262 



Bird - Lore 



for a time ventured no information beyond answering my questions. Then 

 decided to admit me into his confidence; and the single word "veneno" spoke 

 volumes. 



About the time the Heron's plumage is at its best, the annual floods have 

 begun to recede, leaving shallow lakes and marshes teeming with myriads of 

 imprisoned fish. And as the drying-up process continues, the stranded fish 

 die in heaps. I saw tons of them — dying, dead and decaying — in the pan- 

 tanales on the Taquary. It was the season of harvest for the Jabiru, Heron, 

 Vulture and opossum, and they were enjoying their periodical feast to the full. 



It is the custom of the plume-hunter, I was told, to collect quantities of 

 these fish, poison them, and then scatter them broadcast over the Heron's 

 feeding-grounds. Occasionally, poisoned shrimp are used, if the inundations 

 extend beyond the usual time. This method is of course cheaper than shooting: 

 the birds are not frightened away, and the results of such relentless persecu- 

 tion must be obvious. A whole colony may be exterminated in its feeding- 

 grounds, even if the rookery is impregnable. 



I do not know to what extend this process of extermination is carried on. 

 I have never seen it in operation, and had never heard of it elsewhere. But 

 such, my informant assured me, are the methods employed on the Madeira 

 and Solimoens. 



MOURNING DOVE 

 Photographed by Guya Bailer, Geneseo, N, Y. 



