ation is interwoven with innumerable creepers,
amid which the flowers of the bignonia, with their open trumpet-shaped
corollas, are conspicuous. The capim is bright with the blossoms of the
mallow growing in its midst, in some places edged with the broad-leaved
aninga--a large aquatic arum. Through these forests, where animal life
is no less rich and varied than the vegetation, our canoe glides
silently for hours.

The sedgy grasses on either side are full of water birds. One of the
most common is a small chestnut-brown wading bird--the jacana--whose
toes are immensely long in proportion to its size, enabling it to run
over the surface of the aquatic vegetation as if it were solid ground.
It is their breeding season--January. At every turn of the boat we
start them up--usually in pairs. Their flat, open nests generally
contain five flesh-coloured eggs, streaked in zig-zag with dark brown
lines. Among the other waders are a snow-white heron, another
ash-coloured, and a large white stork. The ash-coloured herons are
always in pairs--the white always singly, standing quiet and alone on
the edge of the water, or half hidden in the green capim. The trees and
bushes are full of small warbler-like birds. The most numerous and
interesting is one which builds a very extraordinary nest, considering
the size of the bird. It is known among the country people by the name
of _pedreiro_, or the _forneiro_--both names referring to the nature of
its habitation. This singular nest is built of clay, and is as hard as
stone--_pedra_; while it is the shape of the mandioca oven--_forno_--in
which the country people prepare their farina. It is about a foot in
diameter, and stands edgewise upon the branch or crotch of a tree.
Among the smaller birds are bright tanagers, and a species resembling
the canary. Humming-birds are scarce, though here and there a few
appear; while countless numbers of parrots and parrakeets fly overhead
in dense crowds, at times drowning every other sound with their noisy
clatter.

Birds of prey are not wanting. Among them is the red hawk, about the
size of a kite--and so tame, that even when a canoe passes under the
branch on which he is sitting, he does not fly away.

Among the most striking are the gallinaceous birds. The commonest is
the cigana, to be seen in groups of fifteen or twenty perched on trees
overhanging the water, and feeding upon berries. At night they roost in
pairs; but in the day