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


Certainly these collections of palms and orchids, these sumptuous

groups where one finds flora from all tropical countries mingled together,

are arranged with exquisite art and form a strange and magnificent park

of exuberant verdure and brilliant flowers, enlivened by Tyrants,

Tanagers, and other birds that are usually met with in Guiana. But

these canals and pools, filled with water lilies, lotus, and Victoria Regia,

and peopled with Manatees and Waders, appear to be from dreamland,

and in short reveal to us the true charm of the Guianas. Here are two

long canals which run on either side of a lovely straight and long

avenue, shaded by imposing palms and rare trees. As far as

one can see the Victoria Regia displays its immense leaves of over

two yards in diameter, with carmine edges upturned, and their great

scented flowers, red, pink, and white. The flowers of this strange plant

live for two days only, and change from pure white to sombre red.

The Victoria, native of a little lake in the interior of the colony, has

from there been dispersed in all the gardens of tropical countries, and

also introduced into our European hothouses. Its leaf is the largest

in existence. Here we come to a square pool starred with water lilies,

whose sky-blue flowers with bright yellow hearts uplift themselves

above the surface of the water ; further on there are acres of pink, white,

yellow, and variegated lotus, colossal tulips rising above their grey

green leaves, rising from the water to a height of over a yard. Then

other lakes filled with blue and pink water lilies, others with Nenuphar,

white or red. These orgies of aquatic flowers succeed each other

endlessly, and in the midst of all this beauty one admires the pretty

chestnut and black Jacanas, with their citron-colourecl wings, watching

over their grey chicks, whose feet, with length out of all proportion,

make one think of daddy-long-legs. The big Waterhen (Gallimda

galeala ),with its red beak and its frontal shield, and the little Porphyrios,

blue and green, walk about on the floating leaves, which are sometimes

disturbed by the plunging of a small alligator (Caiman). Islets of

entangled vegetation arise in the ponds ; they constitute the domain of

the Herons, which are protected there and peacefully pursue their

occupations under the eyes of the public. In March the Herons of

Demerara were nesting. During the day one only saw the sitting

birds, and the parents who came without ceasing to bring food to their



