io6 BIRDS OF LA PLATA 



extremely slim, and the lower portion of the neck 

 covered with thick plumage, giving that part a de- 

 ceptively massive appearance* The perching faculty, 

 possessed in so eminent a degree by all Herons, 

 probably attains its greatest perfection in this species, 

 and is combined with locomotion in a unique and 

 wonderful manner. It inhabits beds of rushes grow- 

 ing in rather deep water ; very seldom, and probably 

 only accidentally, does it visit the shore, and only 

 when driven up does it rise above the rushes ; for 

 its flight, unlike that of its congeners, is extremely 

 feeble. The rushes it lives amongst rise, smooth as 

 polished pipe-stems, vertically from water too deep 

 for the bird to wade in ; yet it goes up to the summit 

 and down to the surface, moving freely and briskly 

 about amongst them, or runs in a straight line 

 through them almost as rapidly as a Plover can run 

 over the bare level ground. Unless I myself had 

 been a witness of this feat I could scarcely have 

 credited it ; for how does it manage to grasp the 

 smooth vertical stems quickly and firmly enough 

 to progress so rapidly without ever slipping down 

 through them t 



The Variegated Heron is a silent, solitary bird, 

 found everywhere in the marshes along the Plata, 

 as also in the rush- and sedge-beds scattered over 

 the pampas. It breeds amongst the rushes, and lays 

 from three to five spherical eggs, of a rich lively 

 green and beautiful beyond comparison. The nest 

 is a slight platform structure about a foot above the 

 water, and so small that there is barely space enough 



