294 BIRDS OF BRITISH GUIANA. 



Adult female. Genenil colour above and below paler and in- 

 clining to golden brown on the innermost secondaries anil tail- 

 feathers ; axillaries and under wing-coverts pale orange. Wing 

 IGO mm. 



The female described was also collected by Mr. McOonnell 

 during his expedition to Mount Roraima in September 1^98. 



The young male in its first plumage is like the female, and the 

 first sign of male attire is usually seen by the approach of orange- 

 coloured feathers on the middle of theal)domen, under tail-coverts, 

 and upper tail-coverts. In another specimen, which is in a more 

 advanced stage, the remains of female plumage may be observeil 

 on the sides of the head, hind-neck, and scapulars. 



The young male mentioned above was also collected b}' 

 Mr. McOonnell in September 1898 during his expedition to 

 Mount Roraima. 



Bveedincf-season. Chiefly in May (Schomburgk, Reis. Guian. i. 

 p,432). " On the Savannah the Cock-of-the- Hock lays in March " 

 {C. A.Lloyd). 



Nest. The nest is placed in deep fissures of the rocks, and is 

 pasted on the walls of the fissures in the same manner as the 

 !^uropean Swallows' nests are, and often in a sheltered place. It 

 is composed of fibres of ]»lants and made adhesive bv the use of 

 a somewhat solid resin, which is also used in fixing the nest to the 

 sides of the rock. The whole of the outside structure is covered 

 with this glutinous substance. It appears, like many other birds, 

 to use the same nest year after year by adding only another layer 

 of plant fibres and a few feathers each season, as several other 

 nests were observed with numerous layers in each (Schomburgk, 

 Reis. Guian. i. p. 432). 



J^ggs. Two in number ; white dotted with black (Schomburgk, 

 Reis, Guian. i. p. 432). 



Range in British Guiana. Curnbung River (^McConnell col- 

 lection) ; Upper Essequi bo River {Brouui) ; Kamakusa, Merume 

 Mountairxs, Kamarang River {Wliiteh/). 



Extraliniital Range. Surinam {Linne) ; Cayenne, Northern 

 Brazil, Venezuela. 



Habits. In reference to this bird, Schomburgk writes (Reis. 

 Guian. i. p. 442) : — " We suddenly heard at some distance the 

 well-known call of the ' Cock of the Rock.' ^Ve crawled most 

 carefully and uoiselessly for about a thousand steps through the 



