THE BIRDS. 
185 
lovely woods. These woods are far more varied 
and open than those which border the Parana. 
There they are close and thick; if you would 
walk through them, your way must be cut with 
a machete: and, when you have penetrated 
some distance, you reach a land of silence. Not 
a sound is heard, not even the note of a bird : 
not a flower is to be seen : on all sides stretches 
the forest, impenetrable and sombre. It is 
different in the Chaco; there you can usually 
walk without cutting your way: and you 
always find open spots, either glades or patches, 
which let in air and sunlight. This has a 
powerful effect on their character. They are 
neither empty, nor silent: birds haunt them : 
and they are full of sound and colour. 
There are several sounds which make up the 
impression the forest leaves on you, as you sit 
in the shade during the hot, still noon. Under 
all is the subdued hum of countless insects, 
inseparably connected with hot days every¬ 
where, a musical and resonant note, born of the 
heat and the stillness. Then there is the 
peaceful sleepy call of the Spotted Dove. That 
also is an underlying and all-pervading sound, 
for you cannot tell whence it comes, and it 
seems to be part of the air itself. Quite 
different, harsh and distinct, there comes from 
a distance the unmistakeable scream of parrots. 
But you will not have been seated long before 
you will be conscious of movement as well as 
