SPOTTED TINAMU 225 
at full speed, would be to the driver. The bird knows 
the danger to which this peculiar character of its 
flight exposes it so well that it is careful to fly only 
to that side where it sees a clear course. It is some- 
times, however, compelled to take wing suddenly, 
without considering the obstacles in its path; it 
also often miscalculates the height of an obstacle, 
so that for Tinamus to meet with accidents when 
flying is very common. In the course of a short ride 
of two miles, during which several birds sprang up 
before me, I have seen three of these Tinamus dash 
themselves to death against a fence close to the path, 
the height of which they had evidently misjudged. I 
have also seen a bird fly blindly against the wall of 
a house, killing itself instantly. A brother of mine 
told me of a very curious thing he once witnessed. 
He was galloping over the pampas, with a very 
violent wind blowing in his face, when a Tinamu 
started up before his horse. The bird flew up into 
the air vertically, and, beating its wings violently, 
and with a swiftness far exceeding that of its ordinary 
flight, continued to ascend until it reached a vast 
height, then came down again, whirling round and 
round, striking the earth a very few yards from the 
spot where it rose, and crushing itself to a pulp with 
the tremendous force of the fall. It is very easy to 
guess the cause of such an accident: while the 
Tinamu struggled blindly to go forward, the violent 
wind, catching the under surface of the wings, forced 
it upwards, until the poor bird, becoming hopelessly 
confused, fell back to earth. I have often seen a 
Pp II 
