BIRDS. 



81 



2. LlMNORNIS CURVIROSTRIS. Gould. 

 Plate XXV. 

 L. rufescenti-fusca; caudd, remigiumque basibus pallide castaneo-fuscis, lined superci- 

 liari, genis, guld abdomineque albis ; hypochondriis cervino tinctis. 



Long. tot. 7 Tine, rost. 1J ; alee, 2-^; caudw, 3^; tarsi, |f. 



Head, all the upper surface, and wings reddish brown ; tail and basal portion of 

 the outer margins of the primaries and secondaries reddish chesnut brown ; 

 stripe over the eye, throat, and all the under surface white, tinged, especially 

 on the flanks, with fawn colour ; bill orange at the base, the tip brown ; legs 

 pale bluish ; claws white ; tongue bristled on the sides ; near the extremity 

 it is divided into little bristly points. 

 Habitat, Maldonado, La Plata. {June.) 



This species frequents the same localities with the last, and I am unable to 

 point out any difference in its habits. Of the two specimens collected, the beak 

 of one is very nearly one-tenth of an inch longer than that of the other; but this 

 is almost wholly due to the sharp point of the upper mandible projecting beyond 

 the lower mandible in the one, whereas they are nearly equal in the other. 



1. OXYURUS TUPINIERI. Gould. 



Synallaxis tupinieri. Less. Zool. de la Coqu. pi. 29. f. 1 . 

 Oxyurus ornatus. Swains. 2 Cent, and \. p. 324. 



This bird is perhaps the most abundant of any land species inhabiting Tierra 

 del Fuego. It is common along the west coast, (and numerous in Chiloe,) even as 

 far north as a degree south of Valparaiso ; but the dry country and stunted woods 

 of central Chile are not favourable to its increase. In the dark forests of Tierra 

 del Fuego, both high up and low down, in the most gloomy, wet, and scarcely 

 penetrable ravines, this little bird may be met with. No doubt, it appears more 

 common than it really is, from its habit of following, with seeming curiosity, every 

 person who enters these silent woods ; continually uttering a harsh twitter, it flutters 

 from tree to tree, within a few feet of the intruder's face. It is far from wishing 

 for the modest concealment of the creeper (Certhia familiaris) ; nor does it, like 

 that bird, run up the trunks of trees, but industriously, after the manner of a 

 willow wren, hops about and searches for insects on every twig and branch. 



