THERISTICUS CAUDATUS. Ill 



feathers running up the centre of the throat to the chin ; back and wings greyish 

 brown, with green reflexions, feathers edged with light brown or whitish ; 

 tertials and outer webs of secondaries for two thirds of their length white, 

 remainder dark green ; primaries dark green ; rump and upper tail-coverts light 

 bronzy green ; tail dark bronze-green ; underparts brownish black, with green 

 reflexions : whole length 33*0 inches, wing 16-25, tail 9'75, bill along culmen 7*0, 

 tarsus 3'5. Female similar. 



Hab. Antarctic South America. 



This very fine Ibis, called Mandurria 6 curucdu by Azara and Van- 

 duria de Invierno (winter Vanduria) in the vernacular, is one of the 

 most interesting winter visitors from Patagonia to the pampas of Buenos 

 Ayres. It is found in Chili, and has even been obtained as far north as 

 Peru. On the east side of the continent it is most abundant (during 

 the cold season) about latitude 37 or 38. Its summer home and 

 breeding-ground appears to be in the extreme south of the continent, 

 its eggs having been obtained in the Straits of Magellan by Darwin, 

 and recently by Dr. Cunningham, who only says of it that it is a shy 

 and wary bird, that goes in flocks of from four to eight, and has a cry 

 resembling qua-qua, qua-qua. But he might just as well have spelt it 

 quack-quack, since qua-qua fails to give the faintest idea of the series of 

 hard abrupt notes of extraordinary power the bird utters, usually when 

 on the wing, which sound like blows of a powerful hammer on a 

 metal plate. On the pampas this Ibis appears in May, frequents dry 

 grassy situations, and goes in flocks of a dozen to forty or fifty indi- 

 viduals. They walk rapidly, stooping very much, and probing the 

 ground with their long slender curved beaks, and appear to subsist 

 principally on the larvae of the large horned beetle, with which their 

 stomachs are usually found filled. So intent are they on seeking their 

 food that the members of a flock often scatter in all directions and 

 wander quite out of sight of each other ; when this happens they occa- 

 sionally utter loud vehement cries, as if to call their companions, or to 

 inform each other of their whereabouts. Frequently one is seen to lift 

 up its wings as if to fly, and, stretching .them up vertically, to remain for 

 fifteen or twenty seconds in this curious attitude. At sunset they ail 

 rise up clamouring, and direct their flight to the nearest watercourse, 

 and often on their way thither go through a strange and interesting 

 performance. The flock suddenly precipitates itself downwards with a 

 violence wonderful to see, each bird rushing this way and that as if 

 striving to outvie its fellows in every wild fantastic motion of which 

 they are capable. In this manner they rise and descend again and 

 again, sometimes massed together, then scattered wide apart in all 

 directions. This exercise they keep up for some time, and while it 



