ARGENTINE MARSH-WREN 19 



ARGENTINE MARSH-WREN 



Cistothorus platensis 



Above pale brown, streaked with black ; head darker brown, streaked 

 with black ; tail-feathers dark sandy brown, barred with blackish 

 brown ; beneath pale sandy buff ; length 4.3 inches. 



THIS small Wren is rarely seen, being nowhere 

 common, although widely distributed. It prefers 

 open grounds covered with dense reeds and grasses, 

 where it easily escapes observation. I have met with 

 it near Buenos Ayres city ; also on the desert pampas, 

 in the tall pampas-grass. It is likewise met with 

 along the Parana river, and in Chili, Patagonia, and 

 the Falkland Islands. In the last-named locality 

 Darwin found it common, and says that it has there 

 an extremely feeble flight, so that it may easily be run 

 down and taken. 



The Marsh- Wren has a sweet and delicate song, 

 resembling that of the House- Wren (Troglodytes 

 furvus) but much less powerful. It does not migrate ; 

 and on the pampas I have heard it singing with great 

 animation when the pampas-grass, where it sat 

 perched, was white with frozen dew. Probably its 

 song, like that of Troglodytes furvus, varies in different 

 districts ; at all events, the pampas bird does not 

 possess so fine a song as A^ara ascribes to his Todo 

 Voz in Paraguay, which is undoubtedly the same 

 species. 



South America is rich in Wrens, the known species 



