ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN 



1307 



UTINGA JUNGLE 



EXPLORING A TREE AND A YARD OF 

 JUNGLE. 



By C. William Beebe, 

 Curator of Birds. 



I. 



AN oblique glance will sometimes reveal 

 more vital things than a direct gaze. As 

 with vision so I found it in my occupa- 

 tions during a fortnight spent in Para, Brazil. 

 As 1 have already indicated,* my principal mo- 

 tive was to superintend the assembling and 

 transiDortation to our Zoological Park of a con- 

 siderable portion of the animals and birds in 

 the Para Zoo. With the arising of many unex- 

 pected difficulties, it seemed as if this under- 

 taking would not leave me free for a moment. 

 The party not in power even took it up as a 

 political issue, and the newspapers were filled 

 with excited editorials condemning our presence 

 and object. But these things settled themselves, 

 and at calm intervals I took a tram to the sub- 

 urbs, and chose Utinga as a base for jungle 

 work. Utinga is a large tract of jungle, re- 

 stricted from public occupation in order to pro- 

 tect the water- works station. For a dav or two 



^Zoological Society Bulletix, July, 1915. 



I roamed aimlessl}^ about, shooting any inter- 

 esting birds I came across in the usual collector's 

 fashion. Then I realized that if any worth- 

 while results were to be achieved, it was only 

 by restricted, intensive observation. This I car- 

 ried out in two ways. 



IL 



On the first tramp I took in the jungle I 

 noticed a number of small birds in the upper 

 branches of a tree which grew alongside of a 

 trail near our camp. When I had passed that 

 way several times I realized that this particular 

 tree had some powerful attraction for birds 

 of many species. Knowing the shortness of time 

 at my disposal I determined to concentrate my 

 efforts on this wild cinnamon, called by the 

 natives Canella do Matto. 



Once having my attention called to this bird 

 tree, I kept on the watch for others. Several 

 hundred Awards away I discovered a real giant, 

 towering high above all the surrounding growth. 

 This I named the Toucan Tree as it appeared 

 to be especially attractive to these birds. It 

 was covered with an abundance of good-sized 

 scarlet fruit, the size of which accounted for 

 the presence of medium and large birds, such 

 as toucans, caciques, trogons and kiskadees, in- 

 stead of smaller callistes and flycatchers. A 

 third berry-laden tree half a mile to the east- 

 ward straight through the jungle, bore oblong, 

 3^ellow-skinned fruit, appealing especially to 

 woodpeckers and flycatchers, and from brief 

 glimpses in passing, the constant abundance of 

 birds would have furnished as interesting a list 

 as at the tree near our camp. 



I began my study of bird life in the wild 

 cinnamon tree by stealthy approaches, working 

 my way through the jungle until I was close 

 underneath. I soon found that this Mas quite 

 unnecessary, as the birds among the upper 

 branches paid no attention either to me or the 

 sound of my gun. Three hours of constant ob- 

 servation beneath the tree resulted in many 

 hours of pain from strained neck muscles. On 

 the third day I brought out a canvas steamer 

 cliair and placing it in the trail at a convenient 

 spot, found it to be ideal for observation. I 

 could recline so that looking straight u]iward 

 was no effort. With gun on my knees, glasses 

 around my neck, note-book and dead birds on 

 a stump within reach, I had discovered a truly 

 de Jure metliod of tropical bird study. The 

 biting flies, gnats and mosquitos made it impos- 

 sible to sit absolutely quiet for more than a 

 minute, and the ants soon found that the legs 

 of the chair gave easy access to one's person. 



