164 BIRDS OF LA PLATA 
inhabit Patagonia, the Falkland Islands, and Chili, 
and on the Pacific side extend their range north to 
Peru and Bolivia. The plumage is generally grey, 
with more or less rufous colour on the crown; they 
have long legs, and run swiftly on the ground, fre- 
quent open sterile situations, and perch only occa- 
sionally on trees, 
The present bird is about seven inches long; the 
upper parts are dull grey, except the crown, which 
is dark chestnut ; under surface light grey, and tail 
nearly black. In the month of June I met with these 
birds on the Rio Negro, on their arrival there from 
the south. They went in flocks of a dozen or twenty 
birds; they had a swift easy flight, were shy and 
restless in their manner, and uttered low plaintive 
whistling notes. When a flock alights on the ground 
the birds all instantly scatter, running rapidly about, 
in all directions over the bare ground. Occasionally 
one was seen to perch on some slight elevation, and 
dart like a Flycatcher after passing insects. 
Darwin saw this bird as far north on the Atlantic 
coast as Bahia Blanca. He also found it at Tierra del 
Fuego, where it lives entirely on the sea-beaches ; 
and in the sterile upper valleys of the Chilian Andes, 
at a height of ten thousand feet, where the last traces 
of vegetation occur and where no other bird lives. 
