HORNED SCREAMER. CRESTED SCREAMER. 
Polamedea cornuta. Chaund ckavdria . 
The Horned Screamer, or Kamichi, is a native of Central America, and is 
found in the vast swamps and morasses of that hot and moist country, where the 
vegetation springs up in gigantic luxuriance and the miasmatic morasses give birth 
to reptiles and creeping things innumerable. The large spurs on the wings are 
valuable to the bird in repelling the attacks of the numerous snakes, and guarding 
itself and young from their rapacity. 
Another well-known example, the Crested Screamer, or Chaja, is a finer- 
looking bird than the preceding species, though its head is without the singular 
appendage that gives the Horned Screamer so singular an aspect. The name of 
Chaja is given to .this bird on account of its cry, that of the male bird being 
“ chaja ” and of the female “ chajali.” It is a native of Brazil and Paraguay, and 
is generally found near the banks of rivers. 
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