200 OUR SEARCH FOR A WILDERNESS. 



the White-banded Swallows '"* now hovering before a trunk 

 and snatching a spider, now dipping at full speed for a 

 floating gnat. A hollow rattling drew our attention upward, 

 and there, gazing intently down at us, was a splendid Wood- 

 pecker — the Guiana Ivory-bill,™ close kin to our Ivory-bill 

 of the Florida swamps. Imagine a big Woodpecker with 

 dark brown back, wings and tail, while the long erect crest, 

 head, neck and breast are bright scarlet, shading into rich 

 rufous on the under parts! Such a beauty looked down at 

 us, and then without sign of fear dived into a hole. 



The Indians, passing several times a day, with loads of 

 cord wood in their ballyhoos or flat-bottomed boats, were 

 familiar with the Woodpecker and asserted that the bird 

 had no mate. It was a male and although we visited the 

 place several times no female ever appeared. The dead tree 

 which held the nest was called Aramaca by the Indians, and 

 was about a foot and a half in diameter, witli the entrance 

 not less than sixty feet above the water. A living tree like 

 it on the bank near by had obtuse entire leaves and large, 

 brown, slightly curved pods. The trunk was rotten, espe- 

 cially at the water line, and as it could not have remained 

 standing much longer, wc decided to investigate the home 

 of this little-known bird. 



We hailed the first Indians who appeared and set them to 

 work felling the tree. The Woodpecker flew out at the 

 first stroke of the axe, and remained close by, showing little 

 fear or anxiety. We landed and the Indians made the 

 trunk fall in our direction. It struck the water with a terrific 

 splash, breaking into several lengths, and finally coming to 

 rest with the hole upward. Running out along the floating 

 log we found that the nest contained a single bird, with no 

 trace of addled eggs or other young. The opening was a 

 circle, four inches in diameter, and the cavity fourteen inches 

 deep. The young bird was about five days old, fcatherless 



