The Crccii-backcci 'rntinpclcr 
167 
neck, throat and wini;- coverts irridescent violet; back <'nd tail- 
coverts green; bill flesh-colour; legs slate, but duller than in th; 
male. The heads and necks of both birds are covered with very 
minute feathers that make them look as if they were clothed in 
velvet. It also feels exactly like velvet or plush when Ji<-indled 
When they arrived I was astounded to see them wade into 
the pond up to their necks and enjoy a good bath. I -expected 
to find them of something the same nature as Curassows and 
Guans, which abhor water as much as English game birds, and 
take their baths in the dust, but these Trumpeters are semi- 
waders, and, although they apparently do not seek their food 
in water, will enter it freely to retrieve a piece of meat ov 
similar food. They api)ear to omnivorous, i)artaking freely 
of grain, bread and milk, meat and fruit. 
As pets they are charming. They are one of the ver\' 
few birds that 1 have owned which actually like being nandled 
They simply love having their heads smoothed and tickled. 
When I visit them in the morning they have the peculiar habit 
of squatting down v/ith their wings spread out as if th^y wer^j 
covering chicks, uttering at the same time a low twittering 
sound; this is sometimes varied by a low grunting or trumpet- 
ing, from which. I presume, they get their nai.nc. Both my 
birds have lost an eye, but in spite of this the cock dominate^' 
the aviary in which they are kept, although he is by no mean.s 
quarrelsome. The Scarlet Ibis, if it can approach the hen 
Trumpeter on her blind side, v/ill occasionally give her a di.:;" 
with his long bill, but, if the cock spots him at it, he quickly 
causes him to vamooze. 
I can find next to nothing of the wild life of the::e birds 
in any of my books, but there appear to be several species, 
none of v/hich are very common. They are, however, some- 
times kept in Brazil with poultry, with which they seem to 
agree. My birds spend a good deal of their time admiring a 
troop of young wild Duck in a neighbouring pen, and 1 am in- 
clined to think that they would make quite good foster-mothers, 
although 1 suppose that it is too much to hope that they would 
undertake housekeeping duties on their own account, in this 
rotten climate of ours. 
