SOUTH AMERICA. 
123 
far short of the brilliancy displayed by the English 
king-fisher. This little native of Britain would out¬ 
weigh them altogether in the scale of beauty. 
A bird called Jacamar is often taken for a kin^- 
fisher, but it has no relationship to that tribe; it 
frequently sits in the trees over the water, and as its 
beak bears some resemblance to that of the king¬ 
fisher, this may probably account for its being taken 
for one; it feeds entirely upon insects ; it sits on a 
branch in motionless expectation, and as soon as a 
fly, butterfly, or moth passes by, it darts at it, and 
returns to the branch it had just left. It seems an 
indolent, sedentary bird, shunning the society of all 
others in the forest. It never visits the plantations, 
but is found at all times of the year in the woods. 
«/ 
There are four species of jacamar in Demerara; 
they are all beautiful; the largest, rich and superb in 
the extreme. Its plumage is of so fine a changing 
blue and golden green, that it may be ranked with 
the choicest of the humming-birds. Nature has 
denied it a song, but given a costly garment in lieu 
of it. The smallest species of jacamar is very 
common in the dry savannas. The second size, all 
golden green on the back, must be looked for in the 
wallaba forest. The third is found throughout the 
whole extent of these wilds ; and the fourth, which 
is the largest, frequents the interior, where you begin 
to perceive stones in the ground. 
When you have penetrated far into Macoushia, 
you hear the pretty songster, called Troupiale, pour 
forth a variety of sweet and plaintive notes. This 
SECOND 
JOURNEY^ 
The 
Jacamar. 
TheTrou- 
piale. 
