Impressions of the Voices of Tropical Birds 



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nuptial attitudinizing. The red-breasted 'Meadowlark/ Leistes, also came to 

 close quarters, though it did not sing, and I watched the lovely and delicate 

 little black-and-white marsh Flycatchers almost at arm's length. 



There is a creature in the South American forests which, though not a 

 bird, ranks easily first as a maker of weird noises. I have read many descrip- 

 tions of his performance, but was not in the least prepared for the reality when 

 I actually heard it, nor did I even recognize it. This is the roaring of the 

 so-called howling monkey. To my mind, howling is a sort of eerie, rising-and 

 falling noise, far different from the deep-voiced, business-like, bellowing 

 roar that is the predominant feature of this little animal's performance. It is 

 at least a hundred times more thunderous and terrible than would seem pos- 

 sible from a creature somewhat larger than a big tom-cat. I had heard them 

 in the distance a number of times, but it was at Rio Frio, on the Cauca River, 

 where our little stern-wheeler was taking wood, that I first got close to them 



CRESTED CURASSOW 



