732 BIRDS OF THE PAMPAS. 



case was earned oft', and never recovered. These birds are, 

 moreover, quarrelsome and very passionate, tearing up the 

 grass with their bills in their rage. They are noisy, too, 

 uttering several harsh cries — one of them like that of the 

 English rook. 



OWLS OF THE PAMPAS (ATHENE CUNICULARIA). 



The traveller across the Pampas will see a number of little 

 owls — generally seated in pairs, during the evening, on the 

 hillocks near the burrows of the bizcacha, occasionally utter- 

 ing their strange wild hoots to each other. If disturbed, they 

 either run into the holes of their friends, in which they have 

 their abode ; or, uttering a shrill, harsh cry, they move with 

 a remarkably undulatory flight to a short distance, and then 

 turning round, steadily gaze at their pursuer. 



THE PAMPAS CUCKOO (MOLOTHRUS NIGER). 

 Among the birds of numerous kinds which abound on the 

 plains, there are several worthy of notice. One is remarkable 

 from its habits. It deposits its eggs, like the cuckoo, in the 

 nests of other birds. Several of them may be seen standing 

 together on the back of a cow or horse. They also perch 

 on low boughs : and while pluming themselves in the sun, 

 attempt to sing ; but their voice is rather like a hiss, resem- 

 bling that of bubbles of air passing rapidly from a small orifice 

 under water, so as to produce an acute sound. 



THE CALANDRIA (MINA ORPHEUS). 



The best songster on the Pampas is a species of mocking- 

 bird, called by the inhabitants calandria. Its song is power- 

 ful — similar to that of the hedge-warbler. It only sings, how- 



