COCK-OF-THE-R OCK. 



473 



FIG. 232. a, fifth and b, sixth secondaries 

 of the male Machaeroptenu dvltciosa from 

 above ; c, seventh secondary from below. 



232, a representing the upper surface of the fifth secondary of the male bird. In the 

 sixth and seventh secondaries of the male, the terminal half of the rachis is thickened 

 to an extraordinary degree, forming a solid horny lump. The external and internal 

 barbs are also much modified in shape, and generally curtailed in size. Mr. Fraser 

 states that the wing-bones of these birds were also 

 much thickened, no doubt in aid of this abnormal 

 structure of the wing." 



The pipras are said to resemble our tits and 

 chickadees in their habits, hopping about in the 

 lower bushes and partly nesting on the ground. 

 Chiroxiphia cauclata is known in Brazil as the 

 ' dansador,' on account of a peculiar play or dance 

 which often is performed when a few of them are 

 together. One of them keeps up whistling with all 

 his might while the others are jumping and danc- 

 ing on the twigs round about him ; when he gets 

 tired he is relieved by another bird, and he him- 

 self joins the dancing chorus. 



The so-called cock-of-the-rock (Rupicola) takes 

 a position somewhat intermediate between the 

 Pipridse and the COTINGID^E, inasmuch as it is syndactylous, like the former, but 

 pycnaspidean, like the latter family. It has, consequently, by ornithologists, been 

 referred to one of them as well as to the other. Taking into consideration that it is 

 homceomerous, like most other birds, the supposition seems not unreasonable that it is 

 more nearly related to the ancestral stock than the pipras and the cotingas proper, and 

 that all three should be united in the same family. 



This singular bird, which is well figured on the plate facing page 472, is of a beau- 

 tiful orange-yellow color, with a curiously compressed and rounded crest on the head, 

 somewhat resembling that of the quezal, and nearly concealing the upper mandible. 

 The female is much plainer, being of a dull olive brownish. Another species is 

 JK. peruviana, very similarly colored, but the crest without tte subapical brownish 

 band. The intensity of the red in the orange color seems to vary according to the 

 geographical distribution, two additional races being perhaps recognizable, It. peru- 

 viana saturata and JK. peruviana sanguinolenta. The females are of a dull olivaceous 

 brown. The cocks-of-the-rock are restricted to the interior parts of northern South 

 America. Being of the size of a magpie, they of course are very showy, and have 

 always attracted great attention, not the least because of the peculiar plays and dances 

 which the males perform in the breeding season. They meet at certain places, and the 

 females are interested spectators, the whole performance strongly reminding of similar 

 games among the gallinaceous birds. A visit to the breeding place of R. sangui- 

 nolenta is described by Mr. T. K. Salmon as follows : " I once went to see the breed- 

 ing ]lace of the cock-of-the-rock ; and a darker or wilder place I have never been in. 

 Following up a mountain stream in the district of Frontino (State of Antioquia), the 

 gorge became gradually more enclosed, and more rocky, till I arrived at the mouth of 

 a cave, with high rock on each side, and overshadowed by high trees, into which 

 the sun never penetrated. All was wet and dark, and the only sound heard the 

 rushing of the water over the rocks. We had hardly become accustomed to the 

 gloom when a nest was found, a dark bird stealing away from what appeared to be a 



