BELL, Song of the von der Glocke'), a poem which is generally considered Schiller's masterpiece. It was first published in the Musenalmanach, in 1800. In this work the various operations attending the casting of the bell are made to symbolize the whole course of human life.
the name given to birds in various parts of the world, which utter bell-like notes ; especially the "campanero' (Chasmorhyn chits niveus), one of the chatterers of the South American family, Cotingicke. It resembles, in form and size, the North American wax-wing, but is pure white, and has a remarkable ap pendage upon its forehead. This consists of a fleshy, tapering caruncle, which is black, thinly covered with star-hle tufts of minute feathers. This carunde ordinarily hangs loosely down at the side of the beak, but in moments of excitement becomes swollen and much extended, reaching a length of even five inches. This seems to be produced by air forced into its elastic tissues from the bird's lungs, and occurs whenever the characteristic notes are uttered. The bird's voice has been described by many travelers as like the sound of a loud, clear bell, which rings out over the forest at mid-day, when most other birds are silent. Waterton
said: "You hear his toll and then a pause for a minute, then another toll, and then a pause again, and then another toll, and so on.' Others have compared the sound to a blow upon an anvil, and all agree that it can be heard a great distance. Several other species exist in cen tral and southern South America, all of which have caruncles, and utter extraordinary, ring ing notes; but the former belief, that the loud voice was aided by these hollow appendages, is now known to be erroneous. These birds go about in small flocks, which flit through the tree-tops, and feed mainly upon forest fruits. They have been particularly studied by J. J. Quelch, a naturalist of British Guiana, an account of whose interesting investigations will be found in The Field of London, for 26 Nov. 1892.
In Australia, the name "bell-bird' is given to one of the honey-suckers (q.v.), whose clung ching is welcomed by travelers in the forest as an indication that water is near. The "bell bird' of New Zealand is another honey-sucker (Anthornis mdanura), whose voice, usually heard in chorus, resembles the tinkling of a silver bell.