SOUTH AMERICA. 



129 



rest of the body is black. His beak is the colour of Second 



Journey. 



sulphur, ' but it fades in death, and requires the same 



operation as the bill of the Toucan to make it keep its 

 colours. Up the rivers, in the interior, there is another 

 Cassique, nearly the same size, and of the same habits, 

 though not gifted with its powers of imitation. Except 

 in breeding time, you will see hundreds of them retiring 

 to roost, amongst the Moca-moca-trees and low shrubs 

 on the banks of the Demerara, after you pass the first 

 island. They are not common on the sea-coast. The 

 rump of this Cassique is a flaming scarlet. All the rest 

 of the body is a rich glossy black. His bill is sulphur 

 colour. You may often see numbers of this species 

 weaving their pendulous nests on one side of a tree, 

 while numbers of the other species are busy in forming 

 theirs on the opposite side of the same tree. Though 

 such near neighbours, the females are never observed to 

 kick up a row, or come to blows ! 



Another species of Cassique, as large as a ci;ow, is very Another 



species of 



common in the plantations. In the morning, he generally theCassique 

 repairs to a large tree, and there with his tail spread over 

 his back, and shaking his lowered Avings, he produces 

 notes, which though they cannot be said to amount to a 

 song, still have something very sweet and pleasing in 

 them. He makes his nest in the same form as the other 

 Cassiques. It is above four feet long ; and when you 

 pass under the tree, which often contains fifty or sixty of 



s 



