1 10 ZOOLOGY OF THE VOYAGE OF THE BEAGLE. 



and sometimes reiterated. Its flight is heavy. The young have their heads and 

 thighs merely mottled with scarlet. 



Sturnella militaris. Vieill. 



Sturnus militaris, Gmd. 



Etounieau des terres Magellanique, PI. eul. 1 1 3. 



I met with specimens of this bird on the east coast of the continent from the 

 Falkland Islands to 31° S., and on the western coast from the Strait of Magellan 

 to Lima, a space of forty degrees of latitude. 



Family.— TROCHILID^. 



1. Trochilus flavifrons. 

 Monte Video. — November. Not abundant. 



2. Trochilus forficatus. Lath. 



Edtranh' Gleanings. 



Vieill. Ois. dores, t. 1. 



Ornismya Kingii, Less. Trochilidces, pi. 38. 



This species is found over a space of 2,500 miles on the west coast, from the 

 hot dry country of Lima to the forests of Terra del Fuego, where it has been 

 described by Captain King as flitting about in a snow-storm. In the wooded 

 island of Chiloe, which has an extremely damp climate, this little bird, skipping 

 from side to side amidst the humid foliage, and uttering its acute chirp, is 

 perhaps more abundant than any other kind. It there very commonly 

 frequents open marshy ground, where a kind of bromelia grows : hovering near 

 the edge of the thick beds, it every now and then dashes in close to the ground ; 

 but I could not see whether it ever actually alighted. At that time of the year 

 there were very few flowers, and none whatever near the beds of bromelia. 

 Hence, I was quite sure that they did not live on honey ; and on opening the 

 stomach and upper intestine, by the aid of a lens, I could plainly distinguish in a 

 yellow fluid, morsels of the wings of diptera, — probably Tipulidae. It is evident 

 that these birds search for minute insects in their winter quarters under the thick 

 foliage. I opened the stomachs of several specimens which were shot in different 

 parts of the continent, and in all remains of insects were numerous, forming a 

 black comminuted mass. In one killed at Valparaiso, I found portions of an ant. 

 Amongst the Chonos Islands, at a season when there were flowers in open places, 

 yet the damp recesses of the forests appeared their favourite haunt. In central 



