166 BIRDS OF LA PLATA 
grey like the last, arrive together; shortly after 
arriving the young males become mottled with black, 
and before leaving acquire the adult plumage. They 
appear to leave in spring all together, but from a note 
by Durnford it would appear that the males travel 
in advance of the females. He says: “* Males of 
this species were common at Chupat throughout 
September and during the first few days of October. 
On the 5th of the latter month I observed the first 
‘females, which gradually increased in number.” 
The Little Red-backs inhabit open unsheltered 
plains, and have so great a predilection for bare 
ground on which they can run freely about, that on 
their arrival on the pampas, where the earth is 
thickly carpeted with grass, they are seen attaching 
themselves to roads, sheep-pens, borders of streams, 
Vizcacha villages, and similar places. They are 
exceedingly restless, running swiftly over the ground, 
occasionally darting into the air in pursuit of small 
flies, and all the flock so scattered that there will be 
a dozen yards between every two birds. Mr. Barrows 
describes their lively habits very well: ‘I think 
this is one of the most restless birds I ever saw. You 
cannot depend upon him to be in the same place 
two consecutive half-seconds. He runs like a San- 
derling, and whenever he keeps his feet still by 
accident, his wings are flirted in a way that shows 
his anxiety to be off. Several are usually found 
together, and sometimes a loose flock of a hundred or 
more is seen. They are very strong on the wing, 
sometimes mounting rapidly for several hundred 
