Page:The naturalist on the River Amazons 1863 v2.djvu/355

 The bustling crowd loses no time, and although moving in concert, each bird is occupied, on its own account, in searching bark or leaf or twig; the barbets visiting every clayey nest of termites on the trees which lie in the line of march. In a few minutes the host is gone, and the forest path remains deserted and silent as before. I became, in course of time, so accustomed to this habit of birds in the woods near Ega, that I could generally find the flock of associated marauders whenever I wanted it. There appeared to be only one of these flocks in each small district; and, as it traversed chiefly a limited tract of woods of second growth, I used to try different paths until I came up with it.

The Indians have noticed these miscellaneous hunting parties of birds, but appear not to have observed that they are occupied in searching for insects. They have supplied their want of knowledge, in the usual way of half-civilised people, by a theory which has degenerated into a myth, to the effect that the onward moving bands are led by a little grey bird, called the Papá-uirá, which fascinates all the rest, and leads them a weary dance through the thickets. There is certainly some appearance of truth in this explanation; for sometimes stray birds, encountered in the line of march, are seen to be drawn into the throng, and purely frugivorous birds are now and then found mixed up with the rest, as though led away by some will-o'-the-wisp. The native women, even the white and half-caste inhabitants of the towns, attach a superstitious value to the skin and feathers of the Papá-uirá, believing that if they keep them in their clothes' chest, the relics will have the