g2 THE CONDOR 1 Vol. V 
solitary habits, which frequented the tops of small trees and at intervals uttered a 
melancholy, quavering note. 
Having now become acquainted with some of the birds in and near the savan- 
na we turned at right angles and tollowed a narrow trail through the jungle lead-- 
ing toward the high, wooded slopes on the north. Noisy ring tanagers followed 
us for some distance, seemingly much disturbed at our invasion of their domain, 
but kept well concealed in the dense undergrowth; while several times the pecu- 
liar oop-oop, oop-oop of a mot-mot led us on a vain chase through a jungle made 
penetrable only by the liberal use of our machetes. 
In one of the densely shaded nooks along the trail I saw a large spider’s web 
agitated by what at first was to me an unseen force, in the semi-darkness. Soon. 
however, my ears caught a faint humming sound, and I saw a small body faintly 
outlined just above the web, every few seconds darting towards it. At the first 
glance it appeared not unlike a large hawk-moth belonging to the SphingidcBy so 
common about flowers in the tropics; but a careful approach revealed a humming- 
bird with a rufous rump. Suddenly it vanished, and upon examining the web I 
found that many of the silken filaments had been torn apart and carried away, 
presumably for nest material. Again I heard the humming, and saw the little 
wood’s-sprite in the air a few feet from my head, the wings moving so rapidly as 
to present only an indistinct blur in the gloom. I ‘froze’ (apologies to Thomp.son- 
Seton), and thus bird and man regarded each other for .some minutes, until a loud 
“hallo-o” from my companion broke the spell, and caused me to join him farther 
up the now ascending trail. 
