AMPELINZ. 75 
naked wattles ; while, from the forehead of a second, 
rises a fleshy caruncle, which, when elevated, reminds 
us of the horn of a unicorn, but which is probably 
carried like that of the turkey; a third is perfectly 
white, with the face and throat bare of feathers, and of 
a beautiful green colour. Could we but know the 
habits and economy of these singular birds, which, had 
they not been seen, might be thought fabulous, what an 
interesting page of nature’s volume would be unfolded ! 
Yet, at present, we only know that they live in the 
deepest and most secluded forests of Tropical America, 
where they subsist upon an infinite variety of fruits 
unknown to Europeans. They are much oftener heard 
than seen, since their notes are particularly loud, and 
are uttered morning and evening from the deepest re- 
cesses of the forests: we have sometimes caught a dis- 
tant view of them, perched upon the topmost branches 
of the loftiest trees. All the species above alluded to 
are comprised in the genus Casmorhynchus of M. 
Temminck, while the beautiful genus Calyptomina of 
India forms the passage from this genus to the 
swallow chatterers just described. We quit Casmo- 
rhynchus. for the genus Ampelis, or the true chatterers, 
called by the French Cotinga, and constituting a group 
__ of surpassing beauty: they are 
Z- vather smaller in stature, and, but 
= for their shorter and broader bills, 
_ might be taken for thrushes. 
There is a peculiar soft, silky, 
= and glossy texture on the feathers, 
“S_which increases the splendour of 
the changeable blue, purple, and 
dark red, which generally spreads 
entirely over their plumage. They 
3 differ from the last also, which are 
plain aelcined birds, in the head and neck being always 
clothed with feathers in the usual manner. Le Vaillant, 
inone of his costly ornithological works", has figured nearly 
* Hist. Nat. d’une Partie d’Oiseaux de L’ Amérique et des Indes. 
