RUFFED AND TUFTED HUMMING-BIRDS. 241 



of innumerable Cotingas, as brisk and gay as 

 possible. 



Beneath, on the moist earth, are numbers of 

 living creatures. Here are lizards, and snakes, 

 and insects of every kind. Here is the arma- 

 dillo, that rustles among the decaying leaves ; and 

 the curious ant-eater, with its long tongue and 

 its clog-like feet. And a deer will now and then 

 bound through some leafy opening, pursued by 

 the jaguar. And the tapir, with its swine-like 

 snout, will come crashing by. 



Up above, in the topmost tier of branches, 

 where giant trees push their crowns into light 

 and air, is a vast leafy region, all matted and 

 bound together by the ropes and cables of the 

 forest. 



On this mighty plateau the monkeys live in 

 security, and run nimbly about, and grin and 

 chatter and frolic. Not even the thunder and 

 lightning of the white man's gun can reach them. 

 And the squirrel bounds from bough to bough, 

 with wild delight. 



Standing as we do, in this magical spot, sur- 



(393) 1(3 



