Mr Dalgkish on Birds and Eggs from Central Urnguay. 85 



where the woods abound with its large nests. It affords 

 excellent eating. It is a very noisy bird, but in captivity 

 becomes quite tame and can be taught to speak. Dr 

 Christison tells me that Doria Firminia, wife of one of the 

 native Peons, had one whose language, although generally 

 unfit for polite society, was often made use of in a singularly 

 appropriate manner. Once when an eagle was hovering 

 over him, he looked up at it with cool contempt, confident 

 in the presence of his mistress, and exclaimed, " Puta che 

 pario," or, " Your mother is no better than she should be." 

 Although not imagining for a moment that the bird knew 

 the meaning of the words, Dr Christison thinks it not im- 

 probable that he knew it to be a term of reproach. He was 

 fond of chasing the dogs away by calling out " fuera, fuera," 

 adding their name, and it is curious that he never mistook 

 one dog for another. Mr Gibson related to me a curious 

 occurrence which took place at his residence in the Argentiue 

 Eepublic, when a large cluster of their nests in the woods 

 having been pulled down, an enormous flock of them 

 appeared in the garden next day and broke over the whole 

 of the young branches of the fruit trees, completely destroy- 

 ing all prospects of fruit for that year. If not an act of 

 revenge on their part, it was certainly a curious coincidence. 

 The species is stationary at Tala. 



Clutch of three eggs, taken 14th November 1880, from a 

 nest in a tree. These with eight in my collection from the 

 Argentine Eepublic are in average measurement I/q- x ||- 

 inch, the largest which is from the latter locality measuring 

 1^ X -f-g- inch, the smallest being from Tala and measuring 

 1^ X If inch. They are of a dull white colour and pointed 

 at each end, somewhat resembling the egg of the grebe in this 

 particular. Seven or eight eggs is a not uncommon clutch. 



The nests are large structures suspended and woven into 

 the extremity of the branches of trees about ten to fifteen 

 feet off the ground. They are formed of sticks and thorny 

 twigs, and every year the birds add to their size. They are 

 usually placed in the woods at a distance from houses, and 

 three or four or sometimes a dozen pairs frequent one series 

 of nests. Each division of the nest occupied by a pair con- 



