70 ZOOLOGY OF THE VOYAGE OF THE BEAGLE. 



throat and centre of the abdomen greyish white, passing into pale buff on the 

 flanks and under tail-coverts ; bill and feet blackish brown. 

 Habitat, Patagonia. 



This bird, though forming a well-marked genus, is in many respects, even in 

 plumage, allied to Furnarius and Opetiorhynchus,— for instance, in the streak over 

 its eyes, in the red band on its wings extending obliquely from the body to the 

 third primary, and to some of the species of these genera in its rather plumose 

 feathers. In its general manners, the same resemblance, together with some 

 differences, always struck me. It lives entirely on the ground, and generally in 

 dry sterile situations, where it haunts the scattered thickets, and often flies 

 from one to another. When skulking about the bushes it cocks up its tail, 

 imitating in this respect Pteroptochos and Rhinomya. Its cry is shrill, quickly 

 reiterated, and very similar to that of several species of Furnarius and Opetio- 

 rhynchus. The stomach of one which I opened was full of Coleoptera. I procured 

 specimens from three places on the coast of Patagonia ; namely, Port Desire, 

 St. Julian, and Santa Cruz ; but it is nowhere common. I likewise saw it at a 

 considerable elevation in the eastern valleys of the barren Cordillera, near Mendoza. 



Rhinomya lanceolata. Is. Geoffr. Sf D'Orb. 



Rhinomya lanceolata. Is. Geoffr. S? D'Orb. Voy. de 1'Amer. Mer. pi. 7. f. 1. 1832, cl. 11. pi. 3. id. — Mag. de 

 Zool. 1832, 11. pi. 3. and 1837, p. 15. 



I procured a specimen of this bird from the Rio Negro in Northern Patagonia, 

 and I never saw one any where else ; and M. D'Orbigny makes the same remark. 

 On the Atlantic side of the continent, it replaces the several species of Pteroptochos 

 which live on the shores of the Pacific. Its habits, in some respects, are similar ; it 

 lives at the bottom of hedges or thickets, where it runs with such quickness, that 

 it might easily be mistaken for a rat. It is very unwilling to take flight, so that, 

 I was assured by some of the inhabitants, that it could not fly, which, however, 

 is a mistake. It frequently utters a loud and very singular cry. The Rhinomya 

 is distantly allied to the Eremobius phcenicurus, which is found in Southern Pata- 

 gonia, whose habits in some respects are similar. 



1. Pteroptochos Tarnii. G. R. Gray. 



Hylactes Tarnii. Vigors, Proc. Zool. 1830. 



Megalonyx ruficeps. D'Orb. $ Lafr. Mag. de Zool. 1837. p. 15. 



Leptonyx Tarnii. D'Orb. $ Lafr. Voy. de l'Amer. Mer. Av. p. 198, pi. viii. f. 1. 



This species, as well as several others of the genus, and likewise of Scytalopus 

 are confined to the west coast of South America. The P. Tarnii ranges from the 



