"This is the first bird of that kind we have met with."
"These long-legged birds, or waders as they are called, are scarcely ever found except in marshes, or on the banks of large rivers. They can always be recognized by their legs, which are of an enormous length, and devoid of feathers below the knee—a conformation which enables them to capture their prey in shallow water."
"Is this tantalus going to fish?"
"I should imagine so, for birds of its order have no other means of obtaining food."
"One might almost fancy that it was asleep, with its great bill drooping down over its chest."
"Woe be to the fish that is of your opinion. There! did you remark its sudden movement? It plunges its head down into the water like a flash of lightning; and now you can see it holds its prey in its beak. Now it is spreading its short black-edged wings in order to take flight, and divide among its young brood the products of its labors. Do you see that beautiful large bird with a tuft on its forehead? That is the Ardea agami, a wader of the heron genus. But look, there is a flock of egretts (Egretta alba), clothed in their plumage as white as the ermine. They fly about in flocks, but separate for their fishing. These birds have rather a grave and sad air, and utter now and then a wild and plaintive cry."
We stopped to watch these waders gloomily standing in the water, until we heard l'Encuerado's "Hiou! hiou!" informing us that our companions were approaching the bivouac. I took Lucien through the forest, replying to his numerous questions about the Grallatores, when we heard the chattering and clatter produced by a band of monkeys. About twenty wild turkeys, doubtless frightened by the noise, rushed between our legs. I let the poor fugitives go, for we had already more victuals than we could consume. Lucien wondered at the number of animated beings which surrounded us, all the more surprising when compared with the gloomy solitude we had just passed through.
"In the Terre-Chaude," said I, "the water-side is always fertile, for the inhabitants both of the prairies and the forests meet there."
"Why don't the Mexicans live in such a varied and beautiful country as the Terre-Chaude?"
