3578 The Zoologist — June, 1873. 



cannot be practically carried out (which will, I fear, he found to he the 

 case), it never uill be, I tbink, for the few ; still less will it be effected by 

 such an ignorant, blundering piece of legislation as the present Act proves 

 itself to be. — 0. P. Cambridge ; Bloxworth Rectory, May 19, 1873. 



Natural-History Notes from Coquinibo. — " The bay is well sheltered and 

 almost land-locked. A ridge of sandhills runs along the top of the beach, and 

 on this numerous queer Cacti and other plants flourish ; between this ridge 

 and the foot of the slope of the Cordilleras, a distance of about a mile and a 

 half, runs a low flat piece of very marshy ground. This extends all the way 

 from Coquimbo to Serana and probably beyond, and is therefore some twelve 

 or fourteen miles long. The slopes beyond are perfectly dry and arid, but 

 the water which causes this marsh gushes out in strong springs at their 

 base. This is evidently percolation from the Cordilleras. The sandy slopes 

 are the homes of innumerable burrowing owls, the quaintest-looking little 

 creatures 1 ever clapped eyes on. Very tame they are, too, as one approaches 

 their dwellings. They first of all stare vacantly with one eye ; then, as one 

 gets nearer, both eyes are opened, the stare waxes into a frown, as much as 

 to say, " Where may you be coming to?" This having no effect, a gentle 

 hiss is resorted to with a like result; then Mr. Owl becomes very fierce, his 

 feathers are puffed out with rage, his eyes gleam maliciously, and he retreats 

 slowly and backwardly towards his burrow, keeping up an incessant volley 

 of hisses. On arriving at the entrance of his house he remains there, and 

 does not retreat any further unless hard pressed. Altogether these are most 

 interesting little birds, and I could not have the heart to shoot one. A browu 

 description of Chinchilla lives in company with them. These birds feed, 

 I fancy, on lizards and different kinds of crickets. I wish you could see a 

 colony, you would have a rare laugh at the fussy little inhabitants. I went 

 out shooting one day on the marsh. Almost the whole of it looked snipy 

 ground, but a fatiguing beat only produced two snipes, both of which 

 I luckily bagged. Here and there were large shallow lagoons fringed with 

 a thick growth of bulrushes and reeds, and from them I shot two waterhens, 

 a coot, and rail, all different from European birds. The coot's bill and bare 

 patch at base were pale yellow, edged with pink, his legs greenish yellow. If 

 I had had a dog I might have got numbers of these. From one of the 

 lagoons I flushed a stilt plover, but it was out of shot ; over another a scissors- 

 bill was flying to and fro feeding. This last is a strange bird to look at. He 

 flies close over the surface of the water, with the lower mandible immersed, 

 and incessantly snaps the upper one against it, and was catching small insects 

 probably. In body the bird is shaped like a tern, and when fishing flies 

 much like one. Among the reeds wei'e many sorts of warblers, buntings, 

 red- and yellow-winged starlings, and a variety of other birds. In the bay 

 brown pelicans are numerous, also a large and pretty tern. The former are 

 the ugliest and most clumsy-looking creatures I ever saw. They sit in flocks 



