TRAVELS IN BRAZIL. 16*1 



tame, to settle upon the backs of the mules or 

 oxen ; small wood-peckers * silently creep up the 

 trees and look in the bark for insects ; the rusty 

 thrush, called Jodo de Barros t, fearlessly fixes its 

 oven-shaped nest quite low between the branches ; 

 the siskin-like creeper X slips imperceptibly from its 

 nest, (whicli, like that of the pigeons, is built of 

 twigs, and hangs down from the branches to the 

 length of several feet,) to add a new division to it 

 for this year; the Cdoha §, sitting still on the tops 

 of the trees, looks down after the serpents basking 

 on the roads, which, even though poisonous, con- 

 stitute its food, and sometimes, when it sees people 

 approaching, it sets up a cry of distress, resembling 

 a human voice. It is very rarely that the tranquil- 

 lity of the place is interrupted, when garrulous 

 orioles || {Papa arroz), little parrots and parroquets 

 {Maracands, Maritdcas, Jandaids), coming in flocks 

 from the maize and cotton plantations in the neigh- 

 bouring wood, alight upon the single trees on the 

 campos, and with terrible cries appear still to con- 

 tend for the booty ; or bands of restless hooded 

 cuckoos^, crowded together upon the branches, 

 defend, with a noisy croaking, their common nest. 



* Picus campestris nob., flavifrons Veill. 



f Tardus Figulus, nob. 



J Anabates rufifrons, Neuw. 



§ Falco cachinans, Cuv. 



II Oriolus minor, L. 



^ Cuculus Guira. 



VOL. II. M 



