12 BIRDS OF LA PLATA 



the eye, which is orange-red and not olive-green* 

 He says that it is a rare species, possessing no melo- 

 dious notes, which proves at once that he never heard 

 it sing, D'Orbigny obtained it in Bolivia, Bridges in 

 Mendoza, and more recently it has been found by 

 collectors in various parts of the Argentine country, 

 even in Buenos Ayres, where, however, it is probably 

 only an occasional visitor. But they have told us 

 nothing of its song and of its miraculous mocking- 

 powers. For my part I can think of no other way to 

 describe the surpassing excellence of its melody, 

 which delights the soul beyond all other bird-music, 

 than by saying that this bird is among song-birds 

 like the diamond among stones, which in its many- 

 coloured splendour represents and exceeds the special 

 beauty of every other gem. 



I met with this species on the Rio Negro in Pata- 

 gonia ; it was there called Calandria blanca t a name 

 not strictly accurate, since the bird is not all white, 

 but certainly better than Azara's strange invention 

 of " Lark with three tails." 



The bird was not common in Patagonia, and its 

 only language was a very loud harsh startled note, 

 resembling that of the Mimas calandria ; but it was 

 past the love-season when I first met with it, and 

 the natives all assured me that it possessed a very 

 wonderful song, surpassing the songs of all other 

 birds ; also that it had the faculty of imitating other 

 species. In manners and appearance it struck me as 

 being utterly unlike a Mimus; in its flight and in 

 the conspicuous white and black of the wings and 



