The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1884-03-22
The Guacharo or Oil Bird of the
Island of Trinidad.

The New York Sun gives the following
account of the adventures of naturalist in
search of these birds in the Island Of
Trinidad
'tBirds are nay speciality, and, speaking
of birds, here is little fellow that occa-
stoned me considerable trouble first and
last. No, it isn't much of bird, but what
it lacks in size it makes up in numbers.
In South America it is called the guacharo,
and scientifically SteatorniS caripensis. 1t
is related to our nighthawks that go PROV
ling around with the bats
The stuffed bird was about the size of
pigeon, and had long, heavy, broad,
hooked BILL and was of a brownish chestnut
color, marked with indefinite black spots.
THE OIL BIRD.
"When first heard of the bird, con-
tinued the bird man, II was travelling in a
mountainous part of Columbia, and one
night when halted in native village they
gave me some strange dish, cooked in OIL
Curious to know where they obtained oil,
/ asked native, who said it came from the
oil bird or Guacharo He furthermore
gave me to understand that the birds We're
not unlike bottles of oil; all you had to do
was to put a wick in their mouths and
light it, and you had lamp. The native
had never seen the bird himself, he said,
but bought the oil from another man, who
belonged to tribe away up In the noun
tains, and brought it down twice year.
"You may be sure l inquired about the
~ i II IL II ,,nk nj
nally came across little village where
the people knew about it. One man prom
ised to take me where could find the
birds, but he was very reluctant about it.
According to him, the birds were of ill
omen, and never came out of their hiding
places in the daytime. He said that they
lived in the ground, and that men who had
gone after them never returned.
''That settled it with me, and when L
doubled my first offer, he put aside all scru-
pies, and in two days we were off into the
interior. At the end of two days we gave
up our mules and began cutting and smash
ing through the worst country for travel
ling on the globe. The forest was abso-
lutely impenetrable. In some places the
lanes or vines formed perfect wall that
had to be cut through unless long detours
were made. was tempted more than once
to give it up, but we 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 low cliff, against which huge
boulders were piled; the tent was formed of
boughs thrust into the ground and palm
leaves thrown over the top.
A SURPRISE.
II remember we lay down at dusk, being
tired out. | must have fallen asleep di-
rectly, as l was awakened by the native
grasping me by the shoulder. started to
my feet, thinking that 1 had either gone
mad or was dreaming. 1t was dark, and
all about was the most terrific roaring and
screeching mortal man ever heard. The
only thing / can compare it to is hurri-
cane, without the wind Now there was
a wild roar, then a weird shrek, followed
by low moaning that grew louder and
louder, until it reached an awful climax,
and then died away to return again and
again. | can hear it now, said the natur-
alist, taking out highly colored Spanish
bandanna, "and it makes me warm to think
of it. Well, | was paralyzed for about a
minute, and the native was simply knocked
out of time, but l grabbed him, and in a
moment he gasped out, "Guacharo. Then
it came to me that we were among the
birds, and, picking up my gun, | fired at
random directly up. Several birds fell
within a few feet of the shed. The birds
actually filed the air in countless thousands.
You may have seen the great pigeon roosts
in Kentucky, where they break down big
trees. Well, this discounted the pigeon
roosts in every respect. L thought at first
I couldn't stand it. l sat up until one
o'clock, and then the noise let up and the
birds disappeared in some almost miracu,
lous manner. The birds | shot told the oil
story at once. They were so fat the oil
could be fairly squeezed out. l took an
old piece of flannel and proved the lamp
story then and there by thrustingit into the
bird. 1t readily lighted and gave clear
blue and yellow fame.
II suspected that the birds were like
bats, living in caves, and that we had camp
ed in close proximity to such an under
ground roost During the rush | had
imagined several times that Iheard rum
bling sound under foot, and was correct,
as was proved the next day, when l found
about 800 feet from the camp the entrance
to cave. Our camp had been right in
the path of the birds, which rushed out
every evening at dusk. The cave entrance
was about twenty feet across and covered
with feathers and guano tell you it took
nerve to go in, but arming ourselves with
clubs and lighting material, we pushed on.
For some twenty yards it was easy enough,
but then the path suddenly turned abrupt
ly downward, changing our direction, and
a walk of 100 feet led us into large
hall, perhaps $50 feet high. Up to this
time I had only used small bull's-eye light
that 1 always carried, and as We saw no
birds l thought would have an illumina-
ton, SO 1 set off red light.
Cough Cures.