BIRDS OF ARGENTINA, PARAGUAY, URUGUAY, AND CHILE H 



nent. The Laguna Castillos, Laguna Negro, and other lakes, 

 swamps, and cienagas, covered broad areas on the coastal plain, 

 interspersed with great forests of palms and open prairies. The 

 palm groves were of a different type than those of the Chaco, as 

 the trees had thick, heavy trunks and long fronds, whose heavy 

 bases, when dry, furnished a valuable source of firewood. These 

 groves covered large tracts extending toward the Brazilian frontier, 

 a few miles distant. (Pis. 11 and 12.) Kains were frequent through- 

 out my stay. It was said in San Vicente that I was the first North 

 American to visit that section, and I was received with every 

 courtesy. On February 2 with all my equipment I continued north 

 and east of north in a two-wheeled cart drawn by horses over a 

 little-traveled road heavily washed and gullied by rains. We crossed 

 a range of rolling hills and then descended into a broad valley 

 drained by the Arroyo Sarandi. The country was sparsely popu- 

 lated, rheas were abundant, and many other birds were seen. At 

 the Paso Alamo on the Sarandi, 30 kilometers north of San Vi- 

 cente, I made a camp for a few hours and collected a number of 

 birds in low thickets and prairies. That night I slept at a holiche 

 near the level marsh known as the Banado de la India Muerta, and 

 on the following morning did some collecting in the vicinity. On 

 February 3 I reached Lazcano, 20 kilometers north of the marshes 

 just mentioned, and there remained until February 9. Low rocky 

 hills here bordered a broad valley drained by the Rio Cebollati. 

 The stream itself was bordered by dense thickets and low trees, 

 forming a band nowhere wide but still of fair extent, considering 

 the type of country. On either hand were broad saw-grass swamps 

 and meandering channels in fording which my horses frequently 

 sank until head and neck alone projected above the water. Water 

 birds abounded, thicket-haunting species were found along the 

 stream, and prairie-inhabiting forms were encountered on the bare 

 uplands. (PL 13.) 



February 9 I left Lazcano by coach, crossed the river on a ferry 

 or balsa at the Paso del Santafecino to enter a more populous 

 region that continued to Corrales in the Department of Corrales, 

 where I arrived that night. On February 10 I returned to INIonte- 

 video by railroad, and on February 13 continued by rail to Rio 

 Negro, Department of Rio Negro, in northwestern Uruguay. Here 

 a high, rolling plain was cut by a broad swift stream, the Rio 

 Negro, bordered by low thickets with lagoons and marshes of small 

 size in its flood plain. Birds were abundant but were in molt, and 

 so were quiet. Rains were frequent and the weather enervating 

 because of humidity and intense heat. Completing field work hero 

 on February 22, I went by train to Salto on the Rio Uruguay, and 

 crossed that broad stream by ferry to Concordia in Argentina, 



