In the Wilds of South America

by Leo E. Miller

The nests of the smaller birds contained from one to four eggs of these parasites, in addition to those of the rightful owners. On January 12, I opened an oven-bird nest and was surprised to find fifteen cowbirds’ eggs in the dark interior. This I considered a record, but Boyle brought one in on the same day containing twenty-six of the speckled eggs. In the days that followed, we discovered numerous “sets” of from ten to twenty. The nest that contained the final record number was found January 16, it contained thirty-eight eggs—one of the oven-birds and thirty-seven of the cowbirds.

Later, we again met these old acquaintances wintering in the rice-fields and rush-grown marshes of Tucuman.

The white ani (Guira guira) or Guiraca, first seen near Asuncion, and later in Bolivia, was plentiful at Rosario de Lerma. The bird was usually found in small flocks and fed on the ground.

We found several of their nests near Rosario de Lerma. They were large, loosely built of sticks and placed in the crotch of a cactus or other thorny plant, at no great height from the ground. However, the nest is not conspicuous in spite of its size.

Pablo Girard, an Argentine naturalist, informed me that these birds frequently nest in communities and that a number of females lay their eggs in the same nest, although this is not always the case. The natives verified this statement. This seems probable as I at no time saw the groups split up into pairs; on the contrary, there were always numbers of birds in the vicinity of each domicile. Our record set contained twelve eggs.

After ten days at Rosario de Lerma, we returned to Salta and then took the train to Perico, a ride of three and a half hours northward. At this station a branch railroad runs northeastward into Argentina’s vast Chaco region. The track was being extended as rapidly as labor and material can be obtained for the work, and we desired to go to the end of the line where is located a station called Embarcacion. Before starting on this journey, however, we spent some time at points noted on the downward journey from La Quiaca. Perico is a busy little town, owing its activity to the traffic occasioned by the railroad junction. The buildings are low and dilapidated, and most of them consist of a shop, or venta, in front, with living-rooms in the rear.

The shops are always worthy of exploration. In some, huge piles of watermelons were displayed for sale; others offered fruits and vegetables, and still others groceries and dry-goods. Drinking-places were abundant.

We were particularly interested to find numbers of rhea eggs on sale in the outdoor market. They brought forty centavos each and were delicious; the contents of each was equal to about a dozen hen’s eggs. I was told that they were gathered from the nests of wild birds in the Chaco. Each nest contains from ten to twenty or even thirty eggs, which are more than one man can carry. When fresh, the shell is of a deep cream-color; after incubation has started or if the egg is addled, the color is pale, ashy gray. The birds are killed and eaten—the flesh resembling that of a goat’s in flavor.

One day a number of Indians arrived from San Pedro. They brought huge baskets and crates of young amazon parrots. These birds are taken when very young from nests placed in the cavities of trees, and are reared by hand until they are able to eat unaided. Usually two are found in a nest—occasionally three. They also brought a tame coypu rat and several three-banded armadillos.

Perico is surrounded by miles of cattle lands, light woods, and limited areas covered with vegetation of a semiarid type. In the latter places small deer or brockets are not uncommon; they hide in the low, thorny growth of Spanish bayonet until one is within a few yards of them, then dash away at great speed; the inhabitants hunt them with dogs trained for the purpose, and rarely fail to bag their quarry, though usually after a long chase.