Hab. Texas and Central and South America to La Plata.

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 black part extend two scarlet bands, the skin being glossy and exceedingly loose, and run 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 Azara (who gives the Guarani name of the Stork as Aiaiai) says that the Indian word Yabirú signifies blown out with wind.

The Jabiru is but rarely found near Buenos Ayres, but occurs more frequently in Misiones, and in other districts on the northern frontiers of the Republic. It nests on high trees, as has been recorded by Brown4, and is said to lay “blue-green” eggs.

325. EUXENURA MAGUARI (Gm.).

(MAGUARI STORK.)

Hab. South America.

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 often appear in large numbers, 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 Jabiru, 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 following lively account of a young Maguari:—“One, which I took on October 5, 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 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 peaceable 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 formidable 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; 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.”

326. TANTALUS LOCULATOR, Linn.

(THE WOOD-IBIS.)

Hab. North and South America.

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 dozing 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 very 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 treeless districts after the young have flown.

Its habits in North America, where it is called the “Wood-Ibis,” are tolerably well known, and in 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, sometimes in company with Egrets, and lays three white eggs.

Fam. XXXVII. PLATALEIDÆ, or IBISES.

The Spoonbills and Ibises constitute a homogeneous family of Herodiones, which have a wide distribution over the earth’s surface, although mostly prevalent within intertropical limits. They fall naturally into two groups—the Ibises, distinguished by their elongated, compressed, and sickle-shaped bills; and the Spoonbills, at once known by the peculiar form of the same organ, which is much expanded at its termination. Of about twenty-five known species of Ibises, the Neotropical Region possesses eight or nine, and of these four occur in Argentina. Of the Spoonbills only one is Neotropical, and that is met with throughout the southern portion of South America.

327. PLEGADIS GUARAUNA (Linn.).

(WHITE-FACED IBIS.)

Hab. Central and South America.

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 downwards at every step. When taking wing they invariably 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 carcass of a dead horse or cow, to feed on the larvæ 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 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 reflexions of their upper plumage. The flock is meanwhile continually changing its form or disposition, 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 again reform 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 frenzy or panic, every bird rushing wildly away from its fellows, and descending with a violent zigzag flight; in a few moments the mad fit leaves them, they rise again, reassemble in the air, and resume their journey.

328. THERISTICUS CAUDATUS (Bodd.).

(BLACK-FACED IBIS.)

Hab. Antarctic South America.

This very fine Ibis, called Mandurria ó curucáu 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° or 38°. Its summer home and breeding-ground appears to be in the extreme south of the continent, its eggs having been obtained in the Straits of Magellan by Darwin, and recently 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 extraordinary 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 dozen to forty or fifty individuals. They walk rapidly, stooping very much, and probing the ground with their long slender curved beaks, and appear to subsist principally on the larvæ 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 companions, 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 scattered wide apart in all directions. This exercise they keep up for some time, and while it lasts they make the air resound for miles around 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 on the water, and if there is 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)5:—“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.”

329. HARPIPRION CÆRULESCENS (Vieill.).

(PLUMBEOUS IBIS.)

Hab. South-east Brazil and Argentina.

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 Argentine 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 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 Banduria, but it does not come from Bandada (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 symbolize poetic inspiration. 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 Crazy 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, &c. 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 on the ground, its resonant metallic 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 specimens of this Ibis in the lagoons of Caiçara, in the Brazilian Province of Matogrosso, in September and November, 1825, but it is not mentioned by general writers on the birds of S.E. Brazil.

330. PHIMOSUS INFUSCATUS (Licht.).

(WHISPERING IBIS.)

Hab. South America from Colombia south to Argentina.

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 fore part of the head and throat being unfeathered, suggested to Azara the name of Afeytado, or “shaved,” but about its habits he has nothing to say, nor does 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!

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.

Azara’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 Brazil 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.

331. AJAJA ROSEA, Reichenb.

(ROSEATE SPOONBILL.)

Hab. North and South America.

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 did not meet with it. On the 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 dozen 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.

I believe that more than one species of Spoonbill inhabits South America, and that the common Spoonbill of the pampas is a distinct species from the well-known Ajaja. Some remarks of mine on this subject were printed in the ‘Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London’ about nine years ago; but I find that I am alone amongst ornithologists in this belief; I can, therefore, only repeat here what I have said before, 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 excrescences 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 two to three hundred examples of the pale-plumaged 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.

There are also anatomical differences between the two birds; the pale-plumaged species having an ordinary trachea, while A. rosea has a very curiously-formed trachea, unlike that of any other bird, which has been described by Garrod as follows:—

“The trachea is simple, straight, of uniform calibre, and peculiarly short, extending only two thirds down the length of the neck, where the uncomplicated syrinx is situated and the bifurcation of the bronchi occurs. The usual pair of muscles, one on each side, runs to this syrinx from above, and ceases there. The bronchi are fusiformly dilated at their commencement, where the rings which encircle them are not complete, a membrane taking their place in that portion of each tube which is contiguous to its opposite neighbour. Each bronchus, lower down, is composed of complete cartilaginous rings.”

The woodcut of this curious structure is here reproduced by the kind permission of the Zoological Society. It is much to be wished that some one living in the Argentine Republic would devote himself to the further investigation of the history of this interesting bird, and settle the question whether there is more than one species of Argentine Spoonbill.

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 acquire any of the characteristic marks of P. ajaja.

Fam. XXXVIII. PHŒNICOPTERIDÆ, or FLAMINGOES.

The very peculiar and isolated type of Flamingo is found in both the Old and New Worlds, and is, no doubt, of great antiquity. In the Neotropical Region three species of Flamingo are now known to occur, one of which is well known in the Argentine Provinces. Of the other two (Phœnicopterus andinus and P. jamesi6), which inhabit the Andes of Chili and Bolivia, one has also been ascertained to occur within the northern frontiers of the Argentine Republic. Both these last-named species belong to the three-toed section of the genus (Phœnicoparra). In P. ignipalliatus the hind toe is present.

332. PHŒNICOPTERUS IGNIPALLIATUS, Geoffr. et d’Orb.

(ARGENTINE FLAMINGO.)

Hab. Southern portions of South America.

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 residents told me of a breeding-place there—a shallow salt-lake—which, however, had 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 continuous 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 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 proportion 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 motionless, their tall rose-coloured forms mirrored in the dark water, but chiefly when they rise and pass in a long crimson train or phalanx, flying low over the surface.

333. PHŒNICOPTERUS ANDINUS, Philippi.

(ANDEAN FLAMINGO.)

Hab. Andes of Bolivia and Northern Chili.

The Andean Flamingo, which is at once distinguishable from P. ignipalliatus by the complete absence of the hind toe, is stated by Dr. Burmeister, on the authority of Herr Schickendantz, to be found on the north-western frontiers of the Argentine Republic, on the lagunes of the eastern valleys between the Cordilleras and the adjacent mountains.

Order X. ANSERES.

Fam. XXXIX. PALAMEDEIDÆ, or SCREAMERS.

This singular Neotropical form is even more isolated than the Flamingo and more difficult to place satisfactorily in a linear series. It seems, however, that it is best arranged near the Anatidæ, as first suggested by Mr. Parker7, and that it may with least inconvenience be constituted an aberrant family of the Order Anseres.

Besides the typical form Palamedea (with one species found in Amazonia and the interior of Brazil) the present family contains only one other genus—Chauna—in which the head carries a feather-crest instead of the long horny wattle of Palamedea. One species of Chauna is met with in Argentina, the only other known species (C. derbiana) being confined to Colombia and Venezuela.

334. CHAUNA CHAVARIA (Linn.).

(CRESTED SCREAMER.)

Hab. Southern Brazil, Paraguay, and La Plata.

This majestic bird, called Chajá 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 neighbourhood 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 unobstructed 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. 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 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 Upland 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 Chajá; 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 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 raising a loud alarm at a stranger’s approach. Towards dogs and cats they are often unfriendly; and when 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, especially 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 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 performance, 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 marvellous strength and spirit they pour forth a torrent of strangely-contrasted sounds—some bassoon-like in their depth and volume, some like drumbeats, 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 floating 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.

Fam. XL. ANATIDÆ, or DUCKS.

The Anatidæ or Waterfowl are a well-known family of universal distribution over the earth’s surface. As shown in an article published in the Zoological Society’s ‘Proceedings’ for 18768, upwards of 60 species of this group of birds are found in the Neotropical Region, and of these about 22 occur in the Argentine Republic. Amongst the Argentine species are some of the finest and most ornamental of the whole family, such as the Black-necked Swan, the Ashy-headed Goose, and the Chiloe Wigeon—all well known from their introduction and acclimatization in Europe.

It may be remarked that nearly all the Argentine members of this family belong to Antarctic forms, and are specifically different from those met with in North America.

335. BERNICLA MELANOPTERA (Eyton).

(ANDEAN GOOSE.)

Hab. Andes of Peru, Bolivia, and Northern Chili.

Dr. Burmeister met with this fine Goose on the Rio Blanco in the province of San Juan, within the confines of the Argentine Republic. It is an inhabitant of the high Andes of Peru and Bolivia, and is also found throughout the central provinces of Chili, descending to the plains in the winter. Its native name is “Piuquen,” and it is said to be so abundant on a lagoon near the Portello Pass between Mendoza and Santiago that the spot is called “Valle de los Piuquenes.”

336. BERNICLA DISPAR, Ph. et Landb.

(BARRED UPLAND GOOSE.)