- 67 - 
A Tropica l 
Kingfisher 
Ostinops 
Now a dozen Parrakeets whirl overhead, reminding 
me of a flock of Cedar Birds as they rise and fall in 
slight undulations and wever in their course. Next a 
larger Parrot shoots across the space of open sky, his wings 
looking broad and bat-like and cutting down deep at every 
stroke. 
The second is of a creek of shallow, clay-colored 
water, winding between steep and often overhanging banks 
through a cacao grove. From some driftwood lodged at the 
head of a pool a long, slender, bleached branch projects 
upward and on its extreme end, full in the beams of the 
rising sun, glittering -like a big emerald, sits a tropical 
Kingfisher ( Ceryle cabanisi ), his bill pointing down and 
his gaze fixed on the water beneath. I stand for a minute 
or two within ten yards of him. Then he takes flight in 
silence and disappears around the next bend. Hummingbirds 
are buzzing all around me and a Honey Creeper is singing 
directly overhead. 
The third is of a hugh Ceiba which stands not far 
from the road and just outside the forest. It is bathed 
in strong sunlight and its foliage is agitated here and 
there by the movements of a number of large birds of a 
dark, rich maroon brown, with much yellow in the tail. 
They are Caciques ( Ostinops ). One of the females is at 
work on the framework of a nest which hangs suspended, pre¬ 
cisely like our Oriole’s nest, at the end of a leafy branch. 
