32 THE START [chap, i 



our own, and is also a delightful and remarkable singer. 

 But I never heard the wonderful white-banded mocking- 

 bird, which is said by Hudson, who knew weU the birds 

 of both South America and Europe, to be the song-bird 

 of them aU. 



Most of the birds I thus noticed while hurriedly- 

 passing through the country were, of course, the con- 

 spicuous ones. The spurred lapwings, big, tame, boldly 

 marked plover, were eveiywhere ; they were very noisy 

 and active, and both inquisitive and daring, and they 

 have a very curious dance custom. No man need look 

 for them. They will look for him, and when they find 

 him they will fairly yell the discovery to the universe. 

 In the marshes of the lower Parana I saw flocks of 

 scarlet-headed blackbirds on the tops of the reeds ; the 

 females are as strikingly coloured as the males, and their 

 jet-black bodies and brilliant red heads make it impos- 

 sible for them to escape observation among their natural 

 surroundings. On the plains to the west I saw flocks of 

 the beautiful rose-breasted starlings ; unhke the red- 

 headed blackbirds, which seemed fairly to court attention, 

 these starlings sought to escape observation by crouching 

 on the ground, so that their red breasts were hidden. 

 There were yellow-shouldered blackbirds in wet places, 

 and cow-buntings abounded. 



But the most conspicuous birds I saw were members 

 of the family of tjrrant flycatchers, of which our own 

 king-bird is the most familiar example. This family is 

 very numerously represented in Argentina, both in 

 species and individuals. Some of the species are so 

 striking, both in colour and habits, and in one case also 

 ia shape, as to attract the attention of even the un- 

 observant. The least conspicuous, and nevertheless 

 very conspicuous, among those that I saw was the 



