And cried in that
strange sibilant language, rising to shrieks when a gale was blowing,
now gave out a larger volume of sound, more continuous, softer,
deeper, and like the wash of the sea on a wide shore.
The other trees would follow, and by and by all would be in full
foliage once more, and ready to receive their strange beautiful guests
from the tropical forests in the distant north.
The most striking of the newcomers was the small scarlet tyrant-bird,
which is about the size of our spotted flycatcher; all a shining
scarlet except the black wings and tail. This bird had a delicate
bell-like voice, but it was the scarlet colour shining amid the green
foliage which made me delight in it above all other birds. Yet the
humming-bird, which arrived at the same time, was wonderfully
beautiful too, especially when he flew close to your face and remained
suspended motionless on mist-like wings for a few moments, his
feathers looking and glittering like minute emerald scales.
Then came other tyrant-birds and the loved swallows - the house-
swallow, which resembles the English house-martin, the large purple
martin, the _Golodrina domestica_, and the brown tree-martin. Then,
too, came the yellow-billed cuckoo - the _kowe-kowe_ as it is called
from its cry.
