72 
ZOOLOGY OF THE VOYAGE OF THE BEAGLE. 
fleshy covering to the nostrils, and the arched, rounded wing, and great scratching 
claws, it was easy to imagine some distant kind of relationship between these birds 
and those of the Gallinaceous order. I was informed that the Turco makes its 
nest at the bottom of a deep burrow which it excavates in the ground. 
3. Pteroptochos albicollis. Kittl. 
Pteroptochos albicollis. Kittl. Mem. de l’Acad. Petersb. 1. pi. iii. Vogel von Chili; p. 8. pi. iii. 
Megalonyx medius. Less. 111. Zool. pi. lx. 
Megalonyx albicollis. D’Orb. and Lafr. Mag. de Zool. (1636,) Aves, p. 15. 
Leptonyx albicollis. D'Orb. Voy. de l’Amer. Mer. Av. p. 196, pi. viii. f. 2. 
This species is called by the Chilenos “ Tapacolo,” or cover your posteriors. 
The name is well applied, as the Tapacolo generally carries its short tail more 
than erect, that is, inclined backward and toward the head. It is extremely 
common in central Chile ; and in the same manner as the Turco replaces the 
Barking-bird of the southern forest-land, so does the Tapacolo replace a fourth 
species (P. rubecula ), which is an inhabitant of the same forests. The Tapacolo 
frequents hedge-rows, and the bushes which are scattered at a considerable eleva- 
tion over the sterile hills, where scarcely another bird can exist : hence it plays 
a conspicuous part in the ornithology of Chile. In its manner of feeding, and 
quickly hopping out of a thicket and back again, in its desire of concealment, un- 
willingness to take flight, and nidification, it manifests a close resemblance with 
the P. megapodius ; its appearance is not, however, so strange, and (as if in con- 
sequence) it exposes itself more readily to view. 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; one is like the cooing of doves, another like 
the bubbling of water, and many defy all similes. The country people say it 
changes its cry five times in the year, which is according, I suppose, to some 
change of season. I was told that the Tapacolo builds its nest at the bottom 
of a deep burrow, like the Turco ; whereas the P. Tarnii, (as well as the P. ru- 
becula, an inhabitant of the same districts,) makes its nest amongst the sticks just 
above the ground. This difference in the nidification, of the southern and northern 
species, is probably due to the nature of the damp forests inhabited by the former 
in which a burrow could hardly be made dry. I may here observe, that travelling 
northward from Valparaiso to Coquimbo, I met near Illapel with a bird closely 
allied to the Tapacolo, but which, from some slight difference in manners, I 
believed was a distinct species. The range of this supposed species, is from 
between Coquimbo and Valparaiso, to at least as far north as the valley of 
Copiapo. 
