134 BIKDS OF TIERRA DEL FUEGO 



THINOCORUS ORBIGNYANUS (Lesson) 



ThinOCOruS orbignyanUS, Lesson, GentuHe Zoologiqtie, p. 137, pi. 



xlviii (^, p. 139, pi. xlix ? , 1830 ; Sclater and Uudson, Argentine Orn., ii, 



p. 178, 1889. 

 Tllino corns ingse, Oassin, U.S. Expl. Exp., p. 288, 1858. 

 ThinOCOruS orbigniaims, Slmrpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., xxiv, 



p. 718, 1896. 



Balitat. — Peru and Bolivia, to Tierra del Faego. 



S S 'i ■> Useless Bay Settlement, 3rd Nov. ; ,$ , Rio McClelland Settle- 

 ment, 4tli Dec. : S, 30th Dec, 1904 



Iris — brown ; bill — centre dark grey, remainder yellow ; legs — yellow. 



Hitherto, D'Orbigny's Seed Snipe seems not to have been 

 recorded south of the Argentine Pampas. 



It was not obtained anywhere by King, Darwin, Cmmingham, 

 Durnford, Coppinger, or the French Mission to Cape Horn. 

 The United States Exploring Expedition obtained a single 

 specimen at the Island of San Lorenzo, Peru. 



The series in the British Museum are rufous above, where 

 the Tierra del Fuego birds are almost black. 



This is the commonest of the Seed Snipes, yet hardly 

 plentiful. I found these birds in pairs, in open country, at the 

 higher altitudes — more especially along tracks where there is 

 short green grass. On the downs to the south of Useless 

 Bay I once saw four together. In appearance and habits 

 they very closely resemble T. rumicworus, of which they 

 appear to be only an enlarged form. They possess little 

 instinct of self preservation, yet efface themselves in an 

 unaccountable manner at times. They lie close, rise with 

 a chuckle, ily erratically like Caprimulgus for one hundred yards 

 or less, and alight anyhow, anywhere. On occasions, they soar 

 high into the air like a Skylark, giving utterance to a full-toned 

 bell-like " Tu-wu^'' repeated an indefinite number of times, audible 

 plainly for a quarter of a mile. In skinning them, I found the 



