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BIRDS OF LA PLATA
All rights reserved
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Spur-Winged Lapwing
Vanellus cayennensts (Gm.)
m
^. OF LA PLATA
BIRDS
V.
eU.
BY
W. H. HUDSON
WITH TWENTT-TWO COLOURED
ILLUSTRATIONS BT
H. GRONFOLD
VOLUME TWO
I 920
LONDON 6- TORONTO
J. M. DENT ^ SONS LTD.
NEW YORK: E. P. BUTTON & CO.
/
r NOV 2 5 IsSl y )
.^■•njL-x:^*-
There have been printed of this Edition 1500 Copies for England and
1500 Copies for United States of America, also a Large Paper Edition
of 200 Copies, and the type then distributed.
PAGE
I
CONTENTS
FAM. XIII.— TROCHILIDJE, OR HUMMING-BIRDS
Glittering Humming-bird, Chlorostilbon splendidus, Vieill.
FAM. XIV.— CAPRIMULGIDiE, OR GOATSUCKERS
Nacunda Goatsucker, Podager nacmda, Vieill. ... 4
FAM. XV.— PICID>E, OR WOODPECKERS
Red-crested Woodpecker, C/iry5oprj7u5 cmfafus, Vieill. . ♦ 7
Pampas Woodpecker, Colaptes agricola, Malh. ... 10
FAM. XVI.— ALCEDINID/E, OR KINGFISHERS
Ringed Kingfisher, Ceryle torquata, Linn. .... 13
FAM. XVII.— CUCULIDJE, OR CUCKOOS
GuiRA Cuckoo, Guira piririgua, Vieill 15
Black-billed Cuckoo, Coccyzus melanocoryphus, Vieill. . . ai
FAM. XVIII.— PSITTACID^, OR PARROTS
Patagonian Parrot, Conurus patagonus, Vieill. ... 27
Green Parrakeet, Bolhorhynchus monachus, Bodd. ... 30
FAM. XIX.— BUBONIDiE, OR OWLS
Short-eared Owl, Asio brachyotus, Forst 33
Burrowing-Owl, Speotyto cmicularia, Mol 36
FAM. XX.— FALCONID^, OR FALCONS
Argentine Hen-Harrier, Circus cinereus, Vieill.
Vociferous Hawk, Asturina pucherani, Verr. .
White-tailed Buzzard, Buteo albicaudatus, Vieill. .
Red-backed Buzzard, Buteo erythronotus, King
Grey Eagle, Geranoaetus melanoleucus, Vieill. .
V
43
44
45
47
48
VI
BIRDS OF LA PLATA
FAM. XX.— FALCONID^, OR F ALCONS— continued
PAGE
Crowned Eagle, Harpyhaliaetus coronatus, Vieill. . . ♦ 5^
Peregrine Falcon, Falco peregrinus, Linn. . . ♦ ♦ 53
Argentine Hobby, Falco fusco-caerulescens, Vieill. . . '55
Argentine Kestrel, Tinnimculus cinnamominus, Sw. . . 56
White Kite, Elanus leucurus, Vieill. ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ • 57
Sociable Marsh-Hawk, Rostrohamm sociahilis, Vieill. . . 59
Pigmy Falcon, Spiziapteryx circumcinctus, Kaup. ... 61
Chimango, or Common Carrion Hawk, Milvago chimango, Vieill. 62
Carancho, or Caracara, Polyborus tharus, Mol. ... 75
FAM. XXL— CATHARTID^, OR CONDORS
Black Vulture, Cathartes atratus, Bartram .... 89
FAM. XXIL— PHALACROCARACIDvE, OR CORMORANTS
Brazilian Cormorant, Phalacrocorax brasilianus, Gm. . . 90
FAM. XXHL— ARDEID^E, OR HERONS
Cocoi Heron, Ardea cocoi, Linn. .
White Egret, Ardea egretta, Gm. .
Snowy Egret, Ardea candidissima, Gm. .
Whistling Heron, Ardea sibilatrix, Temm.
Little Blue Heron, Butorides cyanurus, Vieill
Little Red Heron, Ardetta involucris, Vieill.
Night Heron, Nycticorax obscurus, Bp. .
93
lOI
lOI
103
104
105
112
FAM. XXIV.— CICONID^, OR STORKS
Maguari Stork, £ujcenura ma^uan, Gm. . . . '113
Wood Ibis, Tanfa/iw /ocu/af or, Linn 116
FAM. XXV.— PLATALEIDJE, OR IBISES
^HiTE-FACED Ibis, Plegadis guaratma, hinn 118
Black-faced Ibis, Theristicus caudatus, Bodd. . . . .120
Blue Ibis, Harpiprion ceerulescens, Vieill. .... 122
Whispering Ibis, Phimosas inf meatus, Licht. . . . .124
Roseate Spoonbill, Ajaja rosea, Reichenb. . . . '125
FAM. XXVL— PHCENICOPTERIDJE, OR FLAMINGOES
Argentine Flamingo, Phoenicopterus ignipalUatus, Geoffr. et
d'Orb. 127
CONTENTS . vii
FAM. XXVII.— PALAMEDEIDJE, OR SCREAMERS
Crested Screamer^ Chauna chavaria, Linn.
PAGE
130
FAM. XXVIII.— ANATIDiE, OR DUCKS
Barred Upland Goose^ Bernida dispar, Ph. et Landb.
Ashy-headed Upland Goose^ Bernida poliocephala, Grey
Black-necked Swan^ Cygnus nigricollis, Gm. ♦
Coscoroba Swan, Coscoroba Candida, Vieill. .
Fulvous Tree-Duck, Dendrocygna ftdva, Gm.
White-faced Tree-Duck, Dendrocygna viduata, Linn.
Blue-winged Teal, Querquedula cyanoptera, Vieill. .
Yellow-billed Teal, Querquedula flavirostris, Vieill.
Grey Teal, Querquedula versicolor, Vieill.
Ring-necked Teal, Querquedula torquata, Vieill.
Brazilian Teal, Querquedula brasiliensis, Gm.
Brown Pintail, Dafila spinicauda, Vieill.
White-faced Pintail, Dafila bahamensis, Linn.
Chiloe Wigeon, Mareca sibilatrix, Poepp.
Red Shoveller, Spatula platalea, Vieill.
Rosy-billed Dvck, Metopiana peposaca, Vieill.
134
135
136
138
139
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
150
151
153
FAM. XXIX.— COLUMBID^, OR PIGEONS
Argentine Wood-Pigeon, Columba picazuro, Temm.
Spotted Wood-Pigeon, Columba maculosa, Temm. .
Spotted Dove, Zenaida maculata, Vieill.
Pigmy Dove, Columbula picui, Temm. .
Solitary Pigeon, Engyptila chalcauchenia, Sel. et Salv.
154
155
157
158
159
FAM. XXX.— RALLIDiE, OR RAILS
Black Rail, Rallm rhytirhynchus, Vieill.
Ypecaha Rail, Aramides ypecaha, Vieill.
Little Waterhen, Porphyriops melanops, Vieill.
Yellow-billed Coot, Fulica leucoptera, Vieill.
160
163
170
170
FAM. XXXI.— ARAMID^, OR COURLANS
Argentine Courlan, Aramus scolopaceus, Gm.
FAM. XXXII.— PARRIDJE, OR JACANAS
Jacana, Parra jacana, Linn
172
175
via BIRDS OF LA PLATA
FAM. XXXIII —CHARADRIIDiE, OR PLOVERS
Spur- WING Lapwing, Vanellus cayennensis, Gtn.
American Golden Plover, Charadrius dominicus, Miiller
Winter Plover, Eudromias modesta, Licht.
Patagonian Ringed Plover, Mgialitis falklandicus, Lath.
Slender-billed Plover, Oreophilus ruficollis, Wagl. .
PAGE
178
185
187
188
189
FAM. XXXIV.— THINOCORIDiE, OR SEED-SNIPES
Seed-Snipe, Thinocorus rumicivorus, Eschsch 191
FAM. XXXV.— SCOLOPACIDiE, OR SNIPES
Brazilian Stilt, Himantopus brasiliensis, Brehm.
Paraguay Snipe, Gallinago paraguaix, Vieill. .
Argentine Painted Snipe, Rhyncheea semicollaris, Vieill.
Pectoral Sandpiper, Tringa maculata, Vieill. .
Greater Yellowshanks, Totanus melanoleucus, Gm.
Solitary Sandpiper, Rhyacophilus solitarim, Wils. .
Bartram's Sandpiper, Actitura bartramius, Wils.
Buff-breasted Sandpiper, Tryngites rufescens, Vieill.
HuDSONiAN God WIT, Limosa heemastica, Linn.
EsQUiMO Whimbrel, Numenius borealis, Fourt.
193
195
197
198
199
201
202
205
206
207
FAM. XXXVI.— LARID^, OR GULLS
Black-tailed Skimmer, Rhynchops melanura, Sw. . . . 208
Dominican Gull, Larus dominicanus, Licht. . . .211
Argentine Black-headed Gull, Larus maculipennis, Licht. . 212
FAM. XXXVII.— PODICIPEDID^, OR GREBES
Great Grebe, ^chmophorus major, Bodd 217
FAM. XXXVIII.— TINAMID^, OR TINAMUS
Tataupa Tinamu, Crypturus tataupa, Temm 219
Rufous Tinamu, Rhynchotus rufescens, Temm. . . .221
Spotted Tinamu, Nothura maculosa, Temm 223
Martineta, Calodromas elegans, d'Orb. et Geoffr. . . . 227
FAM. XXXIX.— RHEIDiE, OR RHEAS
Common Rhea, i?/iea ammcana. Lath 230
Index 237
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Spue-wing Lapwing^ Vanellus cayennensis, Gm.
One-third natural size See p. 178
Pampas Woodpecker, Colaptes agricola, Malh.
One-third natural size
BuRROWiNG-OwL, Spcotyto cunicularia, Mol. .
One-fourth natural size
Red-backed Buzzard^ Buteo erythronotus, King.
One-fourth natural size
Carancho Carrion-Hawk, Polyborus tharus, Mol.
One-fifth natural size
Whistling Heron, Ardea sibilatrix, Temm. ,
One-fourth natural size
Black-faced Ibis, Theristicus caudatus, Bodd. .
One-fifth natural size
Brazilian Teal, Querquedula brasiliensis, Gra.
One-third natural size
Common Jacana, Parra jacana, Linn. ♦
Two-fifths natural size
Slender-billed Plover, Oreophilus ruficollis, Wagl.
Three-fifths natural size
Martineta Tinamu, Calodromas elegans, d'Orb. ct
Geoffr
One-third natural size
Frontispiece
facing page
II
36
47
75
103
121
147
174
189
228
uc
BIRDS OF LA PLATA
GLITTERING HUMMING-BIRD
Chlorostilbon splendidus
Head^ upper parts, and wing-covcrts golden bronze, inclining to
green on upper tail-coverts ; wings purplish brown ; tail black
glossed with green ; throat and breast glittering emerald-green ; beak
bright red ; length 3.5 inches. Female bronze-green above and grey
beneath.
THE Trochilidae, or Humming-birds, a distinctly
South American form, are one of the most
numerous families of birds on the globe,
numbering over 400 known species, and ranging over
the entire continent down to Tierra del Fuego. How
surprising then to find that of this multitude of species
no more than about a dozen are found in the entire
Argentine country 1 It only adds to the surprise when
it is found that humming-birds of these few species
are common enough throughout the country. Even
on the almost treeless grassy pampas of Buenos Ayres
which are unsuited to the habits of this feathered
forest sprite, one species at all events is found every-
where. Personally I was acquainted with only
three species, and I recall that when living on the
open pampas, every season when the white acacia
at my home was in flower we had an invasion of
Humming-birds. The plantation was divided by
2 BIRDS OF LA PLATA
avenues of large acacia trees^ about a thousand
in all, and as long as the blossoms lasted the little
glittering birds were to be seen all over the place,
in almost every tree, revelling in the fragrant sweet-
ness ; but no sooner were the flowers faded than
they were gone, and thereafter two or three pairs
only remained to breed and spend the summer months
in the plantation. All these birds were of one species
— the Glittering Humming-bird, but on going a few
miles from home to the marsh and forest on the low
shores of the Plata river I would find the other two
species. I spent a summer, bird- watching, in a
herdsman's hut in the marshy forest and used to go
out at sunset to a small open space overgrown with
viper's-bugloss in flower. There is no flower the
Humming-bird likes so well, and he is most busy
feeding just before dark. Here, standing among the
flowers, I would watch the shining little birds coming
and going, each bird spending a minute or two
sucking honey, then vanishing back into the shadowy
trees, and from fifty to a hundred of them would
always be in sight all around me at a time. Here
all three species were feeding together ; but I was
familiar with the habits of only one, the bird I
describe here.
The Glittering Humming-bird appears in the
vicinity of Buenos Ayres in September, and later
in the spring is found everywhere on the pampas
where there are plantations, but it is never seen on
the treeless plains. Its sudden appearance in con-
GLITTERING HUMMING-BIRD 3
siderable numbers in plantations on the pampas,
where there are flowers to which it is partial, like
those of the acacia tree, and its just as sudden de-
parture when the flowers have fallen, have led me
to conclude that its migration extends much further
south, probably into mid-Patagonia. Like most
Humming-birds it is an exquisitely beautiful little
creature, in its glittering green mantle ; and in its
aerial life and swift motions a miracle of energy.
To those who have seen the Humming-bird in a
state of nature all descriptions of its appearance
and movements must seem idle. In the life-habits
of the Trochilidce there is a singular monotony ;
and the Glittering Humming-bird differs little in
its customs from other species that have been de-
scribed. It is extremely pugnacious ; the males meet
to fight in the air, and rapidly ascend, revolving
round each other, until when at a considerable
height they suddenly separate and dart off in opposite
directions. Occasionally two or three are seen
flashing by, pursuing each other, with such velocity
that even the Swift's flight, which is said to cover
four hundred miles an hour, seems slow in com-
parison. This species also possesses the habit of
darting towards a person and hovering bee-like for
some time close to his face. It also flies frequently
into a house, at window or door, but does not, like
birds of other kinds, become confused on such
occasions, and is much too lively to allow its retreat
to be cut off. It feeds a great deal on minute spiders,
and is fond of exploring the surfaces of mud and
4 BIRDS OF yi PLATA
brick walls, where it is seen deftly inserting its
slender crimson bill into the small spider-holes in
search of prey. The nest, like that of most humming-
birds, is a small, beautifully-made structure, com-
posed of a variety of materials held closely together
with spiders* webs, and is placed on a branch, or
in a fork, or else suspended from slender drooping
vines or twigs. Sometimes the nest is suspended to
the thatch overhanging the eaves of a cottage, for
except where persecuted the bird is quite fearless of
man's presence. The eggs are two, and white.
Besides the little creaking chirp uttered at short
intervals while flying or hovering, this species has a
set song, composed of five or six tenuous and squeak-
ing notes, uttered in rapid succession when the bird
is perched. It is a song like that of the European
Goldcrest in shape, and resembles it in sound, but
is less musical, or more squeaky.
NACUNDA GOATSUCKER
Podager nacunda
Above brown with black vermiculations and blotches ; wings
black with a broad white bar across the base of the primaries ; four
outer tail-feathers broadly tipped with white ; breast brown variegated
with black ; chin fulvous ; band across throat and belly white ;
length II, wing 9.5 inches. Female similar but without white
on tail.
The Specific name of this Goatsucker is from the
Guarani word Nacunda, which Azara tells us is the
Indian nickname for any person with a very large
NACUNDA GOATSUCKER 5
mouth* In the Argentine country it has several
names, being called Dormilon (Sleepy-head) or
Duerme-duerme (Sleep-sleep), also Gallina ciega (Blind
Hen). It is a large, handsome bird, and differs from
its congeners in being gregarious, and in never
perching on trees or entering woods. It is an in-
habitant of the open pampas. In Buenos Ayres, and
also in Paraguay, according to A2;ara, it is a summer
visitor, arriving at the end of September and leaving
at the end of February. In the love season the male
is sometimes heard uttering a song or call, with notes
of a hollow mysterious character; at other times
they are absolutely silent, except when disturbed in
the daytime, and then each bird when taking flight
emits the syllable kuf in a hollow voice. When
flushed the bird rushes away with a wild zigzag
flight, close to the ground, then suddenly drops Hke
a stone, disappearing at the same time from sight
as effectively as if the earth had swallowed it up, so
perfect is the protective resemblance in the colouring
of the upper plumage to the ground. In the evening
they begin to fly about earlier than most Caprimulgi,
hawking after insects like swallows, skimming over
the surface of the ground and water with a swift
irregular flight ; possibly the habit of sitting in open
places exposed to the full glare of the sun has made
them somewhat less nocturnal than other species
that seek the shelter of thick woods or herbage
during the hours of light.
The Nacunda breeds in October, and makes no
nest, but lays two eggs on a scraped place on the
6 BIRDS OF ^ PLATA
open plain, Mr. Dalgleish says of the eggs :
'* They are oval-shaped, and resemble much in
appearance those of the Nightjar, except that the
markings, which are similar in character to those
of the latter, are of a reddish-brown or port-wine
colour/'
After the breeding-season they are sometimes
found in flocks of forty or fifty individuals, and will
spend months on the same spot, returning to it in
equal numbers every year. One summer a flock of
about two hundred individuals frequented a meadow
near my house, and one day I observed them rise up
very early in the evening and begin soaring about
like a troop of swallows preparing to migrate. I
watched them for upwards of an hour ; but they
did not scatter as on previous evenings to seek for
food, and after a while they began to rise higher and
higher, still keeping close together, until they dis-
appeared from sight. Next morning I found that
they had gone.
In Entrerios, Mr. Barrows tells us, this Goat-
sucker is an abundant summer resident, arriving early
in September and departing again in April. It is
strictly crepuscular or nocturnal, never voluntarily
taking wing by daylight. In November it lays a pair
of spotted eggs in a hollow scooped in the soil of
the open plain. These in shape and markings re-
semble eggs of the Night-hawk {Chordeiles virginianus),
somewhat, but are of course much larger, and have
a distinct reddish tinge. ** We found the birds not
uncommon near Bahia Blanca, 17th February, 1881,
RED-CRESTED WOODPECKER 7
but elsewhere on the Pampas we did not observe
them/'
There are altogether close on fifty species of
Goatsuckers in South America ; of these^ six are
found in Argentina, I only knew two ; the one here
described and the small species Antrostomus parvulus,
which is rare in Buenos Ayres,
RED-CRESTED WOODPECKER
Chrysoptilus cristatus
Above black barred with white ; rump white with black spots ;
top of head blacky nape scarlet ; sides of head white^ bordered with
black ; beneath white, yellowish on the neck, covered with round
black spots ; throat white striped with black ; tail black, lateral
rectrices slightly barred with yellow; length 10.5 inches. Female
similar.
South and Central America has not fewer than 130
species of Woodpeckers ; in Argentina there are
only thirteen species known, and most of these are
confined to the northern and forest districts. Five
species range as far south as Buenos Ayres ; of these
I was acquainted with the following four.
The Red-crested Woodpecker ranges as far south
as the vicinity of Buenos Ayres, and is not uncommon
there in the few localities which possess wild forests.
It is the handsomest of our Woodpeckers, having
brighter tints than its congener of the plains, Colaptes
8 BIRDS OF LA PLATA
agricola. Like that bird, though not to the same
extent, it has diverged from the typical Picidse
in its habits, ahghting sometimes on the ground
to feed, and also frequently perching crosswise on
branches of trees. It has a powerful, clear, abrupt,
and oft-repeated note, and a rapid undulating
flight.
The following interesting account of its breeding
habits appears in a paper by Mr. Gibson : '' The ex-
cavation for the nest is begun as early as September ;
but the eggs are only laid during the first half of
October. The hole is generally commenced where
some branch has decayed away ; but care is taken
that the remainder of the tree is sound. It opens
at a height of from six to nine feet from the ground,
and is excavated to a depth of nearly a foot. Occasion-
ally it is sufficiently wide to admit of one*s hand, but
such is not always the case. No preparation is made
for the eggs beyond the usual lining of some chips
of wood.
** The pair which frequented the garden excavated
a hole in a paradise-tree, and bred there for two
consecutive years. The tree stood near one of the
walks, and on any one passing the sitting bird imme-
diately showed its head at the aperture, like a jack-
in-the-box, and then flew away. Last year this pair
actually bred in one of the posts of the horse-corral,
notwithstanding the noise and bustle incident to such
a locahty. While waiting there, at sunrise, for the
herd of horses to be shut in I used often to knock at
the post, in order to make the Woodpecker leave its
RED-CRESTED WOODPECKER 9
nest, but the bird seemed indifferent to such a mild
attack, and would even sit still while a hundred
horses and mares rushed about the corral or hurled
themselves against the sides of it. In another case I
had worked with hammer and chisel for half-an-hour,
cutting a hole on a level with the bottom of a nest,
when the female first demonstrated her presence by
flying out almost into my face. This last nest con-
tained four (considerably incubated) eggs, which I
took. Happening to pass the spot a fortnight after,
I inspected the hole and was surprised to find that it
had been deepened and another five eggs laid, while
the entrance I had cut was the one now used by the
birds. The nest was again resorted to the following
year and a brood hatched out, but since then a pair
of Wrens have occupied the place to the exclusion
of the rightful owners,*'
The eggs are white, four or five in number, pear-
shaped, and with polished shells.
White obtained specimens of this Woodpecker in
Catamarca, and Mr, Barrows found it resident in
Entrerios, The latter tells us it is ** abundant in the
woods everywhere, and conspicuous for its activity,
bright colours, and large size/'
lo BIRDS OF LA PLATA
PAMPAS WOODPECKER
Colaptes agricola
Above greyish white, transversely barred with black ; wings black
with golden-yellow shafts, and white bars on the outer webs ; rump
white with small black cross-bars ; crested head black ; sides of head
and neck in front yellow ; malar stripe red ; length 13 inches.
Female similar, but without the red malar stripe.
The species commonly called Carpintero in the
Argentine country, and ranging south to Patagonia,
is one of a group of the Picidee of South America
which diverge considerably in habits from the typical
Woodpeckers. On trees they usually perch horizon-
tally and crosswise, like ordinary birds, and only
occasionally cling vertically to trunks of trees, using
the tail as a support. They also seek their food
more on the ground than on trees, in some cases
not at all on trees, and they also breed oftener in
holes in banks or cliffs than in the trunks of trees*
As Darwin remarks in The Origin of SpecieSy in his
chapter on Instinct^ these birds have, to some slight
extent, been modified structurally in accordance with
their less arboreal habits, the beak being weaker, the
rectrices less stiff, and the legs longer than in other
Woodpeckers. In South Brazil and Bolivia the
Colaptes campestris represents this group, in Chili
C. pitius, and in the Argentine country C. agricola.
Azara's description, under the heading El Cam-
pestre, probably refers to the Brazilian species, but
agrees so well in every particular with the Pampas
Pampas Woodpecker
Colaptes agricola, Malh.
PAMPAS WOODPECKER ii
Woodpecker that I cannot do better than quote it
in full*
** Though this name (Campestre) seems inappro-
priate for any Woodpecker, no other better describes
the present species, since it never enters forests, nor
climbs on trunks to seek for insects under the bark,
but finds its aliment on the open plain, running with
ease on the ground, for its legs are longer than in
the others. There it forcibly strikes its beak into the
matted turf, where worms or insects lie concealed,
and when the ant-hills are moist it breaks into them
to feed on the ants or their larvae* It also perches on
trees, large or small, on the trunks or branches,
whether horisjontal or upright, sometimes in a cling-
ing position, and sometimes crosswise in the manner
common to birds. Its voice is powerful, and its cry
uttered frequently both when flying and perching.
It goes with its mate or family, and is the most
common species in all these countries. It lays two
to four eggs, with white, highly polished shells,
and breeds in holes which it excavates in old walls
of mud or of unbaked brick, also in the banks of
streams ; and the eggs are laid on the bare floor
without any lining.^'
In Patagonia, where I have found this bird breeding
in the cliffs of the Rio Negro, its habits are precisely
as A2;ara says ; but on the pampas of Buenos Ayres,
where the conditions are different, there being no
cliffs or old mud-walls suitable for breeding-places,
the bird resorts to the big solitary ombti tree (Pircunia
dioica), which has a very soft wood, and excavates
12 BIRDS OF LA PLATA
a hole seven to nine inches deep^ inclining upwards
near the end^ and terminating in a round chamber.
This reversal to an ancestral habit^ which (con-
sidering the modified structure of the bird) must
have been lost at a very remote period in its history,
is exceedingly curious. Formerly this Woodpecker
was quite common on the pampas. I remember that
when I was a small boy quite a colony lived in the
ombii trees growing about my home ; now it is
nearly extinct, and one may spend years on the
plains without meeting with a single example.
Mr. Barrows speaks as follows of this species :
** Abundant and breeding at all points visited. At
Concepcion, where it is resident, it is by far the
commonest Woodpecker. The ordinary note very
much resembles the reiterated alarm-note of the
Greater Yellow-legs (Totanus melanoleucus)^ but so
loud as to be almost painful when close at hand, and
easily heard a mile or more away. They spend much
time on the ground, and I often found the bills of
those shot quite muddy. A nest found near Concep-
cion, 6th November, 1880, was in the hollow trunk
of a tree, the entrance being through an enlarged
crack at a height of some three feet from the ground.
The five white eggs were laid on the rubbish at the
bottom of the cavity, perhaps a foot above the ground.
In the treeless region about the Sierra de la Ventana
we saw this bird about holes on the banks of the
streams, where it doubtless had nests.''
RINGED KINGFISHER 13
RINGED KINGFISHER
Ceryle torquata
Above greyish blue with narrow black shaft-stripes and small round
white spots ; wings black with a portion of the inner webs towards
the base white, tail black barred with white ; beneath chestnut-red ;
throat and belly white; length 15 inches. Female similar but with
broad blue pectoral band.
This beautiful bird, the largest of the American
Kingfishers, is found throughout the greater portion
of South and Central America. In Argentina it is
not common but is widely distributed and is known
both in Buenos Ayres and Patagonia. In southern
Patagonia it varies in colour and is of a slatey grey-
blue on the upper parts, thickly sprinkled like a
guinea-fowl with minute round white spots, hence
the specific name stellatat bestowed on it by some
ornithologists who regard it as a separate species.
Notwithstanding its wide distribution and great
beauty, little has been recorded of the habits of this
species. In Amazonia, Bartlett says, *' it breeds in
company with Ceryle amazona. The nest, however,
is placed very much deeper in the bank than in the
case of the last-named bird, the hole being from four
to six feet in depth, with a chamber at the end
sufficiently large for the young birds when nearly
full-grown.*^
Two other species of Kingfishers range as far
south as the Buenos Ayres pampas. The first, a
third less in size than the Ringed Kingfisher, is the
14 BIRDS OF LA PLATA
Amazonian Kingfisher^ Ceryle [amazonaf its colour
above dark green, beneath white with a broad chest-
nut pectoral band. In Buenos Ayres this bird was
fairly common and was usually seen in pairs. Its
cry is exceedingly loud, hard, and abrupt, and so
rapidly reiterated as to give it a sound resembling
that of a policeman*s rattle. But this is not its only
language, and I was greatly surprised one day at
hearing one warbling long clear notes, somewhat
flute-like in quality, as it flew from tree to tree along
the borders of a stream. It seems very strange that
there should be a melodious Kingfisher ; but Mr.
Barrows also heard the allied Ceryle americana sing,
much to his surprise. My belief is that the birds of
this group possess a singing faculty but very rarely
exercise it ; with C. americana I am well acquainted,
yet I never heard it utter any note except its hard
rattling cry, resembling that of C. amazona, but less
powerful.
This Kingfisher was found by White at Cosquin,
where it is usually met with along the acequias, or
canals made for the purpose of irrigating the culti-
vated lands. These canals are in places bordered
with brushwood and trees, and are tolerably deep,
with a swiftly flowing current, and abound in small
fishes, so that this bird seems to prefer them as
hunting-grounds to the rocky river-bed.
In Entrerios Mr. Barrows tells us this Kingfisher
is not uncommon along the Lower Uruguay, and
sometimes ascends the smaller streams a short distance.
It is much more easily approached than C. torquata*
GUIRA CUCKOO 15
The other species, the smallest of its family in
South America, the Little Kingfisher, Ceryle ameri-
canaf is about the size of the European Kingfisher,
and resembles the last one described in its colouring.
In its habits and language it also resembles the
C. amazona.
It should be noted that the Kingfishers are poorly
represented in South America, there being but eight
species known in the entire continent, and these all
of the one genus Ceryle. In the Old World there
are 120 species known, and many genera.
GUIRA CUCKOO
Guira piririgua
Above dark brown with white shaft-stripes ; head brown ; wings
reddish brown ; rump white ; tail white, crossed by a broad black
band, the two central feathers uniform brown ; beneath dull white ;
throat and breast with long linear black shaft-stripes ; bill and feet
yellow ; length 15 inches. Female similar.
Piririgua, the specific term adopted by naturalists
for this bird, is, according to A^ara, the verna-
cular name of the species in Paraguay. He says in
that country it is abundant, but scarce in the Plata
district. No doubt it has greatly increased and
extended its range southwards during the hundred
years which have elapsed since his time, as it is now
very common in Buenos Ayres, where its vernacular
name is Urraca (Magpie). In the last-named country
i6 BIRDS OF LA PLATA
it is not yet quite in harmony with its environment.
Everywhere its habit is to feed exclusively on the
ground^ in spite of possessing feet formed for climb-
ing ; but its very scanty plumage, slow laborious
flight, and long square tail, so unsuitable in cold
boisterous weather, show that the species is a still
unmodified intruder from the region of perpetual
summer many degrees nearer to the equator.
The Guira Cuckoo is about sixteen inches long,
has red eyes and blue feet, and an orange-red beak.
The crown of the head is deep rufous, and the loose
hair-like feathers are lengthened into a pointed crest.
The back and rump are white, the wings and other
upper parts very deep fuscous, marked with white
and pale brown. Under surface dull white, with
hair-like black marks on the throat and breast. The
tail is square, nine to ten inches long ; the two middle
feathers dark brown, the others three-coloured —
yellow at the base, the middle portion dark glossy
green, the ends white ; and when the bird is flying
the tail, spread out like a fan, forms a conspicuous
and beautiful object.
During the inclement winter of Buenos Ayres the
Guira Cuckoo is a miserable bird, and appears to
suffer more than any other creature from cold. In
the evening the flock, usually composed of from a
dozen to twenty individuals, gathers on the thick
horizontal branch of a tree sheltered from the wind,
the birds crowding close together for warmth, and
some of them roosting perched on the backs of their
fellows. I have frequently seen them roosting three
GUIRA CUCKOO 17
deep, one or two birds at the top to crown the pyra-
mid ; but with all their huddling together a severe
frost is sure to prove fatal to one or more birds in
the flock ; and sometimes several birds that have
dropped from the branch stiff with cold are found
under the trees in the morning. If the morning is
fair the flock betakes itself to some large tree, on
which the sun shines, to settle on the outermost
twigs on the northern side, each bird with its wings
drooping, and its back turned towards the sun. In
this spiritless attitude they spend an hour or two
warming their blood and drying the dew from their
scanty dress. During the day they bask much in
the sun, and towards evening may be again seen on
the sunny side of a hedge or tree warming their backs
in the last rays. It is owing, no doubt, to its fecun-
dity and to an abundance of food that the Guira
Cuckoo is able to maintain its existence so far south
in spite of its terrible enemy the cold.
With the return of warm weather this species
becomes active, noisy, and the gayest of birds ; the
flock constantly wanders about from place to place,
the birds flying in a scattered desultory manner one
behind the other, and incessantly uttering while on
the wing a long complaining cry. At intervals during
the day they also utter a kind of song, composed of a
series of long modulated whistling notes, two-
syllabled, the first powerful and vehement, and
becoming at each repetition lower and shorter, then
ending in a succession of hoarse internal sounds like
the stertorous breathing of a sleeping man. When
i8 BIRDS OF LA PLATA
approached all the birds break out into a chorus of
alarm, with rattling notes so annoyingly loud and
sustained that the intruder, be it man or beast, is
generally glad to hurry out of ear-shot. As the
breeding-season approaches they are heard, probably
the males, to utter a variety of soft low chattering
notes, sounding sometimes like a person laughing
and crying together : the flock then breaks up into
pairs, the birds becoming silent and very circum-
spect in their movements. The nest is usually built
in a thorn-tree, of rather large sticks, a rough large
structure, the inside often lined with green leaves
plucked from the trees. The eggs are large for the
bird, and usually six or seven in number ; but the
number varies greatly, and I have known one bird
lay as many as fourteen. They are elliptical in form
and beautiful beyond comparison, being of an ex-
quisite turquoise-blue, the whole shell roughly
spattered with white. The white spots are composed
of a soft calcareouo substance, apparently deposited
on the surface of the shell after its complete forma-
tion : they are raised, and look like snow-flakes, and
when the egg is fresh-laid may be easily washed off
with cold water, and are so extremely delicate that
their purity is lost on the egg being taken into the
hand. The young birds hatched from these lovely
eggs are proverbial for their ugliness, Pichon de
Urraca being a term of contempt commonly applied
to a person remarkable for want of comeliness. They
are as unclean as they are ugly, so that the nest,
usually containing six or seven young, is unpleasant
GUIRA CUCKOO 19
both to sight and smell. There is something
ludicrous in the notes of these young birds, resem-
bling as they do the shrill half-hysterical laughter
of a female exhausted by over-indulgence in mirth.
One summer there was a large brood in a tree close
to my home, and every time we heard the parent
bird hastening to her nest with food in her beak,
and uttering her plaintive cries, we used to run to
the door to hear them. As soon as the old bird
reached the nest they would burst forth into such
wild extravagant peals and continue them so long
that we could not but think it a rare amusement to
listen to them.
According to A^^ara the Guira Cuckoo in Paraguay
has very friendly relations with the Ani (Crotophaga
ani)f the birds consorting together in one flock, and
even laying their eggs in one nest ; and he affirms
that he has seen nests containing eggs of both species.
These nests were probably brought to him by his
Indian collectors, who were in the habit of deceiving
him, and it is more than probable that in this matter
they were practising on his credulity ; though it is
certain that birds of different species do sometimes
lay in one nest, as I have found — the Common Teal
and the Tinamu for instance. I also doubt very
much that the bird is ever polygamous, as A^ara
suspected ; but it frequently wastes eggs, and its
procreant habits are sometimes very irregular and
confusing, as the following case will show :
A flock numbering about sixteen individuals
passed the winter in the trees about my home, and
ao BIRDS O^LA PLATA
in spring scattered about the plantation, screaming
and chattering in their usual manner when about
to breed. I watched them, and found that after a
time the flock broke up into small parties of three
or four, and not into couples, and I could not detect
them building. At length I discovered three broken
eggs on the ground, and on examining the tree
overhead found an incipient nest composed of about
a dozen sticks laid crossways and out of which the
eggs had been dropped. This was in October, and
for a long time no other attempt at a nest was made ;
but wasted eggs were dropped in abundance on the
ground, and I continued finding them for about
four months. Early in January another incipient
nest was found, and on the ground beneath it six
broken eggs. At the end of that month two large
nests were made, each nest by one pair of birds, and
in the two fourteen or fifteen young birds were
reared.
When taken young the Guira Cuckoos become
very tame, and make bold, noisy, mischievous pets,
fond of climbing over and tugging at the clothes,
buttons, and hair of their master or mistress. They
appear to be more intelligent than most birds, and
in a domestic state resemble the Magpie. I knew
one tame Cuckoo that would carry off and jealously
conceal bits of bright-coloured ribbon, thread, or
cloth. In a wild state their food consists largely of
insects, which they sometimes pursue running and
flying along the ground. They also prey on mice
and small reptiles, and carry off the fledglings from
BLACK-BILLED CUCKOO 31
the nests of Sparrows and other small birds, and in
spring they are frequently seen following the plough
to pick up worms ♦
BLACK-BILLED CUCKOO
Coccyzus melanocoryphus
Above pale greyish brown ; head cinereous, a black stripe through
the eyes ; beneath white, tinged with ochreous ; tail black, tipped
with white, the two central feathers like the back ; length 1 1 .5
inches. Female similar.
The CoucoUt so called from its note, is the
commonest species of the genus in the Argentine
Republic, and has an extensive range in South
America. In September it migrates south, and a pair
or a few individuals re-appear faithfully every spring
in every orchard or plantation on the pampas. At
intervals its voice is heard amidst the green trees —
deep, hoarse, and somewhat human-like in sound,
the song or call being composed of a series of notes,
like the syllables cou-cou-coUf beginning loud and
full, and becoming more rapid until at the end they
run together. It is a shy bird, conceals itself from
prying eyes in the thickest foliage, moves with ease
and grace amongst the closest twigs, and feeds
principally on large insects and caterpillars, for
which it searches amongst the weeds and bushes
near the ground.
The nest is the flimsiest structure imaginable,
being composed of a few dry twigs, evidently broken
33 BIRDS O^LA PLATA
by the bird from the trees and not picked up from
the ground. They are laid across each other to make
a platform nest, but so small and flat is it that the
eggs frequently fall out from it. That a bird should
make no better preparation than this for the great
business of propagation seems very wonderful. The
eggs are three or four in number, elliptical in form,
and of a dull sea-green colour.
There are three more species in Argentina of the
characteristic American genus Coccyzus ; one of
these which I discovered to be an Argentine species
being the common Yellow-billed Cuckoo of North
America, Coccyzus americanus. I met with it in
plantations on the pampas, but always in the late
summer or autumn months — February to April —
and am therefore unable to say whether or not it
breeds in that district. It may be that this Cuckoo,
like some of the Sandpipers and other shore birds of
North America, extends its annual migration south
to the pampas and Patagonia. But it is hardly believ-
able that any Cuckoo could make that journey. If
not, one must suppose that this Cuckoo, like the
Purple Martin, has two races, which may have their
meeting-ground in the tropics; at all events both
winter in the tropics, and to breed one flies north in
May, the other south in September.
Another interesting species is the Cinereous
Cuckoo, Coccyzus cinereus, of a nearly uniform
ashy grey colour with black bill. This Cuckoo is
smaller than the preceding species, and also differs
in having a square tail and a more curved beak. The
BLACK-BILLED CUCKOO 23
beak is black, and the irides blood-red, which
contrasts well with the blue-grey of the head, giving
the bird a bold and striking appearance.
This species is not common, but it is, I believe,
slowly extending its range southwards, as within the
last few years it has become much more common
than formerly. Like other Cuckoos, it is retiring in
its habits, concealing itself in the dense foliage, and
it cannot be attracted by an imitation of its call, an
expedient which never fails with the Coucou, Its
language has not that deep mysterious or monkish
quality, as it has been aptly called, of other CoccyzL
Its usual song or call, which it repeats at short
intervals all day long during the love-season, re-
sembles the song of our little Dove {Columhula picui)y
and is composed of several long monotonous notes,
loud, rather musical, but not at all plaintive. It
also has a loud harsh cry, which one finds it hard
to believe to be the voice of a Cuckoo, as in character
it is more like the scream of a Dendrocolaptine species.
Of the thirty species of Cuckoos inhabiting South
America eight are found in Argentina, Four of the
five species described above were known to me ; the
remaining three did not range so far south as Buenos
Ayres — '' my parish of Selborne," as I have ventured
to call it in the Naturalist in La Plata — but they are
such interesting birds that I cannot resist the tempta-
tion of giving a brief account of their habits in this
place.
The Ani, Crotophaga ani^ is about the si2;e of our
Magpie, and is one of the strangest of this strange
24 BIRDS OF LA PLATA
family, with the plumage and some of the habits of
a crow, being almost entirely of a uniform black,
glossed with bronze, dark green, and purple* Its
most peculiar feature is the beak, which is greater
in depth than in length, and resembles an immense
Roman nose, occupying the whole face, and with the
bridge bulging up above the top of the head. The
Ani is found only in the northern portion of the
Argentine territory. According to Azara it is very
common in Paraguay, and goes in flocks, associating
with the Guira Cuckoo, which it resembles in its
manner of flight, in being gregarious, in feeding on
the ground, and in coming a great deal about houses :
in all which things these two species differ widely
from most Cuckoos. He also says that it has a loud
disagreeable voice, follows the cattle about in the
pastures like the Cow-bird, and builds a large nest
of sticks lined with leaves, in which as many as twenty
or thirty eggs are frequently deposited, several
females laying together in one nest. His account of
these strange and disorderly breeding-habits has
been confirmed by independent observers in other
parts of the continent. The eggs are oval and out-
wardly white, being covered with a soft white
cretaceous deposit ; but this can be easily scraped
off, and under it is found a smooth hard shell of a
clear beautiful blue colour.
The second species is the Brown Cuckoo, Diplop-
terus naBviuSf called Crispin in the vernacular and
found throughout the hot portion of South America,
and in different districts varying considerably in
BLACK-BILLED CUCKOO 25
size and colouring. It is about twelve inches long,
the beak much curved ; the prevaihng colour of the
upper parts is light brown, the loose feathers on the
head, which form a crest, deep rufous. The upper
tail-coverts are long loose feathers of very unequal
length, the longest reaching nearly to the end of the
tail. The under surface is dirty white, or dashed
with grey.
Azara says it is called Chochi in Paraguay, and has
a clear, sorrowful note of two syllables, which it
repeats at short intervals during the day, and also
at night during the love-season. It is solitary, scarce,
and excessively shy, escaping at the opposite side of
the tree when approached, and when seen having
the head and crest raised in an attitude of alarm.
In the northern part of the Argentine country it is
called Crispin^ from its note which clearly pronounces
that name. Mr. Barrows found it common at Con-
cepcion on the Uruguay river, and has written the
following notes about it :
*' Several were taken in open bushy places, and
many others were heard. It is a plain but attractive
Cuckoo with a few-feathered crest, and long soft
flowing upper tail-coverts. The note is very clear
and penetrating, sounding much like the word
' Crispin ' slowly uttered, and with the accent on the
last syllable. The birds are very shy, and I followed
one for nearly an hour before I saw it at all, and
nearly twice that time before any chance of a shot
was offered. There is some peculiarity in the note
which makes it impossible to tell whether the bird is
a6 BIRDS OF LA PLATA
in front of or behind you — even when the note itself
is distinctly heard* I know nothing of nest or eggs/*
From personal observation I can say nothing about
this species, as I never visited the district where it is
found ; but with the fame of the Crispin I have
always been familiar, for concerning this Cuckoo the
Argentine peasants have a very pretty legend. It is
told that two children of a woodcutter, who lived in
a lonely spot on the Uruguay, lost themselves in the
woods — a little boy named Crispin and his sister.
They subsisted on wild fruit, wandering from place
to place, and slept at night on a bed of dry grass and
leaves. One morning the little girl awoke to discover
that her brother had disappeared from her side.
She sprang up and ran through the woods to seek
for him, but never found him ; but day after day
continued wandering in the thickets calling ** Cris-
pin^ Crispin/* until at length she was changed into
a little bird, which still flies through the woods on
its never-ending quest, following every stranger who
enters them, calling after him ** Crispin, Crispin **
a by chance it should be her lost brother.
The last species is the Chestnut Cuckoo, Piaya
cayana* This is a widely spread form of Cuckoo in
Central and South America, and reaches the northern
territories of the Argentine Republic, having been
obtained by Durnford near Tucuman, and by White
in Misiones. The whole bird is about eighteen inches
long, and the tail very long in proportion, about
eleven inches. The entire plumage, except the breast
and belly, which are grey, is chestnut colour. The
PATAGONIAN PARROT a?
beak is very strong, and yellowish green in colour ;
the irides ruby-red, the eyelids scarlet.
In Colombia this Cuckoo is said to be called
Pdjaro ardilla (Squirrel-bird), from its chestnut tint.
It seems to feed chiefly, if not altogether, on the
ground, and when perched always appears awkward
and ill at ease. On a branch it sits motionless, until
approached, and then creeps away through the leaves
and escapes on the opposite side of the tree. This,
however, is a habit common to most Cuckoos. Its
language is a loud screaming cry, on account of which
the Bradlians call it Alma do gatOf implying that it
possesses the soul of a cat. It is a very shy retiring
bird, and in this respect is more like a Coccyzus than
a Guira*
For these facts we are indebted to Leotaud, Fra^er,
Forbes, White, and others ; each of these observers
having contributed a few words to a history of this
interesting bird's habits.
PATAGONIAN PARROT
Conurus patagonus
Above dark olive-green ; wings edged with bluish ; lower part of
back yellow ; beneath olive-green, darkest on throat ; whitish band
across the neck ; belly yellow, with patch in the middle and thighs
dark crimson ; length i8, wing 9.2, tail 10.5 inches. Female similar.
This Parrot, called in La Plata the Bank- or Bur-
rowing-Parrot, from its nesting-habits, is the only
member of its order found so far south as Patagonia.
28 BIRDS OF LA PLATA
In habits it differs somewhat from most of its con-
geners^ and it may be regarded, I think, as one of
those species which are dying out — possibly owing
to the altered conditions resulting from the settle-
ment of the country by Europeans* It was formerly
abundant on the southern pampas of La Plata, and
being partially migratory its flocks ranged in winter
to Buenos Ayres, and even as far north as the Parana
river. When, as a child, I lived near the capital city
(Buenos Ayres), I remember that I always looked
forward with the greatest delight to the appearance
of these noisy dark-green winter visitors. Now they
are rarely seen within a hundred miles of Buenos
Ayres ; and I have been informed by old gauchos
that half a century before my time they invariably
appeared in immense flocks in winter, and have since
gradually diminished in numbers, until now in that
district the Bank-Parrot is almost a thing of the past.
Two or three hundreds of miles south of Buenos
Ayres city they are still to be met with in rather
large flocks, and have a few ancient breeding-places,
to which they cling very tenaciously. Where there
are trees or bushes on their feeding-ground they
perch on them ; they also gather the berries of the
Empetrum ruhrum and other fruits from the bushes ;
but they feed principally on the ground, and while
the flock feeds one bird is invariably perched on a
stalk or other elevation to act as sentinel. They are
partial to the seeds of the giant thistle {Carduus
mariana) and the wild pumpkin, and to get at the
latter they bite the hard dry shell into pieces with
PATAGONIAN PARROT ag
their powerful beaks. When a horseman appears
in the distance they rise in a compact flock, with loud
harsh screams, and hover above him, within a very
few yards of his head, their combined dissonant
voices producing an uproar which is only equalled
in that pandemonium of noises, the Parrot-house in
the Zoological Gardens of London. They are
extremely social, so much so that their flocks do not
break up in the breeding-season ; and their burrows,
which they excavate in a perpendicular cliff or high
bank, are placed close together ; so that when the
gauchos take the young birds — esteemed a great
delicacy — the person who ventures down by means
of a rope attached to his waist is able to rifle a colony.
The burrow is three to five feet deep, and four white
eggs are deposited on a slight nest at the extremity.
I have only tasted the old birds, and found their
flesh very bitter, scarcely palatable.
The natives say that this species cannot be taught
to speak ; and it is certain that the few individuals
I have seen tame were unable to articulate.
Doubtless these Parrots were originally stray
colonists from the tropics, although now resident
in so cold a country as Patagonia. When viewed
closely one would also imagine that they must at
one time have been brilliant - plumaged birds ;
but either natural selection or the direct effect of
a bleak climate has given a sombre shade to their
colours — green, blue, yellow, and crimson ; and
when seen flying at a distance, or in cloudy weather,
they look as dark as crows.
30 BIRDS OF LA PLATA
GREEN PARRAKEET
Bolborhynchus monachus
Green ; front grey ; wings blackish with slight bluish edgings ;
beneath grey ; bill whitish ; length 1 1 inches. Female similar.
The Common Green Parrakeet, called Cotorra or
Catita in the vernacular, is a well-known resident
species in the Argentine Republic, It is a lively,
restless bird, shrill-voiced, and exceedingly voci-
ferous, living and breeding in large communities,
and though it cannot learn to speak so distinctly
as some of the larger Parrots, it is impossible to
observe its habits without being convinced that it
shares in the intelligence of the highly-favoured order
to which it belongs*
In Buenos Ayres it was formerly very much more
numerous than it is now ; but it is exceedingly
tenacious of its breeding-places, and there are some
few favoured localities where it still exists in large
colonies, in spite of the cruel persecution all birds
easily killed are subjected to in a country where
laws relating to such matters are little regarded,
and where the agricultural population is chiefly
Italian. At Mr. Gibson's residence near Cape San
Antonio, on the Atlantic coast, there is still a large
colony of these birds inhabiting the Tala woods
(Celtis tala)f and I take the following facts from one
of his papers, contributed many years ago to the IbiSf
on the ornithology of the district.
He describes the woods as being full of their nests,
GREEN PARRAKEET 31
with their bright-coloured talkative deni^ens^ and
their noisy chatter all day long drowning every other
sound. They are extremely sociable and breed in
communities. When a person enters the wood, their
subdued chatter suddenly ceases, and during the
ominous silence a hundred pairs of black beady eyes
survey the intruder from the nests and branches ;
and then follow a whirring of wings and an outburst
of screams that spread the alarm throughout the
woods. The nests are frequented all the year, and
it is rare to find a large one unattended by some of
the birds any time during the day. In summer and
autumn they feed principally on the thistle ; first
the flower is cut up and pulled to pieces for the sake
of the green kernel, and later they eat the fallen seed
on the ground. Their flight is rapid, with quick
flutters of the wings, which seem never to be raised
to the level of the body. They pay no regard to a
Polyhorus or Milvago (the Carrion Eagle and Carrion
Hawk), but mob any other bird of prey appearing
in the woods, all the Parrakeets rising in a crowd and
hovering about it with angry screams.
The nests are suspended from the extremities of
the branches, to which they are firmly woven. New
nests consist of only two chambers, the porch and
the nest proper, and are inhabited by a single pair
of birds. Successive nests are added, until some of
them come to weigh a quarter of a ton, and contain
material enough to fill a large cart. Thorny twigs,
firmly interwoven, form the only material, and there
is no lining in the breeding-chamber, even in the
32 BIRDS OF LA PLATA
breeding-season. Some old forest trees have seven
or eight of these huge structures suspended from the
branches, while the ground underneath is covered
with twigs and remains of fallen nests. The entrance
to the chamber is generally underneath, or if at the
side is protected by an overhanging eave to prevent
the intrusion of opossums. These entrances lead
into the porch or outer chamber, and the latter
communicates with the breeding-chamber. The
breeding-chambers are not connected with each
other, and each set is used by one pair of birds.
The number of pairs does not exceed a dozen,
even with the lafgest nests. Repairs are carried on
all the year round, but new nests are only added at
the approach of spring. Opossums are frequently
found in one of the higher chambers, when the
entrance has been made too high, but though they
take up their abode there they cannot reach the
other chambers, and the Parrakeets refuse to go away,
A species of Teal (probably Querquedula hrasiliensis)
also sometimes occupies and breeds in their cham-
bers, and in one case Mr. Gibson found an opossum
domiciled in an upper chamber, Parrakeets occupying
all the others except one, in which a Teal was sitting
on eggs.
The breeding-season begins about ist November,
and as many as seven or eight eggs are laid ; these
are dull white, very thin-shelled, elongated, and have
the greatest diameter exactly equidistant from the
two ends.
Mr. Barrows speaks as follows of this species in
SHORT-EARED OWL 33
Entrerios : *' An abundant and familiar bird in
the neighbourhood of Concepcion through the entire
year. It is commonly seen in flocks of twenty and
upwards, visiting grain-fields, gardens, etc., and
sometimes, if I was correctly informed, completely
stripping the grain-fields. They nest in communities,
many pairs uniting in the building of a large common
nest or mass of nests. I only saw these nests on two
occasions, and had no opportunity of examining
their structure. They were placed on high trees,
and appeared from below to be simply irregular
masses, six or eight feet in diameter, formed of
small sticks and twigs. Where the nests are abun-
dant the natives destroy the young by hundreds,
and the ' squabs ' when nearly grown are said to
be very fine eating. The young are easily tamed,
and may be taught to articulate a few simple words.''
SHORT-EARED OWL
Asio brachyotus
Above variegated with fulvous and blackish brown ; face whitish,
with black centre ; wings pale tawny, with irregular broad blackish
cross-bars ; tail whitish, with four or five broad black cross bands ;
beneath as above, but paler; bill black, eyes orange; length 15,
wing 13, tail 6 inches. Female similar but larger.
There are but six Owls known in Argentina, a very
small number in so vast a country when we remem-
ber that England alone has five species without
II
34 BIRDS OF LA PLATA
counting the occasional visitants. It is also sur-
prising to find that two of the Argentine owls are
well-known British species — the Barn Owl and the
wide-ranging Short-eared OwL Of the six species
I was acquainted with five, and will describe the
two I knew most intimately, the Short-eared and
the Burrowing Owls» The White or Barn Owl I
occasionally saw in Buenos Ayres city, but always at
night : the noble Magellanic Eagle Owl and the
small Pigmy Owl I met with on the Rio Negro in
Patagonia,
The Short-eared Owl is found throughout the
Argentine country, where it is commonly called
Lechuzon (Big Owl) in the vernacular. Like the
Barn-Owl it has an exceedingly wide range. It is
found throughout the continent of Europe ; it also
inhabits Asia and Africa, many of the Pacific Islands,
and both Americas, from Canada down to the Straits
of Magellan. Such a very wide distribution would
seem to indicate that it possesses some advantage
over its congeners, and is (as an Owl) more perfect
than others. It is rather more diurnal in its habits
than most Owls, and differs structurally from other
members of its order in having a much smaller head.
It is also usually said to be a weak flier ; but this
I am sure is a great mistake, for it seems to me to be
the strongest flier amongst Owls, and very migratory
in its habits, or, at any rate, very much given to
wandering. Probably its very extensive distribution
is due in some measure to a greater adaptability than
SHORT-EARED OWL 35
is possessed by most species ; also to its better
sight in the daytime, and to its wandering dis-
position, which enables it to escape a threatened
famine, and to sei^e on unoccupied or favourable
ground.
The bird loves an open country, and sits by day
on the ground concealed amongst the herbage or
tall grass. An hour before sunset it quits its hiding-
place and is seen perched on a bush or tall stalk, or
sailing about a few feet above the ground with a
singularly slow, heron-like flight ; and at intervals
while flying it smites its wings together under its
breast in a quick, sudden manner* It is not at all shy,
the intrusion of a man or dog in the field it frequents
only having the effect of exciting its indignation.
An imitation of its cry will attract all the individuals
within hearing about a person, and any loud unusual
sound, like the report of a gun, produces the same
effect. When alarmed or angry it utters a loud hiss,
and at times a shrill laugh-like cry. It also has a
dismal scream, not often heard ; and at twilight
hoots, this part of its vocal performance sounding
not unlike the distant baying of a mastiff or a blood-
hound. It breeds on the ground, clearing a circular
spot, and sometimes, but not often, lining it with
a scanty bed of dry grass. The eggs are three to five,
white, and nearly spherical.
The Short-eared Owl was formerly common
everywhere on the pampas, where the coarse indi-
genous grasses afforded the shelter and conditions
best suited to it. When in time this old rough
36 BIRDS OF LA PLATA
vegetation gave place to t^soft perishable grasses
and clovers, accidentally introduced by European
settlers, the Owl disappeared from the country, like
the large Tinamu {Rhynchotis rufescens)^ the Red-
billed Finch (Embernagra platensis)^ and various
other species ; for the smooth level plains afforded
it no shelter. Now, however, with the spread of
cultivation, it has reappeared, and is once more
becoming a common bird in the more settled
districts.
BURROWING-OWL
Speotyto cunicularia
Above dark sandy brown, with large white oval spots and small
spots and freckles of pale brown ; wings with broad whitish cross-
bars ; facial disk greyish brown ; beneath white ; length lo, wing 7.5,
tail 3.5 inches. Female similar, but larger.
The Burrowing-Owl is abundant everywhere on the
pampas of Buenos Ayres and avoids woods, but not
districts abounding in scattered trees and bushes.
It sees much better than most Owls by day, and
never affects concealment nor appears confused by
diurnal sounds and the glare of noon. It stares
fixedly — ** with insolence," A^ara says — ^at a passer-
by, following him with the eyes, the round head
turning about as on a pivot. If closely approached
it drops its body or bobs in a curious fashion, emit-
ting a brief scream, followed by three abrupt ejacula-
^
'^ ^^•
BURROVVING-OWl,
Speotyto ciiiiicularia (MdI.)
BURROWING-OWL 37
tions ; and if made to fly goes only fifteen or twenty
yards away, and alights again with face towards the
intruder ; and no sooner does it alight than it repeats
the odd gesture and scream, standing stiff and erect,
and appearing beyond measure astonished at the
intrusion* By day it flies near the surface with wings
continuously flapping, and invariably before alighting
glides upwards for some distance and comes down
very abruptly* It frequently runs rapidly on the
ground, and is incapable of sustaining flight long*
Gaucho boys pursue these birds for sport on horse-
back, taking them after a chase of fifteen or twenty
minutes* As a boy I have myself taken many* They
live in pairs all the year, and sit by day at the mouth
of their burrow or on the Vi^cacha's mound, the
two birds so close together as to be almost touching ;
when alarmed they both fly away, but sometimes
the male only, the female diving into the burrow*
On the pampas it may be more from necessity than
choice that they always sit on the ground, as they
are usually seen perched on the summits of bushes
where such abound, as in Patagonia*
These are the commonest traits of the Burrowing-
Owl in the settled districts, where it is excessively
numerous and has become familiar with man ; but
in the regions hunted over by the Indians it is a
scarce bird and has different habits* Shy of approach
as a persecuted game-fowl, it rises to a considerable
height in the air when the approaching traveller is
yet far off, and flies often beyond sight before descend-
ing again to the earth* This wildness of disposition
38 BIRDS OF LA PLATA
is, without doubt, due to xne active animosity of
the pampas tribes, who have all the ancient wide-
spread superstitions regarding the Owl. ^* Sister of
the Evil Spirit " is one of their names for it ; they
hunt it to death whenever they can, and when travel-
ling will not stop to rest or encamp on a spot where
an Owl has been spied. Where the country is settled
by Europeans the bird has dropped its wary habits
and become extremely tame. They are tenacious
of the spot they live in, and are not easily driven out
by cultivation. When the fields are ploughed up
they make their kennels on their borders, or at the
roadsides, and sit all day perched on the posts of
the fences.
Occasionally they are seen preying by day, especi-
ally when anything passes near them, offering the
chance of an easy capture. I have often amused
myself by throwing bits of hard clay near one as it
sat beside its kennel ; for the bird will immediately
give chase, only discovering its mistake when the
object is firmly clutched in its talons. When there
are young to be fed, they are almost as active by day
as by night. On hot November days multitudes of
a large species of Scarabeeus appear, and the bulky
bodies and noisy bungling flight of these beetles
invite the Owls to pursuit, and on every side they
are seen pursuing and striking down the beetles,
and tumbling upon them in the grass. Owls have a
peculiar manner of taking their prey ; they grapple
it so tightly in their talons that they totter and
strive to steady themselves by throwing out their
BURROWING-OWL 39
wings, and sometimes, losing their balance, fall
prostrate and flutter on the ground. If the animal
captured be small they proceed after a while to
despatch it with the beak ; if large they usually rise
laboriously from the ground and fly to some distance
with it, thus giving time for the wounds inflicted
by the claws to do their work.
At sunset the Owls begin to hoot ; a short followed
by a long note is repeated many times with an interval
of a second of silence. There is nothing dreary or
solemn in this performance ; the voice is rather
soft and sorrowful, somewhat resembling the lowest
notes of the flute in sound. In spring they hoot a
great deal, many individuals responding to each
other.
In the evening they are often seen hovering like a
Kestrel at a height of forty feet above the surface, and
continuing to do so fully a minute or longer without
altering their position. They do not drop the whole
distance at once on their prey, but descend vertically,
tumbling and fluttering as if wounded, to within ten
yards of the earth, and then, after hovering a few
seconds more, glide obliquely on to it. They prey on
every living creature not too large to be overcome by
them. Sometimes when a mouse is caught they tear
off the head, tail, and feet, devouring only the body.
The hind quarters of toads and frogs are almost in-
variably rejected ; and inasmuch as these are the
most fleshy and succulent parts, this is a strange
and unaccountable habit. They make an easy con-
quest of a snake eighteen inches long, and kill it by
40 BIRDS OF LA PLATA
dealing it blows with the be^ hopping briskly about
it all the time, apparently to guard themselves with
their wings. They prey largely on the common
Coronella anomala, but I have never seen one at-
tacking a venomous species. When they have young
many individuals become destructive to poultry,
coming about the houses and carrying off the chickens
and ducklings by day. In seasons of plenty they
destroy far more prey than they can devour ; but
in severe winters they come, apparently starving,
about the houses, and will then stoop to carry off
any dead animal food, though old and dried up
as a piece of parchment. This I have often seen
them do.
Though the Owls are always on familiar terms
with the Vizcachas (Lagostomus trichodactylus) and
occasionally breed in one of their disused burrows,
as a rule they excavate a breeding-place for them-
selves. The kennel they make is crooked, and varies
in length from four to twelve feet. The nest is placed
at the extremity, and is composed of wool or dry
grass, often exclusively of dry horse-dung. The
eggs are usually five in number, white, and nearly
spherical ; the number, however, varies, and I have
frequently found six or seven eggs in a nest. After
the female has begun laying the birds continue
carrying in dry horse-dung, until the floor of the
burrow and a space before it is thickly carpeted with
this material. The following spring the loose earth
and rubbish is cleared out, for the same hole may
serve them two or three years. It is always untidy.
BURROWING-OWL 41
but mostly so during the breeding-season, when
prey is very abundant, the floor and ground about
the entrance being often httered with castings, green
beetle-shells, pellets of hair and bones, feathers of
birds, hind quarters of frogs in all stages of decay,
great hairy spiders (Mygale), remains of half-eaten
snakes, and other unpleasant creatures that they
subsist on. But all this carrion about the little Owl's
disordered house reminds one forcibly of the im-
portant part the bird plays in the economy of nature.
The young birds ascend to the entrance of the burrow
to bask in the sun and receive the food their parents
bring; when approached they become irritated,
snapping with their beaks, and retreat reluctantly
into the hole ; and for some weeks after leaving it
they make it a refuge from danger. Old and young
birds sometimes live together for four or five months.
I believe that nine-tenths of the Owls on the pampas
make their own burrows, but as they occasionally
take possession of the forsaken holes of mammals to
breed in, it is probable that they would always
observe this last habit if suitable holes abounded,
as on the North American prairies inhabited by the
marmot. Probably our Burrowing-Owl originally
acquired the habit of breeding in the ground in the
open level regions it frequented; and when this
habit (favourable as it must have been in such un-
sheltered situations) had become ineradicable, a want
of suitable burrows would lead it to clean out such
old ones as had become choked up with rubbish,
to deepen such as were too shallow, and ultimately
42 BIRDS OF LA PLATA
to excavate for itself. Tiff mining instinct varies
greatly in strength, even on the pampas. Some pairs,
long mated, only begin to dig when the breeding
season is already on them ; others make their bur-
rows as early as April — that is, six months before
the breeding-season. Generally both birds work,
one standing by and regarding operations with an
aspect of grave interest, and taking its place in
the pit when the other retires ; but sometimes the
female has no assistance from her partner, and the
burrow then is very short. Some pairs work expedi-
tiously and their kennel is deep and neatly made ;
others go about their task in a perfunctory manner,
and begin, only to abandon, perhaps half a dozen
burrows, and then rest two or three weeks from
their unprofitable labours. But whether industrious
or indolent, by September they all have their burrows
made. I can only account for Azara*s unfortunate
statement, repeated by scores of compilers, that the
Owl never constructs its own habitations, by assum-
ing that a century ago, when he lived and when the
country was still very sparsely settled, this Owl had
not yet become so abundant or laid aside the wary
habit the aborigines had taught it, so that he did
not become very familiar with its habits.
ARGENTINE HEN-HARRIER 43
ARGENTINE HEN-HARRIER
Circus cinereus
Above light bluish grey with darker mottlings ; primaries blackish ;
tail grey with four black cross bands and tipped with white ; beneath
thickly banded with white and rufous bars ; bill blacky eyes and feet
yellow; length i8^ wing 12 inches. Female larger; above dark
brown^ with light brown spots.
There are two species of Harriers in Argentina, the
Broad-winged Harrier, C» macropterus, with a black
upper and white lower plumage, and the present
species, named Cinereous Harrier in Argentine Orni-
thology ^ but I prefer now to call it the Argentine
Hen-Harrier, as at a distance it closely resembles
the European Hen-Harrier, although a handsomer
bird.
This hawk is found throughout the Argentine
Republic, and is also common in Patagonia and the
Falkland Islands ♦ On the pampas it is, I think, the
most common bird of prey, after the excessively
abundant Milvago chimango. Like the Chimango
it also prefers an open unwooded country, and
resembles that bird not a little in its general appear-
ance, and when in the brown stage of plumage may
be easily mistaken for it. In the Falklands it has
even acquired the Carrion Hawk's habits, for Darwin
distinctly saw one feeding on a carcase there, very
much to his surprise. On the pampas I have always
found it a diligent bird-hunter, and its usual mode
of proceeding is to drive up the bird from the grass
44 BIRDS OF LA PLATA
and to pursue and striked down with its claws,
Mr. Gibson's account of its habits agrees with mine,
and he says that '' it will raise any small bird time
after time, should the latter endeavour to conceal
itself in the grass, preferring, as it would seem, to
strike it on the wing/' He further says : ''Its
flight is low and rather rapid, while if its quarry
should double it loses no ground, for it turns some-
thing in the manner of a Tumbler Pigeon, going
rapidly head over heels in the most eccentric and
amusing fashion/'
Probably this Harrier has a partial migration, as
a great many are always seen travelling across the
pampas in the autumn and spring ; many individuals,
however, remain all the winter.
The nest is made on the ground among long grass,
or in reed-beds in marshy places, and the eggs are
white, blotched with dark red.
VOCIFEROUS HAWK
Asturina pucherani
Above dark brown ; upper tail-coverts fulvous^ barred with brown ;
wings chestnut barred and broadly tipped with black ; tail fulvous,
crossed with four black bars ; beneath pale ochraceous, barred with
rufous ; bill black, feet yellow; length i8 inches. Female larger.
This brown-plumaged, short-winged, and exceed-
ingly vociferous Hawk is common in the woods
along the shores of the Plata and its tributaries, and
is never found far removed from water. It perches
WHITE-TAILED BUZZARD 45
on the summit of a tree^ and sits there motionless
for hours at a time, and at intervals utters singularly
long, loud cries, which become more frequent and
piercing when the bird is disturbed, as by the ap-
proach of a person. Its flight is rapid and irregular,
the short blunt wings beating unceasingly, while
the bird pours out a succession of loud, vehement,
broken screams.
Mr. Barrows observed it on the Lower Uruguay,
and writes : "It feeds largely if not exclusively on
fish, nearly every specimen having their remains
(and nothing else) in their stomachs.'* It would be
very interesting to learn how it captures its prey.
WHITE-TAILED BUZZARD
Buteo albicaudatus
Above greyish black, scapulars and upper wing coverts ferruginous ;
rump and tail white, the latter with a broad black band ; throat
black, beneath white; bill black, feet yellow; length 31, wing 18
inches. Female similar but larger.
This Bu^^ard does not breed on the pampas, where
I have observed it, but appears there in the spring
and autumn, irregularly, when migrating, and in
flocks which travel in a loitering, desultory manner.
The flocks usually number from thirty or forty to
a hundred birds, but sometimes many more. I have
seen flocks which must have numbered from one to
46 BIRDS OF LA PLATA
two thousand birds. When flying the flock is very
much scattered^ and does not advance in a straight
line, but the birds move in wide circles at a great
height in the air, so that a person on horseback
travelling at a canter can keep directly under them
for two or three hours. On the ground one of these
large flocks will sometimes occupy an area of half a
square league, so widely apart do the birds keep. I
have dissected a great many and found nothing but
coleopterous insects in their stomachs ; and indeed
they would not be able to keep in such large com-
panies when travelling if they required a nobler
prey.
At the end of one summer a flock numbering
about two hundred birds appeared at an estancia
near my home, and though very much disturbed
they remained for about three months, roosting at
night on the plantation trees, and passing the day
scattered about the adjacent plain, feeding on grass-
hoppers and beetles. This flock left when the weather
turned cold ; but at another estancia a flock appeared
later in the season and remained all the winter. The
birds became so reduced in flesh that after every
cold rain or severe frost numbers were found dead
under the trees where they roosted ; and in that
way most of them perished before the return of
spring.
Red-Backed Buzzard
Beteo erythronotHS (King)
RED-BACKED BUZZARD 47
RED-BACKED BUZZARD
Buteo erythronotus
Above slatey blue ; wing feathers slatey with narrow black bars ;
upper tail-coverts and tail white^ the latter crossed with narrow
grey bars and broad black band ; beneath white ; bill dark horn-
colour ; feet yellow ; length 25, wing 18.5 inches. Female similar,
but back deep chestnut.
This is a fine bird — the king of South-American
Buzzards* In the adult female the three colours of
the plumage are strongly contrasted ; the back being
rusty rufous, the rest of the upper parts grey, the
whole under surface pure white. It is occasionally
met with in the northern provinces of the Argentine
Republic, but is most common in Patagonia ; and
it has been said that in that region it takes the place
of the nearly allied Buteo albicaudatus of Brazil. In
habits, however, the two species are as different as
it is possible for two Raptores to be; for while the
northern bird has a cowardly spirit, is, to some
extent, gregarious, and feeds largely on insects, the
Patagonian species has the preying habits of the
Eagle and lives exclusively, I believe, or nearly so,
on cavies and other small mammals. When Captain
King first discovered it in 1827, ^^ described it as
*' a small beautiful Eagle.^' In Patagonia it is very
abundant, and usually seen perched on the summit
of a bush, its broad snowy-white bosom conspicuous
to the eye at a great distance — one of the most
familiar features in the monotonous landscape of
48 BIRDS OF LA PLATA
that grey country. The English colonists on the
Chupat^ Durnford says, call it the ** White Horse/'
owing to its conspicuous white colour often deceiving
them when they are out searching for strayed horses
in the hills. It is a wary bird, and when approached
has the habit of rising up in widening circles to a
vast height in the air. When sailing about in quest
of prey it usually maintains a height of fifty or sixty
yards above the surface. The stomachs of all the
individuals I have examined contained nothing but
the remains of cavies {Cavia australis)*
The nest is built on the top of a thorn bush, and is
a large structure of sticks, lined with grass, fur, dry
dung, and other materials. The eggs are greyish
white in colour, blotched and marked, principally
towards the large end, with two shades of umber-
brown.
GREY EAGLE
Geranoaetus melanoleuciu
Above black, wings grey with narrow transverse black bars ; tail
black ; throat grey ; breast black with round whitish spots ; abdomen
white ; bill horn-colour, feet yellow ; length 26, wing 19 inches.
The Grey or Chilian Eagle, like most diurnal birds of
prey, undergoes many changes of colour, the plumage
at different periods having its brown, black, and grey
stages : in the old birds it is a uniform clear grey,
and the under surface white. Throughout the
GREY EAGLE 49
Argentine country this is the commonest Eagle, and
I found it very abundant in Patagonia* D'Orbigny
describes it with his usual prolixity — pardonably so
in this case, however, the bird being one of the very
few species with which he appears to have become
familiar from personal observation. He says that it
is a wary bird ; pairs for life, the male and female
never being found far apart ; and that it soars in
circles with a flight resembling that of a Vulture ;
and that the form of its broad blunt wings increases
its resemblance to that bird. Cavies and small
mammals are its usual prey ; and in the autumn
and winter, when the Pigeons congregate in large
numbers, it follows their movements. During the
Pigeon-season he has counted as many as thirty
Eagles in the course of a three leagues^ ride ; and he
has frequently seen an Eagle swoop down into a cloud
of Pigeons, and invariably reappear with one strug-
gling in its talons. It is seldom found far from the
shores of the sea or of some large river ; and on the
Atlantic coast, in Patagonia, it soars above the sands
at ebb-tide, looking out for stranded fish, carcases
of seals, and other animal food left by the retiring
waters, and quarrels with Condors and Vultures over
the refuse, even when it is quite putrid. It acts as
a weather prognostic, and before a storm is seen to
rise in circles to a vast height in the air, uttering
piercing screams, which may be heard after it has
quite disappeared from sight.
The nest of this species is usually built on the
ledge of an inaccessible rock or precipice, but not
50 BIRDS OF LA PLATA
infrequently on a tree. Mr. Gibson describes one,
which he found on the top of a thorn-tree, as a
structure of large sticks, three feet in diameter, the
hollow cushioned with dry grass. It contained two
eggs, dull white, marked with pale reddish blotches.
Mr. Gibson compared its cry to a '* wild human
laugh,*' and also writes : ^* Its whereabouts may often
be detected by an attendant flock of Caranchos
{Polyhorus tharus), particularly in the case of a young
bird. As soon as it rises from the ground or from a
tree, these begin to persecute it, ascending spirally
also, and making dashes at it, while the Eagle only
turns its head watchfully from side to side, the
mere action being sufficient to avert the threatened
collision.**
Gay, in his Natural History of Chili, describes the
affectionate and amusing habits of an Eagle of this
species which he had tamed. It took great delight in
playing with his hand, and would sei^e and pretend
to bite one of his fingers, but really with as much
tenderness as a playful dog displays when pretending
to bite its master. It used also to amuse itself by
picking up a pebble in its beak, and with a jerk of
its head toss it up in the air, then sei2;e it in its
claws when it fell, after which it would repeat the
performance.
CROWNED EAGLE 51
CROWNED EAGLE
Harpyhaliaetus coronatus
Above ashy brown, with a long crest of darker feathers ; wings
grey with blackish tips ; tail black with a broad white median band
and white tip ; beneath pale ashy brown ; length 33, wing 22 inches.
Female similar but larger.
I MET with this fine Eagle on the Rio Negro^ in
Patagonia, where d'Orbigny also found it; the
entire Argentine territory comes, however, within
its range. Having merely seen it perched on the tall
willows fringing the Rio Negro, or soaring in wide
circles far up in the sky, I cannot venture to speak
of its habits, while the account of them which
d'Orbigny built up is not worth quoting, for he does
not say how he got his information. One of his
statements would, if true, be very important indeed.
He says that his attention was drawn to a very curious
fact concerning the Crowned Harpy, which was, that
this bird preys chiefly on the skunk — an animal, he
very truly adds, with so pestilential an odour that
even the most carnivorous of mammals are put to
flight by it ; that it is the only bird of prey that
kills the skunk, and that it does so by precipitating
itself from a vast height upon its quarry, which it
then quickly despatches. It would not matter at
all whether the Eagle dropped from a great or a
moderate height, for in either case the skunk would
receive its enemy with the usual pestilent discharge.
D'Orbigny's account is, however, pure conjecture,
52 BIRDS OF LA PLATA
and though he does not tell us what led him to form
such a conclusion; I have no doubt that it was because
the Eagle or Eagles he obtained had the skunk-smell
on their plumage* Most of the Eagles I shot in Pata-
gonia, including about a do^en Chilian Eagles, smelt
of skunk, the smell being in most cases old and faint.
Of two Crowned Harpies obtained, only one smelt
of skunk. This only shows that in Patagonia Eagles
attack the skunk, which is not strange considering
that it is of a suitable size and conspicuously marked ;
that it goes about fearlessly in the daytime and is the
most abundant animal, the small cavy excepted, in
that sterile country. But whether the Eagles succeed
in their attacks on it is a very different matter. The
probability is that when an Eagle, incited by the
pangs of hunger, commits so great a mistake as to
attack a skunk, the pestilent fluid, which has the
same terribly burning and nauseating effects on the
lower animals as on man, very quickly makes it
abandon the contest. It is certain that pumas make
the same mistake as the Eagles do, for in some that
are caught the fur smells strongly of skunk. It might
be said that the fact that many Eagles smell of skunk
serves to show that they do feed on them, for other-
wise they would learn by experience to avoid so dan-
gerous an animal, and the smell of a first encounter
would soon wear off. I do not think that hungry
birds of prey, in a barren country like Patagonia,
would learn from one repulse, or even from several,
the fruitlessness and danger of such attacks ; while
the smell is so marvellously persistent that one or
PEREGRINE FALCON 53
two such attacks a year on the part of each Eagle
would be enough to account for the smell on so
many birds* If skunks could be easily conquered
by Eagles^ they would not be so numerous or so
neglectful of their safety as we find them.
PEREGRINE FALCON
Falco peregrinus
Above plumbeous, lightest on the rump, more or less distinctly
barred with black ; head and cheeks black ; beneath white tinged with
cinnamon ; abdomen and thighs traversed by narrow black bands ;
cere and feet yellow; length 30^ wing 14 inches. Female similar;
a third larger.
The Peregrine Falcon is found throughout the
Argentine Republic, but is nowhere numerous, and
is not migratory ; nor is it ** essentially a duck-
hawk/^ as in India according to Dr. Anderson, for
it preys chiefly on land birds. It is solitary, and
each bird possesses a favourite resting-place or home^
where it spends several hours every day, and also
roosts at night. Where there are trees it has its
chosen site where it may always be found at noon ;
but on the open treeless pampas a mound of earth
or the bleached skull of a horse or cow serves it for
a perch, and here for months the bird may be found
every day on its stand. It sits upright and motionless,
springs suddenly into the air when taking flight, and
flies in a straight line, and with a velocity which few
birds can equal. Its appearance always causes great
54 BIRDS OF LA PLATA
consternation amongst other birds, for even the Spur-
winged Lapwing, the spirited persecutor of all other
Hawks, flies screaming with terror from it. It prefers
attacking moderately large birds, striking them on
the wing, after which it stoops to pick them up.
While out riding one day I saw a Peregrine sweep
down from a great height and strike a Burrowing-
Owl to the earth, the Owl having risen up before
me. It then picked it up and flew away with it in
its talons.
The Peregrine possesses one very curious habit.
When a Plover, Pigeon, or Duck is killed, it eats the
skin and flesh of the head and neck, picking the
vertebrae clean of the flesh down to the breast-bone,
and also eating the eyes, but leaving the body
untouched, I have found scores of dead birds with
head and neck picked clean in this way ; and once
I watched for some months a Peregrine which had
established itself near my home, where it made
havoc among the Pigeons ; and I frequently marked
the spot to which it carried its prey, and on going
to the place always found that the Pigeon's head and
neck only had been stripped of flesh. The Burrow-
ing Owl has an analogous habit, for it invariably
rejects the hind quarters of the toads and frogs which
it captures.
At the approach of the warm season the Peregrines
are often seen in twos and threes violently pursuing
each other at a great height in the air, and uttering
shrill, piercing screams, which can be heard distinctly
after the birds have disappeared from sight.
ARGENTINE HOBBY 55
ARGENTINE HOBBY
Falco fusco-cserulescens
Above dull slatey black, rump variegated with white ; superciliaries
prolonged and meeting behind, rufous ; beneath throat and breast
pale cinnamon with black shaft-stripes on the breast ; belly black
with white transverse hnes ; wings and tail blackish with transverse
white bars ; bill yellow tipped with black, feet orange ; length 13.5,
wing 10 inches. Female similar but larger.
The Orange-chested Hobby is found throughout
South and Central America^ but the form met with
here differs^ to some extent, in habits from its repre-
sentatives of the hotter region. It is a Patagonian
bird, the most common Falcon in that country, and
is migratory, wintering in the southern and central
Argentine provinces* In its winter home it is solitary,
and fond of hovering about farmhouses, where it
sits on a tree or post and looks out for its prey* Com-
pared with the Peregrine it has a poor spirit, and
I have often watched it give chase to a bird, and
just when it seemed about to grasp its prey, give up
the pursuit and slink ingloriously away. It never
boldly and openly attacks any bird, except of the
smallest species, and prefers to perch on an elevation
from which it can dart down suddenly and take its
prey by surprise.
The nest is a slovenly structure of sticks on a
thorny bush or tree. The eggs, which I have not
seen, Darwin describes as follows : ** Surface rough
with white projecting points ; colour nearly uni-
form dirty wood-brown ; general appearance as if
it had been rubbed in brown mud/*
56 BIRDS OF LA PLATA
ARGENTINE KESTREL
Tinnunculus cinnamominus
Above reddish cinnamon with irregular black cross bands on the
back ; head bluish grey ; front and sides of head white ; nape and
stripes on the sides of the neck black ; wings bluish grey with black
central spots ; tail cinnamon red with broad black band and white
tip ; beneath white with buff tinge, and irregular oval black spots ;
length 10.5, wing 7.7 inches. Female similar but larger.
The habits of this little Falcon closely resemble
those of Falco fusco-cxrulescens, and like that bird
it is common in Patagonia and migrates north in
winter. Many individuals, however, do not migrate,
as I found when residing at the Rio Negro, where
some pairs remained at the breeding-place all the
year. Many pairs are also found resident and breeding
in other parts of the Argentine country, but it is
common only in Patagonia,
It nests in holes in cliffs and also on trees, and
sometimes builds its own nest on the large nest of
a Dendrocolaptine bird or of a Parrakeet. It lays
four eggs, large for the size of the bird, oval in shape,
and white, thickly blotched with dull red.
The preying habits of the Little Kestrel are similar
to those of the Orange-chested Hobby ; it haunts
farmhouses and plantations, and spends a great
deal of time perched on some elevation watching
for its prey, and making sudden dashes to capture
it by surprise. But though not bold when seeking
its food, it frequently makes violent unprovoked
attacks on species very much larger than itself, either
WHITE KITE 57
from ill-temper or in a frolicsome spirit, which is
more probable.
Thus I have seen one drive up a flock of Glossy
Ibises and pursue them some distance, striking and
buffeting them with the greatest energy. I saw
another pounce down from its perch, where it had
been sitting for some time, on a female skunk quietly
seated at the entrance of her burrow, with her three
half-grown young frolicking around her. I was
watching them with extreme interest, for they were
leaping over their parent's tail, and playing like
kittens with it, when the Hawk dashed down, and
after striking at them quickly three or four times,
as they tumbled pell-mell into their kennel, flew
quietly away, apparently well satisfied with its
achievement.
WHITE KITE
Elanus leucurus
Above pale grey ; lesser wing-coverts and scapulars black ; tail
white, the two middle feathers grey ; beneath white ; bill black, eyes
crimson; feet yellow; length 14.5, wing 11, tail 7 inches. Female
similar but larger.
This interesting Hawk is found throughout the
Argentine Republic, but is nowhere numerous. It
also inhabits Chili, where. Gay says, it is called
Bailarin (Dancer) on account of its aerial perform-
ances. It is a handsome bird, with large ruby-red
irides, and when seen at a distance its snow-white
58 BIRDS OF LA PLATA
plumage and buoyant flight give it a striking re-
semblance to a gulL Its wing-power is indeed
marvellous. It delights to soar, like the Martins,
during a high wind, and will spend hours in this
sport, rising and falling alternately, and at times,
seeming to abandon itself to the fury of the gale,
is blown away like thistle-down, until, suddenly
recovering itself, it shoots back to its original position.
Where there are tall Lombardy poplar-trees these
birds amuse themselves by perching on the topmost
slender twigs, balancing themselves with outspread
wings, each bird on a separate tree, until the tree-tops
are swept by the wind from under them, when they
often remain poised almost motionless in the air
until the twigs return to their feet.
When looking out for prey, this Kite usually main-
tains a height of sixty or seventy feet above the
ground, and in its actions strikingly resembles a
fishing Tern, frequently remaining poised in the air
with body motionless and wings rapidly vibrating
for fully half a minute at a stretch, after which it
flies on or dashes down upon its prey.
The nest is placed upon the topmost twigs of a
tall tree, and is round and neatly built of sticks,
rather deep, and lined with dry grass. The eggs are
eight in number, nearly spherical, the ground-colour
creamy-white, densely marked with longitudinal
blotches or stripes of a fine rich red, almost like
coagulated blood in hue. There is, however, great
variety in the shades of red, also in the disposition
of the markings, these in some eggs being confluent.
SOCIABLE MARSH-HAWK 59
so that the whole shell is red* The shell is polished
and exceedingly fragile^ a rare thing in the eggs of a
Raptor*
An approach to the nest is always greeted by the
birds with long distressful cries^ and this cry is also
uttered in the love-season, when the males often
fight and pursue each other in the air* The old and
young birds usually live together until the follow-
ing spring*
SOCIABLE MARSH-HAWK
Rostrohamus sociabilis
Deep slatey grey ; wing feathers black ; rump white ; tail white
with a broad grey band ; eyes crimson, bill and feet orange ; length
17, wing 13 inches. Female similar but larger.
This Hawk in si^e and manner of flight resembles
a Buzzard, but in its habits and the form of its slender
and very sharply hooked beak it differs widely from
that bird. The name of Sociable Marsh-Hawk,
which Azara gave to this species, is very appropriate,
for they invariably live in flocks of from twenty to
a hundred individuals, and migrate and even breed
in company* In Buenos Ayres they appear in Sep-
tember and resort to marshes and streams abounding
in large water-snails {AmpuUaria)f on which they
feed exclusively* Each bird has a favourite perch
or spot of ground to which it carries every snail it
captures, and after skilfully extracting the animal
with its curiously modified beak, it drops the shell
6o BIRDS OF LA PLATA
on the mound. When disturbed or persecuted by
other birds, they utter a pecuHar cry, resembHng
the shrill neighing of a horse. In disposition they
are most peaceable, and where they are abundant
all other birds soon discover that they are not as
other Hawks are and pay no attention to them.
When soaring, which is their favourite pastime, the
flight is singularly slow, the bird frequently remain-
ing motionless for long intervals in one place ; but
the expanded tail is all the time twisted about in the
most singular manner, moved from side to side, and
turned up until its edge is nearly at a right angle
with the plane of the body. These tail-movements
appear to enable it to remain stationary in the air
without the rapid vibratory wing-motions practised
by Elanus leucurus and other hovering birds ; and
I should think that the vertebrae of the tail must
have been somewhat modified by such a habit.
Concerning its breeding habits Mr, Gibson writes :
** In the year 1873 I was so fortunate as to find a
breeding colony in one of our largest and deepest
swamps. There were probably twenty or thirty
nests, placed a few yards apart, in the deepest and
most lonely part of the whole * canadon,' They were
slightly built platforms, supported on the rushes and
two or three feet above the water, with the cup-
shaped hollow lined with pieces of grass and water-
rush. The eggs never exceeded three in a nest ; the
ground-colour generally bluish-white, blotched and
clouded very irregularly with dull red-brown, the
rufous tint sometimes being replaced with ash-grey.*'
PIGMY FALCON 6i
PIGMY FALCON
Spiziapteryx circumcinctus
Above brown with black shaft-stripes; head black with brown
stripes and white superciliaries which join round the nape ; rump
white ; wings black with white oval spots on the outer and white
bars on the inner webs; tail black, all but the central feathers
crossed by five or six broad white bars ; beneath white, the breast
marked with narrow black shaft-stripes ; beak plumbeous, lower
mandible yellow; feet greenish ; length ii, wing 6.5 inches. Female
similar, rather larger.
This small Hawk is sometimes met with in the
woods of La Plata^ near the river ; it is rare, but
owing to its curious violent flight, with the short
blunt wings rapidly beating all the time, it is very
conspicuous in the air and well known to the natives,
who call it Rey de los Pdjaros (King of the Birds)
and entertain a very high opinion of its energy and
strength* I have never seen it taking its prey, and
do not believe that it ever attempts to capture any-
thing in the air, its short, blunt wings and peculiar
manner of flight being unsuited for such a purpose.
Probably it captures birds by a sudden dash when
they mob it on its perch ; and I do not know any
Raptor more persistently run after and mobbed by
small birds. I once watched one for upwards of an
hour as it sat on a tree attended by a large flock of
Guira Cuckoos, all excitedly screaming and bent on
dislodging it from its position* So long as they kept
away five or six feet from it the Hawk remained
motionless, only hissing and snapping occasionally
as a warning ; but whenever a Cuckoo ventured a
62 BIRDS OF LA PLATA
little nearer and into the charmed circle^ it would
make a sudden rapid dash and buffet the intruder
violently back to a proper distance, returning after-
wards to its own stand.
CHIMANGO, OR COMMON CARRION
HAWK
Milvago chimango
Upper plumage reddish brown ; greater wing-coverts white with
slight brown cross-bars ; tail greyish white, banded and freckled with
greyish brown. Under plumage grey, tinged with rufous on throat
and breast; length 15, wing 11, tail 6.5 inches. Sexes alike.
AzARA says of the Carancho {Polyborus tharus) :
** All methods of subsistence are known to this
bird : it pries into, understands, and takes advantage
of everything/^ These words apply better to the
Chimango, which has probably the largest bill of
fare of any bird, and has grafted on to its own
peculiar manner of life the habits of twenty diverse
species. By turns it is a Falcon, a Vulture, an insect-
eater, and a vegetable-eater. On the same day you
will see one bird in violent Hawk-like pursuit of its
living prey, with all the instincts of rapine hot within
it, and another less ambitious individual engaged in
laboriously tearing at an old cast-off shoe, uttering
mournful notes the while, but probably more con-
cerned at the tenacity of the material than at its
indigestibility.
A species so cosmopolitan in its tastes might have
COMMON CARRION HAWK 63
had a whole volume to itself in England ; being only
a poor foreigner it has had no more than a few
unfriendly paragraphs bestowed upon it* For it
happens to be a member of that South-American
sub-family of which even grave naturalists have
spoken slightingly^ calling them vile^ cowardly, con-
temptible birds ; and the Chimango is nearly least
of them all — a. sort of poor relation and hanger-on
of a family already looked upon as bankrupt and
disreputable. Despite this evil reputation, few
species are more deserving of careful study ; for
throughout an extensive portion of South America
it is the commonest bird we know ; and when we
consider how closely connected are the lives of all
living creatures by means of their interlacing rela-
tions, so that the predominance of any one kind,
however innocuous, necessarily causes the modifi-
cation, or extinction even, of surrounding species,
we are better able to appreciate the importance of
this despised fowl in the natural polity. Add to
this its protean habits, and then, however poor a
creature our bird may seem, and deserving of
strange-sounding epithets from an ethical point of
view, I do not know where the naturalist will find
a more interesting one.
The Chimango has not an engaging appearance.
In si^e and figure it much resembles the Hen-Harrier,
and the plumage is uniformly of a light sandy brown
colour ; the shanks are slender, claws weak, and
beak so slightly hooked that it seems like the merest
apology of the Falcon's tearing weapon. It has an
64 BIRDS OF LA PLATA
easy, loitering flight, and when on the wing does not
appear to have an object in view, like the Hawk,
but wanders and prowls about here and there, and
when it spies another bird it flies after him to see
if he has food in his eye. When one finds something
to eat the others try to deprive him of it, pursuing
him with great determination all over the place ; if
the foremost pursuer flags, a fresh bird takes its
place, until the object of so much contention —
perhaps after all only a bit of bone or skin — is
dropped to the ground, to be instantly snatched up
by some bird in the tail of the chase ; and he in
turn becomes the pursued of all the others. This
continues until one grows tired and leaves off watch-
ing them without seeing the result. They are
loquacious and sociable, frequently congregating in
loose companies of thirty or forty individuals, when
they spend several hours every day in spirited
exercises, soaring about like Martins, performing
endless evolutions, and joining in aerial mock battles.
When tired of these pastimes they all settle down
again, to remain for an hour or so perched on the
topmost boughs of trees or on other elevations ;
and at intervals one bird utters a very long, leisurely
chant, with a falling inflection, followed by a series
of short notes, all the other birds joining in chorus
and uttering short notes in time with those of their
soloist or precentor. The nest is built on trees or
rushes in swamps, or on the ground amongst grass
and thistles. The eggs are three or four in number,
nearly spherical, blotched with deep red on a white
COMMON CARRION HAWK 65
or creamy ground ; sometimes the whole egg is
marbled with red ; but there are endless varieties*
It is easy to find the nest, and becomes easier when
there are young birds, for the parent when out
foraging invariably returns to her young uttering
long mournful notes, so that one has only to listen
and mark the spot where it alights. After visiting
a nest I have always found the young birds soon
disappear, and as the old birds vanish also I believe
that the Chimango removes its young when the nest
has been discovered — a rare habit with birds.
Chimangos abound most in settled districts, but
a prospect of food will quickly bring numbers
together even in the most solitary places. On the
desert pampas, where hunters, Indian and Euro-
pean, have a great fancy for burning the dead grass,
the moment the smoke of a distant fire is seen there
the Chimangos fly to follow the conflagration. They
are at such times strangely animated, dashing
through clouds of smoke, feasting among the hot
ashes on roasted cavies and other small mammals,
and boldly pursuing the scorched fugitives from the
flames.
At all times and in all places the Chimango is ever
ready to pounce on the weak, the sickly, and the
wounded. In other regions of the globe these
doomed ones fall into the clutches of the true bird
of prey ; but the salutary office of executioner is
so effectually performed by the Chimango and his
congeners where these false Hawks abound, that the
true Hawks have a much keener struggle to exist
66 BIRDS OF LA PLATA
here» This circumstance has possibly served to
make them swifter of wing, keener of sight, and
bolder in attack than elsewhere. I have seen a
Buzzard, which is not considered the bravest of the
Hawks, turn quick as lightning on a Spur-wing
Lapwing, which was pursuing it, and, grappling it,
bear it down to the ground and despatch it in a
moment, though a hundred other Lapwings were
uttering piercing screams above it. Yet this Plover
is a large, powerful, fierce-tempered bird, and armed
with sharp spurs on its wings. This is but one of
numberless instances I have witnessed of the extreme
strength and daring of our Hawks.
When shooting birds to preserve I used to keep
an anxious eye on the movements of the Chimangos
flying about, for I have had some fine specimens
carried off or mutilated by these omnipresent robbers.
One winter day I came across a fine Myiotheretes
rufiventris, a pretty and graceful Tyrant-bird, rather
larger than the Common Thrush, with a chocolate
and silver-grey plumage. It was rare in that place,
and, anxious to secure it^ I fired a very long shot,
for it was extremely shy. It rose up high in the air
and flew off apparently unconcerned. What then
was my surprise to see a Chimango start off in
pursuit of it ! Springing on to my horse I followed,
and before going half a mile noticed the Tyrant-bird
beginning to show signs of distress. After avoiding
several blows aimed by the Chimango, it flew down
and plunged into a cardoon bush. There I captured
itf and when skinning it to preserve found that one
COMMON CARRION HAWK 67
small shot had lodged in the fleshy portion of the
breast. It was a very slight wound^ yet the Chimango
with its trained sight had noticed something wrong
with the bird from the moment it flew off, apparently
in its usual free, buoyant manner.
On another occasion I was defrauded of a more
valuable specimen than the Tyrant-bird, It was on
the east coast of Patagonia, when one morning, while
seated on an elevation, watching the waves dashing
themselves on the shore, I perceived a shining white
object tossing about at some distance from land.
Successive waves brought it nearer, till at last it was
caught up and flung far out on to the shingle fifty
yards from where I sat ; and instantly, before the
cloud of spray had vanished, a Chimango dashed
down upon it. I jumped up and ran down as fast as
I could, and found my white object to be a Penguin,
apparently just killed by some accident out at sea, and
in splendid plumage ; but alas ! in that moment the vile
Chimango had stripped off and devoured the skin from
its head, so that as a specimen it was hopelessly ruined.
As a rule, strong healthy birds despise the Chi-
mango ; they feed in his company ; his sudden
appearance causes no alarm, and they do not take
the trouble to persecute him ; but when they have
eggs or young he is not to be trusted. He is not
easily turned from a nest he has once discovered.
I have seen him carry off a young Tyrant-bird
(Milvulus tyrannus) in the face of such an attack
from the parent birds that one would have imagined
not even a true Hawk could have withstood.
68 BIRDS OF LA PLATA
Curiously enough, like one of the boldest of our
small Hawks (Tinnunculus cinnamominus)^ they some-
times attack birds so much too strong and big for
them that they must know the assault will produce
more annoyance than harm. I was once watching
a flock of Coots feeding on a grassy bank, when a
passing Chimango paused in its flight, and, after
hovering over them a few moments, dashed down
upon them with such impetuosity that several birds
were thrown to the ground by the quick successive
blows of its wings. There they lay on their backs,
kicking, apparently too much terrified to get up,
while the Chimango deliberately eyed them for
some moments, then quietly flew away, leaving them
to dash into the water and cool their fright. Attacks
like these are possibly made in a sportive spirit, for
the Milvago is a playful bird, and, as with many
other species, bird and mammal, its play always
takes the form of attack.
Its inefficient weapons compel it to be more timid
than the Hawk, but there are many exceptions, and
in every locality individual birds are found dis-
tinguished by their temerity. Almost any shepherd
can say that his flock is subject to the persecutions
of at least one pair of lamb-killing birds of this
species. They prowl about the flock, and watch till
a small lamb is found sleeping at some distance from
its dam, rush upon it, and, clinging to its head, eat
away its nose and tongue. The shepherd is then
obliged to kill the lamb ; but I have seen many
lambs that have been permitted to survive the
COMMON CARRION HAWK 69
mutilation, and which have grown to strong healthy
sheep, though with greatly disfigured faces. One
more instance I will give of the boldness of a bird
of which Azara, greatly mistaken, says that it might
possibly have courage enough to attack a mouse,
though he doubts it. Close to my house, when I
was a boy, a pair of these birds had their nest near
a narrow path leading through a thicket of giant
thistles, and every time I traversed this path the
male bird, which, contrary to the rule with birds of
prey, is larger and bolder than the female, would
rise high above me, then dashing down strike my
horse a violent blow on the forehead with its wings.
This action it would repeat till I was out of the path,
I thought it very strange the bird never struck my
head ; but I presently discovered that it had an
excellent reason for what it did. The gauchos ride
by preference on horses never properly tamed, and
one neighbour informed me that he was obliged
every day to make a circuit of half a mile round the
thistles, as the horses he rode became quite un-
manageable in the path, they had been so terrified
with the attacks of this Chimango,
Where the intelligence of the bird appears to be
really at fault is in its habit of attacking a sore-
backed horse, tempted thereto by the sight of a raw
spot, and apparently not understanding that the
flesh it wishes to devour is an inseparable part of
the whole animal, Darwin has noticed this curi-
ous blunder of the bird ; and I have often seen a
chafed saddle-horse wildly scouring the plain closely
70 BIRDS OF LA PLATA
pursued by a hungry Chi#^ngo, determined to dine
on a portion of him.
In the hot season^ when marshes and lagoons are
drying up, the Chimango is seen associating with
Ibises and other waders, standing knee-deep in the
water and watching for tadpoles, frogs, and other
aquatic prey. He also wades after a very different
kind of food. At the bottom of pools, collected on
clayey soil after a summer shower, an edible fungus
grows, of a dull greenish colour and resembling
gelatine. He has found out that this fungus is good
for food, though I never saw any other creature
eating it. In cultivated districts he follows the plough
in company with the Black-headed Gulls, Molothri^
Guira Cuckoos, and Tyrant-birds, and clumsily
gleans amongst the fresh-turned mould for worms
and larvae. He also attends the pigs when they are
rooting on the plain to share any succulent treasure
turned up by their snouts ; for he is not a bird that
allows dignity to stand between him and his dinner.
In the autumn, on damp, sultry days, the red ants,
that make small conical mounds on the pampas,
are everywhere seen swarming. Rising high in the
air they form a little cloud or column, and hang
suspended for hours over the same spot. On such
days the Milvagos fare sumptuously on little insects,
and under each cloud of winged ants several of them
are to be seen in company with a few Flycatchers,
or other diminutive species, briskly running about
to pick up the falling manna, their enjoyment un-
disturbed by any sense of incongruity.
COMMON CARRION HAWK 71
Before everything, however, the Chimango is a
vulture, and is to be found at every solitary rancho
sharing with dogs and poultry the offal and waste
meat thrown out on the dust-heap ; or, after the
flock has gone to pasture, tearing at the eyes and
tongue of a dead lamb in the sheepfold. When the
hide has been stripped from a dead horse or cow on
the plains, the Chimango is always first on the scene.
While feeding on a carcase it incessantly utters a
soliloquy of the most lamentable notes, as if pro-
testing against the hard necessity of having to put
up with such carrion fare — long querulous cries
resembling the piteous whines of a shivering puppy
chained up in a bleak backyard and all its wants
neglected, but infinitely more doleful in character.
The gauchos have a saying comparing a man who
grumbles at good fortune to the Chimango crying
on a carcase — an extremely expressive saying to
those who have listened to the distressful wailings
of the bird over its meat. In winter a carcase attracts
a great concourse of the Black-backed Gulls ; for
with the cold weather these Vultures of the sea
abandon their breeding-places on the Atlantic shores
to wander in search of food over the vast inland
pampas. The dead beast is quickly surrounded by a
host of them, and the poor Chimango crowded out.
One at least, however, is usually to be seen perched
on the carcase tearing at the flesh, and at intervals
with outstretched neck and ruffied-up plumage
uttering a succession of its strange wailing cries,
reminding one of a public orator mounted on a
72 BIRDS OF LA PLATA
rostrum and addressing narrowing appeals to a
crowd of attentive listeners. When the carcase has
been finally abandoned by foxes^ armadillos, Gulls,
and Caranchos, the Chimango still clings sorrow-
fully to it, eking out a miserable existence by tear-
ing at a fringe of gristle and whetting his hungry
beak on the bones.
Though an inordinate lover of carrion, a wise
instinct has taught it that this aliment is unsuited to
the tender stomachs of its fledglings ; these it feeds
almost exclusively on the young of small birds. In
November the Chimangos are seen incessantly beat-
ing over the cardoon bushes, after the manner of
Hen-Harriers ; for at this season in the cardoons
breeds the Synallaxis hudsoni. This bird, sometimes
called Teru-reru del campo by the natives, is exces-
sively shy and mouse-like in habits, seldom showing
itself, and by means of strong legs and a long, slender,
wedge-like body is able to glide swiftly as a snake
through and under the grass. In summer one hears
its long, melancholy, trilling call-note from a cardoon
bush, but if approached it drops to the ground and
vanishes. Under the densest part of the cardoon
bush it scoops out a little circular hollow in the soil,
and constructs over it a dome of woven grass and
thorns, leaving only a very small aperture ; it lines
the floor with dry horse-dung, and lays five buff-
coloured eggs. So admirably is the nest concealed
that I have searched every day for it through a whole
breeding-season without being rewarded with a
single find. Yet they are easily found by the Chi-
COMMON CARRION HAWK 73
mango* In the course of a single day I have examined
five or six broods of young Chimangos, and by
pressing a finger on their distended crops made them
disgorge their food, and found in every instance
that they had been fed on nothing but the young of
the Teru-reru, I was simply ama2;ed at this whole-
sale destruction of the young of a species so secret
in its nesting-habits ; for no eye, even of a Hawk,
can pierce through the leafage of a cardoon bush,
ending near the surface in an accumulated mass of
the dead and decaying portions of the plant* The
explanation of the Chimango's success is to be found
in the loquacious habit of the fledglings it preys on,
a habit common in the young of Dendrocolaptine
species* The intervals between the visits of the parent
birds with food they spend in conversing together
in their high-pitched tones. If a person approaches
the solid fabric of the Oven-bird (Furnarius rufus)
when there are young in it, he will hear shrill laughter-
like notes and little choruses, like those uttered by
the old birds, only feebler ; but in the case of that
species no harm can result from the loquacity of
the young, since the castle they inhabit is impreg-
nable. Hovering over the cardoons, the Chimango
listens for the stridulous laughter of the fledglings,
and when he hears it the thorny covering is quickly
pierced and the dome broken into.
Facts like these bring before us with startling
vividness the struggle for existence, showing what
great issues in the life of a species may depend on
matters so trivial, seemingly, that to the uninformed
74 BIRDS OF LA PLATA
mind they appear like th^fierest dust in the balance,
which is not regarded. And how tremendous and
pitiless is that searching law of the survival of the
fittest in its operations, when we see a species like
this SynallaxiSf in the fashioning and perfecting of
which Nature seems to have exhausted all her art, so
exquisitely is it adapted in its structure, coloration,
and habits to the one great object of concealment,
yet apparently doomed to destruction through this
one petty oversight — the irrepressible garrulity of
the fledglings in their nest ! It is, however, no over-
sight at all ; since the law of natural selection is not
prophetic in its action, and only preserves such
variations as are beneficial in existing circumstances,
without anticipating changes in the conditions. The
settlement of the country has, no doubt, caused a
great increase of Chimangos, and in some indirect
way probably has served to quicken their intelligence ;
thus a change in the conditions which have moulded
this Synallaxis brings a danger to it from an un-
expected quarter. The situation of the nest exposes
it, one would imagine, to attacks from snakes and
small mammals, from bird-killing spiders, beetles
and crickets, yet these subtle ground foes have
missed it, while the baby-laughter of the little ones
in their cradle has called down an unlooked-for
destroyer from above. It might be answered that
this must be a very numerous species, otherwise
the Chimango could not have acquired the habit
of finding the nests ; that when they become rarer
the pursuit will be given over, after which the balance
Carancho Carrion-Hawk
Poh'borus tharus (Mol.)
CARANCHO
75
will readjust itself. But in numbers there is safety,
especially for a feeble, hunted species, unable from
its peculiar structure to vary its manner of life. To
such the remark made by Darwin, that '' rarity is
the precursor to extinction/' applies with peculiar
force.
CARANCHO OR CARACARA
Polyborus tharus
Dark brown with whitish mottlings ; head black ; wings and tail
greyish white with greyish brown cross-bars and black tips ; beneath
dark brown ; throat and sides of head yellowish white ; beak yellow ;
cere orange. Sexes alike.
This bird, which combines the raptorial instincts
of the Eagle with the base carrion-feeding habits of
the Vulture, has already had so many biographers
that it might seem superfluous to speak of it again at
any great length ; only it happens to be one of those
very versatile species about which there is always
something fresh to be said ; and, besides, I do not
altogether agree with the very ignoble character
usually ascribed to it by travellers. It is, however,
probable that it varies greatly in disposition and
habits in different districts. In Patagonia I was
surprised at its dejected appearance and skulking
cowardly manner, so unlike the bird I had been
accustomed to see on the pampas. I shot several,
and they were all in a miserably poor condition and
apparently half-starved. It struck me that in that
76 BIRDS OF LA PLATA
cold, sterile country, wh^ prey is scarce, the Ca-
rancho is altogether out of place ; for it there has to
compete with Eagles and Vultures in large numbers ;
and these, it is almost needless to say, are, in their
separate lines, stronger than the composite and less
specialised Carancho. In Patagonia he is truly a
** miserable bird," with a very frail hold on existence.
How different on that illimitable grassy ocean farther
north, where he is the lord of the feathered race,
for Eagles and Vultures, that require mountains
and trees to breed and roost on, do not come there
to set him aside ; there the conditions are suited to
him and have served to develop in him a wonderfully
bold and savage spirit. When seen perched on a
conical ant-hill, standing erect above the tall plumy
grass, he has a fine, even a noble appearance ; but
when flying he is not handsome, the wings being
very bluntly rounded at the extremities and the
flight low and ungraceful. The plumage is blackish
in the adult, brown in the young. The sides of the
head and breast are creamy white, the latter trans-
versely marked with black spots. The crown is
adorned with a crest or top-knot. The beak is much
larger than in Eagles and Vultures, and of a dull
blue colour ; the cere and legs are bright yellow.
The species ranges throughout South America,
and from Paraguay northwards is called every-
where, I beheve, Caracara, South of Paraguay the
Spanish name is Carancho, possibly a corruption of
Keanche, the Puelche name for the allied Milvago
chimango, in imitation of its peevish cry. The
CARANCHO 77
Indian name for the Carancho in these regions
is Tram (from its harsh cry), misspelt Tharu by
Molina, a Spanish priest who wrote a book on the
birds of Chili in the eighteenth century ; hence the
specific name tharus.
The Caranchos pair for life, and may therefore be
called social birds ; they also often live and hunt in
families of the parent and young birds until the
following spring ; and at all times several individuals
will readily combine to attack their prey, but they
never live or move about in flocks* Each couple
has its own home or resting-place, which they will
continue to use for an indefinite time, roosting on
the same branch and occupying the same nest year
after year ; while at all times the two birds are seen
constantly together and seem very much attached,
Azara relates that he once saw a male pounce down
on a frog, and carrying it to a tree call his mate to
him and make her a present of it. It was not a very
magnificent present, but the action seems to show
that the bird possesses some commendable qualities
which are seldom seen in the raptorial family.
In uninhabited places I have always found the
Caranchos just as abundant as in the settled districts ;
and after a deer has been pulled down by the dogs
I have seen as many as seventy or eighty birds
congregate to feed on its flesh within half an hour,
although not one had been previously visible.
D'Orbigny describes the bird as a parasite on man,
savage and civilised, following him everywhere to
feed on the leavings when he slays wild or domestic
78 BIRDS OF LA PLATA
animals, and as being scarcely able to exist without
him. No doubt the bird does follow man greatly
to its advantage, but this is only in very thinly
settled and purely pastoral and hunting districts,
where a large proportion of the flesh of every animal
slain is given to the fowls of the air. Where the
population increases the Carancho quickly meets
with the fate of all large species which are regarded
as prejudicial.
Without doubt it is a carrion-eater, but only, I
believe, when it cannot get fresh provisions ; for
when famished it will eat anything rather than study
its dignity and suffer hunger like the nobler Eagle.
I have frequently seen one or two or three of them
together on the ground under a column of winged
ants, eagerly feasting on the falling insects. To
eat putrid meat it must be very hungry indeed ; it
is, however, amazingly fond of freshly-killed flesh,
and when a cow is slaughtered at an estancia-house
the Carancho quickly appears on the scene to claim
his share, and catching up the first thing he can
lift he carries it off before the dogs can deprive him
of it. When he has risen to a height of five or six
yards in the air he drops the meat from his beak
and dexterously catches it in his claws without
pausing or swerving in his flight. It is singular
that the bird seems quite incapable of lifting anything
from the ground with the claws, the beak being
invariably used, even when the prey is an animal
which it might seem dangerous to lift in this way.
I once saw one of these birds swoop down on a rat
CARANCHO 79
from a distance of about forty feet, and rise with
its struggling and squealing prey to a height of twenty
feet, then drop it from his beak and gracefully catch
it in his talons. Yet when it pursues and overtakes
a bird in the air it invariably uses the claws in the
same way as other Hawks, This I have frequently
observed, and I give the two following anecdotes to
show that even birds which one would imagine to
be quite safe from the Carancho are on some occa-
sions attacked by it.
While walking in a fallow field near my home one
day I came on a Pigeon feeding, and at once recog-
nised it as one which had only begun to fly about a
week before ; for although a large number of Pigeons
were kept, this bird happened to be of the purest
unspotted white, and for a long time I had been
endeavouring to preserve and increase the pure white
individuals, but with very little success, for the
Peregrines invariably singled them out for attack.
A Carancho was circling about at some distance
overhead, and while I stood still to watch and admire
my Pigeon it stooped to within twenty yards of the
surface and remained hovering over my head.
Presently the Pigeon became alarmed and flew
away, whereupon the Hawk gave chase— a very
vain chase I imagined it would prove. It lasted
for about half a minute, the Pigeon rushing wildly
round in wide circles, now mounting aloft and now
plunging downwards close to the surface, the
Carancho hotly following all the time. At length,
evidently in great terror, the hunted bird flew down,
8o BIRDS OF LA PLATA
alighting within a yard of ^ feet. I stooped to take
hold of it, when, becoming frightened at my action,
it flew straight up and was sei2:ed in the talons of
its pursuer close to my face and carried away.
In the next case the bird attacked was the Spur-
winged Lapwing, the irreconcilable enemy of the
Carancho and its bold and persistent persecutor.
The very sight of this Hawk rouses the Lapwings
to a frenzy of excitement, and springing aloft they
hasten to meet it in mid-air, screaming loudly, and
continue to harry it until it leaves their ground,
after which they return, and, ranged in triplets,
perform their triumphal dances, accompanied with
loud drumming notes. But if their hated foe alights
on the ground, or on some elevation near them, they
hover about him, and first one, then another, rushes
down with the greatest violence, and gliding near
him turns the bend of its wings so that the spur
appears almost to gra2;e his head. While one bird is
descending others are rising upwards to renew their
charges ; and this persecution continues until they
drive him away or become exhausted with their
fruitless efforts. The Carancho, however, takes
little notice of his tormentors ; only when the Plover
comes very close, evidently bent on piercing his
skull with its sharp weapon, he quickly dodges his
head, after which he resumes his indifferent de-
meanour until the rush of the succeeding bird takes
place.
While out riding one day a Carancho flew past
me attended by about thirty Lapwings, combined to
CARANCHO 8i
hunt him from their ground, for it was near the
breeding-season, when their jealous irascible temper
is most excited. All at once, just as a Lapwing swept
close by and then passed on before it, the Hawk
quickened its flight in the most wonderful manner
and was seen in hot pursuit of its tormentor. The
angry hectoring cries of the Lapwings instantly
changed to piercing screams of terror, which in a
very short time brought a crowd numbering between
two and three hundred birds to the rescue. Now,
I thought, the hunted bird will escape, for it twisted
and turned rapidly about, trying to lose itself amongst
its fellows, all hovering in a compact crowd about
it and screaming their loudest. But the Carancho
was not to be shaken off; he was never more than
a yard behind his quarry, and I was near enough to
distinguish the piteous screams of the chased Lap-
wing amidst all the tumult, as of a bird already
captive. At the end of about a minute it was seized
in the Carancho's talons, and, still violently scream-
ing, borne away. The cloud of Lapwings followed
for some distance, but presently they all returned
to the fatal spot where the contest had taken
place ; and for an hour afterwards they continued
soaring about in separate bodies, screaming all the
time with an unusual note in their voices as of
fear or grief, and holding excited conclaves on
the ground, to all appearance as greatly disturbed
in their minds as an equal number of highly
emotional human beings would be in the event
of a similar disaster overtaking them.
F II
82 BIRDS OF LA PLATA
It is not often^ however, that the Carancho ventures
singly to attack adult and vigorous birds, except
the Tinamu, the ** Partridge " of South America ;
they prey by preference on the young and ailing,
on small lambs and pigs left at a distance by their
dams ; and they also frequently attack and kill
old and weakly sheep. Where anything is wrong
with bird or beast they are very quick to detect it,
and will follow a sportsman to pick up the wounded
birds, intelligently keeping at a safe distance them-
selves. I once shot a Flamingo in the grey stage of
plumage and had some trouble to cross the stream,
on the opposite side of which the bird, wounded
very slightly, was rapidly stalking away. In three or
four minutes I was over and found my Flamingo
endeavouring to defend itself against the assaults of
a Carancho which had marked it for its own, and
was striking it on the neck and breast in the most
vigorous and determined way, sometimes from above,
at other times alighting on the ground before it and
springing up to strike like a game-cock. A spot of
blood on the plumage of the wounded bird, which
had only one wing slightly damaged, had been
sufficient to call down the attack ; for to the Carancho
a spot of blood, a drooping wing, or any irregularity
in the gait, quickly tells its tale.
When several of these birds combine they are very
bold. A friend told me that while voyaging on the
Parana river a Black-necked Swan flew past him
hotly pursued by three Caranchos; and I also wit-
nessed an attack by four birds on a widely different
CARANCHO 83
species, I was standing on the bank of a stream on
the pampas watching a great concourse of birds of
several kinds on the opposite shore^ where the carcase
of a horse, from which the hide had been stripped,
lay at the edge of the water. One or two hundred
Hooded Gulls and about a do2;en Chimangos were
gathered about the carcase, and close to them a very
large flock of Glossy Ibises were wading about in
the water, while amongst these, standing motionless
in the water, was one solitary White Egret. Presently
four Caranchos appeared, two adults and two young
birds in brown plumage, and alighted on the ground
near the carcase. The young birds advanced at once
and began tearing at the flesh ; while the two old
birds stayed where they had alighted, as if disinclined
to feed on half-putrid meat. Presently one of them
sprang into the air and made a dash at the birds in
the water, and instantly all the birds in the place
rose into the air screaming loudly, the two young
brown Caranchos only remaining on the ground.
For a few moments I was in ignorance of the mean-
ing of all this turmoil, when, suddenly, out of the
confused black and white cloud of birds the Egret
appeared, mounting vertically upwards with vigorous
measured strokes. A moment later, first one then
the other Carancho also emerged from the cloud,
evidently pursuing the Egret, and only then the two
brown birds sprang into the air and joined in the
chase. For some minutes I watched the four birds
toiling upwards with a wild zig-zag flight, while the
Egret, still rising vertically, seemed to leave them
84 BIRDS OF LA PLATA
hopelessly far behind. But before long they reached
and passed it, and each bird as he did so would turn
and rush downwards, striking at the Egret with his
claws, and while one descended the others were
rising, bird following bird with the greatest regularity.
In this way they continued toiling upwards until the
Egret appeared a mere white speck in the sky, about
which the four hateful black spots were still revolv-
ing. I had watched them from the first with the
greatest excitement, and now began to fear that they
would pass from sight and leave me in ignorance of
the result ; but at length they began to descend,
and then it looked as if the Egret had lost all hope,
for it was dropping very rapidly, while the four birds
were all close to it, striking at it every three or four
seconds. The descent for the last half of the distance
was exceedingly rapid, and the birds would have
come down almost at the very spot they started from,
which was about forty yards from where I stood, but
the Egret was driven aside, and sloping rapidly down
struck the earth at a distance of two hundred yards
from the starting-point. Scarcely had it touched the
ground before the hungry quartet were tearing it
with their beaks. They were all equally hungry no
doubt, and perhaps the old birds were even hungrier
than their young ; and I am quite sure that if the
flesh of the dead horse had not been so far advanced
towards putrefaction they would not have attempted
the conquest of the Egret.
I have so frequently seen a pure white bird singled
out for attack in this way, that it has always been a
CARANCHO 85
great subject of wonder to me how the two common
species of snow-white Herons in South America are
able to maintain their existence ; for their whiteness
exceeds that of other white waterfowl^ while, com-
pared with Swans, Storks, and the Wood-Ibis, they
are small and feeble. I am sure that if these four
Caranchos had attacked a Glossy Ibis they would
have found it an easier conquest ; yet they singled
out the Egret, purely, I believe, on account of its
shining white conspicuous plumage.
This wing-contest was a very splendid spectacle,
and I was very glad that I had witnessed it, although
it ended badly for the poor Egret ; but in another
case of a combined attack by Caranchos there was
nothing to admire except the intelligence displayed
by the birds in combining, and much to cause the
mind to revolt against the blindly destructive ferocity
exhibited by Nature in the instincts of her creatures.
The scene was witnessed by a beloved old gaucho
friend of mine, a good observer, who related it to
me. It was in summer, and he was riding in a
narrow bridle-path on a plain covered with a dense
growth of giant thistles, nine or ten feet high, when
he noticed some distance ahead several Caranchos
hovering over the spot ; and at once conjectured
that some large animal had fallen there, or that a
traveller had been thrown from his horse and was
lying injured among the thistles. On reaching the
spot he found an open space of ground about forty
yards in diameter, surrounded by the dense wall
of close-growing thistles, and over this place the birds
86 BIRDS OF LA PLATA
were flyings while several others were stationed near,
apparently waiting for something to happen. The
attraction was a large male Rhea squatting on the
ground, and sheltering with its extended wings a
brood of young birds. My friend was not able to
count them, but there were not fewer than twenty-
five or thirty young birds, small tender things, only
a day or so out of the shelL As soon as he rode into
the open space of ground, the old Ostrich sprang
up, and with lowered head, clattering beak, and
broad wings spread out like sails, rushed at him ;
his horse was greatly terrified, and tried to plunge
into the dense mass of thistles, so that he had the
greatest difficulty in keeping his seat. Presently the
Ostrich left him, and casting his eyes round he was
astonished to see that all the young Ostriches were
running about, scattered over the ground, while the
Caranchos were pursuing, knocking down, and killing
them. Meanwhile the old Ostrich was frantically
rushing about trying to save them ; but the Ca-
ranchos, when driven from one bird they were
attacking, would merely rise and drop on the next
one a dozen yards off; and as there were about
fifteen Caranchos all engaged in the same way,
the slaughter was proceeding at a great rate. My
friend, who had been vainly struggling to get the
better of his horse, was then forced to leave the
place, and did not therefore see the end of the tragedy
in which he had acted an involuntary part ; but
before going he saw that at least half the young birds
were dead, and that these were all torn and bleed-
CARANCHO 87
ing on the small of the neck just behind the head,
while in some cases the head had been completely
wrenched off.
The Gauchos when snaring Partridges (Tinamus)
frequently bribe the Caranchos to assist them. The
snarer has a long slender cane with a small noose at
the extremity, and when he sights a Partridge he
gallops round it in circles until the bird crouches
close in the grass ; then the circles are narrowed
and the pace slackened, while he extends the cane
and lowers it gradually over the bewildered bird
until the small noose is dropped over its head
and it is caught. Many Partridges are not dis-
posed to sit still to be taken in this open, bare-
faced way ; but if the snarer keeps a Carancho
hovering about by throwing him an occasional
gizzard, the wariest Partridge is so stricken with
fear that it will sit still and allow itself to be
caught.
In the love season the male Caranchos are fre-
quently seen fighting ; and sometimes, when the
battle is carried on at a great height in the air, the
combatants are seen clasped together and falling
swiftly towards the earth ; but, in all contests I have
witnessed, the birds have not been so blinded with
passion as to fall the whole distance before separating.
Besides these single combats, in which unpaired or
jealous males engage in the love-season, there are
at all times occasional dissensions amongst them,
the cause of which it would be difficult to determine.
Here again, as often in hunting, the birds combine
88 BIRDS OF LA PLATA
to punish an offender, and in some cases the punish-
ment is death.
Their cry is exceedingly loud and harsh, a short
abrupt note, like cruk, repeated twice ; after which,
if the bird is violently agitated, as when wounded or
fighting, it throws its head backwards until the crown
rests on the back, and rocks it from side to side,
accompanying the action with a prolonged piercing
cry of great power. This singular gesture of the
Carancho, unique among birds, seems to express
very forcibly a raging spirit.
The nest is built in a variety of situations : on
trees, where there are any, but on the treeless pampas,
where the Carancho is most at home, it is made on
the ground, sometimes among the tall grass, while
a very favourite site is a small islet or mound of
earth rising well out of the water. When a suitable
place has been found, the birds will continue to use
the same nest for many consecutive years. It is a
very large, slovenly structure of sticks, mixed with
bones, pieces of skin, dry dung, and any portable
object the bird may find to increase the bulk of his
dwelling. The eggs are three or four, usually the
last number, slightly oval, and varying greatly in
colour and markings, some having irregular dark red
blotches on a cream-coloured ground, while others
are entirely of a deep brownish red, with a few black
marks and blotches.
BLACK VULTURE 89
BLACK VULTURE
Cathartes atratus
Whole plumage black ; head bare and black ; length 25 inches,
wing 17.5 inches.
Three species of Vulture inhabit Argentina, all of
the American family Cathartids ; the first being
the Great Condor, Sarcorhamphus gryphus^ found in
the Andean region and in Patagonia. Of this great
and often-described bird I can say next to nothing
from personal observation, as I met with it but once,
and that was on the sea-shore south of the Rio Negro.
The second is the well-known Turkey Bu2;zard of
southern North America, Cathartes aura* His range
extends south to Patagonia, where I met with it and
could always distinguish it from the common Black
Vulture at a great distance by its bright red, bare
head and neck. It is, however, far from common.
The Black Vulture, according to Dr. Burmeister,
is found throughout the Argentine pampas, but is
commoner in the east and north. It is known as the
Gallinazo at Mendoza, and Cuervo (Crow) in Tucu-
man. Mr. Barrows tells us that he did not see it
during his residence at Concepcion, but was told of
its former abundance in times of drought, when
dead sheep were numerous. It was, however, met
with by him in small numbers during his excursion
through the sierras of the pampas south of Buenos
Ayres.
On the Rio Negro in Patagonia I found these
90 BIRDS OF LA PLATA
Vultures abundant, espeoally near the settlement of
El Carmen, where, attracted by the refuse of the
cattle-slaughtering establishments, they congregated
in immense numbers, and were sometimes seen
crowded together in thousands on the trees, where
they roosted. Darwin observed them at the same
place, and has described their soaring habits at
considerable length*
The following account of the nesting habits of
this species is given by Mr. John J. Dalgleish
{Proc* Roy* Phys. Soc, Edin,, vi. 237) : '' The eggs
seldom, if ever, exceed two in number, and are
usually laid in a hollow tree or on the ground. Their
average weight is about a pound. They are slightly
larger than those of the Turkey Buzzard, although
the latter is a bigger bird. The ground colour is of
a yellowish white, with blotches of dark reddish
brown, and smaller markings of a lilac shade. These
markings are generally more numerous at the larger
end/'
BRAZILIAN CORMORANT
Phalacrocorax brasilianm
Black, glossed with metallic green ; bill and naked skin of the face
yellow ; length 30 inches, wing 12 inches. Female similar ; young
brown, cheeks whitish and breast white.
This appears to be the only Cormorant met with
on the coasts and inland waters of South America,
north of Buenos Ayres ; but two other species are
found in southern Chili and Patagonia, which may
BRAZILIAN CORMORANT 91
probably likewise occur in the southern provinces
of the Republic*^
Azara tells us that this Cormorant is not un-
common in Paraguay^ and Mr* Barrows found it an
** abundant resident *' at Concepcion in Entrerios.
In the vicinity of Buenos Ayres several well-known
authorities have met with it> and Durnford found
it common and resident in Chupat,
The name of Bradlian Cormorant, which natur-
alists have bestowed on this species, is certainly
inappropriate and misleading, since the bird is very
abundant in La Plata, where the native name for it
is Vigua ; and it is also very common in the Pata-
gonian rivers. It is always seen swimming, sinking
its heavy body lower and lower down in the water
when approached, until only the slanting snake-like
head and neck are visible ; or else sitting on the bank,
or on a dead projecting branch, erect and with raised
beak, and never moving from its statuesque attitude
until forced to fly. It rises reluctantly and with great
labour, and has a straight rapid flight, the wings
beating incessantly. By day it is a silent bird, but
when many individuals congregate to roost on the
branches of a dead tree overhanging the river, they
keep up a concert of deep, harsh, powerful notes
all night long, which would cause any person not
acquainted with their language to imagine that
numerous pigs or peccaries were moving about with
incessant gruntings in his neighbourhood.
* Namely, P. imperialis and P. albiventris. See Zool. Chall. (Birds),
p. 121. It was probably one of these two species that Durnford found
nesting on Tombo Point, south of Chupat (c/. Ibis, 1878, p. 399).
92 BIRDS OF LA PLATA
COCOI HERON
Ardea cocoi
Above grey ; head, wings, and tail slatey black ; beneath white ;
neck and sides striped with black ; length 36 inches, wing 18 inches,
tail 7 inches. Sexes alike.
This fine Heron is found throughout South and
some parts of North America. In size, form, and
colour it closely resembles the Common Heron of
Europe ; in flight, language, and feeding-habits the
two species are identical, albeit inhabiting regions
so widely separated. In the southern part of South
America it is not seen associating with its fellows,
nor does it breed in heronries ; but this may be
owing to the circumstance that in the temperate
countries it is very thinly distributed ; and it is
highly probable, I think, that in the hotter regions,
where it is more abundant, its habits may not appear
so unsocial. Though they are always seen fishing
singly, they pair for life, and male and female are
never found far apart, but haunt the same stream
or marsh all the year round. A^ara says that in
Paraguay, where they are rare, they go in pairs and
breed in trees. On the pampas it makes its solitary
nest amongst the rushes, and lays three blue eggs.
The following general remarks on the Heron
apply chiefly to the Ardea cocoi, and to some extent
also to other species of the Heron family.
I have observed Herons of several species a good
COCOI HERON 93
deal, but chiefly the Cocoi, and think there is some-
thing to be said in support of Buffon's opinion that
they are wretched, indigent birds, condemned by
the imperfection of their organs to a perpetual
struggle with want and misery. In reality the organs,
and the correlated instincts, are just as perfect as in
any other creature, but the Heron is certainly more
highly specialised and lives more in a groove than
most species. Consequently when food fails him in
the accustomed channels he suffers more than most
other species.
Much as the different species vary in size, from
the Ardea cocoi to the diminutive Variegated Heron
of Azara (Ardetta involucris)^ no bigger than a Snipe,
there is yet much sameness in their conformation,
language, flight, nesting and other habits. They
possess a snake-like head and neck, and a sharp
taper beak, with which they transfix their prey as
with a dart — also the serrate claw, about which so
much has been said, and which has been regarded as
an instance of pure adaptation.
A curious circumstance has come under my obser-
vation regarding Herons. Birds in poor condition are
very much infested with vermin ; whether the ver-
min are the cause or effect of the poor condition, I do
not know ; but such is the fact. Now in this region
(the Argentine Republic) Herons are generally very
poor, a good-conditioned bird being a very rare
exception ; a majority of individuals are much
emaciated and infested with intestinal worms ; yet I
have never found a bird infested with lice, though the
94 BIRDS OF LA PLATA
Heron would seem a fit ^tbject for them^ and in the
course of my rambles I have picked up many in-
dividuals apparently perishing from inanition. I do
not wish to insinuate a behef that this immunity from
vermin is due to the pectinated claw ; for though the
bird does scratch and clean itself with the claw it
could never rid the entire plumage from vermin by
this organ, which is as ill adapted for such a purpose
as for ** giving a firmer hold on its slippery prey/'
The Spoonbill has also the serration, and is, unlike
the Heron, an active vigorous bird and usually fat ;
yet it is much troubled with parasites, and I have
found birds too weak to fly and literally swarming
with them,
I merely wish to call the attention of ornitholo-
gists to the fact that in the region where I have
observed Herons they are exempt in a remarkable
degree from external parasites.
Much has also been said about certain patches of
dense, clammy, yellowish down under the loose
plumage of Herons. These curious appendages may
be just as useless to the bird as the tuft of hair on
its breast is to the Turkey-cock ; but there are more
probabilities the other way, and it may yet be dis-
covered that they are very necessary to its well-being.
Perhaps these clammy feathers contain a secretion
fatal to the vermin by which birds of sedentary
habits are so much afflicted, and from which Herons
appear to be so strangely free. They may even be
the seat of that mysterious phosphorescent light
which some one has affirmed emanates from the
COCOI HERON 95
Heron^s breast when it fishes in the dark, and which
serves to attract the fish, or to render them visible
to the bird* Naturalists have, I believe, dismissed
the subject of this light as a mere fable without any
foundation of fact ; but real facts regarding habits
of animals have not infrequently been so treated.
Mr. Bartlett's interesting observations on the Flam-
ingoes in the Society's Gardens show that the ancient
story of the Pelican feeding its young on its own
blood is perhaps only a slightly embellished account
of a common habit of the Flamingo.
I have not observed Herons fishing by night very
closely, but there is one fact which inclines me to
believe it probable that some species might possess
the light-emitting power in question. I am convinced
that the Ardea cocoi sees as well by day as other
diurnal species ; the streams on the level pampas
are so muddy that a fish two inches below the sur-
face is invisible to the human eye, yet in these thick
waters the Herons fish by night and by day. If the
eye is adapted to see well with the bright sun shining,
how can it see at night and in such unfavourable
circumstances without some such extraneous aid to
vision as the attributed luminosity i
Herons of all birds have the slowest flight ; but
though incapable of progressing rapidly when flying
horizontally, when pursued by a Hawk the Heron
performs with marvellous ease and grace an aerial
feat unequalled by any other bird, namely that of
rising vertically to an amadng height in the air.
The swift vertical flight with which the pursued
96 BIRDS OF LA PLATA
ascends until it become^ mere speck in the blue
2;enith, the hurried zigzag flight of the pursuer,
rising every minute above its prey, only to be left
below again by a single flap of the Heron's wings,
forms a sight of such grace, beauty, and power as
to fill the mind of the spectator with delight and
astonishment.
When the enemy comes to close quarters, the
Heron instinctively throws itself belly up to repel
the assault with its long, crooked, cutting claws*
Raptorial species possess a similar habit ; and the
analogous correlation of habit and structure in genera
so widely separated is very curious. The Falcon
uses its feet to strike, lacerate, and grasp its prey ;
the Heron to anchor itself firmly to its perch ; but
for weapons of defence they are equally well adapted,
and are employed in precisely the same manner*
The Heron, with its great length of neck and legs,
its lean unballasted body, large wings, and super-
abundance of plumage, is the least suited of birds
to perch high ; yet the structure of the feet renders
it perfectly safe for the bird to do so. Thus the
Heron is enabled to sit on a smooth enamelled rush or
on the summit of a tree, and doze securely in a wind
that, were its feet formed like those of other Waders,
would blow it away like a bundle of dead feathers.
Another characteristic of Herons is that they carry
the neck, when flying, folded in the form of the letter
S. At other times the bird also carries the neck this
way ; and it is, indeed, in all long-necked species
the figure the neck assumes when the bird reposes
COCOI HERON 97
or is in the act of watching something below it ; and
the Heron's life is almost a perpetual watch. Apropos
of this manner of carrying the neck, so natural to the
bird, is it not the cause of the extreme wariness
observable in Herons ^ Herons are, I think, every-
where of a shy disposition ; with us they are the
wildest of water-fowl, yet there is no reason for their
being so, since they are never persecuted.
Birds ever fly reluctantly from danger ; and all
species possessing the advantage of a long neck, such
as the Swan, Flamingo, Stork, Spoonbill, etc., will
continue with their necks stretched to their utmost
capacity watching an intruder for an hour at a time
rather than fly away. But in the Herons it must be
only by a great effort that the neck can be wholly
unbent ; for even if the neck cut out from a dead
bird be forcibly straightened and then released, it
flies back like a piece of india-rubber to its original
shape. Therefore the effort to straighten the neck,
invariably the first expression of alarm and curiosity,
must be a painful one ; and to keep it for any length
of time in that position is probably as insupportable
to the bird as to keep the arm straightened vertically
would be to a man. Thus the Heron flies at the first
sight of an intruder, whilst the persecuted Duck,
Swan, or other fowl continues motionless, watching
with outstretched neck, participating in the alarm
certainly, but not enduring actual physical pain.
Doubtless in many cases habits react upon and
modify the structure of parts ; and in this instance
the modified structure has in its turn apparently
gS BIRDS OF LA PLATA
reacted on and modified me habits. In seeking for
and taking food, the body is required to perform
certain definite motions and assume repeatedly the
same attitudes ; this is most frequently the case in
birds of aquatic habits. A readiness for assuming at
all times, and an involuntary falling into, these
peculiar attitudes and gestures appears to become
hereditary ; and the species in which they are the
most noticeable seem incapable of throwing the habit
or manner off, even when placed in situations where
it is useless or even detrimental. Tringae rapidly
peck and probe the mud as they advance ; Plovers
peck and run, peck and run again. Now I have
noticed scores of times that these birds cannot possibly
lay aside this habit of pecking as they advance ; for
even a wounded Plover running from his pursuer
over dry barren ground goes through the form of
eating by pausing for a moment every yard or so,
pecking the ground, then running on again.
The Paraguay Snipe, and probably other true
Snipes, possesses the singular habit of striking its
beak on the ground when taking flight. In this
instance has not the probing motion, performed
instinctively as the bird moves, been utilised to assist
it in rising i
Grebes on land walk erect like Penguins and have
a slow, awkward gait ; and whenever they wish to
accelerate their progress they throw themselves for-
ward on the breast and strike out the feet as in
swimming.
The Glossy Ibis feeds in shallow water, thrusting
COCOI HERON 99
its great sickle beak into the weeds at the bottom at
every step. When walking on land it observes these
motions, and seems incapable of progressing without
plunging its beak downwards into imaginary water
at every stride*
The Spoonbill wades up to its knees and advances
with beak always immersed, and swaying itself from
side to side, so that at each lateral movement of the
body the beak describes a great semicircle in the
water ; a flock of these birds feeding reminds one
of a line of mowers mowing grass. On dry ground
the Spoonbill seems unable to walk directly forward
like other birds, but stoops, keeping the body in a
horizontal position, and, turning from side to side,
sweeps the air with its beak, as if still feeding in the
water.
In the foregoing instances (and I could greatly
multiply them) in which certain gestures and move-
ments accompany progressive motion, it is difficult
to see how the structure can be in any way modified
by them ; but the preying attitude of the heron, the
waiting motionless in perpetual readiness to strike,
has doubtless given the neck its peculiar form.
Two interesting traits of the Heron (and they have
a necessary connection) are its tireless watchfulness
and its insatiable voracity ; for these characteristics
have not, I think, been exaggerated even by the
most sensational of ornithologists.
In birds of other genera repletion is invariably
followed by a period of listless inactivity during
which no food is taken or required. But the Heron
loo BIRDS OF LA PLATA
digests his food so rapidly that, however much he
devours, he is always ready to gorge again ; con-
sequently he is not benefited so much by what he
eats, and appears in the same state of semi-starvation
when food is abundant as in times of scarcity. An
old naturalist has suggested, as a reason for this,
that the Heron, from its peculiar manner of taking
its prey, requires fair weather to fish — that during
spells of bad weather, when it is compelled to suffer
the pangs of famine inactive, it contracts a meagre
consumptive habit of body, which subsequent plenty
cannot remove. A pretty theory, but it will not hold
water ; for in this region spells of bad weather are
brief and infrequent ; moreover, all other species
that feed at the same table with the Heron, from the
little flitting Kingfisher to the towering Flamingo,
become excessively fat at certain seasons, and are at
all times so healthy and vigorous that, compared with
them, the Heron is the mere ghost of a bird. In no
extraneous circumstances, but in the organisation of
the bird itself, must be sought the cause of its
anomalous condition ; it does not appear to possess
the fat-elaborating power, for at no season is any
fat found on its dry, starved flesh ; consequently
there is no provision for a rainy day, and the misery
of the bird (if it is miserable) consists in its perpetual,
never-satisfied craving for food.
WHITE AND SNOWY EGRETS loi
WHITE EGRET AND SNOWY EGRET
Ardea egretta : A. candidissima
Entire plumage snow-white in both species. Length of White Egret
35 inches ; length of Snowy Egret 24 inches.
These two species are found in South, Central, and
North America ; but the larger bird has a greater
range, being found from Nova Scotia to Patagonia,
The small Snowy Egret abounds most in the hot
and warm regions, and is quite common on the
pampas but rare in Patagonia, It is more gregarious
and social in its habits than the White Egret and is
usually seen in flocks and associates with Ibises,
Spoonbills, and other aquatic birds.
On the pampas, owing to the absence of forests,
the nesting habits, like those of the Cocoi and other
Herons, have been modified, for there it nests among
the bulrushes and sedges. I take the following account
of a heronry on the pampas from a paper by Mr,
Ernest Gibson. He was so fortunate as to find both
species breeding together in considerable numbers.
** In November of 1873 I found a large breeding
colony of Ardea egretta^ A. candidissima^ and Nycti-
corax obscurus in the heart of a lonely swamp. The
rushes were thick, but had been broken down by
the birds in a patch some fifty yards in diameter.
There were from 300 to 400 nests, as well as I could
judge ; of these three-fourths were of A. egretta, and
the remainder, with the exception of two or three
dozen of iV. obscurus, belonged to A, candidissima.
102 BIRDS OF LA PLATA
Those of the first-mentioned species were slight
platforms^ placed on the tops of broken rushes, at
a height of from two to three feet above the water,
and barely a yard apart ♦
** The nests of A, candidissima were built up from
the water to the height of a foot or a foot and a half,
with a hollow on the top for the eggs ; they were
very compactly put together, of small dry twigs of a
water-plant. A good many were distributed amongst
those of A. egretta ; but the majority were close
together, at one side of the colony, where the reeds
were taller and less broken.
'' The nests of iV. obscurus much resembled the
latter in construction and material ; but very few
were interspersed amongst those of the other species,
being retired to the side opposite A. candidissima ^
on the borders of some channels of clear water ;
there they were placed amongst the high reeds, and
a few yards apart from each other.
** The larger Egrets remained standing on their
nests till I was within twenty yards of them, and
alighted again when I had passed. In this position
they looked much larger than when flying. The
smaller Egrets first flew up on to the reeds, and then
immediately took to flight, not returning ; while iV.
obscurus rose and sailed away, uttering a deep squawk,
squawk, long before one came near the nest.
'' At one side of the colony a nest of Ciconia
maguari, with two full-grown young, seemed like the
reigning house of the place.
** It certainly was one of the finest ornithological
iT
f
i
Whistling Heron
Ardea sibilatrix. Temm.
WHISTLING HERON 103
sights I ever saw : all around a wilderness of dark
green rushes, rising above my head as I sat on horse-
back ; the cloud of graceful snow-white birds
perched everywhere, or reflected in the water as
they flew to and fro overhead ; and the hundreds of
blue eggs exposed to the bright sunlight*
*' A, egretta and A, candidissima lay four eggs each,
though the former rarely hatches out more than
three* N. ohscurus lays and hatches out three. The
eggs of all three species are of the same shade of
light blue/'
WHISTLING HERON
Ardea sibilatrix
Above grey ; cap, crest, and wings greyish black ; a rufous
patch behind the eye ; upper wing-coverts rufous ; beneath white,
with yellowish tinge on breast ; beak reddish. Length 22 inches.
Female similar.
This is a beautiful bird, with plumage as soft as
down to the touch. Its colours are clear blue-grey
and pale yellow, the under surface being nearly
white. In some specimens that I have obtained the
rump and tail-coverts had a pure primrose hue.
There is a chestnut mark on the side of the head ;
the eye is white, and the legs dark green in life,
A^ara named this Heron Flauta del Sol (Flute of
the Sun), a translation of the Indian term Curahi-
remimhif derived from the popular belief that its
whistling notes, which have a melodious and melan-
choly sound, prophesy changes in the weather.
104 BIRDS OF LA PLATA
It comes as far south as Buenos Ayres, but is only
a summer visitor there, and very scarce. Having
seen but little of it myself, I can only repeat Azara^s
words concerning it. He says it is common in Para-
guay, going in pairs or families, and perches and
roosts on trees, and when flying flaps its wings more
rapidly than other Herons. It makes its nest on a
tree, and lays two clear blue eggs.
I saw less of the Whistling or '^Fluting" Heron than
of aiiy of the seven species I was acquainted with in
La Plata. About its habits I found out nothing, and
on that account I should have omitted all mention
of it — that being the rule in this book — if its strange
beauty had not charmed and made a lasting impres-
sion on my mind. The stuffed specimens, from
which the description is taken, do not show the
colours of the living bird — the soft clear grey and
primrose yellow — most delicate colours and rarely
seen in a bird of this size. In the museum specimens
the primrose yellow fades to white with a dull
yellowish tinge.
LITTLE BLUE HERON
Butorides cyanurus
Above blue grey ; beneath ash-colour ; black crest with greenish
gloss ; ferruginous spots on the neck ; length 14 inches.
The Little Blue Heron, though widely distributed,
is not anywhere a common bird. I have always
seen it singly, for it loves a hermit-life, and the
LITTLE RED HERON 105
feeding-ground it prefers is a spot on the borders of
a marshy stream shut in and overshadowed on all
sides by trees and tall rushes. There the bird sits
silent and solitary on a projecting root or dead
branch ; or stands motionless and knee-deep in the
water, intent on the small fry it feeds on. For whole
months it will be found every day in the same place.
When intruded on in its haunts it erects the feathers
of its head and neck, looking strangely alarmed or
angry, and flies away uttering a powerful, harsh,
grating cry.
LITTLE RED HERON
Ardetta involucris
Above light fulvous^ a black stripe on the nape ; front, stripe on
back of the neck, bend of wing and outer secondaries, chestnut-red ;
back striped with black ; wing-feathers ash-grey with red tips ; be-
neath yellowish white striped with brown ; beak yellow, feet green ;
length 13, wing 5 inches.
The Little Red, or Variegated, Heron which inhabits
Paraguay and Argentina, is the least of the family
to which it belongs, its body being no bigger than
that of the Common Snipe ; but in structure it is
like other Herons, except that its legs are a trifle
shorter in proportion to its size and its wings very
much shorter than in other species. The under
plumage is dull yellow in colour, while all the other
parts are variegated with marks of fuscous and
various shades of brown and yellow. The body is
io6 BIRDS OF LA PLATA
extremely slim, and the lower portion of the neck
covered with thick plumage, giving that part a de-
ceptively massive appearance. The perching faculty,
possessed in so eminent a degree by all Herons,
probably attains its greatest perfection in this species,
and is combined with locomotion in a unique and
wonderful manner. It inhabits beds of rushes grow-
ing in rather deep water ; very seldom, and probably
only accidentally, does it visit the shore, and only
when driven up does it rise above the rushes ; for
its flight, unlike that of its congeners, is extremely
feeble. The rushes it lives amongst rise, smooth as
polished pipe-stems, vertically from water too deep
for the bird to wade in ; yet it goes up to the summit
and down to the surface, moving freely and briskly
about amongst them, or runs in a straight line
through them almost as rapidly as a Plover can run
over the bare level ground. Unless I myself had
been a witness of this feat I could scarcely have
credited it ; for how does it manage to grasp the
smooth vertical stems quickly and firmly enough
to progress so rapidly without ever slipping down
through them $*
The Variegated Heron is a silent, solitary bird,
found everywhere in the marshes along the Plata,
as also in the rush- and sedge-beds scattered over
the pampas. It breeds amongst the rushes, and lays
from three to five spherical eggs, of a rich lively
green and beautiful beyond comparison. The nest
is a slight platform structure about a foot above the
water, and so small that there is barely space enough
LITTLE RED HERON 107
on it for the eggs^ which are large for the bird. When
one looks down on them they cover and hide the
slight nest, and being green like the surrounding
rushes they are not easy to detect.
When driven up the bird flies eighty or a hundred
yards away, and drops again amongst the rushes ;
it is difficult to flush it a second time, and a third
time it is impossible. A curious circumstance is
that where it finally settles it can never be found.
As I could never succeed in getting specimens when
I wanted them, I once employed some gaucho boys,
who had dogs trained to hunt flappers, to try for
this little Heron. They procured several specimens,
and said that without the aid of their dogs they
could never succeed in finding a bird, though they
always marked the exact spot where it alighted.
This I attributed to the slender figure it makes, and
to the colour of the plumage so closely assimilating
to that of the dead yellow and brown-spotted rushes
always found amongst the green ones ; but I did
not know for many years that the bird possessed a
marvellous instinct that made its peculiar conforma-
tion and imitative colour far more advantageous
than they could be of themselves.
One day in November when out shooting, I noticed
a Variegated Heron stealing off quickly through a
bed of bulrushes, thirty or forty yards from me ;
he was a foot or so above the ground, and went so
rapidly that he appeared to glide through the rushes
without touching them. I fired, but afterwards
ascertained that in my hurry I had missed my aim.
io8 BIRDS OF LA PLATA
The bird^ however, disappSred at the report ; and
thinking I had killed him I went to the spot.
It was a small, isolated bed of rushes I had seen
him in ; the mud below and for some distance
round was quite bare and hard, so that it would
have been impossible for the bird to escape without
being perceived ; and yet, dead or alive, he was not
to be found. After vainly searching and re-searching
through the rushes for a quarter of an hour I gave
over the quest in great disgust and bewilderment,
and, after reloading, was just turning to go, when
behold ! there stood my Heron on a rush, no more
than eight inches from, and on a level with, my
knees. He was perched, the body erect, and the
point of the tail touching the rush grasped by its
feet ; the long slender tapering neck was held stiff,
straight and vertically ; and the head and beak,
instead of being carried obliquely, were also pointing
up. There was not, from his feet to the tip of his
beak, a perceptible curve or inequality, but the whole
was the figure (the exact counterpart) of a straight
tapering rush : the loose plumage arranged to fill
inequalities, and the wings pressed into the hollow
sides, made it impossible to see where the body
ended and the neck began, or to distinguish head
from neck or beak from head. This was, of course,
a front view ; and the entire under surface of the
bird was thus displayed, all of a uniform dull yellow,
like that of a faded rush. I regarded the bird wonder-
ingly for some time ; but not the least motion did
it make. I thought it was wounded or paralysed with
LITTLE RED HERON 109
fear^ and, placing my hand on the point of its beak,
forced the head down till it touched the back ; when
I withdrew my hand up flew the head, like a steel
spring, to its first position* I repeated the experiment
many times with the same result, the very eyes of
the bird appearing all the time rigid and unwinking
like those of a creature in a fit. What wonder that
it is so difficult, almost impossible, to discover the
bird in such an attitude ! But how happened it that
while repeatedly walking round the bird through
the rushes I had not caught sight of the striped back
and the broad dark-coloured sides $* I asked myself
this question, and stepped round to get a side view,
when, mirahile dictu, I could still see nothing but
the rush-like front of the bird ! His motions on the
perch, as he turned slowly or quickly round, still
keeping the edge of the blade-like body before me,
corresponded so exactly with my own that I almost
doubted that I had moved at alL No sooner had I
seen the finishing part of this marvellous instinct
of self-preservation (this last act making the whole
complete) than such a degree of delight and admiration
possessed me as I have never before experienced
during my researches, much as I have conversed with
wild animals in the wilderness, and many and perfect
as are the instances of adaptation I have witnessed,
I could not finish admiring, and thought that never
had anything so beautiful fallen in my way before ;
for even the sublime cloud-seeking instinct of the
White Egret and the typical Herons seemed less
admirable than this ; and for some time I continued
no BIRDS OF LA PLATA
experimenting^ pressing d^n the bird*s head and
trying to bend him by main force into some other
position ; but the strange rigidity remained unre-
laxed; the fixed attitude unchanged, I also found,
as I walked round him, that as soon as I got to the
opposite side and he could no longer twist himself on
his perch, he whirled his body with great rapidity the
other way, instantly presenting the same front as before.
Finally I plucked him forcibly from the rush and
perched him on my hand, upon which he flew away ;
but he flew only fifty or sixty yards off, and dropped
into the dry grass. Here he again put in practice
the same instinct so ably that I groped about for
ten or twelve minutes before refinding him, and was
astonished that a creature to all appearance so weak
and frail should have strength and endurance suffi-
cient to keep its body rigid and in one attitude for
so long a time.
Some recent or at all events later observations
appear to show that some species of Bittern possess
a similar instinct to that of the bird described — the
faculty of effacing themselves as it were in the presence
of an enemy. Doubtless any Bittern, its colouring
being what it is, would make itself invisible among
partially decayed and dead vegetation by extending
and stiffening its body and keeping its breast towards
its intruder. The peculiar thing in the case of the
small Heron is that the whole action of the bird
appears to be framed and designed expressly to make
it look exactly like a dead yellow tapering bulrush.
LITTLE RED HERON iii
But what can one say of such an instinct — if we
can call it an instinct i It is in its essence a weakness
in the creature similar to that of many mammals,
birds, fishes, batrachians, reptiles and insects that
become paralysed with fear, or rather hypnotised,
in the presence of an enemy, A strange flaw in the
animal, since it brings to naught all the admirable
instincts of self-preservation it has been endowed
with, and gives it, without a struggle, a prey to its
enemies, even to those of a slow, sluggish disposition.
In this particular instance the weakness or fault
of nature has been taken advantage of by that principle
which we call natural selection and has resulted in a
more perfect protection than if the bird had been
incapable of losing its mind, as one may say. In
other words, the creature^s liability to the hypnotic
or cataleptic state on certain occasions is its best
protection.
This, however, is not the only case in which a
seemingly fatal weakness has been turned to good
account, as we see in the death-like swoon, or '' pre-
tending to be dead," of many creatures when over-
come by or in the presence of an enemy. I have
observed it in the pampas fox and opossum, in the
Tinamu, the Partridge of South America, in our
Corncrake, and other Rails, and I have captured
small birds by giving them a sudden fright.
By a strange chance I discovered that my Little
Bittern was also subject to this weakness. A gaucho
boy of my acquaintance, knowing that I was interested
in this bird, one day brought me a dead specimen.
112 BIRDS OF LA PLATA
He said he had flushed it Trom a rush-bed, and as
the bird flew away over dry land, he gave chase, and
soon ran it down and captured it ; but though
perfectly uninjured it quickly died in his hand. As
it was too late in the evening for me to deal with it
I put it in a cage which had once been used to keep
a Cardinal Finch in and hung it up under the veranda
where it would be safe from cats. Next morning
to my very great astonishment it was gone ! A
long-dead bird in a closed cage hung high up out of
the way for safety, and now it was not there ! How
explain such a thing ^ There was no possible ex-
planation, and it made me perfectly miserable for
days thinking of it. Then at last it dawned on my
weary brain that my dead bird had been alive all the
time, that life had at all events come back to it, and
that by squeezing its thin body edgeways through
the wire it made its escape. Yet the wires were
close enough to keep a Cardinal in confinement !
NIGHT-HERON
Nycticorax obscurus
Above ashy ; front white ; head, neck, and scapulars greenish black ;
long crest plumes white ; beneath pale ; length 36, wing 12 inches.
In the Argentine Republic the Night-Heron lives
in communities, and passes the hours of daylight
perched inactive on large trees or in marshes on the
rushes, and when disturbed by day they rise up with
MAGUARI STORK 113
heavy flappings and a loud qua-qua cry. At sunset
they quit their retreat^ to ascend a stream or seek
some distant feeding-ground, and travel with a slow
flight, bird succeeding bird at long intervals, and
uttering their far-sounding, hoarse, barking night-cry.
Where the flock lives amongst the rushes, in places
where there are no trees, the birds, by breaking down
the rushes across each other, construct false nests or
platforms to perch on. These platforms are placed
close together, usually where the rushes are thickest,
and serve the birds for an entire winter.
The breeding habits of the Night-Heron have
been described in the account of an Egrets' heronry.
MAGUARI STORK
Euxenura maguari
Plumage white ; wings and upper tail-coverts black ; naked lores
and feet red ; bill horn-colour ; length 40^ wing 20 inches.
The Maguari Stork is a well-known bird on the
pampas, breeding in the marshes, and also wading
for its food in the shallow water ; but it is not nearly
so aquatic in its habits as the Jabiru, and after the
breeding-season is over it is seen everywhere on the
dry plains. Here these birds prey on mice, snakes
and toads, but also frequently visit the cultivated
fields in quest of food. When mice or frogs are
exceptionally abundant on the pampas, the Storks
114 BIRDS OF LA PLATA
often appear in large numoers, and at such times I
have seen them congregating by hundreds in the
evening beside the water ; but in the daytime they
scatter over the feeding-ground^ where they are seen
stalking along^ intent on their prey, with majestic
crane-like strides. To rise they give three long jumps
before committing themselves to the air, and like all
heavy fliers make a loud noise with their wings. They
are never seen to alight on trees, like the Jabirti,
and are absolutely dumb, unless the clattering
they make with the bill when angry can be called a
language.
The laying-time is about the middle of August,
and the nest is built up amongst the rushes, rising
about two feet above the surface of the water. The
eggs are rather long, three or four in number, and
of a chalky white.
Mr. Gibson, of Buenos Ayres, furnishes the follow-
ing lively account of a young Maguari : '' One,
which I took on 5th October, was about the size of a
domestic fowl, in down, and, with the exception of
the white tail, entirely black. It soon became very
tame, and used to wander all over the premises,
looking for food, or watching any work that was
going on. Rats were swallowed whole ; and the way
it would gulp down a pound or two of raw meat
would have horrified an English housekeeper. Snakes
it seized by the nape of the neck, and passed them
transversely through its bill by a succession of rapid
and powerful nips, repeating the operation two or
three times before being satisfied that life was totally
MAGUARI STORK 115
extinct. It used often to do the same thing with dry
sticks (in order not to forget the way, I suppose) ;
while on one occasion it swallowed a piece of hard
cowhide, a foot long, and consequently could not
bend its neck for twenty-four hours after — till the
hide softened, in fact. The story also went that
* Byles the lawyer ' (as he was called) mistook the
tail of one of the pet lambs for a snake, and actually
had it down his throat, but was ' brought up ' by the
body of the lamb ! Byles inspired a wholesome
respect in all the dogs and cats, but was very peace-
able as a rule. One of our men had played some
trick on him, however ; and the result was that
Byles generally went for him on every possible
occasion, his long legs covering the ground like
those of an Ostrich, while he produced a demoniacal
row with his bill. It was amusing to see his victim
dodging him all over the place, or sometimes, in
desperation, turning on him with a stick ; but Byles
evaded every blow by jumping eight feet into the
air, coming down on the other side of his enemy,
and there repeating his war dance ; while he always
threatened (though his threats were never fulfilled)
to make personal and pointed remarks with his for-
midable bill,
'' Shortly after his capture feathers began to
appear ; and the following is a description of the
bird at the age of about two months : Tail-feathers
white, remainder of plumage glossy green-black ;
bill black ; legs and feet grey. Spots and patches of
white began to appear on head, back, and wings ;
I
ii6 BIRDS OF LA PLATA
these gradually extended^ until, by the end of May,
the adult plumage was all acquired. Then my interest
in Byles ceased, and latterly he strayed away to his
native swamps/'
WOOD-IBIS
Tantalus loculator
White ; greater wing-coverts and wing- and tail-feathers black with
bronze reflections ; head and upper part of neck naked, dusky ;
vertex covered with a horny place ; sides of head purplish ; feet slaty ;
length 44, wing 17 inches. Female similar.
Most people in the Plata region are familiar with
this bird of the marshes, its lofty stork-like figure
and white plumage making it a very conspicuous
object.
On the pampas it is not uncommon in summer
and autumn, and goes in flocks of a dozen or twenty.
The birds are usually seen standing motionless in
groups or scattered about in spiritless attitudes,
apparently do2;ing away the time. On the wing it
appears to better advantage, having a singularly
calm, stately flight ; on a warm, still day they are
often seen soaring in circles far up in the sky.
I have never heard of this bird nesting on the
pampas, and am inclined to think that it only breeds
in forest regions, and visits the marshes in the tree-
less districts after the young have flown.
Its habits in North America, where it is called
the *' Wood- Ibis," are tolerably well known, and in
WOOD-IBIS 117
the ornithological works of that country it is described
as ** a. hermit standing listless and alone on the
topmost limb of some tall decayed cypress^ its neck
drawn in upon its shoulders, and its enormous bill
resting like a scythe upon its breast/'
It there nests on tall trees, som.etimes in company
with Egrets, and lays three white eggs.
There are three species of Stork in Argentina,
the two described and the famous Jabirti, Mycteria
americana*
This is a majestic bird, the largest of the American
Storks ; it stands five feet high, and the wings have
a spread of nearly eight feet. The entire plumage is
pure white, the head and six inches of the neck
covered with a naked black skin ; from the back
part extend two scarlet bands, the skin being glossy
and exceedingly loose, and runs narrowing down to
the chest. When the bird is wounded or enraged
this loose red skin is said to swell out like a bladder,
changing to an intensely fiery scarlet hue. The
name Jabiru is doubtless due to this circumstance,
for A2;ara (who gives the Guarani name of the Stork
as Aiaiai) says that the Indian word Yahiru signifies
** blown out with the wind.''
The Jabiru is but rarely found near Buenos Ayres,
but occurs more frequently in Misiones, and in other
districts on the northern frontier of the Republic.
It nests on high trees, as has been recorded by
Brown,^ and is said to lay ** blue-green " eggs.
' Canoe and Camp-Life in British Guiana, p. 372.
ii8 BIRDS OF LA PLATA
WHITE-FACED IBIS
Plegadis guarauna
Head, neck, and upper surface purplish chestnut, with a white band
round the base of the bill ; back with metallic reflections ; wings and
tail green with bronze reflections ; band across wing-coverts chestnut ;
length 22, wing 9 inches.
This form of the well-known *' Glossy Ibis ** of
Europe is one of our most abundant waterfowl on
the pampas, and appears in spring in flocks ; but as
their movements are somewhat irregular and many
individuals remain with us through the winter, their
migrations probably do not extend very far. In
summer they are found beside every marsh and
watercourse, briskly wading about in the shallow
water and plunging their long curved beaks down-
wards at every step. When taking wing they invari-
ably utter a loud ha ha ha, resembling hearty human
laughter, but somewhat nasal in sound. They
frequently leave the marshy places and are seen
scattered about the grassy plains, feeding like land-
birds ; and on the pampas they often congregate
about the carcase of a dead horse or cow, to feed
on the larvae of the flesh-fly, in company with the
Milvago and the Hooded Gull.
Their flight is singularly graceful ; and during
migration the flocks are seen to follow each other in
rapid succession, each flock being usually composed
of from fifty to a hundred individuals, sometimes of
WHITE-FACED IBIS 119
a much larger number. It is most interesting to
watch them at such times, now soaring high in the
air, displaying the deep chestnut hue of their breasts,
then descending with a graceful curve towards the
earth, as if to exhibit the dark metallic green and
purple reflections of their upper plumage. The flock
is meanwhile continually changing its form or dis-
position, as if at the signal of a leader. One moment
it spreads out in a long straight line ; suddenly the
birds scatter in disorder, or throw themselves together
like a cloud of Starlings ; as suddenly they re-form
to continue their journey in the figure of a phalanx,
half-moon, or triangle. The fanciful notion can
scarcely fail to suggest itself to the spectator that
the birds go through these unnecessary evolutions
intelligently in order to attain a greater proficiency
in them by practice, or, perhaps, merely to make a
display of their aerial accomplishments. The Glossy
Ibis has another remarkable habit when on the wing.
At times the flock appears as if suddenly seized with
fren2;y or panic, every bird rushing wildly away from
its fellows, and descending with a violent dg-zag
flight ; in a few moments the mad fit leaves them,
they rise again, reassemble in the air, and resume
their journey.
120 BIRDS OF LA PLATA
BLACK-FACED IBIS
Theristicus caudatus
Sides of throat and lores bare, skin black ; top of head and lower
part of neck in front reddish chestnut ; neck white ; back and wings
grey with green reflections ; tertials and outer webs of secondaries
for two-thirds of their length white, remainder dark green ; primaries
dark green ; rump light green, bronzed ; tail dark bronze green ;
under parts black; length 33, wing 16.25 inches.
This very fine Ibis^ called Mandurria 6 Curucdu by
Azara and Vanduria de invierno (Winter Vanduria) in
the vernacular, is one of the most interesting winter
visitors from Patagonia to the pampas of Buenos
Ayres* It is found in Chili, and has even been
obtained as far north as Peru. On the east side of
the continent it is most abundant (during the cold
season) about latitude 37 deg. or 38 deg. Its summer
home and breeding ground appears to be in the
extreme south of the continent, its eggs having been
obtained on the Straits of Magellan by Darwin, and
later by Dr. Cunningham, who only says of it
that it is a shy and wary bird, that goes in flocks of
from four to eight, and has a cry resembling qua-qua^
qua-qua. But he might just as well have spelt it
quack-quack, since qua-qua fails to give the faintest
idea of the series of hard, abrupt notes of extra-
ordinary power the bird utters, usually when on the
wing, which sound like blows of a powerful hammer
on a metal plate. On the pampas this Ibis appears
in May, frequents dry grassy situations, and goes
in flocks of a do:^en to forty or fifty individuals.
I
r ^^
Black- Faced Ibis
Thfrt'sticus caiitiatus (Bodd.)
BLACK-FACED IBIS 121
They walk rapidly, stooping very much, and probing
the ground with their long, slender, curved beaks,
and appear to subsist principally on the larvae of the
large horned beetle, with which their stomachs are
usually found filled. So intent are they on seeking
their food that the members of a flock often scatter
in all directions and wander quite out of sight of
each other ; when this happens they occasionally
utter loud vehement cries, as if to call their com-
panions, or to inform each other of their whereabouts.
Frequently one is seen to lift up its wings as if to
fly, and, stretching them up vertically, to remain
for fifteen or twenty seconds in this curious attitude.
At sunset they all rise up clamouring and direct their
flight to the nearest watercourse, and often on their
way thither go through a strange and interesting
performance. The flock suddenly precipitates itself
downwards with a violence wonderful to see, each
bird rushing this way and that as if striving to outvie
its fellows in every wild fantastic motion of which
they are capable. In this manner they rise and
descend again and again, sometimes massed together,
then scattering wide apart in all directions. This
exercise they keep up for some time, and while it
lasts they make the air resound for miles with their
loud percussive screams.
In Patagonia I first observed this Ibis roosting
on tall trees ; and, according to Azara, it possesses
the same habit in Paraguay. He says that all the
flocks within a circuit of some leagues resort to one
spot to sleep, and prefer tall dead trees, bordering
123 BIRDS OF LA PLATA
on the water, and if therms only one suitable tree
all the birds crowd on to it, and in the morning
scatter, each family or pair flying away to spend the
day in its customary feeding-ground.
The egg obtained by Dr. Cunningham at Elizabeth
Island is thus described by Prof. Newton {Ibis, 1870,
p. 502) : '' Dull surface of a pale greenish white
with engrained blotches (mostly small) of neutral
tint, and some few blotches, spots, and specks of
dull deep brown ; towards the larger end some hair-
like streaks of a lighter shade of the same, and so
far having an Ibidine or Plataleine character.**
BLUE IBIS
Harpiprion cierulescens
White forehead joined to white bar above and behind the eye ; top
of head and crest dark brown, with greenish tinge ; throat and neck
covered with long narrow feathers, light brown with pinkish tinge in
certain lights ; upper parts bluish bronzy green ; wings like the back,
in some lights the feathers have a silvery gloss ; primaries dark blue ;
tail dark green ; under parts brownish grey, with pink reflections in
some lights ; length 33, wing 15.5 inches.
This noble Ibis ranges from Brazil, south of the
Amazons, to the pampas of Buenos Ayres. It is a
bird of the marshes, nowhere abundant, and yet is
exceedingly well known to most people in the Argen-
tine country : it would be difficult indeed to overlook
a species possessing so peculiar and powerful a
voice. In the vernacular it is called Vanduria, with
BLUE IBIS 123
the addition of aplomado^ or barroso^ or de las lagunas,
to distinguish it from the Winter Vanduria, The
word is also frequently spelt Manduria or Banduriat
but it does not come from handada (flock) ^ as Mr,
Barrows imagines when he gives this vernacular name
to the Glossy Ibis, but from the Spanish stringed
instrument called vanduria. Possibly the instrument
is obsolete now ; not so the word, however, and it
is sometimes used by the poets, instead of '' harp **
or ** lyre " to symbolise poetic inspiration, especially
in mock heroic compositions. Thus Iriarte :
Atencion ! que la vanduria he templado.
If one could get a banjo with brass strings so big
that it could be heard a mile and a half away, a dozen
strokes dealt in swift succession on one string would
produce a sound resembling the call of this Ibis —
a voice of the desolate marshes, which competes in
power with the outrageous human-like shrieks of
the Ypecaha Rail, the long resounding wails of the
Cra2;y Widow or Courlan, and the morning song of
the Crested Screamer.
The Vanduria is usually seen singly or in pairs,
and sometimes, but rarely, in small companies of
half a dozen birds. In its habits it is like a Tantalus,
wading in the shallow water of the marshes, and
devouring eels, frogs, fish, etc. After examining the
well-filled stomachs of a few individuals one is
strongly tempted to believe that the beautiful long
beak of this Ibis has '' forgotten its cunning *^ as a
probe. At intervals in the daytime it utters, standing
124 BIRDS OF LA PLATA
on the ground, its resonant^etallic cry. It is wary
and has a strong, easy flight, and is a great wanderer,
but I am not able to say whether it possesses a regular
migration or not.
The celebrated naturalist Natterer procured speci-
mens of this Ibis in the lagoons of Caicara, in the
Brazilian province of Matogrosso, in September and
November, 1825, t>ut it is not mentioned by general
writers on the birds of South-east Bradl.
WHISPERING IBIS
Phimosus infuscatus
Dark bronzy green, glossed with purple ; fore-part and sides of head
and neck naked, red; bill and feet red; length 24, wing 11.5 inches.
Of this Ibis, which ranges from Colombia to the
Argentine Republic, a few individuals come as far
south as the pampas of Buenos Ayres.
The unfeathered state of the fore part of the head
and throat suggested to A^ara the name of AfeytadOf
or ** shaved," but about its habits he has nothing
to say, nor dees he mention its peculiar voice, or,
perhaps it would be more correct to say, its want of
voice ; for it seems quite silent unless one comes
near to it and listens very intently, when he will
be able to hear little sigh-like puffs of sound as
the bird flies away. It seems strange that this
member of a loquacious loud-voiced family should
be reduced to speak as it were in whispers !
ROSEATE SPOONBILL 125
On two or three occasions I have seen as many as
half a dozen individuals together ; at other times I
have seen one or two associating with the Glossy
Ibis.
A2;ara's name, ** Shaved ** Ibis, seems well enough
in Spanish, just as his '' Throat-cut '' for a Starling
with a scarlet throat does not strike one as at all
shocking in that language ; but for an English name
I fancy that '* Whispering Ibis/* from the whisper-
like sound the bird emits, would be more suitable,
or at all events better sounding.
It is possible that two races of this Ibis exist on
the South American continent ; for in Bra2;il and
further north it is said to have a loud cry, uttered
when taking wing, as in the case of the Glossy Ibis ;
and one of its native names in the tropics — curri-
curri — is said to be an imitation of its usual note.
ROSEATE SPOONBILL
Ajaja rosea
Head bare ; neck, back, and breast white ; tail orange-buff with
the shafts deep pink ; rest of plumage pale rose-pink ; lesser wing-
coverts and upper tail-coverts intense carmine ; neck with a tuft of
twisted plumes, light carmine ; head greenish, space round the eye
and gular sac orange ; eyes crimson, feet red ; length 30, wing 15
inches. Female similar. Young with head completely feathered.
The Roseate Spoonbill is found in both Americas
and ranges south to the Straits of Magellan, but in
Patagonia it is, I think, rare, for on the Rio Negro I
126 BIRDS OF LA PLATA
did not meet with it. On tfff pampas it is abundant,
and I have been told that it breeds in the marshes
there, but I have never been able to find a nest. It
is usually seen in small flocks of from half a do^en
to twenty individuals, which all feed near together,
wading up to their knees and sweeping their long
flat beaks from side to side as they advance. An
English acquaintance of mine kept one of these birds
as a pet on his estancia for seven years. It was very
docile, and would spend the day roaming about the
grounds, associating with the poultry, but invariably
presented itself in the dining-room at meal-time,
where it would take its station at one end of the
table and dexterously catch in its beak any morsel
thrown to it.
Formerly, when I wrote the bird biographies for
Argentine Ornithology I believed that there were
two species of Spoonbill in Argentina, but I found
that I was alone among ornithologists in that belief.
I can, therefore, only repeat here a part of what I
wrote in that work, and leave the question for time
to decide.
The general belief is that the pale-plumaged birds,
with feathered heads and black eyes (the Roseate
Spoonbill having crimson eyes), and without the
bright wing-spots, the tuft on the breast, horny
excresences on the beak, and other marks, are only
immature birds. Now, for one bird with all these
characteristic marks of the true Platalea ajaja, which
has a yellow tail, we meet on the pampas with not
less than a hundred examples of the pale-plumaged
ARGENTINE FLAMINGO 127
bird without any traces of such marks and with a
rose-coloured tail ; and the disparity in number
between mature and immature birds of one species
could not well be so great as that* I have shot one
immature specimen of the true Ajaja — so immature
that it seemed not long out of the nest ; but the head
was bare of feathers, and it had the knobs on the
upper mandible, only they were so soft that they
could be indented with the nail of the finger. Azara
also mentions an immature bird which he obtained,
but he does not say that the head was feathered ;
and even this negative evidence goes a great way,
since it would have been very unlike him to see a
Spoonbill with a feathered head and otherwise unlike
Ajaja rosea, and not describe it as a distinct species.
To conclude, I may mention that the pet bird my
friend kept was of the pale-plumaged species, and
never lost the feathers from its head, nor did it, in
seven years, acquire any of the characteristic marks
of P. ajaja.
ARGENTINE FLAMINGO
Phcenicopterus ignipalUatus
Plumage rosy red ; wing-coverts crimson ; wing-feathers black ;
bill pale red, apical half black ; length 39, wing 15 inches. Female
similar but smaller.
The Argentine Flamingo inhabits the whole of the
Argentine country, down to the Rio Negro in the
south, where I found it very abundant. The resi-
dents told me of a breeding-place there — a shallow
128 BIRDS OF LA PLATA
salt-lake — which^ however^^ad been abandoned by
the birds before my visit. The nest there^ as in other
regions^ was a small pillar of mud raised a foot or
eighteen inches above the surface of the water^ and
with a slight hollow on the top ; and I was assured
by people who had watched them on their nests that
the incubating bird invariably sits with the hind
part of the body projecting from the nest, and the
long legs dangling down in the water, and not tucked
up under the bird.
On the Rio Negro I found the birds most abundant
in winter, which surprised me, for that there is a
movement of Flamingoes to the north in the autumn
I am quite sure, having often seen them passing
overhead in a northerly direction in the migrating
season. I have also found the young birds, in the
grey plumage, at this season in the marshes near to
Buenos Ayres city, hundreds of miles from any
known breeding-place. Probably the birds in the
interior of the country, where the cold is far more
intense than on the sea-coast, go north before winter,
while those in the district bordering on the Atlantic
have become stationary.
The Flamingo has a curious way of feeding : it
immerses the beak, and by means of a rapid con-
tinuous movement of the mandibles passes a current
of water through the mouth, where the minutest
insects and particles of floating matter are arrested
by the teeth. The stomach is small, and is usually
found to contain a pulpy mass of greenish-coloured
stuff, mixed with minute particles of quartz. Yet
ARGENTINE FLAMINGO 129
on so scanty a fare this large bird not only supports
itself but becomes excessively fat* I spent half a
winter in Patagonia at a house built on the borders
of a small lake, and regularly every night a small
flock of Flamingoes came to feed in the water about
200 yards from the back of the house, I used to open
the window to listen to them, and the noise made
by their beaks was continuous and resembled the
sound produced by wringing out a wet cloth. They
feed a great deal by day, but much more, I think, by
night.
Where they are never persecuted they are tame
birds, and when a flock is fired into and one bird
killed, the other birds, though apparently much
astonished, do not fly away. They are silent birds,
but not actually dumb, having a low, hoarse cry,
uttered sometimes at the moment of taking flight ;
also another cry which I have only heard from a
wounded bird, resembling the gobbling of a turkey-
cock, only shriller. They are almost invariably seen
standing in the water, even when not feeding, and
even seem to sleep there ; on land they have a very
singular appearance, their immense height, in pro-
portion to their bulk, giving them an appearance
amongst birds something like that of the giraffe
amongst mammals. To the lakes and water-courses
in the midst of the grey scenery of Patagonia they
seem to give a strange glory, while standing motion-
less, their tall rose-coloured forms mirrored in the
dark water, but chiefly when they rise in a long
crimson train or phalanx, flying low over the surface,
I II
130 BIRDS OF LA PLATA
CRESTED SCREAMER
Chauna chavaria
Slatey grey, darker on the back ; chin, neck, and cheeks whitish ; a
naked ring round the neck ; nape crested ; belly pale grey ; feet red ;
length 32, wing 19 inches.
This majestic bird^ called Chaja in the vernacular,
is common throughout the Plata district, in marshes
and on the open level country abounding in water
and succulent grasses, and ranges south to the neigh-
bourhood of Bahia Blanca. It is most abundant on
the pampas south of Buenos Ayres city, and on that
vast expanse of perfectly level green country the
bird is seen at its best ; it is there an important
feature in the landscape ; its vocal performances
are doubly impressive on account of the profound
silence of nature, and its singularity — the contrast
between its aerial habit and ponderous structure —
strikes one more forcibly where the view is so un-
obstructed and the atmosphere so pure.
The Crested Screamer, like most of the larger
birds and mammals in every part of the globe to
which European emigration is attracted, is probably
doomed to rapid extermination. My observations
of the bird, in that portion of the pampas where it
is most abundant, date back some years, to a time
when the inhabitants were few and mainly of Spanish
race, never the destroyers of bird-life. The conditions
had become extremely favourable to this species.
CRESTED SCREAMER 131
It is partially aquatic in its habits ; and in desert
places is usually found in marshes^ wading in the
shallow water, and occasionally swimming to feed
on the seeds and J succulent leaves of water-loving
plants. After the old giant grasses of the pampas
had been eaten up by the cattle, and the sweet grasses
of Europe had taken their place, the Screamers took
kindly to that new food, preferring the clovers, and
Seemed as terrestrial in their feeding-habits as Up-
land Geese. Their food was abundant, and they
were never persecuted by the natives. Their flesh
is very dark, is coarse-grained but good to eat, with
a flavour resembling that of Wild Duck, and there
is a great deal of meat on a bird with a body larger
than that of a Swan. Yet no person ever thought
of killing or eating the Chaja ; and the birds were
permitted to increase to a marvellous extent. It was
a common thing a few years ago in the dry season
to see them congregated in thousands ; and so little
afraid of man were they that I have often ridden
through large scattered flocks without making the
birds take wing.
A curious thing about the Screamer is that it pairs
for life, and yet is one of the most social of birds.
But if a large flock is closely looked at, the birds are
invariably seen methodically ranged in pairs. Another
curious thing is that, notwithstanding the formidable
weapons they possess (each wing being armed with
two large spurs), they are extremely pacific in temper.
I have never been able to detect even the slightest
approach to a quarrel among them ; yet it is hard
132 BIRDS OF LA PLATA
to believe that they do not fight sometimes, since
weapons of offence are usually found correlated with
the disposition to use them. Captive birds, however,
can be made to fight ; and I have known gauchos
take them for the pleasure of witnessing their battles.
They are very easily tamed, and in that state seem
to show greater docility and intelligence than any
of our domestic birds ; and become so attached to
their home that it is quite safe to allow them to fly
about at will. They associate, but do not quarrel,
with the poultry. They are quick to distinguish
strangers from the people of the house, showing
considerable suspicion of them, and sometimes rais-
ing a loud alarm at a stranger's approach. Towards
dogs and cats they are often unfriendly ; and when
they are breeding it is dangerous for a strange person
to approach the nest, as they will sometimes attack
him with the greatest fury.
The Screamer is a very heavy bird, and rises from
the ground laboriously, the wings, as in the case of
the Swan, making a loud noise. Nevertheless it loves
soaring, and will rise in an immense spiral until it
wholly disappears from sight in the zenith, even in
the brightest weather ; and considering its great
bulk and dark colour, the height it ultimately attains
must be very great. On sunny, windless days, es-
pecially in winter and spring, they often spend hours
at a time in these sublime aerial exercises, slowly
floating round and round in vast circles, and singing
at intervals. How so heavy and comparatively short-
winged a bird can sustain itself for such long periods
CRESTED SCREAMER 133
in the thin upper air to which it rises has not yet
been explained ♦
The voice is very powerful. When disturbed, or
when the nest is approached, both birds utter at
intervals a loud alarm-cry, resembling in sound the
anger-cry of the Peacock, but twice as loud. At other
times its voice is exercised in a kind of singing per-
formance, in which male and female join, and which
produces the effect of harmony. The male begins,
the female takes up her part, and then with mar-
vellous strength and spirit they pour forth a torrent
of strangely-contrasted sounds — some bassoon-like
in their depth and volume, some like drum-beats,
and others long, clear, and ringing. It is the loudest
animal-sound of the pampas, and its jubilant, martial
character strongly affects the mind in that silent,
melancholy wilderness.
The Screamers sing all the year round, at all hours,
both on the ground and when soaring ; when in
pairs the two birds invariably sing together, and
when in flocks they sing in concert. At night they
are heard about nine o'clock in the evening, and again
just before dawn. It is not unusual, however, to
hear them singing at other hours.
The nest is a large fabric placed among the low
rushes and water-lilies, and is sometimes seen float-
ing on the water, away from its moorings. The eggs
are five, pointed at one end, pure white, and in size
like the eggs of the domestic Goose. The young are
clothed in yellow down like goslings, and follow the
parents about from the date of hatching.
134 BIRDS OF LA PLATA
BARRED UPLAND GOOSE
Bernicla dispar
White ; neck behind and body beneath banded with black ; primaries,
greater wing-coverts, tertiaries, and scapulars cinereous ; rump and
tail-feathers ashy black ; bill black, feet plumbeous ; length 26,
wing 16 inches. Female, head and neck cinnamon-brown ; abdomen
similar, barred with black ; upper part also barred ; rump and tail-
feathers brownish black.
This bird is a northern form of the well-known
** Upland Goose " of the Falkland Isles and Southern
Patagonia, from which it differs in the male being
completely barred across with black on the lower
surface. It was first described by Philippi and Land-
beck from Chilian specimens, and in 1872 was
recognised by Dr. Burmeister as found near the
Sierra Tandil and on the Rio Negro.
In April and May this Goose migrates north-
wards, along the eastern coast, as far as the pampas
of Buenos Ayres, the migration ending about one
hundred and fifty miles south of Buenos Ayres city.
Further south they are at this season of the year
excessively abundant in suitable localities. Their
great camping-grounds are the valleys of the rivers
Negro and Colorado, where they are often so numer-
ous as to denude the low grounds of the tender
winter clovers and grasses, and to cause serious loss
to the sheep-breeders. They also visit the cultivated
fields to devour the young wheat, and are intelligent
enough to distinguish between a real human enemy
and the ragged men of straw, miscalled scarecrows.
ASHY-HEADED UPLAND GOOSE 135
set up by the farmers to frighten them. While com-
mitting their depredations they are exceedingly wary
and difficult to shoot, but at night, when they con-
gregate by the water-side, they give the sportsman
a better chance, I have succeeded in killing as many
as five at a shot by stalking them under cover of the
darkness ; arid a more deliciously-flavoured game-
bird than this Goose I have never tasted.
They are social birds, always going in large flocks,
and are very loquacious, the female having a deep
honking note, while the male responds with a clear
whistling, like the Sanderling*s note etherealised.
ASHY-HEADED UPLAND GOOSE
Bemicla poliocephala
Head, neck, and scapulars leaden grey ; breast and upper back chest-
nut, banded with black ; abdomen, under wing-coverts, and bend of
the wing white ; primaries black ; secondaries white ; greater wing-
coverts black, edged with green and tipped with white ; lower back
and tail black ; bill black, feet yellow ; length 24, wing 13.5 inches.
Female similar.
This Patagonian Goose migrates northwards in
winter, and appears on the Rio Negro and in the
Buenos-Ayrean pampas in May, usually in small
flocks, but sometimes as many as one or two hundred
are seen together. The extreme limit of their winter
migration appears to be about sixty miles south of
Buenos Ayres city, on the plains near the river
136 BIRDS OF LA PLATA
Sanborombon ; probably tl^ have before now been
driven from this locality by the duck-shooters, but
it was formerly their favourite rendezvous, where
they collected in large numbers, though further
north scarcely one was ever seen.
Durnford tells us that this Goose is resident on
Lake Colguape in the territory of Chupat, and breeds
there abundantly.
BLACK-NECKED SWAN
Cygnus nigricollis
White ; head and neck black ; postocular stripe and chin white ;
lores naked ; bill plumbeous, cere red. Length 48, wing 17 inches.
Female similar.
To my perhaps partial mind this species is pre-
eminent for beauty among the Swans, although it
is considerably smaller than the bird of the Old
World, and does not, it must be admitted, comport
itself so majestically* In questions of this kind it
is natural for every one to be somewhat biassed in
favour of the things of his own country ; but it will
be readily admitted by all, I think, that the black-
necked bird is one of three species greatly surpassing
all others of this genus in beauty — the other two
being, of course, the domesticated Swan of Europe
and the Australian Black Swan (the most graceful
of Swans).
This Swan is very abundant on the pampas of
BLACK-NECKED SWAN 137
Buenos Ayres and in Patagonia^ and ranges south
to the Magellan Straits and the Falklands. As a rule
they are seen in small flocks, but sometimes as many
as two or three hundred congregate together. They
are heavy birds and rise with difficulty, and fly
rapidly and with great violence, like all heavy-bodied
short-winged species ; but in no other very large
bird with which I am acquainted do the wings
produce so loud a rushing sound. In quiet places
the beating of their wings can be heard distinctly
when the birds are no longer in sight, although,
owing to their large size, the eye can follow them
very far. Gauchos sometimes capture them by
suddenly charging down the wind upon them,
uttering loud shouts which greatly terrify the birds,
and when they attempt to rise with the wind they
only flap along the ground and are easily knocked
over. A gaucho of my acquaintance one day caught
three out of a flock of six in this way ; but a very
strong wind favoured him, and the birds were at
some distance from the water, and allowed him to
come near before making the sudden charge.
According to Mr. Gibson, who has observed their
breeding-habits, they begin to nest in July — just
after the winter solstice. The nest is always placed
among thick rushes growing in deep water, and the
Swan invariably swims to and from her nest. It is
built up from the bottom of the swamp, in some
instances four or five feet deep, and rises a foot
and a half above the surface. The top of the nest
measures about two feet across, with a slight hollow
138 BIRDS OF LA PLATA
for the eggs, which are ciiRm-coloured and have a
smooth glossy shell. The number varies from three
to five, and on one occasion six were found. Mr,
Gibson has seen the parent bird swimming from the
nest with the young on her back.
COSCOROBA SWAN
Coscoroba Candida
White ; tips of primaries black ; bill coral red^ feet red ; length
40, wing 17.5 inches.
This Swan is considerably smaller than the black-
necked species, and also inferior in beauty on account
of its shorter neck. It is, nevertheless, a very hand-
some bird, being entirely of a pure white colour
except the tips of the primaries, which are black.
The beak and legs are bright rosy red. In its habits,
language, and flight it also differs much from Cygnus
nigricoUis, and the country people call it Ganso
(Goose), probably on account of its Goose-like habit
of sometimes feeding away from the water, or
because its flesh has the flavour of Wild Goose.
Oddly enough, the scientific ornithologists are just
beginning to find out that the common people were
right in describing it as a Goose ; at all events they
are finding out that it has more Goose than Swan in
its composition. As a rule they go in small parties
of five or six individuals, but sometimes flocks num-
FULVOUS TREE-DUCK 139
bering two or three hundred are seen in the cold
season* Their migrations are very irregular^ and
sometimes they are excessively abundant in a district
one year and absent from it the next. When disturbed
they utter a loud musical trumpeting cry, in three
notes, the last with a falling inflexion ; and their
wings being much longer proportionately than in
the black-necked species, they rise with greater ease
and have a much freer and an almost soundless
flight.
Concerning their breeding-habits Mr. Gibson
observes that the nest is usually placed on the
ground at some distance from the water. It is
about a foot and a half high, made of mud and
rushes ; the hollow, which is rather deep, is lined
with dry grass.
The eggs are eight or nine in number ; smooth,
white, and rounder than those of Cygnus nigricollis.
FULVOUS TREE-DUCK
Dendrocygna fulva
Chestnut-red, top of head darker, with black line down the nape ;
back black on the upper portion, banded with chestnut ; wings and
tail black ; lesser wing-coverts dark chestnut ; upper tail-coverts
white ; flanks chestnut, banded with black and white ; bill and feet
black ; length i8, wing 8.5 inches.
This Duck, the well-known Pato silvon (Whistling
Duck) of the eastern Argentine country, is found
abundantly along the Plata and the great streams
140 BIRDS OF LA PLATA
flowing into it, and northwaits to Paraguay, Along
this great waterway it is to some extent a migratory
specieS; appearing in spring in Buenos Ayres in very
large numbers, to breed in the littoral marshes and
also on the pampas. They migrate principally by
night, and do not fly in long trains and phalanxes
like other Ducks, but in a cloud ; and when they
migrate in spring and autumn the shrill confused
clangour of their many voices is heard from the
darkness overhead by dwellers in the Argentine
capital ; for the Ducks, following the eastern shore
of the sea-like river, pass over that city on their
journey. Northwards this Duck extends to Central
Brazil ; from the northern half of the southern
continent and from Central America it is absent ;
but it re-appears in Mexico. Commenting on these
facts Messrs. Sclater and Salvin write : ** Singular
as this distribution is, it is still more remarkable
when we consider that there appear to exist no
tangible grounds for separating the American bird
from that called Z). major by Jerdon, which ranges
throughout the peninsula of India and is also found
in Madagascar ! ''
The Whistling Duck, in its chestnut and fulvous
plumage, is a handsome bird and somewhat singular
in appearance, especially when seen in a large body
on the ground. When out of the water they crowd
close together, and when disturbed stand up craning
their necks, looking strangely tall on their long blue
legs. While thus watching an intruder they are
silent, and the sudden ringing chorus of whistling
WHITE-FACED TREE-DUCK 141
voices into which they burst at the moment of rising
has a curious effect.
So extremely social are these Ducks that even when
breeding they keep together in large flocks. The
nest is made of stems and leaves, on the water among
the reeds and aquatic plants ; and sometimes large
numbers of nests are found close together, as in a
guUery. The eggs are pure white, and each bird
lays, I believe, ten or twelve, but I am not sure about
the exact number ; and I have so frequently found
from twenty to thirty eggs in a nest that I am con-
vinced it is a not uncommon thing for two or three
females to occupy one nest.
WHITE-FACED TREE-DUCK
Dendrocygna viduata
Face and spot on throat white ; nape, neck in front, middle of
abdomen, tail, rump, and wings black ; hind neck chestnut ; middle
of back and scapulars brown, feathers with fulvous margins ; wing-
coverts olive-black ; flanks banded with black and white ; bill and
feet black ; length 17, wing 9 inches. Female similar.
This Tree-Duck resembles that last described in
size, form, and maroon-red plumage, but is of a
darker tint, and may also be easily distinguished,
even at a long distance, by its white face contrasted
with the velvety black of the head and neck. One
of its vernacular names is Pato viuda (Widow Duck)
142 BIRDS OF LA PLATA
from its dark plumage reli^Ptd by white in front.
Compared with Dendrocygna fulva it is a rare species,
and goes always with its mate, but I have seen as
many as half a dozen together. When taking wing
it also whistles, but differently from the allied species,
having three long clear whistling notes, not unlike
the three-syllabled cry of the Sandpiper, only the
notes are more prolonged. Of its breeding habits
I know nothing.
BLUE-WINGED TEAL
Querquedula cyanoptera
Plumage red ; crown black ; lesser wing-coverts blue ; wing
speculum green, margined above with white ; wing feathers black ;
bill black, eyes golden, feet orange ; length i8 ; wing 7.6 inches.
Female ; blackish above, feathers margined with whitish ; beneath
dull white variegated with brown ; throat white with black freckles.
This Teal has an exceedingly wide distribution in
America, being found from California in the northern
continent down to the Straits of Magellan and the
Falkland Islands in the south. Its fine, strongly
contrasted colours give it a very handsome appear-
ance — the wings being clear grey-blue, the body deep
maroon-red, the feet vivid yellow, beak black, and
iris gold-colour. On the pampas it is common, and
almost invariably seen in pairs at all seasons. Many
of the Teals are quarrelsome in disposition ; but
YELLOW-BILLED TEAL 143
this species, I think, exceeds them all in pugnacity,
and when two pairs come together the males almost
invariably begin fighting.
YELLOW-BILLED TEAL
Querquedula flavirostris
Above slatcy brown ; head barred with narrow blackish bands ;
middle of back rufescent^ with centres of the feathers black and
narrowly margined with ochraceous ; a broad wing speculum, black,
margined with ochraceous above and below and a bronzy green
blotch in the centre ; wing feathers slatey ; margins of secondaries
pale rufous ; beneath whitish, spotted with black ; bill yellow, feet
dark ; length 15, wing 7.5 inches. Female similar.
In the southern part of the Argentine Republic this
is one of the commonest species, and is almost invari-
ably found in every marsh, stream, and pool of water
on the pampas ♦ It is resident, and usually goes in
flocks of from a dozen to thirty individuals. It has
a rapid flight, and is restless, lively, and extremely
pugnacious in its habits. When a flock is on the water
the birds are perpetually quarrelling. They are also
highly inquisitive, and I have often shot them by
first showing myself to the flock, and then standing
or sitting still, when they would soon come wheeling
about, flying in very close order. They quack and
chatter in a variety of tones, and the male has also a
clear, whistling note in the love-season.
The nest of this Duck is always made at a distance
from the water, sometimes as far as one or two miles.
144 BIRDS OF LA PLATA
It consists of a slight holl^ in the ground under a
thistle-bush or tussock of long grass, and is lined with
dry grass and a great deal of down, which is increased
in quantity during incubation. The eggs are reddish
cream-colour, and five is the usual number laid ; but
I have also found nests with six and seven.
GREY TEAL
Querquedula versicolor
Above grey with narrow black cross-bands ; top of head blackish
brown, sides of head and throat white ; beneath whitish, tinged
with ochraceous and spotted with black on the breast ; wings greyish
brown, speculum purplish green, margined with white above and
below and a subterminal black band ; flanks barred with black and
white ; bill black with an orange patch on each side at the base of
the mandible ; feet dark ; length 16.5, wing 7.6 inches. Female
similar but colours less bright.
This prettily variegated blue-grey Teal with its
strongly-marked black and orange bill is perhaps the
most abundant of the genus in the Argentine Re-
public, especially in the southern portion. It is
resident, and unites in much larger flocks than any
other bird of this group in the country. Its note
when disturbed or flying is very peculiar, resembling
in sound the muffled stridulating of the mole-cricket.
RING-NECKED TEAL 145
RING-NECKED TEAL
Querguedula torquata
Above dull brown ; head above and neck, expanding to a half
collar, also lesser wing-coverts, lower back, and tail, black ; scapulars
pure chestnut; wings brownish black, with a large white patch on
coverts of the bronze-green secondaries ; beneath, sides of head and
throat dull white, streaked with brown ; breast tinged with rosy red,
sparingly spotted with black ; belly and flanks white, narrowly barred
with grey; length 14, wing 7.2 inches. Female brown ; superciliaries,
stripe on each side of head, throat, and sides of neck, white ; beneath
white, banded with brown ; wings and tail black ; secondaries bronze-
green ; a white patch as in the male.
This beautiful Duck^ for our first knowledge of
which we are indebted to Azara, is rather scarce
in collections. Azara described the two somewhat
dissimilar sexes under different names^ the male
being his Pato collar negro, and the female his Pato
ceja hlanca.
In the neighbourhood of Buenos Ayres the Ring-
necked Teal is strictly migratory^ and in the month
of October appears in small flocks in the marshes
along the river ; but in the interior of the country it
is seldom met with. They are extremely active birds,
constantly flying about from place to place both by
day and night ; and in the love-season, when they
alight in a pool of water, the males immediately
engage in a spirited combat. While flying they utter
a peculiar jarring sound, and occasionally a quacking
note, rapidly repeated and sounding like a strange
laugh ; but on the water, especially in the evening,
K II
146 BIRDS OF LA PLATA
the male emits a long iimected note, plaintive and
exquisitely pure in sound — a more melodious note
it would be difficult to find even among the songsters.
BRAZILIAN TEAL
Querquedula brasiliensis
Above brown ; head more rufous ; lower back, tail, and lesser
wing-coverts black ; wings brownish black ; outer webs of inner
primaries and the secondaries shining bronze-green ; broad tips of
outer secondaries white, divided from the green area by a black band ;
beneath paler, breast washed with rusty red ; bill and feet orange ;
length 15.5, wing 7 inches.
This richly coloured Teal, which is widely extended
in South America from Guiana down to the Straits
of Magellan, is usually met with in pairs near Buenos
Ayres, although as many as five or six are sometimes
seen together. In habits it is a tree-Duck, preferring
water-courses in the neighbourhood of woods, and
is frequently seen perched on hori2;ontal branches.
The flight is slow and with the wings very much
depressed, as in a Duck about to alight on the water ;
and the beautiful blue, green, and white speculum is
thus rendered very conspicuous. The note of the
male in the love-season is a long, plaintive whistle,
singularly pure and sweet in sound, and heard usually
in the evening.
It is a rather curious coincidence that the ver-
nacular name of this Teal in La Plata should be
Pato Portugues, which means, as things are under-
stood in that region, Brazilian Duck,
< ?
;q >
BROWN PINTAIL 147
BROWN PINTAIL
Dafila spinicauda
Above brown ; feathers black in the centre and margined with
brown ; head above bright rufous spotted with black ; wings brown,
with a large speculum of bronzy black, distinctly margined above
and below with buff; beneath, throat dirty white, sparingly spotted
with black ; breast, flanks, and crissum tinged with rufous, the feathers
with black centres ; belly white, in the lower portion slightly varied
with brown ; bill black, at the base yellow ; feet plumbeous ; length
19, wing 9.7 inches.
The Brown Pintail is the commonest Duck in the
Argentine Republic, and unites in the largest flocks.
It is also, according to Philippi and Landbeck, the
commonest species in Chili. It ranges from South
Bra^iil and Peru to the Magellan Straits and the
Falklands ; but is probably most abundant in the
Plata district and in North Patagonia. In the autumn
it sometimes visits the pampas in immense numbers,
to feed on the seed of the giant thistle {Carduus
mariana) ; and on these occasions I have known as
many as sixty killed at one shot. The birds, however,
soon become wary when feeding on the open plains
in large flocks, and it then becomes impossible to
approach them without a trained horse. The Ducks
pay no attention to horses and cattle browsing near
them ; and the trained animal, with the gunner con-
cealing his gun and person behind it, feeds quietly
along, and gradually approaches the flock until
within range. In the valley of the Rio Negro, in
Patagonia, the Pintails sometimes cause serious
148 BIRDS OF LA PLATA
damage to the farmers, c^ing up in clouds from
the river by night to devour the ripe grain.
In favourable seasons the Pintail is a resident ;
but like the Marsh-Gulls, Pigeons, the American
Golden Plover, and all birds that live and move in
immense bodies, it travels often and far in search
of food or water. A season of scarcity will quickly
cause them to disappear from the pampas ; and
sometimes, after an absence of several months, a
day's rain will end with the familiar sound of their
cry and the sight of their long trains winging their
way across the darkening heavens.
Their nest is made on the ground, under the grass
or thistles, at a distance from the water, and is
plentifully lined with down plucked from the bosom
of the sitting bird. The eggs are seven or eight in
number and of a deep cream-colour.
WHITE-FACED PINTAIL
Dafila bahamensis
Above reddish brown ; feather centres blackish ; tail and upper
tail-coverts fawn ; wings slatey black ; broad speculum bronze-green,
with fawn margin above and below ; edging of external secondaries
fawn; beneath brownish fawn, covered with concealed black spots;
throat, cheeks, and front white ; bill dark with a crimson patch at the
base in each side ; feet dark ; length i8, wing 8.4 inches. Female
similar.
Someone in the eighteenth century picked up a dead
Duck of an unknown species on the seashore in the
Bahama Islands : it was then sent to a naturalist in
WHITE-FACED PINTAIL 149
Europe who had the naming of all the creatures, and
quite naturally he gave it the name of Bahamensis.
And although we know that the duck does not
inhabit the Bahamas, but is found throughout South
America from British Guiana to Patagonia, and that
it is one of the commonest Ducks in Brazil, there is
a wise ornithological rule which forbids us, while the
world endures, to call it anything but the Bahama
Duck or Pintail, I was obliged to give it that name in
Argentine Ornithology, but I think readers of this book
in South America will henceforth prefer to call it by
the name I have given it here* Doubtless there are
other Pintail Ducks with white faces, but this has
not given a name to any other species. The Brown
Pintail is our most abundant species in Argentina,
and I have noticed in flocks of great size, sometimes
of many thousands, of that duck, that a single White-
faced Duck in the flock could be detected at a long
distance by means of that same snowy whiteness of
the face.
On the Pampas and Patagonia it is not a common
Duck and is almost invariably seen in pairs. I have,
however, sometimes seen three or four together.
150 BIRDS OF LA PLATA
CHILOE WIGEON
Mareca sibilatrix
Above black, on the neck barred across with white ; feathers of
the back and scapularies margined with white ; head above and
cheeks pure white ; nape and back of the neck shining greenish
purple ; wings brown, lesser wing-coverts white ; secondaries velvety
black, white at the base ; beneath white, throat and fore-neck blackish ;
upper breast black, with narrow white cross-bands ; flanks stained
with rusty rufous; bill and feet black; length 20, wing 10.3 inches.
Female similar, but not so bright in colour.
The Chiloe Wigeon, as this duck has been usually
called since its introduction and acclimatisation in
England as an ornamental water-fowl, is the only
species of the genus found in South America, and is
most abundant on the pampas, where it is called
by the country people Pato picaso or Pato overo
(Piebald Duck) or Chirivi from its cry. It is a very
handsome bird ; the upper plumage variegated with
black, white, and grey ; forehead, speculum, and
under surface white ; head and neck dark glossy
green. It is resident, and is usually seen in small
flocks of from a dozen to twenty birds, but sometimes
as many as one or two hundred congregate together.
They are wary and loquacious, strong on the wing,
and frequently engage in a peculiar kind of aerial
pastime. A small flock will rise to a vast height,
often until they seem mere specks in the sky, or
disappear from sight altogether ; and at that great
altitude they continue hovering or flying, sometimes
keeping very nearly in the same place for an hour
RED SHOVELLER 151
or more, alternately separating and closing, and
every time they close they slap each other on the
wing so smartly that the sound may be heard dis-
tinctly even when the birds are no longer visible.
While flying or swimming about they constantly
utter their far-sounding cry— three or four long,
clear, whistling notes, followed by another uttered
with great emphasis and concluding with a kind of
flourish.
The nest is made amongst the rushes m the
marshes, and the eggs are pure white and eight or
nine in number.
RED SHOVELLER
spatula platalea
Above and beneath reddish, with round black spots ; head and
neck lighter and spots smaller, lower back blackish, barred with
rufous, rump black; lesser coverts blue; middle coverts white ;
secondaries bronzy black ; outer secondaries and scapulars with white
shaft-stripes ; crissum black ; tail brown, lateral rectrices edged with
white; bill dark, feet yellow; length 20 inches, wmg 8 inches.
Female, above blackish brown, edged with rufous; lesser wing-coverts
bluish ; beneath buffy rufous, varied and spotted with blackish except
on the throat.
There is but one Shoveller Duck in South America,
the present species, which is confined to the southern
part of the continent, from Paraguay to Patagonia,
and is familiar to sportsmen in the Plata as the Red
Duck, or Espdtula. It is seldom met with m flocks
of more than twenty or thirty individuals, and a
152 BIRDS OF LA PLATA
large number of birds appe^to pair for life, as they
are usually seen in pairs at all seasons of the year.
In the autumn and winter months I have sometimes
observed small flocks composed of males only, but
these were perhaps young birds not yet paired. They
feed in shallow water, where by plunging the head
down they can reach the mud at the bottom ; and
when several are seen thus engaged, all with their
heads and necks immersed, they look curiously like
headless ducks floating on the water. When dis-
turbed or flying the male emits a low sputtering
sound, and this is its only language. They are
resident, and the least wary of ducks ; never engage,
like other species, in real or mock combats ; and
their flight is rapid and violent, the wings beating
quickly.
ROSY-BILLED DUCK
Metopiana peposaca
Above black, back of head and neck glossed with purple, back
finely striated with white ; speculum white ; primaries greyish white ;
belly minutely vermiculated with white and grey ; bill rosy red,
enlarged at the base, feet yellow; length 19, wing 9.4 inches. Female :
above brown, bend of wing, speculum, and belly white ; bill and feet
dull blue.
The Rosy-billed Duck, usually called ** Black Duck '*
in the Plata, inhabits the Argentine country from
Paraguay to Patagonia, and also occurs in Uruguay
and Chili, but does not extend to Brazil.
ROSY-BILLED DUCK 153
A peculiar interest attaches to this species owing
to the fact that it is the only freshwater Duck in the
sub-family Fuligulinae, in which it is classed. With
the exception of the Loggerhead Duck {Tachyeres
cinereus), found in the Falklands and the Magellan
Straits^ all the other sea-Ducks of this division in-
habit North and Central America ; so that the
Rosy-bill appears to have separated itself widely
from its nearest relations geographically as well as
in habits. In appearance it is a fine bird, the black
plumage being frosted on the upper parts with white
in a very delicate manner, while the rosy bill and
large carmine caruncle and golden-red iris contrast
beautifully with the glossy purple head and neck.
The speculum is white, the legs bright yellow. The
plumage of the female is brown.
In marshy places on the pampas the Rosy-billed
Duck is very abundant, and they sometimes congre-
gate in very large flocks. They obtain their food
from floating weeds in the water, and are never seen,
like the Pintails and other kinds, feeding on the dry
land. They rise heavily, the wings being com-
paratively small, and have a rapid, straight, violent
flight ; they are nevertheless able to perform long
journeys, and travel in long lines and at a considerable
elevation. Their only language is a deep, hoarse,
prolonged, raven-like note, uttered by the male in
the love-season. The nest is made on swampy ground
near the water, of dry rushes, and is, for a Duck, a
deep well-made structure ; the eggs are oval in form,
cream-coloured, and twelve in number.
154 BIRDS OF LA PLATA
Besides the twelve specif^described there are five
more Ducks in Argentina, namely : — the Crested
Duck, Sarcidiornis carunculata ; Muscovy Duck,
Cairina moschata ; Black-headed Duck, Heteronetta
melanocephala ; Rusty Lake Duck, Erismatura ferru-
ginea ; and White-winged Lake Duck, Nomonyx
dominicus.
All these species I knew, with the exception of
the Crested Duck ; but they were rare in my district
and I could learn nothing of their habits from my
own observation.
ARGENTINE WOOD-PIGEON
Columha picazuro
Above pale brown ; head and neck vinous ; back of neck with
white cross-bands which are edged with black ; lower back and tail
plumbeous ; wings plumbeous, larger coverts broadly edged with
white"; beneath pale vinaceous ; flanks and crissum plumbeous ;
length 14 inches, wing 8 inches. Female similar.
This bird so closely resembles the European Wood-
Pigeon in its appearance, habits, and language that
I prefer in this book to drop the name of Picazuro
Pigeon used in the former work {Argentine Orni-
thology) and call it the Argentine Wood-Pigeon. The
chief differences are the absence of the white collar
and the strangely human-like sound of its notes.
In summer they inhabit woods, and are seen in
pairs or small parties, but in winter unite in flocks of
SPOTTED WOOD-PIGEON 155
from twenty to one or two hundred individuals, and
roam much over the open country. It is a wary
bird, and when feeding walks on the ground in a
slow, somewhat stately manner. In spring its song
resounds in the woods, and, when heard for the first
time, fills the listener with wonder, so human-like
in tone are its long, mournful notes. The notes are
five, the last one prolonged, with a falling inflection,
and profoundly sorrowful. The nest is a platform
structure, frequently placed on a broad horizontal
branch ; the eggs are two, and closely resemble those
of the common Rock-Dove of Europe,
SPOTTED WOOD-PIGEON
Columba maculosa
Above pale vinaceous brown, profusely spotted on the back and
wings with white apical spots ; lower back and tail plumbeous ;
wings and tail slatey black, the former with narrow whitish margins ;
beneath plumbeous, with a strong vinaceous tinge ; bill black, feet
yellow ; length 13, wing 8.5 inches. Female similar.
This Pigeon has a general resemblance to the Pica-
zuro, but may be at once distinguished by its spotted
back and wings. It ranges from South Peru through
Bolivia and Western Argentina into Patagonia, where
it appears to be a resident. In winter the valley of
the Rio Negro is visited by it in immense flocks,
which are a great plague to the farmers, as they
descend in clouds on the fields and devour the wheat
156 BIRDS OF LA PLATA
before it has time to sprout#While watching crowds
of these birds feeding on the ground, I noticed that
their manner was in striking contrast to that of the
C. picazuro, which has slow and dignified motions ;
for it hurried about, and snatched up its food with
such rapidity that the most animated motions of
other birds that feed in flocks on the ground seemed
languid in comparison. This excessively lively habit
is, no doubt, directly caused by the conditions of
life ; the sterile soil and scanty vegetation of the
region it inhabits require in a species going in large
bodies, and subsisting exclusively on fallen seed, a
greater activity than is necessary in the rich fertile
region further north.
Its song is composed of notes equal in length and
number to that of the Picazuro, but its voice is
always hoarse, like that of the European Wood-
Pigeon, when his early spring song has a low, throaty
sound, as if the bird was still suffering from the
effects of a winter cold.
The great body of these birds retire on the ap-
proach of summer from the Rio Negro valley, a few
only remaining to breed. Their nesting-habits and
eggs are like those of the Picazuro.
SPOTTED DOVE 157
SPOTTED DOVE
* Zenaida maculata
Above pale brown ; nape plumbeous ; outer wing-coverts and
scapularies with a few black spots ; wings dark grey, with fine
white margins ; tail plumbeous, broadly ended with white, and
crossed by a subapical black band ; middle rectrices like the back ;
beneath pale vinaceous, brighter on the breast, and whiter on the
throat ; bill black, feet yellow ; length 9, wing 5.5 inches. Female
similar.
This is the commonest species of the Pigeon tribe
in the Argentine country, and is known to everyone
as the Torcasa, probably a corruption of Tortola
(Turtle-Dove)» In autumn they often congregate in
very large flocks, and are sometimes observed migrat-
ing, flock succeeding flock, all travelling in a northerly
direction, and continuing to pass for several conse-
cutive days. But these autumnal migrations are not
witnessed every year, nor have I seen any return
migration in spring ; while the usual autumn and
winter movements are very irregular, and apparently
depend altogether on the supply of food. When the
giant thistle has covered the plains in summer in-
credible numbers of Torcasas appear later in the season,
and usually spend the winter on the plains, congregat-
ing every evening in countless myriads wherever there
are trees enough to afford a suitable roosting-place.
On bright warm days in August, the sweet and
sorrowful sob-like song of this Dove, composed of
five notes, is heard from every grove — a pleasing, soft,
murmuring sound, which causes one to experience by
anticipation the languid summer feehng in his veins.
158 BIRDS OF LA PLATA
The nest, as in other Pigffns, is a simple platform
of slender sticks ; the eggs are oval, white, and two
in number. The birds appear to breed by preference
near a human habitation, and do so probably for
the sake of the protection afforded them ; for the
Chimango and other birds of prey destroy their eggs
and young to a large extent.
One summer a Torcasa laid an egg in the nest of
one of my Pigeons, built on the large horizontal
branch of a tree at some distance from the dove-
cote. The egg was hatched, and the young bird
reared by its foster-parents ; and when able to fly
it took up its abode along with the other Pigeons.
The following spring it began to separate itself from
its companions, and would fly to the porch, and sit
there cooing by the hour every day* At length it
went away to the plantation, having, I believe, found
a mate, and we saw no more of it.
PIGMY DOVE
Columbula picui
Above brownish ash-colour ; head and neck dove grey ; wing
feathers black ; coverts and secondaries like the back, white on their
outer edges, a band of bright blue across the tips of the lesser
coverts ; tail white, except the two central feathers, which are hke
the back ; beneath pale vinaceous ; throat white ; under wing-
coverts black ; bill dark, feet yellow ; length 6.5, wing 3.5 inches.
Female similar but duller.
This species, the smallest of our Doves, is common
everywhere in the Plata district, where it is called
Tortolita (Little Turtle-Dove), Azara's name Picul
not being known to our countrymen.
SOLITARY PIGEON 159
It is usually seen with its mate, for many indivi-
duals seem to pair for life ; but sometimes a dozen
or twenty individuals unite in one flock. It is resident,
comes a great deal about houses, and is familiar with
man, and lively in its habits. It sings a great deal in
summer and even on warm days in winter ; but its
tones are wanting in the wild pathos which gives a
charm to the melody of some of our larger species,
the song consisting of a succession of long, rather
loud, and somewhat monotonous notes, pleasant to
hear, like most bird-music, but nothing more.
The nest is the usual slight structure of sticks ; the
eggs two, oval, and white. They breed twice, and
sometimes three times, in one season, the last brood
being hatched as late as April or even May,
SOLITARY PIGEON
Engyptila chalcauchenia
Above greyish brown, head and nape plumbeous ; back of neck
with the feathers edged with iridescent bronzy green ; tail blackish,
broadly tipped with white ; central rectrices like the back ; beneath
pale vinaceous ; middle of throat, belly, and crissum white ; under
surface of wings bright chestnut ; bill black, feet yellowish ; length
10, wing 5.7 inches. Female similar.
This Dove, which is a southern form of a widely
distributed group of species of the genus Engyptila,
formerly called Leptoptila, inhabits the woods of the
Plata district, and never, like other Pigeons, seeks
the open country to feed. It is solitary, although,
where many birds live in close proximity, three or
i6o BIRDS OF LA PLATA
four may be sometimes seen in company. It spends
a great deal of time on the ground, where it walks
about under the trees rather briskly, searching for
seeds and berries. Their song is a single uninflected
and rather musical note, which the bird repeats at
short intervals, especially in the evening during the
warm season. Where the birds are abundant the
wood, just before sunset, becomes vocal with their
curious far-sounding notes ; and as this evening
song is heard as long as the genial weather lasts, it
is probably not related to the sexual instinct. The
nest is a simple platform; the eggs are two, and
white, but m^ore spherical in shape than those of
most other Pigeons.
Besides the five Pigeons I have described there
are three more species in Argentina, confined to the
northern part of the country. South America is
rich in Pigeons, the species numbering sixty or
seventy.
BLACK RAIL
Rallus rhytirhynchus
Above greenish brown ; beneath plumbeous ; bill incurved^
greenish, with a blood-red basal spot ; feet red ; length 12, wing
5.4 inches. Female similar.
This Rail differs from the other species in its beak,
which is very long and curved, as in the Painted
Snipe {Rhynchsea), and has three strongly contrasted
colours — dark green, bright blue, and scarlet at the
BLACK RAIL i6i
base. The blue and red tints become very vivid in
the love-season. Without being anywhere abundant,
the Black Rail is found throughout the Plata region
in every place where reeds and rushes grow. In the
marshes along the Plata they are met with quite as
frequently in winter as in summer ; this fact sur-
prised me greatly, since I know this species to be
migratory, their unmistakable cries being heard
overhead every night in spring and autumn, when
they are performing their distant journeys. Probably
all the birds frequenting the inland marshes on the
south-western pampas migrate north in winter, and
all those inhabiting the Plata marshes and the Atlantic
sea-board, where there is abundant shelter and a
higher temperature, remain all the year. On the
Rio Negro of Patagonia I found the Black Rail a
resident, but the winter of that district is singularly
mild ; moreover, the wide expanse of waterless
country lying between the Rio Negro and the moist
pampas region would make an annual migration
from the former places difficult to such a feeble flier.
Of this instinct we know at least that it is hereditary ;
and it becomes hard to believe that from every one
of the reed-beds distributed over the vast country
inhabited by this species a little contingent of migrants
is drawn away annually to winter elsewhere, leaving
a larger number behind. Such a difference of habit
cannot exist among individuals of a species in one
locality ; but differences in the migratory as in other
instincts, great as this, are found in races inhabiting
isolated or widely separated districts.
L 11
i62 BIRDS OF LA PLATA
It is difficult to flush tMPBlack Rail ; it rises in a
weak fluttering manner, the legs dangling down, and
after flying thirty or forty yards drops again into the
reeds. Its language is curious : when alarmed the
bird repeats, at short intervals, a note almost painful
from its excessive sharpness, and utters it standing
on a low branch or other elevation, but well masked
by reeds and bushes, and incessantly bobbing its
head, jerking its tail, and briskly turning from side
to side. It has at such times a very interesting
appearance, while the long beak, brilliant with the
nuptial colouring, the bright red eye and vermilion
legs, admirably contrasting with the fine deep slate
plumage, give it considerable claims to beauty. At
other times it has a hollow call-note with a puzzling
ventriloquism in the sound, wliich is sometimes
repeated at short intervals for an hour. While utter-
ing it the bird stands as usual on a slight eminence,
but drawn up in a listless attitude and without any
of its nods and jerks and other frisky gestures. It
has also a kind of song, which sounds not unlike the
braying of a donkey ; hence the vernacular name
Burrito (Little Ass) by which the bird is known in the
Plata. This song is heard both day and night, and
is a confused performance, uttered without pause,
and composed of several long shrill notes, modulated
and mingled with others hollow and booming. These
notes can be heard a thousand yards away ; but, far
or near, they always sound remote.
YPECAHA RAIL 163
YPECAHA RAIL
Aramides ypecaha
Above olive-green ; neck red ; front cinereous ; rump and tail
black ; beneath^ throat white, breast and neck cinereous ; abdomen
rosy red, lower belly and thighs grey ; flanks and crissum black ;
under wing-coverts rufous, with black cross-bars ; bill yellow, feet
red ; length 19, wing 8.5 inches. Female similar.
Ypecaha is the Guarani name^ preserved by
Azara, of this highly interesting species ; by the
Spanish it is called Gallinetaf from its supposed
resemblance to a fowl. Without any brilliant tints,
there is yet something so pleasing to the eye in the
various hues of its plumage — light brown and drab
colour, grey, buff, and black — all these colours so
harmoniously disposed, the effect heightened by the
long, straight yellow beak, golden-red eye, and ver-
milion legs, that I do not know a handsomer water-
fowl.
These Rails are found as far south as the thirty-
fifth parallel of latitude, and are abundant along the
marshy borders of the Plata, frequenting the vast
reed-beds and forests of water-loving Erythrina
cristagalli. Where they are never persecuted they
are bold, pugnacious birds, coming out of the reeds
by day and attacking the domestic poultry about the
houses and even in the streets of the villages situated
on the borders of their marshy haunts. But when they
are compelled to place man on the list of their enemies,
it is a difficult matter to get a sight of one ; for, like
i64 BIRDS OF LA PLATA
all birds that rise labori<^ly; they are vigilant to
excess, and keep themselves so well concealed that
the sportsman may pass through their haunts every
day of the year and the Ypecaha still be to him no
more than a ** wandering voice/' But even persecu-
tion does not obliterate a certain inquisitive bold-
ness which characterises them. Usually they roam
singly in quest of food, but have reunions in the
evening and occasionally during the day, especially
in gloomy weather. On misty days they often wander
to a distance from the covert, walking with an easy,
somewhat stately grace, jerking the tail at every
stride, and running with a velocity no man can
equal. Where there are woods they usually fly when
disturbed into a tree ; and it is in connection with
this habit that the Ypecaha sometimes makes a
curious mistake in places where it has not been
much shot at. One day, while pushing my way
through a dense grov^lih of rushes, I saw two Ypecahas
not fifteen yards from me, on the horizontal branch
of a tree, to which they had evidently flown for
safety. I was anxious to secure them, but surprised
at their temerity ; and wishing to find out its cause,
I approached them still nearer, and then stood for
some time observing them. It was easy to see that
they fancied themselves quite safe from me while
off the ground. In the most unconcerned manner
they continued strutting up and down along the
branch, jerking their tails, and turning about this
way and that, as if to tantalise their baffled enemy
by ostentatiously displaying their graces.
YPECAHA RAIL 165
When surprised on the open ground the Ypecaha
lies close, like a Tinamu, refusing to rise until
almost trodden upon. It springs up with a loud-
sounding whirr, rushes violently through the air till,
gaining the reeds, it glides a few yards and then
drops ; its flight is thus precisely like that of the
Tinamu, and is more sounding and violent than
that of the Grouse or Partridge, On spying an
intruder it immediately utters a powerful cry, in
strength and intonation not unlike that of the Pea-
fowl. This note of alarm is answered by other birds
at a distance as they hastily advance to the spot
where the warning was sounded. The cry is repeated
at irregular intervals, first on one side, then on the
other, as the birds change their position to dog the
intruder's steps and inspect him from the reeds.
I have surprised parties of them in an open space,
and shot one or more ; but no sooner had the sur-
vivors gained their refuge than they turned about
to watch and follow me, sounding their powerful
alarm the whole time. I have frequently been
followed half a mile through the rushes by them,
and by lying close and mimicking their cries have
always succeeded in drawing them about me.
But the Ypecaha's loudest notes of alarm are weak
compared with the cries he utters at other times,
when, untroubled with a strange presence, he pours
out his soul in screams and shrieks that amaze the
listener with their unparalleled power. These
screams in all their changes and modulations have
a resemblance to the human voice, but to the human
i66 BIRDS OF LA PLATA
voice exerted to its utmost pitch, and expressive of
agony, frenzy, and despair. A long, piercing shriek,
astonishing for its strength and vehemence, is suc-
ceeded by a lower note, as if in the first one the
creature had wellnigh exhausted itself. The double
scream is repeated several times ; then follow other
sounds, resembling, as they rise and fall, half-sup-
pressed cries of pain and moans of anguish. Suddenly
the unearthly shrieks are renewed in all their power.
This is kept up for some time, several birds scream-
ing in concert ; it is renewed at intervals throughout
the day, and again at set of sun, when the woods and
marshes resound with the extravagant uproar. I have
said that several birds unite in screaming ; this is
invariably the case. I have enjoyed the rare pleasure
of witnessing the birds at such times ; and the
screams then seem a fit accompaniment to their
disordered gestures and motions.
A dozen or twenty birds have their place of reunion
on a small area of smooth, clean ground surrounded
by rushes or sedges ; and by lying well concealed
and exercising some patience, one is enabled to watch
their proceedings. First one bird is heard to utter
a loud metallic-sounding note, three times repeated,
and somewhat like the call of the Guinea-fowl. It
issues from the reeds or rushes, and is a note of
invitation quickly responded to by other birds on
every hand as they all hurriedly repair to the
customary spot. In a few moments, and almost
simultaneously, the birds appear, emerging from
the reeds and running into the open space, where
YPECAHA RAIL 167
they all immediately wheel about and begin the
exhibition.
Whilst screaming they rush from side to side as if
possessed with frenzy^ the wings spread and agitated,
the beak wide open and raised vertically, I never
observed them fight or manifest anger towards each
other during these performances ; and knowing the
pugnacious spirit of the Ypecahas, and how ready
they are to seek a quarrel with birds of other species,
this at first surprised me, for I was then under the
mistaken impression that these gatherings were in
some way related to the sexual instinct.
Whilst watching them I also remarked another
circumstance. When concealing myself amongst the
rushes I have been compelled to place myself so
disadvantageous^, owing to the wet ground, that
any single bird straying accidentally into the open
space would have discovered my presence immed-
iately ; yet the birds have entered and finished their
performance without seeing me, so carried away
are they by the emotion that possesses them during
these moments. But no sooner has the wild chorus
ended, than, aware of my presence, they have fled
precipitately into the reeds.
We frequently speak of our familiarity with the
habits of the species we have long and carefully
observed in a state of nature ; yet the knowledge so
gained must necessarily be exceedingly imperfect, for
with many shy vigilant birds it is next to impossible
to see them without being seen ; and no bird, con-
scious of being watched, will act unconstrainedly
i68 BIRDS OF LA PLATA
any more than a human biiRg with clouded reputa-
tion will comport himself naturally with the eyes
of a detective on him. While we are observing
the bird, the bird watches us : of all its curious
doings when we are out of sight and mind we see
nothing. The only way to learn the habits of a species
like the Ypecaha — wary, inteUigent, and passing its
life behind a screen of rushes — is to domesticate it ;
for although in this state some instincts are blunted
and others remain in abeyance, they are not obliter-
ated. It might surprise some that I speak of the
Ypecaha as an intelligent bird, since it is a member
of the '* stupid family/' as Professor Parker has called
the Rails ; but in spite of the very profound admir-
ation I feel for that illustrious anatomist, I believe
he is wrong about these birds : there is, to my mind,
very much more stupidity in the Anserine and
Limicoline families, while the Ypecaha has always
seemed to me a singularly intelligent bird.
Fortunately A^ara was able to give an account of
one of these birds in a domestic state, which shows
that it makes a very sprightly and entertaining al-
though a mischievous pet. It was taken young and
allowed to run about at liberty with the poultry at
the house of a village doctor in Paraguay. When
full-grown it was very domineering, and became the
tyrant of the poultry-yard. Occasionally a cock had
the courage to face it, and then a singular combat
would ensue : the Ypecaha, moving with astonishing
rapidity, putting its head low, would charge, and,
thrusting its head between the cock's legs, fling him
YPECAHA RAIL 169
instantly on his back, then rain a shower of blows on
his breast before he could rise. It was fond of eggs,
and always knew when a hen went off to lay, cautiously
following her to the nest and then concealing itself
at some distance to wait. As soon as the egg was
dropped it would run, pick it up with its beak, and
carry it away to a safe distance, and then, breaking
a hole in the shell at one end, suck out the contents
without spilling a drop. Sometimes, when the hen
remained too long on the nest, it would lose its
temper, and, driving her off, pursue her with the
greatest animosity about the grounds, administering
correction with its sharp beak. Not satisfied with
devouring all the eggs laid by the doctor^s fowls, it
visited all the neighbours* houses, doing so much
damage that at length the poor doctor, afraid perhaps
that his practice would suffer, had the troublesome
bird put to death.
This Ypecaha would never allow any one to touch
it, but it would come into the house and search
through all the rooms for thimbles, scissors, and
other small metal objects, and these it would carry
away to conceal them among the weeds or else bury
them in the mud. It was also a good mouser, and
after killing a mouse with a blow from its beak would
swallow it entire.
170 BIRDS OF LA PLATA
LITTLE VC^TERHEN
Porphyriops melanops
Above olivaceous ; head darker ; wings brown ; wing-coverts tinged
with chestnut ; outer secondaries more or less distinctly margined
with white ; beneath cinereous ; middle of belly and crissum white ;
flanks ohvaceous, spotted with white ; bill dark ohve, with the tip
yellowish ; feet hazel ; length 9, wing 5 inches. Female similar.
In the southern part of the Argentine country the
Little Waterhen is a summer visitant, and very
abundant in the marshes along the Plata. In language
and habits it is like the Coots : it is not often seen on
land, and feeds principally as it swims about in a
jerky manner among the floating reeds. It appears
in October, migrating exclusively, I think, by night ;
and after the autumnal departure an individual is
rarely seen. By day they are shy and retiring, but
scatter abroad in the evening, frequently uttering
their hollow mysterious cry, called ** the witch laugh''
by superstitious people, and resembling a sudden
burst of hysterical laughter, the notes beginning
loud and long, becoming brief and hurried as they
die away.
YELLOW-BILLED COOT
Fulica leucoptera
Dark slatey ; head and neck black ; crissum white, with a black
median patch ; bend of wing and outer margin of external primary,
also the tips of some of the secondaries, white ; bill yellow ; head-
shield rounded behind ; feet olivaceous ; length 15, wing 7.5 inches.
Female similar.
This is perhaps the most abundant species of Fulica
in the Plata region, and certainly congregates in the
YELLOW-BILLED COOT 171
largest numbers. The colour of the beak and shield
is of a very delicate yellow ; the legs and feet dull
green ; the head, neck, and part of the back velvet-
black ; all the rest of the plumage dark slate-colour,
except the under-coverts of the tail, which are white
and render the bird very conspicuous when it is
swimming away with the tail raised vertically.
On the pampas, in large marshy lagoons, this
Coot is sometimes seen in immense numbers ;
thousands of birds uniting in one flock, and spreading
over the low shores to feed, they look like a great
concourse of Rooks. But they are exceedingly timid,
and at the sight of a bird of prey or other enemy they
all scuttle back to the water, tumbling over each
other in their haste to reach it. They rise in a peculiar
manner, rapidly striking the surface of the water
with their great lobed feet, often for a distance of
twenty or thirty yards before they are fully launched
in the air. They are loquacious birds, and when
swimming about concealed among the thick rushes
are heard answering each other in a variety of curious
tones, some of their loud, hollow-sounding, reiterated
cries resembling peals of laughter.
The nest is a slovenly structure of rushes lying
on the water, with a very slight depression for the
eggs, which are ten or twelve in number. These are
long, pointed at one end, dull cream-colour, marked
over the whole surface with small blackish and purple
spots.
There are two other species of Coots in Argentina :
the Red-gartered Coot, F. armillata, the largest
172 BIRDS OF LA PLATA
species^ which like the last IRs a yellow shield, but
bordered with red and the bare portions of the tibiae
crimson ; hence the name : and the Red-fronted
Coot, F, leucopyga, with beak and shield scarlet.
Altogether the Family Rallidae counts thirteen
species in Argentina : eight Rails and Crakes, two
Waterhens, and three Coots.
ARGENTINE COURLAN
Aramus scolopaceus
Above brown ; forehead, lores, and chin greyish white ; neck
striped with white ; beneath similar ; bill brown ; legs greenish grey ;
length 24, wing 13 inches. Female similar.
This curious bird has a blackish-brown plumage,
glossed with bronze on the upper parts ; its total
length is about two feet and a half, and the wings,
when spread, measure nearly four feet from tip to
tip. It has been called ** an abnormal relative of the
Rails at most," and in its peculiar flight and many
of its habits certainly differs very widely from the
Rails. It has but one known relative, the Giant
Courlan of northern South America, a rare species
about whose habits little is known.
The beak of this bird is nearly five inches long,
straight, and of an iron hardness ; the tip is sHghtly
bent to one side, the lower mandible somewhat more
than the upper. The tongue extends to the extremity
ARGENTINE COURLAN 173
of the beak ; at the end it is of a horny toughness,
and frayed or split into filaments. This beak is a most
effective instrument in opening shells ; for where
molluscs abound the Courlan subsists exclusively
on them, so that the margins of the streams which
this bird frequents are strewn with innumerable
shells lying open and emptied of their contents.
Every shell has an angular piece, half an inch long,
broken from the edge of one valve. Mussels and
clams close their shells so tightly that it would perhaps
be impossible for a bird to insert his beak, however
knife-like in shape and hardness, between the valves
in order to force them open ; therefore I believe
the Courlan first feels the shell with his foot whilst
wading, then with quick dexterity strikes his beak
into it before it closes, and so conveys it to the shore.
Otherwise it would be most difficult for the bird to
lift the closed shell from the water and to carry it to
land ; but supposing it could do this, and afterwards
succeed in drilling a hole through it with its beak,
the hole thus made would have jagged edges and be
irregular in shape. But the hole is, as I have said,
angular and with a clean edge, showing that the bird
had just thrust his beak half an inch or an inch
between the valves, then forced them open, breaking
the piece out during the process, and probably
keeping the shell steady by pressing on it with its
feet.
By day the Courlan is a dull bird, concealing
itself in dense reed-beds in streams and marshes.
When driven up he rises laboriously, the legs dangling
174 BIRDS OF LA PLATA
down, and mounts verticallygR) a considerable height*
He flies high, the wings curved upward and violently
flapped at irregular intervals ; descending he drops
suddenly to the earth, the wings motionless, pointing
up, and the body swaying from side to side, so that
the bird presents the appearance of a falling para-
chute. On smooth ground he walks faster than a
man, striking out his feet in a stately manner and
jerking the tail, and runs rapidly ten or twelve yards
before rising. At the approach of night he becomes
active, uttering long, clear, piercing cries many times
repeated, and heard distinctly two miles away. These
cries are most melancholy, and together with its
mourning plumage and recluse habits have won for
the Courlan some pretty vernacular names. He is
called the '* Lamenting Bird " and the ** Crazy
Widow," but is more familiarly known as the
Carau.
Near sunset the Caraus leave the reed-beds and
begin to ascend the streams to visit their favourite
fishing-grounds. They are very active at night,
retiring again at the approach of morning, and
sometimes pass the day perched on trees, but
more frequently concealed in dense rush-beds.
As the breeding-season draws near they become
exceedingly clamorous, making the marshes resound
day and night with their long, wailing cries. The nest
is built among the rushes, and contains ten or twelve
eggs big as a Turkey's eggs, and very large for the si2;e
of the bird, slightly elliptical, sparsely marked with
blotches of pale brown and purple on a dull white
Common Jacana
Parra jacana (Lijin.)
JACANA 175
ground^ the whole egg having a powdered or floury
appearance. When the nest is approached the parent
birds utter sharp^ angry notes as they walk about
at a distance. The young and old birds live in one
flock until the following spring*
The Carau is more nocturnal than the true Rails,
and, having a far more powerful flight, takes to wing
more readily ; in its gestures and motions on the
ground it resembles them, but differs strikingly from
all Ralline birds in the habit it possesses of flying
when disturbed to some open place, where it walks
about conspicuously, watching the intruder.
JACANA
Parra jacana
Head and neck purplish black ; back and wings bright chestnut ;
primaries and secondaries pale greenish yellow tipped with brown ;
flanks dark chestnut ; breast dark black ; abdomen purplish ; the tail
chestnut tipped with black ; wattles on head and base of bill red,
rest of bill yellow ; feet olive ; length 10.5, wing 5.8 inches. Female
similar.
The beautiful Jacana — pronounced something like
Yasand — also called in the vernacular Alas-amarillas
(Yellow- wings), differs very widely from all the other
members of the Limicoline Order in which it is
placed, in the enormously elongated toes which
enable it to run about on the floating leaves of water
plants. It is supposed to come nearest to the Plovers,
176 BIRDS OF LA PLATA
but is more like a Rail itf0ts appearance, which is
most singular.
The colouring of the plumage heightens the
singularity of its appearance : the head, neck, and
underparts being black ; the shoulders, back, and
wing-coverts chestnut ; while the quills, which have
a bright satiny lustre, are apple-green in colour, and
in some lights appear golden-yellow.
In the southern part of the Plata district the Jacana
is migratory, arriving from the north in Buenos
Ayres early in October, either singly or in small
parties. In their migration they appear to follow
the course of the Plata ; and though some individuals
are found breeding inland, they are for the most
part confined to the littoral marshes.
The Jacanas journey by very easy stages, fre-
quently alighting to rest by the way ; for they are so
incapable of sustained flight that boys on the pampas
occasionally take them, pursuing them on horseback
till the birds drop down exhausted. I believe the
migratory Rails travel in the same way — a matter not
easily determined, as they migrate by night ; but
th)ey are feeble- winged creatures, and when driven
to rise flutter away as if wounded. I have observed
the Jacanas migrating by day, but would not for this
reason affirm that they do not journey by night,
since the Bartram's Sandpiper and other species
journey both day and night.
The Jacana flies swiftly, in a straight line and
close to the surface ; the wings flutter rapidly, and
there are frequent intervals of gliding. When rising
JACANA 177
it presents a most novel appearance^ as the lovely
golden-green of the wings is quite concealed when
the bird is at rest ; the beauty of its flight is thus
greatly enhanced by the sudden display of a hue so
rare and delicate. At a distance from the beholder,
and in a strong sunshine, the wings appear of a
shining golden yellow. Not only when flying does the
Jacana make a display of its beautiful wings ; without
rising it has a way of exhibiting them, appearing to
delight as much in them as the Cockatoo does in its
crest or the Peacock in its train. When several of
these birds live in company, occasionally they all in
one moment leave their feeding, and with quick
excited notes, and clustering together in a close
group, go through a singular and pretty performance,
all together holding their wings outstretched and
agitated, some with a rapid fluttering, others with a
slow-moving leisurely motion like that of a butterfly
sunning itself. The performance over, the birds
peaceably scatter again. I have never observed
Jacanas fighting.
Shortly after arriving they pair, and build a simple
nest with few materials, usually on the floating weeds.
The eggs are four, in shape like a Snipers eggs, spotted
with chestnut on a pale yellowish-brown ground.
During incubation the male keeps guard at some
distance from the nest, and utters a warning cry
at the approach of an intruder ; the female instantly
flies from the nest, but in rising renders herself
very conspicuous. When the nest is approached
the parent birds hover about, occasionally fluttering
M II
178 BIRDS OF LA PLATA
as if wounded, all the tme keeping up a clamour
of hurried, angry notes somewhat resembling the
yelping cries of the Stilt.
SPUR-WING LAPWING
Vanellus cayennensis
Above grey ; broad front and vertical crest black ; patch on the
scapulars purplish bronze ; upper tail-coverts white ; primaries
purplish black ; greater coverts white ; lesser wing-coverts bronze
green ; tail, basal half white, the other half purple-black tipped with
white ; beneath, chin, line down the middle of the throat and breast
shining black ; sides of neck grey, passing into white on the face ;
abdomen and under wing-coverts white ; bill, spur on wing, and feet
red ; eyes crimson; length 13, wing 8.2 inches. Female similar.
The Lapwing of La Plata is considerably larger than
the well-known Lapwing of the Old World, but
closely resembles that bird in the general colour of
the plumage, in the long, slender, black crest, and
in general appearance. Throughout the Argentine
country it is called Teru-teru, from its ever-repeated
disyllabic cry ; west of the Andes the vernacular
name is Qaeltregua, also in imitation of its notes. It
has red legs, crimson irides, a rosy beak tipped with
black, and coral-red wing-spurs ; and these spots of
bright colour add to its bold, striking appearance. In
size, beauty, and spirit it is a king among the Plovers,
while its jealous, aggressive disposition gives it the
character of a tyrant amongst birds in general. On
the pastoral pampas (the district from which the
SPUR-WING LAPWING 179
giant grasses have disappeared) it is (or was) exces-
sively abundant ; and it is there resident^ although,
as with most strong-winged resident species, some
individuals do certainly migrate, small parties being
occasionally seen in spring and autumn flying steadily
at a great height, apparently performing a long
journey. As a rule the birds pair for life, and remain
always on the spot where they breed. They may be
persecuted with guns, their eggs taken year after
year, even the ground turned up with the plough,
but they still refuse to be driven out. In regions
having a broken surface — hills, woods, and sheltered
hollows — birds naturally get attached to one spot,
for each locality possesses its own features, and
individuals frequenting it acquire a knowledge of
its advantages* The vast pampas have a uniform
level surface, and produce the same kinds of food
in the same quantities. They are parched with
droughts and flooded by rains alternately, and swept
by dust storms in summer and cold gales in winter
— violent enough, one would imagine, to drive every
winged creature away and obliterate all marks of
home. Again, the powerful flight of this species
would enable it to take long journeys, and if un-
affected by atmospheric changes, scarcity of food
and water might be a temptation to seek new regions.
But through all vicissitudes the Teru-teru clings to
its chosen spot of ground.
In defence of its territory it wages perpetual war
against most living creatures, the objects of its special
abhorrence being men, dogs, Rheas, and birds of
i8o BIRDS OF LA PLATA
prey generally. Its noi^cry and irascible temper
are spoken of by most travellers and naturalists ;
for no person riding across the pampas could possibly
overlook the bird, with its screaming protests against
all trespassers perpetually ringing in his ears ; but
they have all omitted to mention the singular habit
which this bird has of associating in sets of three
for the purpose of amusement or play. Each couple,
as I have said, live always together on their own
pretty well - defined plot of ground, which they
jealously guard from intrusion. Yet if you watch
a pair of them for a while you will presently see
another bird — one of a neighbouring couple — rise
up and fly to them, leaving his own mate to take care
of home ; and instead of resenting this visit as an
intrusion, they welcome it with notes and signs of
manifest pleasure. Advancing to the visitor, they
place themselves behind it, and then all three, keeping
step, begin a rapid march, uttering loud drumming
and rhythmical notes in time with their movements,
the notes of the birds behind coming in a rapid
stream, while the leading bird utters loud single notes
at regular intervals. The march ceases, the leader
stretches out his wings, still emitting loud notes,
while the other two, with puffed-out plumage,
standing exactly abreast, stoop forward until the
tips of their beaks touch the ground, and, sinking
their voices to a murmur, remain for some time in
this singular posture. The performance is then over ;
the birds all resume their natural attitudes, and the
visitor takes his leave. It is quite certain that this
SPUR-WING LAPWING i8i
display has no connection with the sexual feeling,
for it is indulged in all the year round, at all hours
of the day, and also during moonlight nights* It is
simply the bird's manner of expressing its joyous
spirits ; for most living creatures — birds especially
— have more or less well-defined methods of playing ;
and play-day with the Teru is every day, and at
brief intervals* And yet the grave, pompous air of
the birds, and the military precision of their move-
ments, might easily lead an observer to attribute
these displays to some more important motive. Play
is not only indulged in with neighbours ; there are
many solitary T^rus continually wandering about
from place to place — probably young birds not yet
settled in life — ^and when one of these vagrants passes
near a pair he is immediately invited to join them,
and when he alights all go through the performance
together with great zest. In this case, however, as
soon as it is over, the strange bird is attacked with
great spirit and chased away ; and if by chance he
comes down again near them, they hasten to drive
him up with increased fury. He is wanted only for
five or six minutes and must not outstay his welcome.
While watching their antics, which the gauchos
call the Teru's quadrilles, a curious subject of
enquiry suggested itself to my mind. It appeared
to me that its manner of playing has had a reflex
effect strong enough to mark the bird's whole charac-
ter — slanguage, bearing, and habits being coloured by
it, and even the domestic relations interfered with.
And with regard to the latter point, though it is the
i82 BIRDS OF LA PLATA
rule that each cock bird nas only one hen, I have
known several instances of a cock with two hens,
the two females laying their eggs in one nest and
taking turns in sitting on them. I have also found
instances of two males to one female ; and in one
case where I watched the birds I noticed that when
the female was on the nest the males stood over her,
one on each side.
I once had my attention drawn to a large concourse
of Terus by the strange behaviour of two individuals
amongst them, and I stayed to watch their proceed-
ings. It was in the dry, hot weather, and a great
many birds had congregated to drink at a lagoon.
Some hundreds of them were standing about, quietly
preening their feathers, and in the middle of the
flock two birds were conspicuously marching about,
stiff and upright as a couple of soldiers engaged in
some military exercise, and uttering loud notes full
of authority. Every few minutes a fresh bird would
arrive and alight at some distance from the water,
on which the two noisy birds would bustle up, and,
ranging themselves behind it, run it with loud drum-
ming notes to the margin ; then, standing close
together, they would wait till its thirst was quenched,
after which they would run it away to some distance
from the water, of which they seemed to have made
themselves dispensers. For over an hour I continued
watching them, and every bird that arrived was
conducted to and from the water in this ceremonious
manner.
Occasionally several couples unite and soar about
SPUR-WING LAPWING 183
in a compact flock ; they divide into sets of three
birds each, then hover for some time, all waving
their wings exactly in time and screaming their notes
in unison, and these movements seem like an imita-
tion in the air of the usual marching and drumming
performance on the ground.
The breeding-season of the Terus begins as early
as the month of June in favourable seasons ; severe
cold, drought, or other causes sometimes delay it to
August, The nest is a shallow circular hollow made
by the bird on the level plain, and lined with broken
grass-stems and small fragments of thistle-stalks ;
the eggs are four, rather sharply pointed at one end,
and have an olive-green ground colour spotted with
black. The eggs in different nests vary greatly in
si^e, ground colour, and in the amount of black they
are marked with, no two birds laying eggs exactly
alike.
While the female is on the nest the male keeps
watch at a distance of twenty or thirty yards, and
utters a low warning cry in case of danger. The
female leaves the nest sometimes by running, but
oftener flies from it, and by marking the spot she
rises from it is easy to find the nest on the open level
pampas. In the course of a morning^s ride I have
picked up as many as sixty-four eggs. During
incubation the birds are excessively watchful and
jealous, their irritability increasing with the growth
of the chick in the shell ; and at that time they
will attack any bird of prey approaching the nest
with great fury. When approached by a human
i84 BIRDS OF LA PLATA
being they fly to meet him wien he is still far from
them, and hovering, with loud screams, over him,
dash down at intervals, threatening to strike with
their wing-spurs, coming very close to his head.
Unable to intimidate the enemy with this show of
violence the bird changes its tactics, and, alighting
at some distance, counterfeits the action of a bird
seeking its nest. With well-acted caution and secrecy
in its manner, it runs silently along, stooping low,
and having found a slight nest-like depression on
the surface, sits on it, half opens its wings, and begins
gathering all the small sticks or straws within its
reach and carefully arranges them about it, as most
ground-breeding birds do when incubating. Some-
times also, like many other species, it tries to lead
one away from the nest by feigning lameness ; but
the former instinct of seeking and sitting on an
imaginary nest, which I have not observed in any
other bird, seems far more complex and admirable.
When sheep in a flock pass over the nest, the bird
stands on it to defend its eggs ; and then its loud
cries and outspread wings often serve to bring the
sheep, from motives of curiosity, about it. Even
with a dozen sheep clustered round it the bird stands
undaunted, beating their faces with its wings ; but,
unhappily for it, if the shepherd is following, the
loud cries of the bird bring him to the spot, and the
eggs so bravely defended are taken.
AMERICAN GOLDEN PLOVER 185
AMERICAN GOLDEN PLOVER
Charadrius dominicus
Above brownish black, with numerous irregular spots of yellow ;
forehead, superciliary stripe, and sides of neck white ; beneath black ;
crissum whitish ; axillaries smoky grey ; bill black ; feet dark grey ;
length 10.5, wing 7 inches. Female similar. Young, beneath dirty
white, with greyish freckles.
This closely allied representative of the Golden
Plover of Europe, from which it is distinguishable
mainly by its rather larger si2;e and smoky-grey
axillaries, visits South America after its breeding
season in the north.
The American Golden Plover is abundant and
well known to every one by its native name Chorlo
throughout Southern Argentina, Its wild, clear notes
are first heard about the last week in August ; and
among the first comers many individuals are seen
still wearing the nuptial dress. After their long
journey from the Arctic regions they are lean and
not worth shooting ; two months later they become
excessively fat, and are then much appreciated by
gourmets. But although so regular in their arrival
they do not regularly visit the same localities every
season ; the bird may be abundant in a place one
year and scarce or absent altogether the next. Dur-
ing the spring, from September to December, they
prefer open plains with short grass and in the neigh-
bourhood of wet or marshy ground ; at the end of
December, when the giant thistle {Carduus mariana),
which often covers large areas of country, has been
i86 BIRDS OF LA PLATA
burnt up by the sun and kfcwn to the ground^ they
scatter about a great deal in flocks of from one to
four or five hundred. At noon^ however, they all
resort to a lagoon or marshy place containing vi^ater,
congregating day after day in such numbers that
they blacken the ground over an area of several acres
in extent ; and at a distance of a quarter of a mile
the din of their united voices resembles the roar of
a cataract. As population increases on the pampas
these stupendous gatherings are becoming more and
more rare. Twenty-five years ago it was an excep-
tional thing for a man to possess a gun, or to use
one when he had it ; and if Chorlos were wanted,
a gaucho boy, with a string a yard long with a ball
of lead attached to each end, could knock down as
many as he liked. I have killed them in this way
myself, also with the bola perdida — a ball at the end
of a long string thrown at random into a cloud of
birds.
The habits, flight, and language of the Golden
Plover need not be spoken of here, as this bird has
been so often and exhaustively described by North
American ornithologists. The only peculiarity it
possesses which I have not seen mentioned, is its
faculty of producing a loud sound, as of a horn, when
a few passing birds, catching sight of others of their
kind on the ground below, descend violently and
almost vertically to the earth with unmoving wings.
This feat is, however, rarely witnessed ; and on the
first occasion when I heard the sound high above
me, and looked up to see half a dozen Chorlos rushing
WINTER PLOVER 187
down from the sky^ the sight almost took my breath
away with astonishment.
The Golden Plover appears to be most abundant
on the pampas between the thirty-fourth and thirty-
sixth parallels of latitude, but how far south its range
extends has not yet been ascertained. The return
migration begins early in March, and yet Mr. Barrows
met with it in the neighbourhood of Bahia Blanca
and on the Sierra de la Ventana from 8th February
to 19th March. During most of this time, he says, it
was abundant in flocks of from twenty to two hun-
dred birds, which appeared to be moving uniformly
south or south-west.
WINTER PLOVER
Eudromias modesta
Above brownish cinereous ; frontal band and superciliary stripe
white ; wings and central tail-feathers blackish ; lateral tail-feathers
white, the inner ones with an imperfect black subterminal band ;
beneath, throat cinereous, breast bright chestnut with a black band
below ; belly white ; bill black, base of lower mandible yellowish ;
feet brown ; length 7.5, wing 5.3 inches. Female similar. Young
without the rufous chest.
This species in its gait, flight, and general appearance
closely resembles the American Golden Plover, but
is smaller than that bird, and its sober upper plumage
is unrelieved with flecks of golden colour. It breeds
in South Patagonia and the Falklands, and migrates
north in autumn, appearing on the pampas in April,
and being met with there throughout the winter ;
i88 BIRDS OF LA PLATA
hence the vernacular name Chorlito de invierno
(Little Winter Plover). In its winter dress the upper
plumage is greyish drab colour ; the breast dark
brown ; the belly white. It is shy and active in
disposition^ has a very rapid flight, and is seen in
flocks varying greatly in number, from a dozen to
two or three hundred individuals. When feeding
the birds scatter very widely, running swiftly over
the ground in all directions. When on the wing it
frequently utters its cry, which has not the mellow
tone of the Golden Plover's note, but it is wonder-
fully clear and far-reaching, and impresses the
listener with its wildness and melancholy.
Their return migration takes place in August.
PATAGONIAN RINGED PLOVER
Mgialitis falklandicus
Above brown ; front white ; band across forehead and sides of head
black, bordered with rufous ; wings black, with bright shafts and white
edges to the base of some of the inner primaries ; central tail-feathers
black, lateral white, with a more or less distinct subterminal blackish
band, except on the outer pair ; beneath white, crossed by two broad
blackish bands on the breast ; bill and feet black ; length 7, wing 5
inches. Female similar.
The pretty little Belted Plover inhabits the Falklands
and South Patagonia, and migrates north in winter
as far as Paraguay ; but it is not anywhere common,
and is seldom seen in parties exceeding half a do2;en
in number. It is extremely active, always preferring
wet grounds to dry, and runs rapidly over the mud
/
viU
> — ■
" I
►J '^
■X.
-af' '■
SLENDER-BILLED PLOVER 189
in search of food like a Tringa. Its only language
is a low clicking note uttered when taking wing.
Some individuals remain to breed as far north as
the pampas of Buenos Ayres, Mr. Gibson says the
nest is always placed near the water, and is a slight
scrape in the ground lined with dry grass. The eggs
are three in number, have black spots on an olive
ground, and in shape resemble Lapwings' eggs.
Durnford also found it breeding in the Chupat
Valley in September 1877.
There is a second species of Ringed Plover (Azara*s
Ringed Plover, i^. collaris) which ranges over the
whole of South America and was occasionally seen
by me on migration, on the pampas.
SLENDER-BILLED PLOVER
Oreophilm ruficollis
Above grey, varied with yellowish brown and striped with black on
the back and wing-coverts ; front and superciliaries yellowish brown ;
stripe through the eye blackish ; wings blackish with white shafts,
their under surface white ; tail grey, with a black subterminal bar on
the lateral feathers ; beneath grey ; throat rusty reddish ; below the
breast a black band or patch ; bill dark, feet red ; length lo, wing
6.5 inches.
This pretty and singular Plover, with a bill like a
Sandpiper, inhabits South Patagonia and the Falk-
lands. In the autumn it migrates north, and during
the cold season is found sparsely distributed through-
out the Argentine States, and passes into Bolivia and
Peru. On the pampas it is most abundant in April,
igo BIRDS OF LA PLATA
but most of the birds s$th. during that month are
travellers to warmer latitudes.
It is a shy and exceedingly active bird^ somewhat
larger than the Golden Plover in size, and in the
Plata district is usually called Chorlo canela, from
the prevailing cinnamon-red of the plumage. It is
distinguished in the family it belongs to by the great
length of its straight, slender, probe-hke bill, unlike
that of any other Plover ; and it also has other
structural peculiarities, the toes being exceptionally
short and thick, the frontal bone curiously modified,
and the eyes enormously large, like those of a noc-
turnal species. I do not think, however, that it
migrates by night, as I have never heard its peculiar
passage-cry after dark. A flock is usually composed
of from a dozen to thirty individuals, and when on
the ground they scatter widely, running more rapidly
than any other Plover I am acquainted with. When
they travel the flight is swift and high, the birds
much scattered. They possess no mellow or ringing
notes like other members of the Plover family ; on
the ground they are silent, but when taking wing
invariably utter a long, tremulous, reedy note, with a
falling inflection, and usually repeated three or four
times. The sound may be imitated by striking on the
slackened stings of a guitar. This cry is frequently
uttered while the birds are migrating.
On the Rio Negro in Patagonia I observed this
Plover only in the winter season ; but Durnford
found it nesting in the valley of the Sengel in Chupat
in the month of December.
SEED-SNIPE 191
SEED-SNIPE
Thinocorus rumicivorus
Above buffy brown, marbled and irregularly banded with black ;
wing-feathers black, edged with white, external secondaries like the
back ; tail black, broadly tipped with white, central rectrices like the
back ; beneath white ; a broad line on each side of the throat uniting
in the centre of the neck and expanding into a collar on the breast,
black ; sides of neck greyish ; bill dark brown, feet yellow ; length
6.5, wing 3.9 inches. Female similar but with only slight traces of
black bar.
This curious bird has the grey upper plumage and
narrow, long, sharply-pointed wings of a Snipe, with
the plump body and short, strong, curved beak of a
Partridge, But the gallinaceous beak is not in this
species correlated, as in the Partridges, with stout
rasorial feet ; on the contrary, the legs and feet are
extremely small and feeble, and scarcely able to
sustain the weight of the body. When alighting the
Seed-Snipe drops its body directly upon the ground
and sits close like a Goatsucker ; when rising it
rushes suddenly away with the wild, hurried flight
and sharp, scraping alarm-cry of a Snipe. It is ex-
clusively a vegetable feeder. I have opened the
gizzards of many scores to satisfy myself that they
never eat insects, and have found nothing in them
but seed (usually clover-seed) and tender buds and
leaves mixed with minute particles of gravel.
These birds inhabit Patagonia, migrating north
to the pampas in winter, where they arrive in April.
192 BIRDS OF LA PLATA
They usually go in flails of about forty or fifty
individuals^ and fly rapidly, keeping very close
together. On the ground, however, they are always
much scattered, and are so reluctant to rise that
they will allow a person to walk or ride through the
flock without taking wing, each bird creeping into
a little hollow in the surface or behind a tuft of grass
to escape observation. During its winter sojourn
on the pampas the flock always selects as a feeding-
ground a patch of whitish argillaceous earth with a
scanty, withered vegetation ; and here, when the
birds crouch motionless on the ground, to which
their grey plumage so closely assimilates in colour,
it is most diflicult to detect them. If a person stands
still, close to or in the midst of the flock, the birds will
presently betray their presence by answering each
other with a variety of strange notes, resembling the
cooing of Pigeons, loud taps on a hollow ground,
and other mysterious sounds, which seem to come
from beneath the earth.
In the valley of Rio Negro I met with a few
of these birds in summer, but could not find their
nests.
Dumford, however, who found them breeding
in Chupat at the end of October, tells us that
the nest is a slight depression in the ground, some-
times lined with a few blades of grass. ** The eggs
have a pale stone ground-colour, very thickly but
finely speckled with light and dark chocolate mark-
ings ; they have a polished appearance, and measure
1.3 by .8 inch.'* (Ibis, 1878, p. 403.)
BRAZILIAN STILT 193
BRAZILIAN STILT
Himantopus brasiliensis
White ; line behind each eye, nape, back of neck, interscapulium,
and wings black ; a narrow white band divides the black neck from
the black upper back ; bill black, feet orange ; length 14, wing 8.5
inches. Female similar.
This bird is resident and common in the Plata dis-
trict, and is called in the vernacular Teru-realf also
Zancudo (Stilt), It frequents marshes and lagoons,
and wades in search of food in the shallow water
near the margin. It is lively in its movements, and
notwithstanding the great length of its legs has a
pretty, graceful appearance on the ground. On the
wing, however, it is seen at its best, the flight being
remarkably swift and free, while the sharply-pointed
glossy-black wings contrast finely with the snow-
white plumage of the body, and the red legs stretched
out straight behind have the appearance of a long,
slender tail. Stilts are fond of aerial exercises, pur-
suing each other with marvellous velocity through
the air, so that a few moments after the spectator
has almost lost sight of them in the sky above they
are down again within a few yards of the surface.
While pursuing each other they constantly utter
their excited yelping cries, which in tone remind
one of the musical barking of some hounds.
The nest is made on the low ground close to the
water, and consists merely of a slight lining of dry
grass and leaves gathered in a small depression on
N II
194 BIRDS OF LA PLATA
the surface ; the eggs ar^^ur in number, pyriform,
dark olive colour spotted with brownish black, the
spots being very thickly crowded at the large end.
During incubation the male keeps guard and utters
a warning note on the appearance of an enemy,
whereupon the female quits the nest. They also
counterfeit lameness to draw a person from the
neighbourhood of the eggs or young, but in a manner
peculiar to this species ; for owing to the great
length of their legs they cannot drag themselves
along the ground, as Ducks, Plover, Partridges, and
other birds do. Placing themselves at a distance of
forty or fifty yards from the intruder, but with breast
towards him, they flutter about a foot above the
ground, their long legs dangling under them, and
appear as if struggling to rise and repeatedly falling
back. If approached they slowly retire, still fluttering
just above the grass and without making any sound.
After the young birds are able to fly they remain
with the parents until the following spring ; and
sometimes two or three families associate together,
raising the number of the flock to fifteen or twenty
birds. The young have a sharp, querulous cry of
two notes ; the plumage is brown and pale grey ;
the eyes black. After nine or ten months the adult
plumage is acquired, not by moulting, but by a
gradual change in the colours of the feathers. By
the same gradual process the eye changes from black
to crimson, the outer edge of the iris first assuming
a dull reddish colour, which brightens and widens
until the whole iris becomes of a vivid red.
PARAGUAY SNIPE 195
PARAGUAY SNIPE
Callinago paraguaix
Above brown^ striped and barred with black and pale fulvous ;
wings dark cinereous edged with white ; tail of sixteen rectrices, of
which the outer pair are pin-shaped ; beneath white, breast marbled
with blackish and brown ; length 10.5, wing 9,1 inches.
This familiar bird, called Agachona in the vernacular,
from its habit of crouching close to the ground to
escape observation when approached, is abundant in
the Plata district and resident, although its sudden
and total disappearance from all the open wet places
where it is common in the winter gives one the
impression that it is migratory. The bird, however,
only retires to breed in the extensive lonely marshes ♦
The nest is a slight depression on the moist ground
close to the water, and lined with a little withered
grass. The eggs are four, pear-shaped, and spotted
with black on an olive-coloured ground.
After the summer heats are over Snipes suddenly
appear again all over the country, and at this season
they are frequently met with on the high and dry
grounds among the withered grass and thistles. In
favourable wet seasons they sometimes collect in
large flocks, numbering not less than five or six
hundred birds, and a flock of this kind will occasion-
ally remain in one spot for several months without
breaking up. They usually frequent an open spot of
level ground where the water just covers the roots
of the short grass ; here the birds keep close together
ia6 BIRDS OF LA PLATA
while feeding and arc visihi^ from a long distance ;
but they become extremely wary, all raising their
heads in a very un-Snipe-like manner at the slightest
alarm, and taking flight with the readiness of Wild
Ducks. These flocks are, however, not often met
with. Usually the Snipe is a solitary bird, crouches
close when approached, and springs up suddenly
when almost trodden on, loudly uttering its sharp
scraping alarm-cry ; after rising to a considerable
height, flying in a wild erratic manner, it returns
suddenly to' the earth, often dropping into the grass
within twenty yards of the spot it rose from.
It is indeed curious to see how these habits, char-
acteristic of the Snipes all over the world, are so
completely laid aside when the birds associate in
large flocks.
Early and late in the day many individuals are
usually on the wing engaged in their aerial pastimes,
the singular grinding or scythe-whetting sounds
caused by their feathers in their violent descent from
a great height being distinctly audible at a distance
of nearly a mile. It is heard throughout the winter
at all hours of the day in mild, damp weather, and
on moonlight nights often until after midnight.
ARGENTINE PAINTED SNIPE 197
ARGENTINE PAINTED SNIPE
Rhynchxa semicollaris
Above dark brown ; head black, with a central and two lateral
longitudinal bands of buffy white ; wings ashy blackish, spotted with
buffy white and barred with black ; coverts with large oval spots of
clear white ; beneath, throat and breast dark brownish, with a con-
spicuous white neck-collar on each side ; belly white, flanks tinged
with buffy ; bill greenish, reddish at tip ; feet flesh-colour ; length
8, wing 4.1 inches. Female similar, but shghtly larger and more
brightly coloured.
In the Argentine provinces this bird is called Dormildn
(Sleepy-head), in allusion to its dull habits, which
are like those of a nocturnal species* It passes the
daylight hours concealed in dense reed-beds, rising
only when almost trodden on ; the flight is feeble
and erratic, the rapid wing-flutterings alternating
with intervals of gliding, and after going a short
distance the bird drops again like a Rail into the
rushes ♦ From its behaviour on the ground, also in
flying, when it appears dazed with the light, I have
no doubt that it is altogether nocturnal or crepuscular
in its habits. It is solitary and resident, and may be
met with in small numbers in every marsh or stream
in the Plata district, where its favourite reed-beds
afford it cover. It appears to have no cry or note
of any kind, for even when frightened from its nest
and when the eggs are on the point of hatching it
utters no sound* The eggs never exceed two in
number, and are placed on the wet ground, often
without any lining, among the close grass and herbage
igS BIRDS OF LA PLATA
near the water. They are oblong and bluntly pointed
at the smaller end, and have a white ground colour,
but so densely marked and blotched with black that
in some cases they appear to be almost wholly of
that colour, or like black eggs flecked with white.
PECTORAL SANDPIPER
Tringa maculata
Above brown, varied with black ; superciliaries whitish ; rump and
middle upper tail-coverts white ; beneath white ; neck and breast
greyish streaked with blackish ; length 8.5, wing 5.1 inches. Female
similar.
The Pectoral Sandpiper is a well-known North-
American species that visits the south during migra-
tion. It breeds abundantly in Alaska, and descends
in winter through Central and South America to
Chili and Patagonia. Durnford found it abundant
about the salt-lagoons of Chupat. Near the end of
August it begins to arrive in La Plata, usually in
very small flocks or singly ; and among these first
comers there are some young birds so immature,
with threads of yellow down still adhering to the
feathers of the head and altogether weak in appear-
ance, that one can scarcely credit the fact that so soon
after being hatched they have actually performed
the stupendous journey from the northern extremity
of the North American continent to the Buenos-
Ayr ean pampas.
This species differs from other Sandpipers in
GREATER YELLOWSHANKS 199
being much more solitary and sedentary in its ways,
feeding for hours in one spot, and in its Snipe-like
habit of sitting close when approached and remaining
motionless watching the intruder ; also in its lan-
guage, its low, soft, tremulous cry when flying being
utterly unlike the sharp and clicking sounds emitted
by other species. During the hot months, when
water begins to fail, they occasionally congregate in
flocks, sometimes as many as two or three hundred
individuals being seen together ; but at all times
it is more usual to see them in small parties of half
a dozen or singly.
Two other well-known Arctic- American species of
Tringa are annual visitants to Argentina : — Baird's
Sandpiper, T. hairdi^ and Bonaparte's Sandpiper,
r. fuscicollis*
GREATER YELLOWSHANKS
Totanus melanoleucm
Above brownish grey spotted with white ; rump nearly white ;
beneath white ; throat and neck with black streaks ; bill blacky feet
yellow ; length 14, wing 7.5 inches. Female similar.
The Greater Yellowshanks is best known as an
Arctic-American species, descending south during
migration, and arriving in La Plata at the end of
September or early in October, singly or in pairs,
and sometimes in small flocks. Without ever being
abundant the bird is quite common, and one can
200 BIRDS OF LA PLATA
seldom approach a pool or marsh on the pampas
without seeing one or more individuals wading near
the margin^ and hearing their powerful alarm-cry
— a long, clear note repeated three times.
These summer visitors leave us in March, and
then, oddly enough, others arrive, presumably from
the south to winter on the pampas, and remain from
April to August. Thus, notwithstanding that the
Yellowshanks does not breed on the pampas, we have
it with us all the year round, Durnford's obser-
vations agree with mine, for he says that the bird
is found throughout the year near Buenos Ayres ;
and Mr. Barrows writes that this species ** occurs
every month in the year (at Concepcion in Entrerios),
but in increased numbers during August, September,
October, and November.**
The Lesser Yellowshanks, Totanus flavipeSf is
also a common species, a visitor from Arctic America,
in Argentina from September to April. Many non-
breeding individuals are also found during the other
months of the year. In habits, language, colour, and
— except in size — in its entire appearance it closely
resembles the Greater Yellowshanks ; and the two
species, attracted or deceived by this likeness, are
constantly seen associating together.
SOLITARY SANDPIPER 201
SOLITARY SANDPIPER
Rhyacophilus solitarius
Middle toe nearly as long as tarsus. Above dark olivaceous grey,
with blacker markings and slightly speckled with white ; upper tail-
coverts blackish, barred with white ; tail white with blackish bars ;
beneath white ; sides of neck and breast streaked and barred with
dusky grey ; under wing-coverts blackish, barred with white ; length
8.5, wing 5 inches. Female similar.
The well-known and well-named Solitary Sandpiper
arrives later than the other birds of its family in La
Plata, and differs greatly from them in its habits,
avoiding the wet plains and muddy margins of
lagoons and marshes where they mostly congregate,
and making its home at the side of a small pool well
sheltered by its banks, or by trees and herbage, and
with a clear margin on which it can run freely. As
long as there is any water in its chosen pool, though
it may be only a small puddle at the bottom of a
ditch, the bird will remain by it in solitary content-
ment. When approached it runs rapidly along the
margin, pausing at intervals to bob its head, in which
habit it resembles the Totanus or Yellowshanks, and
emitting sharp little clicks of alarm. Finally, taking
flight, it utters its peculiar and delightful cry, a long
note thrice repeated, of so clear and penetrating a
character that it seems almost too fine and bright
a sound even for so wild and aerial a creature as a
bird.
The flight is exceedingly rapid and wild, the bird
rising high and darting this way and that, uttering
202 BIRDS OF LA PLATA
its piercing trisyllabic cr^ne whole time, and finally,
dashing downwards, it suddenly drops again on to
the very spot from which it rose.
I was once pleased and much amused to discover
in a small sequestered pool in a wood, well sheltered
from sight by trees and aquatic plants, a Solitary
Sandpiper living in company with a Blue Bittern.
The Bittern patiently watched for small fishes, and
when not fishing dozed on a low branch overhanging
the water ; while its companion ran briskly along
the margin snatching up minute insects from the
water. When disturbed they rose together, the
Bittern with its harsh, grating scream, the Sandpiper
daintily piping its fine bright notes — a wonderful
contrast ! Every time I visited the pool afterwards
I found these two hermits, one so sedate in manner,
the other so lively, living peacefully together.
BARTRAM'S SANDPIPER
Actitura bartramius
Above blackish, feathers edged with yellowish brown ; rump black ;
wing-coverts yellowish brown, barred with black ; primaries blackish ;
beneath white ; breast and flanks ochraceous, spotted and barred with
black ; under surface of wings barred with white and black ; bill
yellowish, tip black ; feet yellow ; length lo, wing 6.3 inches. Female
similar.
Bartram^s Sandpiper, a Sandpiper with the habits
of a Plover, is a widely-distributed North American
species, its breeding area extending over a large
portion of the United States, where it is known as
BARTRAM'S SANDPIPER 203
the Upland Plover* The people of that country have
been paying it a good deal of attention of late ; they
have discovered that it is a charming bird, and at
the same time that during the last three or four
decades their gunners have almost extirpated it*
They fear that it is going the way of the Passenger
Pigeon, the Pinnated Grouse, the Carolina Parro-
keet, the Ivory-billed Woodpecker, and, I believe
we must now add, the Esquimo WhimbreL
This species differs from its fellow-migrants of
the same family from the north to Argentina in its
wide and even distribution over all that portion of
the pampas where the native coarse grasses which
once covered the country have disappeared, an area
comprising not less than 50,000 square miles* It
begins to arrive as early as September, coming singly
or in small parties of three or four ; and, extra-
ordinary as the fact may seem when we consider the
long distance the bird travels, and the monotonous
nature of the level country it uses as a '' feeding
area,^' it is probable that every bird returns to the
same spot year after year ; for in no other way could
such a distribution be maintained, and the birds
appear every summer evenly sprinkled over so
immense a surface*
On the pampas the bird is called Chorlo solo,
on account of its solitary habit, but more com-
monly BatitUf an abbreviation of the Indian name
MbatuituL In disposition it is shy, and prefers
concealment to flight when approached, running
rapidly away through the long grass or thistles, or
204 BIRDS OF LA PLATA
concealing itself behina a tussock until the danger
is past, or often, where the herbage is short, crouching
on the ground like a Snipe. It runs swiftly and
pauses frequently ; and while standing still with head
raised it jerks its long tail up and down in a slow
measured manner. When driven up it springs aloft
with a sudden wild flight, uttering its loud mellow-
toned cry, composed of three notes, strongly accented
on the first and last ; and sometimes, when the bird
is much alarmed, the first note is rapidly reiterated
and becomes a bubbling sound like that of the
European Cuckoo, but much more musical. After
flying a very short distance it drops to the ground
again, agitating its wings in a tremulous manner as
it comes down. And sometimes after alighting it
continues standing motionless for several seconds
with the wings stretched up vertically. These wing
motions and other pretty gestures give it a very
attractive appearance. In its skulking habits, and
reluctance to fly, it is more like a Rail than a Snipe.
It also, Rail-like, frequently alights on trees and
fences, a habit I have not remarked in any other
Limicohne species.
It inhabits the pampas from September until
March ; but early in February the great return
migration begins, and then for two months the
mellow cry of the Batitu is heard far up in the
sky, at all hours, day and night, as the birds wing
their way north. In some seasons stragglers are
found throughout the month of April, but before
the winter arrives not one is left.
BUFF-BREASTED SANDPIPER 205
BUFF-BREASTED SANDPIPER
Tryngites mfescens
Above dark brownish black, each feather widely edged with buff;
wings blackish, narrowly tipped with white, the inner half of the inner
web whitish reticulated with black; tail blackish, the outer rectrices
lighter, each with subterminal black crescent and white terminal
edge ; beneath buff, darker on the throat and breast, and edged with
whitish, lighter on flanks and belly; under primary-coverts barred
and reticulated with black, Uke the inner web of the primaries,
and forming a marked contrast with the rest of the under surface of
the wing, which is pure white ; length 7-7. wing 5-3 inches. Female
similar.
This species is also an annual visitor to the pampas
from the Arctic regions where it breeds. It begins
to arrive, usually in small bodies, early in the month
of October ; and during the summer is seldom met
with in flocks of any si2;e on the pampas, but is usually
seen on the dry, open ground associating in small
numbers with the Golden Plover, the Whimbrel,
and other northern species. I however think it
probable that it travels farther south than its fellow-
migrants from North America, and has its principal
feeding-grounds somewhere in the interior of Pata-
gonia ; also that its northern journey takes place
later than that of other species. In some seasons I
have observed these birds in April and May, in
flocks of two to five hundred, travelling north, flock
succeeding flock at intervals of about fifteen minutes,
and continuing to pass for several days.
2o6 BIRDS OF LA PLATA
HUDSONIAN GODWIT
Limosa hsemastica
In summer: Above dark brownish black, mixed on the head with
longitudinal streaks of whitish, on the neck with pale chestnut, and
with many of the feathers of the back spotted or edged with pale
chestnut ; wings and tail blackish, the upper half of the inner webs
of the primaries and secondaries, the basal part of the outer rectrices,
and a broad band across the upper tail-coverts pure white ; beneath,
cheeks and throat whitish, becoming pale chestnut on the neck, longi-
tudinally striped with blackish ; rest of under surface deeper chestnut,
transversely barred with blackish. In winter: Above uniform dull
brownish ; head, neck, and under surface dirty white or pale buff ;
length 14.3, wing 8.5 inches.
The Hudsonian Godwit, Mr. Seebohm tells us,
** breeds on the tundras of North America north
of the forest-growth, from Alaska to Baffin's Bay,
but is rare at the western extremity of its range." In
winter it goes far south, like most of the other Grallx*
Durnford found it '' common from April to Sep-
tember about the lagoons and arroyos to the south
of Buenos Ayres '' ; and states that in habits it much
resembles the Bar-tailed Godwit of Europe {Limosa
lapponica) . He also met with it in Chupat, and obtained
two specimens there on the 13th of November, 1876.
I have met with it in flocks during the summer of
the Southern Hemisphere, and these birds, as well
as those obtained by Durnford, were undoubtedly
visitors from the north ; but invariably small flocks
of half a dozen to thirty birds begin to appear on the
pampas in April, and remain there, as Durnford
says, until September, when the northern migrants
are nearly due. These individuals must therefore
ESQUIMO WHIMBREL 307
breed near the extremity, or beyond the extremity,
of South America* It is very curious, to say the
least of it, that the Arctic and Antarctic regions of
America should possess the same species, and that,
at opposite seasons of the year, it should winter in
the same district, so far from the breeding-place of
one set of individuals, and so near to that of the
other ! Captain Abbott observed the Hudsonian
Godwit in the Falkland Islands in flocks in the
month of May (see Ibis, 1861, p, 156). These could
not have been Alaska birds, but were no doubt
southern breeders on their way north, for that they
could winter so far south seems incredible.
ESQUIMO WHIMBREL
Numenim borealis
Above dark brown, each feather edged or spotted with pale buff or
dirty white, becoming most strongly marked on the rump and upper
tail-coverts ; wings uniform dusky brownish, narrowly edged with
white ; tail buffy brown, transversely barred with dusky ; beneath,
throat white ; rest of under surface pale buff, with more or less
V-shaped dusky markings on the breast, flanks, and under tail-coverts ;
axillaries and under wing-coverts pale chestnut, transversely barred
with dusky ; length ii.6, tail 8.14 inches. Female similar.
The Esquimo Whimbrel, which, as Mr. Seebohm
tells us, may be distinguished from all its congeners
by having scarcely any traces of bars on its prim-
aries and by the back of the tarsus being covered
with hexagonal reticulations, migrates from the
tundras of North America, where it breeds, to the
southern extremity of South America.
2o8 BIRDS OF LA PLATA
Mr. Barrows noted its^rst arrival at Concepcion in
Entrerios on gth September, 1880, '' in large flocks/'
After the middle of October not one was seen.
The same excellent observer saw it almost daily
on the pampas between Azul and Bahia Blanca, '' in
company with the Golden Plover and Bartram's
Sandpiper, until late in February."
From the 8th to the loth of October, 1877, Durn-
ford saw large flocks of this Whimbrel in the Chupat
valley flying south, and obtained two specimens.
Capt. Packe and Capt. Abbott both procured examples
in the Falkland Islands.
The Esquimo Whimbrel was common enough in
its season on the pampas in my day, appearing in
September to October in small flocks of thirty or
forty to a hundred or more, and often associating
with the Golden Plover ; but, as I now hear from
the authorities of the Smithsonian Institution at
Washington, it is practically extinct.
BLACK-TAILED SKIMMER
Rhynchops melanura
Above brownish black ; forehead and wing-band white ; tail black ;
beneath white ; bill, apical half black, basal half orange ; feet red ;
length 19, wing 15 inches. Female similar.
The Black-tailed Skimmer, which is common on the
coasts of Brazil, migrates south in spring, following
the course of the Plata river in its journey, and
BLACK-TAILED SKIMMER 209
appearing in pairs or small flocks in the neighbour-
hood of Buenos Ayres during the month of October,
Its chief breeding-ground is on the extensive mud-
banks and islets at Bahia Blanca on the Atlantic
coast. The return migration occurs in March.
Darwin met with the Scissor-bill during his ex-
cursion up the Parana in October, 1833, and speaks
of it as follows {Nat. Journ.t p. 161) :
** I here saw a very extraordinary bird, called the
Scissor-beak (Rhynchops nigra)* It has short legs,
web feet, extremely long-pointed wings, and is of
about the size of a Tern. The beak is flattened
laterally, that is in a plane at right angles to that of
a Spoonbill or Duck. It is as flat and elastic as
an ivory paper-cutter, and the lower mandible, dif-
ferent from every other bird, is an inch and a half
longer than the upper. I will here detail all I know
of the habits of the Scissor-beak. It is found both on
the east and west coasts, between latitudes 30 and
45, and frequents either salt or fresh water. The
specimen now at the Zoological Society was shot at
a lake near Maldonado, from which the water had
been nearly drained, and which in consequence
swarmed with small fry. I there saw several of these
birds, generally in small flocks, flying backwards
and forwards, close to the surface of the lake. They
kept their bills wide open, and with the lower man-
dible half buried in the water. Thus skimming the
surface, they ploughed it in their course ; the water
was quite smooth, and it formed a most curious
spectacle to behold a flock, each bird leaving its
O II
2IO BIRDS OF LA PLATA
narrow wake on the mi||i)r-like surface. In their
flight they frequently twist about with extreme
rapidity, and so dexterously manage, that with their
projecting lower mandible they plough up small
fish, which are secured by the upper half of their
scissor-like bilh This fact I repeatedly saw as, like
Swallows, they continued to fly backwards and
forwards close before me. Occasionally, when leav-
ing the surface of the water, their flight was wild,
irregular, and rapid ; they then also uttered loud,
harsh cries. When these birds are fishing, the length
of the primary feathers of the wings is seen to be
quite necessary, in order to keep the latter dry.
When thus employed, their forms resemble the
symbol by which many artists represent marine birds.
The tail is much used in steering their irregular course.
'' These birds are common far inland along the
course of the Rio Parana ; it is said they remain
during the whole year and breed in the marshes.
During the day they rest in flocks on the grassy
plains, at some distance from the water. Being at
anchor, as I have said, in one of the deep creeks
between the islands of the Parana, as the evening
drew to a close one of these Scissor-beaks suddenly
appeared. The water was quite still, and many
little fish were rising. The bird continued for a
long time to skim the surface, flying in its wild and
irregular manner up and down the narrow canal,
now dark with the growing night and the shadows
of the overhanging trees. At Monte Video I observed
that some large flocks during the day remained on
DOMINICAN GULL 211
the mud-banks at the head of the harbour, in the
same manner as on the grassy plains near the Parana ;
and every evening they took flight direct to seaward.
From these facts I suspect that the Rhynchops
generally fishes by night, at which time many of the
lower animals come most abundantly to the surface,
M, Lesson states that he has seen these birds open
the shells of the Mactrx^ buried in the sand-banks
on the coast of Chili ; from their weak bills, with
the lower mandible so much produced, their short
legs and long wings, it is very improbable that this
can be a general habit/'
DOMINICAN GULL
Larus dominicanus
Mantle brownish-black ; primaries black, with white tips, and a
subapical patch in old birds ; rest of plumage white ; bill yellow,
orange at angle of lower mandible ; legs and feet olive ; length 22,
wing 18 inches.
The Dominican Gull, which belongs to the same
section of the group as the well-known Black-backed
Gulls of Europe and closely resembles our Great
Black-backed Gull, is common throughout the Plata
district in winter, from April to August, During the
summer months it confines itself to the Atlantic
coast, and breeds in large numbers in the neigh-
bourhood of Bahia Blanca, on the extensive sand-
banks and mud-flats there ; and in other suitable
localities further south, Durnford found it nesting at
Tombo Point, sixty miles south of the Chupat river.
212 BIRDS OF LA PLATA
At the approach of coMT weather the Dominican
Gulls leave the sea-shore and wander inland and
northward. At this season they are almost exclu-
sively flesh-eaters, with a preference for fresh meat ;
and when the hide has been stripped from a dead
cow or horse they begin to appear, vulture-like,
announcing their approach with their usual long,
hoarse sea-cries, and occasionally, as they circle about
in the air, joining their voices in a laughter-like
chorus of rapidly repeated notes. Their winter
movements are very irregular ; in some seasons
they are rare, and in others so abundant that they
crowd out the Hooded Gulls and Carrion-Hawks
from the carcase ; I have seen as many as five to six
hundred Dominicans massed round a dead cow.
ARGENTINE BLACK-HEADED GULL
Larus maculipennis
Head and nape brownish-black (in breeding dress) ; tail and under-
parts white ; mantle pale grey ; primaries black or dark grey, tipped
with white, and with large elongated white patches on the outer portions
of first to fifth, followed by a subapical black bar (in L. glaucodes the
lower portion is white) ; underwing pale grey ; bill, legs, and feet
blood-red ; length 17, wing 11.5 inches.
This common Black-headed Gull is found through-
out the Argentine country, down to Chupat in Pata-
gonia, and is exceedingly abundant on the pampas
of Buenos Ayres, where it is simply called Gaviota
(Gull). In the month of October they congregate
in their breeding-places — extensive inland marshes.
BLACK-HEADED GULL 213
partially overgrown with rushes* The nests are
formed of weeds and rushes, placed just above the
water and near together, several hundreds being
sometimes found within an area of less than one
quarter of an acre. The eggs are four in number,
large for the bird, obtusely pointed, of a pale clay-
colour, thickly spotted at the big end and sparsely
on the other parts with black.
Every morning at break of day the Gulls rise up
from their nests and hover in a cloud over the marsh,
producing so great a noise with their mingled cries
that it can be heard distinctly at a distance of two
miles. The eggs are considered a great delicacy,
resembling those of the Plover in taste and appear-
ance, and are consequently much sought after, so
that when the locality near which a gullery is situated
becomes inhabited the birds have no chance of
rearing their young, as the boys in the neighbour-
hood ride into the marsh every morning to gather
the eggs. The Gulls are, however, very tenacious
of their old breeding-places, and continue even after
years of persecution to resort to them.
The young birds are of a pale grey colour, mottled
with dull brown, and have a whining, querulous cry.
The plumage becomes lighter, through the autumn
and winter, but it is not until the ensuing summer,
when the dark brown nuptial hood is assumed, that
the young birds acquire the perfect plumage — soft
grey-blue above, and the white bosom with its lovely
pink blush.
As soon as the young are able to fly the breeding-
214 BIRDS OF LA PLATA
place is forsaken, the whoie concourse leaving in a
body, or scattering in all directions over the sur-
rounding country ; and until the following summer
their movements depend entirely on food and water.
If the weather is dry the Gulls disappear altogether ;
and if grasshoppers become abundant the country
people wish for rain to bring the Gulls, When it
rains then the birds quickly appear, literally from the
clouds, and often in such numbers as to free the
earth from the plague of devastating insects. It is a
fine and welcome sight to see a white cloud of birds
settle on the afflicted district ; and at such times their
mode of proceeding is so regular that the flock well
deserves the appellation of an army. They sweep
down with a swift, graceful flight and settle on the
earth with loud, joyful cries, but do not abandon
the order of attack when the work of devouring has
begun. The flock often presents a front of over a
thousand feet, with a depth of sixty or seventy feet ;
all along this line of battle the excited cries of the
birds produce a loud, continuous noise ; all the birds
are incessantly on the move, some skimming along
the surface with expanded wings, others pursuing
the fugitives through the air, while all the time the
hindmost birds are flying over the flock to alight in
the front ranks, so that the whole body is steadily
advancing, devouring the grasshoppers as it pro-
ceeds. When they first arrive they seem ravenously
hungry, and after gorging themselves they fly to
the water, where after drinking they cast up their
food and then go back to renew the battle.
BLACK-HEADED GULL 215
In spring these Gulls come about the farms to
follow the plough, filling the new-made furrows
from end to end, hovering in a cloud over the plough-
man's head and following at his heels, a screaming,
fighting multitude, Wilson's expression in describing
a northern species, that its cry ** is like the excessive
laugh of a negro,'' is also descriptive of the language
of our bird. Its peculiar cry is lengthened at will
and inflected a hundred ways, and interspersed
with numerous short notes like excited exclamations.
After feeding they always fly to the nearest water to
drink and bathe their feathers, after which they
retire to some open spot in the neighbourhood where
there is a carpet of short grass. They invariably sit
close together with their bills toward the wind, and
the observer will watch the flock in vain to see one
bird out of this beautiful order. They do not stand
up to fly, but rise directly from a sitting posture.
Usually the wings are flapped twice or thrice before
the body is raised from the ground.
In some seasons in August and September, after
a period of warm, wet weather, the larvae of the large
horned beetle rise to the surface, throwing up little
mounds of earth as moles do ; often they are so
numerous as to give the plains, where the grass has
been very closely cropped, the appearance of being
covered with mud. These insects afford a rich harvest
to the Spur-winged Lapwing {Vanellus cayennensis),
which in such seasons of plenty are to be seen all
day diligently running about, probing and dis-
lodging them from beneath the fresh hillocks. The
2i6 BIRDS OF LA PLATA
Gulls^ unprovided with a Robing beak^ avail them-
selves of their superior cunning and violence to rob
the Lapwings ; and I have often watched their pro-
ceedings for hours with the greatest interest. Hun-
dreds of Lapwings are perhaps visible running
busily about on all sides ; near each one a Gull is
quietly stationed, watching the movements of its
intended dupe with the closest attention. The
instant a great snow-white grub is extracted the
Gull makes a rush to sei^e it, the Lapwing flies, and
a violent chase ensues. After a hundred vain doub-
lings the Plover drops the prize, and slopes toward
the earth with a disappointed cry ; the pursuer
checks his flight, hovers a moment watching the
grub fall, then drops down upon it, gobbles it up,
and hastens after the Lapwing to resume his watch»
Many of these Gulls haunt the estancias to feed
on the garbage usually found in abundance about
cattle-breeding establishments. When a cow is
slaughtered they collect in large numbers and quarrel
with the domestic poultry over the offal. They are
also faithful attendants at the shepherd*s hut ; and
if a dead lamb remains in the fold when the flock
goes to pasture they regale on it in company with
the Chimango. The great saladeroSf or slaughter-
grounds, which were formerly close to Buenos Ayres,
were also frequented by hosts of these neat and
beautiful scavengers. Here numbers were seen hover-
ing overhead, mingling their excited screams with
the bellowing of half-wild cattle and the shouts of
the slaughterers at their rough work ; and at intervals,
GREAT GREBE 217
wherever a little space is allowed them^ dropping
down to the ground^ which reeked with blood and
offal^ greedily snatching up whatever morsels they
could seize on, yet getting no stain or speck on their
delicate dress of lily-white and ethereal blue.
On the open pampas their curiosity and anger
seem greatly excited at the appearance of a person
on foot ; no sooner has the Gull spied him than it
sweeps toward him with a rapid flight, uttering loud,
indignant screams that never fail to attract all of its
fellows within hearing distance. These all pass and re-
pass, hovering over the pedestrian's head, screaming
all the time as if highly incensed, and finally retire,
joining their voices in a kind of chorus and waving
their wings upwards in a slow, curious manner ; but
often enough, when they are almost out of sight, they
suddenly wheel about and hurry back screaming,
with fresh zeal, to go through the whole pretty but
annoying performance again.
GREAT GREBE
Mchmophorus major
Above blackish ; occipital crest divided, bronzy black ; wide bar
across the wing white ; beneath white ; chin dark ashy ; neck, breast,
and sides of belly (in adult) more or less red ; bill yellowish, feet dark ;
length 21, wing 8 inches.
This Grebe is called in the vernacular Macas
cornudo — the first word being the Indian generic
name for the Grebes, while cornudo signifies homed,
from the bird's habit of erecting, when excited, the
2i8 BIRDS OF LA PLATA
feathers of the nape in^e form of a horn. The
species is found throughout Eastern Argentina, from
its northern Hmits to Central Patagonia, where
Dumford found it common and resident. On the
Rio Negro I found it abundant, and it was formerly
just as common along the Plata river, but owing to
its large size and the great beauty of its lustrous
under-plumage it is very much sought after and is
becoming rare.
It is impossible to make this Grebe leave the
water, and when discovered in a small pool it may
be pursued until exhausted and caught with the
hand ; yet it must occasionally perform long journeys
on the wing when passing from one isolated lake to
another. Probably its journeys are performed by night.
There is little diversity in the habits of Grebes,
and only once have I seen one of these birds acting
in a manner which seemed very unusual. This Grebe
was swimming about and disported itself in a deep,
narrow pool, and showed no alarm at my presence,
though I sat on the margin within twenty-five yards
of it. I saw it dive and come up with a small fish
about three inches long in its beak ; after sitting
motionless for a little while, it tossed the fish away
to a considerable distance with a sudden jerk of its
beak, and then at the instant the fish touched the
water it dived again. Presently it emerged with
the same fish, but only to fling it away and dive
as before ; and in this way it released and recap-
tured it about fifteen times, and then, tired of
play^ dropped it and let it escape.
TATAUPA TINAMU 219
Mr* Gibson has the following note on the breeding
habits of the Great Grebe^ as observed at Ajo, near
the mouth of Rio de La Plata : ** P* major breeds
about the end of August, placing its nest in the
thickest rushes of the swamp* The nest, built of
wet water-weeds, is raised just above the level of the
water ; and I have twice seen the sitting bird hastily
draw some weeds over the eggs before leaving them,
on my approach. The clutch consists of three ; and
these are of the usual Grebe colour, generally much
soiled and stained/^
There are four more species of Grebe in Argen-
tina : the Bright-cheeked Grebe, Podiceps cali-
parsuSf confined to southern S. America ; Holland's
Grebe, Podiceps rollandi, also confined to the south
of the continent ; the American Dabchick, Tachy-
baptes dominicus, inhabiting Central and S. America ;
and the Thick-billed Grebe, Podilymhus podiceps^
found in both North and South America.
TATAUPA TINAMU
Crypturus tataupa
Above chestnut brown ; head and neck dark cinereous ; beneath
cinereous ; throat white ; middle of belly white ; flanks and crissum
varied with undulating bars of black and white ; bill yellowish, feet
dark ashy ; length lo, wing 5.2 inches. Female similar.
The Tataupa Tinamu was first described by Azara
as an inhabitant of Paraguay, whence it extends into
the northern provinces of the Argentine Republic.
220 BIRDS OF LA PLATA
White obtained specim^s among the undergrowth
in the dense forests of Campo Colorado, near Oran,
and Durnford also met with it near Salta.
To Azara's interesting account of the Tataupa's
habits nothing has been recently added. He says
that this species inhabits woods and thickets, and
also approaches houses where it finds cover — hence
the Guarani name, which means a domestic bird,
or of the house. It lays four eggs of a fine purple
colour ; and when driven from the nest flutters
along the ground, feigning lameness. It sings all
the year round, and for power and brilliance of
voice is pre-eminent among this class of birds. After
the first note of its curious song there is an interval
of eight seconds of silence ; then the note is repeated
with shorter and shorter intervals, until, becoming
hurried, it runs into a trill, followed by a sound
which may be written chororOf repeated three or
four times. When sitting close it tips forward,
pressing its breast on its legs, so that the rump is
raised higher than the back, and opening the term-
inal feathers of the body, it spreads them in a semi-
circle over the back as if to conceal itself beneath
them, and when looked at from behind nothing is
visible except this fan of feathers. The feathers are
concave with points inclining upward, and when thus
disposed have a singular and beautiful appearance.
RUFOUS TINAMU 231
RUFOUS TINAMU
Rhynchotus rufescens
Above cinereous ; head, wings, and back crossed by black bars with
pale ochraceous edgings ; neck reddish ; primaries chestnut ; beneath
pale cinereous, strongly tinged with rufous on the neck and breast ;
chin white ; bill ashy, beneath at base yellowish ; feet dark flesh-
colour ; length 14, wing 9.5 inches. Female similar, but larger.
This large Tinamu, known to the Argentines as
the Perdiz grander or Great Partridge, is found on
the pampas wherever long grasses abound, and
extends as far south as the Colorado river, its place
being taken in Patagonia by Calodromas elegans. It
is never met with in woods or thickets, and requires
no shelter but the giant grasses, through which it
pushes like a RaiL Wherever the country becomes
settled and the coarse indigenous grasses are replaced
by those of Europe, it quickly disappears, so that it
is already extinct over a great portion of the Buenos-
Ayrean pampas*
This species is solitary in its habits, conceals itself
very closely in the grass, and flies with the greatest
reluctance, I doubt if there is anywhere a bird with
such a sounding flight as the Tinamu ; the whirr
of its wings can only be compared to the rattling of
a vehicle driven at great speed over a stony road.
From the moment it rises until it alights again there
is no cessation in the rapid vibration of the wings ;
but, like a ball thrown by hand, the bird flies straight
222 BIRDS OF LA PLATA
away with extraordinai^ violence until the impel-
ling force is spent^ when it slopes gradually towards
the earthy the distance it is able to accomplish at a
flight being from 800 to 1500 yards. This flight it
can repeat when driven up again as many as three
times, after which the bird can rise no more.
The call of the Great Partridge is heard, in fine
weather, at all seasons of the year, especially near
sunset, and is uttered while the bird sits concealed
in the grass, many individuals answering each other ;
for although I call it a solitary bird, many birds are
usually found living near each other. The song or
call is composed of five or six notes of various length,
with a mellow flute-like sound, and so expressive
that it is, perhaps, the sweetest bird-music heard on
the pampas.
The eggs are usually five in number, nearly round,
highly polished, and of a dark reddish-purple or
wine colour ; but this beautiful tint in a short time
changes to a dull leaden hue. The nest is a mere
scrape, insufficiently lined with a few grass-leaves.
The young birds appear to leave the mother (or
father, for it is probable that the male hatches the
eggs) at a very early period. When still very small
they are found living, like the adults, a solitary life,
with their faculties, including those of flight and
the musical voice, in a high state of perfection.
SPOTTED TINAMU 223
SPOTTED TINAMU
* Nothura maculosa
Above pale yellowish brown, barred with black and brown and
streaked with fulvous white ; wing-feathers ashy black, crossed on
both webs by fulvous bands ; beneath rich yellowish brown ; throat
white ; breast and flanks spotted and banded with brownish black ;
bill and feet yellowish brown; length ii, wing 5.5 inches. Female
similar, but larger.
The Perdiz comun or Common Partridge of the
pampas, as it is always called — the naturalist's name
of Tinamu being utterly unknown in the southern
part of South America — is much smaller than the
Perdiz grandef but in its form, slender curved beak,
bare legs, and in the yellowish mottled plumage,
generally resembles it. It also inhabits the same
kind of open grassy country, and is abundant every-
where on the pampas and as far south as the valley
of the Rio Negro in Patagonia. It is solitary ; but a
number of individuals are usually found in proxi-
mity ; and in lonely places on the pampas, where
they are excessively abundant, I have seen three
or four meet together and play in the manner of
kittens, darting out from a place of concealment
at each other, the pursued bird always escaping by
turning off at right angles or by suddenly crouching
down and allowing the pursuer to spring over it.
It is very tame in disposition, and flies so reluc-
tantly that it is not necessary to shoot them where
they are very abundant, as any number can be
killed with a long whip or stick. It moves on the
324 BIRDS OF LA PLATA
ground in a leisurely qpnner, uttering as it walks
or runs a succession of low whistling notes. It has
two distinct songs or calls, pleasing to the ear and
heard all the year round ; but with greater frequency
in spring, and where the birds are scarce and much
persecuted, in spring only. One is a succession of
twenty or thirty short impressive whistling notes of
great compass, followed by half a dozen rapidly
uttered notes, beginning loud and sinking lower till
they cease ; the other call is a soft continuous trill,
which appears to swell mysteriously on the air, for
the listener cannot tell whence it proceeds ; it lasts
several seconds, and then seems to die away in the
distance.
It is an exceedingly rare thing to see this bird
rise except when compelled. I believe the power of
flight is used chiefly, if not exclusively, as a means
of escape from danger. The bird rises up when
almost trodden upon, rushing through the air with
a surprising noise and violence. It continues to rise
at a decreasing angle for fifty or sixty yards, then
gradually nears the earth, till, when it has got to
a distance of two or three hundred yards, the violent
action of the wing ceases and the bird glides along
close to the earth for some distance, and either
drops down or renews its flight. I suppose many
birds fly in much the same way ; only this Tinamu
starts forward with such amazing energy that until
this is expended and the moment of gliding comes,
the flight is just as ungovernable to the bird as
the motion of a brakeless engine, rushing along
SPOTTED TINAMU 325
at full speed, would be to the driver. The bird knows
the danger to which this peculiar character of its
flight exposes it so well that it is careful to fly only
to that side where it sees a clear course. It is some-
times, however, compelled to take wing suddenly,
without considering the obstacles in its path; it
also often miscalculates the height of an obstacle,
so that for Tinamus to meet with accidents when
flying is very common. In the course of a short ride
of two miles, during which several birds sprang up
before me, I have seen three of these Tinamus dash
themselves to death against a fence close to the path,
the height of which they had evidently misjudged. I
have also seen a bird fly blindly against the wall of
a house, killing itself instantly. A brother of mine
told me of a very curious thing he once witnessed.
He was galloping over the pampas, with a very
violent wind blowing in his face, when a Tinamu
started up before his horse. The bird flew up into
the air vertically, and, beating its wings violently,
and with a swiftness far exceeding that of its ordinary
flight, continued to ascend until it reached a vast
height, then came down again, whirling round and
round, striking the earth a very few yards from the
spot where it rose, and crushing itself to a pulp with
the tremendous force of the fall. It is very easy to
guess the cause of such an accident : while the
Tinamu struggled blindly to go forward, the violent
wind, catching the under surface of the wings, forced
it upwards, until the poor bird, becoming hopelessly
confused, fell back to earth. I have often seen a
D II
226 BIRDS OF LA PLATA
Swallow, Gull, or HawJi^ soaring about in a high
wind, suddenly turn the under surface of its wings
to the wind and instantly shoot straight up, apparently
without an effort, to a vast height, then recover itself,
and start off in a fresh direction. The Tinamu,
when once launched on the atmosphere, is at the
mercy of chance ; nevertheless had this incident
been related to me by a stranger I should not have
recorded it*
This Tinamu is frequently run down and caught
by well-mounted gaucho boys ; the bird frequently
escapes into a kennel in the earth, but when it sees
no refuge before it and is hotly pursued, it sometimes
drops dead. When caught in the hand they ** feign
death,'* or swoon, but on being released quickly
recover their faculties.
The nest is a slight hollow scratched in the ground
under a thistle or in the grass, and lined with a few
dry leaves. The number of eggs laid varies from five
to eight. These are elliptical, with polished shells,
and as a rule are of a wine-purple colour ; but the
hue varies somewhat, some eggs having a reddish
tinge and others a deep liver-colour.
In Patagonia the Spotted Tinamu is replaced by the
very closely allied Darwin's Tinamu, Nothura darwinu
This species, called Perdiz chicOf or Little Partridge,
by the natives, is somewhat smaller and paler in
colouring than the common Tinamu of the pampas,
but very closely resembles the young of that species.
It inhabits Patagonia, and is nowhere very numerous,
but appears to be thinly and equally distributed on
MARTINETA 227
the dry, sterile plains of that region, preferring places
abounding in thin scrub. In disposition it is extremely
shy, and when approached springs up at a distance
ahead and runs away with the greatest speed and
apparently much terrified. Sometimes when thus
running it utters short whistled notes like the allied
species. It rises more readily and with less noise
than the pampas bird, and has a much higher flight.
It has one call-note, heard only in the love-season —
a succession of short whistling notes, Hke those of
the iV. maculosa^ but without the rapidly uttered con-
clusion.
The nest is made under a small scrubby bush, and
contains from five to seven eggs, in form and colour
like those of N* maculosa, except that the^reddish-
purple tint is paler.
MARTINETA
Calodromas elegans
Above densely banded and spotted with black and pale fulvous ;
head cinereous^ with black striations ; a long recurved vertical crest
of black feathers^ partly edged with cinereous ; two lateral stripes of
the head above and beneath the eye and throat cinnamon white ;
beneath pale cinnamon, breast with numerous black cross-bars and
black shaft-spots ; belly, flanks, and under tail-coverts with broad
black cross bands; wings ashy black, with numerous cross bands
of pale cinnamon; bill blackish, feet bluish-grey; length 14.5, wing
8.3 inches. Female similar.
This fine game-bird in its si2;e and mottled plumage
resembles the Rhynchotus rufescens of the pampas,
which it represents in the Patagonian region south
228 BIRDS OF LA PLATA
of the Rio Colorado, It differs externally in the
more earthy hue of its plumage, which is protective
and harmonises admirably with the colour of its
sterile surroundings ; also in having a shorter beak,
and in being adorned with a long, slender, black crest,
which the bird when excited carries directed for-
wards like a horn. There is, however, an anatomical
difference which seems to show that the two species
are not very near relations. The structure of the
intestinal canal in the Martineta is most peculiar,
and unlike that of any other bird I have ever dis-
sected : the canal divides near the stomach into a
pair of great ducts which widen towards the middle
and extend almost the entire length of the abdominal
cavity, and are set with rows of large membranous
claw-shaped protuberances.
The Martineta inhabits the elevated table-lands,
and is found chiefly where patches of scattered dwarf
scrub occur among the thorny thickets. Apparently
they do not require water, as they are met with in
the driest situations where water never collects.
They are extremely fond of dusting themselves, and
form circular nest-like hollows in the ground for
that purpose ; these hollows are deep and neatly
made, and are visited every day by the same birds
throughout the year. They live in coveys of from
half a dozen to twenty or thirty birds, and when
disturbed do not as a rule take to flight at once, but
jump up one after another and run away with amazing
swiftness, uttering as they run shrill, squealing cries,
as if in the greatest terror. Their flight, although
J<-^^J-
Martineta Tin am u
Culodromas elegans (il'Orb. ul Gcoira.)
MARTINETA 229
violent, is not so sounding as that of the Rufous
Tinamu, and differs remarkably in another respect.
Every twenty or thirty yards the wings cease beating
and remain motionless for a second, when the bird
renews the effort ; thus the flight is a series of rushes
rather than a continuous rush like that of the other
species. It is also accompanied with a soft wailing
note, which appears to die away and swell again as
the flapping of the wings is renewed.
The call-note of the Martineta is never heard in
winter ; but in the month of September they begin
to utter in the evening a long, plaintive, slightly
modulated whistle, the birds sitting concealed and
answering each other from bush to bush. As the
season advances the coveys break up, and their call
is then heard on every side, and often all day long,
from dawn until after dark. The call varies greatly
in different birds, from a single whistle to a per-
formance of five or six notes, resembling that of
the great Partridge, but inferior in compass and
sweetness. They begin to breed in October, making
the nest at the roots of a small isolated bush. The
eggs vary in number from twelve to sixteen ; they
are elliptical in form, of a beautiful deep green in
colour, and have highly polished shells.
It is probable, I think, that this species possesses
some curious procreant habits, and that more than
one female lays in each nest ; but owing to the
excessive wariness of the bird in^a state of nature it
is next to impossible to find out anything about it.
No doubt the day will come when naturalists will
230 BIRDS OF LA PLATA
find the advantage of ddBiesticating the birds the
life histories of which they wish to learn : may it
come before all the most interesting species on the
globe are extinct I
COMMON RHEA
Fhea americana
Above, head blackish ; neck wWtfsh, becoming black at the base
of the neck and between the shoulders; rest slatey grey; beneath,
throat and upper neck whitish, becoming black at the base of the neck,
whence arise two black lateral crescents, one on either side of the
upper breast ; rest of under surface whitish ; front of tarsus through-
out covered with broad transverse scutes ; length about 52 inches.
The Common Rhea (called Nandu in the Guarani
language, ChueH by the pampas Indians, and Ostrich
by Europeans) is found throughout the Argentine
Republic down to the Rio Negro in Patagonia, and,
in decreasing numbers, to a considerable distance
south of that river. Until within very recent times
it was very abundant on the pampas, and I can
remember the time when it was common within
forty miles of Buenos Ayres city. But it is now
becoming rare, and those who wish to have a hand
in its extermination must go to a distance of three
or four hundred miles from the Argentine capital
before they can get a sight of it.
The Rhea is peculiarly well adapted, in its size,
colour, faculties, and habits, to the conditions of
the level woodless country it inhabits ; its lofty
stature, which exceeded that of any of its enemies
COMMON RHEA 231
before the appearance of the European mounted
hunter^ enables it to see far ; its dim grey plumage,
the colour of the haze, made it almost invisible to
the eye at a distance, the long neck being so slender
and the bulky body so nearly on a level with the tall
grasses ; while its speed exceeded that of all other
animals inhabiting the same country. When watching
the chase of Ostriches in the desert pampas, abound-
ing in giant grasses, it struck me forcibly that this
manner of hunting the bird on horseback had brought
to light a weakness in the Rhea — a point in which
the correspondence between the animal and its en-
vironment is not perfect. The Rhea runs smoothly
on the surface, and where the tall grass-tussocks are
bound together, as is often the case, with slender
twining plants, its legs occasionally get entangled,
and the bird falls prostrate, and before it can struggle
up again the hunter is close at hand and able to
throw the bolas — the thong and balls, which, striking
the bird with great force, wind about its neck, wings,
and legs, and prevent its escape. When I questioned
Ostrich hunters as to this point they said that it was
true that the Rhea often falls when running hotly
pursued through long grass, and that the deer
(Cervus campestris) never falls because it leaps over
the large tussocks and all such obstructions. This
small infirmity of the Rhea would not, however,
have told very much against it if some moderation
had been observed in hunting it, or if the Argentine
Government had thought fit to protect it ; but in
La Plata, as in North America and South Africa, the
232 BIRDS OF LA PLATA
licence to kill, which evef^one possesses, has been
exercised with such ^eal and fury that in a very few
more years the noblest Avian type of the great bird-
continent will be as unknown on the earth as the
Moa and the ^pyornis.
The Rhea lives in bands of from three or four to
twenty or thirty individuals. Where they are not
persecuted they show no fear of man, and come about
the houses, and are as familiar and tame as domestic
animals* Sometimes they become too familiar. At
one estancia I remember an old cock bird that con-
stantly came alone to feed near the gate, which had
so great an animosity against the human figure in
petticoats that the women of the house could not go
out on foot or horseback without a man to defend
them from its attacks. When the young are taken
from the parent bird they become, as Ai^ara truly
says, ** domestic from the first day," and will follow
their owner about like a dog. It is this natural lame-
ness, together with the majesty and quaint grace of
its antique form, which makes the destruction of
the Rhea so painful to think of.
When persecuted, Rheas soon acquire a wary
habit, and escape by running almost before the
enemy has caught a sight of them ; or else crouch
down to conceal themselves in the long grass ; and
it then becomes difficult to find them, as they lie
close, and will not rise until almost trodden on. Their
speed and endurance are so great that, with a fair
start, it is almost impossible for the hunter to over-
take them, however well mounted. When the bird
COMMON RHEA 233
is running, the wings hang down as if injured,
but usually one wing is raised and held up like a
great sail, for what reason it is impossible to say*
When hard pressed, the Rhea doubles frequently
and rapidly at right angles to its course ; and if the
pursuer^s horse is not well trained to follow the bird
in all its sudden turns without losing ground he is
quickly left far behind.
In the month of July the love-season begins, and
it is then that the curious ventriloquial bellowing,
booming, and wind-like sounds are emitted by the
male. The young males in the flock are attacked
and driven off by the old cock-bird ; and when
there are two old males they fight for the hens. Their
battles are conducted in a rather curious manner,
the combatants twisting their long necks together
like a couple of serpents, and then viciously biting
at each other^s heads with their beaks ; meanwhile
they turn round and round in a circle, pounding
the earth with their feet, so that where the soil is
wet or soft they make a circular trench where they
tread* The females of a flock all lay together in a
natural depression in the ground, with nothing to
shelter it from sight, each hen laying a dozen or more
eggs* It is common to find thirty to sixty eggs in a
nest, but sometimes a larger number, and I have
heard of a nest being found containing one hundred
and twenty eggs* If the females are many the cock
usually becomes broody before they finish laying,
and he then drives them with great fury away and
begins to incubatet The hens then drop their eggs
234 BIRDS OF LA PLATA
about on the plains ; aii^ from the large number
of wasted eggs found it seems probable that more
are dropped out of than in the nest. The egg when
fresh is of a fine golden yellow^ but this colour
grows paler from day to day, and finally fades to a
parchment-white.
After hatching the young are assiduously tended
and watched over by the cock, and it is then dan-
gerous to approach the Rhea on horseback, as the
bird with neck stretched out horizontally and out-
spread wings charges suddenly, making so huge and
grotesque a figure that the tamest horse becomes
ungovernable with terror.
Eagles and the large Cairion Hawk are the enemies
the Rhea most fears when the young are still small,
and at the sight of one flying overhead he crouches
down and utters a loud snorting cry, whereupon
the scattered young birds run in the greatest terror
to shelter themselves under his wings.
Darwin*s Rhea, Rhea darwinif differs little in
colouring from the Common Rhea, which it replaces
south of the Rio Negro. From this river it ranges
south to the Straits of Magellan. The Indians call
it ** Mold Chueki ** — short or dwarf Chueke ; its
Spanish name is ** Avestruz petizo'* They were
formerly very abundant along the Rio Negro ;
unhappily some years ago their feathers commanded
a very high price ; Gauchos and Indians found that
hunting the Ostrich was their most lucrative em-
ployment ; consequently these noble birds were
slaughtered in such numbers that they have been
COMMON RHEA 335
almost exterminated wherever the nature of the
country admits of their being chased* When on the
Rio Negro I was so anxious to obtain specimens of
this Rhea that I engaged several Indians by the offer
of a liberal reward to hunt for me^ but they failed
to capture a single adult bird* I can only set down
here the most interesting facts I was able to collect
concerning its habits, which are very imperfectly
known.
When pursued it frequently attempts to elude the
sight by suddenly squatting down amongst the
bushes, which have a grey foliage to which the colour
of its plumage closely assimilates. When hard pressed
it possesses the same habit as the Common Rhea of
raising the wings alternately and holding them up
vertically : and also doubles suddenly like that
species. Its speed is greater than that of the Common
Rhea, but it is sooner exhausted. In running it
carries its head stretched forward almost horizon-
tally, which makes it seem lower in stature than the
allied species — hence the vernacular name of ** Short
Ostrich.*' It is found in flocks of from three or four
to thirty or more individuals. It begins to lay at the
end of July, that is, a month before the Rhea ameri-
cana. Several females lay in one nest, which is merely
a slight depression lined with a little dry rubbish ;
as many as fifty eggs are sometimes found in one
nest. A great many wasted or huacho eggs, as they
are called, are also found at a distance from the nest.
I examined a number of eggs brought in by the
hunters, and found them vary greatly in shape, size.
236 BIRDS OF LA PLATA
and colour. The averagesize of the eggs was the
same as those of the Common Rhea ; in shape they
were more or less elliptical, scarcely any two being
precisely alike. The shell has a fine polish, and
when newly laid the colour is deep, rich green. They
soon fade, however, and the side exposed to the sun
first assumes a dull mottled green ; then this colour
fades to yellowish, and again to pale stone-blue,
becoming at last almost white. The comparative
age of each egg in the nest may be known by the
colour of the shell. The male incubates and rears
the young ; and the procreant habits seem altogether
like those of Rhea americana*
The young are hatched with the legs feathered
to the toes ; these leg-feathers are not shed, but are
gradually worn off, as the bird grows old, by con-
tinual friction against the stiff, scrubby vegetation. In
adults usually a few scattered feathers remain, often
worn down to mere stumps ; but the hunters told
me that old birds are sometimes taken with the legs
entirely feathered, and that these birds frequent
plains where there is very little scrub. The plumage
of the young is dusky grey, without white and black
feathers. When a year old they acquire by moulting
the mottled plumage of the adults, but do not attain
their full size until the third year.
END OF VOL. II
INDEX
Actitura hartramius, 202
^chmophorus major, 217
Mgialitis falklandicus, 188
Afeytado^ 124
Agachona^ 195
Ajaja rosea, 125
Alas-amarillas^ 175
Alma do gato, 27
American Golden Plover, 185
Ani, 23
Antrostomus parvulus, 7
Ar amides ypecaha, 163
Aramus scolopaceus, 172
Ardea candidissima, loi
cocoi, 92
egretta, loi
sibilatrix, 103
Ardetta involucris, 105
Argentine Black-headed Gull, 212
Courian, 172
Flamingo, 127
Hen-Harrier, 43
Hobby, 55
Kestrel, 56
Painted Snipe, 197
Wood-Pigeon, 154
Ashy-headed Upland Goose, 135
Asio brachyotus, 33
Asturina pucherani, 44
Avestruz petizo, 234
Bank Parrot, 27
Barn Owl, 34
Barred Upland Goose, 134
Bartram's Sandpiper, 202
Batitu, 203
Bernicla dispar, 134
poliocephala, 135
Black-billed Cuckoo, 21
Black-necked Swan, 136
Black Rail, 160
Black-tailed Skimmer, 208
Black Vulture, 89
Blue Ibis, 122
Blue-winged Teal, 142
Bolborhynchus monachus, 30
Brazilian Cormorant, 90
Stilt, 193
Bubo virginianus, 34
Buff-breasted Sandpiper, 205
Burrito, 162
Buteo albicaudatus, 45
erythronotus, 47
Butorides cyanurus, 104
Calodromas elegans, 227
Campestre, El, 10
Carancho, 75
Carpintero, 10
Carrion Hawk, 62
Cathartes atratus, 89
aura, 89
Ceryle amazona, 13
americana, 14
stellata, 13
torquata, 13
Chaja, 130
Charadrius dominicus, 185
Chauna chavaria, 130
Chiloe Wigeon, 150
Chimango Hawk, 62
Chlorostilbon splendidus, i
Chorlito de invierno, 188
Chorlo, 185
solo, 203
Chrysoptilus cristatus, 7
237
238
BIRDS OF LA PLATA
Chueke, 230
Circus cinereus, 43
macropterm, 43
Coccyzus americanus, 22
cinereus, 22
melanocoryphus, 21
Cocoi Heron, 92
Colaptes agricola, 10
campestris, 10
pitius, 10
Columba maculosa, 155
picazuro, 154
Columbula picui, 158
Conurus patagonus, 27
Coscoroba Candida, 138
Cotorra, 30
Coucou, 21
Crested Screamer^ 130
Crispin, 24
Crotophaga ani, 23
Crowned Eagle, 51
Crypturus tataupa, 219
Cuckoo, 15-27
Cuervo, 89
Cygnus nigricollis, 136
Dafila bahamensis, 148
spinicauda, 147
Darwin's Rhea, 234
Tinamu, 226
Dendrocygna fulva, 139
viduata, 141
Diplopterus nxvius, 24
Dormilon, 5, 197
Dominican Gull, 2H
Duerme-duerme, 5
Elanus leucurus, 57
Engyptila chalcauchenia, 159
Esquimo Whimbrel, 207
Eudromias modesta, 187
Euxenura maguari, 113
Falco fusco-ceerulescens, 55
peregrinuSf 53
mingo, Argentine, 127
ulica armillata, 171
leucoptera, 170
Fulica leucopyga, i'jt,
Fulvous Tree-Duck, 139
Gallina ciega, 5
Gallinago paraguaix, 195
Gallineta, 163
Gallinazo, 89
Geranoaetus melanoleucus, 48
Glaucidium nanum, 34
Glittering Humming-Bird, i
Glossy Ibis, 118
Goatsucker, 4-7
Godwit, 206
Grebe, Bright-cheeked, 219
Great, 217
Holland's, 219
Thick- billed, 219
Green Parrakeet, 30
Grey Eagle, 48
Grey Teal, 144
Guira Cuckoo, 15
Guira piririgua, 15
Harpiprion cxrulescens, 122
Harpyhaliaetus coronatus, 51
Harrier, Argentine Hen-, 43
Heron, 92-113
Himantopus brasiliensis, 193
Hobby, Argentine, 55
Hudsonian Godwit, 206
Humming-bird, i
Ibis, Black-faced, 120
Blue, 122
White-faced, 118
Whispering, 124
Wood, n6
Jacana, 175
Jabiru, 117
Keanchfe, 76
Kite, White, 57
INDEX
239
Lapwing, Spur-wing, 178
Larus dominicanus, 2H
maculipennis, 2X2
Lechuzon, 34
Limosa hsemastica, 206
Little Blue Heron, 104
Red Heron, 105
Waterhen, 170
Macas cornudo, 217
Magellanic Eagle Owl, 34
Maguari Stork, 113
Mareca sibilatrix, 150
Martineta, 227
Metopiana peposaca, 152
Milvago chimango, 62
Mycteria americana, 117
Nacunda, 4
f^andu, 230
Night-Heron, 112
Nothura maculosa, 223
darwini, 226
Numenius horealis, 207
Nycticorax obscurus, 112
Oreophilus mficollis, 189
Painted Snipe, 197
Pajaro ardilla, 27
Paraguay Snipe, 195
Parr a jacana, 175
Parrot, 27
Patagonian Parrot, 27
Ringed Plover, i88
Pato ceja blanca, 145
collar negro, 145
overo, 150
picaso, 150
Portugues, 146
silvon, 139
viuda, 141
Pectoral Sandpiper, 198
Perdiz chico, 226
grande, 221
Peregrine Falcon, 53
Phalacrocorax albiventris, 91
brasilianus, 90
imperialis, 91
Phimosm infuscatus, 124
Phcenicopterus ignipalliatus, 127
Piaya cayana, 26
Picui, 158
Pigmy Dove, 158
Falcon, 61
Owl, 34
Plegadis guarauna, 118
Podager nacunda, 4
Podiceps caliparaeus, 219
rollandi, 219
Podilymbus podiceps, 219
Polyborus tharus, 75
Porphyriops melanops, 170
Queltrdgua, 178
Querquedula brasiliensis, 146
cyanoptera, 142
flavirostris, 143
lorquata, 145
versicolor, 144
Rail, Black, 160
Ypecaha, 163
Rallus rhyiirhynchus, 160
Red-backed Buzzard, 47
Red -crested Woodpecker, 7
Red Shoveller, 151
Rey de los Pajaros, 61
Rhea americana, 230
darwini, 234
Rhyacophilus solitarius, 201
Rhynchxa semicollaris, 197
Rhynchops melanura, 208
nigra, 209
Rhynchotus rufescens, 221
Ringed Kingfisher, 13
Ring-necked Teal, 145
240
BIRDS OF LA PLATA
Roseate Spoonbill, 125 ^F
Postrohamus sociabilis, 59
Rosy-billed Duck, 152
Rufous Tinamu, 221
Sandpiper, Baird's, 199
Bartram's, 202
Bonaparte's, 199
Buff-breasted, 205
Pectoral, 198
Solitary, 201
Sarcorhamphus gryphus, 89
Screamer, Crested, 130
Seed Snipe, 191
Short-eared Owl, 33
Slender-billed Plover, 189
Snowy Egret, 10 1
Sociable Marsh-Hawk, 59
Solitary Pigeon, 159
Sandpiper, 201
Spatula platalea, 151
Speotyto cunicularia, 36
Spiziapteryx circumcinctus, 61
Spoonbill, Roseate, 125
Spotted Dove, 157
Tinamu, 223
Wood -Pigeon, 155
Spur- wing Lapwing, 178
Stilt, 193
Stork, Jabiru, 117
Maguari, 113
Swan, Black-necked, 136
Coscoroba, 138
Tachybaptes dominicus, 219
Tantalus loculator, n6
Tatapau Tinamu, 219
Teru-real, 193
T6ru-teru, 178
Theristicus caudatus, 120
Thinocorus rumicivorus, 191
Tinamu, Common or Spotted, 223
Darwin's or Lesser Spotted,
926
Tinamu Martineta, 227
Rufous, 221
Tataupa, 219
Tinnunculus cinnamominus, 56
Torcasa, 157
Tortolita, 158
Totanus flavipes, 200
melanoleucus, 199
Tringa bairdi, 199
fuscicollis, 199
maculata, 198
Tryngites rufescens, 205
Turkey Buzzard, 89
Upland Goose, 135
Plover, 203
Urraca, 15
Vanellus cayennensis, 178
Vandtiria, aplomado, barroso, de
las lagunas, 122-23
de invierno, 120
Vociferous Hawk, 44
Vulture, Black, 89
Whispering Ibis, 124
White Egret, loi
White-faced Ibis, 118
Tree-Duck, 141
White Kite, 57
White-tailed Buzzard, 45
Winter Plover, 187
Wood Ibis, 116
Woodpeckers, 7-12
Yabiru, 117
Yellow-billed Coot, 170
Yellow-billed Teal, 143
Yellowshanks, Greater, 199
Lesser, 200
Ypecaha Rail, 163
Zancudo, 193
Zenaida maculata, 157
THE TEMPLE PRESS, PRINTERS, LETCHWORTH, ENGLAND
SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION LIBRARIES
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