474 NATURAL HISTORY OF BIRDS. 



lump of mud upon the face of the rock. This, upon examination, proved to be 

 a nest of the ' cock-of-the-rock,' containing two eggs; it was built upon a projecting 

 piece, the body being made of mud or clay, then a few sticks, and on the top lined 

 with green moss. It was about five feet from the water. I did not see the male 

 bird ; nor, indeed, have I hardly ever seen male and female birds together, though I 

 have seen both sexes in separate flocks." The eggs are described as pale buff, spotted 

 with various sized spots, of shades from red-brown to pale lilac, chiefly at the large 

 end. 



The greater number of the species of the Cotingidaa are plain-colored, gray, rufous, 

 or greenish, as, for instance, most species belonging to the genera Tityra, Pachy- 

 rhamphus, Lipaugus, etc., though even among these rather modest forms there are 

 some which are more or less highly adorned. Amongst these is the rose-breasted ' fly- 

 catcher,' Hadrostomus aglaice, gray, with a beautiful crimson rosy patch on the breast, 

 which just enters our fauna across the southern frontier. Nevertheless, the cotingas 

 are generally considered especially bright-colored and curiously adorned birds, on 

 account of the unrivalled splendor and marvellous ornaments of a number of tropical 

 forms, chiefly from the northern parts of South America. From Central America we 

 have the exquisite Carpodectes, white all over, with a delicate tinge of bluish gray 

 washed over the upper surface ; from Guiana to Brazil are found the deep purplish- 

 carmine Xipholcena, with white remiges, and the great wing-coverts singularly length- 

 ened, narrowed, and stiffened like a woodpeckei-'s tail-feathers ; the glorious Cotiixja, 

 shining azure blue, with purple throat, from the same countries ; the greenish, fork- 

 tailed Phibalura from Brazil, and the small, pipra-like lodopleura, curious on account 

 of the rare lilac color of the sides of the body hidden under the wings. All these are 

 well known and conspicuous members of the group, the females of which are plainly 

 colored, mostly gray. But while these forms excite our admiration, a number of oth- 

 ers exhibit features and ornaments so odd as to completely amaze the observer when 

 first introduced to them. Most of these are rather large birds, the Pyroderus reach- 

 ing the size nearly of a crow. It would take too much space were we to mention all 

 of them, hence we only offer some few remarks on the species figured on our plate. 



The first to come in for our consideration is, then, the curious umbrella-bird 

 (Cephalopterus ornatus), black all over, varied with metallic blue reflections, and of 

 the size of a crow ; as Mr. Wallace says, were it not for its crest and neck plume, it 

 would appear to an ordinary observer nothing more than a short-legged crow. The 

 same gentleman, who met the species on the Amazon, thus describes the ornaments 

 from the fresh bird as follows : " The crest is perhaps the most fully developed and 

 beautiful of any bird known. It is composed of long, slender feathers, rising from a 

 contractile skin on the top of the head. The shafts are white, and the plume glossy 

 blue, hair-like, and curved outward at the tip. When the crest is laid back, the shafts 

 form a compact white mass, sloping up from the top of the head, and surmounted by 

 the dense, hairy plumes. Even in this position it is not an inelegant crest, but it is 

 when it is fully opened that its peculiar character is developed. The shafts then 

 radiate on all sides, from the tip of the head, reaching in front beyond and below the 

 top of the beak, which is completely hid from view. The other singular appendage 

 of this bird is the neck plume. On examining the structure of this plume, it is found 

 not to be composed of feathers only, growing from the neck. The skin of the neck 

 is very loose ; looser and larger, in fact, than in any bird I know of. From the lower 

 part grows a cylindrical fleshy process about as thick as a goose-quill, and an inch and 



