424 EXCURSIONS AROUND EGA 



with a slender delicate grass, now in flower. A great 

 number of crimson and vermilion-coloured butterflies 

 (Catagramma Peristera, male and female) were settled on 

 the smooth, white trunks of these trees. I had also here 

 the great pleasure of seeing for the first time, the rare 

 and curious Umbrella Bird (Cephalopterus ornatus), a 

 species which resembles in size, colour, and appearance 

 our common crow, but is decorated with a crest of long, 

 curved, hairy feathers having long bare quills, which, when 

 raised, spread themselves out in the form of a fringed 

 sun-shade over the head. A strange ornament, like a 

 pelerine, is also suspended from the neck, formed by a 

 thick pad of glossy steel-blue feathers, which grow on 

 a long fleshy lobe or excrescence. This lobe is connected 

 (as I found on skinning specimens) with an unusual de- 

 velopment of the trachea and vocal organs, to which the 

 bird doubtless owes its singularly deep, loud, and long- 

 sustained fluty note. The Indian name of this strange 

 creature is Uira-mimbeu, or fife-bird ^, in allusion to the 

 tone of its voice. We had the good luck, after remaining 

 quiet a short time, to hear its performance. It drew it- 

 self up on its perch, spread widely the umbrella-formed 

 crest, dilated and waved its glossy breast-lappet, and 

 then, in giving vent to its loud piping note, bowed its 

 head slowly forwards. We obtained a pair, male and 

 female : the female has only the rudiments of the crest 

 and lappet, and is duller-coloured altogether than the 

 male. The range of this bird appears to be quite confined 

 to the plains of the Upper Amazons (especially the Ygapo 

 forests), not having been found to the east of the Rio 

 Negro. 



Bento and our other friends being disappointed in finding 

 no more Curassows, or indeed any other species of game, 

 now resolved to turn back. On reaching the edge of the 

 forest we sat down and ate our dinners under the shade ; 

 each man having brought a little bag containing a few 

 hands full of fa,rinha, and a piece of fried fish or roast 

 turtle. We expected our companions of the other division 

 to join us at mid-day, but after waiting till past one 

 o'clock without seeing anything of them (in fact, they had 

 returned to the huts an hour or two previously), we struck 



^ Mimbeu is the Indian name for a rude kind of pan-pipes 

 used by the Caishanas and other tribes. 



