The singers in a rainforest are like a group of musicians hidden in their orchestra pit. You can hear a great many birds in French Guiana, but actually see only a few. The trees are so tall and the vegetation is so lush that these birds remain hidden in the leaves or high up in the forest canopy. Generally speaking, only their voices lead you to suspect they exist.Birdsong is also a means of determining their species, even for neophytes. And where some nocturnal birds are concerned, it is the only means, because in daytime they are invisible. Pierre Huguet made these magnificent recordings _ on trails outside SaUl, along the Itany tributaries of the Maroni river upstream from AntEcume- Pata, and in the zones between Cayenne and Saint-Georges that are inhabited or under cultivation _ with the assistance of the Wayana canoeists, Olivier Claessens and his scientific expertise in identifying the birds, and the Groupe d'Etudes et de Protection des Oiseaux en Guyane. Patrick FREMEAUX