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Show 1896.] EXPEDITION ON THE LOWER AMAZON. 773 sluggish beast; at any rate a small specimen which I saw in the Public Gardens at Para, was particularly so. BIRDS.-With regard to the Birds we met with I need say but little, as most of them belonged to well-known species. Hoazins (Opisthocomus cristatus) were extremely numerous in the bushes fringing the Parana de Buyassu, and could be seen flapping about, balancing themselves on twigs, and uttering their harsh cries in all directions. In the furo leading to Monte Alegre we also found them abundant, and here they appeared to be in better plumage, if not to belong to a finer race than the Buyassu birds. On the Parana de Buyassu and in the Monte Alegre furo a beautiful little Heron (Butorides cyanurus) was common and was often flushed out of the bushes. I may add that large white Herons, Egrets, and a bird closely resembling Ardea cinerea were frequently seen at various points along the shores of the river. Black Cuckoos (Crotophaga major) were another species common everywhere ; these birds often associate in small flocks of half a dozen or more. At Monte Alegre I obtained a yellowish-brown Woodpecker (Celeus ochraceus) which is possibly of some value, as I find that we have only two other specimens of the species in the Museum collection. The only other bird to wdiich I need refer is a beautiful little Goatsucker, which was one of two that I met with on the Rio Negro, hawking in the air about three miles below Manaos and on the opposite shore to the city. I did not observe this species anywhere else. The specimen, which is unfortunately a young bird, has been referred provisionally by Mr. Ogilvie Grant toNyctlprogne leucopygla ; however, it certainly belongs to a much smaller race than the typical form. REPTILES AND AMPHIBIANS.-I have already stated that among Reptiles and Amphibians, with a single exception (a small Frog), we met with nothing of any special interest. Strange to say we encountered no poisonous Snakes, and although constantly on the look out for the " hideous Sucuruju," as Bates calls the Anaconda (Eunectes minimis), we were never so fortunate as to see one, although wherever we enquired about it the natives invariably assured us that it occurred. Of Alligators, too, we only met with two or three small specimens. These creatures, though doubtless common enough, are, on the course followed by the steamers, extremely shy and seldom seen, although on a lagoon near Santarem I believe Mr. Pickard Cambridge observed a number of them. The little Frog above alluded to (Prostherapis femoralis, Blgr.) was captured at Monte Alegre on Jan. 26th, and is the only specimen that has hitherto been obtained in Brazil. The species was described by Mr. Boulenger in 1894 from two specimens from Turimaguas, on the Rio Huallaga, in Peru, and has until now been represented in the Museum collection only by the types and two other individuals from Ecuador. |