up the River of Tapirs 169 



intervals through the night a succession of notes sug- 

 gesting both those of our whippoorwill and those of our 

 big chuck-will's-widow of the Gulf States, but not identi- 

 cal with either. There were other birds which were 

 nearly akin to familiar birds of the United States: a dull- 

 colored catbird, a dull-colored robin, and a sparrow be- 

 longing to the same genus as our common song-sparrow 

 and sweetheart sparrow; Miller had heard this sparrow 

 singing by day and night, fourteen thousand feet up on 

 the Andes, and its song suggested the songs of both of 

 our sparrows. There were doves and wood-peckers of 

 various species. Other birds bore no resemblance to 

 any of ours. One honey-creeper was a perfect little 

 gem, with plumage that was black, purple, and turquoise, 

 and brilliant scarlet feet. Two of the birds which 

 Cherrie and Miller procured were of extraordinary nest- 

 ing habits. One, a nunlet, in shape resembles a short- 

 tailed bluebird. It is plumbeous, with a fulvous belly 

 and white tail coverts. It is a stupid little bird, and does 

 not like to fly away even when shot at. It catches its 

 prey and ordinarily acts like a rather dull flycatcher, 

 perching on some dead tree, swooping on insects and 

 then returning to its perch, and never going on the 

 ground to feed or run about. But it nests in burrows 

 which it digs itself, one bird usually digging, while the 

 other bird perches in a bush near by. Sometimes these 

 burrows are in the side of a sand-bank, the sand being 

 so loose that it is a marvel that it does not cave in. Some- 

 times the burrows are in the level plain, running down 

 about three feet, and then rising at an angle. The nest 

 consists of a, few leaves and grasses, and the eggs are 



