66 ZOOLOGY OF THE VOYAGE OF THE BEAGLE. 



of which I afterwards observed at work. It is rather curious, that as these birds 

 were constantly flitting backwards and forwards over the low wall, they must be 

 quite incapable of judging of distance or thickness even after the shortest circui- 

 tous route, for otherwise they would not have made so many vain attempts. 



Uppucerthia dumetoria. /. Geoffr. 6r DOrb. 



Plate XIX. 



Uppucerthia dumetoria, J. Geoffr. $ D'Orb. Ann. du Mus. i. 393 and 394. 



Furnarius dumctorum, D'Orb. MS. 



Uppucerthia dumetorum, D'Orb. fy Lafr. Mag. de Zool. 1838, p. 20. 



This bird is an inhabitant of extremely sterile regions. I saw several at the 

 Rio Negro, but at Port Desire they were, perhaps, more numerous. I did not 

 observe it near Valparaiso, in Central Chile, but I procured specimens of it from 

 Coquimbo, where the country is more desert. It frequents open places, in which 

 a few bushes grow. It hops very quickly, and often flies quietly from one place 

 to another. It may often be seen turning over and picking dry pieces of dung. 

 It is a remarkable circumstance, that in the three specimens which I brought 

 home, from different localities, namely the Rio Negro, Port Desire, and Co- 

 quimbo, the beak varies considerably in length : in that from Port Desire in 

 Patagonia it is three-eighths of an inch shorter than in that from Coquimbo in 

 Chile ; whilst the Rio Negro specimen is intermediate between them. Mr. G. R. 

 Gray has pointed out to me that Latham long since observed a great variation in 

 the beak of the Patagonian warbler, Opetiorhynchns Patagonicus. 



1. Opetiorhynchus vulgaris. G. R. Gray. 



Uppucerthia vulgaris, D'Orbig. $ Lafr. Mag. de Zool. 1838, p. 23. 



This bird in general habits has several points of resemblance with the Fur- 

 narius cunicularius, but differs in some other respects. Its flight is somewhat 

 similar, but it shows two red bands on its wings, instead of one, by which it 

 can be' distinguished at a distance : instead of walking it only hops ; it feeds 

 entirely on the ground, and in its stomach I found scarcely anything but Coleop- 

 terous insects, and of these many were fungi feeders. It often frequents the 

 borders of lakes, where the water has thrown up leaves and other refuse. It 

 likewise may be met with in all parts of the open grassy plains of Banda Oriental, 

 where (like the Uppucerthia at the Rio Negro) it often turns over dry dung. Its 

 note is very like that of the F. cunicularius, but more acute, and consists of a 

 shrill cry, quickly reiterated so as to make a running sound. I was informed 

 that, like that bird, it builds its nest at the bottom of a deep burrow. This species 



