268 THE BELL BIRD, OR CAMPANERO. 



fine stalks of the same material. The eggs are three or four, of a dingy bluish- white, thick at 

 the great end, tapering suddenly, and becoming very narrow at the other ; marked with small 

 roundish spots of black of various sizes and shades, and the great end is of a pale dull purple 

 tinge, marked likewise with vai'ious shades of purple and black. About the last week in June 

 the young are hatched, and are at first fed on insects and their larvse, but as they advance in 

 growth, on berries of various kinds. These facts 1 have myself been an eye-witness to. 



"The female, if disturbed, darts from the nest in alarm to a considerable distance; no 

 notes of wailing or lamentation are heard from either j)areut, nor are they ever seen, notwith- 

 standing you are in the tree examining the nest and young. These nests are less frequently 

 found than many others, owing not only to the comparatively few numbers of the liird, but to 

 the remarkable muteness of the species. The season of love, which makes almost every other 

 small bird musical, has no such effect on them, for they continue at that interesting period as 

 silent as before." 



Like the waxen Chatterer, the Cedar Bird is held in great estimation as an article of food ; 

 and as in the autumn and end of summer it becomes very fat in consequence of the enormous 

 amount of berries and other food which it consumes, it is in great requisition in the markets, 

 being sold in large numbers and for a very small i)rice. Even as early as May the Cedar Bird 

 begins its depredations on the cherries, always choosing the best and ripest fruit, and con- 

 tinues its robberies, undisturbed by scarecrows or any other means except the loaded gun. 

 The Cedar Bird does not limit itself to fruits and berries, but also feeds largely on insects, 

 chasing and devoiiring ilies and other winged insects in a manner very similar to that of 

 the tly-catchers, but not exhibiting the airy liveliness and quick vivacity of those birds. 



The general color cf the Cedar Bird is yellowish-brown, the upper parts of the body being 

 fawn-colored, rather darker on the head, which is surrounded with a long and pointed crest, 

 w'hich can be raised almost perpendicularly fi'om the head. The chin is black, the breast and 

 abdomen yellow, and tlie under tail-coverts white. The wings are deep slaty-blue, and the 

 upper tail-coverts are slate-blue, deepening into black, which also extends over the greater 

 part of the tail. The extremities of the tail-feathers are rich yellow. A rather broad line of 

 black crosses the forehead, and passes round the head, enveloping the eyes in its course. The 

 secondary feathers of the wings are adorned with wax-like appendages resembling those of the 

 Bohemian chatterer, and their number is variable, sometimes being only four or five, and 

 sometimes as many as nine. Wilson supposes that their object is to guard the tips of the 

 feathers from being woni away, but this conjecture does not seem to carry much weight with it. 

 The api)endages are nothing more than horny expansions of the shafts. As some female birds 

 are without these wax-like ornaments, it was once supposed that they only belonged to the male 

 bird ; but it is now ascertained that they are found in both sexes alike. On several occasions 

 A"\'ilson found one of the tail-feathers decorated with a waxen tip similar to those of the wing. 

 The color of the female is similar to that of the male, but the tints are not so brilliant. This 

 bird is much smaller than the European species, being only six inches and a half in length, 

 and very slenderly built. 



The Cedar Bird (Ampells cedrorum) is a common bii'd in New England during the summer, 

 and is found in all parts of North America. It is unpopular here as well as in Europe on 

 account of its robbing of cherry-trees. The term Cherry Bird is quite commonly applied to it. 



As the numbers of acknowledged species among birds amount to several thousands, it 

 is evident that in a comprehensive work of this character it ^vill be impossible to mention 

 the whole of the feathered tribe, and that only those birds can be desci'ibed which act as 

 representatives of the several groups into which the division has been separated. Passing 

 over, therefore, many remarkable species, we arrive at one which is perhaps as extraordinary 

 a bird as any that has hitherto been figured. This is the celebrated Bell Bird, or Campanero 

 of America, so called on account of the singular resemblance which its note bears to the slow, 

 solemn tolling of a church-bell. 



The Bell Bird is about the size of an ordinary pigeon, and its plumage is quite white. 

 From a pigeon it can, however, be readily distinguished, even at some distance, by the curious 



