166 Mr. R. Ridgway on the Genus Helraiuthophaga. 



It is not so good to eat as a Partridge, and shows but poor 

 sport, seeking to evade dogs by running, and when flushed 

 flying low. Rhynchotis rufescevs was some years ago quite 

 common near Buenos Ayrcs ; but now " civilization " has 

 driven it backwards, so that it is not to be found in any 

 numbers Avithin 100 miles of this place. It is still abundant 

 at Chirilcay, where it is caught by men and boys on horse- 

 back. When a bird is sighted the horseman commences 

 riding round it in narrowing circles, until he can pass a horse- 

 hair noose over its head from the end of a long stick. The 

 bird, when alarmed, invariably squats instead of running 

 away. In the country they are to be bought for 2</. a piece ; 

 in the town they fetch from I*. Qd. to 2s. 6d. each. The 

 flesh is white and dry. One I flushed in the campo rose 

 straight up, like a Pheasant, and then flew with a steady 

 flight about 300 yards before it settled again. 



XVII. — Notes on the Genus Helminthophaga. 

 By Robert Ridgway. 



The genus Helminthophaga ranks second in importance in the 

 family Mniotiitidse, one of the most characteristic of the Ne- 

 arctic avifauna of all belonging to that region; and its nu- 

 merous species are all strictly North American. They are 

 distinguished for their graceful form, and, with few excep- 

 tions, for their very pretty or even beautiful colouring. 



As is the case with the species of the genus Dendroeca, the 

 most numerous of all the Mniotiltidae, the species of Helmin- 

 thophaga belong chiefly to the Eastern Province, only four of 

 the ten that are known being found in the country westward 

 of the Rocky Mountains ; and two of these are common to 

 both halves of the continent. But this remark may be deemed 

 superfluous when it is recalled that the same may be said of 

 the family in general, of whose sixty-one species known to 

 occur within the United States, as many as thirty-nine, or 

 about two thirds, are confined to the Eastern Province ; while 

 the proportion of peculiar genera stands as nine eastern to none 



