TINAMIDAE 1 85 



the tall grasses of the Pampas like a Eail, and, if iinal)le 

 to escape by squatting or running, will fly for some thousand 

 yards, and thrice repeat the effort before becoming exhausted, 

 the rapid whirring of the pinions sounding like a vehicle driven 

 quickly over stones. The song, as it may almost be called, con- 

 sists of five or six flute-like notes, several individuals sometimes 

 joining in chorus towards evening, when they are decidedly active. 

 The eggs, which are dark purple, have been hatched in confine- 

 ment, and attempts at naturalization have been made in Essex 

 and Herts. Nothoi^rocta contains eight members, N. 'pentlandi of 

 the Bolivian and Argentine Andes having the crown and back 

 grey, barred with black and buff, and streaked with white, the 

 remiges blackish and buff, the cheeks and breast grey, the throat, 

 mid-abdomen and pectoral spots whitish, the flanks grey, black 

 and white. Its powers of flying and running are comparatively 

 small, and it will remain stationary for hours among stones or 

 bushes in ravines, escaping observation by its dull hue. The note 

 is a full-toned whistle; the food consists of seeds, fruits, and insects; 

 the eggs are reddish-brown. Of seven species of NotMira, N. 

 maculosa, the " I'erdiz comun," found from South Brazil to Argen- 

 tina, is yellowish-brown above, barred with black and streaked 

 with whitish, the throat being white, the wings marked with 

 fulvous, and the lower parts rusty with brown breast-spots and 

 curved flank-bands. It is a fearless, solitary, and somewhat sluggish 

 denizen of grassy plains, which does not avoid habitations, and 

 may be knocked down with a whip or stone, feigning death when 

 captured ; the note resembles that of Crypturus tata^ipa without 

 the final intonation ; the eggs are wine-purple or liver-coloured. 

 N. danvini, the shy " Perdiz chico " of Patagonia, is greyer. Calo- 

 dromas {Calopezus) elegans, the Martineta, ranging from South 

 Uruguay to Patagonia, has a grey and black head and neck with 

 long recurved crest, elevated in excitement, two white bands on 

 each side of the head, rufous and black upper parts, whitish throat 

 and marks on tlie primaries, and huffish under surface with cres- 

 centic black bars and spots. It frequents dry bushy table-lands, 

 often in coveys of twenty or thirty, which run squealing in single 

 file before intruders, and utter, in summer only, a long plaintive 

 whistle, or chorus of notes like those of Ehynchotus, but weaker. 

 The flight, accompanied by a wailing sound, is broken by intervals 

 of gliding ; the four to sixteen eggs are deep green or yellowish. 



