Walter Goodfellow—Some Reminiscences of a Collector



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entirely on fruit. I never once heard mine make any sound at all.

They were steady cage birds from the first, and quickly settled down.

The Quichua Indians call them “ Yumbos ”, which is also their

name for the forest-dwelling Indians.


Of the birds I lost, perhaps the one I prized the most of all was

a single example of the White-capped Tanager ( Sericossypha elbocristata),

a bird as large as a Thrush. Except for the cap and upper breast, it

is entirely black with a satin-like gloss. The breast is shining crimson,

and the top of the head pure white of a velvet-like texture, altogether

making a striking-looking bird. The female is only a trifle less

beautiful, the red being more of a claret shade, and not so extensive,

and the cap of a less pure white. In any case, they are rare and come

only from the Amazonian side of the Andes at about 7,000 feet.

Although I spent two months in the locality where I caught my male,

I only twice saw a small flock of five or six, and both within a few days

of one another, so it may have been one and the same. The Quichuas

do not know this bird, and had never seen it. I think I lost mine, after

having had it several months, through eating a fruit something like

a large elderberry, which was sold in the Quito market. All the birds

were passionately fond of it, but on some it had a very intoxicating

effect. A few died through it, but others recovered after the effects

had worn off, yet all the small Tanagers eat it with impunity. I think

this also caused the death of the Barbets.


The last bird I must mention was the Coroneted Manakin (Masius

coronulatus) . I had three of these and the first died several months

before the others ; the last one at sea. It is far more active and graceful

than the other species which have been over here. It is intensely black,

with the under side of the wings primrose yellow. The crown is also

the same colour, and ends on the nape in tiny stiff scale-like brown

feathers, while those on the forehead are compressed into a slight

crest. A fine of yellow down the throat widens into a patch of the

same on the breast. Altogether an exquisite little bird. The legs,

which are rather longer than those of most Manakins, and the feet are

red. I have forgotten the Quichua name for it, but it comes from the

Western Andes. This bird also eats the berries I mentioned, without

any ill effects.



