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Show BIRDS. 81 2. LIMNORNIS CURVIROSTRIS. Gould. PLATE XXV. L. rufescenti-:fusca; cauda, remigitemque basibus pallide castaneo--fuscis, lined supercilim ·i, genis, guld abdomineque albis; ltypocltondriis cervino tinctis. Long. tot. 7 unc., rost. Il; alw, 2-h; caudao, 3-ft; ta1'si, H· Head, all the upper surface, and wings reddish brown; tail and basal portion of the outer margins of the primaries and secondaries reddish chesnut brown; stripe over the eye, throat, and all the under surface white, tinged, especially on the flanks, with fawn colour; bill orange at the base, the tip brown ; legs pale bluish ; claws white ; tongue bristled on the sides; near the extremity it is divided into little bristly points. Habitat, Maldonado, La Plata. (June.) This species frequents the same localities with the last, and I am unable to point out any difference in its habits. Ofthe two specimens collected, the beak of one is very nearly one-tenth of an inch longer than that of the other; but this is almost wholly due to the sharp point of the upper mandible projecting beyond the lower mandible in the one, whereas they are nearly equal in the other. 1. OxYunus TUPINIERI. Gould. Synallaxis tupinieri. LfUis. Zool. do Ia Coqu. pl. 29. f. 1. Oxyurus orna.tus. Swains. 2 Cent. and t· p. 324. This bird is perhaps the most abundant of any land species inhabiting Tierra del Fuego. It is common along the west coast, (and numerous in Chiloe,) even as far north as a degree south ofValparaiso; but the dry country and stunted woods of central Chile are not favourable to its increase. In the dark forests of Tierra del Ft1ego, both high up and low down, in the most gloomy, wet, and scarcely penetrable ravines, this little bird may be met with. No doubt, it appears more common than it really is, from its habit of following, with seeming curiosity, every person who enters these silent woods; continually uttering a harsh twitter, it flutters from tree to tree, within a few feet of the intruder's face. It is far from wishing for the modest concealment of the creeper (Certltiafamiliaris); nor does it, like that bird, run up the trunks of trees, but industriously, after the manner of a willow wren, hops about and searches for insects on every twig and branch. M |
