THE GREAT PERICROCOTUS. 269 



Lorn-like structure which grows from its forehead, and rises to a height of some three inches 

 when disturbed. This "horn" is jetty black in color, sprinkled very sparingly with little 

 tufts of snowy-white down, and as it lias a coranmnication with the palate, has probably some- 

 thing to do with the bell-like sound of the voice. Tlie song or cry of the Campanero has been 

 admirably described by Waterton, in his well-known "Wanderings in South America " : — 



" His note is loud and clear, like the sound of a bell, and may be heard at the distance of 

 thi-ee miles. In the midst of these extensive wilds, generally on the dried top of an aged 

 mora, almost out of your reach, you see the Campanero. INTo sound or song from any of the 

 winged inhabitants of the forest, not even the cleai'ly pronounced ' Whip-poor-Will ! ' from 

 the goat-sucker, causes such astonishment as the toll of the Campanero. 



" With many of the feathered race, he pays the common tribute of a morning and evening 

 song ; and even when the meridian sun has shut in silence the mouths of almost the whole of 

 animated nature, the Campanero stUl cheers the forest. You hear his toll, and then a pause 

 for a minute, then another toll, and then a i)ause 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. Actseon would 

 stop in mid-chase, Maria would defer her evening song, and Oipheus liimself would droj) his 

 lute to listen to him, so sweet, so novel and romantic is the toll of the pretty snow-white 

 Campanero." 



The "horn" of the Bell Bird is only erect while the creature is excited and during the 

 resonant cry, and when the bird is at rest it hangs loosely on the side of the face. It is sup- 

 posed that the Bell Bird builds in Guiana, but its nest and locality of breeding are at present 

 unknown. 



THE CATERPILLAR-EATERS. 



To the Chatterers succeed the Campephagina?, or Caterjiillar-eaters, which are nearly all 

 found in the various countries of the Old World. As their name imports, they live chiefly 

 upon caterpillars and other insects, preferring those that are still in the larval state, and 

 assiduously examining each leaf and branch in search of their prey. Tliey also eat ants, 

 beetles, and other ground-living insects, and are quite as active in chasing them upon the 

 earth as in their haunts among the branches. They also eat fruit and berries in the autumn. 



One of the most remarkable birds of tliis group is the Great Pericrocotus, the largest 

 of its genus. 



This bird is a native of India, where it is found spread over the greater portion of that 

 country, and on account of its splendid plumage it atti-acts great notice even from unscientific 

 and casual observers. It seems to be solitary in its habits, being generally found alone or in 

 very small societies, in all probability consisting merely of the parents and their young. It is 

 almost exclusively an insect-feeder, eating caterpillars, flies, ants, and various kinds of the 

 insect tribe, preferring, however, the beetles, of which it devours very great numbers. It is a 

 suspicious and timorous bird, cai-efully avoiding the presence of human beings, and thus 

 ranking as a very scarce bird, althoiigh it probably exists in considerable numbers, in its own 

 peculiar localities. 



As it is so beautiful a species, it has several times been captured and caged, but it seems 

 to defy the powers of the tamer, pines away under confinement, and soon dies. 



The sexes of the Great Pericrocotus are so different in their external appearance, that they 

 might easUy be mistaken for two distinct species. The adult male is a truly beautiful bird, 

 and is thus colored. The gi-ound color of the bird is the deepest imaginable steely-blue, so 

 deep, indeed, as to appear black except in certain lights. The head, neck, back, wings, the 

 two central tail-feathers, and the base of the remaining tail-feathers, are rich, glowing scarlet. 



