There are scores, probably hundreds of birds, all moving about
with the greatest activity--woodpeckers and Dendrocolaptidae
(from species no larger than a sparrow to others the size of a
crow) running up the tree trunks; tanagers, ant-thrushes,
hummingbirds, fly-catchers, and barbets flitting about the leaves
and lower branches. The bustling crowd loses no time, and
although moving in concert, each bird is occupied, on its own
account, in searching bark or leaf or twig; the barbets visit
every clayey nest of termites on the trees which lie in the line
of march. In a few minutes the host is gone, and the forest path
remains deserted and silent as before. I became, in course of
time, so accustomed to this habit of birds in the woods near Ega,
that I could generally find the flock of associated marauders
whenever I wanted it. There appeared to be only one of these
flocks in each small district; and, as it traversed chiefly a
limited tract of woods of second growth, I used to try different
paths until I came up with it.
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