COCK-OF-THE-ROCK.
The cock-of-the-rock is a South American bird, of gorgeous coloration.
All the tyrant-birds are active and restless in their habits, and frequent marshy districts, sitting alone, perched on the dead branches of trees or bushes, whence they dart forth like the Old World fly-catchers on their prey. Some species, however, frequent bare plains; others, also ground-dwellers, associate occasionally in flocks.
Though the prey, which consists chiefly of insects, is, as a rule, captured on the wing, it is not invariably so. One species, for example, pounces down on crawling beetles, grasps them in its claws, and eats them on the ground. Some other species eat mice, young birds, snakes, frogs, fishes, spiders, and worms, the larger victims being beaten on a branch to kill them. One or two species will eat seeds and berries.
The nest is often domed, and skilfully felted with moss, lichens, and spider-webs.
The Broad-bills are the sole representatives of the final sub-division of the Perching-birds. After the brilliant coloration, the next most striking feature is the great breadth of the bill. Their range is very limited, extending from the lower spurs of the Himalaya, through Burma and Siam, to Sumatra, Borneo, and Java. They seek the seclusion of forests in the neighbourhood of water, exhibiting great partiality for the banks of rivers and lakes, and feeding on worms and insects, many of the latter being captured on the wing.
The nest of the broad-bill is a large and not very neat structure, oval in shape, with an entrance near the top, which is often protected with an overhanging roof. It is generally suspended from a low branch or plants near the water, and made of twigs, roots, and leaves, and lined with finer materials. From three to five eggs are laid.
With these birds, probably the most primitive of the Perching-birds, this section ends. Many forms have inevitably been crowded out, whilst others have been but briefly noticed; nevertheless, all the really important groups have been more or less completely described, and in the majority of cases well illustrated.
Photo by W. Saville Kent, F.Z.S. Milford-on-Sea. Printed at Lyons, France.