712 Mr. W. Coodfellow — Ornithological 



tasteless and tough. The skin is yellow and partakes of the 

 colour of the feathers. It is perhaps the toughest skin of 

 any bird I know. Unlike R. sanguinolenta, the plumage 

 of this species fades rapidly after death, and conveys but 

 little idea of the wonderful shade that it has in life. No 

 females were met with by us. 



240. RUPICOLA SANGUINOLENTA Gould. 



We shot fourteen males at Gualeain August and at Milli- 

 galli in September, at altitudes of from 4000 to 6000 feet, on 

 the western side of the Andes, when they were in perfect 

 plumage. We saw females on several occasions, but always 

 in places where, had we shot them, we could not have 

 recovered them. The habit these birds have of crouching 

 down renders the females with their duller colouring less 

 conspicuous. Their chief place of resort at Milligalli during 

 certain hours of the day was along the sides of a narrow 

 river with precipitous rocky sides, more or less covered with 

 overhanging flowering bushes; and here, where the sunlight 

 fell in strong contrasts, the Cocks-of-the-Rock sat motion- 

 less among the vegetaticn. Unless one saw them settle or 

 knew that this was their haunt, it was easy to pass them by 

 unobserved. They fed on the hard berries of a bush which 

 grows freely by the river, but to what family it belongs I am 

 unable to say. Opposite to the one hut which constitutes 

 Milligalli rise perpendicular cliffs, and on the ledges where 

 small plants grow this species builds its nest. I was told that 

 the nesting-season is in May and June, and that prior to 

 that time the loud harsh call of the male birds is a familiar 

 sound in the early mornings, when they assemble to choose 

 their mates and indulge in their curious antics. These 

 assemblies, however, are not solely confined to the breeding- 

 season, for in August, near Gualea, we found a spot where 

 we were able to watch their proceedings unobserved for 

 several mornings in succession. It was on a broad flat 

 ledge of rock overhanging a steep bank well screened by 

 vegetation. Between 7 and 8 a.m. from ten to seventeen 

 birds, mostly old and young males, would gather together. 

 The majority of them huddled together under the bank. 



