156 J. Delacour—Notes of a Bird-lover in Tropical America


The country surrounding St. Laurent can be divided into three

zones : the open and marshy “ savanah ”, intersected by canals and

streams ; the second growth, that is to say, the vegetation which

has pushed up since the clearing of the primitive forest; and, finally,

the virgin forest itself.


In the Savanahs one meets with the same birds as in the town and,

in addition, numerous Waders, Rails, Waterhens, etc. The pretty

black and white aquatic Tyrant ( Fluvicola pica) runs along the banks of

the streams. As to the Black Vultures ( Catliaristes urubu), one sees

them everywhere, and they are as tame as poultry ; one can count

by the hundred the “ Urubus ”, as they are called in Guiana, in the

vicinity of Cayenne and St. Laurent, and also in the towns them¬

selves ; but the red-headed Turkey Vulture ( Cathartes aura) is very

rare. In the second growth, one finds an abundance of birds ; its

thick and lower trees, of the height of those of Europe, shelter quantities

of the smaller ones, while Tinamous inhabit the ground beneath.

Yellow-winged Sugar Birds were very numerous in January and

February ; at that season the males are in full colour, blue and black,

and frequent low trees covered with fruit, on which they feed ; it

is the most wonderful sight, for they have a habit of perching on the

extremities of the branches, where they produce a gorgeous effect,

especially when they open their wings, showing the bright yellow.


In the same places I met with and captured numerous Humming¬

birds : Thaluriana furcata (the Cayenne Wood Nymph), Phcetornis

superciliosus, Glaucis liirsuta, Campylopterus largipennis, Florisuga

mellivora. All these little birds were stunned by my men’s blqw-pipes,

loaded with bullets of soft earth. It was there also that I saw so many

Ground Doves, Leptoptila and Geotrygon.


But for the real untouched wild life one has to enter the virgin

forest, the jungle; “la Brousse ” as it is called by the French

colonists. The forest has hardly been touched except in the immediate

vicinity of the towns and villages ; everywhere else its reign is

undisputed over plains, marshes, hills, and mountains. It is the vast

equatorial jungle of South America rvhich covers the continent from

the Orinoco to the pampas of Argentina, and from the Andes to the

Atlantic. And it is a marvel ! The lofty trunks uplift themselves



