128 
WANDERINGS IN 
SECOND 
JOURNEY 
The 
Bittern. 
The 
snow- 
white 
Egrette. 
shy or wary; you may take your blow-pipe and 
quiver of poisoned arrows, and kill more than you 
are able to carry back to your hut. They are very 
vociferous, and, like the common parrots, rise up in 
bodies towards sunset, and fly two and two to their 
place of rest. It is a grand sight in ornithology to 
see thousands of aras flying over your head, low 
enough to let you have a full view of their flaming 
mantle. The Indians find their flesh very good, 
and the feathers serve for ornaments in their head¬ 
dresses. They breed in the holes of trees, are 
easily reared and tamed, and learn to speak pretty 
distinctly. 
Another species frequents the low lands of 
Demerara. He is nearly the size of the scarlet 
ara, but much inferior in plumage. Blue and 
yellow are his predominant colours. 
Along the creeks and river sides, and in the wet 
savannas, six species of the Bittern will engage 
your attention. They are all handsome. The 
smallest not so large as the English water-hen. 
In the savannas, too, you will sometimes surprise 
the snow-white Egrette, whose back is adorned with 
the plumes from which it takes its name. Here 
too the spur-winged water-hen, the blue and green 
w r ater-hen, and two other species of ordinary 
plumage, are found. While in quest of these, the 
blue heron, the large and small brown heron, the 
boatbill, and Muscovy duck, now and then rise up 
before you. 
When the sun has sunk in the western woods, no 
