104 Wonders of the Bird World 



long caruncles on the head, which are not elevated or 

 moved in any way, and are certainly only ornaments of 

 the male sex. The inflation of the Bell-bird's wattle is 

 effected through the palate, and is apparently managed in 

 somewhat the same way as the distension of the male 

 Bustard's pouch, which opens under the tongue (see p. 247). 

 Waterton says that the note of the Bell-bird is loud and 

 clear, like the sound of a bell, and may be heard at a 

 distance of three miles. After a toll has been uttered by 

 the bird, there comes a pause, then another toll, and then 

 another pause. Then perhaps will follow a silence for 

 some six or eight minutes, and then tolling commences 

 again. The Trinidad species (ChasmorJiynchus variegatus) 

 is said to have a note like that of a cracked bell, but that 

 of the Brazilian Bell-bird (C. nudicollis) has a remarkable 

 resemblance to the striking of a hammer on an anvil, as I 

 have heard myself in the case of individuals in confinement. 

 Prince Max of Neu-Wied, who travelled in Brazil in the 

 early part of the century, and who was one of the best 

 field-observers that ever lived, tells us that the species is 

 named by the Portuguese " Ferreiro," or " Blacksmith," and 

 when several birds are calling to each other at the same 

 time, the effect is quite remarkable, as the birds utter their 

 note with an interval of about a second between each. 

 When giving vent to its extraordinary note, the bird 

 accompanies the latter by a jerk of its tail. 



Another instance of simple but effective ornamentation 

 is seen in the Umbrella-birds of South America. Like 

 the foregoing species, these wonderful birds belong to the 

 Family of Chatterers (Cotingidce\ which is exclusively 

 American. There are three species, the Amazonian Um- 

 brella-bird (Cephaloptems ornatus), inhabiting Amazonia, 

 and ranging from Bolivia to Ecuador, Colombia, and 

 Guiana, being replaced in Western Ecuador by C.penduliger, 

 and in Veragua and Costa Rica by C. glabricollis, which 



