A TROPIC GARDEN 243 
Kiskadees splashed and dipped along the margin 
of the water. Everywhere this species seems 
seized with an aquatic fervor, and in localities 
hundreds of miles apart I have seen them gradu- 
ally desert their fly-catching for surface feeding, 
or often plunging, kingfisher-like, bodily be- 
neath, to emerge with a small wriggling fish— 
another certain reflection of overpopulation and 
competition. 
As I sat I heard a rustle behind me, and there, 
not eight feet away, narrow snout held high, one 
tiny foot lifted, was that furry fiend, Rikki-tikki. 
He was too quick for me, and dived into a small 
clump of undergrowth and bamboos. But I 
wanted a specimen of mongoose, and the artist 
‘offered to beat one end of the bush. Soon I saw 
/the gray form undulating along, and as the rus- 
tling came nearer, he shot forth, moving in great 
bounds. I waited until he had covered half the 
distance to the next clump and rolled him over. 
Going back to my chair, I found that neither 
jacana, nor gallinules, nor herons had been dis- 
turbed by my shot. 
While the introduction of the mongoose into 
Guiana was a very reckless, foolish act, yet he 
seems to be having a rather hard time of it, and 
