There was not a stir among the leaves; the bird was not moving and would be harder to locate for that reason. As David gazed into the lacy vegetation about him the song was suddenly repeated and with such startling clearness that it sounded nearer than before. He looked quickly in the direction from which it had come, but saw nothing. It was exasperating; a creature capable of producing such a volume of sound must be of considerable size. Then why could not he see it, especially since it was so close to him? A short time later a second voice came, as if in answer to the first, but it was some distance away, reaching but faintly through the maze of vegetation on the right. David turned his head in the direction from which the new song had come, involuntarily, and at the same moment the voice of the first singer rang out even louder than before. _Oo-whee whee-oo!_ The swelling cadence cut the silence with appalling suddenness. It was uncanny, for try as he would David could not locate the bird that was calling. Either it was an accomplished ventriloquist and was not where he expected to find it, or it was so small and inconspicuously colored that it was hard to see. That was the last time the song was repeated in the near vicinity. Again and again the bursts of sound, rising and falling in astonishing volume, came to the bewildered listener, but now they were all in the distance. The songsters were all around him and the forest rang with their clear, penetrating notes. “I’m going to see one of them if it takes the rest of the day,” David said between clenched teeth. “That first one was right in front of my eyes, or I couldn’t have heard it so well. Why didn’t I see it then?” He went to the tree from which the nearest song was flowing; when he reached it there was only silence. After a moment’s wait he left the spot and went to another where several birds were calling. But they immediately hushed their voices. Then he went to another, and another. But each time he changed positions the voice he sought was quickly silenced while the jungle resounded with the others, all of which were some little distance away. It occurred to him that his abrupt movements might be frightening the creatures, so he tried stealing noiselessly from one place to another; but still the result was the same. It was like pursuing some will-o’-the-wisp, always within reach but always unattainable. An hour passed, but David took no note of the fleeting time. A second slipped by and a third had started into the abyss that has neither beginning nor end, when the persistence and patience of the watcher were rewarded. He saw a dark object dart from one branch to another and then clearly made out the form of the bird as it sat motionless on its thick perch. It was the size of a robin and of a uniform, slaty-black color; the latter fact explained why it was so hard to see in the gloom of the forest vault.