of the Old World. 303 



amongst which I noticed a flock of flamingoes with 

 their magnificent rose-coloured plumage, stately 

 pelicans, besides ibises, storks, herons, egrets, plovers, 

 sand-larks, and crows, which latter birds assembled in 

 noisy groups and seemed to revel in the luxury of a 

 bath. A toucan, with its awkward flight, was seen 

 wending its way from tree to tree in search of the 

 reptiles and small birds on which it feeds, and a 

 jungle-cock, whose plumage gleamed like gold in the 

 rays of the declining sun, came with his consorts and 

 scratched up the ground for food within a dozen yards 

 of our hiding-place. 



Each period of the day has its accustomed visitants, 

 every hour has its " certain signs," that can be read 

 and understood by those only to whom jungle voices 

 are familiar, and who, from long habit and experience, 

 have been enabled to observe and mark the systematic 

 order of Nature's handiwork. 



During the intense heat of the day, whilst the sun 

 is still high above the meridian, all animated nature 

 seems to yield to his overpowering influence. A 

 strange stillness, a profound silence, reigns throughout 

 the jungle, which in early morning seemed to teem 

 with life and motion. Every living creature dis- 

 appears into the deepest shade of the woods, in order 

 to escape from the exhausting heat and oppressive 

 glare ; except, perhaps, the eagle, hawk, and falcon, 

 who are seen hovering overhead in circles, like specks 



