RED-BILLED GROUND-FINCH 57 
RED-BILLED GROUND-FINCH 
Embernagra platensis 
Above dull olive-green, striped with blackish; wings silky olive- 
green, the inner webs of the feathers black; edge of wings yellow ; 
tail-feathers dull olive-green; beneath grey, belly buff; beak bright 
red; length 8.8 inches. 
In this Finch the plumage is alike in both sexes. 
Above it is dusky olive-green, beneath grey; the 
beak is of a fine bright red. In Argentina this bird 1s 
most common in the littoral forests along the Plata, 
but ranges as far south as the Rio Negro in Pata- 
gonia. It does not migrate, nor associate in flocks ; 
but the sexes are faithful, and the male and female 
are invariably together, and appear to be very fond 
of each other’s society. They have a loud, sharp 
alarm chirp or cry, which bursts from the bird with 
the startling suddenness of a sneeze from a human 
being; also a confused unmelodious song, which 
always reminds me, in its hurry, vehemence, and 
peculiar sound, of the gobbling of a turkey-cock. 
They are not shy, but when approached sit jerking 
their tails about, and uttering loud chirps as if greatly 
excited. The flight is very curious; the bird springs 
up with great suddenness, and with tail erect, the 
long legs dangling down like a Rail’s, and proceeds by 
a series of irregular jerks, violently shutting and 
opening its wings. They breed on the ground under 
the grass, and conceal their nest so well that I doubt 
whether the parasitical Molothrus ever finds it. I 
