144 WANDERINGS IN SOUTH AjMERICA 



resemble the colour on the peacock's neck; its 

 belly is a bright yellow; the legs are so very short 

 that it always appears as if sitting on the branch ; 

 it is as ill-adapted for walking as the swallow; 

 its neck, for above an inch all round, is quite bare 

 of feathers, but this deficiency is not seen, for it 

 always sits with its head drawn in upon its shoul- 

 ders : it sometimes feeds with the cotingas on the 

 guava and hitia trees; but its chief nutriment 

 seems to be insects, and, like most birds which 

 follow this prey, its chaps are well armed with 

 bristles: it is found in Demerara at all times of 

 the year, and makes a nest resembling that of the 

 stock-dove. This bird never takes long flights, 

 and when it crosses a river or creek it goes by 

 long jerks. 



The boclora is very unsuspicious, appearing 

 quite heedless of danger; the report of a gun 

 within twenty yards will not cause it to leave the 

 branch on which it is sitting, and you may often 

 approach it so near as almost to touch it with the 

 end of your bow. Perhaps there is no bird known 

 whose feathers are so slightly fixed to the skin as 

 those of the boclora. After shooting it, if it touch 

 a branch in its descent, or if it drop on hard 

 ground, whole heaps of feathers fall off; on this 

 account it is extremely hard to procure a speci- 

 men for preservation. As soon as the skin is dry 

 in the preserved specimen, the feathers become as 

 well fixed as those in any other bird. 



Another species, larger than the boclora, at- 

 tracts much of your notice in these wilds; it is 

 called Cuia by the Indians, from the sound of its 

 voice; its habits are the same as those of the 



