226 BIRDS OF LA PLATA 



Swallow, Gull, or Hawk, soaring about in a high 

 wind, suddenly turn the under surface of its wings 

 to the wind and instantly shoot straight up, apparently 

 without an effort, to a vast height, then recover itself, 

 and start off in a fresh direction* The Tinamu, 

 when once launched on the atmosphere, is at the 

 mercy of chance ; nevertheless had this incident 

 been related to me by a stranger I should not have 

 recorded it* 



This Tinamu is frequently run down and caught 

 by well-mounted gaucho boys ; the bird frequently 

 escapes into a kennel in the earth, but when it sees 

 no refuge before it and is hotly pursued, it sometimes 

 drops dead* When caught in the hand they " feign 

 death," or swoon, but on being released quickly 

 recover their faculties* 



The nest is a slight hollow scratched in the ground 

 under a thistle or in the grass, and lined with a few 

 dry leaves* The number of eggs laid varies from five 

 to eight* These are elliptical, with polished shells, 

 and as a rule are of a wine-purple colour ; but the 

 hue varies somewhat, some eggs having a reddish 

 tinge and others a deep liver-colour* 



In Patagonia the Spotted Tinamu is replaced by the 

 very closely allied Darwin's Tinamu, Nothura darwini. 



This species, called Perdiz chico, or Little Partridge, 

 by the natives, is somewhat smaller and paler in 

 colouring than the common Tinamu of the pampas, 

 but very closely resembles the young of that species* 

 It inhabits Patagonia, and is nowhere very numerous, 

 but appears to be thinly and equally distributed on 



