II4 THE ODYSSEY OF AN ANIMAL COLLECTOR 
young have a marked resemblance—both being spotted and 
striped. In Guiana the tapir is much sought after by the aboriginal 
Indians for food, and its flesh is considered delicious. 
In captivity tapirs should be treated like hippopotamuses and 
should have access to a pool. In this they will spend much of their 
time swimming, often diving out of sight for considerable 
periods. 
Perhaps the most gorgeous bird in British Guiana is the Cock- 
of-the-Rock. Although locally common it is restricted to a few 
localities where there are rocky ranges. People in Bartica said it 
was about twenty years since anyone had arrived there with one 
of these birds, and yet a week after my arrival an Indian who had 
come from the Upper Cuyuni, and who had been travelling for 
weeks down this river in his canoe, turned up at the Settlement 
with a magnificent male bird, which I purchased. He was a gor- 
geous orange-red color with a large compressed crest stretching 
from the bill to the nape. The crest is round and divides into two 
portions in front—one on each side of the bill. 
The cock-of-the-rock gets its name from its nesting habits, as it 
plasters its nest on an overhanging rock-face like the crag martin, 
though this is not of mud but of fibrous vegetation held together 
by some gelatinous substance—possibly regurgitated food. They 
are gregarious and the males resort to dancing-grounds where a 
number come and perform regularly in the breeding season. 
They have the reputation of being difficult to establish in cap- 
tivity, especially the adults, but this one was perfectly tame and fed 
well, so had probably been in the hands of the Indian for some 
considerable time. His only call-note was a loud Quow! 
Visitors to the Settlement were infrequent but one day the Gov- 
ernor of the Colony called for a few hours and was very interested 
in my collection especially the five hoatzins. These were perfectly 
at home in their aviary after several months in captivity, and were 
as fit as the day they were caught. I arranged for a supply of 
lettuce to be sent weekly by the river steamer and managed to 
grow some more, and these I chopped and mixed with the hoat- 
zins natural food. They soon came to like this new item of diet, 
which heartened me regarding the chances of transporting them 
