164 BIRDS OF LA PLATA 



inhabit Patagonia, the Falkland Islands, and Chili, 

 and on the Pacific side extend their range north to 

 Peru and Bolivia, The plumage is generally grey, 

 with more or less rufous colour on the crown ; they 

 have long legs, and run swiftly on the ground, fre- 

 quent open sterile situations, and perch only occa- 

 sionally on trees. 



The present bird is about seven inches long ; the 

 upper parts are dull grey, except the crown, which 

 is dark chestnut ; under surface light grey, and tail 

 nearly black. In the month of June I met with these 

 birds on the Rio Negro, on their arrival there from 

 the south. They went in flocks of a dozen or twenty 

 birds ; they had a swift easy flight, were shy and 

 restless in their manner, and uttered low plaintive 

 whistling notes. When a flock alights on the ground 

 the birds all instantly scatter, running rapidly about 

 in all directions over the bare ground. Occasionally 

 one was seen to perch on some slight elevation, and 

 dart like a Flycatcher after passing insects. 



Darwin saw this bird as far north on the Atlantic 

 coast as Bahia Blanca. He also found it at Tierra del 

 Fuego, where it lives entirely on the sea-beaches; 

 and in the sterile upper valleys of the Chilian Andes, 

 at a height of ten thousand feet, where the last traces 

 of vegetation occur and where no other bird lives. 



