228 BIRDS OF LA PLATA 
The Rush-bird has a stout body and short gradu- 
ated tail, strong claws, and a slender curved beak 
three-fourths of an inch long. The upper plumage is 
brown, the tail rufous, the under surface and a mark 
over the eye white. 
RED THORN-BIRD 
Phacellodomus ruber 
Above olive-brown, front chestnut; tail brownish chestnut; beneath 
whitish, throat, breast, and flanks washed and mottled with bright red- 
dish brown ; under wing-coverts and inner margins of wing-feathers 
bright cinnamon ; length 7.3 inches. 
THis is a common species throughout the eastern 
portion of the Argentine country, and extends as far 
south as the southern boundary of the Buenos- 
Ayrean province. 
It is resident, living in pairs in places where there 
are scattered thorny trees and bushes, and is never 
found in deep woods, It never attempts to conceal 
itself, but, on the contrary, sits exposed on a bush 
and will allow a person to approach within three or 
four yards of it. Nor has it the restless manner of 
most Synallaxine birds which live in the same places 
with it, but moves in a slow, deliberate way, and 
spends a great deal of time sitting motionless on its 
perch, occasionally uttering its call or song, composed 
of a series of long, shrill, powerful notes in descend- 
ing scale and uttered in a very leisurely manner. It 
