32 IN THE WILDS OF SOUTH AMERICA 



among the tanagers. One species {Psittospiza rieffen) was 

 about the size of a robin and of a deep grass-green color, 

 with a chestnut-colored face and abdomen; these birds live 

 singly and in pairs in the tall trees and are of a wary dis- 

 position. Another tanager (Sporathraupis) has a bright- 

 blue head and olive-green back; the breast is deep, dull blue 

 merging into golden yellow on the legs. The natives called 

 this bird jilguero, a name apphed to the solitaire in other 

 localities. It Uves in the lower branches of trees, travelling 

 in pairs or small flocks and feeds on fruit; the song is not 

 impleasant, but cannot compare with any soHtaire known 

 to me. 



While collecting one morning my attention was attracted 

 by a chorus of chirps and screams, and following up the 

 sounds I reached a taU tree where a peculiar bird drama was 

 being staged. A number of California woodpeckers {Me- 

 lanerpes flavigularis) had drilled numerous holes in the 

 tree-trunk, from which sap trickled in small streams. A 

 dozen or more buff-tailed hummers (Boissonneauaflavescens) 

 had apparently come for their daily jag, for the sap very 

 evidently had an intoxicating effect. Arriving in a bee- 

 line, newcomers landed against the trunk, where they clung 

 like so many moths, the biofif-colored tail spread wide and 

 against the bark for support. Their antics as the different 

 stages of hilarity were reached were most amusing. They 

 twittered, fought, turned, and tumbled in the air; others 

 dozed on small twigs, and several fluttered toward the 

 ground in an exhausted condition. This performance con- 

 tinued daily for a week, imtil the sap suddenly ceased to 

 flow; then the tree was deserted and silent, the capricious 

 band having no doubt sobered up from their debauch and 

 gone back to their normal and more profitable pursuits in 

 Ufe. 



In getting water from the brook, one of our men dis- 

 covered a narrow trail tmder a giant log. We justly sur- 

 mised that animals of some sort used the runway in jour- 

 neying to and from the water. A trap was set in the path, 



