556 ARTS AND CRAFTS OF GUIANA INDIANS [HTH ANN, 38 
Though fowls were introduced by the Spaniards, Stedman was of 
opinion that a smaller species of the dunghill kind, with rumpled 
inverted feathers, seems natural to Guiana, being reared in the inland 
parts of the country by the Indians (St, 1, 123). The statement that 
certain Indians will eat neither poultry nor hen eggs is true within 
limits. Fowls are foreign to the country and for that reason may be 
taboo, while a native will never eat the bird or animal that he has 
himself tamed any more than the ordinary European will think of 
making a meal of his pet canary or tame rabbit. The Akawai on the 
Cuya River kept fowls but ate neither their flesh nor eggs, because of 
their picking up all kinds of offal. Their object in keeping them was 
to collect the long neck and tail feathers for head ornaments (App, 
11,183). Ducks were found in the houses of the island of Turuquiera 
[Guadeloupe] at the time of the conquest (DAC, 448). Schomburgk 
speaks of Vicissi duck (Pendrocygna viduata) as being frequently 
reared by the Indians, who sold them to the colonists (SeT, 32). 
But the varieties of bird that can be domesticated and tamed are 
almost endless; e. g., cock-of-the-rock (2upicola), sun bird (Lury- 
pyga helias), maam (Tinamus), marudi (Penelope), powis (Crax), 
trumpeter (Psophia), hanaqua (Ortolis), parrots, macaws, ducklars 
(Plotus), troupials, toucans, and yarious owls. I have even seen 
a tame carrion crow (Catharista) on the Rupununi, and have known 
of humming birds being tamed among the Arawak of the Iteribisce 
Creek, Essequibo River. As might be expected, some of these birds 
will do better than others in their new environment; e. g., the Makusi 
told me that the cock-of-the-rock does not thrive well in captivity. 
I once saw a tame young savanna duck at Annai on the Rupununi 
River, but was informed that as soon as it was fully fledged and 
matured it would fly away and return no more; that it never re- 
mains even in “open” captivity. The artificial coloration of birds’ 
feathers has been discussed already (sec. 84). 
725. Reptiles —A “snake charmer” is figured on the frontis- 
piece of Brett’s work on “The Indian Tribes of Guiana,” but ap- 
parently introduced for purposes of embellishment and advertise- 
ment. Frogs and toads were kept for purposes of augury, ete. (WER, 
vr, sec. 849). Turtles were, and are still, preserved alive in pali- 
sades, pens, ete., until such time as they may be required for food. 
726. Bees, ete—Note has been made of a beehive in a maloka—i. e., 
common living house—on the Apaporis River (XG, 11, 291), a branch 
of the Yapura, a tributary stream of the upper Amazon. <A strange 
kind of wood-cricket is found in the neighborhood of Obydos, lower 
Amazon. The males produce a very loud and not unmusieal noise 
by rubbing together the overlapping edges of their wing cases. The 
natives call it Tanand in allusion to its music. . . They keep it in a 
wickerwork cage for the sake of hearing it sing (HWB, 128). 
