452 Walter Goodfellow—Some Reminiscences of a Collector


bill is greenish yellow, and a bare patch around the eyes much the

same shade, although in some districts this is red. The inside of

the mouth is intense black.


I had many young Trogons brought in both red and yellow breasted.

These I found quite easy to rear on the same food as the Cuckoos.

I must have had quite a dozen at one time. I found them all a bit

stupid about learning to pick food up for themselves, and, strange to

say, it was not insects they essayed on, but yolk of egg in nearly every

case. Later, they ate a certain amount of fruit. I was disappointed

that I had none of them to bring home with me, but two months

before I left I was delayed by illness in the town, and when I returned

to Esperanza they were all dead, together with several other rare birds.


Two Nun or Puff Birds (Monasa nigrifrons) were still alive. I do

not think any of this genus have yet been over here. They are about

the size of a Starling but with a longer tail and very short wings. The

plumage is very thick and fluffy, usually leaden grey or black with

a coral red bill, although one species has a whitish bill. They are not

very interesting but uncommon. My pair died on the way down to the

Amazon. They are purely insectivorous, and strange as it may seem

in a land like that, it was extremely difficult on a canoe journey to

procure enough insects for them. I was compelled to stop on sandbanks

and scoop up a net full of butterflies as they were partial to them,

but I must have got some noxious kind among them as they both died

suddenly after a meal.


Another pair of hand-reared birds I landed was Molina’s Conure

(Pyrrhura molince). This is an altogether delightful species. As a

rule I am not very partial to the Conures, but these I did like.


Of all the birds that visited us in the breeding season the one I most

wanted was the famous Umbrella Bird (Cephalopterus ornatus). It

arrived in September and was far from rare. I have seen them along

the edge of the forest, and on one occasion right out in the clearing.

During my last season there I sent a letter out to all overseers

throughout the forest asking them to locate nests, for which I offered

a good reward. According to reports, I began to think I should have

a surfeit of Umbrella Birds to rear, as some reported two or even three

nests being built. In the end only one materialized and that so young



