A JAGUAR-HUNT ON THE TAQUARY 89 



slons, scattered through the country. Sometimes they were 

 built against the stems of trees. We did not here come 

 across any of the poisonous or biting ants which, when 

 sufficiently numerous, render certain districts uninhabitable. 

 They are ordinarily not very numerous. Those of them 

 that march in large bodies kill nestling birds, and at once 

 destroy any big animal unable to get out of their way. 

 It has been suggested that nestlings in their nests are in 

 some way immune from the attack of these ants. The 

 experiments of our naturalists tended to show that this 

 was not the case. They plundered any nest they came 

 across and could get at. 



Once we saw a small herd of peccaries, one a sow fol- 

 lowed by three little pigs — they are said to have only two 

 young, but we saw three, although of course it is possible 

 one belonged to another sow. The herd galloped into a 

 mass of thorny cover the hounds could not penetrate; and 

 when they were in safety we heard them utter, from the 

 depths of the jungle, a curious moaning sound. 



On one ride we passed a clump of palms which were 

 fairly ablaze with bird color. There were magnificent 

 hyacinth macaws; green parrots with red splashes; tou- 

 cans with varied plumage, black, white, red, yellow; green 

 jacmars; flaming orioles and both blue and dark-red tan- 

 agers. It was an extraordinary collection. All were noisy. 

 Perhaps there was a snake that had drawn them by its 

 presence; but we could find no snake. The assembly dis- 

 persed as we rode up; the huge blue macaws departed 

 in pairs, uttering their hoarse "ar-rah-h, ar-rah-h." It has 

 been said that parrots in the wilderness are only noisy on 

 the wing. They are certainly noisy on the wing; and 



