194 OUR SEARCH FOR A WILDERNESS. 



liquid, running together at the last into a maze of warbling 

 which continues for eight or ten seconds — then ceases, and 

 the liquid notes form an exquisite finale of a trio of sweet 

 phrases. The singer is invisible; we never learn what it is, 

 but it deserves a place near the head of the songsters even 

 of temperate climes. As we walk along. Toucans and other 

 birds fly high overhead with whirring beats of their drenched 

 wings. Woodhewers loop from trunk to trunk and peer at us 

 as we pass, while Ant-birds fly here and there. In all our 

 tramps through thick jungles, these two latter families are 

 in the majority, the former hitching up the trunks like brown 

 Woodpeckers of varioiis sizes, the latter simulating Wrens, 

 Warblers and Sparrows in action and often in voice. 



One, a White-shouldered Pygmy Ant-bird,"' now flits ahead 

 of us, tiny as a Wren, slate-colored, with white dots on 

 the lesser coverts of the wings and a dotted bar across the 

 wings. The flanks and under wings are white and although 

 ordinarily concealed, yet^the little fellow flirts his wings every 

 second, thus flashing out the color, and making himself most 

 conspicuous. His call-note is low and inarticulate, but he 

 occasionally lisps a, pleasing little song; cfiu! chu! chuwee! 



We enter a deep narrow gully, our feet sinking deep in moss 

 and mould, trip over a Ridden root and, looking back, see 

 a magnificent rhinocer6S' beetle which we have disturbed, 

 feebly kicking his six legs in the air. In these deep valleys 

 the air is saturated with reeking odors — woody, spicy and 

 mouldy and altogether delightful. Moss grows on the 

 stems of the plants like wide radiating fans of delicate green 

 lace. In these places we find the commonest palms which 

 grow near Hoorie — stemless, with fronds springing fern- 

 like from the ground. 



Leaving the vicinity of the trail we start out through the 

 heart of the jungle, keeping by compass in a general north- 

 west direction. Here the trees increase in size and grow 



