Walter Goodfellow—Some Reminiscences of a Collector



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out-of-the-way part of the world. I often think still of the difficulties

I had with these and a few other birds I brought at the same time,

and when I was racked with fever for a great part of the journey,

finding an outlet down to the Amazon.


Blue-and-yellow Macaws, Rice Grackles ( Cassidix oryzivora ), Guira,

and Ani ( Crotophaga ) Cuckoos were with us all the year round, and

conspicuous because of their numbers and keeping to the open. Every

thorn bush in the clearing held one or more Cuckoo’s nests. The Rice

Grackles came among the poultry and shared their maize, and were

indefatigable hunters of ticks among the cattle. Although so sleek

and glossy, these birds are not a favourite of mine as they are great

tyrants to all small birds and even to others as large as themselves.

Whether they attack young chickens I cannot say, but hens with broods

always chased them, while others took no exception to them. They are

extremely suspicious birds and, although constantly around my house,

were most difficult to catch whichever method was tried. On killing

days, when bullocks were slaughtered to make charqui (dried meat),

two or three boys had to patrol along the lines where the meat was

hung out to dry to keep off the Turkey Buzzards who watched every

opportunity to steal it. They are particularly persistent and daring

and, although I tried every ruse I could think of to keep them off,

they always baffled me.


At the end of the dry season came the first rains which lasted two

weeks on and off, followed by two months of fine weather with light

showers only before the heavy rains finally set in in January. This

was the spring time when many birds returned to us and began to

nest. Trees burst into bloom (although many of the most beautiful

flowered in the dry season) which attracted many Humming Birds,

for it was only at this time of the year we saw any at all. These seemed

all forest species and never came beyond the edge of the clearing ;

although I had many flowers around the house I never saw a Hummer

come to them. That exceedingly beautiful Tyrant Flycatcher (Muscivora

tyrannus) was very welcome to the clearing, as they remained constantly

around the house, sitting on the roof and fences, performing their

graceful evolutions in the air so I was never tired of watching them,

especially when two males were sparring in the air together with their



