Vv TINAMIDAE 18 
un 
the tall grasses of the Pampas lke a Rail, and, if unable 
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. Nothoprocta contains eight members, WV. pentlandi of 
the Bolivian and Argentine Andes having the crown and ‘back 
orey, 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 Wothura, J. 
maculosa, the “ Perdiz comun,” found from South Brazil to Argen- 
tina, 1s 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 tatawpa without 
the final intonation ; the eggs are wine-purple or liver-coloured. 
N. darwim, the shy “ Perdiz chico” of Patagonia, is greyer. Ca/o- 
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 the primaries, and buffish 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 hke those of Rhynchotus, 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. 
