— 
RED-BREASTED MARSH-BIRD 121 
smaller and has a shorter tail. The male is black, 
the upper parts faintly mottled with yellowish grey ; 
there is a straw-coloured stripe over the eye; the 
throat and breast bright crimson. The female is a 
smaller bird, and in colour dull fulvous grey, mottled 
with fuscous; the red tint on the breast scarcely 
perceptible. 
These birds are migratory, and appear everywhere 
in the eastern part of the Argentine country early in 
October, arriving singly, after which each male takes 
up a position in a field or open space abounding 
with coarse grass and herbage, where he spends most 
of the time perched on the summit of a tall stalk 
or weed, his glowing crimson bosom showing at a 
distance like some splendid flower above the herbage. 
At intervals of two or three minutes he soars verti- 
cally up to a height of twenty or twenty-five yards 
to utter his song, composed of a single long, powerful, 
and rather musical note, ending with an attempt at 
4 flourish, during which the bird flutters and turns 
about in the air ; then, as if discouraged at his failure, 
he drops down, emitting harsh guttural chirps, to 
resume his stand. Meanwhile the female is invisible, 
keeping closely concealed under the long grass. But 
at length, attracted perhaps by the bright bosom and 
aerial music of the male, she occasionally exhibits 
herself for a few moments, starting up with a wild 
zigzag flight, like a Snipe flushed from its marsh, 
and, darting this way and that, presently drops into 
the grass once more. The moment she appears above 
the grass the male gives chase, and they vanish from 
