of _th_ to _f_ or _v_, as in "fing" for thing, or "favver"
for father. This and the vowel-sound change from _ou_ to _ah_, as in
"abaht" for "about," are only heard among the uneducated classes, and,
together with other characteristic pronunciations, phrases and words,
have been well illustrated in the so-called "coster" songs of Albert
Chevalier. The most marked and widely-prevalent change of vowel sound is
that of _ei_ for _ai_, so that "daily" becomes "dyly" and "may" becomes
"my." This is sometimes so marked that it almost amounts to incapacity
to distinguish the vowels _a_ and _i_, and is almost universal in large
classes of the population of London. The name of the "Cockney School of
Poetry" was applied in 1817 to the literary circle of which Leigh Hunt
was the principal representative, though Keats also was aimed at. The
articles in _Blackwood's Magazine_, in which the name appeared, have
generally, but probably wrongly, been attributed to John Gibson
Lockhart.

COCK-OF-THE-ROCK, the familiar name of the birds of the genus Rupicola
(subfamily Rupicolinae) of the Cotingas (allied to the Manakins, q.v.),
found in the Amazon valley. They are about the size of a pigeon, with
orange-coloured plumage, a pronounced crest, and orange-red flesh, and
build their nests on rock. The skins and feathers are highly valued for
decoration.

COCKPIT, the term originally for an enclosed place in which the sport of
cock-fighting (q.v.) was carried on. On the site of an old cockpit
opposite Whitehall in London was a block of buildings used from the 17th
century as offices by the treasury and the privy council, for which the
old name survived till the early 19th century. The name was given also
to a theatre in London, built in the early part of the 17th century on
the site of Drury Lane theatre. As the place where the wounded in battle
were tended, or where the junior officers consorted, the term was also
formerly applied to a cabin used for these purposes on the lower deck of
a man-of-war.

COCKROACH[1] (_Blattidae_), a family of orthopterous insects,
distinguished by their flattened bodies, long thread-like antennae, and
shining leathery integuments. Cockroaches are nocturnal creatures,
secreting themselves in chinks and crevices about houses, issuing from
their retreats when the lights are extinguished, and moving about with
extraordinary rapidity in search of food. They are voracious and
omnivorous, devouring,