RUFOUS TINAMU 231 



RUFOUS TINAMU 



Rhynchotus rufescens 



Above cinereous ; head, wings, and back crossed by black bars with 

 pale ochraceous edgings ; neck reddish ; primaries chestnut ; beneath 

 pale cinereous, strongly tinged with rufous on the neck and breast ; 

 chin white ; bill ashy, beneath at base yellowish ; feet dark flesh- 

 colour ; length 14, wing 9.5 inches. Female similar, but larger. 



THIS large Tinamu, known to the Argentines as 

 the Perdiz grande, or Great Partridge, is found on 

 the pampas wherever long grasses abound, and 

 extends as far south as the Colorado river, its place 

 being taken in Patagonia by Calodromas elegans. It 

 is never met with in woods or thickets, and requires 

 no shelter but the giant grasses, through which it 

 pushes like a Rail, Wherever the country becomes 

 settled and the coarse indigenous grasses are replaced 

 by those of Europe, it quickly disappears, so that it 

 is already extinct over a great portion of the Buenos- 

 Ayrean pampas. 



This species is solitary in its habits, conceals itself 

 very closely in the grass, and flies with the greatest 

 reluctance. I doubt if there is anywhere a bird with 

 such a sounding flight as the Tinamu ; the whirr 

 of its wings can only be compared to the rattling of 

 a vehicle driven at great speed over a stony road. 

 From the moment it rises until it alights again there 

 is no cessation in the rapid vibration of the wings ; 

 but, like a ball thrown by hand, the bird flies straight 



