Birds of Uruguay. 193 



lie near their usual haunts. On 39th January I saw a little 

 flock in the quinta at Sta. Adelaicla among the membrillo 

 bushes (a kind of quince)^ which were probably in search 

 of the seeds of this fruit. I have also seen them feeding 

 on the ripe seed-heads of the cardoon thistle. Except 

 when they come out to feed on some special crop^ however, 

 they keep to the monte ; but when riding up to the Rio 

 Negro I saw, just on the other side of the Marincho, a small 

 colony in some low trees round a ruined puesta. It is a 

 resident, I suppose, as they were still about their usual 

 haunts on 35th May. The '' Cotorrita " is often kept in 

 cages, but its talking-powers are very small. 



-80. Asio BRACHYOTus. Short-earcd Owl. 



Met with at various dates continuously from the 36th 

 November to the 7th May, and it is doubtless a resident, but 

 I could never discover the nest. On one occasion (1st April) 

 one hovered over some thick paja, on being flushed, with 

 an angry, harsh, chattering or barking cry ; but I was in 

 pursuit of something else at the time, and could not find 

 the exact spot afterwards. Those I saw and shot were like 

 the warm-coloured form found in England. 



81. Speotyto cunicularia. Burrowing Owl. 



Common, breeding in the open camp, but usually at no 

 great distance from a group of rocks, on which, and the 

 stunted shrubs among them, they like to sit. The burrows 

 are sometimes in the open ground, sometimes at the foot of, 

 or partly underneath, a boulder. This little Owl is "brava.^' 

 Upon any intrusion on its haunts it launches itself into the 

 air, and hovers like a Kestrel, uttering loud, sharp, rapid, 

 Hawk-like cries, and often it will swoop down in a menacing 

 way. With a dog they are especially flerce. I have known 

 a bird repeatedly strike at an old terrier which used to 

 accompany me on shorter excursions, to his great irritation 

 and disgust. The Owl would sail gently along, and as it 

 passed over his back (always approaching from the rear), 

 just drop its legs and claw his back, or even his ears. The 

 old dog used to spring up into the air with angry barks and 



