CURVED-BILL RUSH-BIRD 227 
the second was completed they returned to the first 
and there elected to remain. Two or three nests are 
sometimes seen on one tree, and Azara says he has 
seen as many as six. Mr. Barrows observed the bird 
at Concepcion, where it is very common, and writes 
that in that district the nest is sometimes four feet 
long with an average diameter of two feet, and that 
the same nest in some cases is used for several 
seasons successively; also that several nests are 
sometimes joined together and all occupied at the 
same time. 
CURVED-BILL RUSH-BIRD 
Limnornis curvirostris 
Above rufous-brown, brighter on the rump; lores and supercili- 
aries white ; wings and tail chestnut-brown ; beneath white ; flanks 
and under tail-coverts pale brown ; under wing-coverts white; length 
7 inches. 
THIs species is found everywhere in marshy places 
in the eastern part of the Argentine Republic, and is 
also common in Uruguay, where Darwin discovered 
it. It inhabits dense rush-beds growing in the water, 
and is not found in any other situation. It pairs for 
life, has a feeble flight, and flies with great reluctance, 
but lives always in close concealment in one spot. It 
is, however, very inquisitive, and when approached 
the two birds creep up to the summit of the rushes 
and utter peculiar loud, rattling, and jarring notes, 
as if angrily protesting against the intrusion. 
P2 I 
