HUNTING ALONG THE UPPER PARAGUAY 213 



is essentially an animal of the deep shadows; if taken out 

 into the brilliant sunshine it dies within a very short time. 

 Frequently oiu- traps were sprung by black lizards three or 

 four feet long (Draama) ; they fought fiercely and clung 

 tenaciously to a stick or other object within their reach. 

 Their teeth are so strong that they scratched the steel bar- 

 rel of a shotgun. Rattlesnakes were not rare in the open 

 country, but they were of small size; I saw none more than 

 three feet long. 



Among the hosts of birds parrakeets were by far the most 

 abundant. They came to the mango-trees by hxmdreds 

 and were so noisy that they became a decided nuisance. 

 In feeding they frequently took a bite or two out of a fruit 

 and then, letting it fall, proceeded to another. In this way 

 a great amount was wasted, but the people were good- 

 natured over the matter and doubtless realized that there 

 was fruit enough for all, as they never molested the parrar 

 keets. Many of the birds were nesting. A red-breasted 

 thrush (Planesticus) , not unlike the robin, had its mud and 

 grass nest in the low crotch of a tree on the edge of the 

 forest, but the three eggs were heavily speckled with rusty 

 brown instead of being of a plain-blue color. There were 

 cimning little pigmy owls in the brush-patches, but in spite 

 of their small size they are very bold and ferocious and kill 

 birds nearly as large as themselves. In turn they are 

 preyed upon by members of their own family. Some of 

 ■the larger owls habitually catch small owls whenever possi- 

 ble. One day my attention was attracted by a commotion 

 in a clump of dense bushes and, as I neared the spot, an 

 owl of moderate size (Ciccaba) made a number of attempts 

 to fly up from the ground, but apparently it was carrying 

 something too heavy to permit it to fly. Finally it deserted 

 the object and flew to a branch a few yards away. Going 

 to the spot, I found a screech owl with a portion of its head 

 eaten away. Eigmy^owls are eagerly sought for by the 

 natives. They become very tame and are supposed to 

 bring good luck to their owners. We had brought a small 



