214 0)1 the Birds of Uruguay. 



138. NoTHURA. MACULOSA. Spotted Tinamu. 



Abundant, especially on Sta. Elena camp, where they 

 are preserved to some extent. I have nothing new to add 

 to what has been written about its habits, but the following 

 dates of nests may be of interest. It should be stated that 

 the spring of 1892 was a late one ; this may have been due 

 to the seca, which perhaps also accounted for the irregularity 

 in the Partridges'" nesting : — 



21st October, nest of two eggs — the first which had 

 been found. 25th October, nest of three eggs. 28th October, 

 nest of four, hard set. 29th October, nest of four. 3rd 

 "November, nest of four, nearly fresh. 7th November^ 

 nest of five, fresh. 9th November, nest of five, fresh. 

 17th November, in the evening, I stumbled into a brood 

 of young getting their feathers ; head and neck still 

 in down, dark brown lined with pale buff; a line starting 

 at base of beak and forking into two ; neck with the buff 

 lines broader than the dark brown ones ; body mottled buff 

 and dark brown, with some little narrow white marks. 24th 

 January, nest of five eggs. Third week in February, two nests 

 with eggs. 21st February, old bird brooding over one very 

 small young one. I have known six and seven eggs in some 

 cases, and have heard of nests with eight. 



139. Rhea Americana. Common Rhea. 



When the country was fenced, the Ostriches were con- 

 fined in the different potreros, many of which are of large 

 extent, and here they continue in a wild condition. Their 

 numbers in difii'erent camps differ greatly according to the 

 amount of protection or persecution they have received. 

 At Sta. Elena the owner has always taken care of them, and 

 they are not driven and plucked ; they are accordingly abun- 

 dant. Ostriches often charge the fences, and occasionally 

 either get through or get hung up and killed. This occurs 

 only when the birds are much alarmed, by cattle being 

 '' rounded up " for instance, and more especially on tho sej 

 camps where the birds are, or were, periodically caught and] 



