84 PATAGONIAN EXPEDITIONS : NARRATIVE. 



grass growing on the crest of the latter. At the foot of the tiny escarp- 

 ment a little tunnel three or four inches in length would be driven back 

 into the side of the hill and at the end of this was placed the nest. 



The little black Scytalopus magellanicus was abundant at this season 

 of the year, both along the beach and over the pampas, where they moved 

 about in considerable flocks, displaying habits not unlike those of the 

 common shore lark, Ofocoris aipestris arenicola, of our western plains, 

 though not at all resembling the latter in color. 



As the spring advanced, there appeared about the cliffs and over the 

 pampas a great variety of small lizards of varying size, shape and color, 

 but no snakes. Throughout the three years spent in southern Patagonia 

 I never saw or heard of a snake having been observed there. Frogs w^ere 

 fairly abundant about the springs and pools of fresh water. Beetles were 

 abundant everywhere on the pampas, as were also spiders and a large 

 scorpion. There were butterflies and moths, though in no great abun- 

 dance, and such as were present belonged for the most part to small and 

 inconspicuous forms. 



Two animals, the guanaco and the rhea, play such an important part 

 in the economy of the aborigines of this region and indeed of the traveller 

 throughout the interior that I shall leave the discussion of their peculiar- 

 ities for the chapter treating of the Indians of Patagonia. I must not omit 

 to mention, however, in this connection that the eggs of the ostrich, Rhea 

 darivini, provided a welcome and palatable addition to our daily menu. 

 Throughout the season from October first until the last of November we 

 had them almost daily. Fried, scrambled, roasted in a bed of coals or 

 mixed with flour and made into batter and baked as cakes, they were 

 always relished. 



With the end of October we had finished our work at Corriguen Aike 

 and most gratifying had been our success. In all we had collected at this 

 locality alone about four tons of fossils, and as we unloaded the last of 

 the boxes containing these on the beach at North Gallegos in the wool 

 shed belonging to Mr. Felton, who had generously granted us free storage, 

 a small schooner, "La Patria," of about forty tons, came in and anchored 

 in order to discharge some cargo. As she was going direct to Sandy 

 Point, this seemed an excellent opportunity for making a second shipment. 

 I was not long in striking a bargain with her Portuguese master, who was 

 so illiterate that he had to call in the mate to compute the charges on four 



