Hab. Southern Brazil, Paraguay, and Northern Argentina.

White refers a Tinamou which he shot at Oran in November 1880 to Crypturus cinereus. There can be little doubt, however, that the specimen in question really belonged to the allied species C. obsoletus, which is known to occur in Paraguay. The true C. cinereus is from a much more northern locality, and is not likely to be found in Argentina.

426. CRYPTURUS TATAUPA (Temm.).

(TATAUPA TINAMOU.)

Hab. South Brazil, Paraguay, and Northern Argentina.

The Tataupa Tinamou was first described by Azara as an inhabitant of Paraguay, whence it extends into the northern provinces of the Argentine Republic. White obtained specimens 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 bird 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 preeminent 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, they run into a trill, followed by a sound which may be written chororó, 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 terminal feathers of the body, it spreads them in a semicircle 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 strange and beautiful appearance.

427. RHYNCHOTUS RUFESCENS (Temm.).

(GREAT TINAMOU.)

Hab. South Brazil, Paraguay, and Argentina.

This large Tinamou, known to the Argentines as the Perdiz grande, 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 Tinamou; the whir 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 the hand, the bird flies straight away with extraordinary violence until the impelling force is spent, when it slopes gradually towards the earth, 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 Large 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, it being a rare thing to see even two together, 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 facilities, including those of flight and the melodious voice, in a high state of perfection.

428. NOTHOPROCTA PENTLANDI (Gray).

(PENTLAND’S TINAMOU.)

Hab. Andes of Bolivia and Northern Argentina.

We have been able to compare a typical specimen of Nothoprocta doeringi, received from Dr. Doering of Cordova, with the series of specimens of this group in the British Museum, and find that Dr. Cabanis’s name must give way to G. R. Gray’s prior designation. Dr. Doering’s specimens of this species were obtained in the Sierra de Cordova. The original example of Nothoprocta pentlandi was procured by Pentland, the well-known scientific traveller (after whom it is called), in the Andes of Bolivia.

429. NOTHOPROCTA CINERASCENS (Burm.).

(CINEREOUS TINAMOU.)

Hab. Northern Argentina.

This fine and distinct species was first obtained by Dr. Burmeister in Cordova and in Tucuman, where Durnford also obtained specimens of it during his last journey. It is larger than N. pentlandi, and has the breast thickly covered by somewhat rounded light spots upon a cinereous ground; these are mixed with black points and slight striations.

430. NOTHURA MACULOSA (Temm.)

(SPOTTED TINAMOU.)

Hab. Argentine Republic.

The Perdiz comun or Common Partridge of the pampas, as it is always called—the naturalist’s name of Tinamou being utterly unknown in the southern part of South America—is much smaller than the “Perdiz grande,” 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 everywhere 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 proximity; 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 reluctantly 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 ground in a leisurely manner, 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 into the air with a noise and violence that fill one with astonishment. 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 Tinamou 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 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 sometimes, 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 Tinamous 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 Tinamous 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 Tinamou 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 Tinamou 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 swallow, gull, or hawk, 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 Tinamou, 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 Tinamou 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.

431. NOTHURA DARWINI, Gray.

(DARWIN’S TINAMOU.)

[Plate XX.]

Hab. Northern Patagonia.

This species, called Perdiz chico by the natives, is somewhat smaller and paler in colouring than the common Tinamou 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 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, like those of the N. maculosa, but without the rapidly uttered conclusion.

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.

The figure (Plate XX.) is taken from one of my specimens from the Rio Negro, now in the British Museum.

432. CALODROMAS ELEGANS (d’Orb. et Geoff.).

(MARTINETA TINAMOU.)

Hab. Northern Patagonia and Western Argentina.

This fine game bird in its size and mottled plumage resembles the Rhynchotus rufescens of the pampas, which it represents in the Patagonian district south of the Rio Colorado. It differs externally in the more earthy hue of its plumage, which is protective and harmonizes 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, when excited, the bird carries directed forwards 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 dissected: 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 thickly set with rows of large membranous claw-shaped protuberances.

The Martineta inhabits the elevated tablelands, 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 violent, is not so sounding as that of the Pampas Tinamou (Rhynchotus), 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 Rhynchotus. 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 performance of five or six notes, resembling that of Rhynchotus, but inferior in compass and sweetness. They begin to breed in October, making the nest in the midst 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 find the advantage of domesticating 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!

Order XX. STRUTHIONES.

Fam. LIV. RHEIDÆ, or RHEAS.

The Order of Struthious Birds or Ostriches is represented in South America by the Nandu or Rhea, which is at once distinguished from the African Ostrich (Struthio) by having three toes instead of two, as also by many other important points of structure.

Both the known species of Rhea are found within our limits.

433. RHEA AMERICANA, Lath.

(COMMON RHEA.)

Hab. Pampas of S. America north of Rio Negro.

The Common Rhea (called “Ñandú” in the Guarani language, “Chueké” 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, and associating with Darwin’s Rhea, 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 greatly exceeded that of any of its enemies 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, abounding in giant grasses, it struck me forcibly that this manner of hunting the bird on horseback had brought to light a fault in the Rhea—a point in which the correspondence between the animal and its environment 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 licence to kill, which every one possesses, has been exercised with such zeal and fury that in a very few more years this noblest Avian type of the great bird-continent will be as unknown on the earth as the Moa and the Æpyornis.

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 constantly came alone to feed near the gate, and that 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 Azara truly says, “domestic from the first day,” and will follow their owner about like a dog. It is this natural tameness, 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 overtake them, however well mounted. When running, the wings hang down like those of a wounded bird, 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 from 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 incubate. The hens then drop their eggs about on the plains; and 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 dangerous to approach the Rhea on horseback, as the bird with neck stretched out horizontally and outspread wings charges suddenly, making so huge and grotesque a figure that the tamest horse becomes ungovernable with terror.

Eagles and the large Polyborus 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.

434. RHEA DARWINI, Gould.

(DARWIN’S RHEA.)

Hab. Patagonia south of the Rio Negro.

Darwin’s Rhea inhabits Patagonia from the Straits of Magellan to the Rio Negro, and is also met with occasionally north of that river. The Indians call it “Molú Chueké”—short or dwarf Chueké; 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 employment; consequently these noble birds were slaughtered in such numbers that they have been almost exterminated wherever the nature of the country admits of their being chased. When on the Rio Negro in 1871 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 neck stretched forward almost horizontally, 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 americana. 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, and colour. The average size 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 continual 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.

APPENDIX.

I. List of the principal Authorities upon the Ornithology of the Argentine Republic referred to in the present Work.

Azara, Don Felix de.

Although this celebrated work relates mainly to the neighbouring State of Paraguay, so many birds are common to Paraguay and La Plata that it has of course a most important bearing on the Ornithology of the latter country. Azara, unfortunately, gave only Spanish names to his birds, so that the Latin titles of them are mostly those of Vieillot, who translated Azara’s remarks and gave scientific names to his birds in different volumes of the ‘Nouveau Dictionnaire d’Histoire Naturelle’ (Paris, 1816-19). A most useful Index to Azara’s ‘Apuntamientos’ was published in 1847 by Dr. G. Hartlaub of Bremen11. A more modern résumé of the Birds of Paraguay, in which much information is contained, has been recently written by Hans, Graf v. Berlepsch12.

Barrows, Walter B.

This excellent observer was resident at Concepcion del Uruguay in 1879 and 1880, and afterwards made an excursion from Buenos Ayres southwards to the Sierra de la Ventana. His notes, many of which are incorporated in the present work, relate to about 200 species.

Burmeister, Dr. Hermann.

In a work on Argentine Ornithology it is hardly necessary to explain who Dr. Burmeister is. The Director of the Museo Publico is as well known in Europe as he is in Buenos Ayres. It should, however, be here mentioned that in the second volume of ‘Reise durch die La Plata-Staaten’ Dr. Burmeister has given an excellent systematic synopsis of the Vertebrate Animals of the Argentine Republic. Of the class of Birds 263 species are enumerated as having been met with within the limits of the Republic up to that date, and references, native names, and general observations as to habits and localities are attached to each species. This is in fact up to the present time the best, or, we might say, the only authority on the Birds of the Argentine Republic.

Besides this, Dr. Burmeister has published several other contributions towards our knowledge of Argentine Ornithology, namely:—

[An essay on the eleven species of Trochilidæ, described by Azara, which appear reducible to six.]

[Contains a list of 10 species of this family.]

[Notes on 13 species additional to those given in his Synopsis. Pachyrhamphus albinucha and Synallaxis sulphurifera are described as new.]

[Contains remarks on three Argentine species.]

[Contains notices of 24 species, including 2 Flamingoes (Phœnicopterus ignipalliatus and P. andinus).]

[Describes C. hilaris at full length from specimens received from Tucuman, and gives critical notes on other species mentioned by Finsch.]

Cabanis, Dr. Jean.

The well-known Ornithologist of Berlin has made several important contributions to the Ornithology of the Argentine Republic, namely:—

[Gives an account of 29 species, examples of which are in a collection made by Dr. A. Doering, of Cordova, in the Sierra of Cordova. Furnarius tricolor, Synallaxis sclateri, and Nothoprocta doeringi are described as new.]

[The reports of the meetings of the Deutsche Ornithologische Gesellschaft, published in the ‘Journal für Ornithologie’ for 1883, contain descriptions by Dr. Cabanis of the following 19 species discovered by Herr Schulz in Tucuman and in other parts of Northern Argentina:—Colaptes longirostris (t. c. p. 97), Cinclus schulzi (t. c. p. 102), Phlœotomus schulzi (t. c. p. 102), Chloronerpes tucumanus (t. c. p. 103), Troglodytes (Uropsila) auricularis (t. c. p. 105), Scytalopus superciliaris (t. c. p. 105), Orospina pratensis (t. c. p. 108), Phrygilus dorsalis (t. c. p. 109), Buarremon (Atlapetes) citrinellus (t. c. p. 109), Phacellodomus sincipitalis (t. c. p. 109), P. maculipectus (t. c. p. 109), Chloronerpes (Campias) frontalis (t. c. p. 110), Synallaxis superciliosa (t. c. p. 110), Contopus brachyrhynchus (t. c. p. 214), Myiarchus ferocior (t. c. p. 214), M. atriceps (t. c. p. 215), Elainea strepera (t. c. p. 215), E. grata (t. c. p. 216), Cyanocorax tucumanus (t. c. p. 216).

It is, however, much to be regretted that no complete list of Schulz’s collections has been published.]

Cassin, John.

Capt. T. J. Page, U.S.N., made an exploration of the River La Plata and its tributaries in 1859 and 1860, under the orders of the U.S. Government. In the Appendix to his published narrative of this expedition (‘La Plata, the Argentine Confederation, and Paraguay,’ New York, 1873, 1 vol., 8vo) will be found (p. 599) a short report on the birds collected during the expedition by the late John Cassin. A certain number of species are named, but no exact localities are given.

Dalgleish, John J.

[The collections described by Mr. Dalgleish were formed by a correspondent in the district of San Jorge, in the province of Durazno, Uruguay. The specimens sent along with the eggs were determined by Messrs. Sclater and Salvin.]

Darwin, Charles.

Darwin, when Naturalist to the ‘Beagle,’ during her voyage round the world in 1832-6, made good collections of birds on the Rio de la Plata and along the shores of Patagonia. Most of his specimens, originally deposited in the Zoological Society’s Museum, are now in the British Museum, but some of them unfortunately are in a very imperfect condition. His valuable notes were published in the work of which the title is above given. They relate to about 80 species of Argentine Birds. The specimens were determined and the new species described by Gould; but Gould’s MS. was afterwards revised for publication by G. R. Gray, on account of Gould’s absence in Australia.

Darwin’s ‘Naturalist’s Voyage,’ originally published as a volume of the Narrative of the ‘Voyage of the Beagle,’ also contains many excellent notes on the life and habits of Argentine Birds.

Doering, Adolf.