The Desert Pampas. 25 



ground shows a very extended front — a representa- 

 tion in bird-life of the " thin red line " — and advances 

 by the hindmost birds constantly flying over the 

 others and alighting in the front ranks. 



Among the tyrant-birds are several species of the 

 beautiful wing-banded genus, snow-white in colour-, 

 with black on the wings and tail : these are extreme- 

 ly graceful birds, and strong flyers, and in desert 

 places, where man seldom intrudes, they gather to 

 follow the traveller, calling to each other with low 

 whistling notes, and in the distance look like white 

 flowers as they perch on the topmost stems of the 

 tall bending grasses. 



The most characteristic pampean birds are the 

 tinamous — called partridges in the vernacular — 

 the rufous tinamou, large as a fowl, and the 

 spotted tinamou, which is about the size of the 

 English partridge. Their habits are identical : both 

 lay eggs of a beautiful wine-purple colour, and in 

 both species the young acquire the adult plumage 

 and power of flight when very small, and fly better 

 than the adults. They have small heads, slender 

 curved beaks, unfeathered legs and feet, and are 

 tailless ; the plumage is deep yellowish, marked 

 with black and brown above. They live concealed, 

 skulking like rails through the tall grass, fly reluc- 

 tantly, and when driven up, their flight is exceed- 

 ingly noisy and violent, the bird soon exhausting it- 

 self. They are solitary, but many live in proximity, 

 frequently calling to each other with soft plaintive 

 voices. The evening call-notes of the larger bird 

 are flute-like in character, and singularly sweet and 

 expressive. 



