212 TTOAMID.E. 



necessary to shoot them where they are very abundant, as any number 

 can be killed with a long whip or stick. It moves on the ground in a 

 leisurely manner, uttering as it walks or runs a succession of low 

 whistling notes. It has two distinct songs or calls, pleasing to the ear 

 and heard all the year round ; but with greater frequency in spring, 

 and, where the birds are scarce and much persecuted, in spring only. 

 One is a succession of twenty or thirty short impressive whistling notes 

 of great compass, followed by half a dozen rapidly uttered notes, 

 beginning loud and sinking lower till they cease : the other call is a 

 soft continuous trill, which appears to swell mysteriously on the air, 

 for the listener cannot tell whence it proceeds ; it lasts several seconds, 

 and then seems to die away in the distance. 



It is an exceedingly rare thing to see this bird rise except when 

 compelled. I believe the power of flight is used chiefly, if not exclu- 

 sively, as a means of escape from danger. The bird rises up when 

 almost trodden upon, rushing into the air with a noise and violence 

 that fill one with astonishment. It continues to rise at a decreasing 

 angle for fifty or sixty yards, then gradually nears the earth, till, when 

 it has got to a distance of two or three hundred yards, the violent 

 action of the wing ceases, and the bird glides along close to the earth 

 for some distance, and either drops down or renews its flight. I 

 suppose many birds fly in much the same way; only this Tinamou 

 starts forward with such amazing energy that, until this is expended 

 and the moment of gliding comes, the flight is just as ungovernable 

 to the bird as the motion of a brakeless engine, rushing along at full 

 speed, would be to the driver. The bird knows the danger to which 

 this peculiar character of its flight exposes it so well, that it is careful 

 to fly only to that side where it sees a clear course. It is sometimes, 

 however, compelled to take wing suddenly, without considering the 

 obstacles in its path ; it also often miscalculates the height of an 

 obstacle, so that for Tinamous to meet witl^ accidents when flying is 

 very common. In the course of a short ride of two miles, during 

 which several birds sprang up before me, I have seen three of these 

 Tinamous dash themselves to death against a fence close to the path, 

 the height of which they had evidently misjudged. I have also seen a 

 bird fly blindly against the wall of a house, killing itself instantly. A 

 brother of mine told me of a very curious thing he once witnessed. 

 He was galloping over the pampas, with a very violent wind blowing in 

 his face, when a Tinamou started up before his horse. The bird flew 

 up into the air vertically, and, beating its wings violently, and with 

 a swiftness far exceeding that of its ordinary flight, continued to 

 ascend until it reached a vast height, then came down again, whirling 



