Walter Goodfellow—Some Reminiscences of a Collector 453


it was useless even to attempt to rear it, and I asked the man who

brought it to take it back to the nest. I never heard anything more

about it. It could only have been hatched that morning, and was

covered in long silky down, bright gold in colour and like floss silk.

A year earlier when calling at a shack, I found a brown bird there

undoubtedly belonging to this species, which they said had been hand-

reared. I never knew before that the nest plumage was brown. They

gave me this bird, but as I was not returning home for a week, I asked

that it should be sent to me later. It turned up dead, but still warm.

It had probably had nothing to eat or drink during its two days’

journey. My disappointment may be imagined. The only other I saw

was one on a farm I stopped at on the pampa near Concepcion.

Sitting on the frame of a chair was a fully adult male with a broken

wing, so although it was offered to me as a present, I did not accept

it. I was told it was feeding on cockroaches. All our people were

very proud to adorn their hats with the crests. I have seen a man

with as many as nine or ten on his. They called the bird Pajaro vaca

(“ Cow-bird ”), but in Ecuador and Colombia, Pajaro toro (“ Bull-bird ”).

The West Ecuadorian species (C. penduliger) is much the finer bird

of the two. A Colorado Indian at Santo Domingo once brought me

an adult male uninjured, and although I tried it on all kinds of fruits

and insects, even a palm fruit I had seen them eating, it refused all

food and died. This palm fruit is the size and shape of a large green

date and is, of course, swallowed whole. Like some other birds, it is

impossible to cram them as they promptly regurgitate all food so

administered. I believe the Umbrella Bird has not yet been imported

alive, although before the War there was a notice in the Avicultural

Magazine that somebody had one. I heard later that this was

incorrect, and if I remember rightly the bird turned out to be a large

Bice Grackle (Cassidix orgzivora).


Occasionally I saw Purple-throated Cotingas (Cotinga cayana ) at

Esperanza, always in the tops of the highest trees. Also Magpie

Tanagers, which seemed to belong to the larger species (Cissopsis

major), although I never shot one to make sure. If so, this is another

bird not imported.


Three times I came across a flock of that truly wonderful bird,



