The Horned Screamer

(Palameadea cornuta), so named from the presence on the forehead of a slender, forward-curving "horn" or caruncle, some five or six inches long, is a native of Guiana, Venezuela, Amazonia, and Ecuador. It is about thirty-four inches in length and is glossy black above and mainly white below, the feathers of the head edged with whitish and those of the front of the neck and the sides with ashy; the legs and feet are ashy gray and the iris bright orange. It has a powerful voice, described as a loud and sudden hoot, but not by any means so remarkable as that of the Crested Screamer (Chauma cristata), the species we shall next consider. In this the plumage is slaty gray above, darker on the back, and white below, the chin, neck, and cheeks also whitish; the feet are red. The total length of the bird is about thirty-two inches. It is without the "horn" of the first species, but in its place the head is crested.