BELLBIEDS. 



95 



crissiim yellowieJi. Hab., Cayenne, Surinam, and 

 Guiana." (Sclater.) 



The late Henry Whit-elv obtained this ibird at Eoraima 

 at an altitude of 3,500 !^t. (The Jbis. 1885, p. 306.) 



S<'hombui'gh says (cf. Ru.*s. " Die Frenidlaudischen 

 Stubenvogel," Vol. II., p. 460) : — " I became aware of 

 marvellous sounds issuing from the neighbouring forest, 

 .-jych as I liad never before heard. It was as though 

 one were striking simultaneously several harmoniously 

 voiced glass \kA\s. Now I heard it again, and after a 

 l>ause of a minute's duration, again and again. Then 

 a somewhat longer interval of six to eight minutes 

 •ensued and once more the full hannonious sounds rang 

 uut. I stood quite a long time chained with wonder 

 and watched to see whether the incredible sounds 

 might not be heard once more ; but they were silent ; 

 and full of desire, I betook myself wiih the question 

 to my brother, fi-om whom I learnt that this was the 

 note of the Belbbird. That birds in Guiana, poi^sessed 

 the gift of speech I had already discovered; but suoh 

 >x)unds had hitherto remained quite imknown to me and 

 my attention could not for the time be diverted at all 

 from this marvellous songster. Near the coast the Bell- 

 'bird belongs to the birds cf passage; it usually arrive.') 

 at Demerar.a and Berbice in May and June, yet it never 

 goes quite close to the coast. It chiefly prefers 

 mountain forests, yet only up to an altitude of from 

 400 to 500 feet. It utters" its magical, bell-clear notes 

 •chiefly from the outermost branch of a gigantic mora- 

 xree. which it more particularly selects, if there is a 

 dead branch en it. I have never obseired two males 

 on one tree, nevertheless they are fond of auewering 

 one another from different trees near together. Evei-y 

 morning they greet the young day with their clear 

 metallic notes., aind of all songsters, tihey ta.ke their 

 departure latest from the setting sun. When at rest 

 the cnruncle of the bill hangs down laterally, but when 

 the Bell-bird utters his call, he puffs up the caruncle, 

 "which draws itself round with the point towards its 

 own ba.se ; if he only utters a single note, tliC' caruncle 

 instantly rises up, but drops immediately again after 

 the utterance of the sound, yet erecting itself again 

 with the next cry. The females with their silky Siskin- 

 green plumage never roost so high as the males, but 

 mtinually settle on the lower branches of the forest 

 tree.s ; altogether I have only come across a few of them, 

 the rea.son of which may indeed be that they are con- 

 sistently quite silent, and owing to their green plumage 

 they can only be perceived with difficulty in the greem 

 foliage of the trees. The j-ounjg males look extra- 

 ordinarv- in the transition plumage from p-een to white : 

 in the second year they po.ssess a completely pied 

 feathering, and only in the third year do they possess 

 the fully coloured clothing of the adidt male." 



I have been unahle to discover any notes on the 

 nidification of this species. The London Zoological 

 Society acquired a speoimen in 1899. 



Pied Bell-bird (Chasmorhi/nchux varierjatus). 



Pure white ; wings iblack ; head, including nape and 

 far-covert.s coffee-brown ; throat naked, black, and 

 revered with small flefdiy worm-like black caruncles; 

 liill and feet black ; irides brown. Female above dull 

 green ; wings blackish-brown ; head greyish ; below pale 

 jfellowish, streaked on breast and abdomen with green ; 

 throat dark gre>-ish, more finely streaked. Hab., 

 Guiana, Venezuela, and Trinidad. 



According to Goering. " the Chaj-mas Indians do not 

 •call thi.<! Bell-bird (Cxmpanero) like the preceding 

 species, but Herrero, that is to say Smith ; and cor- 

 Tectly, since its call, which sounds as if one were 



striking an anvil violently with a hammer, never has a 

 bell-like intonation. The Smith is distributed -svidely 

 over Venezuela, and occurs also in the westerly parts 

 of the country, where it appears especially to favour 

 the mountainous regions, and is nowhere rare." At 

 the beginning of 1870 this Bell-bird was represented in 

 the Zoological Gardens of Cologne ; according to Mr. 

 T, Hesse, of Cologne, its food consists of berries and 

 other fruit, and its call-note sounds as though one 

 struck a wineglass with a knife. 



TRIC.'lEttNCULATED BeLL-BIRD 

 (Chasmorliy7ichus tricarunculatua). 



Reddish-chestnut ; head and throat white ; forehead, 

 lores, and angles of lower bill naked and black ; at 

 middle of forehead and from both angles of the bill a 

 long, narrow, blackish naked caruncle ; Ijill and feet 

 black ; irides not described. Female smaller, with 

 shorter caruncles ; above olive-green ; throat yellow ; 

 body below yellowish-green, longitudinally boldly 

 streaked with olive-greenish-brown. Hab., Costa Rica 

 and Veragua. 



According to Ru.«6, Dr. Frantzius says : " This in- 

 teresting species is distributed over the primitive forests 

 of Costa Rica ; nevertheless it has given me great trouble 

 to acquire its female, although it is by no means rarer 

 than the male. The Siskin-green of its plumage, wliich 

 also con'esponds with that of the young male in all 

 respects, easilv conceals the bin-d from the sight of the 

 collector, whilst even the adult male, with its snow- 

 white and cinnamon-brown colouring, is not easily dis- 

 cernible in the green foliage ; moreover the female is 

 very sdent, whereas the male readily betrays it'self by 

 its voice. Then, .again, the .hunters in Costa Rica are 

 always inclined to ignore bird's with inconspicuous plum- 

 age, and only to secure the strikingly-coloured ones, as, 

 accoi'ding to their view, the value of a bird consists in 

 its gaily-coloured plumage." 



I have discovered no further notes respecting the 

 living bird. Buss says: "This bird hitherto has been 

 extremely rarely imported with us ; the i^ecords of the 

 gre.at Zoolo^acal Gardens do not contain it. 



OVEN-BIRDS {Dendrocohptida'). 



These are birds not remarkable for beauty, but of 

 con.9iderable interest on account of the singular mud 

 nests which they construct in onost eonspicuous situa- 

 tions. By scientists these birds are placed, on account 

 of their anatomical stucture, in the group Tracheo- 

 -jihonce. They are related tO' the so-called Miners, 

 Karth-creepers. Leaf-scrapers, Spine-tails, Wood-'hewers, 

 etc. Their food in a wild state consist^s of larvie and 

 worms, and in captivity they should do well if treated 

 much in the same manner as Thrushes.* 



Red Oven-Bied (Furnarius rufus). 



Rufeecent earth-bi-ovrn ; wings mostly blackish with 

 pale brown edges, but outer secondaries wholly pale 

 earthy-brown ; upper tail-coverts and tail bright rusty 

 red-brown ; under surface white, with the breast, 

 flanks, binder wing-coverts, and a broad belt across Ibase 

 of wing pale huffish; bill and feet horn-colour; irides 

 golden-brown. Female slightly smaller, with shorter 

 and raoi-e slender bill, throat less purely white, and 



• Azara. fed an example in bis paaaee^^ion upon boiled rioe and 

 raw moat: but I have alwaye found the latter dangerous food 

 for softbills; he only kept it alive one month. 



