1916 ] HussEY, Spring Birds of La Plata. . 38o 



The third region, by far the most important, includes a strip of 

 land along the great municipal sewer to the northeast of La Plata; 

 it is made up of several distinct subregions. 



The first subregion is about four miles in length: a vast marsh 

 all grown up with ten-foot grasses, but without other trees or 

 bushes than a few slender willow stalks. The great brick cloaca 

 is entirely above ground through this region, and gives an excellent 

 place of vantage from which an extensive vista over the marsh is 

 secured. Probably there are some areas of open water within the 

 region, as several species of ducks were seen to rise from and settle 

 into the more distant parts. 



For the most part the water in this marsh is shallow — not more 

 than eight inches deep in most places, at least under normal condi- 

 tions. But the river Plate is greatly affected by the winds. A 

 two-days' "pampero" from the south may back up the water until 

 it stands ten feet or more above its usual level, while a wind from 

 the north may produce just the opposite result; and the whole 

 marsh area is more or less affected by the water level^in the river, 

 especiall}'' during these times of abnormally high or low water. 

 Toward the end of December, as the dry season approached and 

 there were no strong up-stream winds, a large part of this marsh 

 dried up; this produced some change in the bird life, of which the 

 most noticeable feature was the withdrawal of the Snail Hawk 

 (Rostrhamus sociabilis) . 



The second subregion is about two miles long. Here the land 

 is higher, and trees and thorny bushes begin to make their appear- 

 ance. A large part of this region is given over to small gardens 

 and to pasture. A tramway runs from here to the port of La Plata, 

 where connections are made with a line from the city itself. 



The third region extends on about two miles, to the river Plate. 

 This is the most diversified of all those in which work was done. 

 Small gardens, diked about to guard against high water, alternate 

 with bits of open marsh and fragments of the original swampy 

 forest, and with dense groves of poplar and willow and other quick- 

 growing trees, planted for future use as firewood. Wood-cutting 

 is always going on here; and so the region has been given the name 

 Los Talas — apparently with absolute disregard for the rules of 

 Spanish grammar. 



