But for upwards of two hours we moved about, hearing nothing except the usual bird voices, and during all that time he never stirred a yard from my side nor made an attempt to capture anything.

At length we sat down under a tree, in an open spot close to the border of the wood.

He sat down very reluctantly, and seemed more troubled in his mind than ever, keeping his eyes continually roving about, while he listened intently to every sound.

The sounds were not few, owing to the abundance of animal and especially of bird life in this favoured spot.
I began to question my companion as to some of the cries we heard.

There were notes and cries familiar to me as the crowing of the cock--parrot screams and yelping of toucans, the distant wailing calls of maam and duraquara; and shrill laughter-like notes of the large tree-climber as it passed from tree to tree; the quick whistle of cotingas; and strange throbbing and thrilling sounds, as of pygmies beating on metallic drums, of the skulking pitta-thrushes; and with these mingled other notes less well known.