1 14 The Naturalist in La Plata.. 
nested at a distance from the house, and it was 
almost impossible ever to find their eggs, on account 
of tlie extreme circumspection they observed in 
going to and from their nests ; and when they 
succeeded in escaping foxes, skunks, weasels, and 
opossums, which, strange to say, they often did, 
tliey would rear their chickens away out of sight 
and hearing of the house, and only bring them home 
w'hen winter deprived them of their leafy covering 
and made food scarce. Daring the summer, in my 
rambles about the plantation, I would occasionally 
surprise one of these half-wild hens with her brood ; 
her distracted screams and motions would then 
cause her chicks to scatter and vanish in all direc- 
tions, and, until the supposed danger w^as past, they 
would lie as close and well -concealed as young 
partridges. These fowds in summer always lived in 
small parties, each party composed of one cock and 
as many hens as he could collect — usually three or 
four. Each family occupied its own feeding ground, 
where it wmuld pass a greater portion of each day. 
The hen wmuld nest at a considerable distance from 
the feeding ground, sometimes as far as four or five 
hundred yards away. After laying an egg she would 
quit the nest, not w'alking from it as other fowls do, 
but flying, the flight extending to a distance of from 
fifteen to about fifty yards ; after which, still keeping 
silence, she would walk or run, until, arrived at the 
feeding ground, she would begin to cackle. At once 
the cock, if within hearing, would utter a responsive 
cackle, whereupon she woidd run to him and cackle 
no more. Frequently the cackling call-note would 
not be uttered more than two or three times, some- 
