, 1886-01-08
eeArHeaeo cuaIos,rles.
1he Bell bid OF Bra<ll-Ths Tyre bird.
oven Bird and otherx-
n oudon TaIa0r.nh

A remarkable bird-perhaps one of the
most curious in all the range Of orni-
thology-is among the latest additions
TO the Geological society's gardens. II
is the campanero, or bell bird Of the
Brazils, a member Of a very strange
family OF fowls, and itself one of the
strangest OF them all. 1t Is about the
size of a jay, with plumage as white as
snow, and rising out of the beak aqueer
horn-like tube that looks like a moldy
twig. Selecting by preference some
topmost branch OF some great dead
giant OF the wood, the campanero,
morning and evening, rings the day in
and rings 1t out. The note is loud and
clear, and can be heard three miles off.
No sound or song from any OF the
winged inhabitants Of the forest, not
even the clearly whip-poor.
will OF the ~goat-sucker. causes, y says
Waterton in his "Ramblings, " such
astonishment as the toll OF the bird
which the Indians call the 'dara,' and
we the bell bird"
II has n single note Of surprising mel
ody, while no other feathered thing,
not even the nightingale himself, can
challenge from the listener such sweet
association or more sympathetic alton
ton. In other respects it has
great claims to special notice
for the admirable originality of the
hike appendages which II wears,
some OF them sticking straight up on
end, others pendulous like strips of sea-
weed, resembling tho flaments which
the angler fish is supposed to use a a
bait for its prey. Such variations from
ordinary type are in themselves admira-
BILE, and Il certain Measure of admira-
ton naturally attaches to the inventive
genius that devises these appendages-
Nor are its congeners less curious in
their persons. There is the lyre-b bird,
one OF the cleyerest mimics in nature,
excelling even the parrot in the readi-
sounds, and the persistence with
most disagreeable ones 1t learns, and
notable among fowls for the arrange
ment of its tail feathers, from which 1t
takes Its name. Il oncc listened, " says
Gould, ito one of these birds that had
taken up its quarters near a sawyer's
hut, and 1t had made itself perfect in
all the noises OF the workman's home
stead-the growing of the cocks, the
'aohiiuk VI tub utnof "a hihh anu noWl-
ing of the dogs, and even the painful
Of saws" Another curious kinsman of
the bell-bird is the bush-wren, remark
able for the very large size of its feet,
Quism OF voice. The South American
natives venerate 1t, taking omen from
its different notes. and, as a rule, i'm
Wltatflxr uaNtp. noon elA IatflA hind 90.
acular auguries.
Then there il the ''oven bird" 81
called from its building strong, oven
like nests OF mud, which may claim a
certain distinction AS being at present
the only fowl known that insists upon
having two rooms, so to speak, in its
nest Talking to its neighbors. the
owe bird, no doubt, speaks OF the sec
ond apartment as my wife's dressing
room, which is very civilized and nice
Of II. Some day, perhaps, naturalists,
who are perpetually improving upon
knowledge, will discover a bird that
not only has two rooms in its nest, but
a bath room attached. In the mean
while, the oven bird is foremost in his
ideas OF what q birds house should be-
Then there are the vociferous mi
thTusnesi OF winch some species nave
never been seen TO alight on the ground,
and Of which others are remarkable
among birds for the striking %brilliancy
OF their plumage; and those miracles
OF courage, the little king birds"
Nor should the cock-of-the-rock, with
its wondrous head gear, be forgotten;
o the umbrella bird, which wears u
shade Of feathers over its head to keep
itself from sunstroke; nor the broad
bills, remarkable for such Indifference
to danger as to have earned for them
selves the title of the ''stupidest of
bird nor the destructive p~lant-cutters,
who 20 through life under the impress
sion that they have a mission to shorten
the twigs Of bushes, and are regular
fanatics in carrying u their supposed
duties.