THE COTINGAS 365 



Next to the humming-birds the Cotingas display the gayest 

 phimage. They are, however, not often seen, for they lead a 

 solitary life in the moist and shadowy forests, where they feed 

 on the various seeds and fruits of the woods. One species is 

 attired in burning scarlet, others in purple and blue, but they 

 are all so splendidly adorned that it would be difficult to say 

 which of them deserved the prize for beauty. Most of the Co- 

 tingas have no song ; the nearly related snow-white Campanero 

 or bell-bird, however, amply makes up for the deficient voice 

 of his cousins, by the singularity and sweetness of his note. He 

 is about the size of a jay. On his forehead 

 rises a singular spiral tube nearly three 

 inches long. It is jet black, dotted all 

 over with small white feathers. It has a 

 communication with the palate, and when 

 filled with air looks like a spire, when 

 empty it becomes pendulous. His note is 



•^ '' ^ Campanero. 



loud and clear, like the sound of a bell, 

 and may be heard at the distance of three miles. " In the 

 midst of these extensive wilds," says Waterton, "generally on 

 the dried top of an aged mora, almost out of gun reach, you will 

 see the Campanero. No sound or song from any of the winged 

 inhabitants of the forest causes such astonishment as his toll. 

 With many of the feathered race he pays the common tribute 

 of a song to early morn, and even when the meridian sun has 

 shut in silence the mouths of almost the whole of animated 

 nature, the Campanero still cheers the forest; you hear his 

 toll, and then a pause for a minute ; then another toll, and 

 then a pause again, and then a toll and again a pause. Then 

 he is silent for six or eight minutes, and then another toll, and 

 so on. Acteon would stop in mid-chase, Maria would defer her 

 evening song, and Orpheus himself would drop his lute to listen 

 to him, so sweet, so novel and romantic, is the toll of the pretty 

 snow-white Campanero. He is never seen to feed with the 

 other Cotingas, nor is it known in what part of Guiana he 

 makes his nest." 



The Tangaras resemble our finches, though they are far more 

 splendidly attired. Their plumage is very rich and diversified, 

 some of them boast six separate colours ; others have the blue. 



