Sydney Porter—Notes from South America



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202. Little masked weaver, S. luteola.


203. (Black-fronted Weaver, E. velata ?)


204. (Reichenbach’s Masked Weaver, S. tsenioptera ?)


205. Half-masked weaver, S. vitellina.


Reichenow’s forest-weaver, Othyphantes reichenowii. U.K.,


1936.


206. Cape Golden Weaver, Xanthophilus c. olivaceus. Abroad.


207. Madagascar weaver. Abroad, and a hybrid with the female

Half-masked Weaver.


208. Baya Weaver, Ploceus philippinus. Abroad.


209. (Bengal Baya, P. hengalensis. Abroad ?)


210. (Manyar Weaver, P. manyar. Abroad ? ?) and ( hybrids with

the Baya ? ?).


211. (Javan Weaver, Ploceella chryssea. Abroad ? ?)



NOTES FROM SOUTH AMERICA


By Sydney Porter

[Continued from p. 213)


It is fitting that Buenos Aires, which is perhaps the world’s most

beautiful city, should also possess the most beautiful Zoological Gardens.

The grounds cover a very large area, are finely laid out, planted with a

great amount of tropical and sub-tropical vegetation and also possess

a large area of water which is a great asset to a Zoological Gardens.

In fact the water was the greatest attraction to me as it harboured a

vast number of indigenous aquatic birds. The great charm of this

“ Zoo ”, at least to a foreigner like myself, was the large amount of

indigenous fauna, large numbers of which were at liberty in the park.

If I sat quietly, I was passed by all manner of creatures, Rheas,

Screamers, Patagonian cavies, llamas, nutria, Flamingos, Egrets,

Seriamas, etc., all the birds seemed quite at home in spite of the crowds,

and most of them, except the Rheas, seemed to restrict themselves to a

certain area. I noticed this especially with the Screamers. It was a

great treat to see these fine birds flying about like Sparrows. The

Screamers are a strange genus of bird confined to South America.



