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Sydney Porter—Notes from South America



very common in the West Indies and in Central America, where it

usually lives around meadows in which cattle are kept. Strange to say

I saw many of these birds around the docks at Santos in Brazil, usually

perched on the telephone wire.


The first “ birdy ” sound one hears upon entering the Argentine is

the loud, joyous chortle of the Oven-bird, and after being in that country

for a short time one finds that it is the most characteristic sound of that

land. To quote Hudson again, he says, “ At frequent intervals during

dhe day, the male and female meet and express their joy in clear resonant

notes sung in concert. . . . While thus singing they stand facing each

■other, their necks outstretched, wings hanging, and tail spread, the

first bird trembling with its rapid utterances, the second beating on the

branch with its wings.”


In gardens, in the public parks, out on the pampas, by the sides of

broad, slow flowing rivers, one continually hears these bursts of joyous

melody, though perhaps the birds are not always to be seen. At first

one thinks he looks rather Thrush-like, that is when he is standing still,

but when he moves he had the quicker, business-like gait of a Starling.

The Oven-bird is equally at home in the trees, on the ground, or on the

house itself.


In colour the bird is an earthy brown, the back and tail being bright

■chestnut, which rather gives it a Thrush-like appearance, but on close

.acquaintance, one sees the long, slender beak and legs.


The most remarkable characteristic about the bird is the unique nest

which it builds and from which it gets its name. It is a large structure,

shaped like an old-fashioned baker’s oven, with the entrance at one

side, but this is long and narrow and leads to an inner chamber. These

nests take a considerable time to make, often many months, as the birds

can only work during wet weather when there is plenty of mud. The

birds take pieces of fibrous material such as hairs, roots, etc., to a

puddle and work them into small balls which they then work into the

nests. These nests are usually built in the most conspicuous places,

such as the top of a gate post, a low horizontal branch of a tree, on a

house, etc., and they are so strong that it is very difficult to

break them.


The only nests which I saw were on the stout limbs of fruit trees



