4G Mr. P. L. Sclater on the 



the long grass or bushes, wliere they have lajii during the 

 day, to feed; and at that time they can^be ^Jieard calling to 

 each other in every direction. Their note is a loud and oft- 

 repeated whistle uttered in a low key. 



Rhea darwini. 



Common on the higher tableland, but rarely seen in the 

 immediate neighbourhood of the colony. The feathers of 

 this bird form the chief article of barter Avhich the Indians 

 give in exchange for yerba, sugar, &c. During my visit we 

 made two hunting-excursions in search of R,heas and Gua- 

 nacos. The former sometimes lie very close, usually under 

 the shelter of a bush, and will then allow you to pass within a 

 few yards of them without moving. When flushed they en- 

 deavour to run with the wind, partly opening their wings, 

 which act as sails. It requires a good dog to overtake an 

 old bird when he gets a start of a hundred yards. I was told 

 that the colonists have found as many as thirty-two eggs in 

 one nest, and when such a number is laid they consider them 

 the produce of more than one female ; they sometimes flush 

 the male bird from the nest. It is an event of common oc- 

 currence to find single eggs about the campo smaller than 

 those in nests ; and these are supposed to have been dropped 

 by immature birds which have not commenced to lay 

 regularly. 



IV. — Note on the South- American Song-Sparrows. 

 By P. L. Sclater. 



(Plate I.) 



It is a singular fact that, while Zonotrichia pileata is generally 

 diffused over Central and South America, aud is in many 

 places a most abundant species, the only other two members of 

 the same genus that occur within the neotropical region are 

 confined to La Plata and Patagonia. So little known, more- 

 over, are the latter, that, with a tolerably extensive acquaint- 

 ance with South- American birds, I have never met with but 



