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Show 130 ZOOLOGY OF THE VOYAGE OF TilE BEAGLE. 3. ToTANus MELANOLEucos. Licltt. et Vieill. Scolopa.x melanoleuca, Gmel. Scolopax vociferus, Wils. Am. Orn. pl. 58, f. 5. Ohorlito a croupion blanc, Azara, No. 3941. Totanus solitarius, Vieill. White-rumped snipo, Lath. Maldonado, Rio Plata. 4. ToTANus FuLIGINOsus. Gould. T. corpore supra cauddqtte jttliginoso-g1·iseis ; alis fuscis ; gutture albo ; pectore kypoclwndriisque plumbeo-griseis ; abdomine medio, caudce tegminibus injeri01·ilms alhis, illis obscure, /tis plane grisescenti fusco fasciatis; 1·ostri rubescenti fusco; pedibus obscure olivaceo fuscis. Long. tot. 9 ~ unc. alaJ, 6i; caudaJ, 3; tarsi, It; roatri, i· The whole of the upper surface and tail sooty-grey; wings dull brown ; throat white; chest and flanks leaden grey; centre of the abdomen and under tail coverts white, the former indistinctly, and the latter distinctly, barred with greyish brown; bill, reddish-brown; feet, dark olive-brown. Habitat, Galapagos Archipelago (October). This species appear quite distinct from any described one. HIMAN'l'OPUS NIGRICOLLIS. Vieill. Hima.ntopus nigricollis, Vieill. Ency. Metl1. 340. Recurvirostrn hima.ntopus, Wile. Am. Om. pl. 58. f. 2. My specimens were obtained from the provinces bordering the Plata. On the great swampy plains and fens which lie between Buenos Ayres and Bahia Blanca, it is very numerous in small, and occasionally, in large flocks. This plover, which appears as if mounted on stilts, has been wrongfully accused of inelegance; when wading about in shallow water, which is its favourite resort, its gait is far from awkward. In a flock it utters a noise, which singularly resemM bles the cry of a pack of small dogs in full chase : when I travelled across the above mentioned plains, I was more than once startled, when lying awake at night, at the distant sound, and thought the wild Indians were coming. TRINGA RUFESCENS. Vieill. Tringa. rufescons, Vieill., N. Diet. d'Ilist. Nai. 34. p. 470. -----Ency. Moth. Om. p. 1090. -----Gal. des Ois. pl. 238. -----Yarrel, Lin. Trans. -----Gould; Birds of Europe, pl. Monte Video, Rio Plata. BIRDS. 1. PELIDNA ScHINZII. Bonap. Tringa Schinzii, Brehm. Bonap. Am. Om. iv, pl. 24. f. 2. Pelidna cinclus, va.r. Say. 131 Flocks of this species were common on the shores of the inland bays in the southern parts of Tierra del Fuego. 2. PELIDNA MINUTILLA. Gould. Tringn minutilla., Vieill. Ency. Moth. 1089. Galapagos Archipelago. Both the specimens which I procured here are smaller than the ordinary size of this bird, but do not differ in other respects. Vieillot says it ranges from the Antilles to Canada. RHYNCH..EA SEMICOLLARIS. G. R. Gray. Totnnus semicollaris, Vieill., Ency. Moth. p. 1100. Rhynchma. Ilila.iren, Valone. Leas. Ill. do Zool. pl. 18. Rhynobma occidentnlis, King, Zool. Joum. iv. 94. Le chorlito a domi colliers blanc ot noiratro, Azam, No. 409. Monte Video, Rio Plata. Frequents swamps; habits like the Scolopax Gallinago. I. ScoLOPAx (TELMATIAs) PARAGUAIJE. Vieill. Scolopnx Pa.ra.guai, Veiell. Ency. Motlt. p. 1160. ---Brasiliensis, Swains. Faun. Bor. Am. Birds, p. 400. Bccassine let Especo, Azara. Valparaiso and Maldonado, Rio Plata. 2. ScoLOPAX (TELIIIETIAS) MAGELLANicus. King. Scolopnx Magellnnicus, King, Zool. Joum. My specimens were obtained from Maldonado and East Falkland Island. Flight a very little less irregular and rapid than the English snipe. I several times in May observed this, as well as the foregoing species, flying in lofty circles, and suddenly stooping downwards, at the same time that it uttered a peculiar drumming noise, similar to that made by the English snipe in summer, when breeding. This species is most closely allied to the foregoing, but I have no doubt it is distinct; because at the time when I procured specimens of both at Maldonado, I perceived a difference between them. This species is there more abundant than the S. Pamguaice. Its beak is nearly three-tenths of an inch shorter, and the culmen rather broader. The plumage of its back is of a decidedly less dark tint ; each separate feather having much less black in it. |