LITTLE COCK 239 



Carmen, on the Rio Negro, it is very abundant, and 

 when I went there its loud deep chirrup, heard from 

 every side in the thicket, quickly arrested my atten- 

 tion, just as the perpetual chirping of the Sparrows 

 did when I first landed in England. In the interior 

 of the country it is not nearly so abundant, so that 

 man's presence has probably in some way affected 

 it favourably. Its habits amuse and baffle a person 

 anxious to make its acquaintance ; for it scarcely 

 possesses the faculty of flight, and cannot be driven 

 up, but it is so easily alarmed, so swift of foot, and 

 so fond of concealment, that it is most difficult to 

 catch a sight of it. At the same time it is extremely 

 inquisitive, and no sooner does it spy an intruder in 

 the bush than the warning note is sounded, where- 

 upon every bird within hearing hops up into a thick 

 thorn-bush, where it utters every three or four 

 seconds a loud hollow chirp, and at intervals a 

 violent scolding cry, several times repeated. When 

 approached they all scuttle away, masked by the 

 bushes, with amazing swiftness, to take refuge at a 

 distance, where the loud protest is again resumed ; 

 but when the pursuer gives up the pursuit in disgust 

 and turns away, they immediately follow him, so 

 that he is perpetually encircled with the same ring 

 of angry sound, moving with him, coming no nearer 

 and never allowing its cause to be seen. 



On three or four occasions I have seen one rise 

 from the ground and fly several yards with a feeble 

 fluttering flight; but when closely pursued in an 

 open place they seem incapable of rising. They 



