of the Argentine Republic. 427 



soaring in a straggling body in search of beetles, bnt returns 

 at sundown to roost in the monte of Eucalyptus trees. They 

 are anything but shy, and take little notice of being shot 

 at. I am not certain when or where they depart. 



[As Mr. Holland supposes, this is the young of Buteo 

 swainsoni (Arg. Orn. ii. p. 59). — P. L. S.] 



5. Chauna chavaria. (Arg. Orn. ii. p. 119.) 



[One of the most interesting specimens in Mr. Holland's 

 collection is the skin of a chick of the Crested Screamer 

 {Chauna chavaria) apparently quite recently hatched. 



Mr. E. Gibson (Ibis, 1880, p. 166) has given us some 

 excellent notes on the breeding-habits of this strange bird. 

 " The young, when hatched," he says, "are covered with an 

 abundance of beautifully soft down, of a yellow-brown 

 colour." This, as is seen in the present specimen, is 

 quite true. The down is very dense, very soft, and con- 

 tinuous over the whole of the body above and beneath, 

 leaving only the bill, lores, rim round the eye, feet, and 

 lower part of tibiae naked. But the head in the present 

 specimen is tinged with rufous, and on the back the down is 

 slightly tinged with blackish. 



The condition of the chick, therefore, in this form, as well 

 as the structure of the egg, strongly tend to confirm the view 

 originally put forward by Parker (P. Z. S. 1863, p. 511) that 

 the nearest living allies of the Palamadeidse are the Anseres. 

 The egg of Chauna is so much like that of a Goose (Anser), 

 that it is difficult to tell any difference. The characters of 

 the chick serve to confirm this resemblance. — P. L. S.] 



6. Metopiana peposaca. (Arg. Orn. ii. p. 137.) 



In October and November almost every nest of Fulica 

 armillata and Fulica leucoptera, as also many nests of Larus 

 maculipennis and a few of Chauna chavaria, contained para- 

 sitic eggs. These eggs were undoubtedly those of a Duck, 

 though they varied in size and shape, the largest being 2| in. 

 x If ; in colour they were of a dirty white. This Duck, I 

 think, must be Metopiana peposaca, as these birds were ex- 

 tremely plentiful this year throughout the breeding-season, 

 and I have taken the eggs of all the other Ducks here that 



