420 Zoological Society, 



Tinamotis elegans ; Eudromia elegans, D'Orb. & GeoiF. Mag. de Zool. 



1832, t. 1. 



I met with this species on the eastern side of the Andes — I be- 

 lieve it never occurs on the Chilian side — in the vicinity of the city 

 of Mendoza, in the Argentine Republic. It has an immense range 

 over the grassy plains at the base of the Andes which run southward 

 to Patagonia. I believe it generally is found in pairs ; at least the 

 only two I ever saw alive were together. My men informed me that 

 it is abundant on the Pampas, near the forts of San Raphael and San 

 Carlos, between 33° and 34° south lat.* The young bird presents 

 no difference in plumage from the adults, having even the crest well- 

 developed : it seems therefore to form an exception to the generally 

 received rule, that where the parent birds have the same plumage 

 the young is different from either. 



The Indians have a singular method of taking this bird. Having 

 attached a noose to the end of a cane four or five yards long, they 

 walk round and round in gradually contracting circles, until they are 

 near enough to slip the noose over its head, and then, with a sudden 

 jerk, they strangle it. 



Attagis Gayii, Geoff, et Lesson, Cent. Zool. t. 47. 



I believe the Chilian and Bolivian species are identical. I found 

 the bird on the same day as Tinamotis Pentlandii, inhabiting the 

 margins of frozen brooks near the post-house of Tapaquilcha. The 

 Indians there know it as the Puco-puco, from its call-note. Like 

 Thinocorus D'Orbignianus, these birds evince great attachment to 

 each other, and call immediately if separated. At that season they 

 were in pairs and breeding, but I did not obtain the e^g, 



Diglossa carbonaria, D'Orb. & De Lafres. 

 Diglossa sittoides, D'Orb. et De Lafr. 



Birds of this genus are found in the temperate region, where the 

 thickets commence, at an altitude of from 8000 to 10,000 feet. I 

 found these species among bushes of Salvia and Eupatorium, on the 

 slopes which fall into the valley of Cochabamba, and most abundantly 

 at a place called Ticquepaya. They have precisely the habits of 

 flycatchers. D. carbonaria I have watched often, sitting motionless 

 on the highest twig of a bush until he discovered a jDassing insect, 

 on which he descended, and then returned to his post. I may men- 

 tion that the vicinity of Cochabamba was the only district in which 

 these two species occurred to me. 



Diglossa mystacalis, De Lafr, ; Diglossa mystacea, G. R. Gray in 



Gen. of Birds, pi. 42. 



Lives entirely in the thickets, hopping from bough to bough, as if 

 in pursuit of insects. I have often seen this species insert its bill 

 into a scarlet and purple flower allied to the Arbutus, but whether 

 for the purpose of capturing insects or of extracting honey I was not 

 able to ascertain. Its habitat is the Yungas of La Paz. 



* The specimens now in the British Museum were obtained from this locality, 

 as well as those of Rhea Darwinii. 



