ness. The form itself seems to have been sacrificed, and nature's 

 efforts concentrated, in painting the plumage of our birds with the 

 prism's hues. None of them possess the slimness of the wagtail, 

 the fairiness of the titmouse, or the grace of the fauvette ; there 

 is no charm in their movement, none in their flight : and nothing 

 in them recalls to the mind the skylark hovering on high above its 

 nest. Every gift has been lavished on their gorgeous attire, the 

 brilliant plumes of which often add somewhat more of character- 

 istic to our birds. The tufted humming-bird, besides the tuft, 

 wears on each side of the head, slender feathers, maculated at their 

 extremity with spangles of the brightest emerald. The heron- 

 agami can, at pleasure, erect its long neck so as to display those 

 fine, long, and narrow blue feathers which, in their crescent-like 

 layers, present an admirable ensemble. Even when we direct our 

 attention to the birds inhabiting Asia, Africa, or Australia, and 

 which unite singularity to their richness of plumage, we find that 

 ours have something markedly distinctive, whenever a compari- 

 son is instituted between them and birds of metallic hue. Every- 

 where else there is some really metallic reflection of the plumage, 



