330 



CHILE. 



Sept. 1834. 



out of the thickets and back again^ in its desire of conceal- 

 ment^ unwiUingness to take flight,, and nidification, it bears 

 a close resemblance to the turco ; but its appearance is not 

 quite so ridiculous. The tapacolo is very crafty: when 

 frightened by any person, it will remain motionless at the 

 bottom of a bush, and will then, after a little while, try with 

 much address to crawl away on the opposite side. It is also 

 an active bird, and continually making a noise : these noises 

 are various and strangely odd ; some are like the cooing of 

 doves, others like the bubbling of water, and many defy all 

 similes. The country people say it changes its cry five times 

 in the year — according to some change of season I suppose. 

 I believe these two species of Pteroptochos are only found 

 in central Chile. To the southward, within the damp forest 

 region, two other species supply the place of these lovers 

 of a more sterile land ; and a fifth species is common to both 

 districts. On the Patagonian coast a bird allied to them, 

 both in structure and habits, represents this Chilian genus.* 

 Two species of humming-birds are common, and I have 

 seen a third kind within the Cordillera, at an elevation of 

 about 10,000 feet. Mellisuga Kingii is found over a space 

 of 2500 miles on the west coast, from the hot dry country of 

 Lima, to the forests of Tierra del Fuego — where it has been 

 described as flitting about in a snow-storm. In the wooded 

 island of Chiloe, which has an extremely humid climate, this 

 little bird, skipping from side to side amidst the dripping 

 foliage, is perhaps more abundant than almost any other 

 kind. It there very commonly frequents open marshy ground, 

 where a kind of bromelia grows : hovering near the edge of 

 the thick beds, it every now and then dashed in close to the 



* It is a remarkable fact, that Molina, though describing in detail all 

 the birds and animals of Chile, never once mentions this genus, the spe- 

 cies of which are so common, and so remarkable in their habits. Was 

 he at a loss how to classify them, and did he consequently think that 

 silence was the more prudent course? It is one more instance of the 

 frequency of omission by authors, on those very subjects where it would 

 be least expected. 



