34 Through the BraziHan Wilderness 



bre-colored, which lived near the ground in the thick 

 timber, but sang high among the branches. At a great 

 distance we could hear the ringing, musical, bell-like note, 

 long-drawn and of piercing sweetness, which occurs at 

 intervals in the song; at first I thought this was the 

 song, but when it was possible to approach the singer 

 I found that these far-sounding notes were scattered 

 through a continuous song of great melody. I never 

 listened to one that impressed me more. In different 

 places in Argentina I heard and saw- the Argentine mock- 

 ing-bird, which is not very unlike our own, and is also 

 a delightful and remarkable singer. But I never heard 

 the wonderful white-banded mocking-bird, which is said 

 by Hudson, who knew well the birds of both South 

 America and Europe, to be the song-king of them all. 



Most of the birds I thus noticed while hurriedly pass- 

 ing through the country were, of course, the conspicuous 

 ones. The spurred lapwings, big, tame, boldly marked 

 plover, were everywhere ; they were very noisy and active 

 and both inquisitive and daring, and they have a very 

 curious dance custom. No man need look for them. 

 They will look for him, and when they find him they 

 will fairly yell the discovery to the universe. In the 

 marshes of the lower Parana I saw flocks of scarlet- 

 headed blackbirds on the tops of the reeds ; the females 

 are as strikingly colored as the males, and their jet-black 

 bodies and brilliant red heads make it impossible for 

 them to escape observation among their natural surround- 

 ings. On the plains to the west I saw flocks of the 

 beautiful rose-breasted starlings; unlike the red-headed 

 blackbirds, which seemed fairly to court attention, these 



