Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 84.djvu/307

Rh constitute an important part of the flora. In some swamps there was a slender stemmed plant which had little white air bladders to keep it at the surface.

The jacana, a rail-like bird, is admirably adapted to live in tropical swamps. The greatly elongated toes enable this bird to walk with ease over the floating vegetation. Both sexes have a spur on the front of each wing which they use in fighting. A flock of jacanas is a beautiful sight as it alights, for every bird stretches its yellow-tipped wings as far upward as possible before closing them. Another swamp bird was a

species of tree-creeper which built a long bottle-shaped nest, which was constructed of thorny twigs in low shrubs. The eggs were placed in a little enlargement at the closed end and the long thorny entrance prevented snakes and other predaceous animals from entering.

The swamp water swarmed with aquatic bugs, beetles, snails and other animals. One large snail always climbed out of the water to deposit its beautiful rose-pink cluster of eggs on the stems of plants. Around the margins of the swamps there were many land crabs, snakes and peculiar engistomatidengystomatid [sic]| toads. Tropical swamps constitute an admirable habitat for many animals. The abundant vegetation and small animals fill the water with an organic network which supports many larger predaceous animals such as fish, herons, ducks, jacanas and snipe.