118 BULLETIN 133, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



the sternum. The sternotrachealis muscles are inserted as usual 

 on the costal processes of the sternum. 



The flesh of these birds is excellent eating but the sport in their 

 huntino- lies entirely in the care and skill necessary to stalk them 

 successfully. It is seldom that they give an open wing shot, but, 

 on the contrary, offer snapshots as they run away along limbs. 



In the series of seven fresh skins at hand individual variation 

 seems to cover the phase described by Cherrie and Reichenberger 

 from Suncho Corral, Santiago del Estero as Ortalis cardcollis grisea^ 

 though the skins in question come from Formosa and the Paraguayan 

 Chaco near Puerto Pinasco. With the somewhat limited material 

 at hand subspecies may not be recognized. Wagler based his descrip- 

 tion of canicoUis on Azara's account of the Yacii-caraguata so that 

 his type locality must be located in southern Paraguay or the adja- 

 cent provinces of Argentina. (Azara remarks that the bird was 

 not known south of 27° S. latitude.) 



Order GRUIFORMES 

 Family RALLIDAE 



FULICA ARMILLATA Vieillot 



Fulica armillata Vieillot, Nouv. Diet. Hist. Nat., vol. 12, 1817, p. 47. 

 (Paraguay.) 



This large coot was common in the cafiadones near Lavalle, Bue- 

 nos Aires, where, near the Estancia Los Yngleses, an adult female 

 was shot on October 29, 1920. The birds were found on open pools 

 or among rushes, and swam about with nodding heads and other 

 mannerisms typical of the genus. They were nesting and I believed 

 that nests containing large handsomely marked eggs belonged to 

 this species, but after considerable effort I was unable to identify 

 the owners definitely, and did not take them. 



At General Roca, Rio Negro, from November 30 to December 3 

 a band of nearly 100 of the present species, with a few F. leucop- 

 tera frequented an open space in a quiet channel near the river. 

 I killed two males, and a male white-winged coot, at a single shot 

 on November 30. (PL 16.) The birds fed in scattered company, 

 but when alarmed gathered in a close flock. There was some mat- 

 ing activity among those of the present species, and males gave 

 an occasional mating display in which they arched the neck, raised 

 the tips of the wings, half closed the eyes, and opened the mouth. 

 Though they turned toward their mates in these maneuvers they 

 took care to guard against a savage bill thrust by remaining at a 

 safe distance. Among themselves males, when not alarmed, were 



•Amer. Mus. Nov., No. 27, Dec. 28, 1921, p. 2. 



