FAMILY COTINGIDAE 305 



ramphotheca which is at or sHghtly behind the level of the posterior 

 edge of the narial opening. (In some specimens it may be necessary 

 to determine this point with the aid of a magnifier.) 



Resident. Found widely in areas of heavy forest, from the Costa 

 Rican boundary in western Chiriqui and Bocas del Toro through 

 Veraguas to the mountains in the southern end of the Azuero 

 Peninsula; from sea level to over 2000 meters elevation on Volcan 

 Baru ; Isla Cebaco. 



The bellbird is still fairly common in the remoter areas of forest, 

 but without question has decreased considerably in number, partly 

 through being hunted, and partly through destruction of its habitat. 

 It ranges mainly in the high tree crown, where its presence remains 

 unknown unless it calls. The birds rest usually on open perches but 

 these often are screened from below by leaves. Where not unduly 

 disturbed by hunters, as on Isla Cebaco, I have found them fairly 

 tame so that they were easily seen as they moved about. But more 

 often they were heard rather than seen as the strident calls came from 

 birds distant in the forest. 



Males when calling rest with the body inclined forward, and large 

 mouth wide open. Crandall (Zoologica, 1948, pp. 113-114, pi. 1) 

 noted in an immature male in captivity that in display the bird 

 "brought the body into a stiffly horizontal position, held high on the 

 legs. . . . The mouth is opened widely, until the lower mandible ap- 

 proximates a right angle to the upper. . . . The body is then pumped 

 rapidly up and down for about five seconds. This movement then 

 ceases and with the body, legs and wings rigid, a violent convulsion 

 of the throat and neck is followed by the sharp metallic bell." Skutch 

 (Pac. Coast Avif., no. 35, 1969, pp. 89, 91) noted a form of display 

 in which the male at the end of a call flew forward horizontally for a 

 short distance, reversed in air, and returned to the original perch. 



The notes, heard in the forest, may vary somewhat but all have 

 resonance that carries far. Commonly, near at hand, I have heard 

 them utter a high-pitched whistled double note, whit see, given rather 

 slowly, followed by the harsher, loud metallic call, uttered with mouth 

 fully open. Also they may begin with a resounding note, followed 

 immediately by two to four others, all of clanging sound but not as 

 loud, and given slowly, spaced one or two seconds apart. 



While often they move about rather slowly, they seem more alert 

 and active than others of the family. 



As I had found bellbirds on several journeys in the mountain 

 forests of Chiriqui, and had come to associate them with such haunts, 

 it was a surprise in January 1958 to find them in the swampy wood- 



