53 o PERCHING BIRDS. 



pickings. It is a common thing to see a bienteveo waiting on a rural butcher's 

 cart in hopes of securing some tit-bit. In the fall of the year it feeds largely upon 

 ripe grapes, figs, and other fruit. The adult has the head black, with a large 

 yellow crest and a white eyestripe ; the upper-parts are brown ; the wings and tail 

 brown edged with rufous: and the lower-parts sulphur-yellow. 



The type of this group (Formicivora) possesses a short conical 

 bill, with the upper mandible hooked : while the wings are moderate, 

 with the fourth feather the longest. The tail is fairly long and rounded, and the 

 feet are furnished with long toes, adapted to progression over the earth, the claws 

 being short and narrow. All the ant-birds are inhabitants of the forests of Brazil, 

 a well-known species being the fire-eye (F, domiceUa), which frequents dense 

 portions of the primeval scrub, creeping about the bushes, and rarely venturing 

 into the open. It possesses a pleasing warbling note, and feeds upon a variety 

 of insects. Its fondness for ants induces it to lay aside its usually cautious and 

 retiring habits, and at times man}' individuals assemble together to devour ants in 

 woodpecker-fashion. The adult male is nearly all black, and his plumage is set off 

 to great advantage by his white wing-coverts and the fiery red hides of the eye, 

 from which this species takes its name. 



The Chatterers. 



Family CnTIXGW.-E. 



Some of the most gorgeous birds of South America are to be found in this 

 family, which is remarkable for the variations of plumage exhibited by certain of 

 its representatives. The chatterers have usually an arched bill, broad at the gape, 

 ami adapted to a frugivorous diet; the wings being generally of moderate length, 

 although sometimes reaching almost to the extremity of the tail. The metatarsus 

 is stout and scutellated in front. The greater number of the chatterers are in- 

 habitants of tin- vast equatorial region of the Amazon, frequenting the interior of 

 the forests, and leading an arboreal life ; one of the loveliest being the Pompadour 

 chatterer, so named after the famous Frenchwoman, to whom this and other 

 specimens of birds were being sent, when tin; ship that bore them from Cayenne 

 fell a prize to a British cruiser. 



The singular bird for which the genus Cephalopterus was 

 Umbrella-Bird. & , 6 ' J 



established has a stout, robust bill, with a strongly-arched upper 



mandible : the nostrils being open and longitudinal in shape, while the wings are 



long, and the tail is rounded. The umbrella-bird is, however, best distinguished 



by the possession of a curious crest, composed of straight, elevated feathers, the 



extremities of which curve outwards and form an elegant line of drooping plumes. 



The sides of the neck are naked, but long feathers spring from beneath the throat 



and from the sides of the neck, to form a loose lappet. Confined in its range to 



the forests of the plains of the Upper Amazon, the umbrella-bird (Gephalopterus 



ornatus) is a shy, retiring species, living in the higher branches of forest trees, 



where it readily obtains the wild fruits upon which it chiefly subsists. It has been 



seen by very few naturalists in its native wilds, but no doubt exists regarding its 



