thi'oat and centre of the abdomen greyish white, passing into pale buff on the
ffanks and under tail-coverts ; bill and feet blackish brown.
Habitat, Patagonia.
This bird, though forming a well-marked genus, is in many respects, even in
plumage, allied to Furnarius and Opetiorhynchus,—for instance, in the streak over
its eyes, in the red band on its wings extending obliquely from the body to the
tliird primary, and to some of tlie species of these genera in its rather plumose
featliers. In its general manners, the same resemblance, together with some
differences, always struck me. It lives entirely on the ground, and generally in
dry sterile situations, wliere it haunts the scattered thickets, and often flies
from one to another. When skulking about the bushes it cocks up its tail,
imitating in this respect Pteroptochos and Rhinomya. Its cry is shrill, quickly
reiterated, and very similar to that of several species of Furnarius and Opetio-
rliynclms. The stomach of one which I opened was full of Coleóptera. I procured
specimens from three places on the coast of Patagonia ; namely. Port Desire,
St. Julian, and Santa Cruz ; but it is nowhere common. I likewise saw it at a
considerable elevation in the eastern valleys of the barren Cordillera, near Mendoza.
R h i n o m y a l a n c e o l a t a . I s . Geoffr. ^ D'Orb.
Illiinomya knccolala. I t. O tc fr . B 'O rh Voy. do I'Amei. Mor. pi. 7. f. 1. 1832, cl, I I . pi, 3. id.—Mag. do
Zool. 1832, 11. pi. 3. and 1837, p. 15.
I procured a specimen of tliis bird from the Rio Negro in Northern Patagonia,
and I never saw one any where else ; and M. D ’Orhigny makes the same remark.
On the Atlantic side of the continent, it replaces the several species of Pteroptochos
which live on the shores of the Pacific. Its habits, in some respects, are similar ; it
lives at the bottom of hedges or thickets, where it runs with such quickness, that
it might easily he mistaken for a rat. It is very unwilling to take flight, so that,
I was assured by some of the inliabitants, that it could not fly, which, however,
is a mistake. It frequently utters a loud and very singular cry. The Rhinomya
is distantly allied to the Eremobius phoenicurus, which is found in Southern Patagonia,
whose habits in some respects are similar.
1 . P t e r o p t o c h o s T a e n i i . G. R . Gray.
Hylactes Tamil. Vigws, Proc. Zool. 1830.
Mcgalonyx ruficeps. D'Orh. .(■ L a fr. Mag. de Zool. 1837. p. 15.
Lcplonyx Tamil. D'Orb. Lafr. Voy. de I'Amoi. Mor. Av. p. 198, pi. TÜ1. f. I.
This species, as well as several others of the genus, and likewise of Scytalopus
are confined to the west coast of South America. The P . Tarnii ranges from the
neighbourhood of Concepcion, lat. 37°, to soutli of the Peninsula of Tres Montes,
between 41° and 50°. It is not found in Tierra del Fuego, where the climate probably
is too cold for it, for in other respects, the great forests of that country
appear admirably adapted to its habits. Its limit, nortliward of tlie province of
Concepcion, is evidently due to the cliange which there takes place, from dense
forests to an open and dry country. The P . Tarnii is abundant in all parts of the
Island of Chiloe, where it is called by the native Indians, guid-gnid; but by the
English sailors, tlie harking-bird. Tins latter name is very well applied, for the
noise which it utters is precisely like the yelping of a small dog. When a person
is walking along a pathway within the forest, or on the sea-beach, he will often be
surprised to hear on a sudden, close by him, the barking of the guid-gnid. He
may often watch in vain the thicket, whence the sound proceeds, in hopes of seeing
its author, and if lie endeavour, by heating tlie bushes, to drive it out, his
chance of success will he still smaller. At other times, by standing quietly within
the forest, the guid-guid will fearlessly hop close to him, and will stand on the
trunk of some dead tree, with its tail erect, and strange figure full in view. It
feeds exclusively on the ground, in the thickest and most entangled parts of the
forest. It rarely takes wing, and then only for short distances. It has tlie power
of hopping quickly and with great vigour ; when thus awkwardly proceeding, it
carries its short tail in a nearly erect position. I was informed that i\\aguid-guid,
builds a nest amongst rotten sticks, close to the ground.
2 . P t e r o p t o c h o s m e g a p o d i u s . K ittl.
Pteroptochos megapodius. K'ittl. 1830, Mem. de I’Acad. 1, pi. iv. et Vogel, voii Chili, p. 10, pi. iv.
Megalonyx rufiis. Less. Cent. Zool. 1831, pi. 66.
------------------------D'Orh. Sf Lafr.
Leptonyx macropus. Swains. Zool. 111. pi. 117.
____________________D'Orh. Sf Lafr. Voy. de I'A iner. Mer. Av. 197.
This bird is common in the dry country of central and northern Chile, where
it replaces the P . Tarnii of the thickly wooded southern regions. The P . mega-
pndius, is called by the Chilenos, “ E l T u r c o it lives on the ground amongst
the bushes which are sparingly scattered over the stony hills. With its tail erect,
every now and then it may be seen popping on its stilt-like legs from one bush to
another with uncommon celerity. Its appearance is very strange and almost ludicrous,
and the bird seems always anxious to hide itself. It does not run, but hops,
and can hardly be compelled to take flight. The various loud cries which it utters,
when concealed in the bushes, are as strange as its appearance. I opened the extremely
muscular gizzards of several of these birds, and found them filled with
beetles, vegetable fibres, and pebbles. Observing the structure of the gizzard, the