Birds of Uruguay. 207 



121. Oreophilus ruficollis. Slender-billed Plover. 

 Another Plover wliicli breeds in South Patagonia and 



comes north for the winter. On the 18th May I saw a 

 small bunch in the camp at Sta. Ana^ but they were so wild 

 I could not get a shot. They uttered a few whistles, quite 

 different from that of the Golden Plover, on rising. On the 

 following Sunday I saw them again when riding without a 

 gun, but a long search next morning was not rewarded. 

 There is a local specimen in the Museum. 



' *H^MAT0Pus PALLiATus. American Oyster-catcher. 

 A specimen is in the Museum of Montevideo. 



122. HiMANTOPUs BRASiLiENsis. Brazilian Stilt. 



Mr. Burgess tells me he has met with this bird once or 

 tAvice; it is known as the " Teru-Teru real.^^ 



123. Gallinago PARAGUAiiE. Paraguay Snipe. (Plate V. 

 fig. 8, egg.) 



Resident apparently, though much more common at some 

 seasons than others. Their comparative abundance probably 

 depends upon the rainfall. In the latter half of October 

 they were common along marshy caHadas and in similar 

 places on the Sauce. They were evidently there for 

 breeding purposes, as they were tame, often gave you a view 

 of them on the ground, were constantly " drumming " in the 

 air, and on the ground uttering a note like chuttuk. The 

 females (?) cried '' chuttuk" or " chuk-chuk-chuk" on rising. 

 The sound of the drumming diifers from that produced by the 

 English Snipe j it is a long shaking kurrrrrr (the sound can 

 be reproduced to some extent in the back of the human 

 throat) ; sometimes it varies to a deep low-noted hollow 

 gurrrrr, and, like our bird^s drum, is audible at a consider- 

 able distance. 



The Snipe, when drumming, is said to be calling for water, 

 but I forget the exact name used for the bird. I often 

 searched for the nest among the tall grass and herbage on the 

 boggy banks of canadas where I flushed Snipe, without success, 

 but on the 23rd November, when galloping home with a com- 

 panion through some low paja near the Sauce on Sta. Ade- 



