94 



FOREIGN BIRDS FOR CAGE AND AVIARY. 



ably berries ; nidificates in open nests among rocks ; 

 treeds twice (December and April), and lays two 

 whitish eggs, tolerably densely speckled with yellowish- 

 brown." 



C, A. Lloyd ("Timehri," New Series, Vol. IX., p. 

 231, 1895) observes : " We fell in with a young Indian 

 and his wife, the latter carrying a ' quake ' containing a 

 beautiful male Cock-of-the-Rock (Bupicola crocea) in 

 splendid plumage, which we offered to purchase, but 

 which she refused to sell. She told us, however, that 

 we could secure the birds in great numbers hard by, 

 and that this month (March) was their nesting season. 

 We decided on camping at a settlement not far oft to 



.try and procure specimens, with their nests and eggs. 

 Accordingly, on reaching the village, we halted for the 

 balance of the afternoon, and, in company with one of 



■our men, started off at once in search of their building- 

 place, which we soon found, and succeeded in taking 

 a couple of nests. They each contained two speckled 



-eggs, a little larger than those of a Pigeon. The nests 



■ are placed on the bare rocks, and constructed of palm- 

 'fibres stuck together by a kind of gum. These were 

 "the only two nests that we found with eggs, although 



we saw many deserted ones. The birds feed on the 

 ■fruit of a palm, which seems to be a species of 

 <Enornrpus, and, judging from their harsh cries around 

 ■us, they must have been very plentiful, but we never 

 ■caught sight of one. The Macoushis call the bird 

 .Kavanara." 



Two examples of this large and handsome species 

 were presented to the Regent's Park Gardens in 1856, 

 ' one in 1868, one was purchased in 1875, two in 1877, 

 one in 1878, and the last two examples (males) were 

 presented in 1885 ; yei, oddlv enough. Dr. Rues seems 

 to have entirely overlooked the species ; whilst of other 

 t'otingidos he describes several which have never been 

 imported. 



Banded Chatterer (Cotinga cincta). 



Bright sky-blue ; wings and tail black ; throat, breast 

 (excepting a narrow belt of blue) and centre of abdomen 

 'bright magenta-purplish ; under wing-coverts black 

 washed with blue ; bill and feet black. Female above 

 blackish, the feathers edged with bright buff; below 

 rufescent buff, the feathers with central black spots ; 

 wing-feathers with buff margins to inner webs. Hab., 

 ■South-east Brazil. (Sclater.) 



Burmeister says (" Systematische Uebersicht," Vol. 

 II., p. 431) : "This species, certainly the most beau- 

 tiful of all, inhabits the coastal forest region 

 ■of Brazil, and extends down as far as Rio de 



■ Janeiro, but scarcely any farther; it was once 

 brought to me by my collectors in both sexes at 

 New Freiburg, but too much shot about for me to be 

 able to preserve the skins. The Prince zu Wied 



•obtained his specimens at Rio St. ilatthaiis and Rio 

 Jfucuri, and again later at Bahia. According to him 

 the bird does not nest in those localities, but in the 

 interior, only arrives there in the cold season of the 

 year (May to October), and then hunts for berries 

 through the forests, utters a short, loud call-not^e, and 

 in its behaviour entirely resembles our Waxwing. 

 There it bears the name Crejoa or Kirna, from which 

 the scientific name Cotinga appears to be derived."* 



In Prince zu Wied's own account very little addi- 

 tional information is given ; he says it has not a 

 pleasant voice, is very stupid and easy to shoot, feeds 

 on various berries and fruits, and is very good eating. 

 I have not been able to discover anything about its 

 nidification. 



* I must confess that I fail to see the resemblance myself. — 



Russ says that it is extremely rarely met with in the 

 bird-market, and always singly. Specimens were pur- 

 chased by the London Zoological Society in 1875 and 

 1877, and one reached the Berlin Gardens in 1891, re- 

 specting which Mr. Meusel observes that it improved 

 in brilliance and beauty each year, attaining its most 

 perfect plum.ige in 1895. 



Russ describes two other species of Cotinga, neithet 

 of which appears ever to have been imported ; he also 

 gives quite a long account of the Snowy Bell-bird 

 (Chasmorliynchus nivens) ; why, I do not understand. t 



Naked-throated Bell-bied. 

 {Chasmoi'hynchus nuclicoUis). 



White; sides of head and throat naked, greenish, 

 and dotted with scattered black bristles ; bill dark 

 brown ; feet brownish flesh-coloured ; irides clear 

 brown. Female above olive-green ; the crown to the 

 nape black-brownish ; the parts which are naked in the 

 cock clothed with small yellowish-green feathers ; 

 under-parts yellowish ; each feather with a yellowish- 

 green shaft-stripe; feet darker flesh-coloured. Hab., 

 S.E. Brazil. 



Burmeister remarks (" Systematische Uebersicht," 

 Vol. II., p. 427) : "The Ferrador, as the Brazilians 

 of the tract which I travelled over call this 

 bii'd, is there everywhere known, on account of 

 its loud far-sounding voice, which has considerable 

 likeness to the sound of a cow-bell or the tone 

 of a hammer striking upon an anvil ; more- 

 over, it sometimes rises somewhat, or, again, drops, 

 and consists of single sounds repeated at intervals. 

 It lives deep in the interior of the forest, is sluggish, 

 occurs singly or in pairs, and never occurs in the 

 vicinity of human settlements. Its chief resorts are the 

 mountain woodlands of the narrow valleys of the 

 coastal region ; it is not to be met with near the sea- 

 shore." 



" Th« food of thei biixi consists pi'eferably of fleshy 

 berries, with which its crop is filled to its greatest 

 capacity; yet at also feeds upon insects, but only by 

 way of variety. So far nobody ie acquainted with iti 

 ne-st." 



In T/ie Ibis for 1905. pp. 174-5, Dr. E. A. Goeldi 

 confirms the statement that berries form a normal part 

 of the natural food of this Bell-bird, liut he throws no 

 additional light upon its wild life. 



Other WTiters upon the wild life of tiliis species seem 

 to have confined their observations chiefly to the 

 character of its song. 



As regards its food in captivity Mr. Ernest Dulitz 

 seems to have fed his specimen on various fruits, stvcli 

 as china-orange, raisins, etc., sometimes mixed witn 

 boiled rice ; it ap[>eared to despise mealwni-ms. During 

 the moult Brcbm chiefly fed the species on a mess of 

 mashed cooked potato, caiTot, or parsnip, and boiled 

 Malayan rice, with fruit daily as variety, but especially 

 bananas. 



The Naked-throated Bell-bird has repeatedly reached 

 the London Zoological Gardens since 1866. and certainly 

 as lately as 1899, when the note of the bird is remarked 

 upon in The Ibis as differing from that of C. niveus. 



Snowy Bell-bird {Chasmorhynchus niveus). 



" Snow-white ; head with a long thinly-feathered 



caruncle arising from the front ; bill and feet black ; 



whole length 10.5 inches, wing 6.5, tail 4. Female : 



Above green, beneath yellowish, variegated with green; 



t At that time it had only just arrived at the London 

 Zoological Gardene, 



