'THE SINGING BIRDS. 



ISI 



region of the beak, bridles, and eyes, the brow, the top of the head, and the throat, are bare, and 

 along the cheek-stripes are four stiff bristles. The plumage is compact, of a reddish brown colour, 

 shaded with olive-green upon the back ; the quills and tail-feathers are blackish brown, the secondaries 

 tinted with red ; the upper wing-covers are greenish brown ; the face, beak, and feet black ; and the 

 eyes dark brown ; the bare portions of the face are slightly strewn with bristles ; in the young these 

 bristles are replaced by a whitish down, and the entire plumage varies considerably, not only from that 

 of the adult birds, but in different individuals. The body of this species measures sixteen, the wing 

 nine, and the tail four inches. 



We are almost entirely without particulars as to the habits of these remarkable birds, except that 

 they live in pairs in the depths of the forests of Guiana and North Brazil, and are rarely met with 



THE UMBRELLA BIRD, OR UMBRELLA CHATTERER (CephalofterllS ornatus). 



at an altitude of more than 1,200 feet above the level of the sea. Fruits appear to constitute their 

 principal nourishment ; and when not engaged in satisfying the calls of hunger, the couples are 

 usually to be seen perched side by side upon a branch. Their cry, which resembles the bleating 

 of a calf, is uttered, according to Schomburghk, at regular intervals. 



THE UMBRELLA BIRD. 



The Umbrella Bird, or Umbrella Chatterer (Cephalopterus ornatus), is one of the most 



extraordinary of birds, as far as regards the singular ornaments with which it has been provided. It 

 is about the size of a Crow, and the whole of its plumage being of a deep black it has a good deal 

 of the corvine character in its aspect. Its head is adorned with a large and spreading crest, which 

 appears intended to act as a parasol : this crest is composed of long, slender feathers, rising from 



