194 BIRDS OF LA PLATA 



associates in small flocks ; it is resident, and a very 

 weak flier, and feeds on tender buds and leaves, 

 berries and small seed. The male is frequently seen 

 perched on the summit of a bush, and, amidst the 

 dull-plumaged species that people the grey thickets 

 of Patagonia, the bright red bosom gives it almost a 

 gay appearance. When singing, or uttering its alarm 

 notes when the nest is approached, its voice re- 

 sembles the feeble bleatings of a small kid or lamb. 

 When approached it conceals itself in the bush, and 

 when flying progresses by a series of short jerky 

 undulations, the wings producing a loud humming 

 sound. 



The nest is made in the interior of a thorny bush, 

 and built somewhat slightly of fine twigs and lined 

 with fibres. The eggs are four, bluish-green in 

 colour, with brownish flecks. 



This species is found throughout the Argentine 

 country, in dry open situations abounding with a 

 scanty tree and bush vegetation. 



The solitary Plant-cutter described comes, in this 

 book, between two numerous Passerine families, both 

 also peculiar to America, and both differing widely 

 from it in structure, appearance, habits, and lan- 

 guage more widely in fact than a Greenfinch from 

 a Flycatcher on one side and a Treecreeper on the 

 other. The astonishing thing to the uninformed 

 person is how such a collocation is possible in any 

 system. With such questions we are not concerned 

 in this book. One can only say in passing, that in 



