207 
When in motion, either flying or feeding, the crest is laid back 
and the plume carried close to the breast, so as not to be conspicuous. 
When at rest in the daytime, the crest is fully expanded, and the 
plume is rather enlarged and hanging forward. At night, when 
asleep, all the feathers are puffed out to their fullest extent, and some¬ 
times the head is turned so as to bring the dome of the crest on the 
middle of the back. It then presents a most singular appearance, 
the head and feet being quite invisible, the plume and crest alone 
being conspicuous amidst the mass of feathers. 
These observations I was enabled to make by having a fine male 
alive for ten days. He had received a shot in the head, but ap¬ 
peared to suffer no ill effects from it, till on the tenth day he suddenly 
fell off his perch and died. I found, on skinning him, that the shot 
had broken his skull and entered the brain. 
The Umbrella Bird inhabits the islands of the rivers, never having 
been seen on the main land. It is perfectly arboreal, never de¬ 
scending to the ground. Its food is fruit of various kinds, but when 
this is scarce it eats insects : my hunter saw one with a large hairy 
spider (Mygale) in his mouth. On seizing an insect or fruit, it 
strikes its beak against its perch several times, apparently to kill or 
soften it, or secure it more firmly in its beak, and then after two or 
three bites swallows it entire. Some of the fruits it eats are about 
the size of a damson, and have a stone, which it ejects through its 
mouth an hour or two after eating. 
Its note is very loud and deep, and it is from this that it has re¬ 
ceived its Inchan name " Ueramimbe,” signifying the ct Piper-bird.” 
It utters its note early in the morning and in the afternoon. It fre¬ 
quents the very loftiest forest trees, but is said to build its nest 
rather lower. Its nest is said to be formed of sticks very roughly, 
and the young are very naked and ugly. The colour or size of the 
eggs I have not been able to ascertain. 
In ascending the Amazon, it first occurs opposite the mouth of 
the Madeira, in some islands. In the Sohuives, as far as the boun¬ 
daries of Brazil, it also occurs, and probably further. The Bio 
Negro, however, is its head-quarters; and there, in the numerous 
islands which fill that river, it is very abundant. It extends at least 
four hundred miles up the river, and very probably much further. 
I have not heard of its occurring in the Bio Branco, Madeira, or any 
of the other great tributaries of the Amazon. I have been informed 
by a hunter, that towards the sources of the Bio Negro another 
species is found, and this I hope soon to have the means of verifying. 
Barra do Rio Negro, March 10th, 1850. 
The meeting was then adjourned to Tuesday, November 12. 
