orehead is black, the
rest of the head white; the throat and breast like the English magpie:
about an inch of the extremity of the tail is white, the other part of
it, together with the back and wings, a greyish changing purple; the
belly is white: there are generally six or eight of them in company; they
are shy and garrulous, and tarry a very short time in one place; they are
never seen in the cultivated parts.

Through the whole extent of the forest, chiefly from sunrise till nine
o'clock in the morning, you hear a sound of "Wow, wow, wow, wow." This
is the bird called boclora by the Indians. It is smaller than the common
pigeon, and seems, in some measure, to partake of its nature; its head
and breast are blue; the back and rump somewhat resemble the colour on
the peacock's neck; its belly is a bright yellow; the legs are so very
short that it always appears as if sitting on the branch; it is as
ill-adapted for walking as the swallow; its neck, for above an inch all
round, is quite bare of feathers, but this deficiency is not seen, for it
always sits with its head drawn in upon its shoulders: it sometimes feeds
with the cotingas on the guava and hitia trees; but its chief nutriment
seems to be insects, and, like most birds which follow this prey, its
chaps are well armed with bristles: it is found in Demerara at all times
of the year, and makes a nest resembling that of the stock-dove. This
bird never takes long flights, and when it crosses a river or creek it
goes by long jerks.

The boclora is very unsuspicious, appearing quite heedless of danger: the
report of a gun within twenty yards will not cause it to leave the branch
on which it is sitting, and you may often approach it so near as almost
to touch it with the end of your bow. Perhaps there is no bird known
whose feathers are so slightly fixed to the skin as those of the boclora.
After shooting it, if it touch a branch in its descent, or if it drop on
hard ground, whole heaps of feathers fall off; on this account it is
extremely hard to procure a specimen for preservation. As soon as the
skin is dry in the preserved specimen, the feathers become as well fixed
as those in any other bird.

Another species, larger than the boclora, attracts much of your notice in
these wilds; it is called cuia by the Indians, from the sound of its
voice; its habits are the same as those of the boclora, but its colours
different; its head, breast, back, and rump are a shin