ORNITHOLOGY. 27 



near the surface of the water. Mr. Bynoe saw one 

 in Tierra del Fuego eating a cuttle-fish ; and at 

 Low's Harbour, another was killed in the act of 

 carrying to its hole a large volute shell. At one 

 place I caught in a trap a singular little mouse (M. 

 brachiotis) : it appeared common on several of the 

 islets, but the Chilotans at Low's Harbour said that 

 it was not found in all. What a succession of 

 chances,* or what changes of level must have been 

 brought into play, thus to spread these small ani- 

 mals throughout this broken archipelago ! 



In all parts of Chiloe and Chonos, two very 

 strange birds occur, which are allied to, and re- 

 place, the Turco and Tapacolo of central Chile. 

 One is called by the inhabitants " Cheucau" (Pte- 

 roptochos rubecula) : it frequents the most gloomy 

 and retired spots within the damp forests. Some- 

 times, although its cry may be heard close at hand, 

 let a person watch ever so attentively, he will not 

 see the cheucau ; at other times, let him stand mo 

 tionless, and the red-breasted little bird will ap- 

 proach within a few feet in the most familiar man- 

 ner. It then busily hops about the entangled mass 

 of rotting canes and branches, with its little tail 

 cocked upwards. The cheucau is held in super- 

 stitious fear by the Chilotans, on account of its 

 strange and varied cries. There are three very 

 distinct cries: one is called. " chiduco," and is an 

 omen of good ; another, " huitreu," which is ex- 

 tremely unfavourable ; and a third, which I have 

 forgotten. These words are given in imitation of 

 the noises ; and the natives are in some things ab- 

 solutely governed by them. The Chilotans assu- 



* It is said that some rapacious birds bring their prey alive to 

 their nests. If so, in the course of centuries, every now and then, 

 one might escape from the young birds. Some such agency is 

 necessary to account for the distribution of the smaller gnawing 

 animals on islands not very near each other. 



