SECOND JOURNEY. 



113 



aiar. 



A bird called Jacamar is often taken for a 

 The Jaca- king-fisker, but it has no relationship to that 

 tribe ; it frequently sits in the trees over the 

 water, and as its beak bears some resemblance to that of 

 the king-fisher, this may probably account for its being 

 taken for one. It feeds entirely upon insects * it sits on 

 a branch in motionless expectation, and as soon as a fly, 

 butterfly, or moth passes by, it darts at it, and returns 

 to the branch it had just left. It seems an indolent, 

 sedentary bird, shunning the society of all others in the 

 forest. It never visits the plantations, but is found at 

 all times of the year in the woods. There are four species 

 of jacamar in Demerara ; they are all beautiful ; the 

 largest, rich and superb in the extreme. Its plumage is 

 of so fine a changing blue and golden green, that it may 

 be ranked with the choicest of the humming-birds. ISTa- 

 ture has denied it a song, but given a costly garment in 

 lieu of it. The smallest species of jacamar is very common 

 in the dry savannas. The second size, all golden green 

 on the back, must be looked for in the wallaba forest. 

 The third is found throughout the whole extent of these 

 wilds ; and the fourth, which is the largest, frequents 

 the interior, where you begin to perceive stones in the 

 ground. 



When you have penetrated far into Ma- 

 piai?^ co'i^s^i^? ^^^^ pretty songster, called 

 Troupiale, pour forth a variety of sweet and 

 plaintive notes. This is the bird which the Portuguese 

 call the nightingale of Guiana ; its predominant colours 

 are rich orange and shining black, arrayed to great 

 advantage ; his delicate and well-shaped frame seems 

 unable to bear captivity. The Indians sometimes bring 

 down troupiales to Stabroek, but in a few months they 



