8 OUR SEARCH FOR A WILDERNESS, 



now the scene slowly changed. The tide was falling 

 rapidly, swirling and eddying past the boat, and the roots 

 of the mangroves began to protrude, their long stems shining 

 black until the water dried from them. Mud-flats appeared, 

 and suddenly, without warning, a living flame passed us — 

 and we had seen our first Scarlet Ibis".* 



Past the dark green background of mangrove foliage the 

 magnificent bird flew swiftly — flaming with a brilliance 

 which shamed any pigment of human art. Blood red, 

 intensest vermilion, deepest scarlet — all fail to hint of the 

 living color of the bird. Before we could recover from our 

 delight a flock of twenty followed, flying close together, with 

 bills and feet scarlet like the plumage. They swerved from 

 their path and alighted on the mud close to the mangroves, 

 and began feeding at once. Then a trio of snowy-while 

 Egrets'- with trailing plumes floated overhead ; others appeared 

 above the tops of the trees; a host of tiny Sandpipers skimmed 

 the surface of the water and scurried over the flats. Great 

 Cocoi Herons '' swept majestically into view; Curlews and 

 Plover '* assembled in myriads, lining the mud-flats at the 

 water's edge, while here and there, like jets of flame against 

 the mud, walked the vermilion Ibises. Terns " with great 

 yellow bills flew about the sloop, and Skimmers " ploughed 

 the surface of the tide in endless furrows. Macaws'" began 

 to pass, shrieking as they flew, two and two together — and 

 then night closed quickly over all. From the zenith the sun 

 had looked down upon a stream as quiet as death; it sank 

 upon a scene full of the animation of a myriad forms of life. 

 As dusk settled down and hid the shore from our eyes, 

 another sense was aroused, and to our ears came the sounds 

 of night in these tropical jungles — a thousand cries, moans, 



* The superior figures following the names of birds throughout the 

 volume refer to a list of their scientific names given for identification in 

 Appendix A. 



