I/O 



THE LOWER AMAZONS 



fore, set apart for the elaboration of a sound-producing 

 instrument. In this family the wing-cases lie fiat on 

 the back of the insect, and overlap each other for a con- 

 siderable portion of their extent. In the Locustidae the 

 same members have a sloping position on each side of 

 the body, 3.nd do not overlap, except to a small extent 

 near their bases ; it is out of this small portion that the 

 stridulating organ is contrived. Greater resonance is 

 given in most species by a thin transparent plate, covered 

 by a membrane, in the centre of the overlapping lobes. 

 In the Grasshoppers (Acridiidae) the wing-cases meet in 

 a straight suture, and the friction of portions of their 

 edges is no longer possible. But Nature exhibits the 

 same fertility of resource here as elsewhere ; and in con- 

 triving other methods of supplying the males with an 

 instrument for the production of call-notes indicates the 

 great importance which she attaches to this function. 

 The music in the males of the Acridiidae is produced 

 by the scraping of the long hind thighs against the 

 horny nervures of the outer edges of the wing-cases ; a 

 drum-shaped organ placed in a cavity near the insertion 

 of the thighs being adapted to give resonance to the 

 tones. 



I obtained very few birds at Obydos. There was no 

 scarcity of birds, but they were mostly common Cayenne 

 species. In early morning the woods near my house 

 were quite animated with their songs — an unusual thing 

 in this country. I heard here for the first time the 

 pleasing wild notes of the Carashue, a species of thrush, 

 probably the Mimus lividus of ornithologists. I found 

 it afterwards to be a common bird in the scattered woods 

 of the campo district near Santarem. It is a much smaller 

 and plainer-coloured bird than our thrush, and its song 

 is not so loud, varied, or so long sustained ; but the tone 

 is of a sweet and plaintive quality, which harmonizes well 

 with the wild and silent woodlands, where alone it is 

 heard in the mornings and evenings of sultry tropical 

 days. In course of time the song of this humble thrush 

 stirred up pleasing associations in my mind, in the same 

 way as those of its more highly endowed sisters formerly 

 did at home. There are several allied species in Brazil ; 

 in the southern provinces they are called Sabiahs. The 

 Brazilians are not insensible to the charms of this their 

 best songster, for I often heard some pretty verses in 



