The Forest Republican. [volume] (Tionesta, Pa.) 1869-1952, 1883-12-19

"a
to South America. told Sun reporter
about his search for peculiar bird in
Colombia. Tho bird is about the size OF
pigeon, and has long, heavy, broad,
hooked bill and is of brownish chest
nut color. marked with indefinite black
spots.
t"When I first heard of the bird, - said
the Nbird man, 81 was travelling in q
mountainous, part of Colombia, and
sone night when | halted in native
Village they gave me some strange dish,
cooked in oil. ] asked native, who
said it came from the oil bird or guacharo.
He furthermore gavo me to understand
that the birds were not unlike bottles of
oil; all YOU had to do was to put wick
in their mouths and light 1t, and you had
lamp. The native had never seen the
bird himself. he said but bought the Oil
from another man, who belonged to a
tribe ,aw6Nup in the mountainS, and
brought it dSwn twice year.
You may he sure / inquired about
the guacharo Of al the natives | met, and
finally came across little village where
the people knew about 1t. One man
promised to take me where | could find
the birds, but he was very reluctant about
it. According to him, the birds were of
i'll omen, and never came out of their
hiding places in the daytime. He said
that they lived in the ground, and that
men who AsR gone after thempoyer re-
urncd .skF
soThat settled it with me, and When
doubled my first offer, he put aside,all
scruples, and in two days we were of
into the interior. At the end of two.
DAYS we gave up our. mules and began
cutting and smashing through the worst
country for travelling on the globe. The
forest was absolutely impenetrable. In
some places the lanes or vines formed a
perfect wall that had 10 be cut through
unless long detours we're made. was
tempted more than once to give it up
but Re kept on, and finally, after nearly
a weeks work. reached the mountains
among which the birds were supposed to
live. Our camp was formed at the foot
of a low cliff, against which huge boul-
ders were pileds the tent was formed of
boughs thrust into the ground and palm
leaves thrown over the top.
I" l remember we lay down at dusk, be-
ing tired out. must have fallen asleep
directly. as l was awakened by the native
grasping me by the shoulder. l started
10 N, .feet, thinking that l had either
gonen-ad orwas dreaming 1t was dark,
and an about was the most terrific roaring
and screoching mortal man ever heard.
The only thing l can compare it to is Il
hurricane. without the wind. Now there
was a wild roar, then weird Shrek, fol
lowed by allow moaning that grew louder
and louder until it reached an awful cli-
Il, Il .osln To ,ot,t o,s1t In
and again. can hear it now" said the
naturalist, taking ont a highly-colored
Spanish bandanna, and il makes me
warm to think of it. Well, ! was para
lived for about minute. and the native
veg simply knocked out OF time, but !
grabbed him. and in moment he
gasped out, Guacharo.' Then 1t came
10 me that we were among the birds,
and, picking up my gun, fired at
random. directly up. Several birds fell
within few feet OF the shed. The birds
actually filled the air in countless thou
sands You may have seen the great
pigeon roosfs in Kentucky, where they
break down great trees, Well, this dis
counted the aigeon roosts IN every re
spect lthoughtat first | couldn't Stand
it. ! sat up until one o'clock. and then
the noise let et-Hpand the birds disappeared
in some almost miraculous manner The
birds,I shot told the oil Story at once.
They were 50 fat that the oil could be
fairly squeezed out. ] took IN Cd piece
Of flannel and proved the lamp story then
and there by thrusting it into the bird.
II readily lighted and gave Il clear blue
and yellew hamc.
II suspected that tie birds were like
bats, living in caves, and that we had
camped in close proximity 20 such an un-
derground roost During he rush had
imagined several times that ! heard Il
ulmbling sound under foot and | was
correct. as was pro4ed the next day,
when | found about 800 feet from tha
camp tho entrance Of cave. Our camp
had bcen right in the path Of the birds,
which rushed ont every evening at dusk.
The cave entrance was about twenty feet
across and covered with feathers and
guano. tell You it took nerve to 90 in.
but, auming ourselves with clubs am
lighting material, we pushed on. ForsomC
twenty yards ii was easy enough, but
then the path suddenly turned abruptly
downward, changing our direction, ano
a walk of a hundred feet led us into ;
large hall. perhaps one hundred and fifty
feet high Up TO this time ! had only
used small bull's-eye light that ! al
WAYS carried, and as we saw no birds
thought | would have an illumination, $,
/ set off red light Well sir, ther,
came such laundering scream and vol
lex Of echoes that l thought the whole
AnQean chain was falling on us. Th
natiSo went on MS knees, and felt lik
following suit In fact, did fall fiat
moment later to avoid the rush. Tn
light showed a most astonishing spec
tacle. Every creyice of the wall wa
filed with birds and nests, As the bird
Tapped their wings the entire cave seemed
walled with them, while the air becam
every moment more densely filed, s.
that, as ! said | was forced 10 lie dow
and press my fingers in my ears. The
dashed at rs through the light striking