21 o Barrows ou Birds of the Lotver Uruguay. [October 



is an abundant resident all over the Argentine Republic. The 

 only wonder is that it continues to be so abundant, for it is easily 

 snared in many ways, and is hunted in every possible manner, 

 while, according to the best evidence at hand, it rarely lays more 

 than four eggs in one nest, and only raises one brood in tne sea- 

 son. This is emphatically a bird of the fields and pastures, and 

 usually avoids the long grass and the weedy low grounds. It 

 prefers to run rather than fly, but is a strong bird on the wing, 

 and practically tireless. 



The eggs are miniatures of those of the preceding species, and 

 are laid in make-shift nests on the ground from October to 

 December. Near Bahia Blanca I found a nest containing fresh 

 eggs on the loth of February, but this must have been an unusual 

 case, and probably due to accident. 



3o6. Calodromas elegans {d" Orb. et Is. Geoffr.). Mar- 

 TiNETE. (A term applied in Spain to a Heron or its plume. 

 Here it undoubtedly refers to the long feathers of the crest.) — 

 Unlike the species just described, this one is always found in 

 small parties, and usually running in single file. In the neigh- 

 borhood of Bahia Blanca it was not uncommon, but it was not 

 elsewhere met with, being confined pretty rigidly to the shrubby 

 country bordering the pampas on the south and west. The eggs 

 are polished, but of a greenish thit, and are said to be commonly 

 five or six in number. The flesh is fairly palatable. 



207. Rhea americana Lath. Avestruz (Ostrich). — 

 Abundant only where protected, then multiplying rapidly. 

 About Concepcion it is semi-domesticated, but of little impor- 

 tance, as its feathers are fit only for dusters or rugs, and the best 

 grades bring only about two dollars per pound. 



At Concepcion a well-feathered old male will yield about two 

 and one-half pounds of feathers if killed for them alone. 



At Puan, where the Indians live mostly on mare's meat and 

 Rheas, I was told that a first class Ostrich yielded from three to 

 four pounds of feathers of the average value of ninety cents per 

 pound. During our stay at this wind-swept and desolate place 

 about two hundred Indians united in a two-day's Ostrich-hunt, 

 resulting in the capture of about sixty birds of all sizes from the 

 full grown adult down to two-month 'chicks.' They begin by 

 beating over a large tract of the plain and then closing in around 

 the game started. Stout greyhounds are used to good purpose, 



