132 WANDERINGS IN 



SECOND are they of receiving any injury from man, that 



JOURNEY. . - ,, 



~ they will choose a tree within forty yards from 

 his house, and occupy the branches so low down, 

 that he may peep into the nests. A tree in 

 Waratilla creek affords a proof of this. 



The proportions of the cassique are so fine, that 

 he may be said to be a model of symmetry in 

 ornithology. On each wing he has a bright 

 yellow spot, and his rump, belly, and half the 

 tail, are of the same colour. All the rest of 

 the body is black. His beak is the colour of 

 sulphur, but it fades in death, and requires the 

 same operation as the bill of the toucan to make it 

 keep its colours. Up the rivers, in the interior, 

 there is another cassique, nearly the same size, and 

 of the same habits, though not gifted with its 

 powers of imitation. Except in breeding time, 

 you will see hundreds of them retiring to roost, 

 amongst the moca-moca-trees and low shrubs on 

 the banks of the Demerara, after you pass the 

 first island. They are not common on the sea- 

 coast. The rump of this cassique is a flaming 

 scarlet. All the rest of the body is a rich glossy 

 black. His bill is sulphur colour. You may often 

 see numbers of this species weaving their pen- 

 dulous nests on one side of a tree, while numbers 

 of the other species are busy in forming theirs 

 on the opposite side of the same tree. Though 

 such near neighbours, the females are never 

 observed to kick up a row, or come to blows ! 



