Notes of Some- Birds in the Andes 
277 
Notes of Some Birds of the Andes in the 
Neighbourhood of Aconcagua. 
By Philip Gossk, M. R. C. S. 
(Continued from Page 2b0). 
D'ORBIGNY'S SEED-SNIPE: (Thhiocorus orhignyianus) . 
The iiiember of the F. B. C. who procures a pair of 
these birds may well be envied. 
They are extremely rare and curious birds. 
They live in small Hocks of six or eight birds in the 
most inaccessible spots. Always on damp marshy ground. 
I novel' found one below 11,000 feet. The highest I saw 
them was as much as 14,000 feet. They seem to thrive in 
the wildest, and gloomiest places, where there seems to be 
almost nothing foi' them to live upon. Their flight is very 
much like that of our snipe. The legs are (juite short. 
They are extraordinarily diflicult to see, even when 
within a few feet of one, being exactly like the stones. 
COMMON SEED -SNIPE: (Thinocorm rumicivorus) . 
These are somewhat like the former but much commoner. 
I have seen them down in the plains as well. 
They had the curious habit for a " day-bird " of Hying 
about, round atid round our camp at night uttering a croaking 
note. I found two young ones in an inch of water. T tried 
to rear them but they got " laid-over " in my sleeping bag. 
Seytalopus magellanicus. 
This tiny little coal-black wren-like bird does not appear 
to have an English name yet. I only saw one. It had never 
been seen before outside of Chili. 
CRESTED DUCK: (Anas cristata). 
One occasionally saw these birds on a little lake in 
the Horcones Valley about 11,000 feet up. They seemed to 
use the lake as a resting place when ci'ossing the Andes. 
Below will Ije found a few particulars of some of the 
birds I collected at Lujan, a village lifteen miles south of 
Mendoza in the Argentine. 
PATAGONIAN MARSH- STARLING : (TnipiaHs defiUppii). 
These lovely birds are very common here. Strings of 
