n8 BIRDS OF LA PLATA 



plumes of the pampas grass, and displaying their 

 rich black and yellow dress. Unlike most other 

 birds obtained at that time, their plumage seemed 

 nearly as bright as in summer/* 



SCARLET-HEADED MARSH-BIRD 



Amblyrhamphus holosericeus 



Black ; head and neck and upper breast and thighs intense scarlet ; 

 feet and bill black ; length 9.5 inches. Female the same, young all 

 black. 



AZARA named this species Tordo negro cabeza roxa ; 

 it is also called Boyero (ox-herd) by country people, 

 from its note resembling the long whistle of a drover ; 

 and sometimes " Chisel-bill/* from the peculiar con- 

 formation of the beak, which is long, straight, and 

 broad at the end like a chisel. In both sexes the 

 plumage of the head and neck is scarlet, of an exceed- 

 ingly brilliant tint, all other parts intense black. 

 These birds are lively, active, and sociable, going in 

 flocks of from half-a-dozen to thirty individuals ; 

 they remain all the year, and inhabit the marshes, 

 from which they seldom wander very far but seek 

 their insect food in the soft decaying rushes. They 

 are common on the swampy shores of the Plata, 

 and when seen at a distance, perched in their usual 

 manner on the summits of the tall rushes, their 

 flame-coloured heads shine with a strange glory 

 above the sere, sombre vegetation of the marshes. 



