428 EXPLANATORY INDEX. 



a domesticated Jabiru, whicli behaved very much after the 

 fashion of the bird described by Dr. Bennett. 



" The people had a tame Jabiru, which stalked about in a 

 most deliberate and stately way, as if every step it took was a 

 matter of deep deliberation. In spite of its sage looks there 

 was some fun in it, as it seemed to enjoy playing a practical 

 joke now and then on the village dogs ; for whenever it had 

 a chance it stalked stealthily behind pne and delivered a well 

 directed prod with its pointed beak, full on the dog's back, 

 which caused the dog to fly and the old Jabiru to ' smile 

 inwardly.' " 



If the Jabiru can find a tall, pillar-like rock, it is sure to 

 build its nest on it just as does the stork. 



Schomburgk gives a touching account of a Jabiru which had 

 built its nest on the top of a tall basaltic pillar named Pier^- 

 piapa, about fifty feet in height. One young bird was in the 

 nest, and the mother, on seeing the travellers, flew to its 

 help, and stood guard over it. One of Schomburgk's men 

 saw the bird standing over its young, and shot it before he 

 could be checked. 



The Jabiru is called by the natives Tararama. Its flesh is 

 eatable, and is said to resemble beef. 



Jaoamaes. — ^The species here described is the Great Jacamar 

 — {Jaeamerops grandis). 



The mode of feeding employed by this bird, and described 

 by 0. Kingsley in At Last, exactly corroborates Waterton's 

 account. He had been startled by seeing a bat fly past 

 at mid-day, the shade of the tropical forest being so deep and 

 dark. 



" And there is another ! No ; as it turns, a blaze of 

 metallic azure oil the upper side of the wings proves this one 

 to be no bat, but a morpho, a moth as big as a bat. And 

 what was that second large flash of golden green^ which 

 dashed at the moths, and back to yonder branch not ten feet 

 off ? A Jacamar — kingfisher, as they miscall her here, sitting 

 fearless of man, with the moth in her long beak. Her throat 



