i6o BIRDS OF LA PLATA 



four may be sometimes seen in company. It spends 

 a great deal of time on the ground^ where it walks 

 about under the trees rather briskly, searching for 

 seeds and berries. Their song is a single uninflected 

 and rather musical note, which the bird repeats at 

 short intervals, especially in the evening during the 

 warm season. Where the birds are abundant the 

 wood, just before sunset, becomes vocal with their 

 curious far-sounding notes ; and as this evening 

 song is heard as long as the genial weather lasts, it 

 is probably not related to the sexual instinct. The 

 nest is a simple platform; the eggs are two, and 

 white, but more spherical in shape than those of 

 most other Pigeons. 



Besides the five Pigeons I have described there 

 are three more species in Argentina, confined to the 

 northern part of the country. South America is 

 rich in Pigeons, the species numbering sixty or 

 seventy. 



BLACK RAIL 



Ratttts rhytirhynchtts 



Above greenish brown; beneath plumbeous; bill incurved, 

 greenish, with a blood-red basal spot; feet red; length iz, wing 

 5.4 inches. Female similar. 



This Rail differs from the other species in its beak, 

 which is very long and curved, as in the Painted 

 Snipe (Rhynchasa), and has three strongly contrasted 

 colours — dark green, bright blue, and scarlet at the 



