92 The Official Guide to the 
** Bell Bird,” so graphically described by Waterton in 
his “Wanderings.” He says, speaking of this bird, 
‘He is about the size of the Jay. His plumage is 
white as snow [when adult]. On his forehead rises a 
spiral tube nearly three inches long. It is jet black, 
dotted all over with small white feathers. It has a 
communication with the palate, and when filled with 
air, looks lke a spire; when empty it becomes 
pendulous. His note is loud and clear, like the sound 
of a bell, and may be heard at a distance of three — 
miles . . . . You hear his toll, and then a pause 
for a minute, and then another toll, and then a pause 
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.” 
Case VI. 
commences with the Pittas, a family of very quaint 
and beautiful birds, of which there are some forty-. 
three species, all possessing a strong family likeness. 
They inhabit the Malay Archipelago for the most part, 
and attain their greatest beauty and variety in Borneo 
and Sumatra; but one occurs in Australia, one in 
China, and another in India. Few birds display more © 
vivid tints and greater contrasts of colour than are 
found in the Pittas, which are fairly represented in the 
collection. | 
~ The DenprocoLapTip& inhabit the vast forests of the 
warmer parts of S. America; they are remarkable 
birds with short, stiff tails, and strong, pointed, or very 
long curved beaks, and look somewhat like our Tree 
Creeper, which they however only resemble in their 
food and manner of life, being structurally far removed 
from them. ‘There are several representatives of each 
form in the collection, the largest are the strong-billed 
members of the genus Dendrornis; Xiphorhynchus 
