Among the forest highlands at the foot of the sierras to the north of
the Amazon, the magnificent orange-coloured cock of the rocks enjoys
existence. About the size of a pigeon, it belongs to the tribe of the
diminutive manakins, most of which have beautiful and curious plumage.
It, however, surpasses them all.
It has gained its name from the slight external resemblance that it
bears to the gallinaceous form.
Its plumage is of a rich orange tint; with the exception of the
quill-feathers of the wings, which are of a sooty black hue, and those
of the tail, which are brown tipped with yellow. On its head it wears a
peculiar fan-like crest, which, overhanging the forehead, extends to the
back of the head, and which bears a strong resemblance to the plume of
an ancient helmet. The tips of these crest-feathers are tinged with
brown and yellow. Between the wing and upper tail-coverts appear
flowing plumes, which droop gracefully over the firmer feathers of the
tail and sides.
Like some birds of paradise in the Eastern Archipelago, the cocks of the
rocks assemble in numbers to perform a kind of dance for their
amusement, selecting generally the smooth rocks or roots of trees,--
moving here and there, round and round, backwards and forwards, and
erecting their gorgeous plumes, to exhibit their beauty. Wallace
observed a company of birds engaged in this singular way, though he says
that no females or young birds were present.
Schombergh describes a similar scene. A troop of these beautiful birds
was celebrating its dances on the smooth surface of a rock. About a
score of them were seated on the branches as spectators, while one of
the male birds, with proud self-confidence, and with spreading tail and
wings, was dancing on the rock. He scratched the ground, or leaped
vertically in the air; continuing these saltatory movements until he was
tired, when another male took his place. The females, meanwhile, looked
on attentively, and applauded the performances of the dancers with
laudatory cries.
Wallace, in his later work on the Eastern Archipelago, gives an equally
animated picture of the king birds of paradise enjoying a similar
performance on the topmost boughs of the most lofty trees in the Aru
Islands.