RED-BREASTED MARSH-BIRD 121 



smaller and has a shorter tail. The male is black, 

 the upper parts faintly mottled with yellowish grey ; 

 there is a straw-coloured stripe over the eye ; the 

 throat and breast bright crimson* The female is a 

 smaller bird, and in colour dull fulvous grey, mottled 

 with fuscous ; the red tint on the breast scarcely 

 perceptible. 



These birds are migratory, and appear everywhere 

 in the eastern part of the Argentine country early in 

 October, arriving singly, after which each male takes 

 up a position in a field or open space abounding 

 with coarse grass and herbage, where he spends most 

 of the time perched on the summit of a tall stalk 

 or weed, his glowing crimson bosom showing at a 

 distance like some splendid flower above the herbage* 

 At intervals of two or three minutes he soars verti- 

 cally up to a height of twenty or twenty-five yards 

 to utter his song, composed of a single long, powerful, 

 and rather musical note, ending with an attempt at 

 a flourish, during which the bird flutters and turns 

 about in the air ; then, as if discouraged at his failure, 

 he drops down, emitting harsh guttural chirps, to 

 resume his stand. Meanwhile the female is invisible, 

 keeping closely concealed under the long grass* But 

 at length, attracted perhaps by the bright bosom and 

 aerial music of the male, she occasionally exhibits 

 herself for a few moments, starting up with a wild 

 zigzag flight, like a Snipe flushed from its marsh, 

 and, darting this way and that, presently drops into 

 the grass once more. The moment she appears above 

 the grass the male gives chase, and they vanish from 



