166 BIRDS OF LA PLATA 



grey like the last, arrive together ; shortly after 

 arriving the young males become mottled with black, 

 and before leaving acquire the adult plumage* They 

 appear to leave in spring all together, but from a note 

 by Durnford it would appear that the males travel 

 in advance of the females. He says : " Males of 

 this species were common at Chupat throughout 

 September and during the first few days of October, 

 On the 5th of the latter month I observed the first 

 females, which gradually increased in number." 



The Little Red-backs inhabit open unsheltered 

 plains, and have so great a predilection for bare 

 ground on which they can run freely about, that on 

 their arrival on the pampas, where the earth is 

 thickly carpeted with grass, they are seen attaching 

 themselves to roads, sheep-pens, borders of streams, 

 Vizcacha villages, and similar places. They are 

 exceedingly restless, running swiftly over the ground, 

 occasionally darting into the air in pursuit of small 

 flies, and all the flock so scattered that there will be 

 a dozen yards between every two birds. Mr. Barrows 

 describes their lively habits very well : " I think 

 this is one of the most restless birds I ever saw. You 

 cannot depend upon him to be in the same place 

 two consecutive half-seconds. He runs like a San- 

 derling, and whenever he keeps his feet still by 

 accident, his wings are flirted in a way that shows 

 his anxiety to be off. Several are usually found 

 together, and sometimes a loose flock of a hundred or 

 more is seen. They are very strong on the wing, 

 sometimes mounting rapidly for several hundred 



