306 



CHARLES DARWIN" 



other tittles, let him stand motionless and the red-breasted 

 little bird will approach within a few feet in the most familiar 

 manner. It then busily hops about the entangled mass of 

 rotting canes and branches, with its little tail cocked upwards. 

 The cheucau is held in superstitious fear by the Chilotans, on 

 account of its strange and varied cries. There are three 

 very distinct cries : one is called " chiduco," and is an omen 

 of good ; another, " huitreu," which is extremely unfavour- 

 able ; and a third, which I have forgotten. These words are 

 given in imitation of the rioises ; and the natives are in some 

 things absolutely governed by them. The Chilotans assuredly 

 have chosen a most comical little creature for their prophet. 

 An allied species, but rather larger, is called by the natives 

 "Guid-guid" (Pteroptochos Tarnii), and by the English the 

 barking-bird. This latter name is well given; for I defy any 

 one at first to feel certain that a small dog is not yelping 

 somewhere in the forest. Just as with the cheucau, a person 

 will sometimes hear the bark close by, but in vain many 

 endeavour by watching, and with still less chance by beating 

 the bushes, to see the bird ; yet at other times the guid-guid 

 fearlessly comes near. Its manner of feeding and its general 

 habits are very similar to those of the cheucau. 



On the coast 4 a small dusky-coloured bird (Opetiorhyn- 

 chus Patagonicus) is very common. It is remarkable from 

 its quiet habits; it lives entirely on the sea-beach, like a 

 sandpiper. Besides these birds only few others inhabit this 

 broken land. In my rough notes I describe the strange 

 noises, which, although frequently heard within these gloomy 

 forests, yet scarcely disturb the general silence. The yelp- 

 ing of the guid-guid, and the sudden whew-whew of the 

 cheucau, sometimes come from afar off, and sometimes from 

 close at hand ; the little black wren of Tierra del Fuego Oc- 

 casionally adds its cry; the creeper (Oxyurus) follows the 

 intruder screaming and twittering; the humming-bird may 

 be seen every now and then darting from side to side, and 

 emitting, like an insect, its shrill chirp ; lastly, from the top 



4 I may mention, as a proof of how great a difference there is between the 

 seasons of the wooded and the open parts of this coast, that on September 

 zotti, in lat. 34 , these birds had young ones in the nest, while among the 

 CUonos Islands, three months later in the summer, they were only laying, 

 the difference in latitude between these two places being about 700 miles 



