Chap. XIII. DECORATION. 79 



I will mention only one other bird, remarkable from 

 the extreme contrast in colour between the sexes, 

 namely the famous Bell-bird (Chasmorhynclms niveus) of 

 S. America, the note of which can be distinguished at 

 the distance of nearly three miles, and astonishes every 

 one who first hears it. The male is pure white, whilst 

 the female is dusky-green ; and the former colour with 

 terrestrial species of moderate size and inoffensive 

 habits is very rare. The male, also, as described by 

 Waterton, has a spiral tube, nearly three inches in 

 length, which rises from the base of the beak. It is jet- 

 black, dotted over with minute downy feathers. This 

 tube can be inflate 1 with air, through a communication 

 with the palate ; and when not inflated hangs down on 

 one side. The genus consists of four species, the males 

 of which are very distinct, whilst the females, as de- 

 scribed by Mr. Sclater in a most interesting paper, 

 closely resemble each other, thus offering an excellent 

 instance of the common rule that within the same 

 group the males differ much more from each other than 

 do the females. In a second species ((7. nudicollis) the 

 male is likewise snow-white, with the exception of a 

 large space of naked skin on the throat and round the 

 eyes, which during the breeding-season is of a fine green 

 colour. In a third species ((7. tricarunculatus) the head 

 and neck alone of the male are white, the rest of the 

 body being chesnut-brown, and the male of this species 

 is provided with three filamentous projections half as 

 long as the body — one rising from the base of the beak 

 and the two others from the corners of the mouth.'^^ 



The coloured plumage and certain other ornaments of 



^♦^ Mr. Sclattr, 'Intellectual Observer,' Jan. 1867. ' Waterton's 

 Wanderings,' p. 118. See also Mr, Salvin's interesting paper, with a 

 plate, in the ' Ibis,' 18G5, p. 90. 



