YPECAHA RAIL 165 
When surprised on the open ground the Ypecaha 
lies close, like a Tinamu, refusing to rise until 
almost trodden upon. It springs up with a loud- 
sounding whirr, rushes violently through the air till, 
gaining the reeds, it glides a few yards and then 
drops; its flight is thus precisely like that of the 
Tinamu, and is more sounding and violent than 
that of the Grouse or Partridge. On spying an 
intruder it immediately utters a powerful cry, in 
strength and intonation not unlike that of the Pea- 
fowl. This note of alarm is answered by other birds 
at a distance as they hastily advance to the spot 
where the warning was sounded. The cry is repeated 
at irregular intervals, first on one side, then on the 
other, as the birds change their position to dog the 
intruder’s steps and inspect him from the reeds. 
I have surprised parties of them in an open space, 
and shot one or more; but no sooner had the sur- 
vivors gained their refuge than they turned about 
to watch and follow me, sounding their powerful 
alarm the whole time. I have frequently been 
followed half a mile through the rushes by them, 
and by lying close and mimicking their cries have 
always succeeded in drawing them about me. 
But the Ypecaha’s loudest notes of alarm are weak 
compared with the cries he utters at other times, 
when, untroubled with a strange presence, he pours 
out his soul in screams and shrieks that amaze the 
listener with their unparalleled power. These 
screams in all their changes and modulations have 
a resemblance to the human voice, but to the human 
