282 PATAGONIAN EXPEDITIONS : ZOOLOGY 



half an inch wide. The black band is widest on the central pair of 

 feathers, gradually narrowing a little on each pair so as to be about an 

 inch and a quarter wide on the outer rectrices. 



Lower parts : Black from the chin to the posterior line of the breast, 

 thence abruptly white for the remainder of the lower surface, including 

 the under-wing coverts and axillaries. Primary quills black below ; sec- 

 ondaries, the outer black below, the inner ones with a decreasing amount 

 of that color and the innermost showing no black. 



Bill : Reddish at base shading into dusky at tip. 



Legs and feet deep brown flesh color, lightest on the bare portion of 

 the leg and pinkish at the joint, shading into duller on the tafsi and feet. 



Iris: Brilliant red (J. B. Hatcher). 



The adult female does not differ from the adult male in color ; with 

 recurved crest and wing spur. 



Immature Birds. — (P. LI. O. C. 7778, male, Port of Gallegos, Pata- 

 gonia, 10 January, 1898, A. E. Colburn.) Have all the color pattern of 

 the adults plainly indicated even to the metallic shading and iridescence. 

 Each feather of the mantle and back of neck and crown, as well as the 

 coverts of the wing are tipped with sandy buff, -and the larger coverts are 

 also barred with this color near their ends. The black of the forehead is 

 almost obsolete on account of the sandy tips, but can readily be seen on 

 raising the feathers. The chin and upper throat are also suffused by 

 sandy tips to each feather. The crest is indicated and the spurs on the 

 wings present, though short and dull. No other suffusions. This bird is 

 in the first plumage, and it is of great interest to see the long down fila- 

 ments on two of the outer tail feathers, the rest of the down plumes being 

 worn away. 



Geographical Range. — Patagonia, the Falkland Islands, Chili and Peru. 



"I met with this bird from latitude 30° to 45° S. on both sides of South 

 America. In La Plata it is called 'Teru-tero' in imitation of its cry; and 

 in Chile, according to Molina, 'Thegel.' These birds, which in many 

 respects resemble in habits our peewits [Vanelhis cristatus), frequent, gen- 

 erally in pairs, open grassy land, and especially the neighbourhood of lakes. 

 As- the peewit takes its name from the sound of its voice, so does the teru- 

 tero. While riding over the grassy plains, one is constantly pursued by 



