242 RUFFED AND TUFTED HUMMING-BIRDS. 



rounded with all the wonders of the Tropics, a 

 peculiar sound meets our ear. 



There comes up from the distance a clear shrill 

 whistle, like the well-known signal of a railway 

 train. Such a thing cannot be, in this remote 

 spot. But, as sure as morning, noon, and evening 

 come, it is heard. 



A grasshopper makes this curious utterance. 

 Not more curious than another sound, like a 

 hammer, that marks the hours, through the 

 tropical night, with the utmost regularity. 



This watchman of the night is a frog, called by 

 the natives the " Hammersmith." 



And in the scorching noon, weary and parched 

 with thirst, the traveller is sometimes mocked 

 by a small brown bird, that repeats in his ears 

 the tantalizing words that mean, in the language 

 of the country, " Have you no water ? " 



