BELL-BIRDS. 



95 



-crissum yellowish. Hab., Cayenne, Surinam, and 

 Guiana." (Sclater.) 



The late Henry Whitely obtained this ibird at Roraima 

 -at an altitude of 3,500 feet. (The Ibis, 1885, p. 306.) 



Schomburgh says (cf. Russ, " Die Fremdlandischen. 

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

 marvellous sounds issiiing from, the neighbouring forest, 

 such as I had never before heard. It was as though 

 one were (striking simultaneously several harmoniously 

 voiced glass bells. Now I heard it again, and after a 

 pause of a minute's duration, again and; again. Then 

 a somewhat longer interval of six to eight minutes 

 ensued and onoe more the full harmonious sounds rang 

 out. I stood quite a long time chained with wonder 

 and watched to see whether the increddble sounds 

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

 and full of desire, I betook myself with the question 

 to my brother, from whom I learnt that this was the 

 note of the Bell-bird. That birds in Guiana, possessed 

 the gift of speech I had already discovered ; but such 

 sounds had hitherto remained quite unknown 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 of passage ; it usually arrives 

 at Demerara and Berbioe 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 titters its magical, bell-clear notes 

 chiefly from the outermost branch of a gigantic mora- 

 tree, which it more particularly selects, if there is a 

 dead branch on it. I have never observed two males 

 on one tree, nevertheless they are fond of answering 

 one another from different trees near together. Every 

 morning they greet the young day with their clear 

 metallic notes., and; of all songster tlhey' take their 

 departure latest from the setting sun. When at rest 

 the caruncle 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 base ; if he cmly utters a single note, the> caruncle 

 instantly rises up, but drops immediately again after 

 the utterance of the sound', yet erecting 1 itself again 

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

 green plumage never roost so high as the males, but 

 continually settle on the lower branches of the> forest 

 trees ; altogether I have only come across a few of them, 

 the reason 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 green 

 foliage of the trees. The younig males look extra- 

 ordinary in the transition plumage from green to white : 

 in the second year they possess a completely pied 

 feathering, and only in the third year do they possess 

 the fully coloured clothing of the adult male." 



I have been unable to discover any notes on the 

 nidification of this species. The London Zoological 

 'Society acquired' a specimen in 1899. 



PIED BELL-BIRD (Chasmorhynchus variegatus). 



Pure white ; wings iblack ; head, including nape and 

 ear-coverts coffee-brown; throat naked, black, and 

 covered with small fleshy worm-like black caruncles ; 

 Trill and feet black ; irides brown. Female above- dull 

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

 yellowish, streaked on breast and- abdomen with green; 

 throat dark greyish, more finely streaked. Hab., 

 Guiana, Venezuela, and Trinidad. 



According to Goering, " the Chaymas Indians do not 

 call this Bell-bird (Caimpanero) like the preceding 

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

 rectly, 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 widely 

 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. 



TRICABUNCTJLATED BELL-BIRD 

 (Chasmorhynchus tricarunculatus). 



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; bill 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 Ruse, 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, which 

 also corresponds with that of the young male in all 

 respects, easily conceals the bird 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 silent, whereas the male readily betrays itself 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, 

 according to their view, the value of a bird 'Consists in 

 its gaily-coloured plumage." 



I have discovered no further notes respecting the 

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

 extremely rarely imported with TJS ; the records of the 

 great Zoological Gardens do not contain it. 



OVEN-BIRDS (Dendrocolaptid(e). 



These are birds not remarkable for beauty, but of 

 considerable interest on account of the singular mud 

 nests which they construct in most conspicuous situa- 

 tions. By scientists these birds are placed, on account 

 of their anatomical stucture, in the group Tracheo- 

 phonce. They are related to the so-called Miners, 

 Earth -creepers, Leaf-scrapers, Spine-tails, Wood-hewers, 

 etc. Their food in a wild state consists of larvae and 

 worms, and in captivity they should do well if treated 

 much in the same manner as Thrushes.* 



RED OVEN-BIRD (Furnarius rufus). 



Rufe&cent earth-brown ; 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, under wing-coverts, and a broad belt across base 

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

 golden-brown. Female slightly smaller, with shorter 

 and more slender bill, throat lees purely white, and 



* Azara fed an example in his possession upon boiled' rioe and 

 raw meat: but I have always found the latter dangerous food 

 for softbills; he only kept it alive one month. 





