118 BIRDS OF LA PLATA 
plumes of the pampas grass, and displaying their 
rich black and yellow dress. Unlike most other 
birds obtained at that time, their plumage seemed 
nearly as bright as in summer.” 
SCARLET-HEADED MARSH-BIRD 
Amblyrhamphus holosericeus 
Black ; head and neck and upper breast and thighs intense scarlet ; 
feet and bill black; length 9.5 inches. Female the same, young all 
black. 
Azara named this species Tordo negro cabeza roxa ; 
it is also called Boyero (ox-herd) by country people, 
from its note resembling the long whistle of a drover ; 
and sometimes “‘ Chisel-bill,”” from the peculiar con- 
formation of the beak, which is long, straight, and 
broad at the end like a chisel. In both sexes the 
plumage of the head and neck 1s scarlet, of an exceed- 
ingly brilliant tint, all other parts intense black. 
These birds are lively, active, and sociable, going in 
flocks of from half-a-dozen to thirty individuals ; 
they remain all the year, and inhabit the marshes, 
from which they seldom wander very far but seek 
their insect food in the soft decaying rushes. They 
are common on the swampy shores of the Plata, 
and when seen at a distance, perched in their usual 
manner on the summits of the tall rushes, their 
flame-coloured heads shine with a strange glory 
above the sere, sombre vegetation of the marshes. 
