40 OUR SEARCH FOR A WILDERNESS. 



had heard day and night, but the author of which had thus 

 far evaded us. It is impossible to put into words, but it may 

 be imitated by a monotone whisde, of about four notes to the 

 second, of A above middle C. The glasses showed a mite of a 

 Pygmy Owl ""' glaring at us with wide yellow eyes, and firmly 

 clutching a dead bird, half as large as himiself. Later, when 

 standing at the edge of an impenetrable tangle of thorny 

 vines and vainly trying to discover what bird was singing in 

 loud, ringing tones within it, we thought of the fierce little 

 owl, and concealing ourselves, gave the call of Glaucidium. 

 The effect was instantaneous; the song near us ceased, and 

 with angry cries a pair of beautiful Black-capped Mocking- 

 thrushes "" flew almost overhead. Black-tailed Euphonias '^^ 

 and Grassfinches followed, Bananaquits "' whirred about us, 

 and within a few minutes thirty or forty birds had testified 

 to the hatred in which the little Owl is held. 



A great surprise to our northern eyes was the Yellow Wood- 

 pecker,"" not uncommon here, and clad in bright yellow 

 plumage from crest to tail. It was very conspicuous in 

 flight, but when it alighted, merged with the lichened bark 

 and spots of sunlight. One bird was very tame and fre- 

 quented a tree close by our window. 



One of our first walks led us through a narrow valley or 

 gorge to the westward, shaded by ranks of tall palms and 

 with isolated banana and cocoa plants, hinting of native 

 Indian clearings long since overwhelmed by the luxuriant 

 jungle growth. Wasps and other Hymenoptera outnum- 

 bered other insects at this season, and one could have col- 

 lected scores of different species in a few hours. A few 

 Heliconia butterflies drifted across our path, and now and 

 then a giant morpho shot past like a meteor of iridescent blue. 

 Other great butterflies (Caligo ilioneus) were iridescent blue 

 and brown above, while the under sides of their wings were 

 mottled and with a great eye-spot on each of the hind wings, 



