. Our search for a wilderness; an account of two ornithological expeditions to Venezuela and to British Guiana . westward, shaded by ranks of tall palms andwith isolated banana and cocoa plants, hinting of nativeIndian clearings long since overwhelmed by the luxuriantjungle growth. Wasps and other Hymenoptera outnum-bered other insects at this season, and one could have col-lected scores of different species in a few hours. A fewHeliconia butterflies drifted across our path, and now andthen a giant morpho shot past like a meteor of iridescent great butterflies (Calico ilioneus) were
. Our search for a wilderness; an account of two ornithological expeditions to Venezuela and to British Guiana . westward, shaded by ranks of tall palms andwith isolated banana and cocoa plants, hinting of nativeIndian clearings long since overwhelmed by the luxuriantjungle growth. Wasps and other Hymenoptera outnum-bered other insects at this season, and one could have col-lected scores of different species in a few hours. A fewHeliconia butterflies drifted across our path, and now andthen a giant morpho shot past like a meteor of iridescent great butterflies (Calico ilioneus) were iridescent blueand brown above, while the under sides of their wings weremottled and with a great eye-spot on each of the hind wings, THE LAKE OF PITCH. 41 which gives them the name of the owl butterfly. But howevermuch, in an insect cabinet, the expanded reverse of the wingssuggests the face of an owl, the spot, as we observed it in theforest, seemed rather to render the insect invisible. Thesegreat fellows would shoot up to a lichen-covered trunk anddrop lightly upon it, and unless ones eyes had followed. Fig. 20. Yellow Woodpecker. closely, the butterfly vanished like magic. Creeping up toone we secured its picture, the mottlings on its wings merg-ing it with the lichens, and its owl-eyes becoming the paintedfacsimiles of darkened knotholes, or of little atoll-like fungusrings. One is constantly impressed by the abundance and varietyof these protective adaptations. Instead of ones eyes be- 42 OUR SEARCH FOR A WILDERNESS. coming more accustomed and trained in detecting these de-ceptions, the puzzles increase, and one becomes suspicious ofeverything. Every few minutes we are halted by a curledleaf which resembles some great caterpillar, or by a partlydecayed fruit which may prove to be a curiously marked
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