VARIOUS KINDS OF WILD DOVES.
The apicazù, yeruti, and other kinds of wild doves, wander about in flocks, doing great mischief to fields and gardens, especially to grapes. From their wonderful variety of colours they are pleasing to the eye, but still more so to the palate, when boiled or roasted.
THE IÑAMBÙ.
This bird inhabits every part of the plain country. In some respects it resembles a partridge, in others a quail. Its flesh is extremely white and well tasted, but very dry. You will seldom see a stupider bird, or one more easily and more frequently caught. A man on horseback sometimes goes round and round it, and whilst the bird goes round in like manner, knocks it down with the long piece of leather, which they use for a bridle, or with a slender reed. Numbers are daily brought to the city of Buenos-Ayres, and sold at a very low price.
MARTINETES AND GALLINETAS.
There are other birds also, thought to be of the partridge kind, which are larger than a common hen, adorned with a variety of colours, and a beautiful crest, and of an agreeable savour.
DIFFERENT KINDS OF PHEASANTS.
Birds are found in Paraguay which, in some respects, resemble European pheasants. The commonest species is the yacù. This bird is equal in size to a full grown hen; its feathers are of a very black colour, and its flesh extremely well tasted. It mostly frequents woods near a river or lake. At sun-set or sun-rise, you may find a number of them on one tree. When one is brought down by a gun, the rest do not fly away, but only recede a little farther on the bough which they are sitting upon, and there remain till they are all killed by repeated firings. This I have often witnessed, and wondered much that the birds were neither scared by the report of the gun, nor impelled to flight by the deaths of their companions.
THE MBITUÙ.
In the larger class of pheasants, we may with justice place the mbituù, a bird which almost resembles a turkey-cock. Its very black feathers are white at the extremity, but the belly is varied with a colour peculiar to partridges. On the top of its head it has a crest composed of black and white feathers, as soft as silk, which it erects when angry. It is armed with a long, hooked, and blackish beak. Its tail is long and generally expanded. Its beautiful head is adorned with large bright black eyes. Its very long legs are supported on four claws like those of a hen. Its tender flesh is universally commended, and as it is so desirable for the table, I wish it were more commonly met with in the woods by the Indian huntsmen.