THE COCK-OF-THE ROCK. 



[Rupicola crocea.) 



The Cock-of-the-Rock lives in Guiana, 

 and adjacent regions, where its nest may 

 be found among the rocks. T. K. Sal- 

 mon says : ''I once went to see the breed- 

 ing place of the Cock-of-the-Rock; and 

 a darker or wilder place I have never 

 been in. Following up a mountain stream 

 the gorge became gradually more en- 

 closed 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 pene- 

 trated. All was wet and dark, and the 

 only sound heard was the rushing of the 

 water over the rocks. We had hardly 

 become accustomed to the gloom wiieri 

 a nest was found, a dark bird, stealing 

 away from what seemed to be a lump of 

 mud upon the face of the rock. This was 

 a nest of the Cock-of-the-Rock, contain- 

 ing two eggs ; it was built upon a pro- 

 jecting piece, the body being made of 

 mud or clay, then a few sticks, and on 

 the top lined with green moss. It was 

 about five feet from the water. I did 

 not see tlie male bird, and, indeed, I 

 have rarely ever seen the male and female 

 birds together, though I have seen both 

 sexes in separate flocks." 



The eggs are described as pale buff 

 with various sized spots of shades from 

 red-brown to pale lilac. 



It is a solitary and wary bird, feeding 

 before sunrise and after sunset and hid- 

 ing through the day in sombre ravines. 



Robert Schomburgh describes its 

 dance as follows : 



''While traversing the mountains of 

 Western Guiana we fell in with a pack of 

 these splendid birds, which gave me the 

 opportunity of being •an eye witness of 



their dancing, an accomplishment which 

 I had hitherto regarded as a fable. We 

 cautiously approached their ballet ground 

 and place of meeting, which lay some 

 little distance from the road. The stage, 

 if we may so call it, measured from four 

 to five feet in diameter; every blade of 

 grass had been removed and the ground 

 was as smooth as if leveled by human 

 hands. On this space we saw one of 

 the birds dance and jump about, while 

 the others evidently played the part of 

 admiring spectators. At one moment it 

 expanded its wings, threw its head in the 

 air, or spread out its tail like a peacock, 

 scratching the ground with its foot; all 

 this took place with a sort of hopping 

 gait until tired, when on emitting a pe- 

 culiar note, its place was immediatelv 

 filled by another performer. In this man- 

 ner the different birds went through their 

 terpsichorean exercises, each retiring to 

 its place among the spectators, who had 

 settled on the low bushes near the thea- 

 tre of operations. We counted ten males 

 and two females in the flock. The noise 

 of a breaking stick unfortunately raised 

 an alarm, when the whole company of 

 dancers immediately flew off. 



"The Indians, who place great value on 

 their skins, eagerly seek out their playing 

 grounds, and armed with their blow- 

 tubes and poisoned arrows, lie in wait 

 for the dances. The hunter does not at- 

 tempt to use his weapon until the com- 

 pany is quite engrossed in the perfomi- 

 ance, when the birds become so pre-oc- 

 cupied with their amusement that four or 

 five are often killed before the survivors 

 detect the danger and decamp." 



