m 
The Snake-Bird is Outwitted. 
wonders, but the most brilliant and interesting representatives of the 
sister one likewise had their homes here. Several species of Jacamar 
( Galbula ) among which Galbula grandis Lath., and G. flavirostris were 
specially conspicuous, were to be seen perched upon the overhanging 
branches of mighty trees with an air of silent contemplation until the 
close approach of an all too daring or imprudent insect would make them 
fly oft' as quick as thought, only to return with it to their previous roost. 
The red-polled Tanagra gularis Linn, hopped busily and sprightly 
through the bushes overhanging the water. The less the Galbula let 
itself be disturbed in its pensive meditations on the approach of human 
beings, the more shy and cautious was the Snake-bird ( Plotus anhinga 
Linn.) for which reason it only rarely happened that a hunter 
could get within gunshot. It usually picks a spot upon trees which, 
undermined by the water, bend themselves far over the stream, a stand- 
point whence it can observe its would-be captor just as well up or down 
stream and so can fly away long before he can come within range. As 
the appearance of the slightest object upon the otherwise unfrequented 
water already claims its attention a long way off, I based my method of 
catching it upon this everlasting watch that it set upon our corials. 
iWhen at last I saw the Plotus in the far distance I climbed on to the 
land where tire bank permitted of my so doing and sneaked on to it 
slowly and cautiously all the time that its attention was directed on 
the corials until it knew by the shot that it had been outwitted: but 
even then T only got possession of the bird if it were killed outright. 
Were this not the case it rushed itself with the speed of an arrow into 
the water, dived below, and was only rarely to be seen again. It usually 
swam below the surface of the bushy bank, where it stuck its pointed 
bill and little head with brilliant eyes warily out of the water, but imme- 
diately ducked again if it did not think the coast clear: it prudently 
remained always within cover of the overhanging bushes where it rightly 
felt itself safer than in the open. When swimming after its food, it is 
only the thin snake like neck and small head that are exposed: this 
continual movement of the head as the creature cuts its way through the 
smooth water forms quite a peculiar sight. Equally as skilful divers as 
the Plotus are the ospreys 7 Carbo Lac., H aliens 111.) that are indigenous 
here. We frequently found whole flocks of the scissor-bill ( Rhynchops ) 
perched together upon the immediate river-edge of the sandbanks, or else 
flying in long rows one behind the other just over the water, the surface 
of which they would be ploughing up with their sharp bills. It was a 
surprise to me to find this coastal bird so far inland : I met with it still 
even on the Rupununi. The sea-swallows, Sterna magnirostris Licht., 
iudging from their nests that the Indians found on the sandbanks, were 
likewise plentiful here: in no nest did we find more than two eggs which 
were the size of that of our plovers. 
726. On January 5th we reached the 600-foot high Arissaro Moun- 
tains which we had already seen in the distance the day before. They 
stretch from East to West and belong to the granite series: some 16 
miles farther on the approximately 200-foot high granite chain of the 
