High up among the lofty boughs of the thick forest sit a flock of
magnificent birds, each the size of a turkey. They are the crested
curassow (Crax elector). The plumage is of a deep, shining black
colour, reflecting purple and green shades. The abdomen and
tail-coverts are white, but the tail is black, and generally tipped with
white. On its head it carries a handsome golden crest, the feathers
narrow at the base and broad at the tip, which it raises and depresses
as it moves along. Its voice, far from sweet, sounds like a hoarse
cough, and each time it utters its cry it partially spreads its feathers
and throws up its tail. The hen, however, has another way of expressing
herself, uttering a whining sound.
Among the trees where they are perched are their large nests, roughly
formed of sticks and leaves and plaits of grass. Their eggs, of which
there are six or seven, are about the size of those of a turkey, and of
a pure white. They feed on bananas and other fruits, as well as maize
and rice.
There are several species. One (the mitu tuberosa) has an
orange-coloured beak, surmounted by a bean-shaped excrescence of the
same hue. It lays two rough-shelled white eggs.
Another species (the crax globicera) inhabits the Upper Amazon, and
possesses a round instead of a bean-shaped excrescence on the beak.
These birds are easily tamed. Bates mentions one which used to attend
the family with whom he lived at all the meals, passing from one person
to another round the mat to be fed, and rubbing the sides of its head in
a coaxing way against their cheeks or shoulders. At night it went to
roost in a sleeping-room--beside the hammock of one of the little girls,
to whom it seemed to be greatly attached, following her wherever she
went about the grounds. These birds, however, do not breed in
captivity, and are therefore only kept by the Indians as pets; though
possibly they might be induced, by proper management, to do so, when
they would prove a valuable addition to the poultry-yard in England.
In its wild state it seldom descends from the lofty trees.