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 
