FIREWOOD-GATHERER 223 
pampas, but in its habits resembles a Wren of the 
genus Cistothorus rather than a Pipit, being partial 
to moist situations, where there is a rank growth of 
grass and herbage. The wings are very short, and 
the flight so feeble that the bird refuses to rise after 
being pursued a distance of one or two hundred 
yards. And yet I am not prepared to say that it does 
not migrate, as I have found that in spring it all at 
once becomes very abundant, while in the cold 
season it is rarely seen. It is solitary, and in spring 
sits on a thistle or stalk, uttering at short intervals 
its small grasshopper-like song or call. The nest is 
a slight open structure of grass, lined with a few 
feathers, placed in a tuft of grass or reeds. The eggs 
are pure white in colour. 
FIREWOOD-GATHERER 
Anumbius acuticaudatus 
Above earthy brown, forehead chestnut, superciliaries white ; head, 
neck, and back marked with black striations; primaries blackish, 
secondaries pale chestnut-brown; tail black, all the feathers except 
the middle pair broadly tipped with cream-colour ; beneath pale ochra- 
ceous brown, white on the throat, the white bordered on each side by 
numerous black spots; length 8.5 inches. 
THIS is a common and very well-known species 
throughout the Argentine country and Patagonia, 
also in Uruguay and Paraguay, and is variously 
called Espinero (Thorn-bird), Tiru-riru, in imitation 
