ITINERAEY. XXXIX 



great flights of hundreds — they have been much decreased in recent 

 years, — and equally so on the sandy flats west of the mouth of the 

 Korentyn river, where also the turnstoiie, the sanderling, and the 

 semi-palmated sandpiper or "nit" (^Ereunetes), may a,t times be just as 

 commonly seen. Yet these latter forms and the numerous others of 

 the migrants, such as. the greater and lesser yellow-shanks, the stilts 

 and other plovers and sandpipers, which are so commonly found on the 

 coast in their downward migration from the north, have not been 

 obtained on the Roraima savannahs, though it would seem to be a 

 most likely place for them, especially on their return journey when 

 they do not appear to take the coast route. A special case of this kind 

 is that of the common spotted sandpiper {Actitis), which at times is 

 one of the most widely distributed to be seen along the banks of nearly 

 every stream : it surprises one by its absence from the Roraima district. 

 So, too, in the case of the large golden-eyed thick-knee {(Edicnemus), 

 which would appear to be a typical high savannah and forest bird, 

 ranging from the Kuyuni and Mazaruni rivers to the Upper Ireng and 

 the Rupununi and Essequibo, but apparently not on the coast. 



It is remarkable in most of the great groups that many of the 

 commonest coast forms are those which are frequently found at 

 Roraima, while others less common on the coast and more abundant 

 in the interior, or those wholly confined to parts of the high lands, 

 often do not occur in the range. Thus of the parrots, one of the 

 Roraima' species is the screecher or orange-cheeked amazon {Arjiazona 

 amazonica), which is certainly the commonest of the group in the 

 colony, and especially on the coast where it will be met with by the 

 hundreds and thousands at times when fruits such as the guava are in 

 season, as in the great groves on the Korentyn coast, where we weie 

 able to shoot them at any time of the day when they were needed for 

 curry or soup. Here, too, great flocks of the yellow-headed amazon 

 {A. ochrocephala) have been found, a 'species that is usually so un- 

 common on the coast that it has often been regarded as confined to 

 the interior, where it is the chief tame bird in the Indian settlements. 

 It goes usually by the common name " Amazon " — though " screecher " 

 is also applied to all these species — and is the best talker of the local 

 parrots, if it has been brought up from the nest, when it will pick up 

 every variety of sound that it hears. Though ranging over the high 

 lands in general, it is not recorded from Roraima, neither are other 

 species with a corresponding range, nor others wholly confined to the 

 interior. 



The Roraima macaws, the larger "(Eta parrot" {Ara manilata) and 

 the smaller species (A^ hahni), are two of the very common coast birds, 

 being met with at times by the hundreds and thousands, especially in 

 the groves of the (Eta palms (Mauritia Jlexuosa), or flying to and from 

 their feeding grounds across the creeks and swamped savannahs, as in 

 the Abary district, in great flocks for quite long periods continuously. 

 The three large and beautiful macaws belong particularly to the high 

 savannahs and mountains. The scarlet and blue {A . macao) is especially 

 characteristic of the interior. The red and yellow {A. chloroptera) 

 ranges also close to the coast, and I have met with them at times in 

 great flocks of several score about the Potaro river'. The blue and 



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