72 ZOOLOGY OF THE VOYAGE OF THE BEAGLE. 



fleshy covering to the nostrils, and the arched, rounded wing, and great scratching 

 claws, it was easy to imagine some distant kind of relationship hetween these birds 

 and those of the Gallinaceous order. I was informed that the Turco makes its 

 nest at the bottom of a deep burrow which it excavates in the ground. 



3. Pteroptochos albicollis. Kittl. 



Pteroptochos albicollis. Kittl. Mem. de I'Acad. Petersb. 1. pi. iii. Vogel von Chili ; p. 8. pi. iii. 



Megalonyx medius. Less. III. Zool. pi. Ix. 



Megalon)-x albicollis. D'Orb. and Lafr. Mag. de Zool. (1636,) Aves, p. 15. 



Leptonyx albicollis. D'Orb. Voy. de I'Anier. Mer. Av. p. 196, pi. viii. f. 2. 



This species is called by the Chilenos " Tapacolo," or cover your posteriors. 

 The name is well applied, as the Tapacolo generally carries its short tail more 

 than erect, that is, inclined backward and toward the head. It is extremely 

 common in central Chile ; and in the same manner as the Turco replaces the 

 Barking-bird of the southern forest-land, so does the Tapacolo replace a fourth 

 species (P. ruhecnla), which is an inhabitant of the same forests. The Tapacolo 

 frequents hedge-rows, and the bushes which are scattered at a considerable eleva- 

 tion over the sterile hills, where scarcely another bird can exist : hence it plays 

 a conspicuous part in the ornithology of Chile. In its manner of feeding, and 

 quickly hopping out of a thicket and back again, in its desire of concealment, un- 

 willingness to take flight, and nidification, it manifests a close resemblance with 

 the P. megapodius ; its appearance is not, however, so strange, and (as if in con- 

 sequence) it exposes itself more readily to view. The Tapacolo is very crafty; 

 when frightened by any person, it will remain motionless at the bottom of a bush, 

 and will then, after a little while, try with much address to crawl away on the 

 opposite side. It is also an active bird, and continually making a noise ; these 

 noises are various and strangely odd; one is like the cooing of doves, another like 

 the bubbling of water, and many defy all similes. The country people say it 

 changes its cry five times in the year, which is according, I suppose, to some 

 change of season. I was told that the Tapacolo builds its nest at the bottom 

 of a deep burrow, like the Turco ; whereas the P. Tarnii, (as well as the P. ru- 

 hecula, an inhabitant of the same districts,) makes its nest amongst the sticks just 

 above the ground. This difference in the nidification, of the southern and northern 

 species, is probably due to the nature of the damp forests inhabited by the former 

 in which a burrow could hardly be made dry. I maj^ here observe, that travelling 

 northward from Valparaiso to Coquimbo, I met near Illapel with a bird closely 

 allied to the Tapacolo, but which, from some slight difi:erence in manners, I 

 believed was a distinct species. The range of this supposed species, is from 

 between Coquimbo and Valparaiso, to at least as far north as the valley of 

 Copiapo. 



