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the whole of the breast, underparts, and tail, are clear Canary-

yellow, except the two central tail feathers which are bluish-

green and longer than the rest. We saw these birds in flocks

below Baeza, and always in high trees, making such a loud

chattering noise that we heard them long before we came near

them, in fact it was the noise they made which always drew our

attention to them. I believe the Colombian bird does not vary

from the Ecuadorian one, and we often saw’ them in the Cauca

valley.


An Englishman who had a mine there kept several of

them alive, which he had brought up by hand. They were

exceedingly tame, and had their liberty about the verandah and

garden. They were very amusing in their ways, and I often

watched them pick up small pebbles, scraps of paper, etc., and

hide them in holes in the walls, and behind the shutters. They

were not at all particular as to what they ate, and lived on scraps

from the table and what they found in the garden.


On the Napo we also shot some of the Violet-blue Jays

(Cyanocorax violaceus). These large birds are a beautiful violet-

blue all over, except the head and throat which are black, and

the nape which is so light as to be almost white. As you turn

the bird about in the light, the colours change to every degree of

richness. We saw r them always in pairs. I include them in this

article because when we reached Iquitos, on the Upper Amazon,

I saw a very fine specimen which had its liberty about a house

close to where we were living, and it often paid us visits.

Although its wing was not cut, it never flew away from the

place, and was always about the small garden or on the roof of

the house. It was very friendly and inquisitive, and I hoped I

should be able to pursuade its owner to let me have it before we

left, but I never succeeded in doing so, although the disagreeable

old woman who owned it did not seem to have any affection for

it. The female bird is not quite so bright in colour as the male,

especially on the breast, which looks greyer.


We found three varieties of Motmots common at the

Coca—the Broad-billed, the Red-headed, and the Blue-headed.

The last were perhaps the most numerous. I believe Motmots

have been kept alive in England, but, judging from their habits

in a wild state, I should think they have little beyond their

beauty to recommend them. They seem silent uninteresting

birds, and sit for hours on the same branch, only leaving it to

seize a passing beetle or other insect, returning again to the

same place. On the edge of the forest, I have seen them fly



