4 BIRDS OF LA PLATA 
in search of food, and when approached darts away 
with loud chuckling notes, flying close to the sur- 
face. They are also often seen pursuing each other 
through the trees with loud, harsh screams. They 
remind one in their habits now of the Missel Thrush, 
now of the Blackbird. 
The song has a faint resemblance to that of the 
Throstle, being composed of a variety of discon- 
nected notes with frequent pauses; but it is, both 
in sweetness and strength, inferior to that of the 
English bird. A poor song for a Thrush, and the 
bird perhaps knows it, as he sings concealed in a 
thick bush or tree. 
The nest is deep, well made, plastered inside with 
mud, and concealed in the centre of a large bush or 
low tree. The eggs are four, pale blue in colour, and 
thickly spotted with brown. 
MAGELLANIC THRUSH 
Turdus magellanicus 
Head, wings, and tail brownish black, rest of upper surface olive- 
brown ; under surface pale rufous; white throat striped with black ; 
bill and feet dull yellow ; length 10.5 inches. 
Tuts fine Thrush inhabits Patagonia and Chili, and 
is hardly distinguished from the preceding species by 
casual observers, but it is a larger bird, with a darker 
upper and paler under plumage. Its nest and eggs 
are also precisely like those of its northern repre- 
sentative. The song is, however, even poorer, and 
