32 



THE OOLOGIST. 



among the mimosa thickets of the sa- 

 vannas their plaintive cry is a familiar 

 sound. One of these birds shot byme 

 had swallowed a fourteen-inch chame- 

 leon. Six inches of the reptile's tail 

 protruded beyond the bird's bill and I 

 thought it was a snake until I dissect- 

 ed the bird. I discovered that only the 

 head of the chameleon was digested. 

 The Ani must have been going around 

 for several hours at least unable to 

 close its bill. 



Along the river the Anhinga, another 

 bird well known in our Southern States 

 is found in considerable numbers. 

 Poised on some bush or snag they can 

 be seen waiting for their finny prey. 

 On the approach of a boat they will 

 dive into the water and will show their 

 snake-like neck and head above the 

 surface. They are not nearly so wild 

 here though as i found them along the 

 Atchafalya and lower Mississippi river. 

 The same could be said of the other 

 birds mentioned that are common to 

 both the States and this region. 



Now and then flocks of the Scarlet 

 Ibis can be seen winging their way in 

 even lines up and down the Orinoco. 

 I have shot a few specimens of the Gt. 

 Blue Heron, also of the Snowy Heron. 

 Both of these birds present a graceful 

 and stately appearance as they stand 

 by the water side, silently watching for 

 frog, fish, snake or worm, anything 

 that will satisfy their hunger. The 

 White Egret too is here, and many a 

 bird has been sacrificed to satisfy the 

 greed of the plume hunter. The 

 plumes of the Little White Egret are 

 said to bring two hundred dollars per 

 pound in Cindad, Bolivia. 



On the savannas and along the canos 

 or small streams, where a mass of veg- 

 etation thinly covers the water the Jac- 

 ana is found apparently always Imn- 

 gry, searching for insects In these 

 same streams and flooded savannas or 

 marshes as we would call them in the 

 north, the voracious caribe fish swarms 



and alligators are also abundant. And 

 here is enacted the battle for existence, 

 the survival of the fittest — the Panai 

 after the insects and the caribe and alli- 

 gator after the Pana. The caribe musti, 

 look out for the "gater" too, but the 

 Jacana has as much to fear from one as- 

 the other. 



One Jacana that I shot some weeks 

 ago had a foot and about half of the 

 tarsus amputated, presumably by a 

 caribe. The wound had healed so it 

 must have had the service of but one 

 foot for some time. If your readers, 

 could have seen what I witnessed, the 

 thumb of a man nearly severed from 

 his hand by the attack of one of these 

 fish, they would not doubt the caribe's 

 ability to amputate the leg of a bird. 

 More than this, I have had personal ex- 

 perience with this little fresh water 

 shark, to the extent that quite a large 

 piece of flesh was torn from my thigh 

 by their attack when I was swimming 

 ashore from an overturned boat in the 

 Orinoco. 



Once when I had killed seven Jacan- 

 as — they run all over the water — the 

 alligators got four of the birds before I 

 could reach them with my boat. One 

 of the saurians I had the pleasure of 

 shooting and another I struck over the 

 snout with my paddle as he came up 

 near one of the dead birds. 



The Jacana is an attractive bird, of 

 rich chestnut plumage with purplish 

 tinge, secondaries and primaries yel- 

 lowish-green — a horny space on each 

 wing yellow in color. Their long toes 

 permit them to speed over the floating 

 vegetation of the rivers and savannas 

 with ease. 



There is much that I might say furth- 

 er of the birds of the Orinoco Delta but 

 as I expect to be here some months 

 longer I will try and send other com- 

 munications from time to time. 

 Very truly yours, 

 Leslie O. Dart, 

 Santa Catilena, Venzuela. 



