BIRDS 



423 



Birds. 



Among the more characteristic birds of the province under 

 consideration are the so-called rail-creepers, which somewhat resemble 

 wrens, but are almost as large as fieldfares. They hop on the ground, where they 

 hide among grass and bushes, flight being difficult to them owing to their heavy 

 bodies and short wings. They breed in holes in the ground, which they probably 

 dig themselves with their long claws. A well-known species is the turco 

 {Hylactes megapodius), whose colour is chiefly brown. Another bird living in 

 holes excavated by its own exertions is the slender-beaked paraquet (Heni- 





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UNDULATED SEED SNIPE. 



cognathus leptorhynchus), which inhabits the beech-forests of Chile, and migrates 

 northwards in winter. The deserts of the Chilian Andes are inhabited by the 

 undulated seed-snipe (Attagis gayi), a species not unlike a sand-grouse in 

 appearance, though very different in structure. Of the water-birds the most 

 noteworthy are the black-necked swan {Cygnus nigricollis) and the small 

 Coscoroba swan {Coscoroba Candida), the former being white, with black head 

 and neck, and red beak, and the latter white, with black tips to the wings. 



The upland or Magellanic goose (Cloephaga magellanica), of the Falkland 

 Islands, visits Patagonia in winter, where, as previously stated, Darwin's rhea is 

 a common bird. 



