100 



WANDERINGS IN SOUTH AMERICA. 



of a bell, and may be lieard at the distance of three 

 miles. In the midst of these extensive wilds, generally 

 on the dried top of an aged mora, almost out of gun 

 reach, you will see the campanero. N'o sound or song 

 from any of the winged inhabitants of the forest, not 

 even the clearly pronounced "Whip-poor-will " from 

 the goat-sucker, causes such astonishment as the toll of 

 the campanero. 



With many of the feathered race, he pays the common 

 tribute of a morning and an evening song ; and even 

 when the meridian sun has shut in silence the mouths 

 of almost the whole of animated nature, the campanero 

 still cheers the forest. You hear his toll, and then a 

 pause for a minute, then another toll, and then a pause 

 again, and then a toll, and again a pause. Then he is 

 silent for six or eight minutes, and then another toll, 

 and so on. Acteon would stop in mid chace, Maria would 

 defer her evening song, and Orpheus himself would drop 

 his lute to listen to him, so sweet, so novel, and romantic 

 is the toll of the pretty snow-white campanero. He is 

 never seen to feed with the other cotingas, nor is it 

 known in what part of Guiana he makes his nest. 



^ While the cotingas attract your attention 



by their superior plumage, the singular form 

 of the toucan makes a lasting impression on your 

 memory. There are three species of toucans in Demerara, 

 and three diminutives, which may be called toucanets. 

 The largest of the first species frequents the mangrove 

 trees on the sea-coast. He is never seen in the interior 

 till you reach Macoushia, where he is found in the 

 neighbourhood of the river Tacatou. The other two 

 species are very common. They feed entirely on the 

 fruits of the forest, and though of the pie kind, never 



