Evening capital news. (Boise, Idaho) 1901-1927, 1914-09-06


well Kermit and Fiala went after one on
two hounds which then bayed it-literally
bayed it, for the capybara fought with the
courage of a gigantic woodchuck.
If the pack overlook capybara, they, of
course, speedily finished it, but single dog
OF Our not very valorous outfit was not able
to over-match his shrill-squeaking oppo-
nent.
Near the ranch-house, about 40 feet up in
a big tree, was a abiru's nest containing
young jabirus The young birds exercised
themselves by walking solemnly around the
edge Of the nest and opening and shutting
their wings. Their heads and necks were
down-covered, instead of being naked like
those of their parents.
Fiala wished to take moving picture of
them while thus engaged, and SO, after ar
ranging his machine, he asked Harper to
rouse the young birds by throwing stick
up into the nest He did SO, whereupon one
young ja6iru hastily opened its wings in the
desired fashion, at the same time Selling the
stick in its bill! 1t dropped it at once, with
an air of comic disappointment, when it
The Clownlike Toucan.
There were many strange birds round
about Toucans were not uncommon. |
have never seen any other bird take such
grotesque and comic attitudes as the tou-
can. This day l saw one standing i'll the
top of tree with the big bill pointing
straight into the air, and the tail also cooked
H. &c
median.
On the river and in the ponds we saw the
fnfoot, bird with feet like grebe and bill
and tail like those of darter, but, like so
many South American birds, with no close
affiliations among other species.
The exceedingly rich bird fauna of South
America contains many species which seem
to be survivals from very remote past,
whose kinsfolk have persisted under the
changed conditions of recent ages and in
the case of many, like the hoatzin and
screamer, their like is not known elsewhere.
Herons of many species swarmed in this
neighborhood The handsomest was the
richly colored tiger bittern. Two other
species were so unlike ordinary herons that
l did not recognize them as herons at ALL
until Cherrie told me what they were. One
had dark body, a white-speckled or ocel-
lated neck and bill almost like that Of an
ibis
The other looked white, but was really
mauve-colored, with black on the head
When perched on tree it stood like an ibis ;
and instead of the measured wing-beats
characteristic of a herons flight it flew with
quick, vigorous Tapping of the wings.
There were queer mammals, too, as we'll as
birds. In the fields Miller trapped mice of a
kind entirely new.
The next morning the sky was leaden
and a drenching rain fell as we began our
descent of the river. The rainy season had
fairly begun. For our. good fortune we
were still where we had the cabins aboard
the boat and the ranch-house in which to
dry our clothes and soggy shoes; but in the
intensely humid atmosphere. hot and
steaming, they stayed wet long time, and
s were still moist when we put them on again.
Before we left the house where we had
been treated with such courteous hospitality
the finest rancll-house in Matte Crosse,
on a huge ranch where there are some co.
900 head of horned catte-the son OF our
host, Dom Joao the younger, the jaguar
hunter, presented me with two magnificent
volumes on the palms of Brazil, the work of
Doctor Barboso Rodriguez, one-time direc-
tor of the Botanical Gardens at Rio Jeneiro.
The two folios were in a box of native cedar.
No gift more appropriate, none that would
in the future value more as a remainder of
my stay in Matte Crosse, could have been