/. /. QUELCH. 123 



totheres will be found to contain snakes and lizards, and 

 Rostrhamus the soft parts, picked out by their long, curved 

 and sharp beaks, from the shells of the apple-snails {Ampiil- 

 laria glauca and A. amazonicd). The vultures {Cafhartes), 

 in the forest districts, contain almost invariably a preponder- 

 ance of fruit and leaves ; while Myderia, the giant Stork, 

 seems to prefer, or at any rate is only able to secure, in the 

 depth of the dry and wet seasons, the commonest beetles, 

 grasshoppers and locusts. The most marked diet, however, 

 is that of the Hoatzin {Opisthocomus cristatus), which 

 feeds only on the young leaves and the fruit of two plants 

 that grow along the swampy margins of the rivers and 

 small streams, Drepanocarpus lunatus and Montrichardia 

 arborescens. 



The periodic migration of birds presents also some 

 curious point of interest in Guiana. Thus genera such as 

 Charadrius, Ganibetta, Totanus, Symphemia, etc., which pass 

 through our districts in enormous numbers on their down- 

 ward journey from the temperate districts in September and 

 October, are never seen by us in the spring on their return 

 journey northward. Curious, too, is the fact that while these 

 are only chance visitors once a year, other migratory birds, 

 like the Yellow-bird {Dendracd), which become extremely 

 plentiful in the months of October, November, December, 

 January, February and March, yet remain in diminished 

 numbers the year round, and even nest and rear their off- 

 spring in the tropics. 



Local migration, too, is noteworthy — dependent on the 

 seasons, the dryness or flooding of the savannahs, and the 

 flowering and fruiting of certain trees, shrubs or grasses, as 

 well as on the consequent abundance of insects. Food 

 relations such as these are most marked in such cases as 

 those of Wild Ducks, Cotingas, Parrots and great numbers 

 of the Grallcz. 



One characteristic of our birds that strikes the beholder 

 most forcibly is their astonishing brilliance and vividness of 



