92 Through the BraziHan Wilderness 



tricts uninhabitable. They are ordinarily not very nu- 

 merous. Those of them that march in large bodies kill 

 nestling birds, and at once destroy any big animal un- 

 able to get out of their way. It has been suggested that 

 nestlings in their nests are in some way immune from 

 the attack of these ants. The experiments of our natu- 

 ralists tended to show that this was not the case. They 

 plundered any nest they came across and could get at. 



Once we saw a small herd of peccaries, one a sow 

 followed by three little pigs — they are said to have only 

 two young, but we saw three, although of course it is 

 possible one belonged to another sow. The herd gal- 

 loped into a mass of thorny cover the hounds could not 

 penetrate ; and when they were in safety we heard them 

 utter, from the depths of the jungle, a curious moaning 

 sound. 



On one ride we passed a clump of palms which were 

 fairly ablaze with bird color. There were magnificent 

 hyacinth macaws; green parrots with red splashes; tou- 

 cans with varied plumage, black, white, red, yellow; 

 green jacmars ; flaming orioles and both blue and dark- 

 red tanagers. It was an extraordinary collection. All 

 were noisy. Perhaps there was a snake that had drawn 

 them by its presence ; but we could find no snake. The 

 assembly dispersed as we rode up ; the huge blue macaws 

 departed in pairs, uttering their hoarse "ar-rah-h, ar- 

 rah-h." It has been said that parrots in the wilderness 

 are only noisy on the wing. They are certainly noisy on 

 the wing; and those that we saw were quiet while they 

 were feeding; but ordinarily when they were perched 

 ^mong the branches, and especially when, as in the case 



