186 
PHYSICAL HISTORY OF THE 
ones. Among the lower trees were many Le- 
guminosae,— one of the most striking, called 
Fava, having a colossal pod. The whole mass 
of vegetation was woven together by innumer¬ 
able lianas and creeping vines, in the midst 
of which the flowers of the Bignonia, with its 
open, trumpet-shaped corolla, w 7 ere conspicu¬ 
ous. The capim was bright with the blossoms 
of the mallow growing in its midst, and was 
often edged with the broad-leaved Aninga, a 
large aquatic Arum. 
Through such a forest, where the animal 
life was no less rich and varied than the vege¬ 
tation, our boat glided slowly for hours. The 
number and variety of birds struck me with 
astonishment. The coarse sedgy grasses on 
either side were full of water birds, one of the 
most common of which was a small chestnut- 
brown wading bird,the Ja^ana (Parra), -whose 
toes are immensely long in proportion to its 
size, enabling it to run upon the surface of the 
aquatic vegetation as if it w r ere solid ground. 
It was in the month of January, their breed¬ 
ing season, and at every turn of the boat we 
started them up in pairs. Their flat, open 
nests generally contained five, flesh-colored 
