CURVED-BILL RUSH-BIRD 227 



the second was completed they returned to the first 

 and there elected to remain. Two or three nests are 

 sometimes seen on one tree, and Azara says he has 

 seen as many as six. Mr. Barrows observed the bird 

 at Concepcion, where it is very common, and writes 

 that in that district the nest is sometimes four feet 

 long with an average diameter of two feet, and that 

 the same nest in some cases is used for several 

 seasons successively ; also that several nests are 

 sometimes joined together and all occupied at the 

 same time. 



CURVED-BILL RUSH-BIRD 



Limnornis curvirostris 



Above rufous-brown, brighter on the rump ; lores and supercili- 

 aries white ; wings and tail chestnut-brown ; beneath white ; flanks 

 and under tail-coverts pale brown ; under wing-coverts white ; length 

 7 inches. 



THIS species is found everywhere in marshy places 

 in the eastern part of the Argentine Republic, and is 

 also common in Uruguay, where Darwin discovered 

 it. It inhabits dense rush-beds growing in the water, 

 and is not found in any other situation. It pairs for 

 life, has a feeble flight, and flies with great reluctance, 

 but lives always in close concealment in one spot. It 

 is, however, very inquisitive, and when approached 

 the two birds creep up to the summit of the rushes 

 and utter peculiar loud, rattling, and jarring notes, 

 as if angrily protesting against the intrusion. 



pa I 



