TRAVELS IN BRAZIL. 



161 



tame, to settle upon the backs of the mules or 

 oxen ; small wood-peckers * silently creep up the 

 trees and look in the bark for insects ; the rusty 

 thrush, called Jodo de Barros t, fearlessly fixes its 

 oven-shaped nest quite low between the branches ; 

 the siskin-like creeper t slips imperceptibly from its 

 nest, (which, like that of the pigeons, is built of 

 twigs, and hangs down from the branches to the 

 length of several feet,) to add a new division to it 

 for this year ; the Cdoha § , sitting still on the tops 

 of the trees, looks down after the serpents basking / 

 on the roads, which, even though poisonous, con- 

 stitute its food, and sometimes, when it sees people 

 approaching, it sets up a cry of distress, resembling 

 a human voice. It is very rarely that the tranquil- 

 lity of the place is interrupted, when garrulous 

 orioles || (^Papa arroz), little parrots and parroquets 

 (Maracands, Maritdcas, Jandaids\ coming in flocks 

 from the maize and cotton plantations in the neigh- 

 bouring wood, alight upon the single trees on the 

 campos, and with terrible cries appear still to con- 

 tend for the booty ; or bands of restless hooded 

 cuckoos^, crowded together upon the branches, 

 defend, with a noisy croaking, their common nest, 



* Picus campestris nob., flavifrons Veill. 



f Turdus Figulus, nob. 



:|: Anabates rufifrons, Neuw. 



§ Falco cachinans, Cuv. 



11 Oriolus minor, L. 



^ Cuculus Guira. 



VOL. II. M 



