C6 WONDERS OF TUB TROPICAL FORESTS, 
iclioeumons, sqciiTels, and monkeys^ tliat resort to it for 
concealment. In tliese hiding-places the latter might 
easily defy the sportsman ; but they frequently fall victims 
to a silly curiosity, for when he is accompanied by his dog, 
they cannot resist tlie temptation of watching the animal's 
movements, and, coming forth to peep, expose themselves 
to a fatal shot. 
The stalks of the decayed loaves remain partly attached 
to the trunk, affbrding supports to a profusion of climb- 
ing and epiphytic plants, which hide the stem under a 
brilliant tapestry of flower and verdure. 
When the spathes of the fruit- bearing trees exhibit 
themselves, the toddy-drawer forthwith commence.s his 
operations, climbing b}^ the assistance of a loop of flesible 
jungle-vine, snfficiently wide to admit both his ankles and 
leave a space between them, thus enabling him to grasp 
the trunk of the tree with his feet and support himself 
as he ascends. Having pruned off tlie stalks of fallen 
leaves, and cleansed the crown from old fruit-stalks and 
other superfluous matter, he binds the spathes tightly with 
thongs to prevent them fram further expansion, and 
descends, after having thoroughly bruised the embryo 
flowers within to facilitate the exit of the juice. For 
several succeeding mornings the operation of crushing is 
repeated, and each day a thin slice is taken off the end of 
the racemes, to facilitate the exit of the sap and prevent 
its bursting the spathe. About the eighth morning the 
sap begins to exude, an event which is notified by the 
immediate appearance of birds, especially of the " toddy 
bird," a species of shrike, attracted by the flies and other 
insects which come to feed on the luscious juice of the 
palm. 
The crows, ever on the alert when any nnnsual movement 
is in progress, keep up a constant chattering and wrang- 
ling ; and about this time the palymra becomes the resort 
of the palm-martin and the graceful genet, which frequent 
the trees in quest of birds. On ascertaining that the 
