1919-] Cape San Antonio, Buenos Ay res. 499 



at an abandoned sub-station or derelict cattle-well, may 

 have its pair of occupants. Beii;<;^ to a considerable extent 

 a ground-feeder, it is amply satisfied with a roosting-place 

 and some modest facilities for its nesting-requirements. 



I find that by a ch^rical error I had repi'esented the eggs as 

 being laid in the first half of October; the statement should 

 refer to the latter halt' of that month (from the 15th onwards), 

 and tl»e period extends as late as the 23rd of November. 

 Five is an exceptional clutch, four being the usual number. 

 The}^ are pear-shaped and glossy, and average 28 x 21 mm. 



263. Ceryle americana Gm. Little Kingfisher. 



INly knowledge of this species — if I am right in my 

 surmise of its identification — is exceedingly limited. 

 In 1880, on the Arroyo Sauce Grande (between the sierras 

 Ventaua and Pillahuinc(')) , at a locality known as " Las 

 Horquetas,^^ 1 am positive that I had a glimpse of a 

 Kingfisher ; but neither then, nor since — on a subse- 

 quent visit to the valley of that river in 1904 — could I 

 gather any information on the subject from local residents. 

 As the Ynglesitos estancia, on the slope of the Balcarce 

 sierras (midway between Ajo and the Ventana-Pillahuinco 

 ranges) and where there are various streams, none of our 

 several Englisli managers or staft" ever chronicled the 

 existence of any member of this genus ; and the same 

 remark applies to the Tomasa estancia, situated on the 

 level campo adjacent to the Azul and Las Flores arroyos. 

 Naturally, about the Yngleses estancia itself, where there 

 are no streams and practically no banks to any of the laguuas 

 of an adequate nature for nesting-burrows, the presence of a 

 Kingfisher was not to be looked for. Accordingly, I was 

 equally surprised and pleased when, on a visit to the Violetas 

 estancia (about ten or twelve miles west of the Yngleses) 

 in the summer of 1908-9, an individual bird sped past me 

 as I sat on the bank of the Violetas laguna ; 1 followed uj), 

 but failed to locate it. Of (course, there is the possibilit}^ 

 that it was only an errant or summer visitor ; but I am 

 inclined to the belief that it probably found its (quarters 



