SPOTTED TINAMU 225 



at full speed, would be to the driver. The bird knows 

 the danger to which this peculiar character of its 

 flight exposes it so well that it is careful to fly only 

 to that side where it sees a clear course. It is some- 

 times, however, compelled to take wing suddenly, 

 without considering the obstacles in its path ; it 

 also often miscalculates the height of an obstacle, 

 so that for Tinamus to meet with accidents when 

 flying is very common. In the course of a short ride 

 of two miles, during which several birds sprang up 

 before me, I have seen three of these Tinamus dash 

 themselves to death against a fence close to the path, 

 the height of which they had evidently misjudged. I 

 have also seen a bird fly blindly against the wall of 

 a house, killing itself instantly. A brother of mine 

 told me of a very curious thing he once witnessed. 

 He was galloping over the pampas, with a very 

 violent wind blowing in his face, when a Tinamu 

 started up before his horse. The bird flew up into 

 the air vertically, and, beating its wings violently, 

 and with a swiftness far exceeding that of its ordinary 

 flight, continued to ascend until it reached a vast 

 height, then came down again, whirling round and 

 round, striking the earth a very few yards from the 

 spot where it rose, and crushing itself to a pulp with 

 the tremendous force of the fall. It is very easy to 

 guess the cause of such an accident : while the 

 Tinamu struggled blindly to go forward, the violent 

 wind, catching the under surface of the wings, forced 

 it upwards, until the poor bird, becoming hopelessly 



confused, fell back to earth* I have often seen a 

 p ii 



