BIRDS OF ARGENTINA, PARAGUAY, URUGUAY, AND CHILE 69 



On September 25 I examined a young screamer about half grown, 

 but still rather helpless, in the possession of an Indian boy. The 

 bird gave a low whistling, piping call. 



In the vicinity of Lavalle, Buenos Aires, screamers were common 

 from October 27 to November 9, and after my experience with them 

 in the Chaco it seemed strange to find them walking about in marshy 

 spots among scattered bands of sheep. The flight of screamers 

 is strong, and tliey rise heavily with loud swishing wings. I saw 

 them occasionally soaring in circles high in the air. At the Estan- 

 cia Los Yngleses I was told that 50 had gathered to feed in a small 

 tract of alfalfa and that it had been necessary to drive them away to 

 prevent damage. On November 6, after a severe storm, an imma- 

 ture bird washed ashore on the beach below Cape San Antonio. I 

 supposed that it had been blown out to sea during a heavy gale and 

 drowned. 



In Uruguay screamers were seen at the Laguna Castillos, near 

 San Vicente, on January 31, and the Arroyo Sarandi (Paso Alamo) 

 February 2. A few w^ere noted near Lazcano on February 6 and 

 8. The birds were very wary here and were much hunted. Their 

 flesh is dark and coarse fibered, but I found it palatable. The 

 species is known universally as Cfiaja^ a name given in imitation of 

 the common call. 



The adult male collected in Formosa on August 16 weighed 6.7 

 pounds. The soft parts were colored as follows: Maxilla and tip 

 of mandible blackish brown No. 3; rest of mandible olive gray, 

 shading to pale olive gray at base; bare space about eye vandyke 

 red, shading to dull Indian purple on chin, rami of mandible and 

 space behind nostrils ; iris orange cinnamon ; tarsus and toes alizarine 

 pink, slightly darker toward crus; nails black. At Kilometer 80, 

 west of Puerto Pinasco, Paraguay, I killed a female on September 

 13 and a pair on September 17. These were all in partial molt. In 

 one. new growth covering the larger spur on the wing had pushed 

 thef', older covering away so that on one wing the sheath slipped off 

 as I handled it. The wing spurs vaiy in development and may be 

 more perfect in young individuals than in older ones, in vrhich they 

 may have suffered more or less injury. 



Order ANSERIFORMES 

 Family ANATIDAE 



CYGNUS MELANCORIPHUS (Molina) 



Anas Melancoripha Molina, Sagg. Stor. Nat. Chili, 1782, p. 234. (Cbile.) 



The beautiful black-necked swan was recorded October 28, 1920, 



and again on November 16, near Lavalle, Buenos Aires. At General 



Roca three were observed resting in backwater from an eddy on the 



54207—26 6 



