II4 BIRDS OF LA PLATA 
often appear in large nurers, and at such times I 
have seen them congregating by hundreds in the 
evening beside the water; but in the daytime they 
scatter over the feeding-ground, where they are seen 
stalking along, intent on their prey, with majestic 
crane-like strides. To rise they give three long jumps 
before committing themselves to the air, and like all 
heavy fliers make a loud noise with their wings. They 
are never seen to alight on trees, like the Jabiru, 
and are absolutely dumb, unless the clattering 
they make with the bill when angry can be called a 
language. 
The laying-time is about the middle of August, 
and the nest is built up amongst the rushes, rising 
about two feet above the surface of the water. The 
eggs are rather long, three or four in number, and 
of a chalky white. 
Mr. Gibson, of Buenos Ayres, furnishes the follow- 
ing lively account of a young Maguari: ‘ One, 
which I took on 5th October, was about the size of a 
domestic fowl, in down, and, with the exception of 
the white tail, entirely black. It soon became very 
tame, and used to wander all over the premises, 
looking for food, or watching any work that was 
going on. Rats were swallowed whole ; and the way 
it would gulp down a pound or two of raw meat 
would have horrified an English housekeeper. Snakes 
it seized by the nape of the neck, and passed them 
transversely through its bill by a succession of rapid 
and powerful nips, repeating the operation two or 
three times before being satisfied that life was totally 
