SOUTH AMERICA. 
269 
eluded that it was not to be found in Demerara. FOURTH 
This bird is of a greenish brown before it acquires J0URNE - ’ 
its rich plumage. 
Amongst the bare roots of the trees, alongside of Procures 
this part of the river, a red crab sometimes makes species 
of Owl. 
its appearance, as you are passing up and down. 
It is preyed upon by a large species of owl, which I 
was fortunate enough to procure. Its head, back, 
wings, and tail, are of so dark a brown, as almost to 
appear black. The breast is of a somewhat lighter 
brown. The belly and thighs are of a dirty yellow 
white. The feathers round the eyes are of the same 
dark brown as the rest of the body; and then comes 
a circle of white, which has much the appearance of 
the rim of a large pair of spectacles. I strongly 
suspect that the dirty yellow white of the belly and 
. thighs has originally been pure white; and that it 
has come to its present colour by means of the bird 
darting down upon its prey in the mud. But this 
is mere conjecture. 
Here too, close to the river, I frequently saw the The 
bird called Sun-bird by the English colonists, and 
Tirana by the Spaniards in the Oroonoque. It is 
very elegant; and in its outward appearance ap¬ 
proaches near to the heron tribe; still it does not 
live upon fish. Flies and insects are its food ; and 
it takes them just as the heron takes fish, by ap¬ 
proaching near and then striking with its beak at 
its prey so quick, that it has no chance to escape. 
The beautiful mixture of grey, yellow, green, black, 
white, and chestnut in the plumage of this bird, 
Sun-bird. 
