PARAGUAY SNIPE 195 



PARAGUAY SNIPE 



Gallinago paraguaix 



Above brown, striped and barred with black and pale fulvous ; 

 wings dark cinereous edged with white ; tail of sixteen rectrices, of 

 which the outer pair are pin-shaped ; beneath white, breast marbled 

 with blackish and brown ; length 10.5, wing 9.1 inches. 



THIS familiar bird, called Agachona in the vernacular, 

 from its habit of crouching close to the ground to 

 escape observation when approached, is abundant in 

 the Plata district and resident, although its sudden 

 and total disappearance from all the open wet places 

 where it is common in the winter gives one the 

 impression that it is migratory* The bird, however, 

 only retires to breed in the extensive lonely marshes. 

 The nest is a slight depression on the moist ground 

 close to the water, and lined with a little withered 

 grass. The eggs are four, pear-shaped, and spotted 

 with black on an olive-coloured ground. 



After the summer heats are over Snipes suddenly 

 appear again all over the country, and at this season 

 they are frequently met with on the high and dry 

 grounds among the withered grass and thistles. In 

 favourable wet seasons they sometimes collect in 

 large flocks, numbering not less than five or six 

 hundred birds, and a flock of this kind will occasion- 

 ally remain in one spot for several months without 

 breaking up. They usually frequent an open spot of 

 level ground where the water just covers the roots 

 of the short grass ; here the birds keep close together 



