PATAGONIAN SPINE-TAIL 219 



person approaches their hiding-place the two birds 

 creep up to the summit of the sedges, protesting in 

 peculiar, loud, angry, rattling notes. The Limnornis, 

 which also pairs for life, has precisely the same habit. 

 Durnford describes the nest, found in a rush-bed, 

 as a circular or domed structure of grass, with the 

 aperture at the side ; the eggs white. 



PATAGONIAN SPINE-TAIL 



Synallaxis patagonica 



Above greyish earthy brown ; wing-feathers blackish brown, basal 

 halves of secondaries very pale clear brown, forming a transverse 

 band ; tail blackish, edged with greyish brown ; outer web of outer 

 feather on each side pale brown ; beneath cinereous, with an obscure 

 blackish spot on the throat ; belly and flanks dull buff ; under wing- 

 coverts cinnamon ; length 6 inches. 



THIS dull-coloured little bird, which is found in 

 Patagonia, and also near the Andes in the north- 

 western provinces of the Argentine Republic, is one 

 of those species which diverge greatly in habits from 

 the typical Spine- tails. The body is stout, the tail, 

 square and short, is carried vertically as in the House- 

 Wren. 



The Patagonian Spine-tail is a resident in the Rio 

 Negro district. It is a silent, shy, solitary little bird, 

 which lives on the ground and seeks its food after 

 the manner of the Cachalote (Homorus). Being 

 small and feeble, however, it does not hunt about 

 the roots of trees and large bushes like the larger 



