66 
Mr. H. Durnford on the Birds of 
subsequent observations have proved that the nest and eggs 
there mentioned could not have belonged to this bird. What 
they did belong to I am quite at a loss to understand; for 
the bird I saw leave the nest appeared to me a R. nigricans, 
without doubt; and I cannot guess what it could have 
been. 
Last spring I found two nests, one at Belgrano, the other 
near Lujan bridge, from both of which I flushed the Rallus 
nigricans. In both cases it was composed of reeds, rather 
loosely put together, and situated in the centre of a tuft of 
reeds growing in the water, from which it was raised three 
or four feet. The nest at Lujan bridge contained eggs. 
They are of a stone ground-colour, minutely speckled all over 
with pink spots, and measure 1*6 inch by 1*150. 
[Mr. Durnford^s skins belong to R. rythirhynchuSj not to 
R. nigricans. —Enn.] 
■ 39. Fulica armillata, Vieill.; Ibis, 1877, p. 195. 
Since I wrote my last communication I have received eggs 
from the south of Buenos Ayres; and I am told that the birds 
are in many places quite common. The eggs may always be 
distinguished from those of either F. leucopygia or F. leu- 
coptera by their superior size. They are of a light stone 
ground-colour, thickly speckled with blotches and spots of 
various shades of red, and measure 2*2 x 1*5 inches. 
^ 40. Fulica leucopygia, Hartl.; Nomencl. p. 140. 
Common in the lagoons to the north of Buenos Ayres. 
The only bird that this species can be confounded with is F. 
leucoptera ; but a sure mark of distinction is the uniform 
colour of the wings, which in the latter species have a white 
bar across them, caused by the secondaries being tipped with 
white. 
The nests of this bird and F. leucoptera are much alike; but 
the former is perhaps rather the smaller. It is formed of 
reeds, and placed in a clump of the same, the bottom just 
above the water. Th*e eggs vary in number from six to eight, 
and also vary a good deal in colour. Their ground-colour is 
