412 Mr. E. Gibson on the Ornithology of [Ibis, 



204. Synallaxis maluroides d'Orb. Wren-like Spine-tail. 



An abundant species in ^'rincones," where the immense 

 esparto beds constitute a safe refuge from birds of prey ; also 

 generally distributed in the vicinity of swamps, wherever 

 there is a dense growtli of either dry grass or wet weeds ; 

 but entirely absent on the plains. During tlie great flood of 

 1913-15 it practically disappeared. It is of feeble flight, 

 and only on evideftce when disturbed by the rider, and 

 it fhes a few yards. On these occasions the horseman is 

 sometimes accompanied by an attendant Harrier {Circus 

 cinereus), but I never saw a capture achieved, in the course 

 of many attempts. One day, in the course of a very 

 high wind, the helplessness of these little birds was very 

 obvious ; no sooner did they rise out of the esparto than 

 they were put down again, and one was actually driven 

 against my knee or saddle. 



I am inclined to agree with Mr. Hudson that it has a 

 partial migration, as I have found it scarcer in the colder 

 months. 



Personally, I am ignorant of its breeding-habits. In vain, 

 on innumerable occasions, in the spring and summer, have 

 I pulled out and dropped my handkerchief when a bird rose 

 at the horse's feet ; the subsequent search amongst the 

 esparto, for many yards round, has always been un- 

 successful. 



Hudson describes the nest as " a slight open structure of 

 grass lined with a few feathers, and placed in a tuft of grass 

 or weeds; the egg pure white in colour." Claude Grant's 

 one and only clutch of three eggs had "" a mere bedding of 

 dry grass with a little wool and thistle-down, placed on the 

 ground in a dry part of the swamp.'' The three eggs — taken 

 on 2 January, 1909 — are of a broad-oval shape, pure white, 

 and slightly glossy. They average 17 X 14 mm. 



206. Anumbius acuticaudatus (Less.). Firewood-gatherer. 



The " Lenatero " or Firewood-gatherer is exceedingly 

 common, and its nests, new and old, are to be found 

 everywhere except in the heart of a wood ; where, as 



