170 BIRDS OF LA PLATA 
LITTLE WATERHEN 
Porphyriops melanops 
Above olivaceous ; head darker; wings brown ; wing-coverts tinged 
with chestnut; outer secondaries more or less distinctly margined 
with white ; beneath cinereous; middle of belly and crissum white ; 
flanks olivaceous, spotted with white; bill dark olive, with the tip 
yellowish ; feet hazel; length 9, wing 5 inches. Female similar. 
In the southern part of the Argentine country the 
Little Waterhen is a summer visitant, and very 
abundant in the marshes along the Plata. In language 
and habits it is like the Coots: it is not often seen on 
land, and feeds principally as it swims about in a 
jerky manner among the floating reeds. It appears 
in October, migrating exclusively, I think, by night ; 
and after the autumnal departure an individual is 
rarely seen. By day they are shy and retiring, but 
scatter abroad in the evening, frequently uttering 
their hollow mysterious cry, called “ the witch laugh”’ 
by superstitious people, and resembling a sudden 
burst of hysterical laughter, the notes beginning 
loud and long, becoming brief and hurried as they 
die away. 
YELLOW-BILLED COOT 
Fulica leucoptera 
Dark slatey; head and neck black; crissum white, with a black 
median patch; bend of wing and outer margin of external primary, 
also the tips of some of the secondaries, white; bill yellow; head- 
shield rounded behind; feet olivaceous; length 15, wing 7.5 inches. 
Female similar. 
Tuis is perhaps the most abundant species of Fulica 
in the Plata region, and certainly congregates in the 
