HUDSON'S SPINE-TAIL 221 
The addition of del campo signifies that it is a bird 
of the open country. It is, in fact, found exclusively 
on the grassy pampas, never perching on trees, and 
in habits is something like a Pipit, usually being 
taken for one when first seen. It is quite common 
everywhere on the pampas, and specimens have also 
been obtained in Cordova, Uruguay, and Patagonia. 
This Spine-tail is resident, solitary, and extremely 
timid and stealthy in its movements, living always 
on the ground among the long grass and cardoon- 
thistles. At times its inquisitiveness overcomes its 
timidity, and the bird then darts up three or four 
yards into the air, and jerking its tail remains some 
moments poised aloft with breast towards the in- 
truder, emitting sharp little notes of alarm, after 
which it darts down again and disappears in the grass. 
This is a habit common to most Pipits. When driven 
up it has a wild zigzag flight, and after reaching a 
considerable height in the air darts down again with 
astonishing swiftness, and comes back to the very 
spot from which it rose. It is, however, incapable of 
sustained flight, and after being flushed two or three 
times refuses to rise again. In spring the male perches 
on the summit of a cardoon-bush, or other slight 
elevation, and at regular intervals utters a pleasing 
and melancholy kind of song or call, which can be 
heard distinctly at a distance of a thousand yards, 
composed of four long clear plaintive notes, in- 
creasing in strength, and succeeded by a falling trill. 
When approached it becomes silent, and dropping 
to the ground conceals itself in the grass. Under a 
