88 LETTER FROM MR. W. H. HUDSON. | Feb. 10, 
Thus the nearer we apprvach to this wood the more numerous do 
these species become, while in the wood itself, narrow as it is, there 
are many species never met with elsewhere. Possibly as many as 
two-thirds of all the species inhabiting Buenos Ayres are to be 
found within its limits. 
“J obtained here many specimens of the Cuckoo to which you 
have called my attention (Coccyzus cinereus). This bird was ori- 
ginally discovered in Paraguay, and is considered by Dr. Burmeister 
to be arare species. Perhaps it has but recently found its way to this 
country. Last summer (1868) I met with it for the first time ; and 
the same year the first and only specimen ever in the museum of 
this city was obtained. Even within my recollection many birds 
and insects once seldom met with have become common. Some of 
our large Wasps, Weevils, and Butterflies have not been with us 
long; and whole orchards are at present being destroyed by the 
Capricorn Beetle—an insect totally unknown a few years ago. 
“To return to the Coccyzus cinereus; the large blood-red eye of 
this bird, contrasting well with the soft bluish colour of the plumage, 
gives it a most interesting appearance. I have not yet succeeded in 
finding its nest. Like the common Cuckoo, it is retiring in its habits, 
concealing itself in the densest foliage; but it cannot be attracted 
like the other species by mimicking its call. It has a song (which 
it will sometimes repeat at short intervals for half a day) like the 
mourning of our little Dove, being a succession of long and plaintive 
notes. It has, besides, a different note—loud, harsh, and sudden, 
so much resembling the ery of another bird (the Anabates /ophotes) 
that I have been frequently deceived by it. 
“<The last-mentioned bird is, I think, very uncommon im this 
region. The only specimen in the museum here was brought from 
the province of San Luis. It has the wildest disposition and greatest 
love of concealment, of any bird I have ever met. 
«Last summer, while trying to obtain specimens, I sometimes 
heard the ery of an individual repeated at long intervals, or of a pair 
answering each other, and I frequently spent half a day vainly in 
watching for and pursuing them. Once only I succeeded in getting 
a glimpse of one at the moment it started screaming from a tree. I 
was, fortunately, able to secure it, and have it still in my collection. 
This specimen was a male; the whole plumage a yellowish brown, 
rather deeper than that of the Oven-bird (Furnarius). It is also 
somewhat larger than that bird. The body was stout, the head 
crested, the eyes were white and small, bill and legs blue. The tail- 
feathers were stiff, like those of the Woodpecker, and frayed at the 
ends, as if they had been used in the same manner ; the bill was also, 
like the Woodpecker’s, hard, sharp, and straight. 
“Another bird of very interesting habits, and never seen away 
from the river-wood, is Icterus pyrrhopterus. They appear in small 
flocks in September, but soon scatter, and are seen during summer 
in pairs or singly.. The male is considerably larger than the female, 
its colour an intenser black, the brown spot on the shoulder larger. 
It is exceedingly restless, incessantly flying from tree to tree, cling-- 
